The Dark Gifts Birthright (8 page)

Not leaving out any nook or cranny, she gave
Liz the grand tour. By the time they reached Michael’s rooms, Liz
thought she knew where every room, closet, cell, and mouse hole in
the fortress was located and how long it had been there. She’d also
learned Angie was short for Angelica, and Athena was her mother.
Angie had informed her that she was turned the day after her 17th
birthday.

“Oh yes, my mother is the Athena from Greek
mythology. She's been around a very long time.”

“That's just amazing.” Liz said.

“She saved me. My real mother died giving
birth to me. My father, a horrid mean man, died when I was
thirteen. If she hadn't taken me in...well let's just say that some
shriveled old goat would have been my husband.” Her nose wrinkled
for a moment before the endearing smile returned to her face.

“So you like this? Being a vampire I
mean.”

A tall cloaked figure approached as they
turned into another corridor. “Wait.” Angie said, pulling Liz
against the tunnel wall and quietly allowing the figure to pass.
After it turned into the next tunnel, she exhaled, slipped her hand
inside Liz's, and continued through passageway. “She really is the
best mother anyone could have. Loving, kind. Oh, and very wise.
She's been around so long that I'd guess she knows just about
everything.”

“That's really great. So you do like being a
vampire then?”

Her smile didn't falter, as she artfully
dodged the question. “Now Gregorio is an interesting character. Did
you know that at one time he was also revered as a god?”

Liz tried not to laugh as she answered, “No,
really?”

“Oh yes. He's quite mysterious.” Angie looked
around before dropping her voice to a whisper. “No one knows who
his maker is
or
how old he is. No one. I've asked mother
many times and
she
doesn't even know. And she knows
everything!”

“Wow.”

Angie's face lit up. “I know! Crazy, right?
And the best part is, he has the ear of the Eldest. And when you
have that...”

The girl talked so fast and so much that an
hour later when they had reached the rooms, Liz was certain she
knew the entire history of every vampire living in the
fortress.

As they entered her new home, Angie’s
conversation turned to make-up, music, and typical teenager things.
She was going to do Liz’s hair and toes, and they were going to
have so much fun. It was all very amusing to Liz, although at
times, she had sympathy pains for what she must have put her own
sisters through when she was a teenager.

Angie had spent the majority of her 300 years
in the fortress. She explained how the land above had been
purchased and turned into a wood mill. When this part of the new
world became populated, they needed a justifiable reason for the
traffic in and out of the area. No human had ever worked there. No
humans were allowed on the property. Except, of course, those that
were living there by choice, but they were never allowed to
leave.

“Wait. Back up just a minute. What do you
mean except the ones that choose to live here?”

“Those that want to become, they live here,”
Angie replied.

“I don’t understand.” Liz saw a look of fear
pass quickly over Angie’s face as she questioned her.

“Oh boy, am I in for it now. I’m sorry, I
can’t tell you anymore. Mother will tell you when it’s time,” Angie
said sweetly and promptly disappeared down the hall. No goodbye, no
see you later, just gone.

Refusing to let yet another moment of
confusion delay her, Liz began to examine her new living quarters.
The apartment offered one large sitting area with two connecting
rooms. She stood in the main room, surrounded by stone walls and
luxuriously carpeted floors. The décor was similar to Athena’s,
with the over-sized, plush furniture covered in warm, inviting
fabrics. Unlike Athena’s quarters, however, this place seemed
empty, like a discarded set design or a staged magazine photo. No
silks or satins, and no hint that Michael had ever lived in this
place.

Through the main room, a bathing room housed
a marble bathtub large enough for several people and oddly
reminiscent of ancient bathhouses. The mirrored walls and ceilings
made the room seem spacious.

Through the bath, another door led to an
overly masculine bedroom. Where the main room had been covered in
tapestries and ancient artifacts, this room was full of pelts and
weapons. Hundreds of swords and knives were neatly arranged on the
walls around the room. Even the proverbial suit of armor stood in
the corner holding a mace and shield. She wondered how many times
the various weapons had been used, and how many people they had
killed. After a thorough investigation of her new home, she ended
up back by the fire. She didn’t want all this time to think. She
didn’t want to let her mind wander. She wanted Michael.

Chuckle. “Not so easily distracted I see.
Patience, I will be there soon.”

She shot a mental bullet back at him,
“How
long is soon?”
She stood motionless waiting to see if a reply
would come. She still wasn’t certain how the whole telepathy thing
worked.

“
Take a walk, look around. It will be some
time yet.”

She headed for the doorway, entered the hall,
and then heard him again.

“
Stay away from the dungeon, Liz, it’s
dangerous down there
.”

Liz wandered around the fortress for what
seemed like hours. Here and there, she would see someone, but no
one spoke. Everyone moved like worker bees determined to finish the
tasks at hand. Some cleaned, polishing silver or dusting, while
others appeared to be running errands. She saw only three cloaked
figures the entire time. The 'worker' vampires steered clear of
them, never speaking unless they were spoken too, and always
stepping out of their way to avoid contact. Liz took the hint from
the others and steered clear of them as well.

The tunnels widened in the upper levels of
the complex, and each was lined with artifacts from different
centuries throughout time. It was a treasure trove of wealth and
history, an archeologist’s dream come true.

As she wandered through the vast maze of
tunnels, she noticed a subtle downward slope to the edifice. Every
few feet, wrought iron brackets fastened torches to the stone
encased walls. The smokeless flames cast unusual shadows along the
lengthy corridors.

Finally, the floor leveled off. The torches
were few and far apart on this level. The darkness between so dense
it appeared almost a living entity. She was just about to turn
around and head back when two cloaked figures appeared outside a
door at the far end. Liz decided to wait and let them pass before
heading back.

“I told you he could not be trusted!” hissed
the taller figure. “We cannot sit idly by and allow this hypocrisy
to continue. As long as the girl lives we are all in great
danger.”

Liz held her breath and sank back into the
darkness against the wall. She had a feeling that she was the girl
they were discussing. If they detected her now…

The shorter figure hushed him angrily,
nervously scanned the hallway, and hissed back, “As long as the
girl is kept alive and safe he will perform his duties. It is no
different now than it was before. Michael has always done our
bidding and will continue to do so.”

The taller of the two dropped his voice to a
nearly inaudible whisper, “The Eldest believes only what he wants
to believe. We will all be in danger if the girl is allowed to
stay.”

“What you are saying is treason, Monroe.
Treason is a death sentence.” Moving his head from side to side, he
searched the passageway again.

Shoulders pressed against the wall, Liz was
thankful the torchlight could not illuminate her hiding place.

The one called Monroe spoke again, “You have
to pick a side, Demitre; the time for post sitting is over. A war
is coming and our people want to be free. The time for the tyranny
of the Council is at an end. We have to be rid of Michael before
that can come to fruition. There is no other way.”

Liz tried to keep her thoughts as quiet as
her body.

Demitre looked around again before grabbing
Monroe's cloak, and pulling him back inside the open door.

As soon as they disappeared, Liz sped off
through the tunnels she had just meandered through. When she felt
far enough away, she stopped and checked to see if they’d followed.
There was no one anywhere to be seen. She tried to pull herself
together and went off in search of Michael’s rooms.

It didn’t take Liz long to realize she was
lost. This tunnel looked nothing like the others. No artifacts
adorned the walls, and few torches lit the way.
Just great
,
she thought to herself,
lost in miles and miles of underground
vampire tunnels, that’s exactly what I needed today
. Large
metal doors lined the passage. One of them had to be a way out.
Taking a closer look, she noticed that every single door had a
locking bar across it, and a small window that could be unlatched
and opened.

“
Oh, no ya don’t, Elizabeth! You are not
going to open the window to see what’s inside. If it’s bad enough
to scare a vampire into locking it up, then it’s not anything you
need to know about.”
Her mental scolding did her little good;
curiosity got the best of her. Cautiously moving to the closest
door, she flipped up the clasp holding the window shut, and pulled
it open. A thick metal grate covered the hole. She rose on her
tiptoes and peered in. A thin streak of light cut a narrow path
through the darkness beyond. At first, she thought the room empty,
but her ears picked up the distinct sound of breathing--heavy
breathing. As if some over worked gargantuan had decided to slow
down for just a second, before continuing the destruction of a
city. She knew she should shut it and go, but she just couldn’t
help herself. “Hello?” She whispered. “Who’s there?”

Clear as a bell, a child’s voice returned her
salutation. “Mommy? Is that you?”

Liz immediately grasped the locked door and
pulled with all her strength. The iron creaked, but the door did
not budge.

“Mommy, please,” the young voice continued,
“I won’t be bad anymore, I promise. Please let me out.” The
youngster’s voice cracked as words transformed into a soft cry.

Liz’s heart beat furiously as her fingers ran
over the bar holding the door fast. Desperation filled her as she
struggled to free the crying toddler. In her mind’s eye she saw a
disheveled five year old with long matted hair and dirt smudged
cheeks. No matter how hard she tugged, Liz could not get the door
open.

“I’m not your mommy little one,” she said to
the small voice inside. “Please don’t cry, I’m trying to get you
out. I’m coming; I just need to figure out this door.”

Liz stepped back and looked the door over
again. She knew there had to be some trick to it, something she was
missing. Inside the room the crying stopped. The child spoke to her
again, “Where is my Mommy? Where did they take my Mommy? Why did
they put me in here?”

“It’s all right. My name is Liz. I’m going to
help you. What’s your name, can you tell me?”

“Mommy, is that you? Mommy?” The child was
obviously not quite right in the head. Liz wondered if she’d
suffered some serious mental damage from being abducted by vampires
and held in this cell. Was this that 'private supply' that Athena
was talking about? This young child locked behind the door had been
her lunch? Her stomach clenched with revulsion. Finally, she saw
what she had been missing.

A small key-like bar that had to be fitted
into a hole just on top of the mechanism, hung from a metal chain
just to the side of the door. Liz had it in, turned, and unlocked
in a flash. She pulled the door open and rushed in to grab the
child. She didn’t know where she would go, or what she would do,
but she knew she couldn’t leave her in there.

Except for the swath of light cutting through
the center of the room, the cell was pitch-black inside. Blinking
hurriedly to allow her eyes to adjust, she gazed into the darkness.
The heavy breathing came from the far corner.

“Where are you? Come to me quickly, I’ll get
you out of here!”

Something akin to a steam roller slammed into
her and knocked her to the floor. She barely had time to register
surprise before dagger like claws ripped into her side. Pain seared
through her body as the crunch of bones and the sound of tearing
flesh echoed in her ears. Blow after blow pummeled her face and
head. Stunned, she didn’t even think to fight back. Growling with
rage, the thing behind the door attacked her unceasingly and
without mercy. As she lost consciousness, she remembered Michael’s
warning,
“Stay away from the dungeon, Liz, it’s dangerous down
there.”

***

Liz’s forced return to consciousness was a
tossup between the burning pain, and Michael’s ranting and raging
around the room. If she hadn’t remembered being attacked, she’d
have been certain she’d been run over by an eighteen-wheeler. She
knew before she opened her eyes there were others in the room.
Although all the voices were angry, Michael’s was definitely the
loudest.

“You swore she would be safe,” he yelled.
“You sent me on a mission that didn’t require my attention, and
left her to be slaughtered by those abominations!”

“Michael, be reasonable,” Athena’s calm voice
spoke. “Angie had things to attend to, and we are not equipped to
baby-sit your changeling.”

“I told you all from the beginning this was a
horrible idea.” Another familiar voice spoke. It was the
hate-filled voice from the tunnel below. “You were warned that she
would cause nothing but trouble and now look what’s happened!
Thirty-five of them, Michael!
Thirty-five
unspoken are loose
in this fortress. How many of us will die, because you couldn’t
keep your new
pet
on a leash?” he hissed.