by Aya DeAniege
“Don’t,” Balor snapped at me when I opened my mouth.
So I closed it and glowered at him instead.
“He’s, hmm, what’s the best way to describe you?”
“A naturalist,” I said.
Balor turned his attention back to the interviewer. “Many vampires carry the belief that humans are poisoning the sky and the ground, that soon all that could live here is us. The Council is currently in a debate as to if we should make broad statements, but even among our number, there are those that believe global warming is a myth, created by human scientists to garner more grant money.”
I bit my tongue. Balor hesitated and glanced at me.
“Thanks to us coming out,” he continued, “We have reconnected with the Great Maker, the first of our kind.”
“And she supports your decision to come out?”
“Yes, she does. She believes it is time for a change. She and her sisters were all... naturalists, as Quin put it. She believes that humans are on the right track for making a change, but also believes that certain things stand in the way of making the changes necessary to save the sky and the earth, which she refers to as Mother and Father.”
“So, we can expect pressure from the vampire race?”
“Now that we’re out, well, we no longer need to funnel money slowly towards certain research. We don’t need to talk others into donating so that we can proceed to do the same. We are all very, very rich. We won’t change your laws, you’ve made it very clear that we are not citizens, nor do we have a vote, but we will donate to scientists who are researching things, and to foundations who don’t keep a large percentage of the donations.”
“You plan to be the moral compass of the world?”
“No, I simply plan on telling you when you're stupid,” Balor said. “You should consider us your friend.”
“The partying friend,” Helen said.
Balor considered Helen for a moment, then turned to the interviewer. “Perhaps that’s a bad metaphor. But, you know what? We’ve watched you almost die off, enslave your own kind, some of us even lived as slaves while mortal. You’ve burned scientists and witches and women. You tortured and killed people over a word, for a being that not even we can confirm or deny the existence of. You’ve killed gods only to replace them with another, all the while calling previous generations stupid.
“Humans are not a young, nor a new, race. It’s time you grew up and took responsibility for your actions. You’re the nineteen-year-old still dating people from middle school, living in your mother’s basement and thinking you’ll make it big as a singer. Thinking it’s just that the world needs to learn better, not you.”
“Is that what the Council believes?”
“I think the Council views humans as lost,” Balor said quickly. “They have a more positive outlook than I do, and certainly than what Quin here has. He’d probably burn civilization to the ground for giggles.”
We were supposed to promote the vampire agenda, but in a friendly, ‘not planning on stabbing the sheep,’ sort of way. I don’t know why I suddenly felt so protective of the world. Perhaps it was Sasha and all she had said to me before she had left.
I had cared before, most vampires agreed that the destruction of the world was a bad thing, but not to the point of wanting to bite others or make threats.
“Goodness no, effect positive change to see the world grow for the better,” I said. “Start small, start teaching a better way of it. It’s not a change that will happen quickly, maybe not even in your lifetime. But it’s time for the change to happen.”
The rest of the interview was based on the vampire agenda and a little fluff around us being new Makers. They called us new fathers and compared vampire manic rage to squirting urine in the face of the one changing a baby.
It’s not like that at all.
We call them baby vampires because it helps sum them up, but is also is a human-friendly term to keep the mortals calm. In most other languages, we referred to them by very different names. Things like Apep, Bellona, Eris, and others. If you look those names up, you may find a similar thread.
No, we didn’t name our baby vampires after gods to make it easier to talk about them in public. We called them these things which meant chaos, war, destruction, and the presence of several over the course of centuries created the god.
Baby vampires, at their most basic, were rage filled murder machines. They had about two weeks of normalcy before they started ripping their food apart. Even Lu hadn’t quite been able to curb my bloodlust, what little he prevented was because he had me chained up and drained.
But we didn’t tell the mortals that. In fact, we had downplayed it quite a bit.
Maker to Progeny commands don’t work when they get like that. Or, for example, if the Progeny feels like the Maker is being threatened. Then that murderous rage explodes into a tantrum of power and vampiric murder.
That might be fun.
Leaving the interview twenty minutes later, we piled into an unmarked van with no windows in the back. Helen and Troy immediately laid down, and we told them how to position themselves for easier transportation. Helen gave me a look but did as I told her.
She handed me her phone, because mine had exploded at Lucrecia’s and my texts were going through her until I could get another one, and then closed her eyes to sleep.
A few blocks away, when we knew they were asleep, Balor and I relieved the driver and took the front seats. The van was Council issue, specially protected glass, both from the sun and bullets, so we didn’t need glasses.
“Well, that was a shit show,” I said.
“I think it worked out all right,” Balor said. “Nothing can be linked back to the Council.”
“Except the people who raided Council Chambers.”
“Who were not police and are now dead,” Balor said. “The Council will stay someplace else for a while, where war isn’t unseen, and simply eat anyone who comes around.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“The Archives will be safe, we tend to follow them, but if necessary, we can separate for a time. It’s been done before. That’ll give us the time to stretch their muscles while still doing our duties to the Council. A win for everyone except the mortals.”
“Werewolves?” I asked.
“Daisy has a country she’d like cleared of some patriarchy that’s demanded she be killed. With no others of her title, she’s asked for our help. Why did you think I got out of there so fast? They loved the sounds Troy was making, didn’t want to let him go so soon.”
I thought something, then almost snarled. Best to say that sort of thing out loud, so I did.
“Werewolf orgy where my stock is the center of attention is not something I want to think about.”
“He’s my Progeny, Quintillus. You need to make that transition. I might… accept the fact that you and he have a history, that you are the dear uncle and God figure to my beloved child, but you are no longer his god. He answers first to me.”
“Balor, you turned another vampire’s stock. And not just any stock, the stock I favour this generation.”
“I didn’t mean to keep him,” he muttered. “My Master says that’s a flaw of mine. It’s like a crazy cat lady who says she’ll foster just one more kitten for a week, then ends up adopting the entire litter.”
“Your children don’t need you anymore, they rarely call. Sasha used to say having one made you want more, but until you turned that one, you could resist. The more successful your Progeny, the more you want to make and keep.”
We shared a brief look. Then he focused on the road once more.
“There’s a reason the Council banned turning our kind,” I said. “Why we used to be careful about children even. Can you name a single time stock has been turned?”
“No, not turned and kept alive,” Balor said.
“We’re like,” I glanced back at our Progeny. “You realize we’re like a gay couple who adopted two kids.”
> Balor chuckled in a low, quiet fashion. “You ever decide to give that shot. You let me know. My Master’s Master has a title for me. The Whore.”
I made a sound at the back of my throat. “Call you what they like, doesn’t make it true. You’ve always been the King, and it’s hard to picture you looking at another vampire with those big, Progeny eyes and calling them Master.”
“You of all people should know that maintaining an image is more important than what you truly are. Easier to just be you, but it’s never been the time to come clean.”
“What do you want, Balor?”
“What?” he asked, sounding startled.
“This is the second time you’ve mentioned your past in the last hour. Normally I’d let you meander and probably not notice it myself, but she’s got a way of cutting through the crap that I’ve come to appreciate, so what do you want?”
“The Council, the rest of the Council, wants me to bring up the list.”
“I think they should be reviewed,” I said. “Time spent, that kind of thing. I mean, there’s the one. She has to go.”
There was only one female vampire on the list. She was almost as old as Lu.
Balor was suddenly uncomfortable. I blinked at him. Then I considered all the things I’d ignore, typically.
“No,” I said.
His lips pressed together, then he nodded.
“The only other name I’d even consider ending—”
Balor nodded again.
“You want to protect the Warlord? Balor, he served under you, in your little court, for centuries. You hung him by his wrists and flayed the skin from his back. When you joined Council vampires you swore against him.”
“Foreplay.”
“You two have a weird relationship.”
“Look, I realize I have nothing I could say or offer. But he’s done nothing wrong.”
“Except he’s been on the run for three thousand years. The one time Lu got close to him, he made a volcano erupt. Ash rained from the sky. Humans still talk about the summer without the sun!”
“In protection of another. Who also has never done anything wrong. All she does is exist, but because she exists, she has to die? What are we? Humans from a century ago? You heard her. It’s time for a change. This is where we should start the change.”
“Not if he can’t be tamed. You’re talking about revolt against the Council.”
“No, I’m talking about sparing the life of a vampire who is no more dangerous than you are. He can’t kill another.”
“Balor, I’m talking literal revolt. You think if I spare him, he’ll be grateful to us? That he’d serve our purpose? Even with the changes that will happen, there’s no place for him in the new world, no role that he could play.
“And if I were to kill her, like I should by rights, then what do we have? Nuclear missiles going off over populated areas? Guerrilla warfare in first world countries? He’s as bad as Lu.”
“He’s not as bad as Lu. And I’m not blinded by my cock, either. Just. At least... Quin, give me something. Please.”
I considered the road. Silent for a long time, I thought of all that was to come and what had been.
“Fine, give him a warning, that’s what you can do. Go visit your lover and give him one warning. Until Helen is weaned, I’m not going to go hunting what’s not being stupid. He has until then to prove that he has use in the new world order, to ditch the girl, and solve the problem. If I see him before then, I make no promises.”
“You really think the Warlord could have a purpose?”
“I think the world is changing and we may not know the full scope of that change. Maybe he could be of use. I think that I’m tired and want a rest. I’d like to sink into this paradise of being immortal that so many have promised me this life could be. He’s had his rest. He can come to serve now.”
“He’s never served Council purposes.”
“Not Council, vampiric. It’s in the best interest of the species if we have someone to control everyone else. To create a cold war that no one is willing to take up because he’s at the head of it all.
“The halfling, though, she has to be kept from making children of her own.”
Balor stiffened, then relaxed ever so slowly. “I’ve never heard her called that.”
“What?” I asked, struggling to recall what I had just said.
I could have played it back, but that seemed foolish.
“You usually call her the Girl.”
“Oh, no, not her. Another. You don’t know the other, but if you laid eyes on her, you’d know.”
What the hell is coming out of our mouths?
“Maybe the Girl and the Fae of a Girl would get along well,” I said. “Which brings up the question of where she is. Supposed to come save us and what happens? That bloody mess. Did you send anyone to collect the mortal shell?”
“No, I thought you did.”
“Nope. He can’t hurt anyone. They did pick him up. They’ll have him committed, or he’ll wander into the lake. Good riddance. Do we have time to make a stop?”
“Hmm? You want them to use the UV lights to fool the children?”
“Maybe. I want to see a man about being a dickbag.”
“No, no you don’t, Quin. Leave her father or ex or brother alone. You don’t do justice. She does justice, in ten years when she really gets into it. My Master had killed my father before I had a chance to. Out of jealousy. That was when we became dynamic, but trust me, neither of us liked the outcome of that first time or how it felt.”
“Are you saying you dominated your Master?”
Balor grinned. “I prefer to let him lead, but sometimes it’s nice to switch it up.”
“You’re a twisted little man, Balor.”
He made a little sound at the back of his throat as Helen’s phone went off. I pulled it out and read the text, then slipped the phone away again.
“The Great Maker wants to know how you feel about Edmonton. The Canadian government has contacted Lucrecia, and they’ve asked us to reconsider. We can say the Council is anywhere at all, but they’d like us to really be here.”
“Interesting concept,” he said.
“As Middle Council, you’d have to scout it out.”
“I know that. You think I don’t know that?” he demanded. “All right, but I really think we should wait for everything to blow over. Give it a little bit of time to settle.”
“A year, maybe. Things aren’t ready yet, not quite.”
“What’s not ready yet?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but then realized what he was doing. Asking me leading questions, things that might even be vague.
“Balor, what do you and yours call me?”
“Nothing.”
“You didn’t know I could kill people until last week. You must have attributed some nickname to me, one that other vampires picked up. So, I could torture it out of someone. But I think if you don’t want an uncomfortable year, you should just come out and tell me.”
He was quiet for a moment, then sighed. “The Prophet.”
“You’re all assholes!”
“What? Get you drunk on blood. You’re better than a crystal ball.”
“Damn it, is that why I always get invited to blood baths?”
Balor winced.
I muttered a string of curses, focusing out the window.
“You all suck,” I finished.
“But we love you?”
“But you’ve been using me against my knowledge,” I said sternly.
“That is true.”
“I’m going to eat the next person to do that.”
“Fair enough,” he managed to get out. “It’s not like you’re going to see many vampires over the next century or so, you do realize that? Most petitions are done in writing now and really aren’t much.”
“Good, hate their stupid faces anyhow.”
“Don’t you have to drop that off?”
“No, I think it wo
uldn’t be appropriate for me to end it. It should be her. We’ll mail it back.”
I woke the next night in Cairo.
Apparently, getting out of the country as a vampire was as simple as having stock draw up the paperwork and then shipping your body as you slept. Older vampires didn’t need a lot of sleep but could fall into that dead sleep for the duration of the day, if they needed to.
Who knew.
I’m sure it was a loophole that countries would close very quickly. I also wouldn’t suggest trying the travel method if one is alive and needs oxygen. There is no air in the cargo bay that bodies are transported in or at the very least little of it. Not enough to sustain life.
They probably do screen. What with smugglers and all, but we weren’t smuggling anything. If they had opened my coffin and attempted an autopsy, they would have seen the damage from the night before still in my flesh. No doubt that would be reason enough to close it back up without further investigation.
The companies that transported bodies say that they have the utmost respect for the dead. Still, it creeps me out that they touched me and saw me lying there in the coffin.
Cairo was beautiful. Not at all what I was expecting. We stayed there four days, but the heat only bothered me that first night. After that, it was sand and more sand, and Quin.
And Balor and Troy.
I ran free, barefoot across the sands when Quin finally had us move. Across the desert with nothing more than water and the clothing on our backs. You would think that it would wear us down, but after those four days of recovery, there was a thrum of energy underneath it all.
I never quite imagined that there were so many stars in the sky. Quin and Balor taught us about the stars a bit, but we hadn’t lived looking up. It was all just dots of white to us. When Quin motioned, from my point of view, he pointed to the whole sky. How was I to tell which was which and how the constellations were formed?
The view though, of that sky? Oh, it was utterly breathtaking. Nothing made me feel quite so small as to look up and consider the cosmos before me.
Not every day was beautiful and happy, however.
Ever wake up to an eyeball pecked out by a scavenger?