Chp. 5
If possible, Kline mansion was even more impressive in the daylight. As we walked up the flagstone path to the mansion’s enormous carved doors, fighting to hear over the yard crew’s mowers, blowers and other machinery, I couldn’t help but feel awe. The vastness of the Kline Estate took my breath away. It was hard to imagine anyone moving something this size piece by piece, all the way here from England.
Sighing, I took the lead and walked up to the tall oaken doors. The dark wood in front of me was carved in relief, depicted into a scene out of the book of Revelation. Angels and demons battled, forever frozen in mid combat by a master woodcarver.
I reached forward and tentatively knocked using the large wrought-iron knocker. We stood there amidst the landscaper’s racket, waiting for someone to answer. After a couple of minutes went by, I lifted the knocker only to have it pulled from my hand, when the door slowly opened, revealing a small man in an elegant servant’s outfit.
He bowed formally.
“Good afternoon young ladies, gentlemen. I’m afraid you’ve missed the party entirely,” he said in a thick British accent looking down his nose at us.
“We’re here to see Brianna,” I said trying not to fidget.
“In that case, please do come in,” he said, turning aside and gesturing for us to walk past him into the foyer.
We walked inside and he closed the thick door behind us. The foyer was much like I remembered it from last night, minus the celebrating teenagers. To my surprise, there was no sign that a party had been held there at all. Everything was clean and in absolutely perfect order. The butler pointed at some chairs lining the foyer wall next to the doorway.
“Please find a seat to your liking while I inform Lady Brianna that she has visitors. Will you take refreshment while you wait?”
“I’ll have a garlic soda, I mean a soda if it’s handy.” Toby quipped.
“I’ll have a Martini, shaken not stirred,” said Carla grinning at Toby.
I rolled my eyes at both of them. “Nothing for me, thank you.”
“Me either,” said Ivy, “Thank you so much for your kindness.”
The little man produced a bell from his pocket as he walked away from us and rang it. A woman also dressed in servant attire appeared, and he whispered something to her I couldn’t quite hear, then left down a hallway to the right. The woman disappeared down a hallway in the opposite direction.
“Dinner’s served,” laughed Toby nervously, playing with his pouch of silver dust as we sat down.
“And we’re dinner,” Carla added.
“Have some faith!” said Ivy, patting her pouch.
We sat alone, in silence for less than five minutes before the female servant returned bearing two drinks on a filigreed golden platter. She offered what looked like a Coke to Toby who reached out and took the proffered drink.
“I’m afraid we don’t keep much garlic in the house, will Coca Cola be suitable sir?” she asked, the barest hint of amusement in her eyes.
“Yes… that’s fine, thank you,” Toby smiled, turning red.
“Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred,” she said offering a martini glass to Carla, whose jaw dropped.
“Thank you,” she managed.
“Will there be anything else?” the woman asked smiling politely.
“No thank you,” I said trying to hide a smile at Carla’s reaction. It was often anyone got the best of Carla.
The female servant curtsied, and left the room.
Toby started laughing under his breath. “Serves you right Carls. And I could so fit into an Aston Martin!”
“Picked a bad day to give up barbiturates,” she said grinning and downed the whole glass, minus the olives.
It was my turn to be shocked. Carla drank it down like it was water, which a moment later, I realized, she had thought it was. She sputtered and coughed.
“Real… martini,” she gagged.
The three of us laughed despite our nervousness. Toby clapped her on the back a few times and gave her some of his coke to wash down the alcohol. Moments after she stopped coughing, the butler returned.
“Lady Brianna will attend you in the atrium. Follow me please.”
Carla set down her glass on a table nearby; we stood and followed the servant down a long corridor to the left of the sweeping marble stairs. A variety of renaissance paintings from the Dutch school hung along the hallway, some of which I even recognized. Sculptures of translucent marble dotted the spaces in between the rich paintings. At the end of the hall, the butler opened a large door and motioned that we should enter.
I was completely blown away. It was literally like walking into the Amazon jungle. Richly colored birds swooped through the air calling to one another above the massive ferns and between the trees that tickled the glass ceiling more than eighty feet above our heads.
Mist began to fall from the hidden pipes somewhere high above, accompanied by the sound of a thunderstorm. Incredibly beautiful orchids twined amongst the trees branches, fighting for space with bromeliads of every shape, size and color.
“Amazing!” said Ivy for all of us.
The butler led us take in the beauty of the room for a moment before ushering us along a stone path between the jungle growth. We followed, aghast at the enormity of the atrium. After ten minutes of walking we emerged into a clearing of sorts. A white sand beach surrounded a turquoise colored pool in the midst of the jungle-filled atrium. Brianna waved from a beach chair on the sand to the side.
Brianna wasn’t only the richest and most popular girl in our school; she was one of the prettiest as well. She was tall, maybe 5’10, had dark brown hair that hung down to the middle of her back, smoky eyes, and a great figure. Guys at school joked she was a mixture of Kim Kardashian and Jenifer Anisten. It wasn’t too far from the truth, except that maybe she was richer and prettier than either.
I hardly knew her other than to see her in the hallways at school occasionally. She usually said hi to Toby, but I’d never thought much of that, everyone liked Toby.
The butler bowed and left, returning along the path we had taken.
“Wow Brianna, this place is unreal!” Toby said, leading us over to Brianna.
She stood up and hugged him tightly as he came near. She looked amazing in her bikini. I could see Carla’s eyebrows fix into a frown as Brianna held her boyfriend, maybe a second too long.
“Daddy has to have the best of everything,” she apologized. “Carla!” she exclaimed, and gave Carla a hug as well, though not nearly as long as the one she’d laid on Toby.
“Ivy Hlava and Jake Gunn, I guess you two had an interesting night last night,” she said with a knowing smile and sat back down on her beach lounge.
I was briefly disappointed that I didn’t get a hug and almost didn’t hear her admission that she knew what had happened.
“Is that old knight why you’re here?” she asked innocently.
“Are you a vampire Bri?” Carla interrupted, drastically changing subjects. Just like Carla to be completely, embarrassingly blunt.
Brianna looked at Carla in shock, then laughed loudly taking a sip of a red drink on a small table beside her lounge. Toby sat down beside her on the lounge, possibly trying to deflect Carla’s rudeness.
“Heavens no, I’m not eighteen, or in good enough shape yet,” she smiled.
“What?” asked Carla incredulously, giving Toby a dirty look.
“When I’m turned, I’ll stay that way forever, I have some work to do before I’ll be ready, and a plastic surgeon to see about giving me bigger…”
“Seriously!” I sputtered interrupting her, “You are planning on becoming a Vampire and eating people?”
Brianna looked over her sunglasses at me. “We don’t eat people Jake. Yuck! Besides, father forbids it!”
Toby laughed nervously, “Well, what do you plan on eating then? McDonald’s happy meals?”
Brianna joined in his laughter and patted his arm affectionately. “You ARE the
funniest boy in school Toby.”
Toby shrugged as if in agreement.
“Oh, he’s a barrel of laugh’s Bri,’ Carla said, walking over beside Toby and putting her hand possessively on his huge shoulder. “Seriously though, what do vampires eat if not humans?” she pressed.
“We can eat just about anything high in iron. It’s not nearly as bad as you think Carla… I could talk to my Dad if you like, maybe he’ll…”
“Not a chance.”
“As you wish,” she laughed at Carla’s discomfort. “Seriously, being a vampire is a perfectly good way to spend eternity. As long as you don’t drink the blood of a human, you remain mostly human, but never die. You can go out in the sunlight and get a tan, go into a church, even eat a bite of garlic or wear a cross if it suits you. Birth control is built into the gig, so what’s not to like about it?”
At this last statement she winked at Toby who shrugged it off. Carla bristled.
“What happens if you drink human blood?” I asked.
Brianna shuddered. “You are basically no longer part of the covenant and can‘t go out into the sunlight ever again. You’re pulled into evil, and can only live off of the blood of humaniods.”
“Enough about that,” I said impatiently. “Tell me about Sir Nisbet Bri.” I said.
“You were there Jake, you and Ivy. Daddy showed me the tape this morning before the sun came up. Kind of a beautiful way to go, if you have to go, that is. Glowing blue, and then a little fireworks show. Not bad if you ask me.”
“What can you tell me about him?”
“I really don’t know anything, Jake. Daddy had a deal with him or something, you’ll have to ask him once it gets a bit darker out.”
“He can’t go out in the light? Then, your father drinks human blood!” Carla spat.
“Well, he’s over two thousand years old, he’s pre-covenant.”
“What’s this covenant you keep referring to Bri?” Toby asked. Brianna beamed at him.
“Once the Son of God was born, Vampires living at the time were given a moment of clarity and in that moment, they could choose to go without human blood to sustain them. Some chose to forgo their taste for it and the power it gave them. Others didn’t make the covenant, and could be injured or killed by holy water and crosses from then on. My father made the covenant. He’s not as free as I will be, because he’d already killed before making the covenant. Direct sunlight will burn him and eventually kill him if he doesn’t get out of it quickly, as a punishment, and a reminder of the sins he committed, the lives he ended.”
“Interesting.” Carla nodded.
“If there is a built in birth control thing, then how is it that he had you? Are you adopted?” Toby asked.
“Kind of a funny story,” Brianna laughed. “A vampire who accepts the covenant can have a child if the partner is holy. My mother was a Nun from St. Marien zu Helfta in Helfta, Germany. So yes, he’s my father.”
“So if you want to have kids…” led Toby.
“I’d have to do a priest,” she laughed and Toby joined in loudly.
I could hardly believe we were sitting there having this insane conversation. At this time yesterday, I was getting ready for a game against a tough, undefeated football team. Less than twenty-four hours later, I’m sitting around with my friends talking about Vampires as if we should be okay with it.
“Can’t you remember anything more about Sir James, Brianna?” I asked, my frustration must have been evident.
She regarded me seriously. “As I said Jake, my Dad had some kind of agreement with him. I don’t know what it was. It’s not like they asked me into the study to listen to their conversations,” Bri said sarcastically. “The only reason I know they had a deal was I heard my father tell Sir James that he had completed his side of their business arrangement a couple of weeks ago as I passed them in a hallway near the library.”
Bri took another sip of her drink and adjusted her sunglasses.
“He’s visited father occasionally ever since I was a little girl. My father and him spent a lot of time together lately though. He’s been here like every night for the last four or five months at least, studying in one of Daddy’s libraries.”
“Great,” I shook my head. “You’re a lot of help.”
Brianna’s voice took on an angry tone. “Listen, I didn’t know him more than to say hi, Jake! What do you want from me? I don’t know anything!”
“Forgive him Brianna, he’s under a great deal of stress, more than you can imagine,” Ivy offered, speaking for the first time since we’d entered the sandy oasis. “A huge weight has been placed on his shoulders, and we need your help.”
Brianna’s voice softened. “My help?”
“Yes Bri, your help. It’s really important.” Ivy said.
“How? What can I do?” Bri said taking off her sunglasses and giving her full attention to Ivy.
“Well, you could tell us about the ‘Cardinal Ruby,’ Ivy said
“Yeah,” agreed Toby, “We need to find the ruby so we can click our heels together three times and get out of this mess.”
Brianna took a deep breath. “I can’t really…”
“It’s not her place to speak of the Cardinal Ruby,” a deep, commanding voice said from behind me. I hadn’t heard anyone approach.
I spun around to see who had spoken and was met with a stiff backhanded blow across the jaw that sent me staggering to the sand on my hands and knees. I heard Toby roar through the sudden buzzing in my ears.
“Toby no!” Brianna cried out.
“Stand down giant!” the man ordered. I looked up through the stars spinning around my head, and saw that Toby had placed himself between a pallid, middle-aged man and me. The man emanated a powerful authority; it was the only thing that could have stopped Toby from ripping him apart, or at least trying. Here was a man that moved mountains with a confidence that made any decision he made happen.
He stood slightly shorter than six feet. He wasn’t powerfully built, or at all physically imposing. He wore an expensive suit and blood red tie with an ease that suggested he was quite used to it. His face was clean-shaven, and extraordinarily handsome despite his pallor and advanced years. Handsome like he could have starred in a movie handsome, yet there was a barely masked rage smoldering in his dark eyes that destroyed his attractiveness.
He looked down at me with a scowl. “That is for depriving me of a very old friend,” he said.
“Father don’t…” began Brianna.
“Silence Brianna!” he ordered. “I won’t hurt any of them. I remain true to the covenant. I knew James for just over two-thousand years. Why he gave himself for this boy...”
I got to my feet stiffly, anger rushing to the surface like a tidal wave. I shook the cobwebs out and pushed past Toby.
“Do you think I like what’s happening?” I growled through my throbbing jaw. “I didn’t know him. I certainly didn’t ask for this ‘birthright’ as he called it. I don’t want to live forever and watch my friend’s grow old and die! Or fight some demon and its minion, whatever the hell that is. I didn’t ask for any of it!”
The vampire before me paled if that was possible. “The Demon’s minion?”
“Jakes got to stop it.” Ivy said.
“What of the other immortals?” Mr. Kline said looking shaken.
“Mother says they will fail.”
“Dear God!” Brianna’s father said and walked around us to sit down on one of the beach chairs. “Your mother saw this?” he asked, running his hands through his silve streaked hair.
“She did,” Ivy said quietly.
“What does she want from me little magi?” he asked.
“The Cardinal Ruby,” she breathed.
Mr. Kline let out a deep breath he’d been holding and stood back up. He looked at me as if making a momentous decision and nodded.
“Follow me please.”