Chapter 131
Twenty minutes later, Katelina and Jorick drove along a gravel road. Naked trees slipped past, their branches like interwoven spider webs. The only clear radio station was classical music, and with no lyrics to distract her, her thoughts turned to the impending visit.
Jorick tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "You should listen to this more often, it's a much closer approximation to music." When she didn't reply he added, "For wanting to come on this lovely holiday, you're very sulky."
"I'm not sulking. I'm panicking."
"You're really that worried? Why? It's only your mother, and I'll be right there with you. Just stick to the stories we rehearsed and there won't be any problems. It's not as if she's one to focus. Just keep her distracted."
Katelina started to agree, then comprehended the words. "You sound like you've run into her before."
"I suppose I saw her a good deal. Just because you weren't at home didn't mean I wasn't keeping an eye out."
"You followed me to other places?"
Though he looked uncomfortable, he answered her anyway. "Only a few. Just to your mother's and to Patrick's. Oh, and to the brunette woman's house."
"So just everywhere I went?"
"No, I didn't hang around at the bars." He cleared his throat again. "Not most of them anyway."
"I'd have noticed you."
"Apparently not. No offense, but you're not the most observant."
"Gee, thanks. So where are we going?"
"First I want to see if anything survived of Oren's house, and then I have another stop or two. It won't be that horrible."
"Oren's house? But that's in Virginia."
"No, not that one. The small one, where Michael was."
"You mean that house on Farm Mill Road?" She was sure she'd never forget the small dusty house, or his speech about the unimportance of possessions as it burned. "I thought that was yours!"
"Mine?" He laughed. "Hardly. It was Oren's. He purchased it some years ago to keep an eye on Claudius' 'Summer Home'."
She couldn't help but chortle. "No wonder you were so calm about burning it down. How many fires does that make for him? Three?"
"Yes, he does seem to have bad luck lately."
Jorick stopped the car along a lonely patch of road and peered through the window. Then, he got out and disappeared through the weeds. He returned shortly, shaking his head. "They've filled it in," he explained as he climbed back inside. "I could go through the tunnel entrance, but I doubt it would lead far. If Oren wants to salvage anything from the catacombs underneath he's going to have to drill down."
"Did he have much there?" She tried to recall the house. She remembered sad, empty rooms and a basement lined in mysterious doors.
"Not a lot, but he did have a store of weapons off the main room. Oh well, at least it wasn't a wasted stop." He gave her a fanged smile. "I managed to find a snack."
Katelina didn't bother to ask what animal he'd fed on; she preferred not to know. When she didn't take the bait, he started the car and pulled back onto the road. They made a U-turn and drove back the way they'd come for a few miles, then turned down a maze of gravel and dirt roads until they reached a large metal gate that stood open. Jorick studied it for a moment and then drove through it. They followed a snowy driveway that curved towards an ornate fountain. He stopped the car in front of it and nodded to Katelina, as if to signal they'd arrived. Then he turned to the backseat, and rummaged for something.
She hesitated, but curiosity got the better of her, so she climbed out into the cold. "Where are we?"
Jorick mumbled a reply that she couldn't catch. She glanced back at him then moved cautiously to examine the dry snowy fountain. Stone cherubs danced around the basin in the usual poses, holding silent jugs. As she drew closer, she realized that instead of angel wings they had bat wings and vampire fangs. She shivered at their faces; childlike and innocent, but marred by the demonic additions. The severe lighting of the bright headlights didn't help the illusion of evil; the deep shadows were a significant contrast against the light stone.
The headlights went out, and she drew back as if the fountain might come to life in the blackness. Jorick joined her and handed her a flashlight. He pointed his beam of light at a dark house that sat back from the driveway. Katelina caught her breath as he moved the light around to reveal little pieces of a stone mansion. It was larger than the house Oren had shared with his wife and probably much more expensive. Beautiful stone angels with bat wings, completely out of place in rural America, decorated the house at intervals, and heavy, leaded windows reflected back the flashlight's beam. The front door was atop a large sweeping porch that was trimmed in wrought iron, and two side doors were trapped behind scrollwork fences.
"Shall we?" Jorick asked and offered his arm.
With a mute nod, she let him lead her across the yard and on to the front porch. "Who lives here?" she whispered, afraid that anything louder would wake the sleeping monsters in the corners of her dark imagination.
"No one." Jorick examined the surrounding area. "I hate to have to do this." He motioned for her to step back and then kicked the heavy front door. The wood splintered, but didn't give immediately. A second well placed kick made the door collapse on itself and left a yawning black hole.
She stared at the destruction, aghast. "It's a shame you don't really have some kind of super unlocking ability."
Jorick took her arm again and led her inside. "True. Or that Claudius didn't have the good sense to leave a spare key."
"Claudius?" His name was enough to freeze the blood in her veins.
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