by Joe Fowler
“Our next fight will be between Sweetie and Medusa! Let’s hear it for our fighters!”
Sweetie headed out to the arena. I looked at Medusa and saw mind control. I held my breath but knew Sweetie would not likely look first. I was happy to see the fight go as planned. The announcer left, Medusa screamed, and Sweetie took her head.
“Holy shit! What the hell was that?” Ethan was as shocked as they always are.
“Illusion. That’s Sweetie’s gift. A bit of advice, don’t piss her off and don’t look to see what her illusions are. I’ve had nightmares from seeing what she did to her opponents.” I told Ethan to try and save him from that very thing.
“You got it.” Was his reply.
I hugged Sweetie when she returned to her seat.
The next few matches went by over the next confusing amount of time. I was getting sleepy when my name was called.
This time wasn’t bad. I knelt on the X and was more than alert enough to avoid sleep. My opponent was a teleporter so I knew I wouldn’t have any trouble. I did the quick hit and took his head without drinking.
I returned to our pen.
“Must have been a boring gift.” Justin said.
“Teleporter.”
Justin nodded and refocused his concentration. When his name was called, I struggled to maintain control. I watched eagerly to see what the gift would be that he had to overcome. I almost cried when I saw. Speed. His name was Bolt. I knew Justin would understand what that meant.
“…Let the game begin!”
Bolt struck as soon as the announcer left. Apollo was struggling to rise when Bolt laughed and came at Apollo again. I’ll never understand how he pulled it off. The only way that makes sense is that Apollo guessed. As Bolt laughed, he tensed and charged Apollo again for another lightening quick strike. Apollo dove forward into Bolts legs. The timing was perfect. Bolt flew into the concrete wall as his momentum carried him after Apollo had tripped him. Apollo walked over and took Bolt’s head.
Apollo was led into the crowd.
Chapter 24
I was still wired when I made it back to my room. I was so happy for Apollo. I knew I wouldn’t call him Justin any more.
Sweetie had told me goodnight figuring I would need to sleep. She went on to bed. I sat there knowing I needed to be asleep but not wanting to go.
I finally decided to try and sleep. Just as I was shutting my eyes, Arria walked into my room. I sat up with a smile.
“This is not going to interfere with your rest!” She had a smile. “I have just grown to like waking up next to you.”
“It does make the day start out better when I wake up to the most beautiful woman in the world.” I told her as I held the sheet up for her to climb in next to me. She nestled in close as I lowered the sheet around us.
“Apollo will work for me. He told me he wouldn’t work for any other old one. I have been rooting for him from the start but didn’t believe he would pull it off.” Arria sounded like she really meant that.
“No one could deserve it more. You’ll never have to worry about his loyalty. He is as good of a person, well vampire, as you can meet.”
Arria nudged her way in closer. I held her and let my worries drift away.
“Get packed. We will be flying as soon as the jet is ready. We will be fighting tomorrow night. No rest day this time. I already know Cheng will be there with Achilles. The more I have thought about it, the happier I get. Achilles really would be an unstoppable monster. I am glad you will rid us of him.” Arria told me this as we got out of bed.
“Remember, Loki can help if something were to happen to me.” I saw her face crumple and I hugged her to my chest. “I feel fine and everything should work out perfectly. I just need you to understand what might need to be done. Just in case.”
“I understand. You will need to show me who this Loki is though. I remember the name but he isn’t the only Loki I have watched fight.”
I pulled up the illusions. I showed Loki to Arria and showed the beige walls of his old one’s facility.
“He was at my second fight. I pulled the walls so you would know which old one he belonged to. He has won his freedom now so I don’t know where you could look.” As I explained this, the illusion failed. I played it off as intentional.
“He won’t be hard to find.” Arria’s tone was a little different. She sounded happy enough but it caught me off guard. “Now get packed and go feed before we leave.”
Arria kissed me and left. I heard her banging on the other fighters doors as she walked away. I walked to my bag preoccupied.
I was still standing there when Amy and Sweetie walked to my doorway.
“Why the banging?” Amy asked.
“Get packed. We will be leaving shortly. Tell the others to be ready to go.” I said.
I was still standing still. I made myself get started packing. My illusion failed. It pulled up normally but I couldn’t hold it. I went through my gifts making sure none of them were active before I headed to the donor room.
It was an in between taste. I was seeing some memories but they were confusing and didn’t make sense. I drained her.
I sat on my bed waiting for time to leave. Sweetie walked in carrying her bag. She sat on the bed beside me. She looked at me funny but didn’t say anything.
When Noah came, we followed him down the dark blue hallways to the plane. I was deep in thought the whole way. Arria had me sit up front with her again. I made sure to sleep as much as I could. I didn’t want her to see my worry and ask what was wrong.
We left the plane to enter the beige shafts. I thought back to Arria’s tone and thought this might have been the reason. I could tell my mind wasn’t as clear as it normally would be. I grew more worried but managed to control my fears.
Luckily, there wasn’t a wait. We kept walking right through the waiting room into the beige hallways that would lead us to our rooms. I needed to wait for the tour to end before I could head back to the donor room.
Some memories, maybe a little clearer than when I fed pre-flight. That gave me some hope. Maybe I just need more rest. I left the donor room heading back to bed.
Sweetie came in and took her seat by the bed. She gave me a worried look but then smiled and looked away. I was glad she wasn’t asking me how I was.
When I woke up, my room was empty and the door was shut. I stood and decided to try the donor room again. I made my way there and fed. A mixture. It was hard to tell if the memories were stronger, weaker, or the same.
I had my head down pondering this as I walked the empty beige hallway. When a pair of expensive shoes came into view, I looked up startled.
Pyro.
“You have been a frustration since I learned of you. My spies saw that they couldn’t turn you. My assassins failed. Even the council wouldn’t kill you. I guess I will have to do it myself.” He smiled before he hit me.
I saw it coming but couldn’t avoid it. He came at me again as I stood there. I moved enough to avoid this time.
“Wow, you really are fast. Not fast enough, though.” He laughed and launched into another attack. I got a couple of shots in on him but he got a dozen on me. I was fading and I knew I couldn’t last. He backed off after his last barrage. “Now, I hear that you would have killed Achilles. He is more than willing to do what we want. I can’t let you take away this hope too. I will have what I want if I have to kill a hundred more just like you!”
He came at me again. He began hitting me repeatedly. I lashed out for his throat but he caught my arm in front of him.
“Like I said, you aren--” His words were cut off by my spike thrusting through his neck.
I heard footsteps and looked up as two unfamiliar vampires stopped about twenty feet from us.
I tried to pull the spike free but he still held it where he had made a desperate grab to stop it. It seemed to take four days for me to unclench his fist so I could free the spike. He collapsed to the floor and I collapsed with him.
&nb
sp; I crawled over to his body and ripped his head off.
I felt myself blacking out.
“This is unheard of! I wish Titan hadn’t killed him so I could torture that piece of garbage for a thousand years!” Arria’s voice was reaching a fevered pitch.
I heard this. I wasn’t able to open my eyes but I heard Arria. I tried to speak but couldn’t find the garage.
“Arria, we have to find out if he drank from Pyro. You remember Feng’s words.” The voice sounded familiar.
“We have two witnesses! They both swear Titan did not drink. You are just grasping for any possible excuse. Do you remember Cadoc? I will do the same to you if you aren’t careful, Cheng.”
“I am aware of that, Arria. I am not challenging you. You have to see my point though. If he drank from Pyro he has to die.” Cheng stated, fearfully.
“Didn’t…” I managed.
I felt Arria grab my hand. I wanted to assure her. I wanted to look at her face but I couldn’t open my damn feet. I was getting frustrated.
“Titan? Are you awake?” She asked.
I squeezed her hand but wasn’t sure I could get another car out. My mouth still didn’t seem to dance.
“I will be back once he has more time to recover.” Cheng left the room.
“I am…” I tried but that was all I could say.
“Just rest. I will have two donors here soon. Noah is getting them now.” Arria was trying to soothe me.
I didn’t try to move. After waiting for four trains, Noah brought in the donors.
I felt a wrist being placed on my mouth.
“Bite. Titan, you need to drink.” Arria instructed.
I felt my teeth drop. I bit the wrist and felt the warm flow of blood into my mouth. My mind became somewhat more aware of what I was doing. The purely delicious flow of blood didn’t last long enough. I was still trying to suck more blood when the wrist was pulled from my mouth.
“More.” I was able to get that word out.
I felt another wrist and bit as soon as I could. The delicious flow continued. My eyes finally opened. I continued to drink until the donor went dry. I lay back when Aria removed the wrist from my mouth.
“Better? Can you talk now?” Arria was asking me. I turned my eyes to see her beautiful face covered in tears and streaks from previous tears.
“I think so. Just don’t ask any hard questions for a while.” I tried to smile but don’t know if it happened.
So tired…
I heard Sweetie’s voice. She sounded worried.
“Why would they still make him fight? That isn’t right!” She was saying.
I opened my eyes to see what was wrong. Sweetie and Noah were there. Noah saw my eyes open. He smiled and walked over to me.
“You will be fighting in about four hours. I will go bring in two more donors now. Try to stay awake until I get back.” He left after he spoke.
I felt Sweetie take my hand. I looked at her tear streaked face and for a moment became enraged wondering who had hurt her. Then I realized she had been crying because of me. It was still hard to relax. My whole body ached in a weird way. It wasn’t pain. It was like the life had been drained. I knew I needed to say something to Sweetie but I couldn’t figure out what. I squeezed her hand.
“I will be alright. Just relax.” I said. I seemed to be taking my own advice. My eyes were closing again. Sweetie shook me gently.
“You have to stay awake, Titan. Noah is bringing blood for you. You need to eat. Then maybe you can sleep again.” Sweetie told me.
I wasn’t sure I could. I felt myself falling. Sweetie lifted me to a sitting position which caused me to open my eyes again.
“Stay awake!” She repeated.
The next two hundred years were full of my eyes closing and Sweetie slapping me. Finally Noah returned.
“Drink.”
I made my eyes open enough to see the arm in front of me. I grabbed it and drank. When I couldn’t get any more blood out of the arm, another arm replaced it. This one was full. That was good. That arm went dry too.
I looked up. I had some thought but not much. They still expected me to fight. I couldn’t see my gifts working anytime soon. This was bad.
“Help me stand up.” I told them.
Sweetie grabbed one arm and Noah took the other. As soon as my weight was on my feet, my legs collapsed. They caught me and put me back on the bed.
“That didn’t work.” I tried to smile but caught the look on Sweetie’s face and the smile froze. She was both sad and angry.
“The blood needs time to heal you. In an hour I will bring you another donor. Just lay here and rest until then.” Noah instructed.
“Does he have to wait? It doesn’t make any sense.” Sweetie was angry at Noah.
I wondered why. I tried to think of any reason Sweetie would be mad at Noah and couldn’t. My brain wasn’t doing so well with the more complicated thoughts.
“I’ve explained this, Sweetie. You know I want to, but I have to see. I can’t take that chance until I know.” Noah was talking in riddles.
“Can I sleep again yet?” I managed to say. They were still holding me up in a sitting position. I really wanted to lay down.
“No. If you sleep now, you might not wake before time for the fight. If you can’t walk into the arena on your own, they will execute you.” Noah sounded sad.
They continued to hold me up and I could feel some improvement but not enough. I wondered what death would be like. Without my gifts, Achilles would kill me.
My mind began to wander. Would I witness the truth behind the illusions of hell that both Sweetie and I had created? I was definitely a killer. I thought back to all those donors. They didn’t have to die because of me. I might not have been able to save their lives but I didn’t have to kill them either.
I was a stupid dishwasher for crying out loud. How the hell did I end up the center of the vampire world?
Now, if I couldn’t recover enough, Achilles would be let loose to become a monster. Why was this my responsibility? I just wanted to spend my time with Arria and be happy. Why do I have to fight anymore?
I realized the stupidity that my mind was sinking to. I made it a point early in life to not be one of those whiny, selfish bastards that complained about everything but did nothing to help themselves.
What can I do to improve this situation? I need more blood. Noah said it would be an hour. That was four days ago. It couldn’t be much longer.
Is there any other options with Achilles? Only Loki.
That means I have to get better. Loki is free and could be anywhere right now. I wish Ghost was here. He could figure something out.
I sat there struggling. I could feel some improvement. I was gradually getting better. The problem was how bad I must have been to start with. My mind was clearing little by little. The all over ache was gone now.
The blood. That was why I ached before. I was empty. All of my own blood had gone into the healing process. The blood I drank needed time to refill my muscles. Once I get the next donor, maybe I can finish healing.
Hey, that was better thinking. Well it wasn’t Einstein’s theory of relativity but it was better than before. Maybe I can improve.
I sat for a month at least. I was losing the little I had gained. When was Noah going to bring me some more blood?
Some sleep would be really nice…
Slap
“Stay awake.” Sweetie was sure slapping me a lot. I always thought she was sweet. Now here she is slapping me. Butthole.
Sleep would be real good. Don’t let my eyes close. Sweetie will slap me.
“Here’s Noah!” Sweetie exclaimed, loudly. I turned, sort of. It was more like I drooped toward the door.
Noah brought the donor’s wrist to my mouth. I drank in the sweet nectar. The damn nectar ran out. Want more!
“More?” I managed to ask.
“Not yet. You will get one more donor on the way to the arena. You will need to walk to the platform,
then to the holding pen, and when the time comes, into the arena for your fight.” Noah said.
“Unngh, fight, ‘k.” I felt some level of thought returning. It wasn’t good. If my thinking was only going to last for a short time between donors, I was in trouble.
As my mind returned for its brief visit, Arria entered the room. I was sitting up under my own power now. She smiled when she saw me up, even in such a limited way.
“How are you?” She asked.
“In and out. I’m improving with each donor. I am not expecting to have my gifts but it might happen.” I told her up front. I didn’t want to lie and try to lift her spirits only to have them fall later.
“Just do what you can. How many donors have you drained?”
“The two when you were here. Noah brought in two more but made me wait an hour for the third.” It was only then that I realized how many that was. “Wow, five donors. The bad thing is, I think I could drain five more.”
Arria looked at me with a mixture of love and frustration.
“Noah, Sweetie, please give me a few minutes alone with Titan.” Arria asked. Sweetie seemed okay with it but Noah looked a little angry. They did leave though. No one refuses Arria. Well, you might refuse her once.
“Why did you ask them to leave?”
“I want to let you drink my blood.” Arria said this in little more than a whisper. She lifted her arm toward my mouth.
The thought of drinking her blood was equally inviting and unthinkable.
One side of my brain was cheering that this would be exactly what I needed to heal. The added power and speed would be wonderful!
I knew it might be able to help but the other half of me was screaming no. I still wasn’t thinking well enough to figure out why. My mind wouldn’t budge though. Then I understood why.
There was no longer an equal split. I pushed Arria’s arm away.
“No, Arria.”
“This would solve everything!” She exclaimed. “If you drink from me, you’ll get your gifts back and then some. It won’t stop the unravelling but it will buy us time.”
