The Vampire Flame

CHAPTER TWO

“Jane!” I shouted in horror as loudly as I could, my eyes practically bulging out of my sockets. “No!”

I rushed over to the spot where Blake and Jane had been standing seconds ago and fell to my hands and knees, touching the concrete, but I was too late. There was not a single sign of Blake or Jane anywhere. The two of them had teleported, but to where, I didn’t know. I had only used teleportation dust once myself and so was aware that it could allow you to travel a long distance, but I had no idea if it was possible to track people who used it or if I was out of luck. Dad told me that teleportation was something sorcerers learned on the Third Step when they became Acolytes, which meant I couldn’t use the dust myself. Even if I could, teleportation dust could only be used once.

But I didn’t want to let this Blake guy get away with Jane. I grabbed handfuls of teleportation dust, hoping against hope that I would be able to somehow sense where it had taken the two of them, but it just felt like sand in my hand. The teleportation dust slipped through my fingers, leaving me with a thin layer of blue dust on the palms of my hands.

I stood up, again trying not to panic. Panicking would not help. It would just make the situation that much worse. I needed to be smart about this, but it was hard to be smart when I didn’t know who this Blake guy was or what he was going to do with Jane. All that talk about ‘love paradise’ made me fear the worse, but again I tried not to dwell on the worse because I didn’t want to stress myself out more than I already was.

Should I file this kidnapping with the police? How would that work, exactly? ‘Officer, this big black guy brainwashed my bestie into falling in love with him and then they teleported away while standing in a circle of blue dust. No, sir, I’m sure I’m sane, because I’m a half-vampire, after all, and this is actually one of the more normal things I’ve seen’?

No, I couldn’t go to the police with this, but I didn’t know where or who else to go to. As far as I knew, there weren’t any magical police, but at the same time, I couldn’t just let Blake get away with this. I had to find a way to help Jane somehow, but I was completely at a loss for how to do that.

“Tara?” said a familiar voice behind me. “What are you doing here?”

I whirled around to see a tall, dark, and handsome vampire standing just a few feet away from me in the shadows of the building behind Ricardo’s Place. Though it had been a month since I had last seen him, I would recognize that short dark hair and scar on his face anywhere. “Lucius! I’m so glad to see you, because I seriously need your help.”

“What a coincidence,” said Lucius, folding his arms in front of his chest, “because I need your help as well.”

“Really?” I said. “Maybe it’s not a coincidence. Maybe God brought us together to help each other.”

Lucius shrugged, which was when I remembered that Lucius wasn’t a Christian and didn’t believe in God. “Believe what you want, but tell me what you need help with first, because you seem to be in bigger trouble than me at the moment.”

“Okay,” I said, clapping my hands together anxiously. “So Jane and I were eating in Ricardo’s Place and having really great Mexican food, but then I needed to use the bathroom so I went into the girls’ room and did my business, but when I left the girls’ room I found out that Jane was missing and the waiter told me that a strange guy had picked her up, a guy who sounded like a sorcerer based on the description the waiter gave me, so I went outside and found Jane and the sorcerer guy, whose name is Blake by the way, but then Blake and Jane teleported away and I have no idea where they are and I really, really need your help. Really.”

Lucius just stared at me in confusion. “Who’s Jane?”

Realizing that Lucius didn’t understand a word I said, I said, in a much slower tone, “She’s my best friend and she got kidnapped by a sorcerer named Blake.”

“Blake?” Lucius repeated. “Are you sure that’s his name?”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s what he told me, but I don’t know much else about him.” I gestured at the teleportation dust on the ground. “He just teleported away at the last second and I have no idea where he or Jane is.”

“It appears that our troubles are connected after all,” said Lucius, stroking his chin. “Because I’m also after a sorcerer named Blake, full name Harry Blake. Was he a tall human of African descent wearing a pentagram necklace?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said. “Though I wouldn’t call him of ‘African descent.’ He’s black.”

“What’s the difference?” said Lucius.

I opened my mouth to answer, but then it occurred to me that I didn’t actually know, so I shrugged and said, “I don’t know. It just sounds kind of weird.”

“I find it weirder that you’re more concerned with proper terminology than the fact that your best friend was kidnapped by a very dangerous sorcerer,” said Lucius. “I suppose you still have some of that human inability to grasp the big picture in your nature. Or maybe you’re just very stressed and are clinging onto minor points for your sanity.”

“Does it really matter?” I snapped. “I’m sorry, but I just want to find Jane. Do you know where she is?”

“Sadly, I do not,” said Lucius. “But I do know who Blake is. You’re lucky he didn’t just kill you outright.”

I scratched my neck. “Who is he, anyway? And why are you chasing him? What makes him so dangerous?”

Lucius’ expression became more serious. “Harry Blake is a rogue sorcerer, wanted for murder by the Sorcerer Parliament. He also used to be a vampire hunter, though he was never a very good one as far as I know. I think he may have killed only one or two vampires during his entire career.”

“Doesn’t sound so dangerous to me,” I said.

“Don’t be fooled,” said Lucius. “Just because he may not be the most powerful sorcerer in the world doesn’t mean he’s not a threat. He’s willing to kill anyone who comes after him. You’re lucky he decided that kidnapping your friend was more important than killing you.”

I bit my lower lip, thinking about how crazy Blake looked. I could easily see him murdering someone he didn’t like, though that didn’t tell me much about him. “Why are you tracking him down? On a mission for the Vampire Council?”

Lucius nodded. “As usual.”

“I don’t suppose you can tell me what your mission is, can you?” I said. “Or is that top secret?”

“Oh, I can tell you about it,” said Lucius. “You might even be able to help me with it, given how we both are after the same man. You see, Blake has stolen a particular book from the Vampire Council’s Vault, a very ancient and important book that the Council doesn’t want to end up in the wrong hands. You didn’t see any books on him when he attacked, did you?”

I shook my head. “No. I think he was more interested in kidnapping Jane than in reading books, to be honest.”

“I figured,” said Lucius with a sigh. “I suppose it makes sense that he wouldn’t carry that book on him. Otherwise, he might lose or damage it, which I know that he doesn’t want.”

“What is this book, anyway?” I said. “What makes it so important that the Vampire Council has sent you to retrieve it?”

“That is top secret,” said Lucius. “I’m sorry, Tara, but that’s one particular detail that the Council stressed upon me that I’m not supposed to tell anyone. All I can tell you is that the information in that book is incredibly valuable, on par with the knowledge about how to open a portal to the Vampire Sword. It would be in the best interests of everyone if we could get the book back in one piece.”

“I see,” I said, feeling a little disappointed that Lucius couldn’t tell me what the book was. “Well, we can still work together, can’t we? He has your book and my friend. If the two of us work together, we should have an easier time tracking him down, right?”

“Right,” said Lucius, nodding again. He looked at the teleportation dust. “Tell me, Tara, did Blake mention where he might be going or what he was going to do next?”

I shook my head again. “No. Blake didn’t say even one word about where he’s going. He just mentioned something about something called ‘the Fire,’ but—”

“He what?” said Lucius, looking up sharply at me. “What did he say?”

“The Fire,” I said. “He told my friend that soon it would just be him, her, and the Fire. I didn’t understand what he meant. Does he have a fireplace at his house or something?”

Lucius’ expression grew darker. “Oh, no, he’s talking about something far worse than a simple fireplace, assuming he’s talking about what I think he is, though we vampires call it something different.”

“What was he talking about?” I said. “Care to fill me in or is that top secret, too?”

“It’s not top secret, though it’s also not very well known, either,” said Lucius. “The ‘Fire’ which Blake referred to is probably the Sorcerer’s Fire. At least, that’s what sorcerers call it.”

“What do you vampires call it?”

“Simple,” said Lucius. “We call it the Vampire Flame. But whatever you call it, it must not be allowed to fall into the hands of Blake. Otherwise, you can say good bye to all magic in the world, including your own.”