Bloodlines

by Drew D'Amato

  “Judas would later study the Book of Revelations for any mention of him, in case he had any role to play in it. He is not mentioned specifically, but he interpreted that he would be one of the two witnesses mentioned in Revelations 11, that prophesied about the word of the Lord during the Apocalypse. You know the text, I am sure. These two witnesses are supposed to be the two lampstands, the two olive trees that stand before the Lord. Judas felt one would be himself, and the other would be Peter—two polarizing figures of the Gospel narrative. One was the father of the church, and the other was the betrayer of Christ. Both would prophesize the glory of God and his forgiveness since both were also the two apostles who turned on Jesus and both were forgiven.”

  “Revelations never identifies who those two prophets are. Some think it might be Elijah and Moses, but no one is sure.”

  “Yes, but Judas was sentenced to roam the Earth until the End of Days. Was he wrong to think this would be his role to play? These Prophets were also to have great powers and he did have powers. Yes, the powers mentioned in Revelations were not the same as the powers of a vampire, but it can be open to interpretation or he might gain those powers like fire from the mouth and stopping rain to fall when the time was right. The point was, Judas believed he would be involved in the Apocalypse in some way, and he stayed in the shadows for a little over a thousand years. And then he met the Knights of Templar.

  “Now the First Crusade was in 1095, a little over a thousand years after the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 A.D., and some interpreted the destruction of the Temple as the start of the Apocalypse clock. They also believed this clock would end a thousand years from the destruction of the Temple. Judas met the Templars, saw their large crosses on their uniforms, and asked what their purpose was in this land. The Templars told him they had come to retrieve the Holy Land for Christianity. Peace in Israel is one of the first signs of the Apocalypse. Putting all of this together, he believed the Apocalyptic prophecy was coming to fruition.

  “He decided to show them his power and allowed them to use it to conquer Israel. However, he was careful to stress to them to use secrecy to keep this information from the rest of the world for the sake of his soul and to not bring upon the Apocalypse.”

  “But didn’t Judas think the Apocalypse was coming anyway?”

  “Yes, but he didn’t want to be responsible for it. He wanted it to come soon so he could get into Heaven, but he couldn’t be the cause of it or he would be damned. His aim was that this power would help the Templars bring peace to Israel and the Rapture would come soon after. This was why after he gave them his blood, he also threatened them that if he caught word of vampires going around, they wouldn’t have to worry about a premature End of Days—he would hunt them down and kill every last one of them. They gave him their word that they would hide this power.

  “He gave them his blood in a container. Those outside of the Templars were told it was Sang real, to hide its true identity. The Templars then decided in order to protect the secret they could not use the vampiric power to fight the Muslims out in the open. So instead they used it to control the Kings of the nations of Europe behind closed doors. A vampire would visit a King or a Pope and introduce himself as a messenger of God. Usually pretty soon after a visit like that the Templars would get another crusade financed or another hospital built. This was how they pulled the strings all over Europe.”

  “But with such power, how could the Templars have ever been destroyed?”

  “Friday, October 13th 1307 was not the end of the Templars but the start of a transformation. The change started thanks to the French King, Philip IV. Philip wanted money, real estate, and the power of the Templars. He had heard rumors about the Holy Grail and the power of it.”

  “Rumors, how?”

  “After almost two centuries of scaring the monarchy and papacy of Europe, rumors started to spread. Vampires became a type of boogeyman whispered amongst the nobility. Philip didn’t believe these visits were angels or messengers of God. What Philip deduced was that the Templars had discovered the Holy Grail and drinking from it gave them these superhuman powers. To his credit it, he wasn’t that far off. He tried to extort this power from them.”

  “Why didn’t they just send a vampire to put the fear of God in him?”

  “The last thing the Templars wanted to do was prove that these rumors were true.”

  “So why didn’t they just send a vampire to kill him?”

  “Philip was wise to do two things to prevent the Templars from getting close. First, he heavily guarded himself. It wasn’t that a vampire couldn’t get to him, but the Templars did not want to cause the death of hundreds of other men, and risk exposing their secret. Second, Philip informed Pope Clement V, that the Templars had this preternatural power, and if he met a strange death the Templars would be his murderer. The Templars had spies in the Vatican and they were wise to the idea that Philip’s death would set off a chain reaction where the Pope would not only accept Philip’s wild claims as fact, but he would also publicly accuse the Templars of Philip’s death, and reveal their powerful secret to the world. The Templars could have easily killed Philip. But they were afraid his death would lead to the Pope, the most trusted man in Western Civilization at the time, to expose the secret of vampires, and in turn bring about the end of the world. So they came up with a plan without using vampires. First, they got rid of every vampire under their power.”

  “So there would be no evidence if the Pope decided to investigate Philip’s claims?” Pacami asked.

  Vlad nodded. “The Templars didn’t fear Philip or the Pope, just Judas’s warning to not let the world know about vampires, and now two powerful forces in Europe—the Pope and the King of France—were investigating them. So they removed all proof, and then they sacrificed themselves.

  “Philip had persuaded the Pope to have the Templars arrested and charged with heresy, secrecy, obscene rituals and anything else he could think of. Philip hoped once these men were tortured or faced being burned at the stake they would give in to Philip’s demands for the vampiric power. However, the Templars went along with the arrests, and with no hard evidence they denied everything. Once under torture though even their great leader Jacques de Molay confessed to the charges of blasphemy, but still all went to their deaths with their secret intact. With the Templars now finished, Clement and even Philip had to believe these rumors were just rumors. Because like you just asked, how could an order with this kind of power ever be destroyed?”

  “What about Molay’s curse while he was burning at the stake in 1314?”

  “That he summoned the Pope and Philip to the Tribunal of Heaven before the year was out? Well some Templars did survive the trials and within a month the Pope died, and Philip was killed by the end of the year. So you tell me if you think he said that?”

  “So some Templars did survive?”

  “Who do you think it was in the Vatican that eliminated that part from Acts about the Apostles stoning Judas, and then added Judas hanging himself?”

  Pacami realized the answer as to why the change in the Bible. “The Templar spies?”

  “Yes, Father. Those spies who worked in the Vatican also wanted to muddy the waters as to the actual fate of Judas for the sake of protecting the secret. So they took out the apostles stoning Judas that agreed with the Gospel of Judas and made up the idea that he hung himself, which that term didn’t have that meaning until the early 13th century. None of the scribes for the New Testament would have used the word like that.

  “The Templars were on a mission to silence and discredit any talk of vampires. They kept their secret in the shadows for a few decades. Then in 1389 they formed the Order of the Dragon that became official in 1410. They still had the Blood of the Betrayer and wanted to again rise to prominence. In the 15th century they felt enough time had passed and they wanted to start making vampires again. They wanted to choose someone right on the battle lines with the Muslim Turks, and also someon
e who didn’t care if his soul was damned. My father was nominated and he agreed to it. That was why he had the title of Dracul. He drank the blood.”

  “And that is how you too became a vampire?” Pacami asked.

  “Yes, but my story is a little complicated and I think you have had enough to take in for one day. But the reason why after six hundred years of existence I have finally decided to reveal my secret to a mortal is because this mortal can actually help me get back into the light of God.”

  “Back into the light of God?”

  Vlad got up again and kneeled in front of Pacami. He put his elbows on the chair and moved his head forward to make sure he had his complete concentration.

  “Father Pacami, I have seen a lot in my day. I have learned remorse, mercy, and pity. Do you remember the question I asked you in the church? You are here now because you answered my question correctly. You told me what you felt. You had to feel like that to understand my plight. Those men were killed not because of you, and not because of our safety. That wasn’t an issue; they died because I needed blood. I need people to die.

  “I have mercy though. I do not kill whom I consider innocents. Those men tried to mug you, and they were sentenced to death. You see, I do have to kill to live, but I can choose who I want to kill. You see that flag above us?” Vlad pointed to the Gadsden flag, the snake in a field of yellow with the words Don’t Tread On Me below it.

  “I helped the Americans in the Revolution. And the one and only Jack the Ripper used that scalpel hanging on the wall. I thought he was a vampire, so I had to find out for sure.”

  “Who was he?”

  “Oh, some mysteries are destined to stay unsolved.” Vlad smiled.

  “So in your long life you have learned mercy and remorse. You have changed from a ruthless prince to a demon with compassion.”

  “Yes, but we stay sinful because we have to kill to live. I asked you that question in the church because I had to hear from a priest that it was all right to kill to live.”

  “I meant that as though if you were fighting for your life, self-defense. You are still a creature that lives off people dying.”

  Vlad stood up in anger. Pacami flinched a little.

  “And as with every creature on this Earth don’t I have the right to do what I have to do to survive? What if you were a vampire, Father?” Vlad pointed to him then brought his arm back to his side. “When I sink my teeth into someone and drain their blood I kill them. The holes in the fangs however, work two-ways. When I give my blood to them they become a vampire. The only way they lose their powers is when I, their head vampire that made them, die. Then they turn back to normal.”

  “That’s why they call you master?”

  “That’s why they call me master,” Vlad said with confidence as he sat back down in his chair. “Now what if you were a vampire, and now you had to kill to live, are you now a bad man? Think about it, the Church is against suicide. We also die when we do not have enough blood.”

  “No, I guess I would have to. That wouldn’t make me evil.”

  “No, you wouldn’t. I have to have you understand this so that you do not fear me, so that you can trust me.”

  “So that I can help you get back into the light of God. But how can I do that?”

  “A coffer has been discovered. In this coffer are two items: the first is what is left of the Blood of the Betrayer, and the second is the Dark Bible. The Dark Bible is the documentation of the experiments conducted by the Templars that explained to them the powers of vampires, and their weaknesses. More importantly, it also contains a ritual, an exorcism if you will, that could make a vampire a human again.

  “The Templars were still men of the cloth. They wouldn’t do anything if it would prevent them from entering the kingdom of Heaven. So they experimented with the Blood of the Betrayer on slaves before they risked their own souls. Through these experiments they found a way for a vampire to become a human again. Once they learned of this they became vampires themselves and took over Europe.”

  “And you have this Dark Bible now?”

  “Not yet. The Dark Bible was written in a codex only the Templars understood. It is being translated as we speak. When it is ready I will have it, but I will need a holy man to perform this ritual. I saved your life, I want you to save mine.”

  “You’re right,” Pacami paused. “This is all too much to take in.”

  “I still haven’t told you everything. I just want you to get your head around the concept of helping a vampire become human again.”

  “I don’t think it would be very Catholic of me to deny you. My job is to save souls, no matter their situation.”

  “So you will do this?”

  “How could I say no? Even if I don’t believe you actions are noble, and think you are evil, how could I not try to take this power away from you? If not for you, then for the safety of the world. I will do it.”

  “Good, but please don’t think of it as you doing something to protect mankind. Think of it as a favor to a friend.”

  “Well, we are arguing semantics here. I will do it. What do we do next?”

  “I want to see you back in here next Sunday. I want to start keeping holy the Sabbath. This will be our form of mass.”

  Vlad walked to Pacami. He kneeled in front of him and put his left hand on Pacami’s right arm. Vlad stroked his right hand across Pacami’s chest. His hand sizzled a bit as it passed the crucifix.

  “I do not have to stress how important it is that you keep this secret to yourself.”

  “Of course. Who would believe me anyway?”

  “Trust me Father, for your own safety, there are some men out there who would.”

  4

  Inspector Peterson relaxed on his couch in his Whitechapel loft watching TV. He sipped from his teacup and rested it on his brown wooden coffee table, or in this country, tea table. He liked to have some tea early in the night. In England the time was eight o’clock. By the time the caffeine from the tea wore off, around ten, he would go to sleep to wake up early in the morning for his job as Detective Inspector for the MPS.

  Peterson lived alone, single, but not gay. A cross with a crucified Jesus on it hung on the wall behind his couch. This type of cross did not appear in many homes in England. It was a Catholic crucifix, not the Protestant one—sans the dying savior.

  His cell phone laid on the couch next to him.

  It rang.

  “Hello.”

  “What’s the news so far?” said the voice on the other line. No exchange of introductions were needed for this conversation. Both parties at each end knew who they were talking to. The man on the other end spoke English as if it was not his first language, maybe not even his second. He had an Italian accent, not a New York City one, but an accent from the country itself. Not Sicilian, but the Italian mainland. He was the head of The Crusaders, the man behind all the scenes. Silverado Bandini.

  Peterson’s true boss.

  “Warburton won’t give anything up,” Peterson continued. “He knows something though. He took this case too casual.”

  “Witnesses at that club said they saw men flying in the air shooting at each other, and silver-painted bullets were found at the scene. How did he possibly spin that one?”

  “He said to not keep talking about this. I sounded crazy and would get laughed right off of the force.”

  “He used the fear of your job to keep you quiet. He wasn’t curious himself. He knows something.”

  “Do you want me to press on him?”

  “No, a shut mouth hears the most. Don’t show your hand just yet. If he suspects you know something he might report back to whatever vampire he is in league with. Just stay quiet and keep and eye on him. He will lead us to a vampire. And if not, we still have plan A.”

  ELEVEN

  1

  Off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in the Florida Keys—Key Haven to be exact—sat a beachfront mansion with a private drive and a lifestyle all its own. The
mansion lay only sixty yards from the middle of the northeast shore of the island. The beach for the house stayed so private that some of the native beach bums didn’t even know it existed. Yet the house played home to a lot of exclusive wild parties.

  A beach and a vampire go together like a cow and a slaughterhouse. When the cow likes the slaughterhouse, the image becomes more absurd, but Malachi chose this location for his house for the same reason his master, Vlad, chose his—for safety.

  Malachi relaxed this lazy Sunday morning, on his patio recliner near his pool, on the roof of his three-story mansion. The furniture was white and expensive, and a cigarette burned in an ashtray on a small table next to him. It was a sunny morning, and Malachi sat with aviators shading his brown eyes, in his bathing suit showing off his jacked body. He and Gabriel were the two biggest vampires. Sixteen-inch biceps, fifty-five-inch chest, and a huge neck—genetics made him like that, and he felt blessed about it. He wasn’t trying to get his muscular body tanner—that would be a futile effort—but he was already tan. He was a mixture of English and Spanish descent in his human life. He had a tan when he was made an undead, so the tone stayed with him.

  Vlad met Malachi during the American Revolution. His mother was a Spanish woman who left her marriage to an abusive conquistador. She fled to Georgia from Florida and later married a colonist who was a farmer. Being born in America with only half of his blood British, Malachi had no problem joining in the war effort for the revolution against the wishes of his English-born father. He wanted to put his greatest quality—fighting—to good use. Vlad noticed his skills and enlisted him in a greater war. Malachi still had his patriotic pride, so in his eyes any illegal alien was a fresh meal. Living a little under 100 miles from Cuba he got more than his share, feeding off the drug cartel and the Cuban refugees.