“This one though has a catchy name. Bite Freaks...I mean that’s sort of original right?” Lucuris said to Jessica trying not to laugh too much.
“I’m just going to post a topic and see if anyone who knows about vampires can contact me, maybe shed some information,” Jessica said to Lucuris staying focused at the task at hand.
“So, we just wait until this person replies to your post, or private messages you right?” Lucuris said to Jessica leaning in and kissing her cheek.
Feeling his touch was magical to her, for some reason when he was close by, she just felt really safe, really at peace. Like if the world were to crumble in front of them, she knew he would be there to keep her afloat. “Yea...pretty much, might as well burn some time,” Jessica said to Lucuris as she got up from the computer and went and sat at an empty table with her cell phone out. “Don’t worry though I’ll get a notification if they reply to me,” Jessica said holding Lucuris’s hand.
“You know I never wanted to know something so bad than all of this, like the connection to the crystals and those demons,” Lucuris said to Jessica as he held her hand tightly and just rubbing his thumb on her skin.
“What about your past? I mean did you ever want to know your parents?” Jessica said to Lucuris as she started to ponder the thought. That they hardly knew each other, and she didn’t know much about him. She always wondered about his past, his upbringing. Ever since Abigail introduced him and just the times his sister talked about him way before Lucuris even joined the group.
“Not really...I mean sometimes I do, but other times I don’t because, what if they sucked? I mean yea Joey has told me some stuff of my parents, and I don’t know what he has told you guys. But I just don’t think I need to because they did it for a reason. I don’t know how it’s like to be a parent and deal with the crap they deal with on a daily basis, heck just thinking about it scares me. I mean they had to give me up, and I’m sure it eats them up inside,” Lucuris said to Jessica as he lowered his head down a bit so she would not see his tears dripping off his face.
“Hey... don’t be afraid to show me some weakness. You know better than that Lucuris. You know I am here for you, hell we all are. Like you said before, we are all family. You know what though, if you ever did meet your parents, like your biological parents. I bet they would be really proud of how you turned out, your morals, your kindness, and just the sweet guy you are,” Jessica said to Lucuris as her smile grew larger with every word. Her lips placed firmly onto his lips for a long time, she knew people were watching, but she didn’t care. She wanted him to know that she’s not afraid to fall into the deep end with him, and she wanted everyone to know in that library that Lucuris Peterson was the one who held her heart.
Jessica wanted to keep kissing him, but her phone went off and interrupted them. It was a notification from that vampire website. She looked at the notification and just read thru the message that she had gotten. “True believers! Finally, someone who thinks demons and vampires exists on our planet. Thanks for posting your topic, usually I take those posts as trollish, but for some reason I had to reply to you. My name is...Scratch that my name is Azabel and if you want to know more about this sort of stuff come to the next Vamp Con. It’s nothing too big but kind of an underground thing, just a place for us people of the night to hang out. Here’s the address, hope to see you soon,” Jessica said out loud for Lucuris to hear.
“Wait vamp con? Really? They would make a convention for this crap wouldn't they,” Lucuris said to Jessica as he started to feel a bit disgusted at the idea.
“Really? This is the thing that bothers you. Come on they have comic book conventions for grown adults,” Jessica said to Lucuris as she started to chuckle a bit.
“You’re right, sorry. Ok, so this address seems to be kind of close to us. I guess we'll find out once we get there. Should we tell the rest of the group?” Lucuris said to Jessica as he was rubbing her knees.
Jessica thought maybe they should bring the others to come with them. But she felt that it would be kind of a cool adventure for them to go alone, get more alone time together. Plus, it was just to meet one person, and just get information from them. “Let’s just go alone, just the two of us. Worse comes to worst we bail, and try not to cause a ruckus,” Jessica said to Lucuris as she was starting to put her cell phone away.
“Can we dress up for this? I mean if we are going investigating, maybe we should go incognito, try and blend it,” Lucuris said to Jessica as he started to smile at her.
Jessica thought the idea was a bit silly, and it wasn’t even Halloween yet. She thought about it for a minute tapping her chin lightly just thinking it over and smiling as Lucuris was pleading with her to do this. “Ok but if we are going to dress up it has to be cool. Oh, and no capes. We better hurry up though since the convention or meet up is tonight, so let's head over to the shopping mall quick and see what they have. We have to go into Botch Toxic right?” Jessica said to Lucuris as she was trying to think what stores the mall had.
“No way fuck that place. They charge way too much for a shirt, and plus the workers are vampires themselves. No let’s just go to our Paaaaaaaartty
Townzer,they usually have stuff up for Halloween at this time anyways,” Lucuris said to Jessica as he got up from the table and hugged her tightly.
Jessica didn’t believe she was going to do this, that she was going to dress up for some sort of convention and make believe. But she saw the joy that it brought to Lucuris and thought to herself that maybe she should just learn to have more fun. “You’re such a child...but you’re my child,” Jessica said to Lucuris as she smiled at him and kissed his lips softly as they made their way outside.
Chapter 20
Lucuris and Jessica arrived at the location at almost twelve at night. Both of them were dressed up. Lucuris wore a Dark Slayer suit which looked to be some sort of mesh with The Dark Knight and Van Helsing.Jessica dressed as Vampiria with fangs, and even got a red wig to help match the outfit.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Jessica said to Lucuris as she was messing with the suit, trying to make it expand more. She didn't like feeling restrictive when it came to tight clothing. Always felt uncomfortable to her.
“Hey, we are the awesome power couple. Darkness beware!” Lucuris said out loud as he started to pose for an imaginary audience. He thought it was really cool to dress up in costume, to make believe. Lucuris could see a lot of people gathering in some sort of building and figured it was the place.
The place itself was cold and dark, the building abandoned in some old comic bookstore. Everyone there was dressed as different vampires, whether it be the hot sexy vampires, or just the bloody grotesque ones. There were also some really random vampires, like a toaster vampire. “Wow that dude must hate having to be the butt of the joke,” Lucuris said to Jessica as he started to laugh at his own joke.
“Really Lucuris? That joke was bad...and you should feel bad,” Jessica said to Lucuris with a sly smirk on her face. They started to walk thru the crowd to see if there was anything dangerous about the place.
It seemed that everyone was having the time of their lives. They were drinking, eating and just carrying conversations with each other. Jessica liked these type of group gatherings because it was more about building relationships than building like followers or something. It felt more human than anything else.
“We have to find this Azabel guy Lucuris,” Jessica said to Lucuris holding his hand tightly as they walked through the sea of people. The music was so loud Jessica could hardly hear her voice over the heavy metal music.
At that moment a chubby like man popped up from behind one of the counters in the store. The man was short, probably in his early thirties, with long blonde hair and wore glasses. His choice of attire was interesting that night, looked like uncle Fester. Except for him, he was a bit more handsome. “Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the Vampire Con,” The man said out loud lifting his arms in the arm
while facing everyone.
“Look at these mighty outfits of the night. Bloodsuckers, vampires, those of the damned! What wonderful costumes,” The man said as he started to walk thru the crowds of people examining their costumes.
“This guy is kind of a freak. Dude looks like he should be in a horror flick,” Lucuris said in a low whisper to Jessica as they stood there drinking some of the Ghoul aid.
“Well, look what we have here. You two are definitely not Vampires. Did you two miss some superhero convention?” The large pale man said to Lucuris and Jessica as he just stood there with his arms crossed, frowning at them.
Jessica was nervous, seeing how intimidating this man could be. She couldn’t help but shake a little by his presence.
“We’re just looking for a man named Azabel,” Lucuris said to the large man trying not to make eye contact with him.
The man looked at Lucuris and Jessica as his frown became more of a smile, and then started to chuckle. “Azabel only is seen when he wants to be seen. But if you two are True believers, then I guess you can have an audience with him,” The large man said to Jessica patting her on her back as he took the lead towards the basement of the comic shop.
The basement itself was cool and damp. It was crowded by empty boxes, and old memorabilia of all kinds. It was some sort of shrine to geek culture. Lucuris and Jessica were a bit nervous as to what was going to happen. They didn’t really trust new people and didn’t know what was going to happen next. I mean in the movies when a person goes into a dark basement with nothing but darkness surrounding them, some sort of beast comes out and grabs that person. It was the thought that kept going thru Lucuris and Jessica’s mind as they were following Azabel.
“Don’t be so tense guys,” Azabel said to Lucuris and Jessica as he started to lit candles on the far back wall. “I mean it’s not like I’m going to pull a Michael Myers on you two,” Azabel said out loud as he started to laugh.
“That isn't funny, not at all! Now come on what was the reason you brought us down here. I mean we didn’t even know you were Azabel, until you made that stupid entrance,” Jessica said out loud holding Lucuris’s hand tightly feeling a bit frustration with how Azabel was playing this game.
“Your spouse has quite the temper there,” Azabel said out loud laughing even harder now at his own lines. He finished lighting up the candles on the wall and came back to the two of them and looked at them dead center in their eyes. “You shouldn’t be messing with dangerous beings such as Vampires, demons, and the like young kids,” Azabel said to both Lucuris and Jessica as his face grew more serious, his tone of voice growing more forceful and powerful.
“These beings are hunting me and my group. They are trying to kill me,” Lucuris said to Azabel grabbing the large man’s shirt and pulling him closer to him. “Now if you can just stop wasting our time that will be nice. Me and Jessica need answers, not some silly party,” Lucuris said to Azabel looking at him, not moving his glance away from the man who held answers to their questions.
“You know what they say. Play with fire and you may get burned. But I guess you guys can know some truths. What you know of these vampires are not what the public eye has told us in our fantasy worlds. They are not some exotic beings, who are overly sexual. They are not heroes saving the day from other beast. They are animals, ancient beings, primal to the one hundred percent good sir. So, tell me about yourself. I know you are no simple human, so tell me,” Azabel said to Lucuris grabbing his shirt back and moving a few feet away from the both of them.
It took a few minutes for Lucuris to tell Azabel the parts of his story that was important, but he felt that in order to get help, sometimes you have to put faith in other people. He still didn’t like this guy, but he was left with not many options. “We need your help to know more about these creatures. I fought one a bit ago, but she apparently made a deal with the demons, or something,” Lucuris said to Azabel as he was messing with his gloves.
“This is very weird. So, you guys are like vampire hunters? That’s pretty wicked. But here’s the thing vampires don’t make deals with demons; demons have nothing to offer them but an eternity in the underworld. I mean why would any of them consider working with them for such little benefit, “Azabel said out loud trying to figure out other reasons for a vampire working with a demon.
“I don’t get it either. I mean vampires existing in the world was weird enough now come to find out demons can have some sort of bargaining chip with them, that’s weird,” Jessica said to herself as she slumped her head, feeling a bit defeated. She felt like they wasted their time, and would come back to the rest of the group, empty handed.
Azabel thought about it for a while. He was confused about all this magic stuff, but he loved vampires and saw them as these violent creatures who wanted to destroy mankind. “Maybe it’s one of those, the enemy of my enemy is my friend situations?” Azabel said out loud looking at Lucuris.
“What do you mean by that? Why would they want to work together just to defeat us?” Lucuris said to Azabel looking a bit confused.
“Well separately they would be having difficulties. When it comes to Lore, vampires can be hurt by the sun, to a point where they can also be human enough to kill. What if the demons wanted to help the vampires, and be able to be on the outside, even in the daylight? I mean the demons get someone else to distract you all, and the vampires get a chance to be out in the outside world,” Azabel said out loud as his eyes started widening and seeing part of the puzzle come together right in front of his eyes.
Lucuris didn’t want to think about it, but maybe Azabel was right. He fought Amethyst with Joey, and it took both of them to take her down. What if the vampires had some sort of army, how would their small group defeat them.
“Shit...the more I think about this situation, the more badly it seems to be. I don’t want these vampires to attack our city Azabel. I don’t want them to hurt the ones I love,” Lucuris said to Azabel looking at Jessica and just thinking to himself. The quiet thoughts that would pass in his mind, ever since they got together. How would he deal with life, or himself if Jessica was to suddenly disappear? But he didn’t want to entertain that idea. He had to go to everyone else and inform them about these vampires, and maybe, just maybe they could find answers when it came to his Black Crystal. “We got to go sweetie, we have to go talk to the others,” Lucuris said to Jessica as he grabbed her and held her tight.
“Hey, hey don’t forget me,” Azabel said to Lucuris grabbing his backpack quickly.
“I don’t think you want to get involved in this crap man,” Lucuris said to Azabel trying to make him stay, to be able to live a boring normal life.
“You’re fucking kidding me dude. No way am I staying here and missing all this action. Vampires actually real, and the guys on the forums said I was full of shit,” Azabel said out loud as the three of them made their way out of the basement and off to go meet up with Abigail, and the rest of the group.
Chapter 21
As soon as Lucuris left the vampire convention he called Abigail from a stranger's cell phone, and decided that they should all meet up at the outside track at their college.
Lucuris arrived at the track and looked at the field, seeing a few shadows on it, and figured that it was his sister and everyone else. He then motioned to Jessica and Azabel to hurry up, and broke into a sprint.
“Hey, Abigail, nick, Oracle, Joey. We are here and we got some news,” Lucuris said out loud as he was waving his hand motioning towards them.
“Who are you” Abigail said out loud as she lowered her head, and speared Azabel to the ground.
Azabel landed with a hard thud, and was shaken from the fall, and lost sense of direction for a moment. “Holy macaroni that hurt like hell. Hey what the crap is wrong with you dude?” Azabel said to Abigail as he sat there on the floor and seeing these strangers look down on him.
Jessica went in front of Azabel to protect him as a shield and pushed Abigail back a bit. �
�We told you this on the phone, we were bringing a friend. You had no right to knock him down like that,” Jessica said to Abigail as she started to feel her blood boil.
“Yea, what is wrong with you sis?” Lucuris said to Abigail turning his attention to her and just wondering what had gotten into her.
Then at that moment Lucuris noticed something, something odd. He didn’t see it at first, but he looked at his friends' eyes. He could see them all with the same expression, the darkness overlaying them like some sort of shadow was covering them.
“You will not survive tonight,” Nick said out loud in a deep dark tone, that sent chills down Lucuris’s spine.
“What is up with you guys, why are you not saying anything? “Jessica said out loud pleading at her friends as they just stood there motionless.
Azabel could see what was going on, he knew something was up with them. They weren't talking, they weren't showing any emotion in their face at all. All they looked like was empty husk, they wanted to feed. “This is bad guys, look at them. I think someone is controlling them or something.” Azabel said to Lucuris and Jessica as he got up from the floor.
The Book of the Magi Page 14