Haven (17) “There is still something more you could do,” Sarah said. “How did you find Martin to warn him?” “I’ve wanted to talk to someone about that, anyway,” said Seamus. “Why couldn’t you just track him telepathically?” “I don’t know a vampire in Haven that could pinpoint one being out of everyone in the city.” Sarah knew that she was about to be impressed. “I did it,” he said. “How?” “I have always done it since I became a vampire. I can just kind of shuffle through all the noise and find who I’m looking for, like a deck of cards.” He looked down almost embarrassed by the gift he had always thought was natural. “I just thought we all could do it.” “No. It is a very impressive ability. Maybe some of the really ancient ones can do that, but I can’t, and I’m over three hundred years old.” Sarah smiled. “Do you think you can find him again for me? I think I need to hear the story straight from him.” Seamus nodded in unsure agreement. * * * * * * * Martin shifted uneasily in her chair. The girl that lay bound on the bed before him did the same. Her face seemed to illustrate the pain that she was feeling. He had never seen a human subjected to Render, but he had some idea of what was going on in her body. Martin was sure that the experience was not a pleasant one. The Render would not have the same effect on the girl as it would on a vampire. Vampires reacted so violently to Render because, in essence, it was bad blood. In his limited study of the drug, he had found that it consisted of vampire blood and a man-made chemical that was corrosive to blood cells. He was unsure of how they had bonded the two together, especially since vampire blood usually rejects any foreign or dangerous matter. A vampire’s body would accept Render because it was mostly made of blood. Martin was still unsure of many of Render’s attributes, but he could guess how it was affecting Abby. Her body was slowly succumbing to the vampire blood’s call into undeath, while also being tormented with the deterioration of Render’s other ingredient. She grimaced in pain and writhed uncomfortably on the bed. Finally, Martin reached out and lightly shook her shoulder. Her eyes opened immediately. Abby looked wearily at Martin and said nothing. “How do you feel?” he asked her. “Bad,” she responded weakly. “I’m going to be honest with you. This is probably going to end one of two ways. Neither will probably seem very appealing to you.” His voice was solemn and almost mournful. “What’s going to happen to me?” Abby asked fearfully. “It is likely that in the end you will either be a vampire or be dead.” Martin sighed out loud. “The chemical you’ve been injected with is now working to do both.” He took little notice of Amanda who had opened the bathroom door and was wearing very little. His lack of interest did not agitate her as it might have a few days earlier. Amanda’s mind had set its sights on another of her kind. A strange and alluring vampire she had met on the street only hours before. “What should I do?” Abby asked Martin with a strained voice. “Amanda has told me that you know at least one of the other vampires in the city. Is that right?” “Yeah. My uncle. Seamus.” Abby’s consciousness seemed to be waning. “Tell me what he looks like, and I’ll do my best to find him when night falls.” Abby rambled off a rather jumbled description of her so-called uncle. It was not much to go on, but with the name and the description, Martin was sure that it was the man he had met in the alley. He let Abby go back to sleep and made plans to find Sarah when the sun fell. * * * * * * * As the sun began to brighten the city and bring life to the streets the undead crept back into their secret shadows. People began their daily routines giving only a fraction of their thoughts to the cancelled meeting that the mayor was to hold about the epidemic. No deaths had been reported in a week, and the citizens were beginning to feel safer. Not too far from her building, Jill Morgan was sitting in the park watching the sunrise. She would not have normally shirked her job and stayed here to sit in the park, but it seemed her life was getting stranger by the second. She had awakened three hours before dawn to a gentle rapping at the door of her apartment. Sleepily Jill had slid out of bed and stumbled through the darkness until she had come to the door at last. When she had unlatched the doors final chain, the light knocking ceased. Upon opening the door she found only a letter addressed simply: Mrs. Morgan. Inside she found, written in a strange spidery hand, a message asking her to be at Shage Park the next morning. So, here she was, watching the sun rise farther into the sky. Her mind seemed to disapprove of such distractions, constantly bringing her back to other, more important, thoughts. It seemed that all the puzzle pieces of her life were finally snapping together into one very distressing picture. It was finally becoming clear to her that there was very little she could do to keep her city out of harm’s way. Jenny had been right about that. She and all of her kind were beyond the reach of Jill’s power. It seemed now that all of Haven was out of that boundary. She was beginning to feel as if— Jill’s thoughts were cut short as she took notice of a young boy standing about four feet ahead of her. When she had looked up only moments before she was sure the park had been empty. Now, this blonde child stood right in front of her. To her right she could see another child standing by a tree staring down at her own shuffling feet. The redheaded girl seemed to be standing in wait for the boy. Jill looked back and forth between the two of them in awe. It seemed that something was happening to the world around her. Her senses were heightening. The world was coming to life. The trees swayed in rhythm to a tune that the earth was humming. What had seemed like the random whistles and chirps of morning birds now took on the sound of musical accompaniment for this secret hidden song. “Don’t be afraid of it,” the boy said to Jill in a melodic voice that matched the sound she now heard in everything. “What you are experiencing is a sensation of shared consciousness with one of the planets oldest races.” Toby smiled at the mayor, but his mouth never moved. “We have a favor to ask of you,” he thought at her. “What is it?” Jill asked tentatively. “In three weeks time, the police force of Haven will begin systematically wiping out the undead in the city. We are asking that you try to put a stop to this massacre. An evil deal had been struck, and some of the world’s eldest intelligences have already been lost. The killing of Haven’s vampires must be prevented. Will you help us?” Toby only continued to smile at Jill while Pepper stood to the side of the conversation looking wholly uninterested. “I’ll try,” Jill replied simply. “You have our eternal thanks, Mayor Morgan, and from this day forward the Fae are at your service.” It appeared to Toby that the mayor had gone speechless, so he bowed low to her and walked away. Jill continued to sit on the bench in the park and watch the day until some time passed noon. Her thoughts seemed more pleasant than they had before her encounter with the Fae boy. When her mind had settled enough to allow her a smile, she stood and walked back to her home. All the while whistling a variation of the song she had heard the world singing to her earlier. Deep in Haven’s forest, Pepper and Toby walked hand in hand to no particular destination. “Do you think she’ll help us?” Pepper asked the buck at her side. “I think she will try. Whether she can make a difference in this mess is really up to Fate now. Our part in all this is finished.” She turned to Toby and smiled. “Good,” she said. “I’m going somewhere better for a while.” Pepper squeezed Toby’s hand. He only stopped, smiled, and nodded. * * * * * * * Jack cast a distasteful look over Dom’s apartment and cleared his throat lightly. “Take a pay cut, did you?” Dom shrugged off the comment and moved to the sofa to sit down. After he had thrown himself into the couch’s comfortable spot, he looked back at the door to see Jack looking around curiously. “Is there something you need before you tell me what’s going on?” “A gun has been fired in here,” he said reflectively. “Yeah, but why don’t you start with the explaining, and then we’ll get to that.” “Yes, that will do,” Jack said as he moved across the room and took a seat in the same chair in which Grace had been shot. The man in black took a moment to make himself comfortable. “What we know about the intelligence that now possesses Ms. Trinity is surely much less than we should know at this point.” He shifted uncomfortably, and for a moment Dom suspected that Jack knew more than he should have about the chair he was sitting in. “This much we do know, though: Grace Trinity is dead. Killed by the vampire Martin Azarius, upon his escape from the research center where Grace was working at the time. Martin escaped the complex during a bit of an emergency involving another escapee. This other was not a physical being, though. It is what we have identified as a Demon of the Phantom classification, or more commonly called a Jumper. The entity is capable of surviving by reanimating human corpses, or invading the bodies of the mindless. With the reanimation of a corpse, as is the case with Grace Trinity, the Jumper loses something of its identity, becoming obsessed with that person’s last rational thoughts. It will occupy itself with living a life consistent with those thoughts. “When we first discovered the Jumper it was whilst investigating an elderly woman in South Carolina that, according to our records, had been alive for around one hundred sixty years. It seems that all she wanted when she died was to continue leading a happy life. So, after the Jumper took her body it went about living as a very content woman for another eighty years. It was for that reason only that we at the Organization were able to capture it.” Jack paused and appeared to be waiting to see if Dom had any questions. Dom realized that he had several. “You’re saying that Grace is now a demon?” “She is as close to one as makes no difference, yes. But, please try to attach no religious meaning to the word. It is merely used for purposes of description.” Jack’s voice never wavered from its cool calmness. “I know she can’t be stopped by conventional means,” Dom said. “Thus the gunshot in here. So, how do we go about stopping her?” “She is to be brought in alive. The Organization does not want to risk losing such a precious find as the Jumper. So, we must keep whatever goal the demon has out of her reach. Do you have any idea what that might be?” “It seems likely that it’s revenge motivated.” “I would have to agree with you,” Jack said nodding. “I suggest we start looking for Mr. Azarius.” * * * * * * * At two in the afternoon Jill walked out of the police station and into the sun. She walked without direction along the sidewalk, wondering if her talk with Chief Andrews had really made any difference at all. He had only smiled and nodded through the entire conversation as if she were mad. Jill cursed out loud as she walked. The incident at the police station had only been more proof of how powerless she really was as mayor. For the first time since she had taken office, Jill was considering leaving her political position. Then, somewhere in the back of her mind there was that song that she had heard the world sing. She stopped where she was and listened for the words. It was in this state of reverie that the old man walked up behind her. Just for a moment the song of the world not only had words, but it had choirs of secret voices singing them. Then, the music stopped. “Sorry about that,” said the old man, causing Jill to whirl around. “My people tend to make dramatic entrances.” “What do you want?” Jill asked. She was once again fully immersed in reality. “Just to talk with you. Take a walk, perhaps.” The small man reached out and gently took her arm. As they started walking, Jill asked him, “Where are we going?” “I don’t know.” He held out a finger and pointed forward. “That way.” Then said nothing for a while longer. “I’ve always found that walking helps the conversation move a little better.” “You still haven’t told me what you want.” Jill was not impressed with is kind nature. She had had the kind of week that robs people of trust. “You are just beginning to understand the world as it truly is, Jill. My people made this discovery long ago. I thought that perhaps I could help you come to terms with the things you have learned.” “And what words of wisdom do you have for me?” “None at all.” Jill gave him a very frustrated look. “Words would not make you feel any better. I have something to show you, though.” “What?” “Let us stop walking for a moment.” The two of them stopped and the old man gestured to the world around them. “What do you see here?” “People. Cars. Buildings. What am I supposed to see?” “Have you ever wondered what truly makes the world go round?” he asked mysteriously. “Of course, everyone does.” Jill knew that she was not in the mood for this, but she played along anyway. “Then watch.” With a wave of his hand, that secret music started up again. The world around Jill changed, and though it was different, she did not know how. Never the less, it made her giggle a little. When she realized what the difference was her laughter gave way to awe. Everything around her danced to the rhythm of that strange music. Pedestrians’ movements took on the appearance of an intricate waltz and cars seemed to jerk through traffic jams in a demented kind of tango. Jill could not help but smile. For a brief moment she could see the symphony orchestrated not just by the world, but everything in it. All of existence was a song. Humankind swayed lethargically to that music they could barely hear. Vampires sang out grievous dirges to the sun. Raksasha danced wildly to a foreign savage beat. All of the Fae moved to all of these overlapping verses and laughed whilst they did so. Until the music stopped again, Jill laughed with them. When what she had always known as reality took over again, she found that she had tears in her eyes. “You see?” said the old man. “The world is much simpler than anyone could ever imagine.” “What is your name?” Jill asked him.
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