aslyum hunter

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ASLYUM HUNTER

Chapter One

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Kate Atwood tended to the orchids in her

greenhouse. She whispered to them in a soothing,

absentminded way. Se supposed if she were a cat

person, shed chat with her catsbut she was a plant

person.

A garden architect, Kate had been pressed to finish a

series of sketches for a new client in the Hamptons,

and she was exhausted. Her specialty was complex

mazes comprised of tall Siberian elm, a fast

growing hedge. Mazes could be simple enough, but

the client wanted an intricate one with only a singledefinitive route through it.

Kate left the slipper orchids she was tending and

wandered over to her bonsai. She clipped a single

branch. This was her haven. Suddenly, she felt a

cool blast of air. She whirled around to face a tall

man in silhouette by the door.

"Who are you?" she asked, eyeing her pruning

shears, in case she needed a weapon.
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"I just need a moment of your time, Ms. Atwood,"

the man said as he stepped into the greenhouse. In

the dim light, she saw he was dressed in black, about

six feet tall with curly black hair and intensely eerie

gray eyes. She backed up, putting her hand on the

shears.

"I wouldnt do that, Ms. Atwood," he said, his

accent vaguely European, perhaps Slavic. Kate

uncurled her hand and tried to measure her chancesfor escape. She cursed herself for never bringing her

cell phone into the greenhouse.

"What do you want?" she asked accusingly.

"Dont worry," he sneered. "My intentions have

nothing to do with whats likely crossing your mindright now." He took about five steps toward her. "I

want you to get me into Silver Pond."

She blinked slowly. Silver Pond.She hadnt heard

the name in years.

"Why dont you simply march up to the front door?"she asked him.

"Why indeed? Why would a psychiatric hospital be

locked so tight during the day that not a living soul


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is seen coming or going? Why would it only appear

operational at night?"

Katie brushed a stray blond hair from her face. Thisman was delusional, and she was trapped. "Who

knows? I dont see how I can help you." Clearly he

needed to be admitted to Silver Pond himself. Shed

just have to talk her way out of this.

"You dont?" He took a few more steps until he was

right in front of her. He smiled, revealing deep

craggy dimples, but his eyes were still eerily pale.

"I havent been to Silver Pond since I was a girl."

Kate thought back to the last time she visited her

grandfather. The estate, poised on the rocky

Connecticut coast, had been in the family since1929. Her greatgrandfather had built the house with

twentytwo bedrooms, eleven fireplaces, a ballroom

and, as Kate found out when she was a little girl,

enough hidden staircases and secret passageways to

play hideandseek forever.

When her grandfather had first inherited it, he had

the original maze planted, which only got more and

more complex with each passing season of the

Siberian elms growth. Kate knew every turn, every


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leaf in the maze, a hiding spot from her parents

bitter divorce. But when her grandfather died, and

her own father showed no interest in the estate, the

family trust had decided it would be best to sell

Silver Pond to a private hospital foundation.

"Thats all right," the stranger said to her. "Not much

has changed since you were a little girl. A few

padded rooms, a lot more locks and shutters to keep

out all light, but the maze, the hidden staircases, theunderground passagewaystheyre all still there."

"Look," Kate said soothingly, "Id like to help you,

but "

"Im not insane." He reached out and brushed

another stray hair from her face, his fingertiplingering on her cheek. She stiffened.

"If youre not, then let me go."

"Im afraid I cant. We need to go now, Kate."

And with one swift movement, he pricked her skin

with a needle, and Kates world went black.


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Kate woke up in darkness, her mouth dry, head

pounding. She was lying on a mossy bed near a tree.

Suddenly, she remembered the stranger and in a

panic tried to sit up. The sudden movement made her

retch.

"Rest, Kate," he whispered, his expression one of

concern.

She scrambled backwards. Was he going to rape and

kill her out in the woods somewhere? She looked

around, trying to get her bearings.

"Were at Silver Pond," he whispered. "My name is

Damian Strauss." Looking closely at him, Kate saw

he was handsome and his voice was calmfor a

kidnapper.

"What do you want?" she asked, her own voice

raspy.

"I told you. I want you to get me into the heart of

Silver Pond. And then you can sneak out the same

way. Ill give you the keys to my car." He gesturedtoward the SUV parked nearby. "And you can leave.

You can call the police if you want. It wont matter

as long as Im inside."


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"If youre that desperate to get into the hospital, Im

sure a doctor would be happy to help you."

He shook his head. "Im afraid that Dr. Max Wolfe,who runs Silver Pond, has no interest in admitting

anyone except the undead."

"The undead?" She raised one eyebrow.

He nodded. "Vampires. Its a haven for them. He

locks them up by day. They wake at night to huntand feed."

"Hunt and feed?" This guy was clearly over the

edge.

He looked over at her. "Get me through the maze,

and Ill prove it."

"Who are you?"

"Im a dhampir."

When she looked at him quizzically, he said, "My

father was a vampire who attacked my mother. Imhuman and vampire. And now, simply put, I hunt the

undead."


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Kate weighed her options. He was clearly disturbed.

She could get him inside the gates of Silver Pond

and then find a nurse or doctor to help her, a phone.

If she didnt cooperate, there was no telling what he

would do.

"All right. Ill get you through the maze." She stood

slowly, still feeling a little woozy. "At the back of

the property, theres an iron and stone gate. We

always hid a key under a rock nearby. Its probablystill there. Come on."

She walked along the hedge for some time, Damian

following her, until she reached the gate built into

the bushes. She knelt down and reached her hand

beneath the bush, feeling around for the stone. It was

there, smooth and worn, just as she had remembered.

She turned it over and felt for the key.

"Here," she said, handing it to him.

He took the key and unlocked the padlock. He put

the key in his pocket. "Now the maze."

Creeping stealthily, she led him to one of the maze

entrances. Her grandfathers maze was renowned for

its size, complexity and the height of the hedges.


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"Come on," she whispered. She hoped she could

eventually take a few shortcuts and rights and lefts,

and lose her kidnapper in the maze. She started

running and heard him following her. The maze was

so much a part of her that she found herself easily

following her favorite route. Ducking left and right,

then sneaking through a hidden break in the hedges,

she soon found herself alone.

And then she saw it. On a fourthfloor balcony ofSilver Pond. A man, a thing, clutching a woman to

his chest. Mouth on her neck. When he had his fill,

he dropped her body over the balcony as if it were

trash.

Kate covered her mouth, feeling as if she would be

sick. She turned around, hoping to see the dhampir,

because with horror she realized he had told her the

truth.

Chapter Two

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Kate felt tremors pass through her entire body until

her very teeth chattered. This was all a nightmare
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or at the very least something induced by whatever

Damian had injected her with. This couldnt be real.

And yet, when she bit the inside of her cheek, shefelt pain and then the saltysweet taste of blood

filled her mouth. This was real. She was awake. And

she was in grave danger.

She rushed back the way she came, hoping to exit

the maze and get off the grounds of Silver Pond. She

would race down the road and try to flag a passing

car. Anything but stay here with a kidnapper and

bloodsuckingwhat? She didnt even know what

she was dealing with. Vampires? Impossible. Insane.

Racing back through the maze, heart pounding, she

rounded a corner and ran right into a creature of thenight.

She heard her own shriek as if from down a long

tunnel.

"Going somewhere?" the creature asked. He stood at

least six foot four, and underneath his crepey,translucent skin, bluish veins pulsed.


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But Kate didnt focus on his skin, or his eerie,

corpselike eyes. All she could see were his fangs,

long incisors that came to a point.

She backed away. "Damian!" she screamed, praying

he was as he said, and really intended to slay

vampires. She cursed herself for losing him in the

maze.

The vampire took two steps toward her and grabbed

her by the waist. "You look quite beautiful in the

moonlight," he leered. His grip was crushing her.

Kate struggled in his arms, feeling like her ribs were

breaking and the life was being squeezed out of her.

"Let her go," a voice commanded from behind.

The vampire turned, his undead eyes narrowing with

hatred. He dropped Kate to the ground with a spine

jarring thud, and in two superhuman strides reached

Damian.

Kate rolled onto her side in pain, and watched

Damian pull an immense knife out of its sheath. Inone lightningfast motion, he jammed the knife into

the vampires stomach, and twisted it up to the


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beasts heart. The vampire collapsed, mouth open,

fangs gleaming in the moonlight, eyes fixed upward.

"Dead. Again. This time permanently," Damian saidwryly.

"I" Kate was out of breath. "I cant believe what

Im seeing."

"Believe it, Kate. Though Im sorry to have brought

you here now. I just wanted to get into Silver Pond. Ireally thought wed be undetected." He helped her

up and put his hand on her arm and squeezed it

gently. "I really am sorry."

Kate shook her head, fury replacing terror. "You

druggedme to get me here!"

He stepped closer to her. "I know." He replaced the

knife in its sheath. Next to it was a gun. "I wouldnt

have done it if I didnt know innocent lives were at

stake."

"Whats wrong with calling the police?"

"And what do you propose I tell them?" Damiens

mouth twisted slightly into a smirk,


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She stared at him. "Surely, if they saw what I did

tonight, they would believe you."

"First, theyd have to get onto the grounds. And todo that, theyd need to believe my claims in the first

place. Second, they wouldnt understand how to kill

them." Damian turned and kicked at the vampires

body with his boot.

"How do you kill them? Seems to me that

information would be useful right about now." Kate

glared at him as she spoke.

"Pierce the heart. Used to be the old wooden stake.

Nowmore expedient to use the blade. Mine is a

Japanese tanto with a carbon steel bladeand a pure

silver tip. I coat it with hawthorn oil. Gun has silverbulletsI dont find it kills them, but it does slow

them down. Fires useful. But dragging them out

into bright sunlight is most useful of all."

"You had no right to bring me here." She felt numb,

shock spreading through her body.

"Come on. Lets get out of the maze, and you can

go. Heres the key to my SUV." He handed it to her.


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She looked up at him, and started walking, if only as

a way to do something, to calm herself. They moved

through the maze, Siberian elm leaves occasionally

brushing up against her face. "Why do you do this

alone? Why you?"

"Because I see them."

"I see them. I saw that one on the roof. The one who

hurt me," she said softly, acutely aware of the pain

in her ribs.

"No, I see them where you dont. I see them on the

subways and in the shadows. I see them eyeing the

homeless and leering at children. I see them where

ordinary people dont. Its the curse of the dhampir."

"But still, why? Why be a hunter?"

"Because I will avenge my mother." He glanced

over at her. "I really am sorry, Kate."

Kate tried to focus and attempted to assimilate the

night. She took Damiens hand and led him through

an arch into a short tunnel. "Turn left here," she

whispered. They crouched low as they moved

through the tunnel. It was dark, and the leaves were

still all around them.


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"Where are you taking me?" he asked.

"Dont you trust me?" she asked in a voice edged

with anger and grudging respect. "Ironic, isnt it?"She squeezed his hand tighter as the tunnel grew

narrower.

Soon, they were forced to crawl as the hedge became

more overgrown.

"Kate!" He pulled on her hand. "What are wedoing?"

"Hush." They crawled along, and finally, they were

inside a small room. The walls were made of leaves,

and when they sat down, their heads almost touched

the ceiling of Siberian elm.

"Whats this?"

"My fort. And this," she moved aside the overgrown

brush lining the floor to reveal a metal hatch, "is our

way into Silver Pond. Its a tunnel into the heart of

the house. My grandfather loved surprises and

secrets." She smiled at the memories of them eating

picnic lunches here in their hiding spot. If he could

see what had happened to his beloved estate, he

would have been devastated.


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"Thank you," Damian whispered. "I will kill them

allmost especially Max Wolfe. He is evil

incarnate."

"Im coming with you," she said resolutely.

"Thats insane."

"I cant forget what I saw here tonight. I cant go

back to my hothouse flowers and my old life and not

be involved. Im going in there. More importantly,you needme. I can get you to any room, to anyplace

in there, using hidden staircases and false walls."

He shook his head, then kissed her forehead. "No,

Kate. I was wrong to bring you here. Youre

sweetcourageous and sweetto even offer, but

no."

"Im going."

She lifted the hatch and peered down. Blackness

greeted them, and, echoing from far off, the sounds

of screams.

She stared at him. "We have to do it together. Come

on. Someone needs us."


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Without waiting for an answer, she clambered down

the metal ladder attached to the tunnel wall.

"Damn!" Damian cursed as he followed her into thetunnel.

Chapter Three

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The tunnel was claustrophobic and darker than any

night, any place, Kate had ever experienced. She

tried to not let the sheer blackness of it terrify her

into turning back. Ahead of her, from somewhere

deep in the house, she heard screams.

And worse.

Kate heard animallike screeches and grunts. Every

part of her, every cell in her body, wanted to turn

back. But she thought of the woman on the roof, of

Damians belief that children and the homeless were

being targeted, and from deep within, she summoned

courage that she didnt even know existed.

They walked, their footsteps echoing on the dank

stone floor. Something furry ran across the arch of


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her foot, and she screamed slightly. Damian drew up

beside her.

"Rats," he said.

"I hate rats," she whispered.

"I hate vampires more. Come on." He grabbed her

hand tightly, and they forged on ahead.

At the end of the tunnel, they encountered a stone

stairwell leading up to a door. They climbed the

steps, hearing scurrying. At the top, Kate reached a

hand out to turn the knoband again touched

something furry. She shivered, feeling squeamish.

"This will be the second floor," she said to him in

the blackness.

"Let me go first. And if anything goes wrong, fire

this gun," he said, slipping it into her palm. The cold

metal felt foreign to her. "And," he whispered, his

breath in her ear, making her shiver for another

reason entirely, "if at some point it goes even more

horribly wrong, dont wait for me. Exit the way we

came."


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"No." Kates voice was urgent. It was a combination

of fear of being in the tunnel without him and

admiration for him.

She felt his lips brush hers, giving her an electric jolt

of fearlessness. "Be a good girl. Just leave this place

if it gets crazy in there."

She nodded. A scream pierced the silence. Damian

grabbed her free hand, the one without the gun, and

they opened the door the slightest crack.

"Were on the locked ward," he told her.

"And? Now what?"

"Now we find Max Wolfe. And kill anything

between us and him."

He led her down what was clearly intended as a

hospital ward. The rooms were equipped with

heavyduty locks and small windows centered on

the doors allowing an attendant to check on the

patient inside. Each room was equipped with a bed,

and what looked like Velcro and canvas straps. A

simple metal chair. A sink. But there, all

resemblance to a real hospital ended. Kate felt as if

the walls were closing in around her. As they crept


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down the hall, she could see each room had spattered

blood stains, sights and smells she was certain would

haunt her foreverif she lived until morning.

"Where are they all?" she asked him.

"Out in the night. Recreating hell."

They clung to one wall, moving stealthily, and heard

a moan coming from one of the rooms. Quickly,

Damian urged her along, and they found the roomthe sound emanated from. A nearly dead victim was

splayed on the floor, his throat a bloody mess.

Kate halfclosed her eyes as Damian knelt by the

dying mans side. The victim looked young, perhaps

a college student. He sputtered and coughed, blood

coming up from his throat. Then there was a final

gasp, and his eyes opened wide, fixed on the ceiling.

Damian gently shut the lids, crossed himself and

stood up.

"This place is like Hades itself. Lets search for

Max. I think his office is off to the right, in thatwing. I guessed this was the hospital wing by the

vampire activity I saw at night. But that wing

appears to be administrative."


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"That used to be where my room was. The childrens

wing. I know it really well. Theres a shortcut over

in the library at the end of this hall."

Running, now, they reached the end of the hall and,

sure enough, there was still a library on the right.

Kate and Damian walked in, surprising a vampire

who was opening the French doors to the balcony.

He wheeled around, on hearing them. The vampire

hissed and bared his fangs, which were covered inblood.

Kate shrank back slightly, horrified. Damian pulled

out his tanto and was at the vampire in three strides,

waving his blade from side to side. The vampire shot

out a hand and grabbed Damian. Kate watched

Damian avoid its grasp, but then in the blink of an

eye, as if in some sort of fastforward, the vampire

spun and delivered a vicious kick to Damians

stomach, knocking him against a wall. Damian bent

over, struggling to find his wind again.

Now the vampire turned to her, grinned lasciviously,yet with a deadeyed coldness. He was suddenly in

front of her, as if he had just flown across the room.

Kate raised the gun and fired, just as Damian had


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told her. The bullet pierced the vampire and it shrank

back, hissing, nearly falling to the ground. Then it

screeched like some kind of rabid animal.

Kates bullet bought Damian just enough time. He

regained his breath and stood over the vampire and

plunged his blade into its chest cavity, killing it.

"Weve got to move quickly, Kate. They have to

know were here."

Kate took him to a panel in the librarys rich walnut

wood wall. She lifted the crown molding precisely to

reveal a hidden passageway. "After you," she said.

The passageway was as dark as the tunnelonly not

as dank and damp.

"No rats," Damian offered.

"I suppose, on a night like this, I should be grateful

for small favors."

At the end of this passageway was a half door.

"This used to be the childrens nursery," she told

him.


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They quietly opened the door and entered an empty

office, which was lavish and decorated with

antiques.

"Ol Max has done well for himself," Damian

mused. He walked over to a painting on the wall.

"This is an original Goya. And that," he pointed at a

vase on a shelf, "looks like Ming dynasty."

"How do you know so much about art?"

"The vampires."

She narrowed her eyes questioningly.

"They plunder as they go through their existences. A

lot of them amass wealth. None of them fully

appreciate beauty, but the money buys themsecurity."

"Look." Kate nodded toward a filing cabinet.

"Maybe you can find some information in there."

Damian moved over to the cabinet. Above it hung a

large portrait of Wolfe himself. "Theres thebastard," he said, looking up at the oil painting.

Kate stared at it. "Evil incarnate."


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Damian nodded and opened the metal cabinet and

began rifling through the files. Kate strode over to

Dr. Max Wolfes desk.

"Oh my God, Damian," she said, her voice choked

with emotion.

"What?" He turned from the cabinet to face her.

"This picture." She lifted a five by seven in a silver

frame. "This is Max Wolfe." She pointed at asmiling man in the frame who looked just like the

portrait on the wall. "And this man," she pointed at

the man next to him, the one Maxs arm was slung

around in a gesture of friendship, "is my

grandfather."

"No!" Damian said hoarsely.

Kate heard a noise behind her and turned. Then she

dropped the picture frame to the floor, shattering the

glass.

Chapter Four

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"Dr. Wolfe," Damian said wryly. "How nice of you

to join us. Isnt the gun a bit of overkill when youve


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"Your grandfather?" Max said. "Oh, Damian, I have

to give you credit. Let me guess. Little Kate. We met

once, you know."

"I dont recall," Kate said frostily.

"You were a tiny little thing in your riding breeches,

leading your pony around the grounds. Your

grandfather thought you were simply charming. He

didnt want to leave you, Kate. You know, all this

was your grandfathers idea."

Kate wanted to lunge at him. "How dare you speak

ill of him!"

Damian shook his head. "Low, even for you, Max."

"But its true. He was facing deathParkinsons,coupled with aggressive tumors in his lungs. I

offered him immortality. I told him about my studies

on the rejuvenating effects of blood, of vampirism.

That it was far more than fantasy and I was very

close to making it reality. He funded my studies in

the hopes it might buy him eternal life."

"But surely he had no idea it would come to this!

Feeding on innocent lives? He couldnt have

known!" Kate thought of her gentle grandfather.


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Yes, he was a captain of industry, and she didnt

doubt in a boardroom that he could be tough, but not

like this.

"Dont listen to him, Kate. Ol Max here is a master

manipulator, arent you?"

Kate glanced at Damian. She was getting the

impression that he knew Max very well. That they

had crossed paths before. Damians face, even in

profile, was startlingly handsome, but she could see

his eyes had turned dark. She looked over to Max,

whose face was smug.

"You know, Damian, we could have left you for

dead. Who knew youd come back to haunt me all

these years later?"

"Well, I like thinking of myself as a thorn in your

side."

"Not for long."

Kate shook her head. "So have you found the keys to

immortality?"

Max pursed his lips. "Im in the final stages of

creating a vaccine against death and aging. That way


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I may live forever without the rather nasty little habit

of drinking blood."

"Yeah, but the Hippocratic oath never came betweenyou and your victims, did it, Max?" Damian sneered.

Kate could feel rage radiating from Damian. "And

do you think you can control them forever, Max?"

he snarled. "Sooner or later these soulless ghouls

will happily drink your blood, too. EvenImight

applaud them for that."

"Dont worry about me, Damian. Fresh meat like

you and your girlfriend here will keep them satisfied

until I perfect my vaccine. Come along, you two. I

thought wed go out into the garden for a little fun in

the moonlight. Why not send you back through themaze with all my precious patients hunting for you?"

Damian looked over at Kate. "This guy is really

getting on my nerves."

"Mine, too," Kate replied with a bravado she didnt

feel. Nothing could be worse than running for herlife, hunted like a field mouse with a dozen hungry

cats on her tail.

Max gestured toward the door. "Come along then."


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Kate started walking, and at that moment, Damian

suddenly lunged for the desk and grabbed a letter

opener. In the same instant, she saw him palm the

gun, while he waved the letter opener in a gesture of

defiance.

"Put the letter opener down, Damian," Max said.

Damian stared at Max with hatred and fury in his

eyes.

Max trained the gun on Kate. "Put it down or your

lady friend will start the maze with a bloody wound.

Itll slow her down, and leave a nice trail."

Kate watched as Damian feigned defeat and fell in

step beside her, Max still behind them aiming his

gun at them. She felt a surge of hope. Damian was

fearless.

Still, Kate was desperate to ask Damian if he had a

plan. Why didnt he just pull the gun on Max? A run

through the maze would only prolong the

inevitableunless they could reach the gate and getto the car. She tried to envision the maze in her mind

to devise a route in her head.


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Max marched them down the long, dark hallways,

down the main marble staircase and out into the

stone courtyard. Its large, granite slabs formed an

immense chessboard, and according to legend,

Kates greatgrandfather and a neighboring steel

magnate used to play chess together, using their

household staff as the pieces.

Max waited until the vampires on the rooftop

spotted them. Soon, the creatures began making theirway to the courtyard, their snarls and hisses sending

icy shivers up Kates back. She turned to face

Damian.

"Whatever happens, dont lose me. I dont want to

die alone in there."

"I have no intention of losing you," he said.

Kate looked around the edges of the chessboard. She

wished she could be so confident. They were

seriously outnumbered.

Chapter Five

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30/39

When the vampire horde had assembled, Max

gestured toward the maze. "Even B. F. Skinner

himself knew the only way to train rats through a

maze was to give them a reward."

"Hmm," Damian smirked. "I never pictured myself

as a rat treat. You, on the other hand, are lower than

a rat."

"Why so hostile, Damian?"

Kate watched this exchange, thinking Maxs eyes

were utterly devoid of sanity, yet coldly cunning.

"Oh, I dont know. Maybe because when my mother

worked for you years ago, she was raped by one of

your pets and you urged her to have the child. She

respected and trusted you."

"Would you have rather I told her not to go through

with the pregnancy?"

"But you knew I would be a dhampir. And you were

the one to place her in harms way."

Kate listened, horrified.

"I had hoped, Damian, that being a dhampirmight

bring with it elements of immorality. Like my


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friends here." He gestured to the vampires, who

stood, leering, around them.

"Its only brought me pain." Damians voice wasfilled with loathing.

"Well, then, good thing were going to end it

tonight."

Max started toward them. Kate and Damian backed

up. The maze was behind them.

"Heres how its going to go down, Damian. You

and your girlfriend are going to run into that maze.

Im going to give you maybe a thirtysecond head

start. Then my very hungry pets go into the maze

and find you, feast on you and end this tonight.

Kateits a pity you were brought into this. But you

have only Damian to blame."

Kate felt the anger coursing through her. "Youre

psychotic. This isnt his fault. You are responsible

for this. For all of this."

Max began laughinga cackle that shot through her

like fingernails scratching along a blackboard.


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"Im not psychotic, Kate. I havent lost touch with

reality. This is my reality. And it will soon be yours.

Go on you two, into the maze."

Kate felt the night air on her face. The moment was

utterly surreal. She was going into the maze and to

her death. She glanced over at Damian. He didnt

look frightened at all. He squeezed her hand as they

backed up right to the entrance.

"Go on," Max said. "Ill count to twenty."

Damian just stood his ground.

"123"

Damian squeezed Kates hand. Then, without

warning, he pulled the gun out from behind his backand shot Max square in the chest, sending him

reeling backward. He collapsed onto the ground, an

expression of shock on his face.

The vampires began screaming, a horrible, keening

sound as they stood over Maxs body, blood seeping

out from his chest.


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"Come on!" Damian pulled Kate into the maze.

"Take us to the tunnel. We have a few seconds while

they freak out, then theyll be after us."

Heart pounding, both from nerves and running, Kate

found herself operating on instinct. She cut left, then

right. Then left. She tried to glance over her

shoulder.

"Dont look for them. Just run!" Damian shouted.

"Take us to the tunnel."

The tunnel? What could he possibly be thinking? In

the darkness, elm branches brushing her face, Kate

fought against the urge to exit the maze on the other

side and make a run for the car. Instead, she placed

her trust in the mysterious man next to her, andrelied on memory and intuition to find the tunnel

pathway.

Then, she heard them. The monsters were in the

maze now, their shrieks and howls filling Kates ears

along with the pounding of her own heart. They had

clearly gotten over their shock at seeing Max shot to

death in front of themperhaps they had even fed

on his bloody body.


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"This way," she urged, grabbing Damians hand.

Now they crawled on hands and knees, as fast as

they could. "Down here." They descended the ladder

and returned to the tunnelthe hellish black tunnel

that would give her nightmares forever, she was

certain. If she lived to have nightmares, of course.

"Damiando you have any idea what youre

doing?"

"Oddly enough, Beautiful, I do. Faster."

Again, Kate ran through the tunnel, trying to ignore

the scurrying of rats. They came to the door on the

other end, opened it, and once again emerged in the

house. Damian turned and locked the door to the

tunnel.

"Help me," he said to her. He started moving chairs

and then a mattress and bed frames from the ward up

against the door.

"Now what?" Kate said.

"Now comes the tricky part."


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"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow and almost laughed

out loud. As if the night hadnt been complicated

enough!

"We set fire to the whole damn place, hopefully burn

them in the tunnel, and alert the police. Let them

figure the entire mess out."

Damian pulled Kate along by the hand, and they ran

down the hall to a nurses station and smashed a

cabinet behind it. He handed her bottles. "Rubbing

alcohol. And I dont know whats in these ones, but

lets hope its flammable."

He started pouring the rubbing alcohol on the

carpets. Then furniture. "Go grab some books from

Maxs office. Kindling." He stopped for a secondand winked at her. "Poetic justice, dont you think?"

She nodded and ran to retrieve books. While in

Maxs office, she took the photo of Max and her

grandfather. Though part of her wanted to forget this

night, she knew she would still be driven to find out

more about her familys role in this hideous

conspiracy.


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She returned to Damian, who took a lighter from his

pocket and started pages of the books she handed

him on fire. One after another, books began blazing.

Then he threw them on the alcoholdoused furniture,

carpets, and curtains. The flames started timidly at

first, then grew stronger, the blaze licking and

curling as it crept up the walls.

Kate felt the heat blast her face. "Come on, Damian,

we need to get out of here."

"One minute," he said, taking her hand.

She wondered what he was waiting for. But then she

heard themthe vampires clawing at the door. She

heard their screeches and panic. She guessed smoke

was curling through the tunnel.

"Now we can go."

He led her back down the hallway, which was on

fire, and they both coughed and squinted their eyes.

Acrid smoke filled Kates throat. At the end of the

hall, Damian picked up a flaming book by its unlitcorner, then raced down the stairs and started fires

there.


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"Now all we have to do is get to the car," he said, as

if that was a simple matter.

"Is that all?"

"And call 911 and get out of here before the cops

come and think were murdering arsonists."

The ran out the front door and down the steps,

running across the lawn to the wrought iron gate

theyd passed through what seemed like ages ago.They made it out and to their car.

They stood there a moment, watching the beautiful

halls of Silver Pond in flames. From far off, they

heard a siren.

"Guess we wont need to call 911," he said. Heturned to face her. "I had no ideaabout Max and

your grandfather. Im sorry."

She nodded. "Its all right."

"I better get you back to your orchids."

She stared up at him, and used her finger to wipe

away a smudge of ash. "I cant go back to themmy

plants."


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"Why?"

"Because after tonight, its rather meaningless. I

need to stop this. Obviously there are more of thesethings out there somewhere."

"Everywhere," he said solemnly. "But this is my

fight." Suddenly, Damiens mouth was on Kates,

hungrily kissing her, then pulling back and gently

biting her lip, then kissing her fiercely again.

Standing on tiptoe, she kissed him, then moved her

lips up to his ear, kissing him there, and delighting

in the shiver it caused. Then, thinking of the photo in

her pocket, she whispered in his ear, "Now its my

fight, too."

His bravado returned. "Okay, Beautiful." They

climbed into the car, and he held her hand as they

pulled away from Silver Pond. Kate nestled against

Damian, watching the fire in the rearview mirror.

The home of her childhood was now gone, but

somehow, from its ashes, she and Damian wouldcontinue to unravel its mysteries.

The End


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