The Wolf's Call to the Moon Ch. 04

Jamie was hunched over his notebook; the papers filled with scribbles detailing each of the thirteen blood lines. He had to find the key to the tomb and it was hidden somewhere in the hierarchy, he was sure of it.

Pressed gently against the paper, his lead pencil took down the minor details streaming from his mind.

Crack!

He must have leaned on it too much.

Jamie gave himself a shake and was about to look for another pencil when he realised what the broken lead was pointing at.

Hitori

"Hell no..." His head moved side to side; the denial slowly sinking in despite the loud hissing sound in his head signalling another Elder in his presence.

Not bothering to be neat, Jamie took an empty laptop bag and simply swept all the paper, files and stationery from the table into it. Then he went hunting for a suitable spot to hide them.

There weren't that many options considering that the house was built to accommodate only one person.

He had barely hidden the bag beneath the floorboard under his bed when his doorbell rang.

Dressed in a slim cut suit, the collar unbuttoned with his tie slightly askew, the man at the door was indeed dashing. The long black hair that he usually tied in a thick rope behind his back was currently unbridled and framed his face like an ebony curtain.

They exchanged the customary greeting -flipping their palm up to expose the tender flesh of their wrist. Only in each other's presence will the numerical marking of their bloodlines be visible.

Hitori was number 4 and Jamie, 13.

Stepping past Jamie, the other Elder shrugged out of his jacket and sat at the dining table with his feet up; clearly making himself at home.

Gritting his teeth, Jamie updated him on what he had learned so far. He had wanted to keep the information to himself for much longer but the puzzle proved to be beyond his scope of control.

And if he had to trust anyone, it would be Hitori. The Elder's mind was like a warping maze. Any attempts to penetrate will result in an explosive being set off in the intruder's head; reducing him or her to a vegetable.

Besides, the Elder was a genius. Even before the advent of science, Hitori had been the head of their haematology unit; constantly finding more ways of sustenance. Blood was becoming scarce and it was the Council's ruling that their kind remained hidden. Drawing attention to themselves by feeding off humans, many Risen had been captured and tried as witches back in those days.

Hitori remained seated, balancing only on two legs of the chair as he studied the little riddle that Mallory had written out for Jamie earlier. Gnawing on the ends of a spare pencil, he'd circle a few letters and made some markings on the scrap of paper every now and again.

Then he'd erase everything and started all over.

Circles and boxes and numberings and crosses.

Jamie could feel his blood pressure rising.

"So? What have you found?"

Jamie's impatient interruption went ignored. Instead, Hitori hummed to himself as he marked out a box divided into 25 cells and added seemingly random numbers at the bottom of each cell.

Jamie was close to bashing his head against the wall. What the fuck was Hitori doing?

Almost sensing the Elder's distress, Hitori finally lifted his gaze and tapped the pencil on the table.

"Can you get this human to come here?"

"Why? What do we need her for?"

"I think I know how to break this puzzle."

Obviously confused, Jamie remained still. "She's already solved it. What more can she do?"

"I didn't say she didn't."

Groaning, Jamie reached for his phone and sent Mallory a text. His decision not to call her did not go unnoticed. He wanted to buy time.

"She'll be here any minute now so dish."

In lieu of a reply, his chair immediately landed on all fours; feet off the table and he stood up to straighten his suit.

"We have a guest."

When Mallory walked in, she almost choked from the intense energy radiating off the two men in the living room. There was so much raw power just bouncing off the walls, cornering her, closing over her...

"Dr. Roux."

The silky voice of the other man was like a knife through her mental haze. Looking up into his handsome features, she smiled and took his offered hand.

"Hi. My name is Akio Hitori. I'm a consulting geneticist."

"A geneticist? I don't understand." Despite her annoyance at being called up so late, her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Hitori merely smiled as he gestured her to the sofa.

"Did you know that one of the most beautiful things about the genetic code is its simplicity?" Taking a pencil, he began to draw out the well-known diagram of the double helix. "Three letters of DNA, 64 different combinations and 20 standard amino acids that combine to form a protein. Simple."

"I don't see where you're going with this Mr Hitori."

"Humour me." When she nodded, he continued. "But did you know that between the DNA and proteins is another code called RNA? RNA is like a shape-shifter, sometimes carrying genetic messages and sometimes regulating them. It's a clever little bugger this one - adopting a multitude of structures such that we can never predict all its permutations and yet; it is the key that instructs the cell on how genes are to be controlled."

"Look here Mister, it's close to midnight and I'm clearly not in the mood for a cryptic message..." she trailed off as she realised what he was trying to tell her.

"Yes, very astute Doctor. That was what you missed."

Hitori took the scrap of paper he was fiddling with earlier and showed her the riddle she had solved.

"You're saying there's another code within this?" Curiosity and amazement was clearly etched on her face. "I've never seen anything like this."

"So how do we crack this? From what you're saying, it's almost impossible," said Jamie.

"Improbable likely, but not impossible." Mallory was almost jumping up and down as she followed Hitori's various puzzle breakers scribbled on the paper. Even without knowledge of lycian hieroglyphics, he had broken the riddle down into 25 components and came up with the same two hieroglyphs despite using different puzzles to solve it.

"You see, there is only one function being described in this code and it keeps coming up over and over again. Whoever created this is truly intelligent and did not want anyone breaking into the tombs."

Mallory stopped what she was doing to look into Hitori's eyes. "Wouldn't you? If you had built such an elaborate resting place?"

Turning to the puzzles once more, Mallory allowed the silence to fill her concentration. Hitori had spliced the hieroglyphics into equal sizes and in doing so, changed the meanings of the words. Looking at the two pictures in front of her, Mallory did her best to make sense of them. The first one appeared straight forward. It was of wheat and a giant wheel.

Milling to make flour.

And the second hieroglyph was of a man on the floor with a group of other men pointing at him.

A spectacle. To laugh.

It didn't make sense.

"Are you sure of this? Because I'm telling you that the final answer does not make sense."

"What is it? Maybe I can help."

"If I were to translate it crudely, it would be 'the fallen miller'. Unless that is another code, I'm not sure how that would be helpful."

Jamie looked at Hitori, seeking confirmation. I don't think we have any millers in the bloodlines.

It doesn't have to be a person. It could be a place name.

I'll go check. What place in the world has the world miller in it?

When Jamie left the room, Hitori moved closer to inspect the choice of translation that Mallory had done.

"Why'd you translate the second picture as 'fallen'? Is it not 'laughing'? It sure looks like the crowd is laughing at the man who fell."

"Taken out of context, it means fallen. The graphic itself isn't humorous at all. It looked almost as though it means condemnation."

Hitori smiled. Indeed, the Forbidden one had yet again given another layer of meaning to a somewhat simple word. His eyes glanced secretly at the video streaming of the tombs in the lab. Condemnation indeed.

***

In his room, Jamie dug out the bag with the notes that he had hidden under the floorboard. He had just thought of something that he had never considered before.

Why was the sarcophagus hidden in Turkey?

It was almost as if whoever had hidden it there did not want anyone to find it - just as Mallory had said earlier. If indeed this was the tomb of the Forbidden one, then why was it not buried in France; the nexus of his empire? Or the place where he was born?

Although, that might prove problematic seeing that there were no records ever kept of the birth place of the Forbidden one. But as oral histories go, Jamie had heard the stories so many times as a little boy - of the crying house; south of Lake Geneva and north of the Mont Blanc.

No one had ever found the house of course, but stories always came from some truth.

And there had to be some truth being concealed here.

What secret was he trying so hard to bury that an immortal such as himself had allowed death to consume him?

Then it dawned upon him.

A life for a life.

Mallory had to be right. He had a child and instead of giving that child the grand life of a Risen, he had chosen for the child to... what?

Live as a human? Then that heir would have been just as dead!

Unless, that tomb next to him...

***

Clay sat huddled in the corner of the brick prison, simply watching the shadows. Now and again, he tried to establish a mental link with Mallory -something instinctive to a mated Light Walker.

Except that she hadn't accepted the mating bond yet nor was she aware of one.

It killed him not being able to hear her nor sense her. All he could hope for was that the Risen by her side would keep her safe.

"Thinking of your mate?"

The feminine sneer had him baring his teeth in retaliation. He was not surprised when Alkina's face materialised under the light of the moon.

However, when she started to slide down to sit outside his cell, Clay sat up straight; cautious and alert.

In the moonlight, she appeared so young and fragile; the lines on her face blurred to reveal smooth baby-like complexion.

He had trusted that face once.

"You know Clay, I've always wondered how you escaped." She leaned her head back against the wall so casually but he knew it was no informal chit chat.

"Thoughts of ripping your throat out helped."

Unfazed, she continued her soliloquy. "I blame the executioners. Useless brutes who couldn't even do a proper body count. What do I know they say? I'm just a little girl; a book keeper in the libraries. Fuck them. Of course... they died of natural deaths and accidents. What can I say? Karma's a bitch."

Clay almost smiled. Alkina was a sadistic bitch. Clever but heartless. She was the one who suggested minimal clothing for the prisoners.

"But to be fair, I admire your mother. Ayla was one of those beautiful types you know? Like Sophie. They get what they want with their looks. I mean... I'm sure that's how she got you."

If it was meant to agitate him, it clearly failed. Clay simply remained in the shadows; blue eyes watching her in the darkness. His father had died even before he was born and had left his mother as the reigning Alpha of his clan. If anything, Alkina was jealous of his mother. She wanted to be the only female in the ranks of the Shadow Lords and Ayla was just in the way.

"What do you want Alkina?"

"Nothing." Her shrug was non-committal as she got to her feet. "Except... to tell you that your mother's body wasn't among the body count."

Clay was sure he heard her wrongly. "What? What does that mean!"

But she was already gone.

***

"I think we've been approaching this whole thing from the wrong angle right from the start." Jamie looked straight at Mallory. "You're not translating it correctly. Try... French."

"That's absurd! We found this in Lycia and it definitely was buried using an ancient language the French would never have come across before."

"No wait, he has a point." Hitori nodded to himself, coming to the same conclusion as Jamie had. "You see Mallory, whoever is buried inside those tombs were originally from France."

"A really small commune possibly close to the Alps. If it was not French, then it would be a variant of it," added Jamie.

Mallory stared into those blue eyes of his and for a moment caught a short flash of blue waters and clear sunny skies.

Fishing boats and cold waters so clear you could see the remnants of the old quarry rocks. And on a clear day in summer -the snow tipped mountain ranges above lush green valleys. She'd always begged him to bring her there but he'd laugh and said he was afraid of heights.

"Meillerie," she whispered; arms wrapped around herself, to hold the memory close before she forgot them.

"Mallory?" nudged Jamie. "You alright?"

"I think it's likely to be Latin. But I don't know that language." Blinking back to reality, Mallory looked at both men and decided it was time to leave. "I apologise for not being of much use. I'm exhausted. Goodnight gentlemen. We'll talk tomorrow morning."

At the click of the closed door, the two Elders turned to each other.

"She knows something," said Jamie.

"I can't say. Her mind is a complete blank. It's unnatural for a human."

"I don't know. She's a difficult girl this one." He gave a long sigh. "Right. Let's work with what she has given us so far. I need to break this code before Klaus makes a personal trip down here."

"Have you considered it might be him who is the heir? That the answer was lying in front of us all along?"

***

Mallory started the engine of her car. Yes, it was close to one in the morning, but she needed to know. She had to.

The five minute drive felt like an eternity and when she finally made her way to the lab, Mallory could no longer hold back her pounding heart.

She tore pass the door and ran into the temperature controlled testing lab where the two tombs laid side by side.

Her laughter bounced off the walls; it was their secret little joke. Oh he was so clever. She had understood the meaning of the two words instantly the moment Jamie told her to translate it in French.

The symbol for laughter was what in modern terms represented 'lol'. Even from his grave, he was making a joke about the stupidity of the people who tried to break into his tomb.

But the first symbol was the most important clue - one only she could understand. It was his favourite advice to her - that there could never be shortage of grain mill; everything was grist to the mill.

And to jog that small slice of memory back, she translated the code in Latin but this time reading backwards, using the second hieroglyph first. When taken to mean 'fallen', it set the sombre tone to the meaning such that the only logical interpretation of the first hieroglyph was 'grinding'.

But nothing was literal with him. 'Molere' was more than just a verb. It was a noun and carried with it the weight of despair and grief of a fallen.

"I never really understood if I was named for happiness or sadness." The first trickle of her blood dripped into the small crevice of the tomb; the colour spreading onto the stone like cake batter in a pan. .

"Maybe this was all a big mistake and I'm completely wrong about this..."

But all she could think about was the course texture of his blonde plait of hair, the velvety softness of his robes...

"Oh hello hello. Look what we've got here."

Swirling around, the sight of the shadowy veiled man had her bracing the sides of the tomb; her left hand desperately pressing on her right wrist to quell the bleeding.

"Please. I can smell you. It's... intoxicating..." His voice was like a purr. "If you're really good, I might even sample you a bit." An icy finger trailed her jaw. "Would you like that?"

"How... how did you get in here? What do you want!"

"The same way you did. The same thing you want."

Yuli was about to pounce on her when the room started to shake.

At first it was a slight tremor. The tables started to move on their own. Metal equipment bounced on the floor.

Unable to balance, they both fell to their feet; hands on the floor to brace themselves for the next wave of earthquake.

Then a crack. Like the sound of an egg breaking from the inside.

The cloud around Yuli's eyes cleared instantly; the dark of his irises looking straight at Mallory, her bloodied wrists and then at the moving tomb.

"It is you."

Before she could say another word, he grabbed her by the arm and everything was a blur of smoke and collapsing walls.

***

"What the fuck was that!" Jamie ran to the window and looked across to the campus to witness an eruption of smoke and dust. "It's the tomb!"

Scrambling to the monitors streaming the live recording of the lab, Jamie could only see chaos erupting.

Hitori didn't miss the cue. With a hand on Jamie's shoulder, he teleported them into the eye of the storm.

The walls had been reduced to rubble; the floor cracked with potholes of cement. Dust continued to circle around them; blinding them and leaving their throats parched.

Jamie was on his knees; both hands around his own throat; his eyes bulging to resist the uncontrollable desire to kill himself.

WHO DARES TO AWAKEN ME

It is I... Master... Jamie was gagging on his own saliva; the pressure around his neck a deathly knot.

A sharp high pitched wavelength hit both Elders; the noise blasting in their eardrums.

The light seemed like a distant away.

And then it all turned to darkness.

***

"I can heal that for you."

Mallory only tightened her grip on her wrist.

"Where are we?" she demanded.

"Safe."

No longer cloaked in his shadowy façade, Mallory had a good look at the Risen for the first time.

Pale, he looked almost ghostly with the black of his hair plastered against his sweat-drenched scalp. And his eyes were not hard onyx as she had originally thought but a soft lead-like hue that shimmered slightly in the light.

Light.

"Where the hell are we? It was definitely night a second ago!"

"You'll be safe here."

Mallory looked around; carefully studying the shadows and direction of the sunlight. Wherever they were, it had to be at least six to seven hours ahead of England.

With the heels of her palm pressed over her eyes, Mallory tried to re-orientate herself. If she wasn't dreaming, that meant her body had literally moved across time and space within a heartbeat.

So excuse her if she needed a breather and maybe kill someone.

Bloodshot eyes turned to look at her captor. She marched towards him, slapping away her frustration at his arms.

"You're a Vampire. You're the one who tried to kill me the last time! Why? What do you want from me?" Her screams ended with a sob as she pressed her forehead to his shoulder.

He allowed her to cry; ignoring the wet stains that formed on his right sleeve.

They stayed that way for a couple of minutes before he started to shift and stood up.

"I need to go but I will be back. Please stay here."

When she blinked, he was gone.

Yuli reappeared again at the lab but all that was left of it were rubble. The entire building had collapsed around the two tombs; not a speck of dust marring the stone.

When he caught the stir of movement beneath the cement crumbs, Yuli kept very still; cautious.

A hand propped up followed by the familiar blonde of Jamie's hair.

Groaning, he pulled himself up to a sitting position and started looking around for Hitori.