We broke apart, both of us breathing heavily.
Jamie regained his composure and answered the door. I picked up the shashka.
“Alright,” he said to whoever was on the other side, “okay, thank you,” he added and then closed the door. “We’re invited for a night-cap in an hour. The hosts want to welcome us,” he said.
“The hosts, eh?” I looked back at my weapons. “How is Ian?”
“They got him settled in and the doctor was by to take some blood. He said they are going to do as many tests as they can. Mrs. Finch was by and told them what she’d already seen. Ian was really tired and wanted to sleep so I left him be.”
“What about the doctor? How did he seem?”
“Normal. He is from a research hospital in Ohio.”
“I don’t like leaving Ian alone,” I said.
“Me either. This whole thing is—I don’t know what it is. I mean, I saw those shadows too.”
“There are other strange things out there as well; I’ve seen spirits, earth spirits, ancestral spirits, I don’t know what, exactly.”
Jamie raised his eyebrows at me in surprise.
“I think my grandma was right. She always said that we are not alone in this world. We humans, we are not the only creatures on this plane. Now than humankind is not creating so much noise, maybe those other things in this world are more apparent.”
Jamie looked thoughtful. “And what the hell are these people?”
I pulled out the squirt gun Jamie had given me. It had seemed a funny gift at the time. We both looked at it.
“The holy water,” Jamie said considering.
I nodded.
Jamie took the little yellow and blue plastic gun and looked at it; his forehead furrowed.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
“Well, Grandma Petrovich got all those guns and everything, right? You used all that stuff to protect us. And she also got holy water.”
I waited.
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Every movie, T.V. show, comic book, video game—there is only one thing that you can kill with holy water,” Jamie said.
And in the moment, it was obvious.
“Vampires?” I whispered.
He nodded.
“But these people seem . . . like I don’t know what. They aren’t like the classic or romantic stories you hear. There is something awkward about them. Do you know what I mean? I’m not afraid, I just . . . ”
“ . . . just don’t want to deal with their shit? Well, we’ve spent the last half year being chased by the undead. Maybe it has numbed us.”
I shrugged. “What is this world we’re living in?”
“And what do they want from us?” Jamie replied.
Indeed, what did they want?
Chapter 25
“Bloody hell,” Jeff exclaimed as we stood in front of more food than any of us had seen in the last six months. A massive buffet of gourmet looking treats was spread out before us on a long table illuminated by candles. Already many of the other guests and the Hamletville townspeople were munching on hors d’oeuvres. We had been called to the massive ballroom of the hotel. It was beautiful. The carpet had a brocade design with dark blue and gold flowers. The recessed ceiling was painted with celestial images. The wallpaper was deep blue and had spiraling silver stars inlaid. The massive chandeliers overhead twinkled beautifully. The room was arranged comfortably with small groupings of chairs and tables; they all faced a row of seats at the front.
Jamie looked hungrily at the food, but I held him back.
“Why?” he whispered.
“Did you have Mrs. May for 12th grade English?” I asked him.
He looked confused. “Yes.”
“Did she make you read The Odyssey?”
“I think so.”
“There is the story, right, where Odysseus and his men are shipwrecked on the island with the Lotus Eaters.”
“Ah, yeah, I remember now. They eat lotus flowers all day long and forget home. They feel pleasure but forget everything else.”
“You got it,” I replied.
“But what are we going to do, fish?”
“I brought MRE’s.”
Jamie cringed.
“Sorry.”
“The undead I can handle, but I am not sure I can take another MRE.”
I smiled, taking glasses of wine for him and myself from a serving tray. “Try to look happy,” I replied, “but don’t drink.”
“This is getting worse by the second,” Jamie grumbled.