***
Dominic awoke on a soft couch with Palo holding a cup under his chin. Room temperature blood coated his lips and tongue.
Dominic spit out the foul-tasting nourishment. “What is this? Do you mean to poison me?”
Palo angrily wiped the blood off his clothes. “Why the fuck would I try to poison you? I’m the one who dragged your unconscious ass all the way here.”
“I do not appreciate your tone. You’re a traitor.”
“I’m not a traitor. I wasn’t there when Florin dropped you in the ocean.”
“But you knew and you did not rescue me.”
“Would you please shut the fuck up for five seconds?”
Dominic glared at Palo. “How dare you? Bow…” He fell back on the couch from weakness. He needed fresh blood and he needed it fast.
Palo rushed to Dominic’s side. “Here, drink this. It’s good blood. You’ll get used to the taste.”
Dominic grabbed the cup of blood. He drank half of it and then stopped when he noticed Palo was staring at him. “Are you just going to watch me like a baby suckling a mother’s teat? This must be a proud moment for you.”
Palo ignored him. He was mesmerized that his friend was sitting in his house. “I can’t believe you’re here. All these years and you’re back. What year was it when you went under?”
“Must have been 1808, or at least that’s the last year that I remember. What year is this?”
“It’s the year 2012. A lot has changed.”
Dominic glanced down at the floor and whispered, “Over two centuries?”
“It’s a different world than what you remember.”
“Yes, like servants being disobedient to their masters,” he muttered.
“Yeah, well, you see, no one really does the master and servant thing anymore.”
“What disease has claimed your hair? Vampires don’t shed.”
“It’s called a Mohawk. I cut it this way by choice.”
“Only savages would do that to their hair. You choose to look like a savage?”
Palo chuckled. “You’re still an asshole.”
It was silent for a few moments before Dominic asked Palo what was on his mind. “How did you find me at that establishment?”
“After we traversed around the world, we all ended up back here in Ransom, the place where it all started for our clan.”
“And where I perished. The establishment had a large sign in those candles…”
“Lights?” Palo smiled.
“Yeah, what’s that about?’
“You mean the guy with the bricks attached to his ankles?”
Dominic gave a quick nod.
“A myth about a vampire leader who was betrayed by his clan and buried at sea miles from that beach.”
“But that is true.”
“We know that. The humans do not.”
Dominic nodded and finished the last of the blood in the plastic bottle. The blood helped to generate strength in his body and nourish his mind. While the blood worked on his mechanics, it also strengthened his memories and they flooded back. “Charna? Where might I find her?”
Palo shook his head and glanced down at the floor. “I am so sorry, man.”
Dominic’s body wavered and he put his hands over his face, the realization unfolding. The pain in his chest struck him hard. Aside from chanting Florin’s name for centuries, he had also called out to his partner in life—to his wife—Charna. “No, no, no…tell me where I can find my wife.” Dominic stood, anger rising from the pit of his gut.
“She’s gone. man. She’s gone.”
“How could Florin allow this?”
“It got bad, Nikko. Florin couldn’t lead our clan the way you did and we lost many vampires along the way.”
His head hung low, Dominic rested his arms on his thighs and stared at the floor, searching his mind for answers. “Tell me.”
“After you died, she tried to escape Florin every chance she got. A group of young vamps, whose maker abandoned them, destroyed a small town that we were passing through. Half of the survivors hunted down the younglings and the other half of the people attacked our clan. They feared we were with the new vamps. Florin made a deal with the people’s governor by giving him your land and…” Palo trailed off.
“My land! And what else?”
“And Florin used Charna to placate the people. Florin blamed the whole thing on her. When we caught up with the younglings, Florin made them his first disciples.”
“And what came of Charna?”
“The people burned her on a pike.” Palo’s eyes moved from the pain he witnessed on Dominic’s face to the floor. “Like I said, I’m sorry, man.”
Dominic gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Anger ran through his blood and into every fiber of his body. “Florin will pay. I guess killing me was not enough! I will have his head, for this betrayal.”
Palo stood and ran his fingers over the tips of his spiked hair. He felt horrible to give Dominic this news. Palo knew how much Dominic loved and cherished his wife. He could also see Dominic fighting to contain his anger—a form of self-control that made Dominic a leader. But such rage, festering in one lethal vampire, would only do damage far greater than anyone could imagine.
“Easy there, Nikko.”
“Do not call me Nikko. That’s the last name my ears heard before my clan threw me into the ocean to my death.”
“My apologies, Dom. I wasn’t there.”
“And if you were, you would have stopped them?”
Palo didn’t respond.
“Exactly. Florin will stand before me and answer for this travesty.”
“Florin isn’t exactly easy to get to. Besides, you wouldn’t last five seconds in this new world. We’ve changed; being a vamp isn’t like it was back then.”
“Then teach me. Teach me this new world.”
“I will show you this new world, but I will need your help as well.”
“My help?”
“When the time is right, I’ll tell you what I need. Is it a deal?”
Dominic nodded.
“Okay, we do this my way. No back talk. Remember I’m the teacher, you are the student.”
“Very well.”
“First things first, we need to change how you look.”
“I like my bib and tucker,” he said, glancing downward.
“Right, we also need to teach you how to talk.”
“I take it the King’s English is no longer fashionable.”
Palo laughed and patted his old friend on the back. “You have a lot to learn, my old friend. A lot to learn.”
Dominic (A Vampire Biker Series) Season 1 Episode 1 Page 3