The Wiccan Diaries (24 page)

“That is difficult. This one here, means a Vampire Coven. It
suggests that she may meet a plurality of them. Many. Also, that she may have
her eyes on more than just one.”

“The two vampire Protectors,” I asked.

“Precisely,” he said. “There’s something else, though.”

“How will she know which vampire to choose? Sorry,” I said,
when I saw that I had interrupted him.

“Well, there’s actually a Fourth Protector. It’s the
quatrefoil that suggests it.”

“A fourth!” I said.

“The symbols are deep. If you look at the symbol for
Protection––” he said; he pointed to it again––

“––you will see that in the center of the three
interconnected circles, there is a fourth point. That is the center. It shows
up again inside the vampire symbol. It’s the center, inside the fire-symbol.
The dot.”

“Is it a vampire, too?”

“I don’t know. But who- or whatever it is, look for someone
with a connection to fire.”

I felt like my head would explode. So the symbols told a
story. And... what?

“You don’t think––I mean, I’m not...”

“The person in this story doesn’t have a choice. These
things will come to pass.
They’re
finished,”
he said. I looked around confused. “Downstairs,” said Infester.

We got up and he gave me back my book. “Take this too,” he
said, passing me
The 411
. “Like I
said, I’m too old, and if no one listened, so be it.”

Lennox, Marek and Ballard had their arms full of
stuff––weapons; they were getting lots more. “What I can’t figure
out,” said Marek, “is if there are supposed to be
zombies
, where are they?”

Ballard and Lennox told him about their stone theory. “Can
we ask the computer?” asked Marek. He pointed to the computer. It was running
simulations.

I continued to think about what Infester had told me. I
thought I knew what the symbols meant. But there was a final one, I didn’t
know.

Chapter 18 – Halsey

Marek loaded up the car while the computer continued to run
simulations. “I designed the program myself,” said Infester, looking on as red
swept the blue.

“Can we enter in some new variables?” said Ballard.

Infester showed him how to do it.

It began returning interesting results. “No, no, that’s
wrong.
Cold-blooded.
We need to take
into account ambient environment and also food sources,” said Ballard. He
continued to type at the console.

Infester said, “Red’s first move is always to reach critical
mass, boy. Numbers.” He twiddled his string. “It’s only after they have enough
foot soldiers, they launch their offensive.”

“What we need is where they gather,” said Lennox. Marek had
come back in.

Ballard continued to type. “I’m having the computer simulate
the first seventy-two hours based on geography with reference to stone
monuments; it’s doing it very rapidly.”

We watched the screen run through the simulations, first
fast, then
blindingly
fast. The
screen became an endless blur, first blue, then red, like a wave, washed over
the entire city.

“What happens if you pull it back from Rome?” asked Marek.

They showed him.

The red overran the Earth.

“So nothing good,” said Marek, sarcastically.

I realized Marek was like his own machine––he
was running simulations, too––whether or not to get the Lenoir
involved.

“I’ll be,” said Ballard.
“Of
course.
It makes perfect sense.”

“What did you find?” asked Lennox.

“It’s just a hunch, really.”

On the screen, the simulation reset. Except this time, the
‘first wave,’ as Infester called it, surrounded the city. We watched as the red
dots popped up.

“What kind of shape is that?” I asked.

“And why is it so big?” asked Lennox.

“I thought you were doing monuments,” said Marek.

“This
is
a
monument!” said Ballard.

On the screen what looked like a gigantic, jagged circle,
enclosed the heart of old Rome. I was nonplussed; and then it hit me.
“Brilliant,” I said. I had seen that monument before. We all had.

“The Aurelian Wall,” said Ballard. “It runs everywhere.”

I gulped. Didn’t it run through Trastevere? Ballard seemed
to be thinking along the same lines. “I need to tell Lia,” he said. “Now!”

Lennox nodded. “We may need their help,” he said.

“Have you
forgotten
,”
said Marek, “about the first rule?”

“If we don’t stop this, there won’t
be
any rules,” said Lennox. “You saw the computer. They wipe out
everything!”

“What exactly is this Aurelian Wall?” Now that he had a
target, Marek cracked his knuckles. He tossed his head back and the hair fell
out of his normally shadowed dark eyes. He looked menacing.

“It’s a battlement. Like a castle wall,” said Lennox. “It
was built to keep out invading hordes.”

“Except now it’s going to keep us trapped
in
,” said Marek. “Let’s go there. Stop
them.”

“You don’t understand,” said Ballard. “The Aurelian Wall is
massive. If they’ve filled it with zombies... we’re done for.”

“They haven’t filled it with zombies,” said Lennox. “That
would require murder on a grand scale. This boker, whoever he is, is too smart
to raise old dead. The cemeteries have gone untouched. No, it’s the homeless people––the
ones the city finds dead in the streets. Otherwise, the cops would have noticed
something. It would be all over the newspapers.”

“We have to use our heads,” said Ballard. “The Aurelian Wall
is huge in places. It’s twelve miles long, ten feet thick, it reaches heights
of thirty-plus feet in some places. On top of it is a road.
Inside
are passageways. That’s where
they’ve been hiding! No wonder no one saw them!”

“Run the simulation with the Aurelian Wall,” I said.

Ballard complied. We watched, time and again, as the red
dots rampaged over the blue. Every time they won.

“This doesn’t take into account us, what
we
can do,” said Marek.

“I can’t see what happens next,” said Infester. He looked
like he was going to faint. I went to him, prepared to help him into a chair.
“Thank you, child,” he said––when there was an
explosion
outside.

It rocked us where we stood.

All the lights went out, during which nobody moved; then,
slowly, they flickered back on. Infester was weak in my arms. “It’s auxiliary
power,” he said. “The computer is coming back on. There’s not much time.”

“This one is smart,” said Ballard. “He’s using his zombies
to take out the transformers. They have to do what he says. Otherwise....”

“I’ll be damned,” said Lennox. We heard the sound of motorcycles.

“Child.” I was torn between where to go––with
Lennox or to stay with Infester. They were going to the car. Lennox grabbed my
arm but I shook him off.

“I noticed there was a last symbol,” I said to Infester.

“That is the symbol for war, child.” Together, we walked
across his living room and out the door. It was mayhem in the streets.

Lennox revved his engine––we took off. Infester
was scrunched between myself and Ballard, in the back seat. I had come into
some kind of argument.

“I don’t care what you think! I need to get to them!” said
Ballard.

“We need to get to those nests, first.”

“I’ll be quick. I promise.”

“Look! There’s one right there!” said Marek.

We saw a member of I Gatti bust a wheelie through the
street. “Pull up to him,” said Marek.

“This damn window doesn’t go down,” said Ballard.

“Whoa!”

As we watched, the guy on the motorcycle (“I think it’s
Paolo,” said Ballard) swerved, veered, and almost crashed. We saw what had
nearly taken him out.

“It’s a zombie!” said Marek. “Get him!”

“We need to know where it’s going. We can’t just take them
out.”

Lennox changed gears. I felt the engine put me in the back
of my seat. The zombie looked up at the headlights coming towards it. It blew
up across our windshield.

Metallic black blood filled our vision. Lennox turned on the
windshield wipers.

We were in Campo de’ Fiori within seconds––it
was a quick shot across the water, to get to Trastevere and La Luna Blu, where
Ballard wanted to go.

Lennox gave his appraisal of the situation––we
were seeing zombies all over the place. Luckily, the city was practically
empty. Whenever we saw a zombie about to get someone, the black Charger ran it
down. The shell of our impregnable car was covered in sticky black blood.

“I want to kill,” said Marek, “kill.” He was itching to get
his hands on the weapons he had stowed in the trunk.

“You must not kill the necromancer,” said Lennox. “If you
do, it will be like a free-for-all. Its zombies will go everywhere. Do you understand?”

It was late. Rome’s citizens were fast asleep. Power was out
to all the homes.

“If the boker goes, the zombies will be free to do their
thing. You don’t build an army for no purpose,” said Lennox. “If we can figure
out where they’re going, then we can round them up. We have to find the
necromancer.”

Infester coughed. He wasn’t doing so well. “He’ll be magic.
A wizard. Killing the brain doesn’t work,” he said.

“The boker is controlling them,” said Lennox. “The
boker
is the brain. To stop the zombies
you have to destroy them with fire, or else cripple them so badly that they can
no longer function.”

“Remember, if one of them bites you,” said Infester,
hacking, “that’s it.”

“So don’t get bit. Got it,” said Marek.

“Zombies are mindless automatons. You’ll be doing that
person a favor,” said Infester.

I got what he was talking about, suddenly. “What can they
do
?” I asked. “These zombies.”

They were people once––I didn’t know how I felt
about killing them. When I told Marek, he said, “Life is ugly. Don’t justify
it.”

“They can climb,” said Lennox. “They’re super strong. I had
one of them walk up the side of an elevator on me. It broke its own neck trying
to get at me. They’re also really, really fast.”

“There is no mental curtain between themselves and their
maker,” said Infester, coughing once more. “That means wherever they are, so is
the king-sire, child. He can see
through
their eyes.”

“That’s probably what this is,” said Lennox. “They’re
sweeping. Searching for something.” We hit one again as he spoke. “When the
boker finds whatever it’s looking for, he’ll send his forces.”

“Then the Apocalypse can begin,” said Infester.

We crossed the Tiber into Trastevere. The Charger barreled
down the alleyways. We were almost to La Luna Blu. Marek and Lennox were
whispering together. I remembered what Marek had said. They didn’t go to
Trastevere. At the time, it sounded like Marek wasn’t supposed to. Now, it
sounded like they––vampires––weren’t allowed.

He bared his eyeteeth as we got there. “I hope you know what
you’re doing,” he said to Lennox.

* * *

Lia
came out almost
immediately. “What
are
you
doing
, little brother?” she said, when
she saw Ballard get out of the car. Infester croaked to mind the blood; it was
everywhere. She bent down and peered inside, looking at us. The look on her
face was totally unfriendly when she saw me. She had on her red and black
riding jacket and her helmet in her hands. She was getting ready to take off.

“I... I need to introduce you to some people,” said Ballard.
Marek was getting out.

He was just as Six Nine as the rest of the Six Nine Guys.
“Ballard, that’s a vampire!” said Lia.

“Two of them, in fact,” said Marek, indicating Lennox.

“I
knew
it,” said
Ballard. “You’ve been holding out on me, Lia. Mom and dad said––”

“Mom and dad said
I
was in charge.”

“Is something wrong?”

Gaven had appeared. I Gatti was going in and out of the
building. I saw the bartender call to Gaven.

“Just a minute––” Gaven pointed to Lennox. “I’ve
seen that vampire before. Do you know these two bloodsuckers, Ballard?”

“It’s a long story. They’re my friends.
Listen.”

But Lia said no. “I don’t want you involved in this,” she
said. “In case you missed it, Ballard, there are dead people in the streets.
Dead people who are
alive
.”

She spoke as if to someone very slow.

“Not this time, Lia,” said Ballard. “I’m not your little
brother, anymore. In case
you
missed
it, we’re here to help. We
can
help.
Now you need to listen to me.
Inside,”
he said. He pushed his way into the club, with the rest of us following.

Lia’s eyes left him and focused on my face. I stared right
back. “Come on,” I said, taking Lennox’s arm and leading him inside. Marek, I
could tell, was hoping for fireworks.

“...So, you’re saying what, exactly?” said Gaven “...They’ve
been planning this, and they’re holed up here?” He pointed to the Aurelian
Wall. “That would take weeks to search.”

“Weeks we don’t have,” said Lia.

“Not with all of us,” said Lennox.

“And if I help you? You’re that vampire we’ve been chasing,”
said Gaven. “You’re smarter than the other ones. Always manage to get away.”

Marek cracked his knuckles. He and Gaven eyed each other.

“I don’t hunt in Rome. I protect it,” said Lennox.

Lennox explained about the biting, the blood, and the Suck.
And most of all,
fire
. “We need it,”
he said. “Luckily, we have weapons. Driving around on motorcycles won’t do
anything. Has anyone been bitten yet?”

Gaven shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Which means they’re searching for something,” said Ballard.
As if on cue, two members of I Gatti came into La Luna Blu, removing their
helmets, looking worse for wear.

“I think you need to see something,” they said, speaking to
Gaven, so that I had to strain to hear.

“What? Are you sure?” he said.

“They’re on their way,” they said.

“All right. Tonight we’re allies. No, Lia. But my policy is
I don’t let vampires live,” said Gaven. “We set ourselves against
evil––wherever we find it.”

“Then this is my opportunity to prove you wrong,” said
Lennox. He prevented Marek speaking with a look.

His men pulled Gaven away. “You can come with us and see for
yourselves, if you want,” Gaven said over his shoulder, before he left.

Lennox and I followed Gaven out, with Marek and Lia in tow.
I still held on to Infester, who wanted to see the Apocalypse for himself.
“I’ve waited thirty years,” he said.

Ballard didn’t go. I shouted for him, but he disappeared
toward his house at a full sprint. Before I knew it, he was gone.

Marek opened the trunk of the Charger, while the rest of us
got inside. When he came back he was holding what looked like three small
grenades. “Firebombs,” he said.

“Precisely,” said Infester.

Lennox drove behind Gaven, heading into the field. It was at
the bridge, that we came face to face with the zombies. They had gathered on
one side of it, while we were on the other. I saw I Gatti ringed around us.
They made way for Gaven and our car––motorcycle after motorcycle
moved aside for us as we passed.

I could see Tiber Island off to my right. The bridge rested
on the western tip of it, between two spans. Lennox’s house was directly behind
the zombies. There were hundreds and hundreds of them. Their clothes shreds.

They had inhuman red-like, shining eyes. Infester said it
was due to their connection with the necromancer.
He must be looking through their eyes
, I thought,
whoever he is.