“She’s not supposed to be able to detect that.”
“You two are good at lying aren’t you Mother. Experts even.”
“Allison, I told you to tell her years ago, but no. I’m the innocent one.” Dracula nodded. “The innocent one is right here.”
“I suppose she overpowered you?”
“Well, ah. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
Floyd and Edwin had never seen this part of Dracula and it was a delightful experience. Their eyes were wide as they took it all in. The Master was poking around in both of their brains at the same time and so they were forced to control their thoughts.
Jenny was satisfied with the situation that she had created and so she showed them a beautiful smile, but she was laughing inside.
Dracula nodded knowingly. “All right, back to business.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MICHAEL MADE HIS WAY THROUGH Central Park in Manhattan. It was partially sunny with only a slight breeze. He went to the base of Augustus Saint Gauden’s General William T. Sherman monument of the Civil War General on his horse across from the Plaza hotel. There he sat and watched the horse-drawn carriages lined up waiting for tourists. A senior couple got in one with some difficulty and off they trotted, both had huge smiles. He watched them kiss before turning away. The couple’s happiness was at the opposite end of Michael’s emotional state.
With two days behind Michael he had no word of Lauren’s fate. Michael was literally sick with worry. The images that continued to flash in his head were all dreadful things with awful endings. He couldn’t shake the feeling that her bones were laying in some gutter or behind some abandoned building. Over a dozen red sheriffs were searching for her but they also had no luck. A meeting had been arranged by John Shaw with a low-level wizard that had one particular talent. The private eye said once again that he promised nothing, and Michael was starting to think that that’s what he should be paying him. He should have had those words painted on his vehicle I Promise Nothing. John told Michael that Sebastian had basically one spell that he could conjure up that might aid in locating Lauren. At this point Michael was willing to try just about anything.
He had been told that Sebastian would meet him at the monument, that he would be dressed in red. He was ten minutes early as he scanned the area for Sebastian. It didn’t take long when he observed the wizard running across the street from in between the carriages. He was only four and a half feet tall, wearing shiny candy apple red pants and shirt; he even had a matching red flat cap and a goatee tied in a long tail. Sebastian was carrying a clear vase of roses with lots of water, which Michael found a little strange. But the ways of wizards was something that he wasn’t privy to; he just wished that he could have made contact with a more powerful magic man. If the wizard blurted out that he promised nothing, he just might decide to give him a damn good bite.
Sebastian ran up to Michael. “You must be Michael, must be Michael. I am Sebastian. You have the money, have the money?” The wizard repeated himself as he nodded at Michael. He looked around as if he was expecting some sort of trap; he knew that sometimes wizard’s preyed on one another. He appeared to be nervous and ready to run without notice.
Michael took out a wad of cash out of his right pants pocket but then hesitated. “What exactly are you going to do for me? I was told that you can help me find her but I wasn’t told how.”
“I can show you where she is, where she is. Now I must warn you before we proceed. It might show her from a distance, from a distance, or it might show her close up, close up. We’ll get a single vision, only one, only one. If neither of us recognise the location there’s nothing I can do about that, about that. If she’s bones it’ll show it, so please don’t kill the messenger. Do you want to proceed? Whatever it is that we are going to see cannot be unseen.”
Michael nodded and handed him the wad of cash which he quickly pocketed. “How does this work?”
“I’ll need a tear from you, a tear from you to add to the others.”
Michael took it to mean that the thirteen roses were sitting in tears, and so he hoped that it wasn’t some sort of evil spell; he didn’t feel that it was something he could ask, nor something that the wizard would admit to in any case. It didn’t take long for Michael to shed a tear. With an eye dropper it was captured and placed into the vase with the other tears. The roses were placed on the ground to form a hexagon as passers-by stopped to watch. Sebastian threw the water inside the roses and the water flowed unnaturally and formed a mirror with gasps from some. (And “Did you see that?” from others) The tears turned into a silver reflective surface that was at first cloudy, but then got clearer as Sebastian waved his right hand over it; the imaged focused like binoculars being adjusted.
There was Lauren in the glass-topped coffin.
“Oh my GOD! There she is! Is this happening now?” Michael demanded. “What the hell is she in? She’s in a coffin? She’s not bones.”
Bent over at the waist the wizard concentrated on the image, he cocked his head, spitting out strange words that Michael didn’t recognise in an attempt to strengthen the enchantment. “It looks like some sort of box, sort of box.”
The image brought such emotional pain to Michael that he could barely stand it. “She’s not moving! If she’d dead why isn’t she bones? Is she dead?”
Sebastian removed his hat and scratched his head vigorously, disturbing some dandruff. “Looks like some sort of binding spell, some sort of binding spell. No look, she’s not dead! Her eyes are blinking! She looks angry.”
Ripples went through the image of Lauren which was lost for a second or two but then returned. Michael was becoming more anxious. “What’s happening?”
Sebastian placed the round flat cap back onto his head. “I’m sorry but the spell won’t last much longer, not much longer.”
“How the hell am I supposed to tell where she is from that? Lauren!”
The image was shown from about two feet away from Lauren, not much to go on. He could see her and part of the coffin but not much more. There wasn’t nearly enough information to show Michael her location.
Inside the image Lauren looked puzzled as she shifted her head. “Michael?”
“She can hear me! Lauren where are you?”
“Michael, I don’t know where I am. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can hear you.”
But with those words the reflection turned into water and the connection was lost. Michael looked angrily at the wizard. “Bring her back! I need to find out where she is! I need more information. Bring her back!”
“I cannot, the spell is finished, the spell is finished.” Sebastian was surprised as no one had ever been able to communicate with through image before this. He could only assume that the fact that she was a red sheriff made it possible, unless there was some sort of magic flowing through Michael. True love had power as well.
“Make another one, make another one!” Michael demanded and mocked.
“It would take several months to gather the tears to cast another. My abilities are limited, very limited.”
Michael pulled his sword and decapitated the wizard, and watched as he turned to bones. Only he didn’t really kill the wizard, he simply imagined it. Sebastian sped off into Central Park and out of sight. Michael stared down inside the roses and felt so utterly helpless that he started to cry.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
SHERIFF ALEXANDER TOWERED OVER ABBEY as they waited for Arym to be released from the facility. Everything appeared to be white, the long halls, the ceilings, and even part of the main desk. Abbey thought that it was a bit of a strange setup. People walked by and she wondered if they were all vampires. The red sheriff could sense that Tessy was about to come around the corner, and sure enough they both appeared. After Abbey signed a single piece of yellow paper at the front desk they all made their way toward the security exit, flanked by two black security guards. Nods were exchanged as they exited the building.
Abbey hugged her child. “How are you? What did they do in there?”
Arym shrugged. “It was kinda weird. People came in to read my mind, and they drew blood for some tests or something. This guy came into my room in the middle of the night and Tessy escorted him out, I never seen him again after that. One of the doctors said that he was gone and wouldn’t be back. Not sure what that means maybe I don’t wanna know.”
Alexander smiled and nodded. “We’ve received permission for you to return to the apartment. Tessy and I will escort you.”
“I wish I had a dog like Tessy. Oh, Mom, they gave me blood to drink, and you wouldn’t believe how good it tasted. It made me feel like a thousand times stronger.”
Abbey had mixed feelings about her daughter. She loved her but now she also was a little frightened of her. What if she lost control of herself? Life would never be quite the same and all they could do was to deal with it. She hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since her daughter had been turned. Now the child would be back in her own bed and she had so many unanswered questions.
Back at the apartment they passed a family that was moving in across the hall, obviously one of the movers was a vampire. He carried a large sofa by himself making it look easy. Arym looked depressed as she sat at the kitchen table and stared off. She felt awkward in her own home. Alexander explained that it would take time for her to get accustomed to her new state of being but reassured her that she would be okay. She patted the dog knowing that she would miss her because Tessy had been a great companion and guardian. Everyone could use a loyal friend like her.
Alexander and Abbey were attracted to one another but neither was prepared to make the first move. Both were single and a little lonely. Alexander could have read Abbey’s mind but he refused to do it; he considered it a personal trespass although situations had forced him to do it in the pass. He knew that once he left the apartment he would probably never see her again. Tessy ran up to the sheriff and nudged him with her nose; she wanted him to ask her out but he simply told the dog to be good.
“All right Abbey. My card is on the table, please memorise the number and destroy the card. Otherwise some bad vampires might be able to track me down and do me in. We have to be going but I’ll check in if I have the time. We’re pretty busy lately. Some days it seems like the world is being flushed right down the toilet.”
Abbey squeezed Alexander’s hand. “Thank you so much for your time and understanding. I don’t know what we would have done without your help.”
The sheriff nodded and blurred off down the hall and out of the building. Tessy gave Arym one last look before following Alexander.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
JENNY FOUND HERSELF ALONE in the forest in front of the cottage. A Hermit Thrush was singing its haunting melancholy song from a nearby tree. Floyd and Edwin had escorted her to the location but then had blurred off. The place was surrounded by multicolor daisies, and she had never observed such a flower because they only existed here. She knew immediately that they were a product of some sort of incantation. But what did they do? Did they have a purpose? An early warning system of sorts, one could never tell with magic. Or perhaps it was a spell gone wrong? The flowers were throwing some sort of pollen or something in the air, and she didn’t think it wise to breathe that stuff in but what to do about it? She backed up several yards. Her hands tingled and when she looked at them they were bright white; Jenny instinctively turned them toward the daisies and the light engulfed the flowers killing every single one of them, also cleaning the air. It was a little like antibodies killing bacteria. This being a wizard thing was certainly complicated, and not understanding oneself was more than a little annoying.
Jenny was dressed in black T-shirt with a short skort. She had a katana sword, her throwing knives and a backpack with some food. Edwin and Floyd had brought her to within a half mile of the cabin and told her that they would wait for her there, whether it was days or weeks. She hadn’t liked the sound of that. Was it going to take her weeks to locate Caius?
The Hermit Thrush landed on her shoulder and sang to her. “Well hello. What can I do for you?” She watched as the bird circled the cottage and then flew off.
It was a little cool but not bad at all. She had the ability to endure the cold or heat just like a regular vampire. The dwelling was surrounded by trees and she immediately guessed that it had been made by magic; she could observe waves of light energy emerging from the roof and heading south, its colors a bit like a rainbow. The cottage looked as though it could have been hundreds of years old, how old she couldn’t know, magic could be a tricky thing. It was made with red brick, had a slightly crooked chimney with a small shed beside it. The place was so small that it wasn’t big enough for a family to reside within.
A long brick path led up to the front door, the bricks looked newer than the rest of the place, but something about that white front door was off. On further inspection the door wasn’t actually a door. There was dimension to it but no cracks or seams to indicate that it could be opened, although the doorknob was real enough. It was a rendering of a door but not genuine. She attempted to turn the knob but it was like a prop, no function to it. Jenny checked the windows and sure enough they weren’t real either, simply painted on by magic but they sure looked genuine from several feet away. She walked completely around the house and wasn’t surprised to find that there was no way in.
“What on earth?” She knew that there had to be some way in but how? The place had two chimneys, one on the top of the roof, with the other being a short thing on the side, perhaps for a fireplace? She examined the one on the side for a hidden lever or such but found nothing. Jenny climbed up a nearby tree and jumped from it to the roof. She thumped around making her way to the chimney, but it was solid brick, no way to get in. No smoke had ever gone through it. How peculiar was this place in the middle of the forest? Jenny jumped up and down on the roof, discovering it was as solid as rock. A further search of the cottage roof revealed no entrance so she jumped down.
An elderly gentleman appeared from behind the cottage; he was stooped and using an Ebony and Sycamore knob on an African Iroko shaft walking stick. Jenny was guarded against him; she didn’t believe he was as feeble as he pretended to be. It was best to be wary of strangers no matter how feeble they pretended to be. A monster that resembled a monster was at a disadvantage as it wasn’t smart to give away one’s position before the proper time.
“Hello.”
No response as he continued to move forward. Where had the old fellow come from? Had he appeared from inside the brick cottage? Was she looking at the powerful wizard playing some sort of game?
“Are you trying to get in there?” said Jeptha. “I’ve been trying for years and I can tell you right now little girl, there’s no way in. You may as well give up. Do you give up?”
Jenny had to laugh. “No, I don’t give up. What’s your name and where did you come from?”
“Funniest thing, I was never ever given a name and I guess it stuck.”
“Un huh.” She noticed that he was no longer stooped but standing nice and straight. Jenny really didn’t see any point to his antics. She was getting a kind of jokester vibe from him but wasn’t at all impressed. Jenny minded him and as she poked around in there she discovered his name. “Well, Jeptha, just what are you up to?”
His eyebrows narrowed. “Hey little girl, no poking around in my head, I won’t allow it. That is not polite.”
“Sorry, force of habit,” said Jenny as she continued to poke around in there nonetheless, now in stealth mode. Something was very weird in there, and she was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t Caius. Some sort of test? She pulled out of his mind and stared into his hazel eyes. Now he seemed to be at least ten years younger than he had been.
Jeptha went over to the cottage and banged on it hard with his cane. “What do you hear?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s hallow inside. There is something in there. S
omething good I’ll bet.”
Jenny thought that she would like to use him for a battering ram and it made her smile. “Listen Jeptha, I get the feeling that you know how to get in there. Are you going to tell me or not?”
“I do not know how to get in there.” He coughed and coughed and coughed.
“Are you going to live?”
“Not forever. Mind me if you like and you’ll see that I’m telling the truth. Just give me a second to prepare. Okay now you can mind me. I’ll give you a few seconds in there.”
Jenny went back into his strange mind and found nothing but black corridors with fire burning in the distance, and several red doors. What the hell was going on in there? But each door that she opened triggered a spell and showed other corridors with numberless doors. As she got closer she saw that the doors weren’t real. Each room that she did manage to enter had a fire pit that burned with another door opposite it. The atmosphere was becoming smoky and unpleasant, and when she tried to escape his mind she discovered that she couldn’t leave. She commenced to cough from the acrid smoke. It burned her throat. Jenny had made her way back to where the exit should have been but her luminescent door had disappeared. She looked around and realized that she was at the proper location.
Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's) Page 8