The Vampire's Apprentice

A quick look around town confirmed it was just going to be the four of them heading into the mines. Everyone else was either dead or too busy pulling themselves together after the onslaught of the undead. Az and Sable had done an excellent job of clearing the living dead out of town, and now there was only an occasional stray gunshot to indicate that some of them were still walking around. The immediate danger seemed to have cleared, at least as far as Alain could see.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sable asked as they started walking.

"I'll be fine," Alain insisted. "Worry about yourselves."

"You're the most heavily-injured one out of all of us," Az pointed out. "We're right to be concerned."

"It can wait. For now, we've got work to do."

Az and Sable looked like they both wanted to argue, but refrained. Felix, meanwhile, drew close to Alain.

"Hey," he said. "What are we expecting to see down there?"

"That's a question for Az and Sable," Alain answered. "You two hear that?"

"We did," Sable confirmed. "And we have no idea. It could be anything."

"Fucking great…" Alain muttered.

They eventually reached the opening to the mine, just outside of town. It was completely clear, from what they could see – no undead anywhere, and Mayor Adams was nowhere to be found.

"I'll take the lead," Az offered. "You three stay behind me. Especially you, Alain."

Alain scowled, but nodded. He checked to ensure his shotgun was loaded, then fell in behind Az as he began to move through the mines. Felix walked alongside him, close enough that they were almost shoulder-to-shoulder. The entire time, Alain kept his eyes peeled for any threats, but the only things down there were the occasional stray undead, which were taken care of in short order by either Az or Sable.

"Something isn't right…" Alain muttered. "Why would they bother leaving the mines unguarded if whatever they're trying to do is located down here?"

"No idea," Sable replied. "And we won't know unless we keep moving."

Alain nodded, despite the reservations welling up in his mind. They kept moving, dealing with the odd living corpse or two, before they finally reached a massive opening at the base of the mine. They moved to enter through it, but an invisible force barred the way.

"The fuck...?" Alain breathed as he ran right into it. It was completely invisible, and yet it felt like there was a wall in the way somehow. He tentatively raised a hand up to touch it, and sure enough, it was solid like stone.

"It's a force field," Sable said, her eyes widening in surprise. "I didn't think they'd be able to successfully raise one…"

"What does that mean, exactly?" Felix asked.

"It means that whatever they're doing down here, there's layers to it. Someone was sacrificed to turn the deputies into wights; someone else was sacrificed to raise this barrier. The rest will have been used to fuel whatever they're trying to do down here. That can only mean that whatever they're trying to do, it's really bad, otherwise why risk going after so many people?"

"Correct," someone said through the darkness.

Alain's eyes narrowed. "Adams," he growled, pulling his shotgun into his shoulder. "Come out where I can see you, coward."

"In due time, Alain. For now, I think I'd rather watch you all squirm like the maggots you are."

The earth began to shake once more, and the ground beneath their feet started to shift as bodies dug their way through the dirt, clawing at them.

"Everyone out!" Sable shouted. "Out of the mines, now!"

"We can't just-" Alain protested.

"If we stay here, we'll be drowned under a tide of undead! We have to leave, now!"

"But the ritual-"

"We'll come back," Sable promised. "They won't get away with whatever they're trying to do, trust me."

Alain reluctantly nodded. Sable took off running, and the rest of them followed after her, retracing their steps back through the mine. Undead rose all around them, snapping or clawing at their heels. Alain narrowly managed to avoid being bitten, as did Felix; both of them fired their weapons as they went, taking down any undead who came too close to them.

Eventually, the four of them emerged out from the mines. Thankfully, there was no further undead incursion yet – the town was completely quiet. Felix and Alain doubled over, gasping for breath. After a moment, they stood tall, wiping sweat from their brows.

"What do we do now?" Felix asked. "Because there's no way we're getting through whatever that barrier is as we are."

"There must be some way around it," Alain urged. "Sable, Az, you'd know, right? Tell me we can get around that thing before it's too late."

"No ritual is truly impenetrable," Sable explained. "They all have some kind of downside in the end, even the really powerful ones. Of course, the downsides may be a bit esoteric or hard to discover, but they still exist, it's just a matter of finding them."

"And I have a suggestion as to where to look, my lady," Az interjected. "The mayor's house should be fairly unguarded by this point. I say we start there."

"And if there's nothing there?" Alain couldn't help but ask.

Az's gaze narrowed. "Hopefully, we find something."

"That doesn't answer my question. What do we do if we can't find anything useful?"

Neither Az nor Sable had an answer for him. Alain's brow furrowed out of frustration, but he didn't offer any further argument.

"Alright, the mayor's house it is, then." He turned towards Felix. "You know, you don't have to come with us. You've done plenty as-is."

"Fuck that," Felix declared. "I've come this far, I'm not stepping back any time soon. Where you three go, I go."

Alain shrugged. "Suit yourself. So long as you're insistent on coming along, you should take the lead on this one – you'll get us there faster."

Felix nodded, then stepped in front of the group, reloading his weapons as he walked.

–

The trip to Mayor Ansley's office took just a few minutes given Felix was guiding them, but even despite the short walk, Alain's feet were killing him by the end of it. All the excitement and exertion from the past undead incursions were taking their toll on him – he was exhausted, and he could tell he wasn't the only one. Felix was struggling to stay awake, Sable was letting out the occasional yawn as she walked, and even Az, stoic as he was, had bags forming under his eyes.

By the time they reached the mayor's office, the moon was high in the sky, casting a faint glow on the desert sands below it. Az wasted no time in bashing down the door, and the four of them entered, Felix and Alain with their weapons at the ready.

"Doesn't seem like there's anyone home," Felix surmised as he holstered his pistol.

"Don't let that fool you," Alain warned, slinging his shotgun over his shoulder. "I wouldn't be surprised if Ansley has something waiting for us somewhere in here."

Sable looked around the house, frowning. "This is it? It only has a few rooms…"

Felix turned towards her, mouth agape. "Lady, this is the biggest house in town. Are you used to castles or something?"

"Yes, actually. But that's neither here nor there."

Sable brushed past Alain, peering into a nearby room. She frowned, then shook her head. "Searching this place is going to take ages."

"We don't have ages," Alain reminded her. "Tear this place apart if you have to, I don't think any of us care about keeping it intact at this point. We just need to find something that can point us in the right direction."

The others nodded, and then they split up, each taking a separate room for themselves. Alain ended up in what appeared to be the study, if the wooden desk lined with stacks of paper was any indication. He briefly rifled through the documents on the desk before dismissing them outright – there didn't appear to be anything useful there, just information about the mine for prospective investors.

After a few minutes of searching through the room, Alain was beginning to grow frustrated with his lack of progress. He looked around, his gaze landing on a grainy black-and-white photograph of Los Banos; his eyes narrowed, and out of sheer frustration, he picked up a nearby paperweight and hurled it at the picture. The frame shattered, and it fell to the ground. Alain stared at it before his attention was drawn to something behind it – a small, black, combination safe. He blinked, surprised, then called out to the others.

"Hey, I think I've found something!"

They all came running into the room. Alain pointed at the safe, then turned to Az.

"Think you can get that open?" he asked.

Az didn't give a response, but just cracked his knuckles. He stepped over to the safe, then in one fell swoop, ripped it out of the wall. He motioned for Sable to come join him, and she held onto the rear end of the safe while he grabbed the dial. Together, the two of them pulled, and after a few seconds of straining, the lock broke and the door opened.

Az reached inside the safe, then pulled out a small leather-bound book. He opened it, then began to read through it.

"What is it?" Felix asked. "Some kind of ledger?"

Az shook his head. "It's a journal of some kind."

"What's it say?" Alain questioned.

"Nothing at the moment. Let me read a bit-"

Az suddenly trailed off, then looked up to Alain. He cleared his throat.

"'April 30th, 1883 – I visited that strange man, the gypsy, out on the frontier again. He calls himself a seer from the old country, whatever that means. He's an odd one, but his wares are interesting to me – all kinds of trinkets from somewhere in Europe. I purchased a few of them simply to sate my own curiosity. I wonder if any of his stories about them are true…'"

"June 26th, 1883 – I went back to the gypsy again, and this time I made sure to loosen his tongue a bit with some whiskey. Really, I just wanted to hear more of his stories about the old country – those tidbits about the supernatural are really interesting, after all. Instead, I received far more than I expected. The old man claims to have discovered something akin to a fountain of youth. He clammed up immediately after mentioning it, however; nevertheless, he had my interest. Perhaps a bit more whiskey and money would loosen his tongue…'"

"August 9th, 1883 – I visited the old man for what I hope will be the final time. Sure enough, the alcohol and the money did it – he was all too willing to tell me what he knew after that. Turns out there's a ritual that needs to be performed in order to attain eternal youth, one that requires human sacrifices. It is unfortunate that innocent lives will need to be given up, but at the same time, there are people far more valuable than the sacrifices out there. After all, what is one prostitute compared to a wealthy businessman? Especially one so willing to pay for what I have to offer. And that's to say nothing of myself – one providing such a service for the world deserves to have a little something good come his way, I think…'"

Az finished reading, then looked up to the rest of the group. And for the first time, Alain saw traces of emotion on his face – disgust, mixed with a tinge of horror.

"That son of a bitch…" Sable said, gritting her teeth. "We should have known that's what he was planning. It makes sense – the secrecy, the human sacrifices, the undead… it all leads back to what's in this journal."

"So how do we stop him?" Alain asked.

Sable shook her head. "We need to figure out how to get past that barrier first. The book didn't mention anything about a ritual for that, but I think we can assume he got it from the same place as the other."

"The old man," Felix finished. "Yes, I agree."

"Then we know what we need to do," Alain said. He turned to Az. "Does the book say where to find the old man?"

"In some of the earlier entries, yes," Az answered. "We should be able to track him down using this."

"Alright, then we know what we need to do," Alain replied. "Let's just hope we can get to him before it's too late."