50
Voices were shouting and whispering and talking all at once inside my head like so many bubbles rising around me, as if I was fresh from a dive into water and on my way to the surface. I had experienced this several times when I was wholly human but found it no less confusing, though I was more vampire than human now. Veria was still with me. We had pulled back a few feet from the ledge but not from our discussion. I don’t believe it was just the physical changes I was going through that made Veria nearly irresistible. Seldom had I wanted her more, but almost unfairly, this urge was countered by visions of our shared experiences, her trials and laughter. These wove their way throughout my lustful desire for her and took the edge off. This was good because my transformation from who I had been to who I was becoming, brought me through landscape so primal. I so needed to lustfully rage.
When I regarded her again, Veria was tipping her head slightly, seemingly listening to something. “Michael, there is a call to return. Something is wrong. We must return immediately. Hold on! This will be rough!”
The bubbles were surrounding me, colliding with me with some seemingly intent on passing me by, but when powered by Veria, we sliced through them as someone might when riding a frothy wave toward a sandy beach. Each brush with a bubble offered me glimpses of worlds known and unknown, past, present or future. Worlds both achingly familiar and others amazingly alien to my experiences would brush against me; sometimes several at once, offering me too many visions at one time to understand. I felt the sickening sensation of falling which felt to me as a long time but when I stopped I was on the floor of my home in la Coruna. My transition from human to vampire was still raging. I had felt much better when I was sitting at the edge of the sunlit canyon. Ferdinand towered above and plucked me from the floor one-handedly, and none too gently placed me into a chair at the table. Candles and Lamps lit the rooms. Outside, darkness still ruled but in the east was the promise of a sunsrise.
“What is wrong?” I weakly asked.
Almost in answer there was a knock at the door.
“It is our local militia.” Don Lucido said, or maybe he didn’t say it. It might have been a voice in my head. I’m not really sure, but the sender of that message was Don Lucido Del Rio. Then another vision came which showed constables standing outside the door. Behind me, behind us all, Charlotte called out from the top of the stairs having emerged from down below.
“This is a trap of some kind.” This was called out and our attention turned from staring at the front door to Charlotte, standing at the rear. “Milan has been visiting my dreams. He is nearby and means us harm. He thought he could make me forget his nightly intrusions into my dreams and force me to hold my tongue if I were to remember. Belladonna’s potions and Milan’s trances have worked to keep me confused, but Beatrice has her potions too… and these have helped to slowly loosen the grip of their foul elixirs. But still I may have found clarity too late. Milan knows we gather here and he has come to destroy us.
Another knock and attention was again turned to the front door. I could see there was momentary indecision and I knew how I could temporarily help.
“Let me get it.” I mumbled. “I’ll answer the door, see what they want and see how things look.” My answering of the door is who they expect to see.”
“Michael, you can’t even stand.” Beatrice protested.
Most faces in the room told me that more convincing was needed. “I can use the door to keep me up.”
“You’ll do it Michael, if you think you can. Beatrice will be just out of sight.” Don Lucido said.
Beatrice took my arm and powerfully moved me toward the door. I lurched and stumbled until I rested one hand at eye level on the wall beside the entry and the other on the door handle.
Don Lucido called out again, “I am having trouble scanning the area. I can only believe others are interfering. Let no one in. Don’t go outside, but see what you can see. Wait a minute while we quell the candles.”
I tried to breathe steadily and used these brief moments to clear my head and brace myself for what the next minutes would demand.
“Alright Michael, open the door but stay in the darkness.” Don Lucido spoke this rather than sending a message to my mind. Who knew what ears might be listening in?
I pulled the door toward me. Three constables I didn’t recognize stood nervously before me. Two of them looked at my feet and the third stared at my forehead.
He was the one who spoke. “Excuse this early morning disturbance but we have chased a killer to this area. We are checking houses to make sure our citizens are safe and make certain our fugitive is not hiding in someone’s home. We see light from your home and thought we would check.”
“Thank you for your concern, sergeant.” I replied. “All is well here. We have been celebrating and have gone through the night. I hope we have not disturbed our neighbors.”
The three at my door seemed confused as to what they were going to do next. I went on alert. Twice I saw one or another of them begin to turn their head towards each other but stopped themselves from completing the act. I watched them intently. It was an awkward moment for them. Beatrice reached out from the darkness and grabbed my shirt tightly. I don’t think those at the door could see her arm.
“The fugitive we are chasing is a powerful vampire and capable of great trickery. We are sorry to make such demands but for the protection of you and of others we need you to step outside, away from your door to make sure you are not held by this hateful creature.”
“I’m sorry.” I said. “I cannot.”
One of then began to raise his lantern for a better look at me.
“Lower your lamp.” I said. “If there is a vampire out there, I would prefer not to be a well-lit target.” Much higher and I thought Beatrice might be revealed and I liked not being brought into the light myself. I said it again. All courtesy was now gone. “Lower the lamp.”
His motion halted. The awkwardness of the moment deepened. “Step out here now, where we can see you. Cooperate with us now or matters will become so much worse.”
I answered. “No! You have said there is a sly vampire desperate to escape. How do I know you are not vampires, dressed in your ill-fitting uniforms, which most likely belong to others by the cut of it? How do I know you are not trying to trick me out of the safety of my home to make a meal of me? No! Your appearance here is suspicious. I will stay where I know I am safe and ask you to leave. I do not recognize any of you. Leave now and bumble about at someone else’s door.”
“No!” Beatrice spoke from the darkness beside me. “Your lamps are heavy and you are tired from holding them. You have been up all of the night. Put your lamps down. Sit and rest along the wall until I tell you differently.”
Almost like reprimanded children, all three lowered their lanterns and with far-away looks in their eyes, sat on the ground near my front door, leaning against the house. Then Beatrice moved quickly to shut the door. The move was so sudden I nearly fell to the floor with the sudden pull.
Before it latched I was uttering, “What’s wrong…?” But she answered before I could finish.
“There are bowmen along the roof lines….” Whatever else Beatrice was going to say, was interrupted by several sharp raps upon the door. There were several sharp iron tips protruding from the inner door surface. They had perforated from the outside.
We pulled back after barring the door and I took some steps that were just fine but others were a bit uncoordinated. Beatrice helped me through those. Through a portico in the wall, something round and dark came through. It hit the floor with a splat and then rolled until it came to rest against a table leg. It left a trail of blood where ever it had rolled.
“No-o-o-o!” Elena cried. “It ees Edwardo!” She started toward Edwardo’s severed head but through many porticos in the house, arrows sped from bows stationed and practiced. Some hit portions of the outside wall while many landed inside with us. Flames were on the front ends of these arrows
and when they landed. The arrow tips carried with them something sloppy and engorged so that when it completed its journey it splatted, throwing globs of fire to areas nearby and drooling rivulets of crimson flame down the wall. It mattered little that the walls were rock and mortar, the blaze arrived with its own food. My house became bright with flames. Several of us had been splashed fires to put out. A family member I had known for less than a day had been had been hit directly in the ear, and clothes and hair burst ablaze. Others were right there but the vampire collapsed and if left alone, would recover completely by tomorrow. Ah, but would there be a tomorrow.
51
The wound would have been fatal if the target had been human, but the restorative powers of a vampire’s sleep would render him as he had been before his injury unless his remains were scattered so widely they could not reassemble. But the surprise of the arrow’s strike and its immediacy among us caused shock and panic, something seldom experienced by vampires. There was a rush to other windows and doors but don Lucido roared for everyone to settle down. Some were in full stampede because others were being struck and at least two were consumed in flames. Fiery arrows kept zooming in and though don Lucido tried to contain them, several tried to escape from the house. They were dropped as they sprung from their routes or when they tried to fly afterwards.
Don Lucio called out. “Hold to your senses and gather your courage. Without more clamor let us go to the cellar. They have taken the first move, let us now give them the second. Withdraw to the lower chambers.”
We hurriedly went down the stairs and I held my own in making the transfer. When I reached the bottom step I was surprised to see that most of the room was filled with loose dirt. As soon as the last ones were down, many worked to fill the narrow trough running from the stairs to the wine cellar. Where I had once been dispensed by don Lucido, while a blood-feast ensued in the courtyard. Where also, I had been contained by Elena who had blocked my way during a rather unnerving conversation with her about my being inducted into the family. As dirt was being packed by many and pressed into the top inches of the room by Ferdinand, we were ushered to the rear where, unbeknownst to me, digging had been going on. Perhaps this was another reason for Veria to have kept me out in the far corner of the courtyard in a makeshift tent.
At the deepest part of the cellar, the wall had been breached and a tunnel extended into the earth beyond my house. I felt my hand grasped and though it was dark, my eyes saw Charlotte move close beside me. She didn’t say anything, but pressed to me in the crowd where everyone collected against everyone else. The occasional thumping of heavy footsteps a few feet above were reminders of our dire circumstance.
“Am I doomed to be used no matter where I go?” Charlotte muttered in a whisper.
“We all are.”
I pulled her closer and scanned the enclosed area for those of the family most dear to me.
Charlotte continued. “Are you alright? Out of your head? Feel like a heap of pieces in a pile? Do you know who I am?” Her questions were whispered in slow succession to which I nodded except the last one.
“You are my wife and the mother of my only child.”
“Our child, Michael. Was taken from us. I never held it. I do not even know if it is a son, a daughter…or something else.”
“We will find our child.”
“Milan says it is a monster.” She said in a voice and body stance that spoke of cold hatred and indescribable pain.
“I know a good many parents who refer to their children as monsters. Milan has little reason to say encouraging things. Let’s choose to believe our child is a normal baby. Charlotte, move on from your sadness. Your spells are through. The elixirs are resolving. Choose to have a life. Choose to build one. You have survived some terrible things. Stop blaming yourself.”
She smiled at me. “These are the kind of words we have often had between us. Once upon a time.”
“It is you that looks at those times and sees them as gone.” I said.
Above us the house fire raged. I was sure that what valuables I might have had would be taken or destroyed. Considering the intensity of the attack, I was happy that the heat slowed their pursuit. The fire they had started to destroy us was effectively keeping them at some distance.
Don Lucido spoke to us rather than send messages from his head that might be intercepted. “The making of tunnels is slow going, even when you have Ferdinand digging it. We can be away from the fire and the coming light but our escape route is far from complete. They are prepared for a fight but they don’t expect much, and they look for it to come from the house as we might try to escape. The next few minutes are crucial. Let us hope the sunrise takes its sweet time.”
With all of us compacted, it was difficult to be coordinated in our movements, even as Ferdinand completed his tasks at the rear and came through with don Lucido to the front of the dead-end tunnel.
“We will dig with our hands and claws. Dirt will be flying. Pass it back to those behind you. We will travel underground to a point they do not expect us. Maybe we will have some help to distract them.”
It was a wonder to see, where dirt and gravel became a free-for-all. Yet slowly as a group we moved forward
We became better at our digging the longer we were at it. It was impressive what vampires could accomplish working together. The strength of one is awesome. They…we were not scared, only determined. The bright and lethal sun was on its march to the horizon. My house was ablaze above us and archers waited with arrows poised. The next few minutes would be crucial.
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Milan held special arrows in his hand. There were only a few compared to the multitude of arrows they had fashioned. But their importance was why he grasped them protectively. The witch had purposely broken a few of the smoky spheres as they had agreed upon, and made a blue-grey paste-like mixture with the inner contents and applied it to the sharp steely tips, where they dried. If those arrows targeted a vampire it might just be possible to puncture the defenses that continually warded them off. Lorn understood what a triumph it would be to control a vampire, to have these powerful beings, the top of the food chain, under their reins. It would at once erase their most dangerous enemy and seat them inside a potent warrior. Inside Milan, there was a tug-of-war as the Lorn yanked him off balance in anticipation of this important takeover. But pulling from the other side was outrageous and the feeling of being a traitor to his own kind. If these “poisoned” arrows were effective, the rest of the world would never be the same. When Milan felt this conflict, the Lorn would send him visions and remembrances of his hatred of Del Rio to shore up any misgivings.
An arrow was just a slimmer version of a wooden stake, and one driven through the heart, even from a distance should do the trick on a vampire. One laced with Widow Belladonna’s balm, an arrowhead, not aimed at the heart might bring a vampire under Lorn control. If that happened, the others would be hunted down and taken the same way. Milan was told that he would be placed in command of vampires who were turned to Lorn control. While he hated Del Rio, Milan would enjoy sending Del Rio to do the dirty work… the lowly work. Milan also enjoyed thoughts of having Veria under his control, tormenting her and using her in carnal ways. This would hurt and leave her no doubt that she was nothing more than candy to be consumed for pleasure… pleasure at her expense.
Milan checked the horizon and saw the beginnings of a sunrise still far off. There was time yet to crush and tear. The widow’s fox-faced children were yipping and sniffing around the flaming house. Along the walls and roof tops were the archers. This time there would be no escape.
52
Not fingernails but claws, razor sharp and rarely ever chipped, tough enough to even separate mortar from brick, only now they took handfuls of dirt and gravel. Some were actions like reaching for a stair railing, or an eagle clutching a fish. Other times arms swung like a punch being thrown only the hand was not fisted, but like a blade with fingers extended. When they reached as far
as they might, the fingers were slowly cupped and retracted so that another load of earth and pebbles would be passed behind. These talons might look like human hands but they could pry boulders free from earth’s grasp. There was no hard breathing or panic, but the work was done with fervor. I was never one of the diggers but I was behind the one of them and I passed the dirt back where it was packed into a wall.
Then we found where the wall surrounding my home stood above us. The increased hearing, as a vampire, helped us to find it, and then fingers pushed through and opened the way. We emptied out of the tunnel, holding close to it to avoid detection. Not a sound was uttered, nor made as we exited. Though many crouched on the wall, their attention was focused on the house in flames, awaiting some mad dash to come from the fire and smoke. Neighboring homes held archers on their rooftops but there was little difference between the height of any of the dwellings and my own, so even a vantage such as this did not reveal us clustered next to the wall.
I approached Don Lucido, who stood with those still climbing out. I wanted to ask what I could do but he turned to me just as I was making my move. “Michael, another day or two and you will move mountains but for now I need you to avoid being hit by flaming arrows by trained marksmen. You are going to be a great vampire but for now you would only be too weak and too slow. You’ll be a concern and we’ll likely trip all over you. If I had more time I would bury you back in the tunnel. So stay under cover, and stay out of our way. You are…our secret weapon….”
“Fur will fly.” Beatrice interrupted, something that she rarely did. “Those who would do us harm are too practiced for us to always see what’s coming. Help us deliver the storm they so richly deserve, now that they have gathered to bring about our end. A second set of eyes would be helpful. Someone to watch our backs.”
The Blood In Between (The Safe Haven Trilogy Book 3) Page 27