“If you are to be something other than a burden to me, you must know everything”.
She said it as if it were perfectly normal, the same way it was understood that he must not become a burden to her. At that point Marcos was convinced that his wish to have the situation clarified had been a mistake; he was feeling the chill in the air between them. He changed subject as quickly as possible.
“So, what’ll be the next step? Find the rest of the Ancients, before they end up dead, too?”
“How would you propose we did that?” asked Erica. “They have gone into hiding, the lot of them. With this one, we just got lucky. We managed to locate him while looking for Lucas’ sister; we had a lead. Not to mention that now we are faced with another, even graver problem: the Dead one we fought off was crazed”.
“Well… aren’t they psychos in general? At least, that’s the overall impression I got, from the way he attacked you”, said Marcos hesitantly, worried that he might be asking again the wrong question.
Erica didn’t seem to be bothered by it and continued:
“Remember when I told you about the auras of the Ancients? So, their auras can turn almost instantly all people around them into vampires, depending on whether the Ancient wishes it to be so or not. However, for the vampires kept close by the Ancients this aura has an enhancing effect; it makes them stronger, faster, smarter. On the downside, if they are denied this aura… Well, just imagine the way a junkie would react after a month without their fix”.
Marcos nodded to show he understood. He was trying to think of solutions to their problems and quickly realized that Erica had been doing the same. She merely had had a head start.
“Assuming it would be pointless seeking them out, how about we headed to the Temple of Blood? There, we might find the answers you seek. That, along with the fact that we would be able to destroy those Dead ones, if we destroy the magic that has been keeping them undead!” he suggested.
Erica seemed reluctant.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well… the thing is… I’m not sure how to say this… Basically, I’ve no idea where this Temple is. I do know its location, roughly, but I do not know how to find the actual place or how to get us in there! I do not possess all of Naram-Sin’s memories. Those few dreams or visions or however you might want to call them that I’ve had did not offer some specific clue”, said Erica, annoyed.
It was obvious that she was unwilling to admit this fact, this weakness.
“Fine, no matter!” Marcos tried to bypass the fact. “Could there be someone else, other than the Ancients themselves, who might know?” he asked eventually.
“Actually, there is one! A vampire dating back to the time of Naram-Sin, a colossus, incredibly strong and in all probability he’s on his way to Athens as we speak!” answered Erica, in a somewhat numb voice.
Marcos looked at her, confused.
“And that would be a problem… because?”
“I am not entirely certain that he’ll be friendly towards me! I gave him my word I would rescue his sister… and, not to state the obvious, I failed”.
“Ah… Should I take it that I must use my contacts at the police to find out when he will be arriving?”
“That might be useful. Meanwhile, I think I should get my hands on a small arsenal!” Erica replied, patting him on the back.
She picked up her phone and dialed a number.
Marcos looked at her for a few moments and then he began calling on his phone each and every person who owed him a favor.
“Please remind me”, said Travis, in a voice dripping bile, “why did we leave our men behind and why are we not armed to the teeth… not to mention why are we dragging this one along?” he concluded, pointing at Marcos.
They were standing outside the hidden entrance to the catacombs, in a sewer next to a dry riverbed in Athens. The stench was suffocating to Marcos and far worse to them, who could detect the odors of each individual piece of garbage. Travis made no attempt to hide the disgust in his eyes.
“It would be considered an insult, meeting with such a powerful vampire while heavily armed. My men”, Erica corrected him, turning to him, “are waiting behind because they are only here as backup in case he decided to attack. So, they will be following us at a discreet distance. Marcos, on the other hand, is coming with us because this is my wish”.
Her eyes were almost throwing sparks as he was looking at Travis and he quickly stepped back. Marcos wisely chose to remain quiet and thus the rest of the time passed in silence.
They didn’t have to wait long. They heard a car stopping nearby and soon they saw Lucas walking down the stone steps that led to the sewer, accompanied by one of Erica’s men. His eyes were covered by a black scarf. He was adamant he would not see a single face before laying eyes on that of his dead sister. He approached and stood before her, as if he could sense her presence.
“Lead me to her”, he said in a rough, cold voice.
Erica, silently, reached out and lightly touched his hand. She felt his fingers clamping around hers.
He didn’t actually need to touch her in order to follow her, he would have no difficulty in sensing their movements, but Lucas wanted to follow his people’s tradition to the letter. This is what their customs dictated.
They walked in silence inside the sewer, Erica leading the way and Lucas following right behind her. Travis and Marcos were following several steps further back, without speaking a single word, each one trying to ignore the presence of the other. At some point, Erica turned to an apparent dead end, approached the wall at the end of the sewer, tampered with a hidden lever and a tunnel was revealed before them. The stench of the sewer was quickly replaced by the cold and wet air of the catacombs. Soon they were standing inside the Ancient’s crypt, before the tank holding the now dead body of Lucia.
Lucas removed the scarf from his eyes and touched his hand on the glass, before the face of his sister. He wanted to hold her body in his arms, caress her hair one last time, but it would be impossible to do so. The second she would be removed from the tank, her body would turn to ashes. A sob escaped from the giant and with trembling voice he began recounting stories from the life of Lucia, addressing his dead sister in an ancient language which only Erica could understand:
“Remember, little sister, that time we had gone hunting…”
Erica approached Marcos and Travis, who had been standing further back, threaded her hands around their arms and, whispering, explained the situation:
“The closest relative of the dead recounts stories from the life of the deceased, so that they may listen and remember them in death, in order to avoid going to the afterlife in anger, in which case they would return back as a spirit”.
The two men nodded simultaneously to show that they understood. Erica pinched Marcos’ arm as she was holding it and he turned around to look at her, startled. She was looking meaningfully at another tank, nearby the spot where the three of them were standing. It was broken and empty.
“This is where I had trapped the Dead one”, she said simply.
Marcos felt his heart tighten in fear. He looked around, worried, but saw no one other than their party. Instinctively, he touched his neck where the vampire had bit him during their last encounter. He kept on glancing about with disquiet until he felt once again Erica applying some pressure on his arm. He turned around and looked at her. She didn’t say a word, she merely held his eyes. At first, Marcos could not understand what she was expecting of him, but soon he realized what she was doing. She was holding him close, standing next to him in case the Dead one attacked again, but at the same time he was duty-bound towards her. He brought his hand on his holster and clicked it open, so that he could draw his gun faster. This time he was armed with silver bullets, he wasn’t entirely helpless and, as Erica had told him, he mustn’t be a burden to her. He realized that, but at the same time he could not bypass the fact that their hands were touching. With some effort, he managed to sto
p thinking about just that.
“Is there a way to bury her without her turning to dust?” they heard Lucas asking, who was still kneeling before the tank.
“Only the way she is right now”, answered Erica.
Lucas stood one last time before his dead sister, howled and slammed the tank with his fist. His powerful blow shattered most of the glass and the blood contained within rushed out. Lucia’s body fell forward, in her brother’s arms and for a fleeting second, before it turned to dust, the two siblings were reunited.
“Better this way. She never cared about vampirism. She wouldn’t have wanted to be buried inside that thing”, announced Lucas as he turned to them, with bloodshot eyes. With the index finger pointing straight at Erica, he continued: “You had promised me that you would rescue her!”
“I failed. I am sorry”, was her answer, plain, avoiding any excuses.
The giant looked her in the eye and for a second, which felt like an eternity, none of them spoke. Lucas was the one who broke the silence.
“How did this happen?”
“Something, exactly what I do not know yet, is out there, destroying the Ancients. Whatever it is, it holds massive powers. The Dead one escorting the Ancient was crazed, not only due to his addiction to the presence of his master, but also because the magic which had created him was corrupt. He attacked me. At first, I considered the possibility that I had not inherited all of Naram-Sin’s powers, but the more I’ve been thinking about it…”
“Naram-Sin wouldn’t have sacrificed himself had he not been absolutely convinced that you would succeed”, stated Lucas with utter conviction.
“Exactly”, agreed Erica. “Normally, I should be in control of the Dead ones. In my duel against one of them, I realized that it is quite difficult. These creatures cannot be destroyed and I care not to test their ability to kill me. That one, at least, believed that he could do it. And if all of them were to join forces…”
Erica didn’t need to state the obvious.
“Exactly how many are there?” asked Marcos, with hesitation coloring his voice.
“Roughly two hundred”, answered Lucas. “Not all of them would be as powerful as the one you encountered, as they are not necessarily found close to one of the Ancients. Naram-Sin, for example, hadn’t kept one by his side, as he considered them abominations. Having said that, these creatures are immortal. Moreover, if indeed it is true that they are no longer under the control of the Ancients, we could be facing another, graver problem”.
Marcos looked in turn at Erica and Lucas, and then said:
“I suppose I wouldn’t want to know what this problem is, correct?”
Erica walked away from Marcos and Travis, who had remained silent all this time and took a couple of distracted steps around the crypt, before answering:
“Remember the story I told you about the Ancients, how they gained control over their children?”
She waited for a little while to see Marcos’ reaction, and realizing that his silence spoke volumes, she continued:
“Good. For example, I could control Travis quite easily”.
She turned to the hacker and merely looked at him.
Travis drew his gun, stuck its barrel on his temple and pulled the trigger; a clicking sound was heard; he hadn’t taken the safety off. Erica stopped looking at him and Travis immediately recovered. He threw his gun down and stepped back, holding his head with both hands. He didn’t speak; in fact he seemed unable to.
“I cannot make him perform complicated tasks, for example to use his computer skills, but straightforward actions like that… not a problem. Generally speaking, all vampires who have been around me long enough, as is the case with Travis, I could control them. If, however, for some reason I wanted to control all vampires at the same time…”
“You would head to the Temple of Blood”, Marcos completed her sentence.
“Precisely. Now, if someone powerful enough to kill the Ancients and affect the Dead gets to the Temple, in theory he should be strong enough to control all the Dead, simultaneously, no matter where they are. And if he wasn’t powerful enough to actually control them, conceivably he could drive them insane. The effect would be practically the same. Humanity would face an onslaught it would be entirely unable to stem. The Dead would simply slaughter the humans. It’s that simple”.
At that point Travis had regained his composure enough to speak, and he did so, interrupting Erica.
“What was that? Did you just charm me?” he demanded, annoyed, but almost immediately he changed his tone and merely asked: “Is this how the humans we charm feel?”
He couldn’t stay mad at Erica.
“No, the vampires do not sustain permanent damage, like the humans do”.
“Fine, then!” exclaimed Marcos and Travis, simultaneously, with the former being ironic while the latter actually meant it.
They exchanged a curious look, until Travis began growling at him. Lucas watched them both with apathy and eventually turned to Erica.
“You know how to gain us access to the temple, correct?”
It was more of a statement than a question.
However, Erica’s cold stare revealed the answer to his question.
“I’d been hoping you would know where the entrance is!” she told him, annoyed.
“I do know that. Then again, you cannot simply walk into that structure. The Temple is protected by magic and its defenses prevent humans from entering it, but at the same time it has been designed in such a manner that neither the other creatures of the night can do it. The Temple is revealed each dawn and I don’t need to remind you what would happen to us, should we step out into the daylight.
“How about if you were dressed with multiple layers of clothes? Some sunscreen could help, no?” suggested Marcos, but Lucas’ answer silenced him.
“Oh, sure. We’d make some well-dressed, beautifully tanned corpses. Not even corpses, actually, piles of ashes!”
“What, then?” asked Erica, expecting some equally disheartening answer.
“In Naram-Sin’s vault you must have found a stone, like a ruby, redder than red…”
Lucas saw the disappointment in Erica’s face and did not finish his phrase.
“I didn’t get the change to look around. I left hastily from that place and eventually it was raided by the Order of the Silver Sun. I did not know what I was doing, I had just been turned into a vampire”, she murmured, apologetically.
The giant approached and held her by the shoulders.
“At least please tell me that the Order did not recover the weapon with which you killed Nar”, he said and her shame was even more intense this time. “Curses!” exclaimed Lucas, letting go of her. “They possess the stone, along with a weapon capable of ending the existence of the Ancients and, let me guess, we haven’t got the faintest idea where they sent these?” he asked, no one in particular.
It was Travis’ turn to join the conversation.
“Actually, we do know that”, he announced.
He paused for a while and then added:
“… more or less, that is. When Erica gave me the passwords and the means to hack into the computers of the Order, I took the liberty of adding a couple of routines which would allow me to have future access, should they reuse those same machines, without first removing the viruses. Unfortunately, they did not prove to be that stupid, but a couple of days later I did have another idea. I was keeping tabs on the number Erica had called to talk to the Order. For a couple of months, several attempts were made to call that number and, quite naturally, there was no reply. I looked up those who had called the number, the majority were either hospital doctors or priests. Suddenly, some two months later, all calls ceased. And I do mean all; up to this day, no one has attempted calling that number again. Therefore I assumed that, had the Order regrouped, they would have changed the phone number reserved for emergencies. And that was when I got another idea: I began tracking those who had dialed the old number, thos
e doctors and priests. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t been able to pinpoint some common link in the numbers they had been calling and at first I thought I had been wrong; something, which, as we all know, is never the case”.
Another short pause followed, during which Travis expected to hear some praise, but since that did not happen, he continued:
“Right, so… well, I coded a routine which analyzed their phone calls according to the area code they had been dialing. I discovered that all of them had been calling on a regular basis the same switchboard in some African country. From there, the call was redirected to the exact same number”.
“That of the Order?” asked Marcos.
“Obviously, meatbag!” exclaimed Travis, mockingly. “I was unable to trace its exact location, but I am positive that the telephone is located in Volt City, in the States. The question then would be how to locate their base of operations”.
“A meatbag is always useful, bloodsucker!” retorted Marcos, who had just had a brilliant idea: “All these calls by doctors and priests would pertain, presumably, to people in need. Now, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say people in need of protection from vampires…”
He hesitated for a little while but eventually continued:
“I know how to find them. You just need to sit down and decide what you’ll do next”.
The three of them departed from the crypt, leaving behind Lucas, all alone. He had asked for it, as he needed to spend some time without others around him. He looked at the ashes on the floor, what was left of his sister. For a second he thought about trying to collect those ashes, but he changed his mind; he was unable to tell where the ashes ended and the dust began. He glanced around the crypt, for no particular reason. He was feeling terribly alone, as never before. He turned his eyes once more to the floor and said, almost whispering:
“One last battle, little sister; one last adventure, to find out why all this had to happen, and then I shall follow you, this I promise”.
Chapter 6
The airplane had its windows covered, so that its passengers could move about freely. Then again, the only ones who were awake at the moment were Erica and the pilot, who was human. Lucas and Travis were sleeping at the back of the cabin. Their need to sleep dominated their senses the moment dawn broke. At first, Erica had decided to relax and not sleep but, without having someone to talk to, she quickly decided to stop resisting and close her eyes. Once again, her dreams centered on the life and memories of Naram-Sin, with her in his place: