Chapter Fourteen.
I n my life, sadly, I’ve hurt a great many people. Some unintentionally, while others thoughtlessly. I’ve harmed deliberately, and the intent was there from the start. But there are three people that I bitterly regret the level of hurt I caused.
For a self-centred creature such as myself, I cannot forget the harm done to them, and it bothers me.
You’re aware of what upset I caused Inka and the emotions that remain from it.
I never really meant to hurt her. The intent had been to ease the grief of losing her son. I would go to any lengths to prevent Inka from experiencing pain. Yes, I did cross the boundary with Mihal, but I did it for her.
Even now, I can’t understand Inka’s reaction, and I suppose that makes me a typical bull-headed man.
Anyway, Mihal is Vam’pir and there is nothing that can be done to change it.
However, how about a tantalising fact? Immortals other than vampires inhabit this planet. Also, we’re not the deadliest. Hard to believe that, isn’t it? What’s more dangerous than a bloodsucking, life-draining beast? Oh, there are far worse creatures than us and our kind, the real Vam’pirs. Not the ragged vampires that Vam’pirs work to seek out and destroy. There are the rats of my race. Impure, weak, selfish and prolific.
Vam’pirs still hunt the guilty, the murderers, the thieves, and those who harm children. Those we make sure pay for their crimes. Vampires just seek out blood; it doesn’t matter whose it is either. Vam’pirs have a code, but vampires don’t.
Other immortals follow their own code. Sadly, that is how I caused Pal and Mera terrible pain, that I don’t think they’ve ever recovered properly.
The events happened over two thousand years ago, but they’ve never forgiven me—and nor should they. They say they have, but I know differently. For I hurt Pal and Mera far worse than what I ever did, my beloved Inka. Strangely, I can understand their pain more than I could understand Inka’s. I did more than betray them. Horrifically, I almost caused them to go out into the sun and die. That says everything, doesn’t it?
Out of everyone, they’ve always stayed together, never apart for more than a few years. Pal and Mera’s love strengthened them in ways that Inka and I lost. Even Pari and Emil and Ana and Raymone have not spent all their time together. Yes, their love endures, yet at some point, they spent a few centuries apart.
Pal and Mera never did. In losing their chance to have a child, they clung to each other and wrapped their lives tightly around them. The rest of us were unsure where one person ended and the next began.
Pal and Mera are unique among Vam’pirs in that they only need to make eye contact to know each other’s thoughts. We have to think at the receiver. Pal and Mera don’t. God, there was a time when they never spoke a word to each other. That lasted for centuries. We heard their words, yet they remained telepathic between themselves. That was a little disconcerting. But these were my friends before anyone else, and I will not let anybody judge them, not even I’ve that right.
◆◆◆
Two thousand years ago, Inka and I had just made our way across the ocean to Egypt, where we were to check on Har’chen handiwork. (The great pyramid.) We wanted to ensure that no one had defaced or damaged the Giza plateau. If they had, then we would’ve repaired it.
A midnight arrival revealed Pal and Mera’s unexpected presence. Laughably, we realised that we’d had the same thought.
Pal and Mera looked well, and they said that they were living in a villa near Abydos. I was a little surprised as it was not in the thick of things, but I accepted their invitation to stay. They’d arrived in Egypt seventy years ago, and it had been a thousand years since Inka and I last visited. Others may have come in that time, but not the four of us together.
Pal and Mera’s home was the usual high standard of luxury, even containing six guest coffins down deep in the ground. As normal, Mera thought of everything. However, nothing could’ve surprised me more than what I saw when we arrived at their home. Two brown-skinned babies came crawling out of a doorway, and Inka and I both stopped.
“You surely have not fallen from our ways!” Inka exclaimed in surprise.
Mera rounded on Inka, anger in her eyes.
“Of course not. What do you think we are?” Mera snapped as she scooped one of the infants into her arms.
“Then what are these?” I questioned.
“These are our children,” Pal said as he picked the other baby up.
“What! Pal, in all these years, you’ve never taken someone else’s child for your own. Why now?” I asked.
Inka sat down on a cushion next to Mera, who was cooing at the baby.
“I killed their father. The monster had just murdered their mother and left the babies alone as he ran away. While hunting, I sensed his thoughts, but as he died, his last images were of the babies. Panicked, I searched and found them easy enough.”
Pal shrugged. Yet there was more there must be. Pal could have left them with someone else.
“The babes were tired, hungry, and afraid. Pal brought the twins home as he wasn’t sure what to do with them,” Mera said as she kissed the child’s brow.
My eyebrows rose in disbelief, and Pal silently shook his head.
Offering the girls wine, Pal left the room, and I followed.
“Come on, what’s the full story, Pal? I know you. Gods, we’ve all been in this situation at least once, and we’ve never brought the children back. We have found them a good home and watched them from afar, but to actually bring them home!”
“Jaq, it’s Mera. How many years have passed since our change? Nine thousand years, and never once has Mera mentioned a child. Yet the longing grew. Mera wants to settle down, make a home base, and I’ll not refuse her.”
“But the children are human, Pal. And Mera desiring a home after all those thousands of years wandering the world? Why now?”
“Honestly, I fear for her. Mera’s last sleep lasted for three hundred years. Possibly a century or two to assimilate knowledge, but that long? Scared, I began to worry Mera wouldn’t wake, and when she did, Mera was distant. Something had changed in Mera. She again longed for a child.”
“After all this time?”
“It threw me too. I thought Mera had accepted being childless, but maybe she never will. When I saw these children, I wondered if the twins might fill the hole inside of Mera that was growing bigger every day. Their lives to ours will be a drop in the ocean, but I couldn’t bear Mera’s sadness anymore. Although Mera has never said anything.”
Pal stared out over the hills that surrounded his home, and I felt for him.
Inka and I’d never wanted another child. We had never wished to adopt because we had Mihal. Oh, hang on, Inka had Mihal. I had lost my son the same day I changed him, and Mihal still wouldn’t seek me out.
But Mihal was alive somewhere, and, for all my selfishness, it warmed my heart a little. If Mihal reads this, I know damn well what he would say.
‘Father is tugging at the guilt, playing the audience’. Although I don’t recognise Mihal as a son anymore, he remains a Vam’pir.
The distance between us is too great to return to being father and son. And friendship between us, once hoped for, never materialised. My oh-so-wonderful son maintains contact with Inka, and really, that is all that matters.
“What happens when they grow up and notice that something is different about you?” I asked.
“Not a clue,” Pal said cheerfully as one of them crawled out.
Pal scooped and picked it up, and my empathy kicked in for Pal, too. He clearly already loved the bundle in his arms and who was I to try to ruin Pal’s happiness? Misgivings welled within me, but I kept silent. We returned to the room where the girls were, and I smiled as Inka tickled the baby under the chin.
“Surprise! What gender and names do they have? Does their favourite uncle not deserve to know?” I demanded.
“Jacques!” Mera exclaimed with a grin.
Pal was right.
Mera’s contentment was evident; she seemed happier than in recent memory.
“Who says you’re their favourite?” Pal teased.
“I do,” I replied, sticking out my chest and making everyone laugh.
“This is Rahmon, our son, and Kitiaria, our daughter. They are twins, and we think Rahmon is the older, although looking at Kit’s bossiness, it might be Kit,” Mera said as she laughed.
Kitiaria smacked out with a podgy fist and caught Rahmon full on the cheek. Mera tapped her hand gently, and the baby frowned and yelled.
Surprised, I stared. I had forgotten just how loud an infant could yell.
“They are a year old and are really clever, Jaq, they can both walk already,” Inka said, her face glowing.
For a panicked moment, I wondered if Inka, too, was getting thoughts. God, please, not again. I couldn’t handle that. Then I realised Inka was glowing because she was happy for them. Pal and Mera had their children at last.
Mera put them to bed quite early, and I was shocked when three human girls walked up the path to the villa. Even more surprised when they bowed quickly and then walked in separate directions.
“You have servants?” I queried. “That live here!”
“The girls are aware of our difference but choose not to inquire. They are well-paid for their jobs, and they are allowed day off to visit family and friends. All we ask is that they do their chores,” Pal said, relaxing back.
“Actually, tell the truth. They are three sisters who are aware we’re not what we appear to be. We aided their great-great-grandmother many years ago, and she was brought into service to help us. Since then, members of the family have served us. They are loyal, and we pay them well. Indeed, they earn more than what some nobles make around here, and it has allowed their family to grow into nobility.”
“This is Egypt.” I laughed.
“Money has the power to buy anything, even in Egypt. Honestly, we ensure they have plenty of it. In return, they protect and serve us. If the girls wish to marry, then fine, or if they want to leave, then they can. Nobody is a slave or prisoner,” Mera continued.
“But their great whatever grandmother swore a blood oath to us that means quite a lot out here, and they stand by it,” Pal explained, smiling grimly.
“I understand. Seems you really have helped her,” Inka agreed.
“Yes, we did, and who were we to argue with the method of gratitude offered,” Mera replied smugly, and I felt for the girls suddenly.
Their grandmother had trapped them into slavery, a well-paid slavery, but Pal and Mera would always be able to call on their family.
“How long have you two been here?” I asked.
“A while. We spent a couple of decades in Greece and moved here seventy years ago. We are planning to stay at the moment, at least until the children have grown up,” Mera explained.
What Mera didn’t say was until the children passed, although that was what Mera meant. When they died, Mera and Pal would move on.
Inka nodded, and the conversation turned to other topics. Something puzzled me, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. For all their happiness and assumed safety, there was something lurking in the shadows.
Honestly, I should have recognised the signature since I had seen it before, but back then, I didn’t realise its significance. If I had, things would have been different, but you can’t change the past, no matter how hard you try.
The next few weeks passed in a blur of happiness. We did everything together, and I admit, I became fond of the children. Everything was good fun, and we got into mischief, enjoying life.
Mera and Inka shopped nearly every other evening to buy items for the babies. Abydos loved evening markets, and they were bustling places. The night was cooler to sell wares as they didn’t spoil in the hot Egyptian sun.
Pal and I went riding and explored the surroundings. There were things that we had to check. First was that our legacy still stood in places that we left it, and we were away for several nights, allowing the girls to do their stuff.
A few nights after we arrived back, Pal and I happened on some vampires.
We gave ourselves a new task and began to hunt down all the vampires in Egypt. Yet for every one we killed, two more appeared, and we had our work cut out.
Finally, we managed to find the coven, not an easy task, as the blasted leader kept moving whenever we got close.
The vampire, while not old, was cunning and aware that he was hunted. He was clever. However, we believed we were smarter than them. You can imagine our shock when the vampires refused to die out, and we realised we had been tricked. There were two covens in our area, and so we set about searching for the second.
That was a woman, and she was about five hundred years old. She doubted Hunters and Vam’pirs existed. She believed them as something made up. What a shock she got!
After that, vampires died out apart from the odd one passing through.
A decade passed, and Inka and I watched the children grow up. Mera was a diligent mother, and Pal was an indulgent father. Kitiaria, a strikingly beautiful child, was aware of her beauty.
Pal and Mera employed a host of teachers, all from Rome or Greece. The doting parents wanted them to have the best education possible, and who could blame them?
Rahmon was the quieter of the two, but he was as handsome as the devil. Kit had a temper, and he was peace on earth. The twins were one person split into two, and they adored each other.
They never questioned their parentage, but they’d been told when old enough to understand adoption. Kit and Rahmon still called Pal and Mera their parents and loved them dearly.
The twins also never asked why they didn’t see them during the sun, although they had both picked up on it. Both had sharp minds, and they devoured any teaching that came their way.
The tutors praised them highly, giving the proud parents glowing reports. Inka and I used to take the children with us on our travels sometimes. Of course, we always returned them home to their parents, and we both loved them dearly. It was a joy seeing them grow up, and I would not have missed it for the world.
Then, one day, everything changed.
Returning from a night out, a maid noticed something. As she approached, she was attacked, and her screams brought the four of us running from the villa. The two sisters stood there in shock as we gingerly approached her body. The girl lay on the ground, covered in blood and shaking so badly I thought her teeth might fall out. What frightened me most was her expression.
Sheer terror, the like of which, I had not seen for an age. Pal bundled her up in his arms, and I rushed to find a healer. As she laid on the bed, Mera bathed her wounds and found what looked to be long, deep scratches. We were puzzled, but she could not speak for the shock of it.
We couldn’t work out what had attacked her. The sisters saw nothing until she had screamed out.
I turned round and found Rahmon and Kit standing in the door. Ushering them away quickly, I was relieved when they seemed more curious than afraid. It was my turn to be scared when Kit asked if the man in the shadows had done it. I started to leave, then stopped abruptly.
“What?”
“The man who hides. He’s been there for as long as I can remember,” Kit stated.
Rahmon nodded, and I stared out the window.
“What are you talking about?” I questioned, sitting down on Kit’s bed.
I had stopped calling Kit by her full name.
“There has been a man outside for as long as we can recall. He stands in the shadows and watches. He does nothing else,” Kit explained, screwing her face up.
I brushed her long hair away and smiled.
“He has never tried to harm us, Uncle Jaq,” Rahmon added.
“Is he a dream, or is he real?” I asked.
“Of course, he is real, as real as you are,” Kit retorted, and I looked sharply at her.
Kit grinned, and I realised then that they knew what we were.
“He is like me?”
“Yes,” Kit replied.
Worried, I soothed them back to sleep and walked out of the room.
Silently, I left the villa as I didn’t want anyone to realise where I was heading. I turned down the winding streets of Abydos, keeping my senses fully open. That was when I caught it.
Determined, I chased the shadow down a street and then finally cornered him.
“You!” I said in surprise. Oh, I recognised him, all right.
“Hello, Jaques, still the same I see.”
“What’s going on?”
I knew better than to ask anything else, and he wouldn’t tell me, anyway.
“The children are marked. They were marked when they were born, and priests have been searching since Pal rescued them. Now the twins have been found.”
My heart sank as I stared into the shadows that were empty.
I thought back ten years ago to when I felt the presence lurking around, and I hadn’t been able to put my finger on it. Somehow, I had to find the words to tell Pal and Mera that their two beloved children’s lives were at risk.
Now I recognised what had worried me then.
Blast!
◆◆◆
When I returned to the villa, the lights were blazing, and I swallowed and squared my shoulders before entering.
Pal and Mera looked at me in surprise, but Inka knew at once that I had bad news. Inka moved closer to Mera, ready to comfort if need be.
“We must rouse the children and be gone from here immediately,” I announced without preamble.
I was never very good at words, and I didn’t really want to blurt everything out, but the urgency of the situation made me careless.
“Why?” Mera asked, fear showing on her face for the twins.
“Kit and Rahmon have been marked,” I said.
At first, nobody understood and then Inka rose and hurried to where they lay sleeping. Inka woke them and urged them to dress. Pal rose to his feet and stared into my eyes.
“Jacques, I need an explanation. My family goes nowhere unless I’m told the truth.”
“Inka and I ran into a cult several years back. A goddess-worshipping cult driven by the deity’s will. They worship Ramedes.”
Mera drew her breath in and then climbed to her feet. Slowly, at first, she walked in the direction of the children and then sprinted.
Pal sat down heavily and stared at me.
“There’s one of them here? And the children are marked? Damn it, Jacques.”
“If we can get them out of Egypt and to Rome, then they’ll be safe. However, there are four of us, and we must leave now.”
“Will that be enough?” Pal asked.
Silently, I agreed with the question and sent out a call for Nathan, Li’zel, and Ami to meet me. During the last few weeks, our minds had brushed, and they were close. I added a Vam’pir SOS, so they knew it was urgent.
Within minutes, I found myself face-to-face with Li’zel. Irately, she flung her hair back over her shoulders and glared.
“An SOS, Jaq?”
“I’m impressed by how quickly you got here,” I said with a grin.
“I was in the middle of something. Your call came, and I answered. What the hell is wrong?” Li’zel demanded, drumming her nails on a table.
Her eyes narrowed as Mera entered the room and took one at glance at Li’zel before turning and leaving quickly. Li’zel, when in a bad mood, was formidable, and at that precise moment, she was foul.
“Pal and Mera need our help. They have two adopted children…” I began.
“I’m aware. We are pleased for them. If that is your SOS Jaq, then I must be getting back.” Li’zel rose fluidly and began to walk out of the door.
“Ramedes,” I stated.
Li’zel stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to face me. Li’zel’s eyes narrowed, and her hands clenched.
Intrigued, I watched. A rumour had once reached me that somewhere down the line, Li’zel had run into the cult. Besides ourselves, only one other person encountered Ramedes; unfortunately, he couldn’t assist us. I wouldn’t even dream of asking for it.
“How close?” Li’zel asked. She turned, and I recoiled. Li’zel’s beautiful face was twisted with hatred, and her body bespoke her feelings.
“Very near. The followers attacked one of the serving girls. Pal and Mera are getting the children ready now, and we must flee. Four of us are not enough to protect them. You and I know that, and Inka, Mera, and Pal aren’t vicious like you and me.”
“Li’zel!” Pal exclaimed as he entered the room.
Pal carried Kit, looking terrified, in his arms, and Rahmon followed, being held by his mother. Inka had a few bundles in her hands, and she looked dispassionately at Li’zel. Inka was scared, more for the children than herself. She was also afraid that Pal and Mera themselves might not get through this.
“We must be gone. Now!” Li’zel stated without preamble.
Li’zel strode to the door and froze as she sensed something.
“Out the back!” Li’zel screamed and, grabbing Inka, she dragged her through the villa.
I sensed what she had, and clutching a still-shocked Mera, I ran close behind her.
From the front, arrows of flame shot towards us. Kicking open the rear gate, we found ourselves facing a team of over twenty cultists.
Calmly, I searched for an escape and looked up at the roof. We could make the leap and get away before they could loose their arrows, but the children worried me.
Then I saw movement, and my heart sank. Li’zel flanked Pal, and Inka moved silently to Mera’s side; with me in front, we covered our friends.
A man stepped forward, his face hidden by a mask, one that I knew well. I stared into it, refusing to show fear to a mortal, but I was afraid, and so were the others.
“Vam’pir, we have you surrounded. Nobody means you harm, but release the children to us.”
Kit muttered under her breath and buried her head in Pal’s neck. Pal clutched her more tightly, though he was careful not to hurt her.
“Over our dead bodies,” Mera stated, gripping Rahmon.
Mera’s face was even whiter than usual, but she was determined.
All of us were prepared to fight to provide the children with a chance.
“Kitiaria and Rahmon are marked for the great Ramedes. Vam’pirs have no right to hold the Goddess’s property. Give us the children, and we will let you go peacefully. The cult of Ramedes has no quarrels with the Vam’pirs and seeks none,” the priest called.
“Listen to me carefully, priest. These are my son and daughter, and we’ll not hand them over to you,” Pal said slowly as if the fellow was stupid.
I laughed, but it was not a mirthful laugh. Shit, we were going to die, and the twins were doomed, but we had to give them a chance.
“Somehow, I was afraid that would be the reply. Ramedes offered you a chance,” the priest replied.
He stepped back into the shadows and made a quick movement of his hand. Twenty men surrounded us.
Li’zel dropped into a fighting stance, as did Inka and me. If we could keep them busy enough, maybe Pal and Mera would have an opportunity to flee.
I observed the men and understood we were doomed, yet we needed to make an effort. Even if the cultists came with magical powers and strength.
After many years, I prayed for strength from the Creator for the first time, and then one of them charged towards me. Damn, was he quick, and I found myself flat on my back before I realised he was even there.
Annoyed, I sprang to my feet, and my attacker gripped me round the throat.
I threw him off and, leaping high, landed behind him and spun in a roundhouse kick.
He was gone and behind me again. A thin blade pierced my back, and I dashed away. I moved backwards, feeling blood drip, but watched him warily.
Their plan was obvious; they would take one of us out and then another.
He came at me, and I threw him over my shoulders. I heard a sickening crack as his head hit the step, and then he lay still. I wiped my brow before stumbling to my place in front of Pal and Mera. There was movement inside, and then someone shouted as a figure leapt from the roof.
I saw a blur, and then the priest was on his back with his throat ripped out.
“Run!” Nathan screamed.
I didn’t hesitate. Grabbing Mera, I ran, pulling her with me. Li’zel had Pal firmly in her grasp, but he didn’t need much urging.
Another figure came at us from the side, and I dropped, ready to intercept, but it ran past me to Nathan’s side. Ami had arrived!
I heard a scream from a mortal, but I kept running and dragging Mera until she shook me off and ran alongside.
I wasn’t sure how long we ran that night, nor was I certain where exactly we stopped.
Finally, with no sign of chase behind us, we broke our fear-filled flight. I sank to the floor and stared at the children. They were very frightened and clung to their parents. Who could blame them?
I leapt to my feet as the trees rustled and relaxed again as Nathan and Ami strode into our midst. Nathan was wounded, and Ami fared no better.
Nathan dropped to the ground and laid his head back. Ami fell, and I rushed over to her. She appeared more badly hurt. Ami’s wounds would have killed a normal vampire, but not one of us.
Still, she needed help, so I bit into my wrist. I dropped blood into her mouth and watched as the wounds healed. Ami had her own healing powers, of course, but sometimes, it never hurt to aid them along. I cupped Ami’s face in my hands, and she smiled faintly before closing her eyes.
Nathan, as usual, was being stubbornly awkward and refusing help. I pushed Li’zel aside and scratched the scab that had formed over my bite.
Nathan glared but said nothing as I repeated the process. Finally, I stopped and studied a knife wound in his throat, which was slowly starting to heal. It did not close immediately; it was too deep, but it scabbed over, and the wound didn’t appear so gaping. By tomorrow, Nathan would be healed; however, at the moment, he needed was rest.
I stared at Nathan, and he shook his head before looking over at Pal and Mera.
“How many are left?” I asked.
Nathan coughed to clear his throat, and I winced as I saw the muscle pulse in his neck. He grinned at my reaction.
“We took about twelve of them out. They are not far behind us.”
Pal raised his head from where he had rocked Kit to sleep.
“Then we must move again. We cannot risk the children,” he said softly and rose to his feet.