by Lumi Laura
*
That night, Alex dreamed of a road with an unending stream of vampires coming up from behind and trailing off into the distance. This had been the source of her troubled dreams, and now it was more vivid and heavily populated. It had always seemed small and too dark to make out. The travelers now were still engulfed in darkness but with just a hint, a halo of light surrounding them that dimly illuminated the way forward. Alex was amongst them but near the end of the line, and she didn't know why she was there or where they were going. It was a simple dream, but seemed important, even profound, and apparently continued all the time she slept. Alex had seen someone up ahead of her walking laboriously forward. The young woman said only, "I don't belong here."
The next morning, Alex jolted awake. She thought she was human again and back in her home with Jaklin and Mikhail and that a vampire was loose in the house. Gradually, she realized that she was in the cavern, the Cathedral, and that she was the vampire. She raised up and saw dim candlelight flickering and casting shadows on the stone formations. Cosmina was already milling about.
"Why do they keep it so dark?" Alex asked. She heard voices, and their echoes coupled with the shifting shadows to bring visions of the lives of ancient occupants.
"Vampires are overly sensitive to light. Darkness promotes dreaming, the mainstay of our psychic life. Each morning, the light of a single candle wakes everyone at the same time."
"What do vampires dream?" asked Alex. "I had a strange night. Saw a long train of vampires."
"Ah," Cosmina said. "You've dreamed it, then."
"Dreamed what?"
"Millennium Road."
"Is that what it's called?"
"All have the Millennium Dream. Takes a while for some."
"I've been plagued by it for months. What does it mean?"
"That you are truly a vampire, something I've questioned with your flesh so warm, and being pregnant. It represents the history and direction of the race of vampires. Talk to those traveling with you."
"I tried, but they just said 'This is the journey.'"
"Yes. They would. You haven't been initiated. And here's what's interesting." Cosmina was really excited. "To go forward on the Road, is to go backward in time. Those are the vampires who came first. Going backward on the Road is to go forward in time because they are the ones who've more recently joined the race of vampires."
"I was close to the end of the train but not the very end. I did meet one woman up ahead who said she didn't belong."
"That's strange. I've never heard of that."
Alex didn't quite know what to think. "It's a psychic connection between all vampires?"
"And ancient memories, amazingly. The older the memories, the more they are a part of the collective. The meaning of it all? A really good question."
"Why would we have that ability?"
"I believe it's because we are dead. It's possible that humans have this ability once they die. We experience it because we bridge both vampire worlds, the here and the Hereafter."
"Are they the Undead, those still here on Earth? Or are they also the dead Undead?"
"Both. You're there, but you're also here. When, or if, you die, your body decays and turns to dust, but your soul remains on Millennium Road, heading into eternity."
"It's the vampire Afterlife?"
"Of sorts. The human mind dreams all the time, but when awake, reality drowns out that part of the psyche. Vampires are much closer to and more aware of these activities of the soul, which are in large part disconnected from conscious daily life in the real world. The fact that you've had the Millennium Dream means you'll have to be initiated."
"I'm not interested. I just came here for security."
"It's not up to you." She gave Alex a quick smile. "It's in your best interest."
"Perhaps we shouldn't tell Alu."
Cosmina laughed. "He already knows." She walked away.
