by H. T. Night
“Go in the tank?” I asked.
“That means I took a long time to call. I figure even if he has me beat with sevens I had a couple of outs. So, I decide to call and get all my chips in the pot, too. He turned over his hand and sure enough he had pocket sevens. He had trip sevens or a ‘three of a kind.’ We still had one more card to go, the river. I needed an ace or a king, and that would have given me a higher full house.”
“The ace hit?” I asked.
“Sure did. The ace of spades landed right on the river. It flew out in slow motion or at least that’s how I remember it. The ace of spades is the most beautiful card in the deck. I scooped up the pot, and said goodnight. I walked out of there with ten large.”
“Wow, that’s a great poker story.” I laughed, “But what does that have to do with anything?”
Wyatt looked at me and said, “What do you think happened, Josiah?”
“The guy you beat was a Mani,” I answered.
“Not only was he a Mani, but he had a couple of his buddies holed up in a room down the street. I had no idea what was in store for me. I jumped on my horse and made my way out of town. It was four in the morning. I was twenty-four years old, so, I could ride all night if I had to.”
“Didn’t happen, I take it?” I asked.
“Nope, Cecil had other plans for me. He and his two buddies flew over me in their black raven forms and attacked me from behind. At first, I had no clue what was happening as you could well imagine. This was way before Hitchcock’s The Birds. So I wasn’t exactly intimidated by three black ravens.”
“Yeah, just scavenger birds. Harmless.”
“Right. So, I had my money in a satchel, and one of the ravens flew down and bit me on the right cheek. It knocked me off my horse. I lay on the ground and watched as the three birds in front of me transitioned into grown Mani men, one of them being Cecil Combs. I had a few whiskey shots before I even got on my horse, to keep me warm as I rode through the night, so I was about to write off this vision before me as fatigue and intoxication. But, these three men quickly launched me into some serious reality. They attacked me over and over again and I tried my best to fight them off. I’m not sure why they let me live; they did, but not before I was bitten by all three of them. They took the ten grand out of my satchel and left me without a clue as to what had just happened to me.”
“Oh no!” I said, sympathetic to the attack, since I had been attacked myself.
Wyatt continued, “Within a few hours, I quickly realized the sun and me were no longer friends. I nearly died out there in the desert and was fortunate enough to find a dark barn in the next town.”
“Wow,” I said. “And you obviously got through that.”
“It took a while, but eventually I began to understand what I was, I was a freaking vampire. What happened to me was a Greek tragedy and a horror film rolled up in one.”
“Not to mention a good old-fashioned Clint Eastwood movie. How did you get through it?” I asked.
“Back in those days, it was a lot easier to figure out who were Mani. There were a lot fewer weirdos then there are today. You would see the signs that someone was dealing with vampire problems a mile away. There was a lot more reaching out back then. Where I was from, all Mani stuck together; it wasn’t like the East Coast where they had already formed street gangs.”
“Okay, now that I know how it began for you, Wyatt,” I said, “how did you get here? How did you land in the Inland Empire? That was almost 150 years ago.”
“The truth is, Josiah, in the beginning, I lived a pretty reckless life. I was all about money and women. The Great Depression changed me though; I saw some pretty awful things. The vampire bounty industry was pretty brutal.”
“The vampire bounty industry?” I asked. “I have never heard of that.”
“Since the beginning of the Mani race, humans have known about us. It’s a catch 22 for them. If they let it be known to us that they know who we are, they are risking their lives. By our own creed, we are able to kill them without remorse. So, about the turn of the century, a vampire bounty industry, was formed. It made the Ku Klux Klan look mild. The Tandra who were in the know would go on Mani-killing sprees that would last for weeks. Sometimes they even got Mani to turn on each other.” Wyatt paused. “I did some things I’m not proud of. In those days, there wasn’t much of a choice. By the time World War II got here, I was done.”
“Done how?”
“With the money I earned from the bounties, I invested in the market once it started to improve. I made a lot of money investing. And for about 50 years I just decided to live in the biggest cities in the world. When I was in New Delhi, I met Hector. He was a new Mani and needed guidance. We hooked up as old-timer mentor and newbie Manis and we connected for, well, forever, I think.”
Hector smiled and gave a slight nod.
“What year was that?” I asked Wyatt.
“1988. I remember because George Bush Sr. had won the presidential election, and I saw the economic collapse a mile away. In my case, half the world away.”
“That was about the time I started getting the vision about you.”
“About me?” I asked.
“Well, about ‘The Chosen.’ In each of my visions, ‘The Chosen’ had always been faceless.”
“So, that’s why you had no idea if it was Atticai or not.”
“Yep. Not a clue. I was just trusting things that he was telling us. He seemed to have his shit together. He had seen it all, and had lived through things that would have made most people lose their minds.”
“When he was Goshi, he told me he had lost his family.”
“Josiah, Atticai used to be a good man. He used to have high ethics and values and lived in a manner that most Mani men could never emulate. In poker terms, he was dealt an awful hand by the Triat. The Triat either tricked him, or he was too arrogant to realize that he was only a pawn in their giant chess game. Maybe on some level, he knew he was always going to be used and he tried to beat it by working the angles as much as he could. When we all met up in the late 90s and formed the Children of the Night, Atticai was about the most amazing entity I had ever come across.”
“You don’t think that anymore?” I asked. “He beat death.”
“He didn’t beat death. He’s alive because of the good in you. He didn’t beat death, whatsoever, you allowed him, unknowingly, to scurry around it.”
“Is that what you think, Wyatt? You think it’s all on me?”
“Before I met you, I thought Atticai was a god. Compared to you, he is a child.”
“I’m not a god, Wyatt. You understand that, right?” That comment made me really uncomfortable, almost nauseous.
“You might as well be,” Hector chimed in.
“I don’t want that responsibility, to be a god to the people,” I said, to the three men in front of me. “A leader, yes. Like a president or something, but not elevated to god status.”
“You might not want it,” Wyatt responded with vigor. “But you need to accept the fact that the only way people are going to follow you is because they believe that you are greater than they are. Why else would they follow or believe in you? You don’t have to be divine, but you do need to lead by example, like you have been.”
“Whatever happens from this day forward, you need to know I am not a god,” I said, plainly.
Wyatt smiled and said, “You need to understand that most Mani have been through a lot of shit in their lives. They have been persecuted and ostracized by the people they loved. You give them hope, Josiah. You give them a reason to stand together as one. Because of you, we all know that there is a place for all of us to live in peace away from the entire creed and away from all the fighting. We do understand however, the only way we will get to that place is through bloodshed. We don’t like it, but in our hearts we know that it’s what needs to be done. It is our nature to want to follow a great Mani into battle, but only if we believe that we are connected to a greater purpos
e. The greater purpose is harmony. It’s not looking over your back every two seconds to see if your own kind is trying to kill you.”
I looked at all three of the men. “Do all three of you believe that?”
“I do,” Hector said. “Damn, you have my credit card, Josiah. I must think you’re somebody. I don’t give my credit card to just anyone.”
I smiled at Hector. “Do you believe we’re fighting to have a time of peace?”
“I do, Josiah,” Hector answered.
“And do you think that I’m some kind of god?”
“Shit, Josiah. I think on some level we’re all gods. We’re freaking immortal. Maybe we don’t have a world where people pray to us, but we definitely have some serious game.”
“Game?” I asked.
“You know Jo, swagger!” Hector laughed.
“Jo? What the hell has gotten into you, Hector? You’re actually being funny.”
“Getting laid does that to people,” Cyrus said.
“Wait, have I missed something?” I asked.
“Hector has this hot new girlfriend, that’s why he’s never around,” Cyrus continued.
“When did that happen?” I said, shocked.
“About two weeks after you left.” Hector grinned, proudly.
“I thought you were gay,” I said, laughing.
“Why does everyone think that?” Hector groaned.
“What’s her name?” I asked.
Hector smiled and said, “Harriet.”
“Hector and Harriet,” I said. “Damn, you couldn’t have written it any better.” I was really surprised. I composed myself and said to Hector, “What is your story?”
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
“When and where were you royalty?”
“In 1933, I was born in Yemen.”
“Wow, Yemen?” I had heard of that country, but I had no idea people lived there. Was Hector the name you were born with?”
“No, my birth name is Abdul Mhum Azeera.”
“That’s a mouthful.”
“That’s why the name Hector is easier. When I become a Mani in 1955, I decided to take the name Hector from the Odyssey.”
“In a weird way, it fits you perfectly,” I said. “So how do you still have access to so much money?”
“Swiss bank accounts.”
“I thought Swiss bank accounts were an urban legend,” I said.
“No, they are very real.”
“So, tell me how you became a Mani?” I asked Hector.
“It’s a pretty gruesome story.”
“I have a strong stomach. Go for it.”
So, Hector told me a pretty awful story of how he was attacked by Mani men who were after his father’s throne. He was right, his story was pretty brutal and I guess any Mani who had become one not by choice would have a pretty horrific tale to tell. He finished his story by saying, “I was considered dead the night I was attacked. I had been bitten several times from several different Mani. Somehow, I survived. I had wanted a way out of Yemen for years. I figured this was my best chance. Everyone thought I was dead and I had access to a lot of the money since I had made deposits in Switzerland, prior the attack. I wasn’t sure when I was going to split out of Yemen, but I had planned on bailing on that god-forsaken country for quite some time. Even though they never found my body, I was declared dead. After I made sure my accounts were still active, I took on an alias.”
“This is all pretty surreal, Hector,” I said. “I have never heard you speak so much at one given time. Is there a reason for that?”
“I made it a habit a long time ago that I would only speak when spoken to. Right now, you’re asking questions. So it’s only fair that I answer them.”
I grinned at Hector’s honesty. “So,” I said, “is your girl cute?”
Hector smiled. “Yes, she is. She’s gorgeous.”
“Good man.” I turned and looked at Cyrus. “You, my friend, I could have sworn you would have left with Atticai.”
“Why? I didn’t even know him!” Cyrus protested.
“That’s true,” I said. “I just know how you feel about werewolves.”
“That’s the part about all of this that is hard, Josiah. I liked Tommy. We all did. He put all of us in a weird position last night. You did the right thing.”
“Did I?” I asked.
“You question it?” Cyrus seemed surprised to hear me ask that.
“What you all need to understand is that Tommy and I have a history like no other. He means more to me than probably a brother would at this point. He’s a part of me and I’m a part of him. I’ll never understand the choices he makes, but I can’t worry about that right now. I need to remain focused. Can I ask you a question, Cyrus?”
“Go for it.”
“Why are you here?” I asked, as plainly as I could. “Why do you feel the need to fight for this cause?”
“Why wouldn’t I, Josiah? Krull is damaging the Mani name and if he has his way he’ll destroy any positive outcome there is for our race. When I was following Krull, I never felt right about what he was trying to do. He’s an incredible motivator, but so was Adolph Hitler. The more I listened to him, the more I realized he was clueless and was possibly leading all of us into a pit of destruction.”
“Do you trust me?” I asked Cyrus.
“I do.” Cyrus looked me right in the eyes. “I have ever since the first moment I saw you. You’re a good man, Josiah. You can’t fake that.”
“How old are you?” I asked. “In real years?”
“I was born in 1989.”
“So was I,” I said, a little too excited for the kind of conversation we were all having. “You look around my age, so you must have turned around the same time I did.”
“It was 8 months ago. It happened Christmas Eve.”
“How did it happen?”
“I had a few drinks at a buddy’s house and I drove my car off the road. I was badly injured and there was no one for miles. I was shitfaced drunk and had passed out. I woke up in the hospital. I was told the paramedics had gotten there four hours after I had the accident.”
I looked at Cyrus, confused.
“I know, until this day I still don’t have a clue what happened. When I was in the hospital, the sunlight started to burn my skin in a way that was unspeakable. I complained so much that they eventually moved me to a windowless room.”
I looked at Cyrus and realized that this poor bastard must have had to figure out everything on his own. “How did you eventually figure out what happened to you?”
“I have never figured out what happened to me. It could have been a number of things, like some Mani saw my body on the side of the road and they all fed and then took off, thinking I was dead. Another one of my theories is some Mani came to my rescue and saved me right before I was about to die.”
“I think I like that one better,” I said. “How did you get involved with Krull?”
“Well, I started thinking I had died in the car accident that night and was living in some alternative reality with how bizarre I was feeling. It took me about four months to figure out everything I needed to know. Eventually, I found others like me. Unfortunately, I ran with some bad guys in the beginning and they led me to Krull. At first, I liked what Krull had to say. Things he said made a lot of sense, and since I was new to everything I took to him like a sponge. It wasn’t until it was time to fight that I realized what a fucked-up individual Krull was. He was merciless in his killings. I knew there was something terribly wrong about his particular cause. It wasn’t until the night I met you that I felt I had seen truth.”
“What is it that I did or said?” I asked.
“It was your aura. You had a confidence and easiness that attracted me. Then my visions started and I knew I had made the right decision.”
“You have visions?” I asked.
“Yes, Josiah. Almost every night.”
“Holy shit, really? When were you planning on telling
me?”
“I was waiting for you to ask.”
“Well, what are they?”
“They are always the same thing. I’m being led by you into what appears to be heaven.”
“Are you screwing with me?” I asked, surprised as hell to hear this for the first time.
“Why would I be messing with you? Josiah, this vision is very common.”
I looked at the others and they both nodded. “You have had the same visions?” I asked Wyatt and Hector.
They both nodded.
“Why do you think we stayed with you?” Wyatt asked.
“You said ‘The Chosen’ was faceless,” I said to Wyatt.
“It was faceless until you became a Mani. Since then, I have the same recurring vision.”
“So do I,” Hector agreed.
“Were you guys ever planning on telling me this?” I asked the group.
“Like Cyrus said, Josiah. You never asked,” Wyatt said.
“Wow.” I was pretty taken back. It validated things on a whole new level with me. I decided to continue to ask Cyrus questions, but I was really happy about this news. “You mentioned, Cyrus, when I first met you that werewolves had killed your family. How did that happen?”
“They were my Mani brothers. They were two of the most amazing vampires I had ever met. They were both in agreement with me that Krull was leading us astray. And if they were still alive, I’m positive they would be here with you, too.” Cyrus paused. I could tell this was hard for him to speak about but he continued talking. “One night, we were at the wrong place at the wrong time during a full moon and we were incredibly outnumbered by enough werewolves to kill a thousand Mani.” Again Cyrus stopped talking. Tears burned his eyes.
“It’s okay, man. I get the point. You don’t have to keep telling me the story,” I said.
“No, I want to. You see, Josiah, werewolves aren’t even an ounce human. They’re wild animals that kill without even blinking an eye for no good reason. Not out of revenge or even hate. They do it because they don’t know any better.”