Kyle reached the lower levels and ran with all his speed down the hall, until he found the huge door he was looking for. There was only one guard standing outside it, as he suspected—a young and weaker vampire, only hundreds of years old. Before he could react, Kyle had already struck him cleanly across the jaw, knocking him out cold.
Kyle put his shoulder to the door and knocked it in. He crossed the room, and there he was. That Russian boy. Chained to the wall, hands outstretched, mouth gagged, eyes open wide with fear and terror. They’d had him in there for days, and by now, this boy had been utterly broken. Kyle ran across the room, not wasting time, and tore off his hand and foot chains. The boy reached up and pulled off the duct tape from his mouth and began shouting.
“Who are you? Why am I here? Where are you taking me? Why did—”
Kyle reached up and backhanded him with enough strength to knock him out. Then he slung him over his shoulder and carried him out the room, chains dragging.
He sprinted with him through the empty corridor and up the staircase, and before he knew it, he was out the door, through City Hall, and into the daylight. He ran for all he was worth, and was pleased to realize that no one was following him.
He relaxed a bit, as he ran. He had what he needed. This boy, with Caitlin’s blood still in his veins, could lead him right to her. And where she was, the sword would follow.
He smiled. It was only a matter of time. Soon he would have the sword.
TWENTY TWO
Caitlin and Caleb flew over miles of dark woods as they crossed Martha’s Vineyard, heading into the late afternoon sun. She marveled at how big the island was. She had imagined it to be a small place, but as she looked down, she realized that it was massive. The Aquinnah cliffs, where they were heading, were on the far corner of the island, all the way on the other side. Even flying at Caleb’s speed, it would take a while.
Caleb didn’t like to fly if other people were around, as he never wanted to draw undue attention to him or to the race. But the island was so deserted this time of year, that he had no qualms about flying them from one side to the other, especially over a patch of woods.
Caitlin’s mind spun as she thought of the whaling church, and of the latest clue they’d found. It was not at all what she’d expected. She had guessed it might be another key. Instead, they’d found a scroll—a brittle, yellowing parchment, and torn in half, right down the middle. It had been obvious, from first glance, that the other half of it was missing, and that without it, the first half would be useless. Half of a riddle. Given its condition, it was amazing it had survived, and she was sure it would not be preserved if it hadn’t been stored inside a narrow, metal, airproof container—one which she now felt bulging snugly in her pocket.
The three of them had scrutinized the cryptic message on the half of the scroll, knowing even as they did that it would be useless. There were words and phrases which were torn down the middle. Fragments. Pieces of a riddle. It read:
The Four Horsemen…
They leave…
Enter a ring…
Meet at…
And find the…
Beside the fourth…
They had guessed again and again, trying to complete the sentences. But try as they did, they could not decipher it without the other half.
They had all felt deflated, and Roger had seemed apologetic. There were no hints, no leads whatsoever as to where the other half of the scroll might be.
So Caitlin and Caleb had decided to go to the only other lead they had: the Aquinnah Cliffs. Her dream.
Caitlin struggled to remember the dream, and it already felt distant, hazy, as if she’d dreamt it months ago. She started to worry if she’d even dreamt it at all. She didn’t want to let Caleb down, or lead him any deeper on this wild goose chase.
As they turned the bend, the woods below them opened up, and the landscape changed to beautiful, tall grass, swaying in the wind. It was lit up by the late afternoon sun, and glowed a soft red. It was beautiful. Below, she saw a farm, random sheep and cows spread out on the primitive landscape.
Soon Caitlin could smell the salt air, and as they rounded another bend, the landscape shifted to dune grass, then to sand.
Then, the cliffs came into view.
They were breathtaking. Hundreds of feet high, their sand glowed with a mystical red color. Especially in the late afternoon sun, it looked as if these huge cliffs were alive, on fire.
At their base was a soft, sandy ocean beach, littered with rocks of all shapes and sizes. Amidst these were occasional boulders, sitting haphazardly on the sand and out into the crashing waves. They look prehistoric. The entire place like magical, like a beach set on Mars. She couldn’t even fathom that such a place existed.
Rose must have sensed it, too, because she, still tucked into Caitlin’s jacket, peeked out her head and looked, sniffing the salt air.
As they circled the cliffs, slowing, coming in for a landing, something about them struck Caitlin as familiar. She definitely felt as if she had been here before. Yes. This was the place she. More importantly, she seemed to remember being here with her Dad at some point.
She didn’t know if they would find anything, but she felt as if they were exactly where they were meant to be.
The beach was empty, entirely theirs. They set down softly, Caleb gently landing on the sand, and Caitlin let Rose down. Rose ran in the sand, jumped into the water, then ran back to the shore as the water crashed on her.
Caitlin and Caleb smiled.
They walked slowly down the beach, taking it all in. They walked in silence, as Caleb reached out and took her hand.
The beach was dominated by the sound of the crashing waves, and smell of the ocean air. Caitlin closed her eyes and breathed deeply. It felt so refreshing.
Caleb scanned the cliffs, the beach, the rocks. So did she.
“This is definitely the place,” Caitlin said. “I feel like I was here with him.”
Caleb nodded. “It would make sense. This is a very powerful place for our race.”
Caleb looked at him in surprise. “Have you been here before?” she asked.
“Many times,” he answered. “The Aquinnah Cliffs are one of our sacred places, one of the oldest energy fields on earth. The red clay and sand store and discharge ancient energy, which restores us.
“Humans, of course, don’t realize. They have never understood the exact meaning of this place. But we have known for thousands of years. It is a place of power. A mystical place. One created by the ancients.