The Black Dragnet

chapter 6

I

So, it’s positively no use?”

“Essentially,” Greylancer said in a voice like creaking iron.

Not disguising her disappointment, the duchess said, “In that case, I most definitely want him. What if we were to threaten to kill the hostages one by one if D doesn’t turn himself over to us?”

Her question was directed not at Greylancer, but at the thing on the floor.

“Now that is what you’d really call useless. The only reason he protects humans is because it’s his job. When it’s not, he’s the kind of guy who could have a massacre happening right in front of him and walk by without raising an eyebrow.”

“Well, isn’t that something,” Greylancer said with a sarcastic grin. “I don’t believe it though. But if a part of his body says so, there’s no reason for me to say otherwise.”

“Then we have no choice. We shall go with our last resort,” the duchess said, her tone changed.

Realizing that her remarks were directed toward itself, the left hand trembled. In fact, it backed away a good foot.

 

The time finally came when the others knew for sure that, even shut behind the clouds, day had still existed. The hues of the village were being tinged with blue, and the light was failing.

D was gazing out one of the hall’s windows at the rain, which had let up just a bit. Naturally, not only his eyes, but his ears and his very skin had undoubtedly been honed to deal with the threat of the Nobility, but as he gave off his ghastly air—or rather the jewel-like radiance of his uniquely heaven-sent beauty—those who’d just returned from another room melted away in rapture.

Arbuckle and even Bligh were entranced by the Hunter, while Josette reflexively turned her face away, making no attempt to even look at him. Finally, she looked out the window and said to him in a somewhat absent-minded tone, “It’s not going to stop raining, is it?”

“What about your husband?” D asked.

“Huh?” she blurted out at the completely unexpected query. But she immediately realized he wasn’t inquiring as to the health of her husband or her own state of mind. “You’re wondering whether or not he’s been attacked by the Nobility, aren’t you? I’ve been to see him since we got here, but he says he doesn’t want to throw in with the rest of us. That’s just the sort of person he is.”

“Surely he realizes it was the Nobility that constructed this village. Why isn’t he concerned for his own well-being?”

“I don’t know. But he’s a born misanthrope.”

“He was with you.”

“Somehow or other, we got along. I used to work in a saloon. He came in one day. When I heard he was a warrior, I asked him to take me away with him. After a job in that saloon, I thought I could stand anything.”

“Why’d you let him go his own way?”

“Because we weren’t going to be together forever,” Josette replied, heaving a sigh. “He spared no effort to teach me every last thing about being a warrior, from the ground up, but he only did it to make his own life easier. Before I’d even mastered the use of my weapons, he had me fighting the enemy in his place. Once I somehow managed to knock them flat, he’d come out and finish them off.”

“I’m surprised he let you go.”

“I pumped a round into his right leg before I left,” Josette said, stroking the barrel of the minigun.

“The Nobility will go after him.”

“That’s fine by me now. Forget him. Besides, it’s not like you care what happens to him. Why the sudden interest?”

“Long ago, I met a warrior about the same age as your husband,” the Hunter replied. “He said he wanted to run into a Noble before he got too old.”

“So he could say he’d taken out at least one?”

“He said he wanted to become a Noble.”

Josette shut her eyes and somehow kept herself from collapsing. Rubbing hard at her temple, she said, “It can’t be,” but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

“I’ve heard the same thing from four people, male and female alike. All of them were warriors.”

“Why?”

“Those who fight for a living desire immortality more than anyone.”

“But still . . . becoming a Noble . . . ?” Suddenly realizing something, she gazed at D. Before rapture could overcome her, Josette said, “You don’t mean to tell me—my husband wants that, too?”

“You don’t recall ever hearing him mention it?”

“Not a word. However . . .”

“You’ve thought about it, haven’t you?”

Josette was assailed by a feeling like heaven and earth had just turned topsy-turvy. Before she could even deny it, it forced her to say, “Yes, I have. I’ve thought so time and time again. Every time I’ve had to fight and fight until I was covered in blood. I wish I were a Noble, I’d think to myself.”

Josette wished she could deny what she’d just said, and desperately endeavored to change the subject, asking, “If you think that’s what he’s up to, why leave him to his own devices?”

D just kept staring out the window. It seemed as though he hadn’t moved a single muscle since Josette had come over.

“Even if he becomes a Noble . . . you wouldn’t be scared of him, would you? After all, he’s only human, right?”

D’s reply was, “Someone’s coming.”

“Huh?”

Shooting over to the window so quickly she seemed likely to burst right through it, Josette peered out through the blue air.

A beautiful woman in a white dress was walking toward them from the river.

“She’s carrying something. I think—it’s your left hand?!”

“I believe you’re familiar with this, are you not?” the woman said, holding the thing high with her right hand in a spot not far distant—less than thirty feet from the farmhouse. “I am Duchess Heldarling, and I oversee this facility. We have this part of your body in our possession. If you’d like it safely reattached, D, you should come to us peacefully.”

The part about being reattached would’ve undoubtedly caused the left hand to laugh.

D went outside.

Josette slammed the chair beside her against the wall. First Bligh appeared, then Arbuckle. Josette gave a toss of her chin—and the two of them pressed their faces to the windowpanes. They wore looks of desperation.

The rebounding rain outlined D’s form in white.

“Is it okay?” D inquired.

“Of course. It’s right here.”

“I have no time to fool around with illusions. I’ll head right up there.”

“Well, that settles matters quickly enough.”

“However,” the Hunter continued, “I have a condition. Those in this farmhouse, the other man, and the ones you abducted are all to be safely released from the village.”

“That’s a substantial condition, but are you in any position to be making such demands?” the duchess said with a sarcastic grin. But her smile immediately froze. For she had sensed the unearthly aura emanating from every inch of D.

“Do you agree to that?” asked D.

“Very well,” the duchess replied, though it took her a second to do so.

The trio inside the house exchanged looks.

“Okay, then release them immediately. As soon as I see that happen, I’ll join you.”

“Good enough,” the duchess said with a nod.

And the left hand said, “I’m really sorry about this.”

Returning to the farmhouse, D told the group, “You heard what we said. Get going.”

Bligh was the first to speak, asking in a probing tone, “Can you believe anything a Noble says?”

“It’s better than remaining here, isn’t it?”

“You’ve got a point there.”

“I wonder if the others will still be human when they get back,” said Josette. Her lovely features were hardened.

If those who came back bore the marks of the Nobility’s fangs on the napes of their necks, she was well aware they might try and get the rest of them to lower their guard before baring their teeth. And while D might have a way to see through their game, Josette and the others wouldn’t.

“That’s not a certainty,” D said, reaching his right hand into his coat and pulling out a glass vial about the size of a cigarette. It was filled with a yellow powder. “It’s garlic extract,” he told them. “Sprinkle some on the others before you head out with them.”

“Not sure quite why we should, but okay,” the warrior woman replied.

As Josette was eyeing the glass vial intently, Arbuckle said, “You ignored me and went ahead with your negotiations, even though I’m your employer!”

“Our contract is on hold for the moment. But I’ll take responsibility for you in the meantime.”

“Oh,” Arbuckle replied, staring at the high-handed Hunter more with curiosity than anger. “But we can’t take the word of any Noble. They view humans as no more than livestock. And who strikes a bargain with livestock? However, I do have faith in my contract with you. I hear the man called D would sooner die than go back on his word. So, how do you intend to take responsibility for us while we’re out of your sight?”

“Take this,” D said, producing a foot-tall doll from inside his coat.

The doll was made of wood and of strangely beautiful proportions, yet no eyes, nose, or mouth had been carved in its face. D raised his other arm, hiding the doll and his own face behind his coat. Sensing something weird—or supernatural, to be more precise—the three of them stiffened, but just then he lowered his coat.

On catching the doll the Hunter tossed him, Arbuckle looked down at its neck and let out a low groan. Seeing the same thing just shortly thereafter, Josette and Bligh both took sharp breaths. On the doll’s chest were a pair of small but distinct holes, black as if they were packed with darkness. Teeth marks. And nothing in the world could’ve been more beautiful.

“What’s this supposed to—” Arbuckle finally began when he could once again squeeze out some words.

“They’re coming,” D said.

The other three went slowly to the windows and gazed out at the blue world.

Three figures were approaching through the rain. Jan, Beth, and Emily. Even in this faint light interspersed with rain, the joy at being released that filled their faces was clearly visible. The trio raced toward them, sending water splashing up everywhere.

“We’ve been saved,” Jan said, panting for breath between the words.

“Do we have you to thank?” Emily asked, still clinging to Jan’s arm.

“I was out of my mind with worry, not knowing when they were bound to drink our blood,” Beth said, one hand pressed to her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

As they started for the back room, Josette stopped them, saying, “Just a minute.”

The trio wore dubious expressions as light yellow powder sailed through the air. Josette had scattered the contents of the glass vial.

“What’s all this?” Beth said with a grimace, brushing it off. The other two followed suit. They didn’t know it was garlic, or what effect it was supposed to have. For all the Nobility’s weaknesses had been erased from human memory.

“I know you want to check us, but we’re not in with the Nobility. So, what do you think?” Emily asked, pursing her cute lips.

“Yes, it would seem you’re not,” Josette said with a nod.

“D!” the duchess said, her voice coming from outside. “My subordinates will now lead the group out of the village. Once you’ve seen that completed for yourself, come up to the castle.”

“Understood.”

After the Hunter had given his reply, Josette went off to get her husband, while four more men on horseback stopped in front of the farmhouse. They must’ve been servants of the Nobility. They were leading a string of five horses. There was one less than the number in the party.

The reason for that soon became clear. Josette came back alone.

“He’s vanished. Is this your doing?” the warrior woman asked, throwing a look of comingled anger and resignation at the duchess, who ignored it.

“Well, I shall be waiting at the castle.”

Having said that, the duchess and the left hand vanished. As D had indicated, they were an illusion.

The group headed for the entrance to the village. No one said a word about Josette’s husband.

Like a white thread the highway twisted and turned out beyond the gigantic trees and the pounding rain.

“This is as far as you go,” one of the men told D.

D watched in silence as the group left with many a backward glance, and then he and two of the men wheeled their horses around. Any feelings or opinions he might’ve held about the fate of those people were trapped behind the bluish darkness, and the handsome, rain-lashed features remained merely cold and beautiful.

II

After crossing through the village and riding straight up the hill, D turned and looked.

The hoofbeats of the riders accompanying him had suddenly ceased. Both the two men and their horses had vanished. Perhaps it was because their duty was done.

Still astride his cyborg horse, D continued on to the hall. One of the doors was open. He passed through it without halting.

There was darkness. The door closed behind him with an old-fashioned sound, and then there was a pair of Nobles standing before D.

“We’ve been waiting for you, D,” the duchess said with a smile. Her canine teeth gleamed. In her right hand she held his severed left hand.

“What about my hand?” D asked.

The duchess raised her right hand.

“I have no use for an illusion.”

Donning a wry grin, the Noblewoman waved her right hand. The left hand dissolved into thin air. It had indeed been an illusion.

“There’s no fooling the man known as D,” Greylancer remarked, a cool smile rising on his lips. He continued, “Your left hand escaped. Even now, it’s probably somewhere in this subterranean chamber. I know not what kind of trick it’s using, but none of our sensors can locate it, which is an impressive feat in itself.”

His praise was completely heartfelt. Apparently that was the sort of Nobleman he was.

“Then there’s nothing for us to discuss.”

Perhaps the duchess felt something in D’s words, for her expression stiffened.

“Well, just wait a moment,” Greylancer said, stepping between them. “I’ve discussed this with the duchess, and we aren’t necessarily at odds with you. This facility is exploring new possibilities for the Nobility, in keeping with the wishes of the Sacred Ancestor. You dhampirs are one example of this. However, though your kind descends from both humans and Nobility, rather than combining the strengths of both, they all seem to rather conspicuously assemble all their shortcomings.”

Greylancer’s statement was accurate. With both Noble and human parents, dhampirs inherited roughly half of the Nobility’s monstrous strength that could bend steel beams, their ability to leap ten feet high and sail another thirty feet, their ability to be equally at home in temperatures that were sub-zero or boiling hot, and the healing abilities that could recover from any wound in less than ten minutes’ time. They also maintained the cruelty that could be considered the very core of a Noble’s nature, as well as their habit of drinking blood. While they were more suited than anyone on Earth to work as Vampire Hunters, they also caused incidents as horrifying as the Nobility themselves. It was on account of this that even now the humans who feared the Nobility would bow and scrape and pay dhampirs handsomely to work for them, yet never let their employees escape their looks of hatred and suspicion.

Greylancer’s eyes remained boring through D as he continued, “You are such an exception to that it’s almost the stuff of legend. Your skill at combat surpasses that of Nobles, and while you’ve inherited the cruelty and callousness we ourselves are powerless to change, you couple that with human kindness—such is your reputation. Therefore, we wish to examine you. Just a drop of your blood or a single cell, and we might accomplish that for which we’ve labored hundreds of thousands of moonlit nights, and then I might return to my rest. Even if my sleep is stained with blood. What say you? The duchess may be a bit overbearing, but I like a man who fights. Allow me to retract what I said earlier. I have no wish to fight now. And if you will but cooperate with us, I swear by the name of Greylancer that both you and your left hand will be allowed to leave here alive. How is that?”

“You leveled a spear at me,” D said, his reply causing the giant to tremble.

“That was stupid of me,” Greylancer groaned. “At the time, I didn’t realize how fearsome you were. However, now we have your decision. D, we shall perform our examination on your corpse!”

The giant made a swing of the long spear in his right hand. A wild wind snarled, racing to all the far corners of this cyberspace, a place that didn’t seem to suit it at all.

 

“What’s this?” the left hand murmured. It had sensed something abnormal in the flow of the air around it. “This is no ordinary lust for blood—could it be he is here?”

Atop one of the countless rails hanging from the stone ceiling, the left hand held tight with all five of its fingers, then continued another thirty feet straight ahead. It clawed at the rail to propel itself along.

This was a sinister room, and it seemed like another world from where Greylancer and the duchess were. The endless stone pillars and canopy ceiling were cruelly cracked, with fragments of both littering the floor. Apparently flames were burning toward the back, as their hues, sounds, and heat traveled around the room.

“So, analog accommodations right next door to modern ones? Hell, they don’t make it easy to come up with a plan of attack.”

After going from rail to rail and turning more corners down more corridors than it could count, the left hand cried out in surprise, “What in the—?!”

Suddenly, a vast factory spread before it. And it hardly suited the scientific achievements of the Nobility, but rather was in keeping with the unrivaled love the vampires had for the past—machinery of riveted iron, rows of chains hanging from the ceiling, antiquated analog gauges, flames, and steam shooting up from nowhere in particular, and a heavy, uncomfortably warm atmosphere. Disregarding the coldness of the inorganic machinery, it was the spreading waves of unearthly miasma that truly represented the factory.

“Yeah, that’s the Nobility for you. Even their factories reek of sorcery.”

The left hand lowered its wrist and raised the rest of itself. The eyes in the face that formed in it surveyed its surroundings with cautious curiosity, then narrowed unexpectedly.

“Oh, what have we here?” it said, the words slipping from it.

Leaping from one rail to the next with terrifying speed, in no time at all it came to a spot right above some tables secured in one corner of the vast factory. There were two of them. On one, a man in a white top and bottom was tied down with rubber straps, while about ten feet away on the right-hand side was what was clearly an alien creature, and it too was immobilized. The bodies of both had countless tubes running into them, which in turn pumped them full of liquids in a rainbow of hues.

The left hand knew that the one in white was U-taker, and the weird-looking one was a prototype.

“Hmm, looks like these clowns were sent to slay D and met with some stiff resistance. But to lose to him and still survive—that’s a miracle. This is a half-assed way of doing things, though. Guess I’ve got to get to the bottom of things after all.”

The hoarse voice finished saying that as the left hand landed on U-taker’s head.

“Whoopsy-daisy!”

Nearly slipping off, it grabbed onto U-taker’s hair to pull itself up, and let out a deep, exhausted breath.

“Hmm, maybe I should try pulling something else,” the hoarse voice said with a malicious laugh.

The fact that creatures as advanced as the Nobility hadn’t set up a surveillance system in what was, in a manner of speaking, a treatment center for their most powerful warriors went beyond mere carelessness; it was insanity. But then, perhaps that, too, was rooted in their love of nostalgia.

Springing up easily, the left hand landed on some tubes that connected tanks hanging from the ceiling to U-taker. To all appearances, they were for no more than pumping drugs for medical treatment. The hand grabbed the tubes and used all its weight to twist, then pull, finally managing to tear five of them free at the same time.

Medical solutions sprayed through the air as tubes whipped around like snakes. It was unclear if this was really intended as a treatment, since when two of the liquids came into contact on the floor, they instantly burst into flames.

“Oh, that’s nice. Burn, baby, burn. That way, we can split their attention. Between him and here.”

The flames came into contact with another solution, sending up a fresh fireball.

The left hand started yanking tubes out of the patient on the neighboring table—the OSB prototype. The floor became a sea of flames.

Having clambered up a control panel to the top of a rail, the left hand saw the flames envelop the two figures on the tables.

“Burn away to ashes, you goddamned factory!”

But there was an objection to the hoarse cries.

A pair of fireballs had risen from the burning tables. A heartbeat later, U-taker and the prototype appeared, scattering flames everywhere.

The two of them faced each other. The prototype dropped to its knees.

“A gravity field attack?!” the left hand groaned.

If that were the case, it would crush any object, no matter how great its density. However, the prototype got to its feet. The left hand noticed that it now had a bizarre covering on it.

“Are those hands?!”

Innumerable hands were interlocked around the prototype, forming a kind of armor to shield it from the gravity field attack.

“Just what in hell’s name were they working on here? Is this supposed to be one of their ‘new possibilities’? The idiots! It’s not beautiful at all!”

Two of the prototype’s hands rose, their palms pointing toward U-taker. What kind of power did they direct toward him? Up on top of a rail, the left hand was assailed by an intense vertigo and started to slip, only narrowly catching hold of the edge of the rail and preventing itself from falling. Its eyesight returned just as U-taker was staggering backward into the flames. It had to wonder if he was out of his mind, but he seemed to pay the flames no heed at all. And the prototype made no attempt to go after him, walking off in the opposite direction instead. Flames eddied there, too.

“They’re completely pissed off. Heh heh heh! Can’t wait to see the next time they run into each other!”

As the left hand chortled derisively, the hands of the flames grabbed at it from below.

 

The murderous intent that’d linked the pair of would-be combatants evaporated like mist when the warning rang.

“Save that for later,” the duchess said, turning her eyes to midair, and a room engulfed in flames appeared at the same height, immediately joined by the passages running from the room on all sides. A schematic of the entire floor had been rendered.

“This is Repair Sector Two. If the room’s continued existence poses a danger, activate the self-destruct mechanism. However, trouble in the very place those two are kept—that can only be your left hand’s doing,” the beautiful woman said bitterly.

“When the rest of the body is like this, even a part of it is bound to do great things. I suppose you could say it’s in its blood, couldn’t you?” Greylancer remarked with a broad grin. Apparently he was quite different at heart from other Nobles.

Running her eyes over the rapidly changing schematics, the duchess let a single phrase escape: “Oh no.”

“What is it?”

“U-taker and the prototype have escaped. And the modifications to their psyches weren’t yet completed. As it stands, they’ll be like demons unleashed.”

“That should be interesting.” That remark came not from D, but rather from Greylancer. “To be honest, I’ve always wanted to fight one of those two. Which one would you have me deal with? I can leave negotiations with D to you, Duchess.”

“Wait,” D called out to the Nobleman, taking a step forward. “I’ll go with you.”

“Now, just a moment—” the duchess began.

But Greylancer turned and told her, “No, it’ll be fine. I’ll see to it he comes back safe and sound.”

With that assurance from Greylancer, the two of them headed toward the elevator. Indeed, that was where the elevator should’ve been, but what awaited them was a station for an elliptical vehicle called a mover. Once they sat down facing each other, the point of light at the front of the vehicle surged away at incredible speed.

“Why did you accompany me?” Greylancer inquired. Though he was the very picture of dignity, he seemed to be enjoying this on some level.

“This interests me, too,” said D.

Greylancer’s eyes became invested with a gleam.

“Interested in what new forms of life are being created, eh? Is it because that’s what you are, too?”

Silence from the Hunter.

“I fear I’ve said something boorish. But there would be no new forms of life if we didn’t make them. And new things offer expanded possibilities. It’s toward that end we produce them.”

“How many attempts have been made?”

“Roughly three million, I hear.”

“How many successes?”

“Zero.”

“Then the folly knows no end, does it?”

“Those were our orders. And no one disobeys the Sacred Ancestor.”

“You have three samples to combine: human, Noble, and OSB. Which combination is the most promising?”

“A combination of all three—or so I wish I could say, but while OSB with human is fine, Noble with OSB is like oil and water. In that case, human/Noble hybrids are possible. They’re quite flexible, you see.”

“Why don’t you combine all three?”

“Orders from the Sacred Ancestor. The reason for that we don’t know—at least, not for certain,” Greylancer said, his expression hardening.

D quickly discerned that it was the work of the Nobleman’s memories.

“Why not?” the Hunter pressed him.

“This is the stuff of legend. They say the Sacred Ancestor once constructed a starship on his own and traveled the universe for about a year. And when he returned, not to Earth for some reason but to an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, unbeknownst to anyone he brought several OSB with him.”

Greylancer continued his tale, with D listening intently. Shadows and flames intermingled on the faces of the pair.

“This is no more than legend, mind you. The Sacred Ancestor had his own private research facility on one of those asteroids. But it’s said that within ten days’ time, the asteroid had been destroyed. The reason for that is unclear. The Sacred Ancestor never shed any light on any of it. But according to the legends, the Sacred Ancestor had manipulated OSB, human, and Noble genes and created something. They say it was the reason that asteroid vanished. After that, the Sacred Ancestor put an end to research to combine the genes of all three species for all time.”

When Greylancer finished speaking, he stared at the beautiful young man. The Hunter’s face held not a trace of emotion about the fearsome conclusion of that tale or its horrifying implications for the future.

What a man!

While there was admiration, at the same time another emotion coursed through every vein in the Nobleman’s body. A will to fight that burned crimson.

“Well, fortunately the duchess and I are both widely recognized as faithful devotees of the Sacred Ancestor. There will be no combining of the three species in this facility.”

“But if you wanted to, you could?”

“I would say—probably. That’s the sort of thing this facility is for. We have both the equipment and the raw materials.”

“U-taker is a combination of Noble and human. The prototype is Noble and OSB. Either would be relatively simple to modify.”

“And I believe I already explained this. Neither the duchess nor I would ever—”

D said, “What about the two of them?”

Greylancer’s expression changed. He’d understood what D was driving at.

“The long and short of it is, they’re no more than test subjects. It would never occur to them to modify themselves.”

“You’re a trusting one. Don’t really seem like a Noble.”

It was unclear whether the Hunter’s remark was an honest assessment or simply a dig. Greylancer was twisting his lips when the vehicle halted without a sound.

“Whatever the case, if we destroy them, that’s the end of it. D, stay out of this. This is my job.”

The two of them got up. They left the vehicle at the same time.

They were still inside the building. Greylancer looked up in the air, and then an image of U-taker walking down a corridor appeared there.

“What about the prototype?” asked D.

“It’s not showing up. In point of fact, it smashed the sensors.”

“Clever thing, isn’t it?”

For the first time, the giant turned a look of loathing on D.

The duchess’s face appeared right next to U-taker.

“The prototype has gone missing. Do you know where it is?” Greylancer asked her.

“At present, the sensors are being upgraded. They should be able to tell us that shortly.”

“Understood. I’ll set about disposing of U-taker.”

“Very well. Be careful.”

By the time the duchess vanished, the two of them were already silently headed toward the door up ahead.

III

Dark troubles roiled in Bligh’s heart. They’d be hitting the highway soon. With servants of the Nobility guarding both the fore and the rear, they were safe—as if he could ever imagine anyone saying that. The rain still hadn’t relented, only serving to darken the blue of the sky.

Josette was riding right beside Bligh, and he said to her in a low voice, “Once we hit the highway, that’s when things will really start happening.”

“I know. You’d better keep on your toes, too. I’ve got a feeling we’ve got more to worry about from the three who came back than those two servants.”

“You think so? But there wasn’t any problem when you put D’s powder on ’em.”

“That’s why I just say I’ve got a feeling. Noble brains aren’t like ours,” Josette said to him. “Maybe they’ve come up with some way around the effects of that powder.”

“So you don’t think they’ll really let us leave just like that?”

“Maybe we’re just overthinking this.”

“What about the ol’ flesh peddler?”

“He’s getting along nicely with rest of the group.”

Bligh turned and looked. About six feet behind him, there was Arbuckle in his suit, laughing crudely in the midst of the returnees Jan, Beth, and Emily. Apparently he’d just dusted Emily again with the powder. Jan did not look pleased.

“If things go south, you think we’ll be okay?”

“The doll we got from D—he’s got it, doesn’t he?” Josette said, looking concerned too.

Just then, streaks of white came into view up ahead, running to either side. It was the highway.

The Noble lackey who rode at the fore had already halted his steed.

“This is as far as we go,” said the one bringing up the rear. “Here we part company. Safe journeys to you.”

The rider at the fore wheeled his cyborg horse around and rode right by the group before galloping off with his compatriot from the rear.

Bligh turned around and said to Jan and the others, “That was just too easy. It gives me the creeps. I guess this is where we split up, too.”

“Aren’t we headed the same way?” Jan replied.

“Well, it’s raining, and I’m in a hurry. The rest of you can take your time. So long!”

And, having said that, he drove his heels into his steed’s flanks and promptly galloped off. He quickly pulled farther and farther away from the group. All sense of the people behind him was swiftly swallowed up by the splashing hoofbeats.

“That’s the end of it. Good luck, everybody.”

Still, the man strained his ears, hoping that Josette at least would give chase, but there was no sign of that happening.

“Screw it, then.” And with that, Bligh decided not to give them another thought. “I’ll be there soon, Musse.”

He gave another dig to his steed’s flanks.

The rain lashed every inch of him—his face, in particular. He felt like he was riding underwater. The faster his horse went, the harder it became to breathe.

Before a full minute had passed, Bligh grunted, “Huh?”

Up ahead were the silhouettes of a number of riders.

“At a time like this? It couldn’t be . . .”

He didn’t think there’d be travelers out. And that led to another, unbelievable concern.

Never halting his horse, Bligh pulled up alongside the last of the riders. Those riding side by side up ahead turned and looked.

“What’s this?” said the wide-eyed Jan.

The rest of the riders quickly turned, one after another. It was the same group he’d just left—with Josette riding at the fore.

They all halted.

“What are you doing behind us?” Josette asked. The barrel of her weapon was trained on him. The warrior woman wasn’t gentle in her response.

“Damned if I know. But it looks like those fucking Nobles don’t plan on letting us out of the village!”

“But we’re on the highway!” Emily said, trembling.

“No, have a look.”

Perhaps sensing something from Bligh’s words and his bearing, Josette turned forward again and tossed her chin in that direction.

About fifteen or twenty feet ahead, a path broke off to the right. They’d seen this place before. That was the way to the village. It was the way they’d left. And also the way they’d come back.

“I ain’t going back,” Bligh said, grinding his teeth together.

“So, what do you propose we do, then?” Josette asked sarcastically. “The Nobility are ordering us to return to the village. They never had any intention of letting us leave. And now we don’t have D around either.”

“Shit!”

“What’ll we do?”

“Plan A,” Arbuckle suggested.

Angered by the man’s seemingly guileless tone, Bligh turned and snapped, “You got some brilliant idea, whoremonger?”

“Fortunately, we’re outside the village. All we need to do now is wait for daybreak. It’ll mean sticking it out in the rain, but it’s either that or keep riding in circles on the same road.”

Bligh felt his anger fading. Now that he’d heard it said aloud, it made sense. If they waited for dawn outside the village, even if it was raining cats and dogs, the Nobility couldn’t lay a hand on them.

“That’s a good idea,” Josette said, putting her weight behind the suggestion. “As luck would have it, I have a tent. Camping out here on the road might be just the thing.”

“Great!”

Jan and Emily nodded, and the whole group dismounted. All but one—Beth didn’t move.

“There’s no point staying there,” Bligh said to her.

Her pale face remained hardened as she replied, “I get the feeling it won’t do any good.”

“What won’t do any good?” Arbuckle asked, coming over and taking the horse by the bridle.

“I don’t know. I just have this feeling that no matter what we do, it won’t do any good.”

“You’ve got the Noble sickness, have you?” Arbuckle practically spat.

The Noble sickness was a term used for when young girls were so terribly afraid of vampires they became mentally ill, imagining that Nobles surrounded them twenty-four hours a day—at least, that was symptomatic of the first stage. Following that, the secondary symptoms were to declare that they’d been bitten and drained of blood, refusing to step outside their homes and progressively growing weaker and weaker until they eventually died, though that wasn’t the worst possible outcome.

When told by the hypnotist that they had a hot branding iron, a person in a deep hypnotic state could be touched with a simple piece of wood and still develop blisters and burn marks on their skin. Victims of the Noble sickness, though free of wounds on their necks, could actually develop bite marks and declare, “I’m a Noble.” And they would proceed to attack one person after another.

That in itself doesn’t seem so serious, but the real problem was that those who’d been bitten became infected with the same fearful delusion. Despite the fact that there was absolutely zero involvement by the Nobility, the fear of them that riddled people on a deeply subconscious level could allow the bite of a mentally unbalanced girl to spread like wildfire, increasing the number of self-declared Nobles in a geometric progression. There were cases where entire villages had been wiped out. Even if someone didn’t become a Noble, the powerless feeling of being targeted by the Nobility was part of the sickness. And Arbuckle judged that to be the case here.

“You’re a doctor, aren’t you?” said one of the travelers. “Fix her up. At any rate, get her down from there.”

The others pulled the tent out of the baggage and set it up. Bligh helped them.

“Hey,” Arbuckle called over to him.

“Shut your hole. What, do you want me to call you a quack now?” Bligh said as he turned.

But Arbuckle wasn’t looking at him. He was facing the same way as Beth. And as Bligh made that three, he bugged his eyes.

They weren’t on the road. To either side of them were enormous trees and great hills of dirt. And beyond them there were scattered houses that they recognized in the moonlight.

“The village.” The words prickled in Bligh’s mouth and echoed in his brain. “We’re back. But how?”

“We can’t get out of here,” Jan groaned, holding Emily close. “We’ll be stuck in the village for the rest of our lives.”

“No, not me! Do something!”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

“You’re gutless. Useless!”

The girl’s denunciation was so harsh it drew the attention of the rest of the group, leaving them standing there, stunned and rooted. Having watched this pair support and encourage each other ever since the massive flood, the others found her transformation difficult to believe.

“For the love of God, do something!” she said, pounding her fists against Jan’s chest, her actions leaving the others in a silent gloom.

“I know. Let’s head back to the highway,” Jan said, his reply stunning Bligh.

“What are you talking about? Can’t you get it through that thick skull of yours we’re not getting out of here?”

Ignoring him, Jan put Emily on one of the cyborg horses.

Before Bligh could do anything, Josette grabbed the horse’s reins.

“Stop it. If you persist in this foolishness, you’ll only be courting death.”

“Shut up!” Jan snapped, raising his fist.

There was a thud, and Josette staggered.

“Knock it off!” Bligh cried, jumping between them, and the tip of a boot shot up at his solar plexus. The elbow he used to narrowly block it was left numb.

“Stop!”

By that point, Jan was already up in the saddle.

“Let’s go, Emily.”

Bligh rubbed his right arm as he watched the two riders gallop off, splashing rain everywhere.

“What came over them all of a sudden?”

“You can’t blame them,” Beth said sadly. “Even if we go back to the village, there’s no guarantee we’ll survive.”

“D’s there.”

“He doesn’t care about us. He just does whatever suits him. There’s no way anybody as gorgeous as all that has the same sort of feelings we do. Somebody that beautiful can only bring destruction to normal folks like us.”

The sound of the rain intensified. Everyone had fallen silent.

“You may be right,” Josette said. She was holding her left cheek. “At any rate, let’s go back to the village for the time being. Same house as before should be good, okay?”

I’d make it a different house—that was the thought that formed in Bligh’s mind, but he choked it back. Now that they were back, they were all under surveillance by the Nobility. No matter where they went, that wouldn’t change.

It was seven minutes later that four drowned rats in vinyl raincoats plodded wearily back to their nest.