It takes me about half an hour to arrive on the other side of town where Fionn lives. I’m currently standing on a suburban street like any other outside of a large, old, beat-up house. In my panic, it didn’t occur to me that Fionn would be out selling the vampire cores right now. I shoot him a message and let myself into his house to wait.
The inside of the house is as dilapidated and disorderly as the outside with the exceptions of one bedroom and the study where Fionn does all of his work. I seat myself on a cluttered sofa in the study while I wait. After about fifteen minutes I see the figure of an old man hobbling up the path of the house through the window. Fionn lets himself in and returns himself to his ‘normal’ appearance.
Most of the time, Fionn pretends to be an elderly retiree who spends all his time cooped up in his house. It’s only around members of the organization that he lets his other appearance show. The man who greets me has messy, shoulder-length, dark-chestnut hair and piercing grey eyes. He looks like he’s about twenty or so, but I know better. Fionn has probably been immortal for far longer than I’ve been alive. It’s one of the perks of becoming an esteemed rank II. While I’ve been qualified to advance to rank II for years now, I’ve been holding off for various reasons.
“How kind of you to grace me with your presence,” he teases, dropping himself into his desk chair.
“Sorry it’s been so long since I dropped by,” I apologize earnestly. Fionn waves his hand, blowing off my apology completely.
“Finally ready to advance?” he asks.
“Not today. I’m here about the cure,” I admit.
“Cure?” he repeats, furrowing his brow.
“The cure for vampirism,” I elaborate. “You said you knew of one. I need it. I’ll pay whatever price you ask.”
“Why do you need the cure?” he asks. “If you need to get rid of a vampire, just kill it.”
“I can’t. Some bastards changed my little sister,” I reluctantly admit, staring holes in the floorboards. “I have to do something, but I can’t kill her.”
“Shit,” Fionn says, his expression changing to one of surprise. “I can give you the cure right now, but you’ll have to pay me back in favors. You’ll be taking on some extra work in exchange.”
“Deal,” I agree immediately. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“That’s not all,” he continues. “You also need to advance.”
“I told you I’d advance after I graduated high school,” I protest. “I want to become an adult first.”
“You don’t just become an adult by graduating high school, but fine,” he concedes. “We need as many high ranking members as we can get, but we can wait another year, I suppose. Here’s the cure. Figure out how to administer it to her without drawing her suspicion to you. Be careful with it too. This is the last vial left in the entire organization. It’s something of a family heirloom, so put it to good use.” Fionn hands me an ancient looking syringe filled with white liquid. It glows a bit to me, so it must have some kind of energy in it. I’m a little reluctant about sticking this in my little sister. Regardless, I feel a huge weight raise off my chest as I clutch the little glass cylinder.
“Thank you. I’ll be off,” I say hurriedly as I head towards the front door.
“Don’t mention it,” he replies. “Stop by more often. It gets lonely here.”
“Will do,” I respond.
As I walk the streets back to my house I struggle to come up with ways to give my sister the cure. There’s no way she’s just going to let me inject some mysterious substance in her. Besides, she hates needles. Since she just became a vampire, I doubt she’ll just agree to switch back so quickly either. Any way I look at this, I’m going to have to give it to her when she’s either distracted or unconscious. I could give it to her while she’s sleeping, but since she’s a vampire, couldn’t I just distract her with the Notre Dame rose window, like I usually do with their kind? That seems like the easiest way.
As I near my house, my face begins to pale again. Please tell me that isn’t what I think it is. About 100 meters away from me, my house is lit with four energy signals. All of them are crimson.
Preparing for the worst, I once again circle around the house and sneak inside. Walking invisible through the familiar halls, I return to the living room. By now, my sister is awake and talking to the boy from before on the loveseat. Her new red eyes don’t look too bad against her auburn hair. She must have handled the change well for her to already be awake. Usually it takes about five hours to complete the change from human to vampire, but it’s only been three since school got out. Maybe she left early like I did. On the sofa are two more slumped figures. Closer inspection reveals them to be my parents.
I groan to myself. Fucking hell. I've never heard of an entire family changing in a day! Is this insane recruitment speed because of what I did yesterday? I only have one syringe. I back out of the room and head down the street. When I get about a block away I call Fionn again.
“Did it work?” he asks?
“What do you mean, ‘Did it work?’ You didn’t give me some kind of dubious cure, did you?” I ask, skeptically.
“No! No!” he protests. “I just thought it might have lost potency after this long,” he explains.
“That’s still not okay,” I admonish. “Whatever. I couldn’t use it. When I got home, my parents had been changed too.”
“You’re kidding. Those bastards sure move fast!”
“I know. I need more syringes of the cure. I’ll pay the cost, no matter what. Just tell me how I can get them.”
“I wish it were that easy. The vial in your hand is the only copy of the cure that I have access to,” he explains. “It’s an old recipe that hasn’t been made in hundreds of years. It really is an heirloom that’s been passed down through my family. That’s all that I can give you.”
“Can I see the recipe. I’ll make some myself.”
“The reason it hasn’t been made in hundreds of years is because we don’t have the recipe. It’s been lost to the ages. I’m sorry.”
I sigh heavily. This complicates things but I still haven’t lost hope. It’s the 21st century. I think of the way science has progressed since this cure was last made. People are inventing cures for diseases all the time, and I don’t even need to invent the cure to vampirism. I already have it. I just need to synthesize it. It’s not something that I can do overnight. Something like this will take years, but who knows how valuable the cure to vampirism would be? Besides being the only way to save my family, synthesizing the cure would have profound effects on this world and would be one step closer to restoring the balance.
There’s only one problem. I can’t return home to a family of vampires. I’m sure they’ll want me to change, and I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I also can’t continue to fight against the recruitment if I’m living with those who are perpetuating it. Besides the moral issues I have, eventually they’ll notice my unusual behaviors. Keeping my secret would be just too hard. It’s not like my family will be getting any older. I’m still not happy about leaving them though. It’ll probably be years before I’ll be able to see them again.
And then there’s the issue of saying goodbye. Can I even say it? What kind of reason could I offer for leaving? I’m going to dedicate myself to work? I want to live by myself? I just really can’t stand vampires? There’s nothing decent. What’s worse? Letting them think something terrible has caused me to disappear, or telling them that they’re the reason I left? If I ever want to have decent relations with them in the future, probably the prior. It would be easier to come up with an excuse later.
I still feel like shit for doing this to my family though. With all the people going missing lately from supernatural deaths, I’m sure that they’ll assume the worst. No matter what, though, I can’t join them. They made a choice that I couldn’t without consulting me. Maybe it’s my fault for not being there to talk about it, but there’s still nothing I can do about it at this point. All I can do now is manufacture a cure.
“Fionn, let me live with you,” I demand. “It’ll just be until I graduate high school. I plan to develop a cure for vampirism by synthesizing this cure that you gave me. It’s going to take years though, and I’ll need to finish high school and get into university in order to accomplish this. I can’t return home during that time. I’ll change appearances and transfer schools. I’ll need a new identity though, and the papers to back it up. Can you help me?” I ask. The line is silent for a moment. Finally, he speaks.
“Do you really think that you can reinvent the cure to vampirism?” he asks me.
“Absolutely. I’ll do whatever it takes. I might even be able to figure out the exact recipe used in the original,” I assure him.
“Developing a cure would be incredible. If you can do this, you would be a huge boon to the organization. They would probably even advance you to rank I. This could be really big, Arri. Are you committed to this?” he asks.
“Yes,” I reply instantly. “This has to be done from both a personal and global perspective, and I want to be the one to do it.”
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“I’ll make all the arrangements. We’ll pretend you’re my niece or something. I can have you transfer into a new school by Wednesday. Come up with a good look. We’ll need photos for a new driver’s license and such. Make sure it’s something you’ll be comfortable with for the foreseeable future. Doing this too many times will be way too suspicious,” Fionn advises. “You can take any bedroom but mine. We’ll get you some new clothes too.”
I thank Fionn earnestly. He asks me what I plan on telling my family, and I tell him about my thoughts from earlier and how I had decided not to. He agrees me and tells me that I can come back to his house whenever I’m ready and pick out a room. He needs to make some phone calls about getting me some papers for my new identity.
I take one last look back at my house. I’d really love to storm back in there and beat the shit out of that Waverly boy. My stomach turns as I suppress the urge. I’m a stubborn person, and when it comes to vampires, I’m especially unfamiliar with making concessions like this. I really hate the way things turned out. When it comes down to it though, wasn’t it all my fault? I should have answered my sister’s calls. I should have talked to her more. This is a failure on my part. I can’t afford to fail again with this cure. Everything rests on this now.
An idea suddenly illuminates my consciousness. I can’t touch this boy, but what about his family? The Waverlies have already done enough to piss of the Wraiths anyways. I’m perfectly justified in regulating their numbers again. That’d be two nights in a row, but they’re the ones who ignored our warning. I’d be ignoring my duties as this district’s Executor if I let them get away with something like that. I smile to myself. It’d be awfully poetic if I were to kill his parents and whatever sibling(s) he has. That’d be too suspicious though. I guess a little random killing wouldn’t be too bad. I still have all my gear on me too, and the Waverly’s Riese Manor is only 10 or so minutes away and lies near the path to Fionn’s. The Riese Manor is similar in function to the Lonnely Manor, as it also houses lower-ranked members of the family. I make up my mind.
It takes me less than a minute make myself invisible and get changed. I change my appearance to that of the black-haired boy that I use on missions for good measure. It takes me only seven minutes of running to reach the Riese Manor. From the outside of the gates, I can see just under forty energy signatures. Four of them are subleaders. Looks like they must have boosted security for the outer houses since last night. No matter. I’ll just use stealth this time. I’ll take out the leaders first, then go after the others.
Invisible and immaterial, I steal into the massive brick building. This time, I make the cores a priority. I take a metal contraption out of a pocket in my uniform. Hanging from a short change is a silver disk that looks a bit like a pocket watch. When I tap it though, it starts to spin in all directions, creating a sphere with elaborate swirling patterns. I travel through the house, seeking out the leaders. As I find them, I rematerialize and hypnotize them, freezing them in place. When the energy gathers in their cores, I ‘remove’ them.
After the third, the smell of blood has started to permeate the air. When I spot the fourth, I notice one thread of energy heading off in a separate direction. Looks like this guy belongs to someone in the main family. He was probably sent here as a lookout. When I kill him, the main house may notice if they try to reach him and he doesn’t respond. I’ll have to speed things up after this. I make quick work of the lookout and begin on the others. One after another they fall. Sometimes I hypnotize them, but with the weaker ones, I don’t even bother. This is too easy. It’s barely even helping me vent my frustrations.
As I finish off the last of them, I notice another red light approaching. Someone from the main house must have been called to check in. They must have been nearby to get here so quickly. Good. Maybe this will be a little more interesting. I’m still in the hallway of the second floor as I hear the newcomer ascend the stair.
I wait for him to turn the corner and see me before attacking, but as he turns the corner I curse to myself. It’s the goddamn kid who turned my sister. It’s the one member of this fucking family that I said I’d leave alone. His neat black hair is a bit disheveled and now hangs down in front of his face. As his eyes fall on me, he forms two short-swords from his blood and gets ready to attack. His eyes are burning with rage. He’s obviously seen the carnage. He obviously wants me dead. Should I kill him instead? Now would be the chance. I’m about to act when I see another red light dash up the stairs. The figure almost crashes into him as she stops. It’s my sister. The boy’s eyes fill with panic.
“Evelyn! I told you not to follow me! I told you to wait! Do you have any idea who this is?” the boy asks angrily, taking a defensive stance. Apparently he does hold some feelings for my sister. At least enough to want to protect here.
“I couldn’t just let you go by yourself though! It wouldn’t be right! I don’t care who it is!” she protests. My sister tries to form some kind of weapon out of blood, but fails. It’ll take a lot more practice before she’s capable of something like that.
“Didn’t you see the bodies?” he asks rhetorically. “This is Ossian! This guy’s taken out two entire manors of our men so far!” he declares. My sister shrinks back a bit. I guess she has a degree of self preservation after all.
I make my entire body immaterial. I have no intent of fighting them at all. It’s better if I just leave this kid with a message and let him go. Hidden in the shadows, I change my voice and laugh menacingly.
“Haha! You’re really scared, huh? I’m glad you could make it though, kid. You’re from the main family, right?” I ask, stepping towards him. He nods, eyeing me warily. “Fortunately, I’m not going to kill you tonight. I just want you to carry a message. I want you to tell the others what you’ve seen. Tell them you met me, and remind them that these are the consequences of defying us. Continuing recruitment the day after we left you your first warning can hardly be overlooked. It’s your fault these vampires died. Manage your population and cease recruitment and we’ll keep to ourselves.” I say, stopping my march a meter in front of him.
“You think we’ll just bow to you bastards? The Wraiths have no right to order us around!” the boy snarls, lunging at me. Both he and his swords pass right through me as he realizes his mistake. He’s let me get between him and my sister, who is now frozen in fear. He charges back towards me, but stops himself as I walk past my sister and continue down the stairs.
“These current trends are not sustainable. What happens when you turn enough of the population into vampires that you’re no longer able to feed yourselves? What happens when humanity goes extinct? Will you start eating the werewolves? Trust me, their blood is far too salty to make for a decent meal. What about each other? All the vampires I’ve sampled have been quite sweet. Haha! I suppose it’d be a bit awkward becoming cannibals though. You see? We’re doing this as much for you as for humanity. It’s in your best interests to keep numbers down. Less competition for food. This doesn’t have to turn into anything messy. The Wraiths are more than willing to work with cooperative groups. Consider it,” I say as I walk past the bodies littering the floor and out the door. Turning back over my shoulder, I realize that I still don’t know the boy’s name.
“What’s your name?” I ask. The boy hesitates before replying.
“Marcus Waverly,” he responds.
“Thanks for passing the message, Marcus. I’m Ossian. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other around,” I say, waving lazily over my shoulder. I vanish, before collecting my bag, ridding myself of the blood, and heading back to Fionn’s house. I don’t bother stopping at a creek. The werewolves are in too big of a crisis right now to worry about tracking me, anyways.
Fionn doesn’t even question my appearance as I rematerialize back inside his house. I’m fairly certain he expected me to do something like this. I’ll take that as a sign of permission. All he asks is which manor I hit up. I give him a brief overview of what went down before depositing a bag of cores on the desk of his study and heading upstairs to pick out my room. I keep the four leaders’ cores for myself and absorb them. I’m up to 36 now. I’m not used to getting five in one day. I guess this period of disorder has some perks after all.
I choose a large bedroom with a window overlooking the street and its own bathroom. It’s a little bit less dilapidated than the rest of the house. I can use the money I made from the vampire cores to buy some new furniture later. I’ll need some new clothes too. For now, I have a different task though. I need a new face.
~~~
AN: Sorry it's super late. Haven't had much time to write. Semester projects suck. From this point on in the story, there's going to be a bit less action as I start focusing on the characters. As always, let me know what you think. Thank you.