Of the Blood
Disclaimer: see Chapter 1
Chapter 7
A sorely needed intermission
Blood.
It was time to hunt for blood.
Even though Nadine felt like lying in bed all night, her Beast wouldn't stay put so easily. It lived only by the moment, and no matter what had happened last night, it was thirsty now.
With a groan, Nadine climbed out of bed and dressed herself. Maybe it was a good idea to go hunting. Maybe it could take her mind off all those weird happenings.
Maybe.
Nadine stepped outside into a light drizzle, more mist than rain. The street smelled of damp concrete. Somewhere in the distance, an ambulance siren blared. Mist meant good cover; it also meant that few people would go out tonight.
Well, she needed only one.
Just one, she thought to herself, just some large, fat, sleepy student who wouldn't notice her, nor miss a pint of alcohol-saturated blood...
She turned into a narrow street. Sure enough, staggering drunkenly right in front of her, was a large, fat student. He blinked at her with tired eyes, then walked on as if he didn't see her at all.
Nadine stood still and let the student pass. First the shortcut to Herr Viktor's house, then to the pub, and now this. It could hardly be a coincidence. Maybe she should... No, that would be plain silly.
About as silly as being abducted by a telepathic lady to a cavern with a glowing blue spiral. She slipped her hand into her pocket and fingered the card the man called Corwin had given her. It still felt distinctly cool to the touch. Somehow, it also felt comforting.
All right, she thought, and started walking, around the next corner is a blind alley with a garbage can in it, and the garbage can is full of cooled plasma bags.
Nadine rounded the corner and found herself in a blind alley. The only distinct feature in it, apart from a pile of junk in the gutter and the rusty remains of a bicycle without wheels, was a garbage can. It smelled of rotten fruit, but when Nadine lifted its cover, it was stuffed to the rim with cooled plasma bags.
Nadine tore a bag open with her teeth and started to drink. It tasted bland and stale, but nourishing. Just like the packets of orange juice her parents had always brought with them on trips to the zoo, but without a straw. She distinctly remembered spending a whole summer day in the artificial bat cave while her parents were out on the 'savannah.' Nadine smiled. She had always been a bat person.
Nadine finished drinking, put the empty plasma bag back in the can and carefully closed the cover. She still didn't know what the blood of the huge man or the glowing pattern had done to her, but it seemed as if she could manipulate her surroundings by force of will alone.
The question was: how far did this manipulation extend? She decided on a little experiment.
Fifteen minutes later, she ran off to find her best friend Janus, grinning broadly.
Janus was what vampires called a 'Nosferatu:' a member of the bloodline that showed the Beast on their faces and bodies, twisting them into creatures that had seemingly crawled from the fever-dreams of Hiëronymus Bosch. Janus, with his crooked nose and wrinkled, bald face was no exception. He walked with a limp and slept in a dilapidated tomb that was connected to the sewers. Those visitors that were not deterred by his horrid appearance still had to cope with his foul-smelling body, wrapped in the ragged, sour-reeking remains of a black overcoat, breath stinking of bad booze and a thoroughly cynical demeanor.
Janus did not receive many visitors.
Except for fellow Nosferatu, of course, and Nadine. Nadine had always thought that Janus, underneath his curmudgeon exterior, was really cute, and Janus had not succeeded so far in making her think otherwise. Her open stance had probably actually flattered him, and gotten her a valuable ally – and a friend.
Within minutes, Nadine reached Janus' tomb and knocked on the heavy, stone door.
"Yeah?" a raspy voice shouted, sounding remarkably like a crossover between Tom Waits and a rats' squeak.
"Hi Janus," Nadine answered, "it's me. Hey, why don't you come out of that tomb? I've got a surprise for you!"
Silence. Then, sloppy footsteps in the tomb. Janus opened the door and, lacking eyebrows, arched the bony ridges over his eyes.
"You brought a bottle of booze?"
"Ehm... No."
"Then why should it be worth my while?"
Nadine smiled. "You'll see. Just follow me."
Janus grunted something but followed Nadine anyway as she walked determinedly towards the gate of the cemetery.
After just a few minutes, Janus had lost track of where they were walking. He found it quite unsettling: Nosferatu usually knew all the little-used paths and alleys in a city, better to move through the place unnoticed.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Almost there," Nadine replied. "Ah, here it is!" She pointed towards a lavishly decorated mansion at the end of the street. Stone gargoyles guarded the heavy walls and gothic windows. The flowery garden, on the other hand, smelled sweetly of geraniums and mighty yew trees flanked the cobblestone path leading up from the wrought-iron gate to the front door.
"What is it?" Janus asked. He had never seen the structure before in Utrecht, and he had been around quite a lot.
"It is ours," Nadine smiled. "Come, enter!" She boldly walked up to the front door, opened it and let a hesitant Janus in.
The mansion seemed to consist of a single large room, mostly filled with an enormous jacuzzi. Bottles of soap and bath foam lined its golden rim. One of the softer songs of Tool emanated from speakers hidden behind small date palms. Near the jacuzzi was a mini-bar that sported all sorts of alcoholic drinks, as well as plasma bags in various tastes. It was decadence incarnated.
"What do you think of it?" Nadine inquired.
Janus couldn't answer. His mouth hung open.
"Well," Nadine said, "what are you waiting for? Hop in." She undressed and stepped into the bubbling water of the jacuzzi herself. Nadine had been somewhat prudish in life, but now her only reproductive organ left was her blood, she hardly minded anymore.
The water was warm but not too hot, and small jets massaged her back. She instantly felt more relaxed and looked up at Janus, who still stood staring at the jacuzzi.
"Whose house is this?" he finally asked.
"Ours," Nadine replied. "At least, for tonight. Come on, I guarantee we won't have any problems."
Janus hesitated, then shrugged and stripped off his moldy clothes. His body was as warped and twisted as his face, but Nadine didn't mind: in her medical studies, she had seen too many gruesome pictures of debilitating diseases to be fazed by some wrinkles and tufts of hair growing in unusual places. The Nosferatu stepped into the hot water, leaned back and groaned with pleasure.
"Terrific," he murmured. "I haven't had a bath in about fifty years."
"Well," Nadine said, pouring bath foam that smelled of pine forests into the water, "tonight must be your lucky night."
Suddenly, as Nadine leaned back, she felt a cold, tingling sensation in the back of her head, as if someone was ringing a bell at the door to her mind. She looked at Janus, but he hadn't noticed, having his eyes closed and enjoying the bath. Quickly, she reached for her dress, took the card of Corwin from her pocket and concentrated on it.
Moments later, the tingling sensation seemed to flow into the picture. Nadine put the card back and relaxed.
Maybe the lady wouldn't bother her anymore now.
Fiona concentrated on the image of the pale-faced, young vampire that she had helped walking the pattern. Why did it take so long to establish a connection? Ah, there she...
No.
Before Fiona's eyes, the picture of Nadine grew into a tall man, clad in black and silver, sitting in front of a fireplace of a cozy Shadow Earth inn. It was her brother Corwin.
"Hello Fiona," he smiled, "expecting someone else?"
"It's a small multiverse," Fiona spoke, hiding her chagrin with only minor effort. "You've been talking to Nadine?"
"Indeed," Corwin answered. "She was a most pleasant conversation partner. Although a bit... upset... by recent happenings."
"That makes three of us," Fiona said. "At least, I assume you've heard about Julian?"
"Gérard was so kind as to update me," Corwin said. "He told me about the attack and the Bleak Road – that's what he called it – leading into the forest of Arden."
"That's exactly why I was calling Nadine," Fiona explained, biting back her temper. "Listen, Corwin. The Bleak Road can only be walked by the dead. That's why we need to use the vampire to..."
"Stop!" Corwin said and stood up, suddenly angry. "She has been used enough already! That's why I am protecting her."
"Developing a soft spot for undead blood-suckers, brother?" Fiona asked sweetly.
Corwin stared at her from underneath his heavy eyebrows. "Let's just say I don't like people being used and thrown away when the time happens to be convenient. Even Shadow people. Anyhow, Benedict will probably take care of the problem soon."
"Benedict is gathering an army as we speak," Fiona said. "But Brand has a distinct advantage. Or would you rather see Amber burn than a shadow vampire bleeding?"
"I trust my brothers enough to handle the problem by themselves," Corwin said. "As the situation stands, there is no need to involve Shadow dwellers in it."
"Well then, my dear brother," Fiona spoke, "let's hope that the situation remains standing. For if it doesn't, all of Shadow has a problem." Abruptly, she broke the contact.
Corwin leaned back in his comfortable chair. It had been a hard choice, but it felt good. Finally, an opportunity to help a simple Shadow vampire survive, who would otherwise have died as cannon fodder in a war she didn't know hell about. Yes, he had taken the right decision.
Suddenly, Corwin felt an urgent tingling in the back of his head. As he opened his mind for the contact, his youngest brother Random blazed in, looking uncharacteristically worried.
"Corwin," he gasped, as if he had just run up Mount Kolvir, "I need your help. The Jewel of Judgement has been stolen!"