Drew D'Amato:Bloodlines:02 (13 page)

“I’ve met someone else, and even though I have known them nowhere near as long as I knew Kevin, I feel so much closer to this new guy than I ever did with him.  Is that a good sign, or should I be cautious?”

“I don’t think cautious people ever truly love.  When something is wrong there is no need to try to push it, but when it is right you should not fight it.  Never underestimate the power of someone coming into your life.”

“I know, it’s just Kevin fooled me so bad.  I don’t want to be misled again.”

“Did he fool you really, or did you always kind of have that feeling telling you something was wrong?”  Jasmine’s silence was an affirmative.  Pacami continued, “If you do not have that feeling now with this new person, I think that says something.  But you might get better advice from your friends, your peers.”

“He’s a little older.  I don’t know what they would think of him.”

“Don’t care for what they think of him.  They will never know him the way you do.  Don’t think too much about it.  When it comes to true love, there is no need to be logical.”

She smiled and kissed Pacami on the cheek.  “Thank you Father.”

Pacami glanced up and saw a black Cadillac EXT waiting for him.

“You’re welcome, now if you’ll excuse me, I have this bed-ridden parishioner who likes me to visit him on Sundays.”

Jasmine noticed Pacami motion toward the Cadillac.

“VIP, Father?”

“Yes, well apparently I’m very important,” he said with a smile and got into the back door of the pick up.

Vlad was in the backseat.  Jericho sat shotgun and Malachi drove.  When Pacami got in he noticed Vlad staring at Jasmine.

“Don’t leave just yet Malachi, I’ve missed her.”  Vlad watched Jasmine look at the Cadillac, then after a moment turn and make her way to her car.

“Okay, Malachi we can go.”  Malachi pulled away into the street.  “Father, what did she say to you?”

“I think she is falling in love with you Vlad.  Promise me you will never hurt her.”

“Father, I promise no one will ever love her more than me.”

Pacami looked into Vlad’s eyes and knew it was true.

4

P
acami was led into Vlad’s office.  It was nowhere near as decorated as Vlad’s office in his last house.  Vlad had told him about what happened with the old house on their ride from the church.  The room itself just had a smaller desk with a laptop on it.  The room was painted dark green with cherry oak wood floors.  Vlad spoke first.

“Radu is dead.”

“We are sure about this?” Pacami asked.

“He was trapped in a room.  I launched six grenades in there.  When the smoke cleared he was gone.  Vampires don’t leave any bodies.  There was nowhere he could have escaped.”

“Who survived; only you, Jericho, and Malachi?”

“Yes.”

“And they have no problem becoming human again?”

“Jericho wants to die too.  He had a family before he became a vampire.  He misses them.  Malachi doesn’t care too much as long as he stays rich and doesn’t have to work.”

“I didn’t know the rest of your vampires, but I knew Michael.  It’s a shame he had to die.”

“No, it’s not.  Michael betrayed me.  He sold us out and tried to trap us at Radu’s house.  It was Jericho who killed Michael and saved my life.”

“Oh my God.”

“It turned out to be a good thing, because since it was a trap, we were not uninvited guests.  We were able to use our vampiric powers and kill Radu.”

“But still for Michael to betray you after so many years.”

“It happens.  People get tempted and turn on their friends.  Let’s not waste more time dealing with the past, let’s move on.”

“I’m sorry Vlad, but what is the past to you is still news to me.  That shooting in Geneva, did those Crusaders have to die?” 

“Yes, they did.”

Pacami put his head down. 

“What’s wrong, Father?”

“I feel conflicted on what to think about these Crusaders.  I understand they are your enemy, but that is because they do not understand your true purpose.  They are not evil men.”

“They are.  My pilot, my friend was killed by their hands.  They also killed a lot of innocent humans in Geneva.  They don’t want to save humans from vampires; they want the power of the vampires.  And I told you before F
ather, power is the root of all evil.”

“W
hat do y
ou plan to do with t
he Crusaders
?  They won’t stop looking for you.
”

“Let them look.  As soon as I can see myself in a mirror, what threat are they if they come across me.  They will think of me as a human and move on.  They will waste more centuries and more of the Vatican’s money on their quest, but who cares?  The world is safe from vampires.”

Pacami nodded his head in agreement.  Some innocent souls had died, but good had won over evil.  It paid a price, it always does. 

“So is the Dark Bible translated?” Pacami asked.

Vlad took the translated manuscript out from a drawer in the desk and handed it over to him.

“I highlighted the parts I think would be of some significance to you.”

“Thank you, but for safety’s sake I’m going to look over all of it.”

“Safety?”

“Yes, Vlad, if an exorcism goes wrong in can resort in the death of who is being exorcised, the priest, or anyone else in the room.”

“Oh well then be prudent, we don’t need any of that.”

“This should only take me a few hours.”

“You can have this room.”

Vlad got up and left Pacami alone with the writings of a centuries old sacred book.  He held it in awe for a few moments before he actually started to read it.

5

A
fter four hours, Pacami stepped out of the office and looked for Vlad.  He was on the couch shaking his leg, watching a football game with Jericho and Malachi.  Vlad saw Pacami and
leaped up from the couch.  No words were needed.  Vlad closed the door behind them as they re-entered the office.  They took a seat across from each other.

“So Father, what have you learned?” Vlad asked.

“The Templars did not want to risk the damnation of their soul for the sake of their God.  They wanted to use the Blood, but they were not sure what became of a vampire’s soul when they died.  So none of them wanted to become a vampire, but they didn’t want to give this power to some stranger.  How could they be sure they would play along with the wishes of the Templars?  They decided then to look for an exorcism that would work.  This way once a chosen Templar performed a task for the order he could become a human again.

“First they experimented with slaves.  They kept the slaves shackled with rosary beads so that they couldn’t fight for their freedom once they became a human.  They attempted an exorcism and when it didn’t work, they killed the slave.  There was a lot of trial and error.  But after a few tries, they found an exorcism that worked.”

“I read that.”

“Yes, I saw your highlights.  Once that they had an exorcism to could turn a vampire back into a human they decided they could now drink the Blood themselves.  A chosen Templar was made a vampire for the order, and persuaded the kings of Europe to do their bidding.  Everything was working according to plan until all the members of this Templar’s immediate family died, and he wanted to become a human again so he could pass on to the afterlife too.  However, when they tried the exorcism on him, it was not successful.  They ended up having to kill the Templar as a vampire.”

“I didn’t get to that part.  Jericho and Malachi came to me to talk about Michael, and the conversation brought up something from my past that made me lose my interest to read.”

“Well it’s a good thing I didn’t overlook it.  This is what I meant by safety’s sake.  When you and Radu drank the Blood, did you have any idea what you were drinking?”

“No, why?”

“Because that is all the difference when it comes to this exorcism.  They tried this again.  They made a slave a vampire, attempted to exorcise him and it worked.  Then a Templar drank it, became a vampire, and performed some missions for the Order.  Years later they tried the exorcism—using the same priest who performed the latest exorcism on the slave—but again this failed.  They killed that Templar also as a vampire.

“Based on these experiments, and using the scientific method centuries before it was conceived during the Scientific Revolution they reached a hypothesis.  If one willingly drinks the Blood of the Betrayer and
consciously give
s their soul to t
he
Blood they cannot be exorcised.  The Lord’s P
rayer
and powers cannot save this
soul. 
If one is given the blood either against their will or unknowingly however, they can be exorcised.  The
Lord
cannot be tricked
. 
He knows if you willingly drank the blood or not, and that makes all the difference in this exorcism. 

“So the vampires the Templars made were knights who drank the blood thinking it was part of their iniation into the order, and then became vampires.  They were promised redemption and back into the light of God by exorcism if they stayed loyal to the Templars.  That was why no vampire during time of the Crusades ever went rogue.  After years of service the vampires were exorcised, became human again, and another new Templar unwittingly drank the Blood during another mock iniation.  This loophole to the exorcism was also why Sigismund and the Boyars did not drink the blood themselves.  They gave it to your father, because they knew when someone willingly drank it, there would be no going back.” 

“So basically, if you
choose
to become a vampire, you can’t ask for God’s
help
afterwards
. 
But since I didn’t know I drank the blood, I can be saved?” Vlad asked.

“Yes, you can.”

Vlad
got up from his chair.  He walked over and
hugged
Pacami
.  His body felt a little cold to
Pacami.  Vlad said, “Thank you Father, how soon can we do this?
”

“
We can do it tonight.”

“So soon?”

“I don’t want you to get cold feet and change your mind.  Is that a problem, did you want one last night as a vampire?”

“Not at all, I am excited about doing it this soon.  I can’t wait to see Jasmine again.  I just wasn’t expecting you would be ready for it.
”

“I just need to pick up some things from the Church.”

“Malachi will drive you.”

Moments later Vlad watched those two drive away from his parlor window.  Jericho noticed the smile on his master’s face.  “So he’s going to do it tonight?” Jericho asked.

“Yes,” Vlad said.  “By the end of the night we will be human again.”

6

F
ather Pacami
was brought back to Vlad’s house
around seven-thirty.  Malachi
and he shared some
small talk
—about how the Chargers blew their chances at a serious Super Bowl run years back. 

When Pacami entered the
house Vlad and
Jericho
sat o
n the couches in the parlor
smoking cigarettes, Vlad shook his leg
. 

“Those things are going be bad for you,” Pacami said.

“Yeah, I hadn’t even thought about it,” Vlad said as he died his cigarette out.

“
Everyone ready
to do this?”

Vlad couldn’t respond. 
It was Jericho who
cracked the silence
.

“
W
here should we go
,
Father?”

“I don’t know
.  T
here really is no set place to perform an exorcism.  Usually the victim lies in thei
r bed
.”

“Well then let’s go to my room,” Vlad said.

“You guys have a bed?”

“Of course.  How do you think we have sex, standing up?” Malachi said and even Pacami shared a laugh.

They made their way to the master bedroom of the house.  Vlad changed into the white gown Pacami had brought from the church. 
Pacami
also brought chrism, which was holy annointed oil used for baptisms, a thermos full of holy water, and blessed salt, all which were on the nightstand along with the translated manuscript of the Dark Bible, paper clipped to keep his place.  Pacami also hung a large crucifix on the wall over Vlad’s head. 

Jericho and Malachi stood against the wall as Pacami got prepared.  Pacami wore his violet vestment for this occasion.  He had debated about wearing the red vestment, which represented blood, but it represented Jesus’s blood, for masses on Good Friday, and Palm Sunday.  It felt wrong to Pacami to use the same color for a man possessed with the blood of Judas—the betrayer.  Violet was the color for masses for the dead, and that seemed more fitting for Vlad.  Violet was also the colored used for the sacrament of reconciliation, or penance, which freed one from their sins.  That also made it appropriate for Vlad.