Feast of Fools

Someone had done a makeover on Myrnin's cell, and it wasn't Claire; she'd thought about it, but she hadn't been sure about what Amelie would allow him to have.



So when she stepped through the doorway from the laboratory to the cells, where the sickest and most disturbed vampires of Morganville were warehoused, she was surprised to see the glow of electric light coming from the end . . . from Myrnin's cell. As she got closer, she noted other things. Music. Something classical was playing softly, from a stereo set up outside the bars. There was a television, as well, currently turned off.



Myrnin's cell, which had been as bare as a monk's in the beginning, was floored with a plush, expensive-looking Turkish rug. His narrow cot had been replaced with a much more comfortable bed. There were books stacked waist-high in the corners of the cell.



Myrnin was lying on the bed, hands folded across his stomach. He looked young - as young as Michael, really - but there was something indefinably old about him, too. Long, curling black hair, a sense of style far out-of-date. He was dressed in a blue silk dressing gown with dragons on it - neat and clean.



Someone had been here before her to take care of him. She felt guilty.



His eyes didn't open, but he said, "Hello, Claire."



"Hi." She hung back, watching him. He seemed calm enough, but Myrnin wasn't all that predictable. "How are you?"



"Bored," he said, and laughed. "Bored, bored, bored. I had no idea a cell could be such a prison."



His eyes opened, and his pupils were huge. There was a fey look in his eyes that made the skin along her backbone shiver and tighten.



"Did you bring me anything to eat?" he asked. "Someone juicy?"



He was definitely not right. She hated it when he got this way - cruel and lazy, willing to say or do anything. It was as if the Myrnin she liked had just . . . disappeared, leaving behind nothing but the dark shell.



Myrnin slithered off his bed, boneless and silent as a reptile. He took hold of the bars in his white, strong fingers and fixed his black-hole eyes on her face.



"Sweet, sweet Claire," he murmured. "So brave, to come here. Come on, Claire. Come closer. You'll have to if you want to help."



He smiled, and even though he wasn't showing vampire teeth, she felt the predator's breath on the back of her neck.



"I have some new medicine," she said, and set her backpack down. She unzipped it and took out the bottle with the crystals - a plastic bottle, thankfully, so she could throw it without fear of breakage. She tossed it underhand through the bars of the cage. It skidded to a stop against Myrnin's pale feet. "I need you to take it, Myrnin."



He didn't even bend down for it. "I don't think I like your tone," he said. "You don't order me, slave. I order you."



"I'm not your slave."



"You're property."



Claire opened up her backpack, took out the dart gun that Dr. Mills had given her, and shot him.



Myrnin staggered back, staring down at his stomach, and brushed his fingers over the yellow bristle of a hypodermic dart. "You little bitch," he said, and sat down heavily on the bed.



His eyes rolled back as the drug delivered itself into his bloodstream, and he slumped back flat on the mattress.



"I may be a bitch, but I'm not your property," Claire said. She didn't move from where she stood as she loaded a second dart, just in case. She watched his body as his muscles twitched and contracted, then relaxed. "Myrnin?"



His eyes blinked, and she saw the pupils begin to shrink down to normal-sized black dots. "Claire?" He reached down and pulled the dart from his stomach. "Ouch." He examined the dart curiously, then laid it carefully aside. "That was interesting."



Well, he sounded saner, anyway. "How are you feeling?"



"Sore?" He brushed his fingers over the healing puncture wound. "Ashamed?" His dark gaze lifted to brush across hers. "I have the feeling I've been - unpleasant."



"I wouldn't know," Claire said. "I just got here. Hey, who brought you all the stuff?"



Myrnin glanced around, frowning. "I - to be honest, I'm not really certain. I think it might have been one of Amelie's creatures." He didn't sound at all sure. "I was cruel to you just now, wasn't I?"



"A little," she agreed. "But then again, I did shoot you."



"Ah, yes. By the way, is there any particular reason you shot me in the stomach rather than the chest?"



"Less bone," she said. "And my hands were shaking. How are you now?"



He sighed and sat up. "Better," he said. "Don't trust me, though. We don't know how long this will last, do we?"



"No." Claire put the gun away, and came closer to the bars. Not close enough to grab, though.



"That's a new formulation? In liquid?"



She nodded. "It's stronger, but I'm not sure it will last as long. Your body may break it down faster, so we have to be careful."



"Start the clock," he said. He looked down at himself and laughed softly. "My dark side dresses better than I do." He stood up and reached for clothes folded neatly on a table to the side as he loosened the tie on his robe. He hesitated, smiled, and raised his eyebrows. "If you don't mind, Claire . . . ?"



"Oh. Sorry." Claire turned her back. She didn't like turning her back on him, even with the cell door locked. He was better behaved when he knew she was watching. She focused on the faint, distorted image of his reflection on the TV screen as he shed the dressing gown and began to pull on his clothing. She couldn't see much, except that he was very pale all over. Once she was sure his pants were up, she glanced behind her. He had his back to her, and she couldn't help but compare him with the only other man she'd really studied half-naked. Shane was broad, strong, solid. Myrnin looked fragile, but his muscles moved like cables under that pale skin - far stronger than Shane's, she knew.



Myrnin turned as he buttoned his shirt. "It's been a while since a pretty girl looked at me with such interest," he said. She looked away, feeling the blush work its heat up through her neck and onto her cheeks. "It's all right, Claire. I'm not offended."



She cleared her throat. "Any side effects from the new mixture?"



"I feel warm," he said, and smiled. "How pleasant."



"Too warm?"



"I have no idea. It's been so long since I felt anything like it, I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the difference. " He looped his hands loosely around the bars. "How long are you going to wait?"



"The first time, we wait until the effects start to fade, so we can have a good baseline and we'll know how long it'll allow you to be out. Safely."



"And you'll keep your dart pistol ready at all times, yes?" He leaned casually against the bars, elegant and relaxed. There was still a faint glow in his eyes, just a little unsettling. "What shall we talk about, then? How are your studies, Claire?"



She shrugged. "You know."



"They're still too simple, I would expect."



"See? You do know." Claire hesitated. "We have visitors in town."



"Visitors?" Myrnin didn't seem overly interested. "Is it homecoming already? Why on earth Amelie tolerates these human traditions, I'll simply never understand - "



"Vampire visitors," she said. That got his full attention.



For a frozen second, he didn't speak, only stared, and then he said, low in his throat, "In the name of God, who?" His fingers tightened on the bars, squeezing so tightly she was afraid his bones might snap. Or the steel. "Who?"



She hadn't expected that reaction. "His name is Bishop," she said. "He says he's Amelie's father - "



Myrnin's face went as still and pale as a plaster mask. "Bishop," he repeated. "Bishop's - here. No. It can't be." He took in a deliberate breath - one he didn't need - and let it slowly out. His hands relaxed on the bars. "You said visitors. Plural."



"He brought two people with him. Ysandre and Fran?ois."



Myrnin said something soft and vicious under his breath. "I know them both. What's happened since his arrival? What does Amelie say?"



"She said we should stay out of it. So do Sam and Oliver, for that matter."



"Has she made any public announcements? Is she planning any public events?"



"Shane got an invitation," she said. "To some kind of ball. He - it says he has to go as Ysandre's escort."



"Jesu," Myrnin said. "She's doing it. She's acknowledging his status with a welcome feast."



"What does that mean?"



Myrnin suddenly rattled the bars. "Let me out. Now."



Claire swallowed. "I - can't, I'm sorry. You know how this works. The first time we test a new formulation you have to stay - "



"Now," he snarled, and his eyes took on that terrifying vampire sheen. "You have no idea what's happening out there, Claire! We can't afford to be cautious."



"Then tell me what's going on! Please! I want to help!"



Myrnin visibly controlled himself, let go of the bars, and sat down on the bed. "All right. Sit down. I'll try to explain."



Claire nodded. She pulled over a steel industrial chair - left over from this facility's use as a prison, she thought - and took a seat herself. "Tell me about Bishop."



"You've met him?" Claire nodded. "Then you already know all you need to know. He's not like the vampires you've met here, Claire, not even the worst of us. Amelie and I are modern predators, tigers in the jungle. Bishop is from a far colder, harder time. A Tyrannosaurus rex, if you will."



"But he really is Amelie's father?"



Myrnin's turn to nod. "He was a warlord. A murderer on a scale that you would find it difficult to fathom. I - thought he was dead, many years ago. The fact that he's come here, now - it's very bad, Claire. Very bad indeed."



"Why? I mean, if he's Amelie's father, maybe he just wants to see her - "



"He's not here for happy memories," Myrnin said. "In all likelihood, he's here to have his revenge."



"On you?"



Myrnin slowly shook his head. "I'm not the one who tried to kill him," he said.



Claire's breath caught. "Amelie? Not - she couldn't. Not her own father."



"It's best you don't ask any more questions, little one. All you need to know is that he has reason to hate Amelie - reason enough to bring him here and for him to try to destroy everything she has worked for and accomplished."



"But - she's trying to save vampires. To stop the sickness. He has to understand that. He wouldn't - "



"You have no idea what he wants, or what he would do." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, the picture of earnestness. "Bishop comes from a time before there were concepts among vampires of cooperation and self-sacrifice, and he'll have nothing but contempt for them. As you would say, he's old-school evil, and all that matters to him is his own power. He won't tolerate Amelie having her own."



"Then what do we do?"



"First, you let me out of here," he said. "Amelie is going to need her friends around her."



Claire slowly shook her head. The minutes were ticking by, and Myrnin seemed stable, but she had to abide by the rules.



"Claire."



She looked up. Myrnin's face was still and sober, and he seemed utterly in control of himself. This was a Myrnin she rarely saw - not as charming as the manic version, not as terrifying as the angry one. A real, balanced person.



"Don't let yourself be drawn into this," he said. "Humans don't exist for Bishop except as pawns, or food."



"I didn't think we did for too many of you," she said. Myrnin's eyes widened, and he smiled.



"You do have a point. As a species, we do have an - empathy gap," he replied. "But at least we're trying. Bishop and his friends won't bother."



The formula was much, much better than the last one - Myrnin's stability lasted for nearly four long hours, a score that delighted him almost as much as it did her. But once he'd tired, and begun sliding back into confusion and anger, Claire stopped the clock, made her notes, and checked the massive refrigerator in the center of the prison. She thought it had probably been built as central storage for the kitchens -  kitchens that had gotten ripped out long ago - but it had the feeling of a giant, stainless-steel morgue.



Someone had forgotten to restock the supplies of blood inside. Claire made a note as she retrieved supplies for Myrnin, and tossed the blood packs into his cell. She didn't wait to watch him rip into them.



That always made her sick.



The other vampires were mostly beyond conversation -  silent, reduced to basic survival instincts. She loaded up a cart and made the rounds delivering the last of the blood. Some of them had enough control left to nod a silent thanks to her; some only stared with mad, empty eyes, seeing her as just a giant, walking version of the blood bag.



It always gave her the creeps, but she couldn't stand to see them starve. It was somebody else's responsibility to feed them and keep the cells clean - but she wasn't sure that somebody did a very good job.



By the time she was done, it was late afternoon. Claire walked to the shimmering door in the prison wall, concentrated, and formed the portal back to Myrnin's lab. It was empty. She was tired and upset about what Myrnin had said about Bishop, and considered resetting the portal to take her directly to the Glass House . . . but she didn't like using it; it took too much out of her. She also didn't want to explain to the others about why she was stepping out of a blank wall, either.



"Guess I'm walking," she said to the empty lab. She climbed the stairs to the rickety, leaning shack that covered the entrance, and exited into the alley behind Gramma Day's Founder House. It was another mirror of the Glass House - slightly different trim, different curtains in the windows. Gramma Day had a front-porch swing, and she liked to sit outside with her lemonade and watch people, but she wasn't out today. The empty swing creaked in the faint, cooling wind.



The sun still felt fierce, although the temperatures were dropping steadily, day by day; Claire was sweating by the time she'd negotiated Morganville's tortuously twisted avenues and turned onto Lot Street.



The sweat turned icy as she saw the police car parked in front of the house. Claire broke into a run, slammed through the white picket fence, and pounded up the stairs. The door was shut and locked. She fumbled out her keys and let herself in, then followed the sound of voices down the hallway.



Shane was sitting on the couch, wearing what Eve liked to call his Asshole Face. He was staring at Richard Morrell, who was standing in front of him. The contrast was extreme - Shane looked like he'd forgotten he owned a hairbrush, his clothes were rumpled from sitting in a laundry basket for a week, and his whole body language screamed SLACKER.



A whole different person from the one who'd been so quietly concerned about Eve earlier.



Richard Morrell, on the other hand, was a Morganville success story. Neat and sharp in his dark blue police uniform, every crease perfect, every hair at regulation length. The gun on his hip looked just as well cared for.



He and Shane both transferred their stares to Claire. She felt sweaty, disheveled, and panicked. "What's happened?"



"Officer Dick dropped by to remind me I'd missed some appointments," Shane said. He had a flat, dark look in his eyes, the kind he got when he was committed to a fight. "I was just telling him I'd get around to it."



"You're months behind in donations," Richard said. "You're lucky it's me standing here, not somebody a lot less sympathetic. Look, I know you don't like this, and you don't have to. What you do have to do is get your ass up and down to the Donation Center."



Shane didn't move. "You going to make me, Dick?" "I don't understand," Claire said. "What are you talking about?"



"Shane's not paying his taxes."



"Taxes - " It came together suddenly. The blood she'd just tossed into the cells of ravenous, maddened vampires. Oh. "Blood donations."



Shane held up his wrist. His hospital tag, marked with a red cross, was still on. "Nobody gets to touch me for another two weeks. Sorry."



Richard didn't move. He didn't even blink. "No, I'm sorry, but that doesn't hold up. Your hospital exemption protects you from attack. It doesn't excuse you from civic duty."



"Civic duty," Shane mocked. "Right. Whatever, man. Tell you what, you delivered your message. Go bust some crime or something. Maybe arrest your sister - she probably deserves it today, if it's a day that ends in y."



"Shane," Claire said, with just a little pleading in her voice. "Where's Eve?"



"At the hospital," Shane said. "I left her there with Michael. It's pretty rough on her, but she's coping. I came back to make sure you were okay."



"I am," she said. Not that either of them was listening to her anymore. Richard and Shane had locked stares again, and it was a guy thing. A contest of wills.



"So you're refusing to accompany me to the Donation Center," Richard said. "Is that right?"



" 'Bout the size of it, Dick."



Richard reached behind his back, unhooked the shiny silver handcuffs from the snap on his belt, and held them at his side. Shane still didn't move.



"Up," Richard said. "Come on, man, you know how this is going to go. Either you end up in the jailhouse or you spend five minutes with a needle in your arm."



"I'm not letting any vamp eat me, not even by remote control."



"Not even Michael?" Richard asked. "Because when supplies run low, the younger the vampire, the lower he is in the priority list. Michael's the last one in Morganville to get blood. So you're doing nothing but hurting your own, man."



Shane's fists clenched, trembled, relaxed. He glanced at Claire, and she saw the mixture of rage and shame in his eyes. He hated this, she knew. Hated the vampires, and wanted to hate Michael but couldn't.



"Please," she whispered. "Shane, just do it. I'll go, too."



"You don't have to," Richard said. "College students are exempt."



"But I can volunteer, right?"



He shrugged. "No idea."



Claire turned to Shane. "Then we'll both go."



"The hell we will." Shane folded his arms. "Go on, handcuff me. I'll bet you're dying to use that shiny new Taser."



Claire dropped her backpack, crossed to him, and got in his face. "Stop," she hissed. "We don't have time for this, and I don't need you in jail right now, okay?"



He stared right into her eyes, for so long that she was afraid he was going to tell her to mind her own business - but then he sighed and nodded. She stepped away as he stood and held out his wrists to Richard Morrell.



"Guess you've got me, Officer," he said. "Be gentle."



"Shut up, Shane. Don't make this harder than it is."



Claire trailed along behind, uncertain what she ought to be doing; Richard didn't seem interested in her at all. He used the radio clipped to his shoulder to make some kind of police call on the way down the hall, in code. She wasn't sure she liked that. Morganville wasn't big enough to need codes, unless it was something really nasty.



As she stopped to lock the front door behind them, a big, shiny black RV rounded the corner - so sleek it looked almost predatory. It had a red cross painted on the nose, and on the side, below its blind, dark-tinted windows, red letters spelled out MORGANVILLE BLOODMOBILE. In cursive script below that, it said, No appointment necessary.



Shane stopped moving. "No," he said. "I'm not doing that."



Richard used leverage to get him going again at a stumble down the steps. "It's this or the Donation Center. Those are your choices, you know that. I was trying to make it easier."



Claire swallowed hard and hurried down the steps. She got in front of Shane, blocking his path, and met his eyes. He was furious, and scared, and something else, something she couldn't really understand.



"What's wrong?"



"People get in that damn thing and don't come out," he said flatly. "I'm not doing it. They strap you down, Claire. They strap you down and nobody can see inside."



She felt a little ill herself at the mental image. Richard Morrell's face was carefully blank. "Sir?"



He didn't much care for her asking him; she could tell. "I can't give you an opinion, but one way or another, he has to do this."



"What if you drive us both to the Donation Center instead?"



Richard thought about it for a few seconds, then nodded. He unhooked the radio from his shoulder again, muttered some quiet words, and the engine on the Bloodmobile started up with a smooth hum.



It glided away like a shark, looking for prey. All of them watched it go.



"Crap, I hate that thing," Shane said. His voice trembled a little.



"Me, too," said Richard, to Claire's surprise. "Now get in the car."