"S. P. Somtow - Vampire Junction" - читать интересную книгу автора (Somtow S. P)

 AUTUMN:
Bluebeard's Castle.........................
WINTER:
I Am the Darkness........................




Vampire Junction


SPRING
The Red King's Dream


I'll hop on the train in Kansas
You change at Santa Fe.
We'll cross tracks at the Vampire junction
that sucks our souls away.
—Timmy Valentine




1
*fire: A.D. 79*
. . . brimstone. . . a child's footsteps patter on a splintering mosaic, bittertoast smell of
charring feet . . . fleeing, mountain thunder, then. . .
. . . blood, spatter spatter spatter bursting spatter spatter spatter boiling on the hot
stones spatter spatter spatter
. . . marble columns snapping like bones over the screaming and. . .
. . . blood spatter spatter spatter
. . . bloodgutted eyes through the sulphur-haze and the screaming and. . .
. . . through the ash-hail, fangs glitter blood spatter glitter spatter glitter spatter glitter


*dissolve: the present*
I'm scared.
Why?
Don't you feel anything? I'm cold. Hold me.
All right.
No don't. Your hands are so cold. It's nothing, I guess. Brrr. Ever since I got into the
car though. Maybe I'm not as blasé about the very rich as I'd like to be, huh? You are very
rich, aren't you? I mean, like you're only a kid, but you must be one of the richest people on
earth, what with that new album and everything. Vampire Junction. Yeah. Am I talking
too much? I'm nervous. Where was I? Yeah, money. They want to know about money.
Tell me all about your money.
FDR Drive, Rudy.
I've interviewed lots of people before, you know. You name 'em. But you, like you're
so mysterious. Is this really the first time you're going to be on TV? Of course it must be.