Snowflakes drifted to the
ground and the moon shone brightly in the sky as the creaky, old vehicle made
its way through the slippery streets of the quiet town. The radio only
broadcast one station and the heater was broken, but they needed neither heat
nor entertainment.
“Where exactly are we?”
Lionel asked while picking the crusted flecks of blood out of his blonde hair.
“Austinford,” Gustav
replied. Both of them were badly wounded but he admired the younger vampire’s
composure during the long drive.
“Are we safe here?”
“This town is heavily
guarded.”
Lionel pursed his lips and
looked at the fogged up window. “If it’s heavily guarded what makes you so sure
they’ll accept us?”
Gustav glanced at the
blonde beside him. “They owe me big time.”
His commanding officer
always kept a lot of secrets but Lionel never probed to know more. He had
served under Gustav for nearly half a century and their relationship had gone
beyond their ranks. They had become brothers. But despite their closeness,
Lionel respected Gustav’s personal space. He listened if the latter would talk
and he would advise if he would be asked to. 
Their coven was the most
powerful and most indestructible. Lamier, their leader had believed that unity
within the group was essential for success and growth. He respected and treated
all members equally as he would like to be treated himself. Lamier also
maintain part of his humanity that most vampires lose within the earlier period
of the change. He opposed to killing humans unnecessarily. The coven fed off
the homeless - usually people who wouldn’t be missed in order to keep their
species’ existence a secret. Everything went smoothly through centuries and
they never expected the end to be so near.
Lionel observed Gustav
from the corner of his eye. “You sure are familiar with this town eh?”
Gustav nodded. “I come and
go.”
“Where are we gonna stay?
We need shelter and these wounds aren’t closing anytime soon.” Lionel’s clothes
were drenched in blood and he was beginning to feel a bit light-headed.
“The first time I came
here I dug a hole.”
“So you want us to curl up
in this hole and die?”
Gustav willed himself not
to laugh at his subordinate’s morbid sense of humor. “Every time I come back I
dig deeper and I made that hole into a hideout that we can use in times like
these.”
“Why didn’t you say so in
the first place?”
The car rounded a corner
and stopped in front of a small house.
“So this is your hole?”
“No, we just need to stop
here for the meantime. The sun will be up soon and we’ll most likely be dead
before we reach our destination.” Gustav pulled on the handbrake and climbed
out of the car.
Lionel followed and
stepped into the bone-chilling night air. Before approaching his superior,
Lionel opened the passenger’s door to let their little companion out. She
shivered slightly but remained silent.
“I’m sure you know them,
Aelin and Taylor from the third division.” Gustav answered. “This old crate
made so much noise they probably know we’re here, come on let’s go meet them.”
The trio ascended the
stairs which led to a patio. A second later, the front door opened and there
stood a pale and slender woman with a genuinely worried look on her face.
“Gustav! We heard of the
attack. We were so worried. Come inside we need to patch you guys up.”
The living room was
adequately decorated with a bar to the left and a small kitchen to the right.
Lionel’s brow wrinkled.
“What’s the kitchen for? We don’t eat.”
Aelin smiled. “I knew
you’d be curious.” She had been asked the same question every time one of their
runners paid a routine visit for the status of the area they oversaw and Aelin
already had a tailor-fitted answer. “We live among humans, it’s just for show.”
“Ah…I-I knew that.” Lionel
stuttered.
“Sure you did.”
Gustav hung his head low.
“We’re sorry for the intrusion Aelin but we had nowhere else to go.”
“That’s completely alright
and understandable, captain.”
“I am not a captain
anymore. The coven is gone. My authority is therefore null and void.”
“No it is not.”
A very low baritone came
from behind Aelin. A bare-footed, caramel-skinned vampire entered the room.
“As long as we are still
standing, the inner coven still exists and you are always a captain to us.”
Gustav smiled. “It is a
pleasure to see you again, Taylor.”
Taylor rested his palms on
the smooth surface of their counter. “What the rogues did is unforgivable. I’ll
tear each of them apart with my bare hands. This is war!”
“My friend, fighting is
not going to resolve anything. We already tried and lost. Lamier…” Gustav’s
voice trailed off. “I do not want to lose anymore comrades than I already had.
You are all that’s left.”
Aelin noticed the small
figure hiding behind Lionel. “I don’t mean to change the subject but who do we
have here?”
Lionel grinned. “Don’t come
any closer. She’s scared of people with green hair.”
Aelin puffed her cheeks.
“Lionel, go die in a hole.”
“Ha! Die in a hole!”
Lionel laughed and nudged Gustav with his elbow. “She said die in a hole.”
“Is this your little
fledgling, Gustav?” Taylor asked out of curiosity.
Gustav was known to be
very indifferent at heart. He was often called Gustav the cruel in his earlier
crusades and was known for slaughtering an entire village, devouring everyone
including children. Lamier somehow changed him after a decade of joining the
inner coven. The news of Gustav’s new “daughter” shocked everyone.
“Yes. Forgive me it
slipped my mind. Aelin, Taylor this is Sanguine, my protégé.”
Aelin beamed and peered
behind Lionel. “Hello, Sanguine!”
Taylor coughed. “We’re all
honored to meet your new pupil, captain but we better get your injuries taken
care of. Lionel, you’re very brave but please have a seat I can see you’re
paler than you usually are.”
Lionel and Gustav both
settled on Aelin and Taylor’s plush armchairs and Sanguine settled on the floor
next to her master.
Taylor was fidgeting and
his unease was very evident. Gustav noticed and met his eyes in a silent consent
for the vampire to speak his mind.
“Captain, with all due
respect you of all people should admit that we cannot just sit here while
Nathaniel is out there free to conquer what’s left of our coven’s allies.”
Nathaniel was Lamier’s
right-hand and second-in-command. He was responsible for the attack. He had a
totally different perspective than his senior. He was harsh and ruled with an
iron fist. The majority despised him and it later on led to his exile.
Nathaniel was detained in a prison located in the Lost Valley. Lamier was both
saddened and relieved. He trusted Nathaniel like a brother but disapproved of
his ways and considered him a flaw in the coven. Everyone thought it was over
but little did they know the real battle was only beginning. Nathaniel had secretly
formed an alliance with the outer covens - the were the outlaws and rogues who
brutally slaughtered millions of humans and laughed at Lamier’s pacifist
approach. Once Nathaniel was freed they wasted no time. The attack took the
inner coven by surprise and many perished including Lamier. Only Lionel, Gustav
and Sanguine had survived barely making it out with their lives. It took them
all the strength they had to resist going against Lamier’s orders and stay to
fight. They knew they were massively outnumbered but they had to protect their
coven’s most valuable treasure, the one thing Nathaniel coveted.
“The Seal of Anubis,” Aelin’s
slanted eyes opened wide and she nearly dropped the roll of bandages she was
carrying. “I thought it was only a myth?”
“So you’re the protector
of the crypt - the fountain of youth?” Taylor interjected. “What a burden you
have on your shoulders, captain.”
“It was a last minute
decision,” Gustav shook his head and raised his arm for Aelin to wrap with
cloth. “There was no protector to begin
with.”
“What’re you talking
about?” Lionel leaned in closer.
“Lamier revealed to me
that only in dire circumstances like these is the position granted to a
vampire.”
“Like a back-up plan?”
Lionel had heard rumors about the fountain. “We all thought Neera was the
protector.”
Neera was an Egyptian
vampire and the general of Lamier’s army. Her battle skills surpassed many
great warriors in their coven thus, granting her the highest position in the
militia. She was always by Lamier’s side even during council meetings.
“Neera picked me,” Gustav
explained while Aelin was cleaning the cuts on his face. “They had a list of
promising candidates for the position. Lamier along with the councilmen were
responsible to make the choice. Neera worked behind the scenes, investigating
our true nature. She evaluated us, if we were worthy of the title.”
Aelin was treating
Lionel’s wounds, carefully applying a cloth drenched in a clear unscented
fluid. She nimbly tied the ends of the bandage together before facing Gustav. “Kind
of like a devil’s advocate, I get it. No wonder she was so close to Lamier.” Aelin
nodded and patted Lionel’s arm. “There all done. The cloth is soaked with
Plasma A it should help with the healing.”
“Plasma A?” Lionel raised
a brow.
Taylor tossed a tinted
bottle to Lionel which he caught in mid-air. “Plasma A,” Taylor explained. “Is
actually illegal, we kept a few bottles for emergency.”
“What is it?” The blonde
vampire made a sour face. “We’re not gonna have rashes or anything like that,
are we?”
“No you scaredy-cat.
You’ll only get addicted to it if you take too much. That is why we only use it
in small quantities.” Aelin chuckled. “It’s just plainly plasma from a virgin’s
blood. But it’s specially manufactured by witches.”
“Witches,” Gustav raised
his head. “You don’t mean that caravan your division encountered by the
Terracotta plains?”
“Yes captain, the same
ones.” Taylor nodded. “They were lugging around fifteen crates filled with
these bottles. Plasma A works on us like Dogwood to a werewolf.”
Gustav took the bottle
from Lionel. “So the witches were trying to sell these to the neighboring
covens?”
“We’re positive. One of
them confessed.”
“And how did you manage
that?”
“Aelin has her ways.”
Taylor said with a wink.
Lionel watched as Gustav
twisted the bottle in his hand. “Did they make Plasma A just to earn a few gold
coins? I didn’t think witches were entrepreneurs as well as swindlers?”
“Vampires buy Plasma A not
just for their advance healing properties. It actually makes us stronger.”
“Seriously?” Lionel flexed
his muscles. “I don’t feel any different.”
Aelin shook her
green-haired head. “You only gain more strength if you consume a whole bottle
and it only lasts for a few hours. It’s kinda like a double-edged sword.” She
sneaked a glance at Gustav. “I know we helped shut down the witches’ operation
for making Plasma A, captain. But we’ll need all the help we can get.”
“Yes,” Taylor added. “We
figured it would at least give us the upper hand if we were stronger than our
foes. But if you decide on…”
“No,” Gustav cut in. “I do
not oppose this plan you’ve come up with. You are both right, we need all the
help we can get to defeat Nathaniel.”
The room fell silent.
“I’m serious. Don’t look
at me like I’m a madman.”
“O-Ok that’s settled then.”
Aelin said.
“But tell me, how did the
Plasma A production start?”
Taylor rolled his eyes.
“Here we go again.”
Aelin jumped with delight
and moved to the middle of the room, gathering everyone’s attention. “Well if
you really want to know…” Aelin started. “It began in the late 1800’s in a
village called Divina. They were mostly populated by witches. One day, a young
witch happened to come across a wounded vampire in the middle of the night. He
was so handsome that she couldn’t resist taking him into her home. The wound
was…”
“Oh get to the point
already!” Taylor growled.
Aelin puffed her cheeks
again. “Fine, the witch invented a spell to convert the normal virgin plasma
into a special medicine for vampires! The end.” She ended rapidly. “Are you
happy now?”
“So basically, the other
witches discovered this and thought of selling it in the black market?” Gustav
concluded.
“Yes. As simple as that,
we don’t need to hear the whole boring story.” Taylor retorted.
“It’s not boring, it’s
romantic!” Aelin hissed but stopped when she heard a soft chuckle from beside
Gustav. Sanguine was actually shaking with laughter. “Hmm looks like the young
lady is enjoying herself. How ‘bout we get you cleaned up as well, I see you
have a little knick on your cheek…”
“Aelin don’t!”
“What in the world…?”
Taylor and Aelin were
dumbfounded when Sanguine’s face was revealed. Her hair was red as blood. It
cascaded down the sides of her face, framing it like a fiery crown. Her cheeks
were flushed with color and her eyes were like rock-hard amethysts. The two
vampires looked at Gustav simultaneously.
“C-Captain what is the
meaning of this?” Taylor exclaimed.
“Everyone calm down let me
explain…” Gustav started.
Aelin turned to Lionel.
“Did you know about this as well?”
“I did…and I was as
surprised as you but let the man finish. Sit down, Aelin.”
Aelin huffed. “Fine.”
Gustav stood up. “Strange
as it may sound to you, I was confused as well at first. I don’t know what went
wrong. I came upon Sanguine on March 21, 1601. I bit her and then fed her my
own blood – the usual. But she didn’t…change.” Gustav ran his fingers through
his black hair. “She has fangs as you can see, but her skin, her eyes…they
stayed the same as when she was still human.”
Aelin looked at Sanguine
huddled in the corner and slowly held out her hand. “Here, Sanguine…I-I won’t
hurt you, I promise.”
Sanguine looked at Gustav
and he nodded. Slowly she crept forward and offered Aelin her own hand.
Aelin held back her
surprise not to startle the small figure in front of her. “G-Gustav she’s
warm!”
“Are you sure she’s not
human?” Taylor asked.
“Taylor, she’s been alive
since we met in 1601. Would any human last that long?”
“How ‘bout strength and
speed…does the sun hurt her as well?”
“Sanguine is as strong and
as fast as any regular vampire. The sun hurts her but not as much as it does to
us. It’s just like extra sensitive sunburn. After a few hours she’s back to
normal.”
Lionel was sitting on the
arm of one chair. “You know, I’ve told Gustav about this back when I first found
out about Sanguine but I’ll say it again: it’s like something’s preventing her
from changing completely into a vampire. Something’s pulling her back, somehow
keeping her partially human.”
“Wow! I’m…I’m a bit
jealous.” Aelin blurted out. “Aside from her fangs she has the perfect disguise
to mingle with humans.”
“While we’re on the
subject of “mingling” with humans,” Taylor pointed out. “What do you plan on
doing with her? Are you just going to keep her hidden?”
“I honestly haven’t
thought about that yet…”
Aelin suddenly stood up,
taking Sanguine’s hands in her own. “Enough serious talk, I’m sure you’re
hungry.” She turned to Gustav. “What does she feed on, blood?”
Gustav shrugged. “Anything
actually, she drinks blood and can live off human food as well.”
Taylor’s jaw dropped.
“Really?”
While her mate was still
frozen in shock, Aelin on the other hand was ecstatic with what they had just
discovered. “Let’s put it to the test then,” Her face brightened and she beamed
at the small vampire. “Sanguine, what do you want to eat?”
Bright purple eyes looked
up at the green-haired woman. Sanguine opened and closed her mouth a few times
contemplating whether to speak or not. “A-Anything would be fine.”
Aelin was overjoyed. It
was as if she heard a bird chirping. Sanguine’s voice was as soft as the
tingling sound of bells. She jumped up and down. “Wait here, I’ve gotta run to
the supermarket!”
“Supermarket, w-what’re
you talking about? It’s 4 AM, the sun will be rising soon.” Taylor grabbed his
mate before she could rush out the door. “And where are you even going to find
human food? All the stores are still closed.”
Aelin grinned. “Honey like
you said, I have my ways.” She raised herself on the tips of her toes and
kissed Taylor on the cheek. “See you in a couple of minutes.”
True to her word, Aelin
came back after twenty minutes carrying a huge paper bag filled with groceries.
She pranced to her kitchen and began arranging the vegetables and canned goods
on the counter.
“Aelin…” Taylor called,
lingering on the last letter of her name. “What did you do?”
Lionel peeked from behind
Taylor. “Wow! You look like you just robbed a grocery store.”
“Exactly!” The female
vampire answered.
Gustav stood up from his
chair. “Aelin Miyamoto, please tell me you did not-!”
“Captain, save me the
lecture please I am going to feed your daughter and that is what’s important
here.”
Gustav looked at the
flame-haired vampire sitting by his feet. She gazed up at him with such pitiful
eyes that he gave up. Gustav exhaled and returned to his seat. “Just don’t go
overboard with the meal, Aelin. She’ll practically eat anything edible.”
“Don’t worry captain I’ll
fix up something uber tasty for little Sanguine.”
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Lionel placed his elbow on
the counter and observed Aelin chopping up onions and various spices with
lightning speed. “Are you sure that’s gonna taste good?”
“Don’t underestimate my
power, Lionel. I was a chef in my previous life before I was changed. If you
were human I’d give you a taste of my special sushi.” Aelin winked. “I am
Japanese after all.”
“Hmm…” Lionel turned his
head towards Taylor. “Your mate’s getting cocky.”
“It’s your fault. You
three gave her a reason to use the kitchen. She’s been waiting years for a
chance like this.”
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The air was filled with
the spicy aroma of onions and chili peppers being sautéed. Aelin showed off by
flipping the pan briskly causing the vegetable pieces to jump around in a
circular motion. Sanguine’s eyes were wide with wonder and she licked her lips
unconsciously. Gustav was watching his daughter’s amusing reaction. He reached
out a hand to stroke a stray hair away from her flaming cheek.
Aelin poured the steaming
hot mixture into a plate and scooped a heaping serving of rice beside it. “I
hope you like spicy food, Sanguine.”
Gustav chuckled. “You’re
in luck. This little one loves spiced dishes.”
“Great!” Aelin beckoned
Sanguine forward. “This is my famous extra-hot curry. Enjoy.”
The three men simultaneously
got teary-eyed from the strength of the spices.
“Man, are you sure that’s
edible?” Lionel said while dabbing his eyes with a cloth.
Gustav placed a hand on
his fledgling’s shoulder. “You don’t have to do this, cherie.”
Sanguine shook her head
and picked up her fork. She took a whiff and then boldly scooped up some rice
and curry into her mouth. Everyone’s eyes were on the small vampire and they watched
in amazement as she cleaned up her plate and asked for a second round.
Taylor shook his head. “You
my friend,” he addressed Sanguine. “Have a titanium-plated stomach.”
“Get out of my way, hon!
She wants more!” Aelin was too excited that she shoved Taylor a little too
hardly that he stumbled on the floor.
Lionel turned and let out
a hearty laugh before lowering himself onto a chair. “I’m telling ya’ livin’
with Aelin is bad for your health.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
Taylor said while picking himself up.
“And yet you still put up
with it?”
“Well…two hundreds year of
practice can make a man immune.”
“You’ve got a point.”
The smell of onions,
garlic and ghost chili peppers became stronger as Aelin served up an even
larger helping of her curry. Gustav, Lionel and Taylor wrinkled their noses
while Sanguine practically bounced in her chair with joy.
“Alright! Here you go,
sweetie!” she smiled as the smaller vampire indulged herself yet again to the
world of spices. “I can tell. You and me are gonna get along just fine.”
“Ugh!” Gustav covered his
nose. “I think I’m gonna turn in for the day. Sun’s almost up.”
When Gustav uses the term “turn
in” it usually entails being surrounded by books and manuscripts and reading
till the moon comes up.
“Let me take you to show
you to the library, captain.” Taylor offered.
Lionel watched as his two
comrades disappeared into the dark corridor. He stretched and scratched his
head. “You know, they’re only giving an excuse to escape that smell.”
Aelin looked up. “Then why
didn’t you go with them?”
“Nah,” Lionel said with a
waved of his hand. “Looking at letters for hours is not really my kind of game
and besides I gotta keep an eye on mon capitan’s little tyke. Who knows what
else you might feed her.”
“Oh shut up! Go and play
with the other boys. Sanguine and I are having a girl’s day.”
“You shut up!”
That was followed by an
endless string of arguments and an occasional chair being flung in the air.
The sound of laughter
around her had formed a somewhat comforting sensation that momentarily made her
forget about the day’s gruesome events. It didn’t matter what happened
tomorrow. She didn’t care about the war. All she knew was, she was safe.
