Vampire Nation 1: Titan's Story

by Joe Fowler

  “Part of my talk with Arria. It isn’t important. Focus, Trog. We need to be watching Ghost right now.” I mentally told him. I continued out loud as quickly as I could form the words for the others benefit as well as helping me keep Arria’s thoughts of Ares from Trog.

  “By the way, my new name is Titan. I just realized I hadn’t introduced myself.” I smiled hoping the intense part of the conversation was over. I could feel the shift of Trog and Penny’s focus now aimed at Ghost.

  “Titan. The only thing the old gods feared were the titans. Now, what the old ones fear the most is named Titan. Very appropriate.” Loki was smiling now too.

  That was when I realized something that didn’t hit home at first. I tried to hide it in the back of my mind before Trog and Penny could see it. I felt their confusion but I could see that they didn’t know I was trying to hide something from them. Trog was still hung up on the Arria image and Penny was hiding something she wanted to talk to Trog about.

  I needed some time to think and couldn’t do it with everyone here. I also needed to be here right now. My new unlife was getting complicated.

  “We need to change the subject.” Speedy told us. He was still sparring with Hercules but he could see the two vampires coming over to our mat.

  “Are these two of yours?” Ghost asked Loki.

  “No. I don’t know them.” Loki looked around at us. “So, you guys have been pretty successful as a group to only be missing two levels.”

  Loki said this a little loudly since the two new vampires were close enough to hear us now. I smiled inwardly.

  “We were only missing one level until our eighth rounder lost his fight two nights ago. Thankfully our tenth level is gone now. I almost wish he had been the one to lose. He was a total suck up.” Ghost said. He was thinking ahead already.

  The two new vampires had heard the last few statements as they walked up to stand with us. One of them smiled and joined right in.

  “We are having the opposite problem. There are only four of us. Our group has been dropping like flies.” He said it cheerfully enough.

  I was about to speak when I felt their gifts. I could sense them and feel what they could do. One of them was actually poisonous. He had a stinger that extended from one of his fingers that could inject a paralyzing venom. The other one could multiply himself up to four times and control each version of himself individually.

  Wow!

  “Our group has been lucky so far but between me and Hercules, we will probably lose one maybe both of our fights.” Justin said as he dodged an attack by Penny.

  “Which levels are you? I will tell you what you will face from our guys in your round.” The new one said.

  “I am third level and Hercules is round four.” Justin replied.

  “Well, we don’t have a fourth, but our third rounder is tough. She can avoid. She only has average strength and speed but her gift seems to get her out of the way of any attack. I’ve sparred with her and she is tough to get a hold of. My name is Scorpion and this is Schizoid.” He seemed overly helpful but I wasn’t arguing. If he could help us to keep Justin alive, then more power to him.

  “I’m Ghost, eighth level. This is second level Titan, seventh level Trog, sixth level Penny, third level Justin, tenth level Speedy, and fourth level Hercules from our group. Loki and Vlad are from the other group.” Ghost did the introductions pointing at each as he said their name. “Which level are you guys?”

  “I’m ninth level and Schizoid is tenth. What about your levels?” He directed his question at Loki.

  “Vlad is fourth round and I am ninth. We may have to fight.” Loki actually smiled at Scorpion. I felt his inner laughter and knew why.

  Loki knew there were mind readers in our group before he got to us. He was really smart to hide part of his gift. He didn’t mind everyone knowing he could sense their gifts, he just didn’t want it known that he could nullify those gifts in a fight. Trog and Penny hadn’t seen this and I felt the same need to keep this knowledge from them. I was careful and it seemed Loki was accustomed to this. I guessed they had a mind reader among his group as well.

  When they saw his smile and heard his inner laugh, Trog and Penny became confused. They understood that Loki would know of Scorpion’s gift and couldn’t believe he would have that reaction knowing he might have to face that in the arena.

  I didn’t enlighten them.

  “We’ll see. How many groups are there going to be tonight? I hope it isn’t another of those ten group nights. That took forever!” Scorpion said.

  “Wow, the seven we had a couple of nights ago was the biggest I had seen. I hope I don’t have to wait that long!” Speedy’s impatience was well known to me already.

  All during the conversation, I had been reading what I could from Scorpion and Schizoid. I saw enough to know I couldn’t trust them enough to tell them. Trog didn’t come to the same conclusion.

  I looked over at Ghost. It took a moment for him to see me staring but when I caught his eye, I gave him a slight shake of the head. I did basically the same for Loki. They needed to know not to say the wrong thing.

  These two had formidable gifts but I didn’t like what I saw in their minds. Trog started to try and convince me but I cut him off before he started. I mentally said “no” as firmly as I could without shouting it.

  Eventually, the others returned to their groups and our group headed back to our rooms.

  I was reigning in my mind reading ability since Ghost’s racing thoughts were giving me both a headache and a complex. I was beginning to feel stupid after watching the mind of Ghost for the last few years.

  “Here, you might as well get it over with.” Ghost entered my room with me and shut the door behind us. He walked to me and held out his arm. I drank until I felt his ability added to my growing collection. I also picked up a curiosity out of his mind, by accident. In one of the scenarios that flew through his mind, he saw holes in our little group. He didn’t have everything figured out yet but he would soon.

  “Thank you, Ghost. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you sooner.”

  “After thinking it through, I would have done the same in your place. I have tried to act as aloof as I could and I admit I do have a cruel streak. I didn’t appear to be trustworthy. It was kind of my plan from the start. I’m not the kind who cares about having friends.” He turned to leave but stopped at the door. “If we all make it through these fights, we can continue to help. That should be our primary goal for now. Getting as many of our real friends through the fights as possible.”

  Ghost left before I could respond.

  I sat on the bed to think. We added three new friends to the group. Loki and Vlad would die before they said anything, of course they knew they would die if they did say anything. The old ones would see to that.

  Ghost might turn out to be a great addition. I was in awe of his mind. He might be able to see many things that Trog, Penny, and I would overlook. I hoped to be able to keep as many of them as I could. I knew any one of them could lose their next fight.

  I ended up laying down. I knew I would be asleep soon and I welcomed the thought. I was still a bit confused by why I was so sleepy as a vampire. We didn’t get tired unless we overused our abilities or healing. They warned me about the healing.

  I thought back to those last human days. Sleep was wanted and needed and very…

  .

  Chapter 6

  I woke up to pounding on my door. I stumbled in that direction and opened it to see Cerrus standing there. He looked pissed.

  “Why is it so hard to wake you? You should have been up and alert from the first knock, not the twentieth!” Cerrus exclaimed.

  “I’m sorry, Cerrus. I can’t seem to help it.” I muttered. I was still partly asleep.

  “Arria wants to speak with you again.” Cerrus sneered.

  I searched through his mind as quickly as I could. The old ones were pissed that such a large group of us were standing around talking instead
of training.

  “I will be ready in a moment.” I changed my shirt and grabbed my shoes. I moved quickly since I knew better than to keep Arria waiting.

  Cerrus looked back at me when we started to leave and sneered, “Do try and keep up.”

  He took off at a full sprint. I was no more than a step behind him. I had to hold back now to keep from running over him.

  Speedy’s gift did make me faster.

  Cerrus turned his head during a long straight stretch of hallway. His face crumpled when he saw me right on his heels keeping up easily. His thoughts were a jumbled mass of explicatives for the rest of the way to Arria’s suite.

  It took Arria less than a year to answer her door after Cerrus knocked. She looked at me and fixed herself to be stern even though she didn’t want to be.

  “Leave us Cerrus.” She ordered.

  “I thought you would wa--”

  “I said leave.” Her voice scared the hell out of me and I wasn’t the one the comment was directed at.

  Needless to say, Cerrus left in a rush.

  Arria stood to the side to let me enter her room. Her mind was still filled with mixed emotions. She knew she needed to scold me, maybe punish me. She really didn’t want to though.

  “Something is going on. I can’t put my finger on it but something feels off.” Arria mumbled. Arria’s words scared me, until I realized she wasn’t talking about my situation. She was speaking of something to do with the other old ones. I could sense her confusion. She regained some of her focus and turned her attention back to me. “Why were so many of you gathered around our area talking? Fighters from three different groups shouldn’t be chatting as friends. You know this and so does Trog.”

  “We were sparring like we normally would when the first two walked up. They were bored since they had been sparring for weeks without an actual fight. The second group came up and…” I stopped as I started to realize a few things. The second group were so willing to help. Trog seemed like he really wanted to add them to our group when it was fairly obvious they shouldn’t be trusted. He was against telling Loki who was trustworthy. I remembered the image of Trog and Cerrus talking that I had dismissed as nothing. I thought of the mixed emotions Cerrus had as well as the joy that Arria and I hadn’t slept together.

  “And what? I like our talks but I am still your old one and it is my responsibility when you make a mistake. Now please tell me what is going on before I really get upset.” Arria’s mind was on the verge of rage but there was a nagging fear that she couldn’t shake.

  “Arria, I think you were right. I think there is something happening that feels off. I know you are not in the mood to be lenient with me right now, but can I have a minute to think something through? I will try and hurry.” I pleaded.

  “Make it quick.” Her tone let me know I didn’t have long.

  Trog had been as cold toward me as Speedy when we first met. It wasn’t until he saw how tough I was that he seemed to want to be friends so badly. He was so happy to tell the others in our group even though I was mostly against it. He was so damn interested in every conversation I had with Arria and Cerrus. Some of Trog’s expressions that I couldn’t identify were making more sense to me now.

  Trog was working with Cerrus against Arria. It made sense that another old one was behind it but I had no proof. The obvious suspect would be the mind reading old one who told Arria of our deception about my speed. I had no way of knowing until I could be in the same room with him again but then he might see my added ability and connect me to the gift Ares had.

  Arria let out an impatient sigh. I looked up at her and knew I needed to say something. I needed to say something now was what her mind was telling me.

  “Trog and Cerrus are spying on you. They may be working for another old one against you.” I blurted out.

  Arria opened her mouth to respond but she regathered herself and thought for a day. Her mind knew I was on to something with Cerrus. She had seen some things that were suspicious as well.

  “I don’t have any proof. I know I am right though.” I would need to be extra careful on how I handled this. I couldn’t mention what I had seen in someone’s thoughts. That was the main source of information for me. I knew if I made the mistake of saying something about my mind reading, Arria would figure out my true gift. “Penny may be a part of it as well since she and Trog are so close and it would be very hard to keep this from her. The second group that came to our mat was being overly helpful. I knew right away not to trust them but Trog seemed to want to be as friendly toward them as possible. I don’t know the old one they belong to but that might be a place to start.”

  “I am not sure I believe any of this but I will humor you since I have had the feeling that something was off lately.” Arria sighed and sat in her chair. “What can you tell me of the second group? I know you don’t know any of the other old ones but I need to know which group they belonged to.”

  “They were with the group that only has four fighters left. That’s not counting their newbie that will make his first fight coming up. The two fighter’s names were Scorpion and Schizoid. Does that help?”

  “I know which old one they belong to but he isn’t the problem. He and I have already discussed the distrust in his facility. He had to execute several employees recently when he found out they were spying on him. He never found out who they were working for.” Arria rubbed her temples like her head was hurting. “We aren’t the only two old ones to have these problems lately. I’ve spoken to some others who have found spies of their own. None of the ones caught will talk. They know they will be executed anyway so they make sure not to tell who they were working for.”

  “Do you know why they are spying? Do you know if these others that were caught were all working for the same purpose? Is all of this leading to one thing?” I asked. Knowing those answers would help me tremendously.

  “Not exactly sure of much right now. Like I said, the ones that were caught believed in their purpose enough to remain silent through their torture and execution.”

  I sat thinking. I decided to attack this from a different angle.

  “What do the big movements involve through the vampire world? Maybe I’m not saying that well enough. What are the big debates? What are the hot topics among those vampires that want change?” I asked.

  I spent the next span of time watching Arria’s thoughts. She flipped through one thing heading right into and through the next.

  “I see where you are going with this. The most likely topics all include the fights in one way or another. There is a small group who have been trying to enlarge the availability of the fights. They want any vampire, who has enough money, to be eligible to field his own team of fighters regardless of that vampire’s age. There is a much larger group that doesn’t think a vampire should have to have a lot of money. They want some ‘public’ event facilities to be built so they can hold their fights without needing the money to build their own. There has always been a faction who want a way to add the rich humans without making them fight. Finally, there is a growing faction that want the fights to be stopped altogether. This group has always been around too. They have grown drastically over the last few decades because of the increasing number of fights.”

  That was the information I needed. Now I would need the time to process all of it. Once again I was wishing I had Ghost’s brain.

  “I know I haven’t given you proof to go along with my accusations but I am sure of what I said. I need some time to process all of what we talked about as well as the other information I haven’t gone through yet.” I sighed. I knew what needed to happen now. I turned off my mind reading. “You need to punish me now. Some yelling and maybe a few punches. Trog and Cerrus need to see that I suffered. I think it’s the best way to get more from them. Besides, if the other old ones hear about this, then they will know you punished me for our transgression like they would want.”

  “Let me guess, you want to be able to have the images
of me hitting you for Trog to see in your mind. That way he will believe he can make you turn against me.” Arria smiled but then her face collapsed and hardened. “The only problem with your idea comes from my experience. If you are the one spying, then this would raise others to your cause. I have seen this trick done before. I am trying to believe the best of you but how do I know?”

  “Trog once told me that old ones can tell when one of us lies to them. Is that true?” I asked her hoping it was indeed true.

  “To a greater or lesser degree, it is true.”

  “Then Arria, I will say this as best I can.” I looked Arria in the eye while I spoke. “I am not acting against you in anyway. I like you. I respect the ways of the council with the only exception being the amusement of the old ones with our life and death struggles in the arena. I do believe the fights are necessary. I believe there should be less fights, not more. I am not acting as a spy for anyone unless I am your spy. I will be trying to find out who Trog and Cerrus work for as well as finding out why they are doing this. Is there anything else you need me to say to convince you?”

  Arria studied me. She scanned my face looking for any sign of a lie.

  “You weren’t lying. I do believe you.” She sat back in her chair and sank into deep thought. I let her take her time. I kept a distant watch on her thoughts but wasn’t paying too much attention. I was already trying to put some of the new information together in my head. After what I would think of as few minutes, Arria rose to her feet. “I am sorry for this but you know it is necessary. You said it yourself.”

  “I understand.” I stood up to take my punishment.

  Arria mentally went through the things she would say while she punished me. She made sure to word it properly so it would sound natural. Once she was ready to begin, she nodded sadly to let me prepare myself.

  Once when I was a teenager, I was stuck in a traffic jam because of a wreck. When I finally made it to where the crash had occurred, I saw a few mangled parts of a van that had been almost disintegrated by a head on collision with a semi. That is the closest description I can make for what Arria’s fist felt like.