by J. R. Rain
“I let him live.”
“Aren’t you afraid he’ll say something to someone?”
“You do know we have a thing called mind control? The weak Tandra are receptive to it. It actually saves their lives. Otherwise, I would have killed him because he knew too much.”
“So, mind control is true?”
“Some of us have it, and some of us don’t. We are all given gifts from the Triat. It’s up to us to figure out what they are. Some are prophets, some can heal, some can control minds, and some can read minds. Atticai was able to read minds. That’s why he liked you.” Lena paused. A longing in her eyes made it clear that she wasn’t over Atticai.
“Where do you think he went? Do you think I killed him?”
“I don’t know Josiah; you pierced his neck real good. Just like humans, none of us are entirely sure what happens to Mani when they die. The hereafter is all a big dark secret. There are theories but no proof.”
“So, no one knows where Mani go when they disappear?” I asked.
“There are rumors the same way there are with mortals. There are tales of an afterlife: Mani given a second chance, a rebirth, even a chance at being mortal again. But there are not enough facts about it. No one really knows what happens, not for sure.”
“So, when a vampire dies, they just disappear?”
“Yes. Otherwise there would be dead vampires everywhere. By now, humans would have had a field day with the autopsies.”
“Is that what happened to Tommy? Is that what happens to the Carni?”
“Actually, no. The Carni are as close to humans as you can get, with a lot of the DNA threads very common to both. Mani history goes back as far as 10,000 years ago. While Carni history is just 500 years young.”
“How’s that?” I had been under the impression that werewolves and vampires were manifested at the same time.
“Mani believe that Carni are an inferior species. Werewolves believe in a lot of myth and untruths.”
“Why do they do that?”
“It’s a way to justify giant mistakes they have made so they can be at peace with their form, their destiny.” Lena’s soft voice filled the room. I could see her desperately trying to answer my questions when she had questions of her own.
“I know about wanting to feel a sense of peace. For two weeks, I’ve tried to find my inner peace. I shut myself away so that I could seek my own truths and separate it from the flood of pop culture about vampires, werewolves, and related creatures. Are there any other creatures? I sort of wanna know.”
Her lips twitched into a semi-smile. I listened and she continued, “The blurring lines of truth and fiction have forced Carni to live far outside the Triat’s will. Mani believe that Carni have forgotten what their purpose is and they are no better than savages.”
“Purpose...I’ve been trying to figure that one out for two weeks. What is our purpose, Lena? Is it biological, ecological, spiritual? What must we do with what we have, what we are?”
“Well, you were chosen by the Triat even before you were a Mani. Josiah, there is something greater out there—something amazing.”
“What was amazing was my other life, my human life.”
“Yeah, but think about it this way, we are wiser than the average living species. We have a window to the world. People live and then die, and in the course of living, they know nothing. Perfect ignorant bliss.” She smiled at me.
“You have a way of making this sound...almost glamorous.”
“Maybe it is glamorous, Josiah. You’ve been given a gift. Don’t turn your back on the possibilities.
“Ah, so it’s not really a curse, it’s a gift. Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
I needed to know more about werewolves, and unfortunately, I needed to know about them fast. “Do Carni become stronger once they are turned from Tandra to Carni?”
Lena thought for a moment. “Not like the Mani,” she said.
“They might get a tad stronger and quicker, but nothing close to what occurs in a Mani’s body after its transformation.
“Mani become much stronger?” I asked.
“Put it this way, Josiah, I could barely hurt a mouse when I was mortal. The other night, I was holding down that frat boy, Ronnie, like he was a kindergartner. I feasted away on his blood, close to sheer joy in the knowledge that I could have left him dead if I chose to and walked away with no regrets, with nothing more than a satisfied burp as penance. I let him live because I was full.”
I laughed. “So, I basically turned you into a bad ass.”
Lena shook her head at me. “Yeah, you did, Josiah Reign, and never forget that.” Lena then smiled brightly at me. It was the first time in a long time I had seen her smile like that. She was radiant. She had little dimples and frankly, my heart melted.
“So, what happens when they turn into a full-blown werewolf?” I asked.
Lena’s smile turned serious. “When a Carni turns into a werewolf, it can hold its own against a Mani. Most of the time, they are stronger. But Mani can fight with cognitive thought while werewolves are like wild lions that just want to tear through their prey. There’s not much thought to it. Mani think. Carni function on pure animal instinct. Remember, we Mani have 10,000 years of evolution under our belts, Carni only 500 years.”
“What about the full moon? Is that a myth, or is it real?”
“Oh, it’s real. Too real. It is then, and only then, they turn from Carni to werewolf.”
“So, your everyday Carni walking around is just slightly stronger than a human?”
“Yup.” Lena stared at me with wonder. “Why are you asking so many questions?”
“One more question,” I said. “Why would any Carni ever fight a Mani in a one-on-one fight?”
“Oh, they do when it’s a full moon.”
I looked up in the sky. It was a half moon. Why the hell would the bartender want to fight me if he knew I was a Mani and would be stronger? He must have thought he could easily take me. I was still getting zero respect. I guess being anointed the ‘Chosen One’ didn’t mean I was looked at as a bad ass.
“What’s going on Josiah? Why are you asking so many questions about the Carni?”
“Tommy disappeared from the hospital, so I’m thinking he is still alive. If he is, I need to find him.”
“He is alive, Josiah.”
I nearly fell to the ground. “What? He is? How do you know?”
“Some have seen him.”
“Where is he?”
“No one knows where he stays, but he is definitely still alive.”
I had a growing excitement spreading through my body. If anyone could tell me how to defeat a Carni, it would be Tommy. The problem was, I had no idea where he was staying. He was obviously hiding out for his own safety.
Lena could see my wheels turning in my head. “What is it, Josiah? What’s going on?”
“I have a scheduled fight tonight, not in the ring, but with a Carni.”
Lena’s mouth literally opened and her eyes stared at me hard. After a second of glaring she asked, “Where?”
“Some ranch in Anaheim Hills.”
“You’re joking?”
“I wish I was. I hadn’t even been out in public for an hour and one of those assholes picked a fight with me. Why would he fight me? It’s not a full moon.”
“Because Carni are arrogant, Josiah. It is why Tommy fought Atticai and got his ass kicked. Carni think they run the show. To them, we are just Gothic freaks who worship the devil.”
Stricken, I put my hand over my heart. “Oh no. Please tell me we don’t worship the devil—do we?”
“Of course not.”
I exhaled in relief.
Lena continued, “But that is what the Carni has reduced us to in their heads. They can’t explain how we are a more advanced race, so they just say our abilities are given to us from the Underworld.”
“Gothic freaks or not,” I said, “no one picks a fig
ht with someone they know can kick their ass.”
“That’s the thing, Josiah. They don’t think you can kick their ass. It’s like they have a jock mentality. They can’t accept that the outcast freak-show can kick the captain of the football team’s ass.” Lena got up off the ground and sat next to me on the couch. “You know if you fight him, you cannot use any of your vampire powers as long as he’s not a werewolf?”
“Vampire powers? I don’t have any vampire powers.”
“You don’t know it, but you do. At this point, the only thing you need to worry about is not turning into the eagle. That will freak them out and they will probably think you’re Satan himself. If that happens, it could get real ugly.”
“Nice,” I said sarcastically. “I don’t even know how to fully control it. What if it happens by accident?”
“Don’t let it, Josiah. You have powers and abilities that no Mani before you has ever had or ever will again. No one knows exactly what you’re capable of. You probably have every gift that has ever been bestowed on the Mani and ones we still don’t know about. So, fight the guy straight up. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary.”
“Let me ask you this,” I said. “Can I bite him?”
“Yes, because trust me, that’s what he’ll try to do to you. You can fight him anyway you want, you just can’t use what they call ‘magic.’”
“They seem to think I’m going to bring a sea of Mani with me to the ranch for back up.”
“Because they don’t always play fair, you can’t show up there alone. They do have a strict rule of only fighting one on one. So, you won’t have to worry about being jumped by the pack as long as you don’t use any of your special Mani abilities.”
“Do I have to go? I have nothing to prove to those guys.”
“Did one specific Carni challenge you?”
“Yes.”
“Did you accept?”
“Yes,” I stated.
“Then, guess what? You better go, or you will anger the Triat.”
“Triat schmiat. I don’t even know what or who the Triat is.” I said defiantly. “No one has bothered to explain stuff to me. I am supposed to be the savior of the Mani and I don’t even know what the Trait is. Is it God, or Mother Nature, what is it?”
“It’s all those things and more. It’s the balance. It’s the code we all live by.” Lena took my hand. “Josiah, you need to respect the Triat more than anything you have ever paid reverence to. If you listen, and open yourself up, the Triat will guide you. You need to ask for guidance.”
“Seriously? Ask for guidance? You’re making it sound like a cult.”
“Don’t be skeptical. You will not be alone tonight. All of us will be there with you. We’ll make sure everything goes down the way it should.”
I looked at Lena. I didn’t want her to have any part in what was happening tonight. “Look, I’m going to go alone. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. Especially not you.”
“You know you have a family now. We stick together.”
“Not tonight. Let me deal with this tonight.”
“Don’t be so fucking macho. We’re going with you. What time is the fight?”
I looked at Lena and lied, “3:30 a.m.” I said, “Meet me there. I’m going to do a couple of things before I get there.”
“We’ll meet you a mile up at 3:15.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Everyone: Wyatt, Hector, Yari, and me.”
I didn’t think having just four Mani there was going to be very much help. Two of them were henchmen groupies, now my followers, who I easily defeated, and two of them were female, though I had to admit that Lena’s recollection of her takedown of Ronnie the Frat Boy for her supper had opened my eyes to her powerful bloodlust and the strength behind it. Still, I didn’t want her hurt. Or Yari, for that matter. And if I wasn’t allowed to unleash my vampire powers in the fight against them if they were not werewolf poetry in motion, purposely handicapping myself for a potential ass beating by a Carni, I might as well just go get beat up by myself. Hell, I didn’t want the girls to see me pummeled while I held back my superpowers for a fight with some Carni assholes.
“3:15 a.m. Sounds like a plan. See you all there.” There was no way I was going to have Lena go tonight.
She looked at me uncertainly, as if she knew I was lying through my teeth.
“I better go,” I said, wanting her to stop trying to figure out if I was messing with her about 3:15 a.m., which I was. It was nearing midnight, and if I was going to fight someone, I needed to at least prepare myself the way I did a mixed martial arts fight. I needed to go to my gym and pump up!
Chapter Three
After I left Lena, I transitioned into the eagle. I didn’t have a car and walking to my old gym would take entirely too long. I could feel myself growing stronger, and sleeker with this art of flying. The wind alone was exhilarating.
When I arrived at the gym, I noticed the second floor window was open. I challenged myself and flew into the small opening. I made it unscathed, but landed hard on the concrete of the gym, and rolled into the wall like a ton of bricks. I was dizzy and disoriented, but I found the strength to turn back into my Mani form.
The gym was dark, but there was an eerie glow, which came from a street light outside. I searched high and low; it was empty. It had been a long, strange night so far, and I thought I should stretch and meditate to make sure I was ready. I warmed up like I would before any fight. I worked out my legs, punched the big bag and let my heavy emotions dictate my moves. Tears ran down my face. I swung over and over as if every punch were the pendulum to turn back time—to take it all back. “Leave some for the fight,” a faceless voice said from a dark area of the gym.
“Who is it?” I called out.
“You cannot expect to beat a werewolf if you exhaust yourself before you actually fight.”
“Who are you?” I said again.
There was a man sitting in a chair in the dark. “I’m Mr. fucking Myagi.”
Holy shit. I knew who it was. Karate Kid was our favorite movie growing up.
“Tommy!” I yelled.
Tommy turned on the lamp beside his chair. “In the flesh.”
“Or should I call you Kyro?”
“Kyro is dead. I will forever be Tommy.” Tommy was still pretty scratched and bruised. It had been a couple of weeks, and his scars still looked fresh.
“Are you alive?”
“You mean am I some kind of Carni ghost that has come back to haunt you?” Tommy laughed. “No. I’m alive. I’m as alive as you used to be. What the hell happened to you?”
“You must smell it. The Carni at the bar did.”
“Josiah, you have no idea how many times I almost told you the truth. I couldn’t. So, what happened? Did you go willingly or unwillingly?” Tommy was obviously asking if I had chosen to be Mani or was it forced upon me.
“I didn’t choose it. That choice was definitely out of my hands. That’s not the worst of it.”
“What’s the worst of it?”
“I don’t know what you know about Mani lore, but apparently—”
“You’re the Chosen One. I know, Josiah.”
“How do you know?”
“Your hawk friend might have had something to do with it.”
“Yari, you’ve spoken to Yari? When?”
“The last thing I remember was this beautiful redhead dropping me off in front of the emergency room. Before she left, I asked her name. She said Yari.”
“Did you know a Mani was saving you?”
“I didn’t know much of anything. This ten-foot tall motherfucker kicked the crap out of me not even an hour after we had our MMA match. The guy looked like a freaking scarecrow.”
“His name is Atticai,” I said.
“I knew who he was.”
“And you fought him anyway?”
“Why not? Who was he to tell me what the rules were?”
“Apparently he was the judge
, jury, and executioner,” I said.
“He was only the judge and jury. Goliath was the executioner.”
“Who the hell is Goliath?”
“He is another seven-foot beast, but he’s not a twig like Atticai. He weighs almost 500 pounds.”
“So, I take it that Goliath wasn’t his birth name.”
“It’s the only name that fits.”
“After your friend Atticai was done with me—”
“Trust me, he’s not my friend.”
“Anyway, I had the pleasure of getting my ass kicked again by Goliath.”
“It doesn’t make any sense that Carni do that to their own people.”
“We know the score if we challenge a Mani and lose.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. What a backward way of dealing with shit. They should tend to you. That is what Mani would do.”
“Nobody said Carni were rocket scientists.” Tommy got up and walked toward me. He grabbed a pair of trainer’s gloves and motioned for me to get into the ring with him. He still looked fit.
I made my way through the ropes, and met Tommy in the middle of the ring.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about.” Tommy gave me the motion to punch his hand. I threw a right cross and our gloves popped. “Good shot, Josiah.” I continued to do combinations that Tommy and I had worked on in the past. “You know Josiah, that seven-foot beanpole was actually fighting in your honor.”
“I didn’t ask him to,” I said. “He just wanted an excuse to fight.”
“Maybe, but in the end, he was defending you.”
“All of this is crazy.” I threw another four-punch combination, with the last punch making a popping sound that echoed throughout the gym. “The Triat used him as a pawn to get me. The more I think about it, it’s pretty fucked up how bad he was mind-fucked by the whole thing.”
Tommy put his gloves down, “Did you kill him?”
“I had to. He was trying to kill two people I care deeply about.”
Tommy nodded his head. I think Yari had let him in on all the details, but he just wanted to hear it from me.
“So, you’re the fucking white eagle that’s in all the stories, the legends, the truth. That’s unbelievable. You have no idea how huge that is. It sure beats a mixed martial arts title.”