by Rue Volley
Sophia opened her eyes as they dilated from the taste of fresh blood and stood up quickly as two more guard quickly entered into her room and then her father followed and paused to gaze upon the human girl on her floor.
“Sophia Graph.” He said and she looked down at her and then up into the eyes of her Father and faced something she knew all too well, his constant state of disapproval for her.
“She became violent and I had to protect myself.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, she was rambling on about vampires and how she hated them and wished to be free of our curse.”
Her Father walked to her and reached out as Sophia watched his slowly rise to her face and then he stopped as he almost touched her and she closed her eyes wishing it was true. He lowered his hand and stared at the trace of blood on her perfect lips.
“I will see to finding you a suitable host to help you then.” He said and she opened her eyes up and looked at him. Menious may be much older than she is, in fact he was one of the oldest in the history of the vampire, but you would think he was only 21 as they all looked. Vampires are born, so to speak and grow until they reach 21 and then freeze in time as their bodies adapt to immortality. Their growth is fast of course because a vampire is a creature built to survive but as Sophia watched her Father walk across her room and stare out the window she felt as if she was watching a relic, someone who was no longer a viable leader, in fact perhaps a threat to her and all that she wanted to see come to pass. Menious turned and looked at her and she looked down, almost embarrassed at her thoughts of seeing him die once and for all.
“It seems something has happened Sophia.”
“Oh, what Father?” she asked as she watched the Valon guard drag the human girl away from them and close the door.
“The impossible.” He said and she stepped towards him and he turned to face her dead on.
“What?” she said as she waited impatiently.
“This is information not shared here in Valon as we would not want a panic to rise but it seems that when Calia and her human lover escaped Valon they bore children.”
“What? No… not possible Father.”
Menious paused and then turned back to the window.
“It seems to be true and the children survived Sophia, the first of their kind, half human half vampire…immortal and from what it seems not detectable to us.”
“Blasphemy!” Sophia said as she looked around her room in disgust.
Menious was on her in a flash and Sophia looked up at him as he tilted his head like a bird and studied her face.
“Sophia, times change, things change and evolution allows life to become more. I would like to find these children and bring them here to be a part of Valon, a part of our family.”
Sophia laughed and quickly stopped as she realized he was serious.
“Father! It is disgusting to think that a human could mix with us! Is it not enough you granted them sanctuary among us in exchange for feeding, but not even feeding as we are designed to do! You have us at their mercy and every day we become weaker and forget who we are and why we are Gods!”
Menious grabbed her arm and stopped her from speaking. He tightened his grip and then realized he was in fact losing his temper to a certain degree.
“Oh Sophia, you and your brother have always been so progressive in nature. I would assume this came from your Mother. Rest her in Memory.” He said as he thought of their Mother who had passed long before by her own hand and gone on to “memory”, the final resting place for immortals. “It is time to move forward and perhaps our survival and future depends upon co-existing with one another and feeding on energy alone. Blood is not always going to be in supply. Humans will eventually make way for something else as life has always done. I remember before they existed…” he said.
“Perhaps this is why you find it okay to suck on the core of the earth to feed you Father but I find Blood our strength as it has always been. We are never as strong as we are when we have blood to eat.”
“The very fact that these children exist tells me that humanity is stepping forward and to blend with our kind would only make us stronger, not weaker Sophia.”
Sophia took an unneeded breath and stared into his eyes. He would not be persuaded.
“What is it that you wish of me to do Father?”
“I am going to announce this at the council meeting tonight and I need your support, you and your brothers and all who seem to respect you. I will propose we collect them and bring them here, making them a home they could not possibly find anywhere else.”
“Keep your enemies closer.” Sophia said under her breath and her Father smiled.
“Let’s call them friends.” and with that he left her standing there, completely disgusted with the idea of bringing such an abomination into Valon and worse yet, accepting these things as if they were the future of the vampire. She looked down at the blood on the white stone and felt her teeth ache and her stomach growl as she dropped to her knees to drink of it like an animal.
The elephant reared up, towering over the small girl and Lily stood there as if nothing fazed her. Jonah stepped in front of her and held his hand up as the elephant literally took two steps back on its hind legs and then gently lowered to the ground and started to sway back and forth, as if to show he was indeed happy. Jonah tilted his head at the beast as a woman came running up and scooped Lily up into her arms and kissed her face. Lily crinkled her nose and Jonah kept his eye on the elephant, still a bit agitated.
“Jonah, you mustn’t let Lily wander. Dangerous beasts are here at the circus and God forbid something happen to her or to you for that matter! You must be more aware.”
Jonah nodded as a man entered and immediately saw the woman holding Lily, he glanced at the elephant and back to the three of them.
“Have we been caught up in mischief?” he asked as he walked up and scooped up Jonah and threw him into the air and then caught him as he landed, Jonah quickly swung around his back and held on as the man smiled at the woman. She shook her head at him.
“Caleb, I need for you to be a bit more like a Daddy and less of a best friend!”
“Oh Maggie, they are children and what would childhood be like without some great adventure and a bit of the danger?” he said in a thick Irish accent. Lily smiled at Jonah and he winked at her and pulled Caleb’s hat over his eyes and Kaleb acted as if he would not fix the problem and stumbled about as Jonah laughed on his back.
“Caleb, be mindful is all I am sayin’, they are only children.” She said and Caleb peeked under his hat at her.
“I do love you, you beauty.”
She blushed and walked off with Lily in her arms as Jonah smiled and watched them go.
“Lions, Tigers and Bears?” Caleb asked Jonah and he giggled, shaking his head yes and he trotted off, ready to face some more danger.
“Lily, you are a beauty.” Maggie said as she brushed her hair and rolled right back into it perfect long curls.
“I would assume the boys will be busting through the gates to see you before long, you seem to grow more each day love.” She said and Lily smiled up at her.
“Momma.” Lily said quietly and Maggie leaned down and smiled at her.
“Yes darlin’?”
“Could I do the drop with you tonight?”
“Oh my dear, it takes a long time to master the drop of death from high above, I fear you will have to wait a bit on that one, I could not bear to see my wee one hurt in anyway.”
Lily sighed and looked back into the mirror as Maggie continued to brush her hair.
“Besides, you are a charmer my lovely doll, you walk about and they just seem to give you money. You know we need you to lure them in with your ability to too. You and Jonah, it is just a mystery to me how you get so many to the circus tent each night but no matter! We are doing so well now it will not be long before this life is a distant memory and we will sit up in the mansion as others run the circus and collect the pr
ofit…eating pudding pies and having tea!” she said as she grinned from ear to ear. She turned Lily to her and wagged her finger.
“So don’t you worry a bit about learnin’ circus tricks, your life is blessed as is your future as far as I see and we will not be livin’ this way much longer.”
Lily smiled and nodded to her as two clowns walked in behind them and stared at the two of them.
“Could you take her a bit, I have to practice.”
Maggie stood up straight and coughed a bit and then it turned into something a bit more as she grabbed a rag and covered her mouth with it. The one clown stepped up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder as she caught her breath and the other picked up Lily and started to walk out. Lily glanced back as she wrapped her arms around the clown’s neck and watched as Maggie pulled the rag from her mouth and it was red with blood. The tent flap closed and they headed for the big top.
Sophia stood at the tower mirror and stared into it, her reflection bowed and then returned to normality as she sighed and waited. She looked up as it stretched high above her and covered the entrance to the building. Two guard stepped up to either side of her and she waved her hand and the mirror rolled like waves and then they all stepped through it and into the large hall of the Council tower. This was a place so old there was no date to set on it, for as long as Sophia could remember, or anyone for that matter, the council tower stood as a bright white stone beacon in the city, a place of control and civility, a place where all vampire business was conducted properly and for the last 500 years Menious had ruled it with a slightly less aggressive hand then some would have wanted, some, including Sophia. She was in the mindset that vampires should rule and co-inhabit a planet they clearly dominated. She felt a bit trapped by her Father’s need to be diplomatic and less dictator like in his rule with the going on in Valon. If and when she ruled the council, things would most certainly be different. Humans would not be treated as equals, never….
She stepped up to the two large doors, elaborately carved deep with the history of the vampire…she studied a war, fought long before she was here but how she would have enjoyed it just the same. The doors opened and she stepped into a room full of beautiful faces, flawless like hers and all looking around 21. She walked with grace towards the center of the large room, glancing and nodding too many as she passed them by. Although she only held a seat on the council, her Fathers rule had placed a higher respect upon her. She loved it, as she wanted power almost as much as blood.
She continued to walk, stepping up each step that led to a higher floor above those on the bottom level, another thing she enjoyed about the council room. To rise above and all eyes…
Then the doors behind the center floor opened and everything changed. Eyes left her and suddenly were transfixed on her Father and him alone. She walked to the long table and sat down, taking her place and watched him as he took the highest chair in the middle, one that was engraved as beautifully as the doors leading into the chamber itself. A chair she had played in as a child and pretended to rule from. A chair she one day would claim as her own no doubt.
Menious raised his hands and the murmuring in the room lowered as all eyes continued to watch him.
“Great immortals of Valon, I come to you as I always have with news of progress and import.”
Sophia leaned back and then quickly straightened her shoulders to continue her look of regality. Menious then paused and looked to his daughter and smiled, holding his hand out to her and she stood, somewhat confused but completely delighted to be called upon during a council meeting such as this. She walked to him and stopped as he looked at her and then leaned into her ear and whispered to her.
“I would like for you to make the announcement to retrieve the rogue children my dear.”
Sophia shook slightly as he backed up and stared at her, obviously placing a great weight on her, one that would shape her future in Valon forever. Everyone knew she was more aggressive than her Father, in backrooms for years she had spoken of her dislike in his conduct and yet here he was, forcing her hand once and for all to appear as his successor. She swallowed and nodded to him as she turned and stepped forward, scanning the crowd and quickly recognizing many who had followed her true belief for years. She held her hand up and then opened her mouth.
“It would seem we have a situation that has arose outside of the gates of Valon, one of which my Father and I agree should be handled immediately.”
She paused and looked at her hand, seeing the veins behind her pale skin, almost black in color. Then she started to pace a bit and continued on.
“We will all remember a vampire by the name of Calia who fled our city and its safety; she left with her human lover at her side. Something we do not allow in Valon and at the time my Father, our wise and aged leader, granted her amnesty, although some called it treason. I will not lie, at the time I too considered it a bit much to digest. I mean the thought of a human and vampire loving each other as if they were the same species was foreign to me, but over time and with my Fathers wisdom in my ear, I too came to understand that things were changing in this world.” Sophia paused as those in the crowd whispered quietly. She raised her hand again and the murmuring ceased.
“Trust me, I am here to tell you that a vampire, human love affair is not the true cause for worry. We now face something we have no experience with…that of children, of a mixed race at that.”
“What?” a vampire called out in the crowd and the murmuring rose to a higher level.
Menious slammed his hands on the table and the talking ceased as he waved his hand to his daughter to continue. Sophia nodded and turned back to the now antsy crowd of vampires.
“Yes it seems we have a breed, new to our kind and my Father and I have discussed it and believe it would be best if they came to Valon to be with us here.” She said and Menious smiled at her as she glanced at him. He waved his hand as if to say, “Sell them,” and she turned and scanned the crowd once again, feeling the bile roll up into her throat as she tried to form the sentences in her head.
“So, who better to send then the future Lord Of Valon himself? Joshua Barrington. He will be our champion and bring these…. She paused a moment… children to us, so we can see for ourselves what a human and vampire can do as one.”
The two large doors opened and Joshua stepped in, dressed from shoulder to foot in white leather, form fitting and embossed on his chest… the Tree of Creation, which was the symbol of Valon and the vampire race. He pulled his two shining Katanas to his sides and everyone watched him as he swung them slowly at first in a circular motion, weaving them together in the air and making them appear as one as the motion blurred. He grinned slightly, impressed with his ability to control the attention of the council and then Sophia raised her hand again and he stopped and lowered to his knee, quickly sliding his Katana’s deeply etched with symbols, to his sides and almost flat. She grinned and looked to her Father who also trained his eyes on Joshua. Joshua was a source of great pride to Valon, a Lord… or the ultimate protector of the city and to the vampire race, did not come along but once a millennia and Joshua was and would always be the most powerful, and he had yet to even be appointed officially. He rose as Menious stepped forward and stood by his daughter’s side.
“Joshua Barrington, it is you that we will entrust with retrieving these children and bringing them to us safely. I have all confidence you shall without incident and with great speed.”
“Yes.” Joshua said as he stood his ground looking almost emotionless.
Menious held his hand out to his side and a beautiful girl joined him, also dressed in white leather.
“Mikah will join you, as she has proven to be a fierce warrior in the Valon guard and we do not know what you are to encounter.”
Joshua glanced at her and she ignored him, something he found irritating. Then he settled his eyes on Menious and nodded to him in compliance.
“Well then, I would ask that you and Mikah join me tonig
ht for a private dinner, one to celebrate a new beginning and a mission most important.” Sophia said and Mikah nodded as well as Joshua.
“I will join you,” Menious said and Sophia nodded as she looked down and then back up to Joshua, now her new hope in restoring normalcy.
Jonah watched with wide eyes as Caleb wrestled with a tiger that had no more intention of hurting him as Caleb would of hurting Jonah or Lily. This rare white Tiger had been a “family pet” of sorts since Caleb was young and all the growling it did was just for show. Some would think that a beastie of this nature could never be calmed, but Caleb had a magic in him, a calming effect that Jonah and Lily knew all too well…and although as they both grew they felt small urges arise to bite and perhaps drink of blood as they had to survive right at birth, Caleb’s constant care and presence had calmed them both, not unlike the rare white cub he took under his care as a child. Jonah clapped as the Tiger reared up and swiped at Caleb, obviously giving him plenty of room to escape but from the angle the audience would see this they would be tricked into thinking Caleb was the most amazing Tiger tamer on the planet. Caleb laughed as he rolled on top of the beast and rubbed its belly. It purred, or it perhaps sounded more like a small engine revving up than a cat purring, but just the same it was happy with Caleb as Jonah was, and of course Lily too.
The clown stepped up with Lily in his arms and cleared his throat and Caleb looked up at him as did Jonah from the front row facing the ring.
“Maggie needs to see you Sir.” He said and Caleb immediately stood up and grinned at Jonah and then ran to Lily and kissed her quickly on the cheek, Lily rubbed it off but she loved it. The clown leaned into him and whispered.
“It is getting worse.”
Caleb paused and then placed his hat on his head and did a little dance for Lily, who giggled as usual. He reached behind her ear and pulled a coin, then rubbed his fingers and they turned into two.
