He finally heard voices from inside. Stopping momentarily then, he moved as close to the window as he could. He slowly moved his head so that he could peer in. His face was completely covered by a large black cloth with only two eye-holes for openings and his clothing was black as well. He strained to hear what was being said inside.
“None of us cares, Mauri. If you want this woman, you can bring her here tomorrow night and have her.”
“I’d like to bring her over.”
“What if she doesn’t want to cross over?”
“She’s infatuated with me. I’ll convince her.”
“And if you don’t convince her, what then?”
“I will convince her, you’ll see.”
“Mauritarius you know what has to happen if you fail to convince her, don’t you?”
“Well, yes. That would be too bad. But Paris is full of pretty girls, no? Can I not find another?”
Laughter then, from maybe six others Ian guessed.
“Why don’t you just ask her when you’re with her?”
“What if she said no and then went to tell someone?”
“Who’d believe her?”
“Well, she deserves what she gets if she refuses me.”
Laughter again, then the sound of someone walking with a heavy limp
“What are all of you laughing at in here?”
“Mauri wants to bring his girlfriend over here to ask her to cross over.”
“Oh?”
“He hasn’t even asked her yet or told her about himself.”
“Well, if she refuses we’ll all feed from her, so go ahead.”
“You’ve been short tempered since you lost your foot and your ear, Emile.”
“Don’t speak of that to me. If I ever see the one that did that to me, he’s a dead vampire. That mud-covered blue-eyed bastard! I still can see his damned glowing blue eyes! I’m not reluctant to kill any of you if you think that’s a joke.”
“I meant nothing by it Emile.”
“Then keep your comments to yourselves.” Then was the sound of someone stumping out of the room. Ian slipped back up to the rooftop and looked around for the roof access hatch. Finding it he tried it and found that it was secured from the inside. Likely it was to keep wind from flipping it open since no one would try to break into a three story house from its rooftop. He figured that he might just as well break in now and have that part done so as not to worry about making noise when he returned.
He lifted the edge and applied pressure until he heard wood splintering inside. Opening it he peered in and then lowered it, waiting to see if there was a reaction from inside. He sat for some ten minutes, and then he went down through it to see if he could find a way into the top floor. It turned out to be a staircase leading to a door at the end of an upstairs hallway. He glided down the stairs to it and opened it slightly and peering through, saw no one. It opened and closed silently which was what he was trying to determine. He would return tomorrow night to see what developed. They hadn’t mentioned the name of the poor girl, but that wouldn’t help anyway, would it?
Chapter 55
The next day, Ian again picked up Celeste at Caryn’s. He hugged Caryn and they spoke as she was leaving to go to work. Ian noticed that Celeste was carrying a small ruck sack. She had eaten breakfast and Ian had hunted the night before and had bagged three rabbits so his four flasks were full. He asked her what she would like to do that day.
“I want you to take me running.”
“We might ruin your clothes.”
She patted the ruck sack beside her on the seat.
He flashed a big smile. “Then we shall run. I have to get my ruck sack first though.”
Within two hours they were in a densely wooded area to the northeast of Paris. Ian secured the horse and carriage in a dense thicket he found with a tiny creek flowing through it. He left celeste in the carriage and went into the thicket, waiting until she had called out to him. She saw that he was wearing only black seaman’s pants secured with a black sash. A knife was secured in the sash. She wore riding pantaloons, dainty boots, and a simple loose blouse tucked neatly into her waistband. He placed his neatly folded clothing next to hers. He then took his purse and hid it under a really heavy rock nearby saying “Don’t let me forget that or I’ll have to pay for this rented carriage with you.”
She giggled at that and climbed from the carriage onto his back. He bounded away taking a twenty foot leap to start and quickly accelerated to his best speed. Soon he was darting this way and that and bounding over lower trees and obstacles at a blinding rate while Celeste laughed continuously as they went deeper into the forest. He suddenly leaped high and they landed on a broad limb some thirty feet above the ground. Swarming up the trunk to a height of some seventy feet he paused so they could look around.
From there since it was a hilltop, they both could see Paris and the Seine River. There was a barge traveling downstream and it looked barely bigger than a speck on the silvery trace of the Seine.
He reversed himself and they were down from the tree in three descending jumps. Away they flew like a flash and ran for some thirty minutes still toward the northeast. They came to a stream which was descending through some small rapids to collect in a sizeable pool which drained off slowly at its far end.
“Let’s eat lunch.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Gather some dry sticks, some tiny, some medium some larger. Pile them on that flat rock over there.”
After snatching four fish from the stream in a few minutes he busied himself and soon enough they were skewering some fillets with green poplar sticks. He handed two to Celeste and took two for himself. They settled back to roast their fish.
“Ian?”
“Yes.”
“What did you learn when you followed that bad man yesterday?”
“He’s a bad one and he has friends who are going to hurt someone soon. I’m going to stop them.”
“How can you do that alone?”
“I have a talent for killing them. I’ll kill all of these if I get the chance. Don’t dwell on this, little one. It’s a dark subject, not suitable for you to entertain.”
“Ian, do you like doing this? I mean running and seeing new places?”
“Yes. I’d like to see America. It’s so big that no one knows how far it goes. As far as anyone knows there are hundreds or maybe even thousands of miles of forest, never seen by any but the native people there. I’ve wanted to see that for nearly as long as I can remember, ever since hearing of it as a boy.”
They began to eat. “Think of it, Celeste. A virgin continent, never explored. No maps of it exist. It is a giant mystery, much like Africa I suppose. Imagine what it would be like to roam through such a place. Imagine the people who live there, what they must be like. Imagine the wildlife and the sights. How big must the rivers, the canyons, the waterfalls and the mountains be there?” His eyes had a faraway look.
“I’d like to see it with you.”
“I’d love to take you. I see no reason why you can’t go to America when you’re grown if that’s what you want.”
They continued eating. “Your schooling and learning are very important and must be mastered for you to have a better life. After that’s done, you may do as you wish.”
“Ian, you don’t eat just food, do you?”
“No.”
“Do you…”
“Hush little one. It will be only a few years and I’ll tell you everything you want to know about us. One thing I’ll tell you though and that is that I was once human.”
“Did you…..”
“I had no choice. It was to become like…. this, or die.”
“So I could…become …like you?”
He looked gravely at her then. “You have a choice to make when you’re grown. You have time to be a child yet, and to make that choice when you’re of age. To be forced
to become as I am is not a good thing, Celeste. I once loved someone, before Cosette. I was forced to never see her again by what happened to me. That should never be done to anyone.”
“But you have Anna now and she is human.”
“Anna’s nearly twice my age, more mature than that other girl was. She’s been married and had a child. She has lived, Celeste. This other girl was only seventeen and hadn’t really lived to the fullest yet. Anna chose me. I have to deceive her all of the time and can never make a mistake while I’m in her presence. I don’t like that, but I do it to protect her.”
“You mean that others would come…”
“Yes. Others could learn about her knowing about us and would try to kill her and her household staff and her son too. I’m selfish too I suppose. I want to be with Anna as often as I can. She’s been good for me.”
“You two make a fine couple, and she truly loves you.”
“I love her too. There is more about this subject which you’ll learn. You already know how important it is to keep my secret as I do for you. Even my Uncle Angus doesn’t know about your ability. With Cosette, I didn’t have to be secretive that way. Do you see what I mean here?”
“Yes.”
“You’re wise for your years, and will have no trouble knowing what you want when that day comes. Until then live and love every minute of your life Celeste, knowing that so many love you and want only the best for you.”
“I always feel your love.”
He nodded and smiled warmly as he continued. “You have the choice that I didn’t have.” Fastening his eyes on hers he said “Very few humans ever get to make the choice that you will one day make.”
They had finished eating so he kicked out the fire and scattered the coals.
Chapter 56
It was dusk and Ian had done some shopping after leaving Celeste at her home. He had bought a small roll of black veil-gauze. It was the type used to make women’s funeral veils and he had modified the hood-mask he had made earlier by eliminating the eye-holes. He made just one wide hole to see through and had stitched the gauze into place. He could see out of it just fine, but it concealed his face and most importantly his distinctive eyes, and was not near as bothersome as his earlier design had been.
Locating a small foundry which both made and sold swords and other cutlery, he had purchased a short sword. He rigged a crude sling for it where it hung from the back of his neck in the middle of his back. The hilt stuck up around shoulder-high so it was easy to draw and the tip of the sheath was secured via a cord tied around his waist.
He also bought a blunderbuss pistol. The firearms maker said it was called a Dragon. It was a short piece with a huge bore that shot lots of small lead pellets instead of one larger ball. He thought it an excellent piece for close-quarters fighting. So he had four pistols besides the dragon, his sword, his knife, and four full flasks in his ruck sack. Buying some garlic oil he had put a tiny bit of it on his shirt and pants. It was just enough to make him seem to stink to another vampire up close. He didn’t want his scent to be recognizable should he not kill all of these, because one or more could easily get away. Thinking through his plan he couldn’t add any other precautions other than to just walk away from it and let it happen. That wasn’t acceptable.
He leaped and landed on the roof of the house behind the target. In another second he was atop his target. The street in front of the house was empty. He flitted back to the roof access and found it still could be opened so he settled at the front edge of the roof and waited, motionless in typical vampire fashion.
A little over an hour later, he heard and then saw a carriage approach. It stopped at the house and a man climbed out. He assisted a lady from the coach and they went up the stairs into the house. Ian flitted back to the roof access and picking up his bag, he silently entered and closed the access hatch quietly. He flitted to the bottom of the stairs and quickly tucked three loaded pistols into his sash. Carrying the other two, he cracked the door slowly. In seconds he was in the kitchen. He glided through a dim hallway lit only by lamplight reflected from the parlor and foyer. Hearing voices in conversation he froze behind a tall armoire in the hallway even as he heard a man’s’ voice offering wine to his guest.
He thought how many are in there? while keeping his back to the wall so that he could see the kitchen and could occasionally peek out to look toward the foyer. That way he was less likely to be taken by surprise in case one of them happened down the back stairs. He hoped that some of the others had left for the evening, but dared not believe it.
Shortly he heard the woman say “Mauritarius, who are these men?” He wondered if he had heard that voice somewhere before. Mauritarius said what sounded like five names. Good: maybe there are six instead of seven he thought. Mauritarius’ voice became lower just as someone scooted a chair across the floor, so Ian never quite heard the ladies’ name. There was the murmur of conversation and the sound of wine being poured in to goblets.
Suddenly the woman’s voiced was raised and had a stressful sound. “You want me to do what! That is insane. I want you to take me to my home at once!” Laughter followed but by then Ian was gliding into the parlor out of the dark hallway like an apparition from hell. He shot the two who were flanking the girl between their eyes and dropped his pistols whipping two more out to shoot two more between their eyes. During the shooting, the woman shrieked and shrank back in terror. The other two scattered in a flash toward the foyer and the dining and sitting rooms beyond. He turned to scoop up the girl and stared at her in shock. It was Alyssa!
Grabbing a hassock he threw it through a window that looked out over the tiny side yard facing the side of the house next door. She was sitting in shock staring at him in utter dread. He flashed to the sofa and scooped her up whispering “Be quiet!” as he rocketed back through the kitchen and up the three flights of stairs to the roof access. He raised the hatch and quietly laid it flat. Then he scooped up Alyssa and rocketed out of the access opening to the end of the gable and leaped across the alleyway to the adjacent house. From there he leaped again to a single story carriage house adjacent to that house. He sat her down and whispered “Stay here until I return. Don’t make a sound; understand?” She sat frozen in shock and dread.
“Do you understand?”
She nodded, wide eyed. Then she saw the black form stand and seem to fly up into the blackness.
In seconds, Ian was again going down the stairs. With any luck the others would think he had taken the girl out through that broken window. He readjusted his weapons and tested the sword to be sure it wouldn’t bind. Then he checked the dragon pistol and tucked it back into his sash.
Stealthily he glided down the access stairs into the upper hallway. He glided out into the hallway and froze, listening intently. For a while there wasn’t a sound. He glided to the back stairway and crept down two floors into the kitchen. Two men were talking excitedly saying “They took her and went right out that window.”
“They? I only saw one.”
Ian reached up and removed his black hood, securing it in his sash. He wanted one of them in particular to know who he was.
“One wouldn’t come in here and do this.”
Rocketing from the dark hallway to the parlor, eyes glowing a frosty blue, Ian said “One just did.” as he struck the nearest one’s head from his body. Before he could turn he felt a hot pain in his side and heard the roar of a pistol behind him. In pain he nonetheless turned in time to see the vampire with one foot bearing down on him with a short sword raised over his head as he shouted “You?”
Ian just kept turning and made it into a blurring spin away from the attacker as he drew his short sword and rolled over the sofa. He rocketed around the room so fast that he was running on the walls themselves in a blur of speed. By force of will alone, he ignored the pain and rocketed toward the vampire sword drawn, driving him back, his sword a glitterin
g blur in the light of the oil lamps. Ignoring the pain he fought with all of the skill and power he had, twice switching his sword to his left hand so fast as to barely be seen.
Soon he had inflicted four wounds on his overmatched opponent. The vampire stumbled as he backed over a chair in the dining room and that was all Ian needed. His foot flashed up in a powerful blur and he kicked his opponent in the stomach with all of his power. The vampire flew through the dining room and landed flat on his back. Drawing the dragon pistol as he leaped on top of him, Ian shot him in the face from less than a foot away. There was a gurgling scream that was choked off when Ian lopped off his head. Quickly he went to the other vampires who were moaning, tossing and twisting, even as they were healing. He struck the heads of all five from their bodies.
Stopping he took nourishment, draining all of his flasks. There was a surge of energy and the pain receded as the healing of the gunshot wound accelerated. Wasting no time he quickly gathered the six heads. Snatching the tablecloth from the table, he made a makeshift bag to carry them, knotting the four corners. Scooping up all of the pistols he dropped them into his ruck sack. Rocketing to the roof he leaped twice landing beside Alyssa kneeling there in the dark. “I’ll return shortly.” he whispered. Again to her wondering eyes he seemed to fly upward into the blackness. She saw the knotted tablecloth and in curiosity she reached over to touch it, recoiling with a whimper when realizing what its grisly contents were.
Ian again entered and rocketed down the stairs in a blur of motion. He went into a bedroom and ripped the covers off of a bed and rocketed down the steps. Ripping bed sheets at vampire speed he bound each corpse. He carried the bodies up to the roof one at a time and after the last one, he began to ferry them across the alleyway to the roof of the carriage house. Alyssa watched in wide eyed wonder as he returned each time, landing in a crouch with so little noise. She realized that he was bringing the bodies out to place them on the roof of the carriage house.
The last body was brought out so he untied the cloth and exposed them. Now at least if he couldn’t return, the sunlight would burn these six bodies and maybe the carriage house too.