by H. T. Night
“What can I say, Yari? You’re hot. But that doesn’t mean it goes any further. You know that song by ELO, “Evil Woman”? That’s like your theme song.”
“Humph. You’re such a goody-goody, Josiah.”
Chapter Eight
So, once again, I needed Atticai’s help.
This was beginning to sound like a broken record. I didn’t want to ask him, but I was left with no choice. I checked on Lena in our bedroom. I watched her breathe while she slept, and I knew there was nothing I wanted more than to have her by my side like this forever.
There was only one thing to do. I stood up and flew to Atticai’s ranch. I landed in front of his extraordinarily large and tremendously sad house. Its rustic exterior only seemed more depressing when I thought about a lonely vampire wasting away inside the compound.
I walked up to his door and knocked. After a moment, Atticai yelled from inside his house. “What do you want, Josiah?”
“I want to talk to you, please,” I said, trying not to sound like a total weenie.
“I’m not exactly in the mood to talk to anyone. Especially you. No offense, but I don’t understand why you seem the need to come here. I have made it perfectly clear that I don’t like you. As a matter of fact, I despise you.”
“Atticai, please,” I said, begging. “I just need to ask you one thing, and I’ll go on my way.”
“I’m not going to fight alongside you against Krull and his army. I already told you that!”
I yelled back. “It’s not about that. It’s something even more important!” I paused. “It has to do with Lena. She is pregnant.”
It was silent for a second. Then I heard Atticai say, “What the hell am I supposed to about it?” and unlatch the door. He opened the door and said, “Come in. I’m only going to talk to you for a second. I’m not exactly that fond of you.”
“Yeah, you keep making that clear.” I stepped inside.
Atticai didn’t exactly show me too much hospitality. He had a blanket over his body, and he just sat on his stairs with his long lanky legs hanging off the steps. “Is she okay?”
“She’s doing as well as one can do. It hasn’t been that smooth of a pregnancy.”
Atticai nodded his head. “Well, I already knew she was pregnant.”
“How so?”
“A little bird let me in on it a while back.”
“Was that bird Yari?” I asked.
“No. It was one of your Benedict Arnolds who changed sides.”
“You know that’s not what happened. Everyone thought you died.”
“Only because I was killed by you.” Atticai composed himself and said, “So, if Lena is fine, then what is it that you want?”
“I need a favor of you.”
Atticai scoffed. “Effing again?”
I ignored him and continued, “The favor I need from you is that I would like it if you could marry Lena and myself in a Mani ceremony.”
Atticai’s expression was priceless. It was one of absurdity, shock and disdain. It all came to fruition in one immediate glance. “You cannot be serious?” he asked.
“Is it seriously that outrageous that I would ask you that?”
“Yeah, it is. You are surely not so self-absorbed that you’re not aware that I despise the sheer sight of you. I cared for Lena. Do you have any idea what it would take out of me to marry the two of you to each other? Again, I despise you.”
I cringed. Atticai had said that over and over again, but I remembered the friendship we had when he was Goshi. I refused to accept that a part of him didn’t like me. “I honestly think you like me,” I countered. “But you don’t want to admit it because of your ego. And because I ended up with Lena instead of you.”
Atticai stood up off the steps and dropped his blanket and began pacing around. “Let me get this straight. You, Josiah Reign, are asking me to conduct your marriage? A guy you killed months ago?”
“It’s been two years.”
“There is no statute of limitations when it comes to another man killing you. But that wasn’t the only thing you did to me. You took the two things I wanted most in this world.”
“Look, I’ll grant you the whole prophecy deal. That was pretty messed up, but I had no control in that matter, no more than you did. But you and I both know you were just using Lena. You were going to use her for a human sacrifice because you needed a human virgin and you had her so indoctrinated into our Mani culture that she was willing to sacrifice herself for the good of the Mani. That would have made you powerful mojo in the eyes of the other Mani, almost as much as being thought of as the Chosen One.”
“Hey. I never used Lena. It was what I truly believed what I needed to do. And she believed it, too.”
“Is it what you needed to do? Or wanted to do? Because when you stack it up as duty or desire, I see that this was pure desire on your part, that you had when you were going to kill Lena to advance your dream of being the Chosen One.” I stared at Atticai, and I figured I might as well lay it on the table. I might as well tell him here and now what I truly believed in my heart about him, in regard to the Triat.
“You question me? You come to my house. Ask me to fulfill a ridiculous request? Then have the gall to judge me?”
“Atticai, I am the only one who understands what it truly means to have the burden at the Mani people on my shoulders. I carry it around like an albatross around my neck. It is a selfless destiny that I have no idea if I’ll even survive. The odds are, I won’t. But I’m still willing to accept that. What about you?”
“What about me, what?” Atticai was now extremely angry, and looked as if he would attack me if I continued.
“The question is simple, Atticai. Was being the Chosen One something you wanted for the good of the Mani people or was it a notch in your belt over Krull?”
“I don’t need to answer to you!”
He may not have needed to answer to me but I continued firing questions at him. “Do you seriously believe that the evil in the vision that everyone was seeing was someone else? Or did you always know deep down in your cold, black heart that ‘the evil’ was always you in the visions?”
Atticai had no idea how to respond. He tried to say about five different comments and stopped himself. Finally, he said, “You have some pretty big stones to come here and confront me about my intentions and my agenda.”
“Maybe I do. But there is one thing I want you to think about. The Triat brought you back to live, if this is indeed living, for a reason. For redemption. It’s on you if you intend to accept that redemption and take your place in our Mani society as loyal to me or live here isolated from the rest of the world, like some little blue troll underneath a bridge.”
“Bad call to say that about Goshi. It’s time for you to leave, Josiah.”
I nodded at Atticai and said one last statement: “I would be honored if you found it in your heart to give Lena a legitimate marriage in the eyes of the Triat. And my sons. I don’t want them to be illegitimate bastards in any culture, either Mani or Tandra. I need to make sure that no one ever calls Lena a name either. When she brings our children into the world, we will be the Mani First Family. This is huge, Atticai! To our entire race! The only one who can perform the marriage ceremony is you or Krull. I chose you because you have shreds of decency in you. Anyway, I thought you did. Goodbye, Atticai, my once-friend. I wish you only peace. Fare well!”
I left Atticai’s house and launched my body into the night sky. Okay, that went a lot worse than I thought it would. What the hell was that guy’s problem? Didn’t he see the truth staring him in the face? I had no idea what I could do to change his mind about anything. I don’t know why I believed deep, deep down that he was a good person who has been suffocated by the pain of this world. But, it was what I believed to be true, and somehow, I would get through to that guy.
I flew around the night sky, trying to gather my thoughts. Why was everything so hard? I find that the more I became swallowed up by th
e Mani life I now led, the more I liked the Tandra man I used to be. These days, I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. I now had purpose, family, and friendship. Before my Mani life, I was one thing. I was the MMA fighter. I didn’t live for much more than that.
I thought about the nightmares I had been having lately. In each dream, I’d see Krull winning the battle. Why? What was the Triat trying to tell me? What was I doing wrong? I was sitting around waiting, but nothing was happening to advance the dream.
I took my dreams seriously. I knew I still had powers and abilities out of the realm of common sense. I purposely resisted reading people’s minds, seeing into the future, and healing, because it was a bit too Christ-like for me. But maybe that’s where I had been going wrong with all of this. I hadn’t maximized all that I am, or could be.
It was a responsibility that I couldn’t even quite fathom, but was beginning to see where I might go with my powers, thanks to the simulations in Sion’s V-Day game, thanks to Tommy’s common-sense, no-bullshit opinions, and thanks to Atticai, when he was Goshi, a little blue troll who had kicked me in the balls to teach me the meaning of trust. One thing was apparent to me. Being the Chosen One with a pregnant girlfriend and my enemy gathering his army, just as I was, was extremely overwhelming. I knew in my heart of hearts that the Krull’s showdown was terribly near, Lena was about to pop, and if I died in battle, that the future of our race was at stake and my sons would be fatherless.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea that killing Mani was good for the Mani race. If Krull and I had an all-out war, the Mani casualties would be off the charts. From what I gathered, this prophetic battle was inevitable. It was our very own prophesied Mani Armageddon. It’s almost as if none of us had a choice in the matter. And they all looked to me for answers. Damn it.
Chapter Nine
We were a week away from Christmas, and our house has turned into something out of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Seeing all these pale faces getting ready for Christmas was comical.
My Mani and Carni family had become extremely pertinent to me. I couldn’t help but feel like the captain of the ship. It was a title instilled in me by a power greater than any of us. Everyone knew I had been given the keys to the kingdom. What I did with those keys was entirely up to me. I felt as if there was a path that I was supposed to be on, according to the Triat’s will, and that as long as I stayed on that path, everything would fall into place. Once I was sidetracked, I would fall off that path. That was when all hell would break loose, and pain and despair would rain on me in a cloud of chaos that would increase to a Mani Armageddon.
Tommy and Yomaida had both disappeared a couple of days ago. The full moon went into effect tonight and I wondered if Tommy, in his werewolf form, would try to train her, as he was trained by me. I shook my head. Nah, too much control was needed for that, and in his werewolf form, Tommy needed guidance himself. I hoped they’d return soon, so we could keep Yomaida safe, in a cage.
I had had an overwhelming feeling to go see the Deity. I had questions about some pending issues. Plus, I received comfort and renewal when I was in her presence.
It was three in the morning, and I couldn’t sleep. Lena was passed out again on our bed, exhausted from being pregnant with warring twins inside of her. I decided it was as good a time as any to go see the Deity.
I walked upstairs and crept into the bedroom. Lena was lying on her back. She was all stomach: one, giant, beautiful stomach.
I walked over to her, and she had her eyes closed. Lena slept pretty lightly, so I knew it the second I sat next to her on the bed that she probably would wake up.
I gently sat next to her and kissed her stomach. She was wearing a white maternity nightgown, and the covers had fallen off of her stomach. I could see them moving under her skin, jockeying for space, poking her in the ribs with a hand, sticking a small foot against the skin of her belly. My boys, I thought. I placed the covers nice and snug over her, over my sons. I tucked her in and began to feel an anxiety that I hadn’t felt before. Okay, I definitely needed to go see the Deity. I didn’t like feeling this way, so I decided to take a couple of deep breaths and pat Lena’s stomach. “Hey guys,” I said to my twin boys in her belly. “Your dad has a lot on his mind tonight.”
Lena opened her eyes and smiled. “My Josiah, you came to me.”
“I will always come to you, baby.”
“Apparently the boys do, too. The twins are particularly active tonight. They might be ready to see their daddy.”
“Seriously?” I asked. Okay, this wasn’t helping my anxiety.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Lena took my hand and kissed it.
I took her hand that was resting on top of her belly and brought it up to my face. And just held it tenderly against my cheek.
“I love you, Josiah.”
“Ditto.” I stood up and went to the dresser. On top of the dresser was Lena’s smartphone. I brought it over to her.
“I’m not exactly in the mood to play Angry Birds right now,” Lena smiled.
“I want you to have your phone close. I need to take off for a couple of hours.”
Her eyebrows lifted in worry. “Whenever you leave at this time of night, nothing good ever comes of it, Josiah.”
That was about as accurate of a statement as I ever heard. But I was not going to be looking for trouble, and I doubted trouble would find me. “I’ll be okay,” I said comforting her.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to see the Deity. I have some questions. I have a lot on my mind, and I think she can help.”
“She seriously has turned into your little therapist, hasn’t she?”
Lena seemed a bit jealous. She shouldn’t have been. There was nothing to be jealous of. Lena was the love of my life. My one true love. The Deity was just my comfort and guiding spiritual light. Okay, I guess I could see why she was jealous. “You have nothing to worry about, Lena.”
“I’m not worried. What! You think I’m jealous of a 4,000-year-old vampire who looks as if she is young enough to be on the Mickey Mouse Club?”
I laughed. Lena has gotten funny since the pregnancy. Her hormones sometimes made her a bit irritable. But damn, she’d been giving out zingers lately. “Lena, if you don’t want me to go, I won’t go. I just need a couple of answers.”
“No, Josiah. Please go. I’m just being silly.”
“Lena, listen, you’re it. There is no one above you. I’ll be back before sunrise.”
“Of course,” she replied.
I kissed her on the cheek, and I was off to Mexico, the starry darkness a comfort and a navigational tool.
Chapter Ten
I was led down the hallway inside the Deity’s bunker.
I liked her bunker a lot. We tried to emulate the way she designed her bunkers, but it was tough. Hector had hired a top company to build them. Ours resembled more of a fraternity house set-up, and the Deity’s bunker had more of a gothic edge to it, one that reminded me of the underworld in the Beauty and the Beast TV series with Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman.
When I walked into the Deity’s room, she was sitting in a chair next to the furnace keeping herself warm. She was covered with a blanket. She looked up at me and said, “Josiah, Merry Christmas.”
I was never sure how she recognized me so fast, as she was blind, but I didn’t pretend to understand her gifts, especially the one of discernment. “Merry Christmas to you. I hope the kids liked their presents.”
“They loved them. That was so kind of you and your friend to put that together for them.”
“It is the very least we could do for them. We had fun that day, dressed like Santa and elf.” I walked over to her, and she took my hand.
“Please sit, my child. Enjoy the heat with me.”
I sat next to the Deity and let out an uncharacteristic sigh. There was something about being in her presence that gave me permission to be myself.
“What’s the matter, Josiah?
Your heart is heavy. I know Lena will be giving birth to your child, or should I say children, frightfully soon.”
“She’s as big as a house. Enormous. She can hardly move. She has to pee all the time, too.”
“How has her health been?”
“There have been good days and bad days. More bad than good.”
“It will be tough, real tough. But, she will get through it. Your blood is a precious brew, and there are no limits to its power.”
My blood? Did she mean my children? I was confused about what she meant. But I decided to talk about what I came here for. “I didn’t come here to speak about my children, although I have a feeling they are going to be a bigger task than I ever imagined.”
The Deity looked at me and slowly nodded her head. “You carry around the weight of an entire people. That cannot be easy.”
“I just don’t understand what’s ever going on in my own body.”
“How so?”
“I’m not like the others. Am I a vampire or a human?”
“Josiah, you are both. You have all the characteristics of both.”
“How am I immortal?” I asked. The Deity looked in my direction and then turned her head. It was an odd gesture, even for someone as divine as her. She didn’t say anything. Not one word. So, I repeated the question: “If I am both Tandra and Mani, how am I even immortal?”
The Deity exhaled and said, “You’re not immortal, Josiah.”
“Huh?” I was flabbergasted.
“You will age, Josiah. Both you and Lena will. It will be a much slower aging than the average human. But you will age and eventually die of old age or something else.”
“Something else? This is impossible. I have to be immortal. I have lived through too much! I thought I was going to live forever, unless Krull kills me.”
“You have lived through a lot. You have taken the punishment of ten men and are still left standing. That doesn’t mean you’re immortal. It means you’re gifted and supremely lucky.”