by Amy Cross
***
“Maybe I'm wrong,” Kate said as she sat and stared at the photo on Alice's phone. “I only got a brief glimpse of her, and it was misty, so...”
Her voice trailed off as she tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Despite everything she had just told Alice, she knew deep down that the face on the phone was the same face she'd seen a few hours earlier at the beach. She just couldn't work out how to explain the connection, although she was certain that there had to be a rational explanation if she could just see it from a different angle.
“Just because they went missing,” she continued eventually, “that doesn't mean they necessarily died.”
“Karya and Elizabeth went swimming that day without me,” Alice explained. “I was supposed to be with them, but I was sick so my parents made me stay at home. Karya and Elizabeth ended up going alone, so no-one really knows what happened. When they didn't return home that evening, a search party was sent out, but there was no sign of them. Their...” She paused, as the trauma of remembering the incident threatened to overwhelm her. “Their clothes were found on the beach, and there were two sets of footprints heading across the sand and into the water, but no sets coming back out. You've seen the western point. There's no other way they could have got out of the water, and if they'd swum around to the next beach, they'd have returned for their clothes.”
Kate took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.
“It was obvious that they'd drowned,” Alice continued. “The weather was good that day, but they must have somehow got into difficulty. Divers came from the mainland, but with the currents... It was quickly accepted that there was no chance of their bodies washing up. They must have been swept out to sea. Karya was a good swimmer, but Elizabeth was quite inexperienced. Whatever happened to them, it was the darkest day on Thaxos since the age of the Le Comptes. The whole island went into mourning. The three of us used to be inseparable. I swear, that day was the first time for years when we hadn't been playing together. I always wonder what might have happened if I hadn't been sick. Would I have disappeared with them, or would I have been able to help them, or would I have just had to watch them drown? Sometimes I dream about the way things could have played out.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“It was the first time I really had to face the reality of death,” she explained. “My friends were gone. They were the only real friends I ever had. Thaxos doesn't have a large population, so in every new generation there weren't so many people. To have two young girls lost like that was a huge blow. Karya's sister took it so hard, she ended up having a breakdown, and Elizabeth's parents just seemed to lose the will to live. I had to be brave, but I don't think a day has gone by when I haven't thought about them, and when I haven't wondered what life would have been like if only they'd survived.”
“Okay,” Kate said finally. “Let's start with what we know. The facts. These girls disappeared while they were swimming off the western point beach. Correct?”
Alice nodded.
“And that was more than a decade ago. They'd be young women by now, they'd be the same age as you.”
Again, Alice nodded.
“And this face... This is the face I saw, I'm sure of it. Not an older version, but that exact face. Almost as if time had frozen and she'd never aged at all. Which is impossible, obviously.”
She paused.
“And we also know that ghosts don't exist.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“Do we?” Alice asked finally.
“Of course we do.” Kate paused, before turning to her. “You don't actually believe in things like that, do you?”
“I...”
“Come on, please,” Kate continued, her voice betraying a hint of irritation. “Ghosts are just a stupid fairytale, like dragons or unicorns. If they existed, there'd be evidence. It's not as if people haven't tried to prove they're real in the past. The world has no shortage of idiots running around with cameras and microphones, and none of them ever found even a scrap of proof. I'm pretty sure we can safely strike ghosts off the list of possibilities.”
She smiled, but it was clear that Alice didn't agree.
“It's the only thing that makes sense,” Alice said cautiously.
“No, it doesn't make sense,” Kate told her. “We have the basic facts. We have to build on those, and we have to make sure that we don't allow foolish superstitions to get in the way. Easy answers won't help here. I understand why it's tempting to go for something unscientific, something that gives us all a bit of a thrill, but there's no intellectual value to that kind of approach. We have to stick to cold, hard reality, even if it's not as exciting, even if it doesn't reassure us.”
“Have you never seen anything like this before?” Alice asked.
“You mean ghosts?”
“You've been here on Thaxos for a while now, Kate. Surely... Hasn't this place opened your mind to different possibilities?”
“I'll admit that Thaxos is unusual,” Kate replied, “and some strange things have happened, but every one of those things turned out to have an explanation that's rooted in science and reality. There's no way I'm going to believe in ghosts.”
“But if you saw Karya -”
“I didn't see Karya,” Kate countered. “Clearly that's not what happened. I saw a girl, yes, and she looked a lot like your friend, but we can discount any explanation that relies on ghosts or ghouls or any other kind of superstitious nonsense. I'm a historian, Alice, which makes me almost a kind of scientist. I believe in things I can see and touch.” She grabbed a pile of documents from the desk and held them up. “I believe in facts,” she continued, “not whimsy.”
“You think I'm stupid for believing that such things are possible?” Alice asked.
“No, not stupid, just...” She paused. “I'm not denying you the right to believe in whatever you want. I'm just saying that I can't do the same. For me, there has to be a rational explanation for all of this.”
“But that's what I'm trying to say,” Alice replied. “What if ghosts are the rational explanation?”
IV
“This is a hell of a lot of caviar,” Didi muttered, taking a jar out of the fridge in one of the mansion's many storage rooms. “For a guy who doesn't even like the stuff, anyway.”
Opening the jar, she found that it was almost empty.
“Especially,” she added, “for a guy who hates caviar, and who lives with a girl who hates caviar.”
Hearing a noise nearby, she turned to find that Jacob had entered the room.
“Hey, Jake,” she said with a forced smile, as she put the jar away. “Just nosing about, you know?”
“Very good, M'am,” the old man replied skeptically.
“So Eddie's got a lot of caviar, huh?” she continued. “Is that what he keeps importing on that big old black boat of his?”
“Among other items, M'am.”
“There's a lotta fine stuff in here,” Didi added, making her way over to a set of shelves that contained several boxes of fine Belgian chocolate. “Chocolates, truffles, champagne... It's like Eddie's gathering the most expensive food from all around the world.” She examined some of the boxes, before turning to Jacob. “Here's the weird thing, though,” she added. “We never eat any of this stuff, do we?”
“I couldn't say, M'am.”
“He's getting through it,” she continued, “but not when anyone else is around. And I'm pretty sure he's not eating it all himself, 'cause that fine body of his doesn't come from gorging on chocolate every night, so...” She paused, running through all the possibilities in her mind before realizing that nothing quite made sense. “How long have you been working for Eddie, Jake?”
“A very long time, M'am.”
“How long?”
“Many years.”
“Not gonna give me a straight answer, huh?”
“I am sure His Lordship could tell you,” Jacob replied, his features still calm and
flat. “I do not keep track of such things. I busy myself with the life of the house, and with the task of ensuring that everything runs smoothly.”
“But what was your life like before you signed up?”
“I come from a very humble background. I would not like to bore you with the details.”
“Huh.”
Making her way around the room, Didi circled Jacob, scrutinizing him from all angles. In all the time she'd been with Edgar, Jacob had been a constant presence, but this was the first time she'd really begun to wonder about the old man: who he was, where he came from, and why he seemed so content to spend his life serving one master. Stopping by the door, Didi continued to stare at him for a few seconds.
“What's your surname?” she asked eventually.
“Smith.”
“Where were you born?”
“London.”
“Got any family?”
“No.”
“Huh.” She paused. “That's a whole lotta bland answers there, almost like you're trying to say whatever causes the least amount of interest. Did you even have a life before you came to work for Edgar?”
“I prefer to dedicate myself whole-heartedly to my current life,” Jacob replied, “and spend as little time as possible thinking about earlier days.”
“So there's no-one out there waiting for you?” She paused. “You've got no life of your own, have you? You exist purely to service Edgar's every need.”
“I value my employment highly.”
“Creepy,” Didi replied. “So I guess... If you knew any of Edgar's secrets, you'd keep 'em to yourself, wouldn't you? You're a loyal kinda chap, am I right? Not the kind to have a few too many brandies one night and start spilling the beans?”
“Any confidences that are passed to me,” Jacob said calmly, “are kept very much to myself.”
“But you know who James Nixon is, yeah?”
“I had the pleasure of -”
“Alright, alright,” she added dismissively. “I get the picture. I'm just...” Pausing again, she realized that there was no way Jacob was going to tell her anything of use, and he'd most likely simply go to Edgar and inform him that she'd been snooping around. “I was just sticking my nose in,” she continued, “that's all. A girl kinda gets bored knocking around the place like this, you know?”
“Absolutely, M'am.”
“I guess I'm just wondering where the caviar goes.”
“I couldn't say, M'am.”
“And the chocolate.”
“I couldn't say, M'am.”
“And all that champagne,” she added, “'cause we sure as hell don't drink it all. It's almost like Eddie's got some whole other party going on just out of sight.”
“I -”
“I know, I know,” she added, interrupting him. “You couldn't say, M'am. I guess I'll just have to be in the dark, won't I?”
Making her way out of the room, she turned and looked back at Jacob.
“Lock up after me, yeah? I wouldn't want Eddie to know that I've been snooping around.”
Hurrying along the corridor, she eventually stopped in the main hall and paused to catch her breath. She was convinced that Edgar was up to something, and she couldn't work out where all the extra food and drink was being used. A part of her worried that he was wining and dining Kate Langley in secret, but somehow that idea didn't quite seem to hold weight. He was up to something else, something he didn't want anyone else to know about, and that thought only made her more determine than ever to get to the truth.
V
“What's wrong?” Marcus asked, as the picture fizzled for a moment with static. “You seem stressed.”
“It's nothing,” Kate replied, sitting on her bed with her laptop balanced on her knees. “It's just been a difficult day, that's all. I'm surprised I even managed to get hold of you. The internet connection around these parts tends to be pretty hairy at the best of times.”
“What do you expect when you're out there in the middle of nowhere? How much longer are you going to stay on Thaxos? You've worn so many different hats in the past few years. Art historian, art curator, historical researcher, archivist... Don't you think it's time for you to pick one and stick with it? I've told you before, there's always a position for you here at the university.”
“I just need to stay until I'm...” She paused as she realized that she didn't want to admit that she'd had health problems. “Just until I've finished the work I'm involved with at the moment. It's a big job.”
“I looked at the scans and photos you sent me,” Marcus continued. “I've been the head of the European History department here for more than forty years, and I've never quite seen anything like it. Kate, before we go any further, I need to ask you one important question. Please don't be offended, I'm not slighting your abilities, but... Is there any chance that this is all a big misunderstanding?”
“No chance at all,” she told him. “I wouldn't trouble you, Marcus, if I wasn't certain that what I've found is real. I know your time is valuable.”
“Indeed,” he replied. “Well, all things considered, this might well be one of the most significant discoveries of the past century. But I imagine you already know that.”
“I need a second opinion. That's why I got in touch.”
“The pictures you sent clearly show some kind of worship site,” he continued. “As you suggested in your email, that underground chamber contains an altar as well as carvings that seem to depict some kind of myth or legend. And the text carved into the wood... It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. The whole thing is quite remarkable. If I didn't have so many commitments here, I'd be tempted to jump on a flight and join you down there.”
“I was hoping you might be able to link it to some other language. My knowledge isn't as thorough as yours.”
“I've been trying all morning,” Marcus told her, “but I'm at a loss. I never thought that a completely independent language could have been lurking in the mists of history, but that's what we seem to have on our hands. Even with those few possible translations you sent, I'm struggling to understand even the most basic elements of how this language was constructed. It's almost not...”
Kate waited for him to finish.
“Not what?” she asked finally.
“If I was a melodramatic man,” he replied, “I'd be tempted to say that it seems as if it's not human. But...” He sighed. “Obviously it is human, so we're left to look for hints and clues. There has to be something we're missing. Obviously I'll keep this all under my hat, Kate. It's your discovery, after all. Nevertheless, I'm going to discretely share some of the images with a few colleagues. Maybe someone will notice something that the two of us have missed.”
“Do you really think it's possible?” she asked. “Could a culture, maybe even an entire civilization, have kept itself hidden for the duration of its existence?”
“Anything's possible,” Marcus told her, “even if something like this seems highly unlikely. To be honest, Kate, there are no obvious gaps where any significant culture could have hidden. Would other civilizations not have noticed them? Even out there on Thaxos, they'd have had to mix with Greek culture and God knows who else.” He paused, as if he was genuinely stumped. “The only other possibility I can think of is that...”
He paused again.
“Now hear me out,” he continued. “What if this mysterious civilization of yours does appear in the history books after all?”
“But they don't.”
“But what if they do?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if they're in the books, but we've dismissed them as fantasy?”
Kate shifted her position on the bed a little.
“There are examples of stories,” Marcus continued, “that we've always felt to be myths. The Amazons of South America, for example, or the Star Druids of Ireland. They seemed too fantastical to be real, so we always felt that other people made them up, albeit based on certain fact-based extrapola
tions. But what if that's what has happened here? What if there's some group of people who have been mentioned in history but dismissed as fiction, but they were real?”
“Such as?”
“Judging by the photos,” he replied, “and by the location of Thaxos, there's nothing that really jumps out at me. I mean, you're not a million miles from North Africa, and there are the legends of the Roaming Gods. Or if you want to get really out there into the realms of fantasy, look north to the region around Romania, where the vampire legend was born.”
“You think vampires built that chamber?” Kate asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
“Of course not. Vampires most assuredly aren't real, but there might have been a group of people who inspired the vampire legend, beyond the groups we already know about.” Marcus paused again. “Strip away all the modern gloss, all the Dracula and Twilight stuff, and go back to the real root of the vampire figure in mythology, and what do you have? Medieval history is rife with tales of vampire-like creatures. Much of it was undoubtedly superstitious nonsense, but what if there was a kernel of truth? And what if that kernel is somehow linked to what you've found?”
He leaned off-screen for a moment, before holding up a piece of paper.
“There was one image you sent me that reminded me of something,” he continued. “A colleague was excavating in some catacombs beneath New York a few years ago, and he found a chamber that contained certain unexplained markings. A few of them could potentially linked to what you've found, in particular this one.” He held the piece of paper closer to the camera. “Could that be half of the word Gothos?”
Kate peered more closely.
“Maybe,” she muttered after a moment. “But these catacombs in New York... I've never heard of them.”
“No-one thought they were very significant,” Marcus replied, putting the piece of paper down. “Perhaps they weren't, and perhaps I'm reaching too far, but it's the only thread I can think of right now. I'll run some of these images past him and see what he thinks, but those catacombs in New York seemed to be linked to some kind of vampire cult.”
“You're forgetting one thing,” she replied. “Vampires aren't real. They can't be.”
“Remember to keep an open mind, Kate.”
“I always have an open mind.”
“Even when it comes to things that you've already written off? Remember, every truly great discovery required people to change the way they think about things. It's good to have beliefs, but try to allow some elasticity in your thinking. Even if something seems absolutely unlikely, don't write it off completely.”
“Vampires aren't real,” she pointed out again.
“No, not in the supernatural sense, but the myth could be rooted in reality. And anyway, at my age, I try to avoid certainties wherever possible. We should never forget that there might be things we don't know.”
Kate forced a smile, but she felt that the conversation was getting off-track.
“I'll be in touch in a day or two,” Marcus continued. “I always knew that you'd come up with something interesting one day, Kate, but I never thought that anything like this could be out there, waiting to be discovered. If you're right about what you've found so far, we might have to rewrite the history books. Of course, I'm happy to help in any way that you wish, so just let me know.”
Once the call was over, Kate closed her laptop and sat back on the bed. Doctor Marcus Crowther was one of the most respected men in the field, and someone she looked up to almost as a hero. It was a huge shock to hear him even entertain the idea of a civilization with links to the vampire myth, but she wasn't ready to venture quite so far from conventional wisdom. At the same time, she felt that she was on the verge of something truly new and interesting, and she figured she should at least try to follow his advice.
Opening her laptop again, she began to search for information about ancient European vampire cults. Before she could get very far, however, there was a knock at her door. When she headed over to answer, she found Jacob waiting outside.
“I'm sorry to disturb you,” he said with a faint, courteous smile, “but Baron Le Compte has requested the honor of your company for dinner tonight.”
“I...” Kate paused, taken aback by the suggestion. “I'm not sure if -”
“It will be just the two of you,” Jacob continued, “and he is most keen. He instructed me to inform you that he will not take no for an answer.”
“Really?” Kate replied, not sure whether to be impressed or irritated. “Fine. I guess I can't decline, can I? What time?”
VI
“What's a girl like you doing in a nice place like this?”
Looking up from her drink, on a stool in the corner of the cantina, Didi was shocked to see the smiling face of Doctor Young. She instinctively got up to leave, but he put a hand on her arm and held her in place.
“Sit, please,” he continued, gesturing to the barman for two new drinks. “I'm sure you believe I tracked you down on purpose, but the truth is, I just popped by for a drink after work and I happened to spot you.” He took a seat next to her. “Not everything has to be the result of some big conspiracy, Charlotte.”
“Didi,” she hissed. “It's not in your interest if you blow my cover, is it?”
“Of course not. Then again, maybe it'd be good to stir things up. I'm worried that the situation is becoming stagnant.”
He paused as the barman brought two drinks over. The glasses were set down, along with napkins, and all the while Doctor Young merely contented himself with a smile until the barman walked away to serve another customer.
“I'm making progress,” Didi said eventually. “I told you right at the start, this isn't an easy task.”
“Of course it's not easy,” Doctor Young replied. “Edgar Le Compte is a complicated man. I'm not sure he's ever really let another person under his skin.” Picking up his glass, he held it out toward Didi. “Cheers! To complicated men!”
“I'm starting to prefer simple men,” she replied, clinking her glass against his before taking a big gulp. “So why don't you tell me the truth?” she continued. “Why are you and your friends really so goddamn interested in what happened to James Nixon?”
“Mr. Nixon was a powerful man,” Doctor Young pointed out. “A lot of money was riding on his projects, and when money is involved, I'm afraid the stakes are very high. If Edgar did anything to jeopardize that money, then he picked the wrong fight. Even a man like Edgar can be brought down if he makes the right enemies.” He took another sip of whiskey. “Why else would he have retreated to Thaxos?”
“Retreated?”
“Edgar knows he's overstepped the mark. He knows he shouldn't have moved against Nixon, but he did it anyway and now he has to pay the price. Thaxos is his home, it's the place where he feels safe. He thinks his enemies can't reach him here, but he's wrong.”
“Edgar's not scared of anything,” Didi told him. “I can promise you that right now.”
“He just hides it well.”
She shook her head.
“Everyone is scared,” Doctor Young continued. “The more a man tries to hide it, the more you can be certain that his soul is being eaten away from the inside. Assuming he has a soul, of course.”
“Edgar's got a whole load of fine food in one of his storage rooms,” Didi replied, “and it's getting eaten, but I don't know who's eating it.”
“Is that all you've got to go on? Someone's having midnight snacks and you don't know who?”
“It's more than that,” she continued. “Something's going on up at that mansion. Something behind the scenes, something Edgar doesn't want anyone to know about. I'm pretty sure that creepy old manservant of his is involved somehow, but...” She paused. “We share the same goal, right? We both want to get to the truth. So in the spirit of that endeavor, I need you to do something for me.”
“I'm paying you very well.”
“I need you to remove an obstacle.”
“Go on.”
“Kate Langley,” Didi continued. “She's a problem.”
“Edgar seems quite attached to her.”
“Oh, he's attached to her, alright. In fact, I'm worried he's falling in love.”
“He's incapable of love.”
“You don't know that.”
“I do,” Doctor Young replied. “Trust me, Baron Edgar Le Compte couldn't love anyone, even if he tried. Not a woman, not a child... His heart is cold and dead.”
“Whatever, she's a problem. He spends too much time with her. If you want me to get closer to him and find out the truth, I need you to...” She paused as she realized that she might be going too far; after a moment, however, she figured that she had no choice. “Get rid of her,” she added finally. “I don't care how, but get her away from here.”
“Are you feeling threatened?”
“By her?”
“You've got the hot little body,” he continued, “and the fake breasts and the moves in bed. You were specifically designed to appeal to Edgar, but could it be that he prefers another type? Ms. Langley is attractive in her own way, but it's hard to believe that a man like Edgar would choose her over you. Unless he actually values intelligence and conversation over more material pleasures.”
“Get rid of her,” Didi said again. “I'm not kidding. She's making things ten times harder for me!”
“Then work ten times harder to stop her!”
“And that Alice girl too,” she continued. “The house is filling up and I don't like it. I need it to be just Edgar and me, rattling around. That's how I'm going to get closer to him.”
“What exactly do you expect me to do with Ms. Langley?” he asked. “Knock her on the side of the head and dump her into the sea?”
“I'm not saying you should kill her!” Didi replied. “Jesus, are you -”
Pausing, she realized that he was serious. Staring at Doctor Young, she began to understand that she was dealing with someone who saw no moral limits. Until this point, she'd told herself that she was mixing with people who at least had a shred of honor, but now a shiver passed through her body as she understood the truth: if Doctor Young was willing to consider killing Kate Langley, then he'd be willing to consider killing other people too.
“Follow me,” he said suddenly, finishing his whiskey and getting to his feet. “I want to show you something.”
“What?”
“Just follow me,” he continued, with a faint smile. “We're going to one of the back rooms.”
“Fine,” she muttered, downing the rest of her whiskey before climbing off the stool. “I'm telling you, though. You've got to get Kate Langley outta my way. She's causing problems.”
“Don't worry about Ms. Langley,” he replied as they headed to the rear of the cantina. “One way or another, I can promise you that she'll be dealt with before too long. You have to learn to separate things into short-term problems and long-term problems, and I can assure you that Kate Langley is only a short-term problem.”