by Lumi Laura
*
They had to wait until the hours before dawn, and the downtime gave Alex a chance to worry. She was not as concerned about Mikhail's safety as she was Jaklin's. Even she herself had not actually been tested in combat, but Jaklin was such a diminutive female, a girl's girl, that Alex couldn't envision her in a battle.
Alex expressed this concern to Jaklin when they had some time alone together waiting for the hour they'd leave by car for the mountain entrance discovered by Catherine.
Jaklin smiled, took Alex by the hand as if she were a child and sat her down on the sofa. She kneeled before Alex and looked up with her deep dark eyes glistening. "I've not told you of my initiation," she said. "While in the bioluminescent pool in the Pleasure Dome, a group of women came for me, some of the oldest of the dead Undead among those on the Road. They were from my own Bulgaria but back in a time when it was populated by a band of ancient Amazons straight out of Greek mythology. Chief among them was Penthesilea, the famous warrior woman killed by none other than Achilles himself during the Trojan War. They led me into a cathedral off to the left of Millennium Road and taught me the ways of warrior women. I wasn't there for just a few minutes or hours. I spent what seemed a lifetime with them acquiring slayage skills. I listened, learned, and practiced hand-to-hand combat, the art of killing. I'll not be useless in battle, nor will I be afraid."
After talking to Jaklin, Alex went to Mikhail and expressed her concern. "I'm afraid for her. She thinks she's invincible," she said.
"And she's obsessed with killing," said Mikhail. "But I also worry about you. I've seen how strong and fast you are, but this propensity toward violence disturbs me. It seems to have a place in our world, and now that I'm a vampire, I sense it more clearly. When I was initiated, I didn't go off to the left of Millennium Road as did you and Jaklin. I went to the right, and although I didn't as yet see the glow in the distance of which you spoke and of which I came to see later, I walked for an eternity in the wilderness. Then two men came toward me out of the desert. Upon seeing me, they finished their conversation, or terminated it possibly, and one man walked away. The other man said, 'So you've finally come to me.' We sat there on the ground in the desert facing one another with our legs crossed, and I told him my troubles. I said that I was afraid I'd lost my soul. He told me that I hadn't because I was there with him. Still I said, 'I am in trouble.' He said, 'I can see that you are. And it's good that you've come to me.'
"I don't know who he was," said Mikhail, "but we talked a long time. Most of it I don't remember. What I got from him was a feeling of great calm and peace. Plus a lingering hope that all is not lost. I'm in for trouble, no doubt. But we must maintain our humanity. I'm glad I've chosen the path of a vampire, at least this kind of vampire, whatever that is, but I don't want to get lost in a world without morality."
"Nor do I," said Alex. "I'm glad you've told me of this meeting. I've also been worried about vampirism. If you realized what happened to me when I was initiated, you'd be horrified."
"Why can't you tell me?" asked Mikhail. "Perhaps it would help."
"Maybe later. Right now, I just can't. But I can tell how much I need you. I'm beginning to believe that the three of us can succeed where one, or even two of us alone, would fail. I'm not sure about this struggle we've taken on, other than it's one of tremendous importance, not only for our own souls, but also for humanity for all time to come."
"I want to be part of this, but I'm not sure how much good I'll be. It goes against everything I believe in."
"Then I'll have to trust you'll find your own way forward," said Alex. "We must have faith in each other, and yes, watch out for Jaklin. At times she still has the helpless-little-girl quality that I love so much, but I worry that she could be killed trying to be something she's not."
Alex could tell that their initiations had told them who they were, which made her more confused than ever about her own initiation, so abusive and humiliating.
They both turned quiet as Jaklin joined them.
"What's up, guys?" she asked. "Keeping secrets?"
"As a matter of fact, I have something to tell both of you," said Alex. "You must promise to keep it to yourself and mention it to no one. Not even Silent Scythe."
"And Cosmina, Mary?" asked Jaklin.
"No one."
"This must be serious," said Mikhail.
"I've had a revealing and yet disturbing experience in vampire psychic space."
"You mean Millennium Road?" asked Jaklin.
"Well... beyond Millennium Road. During your initiations, Cosmina and I went off on our own and traveled to the very front of Millennium Road. It ended before a lake called Acheron."
"Freud's psychological underworld," offered Mikhail.
"Trust me," said Alex. "Freud never visited these shores. Here's the thing. Cosmina and I crossed Acheron and met with Cheiron, the Centaur who created the mess we're all in. This vampirism."
"Not a problem here," said Jaklin with a smirk.
"Yes, well, we'll see about that. We expected to find Alu there, but he'd gone on beyond where Cheiron now lives in a cave, and I tried to track him down while Cosmina stayed with the Centaur. I found a way through the cliffs to a forest and a meadow beyond."
"Does this have anything to do with the battle we're about to face?" asked Jaklin with growing impatience.
Alex gave her a stern look and then continued. "On my way through the cliffs, I saw Alu returning. He didn't see me, but I saw that he carried a box containing something he obtained in that meadow, I assume."
Jaklin came awake at mention of the box, and Mikhail looked puzzled. "What was in the meadow? Do you think the box has something to do with the feral vampires?"
"Exactly," said Alex, glad to see they were getting the message. "What's happening in psychic space is just as important, perhaps more important than what's happening here in the real world. Inside the meadow, I saw another gazebo, one that greatly resembled the one at the Estate, at least the one before it was torn down."
"Do you believe there's a connection?" asked Jaklin.
"Has to be," said Alex. "Plus, and get this, Catalin and Velinar were inside the gazebo, arguing. About what, I couldn't tell. I didn't want them to know I saw them. It's just that they must have seen Alu. I'm wondering what they're up to."
"And here I was really impressed with Catalin," said Mikhail.
Alex took a deep breath. "Another disappointment. When I got back from the Garden, I saw Alu cross Acheron, and get this, Cosmina voluntarily went back with him." She shook her head. "I talked to her about it, but she just blew me off. Says it's nothing. Anyway, I'm not as trusting of her as I've been in the past. The only people I trust on Earth or in psychic space right now are you two."
"Tell us how to get to the front of Millennium Road. We'll help you," said Jaklin.
"Believe me, I appreciate the offer. But even I could only do it with Cosmina's help. Remember, she's been on Millennium Road a thousand years. Here's the other thing, and this is what I want you to know in case I do get into trouble. I saw a path on the other side of the meadow, one leading away from the gazebo and up the mountainside. I'm going back there and take that path."
"But you could encounter anything," said Mikhail. "No telling what would happen if you ran into real danger. Surely there must be a way we could join you."
"Again, it's not possible and even if it were, I wouldn't risk you two on such a mission."
"If it's that dangerous, you shouldn't be doing it either," said Jaklin. She looked dejected. "If we lose you, what good are any of us?"
Alex looked at her with sympathy. "I know. I couldn't go on without either of you. But I have to follow my intuition. It tells me that the answers we've been looking for may be at some place beyond Catalin and Velinar."
"We'll have to talk more of those two," said Jaklin.
Alex looked at her. "Catalin didn't like me turning you, but it was inevitable, perhaps even divinely planned. I see t
hat now. I'm beginning to wonder why Catalin said otherwise. I don't know where Catalin is coming from, but somehow it seems that a power far above him is pushing us forward without his knowledge. I just hope its coming from Heaven and... well, not some other place."
"I was always taught that the answers to life on Earth reside with those of the Divine World," said Mikhail. "I'm not so sure they understand us at all."
"Strange thing is, they don't have the answer to this vampire thing either. They've seen it all before when the first vampires were created and couldn't stop them. Stopping these ferals is the task we've been assigned. In that, I have no doubt. Somehow, in our world, divine beings are out of their depth."
"We'll just have to succeed where everyone in the history of the civilized world has failed," said Jaklin.
