Chapter 400
The three vampires returned heavily laden. Micah dumped a giant fruit at Katelina's feet and offered her a jagged folding knife. "No idea if it's any good, but I found it on the way back and thought what the fuck."
Verchiel and Loren sorted through several wrinkled plastic bags to display their treasures. Among the contents were bottled water, energy bars, some bags of chips, a large paper bag of something that looked like jerky, two glass bottles with no labels that Verchiel called "palm wine", a couple cans of soda, a bag of rice, a beat up metal pan whose handle was gone, two scuffed plastic bowls, and several rolls of toilet paper.
"They were happy to trade," Verchiel said with a grin.
Loren handed Micah what looked like a Bowie knife in a sheath, and paused to play with a second one. "We even got some weapons."
Torina ran her eyes over the items. "What did you trade them for?"
"Their lives." Micah grinned and tossed Jorick a knife much like the one he'd given Katelina. "Don't say I never gave you anything."
Katelina's dinner was better than her lunch; the rice went surprisingly well with the spicy jerky and the fruit tasted a bit like mango, but with more flavor. After dinner she lounged next to the fire, more for the comfort of light than the need for heat.
"You'd better drink this stuff," Verchiel said and handed her one of the glass bottles. "I got the impression it doesn't keep long."
Katelina held it up for inspection. "It looks a bit foamy. Are you sure it's safe?"
"They were drinking it," Loren said.
Katelina watched as Verchiel handed Etsuko the other bottle. The woman bowed and thanked him and then took a sip. She didn't make a face, or fall over dead, so Katelina gave it a try. The flavor wasn't much to brag about; sweet with an edge of sour, but she recognized the fermented taste of alcohol. It was like stepping into a moment in the past; in her mind she could see the bar her best friend's boyfriend had worked at. The counters were polished wood, and the stools were upholstered in cracked vinyl. Country music played on the jukebox, and behind the counter stood Brad with his easy smile and perfect hair. Sarah leaned on the bar, her curly locks pulled back and a suggestion in her eyes about where they'd be after the bar closed.
The scene faded, replaced with her misty memories of a vampire stronghold. A cold cement room lit by a single bizarre chandelier. A rusty metal cage. A pouty teenage vampire master. Claudius' henchmen had gone for Katelina and gotten Sarah by mistake. When they discovered the mix up, Sarah was deemed expendable.
Katelina squeezed her eyes shut and took another belt of the liquid. There were so many things she wished she could forget about. So much guilt she wished she could wash away. What had Verchiel said? "How many nights will you spend regretting the loss? How eager are you for the guilt?" He'd been talking about something else, but the result was the same. When she finally surrendered and let Jorick turn her, how long would it be before everyone she knew was gone; before every tie to her old life had disappeared and she was left with nothing but eternal darkness and slowly fading memories? No wonder Verchiel preferred to have no past.
She finished off the bottle and, though it left her feeling warm and fuzzy, the melancholy mood remained. She was glad to lie down next to Jorick and bury her face against his chest. A dark sense of foreboding hung just out of reach and she refused to grasp for it. She'd given up too much already, and didn't want to know what else she stood to lose.
"Everything," a voice whispered in her mind. "Only through burning away the old can something new be born."
She had no idea where the thought came from, but she was terrified it was right.
***
The next evening was much like the one before. Katelina had chips, jerky, and the mysterious fruit for breakfast. She took a couple photos of colorful birds, and one of the jungle. She even took one of the vampires huddled around the fire and decided she'd label it "camping".
The humidity felt higher and the bugs were thicker than ever. Luckily the mosquitos didn't like the way she tasted, though they enjoyed Etsuko. The woman was covered in swollen pink bumps that she scratched when she thought no one was looking.
Katelina noticed the mosquitos didn't seem to like the vampires, either. The implications were disturbing, so she ignored them. The bugs did, however, like what was left of the giant fruit, and when lunch time came Katelina had to cut large bug eaten chunks off of it.
Her mind kept wandering to Ume. In her imagination Malick's headquarters looked disturbingly like Claudius', and the vampiress was huddled naked in a rusty metal cage, beaten, bruised, and terrified. There had to be something they could do to speed things along!
But there didn't seem to be. Another day followed. Katelina wandered the jungle with Verchiel and Micah for a change of pace, Etsuko's flashlight clutched in her hand. Shiny eyes peered at her from the undergrowth and then disappeared.
Thunder rumbled in the distance but the sky jealously held its rain. Katelina was fine with that. They'd taken to hanging out around the fire, and she didn't want to go inside the cramped house with the Black Vigil.
Etsuko had started the rice for dinner when a long bird call sounded from the trees. At least half of the Black Vigil had been busy cleaning their sickles in the clearing, and at the sound they leapt up as one. Fethillen hurried out from one of the helicopter hangars, a wrench in her hand.
Katelina stared in the direction of the noise. "What is it?"
"The look-outs have spotted something," Jorick answered.
Oren was perched on a piece of fallen log. "It's probably your idiot friend on his way back from his explorations."
"Why would that set them off?" Katelina asked. "They know him."
"Perhaps it is the rebels Fethillen-sama mentioned?" Etsuko suggested.
Oren looked bored. "If so it should be over soon."
Fethillen made several quick hand gestures. Silently, the Black Vigil split in half. Part of them slid soundlessly into the trees on one side, while the rest went on the other. Katelina tensed, listening, but all she could hear were the sounds of the jungle, the snap of the fire, and the pounding of her own heart.
A gunshot rent the air and she jumped. Oren swiveled toward the noise, but nothing followed. Katelina imagined a horde of rebel insurgents wielding machine guns, or Malick's army swooping out of the trees. Maybe the master had gotten tired of waiting and had decided to send someone to pick Jorick up. In her imagination she could see Ronnell zipping through the ranks of the Black Vigil, slashing.
A line of black clad vampires stepped out of the jungle. The rest followed, weapons pointed at a pair of newcomers. Katelina squinted at the prisoners, but she was too far away to see much. One was dressed in khaki with some kind of hat and the other looked to be shirtless with camouflage pants.
Oren sniffed the air and started. "What are they doing here?"
Before Katelina could ask who, Fethillen was already stalking toward them. Jorick looked mildly amused. "I imagine she's going to ask the same question."
Fethillen stopped before them, hands on her hips. "Did you invite someone?"
Jorick stood and dusted off his pants. "As a matter of fact, yes. Sorino has a plane that is not only faster than your helicopters, but doesn't need repaired."
Sorino?
"And what good will that do?" Fethillen demanded.
Jorick had invited Sorino?
"It means we can leave for Namibia tomorrow, make the trip in a couple of hours, and return in the same night. Malick may be old, but he has not learned patience with age. The longer you delay, the more likely it is he'll change his mind."
And Sorino had accepted? After the last debacle they were seriously considering cooperating with one another?
"Is his plane big enough to take all of us?" Fethillen asked coldly.
"No. You may come if you choose, or you can send another in your place, but we don't need to take your entire army. It's a waste of time and resources."
"You're not the leader here!"
Jorick stood straighter and pulled his shoulders back. He seemed to grow taller before Katelina's eyes. "No, I'm not, but I'm the one Malick invited, not you. You can do it my way or not at all."
Fethillen pursed her lips angrily "How did you know where our headquarters were?" She narrowed her eyes. "You are a dream stealer as well as a whisperer, aren't you?" Jorick didn't deny his mind reading abilities, and she spun on her heel and shouted. "Keep the prisoners bound!"
