Vampire Manifesto (35 page)

“
The Christ God? Really? His story ended on a Cross.” She petted my head as one might a small animal. “And is that whom you’ve placed your faith in?”

I found it was impossible to move my head, let alone my body.

“
You are in the Presence of Godlyhood, orangutan, knell until instructed otherwise.”

“
Who are you?” I stammered. “Where am I? What is this place?”

“
I am the Final Test, the White Water from the Well of Fate, the Spring of Wisdom, the Feather placed by Maat Goddess of Truth. I am the Shaka Ree, the Broth of Oblivion, the Period of Chaos, Guardian to the Castle of the Joyous Gard. I am the Boatman waiting on the turbulent shores of Eternity where the Sons of the Dark Wisdom pay tribute. I am Thanatos the White Wolf and I am Inevitable.”

The sky was red, blue bolts of lightning illuminating the blackened landscape. I could somewhat make out forms in the gold rimmed clouds, dark and hideous, winged things of talon, tooth, claw and flame. I was on a blackened beach, the grains of sands replaced by bone and ash, the tide, a sea of blood, slamming against the shores, skulls of the beheaded washing up in its bubbling, white capped froth. Withered hands reached out from beneath the waters, outstretched, grasping, clutching, pulling each other back underneath the crimson tide, moaning for release, whispering the secrets of the damned to any who would listen.

“
And you Vampire, are in She’ol, Realm of the Dead, where the Beast Rules desire, but it’s not quite your time yet.” She placed her fingers underneath my chin and pulled me to my feet. “Look.”

Her hand was outstretched towards the sky and I followed her gaze and when I did the clouds spread apart as the lighting struck forth, separating the chaff from the wheat and that’s when I saw him, a vision of another place, of another time, mingled in with the death and malice that surrounded me.

Connor…

He was chained to a wall, the shackles around his wrist wound so tight that blood trickled down his forearm. He was awake, yet his eyelids were half open and drool eased out the side of his mouth, forming a little puddle on the ground where it landed.

There was someone else in the room, a Man, sitting in a chair, his gaze fixated on Connor, his eyes never straying from him as he watched patiently, waiting. He sat inside a broad circle, directly at its center and within this circle was what appeared to be hieroglyphs and runes smeared in blood across the floor, written in some archaic language that I didn’t recognize.

“
Hey, you awake?” The Man was trying to get Connor to look at him. “Little boy…”

Connors head swayed from one side to another, like he had lost all form of motor control in his body.

The Man smiled. “That’s it. Come on now little boy, work through it.”

Connor hoisted his head somewhat, but it plopped back down, his chin smacking his chest.

“
Yeah, they doped you up real good.” The Man said.

He tilted his head again, high enough so that when he lost control of the muscles in his neck, the skull fell against the wall he was chained to instead of drooping forward.

“
Madi…Madison.” He could barely speak and his tongue flopped around in his mouth.

“
That’s it little boy, fight it. Fight the drugs.” The Man said. “Focus on my voice.”

His eyes fluttered open a little more, as a touch of cohesion in his mind state began to appear.

“
Where…where am I?”

“
You’re in Sanctuary.” The Man stated.

“
What?”

“
Last stop before the Eden Complex.” He continued.

Connor seemed confused, like he didn’t understand what was going on.

The Man seemed to take notice his disorientation. “I take it you’ve never heard of the place? What’s your name little boy?"

As the seconds ticked by, Connor was slowing gaining a mastery over his dulled senses. “Madison...” He tilted his head to the left briefly and then the right, a slow building franticness taking hold of him. “MADISON!"

The Man made a face. “Strange name for a dude.”

Connor tried to touch his head, but found that the chains which held him locked to the wall weren’t long enough. “My…friend…Madison, where is…she?”

“
You mean the corpse they drug in here?” The Man leaned back in his chair. “Body bag in the corner.”

“
NO…not…not dead.” He whispered. “Not dead.”

The Man shook his head in disagreement. “Looked pretty dead to me.”

Connor attempted to stand, found he didn’t have the strength to try, yet tried again. “Not dead…Vampire.”

The Man leaned forward in his chair thoroughly interested. “Well isn’t that a fascinating turn of events.”

Connors attempt to stand was thwarted almost immediately due to the shortness of the chains. “Who are you?”

“
Me?” The Man pointed his thumb at himself. “Jenova Darkstar.”

“
Connor.” He said, trying to take in his surrounds. It was an empty room, nothing special about it at all. Reminded me of a Master bed room, lacking in furniture, turned into some type of holding cell.

In the corner was my body, zipped up in a black body bag, stretched out on a metal table. Connor was bolted to the wall, the white foam that had covered his body gone. There were little traces of it on his clothing here and there, but it seemed to be dissolving away. In the center of the room, Jenova Darkstar sat in his chair, in the middle of a blood smeared, rune covered circle.

Connor shot Darkstar an accusing glare. “You…you work for them?”

“
Me?” Jenova seemed offended.

“
Are they government? Black Ops maybe?” Even though he was regaining his facilities, whatever drug they gave him was still taking its toll. He started pulling on the chains, trying to pull them from the wall they were bolted into, but they held fast.

“
Not government.” Jenova Darkstar shook his head. “They work for some guy called the Translucent Man.”

“
And how would you know that?” Connor asked.

“
Because I’ve been running from him for the past six months.”

Connor gave up trying to free himself. “If you don’t work for them, then help me.”

“
If I could…” Jenova reached towards the edge of the circle that surrounded him, a bright flash of light sparked off suddenly forcing his hand back. “...Then I would. But I’m as much a prisoner here as you.”

Connor squinted his eyes, noticing the blood scrawled across the floor. He began to mumble to himself somewhat.

“
You can read that bullshit?” He asked.

“
It’s not bullshit.” Connor stated. “It’s Latin. And yes, I can read some of it.”

Jenova Darkstar was thoroughly intrigued. “Now why on Earth would you possess a talent like that?”

Connor continued to murmur, his eyes snapping up suddenly. “Because I’ve had to create a Devils Trap once or twice before, Demon.”

The eyes of Jenova Darkstar solidified to all black. “Guess the cats out of the bag.”

Connor tried to pull back, scramble further away from the Demon, but there was nowhere left for him to go.

“
Oh, don’t be afraid of me child, we’re both in the same predicament here.” Jenova admitted, his eyes turning back to normal.

The Demon was right and with that slight acknowledgment of fact, Connor stopped his struggles. “How did they catch you?”

“
Fucking Wolf Pack caught me slipping, same as you.” Jenova admitted. “They picked up our trail last year...”

“
Our?”

“
Me and a friend. They killed him. Shot him in the head, then transported his body off somewhere. They would have gotten me to, but I escaped. Thought I lost them in Rome, but six months ago, those fucking Wolves picked up my scent..”

“
You mean the Werewolves?” Connor asked.

“
Yeah, that’s them. Biker gang.” Said Jenova. “The Translucent Man uses them as his bloodhounds, his trackers. Once they locate whatever it is he wants, he sends in his Marauders, that’s what they call themselves. Far as I can tell, there are four of them, two males and two females. Amastacia, she seems to be the one in charge…”

“
Amastacia?” Questioned Connor.

“
Cipher Codes.” Jenova said. “Fake names. Second in command is this guy, Graul. Next is Theodore, he seems to handle weapons. Holiday, the other woman, she does all the…Demon stuff.”

“
We need to find a way to get out of here.” Connor insisted.

“
Your proficiency at stating the obvious is magnificent.” Jenova said sarcastically. “Bravo, little boy.”

“
Where are they taking us?”

“
Far as I can tell, some place called the Eden Complex.” Darkstar said.

“
Sounds biblically nice.”

“
You don’t understand.” Jenova Darkstar said. “We do not want to go to this Eden Complex.”

Connor just laughed off his warnings. “The humans don’t frighten me. I will endure.”

“
You don’t get it.” Jenova explained. “This guy, this Translucent Man, he’s up to something and whatever it is, it’s big. For the past year he’s been either tracking people down or killing them outright. The ones that he doesn’t murder, they get sent up to the Eden Complex and are never seen again. Trust me, that is the one place you don’t wanna end up. That’s the end of the line, man.”

Connor didn’t seem to be paying any attention, instead staring at one of the links in his chains, lost in deep concentration.

“
Are you even listening to me?” Darkstar asked.

“
Honestly, no.” Connor replied.

“
Great. Fucking awesome.” Exclaimed Jenova Darkstar. “Just what the hell are you doing?”

“
I can start fires.” He stated.

The Demon seemed utterly unimpressed. “Well I can do that.”

“
With my mind.” Finished Connor.

“
Oh.” Darkstar seemed to reverse his opinion somewhat. The Demon rose from his chair. “If you’re a Firestarter, then burn some shit. Burn it all down. Get us the hell out of here.”

“
What do you think I’ve been attempting to do since I woke up?”

The Demon sat back down. “Get on my nerves? Fill me with false hope? Should I continue?”

“
Whatever drugs they pumped in me, it’s suppressing my ability to generate a flame.”

The door opened and a Woman walked in. She was decked out in the same type of black body armor Amastacia and Graul wore earlier. She held a modified M-16 with a laser scope and grenade launcher attachments.

“
Holiday.” The Demon rose again, walking as close to the Devils Trap as he dared.

“
If the two of you don’t shut the fuck up in here...” Holiday began.

Jenova Darkstar did not appear intimidated in the lest.

“
What are you going to do?”

Holiday began to mumble something in another language and within the circle, the floor began to shake and hiss. She continued her chant as steam and ice rose up from the ground. The ceiling seemed to blacken within the circle and peel back, revealing a red hued sky.

I witnessed this all from my place upon the Shore of Eternity, where the Realm of She’ol merged with the land of the living and from the blood ocean I could see the hands reach up from their watery graves, torn and battered, reaching into that room from the ceiling, pulling at Jenova Darkstar, gripping at his clothes and hair, trying to bring him into the depths where the devils sleep.

“
NO!” I cried out, my scream reverberating throughout the universes so loud that it appeared that Connor himself caught a faint whisper of it on the wind.