Page 51 of Missing Moon
“Just a bit. These… creatures you have encountered are a… shall we say ‘less advanced’ kind of vampire. I believe they are monsters without a soul to redeem. Effectively, the person they were in life has died and their souls got the boot. Something else is inhabiting their corporeal remains. If this is accurate, they are likely not immortal like ordinary vampires and will progressively decompose over time until they collapse. My guess is in about sixty years. There is some mention of a need to consume flesh as well as blood, which may allow them to repair their bodies and exist longer, fighting off the decomposition.”
I’m done with the toilet, but I dare not flush or he’ll hear it, so I just keep sitting there. “Max, my brother said these things had like a tangled up combination of two different auras. I think maybe the victim’s soul is still trapped, but has no control.”
“Possible, yes. These ancient tablets aren’t very detailed. I doubt the author could see auras, so they would have documented only what they observed with behavior.”
“On the positive side, you do not need to feel any guilt when destroying them. Pretty sure the victim trapped inside wants to die. Who wants their body controlled by someone else?”
I knew I sure as hell didn’t, which is why I did all I could to keep Elizabeth at bay back in the day.
Anyway, I’m not going to tell him I already figured that part out and hadn’t been feeling bad at all about dusting these monsters. Seeing Mack’s evicted ghost proved to me thatdestroying them is doing a good deed. He seemed so relieved to be finally be free.
“According to this tablet, these creatures cannot feed without killing, Sam. And they are extremely vulnerable to sunlight. If even one fingertip makes contact with sunlight, the fire would crawl up their arm and consume them in a matter of seconds.”
“Good to know. Not sure if I’ll be able to use that, but good to know we’re safe in the daytime.” I exhale. “Any idea if these guys have any crazy powers? So far, they’ve been pretty much claws, fangs, and not much else. Strong and fast like you’d expect… but I have a feeling I’m encountering the weakest of them so far. Something worse is probably waiting for us.”
“Not entirely sure, Samantha.” Max pauses. “The stone tablet was only 200 pounds. It didn’t go into great detail. I would imagine that anything you may have heard somewhere in folkloric tales of vampires is likely to be true with them.”
“Great.” I rest my chin in my hands, elbows on my knees, and stare at the wall in front of me. Really appreciate the effort he put in, but Max hasn’t told me anything I didn’t already figure out or could assume. “Max, one more question.”
“Fire away.”
“Have you ever heard of an artifact called the Eye of Anubis?”
“Sounds familiar. Give me a few minutes.”
Dammit. I can’t sit here in the bathroom all morning. “Okay, fine. Gonna shower then. Just start talking when you’re ready.”
“All right.”
I hop in the shower. He’s got the fortunate timing to start talking after the functional ‘washing’ part of the shower is done, and I’m merely luxuriating inthe warm water.
“The Eye of Anubis is supposedly an artifact with connections to the realm of the dead,” says Max.
I stand there, letting the water cascade over my head and run down my body. The only thing that would make showering more perfect is if Kingsley was in here with me, though he likely wouldn’t fit, the big oaf. “Okay. So, if someone had their hands on this thing… could they maybe use it to do something like, oh… create an army of these weird vampires?”
“Hmm. I suppose. If it is involved in your present situation, my guess is someone is using it to create these pseudo-vampires. They are effectively summoned minions, temporarily animated by magic… even if ‘temporary’ in this case means six or more decades. Without studying the Eye myself, anything I say would be conjecture and guesswork. There are stories about the Eye being used to summon an army of tomb guardians. The writing is unclear exactly what ‘tomb guardian’ means. Implications are somewhere between mummies and… I suppose the sort of creatures you’re running into.”
I let my head lean back against the wall. “Well, I do know that normal vampires don’t turn people into those things. Was wondering if that’s maybe happening because all the dark masters are on holiday now.”
Max laughs. “No, Samantha… I fear they are still out there. They are rather difficult to destroy permanently. My feeling is this Eye of Anubis is playing a part in what’s going on. It theoretically has vast power over the dead. You should be exceptionally wary.”
“Good thing I’m not dead anymore.”
“You’re gonna be if you don’t get out of that bathroom soon!” shouts Ellie Mae from the hall.
I blink and raise my voice a little. “Excuse me, young lady?”
“Oh crap! Sorry! Thought you were Ruby playing one of her weird role-playing games. She does that with her weirdfriends sometimes. Eye this, ring that. Mummies and vampires and tombs. Sorry, Auntie Sam! But I do really have to go!”
“It seems you need to go,” Max chuckles. “Be careful and call me if you have any more questions.”
“Thanks, Max.”
I twist around and cut the water. The faucet squeaks and the pipes rattle in the walls… just like they always have. Did I mention the first oh, ten or so years of my life we didn’t have working interior plumbing? The contractor Dad got to install this worked cheap. But hey, rattling pipes beats showering outside under a hose any day of the week.
Much the way I used to do as a kid when bathroom time was at a premium, I wrap myself up in a towel from armpit to knees and hurry across the hall to my room, intending to get dressed in my bedroom. Ellie Mae darts into the bathroom and practically slams the door.
I don’t feeltooselfish at being in there so long. How could I have known she’d wake up this early? Guess the second bathroom—which is only a toilet room—is occupied.