Polar (Prequel): The Turnagain Arm (7 page)

“God in heaven, Vasyl. How do you know you can do such a thing?”

“Because I did it before. Back home in the Ukraine. I accidentally burned my sister with fire I conjured from a spell. I was arrogant and couldn’t control my power. But I can now. I know what the power is and I respect it. I can burn Aleksei with fire.”

Lara blinked tears from her eyes. “I can’t believe we’re speaking of such a thing.”

“It’s what has to be done! None of us can match him physically. And our guns, our knives – they won’t hurt him.”

“What are you planning? When are you going to do this?”

“Tomorrow night. That’s when it has to be done. He won’t come out during the day. The sun burns him, that’s why we never see him during the day. Why he said he wanted to work at night. He never worked on the rails like he said, that was all a lie. He couldn’t have. He can’t be outside in the daylight. That’s why he didn’t even come out when everyone was screaming about the dead guards this morning.”

“Okay. So what are you going to do tomorrow night?”

“I need to lure him away from here. I can’t let anyone else get hurt. I’ll do it in the woods.” He stared at his wife. “Tomorrow evening when he comes to work, you tell him I want to speak with him privately. Say I asked that he meet me out back in the woods behind his tent. Tell him you’ll be working the bar while we talk.”

“What makes you think he’ll agree to this?”

Vasyl thought back to the vampire laughing in his face. “He’ll be amused by it. He’s so arrogant, Lara. He doesn’t believe I can hurt him. He’ll want to meet with me just to taunt me.”

“What if this…”Lara shook her head, unable to believe she was actually speaking the words. “This spell you say you can do. What if it doesn’t work? What if he hurts you?”

“It will work, trust me. I just need to study tonight and remember.” Vasyl pointed to his forehead. “It’s all in here,” he said with a smile. “The Dzubenkos have been the most powerful witches in the Ukraine for centuries.”

Lara returned his smile, realizing that in spite of the lunacy of the situation, she truly did believe her husband. They had all known something was terribly wrong around the camp. In spite of the protest from her rational mind, she somehow knew that Vasyl’s explanation was correct. “Look at me,” she said. “Married to a witch. Who would have guessed?”

“I have to do this, darling. Not just for us, but for our baby. This monster, he won’t leave us alone now. He won’t stop coming after us. And he won’t stop killing the rail people. He sees these camps as his own personal dinner bowls.”

“We’ll stop him then,” Lara whispered. “We’ll go through your books tonight and we’ll stop him.”

Vasyl smiled and kissed his wife’s hands. “We will.”

If there was one thing Aleksei was sure of, it was that James Hawkins was one of the stupidest human beings he had ever met. And considering the rampant stupidity of the species that was quite a feat. But James was exactly what Aleksei wanted. He was a perfect pawn.

“So James,” he said as he poured the man another shot of whiskey. James was his last remaining customer. The other workers had all wanted to leave in groups for fear of walking alone with the murderer of the guards at large. And the whores had been too scared to leave their tent at all. “Tell me again about that knife you saw by those dead men.”

“It was the biggest damn butcher knife I ever saw. And there was blood all over it. Whoever this murderer is, he must have gutted those men with that knife ’fore he broke their necks.”

“You know, I haven’t been able to find the butcher knife Mr. Dzubenko uses here in the kitchen. It was in the drawer last night, but now it’s gone.”

“That so?”

“Yes. It’s strange isn’t it?”

“Why’s it strange?”

“A weird coincidence. There aren’t too many butcher knives around the camp I don’t imagine.”

“You think somebody broke in here and stole Mr. Dzubenko’s knife to kill those guards?”

Aleksei shrugged his shoulders and poured more whiskey, encouraging James to drink up and quench his thirst. “I don’t know. I guess I was wondering more about Mr. Dzubenko himself.”

“What about him?”

“What do you know about him?”

“What you do mean, what do I know? I know he and his misses run this bar. What else is there to know?”

“Did you know he’s involved in magic?”

“What?”

“Black magic.” Aleksei shook his head. “It really surprised me, but I heard him chanting some spells earlier. Some sort of gibberish that sent a chill up my spine just to hear it.”

“Like some sort of devil worship, you mean?”

“I don’t know. I suppose that’s what witchcraft is, isn’t it?”

James set down his shot glass. “I don’t believe it.”

Aleksei held up his hands. “I understand, believe me. I didn’t want to believe what I was hearing.”

“What was he doing with this spell you heard?”

“I don’t know. Performing some kind of ritual, I imagine.”

“A ritual? You think these murders were some kind of ritual too maybe?”

Aleksei shook his head. “Well that’s quite a leap. I certainly didn’t mean to accuse Mr. Dzubenko of anything like that. But…” Aleksei paused.

“But what?”

“But it’s odd, isn’t it? All of the people who disappeared spent a lot of time here in the saloon, didn’t they? And Mr. Dzubenko was the one who asked the guards to come here.”

“It all started with Kenneth going missing. He worked here!”

Aleksei nodded. “Yes, I was thinking that too.”

“God damn. Who would have thought Mr. Dzubenko was a murderer? And some kind of devil-worshipper too!”

“Now James, really. We don’t have any proof…”

“Shoot, what more proof do we need?”

“Listen, I don’t want to start some kind of riot here.”

“Well I’m gonna let the other fellows know. We can take care of this…”

“Why don’t you let me talk to Mr. Dzubenko first? Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding.”

“Hell, Aleksei, you talk to him, he might up and kill you too!”

“I can take care of myself, trust me.”

“Well me and some of the other guys can be on alert ’til we get this straightened out.” James patted the gun and the hunting knife he always kept at his hip. “I can take care of myself too.”

“I’ve no doubt of that. But I think it’s best if you keep this to yourself for now. Meet me here again tomorrow evening after I’ve had a chance to talk with Mr. Dzubenko and I’ll tell you then if we need to get your friends involved. We don’t want to start a panic.”

James stood up from the barstool. “Sounds good, Aleksei. I’ll meet you here tomorrow and I’ll have your back, you can count on that.”

Aleksei smiled as he watched James leave the bar. He was reminded again of the livestock on his grandparents’ farm. One more lamb led to the slaughter.

Lara scrubbed the bar for the tenth time that evening as she waited for Aleksei to arrive for his shift. She had to keep moving or she was sure her whole body would give way to trembling. She had never been more frightened. She was frightened for herself and for the camp, but mostly she was terrified for her husband.

Vasyl had assured her he knew what he was doing and could handle Aleksei Nechayev. It wasn’t that Lara didn’t trust her husband; she did with all of her heart. But this whole situation was so far out of the realm of her comprehension that she couldn’t stop herself from doubting that it could be handled. The simple fact that her husband was an accomplished witch had sent her reeling. And that was nothing compared to the fact that he had convinced her that the man she was now waiting for was not a man at all, but a vampire.

How could Lara trust that this would be okay? How could she be anything but terrified?

“Are you okay, Mrs. Dzubenko?”

The question from Aleksei interrupted her ruminating. She jumped and dropped the cloth she had been using to scrub the bar. Staring at the handsome young man in front of her, his face a mask of concern, she found herself doubting that he could possibly be the monster her husband claimed him to be. She forced herself to remember Vasyl’s insistence that Aleksei had the ability to put others into a near trance-like state. She looked away and broke his gaze.

“I’m fine, Aleksei. Why do you ask?”

“You looked upset, that’s all. And I’m surprised to find you here instead of your husband. You’ve usually retired for the night before I get here.”

Lara cleared her throat. “Right. Well, I’m covering for Vasyl, actually. He’d like to meet with you privately.”

“Meet with me? What about?”

“He didn’t tell me that. But he said you’d know what it was about.”

“I can’t say that I do but I’ll meet with him and find out. Is he in the kitchen, then?”

“No, no…he said he thought it would be best if the two of you met outside. Away from the camp so you wouldn’t be interrupted. He asked me to tell you to meet him out back in the woods by your tent.”

“Interesting,” Aleksei said. “Your husband can be full of surprises, can’t he?”

Lara picked up her cloth and returned her attention to the bar. “I suppose he can.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at Aleksei. “He’s waiting for you though. I’ll cover here if you want to go to him.”

Aleksei nodded. “Of course. Not a good idea to keep my employer waiting, is it?”

Lara didn’t answer and continued her scrubbing.

Aleksei noticed James and three of his closest allies huddled at a table in the corner of the room. Hawkins stopped talking and stared at him as if waiting for instructions. Just as he’d hoped.

Without saying a word, Aleksei gestured to James to follow him outside. He could barely keep the smile from his face as the man immediately jumped up to follow him like an obedient dog.

When they got outside the saloon and out of earshot of its proprietor and customers, Aleksei stopped and turned to James.

“I’m meeting Mr. Dzubenko to talk with him. I’ll need you to come with me. But stay back so he doesn’t know you’re there. I don’t want him to panic and run off. I think he’s realized we’re on to him and he may want to confess.”

“What if he’s planning on killing you now?”

“Give me a minute to talk to him. If it goes wrong, make yourself known.” Aleksei stared solemnly at James. “I’m trusting you with my life here. I hope I’m not making a mistake.”

“You’re not. I gave it some more thought and I think you’re right on the money about Dzubenko. You can count on me. Everybody in the camp just wants this over.”

Aleksei nodded. “You’re a good man, James.”

He headed off towards the tent he nominally called home and entered the woods behind it. He heard Vasyl’s footsteps crunching through the leaves and twigs that dotted the floor of the forest. If his heart was still beating, he knew it would have been racing with anticipation. He turned towards his nemesis with relish.

“Mr. Dzubenko. This is an odd place to call a meeting.”

“I don’t want anyone else getting hurt by what I have to do, Nechayev.”

Aleksei glanced at the tattered book Dzubenko held in his hand, his finger clearly serving as a placeholder.

“What is it you have to do? Are you going to read to me? What story are we reading?”

Vasyl gingerly set the book beside the lantern at his feet, leaving it open to the page he had marked. He thrust a crucifix towards Aleksei.

“Never mind about the book. I won’t be reading to you. Just keep your distance.”

Aleksei chuckled. “I will, but only because I’m so curious what you’ve got planned. Haven’t we already established that I could knock that crucifix out of your hand and break your arm before it so much as singed me? It really doesn’t protect you like you think it does.”

“For all your taunting about it, I notice you don’t come near it. You don’t like it.”

“That’s true, I don’t. I didn’t say I liked it. I said it won’t stop me from doing whatever I want to you.”

“We’ll see about that.” Vasyl glanced down at his book and grimaced as he realized he couldn’t read the text from this distance in spite of the lantern light. He should have known that would be the case. He cursed silently to himself and squared his shoulders. He didn’t need to be able to read it, he told himself as his eyes left the book and returned to the monster in front of him. He could recite it from memory. He was a Dzubenko, and no vampire was a match for his family’s power.

“At what point do you plan on telling me what you called me out here for?” Aleksei said. “Your wife seemed terribly worried about it. Surely it wasn’t just to talk about the power or lack thereof of your crucifix?”

“YA zaklykayu BEELZEBUTH~, LUCIFER~,” Vasyl said, his eyes boring into Aleksei. “MADILON…”

“What are you saying?” Aleksei asked. “What is this about?”

Vasyl ignored him and continued his incantation. “SOLYMO~, SAROY ~,
Заходьте!
”

“
Dzubenko?”

Vasyl’s eyes rolled back into his head. “
Bогонь!”
he yelled. “
Cпалювати!”

Aleksei felt a flash of panic as the grass as his feet started to smolder with flame. He stepped back, only to have the flames follow him.

“James!” he yelled. “I need you, quickly!”

Vasyl was too entranced in his incantation to hear Aleksei’s calls for help. His head jerked up towards the sky. “
Bогонь!”

Flames licked at Aleksei’s boots and the legs of his pants. “James!” he yelled.

James burst through the trees, his gun and knife at the ready. “What’s happening?” James called out. “Aleksei? What’s going on?”

“It’s the black magic, just as I told you,” Aleksei said. “Do you hear him? He’s reciting a spell. He’s a devil, James.”

“What in God’s name?”

The flames leaped onto Aleksei’s thighs and singed his fingers. “Make him stop, quickly,” he yelled. “Shoot him, you idiot!”

Vasyl’s voice thundered through the woods. “
Cпалювати!
”

“James!” Aleksei screamed.

James jumped as if he’d been shaken from a trance. He brought his rifle to his shoulder and fired.

The rifle’s bullet blasted out of the barrel of the gun and tore through Vasyl’s back, bringing an abrupt end to his chanting. He stumbled and turned to face his assailant. “James? Wha..”