“So he needs you too,” Namon says, concerned, knowing that Katrina is the last descendant.
“Yes, and if he is able to use it he will be able to control Galamythe, and bend him to his will.”
“If that is the case, then you shouldn't go tonight.”
“I will be careful, but if we are able to secure the ring, and put it somewhere only we know, then that will decrease his chances of success,” she says.
“So what do we do in the meantime?”
“We get you to try, and phase again in case something happens tonight, and then we clean up any mess you make while trying to do so. I remember I broke your mother’s dining room set the first time I phased.”
Namon looks at her with a smile on his face, just waiting to hear this story.
“Okay, you have got to tell me.”
She rolls her eyes, and then crosses her arms.
“Okay, fine. Well as you know there are only supposed to be four White Wolves at a time, and I was the runt. When Chase became a White Wolf, I was only sixteen. So, I didn't phase for the first time until I was twenty-one. Your mom, and dad had moved in together, and I helped her go shopping for a beautiful old dining room set. Well that night we all decided to have a couple of drinks. Okay, more than a couple. I got drunk.”
Namon starts laughing at the thought of seeing Katrina drunk.
“You want to hear the story or not?” she asks.
He holds a finger up while continuing to laugh hysterically. A few moments later, he calms down enough for her to continue.
“Okay, sorry.”
“Anyway, we all were drinking, and having a good time, and then, just like that, I phased. When you have no idea what it's like, phasing, you’re drunk, and you start freaking out. I wound up scratching the table all up, and I knocked the china cabinet over, onto the table, and broke it, and half the chairs along with it.”
Namon starts laughing so hard at the mental image that he falls to the floor with his hands holding his waist. He lies there a moment in a fetal position, laughing while Katrina glares at him. Once he realizes that she is doing this, he stops, and gets back up.
The Gremlin hiding in the closet, is chuckling as well.
“Okay, back to a more serious topic. I promise I will stop laughing if you tell me what happened to you, and where did Cyrus come from?”
Katrina sits down still feeling fatigued, and massages her temples.
“I think I need to take a nap, but you can read about Cyrus in your books. Just look him up in the index, okay, honey? I'm just really tired from having to fight so much lately, and last night I didn't have any backup, but I will be fine. I'll have you with me tonight,” she says with a small smile as she lies down on the couch.
Namon gets out one of the books, and looks up Cyrus in the index, flipping to the right pages.
Cyrus Wilmington was the first human made into a vampire, just as Gilles de Rais was the first human turned into a werewolf. Just like Gilles, Cyrus made a pact with a member of the triad, only he made his deal with Demetria. Demetria figured she could use the vampires that would come from Cyrus as soldiers against Denominos, just as he figured he could use the werewolves against her. Cyrus has gone through many names over the centuries, but his original name was Vlad Tepes III, the Prince of Walachia, and member of the House of Draculesti, a branch of the House of Basarab, the family responsible for the first line of princes in Walachia. He had ruled three times, and was also known as Vlad the Impaler. He was considered a tyrant, responsible for between 40,000, and 80,000 deaths, his victims during his rule, and was known mostly for torturing, and impaling his victims. This made him a prime candidate for Demetria to make him the first vampire.
“You mean this sucker is Dracula?” he looks over at Katrina as she sleeps. “Great. That's all you had to tell me he's Dracula.”
Aluana paces back and forth in her room, looking at the empty doorway. Maybe breaking the door wasn't my most rational reaction, but she really pissed me off. Cyrus taps on the frame of the door, and enters.
“So I hear, and see that you and Tiffany had a difference of opinion.”
She stands still, and glares at him with her arms crossed.
“Why do you still insist on keeping me prisoner? I never get to go out, and all I have to look at are these same damn walls.”
Tiffany stands right on the other side of the wall, and eavesdrops on the conversation.
“Aluana, you know that you are very important, and you have a great deal of importance in the times ahead. There are all sorts of dangers here in the city, and I would be devastated if anything were ever to happen to you.”
Tiffany grinds her teeth hearing him saying such things about Aluana. She has always been jealous of her, and even more jealous of Cyrus's obsession with her. He treats her as if she were his daughter. Tiffany feels that it is she that should hold his affection, and be the one in charge of everything if something were to happen to him.
“I really do appreciate you taking me in, and caring for me when you found me wandering the streets those hundreds of years ago, but if you care so much about me, you should see what this is doing to me. I still don't have the first clue as to who I really am, and I won't find my answers in this museum of a house. What good is an immortal life if I don't get to live it? If I get out again, I may never come back, Cyrus.”
Cyrus thinks long and hard for a few moments before responding.
“You are right, my dear. You do deserve freedom, and a chance to live. As soon as the new mansion is completed in Macon, and we all move down there, you can come, and go as you please. It is a much smaller city than Atlanta, and less dangerous. Just promise me that you will always come back, and until we move, you remain here.”
A big smile spreads across her face, and she approaches Cyrus, and hugs him. He hugs back gently with the care that a father would with his daughter. Then he loosens his grip, and takes a few steps back.
“Well, I have to go back to Macon. I must attend to a few business matters. Just don't forget your promise. Stay here where it is safe until we get to Macon. It won't be much longer until the mansion is finished,” he says, then smiles at her.
She smiles back, and nods in agreement.
“Why don't you go spend some time in your studio while the contractor fixes things? I saw him pull up right behind me, and Tiffany has assured me that she is paying the bill.”
Aluana smiles, and chuckles slightly.
He leaves the room, and sees Tiffany leaning against the wall, and motions for her to follow him. Once out of hearing range of Aluana's room, he slaps his open palm clear across her face before pushing her against the wall.
“You provoked her, didn't you? Not only that, but you also framed her, and didn't think that I would figure it out. She doesn't even drink human blood!”
“Sire, I don't know what you're talking about,” she says while avoiding eye contact with him.
“When we get to Macon, your job is to follow her without being seen. If you try to frame her again, or if she so much as even mentions seeing you, I will feed you to Galamythe myself when he has risen.”
He lets loose his grip on her, and she nods slowly in agreement.
“I'm sorry, master, it won't happen again,” she says with her eyes lowered.
His cell phone rings, and he answers it.
“So Mr. Mayor, I hope you have some good news for me.”
“We have had several people calling in claiming that they know where the amulet is, but I think they are all just after the money, and don't have any real information. However I received a call from someone who works at one of the local churches that says he has seen it there,” the mayor says.
“He said that they just shipped it out today. Though, along with several other artifacts just one hour after the news report this morning.”
“Where is the shipment being shipped to?” Cyrus asks.
“To Atlanta, they have a warehouse there, and it's on a
shipping freight truck. I'm sure you can manage to retrieve it since it is headed your way.”
“Thank you for the information, Mr. Mayor,” Cyrus says before hanging up his phone. He turns to walk out of the mansion.
“Call the twins, and have them collect the freight truck, and meet me at our warehouse,” he commands Tiffany as he leaves.
The shipping freight truck cruises at a safe speed along I-75 north. The driver is listening to the local hip-hop radio station, singing along. What he doesn't notice is the black van driving along beside him, with a man standing on top of it. Once the van stabilizes, the man leaps from the roof, and lands gracefully onto the top of the truck's trailer. The sudden jolt from the impact gets the drivers attention, and he looks at his rear view mirror, but doesn't see anything except the van, and other oncoming traffic. He figures it was probably just the wind, and turns his attention back to the highway ahead of him.
On the top of the trailer, the man carefully crawls his way toward the cab of the truck, and then leaps over to the door, snatching it open. The driver is caught off guard, and swerves, almost hitting the van as the man grabs the driver, and snatches him out of the truck's cab. The driver falls, and hits the ground hard, but doesn't feel the pain from the scrapes for very long because the van nears, and runs him over, crushing him instantly. The man jumps into the driver’s seat, gains control of the massive vehicle, and then shuts its door.
The van backs off, and then pulls behind the truck, following it up the interstate, and off the exit that it takes. Minutes later, they pull up into a warehouse not far away, and Cyrus is standing just outside the open bay doors, waving at them to pull in. Both vehicles pull in, and stopping as soon as they are in, Cyrus lowers the bay doors. The smaller framed man hops down from the truck, and walks toward the trailer as the larger man from the van approaches with a crowbar. The large man looks a lot like a biker, covered with tattoos, wearing jeans, and a denim vest that really looks like a denim jacket with the sleeves torn off. The smaller man is more nondescript with his attire, but is very skinny. You would have to look long, and hard to tell that they were identical twins. They are the same height, and you can tell that one of them works out a lot since he has much larger muscle mass, also the big guys face is covered in facial hair, and they have a different fashion style.
The big guy wedges the crowbar into the door just enough so that he can snatch the door from its hinges. Cyrus approaches, clapping his hands together to congratulate them on a good job.
“Well done. I always know if I need a job done right, I can always count on the twins. So who is ready to strip this thing down? You guys still want your normal cut?” Cyrus asks.
They do not speak, but just nod their approval in unison.
“Okay, this time you get your normal pay plus everything in the truck, excluding the amulet. That is all that I am after,” he says while showing them the picture of the amulet.
They both look at each other at the same time, and then at Cyrus, simultaneously nodding in agreement again.
“That is really creepy, you know,” Cyrus says.
The three of them get into the trailer, and, one by one, open every single box, and every single package. Hours later, they run out of boxes, and do not succeed in finding the item they were looking for.
“IT'S NOT HERE! WE HAVE CHECKED EVERYTHING IN HERE! IT'S NOT HERE!” Cyrus seethes while punching a hole in the side of the trailer. “I am going to have a serious conversation with the mayor when I get to Macon. While I am gone, tear the truck itself apart to look for it.”
The twins nod, and continue their work as Cyrus gets into his car. Once he starts the car, he burns rubber as the tires spin as he puts the car in drive. He speeds down I-75 South like a bat out of hell. The mayor is really in for it when Cyrus gets there.
Back at Katrina's apartment, everything is a mess, and they still have not been successful in getting Namon to phase after her nap. Katrina brings the vacuum cleaner out from her room, and plugs it into the outlet so she can vacuum the floor. As soon as she turns it on, though, it falls to pieces. A little snicker comes from beneath the couch when this happens, and Namon hears it.
“What was that?” he asks.
Katrina didn't respond because she was too busy cursing the vacuum cleaner.
“I swear, if I didn't know any better, I would say that we had a Gremlin following us today.”
“Why do you say that?” Namon says while looking underneath the cushions of the couch.
“Well I heard the nurses say things were messing up at the hospital, the cab's engine fell out, and now the vacuum,” she says, and then looks at Namon. “What are you doing?”
“I swear that I just heard something laugh around here.”
Katrina cocks her eyebrow, walks slowly over to the couch, gets on her hands, and knees, and flips the skirting up. She doesn't see anything, but they both hear the sound of little feet running down the hall, and as soon as they turn to look, the bathroom door shuts.
“Okay, now that's creepy,” Namon says.
Katrina gets a broom, Namon grabs a mop, and they both slowly make their way to the bathroom, and then quickly open the door. Katrina flips the light switch, and looks all around the bathroom. The Gremlin holds its breath as it hides in the toilet's water tank, doing everything it can to keep from trembling with fear. It listens carefully as they search the room, and once it hears them exit the room, it lifts the lid to the tank, and peers around.
“I guess we were just imagining things, Namon.” Katrina picks up the mesh metal waste can beside the hallway desk, and waits right there. “So, guess we better get back to cleaning up, don't you think?” She motions for Namon to walk into the other room.
“Yeah, I guess you're right,” he says as he walks a little heavier than he normally would to make extra sound as he walks to the other side of Katrina.
Satisfied that they are gone, the Gremlin carefully pushes the lid a little farther, just enough so that it can slide its way through and slowly creeps down the toilet. It tip toes out into the hallway. It sees Katrina, and tries to run away, but she is too fast for him. She brings the mesh wastebasket down over it, trapping it. It trembles, and shudders as it leans against the farthest side of the basket.
“So are you a Gremlin?” Namon asks, peering at the ruler sized creature with soft straight black fur, He studies the little pointy, leaf-shaped ears that are as big as its tiny head. Its odd proportions coupled with its miniscule size make it strangely adorable. Its slender bipedal body quakes in fear as Namon gets closer.
It shudders as it nods its head.
“So does that mean you tore up my vacuum cleaner?”
It nods with a sad expressive frown.
“How about that guy’s cab? Did you do that?”
It nods with a scowl on its face as it lets out a slight growl.
“Did you do that because the man was mean to us?” Namon asked.
It nods again, confirming what Namon assumed.
“That was a brand new vacuum cleaner, you know,” Katrina says.
It lets out a slight whimper of regret, and then Katrina sighs.
“So I guess you must like us then, since you stood up for us?” Katrina asks.
It nods again.
“So are you a boy or a girl? Are you the last one?”
It points at Namon, indicating that it was indeed a male Gremlin, and then nods a final time, confirming that he is the last one. He lowers his head, and frowns while crying. Katrina slowly lifts the trashcan, and places it on the floor. Then she lifts the little gremlin up in her arms, holding him as if he were a 24 week term pre mature baby.
“There, there, I know how lonely it is being the only one of your kind. If you promise to not break anything else, you can be a part of this family,” Katrina says.
He wipes his nose on his arm, and then hugs her as far as his little arms can reach. He hops down out of her arms, and walks over to the vacuum cleaner. He waves his h
and and the broken pieces of the vacuum cleaner spiral around, and spin in circles before they all snap together, making it whole once again. Katrina walks over to the vacuum cleaner, and turns it on, and it works as well as it did the day she bought it.
“He may come in handy someday, don't you think?” Namon says.
“True, just do not ever take advantage of him, son. Gremlins are very loyal until they feel like they have been mistreated or betrayed. Then they become very vengeful, and that's the last thing you want. So how about we come up with a name? How does Gremy sound?”
The Gremlin's face shrivels up at that name: The same kind of face you make when you eat something sour. The television was turned to a music video station, and the music video for Ozzy Osbourne's “Crazy Train” comes on. It grabs the Gremlin's attention as he starts dancing around.
“How does Oz sound to you?” Namon asks.
He doesn't make a face at all, and seems very pleased by this name suggestion.
“So that is settled, then. Back to work now,” Katrina says while handing Namon the broom.
He lets out a deep sigh as he starts sweeping the floor. Then he glances over and sees Oz head banging. What has this world come to? Namon thinks to himself. There's a head banging Gremlin named Oz in my living room.
Katrina looks at Namon, and how he is looking at the creature with a smile. This warms her heart to see him amused, and somewhat happy. He has had so much unhappiness it’s time he got something good. She clicks the vacuum on, and proceeds with cleaning.
Minutes later, there is a knocking at the door, and Oz hides beneath the couch. Katrina looks at the couch, and wonders how many times the gremlin has done that. Namon answers the door to see the priest from the church standing there in normal clothes. Namon thinks it looks somewhat weird to see the priest like this, since he has never seen him outside the church.
“May I come in?”
“Of course,” he says, moving out of the way.
The priest walks in, looking back behind him as Namon closes the door. Katrina walks over, and shakes his hand greeting him warmly. Katrina’s face transforms from welcoming to fear, then confusion, and then anger at the words that flow from the priest’s mouth upon entry.
Blood Stained Lives (The Blood Stained Saga Book 1) Page 7