Soul
Vampin Book Series #18
Jamie Ott
Copyright ? 2012 Jamie Ott. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used without written permission from Vampin Official Syndicate.
For more information, visit https://vampinofficialsite.com
Vampin Official Syndicate
Bats Abound
Chapter 1
All seven of them stumbled down the loose gravel of the mountain, and into the midst of forest trees. Only moments ago, they escaped the Queen's castle which was full of hostile vampires. The forest wasn't much better: bats were everywhere, and every single one of them had been bit.
"Aaaagghhh!!" screamed young Becky. "Get it off me!"
"Hold on, I got it," said the oldest of their group, Danny.
Gently, he untangled the bat's little hands from her hair. Then he sped up to Misaki, who was leading the way and asked, "Do you know where we're going?"
"No, just doing what Starr said to. We're going straight through the forest until we get to the road, and then we'll go left."
"Aaaaaghh!!!" screamed Mot.
"What is it, now?" asked Misaki.
"Something, in that bush, is watching us! I see its little evil eyes!"
Ignoring him, Misaki pushed on bravely. The others followed as quietly as they could, hoping not to attract any attention, like animals or other living dead creatures.
The only sounds were of whooshing air as creatures flew by over their heads and through the trees. Their feet made soft patting noises each time they stepped down on the soft, moist and rocky ground. It was almost pitch black in the forest, with barely a twinkling of moonlight making it through the thick pine needled tree branches.
After a time, Lucas asked in a low voice, "Is it true that rabies shots are done in your gut?"
"I think so," Mot answered.
"Wow, I can't wait for that."
The night was extremely cool, and they constantly shivered. Becky, Kay and Misty clung to each other for warmth. Misaki shivered under Danny's arm while Lucas and Mot kept their hands planted under their sockets.
A while later they found the road Starr spoke of and went left. Thick fog weighed down on their heads and shoulders, soaking their clothes and settling on their skin, making it impossible to see too far ahead. Then, almost as if by magic, a sidewalk appeared, on which they stepped.
At this point, they'd entered a town as thick with fog as was the road. Orange light barely emanated from the street lamps along the sidewalk.
To their left, in the middle of a road was an old well. Fog smothered over its stone rim.
"Any idea of what our next action should be?" asked Kay. "I mean, we're in a town, now. Maybe we should wait, here, until morning, and then go to the police?"
"No, I don't think they can do anything. We should find the U.S. Embassy and try to get home," Danny replied.
"No, we can't," said Mot. "They wouldn't send me home, but rather back to Denmark. Remember, I'd only just applied for my visa before those rabid vampires took over the city."
"Same here," said Misaki. "I can't go to any embassy."
"How do we get home, then?" asked Becky.
"I can't believe that I'm hearing this," cried Misty. "Am I the only one not thinking of herself? We have to help Starr and the others."
"Misty, you're crazy," said Lucas. "There's nothing a bunch of kids, like us, can do. They'd squash us like bugs and they know it. That's why they left us the way they did."
"Well, maybe we're weak, but we're not stupid. One thing all vampires hate is fire," said Misaki.
"Okay but how are we gonna burn down a castle? I mean, it's stone so a common fire won't be hot enough, plus Starr tried that already?" Danny argued.
Misty cut Danny off. "We need to do what she asked of us, which is to find the Castel de Negru."
"But what is that?" asked Lucas.
"And how do we find it?" added Becky.
"Castle of Black," offered Misaki. "An order of vampires that I thought Starr despised. No matter, I don't think she would send us into danger, so she must trust them. "
Right then, the sound of footsteps came from some distance ahead, but all they could see was thick cloud.
Someone appeared at the end of the block, with eyes glowing green through the thick white coolness.
The person walked toward them. She had ghostly white skin and the tips of fangs lightly poked out of her mouth.
"Run," screamed Becky.
They turned and pounded the pavement back down the block as fast as they could.
Right as the dirt road came into sight, the person, as if by magic, suddenly appeared in front of them with hands upheld.
"Stop, it's me," the person said.
She was a skinny girl with long blonde hair, and a vaguely familiar face.
"It's Lily."
Old Friends
Chapter 2
She stood there looking older and taller. Her hair was in two long braids, and she held herself with the grace of a woman rather than a 13 year old girl. In her eyes was that cold, emotionless glare that Starr and the others shared.
"What are you doing here?" asked Lily.
"We've been here for some time, as Credenza's prisoner," said Misaki who, along with Starr, was once Lily's closest friend.
"And you?" asked Mot.
"I just got here."
"Lily you've got to help us," Becky said exasperatedly.
"Why? Has something happened?"
"Credenza's got Starr and the others locked up in the castle. She plans to kill them all."
"She's not going to kill her."
With raised eyebrows, Misaki asked, "How would you know?"
"Because I've been with the Queen since Lucenzo was taken by the Primordials."
Angrily, Becky shouted, "What? We thought you'd gone on the run! We thought you were lost!"
"I'm sorry. I hated running off like that, but let's face it, you didn't want me at the lake. I was infected with a debase form of vampirism. You all feared me, feared that I'd attack you, so don't pretend you regretted my departure."
She stopped a moment. When they said nothing, she continued, "Staying with the Queen was the only way to keep getting my antidote, since there's no cure for the kind of vampirism I got infected with, and I'm still too young for full conversion."
"But she's evil. Doesn't that bother you?" asked Danny.
"I know everything, and we are going to save Starr and the others, but we need to do this my way. We haven't much time for debate."
"What is it they're planning to do?" asked Kay.
"A very complicated magick rite: one that will extract the soul from the baby, and force it into her own body. Once it is done, she'll be the most powerful person in the world, and she'll be human-like again."
"Why do that? Isn't she already the most powerful in the world?" asked Lucas.
"I'm not sure why."
They fell silent, a second, again.
"What about the baby?" asked Danny.
"Who cares about a baby?" Becky asked. "Let's just get our friends and go home!"
"Becky, how could you think like that?" asked Misaki. Then she looked back at Lily and asked, "The extraction will kill the baby, won't it?"
"No, the baby will live, but it will be a cursed life; a life without joy, happiness or love. It's different for us, vampires, because we remember these feelings, and we remember how and why people act as they do. For a child who never learns what heart break is, well, you can imagine what kind of person he or she might become."
"I still don't understand why she needs Starr," said Misty.
"Forcing a soul into a dead body is li
ke putting two opposite ends of a magnet together. You see, a soul remembers its places and may re visit, if it wishes. For Credenza to reclaim her soul there cannot be any other entities to which it might belong, because naturally, it will fight. During the ritual, she's gonna make sure Starr stays in a special place in the castle: a room that will be cursed by her witch friend. There, the soul cannot take possession of Starr. The Queen doesn't plan to kill her; she wants her to join her army."
"What do we do?" asked Becky.
"I can't do anything, right now. I'm due at the castle in a couple hours. If I don't show, they'll know something is wrong. Besides, I need to get enough medicine to last awhile until...," she trailed off. "Plus, I'm due for medicine tonight, else I could vamp out; then I wouldn't be any good to you."
"So what, then?" ask Mot.
"You sneak into the castle from underground. When you get there, you help break them out."
Lily explained how the old dried out well, some feet behind them, touched the same ground water as did a well below the dungeon, in the castle. If they went in the right direction, they'd make it to the castle well.
"How do we know which direction to travel from underground?"
"I'll lead you by following my senses, and then I'll leave you. If you get caught, I'll have to pretend not to care what happens to you. Don't worry, though, I won't let her hurt you, or at least, not seriously."
"It's pitch black down there. How will we see?"
Lily pulled a key chain from her pocket, on which hung a flashlight.
"It's small but it'll have to do."
They turned around and followed Lilly back to the street. At the well, they bent over the rim and look in, but all they could see was white fog.
"How do we get down?" asked Kay.
Lily reached over and pulled an old thick wire that hung from the bar above the center of the well. After a moment of pulling, a large metal bucket appeared.
"Who wants to go first?" she asked.
"I'll go," said Danny.
"No," said Misaki. "What if the wire breaks? Then you'll be the only one down there. We should go down in the order of lightest to the heaviest."
"Someone older should go down first; it's the right thing to do," he insisted.
"I'll go," said Becky. "Hold the bucket."
She climbed up on the wall and shakily sat atop the bucket, trying to balance herself while holding onto the wire that lightly cut into her fingers. Painfully, the cold rim pushed into the skin of her thigh.
Lily tucked the flashlight into her pocket.
"Please hurry because this hurts."
"Okay," said Lily. "It's only twenty five feet or so down. I won't drop you, I promise."
She only lowered her down some five feet before she disappeared in the darkness of the well. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"We can't see you, so if something happens, tell us."
"I can't see anything, either, so just hurry up. I don't want to be down here alone."
After a few short moments, the bucket would go no lower because the wire was at an end.
"Have you hit ground?" asked Lily.
"No, I can't see a thing, and I don't want to let go."
"Okay, you have to trust me and get out of the bucket. The ground is there. I know it because I've seen it. It's not that far down, and I've just dropped you over twenty feet."
Although they couldn't see her, Lily felt the wire pull harder on her grip as Becky displaced her weight so as to get off of the bucket. Then it got considerably lighter and a tiny light was just barely seen through the fog in the well.
"I'm fine. I'm on the ground and it's soft but dry. Please come down fast!"
One by one Lily lowered the others into the well. When it was her turn, she simply climbed over the wall and descended by digging her fingers into the grout, between the rocks. As she pulled her fingers out, some of the stones got loose.
"Heads up!"
The rock made a loud plopping noise when it hit the ground.
When she ran out of wall, and there was only moist dirt roof to hold onto, not wanting to risk caving in the well, she said "I'm gonna drop down the rest of the way."
Quickly, they scurried out of the way, and then Danny said, "Okay, go ahead."
She released her fingers and air rushed past her ears for five seconds; then she touched down firmly on the soft dirt.
Although it couldn't be seen, the dampness was smelt as well as felt.
She took the flashlight from Becky and did a 360 degree turn. Just as above, underground there was open space that went out, in all directions, for miles unseen.
Lily sniffed the air a couple of times and said, "This way."
They followed her for some time when the dirt got muddy, making them nervous.
"I thought this well was completely dried out," said Mot
"No, water still comes once per year."
He cursed under his breath in Danish.
"I understood that, Mot. I'm doing the best I can!"
Becky screamed, "Rats."
"No kidding," said Lucas. "After everything we've been through - all the zombie dismemberment, you're still scared of rats?"
Underground was even colder than above. And with only the little flashlight, they couldn't see very much around them. Lily, however, continued on confidently, until she stopped and held out her arms, motioning for them to wait.
She moved the light along the roof, revealing hundreds of bats. The brightness caused them to shriek, multitudinously, and they began dropping and swooping off into flight.
The kids ducked so as not to get touched by the bats. Lily raised her hand and said "Die." And the next moment, they did. Every single bat on the dirt ceiling fell, motionless, to the ground.
She kicked the bats aside, clearing them a path.
"Cover your mouths! Bat feces has killer viruses!"
Finally, they came to a dirt wall.
"What do we do now?" asked Misaki through the cloth of her shirt.
"I'm not sure," said Lily. "This is it, though. We're headed in the right direction."
"I think you're mistaken," said Lucas.
"Shhh!!" she suddenly said.
"What is it?" asked Kay.
"I heard something."
Lily walked up to the wall and, with her hands, started pulling back the dirt. A moment later, something hard and light appeared.
"That's great, but if that's the castle wall, how are we gonna get in?" asked Misaki.
Lily stood back, and then with a running start, extended her leg, kicking in the light colored brick. She crouched, a bit, to get a look inside the hole, but all she saw was black. Then a voice came through it.
"Who's there?" asked a familiar voice.
She flashed the light through the hole.
"Chanler?"
An eye appeared.
"Lily!"
Next, Starr's red eye appeared.
"Lily!" she chimed in.
"Starr!" exclaimed Misaki and the others.
"Stand back," Chanler told them.
They started kicking through the wall until, finally, a bricked in well, like an oubliette, was revealed. Inside was Starr, the members of the Black Fleet, and the Scamalls.
"Well, if we'd known it was a open space, here, we would've broken out ourselves," said Saul. "I feel silly, having wasted so much time down here."
"What are you guys doing down here?" asked Danny.
"The jail cells aren't working because of the fire, so they couldn't lock us in. We thought this was some sort of dungeon," Starr replied and pointed upward at the ceiling which had a small door in the center.
"You're different from when we last saw each other. You've grown at least an inch," said Starr, eyeing Lily.
Lily said nothing, yet stared at her eyes. Last time they'd seen each other, they were grey. Starr continued, "What are you doing here?"
"It's a long story, and I gotta get back. I'm sorr
y."
She turned to leave.
"Wait!" said Starr. "You're not going back to the Queen, are you?"
She turned her head back and said, "I have to."
Then she disappeared back down the well.
The View
Chapter 3
Silently, they made their way back to the well. When they reached the circular spot, day was breaking. They each had a kid climb onto their backs, and then they leapt up onto the stone wall and climbed out of the well.
Morning traffic had already begun. People in cars looked, strangely, at them as they stepped into the morning light.
Once across the street, Saul asked, "What, now?"
"We head back to the forest," said Seth.
They made their way back down the street to the dirt road, and then veered off into the trees.
After a few minutes, Druce said, "Maybe we should take a moment and talk about what we're gonna do."
"There's nothing we can do," said Ciaran. "We've lost all our men."
"Yes, there is," said Shane. "We just need to get the child away from her. If we can do that, then we've done enough. You can come back and fight another time."
"She's right," said Ciaran. "More than killing her, the last thing we want is for her to harm that child; thus empowering herself beyond anything this world has seen in a long time."
"Only a few of us need to go back and get the infant. I think I should go. I can sneak in, and with my power, I can find the baby," said Starr. "You guys should take the kids to the Castle Black, and I'll catch up later."
With an angry glare, Mica said, "Starr, there is no way we're letting you go back, alone."
"I have to. If she gets the soul, it's over for everyone, vampire or no."
Seth came and stood beside her with arms crossed. "You're not going alone; I have a score to settle. If I don't kill the Queen, then I'll die trying."
Ikael said with disbelief. "What do you think? You'd just walk off and we'd all go home? We're warriors. Your attitude offends me, Starr."
"I don't mean to offend you but we don't need all of you to steal a baby."
"We'll wait in the forest as you sneak in," he replied. "We'll watch you and make sure things go alright. If things go wrong, we'll be there to back you up."
"Okay, but who will take the kids back to the Castle of Black?" asked Starr. "My friends will need an escort."
"Ciaran and Aine."
"Why, us?" she asked. "You think we're weak?"
"No, of course not, Aine. You know the Order of Black and the Scamalls have been at odds for centuries; it was only because of Starr that Adam didn't order us killed. Although you are like family, you are not Scamalls."