Vampire - When Darkness Falls Part 58

Shanna let out a shriek that could wake the dead.

Jade jumped out of bed, disoriented, spinning around. She started to run to Shanna's room, then turned back for Lucian.

But Lucian was gone. Already. But she had known that he would leave; he had told her as much.

She wrenched the covers from the bed to wrap around her chilled and naked flesh and went flying down the hall.

Shanna was up, standing by her bed in an Eeyore nights.h.i.+rt. She looked as if she were all right. Jade's eyes flew to the bed where Renate had been sleeping.

Renate was still soundly sleeping.

"Shanna?"

Shanna flushed. "I was dreaming."

"Dreams are dangerous. What were you dreaming?"

"I dreamed that Renate came awake and attacked me with huge fangs. They were so big, she looked like a walrus."

"Should we check her out?" Jade asked in a whisper.

"Maybe we should get Lucian."

"Maybe we should, but we can't. He's gone."

"Gone?"

"You know Lucian."

Shanna walked steadfastly to Renate's side. Gingerly she touched Renate's lip, opening her mouth to bare her teeth.

She let out a long, soft, sigh.

Renate suddenly swung up. "What are you doing to me?"

"Just checking," Shanna said. "Just checking."

Renate looked around, frowning, disoriented. "Where the h.e.l.l am I?".

"Scotland," Shanna told her.

"Scotland!"

"Good G.o.d, Renate, you crossed the Atlantic. You don't remember coming here?"

She shook her head. "I think I remember a ..."

"Yes?" Shanna pressed.

"Nothing," Renate said with disgust. "Nothing but a delivery man.

What is going on?" she implored Jade. "Why does my jaw hurt so badly?"

"Jade hit you," Shanna supplied cheerfully. "Sorry," Jade murmured, staring at her sister.

"It's okay. You were trying to kill her," Shanna added quickly.

"Oh!" Renate cried, and suddenly touched her neck in panic. "Oh ...

am I all right?"

"We hope so," Shanna said. "At least as much as usual."

"Could you please explain?" Renate said imperiously.

The sisters looked at one another. "Long story," Shanna murmured.

"I guess we're up for the day."

"Yeah. I guess so. I'll order coffee," Jade said.

"You might as well," her sister told her, pointing toward the window. "It's actually daylight."

She started for the phone and then stopped. "No room service," she told Shanna.

"I could really use some coffee," Shanna muttered. "Have you noticed how we never seem to be able to get any sleep around here?"

"I'll hop in the shower and go down for some," Jade volunteered.

"Where's Lucian?" Shanna asked.

"I don't know," Jade admitted. "Somewhere. To rest. Prepare."

She walked back into her bedroom and realized that this time, at least, he hadn't just left her. There was a note on her pillow.

Oddly enough, that note touched her deeply. She had nothing tangible of him, or from him. And now a note. His handwriting was large, sweeping.

It's an arrogant hand! she thought, but with no bitterness. In his world, arrogance had meant survival often enough.

He wrote: Preparing for the evening; sun seems very bright today.

I, your inhuman friend, need rest as well, as I told you. Stick together, carry holy water, wait for me. I'll be back in the light; we'll strike before dark. Once again, stick together. Take care of yourself.

For me.

He didn't sign his name; there was no "Love, Lucian" to finish off the note.

It didn't matter. It was enough. It had to be. It was all he intended to give.

Take care of yourself. For me.

She showered, meaning to be very quick. But as she stood there, light and water bearing down upon her, she was suddenly afraid. The cemetery ... she could so vividly remember the cemetery.

Old, with broken-down stones, rusting fences, barren trees with skeletal fingers. That had been the innocence of the place.

Then there had been the tomb.

Creatures rising from spiderwebs and shrouds ...

And she was back here.

She had lost her mind.

She dressed in the warm, ankle-length knit skirt she had brought along and a soft black sweater. The temperature was cool outside, and the outfit was warm and would blend with the darkness this evening.

Night fell early now. Very early. Around four.

"Jade?" It was Shanna calling her. The room she shared with Renate was darkened again. So much for being awake.

"Yeah, it's me," she said. "I'm going down for the coffee."

"Do you think you should?"

"The hotel is a busy place, and it's broad daylight," Jade said.

"Come right back," Shanna murmured sleepily.

"Will do," Jade said. She left the room and started down the stairs.

She had been right. The hotel was bustling. The restaurant was a hotbed of activity. The place had really packed in just that morning, she learned from a waitress. "Halloween, you know," she'd told Jade.

The girl told her it would be a few minutes before they had more coffee brewed. Jade said it was all right; she'd just go down the street.

"That's a good idea; it's bright and beautiful out today. A perfect day."

"The sun is strong?"

"Unbelievably-for an autumn day in Edinburgh!"

"Good."

Jade stepped outside. When she closed her eyes she heard the normal tenor of conversation, marked with the charming accent of the Scots. The sky above was touched with gray, and yet it seemed very light. She loved Edinburgh, even in the chill of autumn. And yes-the sun, for Edinburgh, was very bright.

Time for all evil vampires to be locked away in the earth.

The brisk air was refres.h.i.+ng. She loved the city, loved looking toward the castle and down the street. A lone piper played a lament as shoppers and businessmen hurried along. The wail of the pipes seemed very charming. It felt good to be in the fresh air, to feel the sun, the heat of the light.

The innocence.

The normalcy of a bright, s.h.i.+ning day.

She started for the contemporary mall down on the left side of the street. It was there that the piper played. His lament was eerily compelling.

A small, mobile stage, like a gypsy stage, had been set up on the concrete entrance in front of the modern formation of shops. A woman in an old hag's costume was hawking the show, walking about, enticing people to come before the stage. The people themselves were a show.

Some workers walking the streets were in costumes, and half costumes.

Cat whiskers and tails adorned some people in the crowd; costumed children in everything from Mickey Mouse to Frankenstein apparel were already roaming the streets.

"Come see, come see the show!" the old witch woman called, beckoning children around her. A man from behind the counter joined her. He was decked out like the cat from Puss N' Boots, Jade thought, and she found herself pausing to watch them.

He joked and teased with the witch. The witch hit him on the head with a pretend loaf of bread. He called for volunteers from the audience, and one little girl hit the witch on the head for him. There was a lot of laughter. The crowd pushed forward. She didn't know that she was part of it.

Then the cat was skipping around, and she watched, laughing.

Volunteers! He needed more. A beautiful princess, with gold and red hair, sunset hair, to flow around her, and there would have to be a prince, of course. Or maybe a frog. Because everyone knew of course, that a princess had to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.

She was laughing when the cat-man came up to her with the loaf of bread. He caught her eyes, staring right at her.

And then, too late, she recognized the man. She saw the eyes behind the mask.

She opened her mouth to scream; she turned to run.

The bread came down upon her head. Except that it was no longer bread. It struck hard and she was falling....

Volunteers, volunteers, volunteers. How hadn't she seen... ? She fell into the cat-man's arms. He and the witch swept her backstage.

They finished the show with the children all laughing, thinking she was part of it all. Because when the princess kissed the frog, the story went, unfortunately, the frog didn't turn into a prince.

The princess turned into a frog.

The children laughed.

It was autumn.

Night came early.

It wouldn't be long before darkness would fall....

Chapter Twenty.