The Dracula Index - Vampire Epoch//01

34 - Mell

With no fine-whites to dress into, each of us met outside the home of the High Elder in the cleanest clothes from our bunktrunks. For Generals like Bryne and I, the options are few. Most everything we own is filthy or stained, either with dirt, dried sweat, or from any number of unidentifiable fluids. Felicity looked pleasant with her hair in a blue ribbon and dressed in the cream gown of the Guardians. Somehow, her perfumed smell matched her look. It's known that a Guardian is far from a glorified life-job, but they do have their comforts. Edie was in a gown as well, but the sterile garments of Hospital House were hardly appealing, even on her. Oscar wore the vest and jeans of the Watchmen. Rufus, the leathers and shielding of the Scavers. Roz had no need to wear her work attire, but she might as well have. There was a clean silhouette of an apron on her underclothes. Luther Priest was dressed the same as always, in his brown cloth robe, but he did look comfortable with his head freshly shorn. Of the girls, I was jealous of Lane. She was outfitted in the most interesting way, with diamond jewelry, lace gloves, a wide, yellow hat, and impeccable, brightly toned clothes. That was the benefit of being a Trader at Inventory Post. She had access to everything the Scavers brought back to R-34, much of which, if not foundational for encampment life, was prized by our pre-encampment ancestors. Although her clothes were beautiful, they were still old. Not like the outfit Crevan had chosen. His recently cobbled black shoes were polished to sparkle. There was neither a blemish nor a tear in his slack-pants. His shirt had been pressed flat by one of the Bearers, and his hair was slicked back in a manner that made him appear to have just left the Bathhouse.

I could write here of how Elder Hemaris invited us in to show off the structure of his home. It is a fascinating space. And, quite truly, the finest accommodations of R-34, with scavenged stone flooring, furnishings in stained woods, and colored glass windows. I could also jot down what I recall from his second (or third) lecture on the pleasantries we sacrificed through disobedience. But none of that matters in light of where we are today, and the task set forth by each of us to soon leave the encampment and return with Rufus to where he had discovered the book.

The moment that Elder Hemaris left us alone in the first sitting room, waiting on stuffed leather couches, drinking red cellarwine from glittering crystal glasses, and staring up at a ceiling of dim light bulbs, we knew it was time to talk. Standing, Bryne took the lead.

"I don't wanna hear complaints from any of you. We've been through this together. There are legitimate questions waiting to be resolved. Lenny, you used to keep all of us up at night wondering what's beyond the valley. You may have some answers now, but none of you know anything close to what Mell and I have discovered. We have come to each of you, we've shown you the Chronoscope, but none have had the courage to read its contents. This is more than some antiquated, pre-encampment technology that has no place in this age. Believe me."

Crevan crossed one leg over the other and took a deep drag on the cigar he had lit from the Elder's collection. "This sounds to me like a revolt from two Generals who wish they had been pinned differently. I think we should tread lightly around these two."

I grunted in disapproval. "Out of all of us here, you are the least aware of what is going on beyond the pickets. It's much bigger than what we were told. And now there's an answer. Call it the prayers to Elder Priest, call it the Warden of the Neverdowns, but this device and this book found us at the same time, after hundreds of years. I refuse to think it's a coincidence."

Many of my former classmates looked to Lenny for a complaint, since no one but the Priests are permitted to mention the Warden, but he continued listening.