by Jack Crosby
I left out a lot of the more intimate details, but I gave her a breakdown on the highlights of the dream. “The weirdest thing was how real it felt. It felt as real as me and you having this conversation. It was half haunting, half pleasant. It’s something in my very long life I’ve never experienced before.”
Even the dream where Washington visited me, I knew it was just a dream. Never something like this.
“I wish I could tell you more, but the ability to influence dreams is well outside the realm of Nyxes.” She licked her paw, which amused me for some reason. “Could it be possible that you had a premonition?”
That was a thought, but future gazing was not a power of mine. “Death is about an ending, not the future. No, I’m pretty sure that I had no part in this.”
We finished our patrol and started to head back. Well before she stopped me anyways. “Can I speak to you in my true form? I have a question for you, but I do not want to ask it in the form of a cat.”
Oh man, after the dream, “You can do whatever you want. I’m not your boss.”
She hopped out of my jacket pocket and before she touched the ground, transformed into her beautiful young woman looking self. This time she was wearing jeans and a punk rock hoodie, along with classic black and white canvas sneakers. “Oh this is much better.”
I still couldn’t believe this was the same thing we’d saved. “Why did you stick just to your animal form when you were in trouble? Wouldn’t it have been easier to get away in your more natural state?”
“Humans and even demons are less likely to harm an animal, especially a harmless cat, than they are one who looks like me. I believe it is called a defense mechanism.”
“Why did you keep it up around us?”
She started pacing back and forth. “Your brother War is very scary. Do you not think he’d hesitate to kill me if he saw me like this?”
I laughed, “I can’t say you aren’t right there.” I looked down at my watch, we were wasting time. “You said you had a question for me?”
She stopped pacing and walked over to me. She took my hand, which was oddly comforting to me. “I revealed myself to you because when a Nyx is born, if they have a soul mate, it is shown to us. I saw you, but I did not know you were the Horseman Death.”
I think my brain exploded. “Say what?”
“I know you are with the Lust demon Roxanne, but I was shown you. I only ask you do not dismiss this as craziness.”
What the hell was I supposed to say? Get real you ding dong? “Tell you what, you keep your cool and stay in kitten form around the others and I’ll honor that request.”
She jumped in and hugged me. Her strength was as I remembered in the dream, pretty damn impressive. I think she was trying to be sweet, but I was gagging. I patted her on the head a few times and she let go. “You make me very happy.”
“Let’s get back to the others and get you home. That’ll make me happy.”
Her feline eyes lingered on mine for a moment before she shifted into her kitten form. She hopped back into the jacket’s front pocket and we made the walk back to the boat. The others were waiting for us at the port. They looked crazy standing there with a couple of horses.
“All clear. It seems our plan to come north worked.”
Veronica reached out, “Here let me take Astrid, as I am sure you are tiring of her.”
I could feel some apprehension as I lifted her out of the pocket, like she didn’t want to go, but she didn’t have a choice. Her sad eyes looked at me as Veronica took her and started coddling. Roxanne looked on a bit jealous, but if she knew the truth, I don’t think she’d be as enthusiastic with our charge.
War and I led the horses out of the terminal. We walked over to a parking lot and there each one transformed back into their more Earthly shapes, the motorcycle and car. Before we started our long trip, “Listen we got a long ways to go through some very hostile territory. The cruise to this point wasn’t no joy ride, but that’s going to be easy compared to what’s ahead.”
War pulled out a map; I think he took it from the cruise ship’s bridge. “I did some mapping out. The easiest way to go will be from here,” he pointed at Amsterdam, “and go to Kiev. That’ll take us about eighteen to twenty hours.”
As I looked at the map, “We’re going to have to go through Berlin?”
“Yeah, it’s the fastest way.”
War knew exactly what I was hinting at. “If we go to Berlin, we will have to deal with him.”
“Derrick, what’s going on?” Roxanne looked worried. Once she found out why, she’d have a very good reason to.
Where to begin with this one? “I’ll tell you the full story in the car, but I’ll explain as quickly as I can. A long time ago, War and I ran across an old vampire outside of Warsaw. Suffice to say he wasn’t happy to deal with us and when the dust settled, he took up residence outside of Berlin. We made a pact that we’d never bother him again if he quit killing his victims.”
She crossed her arms. “Easy, we steer clear of him. Though why the two of you are concerned about a bat spirit such as a vampire is beyond me.”
I gave that nervous laugh that told everyone there was a big problem. “This one is an abomination; he’s got the soul of an Envy demon fueling him.”
She slapped both me and War upside the head. “Why is that creature not dead?! How could you bargain with such a creation?”
“He had hostages. We did the best we could given the circumstances.”
Veronica piped in, “Well it is time to correct that mistake. If we are going to be nearby, we should send the creature to The Pit where it belongs.”
“Hey, not all animal spirits deserve The Pit!”
Veronica gasped and squeezed the Nyx. Astrid’s eyes started bugging out. “I am so sorry! I was referring to the abomination.”
“It’s okay, but can you let go?” Her face was starting to slack. “I don’t think I can breathe much longer.”
Roxanne pulled on my arm and I bent over to her. “Derrick, what is the abomination’s name? There aren’t many creatures like that and if it’s who I’m thinking…”
“It is.”
“Fuck.” She was never one to mince words. “How bad was it if bargaining with the creature was the best you could do?”
I gave an involuntary twitch, remembering that awful night. “Vlad had an entire village under his thumb. It was let the villagers die to get to him or negotiate. We chose the latter. Like I said, I’ll tell the whole story once we hit the road.”
“Vlad the Impaler – I wondered why he went silent.”
We were interrupted by War. “I want nothing more than a second crack at that vampire! We storm his castle and I will personally put a stake in his foul heart!”
I wasn’t in any hurry to meet up with the Impaler, but I was going to be outvoted. “Fine, but we don’t just storm the castle you idiot. We need a plan.”
“My plan is simple.” His face turned all sorts of enraged. “We storm the castle and I put a stake in that piece of shit’s heart. Any questions?!”
I guess that was going to be our plan, no matter how bad it seemed.
Chapter 21 – Old War Stories
We were about three hours into our journey when both Astrid and Roxanne were bugging me to tell the story. Pyrrha had added a sidecar and Veronica was currently in that. I don’t think she was happy, but splitting up made the most sense. “I think I can tell you both the story now.”
Roxanne slugged me. “You were just making us wait for no reason!”
I really wasn’t. I was half worried we’d get jumped right after we left, so I was focusing on the road with Khloros. I was just beginning to relax. “Listen, I can make you wait a few more hours before I go into story teller mode if you want?”
She fell back in her seat. “Why do you have to be such a prick sometimes?”
Smiling, “Let’s take you back a few hundred years…”
**Warsaw, Poland – late 1500’s**<
br />
“Is this the place brother?”
I re-read the parchment we’d been given. “Yes, this is it. The abomination makes his home here.”
War was the only Horseman dispatched with me to deal with this creature. Conquest and Famine were handling another issue on a continent far away and unavailable. Truth be told, if War and I couldn’t handle this, we were in trouble.
The village below us looked in bad shape. The few people who were out looked like they had seen a ghost. War and I were wearing Crusader armor in the hopes that the locals would recognize us as people from the church. As we went deeper into the village, the damage the monster had caused was apparent. A large, open grave was uncovered. Bodies were lying on top of each other in all states of decay.
“Are you two from the Vatican?”
It was a rough Germanic dialect, but I understood the man. “Yes, we have been sent to slay the creature harming this village.”
He dropped to his knees and began praying out loud. When he finished, he stood back up and embraced both of us. His end was not near, which given the circumstances was a miracle. “The creature hunts at night. He is inhuman, stronger than a bull and faster the quickest deer in the woods.”
This related with everything we’d been told. “Fear not. Go inside and lock the doors. Tell all the villagers to do that as well.”
The man nodded and ran off. The creature would sense of presence and come to us after all, so there was no need for innocents to be caught in the middle.
“So brother, what shall we do now?”
I looked over at War. “The sun is almost down. We prepare ourselves as I can feel the demon stirring.”
He took out his sword and planted it by his feet. “Let the bastard come. His end will be swift and painful.”
We stood there in the center of the village waiting as the sun crossed under the horizon. As soon as darkness took over, the bat spirit appeared.
This was nothing like I’d encountered before. He wore the guise of a man, but he was no mortal. Tales of a bat demon who fled Hell and gained incredible power had reached my ears, but this was my first encounter. “Announce yourself to us.”
His language was different, one that was long forgotten. “War and Death, here for me! I am most humbled.”
“He speaks as if he was in the Holy Roman Empire!” War brandished his sword in a flurry. “I have put down a great many Roman Centurion and you are not one of them.”
The creature was tall, with dreadful pale skin. His slicked back black hair gave me to eyes that were red, except for a black iris. He was also painfully thin. When he talked, I saw two large fangs protruding from his mouth. “What manner of creature of you?”
“Death, it is most agreeable I meet you here today as I worship you. I am a Vampyre, the father of all Vampyres in fact.”
It shimmered for a minute and transformed into a bat. Not just any bat, but a very large one that kept his fangs. He shimmered back and the man was in front of us.
War seemed on edge. “There is more to you than being some animal spirirt.”
As soon as he said it, I pinpointed the odd energy. At first I thought nothing of it, but I knew exactly what this was. “How is it possible you have an Envy demon in you?”
He clapped at us. “Bravo for figuring it out. The demon thought it could control me, but in the end, it was I who controlled him. His power is now mine.”
I’d never heard of such a thing! A spirit being able to overtake an Envy demon? “You truly are an abomination.”
He spread his arms, as if inviting us to come forward. “This does not have to end like this.” From around him came six more figures, four women and two men, all who looked just like him. “You see I have experimented with the Envy demon’s power and combined with mine, I can make followers.”
War shouted in rage. “How dare you corrupt human life?! Calling yourself the father… this must end!”
More monsters emerged from the woods surrounding the village. “I have no doubt you could slay all my children, but how many innocent humans would die before you could?”
I swallowed down hard. “Fool! This will not end well for you.”
War began to charge the Vampyre, but we heard a scream. One of his monsters had a young girl wrapped in its arms. My brother stopped, much to the amusement of the monster. “In my long life, I have learned a thing or two; the element of surprise and know your enemy are two strategies. I should think you two would know.”
We were at an impasse. “What do you want?”
“Very simple, I want immunity from you and your brethren.”
“You ask for much. If this is to be a negotiation, then we will want something in return.”
The creature motioned to the one holding the girl. He let her go and she ran away as fast as possible. “Very well, let us dictate the terms of this agreement.”
It was our turn to make an offer. Thinking I was going to defang him, “You mustn’t kill again. Humans are off limits.”
He put his hands together, like he’d just won. “Very well, I shall not take another human life.” He sent his minions away. “As a measure of good faith, where I pick to establish myself, the two of you cannot come. I especially do not trust that one.” He pointed at War for good measure.
“Where do you plan on going?”
His weird eyes looked at me. Knowing the Envy demon was trapped inside, the red/black eyes made all the sense in the world. “West, into Bavaria. This village was run its course.”
I felt sick to my stomach that we were so easily outplayed by this creature. We accomplished our goal of saving the lives of the humans, but it was going to walk away. “Before we end this parlay, what is your name?”
“Vlad, the Impaler.”
**Present**
“So that’s how Vlad escaped our grasp. For sure, not one of my finer moments, but the lives of the villagers were our top priority.”
Roxanne was oddly quiet. Astrid was much more animated. “You showed great restraint in not allowing the monster to kill.”
We did accomplish that, but we failed the greatest part though. “We didn’t forbid him to create. As the years have gone on, he has turned a great number of humans into vampires. That is a stain to my legacy.”
Knowing what we know, vampires are able to extend their lives for an infinite amount of time by feeding on humans. The blood constantly is recharging their life-force. The only one who can live forever without such a stipulation is Vlad, due to the Envy demon. “To right that wrong will be a weight off of me.”
I looked over at Roxanne who still hadn’t said much. She smiled at me, “It warms my heart to know you’re a good person. It is a strange sensation I’m still not totally sure of.”
I didn’t respond, but Astrid did. “That’s an easy one. You’re in love with him.”
She didn’t deny or agree, but Roxanne’s face turned a rather bright shade of red. I might’ve even heard her mutter ‘fuck’ under her breath before she pointed ahead. “We better drive faster; War is starting to pull away.”
Chapter 22 – A Hand Revealed
“I can’t believe we can just GPS his location.”
We were at a small diner about fifteen minutes away from our destination, according to Khloros. I was just filling everyone in on this.
War smashed his fist on the table, causing some patrons close to us to look over. In my best German, “He’s crazy. We’re taking him to the doctor.” They all gave polite smiles and quickly turned back to themselves, muttering.
Veronica put her hand on his shoulder, “Relax Master War, giving us away will not make our task any easier.”
Our waitress brought us our beers and schnitzel. Happily, “I’m glad to be here just for the food.”
Everyone rolled their eyes at me, except Astrid, who had that weird look going again. That was the last thing I needed to think about, actually both her and Roxanne’s feelings. It was cool of the diner to let us bring a cat in actual
ly.
As we ate, something seemed off again. Over in the far corner was a couple that didn’t seem out of place, but something bugged me. The blonde guy seemed familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. The redhead girl I really couldn’t make out, but she gave off a weird feeling. No one else said anything, so I excused myself to go to the bathroom.
On my way there, I got close enough where I hoped I didn’t pique their suspicion I was on to them, but I still wanted a better look. The blonde kid was the guy from the boat, that’s where I’d seen him. Allen I think his name was. What was he doing this far from Amsterdam?
I made my way into the bathroom and well since I was here, decided to use it. As I finished up, someone grabbed my head and smashed it into the wall over the toilet. It happened so fast I didn’t have time to react. The hand held on and tried to throw me down, but I was prepared and punched back.
The figure let go and collapsed to the floor. It was the blonde dude. “Allen? From the cruise ship?”
He flicked me off. “Kyrule sends his best. You’ll be running into him real soon!” With that he sped off out of the bathroom.
I took chase and ran into an elderly man on my way out. We crashed pretty hard and I saw Allen and his redhead friend leave the diner in a hurry. Knowing I was too late, I helped him up. “Sorry about that. That man stole my wallet.”
The old German man dusted himself off. “Fucking thieves. I hope you catch him and beat the shit out of him.”
As we parted ways, I went back over to the table to the concerned looking group. “I just got jumped in the bathroom. The guy who did it said Kyrule would be meeting up with us shortly.”
“We can only handle one issue at a time. We deal with Vlad once and for all and then we beat Kyrule to the punch.” War’s focus was completely on the vampire who’d wronged us so long ago. I wasn’t so sure that was a good thing.
I tossed some money on the table. “Let’s get going. The sooner we get Vlad out of the picture, the better.”
It didn’t take us long to get back on the road. Khloros had the GPS coordinates already up and War followed us with Veronica. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later we were pulling up to a large manor that fit with the image of Vlad. “Anyone else a bit surprised there’s no patrol outside?”
