CHAPTER 34 Death at Shadowrise
Alex and Catherine ran a good ways down the mountainside and stopped. The sunlight was blinding, and Alex squinted and shaded her eyes with her hand. She'd been inside the cavern for months, but Catherine had not been in sunlight in ninety years and was now human. She had to keep her eyes closed, and Alex led her like a blind person down the mountainside using shadows whenever possible. "I'm freezing and feel bad," Catherine said. Alex kept a blanket over little Andra's eyes, but it became increasingly obvious that she wasn't a vampire. Still, she was hyperactive for just being born.
As soon as they were out of sight of the grotto, Alex called Jaklin on her cellphone. Her heart raced, and she said to herself, "Please be gone. Please be gone."
Jaklin answered at the first ring. "Missy!" she screamed.
"Tell me you're in Bulgaria," Alex said.
"Of course not. We're here waiting for you. Both of us."
Alex choked up, couldn't get her words out. Finally she asked, "Are you home?"
"Yes. Well, no. Not actually home," said Jaklin. "I'm a ways up the hill in the forest."
"You sound scared. What's happening?"
"Stefan mobilized some of the towns people, and they are about to attack a vampire ceremony. Mikhail has gone to stop them. Oh Alex!" she cried. "He could be killed."
Alex realized that it could be worse than that. "Where are you?"
"Not far from Peleș Castle."
"Come back toward home. I'll meet you halfway."
Alex turned back to Catherine. "Hurry! Lives are at stake. Why does everything have to happen at once?"
"I can't walk fast," said Catherine. "I'm so weak. I feel less alive now than when undead."
Alex kept encouraging her forward. Once they got home, Alex located the spare key she'd hidden in a stump, and unlocked the backdoor. What a great place for the baby, she thought. Nălucă came to her whining for food. He looked as if he'd gained a pound or two. That'd be softhearted Jaklin's doing. She went upstairs and brought down the bassinet. Catherine was still suffering from becoming human again, but Alex needed her to care for Andra. Can I trust her? she wondered. I have to, but she's my baby, and only an hour old. Yet, if something bad did happen to Mikhail, I'd never forgive myself.
"Can you care for Andra?" she asked. Alex still hadn't fed, needed blood badly and couldn't take her eyes off Catherine's throat.
"Of course," said Catherine, but seemed distracted. "I didn't realize. This is my home. You live here?"
Alex felt alarm that Catherine would still view this as her home. Alex started to say that it belonged to her now but bit her tongue. She was losing precious time. She located her grandfather's staff she'd found in the attic. She'd need it.
"I haven't seen that in a while," said Catherine.
"It was my grandfather's," Alex said.
"Yes, I sent it to him. It's black ironwood from southern Mexico."
"You can't imagine how much getting it pleased him. He was rarely without it."
"That's gratifying. Such a small gift."
"That brought so much pleasure."
Alex changed clothes, slipping into a pair of Levi's and a T-shirt. Amazingly her pre-pregnancy clothes fit. If anything, she'd lost an inch or two, except in the bust. The rest of her vampire body was trim and ready for whatever.
Alex stood for a second over little Andra staring down at her asleep in the bassinet. She couldn't drag herself away. "Lock the door after me," she said. "Admit no one." She kissed Andra on the cheek. "I'll be back," she whispered as she grabbed her staff.
"Alex!" Catherine shouted. She looked terrified. She came to Alex and took both her hands. "Be careful. I couldn't stand to lose you."
What's this? Alex wondered. She hardly knows me. She turned from her great grandmother and was out the door.
Alex ran toward Peleș Castle through trees avoiding streets. Halfway there, she spotted Jaklin running toward her although in a skirt and heels. They collided into each other's arms, hugged for a second, and were then off to find Mikhail.
"He's changed, Missy," Jaklin said. "He has vampire friends now and feels so badly about the way he treated you. You should hear him. He believes you're an angel sent to save the world."
And then she stopped dead cold. "You've had the baby. Missy! What happened?"
"I gave birth an hour ago," she said as she kept walking. "The baby's fine." Alex's need for blood again returned. The look and smell of Jaklin were almost more than she could bear.
"How about you? An hour?"
"Vampire resilience." She had to look away from Jaklin to keep from biting her. So professional, dark-blue skirt, white blouse and black pumps.
"Where's the baby?"
Alex looked back to talk because Jaklin kept falling behind. "I left her with a friend. Tell me about this group of vampires. Where will they be?"
"On a hilltop," said Jaklin. They go there at twilight to see Sinaia in the sun's last rays."
"I've heard of these people," said Alex. "It's a ritual that goes back a thousand years. They tried to get me to attend, but I was afraid of being recognized. They go there to watch the shadow crawl up the eastern mountains of Prahova Valley. It's the Mystery of the Rising Shadow. They call it Shadowrise. These vampires are good people. It'd be a crime to harm them."
"That's what Mikhail said. Oh, Alex, you know him. When he believes in something, he'll give his life for it."
"We mustn't let that happen." But Alex wondered if that were true. He certainly hadn’t given his life for her.
Alex saw the service taking place on a bald, low-lying hill surrounded by pines. She ran on ahead of Jaklin. As she approached, she counted maybe twenty people and five of them humans. Cosmina stood at the apex of the knoll, her back to the valley and the others gathered in front of her like a choir. They started singing. The sun had gone behind the mountain no more than ten minutes before. Alex looked east and saw the shadow now at the river and slowly climbing the mountain on the far side of Prahova Valley. The choir went from singing to humming, and Cosmina started her prayer, or poem it was most probably. Alex thought she looked quite beautiful.
"Shadowrise. Forces of the deep, bring on your darkness. Bring forth the night so the hidden things of the world might find life among the living. Rise up, oh Shadow, claim your prominence over the brilliance that denies the subtle powers that bind us even to ourselves. Give us the gray havens, the demarcation that brings clarity to the World of Light. Without Shadow, even enlightenment has no form."
Alex heard a shout from behind the chorus, and a man entered the clearing. He was dressed in gray, had dark hair, a bit of beard and wore glasses. Of course, it was Mikhail. "Scatter! Run for it," he yelled, just as a gunshot blast went off and echoed out in the valley. A member of the chorus fell, and the others started to scatter. Cosmina, still focused on her poem, took longer to recognize the danger. She fell into confusion and froze.
Alex was at a full run now, and to her left, up from below, came the source of the gunshot. She recognized the redheaded man carrying the shotgun: Stefan leading a group of shouting town folk. Complete chaos erupted, with people and vampires running in every which direction. Stefan pointed the shotgun at Cosmina. Alex screamed, but she was too late. Mikhail stepped in front of Cosmina just as Stefan fired again. Mikhail fell and Cosmina ran for the trees, but Stefan cut her down with another blast. Alex started to run to her, but she jumped off the ground and made it into the forest. Alex knew that he'd missed her heart.
Alex had forgotten about her staff, but when Stefan fired at her, she turned on him, knocked the shotgun from his arms, clubbed him in the ribs and knocked him cold with a blow to the head. She was pleased at how much she remembered of what her grandfather had taught her about using the staff. She thought about jumping on Stefan and sucking his blood, but she heard more screaming as a new group entered the scene and at the head of them was another man dressed in black and swept round by a cape. It was Alu Kard, and he
turned his group of feral vampires lose on the lot. It was a screaming, crying, crawling mess.
Alex knew what she had to do. Ferals had no place in this world, no place in this fight, and could do neither humans nor vampires any service. She knew Mikhail was down, but they'd all be dead or turned feral if she didn't do something quick. Ferals were all around her. She clubbed some, kicked others, and then she drove her staff through one's heart. He fell to the ground.
Alex went crazy. She spun, kicked, thrust and the ferals ran. She'd downed three more when she heard another blast from the shotgun and felt a thud at her chest. Stefan was up off the ground and had just fire his shotgun at her again. She ignored him and continued killing ferals. She felt another blow from Stefan's shotgun, but saw a feral feeding off a human and ran to his aid. The feral would have taken most of his blood to turn him, but he never got that far before Alex drove her staff through his heart from behind. Then she turned on anyone present. All the regular vampires were already gone, and it was just ferals and humans. She clubbed the humans and staked the ferals.
Alex had never forgotten Mikhail. She knew that the only way she could save him, if he was still alive, was to clear the area, but now standing over Mikhail was a dark, loathsome shape, and instantly she knew real hatred. The black shadow of Alu Kard fell over Mikhail, but someone attacked him from behind. It was Jaklin, who jumped upon his back, legs clamped about his waist and clawing at his eyes. Her skirt slipped up her legs to her hips and she pulled off a heel and pounded him on the head with it. Alu threw her off down the mountainside as if she were a rag doll. Alex was instantly upon him. She lunged to drive her staff through his heart, but he deflected it with a brush of his hand, unaccountably sending the shaft flying off away from her.
"Stop, Eidyn! It doesn't have to be this way," he said.
Alex saw her movement once again go to lightening speed. She hit him in the ribs with a left, and drove her right fist splat into his face. He fell backwards but was instantly on his feet and grabbed her, spun her around, and pinned her arms behind her. Alex fell forward, rolled and slung him down the slope. She pounced on him, and when he rose up, kicked him in the chest sending him careening into a tree. He came at her again. They collided and he took hold of her head with both hands, tried to snap her neck, but she spun her whole body to face him. She was within his arms, and she had hers around him. He lunged forward to bite her but stopped. And then she stopped too. She released him. He was afraid to bite her.
"Why, Eidyn? Why?" he said.
"I've seen your Ichor Dome," she said.
"You don't understand. They don't all turn out like that. They are the mistakes."
"How about your House of Pain?"
"You shouldn't be down that far," he said. "It's forbidden."
"And now I know why."
Alu turned and fled. Alex wondered why, and then she saw Stefan running after him firing his shotgun.
Alex turned back to Mikhail and saw Jaklin bent over him crying. Alex ran to them.
"He's dying," said Jaklin.
Alex sank to her knees. The smell of blood was everywhere, overwhelming even her concern for him.
"I'm so sorry I abandoned you, Missy," he said."
"That's all past," said Alex.
"Please forgive me."
"We need to get you to a hospital."
"No time. It's up to you."
"What?"
"Turn me. You need to turn me."
The smell of blood coming from Mikhail was so strong she could taste it on her tongue. "No, Mikhail. You're one step from Paradise. Just a few breaths away. You don't understand about the soul."
"I don't care. My love in this life or the next is invested in you two. We three belong together."
"I can't Mikhail. I just can't."
"We are the only things in this world or the next of value to me. I see angels hovering about me. Still, I know this. I've questioned more than either of you. I found the answer. You transcend all things, Heaven and Earth. Turn me, Missy. Don't let me pass from this world."
He'd lost all his strength, and was perhaps even now beyond her reach. She realized that he was dying from internal injuries and not because of the loss of blood.
"Don't doom me to a death without you."
"Aieee!" Alex sent her heartbreaking shriek to the heavens, hoping for guidance. She looked at Jaklin. Tears streamed down both her cheeks. "What am I to do?" she asked. Saliva was forming so fast that she was about to choke. Yet, she just couldn't bite him. She'd never forgive herself.
Jaklin looked unsure, a blank gaze hewn of uncertainty that suddenly changed into unmitigated conviction. "Turn him!" she shouted. "Do it, and don't look back."
Alex realized that ultimately it was her own choice. Could she live with what she was about to do? With a deep sigh, she flopped down on him, placed her mouth on his throat, chewed into him and felt the sweet nectar of his life flow into her. Her thirst was so strong that she had difficulty pulling herself off him, even when she felt his body go limp, delirious as she was with the taste of him. She felt a change come over her own body, felt a flush, a glow that she'd never felt from anyone she'd ever bitten.
"Let him go," said Jaklin. "He's dead already."
Quickly, Alex raised Mikhail's mouth to her throat, and he bit into her. Alex cried while he sucked her. She looked down into his face, his eyes rolled up until only the whites showed, then came down again as a pale light glowed within them and then flashed so brilliant that it momentarily blinded her. She pushed him off.
Mikhail sat on the ground blinking like a night owl. He started to cry. Alex expected him to go crazy violent as did she when she was turned. He didn't. Instead, his eyes filled with tears.
"Mikhail, can you hear me?" she asked
Jaklin knelt beside them. "Speak to me, Mikhail," she said.
Yet he was still confused, didn't seem to know where he was or even who he was. He put his forearms over his face and shook with great sobs.
"We need to get him home," said Alex, but saw that his wounds were already rapidly healing. She wondered at the grief. Was he already sorry she'd turned him? Watching him cry broke her heart. Alex heard a movement behind her and turned from Mikhail to face Stefan, who'd just returned from chasing Alu.
"Who was that bastard in black?" he asked. "He's even more elusive than you."
Alex ran to him, jerked the shotgun from him, threw it off into the bushes, and shoved him up against a tree.
"You listen to me, you stupid, cheap little sonofabitch. You even so much as point that shotgun and any of us again, I'll kill you so quick you'll not remember that you were ever alive."
From down below, five policemen came running up the hill. Captain Mariusz led them.
"You!" he said, seeing Alex. "Zosimos said you'd left Romania. And now here you are again, right in the middle of all the trouble."
"Where is Zosimos?" asked Alex. "If he's a part of this, I'll stake him, even if he is human."
"Zosimos is no more," said Stefan.
"You mean he's dead?" Grief gripped her.
"Might as well be. He mumbles into his beard, and stays in seclusion. He hasn't just lost his faith, he's also lost his wits."
Alex relaxed, realizing she cared more for the old priest than she thought.
A gorilla of a policeman came down the hill from where he'd chased the vampires. "She tried to stop it," he said pointing at Alex. "If it wasn't for her, many would have died. She may have clubbed the humans, but she killed several vampires." He turned away and wouldn't look her in the eyes.
Alex thought he looked familiar, and then realized who he was. This was the man who wanted a little fellatio while she was in jail. "So we meet again under somewhat different circumstances," she said. He had a welt on his neck where she'd clubbed him during the fracas.
Mariusz looked at her questioningly and then also realized the situation. "So," he said, somewhat embarrassed himself. "It's as Zosimos said. Y
ou are not the evil being we thought."
"Father Zosimos said something good about me?"
"I told you. He's lost his mind," said Stefan.
Mariusz looked Stefan off, turned back to Alex. "He believes you would help with this vampire infestation, if we'd give you a chance. Is that true?"
"For the past months since you first tried to incarcerate me, I've been living with a colony of vampires. Many more live here in Sinaia than you realize. Most are decent people and actually a benefit to society, not a pestilence. But just within the last year, a new form of vampire has come on the scene. I'll not go into how this came about, but that is what's happening. The two factions of vampires are at war. You need to stay out of it. Let me handle it."
"How can I afford to sit by and wait for you to do something? I have to protect the community."
"You have no choice. You'll make the problem worse. Trust me on this."
"How about that man there?" He pointed at Mikhail. "Does he need medical attention?"
"It was stupid Stefan." She glared at him. "Stefan shot him, but he's okay now. I've taken care of him."
"Whatever that means. Well, he's your friend, your problem."
"And Stefan here is your problem," said Alex. "Keep him and his band of vigilantes out of this, or he will show up in the morgue."
"You heard her, Stefan," Mariusz said shoving him back a step. "I'll give you some time, Miss Eidyn, but if we have another attack, I'm coming for you first."
With that, the police went back down the hill, and Alex ran to Mikhail and Jaklin. Stefan went with her. Jaklin was talking to Mikhail who was still disoriented. He could remember little of who or where he was even though his wounds were mostly healed.
Alex turned on Stefan. "Listen to me, you stupid red-headed, freckle-faced bastard. I've put up with your crap for the last time. I will kill you, if you hurt anyone else close to me. And that's not a threat. It's a promise."
But Stefan only smiled and backed away from her down the hill.