Read Online Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill - Free Book Online Page A

you the power to lay your world in ruins. All this, I can give you.
    “I sense deception,” said Vlad. “Such an offer is surely too good to be true.”
    You are correct , replied the mouth. There can be no light without dark, no reward without punishment. But I deceive you not. You had not asked to hear the terms.
    “I ask to hear them now.”
    Very well. You will never see the sun again; to look upon it will mean your end. You will not take food, or drink, as humans do; only the lifeblood of other creatures will sustain you. You will be safe from mortal hands, and mortal weapons, and you may share your new life with others, asyou see fit. But when your time on this plane comes to an end, your soul will belong to me, and Hell will await you. For all eternity.
    “I accept.”
    The words were out before he even realised he was going to say them. The abomination’s offer would condemn him to a life lived in the shadows, in the presence of death, and blood, but for Vlad this would not feel unfamiliar, and the alternative was not worthy of consideration. The life he had lived was over, he knew it all too well; the Turks would hunt him to the ends of the earth, and he would stand tall in the darkness rather than run and hide in the light.
    I never doubted that you would, said the voice. But I wasn’t finished. The grin widened until it began to spill from the edges of the altar, running in thick black trails towards the dark grass.
    “What do you mean?” cried Vlad. “What trickery is this?”
    No trickery at all. You accepted my offer, without hearing the last of its terms.
    “Tell me what you are holding back! Tell me at once!”
    The mouth set into a hard, straight line, and when it spoke again, its voice was the sound of freezing blood, of pain and hopelessness.
    You have nothing left to barter with. I suggest you refrain from issuing demands.
    Vlad began to tremble, with rage and the terrible, creeping feeling that he had been outsmarted. Fear was again spilling into his stomach and up his spine, and he regarded the altar with horror.
    “I apologise,” he forced himself to say. “I humbly ask to know the final term of the covenant.”
    That’s better, said the mouth, its smile returning. The final term is this: the first blood you take is the sole key to your undoing. Your first victim will carry the only means of ending your second life.
    “What kind of deception is this?” cried Vlad. “You promised me everlasting life!”
    I promised you nothing. I told you that I could give you everlasting life; whether you achieve it is entirely up to you. If you were incapable of dying, then how would the contract ever be fulfilled? But I have given you more than any human who went before you, and I would see you more grateful for my generosity.
    “What gift is this that I receive in return for my soul, full of conditions and caveats?”
    I promised no gift, replied the mouth. I offered nothing more than the covenant that has now been agreed.
    “Then I withdraw my acceptance!”
    Too late, said the mouth, grinning widely. Then it moved, bursting forward from the altar and enveloping Vlad completely in black fluid that felt as cold and wrong as the end of the world. He screamed soundlessly, over and over, but the liquid held him tight, until it was over, and it withdrew.
    He fell to his knees, a desiccated thing; his eyes had tumbled in on themselves, blinding him, and his skin was as dry and leathery as parchment. He was not breathing, but he was still alive, still able to feel the indescribable pain of what had been done to him. When he felt that he could bear the agony no longer, when he thought he must die or be driven mad by the pain, the black liquid moved again, coating him for a second time.
    But instead of showing mercy, and ending his torment, as Vlad prayed it would, it sank into him, disappearing into his pores, and a sensation of power beyond anything he had ever felt surged through him. His eyes spun back