The fact that these were actual people Daunator and his minions had stolen off of the street over the years also explained the clothing. Who knew when Daunator had begun to make these minions? Some of them could’ve been in shafts like the one Christian was currently in for hundreds of years. While she was fairly certain Christian couldn’t be turned into anything else, it was still terrifying to think that this horrible fate could befall anyone she knew.
Cassidy tried to contact him, but when she jumped into his head, he was still singing the same horrible song as before. “Christian, listen, I need to tell you something. Will you shut up for a moment and listen?” He continued to sing. “It’s really important! It’s about the others, the ones you heard screaming!” She had a feeling he could hear her, but he didn’t stop his antics. “They’re people—but he’s turning them into monsters! Will you please listen to me?”
Christian continued to sing, and Cassidy decided she’d have to try again the next day because he was in no mood to listen. Besides, even if he did, what difference would it make? He couldn’t do anything to help Dala or any of the others.
Cassidy checked the time and saw that it was well past midnight. Her sister was probably asleep by now, and while Aaron didn’t normally sleep, she didn’t want to have the conversation with him alone because he’d probably demand that she tell him where Christian was. Frustrated, she wiped her hand down her face, wishing there was someone she could talk to about all of this, but Brandon was out of the question. Heather wouldn’t understand, and if she contacted Elliott, he’d probably try to parent her.
Feeling almost as alone as Dala did, Cassidy picked up her phone and opened Facebook. She answered a few messages and replied to a couple of comments, but her newsfeed didn’t take away her concerns about the people under the ground. On a whim, she typed in “Dala Toth.” Four people with that name came up, but Cassidy recognized the girl immediately. She clicked on the picture of a smiling brunette, slight with hair a little shorter and a little lighter than Cassidy’s own. She was standing sideways, leaning toward the mirror, her phone, an older model iPhone, held out to the side.
Her timeline wasn’t private, so Cassidy started to scroll. The first post was a woman named Zorta Toth, and Cassidy assumed it was her mother. “Dala, please come home. We miss you so much. Call me.” That had been the day before yesterday. Other posts were the same sort of silliness Cassidy and her friends posted. Memes, video clips, selfies, group pictures. Dala had gone to a zoo not long ago, and it looked like she had had a good time. She liked the same sort of heavy metal music Cassidy found herself listening to a lot these days. She didn’t have a boyfriend, but it looked like she had a crush on one of her friends, a guy a little older than her named Boris. Cassidy could tell by the way she was looking at him in all of the pictures they took together.
This girl was a real person. A few days ago, she’d been carefree, her only worries in the world staying out late and getting out from under her parents. Cassidy could understand that. She’d felt the same way not long ago. Now, Dala was in a hole in the ground turning into something awful, and there was nothing in the world Cassidy or anyone else could do to help her. For all of the technology and research Jamie had come up with, he’d yet to invent a vaccine to turn a Vampire back into a person.
Not that Dala was even a Vampire. She had no idea what it was Daunator was doing to these people. She could only assume they weren’t people anymore. She knew Eliza had been asked to get a sample or a specimen, but Eliza had laughed when she was talking to Cassidy about it because it seemed so ridiculous to think that was even possible. She’d said, “What am I going to do? Bring a cage along with me? Cut off one of their hands and put it in my pocket?”
Eliza was right. If they wanted to know what these things were, they’d need to get over there, even if the other Guardian did manage to get what Jamie needed to do his experiments. And waiting for Christian to get back from a vacation that didn’t exist was a waste of time. Cassidy had no idea how to defeat Daunator. She didn’t know if the secret weapons Christian had would help or not, but she’d be willing to take some with her. Something told her, it was going to take a different kind of strength and power to kill this monster, something he didn’t know how to defeat, but she had no idea what it might be or how to tap into it.
“You cannot defeat me.”
The voice in her head made her jump. He was in her mind. “Get out!”
A low rumbling cackle filled her head and caused gooseflesh to rise up all over her arms. “You cannot force me out. You cannot sneak up on me. I will know when you are near. But if you think you have any sort of weapon that could possibly end me, think again. Nothing can, child. Nothing!”
The laughter started up again. Cassidy covered her ears with her hands and concentrated with everything she had to force Daunator out of her mind, but nothing seemed to make a dent in his powers. The cackling continued, growing louder until it seemed to reverberate inside of her brain. Not knowing what else to do, and afraid she might begin to lose her mind, Cassidy got up off of her couch and began to run.
