by Joe Fowler
Patty had the decency, no the intelligence, to shut up then. She still didn’t care. She just didn’t want to sound as mean and uncaring as she actually was.
The fights continued. I watched a few before I felt the sleep coming on.
“Wake me when it is time for Penny.” I told Sweetie.
“I will. Get some rest.” She said sweetly.
I slept.
Sweetie shook me awake as Penny took her place on the X. Her opponent, Achilles, was a shock to me. Poor Penny. Achilles couldn’t be harmed. His skin couldn’t be punctured and he seemed completely indestructible. He strength and speed appeared to be average or maybe a little better than average as he fought against Penny. She was doing everything she could but it wasn’t having any effect on him. She kicked him with what appeared to be all of her strength and he didn’t even wince. We lost Penny.
Trog was hit pretty hard by this. He made it plain that he didn’t want to talk about it. Many of our group tried but he sat there with tears in his eyes. He refused to let me in his head. The fight for his freedom was coming up and he had just watched the woman he loved die. My heart went out to him.
The fights continued. Several fights were fought before Trog’s match.
“For our last fight of the night, we will have Trog facing Merlin.”
Trog didn’t even bother wiping his tear streaked face. He went to stand on the X. He would know his opponent to have illusions for a gift. I was worried. The look on Trog’s face wasn’t the determined fighter trying to win his freedom. He wore the face of a man headed to the electric chair.
“…Let the game begin!” The announcer left.
Trog just stood there. Whatever illusion was cast, if any, worked. Trog stood rooted to his X as Merlin walked over and took Trog’s head.
“Why would he do that?” Justin asked.
“I don’t know.” It was the only answer I would give. I had two suspicions leading into the fight. This was one of them.
After four hours of waiting, Noah came and led us to a donor room. I fed. I would do what Arria told me about drinking every chance I got. Once we made it back to our rooms, I grabbed some clean clothes and headed for the showers. I didn’t want to be around the others just yet. I needed to think.
I had the showers almost all to myself. There was one other vampire at the other end of the row I was on. He didn’t speak and neither did I.
I muddled through the Trog loss. We were going to lose him from the group either way but I wanted it to be because he won his freedom. The loss of Penny hurt but she and I had never been very close. It was Trog that hurt.
I took my time walking back to my room.
The others all gathered as usual. I had barely sat on the bed when they began.
“It doesn’t make any sense. Trog could have at least fought back.” Charles stated. This wasn’t the only comment made, but it summed up what the others were thinking.
“He had been working through something pretty bad the last few days. He wouldn’t let me in on what the problem was but it must have been serious. I guess losing Penny pushed him over the edge.”
I did have a theory. I won’t share the theory. I am going to lie and try to convince myself that Trog let himself die out of loss. Penny had just died and he would rather die than face life without her.
I sat there, once again thinking of how I would miss Trog and Penny. I was about to lose Patty and Sweetie if I didn’t pay more attention.
“Stop! Both of you.” I said, firmly. Patty was mocking Sweetie. Sweetie had the illusion ready to go and was about to cast it. Sweetie was already about to move toward Patty to take her head. I was afraid Arria would kill Sweetie for it. That’s the only reason I stopped her.
“She is so pathetic! She clings to you constantly. How do you put up with it?” Patty asked. She was going to be a problem.
“Patty, you are new. You would be better off messing with me than you would Sweetie. If I hadn’t spoken when I did, she would have already killed you. I stopped her because if the two of you fight, you both die. Arria wouldn’t put up with it.” I was ready to kill her myself.
“Whatever. Like little miss clingy could kill m--”
I saw the illusion and the intent in Sweetie’s head. Patty now believed herself to be formless. She was floating in a cloud that was constantly changing color. Patty couldn’t move. When she looked down to see her arms, they weren’t there. Nothing was there. There was no sound. She tried to scream and couldn’t. She didn’t have vocal chords. She was nothing.
“What is happening?” Apollo asked.
“I’m trying to decide that now. Either Sweetie has put Patty into an illusion or Patty is broken. If Patty is broken Arria won’t mind if we kill her. If she is under an illusion, then Sweetie would die if something happened to Patty. I am trying to decide.” I was smiling a little while I spoke. The rest of the group all caught on. “I guess you better release her.”
Patty screamed when she snapped out of the illusion. She gave Sweetie a go to hell look and was going to storm out of the room. I stopped her.
“Patty.” I said, firmly. “We will be living in close quarters for some time to come. If you continue to act like this, there will be a problem. Every vampire in this room can handle them self. You will need to learn to control yourself.”
“And if I don’t?” She asked.
“Then you will end up having an unfortunate accident. If you’re lucky. What just happened to you wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. Either learn to play well with others or at least learn to keep any and all snide comments to yourself.”
Patty left.
“What was wrong with her?” Gray asked as she reached my doorway.
“She is a really mean bitch.” Sweetie said. Gray looked at Sweetie in shock. She thought Sweetie too nice to use such language.
“Okay then. Arria wants to see you Titan. If you aren’t too tired.” Gray’s smirk let me know what she thought Arria wanted to see me about. I smiled and stood up.
“I guess I will see you guys tomorrow.” I told them as I ushered them out of my room. They had smiles when they left.
Gray and I made our way through the Jimi Hendrix complex. I figured we would be leaving the purple maze tomorrow.
“Noah told me what happened at the meeting. You did well with that illusion. Lajos would not have stopped coming after you. It seems Cadoc was just as determined. He should have known Arria would kill him.” Gray told me as we walked to Arria’s suite.
“I couldn’t have hoped for it to go any better than it did. I think Lorac enjoyed himself. He seems the fun loving sort.” I said. I noticed the faintest rush in her words when she replied.
“Lorac is all about the fun. Could he see the illusion you used?” She asked.
“Yes. I opened my mind just before so he would get the idea of what I wanted to do. I needed the council’s permission to use the illusion. I left my mind open so Lorac could watch. When I released the illusion, he was almost doubled over with laughter.”
“Don’t tell me what you showed the prisoner. I want to see if I can figure it out. I’ll let you know when I have a theory.” She smiled up at me. “I love the training exercises we used to do. Those were kind of like this. We were shown an ending and had to figure out what caused it. That was fun for me.”
“Alright. I look forward to your guesses, or guess if you’re really good at it.”
We reached Arria’s suite then. Gray gave a knock. I drew a long breath during the five years it took Arria to open the door.
“Thank you, Gray. Go rest now.”
“Yes, Arria.” Gray bowed and left.
Arria smiled and stepped to the side so I could enter. This was the moment I had been waiting for since I knew I had feelings for this magnificent woman. Once she closed the door, I turned to her to get the kiss I wanted so badly.
We had more time for this kiss. Even in my screwed up mind, I knew this kiss lasted longer than the two I h
ad received from her before.
Neither of us said a word. We moved together without planning it. By the time we reached the bed, we were naked.
That is all I will tell you of that night. Well, I will add only this…It was the greatest night of my life.
Chapter 18
We were still in bed. I had woke up seventeen years ago. I didn’t want to move and she made no move to get up either. I knew she was awake but I didn’t want to speak and ruin the moment. It seems she felt the same way.
The knock on the door broke into our happiness. Arria rose and put on a robe. She went to the door where I heard her speaking with Gray.
“The plane is being fueled. The pilot said we would be ready to leave within two hours. He needed a time estimate from us.” Gray informed her.
I sat up then. I moved to the edge of the bed but didn’t want to go any further.
“The two hours might be good. Go wake the fighters and spread the word.”
“Yes, Arria.” Gray said.
I heard the door shut when she left. I thought of getting up but I really didn’t want to. Arria came back into the room and walked to stand in front of me. I reached out and pulled her close. I didn’t want to leave this room.
Arria lift my face from where it lay on her chest. Her smile was perfect.
“I wish we had more time this morning. We do need to get busy preparing, though.” She sighed.
I kissed her.
“I will go pack.” I finally got dressed and returned to my room.
The others were stirring when I reached our area.
“Sleeping with the boss. What a shame. Climbing the corporate ladder the easy way.” Justin said, with a smile.
I just smiled at him.
“Gray told you guys to get packed and be ready right?” I asked.
“Yep.” Charles chimed in. “We are ready to go. Unlike some who are doing the walk of shame.”
Everyone got a kick out of that.
I started my packing but left out a set of clean clothes. I wanted a shower. I also wanted blood. I decided to go feed first.
The donor room was empty except for one vampire and the unwilling occupants. I chose an older lady since I usually felt less guilty for draining someone older. They had lived their life. I knew the stupidity of this. Killing was killing and couldn’t be justified or rationalized. I drained the old woman and headed back to my room.
The showers were mostly empty as well. I liked how this was going. No complications, no conversations, and no assassins. I made it back to my room with days to spare before Gray came to lead us to the plane.
As we were reaching the end of the shaft leading to the hangar, I bid a somewhat fond farewell to the Jimi Hendrix complex. I smiled when I thought of our plane taking us to kiss the sky. I would miss the purple, though.
We had only been on the plane for seven hours when the trouble between Patty and Sweetie flared up again. I hadn’t even sat down yet. My back was turned when I heard the commotion. I turned and saw Sweetie on the floor holding her jaw. Patty was already swinging for her second strike. I sped over and caught her by the throat taking her a few feet away before she could make contact with Sweetie again. Her fist struck harmlessly against my chest. I turned her gift off so she couldn’t teleport away. She was clearly trying to do that very thing.
“Why can’t I teleport?” She managed to croak, even with the pressure from my hand around her throat.
“I’m not letting you. There is one more thing I am not letting you do. If I see or hear of you hitting, teasing, or bothering Sweetie again in any way, I will end you. This is not negotiable and there is no argument to be made by you. I don’t care if Sweetie tortures you with an illusion every hour, you will not act against her again. Ever.” I held her throat for as close as I could come to a few moments, it may have lasted hours, before I let her go.
Patty stared at Sweetie with pure hatred. I could put up with that. I wouldn’t put up with Patty hurting Sweetie.
Everyone quietly settled into their seats. The rest of our group hadn’t seen me that angry before. I hated that some may have just learned the real strength behind Loki’s gift. To be able to nullify a vampire’s gift, was the second best gift you could have. I spent the next unknown span of time mentally debating whether my gift really was the best gift or not.
I had been forced into secrecy and trouble from the start. The incredible fuss created over my gift wasn’t really worth the extra ability most of the time. Of course, the arena made it a blessing. To know that I could beat whatever opponent was thrown at me was wonderful. Even Achilles, as indestructible as he was, would fall to me. I would turn off his gift, then take both his gift and his head. This thought brought Penny back to my mind. Unfortunately, thoughts of Trog naturally followed.
I knew why Trog allowed himself to die. I am fairly sure he would have been working for either Cheng or Pyro once his freedom had been won. I could sense enough of his turmoil to know he was more disappointed in himself than anything else. He had said it when he admitted to the spying in the first place. He needed the money and had lost the ability to care as much as he should. He had become too self-serving. All the time spent around our group had shown him that vampires don’t have to be monsters. Justin and Sweetie would have been his obvious examples. Trog’s disgust with Sweetie had nothing to do with her power going to waste, as he had said. He was destroyed when he saw that becoming a vampire did not strip away all the caring. His disgust was aimed at himself, not Sweetie. He had quit caring as much for others by his own choosing. He couldn’t live with that any longer.
“Goodbye my friend.”
I slept for the rest of the flight.
The brown walls told us we were not at home.
Once we had been shown the locations of the showers and donor room, the local vampire was leading us to the training room. When we entered, all eyes turned to us. The room was almost full. We found two empty mats side by side. They were in the middle of the room. I hated that for two reasons. My need to nap and our group’s need to protect our back.
The other teams of fighters eventually turned their attention away from me long enough for us to get some work done. Charles and Patty had an enthusiastic sparring match. She was determined to show that a teleporter could be as tough as someone with the speed gift. She would need to try again. Charles got the better of her.
I sparred with Justin during that time. He was an impressive fighter. His moves were fantastic. He could dodge and counter almost as well as someone with the gift of evasion. He was smart in how he attacked. He was constantly finding creative ways to catch his opponent off guard. I was really beginning to hope his hard work would pay off for him.
After several years of sparring, the group wanted to return to our rooms. This made me and Sweetie the happiest. She never sparred and I needed to conserve every bit of energy I could. The sleep thing was relentless. I tried to watch how I felt and the severity of my need to sleep. I wanted to try and tell if it was becoming worse or remaining constant. Mostly, I figured out that I didn’t know.
We were sitting around my room, again. Sweetie and I were sitting on the bed with our backs against the wall. Charles and Justin were sitting in chairs. Patty hadn’t joined us. I was thankful for that until she showed up.
“I know we have some differences but am I still welcome in this room?” She asked. She said it with a little bit of attitude. I knew that was her inner self not letting her admit that she was wrong.
“You are still a member of this team. As long as you behave, you will be welcome to join us anytime.” I told her. Sweetie’s thoughts were funny but she agreed with me. She imagined Patty being welcome as a footstool for her to rest her feet on.
Noah interrupted before Patty had the chance to join us anyway.
“Arria is asking for you, Titan.” He smiled at Sweetie while he told me.
“Sorry guys. When the boss calls, you have to go.” I had a big smile when I said it.
“So, is she always the boss?” Charles said to everyone’s delight.
“I think I would still be okay with that.” I laughed. As beautiful as Arria was, I was alright with anything that meant I would be with her. “I’ll see you guys later. Maybe.”
Their laughter was nice to hear as I followed Noah.
“I didn’t pay too much attention to Trog before. Why would he surrender his head?” Noah asked as we walked at a leisurely pace.
“He hated what he had become. The simple goodness he saw in Apollo and Sweetie made him understand how much of his self-serving nature was of his own choosing. He couldn’t live with that any more. It’s too bad he didn’t get to know Patty better, he would have thought himself a saint of the highest order.”
Noah laughed for a month.
“So Patty is a mean one?”
“She was constantly teasing Sweetie. She even hit Sweetie when we boarded the plane.”
“SHE WHAT!” Noah’s anger made me take a step back. I thought I saw something in a flash during his anger. I let it slide thinking I could have imagined it.
“I put a stop to it. Patty knows if she messes with Sweetie anymore, in any way, I will kill her. I made that plain.” I spoke quickly trying to calm Noah down. He fought his control and eventually reigned in his anger.
“I will be reinforcing your threat. I will let her know as well.” Noah declared.
We didn’t speak again.
Arria answered during the first knock.
“Thank you, Noah. You may go.” Arria told him.
“Yes, Arria.” Noah turned but looked back to me. “Tell Arria too. She needs to know ahead of time.”
Noah walked off then.
“What’s wrong? I’ve never seen Noah angry before now. He was furious.” Arria had a worried look.
“Patty is a problem.” I walked in for a quick kiss. I smiled down at her beautiful face and lost track of what I was saying.
“What kind of problem?” Arria asked.
“She is a bitch. She has a real problem with Sweetie for some reason. She had been teasing Sweetie last night. This morning, Patty hit Sweetie and had her fist raised to do it again. I stopped her. I basically told her I would kill her if she bothered Sweetie again in any way. I hope it doesn’t come to that. Noah just heard the same as I told you. He grew so angry that I took a step back. For a second, I was afraid he was going back to kill Patty right then.”