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Chapter 8

The decision was not to his liking, but for the moment, it was for the best. Mark and his mother talked him into staying with them until he found something better.

Darek and Mark discussed the details of the bookstore. Mark thought it best to delay the trip for a little bit too. "Rushing into this wouldn't be wise," he had advised.

"I'm aware of that," he responded, giving him a questioning look. Mark was the one who usually jumped into situations without looking. Mark noticed it and said, "I just don't want to get stuck somewhere without money," he explained. "We'll have time to get some together now."

"That's what I said," Darek informed. "Once we get to Lancer I don't know where we'll stay," he also admitted. "Before we leave, we need a plan. If I had that other book, I could hopefully find a way of getting them out of my mansion. Why couldn't Garrick have procrastinated a little?" He looked down at the book he was reading. "This book is just about what kind of vampire I am."

"You said that there are different kinds of vampires. They should all have different names too, right? What's yours called?" he asked.

"It is spelled W-R-U-L-O-K. But it is pronounced with a V," he explained. "Wrulok," he said.

Mark repeated it a couple of times just to see how it sounded. "If you say it with a Transylvanian accent it sounds funny," said Mark, giving an impression of Count Dracula.

Darek tried it and it sounded like 'vrolock'. "I've heard that name before. Maybe that is how you say it," he guessed. Mark simply nodded.

For the next few hours Darek read. The English dialect was odd so reading was slow, time consuming, and different. Folded inside he found loose pages written by Gerald. His handwriting was unusual too, but he learned quite a lot though.

Mark spent the time drawing. He was very good with his hands. Several first place ribbons, for art, belonged to him. He was very proud of his ability and not modest at all.

At the same time, they glanced at each other. Sensing, perhaps, their mutual terminations of their projects. This phenomenon had occurred frequently.

"What did you learn inspector?" asked Mark.

"Funny as ever," he said, not smiling. The book looks incomplete and Gerald's notes were far from finished. Did they both have the same author, he wondered? "Couple of things," he continued. "First of all, the mansion is named 'Saith'. It is the oldest property in Lancer. If a tourist happens to visit, it is because of Saith Manor.

Another thing I learned is that Gerald lied to me," his voice sounded hurt. "His real name is Zehrig Saith. It says in his notes that he has used many names. The reason is to use people to get what he wants and then leaves. There is not record of him because the name he used doesn't exist.

That's probably what he did to me," he said, shaking his head. "Damn him! Fucking faggot!" He threw the book to the floor, as he yelled. "All those things he told me made sense though." his voice softened a little as the images replayed in his mind. "My experience told me that he was telling the truth. Maybe I misunderstood the book. Maybe I was an exception." He flustered again, "Maybe I'm schizophrenic!"

Mark moved over to him and put his arm on Darek's shoulders to comfort him. "People have a positive or negative reason for doing things. Their actions sometimes hurt others. Don't dwell on the past. If he had a negative reason, don't worry about it. The result came out positive for you and negative for him," he reasoned.

Darek shook off his arm and stood up saying, "Positive outcome! I'm a goddamn vampire that sucks blood. I can't do anything about that! It's not like I can go to B.A. or something."

"What's B.A.?"

"Bloodsuckers Anonymous," was his reply. He could help but smile.