Hi!
Up next: The house of horrors... Just kidding! :P We're finally on our way to Pennsylvania. A final word of warning: things are going to get ugly in this one. Though that's probably up to interpretation. Anyway, enjoy.
Lara
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Chapter 9
I was seated in a luxury version of a black BMW X5 – complete with bling bling rims and tinted windows – on my way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even though Pennsylvania was still within the outskirts of Alexander's dominion, valuable information I was provided with a few days ago, the Vampire League Council meeting would be held by Heron, master vampire of the District of Columbia and parts of Virginia. It was a meeting of higher ranking American vampires of the whole United States, a meeting that initially was supposed to be held in Washington D.C. – in Heron's area.
According to Brown, the vampires decided to hold it somewhere else a few weeks ago. Apparently they wanted to keep the convention secret from the human public in particular. For reasons beyond my understanding, the vamps thought that currently Washington D.C. was a hot spot, publicity-wise.
The convention's exact location was hidden from the magical communities and the shape shifters – not to mention the rest of humanity. Even Brown had only received the information that it would be held somewhere in Pennsylvania. Alexander had made it part of the deal not to give away any more details. What he didn't know, though, was that thanks to the human police officers smuggled into the catering service, parts of the human and magical forces knew where the undead shit would hit the fang.
As for whatever closet humbug the vampires had in mind of performing, I was neither interested, nor in a position to witness any of it. I wouldn't be allowed to attend the council meeting itself. Nevertheless, there were the 'social activities' attached to it, hosted by Heron; and that was where I came in.
As Alexander's human servant I would be able to enter almost every area. Hopefully I could find out more about the new drug and, more importantly, why Maria was killed and who was behind all this. For, whoever was, he could lead me to her murderer. I couldn't forget the flash of black in her killer's eyes, couldn't blot out the images of blood dripping from his chin. No, by the three great witches, I wouldn't rest until he had met true death.
Although Brown believed that the murderer was a vampire unknown to the Circle, I suspected that Heron himself could be connected with Maria's death somehow. Some of the crime scenes in and around Washington D.C. reeked of the vampire's handwriting, and according to rumors he was involved in drug business. However, the drug trafficking he allegedly had his hands in was 'conventional' and not what the Circle was after at the moment. Moreover, Brown admitted that the evidence Washington's CF gathered painstakingly was not enough to nail him. Why wasn't I surprised?
We were making the trip during the night, using one of Alexander's swank cars. The head vampire was sitting in the front seat, while I was trying to look inconspicuous – in other words, trying not to be there – in the backseat. A specially designed BMW X5. Were all master vampires multimillionaires?
It would take us about one and a half hours to go from New York to Pennsylvania. Ninety minutes in one and the same car with three vampires. I had already met the two additional vampires Alexander had brought along in Ryon Club, where they witnessed last night's performance test starring me and Vanessa. I felt more than uncomfortable, and it bugged me that I felt that way because ... I sighed.
Let's face it – last night was just a small taste of what I'll have to go through at the meeting.
George, our assigned driver, had been darting probing glances at me via the rear window, winking from time to time. What disturbed me even more, apart from the fact that Zack, the other vampire the head vampire had in tow, was sitting quite closely beside me, was that Alexander had been staring at me from the corner of his eye for what must have been more than the last five minutes.
It was dark in the car, but from time to time it got flooded with light from an oncoming car. Each time I checked he was looking. Call me paranoid, but I was pretty sure that he hadn't even blinked once in the last two minutes. Maybe he was just testing my patience. Who knew?
So I did what I always did when things happened I couldn't handle. I ignored it. Or tried to. After another five minutes of this unblinking face-down-contest I literally lost it. Enough was enough.
"Is there something wrong?" I said.
The vampire stared at me. There was nothing in his expression.
"I am a little concerned about your behavior, little witch. Your tenseness has been assaulting my senses in a very blunt and offensive way ever since you entered this vehicle."
"If I understood correctly, I will only have to fool the vampires at the conference, not you or your entourage of vampiric flunkies."
The vampire's eyes narrowed.
"Haven't you yourself deemed me worthy?" I said. "I've read Emily Post for vampires, I've been briefed, and I remember all the rules of subservience. So, I'll keep my part of the bargain. You'll keep yours. We all go back home. Finito."
He turned around to face me completely. Determination not to show weakness had me staring into his eyes without blinking. Usually something I tried to avoid. Although my natural shields were very resistant, I was probably not oblivious to the hypnotizing effects a vampire of his age was capable of.
Azure blue messed with my color vision, tricking me into believing that his eyes were glowing. His voice was like ice crystals burning my skin.
"Let's be very clear on one thing: If my integrity as a member of the Vampire League is questioned, I will eliminate you personally."
Eliminate.
I resisted the urge to swallow, nodding with a grit of my teeth.
Alexander turned around, and I exhaled. This was not a game. I could die. I folded my hands in front of me, trying to pretend that I wasn't scared shitless. For I was. I could play cool all I wanted, could even fool someone as ancient as the head vamp of New York, but I would never be able to fool myself. The idea of going into what amounted to a nest crawling with vampires scared me more than I wanted to admit. Being in one car with Alexander and two of his flunkies had me tethering on the edge already.
And this was only the prelude. I was about to step into the lion's den. The question was whether the other vampires were going to be as powerful as Alexander.
"I'd listen to him, baby. He's not just playin tough," Zack said, flashing me his fangs in a nasty grin.
Baby? I slowly turned around to give him one of my best scowls. Scary? Screw them all.
"Do you always B.S. so much, or is it just because I'm in this freaking car?" I said.
He slapped his thigh and started shaking with laughter. "Just for you, baby! Just for you... Man, I wish Alexander had more of your sort."
I raised an eyebrow. More of my sort? What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Then it dawned on me. Of course, Alexander had other (female) human servants. I didn't even want to know how many and what for. A look of open distaste played over my face, while Zack was still grinning, by all appearances having the time of his life.
I stared at him. His auburn hair reached his shoulders in one of those fashionable layered haircuts, while his eyes were either a light blue or green – I couldn't tell for sure with the absence of light. What I could tell, though, was that he must have spent most of his lifetime in a gym. The muscles under his shirt looked like they might burst any minute.
I was sitting in a car with three freaking vampires. The best thing about the whole story was that I would have to go into a house filled with about forty others of the sort. I shuddered, trying to push the thought away. I had to concentrate on the mission. Nothing else mattered.
My suitcase had felt extremely light without any weapons. Since our luggage would have to undergo security checks, I had to leave them at home. Then again, if you wanted to stand a chance against a master vampire as old as Alexander, you probably needed more than weapons.
Forget the garlic and the silver cross. For a master vamp you needed the big guns – apart from a hell of a lot of power, or shitloads of luck. For three dozens of them, you didn't need the big guns – you could count yourself lucky if you managed to settle your affairs in advance.
In general a Sig Sauer, or even better, a shotgun with silver bullets could come in handy, though. A wooden stake would do the job as well, but I had never used one myself. I counted on me not needing any of it in the next few days. If I was wrong, I was dead.
* * *
Long before we reached Heron's mansion, I centered myself to erase every trace of magic clinging to my aura. It was a skill only a witch of the air lineage possessed and concurrently the reason why Brown had chosen me.
Breathing in the air around me, I let myself fall deeper into a more conscious perception of the aerial structure in the car.
Air, come to me, surround me, fill me, I whispered mentally.
Oxygen travelled through my veins, setting off a vibrant shudder that went right through my core. Air circulated through my body. Vein by vein. Trickle by trickle. I held my breath until I felt the pressure in my lungs – the need for respiration. I tried to gather every fiber of power stored and stocked in myself, called it by whatever name it responded to. Then I released my breath in a steady rhythm, pulse slowed down in blissful calm.
My aura trembled, shifted to the side. I pulled on the magic. The effort made me narrow my eyes into slits, then close them. Lips parted, nostrils flared, to suck in air once again, and with it I took what was mine. I sealed the magic inside of me, made it invisible for others' senses.
I felt my aura settle back into place. It was void and empty, covering my power like a second skin.
I opened my eyes, exhaling. I faintly noticed Alexander's head moving, the vampire's eyes shifting back to the front. He must have sensed the sealing. For reasons that were beyond me, I didn't like that he did.
Not five minutes later the car came to a sudden and abrupt halt. I straightened up, eyes exploring the ring of darkness surrounding the car. It was a hostile darkness that didn't leave much to see, or maybe that was just how it felt to me. However much I strained and stretched my (now human) senses, trying to figure what was going on, nothing was to be seen. We were standing in the middle of the godforsaken road. Why?
Vision. Recognition. It ripped through me like a bolt of lightning. I braced myself, automatically reaching for the powers I cut myself off from. Nothing. I met a blank wall.
A shallow breath, a weak attempt at calming down. For the fracture of a second a ghostlike face had stared at me through the darkened car window. I scanned the darkness. It was gone. What the hell was going on?
Just when I was about to do the one thing I wanted to avoid, or put off as long as possible – ask the vampire a question and talk to him of my own volition – Alexander turned to me.
"Stop fussing. They are just searching the car."
My eyes darted to his face. There was no way I could see anything in the half darkened BMW, dammit. At the same moment the front side window slid down with a barely perceptible hum. George handed out what looked like a white envelope to someone outside. Probably an invitation.
An invitation. What next? Dance cards?
George's deep voice cut through the darkness like a jig-saw through wood. Rough. Grating on the night's silence. Inhuman.
"Alexander, head vampire of New York. Zack Hamilton, second in command. George Rider, enforcer and security guard. One human servant."
The way he said the last words and the fact that he didn't say my name left no doubt as to how important my presence was to the vampiric host. Back pressed into the cushioned leather of my seat, I moved a bit to the left. The outline of a dark figure looming over the car came into my vision.
My head jerked violently, when I heard a noise at the back of the car. Someone opened the trunk for further inspection.
They were thorough, I had to give them that. It took about another ten minutes before we were rated clean and could move on. I forced my eyes to take on a tunnel-like, narrowed gaze.
Talk about high security measures.
The guards returned the envelope and let us through. The car slipped into motion, speeding away in the night. That gave me time to actually think about what exactly we were approaching. We had to be close to Heron's mansion, and I was still trying to figure out how I was actually going to find clues. Getting there was only the first step.
How was I going to identify a vampiric drug baron in the middle of a Vampire League Conference? I couldn't exactly walk around firing fishy questions at anybody who looked at me the wrong way.
So what options did I have? Flirt with other guests? Open a vein to gain information? Probably a bad idea ... and deadly. But, after all, the primary question was in how far I could even snoop around with Alexander in tow. I risked a glance at the master vamp in the front seat and froze.
The building was already within eye sight.
And, boy, a mansion it was. It was a fortress, in every possible way. High-tech gates and elegant architecture melted into the greenery surrounding it like a second fence. The garden was exotic, to say the least. I watched the collection of palm trees and bushes with dark green leaves rushing past us as we drove up the gravelly driveway. For a moment the vision merged with the darkness – a blur in my vision that gave the illusion of a dark green sea, the house drowning in its waters. The dark green was only parted by the driveway leading directly to the main entrance.
A premonition, tinged with numbing fear and tingling suspense, shook my system. There was movement beneath those plants and bushes, leaves rustling randomly and in eerie ways. There were blurry shadows and dark figures appearing and disappearing, playing hide and seek with my human eyes. I felt my blood run cold. The premises were crawling with vampires.
I dug my nails into the seat, knowing that this was nothing compared to what I would be facing in what could only be minutes. I needed a distraction, a way to calm myself. Anything. I found it when I caught my first good look of what we were driving up to.
The building was a tribute to eighteenth century architectural achievements of the finest. Its front façade turned back the hands of time, the beholder cast to the beginning of the country's history in its most narrow sense. And yet, with its columns and white walls, the mansion seemed more like a memento of the slave-practicing South.
Six colossal columns supported the upper two stores of the house, where countless elaborately ornamented windows faced outwards. I could almost believe that the building had once been the glorious fortress of a great plantation, had waited all those decades to see olden times rise again – when in fact we were in twenty-first century North America. These walls were witnessing the malpractice of a different kind of slavery, though. A very different kind.
The car came to a halt. Reluctantly I lowered my gaze, stared out the tinted car window. I got my first good look at what I would have to be acting like the next few days. I gulped.
Looks like we've been expected.
About a dozen people, presumably not all of them human servants, were surrounding the car, just a little short of actually raiding the vehicle. A travelling menagerie of bootlickers and opportunists alike, and from this moment on I was one of them. I closed my eyes, steeling myself for whatever was to come. I was going to shed layers of skin, shove aside a major part of who I was. Become what I hated and feared the most. I took a deep breath, blinking hard.
The click was harsh against my ears, and I looked up. A small blond female had opened the front door and was now bowing elaborately. Alexander stepped out of the black BMW without as much as looking at me. George and Zack followed his lead and jumped out of the car gracefully. I took another deep breath and got out of the car. This was where my real performance began.
"Master Alexander, Master Heron assumed that you would arrive a little earlier and is indisposed at the moment," the blond female said, the weightiness of her worship-like politeness almost making her topple over. "He is inviting you to the informal gathering tonight, though, if you please, Sir."
Twelve pairs of eyes were glued to Alexander – everyone apart from the blond one standing in a somewhat messy row. It was a mystery to me why I had expected maids and butlers with stiff postures and neat white gloves. The people standing in front of Heron's mansion, however, were all dressed in black. Patent-leather corsets, leather trousers, laced tops, patent-leather underwear. The particular detail gave me pause.
I forced spit down my mouth.
They had to be human lapdogs. Besotted with the undead and acting like a brainless herd of sheep, they met the archetype of the human servant. So, why was I still shocked? It was just that some of those humans looked at the vampires, like... like lovers, or family. I was appalled at the blind obedience of these people, appalled that I was going to be one of them.
Faking that kind of adoration with the head vampire of New York? Good luck.
Alexander turned back to me, the quick jerk of his head the signal for me to trail behind him. I suppressed the urge to roll with my eyes, cursing myself for accepting this job . Yet I inclined my head, casting my eyes to the ground, and followed silently.
I fisted my hands. I could be obedient. Even if it would kill me, I'd see this through to the end.
As we approached the entrance I risked one or the other peak. Perception sharpened and dulled in one breath. I saw the ornamented gold handle, thinking that it was in the shape of one of those ancient idols I'd seen in history books. It took a second glance to see that it was the face of a vampire with fangs. Bared fangs at that.
* * *
Keeping my head down turned out to be harder than I thought. Not just because I needed to know as much about the building's layout as I could. I was driven by a morbid curiosity and a sick fascination I didn't believe I had in me. No matter what my motivation, it was a sight to behold. I had not been prepared to enter the shared summer residence of Scarlett O'Hara and Hugh Hefner.
The walls in the great hall were made of stone and heavily ornamented, framing the rectangular-shaped room. A gigantic, luxuriously red-carpeted staircase wormed its way up to the first floor, shaming every other piece of furniture into insignificance. Everything was boisterous and over-ornamented. The impossible throw up of stiles and centuries put aside, the real question was: Would I be able to see the whole mansion and gain access to each and every corner, or was the ballroom where my journey ended?
I had no clue how the house was built up or structured, when I needed to know. Only one way to find out.
I pretended to trip on the stairs, making a show of hurting my knee. The male servant guiding us to our rooms helped me to my feet gallantly.
"Are you alright?"
I nodded. "Thank you. I was distracted by the paintings. The house is amazing!"
Fortunately the ruse worked. The servant launched into a tirade about the mansion's history eagerly.
"Originally it was built in the middle of the 19th century. However, it was restored to match Heron's tastes in the 1990s. He rebuilt the mansion to suit his special tastes. This is also the reason why its size is so impressive. The architect remodeled the tunnel system beneath the compound and added extra entrances as well as secret passageways throughout the building – very impressive. The basement, however, is the real jewel of the whole premises."
He paused, moving on without looking back. I needed him to talk more. Now.
"What makes it so special? The basement, I mean," I said.
Inconspicuous? Not so much. Dammit, I didn't care as long as it got me the information I wanted.
The servant didn't seem to notice or mind for that matter. It confirmed former notions about the IQ rate of these people.
"It's built with two meter thick steal walls. Even the ceiling is layered with steel. Exterior-grade solid-core doors with deadbolts and longer hinges. We can shut down the whole basement in case of an emergency. If we secure these doors, not even a bomb can do much harm."
Panic Room for the undead. Not bad.
I was pretty sure many master vampires wouldn't have given a damn about securing a building like this. I had a feeling their arrogance was too great to admit that they might actually need it. Maybe Heron wasn't as arrogant as I thought.
"Now follow me through here please, the rooms for the guests are all in the upper floors, and yours..." He opened the folder he had been carrying with him. "Right, yours is on the second floor."
The further we moved up, the more I saw what the servant meant. The mansion was impressive. And by that I did not only mean the security system. Usually when entering a house, one could tell when it was built. Every house has a certain feel to it – like its own pulse. But with this one it was quite different.
The interior of the mansion was like a museum with items of many different centuries. The walls of the staircase we were climbing were adorned with paintings of motifs clearly dating back to the Middle Ages. Most of them showed armored knights in fighting postures, their swords drawn, blood glistening on the metal impudently. The corridor on the second floor, however, was another story altogether. Its walls were dotted with paintings that I would have placed into the 16th or 17th century. I stopped abruptly in front of the third one and shook my head in awe. It was a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin.
Alexander turned around, his voice low when he spoke. "What is it?"
"Nothing. I... For a moment I thought this was an original," I said absentmindedly.
I saw it once in the British Museum, many years ago. Alexander stepped beside me, invading my personal space. I tensed. The vampire was way too close for me to feel comfortable.
He whispered into my ear. "Well, it is."
"You mean it's Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin?" Surely he couldn't mean-
"No. That is not what I meant."
Ice cold breath on my neck. A shudder made its way down my back. Alexander, meanwhile, righted himself and turned around.
"Come now."
I tried to tear my eyes away, the need to understand, the wicked curiosity blooming in my system, warring with the desire to turn around and leave. I stared at the head vampire's back mutely, wondering what else this fun house had to offer.