Crimson Born - Amy Patrick Page 0,30
because of its multi-hued iridescent drip formations.
It was a popular hang-out spot for the younger vampires, and they stood together at the bank of one of the cavern’s three flowing streams. One of my favorite spots in the Bastion, this particular stream was fed at one end by a thirty-foot high waterfall.
“Hi. What’s going on?” I asked.
“Come here,” Kelly said in a conspiratorial whisper. She and Heather drew me closer to the noisy waterfall, perhaps to camouflage the discussion from the astute hearing of our fellow vampires.
Whatever the secret was, it must have been a good one. Both were grinning ear to ear and practically wiggling with excitement.
“Guess who’s coming to Washington D.C.?” Heather asked.
“I have no idea.” I hadn’t left the Bastion in weeks, and neither had they, so I wasn’t sure how they knew anything about what was going on in the outside world.
“Sadie Aldritch,” she said. “It’s only two hours’ drive from here.”
“Okaaaay,” I said, dragging out the word to express my confusion. “So what?”
“So, we’re going to go see her,” Kelly told me. “She’ll be speaking on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and lead a peaceful sit-in. It’s so unfair how vampires aren’t allowed to gather in groups of more than ten while the humans get to do whatever they want whenever they want with whomever they want—in any number they want. It’s going to be epic, and we could help make a difference. You have to come with us.”
I looked at my friends like they were crazy. Because they were.
“We’re not allowed to leave until our training is complete, and I definitely don’t think they’ll make an exception for Sadie Aldritch’s speech. Imogen hates her.”
“Well, it’s not for a couple of months. Sadie’s holding the demonstration on Devil’s Night, October thirtieth, to make a point. Training should be done by then,” Kelly explained. “After that, we can come and go as we please.”
Imogen had said that during my last meeting with her, and I was certainly intrigued by the idea of hearing the leader of the Vampire-Human Coalition speak. It was impossible to imagine our leader sanctioning such an outing though.
“Imogen won’t like it,” I warned.
Kelly shrugged. “So? She doesn’t have to know. Besides, she may be the boss in here, but it’s still a free country out there. Heather’s car is parked at a farm not too far from here. If anyone asks, we’ll say we’re going out for a girls night in the city.”
She and Heather giggled like my little sisters had when they’d gotten into the cookie jar before suppertime.
“Do you really think it’ll be okay?” I asked with rising excitement.
“Absolutely,” Heather said and raised one brow. “And there won’t be any questions. I’ve got a new... friend who guards the cavern entrance at night. Robbie. He’ll keep his mouth shut. Believe me, he’ll do anything I ask him to.”
Now I joined in the giggling. “You are so bad.”
“I know,” she said. “And I’m not a bit sorry. He is so cute. Wait till you meet him.”
Just then the chime of the pipe organ system sounded through the cavern. Many decades ago, a mathematician and scientist touring the cavern had discovered musical notes could be played by tapping some of the stalactite formations.
He’d spent three years studying the stalactites and identifying which ones would be appropriate to use in the creation of a unique and massive musical instrument, a natural pipe organ.
He and his team wired electronic mallets throughout the caverns and connected them to a large console. When a key was depressed, a rubber-tipped plunger struck the corresponding concert-pitched stalactite, and a note resounded.
The instrument was activated by an automatic system resembling a music box. It could also be played manually and often was by a vampire who used to be a famous concert pianist.
I’d attended a few of his performances in the cathedral, a chamber with a soaring ceiling covered in crystalline limestone formations that resembled chandeliers.
In awe of the place and the music, I’d marveled at the majestic sounds reverberating through the even more impressive caverns.
Sometimes the organ was used to alert the Bastion dwellers of important news.
The tune it played now signaled there was to be a gathering in the Grand Dome to be presided over by Imogen herself. Heather, who’d been to a meeting of our full community before, identified it for us.
Like all the others in the Rainbow Cave, we started moving toward the Bastion’s largest gathering space.
“Wonder what this is all about?” I asked.