Last Vampire 6(17)

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask, and there is suddenly fear in my voice. But I know what she will answer. For I knew, personally, the greatest evil that ever walked the Earth. Still, Alanda's words chill me to the bone.



"Landulf cannot be overcome by force," she says.



My lower lip trembles. "Landulf is dead. He died a long time ago."



"Perhaps. Perhaps not. But certainly his work lives on. You met a sample of it tonight in the desert. There are more of them emerging at this time, and they possess a sample of your blood." She steps toward me, looks at me. "Do you know what that means?"



I snort. "Yeah. It means they're tough sons of-bitches."



Alanda is serious. "Yes. They are tough. And it was never intended that the negative side of harvest should possess such a powerful army of warriors. In the coming years they will overwhelm your people, turn virtually everyone toward fear. This will be the downfall for all who aspire to the light. This fear will cause the negative harvest to be larger than it would have been. In other words, yourworld is out of balance."



"And I caused this imbalance?"



Alanda sighs. "This must be difficult for you to hear."



"The truth is always better than illusions." I pause. "Is it true?"



"Yes. You are the ultimate source of this cancer, and it must be rectified."



"Are you so sure?" I ask, trying to deny what I just heard. It's too much for me, to be told that I am the scourge of mankind. I feel as if I must run away. Only my irrational love for her makes me stay.



Alanda is gentle. Her next word is not. "Yes."



"But how can you be sure?" I demand.



"Because my old and dear friend, I am from your future."



I take a moment to absorb her statement. "What is it like?"



Now she stutters. "In ruins."



I am shocked. "This world?"



The life leaves her voice. "This entire sector of the galaxy. When so much of Earth fails, much else fails later." Alanda steps close to me, puts her hands on my shoulders, her eyes in my soul. "We have come back for you, Sita, to ask you to help us. To ask you to go back to the days ofL andulf. To relive those days, and keep him from doing to you what he desired."



The prospect fills me with horror. "But I can't remember what he did to me!"



"You will, I promise, when you travel back to that time."



"No." I shake my head, feeling my guts turn to ice. "That is one thing I cannot do. Ask anything of me but that."



Alanda strokes the side of my face. "You are afraid."



Again I brush her off and turn aside. "Yes," I say in a shaky voice. "And I don't understand why. I can't understand why the simple thought of seeing him again overwhelms me."



"It's because of what you can't remember."



I whirl around. "Then tell me what happened?"



"I cannot. You must face the memory when you are once more in his castle. It is the only way. It is why he was able to block your memory in the first place. At that time you refused to face what happened."



"Did he torture me? Did he mutilate me?"



She nods reluctantly. "In his own way. But there is more than that to the puzzle—you will see."



I am sick at the prospect. "Is your spaceship a time machine as well?"



Alanda glances up. "Not exactly."



"But how can I go back to those days? How can I meet myself?"



She stares at me. "Physically you will not journey in time. Only your mind will go back."



"I don't understand?"



"As our ships approach light speed, we are able to jump into a realm that exists outside time and space. In that realm we can cross many light-years in a moment. The enemy also has this technology, and that is how they were able to surround you in the desert tonight. In that realm, the laws of physics as you understand them do not apply. For a few seconds you will cease to exist in a particular time and place. Therefore, you will have the freedom to be where you wish to be. If you focus all your will on that ninth century vampire, you will become her. Do you see?"



"No. Will both our minds be in the same body?"



"No. There is only one of you. You will become her, and she will become you. There is no question of two."



I am still confused, but dread continues to domi­nate my mind. "I can't see him again," I plead. "You don't know what he was like."



Alanda is sad. "But I know his kind well. He is not from the dimension beyond this one, but from the one even beyond that. He is negative fifth density—not merely a sorcerer, but a master of sorcerers. Above his head the vipers hiss, and before his vision all wills turn to stone. Those you met tonight are only his minions. But he is not greater than you, Sita. I know you, old friend, know of your extraordinary origin. You cannot directly resist him when you confront him, for in doing so you will become him. That is his special power, the spell he cloaked you in before. Yet you can defeat him." Quoting Suzama, she adds,"' Faith is stronger than stone.'"