"Locked," he said.
We walked around the building and found several more locked doors. Finally, we found a door at the back of the school that gave when Anton tried it.
He smiled. "I knew there had to be an open door somewhere—easy access for the victims."
He paused then and gave me a serious look. "Now, I want to make this very clear. Don't go rushing into anything, even if you see your grandmother. You need to hang back at first. There's no point in your getting caught in the trap, too."
"You think this is a trap?" I asked.
"I know it is," Anton said. "Just watch yourself."
He opened the door, and we stepped inside.
I flicked on the lighter briefly. We were standing in a dark, nondescript hallway that stretched off into shadow on either side of us. In front of us was another dark hallway.
"This way," Anton said, moving forward.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I'm just following the music."
I stopped for a moment and listened, but I couldn't hear a thing. I shut the lighter off.
Anton led me on through the dark, and though I knew I was no longer in the cave, the darkness that surrounded me now was just as oppressive. At one point, I heard Anton open a door, and he led me down a flight of stairs.
"We're getting closer now," he whispered. "Remember what I said. Don't go rushing into anything."
We walked down a sloping hall, and up ahead of us through the dark, I could just see two doors set far apart—light was coming out from underneath them.
Anton led me over to the closest door and cracked it open silently. Peering around his shoulder, I could just see a sliver of a large, well-lit room filled with rows of seats. I shifted a little, and I could see that at the far end of the room there was a stage with a curtain across it. We were looking at an auditorium.
As I continued to peer into the room, I was startled to see a slight motion from one of the seats. Then I saw another.
"There are people in that room," I whispered.
Anton nodded and motioned me back. Then he eased the door closed.
"What's going on in there?" I asked.
"Those people are prisoners," Anton said.
"Prisoners?" I said. "Is my grandmother one of them?"
"Yes, I believe she is. This is actually quite a good place to keep people. There's a cafeteria and restrooms—and there's even temperature control if you can get it working. Ideal, I'd say."
"Are they chained up or something?" I asked.
"No."
"Then why don't they just walk out of there?"
"I don't think they can," Anton said. "They've lost the will to leave."
"Then how do we get them out?"
"That's going to be tricky. We need to find out who's in charge here and take him out first. But all I can sense is humans."
"So a human is in charge here?" I asked.
"Perhaps. But I think it's more likely to be a vampire in disguise after what I saw in the cave."
"In disguise?" I said. "Is that possible?"
"Yes. Now that's enough with the questions. I need to think."
Anton turned to me suddenly. "You know what? On second thought, no thinking. You stay right here by this door, and I'll have a quick look around. Be right back."
Before I could answer, Anton disappeared.
I stood for a moment, staring around me in the dark. Then I glanced down at the thin line of light under the door.
I decided to have a look for myself.
I pushed the door open gingerly and peered inside. All the lights in the auditorium were on, and I could see people sitting in seats, scattered throughout the room. They were all sitting quietly, and no one seemed to be restless.
It looked for all the world as if they were simply waiting patiently for a performance to begin.
As I looked over the room, I spotted a familiar silver-haired head, and I caught my breath. I glanced over my shoulder. Anton was nowhere in sight.
I crept into the room then, easing the door closed behind me.
I hurried down the aisle silently and kneeled down next to the silver-haired woman who was sitting at the end of a row. I looked up into her face. It was indeed GM.
"GM! GM, are you all right?" I whispered urgently.
She was staring straight ahead with her hands folded in her lap, and she didn't seem to have heard me. She had a slight smile on her face.
I reached out and shook her arm gently. "GM," I whispered.
But she didn't move—she didn't even seem to feel the pressure of my hand on her arm.
"GM," I whispered as loudly as I dared, and I shook her again.
She didn't respond.
I stood up and took a step back. As I did so, I collided with a solid body.
I turned around quickly. It was Anton.
"I thought I told you to stay by the door," he said.
"I had to see what was going on," I said. "And I found my grandmother."
Anton glanced around. "No harm done, I suppose. I can't find the ringleader in the building anywhere, and he doesn't appear to be in this auditorium, either. So, I guess he may be out somewhere. It's not like he has to keep an eye on this group."
"What's wrong with my grandmother?" I asked. "What's wrong with all of them? Why don't they move?"
"The answer is over here." Anton walked toward the stage, and I followed him. He leaned on the stage, and we both stared at a little jeweled object that looked like a top. It was spinning steadily, and a silver light shone out of its center.
I glanced at the top and then at Anton. "That's what's holding everyone here?"
"Yep."
I turned and looked out over the auditorium. There were people of all descriptions—some of them younger, some of them older—some of them actually dressed in nightclothes. All of them were staring at the top as if it were the most fascinating sight in the world.
As I looked out over the sea of faces, I spotted Mr. Fehr, my Social Studies teacher. I knew now why he'd been out.
"It's like they're spellbound," I said.
"They are," Anton replied. "As the top spins, it produces music. The music is what drew them here and what holds them here."
"I don't hear anything," I said.
Anton looked at me and smiled. "No? I suppose you wouldn't. The music is a call to the heart—to the broken heart, that is. To those who have lost the love of their life. The music promises them that if they only wait, the one they love will return."
"And you can hear this?" I asked.
"Oh, yes."
"Why can't I hear it?" I said.
"I suppose that's because you haven't lost the love of your life yet. The music won't work on you—you don't have the ability to hear it."
I looked at Anton sharply. "Does that mean you've lost the one you love?"
Anton smiled at me. "We all do. In the end."
He jumped up on the stage then, and I found the stairs and followed him. We both stood for a moment looking out over the auditorium.
"What's it all for?" I asked.
Anton looked over at me. "You."
"Me?"
"Of course. It's a plan to catch you. And it's not a particularly good plan, either. It's the plan of someone who wants to stay out of trouble himself as much as possible."
"I don't quite understand," I said. "The person who set this up planned to lure my grandmother here so that I would follow?"
"No," Anton said. He walked over to the spinning top and stared down at it. "I'm pretty sure now that luring your grandmother here was actually an accident. Whoever set this up, set this spell going hoping to lure you here eventually. He was just going to keep running this and hope that you would be one of the people who wandered in here at some point."
"He thought I would have a broken heart?" I asked.
Anton crouched down by the top. "You know, I don't think he knew what this thing does exactly. I think he knew enough to recognize this as
a love spell—which it is. But it's not a general love spell as he probably thought. As I said, it works more specifically on the broken-hearted."
"So, someone was trying to catch me with a love spell," I said.
Anton glanced back at me. "It's not such a bad idea. Young girls have been caught with love spells before."
I walked over to join Anton. "This is truly a love spell? This is actually magic?"
"Vampire magic," Anton said. "Most of it is hokum, as I may have mentioned. But a few of these artifacts are the genuine article. There are objects—mostly of ancient origin—that can cast a very real spell. Someone—not associated with the official operation back at the cave—ransacked the place and came up with a few things he could actually use. I have to hand it to him—his knowledge may not be complete, but he does know what's good stuff and what's junk."
"How do we stop the spell?" I asked.
Anton reached out and took the handle of the top between his thumb and forefinger. The top continued to spin despite the pressure from his fingers.
He let go of the top and stood up. "Well, that didn't work. I propose that we smash it."
I saw a shadow move then, and before I could react, a long-handled shovel flashed out and struck Anton in the side of the head.
He went sprawling to the ground. And standing over him was a man I recognized. It was the skinny, dark-haired man who had picked William's pocket back at the Black Moon Carnival.
Anton looked up at the man. "So that's what it does. It masks your signature completely. You don't register as a vampire or a human—you don't register as anything at all. I can't sense you unless I can actually see you."
He squinted at the man. "It's Sebastian, right? Free agent? Loser?"
In response, the man raised his shovel again.
Anton caught the shovel as it fell and sprang to his feet. He wrenched the shovel out of the man's hands and threw it to the side.
"I'll take care of this," Anton said to me. "You smash the top."
Anton and the man he'd called Sebastian disappeared from the auditorium in a blur. I stood for a moment, staring after them in shock. Then I heard a crash and a cry, and then another crash.
The sound shook me out of my daze, and I ran for the shovel. I picked it up and brought it down as hard as I could on the top.
The little jeweled object continued to spin, but one of its jewels dropped off, and it began to shake just a little. I hit the top again and again, and eventually, it split down the middle. The top stopped spinning, and the two halves fell to the stage motionless. The silver light went out.
I looked out over the auditorium. The people in the seats all moved at the same time, as if they'd all awakened from a deep sleep in unison. I saw GM looking around in confusion.
Anton reappeared at my side. "We'd better go."
"But GM's just woken up," I said. "She doesn't know where she is."
"We had a deal," Anton said. "She's safe now."
"What about Sebastian?"
"I persuaded him that it was in his best interests to leave town. He won't be bothering any of these people again."
"What did you—"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"No."
I glanced back at GM.
"Come on," Anton said. "It's best if we go before she sees you. Trust me."
I took Anton's hand, and we disappeared into the night.
Chapter 14.
The world around me became a blur, and when Anton and I came to a stop, we were standing in my driveway in front of my house.
I stared up at it in surprise. "What are we doing back here?"
"It just occurred to me that you'll need to collect a few things before we go," Anton said. "Namely your passport. And probably clothes would be nice, too. It should be a little while before your grandmother makes her way home. We should have enough time to get in and get out before she returns."
"My passport?" I said. "What do I need a passport for?"
"You'll need it to enter Russia," Anton said. "Ideally, you'd have a visa, too, but I think we can work something out."
"Why Russia?" I asked.
"Because that's where we'll have the best chance of keeping you safe. There's a protective charm on the house you used to live in. It was placed there by your mother. With any luck, that will be enough to keep him out."
"That's what William wanted to do," I said. "And by 'him' you mean—"
There was a buzzing sound, and Anton held up a hand. "Sorry, I'd better take this."
He took out his phone and answered it.
"Yeah?" Anton's eyebrows rose. "Oh. That's not good." There was a long pause. "And that's even worse. Okay. Will do." He put the phone away.
"A friend of yours?" I said.
"A change in plans," Anton replied. He glanced around. "We'd better get moving."
We went into the house and then up to my room so I could pack. I went to my closet and then realized that my suitcase was actually at the Krstics' house, so I went to get one of GM's suitcases out of the closet in the hall. As I left the room, Anton was checking messages on his phone. But when I got back, he was sitting on my bed flipping quickly through a magazine.
He looked up as I set the suitcase on the bed. "Do you actually read this stuff?"
I glanced at the cover of the magazine. "It's a teen magazine. I'm a teen. It's not that weird. Besides, I like looking at the clothes."
"I guess that makes sense," Anton said. He continued to flip through the magazine quickly—if I hadn't known better, I would have said that he was nervous.
I began to pull clothes out of my drawers. "I'll need my backpack."
"Why?"
"I've got my passport and my phone here, but my other stuff, like my driver's license, is in the backpack."
Anton smirked. "You have a driver's license?"
"It's a provisional license," I said. "But yes, it's a driver's license. I'll need my ID. You never know what could happen."
"Where is your backpack?"
"It's at the Krstics' house," I said.
"I'll get it later," Anton said.
I looked at him in surprise. "Do you know them?"
"No, but I assume you can give me their address."
Anton threw the magazine onto the bed and stood up. Then he went to the window and pulled back the curtain. He stood for a long moment looking out.
"Is something out there?" I asked.
"Yes and no," Anton replied.
"That's an enigmatic answer," I said.
"I'm an enigmatic man." Anton let the curtain drop and went back to sit on the bed.
"So what was all of that with Sebastian?" I asked as I continued to work.
"I told you. It was a trap to catch you."
"I know—but why does he want to catch me?"
"There is an ancient vampire known as the Hunter after you. The Hunter was revived and released by the Werdulac specifically to catch you. And he did that because there's a widespread belief that you are a fearsome vampire-and-hybrid hunter known as the ghost girl. For the record, I happen to know that you are nothing of the kind."
"Oh no?" I said.
"No," Anton replied. "So, Sebastian, despite his great cowardice, thought he would be enterprising. He thought he would catch you himself and turn you over to the Werdulac. He figured he would get ahead of the Hunter and be suitably rewarded. But it's a bad idea."
"Why is it a bad idea?" I asked. "It does sound enterprising, as you said."
"Because Sebastian would never get to deliver you. The Hunter is quite literally a legend—and for a reason. He never gives up. He always gets his prey. And he doesn't let anyone else get in his way. You'd have to be incredibly bold or incredibly stupid to challenge him. Guess which one Sebastian is."
Anton glanced at me sharply. "You seem to be taking this Hunter thing very calmly, by the way. Most people would be more than a little disturbed to hear that they were being stalked by an ancient vampire."
"I already knew about him," I said.
"Oh?"
"Someone warned me," I said.
"Who?"
"I don't know exactly," I replied. I briefly told him about the messages I had received.
"Intriguing," Anton said. "I wonder now."
"William said the messages were from a vampire," I said. "He sensed one when we were in Bryony's grandmother's house."
"It's possible. I can tell you the messages weren't from me. And I'm reasonably sure they weren't from Sebastian, either."
"About Sebastian, why couldn't you or William sense him?"
Anton reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small object, which he held out to me.
"That's how he did it," Anton said. "That's how he was able to sneak up on me."
I walked over and took the object from him—it was a necklace. I saw to my surprise that I was holding a dull green stone on a heavy, black metal chain—it looked identical to the one William had found the night of the Black Moon Carnival.
"Where did Sebastian get this?" I asked.
"I believe he scavenged it from the treasure cache in the cave," Anton said. "He took the necklace and the broken-heart charm and probably a few other things. He did seem to know which stuff was good."
Anton tilted his head. "You seem to recognize it."
"I saw something like it not long ago with William," I said. "He found it when he was out with me."
"Did he tell you what it was?"
"He said it was a relic of the Werdulac's era," I replied. "He said he'd seen one like it back at the Vaults in Rusalka Castle."
"Did he tell you what it does?"
"William said it didn't do anything," I replied. "He said its significance lay in its age and in the fact that it was Russian. He said it was an historical artifact from another part of the world, and he didn't know what it was doing here."
"Typical," Anton said.
"What is?"
"William," Anton said. "Thinking he knows everything."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"It means that the necklace does indeed do something. It is a relic of the Werdulac's era, but it isn't just for show. There are five of these necklaces—one for each member of the Werdulac's family—the Werdulac himself, his queen, his brother, his son, his daughter. If a vampire wears the necklace, it masks his signature completely. It makes his presence invisible to others of his kind unless they can actually see him. I had originally thought that it made the vampire register as a human. But after my altercation with Sebastian, I realized it did even more. It actually makes the wearer a complete blank—that's why I didn't know Sebastian was behind me. I didn't sense anything at all."
Dangerous Creatures (Book 3, Pure Series) Page 16
