by J. C. Diem
At a faint yet heartfelt wolf whistle, I realized our friends and allies could see us lying there butt naked. Scrambling to my feet, I scurried back inside. “Frigging vampire sight,” I muttered as I turned my suit the right way around before donning it. With the laces broken it gaped open at the back. If I wasn’t careful, it would fall down to my waist. I was certain Geordie wouldn’t mind if I walked around half naked but I sure as hell would.
Luc’s self-satisfied smile remained in place as we sauntered back to the others. From the way Geordie was rubbing his head and glaring at his mentor, I surmised he’d been the one to issue the whistle and had been duly punished for it.
“I see your suit has suffered an…accident,” Gregor said with a straight face.
I cut a look at my beloved, who smiled at me innocently. “You could say that,” I muttered. We all knew there had been nothing accidental about the damage.
One of Ishida’s female warriors approached me and handed over a pair of long black laces. “Kokoro said these could be of use to you, Mortis.” Unlike Gregor, she couldn’t control her amusement. Her hand rose to cover her mouth in a polite attempt to hide her grin.
Taking the gift, I closed my eyes and tried not to die from embarrassment. I was still new to all this and that was what caused most of their amusement. I reacted like a human instead of simply shrugging off my needs as being a necessary aspect of life.
Turning me around, Luc plucked the laces from my hand and deftly threaded them through the holes then tugged the suit closed. Geordie opened his mouth and I stopped him before he could utter a, no doubt, snide remark. “Don’t.” After a short pause, his lips parted again. “Not. One. Word,” I told him ominously. It was a struggle but the teen mastered himself and earned a pleased nod from Igor. Maybe he was finally growing up. Or maybe seeing Joshua being stabbed to death by his own master for insubordination and being a general pain in the butt was enough of an incentive for him to try to control his mischievous nature.
While Luc and I had been otherwise occupied, Colonel Sanderson and his men had disappeared. “Where did Sanderson go?” I asked Gregor.
“The soldiers have gone in search of transportation,” he replied. “A few of the Emperor’s warriors went with them in case they come across any resistance.”
That had been a good idea. If we wanted to remain as incognito as possible, we’d have to wipe some memories along the way. The soldiers would have to ditch their uniforms and find something else to wear if they really wanted to remain unnoticed.
I saw that I wasn’t alone in that thought when the men returned. Their uniforms were gone and they were all wearing civilian clothing. Most of it was ill fitting but they stood out far less than they did when wearing their camouflage gear. Sanderson had donned cargo pants and a light blue button up shirt. Despite his casual clothing, he still looked like a soldier to me. He couldn’t have stood straighter if he’d had a ruler strapped to his back.
The transportation they’d managed to beg, borrow or steal consisted of two smallish trucks and a car. The car could seat five, if the people in the back didn’t mind being squished in together. As for the trucks, they were noisy and ugly but the cargo areas in the back were free of holes and would be safe for us to hide in during the day.
“The pilot landed as close as he could to the castle you found on your internet search,” Sanderson told me after he exited from the car. “We have a three hour drive ahead of us so I suggest we get moving.”
Four of his men were already inside the car so I guessed the rest of us would be riding in the trucks. Gregor leaned in to speak to me as we headed for the closest vehicle. “Have you and the Colonel had a falling out?” Eight of the soldiers would be forced to travel in the trucks with us and he didn’t want the ones currently trailing behind us to overhear our conversation.
“Not as far as I know,” I replied quietly. So it isn’t just my imagination, Sanderson really is acting weirdly. Not being paranoid in this instance wasn’t much of a relief. It seemed that I had somehow lost the soldier’s trust. I racked my memory for whatever might have turned him against me and a picture of the sewers formed. Something had caught my eye at the time but I couldn’t remember what it had been.
Four of the soldiers split from the others to drive and ride up front. That left two each to ride in the back of each truck. With a pair of armed and nervous soldiers riding along with us, our conversation was stilted. Aventius and his remaining people had opted to travel in our truck rather than to mingle with the Japanese warriors. Crammed in side by side, no one seemed to have anything to say. Most of my kin avoided my gaze, as if they were afraid they might inadvertently enrage me into ordering their deaths.
Stuck to my side like glue, Geordie rolled his eyes at the skittish Europeans. “Is it just me or does this feel seriously awkward?” he murmured.
I had no idea why but his observation struck me as funny and I started laughing silently. Luc elbowed me in the side, which made me laugh even harder.
“What’s wrong with her?” one of Aventius’ followers asked. “Is she having a fit?”
Geordie sniggered and we were suddenly holding onto each other, howling with laughter.
“Great, our fearless leader has gone crazy,” someone else muttered.
If I’d been human, tears would have been streaming down my face at my hilarity. “F-f-fearless leader,” I choked out, totally unable to explain why I found this to be so damn funny.
Igor helped to snap me out of it by calmly reaching over and smacking me up the back of the head. The brief moment of pain helped me to regain my composure. Geordie winced and rubbed his cheek. It was the only spot his mentor had been able to reach. All movement stopped as everyone watched me to see how I would react.
Turning to face Igor, I gave him a brief nod. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“Anytime,” the Russian replied gruffly.
Quiet conversation finally broke out when it became clear that I wasn’t going to unleash my holy marks on my friend or anyone else within my reach. Standing near the doors, the soldiers eased their grips on their weapons. They both carried a prototype that would blast us in half if they decided to use us for target practice. They would no doubt also be carrying some of the explosives that were tiny but could wreak a lot of damage. Any one of us could kill the men with one hand but maybe not before they could take some of us down. It was a sign of my nervousness that thoughts like these were creeping into my head.
As our small convoy made its way towards the area where we hoped our quarry had chosen to set up his lair, I pondered at the turn my thoughts seemed to take lately. Thanks to Nicholas and Anna-Eve, I now looked for treachery everywhere. You just never know who is going to betray you next, my inner voice agreed darkly.
It was still early enough for humans to be out and about when we came to a stop. I was puzzled at the general lack of noise until one of the soldiers pushed the door open. We had pulled off the road and had parked behind a copse of trees. I could faintly hear traffic somewhere down the road but I had to strain to do so.
“Does anyone speak Bulgarian?” Sanderson asked when we’d all gathered around him. I was unsurprised when Gregor nodded. “There’s a small town nearby,” the colonel explained. “I’m going to take a small team out to question some of the townsfolk and see if they can point us in the right direction.”
“I will be happy to be of assistance,” Gregor said and headed for the sedan. Luc tensed but didn’t protest at seeing his friend driving away with four American soldiers for company. It made me nervous as well. I just didn’t like the idea of any of us being separated from the main group.
“He’ll be ok,” Geordie said, probably more to reassure himself than any of us. “Sanderson needs him and he won’t let anything bad happen to him.” The teen had picked up on the tension the Americans were exuding.
Holding their weapons in a seemingly casual manner, the remaining soldiers gathered in a small group while we all waite
d. They weren’t exactly standing guard but the frequent glances they sent in our direction gave me the impression that they were watching us closely.
Sending out my senses, I zeroed in on Gregor and kept track of him remotely. I couldn’t see or hear what he was doing or who he was talking to but at least I could tell roughly where he was. After a couple of hours presumably spent traversing the town, I sensed him moving back towards us. “They’re coming back,” I said to alert the others. Luc gave me a tense smile, grateful to hear that his friend was still with us.
With our exceptional hearing, we detected the sedan drawing closer and gathered into one group to wait for them. I was slightly amazed to see Japanese warriors mingling with the Europeans. They appeared to be trying hard to get along rather than making snide comments and insulting jabs at each other. Joshua’s death had served a purpose after all. He had set an example of what would happen to anyone who deliberately caused trouble. I just hoped everyone would continue to work together until this mess was resolved. I’d rather not have to narrow our numbers down any further.
Finally hearing their leader approaching as well, the soldiers turned to face the car as it nudged its way through the trees. A glance at Gregor when he disembarked from the car was enough to tell me he had stopped to feed. We always seemed more vital after topping up with blood. I could have used a snack and presumed the rest of the group were hungry as well. I’d have to make sure we all had a chance to feed soon. If I was really going to be their leader during this crisis then I had better start acting like one.
Sanderson stopped to converse with his men before they moved to join us. I’d already deduced that their mission had been a bust when Gregor shook his head regretfully. “We didn’t have any luck questioning the townsfolk,” the American leader confirmed. “The next town is about half an hour away. Hopefully we’ll have better results there.”
I’d been warned by my dream that the Second would have already begun to build his new army by the time we located him. I had a feeling we could question every person we met for the next week and we would come up empty every time. If fate was behind this then it would make us wait until it was ready before unleashing more trouble on us. One thing I had learned about fate was the it didn’t like to make things easy for us.
Chapter Ten
I turned out to be fairly close in my estimation. Six days passed before we stumbled across our first clue. While Gregor and his entourage of American soldiers questioned befuddled humans, I’d taken to skimming through news reports on the colonel’s laptop. A headline about missing vagrants caught my eye and I clicked on the story to read the article in full.
According to the report, during the past week several homeless people had disappeared from one of the larger cities of Bulgaria. The reporter didn’t come right out and say that someone was murdering the hobos but it was strongly implied in his wording.
Sitting on the ground beside me, Geordie sensed my sudden alertness. “Have you discovered something, chérie?”
“I think so. Someone has kidnapped a bunch of homeless people,” I told him. Clicking on the map beside the article, the town and surrounding areas came into view.
Luc and Igor crowded in close to view the screen. “Have you checked to see whether there are any abandoned castles in the nearby area?” my one true love queried.
Thankful that he was as intelligent as he was gorgeous, I searched for information on the town. A couple of castles were mentioned but neither was the one from my dream. Intuition told me that this was the right place and that our search had just been narrowed down.
Our hunt had drawn out for far too long and I just wanted to get this over and done with. Unfortunately, our people were currently scattered around the area and we wouldn’t be able to leave until they had returned. Ishida and a few of his warriors were in the closest town, scrounging for a meal. As always, Gregor and the colonel were questioning more townsfolk about their local landmarks. I hoped they would all return soon.
Emperor Ishida and his warriors began straggling back to our group a couple of hours later. Moments after the last warrior arrived, the sedan also appeared. I beckoned to Sanderson and he jogged towards me as soon as he exited from the car. Gregor’s morose headshake indicated they’d been luckless once more.
“I think I’ve found the city the Second is holed up in,” I told the American when he reached my side. “Or I’ve at least narrowed our search down a bit.”
Hunkering beside me, the soldier took the laptop and quickly read through the news article. “That’s the best lead we’ve had so far,” he said and smiled. It was strained and didn’t quite reach his eyes. Sanderson had grown increasingly distant and I still had no idea why.
“Are we going to leave straight away?” Geordie asked. “I haven’t fed yet.” His lower lip wasn’t quite pooched out in a pout but he was on the verge of it. A hungry vampire was a cranky vampire.
“We’ll stop somewhere before dawn so you can take care of your…needs,” Sanderson promised the teen. Was I the only one who noticed his slight hesitation?
As promised, we halted an hour before dawn in a mid-sized town that had several thousand inhabitants. Igor stayed close to his protégé as they headed out for a meal. Everyone else who had missed out on a feed also took to the streets. Most of them moved in pairs. Maybe they shared my unease at the thought of wandering around alone.
Being in a much more populated area, most of us had to remain hidden in the trucks. So many strangers wandering the streets might be noticed so it was safer to remain out of sight. We were all tired of being crammed in together. I had an inkling of how the caged humans waiting to be spitted then roasted in the cavern of doom had felt. Even for those of us who no longer had to breathe, it was suffocating.
Not particularly hungry, I shook my head when Luc raised his eyebrow in silent invitation to join him for a stroll. He disappeared into the darkness in search of a tasty morsel.
I wished I could send my senses out far and wide to search for unknown vampires. But that could alert the Second that we were closing in on him. He couldn’t possibly know that we were on his trail and I was determined to put an end to him this time. I wasn’t going to leave him any wriggle room to escape from us again. He might be crafty but we were tenacious and we weren’t going to stop until he had joined his fellow disciples in death.
Everyone returned from feeding to bed down in the trucks well before the killing rays of the sun burst into life. Aventius chose to remain awake. He brooded quietly as he watched over his followers. He’d been silent and withdrawn since ending Joshua’s life. Feeling me watching him, he turned his head. The bags beneath his eyes had darkened, making me wonder if he ever slept anymore or if he just pretended to. I read no hostility or blame in his gaze, just a deep and abiding sorrow. He turned away to contemplate his thoughts and left me to mine.
Surrounded by my sleeping friends, I brushed a greasy clump of hair out of Geordie’s eyes. He always tried to lie down beside me when we slept, seeking either companionship, safety or both. Luc was on my other side, lying on his back with his hands clasped on his chest. It was a classic vampire pose I’d seen a hundred times in the movies. All he needed was a coffin for the picture to be complete.
Despite the slight chill emanating from the pair, I found their nearness to be comforting. A feeling of doom had begun to grow inside me like a cancerous tumour. I’d questioned Kokoro last night and she still hadn’t received any new visions. My dreams hadn’t given me any fresh insight into the Second’s plans. I couldn’t account for my presentiment of calamity but it refused to go away.
I hid my misgivings as well as I could when everyone rose for the night. Sometime during the day, we’d reached the town where the homeless people had mysteriously begun disappearing. Pushing open the door of the truck, I saw that our vehicles had been parked inside a large, empty warehouse. Boards covered the windows and shattered bottles littered the corners. Flattened cardboard boxes had been made int
o makeshift beds, reminding me of my brief stay in the sewers beneath London. Several people appeared to have been squatting here sometime in the recent past. I wondered if they had become inhabitants of the grey castle from my dream. It seemed more than likely.
Unable to speak the native language and unwilling to make their presence known, Sanderson had opted to wait for Gregor to rise before attempting to question any of the townsfolk. “Let’s head out,” the colonel said impatiently as the dapper vampire ambled over to the sedan. Gregor took the soldier’s impatience in his stride and climbed inside the car without complaint.
“All this sitting around doing nothing is starting to get to me,” Geordie complained as the car containing four soldiers and our friend drove away.
Since we were hidden from view of the public, everyone had taken the opportunity to escape from the trucks. Overhearing the teen’s comment, Ishida and Kokoro joined us. “My warriors are also becoming restless,” Ishida said.
“Surely some people in this town can speak English,” Geordie whined. “I don’t see why we can’t all spread out and ask if anyone knows about the castle.”
I had to admit, the idea of sneaking out and trolling the streets for people who knew about the castle appealed to me more than sitting around waiting for Gregor to finally have some luck did. “Ok,” I agreed. “Let’s head out and start asking around. Just make sure no one remembers you.” I received impatient nods at the reminder that we had to remain stealthy and unseen. They had all been at this a lot longer than I had.
Offering me his arm, Luc nodded at the soldiers who had stationed themselves near the warehouse doors. They nodded politely back and I felt their eyes on our backs as we walked away. An imaginary itch started up between my shoulder blades at the feeling that one of them was pointing his gun at me. A quick glance backward dispelled the idea. Aventius and Ishida’s people were leaving the warehouse in dribs and drabs but the soldiers were still inside.