The Vampire Shrink

CHAPTER 25

Travelling by thought might be miraculous, but it certainly messed with my equilibrium. When Bryce suddenly released me I stumbled backwards, straining to catch my balance.

We’d materialised or metamorphosed or whatever the hell we’d done, in the centre of a lavish balcony.

I shuffled a few steps towards the railing and my mouth fell open.

We were definitely at high elevation.

I reached that conclusion because mountain peaks were visible through high-placed windows, and from my vantage point the angels with fangs painted on the vast ceiling looked close enough to touch. I’d never even imagined such a place. It reminded me of a photo of a European opera house I’d seen in a magazine, except much bigger.

Was this the famous ghostly castle?

The walls were lined with ornate balconies, one underneath the other, each filled with people in costumes. The terrace we’d popped onto seemed to be the only one with limited occupancy.

Stretching out below me was an extraordinary ballroom. Everything was gold, sparkling gold, from the designs in the antique wallpaper to the water fountains strategically placed throughout the room to the nude sculptures. Dazzling chandeliers burst down from the painted ceiling, dangling like mammoth crystal earrings.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say there were thousands of people milling about in the main area. The costumes were incredible – assuming they were costumes.

An amplified voice floated through the air: ‘Welcome to The Vampires’ Ball.’

I raised my arms over my head, signalling, calling to the party-goers across the stadium-size space.

A commotion behind me caused me to turn my head in time to watch Bryce pull a screaming Ronald by his hair towards a door in the far wall. Raleigh followed, dragging the still-unconscious Alan, whose wig, glasses and hat were missing in action.

I guess Bryce didn’t care if I yelled or drew attention to myself by waving my arms madly. He left me standing against the railing, turning back once to sneer at me before disappearing through the doorway.

The noise level told me why he didn’t care. Even if I set myself on fire and screamed, no one would’ve taken it seriously. I couldn’t be heard over the ear-splitting music or the hysterical frivolity, and if I’d been inclined to turn myself into a human torch they’d probably think it was part of the night’s entertainment.

Jumping from the balcony wasn’t an option, either. Even if I made it to the next level down, the distance was great enough that I’d kill not only myself but the unlucky soul I landed on.

After making one last futile effort to communicate to anyone that I needed help, I gave up and followed them through the door.

I felt numb. I didn’t know if I was getting used to being terrified, or if my adrenal system had simply gone into overload and shut down.

Under any other circumstances, the beauty of the room on the other side of the doorway would’ve taken my breath away. As it was, words failed me. All the walls of the expansive room were mirrored. Several large chandeliers, like light-flowers in bloom, hung from the hand-painted ceiling and reflected the never-ending glow of the clusters of illumination. Instead of angels with fangs, the painting overhead depicted fanged Greek gods and goddesses playing musical instruments.

I wondered if the original owner of the castle had been the one to order the vampire-inspired artwork or if it was a more recent addition. There hadn’t been anything like these fanged characters in Devereux’s art gallery under The Crypt, but it wasn’t beyond the bounds of possibility that he’d painted these, too.

The exquisite music room contained several grand pianos, each a different style, forming a widely spaced square around the perimeter of the room. Harpsichords, antique harps and other instruments filled the spaces between the pianos. Music stands holding what appeared to be handwritten scores waited patiently for musicians who might never arrive.

In the centre of the room Midnight was lying, deathly white. Bryce must’ve released Ronald when they’d entered because he was sitting on the floor next to Midnight, his legs underneath her head. He gently stroked her hair, murmuring softly.

I rushed over to the couple, knelt and felt for a pulse in Midnight’s neck, which was dotted with fang-sized holes. The beat was there, faint, but present.

Ronald and I shared a look that communicated relief, frustration and fear.

Bryce swaggered into the centre of the room, his crimson coat and dark hair reflected in every facet of the mirrors. Once again I was struck by evil’s ability to be beautiful.

‘Is she going to die?’ I asked, standing.

Bryce walked a circle around Midnight, studying her as if she were a mildly interesting display, smiling. ‘Perhaps. Perhaps not. It all depends on whether or not I choose to finish what I started.’ He raised his eyes to mine. ‘Maybe I’ll give her the immortality she’s always wanted.’

I remembered what happened the last time Bryce pulled me into his eyes so I didn’t meet his gaze, but instead focused on a spot between his eyebrows. Even being in that close proximity to his dark-green orbs caused a fuzzy, tingling feeling in what Devereux had called my ‘third eye’.

For some odd reason, Cerridwyn’s words floated through my mind: ‘Don’t be afraid of your abilities. They will save you.’ Her words didn’t make any sense to me, but they sounded important, comforting.

I knew I had no chance of doing anything physical to get away from Bryce. Even if I managed to escape, I couldn’t leave Ronald, Midnight and Alan behind. My only hope was to use my mind. Maybe if I could get him talking, I could discover something helpful. ‘Why have you brought us here? What do you want?’

‘You, my dear Dr Knight, are bait.’

Bait? Was he trying to catch Brother Luther, too?

‘Bait? For what?’

He hesitated. ‘Well, I guess since the curtain is about to rise on the first act, it’s prudent to tell you. Lucifer seems to want you for some reason, so I brought you here for him. Then he’ll get me what I want.’

‘And what do you want?’

He licked his lips and ran one hand slowly down the zipper of his leather trousers, cupping himself. ‘I thought I made myself quite clear – I want Devereux.’

Something about the way he said Devereux’s name sent chills up my body. My pulse quickened and my stomach contracted. Where is Devereux, anyway?

‘You aren’t strong enough to do anything to Devereux.’

He gave a Cheshire-cat smile. ‘Perhaps not. But Lucifer and me together – well, let’s just say we’re an unbeatable team.’

That was the second time he’d mentioned that name. Was he talking about the Devil? ‘Who’s Lucifer?’

He laughed and uncupped himself. ‘You’ll find out soon enough.’

Suddenly the air was filled with the familiar popping sounds and at least two dozen vampires materialised into the room. They carried bottles, carved boxes, enormous gemstones, ancient-looking books, statues and swords. A couple of the new arrivals resembled the old bearded characters in The Lord of the Rings.

Somehow I didn’t think they were there to hold a Renaissance Fayre.

Bryce nodded, pleased. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. ‘We’ll go and enjoy the party while the ritual is prepared.’

‘What ritual?’

‘The ritual of High Magic that will render Devereux helpless long enough for me to take control of him. Lucifer already began the binding process in Devereux’s dreams. Even now his power weakens.’

Devereux had mentioned he’d been experiencing strange dreams, and he’d said something about being tricked into entering a ‘difficult reality’, whatever that was.

Until that moment, I hadn’t seriously tried to contact Devereux telepathically. I still had a hard time believing I could call up my supposed abilities at will. Pushing the doubt aside, I put everything I had into sending a burst of thought to him, and for a second I could’ve sworn I heard him say my name.

I didn’t know if that was good news or not. It certainly would be great for me if he turned up – but if he did, he’d be the guest of honour at the Ritual from Hell. I didn’t care for the sound of this Lucifer guy.

‘What about Midnight and Ronald and Alan?’

‘They’re perfectly fine.’ Bryce spoke pleasantly, nonchalantly waving a hand in the air. He lowered his chin and whispered. ‘For now.’

‘Can you save Midnight?’

Harsh laughter burst from his mouth. ‘Silly human.’ He addressed his pint-sized servant. ‘Raleigh, drag the girl and her saviour over to the corner with the FBI agent. We need the space in the centre of the room to cast the circle.’

Raleigh gave a dramatic bow and skipped over to Midnight. He pulled her by the arm and her head slammed onto the floor as it fell off Ronald’s lap.

‘Please! Don’t hurt her!’ Ronald’s eyes glistened with tears. It feels horrible to be helpless.

‘Get over here under your own steam or I’ll be happy to drag you, too,’ Raleigh yelled at Ronald. ‘Of course, your arm might accidentally be pulled out of its socket, but by that time you’ll have passed out and won’t notice.’ He made a braying sound that was probably laughter.

Bryce beamed like a proud parent watching a precocious child. He appeared to be having a very good time. He turned to one of the bearded vampires who’d brought over a jar of something for him to inspect.

Movement in one of the mirrors caught my eye. A man dressed not in vampire regalia but in an old-fashioned waistcoat and breeches stalked across the room and stood at the edge of the activity, watching. In his hands he carried a violin and bow. He began gesturing angrily with the bow, his face contorted, his mouth forming soundless words.

None of the vampires in the middle of the room responded. Apparently they couldn’t hear him either. I shifted my head so I could see the man directly instead of reflected in the mirror. He wasn’t there. Turning back to the mirror I found him right where he’d been before.

I tried the experiment again, with the same result. What the hell? Was I the only one who was able to see this guy?

It was obvious from his body language that the violinist was becoming progressively more upset the longer he was ignored.

He moved towards Raleigh, who was hefting a large black stone into place in the circle, and poked him with the bow . . . which passed right through his body. Not getting the result he desired obviously enraged the man further. He stamped his foot and threw his bow on the floor.

When he bent over to pick it up, his eyes met mine in the mirror. Surprise flashed across his face and he disappeared.

No. I didn’t just see that. Bryce must’ve messed with my brain again. No more supernatural weirdness. I refuse to believe one more unbelievable thing.

At that moment, Bryce dismissed the bearded vamp and turned to me. He closed his arm around my waist. I felt a feather’s breath of air against my face, then we were down on the main floor, in the middle of the party.

I almost asked him how he managed to come and go without smashing into or landing on top of anyone, but caught the words before they left my mouth. I didn’t want him to mistake my nervous chatter for actual interest in anything about him.

I craned my neck, searching the area for Brother Luther, and was relieved to come up empty. Since I hadn’t heard back from Lieutenant Bullock and Alan was incapacitated upstairs, I hoped the lunatic wouldn’t show up. According to what Bryce had said, there was already a full dose of misery on tap for the evening.

Misery, and a ghost in the mirror.

A velvet voice floated through my mind. ‘My love.’

I started to say, ‘Dev—’

‘Speak to me silently, in your mind. Bryce is not very good at telepathy – he lacks discipline – but we do not want to draw his attention.’

I didn’t waste any time questioning whether or not I could communicate telepathically. I sent him a bundle of thoughts, emotions and pictures, sharing everything I knew about Brother Luther, Bryce’s intentions, the ritual to trap him and someone named Lucifer.

‘I will not allow harm to come to you. Do not let anyone know you have spoken to me. I will be close by. No matter what.’

I felt an odd emptiness and knew he was gone.

Bryce’s mouth was moving, so I assumed he’d been talking to me. I focused on his words, hoping he’d provide more useful information.

‘—why he would be interested in someone like you.’

‘What?’ I blurted, annoyed that I’d missed the first part of his sentence. I held my hands over my ears, pretending I hadn’t heard him because of the loud music.

He scowled and raised his voice. ‘Devereux knew when he brought me over that I’d be powerful. He also knew how I felt about him. I don’t care what he says – he’s as bisexual as the rest of us. I never did believe his song and dance about waiting for some soulmate or whatever. It’s bad enough he’s making a fool of himself over a woman, but a human woman is beyond belief.’ The evil grin slid across his face again. ‘He’ll have a long time to regret and reassess his choices. I might still take him back. If he begs. Let’s dance.’

Before I could protest, or think of a way to avoid the close contact, Bryce had pulled me onto one of the table-free areas where couples were slow-dancing. He put his hands on my bottom and ground his lower body against mine.

I struggled to free my arms from his rigid embrace. He didn’t even notice. He was busy studying my cleavage in the low-cut dress.

‘I might just have to sample the goods Devereux is so hot for before the night is over. You’ve got big tits. I like that.’ He reached a hand around, grabbed my breast, squeezed it and laughed. ‘More than a handful.’ He slid his hand from my breast to the hair resting beside it and lifted a curl. ‘Your hair is long. It’s almost as pretty as mine. Almost.’

If he was waiting for me to compliment his hair, he’d be a rotted corpse in vampire hell before that happened.

Thankfully, he didn’t react to my lack of response.

He palmed my butt-cheeks again and moved us assertively through the crowd. He clearly fancied himself as the vampire Fred Astaire. As we circled the dance floor, I searched for familiar faces.

I thought it might be easy to pick out the vampires in the sea of wannabes, but it turned out to be more complicated than I expected. The high quality of the costumes, makeup, wigs and fake fangs made identifying the real vampires more challenging. Everybody looked like an authentic bloodsucker.

The longer we danced among them, however, the more I began to notice the familiar tingle in the solar plexus when I was in the vicinity of a vampire. Not only that, I found I was able to intuitively sense the level of the vampires’ powers. Some of them barely sent out enough buzz to charge a flashlight battery, while others came across like a mini-cattle prod to the midsection.

My stomach muscles had repeatedly contracted since Bryce had kidnapped us out of my living room – fear tends to do that – so it was a good guess he belonged in the second category.

Apollo had told me that a vampire was only as powerful as the one who made him, so if Devereux was Bryce’s maker, his abilities were probably beyond the norm. Or whatever passed for normal in vampire reality.

Vampire. Reality. Two weeks ago I’d never have put those words in the same sentence.

The slow song ended and the band launched into one of those World Beat compositions that combined African and Latin rhythms. The primitive drumbeats called to the celebrants and the dance floor filled.

I had to admit, most vampires might be sick puppies, but they could dance.

Bryce flipped me around so my bottom nestled against his groin. His arms encircled my waist, pulling me tighter against his apparently ever-present erection as he propelled us through the cavorting masses. He boogied, shifting his hips from side to side, forcing me to mimic his movements.

Ever since we’d popped onto the main floor, I’d been so occupied with Bryce, spotting Brother Luther if he arrived, and trying to communicate with Devereux that I’d missed some interesting developments.

I’d always thought most men were overly fond of their penises. They were always ready, willing and able to talk about them, show them to you, touch you with them or try to sneak them into any warm, wet, available place.

Vampires had apparently elevated penis fixation to an art form. Sexual activity surrounded me on the dance floor, with penises being stroked by either the owner or a willing partner of either sex.

I’d stumbled into a vampire porn video.

Was that what being immortal meant? Bloodsucking and masturbation? Why was it only the male vampires? Did something weird happen to testosterone in the transformation? Was that the best they could do with eternal life – perpetual sexual adolescence?

Devereux was right. Vampires are a completely separate species. And apparently most of them are insane.

Lost in thought, I was startled when a woman screamed a few feet away from me. I was only able to hear it because the tone of her cry was higher-pitched than the music. I jerked my head in the direction of the scream and saw a woman pinned to the floor by a vampire whose fangs were embedded in her neck.

I guessed she wasn’t a willing donor.

None of the bystanders offered to help her. In fact, the attack only excited the strokers more.

I struggled to get out of Bryce’s grasp and he clasped me tighter, rubbing himself against me and making soft moaning sounds. It was completely stupid of me to think I could do anything to make the vampire release his victim, but I absolutely couldn’t just stand there and watch. I stomped down hard on Bryce’s foot with the heel of my shoe and he relaxed his arms enough for me to slide down through them. I don’t think he let go because I hurt him but because I surprised him. He was obviously distracted.

I leaped onto the back of the sucking vampire, who turned out to be a very large, muscular, smelly bloodsucker who flicked me off without even lifting his mouth from the woman’s neck.

Laughter echoed around me as I fell to the floor on my back. A hand reached out of a full-length hooded robe to help me up and I caught a glimpse of a familiar face inside the hood. Even the clown-like vampire makeup couldn’t disguise Lieutenant Bullock’s distinctive features. I started to acknowledge her, but she stopped me with the slightest shake of her head.

Bryce’s arm snaked around my waist again and he jerked me up off my feet, holding my back against his chest. ‘Ordinarily I’d punish you for your absurd actions, but I still need you for a little while longer. You’re lucky Lucifer wants you. Playtime’s over. Let’s go back upstairs.’

The woman on the floor had stopped screaming and was clearly dead.

The crowd actually applauded.

Vampires suck. In more ways than one.

I managed to catch Lieutenant Bullock’s eyes and shifted mine in the direction of the high balcony, showing her where we were going. She replied with an almost invisible nod, lowered the hood over her face and merged into the crowd.

Just before Bryce popped us out, I caught a glimpse of several robed figures heading towards a doorway.

The music room had been transformed into the Church of Satan, or the setting for a Black Sabbath concert, something that required lots of black draperies, upside-down crosses and pictures of ugly guys with horns. A large circle containing an inverted pentagram had been drawn in the centre of the room and the massive gemstones placed in presumably meaningful positions. Some of the mirrors were now decorated with elaborate symbols and the light from the chandeliers had been replaced by the soft, eerie glow of black candles.

When we materialised in the room, Raleigh scurried over to Bryce. He frowned as he noted that Bryce was holding me off the ground, tight to his chest, and that one of his hands had moved from my waist to my breast. Raleigh shot me a dirty look and snarled, showing his pointy fangs.

Jealousy?

I knew I should be terrified, but instead I felt numb. After so much horror my brain had simply shut down.

Bryce noticed and enjoyed Raleigh’s reaction. He laughed out loud and removed his arms from around me and I fell in a heap on the floor. Raleigh clutched Bryce’s hand like a child.

It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dim light, but I was finally able to make out the shapes in the corner. Ronald was cradling Midnight in his arms and Alan was sprawled next to them, still as a corpse.

I hadn’t allowed myself to consider the possibility that Alan was actually dead, but now that it had occurred to me, I had to know. I started crawling in his direction.

I’d just reached him, picked up his wrist and detected a light pulse when the familiar limb closed around me again. Bryce held me under his arm like a rolled-up newspaper.

‘Playing Florence Nightingale, Dr Knight? Trying to save the handsome FBI agent? My, my – how many men are you servicing these days? But you mustn’t rattle the blood-sacks. I need at least one of them for the ritual. Maybe two.’

‘What are you talking about? What do you need for the ritual?’

‘Blood.’

‘Do you mean you need to drink blood?’

‘You really are a tedious human. Of course I need to drink blood. But this blood’s for the ritual. It’s the final step – we’re going to smear it all over the circle. Quite a waste of food, if you ask me, but the wizard geniuses say it’s necessary. It will be worth it to have Devereux under my power. Finally, after all those centuries, he’ll be forced to do my bidding, in every possible way.’

He carried me near the circle and set me on my feet. Then he positioned himself in front of me, shoved one of his hands down the front of my dress and roughly grabbed a breast again. ‘You didn’t answer my question, Florence. How many men are you servicing?’

His grip on the tender flesh hurt, but I didn’t want him to know that. I breathed in slowly through my nose, trying to use a relaxation technique to lessen my awareness of the pain. ‘None of your business.’

He squeezed harder and I yelped. It hurt like a mammogram times a thousand, and he wasn’t even trying. My entire breast was going to be black and blue. If he didn’t rip it off. Apparently the protective necklace only worked if it was touched directly. What kind of magic talisman was that?

Smirking, he released his hold, pulled his hand out of my dress and let me fall to the floor as my knees gave out. Standing over me, he unbuttoned his trousers and slid down the zipper of his fly. Mercifully, the silence that had fallen around us was suddenly shattered by an extremely loud pop, and Brother Luther appeared.