Epilogue
With eager anticipation, April clasped her hands together, set them on the dining room table and looked at Sonya. The older woman fascinated her. The serenity that could be so calming and soothing blended with the ferociousness that she’d witnessed with the two intruders. A vampire.
Fascinating.
She wanted to know everything about her.
“I know you are very interested in world history, so let’s begin with that,” Sonya said.
“Sounds good to me.” April opened her notebook to a fresh, blank page and waited, pencil in hand.
“I’ll warn you,” Sonya said with a teasing grin. “There will be a quiz at the end of this lesson.”
“I’m ready,” April said, eager to get started. “What’s the first lesson?”
“Well, April.” Sonya pushed her books aside and clasped her hands on the tabletop. “Lesson number one looks like this; don’t ever, and I do mean ever, invite Nazis/communists into your home.”
April laughed. She’d already learned that lesson all too well. “Sounds good to me. And what is lesson number two?”
Sonya sobered up. “You know about the horrible things those two did, don’t you?”
“I have a good sense of what they took part in,” April said. While she’d heard some of the news about the war, her father had sheltered her from much of the horrors happening overseas. “But I’ll admit that I don’t really know much about the details.”
“The overall thing to remember is that they did horrible things to perfectly innocent people.”
April nodded. If nothing else, she’d understood that part of the war.
“And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Igor and Boris planned to continue hurting people, to infiltrate into America a philosophy that will undermine the freedoms Americans have.”
Again, April nodded. “I understand that they wanted to use the gold they said was in a map to fund their mission.”
“Right,” Sonya said. “And I’m sure that no one wants to see that happen, especially anyone in America who value their freedom.”
“I fervently agree.”
“Those two dummies were not working alone. They couldn’t. You saw how bumbling and foolish they were. No. There must be a whole slew of men like them, all waiting to begin with the atrocities. Well... we’re not going to let that happen.”
“I’m all ears,” April said. “How do you propose we stop any of this?”
Sonya pulled a small, leathery map out of her jacket pocket and set it flat on the table.
Frowning, April looked at the map. It didn’t look like any kind of leather she’d ever seen before. “Is that...?” She scrunched up her nose as she suspected the source of the pale leather.
“This is a map and coordinates. It’s supposed to lead to that gold,” Sonya said.
“And it’s written on...?”
“That silly criminal wrote the coordinates on his hand.”
“Ew,” April said with an amused grin. “You peeled that man’s skin off?”
Sonya shrugged. “Sometimes saving the world gets messy.”
“So, what do we do with these coordinates?”
“We’re going to study them very well.”
“And?”
“And, we’re going to find out what we can about what is around these coordinates.”
“And?”
“And, April, from what everything points to, it looks like the Gold can be somewhere here in California.”
April smiled. “That makes it easier for me to go too!”
Sonya nodded. “But where I’m going, it can get dangerous.”
“Where do you think it is?” April asked.
“Hollywood,” Sonya said. She raised her book of prayers up and said, “I’m also sensing there will be a lot of demons I will be hunting there.”
“You hunt them, don’t you?” April asked. “A vampire who actually hunts demons.”
“In people,” Sonya said. “It’s like a sort of exorcism. And I get fed.”
“So Hollywood?” April asked.
“Looks like I’m going to a buffet,” Sonya said.
*****
Sonya Song and April’s story will continue in Book 2 of the Mysterious Teacher Series.
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Mysterious Teacher 2: Songbird
SONYA SONG, THE SONGBIRD, gets an offer she could not refuse to headline a show in 1950s Hollywood and a record deal.
But something seems off, which it turns out to be.
Using her abilities and sleuthing skills, Sonya Song enlists the help of old friends including April to help her solve the beginning of a major complex case of the century.