Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny)

by Blakely, Noelle

  Alex’s curiosity about Reginald’s creator was valid. Creating Vampires was not easy nor was it done lightly. It was a process that took days and was not successful more than 60-70% of the time. Alex did not know the exact figure; he hadn’t tried to turn anyone since he created Aurora in 600 AD. Alex guessed that Reginald was around 400 years old, which was getting to middle age for a Vampire. A large portion of Vampires succumbed to the melancholia and walked into the sun somewhere between the ages of 800 and 1200. If a Vampire was older than that, he was an exception. Most of the elders were at least 800 as it gave others confidence to know that they were stronger than the depression. Alex was almost 2000 years old and had already battled the depression at around 600 years. That was when he met Aurora and his life forever changed. He turned her, and their love had cured his desire to give in to a final death.

  In the last 300 years, Alex had only met one Vampire older than himself, and that was in Europe, and he did not know if that Vampire still existed. There were also the rumors of ancients that slept in stasis, never rising and never dying, but no one knew where they supposedly rested, and Alex doubted that there was any truth to the myth.

  Reginald seemed unusual to Alex because, in the time of Reginald’s creation, he must have been near the end of his life. People died much younger than 60 in the 1600’s, and if he looked like a robust 60 now he was probably even older than that before he was turned.

  “Would I know your creator?” he asked Reginald, genuinely curious.

  “I’m not sure, sir. He walked into the sun nearly 300 years ago. Funny…I wonder how a Vampire is supposed to kill himself these days? I guess the ones I saw in the ocean were pretty dead, so there must be a way.” Reginald had a tendency to drift with his own thoughts and Alex certainly didn’t want him thinking about those dead Vampires. It was something he did not want commonly known just yet.

  “What was his name?” he redirected.

  “Oh, yes. Sorry. Charles Mason Devereux was my creator. I was his man servant for nearly 54 years as a man and another 108 as a Vampire before he…well you know.”

  “I didn’t know him, but I believe I had heard his name mentioned before, most likely to do with council business.” Alex pushed on. “So how did Devereux come to turn an older manservant into a Vampire?”

  “Seems a little odd, I know,” Reginald nodded lost a little in his own memories. “I don’t really know why he cared a whit about me. I know he took me in when I was a boy after my mother died. I never knew my father and my mother was the laundress at Devereux’s manor. I never saw her body, I was told that she drowned, and I never thought to question that for years, but you may see what I’m getting at.” He looked a little uncomfortable voicing even a vague suspicion against his creator. “I must have been around eleven then, and I worked every position in the manor until I was Master Devereux’s personal valet and manservant. Of course, it became obvious when Devereux did not age, and I grew older and older, that there was something a little supernatural about the whole thing. He entrusted me with his secret, and I was his closest friend for many years. I think maybe I was his only friend. He seemed so sad much of the time.”

  Alex nodded. “The melancholia.”

  “Yes, he suffered the sadness off and on for years. We moved away for nearly 30 years when I was a man of about 32 or so. We travelled extensively in Europe and then returned. No one knew him, or me, for that matter, when we came back. He became a nephew, named for his uncle and we took residence again at the manor near Boston.

  I was 71 years old when Devereux was visited by a council elder. It was 1692 and the witch trials had just begun in Salem town. The council had a pact with the original witches, and the elder was of a mind to go and get a particular witch and bring her back. Most of the accused were just midwives and herb women, but the older ones consulted with and brought information to the real witch, Mother Zhukov, I believe she was called. The Vampires were afraid that the women would talk under torture, and they wanted to get the Mother out of the area. So, they went to fetch her, and that’s when the real trouble started.”

  Alex’s brow was furrowed, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I think that I may remember something of this story,” he commented. “Wasn’t there a Were involved somehow with this witch?”

  “Oh, yes. That is how it began. There was a Were clan, wolves, not too far from Salem. They had a whole settlement, like wolves and Lions are prone to do, secluded but still close enough to have dealings now and then with the humans. Well one day a Were cub wandered off from the settlement, and Mother Zhukov, who also lived in seclusion near Salem, found the little guy while she was out in the woods collecting who knows what for her craft.” Reginald paused and shook his head sadly. “The little toddler just followed along with her and made no fuss. I guess you know how the original witches are always going on about the auras of creatures and the life forces and such.”

  “Life spark,” Alex offhandedly corrected.

  “Yes, that’s it. I didn’t know much about it back then, but I guess those witches were actually sacrificing creatures for the life spark to power their spells. They weren’t supposed to be doing this with sentient creatures according to the Pact.”

  Alex knew that Reginald was referring to the agreement that was made between most of the non-humans regarding keeping their existence a secret from mankind. It outlined behaviors that were frowned upon as a risk to discovery. This was also the same pact that the Vampires blatantly disregarded and violated when they began consorting with humans and now held considerable influence in human society, as a result. This was a strong point of contention with Weres and Witches, who were the other primary non-humans involved in the agreement.

  “Are you saying the Mother sacrificed a toddler Were for a spell with an entire settlement of wolves nearby?” Alex was Incredulous.

  “Not only did she do just that, but the ritual was performed in the woods with ceremonial markings and such. The remains were left there to power the spell, so when the body was found, there was no mistaking the work of the Mother. The Weres didn’t want to move against a Mother directly, but they are the ones who casually started the rumors in Salem town of practitioners in the area. They figured it was only a matter of time before one of the Mother’s followers among the herb women and midwives gave her up to the human questioners.”

  Alex listened to Reginald’s tale with interest. He did remember something about a protection agreement with the Mothers, but couldn’t remember if he ever knew any details of this incident. “So all those human women that followed the witch, were tortured and executed in her stead.”

  “She nearly got hers,” Reginald replied. “Devereux and the elder were on their way back with the Mother when the Weres caught wind of it. A whole group of them waylaid the travelers. If the Mother and the Vampires hadn’t been so old and powerful, I doubt they would have survived. As it was, they came tearing into the gates of the manor, just before dawn. Devereux was horribly injured and his body was healing as quickly as his remaining energy allowed, but it was obvious that he was starving and needed more blood to fuel the healing. He was half out of his mind and ravenous. When I took his reins as he came through the gate, he fell off the horse onto me and viciously attacked me. He fed on me to fuel the process. I was already dying when he regained his senses and was nearly well again. He was beside himself. I had been his companion for many years, and he looked at is like he was responsible for killing me in a reckless moment, which was true actually. I was nearly gone, and he rushed me to the manor and began the process of trying to turn me. The first draining was already done, so he went from there and you know how it goes and how long it takes and that a lot of people don’t make it through. I guess that’s why there are so few of us gray haired Vampires around. I don’t think most older folks have the stamina for the transformation. I guess I was lucky. Anyway, the elder and the Mother didn’t expect I would survive, and they left long before the process was completed. But
, they were wrong, and I did turn. I spent over 100 years with Devereux, learning to be a Vampire before he finally gave into the sadness.”

  “That’s quite a dramatic beginning,” Alex offered. “A good lesson for not involving one’s self with witches if it can be helped.”

  “I agree with that, sir. I’m no witch-lover,” Reginald answered as they moved on after the long break.

  Twenty-three

  Ryan went out on his own to go hunting. He had been teaching both Sara and Aurora the bows in a clearing by the cabin. He wanted them to be able to shoot if the need arose and he wasn’t just thinking of hunting. For now, he just wanted the quiet to stock up a little and leave plenty of food for Sara while he was gone.

  He figured he could get to the Were settlement in a day and a half and it might take him a little longer to hook up with the lieutenant, but he seriously needed information.

  The settlement was in a particularly secluded part of the Adirondacks and a lot of the Weres in the pack lived there all year long. Others, like himself, came and went and had lives outside of the pack in the human world. For most of the last couple of years, he had been scouting for the pack. Growing up as a teen, full time in the pack, he learned survival skills and woodcraft. He came to pack life late, but there were others that had lived among the humans too, and he wasn’t entirely alone or even considered unusual. The only unusual thing was that he had not been prepared for the change by his parents ahead of time as most Weres had been.

  For those that lived full time with the pack, the children stayed with their mothers until weaned at around two years and then they were given over to a communal life, where they were cared for, taught and trained by pack members, usually young, unattached adults and elders. The system made for a tight pack. No one was required to live this way, but pack dwellers were encouraged to support the communal lifestyle.

  For Ryan, the L.T. trained him along with several others in military combat skills, firearms, explosives and hand fighting. The L.T. had been a Lieutenant for the Navy Seals in his life with humans, and now he served the pack with the skills he learned. Ryan and the others couldn’t actually be considered a military unit and some were more involved than others, but Ryan tried to keep his eyes and ears open and report back as much info as he could get in his travels. He was anxious to talk to the L.T. and the others. Too many odd things were happening, and he hoped to find some answers.

  When he returned to the cabin, Aurora and Sara were stocking wood and other supplies, preparing to settle in for a while. The snow would start to fall in a couple of months, and it would be impossible to predict how long they would be able to get out before they were pretty much snowed in for the season.

  Sara looked up from stacking wood. “When do you have to go?” she asked Ryan. She hated feeling so needy, but the others were so powerful that she was feeling a little helpless.

  “I should leave tonight and travel for a while by darkness. I don’t think I’m likely to run into anyone up here, but I would rather not take any chances”

  “I wish you didn’t have to go,” Sara frowned at the ground in front of her.

  Ryan took Sara’s hands in his and leaned down to look in her eyes. “I will be back before you even miss me, baby.” He flashed her his best pretty boy smile, and she couldn’t help but smile back. What a charmer.

  He helped them prepare for a few days on their own and then left with two of the horses, intending to bring back more supplies. He saw no one in the woods on the way to the pack settlement and he arrived the following afternoon by travelling with only brief stops. Sara’s anxiety was affecting him more than he wanted to admit, and he didn’t want to leave her for longer than necessary.

  One of the sentries slipped up behind him, unseen as he approached the settlement. “Ryan, how’s your sister? Did you find her?”

  Ryan didn’t jump. He hadn’t heard the sentry approach, but he was expecting one any moment. “Nice moves, Tyler. I didn’t hear or smell a thing and Yes, I found my sister. Thanks for asking.”

  The young Were grinned proudly at the compliment to his skills at stealth. “The L.T. will want to talk to you as soon as you get in. I don’t know what you’ve seen or heard, but some crazy reports have been coming in from all over. Also, the Alpha is going to want to see you before you leave again. No rush, but he asked to talk to everyone that comes in, especially the scouts.”

  “Thanks, Tyler. I will make sure to check in as soon as I can.” Ryan puzzled at what the Alpha wanted to talk to him and the other scouts about. The L.T. usually took care of all the intelligence they brought in.

  The current Alpha of Ryan’s pack was a big Were by the name of Elvis Arnott. He was the same Alpha that Mr. Gardner took Ryan to when he was fifteen and changing. Ryan was grateful to Elvis and had tremendous respect for him. Elvis still treated Ryan like family.

  As Ryan entered the settlement, a couple of teenagers came and relieved him of the horses. He knew where they were taking them, and he let them do the job that they were clearly excited to be assigned to. He strode up to a wooden house with a planked covered porch. He always thought the modest building looked like an old west sheriff’s office, at least until you went inside. He knocked and heard, “Enter,” shouted from behind the door.

  The front room was a large living area with an enormous stone fireplace and wood floors. Lots of rugs and leather furniture gave the room a warm, but unmistakably masculine, feel. There was a huge dining table on one side of the wide room, the kind that a dozen people could sit around at Thanksgiving dinner. But in order to serve any kind of dinner at this table a person would have to remove the stacks of reports, maps and printouts that covered the entire expanse. As usual, the L.T. stood leaning over the pile, pointing out something on a map that he had pulled to the top of the heap. He was talking to two other scouts that, like Ryan, usually travelled around and came in every so often to learn and relay information. He looked up from the map. “Ryan, glad you made it back. Join us.”

  He motioned them all to move to the comfortable furniture that was arranged near the fireplace. He brought the map with him and spread it on a coffee table with a top that was a six inch thick cross section of the trunk of a massive tree. Ryan knew the L.T. had probably bought the table from one of those stores that specialized in unique outdoorsy furniture, but looking at his thick fingers and broad tattooed forearms as he spread out the map, one might believe that he built the table and everything else around the house with his own two hands.

  “Let me fill you in with what we were just discussing,” he said, spinning the map so that it was facing Ryan. He started moving his finger down along the Eastern seaboard and explained, “A Tsunami has altered the entire coastline. The Atlantic ocean is anywhere from sixty to one hundred miles further inland than it was before and it is now only moving with the new tides. It is not receding as far as we can tell. Boston and New York among hundreds of other places are literally gone, covered over by the sea.” Ryan was speechless. He had heard rumors from another scout around the time he left to find Sara, of tidal waves, but nothing like this. The L.T. took his silence to mean he hadn’t heard about this, so he went on. “We don’t know anything yet about the west coast. There are no phones, radio, or any other communications, only what we have heard from scouts and the folks they’ve talked to. We even have a guy looking into finding someone to train carrier pigeons, but that’s nothing we can do for the moment.”

  Ryan snapped his mouth closed. “Birds? Don’t you think we’ll have radio or sat phones back before then?” he asked.

  The L.T. shook his head. “I want all three of you to listen carefully. I don’t want all of this to be public knowledge just yet, but here’s some of what we know. The magnetic storms have knocked out electronics, including orbiting satellites, more effectively even than an EMP would. None of it will work again. Refineries are gone, exploded or destroyed in the earthquakes. We have no fuel sources and things like gun powder, TNT and such won't
burn. We may be able to generate some limited electricity with wind, water or solar sources, but that will take time as well, and power grids are gone so anything we generate will have to be sent over newly laid wire. The cities around here are mostly destroyed, and the parts that are left are very dangerous. Some villages have been established, mostly by people and Vampires for their mutual safety from a bunch of crazies calling themselves the Hunters. This is bad for us too as these Hunters want us as well as the Vamps. However, we have always had our secret communities and, so we have a leg up on these villages. As you’ve probably noticed, the weather is getting worse, and we don’t know when this will stop or how bad it will get. I’d like your reports if you have anything to add.”

  Ryan felt like he was in shock by all he heard. He listened as one of the others told of the Were cats, confirming that it appeared to be limited to mercenary Were-tigers and panthers. Lions, who were nearly as communal as the wolves, were not involving themselves as far as anyone could tell. Ryan added his knowledge of the Were-tiger encounter and the murdered wolves. He told them about traveling with the old Vampires and the secluded cabin. The other scout explained that an elder Vampire of the council was setting himself up as authority in Syracuse but that no one was objecting as long as he was making smart decisions and helping to keep everyone safe.

  When the others took their leave, the L.T. asked Ryan to stay a moment. He poured them each a drink and stood by the fire turning his glass in his brawny hands. “Ryan, I know that your sister is involved, but I am wondering if you can continue to keep an eye on the Vampires. I think it would be wise for us to know what they know.”

  Ryan nodded, swirling his own drink. “Well I think you should know that I suspect something is wrong with the Vampires. First of all, they are day walking, but they don’t seem as strong or fast as they were and they don’t seem to be healing as quickly.”