The Thirteenth Lord
M.T. Murphy
Copyright 2015
Copyright 2015
Chapter 4 - The Untouchable
Powerful,
well-trained vampires patrolled the grounds. In the darkness, they were
invisible to human eyes.
Lucifera stood
motionless at the foot of the hill. A cool breeze shifted her hair and tattered
dress. She made no physical effort to mask her location, but the vampires
continued upon their set paths, oblivious to her presence.
“You do not see me.” The vampires could
not hear her command, but they followed it the same. They may have been seasoned
fighters, but Lucifera marveled at how unprepared they had been for one with
her mental abilities.
She had been one of
the strongest vampires in existence. Master Aldo Novafeltria stole her power
with the help of a brainwashed priest and a cursed artifact, leaving her as
weak as a newly turned vampire. Lucifera overcame Novafeltria, but most of her
power died with him.
One gift he could
not take from her was her mental ability. In life, she could read the thoughts
of others and use that knowledge to influence them. As a vampire, she could
plant thoughts and suggestions in the minds of humans and other vampires.
A black-clad vampire
stopped a few paces from her and strained his eyes in her direction. This one
seemed to have more mental toughness than the others.
Lucifera stepped
closer to him. In a single motion, she drew her Japanese short sword and struck
for his neck. He saw her when the blade passed through his flesh. His hand was
still reaching for his machete when his head hit the ground.
The sound of the
head bouncing on the grass was enough to shatter her spell. The remaining
eleven vampires rushed toward her with blades drawn. She did something they did
not expect: she smiled and rushed to the center of their group.
She stopped with her
feet planted and sword held high above her head with both hands. The first
vampire reached her and struck a powerful blow at her neck with his machete.
She dodged his blow, using his own momentum to drive him off balance and then
decapitated him.
The next vampire
followed with a thrust toward her chest. She sidestepped his strike and drove
her blade into his throat, twisting it, then ripping it through the top of his
head. She continued the blow, swinging it over her head and decapitating the
next vampire that attacked, cutting his silver machete in half.
The next two
attackers rushed her from opposite directions. She leapt and drove the heel of
her shoe into the eye socket of the one in front of her, then drove her sword
into the heart of the one behind her. Ripping her shoe free, she landed on her
feet between the two. The impaled vampire struggled but could not free himself
from her blade. The half blinded vampire clumsily waved his machete.
She snatched the
weapon from his hand and hit him with the blunt side of the machete’s blade on
the throat, dragging him toward her as he covered his bloody eye. She bit into
the side of his throat and devoured his blood.
The other advancing
vampires stopped in their tracks.
“Is she feeding from
him?” one asked.
“I thought only the
masters did that when they took over another’s territory,” said another.
Lucifera ignored
them and sucked down the last of the blood from her victim. She then released
him and severed his head with his own machete. The other vampire struggled to
remove her sword from his heart, but was too weak.
She turned to him and
ripped into his throat. In seconds, she sucked him dry and twisted the blade of
her sword, coring the heart from his chest and sending it raining to the ground
in pieces.
The power Lucifera
had taken from her victims’ blood coursed through her veins. The remaining five
vampires regrouped several yards away.
Lucifera held her
two blood-covered blades by her sides and stood straight and proper.
“I am one and you
are five. It would seem the odds favor you,” she said.
The vampires
exchanged glances and devised an unspoken strategy. Three of them rushed forward and attacked her
from three different directions. The final two leapt through the air and struck
at her from opposite sides.
Had the vampires
been paying attention, they would have seen a smile cross her face. Instead, they
saw her disappear. Twisting their perception was simple once she made eye
contact with them and wormed her way inside their minds.
It was too late for
them to stop their attacks. The three on the ground hit each other at the same
time. An arm was severed. A vampire took a machete through the face. The third
ground attacker was on the business end of a machete right in between his eyes.
The two vampires
that attacked from above slammed into each other in midair. Lucifera stepped in
and decapitated both of them with two quick blows. She grabbed the vampire with
the severed arm and latched on to his bleeding appendage. He tried to fight her
off, but his strength faded with each gulp as she devoured his blood.
The other two
vampires removed their machetes from each other’s faces and tried in vain to
follow her movements. Lucifera moved behind them and drained their blood. With
all three writhing on the ground in blood-deprived weakness, she removed their
heads with three quick blows of her sword and machete.
As much as she
enjoyed the battle, Lucifera knew that she would have been able to kill them
all before they discovered her if she still had her former power. A bleeding
gash on her right shoulder and a fresh collection of bruises were painful
reminders that she was far from invincible.
She strolled around
the outside of the lavish mansion. Her wolf awaited her by the front door. He
looked up and smiled as she rounded the corner.
She allowed herself
a brief glimmer of hope. Perhaps his mind was healing. A glance up at the night
sky killed that thought. The moon was hidden behind a thick layer of clouds.
Otherwise, he might have been trying to tear out her heart.
“Took your sweet
time, I see,” he said.
“When one feeds, it
is impolite to do so hastily,” she replied.
He shrugged and
stood, ignoring the muted gurgles coming from the injured vampire at his feet.
“Did these guys seem kind of weak to you for a vampire lord’s servants?”
“They were here for
appearance alone. Agnes the Untouchable has little need for servants to fight
her battles.” She motioned toward the front door. “We should greet her properly.”
He nodded, then
kicked the door. It crashed inward, falling off the hinges.
“Why do they call
her the Untouchable?”
“Because she has
mastered each of the three states achievable by only the most powerful of
vampires: shadow, mist, and smoke. She cannot be touched, but she can and will
attack.”
Mickey stepped
inside the house. The front door opened to a huge foyer in the middle of which
stood a long, mahogany stairway that extended to the third floor and a single
door.
“Smoke, huh?” he
said. “I only saw you turn into shadow back when…” He did not finish the
thought, but he didn’t have to.
Lucifera knew.
Back when she was
powerful. Back when she wasn’t weak. Back when she was his better.
“Smoke and mist are
rather vulgar,” she replied as though the sentiment hadn’t stung. “I prefer the
shadow form. It is graceful and elegant.”
“Okay. She turns
into wispy elegant shadows and stinky, vulgar smoke and mist and attacks us but
we can’t hit her back.”
“That is accurate.”
“Figures.” Mickey
closed his eyes and sniffed the air. “There’s only one other vampire in this
place, and she’s up those stairs.” He took a step toward the staircase, but
Lucifera placed a hand on his arm.
His gaze fixed on
her hand. She wanted him to look her in the eye, but she knew he couldn’t. Not
after what had happened.
“Mickey, you need to
shift for this fight. It will take your full power to defeat Agnes.”
“You must be
confused. I’m the crazy one, not you. Don’t you remember what happened the last
time I shifted around you? I almost—”
“But you did not. I
live.”
“Barely,” he
growled.
“Clouds obscure the
moon tonight. You will have more control. Direct your rage at our enemy.”
“You got a plan on
how to fight a vampire lord we can’t even touch?”
“I do.”
“Care to share it?”
She smiled. “No.”
For an instant, his
eyes met hers and a smile flashed across his face. He grabbed her hand and
hastily kissed it. He released her hand and leapt up the first ten steps of the
long staircase.
“Stay behind me
until I see her.” His words were already deep and guttural and mixed with the
snarl of the beast.
Black fur shot down
his bare arms. His shoulders swelled and contorted as bones broke and remade
themselves longer and thicker. He kicked the stairs as his feet morphed into
massive clawed paws. With a roar, he ripped away the remnants of his tattered
pants, revealing a bushy black tail. The werewolf stood to its full seven and a
half foot height and howled.
Lucifera waited at
the bottom of the stairs with sword in hand.
The monster slowly
turned its head back to look at her. There was no recognition in the two
glowing crimson eyes.
She gripped the
sword a little tighter.
The beast sniffed
and cocked its head to the side. Then it turned back and climbed the stairs.
Lucifera knew it lusted for battle, and the more powerful opponent was waiting
for them behind the door.
Lucifera rushed
after him. Though she had lost much of her strength, she still had her
supernatural speed. When the beast crashed through the door, she was right
behind him.
The door exploded
into the night air. A lush green garden with white marble columns and exotic
plants covered the top of the house. It had been invisible from the grounds
below.
A tall, thin woman
stood at the edge gazing at the clouded skies. Her black trench coat and black
leather attire had no place in the Chihuahua Dessert.
“I knew you’d come
for me first, Lucifera.” She kept looking out over the balcony as she spoke.
“Did you?”
She turned to
Lucifera, revealing the face of a woman barely out of her teens. “Yes. You are so
very predictable.”
“Perhaps you are
right, Agnes. Let us ask him.” Lucifera turned to the snarling werewolf. “Do
you find me predictable?”
The monster ignored
the question, instead stepping forward to roar a challenge at the
youthful-looking master vampire, Agnes.
She turned away and
frowned. “Oh God. They said you had a werewolf, but hearsay and seeing it with
one’s own eyes are two different things. That is so very revolting.”
Mickey leapt toward
her, his massive claws reaching for her thin neck. Instead of dodging the
oncoming attack, Agnes stepped toward the werewolf.
The werewolf let out
a satisfied growl as his momentum carried him into her. Claws pushed into her throat. Then they pushed through the other side. The werewolf’s face passed directly
through Agnes’s face. Every part of her he touched became a dark mist.
The werewolf passed through
her and landed on the ground in a crouch. Behind him, the dark mist gathered
and reformed into Agnes.
“That was so very
pathetic,” she chided. “Allow me to show you how a true vampire lord fights.”
Throughout the entire exchange, Agnes kept her hands hidden at her sides. Now,
she held them up for all to see. An unnatural, four-inch-long black talon protruded
from the top of each finger.
Her form shook, then
exploded into a dark gray mass of smoke. The mass enveloped the werewolf, who slashed
repeatedly at the substance to no effect.
Agnes cackled with
delight in between the werewolf’s savage strikes. Her own claws took form and
slashed at the monster’s throat and chest. The slashes continued as the
werewolf’s berserk attacks grew even more unfocused and wild. Blood from the
various wounds dripped down his body. She kept up the vicious attack for a full
minute.
Her smoky form
swirled around the werewolf and her disappearing and reappearing hands struck
him from every angle. As she prepared to land another blow on the werewolf, a
bloody hand caught her intangible wrist and held her in place.
Agnes’s body
reformed into its original shape and she glared at her arm. A smiling Lucifera
gripped her wrist.
“Do you still find
me predictable?” Lucifera asked.
Agnes screamed in
fury.
The werewolf raked
claws covered with his own blood down Agnes’s back, tearing four thick gashes
through her coat and the flesh beneath.
She screamed again,
this time in pain, and ripped her arm free from Lucifera’s grasp. “I am untouchable!”
“Are you?” Lucifera asked.
The werewolf lunged
at her again. This time, Agnes was prepared. She grasped one of his
outstretched hands and used her supernatural strength and his own momentum to
throw him over the edge of the balcony and into the rocks three stories
below.
“They say fighting
the mighty Lucifera and her werewolf together is a sure death sentence. I won’t
make that mistake twice.”
Lucifera smiled and
offered no reply.
Agnes became a
swirling cloud of black smoke and moved toward Lucifera. “I don’t know how you
were able to touch me, but it won’t happen again. I will kill you now.”
Lucifera delivered a
lightning fast punch to the center of the swirling cloud. Agnes reformed and
landed on her back clutching her bloodied face.
She scrambled
backward on the floor as Lucifera stalked toward her. “How?”
Lucifera held up her
left hand. It was covered in Mickey’s blood.
Fear crept into
Agnes’s face as Lucifera approached.
“When was the last
time you were struck, Agnes?”
“You know damned
well, you bitch. Before I took the first seat.”
“And who was it that
delivered the blow?”
“You,” she
whispered. Then she dissipated into smoke and drifted to the edge of the roof.
Lucifera wiped her
bloody hand on the blade of her sword and thrust it into the smoke.
Agnes reformed and
looked down at her chest to find Lucifera’s blade protruding from her heart.
“I take back what I said,” she gasped, “about you being predictable.”
Lucifera twisted the sword and jerked it to the right, cutting Agnes’s
heart into three pieces.
She fell to her knees, paralyzed but still conscious. Lucifera left the
sword embedded in her back and knelt behind her, brushing the blonde hair off
the side of her neck.
“I am far more valuable to you alive,” Agnes groaned. “I know what
awaits you. Ruprecht is coming. He knows what lies in your vault.”
“I am aware that your maker follows the breadcrumb trail I have left
behind. You have, however, piqued my interest. How would Ruprecht know of the
contents of my vault?”
Lucifera bit into her throat with white, razor sharp fangs. Agnes may
have been the weakest of the vampire lords, but Lucifera grew drunk from the
power in her blood. She put her arms around Agnes, embracing her as she drank.
The vampire’s memories poured into her. She observed with mild interest the training she had
received from Ruprecht the Horror in the art of becoming shadow, smoke, and
mist. The faces of countless victims passed by. Her quick ascension to lord
status followed suit. Just before Lucifera finished draining her blood, a
familiar face appeared.
Lucifera released Agnes from the embrace and removed her sword, shoving
her to the floor. “Stanislaus?”
Agnes struggled to push herself up, but she lacked the strength and
collapsed onto her back. “You can’t be angry about that. It has been centuries.”
Green fire burned in her eyes as Lucifera swung her sword and lopped
Agnes’s head off.
The door to the roof crashed open again. A bloody, furious werewolf
burst forth.
“Wolf,” she said, “it is over.”
The werewolf stalked over and sniffed the decapitated body. The beast
stood and held its nose high, sniffing the night air. Its eyes turned to
Lucifera’s sword. It sniffed again. Then it growled.
“Yes, your blood is on the blade, but it was Agnes’s talons that
wounded you. Shift back, my wolf. We have a long journey ahead of us and we
need to speak before we go.”
It took a step toward her and crouched down with claws and fangs bared.
Lucifera looked up. The moon was visible through a break in the clouds.
“Most inconvenient,” she said.
The werewolf leapt toward her with claws outstretched.
She grasped one of its claws and pressed the blade of the sword under
its jaw line as it slammed her against the wall.
“Wolf,” she said, “it is finished. Come back to me.”
The werewolf snarled and snapped its jaws an inch from her face. Its strength
was too much for her.
“Mickey … please.”
At that instant, the moon returned behind the cover of clouds and some
of the red fire in the werewolf’s eyes faded. It looked down and saw its left
claws buried in the flesh of her arm. The monster whined and stepped back,
releasing the vampire.
He let out a howl as his form shrank. Fur receded. Bones cracked and
muscle ripped as he returned to his human shape.
He stood naked before her with his eyes wide and hand outstretched
toward her injured arm. “Lucifera,” he said.
“I am fine, wolf.”
“I would have killed you.”
“Do you really believe I am so easy to kill?”
He reached up and stroked the side of her cheek. Lucifera closed her
eyes for a moment. It was the first time he had touched her like that in weeks.
He withdrew his hand and headed down the stairs. “I gotta find some
clothes.”
Lucifera looked down and picked up Agnes’s head. She considered coring
out her eyes with the sword for good measure but decided against it. There was
no need to be petty. She tossed the head over the side of the roof and followed
Mickey down the stairs.
Mickey found a pair of jeans his size and a new pair of boots. He
tossed on a tank top and retrieved his ancient leather jacket from the coffin
he had left outside the front gate.
“Do you still have your cell phone?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“I want you to call your old friend, Richaud. Tell him we need a
favor.”
Mickey grimaced. “Richaud? I already owe him too much. Do you know what
he does when someone owes him and doesn’t pay their debt right away? He has me
repay a little bit of my debt by ripping them to tiny pieces.” The werewolf
stroked a sideburn, deep in thought. “I wonder who he calls when I’m not around?”
“There will be no issues with Richaud,” Lucifera said. “Tell him we
require transportation to Los Angeles. Also, he will go to the Romana Tower and
assist Nash. The other lords will make a move against it soon. Then, he is to
consider all your debts forgiven. If he will do these things, tell him his debt
to me is repaid and he can have what he desires from my vault.”
“He owes you?”
“Yes.”
Mickey shrugged and dialed the number for Richaud.
He stepped away from Lucifera and pressed the phone against his ear.
“Hey, Richaud. What’s shaking?”
The voice on the other end was barely audible, but Lucifera heard him
laugh before reminding Mickey of his obligations.
“Yeah, about that. I got a counter offer for you. Send somebody to pick
me and Lucy up in Espada, Mexico and give us a ride to LA. You take your happy
French ass to the Romana Tower and help a vampire named Nash defend the place
until we get there. Wipe my slate clean. In return,” Mickey took a deep breath,
“Lucy says your debt to her is repaid and you can have, uh, that thing you want
from her vault.”
The voice spoke two more sentences and hung up. Mickey turned back to
Lucifera looking more confused than usual. “He said it’s a deal. Someone will
find us tomorrow afternoon in Espada.”
“Good,” Lucifera said. “Nash will still need assistance. Perhaps you
should also call your cousin Lily. I like her.”
“The feeling ain’t mutual. Why would Lily help you?”
“For the same reason the vampire lords will move against my tower. Lily
wishes to prevent anyone from finding and using the tomb of Dracula. In my
vault on the thirteenth floor, I possess the journal of Dracula. She is welcome
to it.”
“Wait, does that mean you lied all that time when everybody thought
they found the tomb a while back?”
“There was no need to lie. No one asked me if I knew where Dracula
was.” Her smile grew. “I do.”
* * * * *
Two hours later, Ruprecht the horror strode into Agnes’s estate like
Odysseus returning from his journey. The house had been his gift to her.
Two dozen dead vampires littered the grounds. Ruprecht had never seen
the use in having guards. They caused more bother when they died, leaving a
mess to be cleaned up.
Agnes’s head had been sitting in the grass when he arrived. He had
hoped his creation would survive, but these things happened. What he found
troubling was that there was no sign how Lucifera had done it.
A few paces away on the front porch, a lone survivor twitched and bled
with a broken neck. Ruprecht knelt down by the vampire.
“Do you know who I am?” he asked.
Carlos stared wide-eyed at him, unable to speak or move from his injuries.
“I am Ruprecht, soon to be the thirteenth vampire lord. I am Agnes’s
maker. Her minions did you the disservice of incomplete vampirization.” He
shook his head. “Dreadful. It’s like they wanted you to die at the first hint
of trouble. That or they were too weak to turn you properly.”
Ruprecht snapped his fingers. A trickle of blood trailed down his hand.
He held his dripping index finger over Carlos’s mouth. A few drops of blood
landed on his lips.
Carlos licked away the blood and Ruprecht replaced it with three more
drops.
The young vampire’s broken jaw reset with a wet pop and his neck
returned to a natural angle with an even louder pop.
“Jesus H., man,” he gasped. “You’ve got to give me more.”
“In good time, my son. For now, keep your lips closed tight and let me
pontificate.” Ruprecht stood and glanced around the front of the house. “From
the stench coming from inside the house, I wager that the werewolf shifted in
there.”
“I—” Before Carlos could complete the thought, a glare from Ruprecht
silenced him.
“Lucifera’s handiwork is all over the area out back. If one is of a
weak mind or has had the misfortune to lose some of his blood to her, she will
play with their thoughts, then destroy their body.”
He picked up Agnes’s head and caressed her cheek. “I knew she might
defeat my Agnes, but I did not think she would kill her. It’s possible that I
am wrong about her intentions.” He kissed the head on the lips, then tossed it
aside. “You know what distresses me, Carlos?”
Carlos shook his head.
“What distresses me is that I cannot tell how she did it. I figured
Lucifera would use holy water to fight Agnes, but she didn’t. She didn’t use
fire to force her to become corporeal either.” He turned back to Carlos. “I
don’t suppose you saw anything did you?”
The vampire shook his head again. “No, man. I heard that werewolf roar
from the roof. There was a struggle, then it landed on the ground over there.
While it was heading back up to the roof, I felt Agnes die.”
“Curiouser and curiouser. So the beast did not do it either. Lucifera
found a way. She’s always been annoying like that.”
Carlos stood and flexed his arms and legs with a smile. “Shit. I feel
like a million bucks.”
“I know. Play your cards right and I might make you a vampire lord
yourself when this is over, my son.”
“Whoa. You can do that?”
“If things go the way I expect, then I can and will do just that, as it
will be within my power and authority.”
Ruprecht closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, searching for
Lucifera. He felt her power a few miles to the east. He reeled in his own power
so she did not sense him.
“They are close, but there is no need to rush this. Lucifera must be
allowed to play her part. I don’t want to move prematurely.” He patted Carlos
on the shoulder. “Come on, then. Let me show you to the master crypt. We’ll
need a good day’s sleep before we set out.”
Carlos followed him through the broken front door. “Hey, Ruprecht, I
gotta ask, why do they call you the horror?”
Ruprecht spun around with a smile and outstretched his arms. “Good
show, my son. I thought you’d never ask.” He rose from the floor and a thick black
seam appeared in the air behind him. “Tell me, Carlos: What do you fear the
most?”
Ruprecht spun around with a smile and
outstretched his arms. “Good show, my son. I thought you’d never ask.” He rose
from the floor and a thick black seam appeared in the air behind him. “Tell me,
Carlos: What do you fear the most?”
