The figure, standing still up to that moment, turned around and began to walk towards the blue light. Seeing no other option, she followed.
She hadn’t gone far before the rank odor of rotten meat invaded her nostrils. She was trying to keep her eyes on the figure ahead of her when she stepped on something spongy. Afraid to look down, she kept walking. Before long, she was walking on a soft, lumpy surface. Her foot slipped into a depression and nearly turned her ankle as she heard a groan float up from the ground where she had stepped. She looked down and to her horror she was walking on a trail of wounded and dying bodies.
“No.” She began to shake as fear crept into her spine. The bodies wove together in a single mass of limbs, trunks, and faces. Like the skin of some great, heaving, alien beast. Some of the faces stared at her through lidless eyes. Others stared at nothing.
She heard another groan and something brushed weakly at her ankle. She glanced down in time to see a hand grab at her pant leg. She ripped her leg away but more hands were coming out from between the crevasses in between the bodies. They began to feel around, searching for her. With a squeal of fright, she ran.
The figure moving towards the light was even farther away now. But she ran towards it. “Help!” She yelled. The hands were reaching further for her as she stumbled over the bodies. The figure in the distance stopped walking and turned to face her.
She heard a voice, or rather, felt a voice in her head. Find him, Julia.
“Find who?” She kept running. The bodies in front of her began to dip and rise, undulating like an ocean tide.
Find the Golem. Before he succeeds.
“How do I find him?” Suddenly the ground swelled and came up to meet her. She lost her footing and stumbled, rolled, and got to her feet. But two hands had her ankles in a death grip. They pulled down and she began to sink. She screamed as more hands came from below and latched onto her. She tried to wrestle her legs free and only sank that much further into the mass of decaying humanity. “Help me!” She pleaded with the figure in the distance but it just stood there.
Find him.
“I don’t know how to find the Golem!” She had sunk up to her chest and still more hands reached for her.
No, find him.
“Find who!” More hands pawed at her shoulders and her face, pulled at her hair. As one large hand clamped over her mouth and nose she thought she heard a whisper of a name. She struggled to breathe then sat up in bed with a great inhale.
She was drenched in sweat. Sylvia was quickly at her side.
“Sylvia, what was it?” Avery asked.
The concern on her face was apparent. “It was obscure again, but I think we might be getting somewhere.”
Avery cocked one eyebrow. “Oh?”
Sylvia nodded to him. To Julia, “You okay?”
Julia answered her with a sheepish nod. “There was a person, or something…” she proceeded, “walking towards a light. The light was some raw, awesome power. Like a sun. The figure walked on a sea of bodies. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them. And something spoke in my head. It told me to find the Golem. To stop him.”
Ledge and Avery both leaned forward at the name. A smile opened on Avery’s face. Now things are getting interesting. He thought. “Did you see a face?” He asked.
“No.” Julia answered. “It was too far away.” She looked up at Sylvia. “Who’s the Golem?” For a moment, the vampires seemed to have forgotten she was in the room. “Well?” Julia asked in frustration. “What does it mean?”
Avery looked to Ledge. “Professor? This is your area.”
Ledge cocked his head and considered as if trying to remember all the facts before he spoke. “The Golem is old, so very old. Some say he exists only in myth. He’s called the Golem because it is said he has lived so long that his skin has turned to marble, nearly impervious to the sun. Some of us believe him to be nothing more than an urban legend.” He shot a sideways glance at Avery who smiled.
“But you disagree?” Julia asked.
Ledge nodded. “I’ve studied much of our documentation and though it leaves discrepancies in the data, the history regarding the Golem seems to coincide well with most of the claims. I’m sure some of it is puffery and conjecture and possibly a little bit of fear, but it makes sense.”
“Why? What was he after?” She asked.
“Original blood.”
Sylvia clucked her tongue as she recalled the old saying. “I remember. Original blood, shall dwell in some, and give the strength to walk in the sun.”
Ledge nodded again. “Original blood has been a long sought-after piece of vampire lore. We’re not sure how far back the virus can be tracked. There are records of vampire-like creatures all the way back to ancient Mesopotamian art. Most think the virus can be traced even farther back than that. Possibly all the way to the blood of Adam.”
“Do you believe in Adam and Eve, Ledge?” Julia asked him.
“I’d like to believe in a higher power, but the things I’ve seen…” Ledge trailed off and shook his head as if trying to forget. After a moment, he continued. “The Bible says that we can’t see good without evil, that we can’t see the stars without the dark backdrop of night, that shadows can’t exist without the light. I think that original blood must be some type of virus in itself. Something that counteracts some of the negative effects of the virus that creates vampires.”
“An anti-virus?” Julia asked.
“Not exactly. Possibly, but no. The strength of the virus is that it mutates very quickly. Like Natural Selection on steroids. I think original blood is a catalyst, if you will. A virus that causes the vampire virus to mutate into something stronger. Something that limits the effect the sun has on the host.”
“So original blood contains a virus that allows vampires to go out into the sun again?” Julia asked. “Things are bad enough already! You’re talking about hell unleashed upon Earth! At least with vampires in hiding during the day we have a fighting chance. But if they are loose all the time?” She trailed off, shaking her head.
“That’s what I think this insurrection is all about. I think the Golem has set his final plan in motion. I think he’s located original blood.”
“But why would he want original blood if he can already stand sunlight?” Julia asked.
“It’s not for him.” Sylvia added in an ominous tone. “It’s for his army.”
Ledge nodded. “And every night they add more to their numbers. And when the time is right, he’ll grant them all original blood and they’ll walk in the sun again. A living army of bloodthirsty super beings. The ultimate predators unleashed on humanity.”
Avery stood up from his chair. “You can’t be serious! You think the Golem orchestrated all this? All of it? One man? It’s impossible. So much influence, so many ways the plan could fail.”
“But think of how long he’s had to plan, Avery. If he’s as old as they say, he’s had centuries.”
Julia spoke again. “I don’t understand. If he started this rebellion, for lack of a better term, what kept this from happening all the while? Why haven’t vampires done this all through the ages?”
Avery sighed. “We have limited ourselves, Julia. Though our strengths are great, our weaknesses are greater. And we are vastly outnumbered by man. We know that to reveal ourselves to man would mean our extermination. We have spent our lives in secret, trying not to draw too much attention from men lest we be sought out and destroyed. There have been instances of groups of vampires trying to mount large-scale fighting forces, always to be put down by humans or fellow vampires. We know the key to our existence is to remain secret. But this rebellion, this just may work. It’s being fought on such a grand scale that man might not have time to learn enough about us before the odds are tipped permanently in favor of vampires.”
“But to what end? Even if they succeed in taking over, they’ll eventually wipe out their food source. What good would that do them?” Julia wondered.
“I fea
r that we may not live long enough to hear the answer to that question.” Ledge added. “More than likely, they will allow a small contingency of humans to exist in a farm-like capacity, being bred as food for later generations.”
Julia almost gagged as she felt her ire rise and her face flush with anger. “That would never last. We wouldn’t allow ourselves to exist like sheep or cattle to be slaughtered at will, just waiting to be eaten.” She slapped her fist into her open palm.
“I agree, Julia, which leads us back to your previous question. The Golem can’t think that this plan could possibly work. So, what is his true intention?”
For a time, they all grew quiet, contemplating what Ledge had asked. Finally, Julia spoke again. “Does it really matter? I mean, we just need to stop him. It’s as simple as that. No matter what his plan is, we need to stop him. And I think I might have a clue.”
“A clue? What clue?”
“Not a clue per se. But a name. Charlie Cutter.” Julia answered.
“Charlie Cutter? Who is that? How’d you get it?” Avery asked.
“I heard a voice in my dream. It said to stop the Golem. It said to find Charlie Cutter.”
“It’s not much of a clue.” Avery said.
“No,” Sylvia piped in, “but it’s a start.”
Chapter 22
She no longer feared the sun but chose to hunt at night, when her prey was active. The things at night stirred something within her. Some type of anger, some special hunger to kill, to devour. They sated her yearning like nothing else could. So, she walked the night in search of food.
As she traversed the rooftops, watching the street below, a glimmer of movement caught her eye. A pack of her prey wandered into the open. They searched for prey of their own. They never looked up. They never checked behind them. They were hunters on the prowl, not prey. But she was a hunter of hunters. She would be their undoing.
Patiently, she waited. One of the members of the pack began to fall behind the others as they scrounged for food or forced their way into dwellings. Slowly, it fell away from the range of communication with the others. The lone prey turned into a dark alley and licked its lips. It could almost taste the sweet meat that beckoned. Shoving a dumpster aside, the creature in the alley found a dead body. It looked around quickly not believing its good fortune. Little did the prey know that the body had been placed there by something else. Something that knew the smell of carrion would lead it there. Something that knew what it would want.
When her prey had given into the hunger that drove it and indulged in the dead meat that had been provided, she dropped down to the street below, landing soundlessly on padded feet. Her prey sat up and looked around, but she had already melded with the shadows. Waiting until the prey returned to its meal, she crept up behind and pounced.
The prey squealed and grunted, tried to break free, but her limbs had grown hard and ever so strong on the blood of these creatures. She bit, ripped, and tore at her prey. Eventually the struggle ceased and she knew time was of the essence. The prey’s pack would return quickly at the sound of struggle.
She picked up her meal on one shoulder and scaled the wall of the nearest building. She emerged on the rooftop just in time to see the pack rush into the alley below to investigate. They searched only a short time before finding the dead body left behind by her meal. They fought and clawed at each other for a piece of the dead flesh they had found, never giving another thought to one of their number being drained of its life’s blood on the rooftop overhead.
She was nearly full when she sensed something odd; different. The pack had noticed one of their number was missing and had begun to search for it. She heard the clicks, grunts, and growls that her prey commonly used to communicate and the shuffle of their footsteps as they fanned out across and down the alley. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see one of them, but not quite one of them. This one was different. This one walked comfortably on two legs and had a smile sprawled across its face. “Well, well, well.” It said. Two of the creatures from the pack below were climbing over the wall now, emerging on top of the roof behind her. “It seems we’ve got a murderer in our midst, boys.” Even as the creature spoke, she could hear the scrambling and clawing of the rest of the pack climbing the wall and up onto the roof as well.
She looked back at the pack of night walkers behind her. And then back to the one that spoke. The creature spoke again. “What do you th…” The creature’s voice caught in his throat. His hand grasped his throat as his eyes went wide with panic.
She simply stared, watched as he struggled, knowing that she was the cause of his sudden affliction. For though these creatures were her prey, they had once taken something from her, something precious. They had killed a part of her while at the same time, letting loose something terrible.
As she watched, the creature began to shake and convulse. Blood ran in a thin crimson stream from its nose and ears. She narrowed her focus, forming the psychic energy she had directed at the creature into a needle point and pierced another section of its brain, causing the creatures back muscles to spasm. The creature bent backwards in an impossibly grotesque posture. There was an audible snap as vertebrae gave way under the horrific angle his spine had twisted into.
The process was almost complete. She gave a shrill cry and psychic energy that had invaded the creatures mind, probing deep and burrowing like a vicious worm, suddenly expanded exponentially in a horrendous rip that caused the creatures head to burst like a water balloon, sending a mist of grey matter and tiny bits of bone splashing across the surface of the roof.
The pack of night walkers behind her began to retreat to the edge of the roof, warily at first, then in an all-out sprint for safety. They hurried back down to the alley as fast as they could. One slipped climbing down the wall and plummeted to the asphalt beneath, limping away as it wheezed through lungs that had probably been punctured by broken ribs.
She staggered and almost fell, lightheaded and feeling weak. She wiped under her nose with the back of her hand and it came away bloody. It took a lot out of her, to use her mind that way. But sometimes it was necessary. She shook her head, trying to get her bearings and for just an instant, one fleeting moment, some of her memories returned. She remembered people, faces. Her own name was on the tip of her tongue… and then it was gone.
She sighed and then smiled from the rooftop as her prey scurried away like rats from a sinking ship. She smelled something on the wind. Something she hadn’t seen in these creatures until this night. Fear. True, unbridled fear permeated the trail they left in their wake. That should make them easy to find. She thought. Go ahead, run. I’ll find you.
Chapter 23
The warm summer breeze drifted over her face like soft fingertips. The sun was warm until it slipped behind a fluffy white cumulus cloud for a few seconds. The tall grass rose up around her and blew back and forth with the rhythm of the breeze. She sat up and looked around her, then hopped up to her feet and stared down at the human shaped indentation in the grass where she had been laying. She rubbed her face with her hands and held them out in front of her. The sunlight beamed off of them with no ill effects.
“What is this?” Madeline asked herself, secretly hoping someone was within earshot and could answer. The last thing she remembered was fighting with some nasty vampire and being shot by a tranquilizer of some kind. She definitely remembered her last experience with the sun! How can this be happening? She was still staring at her hands. She dropped them down at her sides with a sigh and looked around. The clearing she stood in was an almost perfectly round acre of beautifully flowing grass surrounded by dense forest.
She couldn’t help but hope. Was that vampire business all in my head? Just a dream? Her heart skipped a beat when she turned and saw a white wolf on the edge of the clearing, staring at her. She froze, expecting it to attack. Instead, it turned and trotted off into the woods a few yards and then turned to look at her. Thunder crackled through the sky somewhere behi
nd her. She glanced back to see a wall of dark clouds encroaching above the rim of trees and a feeling of dread crept over her.
“Great.” Follow the pooch or wait for impending doom. She thought. She moved towards the wolf and it took off running into the woods. She ran after it and followed as best she could. For moments, it seemed to disappear and then reappear somewhere much farther away until it was little more than random flashes of white fur through the trees. It wasn’t long before she lost sight of the wolf altogether and slowed to a jog as the trees opened up to reveal a small stream, so calm that the surface reflected like glass. She touched a nearby sapling and felt the roughness of the bark under her fingers. This has to be a dream, but I’ve never had one so real! Songbirds fluttered and swooped over the water. Small nuances told her this reality was not what it seemed. She glanced past her reflection in the calm water of the stream and saw a spider busily spinning its web under water. In the distance, she saw a bird flying backwards with not a care in the world.
Another clap of thunder shot at her from the storm behind, closer now. She continued the direction she had been going when she followed the wolf, further upstream. It wasn’t long before she came upon a young man sitting on a rock next to the stream with his back to her, his chin resting on his fist like Rodin’s ‘Thinker’. She approached him cautiously. “Hello.” She said quietly, not sure if it was a greeting or a question.
The man looked up slowly and turned to look at her. “Hi.” He said in a very disinterested tone and then replaced his chin on his fist and went back to staring out over the water.
“My name is Madeline. What’s yours?”
He stayed silent for some time, then, “I’m not sure.”
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