CHAPTER 41 Bloody Initiation
Before sunrise, they left the Estate and went back into the Cathedral. A squadron of Silent Scythe accompanied them in the pre-dawn light, but if Alex hadn't known, she would never have guessed, so camouflaged and secret were their movements. Once inside, Alex found that the cavern had lost its mystery and now seemed like home. Still, she was rather proud.
Jaklin and Mikhail were wide-eyed and distracted by the exotic setting.
"So this is where you hid from us?" asked Jaklin.
"You were safer not knowing," countered Alex.
Mikhail knew something of caverns, and he called out names of geological structures and stopped to examine unusual formations. "Gypsum crystals. Makes me want to see the Orda Cave in the Urals again."
Alex thought maybe he was a little apprehensive of being initiated and was biding his time.
"Keep moving, Ruski," said Jaklin. "You're not a tourist."
"Anxious to see him with his clothes off, are you?" said Alex. She'd described the ritual cleansing to them.
"Missy! As if I've never."
Alex's friends were quite the curiosity but also provoked a little fear when they heard that these two new vampires could also handle sunlight and wear a cross. No one wanted to experience the pain and agony should a cross suddenly come into their field of view. Alex took them to her little grotto, where she'd spent so many months, and there they all parted with their crosses, Alex feeling particularly naked and vulnerable without hers.
Word had also spread of Alex's other special status, her unusual gift of being able to turn vampires back human. No one had known of her talent all the months she'd been with them. Interestingly, this endeared her to a few vampires, but some saw her as a threat and kept their distance. They thought it was a blow against the creed to be able to leave vampire society and return to human life. Still, dark faces from around stalactites and stalagmites spied on them everywhere they went.
The first order of business was blood. Conveniently enough, Gail had also entered the Cathedral, so Alex coaxed her into letting Jaklin sample a little. Gail was surprised to learn that, from the first time she'd let Alex bite her, she'd been inoculated. After she fed Jaklin, Alex gave Gail directions to her home, and asked her to come by sometime. She'd like to properly pay for her services. They found another donor for Mikhail.
The select group of Silent Scythe assembled for the ceremony and walked down the winding stone staircase to the shimmering golden pond where they performed their ritual cleansing. Michael seemed a little bashful, but Jakin was completely at home in the nude.
"So that's why you were so anxious to get here," said Alex. "You little exhibitionist."
That brought a big smile from Jaklin. "And you thought my degree got me my job at the ICC."
Mary asked if they wanted to be initiated into Silent Scythe also. If so, they'd experience another aspect of initiation. All three said they would, although Alex was apprehensive.
"It'll not be unpleasant," said Mary. "Painful to watch, perhaps, but not degrading."
"Mikhail and I were turned by choice," said Jaklin. "You should realize that."
"But Alex was turned against her will," said Mary. "If she hadn't been turned, would either of you wished to become vampires."
"Never," answered Mikhail.
"Then it's not a problem. You come as a package."
They rubbed each other with olive oil until their bodies glistened in the pale light, and they looked for all the world as if they were made of gold. They donned the black ritual bathrobes and were off to Xanadu reciting the oration, Mikhail's deep voice booming as he gained confidence in the ceremony. The long train of vampires descended the cascading stone steps into the cavern's dark depths. This time, the intoxicating mist did not affect Alex, but it did seem to heighten her senses. Jaklin and Mikhail were obviously impaired and found it difficult to stand. The damsel appeared on the dome above them and started plucking and strummed the strings of the dulcimer while humming a wordless tune.
Mary told Alex, "Since you've already been initiated, you'll not have to take the oath. You'll go to Millennium Road with us, but only experience the Silent Scythe portion of the ceremony. Then you're on your own in psychic space."
Mikhail looked at Alex. "You said nothing of an oath."
A host of Silent Scythe surrounded the three initiates, and all remove their robes and were again naked. They entered the bioluminescent pool together, the Silent Scythe forming a ring about them. When they took the oath while standing waist deep in the glowing water, Jaklin repeated quickly and precisely, eagerly reciting the words with emphasis demonstrating true belief, but Mikhail stopped, stuttered and questioned the meaning of some passages, particularly "to believe in Darkness." Just as Alex thought the whole thing would fall apart, he nodded yes and repeated his vows with conviction. He still gave her a dirty look when it was over.
"You wanted this. Remember?" she said.
They all leaned back into the water and floated on its surface, including the Silent Scythe. Alex was struck by how different this was from her initiation. They were to all enter Millennium Road together. Alex could see their shadows projected on the ceiling of the Pleasure Dome by the glow of the pool, ten Silent Scythe shadows in a ring about the three.
Mary started humming loudly. "Haayyaa... Hummm... Ooommm..." The sounds reverberated in Alex's ears and seemed to numb her brain. Finally, the fumes of the Pleasure Dome once again put Alex in an altered psychic state. She began to sing with the rest.
Once they’d all found each other on Millennium Road, Silent Scythe took them to a circular structure similar to an amphitheatre, a theatre in the round. Someone called it the Tableau. Once seated, it seemed to spin about the three of them, and they were transported back in time to the Crucifixion. They heard thunder and saw lightning so close that it frightened them. Jaklin and Mikhail clung to Alex. They looked up at Christ on the cross. Alex was shocked at his agony and heard him speak. "My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?"
Mikhail nudged Alex and pointed to the base of the cross. There on the ground was a man reaching to touch Christ's foot that was covered in blood. But he withdrew his hand, leaned forward and touched his mouth to Christ's foot. A lighting bolt flashed and propelled the man backward. When he got to his feet, Alex saw his face and caught her breath. It was a much younger Alucius Kardasian. Vampires do age, she thought. It just takes millennia.
Alex started to call to him, but just then he was accosted by a young girl with a white veil pulled back to expose her face. The girl slapped Alucius so hard that it rang out. Alucius was startled, but his surprise turned to rage. He lunged for the girl but was immediately consumed with pain and agony. He let out a howl of pain and flew to the girl who had turned to run. She struggled, but he had turned into a ferocious beast. He pinned her arms and plunged his teeth into her neck. She struggled to get him off but went limp, and he cast her aside and howled anew into the heavens, not realizing that the girl was not yet dead.
She came up behind him and tore into him with such anger that it scared Alex just seeing her in that state. She attached herself to him and chewed into him. Alucius fell over backward, and they rolled on the ground like two wild animals in mortal combat. The girl rose up from Alucius and screamed into the heavens. Her eyes flashed so brightly that it momentarily blinded Alex. The girl then disappeared with Alucius in hot pursuit.
But then a strange thing happened. The girl returned and stood before the three initiates. She came to Alex first, and pointed to her throat where Alu had bitten her. It had a ring of glowing red blood, obviously Christ's, circling the wound. The girl was Mary, and she pulled Alex's down to where her lips touched the ring of blood. Then Mary did the same to Jaklin and Mikhail.
Something happened to Alex that she could never explain. She'd later question Jaklin and Mikhail, but they were as confused about the experience as was she. A vague background seemed to open up within her, one so profound that
it was beyond human understanding, and although they would discuss it repeatedly, no one could ever put their finger on just what had changed.
Then they were back in the Tableau, still in psychic space with the group of Silent Scythe breaking up. Jaklin and Mikhail had left her side and were being led off to their initiations, as had Alex months before. Silent Scythe disappeared, and Alex thought she was alone on Millennium Road but then sensed someone at her side. She turned to see Cosmina.
"Hurry," Cosmina said. "We haven't much time."
"Where are we going?"
"To find the Centaur. And Alu, if he's still on Millennium Road."