The Diary of the Vam’pir Jacques (The Diaries of the Immortals #1)

Chapter Eleven.

K altos was gone. I mean, it was completely missing. The island had disappeared, and we stood there for a whole night wondering as to whether we had travelled in the wrong direction.

Everyone squabbled and fought as the sea rocked us violently underneath. The New Kaltons wanted to send a diving team down, but we didn’t have the equipment. Ridiculously, over the next few weeks, we sailed around in circles, trying to find a trace of our previous home. We consistently found ourselves returning to the same spot.

Finally, we accepted Kaltos might’ve indeed sunk beneath the waves, and then the Vam’pirs intervened.

Vam’pirs don’t need to breathe, allowing us to dive deep to search for any sign of Kaltos.

The New Kaltons decided we might lie to them, and, in disgust, we left them arguing as we dived. We saw many strange sights; fish that had lived to the north or south of us now swam with us. Fortunately, the Kraken failed to make an appearance.

We searched in parties of three or four and kept our eyes open for any signs. It was Ana who found it.

Nestled, on the floor, of the seabed was Kaltos. Ana had been swimming over a deep chasm that must have opened underneath the island, and it had sunk without trace.

It was pure luck she had seen it, and finally, we were over seven miles down. Possibly, even further, and I reckon we were, because the Marianna trench is known as the deepest place on Earth.

There on the valley floor were the tall pyramids and towers of Kaltos.

In horror, we swam towards it, not believing what we were seeing. It felt like Kaltos had been swallowed whole. Many of the buildings were still standing, and it was with a surreal feeling we approached. Looking through empty windows, we saw skeletons with outstretched hands, as if begging us to take them from their watery grave.

The skeletons shone white in the gloom as the fish had eaten all available flesh. Some of us pulled away in disgust as we noticed several more with slivers of flesh still attached. The fish were lazily nibbling.

Inka, Diana, Tobias looked sick as they made circles to show they were going back to the surface.

We let them go. It was unnecessary for them to witness this.

Nathan and I recognised the Medical Centre, which had been ours. We swam over to it and peered through smashed windows that still contained small amounts of glass. There, seated at a desk, was a grotesque, bloated figure with slivers of flesh floating lazily about it.

D’vid pulled away in horror, and I saw what I had first missed. His brother.

Claudias stared into the gloom with a terrible grin. Seti tugged at D’vid, trying to pull him back and up to the surface, but he shook his head. Then D’vid turned away with a smile, and I guessed he believed justice had been served. Claudias had finally got his comeuppance.

In morbid fascination, I stared at the gold disk hanging around the neck bones. Claudias had received it as a gift for becoming a scientist. Now, it simply identified the skeleton for us.

As we swam through Kaltos, we encountered many more sights, such as those I have told you of. Regrettably, several were skeletons of small children or young teenagers. We couldn’t save them all, and we were thankful that at least a fraction had been rescued.

It was still nasty to see, and finally, we’d had enough. We gathered some items to bring up and then returned.

“At last!” a voice cried in relief, and we realised that we had been down there nearly a whole night. Clambering on board, we showed them our finds and explained what we had seen.

The New Kaltons were silent as they struggled to accept the truth. But what we had retrieved were personal belongings, which were recognised by at least one person on the boat. Other items included radios and cookware commonly found in people’s homes. Items that weren’t disposed of in the sea as waste. This proof confirmed Kaltos’ presence down there.

The Reckoning had exceeded our wildest dreams in thoroughness.

We scrambled towards our coffins as our internal senses warned us of the rising sun. Just before I slept, I saw a genuine grin on D’vid’s face. I knew D’vid was relieved that his brother was on the bottom of the sea. Claudias would no longer harm anyone, or so we assumed.

However, at that moment, D’vid noticeably relaxed and became more open. He had closed himself into a tight ball of worry, just in case Claudias came after him—or us. I wouldn’t have put it past him, either. Claudias truly hated D’vid with a passion unmatched by any, and where that rooted from, D’vid did not know. He had tried to love and admire Claudias, but it was too hard a job.

◆◆◆

One of the hardest things that I had ever done was tell Har’chen people that their parent country had gone. How do you explain something like that? You can’t. Witnessing the look on their faces and seeing them stumble back in horror or run away is an experience I never want to repeat. The Har’chens struggled to accept the reality.

The whole island had just disappeared under the sea; how could that happen? Questions were thrown at us from every direction. Where we sure it was Kaltos? Of course, we were. We had brought the proof back. Was it all of Kaltos? Could not the island have split, and only part of it sank? No, we were afraid not.

The ongoing questions resulted in further expeditions being conducted to search for any survivors. Surely, not all the Kaltons had died. They refused to accept that none of them had survived.

Each expedition came back empty-handed; there was no sign of civilisation or survivor camps.

The only humans that were encountered were the barbarians, and they were little better than animals scrabbling away in the dirt. Communicating with the barbarians was challenging, and we had no interest in dealing with them right now. We had enough troubles of our own.

From Kaltos, we savaged solar panels and other technologies, and these were set up to provide much-needed heating. We cooked over huge open fires, and we had fallen back onto dug sanitary pits. All trappings of civilisation fell away as we struggled to find a shadow of our former existence.

The Vam’pirs helped a great deal. In teams of four, we dove time and time again to salvage what was possible from Kaltos’s ruins.

Meanwhile the Har’chen worked bloody hard, cutting stone into blocks to build a town for our three thousand survivors to live in.

We had lost the young and old.

Fortunately for me, none of my family had been killed. They had listened to our advice and had done what we told them to do. The Reckoning claimed the lives of more than three hundred Har’chen.

Sadly, Har’ches had lost more people than what we had first counted, and we struggled to try and house those left.

Most of them had to live in caves as we began to rebuild the lost civilisation of the Har’chen people. History no longer remembers them or realises they existed. By their legacy is out there, in the world in the puzzles that they left for future humans to solve. The purpose was to ensure they wouldn’t be forgotten.

This was one of the hardest times of my life that I remember, and even though it was a struggle to live, I would do it again. For we actually pulled together as a community, and although we were that already, this just made us closer.

◆◆◆

Today’s people will never experience anything like it because you have gone your separate ways. You know nothing of sacrifice and working as a team.

Nowadays, the majority of you work in competition with one another. Keeping up with the Joneses is a popular saying and true. You are selfish and immature. What would you do in this situation? Fall apart.

I tell you that you would never have done what we did, and without your luxurious trappings, you would be nothing.

For centuries, I’ve observed you searching for a redeeming quality in humanity, and hope seems to be the only thing you have. Hope that we instilled in your society. It is my desire to see you grow, and that’s why I continue to interact with man and share my story with you. Hope is the best thing about today’s people. Some of you try to help others, and that is your most unselfish trait. But those are few and far between.

Who dreams of winning the lottery and helping others? Not many.

Most of you think that you would purchase the newest car on the market or the biggest house that money can buy. I can’t blame you much. The society that exists today only worries about material gain and not about spiritual.

It’s difficult to admit, but I’ve had millennia to cope with this, and I have. I may rave about it, but that is only because I see the potential in the human race.

Over time, you might transform into the Kaltons I initially introduced you to. You could be the most advanced and caring society that ever existed, and you should really learn from what happened to Kaltos.

There is no doubt in my mind that you have the capability, but you are heading fast towards destruction. When you achieve that, then maybe the bitter lessons learned by the survivors will stand you in good stead.

The Vam’pirs, of course, will still be here, and you might accept us and take the guidance we would offer you.

I would come forward today to lead you into the light, but you only consider this to be a story and not true facts. No matter how hard I insist that it is not a tale, you’ll not hear, and so this piece of ‘fiction’ will have to teach you.

Please learn from what I preach.

I am begging you.

Of all civilisations, yours stands out to me as having exceptional potential. You can learn and must. Forget wars and material gain. Concentrate on helping those who need it. The sick and the elderly would benefit from greater support. The third world countries need more help.

Even you, the healthy and wise reader, needs something. There must be some sort of God somewhere that exists, even if it is in each and every one of you. I can’t not believe in some higher purpose or why would we, the Vam’pir, have been created?

Ah, you say that one is easy. Two sick and twisted men chose to play a game with our lives and create monsters. Maybe God helped them to create us for the purpose of us being here to help you mould into higher and more spiritual people.

That’s something you can chew on.

Take a moment to set down the book and ponder my words. Meanwhile I will resume writing my story.

◆◆◆

Although it did not take us long to rebuild Har’ches, it took us longer to regain the strength we once were. By agreement, we left the New Kaltons entirely to their own devices. They didn’t want our help and shunned any visitor to their shores.

Now I will make you laugh.

Generously, we shared the things that we pulled from the bottom of the seabed with them. And although they didn’t want to know us, they took the proffered items greedily. So much for a higher and more civilised community , I hear you say.

The New Kaltons had forgotten their own lessons and past and turned into your people. Only we existed over twelve thousand years before you did. But obviously, history repeats itself, judging by today’s standards of life. New Kaltons refused to talk or share anything with us. The Har’chens declined to give up on them and sent over any excess they had. The offerings started small, but it was still something. Despite having little, the Har’chen still considered those in greater need.

◆◆◆

Mihal and Cleo hit seventy and had two sons. Twins. I was finally a grandfather, as was Pari.

The length of time it took for Cleo’s first Phase to come made us speculate if the hardship caused the delay. But it was pointless worrying about it. A few years later, they had a daughter, and their family was complete.

It took over forty-odd years before Har’ches resembled its former self, and that section of time was full of hardship and starvation.

Grains that used to grow easily were now hesitant to grow. The Winds faded away, leaving us to train and care for horses unlike them. It was a case of trial by error, but the knowledge was kept of all failures and triumphs. The handheld computers had been salvaged and held a daily record of our day-to-day life.

Finally, after forty years, we knew what we were doing and how to go about our lives. The Vam’pirs were offered thanks and other gifts, which we refused steadily over the years.

Har’ches was as much ours as theirs and we took satisfaction in seeing it and our people develop.

I had great pride in my son, too. Mihal had become a leader for the Har’chen, and he was listened to with huge respect. He was strong and tall with an easy-going manner. Mihal had penetrating eyes that seemed to see straight though to your soul, and he suffered no nonsense.

I loved him very much, and my heart swelled with emotion whenever I saw him. Mihal was so like Father that everyone who remembered him mentioned it. Mihal felt proud because Father was still fondly remembered and respected even years after his passing.

Father’s passing still hurt, but I had learned to cope, and Julia now coped with her pain and was fully a member of Har’ches. Julia exceeded her fair share of tasks, perhaps in an attempt to compensate for the twenty years of hurt she had caused.

Julia had become very fond of Mihal and offered him advice whenever he wanted it. Not that he needed much. Mihal was very level-headed and clear-thinking. He wouldn’t jump straight into a decision, but often pondered a problem over and took his time in doing so. Cleo adored him, and so did his children.

Inka, his mother, could do no wrong in Mihal’s eyes. Despite our disagreements over the years, I hoped he respected me as much as I respected him.

The bugger doesn’t now and hasn’t for many centuries. I suppose that you have guessed that he is alive and a Vam’pir.

Indeed, Mihal is who I made him to be.

But you will have to wait for that part of the tale for another two hundred years.

I guess you assume that I am very rude and abrupt. Get over it; it’s just the way I am, and so I apologise to any of you that I have offended.

Mihal loved Cleo just like I loved Inka, and they were a perfect match. Pari and Emil agreed with me. Cleo had lost much of her fire and she herself was a good diplomat.

I frequently expressed my pride in both of them. We were still a close family, although we had grown a great deal. My whole family were very prominent in Har’ches. My sisters had married and had children. I must add that poor Uralla, so badly used by Willam, was very content with a brood of children under her feet. She had married a nice man, but she seemed to run roughshod over him a little. I suppose they were happy. Uralla certainly seemed to be.

Anton never married, despite his father’s efforts. Despite the many women Curtan threw at him, he never felt the need to settle down. Anton had fathered a son, though, and was close to him. I forget his name now, but again, he was much like his father and grandfather. Anton led Har’chen as an exceptional Leader, and Har’chen couldn’t have asked for a better man.

The Leader—that was the title given, not really original, is it? —made all the important decisions, but he took advice from the council. Anton had showed himself in a good and calm light when all the upheaval went on, and he cared for his people.

Stefan, Diana’s remaining child, had also married, but never had children. The girl he’d wed had already had her Phases. However they did adopt an orphaned infant, and they could not have loved him more.

Maryn’s two children had grown into fine young people, and they, too, were looked at with great affection as everyone remembered their mother and her sacrifice. Nes’c had never glanced at another woman and, sadly, rejected another relationship.

Life continued, just as we had always dreamed. We’d created a city that our ancestors would have been proud of.

The Vam’pirs had made their home away from Har’chen in case it was ever attacked. We wanted to be far away for privacy, but close enough in case our aid was required.

Ultimately, we discovered deep, winding caves and claimed them as our new dwelling. We named it Mora in memory of the first and happy home we’d had.

The caves went deep into the landscape, and you could wander for miles without ever finding Mora. There was an underground lake that had fresh running water in which we could bathe.

We carved holes out of solid stone and placed our metal coffins in them. These were centred around the lake, so we’d often emerge and bathe straight away.

Another cave branched off from the main cavern, serving as our relaxation space. It was furnished with luxurious comforts. This time, we didn’t have any workshops. Those we built in Har’chen, so we mingled with our people. We didn’t want to be strangers or, Heaven forbid, alienate ourselves, and become feared monsters again.

Life was easy and peaceful, and Har’chen grew into a wonderful place to live in and raise children. Okay, we never recovered our former level of technology, but we had enough of it to make life good. We had lost a lot, but it never bothered us, really. Not after we regained comforts and a suitable standard of life.

Much of our medical knowledge and tools had been saved, although it was banned to do experiments like what had happened to cause us to exist. The knowledge of the Great Experiment had disappeared as Kaltos sank.

We thought it was a positive outcome since it would stop the creation of additional Vam’pirs, but we were wrong. However, the ability to genetically manipulate DNA had also been lost below the sea.

◆◆◆

Five hundred years passed without any trouble.

Then, one day, we had a visitor from New Kaltos. The poor thing was a bedraggled figure and half-starved. As we took him into our city, his eyes grew wide in amazement and curiosity. His name was Luce, and he had never seen the like.

Luce was very afraid of us, the monsters, as his people had named us. The New Kaltons had transformed us into scary stories that were narrated to young children. But Luce overcame his fear and began to relax. Finally, after a few days of rest and healing, he spoke his story.

Luce had been blamed for the murder of several important figures in the community. He denied all knowledge of doing this and swore on every God he knew. This confused us briefly because we didn’t understand him. There existed only one God, the Creator.

No, Luce answered, there were numerous Gods where he came from, and we asked did he come from New Kaltos.

Yes, he said, New Kaltos, the city of the Gods. Luce’s words caused quite a stir, but we dismissed it as the New Kaltons pushing the boundaries too far once more.

Several of the Leaders in New Kaltos had been killed horribly by having nearly every bone in their body broken.

Six murderous acts were committed, and Luce’s clothing was found at the last murder scene. Luce had been given a quick trial and then dumped on a small fishing boat without food or water and been left to die alone and afraid. He had been told that if he admitted to the murders, then he would be allowed a painless death, but he refused, still proclaiming his innocence.

And so, Luce was left to die.

Luce hadn’t realised he was so close to land. Despite being across the channel, he thought the monsters lived at a greater distance than he had been told.

We had to laugh, monsters . The entirety of us then been simply lumped together, and then the reason why came clear.

Luce wanted to know the purposes of one thing and another. It was some of the simplest bits of technology we had, and he should have known about them and how to use them.

No, Luce replied, he had seen something like them, but they were broken or left to rust.

Finally, we pieced together what he was telling us. The things that we had taken over to France and New Kaltos had been used, broken, and never fixed. Because of contamination by us, recent items were left to rot.

We were repulsed by what Luce was saying and realised that New Kaltos was nothing like Har’chen. People lived in caves or huts made from trees. No stone city existed where everyone lived.

People had split into groups and answered to one leader. He made all their decisions for them and no one else. They just scrabbled out an existence and deluded themselves with illusions of grandeur. They told tales of how the monsters lived in far worse conditions than what they did. We had caused the betrayal of everything that they held dear and had caused a major cataclysm that destroyed the home of the first Gods.

New Kaltons no longer lived into the fifth or six century; they died fairly young, at around two or three hundred. Our lifespan was beyond Luce’s comprehension.

In just five hundred years, their state had deteriorated significantly.

We didn’t believe our ears. The New Kaltons had become mere animals, shadows of their former self. Births in New Kaltos were becoming rarer, and multiple births of three and four were unheard of. The diet that they ate was poor, and they only grew a few grains and very few vegetables. What flourished in Har’chen should have thrived there, but they had never bothered.

Many people died of poisoning as they tried to eat inedible food instead of just testing it. New Kaltos seemed to have lost heart, as well as knowledge and motivation.

Har’chen and Vam’pirs wondered if we should go over to help them but decided against it. We had been sending over help for five hundred years, and it was obviously not wanted. Food that we had sent was left to rot outside the settlements. New Kaltons thought that by taking it from our mouths, they were somehow starving us.

Anybody who touched it was severely punished.

Disease was rife among the population, and so was starvation. The first settlers of New Kaltos had all but died out, and it was their descendants who carried on their bitterness. The remaining elders were the ones who had been killed off one by one.

We didn’t understand their mentality. What was wrong with them?

As for Luce, he was just bloody grateful for the food we gave him, and he kept asking us for things to do.

It dawned slowly that he thought we would make him work for his meals when he fretted himself into hysteria. In New Kaltos, you had to work for each meal you had a day, and often you only received one. We had been giving three a day, and no doubt Luce assumed that we intended to enslave him.

It took us weeks before we could convince Luce he wasn’t going to be a slave. Instead he would be healed and then trained in a job that he chose.

Luce was sceptical at first, and we would find him scrubbing floors and polishing stuff furiously.

Finally, Anton shouted at him and took Luce out and about in Har’ches. Anton made Luce see for himself the life we lived and offered to allow him to see everything.

Luce took everything at face value and often missed the meaning of jokes or teasing remarks.

Luce was only fifty, and it was terrible to see him thus. He possessed the innocence of a child yet the hardness of a rock. Luce yearned to be loved and accepted, and we sometimes found him playing with the children. At first, he thought we had come to kill him because only certain special people back on New Kaltos could play with youngsters. Luce insisted that he had just watched, until they asked him to play.

We soothed him, saying it was all right. Everyone in Har’chen played with the children.

“Luce, were children off limits?” I remember asking him.

“Yes, most certainly, infants are a precious commodity. From the moment they are born, the Leaders decide their fate,” Luce had replied to my horror.

Can you imagine having a child and stupid men taking your parental rights away and deciding everything for that babe?

Screw that.

Anton took Luce to be properly clothed, as all he wore were rags that were filthy, dirty and ill-fitting. They were old and obviously someone else’s hand-me-downs. Initially, we lived like that, but we moved past it and now had an abundance of riches.

Anton had been horrified when he had seen the scars running down Luce’s back and had them regenerated at once.

Luce explained that if something wasn’t done on time, then you were beaten. We were furious with the New Kaltons but refused to interfere in case they attacked us. If they realised what we had compared to them, then we would be a target for attack.

Our hearts broke for the existence the children would live, but we couldn’t get involved. We had too much to lose ourselves—and the New Kaltons had made their choice.

Luce took time to heal mentally as well as physically. The poor man cried tears when he was shown his own room with a bed and a cupboard, in which to store his clothes.

Luce crawled to Anton on his knees (Anton had taken him in and under his wing) when he tore his new shirt.

Anton instructed him to stand up, go, and get a new one.

Anton’s defining quality was his patience. He brought Luce out of his shell and managed to make a life for him. The poor sod needed one.

Nonetheless, it took him years to settle down properly. It was always possible to reverse the damage done, but it would take time.

Luce became a much-loved figure in society, and many people went out of their way to help him and spend time with him. An action not even offered by his own parents.

Luce was illiterate and simple concerning numbers, but Mihal taught him how to read and spell, and Luce become fiercely protective of Mihal and his family.

The Vam’pirs became something he was in awe of. He overcame his fear and even tried at one point to give blood daily. Luce wasn’t as wary around Inka and I or Pari and Emil because of our children and grandchildren.

Sometimes, Luce would come and sit in our workrooms to keep us company. He had a charming, childish way about him, and I loved him like another son.

This heightened the tragedy of the following events for Luce.

He’d thought he’d finally found safety.