by Lumi Laura
*
Out of curiosity, Alex while dreaming again trekked off to the right of Millennium Road to the glow above the horizon. This time the structure had a golden bridge across a fast-flowing river and leading away from it to a locked gate in the heavens. She continued to puzzle over it.
Alex was forever curious about Millennium Road, and frequently investigated its possibilities. She learned that one could navigate forward and backward on it while undead in the real world, but once totally dead, the soul became locked in position. She found that she was unusually adept at navigating its pathways. The rumblings that Alu had changed recently and quit officiating at initiations made her curious enough to go forward on Millennium Road to see if he was actually there, as reported. He should be the very first in the train. At least, she could see how far she could go.
She found that the farther forward she moved in the train, the more difficult it became. The first night, she seemed to make little progress, but curiously the next she entered at the same forward spot. She simply had to recharge her nocturnal traveling batteries with a little wake-time and then try again. Several nights later, she notice that the appearance of the vampires had changed. The skin of those that far forward was more metallic than those farther back, a mixture of gold and silver that shimmered as they moved, as had those who initiated her. A few nights later she came upon both the men and women of her initiation, who were greatly surprised and not a little perturbed that she was there. "No one from your time is allowed this far forward," they said. She quickly retreated, flying at great speed along the Road back to her proper place.
But Alex had seen what she'd come for. She just didn't know what to make of it. In the front, the very first being on Millennium Road, she'd seen the Centaur, Cheiron himself. Wow! What a sight! A being part-horse and part-human. But Alucius Kardasian, who should have been the first follower of the Centaur, wasn't there, and all those who would have been close behind him were confused and in disarray.
This created another concern for Alex. Millennium Road had a backward end, one not far from where she belonged because she'd been so recently turned. Alex wanted to go there and witness the newest vampires entering the Road. She couldn't remember her own emergence and wondered how it happened. This would be much easier because she only had a few months to travel backward instead of the few millennia going forward.
The next night, Alex entered Millennium Road and backtracked, passing vampires that appeared less sure of themselves and some even scared, bolting when she came among them. She reassured them and hurried on. When she reached the end of the train, she could see only darkness past the last vampire. Nothing else. Nothing. Just as she started to leave, she saw a small spec of dim light, which started to grow. It rapidly changed, becoming brilliant white as someone broke through. A newly turned vampire. Then all was black again. Alex helped her. She was glassy eyed, and seemed to have little brain function. Alex realized that this was how she must have been when she was first turned and before she'd dreamed the Millennium Dream. She remembered all the nightmares she'd had, the dark shapes, confusion, and realized that she'd been experiencing Millennium Road all that time. She felt sympathy for this new vampire, but realized she could do little until the girl was initiated. Her physical body could be anywhere in the world.
Before she left for her proper place along the Road, Alex looked once again into the darkness from where the next vampire would emerge. She wondered if one could go backward through the wall when a vampire wasn't coming through. She had to force herself to remember that this was psychic space, and that it existed only in the collective unconscious, something all vampires shared. They were always there, once turned, but Millennium Road didn't come into consciousness through a dream until they were with a group of vampires. Once they were with a colony, the dreams of Millennium Road started, and they were ready to be initiated.
The next morning, Alex woke with a start. She'd slept long beyond her normal waking hour. The flicker of candlelight already broke the darkness. She heard vampires in conversation and the normal shuffle of people moving about in the early hours after waking. But this morning was different for her, and it would have been for them also, if they'd known what she knew. She now realized that vampires were being created much less frequently than they had in the past. This coupled with the fact that Alu was no longer in the lead on Millennium Road, and that it was in disarray, told her something was bad wrong in vampire psychic space, and possibly in the real world too. This was one bit of knowledge she could share with no one. Cosmina has her secrets, and now I have mine, Alex thought.