He nodded as he leaned forward. "Yes, you're right. Okay, so what's the full goal now?"
I scribbled down the changes. "Okay, the goal of the course is to create super-soldiers... vampires who can fight both mentally and physically, to overcome any supernatural challenges."
Diego nodded. "Yep, that's it." He looked at me. "Now, break?"
I laughed as I let my pen fall. "Yes, okay. Now we can take a break."
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Janey
Diego led me through a range of doorways and long corridors, with rooms going off on either side. He'd managed to get me lost within minutes. This place was enormous. It was massive on a grand scale. They needed to put up some 'where you are' maps like you see in buildings in the city.
Diego exited through another doorway I hadn't noticed. It led to an outside area. There were small tables set up under a massive awning. I assumed it was to cover the food but, it could have also been to protect the vampires from the heat rays of the sun. This was if my research to-date from fiction novels was correct. I had no idea if vampires could go out in the sun or not.
One long table held multiple kettles full of water, along with cups, sugar, and other ingredients to make hot drinks. Further along, there were trays containing, cookies, small cakes, biscuits, sandwiches, potato chips, cut fruit, and a wide range more. In fact, there was just about anything and everything you could ever ask for.
So I guess that answered that unanswered question of whether vampires could eat or not.
Diego headed for the kettles, so I followed. I busied myself in preparing my cup, and while I waited for a kettle to boil, I grabbed a paper plate and filled it with everything that took my fancy. "How long does this food remain out here?" I looked over and saw Diego was filling his plate.
"It's always here. It gets replenished every couple of hours. A lot of the people here work around the clock. They need food and drinks twenty-four seven. People are working in the kitchen all the time. There are cold drinks over there," he pointed to a large fridge standing against one wall.
"Quite the operation here." A lot of thought had gone into all of this. After I heard the kettle click off, we ventured over and made our drinks. We then walked to the closest table.
Diego grabbed a chair, and I sat opposite him. For a few minutes, we sat in silence, as we both ate our food and sipped our drinks.
I lifted my head and looked at him. "So how many people are here?"
Diego shrugged. "Not sure. I couldn't say."
"There must be quite a few for this set up."
He shrugged again.
"So what do you do?" I needed to know everything I could if I was going to work here. "When you're not helping me, that is?"
"I'm Serentis's second in command. So, I suppose you could say I do a bit of everything. I keep track of appointments, look after the other vampires, solve problems. Like I said, a bit of everything."
"That must keep you busy?"
He looked over at me, sitting across the table. "I still have time," he grabbed more food from his plate, and took a bite. "Time to do what I want."
I glanced over at him and nodded. "That's good. So what do you do in your time off?"
He laughed. "I don't get a lot of time off. But when I do, I like to read. Or talk with others." He shrugged. "It depends on how long I have off. What time it is." He changed the subject then and asked, "So why did you come on board?"
"I don't know. I suppose I was getting bored where I worked. Don't get me wrong. I love books. But, I found I loved reading books more than I did just looking after them and cataloguing them."
He nodded. "Ever consider writing one?"
A grin spread across my face. "Many times. I've done nothing about it, or taken it to the next step, though. I prefer the actual reading then writing. I like to delve into a story and feel the emotions of the characters."
He nodded. "Well, with the organisation required for this course, I think you'll get all the writing you could ask for."
"You might be right about that."
I finished my drink and got to my feet. "Shall we?"
"Yes, we can't sit here all day."
Janey
We walked back the way we'd come. My mind was racing over all the things we still needed to do to get this course up and running. "How long before this course has to start?" I was thinking of all the things that had to be done and I realised I needed a timeline to plan it all.
"What's today?" Diego looked at me.
His question threw me. I was stunned for a moment. I forced myself to think of what day it was. "Um…" Not sure if he was joking or not, I answered truthfully. "It's Wednesday."
He nodded. "Okay then… Monday I think would be good. Is that okay with you?"
My feet skidded to a stop almost as if they had a will of their own. "What!" I yelled. My hands reached out and grabbed his shirt. I clutched it so tight, I was actually pulling him towards me. "Monday! You're saying next Monday! The one that's coming in a few days' time?"
He laughed at my obvious terror. "Yes."
"No, there's no way. It won't be anywhere near ready."
"The whole course doesn't have to be ready, Janey. Only the first few subjects. Really speaking, only the first few lessons of the first few subjects. We can create the rest as we go."
I gaped at him.
"Come on, I'll show you what I mean."
By the time we arrived back in the room, my head was feeling like it would explode. There was no way we could create enough to start classes on Monday. No way!
"Look," Diego was focusing on something on the table.
I forced myself to concentrate and hear what he was saying.
"Here are the first few subjects, right?" He pointed to the first topics we'd planned which included… Colours and their Effects, Basic Computers, History and the Use of Magic, History of Witchcraft, and the History of the Demon Realm. We also need to include some introductory physical training."
"Okay." I could see where he was going with this. "So that means… in three months, they start the next group of subjects. Which will include the History of the Faerie Realm, History of the Were Realm, History of the Ghost Realm, Demon Languages, Latin Languages and History of Gargoyles. And we'll also need to make the physical classes more advanced."
Diego nodded. "Yep." His fingers are tapping the sheet of paper in front of him. "Then we have the final subjects of the year… being Weapons and their Use, War Strategy, advanced physical training and then for extra credit, Sacred Texts."
"Okay. So, during the first three months we can prepare for the next lot and so forth?"
"Yep, that's right. So all we have to prepare for now are the first lot of subjects."
I breathed out in relief as what he said finally sank in. My panic level went down, and I could breathe again. Only concentrating on the first lot of subjects was doable. I could accept that.
We got straight back down to it and focused a lot of our time working on the subjects themselves and the order they needed to be delivered in. We also looked in depth at how some subjects would advance into other subjects. A lot of our time involved us breaking down the subjects and working out what needed covering in each one. It got a little confusing when I realised we had only discussed the first year.
"Okay, but when do we begin preparing the second and third years?"
"At the end of each year, we get a break right?"
I nodded. "Yep."
"Well then, that's when we prepare subjects for the following year."
"But the second and third years are more intensive. Fewer subjects, though. How are we going to do all of this?" There was just too much to do. Way too much. My brain was on overload.
"Look," he glanced over at me. "I know there's a lot of work to do. But like I said. If we focus on the first lot of subjects and get them ready. The others can wait. If we get time, we can work on them. What have we got for the second and third year again?"
I grabbed my pad
and turned over a few pages. "The second year looks at Witchcraft Spells and Sigils, Advanced Computers, Demon Sigils, Nanobots and Medicine, Left and Right Brain, Robotics and Drones, Advanced War Strategy, and War Battles. We've also got the physical classes."
"Okay, hopefully by then, we'll have some people here who could research, say… Drones and Robotics."
I put my hand up. "If we could find someone here who could teach it, we could get them to create the lesson plans?"
He nodded. "Good idea. What about the third year?"
"Third year covers Philosophy, Advanced Computers including Hacking, Psychology and How to Influence People. The physical side will be based on what they need to do when they finish this course."
"We also wanted to start some of our people on genetic weaponry."
"And don't forget we wanted to create a trauma pod. For when someone's hurt in battle."
Diego nodded. "Yep, I remember that."
"So, the lab will have to be set up before the second year begins? We might have to include first aid aspects." This was a massive list of subjects.
"Yep, I'll have to get people on that straight away."
I nodded. "Okay, and… I was thinking if we could get some vampires who were good at computers… maybe we could get them to investigate AI."
Diego looked at me blankly.
"Look. The new way of the future is in computer human interaction. In other words, ways of incorporating the computer into the human. Or ways that humans can work better with computers… more intuitively. Like instead of having to type commands on a keyboard, the human would simply say computer on. If we could get enough vampires trained in this field, we could not only make more money but we could use the computers to run a lot of what the guards now do."
"What do you mean?"
"Well. Okay. For example. When Alex was here before, she had what four guards surrounding her?"
Diego nodded. "Okay. Now if the house could be set up to be run by a computer, there would be no need for the guards. Or maybe one, if she wanted to. My point is… the computer could be trained to monitor all windows and doorways. So if an unauthorised intruder did enter, the computer could automatically seal doors to stop him from going too far."
Diego was sitting staring at me. "So… if we trained the vampires… they could do this."
I nodded. "Sure. There are already a lot of equipment we could buy to start setting this up. Some houses have already been automated. But it's much cheaper if you have your own people to do it."
He nodded. "Okay. We'll look into that. It would be good even if we kept the guards on. It would be a backup for us."
"Yes. What I was thinking was…"
"Stop!" Diego had gotten to his feet.
I stopped and glanced up at him. "What?"
"It's late. How about we stop it there and continue tomorrow?"
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Janey
"Good lord! Is that the time?" I glanced at my watch and confirmed we were in the early hours of tomorrow morning. "I didn't realise we'd been going this long."
Diego laughed. "We have, and now we must rest."
"Yes, I'd better get home."
"No!"
I looked up at him in confusion. "What?"
"What I mean is… don't go home. Stay here instead."
It wasn't difficult to read the wanting look on his face. I shook my head. "No. It's late, Diego. I have to get home."
"Stay." He had a real longing look on his face now. "Please. I'm not asking for anything. You will be safe here with me. Nothing will happen… unless you want it to. I just meant that we'd be able to get an early start."
"Diego!"
He held up his hand. "It's late. You're tired, just as I am. Let's go to bed, sleep and start again at a sensible time. Okay?"
I thought about it. He was correct regarding me being tired. I could feel my body shutting down. I had no idea we'd been at it for so long. Conceding, I nodded my head. "Okay, I am just about out of it." I doubted I'd be able to drive home anyway without falling asleep.
He nodded. "Yes, you are. Let's go." He hurried from the room.
I had to rush to keep up with him. The fact of him being taller and having bigger strides didn't help the situation.
Together we walked through some doorways until we came to a panel in a wall. After he pushed some buttons, a lift door opened in front of us.
"We're going down, I take it?"
"Yep. All sleeping quarters are under ground. It's in case of someone trying to attack us in our sleep."
I blanched at that thought and wondered if I'd even be able to sleep now with the thought of being attacked running rampant.
Janey
But, I wasn't sure if he was joking about being attacked or not, so I didn't respond.
We both stepped into the lift. The walls were a shiny black as was the floors. The only illumination came from the panel beside the door where buttons lit up at each floor.
"How far down are we going?" I watched the lift go down, past the fifth underground floor.
Diego looked over at me. "I'm on the tenth."
"How many floors are there below ground?" It is amazing how far down we're going. It would have taken a long time to dig out this space, before building the house, on top.
"We haven't ventured to the bottom yet so, I don't know," Diego replied. "We've been so busy trying to organise everything else, there hasn't been a lot of time left for exploring."
"Okay." I had to laugh. "I think I would have done some exploring before anything else."
He shook his head. "No, we need to prioritise. Security always has to come first. Then food and drink. Then everything else takes a place in order of importance."
"You take your job seriously, don't you?"
He turned to face me. "Don't you?"
I'd never given it that much thought. "I guess I do, but I can see some kind of fanaticism in what you do. Whereas I work for the enjoyment of the customers and the care of the books."
He nodded. "You are right. I am dedicated to Serentis. We are friends. He is my Sire, but our friendship means everything. His safety and now your sister's safety, is my number one priority. I suppose it's also my passion."
I appreciated his honesty as I had been afraid for Alex after she'd been kidnapped and forced into becoming a vampire. But now, after meeting Diego, I could sense his undivided loyalty to keep the pair of them safe. I appreciated that.
The lift opened. Diego stepped out first and held the door open for me.
I thanked him and we started down a winding corridor. Doors ran off each side of this hallway. We stopped before a pair of huge red doors. They appeared to be made of metal, Diego input a code, in a panel on the wall, and the doors opened. His fingers moved too fast for me to follow. When it opened, I stepped through first. The doors closed after Diego entered.
We walked further until he stopped before another door. He input another code and this door opened. The room before us, revealed a suite. There was no view outside. It would be stupid to think there would be because we were underground. The bright colouring along the walls, made up for that though. There were hues of red, blue, yellow, and more. Just about every colour on a rainbow. There were splashes like diamonds of colour and there were spots of different shades.
I stopped to take it all in.
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Janey
I could see Diego, through the corner of my eye, watching me. "Looks like an infant went berserk with finger paint doesn't it?"
I nodded. "Yep, it sure does."
After a short time, he walked closer to the wall. "Being down here… not necessarily here… but being underground." He walked further and reached out to trace the colours. "It becomes claustrophobic. These colours, I guess, is one way to reduce the chance of that happening."
"Do you always have to live underground?"
He nodded as he looked over at her. "Usually we do, yes. Some of us don't. Some of us
live in houses above ground. But even then, the security needs are astronomical. Down here. We are safe from the humans if nothing else. We only have to fear attacks from our own kind." He looked back at the wall.
My body shivered all over. "Does your life revolve around fear and stress?"
He turned back to face me. "Yes, I guess it does. Humans have hunted us for many years… for many centuries, in fact. It is good sometimes, to feel safe. But, being here is not what we are used to. We are more used to being hunted."
I shook my head as I glanced at Diego. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to apologise for. It is not you who have hunted us. Is it?"
"No, but I feel I should apologise, on behalf of humans."
He shrugged as he stepped closer. "It is what it is. Come, let's not waste more time. We need to get to bed."
I hesitated. Unsure as to his meaning.
He walked into an adjoining room.
I followed behind, then stopped as I glanced at the huge bed. "Um."
He turned. "Janey, I am too tired to do anything tonight. And, I know you are too. This bed is large enough for both of us. I wouldn't feel safe if you were to sleep anywhere else but here… with me. My kind are not savages, but the temptation of your blood might be too much for some."
"I don't understand."
"The other vampires… they can sense your blood, even through these thick walls." He knocked his fist against a wall. "Even though we are deep underground. They can still sense it. Sometimes we can get… overcome." He turned and faced me. "When that happens, we do anything we can to take what we can. I would not like that to happen to you. So please," he was holding out his hand. "Please, accept the security I offer you tonight."
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Janey
I thought about refusing, but soon realised that he was correct. This place was filled with vampires. I was in their world. A place where vampires could sense my human blood. I didn't want to wake up to find myself being munched on, so I agreed. "I haven't any clothing to sleep in though."
He nodded. "I can give you one of my t-shirts. Is that okay?"
I nodded back.
The Demon Realm Page 5