by Joe Fowler
I sat around thinking. I was trying not to let my hopes get too high but it was a struggle. I felt fine, even good.
I made a trip to the donor room. I walked there fine. I fed from a twentyish drug addict. His memories were horrible and his blood tasted terrible. I drained him and headed back to my room. I knocked on Sweetie’s door so she could return to her place by my bed.
I still felt good sometime later in the day. I felt normal. I did get a little sleepy, finally. I took a nap that Sweetie said was only about thirty minutes long. When I woke up, I felt even better than before.
Arria appeared at my door. She took one look at my smile and knew I was feeling better. She came over and gave me a kiss before she said anything.
“I talked to Lorac. He agrees with what you told Gray. Lorac said he would put Ghost to work on figuring out if your theory is right. Is Ghost really that smart?” Arria’s face displayed her doubt.
“During all the spying time, everyone put up all these walls in their mind. Except Ghost. He simply thought too fast for you to make sense of what he was processing. In something like two minutes, he figured out things I had worked for days on. He couldn’t read minds but he knew what each person’s agenda was and why. You would have to read his mind to truly understand. He sees everything.” I told her. I couldn’t stop my smile. She was cheerful at seeing my recovery. I thought my heart would explode.
She must have felt something similar. She leaned in and kissed me. I think this kiss lasted awhile. When we parted, Sweetie had left the room. She was considerate enough to shut the door behind her. Arria and I took advantage of that fact.
Arria and I were cuddling afterward. Her back was to me and my arms were around her. Neither spoke much. I thought of telling her about Bloody Mary but stopped myself. I didn’t want to ruin this quiet time.
“Eventually, I am going to have to be in other places.” Arria said, sadly.
“They can do without you for a little while. I can’t.” I told her as I kissed her neck.
“I hear that Achilles is being held back in the hopes of getting to fight you. He was the one who killed Penny. This is the first time I ever heard of indestructibility for a gift. According to Cheng, his old one, he truly can’t be hurt by anything. Even the sun or fire. They tested him to see.” Arria told me worriedly.
“I can kill him.” I knew this. I could turn his gift off.
“How? If he can’t be harmed, you would die!” She was scared. I had tried to keep Loki’s full ability a secret but I didn’t want Arria to be so worried.
“The gift that helps me recognize another vampire’s gift has separate part to it. Both Loki and I knew not to tell anyone of the second part of that gift. I can turn off the gift of the vampire I am fighting against. Achilles would just be a heel then.” I said, laughing.
Arria turned in one of those moves that was faster than I could see. Her eyes were huge. Gradually she started smiling, then crying.
“I have been so worried since I heard about Achilles. I thought I was destined to lose you no matter what. Even if your health improved, he would kill you in the arena. I can finally relax again!” Aria almost broke down completely with relief.
“Don’t spread word of what I can do. Lorac would be fine. Ghost might have already told him. That’s one of those things that Ghost would have figured out without being told. I hate to say this, but you may want to schedule us to fight again as soon as possible. I have had the thought that Achilles gift might actually cure me. If I could no longer be harmed in any way, maybe my mind couldn’t get any worse. Of course, it might not make much difference. I even had the thought of it being a bad thing. If I became indestructible but lost cohesiveness in my mind, then how would I end my suffering? The gifts would be lost so that isn’t a possible outcome. I want to fight him soon though. An indestructible vampire would be a very dangerous thing. If he is bad, then he would be the monster of all monsters.”
“I will see what I can do. Are you sure your health will hold up?”
“I will only feed from humans and I will stay in bed and not wear myself out, unless it is with you.” I was rewarded with a smile and a kiss. Unfortunately, Arria pulled away and got out of bed.
“No more of this. You need to rest. I need to give you the chance to fight him and see if his gift can heal you.” Arria spoke as she got dressed. I watched her and thought it should be considered a crime for her to cover such a body with clothing.
“I should have kept my mouth shut!”
“We will have time.” She told me. She kissed me lightly and left.
I was joined by Noah sometime later. I had dressed and changed the sheets. Sweetie was in her spot and I wasn’t sure if Noah wanted his presence known. I smiled at him to let him know I was aware of his being here.
After what I consider a brief time, Sweetie looked around and then at me. She had an enlightened look on her face.
“Is Noah here?” She asked. I was about to answer when I heard Noah’s booming laugh.
“I’m not much of a spy when everyone knows I’m here. How did you figure it out, Sweetie?” He asked, still smiling and now without the cover of illusion.
“I felt you. My illusion crossed yours and became fuzzy in a weird way. I made my illusion that way though. I’ve been working on figuring out a way to let me know when you are in the room. It was a way for me to occupy my mind when I was bored.” She explained.
“I never thought of that. Using an illusion to spot other illusions.” Noah looked really worried when he said that.
He looked at Sweetie with a hard expression that made me tense up. I hoped I wouldn’t have to fight Noah but if he attacked her, I would fight. His expression softened soon after. He looked at her again and I saw what might have been either pride in her or love. I couldn’t tell which. I relaxed.
“Sweetie, I am going to show you an illusion now. It is an important one so pay attention.” He kept staring at her.
She sat quietly. Her eyes moved as she followed whatever illusion was being shown. I have absolutely no fricking clue how long this illusion lasted. My mind reading wasn’t showing me the illusion. I could tell it was coming to an end when Sweetie’s face lit up into a beautiful, happy smile. Her eyes teared up and overflowed. Finally, she locked eyes with Noah and jumped into his arms hugging his neck. I sat wondering what he had shown her. I wondered even more when Sweetie smiled back at me and left the room. I heard her door shut down the hall. I looked to Noah with my questions plain to see.
“I told her I had a job for her after she wins her fights. I made sure she knew she would always have someone she could count on like she has experienced with you.” Noah informed me.
“That makes me really happy, Noah. I’ve been worrying about that. I was scared she wouldn’t be ready when my mind failed me.” Part of my mind was screaming that there was more to what had just happened but I told it to shut up. This was good news and I trusted Noah enough to keep Sweetie safe once I was too far gone.
“I know she means a lot to you. She has come to mean a lot to me as well.” Noah moved to sit in my chair.
“I’m sure there is a lot you can show her to help with her illusions.”
“There is, but I’m starting to think she might be showing me some things.” Noah said. I could hear the humor in his tone. “She is a rare one among vampires. You don’t see many of our kind with that level of innocence and goodness.”
“I have to agree with you there. I haven’t been in this world long but I have seen enough. Speaking of which, Bloody Mary is spying for someone. I don’t know who yet.”
“You know this or you suspect it?”
“I’m about ninety percent sure. She is guarding her thoughts all of a sudden. None of us taught her how to do that. The spying games were over by the time she knew much. She is too much of a bitch to act as nice as she has been for the last few days. She’s overcompensating. It all adds up to spying.”
“Damn. I had hoped that was
done from the internal points. Any others here that you think might turn into a problem?” Noah asked.
“I don’t think she will have much problem rallying Richard to her cause. He seems to share her mindset on most subjects.”
“I will keep my eyes out and warn Gray. She will need to know.” Noah sounded disappointed. I think the spying was really getting to him.
“What part of the day is it? Will the others be going to bed soon? I have no idea. When are the fights going to be?” I asked. I felt out of the loop with no references to draw upon. I also needed to know when it would be time for another trip to the donor room.
“The others will be returning from the training room soon. It is getting near time for bed. The fights will be early on tomorrow. There are eight teams here this time. The donor room should be open and ready for you if you want to go now.” Noah spoke absentmindedly.
“I better go then. I don’t want to have a hiccup in my recovery.” I told him as I stood and walked out the door.
I was halfway there when I realized something that I had missed. It explained a lot.
I fed on a middle aged man. He wasn’t in such good health mentally. He barely knew what was happening to him. From his memories, I learned of his lifelong struggle with dementia. He had been homeless. This was actually a kind end to a miserable life. I drained him.
I forcefully pushed every serious thought from my head when I reentered my room. The others had returned from the training room and were grabbing their chairs to come to my room. I sat on the bed with my back to the wall. Sweetie rejoined us and sat by my side. I got the impression she saw herself as protecting me now. I wanted to laugh but it was too precious to play it off lightly.
They talked of other things trying to avoid the main topic their minds were thinking of. After whatever amount of time of seeing this, I sighed.
“Guys, I really am better. I could walk into the arena and fight with no problem right now. I’ve taken a quick nap but have been mostly alert for some time. I am going to be fine. Quit worrying.” I told them.
Justin’s mind was the one to show the most happiness from my little speech. Bloody Mary and Richard almost seemed both excited and disappointed by it. I was happily surprised by Glenda. She was watching both Richard and Bloody Mary and was very insightful. She realized something was going on. She was no Ghost but hey, who the hell was?
“I hope so. I have been wondering if you would be the one going for the newbie. Will you need one of us to do it?” Justin asked.
“Sweetie and I will do it. It won’t be a problem. If it is, then I will give you time to be prepared for it.” I told him.
“That works.” Not even close to being Apollo said.
They stayed for some period of time before Sweetie shooed them away. She told them to let me rest. She had the mindset that she was going to make them if they didn’t leave on their own. I was smiling inside.
I settled in and went to sleep quickly.
I woke on my own. I sensed an invisible gift sitting in my chair again.
“Good morning, Gray.”
“It is good to hear you say that. It was one way for me to see if your abilities were active. How do you feel?” She asked.
“Good. Hungry, but good.” I was starving but I didn’t feel run down the way I had when I had struggled.
“That can be helped. The donor room is open and ready for you.” Gray stood and headed for the door. She stopped before opening it. “Noah is getting attached to Sweetie isn’t he? All he talks about anymore is you or Sweetie.”
“She can have that effect on some. I am glad to see it myself. I know Sweetie will be taken care of if I don’t make it. I just don’t know whether Noah is attracted to Sweetie or if it is more of a fatherly thing. I’m leaning toward the father side.” I watched Gray’s reaction a little harder than I appeared to. She was too well trained to give anything away.
“I guess only time will tell on that one.” She smiled and left.
I made my way to the donor room then. There were a few fighters from one of the other groups there feeding when I arrived. I sat with a donor and started feeding. One of the other fighters finished and looked at me while he was waiting on his buddies. I had grown accustomed to these kind of looks. He walked over to me.
“Are you Titan?” He asked nervously.
I nodded my head since I was still feeding.
“We were all excited when we heard you would be here but you never showed in the training room. I was wondering why?”
“I don’t need to train anymore. When I’m there, I try to help the fighters on my team but they do pretty well without me.” I wasn’t going to mention the unravelling. I wasn’t sure how common that knowledge was yet.
“I heard that you were sick. I didn’t think vampires could get sick.”
“There is something that goes wrong sometimes when a human is turned. His mind doesn’t react well. It happened to me. It is referred to as the mind unravelling. I can’t keep up with the passing of time. A minute is the same as an hour to me. I have to sleep a lot. Sleep is a defense and a way to help the healing. That is another reason for my not being in the training room. I sleep.”
“Will it kill you or is it something you will have to live with?”
“It will kill me eventually. The question is when.”
“Wow. I’m sorry to hear that. You have the strongest gift and the worst curse. At least no one will call you average.” He said. He smiled good-naturedly.
“Nope, not me.”
“Well, thanks for talking to me.” He walked back to his friends who were finishing their meal. He looked saddened by what I told him.
I went back to my room. I left the door open for the group. They entered one by one until everyone was awake. Once we were all ready to go, we headed for the training room. As usual, all eyes were on me.
Justin knew to get mats by the wall. He led the way. I sat with my back to the wall with Sweetie by my side. The others paired off and trained.
After the required indefinite period of time, Noah came to lead us to the newbie. We walked the white walls in silence. I didn’t mind the quiet. I liked it. Once we were there, Noah unlocked the door and after a nod to me, he walked off.
I knocked lightly and entered. Damn. This was going to be a rough one.
She was beautiful in a sweet downhome way. You just knew she was the friendliest person you could meet. I knew this as soon as I looked into her head. Amy. The problem was very simple. Her gift was day walking.
“What is your name?” I asked gently.
“Amy. Am I in some kind of trouble?” She asked worriedly.
“Yes and no, Amy. I am Titan and this is Sweetie. We are vampires and so are you. You are in no danger from us but you will have to fight in the arena. All new vampires must. Come with me and I will explain it to you.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Nope.”
We walked the white hallways. I knew the way. I knew the whole place now. I wanted to lead Amy to a door to the outside and tell her to run.
“I don’t think I will be much of a fighter.” She said. It was a twist of the knife.
“We will give you what help we can. I am taking you to see Arria now. She is the old one who turned us. She is one of many who put teams of fighters together for the arena. Don’t speak to her unless she asks you to. Arria is nice but there are protocols that must be followed. There will be other vampires there and it would look bad if you spoke out of turn.”
“I understand.”
We were approaching the stairs now. I climbed and heard them following. I dreaded tonight more than I dreaded anything since Sweetie entered the arena that first night. I opened the door to Arria’s beautiful face. I think she misinterpreted my sadness and was instantly worried. I made a slight shake of the head with a look to Amy. Arria seemed to understand.
“Arria, this is your new fighter, Amy. Her gift is day walking.”
Arria made he
r trip around Amy.
“You are beautiful. I love your hair. That shade of blonde is rare. I hope you survive the fights, but day walking isn’t a strong gift for what you will face.” Arria understood my sadness now. She gave the wave of her hand. “Take her to the donor room. Give her as much training as you can.”
“Yes, Arria.” I said. Sweetie and I made our bows.
Once we were back in the corridors, Amy was almost bursting with the need to talk.
“You can talk now, it’s alright.”
“She was exquisite! I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful.” Amy exclaimed.
“She’s the love of my life, well unlife.”
“Wait, you two are together?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“Damn! If you haven’t guessed yet, I swing the other way.” Amy’s smile was both sweet and beautiful, but it only brought me sadness. Amy put her arm around Sweetie and smiled. “Hey, what’s your name again?”
Sweetie’s look was priceless. She was shocked, frightened, and flattered all at the same time. Amy’s smile was so contagious.
We reached the donor room and I knew how this one would turn out. I set her up with a donor and grabbed my second for the day. Sweetie knew the drill now.
“You need to drink. You will be weaker and have less chance to survive if you don’t drink.” Sweetie told Amy after seeing the hesitation. Sweetie lifted the donor’s arm to Amy’s mouth to make her understand.
Amy drank. She was loving the taste but was so worried that she was hurting the woman she was drinking from. When she neared the breaking point, she quickly withdrew her mouth and looked at Sweetie horrified.
“I’m not expected to kill her am I?”
“It is your choice. You have drank enough but if you want more then you can drain her. I never drain anyone. Most vampires kill the humans without a second thought. I won’t let myself do it. You have to decide that for yourself.” Sweetie told her.