Shadows of Doubt

by Corcoran, Mell

  Since that time the seven and their progeny parted ways to learn and grow wherever the winds carried them. They found places in the shadows but always in a position of command, within the greatest empires mankind has ever known. As the empires fell and others rose, the need for growth, additional laws and enforcers became necessary. Ultimately the original seven chose six more and formed the Senatus Imperium, the counsel of masters. Each member of the Senatus was sent to each empire to govern, protect and provide. Those individuals are called Dominor and are the supreme rule over the Sanguinostri in their region. They have their own Aegis Council who are the lieutenants. Soldiers who answer only to the Dominor and the Senatus as a whole. They hold the laws of man sacred as their own but their own are above all. To protect the sanctity of humankind and sanguin-kind, even from themselves.

  “So, baby girl, for over two millennia the Sanguinostri has survived by those same laws and vows they made back then.” Her uncle began his conclusion to the story. “Above all, keeping our presence a secret from human society is critical, or else we would be hunted, exterminated, or worse, held prisoner, dissected like bugs and used as lab rats.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute.” Caroline interrupted. “Keeping ‘our’ presence? Who is ‘we’? What do you mean exactly by ‘we’?”

  “Well that’s the thing, ‘we’ means your parents, me and Francis over there for starters. But there are those who are just indoctrinated and haven’t turned. They are called Stewards, formally. Like you’re momma chose to be so that she could have you.” He looked at her parents then back at her. “But remember when I said in the very beginning, I was really your grand-daddy?”

  Caroline tried to absorb it all. “Yeah, I remember.”

  “Well I don’t exactly look old enough to be, do I? Which is why as times change, those of us that have turned, have to lie.”

  “So how old are you then? And don’t expect me to start calling you grand-daddy now.” The room took a collective breath at Caroline’s joke. It was a good indicator that if she were going to freak, she would have by now.

  “Do you remember in the beginning of the story, the first girl who bled for her brother and that’s how they figured that out?”

  “Yeah I remember.”

  “She was my mother, baby girl. It took her nearly a thousand years, but she gave birth to me successfully, and that’s a big deal for our kind. But to answer your question, I was born just after Byzas established Byzantium, right about 654 B.C.”

  “Holy crap!” Caroline goggled. “You are freaking old! No offense or anything.”

  He laughed outright, his deep booming laugh that she loved. “None taken, sugar pie. Yes I am old, but not as old as some. Caroline, we need to get to the point of me telling you all of this, it’s getting late and we are going to need some serious decisions out of you.”

  She blinked slowly. “I don’t understand.”

  “Well you’re parents were supposed to tell you all this when you were eighteen and properly indoctrinate you. We’re doin’ all that now but its a little difficult because you and your friend Lou have gotten mixed up in Sanguinostri business without knowing it. Those three crimes you girls are looking into off the books?”

  “Shit!” Caroline jumped up from her seat. “Shit! Shit! He’s one of you guys?”

  “Now calm down, missy!” Her uncle demanded when he saw Frank take a step forward. “Just like normal humankind, we have our bad guys too. That’s all the jurisdiction of our Dominor, the Aegis Council and all their people. You girls stir things up and put too many eyeballs on our bad guy and its dangerous for us. We take care of our bad guys a hell of a lot stricter than human laws do.”

  “But what’s the deal with the saliva and that keratin I couldn’t identify?” She sat back down and Frank took a step back again. She had never noticed him move.

  “Those of us that have turned have funny blood, tissue and other bodily fluids. One of the reasons why its so rare for us to have babies the normal way. Once things leave our bodies, they sorta die instantly, or degrade as you would say. We have some of the most brilliant scientists in the world trying to figure it out but so far, no go. You could even try to help us figure it out if you choose indoctrination.”

  She thought for a moment. “So that would explain why its so necessary for you to have your own police. To pick up where regular cops have no clue what they are looking at.”

  He nodded. “That’s a real strong reason. We have people in all kinds of places keeping eyes open for stuff. Your associate Carpesh being one of them. That’s how we learned about the three dead girls and our Dominor and his Council came to be in Los Angeles.”

  “Huh? Carpesh? Seriously?” Caroline was having a hard time putting the whole of what she was hearing into something she could comprehend. “Wait! Wait! What do you mean if I choose indoctrination? Haven’t I been indoctrinated by virtue of you telling me all this?”

  “No, baby girl. You have to swear the Oath, Blood-swear. You have to keep this a secret from anyone outside the Sanguinostri and vow to keep us above all else, or die as the price for betrayal. We have to do this right quick because if you can’t swear, Frankie here has to wipe your memory of us ever telling you all of this.”

  “What? Wipe?” She goggled again at her uncle.

  “Sometimes the turning gives us special talents. There are mentalists who can read thoughts and hypnotize with a blink of an eye. Some that can read objects and tell you where its been, who’s touched it and so on. Then there are some like Frankie here who can erase memories. If you honestly can’t swear, then he needs to make it so you don’t remember any of this happening.”

  Caroline could feel the anti-anxiety pill was wearing off and pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. She turned and looked at the familiar stranger that stood off behind her. She looked at him hard for several moments then almost heard an audible click in her head.

  “Holy shit. Carpesh, the Dominor, his Aegis Council...” She pointed her finger at Frank. ‘Francis... Frankie... Frank Sullivan?”

  Frank smiled at her. She was a smart girl. “That would be me.”

  “I freaking called you today!” Caroline couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

  “Huh?” He was puzzled for a moment but quickly placed what she was saying. “That was you? That hung up after asking my name?” He walked toward her and almost started laughing with her.

  “Holy shit, it is a small world.” She regained her composure and realized the reason he looked familiar was she had seen him on the security footage from the morgue. Another click in her head. “That means... The man with you at the morgue, is that the Dominor?”

  Frank bowed his head as he did when he greeted her. “That is our Dom, yes.”

  Caroline plopped down on the couch and covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. “Holy shit, Lou’s Yummy Morgue Guy is the Dominor.”

  “Yummy what? Caroline’s parents, her uncle and Frank all asked in unison.

  “Yummy Morgue Guy! Oh she has got it bad for him since she passed him in the hall that day!” It was probably totally inappropriate but she started laughing again.

  “Holy shit!” This time it was Frank that said it. He shoved her over on the couch and sat down next to her. “She has a thing for him, too?”

  “What do you mean, too?” Caroline looked at him suspiciously.

  “Wait, we will deal with that later. You three...” Frank poin
ted at her uncle and parents. “You never heard that or I’ll send Niko to deal with you.” The three muttered various things to the effect of not hearing a thing, heard what, and so fourth. “Caroline...” Frank turned back to her. “You need to focus and decide. I can’t let you leave here until you decide to take the Oath or reject.”

  She stood and started pacing. “I need to think.” Caroline yanked the rubber band out of her hair and scratched her head as thought the action would help organize her thoughts. “Can I step outside and get some air so I can think at least?” She looked at her uncle and her parents who in turn looked at Frank.

  “Yeah but I need to go with you.” Frank got up and escorted her out to the garden.

  It was cold but the air was refreshing to Caroline. She needed to focus and take everything in even though she had more questions than she could count. She paced on the small patio while Frank kept his distance and said nothing for a long time. This was a twist of fate she had never seen coming.

  “Caroline...” He finally spoke up. “I know this is very difficult to comprehend, fantastical even. But you need to understand that who we are, what we are, is good and honorable. We always have been.”

  Caroline stepped up to him and waggled her finger in his face as she spoke to him. “You would think that finding out my family tree is a bunch of vampires and that the world as I’ve known it has a whole other world to it that I need to either swear fealty to or die would be what is so upsetting about all this.” She snorted at her own statement then haphazardly pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

  “The term vampire is such a load of crap. Excuse me but it pisses me off.” Frank was the one to pace now. “That term didn’t even come to be until like the sixteen-hundreds and the dumb ass who started it was too chicken to turn so he tried to wipe us out!”

  She had to smile at his temper. “Really? Is that true?”

  “Yeah, its true but I probably shouldn’t have told you that yet.” He tried to fight back the smile.

  Caroline stepped right in his face again and nearly touched his nose with her pointed finger. “I cannot lie to Lou. That’s what is making this hard for me. I will not lie to her or keep secrets from her. If you are telling me that’s what I have to do then you better wipe or whatever me now.”

  Frank knew what that sort of loyalty and conviction felt like. He felt it every day of his life with Max and the others. Even though it had been for Max’s own good, Frank had felt uneasy about his going behind his back with the Code Pink for days now. Understanding somewhat how Caroline felt, he took a chance and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Listen to me carefully, there are things I wish I could tell you, things that I know.” When she looked down towards the floor, he tilted her chin gently so she met his gaze. “I know you don’t know me and have no reason to trust me but I am asking you to. Please believe me when I tell you that I don’t think you are going to have to lie to Lou for more then a a few days. A week at best.”

  Her eyes grew wide with his words “But wha...”

  “I cannot tell you.” He cut her off. “I wish that I could, but I can’t. Just please give me time. I know everything is going to work out.” They stood there just like that for several moments, just looking into each other’s souls.

  “Will you do it?” She asked him after a few moments of considering his words.

  “Will I do what?”

  “If I decide to turn, will you be the one? Or at least be there?” The look in her eyes was more than he could bear.

  “If you decide to turn.” He sighed, certain he would regret making such a promise. “I will be there.”

  She hugged him and he wasn’t quite sure how to hug her back. Before he figured it out, she stepped back.

  “Okay, lets go do this oath thing. But whatever it is you are up to, you better be all over it and make it snappy.” She disappeared into the bungalow before he could utter a word.

  For a moment, just a brief moment, he wondered if this was how it started for Max.

  The day looked like something Michelangelo would have painted. Though a bit on the cold side, the robin’s egg blue sky with its tufts of snow white clouds drifting by in dollops made it bearable even with Lou’s serious lack of sleep. January was done and the first days of February teased with the hope and promise of the coming spring. Lou and her parents had enjoyed a delicious brunch in the solarium of the country club with the picturesque morning as a backdrop. The previous night’s excitement had drifted off into memory as Lou and her parents ate and laughed, listening to Joe recount his adventures during his trip to Bangalore. As she laughed some more, it struck Lou funny how their Sunday tradition had come to be and how grateful she was for it. She had lost a bet to her mother some time ago which forced her to take golf lessons with her. Lou had never thought much of the sport but after a few of those lessons, she was hooked and looked forward to Sundays together very much. Today was especially so given her and Vinny’s run in with the grease monkeys the night before. Lou had decided not to mention anything about it to her mother so as not to spoil the day.

  Monkey number one had lawyered up and wasn’t talking. There was really nothing to be done on Lou and Vinny’s part past the paperwork until they were cleared by the department shrink. Departmental procedure demanded it whenever an officer involved shooting took place. The psychiatrist was a good guy that both Lou and Vinny knew and liked. He had spent all of ten minutes with each of them knowing full well they were fine, but stated he wouldn’t be able to get the reports in until Monday morning. Apparently the poor guy had been called in while he was moving from his bachelor pad to his single family dwelling with his new bride. He was literally pulling his mattress off the truck when his cell rang for the incident and dropped everything to get them squared away. He ordered them to take the day to decompress and promised they would be back at it bright and early Monday morning. Since the rookie that had taken custody of the jackass in the parking lot was frothing at the bit to do anything on the case, they decided to let him do the grunt work while they followed the doc’s orders and proceed with Sunday as usual. Lou with her golf and Vinny with nursery painting. Ok, so maybe not quite so usual after all.

  Finishing the last of their coffee, Lou and her mother left the solarium to meet Joe out by the pro shop. He had gone ahead to collect their clubs, get the carts ready and check on their tee time. Shevaun paused in the pro shop as was tradition. She perused the latest selection of golf apparel with Lou giving the nod if something suited her. While her mother admired a cute spring green ensemble, Lou observed the coming and going golfers through the windows. A cart passed by with a couple of familiar faces and a foursome walked up the path nearly doubled over with laughter. It made Lou smile. When another cart came around the bend, Lou’s knees nearly gave out. The golf director that Lou knew well was pulling up with Yummy Morgue Guy in the passenger seat.

  “Holy crap!” It flew out of Lou’s mouth without her realizing.

  Lou’s mother jolted at the use of language in the pro shop. Lou’s random bouts of cursing on the golf course had been a bone of contention between the women for some time. “Tallulah! Mind your mouth!” She scolded as she approached Lou. “What?”

  “Momma...” Lou stammered and whispered at the same time. “It’s him! That’s him!”

  “Who’s him? What are you talking about?” Shevaun looked to see who had gotten her daughter all flustered when she saw Max getting out of a cart. “Oh there’s Max!” She instantly disregarded Lou’s outburst and focused her attention on the man. “I am so glad he could join
us!”

  Lou looked at her mother as though the woman had a horn growing out of her forehead. “What? You know him?”

  “Well of course I do sweet pea, that’s Max, Joe’s long time business buddy from back east. Our soon to be new neighbor?” Shevaun couldn’t understand her daughter’s surprise. “We had dinner with him Friday night and invited him to join us. I’m sure I told you! He’s a lovely man. You’re going to like him very much.” Shevaun dismissed her daughter and went to the counter with the spring green ensemble to have it wrapped up.

  Lou stood for a long moment trying to process what was happening. “I’ll be right back Momma. Meet you outside in a sec.” Lou told her mother then made a mad dash for the locker room and hit the speed dial on her cell to call Caroline. She figured her friend would be asleep still so she wasn’t surprised when the call went directly to voice mail. “Caroline, shit! I’m at the club and you will absolutely freak out when you hear who my parents have as a fourth for our game! My freaking parents know him! Yummy Morgue Guy is a friend of Joe’s!” Lou finally sucked in a breath. “Do you understand what I am saying? I am about to play golf with Yummy Morgue Guy! Wake up dammit! Call me as soon as you get this message!”

  It took Lou quite a few minutes to compose herself before she dared leave the locker room. After considerable stares from women coming and going, Lou decided she had a grip and needed to face this man and get it over with. It was ridiculous since he had absolutely no clue who she was, let alone that he had been on her mind nearly twenty-four hours a day since she passed him in the hall at the morgue. She thanked God she had opted for the new fucshia and gray argyle sweater she had gotten for Christmas rather then her favorite Tattoo Golf sweater. With little skulls and golf clubs as crossbones embroidered all over it didn’t exactly exude femininity. The gray golf pants with the pretty matching sweater was a much better choice in retrospect. After a final once over, she decided she was looking as good as it was going to get and she headed out. She only prayed she didn’t make an ass out of herself.