“You got yourself on the pages of a book with a nasty end. You can choose either to drop it or come with me and see a world beyond your wildest imaginings. The choice is yours, but you must decide right now. Choose”, she commanded him, sharply.
It was her turn to pin him down with her eyes. She didn’t use her powers, she wanted to see what he would choose on his own free will.
In Marcos’ mind flashed the image of the man who had killed his friend, John. He remembered his fight with him or how he had magically escaped his jail cell. He tried to clear his head, to keep his mind blank and devoid of any thoughts, and then nodded at Erica.
“Let’s go”, he told her simply.
Erica smiled, took him by the hand and together they ran down the stairs. They both got on her bike and took off, moments before the patrol cars began arriving at the scene.
Two blonde models were lying dead on his couch, bathed in blood. Travis was holding yet another model in his arms, sucking greedily her warm blood. Shortly before finishing her off, he pulled his jaws from the girl’s neck and looked at her. She was on the verge of collapse, yet managed to look him in the eye. Her face a mask of terror, she whispered a weak “Don’t”. Travis smiled at her and choked her. After all, he had no taste for the last drops of blood in his victims. He was left alone in the room, in the company of the three dead bodies. He cast a look around him; the whole place was a mess, but he wasn’t too worried. He had met those women through a dating site, using a fake profile. With the transport network Erica owned he would make sure that their bodies would be discovered in some other country, away from him. No one would be able to connect him to these deaths.
His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He walked to the table where he had left it and answered. It was Erica.
“I want you to get me the blueprints for the Garden Palace and more specifically anything that might exist below it. I’m waiting”.
Her voice sounded like it was being swept by the wind; she was riding her bike.
Travis pushed dismissively the dead bodies aside and sat amongst them. His laptop was on the coffee table before him and he immediately set about searching for the information his boss had requested. The encryption of the data on the website of the palace was laughable: within seconds, he had access to the password of the administrator. With this code, he got into his email and browsed his contacts. He found all those working in security, hacked into one of their accounts and began snooping around. The head of security, prudent man that he was, had kept a copy of the building’s blueprints, so that he could plan the patrol routes during the night, when the palace was closed to the public.
“What am I looking for?” he asked her.
“Anything that could lead to some basement or bunker. In the past, the palace housed the king’s family. After the war, it was renovated and served as a pro-monarchy museum. It was named after the expansive gardens stretching behind it, but since it used to house important people, it’s bound to have some sort of basement or shelter. Logically, it must have been built during the war. Find it”.
“How come you know so much about this place?” a male voice was heard saying through Erica’s phone.
Travis pursed his lips.
“Is that cop with you?”
His voice betrayed his annoyance.
“Yes”.
Erica did not leave him any room to ask more questions.
“I’m half Greek”, she told Marcos, before turning her attention once more to the road ahead.
She had headphones on so she could talk to Travis, while she kept her hands on the bars. Her bike was roaring as it was speeding through the empty streets of Athens. Erica could sense the tension in both men but she had no time to deal with either of them at the time. She had to form some sort of plan.
Travis did not dare disobey her orders. He carefully examined the plans to the palace while simultaneously browsing the internet for any related information. Luck smiled on him: there was a website dedicated to old buildings in Greece, including the one that interested him. He found the floor plans of the palace prior to the renovation and compared them to the more recent ones. Soon, he was smiling.
“I rock!” he announced to Erica and, without waiting for an answer, continued: “There is a room missing from the plans for the renovated palace. It appears as part of the wall. It is located on the ground floor, at the back of the building, close to the royal quarters”.
Erica briefly considered this, before asking her next question:
“Describe for me the place and those who are on duty on the night watch”.
She heard Travis tapping the keyboard, his fingertips dancing on the keys and seconds later he had the information she had requested. He began detailing the people who would be there at this time, well past midnight and then he gave her a brief description of the rooms of the palace: the royal quarters at the back, the museum store, the security office, the entrance to the palace, the lot.
“Fine. Can you deactivate the cameras?” was Erica’s next question.
“From where I’m sitting? No. Have you got that cell phone I gave you?” asked Travis in turn and when he got an affirmative answer continued: “Good, activate your Bluetooth and leave it next to any laptop you find in that building. Through it, I’ll be able to cover your back. No cameras will record a single thing but, other than that, I cannot offer any assistance. We won’t be able to communicate. Don’t go in there unprepared; give me one day and we’ll be able to pull off the whole thing in perfection. You don’t even have someone to back you up!”
The thought of losing her was enough to make him flirt with panic.
“I don’t have a day to spare, Travis. The Ancient will learn of his underling’s demise and will avoid me, as do all the others. It is now or never. That vampire told me he is asleep, so this is my chance… before they wake him up”.
Luckily for her, Travis did not press her on this. He got up from his computer and lingered there, just for a second. The house around him was almost empty. He had spent no time whatsoever decorating it. Since he had become a vampire, he felt isolated from everything. He was unable to have the slightest emotion about anything human. The notion of “home” was now alien to him. It was as if vampirism had thrown a switch inside him, stopping him from caring about anything. There was only one thing left to him: computers. He went to an adjacent room, which was similarly barren. At its center stood a computer. Its central unit was placed in a glass container filled with mineral water, a nonconductive liquid so its parts would not short-circuit. Dozens of fans were sticking to the side of the glass container, drawing the heat generated from the computer, through the water, venting it to the environment. The result was that the computer was able to run at amazing speeds without overheating. The whole system included three screens, as well as the latest peripherals. Travis turned the computer on and in just two seconds the system was up and running. He sat in a huge leather armchair and waited impatiently for Erica to commence with her part of the plan.
“What’s our plan for getting in? Who were you talking to just now?”
They were fast approaching the palace and he was begging to feel nervous, but he had guessed that Erica had been talking to Travis and wanted to confirm this. He hadn’t forgotten the message, sent by Travis, which he had found in the cell phone of that criminal cultist he had killed a year ago.
“From the main entrance, of course. We won’t have time to knock out all the guards”, explained Erica, is if it were the simplest thing in the whole world.
Marcos didn’t understand why knocking out the guards might be considered a feasible plan, but he made no comment.
“You can charm them?” he asked, eventually.
“I could, but it would be pointless. I can easily defeat the defenses of the mind of a common man, make him do whatever I want. However, the brain damage sustained in the process is massive. You can’t just go around charming anyone you come across. Sooner or
later, someone will realize that this situation is not normal. It’s far more simple convincing people that what they see is entirely different to reality. In this case, you’re not messing about with their brain, merely their perception”.
Erica shot him a glance and when she saw that Marcos still looked somewhat confused, gave him one final example to help him understand:
“If your victim thinks you’re a friend, they willing open the door to their home”.
Already they had reached the entrance to the underground parking station. The guard there looked at them, surprised; he wasn’t expecting anyone at this time. Erica took a card from her trouser and swiped it through the id scanner. Immediately, the device flashed red, but the guard nodded and let them through.
“Should I hazard a guess? This guy thinks that the scanner confirmed we’re cleared to enter”, said Marcos, who was beginning to understand how the vampires’ powers worked.
“You’re quick to catch on. Yes, his mind preferred not to consider what would happen in case our card was invalid, therefore he was perceptive to my powers. Now, take my hand and keep quiet!”
They had gotten off her bike and were walking towards the elevator. The second they got in, Erica pressed the button for the ground floor and stood still, looking straight ahead. Marcos observed their hands, the way their fingers were intertwined. It was like electricity was coursing through him, but at the same time her touch was cold. He watched her, as she was standing still; she resembled a work of art, a portrait. At that very moment, she turned and looked at him. Their eyes crossed, but Marcos couldn’t understand what she was thinking at that moment. She didn’t help him to. The doors of the elevator slid open and Erica pulled him along. Two guards sitting behind a desk looked at them, surprised, but immediately relaxed.
“How come you dropped by this late, guys?” asked one of them, while the other was getting a ledger out to write down their names.
“Drew the short stick, mate. Some bigwigs are dropping by in the morning and command wants everything to be perfect. You know what sticklers these people are”.
Erica’s voice sounded frustrated and disappointed at the same time, while the guards in front of her were nodding as they expressed their sympathy, accustomed as they were to unfair overtime and needless formalities.
Erica followed the corridor leading further inside the palace but then she stopped and turned to them, as if she had forgotten something.
“Could you do me a favor? Can you get rid of this?” she told one of the guards, holding her cell phone in her hand.
The guard glanced at it, then he took it and tossed it in the trash can beneath the desk.
“Ham, heh? That’s some tasty sandwich, right there”, he said, more to himself than to Erica.
She smiled at him.
“Pricey as hell, though!” she told him and pressed ahead, dragging behind her Marcos who was looking at her with a mixture of fear and wonder.
The palace was rather well preserved, despite the fact that it had been some decades since its last renovation. The floor was covered from end to end in red carpet. On the walls, every few feet, were paintings by various famed artists, old and modern masters. Chandeliers dating back to the 18th century hung from the ceiling, bathing the palace in light while decorative vases containing flowers were placed on artfully sculpted stands along the corridors. The various rooms of the palace were all locked; their heave wooden doors were secured by electronic locks on the outside. The room mentioned by Travis was nowhere to be seen. Erica let go of Marcos and touched the wall, at the place where the office she was looking for should be. She placed her ear on the masonry and with her fist knocked loudly on it. Marcos’ ears detected nothing, but she smiled.
“This is it. Look around for some lever, something that would open this secret door. The wall is made of stone and quite old, there shouldn’t be any modern security measures”, she told Marcos.
Together, they began looking around. Erica seemed to have full confidence in Travis’ skill, as she did not look towards the cameras, not once; she was focusing exclusively on her target. Eventually, it was Marcos who located the lever, behind a painting. He pressed a point where the stone on the wall looked somewhat different to those around it and with a heavy sigh the part of the wall Erica had examined earlier slid aside. A passage was revealed before them. Stairs were leading further underground and the same chandeliers as in the rest of the building lit their way. They both walked in, this time having little trouble in finding the stone that slid closed the wall behind them.
They descended the stairs and the only thing they saw were rows of dozens of rooms. Most contained beds and some were filled with supplies or served as kitchens or offices. There was no one in there and the rooms appeared unused. The only areas which showed signs of use were those containing the supplies.
“The man you killed said that the one you’ve been looking for sleeps in these crypts, but this place looks to me more like a bunker”, said Marcos to Erica. “So, I would guess there is another level, further down”.
Erica nodded her agreement and moved towards the furthest storage they had located. She pushed aside with ease the crates and sacks found there and soon she was standing before a lever similar to the one they had found earlier. They pulled it and a part of the floor slid aside, revealing more stairs. This time there were no lights and Marcos could not see his nose. The same was not true for Erica, though. She thought about pressing ahead alone, but changed her mind.
“I think I saw some flashlights in one of the rooms close to the secret passage, go get them”, she told him.
She didn’t make some particular gesture, some grimace, anything. She remained cool. Marcos obeyed and soon he was back with two flashlights. She passed one to her and together they descended.
Dust had covered everything; the place looked like it had been deserted for a long time. As they descended, an intense smell assaulted her nostrils, that of mold and lack of clean air. Upon reaching the end of the stairs, they saw massive arches in the walls, containing tombs. Some were separated from the dusty corridor by iron bars. Magnificent stone tombs stood behind them; the names of the dead were engraved on them. Masterfully sculpted stone urns were scattered around, half-buried in the dirt around the tombs. In past times, these would have contained flowers which someone would be tending daily. Other arches had been closed by masonry. A stone wall separated the dead from the visitors and there was no indication as to who had been entombed in there.
As they walked along this corridor of the mausoleum, Marcos footsteps sounded like a hammer hitting stone. They echoed loudly in the enclosed space.
“How big is this place? And how are we going to find this vampire we’re looking for?” he wondered.
“That should be easy. We’re searching for the nicest crypt”, answered Erica.
She was walking beside him like a ghost. Her footsteps, unlike his, made no sound. A fleeting thought crossed his mind, that maybe she had brought him down there to serve as bait, but chose to push it aside. In any case, he could do nothing about it now.
“Wouldn’t it be more logical if he chose to hide?” he asked her.
Erica shook her head.
“No, it would be quite unnecessary. The body of an Ancient, when asleep, experiences some changes. To be exact, it atrophies and rots, soon only the bones are left, even if the Ancient had slept for mere days. All his power, the unholy magic which keeps him alive, gathers in his heart and there it crystalizes, forming something that resembles a massive black diamond. No one can destroy that. Even if you shatter the skeleton, when the Ancient chooses to awaken, all will be restored as they were before”.
“And how are we going to talk to him? How will we wake him up?” wondered Marcos, feeling entirely out of his depth.
“Do not worry”, answered Erica. “He will hear us”.
They had been walking for some time in the cold mausoleum and Marcos was unable to relax. He was sweating profusely, de
spite the coolness of the place. He was feeling agitated, all his instincts screamed for him to flee, but he proved stubborn enough. He had chosen to be there and he would uncover the entire truth, or at least as much of it as he could. He didn’t exchange another word with Erica. Thus, he focused on observing his environment. Orientation had never been an issue for him, but right now he couldn’t tell which way they were heading. All that he had realized, gradually, was that the mausoleum went ever deeper in the earth, even though they hadn’t descended any other stairs. Questions kept flooding his mind. Why would a vampire choose to have his lair in there? How did they bring him food? How would he come and go? There was no way they would use the entrance to the palace all the time, at some point they would draw unwanted attention to themselves, even if all of them possessed the same powers with Erica. The moment he thought of Erica, the unanswered questions multiplied. He had noticed the crosses on her lower arms and realized right from the start that these were no common tattoos. All those years working for the police he had come across too many criminals, enough to realize when someone was a gang member. Which group was Erica affiliated with, that used a cross as a symbol? Eventually, his thoughts were interrupted by Erica.
“Here we are”, she said, more to herself than Marcos.
They were standing before a massive gate, stone, without any handles, covered in hieroglyphs. Some of these Erica recognized from Naram-Sin’s memories, others were unknown to her. She was dealing with a mixture of ancient civilizations: Babylon, ancient Egypt along with scattered letters in ancient Greek. She could not decipher everything. Marcos saw her scrutinizing the symbols and asked whether she understood their meaning.
“I cannot say that I do”, she admitted, pointing at one particular hieroglyph. “This one, symbolizes a gate. The next one denotes ‘safe passage’. Then there are two entire rows, of which I do not recognize a single one. Then there’s the symbol caduceus, two serpents around a staff, which belongs to Hermes, of the Olympian gods. Hermes was the psychopomp god of the ancient Greeks, which translates to “the guide of souls”. He was the one escorting the souls of the dead to Hades, the god of the dead. Right next to it there’s the symbol of Selene, with whom Hermes maintained excellent relations. Then there are two more rows with symbols unknown to me. Next to these symbols there’s an accompanying text, of which I can only recognize the first two symbols. They’re the ‘ba’ and ‘ka’ of the ancient Egyptians. Their meaning is ‘character of soul’ and ‘vital energy’ respectively. These two are lost when a person dies and their spirit attempts in the afterlife to regain them, in order to become one of the ‘blessed dead’, as the ancient Egyptians called them. In order to succeed, the dead must face a trial…”