ACADEMY OF THE UNDEAD; BOOK TWO Stand Together ... Or Fall Together
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Revelations

Gavin Miles met with Devil on a mild summer evening.

“So Mr Miles, what do you have for me?”

“First up Devil, can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

Miles glanced at Chester, then turned his attention back to Devil as he asked, “Do you think that vampires are real?”

“This is interesting; the man I pay to collect information for me is asking me about vampires?” Devil mused, then he asked, “What has stoked your sudden interest in vampires?”

“Well during my investigation someone mentioned something about vampires, and I was thinking, shit no, Devil is going to be pissed off that I’ve been wasting his time and money.” Miles replied, then he noticed Devil and Chester glancing at one another.

“What was said about vampires?” Devil asked casually.

“Ummm, a former priest mentions vampires on the tapes I collated,” Miles replied, although curious, he asked again, “Do you believe that vampires exist?”

Devil was unsettled by the whole Iveta Stanley experience, and since Miles had brought the word vampire into his early lines of conversation, Devils’s curiosity burnt even brighter; all the same, he felt compelled to re-establish what their relationship was all about. With his hands on his lap, he leant back in the chair and asked nonchanlantly, “Mr Miles, do you recall our very first meeting?”

“Ummm, vaguely, yes.”

“In that very first meeting I told you that if I engaged your services, it would be on the understanding that any dealings between us would be confidential, and you would never tell anybody about us.”

“I do remember that conversation.”

“Good,” Devil began, “I pay you well for your services, and confidentiality has seen as tip-toe through a decade and a half together, and if confidentially continues to be the mortar that binds us, I will then continue to pay you well for your services.”

Miles had asked the question twice, although no answer had been returned, his client instead choosing to slip down the slide of evasiness. One more try … and Miles drew in a breath, then asked, “So vampires, do you think that they are real?” Miles saw Devil and Chester glance at each other again, then Devil faced him and asked wryly, “Mr Miles, do you like living?”

Confused, Miles asked, “Sorry?”

Gazing at him dispassionately, Devil said, “In your current state Mr Miles, being a living and breathing human being; do you enjoy being alive?”

Even more confused, but unfortunately, even more interested, Miles shrugged his shoulders then said, “Of course I do, I mean everybody does.”

“Good,” Devil nodded, then he said, “So instead of asking me questions, maybe we should concentrate on the information you have gathered for us.”

Miles felt conflicted, yet aroused. A subtle threat had been flung in his direction, and the sensible thing to do would be to present all the information he had gathered before his client, although to Miles, large tracts of that information were dealing with unverified supernatural bullshit, and his client might be pissed off that he had wasted time and money on a ghost story, then again …

His client was somebody who slept during the DAY, and his client seemed unwillingly to discuss vampires, and his client looked exactly the same as he did fifteen years ago. And so did she, Devil’s constant companion. Chester looked like a teenage girl when Miles had first met her, and a decade later, she still looked like a teenage girl. Miles didn’t want to risk losing the biggest pay packet that he’d earnt in decades, although the need to know, the desire to know, the compulsion to know had him gazing at Devil timidly, and after sucking in a quick breath, he asked, “Are you, are you a vampire?”

Devil held the gaze for a moment, then he let his gaze drop to his lap, and Miles immediately stiffened, then thought, Holy fuck!

Without looking up, Devil muttered, “No.”

Miles flinched as soon as Devil replied, although he quickly realised that his flinch had been an anticipatory reaction, because he was so wound up, he was going to flinch as soon as any reply came. Worringly, or as he reflected, excitingly, he’d anticipated that Devil might say something like, Yes I am, do you want to see my fangs? Strangely, Miles felt as if he was caught in a spinning bubble of uncertainty, because the rational side of him was thinking, Good, because I prefer my clients to be, arhhh, you know human … although the adventurous side of his mind was wanting to explore, the adventuruous side was hoping to reach out into the unknown, was wanting to be led down the road of the mysterious. The adventurous side of his mind wanted to or be shocked, or amazed, or, or … Or what? he pondered, Shit scared? With Frank Jonhson’s implausible tales rattling around in his mind, Miles asked meekly, “You’re not?”

Devil remained motionless, although Chester said quietly, “No, he’s not.”

Miles snapped his gaze around to her, and the action had him realising that he’d unintentionally worked himself into a state of anxiety, or as he reflected soberly, he’d placed himself on the road to discovery, and unfortunately, now that he was on the road, he had no other option than to cautiously tip-toe forward. Holding her gaze, he asked, “You, are you a vampire?”

Chester remained motionless, although Devil said quietly, “No, she’s not.”

Without properly thinking about the consequences of his statement, Miles said hesitantly, “You, you people look the same as when I first met you, and, and you sleep during the day, and over the last few weeks I’ve heard the word vampire crop up too many times to be ignored, so tell me,” Miles drew in a breath, then looking straight at Devil, he asked, “Do you believe that vampires exist?”

Devil held his gaze as he pondered for a moment, then he replied glibly, “Let me put it this way, I hope that you never bump into one.”

“So they are real?”

“If you do bump in to one, you will replace out.” Chester replied.

“Okay, so you’re both implying that they are real.”

“The world is a big place Mr Miles, and while the living dominate and control, the undead survive by living in the shadows.”

“What, the undead? What are you saying?”

“Mr Miles,” Chester began quietly, “He said that while the living dominate and control, the undead survive by living in the shadows.”

“So you’re saying that vampires do exist?”

Chester turned to Devil and asked, “Should we tell him Boss?”

Devil glanced at her as he ran it through his mind, then he faced Miles as he said, “Mr Miles, let’s just confirm a few things before we proceed. You remember the confidentiality guarantee that you gave to me?”

“Well we’ve just been talking about it, so yeah, I remember.”

“So you remember that you gave me your word that you would never tell anybody about us?”

“Yes, and I never have or never will.”

“Good Mr Miles, and I urge you to be conscious of our agreement, because to the outside world we wish to remain invisible.”

Chester added, “We live in the shadows, and if nobody knows about us, we will continue to live in the shadows.”

Miles swung his gaze to her then snapped it back to Devil as he asked breathlessly, “So you are, you are vampires?”

Devil huffed ungraciously, then said, “We have both already told you that we are not vampires.”

“But Chester said that you live in the shadows.”

“Yes, we do, but we are not vampires.”

Miles tensed as he thought about his last two weeks. The journey he had completed should mean that there was a big wad of cash coming at him in the near future, and the nights he had spent with Lucia had reignited emotions that he’d thought he’d lost years ago, although this moment, this very moment that he was in could be the most mind-blowing moment of his life. Levelling his gaze to look into Devil’s eyes, he asked tentatively, “What, what are you?”

Sitting straight, Devil replied casually, “I am a practioner of Resurrection.”

Miles shrugged his shoulders, disappointed that his bubbling anticipation had been flattened so swiftly, and he asked, “What does that mean?”

Chester shifted in her seat, flicked a few braids of hair behind her left shoulder, then said nonchalantly, “He resurrects dead people.”

Mile shrugged again and said, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Mr Miles, with our confidentiality agreement now firmly in your mind, I can tell you that I am a practioner of resurrection, and even though Chester clearly told you what that means, I will say it again; I resurrect dead people.”

Miles tried to slow his racing mind, although a thought hit him, and he asked uncertainly, “You’re normal then, normal human beings, so why did Chester say that you live in the shadows?”

“I said that, because that’s what we do.” Chester replied.

“But if you’re normal human beings, why do you need to live in the shadows?”

Chester fiddled with a few of the beads that dangled from her hair, then she asked, “Boss?”

Devil pondered for a moment, then he reached for and lit his bong. After inhaling then exhaling smoothly, he nodded and said, “Tell him.”

Chester sat straight, faced Miles, then said, “Us, Devil and me are resurrected beings, and so is everybody else at the Ranch.”

Miles frowned, then muttered, “No, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Mr Miles, it’s pretty simple,” Chester began, “At one stage in my life I died, then Devil resurrected me, so I’m alive again, or if you wanta get technical, I’m undead.”

“And I’m glad I resurrected Chester,” Devil said as he blew a collection of smoky rings into the air, “Because she has become the centre of my whole world.”

“Thanks Boss.” Chester said bashfully.

“You’re undead?” Miles asked uncertainly.

“Yes, just like everybody else here.”

“So, so you’re a zombie?”

“Sheesh, we prefer the term Resurrected, but we are the living dead.”

“And,” Devil butted in, “We are Resurrected Beings who would be very annoyed if anybody ever found out about us.”

Chester glanced at Miles and said, “Basically what the Boss is saying is, don’t tell anybody about us … or else.”

“Anyway Mr Miles, you now know about us, so maybe we should move forward, because I’m quite anxious to hear what you’ve uncovered.”

Miles stared at him, then he swung his gaze to Chester as he asked, “When did you die?”

“January 1987.”

“Shit, so if resurrected beings exist, vampires could exist as well?”

“Mr Miles, I think the caution that my boss threw your way was that he hopes you’ll never meet one.” Chester replied wryly.

“And Mr Miles, you mentioned something about vampires, so I’m very interested to hear what you’ve uncovered.” Devil added.

Miles shook his head in bewilderment, then he asked, “Okay, I’ll tell you, but can I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Have you ever seen a vampire?”

“Yes I have.”

“What, around here?”

“There’s a few clans in this county.”

“Clans? Like groups of vampires?”

“Yes.”

“You’re kidding!”

“No, I’m not kidding.”

“What are they like, vampires I mean.”

“Resurrected Beings don’t socialise with vampires Mr Miles, we simply stay out of their territory; but please, tell me what you’ve learnt about Iveta Stanley.”

Miles looked at Devil and then Chester, and he muttered, “Ummm …”

“What?”

The two people sitting in front of him had stated that they were zombies, or resurrected beings; so a thousand questions swirled around in his mind, and he asked timidly, “I dunno, can you tell me about yourselves, I mean can you tell me what you people do?”

Devil blew out a stream of smoke, then he said with a hint of annoyance, “What I’m doing right now is waiting for the man I employed to fulfil his part of the agreement.”

“I will, I will, but shit, you know, hearing all this.”

“Mr Miles, on another night when I am not so pressed for time, I may possibly have a discussion with you, but now, right now, tell me what you found out about Iveta Stanley.”

Devil had always been calm and relaxed, although it was obvious his patience was running out, and while Miles didn’t want to agitate him, he asked hesitantly, “So one time, we’ll get together and you’ll tell me about, you know, you people?”

“Mr Miles,” Chester piped in, “He said possibly, so please, tell us what you’ve learnt.”

Miles was frantically running it through his mind, and thoughts popped up randomly and quickly; Are they insane? … Or, or, were they dead and now they’re not dead? … Vampires are real, and zombies are real? … and then a sobering thought hit him; Am I in, you know, am I in danger? Curiously, Miles thought that if Lucia could read his mind, she would be scolding him for his over-use of the phrase You know in his thoughts; but yeah, maybe tell them what he had found out, and maybe that would then lead them to filling in a few more blanks for him. Taking a moment to compose himself, Miles said, “Well, on my journey, I heard a lot of crazy supernatural and mythological stuff that had my head spinning, but this one guy, a former priest, he seemed sane and sensible, and at one stage, he mentioned vampires.”

“Okay, well Mr Miles, tell me everything you’ve learnt.”

When he’d first sat down in the office, Miles was fretting that his client would be pissed off by the stories he had to tell, although thirty minutes later, he had no idea how this client would react. He looked at Devil and said uncertainly, “Sure, and I’ll be straight with you and say that most of what I found out sounded like crazy ghost stories, although the brief summary is that a woman was raped at a convent in Hungary in nineteen sixty-seven, and from that sexual assault, Iveta was born.”

“There doesn’t appear to be too many ghosts in that story Mr Miles, just a rapist.” Devil said.

Sitting straight, Miles held his gaze and said, “That was the non-believers summary, the supernatural and mythological summary is about a Holy Woman and a strange man with red eyes. The priest told me that a special investigative team from the Catholic Church had been searching for the Holy Woman for decades, although they never located her. The man with red eyes lived in a cave, and when a person from the investigative team found him and interviewed him, the man claimed that he was the last living direct descendant of a Fallen Angel named Azazel. It was suggested that this man was a vampire, and he searched for the Holy Woman for years, and eventually he found her hiding out in the isolated convent in nineteen sixty-seven, and he raped her. Two nuns witnessed the rape, and we actually spoke to one of those nuns, and she told us that the Holy Woman was an Angel. My translator didn’t believe the nun, although the nun claimed that she had seen the Holy Woman’s wings. In nineteen sixty-eight, the Holy Woman gave birth to twins, two girls, and the Holy Woman apparently studied both of the new-borns, then she handed one of them back to the nuns and said, Kill this one. Of course, that girl was Iveta, and the nuns didn’t kill her, instead they handed her over to the authorities when she was two years old, and not long after, she was adopted by the Horvat’s.”

Remembering the angelic presence at Iveta’s resurrection, Devil asked hesitantly, “A Holy Woman with wings?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but the nun told us that she saw the man with red eyes rape the woman, and she swears that the woman had wings.”

“So this Holy Woman is Iveta’s mother?”

“Well, if we believe the nun, yes.”

Devil leant back in his chair and asked, “Did you speak to this Holy Woman?”

“Well no, I mean after she handed Iveta to the nuns, she took the other girl and she has never been sighted again, so the fate of the other twin, the other girl, is not known.”

“Well, we’re only interested in Iveta anyway.” Devil stated.

“Sure, but I do need to tell you about this.” Miles said as he flicked through a pad. “The big ghost-story stuff, the words that the supposed vampire said to the investigative team …” Miles stopped at the relevant page, then he recited, “The man with red eyes said that when light and dark meet, you get shade, when purity and sin combine, you get danger, when love and hate clash, you get chaos, and when virtue and evil collide, you get destruction. The man’s message to the investigative team was that one day, the two girls born out of the act of violence, would engage in battle against each other, and the battle would be for mankind’s very existence.”

Devil and Chester glanced at one another, and Miles noticed, as both of their expressions seemed to display a sense of uneasiness. He asked, “Does that mean anything to you?”

“At this precise moment, no.” Devil replied nonchalantly.

“Anyway, the big supernatural thing, which I think is bullshit, but I should tell you about this, because the former priest said that a few parties believe that the man who raped Iveta’s mother, the man with red eyes, was a servant of the Devil, and on the tapes there are various references to the opening of the Gateway to Hell, and the former priest spoke to someone who seemed to believe that it was her, Iveta, who could open the Gateway to Hell.”

Miles looked at both of them, examining their eyes, and the examination saw both of them lowering their gazes. Interested that they were both avoiding his gaze, Miles said, “Okay, well I recorded everything, and tapes of Sister Renata’s and Father Johnson’s interviews are in the suitcase, along with everything I found out about the Horvat’s, including the transcripts from the murder investigation.”

“Very good Mr Miles. We will listen to the tapes and if I need anything clarified, I will contact you.” Devil began, “Chester will finalize your account then see you out.”

“Thank-you,” Miles replied, then he asked cautiously, “So Devil, vampires are real?”

Devil thought about his response, then he said, “Mr Miles, a word of warning; supernatural creatures survive because nobody knows about us, so for the sake of your own survival …”

Miles waited, decidedly uncomfortable because of the pause, and he asked meekly, “What?”

“Nobody knows about us, so to ensure that both your good self and WE all survive, keep it that way.”

“Certainly,” Miles replied, then he added, “Ohhh, and one last thing …”

“Go ahead.”

“The former priest told us that people from an outlaw biker club are looking for Iveta and her sister, and the priest believed that they wouldn’t stop searching until they found them.”

Miles noticed Chester shifting uncomfortably in her seat, although he turned his attention back as Devil asked, “I trust that you didn’t tell this priest where Iveta was?”

“Well I don’t know where she is, although the bikers seemed to be aware that she was in this country.”

“I will let my client know that people may be looking for Iveta, and I trust that you will never speak about this matter to anyone.”

“You have my guarantee.” Miles assured him, then excited, and nervous, he asked, “So what, when can we get together and discuss, you know, the other stuff?”

“I sense that I am going to be busy Mr Miles, so I will contact you when I am not so busy.”

Miles sucked his bottom lip, then said meekly, “Okay, sure, but I’m just really interested in hearing about the, arhhh … you know, the other stuff.”

Devil nodded, then said, “Understood Mr Miles, but I will bid you good night and Chester will look after you.”

After Chester came back into the office, Devil inserted the first tape and pressed play.

Two hours later, Devil lit his bong, and Chester rolled a larger than usual joint, then lit up. Drawing in then blowing out, Chester gazed into space and asked, “So, what ya thinking Boss?”

Leaning back in his chair, Devil looked at the ceiling and said, “I can understand why our private detective was a little sceptical.”

“Sure, but his scepticism may have received a big jolt because of what we told him.”

“No doubt, although I am more concerned about Iveta Stanley than I am about him.”

“So what are you saying; you believe what’s on the tapes?”

“Hmmm, believe is probably too strong a word.”

“Well I’ll be straight up with ya Boss, I’m a bit razzed, because those tapes were freaky.”

Devil nodded then said soberly, “A few of the things mentioned on the tapes might require a little more investigation.”

Chester was razzed because of what she had heard, and she said hesitantly, “Boss, I want you to be straight up with me; what’s going on, I mean what have we done?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jeez, you had the freaky experience with Iveta in the black hole, and you thought someone else was watching her, then when you came back into the realm you said that you felt an Angelic presence, and the Angelic presence seemed upset that you brought this one back to life.”

“Life-mate, I would love to give you a straight up, although I don’t think I can, because I haven’t got one.”

“But the priest yeah, the priest saying that the vampire in the cave said that there’s gunna be a battle for mankinds very existence, I mean what’s that about?”

“Chessie, if the vampire was here, I would ask him, but he’s not.”

“Okay Boss, but I gotta tell ya something …”

“Go ahead.”

“Our girl, the bitch we resurrected, she’s ticking all the boxes on the bad side.” Chester leant over and fiddled with the recorder, replaying Father Johnson’s tape, stopping, listening, rewinding, until she got to the part that concerned her. She pressed play, and the priests seemingly calm voice floated in; “The man told Corsivo, when light and dark meet, you get shade, when purity and sin combine, you get danger, when love and hate clash, you get chaos, and when virtue and evil collide, you get destruction. The man’s message to Corsivo was that one day, the two girls born out of the act of violence, would engage in battle against each other, and the battle would be for mankind’s very existence.”

“Boss,” she began meekly, “Our girl, she’s the bad part of light and dark, and she’s the bad part of purity and sin, and she’s the bad part of love and hate, and I’m thinking that she’s more evil than she is virtue, so like, what the fuck have we done?”

Devil, fully aware that his life-mate was anxious, said, “Chessie, didn’t Stanley book Iveta in to receive your expert tutorials?”

“Yeah, she’s booked in from next week.”

“For how long?”

“Clinton Stanley knows that the how-long is gunna be our call.”

“Okay, so you’ll teach her everything she needs to know, and while you’re doing that …”

Chester loved everything about her Master, except for when he did this, pausing before he said the most important part of a phrase. “What?” she asked sullenly.

“While you’re teaching her, I’ll be watching her, observing her, and maybe that will shed a little light on who she is.”

Chester drew in then puffed out nervously as she said, “Boss, I like what I’m doing.”

“What, teaching?”

“No, living, and I wanta live a bit longer.”

“Ches, two possibilities exist, and the first possibility is that our private detective has been speaking to some seriously disturbed or delusional people, and Iveta Stanley could simply be a person who was damaged beyond repair by the abuses she suffered as a child.”

The joint wasn’t chilling her out, and Chester mumbled, “The second possibility?”

Devil walked over and knelt by her side, and holding her right hand, he said compassionately, “If she’s coming next week, let her come so that we can watch and observe.”

Chester nodded distractedly, then said, “Yeah, sure, but other shit too Boss, like I’m sure you heard the name, I’m sure you heard the priest say Cordeir.”

“Yes, but he said Desmond Cordeir.”

“Yeah, but the old priest Corsivo suspected that this Desmond Cordeir was a vampire, and we have a Jason Cordeir who is a vampire and he’s living in our county.”

Devil went back and sat in his chair, then said, “Play that bit again.”

Chester rewound until she found it, then pressed play. “Yes, and this man Cordeir, Desmond Cordeir, I got the impression that he had been searching for Iveta and her sister for awhile, and he wasn’t going to stop until he found them.”

Devil pondered, then he said, “I seem to remember from the tape that they met this particular Cordeir somewhere in California, so it could just be a coincidence.”

“It seems like a big coincidence to me Boss; a Cordeir in California who may be a vampire and he’s searching for Iveta and her sister, while someone of the same surname just happens to be the leader of the Mephistopheles Clan of vampires who are in our neighbourhood.”

“Life-mate, the distance between Abita Springs and California is significant, and we don’t even know if these Cordeir’s are related, so in my opinion, there is no need to panic.”

“Sure, but maybe just to be on the safe side, you should ring up Stanley and tell him that we can’t teach her.”

“Hmmm,” Devil pondered, “I would like to watch this woman, I mean I want the opportunity to study her, so we will let her come as arranged.”

“Okay, you’re the Boss.” Chester replied, then she asked hesitantly, “But what about what Miles said, I mean that her father could be a servant of the Devil?”

Devil gazed at her and asked, “Chessie, do you believe that?”

Chester shook her head and said, “Shit, I don’t know what to believe, but this whole thing, I mean we found out where she was born, and then a whole heap of ghost stories come flying at us.”

“Ches, because of who we are, I have always held a view that we shouldn’t dismiss ghost stories without proper investigation, but in this whole episode, we haven’t received any incontrovertible proof to substantiate any of these claims, so they could simply be ghost stories.”

“Yeah, but I keep thinking back to the resurrection, I keep thinking about how freaked out you seemed, and then we listen to what the priest and Miles said, and yeah, I’ll be straight up with you and tell you that I am getting a bit freaked out.”

“Life-mate, if we need to study the woman to replace out who she is, I couldn’t think of a better place to do it than right here, at the Ranch.”

Chester gazed at her lap, then she nodded slowly and said, “Yeah, well you’re the Boss.”