A Place to Belong: Chapter 16

Chapter XVI

Hunting in the Dark

“I can’t believe we’re being forced to go down here…” Callie was still muttering as we moved deeper through the sewers. She was wearing some designer jeans, boots that were more form than function, and a black cardigan that was supposed to help her blend in, but would do a much better job without the rhinestones which sparkled every time the minute amount of light down here caught them. 

She was trudging along behind Diego, who I’d told to take point. While I could use my power to make my vision better, it didn’t allow me to see in the dark like the shadowy touch of Oblivion that affected him and Isadora. While Diego was on point, Isadora took up the rear to watch our backs, leaving Callie and I vulnerable in the center, trusting in the two of them to keep us from stumbling into something or be taken unawares. It was a disconcerting feeling, but I suppose having to trust others always is.

Either that, or I was far more broken than I thought.  

Callie was very vocal about how little she liked this idea, but when I suggested she lead the way, the fear in her eyes was all the answer I needed. Our meeting with the Baroness and her council went about how I expected, but seemingly not at all how Callie did. She kept looking at Marcus, expecting him to bail her out of the situation that kept devolving more rapidly as Natalia spoke. 

“You are looking for an artifact that was left behind in one of the hidden Camarilla vaults,” Natalia had explained to us in her office. She sat regally as Marcus stood to her right, Father Renaldo on her left, and Arthur looming dangerously behind her. Marcus stood stonefaced, no emotion visible at all as Natalia spoke, but Father Renaldo looked more and more worried as she went on. 

“It is a symbol of power, some think it to be an old weapon, but I doubt that,” Natalia explained, speaking in riddles and roundabouts. I could tell she was avoiding giving too much away about this artifact, but leave us with enough information to identify it. “Once it is in my possession, it will secure my seat as Baroness of the Queen City and solidify Charlotte as an undisputed Anarch Free State. Once you have it in your possession, bring it back to me, and I will reward you. Elevate your status here in the Free State and put you on the fast track for full council membership.” 

Ambition had shone in Callie’s eyes at that point. There was pride on Diego’s face as well, though both I and Isadora kept our expressions neutral. Marcus took note and seemed to want to get a dig in. 

“Not exciting enough for you, neonate?” he asked, directing the question at me. I turned and looked at him, keeping my voice measured. 

“A lot of things can happen between then and now,” I said, plainly. “I don’t want ambition and eagerness to speed me to the final death before a seat at the table has even been made for me. Eyes on the prey, not the horizon.” 

I saw Arthur crack a grin at my chosen expression, though Marcus seemed less amused. Rather than get into a bantering match with a neonate and further tarnish his reputation, he bit his tongue and nodded at me. Natalia cleared her throat, drawing the room’s attention back to her, and continued explaining. 

“Charlotte has a lot of… interesting underground networks,” she explained, pulling out an assortment of maps and laying them on the desk in front of her. My eyes caught the calligraphy and sigils used and it was all I could do to keep the flicker of recognition off my face. “These were hand drawn and supplied by the local Nosferatu network. They were under the influence of the Camarilla at the time, but that doesn’t mean that the information isn’t valid.” 

I nodded and stepped closer, looking over the maps, noting the symbols he used and the coded notes in the corners. I’d spent my downtime over the past few days reading over Ledger’s journals and found that he kept a pretty common, if esoteric, code system. Once you knew his symbology, it was simple to read, but an outsider without any idea what his keycode would be, wouldn’t be able to decipher it. 

“Beneath these streets are utility tunnels and sewers,” Natalia nodded at the maps. “But beyond that there are closed up, outdated sewer systems, prohibition tunnels, incomplete construction on a subway trolley system that was doomed to fail… and even a few abandoned gold mines.” 

“Gold?” Diego asked, unable to stop himself. Natalia just nodded at him. 

“Apparently they were dug out during the Carolina gold rush in the eighteen hundreds,” she explained. “In fact, it's near one of these old mine shafts that you’ll find the vault.” 

She pointed at one of the maps, showing us the location. 

“There’s no direct path, though there are a few connection points through other tunnels,” she explained, pointing at several of the other maps, finally ending at one of the utility tunnels. “You can start here, in Uptown, and then make your way through.” 

“Uptown?” Callie had asked, an edge creeping into her worried tone. “You mean, we’re going to be crawling around the sewers of Uptown?”

“Rich people’s shit smells as bad as anyone else’s,” I muttered to her, still studying the maps. 

“Worse,” Arthur laughed, a gruff sound that reminded me of a chuffing dog. “You see what those people eat? All fats and fine booze.” 

“I’m not worried about the smell!” Callie snapped, then corrected her tone as Arthur glowered at her. “What I mean to say is, I have a reputation. I can’t be seen crawling around in the sewers… Especially not there.” 

Her eyes turned to Marcus, hoping that he’d back her up, but he said nothing as he looked over the documents on the table. 

“There is no other way to go, and you are a member of the coterie I’m sending. And so, you are going. That is final,” Natalia said, then proceeded to explain the mission without acknowledging Callie any further, leaving the girl to seeth silently. “Once you locate the vault, Isadora here will be able to identify the artifact, as it will have a strong necromantic power tied to it.” 

“That seems unusual for a relic meant to exude authority,” Isadora said, no accusation in her tone, but I sensed it in her words. “Are there any other details about the artifact that can help identify it? Size? Shape? Cultural background?”

“It is ancient Etrusken,” Natalia answered, smoothly, inclining her head at Isadora. “Though I’m sure there are several items in there that fit that description. As well as some more Roman artifacts. From my research, the item with the most powerful necromantic aura will be the correct one. Should that not be specific enough, bring the most powerful ones and we’ll sort it out later.” 

“Understood,” Isadora said, bowing her head, but I could sense the wave of anger radiating from her. I could practically hear her thoughts on how Natalia’s dismissive attitude was an insult to the dead, but I kept my attention on the maps. 

You seem quite taken with these maps, child-of-mine, Natalia’s voice entered my mind. I’d grown so used to it that I didn’t even flinch. 

I’ve always loved maps, I told her. My eyes were roving over every possible path, deciphering the warnings Ledger had left on them, rerouting around the dangers that Natalia wasn’t able to see because she couldn’t possibly understand them. My apartment actually has several of them hanging on the walls. Some real, some fictional, but all as accurate as they can be based on the source. 

And accuracy matters more than anything to you, Natalia grinned wickedly as she watched me study the maps. Once I’d finished mapping the new route out in my head, I collected the maps and rolled them up, putting them into the backpack I took with me, inwardly smiling at the old leatherbound journal of Ledger’s that I’d taken with me in case we needed to be down there for a while.

“I think that’s everything we need to know, right?” I asked aloud, allowing each person in the room to savor whatever irony they understood of our current situation. When no one tried to add anything else, I turned for the door. “Alright then, we’re burning moonlight.” 

Hours later, we found ourselves past the cleaner, more organized utility tunnels of modern day and deep within the old sewer system that had long gone out of use. The air was thick with the scent of old, desiccated waste, brick dust, and stagnation that hadn’t seen circulation in decades. I was pretty certain that, had we been mortals wandering around down here, we would have long suffocated from carbon monoxide or some other hazard. 

“T-intersection,” Diego called back to us. “The course says to turn right here.” 

“Turn left,” I told him, barely needing to check anymore. “There’s a cave-in about half a mile down and we’re going to need to back track anyway. May as well save ourselves a trip.” 

“How do you know that?” Callie asked, a sharp bitterness in her voice. 

“I could read the symbols on the map better than Natalia could,” I said simply, then called up to Diego. “Left.” 

Diego didn’t move. He turned and looked hard at me, and I could see his darkening expression in the pale light of Callie’s phone flashlight, which she pulled back slightly to keep from entering his aura of technological destruction. He pursed his lips at me, scowling, and clearly telling me without words that he had a bone to pick with me. I sighed and nodded at him. 

“Which screw up of mine?” I asked, leaning against the nearest wall, indicating I knew we were going to be here far longer hashing this out than I wanted to be. 

“First, proud you noticed there’s more than one,” he started. “Second, the one we talked about earlier. We’ve been long out of the Baroness’ office, and we’re long past where there’s going to be a Nosferatu spy listening to us and reporting back to her. Callie needs to know.” 

“Callie needs to know what?” Callie asked, a sharp tone of fear entering her voice. She turned between Diego and me, her eyes trying to read our expressions. 

“Fair,” I said, turning to Callie and opening my mouth, only to be cut off by Diego again. 

“Then,” he continued, and I think I saw one of Callie’s eyes begin to twitch. “You’re going to explain how you know your way around here better than Nossies do.” 

“Nossies?” I asked him, curiously. “Nostralians? Oh, Nosferatu. That’s a cute nickname for them…” 

“Callie needs to know what!” Callie repeated, nearly shouting and actually stamping her foot like she was having a tantrum. Diego and I looked at each other. He just gave me a shrug and gestured for me to continue. I sighed, and turned to face her. 

“Callie needs to know that there’s a strong possibility there is something dangerous down here,” I told her, trying to ease into the subject. 

“The Garou, I know,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I was at the meeting too.” 

“Not just Garou,” I said, and I saw her entire body tense and still at the word ‘just.’ “There’s something a lot worse in the city right now, and the fact that it’s not being more widely talked about makes me suspect it’s gone to ground.”

Callie’s eyes flickered from side to side, as if trying to seek the danger I was talking about. There wasn’t a chance in hell of her seeing anything with the LED phone light burning out our nightvision. 

“There’s something worse than Garou down here?” she asked, her voice now barely a whisper, as if she was afraid she was going to call the monsters in the dark to her. In fairness, that was very much a possibility, though I doubt any amount of whispering or cautious walking would protect us. “What's worse than a Garou?”

I looked at Diego, who nodded encouragingly at me. 

“A wight,” I said, turning to look back at Callie. Had there been blood in her face I swear it would have all drained away. Her mouth opened slightly, as if she wanted to speak and scream and couldn’t decide which. Finally, one word slipped from her lips.

“Why?” she asked, her eyes locked on mine, accusatory. 

“Why is there a wight?” I asked. “Or why are you the last to know?”

“Why did you hide this from me?” she asked, and for the first time since meeting her, there was no arrogance in her voice. Instead, it sounded as though she was begging, on the verge of tears, as if I’d just betrayed her and signed her death warrant all in one move. 

“Because I couldn’t trust you to keep quiet about it,” I said, explaining what I had told Diego, how we knew the council knew, but we didn’t want to tip our hand just yet. How we knew the Baroness knew and was hunting it. How we knew Marcus would use the information to usurp her. “And more than anything, if I didn’t wait for us to get this deep… you’d just run back to them.” 

“Nothing is stopping me from doing that now,” she practically hissed, turning on her heel to head back. 

“How’s the battery life?” I asked, and she froze in place. “Will that flashlight get you back to the surface? What turns do you need to get out of here? Do you think the Garou are more likely to attack a group of vampires or just a lone one? What about the wight?”

By the time I finished speaking, she was visibly shaking, realizing just how skillfully I’d trapped her down here. I could practically taste her rage. Words that made no sense sputtered from her mouth as she tried to form them into something, anything, that resembled a coherent argument, but nothing came. 

“What is a group of vampires called?” Diego asked, a note of curiosity in his voice that seemed almost cruel given the circumstances. 

“Scourge,” Isadora and I answered together. 

“Ah,” Diego said, nodding. “I knew one of you would know. Creepy how both of you answered in one voice, but thanks.” 

“Who fucking cares?” Callie hissed, finally collecting herself enough to direct her anger at us. “You’ve killed us! If Marcus knew, he wouldn’t let that bitch send me down here, he would have…” 

“What’s the secret order he gave you?” I asked her, and she stopped talking immediately. 

“What?” she asked, and all the symbols of a liar began glowing on her skin like neon lights to my eyes. The tightening jaw, strained voice, flickering eyes, and fidgeting fingers. She was rattled, unable to hide the signs in her heightened emotional state, and probably for the first time ever, she was easy to read. 

“My guess is once we identify the item, make sure it gets into his hands before it gets into Natalia’s,” I said, ignoring her feigned ignorance. “Gaining ownership of an artifact that will secure the authority of a Baron seems much more valuable than anything else. So I assume that he told you to make sure, no matter what, that you’re the one carrying it, that you’re the one who presents it, and that he’s the one you present it to.” 

“Are you accusing me of betraying you?” she asked, neatly dodging my actual accusation by escalating things, forcing me to admit to aggressive action or back off. It was a clever move. One sentence that could flip onlookers to her side, had they been less informed. Unfortunately for her, neither Diego nor Isadora were caught off guard by this conversation. She had no crowd to manipulate. No populace to misinform. 

“Accusing you would mean I care whether or not you know that I figured it out,” I said to her. “I’m not accusing you of planning to betray me. I know you’re going to betray me.” 

“So you brought me down here to what? Kill me?” she asked, her voice growing higher in pitch. I could see the fear in her eyes as they darted around, desperately seeking an escape route. I smiled at her, and her eyes widened just a bit more, her muscles tensing in preparation to bolt. 

“No,” I told her plainly. “My goal is that all four of us get out of here alive and well. That we get that artifact, we get out, and we present it. My goal for this conversation was to tell you two things: One, that there’s more danger we need you to be aware of. And two, that I know you’re planning to betray us, and you now have the opportunity not to. Ponder that for a bit.”

Her brow furrowed, confusion replacing the shock on her face as I turned away from her, gesturing to Diego. 

“Take the left path,” I told him, and he raised an eyebrow at me. I shook my head. “When we break, I'll show you. I don’t want to stay still on the game trail too long. We’re being hunted.” 

Callie’s eyes shot up to look at me. 

“What?”

“I can hear it,” Isadora said, her voice, cold and emotionless, echoed eerily off the old brick walls. “Shuffling, snuffling, seeking… It got a taste and wants more.” 

I suppressed a shiver, wondering if she was talking about it having a taste for her or for me. Unable to determine which one would be worse, I shook my head and looked back at Diego. 

“You heard the lady,” I pushed. “Let’s put some distance between us and that thing. Whether it's the wight or Garou, I don’t want to meet it or be its dinner.”

“Yeah,” Diego said, nodding nervously. “Left ahead, got it.” 

We continued through the dark, hearing, or thinking we were hearing, the sounds of a predator hunting us through the tunnels of the long forgotten sewer system. Ledger’s directions proved invaluable as we moved as quickly as we dared, seeking the next level of Charlotte’s hidden underground, trying not to think about the fact that down here we were no longer the hunters, just the prey.