Vlad Tepes, the Vigilante Vampire

by Lillie J. Roberts

  As the law enforcer for Chicago, there wasn't any way I could let either bastard continue to exist. The Hierarchy demanded obedience, loyalty even under the threat of death, but shouldn't the same penalty hold true for them? They'd threatened my family, threatened the city, threatened to expose us, surely to bring true death to us all.

  *****

  Stalking the Draugen, I found the Magistrate once again living in the lap of luxury now that he was secure in the knowledge of Loupgarin's ending. When called for, vampires have a great capacity of patience. So, I planned, observed, and waited for the Magistrate to make a fatal mistake.

  It was on one such an occasion I glimpsed at the Magistrate moving through his quarters. He was always surrounded by his guards or his pathetic lovers whom he took to his bed from time to time. Finally, the young woman, Sybil, who had offered herself to us, was brought to him, his favorite cow. She had lost her youthful glow, sickly sallow skin covered her meager bones.

  Her body had weakened, finally unable to replace what he'd taken. As I focused in to listen, her heart quit beating and her breath halted. Her drained and dying body graced her master's bed. The young female had wanted nothing more than to be fed from, to allow the richness of the pheromones to flow through her body. As I watched, he patted her cooling body, but disgust filled his face, she was a disposable commodity.

  “Remove this chattel from my sight.” He called to the guards who came to take the body away. It was the opportunity I'd been waiting for. Stealthily, I came into the room where the chilling body had once laid. I let a little fear color my features and my voice for any guards that passed my way. I was one of the weak, seeking the Magistrate's forgiveness. He had begun to relax, safe behind the power of the Council, his biggest mistake. Maybe he had forgotten our encounter, maybe he thought I wasn't a threat. There was a passageway that led from one suite of rooms to another, and this is where I found myself. The Magistrate must not have sensed my presence, because he turned into the same narrow passage, bringing us face to face.

  “So, now what, you came here to try to kill me?” The Magistrate asked, a grim grin on his bald, pale face.

  “No, Magistrate, I would never think only to kill you,” I grounded out. “I thought first to maim, beat, and bruise your body as Loupgarin did to those I care for. That is, Magistrate, unless you choose to give me Rafael in your place.”

  The Magistrate hung his head as quiet laughter erupted from his lips. “You young whelp, you think you can come here? To threaten me? Who do you think you are?” His thoughts merged with mine, pictures of death, slavery, a massive turning, an army. Horrific images of a new existence.

  I shuddered as I returned the ancient vampire's stare. “Oh no, Magistrate, I didn't come here to only threaten you. I, Magistrate Dumas, am the bringer of your death. Soon you will sleep, unwaking. As you sought your vengeance, so shall I. The vampiric existence will remain secret.” Feeling my muscles bunch tightly with tension, I rolled my shoulders, and likewise, my beast readied for release. But I tamed it back once more. “I'm going to make you wish I'd killed you, quick and fast.” Then I let my head fall forward and joined his laughter.

  The laughter turned into a roar and sudden fear grew in the bloody eyes of the all powerful Magistrate. He tried easing away, to employ the guards, but too late. My beast reveled in its new found freedom. The Magistrate scurried away, trying to find refuge, but my beast struck out furiously. It captured him in his flight, his throat between its claws, his feet scraped the thickly carpeted floor.

  “Give me Rafael,” I demanded as the Magistrate's face darkened to a ruddy red, then purple as the blood vessels began to burst. “Give me Rafael, and maybe you'll remain undead.” Grinning into the Magistrate's face, he shuddered at what he saw: pure unadulterated hate.

  “He's at the Council chambers, go, you'll find him there, I swear it.” He wheezed, as my fingers slipped inside his flesh, ancient muscles pulling apart and the vertebra of his neck popped. The bones shown clearly through the old tired flesh. One by one, they crushed beneath my beast's powerful grip.

  “You said to give you Rafael,” he rasped out, “you'd take him in my stead.” The Magistrate's precious fluids flowed down and over his silvery robes, dark red gleaming in a silvery case.

  “I lied.” With a final snap of his decaying muscles and ancient bones, his head fell from his shoulders, rolling to my feet. I kicked its ugly countenance away.

  Cleaning the remnants of the Magistrate from my hands, I considered my options. I could go after Rafael, he still needed to die. Or I could return to our apartments, forget what he had caused to happen. There had already been so much death and destruction, but knowing what I did, and how the Council worked, if Rafael was left undead, he would seek us out. Maybe to give us a taste of his torment or maybe he'd use of us much like Loupgarin, hoping to distract his opponents and reassure those who supported his plan. I'd have Council assassins dogging my footsteps. No, he had to go or my family would be forever looking over its collective shoulders.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The Council's chambers were located in a renovated warehouse, one of Vanic's acquisitions for use by Council members. Some were in residence right now. As the vampire law enforcer, the security devices had been installed under my direction. It was a huge space, newly remodeled to their specifications. There was a small hidden door, unknown by others, installed for safety's sake and I planned to use it on this occasion.

  The Council as a whole was powerful, I didn't stand a chance of taking them on, nor had I planned to. If an unsanctioned attack took place within Council quarters, retributions would be demanded. The payment would be my life or worse, my family's. My own desire to remain undead, and to keep my family safe, weighed against my immediate need to strike.

  But I was out of options and my plan fell into place. If Rafael escaped me on this night, I was sure he'd seek me out, demand Council justice, and rightfully so. If my plan succeeded, the Council might listen to our pleas, it was our only hope.

  With a quick check of my watch I confirmed daylight was still hours from the pinks and purples of the dawn. Rafael was well enshrined in the belly of the Council, but I was coming for him anyway. My thoughts opened as I searched for the unique signature of the old vampire too long in his undead life, Loupgarin's immortal enemy.

  When I finally discovered him, he was in a feed, absorbing energy from all those around him, vampire and human alike, stealing energy, before he sought to fulfill his baser needs. He was a smallish man, with a glow surrounding his head like an angel's halo, a fallen angel, demonic in place of goodness.

  When he found me in his thoughts, I felt his pleasure and he showed me what my death was going to look like. But I'd already died once, twice would matter even less. Entering the room where he appeared to be slumbering, I brought out the small wrist bound crossbow only used once before, fashioned for use on rogue vampires. He tried to absorb my energy, to use me as he used others. He opened his eyes to find me and my crossbow waiting for him.

  “Who are you?” he demanded, his eyes growing wide as the crossbow came into view.

  “I'm Vanic Tepes's underling, Vladimir Tepes, and you've tried to kill us.” He attempted to deny the facts of his betrayal.

  “You are mistaken, I'm a Council member. You’ve crossed a line that will bring you to your end. Leave, now, before I call the others. We'll strike you down where you stand, Vladimir Tepes, and your family too.” His argument would have been sound if the Magistrate hadn't given so much information away in his attempts to goad me, and with his death, the full force of their sick plan leaked into my thoughts. It was a perversion of everything I'd fought for in my undead life.

  “Maybe not by your own hand, but by poisoning Loupgarin, you drove him past reasoning. He viewed all as his enemies, insane with bloodlust which could never be sated. He has greeted his death and you will join him on this night as well. My family will not be put in jeopardy. Nor will the entirety of our
race. Your sick plan will not succeed.” My beast growled greedily, hoping for a second release. I wondered if he thought he could escape me. But, if he did manage to defeat me, Vanic waited to take my place as his executioner. Rafael would meet his end, one way or the other, on this night.

  He gazed over at me and grinned. “Already you are weakening young one, can you feel my pull?” My arm drooped, I peered at him, letting him believe he was winning, letting him believe that soon I would be bowing down at his feet, begging for my own life. But my shields were strong. He was mistaken.

  “Soon you will be little more than a husk, but I will have enjoyed your life's meal.” He cackled, mad with what he saw as his greatest power, but he could not survive the sting of the wooden spike when it punctured his unfeeling heart. My finger grew anxious to pull the crossbow's trigger.

  “I think not.” He felt sure of his victory before I swung my arm back up, aiming the crossbow. The wooden spike released as his undead eyes grew in size. It whistled through the air, and found its mark.

  For a moment, his eyes widened further, and he hissed, before falling to the ground, his fingers groping. The old vampire realized his demise, but there would be no escape. His eyes glowed with hatred. As he fell, smoke billowed from the wound. It was useless for him to struggle, the battle was already lost. In his last moments, he poured out his death to the rest of the Council. I employed every ounce of vampiric preternatural speed and exited the Council's chambers the way I'd entered. They would be coming for me, my family and I needed to be ready to plead our case or meet our deaths, depending on their verdict.

  *****

  Vanic and I had already discussed the Council's justice, taking one of their members was strictly forbidden, and I had taken two. But Rafael and the Magistrate had perverted the Council's power and planned to expose us all. On the next night, the Council sent their representatives to our apartments, calling us to their chambers. More of the powerful Draugen awaited us.

  When we arrived, it was to find the Council members sitting in judgment, some with the Magistrate's appearance, others appeared younger than my years. In reality, they were all older than my centuries and much more powerful.

  “Vanic Tepes, was it with your knowledge your underling, Vladimir Tepes, sought justice by taking Magistrate Dumas and the Master Rafael?” One of the younger members enquired.

  “I knew and welcomed his decision to end the unnatural existence of Magistrate Dumas and Master Rafael. They were corrupting the power of the Council to torture another, poisoning him beyond rational thought. Then they allowed him to escape, and he spread the poison contained within his body, turning young ones who became sick with the same poisoning,” he explained what the Council already knew, what they had watched happen and did nothing to prevent.

  “Vladimir Tepes, please step forward, the Council desires to hear your reasoning before passing judgment.”

  My silvery eyes glowed with knowledge of the Council's cowardice, but I stepped forward anyway, ready to face my fate. “Council, I'm sure if you had known what was happening, it would have been prevented. Loupgarin was using Chicago's poorest as his personal hunting and making grounds, he had to be stopped. As the enforcer for the city, and my father's trusted guard, it was my duty to prevent further exposure of our kind.”

  “Master Rafael forced my hand and Magistrate Dumas had his own reasons for wanting my family destroyed. I had but little choice but to prevent that from happening. It was my responsibility, and mine alone, to keep my family and city safe from predators, even from other vampires such as Rafael and Dumas. I regret having to take their lives, but it could be no other way. They would have taken mine, my family's, and exposed us all.”

  Another of the members questioned me. “Master Rafael and Magistrate Dumas were important members of the Council, yet you brought them to their deaths without consulting any of us.” He gestured to his brothers and sisters sitting alongside him.

  “Dumas revealed their plan to enslave humanity to me on the night he met the end of his unnatural existence. When I discovered their plan, I acted with the urgency necessary. Together, Dumas and Rafael planned to create a race of blood slaves that depended on vampiric pheromones, blood slaves that would perpetuate themselves with their offspring. He didn't try to shield his thoughts, sure he would see our demise.” My voice dripped with disgust as I glanced around the room to see some surprised eyes, and some not so surprised, and I wondered who else on the Council might be compliant. “They would have exposed us all.”

  Sighing, I glanced up at the Council. “I will accept the Council's findings, but know both Rafael and Dumas planned to bring vampirism to human knowledge. War would have been inevitable.”

  The horror of what I'd seen could be found in my eyes. I felt the brush of different consciousnesses as the Council members probed through my mind and this new society Dumas and Rafael wanted to make. If left unchecked, it would have become all too real, bringing war with the humans they hoped to enslave. One thing I remembered about humanity, the yoke of slavery is not one worn easily.

  The Council closed in amongst themselves, the reasoning of the case complete, my fate decided before we ever set foot inside the chambers. The Draugen drew tighter around us, their venom toward us palpable. Then the Council once again widened its circle. “Vanic Tepes, step forward to face our judgment.” Vanic moved to the front of the assembly. “Do you take responsibility for the underling, Vladimir?”

  He turned to gaze at me, all of our years together shown in his eyes. “Yes, I take full responsibility for his actions, if his hand had not provided justice, it would have been my own.”

  “He was following orders, both given and expected to be followed?”

  “Yes, Council members, I knew and approved of his actions.”

  The Council smiled as a whole. “Very well. Vladimir Tepes, are you ready to receive our determination?”

  For maybe the last time, I reached out to Raymond, Sarah, and finally Sheree, letting them feel my regret if forced to leave them. Sheree's pain cut like a jagged knife, if death was going to come for me, at least I'd known her, cherished her body. “Yes, I'm ready to receive the Council members judgment.”

  “This is a blood bound verdict, unimpeachable and irrefutable. Vanic Tepes as Regent of the City it is within your purview to authorize the taking of vampiric life when deemed necessary. However, in the future, the Council should be consulted.” Together, we heaved a relieved sigh, Vanic's life spared.

  “Vladimir Tepes...” I held my breath, waiting for their judgment. “It is the Council determination that you acted within the rights as enforcer and protected the knowledge of our vampiric existence, for that we thank you. But we will not tolerate any further indiscretions. The Council is just, fair, but its limit has been reached. Do we make ourselves clear?”

  Vanic stepped forward, eager to be gone from their presence. “Very clear, thank you for the Council's mercy.” He took my arm and dragged me away before I could do something stupid like saying my vengeance was well founded or that I wouldn't tolerate the weak and helpless to be used by anyone who assume them to be worthless. He knew me too well.

  *****

  As we left the Council chambers, we took a moment to congratulate ourselves and reached out again to Raymond, Sarah, and Sheree to let them know a fair verdict had been reached. We were coming home, both of us, and still in our undead lives.

  Raymond stood waiting for us, and for the first time, a true happiness glowed in his eyes. When I entered the room, he held out his hand and when I took it, and he pulled me into a strong embrace. “Brother. Nice to have you back and still breathing.” He laughed.

  I chuckled with him, clapping his back. “Nice to be back, kid. Now, if the Council stays out of our lives...” Vanic gave me a murderous look, and I shrugged. He knew my vices.

  Sarah had waited in their suite. She'd spent the night in anxious worry. When Vanic stepped into our apartments, she flew to his arms, relief a
nd joy etched on her face. “I worried for you, how could they think to judge you or Vlad?” She was a mother hen, protecting what was hers, even in injustice.

  Vanic lifted her into the air, swinging her in a circle, before letting her feet brush the floor. “At least it's done, if we stay out of their way, they'll stay out of ours.” Pleasure radiated through the room.

  She rested her head against his chest. “Until the next time.” She raised her eyebrows before pushing up on her toes, kissing his lips. He was her happiness.

  *****

  I'd left Sheree pacing our suite, angry with the whole idea of the Council deciding if Vanic and I would remain undead or if we would greet the unending death. When I came into the room, it was to a sigh of relief as she rushed to my arms.

  “Never do that to me again. I won't be left behind.” Tears shimmered in her eyes.

  There was little I could say as my eyes took in her beauty. Nothing mattered as long as she was in my life. Dropping down on my knees, I wrapped my arms around her waist, my face buried within her sweet scent as her fingers rifled through the length of my blond hair.

  I'd vowed to protect her with my life, and I had failed her, in a way. But with the loss of her old life, a new one had been born, and I promised to stay at her side, if not for eternity, then as long as the vampiric existence and the gods allowed. For the first time in my long lonely life, my mate, my lover had been found, and I'd be damned to give her up now.

  Chicago was home, for better or worse, and together we would make of it what we could. We had lifetimes of happiness to live, dreams to fulfill, love to make, together. Vampires really weren't different from anyone else. Everyone, human and vampire alike, wanted happiness and I had found mine. And I would hold it in my embrace, cherished and revered. Sheree and I would have a life together; hunting, feasting, righting the wrongs and making love. I relished my life and love, forgotten hopes and dreams... let the world do its damnedest.