PART EIGHT The big question was: how do we get back to Florida without a plane? I dug holes into Kevin with my eyes as I waited for him to figure out this impossible mission! Kevin looked as lost as a puppy. Howie and AJ were still reeling from the fact that we were all fleeing from both the vampires and the Almans. If anything, we'll probably never come out of this alive because the moment we're out of this forest, we'll be trampled on by . . . well . . . by everyone. I gently and gracefully sat next to Nick. Last night, I did finally manage to resolve my . . . ummm . . . problem, but boy did I feel awkward and embarrassed in front of that boy. Every once in a while, I would sneak a glance at his eyes, which were now a dull blue again. I still wonder what it means. I mean, his eyes are so appealing. "We could sneak on a ship and head back to the U.S. by sea!" Howie managed to say proudly. "I can't swim!" AJ said under gritted teeth. "Who said you needed to! All you need is to slap a float on your body. As long as you float, you can flap your flimsy arms as much as you want to in order to move in the desired direction!" Howie countered harshly. AJ merely snorted. Kevin deftly ignored their comments and looked at Nick. "Do we really need to go back to Florida at this moment, Nick? Maybe we can just hide somewhere in Europe or Asia for a while before trying to get back on a plane back home." Nick looked away. "I . . . don't mind." Kevin became persistent. "I mean, where are the Almans? If you tell us, we can try to avoid that area." Nick shivered. "That's the problem. I don't know." AJ looked at Nick exasperated. "You don't know where your own people live?" The screech in AJ's voice was enough to make my hair stand on end. "Geez, AJ. Can your voice be any less irritating?" I countered. Nick defensively hugged his knees. "We should just keep going West." Kevin looked doubtfully at Nick before realizing that he wasn't going to get anymore out of Nick that day. ******************* So we left the cave briskly, hiking our way out of the forest towards the direction of the sun, hoping that our decision to flee was well-grounded. Howie and AJ kept together. Kevin was in the back making sure that Nick and I didn't lag behind. And then Nick and I were in the middle. We dodged through trees and brooks, and I had to say that the sights were breathtaking. The streams were full of nice clear blue lakes and the trees were greener and more beautiful than I had imagined them to be. The sun was hanging in the sky, shedding light onto us. It's so surprising that the human race believe that we burn in the sun. We don't. It was a preference thing. We preferred to do things at night because no one would be able to see. Nick seemed the most fragile of all of us so we had to take multiple breaks for him to rest. AJ and Howie seemed the most antsy because they kept on scanning the area as if some demon were to pounce on us the moment we stopped. I, on the other hand, only cared about keeping Nick comfortable. I retrieved so many berries and water for him that Kevin wanted to puke. We finally settled in an area with a nice stream. "Well thank you for offering a seat, Brian!" AJ said sarcastically as I eased Nick onto the only rock that was available. "Nonsense!" Kevin looked severely at AJ, quieting him with an evil glare. Howie tried not to laugh at their childish argument. I, on the other hand, completely and utterly ignored them all. "You don't have to do this, Brian," Nick answered, smiling at me with the most charming expression I had ever seen. My heart skipped a few beats. "Uhhhh?" I uttered embarrassingly, forcing AJ to laugh. Nick only smiled amusedly at my unintelligible remark while Kevin tried to hide his embarrassment for me. I glared at the others. How dare they conspire against me like this! Just as I was about to do some serious damage to AJ's sunglasses, I suddenly noticed Nick's eyes turning a midnight blue. It was scary, yet mysterious. His iris just clouded and changed color and his expression became so much more alert, wary. He shoved me aside, making me cuss madly. I mean, I didn't cuss at him . . . or maybe I did. I couldn't remember. But before I could react . . . I saw it! It was a creature that looked deathly pale. It's skin was lavender, it's face almost scary. It had red claws and an alien-like body. It attacked Nick without hesitation, it's claws digging into Nick's chest furiously. Nick successfully kicked it away, but not before it had gashed Nick's arm, causing his blood to ooze from his body. Nick stifled a cry of pain. Before long, Howie and I had managed to use our powers of distraction to create an invisible barrier between the creature and Nick. To my horror, the creature jumped through the barrier without a problem and continued to attack Nick. Kevin quickly jumped onto its back and used his fingernails as a scalpel to dissect the thing apart. And it worked. However, the creature was only focused on one thing-Nick! It was bleeding half of its volume, but still, it was more interested it maiming him. AJ jumped onto the creature's back, only eliciting a small yelp from it before it threw him aside. I was quick to be by Nick's side once again before I could see for myself the intensity of the creature's eyes. There was no hatred in it . . . just regret? By now, it had stopped attacking. It only gazed into Nick's eyes steadily and started to circle Nick. "You've ruined us!" it barked at Nick maliciously. "Remember how you had promised to make us proud, but instead, you've allowed your body to be humiliated. From the moment you were born, your body was not yours! And you have handled it too carelessly, too recklessly. I shouldn't have convinced them on your behalf. I shouldn't have helped give you the chance to run away. And for that mistake, I shall repay my debt to them. I shall offer them your purged body!" I didn't know what he meant by purged, but I don't think I wanted to find out. At this inopportune moment, I felt the small pieces of Nick's mind hurl into confusion. He was deeply affected by this brute's words. But why? Perhaps it was from fear that my mind began to panic. I felt hot from within, and it was an inner source of energy that broke loose from my soul with deathly anger. Suddenly, I felt it. I could kill this creature with just one glance. I aimed at his heart. And I was ready . . . when I suddenly felt a cool, soothing feeling making it's way from my skin to my soul. That was when I felt Nick's essence melting away my anger, my uncontrolled powers. He had touched me, both physically and emotionally, dissipating the burst of energy that threatened to escape my body. "Please don't, Brian," he beckoned, his voice so alluring, so irresistible. I felt the fury fade and sat beside him in complete shock at what had just happened. Nick looked to the creature with an expression of . . . compassion? Then, in his fearless voice, he answered to the creature's cruel words. "I never meant for it to happen this way. I'm sorry." The creature shed a single tear. "I'm sorry too, but I promised your parents that I'd bring back your body once I had it properly cleansed and purged." At that moment, I realized that death would have been a far better option for Nick. But even that I wasn't willing to have happen, so that burst of energy that Nick had so cleverly suppressed resurfaced and this time, before NIck could even stop me, I lashed out at the creature, killing it with one fatal blow that left its own body disintegrated. Kevin, AJ, and Howie stared at me in complete awe. Nick, however, only looked away, as if he witnessed the death of his closest friend. Without saying anything, he slowly leaned into me. He didn't cry. He merely placed his head against my chest for comfort. That was when I realized that the emotional pain that he was feeling was deeper than any that I had ever known. He was hiding a big secret from us. Perhaps he is not so innocent after all. Perhaps he knew some things that we were blind to. "Perhaps you're thinking too hard," Nick said quietly, making me gasp in shock. ******************** After that one eventful day, the rest of our trek seemed peaceful enough. No one asked Nick any questions. Frankly, we were all curious, but I think that we loved Nick too much to pressure him. All in all, I'd say we had complete trust in him. After about five days of nonstop fleeing, we had taken a break near a beautiful brook once again. Kevin had thought that we had gained good ground and decided that we should stop early that day, just to really rest. Also, he could sense that Nick was getting a little fatigued. And why wouldn't he? AJ had kept on declaring that he was hungry, and who else to feed on but Nick? I was so angry because he kept on using that excuse to dig his fangs into Nick's neck! But today, AJ behaved himself well. We all sat down gratefully and started drinking some of the water from the stream. All . . . except Nick. "What's wrong? Aren't you thirsty?" I asked Nick, smiling as he frowned at the water. He shook his head like a little boy. "I don't trust that water. What if . . . someone urinated in it?" "Ughhhh!!!!" AJ cried out. "Thanks for the visual!" Nick smiled innocently. "Anytime." He then sat down next to me. I think that he was getting more comfortable with me again after that . . . uh . . . 'incident' in the cave. He was becoming the old Nick that we knew and loved back when we used to be the Backstreet Boys. I gulped the water down greedily, trying to push the image of urine out of my mind. Nick looked at me and lifted his arm to my head and started dabbing the sweat off my face. He smiled peacefully at me. He looked soooo innocent and sweet. I hope he always stays that way. "From my calculations, we should be in the city of Rencid in one day," Kevin called out from behind us as he stood towering over us. "What's so special about that place?" I asked, still mesmerized by Nick's face. Nick laughed. "I think it is a human town. Very quaint and old-fashioned. Not too hospitable though." Howie and AJ immediately looked at Nick. "How would you know?" Nick gazed back at them amusedly. "I've been here before." "All right . . . all right. So how old are you?" AJ had to ask. I became more alert as I, too, waited for the answer. Nick smiled sheepishly. "Twenty. I'm a lot younger than you, AJ." AJ looked disappointed. "No way. I don't believe you." Nick turned to me. "It's true. I was born somewhere near Sangria about twenty years ago. I had roamed these forests when I was young. I just . . . remember certain things about these paths. They feel familiar in a way. Then, when I was thirteen, I flew to the U.S." This was the first time Nick had ever confessed anything about his past to us. I was shocked for a moment by his frankness. "So you do age like a regular human?" Kevin asked in disbelief. "You mean, you will get old?" He almost seemed disappointed. Nick paused, his eyes glimmering under the sunlight. "I'm not immortal," he whispered calmly. "That's ridiculous!" AJ barked at Nick. "You have our blood now. You're immortal." "And if not, we'll make you immortal," I whispered into Nick's ear. I pressed my body against Nick's, as if gripping onto my favorite teddy bear. He turned, and for one fleeting second, I felt ecstatic. "Cut out the drooling, Brian," Kevin warned me. I don't know what problem he has, but he nearly killed my mood. "What did that creature mean when he said that he would purge your body?" Howie suddenly asked. Nick's face looked ever so solemn as he pondered for a while. His eyes darkened even more. "It's a ritual that the royal family endures, especially when an Alman loses his chastity. They bathe you in the 'Sizzling Lake of Rork' until your skin turns bloody red to clean off the sweat. The force you to drink the venoms of snakes to wash out your insides of the men's seed. They force the lower half of your body into the Ice Chambers to destroy your own seed and make you infertile so that you will not produce children that will follow your footsteps. Not many men survive." I felt goosebumps grow over my entire body, and I felt almost happy that I had killed that creature. "But why, Nick? Why would they do that to their own son? Why hurt you when you've already been hurt?" Nick shuddered. "I'm not their only son. They have others." "You didn't answer the question," I pressed gently. Nick closed his eyes all of a sudden, and I felt a cold breeze whiz past me to blow into Nick's face. He felt very distant and cold as he turned to look at me. "Because I'm not a pure breed. My mother was the Alman princess, but my father . . . he is the son of the Vampire Queen." Howie dropped the twig he was holding in shock. Kevin and AJ kept on gaping. I myself could not find the right words to express myself coherently. "Does . . . does your father know any of this?" I uttered softly. Nick shook his head. "It was supposed to be a secret. In order to protect my mother from the anger of the Alman people, they kept this secret. I didn't even know about it until I was older. I found that there were certain things about me that was strange for an Alman. My eyes would ever so often turn lavender. I can read people's thoughts. Although I don't have the powers of a vampire, I could smell people from far away. But then, there were elements of me that was still Alman. I could move swiftly and lightly. I could steal people's souls effortlessly . . . And when the man that married my mother, the Alman Prince, realized how different I was becoming, he locked me up in the Forbidden Towers. The Almans worshipped me without knowing who I really was. They thought that the Alman Prince simply loved me so much that he didn't want me to toil with daily life. But the more powerful Almans found out about me. They would come to the Forbidden Towers at night and torture me, hating what I represented. They treated me like a caged animal, coming and going as they pleased. But they kept me there so that in the future, they could use me to hurt your vampire race, knowing that I was a product of the Son's lust. That was where Vincent found me. He didn't know my history, but he found me unconscious in the Forbidden Towers . . . and he rescued me. But he wanted too much from me. I couldn't offer him much more than my gratitude. He wanted intimacy. So I abandoned him and ran to America, hoping to stay away from the conflicts between the Vampires and the Almans. I guess I wasn't so successful. Vincent finally found me, as did the whole royal vampire family. They think they humiliated the Almans, but in fact, the Almans could care less about what happened to me. If anything, they are probably overjoyed that I had been soiled by them." Nick quieted for a moment. I felt the tears escaping my eyes. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell the Queen or any of her Sons? What if any of the Sons touched you in any way that was . . . " "Brian!" Kevin warned me to stop that dirty line of thought. Thank goodness Nick was too focused on his pain to follow my last sentence. It was a sick idea, but then again, you never know. With Nick's looks, I wouldn't be surprised if any of them . . . there I go again. "It's too late," Nick answered my suspicions, frightening me out of my trance. "Plus, no one will believe me. They will think that I was trying to beg for mercy." Howie came up to Nick and held his hand. "We believe you." Then Howie looked at me and winked. "And I'm sure Brian would not doubt anything that you said." Kevin and AJ remained silent, perhaps still trying to digest the story. Nick nodded, but he looked tired to me. "I don't think I have anything else to tell you." We all nodded at him and the others decided to go sleep. I followed Nick to the stream behind the trees. By now, the moon had settled up high in the sky. I walked up to him and stealthily closed in on him, letting my arm brush against his. To my surprise, his fingers wrapped around mine. "You're not disgusted with me?" Nick asked softly. I turned around and placed my head on his chest. I closed my eyes and savored the emotions and sensations that seemed to heighten my senses. I instinctively bent my arms and placed them on his chest as well. He held me tight in a warm embrace and kissed me on the head. "I like you the way you are." "Really?" Nick whispered sadly. I sensed his uncertainty and I pulled back just to look into his eyes. They were melancholic and wet. "Perhaps you're the only one," Nick said. "Howie, Aj and Kevin, too," I replied, but Nick remained silent. "Brian," Nick whispered. "Yeah?" "I haven't been entirely truthful with you," Nick whispered. "I'm sorry." I smiled at him. "You don't have to tell me anything. I willingly will follow you." Nick simply beamed at that statement. I could see the light reflecting from his beautiful eyes. "I only trust you." With that, his eyes lowered until they rested on my lips. Then it happened so fast I almost didn't feel it coming. The kiss . . . I mean. I felt the blood race up to my head, making it heavy with ecstasy. I felt my hands weakening as they dropped to his waist, pulling him in closer. Then, I let my legs weaken so that my weight would pull him down, and it worked. He slowly bent his knees until we were finally both laying on the ground, side by side. I could hear the stream running beside us. I heard the winds rustling the leaves. I could hear AJ's snoring from here. But I felt Nick's warm body beside me. His breathing was now fast and shallow. He smiled at me as a few drops of sweat glistened from his skin. That was when I felt him for the first time. He was actually being excited by me?!!! I mean, I saw it with the rest of the vampire community. I memorized every feature of it. But to feel it against my body, to experience it for myself . . . it was incredible. I pushed myself hard towards him, by now straddling him from the top. He used his arms to pull my hips harder into his. I felt the lust build up within me as I grazed him back and forth, the sound of fabric against fabric increasing my desire. I didn't realize that at that moment, AJ, Kevin and Howie were watching our little show of lust with keen eyes, curious as to what would happen. All I knew was that Nick was under me and that I needed to make his body bare if I could help it. Between his gasps, Nick said, "Brian, they're watching us!" I immediately slowed down, but did not get off of him. I turned to look at Kevin, AJ and Howie, whose eyes locked with ours. Howie winked at me, but Kevin and AJ simply stared. Strangely, I couldn't read their thoughts. They all finally turned the other way and went back to sleep. I still felt Nick's hardness under me, though, but I didn't want to finish this act anymore. It had been soiled by AJ's, Howie's and Kevin's stares. I felt dirty somehow. I slowly pulled my throbbing organ off of Nick and settled beside him. He sat up slowly and sadly, looking at me expectantly. Then he leaned forward to kiss me. He was aching for relief! I placed my palm on his belly and slowly slid it down until it rested between his legs. Then, in a quiet voice, I told him, "I don't want tonight to be just for this." I squeezed him gently and let it go. Then I walked off, trying to recover from what had just happened. For me, it was harder and harder to distinguish between love and lust. I wonder if he knew the difference. I knew that I had initiated all that, but then again, what we were doing just now was too fast . . . too soon. I wanted to savor that kiss he gave me. But then, everything blew out of proportion. What was I doing? What was I thinking? I finally made a big lap around the stream and returned. By then, Nick had fallen asleep next to the stream, his face troubled. I stopped about five feet from where he was and laid down. I finally fell asleep feeling worse than scum, troubled by my conflicts between love and lust. Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother distinguishing the two. In retrospect, I should have followed my instincts that night. There were only so many more chances that I had to conquer Nick, that night being one of them. And as I let the opportunities slip through me one by one, I started to realize that Nick was slowly drifting away from us. But then again, I was so blind. It wasn't until it was too late that my vision cleared. PART NINE By dawn, I woke up to find Nick gone. I didn't think it odd just because of all the odd events last night. I expected him to be out wandering somewhere just so that he didn't have to suffer seeing my face. I was startled by a loud sound behind me. "Would you please not disturb the silence like that!" I spat at AJ as he threw his belongings on the ground beside me. AJ snorted. "I was kindly reminding you to get your cute buns off the ground so that we can get started. We have a ways to go to reach Rencid." "I didn't think we were heading there. I thought that that was just a landmark we were using," I commented dryly. AJ snorted again. "Tough. We need to refurnish some supplies." By now, Kevin approached us, his eyes sick with worry. "Where's Nick?" I shook my head. "Don't know." I felt myself shudder at the sound of his name, forcing Kevin to glare at me, something which I had not expected from him. Then, in a solemn tone, Kevin told me, "He's not one of us, Brian. You should be careful. I know that you like him, but something tells me that he's holding back. True he revealed to us so much last night, but nevertheless, he comes from a different breed. We cannot trust every word of his." I looked at Kevin bewildered. "You doubt him?" Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "I do not doubt his love for us. I doubt his judgment. He's not completely truthful to us, and for that, we cannot completely believe him." AJ put a hand on my shoulder. "You did feel his power, didn't you? The other day, when that creature attacked him, did you feel the power he could have wielded on us? Just from one touch?" AJ whispered. And for the first time, I saw something in the others that I never thought was possible--fear. They feared Nick! I looked at the others a little defiantly. "Do you fear that he would betray us . . . or do you fear his abilities?" Kevin looked at me sternly. "We fear that part of him which we do not know! We are afraid of what he has become or will become! Don't you feel it, Brian? The destiny of the two people . . . the Almans and the vampires . . . seem to be linked to Nick. Our future, whether we live or die, whether we're happy or tortured, seem to depend on him. Why did the Almans lock him up? Why did our people use him as a symbol of conquest? There is something about his presence that is eluding us! And he sure as hell isn't clarifying sh-- for us!" That was Kevin's first outburst in a long time, and I was forced to comtemplate his concerns. Realizing that Kevin was shaking my beliefs profoundly, Howie jumped in. "Kevin's not saying that we shouldn't help Nick. He's just saying that we should be more attentive to everything that Nick does. If Nick is truly good, we will always be by his side. But what if he is evil, or what if he represents something bad? We must destroy him. It's a scary thought, but we mustn't be blinded by our fondness for him. Ultimately, I think the fate of our people rests on us four. And maybe our enemy is not as distant as we think." I nodded my head in defeat. What thoughts or rationalization could I conjure to counter such a powerful argument? I've known Kevin, Howie and AJ my entire life, far longer than I've known Nick. And I knew for a fact that they were true to me, and to our people. Nick, I knew very little about. I only knew him for seven years. And the more time spent with him, the less familiar he became. It was not Nick that they doubted. It was the mystery that surrounded him that they were skeptical about. They were afraid of the unknown. I closed my eyes and succumbed to their doubts "Please don't hurt him if we don't have to." All three nodded eagerly, feeling rather guilty for their dark thoughts, but unwilling to let go of them. "So does anyone know where Nick is?" AJ finally blurted, breaking the intensity of our conversation. Howie nodded. "He said he needed a nice cool bath." With that, Howie smiled crookedly at me. "What?" I asked, slightly offended. I didn't know what was going through Howie's mind at that moment, but it appeared unchaste. "Oh stop that annoying winking, Howie!" AJ bursted. Kevin groaned. "If he wants to be subtle, let him be subtle, AJ!" Then, Kevin turned to bark off orders at me. "Brian, why don't you go pluck him out of that pond." I groaned, but felt grateful. I'd rather be the one to see Nick bathing. No matter what we had talked it about, it did not change the fact that I could still kill from jealousy. ****************** The quiet walk to the pond did nothing to soothe my unsettled heart. It was scary, but I was starting to analyze everything that Nick did. No longer did his actions appear innocent to me, but everything seemed to have served a purpose. I tried to memorize everything, from the slight changes in his eye color to the little twitches in his face. That heart to heart with the other guys freaked me out and started to create a small barrier between me and Nick. It wasn't a bad barrier, but it did affect me immensely. And no matter how much I try to convince myself that Nick was all good, there was a part of me that distrusted his motives, as if I had my suspicions from the start and the others verbalizing it only made it more real. I finally found the little pond where he was bathing in, and for a while, I decided to just sit behind the rock contentedly. I tried to convince myself that I wanted to analyze him, but I knew that my motives probably weren't that clean. My mind drifted to his imprisonment in the Forbidden Towers. There were probably multiple reasons why the Almans had locked him up in the Forbidden Towers, but I could only think of one. It was his damn attractiveness! It reminded me of something Kevin used to tell me. "It is the beautiful that we should be most wary of because their outer beauty shields their inner malice. And it is those people that are the most dangerous. Don't fall in love with a face, for it does not promise happiness." That was so haunting, but Kevin was very wise for his age. He would never jeopardize my happiness with a saying he didn't believe in, could he? My eyes started to trace Nick's figure. Nick's body was fair against the light blue of the pond. His back was to me, but I could envision his face from the fullness of his cheeks to the light gleam in his eyes. Just when I was getting comfortable with the view, he slowly stepped out of the waters, a layer of clothing forming out of thin air as he slowly ascended from the pond. And I wondered just how much of his powers was he shielding from us. I was so deep in thought, I didn't realize that Nick was a few feet away from me until he grounded his foot into the soil from behind me. I whisked around only to be met by his deep blue eyes. I didn't want to let my eyes wander too much. "You're here to escort me back, I assume?" Nick offered an explanation for my sitting behind a rock, blatantly staring at him while he was bathing. "Yes," I replied hoarsely, glad for the excuse he created for me. He knew, yet he was classy enough to not valize it. Nick smiled reassuringly before nodding his head, signalling for me to follow him. Then, he turned around and started for the others. I followed behind, constantly gazing at him, watching for any hints of malice. But I could not detect any, for he shielded them too well. ******************** We reached Rencid by noon, surprisingly. The town was, as Nick said, full of quaint humans. It was a small town with an eerie feel to it. The people themselves appeared youthful. No elderly person in sight, which I thought added to the spookiness of the whole ambience. We quickly found a nice cozy tavern, owned by a middle-aged slightly obese, jolly-looking woman. She knew we were vampires. The whole town knew, actually. That fact made me feel vulnerable. AJ, though, was quite delighted. "I'll have some geese blood, please!" The lady was only happy to oblige him, and the rest of us. She took our orders with a smile on her face. That was, until she finally gazed into Nick's eyes, and there was a flicker of recognition. "We do not serve his kind here." Her eyes carried something bordering on disgust, her voice filled with contempt. Everyone in the tavern suddenly turned to eye Nick suspiciously. And I saw that flicker of repulsion in everyone's eyes. It was as if they knew who he was. "We do not serve any Almans. You are not welcome here." With that, she spat at Nick. "Your people have stolen all our elders, erased their souls from this Earth. Do not expect any warmth from us! Your friends will stay, but you must leave the borders of this town tonight." AJ, Howie and Kevin all stared in shock by her declaration. All the other Rencid folks glared at Nick, sharing the tavern owner's decision. I felt a sinking feeling within my heart, but dared not contradict the lady's decision. I wanted to kick myself so badly, yet I was so curious as to the reason behind this lady's sudden wrath, some clue to Nick's past. It was as if Nick understood the depth of her anger, for within seconds, he stood up and departed without so much as an argument. I reluctantly got up to follow him, but the tavern owner placed a hand on my shoulder and nodded at me peacefully. "He will not leave without your protection, for that would be folly on his part. You need not fear that that he would disappear. If my judgment is not inaccurate, he will await your presence at the outskirts of this city." I calmed down immediately at her words and sat down without another word. "Why does he anger you?" Howie interrupted anxiously. The tavern owner sighed and ignored Howie's question. "Why do you harbor him? Do you not fear for your lives? Do you not see his treachery? Did you not heed the prophecy in the ancient scriptures of your vampire race?" "Prophecy?" Kevin squeaked, his eyes suddenly widening. "Then it is him that it speaks of?" Aj and I looked in shock at Kevin. "There's a prophecy that you're keeping from us?" AJ asked in a demanding tone. "All right, spit it out! What kind of damn prophecy is this, if you finally care to enlighten us?" Howie looked at us apologetically. "We . . . me and Kevin . . . we sort of suspected it, but we didn't want to alarm you or Brian, just in case that maybe, it was just a legend. We didn't want to freak you guys out." AJ rolled his eyes. "Sure, I'm not freaked at all!" he spat. The tavern owner sighed. "You are protecting a very dangerous creature indeed." Then, as if reciting a passage from an ancient text, she closed her eyes and started enunciating, "For he whose breed is impure will harbor an evil so great as to forever destroy the sanctity of all races and species . . ." The tavern owner opened her eyes and sighed. By now, silence pervaded the entire tavern, and all the locals listened in intently. "That creature that you are protecting, we do not hate who he is, but we hate who he shall become. He is pure unadulterated evil, protected by a pretty shell to lure and deceive those around him. He clouds your minds with an air of innocence, but he is more dangerous to you than you shall ever know. His soul absorbs evil like a sponge, feeding on it, thriving upon it. Every evil deed done to him, every unworthy thought that people have of him will only be consumed by his soul, feeding his inner wrath . . . until finally, he harbors an energy so great, it could destroy with frightening cruelty. He needs only time, and that is what he is buying with you four. Therefore, he will not leave this town without you." The tavern owner shuddered at her description as did the other locals. AJ was the first to respond. "He sure doesn't look evil to me," he replied softly. "In time, my friend," the tavern owner replied. "Do you notice how he deals with pain inflicted upon him?" Kevin and Howie nodded knowingly, as if confirming the tavern owner's words. She continued. "He does not lash back, but rather, he represses his actions. He consumes anger without releasing it. Notice how calm his exterior is. Be wary of his quietness, of his reserve, for every word he does not speak is more dangerous for you." Kevin gulped. "How do you know it is truly him that the prophecy speaks of? Howie and I could give some examples, but we couldn't be quite sure that he is the one, that he is the Heir." The tavern owner looked at Kevin with resolve. "He had fled seven years ago to our town. After he had escaped the Forbidden Towers with that vampire, his story had traveled far. In his youth, he was more reckless, less expert in shielding his true identity. He had been easier to read, less mysterious. Now, he is subtle and more clever. But we still recognize those eyes." The tavern owner closed her eyes again and recited another passage from the prophecy. "Eyes of lavender shall mark our fate; behind sheer beauty lies evil's gaze; no friends, no love, no peace, no home; there is no child worse than Darkness' own." The tavern owner looked at us in disbelief, wondering how Kevin and Howie could have read that statement and not think that it described Nick. With more determination in her heart, she continued. "Why did the Almans lock him up? They knew! That had to have known the prophecy! It is undeniable who that prophecy refers to. Yet, they had loved him too much, had refused to destroy him. And they hoped . . . hoped that by locking him up in the Forbidden Towers, he would not have interaction with anyone. His evil would not feed upon anyone's vice. But his mother had erred. Those Almans that were by her side had secretly visited the boy in the tower, committing dark sins that no Alman knew of until he had ran away. Who knows what evil was forced upon the boy in those dark towers? Who knows what they had done to him in the dark hours of the night. All we now know is that the evil within his body is swelling. And now, the Almans are regretting their decision. They have rescinded their pity for him and are paying dearly in their grief and horror. Do you know how much they are willing to reward for his purged body?" "What do you mean by purged?" I finally found the courage to ask. She looked at me with a deep sympathy, as if she knew the pain I was feeling with every word that she spoke. She nodded. "Purged . . . destroyed, maimed, disintegrated . . . whatever it takes to destroy his soul, to completely rid of the body that protects that soul. For without his body, the soul cannot live. Because there is no other body that has the ability to harbor such a horrifying soul." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, suddenly very nauseous. Nick had lied to us! To me! I felt the hot tears burning from behind my eyelids. "How do you know all of this?" Howie asked timidly. I could tell that Howie was getting really scared. "I know because we were friends of the Almans. Before they had betrayed our trust in them, they had once confided in us, sought our skills and our friendship." She spoke with a pained reverence. I felt my insides hurt all over. This could not be happening, not to me. It was like a surreal dream going sour. The tavern owner continued. "He is Darkness's Son, bred from the souls of both the vampires and the Almans. Since he was born in the midst of hatred between the two people, his soul retained only the worst of each." "Surely he had also inherited some weaknesses of the two races?" Kevin asked, his expression full of hope. "We do not know of any," the tavern owner confided. Then she looked at me, her eyes pleading and scared. "But perhaps, we are not too late. Since he still depends upon your protection, he is not fully mature yet. You, my innocent vampire, may still have some power over him. Use his trust in you as a weapon to destroy him!" I felt nauseated to say the least. The way she told the story, I could tell her truthfulness. I could sense her faith in the prophecy. And now, she had made me a believer; there was not even a doubt. There were no flaws in her story as there was in Nick's. She had not held anything back, and she spoke with such a passion that I could not deny the validity of the story. Kevin and Howie were completely convinced. I thought back to that day that I had destroyed the creature. I knew what I felt that day when Nick melted away my anger in less than a second. He had a power that defied all explanations, until now. He wielded an energy so strangely elusive yet frighteningly great that I shuddered to even think back to it. With a single touch, he could dissipate my will, my powers. With a single gaze, he could make me beg for him. My body started to shake, not from the cold, but from my fright. I could not hide it anymore. I was scared sh--less. Truly, there could be no child worse than Darkness's own. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, clearing my mind. For once I step out of that tavern back into Nick's arms, it will be a different fight. Thoughts of our vampire race soiling Nick's body had completely disappeared from my mind, and that guilt that I had clung on to the past few days had slowly died away. His innocent eyes could no longer carry one meaning to me. I could not gaze upon them without wondering about the soul that they concealed. Yet, my thoughts wandered to what could have been . . . had he not had a prophecy predicting his future, what could have been had I not awoken from this beautiful dream that was Nick. For that was what Nick was . . . a chaste, ethereal, wondrous dream turned nightmare. BACK NEXT |
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