Forever Young The Beginning (36 page)

An owl hooted in the darkness as four
shadows flitted across a broad lawn area towards a sizeable chateau
with only a few lights showing here and there on both floors. Ian
spied an attic dormer and leaped to the rooftop. The others heard a
muffled tinkling of glass as they watched him vanish into a dormer.
In seconds he emerged and beckoned.

In no more than thirty seconds all
four were inside the chateau attic, and they soon knew that the
only person upstairs was a woman asleep in the master bedroom. The
rooms were otherwise empty but there was the sound of conversation
from the servant’s wing. They glided that direction and it was a
group of some six servants that were sitting about a small kitchen
talking about the big fire at the Francoise mansion. The two waited
a bit, remembering how they had mistaken a large group of vampires
for human servants only a few nights before. One spilled a drink
and cursed as he tried to mop it up, and that convinced them that
this time these truly were human servants.

They glided back down the steps to
rejoin the other two and they made their way stealthily to the rear
of the house. There was a sizeable office there and there were two
men talking. The five silently edged ever closer, stopping only a
short distance from the door which was standing open as the
conversation continued.

“
No, I tell you. I
questioned every servant myself. I counted fourteen men and twenty
three women who said they were a part of your staff.”

“
That’s all of them then.
And no one saw or heard a thing?”

“
No.”

“
They had to be vampires
then. There must have been a small army of them. I had seventeen of
those for bodyguards, just for this occasion. Four were females and
thirteen were males. The males were big ones and armed with swords.
I just don’t understand it. I got a glimpse of one as I left the
ceremonial room. He was dressed in dark clothing and covered with
mud. I took them for some wild ones who had left Paris and were
hungry. I wonder if they were just a large swarm of street
vampires, maybe so many that they overran my detail?”

“
But why your place,
Monsieur Francoise? That seems to be quite a
coincidence.”

“
I may have a rat in my
barn.”

“
One you know?”

“
Yes. His name is
Moreau.”

Ian sensed Henri to suddenly stiffen
and he then grabbed Ian’s arm and nodded. Ian took it to mean that
Henri knew that name.

“
One you chose?”

“
Actually he came to me. He
won’t tell me who he might have worked for in the past, but he has
been useful to me from time to time. I always tried to have several
of my bodyguards around when this one came. There is something
about him that makes him …different from others that I’ve known. He
seems to want the money, but I sense that he has an agenda and is….
more deadly than the others somehow if that makes any sense. But
regardless, if you had been there that night, you’d have seen for
yourself.”

“
I would have, but my wife’s
family was here and I just couldn’t suddenly leave them without an
excuse that would truly hold up. They’re not really friendly toward
me as it is.”

Stepping into the room, Ian said
“Neither are we you devil-worshipping bastard.”

The effect of his sudden appearance
was to startle the pair. They were paralyzed in fear as they saw
three more glide into the room, eyes glowing fiercely. Although
cowering from his frosty glowing eyes, yet they weren’t able to
look away. There was no mistaking the menace in his low timbre
voice.

“
Is that your wife asleep
upstairs?”

“
Y-y-yes.”

“
Does she share your love of
tormenting little girls?”

“
S-s-s-she knows n-n-nothing
of it.”

“
What of your
children?”

“
I-I h-have two daughters.
Neither knows of my… habits.”

“
Your family will live on in
peace. Your love of the devil has brought hell to your life this
night Mayor, just as it brought hell to the house of this maggot
recently.” he said, turning to Francoise and fastening his icy
stare on him. “Have you any wine in the house?”

“
Yes; in the dining room
there is some.”

Ian turned his head and nodded to the
others. Marie slipped away and returned with a nearly full bottle,
handing it to Ian.

“
Drink now, your worship.”
he said, handing the bottle to the mayor and fastening his icy
stare on him again. The man took the bottle in trembling hands and
took a long drink.

“
More.”

Again he took a long drink.

“
More.”

He did that three more times having by
now taken over half of the bottle. Ian flashed around the desk to
his side and snatched the bottle from him before he could even
blink.

“
Now lean back, your
worship.”

The man leaned back and Ian poured a
little wine on the front of his shirt. He then set the bottle on
his desk and taking one finger, knocked it over. Fastening his icy
stare once again on the man he said “It seems you had a bit too
much to drink this evening your worship. It was a tragedy that you
fell down the stairs yonder and broke your neck.”

Quick as a flash, he grabbed and
twisted the man’s head and snapped his neck. It sounded like rotten
wood breaking. He nodded to Li, and Li took him up as if he was a
rag doll, vanishing with the body instantly. Ian looked at
Francoise and said “Now what will we do with you, Monsieur
Francoise?”

“
I-I-I can pay you more
money, more than you can ever imagine. I…I know you!” he said to
Henri. “You’re a banker. My God! Y…You’re also a
vampire!”

“
Tonight I’m only an angry
vampire.” he said, his eyes blazing.

Ian’s hand struck faster than any
serpent and snatched away the front half of Francoises’ shirt and
jammed it into his mouth. At vampire speed he ripped both sleeves
of his jacket off and ripping them into long strips bound his hands
and feet and secured the gag. He tossed him onto his shoulder as if
he had picked up a small pillow.

“
We’d best leave the same
way we came. Last one out closes the window.” He rocketed out of
the room and up the back stairs to the attic in seconds and was out
the window in a flash, leaping to the ground. He landed running,
his figure a blur that was in the woods in seconds, tossing his
bundle down. Marie and Li were only seconds behind him and said
“Henri is looking through his records.” Ian and Li
nodded.

Presently Henri appeared, holding
three ledgers which he raised up for all to see. “Who knows what is
in here, eh? Where to Ian?”

“
Somewhere out of earshot.
Can one of you bring my rucksack?” He snatched up Francoise and
tossed him over his shoulder as if he was a blanket. Turning then,
he bounded away and proceeded slowly until the others had caught up
before increasing his speed. They rocketed some six miles back into
the deep woods to the northeast of Lyon, ascending steep
foothills.

Ian stopped at a clearing that was
atop a rocky bluff of around seventy feet height. He produced a
knife and slashed the bonds and stood Francoise on his feet,
plucking the gag from his mouth. The moon shone down on them,
casting a ghastly light on the scene.

“
Monsieur Francoise, you
have wet yourself. That’s what those little girls do when they find
themselves in your cellar, isn’t it?” The man was silent,
trembling.

“
You don’t wish to talk?
What about all of the people along the way that helped you,
changing teams of horses to bring your victims to your home more
quickly? Who are they?”

“
I…I wrote them in my ledger
book. It was a green ledger book, but it burnt in the
fire.”

Henri laughed then and reaching into
his ruck sack he pulled out the ledgers. “One of these?”

“
Yes, the green one with the
tab that snaps shut to keep it closed.”

“
So their names are in here
under what?”

“
Pierre Aristide found and
arranged all of the transport this time. I…I have money, more than
you can imagine. Only let me live and I will pay you all
handsomely.” Henri silently put the book back into his ruck sack as
Ian spoke then.

“
Cockroach. You think that
money can buy your way free of this abomination. Think about all of
those little girls you tormented to death. My wife burned to death
in your house that night. Think about that and examine your heart.”
The man remained silent, trembling even more.

Ian tipped his head to one side, and
then said “Maybe you don’t have a heart.” He stripped the remainder
of Francoises’ shirt from him in a flash, ripping it away as if it
was wet paper. Whipping a large knife from his sash he grabbed the
man by his throat in a vise-like grip, and from his neck to his
belt he sliced him in the blink of an eye. Francoise screamed at
the top of his lungs even as Ian instantly bore him down. Grabbing
both sides of the gaping wound he ripped the man’s skin back as if
he was peeling a banana as Francoise thrashed and screamed like an
animal in torment. His blood poured from him as a black flood in
the moonlight as Ian continued to pull until the skin was ripped
away from his ribcage and his ribs exposed. He rapidly sliced off
both halves and flung them off of the bluff. The screams continued
unabated, rising and falling in a rhythm.

Ian turned and ripped his saber from
the bag that Marie was carrying and lopped off both of his hands
and feet. The screaming took on a different character becoming a
babbling blubbering sound rising and falling. Ian stood then and
watched the man suffer for an indeterminate time, eyes glowing a
brilliant frosty blue. The screams echoed from the surrounding
hills.

“
Go ahead and scream,
maggot. Remember how your victims screamed? This is how it feels to
be helpless and tormented by one who’s stronger. I still can’t see
your heart though.” He then drove his fist so hard into the man’s
sternum that it broke into several pieces. Instantly Ian drove his
hand into the man’s chest and ripped out his heart, holding it in
front of his horrified face.

“
This is how it feels to die
badly, Monsieur Francoise. Burn in hell with your
father.”

Jean Pelleau closed his
blacksmith business early and took his horse south, towards
the
Angels’ Care
orphanage, which was along the way to the dilapidated house
where the vampires lived.

Arriving at the forlorn looking house
in a half hour, he dismounted and threw a rock at the side of the
building. He waited a bit then threw another. Then he threw a third
rock. He had never had to throw three rocks, ever. Something was
amiss, so he went to the dilapidated outbuildings and found a crude
wooden ladder. Using it he ascended to the roof of the porch and
entered the window.

No one was there, so he made his way
down, calling out twice and went to the cellar door. Opening it, he
smelled something disagreeable. He hollered again but got no
answer, so he went down the stairs and waited for his eyes to
adjust to the dim light from one oil lamp that was burning. The
other lamps were out, but he saw stains on a large table and some
scraps of rope lying in the middle of it. Looking around, he took
down the oil lamp and walked about in the cellar. It was apparent
that there had been a real battle fought there. Large chunks of
wood were chopped out of some of the supporting timbers and stains
were apparent in the dry dirt everywhere. Puzzled, he went back
upstairs and looked around again, seeing nothing.

He left the place climbing back down
the rickety ladder. After walking around the house, he noticed a
blackened patch of earth some ten to twelve feet across. Within
this spot were nine belt buckles and the charred remains of maybe a
dozen or more boots. He puzzled over that as he went to his horse.
As he rode away he thought of how he would have to fill this next
order himself. It was to be picked up in five days. He hated the
thought of bringing a child this far. There was too much danger of
getting caught. He could keep one or maybe two at his shop for a
short while, but it was risky business.

As he drove back toward
Paris he was lost in thought.
What in hell
happened back there? Did they fight among themselves or did another
coven attack them?

***

After making their way back
to the larger of the two carriages, Ian and his companions
discussed what to do next. Li took the smaller carriage to the back
and let the horses into the corral there and he left the carriage
near the barn. Marie thought she might take the four girls
to
Angels’ Care
in
Paris. Henri had more banking business coming due there, and Li
wanted to return because of Sophia. Everyone knew that Celeste had
to be told about Cosette, but no one wanted to do that. Ian was
torn between Celeste and Cosette’s little brother, Louis. Someone
had to tell him, and besides, Louis hadn’t seen Ian or Cosette for
some two months.