CHAPTER 45 Rush to Save Heaven and Earth
Alex, Jaklin and Mikhail ran along the cavern floor, echoes of their fellow warriors slowly fading behind them, and the sounds of their own footfalls and voices reflecting from the stone walls gave the eerie feeling that they were not alone, of ghosts lurking in the darkness up ahead. Mary kept dropping behind, and they frequently slowed their pace and turned around to ensure she was still with them. She was lost in thought, mumbling to herself, and obviously had not yet come to terms with Alex's offer. The small beams of flashlights marked their way through pale stalactites and stalagmites standing like statues on another world, and they ran past delicate helictites reminiscent of curly fries and globs of white worms.
They stopped to catch their breaths at what represented for Alex a familiar juncture. She shined her flashlight off to the left exposing a dark portion of cavern wall. "Alu's House of Pain is through that tunnel," she said.
"That was one of Alu's worst periods of cruelty," said Mary. "We searched for decades before finding it and putting a stop to it. I scratched the name into the wall myself. That was eight hundred years ago." She looked at Alex. "Who's going to continue my work if I no longer can? What will happen to Silent Scythe? Perhaps you could take over."
"Katsumi. She seems to like command."
Mary laughed. "For all the wrong reasons."
"I killed Braxton, a pedophile vampire, and hid his body there," said Alex, still pointing to the tunnel.
"You would be so good with Silent Scythe. All three of you, four of us. The things we could do together."
Jaklin laughed. "What we wouldn't do together."
They all four laughed.
"You were going to tell me what you meant about that 'end of me' thing," said Jaklin. "Now's the time."
"It has to do with what happened to me during my initiation. Don't ask me to humiliate myself by describing it."
"I won't. But why does that mean your demise?"
"I'm been having flashbacks." She shook her head. "It is... I'm not sure. Just a feeling."
Jaklin hugged her. "Sorry. I can see the pain. I'll not press you further. I'm here if you need me. If it's within my power, I'll not let anything or anyone hurt you."
Then they were on the run again, scrambling up the cliff off of which Alex had dropped Braxton's body, past the pale light to the right from Xanadu, and on to the Cathedral, where they stopped briefly to tell those who'd chosen not to fight news of the battle, that they were probably safe but nothing was certain. They didn't tell them of their failure to find Alu or his secret band of feral vampires. They could trust no one to know of their current mission.
Instead of going out the main entrance, through which Alex had entered and exited the Cathedral the first time, they chose the one where Catherine had taken her following the birth of Andra, passing over the bodies of the four she'd killed there.
"You really are a terror, aren't you?" said Mary.
Jaklin smiled. "She's a murdering mother," she said.
"Jaklin!" said Alex.
"Well. Just saying."
They squeezed through the tight crevice, entered the final tunnel, and stopped when they could see pale light on the cave walls ahead.
"Time's up," said Alex. "It's now or never."
"I can't make up my mind," said Mary. "I'm not sure I'll be wanted in Heaven, when my time comes."
"Have a little faith," chided Jaklin.
"Two thousand years of violence. I've made some mistakes."
"There is no right choice," said Mikhail. "But you can make it right by what you do afterward."
Alex went to her, took Mary's hands, placed them on her own shoulders, and then put her hand to her throat. "Here is the mark of mortality. But forget all that. Bite me, just because you want to bite me."
Mary lunged into Alex and her teeth clamped down. She sucked and chewed.
"Oh, isn't that sweet," chided Jaklin.
Mary didn't stop at the first few gulps, not as the others had. Perhaps it was the two millennia of vampirism that required it, but gulp after gulp, she didn't lose her taste for Alex's blood. And Alex loved having Mary so close, feeling the flow of her life-giving nectar gush into the playmate she'd known so many years. For Alex, it was the consummation of a friendship.
Mary finally stopped, released Alex and stepped back, her eyes wide with excitement. She broke down crying, fell to her knees. "Oh dear Lord in Heaven, make this the right choice." Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"You'll feel weak for a while," said Alex, sinking to her knees before her. "It'll be an adjustment."
"Oh, no! No acclimation required." She rose to her feet.
"You feel fine?" said Alex, also rising.
"Fine? Not fine. Glorious! I... I'm alive! Who would have thought during all those summers we played together, when I was protecting you, that you'd end up being my savior?"
"So it was the right choice?"
"I'd never have been able to do it, if you hadn't tempted me."
They wiggled through the small opening and were outside in the bright sunlight running along the footpath down the mountain through the pines with Mary in the lead. She seemed to have boundless energy and was so excited at being outside during daytime that she couldn't contain herself. "Whee!" shouted Mary as she ran down hill weaving from side to side with her arms out like wings, as if she could fly.
Alex, on the other hand, was feeling a little anemic.
Since they no longer had Silent Scythe to carry the brunt of the battle, they would need all the community help they could get: police, Stefan, and Father Zosimos.
As they ran, Alex once again got flashes of her initiation — the men and women circling her, the psychic ravishing, rape. She still couldn't imagine what those humiliating images meant, if anything. Yet, here they were, haunting her again. She was afraid she was leading them all to catastrophe.
But her biggest problem was an overwhelming urge to feed. Several ferals had fed off her in the Ichor Dome, and then she'd given up a lot to turn back Mary. Alex had to have more human blood. Shadowrise was only a couple of hours away.
"I'm going to get the police and then to see Stefan," she said. "Go to the Monastery. Tell Zosimos what we're up against. I'll meet you there."
Mikhail stopped in his tracks. "Stefan killed me."
"I need something from him."
Alex split from them and was on her way toward town, cutting through private property and alleyways. She surprised a man in a backyard working in his garden, but before he could get a good look at her, she was upon him, biting and sucking a little blood. She hadn’t planned to do it; it just happened, and then she was on her way down the mountain. She ran onto a young couple in an alley very much into each other, their blood boiling. She took a little from each of them, giving them something else to think about. She was a menace and knew it but couldn’t stop herself.
Stefan's home was a couple of streets south of the Monastery. It was a large brick building with a staircase outside similar to her grandmother's Estate. Stefan was working on it with hammer and nails. Alex came up behind him, but he heard her and jumped to run. She was upon him in an instant. In spite of his screams and flailing around with the hammer, she bent his head over and buried her teeth into him. She could have sucked him dry out of hunger and rage, but she controlled her urges and shoved him up against the side of the house.
He turned his head away, refusing to look at her, shut his eyes.
"Listen to me, you tall, skinny shit," she said with the uncharacteristic potty-mouth he always seemed to bring out in her. "I've just inoculated you. Do you understand?" She didn't wait for an answer. "We have an infestation of feral vampires at Peleș Castle. I need your help to exterminate them. Are you with me?"
Stefan's eyes were wild with being bitten for the first time and still in the control of a vampire. He couldn't find his voice. He was hysterical. "You're feral. I know you're feral. I'm changing. I can feel it."
"Listen to me!" she screamed and pushed him up against the side of the house again. "All Sinaia is in trouble, possibly the entire world." She hoped this didn't sound too hyperbolic, but she needed to get across the urgency of the situation.
"Stefan, who's the girl?" It was a young woman's voice from the corner of the house.
"Stay away, Raluca," said Stefan. "Run!"
But Alex was upon her immediately. She was remarkably beautiful, flaming red hair, peaches-and-cream complexion, and pale-blue eyes to stop the heart. She could give Jaklin a run for her money. Alex grabbed her about the waist, and when she flinched and leaned back, Alex sunk her teeth into her throat. Sweet nectar of the gods! What glorious flavored blood! She had to force herself to stop.
Raluca smiled and staggered backward. "A vampire, Stefan? You're cavorting with vampires?"
Alex got control of herself, and turned on Stefan again. "Are you with us? I'm getting the police to help. We need everyone."
Still he didn't answer.
"I've immunized both you and your wife."
"Sister," Raluca said. "I'm not married to that idiotule."
Alex looked back at Stefan. "You're both safe now, but I need you to help fight feral vampires. Do you understand? Stefan! Ferals!"
Finally, Stefan came to his senses. "Yes. I think so. Where?"
"Peleș Castle, but we'll muster forces at the Monastery. Soon as you can get there. Bring everyone who'll fight and all your vampire killing equipment. If you turn on me or my friends... Well, I've explained that before."
"Count me in."
With that, Alex was off again, this time toward downtown. At the police station, she barged in and raced down the corridor, policemen and staff scattering like rats, to Mariusz office. She forced open the glass door, and watched as Mariusz back-stepped to the corner of the room. "Stay away!" he shouted. "Talk from a distance."
Alex knew what she had to do. "It'll just take a second. You'll be inoculated." She started walking toward him. "Calm down. It only hurts a little and not for long."
She was up against him now, and he hid his eyes behind his hands. Policeman's blood turned out a little thicker than most. She started to gag, stepped away from him.
He peeked from between his fingers.
"At least you won't have to worry if you get bitten," she said. "I need your help. Feral vampires in Peleș Castle. We attack in half an hour. We could save the world. Are you with me?"
"Feral? You mean like a cat?"
"A new kind of vampire. Really nasty. If we don't exterminate them now, we'll not have another chance."
"Peleș Castle?"
"Right now. We're mustering forces outside the Monastery front gate. If word gets out we're coming, they'll scatter, and it'll all be over." She'd started to leave but looked back. "Remember, keep it quiet. Bring only those you trust." Trust? She wondered how she could say that when she'd invited Stefan.
Alex went out the back way, eyeballs peeking at her from cracked doors. The sun was precariously close to the top of the mountains in the west. Almost Shadowrise. She'd have to hurry. The flashes of her initiation were more frequent and lasting longer. She felt Millennium Road overtaking her conscious mind once again.
Back at the Estate, Alex couldn't wait to see little Andra, but first she had to deal with a terrified Catherine, who grabbed Alex and wouldn't let her go. "I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you," she said. Then she pushed her away. "Where are Jaklin and Mikhail? They aren't..."
Daniel and the two nuns came out of the kitchen braced for bad news.
"No, no. They're fine. But our job isn't finished. They went to the Monastery."
She picked up her little girl, and held her close, kissed her even if she did try to turn away. Alex was going into battle, and this could be the last time she'd ever hold her. Alex raised Andra up in the air. She was so cute, her eyes sparkling. At first Alex thought they were just the bright eyes of a child, but then she felt herself under their spell, as if she were hypnotized. She could not move. Time stopped.
Suddenly, Alex was back in vampire psychic space standing before Acheron wondering how she was to cross. Alu and Cosmina had taken the rowboat. I would hate to swim it, she thought. It's known as the Lake of Pain. Cheiron's fires had burned down to glowing embers, and his grotto looked deserted. She walked to the entrance and peered inside. A single candle burned in a far corner, but she saw no sign of the Centaur. She entered, walked a few paces into the sparsely lit chamber. To the right was a small bookcase with a Bible on top opened to the red lettering of the New Testament. Everything was placed on shelves carved up high into the ancient stone walls, as one might expect for a man with a horse's body. It would be difficult to stoop.
To the left, a partition blocked her view. She stepped farther into the grotto to peer behind it and saw a bed of thick straw. Sure enough, the body of a horse was stretched out on it. At the near end, a quilt was thrown across the upper body of a man. Just as she realized that this was Cheiron, his head rose up, and he shouted. "Ho! We have an intruder." Quickly the horse body rolled from its side and the torso and head of a huge man rose as if levitated by some magic mechanism. He was obviously pissed off.
Alex turned to run, but the Centaur was much quicker. He grabbed her in his gigantic arms and lofted her from the ground. She dangled from his hands like a marionette, feet kicking in thin air.
"A thief!" he shouted "Come to steal our gold and jewels."
"No, no, Cheiron," Alex cried. "It's me Alexandra. I came here with Cosmina but a short while ago."
Cheiron held her out at arm's length, scrutinized her. His eyes widened in recognition, and a smile eased her fears that he might dismember her on the spot. He put her back down on her feet.
"So here's the little sneakabout. Did you find what you were looking for beyond the cliff?" He still looked accusing.
"Yes. Well, maybe. It's much different than I expected."
Cheiron seemed to get a hold of himself. "Forgive me, young lady. I'm too disagreeable for this Afterlife. Tell me, what brings you back to my grotto?"
"A while ago, I saw Cosmina go back across Acheron with Alucius Kardasian."
"Yes. She wasn't agreeable to it at first, but Alucius convinced her."
"Do you know why she went?"
"No. They talked on the beach beyond earshot. I just saw her being thoroughly disagreeable at first, then calmed and got into the boat with him."
"He didn't force her?"
"She seemed quite willing after he showed her something in a box. Excited even."
"They took the rowboat, and that leaves me with no way across but to swim."
"No, no. No one swims Acheron."
"I was wondering if you could take me, since I hear that you brought Alucius across on your back."
"Oh no! Don't ask that of me. I did cross to this side by swimming the ice waters of Acheron, but the pain, Miss Alexandra, the pain. Water here in the Afterlife doesn't freeze regardless of the temperature. I'd not do it again for anyone. I'd have to swim it even once more to get back here."
"How will I cross? I too do not wish to suffer its agony."
"Your soul would never survive. You must stay. Unless, you can find another way."
"Unless? Cheiron, is there another way?"
"Perhaps you'd have better luck than Alucius and I. You may remember that ancient mythology tells of a ferryman named Charon who carries the souls of the dead across Acheron to the Underworld. He resides far north of here. Acheron is quite large, and what you see outside my grotto is only the southern tip. Charon, he might not take you. He ferries souls only one way. He won't even allow a single soul of the Undead aboard his ferry for any reason. Before we first crossed Acheron from Millennium Road, we went north to have Charon take us with the rest of the souls into the Underworld. But he said that souls of the Undead aren't allowed entry into the City of God, which is easily accessible from the Underworld. We'd forfeited that right when we became undead. W
e returned and I swum across with Alucius on my back."
"Where did he get the rowboat?"
“The City of God. He found a path from here. The first time Alucius went there, he stole it. This was after I swam across with him.”
“Perhaps I could get a boat from there also.”
"Not likely. They are much more concerned with security since the first theft."
"You didn't go to the City of God?"
"I'd been forbidden back in the beginning of time from ever receiving that reward. It's not possible for me to walk much beyond my grotto. It's like a wall built against me."
"So Alucius went to the City of God and returned with a boat that he used to cross Acheron to get back to Millennium Road. And yet he didn't take the boat the next time he crossed?"
"Alucius' soul had been changed by something else he stole from the City of God, in addition to the boat. He was so happy. He returned to Millennium Road and went north to try Charon once again. He fooled Charon into thinking his soul wasn't of the Undead. After crossing with Charon, he went back to the City of God, stole more of the precious commodity that had changed his soul. He had planned to go north to get Charon to take him back across Acheron to Millennium Road, but he was exceedingly pleased to see that Cosmina had come across with the boat, giving him a way back without Charon knowing."
"Yes, I saw him carrying something on his way back when I went there. Did Alucius know that I'd crossed Acheron with her?"
"Not to my knowledge."
"Thank you, Cheiron. But how am I find Charon?"
"Follow the shoreline north. Don't under any circumstance tell him I sent you."
Alex was suddenly back home staring into little Andra's eyes, as she seemed to have released her hold on her mother. Alex shook her head to clear the fog, kissed Andra one more time, put her back in the bassinet and started to leave. Catherine had noticed nothing, as if time had simply stopped. Daniel and the nuns also seemed to know nothing of what had happened.
"Talk to me, Alex," Daniel said. "What happened at the Ichor Dome?"
"I can't take time," said Alex. "We did well, but it's not over." She headed for the door. "Lock the doors and windows. Keep all the crosses and icons close about you. Admit no one."
"Be careful," shouted Catherine. "Failure is an option."
Alex was off to the Monastery.