by J. C. Diem
The bathroom was also in shades of pink with a marble floor and basin and a tiny shower. A shower would have been welcome but I contented myself with washing quickly but thoroughly instead.
Luc was already in the miniscule bedroom I found near the back of the vehicle. He lay on the bed with his hands crossed behind his head. Black hair framed his face and accentuated his cheekbones. His talented lips tilted up at the corners under my scrutiny and I lifted my eyes to his. “Don’t even think about it,” I warned him softly at his interested expression. I knew that look well and it usually ended up with me naked and moaning loudly. There was zero possibility of us engaging in sex with the emperor of the Japanese vampires only a few metres away. I knew Ishida didn’t need to die for the day as the youngest of our kind did when the sun rose. Out of all of us, only Geordie was still too new to stay awake at will.
Shrugging, Luc climbed beneath the covers of the king sized single bed still fully clothed except for his shoes. He didn’t trust our allies enough to let his guard down yet. I did but I also climbed into bed without undressing. Frankly, I didn’t trust Luc not to strip me off and have his wicked way with me. Once his hands and mouth touched me, I found it very difficult to resist him.
My most favourite companion behaved himself and merely folded me into his arms. When the sun rose, he slumped against me, suddenly heavy with death. I stayed awake for a while longer, listening to Ishida pace in his bedroom. Kokoro had taken the other tiny bedroom. She was either asleep or was doing a good impression of it from the lack of noise coming through the flimsy wall. Some of the warriors were still awake and on guard. They exchanged worried conversation in the back of the truck but spoke too quietly for me to be able to make out what they were saying.
Finally, I closed my eyes and sank into darkness, hoping I wouldn’t have any weird dreams or visions. Naturally, my hopes were dashed.
Chapter Six
Opening my eyes, I peered at the dirt walls of my prison in utter hopelessness. I’d been banished to this existence by my hated master so long ago that I’d almost lost all concept of time. The First had known of the treachery that I and my nine brothers had planned for him. His cruel punishment had been to banish us beneath the earth and to forbid us from ever rising again. We were doomed to starve for all eternity or until the God who had abandoned us so long ago finally relented and sent our master to his well-deserved death.
Over time, my physical strength had begun to fail. To compensate for my body’s inactivity, my mental strength had increased. It had taken centuries but I’d learned to touch the minds of my brothers buried nearby and even to sense creatures in the area around my prison. Knowing my brethren were near and that I was not alone in my despair was a small comfort in an otherwise unbearable existence.
Eventually, after what was probably thousands of years, even my mental strength had begun to fade. I’d subsided into a coma-like state for untold centuries until a few nights ago, when I’d sensed a strange presence.
At first I thought it was our master, possibly returning to gloat but he had left this land long ago. Whoever it was, they were unknown to me. Then I’d sensed something that had drawn my attention away from the stranger; food. Bound by my master’s orders, I could not leave my prison. Forcing my hunger upwards, I could only hope that the food would be drawn to it. My gambit failed and my hunger remained unsated. The being standing above my grave faded when the animal fled, almost as if they had just been a figment of my imagination.
Sometime later, the being had returned again and this time I sensed them more strongly. After my long slumber, I was inexplicably beginning to rouse. When more food appeared, my thirst for blood became overwhelming. I sensed the stranger standing above me, feeding on what should have been my prey. I sensed the being so strongly that I could almost taste the blood that flooded down their throat.
Rousing from my musings, I became aware that something had changed. Reaching out, I sought the minds of my brothers nearby. Unlike me, they had given up hope of escape many thousands of years ago. Being the Second vampire to be created, my will to survive was stronger than theirs. I had never entirely given up hope that we would one night be freed from our forced imprisonment.
Turning my head slightly, I tried to tell what had changed. I went still as I realized what it was. The compulsion to remain in my underground tomb was gone. This could only mean one thing; our master had at last succumbed to death and my brothers and I were now free to rise.
Resting on my back with my hands laced together on my chest, I had not moved in so long that my limbs would not obey me at first. Forcing my hands into action, they creaked as desiccated tissue reluctantly submitted to my will. My vision was cloudy from far too many years of starvation but I saw how wasted I’d become. My once dark brown skin was now grey. My flesh had wasted away to nothing and my bones were very prominent.
Sticklike, my fingers flexed then touched the ceiling of the prison that I’d hollowed out of the ground so very long ago. I stroked the soil to test whether my mind was simply playing tricks on me or not. Grains of dirt broke free and fell onto my face. Still disbelieving that my long confinement was over, I dug my hands deep into the earth. Only when I tunnelled upwards to the surface high above and felt air on my withered flesh did I finally begin to accept the truth that my banishment was over.
Climbing out of the ground, I tottered and almost trod on the stinking corpses of two birds. One had died from a broken neck but the other had only suffered from broken wings. Strangely, I found no teeth marks in their tiny bodies from when the stranger had fed upon them. Further away was the carcass of a large deer. I looked at the animal longingly. It would have made a fine meal and could have partially satisfied my hunger. Unfortunately, it had been dead for far too long and its blood would be foul and undrinkable by now.
Feeding, while uppermost in my mind, would have to wait for just a little while longer. As the Second, it was my duty to rouse my brothers from their eons of banishment. Sending out my senses, I touched their slumbering minds. The Third was reluctant to wake and resisted my efforts. Finally, his eyes cracked open and he heeded my call. His astonishment was equal to mine when he began to dig his way upwards.
Soon, all nine of my brethren were free. We had been imprisoned closely together and it did not take long for us all to gather. All were as withered, shrunken and ashy skinned as I. It would take much blood to restore our bodies to their previous strength.
“Food?” the Seventh croaked and cocked his head to the side. It had been a habit of his since we’d been children in our cave. Even after becoming a monster, he hadn’t outgrown the custom.
“This way,” I said and led my friends in a shuffling walk towards where I sensed prey. Many animals made the jungle their home but they would be too difficult for us to catch. Humans would always be far easier food for us to capture.
It took us many hours to reach the tiny community. Where they’d once lived together in caves, humans were now separated into family units. Their dwellings were small and were made of mud and grass. The human’s language had evolved and I could barely understand what the few that were still awake were saying. Touching their minds made understanding their speech easier.
Moving slowly and quietly, my brothers and I surrounded what our food thought of as a ‘village’. The three men sitting around a fire exchanging conversation were silenced before they even knew they were in danger. I myself captured one of the humans with my gaze. His will seeped away and the vacant stare that I had not seen in far too long replaced his fright.
My fangs tore through my stiff lips but the pain was forgotten when they pierced the villager’s neck. Thick, salty blood poured into my mouth and I drained the man dry. I then opened a vein in my wrist with my teeth and dribbled a few drops of the black substance between the man’s lips. My brothers and I were weak in both strength and numbers. These humans would rise in three nights and become our servants. I had no way of knowing how many humans occupied
the world now but I suspected it would be a great many. Increasing our small group would help to ensure our survival.
Strength flowed into my desiccated veins and my flesh was partially renewed. It would take many meals before I would be completely restored. There were enough villagers to begin the process for all nine of my brothers and myself. We would have to take pains to ensure the sun didn’t kill our new servants when it rose and would have to hide them somewhere safe.
Stealthily, the Third and I entered a hut together. My brother had yet to feed so I gestured for him to take the male. Two small children lay sleeping on a mat in the corner. They would be of no use to us, apart from the blood their tiny bodies would offer. I fed from them then destroyed any chance that they would rise again by tearing their hearts from their chests. We had experimented briefly with turning children into our kind when we had first become creatures that drank blood to survive. Most of the undead children had been destroyed when their minds broke beneath the hungers that assailed them. We’d learned that a certain level of sexual maturity was required to become one of us.
Finished with the male, the Third turned to the woman. She woke as he pushed her drained husband away but he ensnared her before she could voice a scream that would alert her neighbours. While my brother was preoccupied, I fed the drained man my blood and made him mine.
I pulled the Third away from the female before he could drain her completely. Most of the women in this village would serve two purposes tonight. They would feed both our blood and flesh hungers. Nudging my brother aside, I tore her loincloth away and pushed her down onto her back. I enjoyed our prey’s fear when I unleashed my flesh hunger on them. This one was too deeply ensnared to be afraid but my body didn’t care. It was demanding that I feed it and I was happy to comply. My blood smeared her lips when I was finished with her. She and her husband would become my fledglings and, along with many others, would soon rise to do my bidding.
Waking with a shudder, I sat up. It was impossible to wipe the sight of the poor African woman being mauled by the Second from my mind. The image was lodged in there tightly and would be in my memory for a long time. I’d been glad I hadn’t shared Kokoro’s visions but something obviously thought I should witness the atrocities for myself.
“Bad dream?” Luc asked from right beside me and I started so hard I nearly fell off the bed. For once, he didn’t look like he wanted to jump me. Night had fallen a few minutes ago and it seemed that all of the vamps were up and moving around.
“Horrible dream,” I muttered, wishing not for the first time that I hadn’t been cursed with being Mortis. Latin for ‘death’, Mortis was a name that I’d lived up to so far.
“Do you want to talk about it?” my one true love asked.
I studied his face to see if he really meant it. None of my other boyfriends had ever expressed an interest in hearing about my dreams. Then again, I’d never dated anyone long enough for things to evolve to that stage. Luc and I spent a lot of time together, when I wasn’t off saving the world or either of us was being imprisoned, but I wasn’t sure if we could be defined as dating. His sincerity seemed to be real so I took him up on the offer. “I just saw what happened the night the Second realized he had been freed from his master’s influence.”
Sitting up, Luc frowned. He knew as well as I did that my dreams had a disturbing tendency of coming true. “The Second? Is that what he calls himself?”
I nodded and scooted back so we were sitting side by side. “They refer to each other from the Second to the Eleventh. Whatever their real names were, they’ve been forgotten a long time ago.”
“What did you see in this dream?” Luc took my hand and I wrapped my fingers around his. We might not be able to give each other warmth but we could at least offer the comfort of touch.
“He can sense not only our kind but humans as well,” I said reluctantly. I thought I was the only vampire who possessed that particular talent. Maybe we all had the innate ability to do so but it took dire need to bring it out of us. “He managed to call the other nine out of their comas then led them to a village.”
Concerned, Luc squeezed my hand. “Did you see them feed, Natalie?”
Nodding, I swallowed down a lump of either fear or sorrow for the humans. “They fed from everyone then used the women to feed their flesh hunger. The Second is forcing the humans to taste his blood so they’ll rise as vampires. Since the children were useless, they drained them then tore their hearts out.” I kept my tone as emotionless as possible but my anguish still leaked out.
“We should join the others,” Luc said quietly. I hadn’t realized that they had already gathered in the motorhome again until we stepped into the living area. Geordie’s eyes were round, indicating he’d heard every word I’d said. Gregor and Igor looked grim. Ishida and Kokoro shared a glance that she could sense if not see.
Nicholas, either oblivious or uncaring about what my dream portended, swept his eyes from my feet up to my face, lingering on my chest for a moment too long. “Good evening, my…Natalie.” He offered me a smile that might have melted my socks off if I’d been wearing any or if I’d had even the slightest interest in him.
Geordie opened his mouth to utter something acerbic but Igor shot him a warning glare. The teen closed his mouth and muttered whatever he’d wanted to say beneath his breath.
Ishida saw no reason not to voice his opinion. “You should reprimand your servants when they show disrespect to you, Mortis,” he said idly. “If any of my people were to behave in such a manner, I’d have them flayed and thrown into the pit.”
I’d spent some quality time in his pit and knew that it meant death to our kind. For me it had meant a few hours of intolerable pain after being half boiled by the sun from my waist down to my toes. It had taken me hours to regenerate but Nicholas wouldn’t be so lucky. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said with unfamiliar diplomacy.
“We heard the dream you described to Lucentio,” Gregor commented. I admired the way he smoothly turned the conversation to a safer topic. “Do you have any idea whereabouts in Africa they might be located?”
“Somewhere that has a jungle, deer and birds,” I replied unhelpfully.
Geordie giggled and Ishida almost cracked a smile. The child king had grown used to my weird sense of humour during the time I’d spent on his island.
“I believe we will very shortly discover where the disciples and their newly made are located,” Kokoro said. “For now, we should head for the airport. Our pilot is waiting to take us to our destination.”
Ishida stood and that was our cue to file outside. Nicholas insisted on riding with Luc and me again. Geordie pouted and retaliated by also joining us. The pair sulked silently in the back seat. Luc discreetly rolled his eyes as he waited for the motorhome to rumble to life. Now I know what it feels like to have kids. When I’d still been alive, I’d felt as if I’d missed out since I hadn’t settled down and raised a family. If this is what it’s like then I didn’t miss out on all that much, I decided.
Our car was third in line of the small convoy as it departed from the farmstead. Ishida’s truck full of soldiers went first and the motorhome rode between it and our jeep. Igor brought up the rear. Some of the guards had been transferred to the motorhome, presumable to give the others in the truck more room to stand. It would have been very tight quarters with all fifty of them squeezed in together.
That reminded me of something. “How was the cellar?” I asked the morose pair in the back.
“It was adequate, Natalie,” Nicholas said and flashed me a grin. His eyes remained curiously flat and emotionless. How could I not have noticed that before? My subconscious had an answer ready. Because you’re usually staring at his chest and abs and rarely bother to look at his eyes, it pointed out snidely but accurately.
Geordie shot him a look of disgust then leaned forward to mostly hide the muscle bound vamp from my sight. “It was draughty, damp, full of bugs and cold, my Queen.” I glanced into the rea
r view mirror in time to see Nicholas narrow his eyes at the barb.
“That’s a shame,” Luc said insincerely. “Natalie and I spent a wonderful night in the Emperor’s spare bedroom.”
“Exactly how ‘wonderful’ was your night?” Geordie asked suspiciously.
“Not that wonderful,” I said dryly.
Nicholas smirked and Geordie smiled brightly. “If you ever have need of someone else to spend the night with, chérie, I humbly offer my services.”
Luc had a comeback ready. “That will not be necessary, Geordie. Natalie and I have agreed not to share our flesh hunger with anyone else.”
Nicholas lifted a brow in surprise. “You mean you are willingly limiting yourselves to only one bed partner?”
“Natalie is more than enough woman for me,” Luc said with a hint of a smile. “I have no need of anyone else in my bed.”
Geordie sent me a stricken look. “Is this true, chérie? Have you committed yourself to Lucentio?”
I didn’t think my sex life was anyone’s business but mine and Luc’s but I could see the advantages of answering the question. “We love each other,” I said simply, hoping the admission would keep Nicholas off my back. Surely even creatures like us had to respect love.
“Our kind does not ‘love’,” the over muscled vamp said with a lip curl, immediately dashing my hopes that he’d take the hint. “We eat, sleep and fuck. There is nothing else for us.”
I’d heard that exact same sentiment before, when I’d been a guest in the London sewer vamp’s lair. Gregor had shown me with his urbane manor and library full of books that this didn’t have to be the case. Luc had shown me with his memories after I’d accidentally bitten him that it was indeed possible for us to love.
“I feel very sorry for you if that’s what you truly believe, Nicholas,” I said coolly.
