Through the Cloaca Maxima

It wasn't easy to sneak out of the Domus Aurea unnoticed! Fortunately, the ever vigilant Hindrik hadn't been in the common room when they decided on the competition, but Alisa had no doubt that he could find out about it all too quickly. There had simply been too many witnesses who now had nothing better to do than place bets on the victory of one group or the other. The first fights had already broken out. No one was surprised that Fernand and Joanne were involved. Pyras was holding a knocked-out tooth in his hand and wiping the blood from a deep scratch on his cheek with a cloth when Alisa, Ivy, and Luciano left the common room and hurried to the familiar door. The bell would strike three o'clock any moment now. There was no trace of their opponents.

"We need to be careful," Luciano whispered. "I bet they've already laid in wait to somehow incapacitate us."

Ivy shook her head emphatically. "No, they wouldn't do that. That would go against the rules."

Luciano snorted. "And you think they care about that? You're really naive!"

Alisa had to silently agree with him. She didn't trust these Dracas at all! Karl Philipp was cruel and would use any means that came to mind. And Franz Leopold wasn't any better!

Ivy still shook her head. "No, I don't believe that. Besides, Seymour would smell them from afar and warn us in time."

"That reassures me more," murmured Alisa, scratching the white wolf between the ears. He shook her hand off, although he usually enjoyed the affection.

"What's wrong?" The others also looked alarmed at the wolf, who took two quick steps forward and then stood rooted to the spot, one of his front paws still in the air.

"He smelled something," Ivy whispered.

"I told you," Luciano replied. They couldn't spot anything unusual, yet none of the three doubted that Seymour had noticed something that could pose a danger to them.

"Let's choose a different path, not the usual one past the Colosseum," Alisa suggested. The others nodded. They ducked behind bushes and stone blocks when Ivy suddenly stopped and looked back at the Colosseum.

"Do you see that?" Seymour was immediately at her side, whining. Ivy took a step back. "It's that nun again! What does she have to do here again?"

The others stood beside her and peered out from behind the bush. "And who is that, offering her his arm?" Alisa asked. "A vampire, without a doubt. A member of your family, Luciano. Can you recognize him? I would say, by the way he moves, it's one of the venerable ones."

Luciano nodded hesitantly. "Yes, for sure, it could be Conte Claudio's great-uncle Mario, a younger brother of the venerable Giuseppe. He had a big falling out with the Conte twice already because he simply can't or won't control himself and has sucked a few young women dry to the last drop. His shadow threw the bodies into the Tiber, but as it goes, they were soon washed ashore again, and there was a police investigation. The newspapers wrote about it."

"It looks like he wants to have a lavish meal with this young nun tonight," Ivy said.

"That he's going out alone is surprising," Alisa wondered. "Where is his shadow?"

For a moment, Alisa felt the urge to free the woman from the clutches of the old vampire and warn her never to come near the ruins after dark again. What a foolish thought! No matter what the nun had been doing here repeatedly, tonight would probably be her last visit.

Luciano chewed on his lip. "That is indeed unusual. The venerable ones never go out alone - and especially, they don't walk! Even the strong members of the family have themselves carried in sedan chairs. I can't see any attendants. Strange!"

"It's not so inexplicable if the Conte has forbidden him from killing the prey," Alisa considered. "He's taking her away so no one catches him in his forbidden activities."

Ivy nodded. "Yes, that's probably it. Nevertheless, I can't quite grasp it. It almost seemed like she was waiting for him!"

"Strange, very strange," murmured Alisa. At that moment, the bell on the tower of Santa Francesca Romana struck three o'clock.

"Who is that down there?" Luciano asked, pointing to the ruins of the fountain house, where three figures were detaching themselves.

"That's our opponents," Ivy said.

"So, let's get going before they have time to set up a trap to block our path," urged Alisa. The three hurried away. They didn't take the main path over the Forum, which despite the numerous bushes and stone blocks, offered too little cover. Luciano led them past the north side of some temple ruins that lined the Roman Forum. Then they darted across the ruins of some basilica toward the Curia, where the Roman Senate used to meet and then, a few hundred years later - as fate would have it - was converted into a Christian church.

"Someone is over there," Luciano gasped, pulling the girls into cover behind the plain, rectangular building. "A few attendants with a sedan chair. They must not spot us. Otherwise, we're done for. They would mercilessly drag us back as soon as we tried to pass the Capitoline Hill."

"I also thought I saw two men down there below the Palatine. They almost seemed like a patrol," Ivy said, pointing to the lushly overgrown cliff rising above the ruined temples.

Luciano nodded and let out a groan. "Yes, I know. There have always been a few shadows whose job it was to keep an eye on us when we escaped from the Domus. And now, after some clan members have disappeared and are probably destroyed, the Conte has probably increased the guards. Understandable! I don't even want to imagine what your families would do to him if something happened to one of you here in Rome."

"Do you think they'll catch us if we stray too far from the Domus Aurea?" Luciano shrugged. "I assume so. We have to be very careful and take advantage of any cover available to us until we've crossed the Capitoline Hill."

Alisa peeked around the corner of the Curia and scanned the area. "No one in sight."

"But they're out there somewhere," Luciano said confidently, then grinned. "And I hope they catch the Dracas! Now follow me quietly."

Instead of leading them through the triumphal arch and up the stairs to the Capitol, he crawled between thorny bushes and tall grass around the Curia and then up a short, steep slope. Finally, Luciano awkwardly leaped over a wall and immediately flattened himself on the ground. When he didn't spot anyone, he waved for the others to cross the church square. They were almost at the opposite side when they spotted a figure at the top of the Capitol descending the stairs toward them.

"Quick! In there!" Luciano gasped, pulling Ivy and Alisa into the vestibule of the Church of San Giuseppe. They crouched in the shelter of a staircase leading down in front of the church portal, watching the vampire disappear in the direction of the triumphal arch.

Just as Luciano was about to say the coast was clear, three figures swung over the wall into the churchyard. A whisper carried to them.

"I'm sure of it! They ran into this church and haven't come out yet."

The tallest of the three drew a cudgel and slapped it into his palm. "Excellent! We'll give them a proper welcome when they come out again. They won't set eyes on the Castel Sant'Angelo tonight for sure!"

Luciano cursed under his breath, and Alisa muttered to herself. "What do we do now?" Ivy whispered. "Should I go out and talk to them? This can't go on like this!"

"No!" the other two protested simultaneously. Suddenly, Luciano grinned broadly. "Now we'll use a little trickery and leave the Dracas puzzled! Keep going, but quietly!"

He descended the stairs and entered a small room that must lie beneath the church nave. The typical smell of constantly damp tuff stone hit them.

"What is this?" Alisa asked.

"This is part of the Mamertine Prison, the infamous prison. It used to be much larger, but the part important to us is preserved! Come with me." He led them down another staircase into a chapel-like room with unplastered walls.

Alisa could hear the buzzing in her head again, growing stronger with each step. First her fingers tingled, then her hands, and finally her arms and legs. The tingling turned into pain. Ivy's features also showed unusual tension. "Luciano, don't you feel anything?" Alisa groaned.

"Yes!" The Roman nodded with strangely jerky movements. "I'm sorry, but this is the only way out that doesn't bring us near the traitors. Supposedly, the apostles Peter and Paul were imprisoned here."

Alisa gasped and pressed close to Luciano, who quickly passed through the chapel and descended another staircase.

"The upper part was once the guardroom, and here is the cell where they supposedly sat. Old Giuseppe says it was customary among Roman generals to lead the more valuable prisoners from the conquered territories in triumph through the city to this place and then to kill them or let them starve in these cells."

"And what now?" Ivy asked, almost amused. "Prison cells aren't exactly famous for their exits!"

Luciano smirked. "Come here. The secret of this dungeon is that they created a convenient solution to dispose of the bodies." He knelt on the floor and began to open an iron lid, which he only managed with Alisa's help. The stench of foul water hit them. "This is the oldest part of the dungeon and may have been a cistern at one time."

Alisa stuck her head into the opening. "Are we supposed to go down there? There seems to be even less of an exit!"

Ivy leaned over her. "And what about Seymour? It seems too tight for a good jump."

Luciano looked at her in alarm. "I didn't think about that. I'll go first and catch him to prevent him from breaking his legs." Ivy nodded somewhat unhappily. Though Seymour bared his teeth, he seemed to comply.

Luciano squeezed into the hole, hung onto the stone edge for a few moments, and then let himself drop to the ground. Alisa and Ivy helped the wolf through the opening and then let him fall into Luciano's outstretched arms. The weight of the animal knocked him over, so he fell on his back.

Seymour barked briefly and rolled off Luciano. The boy got up with a groan. "Is Seymour okay?" Ivy asked anxiously.

"Yes, completely, and I think I'm okay too. Thanks for asking."

His companions chuckled. "Oh, a vampire isn't that fragile," said Alisa, swinging through the hole. With an elegant jump, she landed next to Luciano. Ivy followed.

"And don't tell me you've made a mistake and we have to lift Seymour back up there, because that seems a lot harder to me!" Luciano grinned. "Don't worry!" He tried to wipe the dirt off his pants, but only smeared the stinking slime and decided to leave it. There were enough shadows that would clean his robe upon their return.

"So let's go," urged Alisa. "Show us your brilliant exit. We don't have forever if we want to win and reach the Castel Sant'Angelo before the others. While I consider Franz Leopold and his gang to be disgusting, I don't think they're clumsy and dumb! They'll soon realize we've escaped from them."

Luciano nodded and approached an iron door. The bolt was rusty and stuck, but with combined effort, they managed to pull it back. The door creaked open. The previously barely perceptible sound of flowing water became stronger. "This underground channel is the Cloaca Maxima."

"Ah, the inconspicuous disposal of corpses," Ivy said with a nod.

"They disappeared into the church!" Anna Christina said again.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Franz Leopold asked.

She gave him a contemptuous look. "How many white wolves do you think are roaming around here tonight? Besides, they were three."

"Well, if they went in there, they'll have to come out again!" 

"Quiet!" Karl Philipp whispered. "Here come two more down the stairs."

They ducked behind a protruding wall and waited until the two vampires had passed them.

"Did you see? There are two more over there," Anna Christina whispered to him.

Franz Leopold cursed. "That's no coincidence. They didn't just return from their hunt; they're guarding the area."

"That bastard must have known!" Anna Christina exclaimed.

"Our chubby Luciano? Most certainly. That'll earn him a few extra blows!" 

"But first, he has to get out of the church," Franz Leopold reminded him.

"I don't know what they're doing in there for so long," Anna Christina grumbled, tapping her well-manicured nails on a marble slab.

"Then let's go in and see," Karl Philipp decided and stormed through the vestibule into the small church. He didn't pay attention to the stairs on the left leading down.

"Where could they have gone?" Anna Christina asked. It was clear to them after a brief look that the others weren't in the church.

"I think they went down here," Franz Leopold said, standing at the steep stairs with his nostrils flared. They slowly descended the steep steps. The power of the ancient church enveloped them, and each step became more difficult. This was even worse than in the catacombs! They found a second staircase, but by now, Franz Leopold's head was pounding so much that he wasn't sure if he still sensed the trail or if it was just an illusion of his clouded senses. Where could they have gone down here? This was a dungeon built to keep its prisoners and forget them.

"I need to get out of here!" Anna Christina groaned.

"Yes, let's go," Karl Philipp agreed. "The devil knows where they've escaped to. What's the point of searching here longer? We're just wasting time."

Reluctantly, Franz Leopold gave in and followed them back to the entrance. "We need to shake off our watchers!" he said urgently, peering over the top step. "If we don't manage that, we'll lose."

"We're stronger and faster than they are," Karl Philipp said, looking pleased with his slim body.

"Nonsense," snorted Franz Leopold. "That won't work. We need to rely on the abilities that set us apart from them." He grinned. "Yes, that could work if we coordinate exactly. We can read the thoughts of others and influence their feelings. Of course, it's difficult over longer distances, but if we pool our powers, it might work. We need to suggest to them that there's no reason to look for us and block our path. Then we should make a quick getaway. I suspect we can't maintain the deception for more than a few moments, but that should be enough."

Karl Philipp slapped his cousin approvingly on the shoulder. "Not bad. You never cease to amaze me. Let's get started!"

Though Anna Christina still looked somewhat skeptical, she reached out her hands to her cousins. They stepped out of the church and sent their calming thoughts and feelings across the rubble field. Then they ran. Franz Leopold soon took the lead. They hurried up the hill, ran across the square with the statue of the rider, and then down the long grand staircase. They only stopped when the Palazzo Venezia provided cover. They stood still and reached out with their consciousness for pursuers, but found nothing.

"Let's go, keep moving," Franz Leopold urged.

"And where to?" Anna Christina wanted to know. "Do you know your way around here? I have no idea where this Castel Sant'Angelo is."

"Everyone here knows where the castle is. We could ask those ladies over there," Karl Philipp suggested, winking in the direction of two scantily clad women who certainly did not belong to the ladies of Roman society.

"That's out of the question," Franz Leopold objected, reaching out precautionarily for his arm. "You've had enough female company for today. We'll find the castle on our own." He pulled out a piece of paper. The sheet was old and slightly yellowed, obviously torn from a book. It showed Rome with the Tiber, which cut through the city like a winding snake, dividing it in two halves. They recognized the Colosseum, the oval of the Circus Maximus, and the Capitoline Hill.

"We're here now," Franz Leopold's finger slid to the blue ribbon and then ran along it for a while. "There's St. Peter's Basilica, and this here, right on the banks of the Tiber, is Castel Sant'Angelo."

Anna Christina leaned forward. "Well, at least there seems to be a bridge there."

Franz Leopold nodded and put the map away. Once he had memorized the layout of the streets, it was no longer difficult for him to find the way.

They avoided the bustling streets where magnificent private carriages rolled by or cabs picked up late-night revelers to take them home. Many had indulged and were walking with unsteady steps. Occasionally, the sound of singing drifted over to the young vampires. Franz Leopold hurried through narrow, dirty alleyways down to the Tiber and then followed the muddy riverbank. They first saw the dome of St. Peter's Basilica rising on the other side. So that's where the Pope could be found. The river seemed to lead directly to the most important church of the Christians, but then it curved sharply eastward.

Franz Leopold stopped for a moment. "There, look. That's our destination." Defiantly, even a little repellently, the fortress rose on the north bank of the river, rocks and bricks tightly fused together. The Castel Sant'Angelo looked more like a huge, round tower than the castles the Viennese vampires knew. At the very top, they could see the bronze angel with its sword.

Luciano entered the dark passage. The two girls and the wolf followed him. It was so dark down here that they could only vaguely discern the outlines and movements of the others. They groped their way along the edge of the dirty flowing water. As good as the vampires were at seeing in cloudy nights outside, their eyes weren't much good in this darkness. Down here, one would have needed to use a bat with its bright calls to discern details.

Luciano's voice sounded muffled and mingled with the rush of water as he led them and told them about the Cloaca Maxima. He walked ahead without hesitation, suggesting that this was not the first time Luciano had ventured down here.

"They say this canal system dates back to the Etruscans, or the Romans learned the art of drainage from the Etruscans. In any case, before the construction of the Cloaca Maxima, the whole valley between the Capitoline Hill and the Palatine was a swamp, regularly flooded by the Tiber. Only then were the Romans able to build the Forum. Even today, winter floods regularly inundate the lower parts of the city, especially the port and the Jewish quarter, but thanks to the drainage, the water flows off better."

Luciano's voice echoed dully from the walls as he led the friends ahead. Soon enough, Alisa felt she could see him better. The air became fresher. They were approaching the exit on the Tiber bank. Fishing boats rotted in the mud. Apart from a few stray dogs and the ubiquitous rats, no living creatures were out and about anymore. Even in the southernmost of the three city harbors a bit downstream, it was quiet. Luciano waved them on. Soon they were forced to leave the bank as the foundations of some houses reached down into the waters of the Tiber. The three young vampires silently darted through the empty alley until a narrow gate blocked their way. To the left, a bridge led to the Tiber Island; to the right, the road ran in a curve along a closed row of houses that looked as forbidding as the walls of a medieval fortress.

"Where to now?" asked Alisa.

Luciano hesitated. "I don't know. This is the Jewish ghetto. However, the Pope lifted the nightly curfew a few years ago. So we should at least find one of the gates on both sides open. The Jewish quarter is a maze of tiny alleys, and there are incredibly many people living there! Or we cross the bridge and traverse the island to reach the Trastevere district. The path is longer, but I think we'll make faster progress along the riverbank - and we don't run the risk of encountering the Dracas on the Ponte Sant'Angelo, in case they've realized by now that we've escaped them." He looked at the girls inquiringly.

Alisa turned towards the bridge. "We're good runners!"

Ivy nodded and walked with Seymour towards the Ponte Fabricio, which led them to the island.

After a brief knock, Latona entered Carmelo's room and closed the door behind her. She wore an evening gown of red silk that flattered her almost slender figure. Her black hair was piled up into an elaborate hairstyle that surely wouldn't survive her plans unscathed. Latona suddenly felt grown-up. She banished all memories of Malcolm and the kiss from her mind and tried to focus only on her task. She was Carmelo's assistant, the great vampire hunter!

"Now, am I to play the decoy again? What do we have tonight? An old one? I just hope it's not one of those toothless old men," Carmelo grimly smiled. "If he were truly toothless, it might be to our advantage, but I don't think he'll make it that easy for us."

Carefully folding his newspaper, he set it beside his armchair. "And to answer your first question, no, you won't be playing the decoy tonight. So, your attire is entirely unsuitable. You need to change."

Latona wavered between disappointment and relief but retorted sharply, "So, you don't want me anymore. Have you found someone better?"

"There's no need to get angry and forget the social etiquette that I've painstakingly imparted to you. Last time was too close, and I don't want either of us to slip up or get caught. You'll help me. So, put on something practical and inconspicuous, in which you can also run if necessary. No killer heels!"

Latona nodded. "And what do we do if we don't have a decoy this time?"

"We do have one."

"Please?" She sounded shriller than she intended.

"The Cardinal has ordered Nicola to lead the vampire to us."

Latona shook her head incredulously. "The little nun? I refuse to believe it. Then he can't be a true man of the church! He's sending that little, naive nun out? I already found it inexcusable to have her collect the letters."

Carmelo scratched his graying temples. "You mean that speaks against him being a man of the church? He commanded her, and she would descend into hell for him without batting an eyelid. Well, that's pretty damn close to the mark, too. I'm inclined to believe he's a true Cardinal because of it!"

"You're cynical," Latona sighed.

"Does that surprise you? Life as a vampire hunter breeds cynicism." He stared darkly at his shoe tips, but suddenly a flicker crossed his lips. "Yes, cynical, but also wealthy. Let's deliver a few more of these stones, then we can retire comfortably for the rest of our lives. Has it not been worth it, then, to rid Rome of its bloodsuckers?"

"Have we, though?" Latona asked back. "Sometimes I think we've only uncovered a fraction of Rome's vampires. We, or rather the Cardinal, if we're being precise."

Carmelo nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, it's quite astonishing. I wonder how he keeps doing it. I've only managed to track down one vampire and lure him into a trap once, and that took me almost two years."

"And he seems to be able to pull them out of his pocket at will and always knows what they intend to do on their last night of existence. Only the bloody work, he delegates to us." She pondered. "I think I should wear black tonight."

"Are you going to mourn our victim?" Mockery gleamed in his dark eyes.

Latona forcefully pushed Malcolm's face out of her mind, which had already sneaked back into her consciousness. "No, in black, you can't see the bloodstains," she replied and swept out of the room.