Revenants Abroad

by D. D. Syrdal

The night Anne-Marie and Neko left, Andrej had watched the taxi drive off until they were lost in traffic. The ever-present crowds flowed past him on the sidewalk; he took little notice of them. He finished his cigarette and flicked the butt into the road, and started walking down towards the Charles Bridge, hoping to draw the crusaders with him and force them to split up. One was almost certainly following the taxi with Anne-Marie and Neko, and the other two would likely be keeping him in their sights. He kept walking without turning around, knowing they were back there somewhere. He had to keep them trailing him long enough to parade them past Neko’s people, who would be waiting. Once they had them in their sights, Neko’s hired guns would trail them, while they trailed Andrej.

  Andrej stopped at the designated corner, and lit a cigarette, as if undecided about where to go, before hailing a cab. Once he was in a vehicle, the two crusaders who were following him would have to get a vehicle as well, but theirs would have to be private, no cabs. They tended to avoid any contact with the public if at all possible, and that included cabbies who could ID them. He expected one to be on foot following him, and the other to be somewhere nearby in a vehicle.

  This would be a timed maneuver; rushing could throw the whole thing off. A couple of young girls walked by, eyeing him up and down, and he traded some flirtatious good-natured banter with them. If he had the time, either one would do for a quick feeding. Later, he thought. Business before pleasure. The girls walked on, looking back once and giggling, as if trying to encourage Andrej to follow them. He smiled and gave them a mock salute as they continued on their way. Finally he caught sight of one of Neko’s men and hailed a cab. As he climbed in he looked back in time to see one of the crusaders on his communer, back turned to him in an attempt to keep Andrej from recognizing him. As the cab pulled away from the curb, he watched a small dark-colored vehicle swing out quickly into traffic, following. That was all that was needed. He gave the cabbie directions to the bookshop where he had had that misstep. He decided to take the opportunity to cruise by the shop, see if the shopkeeper was back and recovered. Anne-Marie’s attempt to do likewise had been thwarted, and there had been no chance to go again until now.

  The cab dropped him off at the end of the block where he got out and walked the rest of the way to the shop. With luck, the car following him would have stopped and parked somewhere, continuing to follow him on foot. He expected an attempt tonight if they felt they had an opportunity, so they would be sticking close to him. As he entered the bookshop he saw the proprietress walking with another customer down one of the aisles of books. And she was clearly pregnant, wearing maternity clothes. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. She saw him out of the corner of her eye, and at first gave no indication she remembered him. Then he saw the recognition dawn on her face, and he started towards her. She excused herself from the other customer and came to greet him.

  “Hello again,” Andrej said, “I don’t know if you remember me, I was here a few months ago when you fell ill. I just stopped by to see how you were doing.”

  “I’m well, thank you for your concern. I guess I passed out that night, and woke up in hospital. That’s when I found out about this,” she said, putting her hand on her rounding belly.

  “Congratulations,” he said, and meant it. “I’m glad you’re all right, then. And the baby is as well?”

  “Yes, so far everything is fine. They think it was just the early stage of the pregnancy, blood sugar levels or something, although they did have to give me a transfusion. I’m still not sure why, but they said it looked like I had lost some blood. Very strange.”

  “That is strange, but it’s lucky you got to a doctor in time,” he said. “Well, I should be going. I’m glad to see you’re all right.” He smiled at her and walked back out of the shop. He took a deep breath of the cool night air as he exited the shop and stopped, looking up at the sky. The ever-present stars twinkled like little candles in celebration. Despite, or maybe because of other recent events, this news cheered him more than he expected.

  He stood on the sidewalk, knowing the crusader was still hanging around on the street, waiting to follow him further. The man had clumsily darted into the shop next door, but he wouldn’t try to make a move until he had Andrej in a less public location. Calling attention to themselves was not in their plan. His own plan was simple; at least he hoped it would work out that way. He walked down the street for several blocks at a determined pace as if he had a particular destination in mind. As he kept walking the surrounding neighborhood became less commercial, more residential, with rundown old houses and deserted buildings. It was darker there, since most of the old homes had limited outdoor lighting. The sidewalks were undulating chunks of concrete, broken and jagged from roots of ancient trees heaving up in search of water, giving the area a general sense of neglect. Andrej was able to navigate over the broken concrete with his eyesight, but his pursuer was having a harder time keeping up the pace in the dark without being able to even shine a flashlight. The further he went along the street the more rundown it was, and the homes progressively more derelict. It looked like as good a place as any to stage things. He had walked nearly three miles, far enough away from the busy commercial district that there were no surveillance cameras or police nearby.

  Andrej turned up the walk of one particularly old house that looked abandoned. There was no light coming from inside, and no lights on outside. He made his way up the weed-strewn front walk, past what had probably once been a tidy yard. Whoever the house had belonged to was long gone. This section of town had been nearly abandoned during the Purification Wars and some of it had been bypassed by the renovations and renewal that had cleaned up most of the rest of the city. He entered by the front door that stood ajar and stood in the musty gloom of the old house.

  The other man had followed him but remained standing on the sidewalk outside, staring up at the dark maw of the doorway. He was hesitant now, not so cocky without his compatriots. Andrej watched him from inside the house and started to think he had overdone it. If the man didn’t come inside, there was no way he could confront him on the sidewalk, no matter how deserted this end of the street was. Any chance of witnesses was too great a risk. He didn’t have to wait long before the crusader’s fanatical zeal won out, and the man approached the house. As he stepped up onto the porch, Andrej stood waiting in the darkness.

  The man stood in the doorway for a minute, trying to see into the room. The room was mostly bare except for a wooden crate on one side, a couple of piles of old rags, and a collection of bare wires hanging down from the ceiling where a light fixture had hung long ago. Andrej was sitting on the crate, idly dangling one leg, waiting for the inevitable to begin. In the dark his eyes had a soft bluish glow. He could see perfectly in the low light that came in from outside. As his pursuer’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw Andrej and braced himself, apparently expecting Andrej to come at him. But Andrej remained where he was, not moving. He lit a cigarette, momentarily blinding the man with the flash of the lighter.

  “So, tell me,” he said, “what is it you expect to happen here tonight?”

  The man didn’t answer right away. Andrej was a little disappointed that he didn’t seem to be better prepared, as if little thought or training had gone into this. Perhaps the man hadn’t expected a conversation, civility.

  “Are you Andrej Vojacek?” he asked after a moment.

  “I had no idea I had such a fan base, it’s really quite shocking.” He could smell the fear in the man, hear his heart pounding.

  Before the man could say anything Andrej had crossed the room in the blink of an eye and stood behind him, blocking the doorway out of the building. As the man spun around to face him, Andrej grabbed his right arm and held it immobile. “Uh-uh,” he said, “can’t have you going for that stake in your pocket. Not that it would do you much good, but I wouldn’t want you to damage my coat.” He saw the man was wearing a large, ornate silver cross around his neck. Wit
h his free hand he picked it up and turned it over, casually examining it. “Was this supposed to protect you?” he said smiling.

  The fear in the man’s eyes was growing as he saw how completely unprepared he was to deal with the situation. He started to ball his left hand into a fist but before he could bring it up and swing it, Andrej had dropped the cross, grabbed his hand and spun the man around, twisting both his arms behind him. If he struggled too hard in this position he’d dislocate one or both shoulders.

  “Go on, kill me then,” the man said.

  “I have no wish to kill you, or anyone, for that matter,” Andrej said. He held the man’s arms effortlessly as he talked.

  “You, all of you, you’re killers, abominations, and have to be stopped,” the crusader spat.

  “And you’re just the one to deal out justice, is that it? I don’t think so. At least, not tonight.If you could just be reasonable. You seem to think you know who I am, so you must know something about me, yes?”

  The man remained silent, motionless.

  “If you’ve been watching me, as I know you have, then you know I’m no threat to humans. Come, come,” Andrej went on, “can we not reach an agreement here? You know I don’t go around killing people, so why all the theatrics?”

  Without directly responding to Andrej’s questions, he had started muttering a prayer to himself, evidently steeling himself for the death he expected at any moment. Andrej kept his grip on the man while becoming increasingly annoyed by the man’s tacit refusal to speak to him.

  “All right then, we have a couple of options here. I can’t have you following me, constantly trying to kill me, so that leaves two ways we can go here. I can kill you, or I can bring you across, turn you into a vampire.”

  “What?” He started struggling enough to feel again Andrej’s strength, reminded by the pain in his shoulders.

  “Well, it seems there’s no reasoning with you people. I mean, put yourself in my place. What would you do?”

  “Let me go.”

  Andrej laughed, a deep hearty chuckle, at this. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Even if you kill me, others will come, more will take my place.”

  Andrej pretended to think about this for a moment.

  “Yes, I suppose they will. They’ve been trying for such a long time, I almost feel sorry for their lack of success. But not quite.” A steely edge crept into his voice. He was getting tired of this game. The man was completely brainwashed, there was no point in trying to talk to him. “I expect if you don’t check in by a certain time, they’ll come looking for you?”

  The man didn’t respond.

  “Or maybe not. Maybe you’re expendable, and they’ll just write you off and move on?”

  Still nothing.

  Andrej sighed. By now Neko’s man would have taken care of the second guy in the car. It was time to finish this.

  “I’m betting no one’s coming for you. The risk of exposure is too great. Are you ready to become a martyr?”

  By his silence the man seemed to confirm everything he was saying, but Andrej already knew he was right. It was a simple thing to read his mind.

  “Ivan. Your name is Ivan,” Andrej said as he was already beginning to transform into his vampiric form. His eyes had taken on the glow that preceded a kill, his humanity subsumed by the predator. “I am sorry about this, but you leave me no choice. It’s kill or be killed, by your own design. I can promise you it will be quick, clean, and painless. Which I imagine is more than you’d offer me. So who’s really the bloodthirsty one here?”

  He cocked his head to the side, watching the man as he pushed him to his knees.

  “What will you do with my body?” the man asked.

  “Ah, well, I’m afraid they won’t find it. If you like, I can see to it you’re buried in holy ground.”

  “You would do that? You, a demon?”

  “Demon?” Andrej grinned crookedly. “I hadn’t thought of that. Perhaps I am, in a manner of speaking. But if you’d been paying any attention to me at all you might have realized by now that I take no pleasure in having to kill you. And after all these weeks of following me you should know that I don’t kill unless I absolutely have to, like now. But, enough is enough.”

  “You’re not what I expected.”

  “I’ve been told that before.”

  “Please, I don’t want to die,” Ivan said.

  “Neither do I, sir, neither do I.”

  “But you are dead… aren’t you?”

  “Technically, yes. But it’s a good life.”

  “I could help you, give you information.”

  “Now Ivan, how could I trust you not to sell me out to your friends?”

  “If you turn me into a vampire, too.”

  Andrej gave a little snort. “That’s quite a change of heart. One minute you’re ready to kill me or die for your god, the next you want to join the ranks of demons? Rather duplicitous, wouldn’t you say? Maybe you are a demon.”

  Ivan licked his lips, desperate to keep Andrej talking and himself alive. Andrej let go of his arms, walked around and squatted down in front of him, putting the two of them at eye level.

  “I can give you information on the others, how they’re organized, how many there are, where they are,” Ivan said.

  “I already know you can’t. And I know how you’re organized. You each only know two others, which keeps the casualties to a minimum if you’re caught or killed.”

  “No, not anymore. They’ve started meeting more openly, they’re getting more followers, organizing. Please, you can always kill me later if I betray you.”

  “Where do they meet? What city are they headquartered out of?”

  “Will you promise not to kill me if I tell you what you want to know?”

  “I think there’s a great deal you’re not telling me, but unfortunately for you I’ve already read your mind. I know you’ve been implanted with a transponder chip, and even now your comrades in arms are aware of where you are and quite possibly listening to this whole conversation. No, you’re just stalling for time. So no, I can’t make that promise. You do realize that if I turn you into a vampire your associates will add you to their hit list? Is that how you want to spend the next three hundred years, running from them?”

  Andrej stood up again. Ivan’s bluff had failed, and he had only a precious few moments before Andrej killed him now.

  “I almost think I should convert you, though. That would be worse to you than dying, wouldn’t it? But experience tells me you would be even more of a threat as a vampire.” He considered for a moment bringing him over, but killing him was a far simpler option. Twice before had he risked converting a human into a vampire and then he had felt responsible for helping them in the beginning, teaching them to feed on humans without killing them. Both of the converts were dead now, killed by these crusaders, these assassins. He saw no reason to put himself out like that again, especially for a crusader. The moment passed, and his vampire nature took hold. Ivan looked up at him, fear in his eyes, but not for long. Andrej hypnotized him, putting him deeply under. He couldn’t be bothered drinking his blood, the crusaders were known to ingest a cocktail of herbs that were supposed to protect them against evil, against vampires. It didn’t do much good except to make their blood unpalatable to most vampires, like wine that had turned to vinegar. He took hold of his head in both hands, intending to snap his neck, but at the last second hesitated. Even in his altered state he had no taste for murder. Then he thought about Anne-Marie, and the threat they posed to her. If it was just himself, he could have walked away, but Anne-Marie couldn’t protect herself the way he could. It was easy enough for him to evade these guys if he were on his own. He gave a sharp twist, snapping the man’s neck. The body slumped to the floor, and Andrej stepped back, hands up in the air as if trying to distance himself from the act. Even now, he wished there had been another way. He grabbed his communer out of his pocket, putting in the code to connect to Neko’s hi
red gun.

  “It’s done,” he said.

  Within seconds a car pulled up in front. Andrej and the other man placed the body inside a box and carried it out to the waiting vehicle.

  “Now what?” the man asked.

  “Ďáblická Cemetery. What about the other one?”

  “Car accident, ran off the road into the river,” the man answered gruffly.

  Andrej lit a cigarette as they drove off. These guys were efficient. He wondered how much Neko had told them. Then he remembered what Ivan had called him: demon. He’d never thought of himself as a demon, but then what was a demon? Demons, monsters—just something else trying to maintain their foothold in the food chain.

  Neko’s man left quickly after dropping him at the cemetery with the body. He buried Ivan alone, then stood for awhile over the grave, feeling like he should say a prayer or do something for the man. But it had been too long since he’d prayed, and he couldn’t remember any appropriate words so he simply stood quietly, hoping Ivan was at peace. He looked around at the rows of headstones. He was spending far too much time in cemeteries, he thought.

  After what felt like a decent interval, he headed out to cruise the clubs and find a blood donor or two to regain his strength. He had removed the most immediate threats to himself and Anne-Marie, but he was still disturbed that they knew so much about him. The Shine pushers in New York had found out as well; there had to be a connection.

  Andrej put all this out of his mind for the next few hours. His need for sustenance overrode his bent for analysis and planning. He found himself again at the basement club where he had met Elizabet. He hadn’t been in there for nearly two months but something told him it was time again. Almost as if they had planned a rendezvous, Elizabet was there. Andrej smiled and inclined his head toward her, but didn’t approach her. He headed straight for the bar and ordered a glass of bourbon. As he lit a cigarette, he sensed her walk up behind him and stifled a grin. She was becoming much bolder than she had been the first time they met.

  “Andrej,” she said, “I was hoping I’d see you again.”

  He turned around and smiled at her. “Hello, Elizabet, how have you been?”

  “I’m well, thanks. I hope I’m not bothering you.”

  “Of course not. Can I get you a drink?” he said pleasantly and took a sip of bourbon while flagging down the bartender. He could sense her attraction to him, and once again he found himself unaccountably pleased by this. He knew eventually he’d have to do something to discourage her, but for now it was enjoyable to let her flirt a bit before he would escort her out of the club to drink her blood.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I haven’t seen you for awhile, were you out of town?”

  He shook his head. “No, just busy. Had some business matters to take care of, not much time to be out at the clubs.”

  “Oh, I thought maybe you’d gone back to the States. Isn’t that where you said you were before coming back to Prague?”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  “What kind of business are you in?” she asked.

  He tipped his head side-to-side as if considering how to answer. “I guess you could say I’m an investor.”

  “I’ll bet you’re very good at it,” she said.

  He decided to let her imagination fill in the blanks. “So tell me what you do,” he said, changing the focus of the conversation.

  “Oh, well, nothing exciting, but it pays the bills. I’m working at a hospital, going to school to become a nurse.”

  “That’s a tough job,” he said. “So is it true what they say about full moons? More accidents and weird stuff?”

  She laughed a little. “I don’t know, I’m not in the ER. You do hear things, though, from some of the other staff.”

  “Yeah? Like what?”

  “Oh, just crazy stuff, I think they make it up sometimes. Like people coming in needing blood transfusions for no apparent reason.” She shrugged but looked at him a little more sharply than he had seen her do before. He made a mock scary face and said, “What? Vampires now?”

  She laughed. “Who knows?”

  He laughed with her while making a mental note to ask Neko when he got back which hospital he had taken the girl to a few weeks ago. This couldn’t possibly be a coincidence; he didn’t believe in coincidences. People mysteriously needing transfusions had to be connected to either the incident with the woman in the bookstore, or the girl Neko had fed on before going to Greece with Anne-Marie, both, or something else he wasn’t yet aware of. In the meantime he decided to keep chatting and see if she would say anything more about it. They found a booth and got another round of drinks. When the club closed Andrej walked her outside.

  By the time they had a cab she was convinced she needed to go home with him. Andrej thought it best if she was already half under his control, and unable to recall exactly where he lived, at least for now. He detected no nervousness as he might have if she were trying to hide anything from him, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious, especially now with all the unusual events of the last few days.

  When they reached his apartment, he made a quick sweep to make sure everything was in order, and set up. Anne-Marie had been as efficient as ever before leaving: fresh flowers, clean linens, extra towels. Even in her agitated state of mind she had still been meticulous in seeing to it that he was taken care of while she was gone. For a moment he experienced an unfamiliar twinge thinking of her. He was glad she was not here to see Elizabet, but he quickly brushed the thought aside. He led Elizabet to his special guest room, and pulled her to him. He looked in her eyes, putting her further under his control, stroking her hair, kissing her face tenderly. Even as entranced as she was, she responded to his touches, throwing her arms around his neck. He lifted her up and carried her to the bed, setting her gently down before removing his shirt. She kept her eyes on him although he knew she wasn’t seeing him. He took his time with her, slowly running his hands over her, lifting her hands to his lips, stroking her arms. She was beautiful, but so young. He wondered if she was even twenty years old yet. She was far too trusting, the complete opposite of Anne-Marie when he’d first met her. She’d been suspicious and wary, but full of questions, some of which he could not bring himself to answer, things too personal to discuss back then. He reached out with his mind, searching for her thoughts, wondering if she was in turmoil again, trying to reach him. Nothing. It was likely she was asleep. He would call her in the morning and see how she had managed with Neko. For now he returned his attention to Elizabet, enjoying her willing pliant body. He lay on top of her, the warmth of her skin and the beat of her heart carrying his mind back in time yet again to another lost love. That was it, she reminded him of Sara when he had first met her. He bit into her neck then, and took as much as he dared, eager to get this over with. When he was done and the wound was healed, he got up abruptly. Elizabet would sleep for several hours. He left the room to get a cigarette and a glass of whisky then wandered out on the balcony, shirtless in the cold night air. He sat down, smoking his cigarette and drinking, watching the sky start to lighten as dawn approached. He hadn’t felt this empty in a very long time. The strength he gained from Elizabet’s blood filled one hunger, but not another. He would have to put on a good show for her in the morning. He could play the perfect host and make her breakfast, then send her home.

  He let her sleep in, then woke her at nine o’clock after planting false memories of the night. She opened her eyes and smiled at him, seeing him lying next to her in the bed, propped up on his elbow.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  “Good morning,” he said, smiling back, stroking her cheek. “Hungry? I’m a pretty good cook.”

  “Oh no, what time is it?” she asked, looking a little startled as she came more awake.

  “Nine. Do you have to be somewhere?”

  “Yes, I told my grandmother I’d take her out today. I’m supposed to pick her up at noon.”

  “How sweet of you,” he said.
“Do you want to grab a shower before you go?” he offered.

  “Yes, thanks, that’d be great.”

  He showed her the bathroom and headed for the kitchen to get some coffee. As he was standing in the kitchen having a cigarette, pouring a cup of coffee he realized he hadn’t heard the water turn on for the shower yet. He took his mug of coffee into the living room, and walked back toward the bedroom. Instead of running water, he heard Elizabet’s voice. It sounded like she was talking to someone on her communer. He stood outside the door for a moment listening. She was quiet, listening to the person on the other end, then said, “All right, all right, see you at one o’clock.” She set the communer down and went in to the shower.

  When she emerged, dressed and ready to leave, Andrej walked her down to the street and got her a cab, remembering the last time when she hadn’t wanted to admit she couldn’t afford a cab home.

  “I hope I’ll see you again,” she said.

  “I’d like that, too,” he said with a wink. Yes, he’d no doubt see her again, but not for a few weeks. He gave her a kiss goodbye and handed her into the cab. Something was nagging him, though. She was guarding something in her mind; he couldn’t quite ferret out whatever it was. Perhaps like Anne-Marie it was some trauma that her psyche had buried deep, or something she was deliberately hiding. That meant something else to dig into later.

  At some point he would have to call Anne-Marie to see how she was doing after her night with Neko. He had put her in a difficult position by asking her to do something for Neko he had never asked her to do for himself. It was a turn of events he hadn’t foreseen, and he suspected it would forever alter the relationships between the three of them.

  With Anne-Marie and Neko due back that night, Andrej took the afternoon to make preparations. What he had neglected to say to Anne-Marie when he called to check on her was that he thought she might be right about Neko having some other agenda. Whether it was simply to try to lure Anne-Marie away from him to have her as his own assistant or something more he would have to find out from Neko when they returned.

  Chapter 22