"Very good," Roman said after some time. "You may descend."
I dropped from the post and fell to my knees. My leg muscles cramped up and I grimaced as I quickly rubbed them, avoiding the bandaged wound on my calf. I healed quickly, but it would still be sore for a few days at least.
"You may have a short break, then we will continue." His head was slightly tilted as if he was listening to what was going on up above.
For the next several hours, I endured more of Roman's focused training. It was grueling and by the end, I had sweat running down my bare chest and head. I was exhausted.
"You did well tonight," he said. "Now rest."
He didn't say anything as he left the Halo. For the rest of the morning, he would be in his tank recuperating from the battering sounds of the city. He never showed it, but sometimes I wondered if all the noise caused him physical pain.
I took a long shower, letting my muscles relax under the heat of the water. I was tired, but not so much that I wanted to sleep. My mind was racing too much. What I really wanted was to see Emma.
After dressing, I covered my crow tattoo with makeup and grabbed a quick bite to eat. I headed to the lab, arriving before anyone else. I took it upon myself to go into Richard's office and grab the manila folder he had shown me earlier. I found a private workspace and removed the contents: paper reports, a zip drive and a half-full vial of blood. I looked over all of it. Richard was super close to duplicating the V protein in the blood he was given. He just couldn't see it because he didn't know what he was looking at.
"What are you working on?" a deep, familiar voice said behind me.
I slowly turned around.
Victor stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his massive chest.
15
I glanced over his shoulder. He was alone.
"I just wanted to get a head start." My heart pounded in my chest in sudden anticipation. I could kill him now. Wrap my hands around his neck, snap it to the left. Or maybe I would pound my fists into his face until his brains squished out of his ears. I lowered my gaze and turned my face, stunned by the sudden rush of dark thoughts.
Victor stepped into the room. "I admire a man who works hard. There are so few of those left. Have you found anything interesting?"
I glanced to a microscope on the counter. "Right now I'm just trying to make sense of what Richard has already worked on. The blood sample he has is quite interesting. I've never seen anything like it before."
"That's because there isn’t anything like it. What I'm trying to do here is revolutionary. It will change the city, possibly even the world."
"What exactly are you trying to do?" I asked.
"Do you fight?"
I frowned. "Excuse me?"
"I couldn't help but notice your muscles."
I looked down at my plain black t-shirt beneath my lab coat.
"I'm not queer, if that's what you're thinking," Victor said as he came closer. "But I sense a lot of aggression in you. I think you need to work some of that shit out in the ring. Why don't you come by this weekend to the Devil's Playground? It's in Pigtown."
"I know where it is."
"Then you'll come?"
I thought how best to answer. Having my enemy close could be beneficial, but could I stand to be near the man who killed my parents?
Victor exaggerated a shiver, as if he could sense my thoughts. "Just thinking about fighting gets you all riled up, doesn't it? Or," his eyes narrowed, "is this aggression pulsing off you directed toward me? Did I do something to offend you?"
I spoke quickly. "Nothing like that. Where I came from, I sort of got into trouble for fighting too much. People say I have anger management issues. That's one of the reasons why I moved here."
He slapped me on the back and chuckled. "You won't get into trouble fighting in Coast City, especially if you're working for me." He reached inside his pocket and handed me a card. "Call this number if you want to fight. My guy will get you set up."
I accepted it without a word. I was too busy trying to keep my anger in check for fear Victor might sense something else about me. He turned to leave but stopped in the doorway with his back to me. Over his shoulder, he said, "You know who I am, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then keep that aggression focused elsewhere and we won't have any problems." He left the room with me staring after him.
Victor may have similar abilities as me, but he didn't have the same burning rage. One day, I would kill him.
I wanted to keep working, but I was too angry to concentrate. I paced my small corner of the room, my thoughts battering my mind. What I needed to do was work out some of my aggression on the streets instead of sitting in some stuffy lab staring at a sample of Victor's blood.
A familiar, pleasant smell swirled in the air and all the tension in my body drained from me. I dropped onto a stool.
"I'm surprised you beat me here," Emma said as she walked toward me. "Why the eager beaver? You already have a permanent position."
She leaned onto the counter, accidently knocking over a glass beaker. Just before it shattered on the tiled floor, I caught it.
"Wow. Nice catch," she said, but her tone wasn't surprised in the least. She eyed me curiously.
I averted my gaze and turned away from her. "I'm working on a project for Richard and it has me stumped. I hoped I could figure it out before he came in."
"Maybe I can help. Let me see."
Before I could stop her, she straightened and closed the distance between us. As she bent over to look into the microscope, she placed her hand on my shoulder. Her touch electrified every part of me and it took all the strength I had not to pull her onto my lap and cover her mouth with mine. I jumped to my feet, the heat from her palm still burning my flesh. I shouldn't have these thoughts.
She glanced over at me, her eyes narrowed. "You okay?"
"Do you see anything?" I asked quickly, trying to recover. I shouldn't be working this closely with her.
She looked back into the scope. "I can see why you're confused. The platelets are all wrong. I've never seen anything like it. Where did Richard get it?"
"From a patient with a rare type of cancer," I lied.
"That doesn't make sense. Whoever’s blood this came from, the person should be dead." She straightened and looked at me. "What are you supposed to do with it?"
"I need to find a way to duplicate it."
"I don't see how that's possible, unless…." Her eyes lowered to the floor as she thought.
"What?"
"What if you opened one of the cells first? Stripped it right down to the DNA? I mean, I know that's one of the last steps you would take, but maybe if you start there you would see something you might be missing now?"
"You could be on to something. I'll take a look. Thanks."
She leaned back and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she stared at me. Her gaze became so intense that I had to resist the urge to squirm under the weight of it.
"You know," she said, "it's the strangest thing, but you remind me of a guy I used to know. There's something about you…"
She stepped toward me almost as if she didn't know what she was doing. Was this the part of me that naturally drew people in, or did she genuinely want to get close to me?
"Oh yeah?" I asked, my voice cracking.
She studied my face. "He had your same eyes, but they weren't so dark and intense. He smiled more, too."
"Were you friends?" I swallowed. I should walk away right now, but I couldn't get my feet to move. Not when she was this close.
Her expression saddened and her gaze fell. "I considered him my best friend. He helped me through a difficult time when I had no one else. We used to meet at the park every day when we were just kids, but one day he didn't show up, and I never saw him again. I went back to that same park for months after, but it was like he just disappeared."
She looked up at me and searched my eyes. "You look so similar, you could almost be
a grown-up version of him. He used to bring these flowers…"
She lifted her hand and touched my chest. Her fingertips trailed down my pecs and over my abs, sending a searing heat of pleasure throughout my body. "I miss him."
I stepped back, sucking in air. "I'm not him."
She blinked as if coming out of a trance, and her face reddened. "Of course not. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."
She whirled around and hurried away. My heart lurched. What I wouldn't give to admit I was that same boy, that I had never left her and had always watched over her. I only stayed away to protect her.
She disappeared out of sight. I ground my jaw together and turned my back to the rest of the lab. I couldn't think about Emma right now. I needed to get my work done quickly so I could get back out on the street and work out some pent-up aggression, caused by both Victor and Emma, but for two very different reasons.
The next several hours, I did as Emma suggested and spun the blood down to separate the white blood cells from the red. From there I was able to withdraw the DNA from the white blood cells. Looking at it from a molecular level, I was able to see many similarities between Victor's and my DNA.
Roman had me study my own blood for many months when I was a teenager so I could understand exactly what I was and what I could become. The V proteins inside Victor and my blood must've done something to our DNA for there to be so many similarities.
When Richard showed up, I shared with him what I had found and my theories on how best to duplicate it. He seemed pleased, but concerned, too. I wished I could tell him that it didn't matter if we duplicated anything. Soon, I would have Victor and all his men behind bars. Any work we did here would be destroyed.
After I left work, I headed to the police station to see Kristen. That was my excuse anyway, but really I wanted to see if the police had arrested those men who had been at the school.
I walked into the old building and stepped off to the side of the large lobby. Several marbled columns held the roof in place and part of the marbled floor was chipped in several places. People stood in line to walk through metal detectors and to check in for appointments.
I tried to listen in on conversations to see if I could hear anything about what had happened last night, but there were too many voices. Every once in a while I would catch a few words mentioning the school, but nothing I could make sense of.
I removed my phone and texted Kristen where I was. She showed up a few minutes later and grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me to the side.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, looking around nervously.
"Did the police bring in a bunch of Victor's men last night?"
"Did you have something to do with that?"
I nodded.
"Yes. Several of them actually. And they were discovered where rhino dust was being produced, one of Victor's main locations. It's a big deal around here."
"Do you think those men will be prosecuted?"
"I can't say for sure, but I know some of the cops here are frustrated with the way crime is being ignored. They're demanding a change. Some are even saying the FBI needs to do an internal review to clean house. I think this is scaring the chief."
"Good. What about the money and duffle bag full of papers? There had to be something in those that incriminated him."
"I do remember hearing something about documents needing to be looked through, but money?"
"There was a bunch of cash that was recovered at the school. It should be used as evidence against them, too."
"There hasn't been any mention of that. As far as I know, they only grabbed the men and papers."
I curled my fingers into my palm. Could Oz somehow have taken it? Maybe he hid it while I was fighting, then circled back for it after the police left the school. Or maybe a cop took it, but I doubted that. They wouldn't be stupid enough to steal from Victor. But, Oz was.
Kristen touched me lightly on the arm. "Are you being careful?"
"Always. Expect to see more changes." I glanced toward the doors. "I'll come see you when I can."
I left the building and descended the long steps with a smile. Change was happening. It wasn't anywhere near where I wanted to be, but it was happening. Tonight I would hit several more places. My body tingled in anticipation.
But first I had to see one more person.
16
Instead of traveling underground across town like I usually did, I took the bus. It felt strange to be sitting around so many people, but it also felt good. I had been watching over them for so many years hidden within the shadows, that it was nice to be among them in the day.
I knocked on Oz's apartment door. I could hear shuffling from within and Oz's voice as he told Amy he would be right back. The door opened. He smirked and turned away but left the door open. "I didn't think I would see you again."
I came into the room and shut the door. "Sorry about last night. Roman can be difficult."
"Difficult? Try a dick."
"He's not used to people." I moved into the small living room. "How's your sister?"
"Still has a tumor. So who is this Roman guy? And why hasn't he been around people?"
"It's a long story."
"I've got nowhere to be." He dropped onto the sofa.
I checked the time. It was late afternoon. I couldn't really do anything until dark anyway and if I returned to Ironwood, Roman would probably make me train again. That was the last thing I felt like doing. My body still ached bone-deep from his training last night.
"Roman used to work for my mother at Bodian Dynamics years ago. They were very good friends. When my father and she began dating, Roman grew close to both of them. My father—"
"You mean Jonas Crow, right?" Oz asked.
It felt strange to have someone other than Roman say his name. "Yes. My father was an archaeologist who had a fascination with the occult, specifically vampires. He studied every story he came across about the monsters. He specifically focused on Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian countess in the fifteen-hundreds who tortured and killed dozens of people because of her obsession with blood. It was rumored she was a vampire. My father traveled to Romania to prove it."
His jaw fell open. "You can't be serious. Vampires?"
I knew how it sounded. It was crazy. If I hadn't grown up with the story, I wouldn't have believed it either. But I'd seen too much, including my own blood. I was different and it had everything to do with what my father found in Romania.
"My father found proof, Oz. After several years of research, he discovered where she was buried and dug her up. He said her body was preserved incredibly well, and she had a wooden stake in her heart. He took samples of her body, including dried blood, back to Bodian Dynamics for my mother and Roman to study."
"But this countess chick lived hundreds of years ago. There shouldn't have been anything left of her but dust."
"Not if she really was a vampire. Her cells would've been very different from a human’s."
"Let's say you're right and she really was a vampire. She was staked in the heart. Doesn't that mean she'd go puff, smoke into the air?" He made an exaggerated motion with his arms.
"Normally, yes, but my father believed she was one of the first or, maybe even, made by an original vampire. Her body would've been stronger."
Oz ruffled his hair in frustration. "So your father took this crazy-assed, dead chick's blood and gave it to your mom who somehow duplicated it and gave it to Jonas, and you're his son so—" His eyebrows lifted high on his head—"Are you saying Jonas was a vampire? That you're a vampire?"
I shook my head. "He wasn't, and I'm not. I only have some of their strength and speed passed down from my father. Heightened senses and quick healing, too."
"Is Roman a vampire?"
"No, but let me continue so you understand. My mother and Roman studied the tissue samples and blood. It took almost a year until they were able to replicate it. My father was especially excited and hoped to use it for good
. During this time, the city was being overrun by the Morettis."
Oz's expression darkened. "My grandfather was killed by Moretti's men."
"A lot of people were killed. That's why Jonas, my dad, was so anxious for my mom and Roman to create something. He thought if he could inject it into himself, he would become strong enough to defeat Moretti. And he was right. They finally did create a special serum. My father injected himself with it and well, you've heard the stories. He turned this city around."
"But how does Victor play into all of this? And why did Roman go underground?"
"Victor was my father's best friend. He often traveled with him on his expeditions as his assistant. They did everything together. I don't know their complete history, only bits and pieces from my aunt, but I believe Victor grew jealous of my father so he took the serum for himself. And that's when he had my mother and father killed. People believed I was dead, too, but Kristen and Roman smuggled me to Ironwood."
I leaned against the wall. I'd never spoken out loud about this with anyone. I couldn't stop. "Before Roman destroyed his and my mother's work, he also injected himself with their serum in hopes he could stop Victor, but the V proteins reacted differently to his cells. It ended up blinding him, but he did become stronger, and his hearing became super sensitive, too much though. He gets ill if he doesn't have regular periods of absolute silence."
Oz leaned forward. "So you guys have been living underground all your life?"
"Not the whole time. Shortly after Roman hid me, we left the city. He took me to an island off the coast of Louisiana where he learned more about what we were. He also learned how to channel magic through deep meditation and by using the earth's elements. We lived there for about five years, then returned to Ironwood."
He dropped back into his chair and slouched down. "That's incredible. So you and Victor have the same abilities, but you're not vampires. Will you ever become one in time?"
A Hero's Death: Aris Crow Vampire Legend Page 11
