I would like to dedicate this book to my

beautiful wife

Michelle
for pushing me to finish this finally. I did
start it in 1995 after all, and I never
would have picked it back up and

finished it without her insistence and

support.

Thanks Sweetie

I Love You

This Novel is a work of FICTION.

Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead is
Purely coincidental.

Paul Kodi
Is a pseudonym of
John Paul Gereaux

Novel Completion Date:

10/03/2009
10:03 PM

Any reproduction of this work in whole or in part

without the expressed written consent of the author
will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law

Eternal Breed
(A poem)
by Paul Kodi
I will live undying.
I will walk the night alone.
I will fear no evil,
For evil is my own.
I will bow to no one:

Not gOD, nor time, or death.

I will be immortal fear:
Darkness drawing breath.
I will be forever:
A stalker in the night.
I will show no mercy

For children of the light.

Though I walk amoung you,
Upon your life I feed.
This I do with no remorse.
I am eternal breed.

Eternal Breed

Prologue
I am the beginning.
I am the end.
I am youth eternal with age unimaginable.
I am Kodi Mykalz.
I am a vampyre.

Part One

In The Beginning

10

Chapter

I was born in the Indus Valley: Anu, first

Crown Prince and heir to the throne of the first

civilization in history. Three-thousand years Before

Christ my father and thirty like-minded men, along with
their families, founded the city of Ur. This was only a few
short years before my birth. My brother, Amil, of whom
you will learn later, was born just after, when I was five
years of age. Our mother went to her grave in the process
of giving birth to him.
(Brief Aside: Please, forgive me if dates or exact

geographical locations conflict or contradict what you may

have learned in school. Historians, though noble in their
pursuits, are not perfect, and their methods are imprecise.

11

I, however, lived this all, and so I am quite confident in

my accuracy.)
During the years of my childhood, many people
were attracted to Ur and our kingdoms way of life. Until
this time people lived mostly in small nomadic bands that
spent most of their time fighting to survive. In Ur, only
those who wished to fight served as warriors. Others

were free to be whatever they wished; be it a farmer, a

craftsman, an artist, a musician, or a scholar. As the city
grew, so did its army. Thusly, we managed to maintain
peace and posterity that had not been seen before. Our
population grew so rapidly in fact, that by the time I was
in my teens; two more cities (Uruk and Larsa) were

founded and sworn to my father, making us a kingdom.

You would know us as Sumeria.
As a result of our expansion, border skirmishes
were inevitable. Though our army was strong, my father
tried to settle these entanglements peacefully whenever
possible. Often negotiations with larger, more prosperous
clans, led to the trade for goods and services, which
insured future peace with said tribe.

12

One such agreement was with a large group of

mystics and craftsmen of amazing skill. Rumor was that
they were the last descendents of Atlantis. Were that
true, I do not know, for even in that day, Atlantis had

long become legend, and any proof of its existence erased.

But, I digress.
Trade with these Atlantians was generous from
both sides at first. But, over time our people learned
much of the Atlantians craft, through both observation
and what is now known as reverse engineering, so need
for the Atlantians goods dwindled. This disturbed the
nomads. Between that, and a growing distrust of the

Atlantians mysticism, fighting between our two peoples

eventually resumed.
On the eve of the nineteenth anniversary of my
birth, my father set out to settle a battle north of Larsa
and did not return. Two weeks later, when he still had
not returned, I went after him.
I could see smoke on the horizon long before I
could see Larsa. When my troops and I finally arrived at
the city, we were stunned. After two weeks of battles we
had expected destruction, but nothing on the scale that

13

we saw. In two weeks, even my most skilled warriors

could not level a city, but someone had done just that.
Enough rubble remained for us to know that we were
indeed in Larsa, but little else of the city remained. Even

the Ziggaraut, the city center and my familys home when

we were in Larsa, which was a massive pyramid like
structure, was hardly recognizable. Craters large enough
to swallow houses were everywhere. Even at nineteen, I
was well educated, so I knew of many means of
destruction, but only one could explain what I saw

magic. And so, the perpetrator of this massacre could

only be the Atlantians.
At that moment, something in my soul turned
dark. I could not and would not accept any outcome, but
the death of every last Atlantian. And not just death; no,
that would not be enough for my fury to be assuaged. I
resolved myself to see to it that their deaths would be
lingering. Their suffering would be so great, that it would
be their suffering, not my sword which would end their
lives. This I swore This would be justice This
would be my undoing or rather my re-doing, but now I
am getting ahead of myself again.

14

As I surveyed the wreckage I found only dead

and dying. That is until a small boy was found cowering
amongst the wreckage and ash of his still smoldering
home. I took the child in my arms, and comforted him as
best as I could, but mercy and sympathy were just not in
my heart to give. I only felt rage, and this poor child
deserved better than that, so I did the only thing I could
do for him, I dispatched one of my warriors to take him
to stay with my brother Amil, who was running things in
Ur in the absence of my father and I.
Darkness was falling quickly, so we made camp
on the highest ground we could find, and settled in for

the night. I stood watch, as I knew sleep would not come

to me while rage and contempt ran rampant through my
mind. I scanned the horizon in every direction for the
light of a campfire or any other sign of life that might
reveal my enemys location. All night I stood at my post
watching nothing. As far as the eye could see, there was

only darkness. Not so much as the yap of a jackal or the

cry of some carrion bird penetrated the night. Finally, as

the sun began to pierce the sky and peel back the veil of
night, I found what I harbored such dark desire for - the
Atlantians. They had been camped only a few miles from

15

us, apparently without a fire, and now they were on the

move.
Suddenly the animus that had been burning in
my heart all night boiled to the surface and I shouted:
Mount up! We will catch them by mid-day or
everyone will suffer for our failure.
Stunned from sleep, my men clambered to their
horses. Within moments of my initial order we were
chasing the Atlantians at a full canter. I did not care if we
drove our horses into the grave and had to walk back to
Ur; we would catch the Atlantians; that day would be

their last. In my wildest imaginings, I could never have

foreseen what would happen next as a consequence of my
anger.
Just before the sun reached its apex, we caught
up to them. By then, I and many of my men had worked
ourselves into a blind fury. Drawing my sword, I leapt
from my horse onto the first wagon we caught up to. Its
driver reeled around in his seat in time to see my sword
just before it ripped through the flesh of his neck and
severed his head from his body. Blood spouted from his
neck like a fountain and rained down upon me. For a

16

moment it was euphoria, then my anger returned with a

focus I had not thought possible.
Without a pilot, the horses of the wagon upon
which I stood went wild and veered hard left. I jumped
from the wagon as it lurched sideways and began to roll.
When I climbed from the dust to my feet, I found myself
face to face with the largest man I had ever seen. No
matter, I drove my sword up into his navel and out
through the back of his neck. Blood oozed from his nose
and mouth, and he slumped to his knees. I looked into
his pale blue eyes and smiled as I watched the life leave
them. I tore my weapon loose from his body, leaving him
splayed open like a field dressed animal, and swung
blindly at a sound to my back.
My head turned to see my sword slice through
the armor and then ribs of my first in command. I did
not care. It was his fault. He should not have approached
me in battle without clearly announcing himself first.
None-the-less, I blessed him briefly and wished his soul
safe passage to the Summerland.
I raised my eyes to the landscape. Though we
were outnumbered, my men were fighting valiantly.

17

Atlantians were dropping left and right. For every wound

the Atlantians inflicted upon my men, four Atlantians
died. I swooned with pride and satisfaction as I began
running to the lead wagon in the caravan, slashing at any
Atlantian in my path.
As I cleaved a petite young woman in half, I

heard a vile shriek. At first I thought it to be her death

rattle, but then I saw the strangest sight I had ever or will
ever see.
Stepping down from the lead wagon, and onto
the battlefield, a woman of remarkable age waived her
hand and again cried:
Stop!
The fighting ended before the echo of the old
womans screams left my mind.
She waived her hand again, and suddenly I
seemed to be alone with her. Though I knew that there
were other people, animals, plants, earth, and sky around
us, I could not see them; only her and a hazy white
background.

18

She spoke with a voice as young and vibrant as

her visage was old and withered.
We did not ask for this, and it is true that we
cannot win. Even if we wipe you and your people from
this earth, we are still doomed our time has passed.
And so, as you wish in your heart, this will be the last day

of life for all Atlantians, but the price you will pay for this
will be higher than you can imagine. You will suffer the
pain I feel as I watch my people die a thousand-fold.
Bloodshed will be your life. These things, you will know
forever.
She waived her hand again, and I blacked out.
An indeterminable amount of time passed before
I opened my eyes again. I only know that what I saw
when I came to had never been seen by anyone outside of
the Atlantians themselves.
I tried to move, but could not. I could not as
much as move my head to see either side. I soon realized
I was tied up; bound to a post, in a gorge, in some

unknown mountain range. Where was I? Where were

my men? Was I to die there? She had said they could not

19

win, but were they to kill me; they would be victorious, at

least in this. My mind raced.
I was roused from my confusion by the sound of
voices. I turned my eyes left and then right, but with my
limited range of motion, I could not find the source of the
voices. Then suddenly the old woman appeared in front of
me with two blonde-haired, blue-eyed behemoths, like
the one I had slain in battle, on either side of her, and
backed by the twenty or so members of her clan that had
survived our battle.
So, this is it? I am to die, and you win after
all? I asked.
No. she replied, Your death would do us
nothing. Another Sumerian would take your place and
hunt us down. As I said, we cannot win. The most we
can have is that everyone will lose. You shall live, and you
shall suffer for eternity.
With that she reached into her robe and came

back out with a large bronze chalice, and a dagger. She

lashed out with astounding speed and slipped the knife
through my ribs. As she placed the cup to my wound, she
spoke again.

20

As your life has been in blood, so shall it always

be. You will live as long as the heavens, but you will never
enter them. When those about you grow old and die, you
will not. When your civilization falls, you will continue:
alone in darkness forever.
So said she removed the cup from my side, cut

her wrist, and allowed her blood to mix with mine in the
chalice. Passing her hand over the cup, she sprinkled
something into it that made the blend it held bubble and
hiss like flesh scalded by a hot iron.
At that moment my bonds were cut, but I was
held fast by the two men. The brute to my right
entwined his fingers in my hair and snapped my head
back. It was then that I realized what was happening: I
was being cursed.
You will die for this! I swear it! I shouted for
all to hear.
We will be dead before you wake from your
transformation. One thug growled.
What transformation?

21

Shut up. Ordered the other thug.

Hold his head. Open his mouth. The old
woman said as she placed the grail to my lips.
I fought not to drink, but the angle of my head,
left me no other choice.
When the last drop of blood crossed my lips I
was released. I wanted to fight; to kill them all, but I had
no strength. I slumped to me knees and began to black
out again. The last thing I saw was the Atlantians
lighting a bonfire and leaping into it one by one.
What would become of me? This thought
burned through my mind as I lost consciousness. As it
turned out, I would know soon enough.
___
As I lay there amidst the putrid stench of
burning human flesh, my mind swirling in darkness, a

hunger like I had never known seized me and snapped me

back to awareness. I lurched to my feet and attempted to
shake the cobwebs from my mind. Again the hunger
knotted in my gut.

22

I call it hunger, but it was, and is, so much more.

It is an all encompassing, burning desire; something akin
to hunger, thirst, love, loathing, and a hot knife piercing
every molecule of my body all at once. These are the

words I use to describe it, but they, nor any others, do

the Hunger, as I have come to call it, justice. Again I
have drifted from my story. I will get back to it now.
Despite the fetid smell of burning corpses, I
smelled something else. Or, perhaps I only sensed it.
None-the-less, in my mind it was like smelling a banquet
of my favorite foods in a room full of roses. I was drawn
to it; first, like anyone is drawn to something pleasant;

then uncontrollably. The longer it took to find the source

of my attraction, the more it seemed like the world, no,
the universe would come crashing down around me if I
did not find it.
Then suddenly, as though it were a miracle, the
source of the scent revealed itself. It was a village at the
base of the mountain. I could hear the life in it: feel the
people.
I looked about and realized I had traveled several
miles in less than a minute.

23

This isnt possible I remember thinking, but I

did not dwell on it. Instead, I gave into the hunger again,
and hurdled towards the village like a snowball on a hot
slide to hell.
I streaked into the village like a man possessed.
Perhaps thats what I was, because I did things I could not

have fathomed before leaving Ur. I killed a defenseless

man.

True, I had been a warrior and I had killed many

men, but never like that. This man was weaponless. He
had never wronged me. He was just a man tending to his
animals before bed. Not only did I kill him; I attacked
him as though I were a ravenous beast. I closed in on
him, climbed the stone fence behind him, and lunged

down upon him. He struggled for a moment, but I was

just too powerful and feral. I tore at his neck with my
fingers until I opened his throat, then, dove face first into
the gaping bloody hole.
I drank, and drank, and drank. And with each
swallow I felt his heart beat grow weaker and weaker until
it finally stopped. I rolled off of him and my stomach
cramped. I began vomiting violently. With each spasm I

24

could feel the hunger return until, at last, it drove me to

my feet and to the hunt again.
The next victim or victims as it were, was a
mother and her infant child. Family of my first victim I
assume. They were sleeping in their home as I entered.
An oil lamp burned on the table by the womans bed. In
my life I had never seen one burn so brightly or produce

so much heat. It struck a chord of fear in me causing me

to gasp and shrink back for a moment, but that was all it
took for the woman to wake. She cried out for her
husband, but the only answer she got was the scream of
her child. Not wanting her to awake the entire village, I

leapt on her and covered her mouth with my hand. I used

more force than I had intended and inadvertently snapped
her neck. New instincts began to emerge and drove me to
sink my teeth into her neck, but her blood tasted vile. I
spat it out and dropped her lifeless body. As she slumped
to the floor like a wet rag, I turned my attention to the
baby.
I was as driven by hunger for the child as I was

by either of her parents but I wasnt as brutal. Perhaps

even the animal in my head had realized my hunger could

not be quenched by a corpse. I looked at the child, and as

25

our eyes made contact, the child fell silent. She seemed
euphoric as I lifted her from her crib to my mouth.
Again, I bit into the flesh of my victims neck, only gently
this time. The reward for my softness was bliss. The
childs blood was like nectar.
As painful as the hunger had been, it paled in

comparison to the sensation brought about by feeding it.

I thought to myself: this is the joy angels feel.
All too soon I felt the childs heart slow, and
murmur its impending stop. Again instinct dictated my
actions, causing me to pull the child away before her heart
stopped beating.
Even as the child died in my hands, I began to
feel the hunger burn in my veins again. So once more I
searched out a victim. I did not have to look far. A
neighbor had heard the womans screams, or the babys

cries, perhaps both and had ventured over to investigate.

He looked in the window just as I looked up and saw
him.
What a sight I must have been: six foot three
inches tall (by modern measure); long black hair; eyes so
dark they appear to be black; gold armor on a slim

26

muscular physique and all covered in blood. What must I

have looked like to this Good Samaritan?
It could be said that this man came looking for a
friend in need, and found instead a blood thirsty demon,
but demons were a fiction uncreated at the time. Perhaps
my appearance that night inspired the fancy in mens

minds that spawned such mythical beasts, though I doubt

it, as no one who saw me that night lived.
Now, I give my story away before it is told:
please forget that last line. Let us get back to the tale.
When our eyes met, the man seemed to both
freeze and loose all muscle control. The torch he had
been carrying fell to the ground starting a fire. A low
guttural moan escaped the poor fools lips as I flew
through the window knocking him to the ground. Before
his groans could become screams my teeth were in the

arteries of his neck, but my stealth did not matter. The

previous noise and the growing fire had already attracted
the rest of the village.
They set upon me before the taste of my last
victims blood had left my lips. You would think my
thirst would have been satisfied by that point in the night,

27

but it had not. In fact it seemed that it had not subsided

at all. The villagers fell one by one. Some were brave, or
stupid, and sought to fight to punish me for my misdeeds.
Others were terrified by the bloody, fiery visage of me.

The devil himself, were there such a creature, would envy

the terror I caused. Those who sought to attack me, I
snapped in two as simply as you would a dry twig. The
ones who ran were the food I so longed for, though I
knew not why.
As the village was slowly engulfed in flames, I
found its citizens one by one; some so frightened they had
foolishly hidden in burning buildings. No matter, my
fear of fire had been superseded by my lust for blood.

Several times, a man or woman would run into the streets

to escape the fire, or to extinguish themselves, only to fall
into my waiting arms. Slowly, I sated myself with their
lifes blood. But, it is not a satisfaction I would get to
enjoy, because as my hunger subsided, my humanity

returned and with it came guilt. Grief for what Id done

to these innocents poured over me as though it were an
icy rain. I decided I could not live as I had become, so I
walked into the fire that had grown into the largest
funeral piar the world had ever seen. The fire licked the

28

sky; at times leaping thirty to forty feet into the air. The
inferno reached temperatures imagined only in hell. The
blood that coated my hair and skin dried, cracked, and
peeled away. My golden armor began to melt. The linen
clothes underneath burned and fell from my body as ash,

but my skin did not blister, redden, or burn. My hair did

not singe. Instead, I felt as though I were being
encompassed by the warm comfort of the womb.
Prophetic? Maybe. Time will tell; so far, it has not.
Until this new fascination, I had truly wanted to
die. How was it that I lived; unscathed no less? Why had
I been so fearful of that oil lamp and so comforted by the
fire? What strange and magnificent thing had I become
at the hands of that Atlantian bitch?
I lie down in the blanketing warmth and
pondered these things. I remember my last thought being
that the smell of burning flesh that had so sickened me in
recent days had somehow become as pleasant to me as the
aroma of fine roast beast.
--The fire began to burn itself out some time
before dawn. I know this only because it was the dawn

29

that woke me. I was roused by a burning sensation, and

fear in the pit of my stomach. The havoc I had created
had dwindled to a few small fires and a lot of ash, which
did not explain the growing feeling that I was burning.

Looking into the ever lightening sky, I was again gripped

by fear. My eyes began to ache as I looked for the source
of my discomfort. Rationally there was no way to explain
my growing anxiety, but the longer I searched for its
cause, the more my rational mind escaped me. Soon, I
had given up trying to understand my physical situation,
and instead looked for a means to escape it. I make it

sound like a calm and logical decision. It was anything

but. It was mindless fear that guided my actions. I
remember every step I took, but not as one normally
remembers ones deeds; more like an observer watching it
all from a distance.
Running back into the mountains from whence I
had earlier come, I saw but did not feel my feet as they
struck the ground. I searched for shelter in the same

manner that a cornered animal would seek an escape.

Approximately a mile up the canyon past the site of the
Atlantians mass demise, and my Becoming (as I have
since named it), I found a cave. By this point the sun felt

30

as though it were sitting on my shoulders. Every ray of

light it emitted cut me like a knife. My skin blistered and
smoked as I entered the cave and its blessed darkness. I
dropped to the ground behind a large boulder and fell
into a dreamless sleep.
--I arose the next night at dusk, and immediately
thought of home. Somehow I thought that being home
would make my situation easier to grasp; that it would

help me find answers. Also, though I loved my brother

Amil greatly, I feared for the kingdom, were it left in his
hands for long. Two things caused this concern. First:
Amil was strong of will, but small of stature. He was a
mere five foot six inches tall, and only one-hundred and

thirty-five pounds by modern measure. He was no

warrior. Second: Amil would have no heirs to carry on

our dynasty and thusly our kingdom, for his sexual desire
did not lead him to women. This would also be viewed as
a weakness by other would-be-rulers; Amils sexual
preference, I mean.
For these reasons, I was determined to find my
way home.

31

I exited the cave and looked into the sky.

Though the sun had gone down for the most part, the sky
was still a pale purple. It was still too lit to see stars to
guide myself home, so I decided to seek a village where
someone could direct me home. The most logical

direction seemed to me to be back towards the village I

had leveled the night before. So, off I went; not in the
frantic pace I had done everything in the night before, but
quickly none the less.
Odd that when I woke, I had not been hungry,
bit in the moments it took for me to reach the burnt out
village, I had begun to feel the pangs o f my loathsome
thirst.
I was still feeling guilty about the previous

nights events and so I was adamant not to repeat them. I

would fight the urge no matter how hard it pulled at me.
But, the more I ran, the more it burned in my
mind, until finally I was on the verge of the kind of frenzy
I so desperately wanted to avoid.
When I finally reached a village, only a few miles
past the prior evenings debacle, it was all I could do to
maintain my composure. I needed clothes. I couldnt

32

very well walk up to a complete stranger and ask for

directions in the nude. Not that I have any problems with
nudity, or even that I wouldnt rather be nude; I so would;
but, it was socially unacceptable even then. So, my first
course of action was to find a clothesline. I stole a long
linen shirt and a loose fitting pair of linen pants. They
were far from suitable for a man of my status, but they
would have to do, as I wasnt likely to find silk garments
or gold plated armor in this village, or any other for that
matter. With that done; I sought someone to point me in
the appropriate direction.
The first person I found was a boy of ten or so.

He, of course, had no idea which direction to point me in,

so he took me to his father. His family home was the very
one whose clothesline I had liberated my clothing from.
Fortunately the clothes were common, so they would not
recognize them as being from their line.
In the house were the boys father, his mother,
and his nineteen year old sister Pandora. I do not
remember the rest of the familys names, and it doesnt

matter. They are insignificant to this story beyond the

help they provided that night. Pandora on the other hand

33

was too beautiful to ever forget, and I never would. She is

a big part of this story, but not yet.

34

Chapter 2

The family had eaten, and was preparing to turn

in for the night. I had come across the boy as he was
feeding the familys animals their evening meal. As I
explained the last few days to the boys father (leaving out
the Atlantian womans curse, and the ransacking of the

village), I kept catching the boys sister Pandora devouring

me with her eyes. I did my best to ignore her, not
because I wasnt interested, but because my attention
could lead to her doom, and for some reason I could not
bear the thought of hurting her. I dont know why but I

would have rather died a thousand deaths than cause her

so much as a cat scratch. I hoped my resolve would hold
until I was on my way from this place. Her father was
more than happy to help me; He even provided me a pair
of shoes and seemed genuinely insulted when I promised
him reward for his kindness. Regardless of his altruism,

35

this family would be rich as soon as I could arrange it:

partly because of the fathers kindness, but mostly for
Pandora.
Yes, I realize I was obsessed, but had you seen
her you would have been as well. She was beautiful in an
exotic way. I had never seen a woman like her. She was
taller than other women of the day, perhaps six foot tall.

She was well muscled, but still waifish and feminine. Her
hair was dark black and extended nearly to her waist
without a hint of curl. And her eyes; despite all of her
other extraordinary qualities, I suspect that it was her eyes
that captivated my mind the most. They were blue; blue

with just a hint of green around the irises. I know you are
thinking big deal, blue eyes, but in that time, in that
part of the world, there were no blue eyes. In fact, eyes
only came in various shades of brown then and there. I
knew I would undoubtedly return to get to know her.
Perhaps I will deliver their reward myself in weeks. I
thought to myself. Yes, that sounded like a great idea.
Is there anything else you need to know sire?
The father asked.

36

What? Oh. No. You have been very helpful.

Thank You. I answered as I abruptly broke eye contact
with Pandora. I should be on my way.
There was more small talk as I made my way out
the door, but honestly I do not remember it as I had again
started (to use a modern expression) eye-fucking Pandora.
As I made my way from their village I felt the
Hunger pulling at me. It seemed that every passing

moment it doubled itself. My pace quickened as my thirst

increased. I would not be a monster to these people.
As fate would have it my pace sped to an
inhuman speed before I was clear of the village, thusly
starting the first tales of the God-King of Ur as I would
be known to history. I didnt mean to show-off, and
certainly did not mean to make people believe I was some
kind of god. When news that people from the lands
outside my kingdom believed me to be a god began

filtering back to me in Ur several weeks later, I was at first

stunned, but then rationalized it as the best way to explain
the changes I had undergone, and so made sure the stories
began to circulate within Sumeria as well. Soon everyone
believed me to be a god. But, where were we?

37

Pandoras father had pointed me west to the

Tigress River, and told me it would be a full nights
journey. When only a half of an hour had passed and I
found myself standing on the banks of the river I was

shocked. I knew I was faster than before, but this was

impossible. I decided to test my new abilities as soon as
time would afford it. But my hunger was so fierce by this
point that it felt as though it would kill me.
It was unfortunate that a shepherd and his flock
came onto the opposite bank at that moment, because the
hunger surged forth pushing my will to some subservient
place. I leapt across the river. Yes the entire river and
landed squarely on the chest of the man. He was so

stunned by the impact and the surprise that he couldnt

make a sound before I bit into his throat.
Again I felt the pull of his heart dragging me
along and then pushing me away as it started to falter. I
dropped the man to the mud and watched in amazement
as the wounds I had inflicted on his neck closed before my
eyes. Then the hunger pulled again, and I started hunting
down his sheep one by one.

38

Unlike the humans I had encountered since my

change, the sheep realized that I was a predator and did
their best to hide, but their instincts were too dulled by
domestication to serve them well. Soon I had caught and
feasted upon them all, perhaps twelve, I did not count.
The hunger ebbed, and I began to feel like

myself again. So, I thought, I can satisfy this need with

the blood of animals? I decided to do thusly whenever
possible. I didnt want to kill people who had done
nothing to me. I knew it would happen, but I knew if I
was careful I could minimize it. If only it were that easy.
What a fool I was.
Now that I was at the river it was simple to
determine the way home by simply following the flow of

the river, and it was as good a time as any to test my new

abilities. I knew that I was faster, and judging by the ease

I hurdled the river I was much stronger. I saw a tree just

down the bank and raced to it; striking it with all my
strength. It swayed, splintered, and then uprooted and
fell over. I looked at it in disbelief, and then it dawned on
me that my hand should at least hurt. My hand was

completely unblemished; no blood; not so much as a

bruise.

39

So, I was faster and stronger than any creature

Id ever seen. I could lie down in fire without being
burned even when it was hot enough to melt metal. My
sense of smell at least was greatly magnified, and I could
swear that I was hearing insects crawling in and on the
earth. What else could I do? I looked downstream
concentrating on trying to see things further away than I
should be able to see and was pleasantly surprised to find
that I could make out the bark on a tree at the bend in the
river at least two miles downstream. How much further
did my vision reach if the bend in the river hadnt

obscured my line of sight? This was amazing. This was

fun. I should have been hating myself for the lives I had
taken to feed the Hunger, but instead I found myself
reveling in my new state. If this was supposed to be a
curse, the Atlantians were sadly mistaken, or so I thought
at the time. It felt more like a blessing even if it was a

little mixed. Turns out it was a quite a bit both blessing

and curse, but youll soon see for yourself what I mean.
I decided that I had dallied long enough
exploring the new me, and had best get moving towards
home. I still wanted to know what exactly I was capable

40

of, but felt I could learn as much on the move as I could

at one location perhaps more.
I pushed myself hard trying to find the limits of
my speed, but no matter how fast I ran, I found I could
still go faster. At one point I sped by a flock of birds so
fast they did not realize I was there. They kept sleeping,

and whatever else they were doing. Birds are usually the
most aware of predators of any animal because they are so
defenseless on the ground. I surmised that at the speed I
was moving they could neither see, nor hear me. How
fast that is, I have no idea.
I stopped once to test my strength again when I
passed a boulder as big as a modern London bus. When I
doubled back to it, first I attempted to lift it. I should not
have been able to budge it but it shook for a moment,

then once free of the sand, it came off the ground with
only the kind of effort it once would have taken me to lift
a woman into my bed. I laughed to myself at how
charming this curse was becoming. The impulse to
throw it occurred to me, so I did. It went perhaps three
quarters of a mile, and I had run after it as I threw it,

arriving as it hit the ground. I kicked it as men often do

things they have defeated; to show it who was master, and

41

a piece the size of an overly large man broke off and fell to
the ground. Interesting. I kicked it again, this time with
more force. A crack ran all the way across the rock. I ran
around to the other side, and a smile played across my

face when I so that I had actually cleaved the boulder in

two. I began smashing at it with my fists, laughing
maniacally. I stopped when there were no pieces larger
than a fruit basket. What could I not do? I was
determined to find out, but the urge to get home, was also
strong, and eventually as I thought about things, it won

out.
I took off like a flash of lightning towards home,

and began noticing familiar landmarks. Then, I began to

realize that I had passed two landmarks that were often
used to mark a days journey, and I had done so in less
time than it takes to saddle a horse.
Under normal circumstances the journey home

to Ur should have taken two to three weeks. It had taken

a week to get to Larsa and I had been taken well north of
that into the Zagros Mountains near the Payala River by
the Atlantians before they performed their ritual on me.

42

I made it home to the entry of my ziggaraut in

three quarters of a night. The servants who made
breakfast for the palace had not even arrived yet. I raised
the flag in the front courtyard that served to tell all that
the king was in residence, and went to my quarters.
I passed the room which belonged to my brother

and was not surprised to hear that he had some young

man in his bed; he often did. At that point I wasnt even

surprised that I had heard it through a foot and a half of
solid stone, and the heavy wooden door that was perhaps
six inches thick. I opened his door and stepped in.
Amil, I do not mean to disturb you, but I
thought you would like to know I am home. I said.
Father is dead. I am king, but I am very tired. I
am going to sleep now and do not want to be disturbed
for any reason until I arise. Goodnight brother.
That said I slipped back out of his room without
waiting for his reply. I knew he had heard me by the
sound of the indignant sigh he had let out.

43

I reached my sleeping chambers and sat in a

comfortable chair, to reflect on my new state. I didnt
have long before my brother slipped in unannounced.
I thought I said I didnt want to be disturbed. I
said.
Yes, two minutes ago you did. But I knew you
wouldnt be asleep yet, and I am your brother not one of
your subjects.
You are my brother, but you are also my subject
now that I am king, though I did not mean to treat as

such. I am simply tired from the fight and the journey

home. I said, but even as the words came out I knew they
were lies. I wasnt the least bit tired.
I did not see your caravan come in or hear the
men and horses.
And likely you would not, with all the cavorting
you were doing in there. Dont you ever sleep?
Im a day sleeper. You know how I hate the
heat. Regardless I may cavort with whoever I wish.
Besides that, as many men as you took out could not

44

return without waking the entire city, and yet the city
sleeps.
Yes it does. The men were lost.
All of them?
Yes.
They all died in battle?
Yes.
And you alone survived?
Yes.
How?
Please, let me be. I will tell you all you want to
know when I wake.
Fine, but I must know everything.
You will I said, as soon as I arrive at the
story I wish to tell. I thought.
Goodnight Anu.

45

Goodnight Amil.
As soon as my brother closed the door I was in
my bed. Fortunately I would be able to spend the day in
my own room. In those days, if you had a large enough
home, sleeping quarters were on the interior of the
building to use the cooling stone as a sort of airconditioning.
I lay back on my pillows and closed my eyes.

Pandoras image played across my lids. The Atlantian

may have been a witch, but it was Pandora who had
bewitched me. I lay there for the remaining hours of the
night thinking of her, then at the time the sun was surely
rising, I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to sleep, so I
did.

46

Chapter 3

I rose that evening to the sound of many people.

Amil had risen around noon and made it known that I
had returned. Unfortunately, it was quite clear to
everyone that I had returned alone. Whether Amil had
divulged that information or it was just as easy a

deduction for the denizens of Ur as it had been for Amil I

dont know. I do know that the result of the knowledge
was tumult. Some wanted to mourn the death of my
father; for surely I would not return without him unless
he was dead. Families wanted to weep for the troops who
had gone with my father and then with me. Thankfully
though, everyone was grateful for my return. I would
have many questions to answer; many mothers to console;
many rewards to hand to the families of the fallen. But
first I had to slip out to feed, as I could feel the Hunger
pulling on me forcefully.

47

The ziggaraut was my home but it was also a

fortress. That meant there was only way in or out within
easy access to the ground, and it was busy; very busy.
Well, time to see what other inhuman feats I was capable

of. I went to the roof, which was an open garden, lavishly

landscaped with palm, date, and fig trees, as well as many
flowering plants. It was meant to be a sanctuary for the
ruling family to escape the demands of the kingdom, but
if I was right, it would also serve well as a secret exit from
which I could escape each night to find and consume
blood without horrifying the people of my kingdom.
The warm night air swept over me as I came into

the garden, and with it the smell of the blood of the

droves gathered at my threshold. The hunger beckoned

me to descend upon them and devour them, but I would
not harm my people. I looked down the back of the
ziggaraut into what was a public garden in the daylight
hours, but was at night forbidden, to see that it was

blessedly empty. I walked to the edge of the roof and

leapt out into the night. I landed at the far side of the
garden with the same ease I had once taken a step.
I was giddy with this power when again the
smell of blood hit me. It wasnt far, and it was human. I

48

ran the opposite direction; still determined to bring no

harm to my people. I found myself running down river to
a village that served as seaport to our kingdom. It was a
part of the kingdom, but most of the people there were
outsiders come to do trade and other less noble pursuits.
It was one of these more nefarious people that I

first came upon. He was in the act of robbing an elderly

couple who had stayed to long at the market selling their

wares. It was fortunate for them that I had come along.
It was unfortunate for my vow not to take human life.
Between My desire to protect my citizens and my hunger
the robber was instantly doomed. I caught him by the

hair from behind and pulled him to me as though he were

a doll. He struggled to turn so I released him. Even in
the state I was in, I could not begrudge him the right to
face his executioner. When he turned wielding a knife, I
grabbed him by his shirt front and lifted him from the
ground with one hand. I pulled him to me and tore out

his throat with my teeth, and drank his blood as it gushed

forth from the ragged hole. He kicked for a moment, but
soon fell still. Moments later his heart stopped, and I
released him. It was only then that I realized I had
murdered this man in front of the couple I had intended

49

to protect. They were justifiably frightened. The man

held a brass tray up in front of them as a shield. Surely he
was a fine smith, for the tray was so smooth, and so
polished that it served as a mirror. With my new

eyesight, my reflection was plain even in the poor light.

My reflection was also ghastly. My face was covered in
blood. My shirt was stained from more blood. And to
make matters worse, I noticed that the robber had not lost
his fight before sinking his knife into my ribs. In my
bloodlust I had not even felt him stab me. Thankfully
though my hunger had been sated.
I pulled the knife from my chest and dropped it

to the ground. I had to comfort these people. I had, after

all, been trying to save them, not scare them to death.
Please, do not be afraid. I mean you no harm.
I said.
But you killed that man with your teeth like an
animal. The woman protested.
My hands and teeth were all I had, and I could
not allow him to harm you. He would have killed you
after he robbed you. You do know that?

50

We do. But how, good king, is it you live after

such an injury as his knife buried to the hilt in your
chest? the man said as he slowly lowered their makeshift
shield.
Perhaps he missed anything vital, or perhaps
fate is rewarding me for a good deed. I am only glad I
could help.
Now that things were calming down I removed

my shirt to wipe the blood from my face. I realized that

was an error when the woman gasped.
Your wound is almost healed already. She

stated with a look of disbelief, and possibly fear, playing

across her face.
I looked down in time to see the last bit of the
wound as it closed and turned into a pink mark, which
was itself gone a moment later.
The man and woman dropped to their knees and
began bowing at my feet.
He is a god. The woman whispered to her
husband.

51

Truly. He stated back.

I am your king, but I do not wish to see you
grovel. Please rise. I said as I reached a hand down to
help them up. Be on your way home, before another
brigand sets upon you.
Thank you sire. We shall tell everyone how you
saved us. The man said with a shaky voice.
We will tell everyone that the gods now walk
amoung us, and our good king is one of them. Purred the
woman.
I dont know of any gods, but I cannot tell you
what it is you should believe. Tell the tale however you

wish if it will help scare those that would do harm. Peace

be with you. Now, please hurry home. I said as they
turned to leave.
Let me explain, that the concept of gOD or gods
was as old as mankind, but people had never believed that
the gods were amoung them, or even cared what
happened to them. In those days most believed the gods
had created the heavens and the earth and its creatures
and then left us to our own devices.

52

It was mildly alarming that these two good

people were now seeing me as a god, and were going to
say so to others. I feared what would happen if the people
of Ur found out the new peculiarities of their new king.
Now I was doublely worried. The fall from godhood

would be far greater than the fall of a king. I thought for

a moment that I should go and stop them from telling
their tale, but that would probably mean killing them, and
I couldnt do it. In the end it didnt matter, tales of the
God-King had started the night before; inspired by those
who had seen my flight home.
Well, what is done is done. I thought, and

turned toward home before anyone decided to look in on

me.
I was at the back of the ziggaraut in moments,
and again found myself testing my limits when I chose to
attempt to leap onto the rooftop garden instead of climb.
It wasnt much of a test. I landed silently as a feather
outside the canopy of a large fig tree my brother and I had
loved to climb as children. Again I was momentarily
giddy until my brother spoke.

53

When you have finished telling the people

whatever it is you are going to tell them, Id love to hear
how it is you came to be able to fly. He said matter-offactly.
I wasnt flying. I climbed up.
Lie to the people if you must; and I think you
must, but do not lie to me. The climb would have
rendered you tired and sweaty, of which you are neither.

Besides, I saw you sail through the air and land where you
stand. Amil argued.
Ok fine. I will explain it later; after I have dealt
with the needs the kingdom has of me tonight. I said,
And, was not flying. It was a jump.
Close enough. Amil snickered.
Indeed. I concurred happily.
When we reached the door to my room, Amil

informed me that a basin of warm water was waiting on

me. He had gone to the roof to find me after he had
brought it to me and found me absent. I sent him ahead
to let everyone know I would join them shortly.

54

In my chambers, many candles were lit to enable

me to see as I bathed and dressed. There were so many in
fact, that with my new eyesight it was bordering on
unpleasantly bright. It wasnt painful, just unnecessarily

bright; much like suddenly switching on the lights in the

middle of the night. Regardless, the end result was that I
could see fully how vile I should have looked to the old
couple.
Even though I had wiped my face, there were
still remnants of blood caked on it here and there, and the
wound the robber had made had leaked far enough down
to stain the waistline of my pants. If this is what a god

looked like then the world should tremble, not celebrate.

I was no god, but perhaps they should have been
trembling anyway.
I cleaned my face, and saw that my canine teeth
were now longer. I investigated them with my finger and
it came back bloody. So that is how I tore out his throat
so easily I thought.
I then powdered my underarms and privates,
dressed in clothes suitable for entertaining, and went
downstairs.

55

Citizens were never allowed past the banquet

hall, so I did not encounter anyone on my way there.
Outside of the entrance to the hall I smelled
roast pig, roast goat, roast ox, and fruits and vegetables of
all types. These should have been pleasant smells, but
they were not. I was strangely indifferent to the aromas,
though I could not remember the last time I had had
food.
I stepped into the hall, and despite the many
question lingering on the minds of my people, and the
heavy hearts of those who were sure I would bare bad
news about their loved ones, everyone cheered. I went
forward to my seat, and took up the knife and fork there
to begin the ritual of carving the meats.
It had been tradition as long as I could
remember for the king to carve the meats and see that

everyone had a serving before taking his own. My father

said it was to show the people that their needs were never
far from his mind. Whatever the case, I was fond of the
tradition so I continued it. It wasnt like we would run
out of food or anything. Sumeria was the richest land on
earth (well that was the belief anyway. There were surely

56

other lands with equal bounty, and kingdoms of equal

size, perhaps bigger, but I had not heard of them, and
they were lost to history before I could see them for
myself.) Though everyone had their plates full, no one
would eat until I had a plate as well and was seated. I

looked about the room and raised my chalice to signify

that it was time to eat, as the hall was so large that even
were I to shout, it was likely that not all would hear me. I
watched for a few minutes as everyone began to eat. It
was good to be home again. I hoped that I would never

again have to go on such a terrible errand. Ah well it was

time that I eat as well. Partly because as I have already
said I could not remember the last time I had eaten food,
and partly to show my people that I was well.
I went for the ox first because it had always been
my favorite. I placed it in my mouth and instantly wished
I had not, but I chewed it and swallowed it anyway.
Everyone else seemed to be fine with its taste. No

problem; I simply switched to the pig. Again it was

unpleasant. I tried the goat with the same result. Same
with the fruits and vegetables. I ate because others were
clearly enjoying the meal, and I did not want it to appear
that something was wrong, but the more I ate, the more

57

foul the food tasted. How could it be that the meat had
gone rancid and the fruits and vegetables spoiled and no
one noticed? Everything looked as it should. No signs of
rot or decay were apparent, but my mouth tasted fetid. I

stopped eating to avoid vomiting, though I did not think

that I would avoid it for long.
To avoid both eating more, and to prevent
anyone questioning why I was not eating I rose and went
to the thrown on the elevated platform behind me, thus
signifying that I was ready to tell my story and answer any
questions the citizens might have. First came what was
left of the royal court; the warriors that had been left
behind to guard the city, the employees of the royal

family, my brother Amil, and defiantly his lover. (Let me

explain. Homosexuality was not uncommon then. It was
not even frowned upon. It is only that it was usually left
behind closed doors, and never done in so public a setting
as the banquet.)
I told them how Larsa had looked when we had
arrived. I explained the obvious use of magic, and how we
had caught sight of the Atlantians. It was there that my
story diverged from the truth to spare the kingdom the
worry of their king being cursed, and perhaps my dignity.

58

They fled into the Zagros Mountains, and

unbeknownst to us lay in wait to ambush us. We were
greatly outnumbered but the men fought valiantly. I lied.
I could hear the story being relayed around the
room. How many times did it change by the time it
reached the back of the room, I wander. No matter. It
was false to begin with, and would have to remain so.
Several men were killed in a rockslide the

Atlantians started, but those that escaped quickly erased

the advantage of the ambush. Were it not for the
Atlantians magic, perhaps no more of our warriors would
have died, but there were many skilled wizards and
witches amoung the Atlantians, and the air reeked of
magic. When at last I had reached the head of the

Atlantians an old witch and her guards only I and

three warriors could still fight. We were enough to kill
them, but the three warriors with me were injured. When
the battle was over, as I was tending to the wounded
warriors, it became clear that the rockslide the Atlantians
had started had sealed the end of the canyon we had come
in by. Our only course was to gather what horses and

provisions we could from the remains of the battle and

59

journey further into the mountains in search of a pass that

would allow us to double back. I continued.
There were six of us including myself at that
point. I was uninjured, three were injured but mobile and
two were seriously injured and had to be helped along by
the rest of us. The two most seriously injured died on the
first day of our journey up the canyon, and the extra work

helping them along had caused had already aggravated the

injuries of the other three until they too were in grave
condition. I continued.
One died the next day, and the other two died
the day after, shortly after we had discovered the pass that
allowed us to turn back towards home. I too would have
died of starvation and exposure, had it not been for the
kindness of a couple of villages I passed on my path

home. In return for their kindnesses I am extending our

protection to those villages, and am bestowing gifts upon
the family that helped me most; providing we can find the
villages that is. As I said I was not quite in a state
conducive to remembering all of the details.
With that my lies were concluded. I knew the
people of Ur themselves would find the villages I had told

60

them about. The burned village would be blamed on

raiders, which would make everyone more vehement
about protecting the village Pandora lived in. I also knew
it would become known that it was Pandoras family that
had helped me, and that because of that, they would be
lavished with gifts from my people on top of the gifts I
would bestow.
When people finally began filtering out, the
dawn was only a few hours away, and I had begun to feel
exceptionally ill from the meal I had forced myself to eat.
I smiled and forced myself to maintain an appropriate
appearance as I said the last of my goodbyes.
When I was finally finished I slipped out the
back entrance of the hall and started back to the roof, but
not before Amil stopped me.
Now, what really happened? he asked.
Not now, I said, I am feeling ill.
Since I knew I would tell him everything
anyway, and since he had already seen one amazing feat, I
used all of my new speed to leave for the roof. It was as
though I had simply vanished he later told me.

61

On the roof, I began retching. I could not vomit

on the roof, it would raise too many question when my
servants cleaned my bloody vomit, for surely it would be.
I leapt from the roof and raced up the river. I didnt stop

running until I had reached the fork where the Euphrates

River and the Tigress River joined.
There I dropped to the earth and unloaded my
stomach. The food I had eaten was completely
undigested. I could even see the marks of my teeth where
I had chewed it. Fortunately there was no smell of vomit,
for apparently there was no longer acid in my stomach.
Not so fortunately there was blood. It appeared that ever

drop I had taken from the mugger in the port was now on
the sand in front of me, and as the smell of the blood hit
me, so too did the hunger.
There were no shepherds or flocks at the river
tonight, but I did spot a crocodile, and before I could
weigh the odds of me successfully hunting him barehanded I was on him draining his blood.
This time I felt my canine teeth extend into full
fledged fangs. Even the croc knew I was the greater
predator, and instead of fighting to kill me, he fought to

62

escape. It was no good; it was dead before it could even

make me adjust my grip. The Hunger felt weaker but still
persisted so I looked for more crocodiles where there is
one there are many. In the end it took ten crocs to pacify
my thirst, and perhaps even then only because I felt the
burn of the rising sun at my back.
Even with my speed Id never make it back to
the ziggaraut before the sun rose. I didnt know what
would happen if I was caught in the sun, but I knew it
wouldnt be good, so I looked desperately for a place to
hide. There was none, so I raced away from the river to
the west into the great desert and buried myself in the
sand, though I didnt so much decide to do it as let
instinct guide me to it.
As I lay in the earth those last few minutes
before blacking out for the day, I remember cursing
because I still felt the Hungers pull. I knew then that the
blood of animals might in the course of frenzy attract me,
but it would never stop my thirst from making me do
harm to people. I had to think of another way to handle

the Hunger, but not then, because that is when I blacked

out.

63

64

Chapter 4

I woke that night with a thirst as strong as my

first, and though I fought it, I could not prevent it from
taking control. Like I have said before, the Hunger is like
a thirst, hunger, and the greatest of desires all balled up
together in one force, so it should come as no surprise

that my thirst guided me to my greatest desire Pandora.

I had never wanted to hurt her, but as usual the
Hunger cared little about what I wanted. I shot from the
sand like a missile, crossed the river, and was moving up
the Tigress River in seconds. As fate would have it
Pandora was there on the bank close to where the
shepherd had lost his life to me.
Even with my thirst blazing, I remember part of
me admiring her bravery, and brazenness. She hadnt a

stitch of clothing on, so obviously, there were no hidden

65

weapons. She was also completely alone. I smelled the

wind, to be sure, and was rewarded to find that our
isolation was complete. No amount of screaming would
bring assistance. As I said I didnt want to kill her, but

my bloodlust would not be denied. Perhaps the end result

of the night was a result of some part of me holding back;
trying to save her. I dont know. You be the judge.
King Anu. I see you have made your way back
to us. And just as was the case on your last visit, you need
a bath. Pandora giggled.
I managed to say Indeed, before diving into the
water and grabbing her. My momentum carried across
the river and onto its sandy bank. I fought to be gentle at
least, which is why Pandora assumed I meant something
other than what I did.
If you mean to seduce me, you are off to a fine

start, good king. She purred through clenched teeth, as

her nails dug into my back. Apparently she was sexual
aroused by my aggression.

My lips grazed her neck and she moaned. I felt

my fangs extend again, and opened my mouth. As I
pressed my lips against her again, she pressed herself

66

against me while simultaneously grasping my manhood.

Not surprisingly I was hard as stone. As I sank my teeth
into her neck she guided me to sink another part of me
into her, and again she moaned.
With every beat of her heart she thrust against
me. Within moments we both reached sexual release.

Then, rather than try to get me off of her as most women

are said to do (I had little experience at the time, and it
has never been the case for me since,) she started bucking
against me again, and this time with more abandon. Her
heart was fluttering in her chest in such a way that I could
not tell if she was about to die or have another orgasm.
The latter was the case, and as she did, she bit into my

neck. I remember feeling my skin break and my blood

spill down my own neck, but she did not pull away
instead she drank just as I did.
I have learned two things since that explain how
this happened. First: when I feed, it is a uniquely sexual
experience for my victim. All inhibitions are erased, and
the victim acts purely on their own sexual instinct.

Pandoras sexual instincts were aggressive obviously.

Second: In the early days of my curse I was most human,
and therefore most vulnerable, while I fed. Had it been

67

otherwise Pandora would have broken her teeth before

breaking my skin.
I drank from her and fucked her for far longer
than she should have survived. In fact her heart beat
seemed to be getting stronger for a while, and then
something very strange happened. Her heart stopped

cold, but she did not. She kept fucking me back, and she
kept drinking from my neck. I froze. My hunger had
long been satisfied by her blood. I had continued merely
for the thrill that fucking her was giving me.
Dont stop now. I want more. This is rapture.
She groaned.
I looked down on her blood covered face, and
saw what could only be pure joy. Then, she lifted her face
back to my neck, and this time when her lips met my
flesh, I felt her
FANGS!
How could this be? I thought. The Atlantian
had used my blood to concoct her curse, so it must be that
her curse lives in my blood. Pandoras blood had become
mine, and mine hers, several times over most likely,

68

during the course of our romp. So she had accidentally

brought herself into my curse. My heart no longer beat,
but it did lift and flutter, for in the matter of a few days,
the only part of the old witchs curse which truly seemed
intolerable that I live forever alone seemed to be
broken.
My lust returned, but this time not for her blood;
for her body. I drove into her more and more violently
and she responded in kind. Clearly she was already as
invulnerable as I was or she would have been broken in
half by my thrusts. Instead she just moaned, and pleaded
for more.
We continued like that for hours, and though
blood was no longer the motivator of my actions, or
Pandoras, the exchange did continue almost

uninterrupted throughout our love-making. It seemed we

would never get tired, and perhaps it was true. If the sun
had not started to hint at its dawning, perhaps we would
have continued for eternity. Sadly, we did have to stop as
the instinct to seek shelter began making itself known.
Why do I feel fear of the coming dawn?
Pandora asked.

69

Perhaps it is because your family will find your

bed empty, and punish you for being unladylike. I joked.
No. I need a real answer. My family would
proudly allow me to walk the streets naked if I were doing
it with you. It is not them I fear. It is the sun.
I was cursed, and somehow you have taken that
curse onto yourself as well. I answered.
Cursed?
Yes. A tribe claiming to be from Atlantis
attacked the city of Larsa over a trade dispute. When I
sought to punish them for their assault, they used magic
to kill my men, and curse me.
What does this curse involve?
Well right at this moment it involves finding a
place to spend the day out of the light of the sun. It will
burn us, possibly to death. I do not know, and I do not

wish to know. I said as I took her hand and led her away
from the river back towards the desert I had sought
shelter in the previous night.

70

We can run to Ur, if you feel you have the speed

for it already. If not it will come, but we will have to bury
ourselves in the earth until dusk tomorrow.
I would like to run. Burying myself in the dirt
sounds disgusting. She sneered.
Come then. I laughed, as I again took her hand
and raced towards Ur.
Step for step she matched me, and asked: What
is so funny?
You fucked me in the mud and drank my blood,
but spending the day buried in the earth is disgusting.
Burial is for the dead. We are not dead.
And, if the old witchs curse holds true we never
shall be, but we dont have time to discuss it further. The
sun is dangerously close, so we most run more and talk
less. I promise to explain it all tomorrow.
I will hold you to that. And, my love, you will
have to explain to my parents why it is I am, or rather will
be, missing for the next several hours.

71

That is easy. I will tell them that I have taken

you for my wife. I said as I pulled her hand to make her
move faster.
As I had thought it would, my last comment
stunned her into silence; at least for a while.
We made the base of the ziggaraut as the first
bits of orange were seeping into the eastern sky. Panic
played across Pandoras beautiful face, but she continued
to follow my lead flawlessly. We leapt onto the rooftop
and slipped into my chambers unnoticed.
As we lay in bed, starting to slip into sleep,
Pandora returned to her senses.
Wife? was her one word response to my
statement of maybe five minutes earlier.
Would that be so bad? I asked, We can tell
them something else if you prefer.
No. That sounds wonderful. She mumbled as
she drifted into a deathlike sleep.
I too; was quickly in a dreamless sleep.

72

Chapter 5

We woke to Amil knocking on the door.

Enter. I shouted.
Where have you been? When I came up last

night to wake you and you were missing I feared

something terrible had happened. Amil said as he

entered the room.
I suppose to explain that, I will have to tell you
the whole story of what happened in Larsa. Oh well, I
promised you that tale anyway. I answered.
Yes. You did. And who is the girl?

73

Pandora is my wife. But, please address

questions about her at her. I will not have her
disrespected.
No disrespect meant, my brother. Amil
retorted.
None taken. Pandora finally said, as she finally
sat up and joined our conversation.
I told Amil everything from the moment the
troops and I had left Ur for Larsa. When I got to the
parts about the Atlantians and their magic, he was clearly
quite shocked.
When we reached the parts of the story where

Pandora came into it, she took over, and I filled in the
gaps. Soon Amil knew as much of the story as we did.
Still, he had questions.
So what is the curse exactly? He asked.

Strangely I remembered every word of it, so I

repeated it to him:
As your life has been in blood, so shall it always
be. You will live as long as the heavens, but you will never

74

enter them. When those about you grow old and die, you
will not. When your civilization falls, you will continue:
alone in darkness forever.
And she made you drink your own blood? He
asked, even though he knew full well she had.
Yes. It was mixed with her own, and who
knows what else. She mixed some things in from a small
vile. I answered.
Thats all?
After that they actually cut me loose, but I was
too weak to do anything. It felt like I was dying. I have
noticed since that my heart no longer beats, so perhaps I
did die.
And the next night you rose and drank the
blood of an entire village?
Correct.
Oh crap. Amil stated, as he looked at Pandora.
We had risen less than ten minutes earlier, and
she was clearly beginning to lose her battle with the

75

Hunger. She was staring at Amil as though he were a

buffet of her favorite foods. I guess technically he was.
No Pandora. We cannot kill here. There are far
too many people to witness, and even a king cannot get
away with cold-blooded murder in plain sight, nor can his
queen.
Go quickly. Amil said. I will cover for you
until you get back, but dont be gone for another night

and day. The absences are beginning to cause too many

questions.
We will be back in an hour. I said as I took
Pandoras hand and rocketed to the roof.
Let us go to the port and find ourselves a
criminal to bring justice to. I directed.
Whatever you wish, Pandora said, but, can we
hurry? Im starving.

- - -

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And thus a tradition was born. Each night

Pandora and I would rise, go to an area in the kingdom
where trouble makers could be found, and bring their
wickedness to an end. When there was official business

to take care of we raced back home afterwards, but many

nights, with nothing pressing, we would make love while
still in the afterglow of our bloodlust. As we went about
our nightly wanderings, Amil provided us alibis.
However with each night that passed he began to pressure
us more and more to make him like us. Finally, three
months into eternity, Amil decided to force the issue.
The people all believe that the two of you are

gods. I want to be part of that. Please understand; it is

wonderful having Pandora here and I would not change
that even if I could, but this is a gift you should have
shared with me first. I am family and she is just
She is family! I cut him off.
If that is the case why is it that you have not
spoken to her family yet?
It takes a normal traveling party two weeks to
make the trip between her village and Ur, and that is in
good conditions. With the sun as hot as it is this time of

77

year it means traveling at night. That means slow going,

so make the trip three to four weeks, round trip almost
two months.
It has been three. Amil retorted.
Ah yes. I came home to Ur alone after a
horrendous battle, completely alone, and then turned
right around and headed back to her village, grabbed her
in the middle of the night, came straight back to Ur, to

turn around within a few days to return yet again to her

village. We will handle this as we see fit! It is not for you
to question.
It is alright Anu. Pandora said, I understand
what he means. We have been guided by our impulses
too much and are not considering the impact on others.
Also, he is your brother; we should share this with him.
And as impulsive as we have been, he would be
worse. He is almost as bad now, and he doesnt have the
Hunger to deal with. What would we do if he were like
us and decided to go on a killing spree? I said.
I am not nearly as fast or strong as you are, so it

is unlikely he would be either. That makes stopping him

78

or me for that matter, quite easy if he should run amuck.

Pandora argued.
I do know how to control myself when I need
to. Amil added.
And you have demonstrated that skill so often.
I said sarcastically, Whatever! I am not sure I even know
how it is done.
You said it was the exchange of blood. Amil
argued.
I said perhaps it was the exchange of blood. It
could have just as easily been the sex, and well, that just is
not going to happen. You are my brother, and I do not
fuck men.
So go find some pretty girl and see if fucking
her turns her. Amil responded ludicrously.
I turned to look at Pandora, to see if she would

strike him for his last comment, but instead saw her
smiling. She was clearly mulling it over.

You are not angered by his suggestion? I asked

Pandora.

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No. Not in the least. Provided I were involved I

mean. Ive always found sex-play with another woman to
be quite exhilarating. She drawled out like a purr.
And if it is sex. What then? I asked, It would
have to be done by the girl, whomever she might be, and
girls arent exactly your style. And, what if it isnt the sex;
what if it is the exchange of blood. You could just as
easily die as become like us.
The more people believe youre a god, the more
likely it is that I will be killed by an enemy trying to strike
out at you. So either way I am in jeopardy. Besides Im
tired of you two looking at me like I were a meal. Amil
stated.
You have never been a target of our hunger, and
you never will be. I countered.
I have a friend in the village that would help
with our experiment. She is quite pretty, and I know
first-hand that she would be happy to have sex with the

two of us. Pandora said in a clear attempt to change the

topic.

80

And we could deal with letting your family

know you are safe, and that I have taken you as my wife.
I added.
You took nothing that I did not first give, but
you are right it would allow us to do both of these matters
which have apparently become pressing at the same time.
We will have to send men ahead to set up camp
and build a home there for us. It would raise too many

questions if we arrived alone, and disappeared at sunrise

with no camp around. Amil, why dont you go with the
men to arrange everything? It will keep you busy, and off
of our menu for a while. I joked.
As you wish, but dont think I will forget my
request. I will not. Amil answered.
I will give you whatever it is my power to give
you my brother. I only ask that you be patient until I find
out what that power actually entails.
Thank you. Amil said as he left the room to
start making arrangements.

81

You are welcome as always. I said as the door

to our chambers closed.
Are you alright my love? Pandora said as she
turned to me.
I am fine, if just taken back a little. It seems
you were not as innocent as I had first thought. I
answered.
Whatever made you think that I was innocent?
To have been any more obvious that I wanted you on the
night my brother brought you home, I would have had to
have said it aloud. And, I never claimed to be innocent.
When you found me swimming, I was on my way to Ur
to find you and have my way with you, one way or
another.
Presumptuous and bold: I knew you would
make a good queen. I joked as I tackled her onto the bed.
You are going to have to be gentler with KugBau or you will break her. Pandora giggled as I nuzzled
at her breasts.

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You are no gentler than I. Perhaps she will just

be broken. I said as I trailed my tongue down the
centerline of her body to lick her naval.
Perhaps, but that would be a shame. She is
quite talented with her tongue.
This talented? I asked as I licked the moist
center of her woman-hood.
Almost. Pandora moaned, as I licked her again.
What? I asked playfully.
No, but she is quite good. Now shut-up and pay
attention to what you are doing. She panted.
The next sounds she made werent really words,
but they were pleasant to hear none-the-less. She writhed
and moaned for forty-five minutes or so before flipping
around and taking me in her mouth. Twenty minutes
later, I stopped the oral play and entered her.
And that is how we spent the rest of the night;
frantically grinding into each other as though our lives

depended on it. When the sun rose, we simply fell asleep

just as we were: fused at the hips.

83

84

Chapter 6

The next night, when we rose, Amil told us he

had already organized and dispatched warriors and
builders to arrange things for our visit to Pandoras family.
It was quite comical really. Amil was as giddy as a

school-girl with her first crush. I warned him that the

experiment might fail. What happened between Pandora
and I that had allowed for her change may have been a
fluke after all. He insisted it was either the blood or the
sex; maybe both. I swear I thought he might start
humping my leg like a little dog. My guess is he would
have if he thought it would get him what he wanted.
Anyway, I had an experiment of another kind in
mind for the night, and I was anxious to get started.

85

Pandora, my love, we will soon run out of

wrong-doers if we continue to claim them at the rate we
currently are. I said.
Sounds like you have something in mind, so
what do you propose. She responded.
I have noticed a few things that might mean we
did not have to kill in order to satisfy the Hunger. If we
are just a little pushy while making eye-contact, I have

seen people completely cave in to our will. Another thing

is that when we feed, once the initial attack is over and
the blood has started flowing, our victims start becoming
more or less willing participants. I have also felt the
Hunger abate before the victims death almost every time
we have fed for some time now.
I have noticed all of that as well. If you are
right, we would no longer have to hunt for prey every

night. We could simply pop out to some pub or brothel,

charm some young women into joining us, have our way
with them, then send them home a little weak but
otherwise unharmed.
I for one would be happy to not have to cause a
death every night. I added.

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I would be happy with whatever makes you

happy.
Do you like the killing Pandora?
I like the justice. But, you are right; we will run
out of criminals sooner or later. If we must kill then it
would simply be murder. It would be hard to be gods
doing that.
Pandora; we are not gods.
Perhaps we are. My mother comes from an
Island in the sea in which Atlantis was supposed to have
been. She used to entertain my brother and I with tales
about the Atlantian gods. They were easily as blood
thirsty and savage as we have been, if not more.
No mortal Witch can turn a man into a god,
Atlantian or not. I said.
I knew that people were more and more often

referring to Pandora and I as gods, but I was

uncomfortable with it. It is more than a little strange to

see a statue of yourself erected in a temple. Temples were
new to our people, like I have said our wayward gods

87

neither deserved or cared for our worship, so to have a

temple at all was odd, but one dedicated to me; that was
almost more than I could stand. The people were starting
to spend time praying in the temples that had been

devoted to work. Worse yet, they were praying for the

very things that they should have been working for. Amil
had already had to declare on my behalf that the day
of every new moon must be a holiday for the goddess
Pandora, and that the day of every full moon be a holiday
devoted to me. I had chastised him for it, but he argued
it had become necessary to maintain peace, and after

talking to several people in the kingdom that my father

had used on occasion for advise, I concluded that Amil
was right, and left the holidays in place. Amil had also
leaked many tales out about our god-hood, some true (the
tales that is) and some not so true, to help usher the

mythology along. If he had not been my brother I would

have killed him for that.
Anu; Are we going to go try your experiment or
not? Pandora asked.
Yes my love. I apologize for drifting. I was in
thought. I said as I was roused from my mental sidetrack.

88

Let us go then. She said as she held out her

hand to me.
I took her hand and we exited the ziggaraut via
or usual method and went to a brothel in Uruk. The
house-mother was both thrilled and upset by our
presence. It took me several minutes to convince her that
I didnt need to see her papers or care if she in fact had
any.
All we ask is your discretion madam. I said,
We have tastes that may not sit well with everyone in the
kingdom, so you must never tell anyone that we were
here.
Your wish is my command. Whatever the gods
desire. She purred.
Pandora leaned in my ear and whispered: I
dont trust this woman to keep our secret. I want to try
something.
Before I could protest, Pandora had caught the
womans gaze and spoke a clear and concise demand:
You will not remember our visit in the morning. You
had a slow and uneventful evening.

89

The womans eyes were strangely blank while

Pandora spoke. When Pandora had finished the woman
simply stood there groggily.
We would like to see your prettiest girls.
Pandora stated.
In response the woman simply raised a hand and
pointed to a door behind us.
Thank you. Perhaps you should lock the door
and retire for the night. You look very tired. Pandora
said as she again looked into the womans eyes.
Yes, the woman responded, I am very sleepy.
She got up from her seat, locked the front door, and
slipped behind a curtain to our right.
Did you make her do that? I asked.
I think so. This is incredibly fun.
Dont get to full of yourself my love. Pride goes
before a fall. I warned.
Oh please. You must admit that was amazing.

90

It was definitely amazing Pandora; If it

worked.
With that, we let ourselves through the door the
woman had directed us towards and found ourselves in a
small garden courtyard with six women whose beauty was
only surpassed by that of Pandora herself.
We shall have to send gifts to that kindly
woman for providing us with such a bounty. Pandora

said as she walked up to a dark-skinned beauty with large

breasts and kissed her.
We will at that. I agreed.
Pandora and I moved to the center of the room,

and the women began removing our clothing, followed by

their own.
It would be best for the safety of their bones to
let them do the all the work. Pandora whispered in my
ear, They are probably used to that anyway.
I would have agreed, but I was being smothered
by another pair of large breasts, these being of a more
olive color.

91

For the rest of the night things went pretty much

just like that. Pandora and I lay back and the women did
things to the two of us and each other that I had never
imagined. Pandora knew what the experiment was, and
so she sampled the blood of three girls, stopping when
they appeared a little flushed. I did the same with the
other three girls. The girls didnt seem to notice or even
care, and they didnt stop their ministrations until just
before it was time for Pandora and I to return home.
I would like to try to do what you did to the
madam, if you dont mind. I whispered to Pandora as we
were being dressed by our playmates.
Please. Be my guest. She whispered back.
Once we were dressed I turned to the women
once again and said: Ladies, pausing to make sure they
all looked at me, You will not remember who we were,

only that a man and woman who were traveling through

Uruk bought your time for the night. Now please sleep.
You need your rest. I said the last sentence to a group of
sleeping women.
You are right Pandora; that is fun. I said.

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If it is sex with you, and presumably me, that

causes the change, there will be six piles of smoking ash
when the madam comes out here to clean later. Pandora
said.
With you the changed happened very quickly.
If they were going to turn, they would have already done
so. I stated.
I think you are right, but let us not tell Amil

about this evening or he will be demanding we turn him

tomorrow.
I agree completely.
We should probably return here tomorrow to
make sure that all went as we hoped. Pandora said.
Yes. We should. Do you think the madam will
be as happy to see us as she was tonight? I joked.
Without doubt she will be, but not as happy as
the girls will be.
I love you Pandora. I said for perhaps the first
time in so many words.

93

And I love you! she said as she folded into my

arms and kissed me.
I would love to continue this, but we must be
home soon.
Okay. Last one there has to listen to Amils
whining all alone tomorrow night. Pandora said as she
shoved me onto a pile of pillows and shot out of the door.
You will pay for that. I said as I came up on
her about half way back to the ziggaraut.
Oh; and how will that be?
You will be listening to Amil whine tomorrow
night; that is how. I said, as I leapt to the roof of the
ziggaraut.

94

Chapter 7

The next night I slipped out before Amil made it

to us. I was in the blessed silence of the roof-top garden
while Pandora listened to him go on about what he had
done during the day, and what he still had to do, and how
much he anticipated our learning how to turn him. Blah,

blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. He never did know when

to shut up, and sadly he still hasnt learned.
Thank you very much for that. Pandora said as
she reached the roof.
Hey, you made the bet.
I didnt think you would hold me to it. We
both know you are faster than I am.

95

I am sorry if I have inconvenienced you my love.

It was an attempt to be funny.
And it probably would have worked if Amil had
shut up half an hour before he did. As it was I had to
fight not to make a snack of him.
Well I am glad you didnt. He is very useful to
us both, and he is my brother. However annoying he can
be, I do love him. I said, Would you like to go check on
our lady friends from last night?
Yes and no. I would love to snack on them and

fuck them again, even though I think it would be too

soon for that, provided they are actually alive. Which

brings to mind my reticence to check on them: perhaps
they are dead, or turned. If they are dead, it is a terrible
shame, because they brought so much pleasure. If they
are turned, we will have to kill them. No matter how
much fun they were, we cannot turn a bunch of

bloodthirsty immortal whores loose on the kingdom.

Pandora said with genuine concern.
Those are good points. So, lets get a snack
first, and then we can go check on them. I said, And, we
shall hope that they are alive and well.

96

Yes and Yes. She said as she kissed me and

took my hand.
We leapt from the garden and went to our
hunting grounds at the port. Within a half an hour we
had satisfied both of our thirsts, and were on our way to
Uruk.
When we arrived at the brothel, we were greeted
by the madam with all of the enthusiasm we had received
the night before. She behaved as though she had never

seen us in person before, and after a brief conversation, I

realized that in her mind she had not. Our little mental
commands worked, on the madam at least.
We asked to see the girls, and were informed
that two of them were currently busy. We gave the
madam 12 gold pieces (which was a lot more money than
she would be losing) to separate the girls from their
clients while we waited in the madams chambers.

Approximately ten minutes later the madam stuck her

head through the door and let us know she had shown the
men the door and latched it behind them. All of the girls
were now waiting for us in the courtyard. Clearly they

97

were all alive, and there was no screaming so they had not
made snacks of their johns.
When we reached the courtyard, the girls were
their normal beautiful, human selves, though a bit anemic
looking. Clearly they would not be able to handle a night
of activity with us again so soon, so we paid them for their
nights work anyway, and assured them it was nothing

they had done that had made us wish to leave. We paid

them a little more to have them save the entire night a
week later for us, and exited.
Perhaps we should go home and deal with our
courtly duties. Amil does deserve a night off. Pandora
said as we began our trip home.
Dont let him fool you. He does not work
nearly as hard as he would have us believe. He is a master
at hiring people to do his work for him. I would be very

surprised if he is not locked in his chambers with his boytoy already.

Well he has managed to prevent anyone from
wondering why we sleep all day.

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This time of year, many people in the kingdom

sleep all day. It is too hot in the day to do much of
anything other than work in the market, and even that is
very sweaty.
So, that is why our nocturnal behavior is going
unquestioned?
Yes. That, and because more and more people
believe us to be gods, and therefore will not question
anything we do as long as things are good in the
kingdom.
Well, regardless of the circumstances, growing
up so close to your kingdom, and listening to my mothers
tales of Atlantis, I always dreamed of what it would be
like to be a queen. Now I am and I have done precious
few queenly duties. I would like to be a good queen.
Pandora said with a wicked grin.
If you never left the bedroom, you would still do
enough to be a good queen.
Well then, let me show you what a good queen
I can be she replied as we leapt onto the rooftop of our
home and zipped down the hall to our chambers.

99

We made love in our usual semi-violent and

frantic manner for about an hour, and then at Pandoras
insistence we went down to the great hall and found that
indeed Amil was hard at work on courtly matters.
To his great joy, we relieved him for the night.
He left the room with his companion in tow so fast you
would have thought him turned already.
For the rest of the night we listened to various

requests and settled small disputes about property or

commerce. We greeted a small group who wished to be

officially declared as priests of our temples, and since they
had been unofficially doing the job already, we granted
their request. They praised us to the point that it was
getting tiresome before they finally left, and we were done
with our duties for the night.
There was still plenty of darkness left at that

point, so you decided to do a little swimming in the

Euphrates. Commonly there were many crocodiles in the

river, but that never seemed to stop people from an
occasional midnight swim, and of course we were more
than a match for any croc. For appearances sake however,
we did bring four guards to Protect us while we swam.

100

It was quite odd, and somewhat difficult, to slow

our pace for the guards to keep up after so many weeks of
moving at inhuman speeds everywhere we went. Several
times each, we did things that simply could not be done
by anyone but us, which resulted in whispering amoung
the guards about us being gods.
Two of the guards had grown up in the
ziggaraut, as their fathers had been guards for my father.
We had played together as children, yet even they were
convinced that somehow I had become a god. I still
didnt like being thought of that way, but it was clear that
I would have to get used to it.
Pandora on the other hand seemed to be reveling
in being a goddess. She was nearly shameless in the way
she absorbed the adoration of the guards and whatever
citizens we passed on the way to the river.
Finally, after realizing the futility of resisting the
idea, I too began partaking of the worship that was being
lavished upon us.
By the time we reached the river a small crowd
had gathered and had followed us. Fortunately, they were
gracious enough to disperse and allow us a private swim

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when we asked them to. I had no problems swimming

naked in front of anyone and everyone, and something
told me Pandora would not either, but I wanted to be
alone with her. Even the guards were told to move to a
perimeter large enough that we could not easily see them.
There was some argument from my friend

Alulim, who was chief of the guards, but in the end he

conceded, as I was king. His biggest sticking point was
the crocs. It seemed he wouldnt give on that whether I
was king or not, but Pandora convinced him the toothy
reptiles would not be able to harm gods. That is when
Alulim withdrew to a discrete distance.
Pandora and I swam and frolicked, frolicked and
swam; we even had a little sex.
When the sun finally started to show hints of its
coming dawn, Pandora and I simply announced to the

guards we would be leaving, and took off at our usual

ridiculous speed. So much for fighting the concept that

were gods.

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Chapter 8

When we woke the following evening Amil was

waiting at our door in a rather disturbed state.
Apparently, our newly appointed priests had attempted
to force people to subjugate themselves to the new rules of
the religion that had grown around us just as if their rules

were laws. They had gone so far as to flog a man to death

in the center of Ur for refusing to pay a tithing to the
temple.
Bring the priests here at once. I demanded.
I have already done so. They are being held in
the great hall for your attendance. He responded, Many
people are upset by their actions. It is causing significant
unrest.

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Then we will show the people that these priests

do not speak for us. Pandora said.
That is the problem. The people want priests to
guide them in following your will. That is how these
priests came to their positions in the first place. However
the concept of gods that are active in human affairs is so
new to them that the priests demands for money are
simply overbearing.
Then call everyone that witnessed the priests
actions to court, and we shall settle this tonight. I said.
As you wish. Amil replied as he left the room
to set things in motion.
Pandora and I slipped out to one of our usual
hunting grounds to quickly quench our thirsts before we
doubled back to the ziggaraut and the great hall, which
was now serving as a makeshift courtroom. In fact it was
the first courtroom in history, as we had never done such
a thing before. Until then, disputes were settled between

the disputees. Every individual in the kingdom was equal

to every other except the royal family. It is amazing how
quickly disagreements resolve when no one has leverage.
Things rarely got out of hand for fear of the Kings wrath.

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And so, there was no need for courts. That is until I gave
leverage to this group of priests.
When we arrived at the hall, there was great
commotion. The priests were bound and on their knees
at the foot of the platform which held the thrones that
belonged to Pandora, Amil, and I. The other two thirds
of the hall was filled with the witnesses to the beating.

Between the two parties were my elite guards, but even

they were having a difficult time keeping them separated.
The people were enraged, and appeared to be after the
priests blood, and the priests were only making matters
worse by being defiant, and leering at the crowd with a
how dare you? attitude.
For the first time since my transformation I

found it necessary to raise my voice, and the results were

thunderous.
Silence please! I shouted at a volume that
surprised even me, and sent the majority of the crowd to
their knees covering their ears in pain.
When people started to recover I spoke again.

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I wish to hear from only those who witnessed

the priests actions from beginning to end. Will those of
you who have please make your way to us now? I said as
Pandora, Amil and I took our seats.
Please tell me what happened as you saw it. I
said when the first person made it to us.
A young man of perhaps nineteen looked with
terror on us, and trembled, but said nothing.
Please, it is what we wish. Pandora prodded.
He cleared his throat then said: The priests
were going from door to door demanding we pay tribute
to you, our gods. Everyone was happy to give at first, but
the priests just kept demanding more. No matter how

much any one person gave they demanded more. I gave

them every precious thing, and scrap of food in my home,
and they accused me of holding out, and threatened me
with violence. When they got to my neighbor, he told
them he could spare nothing because he was a trader and
has been suffering a loss of business since our kingdoms

victory over the Atlantians. The priests told him that he

should give what he had not what he could spare. He
argued that he only had what his family needed to live,

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but they demanded he give it up. When he refused, the

attacked him, and wrestled him to the ground. They tied
him up and drug him into the square and began beating
him. The whole time they did that, they shouted that it
was the fate of all who withheld from the gods to suffer.
Then they said that since this man wanted to keep
everything, he would lose it all, and they continued to
beat him until they confirmed that he was dead. After
that they cleaned out nearly everyone because we were all
too scared to resist. Just before dark they threatened to do
the same to an old widow woman, and a fight broke out.

That is when I ran here to tell Prince Amil.

Thank you for telling us. Pandora said.
And thank you for helping us maintain the
peace. I added.
The next person, and then the next, and so on,

stepped up and told almost the exact same story. By the

time the last witness told their side of events, I was so
overcome with rage that I was having difficulty speaking.
Once again Pandora took the lead.

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So, priests, now we would hear your side of

this. She said.
The man who had spoken for them on our
previous meeting stepped forward and said in a
sycophantic manner: We were simply trying to gather
offerings with which to maintain your temples in a
manner befitting your glorious benevolence.
Stop clouding the matter with your overly

courteous subterfuge or my benevolence will quickly end.

I growled.
As will mine. Pandora agreed.
And mine. Amil pledged.
So it was to be a council of three? I liked that
idea strangely. Rather than worry it would make me seem
less powerful (which is bad for a king), I thought it would
make me seem more even-handed.
We do what we do for the kingdom because we
wish to, and because we are honor bound by the trust put
in us as your leaders to do so. We neither request nor

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require that temples be filled or even erected in our

honor. Amil said.
Well said brother. I said, We provide for all
civil needs in this kingdom more than adequately. And
since the people have felt compelled to worship us, we
would build, and maintain any temples thusly. As always,
all that was needed was a request. I said through
clenched teeth.
Do you not think us capable of such? Pandora
asked.
What honor would it be to you for the people to
have you pay them to worship you? The priest
responded.
Do not answer a question with a question!
Amil warned.
We granted you authority to lead worship of us
in the temples because the people had already put you in
that position. Your only authority was in the running of
the temple. I stated.

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The temple was unsuitable for worshipping

such glorious gods as yourself. The priest said.
Then you should have brought that to my
attention! Amil shouted; his voice rising for the first
time.
Why did you not ask us for help in making the
temple what the people wanted? We would have gladly
funded such efforts. Or is it that you sought to elevate
yourselves above the people by taking their goods for
yourself? Pandora snarled.
Forgive us my queen. We assumed that you
would be angry with us, and therefore the people, for
asking for assistance when you are already undertaking
the elevation of your parents village into a new and
glorious city. The priest purred sweetly.
My par Pandora began, then something
dawned on her, and something snapped. Youve been
spying into my life?
Pandora leapt from her throne and sank her
fangs into the priest so fast there was literally a slight but
audible thunder from her movement.

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Anyone who wishes to worship may do so! We

will not stop you! But, if I catch anyone snooping into my
life or the kings, the punishment will be most severe!
Pandora screamed as she shook the priest so violently that
his head actually rocked back so forcefully that his neck
broke.
On the next shake his head tore loose and fell to
the floor. When a small fount of blood gushed from the
stump of his neck, Pandora lost control and attacked
another priest. Due to the rage the priests had caused
with their actions, and then their sickening deferment, I
had barely contained my own bloodlust. When the smell
of blood hit me, I too lost that battle, and launched onto
one of the remaining priests.
The doors to the great hall were not bolted, but
no one attempted to leave. Perhaps they were so angry
with the priests they were getting their own enjoyment
from the priests demise. Or maybe they were to awestruck by the display to move. I know not which. They
did move back a little and compress themselves a bit, but
as I said no one even tried the doors.

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When the last of the priests had been drunk dry

Amil spoke: Justice and Punishment are the jurisdiction
of the king and his court from this day forward. If you
are wronged, bring your grievance to us, and we will mete
out swift and terrible retribution to anyone found guilty.
If any amoung you seek to take these priests

place in the temples, know this: The people may give to

the temples freely if they wish, but it is forbidden to ever
demand donation, or to even ask for it. If the temple
falters, because the people will not or cannot give enough
for its upkeep, and the priests are too proud to ask for our
help, then I personally shall burn them to ash with the
priests locked inside. I shouted in proclamation.
All may go now. But let it be known

throughout the kingdom that any misdeed will from this

day forth be dealt with most harshly. Amil added.
The guards opened the doors, and the people
slowly exited the hall as though they were in a trance.
These fowl men have been to my familys village
already. They must have followed our men there. If they
have told my family anything of me, my family will be

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very hurt. They deserve to here all of this from me.

Pandora rambled as her tears began to fall blood red.
Pandora my love, we cannot go tonight. The
sun rises in less than half of an hour, but I promise you,
we will leave as soon as it is safe tomorrow at dusk.
I will have everything prepared for your
departure. Amil said.
Dont worry yourself with that. We will move
far too fast for anyone to travel with us. We will be there
in an hour or so, and Im sure our needs will be well taken
care of by our advance party and Pandoras parents. I
said, Please stay awake long enough this morning to
make sure that the story about what happened tonight is
the story we want told. Otherwise, by tomorrow night it
will be too late.
I will. Amil replied.
Thank you. I said, Pandora let us go to bed
and I suggested as I turned to where she had been, but
she was already gone.

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I panicked. If she tried to beat the sun to her

parents, she would lose that race. I streaked up to our
chambers to find, to my relief that Pandora was there on
our bed sobbing into the pillows.
Dont worry my love. Everything will be fine;
your parents will be thrilled that you are now a queen.

They will be even more thrilled when they realize how

wealthy that makes them.
Do you not think that those wicked men told
them everything?
No I do not. My men were under very strict
orders to say nothing, and to make sure your parents were
told nothing until we arrived.
I hope your right. Pandora blubbered.
You will see. I said as I lay down next to her,
and rubbed her back to sooth her.
I guess being so well fed made us tired, for we
were soon fast asleep without me even remembering when
it had happened. Or perhaps it was the stress of the
evening. Regardless, the next thing I remember is

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Pandora waking me the next night and urging me to

hurry.

115

116

Chapter 9

Please get up. We have to go. Pandora nearly

shouted as she shook my shoulders. For the first time
since we had become a couple she had risen before I had.
I am awake. I said as I simultaneously open my
eyes and jumped out of bed.
I was dressed in seconds, and we were leaping
from the roof of the ziggaraut a second or two after that.
I could not remember how long the trip home to Ur from
her parents had taken, nor could I remember how long it
had taken to get to Pandoras swimming hole the night I
stumbled on her and inadvertently turned her. I suppose
it was unimportant, as both Pandora and I had both had
much practice with our speed since then.

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As it turns out, we made the trip in two hours

and ten minutes. Normally, for mortals at least, the trip
would take at least two weeks. Even I was a little shocked
by how little time it had taken to get there, and how little
the effort had affected us.
Pandora was more concerned about getting her

hair to look presentable than anything else. Me, I was

trying to cool off the leather souls of my shoes, because

the smelled as though they would actually catch fire if
they werent stopped from doing so.
I took inventory of my senses. My breathing was
slow and steady. My pulse was just as even. My muscles
were neither sprained, or even sore. Other than a few
tangles in our hair, it seemed that the only things stressed
by the trip were our garments.
This change never ceased to amaze me then.

Every time I thought I had reached our limits, my

suppositions were proven wrong. Every time I thought

that there was nothing else special to present itself,
something new came along. Fortunately the learning
curve for both Pandora and I was also astonishingly fast.
Ah, but I have gotten off of my story yet again.

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We streaked to the building site of the home we

had sent men ahead to build for us. When we appeared
as if from out of thin air, the guards at the door were
frightened. They did an excellent job hiding it, but I
could actually smell their fear. They also recovered

quickly, which was good because Pandora and I had not

fed yet, and the smell of fear was strangely appetizing.
Where is the foreman? I asked.
He is in the back working on landscaping. The
two guards said almost in unison.
Landscaping? Pandora asked.
Is the house completed then? I added.
Yes sir. It is even furnished. The men have
done an exceptional job here sir.
You men arent from my team of warriors.
Why are you standing guard? Is there a problem? I
queried.
No sir. There were some men nosing about

approximately two weeks ago. The foreman sent the two

of us to find out what they were doing here. They

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claimed to be priests from your temples, so we let them

go, but only after they agreed to return to the kingdom
immediately.
Then they didnt go into the village? Pandora
asked pleadingly.
No my lady. They did not, but after they were
here the foreman thought it was best that there be guards
to look out for such things. He appointed us and two
other men. We work the nights, because it is cooler.
Thank you then, for your efforts on our behalf.

You will be rewarded upon your return home. I said,

We will go see the foreman now.

Pandora and I disappeared from their sight and

appeared in front of the foreman a moment later. He was
far less startled. Apparently, he was a true believer in our
godliness.
I am told you have done an outstanding job here
for us. I said.
I will show you everything so that you may
decide for yourselves. He answered.

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He turned and removed a small piece of metal

from his pocket and inserted it into a small hole in a
metal mechanism in the door. As he did so he explained
that he had created this so that the homes entrance could
be barred from the outside when it was not in use.
There are many nomads in this area and I
would not have them steal from you. He proclaimed.
Your ingenuity is much appreciated. Pandora
replied.
As the door opened she flew past him. We

found her in what could only have been meant as a

dressing room, because it was covered with polished silver

mirrors. Someone on the building party, the foreman I
assume, had devised a method of reflecting the light from
outside into every room of the house. It was night
outside, so it must have been dark to the foreman despite

the full moon, but to Pandora and I it was like the rooms
were lit with torches.
Pandora sat in front of one of the mirrors
brushing her hair.

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You may retire for the night. I instructed the

foreman. Thank you again for the exceptional work.
When Pandora had finished brushing the tangles
from her hair, she began staining her lips with the juice
from some berries on the dressing table. Then she
powdered her face with ground talc, and smudged a bit of

coal around her eyes. She was trying to make herself look
more human for her parents I found out later. The result
however, was that her efforts made her even more eerily
beautiful than she already was.
When she finished grooming herself she took
the brush to my hair.
Soon she was done polishing my appearance.
She put the brush down and took my hand to go.
I do not want to frighten my family, so I would
prefer that we not use any of our abilities until after we
have talked to them. She said.
Whatever you wish, my love.
She set a very human pace as we walked the
short distance to her parents home. The foreman had

122

even chosen a perfect site to build on. All that separated

our house from that of her parents village was a small hill,
and a minor outcropping of vegetation. Even at our
human pace, we only had to walk a few minutes to get to
her family home.
Her brother saw us first, and sprinted towards

us. He jumped up at Pandora as if to tackle her. The boy

was only ten, as I have said, so perhaps this was a game
they had played before, but clearly it had been slightly
different than it had been on that night. Pandora caught
him in mid-air and swung him about like a doll. Both of
them were laughing, and clearly glad to see one another.
In the heat of the moment Pandora was letting her
human faade slip a little.
Easy my love. You will break him. I warned
her gently in an attempt to remind her of her desire to
hide her transformation from her family until after we had
all talked.
Thank you. She said softly as she set her
brothers feet back onto the earth.

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He took her left hand and I took the other, and

together we walked the last few yards to her parents
home.
When we stepped through the door her mother
jumped up and ran over to hug Pandora and then, to my
surprise, me. Her father got up from his seat more
cautiously, and sized me up as he walked over to greet us.
I knew you would go running after him by the

way you looked at him the night he was here last. Her
father said.
I am sorry father. I would have told you all
what I was doing, but when I left it was only to have a

swim. I did not truly know I was going to see him until I
was in his presence. Pandora responded.
So, are you returning her to us good king, or are
you as smitten with her as she is with you. He asked.
I am in love with your daughter. In fact all that
remains to make her officially my wife and queen is your
blessing.

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That you have. What fool would deny his

daughter the hand of a king?
I had expected you to be more concerned,
perhaps angry.
Pandora is a good girl, but she has always been a
bit willful, and she has wandered off before, always to
return. The first time we were out of our minds with
worry, but she returned without a scratch; same the next.
She is apparently protected by the ancestors a little more
than the rest of us are.
Even so, I do apologize for taking so long to let
you know she is safe, and loved. I said.
Nonsense; you must have departed Ur very
shortly after her arrival there. It is a long journey. He
countered.
Perhaps I should let Pandora explain that. I
said.
And so for the second time Pandora and I told
the story of how first I and then she had been transformed
into something more than human. This time our roles

125

were reversed in that Pandora told the story, and I filled

in the details when she turned to me for them. The only
part we left out was the need for blood.
So that is why your men came here and built
that house over the hill so soon after you had left here.
We thought you had dispatched them the same night you
made it back to Ur.
No. That journey only takes us a couple of
hours now. Pandora said.
We would have come sooner, but we were

afraid that if we returned too soon, it would cause to

many questions to rise. I said.
Not really. Tales of the God-King of Sumeria
have reached us here in the village. One tale is surely to
have started here on the night you left. Pandoras mother
said.
How so? I asked.
Well. There are three houses between here and
the river, four now I guess. But anyway, you went by the
last two houses that night so quickly that the old-man

126

who lives in the last house was sure you were not human.
She answered.
When we heard he was telling people that, we
tried to calm him by telling him you had been to our
home, and were in fact human. After much argument he
finally decided that since we were alive and unharmed,
you must be some type of benevolent deity. Pandoras
father added.
I was not used to my new talents then. I did
not mean to cause a commotion. I said.
Not to worry. The talk died down quickly
enough. Said Pandoras mother.
We are just glad to know that you made it back
to Ur safely. And of course we are thrilled that Pandora
did as well. Pandoras father said.
It is getting late, and I wish to see Kug-Bau,
before the tavern closes. Pandora said suddenly.
Pandora, can that not wait until tomorrow. I
asked.

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No, she worries about me too much. I want her

to know I am fine.
As you wish. I said as I shrugged comically to
her family.
They smiled and mimicked my shrug as if to say:
That is Pandora for you.
Pandora and I had just stepped out of her
parents door when she said:
Follow me. And raced into the night.
When I caught up to here we were outside a
small building that the village used to store and drink its
wine in: the tavern.
Is the Hunger not tearing at you Pandora? I
asked as we stopped.
It is. She said, That is why I wanted to leave
my parents house. I did not want to snack on them, and
there will certainly be some drunks here to fill our needs.
What about your friend? I asked.

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She will be busy for a while. We should be able

to quench our thirsts, before she realizes we are here.
Okay then, after you. I said as we came to the
door.
As Pandora had said, there were several drunks
in the tavern. The village had made a sort of deal with
the chiefs of the regions nomadic tribes: The tribes could
eat and drink in the tavern, for a small fee of course, and

in return the chiefs agreed to leave the town un-harassed.

Apparently the arrangement was working quite well for
the tavern, as it was full of drunk and half-drunk
tribesmen. It was also quite dark, which was helpful.
Pandora made a quick scan of the room, and
soon informed me that the only locals present were her
friend Kug-Bau the barmaid, and Kug-Baus father who
was tending the bar. Kug-Baus hands were quite full
dealing with the demands of the patrons, and their

groping hands, so, just as Pandora had predicted, she

would not notice us until we made her.
We slid into a dark corner and waited for an
opportunity to present itself. It did shortly thereafter. A
weathered, but still young and randy man strutted up to

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Pandora and asked her to drink with him. He had either

missed my presence, or simply didnt care. He would
regret that. He sat down beside her before an invitation
was even extended, and slammed a bladder full of beer

down in front of Pandora. She turned to him and made

eye contact with him causing him to freeze. Then she
leaned over and whispered into his ear. His hand went up
and he called a friend to come join us without ever
breaking his eye-lock with Pandora.
She leaned in again, and I saw her mouth open
just before her face went into the cleft of his neck and
disappeared under his mangy hair.
When his friend arrived he clearly thought the
two of them were engaged in foreplay. He watched them
for a moment before realizing I was there. When he did

see me, a little light went off in his head; unfortunately for
him his assumption was incorrect.
How much? he asked.
She is no whore. Your friend is in grave
danger. I replied.

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He looked back at his friend just as a trickle of

blood streamed past Pandoras chin and rolled down his
friends chest.
His eyes turned back to me, and I could see the
alarm starting to turn into raw panic. Just as he started to
gather the breath to shout for help I caught his gaze, and
said:
Be silent and sit down here with me.
He did as told; releasing his gathered breath in a
sigh. Lifted his arm and sank my fangs into the veins at
the crook of his elbow. He was a strong and hearty

specimen, so my hunger was satisfied long before he even

began to swoon.
I released his arm and instructed him to sit a
while longer. I turned to see that Pandora was still
drawing blood from her victim. So she intended to kill
this one. No matter, If she hadnt I would have. He was
too presumptuous, and that offended me. Obviously it
had offended Pandora as well.
His head slumped and I knew that he would
soon be dead, so I turned back to his friend.

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When she is finished with your friend, you will

take him out the back door and return to your camp.
Somewhere along the way you will leave his body in the
desert. You will tell your chief and anyone else who asks
that you were attacked by a dagger-tooth (saber-tooth
tiger), and he was dragged off.
He nodded in compliance just as Pandora lifted
her head from his friends grungy neck. Without saying a
word he picked up the dead man by one arm, and dragged
him out as though he were merely drunk.
Perhaps we shouldnt kill in such an open and
potentially hostile environment. I said to Pandora.
Were you not going to kill him for his affront?
I was. But, I had planned on following him out
of the tavern and doing it in a more private setting.
What does it matter? These men are all drunk.
I doubt they will even remember seeing us here. Besides,
they would gladly cut his throat for a few pieces of silver.
They have very little loyalty.

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No harm done this time. I would just like to be

more discreet in the future.
As you wish. Pandora replied coldly.
This was a dark side to Pandora that I had not
seen before. I would see it again, but Ill get to that
another time.
The tavern was beginning to empty at that point,
so Pandora managed to get her friend Kug-Baus
attention. Kug-Bau sat with us for a moment while she
and Pandora hugged and conversed quietly, then she got
up and went back to work.
So what is the plan? I asked Pandora.
Kug-Bau is exhausted. She just wants to go
home and go to sleep. However, her sister will be tending
tables tomorrow night, so she will be free to join us. I

told her where our house was, and to come just after dark.
She said she knew exactly where it was, and said she
would be there.
Then shall we go?

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Yes please. That man smelled like a camel. I

would like to wash off in the river before we lay down for
the day. Pandora replied.
We were out the door and on our way to the
river before the jewels I had left on the table had stopped
moving about.
At the river, we bathed and frolicked. We even
had sex for an hour or so, which was a Quickie for us at
the time.
We got back to our village home just as the sky

was starting to lighten with the coming dawn.

Thankfully the sleeping chambers had been built as we

had requested no windows.

134

Chapter 10

We had opened the front door and left it wide

shortly after waking the next night in order to enjoy a
breeze blowing in from the Tigress River. It cooled the
air and blew the smell of life into the house, which

aroused our hunger quickly. To deal with the hunger we

called in the two night guards, and fed just enough from
them to get us through. To prevent any trouble, we did
what I have heard many Vampyre novelists refer to as
glamour; which is what we did to the madam at the
brothel and the tribesmen in the tavern. Being able to tell
people what to think and what to remember was and is a
very useful tool, though I use it little now.
Shortly after sending the guards back to their
post at the door, one of them called in that Kug-Bau had

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arrived. Pandora zipped to the door with our usual

inhuman speed.
So it is true? You are some kind of god now?
She asked.
I do not think we are gods, but we are more
than human; yes. Pandora replied.
I had heard as much. People love to tell stories
in the tavern, and the two of you are everyones favorite
tale these days.
My family seemed to have missed these tales.
You know they do not like the tavern. I doubt
they care for me much either. In any case, they have not
been around when people were talking, then the kings
men got here and the stories stopped. She said, I
suppose you told them to silence everyone? She
continued as she turned to me.
Yes. I did not want Pandoras family, or her
friends, frightened when we came to explain everything to
them. I answered.

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That was probably a wise decision. My father

says men cannot become gods; that you must simply be
possessed by demons or something.
What do you think? I asked.
I have known Pandora since we were small
children. If anybody could find a way to become a god, it
would be her.
Actually it was me, and I didnt find it; it was
thrust upon me as a curse.
I can see how it would be a curse I mean, but
I bet it is quite exhilarating as well. She replied.
Very. Pandora said, We are not sure how Anu
managed to pass whatever this is to me. We were having
sex at the time, but we had also exchanged blood at the
same time.
We know that sex alone will not pass the

transformation, because we experimented with a stable of

prostitutes, and they are all still quite human. I added.
We were wondering if you would help us
experiment further. Pandora stated flatly.

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That depends what you mean. I suppose the

next step would be to exchange blood with one or both of
you but I would be terribly disappointed to miss out on
sex with the two of you. Kug-Bau said as a wicked grin
played across her face.
We have no intention of disappointing you. I

was thinking sex first, just for the fun of it; then

exchanging blood later maybe even tomorrow. Pandora

said.
And then I become a god too.
Well, you would become whatever it is that we
are. It comes with a price. We live off of the blood of
normal humans, and cannot stand the light of day. I
said.
That does not sound so bad. I have known
more than a few people who I would love to kill, and I
havent seen more than an hour of daylight in years.
I knew this would be easy for you. Pandora
purred as she leaned over and gave Kug-Bau a very wet
and open-mouthed kiss.

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Moments later the three of us were naked on the

bed with our limbs entwined. Kug-Bau was as passionate
and rough a lover as Pandora. Though she lacked the
strength we had, she did not hesitate to bite and slap and
pull hair. This, of course, made it very difficult for

Pandora and I to control ourselves, but we did manage to

make it through the night without harming Kug-Bau.
Sometime around one in the morning, we
stopped to take a break and Kug-Bau said:
I still feel completely human, so clearly sex with
either one of you does not do the trick. How about we try
the blood exchange now to see if it will?
Do The Trick became the way we referred to
the transformation from that night on. It just had a ring
of perfect honesty in its description of what was being
done.
I think Anu should do the blood exchange. It is
his gift to give. I may not be able to do it. Though I
seem to able to do everything else he can do, I would

rather not find out that I cannot do this when my failure

would cost a dear friend her life. Pandora said.

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And if what happened with us was a fluke

occurrence and Kug-Bau still dies? I asked, as it was
important that I know the answer to that. I could not
bear the thought of something coming between Pandora
and I.
I cannot be upset with you over something I

asked you to do, no matter how it turns out. Pandora

replied whole-heartedly.
I cannot either. Said Kug-Bau
Then I will try to, as Kug-Bau says, do the

trick. I said as I leaned down and sank my teeth into

Kug-Baus neck.
I kept waiting for her to bite back as Pandora
had done, but she never did. Finally when her heart
began to flutter and become faint, I pulled back, and not
knowing what else to do, I bit my own wrist open and
held it to Kug-Baus lips.
Drink now; before your heart stops. I
prompted.

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Kug-Bau swallowed a small amount of blood,

then a little more. With each swallow her suction on my
wrist grew stronger. Soon she was gripping my arm with
both hands and drinking like she had been wandering

through the desert and my arm was a cool spring. Then I

heard her heart stop, and her suction slackened.
For a moment I was afraid she had died, but
then I felt her start to suck at my wrist again. I listened
for her heart, but it was still. The trick had worked.
Kug-Bau was now one of us, and she was insatiable. I
had to tear my wrist away from her when she had drawn
so much blood that I felt the hunger returning.
I want more. She said in a sexy little purring
whine.
Then you shall have it. Pandora said, Come,
let us find ourselves a snack.
I needed no urging, as the hunger was flaring up
worse by the second. It did take us several minutes to get
out the door for our hunt though, because we had to

convince Kug-Bau that she needed clothing before we

went outside.

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Gods need not worry about such nonsense. She

argued.
We are not gods. I told you that. I countered,
We are, on the other hand, the royal court of the
kingdom of Sumeria, and we cannot act like animals if we
wish to remain so.
If they challenge us, we kill them. Kug-Bau
cried.
No. We do not kill except to bring justice or to
defend ourselves or others. Pandora commanded.
If those are your rules, I will abide by them, but
I still think it is foolish to worry about what the people
think.
Gods cannot be foolish. I mumbled
sarcastically.
With that, Kug-Bau got dressed with some

assistance from Pandora, and the three of us raced out

into the desert to find nomads to prey on. Pandora kept
Kug-Bau under control while I satisfied my thirst, then
we let her take her own victim, taking great care to make

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sure she did not kill him. She came up with her face
smeared with blood and kissed Pandora. Then she kissed
me.
We sent or prey on their way slightly weaker,
and glamoured to within an inch of their sanity. Then the
three of us made love there in the desert sand until the sky
started to lighten, at which point we just buried ourselves
deep in the sand.

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144

Chapter 11

I was awake the next night several minutes

before the girls. In the time between my rising and theirs,
I had time to think about the implications of turning
Kug-Bau. She was as impulsive as Amil, and seemed to
have even less control. There was a fundamental

disrespect for human life in her, though I did find it hard

to fault her on that. Being a barmaid has a tendency to
lower ones opinion of people; sometimes homicidally so.
In the end it didnt matter. She was Pandoras friend, and
Pandora wanted her to share our gift. So as far as I was
concerned, if it went bad, it would be Pandoras
responsibility to make things right.
When the girls rose we would head for a nomad
camp in the desert. It was the nomads bad luck to be
upwind from us, and I was in a foul mood. It was

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unlikely there would be anyone left alive at the camp to

tell any tales of our attack.
Not a very good example I was setting, but even
the best intentions sometimes go awry. Besides, I could
smell our friend from the tavern; you know the one I let
live; the one who mistook Pandora for a whore; so Id get
to kill him for his insult after all.
The girls woke, but before we headed into the

desert, Pandora and I gave Kug-Bau a few tips on what

she was now physically capable of; the speed, the strength,
increased sight and sense of smell, better hearing, and the
really fun one the ability to glamour people into
believing whatever we want them to.
Kug-Bau thought these were the greatest things
ever, and was so anxious to try each and every one of them
that she shot out into the desert towards the nomads
camp. Her sense of smell was clearly working.
Pandora and I raced after her, and got to the

camp just as Kug-Bau grasped her first victim of the

night.

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You may kill these men. Two of them insulted

Pandora, and their hands on your buttocks have
undoubtedly been a nuisance to you on more than one
occasion. I said.
She pulled her lips from his neck just far enough
and just long enough to mumble: Excellent.
There were eight men in the camp. No women.
No children. Obviously these men were only part of a

larger group, probably on a scouting or trading mission.

My decision to kill them all was made much more
palpable when, following the smell of the buffoon from
the tavern; I stepped into the largest tent and saw the
armor and weapons that had belonged to my father and
his men. Clearly these men had either scavenged these
things from the bodies of my father and his troops, or

they had traded with the Atlantians for them, neither of

which could I abide.
Just for fun, I cleared my throat. The man I was
looking for turned around wielding my fathers sword,
with a look of utmost terror on his face.
You dare raise my fathers sword against me? I
asked in my most sarcastically authoritative voice.

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He dropped the sword and said: Im sorry. I

told them it was a bad idea to take Sumerian war tools
from those dirty gypsies. I knew that however they got
them it would turn out bad for us.
You should have been more adamant about your
instincts. But, it wouldnt have mattered tonight. You

would still be in this same mess even if you hadnt taken

the weapons.
I dont understand. The man said with a

genuinely perplexed look on his face.

You insulted the queen last night. I said as I
looked into his eyes, You insinuated that she was a
whore. Do you remember?
I saw the glamour roll back and allow his real
memories to come out as I pushed his mind.
But she But my friend Im sorry. He
mumbled.
It seems that you are the luckiest man on earth,
because again I find that it is more useful to spare you
than to kill you.

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Huh?
You will leave this camp immediately, and
return to your people. No one will stop you. You will tell
your people and anyone you come across that any affront
to the Sumerian kingdom will be met with the most
severe retribution imaginable. Is that understood?
Yes sir. He said as he cautiously ran past me
into the desert night.
I stepped out of the tent to tell Pandora and
Kug-Bau to let the man flee, but they were too busy to
bother with him.
Pandora stood by the campfire feeding from one

man, while she held another at arms length. Kug-Bau

was lying on the ground on top of a man while two of his

companions tried in vain to pull her off of him.
I grabbed one of the men accosting Kug-Bau by
the shoulder and the top of his head and turned his head
to look at me. I held his shoulders where they had been
so the result was his head gruesomely sitting backwards
on his neck.

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It was rather interesting to note that his brain

stayed alive long enough to register his situation, and play
the appropriate emotion across his face before he dropped
to the ground dead.
I lifted the other man off of Kug-Bau and said:
Has no one ever told you it is improper to manhandle a
woman?
He looked at me with unadulterated rage and
malice but said nothing.
I pulled him to me and sank my teeth into his

grimy neck. I drained his blood in moments and turned

to find the eighth man. I knew there were eight men,
because I had smelled each of them distinctly, but he had
not joined the melee yet for some reason. Lifting my
nose slightly I caught his scent outside the camp in the
same direction I had allowed my messenger to flee.
So he was a coward? Well, I would give him
something to fear; for a few moments at least.
I shot into the desert, raced past him, and then
came to a stop directly in front of him so that when he

looked up we were more or less face to face. He began to

150

cry and babble as I lifted him off the ground and brought
his neck to my mouth.
When my fangs pierced his flesh, his bladder and
bowels released which ruined any enjoyment I might have
gotten from his blood. Disgusted, I decided to dispose of
him rather than finish draining him. The first thing that

came to mind was to see how far he would go in the air if

I used all my strength; childish I know, but what the hell.
So, giving in to my impulse, I heaved as hard as I could,
and watched as he went up nearly out of sight. He
screamed all the way up, then all the way back down, until
he hit the sand so hard that even on its soft surface he
made a sickening splat.
I returned to the camp to see Pandora had

moved on to the man she was holding at arms length.

She wasnt feeding from him yet. Instead she was
allowing him to beat her on the head with a club. The
result was that he was splintering his club into tiny pieces,
and doing no damage to Pandora at all. In fact she was
laughing at him almost uncontrollably.

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Kug-Bau had finished her meal as well, and was

watching Pandora toy with the fool like a cat with a
mouse.
Pandora, my love, has no one ever told you that
it is impolite to play with ones food. I joked.
He started it. She giggled back.
Well hurry it up, would you please. We still
have to go to your familys village and say our goodbyes.
Tonight we return to Ur. There is simply not enough
prey here for our feeding to go unnoticed.
What about me? Kug-Bau asked as Pandora
bit into her victims neck with an audible crunch.
You will be returning with us. Officially you
will be Amils new wife. Unofficially, you will be free to
spend your time however you like, as women are not on

Amils list of acceptable love interests. You will of course

be welcome in our bed if that is your wish. Whatever
arrangements you like, will be provided.
What if I want to stay with my family? KugBau asked.

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That cannot be. As Ive said the population is

too thin to hide our feeding.
So what. Why try to hide it? We are strong
enough to do as we wish. She argued.
We are not so strong that we could inspire a
full-scale revolt and survive, and that is what would
happen if we feed indiscriminately.
But I dont want to be your brothers wife.
It is better than bar-maid. Besides that, I will
not have one of our kind, whatever that is, outside of my
supervision, doing whatever whim consumes her.
I am not a child to be bossed around.
You are impulsive and impertinent, and I am
sure that without others to guide you, your behavior
would quickly cause suspicion.
Please stop fighting. We are family now.
Urged Pandora.
Yes we are, and we must remain together as a
family. I have and will always try to be fair and even-

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handed, but as the first of our kind, I am obliged to make

the rules. No one of our kind exists outside of this
group. I stated, making my position clear, and closed to
discussion.
You will love Ur Kug-Bau. It is amazing.
Everything you can imagine is there in one place. And
you will be a princess. Pandora said to try to smooth
Kug-Baus ruffled feathers.
So if I leave the group I forfeit my life? KugBau asked rather timidly, as the implications of my words
finally hit home.
No. Pandora said.
That is not my wish, but I if my hand is
forced I began.
No. Pandora said again.
Then I will have no choice. I said in a
melancholy but matter-of-fact manner.
Pandora looked at me, and though I could tell

she considered arguing, she said nothing; thank the

heavens. I hated how the discussion had gone, but I

154

would not give ground. Pandora knew me well already,

and she could tell that this topic of conversation should be
ended now. Kug-Bau apparently realized the same thing
because she said nothing more.
We returned to the village, and began saying our
goodbyes. Kug-Baus father was thrilled that she would
be married to my brother. Pandoras father made us

promise to return soon and then asked if I could join him

for a moment to discuss important business. I was mildly
intrigued so I agreed. As we went back to the tavern
owned by Kug-Baus father, Pandoras father explained
that he, Kug-Baus father, and one amazingly old woman
whose name I was given but dont recall, made up the

elder council of the village.

When we entered the tavern Kug-Baus father
and the old woman were in discussion, but immediately
looked up and waved us over. Unlike on my previous
visits to the place, this time it was well lit with candles.
Shortly after being seated and exchanging pleasantries,
the three rather bluntly asked that I include their village
into my Kingdom. Since I had planned on doing so, at
least to a degree, for the benefit of both Pandora and
Kug-Bau, I agreed. Thus I was obligated to the

155

protection of another group of people, which eventually

became the city of Eridu. In return, I explained, all that
was required was what could be spared after the needs of
the people, be it personal or trade, were met. The

contingency of men at my home in the village would now

act on my behalf as builders, and guards to bring Eridu up
to the same level of engineering as the rest of the
kingdom. The three were thrilled. I carefully left the
three of them when the celebration of our new alliance
had left them too intoxicated to realize I had slipped out,
and gathered up Pandora and Kug-Bau for our return to
Ur.
We made it home just before the sun became
unbearable in the sky.

156

Chapter 12

Amil was less than happy to have a wife, but

after I and both the girls assured him that it was not
expected or even desired that he consummate the
marriage, he calmed down. I explained that we needed a
reason for Kug-Bau to live in the ziggaraut, and that

obviously she couldnt pretend to be a servant since she

would have to sleep during the day. He briefly fought to
have me claim her as a second wife, but gave that up when
Pandora informed him that she would be my only wife.
Once that topic ended, Amil began pressing to
be turned immediately. Knowing my brother as I did, I
knew better than to give him what he wanted before he
had done what was required of him, so I informed him
that on their wedding night, Kug-Bau would do the
trick and bring him over.

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Unfortunately this reopened the topic of what

exactly my rules for our kind were, so for the first time I
had to voice them rather than be their example. In the
beginning they were few and simple; in time more and

more complex rules would come about, but now is not the
time to discuss that.
The first rules were as follows: {1} No human
was to be killed without the consensus of the group. {2}
It was forbidden for anyone to do the trick without my
prior consent. {3} We, that is those of our kind which I
then dubbed Strega (Ill explain in a moment), would live
together and leaving the group was forbidden.
Strega was one of the few Atlantian words I
knew from the interactions we had before the conflict. It
meant witch or dark-god. I thought that dark-god was

appropriate, though I didnt really see us as gods. I knew

that the word would both satisfy my own sarcastic view of
our condition, and draw no negative connotations, as the
people of the kingdom were not versed in the Atlantian
language. Pandora laughed when I explained the word.
Amil rolled his eyes and called me morose. Kug-Bau

took it as an acknowledgement that we were in fact gods

of course she would.

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I tried to excuse Pandora, Kug-Bau, and myself

to go feed, but Amil explained that the court we had
inadvertently started had proven popular with the people,
and that we need not slip out to feed that night as there
were several cases to hear, one quite severe.
I was hesitant, but both Amil and Pandora

argued that the precedent had already been set. So that

become imbedded in our culture that night. Those
accused of a crime were brought to stand before the GodKing and his court, and those found guilty would feed the
gods. Those committing the most grave offences would
be killed.
One man was accused of adding sand to bags of
grain to cheat another in a transaction. Though we did
find him guilty, we didnt feed from him; we just made

him make up the difference. The next man was accused

of damming a stream and thereby causing draught in his
neighbors fields. As it turned out a storm had downed a
large tree, and between the trunk and the root ball it, not
the farmer, had dammed the stream. Men were

dispatched the following day to help with the work of

removing the tree. The last case was of a man accused of
stealing a camel.

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I didnt understand what Amil meant about it

being serious until we began listening to testimony. The
man denied stealing the camel. His story was that he
found it wandering around on the far end of land he

farmed and kept it when he asked around and no one

mentioned losing a camel. He squirmed a lot, and did
not make eye contact. Clearly something about his story
was not true.
The family of the man who owned the camel was
present but he was not. When I asked why, I was told
that he had not been home since the night the camel went
missing. He had taken the camel, along with a horse, and
two goats to the market in Uruk to sell them or trade

them for tools he needed for farming and never returned.

Hearing this I turned to the accused and insisted he make
eye contact.
My intention was to glamour him into telling the
truth, but before I could do so pictures from his mind
began playing in my head much like a television in a
modern living room.
You are lying. You followed the man from his
stables, killed him, and took his animals.

160

I did not. He insisted.

You will tell us all everything that happened
that night. I commanded as I pushed the glamour into
his mind.
His resistance melted immediately and he told
everything exactly as I had said it had happened. As soon
as he finished I released the glamour and he was horror
struck. He had heard himself confess to murder and

theft. Furthermore he had implicated his son and son-inlaw. I had guards retrieve the two absent men from their
homes, and told the offended family that they were free to
go or to stay and witness punishment the choice was
theirs. They chose to stay as Pandora, Kug-Bau, and I
drank from the three men until they were dead.
The next night Amil had already arranged a
lavish wedding and banquet for he and Kug-Bau. I knew

he was anxious to be turned but he surprised me with this.

He and Kug-Bau exchanged vows, the banquet was an
uproarious party, and he was turned.

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162

Chapter 13

I will be condensing things for a while because

the four of us fell into a routine for many years, and it
would be both egotistical and boring to tell of such
monotonous events.
I ruled as King for many years; my name seems
to have changed several times as our language evolved.

When I was bored with it, I offered rule to Pandora, but

she declined, so it was passed to Amil. It took him nearly
two- hundred years, and many name changes of his own,
to get tired of it and pass it to Kug-Bau. It may sound
cavalier to pass the rule of a kingdom around like a party
favor, but it was merely the day to day operations, all the
major decisions as few as there were, were still mine.
During Kug-Baus rule a kingdom to our

northeast began to encroach on our border. That

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kingdom would later be known as Babylon. They had

during the course of our reign in Sumeria grown very
large. In fact, they were much larger than us, and had a
military that dwarfed ours. After several battles with

them, and a staggering number of lost lives I made the

regrettable decision to do the trick to a division of men
and, with me as their leader, turn them loose on the
Babylonians. After much carnage the Babylonians
withdrew from our borders, but I had already been
offended, so I followed them all the way to their capitol

city, also called Babylon, and conquered them quietly by

draining their king in the night and placing myself on his
thrown. In Sumeria the rule was passed back to Amil
eventually, when Kug-Bau went out for the night and
never returned. She was found in the desert burned to a
cinder, having apparently stayed out to meet the sun and

thus commit suicide. She had always been impulsive, and

became quite irrevocably depressed when the last of her
mortal descendants died with no heir, ending forever her
lineage.
Unfortunately the army I had created to save the
kingdom quickly grew out of hand and I was forced to
eliminate them all, bringing the number of Strega down

164

to three. It was with a heavy heart that I carried out the

deed since many of the men were once very loyal to me,
some had even been friends, but the men had taken to
feeding openly and killing without compunction. They

would not be bound by rules, and they were causing the

people to become hateful and superstitious beyond reason.
The very men who had saved the kingdom were
destroying it, all in less than a few years. It was with a
heavier heart still, that I looked around the kingdom to
realize that I hated what I saw. The people had

segregated themselves based on which region of the

kingdom they had come from; often killing one another
over it. Even the cities went about slandering one
another. Ethics had degraded to a nearly non-existent
level. And so the three of us passed judgment one last
time, and decided the kingdom of Sumeria and the
kingdom of Babylon would be no more.
We went up the Euphrates River until we

reached mountains and dammed the river, and then we

did the same to the Tigress. Drought followed. Those
who didnt die in the drought died in the flood that came
when we undammed the rivers a year later. Only one
human from either kingdom survived. His name was

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Ziusudra. He had been a priest in our temples, and

overheard our plans to destroy the kingdoms. He tried in
vain to convince people to join him in building an
immense ship, or arc, to survive the flood of the world

(to the people then the kingdoms encompassed the entire

world). Because of the drought, and because of a general
distrust amoung people, no one believed him even though
we had disappeared. He built his boat anyway, loaded up
the animals from the menagerie, or zoo, of the ziggaraut
at Uruk and waited for the flood. He didnt wait long.

His boat was finished only days before the rivers erased
everything he had ever known.
We found him and heard his story when we
returned to the site of Ur after the waters subsided. We
allowed him to live so long as he swore that he would
never lead others to worship us again, and would not
speak of the kingdoms to anyone. He so swore, then he
laughed at the thought of others. He lived the rest of his
days tending the animals in the arid ruins of Ur. When
we unleashed the rivers, the deluge cut new river beds,
changing the course of the rivers forever. Before leaving
the land of our births forever, we placed a large boulder in

166

the center of Ur and carved the following verse as an

epitaph:
For the gods have abandoned us
like migrating birds they have gone
blood flows as the river does
the lamenting of men and women
sadness abounds
Ur is no more.

Something had to be said, and even then we

knew that history would have to have an explanation, so
this was what we chose to give.
We went back up the Eupharates to find that
people from outside of Babylon had moved onto the land,
and were re-establishing order, building, and planting.
Thus the second Babylonian empire was started.
We helped them briefly before moving further
north to the mountains and then west along their slopes
until we reached the sea. Pandoras mother had come

from an island in this sea which has been known by many

names: Mare Nostrum, Mare Internum , The Hinder
Sea, The Western Sea, Akdeniz, Bar al-Rm, and now

167

The Mediterranean Sea. I believe we were in what is now

Israel, though perhaps we were north of that. Regardless
of the exact location, people were present, and somehow
they had heard of the great flood, though by the time it
had reached them it had taken on entirely different

proportions, and had happened further back in history.

Many people still believe this rubbish in the modern day,
but as the bringer of the flood I promise you it has been
entirely exaggerated and gOD had nothing to do with it.
The people we encountered were civilized,
though to a lesser degree than the kingdoms we had
destroyed. They had not yet mastered ship building

beyond small fishing vessels, so for the time being we

chose to stay on land and continued to drift around the

sea.
We came into a green land in the middle of the
desert sometime around the year 1350 B.C., and found a
people on the verge of the kind of civilization we had
once built the Egyptians. We helped them in the
development of language, both spoken and written. We

helped them with architecture, which is why the pyramids

and ziggarauts bare such blatant similarities. Somewhere

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along the way we again became gods Pandora was Isis

and I was Osiris, Amil was known as Set.
We left Egypt in disgust at being praised as
deities again. Fortunately by that time ship building had
evolved to the point where we could sail across the great
sea.
We ended up in the Islands of Greece. Odd and
beautiful lands, each and every one. Some were lush and
tropical, some rocky and dry, some covered in forest, a
few were just rocks sticking out of the sea, but people
abounded everywhere, and they had their own gods so we
stayed amoung them until well after the Romans rose to
prominence and invaded them. We did not intervene as
that was a lesson we did not wish to repeat.

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Chapter 14

After the Romans claimed Greece, They claimed

the rest of the lands around the sea as well. Everywhere
we went, we were in Rome, but we finally returned to the
lands now known as Israel. There was a cult of people

there said to have escaped Egypt, though I never knew of

them there, that believed in a new god, one god who was
responsible for all things. He was a god of many
contradictions. He loved them all, but punished them all
for doing what he had, as their god; put it in their nature
to do. He also spoke only through a select few men, who
like the first priests in my temples, were heavy-handed in
their guidance.
I knew I shouldnt get involved, but I felt bad for
the common people. The priests had all the power and all
the wealth while the people struggled to feed themselves.

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I began talking to small groups about how they should

help one another. I never encouraged violence. I told
them that if there was a god that loved them all that it
wasnt their mistakes that would inspire his anger, but

their refusal to correct their mistakes. I tried to promote

kindness and mercy.
Soon the groups became larger, and I was once
again being looked at as a god. I did my best to distance
myself from such talk but when I said I was just a man it
got twisted. The size of these lectures, and their topics,
began to irritate the local priests. They didnt like the
threat my message posed to their power so they began
complaining to the Roman governor. After enough

complaints he sent men to make me stop my speeches.

At first I did, but then people came to my home and
begged me to speak. Again the governor sent men but
this time they meant to arrest me and punish me for
treason. It seemed my message had somehow posed a
threat to the stability of Rome, which was never my

intent. I loved Rome, it was a marvelous place. Despite

its flaws, it had culture and justice and science. As with
all societies there were some who didnt receive the

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advantages that others enjoyed, but I never wanted to do

anything to hurt Rome.
And so it was that I was drug before the
governor. I didnt resist because people were already
looking at me as a god and if I showed my strength it
would only get worse. Pandora, who had adopted the

name Mary, and Amil tried to get me to let them break

me out of the jail but I refused. This too, I knew would
be misconstrued as divine intervention. The climate of
their homeland was more temperate so, the Romans of
this region did their justice at night, I told them, so
everything would be fine.
I told Mary and Amil, who I then learned people
were calling John, to prepare for our departure from the

region. I convinced them that the best course of action

was to let the Romans execute me, then in a few nights,

I would slip out of my tomb, and the three of us would
move on to another place.
How was I to know that the locals would check
my grave and discover I had left? How was I to know
that they would then build the worlds most hate-filled
and oppressive religion around who they perceived me to

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be? The message had been love, cooperation, and

tolerance, but it was lost before those that had heard my
words had even passed into death.

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Chapter 15

When Pandora, Amil, and I left the region we

went north through Constantinople and into the
Carpathian mountains to live amongst the farmers and
ranchers there. By the time words of this new religion

reached me, there was no stopping it. I was sickened that

my altruistic intentions had become so polluted, and I
vowed never to step into the realms of philosophy or
religion again, and I have kept that vow.
In the mountains we paid men to build us a
grand home of stone and mortar on a peak above the
Arges River. In the process of building our home, which
was initially going to be as modest as a home for three

adults could be but eventually morphed into a castle of

very impressive size, we taught the local craftsmen a few
things that had somehow been lost after the decline of

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Egypt. In return the craftsmen became vehemently loyal

to us. They became so loyal in fact, that rather than
return to the villages and towns they had come from when
they were finished with our castles construction, they
founded a new settlement in the valley below us.
The Romans had shown little to no interest in

the area. Because of its rocky soil, treacherous peaks, fast

flowing rivers, and fiercely independent people, it was
viewed as more trouble than it was worth. So instead of
invading and annexing the region, the Romans used it as
a buffer between themselves and a fierce Asian tribe
known as the Huns. This left a power vacuum that the

locals seemed determined for us to fill. We resisted the

idea at first, but they were quite persistent. Eventually we
set up a system in which each town and village governed
themselves however they saw fit, and looked to us only for
disputes between them, or when they had needs beyond
their own resources.
It was at that time that we had devised a means
to seem like a normal mortal family. Amil and I would
each take a decade or two each of rule, Pandora again
abstaining from the yoke of power. When Amil was
ruling I would never be seen publicly, then I would be

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reintroduced as his son and heir and he would disappear

from view, and vice versa when I was in power. Each
time we would take a new, locally derived name. In the
past we had not had a family name just a given name and
a title, but it was local custom to pass one name from
father to offspring, and so we became the house of
Basarab, as that was the first local name I took for myself.
After that we rotated through the names Mircea, Vlad,
and Radu among others, and once Amil took the name
Dan though where he got it from I still dont know.
During one particularly tumultuous period in the
region we were constantly being invaded for our

protection. First by European Christians ironic isnt it

from the north, then by the Ottomans from the south.
As I have said the local people were very loyal to us, so we
were every bit as fierce in our loyalty to them. When we
were invaded by the Europeans we rebelled against their
taxes, and eventually they gave up saying they would give
us no help if the Turks invaded without tribute to John

Hunyadi (The king behind the invasion). We told them

to be damned along with their help. Amil at the time was
Vlad, or Vlad Dracul, at the time. I was Mircea II.
Several times Europes hero invaded, each time,

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eventually we drove him back; always ending in the same

exchange of threats.
The Ottoman Turks were a different story.
What they demanded was complete subjugation to their
sultan and their religion. I refused, fought back and
somehow became a protector of christianity even though
it had nothing to do with my fight. Vlad was not as

opposed to the Turks, as religion, and politics were never

much his concern. His primary concern was that the
Europeans condemned his sexuality and the Turks did
not, so he forged an alliance with them. It caused an odd
strain, because I would not fight against my brother, but I
could not align myself with the Turks. Often I would

lead forces to drive the Ottomans from a region, and Vlad

would give it back in some ridiculous treaty.
Eventually though, the reigns imposed by the
Sultan became too much for Vlad and he joined me in the
battlefield against the Turkish invaders. Pandora, who
was using the name Elizabeth, left for Hungary to
persuade John Hunyadi that we now fought for Europe,
and whatever else he wanted to hear. She stayed there

several years. In our absence men loyal to Hunyadi placed

an imposter on the thrown posing as me. During that

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same time I became Vlad III and Amil abandoned the

Vlad moniker for the name Radu. We journeyed to the
Sultans home in hopes of negotiating an end to the
hostilities. I know what the history books say, but please
remember history books are edited heavily by men who
dont want to look bad, and I lived these events.
We stayed for several years negotiating with the
Sultan. It wouldnt have taken as long as that, but Radu
and the Sultan became lovers. Eventually though the
Sultan died of some disease he caught in a lovers bed, and
his son took his place. His son had the same name and
rather than carve his own place in history, he just assumed
his fathers identity in entirety. The only part of his

fathers life he did not continue was the affair with Radu,
though Radu tried to persuade him to do so.
We returned home after that. The false Mircea
had fallen out of favor with Hunyadi and had been
blinded and buried alive, Some other poor man who I
guess must have bore a resemblance to Vlad at the age he
would have been, was caught and given the same

treatment. None of that really matters, but it shows the

climate of the time in which we ruled for the final time.
Well, I ruled.

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I claimed the thrown, and for the illusion of

family loyalty, I gathered up all the men who had killed
the false Mircea and Vlad, and tried them for killing my
father and brother. Funny, I know. I had been Mircea,
and Amil/ Radu had been Vlad, so they werent really

guilty of the crime they were tried for. One man even
dared to say as much. I assured him that I was in fact the
son of Vlad the dragon (a nickname of Vlad). The trial
was of course a farce, as I had determined to kill them all
before I had even found them. John Hunyadi accused me
of being in allegiance with the Sultan and fought again to
remove me from the thrown. During one extended
campaign he had even managed to place another man on
the thrown, but I returned and he fled without a fight.
Eventually the Sultan became greedy and began
invading again. Pandora returned still using the name
Elizabeth, but for convenience she was now a different
Elizabeth. John Hunyadi had refused to send any

assistance as I had assumed that he would, so we were

alone against the Sultans hoards.
The Turks were many, and we were few, so we
had to resort to extreme measures against them. I
revealed bits and pieces of my real nature, drinking the

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blood of Turks on the battlefield; using my strength and

speed to do things that no man could do. Stories ran wild
that I had made a pact with the devil for my battle
prowess.
After I had won many battles against the Turks,
Hunyadi began sending men to my court to praise my

valiant effort, and offer their help. Of course their help

came with the price of me kissing John Hunyadis
backside, figuratively speaking, and at that point I was
simply not going to play nice with anyone who made
ridiculous requests. So, each time Hunyadi would send
men I would become increasingly hostile to them.

Eventually I would kill them or feed from them as readily

as I did with the Turks.
But I had committed a very crucial error. I had
allowed my anger to get the better of me, and drive me to
behave like a monster. I had put myself in a position that
would lead to nothing but bad things. All of Europe
gossiped about the Impaler Prince the Turks believed I
was an immortal demon called a Jinn. The crusades were

well under way, and I would eventually become a target of

not just John Hunyadi and the Sultan, but all of Europe
as well. So, not wanting to leave the people so loyal to me

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in a bad position, but knowing I must soon leave them; I

became so monstrous that the Turks shivered in fear at
the mention of my name. I wrote letters to the Pope
claiming I fought for the glory of gOD and the safety of
my people. I begged for his mercy on my men and their
families.
After many letters the Pope agreed to grant
mercy to my people, and ordered John Hunyadi to cease
his invasions of our land, but he gave me no such pardon.
In fact he told me that he had charged Hunyadi with the
task of removing my taint from this earth.
Furthermore, he told me, the Orthodox Church had
issued a similar decree.
I was a marked man, so when next John Hunyadi

sent men to take me from the thrown, I allowed it.

Elizabeth, Radu, and I had planned for it shortly after

reading the popes letter. While I was put to death and
buried in a monastery on Snagov Island to assure that I
would not rise again to do the devils work, Elizabeth
and Radu moved to the British Islands and took new
names. A few days after my burial I joined them.

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Pandora was again using her real name when I

caught up to them. Amil had adopted the French name
Beau. I began using the name Kodi, and we made a pact
to stay out of history books from that point on. And so,
our names have remained exactly the same every since.

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184

Chapter 16

Our time in the British islands was blissfully

uneventful. We roamed the main Island from its
southern shores all the way up into Scotland. We even
lived in Ireland for a while, and when people started
talking of the New World an Italian sailor had
discovered, we like many became enthralled.
It wasnt long before people began migrating to
colonies in this new land, and soon we too made the trip.
It wasnt difficult. Only sailors were allowed above deck,
so we were safe from the sun. The ship we were on was
full of people, so we werent hungry, though by this point
our hungers were far less virulent than in the past.
When we did feed, we glamoured it out of the
minds of any who saw it, and the sickness that many had

185

from being packed together in close quarters was blamed

for the weakness our bloodletting had caused.
America was a wild and untamed place. I loved
it. It reminded me of the lands around Sumeria when I
was a boy centuries before. The native people even had
customs similar to Sumeria, and their level of civilization
was along the same point developmentally.
The only thing about the Americas that

bothered me was the fact that most of the Europeans that

made the journey there, were extremely and devoutly
christian. Not the catholic variety either. They didnt
raise hell all week, and praise heaven on Sunday. No;
every moment of their lives was consumed by their
religion. It made their company unappetizing, but we did
have to interact with them from time to time, so we never
lived far from their settlements.
This arrangement work out great for several
years. We lived outside a settlement in Salem,
Massachusetts and actually did our own farming and
raised livestock: not for our own consumption, but for
trade with the colonists for the more modern items we

186

desired that came into their shops from Europe. All of

this we did by night of course.
Unfortunately, an extremely cold winter followed
by a bad growing season, caused excessive hardship for the
human settlers. Many died, but those that survived,
unexplainably, became more devoted to their version of
gOD. It wasnt long before they began blaming the

famine not on nature as they should have, but on the

devil. That evolved quickly into claims by some colonists
that other colonists were in league with the devil, and so
were responsible for everyones problems, as well as being
wicked.
The term witch was thrown about accusingly;
usually by a poorer colonist against a neighbor who was
prospering. Trials began and many women lost their

lives. Pandora latched on to every bit of news we could

get about these trials, and became more and more
distraught about them.
One night after hearing of a mass trial in which
six women were condemned to death, Pandora insisted
we intervene.
We cannot allow this to continue. She pleaded.

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What would you have us do? We are lucky that

we ourselves have not been branded as witches.
Interfering would almost certainly cause their contempt to
fall upon us. I argued.
They do this in the name of their gOD. They
do this in honor of a name that was once yours. You
must stop them.
How would you have me do that? Take the

position as gOD again? I will never do that again, and

even if I would these people would not accept it. They
prefer gOD to be intangible. A gOD they would actually
have to face would most likely drive them to even worse
insanity.
Why dont we just move into the heartland of
this new continent, and forget these silly Europeans?
Beau suggested.
Be quiet. You never cared about anyone but
yourself. These women are dying in the name of a

religion that we allowed to continue when we should have

crushed it in its infancy. We are responsible for those
women dying. She screamed.

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Dont be so melodramatic Pandora. Those

people are responsible for their own problems. We didnt
crush the religion because, as we have seen, another one
would have just popped up in its place. They need these
spiritual crutches and we have no right to take them
away. I said.
But this religion is about you. However
perverted it has become, you started it.
The religion started in spite of what I did and
said, not because of it. I argued.
I was fast becoming frustrated. We were going
in circles with our conversation, and it only got worse as
the night went on. Pandora never budged in her assertion
that we must intervene. By morning we were all
screaming at one another. We had become far louder
than humans were capable of, literally shaking the rafters.
As the sky started to light the sky, I tried to end
the cursed conversation peacefully.
What people do to one another is not our
concern. We have tried to intervene before and it always

makes things worse. We are not like them, so we cannot

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understand how to help them. I am sorry it is that way,

but it is that way.
Then we are monsters deserving of the same
fate as those poor women. Pandora said as she bolted out
the door into the morning sun.
I panicked immediately. The sun had always
been our enemy, but somehow it was not affecting her at
all. Beau and I stood immobile as it streamed in the open
door and fell on us.
The sun no longer harmed us. However, it did

reveal quite clearly that we were not human. Our skin

seemed almost translucent. Blue veins streaked across our

complexions. From a distance we might pass, but up
close, we would look like monsters.
It didnt matter; we had to get Pandora, so we
both raced after her. But, by the time we caught up to
her, she was deep in the heart of Salem screaming at the
humans.
A crowd had already gathered, and they all knew
clearly that she was not human. Many of them pointed,
some cried, but the men who ran the town, those

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conducting the witch trials had become angry and were

pushing towards her with evil intentions. Pandora could
easily overpower them and destroy the entire town if she
chose to do so, but when they got to her, she simply
submitted.
If ever there was a witch or monster in your
midst it is I. she said through tears.
It is I who causes the plagues that befall you.

Let no other women die for my sins. She managed to get

out as they bound and gagged her.
I didnt know what to do. I wanted to rescue
Pandora, but she had done this. It even looked like she
wanted what was happening. If I tried to rescue her,
would she let me? I simply could not end the inner
conflict and will myself to action. I knew I would hate
myself for standing inactive, but it was all I could do.
Beau was similarly dumbstruck, as they untied
Pandoras hands and locked her in the stockade. Soon
they were piling wood around her.
They were going to burn her alive and still I
couldnt move.

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Beau and I just stood there at the edge of the

square and watched in horror as Pandoras funeral piar
was built.
Finally, she looked across the distance and made
eye contact for the first time since we had started arguing
that night. I saw such pain in her eyes, and at the same
time peace.
I managed to mouth the words Please dont do
this! to her silently.
She simply mouthed back Go.
I fought to take action, but still could not,
neither could Beau.
They lit fire to the wood around her, but she said
nothing.
When the fire spread and began to engulf her
she made eye contact again. She said nothing. She didnt
even mouth words, but somehow I heard her in my head.
She said:
I loved you enough to do anything for you, but
you would not even think of doing as I begged you. My

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love has died. I hate you now, so please allow me the

dignity of dying without you as a spectator.
My heart broke, and I fell to me knees. My
action brought reaction from Beau.
I heard it too. He said, She doesnt want us to
help her. If we dont go we will either have to join her
our fight our way out later.
I cannot. I cried.
Beau had not always been the most sympathetic
brother, but he understood that day, so he leaned over
and lifted me over his shoulder.
A second later we were home, and I watched as
he packed our things onto our wagon at blinding speed.
When the wagon was packed, He turned to me
and asked where we should go. I didnt want to be
around anyone, not even him. Part of me wanted to join

Pandora in the flames, if she had wanted me too. But she

hated me, and it was that hate that froze me.
I had lived through millennia with her, and now
she was gone. I couldnt even think beyond that.

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Beau, sensing my inner turmoil, acted for us

both. He placed me in the wagon, and headed inland.
He was following his plan to join the so called savages of
this land.
We did join the natives for a time, but Beau
grew bored with what were to him antiquated ways. So,
for the first time in our lives, we parted company. Beau
returned to Europe, and I stayed with the natives.
As more and more Europeans moved to
America, the natives fled west and I with them. We
settled along the shores of what is now Lake Michigan,
and I acted as their protector for a few years, but soon
there were more colonists than even I could kill. The
colonists also brought plagues to the natives, and I could
do nothing to help them with that.
Finally sometime in the late 1600s, when the

tribe that I had been living with for three generations

succumbed to a plague and died yes all of them, I

decided I had lived enough. I didnt know if I could die,

but I thought that if anything would do it, the hunger
would. If I buried myself in the earth, and could not feed,
surely the hunger would turn in on me and consume me.

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So, that is what I did. I laid in the earth

conscious for many years. The hunger never grew to what
I expected. I listened to the sounds of settlers move in
and build on the land above me, before finally, somehow,
I willed myself to sleep.

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196

Chapter 17

So I slept, but only in a way. I was still aware on

some level that the world was evolving; that the
population was growing; that new and marvelous things
were coming into being; and most of all I felt the pain of

Pandora having died hating me. All of these things were

going on in part of my mind, yet still I was peacefully still,
and the time was calming. The time also increased my
power.
Even without feeding, my strength, my speed,
my stamina, all increased. I couldnt test it in my place in
the earth, yet I knew. And, as time went by I started to
become aware of other powers presenting themselves.
Sometimes I would be roused to consciousness

momentarily, like when I gained the ability to see with

sound.

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I know that some animals in nature are capable

of a similar feat, but Im no biologist, so I dont know how
it works for them. For me, my brain was literally forming
pictures out of reflected sound-waves. It kept me awake
for months until I learned to shut out all but the closest
sounds. Then I went back to blessed sleep.
Another time, I became aware of some
burrowing creature in the ground near me. There was
enough space around me to allow me to open my eyes,
and tilt my head, so I did. What I saw was a bright red
glow in the darkness. I know now that I was seeing
infrared signals like a modern thermal camera.

Interesting, but still not enough to wake me fully. I went

back to sleep.
At the same time that I was gaining new powers,
and the scope of older powers expanded, my ability to
control them eroded, no doubt from lack of feeding. So
when I started hearing the minds of the humans on the
land around me, I was unable to shut it out. At first there
werent enough people to bother me much, so it really

only bothered me if something else woke me, but as time

went on, more and more people moved into the area
above me creating a sprawling metropolis. The

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cacophony of their minds became like the buzzing of a

bee hive in my mind, and prevented any hope of
continuing my sleep.
I tried to rise, but I had lain in the ground for
several hundred years, so I simply didnt have the
strength. I couldnt rise and I couldnt return to sleep. At
first the futility of the situation angered me, but slowly I

realized that I had already done many impossible things.

Just being alive buried in the earth as I was shouldnt have
been possible. So, rather than lose hope, I began using
whatever powers I could use to better my chances.
Burrowing creatures frequented the soil around
me, often crawling directly on me, so when they did, I
caught and consumed them. The snakes and rodents that
I consumed at first didnt help a lot, but they did provide
me with some strength. I found that as my strength
increased I could reach out to the animals close to me and
guide them to me, and as my strength increased I was able
to control larger and larger animals. Though it was a slow
process, it did allow me to gain some movement in my

limbs and enough mental focus to concentrate and

separate the minds above me to learn from them.

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I studied the way people spoke in this new age. I

learned of many devises and world events, some horrible
and some grand. Slowly but surely the desire to rejoin the
world built in me. Just a flicker at first, but soon it
consumed me.
I drew in every creature around me and fed on

them. I knew this would never give me the strength to

surface, but I hoped it would at least give me the strength

to take advantage of an opportunity should it present
itself, and it inevitably would. They always do.

200

Part Two
The War

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202

20th of March, 1991

I was lying in the ground in a true sleep when I

was awakened by a thunderous explosion, then another,
followed by the sounds of men working. I had become
aware of the citys subway system while listening in on
minds above. Apparently the ground in which I resided
was being annexed for additional tunnels.
Another explosion rocked the ground around
me, and a started to actually hear faint voices. The work
and the explosions got progressively closer, so I started
looking into the minds of the workers, to know what I
would be facing when I re-entered the human world.
There were a total of twenty men. Two men
were setting the explosives and detonating them. The
others were cleaning up around them and placing

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buttressing to prevent the new tunnel from collapsing

around them. The work was going slower than they
hoped, but they expected to make at least the next
hundred feet today, and at least another hundred and fifty
feet tonight.
I closed my eyes and used my sonar-sight to

gauge the distance between us. It was thrilling when I

realized that I was easily within the range they expected to
reach by dark. I would be free soon, so I began planning
exactly how to handle my escape.
I doubted that I had the energy to speed past
them fast enough to avoid being seen. I wasnt even sure
I had the strength to overwhelm that many men even if I
wanted, which I didnt. Still I would have to do

something. They would know I wasnt human the

moment they saw me. After all they were using explosives

and heavy machinery to dig. Those things obliterate solid

stone, so merely by my appearing in the tunnel after a
blast they would know. If one of the machines got to me
first; I would likely be responsible for breaking that

machine. I had once taken a cannon blast point blank in

the chest without so much as a bruise, so I doubted
anything they were doing would harm me, but I didnt

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want to be captured, and in my weakened state twenty

men could probably do that. Then it dawned on me.
The powers of my mind had expanded exponentially
while I had slept, so my ability to glamour would

undoubtedly be stronger. Feeding on whichever worker

was closest to me when I was freed would provide me
with more than enough strength to do what I needed
done. All I had to do was wait.
The next few hours seemed like an eternity, but
finally with a crunch, the ground around my feet fell away
and the small cavity that had housed me was flooded with
light. I hadnt seen light in nearly three hundred years, so
I was momentarily stunned.
Oh shit. Cried the front-end loader operator,
Jay, Theres a body up here.
What? A human body? Jay replied.
Yeah man. Wouldnt matter if it was anything
else.
Fuck! Well have to get the cops down here
now, and thats going to bring any construction to a halt

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for at least a couple of days. Were behind schedule

already. Jay said as I slid out of the hole.
Kurt (front-end loader operator) had turned to
look at Jay as they spoke, so he didnt see me come out of
my former home. Nor did he see me as I lethargically
crawled up into the cab of the front-end loader. It was
the look of terror on Jays face that alerted Kurt that

something was amiss, and by then it was too late. I sank

my teeth into his neck and drank. His blood flooded
through my body, filling spaces that had been dry and
withered for years. It would have hurt if it hadnt been so
very pleasurable.
I hadnt meant to kill Kurt, or anyone else for
that matter, but as soon as his blood hit my tongue, a

hunger that had built for centuries took complete control.

I had sucked the last drop of blood from his veins before
Jay had even managed to turn and run.
The other workers were further back up the
tunnel, so Jay had no help when I fell upon him. He also
had no hope of escaping since Kurts blood had
dramatically replenished both my strength and my speed.

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Sadly I killed Jay as well, but at least his blood brought

the Hunger under control.
I dropped Jay and took off up the tunnel at the
fastest speed I could manage, which was more than fast
enough to escape without further detection.
I reached an intersection of the new tunnel and
an established train tunnel, and paused to pick a direction.
To my right was a long dark stretch of tunnel that even I
couldnt see the end of. To my left was a bright spot in

the darkness perhaps a half of a mile away, so I went that

way. I got to the station and out to the street before I
realized that the clothes I had laid down to sleep in had
rotted over the years and I was now essentially naked. My
brief stop at street level caught the eye of one woman, but
she acted like it was common place for a Tall long-haired
man to stand in the street with nothing on but dirt.
None-the-less, I didnt think it was prudent to stand there
long, so I took off running again.
Not far from my location was the lake. It would
provide both a means to wash off the years of crud on me,
and since I didnt really have to breathe, a place to hide
until dark at which time it would be much easier to secure

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clothes without drawing any unwanted attention. It was

March, so the water was cold, but after so many decades
with little to no sensation, it felt exquisite. As I sank to
the bottom, I scrubbed the filth off and enjoyed the icy

water. At the bottom I simply lay back and began

listening to minds on shore to devise my next course of

action.

--By the time night came, I had a plan.

Unfortunately, my plan involved more actions that I

didnt like. I had no money so, getting clothes, or money
for that matter, required that I mug someone. I hated to
do it, but at least I had been able to read minds close by
and find someone who had plenty to spare and deserved a
little bad luck.
I came out of the lake quickly to avoid being
seen, and found my victim as he emerged from the

elevator in the parking garage of his office in the John

Hancock Tower. He made his living as a slum lord and
by buying and selling stocks he received illegal tips on.
His wealth was substantial, but because he was so

208

dishonest he didnt trust anyone, so he kept his money in

a safe at his home. All the money he had made that day
was in his briefcase, along with an unregistered handgun,
and some pornography that would land him in jail for a
long, long time.
I caught him as he touched his cars door handle.

As the door swung open, I pushed him across the front of

the car into the passenger seat. At first he began to curse
and go for his gun, and then when he saw that I was
naked he began to laugh.
Well, at least no one will question why I shot
you. He snickered.
You will not be shooting anyone. I said as I
reached out with lightning quick speed and snatched the
gun from his hand.
Immediately his mood went from amused but
irritated, to terrified. Of course it was justified, because I
meant to kill him. At first I hadnt relished the idea, but
his mind radiated his bad deeds and evil thoughts, so
every moment in his presence made me less and less
hesitant to end his life.

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I am going to get out and go around to the

passenger side to get in. You will slide over here and
prepare to drive. I said as I looked into his eyes, Do you
understand?
Yes.
I shot around the car in a flash, and opened the
car door. I had to wait a moment for him to slide over,
but he did as told.
Where am I going? he asked.
To your home of course. You have many things
you want to give me.
I do. He said in a monotone.
Soon we were at his home, a condo in the Carl
Sandberg Towers. We took the elevator up from the
garage, and to speed things up I carried him to his door,
and unlocked the door myself.
Once inside he sat on the sofa quietly weeping to
himself while I helped myself to clothes from his closet..

Clearly he knew he was going to die, but I hadnt

expected such a vile specimen to actually cry.

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Why do you sob?

Youre going to kill me right?
Yes I am, but I have seen your mind. You have
expected to be attacked and killed every day for years.
But expecting it and seeing it happening is so
much different. The sick thing is: Im not sad Im dying,
but that there isnt a single person in the world who will
even realize Im gone. That never really dawned on me
before.
It is better that way. You are a wretched man.
You would only defile anyone who became close to you. I
said as I left my perch on his balcony and sat beside him.
I already have the combination to your safe, and
all of your banking information such as it is. What I need

from you now, is for you to sign the titles to all of your
properties and possessions over to me.

Okay, but youll be sorry about the properties.

All those people do is bitch.

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Yes, well, we both know how poorly you

maintain the properties. Those people should have killed
you long before I found you.
Yeah, I guess youre right. He replied as he
signed deeds.
He finished signing papers quickly, then sat back
with his hands in his lap and waited for his death.
Is there anyone you wish to say goodbye to?
Anyone who will be hurt by your suicide? I asked,
though I already knew there wasnt.
No there is he began as I sank my teeth into
his neck and began draining him.
His money had enabled him to live an extremely
healthy lifestyle, so his heart beat solidly long after most

would have failed, providing me with lots of blood before

it finally stopped. I licked the wounds and drew back
from his neck to watch the wounds heal. As soon as he
looked normal again, though pale because he had no
blood, I tossed him off of his balcony onto the street
below; being very careful not to be seen.

212

A second after he hit the street a city bus ran

him over, so there wouldnt even be an inquiry into where
his blood went, as logically it would be running down the
gutters and into the sewer.
Now I had clothes and money with which to reestablish myself in this new and vastly enhanced world. It
wouldnt be safe to stay in the condo for a while though,

because even a suicide would cause the police to do some

investigation, so I would have to find a temporary
residence until I could claim my new home without
drawing attention.
I left his building by going down into the garage.
Fortunately, the garage of his building and several others
were all connected, so I simply headed south underground
to the far end several blocks away and exited there, far
from the commotion in the streets by his body.
On my way from the lake to my victims office I
had passed an interesting complex on what people called
The Magnificent Mile, so I decided Id go check that
out as a potential place to live for a while. When I arrived
at 835 North Michigan Avenue and entered the lobby of
the Ritz-Carlton of Water Tower Place, I was awed by its

213

grandeur. The Concierge was a beautiful young woman

with blonde hair and blue eyes that held my attention
almost as though she were glamouring me. She quickly
arranged for my room, and when I told her I had no bags,
she arranged for several of the retailers downstairs to visit
me with a selection of goods and clothing the next day
when they opened.
Damned airlines. As much stuff as they lose its
amazing they can find the airport. She said humorously.
I didnt know what she meant at first, but after
reading her mind, I said:
Yes. They are rather inept. They told me my
luggage was either in Dallas or Denver. Ill probably
never see it again. I said as we both laughed about my
fictitious missing luggage.
A few minutes later she walked me to my suite,
and gave me a tour of its rooms. After I assured her
several times that the accommodations were more than
adequate she began to make her return to the front desk.
She turned at the door to my suite and said:

214

My name is Kris. If you need anything else,

anything at all, please pick up the phone and dial one for
my desk. I will be very happy to help you.
She closed the door quietly and left, and I went
and lay down on the oversized bed in the master bedroom
and bathed in the luxuriousness of my rooms.

215

216

21st of March, 1991

I woke that afternoon to a gentle tapping on the

front door of my suite. Kris had arranged for no less than
six retailers to visit me with their wares. As you may
already know, Water Tower Place is a shopping mall for
the first eight floors so there were a wide variety of
vendors tending to my needs.
I bought several Burberry Suites from Marshall
Fields, as well as silk shirts and silk ties. Ive never been
much for formal wear, but they were so magnificently
tailored that I couldnt resist purchasing them even
though they would likely never leave my closet. I also
bought several silk shirts of a more formal cut and a pair
of jeans, again from Marshall Fields.
I bought more jeans from another shop; a Rolex

from a fine jeweler, as well as a ring and some small silver

217

hoops for my ears Ive had the holes since I was a child
so I might as well use them, and I liked the look anyway.
I bought some garment leather boots, and a pair of Nike
athletic shoes from yet another retailer, then I began

losing track. Pretty much anything that struck my fancy,

I bought.
I finally stopped when Kris entered, and
mentioned that the closet in my room was getting quite
full.
You are not in uniform this evening. I said as I
noticed Kris was in jeans and a casual sweater.
Im not working tonight. I just wanted to stop
by and make sure everything was to your satisfaction. I
just got promoted to head concierge, so I still have a few
control issues. Kris said with a smile, Sorry.
No need to apologize. I like the personal touch;
it shows pride in your work.
Well I dont know about the pride in my work.
Im just a glorified desk clerk.

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Few would have taken so much care to make a

complete stranger comfortable.
Yeah Ive always been that way. My mother
used to say it would get me in a lot of trouble some day,
but so far Ive survived. She chuckled.
Well thank you. And, tell your mother that I
for one find it a wonderful trait.
Yeah right. If I did shed put you in the
prospective serial killers portfolio alongside every other
person I know.
Im sorry I didnt mean to hit a sore spot. I said
when I realized she had stopped smiling and developed a
touch of sadness in her eyes.
Oh its okay. How would you know my parents
are nuts?
All the same, I would like to take you to dinner

and see if we cant put a smile back on your face. I said. I

hoped I wasnt being to forward.
That would be very nice. Thank you.

219

Since I am new to the city, perhaps you have a

recommendation for dinner.
There is a new French restaurant on Dearborn
that Ive been dying to try.
Then you shall try it. But, dying wont be
necessary.
Youll need to put on one of your new suits.
They require a jacket and tie. She said through a
beautifully wide smile.
That was easier than Id hoped.
Excuse me?
Making you smile again.
Oh she said as she blushed, Ill have to go
home and change of course. Would you like me to come
back here or meet you at the restaurant?
I would like to take you downstairs, and buy you
something nice to wear. I replied.
We arent allowed to except gifts from the
hotels guests.

220

I insist. It is the least I can do after you

arranged all of this for me. I said as I swept my arms to
encompass the suite and its, now full, closets.
If they find out, I will lose my job.
Then dont tell them. I assure you that I will
not.
Okay, you win. But when I get fired you have
to take care of me. She said with a laugh.
That would be my pleasure. I said in what I
hoped was not too obvious of a flirtation.
I will wait in the living room while you change.
She said through another blush.
So, it seems she was interested in me personally
as well. I had thought immediately that I would like to
get to know her when we had met the night before, but
hadnt really expected this pleasant turn of events.
I changed into a suit, silk shirt and tie, and the
garment leather boots far faster than I should have and

was sitting next to Kris on the sofa before she had even
gotten comfortable.

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How did you do that so fast?

I have, on occasion, been required to change
clothes quickly and often. I lied.
Okay. So, I guess its dress shopping time.
Yes it is. After you mademoiselle. I said as I
open the front door of the suite.
Are you always this charming?
I prefer to think of it as well mannered.
Well then, thank you sir. She said as she made
her way to the elevator.
A few minutes later we were in Marshall Fields
formal wear section debating on whether or not she would
allow me to buy a fifteen-hundred dollar dress for her. In
the end, I won; she got the dress as well as a threehundred dollar pair of shoes.
At the restaurant, I sat and watched her eat. She
was exceptionally elegant. Am I a hopeless romantic, or
just a fool? I was clearly falling in love with this woman
whom I had just met.

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Dont you like your food? Mine is exquisite.

Kris asked as she pointed her eyes to my still full plate.
I dont eat much. Besides, it is hard to
concentrate on food in the presence of such a pleasant
companion. I said, as I lifted my fork and moved things
around on my plate.
If you dont like it, we can stop to get you a
burger after we leave here. She said as she smiled at me
like I was a child.
If she knew the truth she would probably be

frightened. I had to do a better job of concealing my

differentness in the future or not.
What are you? Some kind of Vampyre?

What?! Why would you think that?! I said as I

tied to control my obvious excitement.
Oh shit! I was just kidding. You arent one of
those modern Vampyre people are you?
Im hardly modern. I answered sarcastically

hoping the truth would be so unbelievable that she would

never see it.

223

But you are a Vampyre?

Damn. That didnt work.
I paused for too long. Kris stood up from the
table.
Thank you for dinner and the outfit. It was
very generous of you.
I had to do something quickly. Things were
going bad quickly. I hadnt read her mind, but I was sure
she thought I was a nut.
Wait. Please; I would like to show you
something. I almost pleaded.
What?
This. I said as I gently scooped her up and
raced her out of the restaurant and to the lakeshore before
she could blink.
Holy shit! You really are a she broke off
before finishing her sentence.
A Vampyre? Yes. The first actually. But, be
assured I mean you no harm.

224

A real Vampyre cool. What other stuff can

you do?
Mostly the same things you can do. I just do
them better, or with more strength and stamina.
Wait you said you are the first. First Vampyre?
Yes.
I thought Vlad the Impaler was the first
Vampyre?
Technically he was. I was him, among many
other names I have used.
So you are Dracula?
Not really. Vlad; actually the entire Basarab
family was a creation of my brother, Pandora, and I.
There are three of you?
No; two. Maybe only one. Pandora died
during the Salem witch trials, and a havent seen my
brother since shortly after that.
That must be terrible. Did you love her?

225

I did, very much. But in the end, she hated me.

I wouldnt save all the women being persecuted in the
trials, and she thought that made me inhuman.
You dont seem inhuman. I like you very
much.
I was hoping you would. I said as I kissed her.
She kissed back for several minutes, and then
broke the kiss.
Do you drink blood like in the movies? She
asked.
When I must, but At my age it isnt necessary
very often.
How old are you?
By modern measure, I am not sure. I was born
at the dawn of the Sumerian empire.
That makes you over five-thousand years old.
Yes.
You dont look a day over twenty-one.

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A was given this life by an Atlantian witchs

curse just after my nineteenth birthday.
Atlantis was real?
Probably, but it was a legend even then.
Cool. She said as she kissed me again.
A moment later she pulled her drivers license
out of her purse and handed it to me.
Take me here. She said as she pointed to the
address on the front of it.
Ironically it was the address of a townhouse
directly across the street from my recently acquired condo.
As you wish. I replied.
A moment later we were on her doorstep.
That is amazing. She said, as she fished her
keys out of her purse, I hope you dont make love that
quickly.
Absolutely not. I answered.

227

As soon as the door opened I scooped her up

again. She managed to grab the keys from the lock and
point up the stairs before I quickly closed the door and
sought her bed.
And that is where I spent the night: making love
to her in her bed. Just before dawn she asked me if I the
sunrise was going to hurt me. When I informed her it

wouldnt she curled up next to me again and went back to

sleep.

228

22nd of March, 1991

Sometime around three oclock in the afternoon

I woke to the sounds of Kris getting ready for work. For
a while I just laid there and watched her in her
preparations. She didnt do a lot: A little make-up; a

quick brush and tussle (I think its called teasing); some

hair-spray and she was done.
Youre welcome to stay as long as you like. I
have to go to work, but I should be back a little after
midnight. She said.
I do have some business to take care of, but I
would love to see you tonight. I said, Should I lock the
doors and meet you at the hotel, or back here.
Definitely lock the doors. I dont know what
its like where youre from; actually I dont even know

229

where youre from, recently at least, but in Chicago, if you

dont lock the doors youll come home to find all your
stuff gone.
I will lock the doors then. As for where Im
from most recently: I will answer that and any other
questions you may have later this evening.
Great. I keep a spare key under a fake rock in
the flower bed in the back yard, so just use that to let

yourself back in after your errands, and Ill see you after
work.
I will see you then. Have a good day.
You too. Kris said.
As she headed down the stairs I almost called I
love you after her, but thought perhaps it would be a little
too soon to say such things. I got up and dressed in the

pants and shirt of my Burberry suit. It was unseasonably

warm out today, or so I had heard from the radio of a
passing car.
I had many things to do that day. The first of
which would be securing legal Identification. After that I

230

had to transfer the funds out of my last victims bank

accounts into new ones of my own, and then claim
ownership of his condo if the case around his death was
closed without suspicion.
A quick look at the newspaper on Kris coffee
table showed that indeed his death had aroused no

suspicion. There was a page one article about how one of

Chicagos most notorious slum-lords had leapt from his
condo to his death. Several of his tenants were quoted
saying the world would be better off without him or
something else along that line. Police were quoted saying
it was an open and shut case. The author also noted that
the deceased had no family to claim his estate, but that

carbons found at his home showed that he had sold most

of his real-estate holdings a few hours prior to his death
to one Kodi Mykalz. That seemed to be all there was to
it, but I thought a little more investigation might be
prudent. I hadnt thought about the carbons, as there had
been no such thing when last I was walking around doing
business. So, instead of getting ID, my first stop was the
police station to visit the officer in charge of investigating
my victims death.

231

The Police Station at 365 West Oak Street was

rather unassuming for Chicago. The officer in charge of
the investigation I needed info on was more unassuming
still. He was a small Latino man with absolutely nothing

memorable about his appearance or his personality. Both

were just the most generic version of Cop. He was
grumbling about something when I reached his desk
though he paused long enough to tell me to have a seat.
As he grumbled I scanned his mind for any
information; good or bad that I might need. He was very
unfocused so it was difficult reading his thoughts, but
eventually I found what I wanted.
Detective Acevedo, my name is Kodi Mykalz. I
had just left an appointment with the victim two nights
ago when I saw him jump from his window near the

corner of North Sandburg Terrace and West Burton

Place. Im sorry it took so long to speak with you, but Im
new to the city and it took me most of the day yesterday
to find out which precinct was handling the poor mans
case.
Dont worry about it. He was just another
scum-bag who happened to look in the mirror and have

232

an attack of conscience. Then ta-dah, instant meatwaffle.

Do you need a statement from me?
Nah. Case is closed already. I sent the file to
the records department this morning. But hey, thanks for
coming in. Most people just gawk at the spectacle for a
minute or two and go on with their lives like nothing
happened. The detective said as he extended his hand to
me for a shake.
No problem at all, I assure you. I said. As I got

up to leave, he had already gone back to grumbling about

various cases and ignoring the world.
It was four thirty by then, so I had to hurry to
take care of the things I wanted out of the way. First on
the agenda now, was identification.

I went to the Drivers License Bureau at 5301 W

Lexington St, and got in line. I little mental persuasion
and I was soon at the front of the line. A few minutes
later I was sitting at a clerks desk glamouring her into
giving me a Drivers License without any proof I was
entitled to one.

233

My next stop was the Social Security

Administration at 77 West Jackson Boulevard. I few
minutes later I glamoured a clerk into issuing me a Social
Security card. And just like that I was an American
citizen.
It was now five oclock, and I was starting to feel

the hunger, so like in the early days of my existence, way

back in Sumeria, I hunted down an evil-doer and drained

him dry. I still wasnt back to full strength, otherwise I
wouldnt have killed, but ending the life of a murderous
mugger should hardly be viewed as a crime.
I said I wasnt at full strength. Many of you are
saying now: He has powers he didnt have before he went
to ground, how can he not be at full strength? The

answer is quite simple actually. I felt tired, or rather like I

was doing everything with additional weight slowing me,
and I was feeling the hunger after only two days. Even
before I went to ground, I could go three months without
feeling the hunger.
Regardless, after gorging myself on the criminals
blood, I felt completely restored. One can just tell when
one is at his best.

234

The Banking I had intended to do would have to

wait until the next business day. I could tell by the swarm
of people in the city that going to the bank on Friday
would be a nightmare. I didnt want to wait long though;
with the case of my beneficent victim closed, I felt it best
to claim my money before the bank did.
Since I couldnt do anymore business that day, I
decided to amuse myself finding ways to impress Kris
when she got off work.
I wandered into a florist a few blocks from Kris
home on LaSalle and bought every rose and rose petal in
the place. With the florists help, I had Kris townhouse
covered with the flowers in less than an hour. Then I got
the florists recommendation for a good restaurant.
The Italian Village was more than happy to cater
a meal at Kris home after I explained that I would pay

any price. They even supplied a server and selection of

wines.
All that was left now was to meet Kris as she
exited Water Tower Place, and walk her home, so I ran
over there and scoped out the employee entrances until I
found the one for the Ritz-Carlton. Once I knew where

235

that was it was easy to find a place she would have to walk
past, then sit and wait for her.
It was only a little before nine at night, so I sat
back on a bench by the fountain and listened to the city
and all the minds around me, and that is how I remained
until Kris walked up.
Good evening Mr. Mykalz. She said as she
rolled her eyes back over her shoulder to indicate coworkers nearby.
Good evening. I was wondering if you knew of

a place to get a good meal at this late hour. Im afraid I

got wrapped up in business, and didnt conclude it until

most everything was closed.
Room Service would be happy to help you, but
if you want the ambiance of a restaurant, I do know a
place on Clark Street that you might like.
Thank you. Im afraid I dont know the city
very well yet. Could you please provide me with
directions?

236

Actually its really easy she started, Okay so

what gives? Why are you meeting me here instead of
waiting for me at my house, which, by the way, would be
far less dangerous to my continued employment?
I have something to show you, and it would
spoil if you were to go home before I could show it to
you.
Now Im intrigued. Please lead the way.
I lead the way south to Chicago Avenue then we
turned west and walked at a human pace towards LaSalle.
When we crossed Rush Street Kris told me the suspense

was killing her and asked me to hurry, so I scooped her up

and raced to her townhouse.
If the waiter kept to the schedule we had set up
earlier the only light in the house would be provided by
several hundred candles. When we got there, I was happy
to see that the choice to have the Italian Village cater was
money well spent.
The scene was breath-taking even to me and I
helped set it up. Kris started crying. I almost panicked,
but then she smiled hugely and kissed me.

237

This is beautiful. Thank you.

There is more.
I showed her into the dining room where the
waiter was waiting with a wine list, and salads already on
the table.
Oh wow! This must have cost a fortune.
I can afford it.
Yeah, I know, but still wow!
You are worth this and so much more. I said as
I looked into her eyes and watched the candles flame
dance there.
We said very little as Kris ate her meal, and I

carefully pushed things around on my plate enough to

keep the waiter from becoming suspicious.

When desert arrived Kris announced a surprise

of her own.
I found your brother.
Im sorry? You did what?

238

I found your brother: Beau. He is living as

some crazy eccentric multi-billionaire up in Toronto.
Richest man in Canada they say.
And youre sure it is him, and not just a man
whose name is a coincidence? I asked.
Well, I wasnt until I called him. He thought
you were dead. He seemed very nice, but a little
A little what? I asked expecting something
horrible.
Well gay. He was very feminine sounding,
and there were just some mannerisms. Not that it matters,
and I could be wrong.
You arent wrong. He has been that way since
he was a small boy. He never even looked at girls
sexually.
Anyway, he was thrilled to hear that you are
alive, and he will be here tomorrow morning.
Now I must thank you. I said as I felt my eyes
tear up.

239

Kris jumped up from her seat and grabbed the

napkin from her lap to blot my eyes.
Its okay. I am not going to really cry. I said as
I began to laugh at myself.
Maybe not. But if you had it would have been
messy, and it probably would have scared the hell out of
the waiter. She said as she showed me the napkin and
the blood red spots on it. I had forgotten about the blood
tears.
Now youve shown me something about myself
that I had forgotten.
Whats that? She asked.
I cry blood.
Can I just sit here in your lap to eat desert? She
asked as she began eating the piece of strawberry
cheesecake sitting in front of me.
The waiter had been paid earlier in the day, and
the dishes were Kris, so after he had loaded all but the

desert saucers in her dishwasher, he left. When I heard

240

the front door close I lifted Kris onto the table and
covered her in kisses.
I stopped at all the erogenous spots, moving
from one to another until she was trembling with ecstasy.
Then I made love to her right there on her dining room
table, and we fell asleep.

241

242

23rd of March, 1991

Good morning brother. Glad to see youre

alive, and back to yourself if I must say so myself. Beau
said as he nudged me awake, I like this one much better
than the last one. She has a kind heart, and she loves
you.
Pandora was always kind to you, and she loved
me once. I groaned.
Being awake in the day may have been old hat

for Beau at that point, but it was still very unnatural too
me.
Yes, but she always loved herself more, and her
own needs always came first. This one would die for you;
Im quite certain. Beau countered.

243

This one has a name. Kris said as she sat up

next to me without even bothering to cover her naked
breasts.
Pleased to meet you in person Kris. I am Beau,
and I do apologize if I was being rude.
He spent too much of his life as royalty, so his
manners kind of lack. I said to both excuse my brother
and insult him at the same time.
You two are definitely brothers. Kris chuckled,
I think Ill go get dressed while you two talk.
She told me you thought you were the only
Vampyre left. She called me so you wouldnt feel alone.
I didnt know that she was going to do that, but
Im glad she did.
It doesnt matter I was already planning to come
here. The Prince of this state already called to complain

about your presence here. When he realized how

powerful you are, he thought I sent someone to replace

him.
Prince? What are you talking about?

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In your absence, I have been the acting King.

King of what? There are no Kings anymore.
King of Vampyres dear brother. Each city on
earth has a Duke or Duchess that keeps Vampyres in line
from day to day. Each state in large countries, and each
small country has a Prince or Princess to handle the larger
issues, and all of them answer to me and now to you.
What? There were to be no more Vampyres. I
told you that! I forbid it!!! I shouted.
You were dead, or so I thought, and I got tired
of human companionship. They always grow old and die.
Its rather tiresome.
How many Vampyres are there?!
I dont know. I turned maybe forty people in
the last few hundred years. When I got tired of them, or
they got tired of me they moved on and made their own
companions. I guess a few hundred thousand worldwide maybe a million.
That is unacceptable. You must correct this
immediately.

245

And what would you have me do; kill them all?

Yes. I answered bluntly. I was building to a
blinding rage.
Fuck you. You abandoned me and they became
my family. I will not kill them, and I will not let you
either. Beau argued.
Think very carefully before you proceed. Your
words border on a declaration of war a war you cannot
win.
I guess we shall see then, because I will not
allow you to hurt any of them.
So it is war then? I asked.
It is. I will give you until dark to leave this city.
Tomorrow night we will come for your head and that of
anyone with you.
You will regret this Beau.
I already do, but what else can I do. It is a
shame about the girl though. He responded.
If you touch her I will end you. I swore.

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Oh, I like her. I wouldnt hurt a hair on her

head, but the others will probably go after her first thing.
I leapt from the table and raced upstairs to Kris
bedroom and scooped her up.
Whats going on? Where are we going? Kris
asked in shock as I leapt out her second floor window and
raced naked down LaSalle.
Beau has spawned a legion of Vampyres. I had
forbidden anymore of us, so I told him to kill them. He
refused, so now its war, and he made it quite clear you
would be the first casualty.
What? Why?
To hurt me to weaken my will to fight. Im
so sorry! I answered, as I flew up the stairs of Water
Tower Place.
In my suite I threw on jeans, a silk shirt, and

another pair of garment leather boots. Kris tried dressing

in some of my clothes so we could make a fast getaway,
but she was just too petite. I had to go to the mall and
buy her the things she would need, fortunately she had

247

already managed to get her under-things on before we

fled her townhouse.
I thought you were the first. Wouldnt that
make you the strongest? Kris asked as I returned with a
shopping bag containing jeans, a tee-shirt, and some
athletic shoes that I really hoped fit her.
I am the first. And Im probably the strongest,
but Im not sure. Ive been asleep for a long time and

Beau has been awake learning and practicing. And, even

if I am strongest, he has as many as a million Vampyres
on his side. No matter how strong I am I cannot prevail
against those kinds of odds. I answered.
Well thats just great. Kris groaned.
I am so sorry. I have ruined your life. I replied.
No. I know I should be pissed at you, but Im
still glad I have you. Whatever happens, were in it
together.
I kissed her passionately as I scooped her up and
zipped to the bank to transfer all the money from my first

248

modern victims accounts into new ones set up in my

name.
It took far longer than I was comfortable with,
and I could feel Kris fear as well as see it on her face even
though she tried to hide it.
As soon as the bank manager confirmed that all
the money had been transferred Kris and I left.
The sky was already turning dark, so there was
no time for quaint human transportation. We needed
speed that mankind simply hadnt attained yet, so I held
Kris and we ran south through the night.
When we hit the river I used a trick I had used

once in Israel, and ran across the rivers surface so fast that
there wasnt time for my feet to sink. We stay on the
river all night, reaching the Gulf of Mexico by around
three in the morning. Kris pointed to our right, which
was east towards Florida, so we went that way.
We arrived in the city of Tampa an hour before
dawn and, due to the massive amounts of energy I had
exerted in our flight from Chicago, the hunger was
screaming in my brain.

249

We found a hotel quickly and I took Kris to our

room. As I turned to leave she grabbed my arm and
begged me:
Please dont leave me alone right now.
I have to feed. If I wait much longer my control
will fail and will not be able to trust myself not to hurt
you. I replied.
Then feed from me. Turn me. As a human Im
as good as dead, but as a Vampyre I can at least fight.
She pleaded.
Are you sure?
Not completely; no. But Im sure its my only
choice. She answered with tear-filled eyes.
I only wanted to love you. This was never part
of the plan. I said as I sank my teeth into her neck.
I know. She said lustily as the aphrodisiac
effect of my bite swept over her.

250

Her heart began to flutter after only a minute or

two, so I pulled back, bit open my wrist, put it to her
mouth, and said:
Drink. But know that once you do your mortal
life must end.
She said nothing. She just took my wrist in her
trembling hands and drank the blood from my veins. We
collapsed there shortly thereafter: exhausted.

251

252

24th of March, 1991

We woke to silence; no surprise visitors.

Thankfully I had enough wits about me the night before
to glamour the clerk into giving us a room under assumed
names with no identification.
Kris, of course, woke with the hunger.
Fortunately the age and power of my blood made her

extremely strong and the hunger very weak. At least I

think thats what did it. Regardless I was thankful for her
ability to exercise restraint.
She did, however, still have to feed, so that was
the first, and for now only thing on our agenda.
The hotel we had come to was the Hyatt-Grand
on Bayport Drive, which left us a good way from any
reasonable hunting grounds, fortunately the desk clerk on

253

duty when we got downstairs was already thinking about

his plans for the evening in a seedy club district known as
Ybor City.
Without a word to the clerk, we stepped out into
the humid Florida night; I took Kris hand; and together
we ran to find her first victim.
By the time we arrived in Ybor a few moments
later Kris was laughing hysterically.
Are you all right? I asked.
More than all right. That was amazing. She
replied.
We have to feed quickly and carefully. If there
are Vampyres here and they see us, we will have to flee
again. I stated.
Done. Kris said as she shot down an alley and
grabbed a man with blonde and purple hair by the locks.
What the fuck is your problem honey? scowled
the man in a strangely feminine voice.

254

Oh fuck a drag-queen. Oh well. Kris said and

jumped up to sink her fangs in his neck.
Bliss washed over the drag-queens face instantly,
and I couldnt help but laugh as his thoughts filtered over
to me.
Whats so funny? Kris asked as she pulled back
from the now dead drag-queens neck.
That was the first time a woman ever got him
off. I chuckled.
All it took was the right woman. Kris laughed.
At first I didnt get it, but after I looked into her
mind I understood that she was mocking something many
women told themselves when they developed crushes on
gay men.
That should be the last time you kill an
innocent human. I proclaimed.
That bitch was far from innocent. Kris replied
as she rifled through the drag-queens purse and came out
with a gun and several sandwich bags containing little

pink pills with smiling faces on them.

255

So you grabbed a drug-queen drag-queen. I

laughed.
Yeah. Thats how I planned it when I heard her
wicked little mind turning back here.
You have amazing control for someone so new
to this life.
How so?
Most fledgling Vampyres are controlled by the
hunger to an extent that renders them feral. I answered.
Im glad Im not. Kris replied.
It must have something to do with the age of
my blood. I havent turned anyone in thousands of years,
so I wasnt expecting such an easy transition for you.
So we have at least one pleasant surprise to
offset the last few crappy ones. She said through a
somewhat forced smile.
I am sorry that our life together started with so
much bad. I promise it wont continue long. I said.

256

Life together: I like the sound of that.

Speaking of which, we need to make a plan to deal with
this war. Kris said.
Shhhh! I heard something. Someone is
watching us. I announced.
What do we do? Kris asked.
Quiet please. I need to know if its a Vampyre
or a mortal. I whispered as I scanned the minds of those
around us.
Thats when I saw her. She was standing at the
side door of Tracks a gay and lesbian club on the corner
of North Fifteenth Street and East Seventh Avenue. She
was most definitely a Vampyre. She had been watching
us as she and two of the clubs dancers chit chatted and
smoked. When she realized I had caught her, she first
showed a look of mild panic, but then amusement played
across her face and she turned and went inside.
Hurry, we have to catch her before she gets to a
phone and calls Beau. I said as I raced to the front
entrance.

257

What if she does? Kris nearly cried from one

step behind.
I assure you: I have no intention of calling your
brother King Anu. Said a female voice in my head as we
came face to face with the clubs doorman and the
Vampyre who had been watching us.
They are my guests. She told the doorman who
quickly stepped aside and let us enter.
Who are you, and how do you know who I
am? I demanded.
My name is Krystyl, and I know who you are
because I am student of the history of our race, and

because your brother used to talk about you. Said the tall
beautiful Japanese woman with waist length hair and
extremely rare green-eyes.
If you know Beau, why arent you on the phone
telling him where we are? Kris asked.
Because I, like yourselves, do not agree with
how he has run things in Anus absence. Krystyl
answered.

258

I prefer Kodi. I havent gone by the name of my

birth in millennia.
Very well. Kodi it is then. I am at your service.
Krystyl replied.
How safe are we here? Kris asked.
Oh you are quite safe. This is my state, or it
was. Now it is yours King Kodi. Krystyl said as she
looked from Kris to me.
Just Kodi please. How many of you are there
here? I asked, in this city; this state?
There are only three of us in Tampa. Another
two live in Miami. Thats it for Florida. Its too sunny
here for the young, and most of the older vamps still avoid
the sun. Old habits die hard, or so they say.
And why should we trust you? Kris asked.
Until we have talked, you shouldnt. I havent
earned your trust, but I did not call Beau and his minions.
Surely that has at least earned me the honor a
conversation.

259

Where are the other two from this city that you
spoke of? I asked.
They are in the coffee bar. If you promise not
to kill them before at least hearing us out, I will take you
to them.
Very well. You have my word. I vowed.
What about you? Krystyl asked Kris.
Me, what can I do. This is my first night as a
Vampyre. Kris asked, dumbfounded.
It may be, but thanks to Kodi being your maker,
you are stronger than all but the most ancient among us.
I dont know that even I could stop you and other than
Beau, Kodi, Trent the duke of Miami and my maker, I
am the oldest of our kind.
Well, as Im sure you know, there is a war going
on between my brother and I, so we must dispense with
the pleasantries and develop a strategy.
Your quite right. Krystyl said as we entered a

smaller, quieter room of the club, Let me introduce you

to Mitchell, and Coryn.

260

To our left was a small alcove containing a couch

three corners of its perimeter, a coffee table, and two
Vampyres. Mitchell was very athletic looking. His bared
arms showed muscles rippling with even the smallest

movement. Coryn had long black hair and blue eyes just
like Mitchell, and they shared a striking resemblance
except that she thankfully wasnt as muscled.
Holy shit: Its true. The first Vampyre lives.
Said Mitchell.
I do. This is Kris, my I started.
Girlfriend. Kris finished.
So it isnt true; The story about you wanting all
Vampyres exterminated? Coryn asked.
It was, but I cannot do that alone. Anyone who

stands with me will live, provided they survive the war. I

answered.

Count us in then. Beaus a dick. Mitchell said.

Does he speak for you? I asked as I turned to
Coryn.

261

He does. Beau turned him because he wanted

to boink him. Then he turned me to keep Mitchell from
offing himself.
He wanted to commit suicide? I asked.
Yeah, I didnt want to be a Vampyre at first.
Beau was right about turning Coryn. Shes a great
Vampyre, and turning her gave me something to live for.
Mitchell replied.
And you Krystyl, where do you stand? Kris
asked.
I stand with you. Beau turns people on whims,
and then abandons them, just as quickly, to learn how to
be Vampyres on their own.
He has always been impulsive. I had hoped that
time had tempered that, but it seems not. I moaned.
So theres five of us against a legion. Those are
shitty odds. Kris said.
Trent and Shannon will join us. They hate
Beau. Coryn stated.

262

Do all of Beaus officers hate him? Kris asked.

No not all. Most of us got our positions from
Beau as bribes to gain our favor, and unfortunately most
of us fell for it. He lets those of us who wont kiss his ass
keep our positions if we play nice. If we dont hed strip
of us of power and kill us. Krystyl answered.
We can probably count on Maria, Sean, and
Robert As well. Mitchell threw in.
Those are the oldest of us, except for you and
your brother. Krystyl added.
Id like to know a little about these people
before I invite them into our circle. I pointed out.
Well you already know that Trent is Duke of
Miami. He flirted with Beau to convince him to do the

trick, but then he went and turned his girlfriend Shannon.

Beau was so pissed he almost killed them both, but for
some unknown reason, that all blew over almost before it
started. Krystyl said.
Maria is Princess of Louisiana; has been since
before the Civil War. Beau has threatened to remove her

263

several times, but she has an army in New Orleans alone.

Every vamp turned since Anne Rice wrote those books
sees New Orleans as Mecca. Mitchell said.
Maria has tons of money and resources cause
she secretly owns majority shares in all of the American
oil companies. She and I are lovers. We both like boys
too, but were exclusive as far as the lezzie thing goes
Coryn added.
Sean is Prince of California, well all of it except
Los Angeles. Robert is Prince there. LA is a world all to
itself so Beau assigned it its own Prince. They both are
pissed at Beau over the taxes he levies on them. The two
of them pay as much as the rest of the country. Krystyl
said.
What about foreign Rulers. Would any of them
be interested in standing against Beau? I asked.
Maybe Staci in France and Angela in Italy.
Beau taxes the crap out of them. And, he bumps them

out of power ever so often when he wants to live in one of

their countries, but he keeps Canada no matter what.
Mitchell stated.

264

What about Antonio? Coryn asked.

Dont mention him. Mitchell whispered in her
ear.
Why not? Who is Antonio? I asked.
Antonio is my maker. Krystyl said, He is also
Rogue. He once ruled all of Europe before Beau
established himself as World-wide King back in the
Eighteen-hundreds. The two of them nearly killed each
other before Beau managed to unseat Antonio.
Supposedly Antonio was turned during the Renaissance,
but that doesnt fit with the history of our race as it has
been told to me.
If he is that old, he will be a valuable ally. Does
anyone know where to find him?
Last I heard he was wandering around Southern
Asia and Indonesia. Coryn answered.
I heard he was holed up in Japan learning the
ways of the Samurai so he could reclaim Europe.
Mitchell said.

265

He is in South America somewhere. I cant be

more specific because he blocks me when I reach my
mind out to his. Krystyl stated, Where did you two hear
that other ridiculous nonsense?
Just rumors. Coryn said sullenly.
I will go to him. Krystyl said.
No I will do it. I said, Beau doesnt know
anything about our alliance so youll be safe here. On the
other hand if I stay stationary for too long he will find me
and the war will start. Running all over South America
should keep him confused for a while.
No need to run. If you will allow me, I can

teach you a trick that Im sure you are capable of which

you probably havent thought of. Krystyl said.
Anything that will help is welcome. I
answered.
Older Vampyres like ourselves are capable of
moving from one place to another with only a thought.
Have you been to the coliseum in Rome?
Yes.

266

Good. Think clearly about it. Envision

yourself standing in the center of the arena. Now, reach
out to that vision with your mind and draw it in like you
would a lover.
Okay.
Focus. Smell the air. Feel the breeze coming in
from the sea.
I feel it.
Good, now open your eyes.
When I opened my eyes I found myself standing
with one foot on top of one of the walls that once
supported the arena floor, and the other in mid air.
Needless to say, the shock of finding myself in Rome, and
seeing myself dangling in the air, along with the

devastation of the coliseum left me momentarily stunned,

and I fell to the ground below me where Krystyl stood
waiting.
I guess I should have mentioned that the floor
decayed and collapsed a thousand years ago. Krystyl

267

chuckled, You havent been here in a long time have

you?
Not for a thousand years or so. I laughed.
Okay, you got that easy. Want to go back to
Tampa now?
Yes. I answered, as Krystyl reached out a hand
to help me up.
By the time I was standing we were once again
in the coffee bar of Tracks with Kris, Mitchell, and
Coryn.
Thats a wonderful tool, but how will it help in
South America, Ive never been there before. I asked.
All it takes is a photograph and some
concentration. Krystyl answered.
What is the population of Vampyres like in
South America? I asked.
Small and unorganized. The people there are
very superstitious, so they still believe in us. Its not a
good place to call home unless you like an endless parade

268

of would-be Vampyre-hunters and dunder-headed priests

trying to kill you. Mitchell answered.
Old ones like us do okay there, but anyone to
young to go out in the sun, ends up staked and beheaded.
Coryn added.
So no Princes or Dukes, or whatever to deal
with?
No; none. Krystyl confirmed.
Then I will go as soon as someone gives me a
photo. Will Kris be able to do whatever you call that? I
asked.
Teleport. Most likely. If not you can do it for
her just by holding on to her when you go. Krystyl
answered.
There is a bookstore around the corner that is
still open. We can get a book with photos of South
America there. Mitchell suggested.
Then lets go. The sooner we start the better. I
said.

269

We found the book we sought just where

Mitchell said we would and Kris and I were off looking
for the rogue Antonio. Our first stop was Rio de Janeiro.
By the time we got there it was nearly morning.
I feared for Kris with the coming dawn, but it turned out
to be unfounded. My blood had truly made her as strong
as an ancient just as Krystyl had suggested. She wasnt as
strong as I was, but she was surviving in the sun. She did
find it necessary to shield her eyes though, so we decided
it was best that we found shelter for the day. It was
unlikely we would find Antonio laying on the beach
working on his tan anyway, so it wasnt like we would be
losing valuable time.

270

25th of March, 1991

Darkness didnt arrive until nearly eight at night,

so we got a late start, and I had something I wanted to try
before the war broke out.
If one infusion of my blood had made Kris so
strong, perhaps another would make her even more so.
So, our first order of business was for me to feed. With

that out of the way, we exchanged blood; Kris drank mine

and I drank hers; repeating the cycle several times. When
we were done we were both hungry for some strange
reason, so we headed out to hunt again.
Outside of the hotel we watched a pair muggers
steal a womans purse and take off toward the east. Kris
checked on the woman, who turned out to be fine, and
then we took off after the muggers. We caught them in a
secluded corner of Leblon beach. We hadnt intended to

271

take their lives, but after one of them pulled a knife on

Kris, all bets were off. As their lives ebbed away to
quench our thirsts, we heard the unmistakable sound of
Vampyres running at a high rate of speed.
I knew that they could not have seen us, so we
remained behind the rocks where we had cornered our

pray. Suddenly their running stopped about a hundred

yards away, so we carefully climbed the rocks to look over
them. The two Vampyres we had heard had indeed
stopped just down the beach, and they werent alone.
They were on their knees in front of another
Vampyre begging for their lives. The dominant Vampyre
was about five feet ten inches tall, had long brown hair,
and was dressed in a very ornate black velvet suit almost
like a matador.
As I observed the scene I noticed that there were

only two pairs of tracks on the beach, and they stopped at

the two kneeling Vampyres. The other Vampyre must
have materialized where he was, which meant he was old;

very old. He had to be Antonio. Knowing this, I wanted

to watch the scene and get a feel for our potential ally.

272

This is my city and the two of you have been

reckless. You are uninvited and unwelcome. You have
also killed several people in a sloppy fashion and left them
for humans to find. You are a threat to my safety here,
and that I will not allow. Antonio proclaimed.
The King has assigned no Duke to Rio. We

didnt know anyone was here. We thought we could have

it to ourselves. Said one of the kneeling Vampyres.
I do not recognize the authority of the King,
nor do I need Beaus permission to claim this city.
Antonio said.
When we tell the king the kneeling
Vampyre who first spoke said, but never got to finish.
You will tell no one anything. Antonio said as
he swept his hand out and knocked the Vampyres head
off and out into the sea.
Witnessing his friends demise, the second
kneeling Vampyre leapt at Antonio, but it was in vain.
Antonio caught him by the neck with one hand and
laughed at him.

273

So you arent a complete coward. Thats good,

but it wont help you. Antonio said as he focused his gaze
on the Vampyre in his grip.
The Vampyre began to smoke and then burst
into flames. As he did so Antonio tossed him out over
the water. It wasnt an act of mercy. The flames

consumed him entirely long before he could hit the water.

Only ash was left to rain down on the sea.
By the point the head of the first dead Vampyre
had washed up at Antonios feet. He bent to pick it up,
and again focused his gaze. The head smoked, turned to
flame and then ash within seconds. Antonio then did the
same to the headless corpse on the beach.
Before I could think of how to approach him,
Antonio knelt in the sand and called out to us.
You would be Kodi and Kris I assume.
We are. How is it that you know we are here
and who we are? I asked

274

You are friends of my child Krystyl, and though

I keep my mind closed to her, hers is an open book to me.
I came to Rio to meet you, and swear my loyalty to you.
Just like that? Kris asked.
You never gave fealty to Beau. Why are you so
readily willing to do so with me? I asked though it was
only a more detailed variant of Kris question.
My very existence, at least in the form that I
am, is the result of Beau raping the humanity from me in
violation of your law. During the Renaissance you, beau,

and your consort Pandora came through Crdoba, Spain.

I was a painter then. Beau fell in love with me, and
though I was clearly a lover of women, he would not take
my declination of his advances.
So he turned you? Kris murmured quietly.
No: not then. For many months he persisted in
trying to bed me. It was annoying but little more until I
began to realize that he wasnt human. Then he was
simply gone.
We moved on to Paris. I stated.

275

But he came to me again years later when I was

in Lucena. Seeing that he had not aged a day, I was
struck with fear that he was a demon out to seduce me
and steal my soul. I ran into a church for safety, but as

you well know, religion holds no sway over us, so Beau

followed me inside and took my human life from me and
turned me into a Vampyre. When I woke to this life, he
expected that I would be so grateful for immortality that I
would love him. But I did not. I hated him with a
passion for he had stolen from any chance of ever seeing
my loved ones again in the after-life, so I shunned him.

Eventually he gave up and left me to learn how to survive

this life on my own. Then, after hundreds of years, after I
had come to enjoy being a Vampyre, he returns to lay
claim to everything I had built and remove me from the
seat of power I had fought for.
That sounds like Beau. Why didnt you just
walk into the sun when he turned you if you wanted to
die? I replied.
At the time I believed I was damned, so I chose
life as a Vampyre over an after-life in hell.
And now? Kris asked.

276

Now, I have again built a nice place for myself

in this world, but it is only a matter of time before Beau
comes to claim it as well, if he is allowed to stay in power.
I also despise how he has let our population grow

unchecked. We are lawless and undisciplined. As long as

you pay whatever taxes Beau levies upon you, you may do
anything you wish. That will expose us and bring people
to hunt us like the slayers from fiction novels.
There are NO laws?! I asked excitedly.
Only one. Do whatever Beau demands on a
whim.
That ends now. I declared, I have brought
together Vampyres of excessive age and power to
challenge Beau, and cull his herd.
And that is why I join you. I have grown to like
immortality and I wish to keep it. The result of Beaus
rule is that too many Vampyres behave like the two fools I
just dispatched: millions of them. Antonio stated.
Then welcome to the resistance. Kris said with
a half-hearted laugh and shook Antonios hand.

277

I shook his hand as well.

Perhaps we should return to Tampa now. I
suggested.
The three of us closed our eyes. When my eyes
opened Antonio and I stood in the courtyard of the
abandoned Casino in Ybor, but Kris didnt. For a split
second I worried, but then she appeared out of thin air.
That takes a little more concentration than I
expected. She proclaimed.
Sorry my love. I had forgotten that you have so
little experience with the gifts of our kind. I apologized.
At that moment Krystyl materialized a few yards
away along with Mitchell and Coryn, and seven new faces
I had not yet met.
Thank you for allowing me to find your mind
father. Krystyl said to Antonio before turning to me,

Kodi, may I present Trent, Shannon, Angela, Maria,

Robert, Staci, and Sean.
Trent was a lanky man who appeared like he
would fall over at any moment, that is until he moved;

278

then he was pure grace. He had red hair, freckles, and

green eyes. As he shook my hand and greeted me I heard
an Irish brogue in his voice.
Shannon was also a redhead. She was a largebreasted but elegant looking woman of perhaps five feet
five inches. Shoe was also clearly Irish when she spoke.
Angela, the princess of Italy, turned out to be
English. She was pretty, blonde, and very proper. If not
for the menacing precision with which she moved, she

would be utterly forgettable: just another pretty face in the

crowd.
Staci was Parisian. She looked just like a
supermodel tall, bone-thin, and beautiful. Her brown
hair was cut in an asymmetrical style; on her right it was
just below her jaw-line, but by the time it spiraled around
her head and shoulders it brushed the top of her left

breast. Her make-up flawlessly accented her pale blue eyes

and full lips.
Robert, the prince of Los Angeles or as he called
it Hollyweird, looked like he belonged in the band
Poison. He had long blond hair with several brightly
colored streaks in it. His clothing was the extremely

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expensive, extremely tight variety that is made to look

both glamorous and trashy at the same time.
Maria was a Creole woman with dark skin for a
Vampyre, and curly black hair. Even her eyes appeared to
be black. In many ways she looked like she could be a
member of my family if there had ever been a mortal
branch after me.
Sean Looked like the brunette version of Robert.

His hair was streaked bright red and he too cultivated the
glamorously trashy look.
As we talked, I found out that this was our army
in its entirety. Beau had gotten the word out by phone,

by computer, and by telepathy that a war was coming. He

had told everyone that I had risen and would kill every
Vampyre on earth. He claimed to be gathering everyone
under his wing to protect them of course. In fact the first

volley of the war had happened as Krystyl and Maria left

New Orleans. Marias people had already turned on her

and sworn allegiance to Beau. Maria had used her ability

to confuse minds to keep them at bay until Krystyl
showed up. She dropped that shield when Krystyl

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materialized, and her former comrades moved in on them

so quickly that they barely escaped.
It didnt help that while I lay in the ground
sleeping, I had become a mythic legend. The Progenitor
they called me. There were even prophecies about my
return harkening either the end of all Vampyres, or the

subjugation of the human race. It was amusing to think

of the powers I, and I alone, was given in these tales.
What was more amusing was that the powers described
with awe in the prophecies were possessed in some degree
by our group. Many were things I had never thought of;
much like teleporting.
I could move things with my mind, and like
Antonio set things on fire with a thought. I could even
fly. Like me most of the others hadnt thought of all

these impossible things. Some had learned to fly; some

to teleport; some pyrokinesis; and some telekinesis, so we
taught each other and soon every member of the group
had mastered every known Vampyre ability and how to
counter them.
We were formidable to say the least, but we were
greatly outnumbered. Antonio suggested we resort to

281

guerilla tactics like the militia all over Central and South
America used for the last several decades, which is in a
simplified explanation hit and run. We would never
engage the enemy full-on; just pick at their edges

repeatedly and often until their lost the will to fight or

dwindled in numbers enough to take them on properly.
Krystyl and Maria reported that many of the
newer progeny (which is how they refer to new
Vampyres) were so many generations removed from an
elder that they manifested very few powers if any beyond
strength and speed, and all were incredibly vulnerable to
the sun. They also said that many progeny had no

connection either mental or physical to an elder. The

mental bond that allowed for telepathy amoung Vampyres
was weaker the further apart Vampyres are in the
bloodline. Ancients could induce a telepathic connection
with a far removed progeny if close enough, but it would
be impossible for progeny to do the same, which meant

unless Beau knew the location of every Vampyre on earth

and he or one of his generals went physically to them,

many progeny would not participate in the war because
they would not know of it. Those progeny in the cities
would learn by word of mouth, but those in more isolated

282

locations simply would not know. And then of course

there were those who were loyal only to saving their own
hides some would aid Beau in hopes of survival, but
most would hide and hope they could stay that way.
Antonio proposed the theory that as progenitor
my blood was in all Vampyres and I could, if I

concentrated, find them all no matter where they were,

and he was right. After studying a modern globe (oh how
much has been learned since last I walked the earth) with
a little concentration I could locate Vampyres even
individual Vampyres. A quick test to a cave in the
Himalayas proved I was accurate: there in a cave was one

lone Vampyre trying to hide from the world and avoid the
coming Vampyre apocalypse.
The crucial information that we learned was that
there were thirteen of us in Tampa, and several hundred,
perhaps as many as a thousand or so were in and around
Toronto and the Great Lakes. This was both good news
and bad. It meant that Beau had amassed a large army in
a matter of two days. It also meant that the majority of

the worlds Vampyres would be non-participants. They

would probably cheer for Beau (Though I knew he would
kill them after the war for not helping: I would). They

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would probably help Beau if the war landed on their door

somehow, but otherwise they would be non-combatants.
At least, that was the assumption, or rather hope. No
matter how strong we were, thirteen against a million or
so was hopeless.
By the time we had finished teaching each other

tricks and making plans, it was nearing sunrise, and

though all thirteen of us were Illuminati (the name now

used for Vampyres who can survive in the sun) we still
preferred to sleep during the day. As Krystyl said old
habits die hard.

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26th of March, 1991

Fortunately we had all decided that there was

safety in numbers, and moved into a Hi-rise building at
100 North Tampa Street that Krystyl owned, because we
awoke with Vampyres bouncing off the glass of our
fourty-second floor windows.
We watched as they materialized a yard or two

from the building, already moving towards us from

momentum they had built wherever they came from. It

was slightly before dusk, so the Florida sun was still
strong enough to ignite them. By the time they hit the
glass they were well on their way to being ash, so nothing
made it to street level other than a spectacular light show
which was later explained on television as ball lightning
caused by the heat and humidity.

285

Beau was literally using them like cannon balls.

Its a shame for him and the fools he sent on the mission
that Krystyl long ago had bullet-proof glass installed, so
they just thudded against the glass, broke into ash and
burning chunks, and fell away.
But the message was clear: The war was on and
Beau would give no quarter.
It was interesting that he would send his own

troops blindly to their deaths. It was also foolish: he was

reducing his own numbers for us.
Krystyl said that the company that installed the
windows warranteed the glass against everything short of
a missile strike. So, no matter how many Vampyres
bounced off the windows, they wouldnt break. That at
least was good news.
The barrage continued while we dressed, and
strangely the Vampyres continued to burst into flames
even though the sun was nearly set. As soon as we were
dressed we left. Rather than escape to any stronghold

that belonged to a member of the group, which would

most likely also be under attack, we went to Ushuaia,
Argentina. Antonio had been there on occasion, so he

286

knew the area, and the population was large enough for us
to blend in. It was also as far away from Beau as we could
realistically get, so for the duration of this war it would be
our base of operations.
It was a large home near Eva Peron and
Soberania Nacional. It was well equipped but far from
luxurious, but that didnt really matter since it would
basically serve as little more than a barracks.
Once there, we started planning attacks. Beau
had never been trained in combat or war, so any strategy
he had would undoubtedly be previously untested, and
that gave us an opening. He was undoubtedly studying
books on strategy, which meant he would never expect us
to hit him where he was strongest. Technically, I suppose
that is what he had done hitting Tampa, but I doubt he
really considered us strong anywhere.
He had always been a little arrogant, so we were
going to use that against him. Our first attack would be
his home in Toronto. Everyone except Antonio, Kris,
and myself had already as they put it unfortunately been
there before, so teleporting there was simple.

287

The plan was teleport in while Maria used her

ability to confuse minds on them, use pyrokinesis on as
many of them as we could in the few seconds it would
take to teleport back out, and go. If we pulled it off as
planned we should have no casualties and they should

have many. It would take years to win a war this way, but
one can only do so much.
So, off we went to 9 Boardwalk Drive, Toronto
Canada, and we managed to kill everyone in the condo
before we popped back out. Unfortunately Beau was not
there. I didnt really expect him to be that dumb, but one
can always hope. Of course the alarm system went off the
moment that we materialized there. I am certain that

telepathic alarms went off as well, which meant the condo

would most likely fill up for a second hit, perhaps even a
third if we had time. We had already decided that after
that night we would change our attacks to daylight hours
where we had a clear advantage, as few of Beaus Troops
were Illuminati.
We did go for a second strike, but they were

much more prepared. Wooden shafted arrows (no

wooden stakes dont kill us funny those Vampyres

believed that myth) and telepathic assaults flew at us the

288

moment we materialized. We were only able to inflict

minimal damages before teleporting back out because we
had to expend a lot of energy and concentration to deflect
the attack of Beaus forces. Still, we managed to take out
nearly a hundred of Beaus people, and thus far had no
injured or dead of our own.
Adding the casualties of our attacks to the
number of Vampyres Beau had sacrificed in his attack on
Tampa (if you could call it that); Beaus numbers were
now reduced by nearly two-hundred. Not bad for a
nights work.

289

290

27th of March, 1991

We slept only a few hours and rose before noon.

Krystyl wanted to return to Tampa before we made our
first attack. I thought it very risky: for all we knew Beau
himself would be waiting there. She insisted, however, on
the grounds that if any of Beaus troops had decided to

switch sides, it was most probable that they would seek us

there.
Too limit our risk I decided that only Krystyl
and I would make the trip to Tampa. When we
materialized in Tampa, we surveyed only devastation.
Beau had indeed visited Krystyls penthouse, and torched
it. Scrawled on the windows in human blood was the
simple message:
You attacked my home so I have destroyed
yours.

291

We must go. Beau is still close by. I said, as I

felt his mental presence.
Back in Argentina the others were gathering
intelligence from the then fledgling internet. Apparently
our attacks the night before had been effective on two
fronts. The obvious one was that we had killed many of
Beaus people, including two of his generals. The

pleasant surprise was that it had inspired a force of over a

thousand Vampyres that were stationed in Chicago to
abandon post. Beau had put them all to death for treason
of course. That would undoubtedly cause more dissention
in his ranks. Militarily he wasnt handling things well at
all. His arrogance and his temper had already cost him
immensely.
Krystyl was angry, or as she would say, pissed off
about the destruction of her penthouse, so she wanted to
hit Beau in Toronto again. Fortunately Antonio and I
were able to convince her that it was a suicide mission to
hit Toronto again so soon.
So instead we split into three groups of three and
one group of four and went on separate missions. My
group was the larger group as I couldnt stand the Idea of

292

Kris and I being separated if she were in trouble. Coryn

and Mitchell rounded out our group. Krystyl, Trent, and
Shannon were another group. Antonio, Angela, and Sean
made up the next group. And finally Maria, Robert, and
Staci were the last group.
My group hit Chicago since it was the enemy

ground best none to us. Krystyls group attacked Buffalo,

New York. Antonio and his group hit Cleveland, Ohio.
Maria, Robert, and Staci assaulted Detroit.
Everyone be careful. Dont get arrogant:
remember we are outnumbered and that means we are
underequipped no matter how strong we are. I dont plan
to come back here until the First of April. You dont have
to stay out that long, so if you come in sooner, dont
worry about me. I announced.
No one responded. I hadnt really expected them

to. We all just locked eyes and teleported to the various

battlefronts we had chosen.
In Chicago we found Kris townhouse burnt to
the ground. We went there because it was the place we

knew best in the city. It was a mistake, materializing into

the charred skeleton of her home made the war hit home

293

and become all too real for Kris. It took several minutes
for her to pull herself together. She had grown up in the
place, and inherited it from her parents when they retired.
It had been the one good thing they had done for her and
now it was gone.
I will rebuild it exactly as it was. I promise. I
said.
No, dont. She said, I have an idea.
She ran out towards Lincoln Park and was soon
back with the corpse of a homeless woman. The former

beggar was roughly the same height and build as Kris, the
same race that Kris had been as a human, and clearly
freshly drained by Kris I was certain.
This will keep the cops from digging into my
disappearance too much. We dont want them involved
in this war of ours. She said as she lay the woman down
on her charred bed.
A moment later the woman was engulfed by
flames. By the time the flames died, there wasnt enough
left of the woman for even the best forensic specialist to
make an identification of the body.

294

After that I focused my mind and pinpointed the

largest nest of vamps in town. They were in CabriniGreen. I had to give them credit that was a great hiding
place. The residents were almost entirely cast-offs from
society, so the Vampyres could feed on whomever they

wished without raising even one official eyebrow. It was

unlikely their presence would be detected either since
residents lived under a very strict rule of keep your eyes to
yourself. There was only one flaw in their logic.
Anything bad that happened to them would also go
unnoticed.
Stealthily we slipped into the neighborhood and

scouted out there lair. They had commandeered the top

floor of one of the Green buildings. Watching the
coming and going, we estimated there to be fifty to a
hundred of them up there.

The easiest thing to do would have been to torch

the whole building and take them all out in the process,
but that would cost hundreds of innocent humans (at least
as far as our conflict went) their lives, and I could not
come to terms with that kind of slaughter.

295

Instead, we made a plan in which Coryn would

race up to the top floor shortly after dark, which was
coming quickly now, and intentionally be seen, then turn
and race back to us just slow enough that the progeny

(and every one of them were that) could keep up but not
catch her. When they reached us theyd meet a wave of
pyrokinetic energy. After their numbers were thinned
enough for us to realistically take them on hand to hand,
wed get bloody. We chose the last part to show the
enemy that we werent afraid of a straight out fight.
Coryn set the plan into action and it worked like
a dream. Every step of the plan went exactly how we had
anticipated. There were even a few Vampyres that had

proven cowardly enough to hang back and run away when

they saw that we were going to win. We wanted
witnesses so that stories of our furiousity would spread
through Beaus ranks and dishearten them.
Nothing worked on a soldiers psyche more than
stories of their opponents fearlessness and prowess in
battle. Let the legends begin. Ha-Ha.
After that we retreated to a place they would
never think to look for us: the bottom of Lake Michigan.

296

It took more than a little convincing to get the group to

do so, because Kris was still new to vampirism and
Mitchell and Coryn had never realized that breathing was
simply a habit they had carried over from human life. I

even had to sit at the at the bottom of the lake for an hour
by myself before they finally agreed. So much for being
commander and chief.
While we had been conducting our activities in
Chicago, Krystyl, Trent, and Shannon were clearing the
inhabitants of 120 Church Street in Buffalo. That entire
building had been taken over by Vampyres. Right in the
heart of Buffalo was a bit brazen, or rather idiotic.
All Krystyl had to do to find them was to pick up
the newspaper. The headline article was about the large
unknown group that had booked the entire hotel and
would not return any calls from the press.
Krystyl, Trent, and Shannon were at the hotel by
one oclock in the afternoon. By one thirty they had
beheaded every Vampyre in the building and glamoured
the staff to forget everything they had seen that day.
Antonio, Angela, and Sean were simultaneously
ridding the Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland of

297

vampyric pests. All they had to do was open our enemys

hiding places and let the sunlight do the rest.
Both those groups chose to return to South
America for the night.
Maria, Robert, and Staci found targets at Cobo
Hall, and several hotels nearby in Detroit. Then they too
rested underwater for the night in Lake Saint Clair.
For three days we all fought to rid those four
cities of Beaus minions and we did just that. By the time
we were done, the only Vampyres alive in Chicago,
Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo were us.
Once done we all returned to Argentina, and
that is when the shit hit the fan.

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1st of April, 1991

Beau was waiting on us when we materialized in

Ushuaia, and he wasnt alone. He had brought enough
Vampyres with him to double the towns population; that
is until they fed from and killed everyone in town. They
were all well fed and ready when we arrived.
We materialized in the main living area of our

temporary home, and there he was; sitting on the couch as

though he belonged there. Propped against the walls all
the way around the room were his flunkies. There were
more in the other rooms and of course many more
outside.
Hello brother. Welcome home. Beau said
venomously.

299

Fuck me. Krystyl, Coryn, and Kris said almost

in unison.
I see your rule about not creating progeny only
applies to the rest of us. But, the Bellhop does make a
lovely Vampyre. Beau spat.
I was concierge fuck-head. Kris spat back.
Id mind my tongue. If youre nice I might let
you live; probably not though.
You will not touch her. I said as I lashed out
with the most energetic pyrokinetic wave I had ever
created.
Every Vampyre beau had brought into the house
instantly incinerated in a flash that went from fire to ash
too fast to ignite anything around them. Even the clothes
they had been wearing were still mostly intact.
Very impressive; it took me nearly a hundred

years to master that trick, but youll have to do a lot better

than that if you want to win. Beau hissed.
I didnt want war. I just want this blasphemous
batch of monsters you have allowed to propagate brought

300

under control. They cannot continue to multiply

unchecked. I said coolly.
And by checked, you mean dead. I will not let
you kill my children and dismantle the kingdom I have
created.
Youre a fool. The humans will catch on sooner
or later and they will kill you all, even if I dont.
Perhaps, and cows might rise up and kill the
farmers, but I highly fucking doubt it. Beau retorted,
Dont you want to know how I found you so easily?
Every Vampyre on earth is of my blood through
you. If I can locate them with my mind, you can too.
Actually I could do it first. Antonio has been
teaching you tricks without telling you who discovered
them.
Eat shit. Antonio growled.
I cant teleport out of here. Krystyl whispered
in my ear.
Me neither. Mitchell said.

301

None of you can. Beau said, I have a mental

lock on you all. All you can do is stand there and die. Of
course you can fight back if you want, that will make it a
lot more fun.
I tested what Beau had said, by trying to
teleport. There was a wave of energy almost like a wall,
but I did feel it recede as I pushed. He could stop the
others but he couldnt stop me.
Everyone take hands I said to Krystyl
telepathically, as I began pushing to teleport us out of
harms way.
Goodbye Beau. When next we meet, you will
die. I said as we left the room.
We materialized on the sandy ruins of Uruk, but
we were down two members of our party. Staci and
Trent werent with us.
We lost Trent. Shannon immediately cried.
and Staci. Antonio added.

302

I felt Trents hand slip as we were teleporting

out. Maria said, You dont think he has joined Beau. It
would explain how he found us so easy.
Fuck you bitch. Trent would never betray us.
Shannon hissed.
Not without telling you first: isnt that what you
mean. Maria snarled.
The two of them pounced on each other, and I
jumped to separate them. Krystyl, Antonio, and Kris
were right behind me to break up the fight.
We are allies here. We do not fight with each
other. I shouted, I was lucky to get as many of us out of
there as I did. If you two want to be mad at anyone it

should be me. I underestimated Beau, and it cost two of

our comrades their lives.
No we should be pissed at Antonio. He knew
Beau could find us telepathically and he didnt say shit.
Coryn said matter-of-factly.

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Beau is a liar. I knew nothing of his abilities. I

have not laid eyes on him since he took Europe from me.
Antonio protested.
Well there was always the phone. What did he
promise? Do you get Paris now that Staci is dead?
Angela groaned.
Did you see him use the phone? I asked
angrily.
No, but Angela started.
but nothing. Sean put in, he hasnt left our
sight since this war started.
Dont be foolish. Krystyl scolded, This is
exactly what Beau wanted to do with that attack. If he
can turn us against each other, he can pick us off one at a
time.
Krystyl is right. We have to stay united. Kris
pleaded.
Everyone hung their heads on that note, and

agreed with Krystyl and Kris. Apologies were made. And

everyone agreed that the next move was to hide and plan

304

our next course of action. Clearly we couldnt split up

again; it caused suspicion, and it made it too easy for Beau
to find us and pick us off. If Beau could find other
Vampyres telepathically all hope was lost, unless
If Beau can block everyones ability to teleport
except mine, do you think that means his other powers
wont be effective against me? I asked the group.
You and Kris are probably both immune to his

mental powers since neither of you have any of his blood.

The rest of us are screwed. Krystyl answered.
And of course there is still his considerable
physical strength. No one is immune to that. Antonio
added.
Hey, but if Beau can block their abilities
because they descended from him, shouldnt you be able
to block his. He descended from you right? Kris blurted
out.
Yes. That is highly probable. Angela said
cheerily.
Everyones mood took an upswing then.

305

Oh that will piss him off. Robert laughed.

But if you block his powers, hell block all ours
and well be down to hand-to-hand against his minions,
and thats some really long odds towards victory. Maria
said.
Perhaps you shouldnt try to block all of his
powers. The only one we need you to block is his ability
to locate us. Krystyl said.
Yeah, but how do we know if it works? Its not
like we can call Beau and ask him. Sean said.
Antonio can locate Krystyl. If I can block his
ability to do so then I should be able to block Beaus
ability to find the rest of you. I surmised.
So lets try that. Krystyl said as she teleported
away.
Antonio: give her two minutes, and then try to
find her. I directed.
Okay. Was his only response.

306

I immediately began focusing on his mind so

that the minute he tried to use his locating ability I would
know which part of his mind to disable. Two minutes
later the red flag showed, and I quickly turned off that
part of Antonios mind as easily as turning off a lightswitch.
I do not feel her. It is as though she has ceased
to exist. Antonio said after several minutes of intense
effort.
Well lets hope that isnt the case. Angela said,
Lets hope that Kodi blocked you.
You may return now. I said telepathically to
Krystyl, though I didnt know if she would hear me.
Clearly she did, because she materialized next to
us a second later.
Did it work? She asked excitedly.
Yes. Better than we had expected actually.
Antonio answered.
So at least he wont surprise us on our own turf
again. Sean said.

307

However, this is taking considerable effort. I

will only be able to do this when we are not fighting, and
I will need to be able to feed frequently. The hunger
grows with every minute of exertion. I said.
You keep blocking him then. I have a place
that is perfect for our needs. There is a Shinto Monastery
at Itsukushima, Japan. The priests there know of our

existence and are sympathetic. That is where I went a

moment ago.
I dont think I have the energy to block him and
teleport at the moment. I said.
We will handle that, you just keep him from
locating us. Kris said.
Everyone see the picture in my mind. This is
where we are going. Krystyl directed.
Moments later I felt the cool salty air of the
North Pacific blow across my face. I also felt the Hunger
pulling on me stronger than it had since I rose in Chicago
ten days ago.
I must feed I said, now.

308

Hiroshima is northwest of here. There are over

a million people there, and no Vampyres. After the
bombing they came back, but left claiming the peoples
blood tasted bad because of the radiation. Krystyl stated.
Goody! Microwave food. Coryn giggled.
I assure you: their blood tastes just like any
other people, and will sustain us the same. Krystyl
growled.
Hey it was just a joke. No offense. I heard
Coryn say from a distance; I was already racing towards
Hiroshima.
Hey, wait for me. Kris shouted from a few
yards behind me.
She was nearly as fast as me, so I didnt have to

slow down much for her to catch up, but even that little
was a struggle against the Hunger.
I was in a foul mood over losing two of our
people due to my own lack of judgment, but Kris was
helping just by being near me. A few minutes later she
erased my bad mood completely.

309

We were feeding off a couple of muggers when

Kris said very straight forwardly:
I love Japanese food.
After that I couldnt help but smile. I doubted
she had really become that used to dining on blood
already, but I very much appreciated her humor under
such dire circumstances.
Everyone in our group had come into Hiroshima
to feed, and of course the amount of blood we needed
after such wild expenditure of power as we had been

through for the last few days pretty much required that
our victim die. A small taste from enough people to
satiate us would almost certainly draw negative attention,
so we all ended up in the same neighborhood.
I had not laid it down as law, so I was pleased to
see that everyone from my group had chosen to find a
criminal when they knew they had to kill. No one was
overly vicious either which I also appreciated. Its not that
I am squeamish about violence; I think my story so far
makes that quite clear. I dont have a problem with
violence against humans either; when it is necessary.

310

As soon as we had quenched our hungers we

went back to the monastery to strategize and rest. We
soon decided that when we rose tomorrow morning, we
would change our tactics by picking at the edges of Beaus
forces rather than going straight for the heart. We would
start with the cities, towns, and rural areas with the
smallest Vampyre populations.
Anyone in those places with fangs would be
eliminated. I know that you are thinking it is unfair to
simply kill them all, but that was what this war was about
the culling of Beaus herd. Even if they had no sworn
allegiance to my brother, they were still his descendants,
and their existence was still against my law. Besides,

would it not be more cruel to have them join my forces,

only to kill them when the war ended? Because I would.
The number of Vampyres on earth was the sticking point
that caused this rift, and one way or another it would be
brought under control.

311

312

2nd of April, 1991

We rose shortly after sunrise with the monks. A

requirement they had insisted upon in return for our
lodging with them, was that we honor their tradition of
morning prayer, and so we did.
The shrine contained offerings of food and sake
placed before gohei and mirrors which served as symbols

of the kami. We each took a turn standing in front of the

cashbox and long ropes dangling from a gong. One by
one we tossed a coin in the box, sounded the gong a
couple of times, bowed deeply twice, clapped our hands
firmly twice, bowed once deeply and once lightly, and
then backed away politely to avoid turning our backs to
the shrine.
Once we had done the morning prayer, which

Krystyl seemed to get a bit of an emotional lift from, we

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set out on our days predetermined mission: eradicating all

Vampyres from the tropical areas of the eastern
hemisphere.
Southern China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia,
Thailand, Myanmar, and Bangladesh were easy. Local
superstition and relatively small populations kept

Vampyres away in general so, there were few Vampyres in

those countries, and the ones that were there werent
there to fight; they were there to hide. Id say there were
no more than a couple of hundred in the entire region.
Ive made it sound like we moved in a linear fashion
through these regions, but it was actually very random. A
couple times we even stopped at the same place twice.
Regardless, before humans were having lunch we

had made our way to India. Thats when we started

encountering larger Vampyre populations. However, we

still encountered little to no resistance. None amoung
them were Illuminati, so our most frequently used weapon
was the sun.
Some were old enough to wake and fight a little
within the confines of shadows, but clearly Beau had
brought the elders into his circle. Those we encountered

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werent much of a fight. Few of them had even developed

their mental abilities, so whatever fight they had was
purely physical, and thankfully that was no real threat to
us.
Without elders around to guide them, the
Vampyres we encountered were completely disorganized.
In New Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad we encountered
small cells of older progeny that had banded together for
survival. They didnt account for much more than
practice for the battles to come.
We returned to the monastery that evening
without even a small injury amoung us, and our spirits
were high. We settled in to rest, woke the next morning,
said or morning prayers with the monks and started the
same routine of cleansing the tropics, just east of India
this time.
In all of the Arab world (Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAB, Oman, and
Yemen), we encountered only stragglers here and there.
My telepathic ability to locate Vampyres made them easy
pickings however. Our biggest trouble in that part of the
world was avoiding the military forces of Iraq, and the

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United States and its allies who were in a war of their

own.
Im not sure what a missile strike or a tank shell
would do to one of us, but we decided wed rather not
find out. At the very least it would end our mission for
the day, and create a screaming hunger for whoever got
hit. Best to avoid that complication.
It wasnt until we reached the Holy Lands that

we encountered organized resistance, and they werent

fighting for Beau.
In the jagged little bits of mind that survived

living in the Holy Lands for long periods of time, they

had come to believe that they were fighting for gOD; and
if not him they fought for the devil.
These Holy Warriors slowed us down because
their fervor in their beliefs made then crazy and crazy
means unpredictable. They had apparently never heard of
Illuminati Vampyres, for their favorite tactic was to grab

one of us and leap into the sun. It was a nuisance but

little more. Getting ash out of your mouth is more
difficult than one would think.

316

By three oclock that afternoon we had removed

Beaus plague from the Holy Lands as well. My
telepathic sense told me that there was a much higher
concentration of Vampyres on the next leg of our mission,
so we returned to the monastery, ran into Hiroshima for

some take-out as several members of the group had taken

to calling a little human snack, and rested for the night.
The next morning we did our routine with the
monks and decided to skip over southern Europe and
Northern Africa. The population of Vampyres was high
in Northern Africa for some reason and higher still in
Europe probably because it is believed to be the birthplace
of our race.
We already knew Florida was Vampyre-free, so

we hit New Orleans. Most of Marias former soldiers had

either fled or lost heart, so it took us little more than the
morning hours to clear out Louisiana.
Next was Mexico and Central America. These
areas were much like South America in that they were
heavily Catholic and heavily superstitious, so Vampyres
had for the most part avoided this part of the world.

317

It made for an easy afternoon. We never found

more than one or two Vampyres in any one place, and
they often fled into their own doom by sunlight trying to
escape us.
We barely got our hands dirty, so we enjoyed
what was probably going to be the last easy battles of the
war. So far Beau had not found us again, but that would
undoubtedly change.
As much as we were looking for his progeny, he
was looking for us. My guess was that he had deduced
that I had found a way to block his ability to telepathically
locate us, and had moved on to more traditional methods.
Phones and e-mails were much slower than
telepathic location, but he would find us sooner or later. I
anticipated that he would be waiting for us in Southern
Europe when we got there, so we put it off, and took

another early end to the day. At four oclock we returned

to Japan.

318

6th of April, 1991

After our morning routine at the monastery, we

assaulted Northern Africa, and then swept south and
cleared the continent.
I was expecting to materialize into an ambush at
any moment, still we pushed on. It was inevitable that we
would have to deal with a more formidable force, and

even more inevitable that we would have to face Beau.

None of us seemed to fear that. We just wanted to get
the odds as even as possible before fate played out that
hand.
Africa was clear by four thirty, so we again
returned to Japan and rested.
We talked that evening about what we were
doing and what we might face next. We had become

319

more of a family than soldiers by that point, so the

thought of losing anyone else haunted us. We knew it
would happen, but we were determined to do our best to
avoid it.
At this point, I believe that Beau is laying in
wait somewhere in America. He used a similar tactic
against me when we fought for control of Europe. I

thought I was winning until we swept into Paris. We

made it in with no resistance only to find out we were
completely surrounded. That was the night I learned to
teleport. If I hadnt discovered that by accident, I would
have died with the rest of my people. Antonio said.
Well we will have to make sure not to let that
happen again. Well just keep picking at his edges until
either he comes to us, or there are no edges left. I stated.
That will take patience. Antonio replied.
We are immortal; if there is anything we can
afford to be it is patient. Krystyl said.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

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So we will make no frontal assault. Well just

pick at him until it drives him insane. Kris said
humorously, as we all broke and headed off to rest.
The next morning we swept through Indonesia,
Australia, and on to New Zealand. Thats where we met
real trouble for the first time.
For some reason Beau had picked New Zealand
as a place to station five princes and princesses. When we
arrived in New Zealand I immediately sensed them as
elders, but they had been setting up their ambush for
days, probably since we first started picking at Beaus
edges.
A wave of confusion and pyrokinetic energy
swept over us before we could get our guards up. I felt
pain and heat at the core of my body, but managed to
quell it before it did any damage. I then reached out and
did the same for Kris, and then Coryn.
Antonio and Krystyl had survived that first wave
and managed to help Angela and Robert do the same.

321

Maria had survived it on her own, but Sean did

not. His body burned out just as the rest of us were
shaking off the confusion.
Robert raced over to his remains and started
weeping. For the first time, we all knew there was more
between Robert and Sean than the sharing of a state.
We were all saddened by the loss of another
comrade, but we couldnt afford to cry for him at the
moment.
Another wave of confusion and pyrokinetic

energy hit us, but this time we were prepared, so it did

nothing other than slow as down as we lurched for its
source.
Robert actually got to them first, and detached
two of their heads from their bodies before the rest of us
got there. Immediately we felt the wave of confusion we
were battling disperse. The three remaining were the
Prince of New York, the Prince of Spain, and the Princess
of New Zealand, and they were shocked that we had
successfully resisted their mental assaults.

322

Apparently Beau had neglected to tell them that

their powers could even be blocked. They were cowering
in the corner of an alley when we finally caught them.
They began begging for their lives and swearing allegiance
to me, but I was pissed, and had no intention of letting
them live. Still, it was fun letting think they had a
chance.
If I let you live; you will be sent to attack Beau
this very day. Do you agree to those conditions? I asked,
knowing that either way meant death for them.
One way were dead for sure, the other we are
most likely dead, so what does it matter? Asked the
Prince of Spain who sounded more like the prince of New
York with his accent.
What do you think Robert? I asked
sarcastically.
Robert said nothing. He just held his arm out in
front of him and turned his thumb down.
A moment later, the three remaining members
of my brothers ambush were piles of ash.

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We picked off the three remaining Vampyres in

the South Pacific, and terminated the fifty-three
Vampyres that had managed to make lives for themselves
in South America to let out our anger and make ourselves
feel better.
Now only Europe, The United States, and

Canada remained under Beaus control. I wished we all

wished that we could push on and take them from him
like we had the rest of the globe, but New Zealand had
been another of my brothers thinly veiled messages, and
that was:
Im waiting, and Im ready.
Even though I knew the others would follow me
straight through the gates of hell at the time, I could not
allow myself to make such a foolish blunder as to attack
Beau head on. No matter how emotionally satisfying it
would be we wouldnt survive.
It took some arguing, but I managed to convince
everyone to return to Japan.
Sadly there was another message waiting for us

there. Again we found burnt ruins where we had once

324

rested, but this time the message came in the form of a

Vampyre priest instead of a note in blood.
Your brother says to tell you that you cannot
hide. Wherever you go, he will kill those that help you,
and burn your resting place to the ground.
I am sorry about your brothers. We will avenge
them and rebuild this place as good as new. You have my
word. I swore.
Thank you for that, but I cannot live to see it.
Your brother said you would kill me. Will you please kill
me? The priest said through teary eyes.
I would rather not. You have been a friend to
us, and I do not like to lose friends.
Please, I cannot live like this. I am old, and I

will be old forever. I wish to see my family again and my

brothers. Please kill the priest argued, but he never
finished his last sentence.
Krystyl had raced over and beheaded him with a
sword I hadnt even known she had.
What the hell is that about?! Kris screamed.

325

It was an honorable death. Krystyl said sadly,

as she stabbed the sword into the earth and snapped its
handle off, This sword has protected this temple since
the time of the Samurai. It is fitting that it dies with the
monks.
Where do we go now? Obviously we cant stay
here? Robert said.
We dont get to stay anywhere twice until this is
over. Coryn said coldly.
Im afraid Coryn is right. We are now
nomads. I said softly.
Does anyone have any ideas? Maria asked.
How about the Alamo? Antonio said
sarcastically, and managed to get a sad chuckle out of us.
Why not someplace weve already been. Beau
will think we are afraid, and he will think its too foolish
to rest in a base we have already used. I said.
Yeah like, right under his nose. Kris said, Like
the in Chicago; maybe the Drake Hotel.

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Very well; the Drake it is, but everyone put your

guard up now, and be ready to teleport right back here. I
wont lose anybody else today. I said as we all teleported
to the roof of the Drake Hotel.
From there we dropped silently to the alley on its
eastern side. A quick scan showed that Chicago was still
free of Vampyres, or at least that they had learned, as I

had, to hide their presence. I hoped it was the prior and

not the later, but I was suddenly too tired to care.
Antonio glamoured the concierge into giving us
the Presidential suite, and into believing that we were a
group of Japanese tourists.
Whatever.

327

328

10th of April, 1991

I woke with the urge to teleport to Beau and tell

him he had won. Part of me wanted to renounce all
claims of leadership and let the population of Vampyres
spill out into the universe if that was what my brother

wanted. That part of me just didnt care anymore about

what happened as long as I didnt lose anybody else I
cared about. I had grown extremely close to this group
and I didnt want any more casualties. I guess crisis does
that to you.
But, that was only part of me. The rest of me
was pissed. At that moment I probably could have killed
Beau without hesitation.
I thought about disbanding the group for a
while, letting Beau think he had one, but I knew that he
would never let it go at that. He would hunt every last

329

one of us down and kill us. Its what I would do. Plus,
my brother was just too smart to fall for such a simple
ruse.
I was sitting on the balcony when the rest of the
group arose. The usual strategy session ensued almost
immediately. No one wanted to talk about our dead. I
couldnt blame them; I didnt want to talk about them
either. I would have preferred not to think about it
either, but I couldnt get it out of my damn head.
Fortunately we had an abundance of good
leaders in the group, so my funk didnt stop us from doing
what had to be done. The plans might have been better if
I had made them, but who am I to second guess them; I
barely did more than grunt when I was spoken to.
So our plan, at least Antonio and Krystyls plan
that we were all following, was to start clearing Europe,

and simply go to ground or retreat into the nearest body

of water (That was an entirely new tactic that I had
introduced, apparently no Vampyre had ever used water
for shelter before).
First stop Turkey.

330

The Muslim world would seem very inhospitable

to Vampyres; not because of the religion per se, but
because of the culture. With the constant group prayers
towards Mecca and everyone looking over everyone elses
shoulder for un-Muslim behavior you would think it all
too Public for Vampyres to flourish. You would be
wrong.
In Diyarbakir we were met by a force of over a
thousand Vampyres just outside of town.
I guess youre wondering why I am relaying this
event without the usual urgency. Ill tell you why. Its
quite funny actually, in a tragic Shakespearian kind of
way.
We teleported to Diyarbakir and I sensed them
in the desert southeast of the city right away. There were
so many in such a small area that I couldnt get a read on
exactly how many there were, so we raced out on foot
taking care to stay hidden as we approached them.
Thats when I got the surprise. The Sultan
Mehmed was standing at the head of a great force all of
whom were standing in the desert sun in perfect
formation even though some of them werent holding up

331

to the sun very well (think about boiled shrimp).

Mehmed was the very same Sultan that Beau had once
had an illicit affair with. He was the very same Sultan I
had been at war with once.
To see him standing there as Vampyre; to know
that my blood now ran in his veins was a shock to say the
least. It was so shocking in fact that I could not resist
going out to meet him.
Strangely he made no effort to flee or attack even
though I saw recognition cross his face the moment I
came into view.
Dracula he called, I mean to say Kodi. We
have been waiting for you for many days and nights.
Mehmed... I did not expect to ever see you
again. I had heard that you died of Syphilis. I said as an
intentional insult to my old enemy; it was, after all, what
the history books said.
I am afraid it was something else entirely that
ended that life. Mehmed said.

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The members of my group swooped in behind

me. I guessed they had decided that we would all die
together if one of us was going to die.
You know each other? Kris asked.
In a way I said, May I introduce Mehmed
II, bastard of Turkey, would-be plague of Europe. I just
couldnt stop myself from insulting him. The old hatred
was still very strong.
The fact that he had been such a thorn in my
side as a mortal did not bode well for me and my friends.
Please. I do not wish to relive the past or
exchange tired insults. Mehmed said.
How do you know him? more than one person
in my group asked.
I was the Knight of the Order of the Dragon
sent to stop Mehmeds father and then Mehmed from
invading Europe.
You were Dracula? Kris and the rest of the
group asked.

333

I was Vlad Basarab, Mircea Basarab, Vlad III,

and several others in the Wallachian royal family until we
grew tired of fighting both sides of a stupid war, and left
the christians and Turks to settle it on their own, which
they still havent done.
I am not Muslim any longer. I am sure that

Allah would not have me in paradise. Mehmed said, I

bare no grudge for the battles of the past. I have come
here to swear an oath to your cause.
Say that again. I said; shocked.
I and my men agree with you. Beau has
overpopulated the world with Jinn and it must be
cleansed; even at the expense of our own lives. He said,
And if you cannot forgive me for past grievances, then
take my life, but spare my men. They will serve you to
the death. We stand in the sun, even those too young to
do so safely, to show our faith in your cause.
I should have seen this coming. I should have

investigated when Mehmed died and his son became him;

when he suddenly shunned Beau. I cannot give this a fair
judgment. I said to my friends.

334

I am not able to judge you fairly Mehmed. I

must leave it up to my friends. I told the former Sultan.
Very well... We will wait just as we have been
waiting. Mehmed replied.
We could use the help. Coryn said.
Can we trust them? Mitchell asked.
Mehmed was a man of his word. Despite his
many faults I will give him that. I answered.
Then what? Krystyl asked, We cant very well
let some thousand or so Arab Vampyres loose on the
world after this is over. If we do we are hypocrites of the
worst kind.
It does not matter. Look at them. Most of
those Mehmed has brought here are using every last bit of
their willpower to stop from bursting into flames in the
sun. Their only use to us would be as cannon fodder.
Antonio stated, Kodi knows better than anyone that

Mehmed and Beau were lovers for many years, so the

question is not whether we spare him and his men. The

335

question is will Beau win him back when they are face to
face?
He will try. I answered, He openly missed
Mehmed for generations.
Then we cant take that risk. Kris and Krystyl
said in unison.
What about his men then? Coryn asked.
We cant continue to claim the high ground as
we have, if we were to do something so cruel as to use
them as fodder. Angela proclaimed.
Then it is settled. I said as I turned to again
face my old foe.
I am sorry Mehmed, but we must decline your
offer. I said with a surprising amount of sadness in my
voice.
Then I give this life to you as I should have the
moment your brother gave it to me against your law and
my will. Mehmed said as he dropped his tunic to the
sand and exposed most of his body to the sun.

336

I saw blisters starting to form, but he was not

going to die from exposure. My guess was that he was
willing the injuries the sun inflicted and that as soon as he
lost consciousness he would heal; after draining a few

humans at least. Somehow I doubted that was what he

wanted, so I went to him.
I will end your life Mehmed; with honor; at the
hands of an enemy. I told him.
And my men? he asked pleadingly.
Im sorry. I said as I shook my head side to
side.
It only took a tiny bit of pyrokinetic energy to

end the Sultans life, and seeing that was enough for many
of his men (They may or may not have all been men in
desert garb it was impossible to tell) to lose their
willpower and struggle with the sun. As much as half of
his force burst into flames and died.
The other half remained in formation as if frozen
in place and time.
One soldier stepped forward and said:

337

We still wish to stand with you, if you will have

us.
You understand that I would have to kill you
when the war is over.
He said nothing; he just nodded in acquiescence.
Then it is better that I do it now, than allow
false hope to spring in the hearts of any amoung you who
may not wish to die.
Again he nodded in agreement. Then he knelt
in the sand. The remaining soldiers followed suit.
I directed my mind at them and one by one they
ignited. Krystyl and the others joined me and soon all of
Mehmeds soldiers were just ash blending into the desert
sand.
It was almost sad. Those men had maintained
enough humanity; enough morality, to loath the actions

of the Vampyres in Beaus camp. If there had not been so

many, perhaps I would have spared them, but there were
just too many, and there was no way of knowing how
many of them would eventually fall to the degradation

338

that the Vampyres on my brothers side had or when.

The risk outweighed the reward too much. At least they
died with their honor, and I guess some would argue,
their souls intact.
Now we knew why there had been so few
Vampyres in the middle-east.
With that over; and with a good eight hours of
sunlight left we moved through Istanbul into Europe and
cleansed the lands that had once been my home of its
Vampyres.
Its funny how few Vampyres we encountered in
the Carpathians considering that most Vampyres now
thought that it was the region of our origin. Even
members of my little band had thought so until I had
taken them to Uruk.
Perhaps they were amoung Mehmeds men.
Perhaps there were still active Vampyre hunters in the
area as there had been shortly after I left the region last
time.
Whatever the reason, we covered the six

countries the Carpathians cross and all we found were six

339

Vampyres. However, many of the humans recognized me

somehow and either crossed themselves and ran away, or
lavished blessings on me for returning to them.
My ability to locate Vampyres warned me that
we would face a different story when we moved into
western-Europe. It was getting late, and we had circled
back south to move into Greece the next day. That

placed us close to Wallachia and what was left of my old

castle. So, after several members of the group begged,
literally, I acquiesced and we went to ground in the ruins
of Poenari Castle; my old home.
They all went on about sleeping in Draculas
Castle with the man himself and laughed. I wasnt
really listening much. Im not exactly proud of that part
of my history regardless of my motives.
The next morning we headed into Greece and

put an end to the ten Vampyres that I had detected there.

From there we would have to be more random about our
targets or we would run into my brother or his
representatives at the very least.
So, rather than take what we thought was the
obvious action of crossing the Adriatic into Italy, we went

340

to Germany. Every Vampyre there was in Berlin. Really,

every last one was there.
At first we thought it would be an assault force.
It was so overcast that it was almost as dark as night so
some of the local Vampyres were out. Upon our cautious
approach they didnt hide, but they didnt attack, so killed
them, and then moved on to those in hiding.
That is where we found the Berlin Coven as they

called themselves. No one in the group was old enough

to go out in the day, and they were not sanctioned by
Beau or Germanys Prince. They claimed neutrality in
the war, and swore they never so much as touched
humans. They swore that they lived off of the blood of

animals, which of course I knew to be a lie. The blood of

animals would keep them alive; if that is even necessary to

stay alive, but it would leave them with a Hunger that
would drive them stark-raving mad.
Angela said she had heard their story before.
She didnt believe it then either.
Even if they had resisted, which strangely they
did not, my comrades and I would hardly break the
proverbial sweat taking out that group, who seemed more

341

concerned with whining about what was fair than actually

surviving.
It only took the grand total of an hour to
eliminate the Berlin Coven. With several hours of
daylight left, the group wanted to push on. So we
discussed it.
The Prince of Portugal is exceptionally strong.
Krystyl said, And, he likes to stay neutral in Vampyre
conflicts and befriend whoever wins.
If we were to take him out, it might go a long

way towards demoralizing Beaus troops. He has to be as

strong as any of your brothers generals. Shannon said.
He will not leave Lisbon, even if every last
Vampyre in Portugal is gone. Antonio said.
If Portugal is where you all wish to go, then that
is where we will go. I said as I watched everyone but Kris
nod in approval, But, make no mistakes, there are far
more Vampyres in Portugal than the Prince himself, and I
doubt they will be as quick to die as Mehmeds men or
these weak willed fools.

342

I swept my hand across the scene behind us to

show what I meant.
Lets do it. Robert said, Its about time we
start causing them to be afraid.
We all teleported to Lisbon then, and right away
I wished we hadnt. Shannon would have wished the
same thing, if she had the time to realize her fate.
Before we had even managed to materialize the
entire group I heard the whoosh and felt the heat that
always accompanies a pyrokinetic assault. I turned my

head in both directions; first right, then left just in time to

see Shannons clothes ignite. She was already nothing
more than a statue made of ash waiting for a wind to
disperse her. That wind was caused by Krystyl racing over
to help her even though it was far too late.
In the distraction the Prince of Portugal himself

had raced in and grabbed Kris, rushed away several yards,

and taunted us.
Leave my country now and I will extinguish no
more of you, but if you stay you will all die starting with
this one. He called in a mocking tone.

343

I hadnt been myself since New Zealand, Ill

admit that, but I was back to warrior king in an instant
when I saw Kris in jeopardy.
If you so much as cause her discomfort I will kill
you slowly. I shouted.
Oh, I doubt that. You may be the progenitor of
us all, though Im finding that hard to believe, but you are
vastly outnumbered. You cannot hope to win. He

mocked, And let me assure you that you will have to

fight through an army to reach me.
Then bring it. Krystyl said as she looked up
from the ashes of Shannons remains.
In a blur, Vampyres swarmed in all around us.
We grouped together back to back in a small circle just in
time to meet the first wave.
The Vampyres we faced werent all that strong.
In fact many of them were smoldering from the exposure
to the sun they had to endure to fight us. Some lost their
concentration and ignited, but the all kept coming. None
of them seemed to be able to manifest any kind of mental

344

attack, but the massive numbers were enough to off-set

that inadequacy.
We fought savagely, but we were too busy, and
too unprepared to use much of our own mental abilities
against them. A quick pyrokinetic blast here and there
was about all we could manage.
For hours this went on. They were losing, but it
would be dark soon, which meant that there would

undoubtedly be re-enforcements. We would be stronger

in the dark, but so would they, and even progeny could do
damage in a large enough force.
It was perhaps an hour until nightfall when Kris
materialized in the circle with the Prince in her arms.
This time he was the one in a stranglehold, and he didnt
look like he was fairing very well. A moment later Kris
ripped his head from his neck and tossed his rapidly

disintegrating body into the hoards of Vampyres that

were fighting on his behalf.
She held the head up and every one froze.

345

Your Princes blood tasted good. Who is next?

Kris screamed across the courtyard we had been fighting
in.
It had been so noisy a moment before that it was
hard to hear myself think, but at that instant a whisper
seemed as loud as a shout. Then someone from the
southern end of the courtyard shouted:
I am Prince now. Kill them all.
Here we go again. Coryn groaned as the waves
of enemy descended on us again.
Ive had enough of this shit! Kris
said as she started rendering enemy Vampyres limb from
limb.
End this. She said as she briefly looked back
over her shoulder at me.
I dropped to the center of our group, gathered

my wits, and lashed out with the strongest Pyrokinetic

wave I had managed yet. I knew the moment I did it that

every Vampyre in Lisbon outside of our group was dead.

346

Well almost all. The new self-appointed Prince

of Portugal had managed to hold on to a flicker of life, so
I lunged across the courtyard onto him. Before I ended
his laugh he managed to cough out words that lifted the
spirits of my entire party:
Beau is right to fear you.
I think that until that moment many of us had
been going through the motions; trying more than

anything not to let the others down. But, those dying

words gave us all heart again, and we were ready to fight
again; perhaps more than ever before.
We spent the twilight hours of that day mopping
up the stragglers around Portugal. By dark we were safely
resting at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea just off
the coast of Sicily.

347

348

12th of April, 1991

The atmosphere of the group was electric as we

walked ashore in Sicily. We should have been sad about
losing Shannon, but we werent, and we couldnt be. I
would apologize to her for that if I could, but she would
probably be in the same spirits Beau was scared.
A frightened enemy is a foolish enemy. My

father had taught me that when I was a boy learning the

art of combat. What it means is that fear prevents you
from thinking clearly. When you are afraid, you wont
take the bold moves that are often necessary for victory.
You will also be more prone to making simple mistakes
because fear makes you second guess every decision;
sometimes to the point of near paralysis.
I didnt know how scared my brother was; I

doubted he was so frightened that he would be unable to

349

make even simple decisions, but it didnt matter. If he

was scared, it meant that our plan was working. We had
picked at his edges, and it had driven him nuts.
We were quite pleased with ourselves; almost too
pleased. It was an effort to keep our egos from getting
out of control, especially with a group of people who had
lived as long as that group. Long lives invariably mean
many victories, and many victories leads to conceit.
Thankfully, the others in the group knew that too, or
wed have been in big trouble.
We even managed to stop and have a laugh at
the bizarre looks the tourist gave us as we walked out of
the sea fully clothed. It must have been a strange sight.
After the laugh we got down to business; which
would probably bring the gratitude of the Italian
government even if they didnt know where to direct it.
For years the Division of General Investigations
and Special Operations, or DIGOS, has tried to rid Sicily
of its very heavy concentration of Mafia. The problem
with that was they simply didnt understand what they
were dealing with. They knew that the mafia was hard to
kill, vicious, and blood thirsty. They just didnt know

350

why: The Mafia of Sicily were Vampyres, almost to the

last man. So, Cosa Nostra, This thing of ours, wasnt
really referring to crime, but rather to their vampyric
nature. Funny huh?
Id have to remember to send the Italians a Your
Welcome note.
In Palermo, we quickly captured the capo di tutti
capi, and made him call in all of the Vampyres of Sicily.

It turned out to be all the Vampyres of Italy and Sardinia

as well.
Id love to tell you of a glorious battle where we
mopped the floor with each and every one of them, but it
simply didnt happen.
Everyone gathered on the Bosses farm outside of
town, and desperate to save their Prince they did anything
we asked; which means they died without so much as a
complaint. Most of them that is; a few tried to flee when
they realized what was happening. The boss himself

ignited them. He had heard about Lisbon already, and

was so scared he would have wet his pants if Vampyres
did that.

351

We had told him that we would let him live if he

rounded up and helped kill his men, but when the last of
his soldiers died, he turned to Kris and said simply:
I suppose it is my time now.
Yes She said, Thank you for being
honorable.
With those words, she snapped off his head and
ignited the two pieces of his body, and Italy was Vampyre
free.
Spain was the next stop on our agenda, and there
was an astounding lack of older Vampyres there. We
encountered only one Vampyre capable of withstanding

the sun for even a few minutes if he struggled, and he lost

that struggle while running for his life. He looked a lot
like a comet streaking across the ground when he burst
into flames.
The progeny that we encountered had all heard
about Lisbon already, so the fear of our coming did a
large part of our work for us. There was hissing and
spitting and baring of fangs. They fought back with

everything they had. They cried and begged to be left

352

alone. Some even chose to flee into the sun and commit
suicide. The end result was that by sunset, Spain was also
devoid of Vampyres, and we were becoming certain that
we were going to win.
Beau hadnt even shown any interest in us for
days. Perhaps he was trying to develop a strategy that

would allow him to pull out a victory, or perhaps he was

looking for a really good hiding place. All we knew was
that for the time being, he wasnt fighting back.
If he chose to meet us in battle tomorrow it
would likely be that he would predict France as our next
move, so we spent the night in a cave in the Highlands of
Scotland outside of Garbat.

353

354

13th of April, 1991

The Scottish Highlands had no Vampyres. We

knew that before we went there. In fact the entire United
Kingdom had so few Vampyres left that we were done
before the queen sat down for her breakfast. Our guess,

after some discussion was that they had been mostly older
Vampyres in Britain, and they had gone to join Beau.
From there we swept through the Scandinavian
countries, and then Northern Russia. Few humans lived
in northern Russia, so we were surprised at the number of
Vampyres there.
The thirty-six Vampyres we found in Siberia
must not have heard about my location ability and hidden
there because it would be the last place a Vampyre would
every logically go. They were so crazy from the Hunger

355

they had started feeding on each other. Before we got

there they numbered one hundred and fifty-seven.
Crazy meant unpredictable so we went after
them slowly and carefully to avoid the off chance that one
of them would get lucky and actually manage to hurt one
of us. Quite often they jumped out at us gibbering about
drinking the blood of a daywalker.
It was almost comical until one managed to

tackle Robert and sink his fangs. Robert had wandered

away from the group after a noise, and had drifted out of
our sight line. Thats when it happened.
A female with badly thinning hair, ghostly white
and slovenly dirty skin, with red rings around her eyes
jumped him. Before we got to them she had drained him
to the point that he no longer had the strength to get her
off of him.
Had I looked that bad in the subway tunnels
weeks ago in Chicago? I really hoped I had not.
Her body started restoring itself at an
astonishing rate while, simultaneously, the clouds rolled

back and the sun came out. She covered her eyes in terror

356

but nothing happened to her. You could see the shock on

her face that she wasnt bursting into flames.
Sadly, it was Robert who ignited. He was gone
in seconds. Without his blood to heal him, the sun was as
toxic to him as it was to a new-born.
We all jumped her and took back the blood she
had stolen from our friend, which let the sun do its work
on her as well. She actually looked happy as she died.

Maybe she had never wanted to be a Vampyre, or maybe

she just missed the sun. Whatever the case, she smiled
for the few seconds it took for her to turn to ash.
We paused to say farewell to Robert, than swept
through the last few Vampyres in Russia, and on into
China.
We went to ground in the Mongolian desert.
The Vampyres of China, who called themselves
Jiang Shi, were both young, and completely deluded.
There were none older than a hundred years, which is still
a progeny anywhere else in the world, yet they were
masters in China.

357

Everyone in my group was shocked that Beau

had not taken control of China, but clearly he had not.
The Jiang Shi, young as they were, all believed
themselves invincible, and all-powerful. They even
thought themselves our superiors. Clearly they had never
heard of any Vampyres from outside of China.
It was curious, but not curious enough to delay
their demise, or our mission.
Ill give them credit in this: at least they died
fighting, unlike every other Vampyre (other the insane
ones in Siberia) that we had met since Lisbon.
Fight though they did, the Jiang Shi were no

match for us on any level. They knew nothing of any

mental abilities, so we didnt have to guard against
confusion, or pyrokinesis, and their physical abilities,

though impressive when compared to humans, were of no

challenge to us.
I wasnt surprised to find out that Chinese
mythology viewed the Jiang Shi as mindless undead
simpletons, But like I said, at least they fought back.

358

There were enough of them to take the full day

eliminating them. When we were done we spent the
night in the Shaolin Temple near Zhengzhou City. The
monks were very happy to give us shelter after realizing
we were responsible for eliminating the Jiang Shi from
China.

359

360

15th of April, 1991

Our next move would have to be France. There

were perhaps a thousand or so Vampyres there. I knew
that because of my location ability; too bad it didnt tell
me whether they were old enough to be a problem, or
young fools like those we had just ended in China.
I hoped for at least a little challenge before we

hit North America and Beaus forces. I didnt want to

lose anyone else, especially not because of overconfidence

like with Robert.
We teleported to Paris and onto the Boulevard
Poissonnire. My senses told me that there was a large
nest here, but we werent seeing any of them. Then it
dawned on me how much the French loved theatrics: the
Vampyres of France would likely be underground during
the day whether they were capable of moving around in

361

daylight or not. It was a bit melodramatic, but somehow

it suited Paris well.
Into the subways we went. The Metro-Grands
Boulevards station was less than a block from us so down
we went, and there they were. In shops; in corners; on
benches; even in the tunnels: everywhere we looked we
turned up more Vampyres.
Curiously, they just observed us. They neither

attacked or fled, until we confronted a small group outside

a CD store (for those of you who have never been to Paris
there is a lot of shopping to be done in the subways
the other; go; a life lived without at least a day in Paris is a
life wasted).
O est votre Prince? Maria asked; Thinking
Beau would have appointed a replacement for Staci the
moment she joined or camp.
Fuck off! an extremely attractive woman in the
group said.
Where is your Prince? Maria repeated.

362

That is when the Vampyres of Paris attacked.

All those dark corners they had been hiding in emptied.
Thankfully the human population had left this section of
the tunnels; Most likely compelled to leave by the Prince
wherever he was.
Il n'y a aucun besoin d'tre impoli. Kris said as
she lopped off the head of a Vampyre as he lunged at her.
I think we can drop the diplomatic approach.

Krystyl called from a far corner, Obviously they arent in

a talkative mood.
Let me say quickly, that I find the French to be a
wonderful and courteous people. They are rude when you
are; and we had come to kill them, which is a little rude.
Il y a une faon de le calculer sans nouveau
massacre? asked a sultry voice from inside my head.
J'ai peur non. I answered back telepathically,
Ce n'est pas personnel. I added, but whoever had asked
me was now long gone. She had gone after I had told her
the bloodshed must continue.

363

I knew that voice, but I simply could not place it,

and I didnt have time to think about it. We were in a hell
of a fight. Thankfully the Vampyres of Paris were
forbidden to use any mental ability that might do damage
to Paris or alarm its citizens. Whomever their new

Princess was they loved her, and obeyed her even though
she had left them to die. I pulled those two pieces of
information from the mind of one of my many assailants,
but no name for her; not even so much as an image of her.
It took a full day to clear Paris of Vampyres, and
the Princess, whoever she was I still cant place the voice
(telepathic voices are always slightly different than a real

voice because we project how we think we sound rather

than how we actually sound.) Thankfully we lost no one

in the fray.
Unfortunately, there were still a few Vampyres
here and there around France. We thought about
spending the night sending them to the next life, but
decided that it presented to many possible ambush
opportunities for both our immediate opponents and for
Beau. So, instead we spent the night in the catacombs
under Paris.

364

The next day we rose and cleared the rest of

France of the Plague my brother had unleashed on the
world. It only took a few hours, so we were done well
before noon.
Beau was next, and we didnt see any reason to
put it off any longer. All the remaining Vampyres of the
world were either in our group, or in the region around
Toronto. Perhaps that is where the new Princess of
France had gone.
We teleported into Toronto at the foot of the
CN Tower, and immediately got a message from my
brother. It was nothing macabre like he had previously
done. Instead, he had actually put a veiled message on a
billboard.
What you seek isnt hard to find it read, come
to Klub Kodi!
The nerve of my brother was unquestionable, as
was the fact that the billboard was clearly meant for me to
see. He named the club on the billboard after me to piss
me off, and he had succeeded.

365

As we made our way to the address given on the

billboard for Klub Kodi we spotted progeny everywhere.
Clearly they were under order not to attack, which was
strange. It didnt really matter though; we killed them in
every manner you can imagine between the tower and
Klub Kodi. They still didnt fight back.
I count ninety-six dead since the tower.
Mitchell said.
Ninety-seven Coryn corrected as she
incinerated another progeny.
What is Beau up to? I asked aloud.
Maybe he is giving up. Antonio postulated.
No its a ploy of some kind. I guess we shall
soon see.
Ninety-eight Ninety-nine One
Hundred Coryn called as she took the heads off of

three progeny with a manhole cover she had thrown like a

Frisbee.
They just stand there and die. They are being
compelled. Kris moaned.

366

They are. I answered plainly, Beau has them

in thrall. I can feel it, as should you all.
Everyone nodded that they could.
Be careful not to let it take control of you.
Antonio warned everyone.
261 Richmond Street West. Krystyl said
somberly, Shall we go in?
Unfortunately, we must. I moaned.
I didnt want to kill my brother. That had been
his decision. I realized then that I still held a small hope
that he would indeed give up, but I didnt think it very
likely.
Just then the doors swung open as though of
their own accord. Clearly it was a telepathic display by
my brother.
I guess thats our invitation. Kris joked.
You know we dont actually need those right?
Maria asked jovially.
Duh Kris replied.

367

Enough Please I growled.

I didnt like being coarse with Kris or any of my
friends, it was hardly an appropriate time for laughter.
Sorry. Kris said softly as she took my hand and
squeezed it sympathetically, I know this has to be hard.
We slid through the doors in pairs and then
fanned out. There were Vampyres of impressive power all
around the room, but a path was clear to the opposite wall
where Beau sat on a thrown.
I had the strongest Vampyres in my group,
without question, but his group were no pushovers, and
there were a lot more of them. The whole thing made the
hair stand up on the back of my neck it could and
probably would end very badly.
Welcome brother. Beau said passively.
I know you arent going to just give up, so tell

me what is it that you are trying to accomplish by

allowing me to walk into your den so easily. I snarled.

So hostile You dont understand me. The
progeny you have been taking out all over the world mean

368

absolutely nothing to me. Even the ones outside who

came so eagerly to my side are expendable.
That isnt what you said when you started this
war. I spat.
You started this war! Beau yelled as he leapt
from his thrown, Please forgive me for my rudeness. We
are brothers after all. We should at least be civil. He
continued as he sat back down.
Please go on. I urged.
It isnt those weak blooded simpletons I will
save. It is my royal court those in this room I would
save.
I might have agreed to that in Chicago; before I
had been to their jurisdictions and heard of the horrors

they are responsible for; before you inflicted both injury

and insult on me and mine.
We are predators. Surely you dont fault us for
that. Beau chuckled.

369

Many of his court joined him in the laugh until I

looked around the room at them. Clearly they sensed my
power, and feared it.
I fault you for your cruelty and your greed. I
said, I fault you for the enslavement of men and women,
and for doing the trick to unknowing and unwilling

victims just so to entice them to share your bed for a few

years.
How about a peace offering then? Beau asked
as he waved a hand at his court.
Instantly the room cleared except for Beau and
the eight members of my crew. Just as quickly my
brothers court reappeared.
The Vampyres outside of this room are no
more. Beau stated, This is all there is.
Not enough. I said coldly.
Thats too bad. Beau said as he and his entire
court vanished.
They had teleported away to some
predetermined hiding place.

370

He didnt really think it was going to happen

like that, did he? Kris asked.
No But he hoped it would. He is terrified
that everything he has will be taken from him. He hid it
well, but I could see it. I answered.
So its Cat and mouse now? Coryn asked.
Yes But we must be more careful than ever
before. We cannot rely on my location sense anymore.
Beau can block it, so any reading I get will likely lead to
an ambush. It is also likely that an ambush will wait for
us at every turn until they are all dead. I answered.
Truly Antonio groaned.
But now we have the edge. Krystyl said
triumphantly.
How so? I asked.
Your brother may want to save his court, but he
will sacrifice every last one of them to save his own skin,
and every one of them knows it. He may be a good

politician, but as a tactician he sucks. He played his hand

371

way too early, and now his people have lost faith. Krystyl
replied.
You saw it too then. I said, I thought I had,
but I cast it off as being overly optimistic.
No She is right. Maria purred, We are
winning.
At least we can sleep where we want now. He
will never come at us again. Antonio said joyously.
Yes You have all earned that. I said, Where
would you all like to go.
New Orleans. Everyone said as one.
New Orleans it is then. I agreed.

372

16th of April, 1991

When we rose we gathered in the living room of

Marias spacious Garden District home. All of us except
Maria, that is.
Coryn went to Marias room to check on her and
began shrieking and weeping the moment she got there.
We all raced into the room.
Maria was there, but she was dead. Sometime in
the middle of the night Beau had teleported into her
bedroom, drained her to a husk, beheaded her, and left a
note pinned to her chest.
One soldier for the lives of all that I have lost is
a fair trade, dont you think? was all it said.

373

That little fucker. Coryn cried. Promise me

that I get the wound that finally kills him.
It is yours when it comes. I swore.
How the hell did he know where wed be?
Mitchell asked.
Simple. He would never destroy anything in
such a historic city as this. If we check, I am sure that we
will find everyone elses home destroyed. Eventually we
would end up here. Antonio said.
We relaxed our guard. I moaned.
Back to ground? Kris asked.
Fuck that. Coryn growled, Im not hiding
anymore.
No I said, We will not hide again. But no
one goes anywhere alone, and no one sleeps unguarded.
One of us will be awake at all times. We will not let him
sneak in on us again.
Do we stay here? Kris asked trepidaciously.

374

No I answered, We will find a new place; a

place none of us has ever been.
Everyone whispered or at least nodded in
agreement, and the discussion of where to call home
started. We finally settled on Little Rock, Arkansas.
None of us had ever stepped foot in the city, and Beau

hadnt even bothered to establish a Prince in the state; it

was just under the extended wing of Missouris Princess.

375

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17th of April, 1991

Arkansas was free of Vampyres when we got

there. It probably always was. There is little there to
attract people much less Vampyres. It is a plain place
only half full of plain people: very, very boring. That

made it exactly what we needed for a base in this final leg

of the war against my brothers mismanagement of the
Vampyre population.
I wish he would just admit his mistakes and let
this thing end, but he wont. Instead he runs and hides
and drags along everyone he thinks he can protect. I
would have been more likely to let some of them live if he
had tried to handle things diplomatically. But he had

never been one to listen to reason, so instead he and all of

his people end up marked for death.

377

At this point I couldnt let any of them live even

if I wanted to. Everyone in my group has been insulted or
injured by this war that Beau has wrought. They all want
my brothers blood, and Id never be able to save face if I
let him or his live.
Where to next was the question of all questions.

My brother now only had at most two-hundred Vampyres

left in his camp, and he was able to mask their existence
from my senses. We couldnt just wander aimlessly from
place to place looking for them. We may have an eternity
to look, but even I am not that patient.
The only thing we could do was watch for clues
to their location. Beau was clever, Ill give him that. He
was never dumb; just impulsive. It was his impulsiveness

that I had to rely on. Eventually there would be a rash of

unsolved murders, or missing persons. Maybe he would
again try to turn somebody hoping theyd be grateful
enough for the immortality that they would suck his dick
for a few hundred years despite being hetero, and they
would reject him and thereby pop-up on my Vampyre
radar.

378

He would make a mistake, and we would find

him.
That doesnt mean we would sit on our asses and
wait for his errors before we did anything. Id lose my
mind in this boring place and do something rash like
starting a Joe Bob hunting season or something. I guess

that wouldnt be all bad though: the world could certainly

use fewer Baptists.
We need to be out looking for him now; not
watching Cable News Network. Coryn complained.
We will go look later. I said, and every day
until he and his minions are found. You have my word.
Why not now. Coryn complained.
Because we cant go running blindly from place

to place looking for them Krystyl said, Unless you

want to end up like Maria.

You bitch. Coryn growled as she jumped at

Krystyl.

379

I immediately lunged into the space between

them and was surprised by the amount of force Coryn had
aimed at Krystyl.
We are all on the same side here. I
commanded, We will not fight amongst ourselves. Is
that understand clearly?
Yes. Krystyl answered.
Yeah Coryn said sullenly.
Good I said, Now everybody get back to
work. With three of us watching the news, and four of us
searching this internet thing, we should be able to find a
clue within the hour.
Its just Internet Coryn grumbled, not
internet thing.
I understood her anger; truly I did. But, no
matter how well founded it was I could not let her go
flying off the handle. If I did, she would chase my

brother and his forces blindly from place to place until she
found herself in the middle of an ambush. If I had to

380

treat her like a child to keep her alive I would do so, even
if she was over hundred years old.
For the next hour everyone set quietly prowling
through news programs and internet sites looking for a
sign. Everyone was silent, so when Kris shouted out, we
all ducked and covered to guard for an attack.
Damn it Kris shouted, Why didnt I think
of this sooner?
Think of what? I asked.
It just dawned on me to search for Beaus
financial holdings. You know like Klub Kodi. I thought
that if we hit him in his pocket book hard enough he
might surface.
Good idea. Krystyl praised.
Do you have something? I asked.
Yeah. He owns a hotel and casino in Las
Vegas. The top floor is a spa, but the one underneath it is
a penthouse listed as unavailable. Kris purred.

381

Its a good lead. Even if he isnt there we can

wreck the place, and cost him a lot of money. Coryn said
joyously.
Vegas it is then I said, but no feeding on
the guests. We dont want to expose ourselves as
Vampyres in a war to prevent Vampyres from being
exposed.
What? I got it. Coryn said guiltily.
You better Krystyl scolded.
We all teleported to the southern end of the
Strip in Vegas and went into Beaus casino. Then we
started glamouring anyone who looked like an employee

so that no one would inform my brother of our presence,

if indeed he were there. Most of them we just left
standing there blankly. There really wasnt time to embed
some elaborate story in their heads. Instead we just
instructed them to stand there until noon and then go
home and of course to forget that they ever saw us.
The unavailable penthouse was in fact being
used, so we all climbed into the elevator with the

concierges spare key and went up. Rather pedestrian

382

approach I admit, but also an approach Beau would never

expect.
We banked on the element of surprise and it
worked. We flooded out of the elevator into the
penthouse full of Vampyres so quickly that they didnt
have the time realize what was happening.
At Krystyls insistence we had all armed ourselves
with silver-plated samurai swards, also known as Katana.

Her reasoning was that the Vampyres in Beaus camp

could probably block our mental attacks at least long
enough to fight back. Silver isnt really lethal to

Vampyres, unless they believe it is. I knew that because I

had always worn silver jewelry. Antonio and Krystyl
knew it because Beau had once told Antonio and he had
passed it to his progeny Krystyl. However, most

Vampyres believed silver was almost instantly lethal, and

the draw-back to our exceptional mental power is, that
whatever we believe we make true. Remember how
Mehmed had blistered in the desert sun even though he
was the first progeny of an illuminati Vampyre, and
therefore illuminati himself. That was because he
believed the sun could harm him.

383

Even against the Vampyres who knew silver was

no threat, the razor-sharp volted steel blades were still
trouble. We Vampyres are strong, and resilient, and with
enough age, nearly Impregnable, but losing ones head

was lethal to all Vampyres. A truly old Vampyre might

survive that if you put the two halves back together, but of
course we wouldnt be doing that.
So, we whipped around the room so fast that
even the best surveillance cameras would register only a
blur, beheading Vampyres as we went. We were moving
so fast in fact that even our enemies couldnt get enough
focus on us to protect themselves. Unfortunately, that
speed also meant we werent able to really take note of
who we had killed.
It didnt matter, within seconds we had killed all
the Vampyres we would get to kill that day. Those we
hadnt gotten to yet recovered from the shock of our
surprise attack and teleported away. I wanted to know
who was dead, hoping that my brother was among the
dead, while at the same time hoping he wasnt.
What had taken us only seconds to do, took us
over an hour to sort out. There were over seventy dead,

384

but Beau wasnt among them. The heads of those who

had believed in the power of silver the most had turned to
ash when they were cut off, but their bodies which were
no longer under their control remained. That left us with
seventy bodies, and roughly twenty heads to get rid of, so
We smashed out the windows on the sunny side of the
building and watched them turn to ash.
The smoke of their incinerations caused the fire
suppression system and its accompanying alarms to go off,
which was actually convenient. It emptied the building of
its human inhabitants for us. The only humans that
remained were the employees that we had glamoured

stupid. All it took to get them out was to compel them to

leave now instead of waiting until noon.
With the hotel and casino empty, we set about
destroying the place. Eight elder Vampyres can wreck a
building pretty good in a very short amount of time, but
when it dawned on Krystyl to use our pyrokinetic ability,
we really started doing damage.
In the past our pyrokinetic abilities had only
damaged Vampyres, but we had been concentrating on
them. When Krystyl suggested it, it immediately seemed

385

to be at least feasible, so we set about trying it. Within a

few minutes we had honed the ability to use it against
inanimate objects just as we had Vampyres, so we went
from room to room, floor to floor, setting fires. Then we
moved up the strip several blocks and watched the place
burn to the ground.
Im not really up on the economics of casinos,
but Krystyl said that the loss of the hotel and casino
would cost Beau millions of dollars before the end of the
week. Knowing my brother it would hardly be a crippling
economic blow, but it would hurt, and that was a good
feeling.
We all celebrated in Vegas before returning to
Arkansas. Going from casino to casino gambling, and

usually winning. Gambling isnt really gambling when

you can telekinetically control dice and roulette wheels, or
mentally compel the dealer to hold or deal appropriately
to make sure the house never wins.
Once this war was over, Id have to look into
getting a casino somewhere. They were fun, and it was
like printing your own money. Scanning the minds of the
mortals in our various stops revealed person after person

386

dropping huge sums of money for the chance to win big,

which of course they almost never did. Life-savings and
college-funds were tossed away on the roll of the dice.
Fortunes were made with the tug of a lever.
We even imbibed in several of the resorts:
swimming in the pool; taking in a spa treatment;
watching a show.
By the time we got back to Arkansas that

evening, we had managed to play away all of the fatigue

and stress that had been plaguing us since our first
casualty.
And on the other hand, Beau had to be
completely losing it, and that was more uplifting than any
of the fun wed had in Vegas.

387

388

18th of April, 1991

We all rose happy and ready to, as Mitchell

called it, bitch-slap my brother in any way we could, as
soon as we could.
There were no complaints this time when we hit
the news broadcasts, and the internet. First we compiled
a list of Beaus holdings. I had to help with that, because
Beau had purchased many of them under names he had
used in the past.
His holdings were vast. If they had all been
under the same name, he would have easily been the
richest man on earth. As it was, two of his alter-egos
were in the top ten, and several more were in the top
twenty. It was going to be fun erasing that, so we shifted
our efforts from hunting Beau and his forces to destroying
his finances.

389

It wasnt like we were giving up finding him:

wed either stumble across him while bringing havoc to
his properties, or he would decide he couldnt stand
anymore and he would come to us. Either way was fine;
now we had the upper hand, and we intended to keep it.
First stop on the list of Beaus holdings was

Toronto. He owned properties there valued at over

twenty-five million dollars, but by nightfall that value

would be much, much lower; more like zero.
We teleported into Klub Kodi and started
smashing the place all to hell. We thought about burning
it down, but there were other businesses in the building
that Beau didnt own. We convinced them it was in their
best interest to move. I even wrote very generous checks
to all of them so that they would do so as soon as possible.
Next stop was his condo. Turned out he owned

the whole building, and no humans had lived there. It

was a Vampyres only community; it even said as much

on the sign by the front door in a paint that showed only
in a spectrum of light outside of the human range of
sight.

390

The way the building was made, made it easy to

demolish. All we had to do was go into the underground
garage and destroy two central columns. The building
started falling before we were even out of it, which was
fast.
He owned the citys baseball and hockey teams as

well, which was a trickier scenario. It wasnt a huge

problem or anything; it just required finesse instead of

brute force. Although in the end we did apply some brute
force as well.
First we glamoured the hockey coach and general
manager into releasing all the players from their contracts.
That would be a financial disaster. Beau would never be
able to get the players back even if there wasnt a war on.

Of course the players who still had time and/ or money on

their contracts would sue, which was even better. The
arena was partially owned by the city and partially by the
team, so we had the GM donate the remaining share of
the arena to the city. Then of course we had them fire all
of the non-player staff and resign themselves.
We then did the same thing to the baseball
team, which Mitchell said would probably cost my

391

brother as much as the casino between the two teams, so

that was more good news. The difference here was that
Beau owned the stadium out-right, so we destroyed it.
Beau had to be pissed by that point, but he
wasnt showing yet, so we kept moving down the list.
Next was to Seattle, and another professional athletics

team, this time American-football. While talking to the

GM, as he was glamoured of course, we explained what
we had done to the previous teams, and said it wasnt as
easy in professional football. What we had to do was
enact a business transaction that would anger the league
enough that they would revoke the rights to the franchise
from my brother. Easy enough, we released all the

players, and hired violent ex-felons to take their place. At

the time the league didnt allow criminals to play; now
they wouldnt bat an eyelash, but it was enough. By the
end of the week the league had revoked the franchise and
sold it to a group of investors, yes the investors were Kris,
Krystyl, Antonio, Coryn, Mitchell, Angela, and I.
Then we started burning down his chain of

coffee stores. What the hell would a Vampyre know

about coffee anyway right? So, now he wouldnt have to

392

worry about keeping up on current fads in the world of

caffeine addicts, if by some miracle he lives.
By the time we had finished all of that the day
was drawing to a close, so we headed back to base. No
sense in letting him have the dark to assist him, if we
didnt have to; and we didnt have to. No longer having

our actions directed by someone elses actions was in and

of itself a real booster to our moral.

393

394

19th of April, 1991

We really wanted to hit him hard, so that maybe

he would come out of hiding. We decided the best way
to do that was through his banks and bank accounts.
Here is the funny part he owned a large chain of banks,
but he didnt keep a penny of his own money in them.
His personal funds were all in numbered Swiss and
Cayman Island accounts. We found those two bits of
information out when we hit his Toronto condo and took
the contents of his safe for our perusal. This would take
some doing, but it was far from impossible for a group
like us.
The bank my brother owned traded its stock

shares publicly and Beau had made the foolish mistake of

allowing a majority of the shares onto the market, so we
simply started buying them. When we had a majority

395

share in his bank we simply fired him from his seat on the
board and framed him for embezzlement. As it turned
out Coryn was an incredibly adept hacker, so framing him
was easy.
Next we went after the numbered accounts he
held overseas. We managed to get the account numbers
and passwords, but could not transfer the funds. People
rightly use those countrys banks for security, and in this
case the security was the requirement of a physical
signature in front of a witness.
We were all itching to get our hands dirty by
them so we teleported directly into the office of the
manager of the primary branch of UBS in Switzerland. I
glamoured him into believing that I was my brother, and
that my signature matched the one on file. Coryn
transferred the funds into an account at our newly
acquired bank, and we were off to the Cayman Islands to
do the same thing there.
By the end of the day, Beau was worth less than
a third of what he had been before we ruined his casino in
Vegas. If he didnt come looking for vengeance now, he
never would. What we had to do was make ourselves easy

396

to find, but impossible to get to. That meant abandoning

our base in Little Rock for sunnier digs, at least in part.
Of the hundred and thirty or so Vampyres Beau
had left under his command, most of them survived in
daylight by exerting their will against their belief that the
sun would kill them. That meant those troops would be

unavailable for any actual daylight combat or they would

be lost the minute their attention was over-taxed.
Antonio and Krystyl estimated from their look
around the room when we were in Klub Kodi, that only
about twenty-five of the Vampyres in Beaus court were
true illuminati. They would be the only ones who did not
fear the day at all, and therefore the only Vampyres he
could bring to an assault at our new ,though fake, base in
Hawaii. He might attack at night, but we wouldnt be

there then. We would be safely sleeping in our secluded

base in the BFE (Bum-fuck Egypt Mitchells colorful
phrase) location of Little Rock. During the day we would
make enough noise in Hawaii for Beau to know we were
there. Wed buy property in my name, and give it all

appearances that it was our home. We would feed locally

and leave the victim alive and with their memories intact

397

if only slightly modified to remember Beaus face instead

of the actual attacker.
So we teleported to Maui, and began baiting the
hook. By dark we were all safely back in Arkansas waiting
for my brother to bite.
The next day we went back to Maui and bought
property, and had a little meal. Antonio even got his face
in the newspaper by surfing an abnormally large wave
near one of the resorts.
We all did our best to have fun with the

assignment, while staying on guard of course. Beau didnt

show up that day, so we went back to Little Rock. That
night we added insult to the growing list of my brothers
injuries by e-mailing a photograph of him to the
newspaper in Maui.
By the time we got there the next morning his
face was on the front page of every newspaper along with
the rather unimaginative name Vampyre Mugger.
We were all at a table at the K'anapali Beach
Hotel when Beau finally made his appearance. He was

398

standing out on the beach with only fifteen Vampyres to

assist him.
For someone who started a war to keep
Vampyres a secret from the world, you are acting very
odd. He projected mentally.
I didnt have to find him; he had dropped his
guard on purpose.
We raced to the beach and the fight was on.
Beaus people foolishly tried to use confusion, pyrokinesis,
and other mental gifts. We blocked those and used fists
teeth and swords. The batch my brother had brought
with him werent afraid of silver and were well-fed, so
each wound we inflicted healed quickly. They were losing
but not quickly enough and we could not get to Beau
until we got through his goons.
Whats the matter brother? Are you scared to
face me? I taunted.
I am scared of nothing. But, I am no fool. You
are a trained soldier. Ill deal with you when the odds are
a little more even.

399

What happened to the rest of your flunkies?

Kris asked, couldnt get them out from under the rock?
If she addresses me again I will cut her tongue
from her mouth, rip out her fangs and let her wander the
world thirsty and mute for eternity. Beau growled.
Whats the matter Beau? Did someone hurt
your feelings? I mocked.
If these are your best soldiers, you are doomed.
Antonio stated, They are starting to fade already.
It was true. The wounds we were repeatedly
inflicting had caused enough blood loss that my brothers
thugs werent healing as fast as they initially had been,
and there movements were slowing.
And now they die. Coryn announced as she

slipped past her opponents defenses and thrust he blade

into his chest.
With her next move she turned the edge of her
blade upward and split the Vampyre in two from midchest up. When her blade was free she swung it around
again and decapitated him.

400

She rushed through the hole in the line after

Beau but was met by another opponent. She dispatched
him quickly as well. My opponent fell next or perhaps
simultaneously. The rest of my friends were ending the
challenge of their opponents as well, but before anyone
got to Beau he teleported away.
I will not go down that easily. Though I must
admit it was a fine ambush, and I was a fool to fall for it.
It will not happen again. He projected from his new
hiding place.
Damn it! Krystyl moaned.
Fuck! Coryn added.
Each member of the group had a profane
exclamation to add except me. I was smiling.
What are you so happy about? Kris asked.
When he speaks to me telepathically his mind is

open to me. I said as everyone started to smile with me,

I know his plans, and I know where he is.
Excellent. Shouted Mitchell.

401

Lets go get them then. Said Antonio.

Yeah, before he realizes his mistake and moves
somewhere else. Krystyl added.
He doesnt know that his mind opened to me.
I laughed, And, now that it has, he will never be able to
cloak himself from me again.
Oh Kris blurted. This is good.
This is better than good. Coryn added.
Yeah. Angela chuckled, This war is already
over, and they dont even know theyre dead yet.

402

22nd of April, 1991

We had celebrated pretty hard the night before

think drunken orgy, except replace the alcohol with blood.
The idea had crossed my mind almost immediately after
my brothers astronomically bad misstep, but I put it

down because Kris and I had never gotten the chance to

discuss sexual issues. I didnt know if she wanted to be a
one man woman and expected the same monogamy
from me or not. Fortunately, Kris wasnt nearly as timid.
She didnt just come out and say Hey everybody,
lets get drunk and fuck. What she did was bite into my
neck the moment we rematerialized in Little Rock.
I moaned with pleasure and heard Coryn and
Krystyl both say:
Damn thats hot.

403

I was so aroused that I couldnt have stopped

things if I had wanted to, but trust me when I say I
definitely did not want to.
Kris turned first to Coryn, and then to Krystyl,
grabbing each in turn embracing them with her free hand
(the other was in my pants) and kissed them with my
blood still on her lips.
A blink later and the four of us were completely

naked and rolling around on the floor biting and licking

each other in all of our most intimate places.

I looked up briefly from the three women on me

(yes they were on each other as well) to see that Angela
was taking on Antonio and Mitchell in a very erotic
wrestling match of their own.
I fucked Kris while Coryn played with and
suckled her breasts, and Krystyl orally serviced Coryns
nether region. Then at Kriss encouragement I fucked
first Coryn and then Krystyl. The ladies made sure that

no one went unmolested. While I focused my attentions

on one of them, the other two either did each other or
assisted me and whomever I was currently fucking.

404

Later in the evening, Angela joined us in a five

way, while Antonio and Mitchell engaged in the love that
dare not speak its name.
By morning we were so spent that we barely had
the strength to crawl into bed to sleep. Im I had a kingsized bed, or we never would have managed to curl up

together as the five of us (Kris, Coryn, Krystyl, Angela,

And I) finally did, and that was some kind of miracle.
I dont know when Antonio and Mitchell
finished. When I fell asleep amongst the tangle of female
bodies in my bed, they were still going strong.
Needless to say: we didnt do anything that day
other than sleep. It was probably better that way as it
allowed Beau to think he had gotten away clean.

405

406

23rd of April, 1991

The sun peaking through the western windows

woke us. The girls got up and showered as if what we
had done had been the most natural and normal thing in
the world, and really it was. Antonio and Mitchell had

either not slept at all or had gotten up before us, because

they were both cleaned, dressed, and ruddy from having
recently fed.
The girls and I went out into Little Rock to feed
as well, and then we all met back at base and began
strategizing the end of this war, and the beginning of
what I hoped would be a future with many nights like the
one before in it. As we talked the girls touched each
other and me very intimately which meant I would
probably be getting my wish.

407

So, you never said. Where is the little fucker?

Coryn said.
He is in Constantinople; hiding in the
underground city. I answered.
Constantinople? Mitchell asked.
Its Istanbul now. Krystyl stated.
He is deep underground, and has stationed the
weaker Vampyres between him and every entrance. He
has discovered some kind of spell to prevent us from
teleporting in, so we will have to fight our way in. I
stated.
Not a problem. Krystyl said as she teleported
away.
You dont think she went after him? Mitchell
asked.
No Coryn responded, Ill bet shes off
getting some really cool weapons.
Exactly right. Krystyl said as she materialized
in the middle of the room with a large crate.

408

When I had the swords made, I placed an order

for all this stuff with Masamune as well. Its been ready
for a few days, but we were too busy to pick it up. Krystyl
said as she stroked Kris cheek, Everything is made of
volted steel, and plated with sixteen coats of pure silver.
Cool Coryn said as she flipped the top of the
crate open, What do we have.
Throwing stars, Throwing knives, Wakizashi

and Tanto swords for each of us, and these nifty little

ninja claws. Krystyl answered as she gouged a large gash

through the ceramic tile and into the concrete of the
floor.
What if they have guns? Mitchell asked.
Before he had even finished his question Krystyl
had reeled on him and pulled the trigger on a Desert
Eagle pistol, and hit him center-mag in the chest.
If they use guns; they are morons. Krystyl
chuckled.
Mitchell pulled off his shirt to reveal that there
wasnt a mark on him. Mitchell isnt really as dumb as he

409

sometimes sounds; he just speaks before he thinks things

through at times.
Since the moment you became Vampyre you
have been bulletproof. Antonio said, Guns dont have
enough force to break our skin. The only thing capable of
the necessary force is another Vampyre
so unless they are going to throw bullets at
you theyd be wasting their time. Kris laughed.
I hope they do have guns. Coryn chuckled,
Theyll piss themselves when they see the bullets bounce
off.
When do we get started? Antonio said as he
turned to me.
The second siege of Constantinople begins

tomorrow. I said as I dipped my hands into the crate and

started handing out weapons.
For the rest of the morning we made plans, and
then we made plans for the possibility of the first plans
failing, and so on. By noon we had exhausted ever
possibility and made a plan for it.

410

We werent ready to attack, and we werent ready

to sleep yet so we rather naturally fell back into an encore
of the previous nights performance. The girls were all
with me, and Antonio and Mitchell did each other. And,

I had thought that Mitchell and Coryn were some kind of

couple when I had first met them. I liked it much better
this way.

411

412

24th of April, 1991

The ancient ruins of Constantinople lay beneath

modern Istanbul, and there or few entrances. The land
around the city had consisted of rolling hills and valleys in
its early days. The Romans, being the exceptional

architects and engineers that they were, set about building

a flat level city. Of course it wasnt reasonable to remove
the hills or to fill in the valleys, so the Romans did the
next best thing. They built from hilltop to hilltop support
structures with pillars and arches in between. As the city
expanded over the next several hundred years, and more

hilltops were connected, more of the pre-roman city fell

into darkness beneath newer structures. This
underground city has been used in the past by different
religious groups trying to avoid persecution or worse. It
has been used as funerary space. Parts of it were used as
giant cisterns or reservoirs.

413

It was at the entrance to one of these cisterns

that we decided to make our entrance. We teleported to
Divanyolu Caddesi just around the corner from the
entrance to the Basilica Cistern.
We carefully maneuvered into a position where
we could view the entrance to the cistern without being
seen from it. As we had anticipated, Beau had guards

posted there. Surprisingly however, they were dressed as

Turkish military. My guess is he was trying not to draw
attention. It didnt work. These two guys had stark white
complexions, and this was Turkey. Even if you werent of
Arabic descent you still had a year round tan; unless you

were a Vampyre. It didnt help that he had posted visible

guards at a location that was almost always without guard.
He thought he was being smart with the uniforms, but
instead he had caused more questions.
The human minds around us were buzzing with
theories about why there were guards at the cistern doors.
They ranged from someone finding a stash of Roman
gold down there to a body being found. And there it was;
someone had decided to call the authorities.

414

I raced to the mans side. The man turned,

startled, and looked at me.
Smak, Vlad I looked in his eyes and
compelled him to silence.
In turkey, my life as Vlad was still an important
part of every history class, and I was still feared. Many
even believed the Romanian prophecy that I would return
someday for final vengeance on the Turks. So, I took
hold of that little nugget of thought in his head and

expanded it until he was sure that Vlad the Impaler had

risen from the hidden city to destroy all of Turkey, and
left him. He wasnt likely to call the authorities with that
story, and if he did he would be ignored. If he talked to
his friends and neighbors, one of two things would likely
happen: They would give him a much more rational

explanation for the guards, which would in turn calm

their own fears, or they would join him in his fear of the
Impaler and would themselves be ignored by the
authorities. Either outcome worked fine for me.
So now we had to clean up the mess Beau had
assuredly left at the other two public entrances to the
underground city. We all teleported to Aksakal Sokagi

415

and immediately discovered guards and weary locals there

as well. Fortunately the Vlad story worked to silence calls
to the authorities from that location as well.
The other entrance at Theodosius Cistern was
close by on Piyerfoti Caddesi, so we ran stealthily over
there and again ease-dropped on the minds of the locals.
Unfortunately, the Vlad story wasnt the best approach
here: if youre going to fool someone it is best to fool
them with something they already believe, and no one
here believed in Vlad as anything more than a history
lesson. So, we had to take a different approach.
First we eliminated Beaus guards, which was
astonishingly easy. You shouldnt be able to sneak up on
someone who knows you are coming, and though they

didnt know when, they had to know we would catch up

to them someday. They should have been more aware,
but even if they were they would still be dead.
Once the guards were gone we had to go from
witness to witness and glamour them into forgetting that
they ever saw guards at the cistern entrance.
Beau had accidentally complicated the first wave
of our assault on his encampment by accident. It wasnt

416

the first time his carelessness had complicated my life, but

it would be the last.
We slipped into the cistern and past some
tourists who had not been put off by my brothers guards.
Fortunate for them that his guards were told not to harm
any mortals in Istanbul. At least Beau had been that

smart. In the far back of the cistern, away from the eyes
of the public was a secret door that led into the secret
world of subterranean tunnels and rooms that few if any
mortals knew about. I think that some have been
discovered since, but Im not certain.
Anyway, once in the tunnels we had to be on
guard. As Vampyres, our eyes allowed us to see in almost
absolute dark, and of course a warm human kind of gives
off a red glow to our eyes. Problem was this was

absolutely dark, and there were no humans here; only

Vampyres who would kill us if they could.
Far down the tunnel we saw the flickering light
of a torch flame lighting what was not so much a room as
it was a swelling of the tunnels walls. We sat there still
and quiet as corpses and watched shadows pass in front of
the flame.

417

How many do you count? Antonio asked me.

My senses tell me ten, but unless they are
dancing around the room, Id say there are a lot more.
Your senses have not been wrong so far; lets not
doubt them now.Kris said.
We switched to hand-signals from that point on.
We were still outnumbered, so we could not afford to lose
the element of surprise. We split; three on one side of the
tunnel; four on the other, with me on point, and creeped
along the tunnel until we were just outside the torches
light.
I signaled for Antonio, Mitchell, and Krystyl to

take the left side of the room, while Kris, Angela, Coryn,
and I took the right. Then we flew in with blades drawn
and began clearing the room.
On the left side two of Beaus Vampyres burst
two ash as silver plated knives sailed through the air and
planted in their chests. Kris and I crossed swords while
decapitating the same bad guy on our side of the room.
Angela had also beheaded one of my brothers flunkies.

Coryn was just to Angelas flank draining the blood from

418

the Vampyre squirming weakly in her grasp. She pulled

away with a wet smacking sound and made a satisfied
moan, as her victims blood ran down her chin and neck.
Might as well put all this blood to use. She said
as she shrugged at my stare.
Sure, but next time make it the last guy in the
room; not the first. I chastised.
What if it isnt a guy? She joked.
You know what I mean. I scolded.
Okay. Okay Coryn said as she flicked a
throwing star into the face of a Vampyre that was
preparing to pounce on Kris.
Thank you. Kris said as she danced into
position to finish off her would be attacker.
On the other side of the room Antonio and
Mitchell had taken down two more of Beaus thugs by
decapitation. That left two. I finished them in one fluid
motion that decapitated the first, and stabbed the second
mid torso. Both immediately burst into fiery ash. It

looked like the superstitious belief in the lethal effects of

419

silver was definitely going to work to our advantage. Half

of the Vampyres in the room hadnt really been given
lethal blows. It was their fear of silver that killed them
more than anything we did. I hoped all of my brothers
goons would make things so easy, but I knew better.
No one escaped the room that wasnt supposed

to. So far so good. We talked briefly to refine the rules

of engagement a little: no more snacking on the first guy
in the room, etc. etc., and then moved further down the
tunnel.
Soon we came to a fork, and went left. Several
hundred yards down that leg the tunnel dead ended in a
room containing twenty very young Vampyres. They
were so young in fact that they were compelled by the

unseen sun outside to sleep during the day. Which meant

Beau was spawning more progeny to use as fodder. It felt
a little like beheading the toddlers in a nursery school;
except that these toddlers were monsters.
We doubled back to the fork in the tunnels and
almost ran head on into a patrol sent by Beau to check on
the various sleepers amoung them. Its a good thing they
were more surprised by us than we were by them. It

420

allowed us to get the drop on them, so the five of them

went down without managing to raise an alarm.
Eventually our presence would be detected, but the longer
we could hold that off the better. I tried to use my

location sense to scan the tunnels ahead for a count, and

maybe a location for our next attack, but thanks to my
brothers spell, I couldnt sense anything beyond a few
feet. Wed just have to do things the old fashioned way.
The tunnel that went right from the fork had
several turns in it before it emptied into what appeared to
have once been a cathedral of some kind. There were two
exits off of each side and one behind the sanctuary. This
time we went right taking the first tunnel on that side.
It turned out to be a wide loop that intersected

the cities Metro system before bringing us back out the

second tunnel on the right of the cathedral.

I had to give Beau this; he couldnt have picked a

better hiding place. Since it was mostly undiscovered, it
was unmapped. Wed be flying blind until the end, and
that was beginning to piss me off.
Krystyl proposed that the Metro tunnel we had
crossed in the loop was probably an emergency exit that

421

Beaus troops had made. It looked freshly excavated and

there was no sign of human activity like tools or
machinery. I agreed with her, so the seven of us went
back into the loop; three down one side, and four down
the other and collapsed the tunnels. Beau wouldnt be
using that way out unless he could dig faster than we
could chase.
The tunnel behind the Sanctuary was short and
lead to another room full of sleeping Vampyres.
Careful Krystyl warned in a whisper, These
arent progeny. That one right there is the Princess of
Missouri.
I nodded.
Shes a tough bitch. Dont wake her up. Coryn
warned quietly.
Fortunately there were enough of us to behead
every one of my brothers sleeping allies if we positioned
ourselves just right. Everyone would have to take out two
enemies except Antonio and I; we had to kill three. It
went almost flawlessly. Every head but two came off

when the signal was given. A half of a blink later my

422

assigned third head fell to the ground. Antonios third

managed to wake in time to roll out of the way of his
blade. It was the Prince of Illinois.
I know that fucker. Kris said as she raced
across the room and pinned him to the wall with her
Tanto, and then spun and took his head with her Katana.
Thank you for the assistance. Antonio said
from a slight bow.
No problem whatsoever. Kris laughed.
If Beau had made no more progeny than we had
found in the first nursery he was now down to under a
hundred Vampyres in his camp. We were evening the
odds at a blistering pace; a startling pace.
Does any of this seem too easy? I asked my
friends.
Hey Coryn said, Dont jinx it.
It has been easy to this point. Krystyl agreed.

423

But you said so yourself. Beau has no idea that

we know where he is. He still thinks he can block your
mind from finding him.
In these spellbound tunnels I cant. He could
be around the next turn and I wouldnt know it until we
were in his line of sight.
Weve done fine so far. Mitchell said, Lets
just stick to the plan. If we have to make adjustments
later, we will.
I suppose youre right. I acquiesced.
We went back into the cathedral and took the
tunnel on the left nearest to the Sanctuary. It lead to the
Basilica Cistern, so we doubled back and collapsed it.
The tunnels we had collapsed would likely cause
sinkholes in the city above, but it couldnt be helped.
We took the last tunnel in the cathedral. It

turned left and then right before emptying into a large

room supported by roman columns along both sides, and
arches in its ceiling. It looked like an old pagan temple,
complete with a blood stained altar at the head of the

424

room. Across from the altar, behind us was a partially

collapsed tunnel that showed signs of having been crawled
through, so we crawled through it as well.
It was almost very bad. We crawled several
hundred yards through the tunnel before it simply
disappeared into an oubliette style hole. I had been

leading so of course I fell in. In the commotion I wasnt

sure if anyone else had fallen behind me. I put my sword
in front of me at an angle that would impale anyone who
might be on the ground when I landed. I hoped no one
had fallen behind me, or that they hadnt thought to put
out their sword too. It wouldnt kill me but it would hurt
like hell.
I hit the ground a moment later and heard Kris
call from above:
Are you okay?
Im fine. I called back as I stood up and dusted
myself off, There is another tunnel down here.
One by one my friends dropped to the ground
behind me, and we eased down the tunnel until we saw

425

the familiar flicker of a torch. This one was moving

towards us.
Probably another Patrol. Coryn muttered.
Yeah. Probably. Krystyl said, I have an idea.
This section of tunnels wasnt buried roman
buildings; it had been dug, so Krystyl used that to our
advantage. She went to ground right there in the tunnel
floor. We all followed suite a moment later.
When the suspected patrol got to us we popped
up out of the earth and attacked. Did no one in Beaus
camp have any combat training? It seemed not. This
patrol had been larger than the first one we encountered
but they went down just as easy. Ten more of my

brothers allies were dead. The odds were still evening

quickly.
We continued down the tunnel until it emptied
into what had once been palatial chambers of some kind.
Eight doorways lead out of the room. We would have to
explore each of them one at a time. I was not willing to
split up and explore them under the current

circumstances. Anyone who left the group now might

426

never return. The worst part was that it was getting dark
outside, so the tunnels would soon have a lot more
activity, and Beaus spell was preventing any special
mental abilities like teleportation. We were stuck down
there, which meant no sleep until our mission was over.

Fortunately we didnt need a lot of sleep. We would just

have to feed more often in order to offset the lack of
sleep.
Every time we engage the enemy remember to
feed on your last opponent. I warned, We wont be
sleeping for a while.
Everyone understood all too well.
Fortunately the eight doors werent as bad a task
as we had initially thought. Six of the doors lead to
sleeping chambers that held only a few Vampyres each.
Fifteen more of Beaus allies passed from this earth as we
checked those rooms. The other two doors were

stairways; one lead upwards for a few feet before being

closed off by modern construction. The other lead down.
By the bottom of it we were nearing sea-level and the
tunnels were getting damp. The good news of that was

427

we probably wouldnt be going any deeper. The bad news

was we were soon wading through thigh deep briny water.
This is just nasty. Kris groaned.
Yeah, Beau should definitely fire his decorator.
Coryn giggled.
Ha ha. Kris replied.
SHHHH! I scolded. There was light ahead,
and a lot of activity.
This is it! I whispered.
How many are left? Mitchell asked.
Best case scenario: fourty-four plus Beau, so
fourty-five. Antonio answered.
There arent that many in there, but Beau is
there, I can feel him. I stated as I raced into the room,
with the others hot on my heals.
Hello brother. I said as I brought my
Wakizashi across his throat.

428

Youll never get out of here alive. Beau

croaked.
Save the bravado. We walked in. We will walk
out. I corrected.
In the rest of the room things were buzzing like
an angry hornets nest. Antonio, Krystyl, Kris, Coryn,
Mitchell, and Angela were back to back in a circle in the
center of the room beheading anyone who got close

enough to them, and counting down aloud the number of

allies my brother had left.
He was down to a handful in the room when I
spotted the radio in his hand.
Call the rest. I ordered, Its time to end this.
Youre going to kill me anyway. Why should
I? He protested.
Because I am going to kill them anyway as well,

and I will make it much more painful if you make me

hunt them down; for them and for you. I answered.

429

Fine, Beau groaned, Everyone back to the

main chambers now. We have visitors. He continued
after pushing a button on his radio.
That was stupid. I warned.
Well see. Beau snarled.
Thirty Vampyres flooded into the room and
attacked my friends, but they held their own. Beaus
people continued to die like the untrained fools they were.
Then out of nowhere someone jumped me from behind.
I managed to bring my Wakizashi up just as they fell on
me and impaled my attacker. They burst into fiery ash,

but in the confusion, Beau had broken my grip and slunk

away to a corner.
Permissum totus veneficus perfectus exsisto
laxo. Beau said as I raced to him.
He teleported away just in time to avoid the
blade of my Katana.
Fuuuuuccccckkkk! cried Coryn, He got away.
Yeah, but now hes alone. All his troops are
gone. Krystyl shouted triumphantly.

430

I looked in the throne Beau had been sitting in

when I found him and saw an envelope addressed to me
laying there. Curious, I picked it up and opened it.
It contained only a single sentence note in Beaus
hand, and what smelled like his blood.
What does it say? Kris asked me.
It says: If you wish to end this, you will find me
where it all began. I read.
What the fuck does that mean? Coryn
growled, Does he want you to go to Chicago?
No. Kris answered, It all started for them in
Uruk.
We all teleported to Uruk then, but Beau wasnt
there. He had scrawled another note into the side of the
remains of the ziggaraut.
Guess again. And come alone.
No fucking way were letting you go alone. Kris
spat.

431

I am stronger than he is, and he is alone

remember? I replied.
Yeah but
No. I owe him that much at least. I said, And
this never would have started if I hadnt sent him away
when Pandora died. Thats it
What? Whats it? Kris asked.
Beau is in Salem. I said, Everyone return to
Little Rock. I will meet you there when this is done.
Can you do it? Can you kill your own brother?
Antonio asked.
I dont know I moaned.
Youre going to let him live arent you? Coryn
asked somberly.
I dont know I moaned again as I teleported
away.

432

25th of April, 1991

Beau was standing at the exact place that

Pandora had burned when I materialized in Salem. That
accursed place was now just a barren patch in the woods;
purposely forgotten by everyone. The town of Salem had
moved several miles north shortly after the witch trials
had ended. I would guess that shame had made them
leave.
I dropped my weapons to the ground
immediately. Clearly my brother wanted to talk, so I
would let him have his final words.
I never wanted it to be this way. He said sadly,
We were supposed to stay together. Think of what we
would have done as a team.
Nothing like what you did. I stated.

433

Maybe not.
Definitely not. You let greed, and sexual
gluttony guide too many of your decisions. The world
you made was a house of cards just waiting to crash in on
you.
I know that now. Half the people who fought
at your side were my progeny. They were supposed to
love me, but they hated me instead.
You cant force your love onto someone and
expect them to go along. You cant expect people to be

something other than what they are just because you love
them and want them to be. That isnt love.
I guess I should have learned that here when
Pandora left us. Beau moaned.
We both should have. I acknowledged.
So what now? Beau asked, Do you still want
to kill me?
I dont know. I replied, What would you have
me do?

434

If I were you, Id kill me. He answered, But

that isnt what I want.
Then what do you want? You can never have
what you built while I slept; I will never allow that to
happen again.
That isnt what I want. I sucked at that he
said, obviously.
Then what do you want then?
I want what I kept trying to build but couldnt.
I want a family again. Beau said softly.
I nodded that I understood.
I want my brother back. He added.
If I agree to that: I am the Alpha. I am the
Omega. There is no law but my law, and it is
unquestionable. I said as coldly as I could, Do you
accept those terms?
Yes. He said plainly.
I opened my arms to him and he came and
hugged me and we were brothers once more.

435

436

5th of November, 1991

It was the next day before we joined the others.

Everyone but Coryn understood. She was pissed beyond
words and immediately teleported away. It looked like
the chances of our little Mnage cinq happening again
just evaporated. Thats too bad. It was a lot of fun while
it lasted.
Beau felt it necessary to apologize to everyone
individually, especially Kris who was actually the warmest
to him of all of us including myself. Krystyl and Angela

stayed close to Kris and I whenever Beau was around for a

while. Antonio and Mitchell preferred to pretend he
didnt exist. Coryn, well I knew where she was of course;
I knew where every Vampyre on earth was, but she was
angry and I owed it to her to let her have solitude for a
while at least.

437

Without the war to keep our attention we all

quickly realized just how utterly uncivilized and
backwoods Arkansas was, and agreed that leaving was in
everyones best interest. If you live in Arkansas; Im sorry.
Really I am. It probably wasnt your fault.
I had long ago proclaimed that all Vampyres,

though I didnt use that word then, would live together as

a family or as the others preferred to call it a coven, and I
still insisted that it be thus. No one argued. I think
maybe after all wed been through nobody wanted to
leave, regardless of what I said. Even Coryn probably
hated to leave at least a little.
So, we decided that a coven of eight Vampyres
had to live in a metropolitan area, and that it would

probably be best if it was a place that didnt show obvious

appeal to Vampyres, at least not they way humans
understand Vampyres. We discussed several ideas and
eventually settled on Tampa. The penthouse there was
more than big enough to accommodate the eight of us,
and much to my surprise, repairs were already well under
way. A few more days in Little Rock and we would be
able to move into our opulent new digs in Tampa.

438

By the time we were notified that the penthouse

was finished everyone had made peace with Beau. Even
Coryn had come back, and begrudgedly admitted that she
understood. It would take her a while to be totally

accepting of Beau, but she was willing to work through it,

because she missed us all.
The next few months were filled with everyone
gathering furniture and art, and various other things for
the penthouse, and endlessly debating over what should
be in the common areas. Dont worry it all stayed
friendly, and Beau stayed out of it mostly. He has to be
the only gay guy in history that doesnt fancy himself a
decorator.
Eventually we all settled into marvelous little

routines that had just enough chaos to keep things

interesting. Most nights Kris and I slept together in our

room. Sometimes Krystyl would join. Angela would too
from time to time. Even Coryn made her way back into
our bed, proving that our little Mnage cinq was a little
stronger than I had thought. And, for a guy that spurned

Beau because he loved women, Antonio was astonishingly

attached to Mitchells hip. I guess youll try anything if
given enough time, and sometimes you might even like it.

439

Whatever. Beau was the only one of us who ever slept

alone. The others had forgiven him, but we had paired
off (or whatever) while he was the enemy, so while we
could make room for him in our home and family, hed
have to find his own bedmates.
Eventually Kris started to miss her mortal family,

even though as she said, they were crazy and sometimes

mean. She mulled over the idea of visiting them for
several weeks, and just tonight she did. Hopefully she
will have a good visit.

440

25th of December, 1991

I should have known better than to think that

things could be as perfect as they were.
Kris had told me that her family had been
reborn, a term used by evangelical christian groups to
describe finding god. She thought it was a little crazy, but
they were family. She thought it was weird how they
would go on and on about gODs love and so on and then
be so un-accepting and cruel to people who didnt believe

as they did, but again they were family. They would age,
and soon be dead, and she just had to see them before
that happened.
Kris was supposed to be visiting her family

through Thanksgiving. She had teleported home a couple

of times to steal a kiss, sometimes a little more, but then
that stopped. She hadnt told her family about her gift

441

when I saw her last, but she insisted that she was going
to. I fought her on it, but she persisted and eventually I
caved.
How could I have been so stupid?
It had been over a week since I had last seen her,
and I was getting very worried, so I used the telephone to
call her family home and check on her. They hung up on
me. I called again, and again they hung up as soon as I

identified myself. I feared something awful, but Krystyl

and Angela convinced me to hang tight. I shouldnt have.
By the time I lost patience and went to the house
in Sarasota that her parents had retired to, they were all
gone. The house had been hastily abandoned. The smell
of humans was still fresh so they couldnt have been gone
more than a day. I eventually tracked them down on a
ranch in Texas that belonged to Kris uncle. Kris wasnt
with them and I couldnt sense her anywhere else on
earth. I hadnt sensed her in days.
I let myself in and talked to her aunt who was
visibly frightened by me, though I had made no aggressive
moves at that point. She said that Kris had not come to
Texas. She swore she didnt know where Kris was, but of

442

course she was lying, but she was intentionally thinking

the most ridiculous thoughts and I couldnt make sense
out of what I got from her mind. That should have
tipped me off, but it didnt.
Then Kris uncle came home, and he too was
clearly scared of me. I questioned him and he lied and

played games with his thoughts just as his wife had done.
I continued to question the two of them. Where was
Kris? Where were her parents? What were they hiding?
I asked the same questions over and over just
wording them differently to try to trip them up, but they
stuck to their story. And then, I caught on.
Kris uncle had looked over my shoulder towards
the door a few times, and when he did it again and
smiled, I knew something was up.
I turned just in time to avoid the blade Kris
father swung at my neck. He swung again and again;
missing each time. The rest of Kris family scattered and

came back armed with blades and Holy Water (give me

a break). I had been hesitant to kill anyone because they
were Kris family, and they were the only place to get the
answers I needed, but when they all came at me armed

443

with blades and murderous glares, my hesitance

disappeared.
Kris was dead. I knew it for certain then. I had
caught it from her mothers head. She alone felt guilty for
what they had done, so I killed her quickly. The aunt and
uncle were easy enough to disable and render

unconscious, and then I turned my attention back to her

father.
He was surprisingly skilled with the sword he
was trying to behead me with, but he didnt have the
speed necessary to get the job done. I played with him
until his arms were too tired to swing the blade any
longer, and then I knocked him out and bound him with
an extension cord from the garage.
Kris aunt and uncle still wouldnt answer
questions when I woke them, so I ended them. The uncle
I made suffer: I punctured his femoral artery and let him
bleed out while he watched me feed from his wife. She
died just before he did.
Kris father had come to sometime during my
interrogation and execution of his brother and sister-inlaw and was now screaming at me. It was some religious

444

non-sense he learned from whatever crazy church they

had become involved with.
Die demon. He spat at me as I drew closer to
him.
I am no demon I assure you. I purred as
politely as I could.
It had the desired effect: It made him angrier.
Return to hell, satan spawn.
Please. Have I called you any names? I think
not. If anyone here has the right to be angry it is me. I
said.
You killed my entire family, you Vampyre
scum. He spat.
Not all of them. You killed your daughter the
woman I loved.
Fuck you.
Now, would jESUS want you to talk like that?
Ill admit my memory is a little vague on that, but Im
thinking no. I mocked.

445

You do not get to use the lords name. he

growled.
No? I think youre wrong. jESUS jESUS
jESUS jESUS. Yep, youre wrong. I said in an almost
sing-song way, But then, youre no expert on jESUS
either.
What would you know blood-sucker?
I moved in close; intimately close, and took a
long deep breath through my nose, like I was smelling
him, and said:
I was jESUS.
no No NO! he muttered.
Oh come on. I said, I dont look that different
from how you people envision me. And how else do you
explain the miracles?
nnnnoooo he groaned.
Sure. Every one of them is easy. Except the
water to wine thing. That takes time and grapes. I
laughed.

446

The feeding of the masses with one fish or one

loaf of bread, however that story is told now, never
happened. One of the Emperor Constantines priests
made it up. He was pagan by the way Constantine.
no He groaned again.
Yessss. I mocked, The man responsible for
christianitys most holy book was pagan. I should know I
was there. He was a good man mostly. He did it to keep
you morons from killing each other over which of your
silly stories was true and which wasnt.
no. he said through sobs.
he should have just told you the truth: All the

stories in the Bible are bullshit. Oh some of them

happened, but gOD had nothing to do with it. jESUS

had nothing to do with it either.
What are you going to do to me? he squeaked.
I dont know. I said, What do you think I
should do? You did kill your daughter after all.
She was a Vampyre. She was in league with
satan.

447

I know she was a Vampyre you jackass. I made

her a Vampyre. And as a Vampyre, she helped save all of
you pathetic humans from being chattel or worse.
She was evil. He moaned.
Still clinging to your false faith?
She was an affront to gOD.
She was better than you have ever been; better
than youll ever know. I spat, There is no gOD.
Fuck You!
Back to that already? I mocked, I assure that

what I say is true. I have walked this earth since the dawn
of history. I have outlasted many gODS and I will outlast
yours.
You lie. He groaned.
No I dont. I have been a king several times. I
have even been a gOD a few times. I was your gOD, but
I already told you that. I mocked.
You will not turn me from my faith. gOD will
deliver me.

448

We shall see, but let me assure you, if he exists

he will have his work cut out for him. I stated coldly, I
have decided not to kill you. Instead I am going to turn
you; make you into what you despised so badly that you
would kill your own daughter rather than let her live as
she was; as you will be; a Vampyre.
NOOOOOOO! He screamed as I bit into his
neck and began draining him.
When he was nearly dead I withdrew from his
neck and lifted off of him. I bit my wrist open, put it to
his mouth, and said:
This is my body; this is my blood; partake of me
and live forever.
He tried to resist, but no human can resist a
lifeline when they know that death is near, and no human
can resist a Vampyre when our mind is set.
As he drank his strength returned enough for
him to realize what he had done. He pulled away and
forced himself to vomit, but it was too late; the trick had
been done. He would turn, but as with all who had come
before him, he would sleep first.

449

When he woke, he would find himself in a hell

beyond his imagining. A hell I devised just for him.
I put him in a steel coffin, dug a twenty foot
hole, filled the bottom with concrete and rebar, placed
him in the hole, then filled the remainder of the hole in
with concrete and rebar. He would wake to darkness and
burning hunger.
It would take him months to dig his way out,

perhaps years. By the time he reached the surface he

would be a mindless killing machine. There is no way to

predict how many people will die before his hunger is
quenched, but it is easy to predict how he will respond to
his deeds when his mind returns. He will despise himself.
He will see himself as pure and unadulterated evil. And,
he will want to die. He will either go into the sun as

Hollywood movies have told him he should do to die

(which of course wont work) or he will try something his
religion told him would kill Vampyres only one of which
will work: he may actually try to take his own head.
Whether he succeeds or I have to hunt him
down and kill him, he will not live long as a Vampyre.

450

His life as one of us will be just long enough to fulfill my

plan for his soul.
As Im sure you can tell I am not religious. I
dont even have much patience for religion or religious
people. But, I do believe one thing that I learned while
living among Buddhists in eastern Asia. I believe that
when we depart this earth, we make for ourselves the
afterlife that we believe we deserve.
A good person knows they are good and will
therefore create a paradise for himself. Their eternity will
be heaven, Valhalla, Takamagahara; whatever they wish
to call it.
A bad person, no matter how they justify their
actions, knows they are bad and will make themselves a
personal hell, Niflheim, or Samsara.
Undoubtedly, he will view himself evil for the
lives he takes as a Vampyre, if not for what he did to Kris.
I will take great pleasure in sending Kris father
to hell.

451

452

Epilogue

While I was torturing Kris family I learned that

that her father and mother had panicked when her body
did not turn to ash when they caught her by surprise and
beheaded her as they believed it would. In their agitation,
they had buried her in the backyard of their home in
Sarasota.
After burying Kris father in his concrete prison,
I recovered her body from its makeshift grave in Sarasota.
I tried to revive her. In the war I had seen several
Vampyres heads start to reattach and reanimate bodies
they had been severed from, and I hoped the Kris would
do the same, but it did not. She was strong because of my
blood, and able to do many things that only an elder
Vampyre could do, but this was beyond her bodys
abilities.

453

I tried every method I could think of. I tried

putting her head and body together and dripping my
blood onto the wound. I tried placing her two parts in a
bath of blood and reattaching them there. I tried those
things and many, many more. Nothing worked, so I

brought her body home to Tampa so that I and the rest of

her true family could mourn her and give her a proper
funeral.
We built a funerary pier for her on a small island
off the coast of Pinellas County, said our goodbyes and
wept together, and then we burned her to ash.
We placed a stone with an inscription in her
honor painted on it with a paint only Vampyres can see
on the spot where her fire had burned, and one by one we
left, some to mourn her alone and some together, but

none in Tampa. I guess the sight of her things, and her

contribution to the penthouse was too painful for them. I
understood that, but I couldnt bear to leave those few
remaining pieces of her behind.
Finally, only Beau and I remained.
Then one night while I was visiting her grave,
Beau chose to do the same.

454

She was good for you. He said.

She was. I replied, But, I fear it was all
undone by her parents treachery.
Dont let that happen. She would hate that.
Probably, but I feel so much anger; so much
hate for the world.
She didnt stand by your side and fight a war to
make the world what you thought it should be just to see
you hate that world. Beau argued, She would want you
to go out and enjoy the world, like you would if she was
still by your side.
I wish we could have seen Paris under different
circumstances. I whispered between tears.
At that moment I was hit with a memory from
the Paris subway.
Who was the new Princess you appointed to
France; the one we faced in the metro tunnels there? I
asked, I swear I knew that voice.

455

Beau stood there for several minutes, looking at

me dumbfounded, then said:
I appointed no new Princess in Paris or
anywhere else. I swear it.

La Fin?

456

The following is an excerpt from:

A Kiss for the

Damned
The continuing story of Kodi Mykalz

457

458

4 of May 1995
th

I am overcome with a sense of dread that

somehow I have doomed myself; that this bloodlust which
consumes me has taken hold and surpassed my ability to
reign it in; that the exquisite moment when life is
corrupted, when I take that which is not mine and make
it my own, will somehow be my undoing.
It is not that I see myself as evil. I do not. I

have seen far to such of this world to believe in such

pretty superstitious nonsense. Is it evil for a spider to

snare and devour a fly? I think not! It is survival, no
more and no less.

459

I know, however, that others are not so

enlightened. For centuries mankind has polluted its
minds with misguided religious philosophies while
debauching themselves in their spare time, only to return

to churches, temples, and mosques to chastise one another

for their immoral acts.
It is this very hypocrisy that brings humanity to
hate me, and others of my kind.
I do not hate myself for indulging in the flesh,
for existing as it is meant for me to exist. I revel in it, and
I shall not repent.
Oh there are those amoung my kind who are as
deluded as the sheep that hate us; heads full of fantasies of
dark oaths with the devil and secret pacts with the legions
of darkness in which the existence of my kind on Earth is
a conspiracy to bring down heaven and dethrone gOD. If
there were such gOD and satan, and such secret plots, I
would gladly participate, for gOD, as I have in all his
forms is unjust. But, there are not. It is all foolishness.
The only dark oaths, which bare any semblance of reality,
are made by men, with men, against other men.

460

This it is how it is now, and it is how it has

always been. I know this because I have seen it all first
hand. I have seen the beginning and I shall see the end, if
it ever comes.
It is not the duality of man that makes them
hypocrites, for there is a duality to us all. It is the refusal
to accept this duality of nature, which hypocrisizes man.

The difference between my kind and mankind is that my

kind know there nature and, for the most part, accept:
Some, such as myself, even revel in the variety it brings to
our lives; while your kind is blind to its own multiplicity.
When, in moments of vision, one of mankind
glimpses its true nature, almost without fail the
unacceptable truth is instantly locked away in the back of
your feebled minds to eat at you until the day they die.
We are animals you and I. I am a lover, a

protector, and a romantic at heart, but I am also a killer. I

am all this and more, as are you. I have no remorse about
his, only about the unsettling effect it has on my attempts
to live in the society of man, and my ability to masquerade
as one of them.

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But, these observations are not why I have taken

pen in hand (so to speak).
It has been many months since I have written
anything more literary than a simple sonnet, as I have had
little reason, but tonight I do. Tonight I have met
someone. She is of mankind but still she gives me hope.
I am amazed by her heart: wild, untamed, and
completely unaffected by the world around her. She is

both knowing of and proud of her nature like no other of

you that I have known in a long, long time.
She is loving and giving and lives life with such
sweet abandon that I cannot help but to be drawn to her.
Perhaps it is her embrace of the truths of existence, which
endears her to me. Surely it is this, which has sparked
this new hope that I am not beyond being truly loved.
For as impossible as I would have yesterday have thought
it to be: I am in love.
Not the blinding possessive love my kind

occasionally feel for one another; which is a twisted,

heart-breaking emotion brought on by years, decades,
even centuries of loneliness and longing for one who
understands. No: I love her for who and what she is.

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I want only to share with her all that she wishes

to share and no more.
But what will happen when I release my hold on
her mind and allow her to know me as what her eyes have
already seen me to be: a vampyre?
How enlightened will she be then?
What will her heart hold for me?
Will she embrace me as her lover, or will she fall
to the bloated unjustifiable morality which has lead so
many of your kind, her kind, to hate me?
To soon the truth will be unavoidable.
I am torn with rapture and dread.

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