Damage Control

by Eric Alan Williams

  The Immortium

  VOL 3: Damage Control

  By Eric Alan Williams

  ISBN: 9781075868399

  All copyrights reserved under the sole ownership of the author, Eric Alan Williams.

  Chapter 1

  Xairin fashioned his biggest smile at Ezra as the two held hands walking to their transport. The detective, smitten with his handsome companion, desperately wanted to take Xairin to see a movie as a perfect ending to a romantic dinner at Bon Veda. The energy flowing off Ezra was infectious. Xairin wanted to snuggle in the man's arms and soak it all in like a snake, basking in the light.

  Xairin's heart rate began to elevate. He knew he was inescapably enthralled with this companion. The recent kiss, sweetly positioned on top of his hand, caused Xairin to feel spellbound, as all sorts of emotions flooded both his heart and mind. It was undoubtedly surreal; something he had always dreamed about. The roses Ezra brought to Xairin at the Mansion was definitely a nice touch!

  Ezra was feeling the same way. As Xairin looked into his eyes, he felt a sense of security unknown to him until this very moment. The young detective had entirely forgotten that Xairin is a vampire, and saw him as a mortal, just as he is, but substantially more. Xairin is a gifted man with unrealized potential. Ezra remembered when, not so long ago, Xairin was fragmented; but now something has changed. Surveying his admirer's flushed cheeks; his confident, bright smile reflecting his own, Ezra was finally convinced that he now wanted to make this man his. There was just something inexplicable about him. "I've never felt like this before; not with anyone," declared Ezra.

  As they continued walking along the busy sidewalk, Ezra and Xairin passed people in sleek shiny robes and various other metallic looking trendy attires. But that didn't distract them. The familiar LED lit lighting of the sidewalks and streets were of no concern to the enamored vampire and his lovely companion. Xairin's attention was solely focused on the detective. The environment faded away as they traveled, the couple entranced in each other's gaze.

  Bernie and his brother were clinging to the shadows, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, trying to keep up, but stay far back enough to give Xairin his space, just as Ethan had commanded.

  Max, the tallest of the two, was keeping an eye on the streets below. His eyes scanning the crowds, and his biosonar from his chattering teeth, chattering as if the man was freezing, was directing everywhere. It was a forked tongue that slithered out of the blond Alpha following Xairin that tipped Max off. He quickly looked at his brother. "Bernie, I think someone's following Xairin."

  Bernie stopped and hunkered down near a fire escape and looked out. His pitch-black eyes could see the green aura of the Alpha and his three followers. He looked over at his brother. "Gorgons!"

  Max took a whiff, it was a well-known fact that Gorgons and Gargoyles could interbreed, an ability that the cold-blooded Immortium shared. Gargoyles, of course, being the winged ones, and Gorgons lacking wings completely. Max could tell that the Alpha following behind them, was likely a Gargoyle. His aura was darker than the other three.

  "Nah, that Alpha is a gargoyle he's got gargoyle all in his aura."

  Both of the Sutphin brothers knew there was no way they could take on an Alpha Gargoyle, Gargoyles were stronger than Gorgons.

  _____

  887 Highrose Hill

  Ethan was sitting behind his desk, reading some of his work reports from his computer screen. He was dressed casually; he had been out at a Galactic Corp meeting for a while and decided to lounge around after it had ended.

  The Vampire Alpha was going over some details going on at the space station on Ganymede's lunar station. He would have to leave in a few days to tend to them. This couldn't have come at a more cumbersome time.

  In his absence, he had decided it was time to wake up his bite brother and sister, Peggy and Justin. He needed to know Xairin would be cared for while he was away for a few weeks. Ty wasn't too happy about it. He got along with Peggy, okay, but Justin, her boyfriend was another matter. He could be a hot head. Despite Justin's temper, both he and Peggy were bitten by Sara, they were loyal to her, and shared Ethan's zeal, they just had their own way of doing things.

  He had sat there for an hour, going over the reports on the modifications to a shuttle at the space station. Improvements to slip drive technology that Ethan had hypothesized. He had to be there for the maiden flight himself, so there was no other way around it.

  Ethan finally got up from his desk and left his room. He walked the long hallways, met the circular staircase, and went downward.

  Most everyone in the house could sense what he was about to do. His thoughts were purposely going out. They all knew when he was gone, that Peggy and Justin would be in charge, despite Ethan's own hierarchy.

  He went into the kitchen, there was a closet door that was off limits, everyone knew it except some new additions. The door was always locked, you had to remember to press a button at the top of the closet door to get the darn thing to open. Ethan pushed it, he heard the click and turned the doorknob.

  It led down into a basement separate from the rest of the house. It wasn't as elaborate as Trevor's hidden passage by any means, merely a furnished basement, with concrete walls, painted white.

  The basement was a plain sight to see, it lacked anything lavish, or of particular decor other than a few odds and ends fixed into the wall. Ethan turned on the light in the room from an old pull string. He went over to the left, along with the far wall, and felt for a crack. There was a hidden lever that the vampire Alpha was looking for. He pressed it, and the wall sunk merely, revealing a secret room, with two large metal boxes.

  He approached the boxes, they were both ten feet long, by four feet wide, solid steel. The lids opened like a coffin would, he merely undid the latch to both.

  Inside the box to his right, he could see Peggy sleeping in her embryonic sac. Her nosferatu face is motionless. When he opened Justin's box, he saw a similar sight, Justin was tossing and turning in his protective white covering.

  Ethan stood there, he closed his eyes and reached out with his thoughts. He sensed for his bite siblings until both of them began to move more in their translucent sacs. It took him ten minutes to telepathically give them both a detailed record of everything that had transpired over the past decade, with emphasis the comet, The Society of Night and on Xairin.

  Both of Peggy and Justin's eyes opened. Peggy was the first to rip through the sac and stood up. She was bald, in full nosferatu glory, Justin wasn't as monstrous, he stood up, and had his brown hair still showing; however, his bat like-face was yawning.

  Ty came down to see the sleeping members of the family. He brought with him a small handheld cooler and a backpack filled with some clothing, joggers mostly.

  After offering the sleeping vampires a bag of blood, he waited until Peggy's bouncy blond hair asserted, and her monstrous form, taking that of a woman that could have passed for an air-headed stereotypical blonde from some teen movie. Peggy was far from that but loved acting the part to throw people off.

  Justin was lean, brown eyed, and curly headed. He flexed a few times before reaching for the grey colored clothing that Ty had brought. Peggy was already getting dressed. She looked at Ethan. "Where is Xairin now?'

  "On a date with a human, a sensitive."

  "Like, they really are psychic? Like for real?"

  Ethan nodded. "telepathic, telekinetic, pyrokinesis, the whole nine yards."

  Justin was intrigued. He was a former goth geek when he was human and loved reading any comic book, he could get his hands on that was science fiction related. In the past, they had encountered enhanced humans modified by Aeonian blood, which was where most magical lore about wizards and witches originated. H
e always figured something like this would eventually happen. "So, are we talking X-Men level, or what?"

  Ethan shrugged. "I haven't seen any of them able to perform true flight or anything, but I have met a few that can levitate and do some other crazy stuff."

  Peggy jest, "Great, humans found a way to evolve a new breed of witches?"

  Justin snarled. "Well, that's wonderful, sci-fi witches. And the comet, wow, I figured it would be something like that."

  Ethan shrugged. He and Justin had conversations like this in the past. The two loved debating science fiction. ""Turns out the witches of the past were already Sci-fi witches since they were nothing more than either modified thralls or a halfbreed, but yeah, a new type of perceived witch you could say. And yes… You called it, twenty years ago, or was it thirty?"

  "It's 2118, right?' Justin asked as he put on the hoodie. He scratched his chin. "I think it was closer to sixty years ago, Ethan."

  "Yep."

  "Then it was forty years ago, and you owe me, we made a bet, remember?"

  Peggy rolled her eyes. "Oh, please." She looked at Ethan and the Ty. She knew from the telepathic upload that Ethan had given her, that Ty was in the loop, so she spoke candidly. "Why did you let the grandson of our dear Sara, just leave on a date? Please tell me you sent out a chaperone?"

  Ethan cocked his head and gave her some flamboyant attitude. "Girl, do you honestly think I would send him out without someone keeping tabs? Seriously?"

  "Well, then check on him, I would hate to wake up, and find out you let something happen." She said with a hand firmly placed on her hip.

  Ethan smirked, rolled his eyes, and reached out with his mind. It didn't take long for him to blurt out. "FUCK!"

  _____

  Avalon Street.

  Xairin and Ezra had finally reached his transport. The two looked into each other's eyes. Xairin couldn't help but meet the brown-haired man's smile, with his own happy grin. He was lost in the moment.

  The young vampire's senses were dormant. He had never seen a man look into his eyes; the way Ezra was right now. It sent happy shivers down his spine. He could see Ezra leaning closer, his body language spoke to Xairin, he wanted to kiss the vampire.

  Their lips were close to touching for the first time. Xairin's green eyes were lost in Ezra's blue ones. Xairin prepared himself and closed his eyes.

  A tap on Ezra's shoulder stopped the kiss.

  Ezra was startled, leaving Xairin's lips puckered, he opened his eyes when he realized the detective didn't follow through with the kiss he was anticipating.

  Xairin didn't need his sense of smell, or his hearing, to tell him what was standing there. He could see it without any need for such things. The man standing behind Ezra had reptilian eyes, blonde hair, slicked back like the man Xairin had killed in his apartment. The vampire gasped.

  Ezra saw the man's lizard-like eyes. He had heard rumors about gorgon and gargoyles and had some scary tales offered to him from Marine. The detective remembered that Xairin had killed a gorgon. The detective reached for his side; he was carrying his laser pistol.

  A man off from the side of Ezra's right, shot out a tongue like that of a chameleon, grabbing the man's gun right out of his hand before he could bring it up. Ezra's eyes widened.

  Xairin pulled Ezra behind him, getting in front of the man, putting his arms out. "What do you want?"

  The man standing before Xairin smiled. A long-forked tongue came out of his mouth, he hissed the words. "A date? Too bad for you, one of my thralls saw you dining with this… Human…"

  He walked around Xairin, stalking the vampire that was using his body as a barricade to keep Ezra out of reach, pushed against the detective's red Chevy hover mobile.

  The Gargoyle hissed. "You killed my half-brother, Simon. You owe me a debt of blood vampire."

  Xairin stuttered the words that came out of his mouth. He was trembling. "He tried to kill me first."

  The man crossed his arms and smiled. His teeth were vampiric. The canines were elongated, much longer than your typical vampire though. Hinting at a serpent in his lines. "Simon was just collecting a debt you previously earned my young friend. Why you killed his Alpha and my father." The man grinned. "I'm just finishing what you started vampire. You owe me, your pretty little life."

  Ezra could feel Xairin trembling.

  The cruel looking man smiled as he watched Xairin using his body as a shield. "Tell you what? You come with me and don't put up a struggle, and I will do you a favor? I won't kill your human pet. I mean, to be honest, I'm really only pissed at you for killing my brother. Killing my father, well, that set me up to evolve into an Alpha. For that, I should thank you. However, I love my brother, well, as much as a lizard can, that is. He had his flaws like Simon just wouldn't let it go. But he was my brother. So, here is the deal, your life, and your human will get to live and frolic. Otherwise, my friends here, will rip him from his belly to his brain, and place bets on how long it takes for him to stop blinking his eyes."

  The man's forked tongue elongated, it had a six-foot reach and licked Xairin's cheek. He retrieved it. "Time's is wasting away. Do we have a deal?"

  Ezra could feel Xairin slowly moving forward. He could tell Xairin's body was giving in to the man's demands. "NO, XAIRIN!"

  The man laughed. "Xairin? You poor vampire, who the fuck names their kids Xairin?"

  Xairin looked over his shoulder. He was scared. But Xairin wasn't going to let Ezra die. If the snake was telling him the truth, Xairin was trying to reassure himself in that solace. He could at least spare Ezra's life. Ezra had K2, and he knew Ezra's sister depended on him. He knew what it was like to be an orphan and have no one. He couldn't do that to Raven. He looked at Ezra. "it's okay…"

  In that brief moment, Xairin felt like his life was complete in a way. He had saved people's lives and hopefully just kept another alive. If he could spare anyone the pain of growing up alone, this would give his death meaning. He had endured so much over the past several months, so in a way, he felt finished. The only other thing he could think of was that he hoped they would put him down quickly.

  The reptile extended his hand while something beneath the man's skin was moving like worms under the flesh. Xairin was quick to notice the yellow claws on his fingertips. The man wiggled his fingers. "Come on…"

  His four friends came closing in, boxing Xairin from the sides.

  Ezra couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew exactly what would happen to Xairin. Ezra couldn't live with that on his chest. Nor could he stand by and do nothing. Without his gun, there was one weapon left, his mind. Ezra locked eyes with the man reaching for Xairin's hand. He swung his head backward and thrust it forward. He mustered every bit of psychic power he could put into a single psionic blast. The lizardman went flying.

  Xairin's jaw hit the pavement. He knew Ezra was a robust sensitive and had no idea just how powerful he was. The Alpha was airborne, flying backward into oncoming traffic nearly sixty feet from them.

  Ezra and Xairin heard a hiss from all sides. The four were pouncing.

  Ezra put out his right hand and waved it at the two approaching in from the right side. He tossed them back with the second wave of telekinetic force. Xairin was on his own against the other two, since the pain of using his abilities started to assert itself.

  Xairin looked back at Ezra, holding his skull as if it was about to burst. He could see and smell the blood that started dripping from the man's nose. He wanted to turn around and figure out a way to help Ezra, but his ears twitched, they caught the footsteps of the other two getting close. The crowd around them, scattered at the sights which distorted Xairin's biosonar feedback. He had to turn around and see it for himself.

  They moved like they were in slow motion. Xairin's body twisted and danced along the sidewalk where Ezra had parked. He moved like an Olympic ice skater, only instead of ice, it was the black LED lit roadways that his body danced on. His body leaned back, avoiding a grasp from the left,
followed by another attempt from the same side.

  Xairin spun out of the grapple unscathed.

  Two tongues came lunging for him like the one had done for Ezra's gun. They had about an eight-foot reach. Xairin's body twisted as his movement seemed like an elegant dance.

  Out of instinct right hand reached out right as his claws came out without begging them too. He grasped the tongue of one of the attackers that Ezra wasn't able to help with. He quickly wrapped it around his left arm and pulled it hard. The creature's tongue came out, wiggling onto the sidewalk. His attacker knelt down, screaming and choking on his thick red blood.

  The second man shot his tongue out again. Xairin reached out and grabbed it too, this time, taking a pose as if he was playing tug of war, the same fate was dealt.

  The two Ezra had waved away were running back. These two had watched their bite brothers fall by Xairin's graceful reactions. They were not about to make the same mistake.

  The Aikido movements Xairin had learned from pulling from Casper's mind, came into play. He used one of his attacker's momentum against him, tossing the man into the side of a building with a swinging motion. His fists made two quick jabs to the red-headed reptile that came in behind the one he tossed. The man's hoodie had fallen backward. Xairin's fists missed four times due to the snake-like reflexes heightened by this strain's power. The man was doing well to keep his face from Xairin's blows, Xairin felt an overwhelming urge to punch him in the throat, this connected. The red-headed attacker's eyes nearly popped. He was gasping for air.