by E R Landron
“Why me?”
“You? You think you are special or something? Wrong place, wrong time, and you listen, so you're alive.”
“The orb?”
“The shiny? You and I held it when you were attacked with your partner. It seems it is a key, for what? I don't know. But what I do know is that it will be dawn soon and I don't got a haven.”
“You’re not staying with me.”
“Didn’t think it was an option... but I gotta move before the sun rises.”
“Sun can kill you guys?”
“Not all of us. In my case… yes. It can kill me.”
I pull my head to the side. The information was flowing incredible fast. Some questions that I needed were answered. I want to ask a million questions. Start profiling these clans. Their powers. Their weaknesses. Kokolite already skipped a question, so I do not think he will answer all of them. I can’t just carry a diary to write down everything. I wonder why is he telling me some things but not all of them. Maybe it was true the not being special. Or maybe I’m connected to it somehow. How?
“You got a headache... you should drink something. Let’s go and see Diane; maybe I can sneak into an empty room, and avoid the blazing sun.”, he says.
I grunt. My apartment isn’t an option. Kokolite was right, I am getting a headache, and that pisses me even more. I lost control of situations a few times in life and see that my world has opened up so much makes me uncomfortable. I feel even alien to what other mysteries lie ahead. I don't know if I should ask him about Louis and Lestat? Kokolite turns to me with an annoyed face.
“No... not even Edward.”, he says.
He sighs abruptly and scratches his head disappointed as the car speeds up.
RIPA Night - The Council, 8:25 PM
This is all the same. Every single time. Even the office is boring. Polished concrete walls, just a desk. The secretary behind it. Cold, not inviting at all. The only thing giving color to this room are some million dollar paintings that could be done by a five-year-old if given a chance. Art is a good way to do money laundering without breaking any treaties, so in this case, they are very valuable. The secretary keeps pounding her fingers behind a keyboard and moving her mouse from time to time like a robot. Annoying. Her perfectly put hair bun hovers from side to side from the monitor. A beep sounds from her computer, she touches a Bluetooth speaker in her ear, and she whispers something. Her head pokes aside from the computer screen.
“They are ready for you Mr. Ripa.”
I nod and stand. I tilt my head to the side. I feel the snap. Relieves the stress. I fix my suit and walk. I catch her looking as I pass by. She jumps to work immediately. I enter the rustic designed doors that open automatically on the hall next were the secretary is sitting. The room more or less the same as the other. The only difference I look like I am standing in a spotlight scene where people on benches are looking down on me. The five creeps with their expensive suits pop in their chairs with their hands gripped as I accommodate to the center. Always judging these creeps. Antiquated. Hair well-groomed and have a golden ring in their pinky. The middle councilman lifts himself a bit. I hate his French accent.
“You know why you are here?”, says Claude.
The voice of this old man punctuating each word as to let know that he is being heard. Calmly but you could feel a sense of authority being call for. It makes me want to vomit.
“You needed to tell me something in person I presume. Something that could not be said on an email.”, I respond.
Claude' s forehead pops one of his veins. He tries to remain in his composure. He blinks twice and gives out a half smile. Precious.
“I advised you to leave the sarcasm, Mr. Ripa. You know that the council and the society have been here for many, many years and we plan to continue it that way.”
“It is reminded to us all from time to time.”
“The reason why you are here Mr. Ripa is that you are close to exposing us and probably start a war.”
“How so Mr. councilman? How am I close to exposing us all? Won’t that affect me? Even so… how I am close to starting a war. I have been at my office, doing your work. Gathering more resources. Being a nice puppet.”
My words are chosen carefully. I maintain my composure. I take slow breathes. Claude takes a slight breath and forces a half smile again this time showing part of his denture. Ugly crooked teeth.
“The church? The Ahket from the slums of the city?”, he asks.
“I have no recollection of what are you talking about. I heard of it, what it has to do with me? It's a small world, and people talk and gossip nonsense.” I smirk.
“We have been doing this for a long time. Long before you were born.”
“And as I as well. I know the politics gentlemen. There must be proof of my wrongdoings as well as a hearing of what my actions have done to impact our people. If policies, agreements, and truce were held. Let me remind the council, that our district, our whole state has seen more resources in every aspect since I've been appointed to this area. Also, I have done nothing to go above law.”
“Yet you know an investigation must occur.”, The elder with the fat chin on the right says.
“I know the laws. Do it. Now hear me. If nothing comes back to me. If there is no proof I will take this as defamation, to myself, my work and my clan. Since there's no need to get things to escalate I'll let it slide on one condition.”
“One condition? You are being called on by the council and still, have the audacity to… demand something?”, says the tucan on the left smashing his bony hand on the table.
“I know the politics gentlemen. You will need to do your investigation and find valid proof of what I’ve been accused of… I am pretty sure nothing will point out to me… and yet … I have been summoned…people have seen me. Also, the council must meet some sort of… compensation for any irreparable damage to my image.”, I finish.
Claude leans back in his sit and presses his hands together. The others keep their grouchy faces on. The only asshole with balls here is Frenchy.
“And what is that Mr. Ripa? What is the compensation you see fit to accommodate you… if… we don’t find evidence?”, asks bird nose again.
“I’ll have a seat in the council.”
Claude jumped from his seat and pressed his lips sticking his tongue and with his teeth biting his tongue. I see it hurts yet he hides his pain. Not that well. The councilmen got nervous and started whispering. Claude shushes the other members and little by little they settle down.
“Order, order! Settle down.”, he says.
Claude rises firmly in his seat and leans his hand on the bench appearing taller than the rest of the council. His lips pucker up making his cheeks shallow. He is looking to make sure to be heard what comes next.
“And if we do... if we find something that points out … that points out that you Mr. Ripa were behind any of these … wrongdoings as you said…”, he pauses for a long time.
“You'll be exiled.”
I force a grin acting on it very convincing as I do not worry. All the tension goes to my jaw. To my hand that becomes a fist on my back. This really is something to be worry. Being exiled is no joke, and just the sound of it will make anyone nervous. All the vampires in a way or another know each other. If exiled I would go to a place remote from vampires and practically be a stray in the vampiric world. I’ll bear markings of sunburn that told I’m no longer with them. No other vampire will dare to help me, and if they did, they will be executed. Vampires getting exiled began getting popular on the 1700s and later began a mockery of them until the first publication of living vampire among humans happened. Some people became fascinated, others were scared of us. Soon extermination of some clans began as well as a way to control the vampiric population. Those exiled and exposed almost on all occasions were hunted down by our own. Vampire fanatics that thought if someone was excluded he or she will reveal all the vampiric worl
d secrets and leave them exposed and vulnerable. To humans, vampires are just a fairy tale. We live among them. We follow treaties in order to keep it that way. Anything that breaks any treaty could start a world war. Keeping vampires off the human radar is imperative.
“Anything else gentlemen?”, I ask.
“That would be all, for now, Mr. Ripa. Remember we still have our monthly council to discuss progress and expectations from your side.”
The councilmen show me the door as I’m good to leave. The door closes behind me and my whole body tenses up. How I would like to murder those bastards. I feel the air running through my body as shadows are forming around me. I take a deep breath and tilt my head and proceed to fix my tie and suit. My hands still tremble from anger. Can’t give them reasons at this time. I will not be exiled. Another deep breath. I close my eyes. Air slowly leave my mouth. Everything is silent except the ongoing typing on front. I open my eyes. The secretary is still in her robotic stage, with twenty open windows in her computer, typing, moving her mouse, dragging things from one place to another and from time to time moves to fix her glasses. I walk towards her. I smoothly caress her neck without permission.
MIEKE Night - Hospital, 8:35 PM
We exit the car. We head out looking everywhere. I still don’t know what may lurk through the shadows. Anything close to the unusual things seen today will alert Kokolite. We continue to a bathroom with an OUT OF SERVICE sign. It has not been used in a while. Dust everywhere. There are some materials in a side probably that will be used to remodel it. Grout, wall and floor tiles, calk, tubes, and others rest aside. Still dirty. Probably budget reasons to finish it. We open two faucets. I see myself for the first time since the fight we just had. Blood, dust, hair all messed up. I have seen that face before. Not the face of war, or secret missions, a face that was not supposed to be alive but it is. A face of a survivor. I'm alive. My body tenses up. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, and my mind wonders where I don’t want it to. A bad time when I almost got killed by an ex-boyfriend, a frat boy, a jerk, an excuse of a man. It was very late, almost dawn when he got into a tiny apartment we shared. He was drunk and wanted to have sex. He busted through the room door and was loud and obnoxious. He woke me up, and I was in no mood. Had been studying all night. I needed to get up early in the morning. He didn't care. He continued trying to do it anyways, and I refused. So he used force against me. I tried to force him off but little by little he used more strength, and he was becoming agitated with each passing second. He managed to throw me from the bed down to the floor. He kicked me two times if I remember correctly. It took all the air out. My vision blurred out. The pain rushed through my head, and I squinted hard, like never before. The pressure of my nerves reacting. The pain. Before I could even think he grabbed me, threw me against the wall in a coward way. A cheap painting fell close to me. All that respect I gave him, to have no walls with him, a sense of security vanished. He punched my face various times. What I’m seeing right now is more or less that same image. As I tried to get myself up. I got a glimpse in the bedroom mirror. Black-eyed, bloody nose, bruises all over. "Oh c'mon Meeks, you know you want to tame the beast", his voice lingers in my head now. I feel nauseous. I caught Kokolite starring through the mirror. Tears flood instantly. Nobody had learned about that story except the cops at the shift of the precinct at that night.
“What happened then?”, he asks.
“Luckily it ended quickly after that. I turned myself towards him as he started moving towards me unbalanced. I kicked him in the shin and as he lowered himself and palmed his nose, breaking it instantly. He screamed: Bitch! Meeks! You bitch! I’ll kill you. I quickly kneed him straight in the face breaking his hand that was covering his bloodied nose. I managed to escape. When I left the building, a cop car stopped that was passing by. He recognized me. Herman's daughter, he said. Half naked in a shirt and underwear I climbed the police car. He took me to the police station quickly, as other cops came to my aide.”
“That’s why you hate that nickname?”
“I do! With all my guts. What's worst was that he was that son of an ex-military man with high honors and was acquitted of any charges. I got a scar for life, and the guy walked away.”
I nod to Kokolite. He hears everything. Let go and cry Mieke. Tears escaped my eyes. I’ve been bottling up all these years. Now, this anomaly of supernatural creature has landed in my life, and I have to open up closed wounds. The control, the sharpness of knowing everything was out of the window. The thought that years later justice was served with the ex, gave me hope that, what was occurring now, will eventually be over.
“First time I saw my dad feeling helpless. How could he help his daughter? I know he was the one who... made a deal and made his family disappear. An accident they said.”
A sense of relief came to me. I feel a weight being lift from my shoulders. I don’t know this man in front of me, yet he knows everything going through my mind. There is no sense in hiding it anymore. If he wanted to kill me, he would have already done it by now. He hasn't.
He looks like he knows about his world, but he tries to avoid it, making him an outsider as well. I want to know everything in it. How is this connected with the humans? Who is connected? How does this work? More questions were pouring in my head, and yet answers are not swimming back. For the first time, I feel like I can talk without walls, since the death of dad.
“How about you? You said your family was taken from you?”, I ask.
Kokolite changed his sight to the mirror and broke a forceful smile that was evident from a mile away. He arranged his hair into a tidy ponytail with his fingerless hand covered gloves and quickly scrapped off some dirt from his trench coat. His extendable staff hit part of the vanity. That sounds like a heavy metal. I notice for the first time that he uses a black shirt underneath his coat. Still can’t tell if it is a tank top or short sleeved. He has some cargo pants. Why so many pockets? His gloves have a metal plate on top. Maybe is for punching harder.
“I’m worried about you. And I'm worried about the silence in the streets.”, he says.
“How so?”
“Two unusual events back to back, and not even a whisper. Usually, cats gossip. They are dead now. Not even a message about it. The city is connected you know. Sounds, lights, billboards, graffiti. Many ways to communicate without using spying gadgets. The council should have acted by now.”
I close the faucet and arrange my jacket. I’m full attentive of what he was saying. I got to learn that. Hidden messages, coms, council. We took off from the bathroom. Wasn't it weird we shared a bathroom? Didn’t notice till now.
We step into an elevator and hit Diane’s floor.
The elevator door opens, and we exit, turning quickly were Diane is supposed to be. We look “cleaner” than before, from the dust, blood, and dirt we had. I think we earned our day’s pay.
“By the way… tungsten and titanium.”, Kokolite interrupts my thoughts.
“What about it?”, I ask.
“You wondered about the metals I carry. Tungsten staff and titanium plates on the gloves and toe box.”
I look down at Kokolite’s boots and notice an old obscure metal that was almost as black as his boots. They look old and as if they are flexible enough to run.
“Sometimes fights are difficult and continuous. You got to fight hard and defend harder. Both metals are very resistant.”
Diane is already putting her jacket on and the priest its by her side still laying down with the hospital robe.
“Mieke?”, Diane asks.
“Hey! How are you feeling?”, I ask back.
A quick nod came from Diane, and a smirk broke quickly as in "you two?" as Kokolite passes by her side. She winked at me. She must be crazy. I mouthed a big "NO" that was almost audible. Diane looks at him again and back at me like "could I?" and again I mouthed two " NO! NO!" but this time pointing at Diane. I don't get it. She saw him already. Did she suffer a con
cussion? Or She does not recognize him at the moment? I am not interested in him at all. I do recognize that his appearance is attractable with his almost hipster look. His homeless appearance almost on purpose. He’s tall, and you could almost tell he was built under all that clothing. Kokolite and they whispered to each other. The Priest gave a nod and signaled him of something upwards.
“Are you leaving Diane?”, I ask while turning to her.
“Yeah silly... with you!”
Diane was loud at the moment and been weird with her movements wobbly and clumsy.
“She’s free to go. Talk to her; she's been a little anxious since earlier. They gave her something for that.”, the priest says.
My hand turned to a fist right away. I thought they were going to call me if something had happened to Diane. I hate when people don't do their job correctly. I nod to the priest and force a smile turning back to Diane.
“Is the priest leaving too?”
Not for a day or two. I think a relative or someone he knows will come later. By the way, we got to talk.”, Diane says.
“About?”
“Apartment.”
“Sure.”
I tap Kokolite over the shoulder. His trench coat is still humid from when we freshened up. We both share a nod. It felt strange how "this" is becoming normal so fast. I could just think something, and he will know it. The only times I could have connected with people at just a glance and know what they were going to do, was when training night and day with the same squad.
What Diane wanted to tell me? Or is the talk part of, she acting so weird at the moment? Should I talk to her about vampires as well to keep her in harm’s way? No... let me figure this all out before saying anything to another soul. These are the times that I wished dad was alive just for some comfort.
Diane left the room with me and waived at the Priest receiving a cross in the air as a blessing in exchange. Diane also did a cross to the Priest. I pull her away softly.
