“Timmy,” said Lucius without a hint of remorse in his voice. “What do you want? If you are going to try to get Tara again, then I’ll follow through with that threat I made to you the first time you tried to do that.”
Timmy shrugged. “Oh, no, Lucius, I learned my lesson that time. I have no intention of trying to get her to follow me again, particularly with you around. Those muscles of yours are definitely not for show, though they may be less useful than you think.”
“Then why are you here?” said Lucius. He pointed over Timmy’s head. “Leave. Now.”
“Bossing a Stranger around in the Shadow Way?” said Timmy. “If I didn’t know you, Lucius, I would kill you here and now for daring to pretend like you can control anything I do. But because I respect you and your big muscles so much, I’m merely going to remind you that it isn’t wise to boss us Strangers around and that not all are as merciful as yours truly.”
“I care not how merciful your people are,” said Lucius. “Given the amount of people, sorcerer and vampire alike, they’ve caused to disappear over the years, I find your talk about ‘mercy’ laughable.”
An annoyed scowl crossed Timmy’s features for a brief moment before his amused smirk returned. “Fine. I don’t expect you to understand or accept my mercy. I’m merely here to help.”
“Help?” I said. “Help us with what?”
Lucius glared at me over his shoulder, a clear warning to shut up and let him do all the talking, but it was too late now, because Timmy’s smirk grew and he said, “Why, I want to help you with the Vampire Flame or the Sorcerer’s Fire or whatever you people call it.”
Lucius looked back at Timmy. “Exactly what do you mean by that? And how do you know we’re searching for it?”
“The Shadow Way shares its knowledge with my people,” said Timmy. “We know what it knows and it knows what we know. And we know that you’re looking for the Vampire Flame to keep some other person from getting his hands on it.”
I wondered how the Shadow Way—which, as far as I could tell, was just a non-sentient environment—could possibly ‘share’ its ‘knowledge’ with the Strangers. Then again, the Shadow Way was quite mysterious, as were the Strangers, so maybe there was more to this place than we knew.
“Assuming you even know where the Vampire Flame actually is, why would you want to help us keep it safe?” said Lucius. “What do you have to gain from helping us?”
“My people value the Vampire Flame as much as you do,” said Timmy. “Our reasons for valuing it, of course, are different from yours, but it is nonetheless important to us and we would rather it didn’t end up in the hands of a mad sorcerer like this Blake character. Not that I can tell you why we value it, of course.”
“Then why should we accept your help?” said Lucius. “Or believe you at all when you say you value the Vampire Flame?”
“So cynical,” said Timmy. “Here I am, offering to help you find the Vampire Flame in order to protect it free of charge, but instead you keep snapping at me like an ungrateful child.”
“Because this ‘ungrateful child’ knows your kind well enough not to trust you,” said Lucius. “That’s why.”
I frowned. “But Lucius—”
“Fine,” said Timmy, holding up his hands. “If you don’t want my help, then I won’t give it to you. I just thought I’d ask, given how we know each other, but if you are simply going to have this attitude toward me, then I hope you have luck stopping Blake on your own. Bye.”
With that, Timmy stepped back into the hallway from which he had emerged, but we didn’t immediately resume walking forward. Lucius stood still for a few extra seconds, maybe listening for any sounds of Timmy in order to make sure that he had actually left, and then suddenly started walking forward again, pulling me along behind him at a quick pace.
“Wait, is that it?” I said, looking at Lucius’ back in surprise as we walked. “We’re just going to reject his offer to help like that?”
“Never accept any offers of ‘help’ from Strangers, Tara,” said Lucius without looking at me. “Not unless you want to end up getting lost in the Shadow Way forever, anyway. Besides, I doubt the Strangers actually care about the Vampire Flame. In all of my years as a vampire, I’ve never heard anything about the Strangers caring about the Flame or even knowing about its existence. We’re better served going to your father and asking for his help, because there’s a better chance he will be able to help us rather than Timmy.”
I knew that Lucius was telling the truth, but at the same time, I also thought that Timmy might not have been entirely lying when he said he could take us to the Vampire Flame. If the Shadow Way connected the entire planet together—and maybe even extended to other worlds—then wasn’t it logical to assume that it might also connect to the Vampire Flame’s location somehow?
But I kept my mouth shut, because if there was one thing I had learned about Lucius over the last several months, it was that once he set his mind on something, he didn’t listen to anything against it.
And besides, I didn’t like Timmy, nor did I trust him. I could live a thousand years without seeing him again and that would suit me just fine.
Shortly after our encounter with Timmy, we emerged from the Shadow Way into the guest room of the parsonage. It was, as usual, completely dark, with the lights off and the curtains drawn across the windows, though thanks to our shared night vision, neither Lucius nor myself had any trouble seeing.
“Here we are,” I said, looking around the room. “Brings back memories, doesn’t it, Lucius?”
Lucius nodded slightly. “Yes. It even looks the same. I guess Richard isn’t into interior decorating, is he?”
“No, he never was,” I said, shaking my head. “My mom was, though. She liked to redesign the entire house every six months or so, which usually confused Dad, even though he always let her do it.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met your mother,” said Lucius. “She died a while ago, didn’t she?”
I nodded. “Yes, ten years ago, but she was a good woman. Very much a woman of the Lord. Best mom ever. But we can talk about her later. For now, let’s go and—”
The door to the guest room suddenly opened and the lights turned on. Though my sunglasses protected my eyes, I still winced, while Lucius covered his eyes and stepped backwards in surprise.
A loud scream came from the door, causing me to look and see a woman I didn’t recognize standing in the doorway. She looked to be in her late thirties, maybe early forties, with long blonde hair and a pretty pink dress, but that was all I saw of her before she screamed and slammed the door shut. I heard her running down the hallway outside, screaming Dad’s name, but I didn’t care about that, because I launched forward and turned off the light switch, causing the lights to turn off with a quiet click and plunge the guest room into darkness once again.
“What in the world was that all about?” said Lucius, rubbing his eyes. “Who was that woman and why did she scream when she saw us?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I—”
The door burst open again and Dad appeared in the doorway. As soon as he saw me, he aimed his gun at me and shouted, “Take this, vamp!”
Instinctively, I fell to the floor just as Dad pulled the trigger. The gunshot was loud in the room and it temporarily left me deaf, but I shouted, “Dad, don’t shoot! It’s me and Lucius!”
Dad paused when he aimed his gun down at me. “Tara? Is that you?”
“Yes,” I said, though my lips trembled when I spoke anyway. “And Lucius, too.”
Lucius had sneaked up behind Dad while he wasn’t looking, but as soon as I said his name, he stopped.
“Lucius? Tara?” said Dad, looking from me to Lucius and back again. He lowered his gun and then said, in a much lower voice, “What are you two doing here? And how did you get in?”
“The Shadow Way,” I said. “We need your help.”
Dad cursed under his breath, then looked over his shoulder and shouted, “R
achel, I’ll be right back out! I don’t see anyone, but I’m going to check the room to make sure they’re still here!”
The only response was a terrified moan of anxiety from the living room that barely sounded human.
Then Dad entered the room and closed it behind him quickly.
“Rachel?” I said, slowly rising to my feet, using the wall for support. “Who’s Rachel?”
“First things first,” said Dad, looking at me again. “What do you two need help with? Why did you just decide to drop in on me like this?”
“The Vampire Flame,” said Lucius. “We need your help locating it.”
Dad looked at Lucius in surprise. “The Vampire Flame? Why in the world do you need to find it? You aren’t intending to get rid of all the magic in the world, are you?”
“Hardly,” said Lucius. “We’re trying to protect it.”
“Protect it?” said Dad. “Protect it from who?”
“A rogue sorcerer named Harry Blake,” I said. “He also kidnapped my friend, Jane.”
“Harry Blake?” Dad repeated. His eyes widened. “Wait, I recognize that name. Back when I was a vampire hunter, I worked with another vampire hunter called John Blake. Is Harry related to him?”
“Yes, according to my research,” said Lucius. “More importantly, however, is that Blake is wanted by the Parliament and Council alike because of various crimes he’s committed, such as murder. And now he’s also trying to get the Vampire Flame.”
“What does he want with the Vampire Flame?” said Dad in confusion.
“I don’t know,” said Lucius. “Neither of us do, but it probably isn’t good. That’s why we came here to speak to you, because you’re one of the few people to have ever seen the Vampire Flame and lived to tell the tale.”
“You know that?” said Dad, who sounded a bit flustered. “How? I never told anyone—”
“The Council has their ways,” Lucius interrupted. “Now, will you tell us or not?”
Dad ran his hand through his hair. “Do I have to tell you right now? I’m rather busy at the moment and—”
“Busy with Rachel?” I interrupted. “Who is she, anyway?”
“She’s …” Dad sighed. “She’s a woman I’ve been seeing recently.”
“You’re seeing someone?” I said in surprise. “As in, someone you want to start a relationship with and possibly marry at some point?”
Dad nodded reluctantly. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I said. “If you marry this Rachel woman, then she’ll become my step mom. Unless this relationship isn’t serious, that is.”
“We haven’t been dating very long,” Dad admitted. “Just a month or so—”
“Even so, I’d liked to have known you were dating again,” I said. “I thought that you didn’t want to remarry after Mom’s death.”
“I didn’t think so, either, but then I met Rachel and, well, the Lord moves in mysterious ways,” said Dad with a shrug. “Besides, we’ve just gone on a few dates so far and our relationship hasn’t become that deep yet.”
“But you invited her into your home,” Lucius pointed out. “That seems serious to me.”
“We just got back from church,” said Dad, whose face was starting to get red. “And we were going to go out to lunch. We just stopped by the parsonage so I could drop off my Bible. She was going to leave her umbrella in here, because it’s not raining today, and—”
“When will I get to meet her?” I said. “I mean, I guess I already have met her, but not like this.”
Dad opened his mouth to speak, but then Lucius held up a hand and said, “While I’m sure that talking about relationship issues is absolutely fascinating to both of you, we don’t have much time before Blake finds the Vampire Flame, so let’s get back to talking about that than the Hunter’s relationship issues.”
“Lucius is right,” said Dad quickly. “If what you two say is true, then it is imperative that you find the Vampire Flame before Blake does. And I’ll see what I can do to help you guys find it before he does.”
I frowned. Dad was clearly just looking for an excuse to change the conversation to a topic that obviously made him less flustered. I suppose I understood why he felt that way, but at the same time, I wished he had told me that he was dating again. Maybe Dad just thought I wouldn’t take it very well, given how Mom had died ten years ago and all, and I had to admit that it did seem strange to me that Dad might end up starting a relationship with someone else, but I would think about it later when we had more time.
“Excellent,” said Lucius. “Tell us everything you know. We’re listening.”
Dad rubbed the back of his neck. “The thing is, I don’t know where the Vampire Flame is for sure. And I don’t think either of you two should be searching for it, in all honesty.”
“But you saw it once before, didn’t you?” I said.
“Seeing something is not the same as knowing where it is,” said Dad. “And it was a long time ago, too, so it might not even be there anymore. The best I can do is give you two a few clues that will hopefully help you find it yourself.”
“Perhaps if you tell us the circumstances under which you first saw it, that will help us find it,” said Lucius.
“Good idea,” said Dad. He took in a deep breath, and then said, “I saw it about twenty-five years ago, exactly one year before Tara was born. I was still a vampire hunter back then, traveling the state and killing vamps wherever I went. On one such trip, I found myself on the border between Texas and Mexico, hunting down a Horde of vampires that had been terrorizing a nearby border town for the past month or so. Lots of people had died, but given how most of them were Powerless people, they didn’t really know what was killing them. Pretty normal for people like that.”
I thought about how scary that must have been, to have people dying all around you without you even knowing why. These Powerless people would just use ordinary explanations—animals, even serial killers—but never realize the truth because they didn’t even realize vampires were real. It made me wonder just what other unsolved murders throughout history had been the work of vampires and whether the truth would ever come out.
“Anyway, I was making great progress and finally tracked down the Horde to their lair, an abandoned cave about ten miles outside of town,” said Dad. “The cave had been left untouched by people for years, supposedly because it was ‘haunted,’ though it was obviously because a Horde had made its home there at some point. So I went into the cave and began killing vamps almost as soon as I stepped inside.”
“And?” said Lucius. “When did you see the Vampire Flame?”
“I’m almost there, don’t worry,” said Dad, sounding slightly irritated by Lucius’ question. “Anyway, I went deep into the cave, killing vamps left and right, until I eventually reached the back of the cave, where I came face to face with a Dracul. Draculs aren’t quite as powerful as Vampire Lords, but they are just underneath them in the Hierarchy and they’re often a pain in the ass to deal with. Still, I managed to kill it anyway, thus freeing the town of the vampires which had been menacing it for the past month or so.”
Then Dad frowned. “But my adventure didn’t end there. When I tried to leave the cave, I somehow got lost in the darkness and ended up wandering around down there for a while. There was a whole network of underground caves, full of twists and turns, seeming to extend into the earth forever. It was very similar to the Shadow Way in many ways, though less evil.”
“How long were you lost down there?” I said.
“I don’t know,” said Dad. “It couldn’t have been more than a few hours, because when I eventually got back to the surface, it was late in the evening of the same day I had gone in. But it sure felt like I was stuck down there forever, forced to stumble through the darkness and use any spell I could to help me find my way back. That was when I saw it.”
“The Vampire Flame?” said Lucius in an interested voice.
Dad nodded. “Yes, though I di
dn’t realize it at first. I saw a small fire burning at the end of a long hallway, which I thought was the light from the sun at first, so I walked over to it quickly thinking I had found an exit leading outside. But as I drew closer to the flame, I realized that it wasn’t the sun at all and that I was still trapped down there. I decided to investigate the fire anyway, though, because the way I saw it, that fire had to have been made by someone, so perhaps there was another human being nearby who might be able to help me escape.”
“What happened when you reached the Flame?” I said.
“Nothing, at first,” said Dad. He furrowed his brow. “My memories are a bit of a blur after this point, to be honest. I remember walking up to the Vampire Flame in in its ancient stone basin and noticing how it didn’t have any wood or coal or any other material to help it keep burning, which was my first hint that it was magical. Then I noticed that its flames would change color every now and then; red, orange, blue, green, even black. It had every color of the rainbow, and then some, which was another hint of its true nature, but I didn’t really understand what I was looking at until I touched its basin.”
“What happened when you touched it?” I said.
“I’m not sure,” said Dad. “When I touched it, I immediately felt an immense magical power within the fire which I had never felt before. It was even more power than the Supreme Sorcerer commanded. In fact, there was so much power that it made the Supreme Sorcerer’s own magical power seem as significant as the power of a Beginner. It was honestly scary, because I also sensed evil within it, like the evil which lurks inside all vampires.”
“Is that when you realized what it was?” I said.
“Not quite,” said Dad. “As soon as I touched the basin, I felt dizzy and sleepy. I don’t know what happened next, because next thing I knew, I was lying on my back just outside the cave entrance, staring up at the sky, unharmed though a bit stiff from sleeping for so long.”
The Vampire Flame (Vampire Sorceress Book 3) Page 3
