"Anything."
"If it looks as if Micah is going to gain control over me, if he gets the upper hand...."
"He won't."
"But if he does...well. Look, I'm not gonna become a creature of the night like him. If it comes to it, use that sword on me. Cut my head off. I can't become undead. I can't be damned forever. I just can't."
Noah stared earnestly into her eyes. "I won't let that happen...."
Holly opened her mouth to object.
"...but if it does...." Noah sighed. "If it does, I'll do whatever I have to do. But it's not gonna come to that, okay? So let's go."
Noah was about to push ahead of her, but she put her hand on his chest, and he stopped.
Holly reached up and kissed him, wearing her breaking heart on her lips. If Noah was startled, he didn't complain, but returned her embrace with fervor. Their souls entwined, yearning, as if condensing a whole lifetime into a single kiss. She held onto him tightly, not wanting to let go, not wanting to face what was coming next. But the sinking sun before her reminded her she had to.
"Whatever happens, I want you to know, I think I love you, Noah. If I don't make it, I hope you get to live a long and happy life."
She frowned. "Oh God that sounds so corny, like a line from some teenage rom-com, and we hardly know each other, but I swear every word of it is—" His lips cut her off in mid-sentence, his passion as heartfelt as hers.
Holly gasped for breath when they finally broke off. "Soon as we're done here, you know I'm going to have sex with you, right?" she panted.
Holly smiled faintly, and pulled the scabbard off the sword.
"Alrighty then. Let's go find the fucker."
The blood-red sunlight permeated the gaps in the stone, filling the church with a myriad of surreal light. They dashed straight to the altar; there were two doors on either side.
"You try that one. I've got this one," said Holly, veering off to her left.
Noah didn't respond, but she heard him force open the door on the other side of the altar. Holly didn't have to with her own, for it was barely hanging on its hinges. She climbed tentatively over the wreck, only to find herself at the top of a steep spiral stairwell. She held carefully onto the wall, one false move on the loose stone, and she would tumble down head first.
"There's something to be said for shifting into a damned bat," she mumbled to herself.
Carefully she descended, holding fast onto the sword and using one hand to feel her way along the wall. The light became dimmer and dimmer, and for once she was grateful for her vampire-like eyes.
Down and down, Holly went, until at last she ran out of steps. No sunlight penetrated this deep into the building, and yet she could see as clear as day. The crypt comprised a series of vaulted chambers, creating a honeycomb of rooms throughout the length of the church. Various cracked open slabs in the walls exposed broken coffins, some still full of the decrepit bones of the dead, long since forgotten.
The nausea was strong now, but Holly fought against it. Perhaps she could channel it, and it would tell her where Micah was? But, no. Maybe that worked for him, but the feeling just left her ill. She would have to continue on her wits alone.
One by one, she examined the contents of the desecrated boxes, a head skull here, a full skeleton there. At least they were dried up old remnants and not icky juicy remains. The thought grossed her out.
Holly had almost despaired of finding Micah when she reached the smallest, darkest arch in the crypt. It contained several recesses. The one nearest to her contained a lidless coffin, and unlike all the others she had seen so far, this one looked almost new. The only tell-tale signs of age were betrayed by the time-faded satin lining the box. The pillow and ruffling were surprisingly ornate, and Holly thought it an odd choice for someone of Micah's age and stature.
She placed a cold hand on the stone walls, and as soon as she made contact, she felt giddy, and almost slipped and fell.
The vile blood in her cells seemed to tingle, as if she'd had a diabolical orgasm, and she shuddered, suddenly feeling unholy and unclean.
"You are here."
Holly's heart almost stopped. The very last thing she'd been expecting to hear was another female voice. She turned, and there in front of her, dressed in a shroud of white was the most beautiful woman Holly had ever seen. She was a dark angel. Her hair was like shiny ebony, her lips blood-red, and her skin as pale as moonlight. Holly thought of a sexy Snow White, all grown up, with luscious locks that fell to her waistline. Her jaw dropped in a flash of recognition. It was Sue. She recognized her almost immediately from her photo with Mamaw. She looked just as she'd looked in the picture, if perhaps a little more glam and photoshopped. And she was the last person Holly expected to see in this place.
Still, Holly raised her sword. "Don't come any closer."
Sue smiled, revealing a glimpse of perfectly white fangs that had yet to taste blood this evening.
"But we are destined to be friends, no?" said Sue. In spite of Holly's warning, Sue circled her, and her movements were so graceful, Holly was entranced.
"You like my coffin, do you not? Do you wish to lie in it? Perhaps we could lie in it together?"
Sue was so close now, and she extended her forefinger, moving it suggestively through the air as if mentally caressing Holly's flesh.
"You would like to lie with me, I think," she suggested. "I have been so lonely. It would be nice to— rest—with a friend."
Ever so boldly, Sue took a step closer. Holly lowered her sword. It was as if her will to fight had just disappeared. She was being lulled into a deep, epic sleep, from which she never wanted to wake.
"Yes, yes. That's right my sweet. The sword is so heavy, is it not? Perhaps it would be best for you to put it on the ground, and then you and I can sleep for a while. Wouldn't that be nice?"
"Yes," repeated Holly. Sue was right. It felt good to do as Sue told her. Holly knelt down and gently dropped the katana and her bag to the ground.
"Very good, now, give me your hand."
Holly had no will to fight. She wanted to lie down in that coffin more than anything. She linked her fingers through Sue's and was immediately struck by how oddly chill Sue's flesh felt to the touch. But this didn't seem to matter. Together, they walked slowly to the recess in the wall.
Sue turned to face her and raised a hand to Holly's hair, pushing it back behind her ear, smiling her approval. Her hand trailed down to the nave of Holly's neck and began caressing her skin.
"So pretty," said Sue. "We are friends now, aren't we?"
"Yes. Friends."
Sue's hands continued to explore up and down Holly's shoulders, then lingering for just one second at Holly's breast.
Sue smiled, and it was as if they had been friends for an eternity, and Holly wanted nothing more than to please her.
"I love you," said Holly, though the words felt strange in her mouth, as if they were not her own.
"Then we should kiss."
Sue's lips parted, and Holly tilted her head to one side. In this moment, she desired nothing more now than for Sue to suck her blood. Holly closed her eyes in delighted anticipation.
There was a growl, and a second later, Holly was wrenched violently from an exquisite dream. It took a second for her senses to clear, but when she did wake up, the wolf and Sue were grappling on the floor.
It was no mismatched fight. With a strength Holly had never witnessed before, Sue got hold of the wolf and sent him crashing into the recess in the wall. There was a huge crack as her coffin split, and the wolf yelped and fell awkwardly to the ground. Stunned, it took a moment for him to recover, but he got up on all fours and made another dash at the vampiress.
But it was unnecessary. Sue was so transfixed on the wolf, she failed to keep an eye on Holly. Though still somewhat giddy, Holly grabbed the sword by her feet, raised the blade high, and with a single thrust, drove the blade clean through her heart.
Sue's body remained standing for ju
st a moment, and she looked confused, as if Holly had been her friend and death was the last thing she expected in the world.
In that second, Holly wondered if she truly was immortal indeed, or whether she had missed her heart and the vampiress would live on. But then, like a demolished tower, Sue's torso collapsed in a sorry heap on the unconsecrated ground.
Even as Holly recovered from the shock of what she'd done, Sue's face began to change. Her beauty faded, her luscious lips dried and cracked; her perfect alabaster skin became wrinkled and blemished, and her ebony hair turned thin and white. Even her once brilliant teeth yellowed in her mouth. But despite the ravages of time, there was a gentle peace in her features, and Holly knew she had done the right thing. Sue's soul could now rest in peace.
If only Holly herself could be so lucky. She lowered her sword and prayed for the dead.
15
In Sempiternum Condemnabitur
As soon as Noah shifted back, he led Holly to a shelf containing a broken coffin and helped her sit down on the edge of it. She still held onto the sword, but she was shaking violently. He knew there was probably nothing he could say or do to make her feel better. But they had yet to find Micah, so with a sorry heart, he knelt before her.
"Did you find his coffin?"
Holly shook her head.
He looked around, hoping she'd missed something. "There was nothing upstairs. Just a singular office and a store room, and nowhere to hide in either."
"He has to be here, MacMillan said so," said Holly.
"He said he met him here, that's all. Come on. We've got to keep moving."
He stood up, ready to go.
"You're naked," she said. "Too bad it's cold down here." She smiled faintly.
Noah covered his cock with his hand, looking sheepish. "I left my clothes over on the steps. I was in a bit of a hurry at the time. I'll get dressed."
"Wait one second!" said Holly, springing to her feet.
"What?"
Holly didn't reply, but she walked over to Sue's body and lifted her hand. She pulled a ring from her finger.
"If we get the chance, I think Mamaw would like to have this back." She slipped the ring into a pocket.
Noah nodded and picked his leather bag off the floor. "Have we got everything?"
"I think so."
They stole quickly past Sue's dead body. Holly wouldn't look at it anymore, and he couldn't blame her. It seemed a first kill was never easy, even for the undead. After a final reconnoiter of the trashed coffins in the crypt, he changed into his clothes. Then together, they hurried back upstairs. Through a glass-less window, they watched as the crimson glare of the sunset dimmed to a faded red. It flickered for a brief moment, and then all was dark.
"Well, shit," he said softly.
"I hope your eyes are as good as mine in the dark," said Holly.
"Only as the wolf. As a man I'm as blind as a bat." Noah rummaged around in the bag and retrieved a flashlight. He turned it on and pointed it around the ruined church.
"Maybe we should split up?" suggested Holly. "We can cover more ground then."
"You never seen any horror movies? If we split up, it'll be easier for him to pick us off."
"Yeah, you're right."
All the while they were checking out the upturned pews, the vestibules and even the roof, looking for places Micah might easily hide. But there was no sign of him. Noah felt more alarmed with every passing second they didn't find him. Micah knew they were here, MacMillan had communicated as much. So why didn't he come for them?
Holly was over by the door. "Come on. He's not in here. Let's check outside. Maybe he's hiding in plain sight."
"Okay, but be careful. He could be anywhere. I sense he’s close."
"Ugh." Holly bent over and grabbed her belly.
"Are you okay?" asked Noah.
"Y-yes," she said, a little breathlessly. She looked more worried than ever. "You're right. He must be close. I get giddy when I'm near a vampire, and right now, I couldn't feel sicker."
Noah looked all around the church and up to the rafters. Nothing. He thought about shifting, but without the element of surprise, it would be hard to overpower the immortal. "Stay close to me."
"Okay," she replied.
Noah was first through the door. It was pitch black now, and without the flashlight, he would have been totally blind. The light played across several headstones, but he couldn't see a damned thing beyond them.
"Let me look," she said.
Noah hated her walking out ahead of him, but what could he do? Hers were the superior eyes, and she might spot Micah in time for them to have a fighting chance.
She shook her head. "I can't see him, but I still feel funny. He can't be too far. Oh my God, what if he's hiding in plain sight?"
"What d'you mean?" he asked.
"We're surrounded by graves. What if he's taken one of them over instead of camping out in the church crypt? Safety in numbers. Who even looks twice at old graves? He'd be in the earth. That's what vampires need when they sleep, isn't it?"
Noah could have kicked himself for not thinking of that sooner.
"Okay."
At first, they scoured in silence together, checking out any plot that looked messed with or particularly damaged. Noah wondered how long the neglect had gone on. Many of the stones were vandalized with gang graffiti, and there were more beer cans and cigarette butts than flowers and urns. What a nice little town Misty Cedars was.
"Some of these are really, really old," remarked Holly. She was staring at an old stone one that had somehow escaped the ravages of abandonment. He played his flashlight over the stone. The etching on it was faint, but still legible.
Archibald Cupp
Died 1787
May God have mercy on his soul.
"And not very friendly."
Noah looked around. His gaze fell on one just to the right of it. "This one isn't either."
Eliza Pringle
Died 1788
Only God Can Forgive You
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"What's that?" she asked.
"That Micah wasn't the only vampire to frequent Misty Cedars. It looks like they may have had quite an epidemic around the 1780s." He turned his flashlight to the next grave. "Look. Here's another one."
And so it went on. This entire section of the graveyard was riddled with headstones that could only have been meant for the damned. And unlike the graves they'd seen in the rest of the cemetery, these were left strangely intact, no graffiti, no litter, no nothing.
"It's so eerie, but I don't think many people have visited this section," he said in a hushed voice.
"Yeah," said Holly. "I'm not that thrilled being here myself, to be truthful. It's like the graveyard for the damned. Come on. We've got to keep looking."
Just ahead of them was a tall, square hedge. The foliage was a little overgrown, but it concealed an iron railing and gate. Noah approached it carefully and shone the flashlight on the inscription.
"In sempiternum condemnabitur," he read aloud slowly.
"What does it mean?" asked Holly.
Noah searched his memory. It had been a while since he'd studied Latin at school. He dredged up his almost-forgotten knowledge and tried to figure what the words could mean. "Forever damned," he whispered.
He pushed the gate, and it opened with an eerie creak that sent shivers up and down his spine.
Noah found himself staring at a mausoleum. A whopping big one. The structure was half the size of a house, and had an old glass dome that was cracked in places where creeping ivy had forced its way inside. It looked lonely, and peculiarly uninviting. He moved aside so Holly could see. They looked at each other. More dead people. Noah shone the light on the mausoleum's entrance. It should have been sealed, but someone had opened it.
"I don't think he's in there," whispered Holly. "I don't feel anything."
Noah didn't think so either, but not checking it out would be fool
ish. He started to squeeze through the door. "Come on. It's stuck, but we both should be able to get through here."
It was tight, and Noah's shoulders hurt as he pressed against the cold stone, but he slipped through with just a few scrapes to his skin. He held his hand out to Holly and she followed him inside, the katana trailing low behind her as she maneuvered past the door.
Once she was inside, Holly brushed the dust off her shoulders and looked around. They stepped further inside. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made of marble, but there was nothing else to see.
"Well, I pray to God no one closes that door behind us! Where are all the bodies?" she whispered. "It's just a big fat empty. Shouldn't there be coffins? Or at least one."
But then Holly pointed.
Right at the rear of the mausoleum, which Noah had missed because of a shadowy optical illusion effect, was a set of steps that led to a lower level. The steps down were deep and narrow, broad enough to take a coffin but no more. They held each other's hands for mutual support as they made their way down.
The burial vault comprised a series of chambers, rather like the crypt beneath the main church. There were small ones to their left and right, but ahead of them was the grandest chamber of all. It was marked by an ornately carved door frame that opened into a stately vault that seemed somewhat out of place compared to all the others. Instinctively, they made their way straight toward it.
Once there, Noah shone the light on the walls. There were stone effigies and tablets inscribed in Latin. He couldn't understand half of what they said, and he suspected he probably didn't want to.
Holly, though, had gone straight to the stone coffin in the center of the tomb. The lid was still in place, and there was an effigy of a man on top of it. She was staring at his face.
"In life, this man must have been very handsome," she whispered. "A little stern looking, maybe, but not bad at all. Oh God, Noah, do you think this could be his coffin?"
"I dunno."
Blood Curse (Misty Cedars - Vampire Edition) Page 11