Vampire Hollows by Tim O'Rourke Page A

won’t need to be invited in,” Coanda said, “He’ll just break down the door. Now let’s get moving.”
    We left the resistance camp behind and Coanda briefed them to wait for his signal. Heading out through the upturned trees, the soft, covered ground soon gave way to a harder, rocky road that spiraled away into the distance. The road cut across a vast and desolate-looking land. It was red and arid, totally unlike the camp we had left behind. It reminded me of pictures I had seen on the internet that had been beamed back to Earth by exploration vehicles sent to Mars.
    It was just turning dusk, and I pictured the Light House turning away from us, but its light still burnt fiercely on the horizon ahead, spinning its golden rays between the tips of two ragged mountains.
    “What are those mountains called?’ Kayla asked Isidor as we walked together.
    “They’re called The Weeping Peaks,” he said.
    “The Weeping Peaks,” Kayla mused. “They sound nice.”
    “Do they?” Isidor said, and I detected a note of dread in his voice. Then he sped up just slightly, just far enough not to have to engage in any further conversation with Kayla. Perhaps he wanted to be on his own.
    The sight of the landscape was awe inspiring and even though I had seen and experienced so much over the last several months, the realisation that I was now racing across The Hollows filled my heart with inspiration. I tried to absorb every detail, every shard of light that glinted through those mountains and every rock that glowed like embers on the surface of this incredible world. I looked back at the way we had come, and in the distance I could see the tops of those upturned trees glistening. Some distance away, I could see Potter and Luke. I couldn’t tell if they were talking, but they walked apart.
    “The Hollows is beautiful, don’t you think?” Kayla asked, her voice soft.
    “Mmm?” I said thoughtfully as I stopped watching Luke and Potter and faced Kayla again.
    “The Hollows are amazing, aren’t they?” Kayla said again.
    “Incredible,” I replied, as I watched the jagged scenery slip into the shadows cast by the revolving Light House.
    “So why are the Elders expecting you?”
    Over the next couple of hours as we walked towards the Weeping Peaks, I told Kayla everything I had read in the letter Ravenwood had left for me. I explained to her all about the history of Elias Munn and how he despised the human race because he had been rejected by one of them. Kayla thought Munn’s story was tragic and sad. I told her about the importance of the half-breeds and one in particular, me. As I explained to her the decision I had been born to make, and how whichever one I chose to survive, we would take on that species form permanently, Kayla took my hand and I saw tears spill from her eyes and slide silently down her face.
    “Why are you crying?” I asked her gently.
    “I don’t want to change, Kiera,” she said. “I want to stay as I am.”
    “But I didn’t think you liked being a half-breed – you know, with how you used to be bullied and everything,” I said.
    “That was back then,” she sniffed. “That seems like it happened to a different person. I’ve just gotten used to the idea of who I really am – I don’t want to go through anymore changes.”
    “So if you had to choose,” I asked her, “What would you do?”
    Then slowing, she looked me straight in the eye and squeezed my hands with hers. “Kiera, I’d rather die than make that choice.” She walked away, and I watched the dying light shine off her flaming hair.
    No pressure then , I thought to myself and walked on, lost to my thoughts.
    We walked until it grew dark, my head down. Then without even noticing at first, we had drawn close to the foot of the Weeping Peaks.
    “Why have we stopped?” I asked Coanda.
    “This is as far as we go by road,” he said, as both Potter and Luke sauntered towards us. They reminded me of two naughty school boys who