Gordon took Jaiden away from the vampire as quickly as possible. He didn’t want Jaiden to see Phoenix punish that vampire. However, as he was taken away, Jaiden’s enhanced hearing picked up the vampire’s shrieks of pain. The further away he got, the quieter those shrieks became until they became little more than whimpers.
And still, the voices whispered to Jaiden, “He’s going to do that to you.” Despite his best attempts to shut them out, those voices were loud and clear in his mind.
After a brief truck ride, Jaiden and the others were taken back to the Night Hunter Saint Vivia location. Jaiden was placed in a special room on the bottom floor of the facility, a seven sided room with a seven sided glass cage inside. Within the cage stood a chair, a bed, a table, a bookshelf lined with books, a computer, and a television. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling were pure silver and reflected off each other, making a kaleidoscope of images everywhere one looked.
Hunters rolled out a black carpet that let Jaiden walk across the silver floor. Before long, the poor newborn vampire sat hunched over, looking at the glass floor. His glamour had kicked in, and now he looked like an idealized version of himself: a young, handsome, red haired man with flawless skin. The only thing that ruined this flawless image was the absolutely dejected look on his face.
Gordon Brand stood outside the cage, looking in with as much sympathy as he could muster.
“This room should keep the voices out,” said Gordon. “It’s designed to contain a supernatural creature’s power.”
Jaiden did note that the voices stopped when he entered.
“I assume the Night Hunters aren’t letting me use it out of the kindness of their hearts,” said Jaiden.
Gordon sighed, “No. Do you remember when Jasmine asked us where we got our information from? Well, we have a vampire informant at this facility. She can navigate the vampire’s psychic network and spy on them without being detected. The architect of these rooms transferred ownership of them to Director Farrow, and he gave her permission to use her power in ways that benefit the Night Hunters. That way, she can spy on them, but her room protects her from them, as this room will protect you. According to her, she made some powerful vampire enemies and sought refuge from us.
“She’s proven useful, but we don't really trust her. There’s always the potential for a hidden agenda we haven’t figured out yet. The Night Hunter council hopes you might learn to do her job. That way, we can get our information from someone we trust.”
Jaiden frowned, “I’m not the first dhampir this has happened to. Won’t this have been tried before?”
Gordon’s face looked grim, “I didn’t say it would be easy.”
Jaiden looked down, the weight of this situation breaking down on him. Gordon struggled to find an encouraging word to say.
“Well,” said Gordon. “We have volunteers who can donate blood. They’re those who failed the training but still want to contribute, so you don’t need to worry about sustenance for now. I’m…I’m so sorry, Jaiden.”
Gordon turned and left, opening the one reflective door in this room as the hinges groaned. The impact echoed through the room when he closed the door, making Jaiden wince.
They had left the black carpet, which Jaiden figured they wouldn’t do if he were a prisoner there. Suddenly, the gravity of the situation overwhelmed him, and Jaiden buried his head in his hands. He wept, blood dripping from his eyes instead of tears.
Outside the room, Gordon shut the door behind him as he stepped into a series of hallways that crisscrossed at awkward angles to accommodate the seven sided rooms. The seven sides were necessary for vampires, as the number seven was biblically significant, but it still made navigating this area awkward.
Out of the corner of his eye, Gordon saw Agent Phoenix leaning against a wall and wearing a stone faced expression.
“So?” asked Phoenix. “What’s the verdict?”
“If you want to ask how Jaiden is doing, you can ask him yourself,” said Gordon.
Phoenix stared blankly, then turned and walked away. Gordon watched him go for a moment and sighed.
When Phoenix turned a corner, out of sight and out of hearing, he grimaced angrily and hit the wall with his fist.
###
“I understand this is probably hard to swallow,” said Jasmine. “Even after everything you’ve been exposed to, but the truth is we have a traitor in our midsts, and someone has to suss them out. Now I’m not a normal telepath since I can’t just read your mind. I need your permission to see your thoughts. Normally we wouldn’t ask this of you, but the situation is growing more dire by the hour, and we can’t afford to let someone with potentially compromising information go free. I’m afraid if you don’t allow me to see your minds, you’ll be placed in confinement until all of this is over. Please follow me when you’re name is called.” She pulled up a notepad. “Recruit Halsey.”
Sitting in a giant white room, the recruits were taken one by one into a smaller room to the back. Inside, the dhampir Jasmin Ross would check the recruits' minds in case they were secretly a vampire worshipper. All the recruits sat nervously, looking around at each other with either a hint of suspicion or open suspicion.
Marcia, Jamar, Harry, and Robert sat together, as nervous as anyone else.
“As if life wasn’t weird enough,” said Harry. “Now we have someone reading our minds.”
“It shouldn’t be too much of a problem,” said Marcia, trying to overcome her nervousness. “It’s not like we have anything to hide.”
“Not about this job,” said Harry. “But are you sure you haven’t done something embarrassing as a teen that you don’t want her to see? I know I have.”
Marcia paled. She hadn’t thought of that.
“It’ll be fine,” said Jamar, nodding his head. “We’ll prove we’re all on the level, and it will all be fine.” And he took a deep breath.
He sounded like he was trying to reassure himself as much as anyone else. It was kind of weird seeing him like this. Jamar usually seemed extremely confident. Thinking about this, Marcia asked a question that had been on her mind for a while.
“Jamar, you told Alice her scars were a badge of honor. What made you say that?”
Jamar looked surprised but didn’t hesitate to answer, “My grandfather.”
Marcia, Robert, and Harry looked at him curiously.
“My grandfather had a wheelchair for as long as I could remember,” said Jamar. “But he always seemed so…boisterous, like he was determined to live life to the fullest. I found out that grandpa fought in World War Two and lost his legs holding the flank so his platoon could escape. I felt horrible at first, but when I finally worked up the courage to ask him about it, he said his actions helped all his fellow soldiers escape, so he was proud to do it. He told me that his missing legs were proof that he was still alive despite coming that close to death.”
Marcia nodded, “A badge of honor.”
Jamar smiled, “I don’t know. That always stuck with me. Sometimes it sounds crazy even to me.”
Unexpectedly, Robert laughed.
“Jamar,” said Jamar. “Look around at where we are and what we’re doing. I think we have to be crazy to do this job.”
Everyone looked at him, then started laughing. This earned them some funny looks from the other recruits who hadn’t heard the rest of the conversation, but the four didn’t care.
“I’m sure your grandfather would be proud of you,” said Marcia, and Jamar nodded, smiling.
###
Alice sat in the mess hall eating her lunch, flanked by bodyguards. The mess hall was uncharacteristically empty, only one or two other recruits in the room. Apparently, the other recruits were taking turns having their minds examined by one of the dhampirs, and it was taking a long time. This meant they had to stagger training and lunches. Alice felt like a pariah with guards like this, but what were they to do? They still hadn’t caught the mole.
As she ate, she watched a television screen placed in the corner of the room so they could follow up on the news. Alice hoped that once, just once, she could see some good news, but no such luck. Agent Phoenix’s declaration that vampires were real had been put online by people recording it with their smartphones. They also showed a vampire, and since the vampire wasn’t wearing his glamour, his true vampiric form showed with his head living separately from his body.
Of course, the news, and people on the street interviewed, dismissed it as a hoax, just special effects. However, the news also revealed that people were waking up to the vampire attacks, though not intentionally. It simply showed a shot of the city at night. Where Saint Vivia was once as active as any big city, with car headlights traveling back and forth and people walking the sidewalks, now the streets were empty, an eerie silence pervading the city.
People weren’t going out after sundown. Even ordinary people were starting to understand what was happening in Saint Vivia. Things were getting worse, and Alice could feel the weight of that fact bearing down on her.
###
Victor and Penny strolled through the garden, and as far as she could tell, it was the most beautiful garden she’d ever seen, illuminated by the light of the moon. On some level, Penny knew it wasn’t real. She knew the plants around here were overgrown and wild, and any garden planted here was long dead. She was just so tired of reminding herself that it was all fake.
Next to her, Lord Victor smiled, sensing weakness. He’d been waiting for this.
“Miranda,” he said, still using the name he’d chosen for her. “Look there.”
He pointed to a chrysalis. Penny vaguely wondered if even that was real or just another illusion.
“That chrysalis used to be one creature,” said Victor. “But soon, it will open and become something beautiful. Watch.”
She could see the chrysalis moving, the creature within trying to break out.
“A caterpillar is an ugly little thing,” said Victor. “Squirming about like a vile piece of living mucous, but the creature it turns into is a vision of color and grace.”
A small blue butterfly crawled out of the chrysalis, its wings shining in the moonlight.
“But imagine, dear Miranda, if the butterfly entered a chrysalis and underwent a similar transformation. Imagine how beautiful a creature would emerge.”
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Victor turned Penny’s face to look her in the eyes, and Penny found it difficult to look away.
“You are a beautiful woman, Miranda, but you can be so much more. That’s what I’m trying to give you, my dear. Please, let me show you.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. A gesture meant to seem comforting. In the back of her mind, Penny knew it was all a lie. He wanted to turn her into something horrific, even if he seemed to genuinely believe the lie. It didn’t matter, though. Penny was just so tired of resisting, and this fanciful world of color and magic that Victor promised seemed so enticing. At this point, she had trouble remembering the life she was leaving behind. How could it be better than what Victor was showing her?
Penny hesitated momentarily, then whispered, “Y…yes.”
Victor smiled in triumph as he leaned down, brushing the hair from her neck. His lips brushed against her skin almost like a kiss, but then he bit down, drinking her sweet life essence. Penny closed her eyes, the pain lancing through her shoulders. For the first time since she’d been taken, she welcomed it.
As Victor fed from her, the butterfly faded away. The illusion had served its purpose.
###
Late at night, as the moon peeked through the trees beside the mansion, the elder vampire Harold continued to train the younger vampires. He had obtained a human audio device from one of the kidnapped thralls and hooked it up to a gas generator. The younger vampires needed to learn to fight with the sound blaring in their ears, so despite his preference for classical music, the stereo blasted the loudest, most obnoxious rave music he could find. The pain was unbearable, but they’d get used to it with time.
As they waved their swords and spears for synchronized drills in the mansion courtyard, he shouted at them, telling them to bear the pain as the Night Hunter’s weapons would be far worse. The vampires could barely stand at first, but they were showing progress.
A few minutes later, he entered the decaying mansion where vines crept through cracks in the walls. In the ballroom, where the trapdoor to the underground lay, he could hear vampires leading a bunch of terrified, squealing pigs down those dark steps to feed the vampires down there. Harold didn’t fully understand what Victor was doing with them, aside from turning them into ferals by feeding them only animals, but he trusted that Victor would have something surprising.
As he walked, one of Harold’s thralls, a young woman he’d summoned with telepathy, arrived and walked beside him. They soon reached the mansion’s conference room, where Victor and Fara awaited him. Victor sat at the conference table with his enthralled warlock Walter by his side. Fara sat across from him with an unfamiliar thrall beside her, a young raven haired woman with sleepy, violet eyes. This new woman stroked a black cat that sat in her lap, and Walter had a raven sitting on his shoulder. The animals looked at Harold with a strange, unearthly intelligence in their red eyes, and Harold knew he wasn’t looking at an ordinary cat and raven.
Of course, the satisfied smile on Victor’s face was what really caught Harold’s attention.
“You seem pleased,” said Harold, taking a seat as his thrall took a chair beside him.
“Progress, my friend,” said Victor. “We’re making progress on so many fronts. How is the training going?”
“As quickly as can be expected,” said Harold. “And I trust your…project with the feral vampires is coming along nicely, but let’s not waste time with chatter. Axel and Cassandra failed.”
“I told you we all should have gone,” said Fara, scowling. “You saw what happened. If just one of us were there, we’d have defeated Gordon Brand, and the Crucivire would be ours.”
“We couldn’t possibly have known that,” said Harold. “We only know that now with the benefit of hindsight. We can’t afford to put ourselves in a position where the Night Hunters can wipe us out all at once. I shouldn’t have to remind you that if we fall, there will be no one to keep the younger vampires in line. This operation would end before it even started, so we can’t take any unnecessary risks.”
“And I shouldn’t have to remind you,” said Fara. “The crucivire is vital to our plans. We can’t tread carefully forever. He’ll no doubt be kept under lock and key after Axel’s little stunt.”
“That’s why our current plans are our best option,” said Victor. “Let’s not get distracted by what we could have done, but focus on what we’re doing now.”
Harold looked thoughtful, “Speaking of our current plans, the hunters will no doubt keep the Crucivire in that facility’s chapel when we attack. How do you plan to extract him from such a place without entering it?”
“Simple,” said Victor, a self satisfied smile on his face. “A vampire may not be able to enter a church, but a warlock can.”
Harold frowned, “Walter? I know he’s making progress rediscovering magic, but I thought we needed him for the ritual?”
“We have a backup,” said Fara matter of factly, “I caught myself a would be witch recently. We’re having Walter show her the ropes.”
“I see,” said Harold. “Then what about the Red Council? Are they sending anyone to replace Axel and Cassandra? Some more foot soldiers would be nice as well.”
“No foot soldiers,” said Victor. “Our enemies in the red council are using their deaths as an excuse to try to call a new vote. They’re still arguing against our plan. We’ll have to move fast. I don’t want to risk the Council changing their minds. That being said, another Elder has agreed to come.” He sighed, “ Archibald.”
Harold grimaced, “Not that idiot.”
Fara sniffed disdainfully, “For once, I agree with Harold. Surely we can do better?”
“He was the only one who agreed to show up,” said Victor. “Do try to be civil when he arrives.”
Harold and Fara growled but otherwise remained silent.
“The death of Axel and Cassandra changed nothing,” said Victor. “Preparations are almost complete. We’ll make our move soon. I can promise you that.”
Harold nodded, and while Fara looked irritated, she nodded as well. Their conversation over, each of them turned their attention to the thralls beside them. Gleefully, the elder vampires took a moment to lean over their thralls’ necks and bite in.
The enthralled humans, for their part, sighed contentedly as they willingly gave blood to their masters.
###
Alice trained with Jacqueline, wielding a sword against a mental knight as she hid her thoughts from the vampire. Alice was getting better at that, and she even felt she was learning something about swordplay, not that it would be much use to her. Still, despite the progress Alice felt she was making, something was bothering her.
The Night Hunters were more aggressively altering their sleep schedules to prepare them for working at night. Alice now spent half the night awake. While this did coincide with the time she’d need to contact Penny and Gary mentally, she might get cut off if they changed their sleep schedules too much.
Alice got hit in the side with the knight’s sword and felt a light sting as it bounced off her skin. This knight wasn’t meant to hurt her, but Alice still felt annoyed.
“You seem distracted,” said Jacqueline, a teasing smirk on her face. “Though I take it as a point of pride that I’m not sure why. You’ve improved greatly at hiding your thoughts.”
Alice sighed, “I’m worried about Penny and Gary…more than I was, I mean. Our arrangement was only supposed to be temporary. The Night Hunters should have found them by now.”
Jacqueline’s smirk slowly faded into a look of sympathy, “I know. I’m afraid that the lead your brother was working on was killed before he could be interrogated. I’m sorry.”
Alice clenched her fists. They needed another option, and while Alice was working on one, she wasn’t confident it would work. More and more, Alice grew frustrated and angry with this situation.
A moment later, Alice looked over to Jacqueline, who looked to the side, distracted. Alice was about to ask what was on her mind when she saw the mirror wall Jacqueline was looking at. On that wall, Alice saw two vampires in gothic attire, a man and a woman. They gazed at each other adoringly, shifting in and out of their glamours as they danced.
It was almost touching, but instead of a kiss, the male vampire leaned down and bit into the female’s neck. From her expression, you’d think she was being kissed on the neck. A moment later, he pulled back and let her bite into his neck.
Alice watched the whole display with a look of unbridled disgust.
The image faded.
“Sorry,” said Jacqueline. “I was lost in thought for a moment.”
Alice looked away, still grimacing, “Who were they?”
“Axel and Cassandra,” said Jacqueline. “Elder vampires killed by your brother and his associate this very night, though I’m sure you’re happy to hear that.”
“Were they friends of yours?”
“Not really,” said Jacqueline. “I just wonder sometimes what they would be like…” she hesitated. “What they would have been like if they were human and could express their love the way humans do. After all, sharing blood is the only way we vampires can share affection.”
Alice frowned, “What do you mean?”
Jacqueline looked a little uncomfortable. “Vampire senses are compromised.”
“I thought vampire senses were better than humans.’”
“In some ways,” Jacqueline admitted. “But they’re inferior in other ways. The first vampire started the tradition of wiping the memories of anyone he turned, and he knew that senses can trigger memories, so he put limits on how the curse uses senses.”
“How so?”
Jacqueline took a serious tone. “Taste, for instance, only allows us to enjoy blood. The taste of human food makes us sick. It’s the same with smell, which is why a pungent food smell like garlic can be difficult to deal with. Vision and hearing aren’t compromised per se, but things being so much louder and brighter to us seems different enough to make us perceive the world very differently from a human.
“But the most compromised sense is touch. Honestly, I can barely feel anything. If I touch something, I can vaguely tell that my skin is coming into contact with something, but I cannot tell by touch alone what it is. Our other senses compensate, but the only thing we can feel with any accuracy is pain so that we can react quickly to damage.”
“Wait,” said Alice. “If vampire senses are compromised like that, how can you make a mental world that’s this convincing? My senses seem to be working fine here.”
“I can reflect sensations back to a human,” said Jacqueline. “But it’s based on your own expectations. Should you ever visit this room in the real world, you may find that the touch of the metal walls feels different than it does here. Though I can reflect those sensations back to you, I cannot experience them for myself. They remain something of a mystery to me.”
“I see,” said Alice. “So if you can’t feel touch like a human, then…”
Suddenly, Alice understood what Jacqueline was getting at.
Jacqueline nodded. “Humans can show affection in a number of ways, be it a hug from a friend, a hand on one’s shoulder, a kiss on the cheek…” Jacqueline leaned in, a knowing look in her eyes. “A kiss on the lips…a caress…a lover’s passionate embrace…all such experiences would mean nothing to a vampire. Even a handshake is meaningless to us.”
“And yet,” Jacqueline continued. “It seems that vampires still have that human need to be close to someone, even if we can’t achieve it the same way. Tasting each other’s blood is the only way we can imitate that connection.”
“That sounds awful,” said Alice.
Jacqueline nodded solemnly.
“It is awful,” said Jacqueline. “The truth is, Alice, I don’t think all vampires would create thralls if being a vampire were all fun and games. Not everyone wants to be in charge, and not every vampire would want their servants making servants of their own.
“The reason I think we all do it is simple. If we can convince others that being a vampire is the most wonderful thing in the world, then we can convince ourselves that we don’t live such a miserable existence. I, on the other hand, have had that delusion ripped away from me.”
Jacqueline waved her hand, and a table beside her appeared with blood bags.
“The Night Hunters,” said Jacqueline. “Have volunteers to feed me. I’m not supposed to spy on them, but I can’t help but get flashes of their lives, and they’re under constant surveillance. This room prevents me from using my power in ways that don’t benefit the Night Hunters, so unlike other vampires, I am connected to humans I can’t control. Since I couldn’t suppress those human memories as I did before, I was forced to compare the lives of humans directly to my own. Not every human is content with their life, of course, but when a human is content, they have a greater sense of fulfillment than I’ve ever sensed from a vampire, and for the first time, I realized just how empty a vampire's life really is.”
Jacqueline swallowed nervously, “And I realized…exactly what I’d taken from people. So many people.”
Alice examined Jacqueline, trying to decide if she believed her. Jacqueline, for her part, seemed nervous, as if she was afraid Alice wouldn’t believe that she was genuinely regretful. Alice still wasn’t sure if she could trust this vampire, but for the first time, Alice realized she wanted to believe her, and she did pity her.
“You certainly make being a vampire sound miserable,” said Alice. “But none of the vampires I’ve encountered seemed miserable, not even you, and certainly not this Axel and Cassandra you just showed.”
Jacqueline sat there for a moment as the billowing sleeves on her dress unfurled suddenly, a mist falling away from them to reveal the wings of an elder vampire. Alice resisted the urge to back away.
“I’m old, Alice,” said Jacqueline. “If I don’t seem miserable, it’s because I’m used to it. As for Axel and Cassandra, I’m sure they were quite miserable, but they at least seemed to genuinely care for each other, something that’s very rare for our kind. I think that helped them be a little less miserable than the rest of us.”
Alice couldn’t even comprehend what that must be like. Alice never wanted to find out, and she got the idea that Jacqueline had shared something very personal by telling her this.
“Thank you,” said Alice. “For telling me.”
Surprisingly, Jacqueline blushed, “I’d say it was a pleasure, but that would be a lie.” After a pause, she added. “Thank you for listening.”
Alice nodded, and then Jacqueline looked up.
“It’s time,” she said.
As they’d done every Night since the first, Penny and Garry appeared on two of the mirror walls. Alice approached, beginning to feel like this was routine. Gary looked tired, his face sunken. Penny, on the other hand, smiled dreamily.
That worried Alice.
“Penny?” she asked.
No answer.
“Penny!” Alice nearly shouted.
Penny looked at Alice curiously, “My name is Miranda.”
Alice’s blood ran cold, as did Gary’s. Even Jacqueline looked worried.
“Your name is Penny,” said Alice desperately. “Remember? I’m your cousin, Alice. You know me.”
Penny tilted her head, “Alice?” Penny frowned. “I do know you. You’re Alice, and my name is…is…Penny.”
Penny’s eyes grew wide, “Alice!” she put her hands on the wall. “Alice, you have to get me out of here. I’m losing my mind. I can’t hold on much longer! I…I can’t remember anything before that night on the farm. I can’t remember my brother…I can’t remember my parents…” Penny was starting to hyperventilate. “Oh Alice, I can barely remember you. Alice, please. You have to get me out. You have to. You have to.”
Penny started saying that over and over again. Gary slumped his head down, horrified. Alice clenched her fist, trembling, and even Jacqueline bowed her head sadly.
“I know, Penny,” said Alice, holding back tears. “I know, and I might have a way.”
Penny looked up desperately.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” said Alice. “But it’s time for plan b.”