Diamond Eyes - 1. Chapter 1

Three days before his eighteenth birthday, Vanus Kaufman woke up to Sister Alysious’s matronly passage coming down the corridor; in a moment this would be followed by the sharp rap of her knuckles on the door. Soon I won’t have to hear this anymore, he told himself. In three days, wherever I am, I’ll be able to sleep as long as I want.

He shifted, pulling his feet back beneath the covers. He hugged himself, shivering. He was about to drift back into sleep when the door opened and Alysious said, “Up and at ‘em, Kaufman. And be quick about it. We have much to discuss, so don’t dilly dally.”

Vanus sat up and glared at her mistrustfully. Already she had left the room to bark orders at someone else. He rose lazily to his feet, ignoring the chill that turned his toes to ice. Outside the wind whipped and howled, making the windowpanes rattle in their dusty frames. Beyond the wrought iron gate that guarded the perimeter of the orphanage, he watched the people of Vaylin pass by. He felt like a visitor at a museum, glimpsing a sliver of their lives while they remained completely unaware of him. Soon I’ll be walking those same streets, he thought. I won’t be Vanus Kaufman the orphan anymore. I’ll build myself anew and do whatever I please.

“Hey, birthday boy.”

Jill grinned mischievously at him from the doorway. She held a tiny square-shaped parcel in her hand. She’d wrapped it in blue floral paper. Paper wasn’t cheap, especially when there were designs on it. “My birthday isn’t for another three days,” he reminded her.

“I know.” He could tell from the rosy tint of her cheeks, Jill was nervous. But then so was he. He tried to make his shoulders relax, remembering the year she’d given him a pet snail for his birthday. He had to remind himself they’d been children back then and the package she had now didn’t look big enough to contain anything living. Unable to contain her excitement any longer, Jill sprung across the room to him. She thrust the present at him. Now that he held it in his hands, Vanus could see how carefully Jill had wrapped the gift. She’d always been the thoughtful, patient one.

“I promise it’s not a snail.” Jill’s foot tapped anxiously against a loose floorboard.

He tried to do things different, carefully peeling back the pieces of tape. Taking his time, savoring the moment. This paper must have cost more than a copper or two. He ran the pads of his fingers along the gift’s smooth surface.

He opened the case. Inside was a harmonica. He looked up, speechless. His violet eyes glowed with excitement, absorbing the light in the room.

“That’s the one you were eyeing in the shop on the corner, isn’t it?” Jill asked.

“It is.”

“You’ve always been good with music, and I know you wanted this. I realize you could swipe it from under the owner’s nose without him ever realizing it’s gone, but I thought I’d get it for you instead.”

Vanus turned the harmonica over in his hands. The small, intricate instrument felt cool, yet solid to the touch. He had thought about stealing it, and yes it would have been easy to do. Making things disappear out of thin air was one of his specialties. He tried to think of something to say, but all he felt was a strange sort of guilt. “You didn’t have to get this for me. It couldn’t have been cheap.”

“I was able to save up extra coppers this week by helping in the kitchen after dinner.” She gave his hair an affectionate tug. “So don’t worry your pretty head about it.”

He held the harmonica up to his lips and blew into one of the holes. The instrument made a soft humming sound that filled the room. When he turned to her, he was smiling. “Thank you. I love it.” Then he leaned in and hugged her.

Jill froze. This was a rare moment: Vanus hated to be touched. Not for the first time he wondered how their friendship was possible; surely two people could not be more different from one another in appearance and personality. Where Jill was dark-haired and dark-eyed, both Van’s skin and hair was an unnatural shade of white. All the color he possessed were in his startling violet eyes; diamond eyes they were called. People either couldn’t look directly into them, or couldn’t look away.

“I’m going to miss you.” Jill said in a shaky voice.

“There’s still three days left.”

“Three days isn’t a very long time.” Jill sniffled.

Vanus rolled his eyes. He hated it when Jill started crying. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She glared at him. “daemon’s balls you aren’t. You’d be cracked to stay in this stinkin’ city. You could go anywhere. Anywhere in the world.”

He shook his head stubbornly. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Jill chuckled. She wiped at her face with her hands. “C’mon you little shit. Let’s go get some breakfast.”

Only three more days, Vanus reminded himself as he followed Jill through the icy hallways of the orphanage that always smelled strongly of cabbage. Today is the last day I’ll have to eat the same bowl of lukewarm porridge. Will I miss any of it? Vanus didn’t think he would.

They sat across from each other at a rickety wooden table. Soon Vanus lost all interest in his breakfast and became more interested in making his spoon spin through the air. He eyed it intently, his hands resting on the table. The spoon spun so rapidly it was almost a blur. He could feel eyes watching him with suspicion and fascination. He thought he heard one of the younger orphans whisper, "Diamond eyes."

One of the people who watched him was Jill. She hadn't touched her porridge.

“What’s the matter?” he asked her. The moment he pulled his attention away from the spoon, it fell to the table with a noisy clatter that made one of the nuns glare at him in warning. He leaned forward, hunching his shoulders so that only Jill could hear him, a habit borne from years of avoiding eavesdroppers.

“I don’t think I can.”

“Why not?”

“I keep thinking about what happened to Hansel.”

Vanus sighed, shifting on the bench. He knew where this was going but decided to indulge her. “What about him?”

“It was on the front page of the Vaylin Chronicle! You really should stay more uptodate with the way things are around the city, Van. They found Hansel in an alleyway, said he’d been attacked by maulers. They left behind nothing but bones.” Jill shuddered with revulsion. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to be devoured by those things, or getting infected by their bites and turning into one…”

“So don’t,” said Vanus. “And don’t think about me turning into one either, because it won’t happen.”

“How can you say that with such confidence? The mauler plague is getting worse. You don’t have a proper coat, or food for money. How are you going to survive?”

“What I’ve always done. Steal, gamble, stuff like that.”

“What kind of life is that?”

“It’s certainly better than Hansel's.”

Jill’s jaw dropped open. “What an awful thing to say, Van! You are rotten right down to your very core.”

Vanus looked away. I will make it on the streets because I was made for them. I am a survivor and a fighter. Hansel was neither of those things. Still the resounding echo of Jill's words repeated in his mind: You are rotten right down to your very core.

Jill pulled a necklace from the pocket of her dress. A charm in the shape of a burning torch hung from the chain. “I know you don’t believe in such things, but will you pray with me?” she asked in a small voice.

Van’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “Will it get you to stop your incessant whining?”

Jill batted her eyelashes innocently at him. "For a few moments at least."

"Thank the heavens. Let's get it over with, then."

They reached across the table to clutch hands. In her other hand, Jill held the necklace. Each link was in the shape of the Seraphim, the great Watchers. Jill began to pray, her head bowed, and her eyes closed in supplication. Van looked away, blushing, but did not pull his fingers from hers.

“To the Seraphim, we raise our heads to you in acknowledgement of your wisdom and benevolence: Emmanuel, the Angel of Creation; Gabriel, the Angel of Judgement; Phanuel, the Angel of Truth…”

And so Jill continued through all the names of the Seraphim, praying on Van’s behalf. Vanus didn’t know whether to be touched or irritated. When she lifted her head at last, some of the color had returned to Jill’s face. “Now I can eat something.”

“I never thought I would see the day when Vanus Kaufmann bows his head in prayer,” Sister Alysious said from over his shoulder. “Usually, I am not one for interrupting prayer, but as I said, Vanus, there are matters of importance we must discuss.”

Jill rose to her feet, banging her knee against the table. She bowed her head hastily. “He’s not in trouble, is he, Sister?”

“You can relax, Jill. I can assure you Vanus is not in any form of trouble…this time. Come, Vanus.” And with that the nun turned to leave the dining hall. Vanus had no choice but to follow. If he wasn’t his trouble then why did they have to speak in privacy, and why did Alysious look so harried?

It wasn’t until they stood outside her office door that she turned to him. There were dark bags beneath her eyes; the wrinkles around her mouth sagged.

“There is an important man here to see you from the Imperium. He is a lawyer, a very well-dressed man. You are to treat him with respect, do you understand?” She spoke the words faster than he could keep up with them. A lawyer? From the Imperium. Why would a lawyer from the Imperium want to see a nobody like him? This was turning out to be a very strange day, indeed.

"Why does he want to see me?"

"It seems a relative of yours has passed on recently. It was in the papers. Perhaps you've heard of him…Lord Charlie Kaufman?"

"I don't read the newspaper." Vanus fought to keep the growing panic out of his voice. "I don’t understand. You've always told me I didn't have any family."

Invisible hooks tugged at the corners of her mouth, making Alysious seem older than ever. More human than ever. "I thought so, too. It seems I was wrong."