Chapter 299
Katelina hurried toward Loren. "Oh my God, are you all right?"
Micah dropped down from the rock, his face pale and his eyes wild. He shoved her out of the way. "Does he look all right?" Loren groaned and Micah knelt next to him. He seemed to assess the damage quickly, and then growled, "Hey, lazy ass, whatcha doin' takin' a nap?"
"S-Sorry. Lost my grip." Loren tried to hold up his hand but groaned and left it where it was. "I think I broke my arm."
"Yeah, trust you to break the only good limbs you've got left, idiot." Micah stood and wiped his forehead, as if wiping away beads of nonexistent sweat. He turned to Katelina and, before she could protest, he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her up in the air, her arms and legs waving.
"Put her down!" Jorick yelled, but Micah only dropped her over Jorick's back, so that she had to grab on to keep from falling.
"What are you staring at?" Micah shouted. "Get your asses up that fucking hill before I kick you up there!"
Jorick growled, but turned away and bounded forward. He jumped at the last second and grabbed a rock. The sudden change of momentum wrenched Katelina and she cried out.
"You're fine," Jorick called to her as he grabbed the next outcropping and easily hauled them both up. He climbed quickly. Though she knew she shouldn't, she looked down. The ground was a blur in the black and only the white of Loren's upturned face was visible. Her stomach clenched at the distance and she mashed her eyes shut to stop her imagination. It didn't help. In her mind, she could see the steep slope fly by as she fell and then bounced, perhaps slamming into a pointy outcropping of rock, and then pitching through the darkness to land in a bloody, tangled heap as Loren had.
They reached the end of the climb on what amounted to a plateau, facing another pounding waterfall. It slammed into a basin lined with shiny jagged rocks, and then fell on down the mountain in the direction they'd come from. Thick, twisted trees marched up the mountain on either side, as if the forest was trying to pull the rocks down.
Micah appeared over the top of the ledge, Loren tied to his back with a belt and a flannel shirt. Blood ran down the teen's face in a thin trickle, and his dark eyes echoed both pain and humiliation. Micah's fierce expression dared anyone to comment.
Maeko nodded to them silently and then motioned to the dense forest. Despite the close proximity of the trees, the vampires moved through them quickly, and Katelina closed her eyes rather than watch the trunks flashing by.
They came out of the trees to find a shallow valley bathed in cold moonlight and icy drifts of snow. A stream cut through it and disappeared into the forest, no doubt one of the waterfall's sources. A few trees stood sentinel, but for the most part the valley was empty except for a wooden structure that looked like a gate and a small neglected building.
The gate, painted in peeling red, made Katelina think of old Asian movies. There didn't appear to be any fence, so it stood like a random doorway in the middle of the snow. Maeko led them through it and down what had probably once been a path, towards the small building. As they drew closer, they could see that a broad porch ran all around the building, just as it did at Maeko's house. On the front of the building, two grillwork windows were crusted with leaves and lichen. Icicles hung from the fantastic sweeping roof, and glittered around the edges of a spiky hole.
Maeko's usually cheerful demeanor turned quiet as they stopped before the building. Katelina watched as the girl moved first left, then right, sweeping away snowdrifts to reveal worn stone statues. Then, she moved back to the middle and wiped the snow aside to reveal a set of steps. She turned to the others, placed a finger to her lips, and then motioned them to follow.
Katelina slid down Jorick's back and landed ankle deep in the snow. The crystals filtered into her shoes and she bit back a groan. Sorino let Kai down, too, but Micah didn't move to drop Loren, nor did he try to follow Maeko. Instead, he took up residence next to one of the statues and lit a cigarette.
Jorick caught Katelina's hand and met her eyes, as if to make sure she was all right. Though she had a host of complaints, none were life threatening, so she gave a reluctant nod and let him lead her up the steps and across the porch.
Maeko slid the door open and walked inside, Jorick and Katelina behind her. Moonlight shone through the ruined roof to reveal what looked like an altar against the far wall. The wooden floor was shrouded in a dusting of snow that grew into a drift just below the hole in the roof. The atmosphere felt heavy, as though they had trespassed somewhere they shouldn't be, and Katelina's steps slowed and finally stopped. The other vampires must have felt the same because they drew to a halt until only Maeko approached the altar.
A noise caught Katelina's attention and she looked through the open door to see that Micah had moved to the porch, still carrying Loren. She turned back as Maeko slid aside a wooden panel on the base of the altar and retrieved a decorative metal box.
The girl bowed low to the altar, as if bidding someone good bye, and then led the group outside again. Katelina looked back over her shoulder as the wind whipped snowflakes through the gaping roof. They glittered as they drifted through the streaming moonlight, like out of season fireflies.
Maeko knelt on the porch and held the box out to Jorick. Katelina caught her breath, and it felt as if the rest of the world did too; the wind died and the whisper of the trees faded into an echoing silence. It was as if all of nature was waiting for him to accept a relic that, if genuine, might have the ability to change the world.
Jorick shook off the moment and seized the box from her. He flipped back the lid and Katelina peered over his shoulder to see what looked like a shriveled, dried chunk of beef jerky. There was no glitter, no magic, and no heavenly choir. Only the howl of the revived wind and the soft, distant roar of the waterfall.
He snapped the box closed, then turned crisply on his heel and started down the stone steps.
Micah took the final drag on his cigarette and tossed the butt with enough force to vault it into the trees. "So that's it? That's the great heart all these morons are after?"
Jorick started to answer, then suddenly stiffened. He turned in a semi-circle, his dark eyes moving over the frozen landscape. Katelina looked quickly to see the other vampires tensed and alert. Even Kai seemed to sense something.
"What is it?"
Suddenly, a bob haired vampiress somersaulted from the roof to land in front of Jorick in a fighting stance. Her long black coat whipped around her legs, and the golden medallion at her throat winked in the moonlight. It was Senya.
