Dozens of evil-looking vampires slowly sat up, aroused from their centuries-long entrapment. As Kyle finished his destruction, he stood at the center of the room, and looked at the small army of vampires, now facing him. They were clearly grateful—and ready to take whatever orders he gave.
"BROTHERS IN ARMS!" he shouted, in his fiercest voice. "FOLLOW ME!” There was a moaning, and a roar of excitement behind him, as Kyle turned and headed out the room. Kyle could feel them on his heels, his new loyal gang, and knew they would follow him, and execute whatever orders he wanted. They would be a useful mercenary force. He would send them all throughout the city, use them to create havoc.
For now, though, Kyle had a bone to pick with the politicians. He burst through the stone corridors, running underground through the ancient halls, his small army right behind him, and tore up flights of medieval steps, twisting and turning, flight after flight. He finally reached the upper levels of Guildhall, and with a single kick, he knocked down a huge oak door that had been there for centuries.
He burst into the main room, the medieval grand hall of Guildhall. It was a magnificent room, hundreds of feet long and high, with huge arched ceilings, built with limestone walls five feet thick.
The walls and ceiling were covered with statues, gargoyles and biblical images: in one corner sat a huge statue of the mythical giant Gog, while in the other sat a huge statue of the mythical Magog.
Kyle loved these mythical demon giants, right from the Bible, the very images of evil themselves. He always wondered why the humans had chosen these images to adorn this place.
But then again, looking at the hundreds of politicians gathered before him, he shouldn't have.
These politicians, the most evil type of humankind, held a soft spot in his heart. But at the same time, he hated them with a passion. And now, after his time travel, he had to let his rage out on someone. Moreover, he needed to feed. And these humans were an easy target.
Kyle burst into the room, the vampires behind him, and as he did, the huge congregation of politicians screamed and began fleeing for the doors.
They didn't get very far.
Within moments, Kyle was tearing off their heads left and right, feeding on their throats, and discarding the cadavers. All around him, his small army was doing the same. None of them had drank for centuries, and they all wanted their fill.
Within minutes, the walls and floors were lined with blood. Not one of the humans made it out alive.
When they all finally finished feeding, Kyle turned and faced his now-loyal throng.
"BROTHERS!" he yelled. "You are going to help me spread the plague to every corner of this city. Stop at nothing until you've accomplished your mission," he said, handing out small vials of the plague to each one as he walked through the crowd. "When your mission is over, then you can gorge as much as you wish. But only on my command.” He stopped and surveyed the crowd. "Am I understood?"
The crowd roared back in approval.
He smiled.
Oh, how he had missed London.
CHAPTER NINE
Caitlin flew over the British countryside, a smile on her face. Beside her flew Sam, Polly and Caleb, holding Ruth. Caitlin held Scarlet on her back, who clutched her tight with her small hands.
Caitlin thought back to Scarlet’s expression when Caitlin told her that she could fly, and that she was going to take her with her up into the air. She had never seen anyone's eyes open so wide in her life.
If Scarlet had been an adult, surely she would have dismissed it as being possible. But because she was a child, Caitlin could see in her face that she believed it, and was utterly thrilled—as if Caitlin had just confirmed to her that supernatural powers really do exist.
Without hesitating, Scarlet had jumped onto Caitlin's back. Caitlin had told her to hold on tight, and a moment later they had all been up in the air. Caitlin could hear Scarlet shouting and laughing with joy as they flew off into the horizon, and could only imagine her thrilled expression.
Caitlin thought back again to how they had finally decoded the riddle, of Scarlet’s quick-witted solution. She marveled once again at how intelligent this child was. She had, somehow, managed to trump four adults, had managed to decode the riddle in a fraction of a second. Caitlin had never possibly imagined that the answer to the riddle would come from a child. She had vastly underestimated her: this was a special child. Caitlin felt so fortunate to have found her, and couldn’t help wondering whether they had been destined to meet, whether this had all been pre-ordained.
Windsor Castle. Of course. It was a place of legend, a place she had heard about only in textbooks. She was thrilled herself to be going there. The second Scarlet had mentioned it, it had felt right. And when Caleb then told her that Windsor Castle had been the seat of royalty for thousands of years, and had also been the place where King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table had actually met, she knew it was meant to be. If there were more ancient clues or relics to be found, she could think of no more appropriate place than Windsor Castle.
It was only 20 miles away, just west of London. As they all flew through the air, at top speed, Caitlin looked down, and saw an endless stretch of forest pass under them, barely inhabited. She once again felt her stomach growl. But they flew so fast, there was no stopping now. It hardly took fifteen minutes from the time they’d left the river Thames until Caitlin caught her first glimpse of the castle.
The sight took her breath away. In her journeys, she had been to some pretty magnificent places, but this one was close to the top. What struck her most was that the castle so big, spread out over so much land. It must have consumed hundreds of acres, and the walkway alone, a perfectly manicured path, stretched for miles. The land sloped gently upward, and finally brought the visitor to a massive, imposing gate.
Up high, Caitlin had the benefit of flying over the gate, and from her bird’s eye view, she could see what lay behind it. The castle had a huge inner courtyard, with manicured grass, and multiple structures spread out on either side. It seemed not like one castle but several, all welded together in one huge structure. At the far end it culminated in a circular building, high up on a hill, its ramparts reaching into the sky, set off from the rest of it, and surrounded by a moat.
"A castle!" Scarlet shrieked in excitement, “a real-life castle!” Caitlin could feel her giddiness, and smiled at her enthusiasm, as Scarlet clutched her more tightly.
“Will I get to meet a real-life princess?” Scarlet asked.