Obscurati

by Wynn Wagner

  “They were wrong,” Lonny said. “You guys are fucking amazing. Wow. I mean….”

  “Life is more than just taking blood,” Oberon said.

  “I mean, wow….”

  “Be careful, Lonny,” I warned. “Oberon can go again in just a couple of minutes.”

  Lonny thought about that, and then he smiled. “Bring it on, man. Let’s do this thing.”

  I left them to it. I was more than satisfied: plenty of blood, plenty of sex. I wanted to walk around the garden. It was late spring, and the groundskeepers had turned the back of the mansion into an ocean of color. Menz had had landscaping lights put in some time ago, so it always looked like it was a full moon. Dappled lighting with nothing glaring. I’m sure it was expensive, but Menz always seemed to have enough money to do whatever he liked.

  Paco was outside. He and Menz had been a couple almost as long as Oberon and me. Paco is tall with olive skin. He’s German but looks like his parents could have been from the Middle East. His whole being is about gardening. Paco even got a PhD in botany. His main job is running the farm, but his passion is orchids. He has a greenhouse for them because it is easier to care for them when you can really control the climate. Today he was tending to some plants near a fountain. He could be out there for hours at a time.

  “Hello, tall, dark, and stunning,” I said.

  “Hey, Mårten. Look at this one. It’s a bromeliad that I hybridized myself.”

  “I’m not sure what all that means, but it is a pretty plant.”

  “Sorry. It means that I’m the mommy. I took two other bromeliads and created a whole new kind.”

  “Impressive.”

  “Just a hobby. See how it traps water in the bloom?”

  “Guys don’t get PhDs for a hobby,” I said. “Don’t belittle yourself. I wouldn’t understand the method, but I can certainly admire the result.”

  “Are you looking at me or the flower?”

  I just walked away, heading into the garden. There is a bench on the far end of the garden, right where a forest begins. It is one of my favorite places anywhere. I can sit there for hours, zoned out. The garden is so large that Paco looks like a little speck off in the distance.

  Chapter 7

  “HAMLET? Mårten?”

  It was Pierre.

  “It is time,” he said in our minds.

  “We will be there in five minutes,” Hamlet answered. I had no idea where Hamlet was. Somewhere inside, I guessed.

  I flashed up to the house in under a second, and I was in the bedroom a few seconds later. Lonny and Oberon were still on the bed. They had finished whatever they were doing.

  Listen to me. “Whatever they were doing.” Nice. They were fucking, but now they were done and just relaxing. I think Lonny might have been asleep. He was on his stomach. Pretty butt. I might want to fuck it someday. I top a couple of times a year, so I just filed Lonny’s name away for future reference.

  “I have to go.”

  Oberon understood and didn’t ask any questions. I got into my leathers and popped back to the back of the house. When Hamlet appeared, he was wearing a black Wushu outfit (loose martial arts pants, pullover shirt, and his black belt). It was still Hamlet, so the clothes looked out of place. If you can’t imagine the impact, think of Tinker Bell wearing camouflage fatigues or Daisy Duke in Marine dress blues. Hamlet in martial arts garb is so wrong on so many levels.

  The black belt was really his. He had won the right to wear it in tournament after tournament.

  As soon as Hamlet was there, we both were in the air. We landed in the park next to the queen’s office building/fortress/home and walked around to the door. Pierre was waiting with a small group of vampires in the lobby of the building.

  When Pierre saw Hamlet’s attire, he put his hands together like he was saying a prayer and bowed deeply. I guess Hamlet’s fighting abilities were well-known. It wasn’t like Pierre was making fun of Hamlet. He seemed serious about the bow. Hamlet returned the bow, looking very solemn, like it was something that happened every day.

  I know Hamlet, or I thought I did. Hamlet acted like this bowing from scary vampires was an everyday occurrence.

  Other vampires arrived, one or two at a time. After about ten minutes, we had everyone.

  Pierre walked to the front door, and we followed.

  “Remember, when you see someone approach, call to me in your mind. I will be there in an instant. You will see groups of vampires, because the other royals will be arriving tonight. They will expect to find you about three hundred meters off the ground. It is protocol for these gatherings. We are not on any airport flight path, so I doubt there will be any planes around. If you see a plane, just float up or down to let it pass. You are watchers, not warriors. The ones who approach will probably be those invited to attend. Keep watch and don’t just rely on smell or energy. Some vampires can mask their presence. Questions?”

  Nobody said anything. Pierre didn’t say anything either, he just flashed up into the sky. We all followed. We were all about three hundred meters up and directly over the office building.

  “Okay, I am going to point each of you in a direction. Head out about a kilometer. Your responsibility is all the airspace from where you are to the horizon. Don’t worry about the center of the circle. I have that covered. Don’t worry about what is going on down in the city. We have others watching that. Just watch. When you spot a group of vampires, let me know. If they get to your position before me, be polite but not chatty. Dozens of delegations are coming to the meeting. You don’t have to say anything or even acknowledge the visitor. They know the way this works, so they won’t try to chat with you. Protocol says the visitors will just stay at your location until I get there to escort them to the building. They know all about this, and you won’t have to explain anything. Watch your sector so you don’t drop your guard even for a few seconds. The visiting royals have been doing this for hundreds of years or longer, and they know not to distract you. If a group threatens you or tries to move in without the escort, scream in your mind. There’s always a chance some group of bad vamps may try to crash the party. I don’t expect it. If it happens, you will be seriously outnumbered. Scream in your mind and fly away as fast as you can. Safety first, but try not to leave your section unguarded.”

  He looked to see if anyone had questions. “Hamlet, you are not to be a hero tonight. You are the doorman. Verstehst?”

  “Ja wohl, Meister.”

  Pierre tapped Hamlet on the shoulder and pointed. I was next. I guess he kept moving around to fill out the circle, but I was too busy getting to my station to be sure. There was no moon, which was going to make visuals tricky, but there were no clouds. Because we were dressed in black, none of the humans on the ground would know we were there.

  I saw Hamlet off in the distance. He was being very vigilant. To tell you the truth, he was sort of cute in his fighting garb… cute in a Hamlet sort of way. Fuckable cute. I might have to put him on the list with Lonny, but Lonny and his wonderful bubble-butt get it first.

  After an hour, I saw some movement to my left. It wasn’t in my triangle of responsibility, but I called to alert Pierre just in case. I had seen the group of vampires before the person guarding that sector. Within a couple of seconds, the group was in front of the female vampire who should have spotted them. Pierre was already there to greet them.

  Just as he started to escort the group to the building, I spotted two more groups. One was in my area, and the other was either in my area or Hamlet’s.

  “Pierre, I have incoming,” I thought.

  He was there in a flash to greet the first group. He pointed out the office building and asked them to go on ahead. The second group kept back some distance. Within a moment or two, about a dozen vampires dressed in black were up with Pierre, who told them to go see what the group wanted.

  Two things happened all at once. Another group of vampires appeared on the far side of the circle. These guys were coming at us from
every direction.

  As Pierre flashed to the other side of the circle, another couple of vampires dressed in black came up to join the others in my area. They were about fifteen kilometers away, so they just looked like little specs in the distance. All of a sudden I could see movement and flashes of light. It went from a quiet night to a fireball in a second or two. And it was over in about a second. We apparently had some gate-crashers who didn’t want to be turned away. Our group of vampire warriors stayed out there for several minutes. They wanted to make sure that there weren’t others who were about to mount an attack.

  Like Pierre had called to them (and he probably had done just that), the vampire posse turned and headed back to the office building. They were very fast. What little I saw of their faces didn’t give away any emotion. It was like they were ninja accountants or something.

  Hamlet was watching, and he was impressed. I got the impression that he would have liked to be out there in the fight. What had I created? Prancing Hamlet, the killer vamp. It is truly a weird world.

  We all got back to our duties. Every couple of minutes, a new delegation would come. Pierre was busy for almost an hour, greeting the visitors and showing them where to go.

  It was an efficient operation, and Pierre was friendly to all of the arriving royals. They seemed to appreciate that the queen had a high-ranking Marine-looking vampire out as the official greeting party. None of the visitors said anything to those of us in the circle. They didn’t even acknowledge our presence. Later, Pierre reminded us that they knew what we were doing and didn’t want to be a distraction. It wasn’t that the royal visitors were rude. They were just respectful of our job.

  Things settled down after awhile. It got completely quiet. I rolled onto my stomach just to change things up a little.

  “Mårten,” Pierre said.

  “All right already,” I said as I turned up so my feet were pointing to the ground again. “Sorry.”

  It was like I had committed some huge blunder, but I didn’t argue. Pierre wouldn’t have said anything in my head unless he had a reason. Maybe he didn’t want any of the guests to think I wasn’t taking my duties seriously.

  We stood there until it was almost sunrise. Pierre, who had flashed into the middle of the circle, called to us. I almost jumped into the ionosphere. He can sneak up on me. I’m a good tracker, and it is really hard to move anywhere without me sensing it. Pierre had a talent. He was totally stealthy.

  “We have the perimeter secured with humans for the day. You can all go home if you want, or you can stay here. We have plenty of space in the basement, and there are several hundred human blood donors. Either way, but I need you all to be back here tomorrow night. No later than five minutes after dark. It was a good night, everyone. Thanks.”

  Hamlet and I decided to stay. I told Oberon using mind-words, and he didn’t ask what was going on.

  “I’ll see you when I see you,” he said.

  The basement of the queen’s building was like a big dormitory. Those of us who were staying were assigned rooms. They had put Hamlet and me into a single room with one double bed. I’m not sure why, because we aren’t lovers. Plus, we’d be dead for the day within the hour. We stripped and just fell onto the bed. Hamlet crawled into my armpit and put his head on my chest. I liked it. I’ve known Hamlet for a hundred years, and we are both comfortable with each other’s body. Somehow it isn’t a sexual thing. I love Hamlet like a brother, but he isn’t my husband. Tonight he wanted to die to the world with his head on my chest. We cuddled.

  Just as I started to get drowsy, Hamlet turned onto his side. One ear was on my chest, and one leg was on top of my shins. He gently cupped a hand and let it rest on my dick and balls. Somehow it wasn’t sexual, but more like a friend would put his arm around your shoulder. I think that’s how we spent the day, because it was the last thing I remembered.

  WHEN I woke, he was already out of the bed and dressed in his judo gear. Hamlet was talking to someone at the door. No, talking to two someones. Breakfast?

  We didn’t have much time, so one of the human blood donors walked over to the bed and gave me his arm. Before I grabbed it, he gave me a nice kiss. Cool, Switzerland had gay blood donors. Good to know.

  Hamlet and I both fed, and we made it to the rendezvous point three hundred meters over the queen’s building. We were the last to arrive, but Pierre didn’t give us any scolding.

  There were a few clouds out tonight. Pierre explained that our job would be about the same, but with clouds and wind. We were to take care of the area below the clouds. He had some others who would be floating above the clouds. He said that all of the invited guests had arrived, so any activity would probably be bad guys. He told us to call, just like before, but he wouldn’t be alone on the response. He reminded us that we were watching, not fighting.

  With that, we were off. Talk about boring. This Obscurati thing doesn’t get me recognition. There isn’t a badge or uniform. Nobody knows I’m in the Obscurati. And all I do is float and watch. It isn’t as glamorous as I expected.

  “Everybody’s job is important,” Pierre said in my brain. He can read my thoughts just like the queen, and he can be in my head without me knowing. That is one scary guy.

  I WAS hovering in the air over Switzerland, hour after hour. My lover was on the ground in Germany. I started crying because it was so lonely without Oberon. The rule said I couldn’t “talk” to him using mind-words. The watchers were to maintain radio silence. His long hair, his blue eyes, his guy-liner and lipstick, even his Goth sulking… I wanted to be with him. In a hundred years, we had done everything together. In fact, I didn’t know what life might be apart from him because we spent all our time as one.

  Wow, I take Oberon for granted. Shame on me. We got into our groove, and it worked so well that I couldn’t think of life without Oberon.

  Nothing happened all night.

  “Good job,” Pierre said. “That’s it for tonight. See you tomorrow. Same time. Same place.”

  “I miss you,” I told Oberon in my mind.

  “I miss you too,” he thought. “What brought that on?”

  “We are apart, husband, and I miss you.”

  WITHIN a minute, Hamlet and I were back in our room and on the bed. This time, he was feeling a little frisky. After a couple of moments of him playing with my dick, it came to attention. I stepped away from his hold because my head was back in Germany. Yeah, Oberon would encourage me to have an active sex life, but I was busy missing my husband. I was busy missing Oberon, scolding myself for taking him for granted. I wasn’t in the mood to mess around, and certainly not with Hamlet.

  Hamlet really isn’t my type. I love him like a brother, and I had enjoyed snuggling with him the day before. That’s about as far as I usually like to go. I did have sex with him once, but it was when he was still human, almost a hundred years ago. He and Oberon had had me pinned to the bed, and Hamlet moved in and sat on my dick.

  It had been a couple of days since I’d had sex, and that was the longest I’d gone in a century. When you have somebody like Oberon as a lover, you have a lot of sex, every day.

  Hamlet was stroking me, which almost gave me the creeps. He was like a brother, and this felt like incest. Should I stop him and continue thinking about how I miss Oberon?

  Sex was what Hamlet wanted, and Oberon would have approved. He might even have punched me for being fidgety. I could almost hear him in my head: “There’s a difference between fucking and making love.” Yadda, yadda.

  “Hamlet wants me to fuck him,” I told Oberon in my head.

  “He what?”

  “He wants me to fuck him.”

  I waited several seconds.

  “Hello?” I said.

  “I’m here,” Oberon said using mind-words. “I had to stop laughing. Let me know how you like it.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too. Go fuck our friend.”

  So, yeah, okay. I got Hamlet onto his stomach and
spread his legs. It had been forever since I topped anyone. Nobody topped Oberon. I didn’t want to hurt Hamlet.

  Wait. All the pain he had inflicted on me in those martial arts classes… I did want to hurt him.

  I wet my dick and shoved it up his ass without any ceremony. I pumped fast and hard, but Hamlet took every bit of it. He liked it hard and rough. Oh, yeah, he likes to go out with military or biker types. It makes sense. They are probably rough in bed too.

  Maybe I should slow down just to annoy him. No, he feels good. Fast and hard it is.

  I shot in a couple of minutes. It wasn’t a huge explosion, but it was a relief. Hamlet’s hole felt good in a brotherly sort of way. When he rolled over, I saw that he had shot his own wad into the sheets.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I needed that.”

  “I guess I did too. You know we’re just friends.”

  “Friends with benefits sometimes,” he said with a grin. As soon as I was settled in for my daily death, he crawled back to put his head on my chest.

  “Weird,” I told Oberon in my head. “Can I come home?”

  “Soon, love. I miss you too.”

  I was playing with Hamlet’s nipple with my left hand, and that was the last thing I remembered.

  The next night, we fed and were up in our positions quickly. Pierre said that the meeting would probably be breaking up tonight. He told us that each group of royal vampires would come up and stand beside one of us. They wouldn’t move until we gave them the all clear. Pierre wanted to make sure we understood that it would be really bad to let one of these groups move out into an ambush.

  There weren’t any clouds, but I saw additional vampires higher up in a larger circle. It gave them a wider view of the skies. The wind was strong, so I was hoping we wouldn’t be up there all night.

  After an hour or so, they started coming up to our circle. It went from complete boredom to really busy in just a couple of minutes. I didn’t see anything to worry about. Someone on the other side apparently did. I saw Pierre and a pack of dangerous-looking vampire ninja-accountants flash out to see what was there. I didn’t hear or sense any fighting, so it must have been a false alarm.