Sylvie

Chapter 16 – “The Skull.”

“You know, I haven't used my bird or flying form yet, Miss Miakoda.” Casey snickered and ran her hand down her partner's back. “We discussed how animal forms can change, but nothing in-depth about flying.” Casey flittered her hand like something flying. “So, generous teacher…” Casey kissed Sylvie on the cheek, “…What do I do?”

Taking Casey by the hand and pointing into the boughs of the various pines and oaks, Sylvie explained what she knew. “For me? First, I imagine being in the branches. Then I think of the bird I like most, which is a bluejay.” She looked at her progeny, “I can’t explain why, bluejays have always just spoken to me.” She touched her blue cornrows, “I guess that's why my hair is blue and gray.”

“Adorable, by the way.” Casey tied up her coppery hair into a small bun. “Alright, picture myself in the tree and then pick a bird.” Closing her eyes Casey thought about all the times she stood outside her family home that had been built along a small lake and surrounded by huge trees. After a couple of minutes, Casey peeked open one of her shining golden eyes and looked at Sylvie. “I guess it would help to know birds.” She shrugged, “I am a marine biologist. I know the critters in the ocean.” Making a silly fish face for a couple of seconds, she ended her antics with a blown kiss to her partner. “Wait. I have an idea.” Reaching into her back pocket, the new vampire pulled out her phone and began tapping on the screen. “Why do I keep forgetting that I have the information at my fingertips?”

Laughing lightly, Sylvie stepped behind Casey and watched her flip through the various types of birds. “It might help if you pick one native to this area.” She paused, “Or one that is worldly. That way, you don’t stand out as an odd bird.” Sylvie kissed Casey’s neck, “It would look strange to be a seagull in say the desert of Nevada or Arizona.”

Thinking to herself, Casey rationalized that Sylvie did make sense. “Humm, let’s see.” She paused, “I take it this can be changed as well? I don’t have to stay as a cardinal if I choose?”

Shaking her head, Sylvie confirmed what her lover asked. “No, but it is stupidly difficult since in theory you are supposed to fly more than anything. So, it’s like breaking a habit. I suppose you could also get withdrawal. I think it is why many vampires never change, it’s just that hard.” She sighed and looked at the stars once more, “Before there were cars that could get us place to place quickly, when I was younger…” Sylvie briefly recalled the clean air and thick forests that her tribe used to live in, “…It was easier to fly everywhere as a bird or bat.” She pulled Casey tightly to her, “I used to fly all over the place in a single evening. I let the wind spirits take me where they wanted me to go.”

“Got it.” Casey turned around in Sylvie’s arms, “Remembering a better time?” She inquired as her eyes glinted happily with sunlight. “Sounded like an easier time.”

Shaking her head, Sylvie closed her moon-shifting eyes. “No, it wasn’t better, really. It was just different.” She took a deep breath, “It was a more relaxed time, I think. When I was living, the tribe worked diligently for the winter months, but it was ever the emergency that things now seem to be. We had lots of fun as well.” She huffed, “I guess if we removed the industrial things now, it could be the same.”

Having no clue about business or economics, Casey nodded and shrugged. “I think I found a bird I like.”

“I still think we discussed this before.” Sylvie quipped playfully.

Casey looked up from her phone and lightly bit Sylvie’s lower lip. “Let’s pretend that we didn’t. Even if we did, I don’t remember and I don’t recall flying anywhere. So let’s start from scratch. Deal?”

Raising her eyebrow and pointing to her lip, Sylvie let out a little cute whine until Casey relinquished and gave her back the ability to speak. “It’s a deal.” She winked. “Do that again back home…mmm, that felt lovely.”

Handing Sylvie the phone, Casey pointed to a bird. “Since I lean towards the more predatory type of things, I thought this would be great.” She pointed to a picture of a hawk. “It’s a red-shouldered hawk, and found all the way to the Mississippi, up through Canada.” She paused, “How’s that for diverse?”

“Red to match that copper-strawberry hair of yours?” Sylvie questioned.

Nodding in agreement, Casey closed her eyes and tried to follow Sylvie’s suggestion. While able to see herself in the trees, it was the picture of the lovely bird stalking its prey that kept flashing in Casey’s mind. Seconds after seeing the majestic bird diving towards its target, she felt a slight dip in her blood reserve.

“You did it.” Sylvie clapped excitedly and held out her arm for Casey to land on. “Massive claws my dear. Alright, let’s get on the move.” Sylvie watched as Casey spread her wings and with a push, nearly rocketed into the sky, circling the area. “Waiting for me, huh? This should be fun to see. A hawk and bluejay.” She giggled and instantly turned into the small blue and white bird, and headed off to the army base.

A few minutes passed as the two birds both made their way to the warehouse and played with each other in the air. Sylvie spotted the top of the building and dove for one of the metal boxes that housed the air conditioning unit or the heater. Landing without any sound, Sylvie poked her blue head around and looked for video cameras. Spotting a couple aimed at a service door, she determined it was dark and safe enough where she’d landed.

Shifting to her human form, Sylvie squatted low on the metal box and waved for Casey. She watched as Casey landed beside her and shifted as well. “I swear, rose-muffin..you were born to be a vampire.” Sylvie pointed to the four cameras that kept scanning around the door. “It appears that the security has improved since I was last here.” She giggled, “I guess that is what happens when you break into a military base and they don’t know what happened.” She pointed to the intake vents, “We turn ghost form and then get into the main bay as quickly as possible.”

“Roger that, My blueberry-blossom.” Casey added and kissed Sylvie before quietly running to the vent and changing.

Everything seemed to freeze in Sylvie’s vision. Casey stopped moving, the air went cold, noises of vehicles stopped. She knew what was coming.

-Oh no…a snap vision…-

She managed to say before losing all sense of time.

–

“Let’s see you are one Casey Rivers, according to your fingerprint and the pictures we have on file.” An Army officer sat across from his prisoner. “How did you get in here? We find you laying in the middle of the bay, knocked out.” He leaned forward, “You know breaking into a military base is a federal crime.” Just then a pair of men in black suits, with small earpieces came into the room. “You can leave. She is under our… care now.”

Looking oddly at the two men, the officer stood up. “Who are you? I am not relinquishing a prisoner until I see proper docu…” He stopped when the two flashed FBI badges, “What does the FBI want with a girl we found on the floor.”

“Look, Captain..” One man looked at the nametag, “...Joyner, that is classified information. We will be taking her at this point.” The man looked at Casey, “Well. It took long enough, but you will prove valuable to convince others of what we’ve watched for years.” He took off the handcuffs, “Pointless anyway.” He pulled out a small syringe full of a cream-colored liquid. “I already know we can’t inject you. However..” He walked up and squeezed Casey’s cheek and made her lips pop open and depressed the plunger. “Good girl.” He looked at his partner. “Neutralized. Let’s get her back to the Strode building.” The first agent paused, “Come to think of it, take the captain too. Get the other four soldiers that witnessed her as well.” He continued. “No trace.” His partner nodded and did as told.

Watching the whole scene from above, Sylvie noticed the subtle passing of the moon and sun blending over Casey’s messy strawberry hair.

-The eclipse. Shit…I need to stop her NOW!-

—

Sylvie snapped out of her short trance and in one swift move tackled Casey to the ground just before the vent.

“What the fuck?” Casey exclaimed and looked up confused at Sylvie.

Sylvie jerked her newborn vampire and girlfriend up from the roof and motioned for her to follow. Sylvie found another set of deep shadows and laid flat. “You can’t use ghost form, Casey.”

“Yes, I can…” Casey felt the anguish coming from Sylvie’s moonlit eyes. “You saw something didn’t you?”

Hearing the service door open, Sylvie did the best she could to hide from the flashlight beam that was coming towards them. “Yes, and it wasn’t good.”

“New plan?” Casey rolled behind a metal box, “Well think of something fast, that guy is coming.”

Sylvie rolled to the opposite side and also hid behind a sheet metal box making a loud noise of some kind. “Shift into your bird..I have an idea.”

Doing as she was told, Casey seamlessly turned back into her hawk form and looked at her mistress. Sylvie nodded and pointed to the top of the box. “Hop up there and let the guard see you.” Sylvie watched as Casey flew off then came back to land perfectly on the metal structure, garnering the soldier’s flashlight.

“Oh, a hawk!” The soldier pressed a button on his radio, “Rodriguez, it’s a hawk. A cool-looking one at that.” He paused, “What do you want me to do?”

A light Latino voice crackled from the other side, “Nothing. It’s just a bird. Stupid motion sensors going off all the time. Pointless things.” He paused, “Just get back down here, we will report it as normal.”

Nodding briefly, the soldier answered back. “Roger, I am coming back down. First I gotta get a picture.” He fished out his phone and started to tap the screen. “This is gonna be so co…”

Coming out of the shadows and reforming from the mist she’d become, Sylvie grabbed the unsuspecting guard and blew her breath right across his nose. “Hello there, can you tell me your name?” Sylvie asked while leading the man back to the service door.

“Private Scott Whitman, ma’am.” He purred lightly. “I was just up here because the sensors went off, and Sergeant Rodriguez didn’t want to come up.”

Sylvie motioned for Casey to follow as the two headed down the stairwell. “I promised I would tell you all my visions, dear-heart.” Sylvie walked with the man a little more. “I saw you helpless at a table with handcuffs on. You were being interrogated by some captain at first..”

Hearing the word ‘captain’ Private Whitman spoke up, “Captain Joyner. Good man.”

Walking in front of the young soldier, Sylvie put her finger over her lips. “Shhh, we don’t want to ruin the surprise for Rodriguez, do we?” She watched the soldier clap his hand over his mouth and start shaking his head. She resumed talking to Casey, “...Then two FBI agents came in with some white liquid, shoved it down your throat and claimed you were neutralized.” She paused, “It also sounded like the CIA knows about us as a whole.” She led the boy down to the guard area. “Whitman, can you buzz us in the room? We are a couple of dancers..Joyner hired us.”

Tilting her head, Casey frowned. “Dancers? That’s the best you could come up with?” She paused, “I take it that it was ghost form that caused me to get caught?” Casey licked her lips suddenly feeling very hungry.

Affirming Casey’s statement, Sylvie nodded. “Yeah, once your blood is used up..you’ll reform and be pretty helpless until the hunter within you wakes up and you go into a frenzy.” She paused, “From what I saw you hadn’t hit that stage yet.”

Whitman tapped his card against the flat panel and the door buzzed and allowed the three to enter. “Sergeant, this is…” He looked back at Sylvie.. “What do I call you, Ma’am?”

Sylvie didn’t have time to answer, as Casey hopped on the other man and drained him completely. Watching the man turn to dust, Sylvie shrugged. “That’s one way.” She looked over at Whitman and sat him down in the chair that his sergeant was in. “Do you know how to shut off the cameras?”

He shook his head, “No ma’am. I am only to watch and report.”

A little beep from Sylvie’s contacts and Code spoke up. “Schematics for this system are loaded.” Green lights circled once more and then the monitors seemed to go blank. “All sensors down and video on a loop. Query?”

Wiping her lips clear of the sergeant’s blood, Casey heard the AI talking. “I love that damned thing. I can’t wait to have my own.” She paused, “So we are clear to the box then?

“It would seem that way.” Sylvie paused, “Scott…” She looked at the young man, “...How many guards are there on shift tonight?”

Dreamy-eyed and blushing, Scott swallowed hard and answered. “About twenty since we received an important shipment today. A civilian one.”

Casey walked behind Scott, “Tell me, have you seen any men that look like FBI agents?”

Nodding briefly, the guard told Casey the room number. “66-Bravo, it’s got a secure entrance.” He grabbed a piece of paper and drew a crude map for the vampiress. “That should get you there. I had lunch with one of them, called himself Agent Mike Calahan.”

Clapping excitedly, Casey smiled at Sylvie. “Okay, you get the skull, I am going after these FBI dudes. You said they had some kind of liquid that kept me neutral?” She paused, “I think that is important to get so the others can possibly figure out what it is.” Casey sighed, “Do we have any chemists among us?”

Sylvie grabbed one of Casey’s hands. “I think we should really do this together. We work better together, if you recall.” She laughed and kissed her lover’s hand. “Splitting up never ends well in my experience.”

Casey waggled one of her free fingers, “If you recall, we briefly split up to take down the drug dealers and that bastard abuser.”

“Not even the same thing.” Sylvie looked at the clock. “I am betting that someone needs to check in soon.” She tapped Scott on the shoulder. “What intervals do you check in, dear?”

“Every fifteen minutes. Ma’am.” He looked at Sylvie like a lost puppy. “Usually the sergeant calls me and the others.”

Taking the time to drink from the young soldier, Sylvie counted to ten and licked her holes closed. “That gives us about ten minutes.” She looked longingly at Casey, “Can you take them down with that little time, my black widow?”

With a devilish grin crossing her lips, Casey nodded. “Of course, my blood-fairy.” She noticed the sexy look in Sylvie’s eyes. “I can’t leave you high and dry. You look like you are ready to go at it on the floor.”

“Don’t tempt me.” Sylvie quietly pointed at Scott, and Casey smiled. “I’ll let you, you need the blood.” She blew Casey a kiss and went out of the guard room.

–

Once Sylvie left the room, Casey took the time to feed completely from the soldier and made sure there was no trace of him once she was done, once she had committed the layout on the paper to memory she licked her lips clear of extra blood.

-That’s better. Blood full. Now time to get these FBI agents.-

Casey peeked out of the guard door, looking for shadows that she could hide in. Unfortunately, most of the warehouse was fairly well-lit, except around the boxes where Sylvie was headed.

-Lovely. What to do Rivers?-

A quick idea formed in her head, based on the conversations that the couple had prior. Casey knew that her spider form could get her under the door and into their secure location, but that would take forever to crawl that far.

-A cat, however..wouldn’t be too unusual.-

Concentrating on the shape and idea of a black cat, Casey’s form shrunk down to that of a typical house cat with deep gray fur and black lines.

-At least I got some black. Let’s get a move on, Rivers.-

Taking a large leap up to the door release, Casey-cat hit the button and after the door buzzed, she pushed with all her weight to open it. Freed of the guard room, Casey made her way down the grate metal flooring without making any noise. It took a few minutes of her running as fast as her cat legs allowed, before she found the door.

-66-Bravo.-

Pacing in front of the door for a couple of minutes, Casey flicked her paw a couple of times under the gap in the door to see if she had the clearance necessary in her black widow form.

-Perfect. Okay Rivers, let’s repeat the drug den. Go in, poison then wait. Kill the agents and find the chemical.-

Transforming seamlessly from cat to spider, Casey crawled under the door into the room. Unlike the rest of the warehouse, this room was dark except for the red lighting all over. She noticed little cameras scanning the room with what looked to be red beams, and the two agents locked into their respective chairs watching the entirety of the base as well as watching the local news.

Casey meticulously crawled around the red sensors and made her way to the first agent’s pants leg. Deftly crawling up past his socks, she quickly found a piece of bare skin and fanged the man, injecting her blood poison at the same time.

“Ow! Son of a bitch!” The agent screamed, “I think something just bit me, can we turn on the lights and let me see what's going on?”

Shaking his head, the other agent answered. “No, you know the protocol. I can let you go outside for a couple of minutes, but that is about it. You had lunch, so we are supposed to be doing surveillance.”

Rubbing his leg, the first agent stood up and unlocked himself from the chair. “Alright, give me five…” He stopped talking and fell to the ground shaking.

“Jesus Christ!” The second agent jumped up and managed to somehow unlock himself from his seat, and ran over to his companion. “Calahan…come on buddy, don’t do this.” He shook his friend a bit more and without warning felt a sharp sting as well. “Ow! God Damnit!” He screamed and flicked on the switch and doused the room in white light. “What the fuck was that?” He wondered while he inspected the wound. “A..spider bite?” He tried to squeeze the wound but nothing came out. “Anti-venom….” Was the last thing the agent said before he also fell and began shaking.

-Worked beautifully.-

Casey muttered to herself and transformed back to her vampire form. Taking the time to drain both of the agents, Casey sighed and patted her belly. “I hate that she’s always right. I feel full, but I could still feed.” She looked at the screens, “Wait..that’s the Swift Creek Mill and After Dark. Thankfully only the outside of the buildings.” Frantically, Casey started digging around the agent’s belongings, and tearing open lock boxes until she found what thought was the chemical.

-Cream-colored and in a poison bottle. Not surprising.-

She grabbed the five vials that were present and stuffed them in a small pack that one of the agents had and fastened it to her waist. Unconcerned with being caught, Casey went out of the room and headed for Sylvie.

–

Making her way through the path of stacked wooden crates, Sylvie’s patience started to wane with every guard she smelled.

-Lovely, this will be number five.-

She squatted down and waited for the lady soldier to report to the others before jumping from the shadow and pinning the woman to the ground and draining her completely. Watching as the ashes formed where the woman had been, Sylvie shook her hands clean and followed the little green path outlined by Code. “Is there a way that you can give me guard locations? While I am not opposed to taking down all of the humans in the building, the more that disappear the bigger the investigation.”

“Programming suggests that your senses are better and countermeasures have not been installed.” The little AI answered in a flat tone. “Querry?”

Letting out a sigh of disgust, Sylvie continued following the path outlined by the contacts. “You can pinpoint a box in a warehouse the size of a city block, but people aren’t programmed.” She shrugged as the scent of another person came close.

-Yeah, Code was right. This guy stinks too.-

Sylvie climbed to the top of one stack of crates and laid flat and watched the man appear and peer down the section with a bright flashlight. Unlike the guards, this man was dressed in a suit and tie, with a small wire that came through the collar and to his ear. “Charle-2-3 reporting in. No activity seen.”

Side-shifting across the tops of the boxes to follow the man, Sylvie watched as the agent walked through a secure door.

-There are more than two.-

She nodded her head and remained flat. “Code, can you…nevermind.” Sylvie jumped from the top of her perch to the roof of the small room that the agent walked into. She crawled over to the venting and sniffed the air closely.

-Four. One woman.-

Resolved to jump through the vent, Sylvie had crouched when the agents started talking and responding to the radio. “Negative, Director Powell. No movement here. It's as quiet as a mouse.”

Deputy Director Powell’s voice calmly came over the intercom. “My source tells us that the item is being tracked and to be ready. We moved it from the University to spring this trap.” She paused, “Gentlemen, tell me that the skull is secure.”

“Ma’am, we have it here in the office under lock and key. We have drones circling the listed crate, along with twenty armed guards.” He snickered, “Even if these so-called ghosts appear, we should be able to contain them.” The man absentmindedly patted the inside of his jacket. “Plus we have compound-VaX, right?”

“I don’t share the same sentiment, Agent Brooks.” Powell paused, “Plus you and the other agents have all of the prototype for that compound. I would rather you not use it if possible.”

Speaking up with a worried tone in her voice, the lady agent addressed the Deputy Director. “Um..Agent Young here. Ma’am you said prototype. Does this thing even work? Assuming that the…I can’t believe I am saying this…vampires exist?”

“I am reassured that the serum will do its duty for a few minutes. Agent Young, your companion seems to think that the dose is an answer. It is useful only if the target is weakened in the first place.”

Another agent spoke up, “How the hell do you weaken a…” He snickered, “...vampire. Personally I think you are going nuts, Deputy Director.”

“Careful with the tone you take, Agent. I am confident in my source, backed up by evidence of ongoing gang violence in Richmond.” She paused, “You just do as you are told and get that skull to me first thing.”

“Why did we even bring it here, Deputy Director Powell? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just drive it to your office?”

“Easier, yes. However, it is early night and you’d been in an armored truck that could easily be overtaken on the road here. Right now, you are in a base location and have at least one tool that -might- help you. It is almost certain that these creatures would have collected the skull already.”

Seconds later the conversation stopped and Sylvie sat down, and began to think aloud. “They have that stuff. They also have the skull. A change in the air to the scent of radiant blood and almost sunshine permeated Sylvie’s nose. She looked up and grinned as Casey jumped and landed beside her without a sound.

“I got it.” Casey beamed and kissed her girlfriend, “It’s a huge stash of this goop.” She saw the concerned look on Sylvie’s face. “What is it, love-button?” She booped Sylvie on the nose.

Smiling and lifting her spirit, Sylvie quietly giggled when Casey lightly touched her nose. “Unfortunately my candy-apple, they have more.”

“They who?” Casey asked.

Pointing down below them, Sylvie answered. “The four of them in the room below.” Her voice shifted to more of a melancholy tone. “They are aware of vampires, darling. It sounds like the four don’t believe their leader, but it's saying something that the leader knows and is taking it seriously.” She sighed, “It appears that we have a traitor in the midst. Someone has broken the veil in ways that I don’t think we can repair.”

“Then why bother with the fucking skull, Sylvie? If these people can stop us then we need not go in there and risk it.” Casey ran her clawed hand through her coppery hair, “We need to tell the others we have a stool pigeon.”

Recalling the vision from earlier in the night, Sylvie answered her progeny. “Towards the end of the dream, I kept thinking about Franco’s skull. There has to be a reason why.” She pointed down once more, “Whatever it is, we can’t let humans keep evidence that a vampire exists. Right now it sounds like supposition and whatever that stuff is you have..is new.” Sylvie went on to explain what she’d heard before Casey arrived. “That’s the extent of what I know.”

“I know that my adaptation of blood-poison works. Well.” Casey lifted her eyebrows questioningly. “I am happy to go in there and poison them. You come in and we get that skull.”

“I will go in with you.” Sylvie pointed to the vent. “I can use my form longer than you can.” She hesitated, “I can feed once I am reformed and you’ve poisoned some of them.” She grabbed Casey’s hand and kissed it gently. “I hated that you left. We should stay together.”

Seeing the absolute love emanating from Sylvie’s full moon eyes, Casey smiled and nodded. “Together. That will be the last time, Sylvie. We are stronger together.” Casey pulled Sylvie into a tight hug. “Let’s go save the others.” Casey then shifted into her small black widow and quickly went down the wall.

Watching Casey make it to the door, Sylvie gave a thumbs up and willed herself into a blue mist, roughly the shape of a bluejay and floated down the vent, through the small set of ducts and poured out behind the lady, Agent Young. Forming quickly to conserve the remaining blood she had, Sylvie grabbed the unsuspecting agent and clamped her mouth closed, then bit into her neck and drew out the agent's blood in frantic gulps.

Right about the same time, two other agents screamed out in pain and seconds later dropped to the floor. Sylvie finished off the lady agent and blew her sanguine breath over the last man’s nose. “Agent Brooks, right?”

The FBI agent nodded compliantly.

“How very nice to meet you, dear.” Sylvie smiled at Casey as the little spider took her human form. “Nothing like the kiss of a spider.”

Kneeling to drain the two men she poisoned, Casey guzzled their blood within a minute and wiped her lips clean. “Damn that’s good stuff.” She pointed to the last remaining agent. “Why did you enthrall him, my rose-petal?” She blew Sylvie a kiss, and started searching the room.

“In case there are others that need to report in.” She quickly answered and turned to Agent Brooks, “Now I heard you talking about vampires. You know they are not real, don’t you?”

The agent silently nodded.

“Good. Now then, how many more FBI agents are in this warehouse…” She paused and yanked the door from the heavy metal lock box. “...and is there any more of that stuff stored somewhere?” Sylvie pointed at the white goopy serum bottle.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, Agent Brooks pulled out a mid-sized syringe and handed it to Sylvie. “Two agents upstairs and six drones surveying the area, Ma’am.” He pointed to the liquid, “No more than what the two agents in the other secure room have.”

Moments later, Sylvie heard another crash and witnessed a much larger safe door hit the floor. “Be a little louder, Casey. I am not sure that the base heard you.”

“Ha, ha.” Casey stuck her tongue out at Sylvie, “I will have you know that I found the skull.” She presented Franco’s bleached bone to Sylvie. “I suggest we get the hell out of here.”

Sylvie nodded quietly and bent over to drain Agent Brooks completely. Once his dust spread through the room, she patted her stomach. “I am glad you didn’t use ghost-form. I barely had enough blood to do it.”

The two left the room and slid between the crates in the shadows. “I have an idea.” Sylvie commented with a grin. “I am going to burn the place to the ground.”

“No evidence and it ensures that there is none of that goop left.” Casey added and winked. “Carnage galore, I love it. Reminds me of Faye’s hotel. It was trashed when Vivienne was done.”

Sylvie gathered up paper and peeled off parts of wooden boxes to create kindling, and used cans of turpentine on top. “Always keep a lighter handy.”

Casey nodded and patted her pocket. “I learned that from Viv, burning a vampire is the best way.”

“Exactly.” Sylvie added and lit the pile. “All the reason to run. NOW!” She grabbed Casey’s hand and sprinted for one of the big doors.

It took a few minutes for the fire to spread enough that the guards noticed more than just a burning smell. Screaming and running for their lives, the soldiers sounded their alarms the best they could as the warehouse turned into a blazing inferno.

—

Standing in the bright parking lot of a Denny’s, Sylvie pulled the skull from one of the leather bags adorning her motorcycle. “Let’s see what is so important about Franco.”

Casey crawled off the motorcycle and sat down on the asphalt. “You said before that the vision showed him closing that door thing. It could just have been to let you know it could be closed again.” She pointed to the skull. “Maybe it’s nothing but a dead vampire’s skull.”

Studying Franco closely, Sylvie couldn’t find much in the way of anything useful. “I can’t explain it, Casey. I just have a hunch. It’s like my third eye is burning me, if that makes sense.”

Getting an errant thought, Casey let out a half-chuckle. “Sounds like the game ‘hot and cold’ to me. You know the game, right?”

Sylvie turned the skull over and looked at the inside, then moved the jaw and touched the fangs. “Yeah, I know it. What is really odd, I just noticed…” She pointed to the lower jaw. “Shouldn’t that be falling off or be missing completely?”

“Good point.” Casey watched as a police car circled the parking lot and stopped close to them. “Um, cop. What do you want to do?”

Putting the car in park, the woman officer got out and donned her hat as she walked over to engage the vampires. “Ladies. What do you have there?” The officer asked knowing full well it was a skull of some sort.

Flipping the head over so that the eye sockets were displayed, Sylvie pointed to the fangs. “It’s a vampire skull.” She laughed, “A little Halloween thing I picked up.”

“It is the season for that sort of thing I suppose.” The officer pointed to them, “Can I see your IDs please?”

Frowning for a few seconds, Casey stood up and wiped her pants off. “Why exactly? We are just sitting here minding our own business.”

“Sitting here in a Denny’s parking lot turning a prop skull that looks awfully real, seems just a tad suspicious to me. Since it is currently friendly, I asked so I know who I am speaking with.”

Sylvie placed Franco back in her saddlebag and walked up to the lady. “Let me get it out real faaasssttt….” She blew her charming breath across the woman’s nose and watched as her eyes glossed over. Sylvie looked at the nameplate, “Officer Pollard, you will get back in your cruiser and head to the front of the building, park and go inside. Get yourself something filling to eat, take your time.” Sylvie walked behind the lady, “By the time you finish dinner you will have forgotten all about interrupting us, right?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Car, park, eat, forget.” Officer Pollard smiled and scuttled off.

Skipping over to her lover, Casey wrapped her arms around Sylvie. “You are very good at that.” She watched as the officer drove off with a wave. “I tend to want to drain them.” Casey dropped her fangs in place. “I don’t think I am a ‘good’ vampire.” She lifted her hands to show air quotes saying ‘good’ and then resumed hugging Sylvie.

Witnessing Casey’s fangs still particle-stained red gave Sylvie an idea. “It can’t be this easy.” She reached into the leather bag and pulled the skull out once more. Taking the time to open a small hole in her wrist, Sylvie coated the dead man’s fangs with her blood. Much like invisible ink appears once heated or placed under the right ultraviolet light, the magic in the blood filled in the crevasses of the fangs and revealed a series of numbers. “I got it!” Sylvie offered Casey her wrist. “A treat for my lil-pumpkin.”

Happily clamping her lips over Sylvie’s wrist, Casey kissed the wound and drank a little blood, refreshing her almost instantly. Not wanting to tempt herself more, Casey pulled away and kissed Sylvie and gave her a taste of blood. “Blood shared is blood loved, honey-dumpling.”

Sylvie then licked her wrist closed and spoke to Code. “I want you to save the series of numbers on the fangs and analyze them for patterns. I assume you can do that, Code?”

“Scanning.” Code responded and started processing the request, within seconds Code spoke again. “Initial comparisons have these numbers like passages in a book or journal of some kind. The format I see is like a bible entry.” It paused and pulled up one of the images it took, and highlighted the sections with different colors. “The entire passage is labeled NX-133: 21-45.”

Sylvie leaned back into Casey and sighed. “So I have to find the source for this pattern, or I won’t know what is being explained.”

“Affirmative. There are at least ten different passages listed on the four fangs. I detect a couple that are too light to be read, they have faded or purposely removed.” Code fell silent and stopped scanning.

Casey licked and kissed Sylvie’s neck while the elder vampire leaned into her. “Interesting. He imprinted something that is only found by other vampires, it must be important or it wouldn’t be hidden on his fangs.” She paused for a breath, “I suppose now the question is, How well did you know Franco?”

Almost entranced by Casey’s warm lips on her neck, Sylvie found herself wanting nothing more than to stand right where she was and keep the little love kisses going. Sighing, Sylvie groaned as she pulled herself free of Casey’s warm hands. “I worked with him daily for twenty years. I didn’t know anything about the Dryods until the vision. He never spoke of them. Phantasmagoria was his idea, he had specific rules too. You saw how tightly it was run. Very little elimination was allowed, the public didn’t say anything but they all knew what they were getting into with the building.” She walked over to her motorcycle and placed Franco back in her leather satchel. “Sure, we also provided a service, but it was symbiotic. We gave, they gave. It was…” Sylvie rolled her eyes, recalling the vision. “...balanced.”

“What?” Casey questioned after seeing Sylvie roll her eyes. “I don’t get it, what did you forget?”

Waving her hand briefly, Sylvie handed Casey her helmet. “I didn’t forget, I just put together what the vision and Phantasmagoria both mean.” She took a deep breath and sat down on her Indian bike, “Recall that the vision wanted them to live in harmony with humans. Without the darkness, Phantasmagoria was a veil version of that very concept.” She lightly banged her hand on the gas tank. “Why didn’t I see it before?”

Casey buckled the hard shell to her head and slid behind Sylvie. “Sounds like the logical choice is to go back into Phantasmagoria and dig around in his office. Assuming anything is still there.”

Turning the key to the bike, Sylvie started the engine. “Smart beyond your years, Casey. I was thinking the same thing.” She put on her helmet and then spoke into the microphone, “I am guessing that whatever the notations on his fangs mean, that book is well hidden. It wouldn’t be found by human eyes.”

“Gotcha.” Casey giggled and squeezed Sylvie around the waist. “Let’s get going before more police arrive. Itssss…Adventure time!”

—

Roughly twenty minutes later, Sylvie pulled into the small overgrown parking lot of Phantasmagoria. She pulled off her motorcycle helmet and looked at her old home. “You know, I can almost feel them still here.” She paused, “I close my eyes and I see all of them, I see the guests…my fake crystal ball, the tarot cards I purposefully misread. Everything.”

“You and he were here for about twenty years, I still see my mother and I playing in the lake. She let me catch tadpoles and study them as they turned to frogs.” She shrugged, “I suppose that is where I got my interest in marine biology.”

Finally taking a couple steps towards the entrance, Sylvie managed to trudge up to the broken windows and step into the foyer. She marveled at how the signs that showed where the theater, blood donation service, and even the art studio were still in almost pristine condition. “Even vandals don’t come in here. Perhaps the place is haunted.” Sylvie no sooner said the words than she envisioned Franco walking with a group of people into his art studio. “Wow, I just saw him. Even talking about how he will teach them how to make lovely beach and farm scenes.”

“Don’t get too sentimental, we have a job to do.” Casey pointed to Franco Tarsey’s office. “I don’t think he’d keep anything important other than business things in his office. Where was his room?”

Pointing to the back of the building, Sylvie motioned for Casey to follow. “We all stayed downstairs during the day. The building is nothing but glass, so we needed a place that was safe.” She wrapped her arm in Caesy’s and reached the wall where the hidden door was. Sylvie winked and tapped a small button on the floor, causing the secret door to crack open and let out the dank air that had been trapped. “We had our own personal spaces. It is a commune down here, but your personal space was off-limits.”

Crossing the threshold and going down into the deep earth, Sylvie walked with purpose. “It’s like I never left. My space is to the left there.” She pointed to the small bed and wall safe that was open. “I took everything of mine when I left.”

Running into the room, Casey jumped on Sylvie’s small bed and took a deep breath. “It still smells like your hair.” She tore a piece of the fabric from the bed and tucked it away. “Something of you.” She winked.

Waving her hand, Sylvie kept marching down the long stone hallway, and turned right. “That was Franco’s spot.” She walked to the center of his little room and looked around. “Safe is still closed.” She looked at Casey. “I was the only one left, other than Kody, their space was ten steps from mine.”

“Call me crazy, but they have a heavy crush on my little Indian-rose.” Casey snickered and walked up to the safe. “Well, let’s see if anything is in here.” Gripping the handle, Casey gave a light pull and the metal door strained but didn’t break open. “A special metal, Sylvie?”

Nodding and partly laughing, Sylvie walked to the keypad that was to the side of the door. “It wouldn’t be very safe if vampire strength could just pop off the door, silly.” Sylvie focused on her little AI again. “Code, any chance you can break the code Franco used?”

“Analyzing.” Code responded and went silent while sending streams of numbers through the keypad. “Should take a couple of minutes.”

Casey walked over to the keypad and looked closely. “Tell code to try the following numbers. 8, 1, 4, 9 and 5.” She smiled, “They are the most worn-out numbers.”

“Adjusting.” Code stopped running all combinations through the pad and focused on the few variations of the five digits. Seconds later the pad glowed red and the safe opened with a hydraulic hiss. “Task complete. Query?”

Pushing the heavy door wide, Sylvie looked at the contents of the safe. She dug through what appeared to be old paintings and artifacts over eight hundred years old. “Things in here are priceless. Museums would pay a fortune to see these things.” She handed Casey an iron spearhead that had been worked to a razor's edge. “Take a look, there are holes drilled in the top, with remains of wax around it.”

Casey turned the weapon in her hand a few times and handed it back. “Blood holes? Can blood enhance weapons?”

An older woman’s voice came from behind them in the dark. “It can do much more than you are aware of, Miss Rivers.” The woman raised her hand and a white flare shot out from her palm, illuminating the room. “It took you both long enough to get here.”

“Tatum Blackwell.” Sylvie half snarled but didn’t attempt to move. “Why are you in this sacred place, since it was your girlfriend that did all this damage in the first place.”

Looking mildly surprised, Casey held the spearhead in front of her. “You both saved me and got me hunted by the FBI. I don’t know whether to kill you or thank you.”

Flipping her palm so that her fingers were spread wide, Tatum held in place. “I will consider this your holy ground and will not breach the peace here.” She made her hand glow hot white, “Don’t think I can’t fight if I need to.”

Covering the spearhead with her hand, Sylvie pushed Casey’s hand down a bit, never taking her eyes off Tatum. “Very well. Neither of us will attack first.” Sylvie raised one of her long eyebrows, “Now I want to know..why you are here.”

Tatum dropped her hand and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I have used quite a bit of my magic keeping the others at bay.” She sat down on Franco’s bed and crossed her legs. “Watch out for that Agent Miller, Miss Rivers. She’s gunning for you.” She then turned to Sylvie. “I am here to explain exactly what happened and why you are seeing these creatures.” She flicked her palm and showed the images of the windmills. “I suspect you are about to find the book I have been hunting for since I saw the images of the past.” Noticing the confused look on the two vampire's faces, Tatum nodded and held up her hand. “Patience, I am getting to it.”

“Get there faster. Every time you summon your magic, it makes me nervous.” Casey half-snarled but stayed where she was told. “I don’t have a favorable outlook on your kind, mage. One tried to kill or enslave me to his will, the other wanted to make me a pet.”

Tatum flipped her light brown hair to one side and smiled. “Denise was always a bit eccentric.” She paused, “You are up against these things.” She pulled up an image of a shadewraith. “Yes, I am well aware of the creatures.” She shrugged, “At first I was content to let them wreck everything for you blood-sucking beasts.” She waved away the image, “What you should know is that Denise’s careless use of necromantic magic destroyed four of the five seals.”

Casey squeezed the bridge of her nose. “Is there anything that Denise didn’t do? I mean cleaning up this mess is getting daunting. We still have more to do.”

Wiggling one of her thin fingers, Tatum stared at Casey. “I don’t approve of her method, as it killed people, but I don’t regret for a second the loss of your huge flock of beasts.” She took a breath, “Look, what you don’t know is that there is one … a shadewraith that can control them all.”

Suddenly seeing her vision splash in her memory, Sylvie half whispered, “The white ghost.”

“The very one that was the Cross-Killer.” She pulled up an image of Elle Miller with a blank look in her eyes. The Cross-Killer had this same look.” Tatum twisted her hand to make the image turn. “Since Elle has left the area, I haven’t felt the white ghost’s presence.” Tatum let the image fade. “Sounds like the ghost took another body and left the one Elle supposedly shot.” Rubbing her hands gently, Tatum concluded her suspicion, “Odd how the woman’s body was mostly decomposed and the agent fired a shot anyway, huh?”

Walking behind Sylvie after placing the spearhead back in the safe, Casey pulled herself into her lover. “How the fuck do you know all this?”

Waving her hand once more, Tatum let a small white ghostlike tendril flow from her palm and into the safe, where it wrapped around a fairly large book. “I believe this is what you are looking for.” She showed the couple the book. ‘To Xenagos’ was written in blood on the cover. “Miss Miakoda, while you get premonitions, I can see the past with a wave of my hand. I knew the book was part of the puzzle, I just couldn’t get into the safe.” She pointed to the metal container. “Sealed with vampire blood and keyed to unlock only by vampire blood. Quite inventive.”

Unwilling to let the book fall under Tatum’s control, Sylvie reached out and gripped the leather spine. “This doesn’t belong to you, mage.”

“I need this to fix the four seals that Denise destroyed.” She dropped the magic she was using, for fear of ripping the book. “I figure I am responsible for that much. You have to deal with the fifth one and whatever is loose out there.”

Grumbling softly, Casey angrily spoke. “The whole thing is a vampire ritual, I would prefer that you keep your grubby magic off of our legacy. We will take care of this…right Sylvie?”

Clenching her fists hard enough so the ligaments popped, Sylvie barely held her temper in check. “So, human magic busted the door partially open so that the strongest of the shadewraiths escaped and caused nearly a year’s worth of death. Brilliant, the whole lot of you need to be stripped of your power, you obviously can’t use it safely.” She turned and kissed Casey on the cheek, “Right, Casey.” Sylvie’s eyes moved to new moons, going black as the shadows in the room. “If you want to do something, take care of Agent Miller. Keep her away from us while we repair the damage your crazy bitch friend caused.”

Uncrossing her legs and standing up, Tatum let the light in the room fade away. “Consider this as my debt for Denise’s actions paid in full. After this is complete, we go back to our corners and see what happens.” Seeing the two vampires nod their heads, Tatum headed out of the room. “Good luck, for all of our sakes.”

Tucking the Dryod text under her arm, Sylvie smiled at Casey. “She couldn’t have fixed it anyway. I suspect the key is in the verses.” Sylvie took a deep breath. “Okay, we go get the ledger and diary now. We wait for the day to work on the passages.”

Peering into the safe once more, Casey pointed to a pile of bloodstones. “Why would Franco have a pile of bloodstones?”

Clapping excitedly Sylvie found a small bag and scooped the smooth stones into it. “They all refer to bloodstones. Let’s take them to be sure. Perhaps the book will explain what they honestly do.”

Casey jumped and kept hugging Sylvie. “We did it. One thing down and one thing left.” She got serious, “Then we deal with Alan.”

“I so love you, Honey-bunny.” Sylvie laughed.