When they opened the oak door, Caitlin could not believe her eyes. The room was enormous. Shaped in a huge circle, it was lined with hundred-foot-tall stone columns, ornately decorated. It was well lit, torches placed every 5 feet, all throughout the room. It looked like the Pantheon. It looked ancient.
As she was led in, the next thing she noticed was the noise. It was a huge crowd. She looked around and saw hundreds, if not thousands, of men and women dressed in black, moving quickly all about the room. There was a strangeness to how they moved: it was so fast, so random, so…inhuman.
She heard a swooshing noise, and looked up. Dozens of these people leapt, or flew, through the room, going from floor to ceiling, from ceiling to balcony, from column to ledge. That was the whooshing noise she had heard. It was as if she had entered a cave full of bats.
She took it all in and was completely, utterly, shocked. Vampires did exist. Was she one of them?
They led her to the center of the room, chains rattling, her bare feet cold on the stone. They led her to a spot in the center of the floor, designated by a large, tile circle.
As she reached the center, the noise gradually died down. The motion slowed. Hundreds of vampires took positions in a huge, stone amphitheater before her. It looked like a political assembly, like the pictures she had seen of the state of the union address—except, instead of hundreds of politicians, these were hundreds of vampires, all staring at her. Their order and discipline was impressive. Within seconds, they were all perfectly seated, quiet as can be. The room fell silent.
As she stood in the center of the room, held in place by the attendants, Kyle stepped off to the side, folded his hands, and lowered his head in reverence.
Before the assembly sat an immense stone chair. It looked like a throne. She looked up and saw that seated in it was a vampire who looked older than the others. She could tell that he was absolutely ancient. There was something about his cold, blue eyes. They stared down at her as if they had seen 10,000 years. She hated the feeling of his eyes on her. They were evil itself.
“So,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “This is the one who breached our territory,” he said. His voice was gravelly and had absolutely no warmth in it. It echoed in the huge chamber.
“Who is your coven leader?” he asked.
Caitlin stared back, debating how to answer. She had no idea what to say.
“I don’t have a leader,” she said. “And I don’t belong to any coven. I am here by myself.”
“You know the punishment for trespass,” he stated, a smile growing at the corner of his mouth. “If there is anything worse than immortality,” he continued, “it is immortality in pain.”
He stared at her.
“This is your last chance,” he said.
She stared back, having no idea what to say. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the room for an exit, wondering if there was any way out. She didn’t see one.
“As you wish,” he said, and nodded ever so slightly.
A side door opened, and out came a vampire in chains, dragged by two attendants. He was dragged to the center of the floor, only feet from where Caitlin stood. She watched in fear, unsure what was happening.
“This vampire broke the rule of mating,” the leader said. “Not as severe a violation as yours. But still, one that must be punished.”
The leader nodded again, and an attendant stepped forward with a small vial of liquid. He reached up and splashed it on the chained vampire.
The chained vampire started shrieking. Caitlin watched his skin bubble up all over his arm, welts appearing immediately, as if he were burned. His shrieks were horrific.
“This is not just any holy water,” the leader said, staring down at Caitlin, “but specially charged water. From the Vatican. I assure you that it will burn through any skin, and that the pain will be horrific. Worse than acid.”
He stared long and hard Caitlin. The room was completely silent.
“Tell us where you’re from and you will be spared an awful death.”
Caitlin swallowed hard, not wanting to feel that water on her skin. It looked horrific. Then again, if she were not truly a vampire, it shouldn’t harm her. But it was not an experiment she wanted to take.
She pulled again at her chains, but they did not give way.
She could feel her heart pounding, and the sweat raising on her brow. What could she possibly tell him?
He stared at her, judging her up.
“You are brave. I admire your loyalty to your coven. But your time is up.”
He nodded, and she heard the sound of chains. She looked over, and saw two attendants hoist a huge cauldron. With each pull, they raised it several feet in the air. When it was high, about 15 feet off the ground, they swung it over, so that it was directly over her head.
“There were but a few ounces of holy water splashed on that vampire,” the leader said. “Above you sit gallons. When it washes over your body, it will give you the most horrific pain imaginable. You will be in this pain for a lifetime. But you will still be alive, immobile, helpless. Remember, you have chosen this.”
The man nodded, and Caitlin felt her heart pounding ten times the speed. The attendants at her side hooked her chains into the stone and ran, rushing to get as far away from her as possible.
As Caitlin looked up, she saw the cauldron tilting, and the liquid begin to pour. She looked back down and closed her eyes.
Please God. Help me!
“No!” she screamed, her scream echoing through the chamber.
And then, she was immersed.
Chapter Ten
The water covered her entire body, making it hard to breathe, or open her eyes. After about ten seconds, though, after her entire hair and body and clothes were completely drenched, Caitlin blinked her eyes. She braced herself for the pain.
But it didn’t come.
She blinked, then looked up at the cauldron, wondering if it were completely empty. It was. She looked back down at herself, and saw she was drenched. But she was completely fine. Not an ounce of pain.
The leader, suddenly realizing, stood in his chair, jaw dropping. He was clearly shocked. Kyle, too, turned and looked, his mouth open. The entire assembly, hundreds of vampires, all stood, and a gasp spread through the room.
Caitlin could see that this was not the reaction they had been expecting. They were all dumbfounded.
Somehow, their water had not affected her. Maybe she wasn’t a vampire after all?
Caitlin saw her chance.
While they all stood there, too shocked to react, she summoned her strength and in one motion, broke her chains. She then took off at a sprint away from the assembly, in the direction of that side door. She prayed it led somewhere.
She made it halfway across the room before anyone could get over their shock to react.
“Get her!” she finally heard the leader scream.
And then, the sound of hundreds of bodies rustling towards her. The noise bounced off the walls, came from everywhere, and she realized that they were not just running towards her, but jumping down off the ceilings, off the balconies, their wings spread, speeding towards her. They swept down towards her, like a vulture after its prey, and she doubled her speed, ran for everything she had.
She fumbled in the dark, led only by the torches, and as she rounded a bend, finally, in the distance, she saw the door. It was open. And light came from behind it. It was indeed an exit, and it would have been perfect. Except for that one, last vampire.
Standing before the