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Stories from the Verse
Con Version
Chapter 128: Brown 328
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Cooper 41
As they gathered for their next rehearsal, they were a somewhat somber group. Another death had been reported, another body mysteriously drained of blood. Authorities were saying that it was the work of some sadist who took the blood for some ritual purpose, but the notion that there was a vampire around couldn’t really be silenced even if it wasn’t said in the papers.
Derek felt as if he needed to do something. He had a thought.
“Mister Hunter thought that the Carters must be entombed somewhere in Cajun country. Where would that be?”
They looked at each other, and Pierre provided an answer. “Pretty much everything west of New Orleans as far as Lake Charles.”
“It’s a lotta ground,” Maurice observed, “an’ it ain’t easy to travel, an’ easy to get lost.”
Derek nodded. “But,” he said, “I don’t have to travel it on the ground–at least, not for what I’m thinking. I don’t know how we stop them, but the first step is finding them, and if Hunter’s right there must be a mausoleum built out there in a centuries-old cajun graveyard, probably abandoned. I’m wondering if I could spot it from the air.”
“It could be oveglowne,” Lei suggested, “buhlied unda vines awe bushes.”
“True,” Derek agreed. “On the other hand, I can’t think of another way to find it. I mean, Hunter was looking for it, and he can’t have been the first, but I’m probably the first protector of New Orleans who can fly.”
“Maybe,” Pierre said, “but if you found it, what then? You would probably need people to go with you to destroy them, and we can’t fly. How would you be able to find it again on the ground?”
Derek thought about it for a moment. “I guess there aren’t any maps,” he said, and was met with shaking heads.
“The’s bayou change all the times,” Maurice said. “Can’t make a map even if you wanted.”
“Wait a minute,” he said. “My laptop has a camera built in. I never use it, but I could take pictures of the area, and we could use them to figure out how to get there, maybe create a map from the pictures.” He thought a moment, but then dropped his head. “No,” he said, “It wouldn’t work. Morach wouldn’t be strong enough to carry the laptop.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, and finally Derek broke it. “Well, if anyone has any other ideas, let me know. Meanwhile, let’s do a bit of practicing here, and a bit of praying, and I’m sure the King will show us a way. Warm up with Also Sprach Zarathusthra?”
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with eleven other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #512: Versers Work. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here: