by P. Mattern
“Cass you’re not considering the legal ramifications. Charley is not your son…I know that you love him, but you are not his father. Neither are you the father of Argent. Consider the situation carefully my Love. The only energy that has a right to call Adrastos out would be…”
Cass smack his own forehead with his hand both in revelation and also frustration.
“Of course!” he said,”YOU. And Absolam if he should so choose…”
Mitzi smiled wanly.
“I have already spoken with Absolam and dissuaded him from accompanying me for two reasons. The first is that I am a Tribite and my advanced skills are superior to his developing ones. The second is that there may be legal grounds upon which Ab could be compelled to stay once he is within the castle walls. Though he and Argent were fraternal twins, Argent is now the Prince Regent of Castle Faquier, and since they are technically brothers could compel Absolam to remain there, by the laws of the castle. Faquier Hall as an entity is it’s own little kingdom, flying under its own disgraceful flag…even the V-net recognized the sovereignty of any kingdom’s rules!”
“Speaking of the V-net…has anyone heard anything? Have they dismantled it yet?” Cass questioned. His voice was tinged with regret. It had taken so much effort to organize the more responsible and ecologically minded vampires into a system of government and citizenship that could coexist and even blend in with human civilization that he considered it perfidy that something so beautifully orchestrated would now cease to exist.
Mitzi responded as if she had been reading his thoughts.
“The government has no idea what a catastrophe they have brought on themselves. The V-net has kept humans from being openly hunted for almost a century. Of course there have always been ‘rogues’ among us that refuse to comply—but most of those relocated to Third World countries where their clandestine activities would be mistaken for tribal warfare, black magic or animal attacks. Any rogues that came to V-net attention were destroyed immediately by our ‘Reserve’ forces. Now the world will descend into madness I fear—save for our New City, and the Cavedwellers, like Balik, who are part of our Alliance.”
“Is there any word on the energy grid?” Cass asked, concern showing in his furrowed brow.
Mitzi’s normally cupid bow lips tensed into a straight line.
“We have gotten word from Yaya Wisceivisc that there are some permanent blackouts now on both the east and west coasts. Cause unknown. News sources blaming them on sunspots or natural disasters that have destroyed transmission towers, and there has been plenty of unusual weather!. Instances of the same in Europe, South America, Japan and other places.”
“I think that we were fortunate to have left when we did,” Cass said in a contemplative tone. He noticed that Mitzi had a worried look in her eyes and decided to change the subject.
“How is the baby?” he asked gently, ”And the mother-to-be, my wonderful wife? You’re pretty far along now you know…you really should slow down a little. The last time I saw you taking the time to relax and just ‘chill’ we were at Castle Febere.
Mitzi smiled up at him.
“I feel wonderful, as though I’ve gotten another burst of energy! I love you Castor, and I am grateful that our family is growing.”
“I’ve tried to do MY part,” Cass teased, letting his hands travel down her back until he was cupping her buttocks in them.
“Do you believe in sex before breakfast?”
Mitzi laughed.
“Of course darling…haven’t I always?!”
Fressenda sighed as she paced back and forth in the kitchen of her abode in New City. Everyone in her household was still sleeping except for her, and she noted that even the sky itself looked cloudy and foreboding, as if it could break out into showers at any minute.
That would be fine, she thought. Not only did it suit her mood but cloudy days never raised issues of the vampires’ increasing sensitivity to sunlight. They had used up the supplies of sunscreen Dante Febere had thoughtfully procured for them that had been included in the supplies for their journey by locomotive. The last of the sunscreen had gone to pregnant vampire females and their young offspring. Now it was gone. She hadn’t yet confided to the others in their tribe her prescient feelings that eventually, as the vampires of yore, they would be forced to sleep during the daylight hours and venture out only at night.
Even the vamp’s rapid healing capacity wasn’t much of a help. Vampires that had been around awhile, like herself, seemed particularly susceptible.
Yet some remained immune…it was a mystery. The younger vamps, Absolam, Schyler, DeMarcus, Channing, Daniel, Cary ,Kimbra, Merilee and Blue seemed to be unaffected by the effects of sunlight on their vampire skins
Thinking of Blue brought her back to her current sense of unease. Fress knew a secret that would certainly devastate him, and she wasn’t sure what to do with it.
She had been feeling for some time that Nora had taken a new lover in the scant time—roughly a month-- that had elapsed since the remnant of the V-net in their group had departed Dante Febere’s castle. She also knew that Blue still grieved over his lost love daily.
Her maternal, protective instinct was pushing her to reveal to him what she knew…and she had been careful to have her impressions validated by Celeste, the most Prescient in their group, so that she knew that it was true.
She didn’t blame Nora, who was young and headstrong in the same fashion that she had been herself…but at the same time she was picking up that this would be a permanent separation. Nora loved being in the Marble City and Fressenda was also feeling as if Nora, and her new lover, would be invited to stay on permanently after the two year apprenticeship was finished.
All of this did not bode well for Blue. The stability that his relationship with Nora had given him had been healing and substantial. Fress wondered how Blue could withstand another loss, but at the same time she knew that Nora, who had always been an honest and forthright female energy, had absolutely no way to get word to Blue that her relationship with him had changed.
On a personal level, Fressenda couldn’t stand to see Blue pining for ‘his’ Nora even one more day, given the change in circumstances. She felt strongly that Blue had a right to know.
Even though she had enough of her own worries about Charley Rabbit that ate at her and worried her to the point that she felt constantly as though she had butterflies in her stomach. These were concerns that she kept to herself and would continue to keep to herself for one reason.
She was concerned for the baby Mitzi was carrying. She didn’t want Mitzi to become more upset than she already was.
Many days later Charley again awakened to the familiar dank dimness of his cell. He’d fallen asleep sitting up against the stone wall. If temperature had been a consideration he would have been hypothermic; it was more than cold enough to have had a debilitating effect on a half naked human. But even though semi nude Charley was a vampire , and therefore impervious to the cold. He did have cause for concern however.
After three weeks without blood he was getting weaker.
The magnetized shackles were still firmly attached to his wrist and ankles. They not only weakened him by interfering with his body’s magnetic field but also prevented his flying and hovering abilities.
“Looking grim for the C-ster,” he thought. He wondered where in the world he was. Bored with his surroundings, he nodded off again to dreams of welcome and timely rescue when he heard a voice-a real voice-and jerked awake.
Standing outside of the bars of his cell was Brick.
Charley hesitated only a moment. Then realizing that what he was seeing was real he jumped up, swiftly moving toward the bars.
But he’d forgotten the choke chain around his neck and it cruelly snapped him back toward the far wall.
“Brick !” he cried, as soon as he recovered from the near choking. Feverish relief shining in his eyes.”Brick !” he repeated again, tears threatening at the corners of his eyes.
But something was horribly wrong. Brick wasn’t moving.
A silence fell between the two men .Charley noticed with a shock that Brick wasn’t wearing his usual casual attire. Brick was dressed luxuriously in suede leggings and boots, and was wearing a fur tunic over an ecu open- throated shirt with long sleeves. He had a bejeweled dirk strapped to his side.A huge gold ring with a stamp on it graced his left hand.
Finally Brick spoke.
“Charley Rabbit, he said quietly. Even Brick’s voice sounded different.”The boy who would be a vampire.”
Charley’s retort was kneejerk and plaintive.
“I AM a vampire! I KNOW what I am! And if I hadn’t listened to your girlfriend I’d be with my family now. It’s my fault for being too trusting, too naïve, and–and,“
“—Not good at choosing sides?” Brick suggested, a smirk on his face.”Look where you are Charley Rabbit! Even your most prescient friends won’t be able to see you in this electrified well. You might as well have disappeared from existence.”
Charley, frustrated, sighed heavily and audibly.
“How long?” he asked,”How long had you been planning this perfidy?”
Brick smiled broadly as if he were intensely pleased with himself.
“Effing forever, Rabbit. We had to have a way to keep track of your family, since they’d risen to become V-net aristocracy. Yeah…a long time.
Thanks for mostly ignoring me, other than asking for an occasional tomato from the hydroponic green house. It really helped me spy more efficienty.”
“So…from the beginning you and Michaella were spying on us. Living in our home. Eating at the table with us like family. And those days that you spent away from us to ’clear your head’…”
“Those little ‘vacations’ away from your families’ nauseating attempts to recreate the ‘Waltons’-- only with bloodlust issues--were the intervals in which I reported to my superiors, Rabbit. Adrastos was ALWAYS the highest bidder, and Mick and I, as mercenaries, never settle for less!”
Leaning more closely to the bars, he continued in a conspiratorial tone,”The bounty Michaella and I were paid for bringing you in was ginormous. We’re
kind of set for eternity, not to mention Adrastos feels indebted to us and we are court favorites. Feels really good, especially after the most distasteful espionage we’ve ever had to endure. And you know what Charley?” he continued, disregarding Charley’s glare, ”I have to be honest with you and tell you that, in my opinion, your FORMER state as a human never quite wore off. Your retardation I mean. It clings to you like body odor. Maybe fairies are the only phylum that can pick upon it, but I knew immediately when I met you that something still wasn’t quite right and would probably never be, despite your enhanced I.Q. and physical prowess. You were just a bit more naive than any vampire I ever came across, able to analyze but never able to see the forest for the trees. That’s why you were an easy mark. And that is why you will never leave here!”
Charley continued glaring at Brick’s back as the treacherous half-fay turned and walked back down the corridor leading to Charley’s cell whistling. Then he settled back against the wall with a sigh.
It was going to be a long night, and he was getting very hungry.
Fressenda had been napping, the book she’d been reading laying open in her lap, when she heard someone enter her cavern condo. She was relieved to see that it was Blue, his dark hair nearly to his shoulders now and his massive physique muscular and impressive. He was dressed in leather pants tucked into dusty brown suede boots and he smiled over at her fondly and apologetically as he threw his jacket over a chair.
“I’m sorry Fress,” he said,”I didn’t mean to wake you. I guess I always make more noise than I mean to. I am the ’elephant in the room’ at all times whether I mean to be or not!”
Fress sat up and placed her book on a side table.
“No Blue hon, that’s fine because I was hoping I could talk to you about…well, some new developments that have come up.”
“Sure,” Blue replied easily, sitting down in an armchair opposite from where Fress was sitting, the oblong jasper coffee table that Lux and Pierre had fashioned for Fress in between them.
“Would you care for some tea, Blue? Fressenda asked, ”It’s warm still.”
“That sounds good,” Blue replied, as Fress learned forward and poured English breakfast tea into a cup for Blue, dropping in the three lumps of sugar that she knew he loved, and following that with a dollop of crème fraiche.
Fress wasn’t sure how to begin, so she just plunged in.
“Blue I know that it’s been terribly hard on you, being apart from Nora,” she began, waiting to see his response.
Blue took a long draught of his tea, then another before he spoke.
“I can’t describe how painful it’s been Fress. Ever since we hooked up she’s been my world…not that I would ever keep her from doing all she wants to do and being all that she can be. But two years seems like an eternity. It’s been barely five weeks now and I’m barely making it I’m so depressed. If I could only talk to her, see her on skype, or anything! I don’t know if I can take it!”
Blue’s soulful eyes met Fress’s own, and she knew that she would have to tell him. But she would have to be careful.
“Blue what if Nora didn’t feel the same way?” she asked.
Blue looked startled for a moment, then shook his head emphatically.
“Fress that would be impossible. What we shared—“ Blue’s voice trembled slightly and he cleared his throat before he could go on, ”What we have shared has been so real and so incredible. I think it might be as good as Love can get!”
Fress leaned forward and place her hand over one of Blues massive hands.
“You know that we are not in direct communication with Castle Febere, but we have received some prescient information regarding Nora’s situation. I want you to reserve judgement as I tell it to you, but at the same time consider the possibility that it might have some merit. Can you do that for me Blue?”
‘Again those trusting eyes’ Fress thought to herself, as she looked at Blue. After a moment he responded by saying,
“I think I can. Try me. If it anything about Nora I have to know!”
Fressenda nodded.
“Well here it is: both Celeste and I have been getting the impression that Nora has moved on while at the Marble City. We believe that she has connected to another male energy, and is quite upset that she is unable to tell you herself, given the communication blackout that Dante requires while his apprentices are in training. I believe that Nora would want you to know as soon as possible so that you can move on with your life, and that the thought of your suffering truly causes her pain. And I also believe that she would want you to know as soon as possible.”
The silence that followed Fress’s pronouncement seemed to suck all the life and color out of the cozy room. Fress didn’t realize that Blue had ceased breathing until he suddenly inhaled with a gasp like a man who finally breaks through the surface of a body of water he’d been drowning in.
With Blue’s inhalation came a keening noise, and streams of tears ran from his still open eyes.
“Are you and Celeste both certain?” he demanded in a choked voice, ”I mean are you ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that what you are telling me is the truth? Because if it is I don’t think…I don’t think…”
Blue broke off abruptly and with an anguished cry raised his fists over his head and brought them downward on the polished stone of the coffee table, cleaving it in half and causing the tray with the components of an elegant afternoon tea to fly off in every direction.
As soon as he realized what he’d done he began apologizing profusely.
“Oh Fressenda I’m sorry…” he said, moving quickly to clean up the mess that he’d created,”I’m so sorry! Your table…”
Fressenda’s heart sank as she looked at the decorative table which had cracked in half.
“It’s o
kay,” she said soothingly,” If it’s not fixable Lux and Pierre can make two end tables out of it!”
Head down, Blue continued to clean up the area. Fress noticed that he was weeping. Her heart reached out to him—it was painful seeing such a massively built male energy on his knees sobbing uncontrollably. When he had finished setting things to rights, and cleaning up the spilled tea with a towel that Fress had provided, he looked up at her through long wet eyelashes.
“You’re absolutely sure—or you wouldn’t have told me, right?”
“True,” she told him,”I thought that you had a right to know. And you were so miserable. I’m not sure that this is any better—I am sure that you will grieve even more intensely. But I know you Blue. You’ve always been a straight shooter. I felt you deserved the same.”
“I appreciate that Fress,” Blue replied soberly. Fress note that the tears had stopped falling and it occurred to her that Blue might have untapped prescient powers of his own. She decided to ask him.
“Blue darling…I have to ask…when we left Dante Febere’s castle did you have any intuitive feeling that you didn’t share with any of us—about Nora I mean?”
Blue nodded grimly.
“Yes I did. As we pulled away I noticed that Nora wasn’t in the crowd with Jaxon and Rosalie and the rest of the chosen apprentices any more, the ones that remained to wave us off as we chugged away. I could see that she had turned to go up the steps to the front of the castle…and she was joined by some dude with really long blond hair. That’s when it hit me that maybe the last few times I’d been with her she hadn’t seemed more distant because she was sad…I think she knew that she was moving on and didn’t know how to tell me. I think in the two years that we were going to be apart she thought I might find someone too.
BUT SHE SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME! You don’t just tell someone you love them over and over and then DROP them from your life! DAMMIT!”
Fress saw that Blue had broken into a new torrent of tears and wrapped he arms around his muscular torso.