by Raven Steele
When I wasn't at the Academy, I was with Sarah. She introduced me to her friends and took me all over the city. She even invited me to go with her to work in the soup kitchen serving the homeless every Sunday morning. My relationship with her was very different from how it had been with Liane, and after some time, I was able to recognize it as a true friendship.
After a few short weeks of working at the Academy and hanging out with Sarah, I experienced another first. I fell asleep with a smile on my face and dreamed, not of darkness or monsters, not even of myself.
I was hovering a few inches above dark and murky water that smelled like the sea and rotten fish. A sliver of the moon shined just enough for me to see a wood dock protruding out into what appeared to be an inlet but because of a thick mist, I couldn’t see any structures beyond.
A lone figure, tall and erect, stood motionless at the end of the dock. I squinted, trying to see who it was. My heart stopped beating when I realized it was the vampire who’d saved me from Alarica. He held completely still, as if he were a guardian statue built to protect land from the monsters of the sea, but every once in a while, his body shifted, betraying his identity.
He wore loose fitting jeans and a dark jacket that hung just below his waist. His short, dark brown hair was less than a quarter of an inch past his scalp, and his hooded eyes were drawn tightly together. Whatever held his attention appeared to be causing him pain.
I moved toward him, wanting to get a closer look. Suddenly, his eyes shifted in my direction. I stiffened and sucked in air. His eyes scanned the area but passed over me. I was invisible to him.
He jerked his head to the left as if he’d heard a sound. He glanced back in my direction one last time before he turned around and disappeared into the fog.
I woke and sat up in bed, heart racing, as the early morning sun spilled into my room. Inexplicably, I was certain of one thing—whatever had just happened, it wasn’t a dream.
Chapter 36
After working at the school, I stopped by Charlie’s office. Dark circles hung under his eyes, but he managed a smile and said, “Hey, you. It’s been a while.”
“I’ve been busy at the Academy.” I slid into the nearest chair. “How have you been? You look tired.”
“Nothing I can’t handle. Have you met Skinner’s daughter yet?”
“His daughter? Does she work at the Academy?”
He shook his head. “She’s a student, a fourteen-year-old girl named Madeline.”
“Maddie? I had no idea.”
“The picture in his office is of Maddie when she was four,” he said.
I tilted my head back, surprised. “Maddie is the most talented piano player I’ve ever heard. I’m surprised Dr. Skinner didn’t mention her.”
“It was Maddie who made him the man he is today. Before she was born, he was a psychiatrist in a ritzy mental hospital that only cared about patients as long as they came with a high referral fee. Maddie changed her father’s outlook on life; whether it was a gift she gave him or whether it just happened, he became a new person.”
“There is something special about her,” I agreed. “Hey, are you available tonight? I want to talk to you about something.”
He blinked a couple of times, practically staring right through me, before saying, “Sure. Let’s do it over dinner. I’ll come get you when I’m off.”
“That will be nice.”
Charlie opened his mouth as if to say something more but seemed to think better of it. He returned his attention to the computer on his desk. “I’ll see you tonight then.”
For dinner, Charlie took me to a pizza parlor. At first I thought it was an odd choice, but a few minutes in, I was grateful for the family atmosphere of children’s voices and clanking dishes. It made what I wanted to talk to Charlie about seem less serious.
He guided me to a table in the back corner opposite the small arcade. He didn’t ask me right away why I needed to talk to him. Instead, he told me about his childhood with his only sister. While we ate, I laughed with him as he described his many adventures, including the time he was grounded for months when he’d painted the living room walls a florescent green while his mother had been out.
“So tell me about the children at the Academy,” he said, after dipping the crust of his pizza into ketchup.
“I love them so much,” I began, then continued on about how they made me feel, and how I felt I was growing in ways I still didn’t understand. Charlie listened carefully and seemed to be pleased with my progress. Eventually though, the conversation died down and I began to squirm in my seat.
“Maybe this would be easier if you just spit it out?” Charlie asked, sensing my anxiety.
I smiled, and on an exhale said, “I had a dream last night, but it wasn’t really a dream. It was three-dimensional, like I was really there. I could actually feel a spray of water and smell the sea.”
“What was the dream about?”
I explained the strange scene and the vampire on the dock. Charlie leaned back, brows furrowed.
“I was really there, Charlie.”
“Did it feel like the future?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. It felt like it was happening that very moment.”
“I’ve never heard of psychic abilities showing the present. It’s always the future or the past.”
“But why him? Why am I seeing him?”
“That’s a question only you can answer. There’s obviously a connection between you two, but you must be careful that it is a good one. Even evil can attract.”
I remembered Boaz, but gratefully I felt none of those negative emotions with the vampire. “Have you spoken to Henry about giving me access to the records you told me about?”
“I have. Henry is very sensitive about who sees the Deific’s database, but I have reassured him. You should have it this week.” His gaze moved to the pile of torn napkins in front of me. “You think you can lighten up on the napkins?”
I looked down, stunned at how unaware I was of my hands. “Right. Bad habit.” I moved the pile to the side to join our half-eaten pizza.
A strange expression shadowed Charlie’s face, and he jumped to his feet. “I have to go.”
Recognizing he’d just had a psychic moment, I asked, “Did you just sense something about the vampire who escaped the house we raided?”
“I think so.” He took my elbow and guided me toward the front door. “I have to make a few calls first to confirm, but I sense he’s in the north part of the city in a club I’ve been to on several occasions.”
“And you just sensed that?” I picked up my pace, trying hard to keep up with him.
He averted his eyes, his cheeks reddening. “I’ve been mentally searching for him all day, but all of a sudden he just appeared on my psychic radar.”
“Do you think that’s deliberate?”
“Possibly.” He opened the front door.
A cold wind lifted my hair when I stepped into the night. I wrapped my jacket tighter around me. “Can I help?”
“I’ll let you know what I find out.” He opened the passenger door of his SUV for me. After I slid in he said, before closing the door, “When you go to sleep tonight, I want you to think of him, the vampire from your dreams. If it is a connection thing, you may see him again.”
I was sitting on hard dirt. A few sparse trees stood tall around me, their limbs sagging and leafless. A strong breeze that smelled of fish and salt water cut through my thin pajamas, and I hugged myself tightly, trying to keep warm. I gritted my teeth.
Where am I?
From what I could see, it looked like a park. Not far away, swings creaked in a breeze beside a long slide. Large dirt patches littered the grass. It wasn’t a well-maintained park, which meant I was probably on the wrong side of town. But what town? The same thick fog surrounded the area, blocking my view to anything beyond it.
For some reason, my attention was drawn to the thickest tree in the park: a large maple tree
. That’s when I saw Him. He stood as still as the tree he hid behind, his gaze staring into the fog. For several minutes, he remained in this state. I didn’t think he was even breathing.
A tall man stepped out of the mist, wearing a bulky coat that looked much too big for his skinny frame. He walked quickly with his head down, hands stuffed into his pockets. He passed the tall maple tree completely unaware of the vampire hiding behind it until it was too late.
The man retrieved a handgun from his coat pocket, but in a move I almost missed, the vampire looped his left arm around the man’s right arm and jerked up, snapping the man’s arm at the elbow. The man opened his mouth to scream, but before any sound erupted, the vampire plunged his teeth into the man’s neck, cutting off his voice. Seconds later, the man fell face-first to the ground—dead.
I sucked in a shaky breath, my eyes wide and full of horror. How could I be drawn to this?
The vampire stared down at his kill before he collapsed onto all fours, his expression twisting in horror. His hands clawed at the hard dirt exposing the whites of his knuckles, and his back arched up as if he was in an intense amount of pain. Even his breathing became erratic: short and quick sips of air.
I stood and walked behind his hunched body, wanting desperately to understand what was happening. But after just a minute, his breathing relaxed, and he let go of the earth to reach over and unzip the man’s coat where he retrieved a concealed package wrapped tightly in a brown paper bag. The vampire gathered it up with one hand, stood, and with the other hand, grabbed the man by the back of his coat and dragged him off until he disappeared altogether into the fog.
I tried to follow him, but the moment I stepped into the haze, I awoke in my room back in Wildemoor just as my morning alarm buzzed.
Chapter 37
The following day, the children at the Academy were let out early for parent-teacher conferences. With time to kill, I headed to the Deific.
“You're off early?” Sarah asked me when the elevator doors opened. She closed a book. "I'm so bored. Maybe I can get off early too, and we can go to a movie or something."
I strolled over to her desk and spotted Charlie through the glass window of the conference room. He was kneeling on top of a long table scooting papers and photos all around.
"Possibly. What's up with him?"
"He's been like that all morning. I wish he'd find a hobby or something." Her eyes widened, and she grabbed my arm. "I met a guy last night! I almost called you, but it was midnight."
"Where?"
"At my apartment. This is totally cliché, but we were doing laundry together. He's new and gorgeous. I got his number and—"
There was a knock on the conference room window. Charlie motioned me inside.
"Let's finish this conversation later," I said to Sarah. "I want to hear more about this mystery guy."
I walked away and opened the conference room door.
"You must've gotten out early," he observed. "Good."
He turned his attention back to a series of photographs spread out across the long table.
“What is all this?” I picked up the nearest photo. It was of a couple dancing in what looked like a bar.
“The club I told you about last night. I had one of our guys take a bunch of pictures of everyone in the club. You recognize this vamp?” He held up a profile picture of a man sitting at a table with short hair.
I examined it carefully. “I think so. It was pretty dark in the house, but I think that’s the one who attacked me.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“So why all the other photos?” I asked.
“Just seeing if I recognized anyone else.”
“The man who took something from you,” I stated, remembering our conversation from weeks ago. “One day do you think you might be more specific?”
He gathered the pictures. “One day. Your laptop is over there.”
I followed his gaze. A black case rested upon a small table.
“Be sure this is what you want,” he advised.
His words gave me pause. I wasn’t sure what I wanted from the strange vampire, but there was one thing I did know: I wanted to know more.
“I’m sure.”
The briefcase felt heavy in my arms as I carried it up to my apartment. Inside my room, I carefully unzipped the black bag and removed the laptop. On a yellow sticky note attached to its top, Charlie had scribbled the username and password and then given explicit instructions to tear the note up when I was finished.
My hands hovered just above the silver metal of the computer, and after a few deep breaths, I opened the laptop and entered in the codes. Immediately, a database of some kind appeared.
The first entry was a man named Alvin. It showed a photo of him, gave a brief history off to the right, and declared his threat level. His was high. It was no one I knew. I hit the ‘next’ button.
I continued to press next many more times, flashing through pictures of men and women I’d never seen before. Occasionally, I would stop to read their history. They were vampires, witches, psychics, demons, diablos (I was surprised to discover that they actually existed) and even some creatures I’d never heard of before.
I stopped abruptly. The image of Boaz flashed on the screen. It was a black and white photo taken in 1863. On the right side, his history read:
* * *
Name: Boaz
Age: Unknown
Status: Possibly dead (see history)
Current location: Unknown
Priority: Extremely High
History: Boaz was made known to the Deific in 1863. Agent Matthew Thomas found him in Pennsylvania working as an advisor to General Lee during the Civil War. After careful observation, the Deific determined his actions dangerous to society. Agent Thomas and Agent Smith were sent to restrain him. Both agents and Boaz came up missing shortly after. All attempts to locate them have failed. Boaz reappeared in 2018 when he made contact with Eve Segur (daughter of Erik and Sable Segur—see file). Eve claims Boaz is dead but death not witnessed. Agents unable to find proof of life or death.
* * *
I glanced away, frustrated by the rush of feelings toward Boaz. It wasn’t revulsion like I expected to feel when seeing his face again. Instead, I felt a longing for the incredible power that we had experienced together. It frightened me to think I still had a desire for dark magic.
I quickly changed the picture before I allowed my thoughts to linger on him any longer. I hit next through many more pictures, even coming across my parents’ files whose statuses both read ‘deceased’.
My own record contained a photograph that looked like it had been taken when I’d stayed at Blutel, although I hadn’t been aware of anyone taking my picture. There was a brief account of my history along with a short mention of my time with Boaz. I was glad to see my threat-level was nonexistent.
Several more images flashed of supernatural beings that roamed the earth in secret. There were so many! Only occasionally would I see one whose file indicated that they were not a threat. A couple of them I recognized as employees of the Deific. I clicked next.
And came face to face with Him. I glanced to the right of his picture, anxious to put a name with his face—Lucien.
The sound of his name felt right upon my lips, as if there could be no other. The photo was taken ten years ago in Skystead, his last known location. He stood in a crowd of people, staring up. His face was easy to pick out among all the others whose faces emanated worries and frustrations, hope and joy. But his expression was blank, void of any emotion, except for his eyes. They were full of pain.
An immediate longing washed over me and I yearned to be near him, to remove him from the crowd of people who took no notice of his suffering.
I was surprised by my feelings toward him. I didn’t know him, and yet here I was, unable to tear my eyes away from his face. I searched his features, wondering again if it were possible that I’d somehow met him when I was a child. A friend of my p
arents, perhaps?
After several minutes, I finally glanced down to read his history but was disappointed to find there was none. Under priority it said, “Use caution.” I connected the laptop to a printer on my desk and printed his photo, studying it for a few more minutes before I got ready for bed.
Instead of going through my usual nighttime routine, I went straight to bed, anxious to see if I could visit Lucien in my dreams again. It took me a while to fall asleep, but eventually my eyes closed, his image engraved on my mind.
I “awoke” in his world, recognizing it immediately. It was night again, yet blacker than the night before. Thick clouds overhead blocked the moon’s light. I was standing on wooden planks and water sloshed nearby, but the same fog blocked my view of anything around me. I pursed my lips, wondering if the haze was real or part of the dream.
Maybe it was time I used a little magic. I closed my eyes and concentrated, thinking not of dark things, but of all the good that had recently come into my life. With little effort, I willed the fog away. When I opened my eyes, the mist had cleared, giving me a clear view of my surroundings.
I was at a marina. Boats bordered the dock, swaying gently to the rise and fall of the water. Occasionally one of them would rock hard enough to ring a bell. An old boardwalk followed the outline of the water, and on the other side, cramped shops with chipped wood and faded paint reflected a dying part of what was probably a once bustling area. In the distance, lit up skyscrapers protruded sharply into the sky. I recognized Skystead right away.
Not far from me, a lone figure sat on a bench. Lucien. I approached him slowly. He was leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees, chin in hands. He stared out over the water, unmoving. Cautiously, I sat next to him. He was completely unaware of my presence. I didn’t dare touch him for fear of disrupting whatever magic made this possible. Instead, I relaxed, enjoying the peace I felt simply by being near him. I only wished he could feel it, too, but he seemed to be beyond feeling.