Infinite Vampire (Book 2): Queen's Gambit

by M. Lorrox

  Eddy shrugs. “Only one way to find out.”

  Skip scowls. “Make sure you tell your parents what you’re up to; I was not put in charge of you.”

  “Hey!” Minnie shouts up at Skip. “I’m in charge of my own destiny, and don’t you forget it.”

  Skip tries not to laugh at Minnie’s grumpy face. “I won’t forget, sorry, Minnie.” He looks at June and makes a face. Sheesh!

  Eddy grabs the laptop from the table. “June, want to come with?”

  Skip returns his face to a serious one. “I think you should stick around the hotel today, June.”

  She nods. “I probably could use a quiet day... I could use a new book to read, though.” She bites her lip and looks at her dad. “Think it’s okay if I went to the bookstore?”

  Hmm. Forcing her to stare at the walls isn’t going to help any... He sighs. “Only if you’re feeling up to it.”

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  Minnie pulls on Skip’s sleeve and uses Valentine’s floppy arm to point at the book. “We’ve got places to learn about, Mr. Skip.”

  He chuckles at her and shakes his head. “Duty calls.”

  Eddy texts his dad and maps his route to meet Lorenzo Bernardi. To meet him at noon, I need to catch a train in...ten minutes. “Oh, I gotta go!”

  He heads into his bedroom to grab his bag. After a minute, he rushes back into the kitchen, drains the remnants of a bottle, then stocks a full bottle for the journey; even though the train is underground, a vampire can never be too careful. “Sis, I’ll see you later. Have fun!”

  “You betcha!”

  He looks at June. “Bye, June.”

  She responds with a soft smile. “Later, Eddy.”

  He puts on his sneakers and opens the door. “See ya, Skip!”

  Skip lifts his head to a closing door. “Later!” He yells back, and both Minnie and June wince and recoil. “Oh right, sorry. Superhuman hearing...”

  Eddy laughs in the hallway as he hurries to the elevator.

  After changing into clothes fit for going out, June leaves the suite and heads to the lobby. She asks the front desk attendant when the next shuttle bus will leave for the mall, and she’s frustrated that she just missed it. Twenty minutes until the next loop…

  She sighs and walks away, then she smiles when she sees Beatrice playing chess in the courtyard. She walks out to join her. “Hi Beatrice, it’s nice to see you.”

  The old woman looks at her and smiles. “June, it’s great to see you too. I missed you yesterday, unless I’m just too senile to remember!”

  June laughs. “No, yesterday was crazy-busy. I didn’t have a minute to come down.”

  “That’s alright dear.” She looks her up and down. “Where are you off to?”

  June loops her thumb in her front pocket. “I was going to go to the mall next door, to the bookstore, but the shuttle won’t be back for twenty minutes.”

  “Oh, I could use a new novel…” She glances down at the board and her notebook beside it. “Would you like to go alone, or would you like some company?”

  June smiles. “I’d love some company.”

  Beatrice nods. “Then it’s settled. Just let me jot down a couple notes, and I’ll be ready to go.”

  “Are you just going to leave your board while we’re gone?”

  Beatrice looks around. “Do you think the koi fish will make my turn for me?”

  June rolls her eyes. “No, but what if someone steals it?”

  “Sometimes you just have to place a little trust in people.”

  Eddy buys fare at the metro station near the hotel, and he takes a train into DC. When he exits the metro at the Gallery Place/Chinatown station, he’s amazed when he reaches the street. People walk in every direction, giant screens on the building above the station flash messages and advertisements like he’s seen on TV from Times Square, a gigantic Chinese-style arch crosses over the top of one street, and traffic crowds the other street at the intersection. There’s noise, lots of noise. He checks the time and walks to a nook beside the building where it’s a little quieter. He opens his email and calls the number Lorenzo gave him.

  “Hello?”

  “Mr. Bernardi? This is Eddy Costanza, I’m near the metro in Chinatown.”

  “Ah, bravissimo. I am just leaving my office. Which metro exit did you take?”

  “Uh, the one near the big archway?”

  “Mmm-hmm, there’s a good pizza place across the intersection, down H. I forget what it’s called, but it’s just up a block or so…on your right. I can meet you there in a few minutes.”

  “Suuurre, what’s it look like though?”

  “Oh, there’s a dining patio right before the place. You can’t miss it. I’ll see you there in a couple minutes.”

  -click-

  Eddy puts his phone away. Alright, then.

  It takes a while for the signal to let Eddy, and many others, cross H Street. Then it seems to take even longer for the second signal to let him cross 7th. Eventually, Eddy finds himself on what he believes to be the correct side of the correct street, and he starts down it.

  He looks at each building as he passes. Some have Chinese lettering on the signs that he doesn’t understand, and others look like small offices. Before he gets very far, a voice a distance in front of him calls out to him. “Eddy?”

  He looks. A portly man is calling him with one hand. He has his dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and dark sunglasses hide his eyes, but everything else is light—his suit is cream and the parasol he holds open over his head is yellow.

  Eddy walks up to him. “Mr. Bernardi?”

  He nods and motions to the building at their side. “This is it, let’s try their interpretation of my beloved pizza.”

  Eddy laughs, and they walk inside.

  Beatrice and June walk off the shuttle bus and through the mall. After stopping at a kiosk map, they hone in on their target, Books Bazillions. As they walk, June can’t help but glance all around, looking at all the faces of the people and seeing what is happening in all the store windows.

  Beatrice touches her arm. “You seem distracted, dear. Is everything okay?”

  “Sometimes being around lots of people makes me feel really...odd.”

  Beatrice takes her hand. “Oh? Well then, talk with me until we get there. Did I mention anything to you about my husband?”

  “Only that he’s, uh, like me, that’s all.”

  “His name is Gerard, he’s a sort of politician.”

  “Oh, so is my friend Eddy’s mother, you met him that first day, remember?”

  She nods. “My husband told me something interesting that he heard in his meetings, about this new zombie vaccine they’re developing.”

  June jumps in the air. “Really? I haven’t heard anything about it! They’ve made a cure?”

  Beatrice shakes her head. “Sorry, no. I thought you heard about it; it’s been all over the news. They say they have a medicine that will temporarily block infection, but that’s all for right now.”

  June exhales. “Oh. Well that’s still something.”

  “My husband heard that the breakthrough was possible thanks to a unique new sample they collected.”

  “Oh yeah? From The Line, I guess?”

  “I don’t know, but my husband said that the researchers are focusing all of their efforts on improving the vaccine. Isn’t that exciting?”

  “It sure is! I hope they can make it better or permanent.”

  “Indeed.”

  “If they did make it permanent, would they call it a cure? I guess not, because it wouldn’t undo the damage from the virus, just block it.”

  “I think they’d still call it a vaccine.”

  June notices a sign. “Oh, here’s the bookstore.”

  They go inside and browse the titles. June picks up a book called LIFE BLOOD 4: INFINITY DEMON and holds it up to Beatrice. “Are you familiar with this series?”

  She glances at it and rolls her eyes. �
��Only what I’ve heard. Apparently, it’s really trashy vampire fiction.”

  June snickers and flips the book over to read the back. “I’m actually a little curious to see how the author portrays them. You know?”

  Beatrice laughs. “I also heard that the writing was atrocious. Good luck reading through it.”

  June sets it down and moves over to a different table of books.

  “So, Eddy, tell me more about why you contacted me.”

  “Well, I heard about this crazy legend about some ancient gold jewelry, the Cardinal’s Vengeance. I was curious if you knew anything about it.”

  “How’d you discover me?”

  “A friend mentioned he had heard of you, and I looked you up... So do those old things actually exist?”

  Lorenzo smiles and takes a sip from his water. “First, they’re called the Cardinal Vengeance not the Cardinal’s Vengeance. And nobody knows much about them.”

  “I read that you’re a sort of archeologist?”

  “Of all things pertaining to our history, yes. I try to find things related to us going all the way back, well, as far back as I can.”

  A waiter comes to the table and takes their order. Lorenzo orders a D.O.C. Neapolitan pizza, and Eddy orders a cheese with sausage. When the waiter walks away, Eddy tilts his head. “What’s a D.O.C. pizza? I’ve heard of Neapolitan before, but not of that.”

  He smiles. “It stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata and it’s a way that Italy recognizes when a pizza is made in an authentic style.”

  Fancy. “Anyway, how far back do our people go?”

  “The Italians or our other social group?” He smiles. “You know Costanza is a very old Italian family, yes?”

  He nods. “Yup. Glad it carries weight outside of late night syndication.”

  Lorenzo looks at him, confused for a moment, then a gleam flashes in his eye. “Yes! That show! Oh, I never even thought about it. Do people ask you about it? They must! They must!”

  Eddy sighs and takes a sip of water. “All the damn time.”

  Lorenzo laughs and wipes his eye, and Eddy chuckles, for Lorenzo’s benefit.

  “Ah, so anyway, you asked how far back we go? Well, I believe we go all the way back to the cradle of civilization, about 6,000 years ago. Artifacts from that period are of course very rare, and if our people existed then, we certainly were not a powerful group or majority. So, it would be exceptionally difficult to attribute an item to our kind, at least.”

  Eddy nods. “And what about the Cardinal Vengeance? Are they supposed to have any identifying characteristics?”

  Lorenzo claps his hands. “Yes! That’s right, I almost completely forgot, tell me about the piece you’ve seen.” He takes a hurried sip of water, his eyes gleam over the rim.

  Eddy swallows. “Uh, I mean, I heard there were a few different pieces, a ring, umm what else...oh a pendant, and arm bands.”

  Lorenzo’s lip curls into a grin as he sets his water down. “Yes, those are the four...”

  “Can you tell me anything about them?

  Lorenzo shrugs and uses his hands to illustrate. “One story mentions the items were all carved, one that they’re made of silver, and some say they all have a symbol on them; a snake biting its tail in the shape of the symbol for infinity. I’m sure you’ve seen that before.”

  Eddy laughs. “Yeah. Except with a V in the middle. That one’s everywhere.”

  “Quite right. And you see; the trouble is, with such a famous symbol, it’s difficult to tell an original artifact from a recreation.” He shrugs. “Who knows, maybe the originals have been lost, destroyed, or even modified; it’s been millennia... I’d have to see one for myself to judge if it’s original or not.”

  Eddy nods. “You could tell by looking at it?”

  “I’ve been in the business a long, long time. I can tell when something’s not quite genuine.”

  “What do you think it’s made of? The originals I mean.”

  He rubs his chin. “One legend said they were silver and were transmuted into something else, others that they were a sort of gold alloy.”

  “That’s what the legend I heard said, that they were rose gold.”

  Lorenzo hides a smile with another sip of water. He swallows. “Could be.”

  “This legend also had some crazy-talk about wearing them and being possessed by an angry god.”

  “Oh? I wouldn’t place too much emphasis on old mythology and magic. You have to remember that we—them I mean, I’m not that old—that they were much less...how do you say...ah yes, informed way back then.”

  “Right, like cursed blades and rivers of blood and stuff.”

  “Exactly. It reminds me of that saying; magic is only science that isn’t understood.”

  Not the exact quote, but close enough. “Yes! I believe that was Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction author.”

  “You are a well-read young man! Bravo, Eddy, bravo.”

  Eddy’s smile reveals his teeth, and a moment after, when their food arrives, Eddy loses no time in sinking them into his pizza. After a bite, while he allows the hot cheese to flow on his tongue, he watches Lorenzo.

  He has taken a bite as well, and his eyes are closed as he tastes his pizza. He man rocks his head slowly, side to side, then he swallows and opens his eyes. “Magnifico.”

  Eddy swallows and smiles. “This one is really great, too. Would you like a slice?”

  Lorenzo shakes his head and holds up a hand in rejection. “No, but I have too much myself; they only make the D.O.C. in one size.” He separates a slice off from the rest and slides it onto Eddy’s plate. “Here, you must try it; it is superb. Have you ever been to Italy?”

  “Thanks. No, I haven’t.”

  Lorenzo brings his fingers to his mouth just like the way eccentric Italian chefs do in Eddy’s mind. “The pizza there will change your life.” He motions to Eddy’s plate. “And this one is quite good. Go on, give it a taste.”

  They enjoy the rest of their meal and chat about Italy. Eventually, the conversation turns back toward the legend and the jewelry. “Eddy, this reminds me of another detail about the Cardinal Vengeance. I’ve read an account of someone that found a few of the pieces in Italy, a very long time ago. It said the items had different, hidden inscriptions and odd markings on them in some ancient language, but I cannot remember which.”

  Eddy nods and sits back in his chair, giving his full belly a little more room. “I heard something like that too, and I think the language was Ancient Sumerian, but I am definitely not old enough to read that!”

  “No, I’m sure you are not! Very funny, my young man, very funny.” He sighs, then shrugs. “Who knows. The original set of jewelry is probably gone now—if they ever truly existed. We may never know the secrets within them. The Cardinal Vengeance may be a mystery for all of eternity.”

  Eddy smiles. This is so cool! I bet the ring is real, and I know what it says! He nods. “Maybe.”

  I knew it. Lorenzo clears his throat. “Well, do tell me if you ever find one of these, will you?”

  Eddy tilts his head. “I didn’t plan to go looking for them, but sure, if I ever find myself with an old artifact, I’ll let you know.”

  You already have. “Very good, very good. To an old and fat historian like me, such a discovery would be a dream come true!”

  Eddy laughs, and the bill arrives in a little black folder. Lorenzo snatches it off the table in the blink of an eye. “Wow, sir, you can’t be that old, that was fast!”

  You have no idea.

  “But sir, I have money. I can pay for my food—”

  Lorenzo holds up his palm as he retrieves a long wallet from his breast pocket. He opens it and without blatantly showing Eddy how much cash he carries on him, he shows Eddy how much cash he carries on him. “The museums and universities that fund me, fund me well. I believe better than you are funded, Eddy.” He takes out a few bills and puts them in the folder. “And you took transit. Would ten dollars
cover it?”

  “Oh, you don’t need to—” A ten-dollar bill lands in front of him.

  “Please do not worry about it.” He stands up with the bill. “I’ll drop this off on the way to the bathroom. Will you wait here for me?”

  Eddy nods. “Oh course, sir.”

  “Thank you.”

  Eddy checks his phone. In a couple minutes, Lorenzo returns. “Shall we?”

  Outside, Lorenzo walks Eddy back to the metro station, but he says he wants to show Eddy something special, and they walk south along 7th Street, toward the other entrance of the Gallery Place/Chinatown station. Lorenzo recommends some good restaurants along the way and tells Eddy about a recent dig he was on in South America.

  Eddy snaps his fingers. “Oh, I almost forgot, I was also going to ask about another part of the legend, about some ceremonial objects? Do you know what I’m talking about?”

  He nods. “Cording, a chalice, and a blade of some kind.”

  Cording? Oh, he means rope. “If they were found, what kind of condition would they be in after thousands of years?”

  “You’re a smart boy, Eddy. That’s a real concern in my line of work. The cord would be gone, nothing left. The chalice might have been stone, so that may remain. If it was copper—and the knife was most likely a rudimentary metal like copper—then they’d both be highly degraded. There might not be anything left of them at all, depending on the environment they’re in, of course.”

  “Hmm, that’s too bad. I bet they’d be quite a find.”

  He swallows. “Absolutely... Well, here we are.” He points across the street to a very large building. “That is the National Portrait Gallery. There’s some wonderful work in there by...a member of our community. You should try and find the time to go and explore before your travels take you away from the city.”

  Eddy’s eyes flow over the outer walls of the huge building. “Oh, cool. I had no idea. Who’s the artist?”

  Lorenzo smiles. “I’ll leave that as a riddle for you to consider.” He reaches his hand out. “It was my pleasure dining with you today.”

  Eddy takes his hand.