by Amy Cross
She waited, and finally John headed back to the top of the stairs and looked down at the remains of the Sentinel. Picking up the head, he examined it for a moment.
“How did he do this?” he whispered. “How did one vampire deactivate a Sentinel?”
“So is there some kind of vampire cavalry we can call?” Rita asked, as John made his way back down to the hallway. “Or vampire cops? You've got friends, haven't you? I mean, there has to be someone who can come and make them bring her back, right?”
“I...” Stopping next to her, John paused for a moment, as if he was too shocked to think properly. “He has her now,” he whispered after a few seconds, before turning to Rita. “After all this time...”
“So vampires are just allowed to go around kidnapping other vampires, and there's nothing anyone can do about it?”
Again she waited, but John simply limped unsteadily toward the door to his office.
“Dude, answer me!” she shouted. “How do we get Izzy back?”
Stopping in the doorway, John placed a hand on the frame, as if he was almost too frail to stand. After a moment, however, he turned to Rita with dark, sorrowful eyes.
“How do we get her back?” she asked again. “We can't wait! We have to get moving right now!”
He shook his head.
“What's that supposed to mean?” she asked.
“It means there's nothing we can do,” he replied, his voice cracking slightly with shock. “It means he has Isobel, and now she's going to learn the truth about everything, and there's no turning back from this moment. Even if we could get to her, it'd be too late, she'd already have...” He paused. “She probably already knows the truth now. The one thing I thought I could keep hidden forever.”
“We can't just abandon her!” Rita said firmly. “She's your daughter! You can't just write her off! We have to -”
“You don't understand!” he shouted, momentarily seized by anger, before managing to calm himself again. “You don't understand any of it. You'll just have to trust me. Now that Isobel has been taken, she's gone forever.” He paused, his eyes still filled with shock. “And there's nothing anyone can do to bring her back.”
Chapter Forty-Two
“Hello?” Izzy called out, making her way across the large, opulent ballroom. “Is anyone here?”
Her voice echoed as she turned and looked around. A piano stood nearby, while above there was a huge chandelier that glittered in the light of candles that burned at the edges of the room. Although she had no idea where she was, she felt certain that she'd woken in some kind of vast mansion, but so far she'd seen no sign of anyone else and she was starting to think she might be all alone.
Reaching the huge windows at the far end of the room, she looked out and saw a rocky, desolate landscape beneath a blood-red sky.
“It's that place,” she whispered, thinking back to her earlier nightmare, the one in which she'd seen a mansion in the distance, far beyond a great battlefield.
She turned and looked back across the room.
“This isn't real,” she continued. “I'm dreaming.” Reaching down, she pinched her arm, but the pain wasn't enough to wake her. “I know it's not real!” she called out. “It's a dream, or... It's some kind of race memory! That's what it's called, isn't it? Either way, I know I'm not really here!” She waited, hoping for a response, but the house remained silent. “Hello?” she shouted. “Is there anyone -”
She stopped suddenly as she realized she could hear footsteps in the distance, far off in another part of the building. Someone was hurrying, and it sounded as if they were getting closer.
“Hello?” she said again, making her way cautiously toward the double-doors near the piano. “Are you -”
“He's coming!” a woman shouted, suddenly racing into the room and then turning to slam the doors shut. “Get out of here! He's coming this way!”
“Who is?”
“He's coming!” the woman yelled, turning and running toward her, before grabbing her hand and pulling her toward another door at the other end of the room. “You can't be here when he arrives! Neither of us can! He'll take whatever he wants from us, and then he'll tear us limb from limb!”
“What are you talking about?” Izzy asked, looking over her shoulder. “Who's -”
Before she could finish, she felt the floor shuddering beneath her feet, and she and the woman both dropped to their knees. All around them, the entire house seemed to be shaking, although the sensation passed after a moment. Still, Izzy stared at the door over at the far end of the ballroom, and she she realized she could sense something moving closer, as if she could feel the presence of someone strong and powerful.
“He'll do the same thing to us,” the woman sobbed. “You must've heard the stories. He's ruthless, he never leaves anyone alive! He'll do the same thing to all of us, unless...”
Her voice trailed off.
Izzy turned to her. “Unless what?”
She waited, but now there was a hint of pure horror in the woman's face.
“Unless what?” Izzy shouted.
“It can't be,” the woman stammered, peering closer at Izzy's face. “Please, no...”
“What's wrong?” Izzy asked, unable to hide her frustration. “Why are you -”
“Get away from me!” the woman screamed suddenly, scrambling to her feet and stepping back, as if the sight of Izzy was suddenly enough to send terror through her soul. “Please, don't come any closer! Tell him! Tell him to leave the rest of us alone!”
Izzy got up and stepped toward her, only for the woman to shriek and recoil.
“Why are you so scared?” Izzy asked. “Why -”
Suddenly hearing a terrified scream over her shoulder, she spun around. In the blink of an eye, day became night and the entire ballroom was suddenly filled with flames. There were bodies strewn all over the place, and when she took a step back Izzy realized her feet were splashing through something. She looked down, only to see that pools of rich red blood covered the floor. Turning, she spotted a dead body nearby, its eyes wide with shock and the back of its neck ravaged, while its mouth was wide open, revealing two long, sharp fangs. Seeing another body a little further off, Izzy realized that there were scores of corpses littered about the room, and that they all seemed to have three things in common.
They were all women.
They were all naked.
And they were all vampires.
A moment later, another scream filled the air, coming from the other side of the room. Smokes and flames made it impossible for her to see properly, but as she took a step forward Izzy was just about able to make out a dark figure moving through the shadows. She couldn't see the figure's face, but something about its mere presence sent a jolt of shock through her chest and made her step back. She felt flames licking against the back of her neck, but still she took another step away from the figure, watching as it began to make its way closer through the burning room.
“No,” she whispered, as the flesh on the back of her neck began to ripple and char. “No, please, I want to -”
“Wake up!”
Gasping, she opened her eyes and sat up. In an instant, all the smoke and flames had cleared, and she found herself standing in a small, well-lit chamber flanked on either side by a row of burning candles. Reaching up to touch the back of her neck, she felt a flicker of pain as her fingertips nudged damaged flesh, as if the flames from her nightmare had somehow burned through to hurt her in the real world.
“Don't be alarmed, you just -”
Spinning around, she saw to her horror that O'Malley was standing nearby, watching her as candlelight flickered across his charred face.
“Don't be alarmed, Izzy, you -”
“Where am I?” she asked, taking a step back.
“You're safe.”
“Where am I?” she shouted.
“I think you were dreaming there for a moment, weren't you? I'm sorry. The race memories can be particularly vivid at first, un
til you learn to control them. And you will learn. It's one of the many, many lessons that await and -”
“You attacked me,” she stammered, remembering the moment when O'Malley had bitten her neck. Sure enough, she reached up and felt torn, mangled flesh just below the left side of her jaw.
“It'll heal,” he replied calmly. “I'm sorry, Izzy, but I had to get you out of that house. I wish there had been another way, but -”
“Where's my father?”
“Izzy -”
“Where's Rita? I want to go home!”
“That place is no longer your home.” He paused, before taking a step closer. “You're angry, and I understand that. This is a lot to take in, but -”
“Where's the Sentinel?”
“Dead. Gone.” He shrugged. “Destroyed. I don't know the right word.”
“You killed it?”
“There was nothing to kill, not really. Sentinels are already dead to begin with.”
“I'm getting out of here,” she said firmly, pushing past him and heading over to the doorway at the far end of the room. Once she was out in the corridor, she looked both ways before turning as she heard O'Malley stepping over to join her. “Which way?”
“Izzy -”
“Which way leads out of this place?”
“You need to speak to someone first.”
“To -” Staring at O'Malley, she felt a shudder of fear rising through her body. “Speak to who?”
“Who do you think? The one who went to all this trouble just to get you here.” He paused. “There are not as many coincidences in this matter as there might at first seem, Izzy. The whole thing must appear so chaotic to you right now, but please, speak to the -”
“Speak to who?”
“If you'll just -”
“Where's my father?” she added, as the panic surged in her chest. “Where's Rita? What did you do to them?”
“They're absolutely fine,” he replied. “Well, probably. I admit I was a little rougher than I'd intended, but then things were moving quite quickly. I never anticipated that a Sentinel would become so directly involved. Originally, I simply wanted to observe you from close up, and then lead you out here in some other manner. The Sentinel, and to a lesser extent that human friend of yours, complicated matters, but...” He paused again. “There's someone who wants to speak to you, Izzy. Someone very powerful, someone who came here specifically because of you.”
“I want to go home!” she said firmly. “I want to go back to my father!”
“This way,” he replied, turning and making his way along the corridor.
“Does that way lead home?” she called after him.
“You can take any path you wish,” he continued, “but I assure you, you'll always end up in the same place.” Stopping at the next junction, he glanced back at her. “You never have to hear another lie, Izzy. You never have to leave another question unanswered. Someone has come here to get you back, and if you follow me, I'll take you to the one person who can tell you everything you ever wanted to know.”
Chapter Forty-Three
“What kills vampires?” Rita asked, pushing open the door to the study and hurrying over to the desk, where John was busy sorting through a pile of books.
“Go home,” he muttered, not even bothering to look at her. “Forget this ever -”
“What kills vampires?” she shouted, pushing the books off the side and sending them crashing to the floor. “If I'm gonna go and help Izzy, I need to know what kills vampires! I need a crash-course in this shit! Clearly a stake through the heart is pretty effective, but I want something more permanent!”
Sighing, he stepped around the desk and knelt to start gathering the books.
“No!” she yelled, kicking them all away from him. “You're gonna tell me everything I need to know!”
“So you can go and get yourself killed?” he asked, finally looking up at her.
“So I can save Izzy!”
“You can't save Izzy. Nobody can.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she replied, her eyes filled with shock. “Your own daughter got kidnapped by some madman, and your response is to just give up and accept that she's gone?”
“You don't understand what you're -”
“I understand that you should be ready to do anything in your power to help her!”
She waited for a reply, but after a moment she realized John seemed completely helpless. He was still on his knees, as if he lacked even the strength to get up from the floor.
“Are you scared?” she asked. “Is that it?”
“I am scared,” he replied, “but not for the reasons you think.”
“Then why?”
He shook his head. “It'd take too long to -”
“Will they let her go?”
He frowned.
“Will they let her go?” she asked again. “The people who've taken her, will they just let her leave after a while? Is that it?”
“No,” he replied. “No, they wouldn't have gone to all this trouble just to let her go once they have her. Then again, I doubt she'll want to leave, not once she realizes who...” He paused, before finally getting to his feet. “I should have realized it would this would happen. I mean, the possibility occurred to me, but I put it at the back of my mind. And I allowed myself to believe O'Malley, too, when he said that there was merely a powerful vampire hiding in the area. I told myself that O'Malley would let me know if...”
His voice trailed off.
“I trusted O'Malley. I never thought he'd be in league with...”
He seemed frozen for a moment, and then slowly he made his way back around the desk.
“Is it the vampire that killed Izzy's mother?” Rita asked.
He turned to her.
“She told me a lot of stuff,” she continued. “Is that why you're so goddamn sucker-punched by the whole thing? What was his name again? Gail LaRule?”
“Gaal RaYuul,” John replied, his bodily visibly twitching at the mention of that name. “Yes, it's him. At least, I'm sure it is, there's no other possibility. He's nearby, and he clearly arranged for O'Malley to come and wheedle his way into my house. I never thought a true friend could turn on me like that.”
“So what does this RaYuul dude want with Izzy?”
“Please -”
“Is he doing this to get to you?”
“Me?” John frowned. “You really don't understand. Listen, I don't even know who you are, but now I want you to leave my home. Forget about Isobel, forget about all of this. If you start telling other people what happened here, they'll think you're a lunatic.”
“Everyone already thinks I'm a lunatic,” she said firmly, “so I don't really have much to lose.”
“Just get out!” he shouted, his voice trembling with rage. “Do you honestly think that at a time like this, I want to be dealing with a human? Are you so conceited and self-important that you think you can change what's happening? You're just a human! Humans can't change the course of vampire history, if you try, you'll get blown aside so fast, every bone in your body will shatter! There's nothing you can do, so just forget about it all and...” He sighed. “Leave my house! Immediately!”
“Fine,” she replied, heading to the door, “but I'm going to the forest, and I'm going down into the mine, because that's where they've taken Izzy, isn't it?”
“Forget about -”
“And I'm going to help her,” she added, stopping and turning back to look at him. “Maybe you're too chicken-shit to lift a finger, but I'm not leaving Izzy to deal with this alone. At the very least, I want to see her face and make sure she's okay.”
“If you do,” he replied, “tell her...” He paused. “Tell her I'm sorry, tell her I never meant to lie to her, and tell her I love her with all my heart.”
“Words are easy,” she muttered, clearly disgusted as she left the room. A moment later, the front door could be heard slamming shut so hard, the frame rattled.
“I'm
sorry, Isobel,” John whispered, his voice close to breaking now as tears rolled down his cheeks. Glancing at the bookshelf, he saw a framed photo of a younger Izzy smiling in the garden. “When you learn the truth, please try to understand that all the lies were my way of trying to keep you safe. But... I can't help you now. Nobody can.”
Chapter Forty-Four
“No!” Izzy said suddenly, stopping as she reached another doorway. Gripped by a sudden sense of fear, she stepped back. “I can't go in there.”
“Of course you can,” O'Malley replied, turning to her. “He's waiting for you.”
“Who is?”
“You'll see.”
“I can't,” she continued breathlessly, as she began to realize that she'd felt the same sense of overwhelming fear once before. In her nightmare, or race memory or whatever it was supposed to be, she'd felt exactly the same fear when she'd been in the burning mansion, and when she'd seen the dark figure approaching. “It's him,” she whispered.
“Please, Izzy,” O'Malley continued, stepping back over to her. “You have the strength in your heart, I know you do. The only reason to be scared is if you fear the truth.” He paused, waiting for her to reply. “I'll go no further with you. You must take the final steps alone. If you think it's too difficult, then let me assure you, in the next room you will find all the truth you've been seeking your whole life. Answers to questions you don't even know you have. The fear is a natural thing, but you must keep going. And you will. I have faith in you.”
She opened her mouth to tell him he was wrong, but after a moment she realized she could feel her doubts slipping to one side. As O'Malley walked away, Izzy stared at the doorway and felt the fear twisting in her chest, almost as if it was reforming itself and becoming something else, as if it was becoming a type of certainty. Somehow she managed to put one foot in front of the other, and then again, and finally she stepped through the doorway into a larger candlelit chamber, and she immediately saw a figure at the far end, slumped on the floor with his back resting against the rocky wall.
