by Drew D'Amato
He landed on the third floor and ran down the hall to the door leading to the roof and the pool. He knew time was short, and he shouldn’t have left his men alone. He raced up the stairs and barged onto the roof. He noticed no bodies anywhere on the top floor of the house, but vampire bodies did not have a long shelf life. What he did notice disturbed him.
He froze at the sight of the Uzi pointed right at his chest. Gabriel held it. Malachi looked around the roof. He was not dead yet. They wanted him alive—why? He looked over Gabriel’s shoulder and saw the last five of his men alive, laying on the ground with Radusons aiming their guns right over their hearts.
“How did you find me?” Malachi asked.
“We followed your men back here when they went looking for us. And now you are going to tell us where Vlad lives,” Gabriel said with a smile.
“Never.”
“Then you’ll die.”
“And I won’t if I tell you where Vlad is?”
“Maybe not, we are willing to take on some new recruits. You and your men can join us after we kill Vlad.”
Malachi looked over at his men. He cared for their lives.
“Killing us won’t tell you where Vlad is.”
Gabriel turned to one of his men and nodded. The vampire put a bullet right into the heart of the first vampire and killed him on the spot.
“You’re wasting time, Malachi. I’m sure somewhere in this house we can find his address.”
“Good luck, I’ve kept nothing on file.”
Gabriel turned and nodded again. A second vampire was shot and killed.
“So the only information is in your mind. Guess we’ll have to torture you to get it from you.”
“That will never happen, you’ll never get me alive.”
Gabriel nodded again. The result was the same, a third vampire died.
“So you don’t care about your fledglings.”
“Not more than I care about Vlad, and winning this war.”
“All right then.” Gabriel turned to his men holding the guns. “Finish the both of them.” The last two remaining fledglings were killed. Only Malachi stood with a gun pointed right at his chest. “I guess all we need is you.”
“Hey Gabriel, how good is your aim?”
“Why?”
“Wondering, if you can hit the heart of a bat.”
In a flash Malachi transformed into a bat and flew up into the air. Gabriel took some quick shots. Malachi’s bat ear got buzzed, then he caught two shots in one wing and one in another. They all missed his heart, but his wings lost control of his flight.
He started to spiral down to the top of the ocean—living water. His wings had to heal and they had to heal fast. He fought the pain, and struggled to flap his tattered wings. The water got closer. Then he got the sensation of healing. A foot away from the salt water his wings healed and he was able to straighten them. He glided up over the waves. His next stop was Key West International Airport.
4
Two hours later Michael walked into Vlad’s office. Vlad still stood at the window, staring out. He hadn’t moved yet. He waited to hear word from Malachi.
“There’s still no word from him,” Michael said.
“Something’s wrong,” Vlad replied, still staring motionless out the window.
Vlad’s cell phone on his desk rang. Vlad turned his head to the desk and Michael and he shared a look. It could be really good news or really bad. Vlad had a strong feeling it will be the latter. Michael walked over to the desk and picked up the phone.
“Hello,” he said.
Michael dropped the phone from his ear and held it, looking at Vlad. “It’s for you.”
Vlad knew this wasn’t good or else he wouldn’t have to talk. He walked away from the window and took the phone out of Michael’s hand.
“This is Vlad.”
Vlad’s eyes opened in surprise. He said nothing for a while. He just listened. Then he spoke. “Okay, I’ll see you as soon as you get here.”
Vlad hung up and lifted his head to look at Michael.
“Well, now we know about Radu. He is alive. Gabriel and some Radusons attacked Malachi at his house a few hours ago. Malachi’s on a plane over here now. He has no weapons, he took a commercial flight—the first flight out of Key West. It took him to Chicago. From there he will wait for the next flight to LA. He wanted to get out of Florida, but not take a direct flight to California. His next flight departs in the day, so no Raduson can follow him. He was the only one who survived.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Get Jericho, tell him to go to the Divine Saviour and bring Father Pacami here now.”
5
Pacami spent the early evening in his room at the rectory with Father Montes. The two shared a bottle of chianti as they talked about the day’s mass. The bottle of wine stood on the table between the two of them. Montes was a little older, but still had a full head of dark hair, and did not need glasses like Pacami.
They were two old priests who both chose to take their vows for different reasons but nonetheless both felt strongly toward their faith. There was a bond between them. Montes became a priest five years before Pacami did. Montes became the older brother Pacami never had. Pacami could tell him everything…almost everything.
“So I’ve noticed the books on the Templars. Will I find The Da Vinci Code in there too?” Montes asked.
“Stop, you know I own it, and you’ve read it. I’m not looking for any crazy conspiracies, I’ve just become curious lately. There are more books than the Bible.”
“Really? I wasn’t aware.” They both laughed.
Montes shook his wine glass in a circular motion, making the wine swirl to the top of the glass.
“I went through that stage once. I was interested in exorcisms. Even tried to become an exorcist,” Montes said.
“Really? What happened?”
“Business wasn’t really booming. Just a tad more openings than witch-finder general.”
“Do you believe in them?”
“To be a priest you must. Our entire life’s work is on the belief that there is another world beyond death, the constant battle of good versus evil. We must believe in that. I have yet to witness one, and I don’t know if I really want to. So what are you so curious about? I’m curious about this VIP service your sick parishioner has been treating you with lately.”
“You noticed the limo today?”
“How could I not?”
“It’s some rich businessman facing his last days and wants some consolation. His trophy wife doesn’t really care about him and he knows that. He just wants to get in the good grace of God before his time is up.”
“Preparing for the final exam.”
“Exactly.”
Pacami had come up with this story on his ride back from Vlad’s house the first time. He knew he would have to explain something as to why he hopped into a limo after mass, but for an entire week Montes said nothing. He was like that; he let people have their secrets. After the second time though, and the possibility that it might become a regular thing, he had to ask. He was the senior priest in the parish. It was his responsibility to inquire.
As the two sat in silence looking for the segway to their next topic of conversation Father Rios, a new young priest, stormed into the library. His hair, shiny and brown, showed his youth, and his dark brown eyes showed his intelligence. His walk said that he had some important news to share. Rios put his hand on the back of Pacami’s chair and spoke in his ear, not loud enough for Montes to hear it.
“Father Pacami, there’s someone here to see you. He says it’s important.”
Pacami took one look at the young Rios and knew they waited outside for him. He saw something in Rios’s eyes. Rios didn’t know they were vampires, but he sensed something with these men.
“I have to go, Horeb,” Pacami said.
“Your sickbed follower again?” Montes asked.
“I think so,” Pacami said as he go
t to his feet.
As Pacami walked out of the room with Rios, half of him hoped it wasn’t his sickbed follower and half of him hoped it was.
6
Pacami sat in the chair opposite Vlad’s desk a little while later. Pacami’s body was tense. He was nervous about the reason for this late night meeting. Was this going to become a common thing now, at anytime should I expect the possibility of being taken to this remote castle? Pacami knew it would not be in his best interest to try to set the terms of this friendship. You don’t dictate terms to a vampire.
Pacami also noticed that Vlad looked tense. This started to scare Pacami. If Vlad was upset that couldn’t bode well for him. Just this morning Vlad was smiling as he told the story of his life. Now he looked distraught. He had heard some bad news. What could possibly be bad news for him? Can he not become a human again, am I now useless to him?
“Father I wasn’t completely honest with you when I told you about my past.” Vlad’s words were the knife that cut through the tension.
“No one is completely honest when they talk about their life.” Pacami hoped his words would put Vlad in a better mood. They didn’t.
“It wasn’t about my life as a human. It was about my life as a vampire.”
Goose bumps spread all over Pacami’s body. This wasn’t a good thing, maybe he is not a nice vampire.
“What do you want to tell me?” Pacami fought his nerves to get the words out.
Vlad looked around the office staring at nothing before starting up again. He had to spill everything. But once he did, the father would now have something to fear. People are more agreeable when they feel safe, but he had to tell him about the war.
“I hate this place. A constant reminder of how fucking old I really am. You can look in a mirror and see the lines on your face. I don’t even get to see my face. That scalpel reminds me of the nineteenth century. This flag reminds me of the eighteenth. I have seen half a millennium. How times and people have changed, and how they have stayed the same. The important things, the morals, wisdoms, and thoughts that need to change don’t. Instead, you humans change your toys, your guns, and your entertainment, anything that gives any sense of gratification. All these antiques, you could call them, remind me of my eternity spent on this rock. This, though—” he pointed to the silver broadsword above him—“this reminds me of when I was a warrior. When life was simple.”
Vlad paused. This time Pacami waited.
“This morning I told you I killed my brother as a vampire as soon as I got the chance. That was a lie. My brother is still alive—as a vampire.” Pacami sat there shocked. Vlad saw the confusion and he explained. “I want you to understand that this morning I thought he was dead. I didn’t want to waste time talking about something that was irrelevant, but he is alive, and very relevant.”
“He is not like you is he?”
“No, he is evil, he is a threat. I think I should start with what really happened after I awoke as a vampire.
“The way I told you I was reborn was true. Radu made it possible. For a moment I thought I was in Heaven. Then I turned and saw my other brother Vlad. It was then that Vlad the Monk told me everything about the Templars, the Blood of the Betrayer, the real purpose of the Order of the Dragon and what it meant to be a vampire. He also showed me our father’s diary entry that described how he slipped the Blood of the Betrayer in our wine before we left for the Sultan’s court.
“I did not want to accept it. I felt damned. Despair roared through my body. Feeling so hopeless, I decided to forgive my brother Radu and live with him in our shared damnation. I should have killed him then, but at the time the only thing that seemed worse than being a vampire, was being a vampire alone.
“I was miserable for some time. I slept in the dirt during the day with Radu and at night we roamed the countryside looking for our kills. This was no way to live, but I had no other choice. Radu and I had agreed to help neither the Catholics nor the Muslims. We were not going to get involved in any of the human’s wars. They were all food to us. After so many years with having no goal I had no idea what to do. Radu however, relished the power.
“The three of us had assumed Radu and I had the same powers and abilities but that was not the case. I discovered that day I woke up before sunset, crawled out of the dirt and walked in the sunlight.
“We then started to examine our powers and noticed we had other differences. I found that I had the gift of flight, and the gift of transformation into certain animals. Radu cannot change. Instead, he has other abilities over me. He is quicker, and stronger. He has a better sense of smell, sight, and hearing than I do, and I have great senses. He can go longer without blood than me. He’s harder to hurt, and has quicker healing powers. He can leap a tall leap, about maybe twenty-five feet, but he cannot fly.
“My brother Vlad had studied the Dark Bible and knew it inside and out. He understood the codex it was written in. He had taught Radu, but I never cared to learn it.”
“Why not?”
“I wasn’t good in learning other languages, whereas Radu picked up the Turkish language after only a few months in the Sultan’s court. However, that wasn’t the main reason. I didn’t want to know how damned I really was. I had spent my life fighting for Christianity, and here I was now—a demon. My brother Vlad had offered to teach me a few times and each time I rebuked him. In hindsight, I wished I had bothered to learn that too.
“Vlad the Monk of course knew it the best, and had actually participated in the rituals of the Order, so even though he was a human, he was our teacher for how to be a vampire. He explained to us that each person who drank the blood became a master vampire in their own right. The powers and weaknesses of a master vampire were determined by certain personalities, order in one’s family, the life one had lived, and possibly other elements. Since I was the older brother I had more powers. Since Radu was actually the more ruthless of the two he was stronger. And since I killed a man for not asking to be invited him into my house, I lose my powers when enter a house uninvited.”
“I made that connection when I read that story,” Pacami said.
“Yes, some actions as a human do dictate the type of vampire we will be. Radu dies in sunlight because he was so vain as a human, having taken the nickname ‘handsome.’
“Our brother Vlad cautioned us to keep our actions away from the eyes of the humans. His first reason was that humans could still get their hands on fire, and since Radu slept dead to the world during the day, we did not want to be the target of any kind of manhunt during the daytime. His second warning was that of the Templars in the Dark Bible. If word spread of Judas and vampires it would either bring about the Apocalypse, or draw the wrath of Judas. We wanted neither, so we kept our actions hidden from the world.
“Without any goals to our lives though, we decided to take back the throne of Wallachia one last time for our family. We worked behind the scenes by killing competitors to help ascend our brother Vlad to voivode in 1482. He held the title until his death in 1495. When he died a natural death, we waited to see if he would be reborn a vampire. He hadn’t. My brother Vlad had access to the blood that Radu took when he eliminated the Order, but he never drank it. He saw what it was like to be a vampire, and he didn’t want it.
“My brother Mircea had been dead for years, and there was never any sign of him. Vlad Calugarul had assured us no one else from the Order ever drank the blood. We were the only two vampires on the earth. But that was not exactly true.
“After living for almost two centuries in the shadows we got sick of being so alone in the world. We started to look for any trace of vampirism. We were briefly filled with some hope when we heard the news of Elizabeth Bathory, the “Blood Queen.” She was distantly related to us, so we thought there was a good chance she was exposed to the blood, too. However, her fate is well documented. She was found dead in her walled up prison inside her own castle. Then her body was buried in the church of Csejte, and then later moved to the Ba
thory family crypt. Not a possible fate for a vampire.
“With no other leads, Radu came up with the idea to look for the only vampire we knew for sure existed. Judas. We hoped he could provide some guidance about this life as a vampire. We set out for Akeldama. We went to the large building the Templars built that they used to bury pilgrims. Using our vampiric sense of smell, we found Judas one night.
“We told him our story, and he took us under his wing. Judas’s only weakness was silver; not fire, not water, and not sunlight.
“Judas introduced to us an idea that the Templars didn’t know about and was never mentioned in the Dark Bible. We had the power to make vampires ourselves. He hadn’t told the Templars that because he wanted them to think they had a finite amount of his blood to make vampires. That’s why the Templars and the Order were so careful with who they gave the blood too. They thought it was all they had left.
“Judas introduced us to Nosophoros. In Greek it means disease-bearing. He was a leper and deformed from what happened to him as a human. In an attempt to mimic Jesus, Judas healed a leper as best as he could—he made him a vampire. Nosophoros had different powers than both of us, he was weaker, and all four vulnerabilities killed him. Apparently if Judas made a vampire, that vampire became a master vampire, too. It makes sense; the Blood of the Betrayer is just blood directly from Judas’s fangs anyway. Why if he put the blood directly from his fangs to another person would it be any different?
“Nosophoros had also made two more vampires. Two other lepers he had met during his suffering as a human. There were now six of us, half of the amount of apostles, a little family of vampires, and we lived together under Judas’s guidance.