Chapter 9: Blood Siblings - The Night Market

Pepper stood in the sterile belly of the lift, alone except for the scent of disinfectant and the buzzing fluorescent light overhead. The metal walls reflected her faintly, warped at the seams, making it uncomfortable to meet her own eyes. Her hands were stuffed into the deep pockets of her coat, but one slowly crept upward, fingers closing around the gold locket that hung from her neck. She rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger with nerves.

The lift jolted once, then began its slow ascent. She exhaled in the hope to calm her racing heart. By the time the doors opened onto the corridor, she had composed herself. Mostly.

But this wasn’t Leroux Tower. No glossy floors, no classical music echoing through the hallways. Just dull grey tiles, walls the colour of old chalk, and that quiet, humming kind of sorrow that only hospitals could conjure. It was late enough to ensure that the only visitors were ones whose bedside vigils were not long to last. Only the distant sounds of gurneys being wheeled and the slow, steady steps of overnight staff remained.

She walked to the secured door and pressed the intercom.

‘Yes?’ crackled a voice.

‘I’m here to see Claire Montgomery.’

‘She’s family only. Relation?’

There was a pause. Pepper leaned against the cool wall, shut her eyes, and then said softly, ‘I’m her sister.’

A mechanical buzz followed. She pulled the door open and stepped inside.

The ward was silent, save for the quiet beep of machines and the distant squeak of rubber-soled shoes. People slept behind drawn curtains and partially closed doors. The air was tinged with antiseptic and the echo of too many held breaths.

At the nurse’s station, a lone woman in blue scrubs looked up from a dim monitor.

‘Good evening.’

‘You must be Pepper?’ the nurse asked, flipping through a clipboard. ‘She’s spoken a lot about you. I’m Nurse Arleen.’

Pepper gave a tired nod. ‘Yes, hi.’

The nurse found the right page and stood. ‘Alright then. We’re in room nine, please follow me.’

They walked side by side down the hushed hallway. A trolley squeaked from somewhere behind. Doors whispered open and shut in the distance. Nurse Arleen opened the door to a side room.

Claire Montgomery lay under a pale blue blanket, her face washed in the dim light from the hallway. An IV fed something clear and slow into her arm. The tubes and wires didn’t look like lifelines to Pepper. More like they were sucking everything from her sister.

‘How has she been?’ Pepper whispered.

Nurse Arleen adjusted a hanging IV bag, marking down a number in the patient notes. ‘Tired, mostly. That’s to be expected at this point. She’s lost a little weight but is as steady as she can be.’

‘I see.’

Pepper crossed the room and settled into the high-backed chair by the bed. It had that cracked plastic texture hospitals loved so much.

‘Mind if I sit with her a while?’

‘Not at all. Can I get you anything? Tea? Blanket?’

‘No. Thank you. I’m fine.’

The nurse smiled kindly and slipped out, closing the door with a soft click.

Pepper reached out and took Claire’s hand. It was limp and cool, but reassuringly familiar. Claire snorted gently in her sleep. Her eyelids flickered.

‘Hey, sis,’ Pepper said softly. ‘I missed you. I always miss you.’

She settled back into the chair and watched her sister breathe. The steady rise and fall of her chest. The little fluttering pulse at her throat. It was becoming difficult to prevent her voice from wavering.

‘I meant to come sooner, but work has been . . . it’s just been real busy. That’s not an excuse, I know, but there’re reasons.’

Her words lodged themselves in her throat. What would she even say if Claire woke? That she’d infiltrated a vampire dynasty? That she now lived in a skyscraper full of killers wearing suits? That she’d chased down a mythical flower in a hidden market built on old blood and older lies?

She covered her mouth as a yawn suddenly took hold.

‘Guess what,’ Pepper whispered, voice catching. ‘I found something. Something real. And it might help. I’m sure it will, everything else has been true. It’s . . . a miracle. You won’t believe it. Hell, I don’t believe it. But it’s there. A rose, they call it, an Eternal Rose. And with it, we’ll get our lives back. I promise.’

Her eyes drooped. The hospital warmth made her heavy, and her voice slurred just slightly.

‘You just rest.’

Her head fell back, eyes closing.

She didn’t realise she’d fallen asleep until the whisper startled her awake.

Pepper blinked, startled upright. ‘Hey. Ho . . . Sorry, God, I didn’t mean to—’

Claire was sitting upright, fragile, her cheeks slightly gaunter than what Pepper remembered. Her chestnut curls were greasy, draped on a pillow that was seemingly big enough to swallow her head. Claire’s voice was soft. Faint. But real.

‘You still snore, you know.’

Pepper huffed a tired laugh. ‘You’re one to talk. Honestly thought a tank was about to come bursting through the wall.’

Claire smiled. It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but it was there. ‘When did you get here?’

Pepper glanced at the clock, trying to make sense of the fact it was now pushing 3 in the morning. ‘Nine? Something like that?’

Claire’s brow lifted. ‘Nine p.m.? Wow . . . They’re really working you, huh? Hope the pay’s worth it.’

‘It’s not about the pay.’

‘That’s just something poor people say.’

‘Yeah, I forgot what it was like with us growing up. Gold mansions, Versace top to toe. I’ve got to keep the life I’m accustomed to, y’know?’

Clare stifled a splutter, which transformed into a series of sharp coughs.

Pepper reached for the water jug, hands trembling. She filled a cup and handed it over.

Claire took it carefully, sipping like it might run out. ‘You’re shaky. You should get that checked out.’

‘I see too many doctors these days.’

Claire tried a grin after sipping her water. ‘I was trying to be funny . . . aren’t I allowed to joke anymore?’

‘Of course, just get better material. How are you?’ Pepper asked. It felt like a betrayal of a question.

‘Like my body wants to kill me. Not in a fun way, either.’

‘What have the doctors said?’

‘Just the same. No donors yet on account of the rarity. The, uh . . . kidneys aren’t holding up too well. I’ve been for some scans and got told they didn’t look promising. They’re talking about dialysis being on the cards. So that’s fun.’

Pepper nodded. She felt it again – that familiar tightening in her chest as helplessness clamped down on her heart. Her fingers instinctively travelled to the gold locket around her neck.

Claire smirked. ‘You still wear that thing?’

Pepper unclasped it and handed it over. ‘Of course I do. Keeps you close.’

Claire popped it open and smiled softly at the photo of two young girls inside, angling it under the sterile light, drifting a thumb over its surface. Another two photos slipped away. An elderly woman in a chair. A middle-aged woman with tangled hair on a beach trying to keep the sun from her eyes. ‘God, look at us. I look like a marshmallow.’

‘You look like my whole world.’

Claire glanced up, eyes wet.

‘It was hard then. It shouldn’t be hard now. Not like this, Peps.’ she whispered. ‘You shouldn’t have to—’

‘You always did,’ Pepper interrupted. ‘When Mum passed. And Gran died. You didn’t give up on us. So now it’s my turn. That’s how this works.’

‘And how are you holding up?’

‘Truthfully? Not very well . . . not, uh . . .’ Pepper blinked tears back unsuccessfully, ‘not well at all. But I’ll cope. You did.’

Claire reached out weakly, and their hands met in the middle of the bed.

Laik strode into the lobby of Leroux Tower, brushing drizzle from his hair, thankful that the rain had managed to wash splatters of blood from his jacket. He flashed his security card at the scanner and went on through the turnstile, nodding to a colleague who, even at this time of night, stood attentive. The others had decided to hit the Kingfisher, but he had other, more pressing things to do than drink and deafen himself in a bar like that. He jabbed at the lift button for up and tapped his foot until the doors opened. As he stepped inside, he saw Pepper dart within and turn her back to him. He couldn’t help but notice in the reflection of the lift’s metal panelling, her eyes were red and her mouth stuck in a deep frown.

‘Everything alright?’ he tentatively asked.

Pepper furiously nodded, straightening herself and dabbing her nose with a coat sleeve.

And rather than press the matter, Laik stood there in silence, watching the floor numbers rise until the doors slid apart. The hush remained, interrupted only by the tapping of rubber on marble flooring. She walked ahead, not much, just enough to avoid the burden of shared glances and small talk. Laik followed. They reached the same door, Pepper first.

Laik hesitated for a breath, watching her frisk herself for her keycard a little too fast, like she didn’t want to give herself the chance to think. She began rummaging through the same pockets again, impatiently now, which was when Laik decided to lean over and place his own card on the electronic lock.

A muted click. A green light. For a moment he felt that she was going to say something as her head twitched ever so slightly in his direction until she took the handle and vanished inside their flat.

He lingered in the hallway a moment longer to give her space, fighting a question he didn’t quite have the nerve to ask.

Then, with a tired breath, he stepped inside and shut out the rest of the world.