CHAPTER 2
Roland tried to step out of the circle, but one touch of the bars and they crackled and sparked. He started back, and Rose laughed.
"You as a creature of darkness escape from the cell of demons," she told him. She walked up and tapped a cell bar with her own long fingernail, and the bar sizzled. "No dark being can break the magic in this book."
"What sorcery is this?" he questioned her.
She held up the tome to him so he could read the cover. "Does this book perhaps appear familiar to you?"
Roland's eyes narrowed. "How came you to have that book?"
Rose smirked at him and walked around the cell. "A werewolf was careless with the book, and I stole it away for a short while." She raised the book and brushed a hand over the leather cover. "I admit the spells and language were not easy to decipher, but I believe I am ready for the grand spell to finally give your soul to me."
"Didn't you get the news? He's got his soul back," I spoke up.
Rose turned to me and her smirk widened. "I had heard as much from others, but that is of little consequence. I merely intend to steal his soul from his body and place it in my own."
I glanced at Roland. "Seriously? Is that possible?"
He pursed his lips and his eyes fell on the book. "Anything is possible when the wielder holds the Myrddin Grimoire."
"The whats-it?" I asked him.
Rose held the book out to me. "This is the Myrddin Grimoire. The most powerful grimoire in the world."
"I don't know what a dire book has to do with anything," I argued.
Rose dropped her arms and glared at me. "Grimoire, not grim," she snapped.
I shrugged, or tried to. "I'm still not following."
The short vampire stomped past me to the other side of the short room. She spun around and flipped open the pages. "You will follow in a moment," she assured me. Rose's search ended at the back of the book, and her smile returned. Her eyes flitted over the room. "All the pieces are in place." She raised a hand and the book pulsed with a dark light. Her eyes flickered to Roland and her voice chanted the magical words. "By the darkness in my hand and the dark lord in the land, let our souls be born anew in the body of we two."
A swirl of wind whipped through the room. I ate dust, cobwebs, and their spider tenants. The dark light from the book rose from the pages as a thick strand and flew through the air. That end slammed into Roland's chest. He whipped his head back and let out a cry of pain and horror.
The other end rose from the pages and stabbed itself into Rose's chest. She screamed and the book clattered to the ground, its pages still open to the hideous spell.
I imitated a beaver and chewed through the rest of the ropes with the box cutter. The binds fell off me and I jumped to my feet.
My plan was simple: don't die. The execution was a little messier. I figured what Rose had said about Roland's cell was true. A creature of darkness couldn't break it. I'd been called a lot of things in my short life, but creature of darkness wasn't one of them. I threw myself at Roland's prison and prayed to God this would work.
Half of my message got through because I got through. The dark shadow bars parted for me like they were mist and I grabbed Roland's arm. That's when the last half of my message to God became a dropped call.
The dark strand that connected Roland to Rose changed directions. Rose's end took a sharp right and slammed into me. Horrible, fiery pain shot through my body like the end of the Devil's cane, but deeper. It pulled something out of me and shoved something colder and older into its place.
"No!" I heard Rose scream.
She ran up to us and tried to grab me, but the dark bars of Roland's cell filtered through me and into her. She was blown back and Ginsleh caught her. The pair could only watch the unwilling transaction.
I glimpsed the transfer of two dark shadows through the conduit of the strand. One, a white shadow, flew into Roland, and out of him and into me went a darker shadow.
The moment the two shadows completed their short trek was the moment the thick strand burst apart. Roland and I were thrown into opposite walls, and Ginsleh and Rose were tossed against the far back wall. The dark light and the candles were blown out, and the crypt fell into darkness as a dust cloud covered everything.
I coughed on the cloud and raised myself onto my arms. My eyes scanned the dark room and somehow found Roland's stiff body five feet from me. He lay face-down on the hard stone floor. I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't hold me.
"Roland," I choked out.
There was no reply. I stuffed my phone into my pocket and crawled towards him. I winced when my body told me that was a really stupid idea. Every muscle and bone fell like it'd been placed in front of a brick wall and an entire middle school was given permission to over-inflated hard gator-skin balls at me for a few hours. I made it to Roland and shook his shoulder.
"Roland?" I whispered. "You okay?"
Roland shifted and raised his quivering head. His blue eyes blinked back at me.
"Misty." He raised his hand, but it dropped to his side. "Misty, I-" A noise from the back of the crypt told me the crypt keepers were waking up.
"No time for apologies," I scolded him. I slung his droopy arm over my shoulders and climbed to my shaky feet. He didn't feel as heavy as other times I'd dragged his undead corpse out of trouble. "We gotta get out of here before we're invited for dessert."
I dragged him across the threshold of the crypt and out into the open, clean, snowy air of the graveyard. Never did moldy grass, damp snow, and leaves smell so good. I stumbled down the white hill and Roland tried to help by walking, but his feet kept dragging over the rocks and flat stone markers. He caught his feet a half dozen times before I paused and frowned at him.
"Roland, I don't think our enemies need any help from either of us, so just go limp for a while," I told him.
"I. . .must warn. . .you-" he wheezed. "Our-" A twig behind us snapped. I looked over my shoulder, but didn't see anything except a really short distance between us and the crypt.
"Warning later, panicking now," I told him.
I dragged him to the foot of the hill and set him on a stone bench helpfully provided by one of the deceased. He held himself upright while I took caught my breath.
"You don't happen to be able to fly right now, do you?" I wheezed. He shook his head, and I pursed my lips together. "There goes the Superman escape route. Now on to the telecommunications one." I whipped out my phone and pressed a few buttons.
"Who are. . .you calling?" he asked me.
"Uncle Seward and Aunt Ma. I don't think Ralph would come to our rescue," I quipped as I put the phone to my ear. The phone rang a couple of times before someone picked up.
"Hello?" Aunt Ma answered.
"Aunt Ma, Roland and I are in a little bit of trouble. Think you or Uncle Seward could come pick us up?" I pleaded.
"Of course, Misty. Where are you?" she asked me.
"Out in Portham Cemetery," I told her.
"What in the world are you doing there?" she scolded me.
"Trying not to become a lifetime member of the Dead Club, now could you please hurry down here?" I insisted.
"All right. Uncle Seward and I will be right there," she promised.
"And tell Uncle Seward to break some speed limits. This is an emergency," I added.
"Very well, but you've got a lot of explaining to do when we get there," she warned me.
"Thanks, Aunt Ma. See you soon," I answered as I hung up the phone.
I turned to Roland. He sat hunched over his legs and clutched his chest. His breathing was labored and in the dark light his pale skin stood out like a black cat in a snowstorm. If snowstorms were black and the cat was actually white. This night was just getting better and better.
CHAPTER 3
"All right, Roland, time to try your feet again," I told him as I hefted his arm over my shoulder.
"Leave. . .leave me," he whispered.
I snorted and dragged
us to the gates. Before us lay the bumpy country road that led to the farmlands and town. "Like I'm going to give the pleasure of your company to that vampire twit."
"I'm. . .I'm only a burden," he insisted.
"You're not that heavy, now stop trying to be all heroic. It's my turn to be the hero," I told him.
"They. . .may catch. . .us," he persisted.
"They might, but Uncle Seward's driving to get us," I pointed out.
"Does he. . .drive fast?" Roland wondered.
"You ever wonder where I get my driving skills?"
"A few times."
"Wonder no more."
A faint smile flitted across his lips. "You. . .have an. . .interesting family."
"We like to keep things lively. It offsets all the dead things I keep dealing with," I quipped.
He turned his face away and pursed his lips together. "I'm sorry."
"You're undead, remember? You don't fall under the whole dead thing," I reminded him. I looked ahead of us at the long, dark country road that stretched for miles. There was no sign of headlights, or even house lights. "Besides, you know I love you."
"If you truly love me then you must leave me," he insisted.
I snorted. "I was told all my life book learning would improve the mind, but I think that book scrambled yours. Besides, you've forgotten the cardinal rules of leaving people behind as taught to me by movies and TV."
He raised an eyebrow. "And what are they?"
"You only leave behind loved ones if their mortally wounded, feel like they need to redeem themselves, or have the strength to stand on their own legs. You don't apply to any of those rules," I tutored him.
"But I may apply to one of them," he countered.
I frowned at him. "Which one?"
"I am mortally wounded."
My eyes widened and my heart performed a fast and complicated tango maneuver. I stopped and looked Roland over. His clothes were creased and a little singed, but there were no outer signs of imminent fatality.
"What are you talking about? You look fine," I argued.
He shook his head. "I am not as I appear."
"Roland, enough with the enigmatic bullshit and tell me what's wrong with you," I snapped at him.
"I am human."
I stared at him with my mouth agape. "You're what?"
"Human," he repeated.
"Wait, human like me?" I asked him. He opened his mouth, but a distant flash of lights caught my attention. A vehicle was headed our way. "Hold that thought. The cavalry's coming," I told him. I hurried us over to the shoulder and set Roland down on the gravel. "Stay here, and don't try this at home," I ordered him.
I stepped out into the road and into the path of the oncoming vehicle. The driver was going a smidge below the sound barrier, and I'd only have one chance to get their attention. I waved my hands wildly over my head and jumped up and down like I was in an exercise video.
"Over here! Over here!" I yelled.
The truck came closer and I saw it was a new 4x4 pickup. The color was a blood red and there was a large ram on the front that proudly displayed its chest. It slowed to a stop and Uncle Seward leaned out the open driver's window.
"What in the world have you been doing? You look like you were caught in a dust storm," he commented.
I glanced down at myself. My clothes were covered in the grave dust from the mausoleum.
"It's a long and really terrifying story, so could I tell it in the truck?" I pleaded.
Aunt Ma leaned out the same window and smiled at Roland and me. "Of course, dear. There's plenty of room in here."
"Just don't get too much dust on the new seats. They're leather," Uncle Seward scolded as he opened his door.
He hopped out and helped me lift Roland into the rear seats. I slid in behind Aunt Ma's seat and Uncle Roland turned us back the way they came. Uncle Seward looked through the rear view mirror at us.
"Now where do you need to go?" he asked us.
"Ralph's place, and then to my apartment for a really long nap," I replied.
"You're going home with us," Aunt Ma insisted.
"We'll be okay at my apartment," I told her. "I hope. . ." I whispered under my breath.
Uncle Seward's eyes narrowed. "You two don't look so good. You look a little pale. I think Aunt Ma's right. You'd better come home with us."
"It's just all this stupid crypt dust," I explained.
I brushed some dust off my hand. Much of the pallor disappeared, but I couldn't help but notice my blue veins stuck out from my whitish skin.
"Crypt dust? What's that boyfriend of yours getting you into?" Uncle Seward questioned me.
"It was. . .none of my doing, I assure you," Roland spoke up.
"He's right. It was just a homicidal child vampire and her vampire hunter amnesia-suffering human servant," I assured them. Aunt Ma and Uncle Seward glanced at each other. I knew those looks. "We're all right. It's not like we didn't make it out of there alive."
"Whether you're alive or not you're going home with us," Uncle Seward told me. "And that's final."
"And remember, we'd love you even if you weren't alive," Aunt Ma added.
"You guys really-" A hand wrapped around my wrist, and I turned to find it belonged to Roland.
He shook his head. "Let it go," he whispered.
"Et tu, Roland?" I asked him.
He smiled. "Your old bed is far more comfortable than the one at your apartment."
Uncle Seward slammed on the brakes so hard that if we hadn't been wearing seat belts Aunt Ma and I would have learned to fly through windshield glass, though it would have been a short enough flight even peanuts wouldn't have been served. He whipped around and glared at Roland.
"What would you know about the bed at her apartment?" he snapped.
"I meant no offense," Roland insisted.
"I don't think this is the time or place for this!" I reminded him. We were only a few miles from the cemetery, and a long way from safety.
"If you've been having an improper relationship with my niece then I'm going to stake you myself," he threatened Roland.
Aunt Ma set her hands on his arm. "She had to learn about the birds and the undead bees sometime, Pat."
Uncle Seward waved his hand at Roland. "But with him? She couldn't have picked a normal guy with normal issues?"
"I'm sorry for involving your niece in my life," Roland spoke up. His voice was low and sincere. "After this evening I would extract myself from her this moment if I could, but I find that the situation won't allow for that."
We all blinked at him, and I leaned towards him.
"Why exactly not?" I asked him.
He turned to me and looked me in the eyes. "Because you have my soul."
All three pairs of our eyes turned to him. My uncle safely looked through the rear view mirror and frowned.
"What are you talking about?" he questioned Roland.
"The spell Rose cast was to transfer my soul into her body, and vice versa," he told me. "When you touched me the spell cast itself onto you and our souls were exchanged."
"Misty was always a sharing girl," Aunt Ma spoke up.
"But this is too much. Change them back," my uncle demanded.
Roland shook his head a few times before his eyes rolled back and his head dropped onto the back of the seat. I jumped at him and nearly strangled myself in my seatbelt.
"Roland? Roland!" I shouted.
I unbuckled myself and slid over to his side. I slapped my hand over his chest and waited for a heartbeat.
"Is he okay?" Aunt Ma asked me.
"Is he dead?" Uncle Seward dryly wondered.
Aunt Ma shot him a death glare that nearly made him join the un-living. "He has Misty's soul in his body," she reminded him.
I breathed out when I heard a slight murmur in his chest. "He's okay," I told them. "I think he just fainted from all the excitement and soul changing."
Uncle Seward frowned. "What exactly happened, young lady?" r />
"We ran into an old nemesis who used some sort of gloomy book to swap our souls," I explained.
"And you don't know how to fix this?" he asked me.
"The Dark Arts wasn't a course my high school offered," I quipped.
Aunt Ma shook her head and clucked her tongue. "Pity. Vocational studies is far more useful than some of the nonsense they teach nowadays."
"I don't think this is the time to talk about our failing education system, Aunt Ma," I scolded her.
"Life is an education system," she returned.
"And as soon as Roland wakes up I'm going to educate him on how to keep you out of harm's way," Uncle Seward spoke up.
I held up my hands. "Nobody's teaching anybody anything. Not school, not life, and definitely not you, Uncle Seward."
"He'd better know how to fix this. . ." I heard my uncle mumble.
I sighed and looked to Roland's pale and peaceful face. "So do I. . ."
CHAPTER 4
We made it back to the farm and Uncle Seward helped me haul Roland upstairs to my old bedroom. We plopped him on the covers. Well, I plopped and Uncle Seward dumped. Aunt Ma got a quilt from the closet and covered him.
"In case he gets cold," she told us.
"He's a vampire, Ma, he's always cold," Uncle Seward reminded her.
"That's no excuse for not trying to prevent catching a cold," she countered.
He rolled his eyes and they fell on me. "I'm going to make sure all the barn doors and windows are locked, and get my guns from the barn. You both stay inside and if somebody comes knocking-"
"I know, I know, don't answer it," I finished.
He frowned. "Of course you answer it. You think this person who tried to steal his soul-" he jerked his head towards Roland, "-is going to knock on the door? If somebody knocks it'll be me, so you'd better answer it."
He stalked off and downstairs. Aunt Ma came up behind me and set a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't take what he says too hard. It's only because he cares," she told me.
I sighed and nodded. "I know, and I can't blame him for worrying. I don't really know how we're going to get out of this one." I half-turned to Roland and the chair Aunt Ma had set up beside the bed. "I think I'll stay with him a little while."
Aunt Ma smiled and patted my shoulder. "Of course. You just come down when you're ready."
"Thanks, Aunt Ma."
Aunt Ma left, and I took my position beside the bed. Roland lay on the covers with his eyes closed. The covers moved up and down to show there was some activity going on in his body. I leaned towards him and grasped his hand in mine.