A Shade of Vampire 87: A Shade of Mystery Page 2

  “You would’ve got there just minutes after Richard and I left for the training halls.” Thayen said. “We should’ve stayed…”

  “Chances are it would have vanished, anyway. Lumi helped analyze the entire region within a half-mile radius, and she didn’t see anything suspicious. Whatever it was, I don’t think it was magical.” Corrine picked up another piece of cheese bread, not that concerned by the slit’s mysterious appearance and disappearance.

  “Maybe it was just the light refracted from the Dome’s roof,” Ibrahim suggested. “You know how the moon can sometimes cause that effect on clear nights.”

  Thayen didn’t seem satisfied with Corrine’s answer. He crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair, the fabric of his black GASP tunic stretching over his muscular shoulders. “Are you sure it couldn’t have been some kind of, I don’t know, wild portal or something? Richard and I remembered you mentioning the possible existence of such phenomena. Portals that occur naturally, untouched by witches.”

  “Oh, honey, those are more or less theoretical,” Corrine replied. “No witch alive has seen one anywhere across the three known dimensions. And whatever information we have about them is basically just a handful of old scribbles in our sanctuary archives. In texts that are over five thousand years old, I might add.”

  Ibrahim nodded his agreement. “If there were signs of anything nefarious, we would have known. And if there were such a portal here in The Shade, we’d probably sense its presence. The legends mention a near-catastrophic release of energy when a wild portal opens up. We don’t know what would trigger an event like that, but it’s unlikely we’d fail to notice it.”

  “Put it out of your head, Thayen,” Corrine continued, clearly not at all concerned. “We investigated the matter. We didn’t see or detect anything. Try not to worry about it.”

  Thayen exhaled sharply, loosening up a little.

  “Everything is okay,” I told him. “It’s been okay for twenty years, son. And if there is even the slightest anomaly happening in The Shade, you know we’d all be on top of it. This is our home. Our haven.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. It was just so weird,” he said, then got up and grabbed the duffel bag he’d left by the stairs. “Anyway… I should go. Richard is probably already by the Great Dome portal.”

  Corrine laughed. “Knowing Richard, yeah. His tail’s probably wagging like a high-speed windshield wiper right about now.”

  “You kids be good and stay safe out there,” Sofia added, giving Thayen a nervous smile. He stopped by her chair and dropped a kiss on the top of her head, then did the same to me. It made me chuckle, as this was his way of saying goodbye to us. Not really the hugger type, Thayen preferred to kiss the tops of our heads, just like we used to do after story time and shortly before bedtime when he was a child.

  “I’ll check in as soon as we get to Lubbock,” Thayen said, then vanished out the front door. We stayed quiet for a while, listening to his determined steps receding in the distance. And just like that, our son was off on an adventure.

  I shared most of Sofia’s feelings. On the one hand, yes, I absolutely trusted Thayen to keep himself safe, no matter what. On the other hand, remembering how close he’d come to dying as a child made my chest tighten a little whenever he went away. Even the idea that he still had the soul shard in his heart made me worry sometimes—I had no reason for that, though. Death had assured us that Spirit was forever gone, and that removing the shard would kill Thayen. We barely even mentioned it, these days.

  Even with all the good things in our lives, the fear of danger never really vanished. It lurked discreetly in the background, waiting for an opportunity to burst out. Life would never be smooth sailing, anyway. That much I’d learned in all my years of fighting and loving and surviving some truly horrendous experiences.

  “Chin up, you old bastard,” Ibrahim said, grinning at me. “If he’s even a quarter of the man you are, he’ll be whipping ghouls’ backsides in the blink of an eye.”

  I couldn’t disagree with him there. All Sofia and I could do as parents was try to prepare Thayen for the best and the worst that was yet to come. We’d done that, and now our boy was a force to be reckoned with.

  Thayen

  I landed on my back with an embarrassing grunt.

  The Lubbock Cemetery wasn’t just home to a nest of ghouls or the lurking place of a rumored poltergeist. The Lubbock Cemetery was infested with restless souls that had decayed into what the desert Rimians had once called screamers, and they were insanely strong on top of their post death raging. Richard was still waving his scythe around, slashing at one of the entity’s smoky red arms. It had lost its original human shape and had devolved into something else entirely.

  “Are you okay?” Richard asked, unable to take his eyes off the poltergeist to check on me.

  “Yeah, I’m good. Just a little sore,” I replied, jumping back to my feet and grabbing my loaner scythe from the ground. Nethissis and Seeley had equipped us each with a Reaper weapon, the handle customized with a death magic charm that allowed us to cut down spirits and ghouls alike. We didn’t have the authority to destroy or reap, but we could inflict enough damage to subdue any miscreants from beyond the living realm, and this ability only lasted until the Reapers permitted it, so it was all controlled. Soul and Unending had come up with the charm during one of their brainstorming sessions, about five years back.

  Of course, that was all simple in theory, but in reality the Lubbock Cemetery was proving a bit more complicated.

  First, there wasn’t just one poltergeist here. There were two of them, and they were both angry as hell. Richard was doing a pretty good job at keeping one away, but mine had just gotten the better of me. I couldn’t see it anymore, but I could feel its presence, the hairs on the back of my neck rising as it approached me from behind.

  “Come here, you creep!” I snarled, then turned around and ran toward the mass of rippling air that had headed toward one of the mausoleums. It had the ability to shift from its smoky visible form into an almost-invisible entity. That was how it had gotten the drop on me in the first place.

  Rudolph hurtled past me, and I heard the ghouls roaring nearby. Seeley and Nethissis were trying to beat them into submission, shouting directions at each other.

  “Go left!” Seeley told her.

  “I’m already on the left, babe! A little help here?!” Nethissis replied. It had been going on like this for about ten minutes.

  It was definitely exciting, but it was a little terrifying. There were more ghouls than they’d originally estimated, and they refused to call for help, assuring me they had this under control.

  “You boys still alive over there?” Seeley asked, dodging a massive ghoul’s claw before he went straight for the creature’s head with his scythe. I only caught a glimpse of him as the blade came down, followed by an exploding puff of shimmering gray ashes.

  “Yeah, we’re still standing!” Richard shouted as he continued fighting his red poltergeist.

  Mine revealed itself again. It was almost black and slightly more humanoid in shape than Richard’s. I felt encouraged in standing up to it. The more scarlet one looked like a giant red smoke spider. Mine had more of a Slenderman vibe going on. These things seemed to come in different colors, though I had yet to study the reason behind their diverse apparitions. And to think that others my age in the human world were just landing middle-management positions in corporate offices while I was bracing myself for another scuffle with a poltergeist…

  It lunged at me, roaring as it spread out its arms. Smoky claws emerged at both ends, and I knew it was going to aim for my throat. My knees were shaking. I didn’t have much experience in terms of actual combat, but I had aced all my training. That had to count for something, right? I raised my scythe, anticipating the blow. I was pushed back by the first hit, then back some more, until I bumped into Richard. His poltergeist was gunning for his head, too.

  Adrenaline coursed through my ve
ins. My senses were sharper than ever, thank the stars. Survival instinct could be a powerful weapon if used properly.

  “Damn it, I wish we could cast death magic like the Reapers.” Richard scoffed, equally displeased with how this entire operation was unfolding. “I mean, what’s the point of these scythes if we can’t use them to their full potential?”

  “The point is for us to be able to subdue a ghoul, or in this case…” I paused to slash at my misty opponent. “Poltergeists! Plus, we’re not destined to be Reapers, or we’d be able to work a trick or two. I think the point is for us to make do with what we’ve got.”

  “Why aren’t they calling for reinforcements, then?” Richard growled as he fought back against the spidery red specter.

  A bright white light cut through his attacker. It spread through its form until it burst into a shower of golden flakes. The wind blew through the Lubbock Cemetery, scattering the flakes away. In the darkness of night, they resembled fireflies. I exhaled sharply, glancing briefly to our left.

  Seeley stood about fifty yards away, his scythe still glimmering from the magic it had just cast. He gave us both a disapproving frown. “A little less yapping and a little more smiting, please,” he said, his tone clipped.

  “Unbelievable,” Richard whispered, annoyed.

  “You’re not here to complain about the lack of reinforcements. You’re here to figure out a way to survive when you can’t rely on any kind of assistance,” Seeley replied. “That’s the whole point of—” He was cut off by a ghoul that tackled him from behind.

  “Crap,” I mumbled.

  “Seeley, look alive, baby!” Nethissis shouted, currently facing four ghouls on her own. Rudolph kept a couple more at bay, snarling and snapping his jaws at them, warning the creatures to keep their distance. He wasn’t allowed to eat souls, as per Death’s law, so he couldn’t help much with our remaining poltergeist problem. The temptation would be too great. Both Seeley and Nethissis had made a habit of not putting Rudolph in positions where he’d have to choose between their wellbeing and his survival.

  “I’m trying!” Seeley managed as he wrestled with the ghoul.

  I wanted to go over and help, but the dark poltergeist was now twice as determined to take us down. Richard pointed his scythe at the entity, giving me a quick but visibly nervous glance. “This is not what they told us it would be like when we signed up,” he breathed.

  “Are you scared?” I shot back with a grin, not wanting the fear to gnaw at my morale.

  “Hell no. Let’s get this thing!”

  We both charged toward the poltergeist but were brought to a sudden halt as it grew in size before our very eyes. From the slim smoky figure, it swelled into a monstrous ball of black fumes, big and tall enough to swallow us all. A low moan persisted at its core, where I could still see the humanoid form. It had to be some kind of projection.

  “Whoa…” Richard gasped, looking up at the giant ball.

  “Honey, I need some help here!” I heard Nethissis call out as she engaged the four ghouls in battle. She was fast and determined to take them down—they must’ve rejected the Reapers’ offer to join them or at least move to Herbert’s sanctuary; otherwise, they wouldn’t be fighting them.

  Seeley was forced to destroy the ghoul who’d tackled him. Dusting himself off, he gave Richard and me an apologetic half-smile. “Be with you in a minute, boys. Hang in there.” His faint humor vanished completely when he saw how the poltergeist had changed. “Oh no. Okay, give me a second!” he shouted and rushed to Nethissis’s aid.

  “Damn it,” I cursed under my breath.

  Richard offered a shrug. “I guess there are worse ways to die, right?”

  “Speak for yourself,” I replied, gripping my scythe with both hands as I looked at the poltergeist taking up most of the view ahead. “I’m a vampire, remember? This thing can’t kill me as easily as it can kill you.”

  “You’re going to regret saying that,” Richard said with a devilish grin. “I’ll take the left; you take the right. We cut through it as deep as we can. We don’t stop, no matter what, until we force it back into its original form. Okay?”

  I nodded. “We can’t make fools of ourselves. They prepared us for this in class.”

  “Exactamundo!”

  There was one thing I liked most about Richard. He could be a big kid sometimes, and I’d go along for the fun ride, but when it came down to fighting and surviving, he was beyond serious and reliable. He was the best partner I could hope for. Richard bolted and ran along the left side of the poltergeist, while I dashed right. We both moved fast, driving our arched blades into the smoky mass. I heard its scream as it pierced my very brain, but we couldn’t back down. Not when we were so close to nailing our part of the assignment. Fortunately, my mom wasn’t around to see how dangerous this mission had turned out to be.

  I’d spent half of breakfast time this morning reassuring her it would be okay.

  Thayen

  “It’s a good thing we didn’t give our parents the mission details,” Richard said with a laugh. We’d completed about twenty laps around the poltergeist, forcing it to shrink into a smaller smoke ball. Each cut caused it to scream and wail, but we didn’t let that slow us down.

  On the contrary, we were getting faster with every minute that passed. Meanwhile, Seeley and Nethissis were still working on taking down the remaining ghouls. I’d lost sight of Rudolph and the two fiends he’d been dealing with, but I was too busy working with Richard against this poltergeist to worry much about everything else.

  In this line of work, even a moment’s distraction could get you killed or at least seriously maimed. Sure, we had magic solutions to grow back limbs and whatnot, but nothing could take away the excruciating pain that came with such bloody outcomes.

  “Come on, keep at it!” I told Richard as we passed one another during our laps around the shrinking ball of black smoke. I couldn’t see inside anymore. Every cut we delivered caused the smoke to thicken as the poltergeist closed in on itself. It had attempted to intimidate us with its sheer size, but we’d refused to be cowed.

  I cut at it again, watching the smoke part over my scythe’s blade. The entity wailed once more, and I grinned, satisfied with the results of our operation so far.

  “If we keep this up, it’ll subside!” Richard replied.

  I was just about to agree with him when three shapes veered toward me from somewhere to my right. It happened so fast, I didn’t even realize what was going on until a brutish force rammed into me, and I was thrown clear across the cemetery like a rag doll.

  “Thayen!” I heard Richard shout. Nethissis’s and Seeley’s voices followed, but they sounded so far away. My whole body ached when I tried to move. The wet grass stuck to my face, making my skin feel cold. A cricket chirped nearby, followed by the thumping sounds of a creature trudging toward me. I managed to look up and froze on the spot. A ghoul had been responsible for my brutal relocation across the cemetery.

  “Uh-oh,” I murmured, my muscles tightening as I tried to get up. The blood curdled in my veins, and I nearly ran out of breath as the creature opened its horrible mouth, displaying its many crooked but ridiculously sharp fangs. A string of drool hung from its lower jaw, and the moonlight shimmered over its translucent skin.

  There was no sign of Rudolph anywhere, and the others were too busy to help me. Worst of all, I couldn’t find my scythe. I must’ve dropped it during my unexpected flight or lost it during my violent landing. Pain shot through my left shoulder. I’d dislocated the damn thing, and it would take a few minutes for it to set itself. Meanwhile, the ghoul was determined to eat me alive.

  “No, no, no!” I cried out and scrambled back as the creature started running at me.

  I shot up the narrow path between the old marble headstones, pebbles crunching under my boots. Glancing around, I didn’t see anything that might help. I needed an edge over this massive monster that was chasing me—a better environment in which to tackle it. Thi
s was a basic ghoul hunting tactic. If I was left without a weapon, I’d have to turn the location to my advantage. It was a hard thing to do in the middle of an old cemetery where all I had were gravestones and a few mausoleums.

  Ahead, one such structure rose proudly between two maple trees. Made of black stone, it boasted two gnarly gargoyle sculptures mounted on its roof. Most importantly, it was big enough for me to hide in, and its doors were slightly ajar, held closed only by what looked like a very old chain.

  Another ghoul screamed in the distance, its sharp voice fading into a pained echo. Seeley and Nethissis must’ve taken him down. That didn’t help me right now. I looked over my shoulder and saw the beast drawing closer, hot on my trail.

  “I’m not getting my ass handed to me by a damn ghoul!” I snapped, then whizzed past the doors, breaking the rusty chain on the way in. The darkness engulfed me, and for the briefest of moments I had crystal clarity.

  There were numerous stone tombs, all elevated on sturdy platforms, forming four lines ahead. I had room to hide and take the ghoul by surprise once it entered the structure. First, however, I needed to move to the opposite end of the space and get out of sight. I ran as fast as my legs could hold me, barely a shadow fluttering through the night.

  Settling behind one of the tombs, I waited, holding my ragged breath as my claws extended. I listened but couldn’t hear a thing. It was too quiet, and I loathed this type of silence. There was a deadly fiend lurking nearby, and its stealth abilities were notorious—I wasn’t going to hear it coming.

  I slowly turned and peeked out around the tomb’s corner. Nothing moved inside the mausoleum. Not even a draft. All I could see were the stone coffins of some rich nineteenth century Texans in four neat rows reaching toward the double doors. My ears pricked, trying to pick something up, but still… silence. Heavy, wretched silence.

  Something tickled the back of my neck, and frost spread down my back as I realized I wasn’t alone anymore. And I wasn’t the one doing the hunting. I only had a second to turn my head and see the ghoul perched on the tomb I’d been hiding behind before it jumped me, and I struggled with it for what felt like forever.