by J. X. Evans
“Are you sure?” Pericles asked in an undertone of gratitude, though he did stretch an arm for the jacket. Zora shifted her body slightly and begun walking towards the house at a leisurely pace as if she hadn’t noticed. “Ah… thanks.” He responded awkwardly as he turned towards the house, lifting a hand to wave at the man.
Zora was glad she picked them up. She was glad because she got curious, curious of the leather duster. She felt a weird sensation originating from the piece of clothing as she touched it, and she wanted to explore the sensation a bit further. There was a whiff of magical energy clinging to it, akin to that of a citrine shield maybe? Whatever it was, it was faint and inconsistent, a bit stronger in some places and weaker in others. There seemed to be something placed inside the duster gravel when she pressed lightly to the sleeve of the cloth with her thumb and index finger. It felt like sand, along with small hard pieces of stone like gravel. She walked slowly, pondering about it, but she eventually reached the base of the marble stairs, still wet and slippery from the rain, muddy paw prints left from the dog that was now sitting next to its master, tongue hanging merrily from its open maw.
They reached the base of the stairs and Zora grabbed Pericles by the elbow “Let me help you with that”. She got it, it was absolutely ingenious and… impossible. It seemed like there was a network of teeny tiny citrines worked underneath the leather exterior of the duster, nothing new at that, the Order was placing gemstones inside objects to give them magical properties since times immemorial. Flaming swords with rubies worked on the blades or war hammers with emeralds on their heads, so that their destructive power could increase tenfold. It could be done, but the user had to actively invest energy for them to work, just like they did with the gems hanging from their chains. So, an armor decorated with citrines seemed a bit useless since one could create a dome or sphere of a most efficient armor around him with simply concentrating at the citrine on their chain. But this was totally different, there seemed to have been a sort of preexisting energy, circulating around and around the network of small gems without any losses, none she could detect at least, kind of like in our very own circulatory system where the heart keeps pumping the same amount the blood carrying oxygen and nutrients throughout our bodies 24/7 until the day we die. These all she felt in the slight fraction of the moment just before actually laying her hand on the man’s elbow. The moment that she carefully grabbed hold of him something happened; the flow of energy seemed to momentarily shift and change, concentrating for only the briefest of moments on the space where she touched him before continuing the never ending circle around and around the complex network. And to think that the Order was still using Kevlar or plate for armor. She lightly touched the Kevlar vest under her clothes. ‘That would be a big leap forward for sure.’
“Thanks for the gesture, but I am completely able of climbing the stairs unassisted.” Pericles said, smiling.
“Of course you are.” Zora responded in a kind of numbed, shocked voice, awkwardly letting go of his elbow. Pericles didn’t seem to notice, since even as she spoke to him, he was having a conversation with the man by the door. A cheery conversation that she could not follow since they had it in Greek, the volume of their voices steadily dropping to normal levels as they came closer and closer to one another. Their dialogue reaching a pause as they clasped hands and gave one another a big energetic hug, laughing loudly as they both consecutively tapped each other’s back in a subconscious rhythm, turning one another left and right in a spinning motion and kissing each other’s cheeks. The man did not seem to mind the stench of smoke and dried blood form Pericles’ clothing. He seemed kind of sad and worried, but glad and reassured as well at the same time.
She could now see the man clearly, he was tall with broad shoulders and seemed to dangle only slightly on the overweight side of the BMI scale for only a couple of meager decimals. He had a Mediterranean complex, similar to that of Pericles’, complemented by a set of olive colored eyes and a mustache in the image of that of Tom Selleck’s in Magnum P.I. His hair was a deep black color, evidently still resisting the natural change in pigmentation his age should have already started to bring about. He wore a pair of comfortable blue jeans and sports shoes and a dark pink shirt that did almost nothing against the chilly weather.
“Good evening young lady, my name is Orpheus.” he said in perfect English, extending an open palm towards her, “I am Pericles’ younger brother.”
15. WORRIES
If one could die of worry, Rob would have died that day for sure. He worried about the vampires and about the children and after the fight he had, he worried about the fact that a vampire as dangerous as that one had a noctis gemstone in its possession. Everything flowed extremely out of the ordinary, even after considering his weird standards for normality, he was old after all and he had seen a lot of things, been through lots of bad and weird situations. He knew when to worry and when not to, so he chose to worry, worry about Perry’s and Mark’s safety and the world’s on top of that. It seemed to be one of those situations that permitted him to feel that way.
He could not contact them since his fucking cell phone had broken during the fight with the fucking vampire, the touch screen shattered from a stray blow he didn’t even remember taking. So he worried about reaching the base as quickly as possible and focused on doing exactly that. The best way to achieve that goal from where he was physically standing at the moment was to take the subway, and naturally, that is what he did. He ran to the nearest station as fast as he could, gathering a lot of stares from pedestrians and honks from angry, hurrying drivers. He ran down the escalators shouting apologies to anyone he might have bumped into, sometimes before he did so and sometimes after the fact.
So, he reached the station and for all his hurrying he had to wait six whole minutes for the train to arrive, or so the electronic screen indicated. No wait…five, it had just changed. He waited, it was not like he could do anything else, pacing up and down all the while. People were staring at the uneasy giant with the wild hair, both cranial and facial, and the cut off boot. And they pretended to talk on their phones as they moved away from him because the signal was bad, since they were underground, if he even hinted at moving towards them. So he made himself stand still and discharge his worry by tapping his booted hill on the floor; the motion akin to that of a hyperkinetic woodpecker, pecking on wood during mating season if he had mistakenly added cocaine instead of sugar to his morning double espresso.
The train arrived and he hopped on, and fifteen minutes later he hoped off and started running again, reaching the escalator first, before the wave of people could block his way. And then he ran all the way back to their little base since it actually would be faster than way, well unless he were to steal a motorcycle, but it was barely worth it. So he ran, his heavy mace strung on the inside of his coat rhythmically taping on the outside of his meaty thigh with each large step. His anxiety levels though peaked when his olfactory system caught the slightest whiff of smoke with its sensitive net of neural ends and chemoreceptors on the roof of his nasal cavity, still unusually sharp and efficient despite his advanced age. Usain Bolt would be jealous of Rob’s sprinting performance at that point. Rob knew it, he knew it even if he refused to believe it, praying until the very last moment to the gods he knew were not listening, praying until he turned around that last corner, praying until he saw his beloved café, his base, his home getting devoured by fire. ‘Damn it all…’
Weirdly enough Rob’s worry vanished as quickly as it had arrived. He could see what had happened. There was obviously a battle and it had obviously ended, and there was nothing more he could do other than calm down and try to find the both of them. He knew they were still alive, no way would they go down causing only so little havoc.
He walked over to a mini market down the street. He was loosely acquainted with the owner, so he politely asked him if he could use his phone for a bit. He only knew Perry’s phone number by heart so naturally he only cal
led him, hoping he would answer. Perry did not answer, his phone was dead, and that was a little bit worrisome. Either it had broken like his own during the fight, or it had ran out of battery; he was always roaming around on Facebook so the meager battery seemed to always drop to single digits in the blink of an eye. Rob gave the phone back to its owner mumbling his thanks and thought for a bit. They would have went somewhere safe and familiar… where could that be?
Half an hour later or so, Rob was standing inside Orpheus’s and Ariadne’s big warm kitchen. Perry was there, but not Mark, apparently his whereabouts were unknown and that was not a good sign, that kid had a way with trouble. Ariadne, Orpheus’s lovely wife, was currently filling a deep bowl of steaming hot reheated vegetable soup. Rob took it from her hands and thanked her warmly. He took a seat next to Perry who was sitting clean and bathed, holding a moist towel wrapped around pieces of ice against a large bruise on his abdomen. There was also a beautiful young woman sitting with them in the room. She had short black hair and stern looking features and she seemed a bit familiar. She was leaning against the corner of the kitchen counter, arms crossed at her chest, and she nodded at him when Perry introduced them to one another. Rob thanked Ariadne and Orpheus for their food and hospitality and their offer to a hot bath, which he would take advantage of later, before they left the room to let them talk about their situation.
“So…what happened to you?” Perry asked him in the official language of the Order so that Zora could understand them.
And so Rob told him his story, about Dimitri and the blood bags and George and the big vampire. And in turn, Perry told Rob his own experience with Zora giving a little extra input whenever he skipped a part of the story. All the while Rob helped himself to the bowl of delicious soup and a generous portion of bread and listened attentively.
“So, you called it in yet?” Rob asked the both of them, looking first to Perry and then to Zora expectantly.
“Yes we did. And the news are not encouraging.” Perry said, leaning forward and placing the cold wet towel on the table, next to Rob’s empty bowl. “At first, we could not go through and only after several tries did we manage to connect with Serbia.”
“And?” Rob asked again in the same manner as before.
Perry turned to look at the silent woman still leaning against the counter with her arms crossed, and after a brief silence he said “Actually, Zora was the one who spoke with them.”
Zora took a deep breath, “Yes, it turns out that there are reports from departments from all over the world about vampire attacks and ambushes. Mostly at the small ones in the peripheries. Also, all reports started coming in at about the same time, which indicates a coordinated effort. They are trying to get a hold of any member they can reach and that is why all the lines were busy. There are a lot of members unaccounted for and as it turns out, a lot of members confirmed KIA. There were no other reports about vampires possessing noctis gemstones up to that point. They almost didn’t believe me.” Zora was actually in the brink of calling her grandmother personally after a series of frustrating unanswered calls and report to her personally, but it would just be too awkward to do so, especially if she wanted to be treated with more professional respect in the future, these things go both ways. Thankfully someone had finally answered. “Also… we received orders. We are to remain somewhere safe and within easy reach. All preassigned tasks are being terminated until further notice. We are to receive direction shortly.”
“I almost didn’t believe her at first myself.” Perry said in an apologetic tone, looking sideways at Zora’s direction. “About the gem I mean.”
“No, I got that.” Rob rubbed his cheeks and beard with both hands in concern, “Things sure do seem serious…extremely serious. The vampires appear to have finally relinquished their part of the agreement…they have always been proud and stubborn creatures, and completely crazy to boot. We should have seen this coming from halfway across a continent.”
“You don’t say,” Perry answered, kind of through his teeth, “clearly the big question should be how the hell they obtained the noctis gems and the knowledge of what they can do.” He continued, pointing an index finger to Rob’s direction.
“Indeed it is!” Zora asserted, staring at the tip of the fluffy bunny slippers nose she wore on her feet. Ariadne had asked her to wear them since her boots were covered in mud and blood and other bodily fluids, and she would prefer it if she and Orpheus were not forced to burn their carpets. She felt a little uncomfortable with the proposal, but since she was a guest, and Pericles had immediately changed his dirty attire for fresh clothes his brother provided, it would be rude and awkward to refuse. From there it proved easy for Ariadne to maneuver her into taking a bath and changing the other parts of her clothing as well. So she was now wearing a warm white shirt, a pair of baggy blue pajamas with little teddy bears painted all over it and of course…the bunny slippers, courtesy of Catherine, Orpheus’s and Ariadne’s teenage daughter. Nevertheless she insisted on keeping her gear close, so a pair of long daggers and a pair of semi-automatic pistols were laid on the counter inside their holsters, within easy reach.
“You won’t see me disagree on that point, the only reason we ever won that last great battle was our magic. Without it, I do not see how we stand a chance, and we were a lot more back then than we are now.” Rob said, pressing an index finger lightly to the glass table to emphasize his point.
“It is not like they stand on better grounds. Concerning their numbers I mean.” Perry said, standing up to refill the towel with ice cubes from the freezer.
“They can always make more, and who knows how long they have been planning and preparing for this. For all we know their ranks are already larger than ours and getting larger by the day.” Silence ensued the statement. “And who knows how many of us they killed today? We got caught off guard. No one saw it coming? How is that possible? A war has already began and we are already losing by a fucking lot.” Rob continued, waving a hand through his sweaty, dirty hair. “And why the hell are they kidnapping children? It does not make sense. They need fully developed grown bodies to survive the stress of the transformation, which means adults and occasionally teenagers but certainly not children.” He continued, tossing his hands to the air and finally bringing them to the back of his head to support it, like a pillow.
“What children?” Zora asked.
“It’s just a theory, we don’t know if it is true.” Perry answered.
“There has been some kind of epidemic on children abductions. Vampires were not the main suspects, I mean maybe if it was one psycho or a small group, but at this scale? We must assume something else.” Zora said.
“I know it.” Rob replied.
“Let’s leave it at that. We got more pressing matters at the moment. Concerning the gems.” Perry said, sitting back down and placing the cold towel back upon his injury.
Rob exhaled through his nose and dropped the subject.
“Vampires are immortal. Most of them, if not all have fought in the last war and have probably been around long before that if they managed to survive it. I don’t think it impossible of them to have gathered knowledge about it one way or another. They might have known for a long time, torture could be just one of the many plausible explanations.” Zora said.
“One of the small list of disadvantages of being hard to kill is well…the fact that you are hard to kill, it makes torture all the more efficient a tactic. There are stories of members captured during the war that survived decades of torture, some of them healed after they got freed, partially or completely in some rare instances.” Rob said.
“That is… really scary. I could certainly understand it if anyone broke under… under the circumstances.” Perry said with a pained expression drawn on his face, probably trying to imagine the sensation of endless pain through continuous torture.
“Surely, but as we all know, there is only one place where the gem has been found and is being mined. A cave on the border
of America and Canada, always heavily guarded on every possible entrance and exit. Every single stone exported is accounted for, every miner profiled, and checked whether they are going in or out.” Rob continued.
“So… we have a leak? A traitor?” Zora suggested, not a usual phenomenon but she did not have any trouble imagining it. ‘They are all human after all, and human history is carpeted with treasons and betrayals, it is a part of human nature…isn’t it all?’
The Order did have some inside problems from time to time throughout the ages, like any international body of power does at one point or another, but treason? To monsters? And vampires especially? It would be a first. Humans do tend to have disagreements with one another, but when it comes down to it most of us are basically racists. It is us first and everyone else later no matter if they are sentient creatures or not.
“It seems unlikely but…it has been bothering me ever since I saw the stone on that vampire’s wrist.” Rob answered with a sigh.
“We can hardly be the only ones making these assumptions. I am sure they would know way more at HQ than we do.” Zora said, slightly shifting her position as she leaned against the kitchen counter “It is not like this is the only possibility, for all we know they discovered another sight where the gem naturally exists, or they might have even gathered enough samples here and there to be able to manufacture it.” Rob and Pericles stared at her.
“That…is potentially scarier than one or two members going rogue.” Perry said.