The Eternity Road (The Eternity Road Trilogy, Book 1)

by Lana Melyan

  She stepped into the library.

  “Maybe you were here when you were little,” said Alec, following her. “And you just don’t remember?”

  “You’re forgetting the footprints. I know they’re mine, and I don’t think that I had feet that size when I was little.”

  The moan in her head was too loud now.

  The curtains were tightly shut, plunging the room into darkness. Amanda pointed the flashlight at the desk with an oil lamp, then she moved it toward the bookshelves and stopped on the protruding stand with the book on it.

  “There it is,” she whispered. “Can you hear it?”

  “Hear what?”

  “The moan.”

  “No. I hear nothing. Is that why you’re here? You want this book?”

  “No. I’m here because the book wants me,” said, Amanda getting closer. With each step, her blood grew warmer and her pulse beat faster.

  “Okay, creepy again.”

  “Sorry, I mean . . .” she held out her hand. “I think I have to open it.”

  “Amanda!” she heard Kimberly’s voice. “Amanda, where are you?”

  Amanda lowered her hand.

  “Kimberly?” she gasped, looking at Kimberly and Ruben as they walked into the room. “How did you find me?”

  Ruben gazed at Alec.

  “What were you thinking, bringing her here at this hour?”

  But then he saw the Book. He turned his glittering eyes on Amanda. “You knew it was here. You saw it in your dream this morning.”

  They heard several footsteps, and Ruben pulled out the stake stuck into his belt.

  “You should have told me,” said Craig softly, stepping through the doorway.

  Riley, Hanna and Melinda entered the room behind him.

  “I—You said, when the time came, I’d know what to do. When I saw this book, I knew what I had to do. I thought if I . . . I didn’t want you to get hurt again.”

  Craig stepped closer and took her hands.

  “Nothing can hurt me more than losing you,” he said.

  His eyes were fixed on hers. They were warm and full of love. She knew that what he said was true. With his finger, he wiped away a tear from her cheek.

  Alec frowned.

  Craig put his hand on the Book.

  “Craig,” she said, “Can you hear it?”

  “No, my love. You are the only one who can.”

  His words and his voice touched something buried deep inside her, somewhere in her soul. And that something was rising.

  She looked at the Book.

  “You can do it now,” said Craig. “It will hurt just for a second. Don’t be afraid.”

  “I’m not.” She smiled. “Not anymore.”

  Amanda glanced at Riley, Hanna, Ruben, and Melinda. Their warm eyes gazed at her. She placed both her hands on the side of the Book above the protruding sharp teeth and, biting her lip, she pressed her palms against them. Trickles of blood flowed on the iron, and the teeth crawled back. Amanda heard the click, and the moan in her head stopped. Beaming, she looked at Craig and pulled aside the cover.

  The soft yellow pages rustled, and two shimmering rays of light came out of it—one red and one blue. They rose slowly, then with full speed flew toward Amanda and hit her in the chest. Amanda flew back and fell unconscious into Craig’s arms. Hanna shrieked with joy. Craig kissed Amanda, his eyes soaked with tears.

  Craig carried Amanda to the wide velvet couch and put her on it. Standing behind the couch, Alec glared at him.

  Another two blue rays came out of the Book and flew away after their owners—Samson and Fray.

  “What happened?” asked Kimberly in a shaky voice. “Craig, is she all right?”

  “She’s fine,” said Craig, kissing Amanda’s forehead. “She’s sleeping.”

  The rays of blue light were coming out from the Book one after another. The next one hit Riley, then Ruben, Craig, Hanna and one more, which flew away to find Ned. The Hunters shuddered, backed up, and then lurched forward again.

  Melinda sat next to Amanda. Her smiling lips trembled.

  “My girl, my little girl,” she said, stroking Amanda’s hair.

  Kimberly’s mouth was open, but she couldn’t say a word. Ruben hugged her.

  “I’ll explain everything to you later, all right?”

  “All right.” Kimberly nodded.

  The next moment, a large number of blue lights burst out from the Book and stormed away. That, and a weak rumble coming from under the house, erased the happy expressions from their faces. There was another rumble, which sounded like somebody was trying to start a lawnmower, and then an old fashioned chandelier shone with a yellow light, swallowing the luminous circles of the flashlights.

  They heard several heavy footsteps.

  “Melinda.” Craig looked at her.

  Melinda jumped on her feet.

  Fray appeared in the library doorway, smiling viciously, with vampires behind him. One of them was Mark.

  Melinda raised her hand.

  “Shaary murum.” She hissed the words.

  Fray stepped into the room, but the vampires hit the dense air and stopped. Fray’s smile vanished. “What? You’re just going to hide here?” he said, then gazed at Amanda.

  “You’re not going near her,” said Craig, glaring at him.

  “She’s not my concern.”

  “No? Then why did you choose to bring her into this house? The last time I came here was in 1948—”

  Kimberly’s mouth fell open again. Alec stared at Fray.

  “—And there were people living here,” Craig said. “What did you do to them?”

  “I didn’t kill them, if that’s what you’re worried about. I bought this house and everything within five hundred yards of it.”

  “Why?” Craig asked again.

  “Because I love nature. I even afforested all open places,” he said artistically. But then Fray’s face became ominous. “You’re right. I brought her here, to this place, because that’s where your Eleanor died once and where she had to stay dead.” His sparkling eyes pierced Craig. “She closed the Book. She took away my powers,” he shouted. “That love of yours destroyed one hundred and sixty years of my life, and your Amanda will pay for that.”

  “No,” snapped Riley. “You’re the one who has to pay. You killed Gabriella, and we’ll make you pay.”

  “Glad to see it still hurts.”

  Kimberly’s eyes widened further. She swallowed, staring at Fray from behind Ruben, who stood protectively in front of her.

  “Who is this?” Fray asked, gazing back at Kimberly. “I see, new love story. I hate to disappoint you, Ruben. The best chance you have is to watch her get old, wrinkle, and die as somebody else’s wife. Or she can die much sooner.”

  “Shut your mouth,” roared Ruben. “If you touch her . . .”

  “What? What are you going to do?”

  The vampires standing behind the protective veil laughed.

  Riley launched forward and punched Fray right in the mouth. Fray staggered back. Riley slipped closer and kicked him in the stomach. Fray flew out of the doorway and crashed into the crowd behind him.

  They heard the backyard door slam with a bang.

  “Already on the floor?” said Samson, walking in with Ned.

  “Look who’s here,” said Fray, straightening up. “Kids, daddy’s home.”

  “Walk away, Fray,” said Samson.

  “I can’t. You see, I have something here, and I’m not leaving without it.”

  “It’s not yours.”

  “Listen to me,” Fray said through gritted teeth, “I killed for that Book once, and I won’t hesitate to do it again.”

  “Really?” Samson stepped closer and grabbed Fray by his clothes. “I don’t see the dagger. I wonder where and how deep you hid it this time.”

  Fray hit Samson’s hands from beneath. As he freed himself, he sent a blow into Samson’s chest. In the moment of impact, Samson clutched Fray’s ar
m. That helped him keep his balance and at the same time, his other hand punched Fray in the ear. Riley and Ned moved toward the vampires.

  “Don’t step outside that door,” said Ruben to Kimberly. As she nodded and sat down by Amanda’s feet, he ran out of library.

  “You stay here, too,” said Craig to Alec.

  He took the chair in the corner, struck it with his foot, and picked up the broken legs. Hanna, who had her bag with her, pulled out her gun.

  “Stay away from him,” said Craig.

  “That plan didn’t work that well last time,” said Hanna grumpily. “They wouldn’t play the same game twice. I’ll try to catch that filth, Mark.”

  She rushed out.

  “Melinda, is this room safe?” Craig asked.

  “Yes. I sealed the windows, too. I’ll stay here just in case.”

  Craig glanced at Amanda once more, then at the Book and left the room. Melinda closed the library door behind him.

  In the living room, Riley fought three vampires, and Mark was one of them. The moment Hanna came out of the library, Mark flew out the window. She grabbed the vampire running at her and threw him aside. The body hit the couch, kicking up a cloud of dust. She shot him, then dove into the window. Ned rushed after her.

  Ruben fought beside Riley. He kicked one of the vampires toward the garden. The vampire flew out, crushing the shabby backyard doors. Ruben picked up a couple sharp pieces of wood and ran after him.

  The living room was covered with vampire bodies. Craig staked the last one inside and ran to the front yard.

  Samson and Fray were tussling in the empty fountain pool. Samson holding Fray by neck was slamming his head against the angel statue.

  “Where is my dagger?” he asked with rage.

  “I told you—I don’t have it on me.” Fray finally grabbed Samson’s hand, pushed it away, and dodged to the side.

  All at once, Fray’s and the vampires’ cellphones rang.

  “You know,” said Fray, breathing heavily as the ringing stopped. “I’ll just walk away like you asked me.”

  Suddenly, the vampires began running away in different directions. There was a flash of a shadow and Fray was gone, too.

  The Hunters stared at each other.

  “Something’s wrong,” said Samson. He looked at Craig. “Where’s the Book?”

  “It’s inside, in the sealed room.” Craig froze. “Amanda.”

  He rushed into the house. Everybody ran after him.

  Craig pushed open the library door. Amanda was asleep on the couch, just as he had left her. Looking terrified and crying, Kimberly sat on the floor next to Melinda, who lay in a puddle of blood.

  “Oh, no,” Hanna gasped, “Melinda!” She knelt beside her. “Melinda!” Hanna called again, shaking her.

  Melinda stared back at Hanna with glassy eyes. She was dead.

  Craig rushed to the couch to make sure Amanda wasn’t hurt.

  “Kimberly.” Ruben had just come in from the backyard, and he ran to her. “Are you all right?”

  Sobbing, Kimberly nodded and buried her face in Ruben’s chest.

  “The Book is gone,” said Craig, gazing at the empty stand.

  “How could this happen? You said the room was sealed,” said Samson.

  “Nobody came in. I was in the living room until the last vampire was out of there.”

  “Last what?” Kimberly stared at Ruben.

  “I’ll explain everything later.”

  “Kimberly, what happened?” Craig asked.

  Kimberly wiped her cheeks and looked at everybody.

  “It was Alec.”

  “Alec?” Craig and Hanna burst out at the same time.

  Only then did they look around and realize that Alec, who they had all forgotten about, wasn’t in the room.

  “He walked to Melinda,” Kimberly said. “He said, ‘So you’re the witch.’ He was so arrogant, so . . . different,” she sobbed. “And then everything happened so quickly. He pulled out a knife—”

  “What knife, how did it look?” Hanna asked.

  “It was beautiful . . . something was written on it with gold . . .”

  “That son of a bitch,” roared Samson. “So, that boy was his plan B.”

  “He tricked us again,” said Riley in frenzy.

  “Melinda knew Alec. She knew he was human. She probably didn’t protect herself,” said Craig.

  “Alec, that bastard.” Hanna shook her head.

  “He seemed like a nice guy,” said Kimberly. She wiped her eyes. “After he killed . . . after Melinda, he stepped to Amanda. He bent to her with that dagger. I was so scared he would . . .” She sobbed again.

  “Kimberly, I’m so sorry.” Ruben hugged her tighter.

  “But he didn’t do it,” Kimberly continued. “He whispered, ‘See you soon,’ then he took that book and left.”

  “He had the dagger because he was supposed to kill Amanda. But he didn’t dare,” said Craig.

  “Ruben and I were in the backyard and the rest of you were at the front,” said Riley, “He walked by with the Book in his hands and nobody noticed him?”

  “He didn’t go out,” said Kimberly. “He went there.” She pointed at the stand. “Behind that.”

  Riley stepped to the bookshelves. He grabbed the stand and pulled it. The whole line of the shelves moved. The bottom didn’t touch the floor, but the sides made a scraping noise. Behind it was a staircase. At the end of the stairs was a massive iron door. Riley ran down and rattled it. It was locked.

  “You think we should chase the others?” Ruben asked Samson.

  “No. They’re gone, and we don’t have time for that. He had his plan, we have ours. We have a job to do, and we need to start as soon as possible.”

  “What about Melinda? What do we do?” Craig asked. With a deep sigh, he knelt beside Melinda and closed her eyes.

  “We can’t take her back,” said Samson. “She was stabbed. The coroners will call the police. We’ll take her to the castle.”

  “What about her family?” Kimberly asked.

  “We are her family. She doesn’t have anyone else,” said Samson with sorrow.

  “Oh God,” whispered Hanna. “Amanda.”

  “Yes,” said Ned. “She’ll wake up and . . .”

  Hanna looked at him. They hadn’t even had time to say hi to each other. Ned approached her and they hugged.

  “We’re leaving,” said Samson. “Ruben, take your friend home and then come to the castle.”

  “No, I’m not leaving her alone in a town full of vamp—” Ruben glanced at Kimberly. “She’s coming with us.”

  “Are you sure?” Samson looked at him, perplexed.

  “I’m sure,” said Ruben.

  With a wondering expression, Samson glanced at Craig, then at Hanna. They both nodded approvingly.

  “Let’s go, then,” he said.

  Riley put Melinda in Samson’s Jeep, and they took off. Craig drove behind them with Ned in the passenger seat and Amanda in the back seat with her head on Hanna’s knees. Right after them came Ruben and Kimberly in Hanna’s car.

  Kimberly was deep in thought. For the last week things had been happening around her. Strange, scary things. But what happened now was absolutely surreal. Alec, whom she’d known for almost a year, and who, as she thought, was a nice guy, had killed Melinda right in front of her eyes. Then Craig and the others started talking about vampires as if they really existed. A few minutes ago, when Ruben took her in his arms and carried her out of the house, he stepped over pale, shrunken bodies on the floor, on the porch, and all over the front yard.

  “Kimberly, are you all right?” Ruben said. “Say something.”

  “I thought Amanda was joking,” muttered Kimberly.

  “Joking? Joking about what?”

  “About vampires. She knew that those guys who were chasing us yesterday were vampires.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. She said ‘They can’t come in until you invite them.’”<
br />
  “So, she figured it out.”

  Kimberly could hear satisfaction in Ruben’s tone.

  “Kimberly, you’re in shock. I know that this is too much to handle.”

  “Alec killed Melinda,” she whispered, mostly to herself.

  “I’m sorry you saw it happen.” Ruben took her hand.

  “Shouldn’t we tell the police?”

  “No. Alec is far gone.”

  “The police will find him.”

  “Yes, they might, but then they will find us, too. We have to deal with this ourselves, and we will, I promise.”

  Kimberly looked blankly at the road.

  “Where are we going?” she asked when all three cars slid off the highway to the narrow, dirt road.

  “To my home. We’re almost there.”

  The cars drove up a hill.

  “I don’t see any houses,” said Kimberly, looking at the surrounding woods.

  “Kimberly, do you trust me?”

  “Yes,” she said, but it sounded like a question.

  “You’ve already been through a lot today,” said Ruben softly. “What you’re about to see might shock you as well. But I want you to know you are absolutely safe.”

  “Are there more vampires?” she asked, a little startled.

  “No, no vampires.” Ruben paused. He turned to her, and his warm look reassured her. “Remember our conversation on the beach?” he asked.

  Kimberly nodded. “I said that I don’t want you to leave.”

  Ruben smiled.

  “And I don’t want to leave. That’s why I brought you here. I want you to see something.”

  All three cars slowed down. Samson pulled his Jeep aside and stopped. Ruben stopped the car, too. Only Craig kept driving, and after a few yards, right in front of Kimberly’s eyes, his car vanished.

  “Where did they go?” Kimberly clutched Ruben’s hand. “Ruben, they’re gone.” She turned to him, blinking. Ruben didn’t seem surprised at all; he was still smiling. Kimberly’s lips slowly parted. Even though her mouth was open, no sound came out, and she wasn’t even breathing.

  “I want to ask you again,” said Ruben. “Do you remember our conversation at the beach?”

  “Yes.” Kimberly breathed out loudly, “The legend.” She saw Samson get out of the car.

  “Kimberly, right now our car is parked on the Eternity Road, and this is it, this is the invisible wall.”