by Matt Rogers
Chapter 15
The inside of LeTorque Manor was not one of serenity.
“I cannot believe it!”
“It does appear we made a mistake there.”
“A castle! We blow up a castle and they ignore it?”
Trudy was in a state of denial. Actually a state of disbelief followed by the state of denial. She could not grasp how a group of otherwise intelligent people could so honestly forgive their mischievous neighbors and overlook the destruction of animated illusion come to life.
“What do we need to do; blow up their capitol?”
The option had been discussed but eliminated for one glaring reason; the capitol of California was located so far north from the majority of its citizenry it might as well have been in Canada. They needed a war and they needed it to start between the United States and Mexico. Unfortunately, it seemed they’d picked two states who’d achieved the wrong results in the most illogically opposite ways. One was so disliked by its mother-nation it was touch and go for a while if they would even stick up for their southern brothers. The other was so passively happy they were unburdened by childhood playground-pushers they were willing to forgive their sneaky bombers from below the border. The fact it was Vamps and Wolves who’d done the destruction was irrelevant. The plan should’ve worked!
“What do we do now?” Trudy asked the room.
“I think we should think outside the box” Phillip said and the others just stared at him.
The problem with his line of thinking was he always thought outside the box for he was an outside-the-box kind of thinker. It was the way he operated. He would consider an option, any option, and twist it around in his head till the option no longer resembled the original. Sometimes it worked but generally it was a complete waste of time.
“Maybe we should blow up Six Flags?”
“Why would Mexico attack Six Flags, Phillip?”
“I don’t know? Maybe they don’t like giant wooden roller-coasters? Come on! Work with me here!”
They were getting nowhere and it was really frustrating, especially for the girls. Their kind had experience, after all.
The time was very early when only two clans existed. Yin wanted a war with First and they were more than happy to oblige. The problem, as always, was how to battle without the Humans becoming aware. The answer? Involve the Humans.
The King of Greek was a very, very ugly man. He was large, fat and old with the temperament of all tyrants. He would rail at others, throw tantrums and generally cause a lot of mischief for no reason whatsoever. The population was getting tired of it but were unable to do anything for the simple reason the King paid his soldiers well and they in turn chopped off heads. It was this dilemma which proved useful to Yin.
“Your Majesty?”
“Yes?”
“I would like you to meet Helen.”
He was smitten from the start but it wasn’t really his fault because Helen was a Vampire spy. She’d been chosen to play a role and did it like a true professional.
“I cannot believe how beautiful you are, my dearest Helen.”
“Nor I how handsome you are, Your Majesty.”
She led him on for weeks, always in sight but never in touch. The poor man was starting to see her in his dreams and his dreams were so vividly real he was beginning to think he was losing his mind. The truth was, he was being played.
Every night Helen would disappear, blend into her surroundings and enter the King’s bedchamber. There she would wait until the King snorted himself awake to find himself staring at the woman he’d just been dreaming about. It was driving him mad. He’d never heard of a dream within a dream. The game went on until opportunity arrived.
“Your Majesty, please allow me to present Prince Troy.”
Prince Troy was an average man as most princes tended to be. He wasn’t much to look at, swung a sword which scared no one and was basically the public face for the real powers of the realm. He was, however, a man and thus easily manipulated.
“Prince Troy, this is Mistress Helen.”
A smile was all it took. One parting of the lips and fate was set.
She never actually left with the Prince, she merely quit appearing after he departed. She stayed hidden inside King Greek’s castle and visited him in fake dreams.
“Prince Troy has taken me.”
The King bought it and sailed off to war. Yin then had his diversion and set off to challenge for First Clan supremacy. Humans did what Humans do and believed the easiest version of events; all the fighting going on was between two self-righteous monarchs who couldn’t find common ground on even the simplest of things. Yin eventually won and the clans were his. Helen became bored because the King could not figure out a way to breach the Prince’s palace. She visited him again as a dream.
“Build a hollow golden idol and place assassins within. Present it as a gift in exchange for me. Whence inside, attack at night, kill their soldiers and you will once again possess what you desire.”
She felt it was a good idea. She wasn’t actually being held, after all, and a golden idol seemed a proper gift for one of her stature. But the King was a cheapskate, as kings tended to be, so he disregarded the obviously intelligent option and went instead with a wooden horse.
Prince Troy was not the smartest of creatures but he wasn’t a complete buffoon either. Who would offer a giant wooden horse in exchange for the prettiest woman in the realm? Besides, the dang thing was an obvious ploy to get whatever killers were stuffed in its gut inside the castle’s walls. He thought of declining but re-evaluated and decided he might as well take the thing and remove the unimaginative ninja warriors from the King’s payroll. The giant rocking-horse was wheeled in, the trap-door sprung and the soldiers inside used as target practice for the Prince’s archers. The Prince was pleased and went about congratulating himself when a figure, unseen by Human eyes, slid off the back of the giant steed she’d been riding atop and opened the side door to the palace. Wolves entered, men lost their heads and Helen of Troy found immortality in tale.
“Maybe we should go for a ride?” Vivian suggested and since no one had a better idea they all agreed.
“Where do you want to go?” George asked as he put the giant pickup truck in gear.
“Let’s just drive around, maybe inspiration will strike.”
So they drove around Dallas discussing which historically cultural places with a past to both Texas and Mexico could be blown up to start a war.
“How about the Capitol Building?”
“Yeah, that might work, but…”
“But what?”
“Well, there’s politicians inside the building. People just don’t seem to care if politicians blow up.”
The frustrating part seemed to be the lack of historical significance to virtually anything in existence.
“Sea World?”
“We are not blowing up baby seals, Phillip!”
Surely after all the time which had elapsed since Texas voted itself a state there was some remnants to original inhabitation?
“Cowboy’s Stadium?”
“I believe that would be viewed positively by most, George.”
They were at the point where exacerbation was setting in, the point where even the obscure was considered.
“Does Houston even have a landmark?”
They were at their wits end, past the point where logical conclusion could determine probable outcome.
“I’m hungry. Want to stop and eat?”
They all nodded their agreement and exited the freeway in search of gastrointestinal comfort and the answer to war-ignition. They pulled up to a light, Vivian looked up from her lap and screamed.
“I’ve got it!”