Sylvie

“No evidence and it ensures that there is none of that goop left.”  Casey added and winked. “Carnage galore, I love it.  Reminds me of Faye’s hotel.  It was trashed when Vivienne was done.”

Sylvie gathered up paper and peeled off parts of wooden boxes to create kindling, and used cans of turpentine on top. “Always keep a lighter handy.”  

Casey nodded and patted her pocket. “I learned that from Viv, burning a vampire is the best way.”

“Exactly.”  Sylvie added and lit the pile. “All the reason to run.  NOW!”  She grabbed Casey’s hand and sprinted for one of the big doors.

It took a few minutes for the fire to spread enough that the guards noticed more than just a burning smell.  Screaming and running for their lives, the soldiers sounded their alarms the best they could as the warehouse turned into a blazing inferno.

—

Standing in the bright parking lot of a Denny’s, Sylvie pulled the skull from one of the leather bags adorning her motorcycle. “Let’s see what is so important about Franco.”

Casey crawled off the motorcycle and sat down on the asphalt. “You said before that the vision showed him closing that door thing.  It could just have been to let you know it could be closed again.”  She pointed to the skull. “Maybe it’s nothing but a dead vampire’s skull.”

Studying Franco closely, Sylvie couldn’t find much in the way of anything useful. “I can’t explain it, Casey.  I just have a hunch.  It’s like my third eye is burning me, if that makes sense.”

Getting an errant thought, Casey let out a half-chuckle. “Sounds like the game ‘hot and cold’ to me.  You know the game, right?”

Sylvie turned the skull over and looked at the inside, then moved the jaw and touched the fangs. “Yeah, I know it.  What is really odd, I just noticed…”  She pointed to the lower jaw. “Shouldn’t that be falling off or be missing completely?”

“Good point.”  Casey watched as a police car circled the parking lot and stopped close to them. “Um, cop.  What do you want to do?”

Putting the car in park, the woman officer got out and donned her hat as she walked over to engage the vampires. “Ladies.  What do you have there?”  The officer asked knowing full well it was a skull of some sort.

Flipping the head over so that the eye sockets were displayed, Sylvie pointed to the fangs. “It’s a vampire skull.”  She laughed, “A little Halloween thing I picked up.”

“It is the season for that sort of thing I suppose.”  The officer pointed to them, “Can I see your IDs please?”

Frowning for a few seconds, Casey stood up and wiped her pants off. “Why exactly?  We are just sitting here minding our own business.”

“Sitting here in a Denny’s parking lot turning a prop skull that looks awfully real, seems just a tad suspicious to me.  Since it is currently friendly, I asked so I know who I am speaking with.”

Sylvie placed Franco back in her saddlebag and walked up to the lady. “Let me get it out real faaasssttt….”  She blew her charming breath across the woman’s nose and watched as her eyes glossed over.  Sylvie looked at the nameplate, “Officer Pollard, you will get back in your cruiser and head to the front of the building, park and go inside.  Get yourself something filling to eat, take your time.”  Sylvie walked behind the lady, “By the time you finish dinner you will have forgotten all about interrupting us, right?”

“Yes, Ma’am.  Car, park, eat, forget.”  Officer Pollard smiled and scuttled off.

Skipping over to her lover, Casey wrapped her arms around Sylvie. “You are very good at that.”  She watched as the officer drove off with a wave. “I tend to want to drain them.”  Casey dropped her fangs in place. “I don’t think I am a ‘good’ vampire.”  She lifted her hands to show air quotes saying ‘good’ and then resumed hugging Sylvie.

Witnessing Casey’s fangs still particle-stained red gave Sylvie an idea. “It can’t be this easy.”  She reached into the leather bag and pulled the skull out once more.  Taking the time to open a small hole in her wrist, Sylvie coated the dead man’s fangs with her blood.  Much like invisible ink appears once heated or placed under the right ultraviolet light, the magic in the blood filled in the crevasses of the fangs and revealed a series of numbers. “I got it!”  Sylvie offered Casey her wrist. “A treat for my lil-pumpkin.”

Happily clamping her lips over Sylvie’s wrist, Casey kissed the wound and drank a little blood, refreshing her almost instantly.  Not wanting to tempt herself more, Casey pulled away and kissed Sylvie and gave her a taste of blood. “Blood shared is blood loved, honey-dumpling.”

Sylvie then licked her wrist closed and spoke to Code. “I want you to save the series of numbers on the fangs and analyze them for patterns.  I assume you can do that, Code?”

“Scanning.”  Code responded and started processing the request, within seconds Code spoke again. “Initial comparisons have these numbers like passages in a book or journal of some kind.  The format I see is like a bible entry.”  It paused and pulled up one of the images it took, and highlighted the sections with different colors. “The entire passage is labeled NX-133: 21-45.”

Sylvie leaned back into Casey and sighed. “So I have to find the source for this pattern, or I won’t know what is being explained.”

“Affirmative.  There are at least ten different passages listed on the four fangs.  I detect a couple that are too light to be read, they have faded or purposely removed.” Code fell silent and stopped scanning.

Casey licked and kissed Sylvie’s neck while the elder vampire leaned into her. “Interesting.  He imprinted something that is only found by other vampires, it must be important or it wouldn’t be hidden on his fangs.”  She paused for a breath, “I suppose now the question is, How well did you know Franco?”

Almost entranced by Casey’s warm lips on her neck, Sylvie found herself wanting nothing more than to stand right where she was and keep the little love kisses going. Sighing, Sylvie groaned as she pulled herself free of Casey’s warm hands. “I worked with him daily for twenty years.  I didn’t know anything about the Dryods until the vision.  He never spoke of them.  Phantasmagoria was his idea, he had specific rules too.  You saw how tightly it was run.  Very little elimination was allowed, the public didn’t say anything but they all knew what they were getting into with the building.”  She walked over to her motorcycle and placed Franco back in her leather satchel. “Sure, we also provided a service, but it was symbiotic.  We gave, they gave.  It was…”  Sylvie rolled her eyes, recalling the vision. “...balanced.”

“What?”  Casey questioned after seeing Sylvie roll her eyes. “I don’t get it, what did you forget?”

Waving her hand briefly, Sylvie handed Casey her helmet. “I didn’t forget, I just put together what the vision and Phantasmagoria both mean.”  She took a deep breath and sat down on her Indian bike, “Recall that the vision wanted them to live in harmony with humans.  Without the darkness, Phantasmagoria was a veil version of that very concept.”  She lightly banged her hand on the gas tank. “Why didn’t I see it before?”

Casey buckled the hard shell to her head and slid behind Sylvie. “Sounds like the logical choice is to go back into Phantasmagoria and dig around in his office.  Assuming anything is still there.”

Turning the key to the bike, Sylvie started the engine. “Smart beyond your years, Casey.  I was thinking the same thing.”  She put on her helmet and then spoke into the microphone, “I am guessing that whatever the notations on his fangs mean, that book is well hidden.  It wouldn’t be found by human eyes.”

“Gotcha.”  Casey giggled and squeezed Sylvie around the waist. “Let’s get going before more police arrive.  Itssss…Adventure time!”