Hunting Memories

Chapter 14

Eleisha heard the door whoosh shut.

Robert put his back to the wall inside the stairwell of the train and slowly let her slip down until her feet touched the floor, but he still kept his arm tightly around her. She could feel his body shaking. The reality of what had just happened was sinking in.

Julian hadn't stayed away. He had come from the darkness swinging a sword.

She'd been wrong all along.

And now her friends would suffer.

She choked at the thought of Wade and Rose being left behind, but one face surfaced in her mind, causing more pain than she could believe.

Philip would be blind with panic.

Robert's left shoulder was bleeding and so was her right hand, but she made a fist and pounded it against him several times.

He held onto her and let her hit him.

"Philip is so afraid of being alone!" She wanted to sob. "Do you know what this is going to do to him?"

"I did it for him!" he hissed in her ear. "How do you think he'd feel tomorrow if I let Julian take your head? How do you think he'd feel the night after? And the night after that? We have to survive by moving between one moment and the next. Do you understand?"

She stopped hitting him and just stood there, letting him grip her too hard.

"They're all alone now," she whispered. "They can't fight Julian. I don't think Wade would know what to do."

"He won't follow them. He'll come after me first."

He released his arm slightly, and she moved back to look up at him. He wouldn't look down at her, and his face was taut.

"You don't know that!" she hissed quietly. "If he thinks Rose or Philip have turned telepathic, he could just as easily go after them."

"It isn't just telepathy," he whispered back. "That's what Philip thinks because it's all Julian told him… all Angelo told him."

Eleisha tensed and let his words sink in. No, it wasn't just telepathy. She had seen that in Robert's memories. Julian feared a resurgence of the laws. He feared vampires making connections with each other again, teaching the laws, practicing telepathy, and learning to feed without killing.

He would come after Robert.

"Where do we go now?" she asked.

When he didn't answer, she fished their tickets from the pocket of her jeans, looking at the cabin numbers she had reserved.

"That porter was bribed to lie to us," she said. "I think if we go to these cabins, we'll find them empty."

He nodded once, but he still didn't look at her.

Julian pushed the Mustang's speed past eighty. Glancing at the wheel, he saw his left hand trembling and he fought to control it.

He had missed his swing.

The setup was flawless, Robert had walked right past him, and he'd missed.

In all his years hunting, he'd never missed his first swing, not once. What was wrong with him? What happened?

Was Eleisha able to sense him? Feel him as the others couldn't? No, if that was true, she could have zeroed in on him afterward.

But she'd been inside his head during the fight! Just for a split second before he kicked her. He could not risk that again, and he could not-would not-kill her yet.

What was he going to do?

Robert knew he was there, knew he was hunting again.

Julian forced himself to calm, thinking back over the few seconds just before chaos erupted in the train yard. He'd timed it perfectly, and the porter was bringing Robert directly past him. Robert was out in front of Eleisha… Julian had waited, as always, until the right second… and then Eleisha called a warning and pushed Robert.

Had she seen a light reflect off the sword?

In the past, rumors of the way he hunted eventually spread to a point, but the vampires of the distant past were fairly scattered, mainly communicating through letters to anyone besides a direct child-or the child to the maker. Most had no idea how he was locating them or taking their heads.

Robert knew.

This thought made him wonder how Robert had escaped him back in the past, as he clearly remembered cutting off Robert's head… but then he remembered that he'd killed Jessenia first. Afterward, he'd taken his swing at Robert, seen the dark blood spraying out, and the world had grown slightly hazy. Had Robert made him see something which wasn't there?

If so, that would not happen again. He had to kill Robert on a first swing.

Only now Robert and Eleisha would be looking into the shadows.

Julian glanced down at the Amtrak schedule on the seat beside him, trying to decide what they would try next. They were on an express train with only one brief stop in Salem-but the end stop was Portland, so Robert would reason that Julian believed they were running to Portland, and his built-in protective instincts would never allow him to lead an enemy from the final train station straight to the church.

They didn't even realize Julian knew about the church.

No, Robert would want to get off in Salem and rent or steal a car for that last hour home, trying to throw Julian off the trail.

Or at least Julian fervently hoped he would.

But no matter what happened, Julian had to finish this before they got home. He had to make Eleisha believe the church was safe. He could not attack anywhere near that place or she might not continue trying to seek out the others in hiding and bring them in.

With the remnants of a plan forming, he felt slightly better-nearly certain that Robert would take Eleisha off the train in Salem.

He just had to get there first, and he had to know the layout before he arrived.

"Mary Jordane," he called.

She materialized on the passenger seat beside him, looking around in some confusion at the inside of the car.

"Where have you…?" she asked. "Did you mess up?"

He bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from snarling at her.

"I think Jasper's all set," she said. "He's on the train with the other three."

"What?"

He'd forgotten about Jasper. At this point, Philip, Wade, and Rose were not his main concern-as Rose appeared to be nearly helpless, Philip didn't know anything of the laws, and Wade was a mortal.

But Robert was dangerous. He had to die.

"Look down at this map," Julian said, ignoring the fact that she'd spoken. "Go ahead to the Salem train station and find the nearest car rental lot. Then examine all possible routes to the lot from the station's main or back doors and return to me."

"What, you're going to try the same thing again? They don't exactly strike me as stupid."

He didn't answer her, but he did agree. If Eleisha and Robert were looking for him in the shadows of doorways or alleys, he'd have to try something else.

Wade could see Philip hanging halfway out the cabin door up ahead, and his stomach lurched.

Their train was slowly starting to move.

"Where is she?" Philip demanded. "We have to go now! Where do we go?"

Wade struggled for what to say and then just blurted out, "She's already on the other train, and it pulled out a few minutes ago. I think Julian attacked them in the yard and they had to run."

He waited for the words to sink in, and then Philip did exactly as he expected-pushed him aside and ran down the hall.

Wade could not stop him physically, but he fired out telepathically.

Stop! Eleisha's gone, and you can't leave Rose.

Philip stumbled and halted, turning around, his face a mask of hate. Wade knew it wasn't aimed at him, but he didn't move any closer.

"How?" Philip spat. "How do you know any of this? Did you see it? If you did, why didn't you bring her back?"

"I didn't see anything!" The accusation made him angry. Could Philip ever give one thought to what somebody else might be feeling? "She shot me a few warnings… like she was screaming in my head. She told us to stay here, that Julian was in the yard, that she was on the other train, and we should all meet at the church. That's all I know, Philip, and you have to keep it together!"

The rage on Philip's face only increased. He strode back, shoved Wade inside the cabin, and started giving orders.

"Get up, Rose," he barked, which sounded strange in his French accent. He fastened the machete's sheath onto his belt and put on his coat, buttoning it. "Wade, is your gun loaded?"

"What are you doing?" Wade asked in alarm, standing in front of the door. Rose looked frightened already, but she was on her feet.

"We're going to jump," Philip answered flatly. "We'll steal the first car we find, and I'll get us to the Portland train station."

"Jump? What if he's still in the yard?"

"He's after Robert!" Philip shouted. "He wants Robert's head, and Eleisha will try to stop him! We have to get to the Portland station before the train arrives. Julian will find a way to get there, and we have to be there first." His voice was calmer now, and he looked at Rose. "Can you jump?"

The train was just beginning to pick up speed.

Rose wavered, but then said, "Yes, I can jump. It's my fault we took this train in the first place, and I don't want Eleisha and Robert left alone either."

Philip's anger melted into relief, he held out one hand. "Good. Come."

She came to him.

He led her forward, but then he stopped before the doorway, looking Wade in the face. "I am going to drive very fast," he said in short, clipped words. "If a policeman tries to stops us, we cannot be caught up in a chase, so I will pull over and kill him as he reaches our window. I am telling you this so that you know."

Wade swallowed and didn't know how to answer. Philip certainly wasn't asking permission.

"There's a door to the outside just down here," Wade said, stepping back out of their way and pointing, a little concerned about jumping off a moving train.

Philip and Rose walked out past him, and he followed them down the hallway.

Jasper made his way through the train, trying to think of what he should do. He couldn't exactly knock on the door. He wasn't even sure which cabins they were in.

Where was Mary?

If she was here, she might have been able to tell him. She might also be able to scare one of them into the hallway, but she'd vanished in the men's room of the station and he hadn't seen her since.

He thought hard. Could he pull the fire alarm?

Did trains have fire alarms?

No, that wouldn't work. If he did that, everyone else would come rushing out, too, and then he wouldn't able to do anything.

How had Julian done this without being seen until the last second?

Well, first things first. Mary had told him earlier they were in adjoining cabins toward the front of the train. He'd just have to pick a good spot in the area and wait. Moving quickly, he passed people sitting in basic seats for about six cars.

He opened a door and stepped into an empty car with a door to the outside. Just as he stepped in, the inner door opposite from him opened, and to his shock, Philip walked through… wearing a long black coat.

Wade and Rose were right behind.

They all stared at each other.

"That's him," Rose said.

Philip's lips curled back over his teeth, and he charged.

Without even thinking, Jasper turned and ran.

Eleisha was sitting on the floor in their adjoining cabins with her arms wrapped around her knees. She couldn't stop thinking about Philip.

Robert was pacing, but since the cabin was seven feet across, he could take only a few steps before turning around.

"You promised you'd stop making decisions for us," she said.

"I never promised you anything."

When she half turned to look at him, a stab of pain flashed through her side, and she winced. He came over and crouched down beside her.

"Did he break you?"

"I don't know," she answered.

"Let me see it."

He reached out to pull up the side of her sweater-Philip's sweater-and she didn't try to stop him.

A purple-black bruise covered her ribs, and he touched them cautiously. "I don't think they're broken, but you'll need to feed soon."

Suddenly, she wasn't angry at him anymore.

"I really thought he would leave us alone," she whispered. "What are going to do now?"

His face was so close she could see the shadow of light brown stubble on his jaw. She'd never noticed it before.

"We have to kill him," he said.

She sat up straighter. "What?"

"He won't stop, Eleisha. Now that you've been with me, he'll see you as contaminated." He hesitated and asked, "How did you run him off… before?"

She'd never talked about this, not really, but the words started flowing. "I got inside his head, and he couldn't push me out. I took control of his body. I showed him ugly images, anything I could think of: the vampires he'd murdered hunting him down, nailing him to a cross, Angelo lighting it on fire… anything. He was writhing, and he couldn't keep me out, and I told him if he ever came near me again, I'd lock him in a nightmare forever. He was so scared. Then Philip grabbed him and kicked him out a window. That was the last time we saw him… until tonight."

She'd never seen open shock on Robert's face before.

"You came up with all that? You? How could you have known what Angelo even looked like?"

"Philip showed me in a memory, like what I did with you. I saw Angelo die. It was awful."

Robert looked away. Was all this too much for him? He liked his battle tactics cut and dried. Maybe he'd never used his telepathy as a weapon.

She didn't have much else to use.

"All right," he said after a while. "He'll expect us to get off in Salem."

"Why would he expect that?"

"Because he knows I'd never lead him from an end point-and the train ends in Portland." Still crouched, he rocked on the balls of his feet. "We'll head for a rental car lot outside in the dark, taking the shortest route. He'll step out of nowhere and swing at some point. If I can make sure he misses, can you get inside his head before he turns on the fear?"

She couldn't believe what he was suggesting. "Bait? You're going to use yourself as bait? What if he doesn't miss, Robert? You'll be dead, and I'll be rolling around on the ground when your energy breaks, and then I'll be dead a second later!"

"What do you want to do? Go back to the church and lead him right to Wade and Rose?"

She stared at him.

"I won't let my guard down, and I'll make sure he misses," Robert said softly. "You get a hold of him, hit him with anything you can until he freezes, and I'll take his head. We won't be free until he's gone."

"What if he's not waiting for us?" she asked. "What if he doesn't attack yet?"

"I don't know. But I do know we can't lead him to your church, and I can't do this by myself."

She ran his scenario over and over in her mind, seeing various outcomes, and she was frightened. What if she failed? What if she couldn't make Julian freeze again? She didn't want to get Robert killed, and what would Philip do if she didn't come home?

But in the end, what choice did they have?

"We'll get off in Salem," she said. "But if he's there waiting, you better make sure he misses."

"Good." He leaned back against the couch, and he seemed to relax now that they'd come to a decision. His shoulder had stopped bleeding, but his coat was torn and stained.

"Let me try to wash that out," she said, climbing to her feet, "or people will look at you when we get off."

He nodded, slipped out of his coat, and handed it to her. Beneath, his shirt looked worse, but they could cover it once the coat was clean.

"We'll get you some new clothes in Portland," she said, determined to speak of the future as if it would happen.

He opened his mouth and closed it again. She wondered what he was worried about now.

"What?" she asked, turning on the faucet.

"You've said a few times that you're going to buy this church. How are you going to pay for it?"

"With money."

He frowned at her. "You know what I mean. Where are you getting the money? You and Philip both seem to have an endless supply. That coat he's wearing must have cost two thousand dollars."

"At least." Embarrassed, she focused on washing out the blood-stains. "I don't know where Philip gets his money."

Come to think of it, that was a good question. He must have inherited his family's wealth, but he had always made fun of her stockbroker, and she'd never seen him contact a bank.

The irony of her own wealth brought more discomfort, considering what she and Robert were about to do. "Julian always… He sent money so I could take care of William… a lot of money. We lived with Edward Claymore in New York for years, and back then he handled everything for me. But I wanted control of my own affairs, so I took William, and we moved to Portland. I started investing around 1954, and later, I just learned what to look for, and I made some lucky choices at a ground floor buy-in… Coca-Cola, Apple, Microsoft, Starbucks, Exxon."

She paused her scrubbing and glanced at him. He still looked troubled, but he also seemed interested in what she was saying.

"I don't have any money," he said. "I've been living night to night for a long time, just taking a few dollars from people I fed on, and I used almost everything I had left to buy my plane ticket from Russia."

"Why were you living in Russia?"

He shrugged. "It was just a place. I didn't care where I lived… but Jessenia and I never traveled there, and I couldn't stay anyplace where we'd been." He paused. "But I always pay my own way, so I'll start contributing as soon as I can pick up a few jobs. I just haven't cared enough to work for a while."

"Jobs?"

He'd been working? Doing what?

"I ran a small business in Moscow for a while where I found lost objects, stolen objects, for people," he explained. "More than half the time, one of their friends or relatives took it, and I just had to read the right mind."

He'd used his telepathy to earn a living? That was clever. She'd never thought of doing anything like that-but then she'd never had to.

His coat looked better. She wrung it out and laid it over a chair. "I've never used my telepathy for much of anything besides feeding or defending myself or reading memories."

At her last two words, he tensed up and then pointed at the floor right in front of where he was sitting.

She joined him, cross-legged, puzzled again. He was changing topics too fast tonight.

"How did you do that?" he asked. "Make me see and feel everything like it was happening?"

"I don't know. Wade taught me to guide the stream, but I can't control where someone chooses to start-like with you. I didn't mean to make you go through all that. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. That isn't what I meant."

He stopped talking, and she had no idea what he wanted, but she could see by the desperate look on his face that he wanted something, and he wanted it so badly he feared asking her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"We still have enough time before Salem," he said quietly. "Can you do it again?"

He wanted to be with Jessenia. He was addicted to someone long gone. If Eleisha did this for him once, would he ask her again… and again?

And could she ever say no?

She reached out and grasped his pointer finger to help make the connection stronger.

"Close your eyes and go back. Start wherever you want."

He turned his hand over and gripped down hard on her fingers. It hurt a little, but not much.

"Just think back," she whispered.