by Joe Fowler
These donors were all fairly young. Early twenties or late teens as far as I could tell. I drank until I neared my donor’s breaking point. I still hated the taste but knew it would help me. I wondered if I was the first vampire who hated the taste of blood. After the donors left, I decided to ask.
“Is it wrong that I hate the taste of blood?”
Both Arria and Lorac were shocked. They were both stunned into silence. It took three days for Lorac to speak.
“Has it been that way since you were turned or is that new?”
“Since I was turned. I hated it then and it hasn’t gotten any better. I guess I’m just different in every way.” I felt a little dejected.
“Titan, there was more that I was wanting to speak to you about but it can wait. I think Arria and I have some talking to do. I would advise going to the donor room now. Remember to drink when you can.” Lorac said.
“I will.” I started walking to the door. Arria met me there. We shared a kiss before I left.
I went to the donor room straightaway. My donor was a bearded man in his forties. He seemed to accept his fate. As I drank, his sad memories of a hard life fill my mind. He had worked his ass off and had nothing to show for it. Bad luck and misfortune had plagued him. I drained him dry.
I made it back to my room eventually. I knocked on Sweetie’s door in case she needed me. She did. We headed to my room. Fake Apollo made a brief stop to see if I had anything important to say. Since I didn’t, he went to his room. Trog walked past without saying anything. Penny stayed in her room. I wasn’t sure with Charles. I couldn’t feel his mind. I had thought him to be in the room beside me. Maybe he was in the showers or something.
The blood I drank had revitalized me somewhat. I wasn’t sleepy at the moment. Sweetie sat on the floor beside my bed. She was reliving one of her childhood memories. Her illusions had become her entertainment. I have to admit, it could be much better than television.
I sat on my bed not knowing what to think about. I had done all the serious thinking I wanted to do for a while. I didn’t have any lighter subjects anymore. I searched my brain for something pleasing but only thought of Arria. I was afraid of spending too much time thinking of her. I already felt the strong need to be with her. Any thoughts of her would make my desire that much harder to control.
I felt the presence of someone other than me and Sweetie. I looked around but didn’t see the invisibility gift. All I saw was my room. I wondered what could do this. Sweetie was still in her illusion. Illusion!
“Noah?” I asked. Sweetie looked up at me. She then looked around but she didn’t see anything either.
“Damn, you’re good.” He said, as he appeared in my room. “Very few would have sensed me and even fewer would figure out that it was an illusion.”
“How did you do that? Wait, you cast your illusion so we would see this room and each other as it would be without you. Right?” Sweetie asked.
“Very good. I take it you’ve put some thought into that illusion yourself.” Noah seemed genuinely pleased that Sweetie figured it out.
“I’ve thought of it but wasn’t sure if it would work. Now I know. Thank you!” She smiled up at Noah. He smiled back before returning his attention to me.
“Arria is fairly sure no one will try anything. I am not so certain. The other old ones would love to assassinate you and have Arria blame the council. That would start a war between council members. There are a lot of old ones who would love that. Gray and I, along with a few others, will be watching over you when we can. It will be rare that you will be truly alone.” Noah stated these things in a warm tone. I felt like he cared about my safety. I tried to remind myself that he would have been trained for that but I couldn’t shake the real kindness I felt from him.
“Thank you, Noah. Please make sure Gray and the others know how much I appreciate all the help.” I said, as sincerely as I could.
“I will. Now, try and act like I am not here.” He smiled broadly before he disappeared.
Sweetie and I remained quiet. She stayed in her illusions and I tried to occupy my thoughts with good things. We weren’t disturbed for several weeks. Trog came in with Charles.
“Charles needs to spar with someone who can keep up with him. You are the only one we have that can.” Trog said.
“No problem.” I stood and looked to Sweetie. “You want to come to the training room with us or stay in your room?”
The fact that she thought about it first was a good sign.
“Training room.” She replied.
We headed that way.
I counted eight groups, ours included, in the training room. The bright orange walls were still bothering me a little. We chose a mat near the wall, as had become our custom. Sweetie and Trog took spots by the mat to watch. I squared off with Charles.
“What was it you were hoping to see?” I asked Charles.
“Mostly, how to defend when someone can move like me. I want to be prepared for someone else who might have the speed gift.” He said.
“I will attack. It may take me a minute to adjust to a good speed. I don’t want to move too fast for you, or too slow to do you any good. I will make a few passes to narrow down where I need to be.” I told him.
We took fighting stances. I attacked way too fast the first time. He never even changed his stance. The second was much closer to the speed I needed to use. He moved to block but couldn’t quite do it. By the third pass, I had his speed down well enough. We sparred like that for an indefinite period of time. Everything took an indefinite period of time now.
“Titan.” Trog said.
I looked up expecting him to finish but he was staring at something else. I followed his gaze to the other groups in the training room. They were all looking at me. They had stopped what they were doing and were staring openly. I grew angry. I wanted to yell at them to see what their problem was. I started to put up an illusion to keep them from being able to see us. Instead, I walked toward the other groups and held my hands out to the side.
“Can I help you? If anyone has a problem with me and wants to talk peacefully, feel welcome. Otherwise, quit staring!” I said, loudly. I wanted to make sure they all heard.
One by one they returned to their own business. All but one. The one I couldn’t see a gift for. He was still staring. He took a few steps toward me but was stopped by one of his group. They traded a few words and the unreadable one continued toward me.
“Peaceful, remember?” He said to open things up. He had his hands raised in the surrender position.
“I don’t know what everyone has heard but I’m actually a nice guy. Or at least I try to be. I won’t attack you. We can talk.” I assured him. I tried to read his mind but there was nothing there. It wasn’t that he was blocking, there was just nothing there.
“I have a problem and I was hoping you could help.” He swallowed hard like he was embarrassed. I nodded encouragingly, wanting him to continue.
“If I can help, I will.”
“My mind is unraveling. Cadoc, my old one, says there is nothing that can be done. I don’t have much hope but you seemed to be the most likely one that could.” He stated sadly.
“If I find the solution, I will let you know. I need you to try and keep what I am about to say a secret.” I wasn’t sure about this but I figured he would be trustworthy since we were going through the same thing. He nodded to say he would. “I am going through the same thing. Sleeping and can’t keep track of time, right?”
“You! You are the most powerful one short of the old ones. How could this be happening to you?” He was flabbergasted.
“Whatever causes the unraveling doesn’t care what your gift is. How bad is it for you?” I asked.
“I visit the donor room twice a day, draining each one completely. Still, I can’t stay awake for more than two, maybe three hours. It is so confusing and frustrating. I almost lost my last fight because I was fighting to stay awake while I was in the arena.” He sounded lik
e I felt, only worse.
“What is your gift?” I asked.
“My gift was teleporting. I can’t teleport any more. My mind has gotten too scattered.” He hung his head as he admitted that.
“I am sorry. I can sympathize with you to a point. My gifts are still active, thankfully. With all the people that are trying to kill me, I wouldn’t last a day if my gifts became unusable.” I shuddered at the thought. “What is your name?”
“Sleepy. Cadoc laughed when he named me. I had already lost the ability to stay awake for longer than a few hours. He is an asshole.”
“Well, if I find a cure, I will let you know. We are looking for a healer. It is rare but some are reborn with the gift of healing. I’m hoping we can find one.” I told him. He looked like he had been told of the rarity of them already.
“Thanks for talking to me. I won’t tell anyone about you having the same problem.” Sleepy turned and walked away.
I didn’t want to spar anymore. I didn’t want to tell Trog what the conversation was about. I didn’t want to be in this situation. I wanted to go to Arria’s suite and spend whatever time I had left with her. I stood there thinking these thoughts for six hours. Then with a sigh, I returned to our mat and sparred some more with Charles.
Trog waited until we were headed back to our rooms. I was impressed he could.
“What was that conversation about?” He asked.
“I am not the only one who has trouble judging time.” Was all I was going to say. Trog backed off.
Sweetie and I went to my room. The others were nice enough to give me some time. I didn’t mind Sweetie’s presence. She had become a comfort to me. I didn’t need to be reminded that she had saved my life.
I fell asleep. No big surprise there.
When I woke, my door was closed and there was an invisible gift sitting in my chair.
“Hello, Gray. Any idea how long I slept, or more to the point, how long before the others wake?” I could tell I had slept for a long time, maybe seven weeks.
“You slept for the rest of the night and through the day. I’ve been here for twelve hours and you had been asleep for a while when I arrived.” She became visible after she spoke. “The others will be waking anytime now. You’re getting worse aren’t you?”
“I don’t know. I can still think and my gifts are still active. I met one of Cadoc’s fighters. His mind is gone to the point he can’t use his gift anymore. He is farther along than I am.” I rubbed my hand over my face. I wanted to wipe the cares away but just the fact of Gray watching over my sleep was a sometimes visible reminder of my situation.
“Good morning. You need time or you ready for company?” Penny asked.
“Give me some time. I will open my door when I am ready for everyone.” I thought to her.
“Sorry, Penny was asking if I was ready for company.” Gray could tell I was using my mind reading.
“If you are, I can go.” Gray said.
“Not ready yet. I’m mulling over too many things. The way Trog is acting, the way Penny has been, and the way I feel like I need to see Arria more, have been pressing on my brain.” I stopped and looked at Gray. I hesitated an hour extra since her expression caught me off guard. “Are the fights tonight or tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow. Today is the day the council will meet to talk. You may get called to join in. Our bunch hopes they do ask to meet you. We think they will appreciate your mindset and realize you aren’t a danger to them.” Gray told me.
“Thanks, for both the info and that opinion. I just hope they will listen.” I smiled at her. I realized how tired and bored she must be. “I should be alright now. You should get some rest, you must be tired.”
“I am. I know the guarantees made by the council. Keep your eyes open anyway.” She warned. She then promptly disappeared. My door opened and stayed that way.
After a few days of sitting there, I decided to go to the donor room. I was looking more to the scuffed hardwood than I was to the purple walls. I almost didn’t see the vampire headed my way until it was too late.
“Wow, so you’re Titan.” He said, mockingly. His gift was speed. His mind was blocked.
“Who are you?” I asked. I tried to sound bored.
“Roadrunner. All the fuss over you.” He shook his head. “You just don’t look like much to me.”
“Then you should get your eyes checked.”
He appreciated that. He laughed in good humor. Once that was calmed down, he smirked. I got the impression he was goading me. He must have an ulterior motive since he would know he couldn’t win.
“Let me guess, you were told to start trouble with me, so the council would have to punish me. Am I right? Or, are you working for a lessor old one who just wants to cause problems?” I asked him, knowing he wouldn’t answer.
“What makes you think I am acting for someone else?” He asked.
“Because you couldn’t be so suicidal that you would poke a fight with me unless you were getting paid or promised future rewards. That wouldn’t make any sense. You would have zero chance if we fought and whoever is paying you knows that. I am fairly sure you would die by their hands before they would pay you anyway. It’s called covering your tracks. The old ones believe in that because if they don’t cover their tracks, Arria would be pissed. Even the council members don’t want a pissed off Arria on their hands.”
His smirk faded. He lowered his gaze and thought. I don’t know how long it took him but when he looked up at me again, his demeanor had changed.
“I won’t cause any trouble.” He started to walk away.
“Who were you doing this for? If you answer truthfully, with your mind open to me, I will let you walk away. Otherwise, I will be taking you to Arria so she can question you.”
“I was approached by several. Two of them just wanted me to start trouble, like what I was doing. One was named David. He is a little man that works for Pyro. The other was Gorgon, an ugly bastard that works for Lajos. I told them I would act if I got the chance.” I could see each of the ones he named in his mind. I saw the meetings he had. I could see how scared he was, both of me and of Arria. It was the knowledge that I spoke the truth about them killing him instead of paying him that changed his mind. “What are you going to do?”
“Go. Return to your room. Act like this didn’t happen. If I need you to verify what you told me, you will be protected against retaliation by them.”
“Thank you.” He said. He then used his speed to run.
All I wanted was to go to the donor room and have a drink. My unlife is so messed up I can’t even do that without a fuss now. I went to the donor room and ate before I went back to my room to think.
As I walked into my room, I felt the disturbance that let me know Noah was present. I turned to shut my door so I could talk to him but Sweetie was already entering. I let her in and shut the door behind her.
“Noah, I need you to pass a message to Arria. I have information. I just had an almost situation and was told who the old ones instigating it were. One of them was Lajos, the council member. The other was Pyro. They were hoping to cause a disturbance where I could be blamed.” I said, quickly.
Noah dropped his illusion. He had a thoughtful expression. He stood there for eight hours thinking things through.
“How much proof?” He asked.
“I read his mind while he confessed. I also promised him protection if we need to call him in to verify the story.”
“I will tell Arria.” He said. He looked around and got a humorous look on his face. “You may want to rethink being in here with her while the door is closed. I know the reason for this time, but I’m just saying…”
Noah was laughing as he put his illusion back up and opened the door. I couldn’t help but smile.
“Like I could be competition for Arria.” Sweetie was shaking her head. She thought that was the stupidest thing. She also thought Noah was kind of hot. I left Sweetie’s mind then. I didn’t want to see what might com
e next.
Chapter 16
I was mostly waiting. The council was having their discussion about me. I hadn’t heard from Arria about the Roadrunner incident. Sweetie was taking a nap beside my bed. I was in a holding pattern. So, when Charles and Not Apollo wanted to spar, I was happy to agree. I woke Sweetie long enough for her to decide between her room and the training room.
When Sweetie, Charles, Not Apollo, and I entered the training room, all eyes turned to us. I feared a repeat of yesterday. At first, I sparred with Charles some more. Justin watched closely. He was very good at telling Charles what to do to improve his chances. After a while, I let Justin and Charles spar.
I stood to the side with Sweetie. We were only partially paying attention to anything. She was in her illusions and I was muddling through my multitude of problems.
I got a wakeup call from Justin when a fighter from another group came walking toward us. I walked out to meet him since he was staring at me and headed my way. I made Sweetie and the others stay where they were.
“I just wanted to talk for a minute.” He said with his hands raised. His gift was teleporting. “I was voted as the one to talk to you.”
He was looking around nervously. I didn’t know if he was afraid I would attack him, or afraid someone would get the wrong idea.
“Talk. I am friendly.” I said, simply. I was moving to stand across from him when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. An invisible gift was approaching, slowly.
“Our fighters want to know if you plan on attacking the old ones or not.” He said. His mind was closed off.
“No. I will not be attacking them.” I turned enough to keep the invisible gift in sight. I wondered why Gray would be here. She was headed for bed. She was tired enough when she left my room earlier.
“Why not? They are assholes tha--”
I moved just as the invisible gift made his move. I caught him around the neck and squeezed hard enough to make him visible. I was right, it wasn’t Gray. I was now staring at the one who was speaking to me. He hadn’t been surprised at the attack. Not even a little bit. He teleported before I thought to turn his power off.