The Meridian Gamble (67 page)

“One, two, three, four … oh, no!
Did I say that was 10? I’m afraid it only nine. We need one more.”

And he takes another pin, and
plunges it in quickly. And I don’t have to ask to know exactly where it’s
going. Vincenzo stabs it in the place that’s right over the heart. The screams
that emanate from within are very loud for a moment, louder than they have ever
been, but they stop, abruptly, and I’m almost certain the person inside has
died.

Vincenzo looks to me, coldly. And I
can’t believe his cruelty, especially for someone who had suffered the same
fate.

“Why?” I say. “Why would you do
that?”

“I, too, like my games. I survived
a pin through the heart, and so must my pets, if they want to tag along with me
through eternity. And so far, none have. But that’s all right, attachments make
you weak,” Vincenzo says. “It’s all for the best, anyway, because I’m still thirsty.”

He opens the spigot once more.
Vincenzo fills the glass, and takes another long sip.

I look to Roland, but I’m not sure
what to say. It’s disgusting, and a part of me can’t help but to think that I
caused this by trying to show mercy, or that Vincenzo might have saved this
one, if not for my rebelliousness. Maybe he wanted to demonstrate that even a
favored human can come to an end in this place. And I wonder if the person in
the box was a man or a woman, if they loved him as deeply and blindly as I have
Roland and Adam.

But before I can ponder my guilt
much longer, our host looks up, and stares off into the distance, and we can
all sense something. It almost feels as though the walls of the chamber are
trembling, and I’d swear Vincenzo looks scared, if only for a moment. He turns
back to us.

“The Elders will see you now,” is
all he says.

He leaves the room quickly, without
so much as a glance back for the person he just murdered. And my stomach sinks,
as I realize where it is we’re about to go.

Vincenzo takes us down a dark
stairwell that’s almost pitch black, and I’m sure he’s irritated that I have to
take the steps slowly. We go to the lower level, the one where the plants are,
and I catch a glimpse of them from the corner of my eye, before we turn away. I
wonder if it’s some sign of prestige to live on this floor, to have such beauty
close by, or if it’s just some bit of irony they enjoy, to have a speck of
nature growing in this godforsaken place.

It’s difficult to tell where we’re
going, everything looks the same, dull and dreary, and the corridors are
convoluted. The catacombs remind me of Marion’s tower in that way, and I
imagine it’s some scheme they’ve developed to make the floor plan confusing,
should enemies somehow breach their defenses.

Before I know it, we’re outside
another door, and Vincenzo slithers away, leaving me with one last wicked smile
as he disappears into the shadows.

Before we go inside, Roland turns
to me with a serious expression on his face. It’s the closest thing to fear
I’ve seen cross his features, and coming from such a strong, masculine force,
it does little to calm my nerves.

“When we enter, say nothing,
Meridian. Do not even look at them, unless you are addressed directly. It is
essential that you do exactly as I say. Very few humans have survived an
encounter with the Elders.”

I nod my head in agreement, and
it’s easy to do. I don’t want to say anything, I want to do as little as
possible. And suddenly, my case of nerves transforms into abject terror. And I
wonder what my Luminos brethren would think of what I’m about to do.

But before we can enter the room, I
feel it, a kind of soupy energy hanging in the air. It’s not quite like the
crackling vampire energy around my skull, or the light that surrounds me in my
apartment when I meditate sometimes. This feels ominous, heavy and thick,
though not completely evil. It just feels like raw power, and I almost wonder
if the Elders have transcended any concepts of good or evil.

But whatever it is doesn’t feel
natural, and I’m worried.

Roland knocks, but I don’t hear an
answer, not verbally. And I get the slightest glimmer that they’re
communicating with their minds.

Roland opens the door, and I do as
he says. I look to the ground, but through the periphery of my vision, I can
see the room that we’re entering. It’s just as I had pictured it, when an image
flashed in my mind before. It’s simple, no flowing drapes or velvet furniture,
no slaves dressed in gold, waiting to be devoured. It’s just a room with plain
stone walls, and a floor that almost looks like it’s been carved from the
ground. And just in front of them is a little sunken area that resembles a
bowl, with glowing embers inside.

There are three Elders, as always;
the bald one, the woman to his right, and the third man just a bit behind them,
to the left. All three wear plain robes that almost look tattered, the ones I
had seen before, and they sit on pillows on the ground. And though I’m not
allowed to look at them directly, somehow I know the bald one is flashing his
jagged grin my way.

But the energy I detected outside
is even stronger in here, so powerful that I feel like it’s crushing me, like a
bug. It feels like it’s pressing down on me, and I struggle to stand within it,
forcing my knees not to buckle. It takes all of my strength of will not to run
away, and I probably would, if it didn’t mean Vincenzo might be given
permission to lock me in the box.

“I’ve brought her,” Roland finally
says.

And I panic. Was that his
instruction all along? To bring me here?

“Well, let us look at her, then.”

The bald one stands, and comes near
me. And I’m not sure if he walks or floats. My body is physically trembling. I
don’t want to look up, but soon, he’s right in front of me, and I can feel his
hot breath on my face.

I glance at him for a moment, and
the sight isn’t quite as horrific as I had imagined, at least not at first.
He’s just a bald man with slightly grey skin, someone you would think was sick
if you saw them. But his eyes are a strange color, a very light shade of brown
that’s almost yellow, like a cat’s. And when he smiles, I resist the urge to
shudder, when I see those teeth again. They’re yellow, dark in places, and some
of them are missing. But the ones that remain are frightening, all sharp in the
front, giving him what looks like a mouth full of fangs.

My eyes dart away. I can’t look at
him any more.

“Saga … pretty Saga. Oh, but that’s
not what they call you now, is it? Tell me your name once again.”

“Meridian … that’s who I am this
time around,” I say, barely able to get the words out.

“Very pretty, also,” he says.
“You’ve finally returned to us in a form these stupid animals haven’t managed
to destroy. Well played, my dear.”

The elder vampire’s words are a low
hiss, and his voice sounds horse. I get the impression that he rarely speaks,
that he’s only doing so now for my benefit. But his words aren’t those of an
ordinary man, and there’s a power to them that compels you to listen, whether
you want to or not.

“Let me take a closer look at you,”
he says with delight, seemingly to sense my discomfort.

I keep my eyes closed and cringe,
as he puts a finger on my chin and lifts it, examining me. And I can hear him
sniffing the air around me, the same way the old vampire Nicodemus did, which
is all the more repulsive, considering I’m not wearing perfume. He presses his
face closer, smelling the curls of my hair.

And for some reason, Adam springs
to my mind. I miss him terribly, and I wonder if he would ever subject me to
such torture. I imagine that he would do anything he could to keep me away from
this place.

And I can’t stop myself from
looking at them, despite what Roland told me. My eyes flicker upward with a
will of their own, and I catch a glimpse of her. The woman’s head is covered in
a hood that drops low over one side of her face. But in its shadow, I can see
the other half, and I can tell that she’s incredibly beautiful, even in the
dull light of this dingy room, with no make-up on. But her eyes lock with mine
for a moment, and I feel a psychic scream of horror. A wave of antagonistic
energy hits me, and I quickly look away, fearing for my life.

And the bald one laughs.

“You must never look at my sister
again, Saga, dear. She doesn’t like it at all. Usually she will kill a human
instantly for such an affront, but I shall convince her to make an exception
this time.”

Sister. So that’s their
relationship. And I wonder if the third one is also a sibling. I wonder if I’ll
even take this knowledge from the room.

“I … I won’t,” I say, though it
seems strange to me that the red-haired one is so reluctant for someone to see
her. She’s clearly an amazing beauty, and I can tell her shyness isn’t borne of
arrogance. It genuinely hurts her to have others stare at her. And it finally
occurs to me, why she covers her face, why she’s so bashful; it’s because of
me. She’s scarred somehow, from when I raised a rock over my head, long ago,
and brought it down on her face. It must have left permanent damage, and it
boggles my mind, to think that she’s held this pain for so long.

And she must hate me for it.

The elder vampire seems to have a
level of power that’s greater than his sister’s or the silent one’s. It’s as
though he senses my thoughts, straight through my so-called defenses. And he
smiles in delight at what he sees.

“Do you understand now? Why she
covers herself?”

“Yes.”

“And why is that?”

“It’s because of me.”

“Look at me when you say it,” the
bald one hisses. “I don’t care what he has told you, you are to do as I say.”

I raise my head, and stare into his
sickening yellow eyes.

“It was me, I did it to her. I
struck her in the face with a boulder.”

“Yes, you did. You had the temerity
to attack us, and you destroyed her eye.”

And from where he stands, I can
tell Roland looks surprised. I never told him this part of my story, and he
watches us with fascination.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, staring the
Elder down.

And he rolls back his head and
laughs.

“And why are you sorry? For trying
to attack your enemy? For taking revenge for one of your kind? Or are you
simply begging for mercy?”

“I’m sorry to have caused her such
pain. It was wrong of me.”

“Even though she was your foe? Even
though she struck down the one that you loved?”

“What good did it do?” I say. “He
came back, and so did I. It’s a waste, for her to have carried this with her
for so long. I would gladly take it back if I could.”

The waves of animosity that fill
the room seem to dissipate. Though I can’t look at her, something in the woman
seems to have softened toward me. And the bald one laughs even harder.

“You are quite amazing, Meridian.
So delicious in your sweetness,” he says. “I can see why these boys are
obsessed with you. So mouth-watering, your beauty. Usually, I would devour one
such as you who was trapped in my lair, even if I was sated. Snuff out such a
glorious light. But in your case, that simply won’t do. So I may have to kill a
hundred humans after you leave, just to quell my hunger. But in the meantime,
may I have just a taste?”

Oh God, he wants to drink from me,
the same way Vincenzo did. Which might be why he struck him down, to claim
first right of drink for himself. And from where he stands, I can hear the air
escape from Roland’s lungs.

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t bite her.
I am not so vile a creature as that wretched Vincenzo. The pin should have
taken that one,” he says, twisting his head just a bit to the side. “My venom
would destroy her. She would think of nothing else for a year. No, I just want
one drop. A single drop. You won’t even feel a thing.”

I know I don’t have much choice,
but I’m not even sure what he’s talking about. How can he not bite me and still
get a drop? But before I can respond to him, the bald vampire reaches out and
lifts up my arm. He holds his hand above it, and as if by magic, a single drop
rises to the surface of my skin, seemingly seeping from my pores.

The Elder watches in fascination,
as it floats above me. And he swipes it from mid-air with the tip of his
finger. His tongue flicks out, like a lizard’s, slurping it up, and he sticks
the entire digit in his mouth to savor every bit.

“Mmmm … divine. Yet, that’s the
whole point.”

And I’m not quite sure what he
means.

He rolls the sound around in his
mouth, savoring the pleasure the taste of my blood gives him. And I hear the
woman gasp, as the raw emotion hits her like a wave. Yet, the other man says
nothing. He doesn’t even rouse from his meditation.

The bald one looks at me again,
drunk on his enjoyment of my essence.

“Ah, Saga. I like your fire. I can
taste it, even in that tiny drop of your blood.”

But he quickly regains his
composure and turns away from me, as though I no longer exist. And he faces
Roland once more. It’s strange, because his demeanor has changed, and suddenly,
he’s all business.

“So tell me, why have you brought
her here?” he asks.

And Roland looks confused for a
moment.

“Master, I’ve only done what you’ve
asked. I brought Meridian to …”

“I never asked you to bring her
here, though I am glad to have had the chance to see Saga again, in person.”

“Yes, but you assigned me the task
of protecting her, and …”

“And you have done a terrible job
of it,” the bald one says. “She’s died twice in her past lives while barely in
your care for moments. You are an utter failure to me.”

Roland lowers his head in shame,
cowed by his taunts.

“You are right,” Roland says,
patiently. “But I’ve kept her alive now. And I need your permission to change
her if she is to stay that way.”