Chapter 2
1929 Words
2
The group stood in the garage, faced with a problem none of them could solve.
“The car won’t fit all of us,” Cate spoke up.
“Or there’s too many of us,” Jenny quipped as she eyed their former foes.
“Benedicta and I can follow on foot,” Maurice offered.
“As can Cecilia and I,” Valerian added.
“I’ll take the trunk if that’s what needs to be done,” Amand spoke up.
“It’s either that or you get the back floor,” Jenny quipped as the more normal members of the group climbed into the cab.
Sarah slid into the center back seat and watched Adam take his position as the front passenger. She couldn’t help but notice that his features were strained, even for the mission they were about to undertake. “Is something wrong?”
He stared ahead as he replied. “I’m just thinking about facing Michael, that’s all.”
A sly smile slipped onto Ruthven’s lips as he slipped into the driver’s seat and looked at his old friend. “She is more perceptive than you are willing to admit, so perhaps you should admit the truth.”
Adam turned his face away from all of them and at the side window. “There’s nothing else.”
“It’s about Mom, isn’t it?” Cate guessed.
Adam stiffened. “It’s nothing. Even if it were-” he returned his gaze to the others, “-shouldn’t we be focusing on getting rid of Michael before we get into more trouble?”
“Do you think there’ll be traps there?” Sarah asked her companions.
“Undoubtedly,” Ruthven replied.
“So are we talking trap doors like in the fun house that Crazy Mary made?” Jenny wondered.
“Considering we are dealing with a very powerful vampire, anything is possible,” Ruthven warned her.
“So don’t get cocky,” Adam added as he stared ahead with a hard look in his eyes. “Somebody who’ll destroy his own minions won’t hesitate to do the same to us, and it won’t be pretty.”
The mood was somber in the car as they sped through the metropolis. Their destination took them to the city limits and up a tall hill that overlooked the glistening lights of civilization. Urban housing gave way to spotted forests and massive lawns punctuated by large mansions.
Sarah glanced out the window and with her vampire eyes she could see the world nearly as well as she could during the day. A few fast flashes of movement caught her eye and she squinted. Their unearthly friends who couldn’t fit in the car followed along the road at superhuman speed. Valerian was in his berserker form with Cecilia perched on one of his shoulders. Benedicta and Maurice moved along as quick shadows.
The winding road led their group to a compound surrounded by a high stone wall. The entrance was a black gate of thick steel rods twisted together to form a pair of outstretched wings. The tops of trees peeked over the wall and beyond the gate stretched a large, luxurious lawn. Trees and a curve in the road blocked their view of the house.
“This guy sure is modest,” Adam quipped as Ruthven stopped the car before the gates.
“And paranoid,” Jenny added.
“We are here to get him,” Sarah reminded her.
Jenny nodded at the gate. “Not if we can’t get past that.”
Valerian landed between them and the gate, and grabbed the iron bars. With a terrible growl and against the mechanisms keeping them closed he shoved the gates open away from the car. The hinges groaned and crunched in complaint, but then swung lifelessly in their damaged holes. Valerian lumbered forward into the enclosure and off the road.
“I believe that is how we obtain entrance,” Ruthven mused as he drove them forward.
They wound their way up the long paved driveway. The trees closed in on them, creating a tunnel effect that cast them in deep darkness. Sarah jumped when Cate slipped her hand in hers. The young girl’s hand trembled.
Sarah looked to her and smiled. “You can stay in the car if you want.”
Cate looked forward as she straightened and shook her head. “I want to be here at the end.”
The car rounded the corner and they were given their first look of the house. The structure was a large mansion in the old Georgian style, complete with towering columns that flanked the door and paned windows that looked down at their coming with scorn. The windows in the left-hand wing were dark, but through the glass in the front door they could see the entrance hall was illuminated.
The driveway ended in a circle, and Ruthven parked the car at the end opposite the house. “Why are we stopping here?” Sarah asked him.
“There is the possibility that the house is rigged with explosives,” he warned them as he opened his door.
Jenny leapt forward and clapped her hands on his shoulders. He turned and saw her face was nearly as pale as her normal ghostly self. “It might be what?”
“Rigged with explosives,” he repeated.
“How do we make sure it isn’t?” she questioned him.
“By searching the house,” Ruthven suggested.
Maurice and Benedicta came up beside the car, and the thin man leaned his arm on the open window beside Cate. His gaze remained on the impressive mansion. “I doubt very much that Michael would use such a coarse tactic against us. His methods of execution are much more nuanced.”
“Meaning what?” Jenny wondered.
“Meaning if this is a trap we will die slow, horrible deaths.”
Jenny slipped back into her seat and grabbed Sarah’s arm. “We’re staying here.”
“I’m going in,” Sarah insisted as Cate opened her own door.
“Me, too,” Cate added as she hopped out.
Sarah slipped across the seat, taking Jenny with her. “But explosives!” Jenny pleaded as Sarah dragged her out of the vehicle.
“Then we’ll make sure we take him with us,” Sarah insisted as her companions gathered around her.
Amand was freed from the trunk and the other Saints joined them so that there stood their large group on the lawn that grew in the middle of the circle.
Adam looked to the others. “Where is he in there?”
Amand nodded at the rear of the house. “Back there in his study.”
“Then we’ll give him a big surprise by crashing his little party through the window,” Adam suggested.
Maurice smiled. “An excellent idea. Let us get into position.”
The group crept toward the side of the mansion. Adam grabbed Sarah’s arm and pulled her back so that the others drew away from them. She turned to him and frowned at the intense look in his eyes as he looked into hers. “What’s wrong?”
“You and I both know there’s a lot of risk in there,” he told her as he nodded at the imposing building. “If something happens to me, I’d like you to take care of Cate.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? Is something-”
“It’s not that I expect something to happen,” he admitted as he looked past her at his sister. His look softened and his shoulders slumped. “It’s just that Ruthven might think he needs to take over, but I’d like you to be her guardian.”
Sarah grasped his hands in her own and caught his gaze. “This isn’t about going into that house, is it? There’s something else going on, isn’t there?”
A soft smile slipped onto his lips as he studied her. “Ruthven’s right. You are getting more perceptive. Or-” He reached up and cupped one of her cheeks in his palm. “Or maybe it’s because you’re that much closer to becoming a vampire.” Adam’s gaze lowered to her neck where the faint scars of his bite could be seen. His face fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen to you.”
She leaned into his touch, but didn’t look away from him. “Don’t be sorry, be truthful with me. If something’s bothering you then you can tell me what it is.”
His eyes flickered with indecision for a moment before his lips parted in a sigh. “It’s about-”
“It’s about time we got this over with!” Jenny called to the pair.
“Ssh!” Cate hissed at her.
Maurice shook his head. “There’s no need to worry. Michael no doubt saw us approach the gate and knows our intentions.”
“Then let’s at least make a permanent impression on his house,” Adam spoke up as he slipped away from Sarah’s prying eyes.
The group, led on by Adam’s hurried steps, rushed forward around the side of the house. The large windows that looked out on the lawn reflected the starry sky above them. Adam reached them and leapt into the glass, hitting it at full speed. The windows shattered and he landed neatly on the hard floor. The others followed and were there in time to see him spin the chair around.
It was empty.
“Where the hell is he?” Jenny asked her companions.
A soft clap from the blackest corner made them all spin around to face the darkness. Michael leaned his back against the bookshelves and leisurely applauded them. “Bravo. I wasn’t certain if you would be able to find this place on your own.”
“Why do you want the relics?” Adam questioned him.
Maurice stepped to the forefront of their group. “And what are your plans for the essence of the vampires trapped in the vessels?”
Michael drew his hand out from behind his back and revealed one of the empty vessels used to contain the essence. “You are referring to these vessels?” His eyes flickered to Cate. “Catch.”
He tossed the ball to her. Cate caught it in both hands, but yelped and dropped the orb. The glass ball hit the floor and rolled until it knocked against Maurice’s feet. He picked it up and tucked the ball under one arm.
In a split second Adam raced forward and wrapped a hand around Michael’s throat. He lifted Michael off the ground and the vampire’s arms swung limp at his sides. His smirking grin never wavered.
Adam shoved their faces together and curled his lips back to reveal his own fangs. “You bastard.”
Michael chuckled. “Perhaps I am. What do you intend to do with that information?”
Adam studied his face for a moment before he opened his hand. Michael dropped to the floor and stumbled back against the shelf as Adam took a step back. “Nothing until you tell us what your plans were for the relics and the vampire souls you stole.”
“And if I refuse to tell?” Michael mused as he opened his arms and his eyes glistened with glee. “You’ll destroy me either way. Go on. You all know how to do it.”
“We want answers first,” Adam insisted.
“If that’s what you insist, then you leave me no other choice.” Michael reached into his pocket and drew out a pill.
Ruthven’s eyes widened. “Grab him!”
Too late. Michael broke the pill in two and poured the contents into his mouth and bit down. The vampire’s eyes widened as a pungent odor of plant permeated the room. Michael clutched his throat with both hands and fell to his knees. Terrible gargling sounds came from him as he dropped onto his side. His body convulsed for a few moments before he went limp. Michael’s eyes were open, but the light of unlife had gone from them.
There was silence for a moment before Maurice looked to Benedicta. “Is he destroyed?”
She examined the vampire for a moment before she gave a nod. “There is no existence there, either living or undead.”
“What killed him?” Adam wondered.
Ruthven knelt on the floor and picked up the two pill parts. He examined the container and sniffed the inside. “Hawthorn.”
Jenny wrinkled her nose. “A plant?”
“A most deadly plant to creatures considered unclean, if ingested,” Ruthven told her as he stood.
Sarah raised her eyes from the prone body of their enemy and looked around at her companions. “So. . .so we won?”
Adam’s gaze didn’t leave Michael’s body as he gave a nod. “We won.”
- Writer
