Blood of Gold (22 page)

About one in five of those who asked to take the blood of gold passed the preliminary tests and were actually accepted. So far, all had survived. There were now about thirty Golden Vampires in existence.
At this rate,
Terrill thought,
it will only take a few thousand years to convert them all.

“You’re not in trouble,” Terrill reassured the ponytailed vampire. “Sit in front of me. You’re the first vampire to really challenge what I’ve been saying. For that, I thank you. What’s your name?”

“Matt Conroy.”

“Continue your questions, Matt.”

“I’m sorry, Terrill, but I don’t understand why we have to change. You’re asking too much. We are vampire; it is our nature to kill, to drink the blood and eat the flesh of humans.”

“We are also thinking, reasoning beings. We choose our own fate, control our own actions.”

“Do we?”

Again with the blunt questions, so much more effective than the roundabout philosophy that most of his followers spouted.
This vampire got over his shyness quickly
, Terrill thought. “We have free will, the ability to choose,” he said. “Our actions are our own.”

“Are they?” Matt asked. “If so, why were we given this nature to begin with? Why don’t vampires get our sustenance from tomatoes, if we weren’t meant to kill? Why is it evil?”

“Because it’s wrong!” Terrill shouted, unable to control his exasperation.

“It’s evil because it’s wrong? It’s wrong because it’s evil?” Matt rolled his eyes. “But
why
? Who says?”

One of the other disciples spoke up. “
The Testament of Michael
says that God has forgiven us. He had given us the choice to turn away from evil.”

“Ah, yes… God. But why should we believe God exists?” Matt asked.

“You’re not asking for much, are you?” Terrill said. This question touched on his own doubts. Most of the time, he, too, had a hard time believing that there was a God in heaven. If He existed, why had He created them this way? And yet, Terrill could not deny how much he had changed. When he had turned away from killing, everything around him had changed as well.

In the end, Terrill had decided it didn’t matter what he believed. He didn’t need to know whether it came from God or from some other source. With or without God, the blood of gold
did
exist, and vampires had been given the choice to turn away from killing.

“Have you touched a cross, Matt?” he asked. “Have you tried to enter a church? Have you been sprinkled with holy water? If God doesn’t exist, then why would these things hurt us?”

“But wouldn’t that mean that we belong to the Devil?” Matt asked. “Shouldn’t we be worshipping him instead? Asking for
his
help?”

There was an angry murmuring in the crowd. Terrill raised his hand. He began to unbutton his shirt, and the crowd fell silent. He exposed the scars left by the cross that had been fused to his body. “I renounced killing, and by some miracle was made human again. When Michael Turned me back to vampire, he gave me the blood of gold. I don’t know why, Matt. I can’t tell you why I was chosen, except to say this: I believe it is evil to kill another sentient being. To do so is wrong. That’s all.”

Matt looked frustrated, but he didn’t question Terrill any further that day.

#

After that, Matt rarely left Terrill’s side. They discussed the hard things, the things no one else wanted to talk about. Terrill let Matt see his doubts, and in some ways, the student became the teacher. Then, one night, Matt announced that he wanted to take the Sacrament of the Blood of Gold.

“Are you sure?” Terrill asked. “You still seem so full of questions.”

“As do you, Terrill. And yet…”

“You must look into your heart, Matt. You must be certain.”

“I am. I’m convinced you’re right. The killing must stop.”

Terrill examined his disciple’s resolute face. He sighed. “Very well, but you must undergo the tests that Jamie and Sylvie have created. If you pass those tests, we will proceed.”

#

A week later, Jamie came to him. “Matt passed all the tests,” she said.

Terrill saw the doubt in her face. “But… ?”

“He’s so scary-smart that he might have supplied us the answers we were looking for.” She hesitated. “I don’t think he’s ready.”

“I don’t see how we can refuse him.”

Terrill still insisted on bestowing the Sacrament of the Blood of Gold on the converts, even though any of the Golden Vampires could have done it. The time was coming when he would send his disciples out into the world to teach his words and to find converts, but until then, he was responsible for every success and every failure.

There were three converts that day. The first two took the sacrament reverently, with no difficulty. “The blood of gold shall transform you, absolve you, make you one with God. Partake of my blood and thou shalt be redeemed, reborn in God’s grace,” Terrill assured them.

Matt waited on his knees. He looked up at Terrill, and there was no doubt in his eyes.

“This is my blood,” Terrill intoned. “Accept it and be one with me.”

The blood dripped into Matt’s mouth. He sat back on his haunches and swallowed. Everyone was watching, as if all of them understood that a true test was being administered.

“Oh, no,” Matt muttered.

Terrill froze. His thought echoed Matt’s words.
Oh, no.

“I thought I was ready,” Matt breathed. He convulsed, falling on his back, and his body began shaking.

“Damn it!” Terrill cried. He knelt at Matt’s side, holding back tears.
Please, God, help this vampire become one of us,
Terrill thought. He couldn’t remember ever praying before.
This young man truly wants to be part of your grace. Please, God, accept him into your arms.

Matt arched his back, then slammed into the ground again.

“Forgive me!” Terrill cried. “I should have known.”

Matt turned his head toward Terrill. “I’m sorry, Terrill,” he whispered. “I wanted to believe.” He shook violently one more time, then stiffened and was still.

He was gone.

#

Terrill wouldn’t leave the trailer. The crowds grew larger, if anything, in his absence, but he wouldn’t show his face. Others began preaching from
The Testament of Michael
in his stead, and they preached with greater fervor, drawing in even more supplicants. The list for the Sacrament of the Blood of Gold grew ever longer.

“You must perform the sacrament,” Sylvie pleaded. “Everyone is waiting.”

“No,” Terrill answered in a dead voice. “Matt was right. Vampires aren’t ready. I have no right to ask it of them. Who am I to preach anything? Every day, I feel the desire to kill.”

“You aren’t the one asking,” Jamie said. “You are but a conduit. It isn’t your job to question.”

“No,” Terrill said. “I won’t do it anymore.” He rolled over in his cot and pulled the blankets over his head.

“If you won’t do it, I will,” Jamie said.

“Go ahead,” Terrill answered. “I won’t stop you.”

From that day forward, the number of Golden Vampires increased by leaps and bounds. Once it was accepted that Jamie could give of the blood, others started to take it upon themselves to perform the sacrament. The failures began to multiply, but everyone understood it was part of the risk. It was starting to be whispered that even the failures were accepted into heaven.

“This is Terrill’s blood,” the new ministers would say. “Accept it and be one with him.”

When some of the converts decided to leave, Jamie and Sylvie didn’t try to stop them. It felt as though everything was out of their hands, as if God was taking a hand in things. God had spoken, even if Terrill no longer wanted to listen.

#

“Terrill, I have returned.”

Terrill dimly recognized the voice through his fog. He turned over and lifted the blanket. It was Marc, the damn vampire responsible for
The Testament of Michael
. It was his fault all this was happening. It was all because of that stupid book.

“What do you want?”

“Clarkson is dead,” Marc said.

Terrill sat up inadvertently. His mind struggled to create meaning out of Marc’s words. “Clarkson? What do you mean?”

Marc began to tell the story, and by the end, Terrill was completely awake.

He’d always thought his relationship with Clarkson had been businesslike: she was a colleague, not a friend. He was surprised by how much her death saddened him. He also felt a sudden stab of fear. “What do these Shadow Vampires look like?” he asked.

“They are the opposite of light, Terrill. They reek of the Pit.”

“How did you escape?”

“I hid in the light. They couldn’t see me.” Marc explained how he had stayed still and quiet until the sun was directly overhead. Only then had he moved. The Shadow Vampires had disappeared, along with Clarkson’s body. He wasn’t sure, but he thought that Simone and Rod had escaped.

Terrill closed his eyes. He remembered the hordes of Wilderings, killing indiscriminately, overwhelming the little town of Crescent City. Now he had a vision of Shadow, of vampires who could walk in the daytime and were as powerful as Golden Vampires, but evil.

Matt had asked if vampires belonged to the Devil. It had been a good question, one for which Terrill hadn’t had a good answer. Now it appeared that at least some vampires did indeed belong to the legions of the damned. It was suddenly clear to Terrill what he must do. None of this was an accident. The Golden Vampires had been created––had evolved––to fight those of the Darkness.

All other vampires were going to have to choose sides.

He walked out of the trailer and stopped, astounded at the sight of the crowds filling the meadows around the camp. Cars lined the narrow dirt road as far as he could see. He heard cries of “Terrill!” and “It’s him!” Sylvie and Jamie rushed up to him, along with some of the other early followers.

Apparently, by disappearing, Terrill had only enhanced his mystique.
Good
, he thought.
It will add weight to my commands.
“Give everyone who asks for it the Sacrament of the Golden Blood,” he ordered.

Jamie spoke up immediately, opposing him. “That isn’t a good idea.” Robert was standing with his arms around Jamie, and he nodded in agreement.

But Terrill was convinced he was right. “Everyone will have to make a choice,” he said.

“Are you sure, Terrill?” Sylvie asked. “Some aren’t ready. They’ll die the everlasting death.”

He nodded. “It can’t be helped.”

She reached out her hand and rested it on his arm. “Is this really what you want?”

“We’re going to Crescent City,” Terrill said. “If God wants us to confront evil, then that’s what we’re going to do. It’s time for all vampires to choose, once and for all. They must become part of the Golden Light or join the Dark of Shadow.”

Behind him, he saw Marc scribbling, and Terrill knew that
The Testament of Michael
was about to get another codicil. For the first time, Terrill felt like the prophet everyone else thought he was.

Before this is over
, he thought,
Marc is going to be adding a whole bunch of new chapters to his book.

Chapter 21

Patty and Kate holed up in the hilltop mansion for another few days, feeding off the three boys until they were nothing but bones. Finally, hunger overcame them and they ventured into town. Patty was dressed in clothing she’d found in Kate’s mother’s closet. It was conservative, but Patty was feeling conservative these days. She never wanted to feel sexy again.

Kate was only a senior in high school, but in many ways, she was considerably more worldly than Patty. Her outfits were skimpy, revealing. These were not the kind of clothes that Patty would ever have been allowed to wear, or would have wanted to wear, for that matter.

Kate was the bait when they went hunting.

It was easy enough to lure men into the darkness behind the bars and taverns, but once there, Kate couldn’t bring herself to let Patty kill them. “They’re just horny,” Kate said. “It isn’t their fault.”

“Who cares whose fault it is?” Patty objected. “We need to eat, and eat soon, or we’ll be too weak to do anything about it.”

They robbed the men of their money but not their lives, and used that money to buy raw meat at the supermarket. That would have been sufficient, if not very satisfying, except that it soon became clear that in Crescent City these days, anyone buying raw meat was under suspicion. Going to the same supermarkets night after night was even more suspicious. Anyway, store-bought meat wasn’t going to do the trick for long.

They more or less stumbled upon a solution to their problem on the fourth night. Kate was getting weaker and weaker from lack of flesh, and Patty had already determined to kill soon, whether or not the younger girl objected. After letting guys buy both of them drinks all night––the alcohol, strangely had no effect on them––Kate started feeling faint.

Patty led her outside. There was a picnic table in the alley and a dim light over the door. Kate lay down on the table.

“Are you drunk?” Patty asked.

“No,” she said. “I think it’s something I ate. I’ll be all right in a moment.”

“Stay here,” Patty said. “I left my purse inside. I still have enough money to buy some meat. We’ll try that little market near your house.”

She went inside and searched the area of the bar where they’d been sitting. None of the men bothered her. Without Kate, she was invisible. Kate was always the one who attracted them, and they treated Patty like she was the unwanted third wheel. For some reason, Patty didn’t mind. She didn’t have the slightest attraction to these callow boys.

The bartender watched her searching for a while, then reached under the counter and proffered the purse with a questioning look. She smiled at him gratefully, took the purse and checked inside. The money was still there.

Maybe Kate is right
, she thought.
Maybe not all men are bastards.