by Greg Hair
“I’m not like you,” Annelise said.
“No, clearly not. I would never find myself in the position you are.” He turned his attention back to the Japanese werewolf. “Now, Tsukiko. Now that I’m ready, you may bring her in.”
The battered woman rose slowly and limped out the door. A moment later, she escorted a violently frightened teenage girl into the dark, dank room. The young girl with short brown hair shook terribly as she cried, the fear of what was happening to her painfully apparent to Annelise.
“Please, no, Nicholas,” the Danish vampire begged. “Do what you want to me. Whatever you want. Please, let her go.”
“You disappoint me, Annelise. Do you not see why she was chosen? I sent Tsukiko out to retrieve someone for tonight, and this is who she picked. Do you not see the resemblance?”
Studying the young girl closely, it dawned on Annelise why the teenager had been chosen—she looked like LillyAnna.
“Why?” Annelise asked. “Why get anyone else involved. You have me.”
“I’m not stupid, vampire. I know that I can’t just hurt you, not physically. Your pain tolerance is too high. There really isn’t much I can do to your corporeal body. But, your mind…that’s different. If I hurt someone else, while you watched, knowing your compassion for innocents, that’s how I will get to you. The way to hurt you, is to hurt others.”
Annelise, thinking she had no fluid left, was surprised when tears made paths down her face.
“Now,” said Nicholas, “it’s quite common that many perpetrators of violent crimes do not wish to know the names of their victims, as it makes the unfortunate more human. They become somebody. Please, my dear,” he said, turning to the girl, “what is your name?”
“Claudia,” stammered the girl.
“Ah, Claudia. What a pretty name for such a pretty girl.” He ran the back of his hand down her wet cheek. “She really is very pretty, isn’t she, Annelise.”
“I’ve never hated anyone in all my years of existence, even Tsukiko,” she said. “I hate you, Nicholas.”
“And where are you from, my dear Claudia?”
“The village of Cladich.”
“Parents?”
“Yes. My mum and dad.”
“So, you are someone’s daughter. Siblings?”
“A younger sister,” said the girl.
“And how old is she?”
“Five.”
“Let me ask you, Claudia, is your five-year-old sister scared of monsters? Does she fear the Bogeyman?”
“That’s enough!” said Annelise.
“Let me tell you how this is going to work,” said Nicholas, taking a CD player from Tsukiko, who affixed the teen girl to the other empty chains on the wall, then left the room, shutting the door behind her. Annelise watched the woman pause, giving her a strange look, before she exited.
“We are going to play my version of the Quiet Game,” he continued. “You, my dear Annelise, are the one that is to be quiet. I will play a song, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, my favorite piece for times like this because of the emotion. There’s so much you can do during the crescendo and diminuendo of the music. Great for dramatic effect. I also like the irony of using a song about joy during these moments. The opposing forces of dissonance and consonance.”
“Get on with the rules,” Annelise said quietly.
“Yes, of course, the rules. No matter what I do to this lovely girl during the song, you are to remain quiet. Any pleading, whimpering, anything, will be met with an increase in pain, and decrease in the speed with which it’s doled out, for her. To put is simply, you are to watch and take it, or I will make it worse. Do you understand?” The vampire nodded.
“I’m sorry, honey,” she said to the girl. “I’m so sorry that fate has been cruel to you. I assure you, it will not be in vain. May you soon find an eternal respite from all of this darkness and death. God be with you.”
“God is here. He is everywhere, and He will do nothing,” Nicholas said, scoffing at her words.
Turning the CD player on, he gradually disrobed Claudia as one of Beethoven’s masterpieces began, the German language reverberating off the stone walls.
Annelise watched Nicholas, his back to her, as he raised his right hand and extending his claws. Claudia broke before ever being touched. Bouncing around the room, as far as the chains would extend, she wailed and begged for her life, trying desperately to free herself, pleading with Annelise to do something.
Annelise, to make what was about to take place would be as quick as possible, remained silent, the tears pouring out of her like they had been pent up for centuries, waiting for this moment.
As the music rose, the full choir joining in, Nicholas brought his claw down upon Claudia’s back, tearing through her flesh. He stopped, pausing to wait again for the choir. With each rise and fall of the music, Nicholas’ claw imitated, like a conductor.
The attack lasted as long as the song, the girl falling quickly, her ravaged body lying on the floor, still barely alive. Annelise made not a sound.
Chapter 7: Requiem
Jamie entered the ubliet, raising one eyebrow at Claudia, the Scottish teen girl lying on the cold, stone floor. Tsukiko sat in a chair, off to the side.
“Nicholas really worked her over, didn’t he?” he asked.
Tsukiko only nodded.
“Hey, Annelise.” He walked over to the vampire as she hung by her wrists over the pit, pushing her body with his finger and watching it swing slowly, back and forth.
Annelise moaned.
“Wake up, I wanna talk to you.”
“Just go away and let me die,” she whispered.
“Nicholas will be back soon. I don’t know exactly what his plans are for you, but I’m sure you’ll get your wish. Until then, I wanna ask how dear old dad is doing?”
She slowly opened her eyes.
“Landon was there for you, as best as he could be, as a father with no experience being such. We were all there for you. Landon didn’t do this, though you’ve laid plenty of guilt at his feet and he’s picked it up, slinging it over his shoulder. Now, he carries it like a heavy, wooden cross. Nicholas has led down a path toward hell, but, at the same time, you have willingly followed. You’ve had a hard life, but so have a lot of people, and they don’t resort to the things you have. Still, you have my pity.”
“The hell with you and your pity. The hell with all of you. You’re all going to get what you deserve.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But I doubt that we’ll go down alone. You should get right with your maker.”
Jamie turned to Tsukiko in a huff.
“Do you have instructions on what to do with the girl?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Then I suggest you do it.”
Jamie stormed out, leaving Tsukiko to her work.
Nicholas returned to the chamber that housed Annelise where, only an hour before, he had conducted a symphony of brutality. He saw Tsukiko sitting in the chair, watching their captive and having done as he instructed.
Hanging upside down, above Annelise, so that her blood dripped like a slow shower onto the vampire, was Claudia. He watched as the teenager’s body convulsed, hanging on the momentary thin line between life and death.
Then he observed Annelise. It appeared she had finally broken.
“Save the children. Save the children.” She repeated the phrase over and over.
“You can go now,” he said to Tsukiko. “Prepare Serinda for the ceremony. Don’t forget to wake up Jamie. And make sure each one picked out a wedding gift for the other.”
Without a word, she got up and left the room.
Nicholas sat in the chair, crossed his legs, and listened to the vampire say the same three words over and over to herself. He noticed the nearly full thermos still sitting next to his seat.
“Annelise? Are you there?”
She grew quiet.
“Ah, so you are there. There’s still a little bit left. I see you’ve
run out of jokes.”
“Kill me.”
“I intend to, but not until it’s time. Tomorrow’s a big day for Jamie and Serinda. It’s their wedding day. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like you’ve been invited.”
“Why won’t you finish me now?”
“Because, I’m waiting for your inevitable rescue party. I’m going to make them watch.”
“Save the children.” She began her loop again.
“Well, I can see we’re finished here.” He got up and began to walk out.
“Wait,” Annelise whispered.
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning around and approaching the blood-covered Dane. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I thought you had checked out.”
“I know why you hurt me,” she said in a low voice, her eyes closed. “We are enemies. But why do you hurt those closest to you? Those who are loyal to you?”
“They may be close to me, but I am close to no one. In the end, everyone will die and I will be the only one left standing. I care not for those who may, or may not, care for me.”
“What are you after? What is the point of all this? Why now? Why Jamie?”
Nicholas remained silent for a moment, weighing the pros and cons to telling her.
“I’m not going to tell you that.”
“Why not? Afraid me and your secret will get out of here?”
“Absolutely not. You will die here, so if I did tell you everything, whatever you hear will go with you to your grave.” He paused again. “Okay. I will tell you.
“You want to know why Jamie? Because he is Landon’s son. There is no reason beyond that. The boy is merely an instrument I am using to kill Landon Murphy. Jamie believes that once we kill his father, he will become as a king, an emperor. This is a ruse I have led him to believe to serve my purpose. I am not going to allow a boy to rule me.
“You see, Landon is the only one who is capable of defeating me, though even I am not sure how he can. I believe Landon has been chosen, no, sent, by God to kill me. But, he, and He, will fail. This is not the first time God has come after me. His first attempt at an assassination was the first vampire, and I’ve waited centuries for Him to try again. And He is—through Landon.
“But, He will fail, again. And this time, I’m going to make sure He is defeated—permanently. I’m going to do what Lucifer failed to do. I’m going to kill God.”
Annelise opened her eyes slightly, looked at Nicholas, and closed them again.
“You can’t kill God,” she said.
“That’s what everyone thinks, my dear, but I know otherwise. It took a great deal of time to understand how, but history has demonstrated that it is possible. People no longer worship Greek, Roman, or Aztec gods, because those deities have been replaced by another.
“The first thing I have to do is dispense with all other werewolves and vampires. The upcoming battle will take care of most of them for me. The majority will kill each other. After that, I’ll do the rest myself. Then I’m going to restore myself to the position I once had—a god. I will give humans a choice: they can be converted to a werewolf, and take me as their leader; they can remain human and be my slave; or they can die. Those who choose to live will be enslaved.”
“People will not allow themselves to become your slaves. History has shown that those who are enslaved will rise up.”
“My dear, millions of people are already slaves, they just don’t know it. The easiest way to enslave people is not through actual slavery, but through religion. You see, through their worship of me, as their only god, I will be their master.”
“All those vampires and werewolves that you think will come to you, will not. You will be alone when Landon arrives.”
“Not so,” Nicholas said. “By forming a union between werewolf and vampire, between Jamie and Serinda, those who hate the Senate, the Consuls, and all their petty rules, will follow me. They know that Landon is a part of that world, but by marrying the son of Landon, to a vampire, then trying to kill the father…they will come.”
“And what will happen to Jamie and the others, the ones who are here that have followed you from the beginning?”
“They must die. They will all die. Both species have become weak over the centuries. I must start anew, create a new race of werewolves, from scratch. This time, without vampires.”
“Even Jamie, Serinda, and Tsukiko?”
“Especially them. If they discover the truth, they will turn against me. I cannot allow that. Besides, like I said, they are weak. And stupid. I have been instructing Jamie in the ways of The Prince, telling him not to trust anyone, to use people, anyone necessary, to achieve his goals. Little does he realize, that I have been talking about what I am doing to him. Jamie is the way to get to the one that can kill me.
“He will choose me as his successor so that, when he kills Landon and receives his father’s powers as the natural succession to Consulship, when I then kill Jamie, I will receive the powers of Consul. Those powers added to my current strengths, will only make me more powerful. Unstoppable. Thankfully, Jamie has no children who will automatically inherit his gifts.”
“You will fail,” she said, in a weakened voice. “Landon will find a way to kill you.”
Nicholas then heard the earlier chant begin to work its way back to her vocal chords.
“Save the children.”
“I think we are finally done here,” he said. “I have a wedding to officiate. And as I said moments ago, you are not invited…but the entirety of the local village is. So I have many guests to attend to.”
He waited, wondering if the conversation were finally finished. Seeing that it was, he got up and casually walked out.
Chapter 8: Requiem
Guests from the local village of Dalmally began trickling in, down into the valley, early that morning. The Scottish wind blowing across the loch continuously peeked up the kilts and dresses of the men and women, respectively, in attendance.
Nicholas stood alone in the open area in front of Kilchurn Castle, listening to the conversations of the attendees.
“It’s nice to have some new, friendly faces around here,” said a local, middle-aged woman to her husband. “And now, we have a beautiful wedding today.”
“Yes, but they’re a strange lot that’s moved into the castle. Where are they from? What do they do? None of them work in the village or, looking around here, do any work on this land.”
“Oh, you don’t trust anybody. They are good people. How can bad people invite all of us to a wedding?”
“I don’t know, but people are talking. Remember the incident in the pub, several days ago, with the werewolf? A werewolf!”
“You weren’t even there. That’s just what you heard. It was probably a bad batch of Scotch that everyone had.”
“And they all saw the same thing? Look, woman, I’m telling that there are strange things going on around here.”
“Everything’s fine. You’ll see.”
The couple’s voices trailed off as they took their seats, and Nicholas focused on two elderly gentlemen coming down the path toward the ceremony.
“Yes, from Cladich. About two days ago.”
“What’s the girl’s name?”
“Colleen, or Claudia, or Carol, something like that. I don’t remember.”
“I’m sure they’ll find her. You know kids these days, just taking off, worrying their parents. Nothing like our generation.”
“Nothing like our generation? Remember that time you talked me into going off and joining the war with you, not telling anyone until we were shipping out?”
“Which war?”
“The first war, you eegit! World War One!”
“Oh, yeah. Those were the days.”
Nicholas’ auditory focus was suddenly broken by the fast approach of a short, pudgy, older man.
“God has blessed you with a beautiful, warm day for a wedding,” the mayor of Dalmally said, shaking Nicholas’ hand.
“Yes, well God
is certainly the catalyst for what will transpire here today.”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear you say that,” said the mayor in his thick Scottish accent. “Good to see that the younger people of today still believe and have not abandoned their faith in the Almighty.”
Nicholas began to bristle.
“Right,” said the werewolf. “If you’ll excuse me, there are important matrimonial matters to which I must attend.”
“Of course, of course.” Dalmally’s mayor again grasped Nicholas’ hand, without permission, and shook it vigorously.
Finally releasing himself, Nicholas walked to the front of the approximately one-hundred chairs that had been set up for attendees. Kilchurn Castle stood like a majestic usher at the back.
“Are our bride and groom ready?” Nicholas asked Tsukiko, handing her a video camera. “And did you show them the kiss?”
“Yes to both questions. You want me to record this?”
“Everything that happens. Of course, you’ll need to set it up so that it will still record while you are attending to our guests immediately after the ceremony.”
Tsukiko grabbed a nearby empty chair and set it several yards away, facing the staging area.
“I think we’re ready,” he said, as Tsukiko returned to his side, the red light of the camera indicating its present state of recording, and the last of the local villagers took their seats. Jamie, somewhat dressed up in khaki pants and a sweater, took his position.
“Let us begin,” Nicholas said, addressing all attendees. “Many years ago, during the Spanish Inquisition,” he began, pausing to wait for the laughter of the unsuspecting crowd to die down, before he continued, “I was ordained by the Holy Church. I will, therefore, be officiating today. I now call forth the bride.”
With not a note of music, Serinda emerged from Kilchurn’s entrance. Her tight, form-fitting red dress, stopped just above her knees. Her cleavage, the kind that makes married men forget they’re married, glistened in the Scottish summer sun. The shoulders of the dress were covered by the dark hair that draped over them.
“Red…interesting,” said Nicholas, hearing varied voices among the crowd comment on the forgoing of a white dress, and watching the vampire work the grassy aisle between the two sets of guests like a runway.
