SCROLLS OF THE DEAD-3 Complete Vampire Novels-A Trilogy (29 page)

George, Upton's butler and chauffeur, killed the engine. He said, "Should I get you anything, sir?"

Upton wanted a Coke. And Fritos. He also wanted a hot dog. His tongue tingled with the thought of the bite of mustard, the crunch of relish and onions. "Is there a store nearby?"

"I'll find one, sir."

Upton explained what he wanted to eat and sat still and peaceful in the comfortable leather seat waiting for George's return.

A dark-skinned child neared the window where Upton sat and tapped gently. Upton lowered the window a few inches. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Are you lost, mister?"

"No, young man, I am not lost. Now go away.”

“I was only trying to help."

"Shoo, shoo, fly, shoo," Upton hissed, raising the window again. He knew the limo stood out in the old rundown neighborhood, but what choice did he have? The hood characters would never get to him anyway, even if they used baseball bats. The limo was special order, the sort used for politicians, for presidents. It was nearly impregnable, a fortress on wheels. Unbreakable glass that could stop bullets, reinforced tires, and locks on the doors that could not be jimmied.

When George returned half an hour later with the food, Upton fell upon the hot dog ravenously. He hadn't eaten since breakfast. "I hope you got yourself something," he said. "We're going to be here as long as it takes."

"I ate on the way back, thank you, sir."

"Right." Upton ripped open the Fritos bag and began to shovel them into his mouth. His lips, frozen, and without any feeling at all, impaired his eating, but did not completely deter him. He thought the junk food scrumptious. He hadn't eaten hot dogs in years.

~*~

Mentor arrived at Dell's house late. He'd been quite busy with new Naturals making the change. Of course, had he not been present to help them when they died, they might not have chosen to be Naturals, and he'd have been neglecting his duty. Still, he'd kept tabs on Dell and knew all about her involvement with the mortal, Ryan.

He knocked out of courtesy, but the door opened instantly as if Dell's mother knew he was on his way. They were all able to sense one another, even at some distance.

"You've come to see about Dell?" she asked. There were worry lines on her brow. Not only was her young son coming to an age when he would soon have to leave the family or be suspected of being some kind of abnormal child who never aged, but now her daughter, a vampire, was falling in love with a boy at her school. Life was never easy for a parent.

"Yes," he said. "I'm taking her for a stroll."

Dell appeared in the entrance hall just as he spoke. "You want me?"

"I thought we'd go for a walk, Dell. We have things to discuss and you missed your evening meeting at my house."

Real surprise showed on her face. "Oh! I forgot, didn't I? I'm sorry, Mentor."

"Don't apologize. Just come along with me."

They walked through the quiet neighborhood in the dark. Now and then a car turned down the street, splashing them in their headlights. Parents coming home from late hours at work.

"This is about Ryan, isn't it?"

"You're getting good with that."

"With what?"

"Knowing. It's part of your powers."

She shrugged. "I guess so. That means it is about Ryan. We've already talked about that. And I've talked with my mom, too."

"And neither talk deterred you from the direction you're heading?"

"Hey! Do I have my own life or what? I'm eighteen now. I go to college next year. I'm not a baby all of you have to keep scolding, you know."

"Temper, girl." Mentor's voice had dropped several registers, enough so that it sounded menacing. He saw Dell cringe.

"I'm sorry, Mentor, it's just that I can't help it. I get mad easy, all the time I'm angry, and I just don't know what the big deal is anyway. I like him, that's all. It's not a crime to like someone, is it?"

"I'll try to answer that question. Let's take a trip. Take my hand."

"What?"

"You're going to try your first transformation. Take my hand."

"I'm scared, Mentor."

He had her hand and held it, looking into her face. "I'm going to be with you. Nothing's going to harm you."

"Tell me what happens then. I'm still scared."

"You know that all matter is made of atoms." She nodded her head. Mentor continued, "We're supernatural now, not diseased or dead, but supernatural. Our atoms are under our control. Our minds can cause them to separate, without destroying us. Our minds stay intact, though the atoms scatter and become invisible. The very first of our kind stumbled on transformation by accident. Since then, we have all been able to transform. We can cause the atoms to gather again, through willpower. They can create another form, if we were to want one. Most of us don't do that often because form affects mind. If I were to become an eagle, I would be me, but eagle as well, do you understand?"

"Kind of."

"Only experience teaches. My words can merely describe. That's why you're going with me on your first trip. I'll keep you safe. After this, you'll be able to do it yourself. Are you ready?"

She hesitated. "I guess so."

"It's natural to be afraid. You've felt some of the emotions and heightened sensory abilities of a vampire, but this is different. I promise you'll be all right. I'll be at your side every minute."

As he stared at her, he turned all his attention inside himself, feeling the molecules that made up his physical body begin to spin and bump one off the other. The world outside dimmed only a moment as he transformed, and then it was bright and real again. Directing his attention to where Dell had been standing beside him he saw that she was coming along nicely, her corporeal body shimmering as if stars danced inside the shell of her skin. She winked out, at least to the human eye, but he could sense the darkness she became, darker than the surrounding night, and he tugged at her, bringing her with him as he ascended toward the sky.

She was crying out for him, terrified, and he sent her soothing thoughts. She would have to learn how to do this on her own eventually. It would not terrify her then. He sped with her clasped tightly to his consciousness across the skies and higher, higher until they were beyond the atmosphere and the world below looked like a blue globe swirling coldly through black space.

He was taking her to the monastery. It was located half a world away from Dallas, Texas, in a remote region of Thailand. Vampire monks had inhabited it for centuries. The monks were the guards, unusual men who devoted their lives to the monastery. Had they been human, they would have been men who joined a religious retreat. Mentor's clan kept it as a safe place, or used it as a prison when needed.

Mentor and Dell descended in a flash, the world having turned enough that Thailand was just below them. Pulling Dell along with him, he drew her earthward again and through the red-tiled roof of one of the monastery's buildings arranged in a semicircle in the isolated enclave.

Then he let her go.

With his silent guidance she began to shimmer into existence from the darkness. He also waited for his own molecules to group again, creating the being known as Mentor.

They stood on a stone floor in a dim room with thick wooden rafters overhead. It was a gloomy, damp place, smelling of wet stone and rusty iron.

Gasping for breath, the way a mortal might, Dell jerked this way and that, throwing out her arms and twirling. He touched her arm and she was suddenly still, her eyes focused on his. "Dell? You're all right. You're in your body again."

She glanced down at herself with surprise. "What happened? I thought I saw the Earth at my feet. It was making me sick. I thought I'd passed out. Where are we?" She looked finally around at their surroundings.

"We descended so high into the stratosphere that the Earth turned below us. When we descended, we were at another place on the globe. We can do that, with practice. I'm sorry it shocked you so badly, but this was important to your development."

"And this place?"

She wrapped her arms around her body and shivered, looking around the dismal room.

"It's our safe, secure place. We're in Northern Thailand. This is an old monastery and the original order of monks deserted it a long time ago. We took it over. Now it's run by monks who are like us."

"Naturals?"

"Well, not really. They actually border on being Predators. They have, shall we say, 'aggressive' instincts. They stay here. Some have been here for centuries."

"What do they do here?"

"That's why we've come, Dell. I wanted you to see someone who is kept here."

"Kept?"

"She's imprisoned."

"Is she vampire?"

"Oh, yes, she is." He took Dell's hand and whisked her down a corridor. As they passed one of the hooded monks, Mentor nodded and the monk barely acknowledged them with a glance before moving on.

"They're not surprised we're here?" Dell asked, looking back at the monk as his orange robe swept along the stone floor behind him.

"No, I come here quite often. They know me well."

Mentor led her down stone steps into an underground corridor, this one with low, soot-stained ceilings. Electric lights hadn't been installed. Iron sconces flickered with candlelight. Along each side of the corridor were cells with iron gates that served as doors. Mentor paused at one. He brought a key from his pocket and slipped it into the large black iron padlock hanging from a hasp. He unlocked it, and swung open the heavy door. "Go in," Mentor said.

Dell stepped inside and moved toward a figure who had its back to them at a primitive oak writing table. As Dell approached, she saw it was a woman. Her hair was long, to her waist, and very shiny, sparkling with light from the candle sitting on the table next to her. She was dressed in a plain dark dress that buttoned at her throat. Around one of her ankles Dell saw an iron collar attached to a heavy chain. "Hello?" Dell said.

The woman did not turn. She said, "Mentor, your little new-girl vampires are a bore to me. How many years do I have to bear this intrusion?"

"As long as there are others like you," he said. He touched Dell's arm and said, "Madeline here was like you. She fell in love with a mortal. Didn't you, Madeline?"

"You tell the story, Mentor. I'm busy."

"Madeline is writing her memoirs." Mentor indicated the shuffled papers on the desk. "Madeline is kept here for her own good. When her mortal lover died, she tried to kill herself. But first, she tried to attract attention from the world media. She was going to cause a scene, weren't you, Madeline?"

Madeline refused to answer. She kept her head down over the papers on the desk, writing furiously.

"You're scaring me, Mentor," Dell said, her face looking heavy and sad.

"I wanted you to see what becomes of vampires sometimes when they take a mortal lover."

"As if you didn't!" Madeline turned in the chair, her long hair swinging wide over her shoulder. Her face was deformed with rage. Her incisors showed, her lips were pulled back from all her teeth, and they shone yellow in the light filtering in from the barred corridor.

Dell turned to Mentor. "What does she mean?"

"I'll tell you what I mean, girl. Mentor fell in love and married a mortal, too. He should be here with me, chained for eternity in a cell with nothing of the world but paper and pen."

Mentor spoke softly, "Madeline, I didn't lose my mind when I lost my mortal."

Madeline rose and Dell stepped back, startled. Mentor stood his ground.

"Oh, didn't you?" she shouted. "Didn't you lose your mind, Mentor? Are you saying you're impervious to the pain of separation? That you're heartless? That you didn't beat your breast and weep and gnash your teeth?"

"Calm down, Madeline. You get this way every time I come to visit. It's tedious."

"And why shouldn't I get enraged?" The chain attached to her ankle and connected to the wall clinked like doom as she stepped toward them. "Why shouldn't I let your little secret out? You're as mad as I am. You've been mad for a hundred years!"

Mentor saw her rash movement coming a second before she made it. She always attacked him. She was always furious when he brought a youth to see her, to witness her madness and imprisonment. He reached up and grabbed her raised clawed hand before it could touch him. "We're leaving now, Madeline. You're a terrible hostess. You need to work on your manners."

Now the chained woman went for him tooth and claw. Mentor threw her back against the writing desk and ushered Dell through the open door before Madeline could recover. He swung the door shut with a crash and with his key locked the door.

He looked at Dell. "Do you understand?"

"Was she right? Did you love a mortal, too?"

"Yes, I did. And that's why I want to spare you that kind of pain. Madeline never got over it. You can see she's insane and vengeful. She would tear me apart if she could. She'd do great damage if she were let loose in the world. She wants to bring us all down. Make sure we're hunted and found and killed. It's her mission now, so of course we can't allow her freedom. Ever again."

"Why doesn't she do what we did? Transform and leave?"

"Someone's attention is turned on her all the time, every second. One of the monks is assigned to her. Many of the captives here don't know they can transform, but Madeline knows. She was quite talented in her day. And she knows she wouldn't get far. Her monk would come for her and bring her back within seconds. It would be a useless gesture on her part. Not that she hasn't done it. But she's given all that up now and sits in the cell, finally realizing there is no escape."

Mentor led Dell up the stairs. As they stood in the big open room where they'd first appeared, monks silently came and went, hoods shielding their faces, ignoring the presence of the two outsiders.

"I don't want this for you, Dell." Mentor hoped she could see what might happen to her if she continued falling in love with her young man.

"But you didn't really lose your mind, did you, Mentor?"

"No. At least not to the extent Madeline did. And others like her. They're all here, locked away for their own good. For the sake of us all."