by Kailin Gow
“What are you talking about?” Justin asked.
Octavius sighed. “We may need to turn whomever we can get,” he said. “I will spare you for now, Justin – out of respect to Kalina, and to our friendship.” His expression grew grim. “But if you were not Kalina's brother, if you were not dear to her, I would consider doing to you what I have in the course of my life done to many humans with potential to save our kind – against their will. Not out of cruelty, you understand, but out of necessity. The greater good.”
He sat before them. “Mongolia is an ancient place, and here there is a vampire who is older than Mal, older even than Nikolai – my oldest and dearest friend – older than my maker Isaiah. His name is Molotov. In my time at the Consortium I heard his name mentioned. As a friend or as an enemy, none of us knew. We knew he was powerful and remote, and had no interest in our petty Western dealings. Whether he wished for order or chaos we did not know. We knew nothing about him but that he rejected all emissaries, and threatened or killed those who refused. And now we know something about him – at long last. For I doubt this place has any renegades – not if Molotov is as powerful as he was, and I don't doubt he is even as powerful now as then”
“What's that?” Justin turned to him.
“He wants Kalina.”
Chapter 3
“Oh, hell no!” Jaegar stood up. “If we're in enemy territory, we need to scrap the plan. We need to get out of here, and fast! I'm not willing to risk my hide – not to mention Kalina's – going toe to toe in our present condition. We haven't got any soldiers – we're on the run, not in any position to attack.”
“Calm down, Jaegar,” said Octavius. “I haven't finished yet. Jaegar – that village we were in. It did not feel...normal to you, did it?”
Jaegar shuffled his feet. “Well – no...”
“Something uncanny about it?”
Jaegar nodded. “Something about that girl – you saw it too, didn't you, Octavius? It reminded me of a place I'd been long ago. I went to Thailand about two hundred years ago to scout out vampire recruits for Octavius. It was a busy place then – chaotic, noisy. Western merchants and Eastern peasants – so much was going on. But as I walked along the shores into the jungle one day, I found myself in a place of...no, peace isn't the right word. Silence. Solitude. Where I felt more alone than I had ever felt before in all my hundreds of years alive. But yet I was not alone – I felt that rather I was surrounded by something that both was and was not...existing. That was and was not alive, was and was not dead. It was the strangest feeling, and I remember it still. I remember leaving the village as quickly as I could, convinced nothing but danger or worse could be found there. And I never had such a sensation again. Not until tonight. That village the girl took us to...it wasn't...it was empty, but it wasn't empty. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Jaegar,” Octavius nodded. “I understand completely. I thought the same thing. I have been to such places – places that feel as if they are on the edge of the world. Deep in the Russian mountains, for example, I have seen a village such as this one. And a strange sight it was.”
“I don't understand,” Kalina broke in. “What do you mean, dead or alive?”
“In Mongolia,” Octavius began, “there are many villages scattered along the steppes. Few outsiders have ever seen such a village; fewer still have lived long enough to make it back to their homes. I am not surprised that there might be, among these villages, one which all have forgotten. Time and chance. All except for the ghosts.”
“That girl....” Jaegar furrowed his brow. “She told me I had to help her. She said vampires were attacking her village, that I had to follow – but...nobody! And yet she felt so real. She didn't sound like she was lying.”
Octavius gave a knowing smile. “I know you are an old vampire, Jaegar,” he said. “But you are still young yet. And you can still experience new things. A rare pleasure, I think, for a vampire. And one I too am encountering. For I have heard of such things, Jaegar, but never have I before experienced them. I believe that, Jaegar, you have encountered a ghost village. And a particularly pained one at that – one that has suffered an incredible loss, experienced incredible pain – at the hands of renegades or else Molotov's men.”
“Ghosts?” Jaegar scoffed. “Humans can't have ghosts; why, they're barely more than...” He looked around at Justin and Kalina. “I mean, of course humans have some life force. But...ghosts? Humans aren't nearly so special as to have supernatural powers. And those vampires showing up just in time when we left?”
“They may have attempted a false alarm,” said Octavius. “But that girl, I believe, was real. Although that does not excuse our absence. Real or not, we owe it to luck that Justin was able to help stave off – stake off, rather – the vampires while we were gone. Of course, it was a good deal more than luck – the boy has shown skill.”
Justin smiled again. “Well, Jaegar did teach me which points were more susceptible to pressure. And I am a doctor – I know something about the anatomy. Corpse or otherwise. I knew where to stake the first time in – and I had the element of surprise. If it had come to proper combat I would've been a goner....”
His voice trailed off. There, standing before them – having glided straight through the door Octavius had so carefully locked – was a young girl. Her bones protruded through her translucent skin; her waifish frame was made all the thinner by the masses of matted black hair that hung around her head. Her eyes were wide and seemed to suck all the light from the room. She looked about fifteen years old, yet in her eyes there was a sense of agelessness. She had lived far longer than her fifteen years.
“Why did you run?” She floated towards them. “I told you we needed protection – why did you not heed us? I was leading you there when you stopped believing me and ran back.”
“You see!” Jaegar crowed. “See, there was a girl – she was convincing.”
“She's no vampire plant, either,” said Octavius softly. “No, I can see that. You're telling the truth, aren't you, little girl?”
She gave him an enigmatic smile. “I told you the first time,” she said. “Vampires are attacking our village. They are not far off now, and if you do not hold them off there they will come to your palace, and then they will attack you and kill all of you.” She turned directly to Kalina, and Kalina felt the little girl's eyes boring into her soul. This girl knew something – she saw through Kalina's skin to the blood and soul beneath. Kalina felt uneasy as the girl gave her a long searching look.
“The Life's Blood girl,” the girl said. “But you're more than that, aren't you?”
Kalina said nothing.
“But you must come with me,” said the girl. “We have been waiting for you – vampires and humans alike. My family and friends require your presence. You see, we have been waiting for you. For a very, very long time.”
Chapter 4
The four of them followed the girl. With a wry, soft smile, the girl beckoned them forth, leading them out onto the balcony, down the steps into the courtyard, and out the gates once more. It was still dark, but the first cresting of dawn could almost be seen on the horizon, as the inky black night gave way to slivers of crimson and gold. Octavius and Jaegar slid their Life's Blood rings onto their fingers and continued onwards.
The girl led them across the steppes. Where could they be going, Kalina wondered? The expanses seemed so wide and so empty – surely there couldn't be anything at all here, living or dead, only this vast emptiness that filled Kalina with a strange sense of vertigo. Being so far away from civilization, so isolated, made her ever more aware of the strangeness of her situation. She and Justin were both getting tired, their muscles aching more and more with every step they took.
She should have been preparing for Freshman Orientation at Yale; she should have been home, packing her bags, picking out dormitory wall posters at the local Video Store in California. There was so much that she had expected of the summer before her college matriculation. But
here she was, in the desolate and deserted steppes of the eastern reaches of Mongolia, with two vampires and her brother, following the pale shade of a ghost-girl. How strange it all was, thought Kalina. How strange it would continue to be.
At last they came to a gorge – what looked like a sheer drop in the steppes – jutting out precipitously from the ends of the desert. Kalina could hear running water. They climbed down the edge of the gorge, a narrow rock-path leading them further and further down, and presently they came to a river.
“No human knows these places,” the girl said as they continued onwards.
Eventually Kalina and Justin grew tired, and the two vampires carried them – Octavius, who was stronger, though weary, taking the heavier Justin, and Jaegar seizing Kalina. Yet the girl did not seem to need carrying. She floated on ahead, faster and faster. In silence they continued forwards and climbed. The area around the gorge was far greener than the steppes – tangles of jungle vines grew up and down the sides of the gorge, their roots extending to the very banks of the bubbling river along which they walked. This was no ordinary walk, Kalina knew – something felt different about where they were going. Something strange. The way the river had just appeared – out of nowhere, it seemed! The way the greenery was growing in this desolate land. Something was up.
They came presently to the foot of a cluster of small mountains. They were silent as the girl led them onwards once more. They passed villages like the one Jaegar had described – empty places filled with houses. But, despite the lack of people, the villages seemed to be...what was it, Kalina wondered? Alive? There were marketplaces with colorful fabrics and silks hanging from the stalls, aromatic spices in great bowls, all kinds of ceramic and porcelain on display, as if for sale, alongside handicrafts and weaving. But there was nobody buying. Nobody selling. Only these empty stalls filled high with goods.
Kalina shuddered. Was Octavius sure that, wherever they were going, it was safe?
Yet as they rose higher, to a place surrounded by what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient cave city, they heard something all the stranger for its very normalcy in the heart of such isolation: a human scream.
“What's going on?”
Jaegar and Octavius turned to see a group of shrieking children running towards him. A woman was wailing and beating her breast, stumbling as she tried to run. Men were running to and fro with stakes, their terrified eyes scanning the air. They seemed not to notice the group, so intent were they on finding the source of their fear.
And then Kalina spotted them. Three vampires – their pale faces set upon murder – came flying towards them, their fangs bared. These were not outsider vampires like Jaegar and Octavius, turned much further west. They were from this place, their faces not unlike the faces of the people they chased, and they were dressed in traditional eastern clothing. Kalina's heart sank. Had these vampires been turned from this very village?
But she had no time to mourn or feel pity. They would have to fight. The villagers were crying and screaming. Kalina noted that the village's cows and sheep were lying on their sides, already gutted, fang-marks on their bodies. Vampires didn't like animal blood, she knew. So why bother harming the livestock? Unless they wished their prey to suffer – those that they did not eat would themselves know starvation. The thought disgusted her.
One vampire was yelling to the others in a tongue Kalina did not understand.
Octavius blanched with anger. “He's telling the others not to eat yet. They want to have more fun tormenting them first.” He sighed. “Stop!” he cried, stepping forth, placing his broad chest between himself and the villagers. The vampires made no sign of stopping and so he shouted again, this time choosing words in a language Kalina did not understand. But she could tell what he was saying – he was making it clear that he wanted them to back off.
They laughed and shrugged off his concern. At last one of them, in halting English, spoke. “This is our village,” he said. “Go find your own pack to enslave.”
“I don't think you understand me.” Octavius stepped forth, removing his stakes from his cloak. “I have ordered you – by the law of the Consortium – to stop tormenting these people. Let them go.”
Jaegar nudged Kalina. “Something's weird here,” he said. “These aren't ghosts – they're flesh and blood, look! I can smell it.”
And indeed, Kalina noted, these people looked just as human as she or Justin did. “But then what happened to the girl?” She looked around for the pale, translucent figure, but the girl had vanished. “So, these vampires?”
“Real too,” Jaegar made a face. “I can smell it. But they won't be real for very much longer if Octavius has anything to say about it.”
Octavius was standing off with the vampires, attempting some negotiations in vain. But Kalina knew that Octavius’ patience would not be worn down much longer. Soon he would do what he had to do and attack. She stood on guard, her stake in hand. “Then that girl...” she whispered to Jaegar. “She wanted us here...”
“She said it was her village,” Justin said.
“Then maybe it was,” Kalina shrugged. “Once. A long time ago. And maybe she's looking out for it still.”
“That wasn't an ordinary girl, that's for sure,” said Justin. “Whatever these people are – that girl...I mean, nobody travels that fast. Even with Octavius carrying me and Jaegar carrying you, we had to rush to keep up.”
“Listen, fool!” One of the three vampires crowed. “We have spent centuries feeding off this village. Once it was ripe with people – delicious fat bodies from which to suck blood! Now there are only a few people left – and we intend to breed them all for food and eat them ourselves. There is not enough to share!”
“I shouldn't wonder,” Octavius’ anger was mixed with a more intellectual irritation. “If you insist on eviscerating their livestock...”
“No sharing!” The other vampire bared his teeth.
“I'll give you one last chance to live, fellow brethren,” said Octavius. “My name is Octavius. I am general of the Consortium. If you leave here peacefully, I will grant you full rights within my ranks – guaranteed vampire wine...”
“The Consortium!” One of the vampires laughed. “We have heard of your Consortium. It's barely anything any longer – did not the vampire Malvolio kill most of your leaders, and plenty of your men?”
“And even if it was still worth joining,” one vampire said, “Why bother? We don't want to be confined to the army. We want to do what we want. Right now we are free. Why be a meek little soldier in some other vampire's army when we can be the Kings of this village?”
The third vampire said nothing, but only scowled.
They looked around, but Octavius had managed to distract them long enough to allow the majority of the villagers to run off.
“Very well,” Octavius gave a weary sigh. “You did have your chance! But of course, you had to be stupid...” With that, he swept forth, baring his fangs as he rushed one of the vampires. Charging forth, he held out a fist, punching straight into the vampire's torso, his fingers colliding with the vampire's still heart. He sunk his teeth into the vampire's neck as he withdrew his hand, just in time for the vampire to collapse into ash.
“What the...” the second vampire cried.
Octavius laughed with false joviality. “What, did I forget to mention these?” He held up his fingers. On each was a ring – each ring, excepting the Life's Blood ring, equipped with a wooden point. When applied with enough force, it appeared, such rings could function together as a stake.
Before the second vampire could react, Octavius had set upon him too, his hands tight around the vampire's neck, ready to wrench the head from the body.
“No, wait!” The third vampire, who had been hitherto silent, broke in. “Mercy, mercy! It is not our fault. We have no desire for this work – you see, we have been ordered to it. We are Kings of this little village, but we are vassals of the Powerful One, the one who has assigned us here, given us t
his land in exchange for our obedience, the production of slaves.”
“Is this true?” Octavius whirled on the vampire he held fast in his grip. “If you are lying, I warn you...”
“It's true!” the second vampire whimpered. “The Powerful One requires a certain number of victims every year. We are just following orders.”
“Funny,” Octavius muttered. “You were proud enough to be Kings a second ago.”
“We were fools!” The third vampire cried. “We didn't mean it – honestly we didn't!”
“Very well.” Octavius loosened his grip, sending the vampire clattering to the ground. “On one condition. Tell me the name of this Powerful One who commands you.”
The vampire shuddered. “He is so powerful, he will hear his name mentioned and come to find us. I don't dare.”
Octavius reminded the vampire, with a hard thwack to the forehead, that he was wearing rings cut with wood-points.
“Okay! Okay!” The vampire shook with fear. “M-m-molotov.”
“Molotov,” Octavius grimaced. “Just as I thought. This will be a difficult campaign, I fear.” He turned to the vampires. “Go out hunting,” he said. “Not for humans – for food, to replace the livestock you have killed. Wild pigs or boars, chickens – give them food so they do not starve! If you try to run and do not return, I promise you that I will find you. And I should let you know that I don't give my men any second chances.”
Kalina stared at Octavius with admiration. Even now he was so strong, so powerful – his soldier's gait so believable. Who could have known that he was capable of such kindness, such passionate tenderness, behind closed doors? If only they were alone...
