Vampire Warfare

by Dominica Dark

  “Quiet?” Barbara said, one eyebrow raised.

  “Stony was the word that came to mind.” And Rosalie that was a good image for Brandon. Strong. Immovable. Silent.

  “Well, he’s a bit on the serious side,” Barbara admitted, taking the towel that Rosalie handed her as she stepped gingerly into the warm water. It felt soothing, and the water had a strange buoyancy to it. Rosalie watched her hand float easily on the surface.

  “Okay, I want you to lay back and relax,” Barbara said. “Don’t worry about slipping too far down, the water has Epsom salts to keep you afloat. It will be very dark in there when I close the lid, and you won’t hear any sounds, so just give yourself up to the nothingness. I’ll be able to join you as soon as you do.”

  Rosalie’s eyebrows knit, but before she could ask what Barbara meant by that, the lid was closed. She felt a twinge of alarm of the tomb-like enclosure but forced herself to relax. She succeeded so well that soon she began to feel drowsy, and she closed her eyes.

  Her mind focused on one problem. She had “channeled” her mind into physical force, but she didn’t know how she did it. She wanted to know what that meant. Rosalie obviously had an ability that was not of the run-of-the mill, ho-hum variety, but Meg had been worried. She had sensed that much, but not why. She idly noted that Brandon had no outward reaction outside that momentary surprise as the stick had spun out of his grasp, but that didn’t mean anything, really. She wondered if Brandon would ever look at her with some of the warmth he had shown with Meg , and then wondered why it should matter.

  Her mind was drifting along what seemed a slowly flowing river of thoughts, picking first one up for inspection and then laying it back down to pick up another one. She was unaware of her body as she drifted until she found herself thinking of nothing at all. It was strangely soothing, like sinking into an incredibly soft white cloud.

  “There you are.”

  The voice was soft, but it nonetheless tinged her surroundings with the palest of pink. The pink solidified into a vague woman-shape. Rosalie blinked slowly, but continued to drift.

  “Where are we?” she asked.

  “We’re just a leetle bit on another plane,” Barbaraie explained. “We’re usually in the physical plane, where we experience things in four dimensions: height, width, depth and time, which goes in one direction. On this plane, there is no dimension. It exists as an energy field that surrounds each and every one of us and it is interconnected. But it is unperceived by all except for a very few. Right now you’ve drifted into your energy field, and I’m a visitor.”

  A map-like projection unfolded in the white, where there were squiggles of road and intersections. “Think of each person as a house on this map, and each house pulses on a different frequency. Each house is connected to a path, a road, or a street, and each is connected to each other. On this plane, you are able to visit any house you want if you know what path to take or if you can pick up the frequency. Some people will resonate louder than others, so you find them more easily.” Several points in the map glowed. “They could be someone you know very well, someone you are connected to in some way, or it could be someone which just puts out a strong pulse.”

  “Seekers have developed a way to jump at will into this plane, just like you step out of your house, into a car, and drive to another person’s house. Physical contact or proximity makes a short-cut, but you can potentially connect with anyone any where. Right now, I’m just outside the chamber, and yours is the first consciousness I found. Some people call this astral projection, but it’s really not.” Another image replaced the map. It was a computer screen. “Maybe this will work better for you. Think of the Internet, where each and every site has a specific IP address. If you do the right things, you can access the code of each site, so you know what’s going on behind the front-end. That’s where the mind-reading comes in.”

  “So Seekers are like computer hackers?” Rosalie asked, smiling. Barbara nodded, smiling back.

  “Exactly! Most Seekers just know enough to read the code. Some can change the code, others implant a virus to mess up the works. Talented Seekers have a lot of power that way.”

  “So your first task is to practice going in and out of the energy plane until it becomes as easy as walking from room to room. When you feel you can do that, get out of there and we’ll try it “on the fly” so to speak.” Barbara started fading out until Rosalie was once again all alone.

  She concentrated on getting back down to the physical plane, which was easier than she anticipated. The soft cloud around her whirled until it disappeared, and she was back again in the featureless, watery womb of the deprivation chamber.

  But getting back up was more difficult.

  At first she tried to empty her mind, but found that the harder she tried, the more thoughts crowded in. So she started picking up each thought as it came along, examining it briefly, then setting it down. Soon she was floating again on the cloud of her own energy field.

  She tried this several times, refining her re-entry by picking from the flotsam and jetsam of her thoughts so that she needed to focus on fewer of them before achieving the rise. Rosalie managed to finally get to the energy place by simply picturing it in her mind.

  She returned to the womb one final time. She pushed on the lid to raise it up and she blinked several times to adjust to the admittedly dim light that filtered through. She sat up, her hair streaming water down her back, and she shivered slightly at the cooler temperature. Barbara was right outside, holding up the towel to receive her. Feeling a little embarrassed, Rosalie nevertheless accepted the help and hugged the towel around her pimpling flesh.

  “How do you feel?” Barbara asked, taking another towel and briskly rubbing Rosalie down.

  “A bit tired,” Rosalie admitted.

  “Well, it becomes easier when you’ve been doing it a while,” Barbara assured her. “Get dressed and rest a bit before lunch. We can move on to the next task after you’ve recharged.”

  Rosalie nodded and made her way to the changing cubicle, reflecting that she doesn’t remember looking forward to a meal in a long time. Seeker training takes a lot out of you, she concluded with a wry smile.

  Chapter Fifteen – Connections

  Rosalie and Barbara met back at the conference room where they first met, and Barbara directed her to sit at the chair opposite her on the long table.

  “I want you to go into the energy plane now,” Barbara told her.

  Rosalie closed her eyes, and tried to. She could hear faint sounds; birds singing, leaves rustling, people talking, Barbara’s wristwatch ticking. She did her best to blot them out, but it kept her firmly rooted to the physical plane. With a frustrated sound, she opened her eyes to find Barbara watching her with a sympathetic smile.

  “Don’t worry, everybody has a hard time at first. Don’t try to block the distractions, just incorporate them into your thoughts.”

  Rosalie closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. She listened to the extraneous sounds, examining them as she had the thoughts in the chamber, and gradually they faded into the background. Behind her closed lids, her eyes flickered as her consciousness slid into the whiteness of the energy plane. Barbara was waiting for her.

  “Very good,” Barbara said. “Now, go back down and try again with your eyes open.”

  The training went on until Rosalie could slip into that other plane as quick as thought, even while carrying on a conversation with Barbara. It was strange talking casually with her on one plane, and getting congratulated on another.

  “Okay,” Barbara said. “So far we’ve kept to simply getting into your own energy plane. Now try getting into mine.”

  Rosalie touched hands with Barbara and felt the same tingle she felt when they first met. But instead of passively waiting to receive anything, she went forward and moved through what seemed a gauze curtain. The tingle became more intense, and Rosalie‘s senses where subjected to a confused flurry of images and snatches of convers
ation that overloaded her circuits. She jerked back and the contact was broken.

  Barbara was laughing. “Was it bad?”

  Rosalie shook her head, laughing a little as well. “I was just surprised. It was like walking into a room with flashing lights, full of people all taking at the same time and the music turned up to full volume. “

  “Most people’s minds are like that when it’s wide open. People filter out the extraneous and select only the relevant. That’s what is commonly called thinking, which doesn’t happen very often,” Barbara said with a solemn face but her eyes were twinkling. “With a little training, you can reduce chaos into order even in the most disorganized mind. At the very least you will be able to identify what you need.”

  “Each Seeker does this differently. I like to think of hampers, and I dump everything I don’t need in there. You try it,” Barbara took Rosalie’s hands again.

  Rosalie closed her eyes and found herself in chaos again. For a moment, she looked around helplessly, not sure what she wanted. Then she thought she caught a glimpse of something. She conjured up an image of a computer recycle bin and started dumping. Soon there was nothing left except a framed picture of Barbara laughing up at a handsome man.

  Rosalie felt the hands in hers tighten for a moment, and she slowly opened her eyes. Barbara was looking at her, a solitary tear running down her cheek.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve thought of him,” she said softly. “But I guess he’s always been there.”

  Rosalie felt awful. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—“Barbara dashed the tear away, and turned slightly. Then she gave a shaky laugh.

  “It’s okay. At least I kept him from the public eye.” Her marriage was before she became famous, and very little was known about the man who mysteriously disappeared during a business trip. There was not much coverage on the news as Patrick was a small-time businessman, but among the vampires the rumor was that he had been taken out because Barbara was becoming too vocal in her insistence that Seekers and Soldiers, both trained and potential, be identified and registered. After his disappearance, Barbara had thrown herself into her stage career and gained fame. She had also taken an active part in the Seeker training program to track down those responsible for her husband’s disappearance and most likely, death.

  “Okay,” she said, briskly rubbing her hands together. “Physical contact boosts the signal more than anything. Now try to find out something else about me without touching.”

  Rosalie closed her eyes and after a little wandering found Barbara’s mind. Again she waded through a jumble of thoughts before lighting on something. “You have a sister, her name is Paula,” she recited, still with her eyes closed. “She’s a teacher and --married a non-vampire. She has no children.” Her eyes opened, knowing something else she hadn’t known before. “We can’t have children with non-vampires?”

  Barbara nodded. “I’m not sure why, but I guess it’s a biology thing. Try it without closing your eyes. If there’s no physical contact, you’ll find it’s easier to get a clue when you’re looking at your target.”

  She found it progressively easier to get into Barbara’s head, even when she attempted to block her access. After several scenarios, Barbara sat down. “Not bad, you’ve got a powerful mind in there. Now let’s try something else. Try to find Brandon and tell me what he’s thinking.”

  Rosalie looked doubtful. “He’s pretty well blocked.”

  “Yes, most Soldiers are. Try anyway,” Barbara said, smiling encouragingly.

  Rosalie closed her eyes and let her mind go to the higher plane. Barbara was a familiar pink glow, but when she went further, she found that there was a tangle of energies that pulsed all around her. It was like being plunged into a jungle where trees loomed and no path was clear. She got lost quickly, and without knowing she was going to do it, she jumped up to another level. From here, she found herself looking down on the house and the grounds, as if from an aerial view. She was surprised, but was quick to take advantage. She scanned through the people milling around and in a very short time spotted Brandon engaged in sparring with some of the other Soldiers. Gleefully, she swooped down and found to her horror that she couldn’t, wouldn’t be able to stop.

  “Whoa!” she screamed just before their minds collided. The mind contact was explosive. Brandon reeled and fell on his backside with a thump. Rosalie, back in the conference room, also staggered from the impact. Barbara was by her side in an instant.

  “What happened?” she asked, concern in her face.

  “I think I brained Brandon,” Rosalie said, rubbing her head, laughing a little as she remembered the look on Brandon’s face as she pulled back. She threw the image to Barbara, who also laughed.

  “That was funny. Come on, let’s see how he is,” Barbara said, pulling Rosalie up. They went in search of Brandon.

  ***

  Rowina Cole replaced the receiver with finality, a crease between her fine brows. It was going to be tricky, but if her father was right, there was only one way to untie this Gordian knot.

  They would have to make a clean cut.

  ***

  The woman had been closeted in the meditation room that whole afternoon, trying to find that blue-white flash that had raised danger signals in her brain. She needed to know who had that most dangerous of talents; it was important to nip that particular potential in the bud. That the source was untrained she knew; there was no control in that flash.

  She had to know who that source was, and before any training could refine that terrible, wonderful talent.

  And be eliminated.

  Chapter Sixteen - Coming to Grips

  Rosalie’s training progressed at a rapid rate, and before a week had passed she was running the gamut of mind reading, telepathy and suggestion. She had the toughest time with Soldiers, but they weren’t impregnable. It just took longer than with ordinary people. Her own thought shield she kept in place, fortifying it as she learned to control her abilities more. Barbara had more than once complained that she was antisocial. Rosalie had merely laughed, teasing her about pry Pauls.

  Justin and Ned arrived at the house just as Rosalie was working on improving her stick fighting techniques. Justin strolled over to the second floor balcony to watch the exercises. She wasn’t ever going to beat Brandon on even terms, but she was getting pretty good as well. Her youth and resilience worked for her, and just for some relief, she would sometimes sneak in a channel strike or two.

  She had found it easy to do, and she was amazed to find out that very few people could do it. Meg cautioned her about using it too often, but wouldn’t say why. She tried to be good, but the surge of energy was an exhilarating feeling. Of course, she ate like a pig after; it took out a lot.

  Justin watched as Ned continued on to the house. Rosalie was behaving herself this time with regards to channeling, but she was trying to anticipate Brandon’s next move by reading his mind. It was no go, and in no time at all she was disarmed.

  “Darn it, Brandon!” she said, picking up her stick. “You don’t ever give a girl a break, do you?” Rosalie palliated the rebuke by smiling, and that was when she became aware of Justin. She turned her head and immediately tried to read his thoughts.

  You’ve gotten good, Justin thought.

  You betcha, Rosalie said.

  You sound different,

  ?

  Freer.

  Rosalie withdrew from his mind, thoughtful. Yes, she had become much more relaxed here at the house, and she no longer went to bed with a faint feeling of what’s it all about, Alfie? She smiled at the thought, and surprised an inscrutable look on Brandon’s face. Before she could try to find out what it was, Barbara was calling everybody in.

  They gathered in the conference room. Ned and Meg were conferring by the large window at the opposite end of the room, and Meg was looking worried.

  When everyone was settled in, Meg turned to them.

  “We have some news from the council that Ned wou
ld like us all to hear,” she said, before making way for Ned.

  Ned looked as stolid as ever, but Rosalie could see a faint tic in his left eye. She scanned his thoughts, but there was something....missing. She could see what he was going to say, but aside from that his thoughts had a feeling of unreality. Rosalie frowned at this; Ned was a capable organizer, but he did not have the mental abilities of his sons. The fact that she could only go so far in his mind bothered her more than what he was about to say.

  “Rowina Cole has been in touch, and has issued some instructions. Some of you probably know what they are, but for the benefit of the non-Seekers, I’ll verbalize it,” he said, a wry twist to his mouth, and there was some dutiful laughter. “As most of you know, the council is due to meet at an undisclosed location tomorrow night. While all precautions have been put in place, the situation is particularly delicate because we have reason to believe that the rogue Seekers plan to strike at that time. Without Gerard Cole, it has become much more difficult.”

  “But that is not our concern right now. Rowina Cole has just informed me that we have reliable information about the identity and location of the head of the rogue Seekers, and that our instructions are to track and eliminate. Tonight.”

  Amid the sudden babble of conversation, Rosalie was aware that Justin had taken a spot next to her, and caught his murmured, “So the shit hits the fan.”

  She glanced up at him, and was again aware of the aura. But with her better understanding, she now identified it as an essence much like pheromones that she responded to, but may not be discernable to others. It identified him to her, and she wasn’t sure if this meant anything.

  Ned was still talking, raising his voice slightly to be heard above the babble. “We will be deploying all the Seekers and Soldiers here, and we’ll rendezvous with the others before we strike. So get whatever rest you can, and be ready to move out at 2200 hours.” Ned nodded his head, motioning to Brandon and Barbara to stay behind. Over her shoulder, Rosalie saw Ned spreading a map on the table, and then the door closed.