by J. Thiele
“But I cannot crucify him. He is my father.”
Victor smirked, “You were always weak.” he snarled.
Damon lowered Victor to just above ground level, and Victor’s bitter words spat out, “You’re pathetic Damon, you don’t deserve the power; you’re a coward and an abomination!”
A slight nod of Genesis head indicated that something was coming. Before he knew it two of Genesis’s other disciples had Victor by each arm.
He recognised them immediately “My brothers, join me.” He asked but soon established they were there for another purpose.
“TAKE HIM NOW MY SONS. BE STRONG AGAINST HIS PLEAS. IT IS TIME HE MET THE SUN.”
“What? No father, no I beg of you. I am your son. NOOOOOO!” Then he was gone.
“HEAR ME” He turned to the remaining dozen or so vampires that chose not to follow Victor’s reign, among them was Brandy. “YOU ARE FREE TO FOLLOW YOUR WILL; DAMON CARTWRIGHT WILL BE YOUR GUIDANCE FROM THIS DAY FORTH. HIS WORD IS LAW. YOU MUST EVOLVE AND LEARN TO EXIST AND CO-EXIST IN THE NEW WORLD. LET NO MORE BLOOD BE SPILLED AT YOUR HAND. SOON THE SUN WILL RISE AND A NEW ERA WILL BEGIN.
Dominic was still suspended against the neighbouring wall. Genesis lowered him and brought him forward to address Damon.
He bowed his head to the ancient vampire then turned to Damon. “I will not serve you. I will honour the new world as is the wish of Genesis, but you Damon will never be my saviour. In this life or the next, you are nothing to me.”
“That is your choice brother.” Damon said as his eyes met Dominic’s.
Chapter Seventeen
“LEAVE NOW, THIS WAR IS OVER. I WISH TO SPEAK TO YOUR NEW MESSIAH IN PRIVATE. YOU MAY RETURN ON THE MORROWS EVE.” Genesis’ voice was spoken with authority, yet kindness, and within seconds the remaining vampires were gone, except one. Brandy, who stood alone with bloody tears staining her cheeks.
“Go child. You do not need to stay.” Damon said as he turned his back.
“I have nowhere to go to.” She cried.
“Where is your maker?” Genesis asked.
“She’s gone. She chose to side with Victor. I don’t know how to be a vampire. I have nowhere to go and no-one to guide me.” She fell to the ground crying. “I wish I’d gone with my maker.”
Ray ran out to her side. “Damon, please? Let her stay...In one of the cells. I can take care of her. Don’t send her away. Please I know her, she needs us.”
Damon lowered his head in a nod, agreeing to allow Brandy to occupy one of the cubicles, then turned to escort Genesis into the building. Genesis stopped short before he reached the threshold.
“What’s the matter? Why doesn’t he come in.” Casey asked as she held the door open for them.
“He cannot enter without invitation. You must invite him in, as you hold the deed now.”
“Not true my son, I can enter any domain I choose. I just think it is polite to be asked. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Casey quickly opened the invitation noticing the sun would be rising soon.
Ray took Brandy up to the top level and placed her in an empty cell. His was surprised to see all eleven of the prisoners still alive and safe in their own cages. They’d obviously gotten too them before they had a chance to be brainwashed by Victor’s brood.
“You’ll be safe here Bran.” He assured her. “They’re all in the same boat as you. No-one will hurt you.” He went to lock the door.
“Don’t leave me Ray…I’m scared.” She cried out to him.
“I know you are, I am too.” He rubbed his neck feeling insecure; he was beginning to think he looked more like an ice-cream to a fat kid rather than an experienced cop. “I gottta go Bran, I’ll be back to check on you soon. Try to get some rest.”
* * * * *
When Ray got back down to the others, he found them all sitting in a circle around Genesis who’d taken a seat himself in the large armchair, that would usually be occupied by Damon when he read one of the many archives from his library.
“I know you all must have questions, and I will try to answer as many as I can. But my time draws nigh; we must make the most of it.” Genesis said.
“Are you God?” Kara asked.
Genesis laughed. “No child. I can only hope to remain in his shadow after I have met the sun.”
“How do we know Victor won’t bother us anymore?” Ray asked.
“Connect hands and join me in witnessing his demise. You must close your eyes and empty your thoughts. Together we will watch my last orders as they were carried out.”
They did as Genesis asked and within seconds they were all astral travelling over landscapes and oceans until they reached a vast open space in the middle of what seemed to be heaven and hell. Genesis’s voice was soft and soothing and could be heard from inside their minds rather than their ears, “Victor, your judgement has been passed. You have sinned against your own, as well as the sanctity of mankind. You have failed to evolve as was the wish of the great father. So it shall be that on this day you will meet the sun, and may the great father have mercy on your soul.”
They couldn’t see anything, but from a distance they could hear chains rattling, and Victor’s voice calling. They saw the sun peek its face over the tip of mountains on the horizon. Suddenly the image of Victor pinned to the ground inside a cage on a rock ledge came into view. He looked over his shoulder and saw the sun beginning to rise. His voice was clear as he pleaded. “Father, I have failed you, I see that now. Please forgive me and take me home.” there was no response. But a sadness emulated from Genesis that could not be described with simple words.
The light of the sun was swallowing the landscape and the shadows grew closer to Victor’s cage. “Master, you have shown me the errors of my ways. Please stop this madness? I am ready to repent.” Still there was no response. Victor began to shake the cage violently trying to free himself before the sun reached him. “FATHER… PLEASE?” The sun entered the edge of the cage and Victor held himself against the opposite bars. His skin began to blister and a blood curdling scream left his lips a second later he was gone, and the group was back in the office. A sorrow filled the air, as Genesis had sentenced his youngest prodigy to death.
“I assure you, you will not see Victor again.” Genesis told them with remorse.
“Why have you chosen me? Where have you been? Why have I not heard of you?” Damon was asking questions at a rapid rate.
“Perhaps we should start from the beginning and your questions may answer themselves.” He suggested.
“It was a very long time ago, I walked the earth as a man, a very angry man; filled with greed and hatred. I led many men to their deaths. I created poverty and destruction. I ruled with bitterness and turned man against man, friends turned on each other, children were sold as slaves, and women were raped and beaten. I was a virus that took over the world.”
His face lowered as he recalled the days of old. “I gloated as whole cities burned to the ground leaving families starving and homeless. My path was that of destruction and I could see no light. Eventually, one night in my slumber I was carried off to another land, one of peace and love. The air was clean and warm, and as if from above I watched as a great flood washed over the planet, clearing everything in its path.
I was held by the love of God for one day, before I was set to return, though when I returned a thousand years had passed. Everything as I knew it had changed, and so had I. I felt the hand of god, and had been judged by his law. My penance for the destruction of his realm was that I would live for eternity, but could walk only by the light of the moon. I was created the first vampire, and would spend thousands of lifetimes searching for my successor.”
“So wouldn’t it have been easier if you just did what Victor did and made more vampires?” asked Rick
“I was granted permission to create only one in my footsteps per day, the rest of my day would be in learning from the master.” He replied.
“One a day then shouldn’t we be
over run?” Pearce asked in his most sceptical of tones.
“If my days were here on earth perhaps, but one day with god is equal to….”
“A thousand years on earth, yeah we get it.” Pearce interrupted.
“I witnessed your birth Damon; I watched as Victor spread his curse and tried to infect your soul with his venom. You and he had a destiny to follow, he in my first light and you in my second, you are both a mirror of my soul.” He went on. “Victor was cursed with jealousy and rage. The same rage that led to my first life’s demise and eventually led to his. You have been blessed with kindness and love. Your love for all things living is what gave you the strength to resist his compulsions, and your willingness to adapt and evolve is what has given me the gift of my death.”
“Your death?” Damon stood quickly.
“You are my successor Damon. You are the reason I did not procreate when Victor celebrated his first millennium. You were already here, as was I. I could not move into the next life until my successor was found. I am ready to meet the sun Damon. I leave my legacy in your hands”
“I’ve been here all along, why didn’t you come sooner if you were watching? A lot of lives have been lost unnecessarily; your presence could have avoided a lot of mayhem.” Damon asked.
“My guidelines were clear, I was forbidden to interfere with the course of nature and man. I could only come and intervene when I was called upon.”
“That’s absurd, until tonight I knew nothing of your existence, how can I call upon someone I never knew existed?” Damon argued.
“Yet here I am, you prayed my son, though you knew not who you were praying to or what you were praying for, you sought a solution, and I have come to provide it.”
“It was you.”
“Yes my son, in your darkest hour, it was I that heard your prayers.”
“And now you want to meet the sun? You have only just shown yourself to me, I have much to learn.”
“You already have. The rest is not up to me to teach.”
“If not you, then who?” Damon asked.
“Seek and you shall find, ask and you shall receive. But know this young Damon, this world is not thine, you will soon follow the valley of shadows. You must work quickly to secure your ties if you are to watch over your lines.
They spent the next few hours trying to learn as much as they could. Cross referencing stories from the Book of Genesis verses the Genesis that sat before them.
It was just before midday when Genesis had decided he had said all he had to say, he stood and made his way to the door.
“My Lord it is daylight, it is not safe.” Damon said, urging Genesis to wait till night fall.
“It is my time to meet the sun, I have waited too long. My penance has been paid, I am free to go home.”
With that Genesis walked outside into the sun. He stood in amazement as the sun beamed down on the skin that had not seen it in over four thousand years. He stretched his arms out and embraced its warmth, then turned to share a final smile with Damon who stood in astonishment at the way his body radiated in the sunlight.
Genesis turned to walk away when suddenly he was consumed by the brightest light any of them had ever seen, and then he was gone. Nothing but shiny particles scattered in the breeze remained.
Chapter Eighteen
Ray woke up outside Brandy’s cell; he’d fallen asleep there after Genesis was gone. Brandy lay on the floor in front of him, although on the other side of the bars, she was by no means a prisoner, but she hadn’t harnessed her new life yet and didn’t want to put Ray at risk again.
Ray sat up wiping his face with his palms, “What time is it?” he asked.
“I’m not sure, I don’t have a watch, I was doing an autopsy when Belinda took me, so I wasn’t wearing one, but it must be at least eightish. It’s dark outside.”
“Oh really?” Ray looked around at the seamless walls. There were no windows or balconies on the top floor. “And how do you know that?” he asked.
“I can’t tell you how I know, I just do. I think it’s a vampire thing.” she replied.
“Oh yeah, right.” Ray looked away trying to conceal his discomfort on the subject.
“Ray? Why don’t you look at me? I know you still care, you came to help me when I called you”
“Yeah and look how that ended.” he retorted.
“Ray I’m sorry, I was out of control. But even after everything, you convinced Damon to let me stay.”
“I don’t want to get into it Bran, I don’t have a good track record with vampires, even Damon has tried to finish me. And the whole eye contact thing? Well that’s what got me into trouble with…” he still could not remember her name.
* * * * *
The door to the service elevator opened and Damon entered the top floor. He reached out cautiously to unlock the cages.
“Let me get that Damon.” Ray said as he leapt to his feet.
But to both his and Damon’s astonishment, the silver didn’t faze him. He went along opening all eleven cells that the new vampires occupied.
“After tonight you will all be free to do as you please. Provided you live by the law of Genesis your life will continue. If your maker is still alive they will be downstairs. If they have perished, I will assign you a new one. You must all accompany me downstairs now. Your future awaits.”
* * * * *
They arrived on the lower level to find a handful of Victor’s descendants eagerly waiting to hear from Damon.
Damon carried a large ancient chalice as he went out to address his new followers. Kara was carrying syringes of blood that she had drawn from all of the team members.
“Brothers and sisters,” Damon’s hands were outstretched in his greeting, “welcome all of you to a new beginning; a beginning that brings us together as family, an existence where we no longer dwell in dark corners, hiding from civilisation, feasting on the innocent or unsuspecting.” He looked into the confused faces of the vampires before him. “Great change is upon us. Victor lives no more! He will no longer demand you to carry out unthinkable deeds. We have much to learn, from each other and our human counter parts.” He went on.
“We must learn tolerance, adaptation and preservation. No longer will you feed off the innocent; no longer will you take what is not yours.”
“How will we survive if we cannot feed?” a voice in the crowd asked.
“You will be supplied your nourishment that has been donated by willing participants of the city.”
“In bags? Cold? There is no comparison to the warm nourishment we get fresh from the source. What do you offer us in return for us denying ourselves of our natural desires?” asked the male.
“You’re right to live among them, freedom, a home, a bed with fresh sheets, and an existence that is more than that of a sewer rat.” Damon responded. “Also you will not procreate unless it is approved by the council.” He went on.
“What council.” The same male voice asked, over the hushed murmurs of others.
“The council that will consist of myself and the humans that stand before you. Procreation will only be approved if it is your chosen life partner, and both parties have agreed to the turning. If your desires are approved, you will treat the individual as your equal, not your subject.”
“And how will you police these new laws? You are one, we are many.” The voice came again.
“I am getting to that my young friend. I hold in my hand a great chalice, known to many as the Holy Grail, a gift from the all mighty Genesis.”
“Holy mother of Christ.” Pearce said under his breath, “the mother fucker actually exists.”
Damon shot him a stern look before continuing, “I ask you all to spill a few drops of your blood into the chalice to be combined with each other, then we will all drink from its well and be joined as siblings forever. We will feel each other’s pain, sense each other’s urges and witness each other’s sins, allowing us to police and counsel each other. The council have also
shared their blood to be combined as well. It will be your duty from this night on to protect and serve them as your own, as they too share the same blood as you and I.”
Damon could feel a presence from somewhere high above him, perhaps on a roof top, watching their every move. It was a familiar presence though he could not determine if it was friend or foe, and it put him on high alert.
The chalice was passed around the crowd, and one by one they spilled a few drops of their essence into it, until finally it was handed back to Damon.
“What if we refuse your new laws?” The annoying vampire interrupted the service again.
“Then you will be outcast and considered rogue. You will be asked to leave the city and never return, if you do, you will be considered hostile and will be imprisoned within the walls of this establishment.” Damon was becoming agitated by his challengers, and with the nagging feeling that something was about to happen he was on high alert, though the presence still seemed to loom from above in a distracting fashion.
One by one he called them forward to drink from the grail; with each sip they bowed their head.
When Brandy approached and took her sip, she bowed her head in grace and whispered, “My Lord.”
Damon placed two fingers under her chin and dragged her face up to meet his eyes, “I am not a Lord child and we serve only one. Genesis is our one true Lord. So tonight we drink to Genesis.”
In unison the crowd responded one word, “Genesis!”
The young vampire that had been interrupting the precession all night was about to come forth, Damon’s alarms were in overdrive. Suddenly he lunged at Damon wielding a wooden stake in an attempt to destroy him. Before Damon could react a shadow flew past snatching the vampire from before Damon’s eyes and turning his own weapon on him. When the dust settled and the shadow stilled and turned to face Damon it became clear “Dominic.” Damon said aloud.
Dominic knelt before him, “My brother, it is within me to serve you as my maker.”
