Wondering what else this amazing book could do, Leesa began to read.
18. DREAMING
It was nearly midnight when Leesa finally closed her magic book. She had read the section on dreams several times and discovered that the dream power was among the most complex and least understood of all waziri powers. Complete control over dreams was beyond even the most skillful of wizards—which she certainly was not.
Still, she had shown ability in this area even before she realized she possessed magic, having had four dreams that seemed to have come at least partially true. Those visions had arisen on their own and had been completely beyond her control or understanding at the time, but they certainly demonstrated she possessed some power in the dream realm. Now if she could just learn to harness it a bit.
There were lots of details in the book—more than she could possibly digest in just one evening of reading—but she thought she had gotten a good start on the basics.
It seemed there were two basic parts to controlling dreams. The first was to be able to see your visions clearly and to recall them in detail when you awoke, so they could be interpreted correctly. The second aspect appeared to be the more difficult, for it involved summoning a dream about a specific subject. This was where things really got tricky. As Leesa understood it, sometimes what you wished to know might simply be beyond the reach of your power, in which case there was nothing to be done about it. However, there were also many obstacles that could block your attempt to see what you wanted. Figuring out whether a subject was beyond your ability or simply being blocked was the first challenge. Devising a way around whatever was blocking you was the next. The book included a caveat not to be upset when something remained beyond your reach, because absolute knowledge of the future would be a terrible burden indeed. Leesa clearly understood that.
The book also explained how these wizard dreams were merely guides, rather than infallible laws. Not everything that was foreseen would come true in the same way it was seen. But like signposts that guide a traveler along strange roads, dreams were most useful when they were clearly seen.
Fortunately, the everywhere and nowhere technique Leesa employed before using any of her other magic worked here as well. Clearing your mind before sleep gave you a better chance not only of having a dream, but of remembering all the details, too. Since some useful dreams arose without being summoned, the book recommended clearing your mind every time you got ready to sleep, unless you were trying to summon a dream, in which case you needed to do the exact opposite. Leesa decided she would do that from now on—use the everywhere and nowhere thing when she got into bed. If she was trying to call forth a dream, like she planned to do in just a little while, she would then go to the next step.
This was where things really started to get complicated.
After emptying your mind, you had to concentrate totally upon the subject you wanted to dream about. Every thought needed to be completely focused on one key element of that subject, whether it was a person, a place or an incident. Nothing could be allowed to distract you; all your energy had to be directed at the single key you had chosen. You weren’t even supposed to think about falling asleep.
The book warned that even complete and utter concentration was no guarantee of success. There were still plenty of things that could thwart you. Most commonly, you would fail because you made the wrong choice of the key element. You could try changing that element by using a different person or incident as your key. Unfortunately, there was no way to know what to choose except by trial and error. And you had to always remember that the thing you were seeking to see might simply be beyond your reach.
The book also confirmed something Dominic had already told her. Some dreams gave glimpses into the future while others showed you things that had already happened. Unfortunately, it was often difficult to tell one from the other.
Another thing the book discussed was the importance of recurring dreams. Leesa had already experienced one of those. She had dreamed several times of being in a dark cave with a vampire. Someone else had been chained to the wall behind the vampire, but Leesa had never been able to see the vision clearly enough to tell who it was. The dream had turned out to be a warning that Cali was in danger from Edwina, but Leesa had not known that until it was too late. Luckily, Stefan had showed up in the nick of time and saved Cali from Edwina’s vengeance. Leesa wondered what had happened to Edwina—Stefan had said she would never bother them again, and Leesa believed him.
All these things were important and potentially useful, but only one thing concerned Leesa right now. She was going to try to call up a dream of her choosing. She knew she had already gone way past the amount of magic practice Dominic had recommended, but figured trying to produce some magic while she was sleeping didn’t really count. So now all she had to do was choose a subject for her endeavor.
She decided to get ready for bed while she thought about it. That way, as soon as she figured out what she wanted to dream about, she could slip beneath her covers, close her eyes, and begin. Plus, she was already pretty tired.
Washing her face took a bit too much concentration, but when she started brushing her teeth, her mind turned back to the problem of what to try to dream about.
Her first thought was of Rave. Dreaming about him was always fun, but she dreamed about him lots already. If she dreamed about him again tonight, she would have no real way of knowing whether she had actually called forth the dream or whether it would have happened anyhow. So she scratched Rave from her list. Instead, she thought about things she might want to know, just in case she was successful. The answers to her Chemistry mid-term, just a few weeks away, would be nice, but she didn’t think dream magic worked like that. She’d love to see what the black waziri might be up to, but she didn’t know enough about them to make them a good choice for this first attempt.
From the black wizards, her thoughts moved to Dominic. She could certainly picture him clearly enough in her mind to create a detailed image, and she had grown close enough to him that she was pretty sure she could add enough emotional and character details to produce the kind of sharp, well-rounded mental portrait that the magic book called for. She even knew where he was, since he had called her from Ohio earlier today. And if it worked, she would love to know what he was up to or what might lie ahead for him.
She nodded to herself. Dominic was definitely a good choice. She switched off the light and climbed into bed.
As soon as she got comfortable, she drew in a deep breath and mentally voiced her trigger word “breathe” to send her into the everywhere and nowhere state. With her mind clear, she began creating as vivid and detailed an image of Dominic as she could. As the book had instructed, she coupled the image with a strong desire to dream. Before long, and without realizing it, she drifted off to sleep.
She was standing in the sprawling parking lot of a large suburban mall. She didn’t recognize the place, but it was not unlike other malls she had visited. The sun hung high in a cloudless blue sky and the breeze blowing against her cheeks was cool, but not really cold. From the leafless trees in the distance, she knew it was winter. Glancing down at her arms, she saw she was wearing a dark red sweatshirt.
The parking area was jammed with cars. A steady stream of shoppers snaked toward the mall’s entrance. Most wore winter coats—maybe it was colder out than she realized. Some of the men sported heavy, bright red Ohio State sweatshirts. She didn’t know why, but the sight of the sweatshirts gave her a feeling of satisfaction. She was unsure what day of the week it was, but from the number of cars and people, it had to be either a weekend or a holiday. For some reason she didn’t understand right now, knowing the day seemed like it could be important.
Unsure what she was doing here, she fell into place behind a small clump of girls her age and headed toward the glass entrance doors. All the girls had long hair hanging loose over their backs. Two were blond; the other three had darker hair, one so black Leesa guessed she was probably eithe
r Asian or Hispanic.
Inside, she followed the girls past a row of small shops and boutiques lining the main aisle until she spied a wooden bench near the foot of an escalator. She sat down and waited, watching the shoppers flow by her. They were of all ages, but the majority seemed to be high school or college age.
How much time passed, she didn’t know and didn’t care. She was content to sit and watch and wait. She was pretty sure she was here for a reason.
Suddenly, shouts and screams erupted from back near the mall entrance. A moment later, people began racing past her, screaming and yelling as they headed deeper into the mall. She rose to her feet and walked determinedly in the opposite direction, threading her way through the throngs of people rushing by her.
She didn’t have far to go before she spied the source of the commotion. A dozen figures dressed in rotting clothes had just entered the mall, moving with awkward gaits toward the open doors of two small stores right inside the entrance. Their hideous faces looked like they were formed of melting wax. She had seen such creatures before, both in real life and in her dreams. Zombies.
Panicked screams echoed from shoppers trapped inside the two stores. Some who were braver and more quick thinking pushed the glass doors closed and tried to hold them shut against the hungry creatures. The zombies simply bunched mindlessly against the doors, pushing against them. Slowly, the weight of their numbers was forcing the doors open. Leesa remembered a scene just like this from some old movie she had watched late one night.
A mall security guard arrived. He yanked his gun from his holster, but seemed unsure what to do. Leesa was pretty sure his training had never covered anything like this.
“You have to shoot them in the head,” she told him, in case his taste in movies had never led him to watch a zombie flick.
“What?” he asked, his face a mask of confusion and fear.
“Shoot ‘em in the head. It’s the only way to stop them. They’re zombies.”
The guard shook his shoulders and head, as if trying to throw off his fear. He raised his pistol and fired into the clump of zombies. His bullet struck one of them in the back. The creature stumbled momentarily, but was otherwise unharmed.
“In the head,” Leesa repeated.
The guard raised his aim, holding his wrist with his left hand to try to steady his shaking gun hand. It didn’t look like it was working, though. Outside, sirens began to wail as police cruisers screeched to a halt just beyond the doors. Red and blue lights flashed through the glass as uniformed officers rushed from the cars. Leesa hoped they would have more luck than the poor mall cop.
Leesa awoke before she could see how the vision ended. Darkness still shrouded her room, so she knew she couldn’t have slept for more than few hours, if that. It seemed as if she had closed her eyes only minutes ago, but she felt refreshed and alert, so she knew it had to have been longer than that.
As she replayed the dream in her head, a feeling of disappointment stole over her. She had been trying to call forth a dream about Dominic, but all she had gotten was more zombies. Why did she keep dreaming about zombies? She had wizard magic in her, and a taint of grafhym blood as well. She wondered if perhaps she might have a bit of zombie energy somewhere inside her, too. She quickly shook the thought away. That was taking this whole supernatural thing a bit too far, even with all the other stuff that had been going on.
One positive thing about the dream was its clarity. Unlike some of her other dreams, she had seen the whole thing clearly and could recall every detail. She allowed herself a small smile. Even though she had failed to summon the vision she wanted, she was pretty sure this signaled improving control over her dreams.
She thought back to the beginning of her dream. She had been standing in the parking lot, watching groups of shoppers head to the mall. Some of the men wore Ohio State sweatshirts, which meant this mall was probably located in Ohio. Something about that nagged at her. It took a moment, but then she had it. Ohio State was in Columbus! Dominic had called her from that city. This time, her smile was wider. Her vision had been closer to the one she had sought than she’d realized. It still wasn’t the one she wanted, but she couldn’t expect to succeed completely on her first try—especially since the dream power was so difficult to control even for skilled wizards.
She remembered her book saying that some dreams portrayed a possible future, while others showed things that had already happened. This dream had obviously been one of the former, because if zombies had attacked a mall in Ohio, it would have been all over the news and the internet. Leesa wondered what, if anything, she should do with her vision. She couldn’t just call every mall in Columbus and tell them to be on the watch for zombies—the cops would track her down and lock her in the nuthouse.
She wondered if the dream had anything more to do with Dominic than simply taking place in the last place she had heard from him. Was he going to be there? Would he try to stop it? If such an attack did occur, there was little doubt the black waziri would be behind it. Dominic would know that, of course. She doubted he would use his magic again, not with his enemies so close on his trail.
So why had this particular vision come to her, then? She wished the dream had gone on longer. In any case, she had no way to contact Dominic, to warn him about something that might be about to happen, on some indefinite winter weekend.
More and more, she was beginning to understand what a tricky business this dream stuff was. In the end, she realized there was probably nothing she could or should do about what she had seen. She would have to view it for what it was—her first practice exercise at learning to use a very complex and difficult part of her magic.
Closing her eyes, she went back to sleep.
19. FIRST HUNT
Forty some miles to the south and east of where Leesa finally closed her book of magic, Kristi Brolen could not believe how different everything had suddenly become. Just a little while ago, she had been lying on her back, for who knows how long, unable to move anything more than her eyes and eyelids. All she could see were branches and the sky directly above her. The only thing she could remember hearing during all that time was the silver-haired woman’s voice. And her sense of smell had been even more useless.
Now here she was, racing through the trees at impossible speeds with seemingly no effort at all. She ran half a step behind Marcio, with Dara and Genevieve following behind. Her senses, so limited for so long, had heightened to a degree that was unimaginable. She knew it was night—she had never seen so many stars in the sky—but she could see details that previously would have been invisible to her on even the brightest of days. Her hearing had also become unbelievably acute, allowing her to hear every tiny animal crawling through the night for hundreds of feet in every direction, no matter how stealthily they tried to move. She heard insects flying and branches creaking. She thought that if there had been blossoms blooming, she would have been able to hear them, too.
Her sense of smell may have been the most acute of all. Every tree gave off a scent that was slightly different from its neighbors. She smelled rotting leaves and dirt—she had never known there were so many different kinds of soil—in a way she had never done before. Even more amazingly, she could smell every living creature for what seemed like miles. While they all smelled different, the overriding scent was the same for each of them, whether it be a mouse, a bird, or a deer. Somehow, she knew without being told why that was—she was smelling their blood! More than anything else, the blood called out to her.
Most wondrous of all, this barrage of incoming stimuli was not overwhelming in the least. Her brain easily organized and prioritized every single piece of information, making it available to her if she wanted it or storing it away if she did not. The closest she could come to putting all the changes into words was that it was like a person who was blind since birth suddenly being able to see—but what had happened to her was much more amazing than even that.
Marcio reached over and grabbed her forearm, p
ulling her to a halt. His touch was cold and delicious. Dara and Genevieve stopped as well.
“There are humans ahead,” Marcio said.
Kristi raised her face and breathed in deeply through her nose. The scent was sweet and tantalizing—almost intoxicating. It seemed to reach down into the very core of her being, pulling at her. She could identify the individual scents of at least a dozen people, some closer than others, but all within a few hundred yards.
“My god,” she said. “Is it always like this?”
“Not quite,” Marcio said. “Your thirst is magnified because this is your first hunt, and your body needs the blood to finalize your transformation.” He smiled. “But the scent of human blood is always inviting. It’s too bad we must control our thirst. It was not always thus.”
“Those were the good days,” Dara said. “Back when humans were not so numerous and their weapons not so dangerous.”
“And their communication so much less efficient,” Genevieve added.
“None of that matters tonight, though,” Marcio told Kristi. “You must feed, so feed you shall.”
“And if we can do so without giving away our presence, we will feed as well,” Dara added with a smile.
They glided silently forward until they reached the edge of a county park bordering a small lake. The parking area beside the lake was well lit. An asphalt walkway skirting the edge of the water was also lighted, but much less brightly. A few people—mostly young couples—strolled along the path, but most remained in their cars. By the fogged up windows, Kristi knew what at least some of them were busy doing.
The vampires edged away from the parking area and headed out farther along the walkway. When they were far enough from the lot, they moved closer to the path, stopping just outside the reach of the widely spaced lights. They were less than twenty feet from the walk now, a distance they could cover in little more than the blink of an eye.
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