Vampire Nation 1: Titan's Story

by Joe Fowler

  The second rounder from last night walked by and saw the crowd in my room through the open door. He hesitated like he wanted to join in but was about to walk away.

  “Come on in, Justin.” Trog told him. “You haven’t actually met Ethan have you?”

  “No, not formally.” He nodded at me and I returned the gesture. “You took your fight easily enough. I wish I had your gifts.”

  “You don’t know the half of it. Earlier, Ethan beat me, Speedy, and Trog at the same time. We all attacked him and ended up on our butts looking up at him.” Hercules said with a laugh and a shake of his massive chrome dome.

  “Wow! My gift is useless in the fights. What good is it to be able to walk in the sunlight if you never earn the freedom to do it?” Justin said, sadly.

  I wanted to grab his wrist and drink right then. That would definitely be a helpful gift for me to have and I would survive the fights.

  I looked to Trog to apologize with my thoughts but he was looking at Penny with a look of real concentration. Trog glanced over at Speedy and then at Hercules. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking.

  “Shut the door, Justin. There is something we need to say. If Ethan trusts us enough, that is.” Trog looked at me expectantly. I couldn’t believe he was wanting to tell them.

  “Are you sure. You know what this could mean. My death and maybe your own.” I reminded him.

  “I can read everyone’s mind in this room and so can Penny. We both agree. If our team of fighters are willing to add their gifts, then it will be better.” Trog stated. “I will vouch for them. I have spent the last few minutes listening to Speedy and Hercules’s minds. I know how much this would mean to them.”

  “Would the two of you just tell us already? What the hell is going on?” The impatient Speedy nearly shouted.

  “Ethan?” Trog was waiting for me to give the ok.

  “Maybe this will show you.” I said. I held out my hand and let the spike I acquired from last night’s fight, shoot out of my arm. I held it up for them to look at.

  “What the hell? How did you do that?” Speedy asked.

  “It was the gift of the one I killed last night. When I drank from him, I felt the twinge in my arm letting me know I had the spike there. The strength and speed aren’t my gift. I am like what we were talking about. I can acquire other vampires’ gifts when I drink from them.”

  The others were stunned into silence. I sat there with my head down wondering what was going through their minds. We stayed like that for a few minutes, maybe an hour, I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was surprised by what actually happened.

  Justin’s arm was held out to me. When I looked up at him, he nodded. Before he could change his mind, I drank some of his blood. I knew when his gift had been given to me. I sat back releasing his arm.

  Penny’s arm was next. She smiled when I looked at her. I drank from her until I felt her gift within me.

  “I don’t know if it will help but you are welcome to drink from me too.” Hercules told me. “You are already stronger than me so I doubt it will help you.”

  “I think it will. Your strength was your gift. Ethan’s strength all came from when he drank from Arria when he was turned. He got some of her strength but not all of it since his own gift wasn’t fully formed yet. Your gift will make him stronger.” Trog said. I wasn’t as sure but I was willing to try.

  Hercules gave me his arm and again, I drank until I knew his gift was now mine. Speedy had his arm there as soon as I pulled away from Hercules. I could feel each gift within me.

  “Thank you all. You need to know how important it is to keep this quiet though. If Arria finds out, we all die. Well, I would anyway. I don’t know if she would come after any of you or not. Just be careful about this.”

  “We would all die. If she learns that we covered for you, even donated our own abilities, she would kill us all.” Penny stated.

  “Well, I won’t have to worry about it too much. I won’t last much longer.” Hercules said, sadly.

  “Right there with you big guy. I am still shocked to have won the first two.” Justin added. “I am glad someone will get to enjoy the sun again though.”

  I was having to get used to the echo. I would hear the thought of what was going to be said right before the words were spoken.

  “It takes some getting used to. Give it time.” Trog said, in a comforting manner. It was still weird hearing it inside my head though.

  Penny laughed.

  “You realize we will have an audience when we are talking, right? We’ll need to behave now.” She told Trog. He started laughing too.

  “Great, now they will just think to each other and we won’t get to hear any of it.” Speedy said. He was smiling though.

  “We’ll get left out of all the good conversations.” Hercules added.

  “Maybe not. Again, thanks for this.” I said, as sincerely as I could.

  “I didn’t do it for you. I hope to see you rip as many of those old ones’ heads off as you can. If possible, let me be there to watch!” Speedy said.

  His sentiments were echoed both mentally and out loud by Hercules. Trog and Penny were along the same lines but with less vigor. Justin was hoping I would do what was right, whatever that turned out to be.

  “Will do.” I said, with a nod at Speedy.

  “Why haven’t you packed yet?” Speedy asked.

  “I’ve been busy talking since I got back from my shower. I guess I do need to do that.” I said, as I stood up.

  “Make sure you take anything in this room that you like. It might not be here when you get back. I’ve had several things go missing.” Speedy informed me.

  “What do we do with our dirty clothes? Is there a washing machine here?” I asked.

  “Yep. They should have provided enough new clothes for the trip but when we get back, I will show you the laundry room.” Trog offered.

  “I keep being surprised by the size of this place. How big is this facility?” I asked.

  “None of us know for sure. I tried to draw it out once but I was too limited since there is so much of it I haven’t seen.” Speedy said. Since he had been here the longest, there wasn’t much more to be said about it.

  Once I was done packing, we sat around while Trog and Penny gave us a tutorial on controlling your thoughts around mind readers. I would be learning more in the coming days but these other guys needed to be able to keep my secret.

  “You really need to watch when we are paraded in front of the old ones. One of them from last night was a mind reader. He told Arria about Ethan holding back when he sparred with Speedy. If you guys remember, he was the one who was really paying attention. Good looking, appeared to be around thirty, and seemed interested in us. The rest of them were talking and paid us no mind.” Trog said.

  “I remember him. He stared at me funny and I couldn’t figure out why.” Justin sounded a little spooked.

  “He was wishing he could go out in daylight. I caught that much from him.” Penny enlightened us.

  “The main thing is to never think about Ethan’s true gift in front of vampires we don’t know. As far as anyone else is concerned, Ethan’s gifts are strength and speed. That’s it. If we get one of the mind readers that can dig through your memories, then we’re screwed. That was the one reason I hesitated before telling you guys about him. The more of us there are with this information, the more danger we are in.” Trog explained.

  “So Ghost will be the only one of ours that won’t know. It’s too bad we couldn’t get the other groups of fighters to contribute. Ethan could really gather some strength that way.” Hercules lamented.

  “Once I am done with the ten fights, I am hoping I will be able to gather many more. I just don’t know enough about the situation to know for sure. I have no idea if I will even get the chance to drink from another vampire once I am free.”

  Since none of us knew what was to come, they couldn’t give me any answers on that poin
t. We talked of lighter things until Cerrus came for us. He wasn’t pleased to see all of us in the same room but he didn’t say anything about it.

  My new mind reading would come in handy. I could already see that. Cerrus was the first one to surprise me with a thought.

  He was torn between who he hated most, me or Arria.

  Chapter 4

  We were led through the hallways into a long shaft that gradually went up. This shaft seemed to go on for miles. When we finally reached the end, we were in an airplane hangar. Arria’s plane was one of those expensive private jets. We walked up the stair ramp into the plane. I was finally getting to see how the rich lived.

  I followed Trog and Speedy to the rear of the plane. We sat in the back section with Penny. Justin and Hercules sat in the row ahead of us. Ghost and some vampire employees filled in the rest of the seats.

  I want to say we were only sitting for a few minutes before the plane left the hangar, but I felt a little confused about the span of time. I loved that whoosh when the plane took off. It was more pronounced on this smaller jet. I had only been on one of the big passenger planes once before this.

  Since the mind reading was still new to me, I tried to test it out some. I could reach the end of our cabin, but not into the front of the plane where Arria would be. So around a thirty foot range. I could feel the minds of the fighters and employees but had to focus to hear their thoughts.

  I decided to see what the employees were thinking to see if I could get more information about what comes after the fights. I chose a big burly vampire first.

  I hate these stupid fights. Hated them when I was a part of them and I hate them now. All those rich pricks sitting around betting more money than I’ll ever have. They don’t even care if they win their bets or not. The old ones care more about the bragging rights of saying they have the toughest fighters…

  I wasn’t expecting that much anger. I moved on to the next employee. She was a small framed blonde. I focused on her.

  Wish I was still fighting. This job is the most boring thing ever. I have to stand there and watch these idiots have all the fun. Watching is nowhere near the same as getting to fight. My job isn’t even necessary. If some young vampire wanted to start trouble, he wouldn’t do it when there are several old ones present. He would wait until there weren’t any old ones around…

  I didn’t think the employees would actually miss being in the fights but she obviously did.

  I decided to focus on Ghost next. He had seemed to be very cruel so far. I focused on him to see if it was true.

  Get a grip. There is still a long time before the fight. I wish Arria would let us have books. I miss reading. Nothing can calm my nerves better than a good book…

  I was interrupted by Trog’s voice. I looked over at him in the aisle beside me to see him and Penny smiling at me.

  “Not what you were expecting? Most will surprise you. Ghost does have a cruel streak, but it is more out of anger from being put in this situation. He is too iffy to bring into the group. He would turn us in for one book to read.” Trog’s sad laughter filled my head.

  “The employees hate their jobs. I wasn’t expecting that either.” I said in return.

  “See, I knew we would start missing out.” Speedy said, laughing. He was looking back and forth between Trog and me. He knew we were talking and couldn’t help but poke fun at us. He was amused, not angry.

  I smiled and so did Trog and Penny. Speedy was turning out to be a real friend. That first night, which is so hard to believe was last night, of sparring with him gave me the wrong impression altogether. He seemed angry and mean, which he is, only he is angry at Arria and the other old ones for their idea of amusement.

  Speedy and I exchanged small talk for a while. The little things like where are you from and what did you do for a living, had a sad quality to them now. The talking dwindled as we continued to fly.

  I must have dozed off since Speedy was shaking me. I woke to see the others standing to leave. That was something new for me. I didn’t think vampires could take naps since we don’t normally get tired. It was also new because even in my human life, sleep had become a rarity.

  I grabbed my bag and followed the line as we got off the plane.

  We were in another hangar. There were two other planes here, each as nice as Arria’s. We followed a local vampire through a door into a shaft. A few miles later, the shaft opened up to a huge waiting room. We were instructed to have a seat. Arria left by a side door. I was walking with our group when Cerrus came and guided me away. We took a different door than the one Arria went through.

  I was amused to find myself liking that these walls were painted beige instead of that same old dull green. The floors were the same though. Almost identical scuffmarks.

  As I followed Cerrus, I went through his mind to see where we were going. I became distracted by a brief image of him and Trog talking but it was only a fleeting image. I focused again.

  Arria wanted to talk to me some more. We were headed to her room. Obviously, they had come here often enough that Cerrus knew his way around. He didn’t know what Arria wanted to speak with me about. He didn’t get to question her orders, he just had to follow them.

  I listened to him grumble as we walked. He still couldn’t believe some newbie could be a match for him. He wished he had used his gift of teleporting against me. He wondered what I would have done then.

  I can’t say that I was amused by his thoughts, since they involved ripping my head off. I stopped listening before we got where we were headed.

  Arria’s quarters were beyond extravagant. I could have retired and lived comfortably on what they spent in this room. The old ones weren’t lacking in money. They were showing that at every turn.

  “Wait here. Arria needs to speak with the old one here to let them know we have arrived. She will be back shortly. Don’t touch anything. Some of this stuff is worth more than you will ever know.” Cerrus said, coldly. He turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.

  I picked a chair and sat. I didn’t mind the wait. Since the attack at the diner, I had been constantly surrounded by others when I wasn’t asleep. This would give me a chance to get some quiet time.

  After what I guessed was two hours, although in my confusion with time spans it could have been longer or shorter, I had enough quiet time. Where was she?

  I began pacing the floor. I saw after my second pass that I had been walking on a rug that looked really expensive. I decided to sit back down before I wore a hole in it. Arria finally showed about twenty minutes, or maybe two days, after I sat back down.

  I stood to greet her but she waved me back into my seat. She began carelessly shedding her clothes. I was filled with the usual nervousness I felt when I was near her. Her getting naked wasn’t helping.

  “This dress is magnificent but it is uncomfortable as hell.” She grumbled as she continued to undress.

  I listened lightly to her thoughts. She was smiling in her mind. She loved showing off her body. I couldn’t blame her for that. She was easily the most stunning woman I had even seen. She wondered briefly if she should let me become overly acquainted with her but decided against it. She was attracted to me but wasn’t sure enough of my loyalty.

  She sighed as she began to dress in more comfortable attire. I was amused to see her shake her head as she decided against undergarments. She finished putting on a loose fitting dress that allowed her more freedom and sat in a chair across from me.

  “Much better. As an old one, I am expected to dress a certain way. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She smiled at me before she continued. “I am having a tough time with your new name. I was hoping you would help me.”

  “Sure. I am willing to help you any way I can, Arria.” I told her. I tried to speak lightly but my nervousness made my words falter a little.

  I heard her mind laugh. It turns out that Arria’s gift is emotional control. She was laughing in her mind because she had made the old
one here squirm in fear of her. She turned it off so I wouldn’t have to feel that nervousness right now.

  “You need a name that shows power but all of those names have been used so many times before. I can’t count how many times I have watched someone named Zeus, Thor, or Odin fight in the arena. I want something better for you. I had originally planned on calling you Adonis because of how good you look. Now that I see how powerful you are, I want something better than that. Do you have any ideas?”

  “Does it have to be the name of a god? I need to know what parameters there are.” I was at a loss.

  “Most of the really old ones, like myself, like to use the old names when we get a special fighter. You may be the most special yet.” Arria’s mind was thinking about more intimate things than my new name. She had turned off the nervousness but I was still a bit tongue tied from the images I could see in her head.

  “Well, what can rival a god? If all of the god’s names have been overused, then we need something that can lend the same intensity.” I pulled out of Arria’s mind so I could think a little straighter.

  “That’s it! In the old days, the titans were as feared as the gods were. Now, should I name you after a specific titan or just let your new name be Titan?” She let that question hang in the air for a moment.

  “I like Titan. I think it serves the purpose and sounds intimidating enough.” I said, with a smile.

  “Titan it is.” Her answering smile was beautiful. I would need to watch myself around her. When she let her guard down like this, I could easily get tied up with her beauty. That might be really dangerous. She stood and walked over to a rope hanging by her bed. She pulled the rope twice in quick succession. “Have you eaten today?”

  “Just a little. I wasn’t too hungry but fed a little.” I figured that was close enough to the truth. She laughed.

  “You will learn to drink what blood you can, when you can. Before we became organized, vampires would gorge themselves when they could because they might be running for their lives for a week or more afterward. We could kill a hundred humans without too much danger to ourselves but there was always that second and third hundred that would get you eventually. It is much better for our kind now.” She shook her head to get her mind back on the present. “Anyway, there are a couple of donors being brought in now. Don’t kill them, just take enough. These donors are working toward becoming vampires themselves.”