"You were always there for me, Rory. I remember you taking me under your wing, and... And all the things we did together. You were the first person to show me any kindness when I was on my own. I remember that Halloween party we went to, you talked me into dressing up in drag, Cruella de Vil, and you a dalmatian. We had such fun that night, even though you kept slapping my ass. Do you remember when we went fishing, it was the first time I had been fishing since my parents…" He got a little choked up. "The first time I went fishing since my parents were gone. I had no clue what I was doing, and you stood up and rocked the boat until I fell right out of the boat, and you just laughed. I wanted to be so mad at you that day, but I couldn't be. You were the closest thing I had to a brother since Scott died. You, and Toph." He growled a little. "Why did you have to keep getting on those fucking dating apps. Oh god, Rory, why did it have to be you?"
"There were so many things I wanted to tell you, Rory. I found my mom, she's still alive. I, I, um, I'm a prince, yeah, a descendant of two powerful vampires. I found out that I was part vampire all along. I wanted to tell you so many things. When I got your text, about you adopting, and getting your own place. I never really text you back to tell you how proud I was of you. I wish you could hear me now." He said, crying. "I wanted to tell you about me kicking some major ass."
"I left for the sentinel team so you and Topher would be safe if those gorgons came looking for me. I left so I could learn to defend myself, hide in plain sight from the gorgons that wanted me dead. The more I trained, the more I realized, I wanted to hunt those motherfuckers down that did those things to me in that sewer, and even try to keep you guys safe from Cale. I missed out, being so consumed with myself, that I wasn't there when you needed me. I was so far away; I could have felt what was happening to you and saved you. If I hadn't been so fucking blind to my own shit, I could have been here and known where you were when they did this to you." He cried. "I won't let them do this to anyone else, Rory. I promise you that. I promise…" He said tearfully. "And I promise I will make sure that kid you were looking to take in, I will make sure he finds a new home, even if I have to do it myself. I promise."
Xairin stood up and turned around and looked at the gravestone. "You were my brother. I lost my family once and made a new family, and you were my new brother Rory. If I had just been closer to sense you…" He wept. "I promise you; I will make them pay."
Xairin kissed his pointer and middle finger and pressed them to the headstone. "I love you, man.
"If there is a heaven, I hope you're there, Rory. I hope and pray, you're there."
Xairin turned around and wiped his eyes. He spoke softly. "I'm coming for you, you sons of bitches."
His wings emerged, and Xairin took off into the nighttime sky.
Xairin decided to take Ethan's advice regarding being in the city when he tried to contact his unsuspecting thralls. Normally Xairin would have felt wrong about enthralling people without them knowing, but after enthralling the twink that pissed him off the same night he was bitten and attacked, the temptations to do such things were lessening the burden of feeling guilty.
Like a graceful eagle, Xairin flew upward and skillfully until he was directly over Bastion City. He looked for the city's center, he figured that would be the safest bet to try this. It wasn't long until he was a thousand feet above City Hall, looking down at the dome-shaped building and decided on a skyscraper beside it. Xairin landed on the rooftop of the massive structure and sat down near a door that leads downward. Once, he was sitting comfortably in an Indian-style position. He began.
Reaching out with his mind, the young vampire felt for his blood. The first he felt, was a man named Harvey Dinkler. The young man felt a slight headache when Xairin reached him. It stopped the young man from practicing with his band, Solar-Moth. He rubbed temples and then began scratching his head, messing up his short brown hair that he had spent hours spiking. The band had a gig later. Harvey was a backup singer and their lead guitarist. His sudden stop caused his band to rush to him as he felt light-headed and sat down quickly. Xairin probed his mind for a moment, realizing he would be on stages around the city, Xairin felt this watchdog would be useful. While linking, Xairin inadvertently pulled his ability to play guitar, as well as read music. He programmed him to survey the crowds that the indie band would play at.
Xairin opened his eyes. "Next."
Closing them again, he reached out and felt a woman dancing on a pole in the P2 District. The woman he reached out to, was rather naturally built, voluptuous, a blond named Allison Davidson, was dancing at a strip club called Overnights. She grew dizzy, losing her grip on the bar with her legs and slid down. She held her head for a moment. Xairin considered that the man that hurt him could be straight and felt Allison would be an excellent addition as well. He did the same, making sure if she recognized the face that haunted his mind was instilled in her own. Like Harvey, Xairin pulled dancing skills. A side effect with each pull.
Casper Hawk was the third mind Xairin reached. Casper worked at McDonald's. The slightly chubby man worked in the kitchen. He was responsible for grilling and checking temps of the cloned meat products. The man was sitting in the bathroom on his phone when Xairin's pull hit. He almost fell off the toilet. Again, another opportunity to keep for keeping additional eyes open for him.
Xairin hit six others, which were office workers, a group of people that had a night out together, the likelihood of them seeing someone while working was minimal. But it did improve Xairin's math and computer skills.
Chadwick Harper was next to feel Xairin's mind tugging. Chadwick was a personal trainer for Body and Beyond. He was a clean-shaven man, with the look to match his job description. He was in the middle of spotting a man trying to lift five hundred lbs. on a bench press when the tug happened. The man managed to keep it together long enough to help his client get the bar on into the holsters before falling back a little. Chadwick, also worked as a delivery man for Global Pharmaceuticals, delivering medicine to those that wanted their meds home delivered. Another useful pull.
Brice Tanner was teaching a hovercycle class when Xairin peered into his mind. Brice was a four-time champion at hovercycle racing by the age of 18, now at 29, he taught classes, still raced, and did mechanic work on the side. Brice was friends with Chadwick, and a client, though nowhere near as built as Chadwick was, Brice liked staying lean with strong shoulders and arms, his fitness goals often frustrated Chadwick since Chad was all about powerlifting and bodybuilding pageants. Given that Brice occasionally served as a judge at some of the events, Xairin decided to use him as a lookout also.
Number thirteen of his pulls was Norman Atwell. Norman worked as a medical receptionist at Bastion City General Hospital. His thin build and early twenties appearance could be rather fooling in how strong he actually was. Norman is a brute, carrying the bruticus gene. The skinny sandy-blond receptionist could lift right at a thousand pounds with one arm, which often was a problem when he played the piano, something that he loved to do to relax and something he did every Sunday. Often his brute strength caused constant repairs to the piano he played on Sundays at Marcus's Episcopal church, especially when a passionate song was on the playlist. Given he was working patient intake for the ER, Xairin knew for a fact he might be useful. He pulled...
Norman's pull didn't leave the young man stunned or feeling off. A benefit of the brute gene. Xairin, however, pulled more than he bargained for. Sure, he programmed him to look for Greg, and as a side effect, picked up playing the piano and some additional musical qualities, but what Xairin didn't expect was the bruticus gene reacting with his sensitive genes. It was as if the two genes were magnetic in a way, pulling together. From where Xairin's cells had absorbed what little fat cells Norman had, to produce thrall cells, Xairin's cells had absorbed the bruticus gene and decoded it, like biological supercomputers. The pull Xairin experienced, wasn't just muscle memory, and knowledge, but also biological data being essentially downloaded telepat
hically as it was communicated to the cells in his body. This upload instantly caused every cell in Xairin to react and threw him to the floor of the skyscraper's roof, writhing in pain.
Xairin's uniqueness, being a sensitive dhampling, that had been transformed into a pureblood, left Xairin in a very unique position, one that his cells communicated to him. Due to his specific situation, his cells could absorb human evolutionary traits just like the Aeon Strain in its pure form could because of him being a sensitive-dhampling converted to a pure blood. This newly realized ability had every cell in Xairin's body changing and adding the bruticus gene, enhancing his strength nearly twice of what it was already. Additionally, as Xairin laid there, feeling every cell in his body burning and changing, he learned that the ghoul bite he had survived, also, had caused a trait to be acquired. Where ghouls could eat and drink the blood of any immortal, without repercussions, Xairin could also, along with being immune to future ghoul bites. Sure, this was great knowledge to obtain, but it hurt like a motherfucking bitch. Xairin's body was on fire as his body adjusted and added the bruticus gene to his own DNA.
The unexpected revelation and the experience alone caused Xairin to transform and go full-on nosferatu.
He was hungry from the change, on the verge of blood fever, yet again. He couldn't risk doing nothing to satisfy his blood lust. Xairin had to feed, and he had to feed fast.
Xairin had no choice; he had to go airborne now!
With his newly enhanced stamina from the bruticus gene he uploaded, he was able to fly off and stay airborne longer without taxing his blood. He made it over the great wall surrounding the city and went straight for the woods. Where his landing was less than artful.
Xairin's echolocation, as well as his ability to sense body heat, went into overdrive. He searched for anything, a rabbit, a mouse, a bird, a deer, whatever he could find and fast. The burning was getting worse by the second as his cells cried out for replenishment from where they had assimilated the new genetics.
Deep down, this surely wasn't his ideal choice, but time was running out, blood fever was impending, and a skunk was the first thing Xairin's senses homed in on. Xairin ran as fast as he could, running and leaping until he found the tree trunk the skunk was sleeping in. He reached in, grabbing it, causing the poor thing to screech and squeal out. It got even louder when Xairin bit into its back, causing the pleasantly scented vampire to go from smelling like the cologne he was wearing, to downright nasty as the skunk sprayed while he fed viciously on it.
Xairin's clothing became saturated from the dying creature's scent glands. His new unicorn shirt was toast, his black jeans, just as bad, even his shoes got drenched until the skunk died.
He tossed the lifeless animal to the side. Getting a whiff of what he smelt like almost caused the vampire to upchuck. He had no choice but to strip down. He was just glad that he forgot to get his cellphone and his wallet.
Standing there, naked in the woods, Xairin started to slowly revert to his human features. The skunk was enough to sate him for the moment. Though with his heightened senses, keeping it down was a little challenging.
Xairin ran through the woods looking for a creek, a pond, or any body of water that he could try to get some of this smell off him. The only thing he could find was a small creek barely a foot wide. He followed it for a while, hoping it would lead to something larger, but it never did, it led to a rock where it went underground. "FUCK!" Xairin yelled.
He had no choice, back to the Mansion it was, and if Griffin could strut around the Mansion naked, so could he.
_____
Sara and Cecilia had arrived at Ethan's Mansion, hoping to check on Xairin. Ethan had told them about him being in a slight form of hibernation. Cecilia and Sara were both hoping he was evolving into a beta, but Ethan broke the news. "No, I think he was just honestly exhausted and needed a three-day nap."
Vaughn was sitting across from them in a hot tub by the indoor pool listening in. "I can't say I blame him." He said while looking over his shoulder as they convened around a white wicker table. "I mean, dude seemed stressed out."
Ethan nodded. "Oh, he's stressed out alright, and obsessing over getting payback on the men that hurt him."
Cecilia looked ashamed but still mustered the will to ask. "How bad was it? What they did?"
Ethan looked at her with a painful frown. "Look, if it happened to me, honestly, I would be out there right now looking to rip them open and wear their faces as a ski mask. It was bad, dreadful."
She looked as if she wanted to know more. Ethan wasn't doing that to her. "Cecilia, no mother deserves to know what happened to Xairin, just know it was pretty bad, okay?"
Sara watched her daughter sulk back into the white wicker chair. She then looked at Ethan. "Do you really think he is out there hunting them?"
Ethan nodded. "Xairin has been pushing himself for weeks to learn to fight and take care of himself. This is more than just him wanting to be able to survive a gorgon or gargoyle encounter. This is Xairin preparing himself. I can't enter his mind easily, nor can Peggy or anyone else in this house but you don't need to have telepathy to know, he is hurting, and now that one of his favorite mortals has been slain, yeah, I think that is exactly what he is doing."
Sara sighed. "Does Interpol have any leads at all?"
"That's what's really frustrating him aside from the obvious. They have a possible lead that can't be substantiated if the guy that wereleopard killed was connected, and when mind reading was involved, there was an implant in the guy's brain that detonated." Replied Peggy.
Cecilia scoffed. "That sounds like a lot of tech involved to protect a group of serial killers."
Ethan agreed. "I've looked into the case myself, whoever is behind it, is either military, has access to military tech or is something else altogether. I mean, there is no denying that they're murdering gay people, specifically gay sensitives, and then upped their game to normal humans, who openly advertise that they are sensitive friendly on these dating apps."
Sara tried to be concerned about her grandson, but also had to be worried about other issues. "Do you think he can be skillful enough to get away with it if he catches them? We don't need any Immortium, making it worse for any of us right now in the public eye."
Ethan smirked at her. "Sara, Xairin is a new vampire and your grandson, you do the math."
Sara rolled her eyes. She knew how impulsive she was when she went through the change. "What should we do?"
Ethan shrugged. "How the hell should I know. Your grandson is unpredictable, Impulsive. Just like you only the opposite gender, and to be frank, given his powers developing at the rate they are, I don't know how to answer that question."
Cecilia proposed an idea. "So, we keep him on Tenebris Island?"
Ethan shook his head. "You do that, and I can guarantee you, you will lose any chance of getting back in his good graces."
She looked put off by that reply.
Ethan tossed his hands up. "Hey, you asked. You want to get back to where your son wants to be in the same room with you, forcing him to be somewhere, against his will, and he finds out it was you; it will only make things worse."
Vaughn got out of the hot tub, wearing a pair of flowery swimming trunks and grabbed a towel. "Yeah, you all saw how that ended up for that Aeonian who demanded him showing up after a funeral. Right?"
Sara smirked. "It also hasn't helped that Effreeti, decided to give Xairin a 101 on pyrokinesis, and learned he was also able to perform cryokinesis in the process."
"He can freeze things?" Ethan asked.
According to Effreeti, he can blow them up too."
"Has anyone had the dark temptations talk with him?" Asked Peggy.
Sara nodded. "My father spoke to him about it."
Ethan looked at Peggy, then Sara. "Okay, well, that being covered, any updates on Lilith?"
Sara smirked. "Lucifer has her locked away somewhere that our agents have little to no access in determining where." She
sighed. "We know she is alive, and some of our agents have substantiated my father's claim in that they are indeed using her blood to try and find the element of her biology that allows for silver resistance."
Ethan nodded. "What about our own research into that area?"
Sara exhaled a drawn-out sigh. "Alice Grimm seems to think that it is tied into a human gene somehow." She looked at Ethan. "Alice thinks…. She thinks that my mother may have been like Xairin, a Dhampling when she was bitten by the bat that converted her into one of the first original purebloods."
Ethan looked shocked as hell. His and jaw couldn't possibly open any wider. Peggy was choked up at that revelation. "WHAT?" Peggy asked.
Sara nodded. "It hasn't been revealed to the council under my direct orders, but Alice found a Dhampling gene that had been reabsorbed by the V5 strain of the Aeon Strain pathogen when she analyzed my blood. When she re-sequenced it and used Arcaidus to help her, a modified version of the Dhampling gene was positive in my blood. She believes that my mother was a Dhampling that was converted by a bat bite. And… My father, the same thing, only further removed, likely a 4th generation dhampling when he was bitten, explaining why he was unusually strong when he converted."
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