Cogs in Time Anthology (The Steamworks Series Book 1)

by Catherine Stovall

  Chapter Five

  Canary in a Coalmine

  London 1860

  Draegan’s face was drawn into a tightly stretched smile, unique to his perverse temperamental expressions. He had outwitted his brother’s plans, which pleased him immensely. What’s more, judging by the look of pain that flashed in his brother’s eyes at the sight of the fallen woman, Draegan had managed to hurt him, too. He sat, contented with his actions, believing that though the night may have started in a dull escapade, it had ended most magnificently.

  Luca crouched on the ground next to Astrid’s body, which was quickly turning a dull, bluish color as the venom from Draegan fought to disable her immune system.

  “Lady Astrid, please try to wake up!” Luca’s voice sounded shrilled and panicked, the strange intensity of his feelings frightened him. The other women formed a circle around Astrid and Luca, their sighs and gasps reverberating in his ears like a percussion band. Clatter and cackles assaulted him. He looked at each of them, willing them to take their leave.

  His attention fell back to Astrid as he closed his eyes. He held her to as his chest vibrated against hers with a low growling hum. Awaken, Astrid. Please. Open your eyes. It must be, and it will be!

  Astrid’s eyes slowly flickered to life as he laid her back on the cold stone of the curb. Her eyes stared up into his, but the rest of her remained paralyzed. Luca grinned with joy as he clutched her to him.

  “A knife!” he yelled. “I need a blade!”

  The women began to scream. “You’ll not kill her! We won’t allow it! Death to the vampire!” They all ran towards him and beat him on his back and shoulders. Some kicked him in his legs, but he was unyielding.

  “Women!” he yelled back. “Time is wasting! Give me something with which to cut myself. I want to save Astrid from the venom!”

  The women remained immobile, either unwilling or too frightened to aid him, so Luca placed his own forearm in his mouth and bit down, gnashing his teeth to break through the sinewy tissues of his muscular arm. He scowled, not from pain, but from desire and fear, until finally he punctured his own veins. To the shock of the women, he poured his drops of thick blood, a syrupy blue liquid, onto Astrid’s lips.

  Astrid’s face shrank back in disgust as she felt the bitter blood in her mouth. Though she was weak, she tried to spit out the blue substance as it fell cold and sticky on her lips and tongue.

  “No, Astrid,” whispered Luca. “Drink it. Just a few drops, it is the only antidote to the venom. It will provoke an immune response for your weakened body. You will be safe, I promise.”

  Astrid gazed into Luca’s pained and worried eyes. Her heart lurched from its space of fear and drew towards trust and faith in the strange vampire who seemed more humane than most humans.

  She choked back the next few drops of his sticky, blue blood willingly, but with much effort, because life was fading from her every second until Luca’s blood was absorbed into her system. Slowly, as the blood began to flow down Astrid’s throat, the voices of the women around her filled the air with thankfulness. Astrid’s color was returning.

  As soon as Astrid was able to sit on her own, Luca leapt up from her side. “Take care of her!” he commanded. He grabbed an apron from one of the women and ripped it into a tourniquet for his own arm and in a flash, he darted off in the direction he had last seen his brother.

  Luca’s sleek body cut through the wind as it picked up speed. As he gained more strength and speed, his body lifted in the air and he hovered in space, moving quickly and without effort. His robes billowed behind him as he cut through London, zigzagging through the fog.

  I will find him. I can smell him. Though Luca had the powerful physical vision of the prophetics, he reached for his goggles. Brass plated over platinum, the goggles’ lenses were coated with a blue film to detect change in molecular frequency. With them, even if Draegan hid himself and changed his frequency, Luca would find him.

  His scent grows stronger. Luca knew Draegan could not be more than a hundred yards away. Cautiously, he removed a small ray gun from the folds of his robes. Luca configured the ray gun as a tracking device to find his brother’s DNA and to lock on its presence. It also emitted a tranquilizing jolt, a stunning and disabling beam of paralysis.

  Luca bowed his head and made another strange humming sound, much like the drone of bees. At the same time, he flicked several droplets of blood from his slashed arm into the air. The blue blood hung for a moment, suspended and immobile, floating vibrating in rhythm with the hum.

  Luca stood still, humming and watching as the drops of blood slowly made their way to a small street on his left. He followed cautiously and silently, leaving no trace of his own scent or sound. From the corner of his eye, he saw the quick figure of a robed vampire gliding through the gates of the train station. Behind the figure were the droplets of blood. Luca held his breath, relieved that the beads had found their closest genetic match, his brother Draegan.

  Continuing to track Draegan, he took great care not to be seen. The train station was almost empty and a large steam coach sat by the platform, waiting. As Luca tried to maintain distance between him and his brother, Draegan hopped on to the steam coach and climbed to the top of the carriage.

  The steam coach whistled twice and started its way along the bumpy roadside. As it gathered speed, Luca ran, accelerating until he was able to reach the right side of the steam carriage where a brass and wooden ladder hung.

  “Draegan!” he yelled into the wake of the wind alongside the steam vehicle.

  Draegan lurched over from the top of the coach, his dark hair whipped around his face like serpents. Luca grabbed the brass side rail of the moving coach and pulled himself up by one arm. Draegan stood, his robes billowing behind him as the moon illuminated his gaunt profile.

  “Go away, Luca!” he yelled. “You are a worthless brother.” He pressed the heel of his black shoe against the fingers of Luca’s right hand. He twisted his heel back and forth across Luca’s knuckles as he stared coldly down at him. Luca kept steady and pulled out the ray gun with his left hand.

  “Fool!” yelled Draegan as he ducked to jump from the coach, but Luca’s accuracy and speed could not be foiled. The gun emitted its tranquilizing ray, grazing Draegan’s neck and temple. As Luca fell from the coach, Draegan disappeared into the cloak of night.

  ***

  “Astrid, how many times have I warned you, no, instructed you, to not get involved with the slums of the East End? How many times?” Lord West’s voice boomed through the hospital’s sanitarium even as Lady West’s fragile voice tried to shush him into lowering his decibel.

  Miranda sat pale and forlorn at her sister’s side, her eyes fixed upon the teeth marks dotting Astrid’s thin and elegant neck. Lady West fingered her embroidery, trembling with worry and fear, worrying about her daughter’s fate and fearing her husband’s wrath.

  “What kind of daughters have you raised?” His portly chest rose in anger as he pointed towards his wife, walking over and ripping the embroidery from her lap. “I won’t tolerate behavior of this sort,” he continued on his verbal rampage. “If word leaks out that Astrid is involved somehow with the prostitute and vampire murders, she will be ruined. We all will.”

  “Father, they aren’t prostitutes.”

  “Don’t be naïve. Every victim of this rogue vampire has been a prostitute. For God’s sake, Astrid. People might think you have taken up the trade!”

  Lady West blanched at the thought. Their social standing would be ruined. She stood and held her daughter’s hands, but it was not without anger, her clutch was a notch too tight for Astrid’s comfort as she gave a disagreeable look to her daughter from time to time.

  Astrid began to sway as she fell back into her pillows. Her eyes filmed over and her vision tunneled into blackness. No longer was she aware of anyone around her.

  “Astrid!” Miranda cried. “Wake up!”

  “She needs her rest,” whispered her mother, as sh
e smoothed Astrid’s fevered brow. “Stop upsetting her, dear husband, with your heinous outbursts. Today is not the time for your intemperance.”

  Astrid swam in and out of her mind’s darkness. Vivid images of a colorful and oversized butterfly, jetting over a garden, danced through her subconscious. The butterfly flew around her in circles as she walked down the streets of London. The roads were bright and warm, illuminated by the sun and an unusual lack of fog and soot.

  The butterfly settled on a small infant girl, wrapped in a blanket, lying on a step. The infant’s hair was a rich chocolate brown, curling around her ears. Her eyes, clear, grey, and prismatic, sparkled like two jewels in its delicate face. Astrid’s body felt warm, her heart beat faster, as she was filled with an affectionate feeling.

  “Astrid!” Her father jogged her shoulders; his guttural shout filled the spaces in the room with discomfort. “Pay attention!”

  Her body shuddered as she felt herself being pulled away from her dream of the butterfly and the baby, and yanked towards her gruff father’s voice. Her eyes opened slowly, the lids stuttering and blinking furiously. Astrid saw her mother and sister on either side of her, while her father paced the room like a rabid madman. Her memory returned and her senses sharpened.

  “The vampire,” she gasped, her hand impulsively reached for her neck.

  “Yes. The bloody vampire!” Her father’s resentment dripped from his eyes as he spat the words at her. “That is what happens to humans who are careless and overconfident.” The snarl is his voice shocked her.

  “Thank God she’s alive,” sobbed Miranda. “And not disemboweled on the streets.” Her father’s anger had shocked her to tears.

  “It’s a miracle.” Her mother’s hand still tightly clutched Astrid’s. She pulsed her grip painfully, not letting go.

  “You’re hurting me.” Astrid gently tried to pull her hand from her mother’s grasp. She could see from the glare in her mother’s eye that she was as enraged as her father; she had no ally with her.

  “Lady Astrid, how are you healing?” Astrid eyes darted to the door as the familiar voice filled her ears. Luca stood in the doorway, his expression soft and worried as he waited to be invited in by Astrid’s family. Her father’s icy glare bored into Luca.

  As Luca stared at Astrid, Lord West’s voice burst like a canon in his ears. “Vampire!” Lord West shouted. “Are you the reason for all of this? Is this how you live your Vow of Peace?” He sputtered and spat as he spoke. “Do I even need to ask? You are all mutants and should be destroyed, not fed! I pray for your extinction!”

  Lord West’s eyes skimmed the surface of Luca’s external demeanor. He looked with a disapproving snarl at his robe, ring, pale intelligent face, and ice gray eyes. Overly tall and platinum haired, he would have made a handsome human, thought Lord West. But he was a filthy vampire. A member of The Society.

  “He’s the reason I am still alive.” Astrid’s words carried the weight of several emotions: happiness, relief and fear.

  “He, and his mutant clan, are the reason for your close encounter with a very gruesome death, or worse, a transformation into one of them.” Lord West’s eyes glowed with a perverse anger. “Leave this very instant, vampire. And leave my family alone, forever.”

  Luca was neither hurt nor shocked by Lord West’s words. Humans were known for their outbursts and inability to reason. Luca turned to go, but he felt sudden warmth in his chest. He turned to look at Astrid to confirm his feelings.

  Astrid smiled; he had felt her message to him. She remained his ally.

  “Stay away from my daughter. You and The Society better remain far from her sight.” Lord West bellowed into the sanitarium’s corridor, shocking the other doctors and patients.

  Luca departed without response, he knew what he must do.

  “There was no need to speak to him in such a manner, Father. He saved my life, and we are working together. I am helping him stop the vampire killer.”

  “You are helping him feed his brethren!”

  Miranda’s eyes widened with shock at her sister’s tone. She had used that defiant tone herself from time to time, but never Astrid. Astrid’s heart did not flutter so easily, she did not cast her feelings in the air for everyone to witness.

  “I am helping reestablish the peace,” Astrid argued. “And as I said, he saved my life. I would not be here, if not for him.”

  “Saved your life? Indeed! He’s a blood-sucking vampire, a liar like the rest of them. He has more than likely manipulated your mind somehow. Perhaps lobotomized you into his submission! They are natural born killers. It was only a matter of time before one would break the Vow of Peace.”

  Astrid turned away from her father, but remained silent.

  “I forbid you to associate with any of them again. They are not our kind, Astrid. They think they are like gods, but they are like beasts!” Lord West’s salt and pepper whiskers trembled with rage.

  Astrid knew better that to argue with him any longer. Demurely, in an attitude that more suited her mother, she nodded and bowed her head in temporary submission.

  ***

  Draegan felt the tranquilizing ray graze his temple. Jumping from the steam coach, he landed on the limb of an oak tree. Damn my brother to hell forever!

  He looked into the forest and adjoining meadow for a place to rest until the effects wore off. He felt his mind buzzing from a low frequency of electric power. Luca. You will not enter my mind. You are a bold fool. Draegan had the power to seal his mind from telepathic vampires, but as the tranquilizer took effect, his defenses broke down, one by one.

  A piercing pain between his eyebrows flashed through his skull. Vulnerable, he looked for a place to hide. He ran through the underbrush as white hot flashes of light blinded his eyes. Luca is trying to access my short-term memory. I won’t let you in, bastard brother. Draegan began to hyperventilate and panic, forcing more blood into his brain, making it easier for Luca to gain access.

  Draegan’s feet stalled, tripping over one another and his reflexes slowed. An empty train station stood one mile ahead as his pace slowed. Running and then jogging, he felt as if his feet were in quicksand, as if he was fighting through gelatinous air. He closed his eyes in concentration. Keep going!

  As he made it to the station, he could barely breathe. His lungs felt as if they were squeezed inside a vice. He dragged himself forward and passed a room with a padlock. A quick plan entered his mind, but it would exhaust all of his energy to try.

  As a last resort, Draegan tumbled into the station house through its double wooden doors. He pulled himself along the floor to the corner of the room and nestled in the darkness. With his energy reserves exhausted from fighting Luca’s telepathic invasion, he felt his consciousness slipping like a fine silken thread from his hands. As he drifted away, he could feel a buzzing in his head. He lowered his heart rate and shut down his organs into a state of temporary hibernation, making him inaccessible to his trackers.

  He remained still for hours. Tired, he sensed the presence of vampire trackers and he forced himself to stay awake. He heard them outside his doors. He heard two of them as they approached the room in which he hid.

  “What do you think the High Table will do to Draegan if he’s caught?”

  “You mean when he’s caught. We can’t fail in this task. The balance of peace and co-existence depends on his capture.”

  “Yes,” said the first vampire. “It’s only a matter of time until we find him sprawled somewhere, tranquilized by the vampire venom from Luca.”

  So that is what it is! Vampire venom! A formula of plumeria mixed with human blood in a ration of two to one. The reactive mixture was highly lethal to vampires in high doses. In smaller quantities, as used in the ray gun, only temporary effects of paralysis and muteness were experienced for a short term.

  Draegan’s eyes shut involuntarily and the rest of his body lay like a brick, but his ears still picked up the sound of the search committee.

  �
�The High Table of The Society will not let him off so easily. He will be made an example of, I am certain. Breaking the Vow of Peace is punishable by death.”

  “And he should be destroyed,” said the second search member. “For the murderous crimes he may have committed. He has threatened our food supply.”

  The voices faded out of Draegan’s earshot as the vampires slowly moved past the room. He could almost see them in his thoughts; young, energetic and optimistic, full of hope for the Society’s future—brainwashed into believing that any other future would be grim.

  The trackers passed his locked room as white, hot flashes continued to burn through Draegan’s brain. The tranquilizer had taken effect and he could no longer fight it. He peacefully closed his eyes, slipping into a deep serene slumber.

  Chapter Six

  Spirits in the Material World

  Astrid lay between the silken sheets of her bed, dripping with feverish perspiration. Miranda sat across the room, looking out the French window onto the well-manicured lawn below, completely unaware of her sister’s discomfort. Astrid twisted and turned, her brow furrowed in an expression of fitful anxiety. Her breathing was short and labored, yet Miranda remained unaware of her sister’s plight.

  Astrid’s visions continued, but their mood shifted. Unlike the first tranquil dreams, the new images enveloped her in dark and somber lethargy. As she lay in restless sleep, she felt her heart race and her arms yearn for the young infant girl, but the slippery claw of fear raged in her psyche as the child slipped from her reach.

  The infant face looked blue. Her icy gray eyes appeared disconnected from her soul with large dilated black pupils. Astrid jumped in her sleep, grabbing the air, her stomach tight with anxiety. The infant floated in a vast ocean, her tiny body swallowed by one mighty wave after another. Her mouth opened, silently crying in an attempt for air, but Astrid saw the water pouring into the baby’s mouth and nose. Crushing pain and fear enveloped Astrid. She screamed, but no sound followed.