Кейти Макалистер - Zen and the Art of Vampires

He wandered off to the hallway. I glanced around the room, saying softly, "Ulfur?"

"He's in the kitchen," Dagrun said from where she reclined on the couch.

I thought hard for a minute. "Do me a favor and round up everyone. I'm going to have to get moving, and I don't feel good about leaving you all behind."

Dagrun sighed heavily, but got up and stomped out of the room. I sidled past the door of the hall and through a small parlor to the kitchen.

A cluster of male ghosts stood marveling at the modern appliances. "What exactly does a Cuisinart do?" Ulfur asked, pointing at the item in question.

"Chops things up. I've sent Dagrun to gather up everyone—we have to get out of here. Now."

Ulfur and the men looked interested. "Where are we going?"

"To Ostri. I'm afraid we can't get your horse in the car, though."

Ulfur blinked for a moment. "We are going to the ruins you mentioned earlier?"

"Yes."

"I will ride there."

"It's almost ten miles," I pointed out. "If the opening to Ostri doesn't last long, I'm not sure if you can get there in time."

"I will not leave Ragnar," Ulfur repeated, a stubborn set to his ghostly jaw.

I gave up, recognizing defeat when I saw it. "Get going now, then. I'll try to delay leaving as long as I can, but I can't let the vampires get to everyone before they complete the ceremony."

Ulfur ran out after getting directions, calling for Ragnar, who appeared out of nothing with his ears twitching excitedly.

I peeked out the door to where Alec stood, still talking on the phone. The ghosts ran down the front stairs, rippling through Alec without him so much as lifting an eyebrow. I wondered again why Kristoff had been able to see them, but Alec didn't.

"The child says we're leaving?" Old Agda asked as she hobbled into the kitchen double time.

"Just as soon as the car gets here. Ulfur went on ahead to meet us. Is that everyone? Where's Karl and Marta?"

"Coming," Marta said, her face alight with happiness as she and her husband hurried into the kitchen. "You've changed your mind? We're really going to Ostri?"

"I'm going to do my best," I said with grim determination. "I'm going to need everyone to get into the car when Magda comes with it. Then we'll drive to the ruins, and we're going to do everything possible to stop the vampires from coming down on the Brotherhood people until they complete the ritual. So save your energy, OK?"

"You want us to help stop Dark Ones?" Hallur asked, looking worried. "We can't do that."

"Of course you can. You stopped the Ilargi."

The ghosts all looked at one another. "That was different," Hallur finally said.

"I don't see how. If anything, the Ilargi was more dangerous because he could suck your soul, and yet you stopped him from taking Karl. Surely if you can all cooperate to stop someone as powerful as that, you can slow down a couple of vampires."

"Dark Ones can disburse us," Ingveldur pointed out. "You saw this yourself when your man was annoyed by Ulfur's horse."

"Which man—" Hallur started to say.

"Ragnar wasn't in solid form then. If you all save your energy for stopping the vamps, and go solid on them, you should be able to slow them down."

"I don't like it," Hallur said, but his buddy, the one with the two-roomed house, socked him in the shoulder.

"Don't be such an old woman!"

"Oh!" Agda said, taking a swing at the other ghost.

He ducked. "We stopped an Ilargi! What's a few Dark Ones?"

"That's the spirit," I told him. "Er… no pun intended. All right, does everyone know what to do?"

"I suppose so," Hallur said slowly. Marta giggled. Ingveldur ordered her daughter to vanish.

"We'll be here, but unseen, so as to save as much energy as we can," Ingveldur told me before disappearing.

I glanced out of the window. "Excellent. Magda has just arrived, so if you would all go outside and get into the car, I'll be out in a jiffy."

I tiptoed across the kitchen. Alec stood with his back to me. I felt bad about slipping away without him knowing, but there was no way I could take him with me. I did scribble out a quick note, however, and used a magnet on the refrigerator to leave it clearly visible. I didn't want anyone to worry that one of the Brotherhood people had nabbed me.

"I would be happy to come with you—" Magda said a few minutes later.

I held up a hand to stop her. She sighed and gave me the keys to the compact rental car.

"It's safer this way. Safer for everyone," I said as I got into the car, accepting the map she shoved through the open window.

"Sometimes being safe sucks."

"Yeah, I know. Everyone in?"

Magda looked around in surprise. We were at a tiny garage connected to the house, apparently alone. "Your ghosts?"

"Yes." I glanced in the rearview mirror. There was nothing to be seen, but I could feel the presence of my ghostly friends. They must have been packed in as one solid mass.

"You're standing on my foot!" Dagrun complained. "Mother, Old Agda is on my foot!"

"Hush, child," Ingveldur scolded her daughter.

Agda cackled.

"You can stay behind if you like," I told the unseen teen.

"And miss seeing the vampires kill you? I don't think so."

"No one is going to kill anyone," I said grimly, starting the car.

"So you hope," Magda said, calling after me as I pulled out, "I'll be waiting to hear what happens!"

I waved a hand at her, and drove out of town.

The map that Magda had given me was not very helpful, and I took wrong turns three times before I stopped asking my ghostly friends for directions since it was sadly apparent that they didn't get out of the village much. It seemed like hours had passed before I finally pulled off to the side of the road and considered a sign that bore a ruins symbol, and an arrow pointing to the left.

"I think that's it. Ulfur certainly should have had time to get here. Everyone still all right?"

"No," Dagrun answered.

"We're fine, child," Ingveldur said at the same time. "The ride has been very interesting."

I glanced at my watch. "And a lot longer than I thought. All right, let's hope we made it here in time."

We pulled off the road and bumped our way down a graveled track that had some serious potholes. Ahead of us loomed an inky black expanse of forest, one of the few ancient woods left standing in Iceland. I remembered reading a note in the guidebook that said this spot had long been avoided by locals as being enchanted, thus the trees were preserved when pretty much all the other forests had been decimated.

No sign of the ruins was visible through the trees, but that didn't surprise me. The sun was sinking fast on the horizon now, the sky taking on that strange twilight appearance that was vaguely unsettling.

We arrived at last at a small shaded clearing. "I hope those belong to Frederic and his Brotherhood buddies rather than the vamps," I said, noting the three other cars in the tiny dirt parking area. Two bore Icelandic plates, another had a small rental tag on the bumper.

"Can we get out now?" a distressed voice asked.

"Sure, Hallur. Everyone out, but stay in low-watt mode until we see if the vamps are here."

I shivered as we followed a path that led into the woods. Immediately, we were enveloped in a heavy gloom that seemed more than just visual—it was as if the trees themselves were warning us to turn back, despair dripping heavily from their branches.

"OK, this is creepy," I said, rubbing my arms. "Is anyone else feeling this?"

"Yes," Ingveldur answered. Her voice was subdued. "This is a haunted place, Pia."

"Haunted with other ghosts, you mean?" I looked around as we picked our way down the path. The trees were pretty solid here, not allowing much light to penetrate their stiff branches. The scent of pine mingled with the slightly acidic odor of damp earth. "I don't see anyone else."