Lord Victor waited with some of his vampire servants by the front gate of the mansion’s courtyard.  By the time he’d woken up from trying to convince Clara to drink blood, the fighting was too far away for him to get there in time.  He kept thinking that there must have been something they could have done to prevent a new crucivire from arising.  Perhaps if two of the elders had gone after Alice instead of one, then the young woman would be dead now.  It would only take a single elder to distract the nearby Night Hunters.

            But even as he considered this, he knew he never would have done so.  If Alice had fought alone, she would have died.  She could never have defeated an elder vampire on her own, and even Lord Victor could not predict than an elder vampire would control Alice’s body.  In all the years he’d lived, he’d never seen anything like it.  Clearly Jacqueline Castellane was more of a problem than they’d realized, and now they’d lost Fara Duval because of it.

            Speaking of Fara, her servants were fast approaching, stumbling through the forest just outside the mansion gates.  They would be there soon.  With their keen night vision, Lord Victor’s servants, standing behind him, looked at the incoming vampires with fear.

            “My lord,” said one of them, his eyes wide.  “They’re…they’re blind.”

            The incoming vampires’ eyes were a pale white, not the dark red that they should have been.

            “Indeed,” said Victor.  “Blinded by the crucivire’s transformation.” He growled in exasperation.  “Kill them.”

            The servants looked at him in surprise, “My lord?”

            “This will be terrible for moral,” said Victor.  “So, we don’t need the rest of our army seeing this.  Kill them before they reach the mansion.”

            Reluctantly, Victor’s servants obeyed.  They drew their swords and walked towards the forest, cutting down branches and then sharpening them.  Soon, they approached the blind vampires with a sword in one hand and a wooden stake in the other.  Victor watched, his gaze stern and solemn.

###

The previous day, people in Saint Vivia heard the explosion from the attempt to destroy the vampires’ mansion.  Fortunately, most of the dust kicked up from it had settled before reaching residential neighborhoods, but the sound was enough to make people ask questions.  The Night Hunters were still operating under standard procedures to cover up the supernatural, so the cover story was given out by the U.S. Military and reported by the local news.

            The news stated that an old abandoned mine had filled with methane gas which exploded.  At most times, this explanation would have sufficed, but people in Saint Vivia were suspicious.  They knew the missile had something to do with the vampires, and considering the military was still in the area, they figured it wasn’t over.

            As people talked amongst each other, discussing what was happening, they prayed, some figuratively and some literally, for someone to save them.

###

Alice slept peacefully for the first time in a while and woke up during the evening hours, glad to see her skin no longer glowing.  Alice was eager to begin her training, but before Alice could even begin, she was called to the facility’s conference room to discuss that very subject.  Agent Walker, Captain Wagner, Gordon Brand, Cora Mires and Jasmine Ross joined Alice as Director Farrow explained the situation.  Alice also saw other Night Hunter officers sitting around the conference table, many of them recently promoted.

            “Our vampire informant Jacqueline has new information for us,” said Farrow.  “The vampires are waking up earlier than normal, with the sun below the horizon but enough twilight to make them uncomfortable.  They are busy setting up traps and ambush points in the forest.  In short, they are preparing for a siege.  There is only one reason I can think of that they would do this, and Jacqueline agrees.

            “The vampires must be unable to maintain the displacement spell protecting them and perform their ritual at the same time.  Furthermore, we can assume that the ritual will take enough time that they’ll have to hold us off before we can get to them.  People, our last chance to stop these vampires once and for all is upon us.  Once that displacement spell goes down, we attack.”

            Finally, Alice thought, some good news.  She clenched her fists, eager to start training for this.

            “I’ve convinced the Night Hunter council that a second missile is too risky,” said Farrow.  “We just don’t know enough about magic, and the results of a missile striking without the displacement spell could be disastrous.  To be safe, we’ve also had to rule out air support from the military.  They will have a missile on standby, just in case we run out of options, but for the moment, the plan is simple.  We’re going to hit the mansion with everything we’ve got, an all out ground assault.  You’ll get more details as our plan of attack forms, but for now…”

            Farrow looked straight at Alice, “Alice Hayes needs to begin her training.”

            Alice and Gordon nodded.

###

Alice stood across from Gordon in the training room wearing new combat gear to better accommodate the fighting style she was about to learn.  She, like the dhampirs, wore pants, a wooden training sword at her belt, and a black sleeveless shirt designed to accommodate agility and acrobatics.

            Alice noticed that the lights above weren’t particularly bright, which meant that her ability to see was due to her night vision.  She could even see Cora Mires and Jasmine Ross standing to the side, and suspected that without this night vision, she probably wouldn’t have.  It was incredible just how clear her surroundings were, but Alice’s attention was soon returned to the man in front of her.

            “So,” said Gordon.  “You’re Phoenix’s sister Alice.  Nice to finally meet you.  I would have been killed if you hadn’t shot the vampire about to stab me, you know.  I haven’t forgotten that.”

            “Glad I could help, Agent Brand,” said Alice.  “I’m eager to start training.”

            “I’m sure,” said Gordon.  “I hear from Director Farrow that sword techniques were part of your mental training with Jacqueline Castellane.  Draw your training sword and let’s see how that applies to the real world.  Jasmine, why don’t you start with her.”

            As Alice slid the blunt wooden weapon out of her belt, Gordon backed away so that Jasmine could walk up and stand in front of her, sword in hand.  Alice and Jasmine sized each other up for a moment or two, and then Jasmine rushed in.  Alice tried to remember Jacqueline’s training, and while she could remember all the moves, she felt as clumsy and as awkward as when she was defending herself from Fara.  She was completely on the defensive as the wooden blades clacked against each other.

            It didn’t take long for Jasmine’s sword to get close to Alice’s neck.  Alice huffed, frustrated, while Gordon hummed thoughtfully.  They began again, Alice lasting a little longer before Jasmine’s sword struck Alice’s torso.  They sparred one more time, and the point of Jasmine’s training sword eventually rested right above her heart.  Alice lowered her own sword, dejected.

            “I guess training in a mental world wasn’t good enough,” said Alice.

            “Don’t feel bad,” said Jasmine.  “This sort of thing takes time…”

            “No,” said Gordon, lowing his sword and rubbing his chin.  “I can see the moves you’re going for, and they’re solid.  It’s just that you don’t move like a swordsman should.  It’s like…” he searched for a metaphor. “It’s like learning about swordplay in a book as opposed to in person.”

            “I think he’s right,” said Cora, who had been watching just as closely.  “Learning in a mental world must be akin to imagining yourself sword fighting.  That’s fine if it’s a mind against a mind, but not so great when it’s your muscles against Her’s.  The knowledge is correct, but there are some things you just have to do for real.”

            “You think so?” asked Jasmine.

            “I do,” said Gordon. “Let me take a look at that stance again.”

            Gordon spent the next few moments instructing Alice on how to stand and how to move when sword fighting, letting her demonstrate what she knew and correcting her when she got a move wrong.  Slowly but surely Alice’s movements improved until she was fighting competently.  Soon, she was keeping up with Jasmine far better.

            “That’s enough for now,” said Gordon, as the pair of them stopped, panting.  “You’re making progress.  As far as swordplay goes, I think you’ll be ready by the time we attack, but there’s still more to learn.  We’ll rest for a bit, and then begin agility training.”

            Alice raised an eyebrow.

            As it turned out, agility training meant an obstacle course in another room.  This obstacle course included high walls for her to jump over, swinging sandbags for her to dodge, structures for her to climb by sticking her hands and feet to the walls, and even monkey bars.  With her newfound physical abilities, Alice found he could jump higher and run faster than before.  Her enhanced hearing meant she was hyper aware of her surroundings.

            However, her first attempt wasn’t great.  Alice’s ability to adhere to surfaces was difficult to control.  Half the time she hit a wall and just slipped off.  Dodging the sandbags was easier, as her enhanced hearing made her hyper aware of the bags around her, only getting hit once or twice.  It helped that she’d had some combat training as a Night Hunter, but the thing that really messed her up were the monkey bars.  She’d miss a bar as she swung under them and fell to the floor, and each fall hurt.

            One time, Alice got up from the floor feeling terrible, “You can’t have nets to catch us?”

            “You’ll heal,” said Gordon.  “Trust me.  Pain is a great incentive to do better next time.  You can’t be permanently injured.  Not as you are now.”

            Alice groaned, “Yeah, yeah, I get it.  Let me try again.”

            She continued training for a few hours, and while she saw improvements, Alice wondered if she’d really be ready for the new moon.  She had so little time.

###

“So Alice Hayes is a crucivire?” asked Thompson, a disbelieving look on his face.  “Amazing.”

            Agent Thompson was still in solitary confinement for his role in the vampire attack.  As Agent Walker visited him, they had to talk through bulletproof glass with phones.  Thompson wore a simple black jumpsuit over his body and had bags under his eyes.

            “I know,” said Walker.  “And to think, that day we met Alice posing as FBI agents, who could have thought that this ordinary woman would come so far?”

            “Well,” said Thompson sadly.  “A lot of things have happened that no one could have predicted.”

            Walker nodded solemnly, “How are you holding up?”

            “I’m frustrated,” said Thompson.  “They showed me the footage of what I did, and I still can’t believe it.” He shook his head, “How do you deal with your own mind not being safe?”

            Walker couldn’t answer.

            “And Agent Swann,” Thompson went on.  “That could have been me.  I…I can’t believe she’s gone.”

            Walker remained silent.

            “I wish I could be there,” said Thompson.

            “I wish you could too,” said Walker.  “I guess I’ll have to fight for both of us.”

            Thompson nodded, “Be careful out there, partner.”

            “I will.”

###

Marcia, Robert, and Jamar were all sitting together, eating dinner in silence until they saw Alice enter the mess hall, food tray in hand.  All three of them stood up in shock, and even a few of the hunters who had merely seen Alice around were astonished to see her back.

            “Alice?” asked Marcia in disbelief.

            “Hey everyone,” said Alice, smiling.  “Did you miss me?”

            “I’ll say,” said Marcia.  “Did you really escape the vampire’s mansion all on your own?”

            Alice sighed, “No, I definitely had help, but yeah.  I escaped the mansion.”

            Then Alice noticed that someone wasn’t there.

            “Where’s Harry?” asked Alice.

            She figured she knew the answer, and the downcast looks on the others’ faces confirmed her worst fears.  It wasn’t as if she had known Harry very well.  She’d only met him briefly before being separated from the others, so it was more accurate to say that Alice barely knew him at all.  Even so, it was still hard to accept that someone was gone.

            “I see,” said Alice.  “Well, you can tell me what happened, and then I can tell my story.”

            Alice sat down with the others, and once they told her what happened to them during the vampire attack, she told them most of her story.  The existence of Jacqueline Castellane was classified, so Alice couldn’t mention her.  In truth, Alice still wasn’t sure how to feel about the imprisoned elder vampire, so she didn’t mind not mentioning her.  She told them of how Lord Victor slowly erased her memories, how Gary managed to get her out during the missile strike, and how she became a crucivire.  As for how she escaped Fara Duval, Alice explained that she managed to hold the elder vampire off long enough for help to arrive.

            Which, technically, was true.

            “Wow,” said Marcia, just taking it all in.  “That’s amazing.”

            “It’s quite a story alright,” said Robert.

            “It’s great,” said Jamar, a confident smile on his face.  “You just proved that these vampires can be beaten.  They may have caught us off guard once, but when that new moon drops, we’ll make them regret ever messing with us.”

            Everyone at the table smiled confidently.

            “I like your attitude,” said Alice.

            A moment later, Alice’s eyes drifted to an empty seat, the same one Harry had sat in when they first met.  The others saw her looking and grew solemn.

            “I barely knew Harry,” said Alice.  “What was he like?”

            “A good guy,” said Jamar, nodding.  “Definitely a good guy.”

            Robert sighed, “Honestly?  We didn’t get to know him that well personally.  We’ve been so focused on training and preparing for our inevitable fight with the vampires that we didn’t have much time to talk about ourselves, besides a few tidbits here and there.  I wish we could tell you more about him, but I was his roommate and even I didn’t know much about him.

            “But yes.  I can at least say he was a good man.  He had our backs during training, I wish I could have had his back…you know…”

            “We all wish that,” said Marcia.  “There’s…there’s a lot of things we wish would have happened differently.”

            Alice knew that well.  She wished she could have gotten to know him, and now she’d never get the chance.  A moment later, Alice’s regret turned to determination.

            “We’ll have to mourn later,” said Alice. “We still have a job to do.  It’s like Jamar said.  When the new moon drops, we’re going to have to hit the vampires with everything we’ve got.  Let’s make sure we’re ready.”

            Everyone else at the table nodded in agreement.

###

Alice spent the rest of the night training.  She learned more swordplay, went through more obstacle courses, and even practiced mental linking with the dhampirs to coordinate their combat strategies.  By morning Alice felt exhausted and was ready to sleep.

            She was given a room to herself, but as she sat down on the bed in that room, she didn’t lay down immediately.  Instead, she sat there and closed her eyes to contact her brother, reaching for that glowing white thread.  She could still sense Arthur chained to a stone slab beneath a giant red crystal sphere.  Alice had heard vampires talking about that sphere ever since Lord Victor revealed it to them, the seal on all magic.  To think something like that had been underground near Saint Vivia this whole time.

            “How are you holding up?” she asked Arthur.

            “Physically, I’m fine,” said Arthur.  “They want me to be healthy until this ritual can be completed.  Mentally?”  She could sense him clenching his fists. “I’m going insane tied up like this.  I wish I could break these chains and start killing these…” he sighed.  “Well, I’m sure you know how I feel.”

            She did.

            “It won’t be much longer,” said Alice.  “We’ll attack that mansion and free you soon.”

            Alice could sense his concern through the link, but he didn’t say anything.  Deciding to change the subject, Alice asked a question that had been on her mind lately.

            “Arthur,” said Alice.  “What was it like for you?  Becoming a crucivire?”

            Arthur seemed surprised by the questions, but he answered quickly, “Like stepping into the light for the firm time after being in darkness your whole life.”

            Alice smiled.  She could relate to that feeling.

            “You know that memory I showed you?” said Arthur.  “Of me and dad playing ball?  I knew that memory was important to me, but without the rest of my memories, I couldn’t explain why.  Vampires are very good at convincing you that living in the dark with them is the most wonderful thing in the world, and to turn away from them, I had to trust in something I couldn’t fully understand.”

            Alice smiled, “You had to had faith.”

            “Exactly,” Arthur confirmed.  “What about you?”

            Alice shared the memory that saved her, of the day after their father’s funeral when Alice made a promise to little Arthur, which surprised the now adult Arthur.

            “I…I remember that,” he said.

            “I’m glad you do,” said Alice.  “Because it was that promise that turned me away from what Victor offering.  I had faith that no matter what we’ve lost, or what we may lose in the future, the people we love are worth fighting for.”

            She could sense Arthur smile, “See?” he said.  “What did I tell you?”

            She could sense smug satisfaction from him, and sensing that emotion brought to mind Arthur as a child with a smug look on his face.  He could be pretty full of himself when he won an argument, and realizing this made things suddenly clear to Alice.

            “It really is you, isn’t it?” she said.

            “Who else would it be?”

            “I mean…” said Alice.  “Even after I found out you were alive...it still felt like my little had never come back at all.  You seemed like a total stranger that day.”

            She could feel him wince, “That’s my fault.  I should have told you the truth.”

            Alice shook her head, “I know you were trying to protect me.  Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

            She sat in silence for a moment, his guilt slowly fading.  A moment later, she sensed he was about to ask a question, but was hesitating.

            Finally, he said, “Alice?  You went through a lot to rescue Penny.  There are still some gaps in my memory, but I could have sworn Penny had a brother.  Is he…”

            On the mention of Brian, Alice could feel a fresh wave of sadness wash over her.  Arthur felt that sadness and got a good idea of what happened.  Alice sent him her memories of that night, how Brian had desperately tried to hold the door closed only for that vampire to kill him.  Now it was Arthur’s turn to feel that sadness, and Alice comforted him by reassuring him that the vampire who did it was dead by her hand.  Arthur nodded.

            “Well, at least there’s that,” he said.  “And he spent his last moments protecting his family, which means he died like a Night Hunter, even if he wasn’t one of us.”

            Alice hadn’t thought about it that way, but supposed he was right.  A moment later, a grateful tear fell down her cheek.  As she sat there, she sensed a shift in Arthur’s mood.

            “You have another question?” she asked.

            Arthur hesitated, “You remember Dad better than I do.  What was he like?”

            Alice took a deep breath, “He was brave and kind, and though he couldn’t always be there for us as a soldier, he made as much time for us as he could.  He became a soldier to protect people who couldn’t protect themselves, so I know he’d be proud of what you’ve been doing.”

            Arthur felt a sense of contentment coming from him.

            “Thank you,” he said.

            They sat in silence for a moment, both thinking of their father.  Briefly, they thought of their mother as well, still unconscious in the Night Hunter facility’s infirmary.  They didn’t need to speak to each other to know how they felt about that.  Both hoped she was okay and would wake up soon.

            After a minute or two, Alice sensed that Arthur had one more question for her.

“Say Alice,” he said.  “I’ve wondered for a while.  The night I disappeared…what movie did you decide on?  A letter from Missouri, or…”

            Alice smiled, “The Beast of Boulder Street.”

            She could feel him smiling with satisfaction.

            “Though, I have to be honest,” said Alice.  “I don’t really enjoy horror movies like I used to.”

            “I know what you mean,” said Arthur, sighing.  “When you’ve seen so many real monsters, movie monsters just seem so mundane.”

            Alice was surprised at first, “Huh.”

            “What?”

            Alice had been thinking that horror movies were just a reminder of the day Arthur disappeared and were hard for her to watch.  The more she thought about it, though…

            “Nothing,” said Alice, smiling.  “It’s just...you’re absolutely right.”

            A moment later, she let out a big sigh, “We can never go back to the way things were, can we?”

            “No,” Arthur replied.  “We can’t.  We can only move forward.”

            Alice knew he was right.  A part of her wondered what it would be like to turn back the clock to where Arthur never disappeared.  For that matter, she wondered what her life would have been like if Dad had never died.  Still, she knew it was pointless to think about.  They had to live in the world as it was, not as they wished it to be.

            Arthur sensed her pensive mood.

            “Was it really that hard for you when I disappeared?” Arthur asked.

            Alice thought about it, “I used to think so.  Now that I know firsthand what you went through, I think I was the lucky one.  At least I was an adult when it happened to me.”

            After a moment of mental silence, Arthur replied, “Yeah.  No one should have to go through when we went through.”

            Arthur clenched his fists, and Alice didn’t need to read his mind to know he was thinking about Jacqueline.  She could sense his hatred flowing through their link like flames spreading through a dry forest.  Alice herself wasn’t sure how to feel about Jacqueline but knew she couldn’t ignore her forever.

            Alice took a deep breath.

            “I need to speak with her,” said Alice.  “You know that, right?”

            His hatred didn’t fade, but he replied, “I know.  Just…watch yourself, okay?”

            “I will, and I’ll come for you soon.  That’s a promise.”

            She let the link go, and then took a deep breath.

            A moment later, Alice pulled on the red thread that led to Jacqueline and entered the mindscape to find the seven sided mirror room again.  This time, however, Alice’s body seemed to glow as brightly as when she first became a crucivire.  The walls also seemed to be melting, and in the center of the room Jacqueline’s image seemed fuzzy, like a camera out of focus.  So, this was what a crucivire’s mind did to a vampire.  Jacqueline, for her part, looked down, not even meeting Alice in the eye.

            “I know you have questions,” said Jacqueline.  “Go ahead and ask.”

            Alice considered her questions carefully, crossing her arms with a stern look on her face.  Considering her priorities, the order of her questions was clear.

            “Where’s Gary?” asked Alice.  “I can’t seem to connect with him.”

            “I don’t know,” said Jacqueline.  “He’s shut himself off.  When I first detected his presence I…I taught him to hide his thoughts from others, just as I taught you.  I did this so that he could help you, an agent implanted directly within the vampire’s ranks, hiding behind the second personality in his head, William.

            “It worked for the most part, but as you saw he isn’t in complete control.  That last impression I got of him was an overwhelming sense of shame for what his alter ego William did to you.  And so he has shut himself off, hiding his thoughts as he flees this city.  Unfortunately, shame is a powerful emotion, powerful enough for him to cut himself off from even me.”

            For a moment, Alice wondered if she was telling the truth.  Someone like Gary could be useful to someone like Jacqueline.  Alice hated that she was questioning her motives like this, but after what she’d learned, she felt she had no choice.

            “Second question,” said Alice.  “I learned from my brother of a young man, a dhampir, who was forcefully turned into a vampire.  He’s trapped in a cage like yours because he can’t protect himself from mental attacks.”

            “I know,” said Jacqueline.  “The hunters would use him to replace me, if they could.”

            It was the first suggestion of a selfish action on her part, the idea that she wouldn’t help someone if it meant she lost her usefulness.

            “I won’t ask you to help them do that,” said Alice.  “But I would ask that you teach him to protect his mind, with supervision of course.  I’m sure he’d like to fight with us when the new moon arrives.”

            Jacqueline didn’t answer at first, but eventually said, “As you wish.”

            And then Alice, in the real world, took a deep breath.

            Back in the mindscape, Alice said, “You kidnapped my brother.”

            “Yes,” said Jacqueline.  “I do not deny it.”

            “And you kept this from me?”

            “Would you have let me help you if I had told you the truth?”

            Alice clenched her fists.

            “You have all the reason in the world to hate me,” said Jacqueline.  “I don’t blame you.  All I can say is that I’ve changed, I’m on your side now, and I’ll do all that I can to help you.”

            As Alice stood there, conflicting thoughts passed through her mind.  She thought of Arthur, of the day he disappeared and the years of pain and trauma that came from it.  Alice also thought of how Jacqueline had protected her, helped her save Penny, and helped Gary save her.  Had she really changed?  Or was Arthur right, and Jacqueline was just biding her time…using the Night Hunters to remove her enemies until she could take control?

            “How did you manage to connect to me?” asked Alice.  “And how are you still connected to me now that I’m a crucivire?”

            “It’s like I said before,” said Jacqueline.  “I wanted to help you, you were calling for help, and I was able to connect to you.  I suppose that isn’t enough to create a connection normally, but it seems it was enough to reforge a connection that was broken, even the indirect one we had through your brother.

            “As for how I’m connected with you now, there’s only one explanation.  I’m not connected to you because I’ve tasted your blood.  I’m connected to you because of the time we shared, and the things we did together.  We’re connected because we’re…we are…”

            Jacqueline just couldn’t seem to finish the sentence as she stared at Alice with desperation in her eyes.

            “We’re what, Jacqueline?”

            Jacqueline kept staring for a moment and then, dejected, looked down.

            Without an answer, Alice turned around, “Right now, I’m going to focus on stopping the vampires in the mansion.  I’ll figure out what to do with you later.  I just…I needed to hear it from you.  That’s all.”

            “Very well.”

            Alice walked away, leaving the mental world as her image faded and everything in that world slid back into place.  Jacqueline’s image came back into focus, the light faded, and the walls became straight once more.  Alice hadn’t noticed, but during the entire conversation, Jacqueline’s astral projection had been trembling.  Now that Alice’s presence was gone, the trembling ceased.