by Matt Rogers
Chapter 6
They arrived home to begin the planning. Vivian met them at the door and they went inside the modern-day plantation.
“Did you have a good time?” Vivian asked Trudy.
“Oh, it was wonderful!” Trudy answered.
“What was it like?”
“It was the most beautiful little village you have ever seen! It had this quaint little town-center where they had…”
George, Vivian’s mate, approached Phillip who had left the lovely Vampires in the living room and entered the kitchen.
“How was it?”
“Boring.”
“Hmm… what about the restaurants?”
“There weren’t any! All they had was this little shop where you could buy pastries and stuff! I’m telling you, if we’re ever forced to live in a small village the first thing we’re doing is investing in a fast-food franchise.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Horrible, horrible place.”
The kitchen in LeTorque Manor was the dream of dining enthusiasts come to life. Every modern appliance was in attendance and the cupboards were filled to the brim. A giant refrigerator stood testament to the idea with enough storage space one could challenge Noah in the animal-stocking trade and Phillip was in the process of making more room for further inhabitants.
“What are you fixing?”
“A duck.”
“Ooh, that sounds good, do we have another?”
Werewolves and Vampires demanded a lot of food. They needed the calories for their Superior metabolisms. Molecular perfection came at a price and inferior species incurred the costs. As George hunted for another feather-plucked parcel of avian delicacy Phillip filled him in on their dealings with First Clan.
“Okay, before you ask, what you heard was true.”
“She’s pretty?”
“She’s beyond pretty. She’s blindingly beautiful. It’s a good thing I’ve got Trudy and you’ve got Vivian because if not we’d be battling Wolves in a small town without proper dining facilities.”
“Come on! She can’t be that good looking.”
“Take my word for it, George, if Yin were a little bit weaker there’d be no reason for us to be trying what we’re trying because there wouldn’t be enough Wolves to do anything with. They’d all be dead fighting over that Vamp.”
George had heard of Merri Li’s beauty, all Wolves had, but he’d relegated it as inflated talk designed to impress. Phillip was telling him it was true. He knew Phillip to be virtually incapable of deceit, despite their current undertaking, so he thought maybe he should change his views a bit. There was nothing to be gained if upon seeing the woman he was ill-prepared and ogle-prone. Besides, he had Vivian and she had a temper. He sensed her presence along with Trudy’s before they entered.
“What are you two talking about?” Vivian asked.
“Small town culinary needs” George responded.
The girls glided over the floor without making a sound. Vampires were natural-born shadow warriors. They could alter their pigment to blend into the background and relied on stealth as their weapon of choice.
“You weren’t talking about Merri Li?” the platinum perfect Vampire inquired.
“Who?” was his reply.
George was at times a little suspect when it came to feigned ignorance. It wasn’t his acting ability which let him down so much as his intelligence. He was much too smart for his own good. Everyone knew who Merri Li was because she was fable turned true. The same with Yin and Yang although there was some doubt about Yang for he’d been missing so long.
“Come on, dearest, we know you were talking about her.”
“How’d you know?”
“You just told us.”
George was not one for verbal games. Vivian was, though, so he played them all the time.
“What did you say about her, Phillip?” Trudy asked with a knowing smile.
“The truth. She’s pretty but over-rated.”
Wolves and Vamps were masterful liars when it came to their bodies responses. They learned to manipulate internal functions as they developed and were impossible to catch in a lie using biometrics as a measuring device. It came in handy at times. Such as those when the leading ladies of horror quizzed the main men of terror on the beauty and perfection of a legendary Mistress.
Trudy and Vivian let it go because neither cared to hear the truth. They knew they were beautiful, all Vampires were inherently attractive because the Heavens designed them so. Wolves were powerful and vicious so beauty was used to control the beasts.
“All right, let’s sit down and talk about what you two learned” Vivian said and the three nodded their agreement.
The dining table was their place of choice for conversation because it was near the food and both Phillip and George could keep a watch on what they were constantly preparing. The girls were much better cooks but the boys were better eaters. Phillip had taken his duck and tossed it in the oven without any preparation. George had been unable to find a fellow lake-paddler so he’d settled on a turkey. He too tossed the bird in without thought or even bothering to remove the gizzards.
It wasn’t for food safety they cooked the delights, it was for the flavor. Superiors did not fear food-poisoning or any poisoning for that matter because their advanced immune systems quickly thwarted any unwanted bacteria, virus or dangerous chemicals in their systems.
“So the plan is the same?” George asked as he sucked marrow from the turkey’s leg bone.
“Yep” replied Phillip as he stuffed half the duck in his maw, bones and all.
“What plan?” came a voice from the entranceway.
“Nat!” Vivian yelled as she jumped into the space Aliens arms.
He caught her in his outstretched appendages and returned her hug with a smile.
“Ahh, such a better reception than last time” he remarked.
“What last time?” Phillip asked.
The green Alien with big, bulbous black eyes glanced over, smiled and replied.
“The last time I saw her I was impersonating a man-servant. By the way, why the insistence on my skin tone? Were you attempting to portray yourself in a negative light?” he asked Vivian.
“Yes” she replied.
“Why?”
“For two reasons” George replied “the first was to keep our family’s secrets secure. If the detectives begin poking around they’ll undoubtedly run into the roadblocks you’ve set up. They’ll begin to wonder why such extraordinary measures were taken to protect our identities. The suggestion we have wealth and secrets is readily explainable if we appear to have a somewhat checkered southern past.”
“What’s the second reason?”
“We needed a way for you to be involved. Look, we know Johnny’s absence has left you in a bit of a sticky situation from your point of view. We felt the old southern tradition of wealthy plantation owners would give credence to one of their servants acting as a go-between. If it was up to us we wouldn’t even be looking for Johnny.”
The Alien named Nat was actually a molecular hologram from Heaven. His appearance could be anything to anyone for the projection was an illusion. He was a Monitor, tasked with keeping the Superiors on the right track and prepare for their showdown with the Hoard.
“He needs to be found, George.”
The Heavens were technologically advanced beyond the wildest dreams of Earthlings but they were not omnipotent. They could detect difference between species and were relatively successful keeping track of Superiors on the planet but Humans were another matter. There were too many of them. They could detect group difference but individuals were another matter entirely due to the unique nature of molecular change. Species held to a general pattern, a blueprint as it were, but an individual’s molecular make-up could and did change with every passing meal. Johnny’s blueprint read Human. It also read lion, tiger, bear and single celled amoeba. His blood, the remarkable trait he possessed gave off differing
readings because each of the cells in his serum acted as a unique entity to itself. While not a great problem for the Heavens since neither he nor his predecessor, Yang, if they were in fact two separate individuals, held the power of the Wolf but he was still perplexing for the Alien.
“He will be found, Nat, although I must point out you appear to be directly interfering in Superior business” replied George.
The Heavens had agreed the Superiors should evolve without interference because previous lessons had proven Mother Nature was a prickly element. She would do as she wished and seemed to actively thwart the Heavens whenever they tried to manipulate her products.
“Yes, I know, it is why I agreed to allow a third party to locate Johnny. I appreciate you allowing me access. Although, I might add, if I wish access I will get access but I appreciate it nonetheless.”
The tricky part for the Heavens when dealing with Superiors was their own fault. They designed them to be the ultimate fighting species and never instilled them with fear. Without fear the only option the Heavens possessed was reward. A decision had been made whereby the Heavens would respect the rights of Superior culture and navigate warily in their business. The Superiors themselves received Heaven’s help when asked and Heaven’s blessings when it came to dominance over all on the planet.
“Okay, we understand, Nat, and we’re trying to help but I’m not sure Johnny can be found if he doesn’t want to be found.”
“Why did he leave in the first place? And why did he take the child with him? I understand taking Melissa but why Daemon?” Nat inquired.
Melissa was many things. The daughter of Lucifer and Joan De Arc. The twin of Merri Li. The half-sister of Yin and Yang. The killer of the Isabella’s twin, Stephanie. The killer of Stephanie’s mate, Peter North, and the acting step-sire of the child in question; her half-brother, Daemon, the last prodigy and sole child of Lucifer and Stephanie. Johnny had chosen her as his mated which might sound icky except the idea of mated was not defined solely as reproductive entities. The mated were a necessity in Superior culture for the Matriarchy depended on the Vampire mated to the strongest Wolf leading family. The strongest family led their tribes and, until recent events intervened, the three Matriarchs of the tribes led their respective clans. Johnny was the weakest Wolf in all Third Clan but he was in the family where the two strongest Wolves resided. They, both George and Phillip, had seeded power to Johnny who was then the Alpha of LeTorque. Since Melissa was his mate she became the Matriarch. Since the LeTorque had managed to lead their family in just such a way their spheres of influence were so powerful they could lay claim to complete clan supremacy Melissa was, in fact, Matriarch of all Third Clan.
“Johnny felt responsible for Stephanie’s death” Trudy responded.
“And he felt so because…?” Nat asked.
“Because he chose Melissa over her. I really don’t know what Stephanie was thinking when she got into that vehicle. She knew the rules but she did it anyway….”
“Because…?”
“Three mated pair make a family, Nat. Once Stephanie entered that limousine she signed her death warrant, you know that” George interjected.
“Yes, I know, but I still don’t understand what transpired.”
“We told you. Stephanie entered with Daemon and Daemon exited with Melissa.”
“Yes, but what happened to Stephanie?”
“She never left the limo” George replied.
Nat knew he wouldn’t get anywhere with the LeTorque. They, like all Superiors, didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of chemical monitoring. He’d tried to explain it was for their own benefit, that the Heavens had no nefarious motives only the need to make sure they didn’t go off and do something rash like killing themselves but the Wolves and Vamps still balked at thought of constant surveillance.
Another problem Nat had was similarly related. He could not monitor Johnny chemically and since he had blood-bonded with the LeTorque when he was in their presence he could not detect them either. It was why he had become virtually sole Monitor to the family. Monitoring was a time-consuming process and was generally left to technology but with Johnny and the LeTorque it took a hand’s-on approach.
“Okay, I respect your family’s desire for secrecy but I still have a job to do and therefore need to know the whereabouts of Johnny and the other two.”
“Which is why we hired the best detective agency available” responded George.
Nat couldn’t argue because it was true. He’d done the research and found the agency of Craft and Sons was indeed the best around. It appeared the LeTorque were playing the game the right way. They had no interest in finding their wandering family-mates but the Heavens did. Since the Heavens were barred from interfering in Superior business and had no way of knowing if the three were on Superior business a compromise had been struck whereby the only other player on the planet, Humans, would enter the fray.
“You seem to be playing a dangerous game, George” Nat said.
“Yeah, fun isn’t it?”
The truth was, in a strange way considering his job description, Nat didn’t really care where Johnny and the other two were. Johnny had been responsible in some way or another with finally pushing the game along where the conclusion could be sighted. The Wolves and Vamps had been seeded on the planet for one specific purpose; to evolve into the answer for the Hellion Hoard. The clan system had perplexed the Heavens because it had grown into something they didn’t understand involving of a constantly moving family hierarchy where employment status along with cunning and brutal strength dictated leadership. For ages the three clans had been governed by the three top families in the three tribes of economic priority; Food, Shelter and Security. It was true both First and Second Clan were technically still under the Matriarch of Merri Li and thus, by proxy, controlled by Yin but the fact was they ruled in absentia. Neither wielded their power for they had no one to wield it against. Yin could not attack First because to do so would be to attack his own blood, Merri Li, which he was incapable of doing. The same was true of Merri Li. Third Clan had been ruled through the tribal triumvirate but was in truth led secretly if not outright by Lucifer and Isabella Satan, also of Yin and Merri Li’s bloodline, the start of their bloodline in fact. With the death of Lucifer and Isabella, neither at the hands of their offspring and with the emergence of Johnny as Alpha of Third Clan a new dynamic came into play. If Johnny would ally with either First or Second the culmination of Heaven’s efforts might finally come to fruition. The clan left out, the one not allied would either be eliminated or see the light. Either way only one clan would emerge. It was that event which held Heaven’s hand. The Superiors were bred to kill and they were also bred to dominate. The Heavens needed something which would allow compatibility between the two contrasting emotions and Johnny Johnson gave them the answer.
Johnny, or Yang, was the weakest Wolf but also the game-changer. The other Wolves and Vamps knew he was no match for them so they didn’t worry about dominating him for he was already dominated. Superiors didn’t care who led the group as a whole, they cared about dominating all others. The flaw was in their design. Without the ability to accept authority and without the emotion of fear the Superiors were the most dominant life-form ever conceived but they were only so individually. As a group they would constantly war with each other which would allow another species, one similar if not Superior to eventually win. Johnny changed everything. Superiors would accept his authority because it had nothing to do with dominance for he was the farthest thing from it. Furthermore he would be giving them the one thing they were bred to do; the ability to challenge the Hoard. Nat’s time, all his hard work would finally see the light of day and after all the millennia he could witness victory over his arch enemy and darker half, Hellion.
“Okay, what exactly is your plan?” Nat asked.
“You haven’t guessed?” Vivian responded.
“I’m assuming you’re attempting to ally with First against Second sin
ce you two took that little trip to see Merri Li.”
“Correct.”
“How will you overcome the problem of Johnny?”
“What problem?” Vivian asked.
“Oh, come on! Either he is or he isn’t Yang. Either way it doesn’t matter because the point is moot. The Wolves and Vamps ruled earlier a Cloak was not to rule.”
“No they didn’t. They said Yin could not rule with Yang at his side, they said nothing of Johnny ruling supreme.”