19/21 (300 Years of Sin)

by Cristina M. Sburlea

  Duke George Burke was Henry’s older brother, he died in 1800 while he was heading toward India and his ship was attacked by pirates. It was right after that, that Henry was asked to lead the Order. George Burke was a sick man, he had fallen ill before Henry’s wife announced her pregnancy. Henry idolized his brother. Henry was weak as a child and easily bullied in school. But George was always by his side. On day, while Henry was eleven and George was fifteen, the former was on the ground and three boys one, two, and three years older than him punched him in the stomach and in the face. George saw this and he took a wooden bat and hit all three of them. His brother was on the ground badly hurt and he wanted to make the other three boys feel as his younger sibling felt. George then took Henry home and took care of his wounds with his mother. The next day Henry stayed home, but George went back to school. The boy took his wooden bat again and when he saw the three boys in the garden of the school, talking, by themselves, he hit their heads with the bat. He hit them so hard that blood came out of their skulls and one of the boys died. He then warned the other two that if they would ever tell anyone he did this to them, he would find them and kill them too. The boys were terrified and, to this day, they did not confess to what happened. Henry, not knowing the ruthlessness of his brother, grew up idolizing him as he was always there to help. He then cursed his own child because his brother convinced him it was imperative to do so and joined the Order because of him.

  Ava and Tudor ventured deep into the southern region of England. They took refuge to an acquaintance of the lord and the man introduced him to his family as being husband and wife. Parker McCarthy had some problems with gambling back in his youth and Lord Tudor Emery helped him get on his feet after he lost his house in a game. Now, Parker returned the favor by harboring them there. It wasn’t a home as large or as rich as the Mayflower but Ava felt welcome there. Parker’s wife was kind and witty and she made an excellent conversation partner.

  As Tudor and Ava were preparing to go to bed, the lord said: “Now the Order is going to be on high alert. Now more than ever I cannot make a wrong move. I will make arrangements so you can go to Spain and wait there. The Constantines will try to always keep you in their sight if you return.”

  “No, I will not have that. I can’t, not now, not after what I saw. And even if I would have not seen all of that, I still would not go to Spain, not without you.”

  “What did you see?”

  “I saw the sins of my father. You were right, I did not see before because of my feelings. I love my father and I was blinded by that. But Tudor, I do not, I can’t hurt him. It was not pleasant to be around my mother. I know my father loved her, but she was a terrible being, she treated him badly, she treated me worse. I did not feel bad for losing her. However, I felt remorse for taking a life, a human life. But father did all that he could to ensure my happiness, so how can I do something to him?”

  “What wrongdoings did you see in his eyes?”

  “He turned the draco Raj, but I do not think he knew at first what the scientists were doing to him. However, once he found out he let the men continue without bothering them.”

  The two discussed more about what their next moves would be and then went to sleep, but before saying goodnight, Tudor asked: “What did you see in my eyes?”

  “Nothing!”

  “That is a lie.”

  “Do you really want to know?”

  “Yes.”

  “I saw a man who was desperate, resentful, and filled with the desire to exact revenge. I saw you kill, I saw you steal, but I don’t feel any need to hurt you.”

  “Because you love me?”

  “Because you never hurt an innocent person.”

  Ava was right about her father: he was in the dark when it came to many things the Order did. George hid most acts and plans of the Order until he believed his younger brother was prepared to handle them. George thought of Henry as being weak, but he hoped he would, one day, be a worthy Constantine, however, he kept secrets from him until the last possible moment. Henry became more involved with the Order after his brother’s death and the advisors of his brother counseled him in regard to matters of the Order until he became one of the three leaders of the Order in 1805. The Order had three leaders, one was the ancestor of Constantine Burke, and two more were elected.

  The next day, Wesley arrived with news about the duke: he was alright; the Order did not harm him in any way. Wesley was sent to Spain with business, and Ava and Tudor decided it would be better if they remained there for a few more days; the decision came partly because of the silence there and partly because they wanted to put some distance between them and the Order which was now taking too much of their life.

  For the next three days Tudor woke every morning to find the girl in his arms and he liked the way it felt. It was then that he promised himself he would not let her go. He traveled from city to city, from country to country, for over a century, and he never felt at home anywhere, but now Ava felt like home, it did not matter where he was as long as she was right there beside him. And, even though Ava did not say it, he knew she felt the same way.

  “Would you see yourself living somewhere like this?” asked Tudor.

  “I got so accustomed to the city that I can’t quite imagine what my life would be like in a remote place like this, but as long as I can do whatever I want, I don’t see any reason why I would not like living somewhere like this.” answered Ava.

  “And what is it that you want to do so as to be able to live somewhere like this?”

  “I…” hesitated Ava, not knowing if she should say all she wanted. “I want to learn. I do not want to hear men telling me I can’t understand the mysteries of this world just because I am a woman. I want to see it all, what is on the surface and what is underneath the perception of the eye. I want to discover.”

  “I could show you this world if that is what you want,” said Tudor and as he got close to her he continued “but my question was not about that and you know it. I would not try to keep you from realizing anything you desire.”

  “Whether I live somewhere like this, whether I am traveling from place to place, I hope… I want… I want you to be there with me.”

  “There you said it! It wasn’t so hard was it?”

  Ava never felt like she needed anyone in her life so it was difficult to admit even to herself that that part of her life was over. She cared for someone else besides herself now. Being a woman wanting to succeed in a world fully dominated by men was not easy and she had promised herself she would never allow a man to get into her thoughts and soul, she wanted to prove to everyone that a woman can do, can be just as much as a man can, maybe even more, so she thought that falling prey to feelings for a man would not be productive. She saw many friends who had great dreams, when they were younger, give them up for a man who just wanted a “proper English wife”. But Ava was getting to understand that Lord Emery was not in need of anything “proper”. In fact, he defined “proper” very differently than the men she had met. And, according to the rules of their society, there was nothing “proper” about the two.

  As the three days past the two bid their farewell and headed back to London. When the girl was asked, by a Constantine, why she came back so early, surely she did not reach Spain in only 4 days, she said that news of the events occurring at home caught up to her so she did not feel at ease continuing her journey. But Ava was bothered by a man she saw while her carriage was taking her back. On the road, she passed a man who had long grey hair, beard and moustache. There was something familiar about him. She did not get the chance to look into his eyes, but she felt something was not right with the man.

  Rene and Mark were awake and the witch asked him how was the leadership of the Order elected.

  “Well, there are two who are chosen among the most influential men of the time and one who is of the bloodline of Constantine Burke. Constantine lived until the end of the 1600s. He was the man who ordered the curse be placed upon
the first draco. He created the Order to ensure that the political and economic aspirations of a group of people are met. But he was brutal with all those who did not agree to his rules. He also despised anyone who was not of his faith.”

  “Jonathan was one of those, wasn’t he?”

  “Jonathan was rich, young, and influential, those were all the qualities Constantine was looking for in a member of the Order. He asked Jonathan to join and when he said that he does not agree to the conversion of the members, Constantine was angered. Jonathan denounced his faith as being repressive and denounced Constantine as being a tyrant and that is when he was turned into a draco. Sure, Constantine never imagined what Jonathan would actually turn into, neither did the priest who cursed him, but they are at fault for his life being destroyed.”

  “How did two other leaders came to be elected?”

  “Well, they are not really leaders, they are more advisors than leaders, but their word counts very much in every decision the Order takes. When Constantine’sOrder became large enough, he chose two of his most trusted men to be his counsels and, since then, this tradition was upheld, but the leader was not the one who chose the counsels, they were voted by the other members. Henry’s eldest brother became king of England so he could not be part of the Order. The second eldest in the family was George Burke so he became leader and, when he was presumed dead, Henry’s turn came to lead the Order. The rule is that the oldest child of the last leader will be groomed for succession”

  “And that is why Ava was supposed to lead the Order of Constantines, because she was the oldest child of the last leader.”

  “That is correct! And there was nobody who could contest her birthright. George had no children and he planned her future well before she was born. When her mother was pregnant, George ordered the curse be placed on the child. He thought that the Order was filled with members who were corrupted and he wanted someone who could, beyond reasonable doubt, know who was corrupted, someone who knew which member needed to be eliminated from the Order.”

  “And he did not think the child would see his sins?” asked Rene.

  “He was convinced that all he had done was justified. You have to understand that he was a man blinded by power, he never thought of anything he did as being wrong in any way.”

  “He was a narcissist.”

  “Yes, he was. However, he did realize that Ava might also try to kill him at some point, so he executed a plan to push her off the edge. He became so blinded, that he did not care if she would kill innocents or not.”

  As he was telling Rene the story, Mark remembered the events of 1807 and 1814.

  The Order of Constantine launched a search of Raj and his other accomplices. They found Raj’s friends and they were executed on sight. After the execution, their bodies were burned and the ash was thrown into the sea. But Raj escaped them all and Tudor knew he had to find him before the Constantines to make sure the draco did not spill his and Ava’s secret. But Raj kept himself very well hidden. He left England and sailed to France, only to return on a cold night of November with new dracos. This time, he arrived with an army. He turned two hundred men and women and he ordered them all to feast on the Londoners. Rampage began. The nights were the most terrifying to people as the dracos were known to prefer hunting during the night and they were also very quiet so it was hard to foresee an attack.

  The first attack took place in broad day light in the middle of London. It was a message for the Order: dracos are here and they are after blood! The next attack took place that night in the Mayflower. Two beasts entered the mansion and Ava immediately sensed the ruthlessness of the beasts and rushed to the neck of one, not giving it any time to react. The duke killed the other one with his sword and then he looked at his daughter drinking the blood of the beast. He was not able to react and that almost caused him his life as a third draco entered and jumped from behind him. But Tudor was right behind the beast and snapped its head in an instant. The fourth draco was killed by Tudor even before his second step into the hall.

  “I can’t believe I am saying this, but I am glad you are here now.” said the duke.

  “There are dozens maybe even hundreds of dracos in town. They are newly turned and they have no self-control. They will kill indiscriminately until their master tells them to stop. Raj is leading them.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I saw him order the third draco into your house. By now he is already too far away for me to catch him. He is the only one with the intention to create more of us.”

  “Young dracos are the most violent and with their lack of self-control they will kill many people. They must be stopped. Monsters, that is what they are.”

  “I agree with you that they must be stopped. But remember this: they are monsters your beloved Order created. Constantines are ultimately to blame for this. Without your greed, we would not be here in the first place.” said the lord angered.

  The duke could see that Tudor was right. In the past months he came to question every decision he ever made, every act the Order fulfilled. He was beginning to feel resentment toward himself and those whom he called brothers.

  “My men will be on their trails.”

  “Your men are not enough. I will try to hunt down as many as I can also.”

  As the lord left, he went to Wesley and they both began to hunt the young dracos. Duke Burke also sent members on the trails of the beasts and he told anyone in his house to stay alert at all times. As days went by, more and more bodies were piling up. The first day there were five bodies found, the third there were fifteen more. And, as each day passed, more were found in the streets and in their homes. People were told the enemies of the empire were killing in high numbers to strike fears in their hearts. By the third night, all citizens were too scared to even to turn their lights off.

  During the next night, a few beasts attacked the mansion again and with them, they brought a lad of only eighteen. Ava, Henry, and the butler fought them off as much as they could and then a stranger with long grey hair and beard came from behind the beasts and killed another 2 of them. By that time, Henry was badly hurt on the floor and the butler was even worse. The lad brought by the beasts was turning into a draco right before their eyes and he was hungry. The boy’s eyes turned black and the veins under his skin turned dark blue. He was trying to fight off his urge and then the old man screamed toward Ava “Kill him! Kill him now or he will kill one of you!”

  Ava hesitated as she did not see any sin in the boy’s eyes. He was just now turning into a draco, he had never committed any crime. But then she saw him run toward her father and, as he got next to him, she rushed and snapped his neck. Unfortunately, when he fell dead, she realized the boy was not going to her father, he rushed to a knife and he tried to kill himself with it. The lad managed to grab the knife and point it to his stomach, but Ava could not see that from behind. She killed an innocent.

  “No!” said Henry, realizing the mistake his child had committed.

  Ava, standing next to the body of the lad, then lifted her gaze to the old man that was now standing before her. She looked straight into his eyes and saw all his sins. She saw how he had manipulated the boy to go toward a draco. He gave him a knife to kill a beast saying he would be a hero. A hero, that was all that the boy wanted to be. But the lad did not manage to do as he was told. He was bit by a draco, dried of his blood, he was given the beast’s blood to drink, and then he was dragged to the mansion. As the boy was turning into a draco himself, he hated the idea of becoming the being he wanted to kill and decided to end his life before he became one of them. Her father got up and from behind her he wanted to help her up, but the old man whispered a few words in Latin and she started to collapse; her father catching her before her head could reach the floor.

  “What is happening to her?” screamed the father.

  “She is about to die.” said the old man.

  “No! Help her!”

  “I will, now move away.�
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  The girl was placed on the floor, face up and the old man said a few words in ancient Latin. His head was pointed down, toward her, but Henry noticed something strange to him. The duke moved his hand toward the face of the old man and grabbed his hair from his face and that is when he noticed the scar on his ear. With long beard, hair, and moustache he was unrecognizable, but the scar was unmistakable. Henry then pushed the old man away from his daughter and said “You! You are dead!” recognizing his older brother, George Burke.

  George Burke, that same man who saved him as a child from the bullies in his school, and the same man who convinced Henry to curse his own flesh and blood. After Ava lost control and murdered her mother, Henry was torn between the love and the newly acquired hate for his brother. But Henry was no saint and he knew it, he blamed himself just as much as he blamed George for the curse and the following events.

  “Get away from her, you monster!” yelled the father.

  “Monster? You be careful what you say now, little brother.” said George. “I was left for dead on a ship adrift. It took me years to recover, years I’ve spent in a foreign place, far from everything I knew. I was in pain, little brother, and this is how you receive me? First you tell me to help the girl, now you tell me I am a monster. That is not the gratitude I thought I would receive.”