25 - Paul
This is the dream.
When I open my eyes, I’m home.
I sit up, catching the scent of old, dried blood. Then I see Lucia’s head on the floor, near the armoire filled with medical supplies.
It’s a rotting piece of bone and remnant flesh and her formally green eyes are now a gross shade of yellow gray. But a smile creeps across my face. Then a laugh.
This laugh is interrupted by the resounding chime of the lodge doorbell coming from the floors below. I walk to the door, then turn, wanting to take one last look at the room where it all happened. What happened in this tower is the defining moment of my long life and I want to burn it all into my memory.
The bloodstained floor. The dirty IV needle and the tubing attached that used to drain those first drops of Black blood out of Syrsee. The rumpled bedsheets where the three of us consummated the union. And, of course, the lingering gold mist.
A present from Syrsee that she didn’t even know she gave me.
Voices below. But not Josep’s.
Then I remember what’s actually going on here and leave the room. Naked, but fully clothed in my vampire skin. Wings so heavy, the muscles in my back tremble with the effort to hold them upright. I’m out of practice, but I’ll get used to it soon enough.
I hit the floor below, travel the hallway until I reach the stairs that will take me down to the grand foyer, and then descend slowly, as I take in the scene. The gorgeous wood-planked floor that Ryet so painstakingly laid with his own hands is covered in a layer of halfbreed dust that is inches thick.
But it’s the large group of scions who have my attention. One of them, Nioh, is standing at the open front door, talking to someone.
I nod my head with satisfaction, pleased that it all worked out, as I continue my descent.
Two more scions enter, each carrying one end of a coffin. Then another pair with a second coffin.
“Put them in the dining room.” My voice booms through the foyer, echoing off the ceiling.
Everything in the room stops. Even the scions bringing in the coffins. Every face turns up to me. They immediately bow their heads and go down on one knee. “My lord,” they say, nearly in unison.
None of them were the chosen one. That was Ryet.
But they are still alive and Ryet isn’t.
He’s not back in the dirt under his house, either.
He’s in one of those coffins. Because we are not done with him yet.
Or sweet little Syrsee, who is in the second coffin, though for different reasons. She is carrying the new Darkness insideher and it’s just easier to transport bodies all the way across the country using a commercial transport if said body is in a coffin.
“Good.” Josep’s voice booms the way mine did just a moment ago. He’s in his vampire form too. And it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen him in the flesh like that. “You’re back. How did it go?”
“Scions.” They all look up at me with their full attention. Eyes filled with adoration, ready to be told what to do. “Resume your duties. Those of you with no assigned duties, please go find yourself a place to stay on the compound.”
There’s about thirty seconds of bustle as the scions get out of our way, and then it’s just Josep and me, standing opposite each other in the foyer, right under a massive chandelier made of moose antlers.
He starts first, repeating his last question. “Did you have any problems?”
“Not a single one. The coffins are here and we’re good to go. How about you? Did you run into any trouble?”
“None at all. I’m ready.”
We’re both lying. But neither of us cares. Because regardless of what comes after the ritual we’re about to do, the ritual itself will be flawless.
“Then by all means, blood brother.” I smile at him, then pan my hand in the direction of the dining room. “Let’s eat. We have a lot of hungry scions to feed.”
Josep leads us into the dining room where Ryet’s and Syrsee’s bodies have been laid out on the long table, their heads positioned on either end for easy access, their feet touching in the middle.
