Something scampered into view. At first, it was just a small, fuzzy blob moving amongst other fuzzy blobs. Thad focused his mind away from the pain, toward the moving blob, and when his vision cleared, he saw Sebastian messing with something on the wall at the opposite side of the room. At first, Thad thought the dwarf was trying to straighten the large painting that hung on the wall. It must have been eight feet tall, reaching nearly floor to ceiling. It depicted someone famous, perhaps Napoleon, but Thad’s eyesight was growing dim, so he couldn’t be sure.
Thad’s heart rate dropped dangerously low. It seemed minutes passed between each beat, but when the fleshly pump finally made one more hiccup, it was like lightning striking his soul.
“Beth,” Sebastian called out. “Hey, Beth, look here.” It was strange. Thad could hardly see, or smell, and it tasted as though he had drank a bottle of iodine, but his hearing was as sharp as ever. “Hey, you stupid fledgling! I have something for you.”
Beth was too drunk on Thad’s blood to acknowledge the dwarf’s voice, so Sebastian picked up a heavy marble bookend shaped like a dragon and threw it at her with impressive accuracy. The marble dragon hit Beth on the crown of her head, broke into the three pieces with a thunderous crack!, and fell onto Thad’s face, which fortunately had lost most of its feeling.
Beth ripped her mouth away from Thad’s neck, her fangs dragging two deep lacerations in his skin. She stood upon her knees, seething, with twin trickles of blood trailing from the corners of her mouth. “How dare you strike me,” she screamed. Her voice roared loud enough to rattle the windows in the next room. “I’m going to rip your little head off and let the savages fight over your stunted little corpse.”
Sebastian reached over to the frame of the large painting and retrieved what looked like a length of chain. A broad and devious smile overtook his malformed face. “Thad’s right. You talk too much.” The dwarf yanked down hard on the chain and something inside the wall behind the painting made a metallic, grinding whir, followed by a powerful whoosh. The chest of Napoleon, or whoever it was, exploded outward, and Beth was thrown backward by some unseen force.
Thad’s dimming vision went red. His face burned blistering hot, yet the sensation was soothing instead of painful. His mouth filled with a copper tasting elixir, and his parched throat opened instinctively. With every gulp, his vision became clearer. More clear than it ever had been before. Bones realigned with audible clicks. His back straightened and his deceased legs resurrected. Thad sat up, following the steady stream of blood with his mouth.
Beth writhed against the massive shaft protruding from her solar plexus, pinning her to the stone wall. Thad held his mouth just under the fountain of Beth’s blood as it poured from the hollow steel pipe. He cupped his hands around his mouth as he swallowed greedily, not wanting to spill any more than he had already. A crimson mist shot from Beth’s mouth as she screamed in pain, fury and fear. She struggled, in vain, to dislodge the giant arrow, which Thad now recognized from the vision Sebastian had given him of his own self-creation.
The world changed, yet stayed the same. Jerusa had once described becoming a vampire as seeing the world in color for the first time, whereas, before, it had been black and white. She hadn’t done the experience justice. Thad could hear the minuscule claws of a rat scampering about behind the wall where the large arrow had been shot from. He could smell Beth’s fear and fury. He could focus in on the tiny blood vessels in her eyes until they looked like great dead trees reaching up toward a white sky. But there were no words, no symbols or expressions, no similes or metaphors, no hyperbole that could describe the taste of Beth’s blood. All of creation was swallowed up in a crimson void.
Beth’s screams fizzled to silence as her blood ceased to flow. Thad spun around, amazed as his own speed and agility. The dwarf backed away, waving his hands in the air. “I can explain everything.”
Thad crossed the room with immeasurable speed, colliding with the dwarf like a cannon ball.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Thad hit Sebastian with such force that the stone wall behind him cracked. Thick clouds of dust rained down from the ceiling, puddling on the floor around them. The tiny vampire peeled Thad’s hands away from his throat, but not without a great deal of effort.
“I’m going to kill you,” Thad growled. His newly formed fangs sliced into his bottom lip, and the taste of blood sparked an animalistic frenzy within him. He tossed the dwarf across the room as though he were a pillow. Sebastian flew into a credenza, smashing it into several hand-carved pieces of kindling.
The dwarf climbed out of the splintered pile, and dusted himself off. “Kill me? You should be thanking me, you ungrateful clod.”
“Thank you?” Thad shot across the room. The dwarf tried to evade him this time, but Thad was too fast. Sebastian soared across the room again, this time hitting a hutch loaded down with porcelain figurines, which exploded as they hit the hardwood.
“Would you please stop that?” he asked with a grunt. “You know it’s not easy to achieve a collection of antiques like this when you’ve been house-bound for half a millennium.” He looked about at his ruined figurines in painful longing. “And yes, you should thank me. It wasn’t easy setting this all up. It took a lot of planning and even more luck.”
“Set what up?” Thad’s voice rumbled like thunder.
“Keep your voice down.” He dropped the only figurine left that hadn’t been broken and stomped it under foot. “It wasn’t easy to set up this little meeting, you dull-witted imbecile. Because of me, not only are you vampire, born of the blood, but the blood of one of the most powerful vampires alive.”
Thad turned to look at Beth who hung lifeless on the wall. He moved to the large painting and peered inside the rupture. Behind the wall stood the large crossbow-like device Thad remembered from the vision.
“If you knew how difficult it was for me to move that up here, piece by piece, you’d get down on your knees and kiss my hand right now.” Sebastian laughed. “Why do you think I sent you on all those wild-goose chases? I needed time, and to draw the eyes away from myself.”
Thad turned with renewed fury. “They beat and tortured me. Locked me in a tiny cell. Beth nearly killed me.”
“Oh, quit complaining. Tell me it wasn’t worth it. Feel the power churning inside you and tell me that you wouldn’t do it all over again.”
Thad couldn’t do that. “Why did you do this? Why bring Beth in?”
“Heidi wasn’t going to just hand her blood over to you. She wanted answers about Jerusa, about Shufah. I knew Beth could get those from you, and that Heidi would pay, whatever the cost. Now that you’ve met the true Beth, can you tell me that her death is any big loss? Some people are just better off dead. They cause less trouble that way, don’t you agree?”
Thad shook his head. “Why get the information for Heidi at all. What did it benefit you?”
“There are things I wanted to know, too. Like the true identity of Jerusa’s creator. I had my suspicions he was a Divine Vampire.”
“Why do you care about Silvanus?”
“Because, dear boy,” Sebastian said. “I’m the one that created him.”
Thad’s mind reeled at that revelation. He saw no deceit in the dwarf’s eyes, but there was an omission. “But why turn me? You had what you wanted. Why not let me die?”
“Even I can have a moment of pity,” the dwarf said. “Once the Stewards got what they wanted, they would have killed you, as you can see.” He gestured to Beth. “I wanted to do you a kindness.”
Thad grabbed Sebastian by the throat and heaved him over his head.
“Fine, fine. I turned you because I need your help.” Thad dropped the dwarf, but he landed nimbly on his feet. “It’s unfortunate that you told Beth about Shufah being taken. I guess that’s my fault as much as anyone’s. But regardless, it was only a matter of time before the High Council discovered that I’ve been manipulating the Watchtower. When Heidi returns, I’m a dead man. No
bargaining or begging will stop her this time.”
“I thought you were the most powerful augur on the planet.”
“Power is useless if you cannot trust he who wields it,” Sebastian said. “I forged this grand scheme so that I could make you a vampire. But not just any fledgling. You needed the blood of a Steward—preferably of the High Council—so that you would be powerful enough to free us both. And I knew that if I gave you such power, I could trust you with it.”
“You’re lying.”
“All right,” the dwarf said in exasperation. It was the first true emotion Thad sensed from him. “I’ll tell you some of it, but the rest you’re just going to have to trust me about.”
“Go on.”
“We need to get to Jerusa as soon as possible.”
Thad saw truth in the dwarf’s eyes. “I thought Jerusa died fighting Suhail.” Speaking those words hurt, like vomiting up a live porcupine.
“No, she’s still alive, but the battle didn’t go in their favor. It’s a miracle they survived at all. I knew it was a trap, but would the High Council listen? Of course not.” The dwarf slammed a tiny fist into his tiny palm. “As I feared, Suhail is turning Hunters into savages so that he can use their gifts to his advantage. That’s why he allowed us to find him. He wants the Crimson Storm, but more than that, he desires Jerusa and Shufah. Celeste used her powers to cloak them from the savage augurs, and as a result, it appeared to the Watchtower that they had died. But it’s important that we reach Jerusa as fast as possible. She’s in danger.”
Thad laughed. “When is Jerusa not in danger?”
“I know, but what you don’t understand is her peril is the peril of us all.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I told you that you’ll have to trust me.” The dwarf had never shown such genuine anxiety. It was kind of funny. “Isn’t it enough to just go save your friend?”
Thad squatted down so he could be eye to eye with Sebastian. “If you want me to get you past the savages in the dungeon caves, you’d better start talking.” The dwarf’s mismatching eyes widened. “Don’t look so surprised. You want to escape. It’s the only way out of this house, and you’re not fast enough or strong enough to take on a bunch of savages. If you don’t start telling me the truth about Jerusa, you’ll be braving the caves on your own.”
“Fine. Have it your way.” Sebastian stomped in a circle, looking a bit like a pouting child. “The rulers of the vampire race call themselves the Stewards of Life because no one vampire reigns over the kingdom. True, the Stewards force their ‘laws’ upon us, and the High Council controls the Stewards, but the power of perpetual life is held in trust by many. The High Council was wise enough to know their best chance at avoiding a revolt was to divide the power. And they are powerful, do not be deceived about that. But I foresee one coming, the Queen of Life, whose power will eclipse even the Divine Vampires. She is the only one that can prevent the doom to come.”
“And Jerusa is the Queen of Life?”
“Not if we don’t get to her in time. Know that nothing in the future is set, but I’ve had a vision of things that may come to pass. I foresee that a friend will betray Jerusa, and if they succeed, it will be the death of the whole world.”
“Why would a friend betray Jerusa?”
“Because of love.”
A vicious growl tore through the room, startling both Thad and Sebastian. Beth clawed at the hollow steel shaft piercing her chest. Her blood-filled eyes were fixed on them with ravenous hunger. She shrieked at the bright lights, but would not shield her gaze. Her lips had already pulled back away from her teeth. Her pale skin had taken on a gray-green pallor.
“We need to burn her,” Thad said, looking around for a way to make a fire.
“Leave her be.”
“She’ll get loose.” As if to prove his point, Beth gripped the steel shaft, and pulled her torso away from the wall.
“Let her. It’ll be a great distraction.” The dwarf opened the door to the hidden staircase. “If we’re lucky, she’ll wander into the Watchtower and pick through the augurs. Keep them blind to our movements and give us a good head start. Come, let’s leave while we can.”
They descended into the bowels of the great house with the speed and stealth of death. “The caves are this way,” Sebastian said.
Thad knew the way. He had discovered the pit of savages near the crematorium where he had tried to hang himself. He was so thankful that Dot had cut him down that night. Had she not, he would have been born of the bite instead of the blood, and the Stewards would have killed him for sure.
“We need to go this way first,” Thad said, pointing the opposite direction.
“What? No. This is the way. There are no caves at that end of the house.” The dwarf looked about in nervous agitation. “I know what it is you wish to do, but we don’t have much time. The sun is on its way up. We need to get through the caverns and put some distance between us and the house.”
“I won’t leave until I set things right.” Thad exploded down the darkened halls, leaving the dwarf standing there, cursing his name.
Thad found his way back to the dilapidated room with the massive chimney as though he had been here a thousand times. Even his mind and memory had been enhanced by Heidi’s blood. The lights of the tunnel hidden in the back of the chimney were already on. Thad could hear someone stirring down toward the lab. The rumbling of a heart, and the scent of human flesh, drifted to him like a gentle breeze. He walked boldly into the lab where a man in a white coat was behind the glass with Debra Phoenix. He was hunched over her, his back to Thad, fiddling with some of the many tubes sticking out of Debra. Thad punched the glass with all his new vampiric strength, and the man shrieked like a dying pig.
The man scurried around to the far side of Debra’s bed. “Who are you?” Thad stepped through the large hole he had created in the tempered plexiglass. The man started to say something else, but Thad dove over the bed, catching the man by the shoulders, and pinned him against the far glass wall. The smell of fear and adrenaline flooded the room. His human heart raged, calling out to Thad like a siren’s song. Thad’s conscious mind fled, leaving his vampiric instincts to rule. He plunged his newly formed fangs into the man’s neck without a second thought.
The world was washed away in a crimson wave. With every beat of the man’s heart, every spray of blood from his artery, Thad slipped deeper into total bliss. He sensed someone enter the room, but he couldn’t open his eyes.
“No, don’t do that,” Sebastian’s distant voice sounded in his ears.
Thad pulled away from the man. He was still alive, squirming feebly in Thad’s arms, his blood begging for Thad to return. Sebastian stood near the bed with his stubby arms crossed before his chest. His mouth was pressed tight, and his brows were furrowed.
“What?” Thad asked. “Is this guy a friend of yours?”
“Not in the slightest. But I really wish you hadn’t done that.”
“Why not? We’re vampires, right? We drink blood.”
“You certainly do now.” Sebastian waved his arm, indicating there was no time for this. “Give him to me. I haven’t fed yet and you have. I’ll finish him off. You tend to Jerusa’s mother.”
“Okay, but don’t mess up his clothes. I need to swap with him.” The dwarf gave him a quizzical look, and Thad pointed at his pants. “I might’ve had a little accident right about the time I was dying.”
Sebastian nodded. “Understood. Mortality’s last little jab, I’m afraid.”
Thad dropped the man on the floor at Sebastian’s feet. He had to admit, it felt good being a vampire.
He stood beside Debra’s bed. He wanted to say something comforting to her, something about Jerusa. About how her daughter would be all right if she wanted to go ahead and pass over. But there was no point. Debra Phoenix was already dead. The machines all continued their ruse, making the deceased seem alive, but they could no longer fool his enhanced senses. De
bra was just a shell, an empty husk. The vile blood of the umbilicus had long ago liquefied all her vital organs, which he suspected was the tar-like substance that was being cycled in and out of her body.
Thad closed Debra’s eyes, then disengaged all the machines. The smell of her internal putridity was overpowering, but with the machine off, it grew exponentially worse. That, combined with his own soiled clothes, was enough to drive him mad.
Sebastian finished feeding. Thad took off his blood soaked clothes and swapped with the dead man. The shirt was too small, and there was no way he was going to wear the man’s underwear, but it wasn’t a total loss. The pants were a bit loose in the waist, and short in the legs, but they’d do. The only other thing that would fit him, though, was the lab coat. He ripped a power cord from one of the machines, fished it through the belt loops, tying it in the front.
“He’s an infected human,” Sebastian said. “If we leave him, he’ll be born of the bite.”
“Was he a good person?” Thad asked. “Or is he better off dead?”
The dwarf screwed up his nose. “Look what he’s done here. You tell me.”
“Good point.” Thad snatched the man up and slung him over his shoulder. “He’s coming with us. We might need another distraction.”
Thad followed the dwarf back through the lower tunnels to the last door on the left before the furnace room. He reached out to open the door, but Sebastian stopped him.
“Wait. The door has a sensor on it. If you open it, an alarm will be triggered in the security room.”
“I’ve opened this door before and it never set off an alarm.”
“Are you so sure? Just because the Hunters didn’t come running doesn’t mean there wasn’t someone watching.”
“Dot,” Thad said. “That sly old fox.”
“I kept the security detail distracted. She turned off the alarm, then came down here to get you. Wait just a moment more. I think our window is about to open.” He closed his eyes and looked up. “I sense a commotion upstairs. I think Beth has finally pulled herself down from the wall.” A giddy little laugh escaped him.
Perpetual Creatures, Volumes 1-3: A Vampire and Ghost Thriller Series Page 79