"You broke it!" Caitlyn's indignation quickly turned to horror as he pulled off pieces of clay.
Inside the clay figure was a human skeleton.
"Oh my God." She spun around, looking at all the clay figures. Two hundred dead people?
Carlos continued to pull chunks of clay off the skeleton. "It's hard to tell what the cause of death was, but if this is a vampire cave, then all these people were probably murdered."
She gulped. "The tigers said people go in and never come out."
"I doubt all these people wandered into the cave. I think they were already dead and encased in clay when they were brought here."
She nodded. "And the entrance was booby-trapped to keep anyone from finding them."
Carlos straightened and looked around the large chamber. "There's something very ritualistic about the way the bodies are arranged so neatly into rows."
"Like an army." She shuddered. "A dead army." She spotted another opening in the far wall. "Look."
Carlos took her hand, and they walked past row after row of dead people encased in clay. They ascended some stone steps, then entered another room. It was small, dark, and cold.
Caitlyn shivered as she scanned the room with her flashlight. Three stone slabs were raised like altars, and on top of each one lay a clay figure.
Carlos approached the first one. The clay had been shattered, as if someone had struck the figure's chest in a fit of rage. A skeleton's rib cage lay broken inside.
"Someone was angry," she murmured.
Carlos pulled off some clay shards. "Why would a dead corpse make a vampire angry?"
She leaned closer, aiming her flashlight. "There's material in there." She gasped. It was green, camouflaged material like they wore in the army. "He's a soldier."
Carlos broke off more clay around the figure's neck. He pulled out dog tags and held them under his flashlight. "United States Marine Corps."
She gulped. "There were some soldiers from the Vietnam War who were never found, but this is a ways from Vietnam."
"Not very far if a vampire teleports you here." Carlos strode to the second altar. "This one is destroyed, too."
"I don't understand." She followed him. "Once the vampire has fed off these people till they die, then what use are they to him? Why go to so much trouble with the dead bodies?"
"Maybe he was trying to preserve them."
"Preserve them for what? Some kind of reawakening?" Caitlyn eyed the shattered clay. "He certainly got angry when the preservation didn't work."
Carlos nodded. "I have a feeling all these bodies were part of an experiment. One that failed."
She walked to the third altar. "The clay on this one is intact."
"Not for long." He tapped his flashlight on the clay till it cracked, then peeled back a piece.
She gasped. There was a body inside. A full flesh and blood body. "Is he alive?"
"I don't see how he can be." Carlos ripped off larger chunks of clay.
She helped him, and soon they had the man's entire body free. He was dressed in army fatigues from the tip of his hat to the soles of his black army boots. He was a tall man with a strong, athletic build.
"He's a major." Carlos unbuttoned his shirt to locate his dog tags. "Russell Ryan Hankelburg."
She touched his shoulder. It was still firm. "How can he be dead for so many years, but not decay?"
Carlos studied the soldier. "I've seen this before. When a vampire transforms another into a vampire, he drains all the blood from his victim and puts him into a coma."
"This is a coma?"
Carlos nodded. "But the vampire usually turns the victim shortly afterward. This guy's been waiting since the Vietnam War."
Goose bumps prickled Caitlyn's arms. "Forty years? Why would a vampire put a man into a coma, then abandon him?"
"I don't know," Carlos said. "We need to call Angus. We'll have to hike back to the village so we can use our cell phones."
She nodded. A soldier in limbo for forty years. If he woke up, the world he knew would be completely changed. "Do you think we can save him?"
"The only way to save him is to turn him into a vampire."
Chapter Twenty-three
Carlos halted when he heard the snap of a twig in the distance. "We're not alone."
Caitlyn pivoted, looking about. "I don't see anything. Are the tigers back?"
"I believe so. We're in their territory now."
They'd started back to the Akha village shortly after sunrise. Carlos had left an electronic tracking device just inside the cave. He hoped the Vamps would be able to teleport straight to it. It would save a lot of time, and he didn't relish the thought of hiking across the jungle with them in the dark.
He and Caitlyn had crossed the stream into tiger territory ten minutes ago, and he'd been expecting the cats to show up. They were in a small clearing now on the hillside, about ten yards wide. The morning sun shone down on them, but in the distance, under the thick trees and underbrush, it looked dark. An easy place for a tiger to hide.
"They seemed to be truly concerned about us." She unscrewed a bottle of water and took a sip. "I thought they might be shifters."
"I wondered the same thing." He borrowed her bottle and drank. "Usually I can tell a shifter by their scent, but the tigers always stayed downwind."
A bush in the distance shook. He passed the water back and rested a hand on his automatic.
"I don't think they mean us any harm," she whispered.
The jungle parted and a large golden-striped tiger emerged. He made a huffing sound and swished his tail.
"Well, excuse me," Caitlyn muttered. "He says we smell like death, and we're stinking up their territory."
"Great." Carlos glanced over his shoulder as a second large tiger emerged from the jungle behind them. "At least we don't smell good enough to eat."
Caitlyn paused, her head tilted. "They understand a little English. They say they're not man-eaters, and you would do well to stop insulting them."
"Never make a tiger angry," Carlos agreed as he turned his head back and forth to keep an eye on both cats.
"The one in front of us is Raghu, which means swift," Caitlyn explained.
Carlos watched him with narrowed eyes. "I'm sure he is swift."
"Rajiv is behind us. His name means striped. They would like for you to take your hand off the gun."
Carlos dropped his hand. "I would like not to be surrounded and outnumbered."
"It's two against two," she murmured.
"You're not a cat, Catalina."
She snorted. "Yeah, but I'm the one who's able to communicate with them. Raghu wants us to follow him."
"Not happening."
Behind them, Rajiv growled.
She glanced back. "I believe they can be very persuasive."
"Ask them why," Carlos whispered. "What do they want from us?"
She hesitated, then answered. "They believe you're a shifter. They want to talk to you."
"Then they're shifters, too?"
Raghu made another huffing noise, then turned to walk into the jungle. Rajiv advanced on them from the rear.
"I guess we'll find out later," Caitlyn muttered.
Carlos took her by the elbow and followed Raghu. Once they broke through a barrier of bushes, there was a narrow path. It sloped gently downhill for about fifteen minutes.
Carlos walked behind Caitlyn so his back would be to Rajiv. He kept his ears tuned to Rajiv behind them and his eyes glued to Raghu. If the two tigers decided to attack, he'd be better off using his automatic than shifting. "I think we're headed back to the valley where the stream is."
After another five minutes they emerged into a clearing in the valley.
Caitlyn gasped. "It's beautiful."
It was impressive, Carlos thought. A green field stretched before them, dotted with wildflowers. On the other side of the valley a stream cascaded over a cliff, making a small waterfall that fell into a clear blue pond. Another stream broke off from the pond and meandered down the valley to the point where they had crossed it earlier.
The tigers led them toward the pond.
Caitlyn smiled at them. "It's beautiful. Thank you for showing it to us." Her smile faded and she stiffened.
"What?" Carlos asked, his nerves tensing.