by Joe Fowler
“I believe they will wait for my tenth to use him. Now that they know about my ability to turn off gifts, they will wait hoping my condition worsens to the point where I lose that gift.” I stated. It made more sense that way.
“How will they know? No one understood what was happening last night. They still shouldn’t know you can do that.” Arria looked confused. I hated what I was about to say.
“Gray has betrayed us. Noah found out last night.” I looked at Arria and saw her fury. “Don’t, Arria. Noah knows. He will be the one to take care of it.”
“Noah? Why would he be involved? Why would he take care of it?” Arria’s anger was getting the better of her.
“She will be dealt with. My advice, just don’t say anything in front of her that you wouldn’t want known. This will be over soon, Arria. Be a little patient and things will clear up.” I said, as calmly as I could.
I walked to where she stood and put my arms around her. I could feel her slowly calming down. Maybe one day we would have that simple life we wanted. I am not stupid enough to expect it but I could hope.
I sat up front with Arria on the plane. We didn’t talk this time. We sat and held hands until I fell asleep.
The shafts of this facility were painted dark blue. That color seemed to fit my mood as we entered the waiting room. The place was packed. There were at least seven groups of vampires waiting for placement. Our group were shown to some chairs where we would wait.
And wait.
Still waiting…
Finally, we were shown our rooms. I headed for the donor room with Sweetie as soon as I was able. I had to wait there, too.
My donor was a young male, maybe mid-twenties. His mind was speeding through all of his lost hopes and dreams. He had potential for greatness from what his memories showed me. I drained him.
I made it back to my room without a problem. Sweetie stayed with me the whole way. She took her place by my bed as I sat with my back against the wall. I knew I should sleep but I went through my thoughts on Noah.
I was interrupted by the others of our group.
“We know you need to rest but we were hoping you would help us with training. We want to try to face the invisibility and incorporeal gifts. You could show us what that would be like.” Bloody Mary was asking. Richard was standing behind her smiling.
So this was their new plan. They wanted to wear me out in the hopes of worsening my condition. I wouldn’t let them. I opened my mouth but Sweetie beat me to it.
“Tell Pyro he said no. Titan needs to rest and he will get it. Now, leave.” Sweetie spoke in a tone I hadn’t heard from her.
“What do you mean Pyro? We just want to train. If you are accusing us of something why don’t you just come right out and say it?” Bloody Mary challenged.
“You two were swayed, probably easily, by Gray to help Pyro. Since Pyro saw he wouldn’t be able to use Titan, he seems to want to kill him. The only way for him to do it without drawing the wrath of Arria is to wear Titan down so Achilles might have a chance against Titan in the arena. He told you two to get Titan to train so his energy would get drained. Does that tell you what I am accusing you of?” Sweetie stood as she spoke. I could see this escalating quickly. I made to stand but Sweetie held her hand out to stop me.
Bloody Mary saw this and smiled. She teleported and stood still behind Sweetie. Richard never moved. I saw the illusion. It was the same one I used at the council meeting, only much more graphic. This was the nightmare Sweetie showed when she tortured Rabbit in the training room. Bloody Mary and Richard both believed they were standing in hell.
Sweetie left them both where they were in the illusion. She hung her head. I could barely hear her small voice when she spoke.
“Why do people act this way? How can you turn on people who are good to you? How can you enjoy causing others pain?” Sweetie then turned and ripped Bloody Mary’s head off.
Gray appeared in the doorway as Bloody Mary’s head hit the floor. She got an angry look and sped forward to stop Sweetie. I dropped Gray’s head beside Bloody Mary’s. Sweetie didn’t break stride when I killed Gray. She walked to Richard with my chair dragging behind her. She placed the chair and stood on it to take Richard’s head.
Noah appeared in my doorway. He wore a sad look. He looked up at me long enough to nod his head before he walked away.
I was sitting on Sweetie’s bed. She was sitting on the floor beside it. The local employees were trying to clean my room. Arria had made a brief, I think, appearance. She wasn’t the least bit angry at Sweetie or me. She only came because it was expected and gave her an excuse to spend a little more time with me. She had a smile on her face when she left.
Justin, Comet, and Amy walked in looking shocked. They had been in the training room all through this time and hadn’t heard what happened.
“What the hell happened?” Amy asked. I saw understanding on Justin’s face. He remembered what it was like when everyone was spying on everyone.
“Bloody Mary and Richard started working for Pyro. Gray talked them into it. When Bloody Mary came to ask my help with training, Sweetie confronted her. Gray walked up as Sweetie tore off Bloody Mary’s head. Gray tried to attack Sweetie but I stopped her. Sweetie took Richard’s head next.” I related the story.
“I had thought the spying was done. I didn’t like those two but I didn’t believe they would work against you. Well, are there any others I need to watch out for?” Justin asked, angrily.
“No. This was it. Amy is new but I can see her goodness. Comet has a dirty mind and a great sense of humor but he is trustworthy. If Glenda had survived, she would have been one of the good ones too. Noah can be trusted. He may not be exactly what you think he is but he will never turn against us.”
They were feeling a mixture of anger and sadness over all of this.
It was a wakeup call for Amy. She was openly sweet and cheerful. It wasn’t in her to betray someone. She was having trouble coming to terms with the concepts. She was comforted by my assurance that Comet and Noah were good. She already trusted me and Sweetie. No one would ever question Justin once they knew him.
Chapter 23
I spent the remaining time sleeping. I made my trips to the donor room. I stayed in my newly cleaned room the remainder of the time. I woke with Arria in my arms more than once during this time.
I was okay with this routine. All my waking moments were spent with Arria and Sweetie. Noah passed messages but never had the chance to sit and talk with me.
When it became time for me to head to the training room on fight night, I felt fine. My gifts were fully functional and I was reasonably awake and alert. Word had spread of my condition. The other fighters in the training room weren’t overly curious when I entered. It was almost refreshing.
“We got mats by the wall the way you like. If you need me to go get the newbie, I will.” Justin told me.
“Thanks, but Sweetie and I will handle it. Tonight is your big night! You need to keep focus.” I said.
“One more lucky break and I will be free!” He was smiling.
“It hasn’t been luck. You’ve more than earned your freedom and tonight, you will win it.” My comments were echoed by the others in our group.
I took my place against the wall. Sweetie took her place by my side. We watched and waited. I knew not to estimate how long the wait would be.
Noah came for us, eventually. He only nodded, not feeling the need to speak.
The blue walls passed by monotonously. All these hallways. It got repetitive sometimes. Sweetie and I followed until the hallways led us to the newbie’s door. Noah unlocked the door and gave a smile to Sweetie before he walked away.
With a sigh, I knocked lightly and opened the door. He was around my size and looked to be around my age, thirtyish or so. His mind was calm. He stood once I entered the room. He took an aggressive posture to attack. I held up my hand to tell him it wasn’t necessary.
“I am your friend. You will have t
o fight tonight but I’m not the one you should attack.” At my words, he calmed down some. “What is your name?”
“Ethan.” He said. I resisted the urge to smile.
“I am Titan and this is Sweetie. Well, Ethan, welcome to immortality. All you have to do is survive ten fights and you might live forever. All vampires face this once they are turned. You will need to come with us now to meet Arria, our maker. Then we will get you something to eat.” I stated.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Nope.”
We started our walk down the hallways. Ethan’s gift was mind reading. It hadn’t activated yet but I would help him with that later. He was following along peacefully. He was fighting nervousness but was winning impressively.
“Arria is our old one. Any vampire over a thousand years is considered an old one. She will take a look at you and might say a few words but don’t speak unless she asks you to. That is frowned upon. Once she has had her look, she will send us to the donor room so you can eat. Then we will take you to train. We have a good team that will help get you ready for your fight tonight.”
We were climbing the stairs when his thoughts turned to running.
“Running wouldn’t do you any good.”
“Can you read my mind?” He asked.
“Yes. In an hour or so, you will be reading minds yourself. That is your gift. Each vampire is reborn with a gift. I will tell you more afterward. Now you meet Arria.”
I opened the door to see the beautiful woman who now owned my heart. She was in her normal spot. I smiled as I led Ethan to stand in front of her. Ethan’s mind echoed my thoughts of Arria’s beauty.
“Arria, this is Ethan, your new fighter. His gift is mind reading.”
“Wow, really? Another Ethan. He even resembles you.” Arria was smiling as she made her inspection. “Mind reading can be good. It won’t be an easy trip but you could survive. Take him to the donor room and get him something to eat. His fight is in two hours.”
“Yes, Arria.” Sweetie and I said as we made our bows. I took one more look at her before I turned and led Ethan from the room.
“Wow, she was beautiful!” Ethan exclaimed as soon as we shut the door behind us.
“She is also Titan’s. You might want to watch your enthusiasm.” Sweetie told him. He saw her smile and looked back to me.
“We are in love. That isn’t what you need to be focused on right now. I will be filling you in on everything after you eat. Tonight will be a different experience for you.”
“You said I would be able to read minds. How is that possible?”
“Picture the inside of Sweetie’s head, brain and all. Open your ears just a bit and her brain will dissolve in your mind. You will then start hearing what she is thinking. It will be a little disconcerting at first with the echo but you will learn to deal with that.”
I could see his mind trying to do as I said. I was about to correct him when he hit on it. His mind opened to his new ability.
“See, there’s nothing to it.” I told him.
“Wow. It is weird hearing when my ears aren’t involved. What is the echo you spoke of?”
“You are about to find out. The mind says what the mouth is about to speak just before the mouth takes action. The donor room is a bad place for you to learn of this.”
We were entering the room and his mind wanted to shut down. He saw the people strapped to the chairs and saw the vampires feeding on them. It is a rough sight the first time.
I set him up with his donor. I then moved to a donor for myself.
“Lift the arm to your mouth. Your fangs will drop. Bite into the wrist, you will know where.” I explained this while I did the same to my donor. He did as I said. When he reached his donor’s breaking point, he stopped.
“This will kill her!”
“Only if you drink too much. Each vampire has to decide that on their own. You can stop there or you can drain her. The more you drink, the stronger you are. I have a condition I have to deal with. It makes me need to drain them no matter what. Sweetie has never killed a human when she feeds. She refuses. Even if you let them live, another vampire will drain them eventually. You must decide.”
Ethan stood up. He wouldn’t drain anyone. He knew he might change his mind one day but for now, he wouldn’t go that far. I applauded him mentally as I drained my donor.
We entered the training room to the usual stares.
“Why is everybody staring?” Ethan asked.
“Two reasons. One, everybody checks out the newbies. Two, Titan is the main attraction to these events. He is a lot different than everyone else.” Sweetie answered.
“What makes you so special?”
“I will tell you later. For now, let’s get you started.” We were reaching our mats. “Everyone, this is Ethan. Ethan, this is Apollo, Comet, and Amy.”
“Wow, Ethan? Really?” Justin was smiling.
“Why do people keep doing that? Arria said something like that too.” Ethan was confused.
“That was my name before it was changed. Apollo is the only one who was here before my new name was given to me. Usually, when you reach your third fight, Arria gives you a new name. I got mine before the second fight.” I pointed Ethan to an empty mat. “Now we get started. You will have a slight advantage over most. You will have the chance to know your opponent’s gift before your fight starts. Most don’t.”
“What kind of gifts are there?”
“Lots of different ones. The most common ones are strength, speed, invisibility, mind reading, teleporting, and so on. You have to learn how to prepare for each of these. Now, you and I are going to spar. I will attack you and you need to defend yourself as best you can.”
I shut off my mind to him. I then went in with a quick shot that dropped him to the floor before he could move.
“How the hell am I supposed to defend myself against that?”
“You won’t face a vampire like me. But as I just displayed, speed is the gift to watch out for most. I am the strongest and fastest vampire, short of the old ones. The old ones can do to me what I just did to you. They are unbeatable except to each other. I do this same thing to all the newbies. I want you to understand what you might be up against and make you take this as seriously as possible.” I helped him to stand. “In the arena, you will need to tear off your opponent’s head. Decapitation, fire and sunlight are the only things that will kill us. Now, I am going to turn you over to Apollo. He is on his tenth fight and is a great fighter. He will help get you ready.”
I motioned for Justin. He had been watching knowing I would call him when I was done with the preliminary speeches. I took my place beside Sweetie with a sigh. I was tired.
“What are his chances?” Sweetie asked.
“So-so. It all depends on him. If he is willing to train and put in the work he might make it through. Mind reading can get you far.”
We sat quietly after that.
I dozed until Noah came for us. He led us to the old ones for display. I had Ethan drop back to the end of the line but maintained mental contact so I could answer his questions.
As had become the custom, the old ones ignored the rest of our team and stared openly at me. I let my mind stay open but they were hiding their thoughts. Ethan was shocked at the attention I was garnering. I knew that explanation could wait. Once Noah finished calling our names and levels, we filed out to head to the holding pen.
“Sit there.” I told Ethan and pointed out the spot. Sweetie didn’t have to be told. I sat between them. I sighed, hating the repetition. “There are two X marks in the arena. When your name is called, you will walk out and stand on one of them. When the announcer opens the betting period, kneel down on the X. He will tell you when to stand. When he says ‘let the game begin’ the fight starts. Don’t move until the announcer teleports out of the arena.”
Ethan was taking everything in stride. I saw some memories of his human life. He had worked as a laborer for a construction company e
ven though he had a business degree. He was too fed up with working in an office. I wanted to laugh in a sad way. Ethan hated the politics in the building where he worked.
I slept. It was intentional. I was shaken awake by Sweetie when Ethan’s name was called.
I watched nervously. I actually liked his mental approach. He wasn’t the nicest person but he was fair. He treated people well until that person no longer deserved it. He tried to be good even when temptation called him an idiot for it. I liked it.
“…Let the game begin!”
The two of them went at it quickly. Ethan would know the strength his opponent was gifted with. He avoided the punishment well enough while taking his shots as they presented themselves. He wore down his opponent and took his head.
“Great job, Ethan!” Our group all congratulated him.
“See, that wasn’t so bad. Everyone you face can be beaten in some way. Just work on your fighting skills and you can make it through.” I told him.
“Thanks. This isn’t going to be fun, but I will see if I can last.”
“You have the right mentality for it.” I said, out loud.
I slept some more. They woke me for Amy’s fight. She was up against evasion. She recognized what her opponent’s gift was after a few passes. She then did the exact thing I had watched Justin do. She let the vampire in to her and tackled him when he was too close to evade. She then beat her opponent until she could take his head. She was Justin all over again. From what I could tell, she even had the same taste in women.
They didn’t bother waking me for Comet’s fight. His speed would insure his winning. I woke on my own. I looked around confused. Sweetie filled me in.
“This is the first of the eighth round fights. I will be up soon.” Her voice was tinged with the resolve it took for her to fight. She would always hate the killing.
The current fight ended when an invisible vampire grew tired of torturing a mind reader. I guessed the invisible one knew how to hide his mind pretty well. He took the head and showed it off to the crowd.