by R. J. Rogue
"He ordered you to do it? To kill her?"
He nods slowly.
"Yes, but because I loved her, I could not see myself doing such a thing. I found her finishing off a vampire. She knew the purpose of my visit, but I did not kill her, to say the least."
"You changed her."
"Yes. I was honest with my brother and told him the reason for my actions, and hers, expecting that he'd still have me killed and probably her. Surprisingly, he respected my feelings for her and spared her life. And so, the order was off. She was no longer a concern to my brother Lucid, The Dracula, but she hated me. Hated me for turning her into the monster that killed her family. Many, many ages had gone by and she disappeared. That's when all the wars began when others heard of Lucid's generosity. They hated his leadership and soon, Lucid hated them and became viscous, killing masses of our own kind until armies of vampires fought and fought and fought. I was exhausted, owing my respects to my brother for sparing Valencia, but I also became sad with myself wondering if she had rather died that night. Until one night, I ran into her in Florence, feeding on a man. She saw me and immediately tried to fight through fists, nails, teeth…and tears. When she calmed, I took her home, paid my respects to her family, and showed her everything about being a vampire."
"That's when she fell in love with you?"
"Yes. We heard of the famous Leonardo Da Vinci and paid him a visit.”
“Did he know what you and mother were?”
“To this day,” my father says. “I honestly do not know. But, he was quite the artist. Artists have keen eyes, like an eagle, so I would not be surprised if he knew, and took our secret to his grave. And so, he painted us together, and that was the day I asked your mother to marry me. It was then we eloped. Hopping place to place for hundreds of years as the wars continued. I felt like a traitor and soon returned for my brother. That was when we fought together one last time. That was the night he was killed. Valencia and I came here, built our home, and protected ourselves from humans and other vampires. All while keeping the Viscus charm safe and has yet to shine.”
He clears his throat and puts out his pipe.
"Technically, Cedric is right, the charm is still his father's until it chooses another. Until then, it is in my possession and has yet coiled itself around my neck no matter how fit for the position our family sees me."
He lifts it from the necklace it hangs upon.
"When the time comes, which I would not be surprised soon, someone or many will come looking for it. But I'll be ready."
"Dad. That's unbelievable," I say. "I can't imagine ever going through what you and mom have been through."
"A strong woman she is, Evan."
"So the wars are still…?"
"Yes, well not entirely still waging, but I presume there are vampires who believe the charm is destroyed, but others, have hope, and are in search of the Viscus Charm. Little do they know that He, Viscus, chooses you. Not the other way around."
"Has any vampires come here in the past?"
"A few, when you were a child. But they were immediately disposed of. You see, we rather not kill at all, but to protect this family, and to keep them from telling our whereabouts, and yours, we mustn't allow them to go free."
"And that's why you were watching me. In case they had found me. I would be defenseless."
"Yes, and so, you must be wondering what startled everyone the other day?"
"Yes."
"When you and Cedric…"
The door opens startling us.
"Brother, don't you knock?" he exclaims to Abel.
"Well, my apologies but I was excited to hear that nephew had come? Did you not allow him to say hello?"
"Hi uncle," I say giving a smile.
"Hello Evan," he hugs. "A pleasure it is; might I steal him for a bit?"
"Well you are interrupt--" my father says but is interrupted.
"Splendid! Please Evan, come with me. I'll have you back shortly. I promise."
"We'll finish later," my father says.
Without any word Abel leads me out of the room. My father goes behind his desk and takes a seat. We begin to head back down the long hallways leading to the front of the mansion.
"I watched you as a child," he says. "You were quite impressive in many things. But I knew, there was more to you than that. You are indeed special Evan, different from us all."
Where is he going with this? We approach the bottom of the staircase and stand next to the fountain.
"Your birthday is very soon," he reminds. "I wanted to ask if you would like to share it with us. Here. By afternoon, Sarah will be back and instead of heading up, and us coming into town, the strangers and outcasts, everyone can come here. Would also be nice for you to meet some friends of the family."
"Other vampires?" I ask.
"Ehh, no not all of them, but uh, what'd you say?"
"Sure, I would love that actually."
"Great. I thought it would be nice being that we haven't had your birthday here in quite a while."
"I can barely remember."
"Gentlemen!" yells a familiar voice. Gee, I wonder who. "Great to see you!" Mike calls from the second floor railing.
"Hey, Mike" I say.
"Sorry. Was napping."
"You sleep?"
"He tries to," Abel laughs. "Being the immortal that he is I would say it's rather difficult for him. He hasn't got it down just yet."
"Yeah, well, I'm getting close. I think it's all the excitement," he says.
"I concur," Abel responds.
Abel begins to head back upstairs and I follow.
"Essence, Bianca and Valencia seem to be having a good time. You hear that laughter?" he asks.
"What are they doing?" Mike asks meeting us at the top.
"Making jewelry and birthday planning," I say.
As we get closer to the room, the laughter continues. Abel knocks, and then opens the door. Wow, he does knock before entering a room. That's a first. The three of them sit on the bed next to a pile of albums.
"Awww look at his little bottom! He is so gorgeous," Essence laughs.
"Mom, I can't believe you kept this one!" Bianca exclaims.
"Well of course! It is too cute!"
Abel and Mike look over at me and smirk then back at them.
"Can we ask what's the laughing matter here?" Abel asks.
Bianca stands to her feet holding a naked baby photograph. Yup, it's me. Has to be. The embarrassment sets in as Abel and Mike join in the laughter. I blush.
"Okay get it all out," I cross my arms smiling and shaking my head. "At least now I know there are actual baby photos of me in the world.”
A firm hand grips my shoulder. It hurt. It is my father.
"Dad, you scared me," I say trying to relax. His eyes are still and his expression is blank.
"Dad?" I say. The laughter dies down. He presses and leans against me almost knocking me over. Mike and Abel catch him.
"Whoa, easy does it, brother," Abel says. Mother, Bianca, and Essence rise to their feet and meets us by the door. Something isn't right.
"What's wrong dear?" She asks holding his face. He looks sick. I never knew he can get any paler. He looks at everyone and begins to stutter then turns to me and whispers like he's in pain.
"Cedric."
He falls to the floor.
"Kaius! Kaius!" my mother calls holding his face.
He is as stiff as a statue; his eyes are lost. Father brings his hand to his chest. Bianca, Abel, Mike, and my mother step back and hiss. A deep bite wound is pressed into his mark. My heart pounds against my chest.
What is going on?
"Where is he?!" Abel yells. "Where's Cedric?! Cedric!" Abel yells again.
"Mike, come with me. Now!"
Mike follows Abel out of the room.
"What do you think happened?!" I ask Bianca as my mother holds father in her arms.
"Cedric bit him," she says.
"How do we know
it was him and not another vampire. Dad just told me that from time to time--"
"We know Cedric’s bite. He bit him. He did this."
"He's already a vampire, what would Cedric biting him possibly do to make him react like this?"
"When we bite we inject a venom that paralyzes the victim," my mother says. "It's how we feed. A bite from another vampire isn't much, but on your mark, from a vampire of a different clan and bloodline, it is as lethal as a punctured artery, and tampers with your blood. The venom will be just as effective as it is on humans and animals; paralysis, sometimes, death. Most do this during war to either disable or instantly kill their opponent when removing a head becomes difficult. I could only hope Cedric wasn’t actually trying to kill his uncle."
“But I still don’t understand what father said before about Lucid,” I say. “If Cedric’s father is his brother, how could they be of a different clan and bloodline?”
“Kaius was adopted.”
My heart sinks deeper into my gut. Father was adopted.
"What should we do?! Can we take him to a hospital!" Essence exclaims.
"Oh definitely not," I say. "That will expose him."
"Either way," Bianca says. "No medicine will work."
"So what can we do? We just can't leave him like this!" I say.
"There's nothing we can do," my mother responds. "Your father is going to have to fight this. I need you all to go and find Cedric."
I shake my head.
"Where is he?"
"Not sure," she responds unbuttoning father's shirt. "He hasn't been home since --"
Mother and Bianca jump back and hiss once again. Essence and I crawl away.
"What's wrong?!" I yell.
"The charm!" Bianca says. “It's gone!"
I crawl back to my father and his neck is naked. Cedric. I scurry to my feet and run out of the bedroom.
"Evan!" Essence calls.
I hop over the banister of the second floor and shove open the red doors. The wind fills the mansion and the chandelier rocks back and forth wildly. I step outside and into the drizzle of rain.
"Evan!" I hear a voice call from the forest through the wind. Abel and Mike emerge from the trees and run up the hill towards me.
"We can't find Cedric!" Abel yells to us.
What does Cedric plan to do with a charm he can't use? Essence and Bianca comes outside.
"Do you see him anywhere?" Bianca yells.
"No," Mike calls back. "He's gone!"
"Look!" Essence yells pointing up the mansion. We back away to get a better view and see a small figure standing on top of the bell tower just beneath the clouds that tumble atop each other, hiding the sun.
"It's Cedric!" Mike calls. "He's wearing the charm!"
"Oh no," Abel says. "Even worse. The charm is glowing.”
Chapter Twenty-Five: Immortal
Cedric looks down upon us with piercing, red eyes. The charm around his neck glows a dim green. Has the charm chosen him? How can someone as maniac as Cedric even be considered by Viscus to be Dracula, a leader? Cedric is no leader. Cedric is an abomination.
"Dad had told me that the power of the Dracula can only be used by its reigning king, but since the king is dead, the power can't be used until it has chosen another," I tell Abel.
"Yes, that is true."
"Is that why the charm is lit?" I ask. "Has the charm chosen, Cedric?"
"No, it's lit green, yes, but not in respect that Cedric is chosen," Abel says. "Green was the color it emitted when Cedric's father was in power and alive. When a new Dracula is chosen, it should be a shade of red and orange, like fire."
I think about how I lit the candles that day Essence and I were at the beach.
"But if the charm is green, wouldn't that mean…?"
"No," Abel interrupts. "It would not mean Cedric's father is still alive. Your father watched Lucid die. The power of the Dracula is much greater than what you see now, but I believe, since Cedric is the son of the reigning, yet dead Dracula, his father, he can tap into some of that power by direct blood relation. And if this is not the case, and the charm is not lit because of Cedric’s relation to his father, then my brother has some explaining to do about what really happened to Lucid Verin."
"This isn't good Abel. We have to do something," Mike says.
Cedric yells to the sky and we shelter ourselves. The light emits stronger, the wind becomes strong, and the water below moves like a raging river.
"Abel, we need dad!" Bianca yells through the wind.
"You saw what happened! He is in no shape to be out here! We need to talk Cedric down!"
"Talk?!" Mike says. "Look at him! Does he really look like he wants to talk?!"
Cedric stands still with his head to the sky.
"Then what do we do?" Essence asks.
"I say we fight!" Mike exclaims.
"No," Bianca shakes her head. "He's family. We just need to calm him down and see what's wrong."
Mike holds Bianca's face between his hands.
"Listen to me. Look at him," he points to the top of the mansion. "He already put Kaius out of commission. If we don't stop him now, what's to say he won't do the same or worse to us? What if he tries to kill someone? I won't let him hurt you."
My eyes look over to Essence. She stares at Cedric in fear and shelters herself with her hands. I pull her into my arms.
"I don't think you should be out here," I tell her. "You should go back inside with my mother."
"No, I'm staying with you, Evan."
"Essence please," I ask grabbing hold of her hands.
"No, Evan!" she yells withdrawing them. "I was here from the beginning and I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere! I told you that! I meant it!"
I try to battle the urge to persuade her to leave, but I can see in her eyes that she will not submit.
"Alright," I nod my head. "Just try not to get too close. I can't lose you."
She shakes her head.
"You won't."
Cedric continues to look into the sky as thunder rumbles and lighting rips through the clouds.
"Let's go," Mike says. "We can take him. He can't handle all of us."
"Wait," Abel says placing his hand in front of Mike. "It's worth a try…Cedric!" he yells cupping his hands next to his mouth.
"Cedric! Stop this!" Bianca yells.
"Do you think he can hear us?" Essence asks.
Abel nods his head.
"He can hear us, but who we see now may not just be Cedric. Just – anger. Malevolence. It's taking over."
Cedric doesn't budge. Thunder roars and lighting strikes his body, but he doesn't flinch. The power in the mansion goes off. The electricity runs across his body. He raises his arms above his head to the sky, it gathers into his hands, then he throws his arms and fists towards us.
"Look out!" Mike yells.
I dive onto Essence and the crunching explosion connects nearby, knocking the sound from my ears and blinds me like flash bang grenade. The force of the explosion throws us across the grass. When I find the strength to sit up, white and red dots blur my vision momentarily. When my sight stabilizes, we are scattered about. Bianca holds a hand to her head as she sits up. Mike is comforting her. Essence is next to me, where I want her, in my arms.
"Are you alright?" I ask her placing a hand on her shoulder.
She sits up and groans a bit, holding her head.
"I'll be okay," she responds and coughs.
I look around, and Cedric is still above.
"Uncle!" Bianca yells scrambling to her feet, now sprinting. Abel lies farther away from the rest of us on his side. We rush over to him, and smoke rises from his body and jacket. We turn him onto his back and he groans pain. His side is exposed through his clothing showing a nasty burn.
"Abel," I say.
Mike stands to his feet and looks up.
"What is he doing?"
Bianca continues to comfort Abel.
"How is he able to do that?"
He asks. "Is it the charm?"
Bianca nods.
"Partially. He's using himself as a strike zone for the lightning. When he is struck, the lightning coils around his arms and fists, then he redirects to towards us."
"I thought lightning couldn't strike in the same spot twice?" Mike says.
"You also thought vampires and Draculas didn't exist."
"What do we do?" I ask.
When I look to the sky, Cedric's arms are raised and he throws them towards us again.
"We have to--"
"Mike, look out!" I yell, holding a hand out to him. My warning is too late. I place my arms over Essence to protect her. Mike is struck, thrown towards the forest, and hits a tree. It splits and he flops to the ground.
"Mike," I whisper to myself. "Mike!"
"Mike, no!" Bianca yells going over to him.
I glance up to the sky at the bell tower. Cedric is still. His eyes and charm glow.
"We have to move him, before Cedric does it again," I say. We throw both of Abel's arms over our shoulders, but he withdraws.
"I'll be fine," he struggles to say looking at his burn. "I'm not fragile, but this sting really burns."
He chuckles and I fail to join in the humor.
"You two alright?"
"Yes," I say.
"We're fine," Essence responds.
"Okay, good. Go check on, Mike."
We run over to Mike and Bianca who holds his head in her lap. Mike groans and shows his fangs with a hiss.
"I'm going to kill him!" Mike yells trying to push himself up. "Ah!" he holds his hands at his midsection as Bianca tries to comfort him.
"Try to relax," Bianca tells him. "You're hurt. You'll make it worse."
"I'm fine," he responds through clenched fangs.
I look up to the sky and Cedric is gone. He stands on the edge of the cliff. He holds a malicious smile, exposing his top and bottom row of fangs. His eyes and the charm begin to dim. He stares as Abel joins us in helping Mike to his feet.
"Cedric," I say. "Why are you doing this?"
He lets out a chuckle then smiles menacingly. We stand at the edge of the forest. The trees are behind us.
"Why?"
"Yes. What have we done to you?" I ask.
"They have done nothing! It's you!" he yells. In an instant he is gone.