Death, Loot & Vampires - Chapter 1 : Ten Years Later.
Chapter 1
Ten Years Later.
Vampires do not dream. Only the living dream. For us, the world falls away, and a sense of peace engulfs our everything, wrapping us in its loving arms. The tranquillity it brings consumes us. It is a warm blanket we do not want to leave on a cold winter’s day, so necessity must force us from this peaceful slumber. Usually, hunger drags us from our sleep, but hunger never bothered me.
I woke ten years later, to someone tearing the lid from my sarcophagus. How I knew I had slept so long was not my immediate concern as the lead lid of my sarcophagus was flying across the room and my new instincts warned me there was a threat capable of killing me nearby.
I flung my body towards the ceiling. The small cracks in the stonework were enough for me to find purchase with my fingertips, and I scurried along the roof like a cockroach, heading for the closed door.
Radiant light enveloped the room, and I snapped my gaze to those below.
A familiar young man in his mid-twenties, and three robed women the same age stood in the middle of the room where I was turned. The blood circles had faded with the passage of time becoming dust. The robed women were a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, and in the process of moving their heads to track my movements, while the familiar looking man held me firmly with his gaze.
“Dad?” he called, tentatively and full of surprise.
I froze, shocked as his voice and features took on new meaning. “Luke.”
Horror replaced his surprise. “Are you a fucking vampire?”
Older instincts kicked in, brought on by years of habit. “Don’t swear, son.”
The three women’s heads finished turning and they lifted their staffs. All sorts of magic bombarded me, knocking me from the ceiling. My back hit the ground, and more magic piled on top. It stung a little, as my flesh was torn and burned, only to immediately reform.
“My spells aren’t working,” the brunette shouted. She reached into her white robe and lifted a strange object, pointing it in my direction.
As my shock faded, joy filled me. Ignoring the spells, I jumped to my feet and ran towards my boy. I had made peace with never seeing him again, while in the cell, but now that he was here before me, I wanted nothing more than to embrace him.
His sword pierced my heart as my arms wrapped around his shoulders. I didn’t care. “My boy. My beautiful little boy.”
“Dad,” he said weakly.
“The vampire’s got Luke! Restrain it.”
Mystical chains wrapped around my limbs as I hugged him tight. “You were sixteen the last time I saw you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“Dad.” It seemed to be the only thing he could say.
“Luke, that creature is not your father,” the brunette shouted. “Kill it.”
Those words seemed to snap him out of his stupor. Then I discovered I was hugging a shark. Without any effort, Luke picked me up and held me at arm’s length. My feet dangled above the ground as he handled me as easily as I had handled him as a toddler.
A murderous rage transformed his features, filled with years of pain and loss. He’d grown into his features, with a strong jaw and soft hazel eyes. He was classically handsome with his light brown hair cut short and styled back. He must have become attached to the gym, because the size of his muscle was apparent through his sapphire blue plate armour.
“I’ve got him,” he warned. “Kill him quickly.”
I needed to de-escalate the situation.
When I failed to break free with strength, I tried talking. “Son, I know you’re upset with me. But killing your old man isn’t the right way deal with these emotions.”
“Fuck off; you’re not my dad.”
Several ice spears penetrated my chest, shattering against his breastplate. They stung me a little. Then the ice quickly melted, and the stinging went away.
“Language, son.”
“I don’t have to listen to you.” Clearly, he was in denial.
More spells hit me. They had very little effect.
I could tell he didn’t believe I was who I claimed to be. So, with my best James Earl Jones impression, I said, “Luke, I am your father.”
“Noooooo,” he screamed, reflexively.
We had been doing this ever since he was four and I’d showed him the original Star Wars trilogy. He used to love it because it was the only time he was allowed to scream in the house.
“The vampire’s hurting Luke; do something.”
“My holy magic won’t work on him,” the brunette said.
I glanced over my shoulder at the brunette in white. “I’ve never killed anyone. I’m still one of the good guys.”
“We’re dead,” she whispered, catching my meaning. “We’re all dead.”
“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think. I mean I haven’t harmed anyone.”
“Do something,” Luke shouted. “My stamina is about to bottom out. He’s a tough sonofabitch.”
“Please, don’t talk about your grandmother that way, Luke.”
“You can’t kill an ancient vampire without holy damage. They heal too quickly.”
A pillar of fire engulfed the centre of my body, and for the first time since awakening, I experienced actual pain. My body thrashed for who knows how long, until Luke’s grip weakened. Several seconds later, I managed to fling myself from the inferno. I bounced along the floor, and the pain vanished. Sensing another spell coming for me, I leapt to the side as three ice spears slammed into the wall.
I bounced back to my feet with unnatural ease and turned back to my son and his friends. “Would you please stop trying to kill me?”
Luke drew his sword and flashed towards me. I managed to sidestep his first swing, but the second cleaved my arm off, which immediately pulled back to my body and repaired itself.
I stared at my arm for a fraction of a second. “That’s new.”
Luke used my distraction to cut off my head. The same thing happened.
Feeling a whole lot less worried about imminent death, I decided to do what all parents do with grumpy, misbehaving children. I ran them around in circles until they tired themselves out.
The cleric went through her repertoire of spells, before collapsing. The blonde throwing the ice collapsed next. The redhead throwing fire followed a few moments later. Luke took a little longer, but he eventually dropped to his knees, so out of breath he couldn’t speak.
Seeing an opportunity, I sat beside him and explained what had happened to me. He was several inches over six feet, much taller than when he was a teen, and far more muscular, with thick biceps and thighs. He wore his set of sapphire blue plate armour like a second skin; but through his open face helmet, his features still reminded me of the boy he had been. He listened to me talk about my experiences, and as his breathing slowed, he didn’t go for his weapon.
“You were summoned here by a cult of vampire wannabees?”
“Yep.”
“That must have sucked.”
I smirked at him. “You know how I feel about puns, son.”
“The lowest circle of Hell is reserved for traitors and those who use puns.”
I chuckled, feeling more alive than I had since arriving in this world. “I’m glad you remembered. Now be honest with me, am I or am I not a sexy vampire?”
He scrunched up his face. “I’m not going to answer that.”
I grinned back. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“I didn’t say that.”
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“You didn’t need to. The envy is evident.”
He smirked. “You can keep believing that, old man.”
“I hope I don’t sparkle.”
He chuckled.
I glanced at his three female companions. “I knew letting you watch those harem anime wasn’t good for you.”
He groaned. “I don’t have a harem, dad.”
“That’s exactly what a son with a harem would tell their father.”
“They’re married.”
“To each other? That’s even weirder.”
“To their husbands.”
“I’m beginning to feel uncomfortable about this harem of yours, son.”
He ignored me. “Men are predisposed to becoming warriors. We get more benefit from strength, endurance, and constitution than women do. I don’t have any magical ability, so the king filled my party with the strongest mages of my generation.”
That wasn’t something that could happen quickly. “How long have you been here?”
“As long as you. Mum and Kathrine are here, too, but I didn’t find out until five years ago. Mum was summoned by the church in a distant land to fight a lich king. Kathrine was summoned to help with a fae incursion in another kingdom. I was brought here to deal with the chaos that has been plaguing this kingdom since they closed the hellmouth.”
I felt myself smile. “You’re all here.”
He gave a grim smile. “We’re all here.”
“We should go find them.”
Luke sighed. “Mum remarried. His name is Marcius.”
“She what?”
“You’ve been gone a decade.”
I frowned, a little bothered by the news, but less than I knew I should have been. “When did she remarry?”
“A couple of years ago. They started dating four years after she got here.”
I shrugged, no longer bothered.
“You’re not upset.”
“Your mother and I agreed a long time ago that if the other died, we would wait two years and start dating even if we didn’t want to. Is she happy?”
“She is.”
“Good.”
“This isn’t how I expected you to react.”
“I’m a vampire. We seem to think differently.”
“How differently?”
“Things I know should bother me, don’t bother me anymore. I also seem to have a limited range of emotions. I can feel love. I can feel amusement. But I don’t feel lasting happiness or sadness. I can grieve, though. And I do get angry and frustrated.”
“Vampires are depicted as blood-thirsty fiends in this world.”
“That apparently happens when we take our first innocent life. Until then, we’re sort of in between. Speaking of in between, I need to find a cleric to lift this curse.”
“That won’t work,” Luke’s white-robed companion replied, slowly sitting up.
I turned to her. “Why not?”
She began brushing herself off. “You’re an ancient vampire. Any cleric worthy of the name can exercise the demon inside a vampire spawn, but it would take a saint to remove the one in you. And there are no saints left in this world.”
“Dad, this is Mara. Mara this is my dad, Vincent.”
“Mara, why do you keep calling me an ancient vampire?”
“Because that is what you are.”
“Last time I checked I was a vampire spawn. How did that change?”
“Older vampires feed younger vampires their blood to strengthen their bloodlines before their first kill. You said you sucked an ancient vampire and then an entire room full of elder vampires dry before feeding on your first kill. Your bloodline is now stronger than all of theirs.”
That was annoying, but the annoyance quickly passed as I adjusted to my new situation. “Does being an ancient vampire come with any benefits?”
“Besides a whole host of attributes, you don’t share most vampire weaknesses. You can walk in daylight. Silver and garlic don’t bother you. Dead man’s blood isn’t an issue. This isn’t because you are immune to them. You just heal so fast that they don’t bother you. Staking you through the heart won’t work unless you’re already asleep, so the only things that can stop you are natural running water and holy magic. But you haven’t killed any innocent people, so holy magic is out. You’re basically unkillable, unless we can carry you to a large-enough river.” She paused. “I’ve got a book on vampires if you’re interested.”
She was trying to distract me, but I couldn’t turn down her offer. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
Mara reached for the pouch on her belt and opened it much wider than I would have suspected was possible, before pulling out a book that shouldn’t have fit inside.
“Bag of holding?” I asked Luke.
“They call them storage pouches, but same principle.”
“Cool.”
Mara tossed the book across the room to me.
I caught the book and turned to Luke. “Do you mind calming your friend down while I read this?”
Luke nodded.
I started reading.
Most of the book revolved around the ways to kill a vampire, but there were several sections that explained what a vampire was, and what they were capable of doing. I was apparently a lesser demon. A servant of Hell. There was only one stage above ancient vampire, and that was a primordial vampire. These creatures were actual demons, the kind that caused angels to descend from Heaven to do battle as their presence wasn’t tolerated in this world only lesser demons were tolerated.
While I wasn’t the peak of my species, ancient vampires were considered the bane of civilisation. All lesser vampires would submit to our command. On top of this talent for leadership, we had the power to raise elder vampires, who could create stronger vampires, allowing us to construct and command the armies of Hell quickly, if we so chose.
We also didn’t need to drink blood to sustain ourselves. Our hunger pulled life from the environment around us, and when we directed it, we could pull the life from someone with a touch.
The book was a rather depressing read. For what I could tell, I was bound to this location. I could leave, but once I did, I wouldn’t be able to rest, which explained why I hadn’t slept in the cell. So, no matter what happened, I would eventually have to return to this room. If I didn’t return quickly enough, then upon arrival, I would fall into a slumber from which I could not awaken until I recovered. It would leave me vulnerable.
I closed the book and looked up to see Luke walking towards Mara. “Oh, so that’s what it meant by vampire cunning.”
Apparently, I could digest information almost instantaneously. It explained why I was able to process new experiences so quickly.
Luke glanced back and frown. “I thought you were going to read the book?”
“I’ve read it already.” I tossed it to Mara.
The book launched across the room at alarming speed. Luke’s hand shot out and caught it inches from Mara’s face. “You need to learn to control your body, dad, or you might accidently kill someone.”
“My apologies,” I said, as I climbed to my feet.
She averted her eyes. “Would you mind putting some clothes on?”
I glanced down at my naked muscular form. I was all long limbs and abs, like a swimmer. My skin had a pale tone to it, like flawless ivory instead of sickly white. It was not the body I was used to seeing.
“You don’t feel embarrassment, do you?” Luke asked.
“No.” I knew I should have, but I didn’t feel embarrassed.
“Give me a second, I’ll find something for you.” He reached for the storage pouch on his belt and withdrew an old shirt and a pair of trousers. Both were too big for me, but I put them on.
I had to hold his trousers up with one hand. “You have a belt?”
Luke chucked me a piece of rope.
I put it through the loops. “So, what are the names of your other companions?” It seemed like something I should ask.
“The sorcerer is Diva, and the druid is Sharani.”
“I don’t know how to tell a sorcerer from a druid.”
Luke pointed to the blonde passed-out woman in the red robe, stitched with mystical symbols. “Diva.”
I glanced at the redhead in the green robe. “Which would make this one Sharani. Nice to meet you both. No, don’t get up on my account. I can see you’re both tired.”
The two women remained unconscious.
“Does he think he’s funny?” Mara asked.
“Yes,” Luke replied. “And this isn’t because he’s a vampire. He’s always had a terrible sense of humour.”
“Your mother loved my sense of humour.”
“Mum was brainwashed into thinking you were funny by grandpa.”
“That man’s jokes were a national treasure.”
“They were terrible.”
“What are we going to do about you-know-who,” Mara whispered.
“I can hear the worms burrowing through the soil around us. The worms that are through several hundred feet of solid rock. Whispering won’t help you. Also, I’m coming with you.”
She shook her head. “We can’t unleash this evil on the countryside, Luke.”
I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. “Everyone’s a critic.”
Luke gave a single chuckle and then his face turned grim. “We can’t stop him until he kills someone. Traveling with him is our only option. Besides, he’s going to need to go to the guild, if he wants to get out of the province to find my mum and sister. They’re the only ones who could stop the rivers long enough for him to get out.”
Mara placed a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I know he was your father, but you shouldn’t trust him.”
“Would it ease your mind to know I’m a hero?”
She blanched.
“Apparently not. Forget I ever said anything.”
Luke frowned as he glanced at me. “You’re a hero.”
“It’s why they summoned me. They needed special blood to make them more powerful.”
“Can you confirm this?”
I pointed to Burly’s coffin. “The dead gentleman in there swore himself to me before he died, and this holy light enveloped him. Does that count?”
Mara scrunched up her face. “Shit.”
“A lady shouldn’t curse. Neither should a priest.”
“I’m a cleric and I’ve taken no vows barring me from swearing, so I’ll say whatever the fuck I like.”
“He’s bullshitting you,” Luke said. “He’s been calling people out over swearing ever since the second Avengers movie. He thinks it’s funny.”
“No. I think it’s hilarious. It also just so happens I prefer not to swear or listen to others do so.”
Luke smiled and then sighed. “People aren’t going to like it that you’re a hero, dad.”
“Why not?”
“Heroes are the strongest warriors this world has. If the public finds out there is an ancient vampire hero, they will panic. They’ll think it’s the end of days.”
“You seemed to handle me just fine.”
“That’s because you haven’t unlocked your class. You don’t have any levels, and I can only barely contain you.”
“Dumb it down for me.”
“If I’m Captain America, you could become Thor.”
“Evil Thor. I can see why everyone would panic. I won’t say anything.”
“That would be for the best.”
I glanced around the room and saw nothing to keep me here any longer. “Anyway, I’ve been asleep for the last decade, so do you kids want to get out of here? I’ve got a wife and daughter to reunite with, so if you don’t want to come, I’ll get out of your hair.”
Luke glanced at his unconscious companions and then shrugged. “We just need to collect the loot, and then we’ll get out of here.”
“Amateur mistake, son. You should always loot as you go. That’s why I keep my loot with me.”
Luke raised an eyebrow looking around. “Your loot.”
I pointed to the chests around us. “I killed the vampires, so it’s my loot. Well technically, Denton and Rena helped, so it’s a three-way split, but I’ll have to hunt down their families in order to give it to them. Do you have a problem with that?”
Mara’s eyes widened. “Is this where your loot fixation came from? I always thought it was strange after I met your mother and sister, but this makes a lot of sense.”
“I’ll arm wrestle you for it,” Luke offered.
I grinned.
