by Joe Fowler
“I would take that as a compliment except there isn’t much competition for that honor.” He laughed. I laughed with him.
I was about to say something in return when I saw the signal. Arria was ready.
“Well, for better or worse.” I mumbled under my breath. I was pretty sure Hermes would hear. His smile confirmed it.
“Good luck. I don’t know what all this is about but if you need me let me know.”
“Thank you.” I mumbled again.
I made my way to where Arria stood. I didn’t need to go back over my lines. Alethea was there to help steer the conversation the way we needed it to go. I could feel the sidelong glances watching me as I neared Arria.
“Not trying to be rude, Titan, but could you give Arria and I some time to talk?” Alethea began.
I acted a little put off by it, which was what I was supposed to do.
“Really? You’re getting upset because I want to spend some time with my friends?” Arria questioned.
“Between your friends and the council, there isn’t any time left for anyone else is there?” I countered.
“You know how important the council business is, Titan. How dare you question that!”
“It must be very important to maintain control of every little thing that concerns vampires. You’ve got everyone on such a tight leash that it is getting hard for the rest of us to breath!”
Every eye and ear was tuned in to us now.
“Is your problem with me or the council?”
“I used to think it was just the council but I’m starting to see that it is you. You are as controlling as the council could ever be. I’m amazed I’ve lasted this long! Now I’m wondering if it wasn’t wasted time.”
Arria teared up on cue. I knew it was fake but the sight of tears in her eyes melted me anyway. We knew this might be a problem which is why we kept the argument simple and brief. We didn’t want the other old ones reading my emotions and seeing the obvious love I felt for Arria.
“Well, you won’t be wasting any more time. We’re done.” Arria said before storming off. Alethea ran after her to ‘comfort’ her.
You could hear the echo of the side door shutting since there was no other sound in the room. Everyone was staring at me. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this uncomfortable. I wanted to laugh at them and tell them it was all acting but they already knew that.
I could see how this would still work even with everyone knowing. Cheng would have a plan to kill me. We needed to keep playing our roles until that attempt came.
Slowly but surely, everyone returned to their conversations. Things were almost back to normal when Gronk approached. It was all I could do not to smile.
“So you disagree with the council? What gives you the right to question your elders, boy? They are the ones keeping things running smoothly.” Gronk bellowed. This wasn’t scripted but we knew the basic layout.
“They keep things running exactly the way they want them and kill any who would voice disapproval. How can that be right? Being old doesn’t make you right.” I stated boldly.
“I think someone needs to teach you some manners!”
“If you think you can, then feel free to try!”
He felt free.
I barely saw the fist, or was it a truck, that hit me. The force of it knocked me into the wall a few feet behind me. I was right back at him just as quickly. I dodged his next punch and hit him with all I had. He stumbled back a few feet and laughed as he attacked again. We traded blows with neither gaining the upper hand. Some of the furniture was being destroyed but we didn’t pay it any attention.
I had forgotten the ruse by this point and was enjoying the fight. It felt good to get some of my frustrations out on someone who could take it. He seemed to love it even more than I did. He had just dodged one of my punches and was swinging back when his fist was caught by Dmitriy. Dmitriy placed his other hand on my chest to stop me from attacking again. I was wishing he had let us fight some more.
“That is enough! The two of you will stop behaving as savages! Am I making myself clear?” Dmitriy looked at me then at Gronk to make sure we understood. It was all part of the show. “Will the two of you behave?”
“Yes.” I said.
“Yes.” Gronk echoed.
Gronk was laughing inside his head. He had enjoyed that thoroughly.
“Not bad, Titan.”
I wished I could’ve replied without the others overhearing. Gronk’s gift was walking in the sun of all things. You would have expected a fighting gift.
I ambled away with no direction in mind. I saw an old one head for an intercepting course. He met me with a smile on his face. I didn’t know this old one either. His gift was a new one. It was like the poison that was fairly common but different in that his gift made you weak without injection. Anyone trying to fight him would feel too sickly to put up much of a struggle.
“That was entertaining. I am having to remind myself that you are still a new vampire. Gronk is a legend among us. He has beaten many that were older than himself. Already you can stand against him.” He said.
“Well, I can vouch for his punching power.” I stated honestly. The old one laughed.
“I am Charon. I had wanted to meet you before this but at least now we have more to talk about.” He looked around to see who was listening. Since there were many within fairly close range he spoke mentally. “If you are serious about wanting to do something about the council, I can help. There are more than a few of us that bear grievances against the council. I overheard your spat with Arria. Since you are now free to travel, I can offer you a ride to meet these other old ones. Nod if you find this agreeable”
I nodded. He smiled. He held out his hand as if leading the way. I walked with him out the door. Once we were down the hall a good distance, he seemed to relax somewhat. I made a half glance behind me and wanted to smile.
“We have to be very careful of what we say and where we say it. The wrong ears means our death. You must understand from the chaos of your trip through the fights.”
“I received a thorough education for a new vampire. With all that was going on, it was hard to focus on what was in front of me.” I liked making these true statements much more than the outright lies from earlier.
“I will admit to being the cause of some of your strife. I had hopes of building you into an unstoppable force to make the council bow to our wishes. Though he was older, Pyro was working for me. He was careless. He shouldn’t have attacked you. He saw himself as protecting Achilles which was a waste of time. It would have taken Achilles much too long to become a real threat. He was indestructible but weak and slow. Pyro couldn’t understand the limitations that would cause.”
“Pyro almost got his wish. I was weakened to the point I barely managed to turn Achilles’ gift off. It’s too bad I didn’t drink from him.” I was struggling to find the right things to say.
“We can provide some interesting abilities for you. Of course, any strength and speed gifts will be offered. I would think the blood of an old one would be your main goal now.” Charon gave a sidelong glance to judge my reaction.
“I’ve needed to avoid even the thought of that until now. I was brought in front of the council. It was made plain that if I drank from an old one, I would be executed.”
“If it’s done right, they will never know. I would let you drink now if we weren’t in a hallway. We will have time for that later though.” Charon seemed to be amused.
I noticed where we were headed then. We took the stairs to the third level. My mind raced until I saw the obvious reason. He wanted to get his team and employees headed to his plane.
Sure enough, he knocked on a series of doors much the same way I did when alerting Arria’s team. Several doors opened.
“Fireball, get everyone headed to the plane as fast as you can. Make sure the fighters don’t waste any time.” Charon instructed.
“Yes, Charon.” Fireball answered with a slight bow. Hi
s eyes went wide when he recognized who I was. The other employees were showing the same shock on their faces.
I followed Charon as he headed for the shaft that led to the hanger. This was happening a little differently than we had thought. Ghost discussed this possibility briefly but didn’t see it as likely we would leave this facility. Ghost might have been wrong.
“I must ask a question. How can someone with such potential settle for a secondary role the way you were with Arria?”
“My infatuation had me blinded. Love her or hate her, Arria is the most beautiful woman I can imagine.”
Charon laughed. He gave me a good natured pat on the back.
“I can’t argue that! Still, even though you are late joining the party, you are joining.”
We walked the long gray shaft as it slowly rose to ground level. There were a series of hangars at each facility capable of housing up to four planes each. A private runway gave the old ones the distance from the public eye. From what I understood, the rich humans provided the flight plan clearances so none of these planes would be shot down or investigated by governments.
Charon pointed out his jet with pride. It was not as nice as Arria’s but for an old one of Charon’s younger age, it was impressive.
The door opened as we walked up the steps. I saw an old one I had seen but didn’t have a name for. He held the door as we entered. He started to slam the door shut immediately behind me but I held it open as I took an extra step into the plane.
“We need to keep this closed.” He explained as he tried to force the door shut.
I took what I hoped to appear as a cautious look around me before I let him close the door. He shook his head like I was crazy once the door was shut.
“Just being careful. I’ve had vampires trying to kill me since I was turned.” I gave as my explanation.
He nodded and pointed toward the front of the plane. Charon was already through that door talking to someone I couldn’t see. I followed to find two old ones greeting Charon.
“So he came! Wonderful!” One of them stated gleefully.
I got the clear impression that he had something bad in mind. I took a few more steps into the luxury area hesitantly.
“So, you came. I’ve been waiting for this chance.” Someone from the fighters section was approaching. I knew the voice and sighed in relief. Cheng appeared and continued his banter. “Arria isn’t here to protect you this time. You will die tonight. I wanted to kill you the second I heard of your gift. Now I get to.”
“Cheng. Why am I not surprised?” I said, with a smirk.
“I couldn’t believe you idiots actually let me hear the plan. Feng should have known better than that.” Cheng gloated.
“You can drop the illusion now, Titan.”
I smiled as Feng and Lorac appeared. Cheng started to panic but laughed it off.
“Really? You’re trying illusions against me?” Cheng laughed.
Feng had a smile on his face as he ripped Cheng’s head off. Lorac took out the other old ones before they fully understood what had happened.
“For a minute there I thought I might have to actually go on a flight with them.” I admitted.
“We knew. Cheng arrived last night. He stayed in the hangar. We had plenty of free time while you slept.” Feng said. He took a look around and nodded. “It wasn’t as many as I hoped there would be but it is a start. Great job with that illusion, Titan.”
“Thank Ares. He used it to try and watch over me without me knowing. I figured it would work well for this situation.”
“It wasn’t too tiring was it? That was what had me concerned.” Lorac added.
“At first it was but I got used to it. I see that I need to feed a little more often if I’m holding a constant illusion.” I told them.
“That’s to be expected.” Feng said. He looked around and smiled. “Overall, I’d say this was a great success! But it does seem that we lose council members when you are around, Titan.”
Lorac’s laughter helped my tension ease. I looked around at the headless corpses and sighed. This was the easy plan. What I had in front of me would be worse. I also wouldn’t have Feng and Lorac as my invisible bodyguards.
Chapter 7
I woke before Arria. Watching her sleep was one of my favorite things. I knew we would be leaving early to head back to Feng’s facility so I wanted to savor each moment. My mind wasn’t cooperating.
Last night’s work wasn’t done when we finished on the plane. I called Arria to fill her in on the details. Alethea heard every word. They let a few of the council friendly old ones know what we needed from them. The after party got much more exciting.
It was timed well. Arria and Alethea entered through one door as Feng, Lorac, and I entered through the other. Tristan was the only one who tried to run. The other old ones who had conspired with Cheng accepted their fate. Feng and Lorac had witnessed it all. With my illusion covering them, they went where they could see and hear what they needed to. Counting the ones on the plane, eleven old ones died last night.
I enjoyed getting to speak with Gronk. We laughed about our fight and all but vowed to do it again sometime. Dmitriy offered to be referee again to make sure we didn’t get carried away.
Hermes congratulated our success and promised Arria he would attend her next event. She told me later that he had always been one of her favorites.
I tried to push the thoughts of last night back out of my mind so I could enjoy Arria’s peaceful slumber. I hoped her beauty never stopped being so amazing to me. I would love her anyway. She had such depth to her feelings. All her feelings. Whether she was happy, sad, or angry, her emotions were so powerful. She was breathtaking in every way.
There was still one thing I needed to do before we left. I needed to tell Arria about Bear. I almost broached the subject last night once we made it back to our suite. Arria’s joy convinced me to wait until this morning.
I knew Feng, Lorac, Alethea, and Dmitriy would be waiting until today to leave anyway so there wasn’t a rush. Lorac and Feng were flying with us.
I sighed. I knew I needed to wake Arria. Part of me smiled at our custom. When one woke first, they would kiss the other’s lips to wake them. I usually waited a while so I could enjoy watching Arria sleep. I leaned in and made the kiss.
Arria slowly stirred. When her eyes opened, she smiled a sweet smile. My answering smile was an involuntary function. I couldn’t recall ever seeing her smile when an answering smile didn’t immediately spread across my face. She had that kind of effect on me.
“We don’t have too long before we need to leave. Do you know what time it is?” Arria asked as she stretched.
“No. It feels like it is early though.” I hesitated. I hoped she would listen calmly and not get upset at what I was about to say. Bear had a good nature about him. “There is one more thing we need to take care of before we leave here. I should have told you last night but I didn’t want to mar the celebration.”
Arria sensed my reluctance.
“What? Is it bad?”
“Sort of yes and no at the same time. Three vampires were made out of the normal process.” I saw Arria’s anger rising and quickly continued. “They want to fight the gauntlet. They don’t wish to live in fear forever. Three of Tristan’s employees are the makers. One of them approached me cautiously and asked for help getting those three into an old one’s camp. He turned a woman out of love. He understood that he might die for his crime but he was tired of being afraid of exposure.”
I stopped to judge Arria’s reaction. Her anger was subsiding. She understood what was being left unsaid. Her own good nature made her soften her attitude.
“Go find him and bring him here. I will help. This isn’t the first time this has happened. We try and give a break to the ones who own up to what they’ve done when they are willing to have their newbies fight. The most important question is whether the new vampires know what they are facing.”
“He assured me of tha
t. He said the new ones chose to fight the ten fights if they would be allowed.” I told her. I could see her smile returning.
“Good. Get dressed and bring him to me. Give me a few minutes to take a shower and get dressed though. Don’t rush to get back quickly.” Arria leaned in and kissed me before getting out of bed.
I did as she asked. I walked at a normal pace to Tristan’s employee quarters. I wasn’t sure which room he would be in so I knocked on a door at random. The vampire that answered looked grumpy until he recognized who I was. He swallowed hard and tried to soften his demeanor. I wanted to laugh but held it in.
“I need to find Bear. Could you tell me which room he is in?” I asked. The vampire nervously pointed across the hall one door down. “Thank you.”
I knocked on Bear’s door and waited the few seconds for him to answer.
“Titan. I wasn’t expecting a response yet but this is better. I hope. You said it might be up to a week.” He said. The hope was clear in his eyes.
“We handled our concerns much faster than expected. I made Arria aware of your situation. She understood and is willing to help. She says that when a vampire owns up to it and is willing to let the newly made vampire fight the fights, they try to be lenient. She wishes to speak with you now.”
“Certainly. Let me put on some nicer clothes though. I wasn’t expecting to see an old one this morning.” He stammered. “Give me a minute and I will be ready.”
He answered the door wearing faded jeans and a raggedy tee shirt. When he reemerged he wore a long sleeve button down dress shirt and newer jeans. I gave him a nod of approval.
“We can take our time walking to her suite. She was just waking when I left her.” I informed him.
“Do I need to inform Tristan? Since he is my old one, he might get upset about this.” Bear’s nervousness was apparent.
“Tristan is dead.” I waited for his shock to wear off a little before I continued. “It is a long story but he along with ten other old ones were executed last night. It is part of the reason we were here. There is a lot that goes into it. You won’t need to know the details of why. Besides, you knew he was bad.”
