House Of Bones (Cast In Shadow Book 1)

by A J Brahms

  "He wants me as his Ghoul, and I'm betting that's his price for getting Julie back alive." Staring at the box, I came up with a pretty shaky idea. "I don't know how Tonya ties into all this, but it's come down to this one name. I don't know him, and since her body was left at the Talmadge Repository—"

  "Cemetery House."

  "Yeah…that. Then, I'd say it was a different Family, trying to discredit Jedediah."

  "Wouldn't the different last name be the clue?"

  "No. Only the patriarch or matriarch of the Family takes the last name. What they share is the bloodline. And I'm betting Jedediah could tell me who this Vampire is, just from this blood."

  "So we're going to see the blood suckers again."

  I started rummaging through the debris to find my shoes. I wanted something comfy. "Yeah. And since I don't know when this dude's gonna call me, and I have to get Julie back alive and not turned—or worse—then Jed's my only place for answers."

  "I hope you're right about this, Ren. Though if you are, you're going to owe Conway an apology."

  That thought stopped me in my tracks. I made a face and gave up on my shoes, making sure I had my cameras and film instead. I wasn't about to go back into that house without them, and if the voices started up again, I planned on taking pictures.

  Thirteen

  For the third time in less than a week I found myself on the front steps of Cimitir Hall. The sun had long set and I still hadn't heard from Woodard about Julie. My stomach churned with anxiety and raw nerves as I stepped inside behind Aubrey. He wasn't as cross or filled with vile threats as he'd been on my last visit. In fact, he seemed a bit subdued. That itself was alarming. Had something else happened?

  I found Jedediah in the same room as before. He wore a similar shirt and sweater, but he was barefoot now. His hair was down and combed into a cascade of silver over his shoulders. He was the perfect model of an urban fantasy Vampire.

  "Planning to take pictures, Ren?" he asked as he sipped his bourbon and crossed his legs. He sat in his chair by the fire.

  I didn't bow this time. There was no time for pleasantries. "I believe a Vampire has kidnapped a friend of mine. She's a detective with the Atlanta Police Department."

  "Oh dear. That's not good." He didn't smile, but he didn't frown either.

  "The kidnapper contacted me. He tried to set a trap for me to drink his blood."

  This time he frowned a little. "He did?"

  "I also think he has something to do with Emmet Carson's disappearance."

  The frowned deepened. "Carson caters to a varied clientele."

  Now it was time to deliver the killing blow and I had to do it in a creative fashion, since telling him the name was a no-no. I watched Jed's expression to gauge whether I was on the right track. "He owns a company called Boneyard Billet."

  If I wanted a reaction, I wasn't disappointed. Jed was on his feet so fast even my enhanced vision couldn't keep up with him.

  He had me by the throat and slammed me into a wall behind me as he squeezed. "No Night Walker would have dared leave a body in the sacred halls of our House. You will pay for that insult, Ghoul."

  Luckily I could still speak, even as I refused to remove his hands from my throat. I kept my arms down at my sides and looked him in the eye. "I take it you know who he is, Jedediah," I said in a hoarse whisper, since he was cutting off half my air supply. "He's the one responsible for Tonya's death, forcing that cross down her throat. He then convinced some of the Paths to kidnap me so he could hire Brownies to kill them and bring me to the brink of death so I'd mistakenly drink his damn blood."

  Jedediah's eyes narrowed and they were red. Very damn red. This blood sucker was angry, and I could feel it coming off of him in waves of heat. He could snap my neck and the only way I could survive was to drink his blood. Then I'd be well on my way to being his Chevalier. I half expected him to do it.

  So when he released me, and I stumbled back, I was a bit surprised.

  "You got his name from Anand."

  I nodded, not quite ready to talk without coughing.

  "Beauregard Woodard."

  There…he'd said it, not me.

  Coughing and gathering in air, I took a few seconds before I spoke. "I…" Cough. "Traced the name to a company called Boneyard Billet. That's who rented the van used to kidnap me. He did it, Jedediah. And now he has Detective Wallace."

  Jedediah gave me a sharp look. "He knew where to hit you, didn't he? He was always good at seeing inside another's heart, finding their weakness. And he knew Wallace was yours." He moved away from me and to the fire where he stared into it for a few seconds. "The Church is not responsible."

  "No, sir. They are not. They suck and they're still a bunch of morons, but in this, they're innocent."

  The Vampire actually took in a deep breath and sighed. The light from the fire played with the shadows cast on his face.

  That second of silence opened a door for me and I heard a whisper, Tell him…

  Tell who what? I looked around the room. The cacophony of whispers abruptly interfered and I put a hand to my ear. They were louder than they'd ever been, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep them out. Especially that one, the one that spoke the loudest.

  Come to me.

  Come where?

  I shook my head and refocused on Jedediah. "Who is he? Is he the head of a rival Family? Are the Woodards some old enemy?"

  "He wants you," Jedediah mumbled, mostly to himself. "If he has you, a trained, legal Chevalier, he could oust me to be the head of the Family."

  Wait… "Oust you?" Then it dawned on me. "Whoa…are you saying this guy's a Talmadge?"

  Jedediah nodded slowly.

  "But his name—"

  "The name is only taken by the Family leader. You know this, Ren."

  I did. But I just… "Who is he?"

  "He is one of my most trusted. Someone who pledged to protect me and the Family upon his death. Someone whose word means nothing."

  Oh, this was frustrating—

  Please…listen…come to me.

  The voices became a timpani of sound around me. It was as if they were all in this room!

  I looked at the door, half expecting to see a ghost walk through it. Instead, I reached into my bag and grabbed my Polaroid. I removed the case, extended the lens and adjusted the focus before I pulled the tab on the new cartridge of film I'd placed inside and shot a picture. I yanked it out and set it on the table by the chair.

  "What are you doing?"

  I looked at Jedediah. "Who is he? Can we find him? Hell, can you find him so we can rescue Julie?"

  He turned from the fire and approached me. Picking up the polaroid, he checked his watch. "You know him."

  "I do?"

  "You met him. At the High that night. He was with Aubrey and me."

  I thought back to that night across the street. The three of them. Jedediah with his long hair, Aubrey with his short hair, and the third one…the one half shrouded in shadow, with his topknot. He'd been standing right there alongside Jedediah the whole time as we investigated the crime scene. Right there when Jedediah came to me. And he'd been informed of my existence.

  We need a voice. He stole our voice…

  Jedediah peeled back the white backing, turned the picture around, and gasped.

  I moved closer to see for myself and indeed…there were at least several dozen men and women standing in the door of this room. They were all in washed colors, period clothing, period hair, many much older, some dating back since before the Civil War. And in the front of them was an exceptionally tall ghost. A man with short white hair, dressed in a tuxedo as if he were about to go to the opera. He had white hair along his chin as well and an intense burning look in his eyes.

  I'd seen that face before. Still. With broad strokes and vivid colors—

  Come to me. Come to us.

  "I've seen him in a painting," I said as I pointed at him in the picture.

  "His portrait
hangs in the hall downstairs." Jedediah stared at the picture, then looked at the empty room, particularly at the door. "This is Ellery Talmadge. A poet. A painter. And a good friend." He looked at me. "He died over a hundred years ago. Beheaded after attending the opera downtown. All the clues led to a rival Family. So we wiped them out." He looked back at the picture. "He was our Whisper, and our last."

  Ellery Talmadge…this was Jedediah's Sire, and the former Patriarch of the Talmadge Family!

  I felt something brush against my neck and staggered back. Bringing the camera around I aimed and said, "Why do you want me to come to you?" I shot another picture and yanked it from the side.

  Jedediah set the first shot on the table, took the second, and checked his watch. "Why did you ask that question?"

  "Because…" I hesitated and looked at the empty room and the door.

  "Ren—" Jedediah locked eyes with me. "Tonya Mulberry was more than a Paths member. She was Gifted. She had the ability to speak to the spirits. It's why Conway wanted her in his church. He preaches a mean speech about stomping out the devil's work, yet employs Psychics and Witches to keep him informed. He plays both sides. He forbade her to leave the compound, have a job, live a life. And he forced her into his bed."

  I stared at him. "You know this, how?"

  "Ryan Guess. He came to me, wanting to know the truth. Wanting a way to help her and he knew about how we used a Whisper. They are revered and worshiped in our culture because they give our dead voice. He spoke to Tonya about possibly becoming a member of the Family—not necessarily being turned, Ren, so don't worry about that. A Whisper doesn't have to be a Night Walker, though we prefer it because it would enhance the ability." He peeled back the picture, but didn't look at it immediately. "She died before we could meet. I'd told Aubrey and Beau about her, and they both seemed happy we would finally have another Whisper to receive advice again."

  He turned the picture over.

  And abruptly dropped it.

  I retrieved it and nearly dropped it too. Holy shit.

  It was a close up of a man's chin and neck. His collar had been pulled down, and a white-gloved finger pointed to a hideous gash along his neck. This was Ellery Talmadge. And he was pointing at the way he died and he'd been up in my Kool-Aid to do it!

  "Why is he standing so close to you, Ren? Why did you ask that question?"

  "What…what question?" I was backing away.

  Tell him!

  Jedediah was focused on me and took the picture from my hand as he backed me into the window. "You can do more than take their pictures, can't you?"

  TELL HIM!

  I closed my eyes and slapped my hands to my ears as the roar of so many voices threatened to overwhelm me. I was only slightly aware of Jedediah's hand on my shoulder. Of him leading me out of that room and down the spiral staircase. I stumbled behind him as the voices increased in volume and something—no, many somethings—brushed against my skin.

  Tell him, tell him, tell him, tell him…TELL HIM TELL HIM TELLHIMTELLHIMTELLHIM!

  The voices never stopped as a door creaked open on a rusted hinge and I was again pulled down more steps. I smelled dust and mildew as the temperature dropped. I kept closing my eyes, afraid if I looked I would see them in front of me. I no longer had the safety of the camera. They were there…

  Again, I was led down another set of steps and this time I was shoved forward. I yelled as I tumbled and then landed on something harsh and hard with many rough edges. I opened my eyes, but it was dark and the smell…

  Everything smelled of old ghosts.

  The whispers vanished for a few brief seconds before they came back, only now they were individuals. I could hear feminine whispers, male whispers, hoarse, complaining, nasal, accented, speeches that never stopped, declarations of innocence, mad ravings of death and Heaven, and even what sounded like weeping. I sat perfectly still as the whispers continued to barrage my senses. I had no vote of my own. I was lost in this sea.

  Until I heard several crunching footsteps to my right and light appeared behind my eyelids. "Open your eyes, Ren, and behold the House of Talmadge."

  I didn't want to. I really, really didn't want to…

  Speak for us!

  But I did open them. The lights blinded me at first, torches posted along the walls of a rounded room. In the center was a spiral, cement staircase and below me…

  I looked down—and screamed like a little girl.

  Beneath me were hundreds of skulls. Some white, some brown, some decayed, others intact, some were only lower jaws, while others were just the top of the head with no jaws. Other bones thrust up amid the skulls, like spindled spires along an apocalyptic landscape. Rib bones, leg bones, arm bones… They were all here. Hundreds of bodies, jumbled together in a miasma of despair.

  You have come to us.

  This was the Talmadge legacy. What became of them when they finally died and their souls had nowhere to go. Left in a dungeon to decay and rot in a house of bones.

  "Now Ren…" Jedediah kneeled beside me, where I knelt on the bones of his ancestors. I couldn't move, but I wasn't sure why. Nothing was holding me in that spot but fear—horror at what had become of so many souls. "You're going to tell me what it is Ellery wants me to know, or I will lock you down here till their voices drive you irreversibly mad."

  Fourteen

  There were too many, a million voices all shouting at me at once. I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my hands to the sides of my head. Occam screamed somewhere beyond me, her own existence caught up in the cacophony of fear, anxiety and frustration that poured from all of them. Every single soul in this room demanded to be heard. Now. And I was their first hope.

  Their only hope.

  Did Charles get his money?

  Did that bitch pay for stabbing me with that stake? You have to tell them I'm innocent!

  What year is it?

  Why can't we leave this place?

  It's not fair that I can't move on! There is no God…there is only Hell!

  "Ren," Jedediah's voice was close and I could feel him pressing against me. He was trying to get my attention and I knew this…but I could barely hear him over the noise…

  All.

  This.

  "Noise."

  "I know, Ren. Ellery used to have the same problem when he allowed them their weekly say. He was overwhelmed, not only by the sheer numbers of them, but terrified he would become one of them."

  There…when he said that, I'd heard a shout, louder than the rest. It came to me as a light in the darkness behind my eyes. I reached out and grabbed Jedediah's shoulder, but kept my eyes shut. "Say…say it…again. Again."

  "What? That he was terrified of being here—or—say his name? Ellery?"

  Again, there was a moment of clarity, where all the other voices disappeared and I could hear him. The first voice I'd heard upstairs.

  "Ellery. Can you hear him when I say his name?"

  I nodded. "But…it doesn't last…"

  Jedediah didn't say Ellery's name again for several agonizing seconds. In fact, he moved out of my grasp. I moved to my knees and tried to stand, but the force of so many wills pressed me down until I was kneeling with my body bent forward.

  "Ren—" Jedediah touched my hand. "I have a way you can single him out. Drink this."

  If there is one phrase you never want to hear from a Vampire, that's it. I sort of knew what he was getting at, and the thought had occurred to me, that if Jed saying Ellery's name could elicit that much clarity, how much would his blood? Or would it help at all? Either way, there was no fucking instance where I planned on drinking Jedediah Talmadge's blood.

  No 'effing way.

  But then he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me into a full kneeling position. I opened my eyes and saw he had used one of the half skulls and filled it with blood. Oh hell no!

  "Ren—"

  "That's a freak'n skull!"

  "It's Ellery's skull! Now drink this and let him spea
k."

  "I will not be Ghouled again!"

  He got in my face, then, and I could see blue flecks in his eyes, the sparks that ignited and animated his body. All Vampires had them, you just had to have Ghoul eyes to see them. "Ren, I am not trying to Ghoul you. If you drink it from something other than the fount, you know you will not be Ghouled, even if I had been the fount that saved you in the morgue. Now man up and drink this."

  He was right. And he was holding his blood out to me, and not from his wrist or his neck. The separation of the blood from a Vampire's body disengaged the magic, so to speak. There was no guarantee this would work, but I had no idea how to shut off the voices.

  But there was one more thing. "If I drink this…"

  "You've freshly fed, you are not starving. You will not go into Stupor," Jedediah said as he pressed the skull to my lips. "You're not feeding from hunger, you're feeding because I wish it!"

  I held my breath, and drank it as fast as I could. Some of it ran down the sides of my mouth, over my chin, and onto my shirt. And it still tasted like ass as I swallowed it.

  But instantly the torches flared for me, the room blurred, and suddenly I was no longer kneeling on a pile of Vampire bones, but standing in the center of this dungeon. There was nothing there, except a very handsome man with white hair, dressed in something right out of…uh…one of those period pieces. The kind girls want to go see at the movies, complete with an ascot. His hair was short and his eyes were dark and full of pain.

  "Ellery Talmadge?" I managed to get that much out.

  He looked relieved. "It worked. I wasn't sure if it would, and I know Jed wasn't. It takes the strength of the blood for you to hear me above all else."

  "But I drank Jed's blood…not yours."

  "In a way you had mine." He smiled. "I am his Sire."

  Oh…right…I knew that.

  "We don't have a lot of time, and Jed's going to have to get you out of there before his blood wears off." Ellery approached me and I managed not to move away. He looked alive, but I knew he was dead. And this…well, this wasn't just me under the control of Jed's blood. "I wasn't murdered by that other Family, and you have to make sure he understands that. I was murdered by Beauregard Woodard."