"Mr. Evans, it's great to see you again."
"Didn't I tell you to call me Hank?"
Ishan laughed.
"It's great to see you too, though."
Ishan looked at him thoughtfully. "The council is waiting—well, most of us are. I believe we'll have a late arriver."
"I have to be honest. I have no idea what to expect from this meeting."
"Indeed, it will be a new experience for us as well. We're used to spending most of our time trying to get through it without managing to break the blood pact. You'll be the first of your position to have already gained our respect, so to some it will be uneventful and confusing, I'm sure. But to myself, it should be quite interesting."
Hank nodded, remembering what little he knew about the last mediator. "So, how is that last guy doing? He ever wake up?"
"He did. In fact he's made quite the impact, but we can talk about that more on our way. Shall we?" Ishan gestured in the direction of the city. The two of them continued to talk as they went ahead side by side. Hank was almost feeling at ease, but every now and then he remembered that every word being said was being recorded and knowing just how fast the Emperor could react to anything Hank seen or heard made him wary of where the conversation might go.
Here he was walking with the very "person" he had hoped to speak with alone and he had no way to write anything down. No excuse and no way to hide it.
* * *
Listening to Hank speak, Ishan's senses alarmed him. First of all, he could smell the blood of the ancestors on him. And not in small measure either. Second was his breathing and heart rate. They were far different than before. Controlled. Controlled, yet not quite masterfully enough to hide his immense fear. At distinct moments it came off of him in waves. His heart rate only barely gave anything away. But his mannerisms, body temperature, and perspiration combined with the heart rate formed a telltale sign every time.
What was even more alarming was the faint sound of something Ishan couldn't quite place. Could it be some form of machinery? He decided for the time being to keep his concerns to himself. There would be time enough to investigate.
* * *
Having previously only seen the Stratosphere from a distance, Hank was in awe of its sheer size as they came closer. He was surprised by how clean its tall white base had remained even after all the years since the war and the "removal" of the city's original inhabitants. Ishan led Hank to a glass entrance way. Pulling open a door nearly camouflaged in all the glass, he motioned for Hank to enter first. Hank stepped inside, the sound of his footfalls echoing back at him from somewhere within the huge lobby. Ishan returned alongside him and motioned toward an elevator door.
"We'll stop off at the floor your room is on so you can put away your things. With as light as you’ve packed, we should have plenty of time to get there before anyone gets too impatient."
Hank smiled at Ishan in response as the vampire pushed the up button in a motion just barely too fast for Hank to see. Inside the elevator, Ishan handed Hank a key card for the room. Hank put it in his pocket and thanked him. When they arrived on the 28th floor and stepped out, the musky bitter smell of disinfectant made Hank's head feel like he'd been hit with a sledge hammer.
Ishan waited outside as Hank entered the room he would be staying in. He set his things down beside the bed and wondered if they were safe inside. As much as he didn't want to plant any of the devices the Emperor had provided him, he likewise didn't want the vampires to find out he had them in the first place before finding a way to explain without jeopardizing his son. Maybe even himself.
He'd changed a lot since the last time he'd been in this place. He still had plenty of reason to mourn for the past, but he now had plenty of motive to move on with his life. Granted some of that reason was likely to be the death of him.
He was about to laugh about this reflection when the Emperor's voice spoke up in his ears.
"I see you've arrived at your destination, Mr. Evans. Whatever you do, don't speak in reply. I know we've gone over this before, but I just wanted to remind you in case the heat of the moment was getting to be too much for you. Be ready for any instructions I give you during the meeting. I have a few things I would like for you to say. I would appreciate it if you didn't make any mistakes. I can assure you that right now, Mr. Draper is within a mile's radius of young Toby at the very least as we speak. And he'll be staying at such a distance until the time in which you return. Nod if you understand me."
Hank nodded, doing his best to hold back the fury within him.
"Good. And I must say, you've become rather superb at maintaining your heart rate, even though I know you must be very angry with me. Anyhow, go on and get moving. You've been in this room long enough. Best to not keep the council waiting, no?"
Hank looked at himself in the mirror and made his face appear as normal and relaxed as he could manage and headed for the door.
Ishan stood waiting in the hallway with a smile. "Does the room meet your satisfaction?"
"Yeah, it should be fine. Thanks."
"Good. Then I suppose we'd better get moving."
Hank nodded and the two made their way toward the elevator at the end of the hall.
* * *
As Ishan and Hank took their seats at the table, all eyes were on Hank. A warm dry breeze blew against his hair and he had to fight the urge to walk toward the edge of the building and look out at the city below.
"Simon will be here in a short while. He seems to be making friends with our newest citizen." Ishan's statement seemed to steal the attention of the vampires across the table from Hank. "So, we might as well get started. Hank, this is Edgar, Edgar, Hank." Edgar and Hank shook hands. "Hank, Stanislov, Stanislov, Hank."
Hank reached across the table to shake Stanislov's hand, but no hand came up in return. Ishan's eyes went to Stanislov and with a look of bitterness, Stanislov pulled his hand from under the table and shook Hank's a little too firm in a pace that drew out the process in an exaggerated manner. Ishan's eyes didn't leave Stanislov's face for a long moment. When they did, Ishan's demeanor changed to one of formality immediately.
"I call into motion this meeting of the high council of Necropolis."
Stanislov made a face as though a bug had gotten caught in his throat. "We're having an official meeting, master? Is this wise? The high council has never had an official meeting with one of them present."
The Emperor's voice piped up in Hank's head. "Interesting."
Hank felt his self control slip for just a second and he fought hard to retain it. When he was sure he had managed to normalize himself, he went to speak but was interrupted by Ishan.
"You will show Mr. Evans the respect he is due, Stanislov, do you understand me?"
Stanislov nodded, some of the revulsion draining from his face as he continued to stare at Hank.
" Does anyone have any major news to report to the council at this time?" They all looked around at each other.
"Voting for the final council member has been arranged for tomorrow night and the info packets should go out to each individual cell within the nest tonight," Edgar said.
"Good, we'll be back in full swing by the next meeting then. Anything else before I start updating Hank on recent events?"
The two other vampires shook their head almost in unison.
"Very well." Ishan looked at Hank, the whites of his eyes reflecting the glare of the neon lights in a strange circle of color surrounding the dark red irises. "I think the most pressing thing that I would like to discuss with you is the possibility of us running some blood tests on you, Hank. We've attempted to feed the ancestors' blood to several different individuals over the past few weeks who've arrived in the city through the 'normal channel.' Not a single one of them survived beyond ingestion."
The air around Hank seemed to thicken and the lights beyond the building went fuzzy. "You mean drinking the blood killed them?"
"Indeed, it did. So far as we know, you seem
to be the only living human being who has survived the effects."
The Emperor's voice chimed in, chilling Hank's blood. "If you value your son's ability to breathe, you will refrain from divulging what you know, Mr. Evans."
Hank had no idea how to respond. He opened his mouth to speak and for a long painful second nothing came out. "H-how-how many did you test?"
"About a dozen. All different blood types, races, genders, etcetera. So as you can imagine, we're eager to take a look at your blood and see if we can figure out just what it is that makes you so special."
Hank took a deep breath and nodded. "Sure, anything I can do, just let me know."
"Good, Isingoma will be glad to see you again. He should be ready to get started tomorrow shortly after the voting. Anyway, moving on, would you be comfortable answering some questions we have about your experience within the Empire?
"There are some things we need to know if we're going to keep things sane around here. There's still a lot of our people calling for war and I can only hold them at bay for so long. Eventually, we'll have to make a decision."
Hank's throat was suddenly incredibly dry. The Emperor's voice came as expected. "Tell them yes and listen very carefully to what I tell you before you answer any questions."
"Yes. I'll answer any questions I can."
"Good," Ishan said, a sense of tension Hank hadn't before noticed seeming to dissipate from the vampire. "The smell of the ancestor's blood is heavy on your breath. I have to ask... how is this possible?"
The Emperor's reply came with an immediacy Hank hadn't expected.
"The Emperor is supplying it to me," Hank said.
A tense silence engulfed the air. A fire seemed to burn in Ishan's eyes. "We've known for some time there were others out there somewhere, a separate line, but we never dreamed the Emperor had access to them. This is disturbing news indeed." Ishan's face showed a spark of panic then. "What does he know of the blood?"
Again the Emperor seemed to have the answer ready almost before Ishan even finished his question.
"He only knows of my addiction to it. He doesn't realize the power it—" before he could finish his sentence, Stanislov reached forward like lightning and gripped hold of Hank's throat. In a flash Hank could not make out, Stanislov's grip loosened and fell flat on the table, Ishan's thin soft hand clamped on his wrist.
"He's lying. I know you heard his heart rate spike too. He dares feed us false information!" Stanislov's jaw quivered with fury as his eyes burned into Hank's.
The Emperor spoke then for the last time. "You have failed, Mr. Evans. Unlike myself, Mr. Draper will be quite pleased with this turn of events. Anyway, don't worry yourself too much about it. I have other arrangements in place to take up where you left off. And you're quite well taken care of. I'll be hitting the kill switch now. Goodbye, Mr. Evans. It was a pleasure."
Chapter 11
Innocent Blood
"So, you experienced two thousand years of Ishan's life, and now you two are, like, psychically linked or some shit?" Jackie laughed. "I thought my story was fucked up."
Simon smiled. "Yeah, well...on one hand I'm glad it happened. It opened my eyes to a lot of things, but at the same time. I'm not so glad. There's a part of me that wishes I had never woken up."
There was a tense silence between them as they sat there on the ledge of an old warehouse, their legs dangling over the edge.
"Anyway, the drop off will be here soon. I'm not sure I'm really supposed to be doing this, but if you want some... moral support, I'll be right here. It's not an easy thing to experience. There was a time when taking a man's life didn't mean nothin' to me. And now that I'm this thing I suddenly feel so goddamn remorseful for human life."
Jackie nodded. The distant sound of an engine and tires treading on pavement crept up from the outskirts of the city. Jackie swallowed, unable to deny the conflicting emotions of fear and desire for the blood within her. A small dot appeared on the horizon coming up the far away street that from this distance looked like a street in a model town. When the truck was about a mile away it screeched to a stop and the sound of gas expelling morphed into a dozen coughing men. An instant later the truck was speeding off squealing tires as it went.
The two of them stood up and took each other's hand. Jackie closed her eyes and they both stepped off of the building, falling forward toward the parking lot below as graceful as two floating feathers.
* * *
At the rest stop, Jack was draining the last pint or so of blood from Donnie Winchester's throat when the sound of mariachi music piped up from the cell phone in his pocket. He gripped tightly onto the back of the boy's neck, running his fingers through his soft copper hair. Jack wasn't giving up this moment for anything. The soft smell of him, the feel of his warmth giving way to cold darkness, the pressure of his own erection pushing against Donnie's little feet.
When the child was drained, Jack sat him up proper in the back seat of the car next to his now stiffening brother Jasper. He took a long look in Donnie's now eternally still emerald eyes and then kissed him gently on the forehead. The sounds of mariachi exploded from Jack's pocket again. He pulled the phone out and hit the green button. "What?" his voice echoed across the open parking lot.
"It's your lucky day, Mr. Draper. The mediator's child is yours. Make sure it's clean and untraceable and there are to be no witnesses."
"It'd be my pleasure, sir." A dark grin stretched across Jack's blood-smeared lips as he put the phone away. Within a fraction of a second, he was in his car, starting the engine and driving away. The Winchesters' sedan shrinking behind him in the rearview mirror, a single blue dot swallowed in the midst of a dark void.
* * *
Jackie had proven to be a much more efficient and emotionally prepared killer than Simon had his first—and so far only—time feeding. He had explained to her that he would not need to drink the blood himself and would prefer to wait until the need truly arose before going through the experience again. Jackie had drained not one, but two men. She had been visibly thrilled and enraptured by the hunt.
Simon had never once in his human life considered the thought of having children, but several moments when Jackie seemed to almost lose control of the situation, a sort of paternal instinct seemed to set in Simon and he nearly interrupted Jackie's taking of one of the men. But Jackie just as quickly regained control and fed completely on her own with no help from him. He couldn't help but feel useless as he stood there watching.
But he'd decided one thing right then. He would watch over Jackie whatever it took. He knew pressures were rising between the vampires and the Empire. Even then as Hank Evans sat down to meet with the vampire council, Simon could feel the tensions increasing at that table through his link with Ishan. He paid careful attention to allow himself to slip into Ishan's mind from time to time to keep up on the direction of the meeting.
Simon and Jackie had made it almost to the Nest before either of them spoke.
"Almost to the end of the line. I've got a meeting to catch, but listen...we should do this again some time."
Smiling, Jackie nodded. "I'd like that. Thanks for being there with me."
"Oh, it's not like I added much to the equation. You did marvelously on your own."
Jackie's pale skin blushed. "Either way, thank you, Simon."
"My pleasure. I'll see you some other time, then."
"Okay. Goodbye."
"Take care," Simon said. Jackie entered the tunnel, disappearing into the dark corridor. Simon sighed as he began the long walk back to the tower.
* * *
The house had been easy enough to track down thanks to the device he'd slipped into Toby's backpack over a week ago while he was sleeping. Jack had rather enjoyed standing over Hank Evans's body as he slept. The power of that moment was one of the many thrills that Jack loved about life. He was really beginning to take to this deal he had going with the Emperor quite nicely.
He slid around the side of the ho
use in the narrow gap between it and its neighbor. The only light still on in the house was a stove light in the kitchen. He grabbed hold of the cracks between the tan bricks of the structure and started to climb.
* * *
The time to act had finally come around to haunt Joseph. He had long ago assigned a tactical group to keep at the ready in case things in Necropolis got out of hand. Their instructions were clear. Move in during the daylight hours and burn everything above and below ground making sure not to leave a single "living" thing behind. But the city of the dead was far too strong of a pillar holding up his control of the people, the entire country.
Joseph paced as he contemplated his next action. If the threat of the place, the legend—the illusion, were to disappear in the course of one day, the risk of an uprising could rear its ugly head at him and then what would he do?
There was his personal crop of vampires, sure. But he'd long ago witnessed what the scope of dissention would be if he were to make a wide scale aggressive move against his own people. He couldn't therefore let loose his army of vampires in the streets of the Empire.
There was only one solution and it was becoming all too clear.
The Emperor made a call from his emergency line. "Make preparations for a flight to the Islands. I want to be in the air and on my way within the hour, do you understand?" Joseph's voice nearly cracked with rage. He'd put a lot of time and a lot of work into making such a nice place for himself in this new world. He wasn't about to let those filthy, rotten vampires stand in his way now.
* * *
Toby found himself unable to sleep as he stared up at the faintly-lit yellow ceiling. He couldn't help but wonder if they'd made the right decision in coming to this place. The long bony shadows of trees stretched across the ceiling shook back and forth while a wind howled outside as if it were mournful it couldn't manage its way inside. Toby, thankful there was no one else in the room to see his fear, pulled his blanket up to his shoulders. It wouldn't likely save his life if anyone were to attack, but it did add a certain level of security and comfort—even if it was only in his head.
Empire of Blood: A Dystopian Vampire Trilogy (Bundle, Boxset) (Plus Two Empire of Blood Short Stories) Page 31
