Angelique headed to the center of the room where an oak cask stood. After removing the lid she dunked a cloth-covered club into the barrel. Mounted on the pillar beside the barrel she found an antique flint lighter unlike any I had seen. With two strokes, she lit the torch and placed it in the holder on the opposite side of the barrel. “Gabrielle, would you and Chuck be so kind as to light the remaining torches?”
Samantha and I moved to the first of the four archways. The chamber behind was roughly twelve-by-twelve feet. Evenly spaced were two finely trimmed rosewood caskets. Angelique joined us while Gabrielle’s and Chuck’s efforts gradually increased the illumination.
“These caskets do not bear the markings of your family lineage.” Angelique moved between the boxes, her hands gliding down the surfaces as she passed. “As there is no life within, I suggest we allow the inhabitants their peace.”
“Who else would be in there?” Samantha asked.
“The very last time I shared this hall with your father, his companions occupied these caskets. Never did more than eight vampires occupy the grand chamber. There were other areas within the tunnels for sleep, but in this space only his closest confidants were allowed their rest.”
Chuck and Gabrielle rejoined us as we moved to the second antechamber, again with two caskets.
“Holy shit, Brian. This is just like New Orleans all over, except now everyone is a vampire … except me …” Upon seeing all eyes trained on him, Chuck complained loudly, “Hey, don’t nobody get any ideas. I ain’t some kind of Juicy Juice pack.”
I could not help but roll my eyes at Chuck. After all the grief I had endured over Samantha and every other misstep he witnessed, his time was due.
Angelique moved past the smallest of the five archways, which led to another darkened passage. “Down this passage lies the vaults of what once was your family wealth and several smaller rooms for the caskets of visitors and then the stairway back to the castle.”
The third archway was sealed by means of stone and mortar. “This room was traditionally reserved for your father’s closest friends and confidants. It makes no sense why it would have been sealed.” Angelique quickly moved to the last archway. “Oh no,” she cried.
Inside the final room were remnants of two caskets, splintered and charred into a pile of rubble. We all stood in the midst silently, each mired in the reflections of what might have been.
“You know, I hate to bring this up, but being a reformed vampire killer, I would have to guess this is where they killed your father, probably by staking, then decapitation, and finally by roasting.”
“I think Chuck may be right.” The finality of a lost love weighed heavily as tears flowed down Angelique’s face.
Samantha hugged Angelique as we all stood in silence for what felt like an hour. It was no major surprise that it was Chuck who finally broke the silence. “At the risk of sounding insensitive, what’s next? We could … maybe check out the treasure room.”
Gabby and Sam cut a glare of audacious disbelief at Chuck. “No, he’s right,” I said. “We’ve got about an hour and a half to get out, cover our tracks and get back to the van, unless we plan on camping out in here tonight,” I suggested.
“Camp out here? Tonight? I believe Sam forgot to scoop up the better half of your brain off the floor back in New York. If we stay here, somebody or something will find us.”
“You’re right.” Hearing Chuck as the voice of reason, I grimaced. “Chuck, take the ladies and see what you can find. I would like a little solitary time.”
Sam looked at me sympathetically, grabbed Gabby’s hand and headed to the adjacent narrow passage. “Let’s go.”
They filed one by one down the narrow passage leaving me alone with the ghost of my past. A solitary chair sat positioned in front of the sealed arch. I shuffled my feet as I made my way to the lone piece of furniture. It creaked as I sat and immediately I regretted sitting, as I was sure the antique was about to collapse. As I stood to rise, a current of electricity jolted my body and my knees buckled. Falling back into the chair another vision appeared. Samantha was sitting in this very chair, surrounded by a dozen men. No, it wasn’t Samantha, it was my mother. Although it was only a vision, the crosses held high in their hands seared my eyes as if I was actually surrounded. Torturous screams rang out as I shielded my eyes and retreated in the darkened recesses of my mind. From the hidden alcoves, I watched as the men taunted my beautiful mother, tortured her with showers of holy water before finally driving a stake through her heart.
In my darkness, I sobbed as my mother’s body fell lifeless, bound to an unknown eternity. Still seated in the very chair my mother had faced her execution in, my lamentations echoed throughout the hall. Joined by a deathly chorus, certainly not of any angels’ making, I wept freely over the brutality of her death.
Sam was the first to return in a near panic. “Nick, what’s wrong?”
Still mesmerized in the vision, I could only watch as the blood pooled by her legs as the wailing continued. But it was not my voice alone. There was another voice sounding out its tormented agony.
Surrounded by my friends, I opened my eyes and stood. “I have just witnessed my mother’s death,” I mumbled as I search the room. I pulled on a torch mounting on the wall and wriggled and pulled until the steel bracket broke free. With all eyes on me, I stumbled back across the room until I faced the sealed arch. “My father did not die in the ruins of his casket. They left him to die, behind this wall. They forced him to watch her death.” I began scratching away at the mortar with the sharpened edge of the steel.
Chuck followed my lead and broke another torch holder from the wall. Digging alongside me, we steadily chipped away at the filament bonding the stones. Within an hour we had our first glimpse inside. Upon seeing another heap of charred wood, I suffered again, to visualize the horrendous death my father must have suffered.
As Chuck and I continued the scrape away, Sam placed her hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you try this?” She and Gabby had gone back down the passage and found a marble bench, probably weighing at least four hundred pounds.
“I don’t need to sit, but thank you all the same.”
“It’s not to sit on, silly. If we can throw it hard enough, it probably will break the wall down. Or you could just keep digging for the next ten hours.” Samantha’s hands were on her hips, and her expression of I can’t believe you didn’t figure that one out was somewhat demeaning.
“I knew that.” I backed away from the wall. “I would ask for your help, Chuck, but you are probably exhausted from moving that stone door.”
“Look bitch, just chomp down on my neck, right now, and I’ll show you how much damage a bad-ass vampire marine can do.”
“Chuck, if I no longer believed we might need you as a mortal, I might just take you up on your request. But things being what they are, if you will step aside, Sam and I will give it our best.”
“Best this.” Chuck grabbed his groin. “Don’t give me that ‘I need you alive’ bullshit. You’re just scared all the chicks will dig me more once I’m a bloodsucker. You’re afraid of a little competition, bee-otch.”
“Fine, Chuck,” I sighed. Grab the side with Sam and let’s do this.” Samantha was already in position as I scratched out a line on the floor. Joining Samantha, Chuck and I took up our positions, lifted the bench and backed up about ten feet. “Let’s rock it backwards, then run to the line and toss it,” I instructed. Running forward at a rather slow human pace we hurled the bench, which crashed into the wall with a thunderous boom.
Although the results were not as I had hoped, we did manage to create a hole just large enough for me to snake my body through. Twisting and turning, I managed to enter the musty chamber. I walked over to the remnants of what once had been at least one casket if not more. I stared down at the rubble and then to the back wall. Why on earth all of this overkill? I bent down and rubbed my hand through the ashes. Perhaps as part of their cruelty, my mother was f
orced to witness the death of my father.
Chuck stuck his head through the wall. “You know, if there’s nothing in here to see, I don’t see any reason for us to get our clothes all dirty just to hang out with you. Besides our window to get the hell out is closing fast, so unless you brought some hot dogs for the sleepover, you might want to think about packing it in.”
My disappointment was evident as I turned and sighed. I was not sure what I expected, but after my visions, somehow I expected something more. Just as I made my way back to the hole, a pile of refuse in the left corner or the chamber caught my eye. Upon touching the pile it shifted and fell to the side causing me to startle and jump back. There, amongst the rags, was flesh and bone so withered it appeared to be mummified. I knelt down to inspect the remains, but as I turned its head, I thought I detected a wisp of breath. I pulled down the lower eyelid only to find an eye wrought in agonizing death. The eye appeared to be staring back, and then came another wisp of breath.
“Chuck, get your ass in here.”
Chuck stuck his head in again. “What the hell is that?”
“Just get in here,” I demanded.
Being slightly larger than me, Chuck faced great difficulty getting through the hole. “I hope you realize if I get stuck, we are both fucked.”
Once Chuck finally twisted through, Samantha stuck her head in. “What is it?”
“A body maybe. Stay back, just in case,” I warned.
“In case of what?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know, just in case.”
“Maybe I should go back out there with them, just in case,” Chuck offered as he studied the gory remains.
I rolled the head back and felt for breath. Nothing this time. “I need a hand.”
Chuck held his hand out. “Which one?”
“Either will do.” I sliced it with my fingernail creating a stream of blood.
“What the hell?” Chuck complained as I pulled his hand to the mouth of body. “Damn it, I’m tired of being your pincushion every time you think somebody needs a drink.”
The drops of blood pooled on its lips and ran off its cheek.
“You didn’t honestly expect that thing to be alive did you?”
Disappointed I released Chuck’s hand. As I laid the head back against the wall a leathery tongue parted the lips and painstakingly slid across the flesh, from left to right.
“What the fuck, Brian?”
I pulled Chuck’s hand back to its mouth.
“Not cool man!” Chuck objected.
With every drop, lifelike features began to return to what I had initially mistaken for a corpse. The eyes weakly cranked open and a frail hand took Chuck’s hand and pulled it closer.
“If I get fucking rabies or AIDS from this …”
I gauged as best I could, and somewhere just under two pints I pulled Chuck’s hand away. What clearly now was a man gasped as though I had just removed his source of oxygen. “Easy now, let your body recover, just a bit.”
“Is everything all right in there?” Gabrielle called from the main hall.
Before I could answer, unknown garbled voices seeped through the hole.
“Nick?” An air of panic peppered Gabrielle’s voice.
I motioned to Chuck. “Get out there.”
I gazed down at the frail skeletal man before me. Tearing my own flesh, I offered my wrist. “Drink, slowly.”
As hostile tones reverberated, I pulled my hand away.
Chuck stuck his head back in the hole. “Dude, better get out here.”
“Rest here, I will come back for you.” Upon reaching the main chamber I was confronted by two unknown men.
The taller of the two, a husky man with a long brown beard and weathered face stepped forward. “So, the prodigal son has returned.”
“Excuse me?” I searched his mind, but he effectively blocked my attempts. I sensed this man was not a vampire. But having never encountered a mortal so skilled at sensory evasiveness, I warily approached.
“Neculai Tepes, did you think your actions in New Orleans and New York would go unnoticed? We always knew the day would arrive when the son of Levente would return home. And I must thank you for showing us the secret passage into the mountain.”
“Who are you?” Angelique asked as we slowly surrounded our uninvited guest.
“Ah yes, proper introductions. I am Alexandru Korzha. My brethren and I, as our ancestors before, have held the honor of protecting the fine citizens of Romania from the predatory nature of such beings as yourself.”
“The Order of the Dragon?” Angelique surmised.
“Yes. And sadly, if Daniel had stood by his sworn oath we would not be in this predicament.”
“Well, the way I see it, if you turn your ass around and leave, we don’t have a problem,” Chuck suggested.
“If you already know about us, then you should know we bring no harm to humans,” Gabrielle asserted.
“Yes, the self-proclaimed peaceful vampires … such as your father. Would you care to guess how many innocent villagers perished in the wake of his … abstinence? You see, sooner or later, by your very nature all of you kill. And when you kill, things like New York happen.”
“We fought to protect the humans,” Gabrielle objected.
“You killed to control your turf! And you, Neculai, you killed your own kind. What hope is there for a man who would take so many of his own?”
Gabrielle inched uncomfortably close and Alexandru produced a shiny silver cross in one hand, and pistol type spray device, no doubt linked to a tank of holy water, in the other. We all withdrew and shielded our eyes. “As you can see, we are well prepared. Tonight, after you passed through the infrared sensors, the call went out, as it has so many times over the years. The Guardians of the Arges have prepared for years to finish our forefathers’ work.”
“I only see two scrawny guardians,” Chuck said.
“My comrades have gathered just beyond the tunnel. But I could not seal your fate without first confronting the heir of the Tepes family.”
“Seal our fate?” Without looking at Alexandru, Samantha inched nearer.
“Unless you want your beautiful skin seared away, I suggest you stay back.”
Although she had yet to experience the excruciating pain of sunlight or holy water, Samantha chose to heed Alexandru’s warning.
“So tell me, Neculai, how did you find your father?”
“My father? Are you are referring to the pile of dust and bones beyond that wall?” Alexandru’s identification of our mystery man nearly dropped me to my knees. “If those lifeless remains were my father’s, then the evil of your forefathers was unquestionably cruel beyond compare. And rest assured, they equally earned a seat of honor in hell.”
“Sixty plus years behind that wall. How long do you think he suffered before he succumbed to starvation? No doubt you have many years to experience the answer first hand,” Alexandru, boasted as he slowly began backing toward the tunnel, revealing a detonator in his hand. Alexandru bowed without taking his eyes off of us. “And this, Count Tepes, is where we say, la revedere.”
“Fuck this nonsense,” Chuck said as he began to approach Alexandru.
Alexandru held the cross high and began dousing Chuck with holy water.
Chuck cowered and bellowed, “No, no, it burns.” Lunging forward he grabbed Alexandru’s neck and smiled, “Hey dick head, I ain’t no fucking vampire.” With a violent scissor twist of his arms, Chuck dropped Alexandru to the floor, his neck broken, then relieved Alexandru’s companion of the stake he wielded. Undoubtedly, the fearless vampire killer had never imagined the pain inflicted by impaling a stake through the heart, until now. “Shit, that looks like it really hurts,” Chuck taunted as released the body to the floor. Chuck looked back at my incredulous expression. “What? Too extreme?”
“No, I just don’t know if there’s enough time left.”
“For what? A memorial service? How about this? Ashes to ashes and dust to
dust. Alex and his chump buddy are dead, now can we hurry the fuck up so I can get a chicken sandwich and go get in bed.” Chuck snorted, turned and spit in Alexandru’s direction. “Rest in peace, pricks.”
I had witnessed Chuck’s methodology many times over the years and his actions as such were somewhat anticipated. But even after Alexandru’s confession of intent, Chuck’s brutality appeared to traumatize the girls in various degrees.
Angelique slowly stepped over Alexandru’s body and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Is it true? Did you find your father’s body?”
“If what he said is true, I have found my father, and he is alive.”
“Yo Brian,” Chuck called out. “I hate to interrupt a Hallmark moment, but we are already about twenty minutes behind schedule. Sunrise is coming bro. Unless you plan on waiting for Alex’s buddies to show up for a send-off party, we’ve got to get the hell out now.”
“Give me a hand,” I exclaimed as I rushed back to the hole. “We have got to get him out.”
Chuck grabbed my shoulder. “Do you think it’s wise? We don’t know who in the hell is really in there.”
“I won’t leave him here, no matter who he is.” I climbed back through the hole. The man was hunched over on all fours. “Can you stand?” With no reply I helped him to his feet. His bones felt as though they would crumble within my grip. “We must leave, now.” Too weak to resist, and apparently unable to talk, I decided to lift him through the jagged opening. With Chuck’s help from the other side, I guided his body into the grand hall. Climbing out of a once impenetrable prison, I found Angelique standing over his hunched up body.
“Levente, is it you?” she asked. “Levente, speak to me.”
With no reply and sunrise racing against us, I scooped him up once again while searching his eyes for answers. Immense suffering and emptiness filled the blackened orbs. I placed him gently in Sam’s arms. “I need to be up front with Chuck, just in case we have a welcoming delegation waiting outside.”
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