The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (14 page)

“Is he as old as you?”
He smirked at me. Draven had not yet told me how old he was and this was one way to find out. I think he must be a little sensitive about his age.

“No he is not. Why is it you are determined to know how old I am?”

“Because I find it fascinating and excuse me but weren't you the
one who did everything in your
power t
o find out everything about me?
” He just shrugged. HA
!
I had him there!

“Lucius has been around since the dawn of Christ and his rebirth was days after the crucifixion of Jesus.” I was lost for words! So that would make Draven older than Christ! Holy shit! I tried not to react but he was staring at me waiting for the slightest of reactions. He let out a low growl when he saw one.

“And when was that exactly?” I asked
making one of his eyebrows rise
but he just shook his head in submission.

“It was a Friday, April thirty three AD. I think, we didn't documen
t dates the same back then, as
they do today
.
”

“Were you there?” I felt kind of weird asking about it but I was near brimming over with questions and I didn't want to be disrespectful.

“No, there was no need for us to witness his plans. And he was still a human then....well of sorts. Powerful for a human but as the son of one of the Gods
,
then it was to be expected
.” He was talking about it with
little emotion which surprised me.

“What do you mean there was no need, couldn't you have prevented his death?”

“Yes but this was not his wish, nor the wish of the Gods.”
He said this with such ease, I it found baffling.

“Ok, now I am confused, he wanted to die?” This was not the religious education I had learnt back in school. I think my teacher would have had one of her usual meltdowns listening to Draven talk about
the crucifixion this way. Miss B
rown used to keep a flask of coffee laced with whiskey in her top desk draw. She used to swig from it when being bombarded with questions like “Is there video games in Heaven?” or “Will I meet my dog there and will he still have the tire marks on him from where he got run over
?
”
Needless to say she didn't last the year.

“It is not as it is written
,
though some humans still believe the truth. Do you really think a man as powerful as he, wouldn't know that one o
f his disciples was going to be
tray him?”

“You mean Judas...right? He sold out Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and revealed Jesus to the Romans, which is called the Judas kiss
.
” He looked quite impressed that I knew all this but I was a history buff.

“Keira for someone that
is not very religious you seem
to know your material. That is how the bible tells it
,
yes
,
but these are not all the facts. See the faith that was being followed was dying out by the Romans. Jesus knew that the
memory of something great, out
lives a great man! And sometimes it only takes one sig
nificant act to chang
e the world forever. He made the sacrifice for that faith to live on
indefinitely
. Which it did, being now one of the world
’
s oldest and most followed
beliefs.” It sure did make sense but what did I know?

“So let me get this straight,
you’re
sayi
ng that Jesus asked Judas to be
tray him?”

“Yes that is what I am saying
.
” He said calmly.

“But
why?
Why Judas and why go to all that trouble and pretence, why not just hand himself over to the Romans?”

“That's a lot of whys Keira, even for you
,” h
e said laughing but I just poked him in the ribs for making fun of me.

“I do not know all the answers but I know that the act was more of an impact this way. See
,
he needed a way for the Romans
to be looked badly on for their
conquest and this turned out to be the ultimate sin. Judas was unfortunately caught in the cross fire. He did the deed before Jesus told the other disciples of his plans. So when he kissed Jesus this was the sign the Romans needed to arrest him. Judas was picked because of his well known greed but through this act
,
his sins were to be wiped clean in the eyes of God. He was actually known to be one of
Jesus’
most loyal disciples.” I must have had my mouth open at this point because Draven playfully tapped my chin before carrying on.

“But after Jesus was crucified the other disciples hung Judas as a traitor. He was first left to burn in the sun for days. He was th
en made to eat the sil
ver that turned out to be the price of his own life, along with Jesus
’
. Finally
,
before running out of air from choking, he was cut allowing his guts to spill below his feet. Some say that the sky filled with another darkness, like the crucifixion eclipse that happened on the ninth hour that Jesus finally died.” His hands found mine and he kissed them
twice
before looking up into my eyes
to judge my reaction
.

“Ok
.
” I blew out air like I was blowing the seeds from a dandelion.

“So I hate to ask the obvious but what has any of this got to do with Lucius?”

“He was Judas
!
” Right....Ok now I needed a drink....a real one.

I got up and went to the liquor cabinet and searched for something strong.

“Are you alright or have you h
it your limit yet?” He said looking a bit worried about the shaky bottle of Jack Daniels in my hand.

“I just need a human minute, you want one?”

“Let me
.
” He said taking the bottle from me and placing me back down on the couch. He left me to my thoughts while he got the glasses and I hoped ice. It was such an emotional account of the most significant event in history. Emotional for me that was. Draven told it with little conviction.
I suppose as a human event, it didn't really affect him until Lucius came along. Which got me thinking
,
how did that happen?

Draven was placing the glass in my hands and the ice made a cracking noise with the warm liquid that had been poured over it. He resumed his place and placed the bottle on the table ready for seconds. He downed his back like it had been
apple
juice.

“Do yo
u ever get drunk?” I asked bringing
back the familiar roar of laughter that came from him when he found
any one of
my questions amusing.

“Not in the same way that you do, I get more relaxed but that's about it”

“I like to sing when I am drunk and trust me nobody wants to hear that!” This had him laughing harder.

“I think I would pay good money to see that and
of course
hear it
.
”

“Why would you do that?” I was shocked and suddenly very glad that he couldn't access my mind like he could with other humans or he might have had me doing karaok
e with the click of his fingers.

“I can imagine it would be highly amusing to see you intoxicated and well, I have never heard you sing before
.
”

“And never will, not unless you like the sound of dying cats. You might be powerful but nothing would save your eardrums!” He put both hands on my face and pulled me in for a kiss while he chuckled at my descriptions.

“I think you exag
gerate immensely. Surly you can
not be that bad
?
” He really wasn't taking me seriously.

“Well
,
you
’
r
e
just going to have to trust me on this one
‘
cause you ain't ever going to witness it!”

“You know I just love it when you go all Northe
rn like that, it is beyond cute.
” I wrinkled my nose in disagreement.

“No
,
still cute
.
”
He said smirking.

“Anyway let
’
s get back to my questions.
So you said he is Judas or was or whatever,
how is that possible?” He frowned
,
not liking that we were back to this.

“Have you not had enough for one day?” I didn't answer
.
I just gave him a look which was pretty easy for him to interpret.

“Ok but only if you promise one day to let me hear you sing?”

“Draven
you should be ashamed,
that is blackmail!” But he just grinned like
a bad boy and mouthed the word
“Demon” to me.

“You can't pull that one every time! You don't see me doin
g something bad and then say,
W
ell
,
I am a Cancerian!
” I punched him when he started laughing and we ended up having a bit of a play fight on the couch. Well
,
more like I tried to reach his body parts and he kept restraining me. It was a big turn on and I almost gave up my goal to have sex with him for the third time today. Wow
,
thre
e times that would be my record....
umm
,
here's hoping.

“Ok I give up, you win my goddess!” I made a satisfied noise and grinned with it.

“Right
,
so explain, how is it possible for Lucius to be Judas?”
H
e let out an exaggerated sigh before continuing. 

“Well the Gods in heaven are not the only ones with plans. Judas renounced his God with his last breath. He felt betrayed by Jesus but he was wrong. Jesus tried to clear his name to his disciples in one of his last of the seven statements he
gave before his death. But it
was dictated wrong in the scriptures. His disciples thought he was just trying to prevent vengeance and didn't b
elieve his words when he said “
Truly Judas, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise
.
” But they left out the
“
Judas
”
part for reasons of their
own. Mainly
to justify
murder. When this was found out by Judas it was to
o
late, he could not change the fact that he turned his back on his faith and so he was not accepted into the paradise that Jesus spoke of. Instead he was reb
orn by another God, one of the Netherworld
.”

“
He became a child of the Devil?
” Draven just nodded and I couldn't help but feel a small pain in my heart for how Lucius came to be.

“Then what happened?”

“Lucifer
,
who is father to most of the elders on this plane wanted a King to rule over the Vampir or Vampires as the
y’
re more commonly known as. These Creatures have been around for thousands of years but they were weak and unpredictable. They needed a leader, one stronger than them all, someone who could control them whilst making them evolve. Imagine these weak demons like rodents becoming wild
,
powerful cats. They m
utated, genetically so they beca
me stronger, quic
ker and more methodical in their thinking. Lucius became their
master and he is in all of the Demons that he turns
.
”

“So it isn't humans that get turned?” I think he knew I was going to ask this because he tilted his head slightly.

“No
,
these rumours originated because years before medical science
,
people weren't that great at distinguishing between death and someone that had just passed out for a time. As a result
,
a lot of people got buried alive and when the earth is wet and the graves
shallow some would claw their
way out. When rare cases like this happened it would naturally be put down to Vampires. Lucius is the only one that can change a Demon into something more, and if they are a partially gifted then they are even more so when they are turned. He likes to collect powerful Vampires because he can control them.”
Draven was now very serious and sounded almost respectful to his lost friend.

“So i
f I met a Vampire he wouldn't be able to change me or another Demon....right
?
”