by Greg Hair
“She was afraid of getting something on a white dress,” Tsukiko said. “So she got a color that would allow certain liquids that may be spilled on it, to blend in.”
“Smart girl,” he said, smiling.
Serinda, reaching the end of her journey as an unmarried woman, stopped in front of Nicholas, only inches away from Jamie.
“Friends who are near and far,” Nicholas began, tossing a look toward the small camera in Tsukiko’s hand, “we are gathered here today to witness the union of two individuals who represent more than just themselves. They represent the future. For here today will begin the rising of a new dawn, the light of which shall soon wrap around the entire world, drawing forth to our humble location in Scotland, those wisest of our brethren who have long sought a new star to follow. Here, today, shines brightly your new beacon on the hill.
“Jamie Murphy, son of Landon Murphy,” he said, stressing the name of his enemy to the camera, “do you take Serinda to be your wife?” Nicholas saw the bride shoot him a stern look. “And your queen?”
The crowd whispered.
“I do,” Jamie said.
“And do you, Serinda, take Jamie to be your husband, and king?”
“I do.”
The multiple hushed voices in the crowd now seemed to draw together in one voice. Even the whispering was accented with a brogue. Nicholas noted their en masse level of disapproval.
“Then by the authority that was vested in me so many centuries ago, I now pronounce you husband and wife…king and queen. You may now seal your union with the Eternal Kiss as demonstrated to you earlier by Tsukiko.”
Jamie leaned in toward his queen, tilting his head and placing his mouth on her neck, as she placed hers on his. The squirt of blood and subsequent streaming of liquid life out of the corner of each participant’s mouth, signaled that Tsukiko had done her job.
“What is all this?” asked the mayor, jumping from his chair. “How dare you defile the sanctity of—“
Nicholas raised his hand, silencing His Honor, and lowered it, commanding the elected official to reseat himself. Nicholas stopped the drinking after several minutes had passed.
He then turned to Tsukiko and motioned toward the empty chair that sat lonely, yards away. She took the camera and sat it upright to continue recording.
“And now,” Nicholas began, as the crowd began to rise, various expressions of disgust and confusion dotted among the guests beginning to leave, “the exchanging of gifts between the bride and groom, and the final blessing over those in attendance.”
Jamie grabbed the nearest male, as Serinda secured her favored female, each tossing their chosen gift in the other’s direction, whom then caught their intended and released them from the bonds of life. The screams of the wedding guests shot toward the heavens.
“I, Nicholas,” he began, arms raised to the sky, as the newly married couple, followed by Tsukiko, rushed the crowd, attacking those dressed in their fineries, “bless you, and keep you; I make the faces of my fellow ministers fall upon you, and engorge themselves on you; I, as well as those who accompany me, now reveal our true countenance to you and give you peace in death. Let those who witness, invoke my name, Nicholas, on the followers of Landon Murphy, and I shall bless them, and bathe them, in their own blood.”
Suddenly, Nicholas transformed, the hulking black werewolf towering over those who ran from him. Most only found themselves escaping into the waiting arms of one of the other two, now shifted, werewolves, or lone vampire.
Each menacing creature snapped up, fed on, then discarded, a fleeing Scot in seconds. The entire village, all of Dalmally being in attendance, was slaughtered beneath the beautiful, blue Scottish sky. The red blood of countless bodies covered and colored the purple heather around Kilchurn.
The great black beast, Nicholas, turned toward the chair, set up by Tsukiko, to see the red light of the video camera still glowing. Still recording. He, and the others, continued their destruction.
Down the dark, cold, stone corridor of Kilchurn, behind the heavy wooden door that kept hidden the castle’s ubliet, Annelise hung below the dried corpse of the teen girl. She slowly opened her eyes, only for a moment, as the screams of the Scots pierced her vampire ears.
Tears of blood, what little she had remaining, moved down her cold cheek, slowing and speeding up again, like a car encountering multiple speed bumps.
Chapter 9: Requiem
Standing nude among the mass of shredded dresses, kilts, and bodies, Nicholas surveyed his scene of destruction, the aftermath of the royal wedding. The village of Dalmally had, in essence, been wiped off the map.
“Tsukiko,” he said, “you can turn off the camera now.”
He heard a lone survivor’s labored breathing, only feet from him. The blood-soaked ground squished beneath him as he made his way to the dying Scotsman, reached down, and snapped his neck.
“This is just great,” said Serinda. “Did your ego get its fill today, Nicholas? I don’t know why I went along with this. All these people gone before we’ve even beaten Landon.”
“So?” remarked Nicholas.
“So, it’s gonna attract a lot of attention.”
“So?”
“You’re an attention slut, that’s what you are. I think all of this that we’re doing is about feeding your ego.” Serinda turned to Jamie. “I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.”
“Hey, I know exactly what I’m doing,” said Nicholas, pointing at Serinda. “You just need to stay out of my way, and do what I say. You think that just because you married Jamie, that you get to call the shots now?”
“I’m looking out for his best interest, and what’s going to get him to where he needs to be—in charge. I don’t see the point of what happened here today. I don’t see the point of a lot of things that you do.”
“I’m going to get him to where he needs to be, not you. And you don’t need to see the point, you only need to do.”
“Well,” said Serinda, looking at the field littered with bodies, “you’ve certainly made a mess of things now.”
“A mess, Serinda? You haven’t seen anything, yet. Tsukiko, I want you to upload the video on as many internet sites as you can think of.”
“What?” yelled Serinda.
“What?” asked Tsukiko, retrieving the electronic voyeur from the chair. “Upload it? I thought this was just for you to watch.”
“Just do as you’re told. Don’t be like her.” Nicholas nodded toward Serinda.
He watched Tsukiko walk away, video camera in hand, shaking her head.
“Now,” Nicholas began, turning toward Jamie and placing a hand on the teen’s shoulder, “if there are no more interruptions, you need to choose your successor.”
“Do what?” Jamie asked, nearly tripping over a severed leg.
“Choose your successor. You need to pick someone you trust to take your place should something happen to you on the field of battle. This person will acquire all your powers, the ones you will gain from Landon once you kill him.”
“You think I’m going to die?”
“No, of course not. We shall be victorious. Plus, I am here to protect you. But, when you kill Landon, because you are his child and of age, you will then become Consul, gaining all that he has. If something should happen to you, it won’t, of course, but if it should, then the Senate, their Senate, will have to vote for a new Consul, and you know it will be one of their own. You will be replaced by a werewolf of their choosing. Thankfully, his other two children are too young to take his place, but they will still need to be disposed of in order to eliminate any future threat.
“Therefore, you must choose someone to inherit your gifts, to ensure they do not gain the upper hand.”
“Oh. Okay. Who should I pick?”
“Well, it should be someone you trust. Someone you’re close to. Someone who you believe can carry on and complete our mission.”
Serinda approached Jamie from behind, taking his hand.
“What?” Nicholas felt his potent blood begin to boil, his powerful heart speed up, his arteries nearly bursting under the sudden increase of pressure. “I’m sorry,” he said calmly, “what did you say?”
“I pick Serinda as my successor. It makes sense to pick my wife.”
Nicholas watched Serinda, returning his stare, plant a kiss on Jamie’s cheek, never taking her gaze off the dark werewolf.
“Thank you, my love,” she said. “But nothing will happen to you. I will be here to make sure of that. We will rule together. And nothing, or no one, will stand in our way.”
Nicholas turned around, feigning an inspection over the dead around him, shielding the uncontrollable burning red of his eyes from the couple.
“That is your final decision then?”
“Yes.”
“So be it. King.”
Nicholas left the two lovers in the field of dead, returning inside Kilchurn. Storming past Tsukiko as she uploaded the video to numerous social sites, he made his way to the ubliet, and to Annelise.
Opening the heavy door, nearly jerking it from its hinges, the nude werewolf entered, and grabbed Annelise by her jaw.
“You will die. Your friends will die. Everyone you love will die. The whole world…will…die.”
Annelise mustered a slight smile.
“Something didn’t go your way?”
“I don’t know what’s worse—that he chose a woman, or that he chose a vampire.”
“You would never trust a woman to lead?” she asked in a low whisper.
“Women are good for two things: sex and birthing. And vampire women can only fulfill one of those,” he said, whispering the last part in her ear, making sure she heard the insult.
Nicholas started his exit when he stopped, hearing Annelise trying to find the strength to speak again.
“And yet,” she struggled, “it’s a vampire woman that is beating you at your own game. Good for her.”
Unable to contain his rage, Nicholas stormed back over to the pair of bodies hanging over the dark pit. Reaching up, he separated an arm from the dead, teen girl, and stripped the flesh from it with one swipe of his claw.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “I’m still not going to kill you, yet. And what I’m about to do would mean more—if where I put this weren’t already dead.”
With a great stab, he trust the bone into Annelise’s stomach, where her living womb would be found, had she had one, and left it there.
Nicholas stormed out the same way he had stormed in, past Tsukiko, who now stood, watching from one end of the hall into the ubliet, out Kilchurn Castle. This time, though, he left Annelise screaming.
Chapter 10: Requiem
Jamie awoke the following morning, from his lust-filled night spent with his new bride, to the sound of multiple voices in the Kilchurn’s Great Hall.
He stood outside his room, and listened, eavesdropping, to the conversations taking place.
“But he’s just a kid,” said one voice, in a British accent. “He has no experience in leading. He’s barely been one of us for a period of time.”
“Let not his age fool you,” Nicholas responded. “He has demonstrated an ability to learn quickly, and his anger and hatred for those that have tormented him, when focused, is quite powerful. What is the oft quoted phrase? Oh, yes—And a child shall lead them.”
“Spare us the Christian rhetoric. We liked what we saw on the video, but we liked what we saw of you. We didn’t see much of him. Does he have what it takes to get this done? I mean, we’re talking about going to war against our own kind—“
“For our own kind,” Nicholas interrupted. “I am staking our entire future on Jamie. He is the one that will lead us out of the valley of the weak.”
“Why him and not you, is all we’re saying?”
“Because, an ancient prophecy foretold of his coming and that he would be the one.”
“Is that true?”
“No, it’s not true! I’m not going to get into all the why’s, but trust that I picked him for a reason. That’s all you need to know.”
“Fine. But can he, will he, show us in him, what we saw in you?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself? He’s listening down the hall.”
Following the voices, he found, gathered with Nicholas, several men and women. He counted ten. Every voice stopped when he entered the room.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Who are all these people?”
“Remember the video I took yesterday of the wedding,” began Nicholas, approaching, “and Tsukiko posted it on the internet? This is what I hoped would happen. These people are the first of your followers. They’re from here, in Scotland, and England.”
“My followers?” he asked. My followers, he thought.
“It’s time, Jamie. It’s time for you to lead.” Nicholas stepped aside, casually nudging Jamie to take center stage.
The teen stepped forward, watching all the strange eyes that watched him. He heard Serinda come up from behind. Her hand fell on his shoulder. Tsukiko stood in a far corner. Jamie prepared to speak when someone suddenly cleared their throat from among the crowd.
“Excuse me,” came an unfamiliar voice, a young man, a teenager really, not much older than Jamie, stepping forward.
“Yes?” asked Jamie.
“I have to ask—why should we follow you? You’re about my age. Now, I watched the video like everyone else, and I saw what Nicholas can do, so why should we follow you? I don’t even know this Landon guy, so I don’t care that you’re his son. I like the idea of being more than we are, which seems to be Nicholas’ idea, and I’ve got nothing to lose. So I’m not sure what makes you so special. I’m not looking for a fight or anything, I just want to know, why you?”
Jamie saw Nicholas, and felt Serinda, start to move toward the young man. Taking a cue from his mentor, Jamie raised his hand, motioning for his wife, and teacher, to back down. He composed his thoughts, and stepped forward, nearer to the Doubting Thomas.
“Nothing electrical. Werewolf, huh? So, you’ve seen what Nicholas is capable of and that’s what you like. Even though, I was on the same video, which you seem to conveniently forget. Well, it looks to me like your real problem is a lack of vision. You are blind because you have not seen what I’m capable of. You have not seen me demonstrate what I’ve learned. Have you ever heard that, when one is blind, their other senses become amplified to pick up the slack caused by the loss of another?”
“Yes, but I don’t understand what you’re saying,” said the boy. “You’re talking in riddles.”
“I wasn’t finished,” said Jamie, turning his back on the man. “You say you have nothing to lose when, in fact, you do. The questions are, how do I, as your new king, get you to see the vision and how do you get someone who says they have nothing to lose, to realize that quite the opposite is true? You get them to realize what they didn’t know they had, what they took for granted, by taking away that which don’t see.”
“I’m afraid I still don’t follow.”
“Well, since you are afraid, let me ask you another question—is it better to be feared or loved?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re about to. I think that, since you lack the vision, I need to help your other senses become magnified in order to aid your understanding of why you should follow me.”
Suddenly, Jamie spun around, his eyes blazing and hand half transformed. With a single swipe, he wiped the man’s eyes from his face, his two organs rolling across the floor as a shudder passed through the room, and the now blind werewolf fell to his knees, screaming, in front of Jamie.
“There. That’s better. Now you have learned to kneel before your king.
“Do not let my age trouble you,” he said, voice raised over the cries of the sightless, to the rest of the group. “I am your king. I am the one who will kill Landon Murphy and restore y
ou to greatness. I have united the two species, werewolf and vampire, and with my queen by my side, we shall retake what was once stolen from us—our holy glory.
“If I will remove the eyes of one who merely questions, what will I do to him who holds us back, wanting us, all of us, to live in secret, in shadows and dark corners? Follow me and your authority over all beneath you will be restored. We will take the power from the few who possess it and redistribute it among the faithful masses. We…shall…rise again.”
Jamie turned, returning to Serinda, grabbed her hand, and led her back to their chamber.
Nicholas motioned for Tsukiko to help the blind teen to his feet, and to the kitchen.
“While my assistant cleans our comrade up,” he began, “I want the rest of you to leave here at once and spread the word to others, those who have seen the video and are still unsure, and those who have not seen. Share what you have seen and heard here today. We need as many troops as possible, for you can be sure that Landon Murphy will not come here alone and unaided. Tell them where we are. Tell them to join us. Tell them Landon is coming and we must band together to withstand the tide.”
Nicholas watched as the remaining nine werewolves and vampires prepared to head out the door.
Suddenly, Jamie returned to the room, walking briskly to the group about to leave.
“One last thing,” said the teenage king. “Kill those who will not follow.”
Chapter 11: Requiem
“Landon,” said Connor, entering the clearing where the Consul and LillyAnna sat, “there’s some people here to see you.”
“Who?” Landon asked, getting up.
“Don’t know. There’s five of them, asking for you. They just got here.”
“Alright.” He began to follow Connor back to the main building. “Lilly, you stay here. I don’t know if they’re looking for trouble.”
“I’m not staying here,” she said, jumping up and running to his side, grabbing his hand. “You’re so paranoid. I doubt five would show up to an island full of werewolves and vampires. I’m coming, too. I wanna see who it is.”
