Darren Shan – Vampire Rites Trilogy (страница 13)
Seba only smiled and reached into the cage. “I have never met a spider I have not been able to charm,” he said.
“But –” I began.
“It is all right, Darren,” Mr Crepsley said. “Seba knows what he is doing.”
The old vampire coaxed the spider on to his fingers and lifted her out of the cage. She squatted comfortably in the palm of his hand. Seba bent his face over her and whistled softly. The spider’s legs twitched, and from her intent look, I knew he must be communicating mentally with her.
Seba stopped whistling and Madam Octa crawled up his arm. Upon reaching his shoulder, she nestled up to his chin and relaxed. I couldn’t believe it! I’d always had to whistle continuously – with a flute, not my lips – and concentrate fiercely to keep her from biting me, but with Seba she was completely docile.
“She is marvellous,” Seba said, stroking her. “You must tell me more about her when you have a chance. I thought I knew of all the spiders in existence, but this one is new to me.”
“I thought you would like her,” Mr Crepsley beamed. “That is why I brought her. I wish to make you a present of her.”
“You would part with such a wonderful spider?” Seba asked.
“For you, old friend – anything.”
Seba smiled at Mr Crepsley, then looked at Madam Octa. Sighing regretfully, he shook his head. “I must refuse,” he said. “I am old, and not as sprightly as I used to be. I am kept busy trying to keep up with jobs I once zipped through. I do not have the time to care for such an exotic pet.”
“Are you sure?” Mr Crepsley asked, disappointed.
“I would love to take her but I cannot.” He placed Madam Octa back in her cage and handed it to me. “Only the young have the energy to tend to the needs of spiders of such calibre. Look after her, Darren – she is beautiful and rare.”
“I’ll keep my eye on her,” I promised. I once thought the spider was beautiful too, until she bit my best friend and led to me becoming a half-vampire.
“Now,” Seba said, “I must go. You are not the only new arrivals. Until we meet again – fare well.”
There were no doors on the tiny rooms. Mr Crepsley and Gavner bid us goodnight, before heading for their coffins. Harkat and me stepped into our room and studied our two caskets.
“I don’t think you’ll fit in that,” I said.
“That is … OK. I can sleep … on floor.”
“In that case, see you in the morning.” I glanced around the cave. “Or will it be night? Impossible to tell in here.”
I didn’t like getting into the coffin but took comfort in the fact that it was for one time only. Lying back, I left the lid open and stared up at the rocky grey ceiling. I thought that with the excitement of having arrived at Vampire Mountain, it’d take ages to fall asleep, but within minutes I’d dropped off and slept as soundly as I would have in my hammock back at the Cirque Du Freak.
HARKAT WAS standing by his coffin when I awoke, his green eyes wide open. I stretched and said good morning. There was a brief pause, then he shook his head and looked at me. “Good morning,” he replied.
“Been awake long?” I asked.
“Just woke … now. When you … spoke to me. Fell asleep … standing up.”
I frowned. “But your eyes were open.”
He nodded. “Always open. No lids … or lashes. Can’t shut them.”
The more I learned about Harkat, the stranger he got! “Does that mean you can see things while you’re asleep?”
“Yes, but I … take no … notice of them.”
Gavner appeared at the entrance to our room. “Rise and shine, boys,” he boomed. “Night’s wearing on. There’s work to be done. Anybody for bat broth?”
I asked to use the toilet before we went to eat. Gavner led me to a small door with the letters WC carved into it. “What does that stand for?” I asked.
“Water Closet,” he informed me, then added, “Don’t fall in!”
I thought that was a joke, but when I stepped inside, I realized it was a genuine warning – there was no toilet in the water closet, just a round hole in the ground which led to a gurgling mountain stream. I stared down the hole – it wasn’t large enough for an adult to fall through, but somebody my size might just fit – and shivered when I saw dark, gushing water at the bottom. I didn’t like the idea of squatting over the hole, but there was no other option, so I got on with it.
“Are all the toilets like that?” I asked when I came out.
“Yes,” Gavner laughed. “It’s the easiest way to get rid of the waste. There are several big streams leading out of the mountain and the toilets are built over them. The streams wash everything away.”
Gavner led Harkat and me to the Hall of Khledon Lurt. Seba Nile had pointed out the Hall to me the day before and said it was where meals were served. He also told me a bit about Khledon Lurt; he had been a General of great standing, who’d died saving other vampires in the fight with the vampaneze, when they broke away.
Vampires loved telling tales of their ancestors. They kept few written records, opting instead to keep their history alive by word of mouth, passing on stories and legends around fires or over tables, one generation to another.
Red drapes hung from the ceiling, covering the walls, and there was a large statue of Khledon Lurt at the centre of the Hall. (Like most of the mountain’s sculptures, it had been carved from the bones of animals.) The Hall was lit by strong torches, and it was nearly full when we arrived. Gavner, Harkat and me sat at a table with Mr Crepsley, Seba Nile and a load of vampires I didn’t know. Talk was loud and raucous. Much of it had to do with fighting and feats of endurance.
This was my first good look at a crowd of vampires and I spent more time gazing around than I did eating. They didn’t look that different to humans, except many were scarred from battle and hard living, and not a single one – it goes without saying! – was sun-tanned.
They were a smelly lot. They didn’t use deodorants, though a few had strings of wild flowers or naturally scented herbs around their necks and wrists. Though vampires took care to wash in the world of humans – a foul stench could lead a vampire hunter to his prey – here in the mountain hardly any of them bothered with such luxuries. With all the soot and dirt of the Halls, they didn’t see the point – it was impossible to keep clean.
I noticed virtually no women. After lengthy scanning, I spotted one sitting at a table in a corner, and another serving food. Otherwise, the vampires were all men. There were very few old people either; Seba seemed to be the oldest vampire present. I asked him about this.
“Very few vampires live to be a ripe old age,” he replied. “While vampires live far longer than humans, very few of us make it to our vampiric sixties or seventies.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Vampires measure age in two ways – earth years and vampire years,” he explained. “The vampiric age is the age of the body – physically, I am in my eighties. The earth age refers to how many years a vampire has been alive – I was a young boy when I was blooded, so I am seven hundred earth years old.”
Seven
“Though many vampires live for hundreds of earth years,” Seba went on, “hardly any make it to their vampiric sixties.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Vampires live hard. We push ourselves to the limit, undergoing many tests of strength, wit and courage. Hardly any sit around in pyjamas and slippers, growing old quietly. Most, when they grow too old to care for themselves, meet death on their feet, rather than let their friends look after them.”
“How come you’ve lived so long then?” I asked.
“Darren!” Mr Crepsley snapped, shooting me a piercing glare.
“Do not chastise the boy,” Seba smiled. “His open curiosity is refreshing. I have lived to this long age because of my position,” he said to me. “I was asked many decades ago to become the quartermaster of Vampire Mountain. It is not an enviable job, since it means living inside – hardly ever going hunting or fighting. But quartermasters are essential and much honoured – it would have been impolite of me to refuse. If I was free, I would have been long dead by now, but one who does not exert oneself tends to live longer than those who do.”
“It seems crazy to me,” I said. “Why do you push yourselves so hard?”
“It is our way,” Seba answered “Also, we have more time on our hands than humans, so it is less precious to us. If, in vampire years, a sixty-year-old man was blooded when he was twenty, he will have lived for more than four hundred earth years. A man grows tired of life when he has lived so much of it.”
I was trying to see it from their point of view, but it was hard. Maybe I’d think differently when I’d been around a century or two!
Gavner rose before we’d finished eating and said he had to leave. He asked Harkat to accompany him.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“The Hall of Princes,” he said. “I must present myself to the Princes and tell them about the dead vampire and vampaneze we discovered I also want to introduce Harkat, so he can pass on his message. The sooner the better, I think.”
When they left, I asked Mr Crepsley why we hadn’t gone with them. “It is not our place to present ourselves to the Princes,” he said. “Gavner is a General, so he has the right to ask to see the Princes. As ordinary vampires, we must wait to be invited before them.”