“My name is Abr-,” but before he uttered his name, he decided to keep it a bit vague just in case their boss would know who he was. “Abe. I’m Abe. One of the boss’s undercover agents.”
“Never heard of you,” George said.
“No reason you should have,” Van Helsing said. “It’s only chance that led us here at the same time tonight. This business has everyone off their regular assignments.”
“Why were you in the graveyard?” Adelaide asked.
“Just making sure every inch is covered,” Van Helsing said. “You know, when I’ve visited with the boss, I never get to see many people. Are you new?”
“We’ve been around a couple of years,” George responded, but neither of them were letting down their guards. The time frame worked for them, however, as their trial ended in 1886.
“How many are we up to at this point?” Van Helsing asked.
“I think you’ve got one too many questions for an insider,” Adelaide threatened.
“Oh, I’m just passing the time,” Van Helsing said casually. “Like I said, I don’t see many of us, and you know you can’t talk to just anyone.”
“That is true,” Adelaide said. “What is it you do anyway?”
“Look at me,” Van Helsing said. “I’m covered head to toe so I can deal with the humans during the day. That’s another reason I haven’t seen many of us. I actually sleep at night most of the time.”
“That’s impressive,” George commented. “There aren’t many Fempiror who would take such a risk.”
“Well, as we know, humans are usually out during the day,” Van Helsing said. “As such, someone needs to deal with them on their time without suspicion. We can’t be too careful.”
“Indeed,” Adelaide said, and they relaxed. Apparently, he was able to allay their suspicions just enough through his story.
“So do you report your findings to Lorinkis, or do you deal with the boss directly?” George asked.
“I’ve spoken to Lorinkis a few times,” Van Helsing lied, hoping this would not give him away, but part of him hoped they might give up the name of the leaders if he worked long enough. Lorinkis was unfamiliar to him, but he was also not the one in charge. “Most of the time, though, I go right to the top.”
“What’s he like?” George asked with genuine curiosity. “The boss, I mean. I hear he is hundreds of years old.”
At this point, Van Helsing was forced to play a hunch on their boss. If he were actually hundreds of years old and claimed to be a Tepish, that left only one person. He knew the names of some aged Tepish, but only one that could possibly still be alive. He had to admit that he did not know everyone in the Fempiror world, but if he blew this, he would at least know who he was not dealing with. If he was right, however, then London would become much more dangerous for him.
“He is,” Van Helsing said. “Vladimir is supposed to be one of the first Fempiror ever. Very old. Very wise. Very dangerous.”
The couple only stared as Van Helsing spoke, in awe of the information he gave. They did not dispute the name meaning that Vladimir was the head of the Tepish in London. He would need to watch his step.
“I don’t suppose either of you heard who it is we’re supposed to be looking for,” Van Helsing said. “I only got that it was someone dressed up in black carrying a sword.” He knew supposing this was a long shot as well, but if the other person was an actual Rastem, then there would be a good chance that he would dress in the classic manner.
“They talked for a bit, and I know he said it,” Adelaide said glancing at George who shrugged. “but I don’t remember what it was. All we really know is that the boss knew him from way back. Wasn’t too happy he was here. Not to mention the other problem with the Mutations.”
“Well, I need to be going on,” Van Helsing said, eager to escape the conversation now that he had learned what he felt he could from these two. “Have a pleasant evening.”
They bid him a farewell, and rather than walking back into the cemetery and raise suspicion, Van Helsing walked past them and around the cemetery wall to another entrance. He looked to the mausoleum and decided to see if the garlic was holding Lucy back. He wondered what Vladimir would do with the information that these two had run into another Fempiror on their watch who was not part of their Order. He was grateful that he had decided to wait a night before bringing the other men out here, or they would have had some trouble explaining themselves to some watchful Fempiror.
He got close to the door and listened. On the other side of the door, he heard what sounded like someone whimpering. He listened closer, and it was definitely a woman crying.
“Hello?” Van Helsing said. “Are you all right?”
“What is on the door?” the unmistakable voice of Lucy asked in return.
“It is something that will hurt you,” Van Helsing said.
“I know,” Lucy replied. “I cannot get out. I’m scared.”
“I’m sorry, Lucy,” Van Helsing said, surprised he was carrying on a conversation like this, “but you are trapped in there, and there you will stay.”
“I was told it would be safe here.”
“Who told you this?”
“My master.”
“Who is your master?”
“I was supposed to see the children tonight,” Lucy whimpered, “but I’m trapped here, and I’ve been trapped all night.”
“Your master wants you to sleep today,” Van Helsing said. “You do not need to feed today. You can rest.”
“I can rest?” she asked through a cracked voice.
“Yes,” he replied. “Just stay in there, and it will be safe.”
Silence followed, and Van Helsing wondered what kind of change she had undergone that she could converse with him. The typical Mutation was unable to carry on any kind of conversation, but she seemed to comprehend him without any problem at all. Not only that, but she sounded scared. What was going on here?
He decided to carry forth with the plan to bring Seward, Arthur, and Mr. Stoker out here this evening to show them what she had become and to finish her. If she remained lucid and conversational, however, the others would have some considerable problems killing her. She would appear to them to be a little different, but alive. If she were truly an intelligent Mutation, then perhaps she would deserve to live. He never considered the possibility, but now, having spoken with her, he could not discount it.
He left the garlic on the door as he departed. Someone would undoubtedly find it during the day and remove it, but he could not bring them out to a scared, crying girl. If she were truly a Mutation, and the child-feeding bloofer lady, they had to see her for that. It was dangerous, but if he had to resort to putting others at risk to show them what she was, then he had little choice but to do so. Whatever happened, the Lucy situation would be resolved the next evening.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Just after sunset, David Taylor ventured out of Carfax Abbey and headed toward the Highgate Cemetery to see what he could learn about the person he had seen the night that Vladimir’s people had stopped him from following her. He had spent the entire previous day with Voivode going through the Abbey to work out an escape route should the worst case scenario of discovery by Vladimir or Karian occur, and they needed to leave in a hurry. He regretted not investigating the cemetery the previous night, but he needed to ensure Voivode was taken care of as well.
Now, with the night clear ahead of him, he traveled across town to Highgate and looked at the tombstones and memorials to see if he could find the name that he had learned for the girl he had seen that night: Westenra. It did not take long before he discovered the family mausoleum, and as he opened the door to look inside, he caught a whiff of garlic on the door frame. Why would someone have placed garlic on the mausoleum door? Humans might know the superstition over garlic and his race, but for someone to have the idea to place it on the door meant that someone not only knew of the Mutation weaknesses, but how to use it.
H
e entered the quiet stone room where the departed Westenra family rested in peace, and found no disturbance at all. He figured if a Mutation were living in a mausoleum, there would be evidence of it. They generally did not crawl in and out of coffins, and even if they were sleeping in their own coffin, it seemed unlikely that they would pull it closed after them. Wherever this girl was staying, the most obvious place remained undisturbed.
He left the mausoleum and closed the door behind him. He walked across the graveyard and looked around at everything else trying to sort out whether the Mutation he had seen might be staying somewhere close or if she might have gone somewhere else. He barely had time to consider this when the mausoleum door opened behind him.
It surprised him more than he thought it would have since he believed everything in that room to be quite dead. He ducked behind a tombstone and watched as the young woman looked outside briefly, and then set off across the graveyard toward the gated exit. David gathered himself together and followed her. Rather than being the jerky, intuitive movements he had come to expect from a Mutation, Lucy’s movements were smooth and reflected a level of intelligence.
Rather than confront her immediately, he followed her curiously to see what she would do. She was not acting like a typical Mutation, so he wanted to be sure of her status before doing anything with her. She traveled in the shadows down the roads until she came upon a group of children playing.
She walked into the crowd, and the children immediately cheered for the arrival of the bloofer lady. She played with them happily for several minutes until she narrowed herself down to one boy that she led away from the others. David decided that he had seen enough and approached her. She looked up at him in surprise.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“This is the bloofer lady,” the child answered.
“I am the saint of the children,” she replied. “I do not hurt them.”
“Release him,” David ordered.
“No,” she said. “I need him. I have to-” She stopped midsentence and just hugged the child tighter to her. The boy did not exhibit any fear of her at all. David drew his sword and held it before her.
“I insist,” he said.
“I never take much,” she pleaded. “Just as much as our father says I need.”
“Tell me about your father,” David said.
“He gave me a new life,” she replied. “He could give us all a new life. One free from the bindings of this world.” She turned away from him to leave, but David moved to stop her.
“I said, ‘Let him go.’”
“Now, now, David,” a smooth male voice said from behind him, “you wouldn’t harm a young woman and a child, would you?”
David closed his eyes and turned to find Karian standing behind him flanked by two other Mutations who appeared to be English. Unlike the young woman, these appeared to be of the regular, instinct variety.
“You have been busy,” David said.
“She is fascinating, isn’t she?” Karian said. “Of course, I couldn’t stop with her, though she took an unnaturally long time to change. I think it helped. Now, these two,” Karian gestured to the Mutations who stood with him, “I got them from Whitby as well, but they are as normal as they come.”
“How many more are there?” David asked.
“This is a maddening country,” Karian said. “You know, I’ve been trying to understand their language since I arrived, and even though I can understand them and even speak to them, it still doesn’t make any sense. What kind of ridiculous language do these people speak?”
“English,” David replied. “This is England.”
“I’ve spoken a half dozen languages in my life, and I can’t wrap my head around this one,” Karian continued. “Imagine only being able to communicate rudimentarily when you’re used to so much more. To an extent, I’m happy to run into you. I can finally talk to someone.”
“If you don’t speak the language, how is it you’re communicating with your Mutations?” David asked.
“You’ve not learned how Mutations communicate after all these years?” Karian asked. “Mutations are mental creatures. They speak through emotion and thought. One might say they’re far more advanced than humans or Fempiror. I know what they want without their saying a word, and they follow my orders without my needing to speak to them. Lucy’s thoughts are more complex, to be sure, but she is still a Mutation, and I still understand her perfectly. We’ve spoken at length, but if we were mere humans, we could barely have understood each other at all. Through her emotions, I know her better than anyone ever has.”
“What do you want here?” David asked.
“I want Voivode,” Karian said. “We had an agreement.”
“One that you broke quite willingly,” David said.
“You killed my children,” Karian growled.
“Only because you broke our agreement,” David said. “Had our agreement been honored, they would not have been present to be killed.”
“I want the cure,” Karian demanded.
“The cure is gone, Karian,” David sighed.
“He found it once, he can find it again.”
“It has been over five hundred years. We’re all stuck this way, and nothing will change that.”
“Perhaps that has been long enough to reflect upon it to discover the missing piece.”
“It’s not coming.”
“I remember the way you looked at that woman’s portrait at the castle,” Karian said. “I know who she is. She was a friend to Lucy. If you fail to tell me how to find Voivode, I will change her as well.”
David considered this. Karian might be bluffing, but he had managed to follow the young woman from Whitby to London, so there was a possibility he could have found this woman who looked so much like Beth. He looked around for the young woman with the child, but she had disappeared. He needed to get away from Karian for now.
“Then I suppose I will need to find her first,” David said, and he darted off down an alley. He glanced back, and Karian had sent the Mutations after him.
David noted the distance between the buildings, and then jumped from wall to wall, climbing them until he bounced up onto the roof. He paused and waited for his pursuers to follow. As soon as the first one emerged, he met it with his sword, killing it and sending it toppling down onto the other who clung desperately to the wall below.
The Rastem wasted no time and took off running across the rooftops. A glance back showed that the remaining Mutation had recovered and was rapidly following him across the city. He jumped easily from one rooftop to the next, in some cases, barely landing on the roof before jumping to the next. His adversary was not quite as nimble, but its instincts made up for this, and so it kept up with its prey proficiently.
Rather than head for the Abbey, however, David made his way west toward the Highgate Ponds. He landed and ran across the lawn which lead to the ponds. He paused between the large reservoirs, and his enemy tried to lunge for him. The warrior ducked the attack and tried to swing for his pursuer, but missed. He took several swings at his assailant, but the instinctive creature avoided each swing.
Then, the Mutation tried to take a swing at David. The Rastem avoided the blow, and then sliced his foe across the gut. The Mutation was thrown off balance just enough for him to kick it into a reservoir where it splashed into the water and sank to its death.
David turned to find Karian standing at the end of the path between the two ponds.
“Do you feel particularly strong defeating such weak enemies?” Karian asked. “I suppose they’d be more difficult than our dear Lucy, who would be little more than a sitting duck against someone like you. You would still kill her, though, wouldn’t you?”
“I would do what I have to,” David answered. “Why don’t you come over here to give me a challenge?”
The old Mutation shook his head. “I would find myself sinking before I knew what happened. You’d find some way to have me in the water, and it
would be all over. I can’t risk such a thing. One must be wise in dealing with enemies, don’t you think?
“Here we are again, though, where I am far more capable in waiting you out than you are to wait me out. After all, I can wait here all night, and you have a time limit. Once that sun starts rising, you’ll need to do something, won’t you?
“Why don’t you make the sensible choice, and tell me where to find Voivode? We’ll go our separate ways, and I’ll forgive you for the murder you just committed against me.”
“Tell me something,” David said. “Are you responsible for the Demeter?”
“Of course,” Karian admitted. “They couldn’t exactly get like that on their own. Well, actually, a lot of them did, but most of them had some help.”
“Would it not have made sense to allow the ship to finish its journey to England to dock in the Thames? It certainly would have brought you a lot closer than Whitby.”
“I didn’t exactly plan for a month long voyage through the Mediterranean.”
David took a step back away from Karian along the path between the reservoirs, and the old man noticed. “You won’t get too far that way,” Karian warned.
“You think I won’t turn around when you get halfway down the path?” David asked, though he knew he could not lure his adversary between the ponds so easily.
“I can wait until you’re well past the end of the ponds before coming after you,” Karian said. “I’m not concerned. You try to double back, we’ll end up right back where we started. Like I said, I can wait all night. You can’t.”
“Or I can just come over there, and we can end this now,” David said, walking toward a long overdue match.
“You’re certain you can defeat me?” Karian asked. “One to one on dry ground?”
“What’s going on over there?” a voice called out. David immediately sheathed his sword and took a few steps back, resuming his position halfway down the path between the ponds.
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