“I must apologize for my companions behaviours,” the girl said when the guards finally left, “but they have yet to notice your status. Please, I implore you to avoid using the Contract as a means of negotiation, Demon Barbas.”
“Oh, you know who I am then.” I said, genuinely surprised, “What gave it away?”
“I can read the auras of the people around me, and yours when Igor came your way was unmistakeable.”
“The ability to see and interpret the life force of those around you…” I muttered, “A rare gift, really rare… so if you know who I am and the contents of the original Contract, then why is it that you were not present 400 years ago. You are far older than that, if I am not mistaken. Who are you?”
“Forgive me for not introducing myself, Demon Barbas,” she answered, giving me a modest bow, “but I am known as Laurel, the mother of the previous Queen of the Fae.”
“Previous queen? You mean Vivian’s out of the picture now?”
“It is as you say,” Laurel said, putting on a pained expression, “my daughter was exiled for her tyranny after the revolution 80 years ago. Much of the old ruling class have been replaced, and it is the reason why so much has changed.”
“That would explain the hulk of a man Igor, but it seems that Vladimir kept his position, huh?”
“Although Vladimir has managed to hang on to his position, he has lost the majority of his power, but very few know of the fact. The ones that you should look out for is not Vladimir himself, but his eldest progeny, the twins Jacob and Sable, they are the true rulers. Jacob is the brains behind the operation, and Sable the blade that eliminates any who would oppose their goals.”
“And Igor?”
“Igor is different from the others. After the previous leader’s death he won his spot by challenging anyone who would dare get in his way, but do not let his brute strength fool you, Barbas, for he is more cunning than you can imagine. He is always calculating, plotting, and hides behind a mask of arrogance and ignorance, but his true nature is scary indeed. Other than that, I do not know much.”
“And why are you telling me all this? There should be no reason why you would trust me, especially if you know the contents of your daughter’s agreements. I cannot help but be suspicious.”
“Because I am an Oracle, Barbas.” she answered simply, “I have seen a great catastrophe approaching in the coming weeks, and the only future that we survive in is one in which you are a part of. I know not what or why such a disaster comes, but I do know that you will be playing a key part in averting it, and as such I will do my utmost to assist you.”
Ah, that must be the armies of Heaven and Hell coming… Good thing she doesn’t seem to know that I’m the cause of it.
“Have you seen anything else…?” I asked, “Like maybe how I managed to advert disaster?”
“I see but bits and pieces of the whole, and almost never do I see why or how something is done. But this was different, I saw… no, what I saw will make no difference in the larger picture. What I can tell you, however, is that in the near future, you will be approached by Jacob and Sable. At that time, you must help out Vladimir's kin.”
“Can you tell me why?”
“Alas,” She sighed, “My visions are never clear. As such, I cannot tell you the reason why. It is up to your discretion if you want to heed my advice or not.”
“Can you at least tell me what'll happen if I do follow your advice? Will I somehow manage to make it through this whole mess alive?”
Laurel hesitated, and slowly said, “Most likely no. Even if you take my advice, the chances of a happy outcome is still slim at best, but it is the best course of action if you want any chance at all. The other outcomes are... not pleasant.”
I sighed and said, “Of course it's never that easy... That's fine. That’s more help than I’ve gotten so far.”
“Is there anything else I can assist you with?”
I thought about it and said, “Actually there is, I may have an idea as to what’s going to happen, and maybe a means to stop it. Do you guys have a library or something where I can do some research?”
“You can find everything that you are looking for in the basement. I shall ask one of my assistants to show you the location.” she said, before adding “If it wouldn't be too rude, but can I inquire about what it is you think is approaching? If I knew more I may be of more assistance.”
“It is only a theory so far, so it may be best if I tackle this problem myself for the time being.” I said, hoping that she wouldn‘t be able to detect my lie, “I think it would be best if I went to it now.”
“I understand, but before you go, Barbas,” she said, her voice hesitant, “please do avoid using the power of the Contract; the futures that I have foreseen are all bleak if you do so. I will do my best to explain the situation to the others, but even so, watch your back while you are here. The others are not as logical as I am, and you would have wounded their pride by merely being alive. They will seek to right this wrong.”
“Got it,” I said, making my way out, “Don’t use contract; watch back, and help out some vampires. I’ll be fine, Laurel.”
* * *
Nothing. After half a day of searching the huge library of books I found absolutely nothing of use. I tried searching for info on Nephilims, on Angels and Demons, even on prophesies and everything turned out to be a bunch of worthless hearsay and speculations. Or at least crap that I already knew. I gave up; this type of approach for getting information is pointless, because I knew that a situation where a Nephilim was loose on Earth only ended in one way. But I guess I can hope that I could be the guy who breaks that mould. It's better than giving up.
I left the building and chose to head back to the hotel, I probably shouldn’t leave Becca with Sara for too long, given how much she seems to hate the older girl. However, not after even five minutes of walking did I notice a presence - or more accurately, several presences - following behind me, and they probably weren’t friendly. Why, they gave off a presence that felt like a group of IRS agents after a fresh debt; that is to say, I felt blood-lust and a whole lot of malice.
These must be the guys Laurel told me to watch out for. Well, I might as well speed up the whole vampire-helping process. I continued to walk as normal, not wanting to tip these would be assassins off, and decided that maybe I should ask one of them a few questions. But first of all, I need to lure them out. I headed towards the darkest, dingiest corner I could find, away from any prying eyes. I could almost hear the laughter of my stalkers, they must think I’m retarded to go and make their jobs all the easier. Too bad it’s me who has the biggest smile on his face.
Right after I was completely out of view from the last pedestrian did three armed individuals come out from the shadows, daggers ready to take my life. All three were inhumanly fast, little more than blurs to the untrained eyes, but they are in no way highly skilled at the art of assassination. Given their human-like appearance I assumed that these guys are vampires, maybe only a few decades old given how sloppy they presented themselves. Really, they were more like really fast brutes than anything else.
I easily avoided all three of them, given that they kind of just lunged at me. I mean, really, how stupid do you have to be to actually lunge in the air at someone, and given their strength they must have flew up a good dozen metres. But seriously, what’s the point of speed and stealth if you couldn’t even adjust your position? All I had to do was move a few feet to my left and they simply fell on empty space, but not before I grabbing the throat of the attacker nearest me.
I squeezed and snapped the neck of the poor guy, crippling him for the time being, and the fact that he didn’t die instantly means that these guys are indeed vampires, or maybe some other sort of supernatural being, I didn‘t really care. The other two saw recovered quickly and readied quickly, but like before they lunged at me. Was that the only way these guys know how to move or something, or are they just that dumb? Well if they don’t feel like changing strategies then I wont either. I grabbed yet another guy by the throat, only this time instead of crushing his spine I kind of crushed his whole skull into little pieces.
The last guy (or girl, they were wearing really baggy robes and ski masks - a really bad sense of fashion if you ask me - so I couldn’t tell) was intelligent enough to realize that attacking me was probably not the best course of action. The guy bolted away, using every bit of strength he had to escape, and I almost allowed him to go. But instead I sent a fireball his way, and like the guy without his head, this assassin also didn’t make it.
I didn’t bother cleaning up the bodies left on the ground, but instead turned to the assassin that was still alive. He was shivering in a corner and apparently was trying his best to escape, I have no idea how he managed to move at all with a broken spine but move he did. I walked over, and casually picked him up and threw him towards the nearest wall. Then, leaning over, I took off his ski mask, and surprisingly it wasn’t a he but a cute little thing with a tomboyish look. Still, I’m pretty egalitarian, and since chivalry’s a form of sexism, I broke her legs to make doubly sure that she got the message.
“Now then, I’m going to ask some questions.” I said with a smile, “It’s within your best interests to answer them.”
“Fuck you!” she said, spitting in my face.
In return I grabbed her wrist and twisted it out of its socket. She grunted in pain, but didn’t scream, I’ll give her that.
“Now then, first question,” I continued, wiping the spittle off my face, “who sent you and why did you guys attack me?”
The girl gritted her teeth together and muttered, “Go fuck a goat.”
“Ok, I’ll just assume that that’ll be your response even if I continue, and I’d hate to stain my shirt with more blood. You see, I actually don’t enjoy going at it the hard way, too much effort, so let me try to take some guesses, and do tell me if I’m right. Since you guys are vampires I can assume that you work for Vladimir, or more precisely Jacob and Sable. Jacob probably gave you guys the orders, and since you guys are trying to kill me, albeit sloppily, you work under Sable for some kind of behind-the-scenes assassination group. Am I right?”
The girl looked at me with eyes wide, amazed that I managed to guess such a feat, given the fact that very few knew about the inner workings of the Vampire Court. It’s a good thing Laurel told me all that earlier. She was probably thinking frantically about how I knew something like that, which would probably lead to a whole lot of incorrect theories, but I wasn’t going to correct her.
“I’ll take your dumb look as a “yes” then.” I said, smiling some more, “You know what? I’m going to let you go; tell your bosses that I would like to have a word with them, and it would be in their best interests to hear me out. I have a feeling that they'll need my help eventually. I'm sure you guys know where to reach me. Oh, and try this stunt again and you‘ll be wishing that I killed you right here and now. That goes for everyone in your little group.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
With that I dumped her in a corner and left. She’ll heal after a short while, the tenacity of vampires are legendary, and anything short of complete decapitation or incineration would heal within a few hours.
I wasn't sure if beating up Jacob's goons would make them view me any better, but I honestly didn't care. I don't take it very well when people try to kill me. And plus, the thing with prophecies is that no matter what you do, they still tend to come true at the end. Sufficed to say, I wasn't too worried.
After a short walk, free of impending danger, I got back to the hotel room and made my way up to my room. When I opened the door I saw that the room with filled with shopping bags, and at its centre was Becca and Sara, chatting without any hostility while sorting everything out. While I was glad to see the two getting along for the first time, I was not so happy to see that the hard earned money I gave the two went to buying a plethora of junk.
“What on earth did you guys buy?” I grumbled, staring at the mountain of crap on the ground.
“Oh, welcome back boss.” smiled Becca, “And we only got some clothes… and shoes, and bags… but you said the money was ours, and we didn‘t even spend that much! We even got you some new shirts, since the one you’re wearing right now has holes in ’em. I mean, you wouldn’t believe how cheap some of this stuff was! Like, holy shit, I should come here to do all my shopping!”
I would have expected Sara to interject with a remark or two, but instead she was happily sorting out clothes and accessories.
“You too, Sara?” I said, dumbfounded.
“Everything really was cheap, Mark. Although my original plan was to buy the bare necessities, I may have gotten a little carried away half way through…”
“Ugh,” I muttered, “Just clean this clutter up… I’m going to relax and take a shower, it‘s been a long day. Oh, and did you two eat already?”
“Yup, me and Sara got a whole meal for under three bucks – or credits or whatever! Three bucks, boss!” Becca said, obviously overjoyed, “I’m starting to love this place already!”
“Well,” I sighed, “at least one of us likes it here.”
* * *
With my shower done I took a short stroll outside for a breath of fresh air, and after a few hours of aimless wandering I arrived back to a clean room, with the two girls lying down on separate beds. Sara was already fast asleep, but I could tell from Becca’s irregular breathing that she was still awake. I carefully turned off the lights and made myself comfortable on the lounge chair next to the bed Becca was in. I closing my eyes and relaxed for a brief moment, finally letting out all of the stress.
“Becca,” I whispered, “you up?”
“Hmm?” she answered sleepily.
“I haven't had a chance to talk with you after the whole Frankenstein thing. How've you been holding up?”
“Don’t worry boss, this has been some of the most fun I’ve ever had. I've met Alexei, Irina, fought off mutant moster things. It was a blast.”
“But won’t your parents worry about you, since you’ve been gone for so long?”
“They don't give a fuck about me.”
“Becca, that's not true.”
“Yeah it is, boss.” Becca answered bitterly, “After mom and dad divorced all they care about is the money. I might as well not exist in their eyes.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, after all, I’ve never had the privilege of having the same kind of parents that mortals have. All I could say was a half-assed “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s better off that way. Without me in the picture they’ll have an easier time living their lives. I’m already living by myself, so it’s no biggie.”
“You were living by yourself up until this point?” I asked, amazed that I’ve never realized something like that until now.
“Yeah, been living in a shitty one room apartment, but I guess they’ll be kicking me out since I haven’t paid for the rent for this month again, it's not the first time. But whatever.”
“Sorry about that…” I said again, genuinely feeling guilty, an emotion that I didn‘t even know I could experience, “When all of this is over, you can crash at my place or the office till you sort things out if you want.”
“Thanks boss…” she answered, and after a short pause she added in a whisper, “It really means a lot.”
“Look, Becca. About what we talked about earlier... about us after this is all over.”
She gave me a pensive look. A look of uncertainty.
“Yeah, boss?”
“I'm not going to lie to you, Becca. I'm not sure if there even will be anything after this.”
“Is it something I did?” Becca half screamed, her eyes starting to tear up, “I- I know I'm not mature or whatever, but-”
“No, that's not it.” I answered, “It's not that. I'm just afraid that there will be no future for me. And that there'll be no future for you if you decide to follow me, Becca.”
“What do you mean?”
“This whole situation, this whole thing... I don't know if I can manage it. I don't know what I can do, Becca, because every ending that I see is a dead end. Every choice I take will lead me closer to getting everyone I know killed. I know that Sara is stuck with me, but you're not.”
“Don't you dare tell me to leave, boss!”
“I'm not telling you to leave. I'm just saying that, well, that it would be better if you did.” I said with a grimace, “You can do so much with your life, and if you stay, you would be throwing that away. You don't need me to look after you any more. You have new friends, and I'm sure you'll make more in the future. Alexei and Irina will take care of you even if I'm... not around any more.”
“Boss, no.” Becca answered with conviction as she stared into my eyes.
“Becca, at least think about-”
“I've thought about it, boss.” She answered without hesitation, “And the answer is still no. No fucking way. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, so I'll bite the bullet and see things through to the end.”
“Is there any way for me to convince you otherwise?”
“None, boss.” She answered with a wry smile, “Nothing at all. Guess you're stuck with me.”
I laughed at her carefree response. I ruffled her hair again, and said, “I guess I am.”
“Glad that's cleared out. And uh, boss…” added Becca, “you can, uh, sleep next to me if you want. I mean, uh, I know you said to wait till all of this is over, but that chair doesn’t look comfortable, and if we’re just sleeping…”
I smiled and snuggled up to Becca in the spot that she made for me on the bed. I wrapped my arms around the little bundle of warmth, and immediately felt that the tension she was feeling leaving her body. I guess she was more scared about the future than she showed.
I sighed, and stopped thinking about everything that can go wrong. I stopped, and just focused on the here and now. It was comforting for both of us to share the same space, and I was even a little glad that I had Becca's presence here to keep me through the night. I didn’t need sleep, but I stayed like that long after the tired Becca fell into a deep, satisfied slumber.
For the first time that day, I felt genuinely happy.
* * *
I was up before dawn the next morning, or at least it should be before dawn since there was no actual sunlight in the Sprawl, and using that extra time I made myself useful and went out to buy everyone some breakfast and coffee. To my surprise, everything was as cheap as Becca and Sara made it out to be; for the equivalent of about 10 USD, I got four breakfast sandwiches, a handful of hash browns and three large coffees. I guess the Sprawl hasn’t been hit with the inflation stick yet, which means that almost no people go in or out of this place.
When I got back with my hull I found that both the girls were up. From the sounds of the shower Sara was busy with her morning ablutions while Becca was busy changing into her new clothes. She was still in her black underwear, and that thing didn't really cover a lot of her. Becca changed from one outfit to another, not caring that I was still there, and perhaps even a little happy that I was as flustered at the sight as I was. She said a quick hello after finally picking an outfit she liked. I forced my eyes to fixate off her beautifully shaped behind, and placed the still warm breakfast on the table.
Shortly after my return I heard the showers die down and a satisfied, well rested Sara joined the newly dressed Becca and I, the blonde girl’s eyes set on the food I’ve set up on the table.
“Oh Mark,” Sara said with a smile, “I see you’ve brought food! I was just about to go out and buy some myself if you hadn’t come back.”
“I thought I’d have more than enough time to get food before you guys were up, actually, I’m just amazed that both of you girls are awake at all given the time.”
“I’m usually awake this early, Mark.”
“I was actually talking more about Becca, given her late record at work and all.” I said half jokingly.
She gave me a dirty look, and shoved a breakfast sandwich into her mouth. I laughed took a bite out of my own sandwich.
“Oh, and Mark,” Sara continued, taking a little white piece of paper out of her pocket and handing it to me, “while you were out somebody dropped a message for you by the door. I’ve no idea who left it or what language it's actually written in.”
I opened it up and saw that the message, written in old Norse of all languages, simply read: We will meet you at noon today. There was no address, no location, and definitely no name to follow, but I’m pretty sure I knew who the senders were; Jacob and Sable. I can only assume that they will find me at noon, a few hours from now, regardless of where I am, which is fine, it certainly saves me the time to look for them.
“So what does it say?”
“Oh, uh, it’s just a note from an… acquaintance. I’m to meet them later today.”
Becca broke out of her trance and looked at me before saying, “What kind of acquaintance?”
“Unpleasant ones, no doubt. They shouldn‘t be too much trouble, but if they are…” I mumbled.
“We give 'em hell!” Becca answered with resolve, “Where you gonna meet ‘em?”
“Dunno, they didn’t say.” I shrugged, “They’ll find me, so until then I’m staying here and relaxing, I want a good start in my day before they undoubtedly ruin in.”