I’m surprised to find that this underground vampire lair looks more like a corporate office from the ’80s than anything else. White walls, thin gray carpet. There are fluorescent lights lining the ceiling, but they’re all turned off. We’re at one end of the hall, facing a cargo-sized elevator. To the right, at the very end of the hall, there is a stairwell leading up, complete with that standard green-lined evacuation plaque you always see next to the doorway. To our left, the hallway goes down about 200 feet.
Collin is already up to the first door past the elevator. It stands open, swung outward into the hallway. He’s looking into it like he’s scanning for danger, but since I’ve just learned he gets his “real-time information” off of my senses, it could all just be for show. It makes me wonder what else between us has been just for show. Calling me “beautiful”? The eager way he smiled at me when I was naked in my bedroom? (When the reality is that I still had all my clothes on!)
I give my head a sharp shake and force myself to focus. I’m scared enough to want to be anywhere but here, but letting myself disassociate into some kind of lovesick rumination could literally get me and Rafa killed.
Collin gives me a thumbs-up in front of the open doorway, either not noticing or ignoring how scattered I am. Looking through the door myself, I see it’s an actual standard break room. Thick gray plastic table, builder-grade tile floor, outdated cupboards, uncomfortable plastic chairs, large refrigerator. (And no, I really don’t want to know what they’re keeping chilled in there.)
Rafa has already scanned it and moved on, while Collin continues to stay ahead of us. He puts his ear up to the next two doors (both closed) and gives me the all-clear after each, which I pass on to Rafa with a thumbs-up when he glances back at me. We keep stalking down the hall. No point in poking our heads into rooms if we don’t have to.
Collin then strides past a closed door as if it wasn’t there. He’s halfway to the next one before I whisper his name in the back of my throat. “Collin!”
I point at the opening he just ignored, and he just scrunches his brows back at me, baffled.
“Hold up,” I whisper to Rafa, still a few feet ahead of me. “The spirits haven’t cleared the next door.”
The Monster Hunter stops immediately and gives me a firm nod, which at least makes me feel useful. I might be terrified, but there’s a reason I’m here.
Collin backtracks to me, frowning. “Alvin, what are you talking about? There’s no door there.” He swivels his head up and down the hall and looks even more confused. “I mean, I suppose thereshouldbe…” He squints at where I’m pointing. “Oh! Jaysus! Thereisa door!”
“You really couldn’t see it?” I ask, hopefully too quietly for Rafa to make out.
He stares at me blankly. “See what, Alvin?”
My stomach drops. What is going on here? He did say he was usually left behind for the dangerous stuff. Did Collin overpromise what he could do here? Can the Avatar of Knowledge actually malfunction? If that’s true, this little adventure could go south very fast.
I jab my finger in the air next to him, jaw tense. “That door.”
The Irish boy turns and jolts back, seeming to notice it again for the first time. (Eek.) “Oh, feck.” He then immediately presses his ear against the gray laminate, closes his eyes, and breathes in deep through his nose. “Sorry. Uh, there’s no vampires. Or anyone else inside there. It’s clear.”
“Stay here a sec,” I say to Rafa, whose eyes hollow with wariness. We’ve been standing in place for several seconds, and I’ve been jabbing my fingers in the air and pulling God knows how many strange faces. I imagine at thispoint he’s getting concerned his wizard might be malfunctioning. But he doesn’t stop me.
I walk up to Collin and try to keep my cool. “What’s the matter with you?” My whispered question comes out almost as a hiss.
The Avatar of Knowledge glances down, embarrassed. “I don’t know, Alvin. This part of the wall just felt… unimportant, somehow.” He meets my eyes, determined. “I’ll be more careful. I promise! It won’t happen again!”
Well,that’stotally reassuring.
I want to be able to trust him. I need to be able to trust him. But even now, it’s like he can’t keep his attention on the door. He glances over at it, nervous, before he immediately looks away, eyes glazing over. Something’s up.
Gathering my courage, I step close to the doorway and open my paranormal senses. At first I feel nothing—then a faint flavor of musky almonds fills my awareness. The only place I’ve ever sensed that kind of magic was at Tara’s house—and it might have been what messed Collin up when we were there.
Is it druidic? Almost immediately, I’m hit with a strange ozone aftertaste, which is definitely different. Still, could Tara actually be here? Working with them somehow? That’s a scary thought. But it’s not like there’d be a garden in a sub-basement for her to use to attack us. (Right?) And Rafa’s got a big gun. I bet he could take her.
Clearly sick of watching me stare into space, he approaches. “What is it, Alvin? Tell me what’s happening.”
I back Rafa and me away from the door, hopefully out of earshot. “No vamps, but there’s magic past that door. I think it’s druid magic. Not the kind of thing you’d expectin a vampire lair.” I blow out a long exhale. I’m finding it hard to remember to breathe, because there is a non-trivial chance thatthisis where I’m going to get that ice pick to the head. But we can’t ignore it. “I don’t know what it is, but I think we need to take a look inside.”
I wonder if Rafa’s going to fight me on that, but he immediately defers to my judgment. This is a magic thing and I am the “wizard,” after all. It feels nice, even if I do wind up getting us killed.
“All right. You swing the door open and then stay behind it, while I check things out,” he says. “And if you’ve got any defensive spells, get them ready.”
I don’t have any defensive spells.
He removes his shotgun from its holster, seats its butt firmly against his shoulder, and holds the flashlight alongside the weapon’s front grip with his left hand. I’ve tried my best to get up to speed on PI stuff over the last couple months, and I’ve done enough self-study about weapons on YouTube to finally recognize it as a Beretta semi-automatic—an efficient, badass weapon for an efficient, badass Monster Hunter. And it looks non-standard—extra-long magazines, better sights—so it’s been made even more lethal.
He positions himself in front of the entryway and gives me a nod. I turn the handle and swiftly open the door. Rafa relaxes slightly instead of tensing, so I peer around the edge.
The bright red beam of his flashlight strafes down a rough stairwell carved into the bedrock. I can’t see what it leads to from here. It’s too long.
