“You sound scared,” I taunted him.
“Scared? I’m not scared, I’m bored. Only magic can hurt a ghost. There’s no point in trying to fight an enemy that can’t be hit. I’d be swiping at air all night.”
“Why do I get the feeling she wanted this to happen? I mean, what’s the downside to being a ghost?” I asked. “She seems like she’s having a blast.”
“You were lucky enough to miss that speech, I guess,” Noah said, taking a seat by the door.
“A wise observation. When one such as us ages long enough to amass the power she has, death becomes more of a metamorphosis than a finality,” Vance answered. “According to Rozalin, she foresaw Minerva coming to kill her. She prepared a ritual to keep her soul here on Earth instead of being sent to the Underworld for judgment like all dead are. I’m not a master of necromancy like she is. But from my limited knowledge, for the spell to work, she would have to be wrongfully murdered, and not take her own life.
“Death only grants chances to those with unfinished business and strong emotions tying them here. They pass on when they are at peace. Whether Rozalin predicted it or not, she was killed as part of Minerva’s conspiracy and did not die a natural death. Rozalin was cunning enough to cheat the system. Now she is using her spectral state along with her magic to get to her sister any way she can with little consequence.”
“She said she had my parents’ souls and she’d use them to fuel her vengeance. She said she would bring them back to life if I helped her.”
“Impossible. Rozalin may be strong, but not enough to resurrect the dead as they once were.”
“Well, is it possible for her to put their souls in
another
body?”
Vance skimmed the pages in his tome, visibly losing interest in the discussion. “I suppose so, but you’d need a soulless body to put them in.”
“Like from somebody recently deceased?”
“Right, in theory. But they would be undead. I’m not a necromancer, no matter how many times I tell this lout,” he said, nodding to Noah.
“What’s your plan to get out of here?” I asked them.
“We lay a trap of our own. A binding circle, like the one I used in the ritual with you, only this time we will be binding her to something we can use to remove her from the building,” Vance said.
“So, where is it?” I looked around the room. Noah opened the door before I got an answer.
“Just couldn’t stay away, huh?” Noah jested as Vivian entered the room. She pushed past him and set a briefcase down on the desk.
“Do you understand that if you use this for anything but its intended purpose you will die, and it will be painful?” She removed a vial filled with blood from the case and handed it over to Vance. “Watch him closely,” she said to Noah.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To cause a distraction and buy you some time.” Vivi left the room and closed the door behind her.
“She’s as good as dead, but at least she did her part.” Vance was probably better off keeping that comment to himself. Noah grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the stone wall so hard he left an impression. Any human would have died instantly. There was no way it wasn’t extremely painful at the very least for him.
“Then you’d better work fast,” Noah threatened, and dropped him.
“I’m going back out, too,” I said.
“This isn’t a game, kid. Don’t expect help because you want to play in the haunted house.”
“Lyle’s in here. I’ll feel better doing something.”
Vance poured the contents of the vial into his hand and started finger-painting familiar arcane runes on the floor. Noah stepped away from the door and sat on the desk, never taking his eyes off of Vance.
“Whatever. It’s your life. Just die with some dignity and don’t get in Vivi’s way.”
That was funny. They both said the same thing to me, only it sounded better coming from Vivian.
The oil lamps around the library burned an unnatural purplish-black color now. The cold ultraviolet light from the flames was brighter than the natural version and revealed more of the enormous room. The source of what I had been tangled in earlier was now visible. Long wispy tendrils made of thick smoke and shadow intertwined with each other. They seemed to float in place benignly until I got close. Then the ghostly manifestations would reach out to me as a vine instinctively snakes toward the sun.
I avoided contact with the tendrils as I navigated the library, after finding them to be immune to my power’s influence, the same as Rozalin herself. A few of them melded together from a bookcase and formed a rough image of hands grasping for me. Even more of them gathered into the shape of a featureless human face that stretched out from a long neck and followed me around every turn.
A gunshot came from upstairs, which meant Lyle was there. I tried both ignoring and dodging the apparitions as I ran to leave the library. Face after face appeared in the walls, watching as I made it to the main floor. They oozed like oil out of the stonework until the walls and floor under them were completely covered. I didn’t know what else Rozalin could possibly throw at me to make me lose my nerve, but I kept telling myself to keep my head down and just ignore it.
There were many more corpses littering the ground upstairs than the couple I had previously dispatched. I doubted this was Vivian’s work, so Lyle must be doing pretty well on his own. The paint and wallpaper were starting to peel from the walls, the wood rotting and metal fixtures rusting. Nothing was left untouched by the sudden decay.
I thought Rozalin would have been eager to attack the moment I left the safe room, but she hadn’t made an appearance yet.
“Dorian, you have to get out of here.” The ghost of my father materialized before me.
“Dad, is that … is it really you?” I approached carefully, hopefully.
“Don’t come any closer. You have to run, it isn’t safe.”
“Dad, where’s Mom? Is she with you?” I asked. “I can save you. I know how to bring you back.”
“It’s cold, Dorian, so cold.” He faded away. But if Rozalin had spared him, maybe my mom was still all right too.
I heard another gunshot from close by and went toward it to find Lyle standing over some remains.
“Are you real?” he asked, and pointed his firearm at me.
“Yes, it’s me! Don’t shoot me!” I said, and put my hands up.
“I’m almost out of ammo anyway.” He lowered his gun and checked the clip. I walked over and looked at the body laid out between us.
“Have you been killing these?”
“Yeah,” he replied and picked up a fire poker, stabbing the head to ensure it wouldn’t get back up. “You don’t need superpowers to be a hero.”
That hurt. I could tell he was offended by my comment about him only being human, but actually, I was a bit envious now seeing how he had cleared out the place.
“I’m sorry about what I said before. I didn’t mean it to come off as insulting,” I apologized.
“It’s cool, don’t worry about it.”
“My parents are here. I know how to save us and bring them back.”
Lyle stared at me in confusion. “How?” he asked.
I cringed, knowing what I was about to say wouldn’t sit well with him. “I need to find Rozalin.”
“Take a look around you. She’s everywhere! I’ve had enough of this ghost bullshit. We have to be leaving, not having tea or whatever the hell she wants with us.”
“She’s a necromancer. She can bring my parents back. Their souls are already here. I talked with them. If I don’t help her, she’s going to hurt them.”
“Dorian, you don’t even know whether it’s just one of her tricks. This lady is nuts! I’ve met some crazy women, but she takes the cake. This is a four-thousand-year grudge because a guy chose her sister over her. She’s the poster child for needing to get the fuck over it.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Vivi told me the whole story. The sisters were born around here before France even existed. Aurelia was the favorite, and everyone in their village thought she was the hottest chick ever. Some mysterious dude claiming to be from another village came to their place one night. He wanted to marry one of the sisters to make good relations between their villages, and wound up choosing Aurelia.
“Rozalin got jealous because she was always in her sister’s shadow. She followed them as they left the village and witnessed the guy turn Aurelia. When Rozalin ran back to her parents they thought she was just being a drama queen, and nobody in their village believed her.”
I was only half paying attention to Lyle’s story. He was walking through the building brandishing the fire poker, ready to bash in anything that jumped out. I could tell he was searching for the exit and hoping the more he talked the less I’d be focused on contacting Rozalin, but she hadn’t slipped my mind.
“She set out on her own to find where the guy took Aurelia,” he continued. “After questioning locals in other towns, she got herself mixed up with some shady people. They were involved with black magic and taught her how to use it. Their leader fell in love with her and also revealed himself to be a rival of the man Aurelia ran off with, so he offered to turn Rozalin if she’d help kill him.
“Long story short, she did. Aurelia was furious and used her glowing eye hypnosis thing to turn all the humans against Rozalin and her Goth friends. The villagers burned down their hideout and killed Rozalin’s man and all her friends. Rozalin escaped and Aurelia took over the village. Every few hundred years when Rozalin regroups —”
“Lyle?” I turned around, but he was gone. “Lyle, this is a bad time to try and be funny! Where are you?”
“I didn’t much care for his version for the story,” Rozalin said, floating down from the ceiling.
“What did you do with him? We don’t have anything to do with Aurelia or your disagreement!”
“Disagreement? Disagreement? This is no petty spat, this is war! I have been wronged for thousands of years, stripped of everything by my very own blood while she enjoys only the best and all the false love and praise this world can offer! I once lived in her shadow, now she will die in mine.”
“I totally understand, but we aren’t involved with any of that! I was taken here by Aurelia’s orders and Lyle followed. Killing us and hurting my family isn’t going to mean anything to Aurelia!”
“I offered you a deal — quite a fair one, too. You were unwise to decline. I told you that you’d regret it.”
“Bring my family back, safely, and let us all leave, including Lyle. I’ll do whatever it is you want. There’s no way I can kill Noah — he’s too fast.”
“You won’t have to. I was waiting for my sister to arrive, but I see it will take a more convincing invitation. Open the door they hide behind long enough for me to enter and I will take care of them myself.”
“Open the door?” Didn’t she know they were preparing a trap for her in there? Could she not see in the room while that ward was up?
“Yes, boy. Once the others arrive, I will have them present Aurelia with her own progeny staked through the heart. If she does not come then I will kill them, but she doesn’t have to know I plan on doing that anyway.”
“Wait, what others?” I asked.
“I invited some friends of my own.” She smiled and faded away. “Now go on, do as I say. There will not be another chance!”
My feet felt heavy as I walked back to the library. I was torn between taking two lives and getting two back. If I didn’t go through with it, not only would I lose my parents, but Vance and Noah might never allow me to be free. It seemed like an obvious choice, but something about it wasn’t sitting right with me. Who was I to choose over life and death? What would my parents think about me purposely killing two people just because of something they
might
do?
“Dorian.” My mom’s voice came from all around me. “Is it really true? Will we be a family again?”
She was standing in front of me now.
“Mom,” I whispered. “What should I do? She wants me to kill people. I have no idea if it’ll even work.”
“Just do what she says, honey. Isn’t the chance at being together again enough of a reason to try? They are dangerous people. The world will be better off without them.”
“How do you know they’re dangerous?” I asked. “I didn’t even tell you who she wants me to kill.”
“They’re all bad people, honey, and bad people should be punished. Just remember I love you.”
She disappeared, leaving me to my thoughts as I descended the stairs. Lyle was at the bottom of the stairs holding the back of his head.
“What happened?” I asked him.
“Don’t sneak up on me!” He jumped and turned around. “More ghost bullshit. I fell from the ceiling and wound up here.”
“Go upstairs. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Shouldn’t we be trying not to split up?”
“Vivian is still up there somewhere by herself,” I said, hoping that would persuade him. “I have to do something down here first.”
“What? It’s too dangerous for her to be in here.”
I wasn’t going to argue that she had made it to the safe room completely untouched, which was more than I could say for either of us.
“Find her and get out of here.”
“We’re sticking together. Last time we went separate ways I got set on fire, so come with me to find Vivi and we’ll come back down if it’s so important.”
Talking was only wasting time. I walked away and hurried through the peculiarly-lit library.
“Hurry, Dorian.” It was my mom again.
“Mom?”
“Yes, honey?”
“What’s our address?” I asked.
“What does that matter? Just open the door.”
“Tell me,” I insisted.
“Why won’t you open the door, Dorian?” Desperate frustration was building in her voice.
“Because you’re not my mother,” I answered. “She would never ask me to kill other people and she’d never trust somebody like you, Rozalin.”
“You good-for-nothing bastard!” Rozalin’s spoke from my mother’s form. “Couldn’t even complete a simple task, could you? At least you provided me with an ounce of amusement while I waited.”
“Dorian! Come on!” Lyle shouted from behind a bookcase. Rozalin was gone, but I knew it wouldn’t be for long. I joined Lyle and fled to the staircase. “What were you doing back there?” he asked.
“Buying the others some time, but the rest is up to them.”
When we were halfway up the stairs something swooped down on us. Whatever it was missed me and tackled Lyle, slamming him into a desk below. A second figure descended through the air, taking me to the ground with it. These things weren’t ghosts. They were completely solid and flew on giant leathery wings like a bat’s. They wore little in the way of clothing except some scraps fashioned as a loincloth. Their skin was gray and pulled tight over a strong, sinewy body. Each of their fingers and toes extended into sharp claws, but it was the fangs that gave away their origin. It wasn’t Noah’s wolfish grin, or even the pronounced teeth of the behemoth in Boston, but a full maw of jagged razor-sharp teeth. The eyes, set deep in sockets made more noticeable by a severely exaggerated brow, were neither seductive nor bestial, but had the mad gaze of a psychopath.
Laid out flat on my back, I immediately rolled over to face Lyle when the beast that had taken me down flew off. He was not as lucky. The one was on top of him, making every effort to sink its fangs into his neck. Lyle still held the fire poker and jammed it into the monster’s mouth, causing it to recoil. He kicked it hard in the stomach and scrambled away, but not far enough. It grabbed hold of him and jumped on his back, using its body weight to force him into submission.
Rozalin was deeper in the library, speaking to the second winged abomination in a language I had never heard. I stayed down, trying not to draw attention to myself. I concentrated on pushing the one off Lyle with my powers, but it stayed latched on to him.
Lyle screamed and grimaced in pain. The hideous bloodsucker sunk its fangs into Lyle’s neck, pinning him to the floor as it drank. Lyle’s blue eyes began to go dark as he lost the struggle. I grabbed the metal poker and aimed for its heart.
Before I could strike, Vivian appeared on the other side of them, wielding a full-length
katana
etched in a rose motif with matching crimson handle. In one move, she swept the blade up, decapitating the monster and turning it to ash.
We helped Lyle sit up as he dusted off the remains from his clothes. He went to speak, but Vivian pressed a finger to his lips and leaned in to lick the blood from his neck. She bit down on her wrist and pressed it to his mouth.
I didn’t doubt she could handle herself better than she let on, but I hadn’t expected her to go out of her way for us.
Lyle held his neck. When he removed his hand a moment later, the puncture marks had vanished. “I thought bites were supposed to feel good,” he groaned.
“Carpathians,” she said, getting up and licking her own wrist as it sealed. “Their bite is painful on purpose. They enjoy tasting fear in the blood of their prey. More are on the way to aid in their
coup d’état
. They are fewest in number of the covens, but will storm the chateau with all they have if it means a chance to topple us while our sanctuary has been compromised.”