Authors: John James Gregory
Khu stopped Elizabeth’s slide show and Elizabeth was instructed to find more pictures on the Internet of that area. Khu finally turned to Chelsea after again stopping Elizabeth. They all looked at the screen.
“There on that mountain is a passage.”
Elizabeth looked at the wording below the frame.
“It is Black Mountain. It is the highest point in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is near the Kentucky/Virginia border.”
Chelsea smiled.
“That’s close enough for us. That would be a much better point from which we could travel back to his village.”
Khu and Cinnet had a short discussion.
“His people call that the ‘Red Elderberry’ passage. There was once a great fire there over a hundred years ago. They say they believe their passage is open but they didn’t suggest it because of the large number of black bears that live in the hardwood forest located there. There is a large frequent presence of people in that area and they tend to avoid using that tunnel exit.”
Cinnet finally agreed to show them the way and mark it but he could not leave that tunnel to scare away any bears that might be in the area because it would jeopardize his safety. There would be a risk of not only being seen but of capture due to the large amount of travelers to that area. Chelsea convinced Cinnet that they would be fine without his help. He agreed to show and mark the way for Iolana and Chelsea to travel to that point.
The decisions were made. Hadiya and Shawn would take the semi back to Canberra. There it would be unloaded onto the jet and the vehicle lease would end with the return of the modified truck to the original company that had supplied the vehicle. The pair would wait for Derrick to return from his Dodo sale and travel back to the camp. Once there, Shawn and Hadiya would load up his Lori and leave to spend some time with Shawn’s mother at her pub. For the present time, Shawn and Hadiya would stay vampires. Derrick and Nathan would then wait for the others to return and start to harvest the spores and seeds. Nathan placed the order for the wheat and corn seeds as requested by Mycon and his people. Nathan would stay in Australia until their agreement with Mycon’s people was complete.
Tom and Iolana would also travel to the capital and hire a flight crew to return the ladies’ black jet to Louisville. The werewolf team members were finally agreed upon. Doctor Elizabeth Hart would return to her job back at the morgue even though she would have much preferred to be part of the hunting party. The team to hunt down the werewolf creatures would be Iolana, Chelsea, Tom and Crosley. The two ladies on the team would stay vampires for now to give them the power of shape shifting. Numerous stories of wolf and pack hunting used birds such as golden eagles and falcons.
With the addition of Shawn as a vampire, the blood supply was getting low. The remaining units would go with Hadiya and Shawn. Once in Shawn’s village, Hadiya and Shawn would have to make arrangements for future sources. Once back in Kentucky, Elizabeth would try to provide for Chelsea and Iolana’s blood requirement. Chelsea and Crosley would stay at the Meeratt village until Cinnet returned from marking the passages needed to reach Black Mountain and Tom and Iolana returned from the capital. Nathan would use his spare time to research the various weapons the team would need to terminate the werewolf threat. All hoped that the team would get there in time to prevent further deaths.
***
Two days later a bright flashlight shined in Chelsea’s eyes. The light faded away and she awoke to see Iolana standing over her. She looked over to see Tom and Crosley sleeping and Jerrick off to the side with a chained croc fighting its bindings.
“How is it going?”
“Fine so far...”
“What is Jerrick doing?”
“He is seeing after your breakfast.”
Chelsea got up and walked over to the croc. The creature calmed down as Chelsea’s fangs came out.
“Hadiya and Shawn now have a rather large bank account set up in their names as well as you and Crosley. Shawn’s mother quickly got over the shock of her son’s transformation once she realized that without it, he would have died. She is seeing Hadiya as his savior and appears to be accepting her as her son’s choice for a mate.”
Chelsea momentarily stopped her feeding to ask another question.
“And Elizabeth?”
“Her plane will be touching down later today and once back, will begin to search hospitals in the area to see if anyone was treated for an animal bite. The father and son veterinarians are also helping her with the investigation while she is in the air. Our jet is on its way to Kentucky and once there, all our possessions will be unloaded and taken to the mansion of Tom’s deceased father.”
“When do we leave for Kentucky?”
“Tom and Crosley will fly out later today and we will leave with Cinnet today as well.”
“I have packed us bags to carry under our shirts with a spare change of clothes just in case.”
Chelsea had her fill from the animal and stood up.
“I was taken to the ‘blue room’. I only wish we could be transformed now.”
Chelsea hugged Iolana.
“We will be back soon, my friend, soon…”
Khu and Cinnet entered the room with no ceiling.
“Are you ready for your journey to Kentucky?”
The girls looked at Khu. They both went over and hugged him.
“Thank you for all your help. I cannot imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t agreed to help us.”
“It has been a pleasure.”
“Tell me, why did you change your mind about helping us?”
Khu with a warm smile looked at Iolana.
“I have been a vampire for many years. I realized that being one didn’t really change me inside. I also realized that other vampires are first and foremost people living a life they did not want. You are good people just like others that have not been cursed. I will stay here until you return and help you when it is time to seek the treatment of the blue room.”
Iolana and Chelsea splashed into a big pool in total darkness. They each climbed onto a muddy bank and removed the plastic bags with a spare change of clothes and a towel that they carried under their t-shirts. Iolana turned on a flashlight and Chelsea took out the cell phone and tried to find a signal. There was no signal and she would try again once they were out of the cave. The pair dried off and changed. It was cold and around two in the morning. They made their way to the exit and pushed their way through the thick red elderberry bushes and meandered around several hardwood trees. It was a cloudy night sky and no stars could be seen. Iolana shined the flashlight up. Off in the distance, she saw a cable reflecting off of the light. She pointed to it.
“There, that is our way down. We must go higher up the mountain side.”
“If that is the way down, why do we have to go up?”
“That is one of the eleven zip-lines.”
“What is a zip-line?”
“It is a ride from the top to the bottom. It is a tourist attraction. Come, I will show you.”
The girls made a mental note of the area so that at some point they could find their way back. They found a mountain trail and began to follow it farther up the side of the mountain. The path was lined on both sides with hardwood trees and brush. Chelsea thought it was nice that with all the visitors that came here it was free of litter. Iolana stopped suddenly. There was a rustling in the bushes. Finally the cause could be seen. It was a possum. They smiled and continued. They made their way up to a landing and found a wooden platform. Iolana found a wooden cabinet and with one easy tug, removed the lock. Chelsea sat on the steps and finally got a signal.
“It’s two thirty… Hello… We are here.”
“We are leaving our hotel in Lynch. We will be there shortly… Love you.”
Chelsea smiled at the sound of Crosley’s voice.
“Love you too. We will be at the base of the mountain near a ‘zip-line’ station.
She looked up.
“We are at line seven.”
“We’ll find you.”
“You are a guide and a tracker, you better, or I’ll never let you live this down!”
Iolana walked up the stairs past Chelsea carrying to yellow harnesses. Chelsea followed her as she attached them to the cable. Chelsea placed the cell phone into her plastic bag and shoved it back up under her shirt.
“Now all you do is sit in this hoop and relax. They say this run is a lot of fun. I will be right behind you.”
Chelsea sat in the loop and with a gentle push, found herself gliding down the cable. As the treetops below her passed by faster and faster, she figured she was doing at least fifty miles an hour. She thought how beautiful the view must be traveling down this ride in the daytime. She thought about coming back to this place as a vacation spot after her and Iolana have taken the cure. She looked behind her and could not see Iolana as of yet. She could see the end of the ride coming from a dusk to dawn light near the wooden stand. She began to slow and she found herself over the platform. She quickly dismounted and moved her harness to the far end. She could see the cable flexing and knew that in a few seconds, Iolana would be arriving. Iolana pulled in and quickly got off.
“That was fun!”
“Yes and this whole area is so well kept up. I’d love to come here and just vacation here and rent a cabin.”
Chelsea and Iolana sat on the steps.
“Crosley and Tom should be here in a few minutes.”
“I hope so otherwise we will have to go back up to the cave and spend the day back there on our day rolls.”
A rental car pulled into the parking area and both girls hid until they were sure it was their ride. They were driven back to the hotel to spend the day until sundown the following evening.
***
Tom woke Iolana with a kiss and Crosley did the same to Chelsea.
“What time is it?”
“Almost eight o’clock. It is time to go.”
The girls rolled up their day roll and took showers. By the time they left the room, Crosley and Tom were in the car out front waiting for them.
“How long before we get there?”
“Once we get on sixty-five, I think we can be at my father’s mansion by midnight.”
“Any news from Elizabeth?”
“Three people were treated for animal bites in an area between Bristow and The Hoosier National Forest on the other side of Corydon. Only one was followed up by a visit to that person’s regular physician. That leaves Elizabeth wondering why the other two MEC center patients didn’t follow up with their own physician a few days later, even if for no other reason, than to check for infection or new bandages.”
“So we have two possibles?”
“Maybe… you have to understand that people in this area are not very wealthy and many don’t have medical insurance. For one of those two to actually schedule a doctor’s appointment would mean that person was sure he really needed it. Actually, we are more interested in what Carl had to say while my sister and I were gone.”