Marking Time (The Immortal Descendants)

by April White

  There it was, just where I thought. Adam’s stash. It truly amazed me that confident people could be so lazy. I pulled down the envelope and opened the note.

  “The apple tree at sunset.”

  How he was going to pull that one off I had no idea. The school was still in lockdown mode and with the appearance of the Hunters on campus, even I wasn’t feeling so confident about breaking out. But I wanted whatever information Adam could give me from his visions, and no way was I going to feed his arrogance by letting him win. I pulled a pen from my pocket and quickly wrote on the flip side of his note, then stuffed the whole thing back up in the niche.

  I needed to get out of St. Brigid’s tonight anyway so I could visit Archer. He might have clothes for me to borrow, and hopefully, an extra rug or two for my room in that basement hideaway of his. Part of me was tempted to go there now, while he was sleeping. But I couldn’t risk that he’d leave without me.

  Ava and Adam thought I would be completely on my own in 1888. They didn’t know about Archer. For that matter, neither, really, did I. The last time I saw him there he wouldn’t help me. And the last time I saw him here he threatened to leave me behind if I went back to his lair. And even with all the drama, I couldn’t wait to see him.

  I rolled my eyes at myself and took off for the first floor of the school. I hadn’t done any classwork yet and I wanted more time in one of Mr. Shaw’s science classes.

  The door was closed when I got there since class had already begun, but Mr. Shaw saw me through the window and waved me inside. The students looked a couple years younger than me and I felt like the old lady of the class, but Mr. Shaw directed me toward a seat next to Connor while he continued his lecture. The kid grinned at me and bent his head back to his notes. Shaw was talking about genetics and blood and within a minute I knew I was in a class of Family kids.

  “All right. Who can tell me the primary gene for Duncan’s descendants?”

  He was talking about Mongers and Connor’s hand shot up. A couple other kids raised their hands more tentatively, but Mr. Shaw called on him. “Yes, Mr. Edwards?”

  “A genetic variant on MAO-A, the ‘warrior gene.”

  “Indeed. Mr. Saracean, Mr. Rothchild, please take note.” Mr. Shaw was scowling at two dark-haired boys in the back of the room. Based on the name, Rothchild was probably a Monger.

  “MAO-A is called the ‘warrior gene’ because a rare genetic variant causing its deficiency is associated with aggression and criminality.” The Bear looked pointedly at the boys in the back of the room. The Rothchild kid glared back at him in a way that made me think he was the Rothbitch’s spawn.

  “And what is the primary gene in Aislin’s descendants?”

  Connor looked around the room. No one was raising their hand, so his went up again. I saw Mr. Shaw hide a smile and I wondered if they were related somehow.

  “Connor?”

  The kid answered in a confident voice. “DRD4.”

  “Which is what, exactly?”

  “A dopamine receptor.”

  “Excellent.”

  The kid, Connor, looked, I don’t know, proud that he got it right. That little tweak in attitude was the difference in seeming like a know-it-all or just being smart, and it made me like him. I caught Connor’s eye and smiled. He grinned back. One of his canine teeth hung a little over his lip and gave his smile a goofiness that made me laugh. Connor Edwards was one of the few Shifter kids at the school. No wonder Mr. Shaw was proud of him.

  “I’m calling them ‘primary’ genes, not dominant genes because they are the ones most affected by each family’s heredity. And those two are the easiest genetic primaries within the Families because they are specific genes. For the descendants of Goran it’s a bit different. A completely unique gene is present in each of the Shifter clans which provide the animal characteristics for that clan. What Goran’s descendants all have in common is an oncogene mutation which targets that specific animal gene. For example, a shifter whose animal relies on speed as its primary physical characteristic will have an oncogene mutation around the ACTN-3 gene, which activates the muscle protein alpha-actinin 3, and that helps muscles contract powerfully at high speeds.”

  I spoke before I even knew I’d opened my mouth. “Is that why a lot of shifters are athletes?”

  Mr. Shaw considered for a moment. “Actually, it might be the other way around. In my estimation, a lot of the very successful professional athletes have some of the genetic markers of various shifter clans, but I’d argue they lack the one, unifying, dominant gene that marks them as true descendants.”

  Mr. Shaw looked around the classroom to make sure he had everyone’s attention. “And that is the subject of today’s class.” Pencils came out and notebooks were opened. He spoke the magic words and suddenly everyone was paying attention.

  “Genes are like a band that’s just starting out.” A couple of kids snickered and Mr. Shaw had his audience. “They’re sort of just playing tunes here and there; maybe they even show a little promise, but nothing really happens until they get a promoter.” A couple of kids laughed. Mr. Shaw was good.

  “Now, suddenly, the band gets an audience and their skills can really start to shine. The thing is, promoters are only as good as the connections they have, which means the band will only really be able to build an audience if their promoter has juice.” He looked around the room. All eyes were on him and I had to admit, I was equally fascinated.

  “So here it is in genetic terms. The juice that gives the promoter its power is a protein called neuregulin 1. There’s a whole lot of it in the brains of babies because, of course, the promoters are hard at work pushing the genes to do their jobs. Have a faulty supply of neuregulin 1 and problems like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder come up. But have an abundant supply and the genes get super-promoted to be the best they can be.”

  I got it in a way I’d never understood genetics before, and this guy was teaching a bunch of kids. Impressive.

  “That’s obviously the very simplified explanation of neuregulin 1. In the average human there are five types of neuregulin 1, each one feeding various gene promoters their proteins.” He paused to flip a chart on the board that outlined the various dominant genes of different branches of the five Families. I wished I had my phone with me just so I could snap a picture of it to study later. It looked like important stuff.

  “Descendants of the Immortals have a sixth neuregulin 1 type of protein. Its only function is to juice the promoter of our particular primary gene. So, in Seers, as Mr. Edwards pointed out, it’s the dopamine receptor on the D4 gene whose promoter gets juiced.”

  He looked around the room again with a half-smile. “Did you know that an over-abundance of any other neuregulin 1 type of protein on DRD4 can cause delusions? It’s one of the symptoms in delusional schizophrenics.”

  “So Seers are just a protein away from being delusional? Awesome.” The Rothbitch’s Spawn had such a sneer to his voice it completely broke the thrall Mr. Shaw’s lecture held everyone in.

  “I believe aggressive criminals come from any type of protein interaction on the genetic variant that causes MAO-A deficiency. That makes you rather common, don’t you think, Mr. Rothchild?”

  The mild tone of voice the Bear used with that brat was the perfect way to insult someone without lowering himself to the Spawn’s level. I filed it away for future reference.

  “In any case, it is the presence of neuregulin 1 type 6 that kicks off the aberrant primary genes in our Families. Something you should all remember when you start feeling superior to your neighbors.”

  He gave us all a very serious look. “And something else to remember. Each Family has a dominant blood type to go along with their mutated genes. The introduction of blood from another Family type will most often be rejected and can cause death.”

  Connor nodded. “Which is why we’re not allowed to give blood to common blood banks?”

  “Exactly why.”

  The bell ran
g and students immediately put away notebooks and gathered up their stuff to go. The Witch’s Spawn mumbled something that sounded like, “And why mixed-bloods always die.”

  The two Monger kids continued whispering furiously under their breath as they escaped the classroom, and I could feel the tension in my own shoulders leave with them. Weird. Mongers I didn’t even know sent me into fight or flight.

  I waited in my seat for the rest of the students to clear. I hoped Mr. Shaw would have time to talk and I also wanted to study the chart on the wall. I could see the links to genes for Mongers and Seers – they were almost direct lines to MAO-A and DRD4. The line for Shifters was a little less simple, with a symbol for an oncogene mutation promoting various different gene combinations.

  “I still haven’t memorized all the dominant gene combinations for Shifters.” Connor’s voice startled me out of my trance as I studied the chart. Mr. Shaw was talking to a red-headed kid by the door, but everyone else was gone.

  “You are a Shifter, right?”

  Connor grinned. “And you’re the Clocker. I’m Connor by the way.”

  His grin was infectious. “Nice to meet you. I’m Saira.”

  “I’ve seen you running in the halls with the big Arman guy. You kick his butt, but you should run with me sometime. I can turn into a grey Wolf.”

  I laughed. “No way I could keep up with you.”

  He regarded me for a moment. “You’re rare here, like me. Until my brother, Logan, comes next year, I’m the only Shifter kid at St. Brigid’s. And my half-sister, Alexandra was the only one when she was here too.”

  “Alexandra… Rowen?”

  Connor looked at me funny. “You know her?”

  I shook my head. “I saw your names in a genealogy book in the library. It didn’t say you guys were related.”

  He shrugged. “Her mom was a ballet dancer, like her. She was famous when she was alive, so Alex uses the same last name.”

  “Can I help you, Mr. Edwards?” The Bear’s voice plowed through our conversation like a bulldozer. It made me think he planned it.

  Connor went over to the Family genetics chart. “Yeah, I had a question. I know we don’t talk about Suckers in class, but this chart doesn’t show a gene for them. What’s the deal?”

  I looked closer. Connor was right, there were no primary genes listed for the descendants of Aeron. Just the symbol NRG1-6, like every other descendant had.

  Mr. Shaw looked pained. “Yes, the descendants of Aeron are part of the five Families, and thus, they carry the neuregulin 1 type 6 protein.”

  “But I thought it’s an oxymoron for death to be born.”

  Mr. Shaw smiled. “I hadn’t heard it put quite like that before. That’s good. It’s true, Death’s descendants are made. But they are also born. Just not into Death’s bloodline.” The Bear looked at us both significantly. Could we riddle it out? A light bulb snapped on in my head. It came from a conversation I’d had with Archer and I tried it out on Mr. Shaw.

  “What if Vampires carry the neuregulin 1 type 6 protein because they’re already Descendants of another Immortal?”

  Connor stared at me, open-mouthed while Mr. Shaw nodded with a sort of grim look on his face. “No way is that possible! Suckers are… evil!” Connor’s voice exploded from him.

  Mr. Shaw looked at him levelly. “Some of us believe Saira is correct, though it’s definitely not commonly held knowledge. Nor is it something that should be talked about outside this room. There are those among the Families who would go to great lengths to keep that information from ever being proven.”

  “But how does it happen? How is that even possible?” Connor was still angry, but his desire for knowledge was winning.

  “There is an ancient disorder called porphyria which produces several of the same conditions we see in Aeron’s line. There are scientists among us, myself included, who believe that Vampires are infected with a deadly mutation of that disorder. When they bite ungifted humans, the mutation infects them and they die. But when they bite those of us with neuregulin 1 type 6, the protein treats the disorder like a dominant condition and it activates and enhances it to the point that a Vampire is created.”

  “But how can that even work? Vampires are dead.”

  “They’re not dead. Their cells are in a sort of suspended animation, much like what happens to Saira’s body when she’s out of her native time.”

  It shocked me to hear my name linked to a conversation about Vampires, and Connor shifted his gaze to me. “Dude. That’s kind of wrong.”

  I shrugged. “So is turning into a wolf.”

  Mr. Shaw laughed out loud and it broke up the tension in the air. “Off to class with you, Connor. Ms. Rothchild will be all too happy to make an example of you if you’re late.”

  Connor made a sour face. “She’s even worse than her kid.”

  Mr. Shaw suddenly got stern. “And she’s a teacher here, Mr. Edwards. I expect you to behave accordingly.”

  Connor mock saluted him. “Yes Sir, Uncle Bob, Sir.”

  Connor flung a smile at me as he raced for the door. “See you around, Saira!” And suddenly the kid was gone.

  “That one is too smart for his own good.”

  “He seems like a sponge, and he loves it.”

  Mr. Shaw was still looking at the place where Connor had been standing. “I’m proud of him, he’s a good kid. But his mouth moves faster than his brain sometimes and I worry the wrong people will be listening.” He gave himself a sort of mental shake and his eyes met mine. “I’m curious, what made you connect Family descendants with Vampires?”

  Uh oh. Not comfortable territory. But since I seemed to be stepping in things with both feet recently, here was another big steamy pile of doo-doo to stomp around in. I took a deep breath.

  “I need to know how to defeat a Vampire.”

  Self-Defense

  Mr. Shaw looked me in the eyes and then said with a perfectly straight face, “It’s a useful skill to have. What makes you think I know how to do that?”

  I shrugged. “Your prowess and strength? You’re the coolest teacher I know? I’m totally desperate?”

  He laughed. “I’ll take ‘prowess and strength’ for my ego and ‘totally desperate’ for the truth. Can I ask why you need this information?”

  I winced. “Depends.”

  “On what?”

  “Whether you’ll try to stop me?”

  He regarded me for a moment. “Fair enough. How about this. Tell me the truth and I won’t try to stop you. I will tell you if I think you’re being an idiot and I’ll be angry if you ignore my advice, but I won’t stop you.”

  I thought about it. “Will you get other people to stop me?”

  “Do you want to be stopped?”

  “No.”

  “Then no, I won’t.”

  I took a deep breath and I told him about traveling to 1888, and about seeing my mom and being chased by The Ripper through Whitechapel. I told him a little about Archer, but not that he was a Vampire now.

  At some point during my recital Mr. Shaw got up and locked the door to his classroom. He gestured for me to keep talking as he started pacing the room. And then I shocked myself and told him how I’d gone back that morning, and what I’d overheard between Archer and Silverback. It sort of explained how I knew Jack the Ripper was maybe a Vampire.

  Mr. Shaw raised an eyebrow when I told him about Jack the Ripper, and it went even higher about the conversation Archer had with Silverback. “I figured they must have been talking about your ancestor, Will Shaw, but I never got around to asking Archer that question.”

  “Fascinating that he could have been alive all those years.”

  “Is there anything you want to know about him? I mean, I can ask Archer next time I go back.”

  Mr. Shaw’s distant expression came back into laser focus on my face. “About that…”

  “If you’re going to try and talk me out of it, don’t bother. I have to go back there and get my mo
m. I’m the only one who can.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but failed.

  “I wasn’t going to talk you out of it. Of course you have to go. As you say, there seems to be no one else who can.”

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  “Don’t thank me. I’m sure your mother wouldn’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I am going to give you some tools that’ll put you squarely in the path of a serial killing Vampire.”

  We had agreed to meet in his office before dinner and he told me to wear comfortable shoes for walking outdoors. I shot him a raised-eyebrow look and he grinned. “Don’t think you’ll be safe in the woods with a Bear?”

  “Actually, it’s those Hunters and their crossbows I’m more worried about.”

  Mr. Shaw scowled. “You’re right to worry about the Romanians. They’re very bad news.”

  “So how come they’re here?”

  Mr. Shaw looked me straight in the eyes. “Because apparently St. Brigid’s has a resident Vampire, and they’ve been contracted to find him.”

  I dragged my eyes away from Mr. Shaw’s so he wouldn’t see the truth on my face. Which was that I knew where that Vampire slept. Mr. Shaw let his next class in and they filed in past me with curious looks. Someone poked me in the ribs.

  “Hey Stranger. First the mean roommate, and now you’re hanging with the toughest teacher in school? You have a thing for punishment, huh?” Olivia grinned at me.

  “Mr. Shaw’s a good guy.” He didn’t need me to defend him but I liked Olivia and felt she should know that.

  Her voice dropped conspiratorially. “I know that. It’s all these idiots who don’t do their homework who get the rough and gruff stuff.” She was the last one to enter the classroom and Mr. Shaw was waiting to close the door.

  “See you at dinner?” There was so much smile packed in that little voice it made me happy just to hear. I waved goodbye as the door to Mr. Shaw’s classroom closed behind Olivia.

  I wasn’t sure what to do next. I couldn’t go to Archer to warn him about the Hunters and I had no idea where the twins were. The library was my best bet for filling in the blanks that I couldn’t learn anywhere else.