by Matt Rogers
Chapter 31
The evening by then was fully night with a blackness startling in its emptiness. Texas has many open spaces surrounding its cities and at night a person can really appreciate what cities have done to the senses of a person who had ancestors living during a time without the modern anthills. There’s a perpetual glow emanating from cities at all times, a low hum constantly filling the background for with any place attempting to house, feed and entertain so many guests there will always be an overlap with some guests asleep while others are awake. Cities are constantly alive, constantly churning out production and constantly assailing the senses of the very same citizens they attempt to secure within their boundaries. Communities on the outskirts of those cities enjoy some relief from the sounds, smells and sights of their concrete-surrounded brethren but all they need to do is face in the direction of their neighboring big brother to see the aura of energy emanating from the communal environment to know soon they too will be brought into its endless embrace.
“Nat?”
“Yes, Johnny?”
“Why is it so dark in there? Don’t they believe in modern electricity at these functions?”
“Yes, but they try to keep it minimal in certain cases. You see, they’re actually quite the simple folk when you really think about it. Virtually everything they do comes down to a test of their survival skills, and they put lot emphasis on those skills, so when they grasp hold of a concept they feel has the basics they value they’re rather reluctant to change with the times.”
“What the heck was that, Nat?”
“What?”
“They’re reluctant to change with the times? A concept they feel has the basics? What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about tradition. What you saw inside was the clan’s attempt at recreating the first Confrontation Cave.”
“But that’s not a cave.”
“I know that.”
“Why don’t they just go to a cave?”
“They couldn’t find one suitable enough.”
“What? Are you telling me they couldn’t find a cave to hold thirty or forty people?”
“No, I’m saying they couldn’t find a cave with the technical ability to allow other families to watch the proceedings.”
“Oh.”
“They had to find a place secret enough for a confrontation to occur which wouldn’t draw the eyes of Humans. These confrontations can be very important to the outcome of their society and they have many interested parties involved. Now, they previously held these confrontations at one place and invited all the interested families to attend but with the advancement of civilization came a greater separation of distance between members of each particular clan.”
“Huh?”
“As the world grew they began living farther apart.”
“Oh, and those families want to watch?”
“Well, remember, when a lower rung family challenges for a higher rung they give up their position in the hierarchy so every family below them is going to be moving up the ladder so to say, but there’s a catch, because these fights tend to leave heads on the ground and those heads need to be replaced so…”
“So the lower families are watching to see which of their family members will be asked to replace the dead ones above them?”
“Uh-huh. When a family confrontation occurs deciding occupational status every family below is potentially at risk of losing a mated pair or two.”
“My God, these people have a confusing social structure.”
“Yep. It’s constantly changing according to what one family decides is the best way for them to advance.”
“But didn’t you say the LeTorque have been the same since they formed their family?”
“Yes.”
“How’s that possible if they’re near the top of the ladder?”
“They’ve won every challenge they’ve ever made. In fact, they’re quite possibly the only family never to have lost a Wolf in a challenge. If you want I can check it out for you, it’ll just take a second for me to…”
“Nat?”
“Yes?”
“That’s not important right now. What I’m wondering is why didn’t some family higher up who lost a Wolf in a challenge pick one of them as a replacement?”
“If you were an Alpha Wolf in a family above which LeTorque Wolf would you choose to battle? Because, make no mistake, whichever one you pick is going to challenge you for Alpha.”
“Oh, and you said Peter was a powerful Wolf?”
“Peter was an Alpha.”
“Okay, I get your point. I wouldn’t want to fight any of them. So, if you’re an Alpha above you don’t want to pick an Alpha below unless you’re sure you can beat him?”
“Yes. You want to pick one strong enough to be an asset in any future challenges but weak enough to not pose a threat to you as Alpha.”
“Man, there’s a lot of intrigue in these things.”
“Yep, fun isn’t it?”
“Well, except for the part about me getting killed if the LeTorque lose.”
“Yes, except that part, of course.”
“Nat?”
“Yes, Johnny?”
“Where’s Steve?”
“I put him in the electrical closet.”
“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
“Why?”
“He could electrocute himself.”
“He’s a Zombie, he’ll just stand there until someone picks him up.”
“Nat?”
“Yes, Johnny?”
“If I die please remember to get my Zombie.”
“I promise, Johnny.”
The scene in the parking lot was surreal. There were Wolves and Vampires standing around with nothing to do but wait and see what the Matriarchs were going to rule and after a while a sort of truce developed between them; so much so, they began intermingling with each other. The two remaining Ramos Wolves were talking with Phillip and George while the two Ramos Vamps, one of them being Melissa, were talking with Vivian and Stephanie. I guess the Clan Elder families held themselves above the LeTorque and Ramos but it didn’t stop them from intermingling amongst themselves; if one didn’t know any better they’d have thought a barbeque or church function was about to begin.
“Johnny?”
“Hi, Trudy.”
“How are you holding up?”
“Pretty good. Nat was explaining what was going to happen next.”
“Hello, Nat” she said.
“Hello, Mistress” he replied.
“Would you give us a minute, please?” she asked him.
“Certainly, Mistress, I think it’s time I looked in our Zombie anyway” he said as he began walking towards the door at the side of the front entrance labeled “Electrical Room”.
“Johnny, walk with me” she said, and I did, because I believe I might’ve mentioned her looks a time or two.
“Trudy?”
“Yes, Johnny?”
“Usually when people say ‘walk with me’ they want to talk.”
“Yes, true, I do want to talk to you; I’m trying to find the right words.”
“Okay.”
“What did Nat tell you is going on here?”
“He said you might be challenging the Satan for Clan Elder.”’
“Hmm… well, he’s right; we will most definitely be doing so. But there’s another matter being decided I want to speak to you about.”
“What is it?”
“What to do with you.”
“Huh?”
“The Clan Elders are scared of you.”
“Scared? I thought you people didn’t have the ability to be scared?”
“Not physically frightened, intellectually scared.”
“Okay, you’re losing me, Mistress.”
“Sorry. The clan system, the three separate clans each divided into three separate trades was developed because of you, or rather Yang, but since you’re essentially the same the point i
s too.”
“Still not getting you, Mistress.”
“The clans were designed to prevent what you can accomplish.”
“What’s that?”
“Total domination by one Wolf over all.”’
“Huh?”
“The clans were divided into three so no Wolf could reign over all. They were further divided into trades so no Wolf could dominate even one sole clan but, with you, the separation doesn’t divide so wide.”
“Why?”
“Because you allow the Wolf to be what he wishes to be.”
“What’s that?”
“Alpha, Johnny, Alpha of all.”
“Okay, look, I get where you’re going with this but I don’t see how it’s even possible anymore.”
“What’s not possible?”
“That I give one Wolf the power to be king.”
“But you do.”
“How? There’s thousands of Wolves and Vampires. How could one Wolf hope to prevail even if I could hide his scent?”
“Because of what it would do to our view of the world.”
“What would it do?”
“It would make us kill Humanity.”
“You’d do what?”
“We would no longer be able to tell if the species approaching us were Human or Superior. We would then rely on our basic instinct of survival and remove the threat before it removed us; in essence, your existence means we would declare war on Humanity.”
“Hold on. Why would you do that? I mean. Okay, let’s say for the sake of argument you’re right and I did meet someone like Yin; why couldn’t you just see us coming?”
“Because of modern medicine.”
“Modern medicine?”
“Yes, modern medicine gives us the ability to change our physical appearance for short periods of time, at least until our bodies overcome the transformation surgery can provide.”
“Oh.”
“An Alpha Wolf with you would be able to walk up to any Superior and attack before they had any idea of the danger. An Alpha Wolf with you would be able to detect any Superior without himself being detected. An Alpha Wolf with you is the exact same species a Werewolf is to a Human.”
“What’s that?”
“Certain death.”
“Oh my God! I’m dead aren’t I? Those Elders are going to come back in and rule I’m to be exterminated, aren’t they?”
“They could but I doubt they will.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a Superior and if they sentence you to death it must be through combat and since you are part of our family it would involve us; so, in essence, one of the Elder families would be taking the chance they could beat us. Now, the Satan think they can but the others know they cannot for even though Phillip and George are young by Wolf standards they may very well be the most dominant Wolves save Yin and the Mate of Satan.”
“So the Satan will be picked to take us on?”
“The Satan are going to fight us either way and I think they’d like to do it without your particular abilities involved.”
“Huh?”
“Johnny, if you’re sentenced to die you have the right to fight back. Now, with your abilities George and Phillip will be an almost impossible pair to beat because you get to choose the venue for the fight.”
“Huh?”
“Modern or traditional. Old or new. Electric lights or torchlight. If they choose death for you, we will choose to fight traditional style with torchlight alone. The Mate of Satan barely survived against Yin; do you really think he would like to test himself against Phillip and George the same way?”
“But this isn’t the same. They already know about Yang dimming his torch since Lucifer was the one in the fight after all?”
“Of course they do but, remember, Yin was fighting alone; Phillip and George will be fighting as a pair. If the Satan are so foolish as to choose death for you then they will fight by torch, Phillip or George will distract one of their Wolves and the other will attack from behind. It will be a slaughter.”
“But it’ll be three Wolves against two?”
“No, it’ll be one Alpha and a pair of lesser Wolves against two Alphas; I like our chances every time there.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“So, okay, then I’m not going to be put to death?”
“I seriously doubt it.”
“Trudy?”
“Yes, Johnny.”
“That pep talk started off pretty poorly but I liked the ending.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Trudy?”
“Yes, Johnny?”
“You never said what happened to Yin and Merri Li.”
“Oh, where was I when I left off?”
“Yin turned on Yang, Yang got away and Merri Li was their half-sister.”
“Now I remember. Okay, when Yin ruled against Yang he removed any justifiable reason for the Superior’s revolution and he and Merri Li were reinstated as Alpha and Matriarch of both clans but Merri Li was furious with him over his judgment in the matter for she felt it was a betrayal of blood. She refused to talk to him and actively sought to have him removed as Alpha.”
“Good for her. How’d she do it?”
“She tried to get another Wolf to mate with her and then have him challenge Yin for Alpha?”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Uh-huh. Remember, she’d refused to sire an heir with him so while they were technically mated in the eyes of Clan Law they were not in the normal sense of the word. In fact they’d never shared a kiss because of her confusion over him.”
“Huh?”
“Remember when I told you the first time they met it was love at first sight?”
“Yeah, now it sounds creepy.”
“Well, it was love in a way. Both could sense something of themselves in the other. Now normally Human’s would view this as love but since we Superiors cannot feel love for anything other than ourselves what they were experiencing was a reaction to their own blood, their own specific DNA, handed down to them by the same Wolf; Lucifer Satan.”
“So it was brotherly and sisterly love.”
“In a Superior kind of way, yes.”
“What happened then?”
“Well, Merri Li could not find a willing Wolf…”
“Because they were all scared Yin might rip their heads off?”
“… because they knew Yin would rip their heads off. They weren’t scared; they merely weighed their chances of surviving the conflict and none were ready to face the great unknown at the time.”
“Did Yin find out Merri Li was trying to get him… what’s the word…?”
“Overthrown?”
“I was thinking ‘divorced’.”
“We don’t divorce, we are mated for life and only the death of one can separate the other.”
“It saves on lawyers’ fees, I guess.”
“Yes it does and, yes, Yin did find out what Merri Li was up to.”
“What did he do?”
“He tried the same thing as Merri Li with the actual process being different but the results remaining the same.”
“Really? Always cryptic, Trudy?”
“It’s how we talk, I’m a Vampire after all.”
“Okay, so what happened?”
“Yin sired Superiors, the Vampires who birthed those children challenged for Yin’s hand, he allowed the challenges to occur and Merri Li removed their heads.”
“Merri Li chopped their heads off?”
“No, Merri Li tore their heads off.”
“My God!”
“Yes, well, she was a bit upset with the challenges and all.”
“What happened to the children?”
“They were raised by First Clan.”
“Are any of them still around?”
“I suppose.”
“I bet that’s weird.”
“What?”
“Being raised in
a Clan ruled by the person who ripped your mom’s head off.”
“They were raised during the time of the Division so they didn’t deal with Merri Li.”
“Huh?”
“It was during this time the Division occurred. You see, Merri Li could not forgive Yin and he could not separate from her because to do so would remove him from Alpha of the Clans…”
“Hold on. I thought the Wolves of a family nominated the top dog and his mate became Matriarch?”
“That’s true.”
“Then how was Merri Li the Matriarch if it was just her and Yin?”
“Because it’s not set in stone a family be made up of three mated pairs, it evolved because we Superiors cannot seem to do otherwise. Every time a group of mated gets together and tries to form a family greater than three pair the Wolves fight for the Alpha while the Vampires conspire in their Wolf’s favor and the end process is always the same.”
“What’s that?”
“At the end of the day only three pair remain. Each pair makes allegiances with the other two in secret and a stalemate occurs because no pair can fully trust another.”
“So how did Merri Li and Yin get to rule.”
“Because Yin kept winning all challenges.”
“How? You said he could beat two Wolves but three was problematic. I assume they were sending up a full complement of Wolves?”
“You assume correct, they were sending up three Wolves to do battle but, remember, a family above may pick mated pairs from those below.”
“So?”
“So every time Yin was challenged he would pick two mated Wolves to join his family, fight the challenge and remain Alpha.”
“What do you mean by ‘every time’?”
“’Well, after the challenge Yin would behead the Wolves he chose to join his family.”
“What?”
“After the challenge Yin would…”
“I’m sorry, I got that part. I guess what I really meant to ask was ‘Why?’.”
“Because Yin didn’t like the idea of ruling by committee.”
“So he just kept on killing the other Wolves?”
“Uh-huh, until three of the stronger families came up with the idea of the Division.”
“Why’d they do that?”
“Because they were losing Wolves at an alarming rate. You see, Wolves like combat, they are born for it and Yin was no different. He would actually goad lower families into it by doing insane things like caressing another Wolf’s mate or spitting in a Wolf’s eye, stuff like that. Well, a Wolf is a Wolf so they would challenge, Yin would accept, pick another pair of stand-in Wolves and the end would remain the same; five less Wolves in the Clan.”
“Why didn’t the Wolves he picked to be in his family side with the other three Wolves during the challenge and kill Yin.”
“Because they would lose honor.”
“Honor? But Yin was killing members of his own family!”
“Wolves may fight within their own family, they just never choose to do so since the death of one Wolf would immediately provoke a challenge from another family with three. Essentially once a family is intact it must remain so unless it wishes to move down the hierarchy, not up.”
“Okay let me see if I’ve got this right. Wolves fight for Vampires, then they fight to see who’s in charge, then they fight to move up the socio-economic ladder, while the whole time Vampires are planning and scheming when and who their Wolves should be fighting;, is that about right?”
“It is now.”
“It wasn’t then?”
“No, back then there was no division of economy, just families of Wolves and Vampires aligning with some and fighting others to see who would lead the pack. Yin won, so he led. The problem was, under the system they had he was fighting Wolves who had no chance of beating him which took some of the pleasure out of the battle so he would challenge even more Wolves and behead them also.”
“He seems selfish.”
“Oh, we’re all selfish. Usually our selfishness is balanced out by another’s but in Yin’s case his selfishness was insatiable and unbeatable so the three families came up with the idea of providing Yin what he needed without destroying the very society he was using to fulfill his desires.”
“Huh?”
“Yin needed Wolves to fight but he needed the right Wolves, the ones who could challenge him, the ones who could possibly win. The three families came up with the idea of the three Tribes, strongest at the top, weakest at the bottom so Yin could challenge any of the Elder Wolves and meet their family in combat.”
“And he picked his stand-in Wolves from…?”
“The bottom. The Wolves who were chosen to act as Yin’s Wolf-mates were Beta’s; unattached Wolves who hadn’t yet earned their place in a family.”
“And that worked?”
“Yes, and it eventually led to the Tribes being defined by their participation in the necessary things of life, their chosen occupations as it were, which evolved into what we have today.”
“Okay, but…
A Wolf’s howl broke the silence of the night.
“Time to go, Johnny.”
“Already?”
“Yes. They’ve decided.”