Page 41 of Missing Moon

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m not really in there, anyway. I’m being controlled by another. If you kill my flesh now, I can at least move on to the Creator. Better than watching my old self potentially harm innocent people. What you just destroyed wasn’t me. I was stuck inside, yes, but something else took over my body. Thank you for destroying that abomination.”

I stare at him, confused.

“Seems you’ve had an interesting life, Sammie.” Mack chuckles. “I don’t understand this crap, but I can tell that you’re something… else.”

“Yeah.” I sniffle. “It’s not fair. You were such a nice guy. You didn’t deserve this.”

“Bad things happen and they don’t care who they happen to.” The blurry humanoid outline of light drifts closer to me. “I don’t have much time. The cosmic vacuum is pulling on me pretty hard... back to the Creator, I believe.”

“Do you want me to talk to Gwen?”

“Yes, but that’s not why I’m lingering here.” The amorphous shape extends a projection toward me in the rough shape of an arm, like he’s resting his hand on my shoulder. His touch is icy. “The creatures you’re hunting were made by the one who attacked your mother.”

I blink. “Wait. He’s still here?”

“Yes. When he failed to do what he was sent to do, he went rogue, so to speak.”

“Who was he following?” I ask for the sake of clarity.

“Elizabeth,” says Mack. “It was she who he stopped following.”

Okay, this is a bit too much. “How the hell do you know about her, Mack?”

The ghostly form shrugs. “It’s a ghost thing. Once you die, you learn all sorts of crap.” He chuckles.

“That’s the great cosmic irony,” I say. “You learn all the secrets of the universe at last, only to forget them as soon as you reincarnate.”

Mack’s ghostly laughter makes the hair on my arms stand up. “No reincarnation for me, lass. You know that. I might not be your typical vampire, but Iwasa vampire, of sorts.”

I decide to change the subject. “So, you’re saying this guy…”

“Elizabeth sent him after your mother decades ago. He tried to turn her into a vampire and somehow failed.”

“We’re not talking about the vampire I killed lat night, are we?”

“No, that was one of his creations. The main guy is still out there.”

“Where’s my mom’s soul, Mack?”

“I’m not sure about that, but I think he knows. His name is Hans Bauer. He’s like the main vampire out here.” Mack’s form dims, as if he’s starting to fade away. “He’s not like his creations, though he’s slowly becoming more like them.”

I gesture at the dust on the ground. “What’s this? Vampires aren’t supposed to explode when they die.”

“What can I say? His creations are special. He has an amulet of some sort. Calls it the ‘Eye of Anubis’. He doesn’t know the power it holds. Thinks it’s just a cool fashion accessory.”

“Umm…”

The ghost drifts to the side, dimming more. “The amulet has power. It’s important. You must get it away from him.”

“Okay.”

“And please…” Mack reaches out to me. “Tell Gwen what really happened to me. Make sure she’s okay.”

I look him in the eye—or at least into the blurry smear of light that approximates the shape of a human head. “I will.”

And with that, the faint apparition disappears entirely.

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