Forever of the Universe

Chapter Twelve

2009-01-12T22:11:00.000-06:00

Feeling overwhelmed, I climbed as high as I could manage into a tree, in the woods behind my house, and just sat there, staring at what stars I could see through the glowing haze of the city lights. Jack followed me, silently, though I didn’t particularly desire his company.

I was conflicted by what had happened. It was clear that Jack was a wild creature, accustomed to relying on instinct. Trying to keep him subdued would be difficult, if not cruel.

Yet he was here on his own accord. He was here, because he wanted to be, because he wanted to learn from us. He couldn’t survive off of hunting deer and vermin, but I just couldn’t bring myself to allow him to kill humans. Animals are accustomed to facing prey every day, but how could I allow him to rob a family of their father or mother, lover or child.

We sat in that tree for more than two hours in silence. I blocked my thoughts from Jack, too worried that he would feel guilty for what he was, though I had the impression that he felt that way anyhow. I imagine he spent that time wondering what I was thinking, and a few times I could feel his curiosity peering into my mind, trying to find an unguarded window, but I only, gently, pushed him away.

I suppose I should have been surprised when Ross suddenly spoke to me from below the tree, having not even noticed his entering the woods, but stealth is our nature.

“Elanor. Come down.” He called tenderly, like a father come to coax his upset child from their favorite hiding spot.

I looked down, but couldn’t bring myself to move. I was too frustrated to talk to him yet.

He didn’t wait for me, he leapt into the tree with a single bound but rather than land near me, he leapt into me, knocking me off my seat. We landed relatively soundlessly onto the ground below, almost simultaneously with Jack, who had left the tree as soon as I did.

I stood straight before him, clenching my teeth and looking at nothing in particular to to my left.

“Art thee going to be so obstinate all night?” Ross asked.

I looked him in the eyes, and continued in our own tongue, “I do not wish to hear a lecture on the folly of my sentiments towards the dark children.”

Ross smiled and squeezed my arm. “Do not be so quick to condemnation, for I have no intention to do so. I have a proposition for the dark child, and a hopeful solution for the situation as well.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and continued to speak in English for Jack’s benefit. “Come, let us find a more homely atmosphere.”

Ross lead us to my house, pulled out a chair from my table for myself, and gestured for Jack to find his own seat, then proceeded to make two cups of tea.

“Jack, we have discussed your situation. We believe we can come to an arrangement of mutual contentment. But first, you must know more about the enemy.”

Jack had already been rather attentive, but at this, his eyes widened some, and he became noticeably more alert.

Ross placed the cup of tea in front of me, the process of boiling water expedited by an electric kettle, then sat to my left at the round table.

“Would you like to tell the story?” Ross more suggested, then requested.

I had more or less been avoiding this, as the stories are not only distressingly intimate, but rather tragic to me. Bringing them up is not something I do lightly.

When I looked up at Jack, there was an odd look of pain and concern in his eyes. It took me a moment to understand that it was the pain in my eyes he was reacting to. I might have been confused or curious as to his reaction, but I quickly adjusted myself and became more stoic.

“Romulus is as old as I am. Slightly younger, but insignificantly so. He was made vampire in the year 717 BC, by his own choosing, as he was fearful of death, and so filled with lust for power, that he was not willing to give it up for anything. For more than two millennium, he has used his powers, his intellect, and his experience to play the human’s puppet master, contributing to the rise and fall of empire after empire. All in an attempt to quench his insatiable thirst for power.
Thwarting him is an ever-constant struggle, and with his presence now, here in Chicago, the duty falls on us to keep him in check.”

Jack thought for a moment, then asked. “When you say ‘Romulus’, you mean he’s Roman, right? Like the myth of ‘Romulus and Remus’?”

I exchanged a glance with Ross. “The same, actually. Romulus killed his own twin brother in order to establish Rome. That was how he started his ambitious career. When Romulus founded Rome, he set up a council for himself, of the wealthiest and most prominent patriarchs, in an effort to gain loyalty. But as he became more powerful, the senate felt he was a threat to their own position and interests, and talks of assassination grew. Only two souls know how Romulus gained immortality, but after he did, he was deified, being then called Quirinus, and seldom seen again by mortals.

“It is assumed that he played his role divine intervener well. He remained hidden to all but the most powerful, came only with the cloak of night. His appearance and powers would have helped him convince those he came to of his divinity.
“Rome flourished, then fell. Other empires flourished and fell. Most of the time, he was behind it.”

“But...” Jack interrupted. “weren’t you able to stop it?”

I paused, and Ross answered instead. “We are not here to interfere. Humans are free to make their own choices, and their own mistakes. We are here to protect the humans from themselves, as well as the vampires, but at the beginning, we had no place stopping the natural growth of a nation. It was only after a millennium that we realized the full threat of Romulus’ power and influence.”

“We...” I added. “pick up the pieces.”

I had hoped that was the end of my contribution. I wished not to dwell on my sordid past with Romulus any longer.

“We need to put the pressure on him, and make him known that we’re serious, but without revealing too much. Romulus is using the local gangs to cover his actions. He’s trying to create just enough chaos to threaten the status quo, but I’d be willing to bet that he intends to use it to grow his numbers, either by absorbing them or by using them to turn more.”

“Like with Anthony?” Jack was attempting to catch up to speed.

Ross answered him. “His actions with Anthony are an indicator to what he plans to do, but there is something unusual with that situation. Romulus is obsessing over Anthony, somewhat abnormally. We intend to see how it plays out.”

I looked at Ross shocked. “You mean to sacrifice Anthony?”

Ross sighed, and put his hand on mine, giving me a look that said we would discuss that later. He turned back to Jack. “Our communication has been almost cut off completely. We cannot attempt any form of outside communication during the night. During the day, we can only attempt physical communication, and possibly untraceable phone lines. Romulus has had a long time to get his forces in place, all the phone lines will be tapped, and he’ll have spies keeping eyes on us, human and vampire. Vampires can match us physically, but we can feel their presence. Humans are tricker, because while we cannot tell their presence from any other, we have the advantage of supernatural abilities which means we must always be guarded.

“Jack, your assistance would prove a great advantage. Romulus knows that we have vampires on our side, but he doesn’t know how many. We can play this up by making it appear that we have ore numbers. At eh same time, we will work on bringing more allies in. For our own security, we must keep you in the dark as to our exact plans as well. But we would also like to make use of your clairvoyance. Spying on Romulus is foolish, he has too much experience to be played and we wouldn’t get much out of him anyhow. But keeping an eye on him will be easier with your help.”

Jack gave Ross an incredulous look. “Why should I put myself at risk? I don’t mean to sound selfish, I need to...”

“No, no...” Ross interjected, “You have a right to know. Romulus is looking to build himself an empire. The repercussions of a vampire run empire are dire in and of themselves, but it can be guaranteed that Romulus will not keep his ambitions modest. If his dominion grows too large, too fast, as all empires do, it will crumble under it’s own weight, not only risking a new Dark Age of Man, but it will inevitably unleash upon the entire Earth, a vampiric holocaust, where vampires once made, kept, and checked by institution, will be left without any supervision or restraint.

“Now I know that you are still humane enough to want peace in this world.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed in what would have been a smirk if his mouth had followed suit.

“What do I need to do?”

Chapter Eleven

2009-01-11T22:10:00.000-06:00

We sped off into the woods behind my house as fast as we could. Jack did well keeping up with me. I was a touch faster than him, but I knew these woods well enough to run blind through them, and I was more nimble than he. He was as silent as a ghost though, and unlike all the life of the forest, he gave off almost no ‘vibration’, as if he was as dead as stone. If he was to fall behind me, I had no way of knowing he was there, other than the smell.

We floated through the woods like spirits, hardly noticed by the inhabitants; or perhaps more like predators, for when we crossed paths with a young buck, Jack took the opportunity to feed.

It happened so quick, there was hardly any finesse. Jack hunted on pure instinct. When he saw proper prey, he pounced on it, without thinking. It was a bit frightening; if that had been a human, I can’t be sure he would have acted any differently. It’s not our place to prevent any creature from killing to gain sustenance, but it is also emotionally straining to think of the effect that human death has on the community.

The buck was a good size. 8 points, 141 pounds, and alone, most likely only two years old. A buck wasn’t the same as a 141-pound human for Jack, but it would satiate him for a couple weeks. The animal looked lean as well. I didn’t wish to waste it, as André greatly enjoyed venison. It would make a good treat for him when he returned.

“Does thou mind if I bring the rest home?” I said when he was done. Jack was laying on the ground, blood staining his lips. His eyes were shifting quickly, as if he may be experiencing a sort of vertigo, or trying to look at many things at once. When I spoke, he snapped out of his delirium suddenly. ‘’

“Huh? Oh, um...” He slowly sat himself up. “Do you want to return home?”

“Only for a moment. I’ll meet back up with thee. “

“Where?” he asked.

“I’ll find thee.”

He smiled, “You didn’t even notice me the first time I met you.” he teased.

“Well, now I know what to look for.” I bantered.

I lifted the beast’s remains and ran them home. We had a shed that André used when he hunted. Field dressing the animal was rather easy, as Jack had saved me the process of exsanguinating the carcass, so it only took me less than ten minuets to do so. I then left it in the meat freezer for when I had time later to butcher it properly.

Vampire scent is subtle, like a creature just on the cusp of life and death. Yet, once I locked onto it, it was easy to follow. He had continued running in the direction we had started in, this time without stopping.

The forest ends in the same park in which our paths first crossed two nights prior. Jack was there, his back to me, swinging on the parks swing-set; nothing fancy, just swinging... like a child. I wondered, when was the last time he had done such human things. I decided to toy with him.

I ran up to the swing as fast as I am able, pushing the swing clear over my head as I ran under. He was thrown off the swing, but he tucked into a roll and landed on top of the swing-set, motionless.

I laughed, and ran up the leg of the set to join him on top.

“So, how did you find me?” Jack asked. I pointed to my nose.

“My sense of smell is as good as thine.”

“And your strength? Your speed, your balance, they all seem to be as good as a vampires.”

“They are.” I jumped off the crossbeam, grabbed ahold of it with my hands, then flipped back onto the beam into a crouching position. It was partially vanity, showing off for Jack, but it was freeing and fun to play like that.

Jack took this as a challenge. He walked along the beam, did a one-handed cartwheel, but instead of landing back onto the beam, he intentionally missed, hanging off the beam, one-handed, for an instant, then using his momentum to swing diagonally under the beam and back up into a hand stand. He then hand walked a few steps, before righting himself with a front-walk-over.

I gave a golf clap, and smiled.

He turned to face me, and straddled the beam. “Tell me more. Your husband; you said you’d explain about him later.”

“No.” I shook my head sadly, “I am not able to tell thee any information on him given our current situation. Perhaps when we can trust thee more.”

He nodded, though disappointed. “What about children?”

I smiled to myself. “Yes, I have many, in fact. None with André, so only three still walk the Earth. But I have countless descendants. I know each one’s name, birth, death...”

“So you really do have perfect memory.”

“I have eidetic memory, yes.”

“Can you read minds?”

“I cannot, but there are a few still of my kind that can. It was once more common, but that was generations ago.”

“Is it common for my kind?” He now pressed.

“More so. Usually those that were unwillingly changed are more likely to manifest it. We are not sure why.”

“Does Anthony?” He asked, with a slight air of contempt.

I scoffed. “Sorry, that was rude. But no, he does not.”

“Hey, last night, you said “hebrew tomorrow” when speaking to him. Why was that? What did you mean?”

“Goodness, thou was not embellishing about thy questions! It’s just easier to use the hebrew measure of time with vampires; sunset-to-sunset. No special reason, though I have associated with Hebrews before. I even have a few descendants of that ethnicity.”

“You have Jewish descendants? What religion are you? Does your kind have religion?”

I rolled backwards and hung upside-down by my knees. “Of a sort. It’s not exactly organized though. It’s more of a philosophical spirituality based on traditions and mythos.

“Like the one you told me?”

“Sort of. That particular one has been modified some over the years. When I first heard it, the names were different, though the details were almost identical, just more in depth. It is likely it was influenced by the myths of the area as well, as I have heard varieties of the myth that are closer to the ‘first man’ myths of the local human communities.”

“I feel so ignorant when I speak to you. Not to speak any ill of you at all, the contrary really, I love that you’re patient with me in regards to all this. It’s simply that I have been alive for longer than any human, and I feel as if I know no more than a child.” he confessed.

I righted myself and sat more casually. “I would not have thee so hard on thyself.” I placed a hand on his shoulder; the most intimate physical contact I had ever had with him at this point. “Thou has not spent this time in pursuit of knowledge. Thou may be much older than a human, but thou are young for an immortal. The nature of the gift of time, is that thou has the opportunity to take thy time.”

“So, who is Romulus, and why is he so dangerous?”

We had been ignoring the passerby’s, few as they were, relying on the idea that they just assumed we were some bored teens showing off, but when a police officer called out to us, I can admit, it startled us.

“Hey you kids! What are you doing up there!?” He shouted in a threatening voice. What happened next happened so fast, that to write it out seems ridiculously slow and misrepresentative of the event. It would make better sense to write it out as one compound word, if I thought I could create such a thing in English.

As soon as the police officer finished his first sentence, Jack was after him. He had his teeth on the officer’s neck shortly after he had finished speaking and just as the officer was gasping in fear and disbelief.

I’m ashamed to say that it took me a blink to realize what was happening. Jack was already pulling the blood from the man’s neck by the time I was close enough to stop him. I placed my hand around the back of Jack’s neck. “Jack. Please. You don’t need to kill him.” I said soothingly, like speaking to a wild animal.

Jack slowly pulled away from the officer, who had fainted, most likely from shock, more than blood loss. He lowered the limp man to the ground and looked back up at me. I saw that childlike expression again, something that I had caught glimpses of since our first encounter, but this time it looked so innocent and confused. He had reacted exactly as he had when he had attacked that deer. I felt a twinge of guilt for oppressing his nature, but I couldn’t help but also feel for the poor man in his grasp. I wondered about the officers family and friends. I wondered if he had a wife and kids that would miss him. “Please Jack. You don’t need to kill him.” And that was true. I knew he was full from the deer. It wouldn’t sustain him as human blood would, but it filled his belly almost to the brim, and he likely couldn’t consume much more of the man than what he had already taken. Mostly, I worried that he would mortally wound the man and leave him for dead simply out of survival instinct.

I held out my hand and Jack tenderly took it, I gently lead him up to standing before crouching to check the officer. I inspected the wound on his neck. It was still bleeding freely, and needed to be stopped or the officer would bleed to death on the grass. I pulled off a shoe and sock, put the sock in my mouth to wet it, and pressed the wet portion hard onto the wound. The twenty seconds that I waited for the wound to clot were oppressive, as so much of me wanted to run from that place immediately. When I finally pulled the sock away (something that should never be done under non-supernatural circumstances), the wound was well clotted and had diminished in severity some.

When a vampire bites it’s victim, it doesn’t leave two neat little puncture wounds on the top of the neck, like most media tends to depict. Most of the pressure is applied by the lower fangs, which look somewhat similar to the sharks teeth that one can get at tourist shops on beaches. The goal of the bite is to rupture the common carotid artery, the artery that is used to check a pulse, therefore, this causes a wound that includes two superficial piercings on the top of the neck from the upper fangs, and two deep serrated piercings over the carotid artery, and a long curved gash in between where the lower incisors bite into the flesh.

After my tending, the gruesome lower wound had stopped flowing blood and had slowed to a more viscous oozing. The gash between the two puncture wounds had clotted and stopped bleeding all together, but was still open, and that risked infection. I mopped up the oozing blood from all four puncture wounds, licked my lips and bent down to kiss them closed. Elven saliva has the ability to transfer some of our self-healing abilities to mortals, and is likely linked to the affect our blood has on vampirism.

The kisses helped fix the worst of the wounds. He would likely still need stitches, but it was unlikely to reopen, and unlikely to become infected with the help of some amoxicillin.

When all that was done, I held fast to Jack’s hand and ran.

Chapter Ten

2009-01-10T22:06:00.000-06:00

The attitude of my visit with Anna & Celeb was a far contrast to the previous day’s. No lounging, this time we were standing at the kitchen counter, speaking solely in our native elven language.

“What dost thou think is our most pressing matter?” Celeb asked me.

“Anthony. He must be restrained, before Romulus gets hold of him, or the Hunters.”

“And Romulus himself? Doest thou not believe we should concern ourselves with him?”

I paused to think. “Romulus is cunning. His numbers are far greater than ours. It is no small matter to take on his forces. He will be patient and persistent; so must we be. It could take Romulus centuries to strike.”

“The world is different than it was the last time we faced him. He is acting in a manner that worries me. I am curious to know why he is so preoccupied with someone as mundane as Anthony.”

“Then I demand something be done about Anthony! Kid Ugly died simply by spying on the local vampires for them. They are all at risk by associating with him. They are in much too far over their heads now, Romulus will destroy them to get what he wants.”

“Their friends demise was a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is unfortunate, but not something that could have been anticipated, and something he knowingly exposed himself to. He could have been attacked at any time, even without Romulus’ followers involvement. We cannot protect all humans from the vampires, especially when they run into their arms.” Celeb rationalized.

“We can when they come to us for help! We must when they beg it of us!” I argued.

“Elanor, they will never leave Anthony to his own devices. We cannot spread ourselves thin for them. If they require our assistance, we will inform them of our efforts with Romulus, and advise them on how to deal with Anthony. If they don’t take it, we’ve done all we can, and it is no longer our concern.”

“That’s not good enough. They’re children, they want to help, and to be honest, they do. I can’t accept the option of standing by idly while they are captured and likely tortured by a vampire the likes of which they can’t even fathom. It is our duty to protect them, ignoring their naïveté is what damned us all in the first place.”

Celeb sighed and rubbed his chin. “In truth, we need greater numbers. We must call in more of our kind.”

We agreed that, for the time being, they would deal with the Hunters. Anna was going to go talk to them tonight, which was likely a better idea than letting me in the same room with Anthony.

We then plotted a strategy to call in reinforcements slowly and clandestinely. There was no way we would avoid Romulus’ radar, but if we made a strong enough effort, we could still intimidate, or at best, he would underestimate us. After 2,762 years of rivalry, he knew us all too well; though the same was true for us.

Back home, I called André to update him as to my people’s plans. The fact that we were calling in support made him feel more confidant. Again, he asked about Jack.

“We have enough reason to believe that he doesn’t associate with Romulus, but his knowledge of us is, naturally, still a risk. His movements will be monitored, and his exposure to us will be limited. I promise, I will block my mind from him. He’s not extremely powerful. As long as my guard is up, he can only see what I want him too.”

“Has he made any moves on you?” André asked.

I laughed. “I think thou are more concerned with is being on thy territory than his prospective threat to my safety.” I said teasingly.

Now André laughed too. “Just jealous that he gets to spend time with my love while I don’t.”

“Thou should come home for a weekend.”

“I will.”

We made arrangements for him to return soon, then reluctantly said our goodbyes. After I hung up with him, I returned to my dying work that had been set aside the previous night for our rendez-vous with Anna.

Jack arose early, while the sky was still a rosy blue.

“Why so hasty?” I asked him.

“I have too many questions running through my head. I can’t keep still.”

I smiled at his zeal. “What does thou desire to know?”

“Everything! Tell me about your life, your adventures, your husband, the other elves, the vampires we met, the Hunters, and that one you kept speaking about, Romulus.”

I sighed deeply at his inquests. I would need to be cautious about how I answered him, and that frustrated me. However there was no more harm to e done by telling him what Romulus already knew, so I could base my answers on that.

I looked at my dying project I had already delayed once.

“Come with me, I need a run.”

Chapter Nine

2009-01-09T23:45:00.003-06:00

I hardly had the composure to make it inside the Hunter’s HQ. The moment the door shut us in, I blew up.

“What the hell was thou thinking!? Does thou realize how much danger we were in? Does thou realize how much danger thou put all of us in simply by going around asking questions? How could thou be so stupid!?” I screamed.

“What does it even matter to you anyhow? You’re always in my business, you’re always so concerned about what I do. If you leave me the fuck alone then you wouldn’t be in danger.” Anthony was sulking on the couch, something he did often.

I got right up in his face. “This revenge thing of thine has gotten way out of hand. Tell me why I shouldn’t take thy power away right now!”

“Because you obviously need me! You guys are always giving us hints as to how to help kill vampires, you’re always protecting me. You wouldn’t have chased me right into The Cave if you didn’t need me some how.”

I slapped him, harder than I would ever slap a human, but nothing to a vampire. “Thou foolish, naive, selfish child. Thou really has NO idea what part thou plays in all this!”

I was about to say more, when Jack interrupted. “Elanor!” he urgently called, but with polite restraint. “It’s time.”

I looked out the small window that was the only source of outside light for the small warehouse. Too faint for humans to see, but we all could see the sky begin to lighten.

“We will discuss this tomorrow.” I warned him.

“It is tomorrow.”

“THE HEBREW TOMORROW!” I roared back. I grabbed Jack by the elbow and we ran back to my basement as fast as we could. We got back to my place with time to spare, but I joined Jack in the black basement closet for a moment.

We stood silent for a while. Jack was the first to speak. “Are you okay?”

I sighed and nodded.

“Why did you go after Anthony?”

“He protects the boys. They really are stupid children, but they’re good. They were all friends, Anthony, Patrick and Lee, before Anthony was stolen. Romulus had a plan for him, but none of us know what. Anthony was always stubborn, so he ran off, came back to his friends, and they all vowed to do away with the ones who turned Anthony. Frankly, it helps with numbers. Lately, we’ve been unable to keep up with the killings, the turnings, the overall destruction. But he’s so rash and uncooperative! I’m not so sure that it’s a good idea to let him loose any more.”

“You want to change him back.”

“Yes. He’s only been a vampire for four years. He would barely be any older. But it’s not fair to do it without his permission; which he will never give me because he would never be able to go after Romulus if he was changed back.”

“Why do you think Romulus wants him?” I wasn’t sure I had an answer. I was silent for some time. “You know that there’s a good chance that Romulus is just biding his time. He won’t go after Anthony as long as he knows that Anthony will keep coming to him. But if you change him back... there’s no guarantee that Romulus won’t come for him. Kill all of the Hunters. Break Anthony.”

There was always an advantage to talking to a telepath. “Yes. But thou knows as well as I, that’s only speculation.”

“Speculation is all you can do. Romulus is experienced and clever. He’s old... almost as old as you?”

I was jarred by this comment, and quickly closed off my mind.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to see something I wasn’t supposed to.”

“No, it’s fine... Just,... it troubles me; the fact that you can discover so much about me, where I can’t know anything more than you tell me.” I slipped into the formal... he didn’t notice.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized again.

“I should let thee rest. I could use some rest myself. I will have a lot on my mind tonight, I should enjoy the free time I get this evening.

André’s classes were all scheduled in the afternoon. It was frustrating needing to wait until 7am to call him, but it was so comforting to hear his voice. I told him everything that had happened since Jack’s arrival, though not in distinct detail.

“I want you to come stay with me.” He commented urgently.

“André, be rational. This is the time they need me most.”

“I don’t like the idea of some strange vampire staying in our house, I don’t like the idea of Romulus’s men coming after you, and I really, really don’t like some strange vampire staying in our house.”

“Thou mentioned Jack twice.”

“I really, really, REALLY don’t like him staying in our house.”

“Green is a bad color on thee, love, just so thou knows. Besides, how many fresh young co-eds has thee lured into thy bed by now?”

“I’ll have you know, I’ve been good. No lady has graced my bed-sheets. Not even you, I might add.”

“Yes, and thou has only been gone for two days. Thou hasn’t even met thy students yet. Don’t try to be coy with me sir.”

André laughed, and I could just see that impish grin on his face. “Seriously though,” and his voice grew grave, “I’m very worried about you love. I know that I should be able to trust your judgment on the new guy. Just promise me you’ll be careful...”

“...I promise.”

“... But I’m not comfortable with the Romulus situation. Anthony is getting out of hand, even for you all. Something needs to be done to insure you’re all safe.”

“I’ll speak with my kindred tonight. We’ll make a strategy, I promise.”

“Speak with them today. I’d feel better if you did so when, what’s-his-name... Jack wasn’t around. I don’t think it’s impossible that he’s a mole, or may double-cross you all.”

I sighed. “That’s fair.”

“Elanor...” and then André switched into early Saintongeais, his mother tongue, “ ... I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to thee.”

“Please, my love. I could never stand to break thy heart. I love thee more than all the words of all the languages could say.”

“Come see me soon?”

“I will.”

“I love thee.”

“Forever.”

Our conversation returned to American English, and we spoke of lighter topics for a few hours. “Come visit me this weekend? If you can get away?”

“I can’t make any promises, but perhaps thou could come here? Thou could meet Jack? I suppose thou are safer here than even we are.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Sorry.”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

When we did hang up, I immediately went over to see Anna & Celeb. André was right, I couldn’t get too trusting of Jack. I didn’t believe that he was a mole, but it was true that he had no due loyalty to us. If the enemies got a hold of him, it would be bad.

Chapter Eight

2009-01-08T15:45:00.001-06:00

Going to The Cave was not going to be as easy as it was last time. Romulus wasn’t expecting our involvement with the Hunters last time. Now, he knew we were protecting them, and would expect us if he already had Anthony in his custody.

The Cave was actually the name of a club downtown where Romulus hid his headquarters. The ground level was a typical looking club, and it was fairly successful, most of it’s patrons never knowing what happened behind close doors, and not caring. Romulus’ ‘dandies’ had no interest in stirring up petty trouble. They liked their trouble cool and calculated, and that required a safe haven where they could be left alone. But, every so often, one (un)lucky girl or boy was granted a private audience with the elites downstairs; where Romulus would likely wine and dine some naive thing, seducing them before ultimately taking their life, allowing all his innermost circle to feast on the poor unfortunate soul. If he liked them enough, he would allow them the concession of his dark gift, turning them just before death. That was how Anthony was turned.

And that was why Anthony now sought revenge. He never accepted his fate, at least that was how he wanted to come off. Embittered by his misfortune and Romulus’ attack, he was obsessed with retribution. He was a force to be reckoned with when it came to the majority of the vampires in the area, most little older than himself, though he was impressive for his extreme youth. But Romulus and his boys were a completely different pack. Anthony was a sweet kid, and helpful at times, but I wondered often if his revengefulness was just an excuse for him to play his favorite role as the tortured soul. The Lost Boy, I heard some tauntingly call him.

It was a Saturday night, so the club was well populated, though not as much as it would be when the night matured. We walked in boldly, not wasting time with the bouncer, who knew well enough than to ask three elves and a vampire for identification, but I could hear him sound the alert. Anna pulled Patrick back into the crowd of club-goers to keep him safe, while Celeb, Jack and I stormed downstairs. We had to first walk through the standard VIP room, again, no one wasting the time to try and stop us, to the back, down another flight of stairs, and into the true Cave. At the bottom, and around a corner, away from the view of the previous levels, was Anthony, crouched in defense against the 5 guardsmen before the door to Romulus’ lair. The guardsmen didn’t bother getting into stance, they paced casually, one twirling a pocket watch, one buffing his nails on his shirt, like the droogs of A Clockwork Orange. To them, this was sport, and they weren’t the slightest bit intimidated by the fledgling.

“Oi!” Celeb shouted. Everyone, save one dandy, looked at us. We rushed to Anthony’s side.

“We’ll take him from here.”

“Oh no you won’t!” Said an incredibly handsome looking dandy standing at the center. “Romulus said we could keep this one. Said he has plans for him.”

“Well he’s going to have to cancel them.” I pulled out a small vial of StarWater from around my neck. “Remember me?”

They hissed and drew back; now they crouched into a defensive stance. “Tell Romulus he can come and get the kid himself, but we had him first.”

The handsome dandy was behind us. “You’ll never get out of here with him, you don’t have enough of that stuff, and we have human friends as well.”

I grabbed the dandy by the neck. The other 4 began to growl, but Anthony and Jack growled back, and I could hear Celeb pull out his water pistol with StarWater as well. “Look, I’m getting really sick and tired of having to deal with your lot, it’s bad enough I have to deal with the night crawlers here, but I would appreciate not associating with pretentious smart-asses like yourself with over developed senses of ambition, now let us leave with the fledgling and save yourselves the pain, trouble and embarrassment of us utterly drubbing you, or as your kind like to say ‘beat the undead nightlights out of you.’ Now scram.”

But before I could fully release my grip on the twat, I heard one of the bouncers from upstairs “they have two more upstairs, and one’s a human. Should we grab them?” The handsome dandy’s lips twitched into a maniacal smile, and my eyes widened. Celeb squeezed the trigger on the pistol, causing the target vampire to shriek in pain. I quickly renewed my grip on the dandy’s neck and threw him as hard as I could down the hall, past the stairwell and against the door at the end of the adjacent hallway. Celeb kept pace with the thrown vampire, but turned racing up the stairs as fast as he was physically capable, to meet the aid his wife. Jack wrestled with one vampire, but he was positively feral, used to the viciousness of nomadic life. He ripped the throat of his opponent open and ran away up the stairs as well. However, Anthony, in his continuing trend of annoying the hell out of me with his stupid vendetta, was trying to fight the remaining two vampires (the one Celeb shot, having fled inside, most likely to warn Romulus, the handsome one having run after Celeb upstairs). I heard Anna yell from outside, running away, in our own language “Elanor, we are clear, hurry with!”

I grabbed the vial of StarWater hanging around my neck, snapped the glass in two with force enough to cause the contents to spray non-discriminately across the three scuffling vampires. They all howled in pain, and I grabbed the incapacitated Anthony by the hair and ran as fast as I could out of that club. They were already on guard and several vampires stood blocking my way out.

I had to make a drastic decision, so I went ahead and bit my wrist open. Blood rushed out of my ulnar artery flowing freely down my hand and dripping onto the floor. I reached forward to tackle my way past the barricade, but when they realized what I had done, they instinctively shied away, and it only took my touching one of their faces before they backed off and let us pass. I could hear the one I touched panicking, and several ran off to get him something to clean it off. Once outside the club, I changed my grip on Anthony, throwing him over my shoulder, my bloody arm wrapped around his waist, and ran a more human speed down to where we had parked Patrick’s car, where the others were waiting for me. As soon as Anthony and I were in the car, we drove off, not even waiting for me to shut the door.

“Oh my goodness, you’re bleeding!” Jack cried out. He pushed Anthony aside, who was trying to turn into a seated position after our unceremonious entrance into the vehicle. Once next to me, he grabbed my wrist inspect the wound. “You were bitten?!” There was sheer panic in his voice.

“Jack, leave it alone. Don’t touch the blood. Wash any off your hands, don’t taste it, not even a drop.”

“Why? What’s wrong? What happens if a vampire bites an elf?!”

The silence only lasted two seconds in reality, but after the frantic speed of our escape, it was profound. “You die.” Anthony blurted out maliciously.

“Shut up, thou stupid impudent ass! I could rip out thy heart with my own bare hands after the brazen exploit thou just performed!” I shouted at him. Anthony sat unaffected by my words, which only increased my rage.

“Elanor!” Jack called to me, in effort to gain my attention back. “Is that true?” He said much quieter and calmer. “Does elvish blood kill vampires.”

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. “Not directly. Elvish blood is the cure to vampirism, nothing more, nothing less.”

There was a pause before Jack continued. “So you’re saying... that if any vampire drank elvish blood... even a drop you said... they would go back to the way they were before they became a vampire?”

“No.” Was all I said. I was too agitated to say any more. I hoped that he would just read my mind and be done with it, but all I could think about was Anthony’s foolishness.

“No, love.” Anna continued. “You wouldn’t go back to the way you were. You would go back to the way you would be now.”

I heard his breath catch in his throat.

“Celeb. I need your pistol.” He pulled it out from it’s holster and handed it to me. I opened up the reservoir, dipped my sleeve in to wet it, and began to wipe away the blood from my hand and wrist. The wound was already closed, though it would take a full day for it to be unnoticeable.

“These water pistols really are the most gauche things.” I commented

Chapter Seven

2009-01-07T22:47:00.002-06:00

"It took us a while to realize he was gone, but he never showed up at HQ, and when we went to his hideaway he wasn't there." Patrick explained.

"How can you be sure that he went after Romulus?" Celeb asked.

"Well, where else would he be?"

"Do we have any idea where Romulus even is?" Anna added?

I answered this time. "No, though it shouldn't be too hard to find out. He doesn't keep a low profile. He'll still have a hold on The Cave too."

"What if Anthony gets to him first? We have no idea how long he's been planning this, he could have been collecting information for days already, just waiting till the time was right?"

"Well then let's move fast. First thing's first, though I hate to admit it."

"West 47th?" Celeb answered me. I nodded.

The events of last Autumn's battle had made no effect on the area. The "punks" of the north side had decided to lay off and keep to their own territory, for the time being at least, and the "thugs" of the south side took over again, no worse for wear, if slightly smaller in number.

They hung around identically to the local gangs. It has been a survival technique of vampires for ages to associate with the less reputable peoples. In the bad parts of this city, as long as a body looks like its the victim of gang violence or a drug overdose, nobody questions it, no one even asks for an autopsy.

The conflict between the 'punks' of Milwaukee Ave, and the 'thugs' of West 47th was because the south side had more crime; therefore, more prey, less questions. It was a semi-usual occurrence for one to invade the other.

The moment we showed up we were met with a greeting party.

"Well, well, well," said a vampire who looked like a cross between Vin Deisel and Wesley Snipes. "What do we have here. Please, inform me why a bunch of blue-bloods like yourselves would visit a lowly bunch of blood-sucking sons of bitches like us." Calling us "blue-bloods" was their idea of being clever.

"Anthony went looking for Romulus. We need to know where to find him." I demanded.

"Shit. How the hell should I know where to find that punk bitch? He don't come 'round here."

"You know who could tell us something?"

"Fuck, I dunno." He said, distractedly pulling the toothpick he’d been chewing on out of his mouth and pulling off a sliver before chewing on it again.

"Bullshit, both you and I know that a fly can't shit around here without you knowing about it. Now I'd be willing to believe that you don't know what trouble Anthony is getting himself into at this very moment, but you surely know someone he would have needed to talk to in order find what he's looking for. Who's he been talking to?"

He smiled at me. "You know your shit. Okay. That fucker's been looking to get sun-kissed running around after that fancy looking fucker Romulus and his nancy boys that came and fucked our shit up last season. Like I said, he don't come 'round here, so I didn't see much of him, but I know he was asking some of my boys about The Cave."

"Any help?"

"Naw, we too smart 'round here to go fucking with business that don't want to be fucked with." He paused for a second, pulling the toothpick out of his mouth again. "But them rainbow-haired bitches up north ain't that clever. Sent him up to their club to go bug the shit outta them instead."

I turned around slowly, smirking to my companions.

“Who’s that new little traitor you got wi’chu? You got back up bitches now?” he added. “Anthony goes missing and you already got a new little bloodhound before the sun comes up?”

I turned back to face him again. “He’s here on his own accord. You know not everyone’s as lucky as your little crew to see real live Elves in the flesh. Consider him an ambassador.”

“Shit, I’d be happier if I didn’t know y’all blue-bloods were around, but I guess there ain’t shit I can do about it, huh? Don’t forget what you are!” he shouted to Jack “You think you’re some angel. You ain’t! You’re a beast! Embrace it! You think you get redemption by rollin' with them? There's no such thing as redemption or perdition. Repent and embrace oblivion, delight in sin and live forever!"”

We ignored them and walked on. Jack paused and looked curiously at the other vampires, but not disturbed. He finally turned and followed when I walked past him.

We were uptown before the hour was out. The sight on Milwaukee Ave. was quite a different one. Music still blared, but instead of everyone sitting around socializing, everyone was active, skateboarding, parkour; doing tricks that only their supernatural agility could pull off. Vampiresses danced on cars, swigging back champagne bottles filled with what I could smell as bank blood; blood with anticoagulants in them made the blood thinner, and could give vampires a sort of buzz.

A group of them stopped and stared when they saw us; one ran off, most likely to alert someone. The staring group herded together, taking the defensive stance as we approached.

"We need information." Celeb declared. None of them said a word. None of them even blinked. They stood still as statues, not even breathing, the only movement was that of their eyes, focusing on every aspect of our approach.

More vampires had gathered now. The W47th vampires were more cocksure, and therefore less hostile towards us. But the Milwaukee Ave. vampires didn't trust us a bit.

"We need to know where Anthony is." Anna said, stepping close beside Celeb. She always had a skill for being non-confrontational.

"Anthony is not here." A young looking vampire, walking up through the defensive line, answered us. The rest of the vampires relaxed some, but still kept a guard up.

"Do you know where we can find him? We fear that he's gone after Romulus."

"Why should it matter? If he has gone to meet his death, that's his own business."

"We have our reasons."

The young vampire sized us up. "If you want information, you will need to see Mademoiselle X."

He lead us to an Irish bar that was pretty much empty save for a few old regulars. We walked all the way into the back, where in a small dark corner, a young vampiress sat, dressed in 40's style high fashion stirring a glass of cheap whiskey with her finger, surrounded by four young beautiful looking humans with bite marks on their necks.

When we approached her table, the vampire gestured us towards her and walked away.

"Why are you here?" she asked us with an air of annoyance.

"Where's Anthony?"

She looked up at us and laughed. "Why do you care what that little bitch is up to? He's a prick and a pain in the ass, why bother with him?"

"We have our reasons." I was starting to feel like a recording.

"Come, sit down, have a drink for God's sake." She shooed two of her companions to make room for us to join her. "Ew, not that one. You're vampire companion needs a bath and some new clothes. You can wait at the kids table with my friends, if you can keep your teeth to yourself. As for you..." she said pointing a finger at Patrick, "You can come sit next to me. Come on... don't be afraid. I promise I won't bite." She smiled wide, highlighting those dagger pointed I-teeth. Patrick slid in next to her extremely nervously. I slid in on the other side of him and Anna and Celeb behind me.

Mlle. X snapped her long fingers and a waiter strolled up. “Drinks for my friends. Something strong. Whiskey sours?” The waiter nodded and went off to get the drinks. “So, tell me. Why could you possible be interested in that pathetic little thing that mopes about complaining all the time. All the revenge and contempt, it’s positively nauseating. I know, he was turned against his will, I get that, I really do, but give it up already! Shit happens, the world keeps turning, and really he didn’t get such a bad deal out of it in the end, now did he?”

Patrick shifted uncomfortably in his seat. I placed my hand on his to stop him.

“We’re not interested in him. We’re interested in Romulus. We don’t like him here any more than you guys do, but Anthony going after him will only ruin things for everyone.”

Her demeanor changed to that of one more serious. “Hmm. Well yes, that is true. Damn him! He has no business being here. We’re not ambitious and we don’t fuck with anyone. He’s just causing trouble!”

“That’s what Romulus does. He causes trouble. Chicago is ‘attainable’. He figures he can start here, and build up. But one thing at a time. If we don’t get to Anthony soon, he may end up telling Romulus things we don’t want him to know. What did he say to you when he met with you?”

“Nothing much. Just kept gritting his teeth and trying to look all intimidating as he asked me all sorts of questions about The Cave. He was taken there once, but there’s no way he could get in there on his own.”

“So he did go to The Cave? Is Romulus there?”

“Romulus is always there. But he is also always very well protected. Very well. There’s no way in hell that he could get up to him. He’d have to lure him out, make Romulus truly believe that he’d won. But there’s no way a baby like Anthony has the skills to outsmart one of the worlds oldest vampires. He’ll get eaten alive... literally!”

“Well, that’s good news for us at least. Chances are it will take a good long time for Anthony to even get close to Romulus. Most likely, he’ll take one good look at him and turn him away.” I commented.

“Oh for sure! If there’s one thing you can count on, Romulus likes to toy with his prey. He’ll keep turning Anthony away time and time again, playing hard to get. Anthony will go insane.” Mlle. X laughed again. “What an idiot.”

The waiter came with our drinks. Patrick downed his in one, wincing at the burn.

“I apologize for our rudeness, but we need to go now if we are going to retrieve Anthony before he does anything irreparable.”

“Aww. Well do come by again. And bring your friend.” She added, petting Patrick’s head. “The vampire sir can come again as well, if he cleans up.”

I collected our youths and we left, the other of Mlle. X’s companions filling in our empty seats.

Chapter Six

2009-01-06T16:55:00.001-06:00

Inside, I took the vegetables out of the boiling water, placing them into plastic storage containers to be made into food later.

As I took the beets out I held the bowl up to my nose and took a deep breath. Then I held them up to Jack’s nose. “Smell.”

“I can smell them from here.”

“I know thou can, but I want thee to really smell them. Close thine eyes and breathe in deeply. Really smell them.”

He did as I said, closing his eyes meditatively, and slowly he filled his lungs. “What does thou smell?” I asked him.

“They smell, I don’t know, a little sweet, earthy. They have a really strong scent. Almost acidic.”

“What does it remind thee of?” I pressed.

“Um... late fall, or early winter. The first time I had borscht.” He smiled at the last thought, then opened his eyes. “I didn’t like it at the time, but it’s not so bad now.”

“Sometimes the odor is easier to appreciate than the taste. Also, thy senses are so different than when thou were human.”

I continued packaging the vegetables, placed them in the refrigerator, and then continued with the dye making process.

“I don’t eat when André isn’t here. Not generally. There’s no need. But I enjoy the smell of food. There’s no temptation to eat for me. From what I’ve observed, all other creatures are compelled to eat what edibles they smell, but to me, it’s like smelling flowers.”

I paused and smiled at Jack. I was in some way explaining my actions to him, but really, I was just prattling, trying to include him in my routine. He eased the loneliness of the empty house.

“André is you’re... husband?”

“Yes. He’s gone for work for a while.”

“Is he like you?”

“No.” I prepared for the series of questions that was going to follow.

“He’s human?”

“Yes.”

“You married a human?”

I sat down. “Yes.”

He moved a bit closer to me, but he didn’t sit. “So... But... he’ll grow old. And you won’t.”

“No. He won’t. He’s...” I sighed and shook my head. I didn’t want to overwhelm the poor thing, but how could I explain this as well. “ ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ ”

“Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5.” He cited.

I nodded in approval. “Thou are a man, who died and became undead. Thou has infinite lifespan, but you must drink the blood of humans to do so. I am a creature that is like a human, but I have infinite lifespan, require nothing and can only ever die once. There are only other humans after that. But our kinds have been on this world long enough to have messed with their kind more than a little. And I will leave it at that tonight. We have an appointment.”

I quickly cleaned up my mess and walked into the living room to grab a shawl wrap. Tossing it over my shoulders I continued towards the door, Jack enthusiastically following me.

We walked quickly to Anna’s... for us. We took a back path, since we were moving so inhumanly, so we arrived first upon the back of her house, where the gazebo that I had been in earlier that day was located. It was surrounded by a low white picket fence, where it wasn’t backed by a small wooded area, like much of the houses in the neighborhood. Above the fence was a wire that held white paper lanterns that glowed like oversized fireflies. The gazebo was decorated with white christmas lights that lined the awnings and pillars along the outside and the ceiling on the inside. All the light made it easy to see the entire backyard, but with such a soft forgiving light.

Anna and Celeb were watching us as we entered, Anna dressed in an airy spring chiffon dress, her yellow-gold hair loose, waving severely as it does, body turned in towards Celeb, hands folded in front of her. Celeb was turned entirely towards us, his platinum-silver hair pulled back into a straight pony tail, dressed in creased black cotton pants, a half buttoned white dress shirt and a knee length thin cotton coat.

“Well met” He greeted me warmly in our own language.

“Jack, this is Celeb and his mate Anna.” Jack stepped forward. He contrasted so with the two of them. Jack was dressed in ragged filthy jeans, torn up past his ankles on the bottom and falling apart at the knees. He wore a plaid flannel shirt that was mostly buttoned along the middle, but missing a button in the middle and near his sternum that prevented him from buttoning it any higher.

I wasn’t sure just how awkward Jack felt in the company of us all, but he did his best to hide it, stepping forward to shake hands with Celeb.

“Jack.” Celeb started while holding his hand. “Anna and I are very interested in meeting you. Elanor said that you were very enthusiastic to learn more about us. Come, sit. I’d like very much to learn more about you.”

We walked over to some chairs around a table that had already been set for four, and laid with food, despite the fact that Jack would not eat be eating with us. Normally the plates would already be made and the glasses filled, but I guess that in honor of our guest, we would help ourselves.

“So Jack. Tell me about yourself. Where do you come from?” Celeb initiated.

Jack sat up straight, hands in his lap. “Oh, um... well, I was born in 1877 in Georgia, I died in 1895. My father had died when I was 12, and we had been supported by my older brothers for years, but by this time they were all married and had families of their own to support. I was the last son at home, and since I was 18, I was almost ready to marry and leave the house myself, so my mother had started looking for a new husband. A wealthy young eccentric came to town and my mother immediately found interest in him when she heard he was single. She offered to help around his house, washing clothes and stuff. He had some professional help, but my mother was determined to make an impression, so at first she volunteered, then she was hired to manage the household. He took a liking to her, and eventually they started courting, though I was always suspicious of his intentions. Now I am certain that he was priming to kill her, but at the time I couldn’t have known what he was.

“Around the time that they started courting, a woman showed up, matching the man in beauty and wealth. She apparently was a scorned lover, and demanded that he take her back. When he wouldn’t she sought revenge, and so she came after me.”

Jack looked away shyly “I thought she wanted to take her revenge... sexually... and we did. But after, she bit me, drained me of blood, and then while I was hanging on the brink of death, she told me that I had two choices. I could either die, and then the man would surely kill my mother, or I could drink her blood, and become like her. Then at least I could bestow the Dark Gift upon my mother when the time came.

“It worked. I let her turn me. I woke up three nights later, buried in the shallow dirt in the woods behind our house. I ran as fast as I could, which with my new body was astonishing, to the house of the wealthy man, where I hoped to find my mother still alive.

“I was half right. When I got there, there were two bodies on the floor. One was of my mother, the other was the woman who changed me, only her head and heart looked as if they had been torn from her body... a fire was slowly dying in the hearth. But by some miracle my mother was still alive, barely. With my new superior hearing, I could hear the faintest, slowest pulsing from her. Her wounds were still bleeding, so she must have been attacked just that night. I didn’t have much time, I opened my wrist and placed it in her mouth. It took me almost bleeding dry before I heard her heart begin to speed up and beat stronger.

“Then it stopped. I didn’t know that this was normal... I wasn’t even aware of how long I had been in the ground to be honest. So when she appeared to be dead, I assumed she was; I assumed I failed.

“I buried her in a shallow grave, like the one I had been left in, in our family plot, next to my father. Then I left to find the young wealthy man who killed my mother and avenge her. I knew nothing of my nature or my kind, other than that I was a vampire. I drake the blood of humans, and I could be killed by the sun and like the vampire that spawned me had... burning my head and heart to ashes. And so could he.

“I could only work by night, so I spent the days in our window-less cellar, plotting my revenge, and nights questioning anyone who may have seen him. Yet again, on the third night, I could tell something was different. Every night since I buried my mother, I first went to her grave, prayed to God for forgiveness and to aid me, and promised my mother I would find her killer. But this night I heard the faint pulse again. I placed my ear against the dirt that covered her. Not only could I hear that beating, but I could hear the slight movement of the dirt as she stirred. I could hear the vermin of the earth moving away from her, I could even hear the strain of her veins as they hungered for more sustenance.

“I feverishly pulled the dirt away from her. There, in the cold damp dirt was the beautiful face of my mother; made more youthful and brilliant by the transformation. I forgot all about my revenge. My mother was alive, that’s all that mattered to me.

“We spent a century together. Having no form of mentor, we were on our own, but we managed. We were happy for the most part, though we both missed the rest of our family. But time moves on, and so did we. We eventually found more of our kind and about twenty years ago my mother met a group that she preferred to stay with, while I still wanted to travel, so we went our separate ways. I still see her from time to time, we just... lead separate lives, like most children from their parents.”

And that’s where his story ended. We all sat in quiet contemplation, letting the story resonate before we made our comments. It was Anna who spoke first.

“Made... out of love.”

Jack looked at her inquisitively. I nodded contemplatively, “Anna has a theory. She thinks that the manner in which a vampire is created affects how they they develop. You accepted the change out of love for your mother, and a desire to protect her. Your mother was created as an act of loving devotion from her son.”

“This is different than most vampires, which are created out of vanity, fear, pride... actions of selfishness, instead of selflessness. Anna is of an opinion that those desires persist throughout a vampires existence. Those that changed for themselves, live for themselves. Those that changed for another, live for others.” Celeb added.

“Perhaps that is why you followed Elanor. A desire to learn more about the world around you. Not in an attempt to manipulate that knowledge, but out of curiosity.” Anna took a pensive sip from her glass. “Jack, I should very much so like to see more of you. I’ll ask Elanor to bring you here from time to time for more of these chats. Now, continue. Tell me more about your travels, from the looks of you, you’ve done a lot.”

But he didn’t continue. As he opened his mouth, we were all suddenly distracted by the sound of a car rushing into the driveway. A door opened, but wasn’t shut as the passenger came running up to the front door, pressing the doorbell repeatedly.

The four of us were at the gate exiting the backyard before he even had time to press the bell twice; it was Patrick.

“Elanor! Celeb! It’s Anthony, he’s gone to find Romulus!”

Chapter Five

2009-01-05T16:51:00.001-06:00

I could feel his presence creeping upon me as I lay on my bed thinking. He needed sustenance, I had distracted him from his hunt. Blood could keep him for weeks, months in some cases. Emotional energy could hold him for only hours, maybe a day. Fear worked well enough, zeal even better, but harder to come by. But passion and lust were indicative of a vampires reputation for a reason.

I would assume that humans cannot recognize the feeling of a vampire creeping into their mind, but I could. He was walking into my dreams, dreams I controlled, conscious dreams; he was seducing me, persuading my emotions. I could have stopped him if I’d wanted to, but I had been the cause for his distraction and André and I had long since come to an agreement. Telling someone they can only sleep with one person for the rest of their life is easy when one is only looking at living another 60 years or so at most. But André wold be 27 forever. My kind had no physical needs, not even sexual ones, but we still had emotional ones. I longed for tenderness and mental intimacy, and he needed nourishment, so I did not deny him.

I let him enter my mind, I let him seduce me, I let him show me what it would be like to lay with him; what he would do to my body, he did to my mind. And we were both comforted.

Later that morning, I lounged on pillows in Anna’s luxurious gazebo. She had always had a taste for the palatial lifestyle, a carryover from her upbringing. Anna, along with her mate Celeb, were older than me by a few centuries, and I often sought her comfort and advice on difficult matters. The sudden arrival of the young vampire had caught me off guard; I couldn’t think with him resting in my basement, I could hardly think of what to do with him at all.

“Is he cute?”

“Be serious.” I scolded Anna. She giggled.

“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get you to lighten up. You always get so solemn when you think. There’s no point in going about such things so gravely.”

“But this is a grave situation!”

“Okay, okay, explain to me thy exact concerns.” She stood up, walked over to bottle of Celeb’s homemade, 1957 vintage wine, and filled my glass to the top. “Drink another glass, it’ll clear thy head.

“No it won’t.” We both breathed a laugh at the irony of her statement, but I took a healthy quaff. “I’m concerned because he’s so ignorant to the serious issues going on in this area at present. He knew nothing of our kind, he obviously hasn’t been approached by Romulus yet, or he wouldn’t have been eating stragglers in the parks. He is completely vulnerable.”

Anna nodded, expressionless, as if she was interviewing me. I generally disliked this trait of hers, because it forced me to think too hard on my own statements, but I ignored the instinct and continued with my feelings.

“Also, I’m concerned because he’s absolutely infatuated with me. He wouldn’t leave my presence until sunrise, and I have the feeling he won’t leave me until he’s asked every possible question he can from me.” I paused to collect my thoughts for a moment before continuing. “Thou should have seen the way he prostrated before me. It was absolutely unsettling.”

Anna gently responded. “This is a young man who gave himself over to a life of everlasting hunger. Is it not understandable that he would likewise give himself over to any power that seemed awe-inspiring.”

I digested her words. We were silent for a moment longer before she continued. “Hast thou told André yet?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t want to discuss the matter with him until I had made a decision. He doesn’t take change without direction well.”

Anna nodded thoughtfully while taking an elegant sip from her glass. She gazed out towards the South, where the rays of the sun were brightest. A warm zephyr blew past her, wafting the scent of her hair and skin towards me. She smelt mostly of Easter lilies, the same as my grandmother this time of year, so many centuries ago, but summer was coming in, so there was the subtle earthy tone of geosmin to it, like tilled dirt in a garden.

“I’m reminded of my grandmother.” I stated in our mother tongue, the language fitting better with the tone.

“I’m like her in many ways.” Anna replied. My grandmother left this world over two millennia ago, but in our language, we never refer to people in the past tense. It is uncharacteristic of our kind to think of people as not still existing, and our culture doesn’t believe that those that once were existing can ever cease to be. In addition, our eidetic memory lets us see things as clearly as they were the moment it happened. I closed my eyes letting the scent of Anna blend with that of my grandmothers, seeing her golden hair, so like Anna’s as well. Springs on Cyprus, the island of my birth, the sensation of being small, the sound of Eteocypriot in the markets...

“I think thou should bring him here.” Anna said, disturbing my daydreams. “At true midnight. I’d like to meet him. And I fancy he’d like to meet me.”

I stayed late into the afternoon at Anna and Celeb’s, leaving only when Big Girl and Little Boy, my darling, demanding feline companions, randomly showed up to yell at me for not being home all day, and on top of that letting a stranger stay in ‘their’ basement.

When I got home, there was no sign of the young vampire but it was still light, so it was likely he was still in repose. I was planning on dying some yarn for weaving, so I started the process of creating the dye on the stove.

37 minutes into the process, I heard the young vampire moving around. The basement door opened into the kitchen, where he politely closed the door behind him, and then stood perfectly still, watching me.

“You’re cooking?”

I smiled. “Specifically for the purpose of making dye for fabric.”

He walked over to stand next to me, watching over my shoulder. “What’s in there?”

“Beets in this one, for deep red; red cabbage in the other for an inky purple; carob pod in the third for a grayish color.”

“What are you making?”

“ A linen dress. I finally finished collecting enough material.”

“Wouldn’t it just be easier to buy one?”

I breathed a laugh. “I’m making a traditional dress in the style of my people, so I prefer to make it in the same manner.” I paused from my work and looked at him. “Besides, I need something to keep me busy.” I finished chopping up the beet root and placed it into the last empty pot to boil. “There. Now just to let it cook for a while.” I said smiling to the young vampire. “Come with me.”

I lead him outside into the back yard to stand beneath the stars. “The wind is always warm now.” I commented.

“I don’t really feel it anymore.” he said, looking up at the sky, holding his arms.

“Thou has never told me thy name.”

He looked down at me blank faced for a moment, before looking shyly at his feet, which I just noticed were bare, just like mine. “Jack.”

I looked up at the sky again. “I like that name. It has a nice sound.”

“What’s your name?”

“Elanor.” I replied.

There was a moment of silence before, to my surprise, he responded. “No. It’s not.”

I studied him before answering. “Can thou read my thoughts?”

He still looked down, pushing at the dirt with his foot. “Not clearly. It comes in strange flashes. Usually just what you’re seeing. But just then, you thought of two things. A daisy, and that you weren’t telling the truth.”

“It wasn’t a daisy.” He finally looked at me. “The flower is called a spring star in English, but in my language it’s called ‘El-Anor’: ‘Star-sun’. And it’s been my name for longer than thou’st been alive.”

“When did you start using that name?”

“When it became more popular than my prior name.”

“Which was?”

“Anor.” I said matter-of-factly. This made Jack laugh rather heartily, and I was taken off-guard by the sudden sound of it. I smiled and actually looked downward. “Anor sounded like Aénor, the name of the duchess of Aquitaine. It was really popular for a while.”

“Is Anor you’re real name?”

“No. We stopped using our real names long ago.”

There was another long silence before he worked up the courage to continue. “Why?”

I sighed, which he took to signify my frustration. “Sorry. I don’t mean to annoy you.”

“No, no, it’s not that! It’s just... there was a time we didn’t have to hide; when I was young. We didn’t try to blend with the humans, we didn’t have to. They knew we were something different. They looked at us with reverence.”

He walked up to me “So what happened? Did the vampires have something to do with it?”

I looked at him, so close to me again. It was a strange closeness now, now that I was so exposed. “No... possibly... it’s hard to determine, it didn’t happen quickly. The war was partly responsible. The other was the concern that the humans were starting to worship us. At first, before I was born especially, the humans just saw us as something else. But the religions, the gods, all started getting mixed up, and not many centuries after I was born, we had become deified by many. The elves, the vampires, our war. It was all so mixed up. And it was all right in front of the humans. Humans begged to be turned into vampires, because they thought it would make them gods as well. The numbers were getting overwhelming, so, we disappeared.

Jack stared at me deeply, his eyes glowing yellow-y green, like a cat’s. He reached his hand up as if to touch my face, but suddenly, he looked to the side as if he heard something, and in half a second he was near the edge of the lawn, near the small wooded stream, a fox in his grasp, already being drained of it’s life.

“Thank you. The cat’s have been concerned about the fox attacks lately.” I spoke to him as though he was still standing next to me, but I knew he could hear as well as I could.

“I’m sorry for being rude. It’s just that I’m quite hungry and I realized he was there...”

“No, don’t be sorry. Of course I understand. Like I said. They’re getting unruly. They’ve been killing some of the local house-cats.”

Jack stood there, holding the lifeless form in his arms almost longingly. I walked over to him as fast as he had walked there, but slowed a few feet behind him. I held out my hands to take the remains from him, which he solemnly placed in my arms, and then I turned, walked 20 yards to a pile of brush, and placed the remains gently on it, leaving nature to the rest.

I walked back towards Jack, then to the house, Jack silently following me.

“The dye is ready.” I said breaking the silence.

Chapter Four

2009-01-04T16:47:00.002-06:00

I stood completely still. Why would a vampire approach one of my kind like prey. Even Romulus himself, vain & proud as he is wouldn't dare get so close to us, unless it was to strike. He certainly wouldn't play w/ his victim, & give us time to react.

I resumed subtle movements, staggered breathing, slight trembling, pretending to be human.

"You shouldn't be out here alone this late at night. Do you know what kind of dangerous people lurk in places like this, waiting for pretty young things like you?"

"Please just let me go." I moved forward, but he rushed in front of me to block my way.

"In time. Why don't you tell me what such a lovely girl like you is doing out here so late. Shouldn't you be in bed with your lover?" the vampire picked up a strand of my hair from my shoulder, but I tugged it away before he could bring it to his face. Why he didn't realize I smelled different was puzzling me.

"My lover is gone. And he is none of your concern."

"What spirit you have! I like a girl with spirit." He grabbed me and leaned in to bite, but I overpowered him and pulled him off. Shocked he fought back, this time with all his strength, enough to crush a human, but I matched him in strength, managed to push him off me again, and threw him to the ground. "What are you?" he asked in honest fear.

I appeared before him in my full self, a form few have seen, and only non-humans could fully perceive. I was both material and immaterial, I was in this world and the other, I was mortal and everlasting. "I AM FIRST BORN, I AM FAE, I AM THAT WHICH IS NEITHER OF THIS WORLD OR THE OTHER, I AM IN WHOSE LIKENESS YOU WERE CREATED AND I AM ETERNAL!"

...And he did something I did not expect. He fell to his knees and prostrated himself before me.

"Please, have mercy on me, forgive me, I did not know!" he cried to the ground.

I wasn't sure how to react. "Get thee up, I am not thy sovereign."

"But you said that I was created in your image. Surely I owe you my allegiance my queen."

"Oh don't be a fool." I blurted before walking away. Completely unsure how to handle the situation I wanted nothing more to do with it. What a fool this child was to have no knowledge of my kind and to so easily embarrass himself with his naïveté.

"Wait, don't leave me. I'm serious. I will give you my utmost loyalty. Please, I ask only to accompany you."

I stopped and turned to him. "Why?"

"Why?" he repeated.

"Yes. Why? Dost thou desire power? Look for the biggest dog in the yard and befriend him to elevate thyself?"

"What? No. I... desire only to revere you."

"Why?"

"Because... I... you... thou art..."

"Do not 'thou' me child." I corrected him sternly. "Thou is for one who is of equal standing or lower, not higher. Thou will use the formal 'you' with me."

"Yes ma'am." he replied in a pupillary manner.

"As you were saying. Why does thou desire to revere me."

"Because... you are, clearly, so... so great! I mean..."

"Thou dosn't even know what I am! Go home, go hunt, leave me be child."

"What are you?" he asked in earnest.

I sighed. "Does thou truly wish to know?"

"Please." he begged.

"I am thy enemy. The Nocturnal Ones were born as a perversion of my kind. Man was made mortal due to our negligence, and until the ending of the world we will do penance by protecting their kind." I turned and began walking back home again. He followed.

"What exactly do you mean by enemy."

"My duty is simply to keep your numbers. I will not stop you from feeding, but I will stop any vampire from multiplying."

"That's it?"

"Thou are not my greatest threat. There are those much greater in power and influence who threaten this world."

"Like who?"

"Pray you never meet them."

We arrived at my home. As I ascended the stairs, I noticed the young vampire was still following me. I stopped, turning to him standing one step below me, looking at him disdainfully. "Are thou going to follow me in as well?"

"May I?"

I rolled my eyes. "What seriously is thy fixation with me?"

"I've never met another type of immortal! Wouldn't you be fascinated?"

I sighed. "Come inside, I'll make some tea."

"I don't drink..."

"For myself" The entire situation was trying my patience, but I suppose it was good for everyone to teach the creature a thing or two about his nature.

We entered the house.

After the water was boiled I walked to the kitchen table where he was already sitting. We were silent for a moment while I sipped my still piping hot tea.

"Doesn't that scald?"

"No. I cannot be harmed by extreme heat or cold. I am also incapable of feeling pain."

He nodded. "Me too."

"I know."

We were both silent again for a moment while I settled. Finally I put my cup down and looked directly at him. "What is it thou wish to know?"

"What are you?"

"I am of a species that walked the Earth before humans. We are immortal, in the sense that we have infinite life spans, but not indestructible. It is possible for us to die. Just like thine kindred. We are able to eat and drink, but we require no sustenance, we are able to walk in the sunlight and the moonlight, we are able to make love and have children, even mate with humans. We exist somewhere in the Veil between this world and another, belonging to neither completely. My kind once ruled this planet, but it was not made for us, and so we diminished and faded. Only a few of us are left to defend the humans due to our own folly."

"Were you there? Before the humans, when you're people were first born?"

"No." I smiled. "I'm actually only 2,790 years old.”

His mouth dropped open. “Wh...what! Are you serious?”

I laughed. “Why, how old are thou?”

“132.”

“Just a baby!”

“I guess! Wow. Almost 3,000 year old! I mean... just... the things you must have seen!”

“I’m not the oldest of my kind either. By about half! There are some of they kind as ancient as well.”

“I can’t even imagine. Do you ever get tired?”

I nodded solemnly. “I do. But I have many loved ones here. And elven memories are infallible and never fade. It helps with the pain of loss, though it doesn’t quench it.”

“May I ask... do you know how this all got started? How were my kind made?”

I took another sip of my tea. “I only have stories. It happened many thousands of years before I was born, and though our memories are infallible, our tongues are not. It’s believed that man was first born about 250,000 years ago. The longest of an elf enduring this world is approximately 11,000 years, so you see how even we can loose these things to antiquity.

“That being said, the story goes as such. The elves had arrived from ‘across the Great Sea to this world...”

“The Great Sea? Like the ocean?”

“Probably not, I’ll tell that story another time.”

“Sorry.”

“Thank you. The elves lived in this world for a long time before Man was born, but born he was, in the likeness and beauty of an elf. At this time Man had two wives, Breath and Air they were sometimes called, though they became known as Life and Death. Man and his wives lived eternally, as the elves did. But this came with a condition. Because we did not need to take a life to sustain our own, we were never allowed to eat. The delicious scent of things was enough to appease us, and we lived happily.

“But Man’s wives were not. The woman called Air, who’s is now often referred to as Lilith, was possessive of Man, and didn’t want to share with her sister-wife. The woman called Breath, who is now called Eve, was kind to a fault and loved her husband and sister-wife so dearly she could not see the malice in Lilith’s heart. While out together one day, Lilith, in an effort to condemn Eve, convinced her that they should take a fruit from the tree and eat it’s flesh to see what would happen. At first, Eve claimed it was cruel to take the life of something that only had a limited life span anyhow, but Lilith seduced her by showing her how beautiful the fruits still on the branch were, and how ugly the fruits that had rotten and fallen to the ground were. Weren’t it better to pluck the fruit in the height of it’s beauty than to let it whither and die decrepit and foul.

“Eve, being moved by Lilith’s words held the fruit, still on the branch, but Lilith, who was holding the branch, let go, causing Eve to pluck the fruit. Lilith then convinced Eve that they should eat the fruit, as the beasts did, in order that the fruit’s life not be taken in vain. She promised that they would bite together, sharing in the same fate, but at the moment that Eve bit down, Lilith did not, instead running to their husband to tell him what Eve had done. Immediately, Eve knew she had become mortal, and followed Lilith back to her husband, weeping along the way. Seeing her crying, the elves followed her asking why she was so sad, but she didn’t answer, still holding the offended fruit.

“When Eve finally approached Man, the entire nation of elves were there as well to witness what happened next.”

“‘See what she has done. She took the life of that fruit in her hands, and now she is mortal. Cast her aside and take me as your only wife, for I am still immortal.’ But Man saw through Lilith’s treachery, and immediately hated her. Taking pity on his beloved Eve, he took the fruit from her hand and also ate from it, to share in her fate. Adam and Eve became mortal for their offense, and forced to take the life of others to sustain their own, but they were granted the ability to reproduce, so that their kind would not end with them.

“Because the elves had kept their honor, they were allowed the privileges of the humans. They were allowed to enjoy the tastes of food and drink, but felt no hunger, they were allowed to give birth, but felt no pain or old age. However, because in all their experience and wisdom, they refused to pay heed to the dangers of Lilith’s possessiveness and cunning, and failed to stop the downfall of Man, and for the fate that Man would ultimately suffer, when Cain killed Able, they were forced to share Man’s condemnation of a destructible body.

“Lilith ran into the the desert. Since she was cunning, and did not directly take the life of the fruit, not did she eat of it’s flesh, but because she was still guilty of tricking Eve, she was left in the same form. Eternal, indestructible, but she would never bear live young. Furious and jealous of all other woman’s ability to procreate, she searched everywhere for a mate.

“Eventually she found him when Cain killed Able and was exiled. For his offense, killing not for sustenance, but out of rage, he too was forced to wander the desert, double cursed for the Earth refused to take his body when he died. Cain feared what would happen when he died, if the Earth did not accept his body, it would be consumed by the wild beasts, and not buried as was demanded. Soon, Lilith found him, promising him some of her everlasting life if he would lay with her. He did, and because he was the son of her former husband and sister-wife, he was able to impregnate her. Their offspring were the first vampires.

“Because they were the progeny of Lilith, Adam, and Eve, they were given everlasting life from their mother, but only by the blood of the slaughter, blood that the children of Man were not allowed to eat, the stolen life of Eve’s transgression, the blood of Cain’s violation. They were allowed to wander the earth, but only at night were they safe, for Lilith was the queen of night. Because of Lilith's infertility, they too were unable to give birth to live young, but because of Cain's potency they were allowed to create their own progeny in their own blood."

I stopped there, for that was essentially the conclusion to his query. He digested it all in deep contemplation. It wasn't long though, before I saw the blue light of dawn creeping in through the window.

"Dawn approaches. Thou best turn in."

"Oh. Yeah. Is there some place I can stay?"

"The basement. There are several closeted area's with no windows."

"Thank you."

"Thou are welcome."

He stood up and walked towards the door I directed him to. Just before he descended the stairs he turned back to me. "Really and truly. Thank you. Not just for the hospitality, but for... well, telling me those stories I guess."

I nodded. "I'll see thee in the evening."

He closed the door as he walked downstairs.

Chapter Three

2009-01-03T16:26:00.001-06:00

Black Forrest, 1512

Through the darkness rode a woman cloaked in the finest fabrics, and on a rare purebred horse saddled with an exquisite pack and bridle. She perceived the two men that were waiting up the road, but she did not change her speed. Paying close attention to what they were about, she could tell that one was in distress. She slowed to a trot as she approached close enough for them to see her. One was laying in the road, the other ran up to her and waved her down.

“My friend, he’s hurt, he can’t walk. He needs to get to a physician.” The man called as she rode up. Elanor climbed off the horse and quickly went to the man on the ground.
“I don’t think he’s badly hurt. It appears just to be a sprain.” she reassured them.
“Still, I beg you, could you please escort us to the town?”

Elanor knew that there was something dishonest about these two men. The one on the ground was in genuine pain, but the angst in the one standing didn’t seem solely due to his concern for his companion. All the same, Elanor had little to fear from humans, so she acquiesced.

“Get him up.” she sighed, and waved for the young man to help his friend. The young man was strong and able to lift the injured man with little difficulty. Elanor led the horse over to the injured man, and when the young man came near, the injured man was able to pull himself onto the horse using his arms and uninjured leg.

Just then, catching Elanor off guard, the young man wrapped his arms around Elanor. “RUN HANS!” The injured man snapped the reigns before the cry was finished and raced off.

Elanor, not suspecting the sudden treachery, lost the split second she needed to counter the initial attack, but quickly regained herself. She raised her arms against the mans grip, for as strong as he was, she was still stronger, and ran after her stolen horse. She ran for only a minute before accepting that as fast as she was, her horse was bred to be faster than her kind. The chase was futile.

She changed course, deciding to cut through the forest to the nearest town. It was twice the distance to take the road, but the woods were dangerous to those who didn’t know them. She assumed that the men who had stole her horse did know them, and the young man who had assaulted her was likely to have absconded through them as soon as he lost hold of Elanor.

The town was fairly large, and there were plenty of places to hide in. Elanor figured that they wouldn’t try to sell the horse till morning, and her best bet was to wait until she could trace the sale to retrieve her possessions.

It wasn’t too hard to follow the chatter relating to a sale that big, of a horse that rare. Not long after sundown, Elanor caught up with the antagonizing young man who had threatened her.

He didn’t perceive her as he walked into the ally outside the pub, and much like he had done to her, she grabbed him from behind. But she was much stronger than he, and she was more skilled in physical matters. She quickly spun him around and held him against the wall, placing her arm against his neck. “WHERE IS MY HORSE!” she commanded him.

“Where the hell did you come from?”

She slammed him against the wall again. “WHERE IS MY HORSE!”

The young man tried to push her off, but she beat his arms away and pressed into his chest harder. “I will not let you free until you answer me.”

“How are you so strong?” he gaped. Elanor was getting frustrated. She slammed him against the wall again in emphasis to her words.

“YOU do not ask the questions. YOU will answer me when I am speaking to you. WHERE. IS. MY. HORSE!”

“Okay, okay, I sold him to the wealthy merchant on the square. Please, I’ll show you where he lives if you let me free.”

Elanor pulled the purse strings around his waist and took it. “I know this isn’t all you have. I’ll let you keep the rest if you tell me where my packs are.”

“I don’t have them. My partner took them to sell in a neighboring city.”

“Then I demand compensation. Give me your clothes.”

“What!”

“Give me your clothes.”

“I can’t just run around naked!”

“I’ll let you keep your cloak, now give me your clothes or I’ll take them from you while you’re unconscious, and the devil decide who finds you.”

Reluctantly, but quickly the man removed his clothes, which were not of an inferior quality. He wrapped his cloak around his naked form tightly against the night chill and his own shame.

Elanor placing his hat on her own head, tipped it before disappearing swiftly enough to make him shudder.

I came out of my ‘dream’, which is quite unlike those of humans. It would be more than a century later before André and I would formally meet. Yet that serendipitous first meeting was a source of constant amusement, seeing how our relationship would later turn out.

It had been 12 hours since he had left, and about 4 hours since I had gotten over the pleasant solitude. We’ve spent so little time apart through the ages. It was never easy when we were required to endure it.

Big Girl, one of the cats we fostered, began requesting her leave for the night. “Yeah, I’m with thee.” I got up and walked to the door, which alerted Little Boy, the other cat, to what was going on. All three of us left the house, and I locked it securely behind. “Now, I’ve closed the place entirely, so you’re on your own you two. I’ll be back in a few hours, at which time I’ll let you back in. If you get in trouble and you can’t find me, go to Ross’s. Got that?”

They barely waited long enough for me to finish before running off with a quick trill in response. “Cat’s” I sighed.

I enjoyed the city at night. There were quite a few nice old houses along the way, some that still left little lights in the windows, usually electric candles. It reminded me of the old traditions. There was something special about the late hours of suburbia, the only creatures one runs into being cats and college kids.

I made my way to the city park, reminiscing the times there with André, showing off by jumping off things. Always trying to better himself physically, André learned parkour about as soon as he heard about it. I tried not to discourage him by out doing him, but sometimes I can’t help myself.

I was just about to leave when I caught a familiar scent. Sickly, like rotting flesh, but so faint that humans wouldn’t notice. He came on me so fast I didn’t have time to react.

“What do we have here?”

Chapter Two

2009-01-02T16:25:00.003-06:00

When I got home, André was still soundly asleep, so much so that he didn’t stir even as I crawled in bed next to him after having disrobed. I lay there next to him for a few hours, thinking about many things, until he woke, rolling over to drape his arm across my waist, kissing my cheek lazily. I turned to look at him and smiled.

“Sleep well?” He hummed a response with a slight smile.

“What did you get up to last night?”

I sighed. “My night was quite eventful.” I said in a sullen tone.

“I take it you did more than washing and weaving?”

I groaned an affirmation.

“You want to tell me about it?”

“There’s really not too much to tell. There was a scuffle on 47th. I was alerted when Romulus arrived.”

“Romulus! What was he doing on 47th? It’s just petty thugs and vagrants.”

“From what it looked like, they were eradicating them. Since humans don’t bother going down that way unless they think they can score drugs, there weren’t many there to start with. The ones who were there either scattered when they saw them begin to fight amongst themselves, or they were quickly finished. Most of the fighting was beast on beast. When Romulus’ group arrived, it became a slaughter.”

“So did you get involved?”

“I had to when the Hunters arrived.”

“Oh, you’re kidding.” André rolled his eyes. I nodded empathetically.

“It was a mess from there. None of them died. They were captured, and I had to save their backsides, but they’re fine. I gave them some StarWater for future use.”

“Sounds like you had a rough night.”

“It would have been worth it to take a crack at Romulus.”

“I’m rather glad you didn’t.” André said, turning back into me and kissing my neck.

“Don’t worry about me love. I’m smart enough to have lasted this long.”
“Still, so is Romulus.”

“I know.”

We said nothing more, but instead made love in the soft light of morning, as we so often did.

During the week days André was a professor at the local university. I no longer worked a mundane job, instead relying on my investments, which after a few centuries were rather impressive.

I had become burned out on humanity. While I still felt a devotion to protecting it, I had spent too much time in it to be able to suffer it for long durations. Especially working any job where some silly, egotistical mortal with a six figure income felt that they had the right to speak to me as a subordinate. I’m generally not overly pretentious about any superiority immortals have due to their position in life, but no one wants to be bossed around by a disrespectful adolescent.

Same feeling.

André, however, was still in love with the freshness of youth. I suppose I could get back into teaching myself, eventually, if it weren’t for my other duties, which were substantial.

This was a weekend, but André always woke up early. He washed and dressed, and I donned clean clothes, then proceeded to make breakfast.

After he finished getting ready, he joined me at the kitchen table. “Well I have some exciting news from work.”

“Oh?” I responded.

“I’ve been offered a gig at St. Louis University for a semester.”

“Get out! How exciting!” I exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear.

“I know St. Louis isn’t your favorite city, but a change of pace is nice, and I figure you can get used to drinking cheap Budwiser beer.”

“Oh. Oh that’s right.” I replied, remembering the implications of relocation.

“You are coming with me, aren’t you?” André asked in a concerned tone. I looked back at him with a creased brow.

“Romulus.” I replied. André sighed, looking frustrated. “He’s so close, and for once, I think I know what he’s after.”

“Is this about Romulus or Anthony?”

I sighed deeply. “He’s just a kid. Even for an immortal. He’s not even old enough to be dead.” André said nothing, still looking frustrated. “But this isn’t about him. It’s about my brothers and sisters, and it’s about the humans. It’s about the war. I’m needed here. And what’s more, if we even have a hope of thwarting Romulus, even a little, we must act upon it. The day he gets the upper-hand on our kind, he gains confidence, and with it, more power.”

“You could come down on the weekends.” André suggested.

I shook my head. “I need to focus on this. We’ll need all the eyes and ears we can get.” I stood up and moved behind him, wrapping my harms around his neck and kissing his cheek.

“I’ll come home every weekend.” He resolved, leaning his head into me.

“It’s too much. Thou’ll be exhausted.”

“Every other weekend, maybe only one weekend a month.”

“We can handle 5 months of that. A little time apart will help relight the fires of passion.” I commented.

“Who said the fires were out?” André replied sheepishly, kissing me deeply.

I pulled away coyly. “Now, now there. Didn’t we just get done with this?”

“Yeah, so? I get to be 27 forever, with all the virility that comes with that, and you have infinite stamina and are practically indestructible. I see no reason we shouldn’t use that to our full advantage.”

“...For the rest of eternity.”

“Yes!”

“Well thou can keep thy principles, and I’ll go get myself another cup of coffee.”

“News is interesting today.”

“Hmm?” I commented noncommittally. He stood up and joined me in refilling.

“Well you’re simply on the edge of your seat aren’t you?” He teased.

I sighed, “I’m so very tired at the moment of the same childish crusading, fear-mongering, and yellow journalism that has been cyclically plaguing this planet since civilization began.”

“Aren’t you just a little ray of pretentious sunshine today.” He playfully pinched me in the side. I smiled and squirmed away. “You used to be hell bent on trying to help humanity find their way. In fact, isn’t that the purpose of elvenkind?”

“I spent centuries, CENTURIES, doing everything in my power to try and guide humanity, and I swear if I have to hear one more petty argument over who is more righteous in killing whom, I shall simply appear before the entire lot of rabble-rousers, reveal my almighty glory and make them worship me as a god for a few generations merely for some peace and quiet.”

André at this point was audibly laughing at me. “Passionate thou art!”

I knew at this point he was mocking me, because in truth he hadn’t used the second person singular nominative case in English for about 200 years. I crossed my arms and glared at him. “Thou art mocking me.” I sarcastically replied. Even I no longer conjugated that way.

“You’re so cute when you’re self righteous.” He wrapped his arms around me in a seductive manner.

“Hey, thou bestows knowledge upon the mortals, I kill vampires. Really, I think our duty is satisfied.” André was still hugging me, now kissing my neck. I sighed, “so what are we to do for the remainder of our sweet time together before thou leaves me for the barley filled air of St. Louis.”

“Mmmm, I’ve got a few ideas.”

I giggled. “300 years and thy thirst is still unquenched.”

“Never!” He exclaimed and swept me up in his arms. “Run Hans!” He exclaimed, whisking me off to the bedroom, while I giggled insanely.

Chapter One

2009-01-01T16:18:00.002-06:00

There was a war going on.

It started the way these things always start, over territory. The gangs were always battling over feeding grounds, and tonight was no different. Only tonight things got worse.

First, it was only between the vampires of the ghetto, who held that ground first, and the ‘punks’, who were slowly taking over. If it had only been them, it wouldn’t have been anything worth taking notice of. But then, the ‘dandies’ arrived. They were the oldest, most organized, and the deadliest. They were efficient, cool, collected and also, so dignified and graceful you almost didn’t mind the bite. They were there that night because they felt it was time to eradicate those they felt were inferior.

I watched from a rooftop. For the most part, my interest was only in population control. There were too many to stop the killing of humans, not that there were many there, and who was I to interfere anyhow? But under no circumstances was I to allow a new vampire to be born.

All was going fine for me until the Hunters arrived.

I will admit, a part of me was pleased to see them; the more vampires destroyed the better. However, I also knew they were in over their heads. As able as they were, they were still novices. The only one who possibly stood a chance was Anthony, and even that was somewhat farfetched. I knew exactly why they were here.

Romulus.

He was the one that turned Anthony. He was the one who caused Anthony’s torment. It was in pursuit of Romulus that they captured him. And once Anthony was taken, the others were easily overcome.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for rescuing them, despite my personal reasons for wanting to follow the dandies, despite my position of neutrality, and despite my better judgement, I went after them.

To my total lack of surprise, they were taken to The Cave. Each was being held in separate confinement. Naturally, I went for Anthony first. I found him in the deepest part of the lair, where there was only one way in or out. Lucky for me, I could easily move undetected. His hands and feet were cuffed, and bound with a chain to a thick column. Two guards stood sentinel, and I almost laughed at how simple it was.

I walked straight up to them. “How do you do boys?” They were quite shocked and rather caught off guard. The first one came after me in a lunge, but I sprayed him with a strategically filled water pistol I carried. “Here kitty.” He howled in sheer agony, falling the floor, crying out “Oh god, it burns and it freezes. Make it stop!”

I pointed the water pistol at the other one and waited. Clearly being the wiser of the two, he fled. “Take him with thee!” I commanded. Without thinking, he turned around, came back for his companion, and they left together.

“I never could stand the way they cry when I do that.”

Anthony looked at me, but did not move, or show emotion. He simply said, “Hello Elanor.”

I smiled at him, crossing my arms and leaning against the wall. “Happy to see me?”

“I’d be happier if you put that away.” I obliged and placed the pistol back into my coat pocket. “What’s in that thing anyhow? Holy Water? I thought that was a myth.”

“Of a sort.” I answered curtly. “Only worse. Think of it like ‘concentrated holy water.’” I walked over to him with the intention of setting him free, but stopped once I was directly in front of him. “Actually... I rather like thee like this.”

“Cut the crap and set me free. The others are still in danger.”

I laughed, and I saw that he smiled as well, something he seldom did.

Once the bonds were broken, we both set off for the others. It was mostly an uneventful endeavor, and we were quickly out of there, once again, finding ourselves on that fateful street.

It was clear by now. All that was left were corpses and rats. Patrick ran over to one of the bodies. Kid Ugly, his informant, lay flat on his back, pale and cold. He had put his life on the line for them, and he had lost it tonight.

“He knew the risk.” Lee said.

“It is important we clear the bodies quickly.” A voice said behind me. The others of my kind were arriving, led by Ross, who had been the one to speak.

I nodded and joined them, “Go, take your friend if you wish. Your car is over there, I doubt it’s been damaged.”

“Our weapons...” began Lee, but before he was finished, Celeb and Faun stepped forward with their guns, and Anna came forward baring Lee’s sword, in a manner reminiscent of Guinevere and Lancelot. Lee was, in fact, so moved by her grace he even bowed slightly as he took it from her.

“She’s right, let’s get back.” Patrick said softly. Anthony lingered for a moment, his eyes locked in a stare with mine, then turned, and left with the others.

I was left with my own, and we promptly made good work of disposing the bodies of the victims.

Usually they leave their victims to rot and be discovered in the street. The police, many of whom are the ones I chased after into The Cave, report the dead as victims of muggings, rapes, gang cross-fires, and other random acts of violence. People don’t question, they just avoid the streets at night, maybe vote for someone who says they can stop it, throw more money at the police department. Why should people question? Humans do enough to themselves as it is.

So it’s up to the Hunters, silly humans who think they can outmatch immortals, the few rogue vampires, usually ones turned against their will, the few werewolves and such that care enough to fight ... and us.

We are the First Born. Created before men, before vampires, before werewolves, before anything but birds and beasts long since evolved and extinct. We are strong, agile, swift, tall, lovely, and most importantly immortal. We are impervious to disease, discomfort, pain, aging and even forgetting. We can be killed, but not easily, we can die, but only when we desire no longer to live. We have been called many names: fairies, nymphs, sidhe, gods and goddesses, sorcerers and sorceresses, wizards, witches, angels, even devils. But my personal favorite word to use in English is elf.

We’ve lived silently, secretly among humans for thousands of years. We used to walk openly among humans, revered as gods and angels. But when our numbers began to dwindle, and the vampires began to reproduce, we had to force our entire worlds into the shadows. Humans were never to know for sure that immortals existed.

And so the war began. We were not to interfere openly. We’re not superheroes, we don’t drop down on serial killers and save damsels in distress. As I mentioned before, our concern is population control. We let the vampires take some, but we keep them from making new ones. We may stop a genocide, but we may also destroy an empire. Everything is about balance.

After a time, we become very good at disposing of bodies. I felt bad for all the ones that would have to simply go missing. I would remember every name, every face. My mind would be their grave; it would last longer than any tombstone. Most of them looked like they probably had no family to buy a grave for them anyhow. One didn’t come to this part of town if one had something to live for.

When all was done, I left hastily. The others didn’t ask any questions, letting me leave without so much as a glance, except from Anna, who’s soft eyes said in a swift glance “be safe, visit me soon.”

I was back with the Hunters in moments.

“Elanor!” Patrick exclaimed when I suddenly appeared in the doorway of his makeshift office.

“Sorry. Did I startle thee?” I said without sincerity. Patrick put his pen down, stood up and came up to me. He wanted to hug me, but he hesitated, just standing there, clenching and unclenching his fists a little.
“Thank you. For what you did...”

But I cut him off. “Don’t mention it. It’s what I do.”

He nodded. “Still...”

I stroked his cheek with the back of my hand, both tenderly, but a bit patronizingly.

He snapped out of his daze suddenly. “So... what brings you here?” He spoke while walking back to the table. He made a face, when he thought I couldn’t see, that showed he felt these words ineloquent. I smiled sheepishly; it happens all the time for an elf.

“I’m here for information primarily. I want to know where to find him.”

I didn’t need to specify. Patrick sat on the table, letting his feet dangle. So sweet.

“Do you think Anthony would sit around if we knew anything?” He replied shrugging.

“Is he still moping around like a teenager?” I scowled.

Patrick nodded his head towards his left. I walked further into the room to see into the adjoining one. Anthony was sitting on the couch, watching TV, his legs curled up to his chest, sucking childishly from a medical bag filled with donor blood. I wrinkled my nose.

“I really wish he wouldn’t do that in public. It’s so... pathotic.”

Patrick breathed a laugh. “Pathotic’s not a word.”

“Well, I can’t say the word pathetic ... it has a different connotation these days. What word can I use to translate ‘pathétique’?”

“How ‘bout ‘emo’?”

“Ugh. Such an overused word. I’ll stick to my French I suppose. Though, I should be able to make up a new word if you can.” I added sarcastically.

“What was you’re other purpose for coming? You insinuated there was one.”

“Yes, of course.” I pulled out an ornamental vial from my pocket filled with crystal water.

“What’s this? Some ancient elven magic elixir?” He half joked.

I smiled. “Something like that. Elven holy water of a sort. An infusion of the light of our sacred star. It’ll work the same way you’d expect holy water to.”

“Do ... you need the vial back? Is it come sort of relic?”

I laughed. “I got it from the hobby store. It’s just a trinket.” Patrick laughed in response. “It just seemed more appropriate than a water bottle.”

“Well I appreciate it.”

“Use it wisely.” I leaned in, clasped my hand around the one he held the vial with, and kissed his forehead. “Be safe.”

He nodded, and I left.

I thought of going back to the street, to see if I could pick up a scent and follow it to Romulus. But the sky was starting to lighten, and dawn would come quickly. André was sleeping alone in our bed, and I desired to be there when he woke.