I killed a person when I was first turned, an act that left vampires with a permanent violent streak. Any more than three kills during the turning period and the vampire was reduced to little more than an animal. I was fortunate to have only killed one; it wasn’t as hard for me to resist the urges, but I had my moments where I felt less than, well, human. That side of me was thrilled by the idea of a more exciting feeding once in a while.
I paid the bill and sat while Olivia enjoyed her coffee, sipping my own while Fik lapped up his cream. After he was done he started cleaning his paws, then stopped and looked around curiously.
“Hey, it’s really starting to thin out in here,” he commented.
Sure enough, there were only a handful full of people left and most of them were sitting by themselves, with the exception of a cluster playing darts.
“No more humans,” Olivia said, sniffing the air.
I did the same and couldn’t detect any human scents fresh enough – even the bartender seemed to have gone.
The door opened. I glanced toward it and watched as a vampire walked in, with a large raven perched on his shoulder, piercing black eyes scanning the room. They had my attention immediately. The vampire was flanked by a fire elemental woman and male dhampir. The group looked around the bar as if they were sizing it up.
“You think this is it?” Olivia asked.
“I hope so.”
I studied the vampire as he swaggered up to the karaoke stage. His eyes fell on us and he smiled, likely having heard the conversation.
“Welcome friends,” he said. “My name Victor. I'm here on behalf of our esteemed leader, Reave, who was unable to make it to the event this evening.”
There were a few mutters from some who were annoyed that he was here instead of Reave. There was no doubt that Victor could hear them, but he seemed unbothered and merely stood clasping his hands, waiting for silence, which quickly fell.
Victor cleared his throat. “I see no reason to mince words. You have all been invited here tonight because you have shown an interest in what we are doing. You're here because you, like me, are tired of hiding, tired of feeling like the witches and the wizards do not take your best interests to heart, tired of denying your true nature. But we all know the truth: we are stronger than they are. There are more of us than there are of them and it is time we took our rightful place at the top of the food chain. Together we will create a new world in which non-humans are free to do as we please. You.” Victor pointed in the direction of a werewolf and weretiger. “You like to hunt?” They both nodded. “How would you like the opportunity to hunt…” He smiled and his fangs extended. “humans?”
The weretiger woman grinned viciously, baring her teeth, but her wolf companion looked slightly uneasy.
“In the new world we create,” Victor continued, “We will do just that. Weres can hunt as they please. Vampires,” he gestured toward us, “will feed with impunity. You won't need permission or limits. Or MES,” he added with a sneer. “Those of you who join us will reap the benefits and find a place at the very top of our new society. All we ask is that you help us on our way there. Now we would like to invite you to come to our castle this evening. There, you will meet your future brothers and sisters. Drinks, food, blood, and entertainment will, of course, be provided.”
Victor paused and waited as everyone considered the invitation. When I heard the whispers about Reave and his vision, I expected the hunting to be more like a game with willing humans. Victor made it seem more sinister somehow; the way he said “no limits” to feeding chilled me. I exchanged an uneasy glance with Fik.
“I’m in,” Olivia said, draining the last of her coffee.
Maybe I was just overthinking it; I was still curious about it all, checking it out wouldn’t hurt.
“If you wish to come.” Victor said, “please follow me. If you do not wish to join us, however, I request you take an exit survey of sorts with my colleague, Singe.”
The fire elemental woman smiled and sat at a table. “Please,” she said. “Come sit with me if you do not wish to join Victor this evening.”
The werewolf girl stepped forward. “I don't think this is quite what I'm looking for.”
Next to me, Olivia scoffed quietly.
“Very well,” said Victor. “I wish you all the best. Please wait with Singe.”
The werewolf nodded to him. “Nice meeting you,” she said softly to the weretiger, then she crossed the room to sit with Singe.
“Anyone else?” Victor asked. Nobody moved. He nodded in satisfaction and strode toward the front door. “In that case, please come with me.”
“Well.” Olivia stood. “I'm going. This sounds like fun to me.”
“Wonderful,” said Victor. “What is your name?”
“I’m Olivia,” she said. “And this is my new friend, Connor.” I smiled awkwardly.
“Will you be joining us, Connor?” asked Victor.
I shrugged and glanced at Fik. He swished his tail and I knew he was letting me decide. Well, why not?
We walked out of the restaurant with the others and into the parking lot. The seven of us stood in a small semi-circle, facing Victor and his dhampir companion.
“Let’s introduce ourselves, shall we? As I said, I am Victor and this is Tril.” His raven dipped his head and cawed.
The dhampir next to him said, “I’m Anthony.”
“I’m Kiana,” said the weretigress.
Our eyes turned to a vampire next to her. “I’m Joe,” he said.
“Flint,” said the next person, a stone elemental.
The water elemental after Flint nodded. “I’m Delta.”
“I’m Sam,” said the last in line, a second dhampir.
“Very good,” Victor said. “Well, now that we're all friends, I say it's time we begin the next step of our journey together.”
As he spoke, a bus rumbled up into the parking lot, and I swallowed nervously. This was starting to seem like a little more than I signed up for.
“Now,” Victor continued, “I would like you to consider tonight your first step toward a new life, with a new purpose. There will be no contact with the outside world.”
Anthony stepped forward and set a wooden crate on the ground in front of Victor.
Victor extended a hand toward the crate. “I ask that you put everything you have in this crate; your wallet, your phone, anything else you may be carrying. You will not need money, nor your phone, and you will not need your identification. Tonight, you are joining a new family and leaving your old one behind. That is, of course,” he added with an unsettling smile. “If you do wish to join us after tonight.”
“What if we change our minds?” asked Joe, the other vampire.
“Then your belongings will be returned to you and the bus will take you right back here, and we will part ways,” said Victor smoothly.
Olivia marched forward and dumped her things into the crate. One by one, the rest of us did the same.
“I don't really like this…” said Sam, the dhampir. “I mean, I'm interested in what Reave has to say but…”
“Do you wish to leave? It’s certainly not too late to change your mind,” said Victor.
Sam nodded. “I think so.”
Victor looked at the dhampir who had arrived with him. “Anthony? Please escort our friend inside to speak with Singe.”
Sam nodded and followed Anthony back into the restaurant.
“Anyone else?” Victor asked. Heads slowly shook and he smiled. “Well then, shall we begin our adventure?”
I boarded the small bus with the others. The windows were tinted so dark that I couldn’t see through them. I sat down with Fik on my lap, the water elemental slid in next, then Joe took the third seat in the row. In front of us, I watched Olivia, followed by the stone elemental, and then the weretigress, settle into their seats.
Victor was already sitting in the back, his raven perched on the headrest, and we waited a few minutes for, as he put it, t
he rest of our companions. We didn’t wait long before Anthony and Singe returned and joined him.
The bus rumbled to life and we started on our way. After a couple of minutes of silence, I heard the weretigress speak.
“I’m sorry, I forgot your names already. I’m Kiana.”
“Flint.”
“Olivia.”
The were turned around in her seat and smiled at us. Since I had easily overheard the second round of introductions, I returned her smile.
“I’m Connor, this is Fik,” I said.
“Joe.”
“Delta.”
Kiana reached over the seat and shook our hands, then flopped back into hers.
There was another brief silence and then we all started making small talk. Our topics varied from wondering about Reave, to how far we were going, to mundane things. Nobody said anything about what we were all doing here; I supposed it would be a bit strange to have a conversation about why we were trying to join a secret group talking about hunting humans and disrupting the status quo.
Joe was mostly quiet, seemingly content to sit and listen, like me. Delta spent most of the conversation hanging over the seat to talk with the people in front of us; he had a funny accent that sounded Australian or something. Kiana didn’t seem to enjoy sitting in silence, but once she successfully got people talking, she tended to sit and listen. Flint, unsurprisingly, was mostly silent as well, so the conversation was mainly dominated by Olivia and Delta.
The bus sped along and I had absolutely no idea where we were going. We occasionally fell into silence and then someone, usually Kiana, started talking again.
Eventually the silence stretched on and I was starting to feel a bit nervous about how far we were going. How long was this bus ride going to last? It had been nearly two in the morning when we left the restaurant and based on my sense of the upcoming sunrise, it had to be after three by now.
It wasn’t any later than I usually stayed up, but I was starting to feel tired and bit back a yawn. Everyone else was quite still and I heard a couple of other yawns. Fik was already asleep, which only made me feel more tired.
I was halfway through another yawn when Delta’s head dropped heavily onto my shoulder.
“Do-“ I finished yawning. “Do you mind?” He didn’t move. “Hey!” I said, giving him a little push.
Delta sat up, shaking his head vigorously and blinking. “Whoa. What the…”
Joe leaned over, eyeing him in concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Delta said. “I just suddenly feel really...” He yawned and his head actually lowered again, before he snapped it back up. “Oh shit. Someone slipped us a slee—” His eyes closed again. He seemed to fight it for a moment, then he slumped over without finishing his sentence.
It didn’t matter; I knew immediately what he was trying to say. Someone had given him a sleeping potion. No, I realized in alarm as I fought back yet another yawn, Delta was right, someone gave us a sleeping potion. If Delta was already out, we’d be right behind him; some potions affected water elementals faster than other kinds of magics.
I looked up and met Joe’s eyes. I could tell he had reached the same conclusion as I had. He started to stand, then dropped as if his legs had given out. I fought to stay awake but could feel my eyes closing.
The next thing I knew someone was clapping. I sat up feeling somewhat foggy. What happened?
“Hello, everyone! Wake up!” Victor said with a happy laugh. “Looks like you all fell asleep!”
All around me everyone else was waking up and mumbling. Delta sat up with a jerk, rubbing his eyes and I suddenly remembered what happened. Didn’t anyone else realize we had been drugged?
Fik sat up on my lap, stretching as he did.
How long had we been out? My only guide was the sunrise which was hours away! More than that, it felt like the sun was only just setting. How was that possible? Had we been asleep for almost an entire day?!
“Come on, follow me,” Victor said, still seeming amused. If it had been a sleeping potion, it clearly hadn’t affected him.
We followed him off the bus, all stretching. I still felt groggy from the sleeping potion and knew the effect would last a while.
As I stepped off the bus I looked around and took in our surroundings. We were standing in what looked like a large courtyard of a castle. It was really cold, much colder than New York in early summer; I shivered both from the cold and the unease of wondering just how long we were knocked out. I turned around to see that the bus had driven in through a large archway; complete with massive wooden doors and an actual portcullis, which was slowly lowering into place. It slid down with a sort of final sounding clang, locking us in.
The six of us stood huddled in the courtyard, waiting for Victor. I could sense the cold through Fik’s feet and bent to pick him up.
“Did we sleep through the entire damn summer or something?” Delta demanded, examining his fingers.
I knew it was cold, but if a water elemental was feeling it this quickly, then it had to be more than just cold: it had to be well below freezing.
“Welcome,” Victor said. “Follow me. Lord Reave and your new family are very excited to meet you.”
We all followed him in through a large arch and down a stone corridor, complete with burning torches.
“Interesting ambiance,” Olivia said, joining me.
“That's one way to put it,” I said.
We went up a large flight of stairs and then through another doorway into, of all things, an arena. I looked around in surprise; there were rows of seats all around it, stretching up to the ceiling. It was easily big enough to hold a thousand people, although it wasn't anywhere close to full. There were probably around one hundred people, all sitting in the front few rows of the sections across the arena from us. Rather than a basketball court or a hockey rink, the large middle section was just an empty field of dirt.
“What is this, Medieval Times?” asked Delta. “Will there be jousting? Which knight are we rooting for?”
His comment was met by several chuckles and I had to laugh myself; it did remind me of the popular medieval themed restaurant, which included dinner and a live jousting show. I cast a look down at the dirt arena and honestly wouldn't have been surprised if the knights did come parading out.
We were ushered to a row of empty seats with a long table in front of them and sat down.
“You'll be served soon,” said Victor, sitting down at the end of it.
I could tell the crowd on the other side of the arena were checking us out, but there were too many people all talking at once for me to clearly overhear any conversation. I did hear several comments that sounded like people were sizing us up, trying to determine which of us were the better fighters. It was a sentiment I heard often enough that it didn't inspire very much confidence.
My little group was mostly quiet, with a few scattered comments here and there about the strange place we had found ourselves and, like me, wondering what was going to happen. I leaned forward and looked up and down the row at the only familiar faces in the room, then noticed Victor had vanished, although his raven was still perched on the same chair.
Then everyone fell silent.
“Over there,” Flint said.
Three people were walking along the section where no one else was seated, on the other side of the arena. One was Victor. They stopped at the short side of the oval and the man raised his hands.
“Welcome!” he boomed. He was wearing a rather elaborate, almost gaudy outfit like something out of an old Dracula movie.
“Did I say Medieval Times? Clearly this is Transylvanian Times,” said Delta.
Joe groaned, but Olivia burst out laughing, earning several glares from vampires across the room.
Victor was still wearing normal street clothes, but there was a woman standing off to the side, head bowed submissively, wearing a simple, brown dress. Her outfit stood out solely because it was somehow too plain.
“Welcome,” said the man again, spreading his arms in our direction. “I am Reave and I am pleased you have found your way to my castle.”
Delta snorted and Olivia giggled, this time more quietly.
“It is my hope,” Reave continued, “that we can all come together as more than just friends; I hope you will think of me as your brother. Here, you can be free to be yourselves and look out for one another. Together, we will navigate our way into a new world with our ideals at the forefront.” He paused. “If, after tonight, you do not wish to be here. Then you may, by all means return to your homes. Regardless of what you choose, I do hope you enjoy yourself this evening. Thank you for being willing to come and give us a try.”
I narrowed my eyes. He was not at all what I excepted Reave to sound like. Honestly, he sounded more like a Medieval Times emcee than a vampire gathering an army with aspirations of hunting humans and breaking all the rules. He stepped back and sat down, then clapped his hands. Several doors around the arena opened, and people came streaming in carrying trays of food and drinks. All of them were dressed in plain brown dresses or pants and shirts, just like the woman with Reave.
One of them walked down the aisle in front of our row with a large smile. The delicious scent of fresh witch and wizard blood wafted from goblets on her tray. A moment later I caught her scent and realized in surprise that she was a witch!
“I thought,” Olivia said loudly enough for her to hear, “that this was supposed to be non-humans.”
“I work here, my lady,” said the witch with a smile, setting down a goblet of blood in front of her.
“You work here?” Joe asked, looking skeptically at the goblet of blood she handed him.
The witch smiled. “Yes, in exchange for being turned.”
“What?!” I cried. I couldn't stop myself
The witch shrugged and smiled at me. “That's the deal. We work here and when we have proved our loyalty to Reave, he’ll turn us. Instead of serving his army, we'll be permitted to join it.”
“I still don't like it,” Flint grumbled.
The witch wrinkled her nose briefly at the stone elemental in annoyance, but quickly turned it into a practiced smile. If she had worked here any amount of time I had a feeling she put up with this a lot.
Rise of the Arcanist Series: Books 1 - 6 Page 41