First Blood (2 page)

He thought what he wanted her to say, then approached her stall.

"Why Florian, my dear boy. You're positively wasting away. Here, take one of my pastries. For free. But don't tell anyone, otherwise I'll be flooded with children wanting handouts." She held out a pastry with one shaking hand, offering it to Florian.

He almost didn't take it, but then decided he deserved it. The woman hadn't told him any of her secrets, and he wanted one so desperately. Florian held her gaze, then, planted the thought in her head.

She sighed, wiping her brow with her sleeve. "Don't know why I'm thinking of that now." Tears simmered at the corners of her eyes.

"What is it?" Florian took a big bite of the pastry, sating his hunger. At least his body's hunger. His mind wanted more, and he knew he was about to get it.

"A long time ago..." Her voice wavered, as if she was choking on her words. "My son..." She swallowed, a lump bobbing in her throat.

"What is it?" Florian leaned in closer. "You can tell me. I'll keep your secret safe." And he would. He had never told anyone the secrets he gleaned. They were his, and he was their keeper.

"I killed my son when he was but a babe. Drowned him, I did. His father had died not longer after we conceived. Gored by a boar while hunting. Our son looked just like his father, and I hated him for it. So I smothered him with a blanket, and told people he done died in his sleep."

Florian nodded. It wasn't the worst secret he held. He patted the old woman's hand. "I'm sorry you've carried that for so long. I won't tell anyone."

She stood up straight, glared at the pastry in his hand. "Get out of here and don't come back to my stall. Not ever. If you do, I'll slip poison in your food and you'll die a miserable death. Don't think I haven't done it before."

Florian raised an eyebrow. A second secret, just as juicy as the first. He took another lazy bite from the pastry. "Thank you for the free food, and for sharing your innermost secrets with me."

Florian ambled away, heading toward the boys kicking a ball in the field. He watched them for a few moments. No one invited him over. They never did. Florian was small and uncoordinated. And he was weird. The other boys didn't like him.

Florian turned his back on the boys and the pastry stand. He made for the forest, which lead to the caves. The man had taught him true magic. Now he would consider helping him.

***

The sound of snoring echoed in the tunnels. Florian couldn't believe those guards were still sleeping. What was wrong with them?

Then he realized. It was the man in the cage. Stitches. He must have done something to them. Florian wished he knew why Stitches had called him to help instead of compelling the guards to do his bidding. It was a mystery, and yet Florian was happy Stitches had chosen him. Without Stitches, he wouldn't have this magic that allowed him to get what he wanted. Florian knew he had to be careful. If he used it too much, or too blatantly, others would catch on. It had happened in the past. Men and women accused of using magic had been burned at the stake. Or drowned. Or buried alive.

Perhaps that was why they had imprisoned Stitches. Maybe he had been caught using magic.

"I'm back." Florian whispered in case the two guards were close to awakening.

"There is no need to lower your voice," Stitches said. "They will not awaken soon. Maybe they will never open their eyes again."

A shudder passed through Florian. He had used the magic for harmless things. A few coins. A pastry. A secret. He would not use it to truly harm someone. Maybe this man would, although... he had not killed the guards. Just put them to sleep.

Florian looked up at Stitches again. The man laughed. "They will be fine. I have no intention of sharing my secrets with them, so I let them sleep until their masters come back. This has been going on for weeks now. I wake them often enough for food, for a chance to relieve themselves. I would never hurt anyone. You know that, don't you, Florian?"

Florian tried to remember when he'd told Stitches his name. He hadn't, that he could remember. Perhaps it had been taken from his mind when Stitches entered it. If so, that was a magic even more powerful than the one Stitches taught him. It was one thing to implant a suggestion, it was another to forcibly take it.

"Will you let me out now, Florian?" Stitches’ eyes locked on his. "Please."

Florian shuffled toward the guard slumped on the stool. A ring of keys hung from his belt. With shaking hands, Florian reached out toward the keys.

Part of him wondered why Stitches was inside the cage. What had he done? Florian wondered if releasing him was the right thing to do.

"Get the keys, boy!" Stitches screeched.

Florian's arm jutted away from his body, grabbing the key ring and tugging it from the guard's belt. With strength he didn't know he had, Florian ripped the ring from the man's leather belt, severing it in two.

The keys clanked against each other as Florian was propelled toward Stitches’ cage. His feet stumbled and he fell, the key sliding across the dirt floor and coming to rest under the boot of a man who'd snuck up in the tunnel behind them.

"Sorry, boy." The man in the black cloak looked down on him with furious eyes. "You can't let him out. No matter what he compels you to do, you must resist." He bent over, picking up the keys, and sliding the ring over his wrist as if it were nothing more than a charm bracelet. The ring quickly disappeared under the man's sleeve.

The man grabbed Florian by the ear, dragging him away from Stitches’ cage. He glanced back at Stitches. Why was he controlling Florian, but not the other men? What made him different? Was he special?

Florian wanted to be special. He wanted that more than anything. His treasure trove of secrets made him special, but those he kept to himself. Under Stitches’ tutelage, Florian could become powerful. He fought against the cloaked man, kicking his shins, and finally kneeing him in the nuts.

The man fell to the ground, groaning.

"Good boy, Florian," Stitches said, his voice sounding more like a hiss. "Now get those keys. Free me, and I will teach you everything I know."

"Yes, master," Florian said. He grabbed the keys, sliding them off the incapacitated man's arm. He fumbled with the keys, shoving one after the other into the top lock, until one caused the tumblers to click and fall.

Florian did it two more times, until the door swung open. Stitches sped out. With a heavy thrust, he stepped on the neck of the cloaked man. His bones snapped. Florian flinched. Stitches grabbed Florian's wrist, dragging him behind.

"I need to feed," Stitches said, his voice filled with need.

"When is the last time you ate?" Florian asked. He pulled the remainder of the pastry out of his pocket, offering it to Stitches. He hoped the man didn't find the few fuzzies from his cotton pants on the pastry.

Stitches knocked the pastry out of Florian's hand. It fell to the ground and rolled in the dirt twice before coming to a stop in a puddle of mud. Stitches yanked on Florian's hand, dragging him away from the pastry won through magic.

"I don't need human food," Stitches said. "I need blood. The blood of my kind. They caught me at a weak moment. My power is low. I must feed, or I fear I will lose myself."

Florian wanted to ask what Stitches meant. Little of it made sense. His kind? He didn't need human food? Then what was Stitches? Because he looked like a normal man to Florian.

"She's in here somewhere." Stitches turned to Florian, his eyes appearing as if they were on fire. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Florian asked. He hadn't seen any women near the cave.

"My mate. She's here somewhere. I can feel her in my blood. I can hear her thoughts. Though they are weak, she is pleading for me." He crouched down, nose to nose with Florian. Stitches grasped the boy's shoulders, shaking him. "I need to find her."

Florian winced, as Stitches’ grip tightened. "I don't know. I swear it!"

"Follow me, boy." Stitches swept past Florian, keeping a hold on the boy's collar.

Florian stumbled after the man, whose desperation was stronger than the stench of his unwashed imprisonment. They made turn after turn in the tunnels coming upon many dead ends and hollows.

Florian, tired of being dragged around, dug his heels into the ground. "If she's in here, I can find her, just as I did you."

Stitches loosened his grip. "Please. She's all I have."

Florian nodded, then closed his eyes to the faint light of the torch Stitches carried. His ears perked up as he listened for any sound that might indicate life. A strange scratching noise surfaced. Florian walked a few paces to the nearest branching of the tunnels. He listened at each tunnel mouth for the noise. There it was again! "This way!" Florian pointed down a tunnel.

Stitches ran ahead, and Florian struggled to keep up. He wasn't athletic, and running was his least favorite activity. Unfortunately, he was too curious. This was proving to be a secret larger than any he had ever kept. It would be the diamond in his treasure chest.

The scratching noise got louder. Stitches looked back at Florian, his eyes wide. "I hear it now. You are a wonder, boy."

Florian smiled, pride puffing up his chest. Finally, someone recognize his attributes. He could be useful.

Florian darted ahead, the scratching even louder, but the tunnel ended in another dead end. "I don't understand." He turned, fearing Stitches’ wrath.

But the man had changed. He was different. His eyes flashed red. His hands had changed into scaled appendages with long claws. Stitches thrust the torch at Florian, who took it in his sweaty hands.

Stitches scratched at the wall of dirt, clawing with all of his might, grunting with each effort. Soon the wall crumbled, leaving an opening. A woman was chained to the wall, her blond hair stringy and dirty. Slowly, she raised her head, her eyes red like Stitches’.

Stitches smashed the rest of the wall down with a strength that belied his size. Florian stood back, suddenly afraid of the man and the woman who had been buried alive. He cowered next to the wall.

"I knew you were alive." Stitches ripped the chains from the wall, and the woman fell into his arms.

"Barely." She coughed. "Why did it take you so long?"

"They had charms around their necks. I could only do the most basic of compulsion on them. It wasn't until this boy came along that I was able to escape. Florian saved us both." Stitches’ lips fell on the woman's cheeks and forehead, kissing every bit of her face.

She slumped in his arms, too weak to return his affections.

"We always wanted children," Stitches said. "Now he can be ours. We will take him with us."

Florian crept farther away from them. He could have run, but part of him knew there were more secrets to be uncovered. He couldn't resist. He had to know what they were hiding.

"Not mine," the woman said, sighing. "I will not make it back from this. I'm too weak."

"I will give you my blood," Stitches said. "I will make you whole again."

"No." It was the most forceful thing she'd said. "It is time for you to strike out on your own. Take my blood for the last time. Use it to strengthen yourself. Then fly to safety."

Fly? Florian gasped. They could fly? How was that possible?

"I can't take your blood. We will die together." Stitches pulled back, still holding her in his arms.

The woman bit hard, until blood pooled on her pink lips. "Take it, Stitches. You know it is the only way. We mustn't both die. Take my blood, then turn the boy. Make him one of us. Spread your blood across the land until we outnumber the humans."

"No." Stitches shook his head.

"You know you want it." She leaned in, resting her lips on his. Stitches’ tongue, forked like a lizard, snaked out of his mouth and licked the blood.

He groaned.

Florian felt uncomfortable. He had heard those groans from his parents. He knew what it meant. He looked away, unable to watch them as the sound of lips sucking and hands moving over clothes echoed in the tunnel. She made one final, shuddering breath, and then Florian looked back. The woman was limp in Stitches’ arms, her head resting on his forearm, which appeared much larger than before, as if his muscles had tripled.

But that wasn't possible. It was only a trick of the light.

Stitches laid her down carefully, running his hands over her hair. Then he turned slowly, his eyes locked on Florian. "Do you know what you saw, boy?" His fingers fumbled at his breeches, pulling the strings tight over his spent manhood.

Florian nodded. They had joined bodies, just as his parents did when they thought he was asleep in the bed next to them. He wasn't old enough for such things yet himself, but he knew what they were doing.

Stitches had sex with the woman until she died.

Stitches laughed. "You only think you know. Soon, you will understand." Stitches’ hands stretched out toward Florian.

The boy cowered against the wall, his hands trembling.

"You will be like me. Like she once was. You will be magnificent. You will remember this day for all eternity." Stitches bit his own arm, drawing blood. "Drink."