The shorthaired augur rushed into the mix. “Stop, stop it. We don’t have time for this.”
“Out of the way, Celeste, or you’ll burn too,” Ralgar said.
“No, listen.” Celeste was panting, her pale skin flushed. “The Watchtower has sent a message. They know where Suhail is. We have our orders to engage.”
“Suhail,” Ralgar said with greedy yearning. “At last, we can finish this. See, blood witch, we do not need you after all.”
Jerusa ignored his comment. “Suhail? Where is he?”
“According to the Watchtower, tomorrow night, Suhail is going to attempt to board a ship from a private dock in South Carolina. They believe he is attempting to cross over into Europe.”
“How accurate are the Watchtower’s predictions?” Jerusa asked.
“I won’t say one hundred percent, but it’s not far from it.”
“Who’s our backup?” Taos asked. “With Midnight Fire down, we’ll need to join up with another team.”
Celeste’s pursed her mouth. “There is only one available team. Blood Vengeance. They are en route now, and will rendezvous with us at the location.”
“Blood Vengeance,” Jerusa repeated with a raspy laugh. “Who decides on these names?”
“That’s it?” Taos said. “One other team? The Stewards do realize this is Suhail we’re talking about? Not to mention, we don’t have a real clear estimate on the number of savages he has with him.”
“I’m sorry,” Celeste said. “Most of the other North American teams are occupied, too far away to reach us in time, or Suhail has already…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish that statement.
“Don’t go,” Tisiphone said. The whole group turned and looked at the three as though they suggested a nice stroll in the sun. “Something doesn’t feel right about this. We don’t think you should go.”
“Of course you’d run away, traitors,” Ralgar said. “You don’t have the honor it takes to be a Hunter.”
“Suhail has evaded all of you this long,” Tisiphone said. “He is doing things no other savage has ever done. Clearing out the quarantine towns. Systematically picking off the Hunters. The savages from the last Great War, even those that had regained full consciousness, were never so subtle. Suhail knows that if he tries to cover the world in savages, the Divines will rise up and stop him. There is a pattern to his chaos.”
“You give the savages too much credit,” Ming said. “They are a plague, not warriors. All they know is to kill or assimilate anyone that crosses their path.”
“Are you sure about that?” a voice from the shadows asked. “Because they didn’t kill me.” The elderly vampire walked timidly toward the group, his hands clutched before him, his eyes pointed at his feet.
Ralgar started for the old man, but Ming stopped him. “Why should we believe a disciple of the Monster?” she asked.
“You don’t have to. I’ll tell my piece then be gone.”
“You know we can’t let you live.”
“Then, perhaps, my story might be worth a few days head start.”
“It better be good.”
“I won’t mince words,” the old man said. “There’s something wrong with the savages. Me and my friends, the ones you killed tonight, stumbled into an underground room full of savages just before dawn a few nights back. We were trapped between the sun and the savages. But they didn’t attack us. Oh, they looked like they wanted to, but they didn’t. They just stood in formation, like a bunch of soldiers at attention. I’m not sure what stopped them from killing us, but maybe it had something to do with the little metal boxes they have on their chests.”
“See, I told you,” Jerusa said to Ming. “I told you there were savages with weird electronic boxes grafted into their chests.”
“Who’s to say this isn’t all a lie? I’m sorry, but your story doesn’t impress me.”
The old man, who was far younger in terms of trips around the sun than most of the vampires present, backed away. “Feel free to check it out for yourselves. Search the mausoleums of Lafayette Cemetery in New Orleans. Oh, and I wouldn’t count on any Divine Vampires coming along to clean up the mess, this time. We ran into a couple of those, too. The woman didn’t believe us, either. But the young man did. She said it wasn’t the Divines’ problem anymore.”
The three, Jerusa, Taos and Celeste all made a startled step toward the old man. He winced in fear and turned to flee. “Wait,” Jerusa called to him. “You met some Divine Vampires?”
“Yes,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “They both looked young. Very beautiful. The woman had blonde hair and wild eyes. The man had skin like her.” He pointed to Alecto. “But his hair was dark and curly.”
“Silvanus! Was his name Silvanus?” Jerusa approached the man and gently took his hands in hers. “He was in New Orleans? Do you think he’s still there?”
“I honestly don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m not sure if this helps, but it seemed to me that the man was there against his will. I think the woman was holding him prisoner.”
“Thank you,” Jerusa said. She couldn’t hide her disappointment, but she hugged the elderly man anyway.
“No, thank you. You spared my life, even at the risk of your own. What little time I have left, I owe to you.” The old man leapt over the edge of the parking garage wall, falling five stories and landing with the grace of bird. He glanced back at them for a moment, flashed a smile void of every tooth except his fangs, and then ran off into the night.
Jerusa turned, a wild fervor burning in her eyes. “We have to go to New Orleans. We have to search for Silvanus.”
“Impossible,” Ming said.
“But he’s the only one who knows where the Light Bearers might be keeping Shufah. If we rescue Shufah, she and Silvanus can help us fight Suhail and the savages.”
“We don’t need any help,” Ralgar said. “We can destroy Suhail and his little army by ourselves.”
Jerusa started to argue, but Ming shushed her. “Even if the old man was telling the truth, even if the Divines are still in New Orleans—which I highly doubt they are—we’re out of time. Suhail will be boarding that ship tomorrow night. We cannot afford to let his poison spread across the ocean. If we disobey the Stewards’ orders, we forfeit our own lives.”
“And if Marjek finds out about Shufah?” Jerusa asked. “He’ll kill us all anyway.”
“We’re out of choices. I’m sorry. Once we’ve taken care of Suhail, we’ll go to New Orleans and see if we can track down your maker.”
The three didn’t like the look in Ming’s eyes, nor the smirk that crawled upon Ralgar’s face like a slimy worm. There was nothing but deceit in those two.
“We will go,” Tisiphone said. Jerusa turned to them, a flicker of hope resurfacing in her eyes. “We’ll go to New Orleans and search for Silvanus. If we find him, and we can, we’ll bring him to you.”
“Thank you.” Jerusa hugged each of the three. They reached in unison, touched her cheek, then they vaulted over the edge of the parking garage, before Ming and Ralgar decided to make them their latest trophies.
The three traveled as far on foot as they could before the dreaded sun began its eastern appearance. They were ancient and fast, covering a great many miles, but they couldn’t outrace the dawn. There was a decision to be made: hunker down somewhere until nightfall, or find a way to travel during the day. The three weren’t much for taking the easy route. They had survived centuries of being hunted by doing the unorthodox. Status quo will get you killed every time.
An hour before sunrise, the three crept into a shipping warehouse. It wasn’t one of the mega online stores that sold everything from toothpicks to cars, but a more modest establishment. The place was dark, quiet, slumbering until the daytime shift of workers would arrive. It took a bit of finesse to avoid triggering the alarm system, but they had been around a long time, and there wasn’t much they hadn’t encountered before.
Once inside, they infiltrated the company’s
computer system, created a false invoice and delivery slip for New Orleans, making sure to specify delivery after dark. The three had stowed away on many voyages over the years, but this was the first time they had ever shipped themselves. They found a plywood crate large enough for the three of them, lined it with some fireproof blankets they removed from another shipment, then marked the outside with a few “Dangerous”, “Toxic” and “Handle with Care” decals. They moved the crate to the dock, climbed inside and sealed the lid by driving nails from the inside with their bare hands.
The workers arrived not long after to start their day. There were some initial grumblings about why such a precarious and potentially lethal crate had been left on the dock and not secured in a truck, but after the blame had been shifted back and forth a few times, they loaded the crate on a truck and the three were off.
To pass the long hours, and drive away the urge to break free of the grave-like confines of the crate, they took to feeding from each other. The blood helped to calm them, and as always it strengthened their unique bond.
The day faded, resurrecting the night; still, the truck drove on. With the sun plaguing vampires on the other side of the world, the three decided it was safe enough to escape their box. In their zeal to be free, they tore through the fireproof blankets, and reduced the crate into several fragments of splintered plywood. Megaera moved toward the front of the trailer to better hear the driver, who was speaking to someone on his cell phone. Over the roar of the semi’s engine and the hornet-like buzzing of surrounding cars, they discerned that the driver was speaking to the establishment in New Orleans that had been specified on their crate. Apparently, the driver had called for better directions, which then prompted the business to deny ever ordering such a package. The three didn’t have time to wait for the humans to sort out the mistake.
Alecto approached the back of the trailer, and with a quick kick, broke the lock and sent the parting doors swinging outward. Hundreds of pairs of headlights illuminated the night. The three leapt from the back of the trailer with all of their speed and power, skipping from one car top to another. A terrific cacophony of screeching tires, shattering glass, and twisting metal arose behind them. The three continued on, never looking back, pressing toward the star-suppressing glow of the metropolis.
They entered the city unnoticed. Megaera and Tisiphone each lifted a pair of sunglasses from a sidewalk display to mask their blind eyes, and better blend with the human crowd. The streets were crowded and they were forced to slow down to avoid any unwanted attention. It was nearing ten o’clock by the time they reached Lafayette Cemetery.
With the time difference between here and South Carolina, surely Jerusa and the Hunters had found Suhail by now. Fear gripped them as they considered what the elderly vampire had told them. Something was amiss, not just here, but in the whole world over. A cloud of doom overshadowed everything. Life as they knew it was balanced dangerously on a ledge, and the earth was shifting beneath them. Events had been set in motion that could not be undone.
The three scoured the cemetery, moving from one mausoleum to the next, using their vampiric senses to the fullest of their abilities. A few humans lingered here and there, but mostly, it was the dead they encountered. Tisiphone whispered Silvanus’s name at the door of every mausoleum. Near the center of the cemetery, at a building made to look like a tiny church, with a gargoyle in place of a steeple, Tisiphone whispered once more, and this time, something whispered back.
Megaera approached the solid wood door, taking each step with deliberate caution. The sounds from within did not come from anything you would want to talk to. The growls and snarls echoed up from somewhere underground, and were too subtle for humans to detect. The three drew closer with Megaera in the lead. Alecto watched the night around them. Tisiphone held her peace, relying on the senses of the other two Furies to paint the picture for her. Alecto reached for the door. It had been constructed to keep humans out, but wouldn’t be a problem for them.
“I wouldn’t go in there.” The three turned with a start to find Silvanus standing only a few feet behind them. “I knew someone would come looking for them, but I never expected it to be you.”
The three moved to embrace him, but from nowhere, a pair of Divines—the blonde woman and the Latino man—appeared between them.
“That’s far enough,” the blonde Divine said.
“Hail to the Divine Vampires,” Tisiphone said. The three gave a synchronized bow. “It’s an honor to be in your presence once again.”
“Enough,” she said, irritated by their bowing. “What took you so long? Hurry up and destroy the savages so that we can be on our way.”
“We’re not here for the savages. We’ve come seeking Silvanus…and your help.”
The blonde laughed. The Latino man just stood with a silent grimace on his face. “We don’t have dealings with blood drinkers anymore,” she said. “I’m sure you remember. Your kind is vile and deceitful.”
The three took a step forward, each exposing the wounds they had received for warning the Divines of the Stewards plans. “Not all of us are deceitful, and some have paid dearly because of you.”
“Lay that on your own. We had no part in it. The Stewards’ plans would have failed either way.”
“And we bled for you regardless.”
Silvanus moved closer, but his two captors held out their hands, warning him not to go any further. “Laura, Hector, let me speak. Why have you come looking for me? It’s too dangerous for you here. If the Hunters come for the savages and find you here, they’ll kill you.”
“You reminded us, Silvanus, that fear is an overbearing taskmaster. That hiding is not living. So we joined the world again. If that means we pay with our lives, so be it. But the reason we have sought you out is that we found your fledgling, and she needs your help.”
“Jerusa? Is she all right?”
“Much has happened to her, and very little of it good. Her ghost is, somehow, preventing her from feeding. In all her time as a vampire, she has yet to taste one drop of blood.”
Laura and Hector glanced at each other, a silent message of concern passing between them.
“Alicia?” Silvanus asked. “Why would she do that to Jerusa? She must be in terrible pain. And if she doesn’t feed soon…”
“She’ll develop the Stone Cloak,” Tisiphone finished for him. “I don’t have any answers. Who can read the mind of ghosts? But if I were to chance a guess, I think she is trying to turn Jerusa from a blood drinker into a Divine.”
Silvanus’s face lit with joy, but a spiteful laugh from Laura snuffed it like a tiny candle. “Just because she takes on the Stone Cloak doesn’t mean she will become Divine,” she said. “Countless have tried, only we ten—”
“Eleven,” Tisiphone corrected.
“Only we eleven have ever emerged.”
“I will give you that, but I still find it curious.”
“Find it whatever you want. It doesn’t matter to us.”
Tisiphone continued. “Jerusa was also judged unworthy by the High Council themselves. In exchange for her life, she has joined the Crimson Storm to help hunt for Suhail, who has gone savage and is raising an army. Jerusa and the others are, very likely, in the midst of battle as we speak.”
Silvanus turned to his captors. “We must go to her. Suhail is powerful and cunning. And if he commands an army of savages, she will need our help.”
“Absolutely not,” Laura said. “It is not our concern. Besides, no such army has ever been raised, nor could it ever be.”
The three pointed at the limestone mausoleum. “So, why is there a room full of savages standing idle beneath the ground when they could be attacking the city? Who put them there?”
Laura looked to Hector, but he refused to speak. She sighed at him in disgust. “If what you say is true, then let Shufah deal with her brother.”
“Shufah has been taken captive. The human group known as the Light Bearers Society—” Silvanus gasped
. “Yes, the same that had you when you awoke. They have created some new creature. It drinks blood, yet can move in daylight. Very strong, so far, indestructible. They have taken Shufah, but we don’t know where. That’s why we need Silvanus to show us where they kept him.”
“Out of the question,” Laura said.
“At least allow him to point us in the right direction. Consider it payment for our eyes, our ears, and our tongues.”
“As you wish,” Laura said. Her voice was lifeless, but her eyes told the three that they had overstayed their welcome.
Silvanus turned to Hector. “I need a map. One that shows the whole country.”
Hector folded his arms over his chest.
“The sooner you get it,” Laura said to Hector, “the sooner we can leave.”
Hector vanished in a blink, reappearing several minutes later. He tossed a pile of folded maps on the ground and walked away, obviously more than a bit angry at being assigned such a menial task.
Silvanus scooped up the maps and dug through them with a cartophily’s rapture. First, he poured his attention into a map of the entire United States, closing his eyes as if recalling a dream. Then he pulled out a map concentrating on just the West Coast. He closed his eyes again, only for a second or two, before jabbing his finger into the map. “This is it. This is where Purgatory is.”
He dropped the other maps and started for the three, but Laura and Hector quickly halted him. Silvanus threw his hands up in frustration, then handed Laura the map after showing her the location.
“This is the place,” Laura said, handing the map to Alecto. She pointed her slender finger down on a spot in the Rocky Mountains near the Canadian border. “Now, our business is finished. It’s time for us to leave. Do what you will with the savages.”
“The savages will have to wait,” Tisiphone said. “We have to get to South Carolina to help Jerusa, if it’s not too late.”
“Please,” Silvanus said. “Save her if you can.”
“One thing before we go,” Tisiphone said. “You two know as well as we do that the Stewards’ plan, all those years ago, would have worked. Otherwise, you ten wouldn’t have ran. You are powerful, perhaps truly immortal, but they would have found a way to trap you. And though they wouldn’t have gained the secret to becoming Divine, they would have found a way to feed on your blood. Think about that. An eternity as a prisoner, separated from everything you love, without even the hope of death to set you free. And you call us blood drinkers vile and deceitful.”
Perpetual Creatures, Volumes 1-3: A Vampire and Ghost Thriller Series Page 75
