"We're getting closer," Chandry whispered happily as she picked up another tiny scrap of pant leg. This was the sixth one we'd found. Sike had a rough outline of the tunnel we’d followed from the main bubble area, although it had a few missing spaces from when his scanner went out. There were no clear indications of nearby signatures.
We walked for what felt like an hour. Every so often, Chandry or I would check the walls for any sensations. Sike's scanner registered some light presences, but they appeared far away on the screen. It was hard to tell what was truly close to us. The map on the scanner appeared to show us going toward the big pocket again, only to snake away as we continued to follow the tunnels that gave off the strongest sensations.
Odd. This place is like a maze. It's worse than the Higher Plane. Actually, something bothered me about the structure. Not only was the material bizarre beyond anything I'd seen in three planes, but there was an artificial feeling to it. In the Higher Plane, everything was glossy and magical feeling, while this place felt like an obstacle course designed by a mad scientist who liked to pick and choose from the other planes. Why construct something from this material? Or perhaps it was naturally occurring. Maybe the meld accidentally made this place, as weird as it was, when the arbiters stitched the universe back together.
"Pondering the facts of life?" Lyra asked me in a teasing voice. There was nothing to do but keep moving. Sike and Chandry walked ahead while Cam and Bryce brought up the rear.
"Not quite," I said, but smirked. It was nice to have a light moment with my wife every once in a while. "I was just thinking about how weird this construction is, but maybe it's naturally occurring. The environment is far different than what Ruk's kind made."
Lyra nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I keep thinking there's some logical explanation we'll stumble across, but maybe this is just something that happened during the meld just like the Leftovers." And yet, unlike the Mortal and Immortal planes, this place was oddly consistent. There was no diversity in its appearance.
At the end of the next hallway, we came to another large dome. Sike showed us the scanner. Its diameter was about half the size of the first, but this place was filled to the brim with differently shaped plants and structures. Everything was made of the same material.
Sike muttered bitterly when his screen freaked out again as we took a tentative step into the dome. Another tiny scrap of Jessica's pant leg sat on the ground, and Chandry picked it up with a gleeful cry. We were on the right track. Suddenly, a pulse of energy rushed through me. I paused, and Lyra looked at me. Chandry and Sike stilled. They must've felt it too.
There were several presences nearby, but there was something strange about them…
"There are people nearby," I said in a low voice. "A group of them."
"It must be the people on the scanner," Sike said. He wasn't smiling. Lyra's gaze swung back and forth between our trio of vampires, and tension filled the air.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Cam's pet let out a little groan and scurried deeper into his backpack.
"It's mixed energies," I explained, trying to parse out the sensations for myself. Yes, I definitely felt darkness and light, but this was highly unusual. It was like a giant pot of mixed energies, skewing more on the dark side but in complete flux.
We moved more stealthily, skirting around the plants and trying to step softly.
"They feel—" Sike broke off when a rustle made us stop.
"Quiet," a familiar voice whispered from behind a dense bit of shrubbery. We turned to see Arlonne slowly moving out of the plants. There was no sign of Jessica. Bryce grinned wildly, but Arlonne put her finger over her mouth as she crept closer to us. Her eyes were more sunken than I remembered, and the shadows beneath her skin had grown paler. We’d left her for less than a day. Had something happened?
She continued in the same low whisper, "I can’t explain. We need to hide. Now." She waved for us to join her. Maneuvering into the shrubbery, we came across a narrow pathway that looped around the dome, allowing us to stay close to the walls. As we neared the other group, a warm sensation came over me. The people ahead of us grew louder. Someone was crying. Lyra tensed as soon as she heard the soft sound of weeping.
These gathered figures were mysterious. I couldn't place whether they were humans or vampires. We grew closer, and I could make out that there was at least one human among them. I finally locked onto the signature and recognized a familiar scent. Dan. I prepared myself to fight as we found a spot to hide. They might sense us from afar, depending on what they were. From between narrow openings, I made out the sight of Dan shivering in the middle of a circle of several shadowy figures.
It was harder to see in the light here, even for me.
"We should dispose of him," one of the figures said coldly. Another sniffed and sighed, bouncing back and forth.
"It may be a waste." The comment was scratchy. Dan sniffled.
"What's a waste of a human?" another asked snidely. "He holds no worth to us. He's useless."
Dan gave a soft sob. Lyra's hands turned into fists beside me. If I knew my wife—and I did—she'd want to jump out sooner rather than later.
My stomach clenched as an all-too-familiar sensation washed over me. A sudden chill filled me. Hunger gnawed at me. The hard pinch of my own fangs into my lower lip slowly dawned on me. It was harder to feel it with my senses in limbo, but…
I was hungry for these people.
30
Roxy
"We've almost got it," Jordan cried triumphantly. He was confident,
