B00724AICC EBOK (15 page)

The idea that it might even be possible to protect an entire city was motivating her to continue with her work. Her mother fully supported her, although she did worry about her daughter. Jenny knew it might be an impossible dream, but as she gained more knowledge and grew into her talents she thought it could be achievable.

Jenny didn’t believe that she was the only one to have such a specific talent even though she knew of no others. Her knowledge and experience of the world was limited; she thought the world could be full of wondrous spells and things that she would love to get her hands on. She also had heard that there was a counter spell to every enchantment and didn’t like the sound of that. There were rumors of vampire wizards but Jenny could find no factual information on such beings.

Allison knocked and opened her daughter’s room door. “Please turn down the music a little.”

Jenny turned and breathed out her dissatisfaction. “Mother, what is the point of knocking if you simply barge right in anyway? I could have been naked.”

Allison shook her head slightly. “You don’t have anything that I haven’t seen. Who do you think changed your diapers?”

“
I changed my own diapers.”

“
That’s something I would have liked to have seen. And what would you have been doing in here naked?”

“
I like to dance naked.”

“
Really?”

“
No, not really. But you know that if you interrupt my concentration I have to start all over again. You could have ruined hours of work.”

“
And did I?”

“
No, I ruined it myself. But you could have.”

Her mother nodded. “You are right and I am sorry. Your work could be the most important thing in the entire country right now, maybe even in the whole world.”

“
Oh, that’s right, no pressure. No pressure at all in that statement. That red sheriff was so cute. When I turn twenty-one I’m going to marry him.”

“
Oh no. I want grandkids.”

“
You know some vampires can make kids. My Dad was a vampire.”

“
Yes, but only about five percent can father a child.”

“
Mother, who came up with that percentage?”

“
I don’t know, I must have read it somewhere.”

Jenny sat up on the bed with the small skull pendant in her hand. She blinked her pretty green eyes several times. “I am going to marry Alexander and you can’t stop me. Didn’t you notice how handsome he was?”

Allison nodded. “Oh, believe me I noticed. How could you not notice that? That Alexander is one hunk of a man, and oh those shoulders. And those lips are so kissable. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a handsome face.”

“
Hey, he’s mine. I don’t want you getting your drool all over him. Mother, I don’t want you to even thinking about him. Stop it right now.”

Allison smiled as she started to back out of the room. “We are not having this conversation. I’ll come back in about ten years.” And with that she closed the door and Jenny went back to her important work.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ZACHARIA MANAGED TO SNEAK onto a container ship in England at the Port of Felixstowe, which was eventually bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Being trapped inside Moon Diamond made it easy enough to make his way surreptitiously onboard, but he had more than his fill of mice. No matter how hard he tried he was not able to stop himself from eating them. Never mind the fact that there were other cats on board, one in particular that had been in heat and driving him crazy. He had put the boots, or rather his claws to another male but had managed to control his urge to mate with great difficulty. It was a fate that he didn’t deserve, and how was he to endure its absurdity. Nature was not supposed to permit the existence of such an entity. He was depressed and often sulked himself to sleep.

He could feel the master’s pull even from Halifax, and as he would approach Moncton the influence would be much greater. Zacharia knew in his heart that he would never get used to his condition and was of course frightened of its permanency. Every time he would awake to face his aberrant reality, his heart sunk that much more. The only positive thing was that he was able to sleep a lot. He wasn’t sure why he thought the Master could aid him in his feline condition.

Zacharia would never get used to those damn fur balls.

It took the cat weeks but he finally arrived in Moncton on a rainy Tuesday morning. As he came off the highway and onto Elmwood Drive hidden on the back of a black Ford 150 truck, he knew for a fact that Dracula was less than a few miles away. The master would have to read his mind for him to be able to communicate, but he didn’t believe that would be a problem. Or would it? On second deliberation it could be a big problem. What would make him want to read the mind of a cat? Perhaps he could behave in an exceedingly strange manner so he would actually want to mind him. He jumped off the truck and rolled more than he had wanted. Zacharia erred in thinking that because he was a cat jumping from a moving vehicle would be easy. Moon Diamond staggered around from the blow that knocked the wind out of him, and noticed that his tail had been broken in the shape of a hockey stick. He heard it snap back in place as it healed.

Moon Diamond was inside Zacharia and showing him the image of a juicy mouse; he told the cat to shut up as best he could. But it yet wanted him to track down yet another rodent. One was detected in the nearby field. He imagined that it was not an ideal situation for the cat either; it was no longer in control of its own body. How the poor thing must be confused. It wandered around in its own mind like a person in a maze, unsure of which way to turn next. At times when the vampire slept, he had cat dreams, which was unpleasant and disorienting. Even in his dreams he was in pursuit of freaking mice. Once it was a rat that looked big and scary. Of course he realized that it was the point of view from which the cat was observing.

The ancient vampire had to find a solution, and he knew there was a high probably that none existed. Zacharia would then have to decide whether he wanted the Master to kill him, or whether he could live a little longer to see if he could get accustomed to his new feline condition. He was residing in hotel Despair, and his situation had perhaps paid for a lifetime of lodging.

“
I used to be a cat, but I’m all right meow,” he thought.

He knew that he should have left the ordinary cat perish from old age. But Moon Diamond had been his only companion for quite some time; he enjoyed its personality so much that he had not been inclined to simply purchase another. When old age commenced to become more and more painful for the feline he gave in to his selfish thoughts. A new feline wouldn’t have been the same, but a billion times better than forever trapped in a pussy.

The Siamese took a left at the red light and was aware that he was getting some looks as he was crossed at the crosswalk. A young woman called out the window of her new ice silver metallic Audi A4 Avant for her friend to look at the beautiful cat. He crossed again and headed toward the Irving gas station and was somehow aware that he was on the wrong side of the street. He was on Mill Road and he started down the street, jaywalking when there was a lull in traffic. Zacharia came to a brook where he stared down from the sidewalk between the metal railings; several mallard ducks were swimming down there in Humphrey’s brook. He watched the birds for longer than he should have, and he was quite sure that it was the cat’s influence. It simply wanted to sit there and observe. He finally continued and turned onto Martin Street. He ran across the street and down the sidewalk and there was the Victorian house; he understood instinctively that the master was within. The dwelling glowed with a bright pink aura that was hard on the eyes. He wasn’t sure how cats normally saw, although he heard that dogs were color blind, but in fact all his colors were now heightened. But from his vantage point everything looked to be too damn big. He couldn’t even guess at what conditions would be produced with smashing a vampire inside a cat. Zacharia was now aware that he was incapable of morphing into a bat, and that saddened him.

His mind continued to be somewhat higgledy-piggledy, and he occasionally had to infer to the real Moon Diamond to be quiet, otherwise his concentration was overwhelmed by the cat’s mind. Zacharia ran up the steps, jumped on to the railing and flicking his tail jumped into the open window and entered. He thought it interesting that he didn’t need to ask permission to do so. The scent of strong coffee assaulted his delicate nose. He lay down exhausted when Moon Diamond insisted that he get up.

“
Meoooow.”

The cat went directly to the expensive white sectional sofa and commenced to tear it with his nails. Zacharia forced himself to stop but it wasn’t easy, it was as if his left hand fought with his right. He turned to his left and looked up. Dracula was sleeping up there, as he hung from the chandelier with a rope around his neck. The light snoring had made him look up. It took him a second to realize what he was seeing. Why was Dracula doing that?

“
Master, wake up!” the cat shouted. “Meow, meouwff!” is what in reality came out.

Dracula looked good even as he hung from the noose, he was such a handsome fellow, and now dressed in black pajamas. It was his idea of humor, and it was meant for Piers. He was quite sure that he’d show up again sooner or later. The Master slowly opened his brown eyes and became aware of the feline. “Go away you stupid cat before I come down there and eat you.”

Zacharia had an outburst of anger that turned it into a work of art. The cat screamed and shouted as best it could, did a back flip into the air and landed on its head, so much for a cat always landing on its feet. He went around and around as an infuriated twister, biting his own tail and screaming even louder in the process. He let go with the funniest meow in the history of meow’s as Zacharia attempted to talk but could not accomplish it in his present form, but did somehow manage to cough. It was such a funny cough.

That got the master’s attention. He morphed into a bat and flew out of the noose and then reformed. He stared down at the Siamese who sat and looked up at him with curious eyes. “I’d thought I’d seen it all. What the hell is wrong with you? A demented cat?”

Zacharia sat pretty and stared up at the Master, who now looked to be a giant among men. “It’s me, Zacharia. Master! Read my mind! Come on.”

Dracula stared down at the cat and was puzzled. Something somehow appeared familiar about the beast. His mesmerising dark brown eyes examined the cat, which was now in a calm state of submissiveness. There was something most unusual about the feline, even memorable? The cat smiled as best it could. He bent down and picked up Moon Diamond, and the cat meowed softly.

“
You know what; I believe that I will eat you.”

In that moment Zacharia had relinquished his will to live, deciding that it was a better fate than trapped inside a mouser. It would be all over in an instant, and it was not as if he hadn’t had a long and fulfilling life. And yet instinct made him scream his loudest. “It’s Zacharia, don’t eat me!”

Dracula heard the call which went deep inside his ancient brain. “Zacharia?”

“
Yes, master, it’s me!”

“
What the shit are you doing inside a cat?”

“
I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

A peculiar look overtook the master and then he started to laugh. It was a large booming laugh that hadn’t been released in centuries. “Didn’t I tell you not to animate that cat?”

Zacharia was displeased by the laugh. “You did.”

“
I told you that there might be consequences to accomplishing something so bizarre.”

“
Well, I know that now.”

“
Where’s your body?”

The cat shook its head as it hesitated. “I was killed and my soul was sucked into the cat.”

And again Dracula laughed, throwing himself down onto the sofa. “That is too precious.”

“
Yeah well, it’s not precious from my point of view.”

“
I suppose not.”

“
Can you return my soul to my body?”

“
How? Hasn’t your body been turned to dust?”

“
No, yes. But you are so powerful that I thought, you know, that you would be able to do something. Can you do something?”

“
I can’t place a soul back into a body that doesn’t exist. That body is gone, never to return. You’re up the creek without a boat.”

Zacharia let himself fall to the floor as if all his bones had vanished. “I, I, I was afraid of that. But I’m not thinking straight you know. I have to fight with the cat in here. It’s impossible to even describe to you what it’s like in here.”

Dracula smiled. “I can imagine. Well, no I can’t. Let me ask you this. Have you eaten any mice?”

“
I have.”

And again the master laughed and laughed. “What did they taste like?”

“
Tasted pretty good actually.”

“
Not like chicken?”

“
Definitely not like chicken.”

“
Well, I suppose that you could be my cat.”

Zacharia took another fit of anger. “I will never ever be anyone’s cat. I’m my own cat!”

“
Don’t get your fur in a bunch. It saddens me to know that I will never see you in vampire form ever again.”