by P. Mattern
A smile slowly spread across his face.
“Yes,” he answered the steward,”Tell them to rid themselves of those silly costumes. They may keep the jewels in their hair and on their bodies, but I would prefer that they dance naked.”
It was the last night of the encampment at Sugar Grove Mountain. Rafe , the human with a military background , and Cass Noble, were walking the perimeters, looking out for anything unusual. Rafe had his semiautomatic pistol out. There was enough of a wind so that the woods surrounding the camp were filled with sound: snapping twigs, tree branches creaking and rubbing together and the sound of dead leaves blowing through the open spaces. Everything seemed normal.
Still the hair was standing up on the back of his neck. Briefly he radioed to Cass, a short, gruff ”All clear” for the Northwest quadrant. Cass sounded as bored and tired as he was, and he was about to end the short call when something light colored moved in his peripheral vision.
He heard Cass call his name, but couldn’t answer because of what was standing in his line of vision. He could tell that it was—or at least it HAD been—a female energy of some sort. She was deathly pale, and wearing a torn white gown that whipped around her as the wind changed direction. Rafe noticed that she seemed to have torn places in her arms and across her chest. A flap of skin hung down exposing a hole in her cheek clear through to the bone.
“ZOMBIE!” his mind screamed at him, but for some reason he found her couldn’t move or look away from her dark souless eyes. His feet seemed utterly frozen in place.
He was calculating his options, and counting on her moving slowly toward him at the awkward, lumbering pace that the zombies generally traveled at, but to his surprise she was suddenly standing within two feet of him without his being able to track how she had gotten there. He realized to his complete horror that his arms seemed frozen to his side, his semiautomatic weapon uselessly dangling from his right hand. He had experience fighting many different creature phylums, but this one defied categorization.
The creature came even more closely toward him, and seemed to be taking in his scent, the way a predatory forest creature would before pouncing on its prey. Rafe had steeled himself for the worst when something dark flew over his head from behind him and knocked the creature to the ground. Immediately he felt that he was released from a frozen state and lifted his weapon, firing at the creature as it twisted on the ground around the stake that Castor Noble had skewered it with.
“Damn!” Rafe heard his vampire friend say,”How in hell do you kill something like this? It’s half vampire and half zombie. I guess we might as well err on the side of caution and OVERKILL it, huh?”
Rafe pulled out his ramped up tazer and electrocuted the creature as Cass cleaved it asunder with his Magick sword.
After the creature stopped moving, Cass lit it on fire just to make sure that it was destroyed. The smell it gave off was nauseating, a combination of formaldehyde and scorched roses.
The two comrades looked at each other soberly , a play of light and shadow dancing on their faces from the enflamed corpse at their feet.
“You know what THIS means don’t you?” Cass asked Rafe, ”This means Adrastos is harassing us for sport, AND it also means that there is either a naturally occurring portal nearby that he used to send this creature into our camp OR …”
Rafe finished Cass’s sentence for him.
“Or he created one specially just to stage this! Great! Your wife’s ex is a stalker. Only he uses surrogates to do his stalking for him. Either way the safety of this particular location has been thoroughly compromised.”
The two males looked at each other silently for a moment.
“Cass please don’t say what I think you’re going to say…” Rafe said, an amused smile twitching at the corners of his lips.
“Sorry, too late,” Cass told him ,”Now I HAVE to say it , if only to annoy you.
“TONIGHT WE RIDE!” Cass intoned, as both men cracked up laughing.
Cass organized the leaders of the contingent to rouse both humans and vampires to prepare to leave the area. He thought it well that they would be moving out under the cover of night, and reflected that they should continue to do so. The leaders of each small ’company’ of vehicles and their occupants went off to inform their groups,. As they did so, Cass suddenly realized that one pair of leaders was missing.
“Where are Brick and Mick?” he asked, turning to Lux and Pierre. Lux shrugged, slipping an arm around Pierre as they stood watching the encampment come to life. Lights came on here and there in the darkness like muted stars illuminating. Voices were heard calling to each other, and engines roared to life as vehicles prepared to embark on yet another leg of the journey West.
Jaxon and Absolam walked up to the group of men.
“Mom and Fress sent us to help,” Absolam explained. He looked sleepy, as if he’d just been awakened from a sound slumber.”What do you want us to do?”
“You can check on the cave population,” Cass told the young men.”Can’t seem to raise Brick on the walkie talkie !” He stopped to speak into the transmitter yet again, saying ”Brick? Do you copy?” but grainy ,audible static was the only answer.
“Well okay, then,” Cass said, just run up there and let the campers there know that we are moving out and to gear up and stay close as we travel. It will be a bit more difficult staying together at night I think.”
The flannel shirt clad young vamps trotted off in the direction of the caves. They were holding strong diode flashlights in front of themselves, though being vampires they could see perfectly well in the woods even in complete darkness. They were carrying them as a courtesy for the humans since the night was both moonless and starless.
Cass busied himself with assisting others in the camp to get organized and reload their belongings. He also was carrying fuel around to make sure everyone made it to the next rest area. He had just finished packing up a human family of four when he heard shouting from the direction of the caves.
One of the shouting voices was unmistakable. It was Absolam’s.
Both Jaxon and Ab, ashen faced soon emerged and ran straight toward Cass. Ab threw himself into his father’s arms.
“THEY’RE DEAD,” he gasped, his chest heaving. “The caves are full of dead beings-both human and vampire. Blood and gore everywhere! Entire families slaughtered in their sleep . The blood is congealed Dad—it must have been hours ago. No campfire, no lights on anywhere. Some were hung upside down, roped to the stalactites hanging down from the ceiling….”
Abruptly Ab turned his head to vomit on the dead leaf covered ground.
Cass, looking concerned, patted Ab firmly on the back. He looked at Jaxon, who was just as pale as Absolam but was not vomiting at the moment.
“Where are Brick and Mick? Did you see them? Are they alive?”
Jaxon shook his head, his eyes wide with the horrors the two young vamps had seen.
“Never saw them. But we were so freaked out that we didn’t stay very long…their bodies may be up there with the others…”he said, his chin trembling and his voice trailing off. Impulsively Cass gave Jaxon a one armed hug.
“Look,” he said sternly,”I am sorry that you had to see that carnage, but it will probably nor be the last of it’s kind that you will see. We are in a war now boys, with enemies on all sides. Make no mistake that this will not be the last act of brutality that you will be witness to. Not a word yet to your mother or Fressenda. Pierre, Lux, Byron and I will go up there and investigate. I want both of you to stay inside the campers…Ab you had best tell your mother you got sick so that she puts you to bed with a cup of tea to calm your stomach. Not a word, do you hear me?”
Both the young vamps nodded soberly. Cass quickly found Lux, Byron and Pierre and the four vampires grimly went at vamp speed to the caverns.
The carnage that greeted their eyes was the worst that Cass and Lux had seen since the American Civil War. Entire families were torn apart, along with their family
pets, their belongings strewn asunder. There was no life energy remaining from either the inert humans or the vampires. The bodies of the dead immortals had been burned for extra measure, and some were still smoldering and giving off a sweetish stench of burned spices.
The scene chilled all of the male energies present to the bone.
Tears formed in Pierre’s eyes and ran quietly down his cheeks. As a healer, and a vampire that had been recently Turned from being a member of humanity, the senseless taking of lives tore at his kind spirit. Still, he wept quietly and held his composure, trying to be strong for Lux.
The tears would come later, when he was safely ensconced in his lover’s arms.
Cass had brought a list of the camp members with him and as quickly as possible they went through the manifest, identifying as many of the victims as possible. Sending word back to camp that the departure would be delayed two hours, they buried as many as was possible, some in mass graves, not wishing to leave them lying in the open to be ravaged by animals.
It was a task that tore at their souls, sickened them, and sharpened their hunger for vengeance against the perpetrators. And they were coming to some alarming conclusions regarding who the perpetrators might be.
They never found the bodies of Brick and Mick.
Lux pointed out that, being fay, Mick and Brick might have been taken hostage. Although Cass acknowledged that that was a reasonable assumption, his gut instincts told him a very different story. His instincts were telling him that Mick and Brick might very well have been accomplices to whoever was responsible for the massacre.
Back at camp, their odious task behind them, the men were quiet. When Cass returned to the Winnebago Mitzi’s eyes told him that her thrice-bitten prescience had kicked in and she knew something of the tragedy, but she spoke not a word, holding him against her until his frozen emotions unthawed again. They sat in companionable silence while Cass drank a cup of Earl Grey tea liberally laced with whiskey. Then he gave the word, got into the drivers seat and steered a course for their next destination.
The castle of Dante Febere.
It was about noon the next day, and Byron Chance couldn’t believe his eyes.
He was driving the camper which housed himself, Alexiandra and the good Dr. Caligare and his wife Lolita. The winter sun seemed warmer than usual and to his surprise Byron noticed that the arm that he had casually rested near the driver’s side window was reddened by a rash of some sort from elbow to wrist.
He immediately took advantage of his situation, having the good fortune to be traveling with the only vampire physicians that had served the city of Fort Hunt, Dr. Caligare.
The good vampire doctor’s face was a mask of concern as he examined Byron’s arm.
“Does the rash burn or itch?” he asked.
“Both,” Byron replied. “Why isn’t it healing quickly? I’m a full on vampire now…at least that’s what the doctors told me at the Wetwear Institute. This isn’t supposed to happen…is it?”he finished, a plaintive note in his voice.
Dr. Caligare frowned down at the blotches on Byron’s arm that looked like rope burn.When he spoke at last he sounded regretful.
“This not the first mysterious skin aberration that I have seen. Jaxon came to me a day ago with something similar on his face. Orry had the same thing on his ‘driving arm’ also. Obviously this is a reaction to sunlight, specifically to the ultraviolet rays in the sun’s spectrum. Have you been wearing sunscreen lately?”
“Is there any available?” Byron wanted to know, ”I mean, I never found it necessary before to use it.”
“Traditionally Dhampirs have no need of sunscreen ,” Dr. Caligare agreed, ”But you have been ‘enhanced ‘ beyond your original biology by virtue of your venom healing regimen while hospitalized. That presents a possible vulnerability, particularly since , in spite of the fact that all creatures continue to evolve and vampires have become less sensitive to the effects of direct sunlight over the centuries of their existence, some vulnerabilities remain.”
Dr Caligare loosened the high collar of his jacket, showing Byron an angry red V shaped reddened skin area going down, the pointed end of the V continuing onto his chest. It was apparent that he had been affected by sun exposure also.
“Without the excessive sunblock we are used to slathering on we will burn in the sun, worse than humans, some of us more than others. It is a new era for vampires…a ‘retro’ era I believe. We are going backwards toward a more primitive state of existence in which we will again become creatures of the night tide.”
Byron found himself slightly annoyed with the doctor’s assessment. Though he had no doubt that the doctor was correct in his assumptions, he considered the concept of vampire civilization turning backwards to a much darker, more primitive time, to be abysmally bad news.
“So what should I do in the meantime?” he asked, hoping Dr. Caligare had some sort of trick up his physician’s sleeve to turn this latest problem into a non-problem.
Dr. Caligare looked at him strangely, as if Byron were a slow study.
“Stay out of the sun,” he replied with a smirk ,”And tell your friends to do the same. We are not melting away yet, like the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz, but this might be progressive. Better safe than sorry I always advise.”
Fressenda and Charley were curled up in the central ‘living room’ area of their mobile residence as it flew down the highway. They had heard about the massacre at the caverns adjoining the previous campsite, and they were having a difference of opinion concerning who might be ultimately responsible.
“I’m sure Michaiella and Brick had nothing to do with what happened,” Charley stated adamantly.”And I’m not at all surprised that they were taken hostage either…they will probably either be experimented on or forced to join in hunting their own kind. “
Fress shook her head vehemently.
“I don’t believe for a minute that they weren’t in on it. Why haven’t we heard anything is what I want to know…why aren’t they being ransomed in some way if they ARE hostages? But here’s something that I don’t think even Cass or Lux have considered: what if there were Hybrids, I mean Cavedwellers, already living near those caves? Maybe a rogue group that isn’t under Balik’s control staged the massacre and kidnapped Mick and Brick!”
“Good questions, all!” Charley agreed. ”I wonder if Celeste is picking up on anything?”
“Your mom probably is,” Fressenda mused,”All of us tend to forget that she has Tribite prescience also., and it’s becoming stronger with each passing day. Well, thank God, there won’t be any more caves in our near future. Dante Febere will be putting all of us up next in his huge castle. I heard through the grapevine that he is looking for a few young men to apprentice also.”
Charley raised an eyebrow.
“Apprentices to a MAGE? Awesome! Sign me up!” he exclaimed.
Fress laughed and placed her hands on her hips.
“I would have to protest that Charley! To apprentice to Dante you have to take a vow of celibacy for two years. It is a very serious undertaking.”
His hands encircling her waist, Charley pulled her down onto his lap.
“Damnit! I guess that won’t work then. Can’t leave my best lady with no stud service—especially when she is used to the best and most exquisitely administered sexual attention to be had!”
“You think you are ALL that Charley Rabbit,” Fress teased rubbing noses with him and nipping his lower lip,” And—I can’t disagree I’m afraid. I am under your spell my liege. Your overtures would make me fain swoon.”
Both of them were quiet for a few moments as their lips met meltingly. Fress pulled back with a gasp, saying ,”Charley , stop! We never finished our argument!”
Charley’s voice was silken as he answered, running his lips along her jawline.
“Yes we did my love, don’t you remember?” he said smoothly, trailing kisses down the length of her neck to her chest.”You won. You definitel
y won.
You won ME!” he finished, undressing her.
It was a mountain hugging, winding road, with a sheer drop on the opposite side into a valley so deep that the bottom could not be seen for a translucent veil of cloud cover. It looked like something from a fairy tale. And it might as well have been, because it wasn’t a road that appeared on any map.
It was the road to Dante Febere’s castle.
The only reason that the contingent of travelers with their various vehicles could access it was because they were expected. The reason that the roads to reach it were so steep was that it existed many feet above sea level, in a gap between parallel dimensions whose geography was superimposed over that of the first dimension, made visible as an act of welcome to the weary visitors on their pilgrimage.
Dante Febere was a handsome blonde male energy with a neatly manicured beard . He looked to be in his mid thirties. He had an air of dignity and a regal bearing. He was a vampire, but he was not a vampire in the usual sense. He had no need for human blood, but fed on pure energy , which he extracted without muss or fuss from any creature’s natural magnetic field surrounding their body. He was famous as the only entity that had figured out how to move in and out of different dimensions, not only personally, but taking with him his castle and all the attendant grounds surrounding it.
The favor that Dante was granting the V-net vampires was a huge one, especially considering that he was not actually an occupant of the same dimension except occasionally. Rumor had it that he had been born a human in the third dimension, somewhere in Egypt during the dawn of civilization. Dante had been a high Zoroastrian Priest.
Accounts varied on how he became a vampire…most of the legends related a story of how Dante sacrificed his own humanity by volunteering to take his youngest sister’s place as a sacrifice to the vampires plaguing the city in which he’d resided. A vampire leader had taken a liking to the brave and brash young man, and Turned him instead of killing him, treating him as an adopted son.