“Why did you do that? Are you crazy?” Said Guillem while he forced his blood to fix his body as much as possible, but all he managed to do was improve his wounds slightly before he got too hungry to continue.
“Crazy? Maybe... But you you will learn this lesson. You are my child and you will behave properly, from now on NO more compassion for anyone inferior to you. Neither Alejandro nor the little ladies you are so fond of using for pleasure deserve anything from you. I am YOUR sire and my public image rides with you, I will accept NO LESS than your complete obedience and I demand you to behave like the predator you are from now on!”
“You are crazy, let me go!” Said Guillem fighting to free himself, but he could not break the chains keeping him immobilised.
“See? Can you see yourself?” Said Sebastian showing him a little mirror.
“No? Because you are no longer a simple mortal! I know you will remember the stake through your heart forever, but I am going to make sure to engrave this lesson on you.” He said as he moved away from him.”
A small door in the ceiling started to slide to the side leaving a small round hole.
“Now you will feel how much fear you are now capable of feeling. You will understand that you are no longer a simple mortal!”
“Do not do this Sebastian!” Said Guillem agitated then he closed his eyes and started praying, trying to control himself.
A few hours passed, Guillem kept praying. Until finally he felt the sun started coming up and a small beam of sun light came through the roof hole hitting a few centimetres away from his left hand.
“You have to be kidding, right? Sebastian? You made me! I am sure you do not want to destroy me now!”
“Let me go... Come on Sebastian! LET ME GO!” The light was about to reach his fingers.
The light touched two of his fingers and it started burning his skin so intensely that he had to use all of his self control to keep all the fear building within himself from overcoming him. He felt as his fingers disintegrated as the sun touched them.
Sebastian, you made your point! LET ME GO NOW!
The small door started sliding back and deflecting away the beam of sun light. Guillem felt how his body stopped responding sending him one more time into the Guaire river, alive and drowning, trapped once again in a nightmarish cycle.
Finally he opened his eyes, Sebastian was leaning over him. Guillem felt in his mouth the taste of the most exquisite blood he had tried in the past few days. Sebastian had a small wound in his wrist. He was smiling and for some reason Guillem did not feel mad at Sebastian for the last events.
“Hello Guillem.”
“What time is it?”
“8pm.”
“What day?”
“Just one day after our little discussion, I have one small extra lesson for you. How does my blood taste?”
“Exquisite, I have not tried anything that tasted so exquisite so far.”
“Well, that taste you love so much will make you addicted if you are weak. Another beautiful side effect is that the more you drink it, the more your reason will cloud and you will find yourself thinking about me. You will obsess with making me happy and doing anything I order you to do and only my wishes will give meaning to your existence.” Then his face changed to a demoniacal grin. “I am sure after tasting my blood I do not look so bad to you, do I? Keep causing me trouble and I will force you to drink more of my blood. It would be tragic to have to do something like that though, I want you to keep your independence as much as possible, otherwise you would no longer be useful. I will keep watching you. Now feed and cure yourself. After you do it the girls will take you to see me, I will be waiting for you.”
“What about my hand?” Guillem said looking at the missing fingers on his left hand, instead of the fingers he had a nasty burn.
“Cure the wound and by tomorrow night your fingers will grow back.”
Guillem got up and saw as two of the girls entered the room pulling another cart with another vagabond, he drank from the guy until leaving him almost dry and then they brought another one, they did this a few more times until he managed to cure his wound which proved to be exceedingly difficult to repair. Then one of the girls took him to Sebastian, in the way he kept thinking about his feelings and what he had just told him a about his blood. He was not angry about last night's events, was that the blood affecting him his mind? Should he be mad instead?
They went down another stair to a second basement, only this time it was what seemed like a torture chamber, there were many machines he had seen in movies and some small prison cells with chained and face down vagabonds, everything was very humid and dirty. In the middle of the chamber he saw Alejandro hanging from the ceiling by chains attached to his wrists, he was unconscious and looked older than the last time he saw him. Sebastian was standing next to Alejandro with a whip in his right hand.
“Here, take this whip and show me you have learned something from our last conversation.” Sebastian said as he handed it to him. “You know what you have to do.”
“Yes Sebastian.” Said Guillem, he whispered to himself “I am sorry Alejandro” and holding the whip in his right hand he started whipping Alejandro's back. The pain made him come back to his senses, but he still did not complain at all.
Guillem kept whipping Alejandro for over half an hour until Sebastian finally stopped him.
“Enough, that will teach him to never let his guard down again.” Sebastian approached Alejandro and cutting a small wound in his wrist fed him a drop of his blood. Now Guillem, go away and enjoy the rest of the night.
Later that night Sebastian send a girl to bring him to a small chapel in the basement where he was praying. When he arrived Sebastian asked his servants to bring in an old television which he turned on, there was a late news show being replayed at that moment.
“The death of the two young boys in Santa Ines a week ago is still causing a lot of commotion, a group of Cabristas as they now call themselves is still manifesting in front of police stations asking for someone's blood. They keep saying that the two boys were completely innocent. Here we have Marta Roca, leader of the Cabrista Movement for the People. Hello Marta, you are live. What can you tell us about what happened with these two young boys?”
“Just that two young innocent boys were hanging around the place, probably playing some innocent jokes and were murdered in cold blood by assassins sent by the imperialist oligarchs from the United States of America to strike terror in us, the innocent and the poor, the real Great Colombian citizens. They are just trying to stop the revolution that is coming thanks to my commandant Jesus Cabrera.” A lot of people kept screaming on the back things like “The revolution came to stay! Thanks to our idol Jesus Cabrera!”
“But the investigation says that they died early in the morning and they had fired weapons. Now, what would a couple of boys from another suburb be doing in a place famous for having the most thefts in all Santa Ines, early in the morning and with weapons?”
“I know what are the investigation results, but do not be stupid, those detectives were bought over by the United States of America to cover the conspiracy. The same as all the police departments from the east of the city.”
“Sorry Ms. Marta, but you do not need to insult me by calling me stupid. Is that all you wanted to say?”
“No, I have more! Be careful traitors to the country and its people! If you are against Cabrera you are against Great Colombian people. The country is ours now and we ARE going to defend it with blood if it is required! Raise Great Colombian citizens! Let's take our country together with Cabrera! Tomorrow morning we will start going to Santa Ines to manifest peacefully. But be advised, if you try to bother us during our peaceful manifestation we will defend ourselves with weapons if necessary, because that is all you understand! Violence!”
“Well, we have heard Marta Ro...” Sebastian turned off the television.
“This craziness has been going on over the previous days. You hav
e got to understand that I did not transformed you into a vampire because you are nice or cute. You have a very important destiny. I guess you have wondered why you cannot access some places within this house? Many years ago, way before you were born, I lived here together with a group of friends. All of them are dead by now. But one of them said that some day you and your friends would arrive, you will form a group just like the one I had many years ago. For that reason and only for that reason is that I am still walking the night instead of going to sleep for a few ages until this stupidity finishes. I do not care what you do with you friends and about this stupid country, what I care about is that you will protect me while I sleep with their help. It will not happen now, but soon enough.”
“Destiny? My friends? What will happen to them?”
“All of you have a wonderful destiny written. But you, you are the catalyst of everything that is to come. You see? Without you they would have changed and died quickly and without meaning, but with you? You will protect and guide them with my help. It has been written and that is why I am still here.”
“And why would they die?”
“Changes. You will see. You have been out of the loop for too long now. Cabrera has already taken the presidency and started making many changes all over the country, he does not know about it, but he is affecting all of us, including other creatures of the night. I would recommend you to go to Santa Ines and be ready to help your friends. Do not believe on these Cabristas, they are out for blood. The Great Colombia you know will be destroyed and rebuilt as an aberration. And everything will be thanks to Cabrera, his Cabrismo and above everything the Great Colombians' stupidity. The people will be separated and weakened. They will fight between themselves just because some idiots got in power.”
“Then we should just go and kill him.”
“Cabrera is untouchable. Right now he is just a stupid mortal with many stupider followers. But if you kill him the door will be open for many other creatures to take his place and power, this is the opportunity all of the them have been waiting.”
“What you are telling to me is too much to digest right now.”
“And there is a lot more, follow me. We have to prepare you to do what you have to do tomorrow night.”
“Before we go, I have been having this constant nightmare. I go back to that darn river and drown once more. Why is that? I though it would stop, but it just keeps happening every time I sleep or I am too hurt to function.”
“Because there is no more life in you. What you are now is a snapshot of the moment you died. You will notice that everything in your body will stay just as it was when you died, all your bodily hair will go back to just the way it was then and it is for that reason that you will be able to regrow your fingers, having said that there are a few exceptions so you still have to take care of yourself. You will forever be what you are now and it implies as well that your mind will be stuck in the time of your death forever as well.”
“But I will end up crazy if this keeps happening, I am worried to go to sleep every morning. And why does it happen when I am hurt or impaled?”
“Same reason. Your mind is free at those times as well and instead of dreaming like any normal living person, you are stuck within your last living memory. We are forever static and yes, many of us do end up crazy, you will have to adapt to your new status or that will happen to you will too. Now let's go.”
He followed Sebastian to a small compartment in the corridor which was closed with a key lock. Once open Guillem saw it contained many weapons from other periods. Like swords, muskets and older pistols.
“Wow, this is really impressive.”
“This is my collection, I have been collecting them through out the years. Here, take this.”
Sebastian took a sword disguised as a cane, a double barrelled pistol as the one he used to practice and a double barrelled musket. Then he opened a drawer and took some more equipment.
“These silencers were custom made for my double pistols and double muskets and this is a telescopic sight with nocturnal vision which has been adapted for the musket. In this bag you will find all the equipment you need to reload them including gunpowder and bullets. Now go and practice what is left of the night, you will need it tomorrow night. The musket looks quite heavy for you, but it will be useful nonetheless.”
The driver he usually saw with Alejandro came to help Guillem carry the equipment and to guide him out to the backyard where he could practice with the musket.
“I can not believe this is the only solution to what is happening in my country.” Said Guillem. “Is this really the only way?”
“The master knows what he does, if he says this is the only way then it is the only way.”
“The master, the master. I agreed on staying here since I am now a vampire, but to shoot and kill people who might be innocent? Where did you meet him anyway? I mean, the master.”
“More than 150 years ago, I used to live in a small town in Spain and the master lived close with a group of friends, they always kept to themselves. One day my town was attacked by a huge group of bandits, by then there was not a lot of security so we had to try and defend ourselves. The master and his friends scared the bandits off at first, then helped us organise and between all of us we crushed the bandits. In the combat I was badly hurt so the master gave me the opportunity to live forever on his side working for him. Now before he goes to sleep, he promised that some of us will be ascended to your status while the others will stay working for you. Anyway, too much talking, let's practice.”
Guillem spent the rest of the night practising with the musket, sword and pistol which was not an easy feat with his burned hand and missing fingers.
The next night a girl servant was waiting for him to wake up.
“What are you doing here?” Guillem asked as he dressed in black as Sebastian recommended him and then put on the hooded overcoat which had been cleaned since his last adventure.
“They are waiting for you outside sir, I came to feed you before you go on your sacred mission.” She said as she tilted her head showing him her milky neck.
Guillem went to her and drank until satisfied.
“Thank you.” He told her as he helped her get up. He saw how she blushed with his closeness and her legs were trembling. The girl was as sweet as it gets, he hoped he could be able to feel like that again.
Outside of the house the usual Ford Explorer was waiting for him. He entered and it departed, inside was all of his equipment.
After a short trip, the car stopped and Guillem descended. They left him about a kilometre away from the infamous stairs.
“This is as close as we can drop you off, do what you have to do. Remember the master is always right.” Said the driver.
“I will remember that.” Guillem turned around and ran away from them.
He closed in to the stairs using the shadows to hide as much as possible, getting as close as about a hundred metres from the upper entry of the stairs. There was a group of people there, most them with very bad aspect. They were yelling slogans in favour of the murdered teenagers. Guillem kept closing in as cautiously as possible and saw another group of people, he recognised most of his friends and family members there and between both groups were a couple of police officers that grew up in Santa Ines as well, they were very nice and caring officers.
He went around the place trying not to be seen. Finally he arrived to the most far away house from that block, he climbed up to the roof using the many window screens and irregularities in the walls until he reached the roof and then since all the houses' roofs were connected, he walked balancing on the tiles from one house to the next until he found a proper place from which he could aim at the stairs and defend his people in case of an attack.
He stayed there waiting, using the musket's sight to see his family and friends, all of them seemed very sleep deprived and still had a few bandages, the only one that was still not there was Roberto who was hopefully recovering prope
rly. Between the group of people from Santa Ines he saw Lissette as well, as beautiful as he remembered her from their date, she would sometimes go talk with his parents and friends.
The manifestation was quite pacific, there was the occasional troublemaker that threatened to start a fight, but the police officers would calm them down very quickly. There were people arriving by the stairs all the time. Guillem kept checking each one of them as they arrived using the musket's sight, he had compiled a small list of possible armed troublemakers which he kept checking frequently.
Suddenly he heard a few shots coming from a small group of people located close to the stairs entry, one of the police officers yelled “all drop to the floor” and saw as both of them hid behind a vehicle and started firing back, one of the police officers was already hurt. Most people dropped to the floor as the officers ordered, but some were running around scared trying to find somewhere to hide. The shots coming from the stairs made a very strong noise, as if the shooters were using some very high calibre guns, they were 4 shooters in total. Guillem started firing at them with his musket, between the police men with their fireproof armour and Guillem's firing support it was not long until one of the shooters was too badly hurt and had to step back down. As soon as they saw their partner back out from the fight, the others ran away down stairs leaving their wounded partner sitting on the stair's steps. Both police officers then started helping the people gathered there to get away safely with some help from Cristobal and Tom.
After putting back the musket in its back sheath, Guillem let himself slide by the roof on the other side of the police men and fall to the ground. Then he ran as fast as he could, getting as far as a couple kilometres in around 10 seconds. From there he kept running toward the freeway using the main road until he saw the troublemakers. He decided to follow them for a few minutes until they reached a red pickup truck that was parked just in front of the El Canaote suburb's entry.
He saw as a guy dressed as the Che Guevara complete with uniform, beret and even what seemed like a wig came off the truck and discussed hotly with the group, he seemed to threaten them and finally pointed at the pickup truck. All of them got on the cargo area and the pickup truck left the place going into El Canaote.
Religious Fangs, a novel Page 9