by Al K. Line
Finally, it was a complete man. Naked, well over six feet tall, painfully thin, hair as dark as night falling down to his waist. Mikalus was old and frail and yet he changed even as we watched. The years shrank from him, until he was a scrawny forty-something, weak as a kitten, muscles wasted away but a semblance of youth restored.
As nails grew on his toes and the resurrection completed, his mouth opened wide and he screamed, letting out the hurt of a thousand years of suffering, of a death that gave no peace. It told of unimaginable, endless torment, and of his happiness, his confusion, his lack of understanding, but mostly of the unbridled joy of being reborn, having a voice to air his raw emotions.
After what felt like a lifetime, the screaming stopped. Mikalus opened his eyes, the gunk around them stretching then breaking, revealing eyes so blue and intense they almost shone.
Mikalus smiled.
"My children," he croaked with utter adoration only a parent could understand. A thousand years he had been in torment, away from his children. Now they were reunited.
He toppled to the floor, unable to hold himself upright on his emaciated muscles.
"Guess they didn't have a gym in hell," I whispered to George.
"Dad!" She punched me on the arm.
We'd be all right.
Goodbye to New Friends
The spell was broken and the vampires, Brains included, ran to Mikalus. Then time lost meaning as everything happened so fast. They dressed Mikalus in regular clothes and all got dressed themselves.
Phones were used, spreading the news worldwide within the vampire community, and the kitchen was alive with noise like an impromptu party had sprung up. It was bewildering and confusing and somehow beautiful to have watched, been a non-participating part of.
The Second I knew came over to us and said, "Thank you, thank you so much. I apologize for my actions, for all of our behavior. Sometimes it's hard to be a good person when you want something so badly. You lose yourself, lose your dignity and your sense of what is right and wrong."
"Happens to the best of us," I said, knowing that was the damn truth.
"And to you, dear George, I apologize most of all. It wasn't our intent to harm you, but I know you were scared. I'm sorry."
He didn't wait for a reply, didn't expect to be absolved. Knew what he'd done and merely wanted to apologize.
"You okay?" I asked, putting my arm around her and squeezing.
"Been better. You?"
"Yeah, had better days. While the apologies are going around, I want to say sorry, too. Can you forgive me? For bringing all this here, to our home? I want you to be safe, more than anything. I thought being here would keep you away from this kind of thing. I was wrong, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Dad. Don't sweat it."
"Oh, and one more thing. Who's the boy? I saw how nervous you were when they talked about being unsullied. You might be able to fool a vampire but you can't fool me."
"Dad!"
"What? Just tell me his name so I can go kill him."
"You would, wouldn't you?"
"Try me. You're my daughter."
"You're such a sneak. Thought you'd trick me, didn't you? Don't worry, I'm still waiting to find the right guy."
"Good. Wait until I'm dead and gone and I'll die a happy man. Boys are trouble, all of them. Trust me, I was one."
"Still are," she said, smiling.
I caught sight of Brains and said, "Give me a moment?" George nodded and I moved over to him. Most of the vampires were ready to leave, coming and going easily now I'd dropped the wards. Seemed rather pointless given the circumstances.
I nodded at a few as they smiled thanks before leaving, the numbers dwindling fast. Mikalus was nowhere to be seen, presumably already whisked away somewhere safe. Guess maybe they'd use my front door back to the city, or maybe not. I definitely had to have words with Sasha about her supposedly updated wards. What use were they if they didn't stop unwanted guests? And more to the point, where the hell was she? It's at exactly times likes this a guy needed his faery godmother around. That's the fae for you, flaky as hell.
"Brains," I said as he stopped in front of me.
"Arthur. Thank you."
"I should be the one thanking you, for stepping in for George. That was a brave thing you did there, and I gotta say, surprising. How did you know it would work?"
Brains leaned in close, then checked nobody was near enough to hear. "It's superstition, Arthur. Sure, I believed they could resurrect Mikalus. I do know a lot about the vampires, and about many magical or supernatural things, but these prophecies, these rituals, they were written by someone long after Mikalus died. Words get corrupted, lost in translation. Are open to interpretation."
"You mean you bluffed?" I couldn't believe it. He'd risked so much and he wasn't even sure it would work. "What if you'd been wrong?"
"George would have still had a chance. I didn't doubt you'd have done something to save her. Or tried. Yes, I bluffed. Kind of. Merrick never did... you know. But he did other things. Worse things. I'm no saint, but he took me when I was young, before I had the chance to find love, even affection, so I guess that in the antiquated language of the prophesy I am unsullied. Anyway, I, er... I winged it. All they needed was fresh blood of a human mixed with their own. His children, ten of them and one human's, that's all. Anyone could have taken my place."
"You are one ballsy dude, Brains."
"Ivan, my name's Ivan."
I nodded. "Ivan it is. And a vampire."
"Yes, and a vampire. That's what I'm thanking you for. For allowing me to find a family at last. To belong."
"Everyone belongs somewhere, Ivan. I'm glad you found your family."
"Me too," he said, watching with me as most of the Seconds left, nodding to us as they did so.
"What now? I asked, wishing I knew more about this man and what had happened, but smart enough to know this wasn't the time.
"Now? Now I go with them for a few hours. Then I kill most of Merrick's men. The cruel ones, the bad men. Then I'll return to the vampires to be led through my transformation and when I am truly vampire, after the blood is changed, I'll accept the fresh blood of Mikalus, making me a Second."
"So no more gangster stuff?"
"Haha. Oh, Arthur, what else is there? This is the only world I know, and I have to admit," he said slyly, "I relish the excitement. No, I'll clean house then run things differently. Change things. It won't be perfect, and there are hard decisions to be made, but I'm a fair man. There will be no more acts of foulness under my watch."
"A man with a plan." What could I say? Guess anything would be better than Merrick.
"I've waited a long time for this, for my freedom. Who knew it would happen like this? And it seems that being in charge will be good for both me and the vampires. A new dawn is coming, Arthur. We are both here to witness it." Ivan winked at me and waved goodbye as he departed with the last of the vampires.
It may have been a new dawn, but I had concerns about being there at dusk. Ah well, all you can do is enjoy the day and let the rest take care of itself.
I brought up the wards, not that there seemed much point, but old habits die hard, and George and I walked to the back door and listened until the last vehicles departed.
We stood there for a while watching the moon, my arm around her shoulder, hers around my waist, and then I slid the doors closed.
Halfway back across the kitchen I remembered something. I stopped and said, "I've got a gift for you."
"A gift?"
I unfastened the pocket in my cargo pants and pulled out the neatly wrapped package I'd been given in exchange for the ashes of Mikalus.
"For you," I said, as I handed it to a confused looking George.
A Gift
There are some things money cannot buy, and true love is one of them. Family is another. Also rare wands that are beyond priceless. This was what Nigel had offered me for the ashes, and I should have said no. Such things were immen
sely valuable, beyond my means and rarely for sale for money, but for favors. I couldn't refuse when I told him I'd do the mystery job if he got me what I wanted in return.
Was the trade worth it? Who knew? Only time would tell. I'd handed over the most infamous vampire in history, but the look on George's face was priceless.
"A wand? Oh, er thanks."
"Not just any wand," I declared grandly. "It's Tinkerbell's wand."
"Haha, shut up." I waited for her to stop smiling and she stared at me for the longest time. "You're serious? Really? You did this for me? You got it for me?"
"Of course. I'd do anything for you."
"You remembered?"
"I remember everything when it comes to you, George. I love you."
When George was young, a few years old I guess, I'd bumped into her mother on the street. She was already pretty far gone, hanging out with a group of other women. There were lots of kids, all underfed, all craving love and attention. It had broken my heart, knowing the children had little hope of a good future, and I didn't stay long.
I had no idea one of the children was even hers, let alone mine, and she never said, obviously. But for a few minutes I spent time with this grubby little kid prancing about with a stick saying she was Tinkerbell and she was gonna be a real faery when she grew up. I smiled and basically ignored the manic creature that may as well have been from another planet. I wasn't a fan and had zero experience of children, not that I had much more now, and that was that.
But I remembered. When George turned up and told me who she was I recalled that day and knew it was the same girl. That first night, we spent hours sitting in the dark in the den, talking non-stop until dawn broke over the farm. Then she joined me to take care of the animals.
As we let out the chickens for the day, I asked her if she still liked Tinkerbell and she blushed scarlet, asking me nervously how I knew. I told her the story and she said, yeah, it was silly, and girly, but she still read the books and it was still her goal in life to have a powerful wand just like Tinkerbell. She was already dabbling in magic by then, guess it ran in the blood.
She swore me to secrecy, said I was never to tell another soul, and that she felt foolish. I told her never to feel foolish for dreaming, for believing, and anything she wanted in life she would get if she worked for it hard enough.
George lifted the slender wand, inspected it closely, and said, "Thank you, Dad."
"My pleasure. It was a breeze. Anything for my girl. My daughter. Come on, Vicky's lying out cold in the living room, let's go wake her up."
"She's gonna be so annoyed she missed all the action," chuckled George.
"Hey, no rubbing it in," I warned. "I'm never gonna hear the last of this and I think I may have told her she could be my new sidekick."
"Haha, rather you than me. Thanks, Dad." George hugged me tight and that made everything all right in the world.
Kids, eh? Wish she'd said she wanted a bike.
The End
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