04 Silence

by Kailin Gow

  “Briony,” George said. “Any luck in finding her and Sophie?”

  Fallon was glad for the sudden change of topic.

  “We’re getting close. At least that’s what I keep hoping. And when we find Briony, we’ll find Aunt Sophie, too. George, we need to go now. You heard about the attack on the school? We need to help.”

  The diner owner nodded. “Let’s go deal with it, then. I don’t care if I am a vampire now. No bloodsucker is going to do that kind of thing in my town and get away with it.”

  Fallon walked out of the diner with George.

  Jill and the others were waiting for them, having brought trucks around. More members of the Preservation Society were there with them, and Fallon was glad to see Steve and Maisy among them.

  The drive to the school was a short one, and not a particularly fruitful one either. They got there, only to find rows of police cars already there, their lights flashing. Fallon saw the members of the Preservation Society hide their weapons quickly. As they drove closer, a wiry police officer with a serious expression held up a hand to stop them.

  “You’re going to have to turn around and head back into town, folks,” he said. “There’s nothing to see here.”

  A quick scan of the area suggested that might be true. Certainly, Fallon couldn’t see any signs of vampires left behind.

  “We heard there might be a problem,” Jill said.

  “No. No problem. Everything’s taken care of. You can all go home.”

  “What happened?” Maisy asked. “It must be something, if so many of you are here.”

  The police officer shook his head. “Strictly speaking, I can’t tell you that, Miss. But, in the interests of cutting off any rumors that might start otherwise, we think that a pack of animals from the woods got in here. Probably ran short of food. One of the dangers of living so close to the woods, I guess.”

  “Animals,” Fallon echoed.

  “That’s right, son. Now, are you all going to go home, or do I have to ask what you’ve got in those trucks?”

  “Alright, Officer,” Maisy said. “We’ll go back.”

  They turned and drove a short way back along the road to the diner before stopping. They had to talk about this.

  “Looks like they’re trying to cover it up again,” Pete said.

  Jill shrugged. “Did you really expect anything else? I thought there might be one or two vampires about though.”

  “There aren’t,” Fallon said. “I would have spotted them.” He looked at Maisy and Steve. “Is it true that you’ve found a way to find them?”

  Steve nodded. “We’re all set. Well, nearly.”

  “Good,” Fallon said. “Because I can’t wait much longer.”

  Chapter 17

  “So, how does this device work again?” Kevin asked Steve, who passed him what looked like a perfectly ordinary touch screen phone. Kevin looked over at Fallon who was standing a little ways away with his arms crossed. Fallon had called him immediately to get him into town, saying he had found a way to find the vampires coming into town. And best of all, a way to find locate gates to Palisor.

  “Well, first, I thought it would just be a case of looking at the environment. You know, things that signal gates, things that vampires like around them, that kind of thing.”

  “But then,” Maisy said, looking at Steve with pride, “Steve realized that if we could tap into a live satellite feed, we could put an infra-red filter over the images, letting us see people’s heat signatures. And obviously, vampires don’t give off as much heat as other people, so every time this spots something that looks human, but doesn’t give off heat, it highlights them.”

  Kevin nodded, and looked down at the screen. Sure enough, there was a large, purplish blob where Fallon stood. “So can we set it to find concentrations of vampires?”

  Steve nodded and adjusted a couple of things on screen. “There. Just follow the directions that come up.”

  Kevin thanked him, then he and Fallon set off together through the woods, keeping one eye on the screen while simultaneously looking out for vampires around them. It was slow going, checking and re-checking the screen as they made their way through the undergrowth, yet the device seemed to be clear that there was a large concentration of vampires ahead. When Kevin zoomed out on the map, he could even see it; a scatter of dark spots moving about like bees in a hive.

  Soon, and they found themselves getting close to an area that looked familiar to Kevin. There was an open pasture ahead with flowers and a brook that Kevin was sure was the one where the gate had opened before. Kevin and Fallon looked at each other.

  “Why would the device lead us here?” Fallon asked.

  “I guess Steve must have got his settings wrong,” Kevin guessed. “He said before that it could find places the gate might open. He must have accidentally set it to search for them.”

  Kevin started to check the device, even though he wasn’t entirely certain how it worked. Fallon nudged his arm and pointed.

  “Kevin, look.”

  Kevin followed the line of Fallon’s finger and saw it. A dragon, heading straight for the clearing in which they stood. It was huge, with blue and green patches.

  “Is that the one you saw before?” Kevin asked.

  Fallon nodded. “We need to get out of the clearing.”

  Agreeing, Kevin ran back with him into the trees, trying to stay hidden as the great beast landed in a flurry of wings. The last thing they wanted was to be spotted. With an inrush of air its form changed, the dragon shifted into a young man whose spiky blonde hair had blue streaks running through it for an effect that was striking, almost punk.

  Without pausing, the transformed dragon walked to a spot beside the brook. Mist rose from the ground, swirling up more than ten feet from the ground.

  It thickened, and Kevin started to see the outline of stone within it. The dragon was summoning a gate.

  Kevin could hardly believe their luck. They had gone looking for vampires, but they had stumbled upon something far better. Something that might let them get to Briony and bring her home.

  Kevin looked at Fallon, who nodded. They tensed themselves to run for the gate.

  Before they could actually do it though, figures started to emerge from the gate. They were powerfully built, wearing furs and scraps of chainmail, carrying weapons that looked hundreds of years out of date.

  And they were vampires. Kevin was sure of it.

  One of them stepped forward to grab hold of the dragon’s arm roughly, wrenching it behind him.

  “Now, Dragon, since you have fulfilled your promise to open the gate and allow us through, I promise not to kill you for now. Never let it be said that I am not fair. Where are the others?”

  “They’re here,” the dragon said. It sounded like it was in pain. “In the trees.”

  Almost as the dragon said it, a shadow dropped lightly from the trees, landing on its feet in the clearing. It seemed that Steve’s device had been accurate after all, which raised the worrying possibility that there were far more vampires around. This one had dark midnight hair and appeared to be in his late twenties. He was dressed all in black, in a black sweater and dark jeans that only served to heighten the contrast with his pale skin.

  As he moved forward, more vampires fell down behind him, moving to form a half circle around the gate. Inevitably, they were all attractive young women and men, dressed with as little color as their leader.

  “We’ve been waiting for you,” the newcomer said.

  “I see that.” The vampire from the other side of the gate nodded. “Marcus will be pleased that you are the first group to answer his call. What do they call you, and where have you come from?”

  The vampire all in black looked back at his group. “I’m Sloane,” he said, “and we’re all from the Western part of the U.S.”

  “And you know where we are from, Sloane?”

  Sloane nodded. “Palisor.�
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  The vampire who had come through the gate nodded. “Exactly. You’re lucky. You and your group are about to have a free for all in a paradise for supernatural creatures. No more hiding behind human rules. No more being careful. You’ll enjoy that, I think.”

  Sloane smiled. So did most of the vampires he had with him. “Yes, we will. We’re hungry. A small taste at a human school simply isn’t enough. We can’t wait to sink our teeth into some of the more delectable creatures we’ve heard about…mermaids, unicorns, hugtandalfs.”

  “And who can blame you?” This voice came from back in the trees, but Kevin recognized it even before Pietre stepped out into the clearing. The vampires already there turned towards him with suspicious looks that quickly became even more hostile when more vampires joined Wicked’s master.

  “Now, now,” Pietre said equably. “There’s no need to get upset. I’m not here to spoil your fun. After all, Palisor sounds like a feast far too good to miss.”

  “Who are you?” the leader of the Palisor vampires asked, drawing his sword with the hand he wasn’t using to control the dragon-shifter.

  Pietre didn’t seem to be bothered by that in the least. “I am Pietre, the master vampire here in Wicked. I was just following this one,” he nodded at Slone, “to teach it some manners for hunting so openly in my territory, but it seems that he has done me a favor, leading me to you. You are welcome here, of course. Very welcome.”

  “Good,” the leader of the Palisor vampires said, not sheathing the sword. “I wouldn’t want to have to rip your head off for not being hospitable, would I?”

  “Oh, no,” Pietre said. “I’m sure none of us would want that. You are in a position to offer free access through the gate?”

  “Hey!” Sloane interrupted. “I was here first.”

  Pietre ignored him. “If you can get me through the gate, I’ll allow you free access to all of Wicked.”

  The leader of the Palisor vampires nodded.

  “Done. You’re the kind of vampire we are looking for. Both of you,” he added, cutting off Sloane’s protest.

  “Come, there is little time.”

  The vampire turned, preparing to head back through the gate. As it did so, however, the dragon shifter he held twisted in his grip, wrenching clear of it. It stepped back from the vampire, kicking out at another that tried to get close.

  “No,” it said, “I can’t do it. I won’t. I won’t let so many vile things into Palisor.”

  Vampires lunged for it, and the transformed dragon moved out of the way. Kevin turned to his brother. “That dragon’s our way in to help Briony. We have to help it.”

  Without waiting for an answer, Kevin charged forward, transforming into a wolf and attacking the nearest of the vampires. The move was enough to allow the dragon-shifter to get close to one of Slone’s vampires, killing it with a move Kevin barely saw.

  “Don’t just stand there,” the Palisor vampire called out to the others, “kill the dragon!”

  “You can’t kill me,” the dragon shot back.

  “You need me to get through the gate. Whereas I…” he ducked and snapped the neck of another vampire,

  “I can kill as many of you as I want.”

  The leader of the Palisor vampires aimed a sword blow at the dragon that it barely dodged. “We needed you. We needed someone to open the gate.

  Now that you’ve done that, we just need a shifter to go through with. The wolf will do as well as you.”

  The vampires surged forward, and Kevin cursed himself then, even as he snapped at another vampire, bringing it down to ground level so he could finish it off. If he hadn’t come out of hiding…

  But it was too late to think about that. All he could do was keep fighting. Fallon was beside him, trying to help, while the dragon transformed in a blaze of green and blue, knocking vampires flying before turning its flames on them. A whole line of vampires next to Pietre ignited, screaming as they burst into flames.

  “Get him!” The Palisor Vampire charged forward as he said it. Other vampires rushed at the dragon too, but a quick lash of his tail sent them sprawling.

  Kevin knew it couldn’t last though. There were simply too many vampires. The dragon looked over at Kevin then, and somehow, Kevin knew what he had to do if he wanted to stop the vampires from using the gate as they wished. In a blur of movement, he transformed, knocked a vampire from its feet, and sprinted for the dragon.

  It blew forth another gout of flame as Kevin leapt onto its back, forcing the vampires away from it.

  Then, with a mighty burst of effort, it leapt for the gate, its wings spreading even as it ploughed through the mist at the gate’s heart. Kevin clung on as best he could while the dragon flew through, not wanting to find out what kind of damage falling off at this speed would do.

  The dragon whirled and Kevin looked down at the gate. Vampires were coming through, hurrying to follow in whatever wake he and the dragon had left.

  Some looked like Pietre’s vampires, while others looked like the ones from the West coast. More started to appear, but even as they did so, the gate faded and vanished, leaving those on this side stranded.

  Kevin wondered if that was the dragon’s doing.

  Certainly, it seemed too sudden to be down to anything else. Vampires milled about in the meadow on this side of the gate, looking lost and out of place.

  Right then, though, Kevin didn’t care. Accident or not, he was in whatever world Briony had gone to.

  He could finally find her.

  Chapter 18

  Kevin held onto the dragon for dear life as they flew, clouds passing by beneath them, and occasionally around them. As the dragon glided on, Kevin dared to look down, seeing acres of trees give way to valleys and high pools. He gasped aloud as he saw the mermaids in them, and spotted other, stranger creatures in open spaces between the trees.

  For someone who had spent so much time around nature, someone who had spent so much time learning about the creatures of his own world, this place was incredible. Would Briony have seen all this when she came through with Archer? Would she have seen the same dramatic mountains, lush emerald grass, and silvery trees?

  The beauty of the landscape didn’t last, though. Almost without Kevin noticing it, a subtle shift came over the landscape that they flew above.

  Jagged mountains and outcrops stood up from the surrounding fields in dark spurs, the trees grew more stunted and twisted, interspersed with rocks. Even the air seemed cold and damp, while the clouds around them grew dark with veins of lightning flashing through.

  Kevin hoped the dragon shifter wouldn’t fly through one of those.

  It didn’t, but it did head down into a secluded spot largely hidden from view by overhanging cliffs, landing with a jolt that nearly bounced Kevin off its back. Kevin slid down, glad to get his feet on solid ground again, and the dragon transformed back into the shape of the young man with the blue streaked hair. His clothes, Kevin noted, didn’t get as rumpled as Kevin’s did from the transformation.

  The dragon-shifter looked at him, turned around, and started to walk.

  “Hey!” Kevin called after it. “You can’t just walk off. What’s going on? Where are we?”

  The dragon shifter looked round, seeming faintly annoyed. “Palisor. Now don’t talk.”

  “Why not?” Kevin asked, but the dragon shifter gestured to be quiet. Taking the hint, Kevin stopped.

  The dragon shifter pointed, and Kevin looked, just as a lightning flash lit the sky. It revealed a shape against the skyline that it took Kevin a moment to process. A castle, looming dark and foreboding against the angry sky.

  “Don’t tell me, Dracula lives there.” Kevin made a joke of it, but again the dragon shifter silenced him with a look.

  “Are you determined to make as much noise as possible?” the shifter demanded. “Do you want them to find us here?”

  “Who’s them?” Kevin asked. He looked at the castle
again. There really was only one type of supernatural creature that could live in a place like that. “Vampires?”

  The dragon nodded. “Yes. They are holding the Prince and princess inside, along with my brother Archer. I hope we are not too late, but we must try.”

  “Try what?” Kevin asked. He didn’t know anything about princes or princesses. About the only part of it he understood was Archer. Perhaps the dragon would know something about what had happened to Briony.

  “To save them, of course,” the dragon-shifter said. “If we do not, then King Waltham will try it himself, and he is not well enough. So it falls to us.”

  Kevin wasn’t sure why it fell to him. As far as he could see, the whole situation had nothing to do with him. On the other hand, he wasn’t about to leave anyone in the hands of vampires if he could find a way to free them. “If it’s against these vampires aimed at destroying Wicked, then I’ll help.”

  “Good,” the dragon-shifter said. “We should have the advantage of surprise. The master vampire, Marcus, still thinks he can see me in the alchemist Malwinn’s ball, which shows that I am still in Wicked.

  But he does not know that I have tricked the ball ’s seeing eye. It will continue to show me there, even while we sneak up on those who hold the royal family.

  They will not see us coming.”

  He started forward towards the castle, and Kevin stopped him.

  “Wait.”

  “What is it now?”

  “We’re about to assault a castle, and I don’t even know your name.”

  The dragon-shifter shrugged. “Is that all?

  People who spend so much time in human form are strange. I am called Fletcher. Now, can we go?”

  Fletcher didn’t wait for an answer, but set off towards the castle. Kevin followed. The dragon-shifter led him to a small side gate, the lock of which didn’t last long under the dragon’s hands. Sticking to the shadows, they made their way into the main rooms of the castle, keeping a careful eye out for vampires.