She fears me…

Whatever Susanna was hiding, she must have pushed through it. The smile she normally wore returned as she approached. She pecked him on the cheek before looking into his dark brown eyes.

“You’re sweet for thinking of me,” Susanna said before pinching his lips together to prevent a quip.

She poisons your mind…

He pouted when she snapped back her fingers. There was a voice, one he initially dismissed as being a figment of his imagination. However, those statements lined up with what was going on… My imagination’s never been that potent…

Your blood is too good for her…

She turned back to catch his genuine smile. Susanna’s face was blank, betraying no emotion at all. Her mask existed to hide her feelings, but created the illusion of normalcy… A complete and total lack of emotion is chilling…

“While tempting, it won’t help,” Susanna said. “It’s all in my head. Besides, I don’t feel the cold…”

“A memory?”

“A dark truth.”

She fears me…

At twenty-seven paces from where they breached the wall, they pushed through solid rock. There were steps that led down a level, which gave him a view of a large ring around the centre with spikes waiting for unsuspecting visitors… Judging by that rusty Roman armour, those spikes have been here a while…

At the far end of the chamber, they reached another downward stairwell. The deeper they went, the cooler it became, with droplets running down exposed surfaces. Marc realised that his skin was clammy, and his clothes were damp.

The whore returns…

“That, and so much more…”

“Stop it,” Susanna said before giggling. “We’re running late.”

“How can you tell?”

“I always know where the sun is… Soon, so will you…”

The ability to track the passage of the sun without sighting it sounded helpful. Still, he figured that such accuracy might be problematic for someone, so…

“Unnaturally stiff and formal?” Susanna teased.

“Well, I have been watching you from behind ever since we arrived…”

“Touché,” Susanna said before chuckling.

They entered an expansive chamber. It was so large that light did not reach the other side. He paused long enough to take in the view, in awe that places like this existed deep underground.

“You don’t want to wander,” Susanna said. “There’s a trap at the centre.”

“Why haven’t we encountered traps before?”

“We did,” Susanna said bluntly. “You could say that I’m your lucky charm.”

What she meant was that the presence of a vampire negated some traps. Hence, any human who happened upon this place, would face a growing assortment of threats.

“That, and so much more…”

“Stop it,” Susanna said before giggling.

Every so often, she warned him of a loose step, or of an obstacle that he could not yet see. He had no trouble with these orders, since soldiers did the same on long marches… We normally slow down as we approach a dead end though…

“Just follow me,” Susanna said.

She walked straight through the wall at the bottom of the stairwell. Marc took a half-step before doubt filled his mind. However, he tensed his jaw, swallowed hard, and followed her scent through to the other side.

The tunnel connecting the chamber to wherever they were going had no end in sight. After three-thousand-one-hundred-and-thirty-two steps, they reached a set of stairs.

At this point, the sandstone was replaced by bedrock. The walls were slimy with humidity. If not for the scent of lilac following Susanna, Marc would have been overwhelmed by the smell of death and decay.

The stairs were treacherous, at least for those with poor night vision. While there were pitch torches throughout, few were lit. The light was barely enough for his eyes to discern each step. However, Susanna clearly had no trouble finding her way.

He glanced behind him to find a version of the mirror. The difference was that the coatroom was visible on the other side… So, that wasn’t just an image…

“No,” Susanna answered. “We travelled nearly two-thousand miles.”

“Saving us months of travel.”

“There are risks with its use,” Susanna said. “That’s why I pulled you through without going over the mechanics of the gateways.”