T W E N T Y - T H R E E

Rick popped a wooden kitchen match to life against a grimy thumbnail. It blazed up in a rush of sulphur and the hiss of burning wood. He peered at me across the flame, lighting his cigar. The blue disappeared into his eyes. The match burned down to his fingertips before he tossed it.

"Where the hell's Van Helsing when you need him?" He released a cloud of potent fog into the air.

"Spiking Christopher Lee on video," I croaked out. "Where do you think?"

Rick didn't laugh. Neither did I.

Linda stumbled around at the far end of the attic. Something crashed over and broke.

<Be still> I sent out. <Call them ... they'll come to you>

Had to remind her every damn night. My first priority in captivity had been to teach Linda how she could hunt. She was pretty good at the waiting and the calling. Unfortunately, she had all the killer finesse of a drowning rhino.

Speaking of spikes, a half-dozen of them began stabbing their way through my belly again, announcing the next coming of the Fiend. Hunger was the Beast within, sporting rows of pointed teeth – sharper, longer and meaner than mine. There were rusty razor-claws that dug and gouged and chewed and bit. I curled around it, keeping it back, keeping it in. The Fiend retaliated, screaming with rage. It locked onto the ribs of its cage and shook a thousand fists of fury. Its howls soared up my spine and skyrocketed inside my skull. When I closed my eyes, I watched a million matches torch off against my lids, setting off bombs in the top of my head. But when the Beast hit me, I hit it back. Again and again. Till it went away. It would go away, I could do it – just not for very long anymore. Felt it during the day time now as well.

I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling, let my arms and legs flop loose again, falling against the floor accompanied by the rattle of cold-iron chains. I could see/feel little bits of the night sky peeking at me through the busted roof and that was horribly good. The Night called, the Earth called, and the music was wonderful but dancing was out of the question. In the morning, the Sun would streak down through those holes like lasers. Linda and I would dive for cover again among the attic castoffs. Some days back, a nor'easter had roared through taking more of our shelter and leaving a flood of rain and cold behind. Maybe it was days ago. It could have been weeks.

Rick lay his hand on my shoulder, reached over and brushed the hair out of my eyes with the other.

"Don't do that," I whispered. "Not smart."

"The bandage came off," he said.

All business, Rick took up my hand and quickly refastened the rag. I didn't need it, the flesh had healed over, but I was grateful for the cover. I didn't want to look at it.

"Got to admit, you sure know how to charm 'em, maestro," he said. "'I'm the guy who fucked your sister.' Way to go."

"First impressions … they count the most."

"Well, you got David's attention."

"Why didn't you run?"

"Run where – the moon? Here's news for you, Peter Pan. I left my happy thoughts and fairy dust back at the farm." He glared at me. "Now you're going to say I-told-you-so, aren't you?"

"No ... but – maybe you should have been nicer to Martha."

Rick made a sound between a snort and a laugh.

This was the most conversation we'd had since we'd been taken except for the absolutely necessary odds and bits. When we'd first been stashed, Rick hadn't been feeling too chipper himself and Linda really freaked him out. Right away, Linda fixed on Rick like a starving vagrant on a box lunch. Discovered then that I could mind-speak her and she would obey my commands. She left him alone. But things continued to be strained between Rick and me in ways that had nothing to do with that.

"Where do you think we are?" Rick asked.

"Near or in a swamp. I can smell it. No city, no cars – not close by, anyway. Didn't you get a look at the place the night we came in?"

"I was hoping it was a hallucination." Rick sighed. "You're right about the swamp. And the house looks like Gone With The Wind meets Swamp Thing inside and out – what I saw of it."

"I wonder how long David plans to keep us penned up before the next surprise."

"Yeah. I've been thinking about that myself."

We took a brief pause while I tried not to scream again. It wasn't as bad as the one before but I kicked over the beer can Rick was using for an ashtray.

"... sorry...." I whispered after.

"That's all right. Forget it."

"No. I mean I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Me, too." Then he asked the question I'd been dreading and unable to stop thinking about since I first came to. "What do you think they did with Snake?"

The shaking started down at my toenails. I closed my eyes.

"Snake," Rick insisted, his voice was a tight whisper. "Remember her? You haven't mentioned her since we holed up here. She was the one who found you after you ran off that night, tracked you to that construction site. She wouldn't let Abby know where you were until she proved she wouldn't hurt you. She sat out there hour after hour watching for you, protecting you. Where is she now? What happened to her?"

"I don't know."

"David's freaks took her."

That was true.

"Is she dead?" Rick went on, harsh and fast. He'd been wondering about this for a long time and worked up some momentum. "Is she a vampire or what? Damnit, don't you care?"

"I can't feel her anymore."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know!" I was shouting back. "I can't feel her anymore. Look at Linda if you want answers. That's what happens to people I love. That's what happens to...."

I wouldn't say it. Silence dropped like a bomb between us. Shut us both up.

The link I shared with Snake was gone. That could have meant a lot of things, but none of them were good. Another of the many events I wanted not to think about, like Absinthe and her stricken, moonstone face. Like Archie. Would I ever remember him any other way than how he'd looked when they finished with him?

Linda blundered over and hovered above, gazing down at me wearing the expression that translated to concern. She was buttoned up to the chin in an ancient bit of Victoriana Rick had dredged out of one of the trunks. I'd hoped he could find her a pair of jeans but no such luck. No luck on the shoes either, she was still gray-blue barefoot. The dress was a big improvement but I felt bad about the jeans.

She held her arms out stiff in front of her, hands clasped in the way TV people hold guns. Something squirmed in her fists. My vision was drifting in and out of focus and I couldn't tell what it was except living.

"How sweet," Rick said, very dry. "She's brought you a rat."

That she had. It fell, half-stunned, less than an inch from my face and, for a fleet second, we stared at each other, both surprised. The little fucker recognized deep shit when he was in it, turned tail and started to run. He wasn't fast enough.

"Jesus – don't do that," Rick groaned, winced.

"Don't watch," I growled.

Linda wandered a little ways apart from us, crouched down and started her call again.

After a while, Rick said, hesitant, "I know you were close with Archie. I'm sorry."

Digested that along with the rat juice. "How long till dawn?" Couldn't talk about the Bearcat either. "It's not much longer now, is it?"

"The sun set an hour ago."

"Oh."

"Look," Rick began again, awkward. "I know why they've got me up here with you. I know what you're going through."

"You. Don't. Know."

"I know David wants to break you. He wants to make you like he is. You're supposed to turn on me, right? That's why the twins have been so prompt with my meals and all that crap. They're keeping me healthy for you."

"Gee, you must be one of the grown-ups. You figured it out."

"About that last night," Rick fumbled on. "Will you tell me about the films now?"

"No."

"I mean, what happened to you? You were just a kid. Did you run away from home? Were you kidnapped?"

"No."

"What happened to your legs? Those scars –"

"I did it for drug money." Wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. "What about you, Mallock? What's your big secret? You're so hot for mine, maybe we can trade. Pass the time till sunrise remembering the good old days."

"Okay," he said. "You want to know?"

"Shoot. Knock me out with it."

"You've known – or guessed from the first. I fragged an officer when I was in Vietnam," Rick told me. "To hear people talk now, fragging was as common as killing Gooks. But that's probably just wishful thinking." Rick snapped up another match and re-lit his cigar. "'Nam was a cesspool," he said. "Similar to this little pleasure dome in a lot of ways – except hotter."

"What set you off?"

He shook his head and a kind of laughter came out of his mouth. "There were so many things, I wouldn't know where to start. Maybe you tagged on that I volunteered, so looking back, I can tell you the disillusionment was bad. Epic. We didn't have officers, we had politicians. Every asswipe with bars was scrambling for his own. They'd commandeer a helicopter to set up a photo-shoot with some jackass journalist but you couldn't get them to send out for wounded. The cretins would start up an operation, send out the units, then forget to order the artillery and air power to back it up. I was in the field. I got to choose who came back and who didn't – too many times. Those guys weren't animals out there, they weren't killing-bastards who went to 'Nam. They were men, most of them were only boys – younger than you. And they lost their lives out there. Even the ones who came back ... especially the ones who came back."

Rick stared at me. "The jungle is always out there. I have seen more blood than you'll ever know. If you live to be a ripe old, vein-tapping thousand, I will still have seen more of it than you will ever know."

"So, you finished off one of the idiot-types, huh?"

"Just tried to even the odds. There was a lot of killing. It was hard not to get involved."

"But it wasn't what you went over there to do, was it?"

"Well, shucks, son – you can figure things out, too. Does that make you one of the grown-ups?"

"I don't know what I am."

I tried stretching. Tried finding any comfortable position but the spikes started rolling again. I clenched up, waiting – praying – for them to stop. After, I said, "I feel bad."

"No joke."

"No."

Rick slid over close and, next thing I knew, he was poking at the shackle locked on my wrist with some little twist of metal he'd picked up among the debris. This was a game we'd played for several nights. "There's got to be a way to get into this," he said.

"Perhaps this will help?"

Marlene stepped in, fancy-dressed in a trés elegant Chanel suit holding up a ring of keys. Dietrich's studs and chains rattled along behind her.

"Dinner is served," Marlene announced. "Downstairs tonight."

"Hold on," Rick said. "I'll check my engagement book."

Dietrich jerked him to his feet and shoved him towards the attic door while Marlene knelt and unlocked the shackles on my throat, wrists and legs. Relief washed over me as soon as they were removed although it took me a few minutes before I was actually able to stand. My first few steps were pathetic, like learning to walk again.

Heard a noise behind me and spied Dietrich dragging Linda to her feet. She'd caught herself another rodent and was not happy at letting it go. Also she was unhappy about being approached by the cyberpunk ghoul in a way that told me they had some history together. Braced myself against a stack of crates and booted Dietrich's black leather ass. She let Linda go and almost went sprawling herself. Turned on me like a cobra. There was a lot more than dislike in her glassy eyes.

"Pick on someone your own size," I snarled up at her.

It wasn't as much of a challenge as I would have liked. She laughed at me. I think she just wanted to show off her pointy-filed teeth. It was difficult not to be impressed.

Dietrich tried to pitch me in Rick's direction. She didn't have to try very hard. Rick caught me before I took a dive down the stairs.

"You have such a way with the ladies," he said, holding me up. "I've been meaning to comment."

"If you want, I can give you some pointers," I said, trying to find my feet.

"That's all right. I think I'll just observe your technique quietly. From afar."

"They're not really ladies anyway."

"I knew that," Rick said, confidentially.

Marlene and Dietrich were taking offense at our comments and obviously calculating the effects of another push. Rick wagged a finger in Marlene's face.

"Uh-uh, sweetheart. Uncle David won't like it if you send us splat down the stairs, will he?"

"He likes even less being kept waiting," Marlene warned.

So we all started moving. Slowly. I held onto Linda's arm. That was quite a scene, hard to tell who was supporting who.

Gemelo's horde had decorated trying to bring into being one of their master's favorite words – festive! The motif was Gothic Yule and lavish to the point of absurdity but, somehow, I knew they hadn't put it together just to impress us. We took it all in as we made our way down the narrow flight of attic stairs and down, down the great, grand staircase that emptied into the front room. Well, Rick and I took it in. Linda was mostly concerned with fulfilling her current set of instructions. The twins just gave off attitude.

We entered chambers large enough to house a couple of semis. A massive fireplace blazed away at the far end of the room, big enough for three grown men to stand up in. A full-sized portrait of David hung over the mantle as rendered by one of the old masters. I had no idea who the artist was but the painting had that tell-tale museum-look that I'd learned to recognize back when I was with Danny. On top of the mantle, enshrined, I discovered the rest of that stone bust from Winter's Garden. David had taken great care with it. It was old stone and worn with the passage of years and seasons but the face and form were unmistakably Tasia's, my Winter Queen.

Made my way towards it. Rick trailed with me and said, "Is that her?"

I nodded. The taste of rat was fresh again in my mouth.

"It's a wonderful likeness, isn't it?" That was David, creeping out from the woodwork but we were expecting him so that came as no great surprise.

"Yes."

"She's on her way," David continued, a controlled ecstatic. "Can't you feel it?"

"No."

"Amazing. Well, if you can't – you can't. You look dreadful. Famished." He smiled solicitously. "Come in to feast."

We were ushered into the dining room, moving through a throng of Fae, Blood and Brood. I didn't recognize anybody. Mostly I looked for Snake and guessed David would choose his moment to reveal something horrible.

Acute hunger does strange things to a vampire's system. We're hunters, our animal instinct is very strong. There's wolf, cat and hawk in the dragon. When the Beast is in residence, all the senses that point to feeding get charged up to maximum over-drive. Hearing, sight, sound, scent, taste, touch and stalker's-sense soars up like the volume at a Heavy Metal concert. Little things you wouldn't notice – like the scuttle of mice feet in the basement, floors below, sounds like a herd of miniature horses stampeding. The scent of a single flower petal takes on the intensity of a perfume factory.

David had planned dinner like a calculated torture and it was proceeding as such. More than one supple body pressed mine, inviting. The need was certainly there but drinking would have meant madness.

A woman with hair dyed almost as scarlet as my own perched herself on my lap. Her smooth skin was covered in even smoother lingerie. An old fashioned, triangle-head can-opener dangled from a leather thong around her neck, gore encrusted, indicating she'd effectively used this approach before. But there were other marks peppering the scars inside her arms, darker tracks criss-crossing the slug trails of healed flesh. I fastened onto the cleaner arms of my chair and said, "Get off."

If I'd let go long enough to push her away, I would have broken her. I'm certain of it.

She gave me a teasing look, indicating that she thought I was kidding. I gave her a look back that indicated I was not.

"How rude," she snapped. She went away.

"You're spoiling the party," David cautioned with vague distress, the perfect, concerned host. "Isn't there anyone here that appeals to you?"

"Only one but I don't see her."

"Be patient. My sister will be soon among us."

"I was talking about Snake." I hugged my arms around me, trying to stop shivering. Not a very imposing image, true, but I couldn't have been more sincere. "Let us go. You don't need us any more, David. We're no threat –"

"You have never been a threat to me."

"Your trouble's with me," I told him. "There's no need to take it out on anyone else. I thank you for taking care of Linda and seeing after Doctor Mallock. Let them go. Let Snake go."

"Why should I?" David asked, intrigued.

"Because you're the king. Because you can."

A smile twisted up one corner of his mouth. "Do you think I'm that simple you can get your way with flattery?"

"I thought I was telling the truth."

The smile evened out. David relaxed back in his chair and regarded me with something like affection. "I think it could be very interesting keeping you around," he said. "Be advised – you're making a mistake, abstaining from those who frolic along expanded horizons. Those sensations and that knowledge is as valid as any derived from the simpler essence. You will find that sangre puro goes dull after the first century. I enjoyed my first true taste of freedom soon after I made the Change. Yes, I'd been warned, as you were I suspect, to avoid the diseased and the drugged. I abided by those laws at first but then, I began to wonder – why? The essence could not destroy me, I couldn't die. What was the secret? Truth to tell, the Living Blood made me ill the first few times I tried it. But there was something there that brought me back to it again and again."

David braced his feet up against the edge of the table, a smile drifting over his face. "They meant it as a punishment when they sent me to the Isle of Death and I accepted that. It seemed a fitting sentence. Leprosy is a disease of filth and vermin. It's victims are less attractive than you could imagine, but not impossible. The very beautiful can be as alienating and monstrous as the truly ugly. Years passed. But what are years to one of the Blood? I knew Tasia would not allow me to remain there so very long, although I did not expect her to condemn me to this hell of a wilderness after. They could have killed me. That would have been kinder, that would have put an end to it. I tried to reason with her. We discussed the situation as any family would. The carnage was – incredible."

"You didn't want to come here?" I asked.

"To be King of the New World?" David sneered. "What world – I ask you? For one who had known the banquet that was Rome, the delectable Medici, the Táng of the Great Dynasty – to be banished to a backwoods wilderness? If I could have wept, I would have."

"So, you're saying you preferred the lepers," Rick said.

"I did." David waved his hand, a careless signal. Marlene approached, carrying a tray holding two black porcelain goblets. "What really galls is, now that I am finally beginning to make something of the place, I am given to understand that I am to be replaced. How fair is that?"

"Maybe they've got their reasons?" Rick said.

David's smile deepened. He took up the goblets and handed one to me. Said, "This may be more to your taste."

"I know I'm dead already," Rick went on, "so I'm going to ask this anyway. Were you ever anything other than completely fruitloops?"

David laughed. "Different from now? Who knows? Who cares?" David grinned at Rick. "Doctor Mallock, I could learn to miss you."

I'd been riding a white streak of fear the minute I spied Marlene and the cups. Cradling mine in my hands, I looked into glossy black china and knew that was Snake's blood. Heart's Blood, a fermented delicacy. Knew how they got that. There was a little trace of our link within, drawing me to it. Felt it through the Hunger. It went stronger the longer I held it.

"I have such surprises waiting for you," David promised. He pushed to his feet and said, "Come."

I got up, still holding that cup. Careful – careful! David carried his, too, and I noticed he hadn't taken the first sip. Rick, Linda and the twins followed us, winding through the carnival in a bizarre little parade until we stopped at a doorway far removed from the frolic.

The twins pulled open the doors and we walked in. Looked like it could have been a chapel in some long ago time. It still reeked of ceremony and ritual. Incense and rot hung on the air. Tapers glowed at the altar and fat candles blazed like torches in holders the size of miniature, brass pillars. Yards and yards of thick, mildewed, moth-eaten tapestries and drapes stifled the sounds outside the room. I knew they would have muffled screams as well.

Madame Absinthe seemed to float at the head of the sanctuary, a ghastly high priestess, a greenish hue to her pallor. She looked old. Snake was laid out on the slab. They'd made up her hair and face, bringing out the extreme and exotic beauty she'd tried to hide in life. They'd jeweled her ears, throat, hands and feet. They'd dressed her in a black velvet skirt that fit like a sheath from waist to ankle and a tiny black bolero jacket to match.

They'd carved her up, split her chest from collar to belly. That's what they do. Slice out the heart and the guts, swallow them down living and cast them back transformed. After, they had stitched her up. That's how they make the real zombis. That's how they make ghouls, the Keepers of the Dark Fae, bound to the masters who made them.

But not Snake! Not her.... It wasn't supposed to be like this. Not like this!

All that was warm and living of her lay in the cup in my hands.

"Drink and call," David commanded. "Her link is with you. You're the only one who can call her back."

For what? I was afraid to guess.

"Drink," Absinthe whispered. Her voice was as dark and hoarse as grating coal. "You show the girl no kindness leaving her like this."

So I raised the cup to my lips and swallowed. It should have been bitter, it should have tasted like Hell itself but it didn't. It was wonderful. It was Snake – all that she was and all that she had ever hoped to be.

Called to her once. Again. At the third call, Snake opened her eyes so quickly, it was as if she'd been waiting, trying to fake me out. But when I looked into those eyes, they were as flat, black and shiny as marbles. The gold was gone.

Absinthe took the other goblet from David and pushed it into my hand.

"Give it to her, Tony. Make her drink."

Gently, gently – careful – I sat down beside her, lifted her in my arms. She was difficult to handle, but I didn't spill a drop. Snake swallowed it all as I held the cup to her lips, almost greedy for it. The ichor left a deep stain on her mouth.

She began to tremble and her eyes fluttered shut. They were still black when they opened again, black and wild. Dead white circled dead black as she stared at me. She knew what had happened to her, remembered all that had gone down. I have never seen that kind of hatred on a face before, that kind of fury. The curtains couldn't smother those screams. I tried to put my arms around her, hold her, press her head against my shoulder. Anything so I wouldn't have to keep looking into those eyes. Snake shoved me away. Her strength was so much greater than it had been, her fists hurt. I fell off the dais under the barrage and cracked my head on the base. She screamed once more. Then silence – deafening.

"Oh, dear." David's voice wafted through the vaulted room. "Well ... every relationship has its highs and lows. At times like these, it's best to have your family with you."

All I could think was, But this is my family and you're killing them! And they were, all of them – Rick, Snake, Absinthe, Archie, they were my family of choice. I wanted to scream it at him. More. I struggled up to my knees, charged with hopeless desperation. What did he want? What could I do to make him stop? I was ready to offer anything.

The stink of rot suddenly grew stronger. An ill-shaped lump stumbled erect and staggered out of the darkest corner, reeling towards us. Horror surged up among the grief, the pain. The regret. I heard Rick cry out, "What the hell is that?" Revolted. Afraid.

I knew who it was. Recognized him instantly, disgorged from his pauper's grave, strung together in a cat's cradle of blood, bile and bone. It shouldn't have been possible, not after all this time. David must have gone to great pains - pulled big Mojo - to pull this off. He would have created a network of threats, bribes and enchantments that could have felled worlds. Well, he was King of the Vampires. He could do it.

My brother Angelo dragged his feet walking towards me, but not because he was a reluctant guest. His balance was rotten and pieces of him kept falling to the floor. Pin pricks of the ruby spell that kept him moving blazed in his eyes. His jaws worked though no sound came out. But I heard him well enough.

I was already on the floor so there wasn't any more "down" for me to go. Scuttled away as fast as I could, banging into this and that in manic speed. Slammed into the wall and for a scant few moments, tried to plow my way through that. I'd lost the ability to make words and noise, but I still had that runner's instinct. Angelo staggered on, a rattling marionette whose strings were tied to me in much the same way an evil child ties burning rags to some wretched animal's tail.

I heard him – in my mind. Angelo sang out the old accusations, "Why did you leave me? Look what you did ... what you did to me. You never loved me, you never cared."

I curled into a tight, little ball and huddled against the stone, but I couldn't look away. He was so close. His hand stretched towards my face. Then there was fresh screaming in the room and it was mine.

But Angelo's fingers only grazed my hair. Hot wax dripped on my cheek instead. Rick was there, brandishing the altar candle like some ornate staff – awkward but with purpose. He shoved at Angelo, driving him back. There was hysteria in his voice and anger, too, although I couldn't make any sense of it. Rick swung at Angelo again. Fragile bones burst and scattered. The glue that held the corpse together dissolved bit by stinking bit under blow after blow. But for as long as the light burned in those hollow orbs, Angelo tried to get at me. Then Rick swung the candlestick like a brass mallet and the skull separated from the neck, rolled across the wooden floor and smashed against the far wall. The legs, the arms – his entire body stopped twitching and was finally still.

David paused at the doorway, following the twins out. He touched his face and wiped a tear of my brother's flesh from beneath his eye.

"Family...." he murmured, moved.

The door closed behind him.

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