"This is all very extraordinary. We will have to run some tests and see what is going on in his body while he’s under the influence of the blood. I will call for Kato. I'm sure he will be interested in this development and we will get everything ready. The equipment is very delicate, so it will probably take us an hour or so to have everything set up," he said and then left the room in a flash.
"Meanwhile, if you want, Hank, I can take you somewhere where you can rest if you like?" Ishan asked.
"Thanks. I don't know if I can sleep in this place, but I'll sure as hell try," he said, stretching his body.
Ishan smiled and then opened the door for Hank. The two walked along the edge of the room.
"So, when should I expect to find anything out about Toby?" Hank asked.
Ishan looked thoughtfully for a moment.
"I will send word to find out where he is tonight. Once I know that, we can decide what the next move will be. I have people on the outside who will do just about anything I want that they can get away with. If we need to, I can set it up so one of them adopts your son and have him turn up missing."
"Wow, is it really worth that much to you? I mean, how do I know you won't just kill us both when you’re done with me?"
"Well, I don't suppose you do. I have given my word. If that is not enough for you, all I can tell you is that I introduced you truthfully to Isingoma. You have gained my respect. Albeit in a much shorter time span than any one man has in the past, whether he be of your kind or mine," he said. "You have shown an unimaginable will to survive," he added.
"I suppose," Hank said, fighting back the river of anguish dammed within him. It was that same will to survive that went against every reflex in his being. In his sweetest dreams, Toby didn't need him to stay alive and he could release himself from the heavy burden of living. They arrived at a door much like the one Ishan took Simon through. Hank couldn't tell if it was a different door or the same one. It had a chair exactly like he’d sat in earlier. They entered the door, Ishan first, and walked into a silver hallway that reminded Hank of a vault. They followed the hallway to a circular intersection that met up with three others in a slanted X pattern. They followed the far right hallway as it curved to the left. Hank noticed many other short hallways, with vault-like doors at the end of each, branched off of the hallway they followed. He wondered what those strange rooms contained. After a while, they reached the end of the hallway and Hank was, by that time, not surprised to find yet another round solid steel door with an electronic number pad in the middle of it.
Ishan tapped numbers on the keypad, his fingers blurring with speed as Hank watched in awe. Then about a second afterwards, there was a loud metal click. It sounded like a deadbolt the size of a tree being unlatched and then the door became slightly ajar. Ishan pulled it open and gestured for Hank to enter.
"Are you sure this is necessary?" Hank asked.
"Well, there is just one small thing I haven't told you yet."
Hank didn't like the sound of that.
"Peter is still alive. And although, as I said, we are not friends, he does hold a seat on the high council of my people. He probably won't much longer, but he may be a threat to your life."
"But I cut him in half. How could he have lived?"
"There is not much that can actually kill my kind, Mr. Evans."
Hank wondered if he made the right choice after all.
"In the meantime, enjoy my quarters. Get some rest and I will come for you when we are ready for you." he said, reminding Hank of every waiting room he had ever been in.
Hank walked toward a humble bed at the far end of the small room. He heard the large door close behind him as he kicked off his shoes. He looked around trying to find the light switch. He was relieved to find it was conveniently located on the wall by the bed. He turned off the light and sighed with relief as he closed his eyes while collapsing down onto the bed. He lay there, eyes staring up at the darkness.
Chapter 12
The Challenge
Hank woke up to the sight of a dark-skinned, hungry-looking vampire trying to shake him awake. He became conscious enough to recognize the face floating above him was the face of Isingoma.
"What is it, Ising...uh," he tried to pronounce the foreign name in his half asleep stupor.
"Isingoma? No, I am Kato. I have been instructed to wake you. Ishan has been challenged. You must come," he shouted as he continued to shake Hank.
"All right, all right. I'm waking up. Why is it so urgent to wake me up?" he asked, looking over the vampire that looked identical to Isingoma. Judging by his sense of manners, he was obviously not him.
"So, uh, Kato, is it?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Kato, are you and Isingo-whats-it twins then?"
"You figured that out all on your own, did you?" Kato asked.
Before Hank could give him a dirty look or a snide reply, Kato picked him up from the bed and set him down on his feet.
"Ishan's leadership has been challenged because of you," Kato said, grabbing Hank by the arm and pulling him toward the open doorway.
"Why me? What did I do?" Hank asked as they entered the hallway.
"By protecting you, Ishan is taking great risks. He is risking his leadership, his life, and with what you know, he is now also risking all of us, especially the ancestors," Kato said as he led Hank down the silver corridor. "Since Ishan is being challenged because of you, you are at risk now as well. As part of his Challenge, Ishan must protect you. It is our way that if one of our kind is willing to risk another of his own for the likes of one of you," Kato said with contempt, "then he must be challenged and willing to protect your life and his own. In Ishan's case, protecting his life also means protecting his place as leader of the council. If he should lose and the one who challenged him takes his blood, then they will take his place. If that happens, Peter would then offer your blood to the ancestors as a sign of loyalty."
As Kato said this, Hank thought of Toby and began to struggle while still being held by Kato's arm.
"You have no choice, human. You must come with me," Kato said as he held steadfast to Hank's arm.
Hank tried again to struggle, but Kato's arm was locked on him like a steel vise. He dragged Hank by the arm until they came to the main laboratory. The lab was completely empty. He walked across the silent lab until he came to an out-of-place-looking elevator door. He typed in a code on a number pad in a blur, his fingers moving too fast to even darken the glowing buttons. The elevator door opened and Kato pushed Hank in hard and blocked the doorway in a flash. It was hardly needed as Hank was lying on the floor with the wind knocked out of him.
He lay on the floor gasping for air as Kato stood facing the closed elevator doors whistling an unfamiliar tune. A sharp pain in Hank's chest told him he was on the verge of pulling in some oxygen right as the elevator made a "ding" sound. The doors opened to reveal the inside of a parking garage. Hank sucked in a large gush of air right before Kato picked him up like a sack of potatoes. Then, Kato burst forward in a speed faster than Hank had ever endured before. He could hear a fast movement of feet hitting concrete at the rate of machine gun rounds. He tried to watch where they were going, but could only see a dull gray blur for a few seconds. It became a dark mass with streaks of white Hank assumed were either the stars or the lights of the city. Just as soon as he could see the darkness, he felt a strong wind and the feeling of falling.
When Kato landed, Hank heard a loud crack and felt himself slip slightly. Then, he sensed painful stings as several chunks of something hard burst into his legs like shrapnel. The next thing he knew, he could only feel wind and the feeling of unreal momentum. He tried to breathe but found it nearly impossible. After a few seconds, he felt himself slipping from reality. A few more seconds and he went unconscious.
When he woke up, Hank's sinuses were dry with the smell of desert and his head throbbed with anguish. Soft, warm sand contoured around the shape of his body. He lifted his head and hea
rd the sound of sand sliding from his hair. He then looked up to see a pair of Ishans standing over him, surrounded by two large crowds of vampires, each Ishan holding a hand out to him. He reached out with his left arm for one of the hands and watched as his hand went through the phantom Ishan's hand. Then, he smacked himself in the forehead with the same hand, shook his head back and forth, and took another look. As he focused in on the two hands, they moved into each other until at last they became one. Hank then reached for the solitary hand and Ishan helped him up.
Once he was up on his feet, Hank could tell there had really only been one crowd all along, just like Ishan.
"You don't seem to have taken the trip well," Ishan said, smiling at Hank.
Hank gave him a dark look.
"It's okay, you have the easy part. All you have to do is run like hell. But I have to keep the both of us safe in a much more proactive way," he said, nodding at Hank.
That was when Hank noticed Peter. He couldn't help himself.
"Hey, you can hardly tell I cut your ass in half now. You guys should have seen him," he said to the crowd of amused vampires. "He plopped right to the floor like a pile of bricks."
Peter's face twisted with anger as several of the vampires in the crowd laughed heartily and even Ishan cracked a smile. The next moment, before Hank even realized she was there, a female vampire was holding his wrist up above her head for all the vampires to see. They all went silent and watched attentively. Hank struggled against the powerful redhead with all his might to no avail. Then, she brought down his wrist in front of her face and, with a sharp stabbing burst of pressure, ripped it open with her teeth. Blood rushed out like a river of crimson. A cold sweat went all throughout Hank’s body. Then, the female yelled out in a high screeching tone and dropped him to the ground as a rush of movement blurred above him.
* * *
As soon as Rachel dropped Hank's body to the ground, signaling the beginning of the challenge, Ishan leapt forward and grabbed hold of Peter's head before he could move. He was sure Peter would have some sort of trick up his sleeve if he was confident enough to call him out like this. Grabbing him and stopping him from any chance of trapping him seemed to be the best strategy. The problem was he hadn't expected Peter would actually be one step ahead of him.
The moment his hands touched Peter's head, he felt a slick substance he didn't recognize. Then, he twitched in pain as his hands started to smoke. It had to be some kind of acid on the tips of Peter's hair. Peter took the opportunity to slam himself forward into Ishan. Shock stole over him as he realized he had lost control of the situation.
He was far too strong to be overpowered by Peter; yet, Peter was doing just that. His hands were in such agony that he could not grip with them and both of his arms were limp. Peter pinned them down to the ground as he straddled Ishan's body in the sand. Then, he lunged his head downward, sinking his teeth into the left side of Ishan's neck. Out of sheer reflex, Ishan grabbed at Peter's face. Peter screamed a strange screech of horror as whatever burned Ishan's hands melted through several layers of his forehead and cheek.
Ishan swung his body to the left, rolling Peter off of him as he jumped to his feet, and kicked Peter in his bent-over torso. Peter's body went flying in a spinning motion through an explosion of sand. Ishan lunged downward into a crouching motion and put his hands into the sand in order to soak up whatever chemical was burning his flesh. Then, he stood up and turned around to find Hank. The man lay silently on the ground, a stream of blood branching off into a copper muddy pool a foot from his wound. Several of the younger vampires from the crowd watched in hunger as the blood pooled in waste.
Ishan looked at his right hand to find it almost healed. He knew there wasn't time to wait for it to fully recover. So, he rushed down beside the pale body and put his right hand over Hank's wound. A luminous yellow glow spread out from inside Ishan's hand. His hand glowed red as if he were holding a flashlight underneath his knuckles. He could feel that familiar tingle from within his palm. But he could also hear fast movement in the sand from about a hundred yards behind him and knew he would soon have to let go of Hank's wound before he could fully heal it. He held on as long as he could and, right when he could feel the pressure within the air telling him Peter was only inches from slamming into him, he let go of Hank's now mostly healed hand, letting himself be blasted away from Hank’s side. He lifted his feet so they wouldn’t tear Hank in half as he flew away from him.
In mid-flight through the dry air, he also gripped hold of Peter's shoulders and flung himself around with more effort than it should have taken. But with enough strain, he was able to fling Peter from him and land, crouching, on his feet. Peter, however, caught his balance quickly and also landed on his feet. For the first time in several centuries, Ishan found himself furious. He was utterly sick of Peter's feeble rebellion and through with allowing it to go on. He felt his eyes gloss over as the familiar thin black film covered them. He let out a loud, low growl that he intended to hold back. His hands were held out, visibly ready to claw through Peter should he come any nearer. A look of desperate fear flashed across Peter’s face and just as quickly disappeared with obvious effort. Peter's attempt at concealment of his fear only cut the imaginary tie holding Ishan back. He threw himself forward, slashing his claws in motions faster than Peter could ever block, let alone counter. A moment later, Peter lay panting and bleeding in between two sand dunes.
The crowd of vampires chanted "Cryosan" in the tongue of the ancestors. It meant simply "to end." It filled Ishan's blood with a self-righteous wave of power as he pulled his right hand back, in position to slash open Peter's throat for all of the rest to drink. As Peter closed his eyes, the moment passed, Ishan relaxed his arm, and stood up to the grumpy sound of disapproval from the crowd. He held up his hand and said in the ancient tongue, "Versol" meaning "outcast."
Peter leered at Ishan. This was even worse than dying. Being outcast from the city would be a disgrace beyond any death because it meant he would die at the hands of the Empire. Imperial law forbid any vampire to live outside of Necropolis. But the call had been made and Peter would be foolish to disobey. He got up with a bitterness in his eyes and looked at Rachel, who stared back at him with a great anguish of indecision in her eyes. Then, she took a deep breath and turned away from him. Great suffering showed on his face and he held out his left wrist and ripped it open with the claws of his right hand, letting blood drip out onto the desert. This was a symbol of remorse and sorrow well known to all who watched. No one showed pity, however. Peter turned and started walking toward the southern city limits everyone knew was only several miles ahead. He left a trail of blood in the sand as he went, head down in shame.
Ishan felt the effects of the battle as his body began to shake with weakness. Rachel caught him as he fell backward with exhaustion. She picked him up gracefully and carried him, parting the crowd as they came through.
"Please, let me finish what I started," he said.
"Yes," she whispered in reply as she carried him over to Hank's body. It was not quite as pale now, but he was still unconscious. The rip in his wrist no longer bled but was still in disrepair. Rachel set Ishan down as he knelt over Hank's wrist and grabbed hold of it with his right hand again. It began to glow once more as Ishan felt the last of Hank's skin regenerate. Hank coughed. He tried to pull his arm away, but Ishan continued to hold on. Then, after a few minutes, he let go of the wrist knowing it was completely healed.
He was becoming concerned. It was taking considerably more willpower to heal than it had before and he was now aware of the reason for his multiple weaknesses on this night. He knew this would be the result but he had completely forgotten when the time came to act that somewhere near half of the blood that flowed in his veins now resided in Simon. If Simon survived, he would hold an equal share of the oldest blood. It would come down to a fight. Only one could rule over the city. It would be a battle Ishan was not sure he could overcome. It had taken much more th
an he expected to fend off Peter. With the blood, Simon would be a much worse opponent. He would be an equal match for Ishan.
Ishan turned and looked up at Rachel. He could see the desolation in her eyes. He reached up and took hold of her hand. She looked away as her hand hung perfectly still, purposely not acknowledging Ishan's grip.
"I'm sorry, Rachel. I know what it means to lose someone so close," he whispered. She continued to look away for some time. Then, she glanced back down at him and squeezed his hand attempting to smile.
"I always knew it would happen. I blame only myself," she said.
He was about to argue, but before he could, she put a finger to his lips to quiet him. Then, she bent down and picked him up in a swift yet somehow careful motion. Ishan looked over to see Hank getting up from the ground and brushing sand from his body with a confused and disgusted look on his face. He gazed over at Ishan with a worried expression. Ishan returned the look with one of understanding. He knew now although he won the battle fairly, Peter had also won in an unexpected way by merely calling out his challenge. It would now be inevitable that Hank would no longer wish to stay in Necropolis.
The other vampires dispersed in small, random groups as Rachel carried Ishan back toward the heart of the city accompanied by Stanislov, Edgar, and Hank.
Chapter 13
A Cyclone of Bodies
After a while of riding in Rachel's arms at a human's pace, Ishan could see Kato coming toward them in the distance. He judged that the lone vampire was at least several kilometers ahead and moving closer fast. The other two vampires had since gone on ahead and were now lost in the dark of night. Within several minutes, Kato arrived with a sense of urgency quivering in his tone and every muscle in his body.
"Kato, what is it?"
"They're dead, master. They're all dead except for my brother, thank Anansi," Kato said, praising a god Ishan knew to be from Kato’s native land.
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