Leaving the Light By: Christine Schnell

Chapter 35



	My confusion overwhelmed me.  Was I going crazy?  Who was that
and why was he offering to help?  Was he real?  Could I trust
him?  Was he a vampire?  Was he only trying to trick me?  For
all I knew the vile could contain nothing harmful.  If I
released it and nothing happened, I'd probably be killed so what
did it matter?  As I was fed up with this place it didn't.  I
could try to find out about this Velren but after my last couple
investigations I have lost the taste for them.

	I wanted to test the gas to see if it really worked.  I only
had a limited supply and doubted I'd get anymore.  So I decided
to leave my fate to providence.  Now I just need to figure out a
way to use it and find my way out.

	My senses came to me in a burst.  It was impossible to escape. 
I don't know what he was thinking.  I mean escaping this place
wasn't as easy as he made it out to be.  I should know; I've
tried.  And tried and tried.  The last time, months before Keir
put me in isolation, I tried going through a vent.  I wouldn't
have ever thought of doing it when I first got here but I was
skinny enough now I thought it might work.  I didn't even get in
the damn vent to see f I could fit when someone grabbed me.  It
was Bram.  He chastised me kindly.  He made it clear I'd never
get very far trying to escape.  

	What could I do?  I couldn't just walk out of here.  I'd have
to find another way. 

	I served as any other slave did.  I tried my best to behave and
not bring any attention to myself.  Lacey continued to try to
convince me Bram and Kama were okay to no avail.  All the while
I quietly and slowly, over the period of weeks put together a
negligible plan that would hinge on my finding the map that Al
spoke of.  I knew the map was not somewhere that it could easily
be found.  No doubt the vampires either destroyed it or hid it
after Al's daughter's death. 

	I could always ask Al how to get out, but I felt bad for the
poor guy and didn't want to get him in trouble for helping me. 
It was silly to prepare for escape when I'd just get lost again.
 I was lucky to have found my way back the last time.  Despite
that I thought I could at least do a couple little things.  

	I hummed a tune as I picked up one item after another.  I
cannibalized old blenders and even a toaster to get the parts I
thought I needed.  I wasn't what one would call mechanically
inclined so I had a hard time figuring out how everything fit
together.  There were a few guys around who had worked on cars
that gave me hints though.  They had no idea what I was doing,
which was a good thing.  I used the excuse of research for a
story, which just in case any one became suspicious I wrote.

	"What's that?"  I stiffened.  I had been so much into my work
that I hadn't heard Lacey walk up behind me.  

	"Will you stop sneaking up on me."

	"Sorry."  She took the piece of wood I had dug up for my
project, "What are you making?"

	"Why do you have to be so nosey all the time?"

	"Geez, I'm just trying to make polite conversation."  She had
taken offense and was starting to leave.

	"Lacey, wait.  I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to snap."

	"You've been different lately, aloof."

	"Yeah, well more than a month of isolation can do that to you."

	"I think it's something else."

	I was going to hit her if she said I needed to get laid by
Bram.  "You're keeping busy.  You normally don't work this hard.
 Are you trying to please them?"

	"Like I said, I've had a change of heart."

	"What did he do to you in there?"  

	I had avoided talking to her about it.  I wasn't in the mood to
hear how it was my duty to do as he wished.  "Besides humiliate
me?  The normal Keir things, just more of them."

	"Oh."  She knew full well how he normally treated me.  

	"He also told me that Bram has murdered a lot of people."

	"What?!"  

	"You didn't know?"  She shook her head.  "Then what was that
between you and Dr. Wendel?  You seemed to know everything that
had happened."

	"Kama told me to go see you.  I didn't know it had just
happened."

	"Why would she do that?"  

	The question wasn't directed at her but she told me exactly
what I thought she would.  "I don't know."

	She took a couple of the gears I had set out and started
putting them together.  It was as if she knew what I was working
on.  "Is that why you brushed him off when you were released?"

	"Yes."

	"I don't think you should worry about him hurting you.  I mean
I've never known anyone who he's actually hurt."  She snapped
the axial into the frame.

	"What about Denise?"

	"Oh yeah."  She changed her tone, "What are you making, some
kind of model car?  Where's the wheels?"

	"I haven't figured out how to make them.  Not like there's
little wheels rolling around here is there?  Now stop changing
the subject."

	"I don't want to talk about that anymore."

	"You think I want to?  Lacey I'm in- I was in love with him. 
The I find out he's killed Dr. Wendel's wife and-"

	"I'm gonna be sick."

	"Tell me about it."  

	"No really, I have to go."  She rushed out holding her hand
over her mouth.  I had to go too, but to purge this toxic
feeling inside me I had to go a lot further than the bathroom. 
I sighed and moved the gears on the axial.  She figured out how
to connect them.  Maybe she had some good traits after all.  

	

	I couldn't work on it all at once.  There were obvious things
that I had to do in the meantime, like serve the vampires.  I
also searched for the map.  Obviously I had other reasons to be
in the library, so I utilized that time to search through
architecture books and the like.  To my chagrin, for weeks on
end I had come up empty.  I feared if I didn't find something
soon they'd become suspicious.  So in addition to cars, I added
some wonderful descriptions of buildings to my story.  It was
something I have to admit I wasn't too fond of doing.  At least
it was an exercise I could learn from.  

	Certainly, one would become bored if I went on for paragraphs
about the Renaissance architecture of that very room.  I could
go on how the regal, barrel vaulted ceiling was frescoed with
dark fields of battle that gave way to angels floating among the
cumulus watching and waiting; art rivaling the figures of
Michelangelo.  The voussoir were covered in a vivid green and
blue mosaic to compliment the marble faced piers that supported
ornately foliated capitals and arcades to give the appearance of
grand trees presiding over the hall.  Chandeliers of a
traditional European design shone high above accenting the apse,
niches and galleries while the golden sconce provided dim
illumination to read by.  The open floor plan of the main room
was lined by rows of bookshelves these were interrupted in the
heart of the room by a tribune raised three meters on thirteen
marble columns.  The largest column in the center of the dais
concealed a stairwell.  Elegant régence style railing of gilt
rosewood surrounded the platform.  It was a quiet place for
readers to study their material.  Altogether the atmosphere was
simultaneously solemn and awe-inspiring.  

	Now if I can draw your attention to the flying buttresses... 
Okay, I got bored.  Besides, you can use your imagination on the
rest of the building, as this room was the only truly
interesting architecture in it.

	No book, no matter how descriptive, would tell me about the
layout of this building.  There was no secret map stuffed into
the sleeve of any book.  No, I couldn't even find reference to
the symbol on the pipes I had seen in my ventures.  I had
returned to the room I first found the pipes in to see if I
could back track those pipes.  I had searched in hopes that they
might be of a nature that would lead to the surface and thus I
could follow them to no avail.  At every turn I was coming up
empty handed.

	I was indulging in a book when I spotted Bram across the room. 
He walked up behind me.  I knew he was going to try to sneak up
on me from the moment he entered the room.  I had no where to go
so I would endure his whispering in my ear.  "I'm fighting the
urge to make you the happiest woman on Earth tonight."  

	"Please do."  I bit back

	"Toni, I want you back.  I'm sorry.  What can I do to convince
you I'm not evil?"

	"Put a stake in your heart."

	"That won't do what you want.  You can not take the vampire out
f the man.  It is who I am."

	"Then I do not like who you are."

	"I admit I have a problem, okay.  I will try harder to not kill
any longer."  I still shunned him, for I could not believe him
any longer.  "If you truly don't wish me to be a vampire any
longer, then death is the only answer.  If that is what you
want, I'm sure it could be arranged.  Keir would be happy to
help."  I could hear the wry grin in his voice even though my
back was to him.  Was he saying he would die for me?  He said it
jokingly and yet there was a bit of seriousness there as well.

	I took him aside out of the echoing hall.  It was time to see
how devoted he was, to see if his love could overcome the wrong
he's done.  "If you love me, show me."

	"How?"

	"Let's leave this place.  Just you and I."

	"We can't.  The King won't let us."

	"Yes we can.  We'll go far away where they can't follow us.  We
could be happy together.  Live like normal people."

	"That's not possible."

	"You selfish son of a bitch!"  I pushed him away from me.  "You
say you love me, then you treat me like a whore; share me among
your friends and keep me here against my will!  Then you expect
me to fall into your arms because you used some smooth line on
me.  You might as well bite me now and get the suspense over
with.  My life obviously means nothing to you."

	"It's not like that."

	"Then what is it like?  A fairy tale where we'll live happily
ever after?  That's not gonna happen Bram."

	"No, but you can be happy if you let me try."

	"Right.  You don't really expect me to believe that do you?"

	He pleaded, "What can I do?"  

	"Stand up to them.  Protect me!"  I cried.

	"I've done everything I could."

	"Then why am I still here?"

	He had no answer.  Of course he hadn't.

	I moved around to another shelf and searched for a particular
book, there was a quotation I wanted him to hear but I couldn't
quite remember it.  I knew the book of quotes it was in but took
me a while to find the one since I always had a problem remember
names.  There it was right under the heading Joseph Addison;
"Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are; something
to do-'"

	"You have plenty to do, that's for sure."

	I went on.  "'Something to love-'"

	He hugged me, "You do have that."  

	I pushed him off me.  I didn't believe any of his lies any
longer.  "'And something to hope for.'"

	I waited for him to comment.  He knew how I felt about this one
for quite some time.  Then finally he took my hand and looked
longingly into my eyes and hardly above a whisper he spoke,
"There is always hope."  I wanted to believe that.  I really
did.  I wanted to be held by him and feel safe in his arms.  I
wanted to feel his kisses on my trapezius muscle giving me goose
bumps.  

	I took a deep breath to calm myself.  I was about to do one of
the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life.  "I don't
love you.  I don't think I ever did."  His face fell.  I felt
the press of his mind against mine searching for the truth.  I
hid it too well for him to find.  "Infatuation, a stupid child's
fantasy, that's all it was."  He was stunned, so was I.  There
was nothing else to say.  "Good-bye Bram."



	There's no need to describe how depressed I was.  I went to the
gym to try to relieve some of my stress.  I took one look at the
pool and decided I wouldn't try to drown myself yet.  Instead I
went to the punching bags.  I hit them until my arms went limp. 
Then I fell against the wall and cried myself into sleep.

	"Keir's looking for you."

	With that I was instantly awake my heart beat so hard I was
sure he could hear it.  I was now awake enough to see it was a
young man, hardly more than a boy, he must have been 18 or 19. 
His long, ragged, auburn hair spilled down almost to the small
of his back.  His rumpled clothes were nearly worn through on
the knees and elbows.  I noticed this since he had his hands
placed upon them as he bent down to talk to me.  His pale hands
were delicate as if they hadn't seen a day's hard work in his
life.  He definitely wasn't a slave.

	 Apparently I had forgotten an appointment with Keir.  I was
grateful to this man for waking me but I had to get out of
there.  He noticed me looking around seeing if there was an
escape route.  He smiled and added, "Come on, I've got a place
for you to go."  Wearily I followed him out of the gym and down
a few corridors.  As we walked I with my eyes on the ground and
he with his hands in is pockets and also staring at the ground,
he said, "By the way, I'm Urquhart."

	My eye's perked up at him out of curiosity and took in his
visage again, as if I would never see it again.  I didn't know
at the time, but I wouldn't see it for quite some time after
this meeting.  I had heard his name mentioned several times. 
Most were in passing reference.  I was beginning to believe that
he didn't really exist.

	Let me tell you quickly about what I knew of Urquhart at that
point.  He is a very old vampire, perhaps the oldest in the
clan,  but no one quite knows his age, not even he.  He is more
solitary than my friend Erik, and much, much more serious.  He
is a scholar perhaps the most brilliant book learned man I've
ever known.  Put that knowledge to practical use?  He wouldn't
know what to do with himself.  Thus he shuts himself up where he
won't be bothered as he theorizes over life the universe and
just about everything else.  I personally had only seen him once
before, at the first gathering.  He had sat on the opposite side
of the King from Keir and Bram.  He had been so inconspicuous
then that I hadn't even really noticed him.  It was only now
that I realized it was him.

	Now in this hall, he moved almost like a ghost; silent and
quickly through the shadows.  I had no doubt he was bringing me
to his room.  I just didn't know what would happen when we
arrived there.  Would he expect me to please him, as Keir would
have, or would he just drink from me and let me go thinking Keir
would forget about me by then?  Or worse, would he bore me to
death with intellectual conversation so far above me that it
would make me feel like an infant?

	None of the above in fact.  We entered the room and he called
out, "Lights."  Instantly the room brightened and I gasped as I
saw more books here than what I thought were in the library. 
"Please forgive the mess, I hardly ever have visitors."  He
began moving piles and piles of books from one place to another.
 After a few minutes I realized what he was doing.  He had
revealed a piece of his bed under the pile he was excavating. 
"Ah, there it is."  He proclaimed after it had been more than
half emptied of its load.  The sheets were in quite a horrible
disarray.  "I normally sleep in the chair."  He half waved over
to the solitary wooden chair off in a corner between one of the
lamps and a particularly precarious tower of books.  He had
finished clearing the bed and gestured to it.  "You may sleep
here for now."

	"Thank you."  I still didn't know what he wanted of me.  We
stood there strangely watching each other.

	"Is there anything else I can get you?"

	I blinked at his question.  "Don't you want anything from me?"

	He smiled for the second time since I had been with him here. 
"Not at all.  You are welcome to stay as long as you like.  I
will be going shortly as I have work to attend to."

	"Oh."  I said simply not sure how to take this.  Was he
rejecting me?

	"Please, you're tired.  Get some sleep.  You'll be safe here." 
No kidding, the sight of this many books might give Keir a heart
attack.

	He moved slightly to the side as I walked to the bed.  We were
close but he left me my space.  Once I laid down, he brought the
covers over me and tucked them in.  Not even my mother ever did
this for me.  While I wasn't sure what he meant by it, I found
it oddly comforting.  "Light's off."  He said as he stood and
the room became as dark as black velvet.  I heard him move about
the room with ease and the creaking of wood as he sat in his
chair.

	I wasn't that tired, but I found myself wavering upon the
precipice of sleep.  I hardly recognized the sound of opening
and closing of the door when he left.  He probably thought I was
asleep at that point.  Still my mind was active, not that I had
much control over what it came up with in this state.  I never
have been sure in this state between consciousness and
unconsciousness what thoughts are mine and what are dreams. 
Before coming to this place the phone would ring, or a siren
would go by, but never wake me fully, it would become part of a
dream, or just a passing thought.  So to were the voices that I
thought I heard just outside the door.  They came as if from the
other side of a damp cave; distorted and remote.

	"It's not for you to decide."  A deep hard voice spoke, and a
softer, calmer one counteracted it.

	"The King commanded me to study it, so I have.  There is
nothing that indicates that 'He' is you."

	"And what about-?"  This harsh voice was cut off again by the
second.

	"It is true this may be the right time for the first half to be
fulfilled.  I see nothing that would indicate the latter to be
true  It may just be the confusion of the words." 

	"What sort of veneficus are you?  These things should be clear
to you."  His voice echoed as if he were yelling across the
cavern and it bounced off every wall.

	In contrast, the other man's barely reverberated at all.  "I
have been studying it for over 350 years.  I think I know what
I'm talking about."

	"Do you know what it could mean if you're right?"

	"Yes."  Was there laughter in his voice?  "I would be rid of
you."

	"You should hope to be so lucky." growled the other.  This was
he last I heard for his footsteps died away quickly.

	Suddenly there was a hand on my back and my eyes shot open. 
Had I been dreaming or had the conversation actually taken
place?  I wasn't quite sure.  There was a hushed voice in my
ear.  Was it the same as the tranquil voice I was just hearing. 
"It's just me, go back to sleep."  Back to sleep?  Then I was
dreaming?  I couldn't really question it anymore as my eyes felt
heavier than normal and within a minute I was sleeping heavily.

	When I awoke Urquhart was not there.  Two plates were set on
the pile of books he had moved off the bed, a makeshift table. 
One was empty but for a bit of food.  The other had a pleasant
bacon and egg breakfast obviously waiting for me.  I lifted the
plate to put it in my lap.  This revealed the cover of the book
beneath it.  In silver embossed letters on a black binding read;
"A Building of the Ages."  I set the plate aside and lifted the
book.  It fell easily open to a section that had a map hidden
between the neatly hand written pages.  What luck!  Or was it
luck?  I didn't care.  I gobbled down my food and headed out for
my first stop; the slave court.  My last stop would be far from
here.



	I pulled and scrapped at the wood frame, my fingers had begun
to bleed but I didn't care.  Had there been something in the
room that I could just pickup and hammer into the Plexiglas I
would have, not that it would have helped.  I was left with no
crowbar, nothing strong enough to pry open the case and bloody
fingers.  "Come on, open Damnit!" but the box wouldn't listen to
me.  The only thing that would help me to open it was safely
secured inside.  I stepped back and rammed my foot into the
bottom of the frame for the tenth time, but the sturdy oak
wouldn't break.  I went back to prying at the small crack in the
door.

	"What are you doing?"  I jumped.  I hadn't heard the door open
an I hadn't felt Bram's presence.  

	I turned to confront him.  "Where's the key?"  I demanded
avoiding his question.

	"There isn't one.  Why do you want the sword?"  He demanded
just as strongly as I had.

	"Just help me open this stupid thing and don't ask questions!" 
I started prying at the thing again.

	He gently put a hand on mine and turned me away for a moment. 
"Why do you want the sword?"  He asked slowly.  I had locked
eyes with him and I felt him enter my mind.  I blocked him out
fairly easily since I already had some shields up to protect me
from random scans as I made my plan.  "Don't block me out Toni,
you know I can get around it if I have to."  

	He was right, and there really was no reason to keep my plan
secret from him.  Well, there was the fact that someone could
read it in his mind, but that was far less likely since he was
under much less scrutiny than I was.  "I need it to escape this
place, or kill myself, whichever happens first."

	"I won't let you do that?"

	"Why because the King told you too?"  I asked mockingly.

	"No because I love you and I don't want you to get hurt."  He
tried to embrace me but I moved out of his reach.

	"Bram, please don't.  It's too late for that.  I've made my
decision."

	"Then there is nothing I can do to make you want to stay?"

	"There is something other people could do.  Pain is normally
temporary.  Not here.  My pain has lasted from the moment I got
here and will go on forever."

	"I don't ease the pain?"

	"You did, for a time.  You've been good to me, you've loved me
more than anyone."  It was true no matter how much I hated to
admit it.  "Frankly it's not enough.  Part of me really wants to
stay with you always.  Another part just can't stand it here and
wants out.  I can't explain it anymore than that.  If you truly
loved me you would do what would make me happy and prosperous
and help me leave this place."

	He gave it much thought.  "If you truly love something let it
go?" 

	"And if it comes back...  Well, at least it wouldn't be from a
lack of trying." 



	I wrapped one of the cloth napkins that I stole from the
kitchen over my nose and mouth.  I hummed "Ode to the Dragon
Knight" as loud as I could in my head.  I peeked around the
corner and saw the two vampires guarding the hall.  They knew I
was coming, but they didn't seem to know I was there right then.
 It was time and I had to be ready.  

	For the first time in my life I prayed.  Really prayed, meaning
every word of the apology that I made for not praying before.  I
was about to learn if it was enough.

	I set my remote controlled car down.  It wobbled slightly on
the wheels that I had to make out of billiard balls.  I smirked
at the yellow and red flamed cab that Lacey had made and
decorated for me out of the piece of wood.  I sent it scooting
along around down the hall.  I had made an effort to find a
somewhat quiet motor hoping they wouldn't notice the car until
it was too late.  From my judgment without looking it should
have reached them quickly and by the sound of their movement it
had.  I flicked the release valve.

	The gas worked faster than I anticipated.  I heard two thuds
before I thought the tube opened.  I closed the valve.  I knew
I'd need the rest later.

	I was lucky sleeping gas works on vampires.  I had no time then
to reflect that maybe it wasn't an ordinary chemical.  With the
first set of guards asleep, getting through the first door was a
cake walk.  They hadn't even known they were gassed asleep which
was very good for me because then they couldn't warn anyone.  Of
course that didn't mean that I wasn't watching my back.  I took
a deep breath and ran through the misty area picking up my toy
along the way.  The gas stung my eyes.  I jumped over the
slumbering pair and closed my watering eyes.  I opened them
again when I thought I was far enough.  I looked back with hope
in my heart as the vampires lay there still.  I might just make
it.  

	It didn't take long for me to get away from there and to the
last corridor on the list.  With Bram's sword in hand I moved
down the corridors.  I slowly counted my steps until I would
come into view of the second set of guards.  I made sure to keep
my mind blank save for my song.  Just as Al had mentioned, they
were there.  I moved back down the hall somewhat and set down
the rc car.  I moved it slowly so it would go unheard until it
was just under 15 feet from them.  Then I flicked the switch to
release the gas.

	Nothing happened.  I reset the control and flipped it again. 
The little valve didn't move and didn't release the gas.  I
cursed in my mind not allowing myself to make any noises aloud. 
I calmly rolled the car back towards me praying that the
vampires wouldn't notice it.  They hadn't.

	When it reached me, I examined the car.  A wire for the control
of the release broke off.  I had no way to fix it here.  Simply
tying the wires together was not going to work as they would
short against my hasty frame job and thus leave me in the same
position I was in now.  I couldn't, wouldn't turn back, so I had
only one option.  I held tightly onto the release trigger and
began to run towards the vampires.  I had the advantage of my
knowledge of what I held and a mask to protect me from the gas
they had the advantage of speed.  I just had to hope my trigger
finger was faster than their legs.

	I pumped all the adrenaline that was rushing through me into my
legs and hurled myself down the hall.  The vampires didn't have
time to be shocked as they rushed towards me.  The blood boiled
in their eyes.  I saw death heading for me.  My heart stopped,
my breath caught in my throat and I froze.  One latched onto my
exposed neck.  The other ripped the sleeve of my shirt and dug
into my biceps trying to get to the axillary artery.  This made
the car drop from my hand.

	The clank it made when it hit the ground woke me from my stupor
and I flicked my finger.  There was no sound as the gas
released.  Everything after that happened in slow motion.  The
look of surprise did cross the vampires' faces right before they
released me and slid to the ground.

	Liberated, I now had full body control and moved forward.  I
didn't think to pick up the car in fact I dropped the control
and wrapped both hands around the sword hilt.  This was a good
thing.  

	Apparently these vampires had a chance to call for aid.  I
sprinted for the stairs that would lead me to the door that I
prayed would open without much problem.  Mackenzie ran in unseen
from an intersection behind me and grabbed me as I started up
the stairs.  He flung me down and across the hall.  

	He drew his short sword, fingering the cross-guard and waited
for me.  He actually wanted to fight.  Now, right here I should
have given up.  I mean really, what was I thinking?  Why was I
challenging a vampire in hand to hand combat?  Yeah, I managed
to stab Heremon that once, but it was a fluke.  Now this man
stood in-between my freedom and me.  He hadn't been kind to me
during my internment so I had no bad feelings about paying him
back.

	I rushed him and he easily deflected my strike.  His return
high cut nearly knocked me off my feet.  I became nervous as I
realized that the longer I stood here and fought him the closer
others would get to me.  Shaking I tried to guard low against
his inside swing.  He obviously was testing me as my own sword
didn't leave my hands.  I took a deep breath changed my footing
as I backed up a little to see how he would attack next. 
Mackenzie's rippling muscles faked this way and that causing me
to change positions and become unsure of myself.  

	Faster than lightning he struck and ripped into my skin just
below my shoulder.  A small squeak of pain emanated from
somewhere within me.  I stared at him in disbelief.  That hurt! 
Of course I knew this wasn't a game and pain was part of it, but
this was unexpectedly painful.  He waited for me to recompose
myself.  He slashed me lightly several times in the arms and
legs as I tried to strike.  I gathered that pain and built it
into anger for him.  He, on the other hand, was playing with me
and at any moment he'd impair me and take me back to the slave
court.  I would not go back if I could help it.

	All at once, the old minstrel song came back to me.  It
encouraged me for he wouldn't know how I was about to attack.  I
swung the sword like a bat over and over in every direction. 
Mackenzie easily blocked each blow.  He struck back harder now. 
Up, down, up and inside.  I couldn't keep up but I had to let
him have the impression he was winning.  He didn't expect me to
change my approach halfway through a swing.  He was in a low
guard position when I did a change up and thrust my sword
straight through his gullet.  He had realized his mistake too
late and had tried to change his position.  This caused the
blade to twist his insides.

	He fell to his knees.  I ripped the sword out of him and
expecting him to recover quickly I swung around once more.  I
was shocked when my arms did not reverberate with the strike of
his sword.  Instead they kept going and I almost lost my balance

	I heard the spluttering thud before I saw the lifeless eyes
looking back up at me in horror from a bodiless head.  I had no
time to dwell over the impact of it.  I couldn't allow myself to
become sick at the thought of the bone sticking out of what was
once his neck, nor the fragments of tissue that hung still
swinging slightly.  I was off to find the door before the
thought of how gross it was even crossed my mind.

	Bram had been good for me in one respect.  I could run.  I was
in the best shape I had been in all my life before this.  I ran
faster up those stairs than I thought possible and nearly bumped
my head on the trapdoor.  It slid easily open.  The sun blazing
high above told me something I wasn't quite willing to believe;
I was finally free.

	I blinked at the sun's rays.  The heat they provided was so
different from the artificial heat in the complex.  A cold
breeze made every hair on my body stand on end.  The perfumed
air full of pollen and grass filled my nostrils with scents I
hadn't realized I missed.  As my eyes adjusted to the light I
could see around me the town just as Al described it.  From
where I came out I could see the whole town and- was that the
vampire's building on the other side of town?  The underground
passages were longer than I thought.  	

	My God, it was the town where time stood still.  The vampire's
complex was more advance than this place appeared.  The adobe
buildings had to be out of the 19th century.  Most buildings
pressed up against each other and were at least two stories
tall.  It looked as if the second level and above of most were
apartments.  All this on just a single main road sitting in a
small valley surrounded by trees and hillside, isolated from the
rest of the world.

	I dragged myself up and sat at the opening for a moment
collecting myself.  After all I had just killed someone!  My
breath caught in a lump at the bottom of my throat.  Actually
made him dead dead.  I took a life!  And I did not feel as bad
as I had expected to feel, I felt absolutely no remorse, I've
felt worse killing a spider.  Later when I had more time to
think about it I rationalized it was because it was in self
defense.  Deep down I could feel that it was the start of
something dreadful inside me.

	I was out of breath, tired and on the verge of crying.  Not
from the pain but from the pure joy!  I had won!  I had escaped!
 I didn't sit for long.  There was still too much adrenaline
pumping through me.  While the sun was up, I knew the vampires
would not follow.  Just in case, I closed the hatch and found a
heavy rain barrel to drag on top of it.  I knew it wouldn't stop
them but it would at least slow them down.  So now I made for
town.

	Even the people walking about with their earth toned cowboy
garb were approaching the 20th century instead of the 21st.  By
this time I had drawn the attention of a couple of them.  They
held back and avoided making contact with me.  I ran through
town gathering strange looks but I didn't care.  I ran straight
for the sheriff's station.

	Like I expected, it was a single large room.  Open barred cells
occupied the back wall.  There was a staircase off to the left
side.  The place was empty save for the man who stood behind a
large front desk that separated those who enter from the rest of
the room.  There wasn't even any wanted posters lining the walls.

	"Are you all right ma'am?"  The man asked.

 	"Fine now.  Listen, I need a ride out of town."

	"I can call you a cab."  Cab?  Where would he get a cab in this
town?

	"No, I need a police car, a fast one."

	He laughed, "I'm sure that the cab's probably faster."

	"Listen, I know you know about the vampires, well they're gonna
be rushing this town at dusk if you don't get me out of town."

	He looked at me skeptically.  It was then that he noticed the
cuts and bite marks covering my body and the sword in my hand. 
"You stay right there, I'm gonna get the sheriff."

	"Fine."

	I waited patiently until an older grizzled man with bright
blue-grey eyes walked down the stairs.  He looked familiar
somehow.  He probably had a bit part in some western flick. 
"You escaped from the vampires?"  He asked skeptically.

	"Yes."  I was tired and I didn't need to be patronized. 
"Listen, just get me out of this town before they come after me."

	"There's no where you'll be able to hide."

	"Don't you think I know that, now help me!"

	"Look Miss.  I can't help you.  You've put us in danger by just
talking to you."

	"Fine, I'll find my own way out then."  Frustrated yet again I
turned my back on him and began to walk out.

	"That sword's got blood on it!"  He was sooo observant!

	I turned back on him sharply.  "Really, gee, I didn't know
that, thanks for telling me!  I'll be sure to shine it before I
go kill anybody else."  I began to walk out again.

	"If you killed one of them, you better bet they'll be after
your head tonight."

	"Why do you think I'm trying to get out of town?"  I asked over
my shoulder tiring of his interruptions.

	"If you stay here, we might be able to protect you."

	"I can take care of myself thank you, besides, I thought you
don't want to get in trouble for associating with me."

	He looked at me with a serious expression, "If you can kill one
of them you can help us get out from under their control."

	"What kind of control?"

	He laughed, "You don't think they get all that food and
medicine from out of the air do you?"

	I knew this but surely that wasn't all.  "So go on strike."

	"We've tried that and it only made our lives worse."  He
sighed.  "There's only one way to relieve our pain."  He pointed
to the sword.

	"I killed once, I don't plan on doing it again."

	"You must have some knowledge and talent to have gotten past
them."

	"Listen, I had help and that help won't do squat to get rid of
the number of vampires living down there."

	"What kind of help?  Maybe we can collaborate."  He sounded
desperate.

	"I used sleeping gas.  If you think you can gas the entire
underground fortress then be my guest.  I plan to be on the
other side of the world by then."

	"What if I can get insurance against their retribution?  Would
you help us?"

	"Do you really think you can?  What kind of insurance?"  I
asked warming to the idea and not really wanting to argue
anymore.  The sword was getting heavy in my hand and I was
getting woozy from the lack of blood. 

	"Let me help."  The sheriff took the sword and laid it on the
desk then ushered me to a bench in a jail cell and helped me to
lie down.  "I'll call for a doctor."  He said quietly.  "In the
meantime you'll be safe in here."  

	It felt so good to lie down on a bed outside of the vampire
building, even if it was a hard slab.  It was better than Keir's
floor, at least this had a pillow.  I could finally relax.  It
felt so good to be free!  

	That was until I heard the clank of the jail cell door locking
shut.  I jolted from the bench and to the door to find it was
indeed locked.  I should have prayed for permanent escape. 
"What the hell are you doing?"

	"Insuring that no one in this town gets hurt by the vampires
again.  I have no choice, just do as you're told and you won't
be harmed."