“So who goes first,” I said.
“I will,” she said.
By concentrating her mind, she lifted the first and largest glass cylinder. The glass was thin, so it didn’t weigh very much. With the first cylinder floating in the air, she then lifted the second cylinder. It moved inside of the first. She continued until she had five cylinders inside of each other. When she tried to insert a sixth, I could hear two of the cylinders touch.
“Darn,” she said, and all of the cylinders fell onto the table. “I've managed to get up to seven before.”
“How about we do this together?” I suggested.
I reached my hand over to hers and we both raised our power levels.
Carefully, we started the game. Fitting the first seven cylinders inside each other was easy, but as time went on the game got harder. By the time we were at the eleventh cylinder, I was getting tired. It took every bit of our concentration not to let the cylinders touch each other.
“We can do this,” I told her.
About the time we were placing the last cylinder, Lizzie walked up.
“Oh my,” she said.
As Lizzie and Ruby watched, we completed the game successfully. All of the cylinders were inside of each other, and none of them were touching.
“Wow,” Ruby said. “I've only seen one other person beat the game, and that was the queen.”
All of the cylinders crashed to the floor.
“I want to try that,” Lizzie said.
“Go ahead and play with her, Eli,” Cathy said. “I need to talk to my mom.”
Lizzie grabbed my hand.
I pulled it back.
“Why won't you hold my hand?” she asked.
“Well, I sort of got a girlfriend now,” I said.
“So you and Cathy are together?” she asked.
“Well, yes,” I said.
“If she gets to hold your hand then I do too,” she said.
“Look,” I said as I looked into her blue eyes. “I don't want to do anything to upset Cathy.”
“Cathy!” Lizzie called out. “Tell this guy that it ain't cheating if he holds my hand to play this game.”
“Hold her hand,” Cathy called out. “But don't do anything else!”
“You see, I have permission,” she said.
“Okay,” I said.
I took her hand, and I raised my power level.
She looked at me with her eyes wide open.
“I’ve never felt anything like this,” she said.
“Let’s play,” I said.
We managed to get up to ten, but then lost control as two cylinders touched.
I let go of her hand, and I went to search for Cathy. I found her talking with her mom in the kitchen. I could see from both of their faces that there was some serious discussion going on
“How are things?” I asked.
“Not good,” she said. “We only have the support of perhaps twenty other vampires. Most of the population is scared to go against the queen.”
“I think I might be able to deal with her,” I said. “You just need to get me alone with her.”
“Your powers are developing very fast, but I don't think you’re ready to fight her,” she said.
“I’m sure I can take her,” I said.
“You might be able to, Eli,” Ruby said. “But It’s better to be safe than sorry. Your powers are still growing and they’ll continue to do so. It's best if we let you have more time to develop your powers.”
“By the way, Eli, I got a call from Dr. Mills earlier,” said Cathy. “He wants to come and talk to you about the test results.”
“Oh good,” I said.
“Until then, I want you to eat and train,” she said. Her phone rang and she walked out.
Sarah walked into the room.
“Hi, Mom,” I said. “Where have you been?”
“On a secret mission,” she said. “I had to go check on the witch.”
“The witch?” I asked.
“The queen's best friend is a literal, cauldron-stirring witch,” she said. “They’ve awakened her.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Soon they’ll be able to track us wherever we go,” she said. “There’ll be no place to hide.”
Cathy came in the room.
“It’s time for you to eat again, Eli,” she said. “What would you like?”
“I know what he needs,” Ruby said.
I sat down at the kitchen table and continued to talk with Sarah and Cathy. Ruby walked out of the room, went outside, and returned with two large bags of groceries.
“It’s time for you to eat something healthy,” she said. “My recipe is better than the queen's.”
She mixed whey, hemp, soy, and egg powder in a blender. Next, she added a pint of heavy whipping cream and a hand full of vitamins. Finally, she dropped in a bar of dark chocolate. She blended the concoction, and poured a glass for each of us.
“Here, drink it all,” she said.
I took a sip. It didn’t taste bad so I quickly drank the entire glass. She proceeded to make round after round of drinks for us. We were binging on protein.
An hour later, I was full.
“Thanks, Cathy, but I can't eat anymore,” I said.
“Then it's time for you to go to bed,” Sarah said.
“But I'm not tired,” I said.
“Listen, you’re going to burn yourself out if you don't get some rest,” she said.
“Okay,” I said. “Where do you want me to sleep?”
“Why don't you sleep in my coffin,” Lizzie said.
“What?” I asked.
“Just teasing,” she said, laughing.
I walked away and found a spare bedroom. I lay down on the bed and shut my eyes. A few minutes later, Cathy walked into the room.
“Do you mind if I sit in here with you?”
“Not at all,” I answered.
She sat down on a chair and pulled it close to the bed. She looked concerned.
“Listen, Eli. I know you’re excited by your new powers, and you’re doing amazingly well, but please don't try to fight the queen until you’re ready,” she said. “I don't want you to get killed. She’s very experienced and has incredible power.”
“I won't,” I said.
“I don’t want to lose you. I meant it when I said you were the nicest man I’ve met in a long time,” she said.
“Let me ask you something,” I said. “Do you believe love is a choice or a feeling?”
“I don't know,” she said. “Maybe both.”
“I agree,” I said. “It’s both. When I first met Candice I felt like I loved her. However, I was very careful about choosing to love her. Feelings come and go, but when I chose to love her I was serious about it. I didn’t choose to stop loving her until today. Do I have your permission to choose to love you?”
“Why are you asking my permission?” she said.
“Because we’re moving fast. I don't want you to think that I'm just infatuated and I want to get in your pants,” I said. “If and when we one day get married, I want that. But until then, I want to give my heart to you. I want to choose to love you.”
“You have my permission, Eli,” she said.
“Then Cathy, I choose to love you. I choose to do everything in my power to make this relationship work out. I promise that I’ll be faithful to you, will never cheat on you, and as soon as you’re ready, will marry you.”
I saw her look at me. She looked a little surprised, but I also saw a tear form in her eye.
“I know you’re serious,” she said.
“I'm totally serious,” I said.
“Then I’ll make you a promise,” she said. “I'm going to try to be the best girlfriend I can be to you, and I hope we’ll one day get married.”
“The one thing I need to know more than anything else is if you’ll be faithful to me,” I said.
“I promise,” she said.
I sat up in the be
d, reached over to her, and embraced her. It was the most amazing moment in my life. Despite the fact that a powerful, bloodthirsty vampire queen was out to kill me, I felt happy for the first time in a long time. My heart raced as I realized I had a girlfriend who chose to give me a chance, and a new family that seemed to care about me. Feeling now very content, I also realized that that I was very tired.
Cathy rested in the chair while I drifted to sleep. When I woke up, it was dark outside and Cathy was looking at me.
In the distance, I could hear several voices talking. I didn’t know who they were.
“Who’s here?” I asked.
“Other vampires – our allies,” she said.
I sat up and stood to my feet.
My stomach growled.
“I can't believe I'm hungry again,” I said.
“Don't worry about it,” she said. “It's natural.”
We walked out of the room and into the kitchen. I saw that there were steaks and hamburgers on the table. I grabbed a burger and ate it in a matter of seconds.
Looking into the living room, I saw about two dozen people talking and eating.
As I was pouring myself a glass of milk Doctor Mills walked into the kitchen.
“Hi Eli, I’m glad you’re awake now. I got your test results,” he said
“What are they?” I asked.
“Well, they’re very interesting. Your muscle fibers are being modified in a way that will make them stronger than any vampire. Their structure is different than anything I’ve seen. Also, your skin cells seem to be coated with nanoparticles that make them almost impenetrable.”
“What about my DNA?”
“I have samples of DNA from many species in my lab: werewolf, vampire, zombie, elf, and others. It seems like you have latent griffin genes that the vampire hex is activating,” he said.
“A griffin? I’ve heard about them. Don’t they have the head of an eagle and the body of a lion?” I asked.
“You’re right, they were considered the king of all creatures in mythology, but that’s not what the real griffins looked like. According to our records, the extraterrestrials that made the vampires created the griffins to be a go-between. They actually looked somewhat human and had two legs and two arms. Their purpose was to rule over the vampires and report back to the extraterrestrials,” he said.
“They were also symbols of monogamous marriage,” Cathy said. “They mated for life – if one partner died the other would live single until death.”
“So what does this mean?” I asked. “What percentage am I griffin?”
“As far as I can tell, you’re mostly vampire,” the doctor said. “However, I’d say that you’re probably about thirty per cent griffin. The interesting thing is that the griffin DNA and the vampire DNA are enhancing each other. The more one is expressed, the more the other is expressed. It’s like a positive feedback loop.”
“Did the griffins have any special powers?” I asked.
“They were said to be stronger than the vampires, but they were also highly telekinetic. Actually, it was said they could fly.”
“Can any vampires fly?” I asked.
“There’s a rumor that the Queen can fly,” Cathy said. “But no one has seen her do it. And I’ve been told that my grandmother can fly, but I don't know if that’s true.”
“By the way Eli, I brought some supplements for you,” said the doctor. “When I tried to grow some of your cells in culture, they seemed to thrive when higher levels of certain amino acids were added,” he said.
He gave me the bottle and I opened it. I took a handful of the pills and swallowed them with a glass of water.
“Thanks for all of the help,” I said.
“I'm a doctor, it's my job,” he said.
I walked into the living room and met several more vampires. The topic on everyone’s lips was how to deal with the queen. Since the bomb destroyed the queen's house, no one really knew where she was.
Looking around the room, I was amazed at how young everyone looked. It was like attending a college party or a social at the Baptist Student Union. No one looked older than their mid-twenties.
As we were talking and greeting one another, Ruby called the meeting to order.
Chapter 10
“We’re all here for a common reason,” Ruby said. “The queen is out of control and needs to be stopped.”
As she began to speak the vampires gathered found places to sit on sofas, recliners, and chairs. A few even sat on the floor. The room was large, but every possible seat was taken. Cathy and I found a spot on the living room floor near the large stone fireplace.
“All of you are very brave to have come to this meeting,” she said. “Although we don't think the queen knows we own this home, there’s no way to be sure she’s not aware of what we’re doing.”
“As far as I can tell, we have three main problems: we’re outnumbered, we’re out powered, and we don't know the location of the queen.”
A tall male vampire stood up from a chair and began to speak.
“Ruby, I agree that the queen must go,” he said. “But your family has made the entire situation worse. If you hadn’t rescued the human and destroyed her home, the queen wouldn’t be enraged. We’d have more time to plan.”
I saw Sarah stand up from a chair not far away from Cathy and myself.
“Peter, I think that’s out of line! You’re talking about my son. Eli’s one of us now,” she said. “Show Peter your true face, Eli.”
I complied and transformed. I could feel my claws emerge and my fangs press against my lip.
Every eye in the room was on me.
“How could this be?” Peter asked. “He was only bitten days ago.”
“Because he’s something more than any of us,” Dr. Mills said.
“It doesn't matter,” Sarah continued. “Cathy did the right thing by rescuing us both from my mother’s dungeon.”
Ruby started to speak.
“Look, our code forbids us from killing humans. However, over the past few years the queen has killed multiple times. I wasn’t going to let her do it again.”
“So are you taking him in as part of your clan?” another male vampire asked.
Cathy stood up and urged me to do the same.
“Yes, he’s joining our clan,” she said. “It’s my intent to marry him.”
“What?” I heard an angry voice call out.
One of the largest vampires in the room stood up and walked towards us.
“You can't be serious, Cathy!” he said. “You’ve only known this man for a few days.”
“And I already know that I love him more than I ever loved you, Albert,” she said.
“You’re crazy,” he said. “I think you’re crazier than the queen.”
Albert transformed and rushed up to me.
“What makes you think that you’re good enough for Cathy?” he asked.
“Sit down Albert, stop making a scene,” someone said.
“I don't think you’re anything but some kind of mutant,” he said, his nose almost touching mine.
“I've met too many jerks like you,” I said. “Sit down and shut up.”
“Don't tell me what to do!” he yelled.
I decided I was going to put him in his place. I leaned my head backwards and tried to summon every bit of power I could. With my eyes closed, I looked deep into my soul and tried to open the floodgates.
When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was hovering. I was immersed in power.
“Get out of this house,” I said.
“Screw you!” Albert said.
He tried to punch me, but with my mind I grabbed his neck and lifted him off his feet.
“Let go!” he shouted, his hands grasping his neck.
I let him go and he collapsed onto the floor.
“Let me make one thing clear,” I told everyone in the room. “No one disrespects Cathy.”
“Come down,” Cathy said, tugging on my leg as I hov
ered in the air.
Ascension (Powered) Page 9