The Taste Of A Warrior

Part 26

Posted: November 2003
Author: Dhvana

*****

Angelina is staring at me. I can feel her eyes even though I'm not looking at her. I don't think she's even blinking, and her relentless attention is making my skin crawl. Finally, I snap.

"WHAT?"

"There's something different about you. . ." she says, looking at me as if I'm the most mysterious man in the world, but the hint of mischief in her eyes lets me know she's just playing with me.

"Oh, fuck off," I grumble, turning back towards the building.

"No, really, I can tell, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's your hair, right? Did you cut it?" She studies me for a moment, then shakes her head. "No. . . that's not it. Your clothes--did a clown dress you today?"

I glance down at my clothes--I'm wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, just like I do every day. Sure, the tee-shirt is bright orange, with pink and green writing, but so what? It may not be the most fashionable shirt in my wardrobe, but it's not the ugliest either. Close, but not quite.

Oh, why the hell am I even looking? She's only toying with me--she knows damn well what the change in me is. But damned if I give in.

"Yes, that's it," I sigh. "A clown dressed me today. Can we save Orli now?"

"I've got it!" she says, snapping her fingers. "You're a vampire!"

"Give the lady a cigar," I snarl, and George next to me rolls his eyes.

"Do you have a point here?" he asks her.

"No," she grins. "No point. Just glad you took the initiative. If Orli had done it, he would have botched it. If left to his own devices, he would have taken years before he thought to bring it up with you, and instead, look! Now you've got two sons."

"Who will be fucking each other senseless as soon as I get them back together. Thank you, Angelina, for pointing out my family's incestuous nature."

"Any time," she says with a smirk, then leans over and kisses his cheek. "You did the right thing."

"For doing the right thing," he says with a playful growl, "I'm going to expect more than just a kiss on the cheek."

"And you'll get more. Later. Right now, let's work on tearing this place down."

"Give me a boost up," I say, nodding towards the window, "and I'll let you know if I can see anything."

"Give you a boost up?" she asks, her voice filled with disbelief, and George chuckles.

"I taught him to fear jumping. He's not quite comfortable in his body yet--after all, it's only been about fifty minutes."

Angelina reaches over and pinches my cheek. "And they're so cute at that age!"

I slap her hand away, gritting my teeth. "Do you people fucking mind? Orlando's still in there!"

"And you're about to join him."

Okay, that's not the voice of a vampire.

We turn to find ourselves surrounded by a dozen fully armed hunters. Each one is wearing a mask, not that it matters. I don't need to see their faces to know who they are, and I can see enough of their eyes to know that I'm no longer one of them.

Well, fuck. This is just perfect. I've been dead only fifty minutes, and I'm already staring death in the face.

"Angelina?" George asks in the tone of a commander making sure his troops are ready for battle, and she nods her affirmation. "Good. Colin, here's that boost you wanted."

Before I can even begin to try and figure out what he's talking about, I'm off the ground and flying through the window above us. I fall to the floor, tangled in the blinds, with glass splintering all around me.

Ow.

Too bad we couldn't have waited a week. I'm going to be happy to be rid of this whole pain thing.

"Colin?"

Jumping to my feet and fighting my way out of the blinds, my eyes meet those of Marton. For the first time since I've known him, he looks surprised. Not just surprised, completely stunned, as if Batman himself had just come flying through the window.

Okay, maybe not Batman, but someone equally as unlikely. Governor Schwarzenegger, for example. Can't get much more unlikely than that, and yet it still happened, just like I am still here, standing in front of Marton, who is clearly at a loss as to what to do with me, or even what to think of me.

My eyes scan the room to see who else is in here. Just Christian, who is also staring at me with a look of astonishment on his face. I can't tell if they know I'm not who I used to be anymore. Well, they'll find out soon enough.

"Sorry about the window," I shrug. "Believe me, it wasn't my decision."

"Then whose decision was it?" Marton asks, his voice cold enough to give a glacier competition.

"George. He has this really annoying habit of not asking before he does something he knows you're not going to like."

"George?"

"Yes, George," I say, slowly circling around the chair in the middle of the room, wanting to put something solid between me and them. "You've heard of him--very powerful vampire, pretty much does things his own way, won't listen to reason. He's a lot like you."

"He's nothing like me," Marton snarls, his eyes instantly filling with fury.

"You're right, I'm sorry. You will occasionally listen to reason, depending on the subject. He won't even bother reasoning with you." My eyes glance down in the chair--good god, what the hell is that? A shiver runs down my spine as I flinch away, not wanting to look at. . . well, whatever it is. "He'll just do it, and if you don't like it, tough. You're stuck. You've gotta admit, it does cut down on the arguing."

"Perhaps I should take that into consideration when dealing with future recruits. Especially when explaining to them the dangers of fraternizing with vampires."

There's a rustling from the chair and I glance down to see a charred finger move. Oh my god--that thing's alive? My stomach does a sharp swan dive, and if I had anything left in it, I have no doubt I would be emptying it onto the floor as we speak. I've got to find Orli and get him out of here, and fast. These people are even more fucked up than I imagined.

"You can try," I say, happy to take my eyes away from the poor bugger in the chair, "but I have to warn you, vampires can be quite persistent when they want to be, especially when they're in love."

"Love?" Marton snaps, then gives a sharp laugh. "Those things don't know the meaning of love. They only know death, and pain, and suffering, and are experts at causing all three."

My eyes narrow as my blood rises. I can't believe I used to be just like him. How pathetic.

"I hate to break it to you, Marton, but they do know love. In fact, I think they're capable of knowing a deeper kind of love than you or I can ever possibly imagine. They've known love that lasts through centuries. We're lucky if ours will last a year. Maybe it's because our lives are so short that we are quick to doubt the sincerity of our love, and because their lives are so long that they take the time to believe in it, that they can make it work, and we can't. Either way, I'd take a vampire's love than a human's any day."

The thing in the chair moves again, and I look down to see its eyes have opened and those eyes are watching me filled with absolute love and adoration.

My heart lurches in my chest and stars begin to dance before my eyes. I shake my head, forcing myself to focus again, telling myself I'm wrong, but the vision never changes.

Those eyes--those beautiful brown eyes. I know those eyes better than I know my own. That thing. . . that charred corpse. . . with its skin falling to ashes at my feet, its head completely devoid of hair, its face sunken and scarred. . . that thing is my Orli.

I don't even know I'm crying until a tear splatters on the decimated skin of its hand.

I want to reach out to him, I want to touch him, but I'm afraid to. I'm afraid he'll fall to pieces in my arms and then I'll never be able to save him.

"My love, what have they done to you?"

"The same thing we're going to do to you, vampire," Marton says.

Catching sight of the rising gun out of the corner of my eye, I duck in time for the bullet to go sailing past my head and into the wall behind me.

"Back in a sec, luv," I say, meeting the only part of him I recognize. "I've got to take care of them first, and then I'll come back for you."

He gives a little nod--my stomach threatening once more to empty its nonexistent contents onto the floor--and I dive towards Christian. Grabbing him by the shoulders, I hold my former flatmate between me and Marton.

"Coward!" Marton hisses. "Come out here and face me!"

"Not bloody likely--sorry, Christian," I say, glancing at my captive, then return my gaze to Marton, "but you and I both know that to give up my shield would be stupid, and I've never been stupid. I'm only an hour old and I don't have a gun. You'd kill me in a heartbeat." I pause for a second, frowning. "If my heart were still beating. Which it isn't. I don't think."

Trying to sort through this confusion, I suddenly understand why it is Orlando has trouble relating to our world. Nothing about this process makes sense.

"You know, this entire conversation is pointless. Let me take Orlando out of here, and then you can spend the rest of your life chasing us, if that's what you want to do, but I'm not leaving here without him."

"At least you got part of that right," Marton says, raising his gun. "You're not leaving here."

I throw Christian against the counter while throwing myself in the opposite direction, the bullet grazing the chemist's arm, but otherwise leaving him unharmed. I duck around the chair and run towards Marton, tackling him to the floor.

Though larger and stronger than I was in life, in death, he is still larger, but now I'm the stronger one. I'm surprised at the ease with which I am able to snatch the gun from his hand. Quickly rolling out of reach, I jump to my feet and stand ready, pointing the barrel at him.

"Leave, Marton," I command, and he slowly stands, his face filled with contempt.

"I'm not taking orders from the likes of you, vampire."

"Marton, I don't want to hurt you. I just want to get Orli, and get out of here."

"Your wants don't matter to me. Neither of you are leaving here alive."

I sigh, shaking my head. "And just how do you plan to stop us? Because I will shoot you to protect him. If it were only me, I would gladly hand myself over to you, but I will not let you have Orlando."

Marton's mockery of a smile just grows, and too late do I hear the movement behind me as a needle is thrust into my skin.

Pain erupts in my body, fire scorching through my veins, and I give a scream of disbelief.

The fucking bastard would have killed him to get to me--I saved his life and Christian still sided with Marton!

Falling to the floor, I glare up at Christian, my betrayal on my face, and he at least has the decency to look guilty as he covers the gunshot wound on his arm with the hand still holding the syringe.

"This mixture seems to work better on young vampires," Marton says, gazing down at me with dispassionate eyes, eyes that only wish to observe how a bug will compete against his brand of insecticide. "Not exactly faster, but better."

"Yes, sir," Christian says weakly, looking away as my screams fill the room. His eyes suddenly widen and he vanishes from my view as a blur of black and brown smashes into him. He shouts with surprise, but then cannot shout any longer as he discovers he is missing his throat.

"Christian!" Marton cries, reaching for the gun clenched in my hand.

Even with the horrendous pain blinding my thoughts, I still have enough sense to press on the trigger. My arm flies against the floor from the backlash as Marton's body is thrown in the opposite direction, a red stain spreading across his chest.

For the second time that night, he stares at me with complete surprise, but even if I wasn't rolling around in agony on the floor, I wouldn't take any pleasure in it. Marton gave me a home, a family, a reason to live when I no longer had one. I never wanted him dead.

But he never should have tried to come between me and my beloved.

"Colin."

The thing that is my Orlando calls my name in a thin, rasping voice I cannot recognize, but I don't need to. His eyes tell me everything that the torment of my body already knows.

I am dying.

My mind is playing tricks on me.

I want to see him so desperately, just one last time, that I've convinced myself he's here.

But I swear that's his voice, my Colin's voice, proclaiming that he loves me, that he wants my love. I try to move, but it hurts so much. Even getting my finger to move takes all my energy.

If it is my Colin, I have to see him. I can't leave without knowing he's safe.

Forcing my eyes open, I want to weep with joy at the sight of my beloved standing in front of me. Even the horror on his face when he recognizes me doesn't staunch my love for him. It is my Colin, and not a dream.

And he's a vampire.

George, my incredible wonderful darling George, I could kiss you right now. You gave me my Colin for eternity. You saved him. He's standing here, in front of me, and he will live forever.

My beloved immortal Colin. I will love you always.

Now run.

Stop your tears and get out of here before they do this to you.

But I cannot even find the strength to warn him.

The crack of gunfire nearly causes my ears to burst and I can't see him.

No! Did they get him? Is he dead? Colin!

But I can make out an angry murmuring around me, and knowing my love, he is definitely getting on someone's nerves. Hopefully Marton, so my Colin is still alive, but for how long?

I force my head to turn as another shot rings through the air.

I have never been so frustrated in my life. I can't reach him, I can't see him, I can't fucking help him!

If he dies now because of me--Christian! That son of a bitch--I recognize that syringe. That syringe and I are old friends. I cannot let him use that syringe on my Colin.

Closing my eyes, I gather together the last vestiges of strength in what remains of my body, and I throw myself at Christian.

But I'm too late.

Though not too late to kill the son of a bitch.

Ripping Christian's throat out, I feed on his blood. Though it doesn't come near to healing me, I am able to replenish my battered body enough that I can crawl over to Colin. It breaks my heart to see him twitching as the serum runs through his veins. He never would have known this pain if it wasn't for me. I never should have tried to find him. I should have let his memory rest, and now I am forced to watch with as my beloved starts to disintegrate.

"Colin."

I want to tell him how much I love him, how much I need him, but the sound coming from my mouth--that's not my voice. I have to find a way to save him, to save us both, but there is only one person who can do that.

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on my creator and call for him with all the power I have left.

GEORGE!

There is a glimmer of recognition and I know I have reached him.

"Hurry," I gasp and fall down at my beloved's side.

previous | Chapter Index | next

If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Dhvana