‘Do you have a favourite book?’ I asked, slightly uneasy. Probably the two of them sparring was just a bit of play. Possibly, though, there was a real dislike growing between them and of course I didn’t want anything to weaken the group.
‘What’s the one with the captain with the obsession for the whale?’
‘You don’t know title for Moby Dick?’ Sapentia was incredulous. ‘Wait, do you tease us?’
‘Then there was this one about a farmer in Iceland. He was so stubborn: wouldn’t let women change him; wouldn’t let big business buy him out.’
Grythiss looked up, interested. ‘Halldór Laxness wrote that.’
‘Probably. I’m not very good at remembering the authors’ names.’
These author names didn’t matter to me either, I never read the books that people recommended to me. Only if I couldn’t log in to Epic might I read. Say if Mum and I were on the bus into town. For some reason, however, I was really fascinated by the current one I’d picked out randomly and still held in my hand.
After a while, I said, ‘I think we should be pushing on. What time is it?’
‘Let me just finish shelf,’ replied Sapentia, ‘then I’ll know what more I have to check.’
What was it that was wrong? So many books on the floor, so little progress made by Sapentia along the shelf? I looked up from my book to remark on this to Raitha, who was staring out of the window as though entranced. There was something wrong too about the sky against which she was silhouetted. It should have been pale, a light grey colour, not a dark sky with a touch of crimson. A sense of alarm surged up in me, but almost at once it was quelled by the interesting lines in the book I held.
‘Life,’ declaimed Mordred, immediately attracting the attention of the whole room. ‘Life. We have all seen how determinedly even the smallest creature will cling to its existence. A wretched insect, injured, strength failing, will summon up the energy to try to move itself to safety. After a flurry of its tiny wings or frenzied twitching of its legs it will cease its activity, seemingly exhausted.’ As he spoke, Mordred strolled among the guests, sometimes pausing, as he did now beside the Countess of Lake Sorrow. ‘And yet, when you touch the poor insect, it will rally again and do all it can to escape.
‘Mortals, on the whole, have the same determination to avoid death. On the whole, I say, because there are some who are entirely careless about death. Perhaps because their own life is so wearing that it would be a relief to cease to exist. Or perhaps because they have reason to believe in a form of afterlife. Not heaven or hell. No, I mean something else.’ With a bow, Mordred left the countess and continued his meandering walk. ‘I mean, as an undead.’
‘Who are you to kill my guests and ransack my home? Nothing but weaklings and fools who deserve the hammer that will now fall upon you.’
Standing in the frame of the library door was a vampire. There was no doubt about that. My shock, however, was twofold. Firstly, far, far more time had passed than I’d realised and secondly, the creature was a human woman (attractive, in an expensive, aristocratic fashion, providing you weren’t too put off by the visible incisors and red eyes). Long, auburn hair; dark green leather waistcoat over a ruffed white blouse; black trousers; thigh-high shining black boots.
[Group] ‘Damn! We’re in deep trouble, what do we do?’ exclaimed Braja. ‘We can’t kill her now she’s up and about.’
[Group] ‘As soon as I say strawberry, log out and wait until daytime to come back. I’ll stall her.’
[Group] ‘Strawberry?’ There was almost a laugh in Sapentia’s voice, despite the crisis that was upon us.
[Group] ‘I picked something that I wouldn’t say by accident. Now, hush in group chat please. Let’s concentrate.’
‘Hello, I’m Klyto, what’s your name?’
Taking a step into the room, the vampire looked at me scornfully. ‘You must know that you are in the castle of Lady Cruoris.’
I bowed low. By now, we’d have all appraised her and seen that she was impossible. From what I recalled from reading the guide, she was level 70. ‘Lady Cruoris, please forgive us. We are ambassadors from Mikarkathat with an important message for you.’
‘The blue dragon? I don’t believe you.’ The muscles of her powerful jaws visibly flexed and her face, which had been handsome, became more animal-like. ‘You’ve killed my guest and ransacked my library. No manner of ambassador behaves thus and the dragon would not send humans and half-elves to do her bidding.’ Now the vampire laughed, but with scorn, not humour. ‘She’d eat them.’
‘Your guest was a doppelganger who took too much interest in us and your library is enchanted.’ I spoke hurriedly, but I could see it was no use, the vampire was looking appraisingly around the room with nothing but malice in her eyes, clearly planning to launch herself on us and deciding which of us to attack first.
‘Strawberry.’
‘What?’ The vampire raised her left hand, nails like claws. ‘What did you say?’
‘Strawberry.’ Curiously, I had a sudden memory of two older lads from the rival St Declan’s school back home in Dublin. They had been shouting at me from the other side of the street and although I put my head down and walked fast, they kept pace and I sensed that when traffic permitted, they would come over and start a fight. Saying nothing is usually the best way to handle grief on the streets, this time though, in response to their call of ‘wibble arse’ (don’t ask me why), I had shouted ‘pandas!’ at the top of my voice (I can explain that one, a bin company lorry, branded with a panda, had just driven past). For some reason, that bizarre cry meant they immediately lost interest in me. Shame that didn’t work here. In fact, the inappropriateness of my speech seemed only to make the vampire’s rage more intense.
‘In a moment I shall butcher you all and feed upon your blood. Can any of you give a reason why he or she should be spared?’
With a wave at the shelves I hurriedly asked, ‘How many times have you read these books?’
Again, my response led to a flare up of anger and a feral expression as she showed me her fangs. With a brief shake of her head, Lady Cruoris growled, ‘Many times. The life of a vampire is long.’
‘Quite. Well, I’m excellent company and I know hundreds of stories you’ve never read. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Name of the Rose; Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell…’ I was babbling and I knew it. I just needed her to wait a few seconds more.
‘And he’s great in bed too! You should spare him and keep him as your lover,’ cried Braja.
[Group] ‘Ten…nine…eight…’ Braja was counting down the seconds until he was unclipped. ‘I’m nearly out. Good job Tyro, I hope you make it too.’ That was Braja also.
‘What impertinence. You shall be the first to die!’
It was quite terrifying having an angry vampire spring for my throat. Even though I knew I was in a game and that my real body was safe, I flinched and cowered. My efforts to block her leap with my arms must have seemed pathetic to her. Feral and immensely strong, she straddled me, pinning me down as I writhed. With one last view of her fearsome incisors, all went black.
You have been knocked unconscious by a vampire. You cannot see, hear, move or communicate. You have been bitten by a vampire for 26 damage.
[Group] ‘Anyone still there?’ I asked, hoping no one would respond and was pleased that this was indeed the case. Good, my team had all gotten out. My death wouldn’t be too much of a setback. In fact, the gear I had on my body was so low level, I might be better off asking them to join me on the mainland and just leave my body here. Speaking of my body, it was odd that I hadn’t received the same message as on my previous death.
For a while, I waited in darkness for the vampire to finish me off. Then, presumably, I’d respawn. After a few minutes though, I got bored. Perhaps the vampire was saving me for a later feed, like a spider would its prey. If so, she’d be disappointed. I selected Log Out from my UI and yes, I was sure. Thirty seconds later I was back in t
he real world. And for once it was more colourful and interesting than the game.
‘Did you get out in time?’ Raitha asked me. The whole group was gathered around, looking at me hopefully.
‘Maybe. I was knocked unconscious but I didn’t get a death message.’
‘How long to dawn in the game?’ asked Braja.
It was Grythiss who answered, with such immediacy it was clear he’d already thought about this. ‘Ten hours.’
‘Well.’ Sapentia put her hands on her hips. ‘Downtime. What shall we do?’
Sweeping back his fringe, we got a rare look at the full, pale-moon coloured face of Grythiss. ‘I shall catch up with my emails and with sleep.’
‘Good idea.’ I could ring Mum, just to let her know everything was fine.
‘What I would like to do,’ said Raitha shyly, ‘is play street chess. I believe it’s Fifth and Market where the best players are.’
A huge grin crossed Sapentia’s face. ‘What are you all? I came here thinking you were very cool. Tough guys. Hammer the mobs, be brave. He’—she pointed at me—‘is just kid. You’—Raitha—‘should be in episode of Techlicious and you’—Grythiss—‘make meditation class look like wild party. Come on. We are in San Francisco, we have few hours where we can’t work. Let’s enjoy ourselves.’ Sapentia glanced down at her outfit, pulled at the bottom of her bodice to straighten it and then looked up again decisively. ‘Two Fat DJs are playing tonight in Ladybird. I take you all. Meet me in lobby at eleven.’
When all four of us began to murmur our dissent, she shut us up with a sweep of her arm. ‘No! You come out. Now I must go get ready.’ And Sapentia strode away, her boots clacking determinedly on the hard floor.
Braja rubbed his thumb across his moustache. ‘We don’t have to go. Maybe it would be good for her to see we can’t be bossed around.’
‘Sapentia is very insightful.’ Raitha smiled. ‘I would actually like to be in an episode of Techlicious.’
‘She’s right too,’ I said, thinking of how cool it would be if I came back to Cabra and let it be known I’d gone clubbing in the Ladybird. ‘We should go out, get some experiences that we couldn’t get at home.’
‘I hate nightclubs,’ said Grythiss. ‘They are too loud. I cannot speak.’
You don’t say a lot anyway though, do you?’ observed Braja giving him affectionate slap on his shoulder.
‘Very well,’ Raitha said, ‘if Tyro wants to go, I shall come. For me, such music is not to my taste. Instead, it will be a matter of sociology. An opportunity to study another youth culture.’
Catching my eye, Braja shook his head in an expression of amused disbelief, but he didn’t say anything.
Chapter 13
AWOL
I was pleasantly surprised by Club Ladybird. On the outside it had the usual queues of young people, cold in their clubbing clothes, waiting alongside a grimy wall for a smartly dressed bouncer to check their ID (thanks to some Sapentia magic involving us posing as reviewers for various magazines, we were swept in). Inside, however, it was very different to the interior of the clubs I’d seen (all two of them). Here, the venue had the feel of a church, the main room being long and rectangular, with a stage at the far end. The impression of it having a sense of history was reinforced by the large wooden panels of the walls, which were all much scarred. There was a second level and dozens of balconies protruded above us, with fragments of golden paintwork on their exterior.
The balconies were comfortable hang-outs. I knew that, because Sapentia, looking absolutely amazing (purple Two Fat DJs tank top, that stopped above a studded belly button; short skirt, glittering with turquoise and light blue patches; purple-and-white striped stockings up to her thighs; white shiny boots; hair hidden beneath a purple wig that cascaded ringlets down her back) steered us through the crowds and upstairs to one that had a ‘reserved’ sign on the table. Plush, red velvet seats in a semi-circle around a table.
‘This is base.’ She had to raise her voice over the heavy beats of the first DJ. ‘Come back here if you need break and also final end; we’ll share cab. I’m going to see friends, do some dancing. Meet you here later.’ A final glance at me from her beautiful eyes, made up with thick black eye shadow and she turned away.
A sharp pang of disappointment struck me as Sapentia left, one that must have been evident to Braja, because he leaned in and said, ‘She’s not your type. And she’s too old for you.’
‘What is my type?’ I replied, annoyed.
‘Whatever it is, it ain’t her.’ And then, seeing as I wasn’t laughing, Braja turned to the others. ‘I’ll get a round of drinks. Beer for everyone?’
Raitha nodded.
‘Pernod and black,’ said Grythiss, who had sprawled out across the seats. With his heavy boots and baggy black clothes, I very much doubted he had any intention of dancing.
‘Pernod and sodding black?’ repeated Braja incredulously. ‘What kind of drink is that?’
With a rather reptilian gesture (or was that me being so used to his avatar?), Grythiss ran his tongue across his lips. ‘A good one.’
‘If they don’t have it, you’re getting a beer, OK?’
Grythiss shrugged.
‘Surely, you are too young to drink?’ asked Raitha, coming away from the balcony to sit beside me.
‘Officially, yes. But where I’m from, we start about fifteen.’
‘In Kerala, youth drinking is not so common. For an event like this’—he gestured to the room below—‘hardly anyone will drink alcohol. Rather, they will be focused on the music.’
Not that Raitha (or Grythiss) showed any sign of being interested in the trance music that was pulsing through the venue. I, on the other hand, found myself nodding my head and waving my foot from side to side as though conducting the bassline. Maybe I should go downstairs for a dance soon? Even if that meant going alone. I decided to wait for the beer, mostly so as Braja wouldn’t be disappointed to have bought me one but to have found I’d left.
We didn’t wait long and after he’d returned and set down his tray (three beer bottles and one tumbler with a purple liquid in it), I commented on the fact he was so quick.
‘Used to be you’d spend half the night queuing at the bars in a place like this. Now though, the kids are all taking E or speed and don’t want to dull the buzz with booze.’
‘Is there much drug use going on here, do you think?’ Raitha stared earnestly up at Braja.
‘Oh, my lord yes. I’d say everyone but us is on something, just look.’
‘What am I looking for?’
‘Zombie faces.’
After watching the crowd below us for several minutes, Raitha sank back into his share of the couch. ‘No, I don’t really see it. Their faces look normal, happier than usual perhaps.’
‘If you could get close enough to see their eyes, that’s the real giveaway. Totally expanded. Huge black circles.’ Braja was already halfway through his beer and I took a long swig to keep up.
Overhead, the lightshow was sweeping to and fro with excited movements that kept pace with the fast beat of the trance music being played. The volume made conversation difficult so for a while I leaned back and watched the lights play on my friends as though I was viewing them through purple, red, green and blue filters.
Leaning into Raitha, Braja was asking him something about sociology and while Raitha seemed to be replying with great earnestness, Braja’s eyes were sparkling with good humour.
Grythiss stood up, towering over us. ‘I get more drinks.’
Our tank returned with a tray on which there were three bottles of beer and four glasses of pernod and black.
‘There is no way I’m drinking one of those,’ shouted Braja, sounding almost gleeful.
‘Correct.’ Grythiss leaned down to make sure we heard him, black fringe falling forward. ‘These are for me.’
Wondering where Sapentia was, I studied the crowd below. The venue was full now and enthusiastic cheers greeted the cre
scendos in the music. Deciding to go down and join in the dancing, I hurriedly finished my bottle and left. ‘Going for a dance!’ I called out.
Both Raitha and Braja looked surprised, but neither came with me. That was fine, I wanted to absorb the feeling of the place and, truth be told, find Sapentia to dance with her.
Considering how busy the place was, it was surprisingly easy to make my way through the dancers to somewhere in the middle of the floor. After a while of looking around and catching the eye of strangers (who invariably smiled at me), I gave up and settled in place, enjoying the music. I knew I wasn’t much of a dancer, but really, not much effort was needed to respond to this beat. I let my hands trace the cascades of keyboard notes while the rest of me followed the bass drum. Easy. Fun too.
Before coming out, I had wondered about my clothes. All I had brought from Ireland were T-shirts and jeans and my old, warm, navy hoody. If I had wanted to make an effort, I’d have had to have bought something new. But there wasn’t time and, in any case, it wouldn’t have been worth it. Most people here were dressed pretty casually, although casual in a way that made Grythiss stand out. His dark, heavy clothes were too thick and too sombre in comparison to the light, cheerful designs all around me.
Curiously, being surrounded by people, bathed in swirling lights, inhaling fragrant scents and listening to music so loud I could feel the reverberations in my chest was good for thinking. And what I mainly thought was that I was happy. The grief with Blackridge and the hostility I was getting from some of the other players didn’t really matter. Here I was, earning great money for a job that didn’t feel like work at all. It felt like an adventure. And I still liked my online friends after meeting them in person. In fact, I liked them even more.
I lost track of time but at last, a good while after the two fat DJs (whoever they were) had taken over, I made my way back to our balcony. Only Raitha was there and he looked up with sadness in his dark brown eyes.
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