“There was another man bidding for her as well, though. He was a short, dark-skined man who was the money runner for his boss. He had told me that his master required every woman slave to be purchased. I thought that I knew the purpose for these slaves and in my haste to win her I stabbed the man and locked him in one of the caged wagons her had arrived with. He would survive to tell his master of my deed, but not before I reached the highest bid on Cerene.”
The story was one in which I felt the disgust for the past build in my throat like bile. I was stunned that this ‘holy’ man would purchase slaves and stab men with whom he had a quarrel. “I thought the Bible condoned slavery,” I said.
“Another contradiction based on translations,” Cerene interjected.
“Yes, well long story short, that man worked for Pietro and he was furious over what had transpired. He swore to make things even with me and when he came to face me in person he realized who I was, or more specifically he recognized the blade that had been used to slit Lilith’s throat and to send her into hell. Unfortunately, I misjudged his ability to seek vengeance and when I returned to my home I found the bed that I had provided for Cerene to be empty.”
The cooler night air, accompanied by a breeze brought me back to a reasonable mindset. The thirst was always there, as it always would be, but this was the first time that I had been so drawn to human blood since waking in the Lucedale cemetery. “I’m sorry, I said again, this time not having to say it over the throbbing beats of modern music.
Maggie paced along the cement sidewalk and pushed her hands deeper into her pockets. “Don’t be,” she said as she huffed slightly, clearly agitated. “That was a close one for both of us.”
“You felt it too?” I asked.
She pulled her hands out of her pockets and crossed her arms, looking at me with a tight jaw. “Absolutely. This is why I don’t go around the club scene. These kinds of things have been sprouting up all over the place for years. I just haven’t been that close to it in a long time. The blood still draws me in, it’s part of the curse, I’ve just put too many years of work at fighting it to let it take control of me again.”
Again? I had assumed that she had been consuming only animal blood her entire vampire life. I guess I had assumed wrong.
“What do you want to do now?”
“We can’t go back in there,” she said with a nod. “I imagine the other places are going to have similar things going on, I think it’s best we stay clear of them, at least for now. We can find another way to track this guy down.”
Longinus, I didn’t think, would be susceptible to easy tracking, not if he had been a soldier and had spent over two thousand years walking the earth. “All right,” I said, who was I to argue?
“Let’s walk down this way, further away from these clubs,” she said as the phone in her pocket came to life. The buzzing was different than I remembered cellular phones being, but was just as annoying. She answered on the third ring. “Robert?”
I could hear the muffled voice of her son on the other end of the line. She nodded her head several times but never said a word. It sounded like he was dominating their brief conversation, but even with my enhanced hearing, I could not catch everything that was said.
“Thanks, we’ll check it out. I’ll let you know something soon,” she said as she closed the phone and put it back in her pocket. Either flip phones were back in style, or she was really old school, I thought. “Robert said that Longinus was spotted by cameras at the same place, but he has an image that makes it look like he turned left on Oak Street street which narrows down several possible locations. He said that there are seven abandoned buildings that run along that road within a could mile stretch. He suggests we go there, considering the fact we are assuming that his girlfriend is one of us.”
I nodded and turned towards the Oak intersection. The short walk could reveal something, or it could reveal nothing, but I was hopeful that it would be something positive. It seemed that finally, this journey might bring me face to face with the man from my vision, a man instrumental in my past. I only hoped that it would not result in another death, even if it would be the second time around.
Chapter 38
“How did that make you lovers?” I asked. “It all seemed to happen rather quickly.”
“There was a few year’s time between the time I freed her and when they finally tracked us down,” Longinus said as his knuckles grew whiter from his clenched fists. “Pietro is a monster, he did not turn her right away like most vampires do. At least the ones who recognize humanity and remember how to love, those are the ones who create companions from their cruelty. No, Pietro must make them suffer, starve them and drug them with his venom until he strips all of their humanity away from them. He revels in destroying each individual piece of what made them who they are. I am truly thankful that I found her when I did,” he said as he brought his hand up to hers. The pale white of her hands fell into the tanned calloused hands of this soldier. I could see that time never eroded their love for one another.
“How is that?” I asked.
“Because when I found her, she still remembered me.”
“Then how did she change?”
Cerene stood up straight and stepped over to me, craning her neck over and exposing the faded teeth marks on her neck. “The blood transfer was done minutes before Longinus found us,” she said. “Pietro ran away like a coward and I changed in Longinus’ arms as he cried out to God for mercy. The only mercy that was provided that night was that I did not drain him of his blood when I woke from the ordeal. I felt every twinge of pain and regret as if my senses were heightened, the ability to feel every bit of it was torture enough I thought. But I was wrong.”
The streets lights along Oak Street were mostly out and cast dark shadows along the homes that resided there. The first two locations had been a bust, but I felt more hopeful as we approached the third abandoned building. It was what I would guess was once a law firm. It looked like a house but had the telltale signs of business rather than a residence. The other clue was the dim lighting that peeked from a slip in a curtain. Most abandoned buildings would not be lit from the inside.
Bingo.
We stepped in unison across the grassy knoll in front of the building and stepped lightly onto the concrete sidewalk that ran the length of it. The bushes in the flowerbed were overgrown and unkempt as were the weeds that had sprouted forth and grew so long that they were laid over each other like a blanket. Maggie peered into the window to see what she could find.
“There’s definitely a light on in there, but I don’t hear any movement,” she said as she looked back at me, pulling a tuft of hair behind her ear. She stood up and began to move around the building to find another window to gain a better perspective of the situation.
“If they are like us, then wouldn’t that account for the silence?” I asked.
“Robert doesn’t seem to think that the man is like us, remember?”
He did mention the fact that the man we believe to be Longinus did not have the preternatural eyes that he noticed with the woman. I felt that it was odd for a human and vampire to be companions in such a way, but then I thought about Maggie and Robert. They were family, but it wasn’t natural for the predator and prey to be in such close quarters. “So, you think they are together?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” she said as she peered into a side window, the glass of it broken in one corner and revealed a cinnamon smell that probably emitted from a candle burning somewhere in the room. I could smell it from ten feet away and outside, I could also detect a musty smell like old papers or books that had been ill preserved in a damp area. It was a rather strong smell which probably reasoned why the candle was burning, to cover it up a bit.
“Are you getting anything?” I asked as she craned her body around trying to see through the window from all angles.
“No, but they will be back. I can see evidence of people living here. A couch with a hideaway bed u
nfolded in the back of the room. A table with takeout food boxes on it next to a burning candle. There’s even a television playing on mute that I can see the flash from just out of view. Whoever is living here could return at any time.”
“Should we stake the place out, you think?”
She turned and looked around the area. There weren’t many advantageous vantage points unless you wanted to climb a tree or break into someone's car. “No, I have a better idea.”
“Which is?”
“Let’s regroup with Robert and drive around the other locations before we come back here. He might have more information to help us narrow it down. Besides, the people we are looking for may be using multiple hideouts.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Sounds like you’re well versed in this investigative kind of thing.”
“Let’s just say, Robert and I have some experience in tracking people down. We’ll leave it at that.”
She turned to head back to the main street and meet up with Robert at the cafe across from club that had been so full of bloody temptation. I swallowed hard, trying to bury that craving as deep as I could before having to face it again. I stepped alongside Maggie as we traveled the mile or so back, in silence, in darkness. But I could not help wondering what kind of tracking Robert and Maggie had been so involved in, and I also wondered if that is what caused the rift between them now.
Chapter 39
“Centuries past after my change before I found him again,” she continued.
“Pietro?” I asked.
“No, I mean Longinus,” she replied with the pain of grief that never really healed lingering in her eyes. I could see where the hatred had come from for her, how the bitterness affected her, even now. “Pietro knew very well how to control his creations by the time he changed me. He waited until Longinus was in a deep sleep and he summoned me. It was not something that I could fight, my only choice was to follow the request of my maker. I was completely powerless, and stayed that way for years.”
“I finally found her in England during King James’ reign and she had lived as a vampire for so long that I almost did not recognize her,” Longinus said.
“Yet, I could recognize him despite the years. The sound of his heart and the smell of his blood drew me to him. I wanted to take him, but I was conflicted. I knew the man that he was, the way he viewed vampires. I was afraid and so I stalked him like prey for many weeks, trying to find out if he had abandoned his God, his so-called mission. I was fearful that he had not because I knew what that meant for me.” Cerene looked down with shame at her past. I could see even how his blood affected her as she stood inches from him, her mouth was so close to his neck that it would take little effort to take his sustenance from him.
“When she finally approached me, I was perplexed. I knew my calling to end their kind. I wanted to abandon that calling when she was first turned, but centuries of deteriorating morals and strengthened subculture had made me more resolute in my path. When she revealed herself I immediately responded by thrusting my blade to her perfect flesh. My oath to God raged against my heart and I was forced to break either and both at the same time.”
“What happened next?” I asked as my curiosity meshed with my disdain for Pietro the more I learned about him. He was not the benevolent creator that he had led me to believe.
“The mercy that I prayed for happened,” Longinus said. “An answer to a prayer almost six hundred years later.”
We closed the distance between us and Robert in only a few minutes time, cloaked in the shadows we moved at our preternatural speed, not worried about prying eyes. We entered the cafe to the rich aroma of coffee which thankfully dulled the reminiscent smell of blood from across the street at what I came to call the ‘vamp’ club. Robert was seated in a booth with his small computer typing away, he seemed to be researching images on Longinus and the blade.
“What’s going on?” he asked as we sat in the booth across from him. His eyes never even looked up when he spoke.
“We think we have the place, but no one is there,” Maggie said crossing her arms on the table in front of her. Her hands seemed to blend in with the white marble look of the table top’s laminate.
“So, what’s your plan?” he asked.
“I’d like for you to go with us and see what you think.”
Robert finally looked up. “What do you need that for?” he looked back down and typed again.
“You’ve done this before, I need you to verify that we are at the right place,” she said softly.
His fingers banged onto the tablet keyboard in frustration. “I’m too old for this,” he said before turning the screen around for us to see. “This is our guy, right?”
We both nodded.
“Well if his name is Longinus like you claim, the roman centurion who stabbed Christ, this that makes this blade the ‘spear of destiny’. Do you know what that means?”
“I heard about it on the History Channel years ago,” I said, the literal truth in my case, I didn’t even know if that channel even existed in this day and age. “Didn’t Hitler try to find it so he could rule the world?”
“Yeah, that’s how the speculative history around Nazi Germany leads you to think. He wasn’t the only one, though, many rulers wanted to claim the spear as their own, they even claimed to possess it and won great victories throughout history.”
“Well if they had the spear then wouldn’t that mean that this guy doesn’t actually have it, or those rulers were lying?” Maggie asked, he forehead creased in thought as she tried to put the puzzle together in her mind.
“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” Robert asked with a raised eyebrow. In the right light, he looked much younger than he really was, there was a boyish quality to him that I found refreshing, but there was also a sense about him that told me he cared not what anyone thought of him. After a life living in a world full of political correctness, I found that demeanor to be refreshing as well.
“I can see in your eyes that you have a theory,” I said, causing him to allow the smile he had been smothering to form across his lips.
“Yes, I do. Follow me, what if the historical facts about the spear are ninety percent true, and ten percent omission? What if the part that history leaves out is that the spear has a keeper and that keeper is Longinus. What if the claims that a ruler has the spear is nothing more than the fact that a soldier was hired to fight for that ruler, and victory was guaranteed because he had the spear?”
Maggie and I each looked at each other. I had to admit that I hadn’t given much thought to the back story. I was still struggling with the idea that the man in my vision claimed to be alive at the Crucifixion of Christ, a historical account that I believed, but my own personal faith could not accept.
“So you think the ‘spear of destiny’ is a package deal?” Maggie asked.
Robert shook his head to say yes.
“Well, if that’s the case then we are screwed if we go up against this guy,” I said, with a bit a dread in my throat.
“I have another theory about that,” Robert said as he closed the tablet and turned it off.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Let’s hit the road, I’ll tell you in the truck.” Robert stood up from the booth and started walking out without waiting for Maggie and me to follow. I peeked a glance at her and saw what looked like pride in her son in her eyes. We both rose to leave and headed for the door where Robert stood outside, the computer under his arm. “Let’s go, kids, we don’t have all night,” he said.
I looked over to Maggie as she climbed into the truck and saw a genuine smile on her face and I felt a softening in the barrier that was between them. Maybe there was hope of reconciliation.
Maybe.
Chapter 40
“What was the answer to your prayer?” I asked, doubting the truth of whatever answer he may provide. I had always thought that prayer was nothing more than whispered secrets on bent knees that fell on deaf
ears. If prayers were answered then it was only coincidence, my life had shown me that as I had endured bullying and abandonment as a child. Adulthood did little to sway my opinion on the matter as my eyes were opened to even greater hardships than the ones that I had personally faced.
“God provided a way out of my captivity,” Cerene answered. She crossed her arms stoically, almost as if she could read my doubts about God.
“Yes, we found our answer in the potential for her freedom. Love burned in the heart of this vampire, and she could remember what it was to be loved. That was the tie upon which I anchored myself back to her. The psychological hold that Pietro had on her was weakening through distance and time. After each victim’s blood entered his gullet he lost another piece of Cerene’s heart, her devotion to him faded with each drop.”
“Until he met you,” she interrupted. “Your blood broke the bond between us. But a new bond was formed as I tried to save your mortal life. A little piece of him still resides in me from when I fed on you, and a piece of me resides in you from that same moment. We are entwined together, a devilish trio bound in blood.”
Longinus exhaled deeply, the regret of her taking my blood conflicted with what he felt was right, and it showed heavily on his face.
She took his hand, feeling the weight of his guilt in the air. “You paint the scars of my soul with the hatred of your love,” she said to him. At first, that phrase seemed bizarre, but I soon understood what meaning carried with it. It was an ancient good versus evil situation. He loved her dearly, but certainly hated what she had become.
He placed a firm hand on the handle of his blade, the silvery sheen of it flashed slightly the repelled fluorescent lighting of the room. The bulbs were past the point of needing to be replaced, but the dullness of their illumination was slightly more soothing to my eyes because of it. I could only assume that it was neglected by design, to shield her eyes as well. A vein throbbed gingerly in his hand as his grip tightened on the handle, clearly, the calling of God was forcing his hand, but his heart controlled the man who owned it. I imagined that it was only a matter of time before that heart could no longer hold the call to arms at bay.
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