Reginald made sure not to let anyone see him smile, when he followed Alex from the room.
Alex was shown to a guest suite with an adjoining sitting room. The fireplaces in both rooms had been lit, and warm water was brought for washing. When Alex felt that he had removed the worst of the road mud and dirt, he noticed an old fashioned razor complete with soap and a shaving brush on an antique vanity with a wash basin inset. He ordered fresh, hot water and filled the basin, spreading the lather across his cheeks with the brush. Reginald peeked in from the sitting room and saw what Alex was about, and he stepped up behind Alex and peered at him in the mirror.
“Allow me, sir. After all, I was a valet for more years than I would imagine many could boast.” He held out his hand for the razor, a folding blade with a mother-of-pearl handle.
Alex had a brief flicker of doubt, but handed the blade to Reginald and sat on the vanity stool. Reginald’s strokes were even and quick. He didn’t exaggerate when he bragged of being well practiced. When he finished, Alex toweled off his face and ran his fingers across the smooth planes of his jaw and cheeks. He found no hint of stubble. Reginald had found a clean shirt in the closet of the guest bedroom, and he brought it, holding it up for Alex to slip his arms into. Alex was bare-chested after cleaning up, and he slipped into the clean shirt with a sigh. The fit was not exact, but it made Alex feel like a new man.
He and Reginald were in the sitting room when Gates arrived. Alex had sent a man to fetch him. It amused him to irritate Gates, but he tried not to push it too far. A Vampire elder was no enemy to have. Alex asked Reginald to repeat the Tsunami story, as well as the Hunter encounter, to Gates and then dismissed him to see to the horses so that they might leave when he finished his business there.
“I take it from your silence that you were already aware of the things that Reginald just spoke about.” Alex commented when the Vampire left the room.
“Yes. I’m aware. Needless to say, we’ve tried to keep a lid on the true numbers of Vampire deaths, but it’s become difficult when the bodies keep washing up on every beach on the east coast.” Gates sat back and crossed his legs. He scrutinized Alex for a moment before he continued with, “Despite the fact that you haven’t mentioned it, I assume you’ve noticed a marked decrease in your strength and healing abilities.” Alex gave away nothing. “Well it seems to be common to every Vampire we’ve had contact with. The evidence suggests that Vampires are no longer immortal. It’s not as if there weren’t ways to kill a Vampire before, but now it appears to be a good deal easier and nobody even knows what this means to our aging process or lack thereof. The ability to withstand the daylight is the most pronounced change but certainly not the most significant by far.”
Alex became more intrigued in spite of his aversion to the other Vampire elder. “What do you mean by that?” he asked.
“You should know that no one who has tried, has been able to create any new Vampires. We thought it prudent to try increasing our numbers in light of the deaths, but not a single person has been turned. Not just the thirty or forty percent failure rate, but one hundred percent failure. Every candidate has died. Even the few elders, including myself, have been unable to turn a single subject. I don’t think it’s too early to start being concerned that we may be endangered as a species.” Gates leaned forward to impress upon Alex what he believed to be the most dire of the events that he had to report.
Quietly, Alex inquired, “How many people did you kill for this experiment?” Alex hadn’t turned a single Vampire since Aurora, and she had never even talked about trying.
“The number is unimportant,” Gates snapped angrily. “Do you understand that this could be the death of our race if we are unable to reproduce?”
Alex nearly choked on a harsh laugh. “Reproduction, is that what you’re calling it? Do you understand that we are already dead? We live false and unnatural lives. We kill people to create more twisted creatures to keep us company, and if they die in the process, we shrug and move on. There is no species to become extinct. We are merely humans that have become monsters.”
Gates sneered. “Well you’ll have to forgive me if I place a higher value on the perpetuation of our kind than you seem to. I wonder what you might say when your choices hit closer to home, when what you choose to do may save or sacrifice your precious Aurora?”
Alex paced in agitation. “Aurora would agree with me,” he said coldly. He was angry that Gates would dare mention his wife’s demise even in such a vague and veiled way. It made him feel threatened, and he knew this meeting was becoming unproductive. “There is much more, I wish to be informed of, but it is getting late. I would like you to send me the best people to answer my questions tomorrow then we will meet again in the evening to discuss options for the direction we will take.” Alex pronounced his judgment curtly and excused himself to join Reginald outside.
Gates sat and stewed in his resentment for some time after Alex left. He would make his own inquiries and do what needed to be done to protect the Vampires, no matter what Alex and Aurora Lake decided.
Reginald knew that Alex’s expression meant that he would not welcome conversation. They followed the messenger on the bike to a lodge style home within the community, but about a half-mile from Gates. Alex took care of the horses while Reginald lit fires and lamps in the house. He fell comfortably into his role of valet, and he felt useful. Gates’s men had not left any other servants to assist, but the house was clean and Reginald managed easily for the two of them.
In the morning, a guard arrived with a young, blond woman. “She’s a volunteer donor,” he said not bothering with introductions or courtesies. The girl smiled a little coyly at Alex but didn’t say a word.
Alex was not expecting Gates to send a human donor and he was unaccustomed to feeding live except in intimate or, lately, violent situations. He had no intention of getting intimate with this woman, but he did need to feed so he bit her wrist and drank the blood that flowed from her sweet flesh. He forced himself to calm even though he wanted to rip the clothes from her body and bite her in places that would make her scream and beg him for more. He shut it all out and passed her off to Reginald. Reginald took Alex’s example to heart and fed delicately from the girl who was clearly disappointed with the two serious Vampires. She totally dropped the shy girl act.
“That’s it?” she asked. “Don’t you like girls?” She was still drunk on the bite euphoria and somehow thought that provoking a Vampire was acceptable behavior. She turned her back on them and waggled her round bottom in their direction. “Maybe you got a thing for each other.” She seemed to think she was pretty funny and laughed out loud.
Alex was behind her in an instant. He grabbed her wrists pulling her arms behind her and clamping both wrists in one powerful hand. She squeaked in pain. He loved this position because it always made the breasts jut out and up with just a little tug on the arms. He was tall enough to peer down over her shoulder and see that hers were straining to pop from the top of the low-cut, tight blouse she had no doubt chosen to entice the Vampires. She whimpered, and he reached around to grab her throat with his free hand, cutting off the puling instantly. He squeezed just enough to cut off her air, but not permanently injure her. But, he wanted to hurt her. He could smell her fear, and he was getting excited. He struggled to think rationally. His lips were hovering at her ear, his breath tickling enough to make gooseflesh rise on the back of her neck. He let his fangs graze her skin lightly, and she began to shiver. He released her throat to let her breathe. She pulled air into her lungs in great gulps, her chest heaving with the effort. He watched the fascinating rise and fall of her generous bosom and he ran a finger along the low neckline of her top, dragging a Vampire claw across the tender skin, but not breaking it. Her heart was pounding in fear, and she shook, making the soft mounds that he was toying with, quiver. Suddenly, he was back in the cellar with Sara, seeing her pretty breasts straining against her lacy bra. Sara, a human that he cared about and who lik
ed to play his Vampire games with him. This girl was scared, and unlike Sara, she didn’t have a safe word. He was casually contemplating the torture of an unwilling human. Jeezus! All this killing and live feeding is turning me into a savage!
“I think you should consider, carefully, the company you are keeping,” he growled into the girl’s ear. He released her wrists and instead, gripped her upper arm and escorted her to the door of the study they were in. He pulled open the door and startled the bored guard waiting in the corridor when he shoved the girl at the man. She turned and glared daggers at Alex, mascara running down her tear streaked face.
“Fuuuck youuu!” she wailed clutching at the speechless guard.
“Get her out of here.”
As the guard escorted the sobbing girl down the hall, Alex noticed a young, female Vampire sitting on a hard, high-backed chair that was up against the wall of the wide hallway. Her eyes were large and startled, and she clutched a leather folder to her chest with both arms.
“Well?” he asked
“I have a report for you,” she offered meekly.
By the time several Vampires and even a few humans, finished delivering sobering reports of the conditions of the world after the Solar Storm, Alex’s mood was even darker. He learned that the reason for the weather changes, altered coastlines and earthquakes, was a subtle shift in the earth’s magnetism. Three scientists, together, had come to explain.
“The poles are shifted. The earth’s axis is approximately one degree different. Magnetic North is no longer where it was. Everything has moved by about 70 miles,” one said.
“The weather changes may well be complete climate changes, we won’t know for a while yet,” said another.
“Fault lines are all changed, and volcanoes will move with them,” the third added.
They gave him a lot more technical information, but he didn’t need to know those things.
He sat and discussed everything quietly with Reginald after everyone had gone for the day.
“The gist of it all is, no communications, very little power, At least 75% population loss by the spring. Illness and accidents are causing a lot of death among the survivors. Hunters are an armed presence on the roads and are getting closer to the villages. Weres are pretty much outed. But, people aren’t panicking about it because their lives can’t be much stranger or more dangerous at this point. There is no human government and the Vampire council is scattered and probably pretty decimated. Oh, don’t let me forget that Vampires don’t seem to be immortal any longer, we walk in the daylight, and nobody knows if we are aging. Does that about cover it?”
Reginald felt sympathy for the elder. He rose and poured blood from a flask into a glass. He managed to acquire the blood through one of the messengers after the morning’s excitement. He handed the glass to Alex and moved around behind him to rub the tension from his shoulders. “Sir, I know you are feeling responsible for all of these people, being one of the few remaining council members. But, I also know you have a wife to get back to.” He felt Alex stiffen at the mention of Aurora. He paused not wanting to cross the line. “I hear plenty from the working class around here,” he said. “You were very well known before all this and people like to talk.” He felt the tension ease a little, and he continued to work at the muscles under his skilled fingers. “I understand she is an elder too, and she’s going to want to know what’s happening.”
“She argued that she was a council member and should come with me when I left to find information, but I wanted her to be safe. I don’t believe she would have willingly stayed behind if she was only considering my feelings in the matter.” He was thinking about Sara again, for the second time that day. He could feel that Aurora and Sara were getting very close, and he felt a twinge of jealousy and wasn’t sure he knew which one he was jealous of. He didn’t share any of this with Reginald, even though he was honestly beginning to like the old valet. “I think that I might need to bring her here if this is where we are going to convene a new council for the time being.”
For a few days, Alex met with every Vampire he could in the area. He decided to appoint three of the Vampires to a temporary council along with himself and Samuel Gates. They ranged in age from 562 to 748. That’s at least mature, and someone besides Gates needs to help make decisions around here. Aurora would also have her spot on the council when she came to Syracuse.
Reginald had managed to put together a small, but practical, wardrobe for Alex as well as packing some things for Aurora and Sara after Alex asked him to.
“Really? This is the best you can do for sizes?” Reginald asked as he imitated Alex’s hand gestures in an hourglass shape. Alex demonstrated again.
“Aurora is about this tall.” He held his hand to just under his nose. “And Sara is this tall.” He lowered his hand to his chest.
Reginald took out a notepad and started scratching with a pencil. “Hips?” he asked.
Alex put his hands out in front of him in a circle as if he was holding Aurora’s hips.
Reginald glanced up and made a note. “And Sara?”
Alex lowered his hands, but they stayed close to the same circumference.
They repeated the process for waist size. “Bust and cup sizes?”
Alex held his hands out in front of his own chest as if cupping breasts the size of Aurora’s. Reginald made more notes. He seemed to hesitate for an extra second or two before he asked, “And Sara?” Alex pushed his hands out a little further and spread his finger’s a little wider, encompassing Sara’s larger figure. Reginald raised an eyebrow and smiled as he scratched on his notepad. Alex gave a little laugh as he walked out and left the old valet to it. “A little too proud of yourself, me thinks!” Reginald called after him.
Alex went to see Gates. He thought about summoning him, but he figured that he had done enough to humble the Vampire over the last couple of days and after all, he was an elder and Alex did not truly want to undermine his authority. He already told Gates about appointing the three interim council members, and that hadn’t gone over particularly well.
“What do you mean you appointed them already?” Gates was not doing a great job of disguising his anger.
“I mean that I’ve executed my right to make an executive decision as the highest ranking, current council member.” Alex said.
“You should have consulted me. It’s not as if I’ve been unavailable for consultation.” It was true that Alex could have tracked down Gates if he chose to, but Gates had unquestionably been avoiding Alex as much as possible.
“I understand that you would like some input, so I think you should interview any new prospects that arrive in my absence and you may then put forth names of your own for consideration of an additional three appointments when Aurora and I return. That will give us nine council members with three permanent elder members and six interim members, assuming that no other elders show up in the mean time.”
That was what he told Gates about the new council, but today he wanted to make sure that Gates would follow his wishes while he was gone.
“When can I expect your return?” Gates asked, still sulking.
“I have no idea. It will depend largely on the weather. The snows are due anytime, and with the weather turning colder and wetter, I’m not sure if I will be back before spring.”
“Spring is a long time away. Do you expect me to run things with only your three new appointees?”
“Yes, and I am leaving Reginald here to run the new house and document new information for me, so I have a record when I return.”
Gates snorted a laugh. “Reginald. You mean that old servant of yours?”
“He is not a servant. He’s a valet.”
“A valet? That’s rich, but a little old fashioned don’t you think?” Gates was dripping sarcasm.
Alex’s lips were drawn into a thin, angry line. “Fine, call him a Personal Assistant if you like, but you will have one of the new appointees give Reginald minutes of your meetings and copi
es of your decisions, to keep a record for me.”
Gates paced to a window and stood gazing out, making clear he was bored with the conversation already. Without looking at Alex, he said, “don’t worry, I will make sure your PA is kept in the loop.”
“I would like you to see if someone can find me a silver weapon. If the Were cats can carry it against us, we can carry it against them.”
“We are not exactly crawling with silver swords, but I know of one man who was putting together a small collection of mostly ceremonial weapons that were plate at least for that exact purpose.”
“That will do. I am going to find some snowshoes and other winter supplies, so have your man meet me at my house later this afternoon. I intend to leave in the morning.”
Gates turned back from the window. “Snowshoes, winter supplies, where are you going exactly?” He tried to sound nonchalant about it, but he was beginning to think it might be best if the Lakes didn’t make it back to Syracuse. He didn’t want to lose more Vampires, but the Lakes were too old and powerful to control. He might have to take steps.
Alex had no intention of telling anyone where his cabin was, and his answer was vague. “My cabin is in the mountains, but I will do my best to get back before spring.”
“Yes, of course, we will need all the Vampires we can find, especially elders if we are going to get through this.” Gates cringed inside at the false words he was forced to speak. Vampires like the Lakes were going speed the downfall of the species if he didn’t do something about it. I guess it’s lucky that I can do something about it.
Alex took his leave and Gates called in a guard. “Go find the Chief and tell him, I want to see him right away.”
The guard visibly paled but, “Yes, Sir,” was all he said.
Alex gathered his supplies and returned to the house where the collector was waiting.
“I’m Archie McPherson, but everybody just calls me Mac. I got some nice pieces for you to look at.” The stout man was in the study with Reginald when Alex arrived, and a large rolled bundle lay on the table in front of him.
Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny) Page 15