by Smith, I. J.
She stood tall, with long black hair down to her waist. She looked at him with her deep blue eyes. Walking towards him, she smiled. Barefoot and only wearing a white bikini, it was hard to imagine anything taking attention away from her body. But her smile, along with her eyes kept your attention on her face.
“Cody, my friend.” She said in a beautiful soothing voice.
“Aviana, you look as beautiful as ever,” Cody replied.
“Not bad for three hundred and twelve, right?” She said with a smile.
They embraced each other. Aviana kissed him on the cheek and held him tight to her body, licking his ear as they embraced. Cody gave out a heavy breath of excitement.
“MY FRIEND!” A male voice echoed out, forcing them to break their embrace.
Cody looked in the direction of the voice; a large broad-shouldered, red-bearded man approached him with his arms held out.
“Maddox! Good to see you my friend!” Cody said as he approached and embraced him.
With a large smile appearing through his red beard he held Cody. “Come, drink!” Maddox ordered him.
They both walked over to the red leather sofa, where two women and a man were sitting. “Make room, royalty is in the house!” Maddox told them. They quickly jumped up and made way for them.
Slumping down Cody laughed. “I will never understand how you can have that thick red beard and not a hair on your head,” he joked.
Maddox laughed aloud as he grabbed a bottle of Whisky that sat on the floor.
“You are the only human who can talk to me like that,” He paused as he opened the bottle and handed it to Cody. “Because you’re family.”
Cody held the bottle and raised it in respect of his friend before taking a deep drink. As he felt the smooth whiskey run down his throat, he noticed Aviana sit next to him. She rested her leg over his and smiled as she took the bottle from him. “My turn.”
Looking at her he became lost. “Aviana stop it, you can have him when we have talked,” Maddox remarked.
Aviana rubbed her bare leg across Cody’s lap. “Hurry up!” She replied.
Before Maddox could say anything, a hairless half-breed tripped and fell in front of him. Looking angry, Maddox kicked the half-breed in the head. “GET OUT OF MY FUCKING WAY!” He screamed.
“I swear these things are getting stupider,” He spoke in anger.
The half-breed began to move but stumbled back down in front of Maddox’s feet. A ferocious roar echoed as Maddox presented his fangs in anger.
“Leave it alone, it’s just a dumb creature!” Aviana tried to calm him.
“I curse the day we needed them,” Maddox replied.
Cody took the bottle of Whisky from Aviana and took another drink before talking. “Soon the time will come when you will no longer need these abominations.”
“WELL SAID!!” Maddox cheered.
Aviana ran her hand around the back of Cody’s neck. “And soon you will have your heart’s desire.”
Maddox grabbed Cody’s knee, “My friend, you and your ancestors have been so loyal to us. At last the time is coming for our rewards.”
Cody smiled, “It has been a long road.”
Maddox took the Whisky. “Two hundred years we have waited. We have survived the culling by the Order. All the great vampire factions have either fallen or are weak.” Taking a drink, he smiled, “All those years ago when your family sided with us, protected us from The Order. All building to this moment.”
Cody interrupted. “My ancestors knew that the future was all about co-existing. But now it is more, we are family.” Aviana pushed her half-naked body closer into Cody.
“Soon the Order will fall and we will take our place as the strongest faction.” Maddox replied.
“They are recruiting again, it’s pathetic. They are stuck in the past, bringing in weak ass soldiers.” Cody told him.
“When they fall my friend, you will be king of the castle.” Maddox said with enjoyment.
Laughing aloud, the music grew louder as other vampires and half-breeds roared in celebration. Maddox jumped up screaming, “OUR TIME IS COMING!”
Aviana was quick to celebrate and move on Cody. Pressing her lips against she pushed her tongue into his mouth.
CHAPTER SIX
EDUCATE
It was 5 am and the halls of the Order were empty, with the sun yet to rise. Most of the residents were still in bed. Abigail walked alone, along the long hallway in her socks as to not wake any one up. She walked towards the main part of the building where her father’s office was. As she approached, she could see his door was open, and could hear voices from the room.
Inside, her father Frank and lead trainer Damian were in deep conversation.
“Sir, with all due respect, the man is a liability!” Damian argued.
Frank sat behind his desk looking at Damian. “I told you, Abigail made the choice and we will give her the benefit of the doubt.”
Shaking his head, an angry Damian snapped, “And what happens, when he kills one of our own?”
Abigail walked into the office, making no apologies for her entering without knocking. She glared at Damian as she approached her father. “What’s the problem?” She asked gently, as she placed her trainers on the desk.
Damian watched as Abigail folded her arms and stared him down.
“This Litchfield character, I don’t like him!” Damian replied.
Abigail smiled, “You don’t have to like him. You just need to train him!”
Before anything else could be said, Frank interrupted. “Abigail, he may have a point!” He looked at the anger on his daughter’s face, as he told her, “Tate Litchfield is an unknown entity, he murdered his family!”
“No, he didn’t. He told me about the Vampires he saw and I believe him.” Abigail stated.
Damian laughed. “White Vampires were eradicated centuries ago!”
“But yet, he saw them!” Abigail blasted back.
Frank stood from his chair, “We cannot ignore what we saw in that room!”
Abigail shook her head. “You watched a man kill two vampires, with his bare hands.”
“That’s the problem!” Damian spoke out.
“The truth is, we never had the time to vet him properly. He was a last-minute recruit!” Frank tried to tell his daughter.
“He’s dangerous!” Damian added.
Grabbing her trainers, Abigail began to walk towards the door. Suddenly she stopped and swung around to face her father and friend.
“You know, I hope he is dangerous because of what he did in there!” She pointed towards the door. “It’s exactly what the Order needs right now!” Taking a step back, towards them, she continued. “We are stuck in our ways. In fact, Father, tell us - how many teams have been slaughtered this last year alone?”
Franks face dropped, a look of shame all over his face. Damian was about to speak, but was stopped by Abigail.
“If Tate can do that with his bare hands, then imagine what he can do with the right training. We shouldn’t be pushing him out; we should be releasing him on the Vamps. He may just be what we need.” Abigail stated.
“What if you’re wrong?” Damian asked.
“Then I will be the first to know,” looking at the confusion on their faces; she continued, “I am next in line to be Keeper of the team. I will choose them, I will be their Keeper!” At that moment she left the room, leaving her father and Damian in shock.
As Abigail walked along the way, she kept mumbling to herself. “Idiots!” Marching towards the sleeping quarters, she passed several rooms before stopping outside with the door with the name, T. LITCHFIELD on it. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself before she knocked.
As she knocked, the door opened on its own. “Tate?” She asked as she pushed the door open. Walking inside she looked around the room, the large bed had not been slept in. The television on the wall was turned off; everything in the room looked untouched. She continued to move inside, when
Tate appeared from the bathroom. “Morning,” he muttered. Only wearing a pair of sweatpants, his bare chest was on full display. His muscles were glowing from the water that still covered him.
She gave a wide smile, “Sorry,” she said as she turned around blushing. This single moment cheered her up, after the argument with her father.
“It’s OK.” Tate replied.
Grabbing a white T-shirt, he covered himself up. Turning back around, Abigail noticed the blanket on the floor on the far side of the bed.
“Did you sleep on the floor?” She asked Tate.
Tate looked down at the blanket, “Yeah, I’m not used to all this luxury.”
With a smile she replied, “Erm, we have training in fifteen minutes.”
“Then let’s go!” Tate responded.
∞
Abigail and Tate walked into the training room together, the others were already there waiting for class to begin. The room was large; only seven chairs were laid out facing a large screen. Abigail walked over to the laptop which was setup on the table next to the screen. Tate joined the others. As he sat down, Rico made a comment.
“Didn’t take you long? Did it?” He commented loudly.
Tate stopped and looked at him, Rico winked. Tate, without warning, punched him in the face, forcing him to fall back off his chair. Kate laughed aloud.
“You really should keep your mouth shut!”
Rico held his jaw, “I was only joking.”
Tate sat down, next to Ambrose.
“Nice shot!” Ambrose commented. Tate gave a small smile in reply.
“Do you think we have to be up this early every day?” Emily asked.
Kate looked on with a frown. “Unbelievable!” She muttered.
The doors opened again, this time Frank and Damian walked inside.
Frack stood alongside his daughter, Abigail. “Morning everyone, I am sure you have a lot of questions. But first of all, I want to welcome you to the Order.” He stopped talking, as if he was waiting for a reply, but there was nothing but silence.
“How about you just tell us what the fuck those things were?” Kate asked with attitude.
“I’m sure you have your suspicions,” Damian replied.
The room went quiet, Rico still held his jaw, as he looked around him. He looked at a confused red-headed Emily. Then to an annoyed- looking Kate. He looked towards Tate, who winked at him. This caused Rico to jump and turn his gaze to Ambrose. “Vampires!” said Ambrose.
Rico laughed aloud. Everyone stared at him; he quickly noticed he was the only one laughing. “Oh shit!” He muttered.
“Vampires are very real!” Frank told them. “The first thing you should know is that they are not like what you read in book or watch in the movies. They’re not sparkly and romantic. They’re not superheroes, and there is no blonde slayer to save us.” Frank stopped talking and looked around the room.
Frank looked at the expressions on the people’s faces, some of fear and others of shock. He was surprised by the relaxed look on Tate’s face. He glanced at Abigail and gave her a nod.
Abigail picked up a small remote and turned on the monitor for everyone to see. The screen broadcast the image, ‘The Order.’
“The Order was founded over five hundred years ago, but warriors against vampires have existed for much longer.” Abigail told them. “We were created as a controllable army against them, recruitment was streamlined and for as long as we can remember, this is how it has been done. We choose those with nothing left, no one to love, people with nothing to live for.” She paused for a moment. “We offer a second chance - a new life for seven years of service. And for this you get a new identity and two million pounds to live that life.”
“TWO MILLION!!” Rico squeaked.
Frank could see the excitement in Rico’s eyes. “Payable only at the end of your seven years of service!” Frank told Rico.
“Oh yeah!” Emily added.
“Don’t get too excited, you have to survive the seven years first,” Damian said, spoiling her excitement. “Over the next four weeks I will be teaching everything you need to survive.” Damian continued.
“Forget the fucking money; just tell me where the white vampires are!” Tate says.
As, Frank stared at Tate, Damian chuckled, “No such thing!”
Tate stood from his chair, “I’ve seen them.” He announced.
Damian approached him, “I told you, there is no such thing. Now sit down!” Damian replied.
Tate shook his head, as he glanced at Abigail. “And you said I could trust you?”
He attempted to walk away when Damian grabbed his arm tightly, “Sit!” Tate looked him straight in the eye, “Let go or vampires will be the least of your worries.” Tate warned Damian.
They stood looking at each other, in a standoff.
“Let him go!” Frank ordered Damian. It took a few moments, but eventually Damian released Tate. Tate stormed out of the room.
“You really think he can be trusted?” Damian asked Abigail.
Abigail was starting to walk out, when her father stopped her. “Wait, I’ll go.” Frank said and quickly moved to follow Tate.
∞
Tate was headed back to his room when he heard Frank call to him. “Tate, wait!”
Hesitating, Tate stopped. “What?”
Frank approached him, “We should talk.”
“I have no interest in more lies. I was told I would have a chance to avenge my family. Without that, there’s no point me being here.” Tate answered Frank.
Frank looked around. There was no one in sight. “Tate, I know your record. I know what has been done to you over the last few years. Now, I would be lying if I said I wanted you here.” Frank, once again looked around. “But my daughter thinks you have something and I trust her judgment. Listen, I will deny ever saying this, you understand?”
Tate frowned as he nodded in reply.
Frank looked around once more. “White vampires - they were real. They were the ancient, the first real vampires. It was believed they died out, over four hundred years ago. Very few of us know about them, but your description was exact.” Frank swallowed hard. “The fact you saw them, proves we were wrong. What is more astonishing is that they didn’t kill you. It has me worried; that for centuries, no one has seen an Ancient. Yet they risk being found out, to kill your family.”
Tate looked at the ground, trying to understand everything he heard.
“I can get you answers, we can help each other. Learn from us, we will show you everything you need to fight them.”
“Why are you doing this?” Tate interrupted.
Frank took a deep breath. “Abigail, my daughter, is going to be the Keeper of the new team. As much as I have trouble believing in you, I cannot say you are not a natural born hunter. Maybe I am being selfish, but I don’t want my daughter to get hurt. With you on the team, that is less likely.”
They stood looking at each other for a moment in silence.
“Do we have a deal?” Frank asked, holding his hand out.
Tate hesitated, “You screw me and I will make your regret it!”
Tate then shook Frank’s hand, and said, “Let’s begin!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
RULES
“Forget wooden stakes. Forget holy water, and please don’t be stupid enough to think they can turn into bats,” Damian shouted out, as the group stood in front of him.
“To kill a vampire, you remove and destroy the heart. Remove and destroy the brain, these are the only two ways we can kill them. They are allergic to silver, so bullets will slow them down.” He continued.
Rico broke out in laughter. “Seriously, silver? I thought that was for werewolves?”
While he continued to laugh loudly, Kate punched him in the arm. “Shut up!” She told Rico.
“Can we backtrack for a moment?” Tate asked.
Damian looked at him, with an annoyed look, “To what?” He asked aggressively.
&nb
sp; Tate smiled at the thought of Damian’s anger. “You’re telling us how to kill them and that’s great! But how about telling us where they come from?” He paused for a moment, “I am guessing they don’t come from hell!”
Abigail struggled not to laugh.
Damian tried to hold in his contempt for Tate. “That is not important!”
Tate could see he was irritating Damian, but continued anyway. “I think it is.” He gave a hint of a smile. “If the Order is sending us to hunt them, then we should know everything.”
Damian stood staring at him when a voice interrupted, “He has a point, it is our lives on the line. Any and all information could help us in that fight.” Ambrose told him.
The room went quiet, with all eyes on him, Damian started to talk.
“The easiest way to explain it is evolution. Vampires were once human, they followed the same path as us. At some point in history, a settlement of humans was cut off from the rest of the world. Eventually, natural resources of food and water grew scarce.” He paused for a short time to take a sip of water. “Generations of inbreeding and cannibalism altered their DNA. It took a long time but, eventually they become reliant on the blood they had drunk for generations, their inbreeding caused mutations. They developed a serious case of Photosensitivity, left in the sun their skin would blister and eventually cause their organs to expand and fail.”
Emily suddenly made a coughing noise, as she tried to hold in the vomit.
“Like I was saying,” Damian continued, while looking at Emily. “The first known vampire that we know of was born about fourteen hundred years ago. Like Tate mentioned they were pure white, even their eyes. They were the first immortal vampires and the ones who escaped their sanctuary to join the rest of the world. But now they are extinct!”
“No, they’re not!” Tate said.
“Yes, they are!” Damian snapped back.
“Boys, just agree to disagree,” Abigail interrupted, attempting to stop an argument.
“Anyway, once the first vampires began to feed on new blood from around the world. They gave birth to the vampires that walk the world like us. They look like us. They blend in. Around five hundred years ago the pure bloods stopped being able to reproduce. With their numbers falling they discovered biting and then allowing a human to feed from them creates half-bloods. Those are the ones you had to fight in the test.” Damian told them.
