Forever Knight
Kessel House
Note: This takes place shortly after Dead Of Night
"... And that's when they came after me. There must have been over a thousand of the spirits of people I had sacrificed over the centuries to satisfy this accursed hunger of mine. According to Alyssa, they were bent on taking my soul to avenge their deaths. I only managed to escape by diving through the window. " Nick Knight said to Javier Vachon. He took a long sip of the glass of 'house special' in front of him. Although he had sworn off the killing and the drinking of human blood nearly a century ago, he was in no mood to be particular. He had come to the Raven to soothe his frazzled nerves after the events that occurred earlier in the week at the haunted house, and the blood laced wine was just what he needed to accomplish that.
"So, none of the spirits managed to leave the house." The Spaniard replied, taking a sip of his own drink. "Apparently, they cannot leave the premises."
"But that would not explain the ghost of Tracy's little friend who was killed by a train as a child. She appeared to her several times. Or how Natalie's grandmother came to her at the morgue. Or Reese's dead army buddy. They were all encountered well outside the confines of Kessel House.
"Really, Nicholas. All this talk about ghosts and spirits. I am very disappointed in you." Lucien LaCroix said as he came to the duo. "You know perfectly well there are no such things as ghosts."
"Just as there are no such things as vampires?" Vachon replied sarcastically. He was silenced by a withering look from the master vampire.
"I take it then that you don't believe in ghosts?" He asked.
"Of course not. So called ghostly hauntings are in reality little more than unfinished business or unresolved emotional issues on the part of the one who supposedly encountered them. Since I have neither unfinished business or unresolved emotions, I therefore have no need to believe in ghosts."
"You wouldn't say that if you had been at Kessel House and seen what I saw." Nick said.
"Oh, I believe ... that you believe ... that what you think you saw was real, but then you have always had an overwhelming need for forgiveness and absolution for your hypothetical sins against mankind. It is possible that your mythical apparitions were just one more way for you to achieve that objective."
"You wouldn't care to put your money where your mouth is, would you?" Javier asked.
"What do you propose?"
"Spend the night at Kessel House. I'd pay good money to see that"
"I am afraid that your suggestion is little more than a moot point. I read somewhere that the house is about to be demolished to make way for a shopping complex. In fact, it may have already been torn down."
"Erroneo. Erroneo. E malo tambien, mi amigo. (Incorrect. Incorrect. And wrong too, my friend.)" Javier replied. "Apparently you have not been keeping up with the latest news. The demolition had been postponed. Maybe indefinitely. Seems there have been a number of unexplained things happening at the site. Machines turning on and off with no one around them. Tools and other things disappearing. One crew even set out a dozen baseball sized packets of Semtex on all three floors of the place to implode it. That's more than enough explosives to blow up a fifteen story building. When they pushed the plunger, nothing happened. When they went back inside, the found the Semtex piled in a neat stack on the living room floor with the blasting caps laying beside them. Since then, the city has had a hard time finding anyone willing to work on the place. So ... the offer is still on."
"I would be tempted to take you up on your suggestion, but I do not think you could afford my price to do so."
"And how much is that?" Javier said pulling out his wallet.
"Ten thousand dollars."
"Ten ... Ten ... Thou ... Thou .. Sand ... Dol ... Dollars?" The Spaniard's face turned even whiter, if that were possible.
"Why Vachon. I didn't realize that you stuttered." LaCroix chided. "Now who is reneging? As the saying goes. Put up or shut up."
"Nick?" Vachon looked pleadingly at the vampire sitting next to him.
Knight reached into his jacket and took out his checkbook. "Why not? I'd pay good money to see that, too. Here you are. Twenty thousand dollars. Ten thousand for Vachon and another ten for me. Miklos can hold the wager." He handed his checque to the bartender. "There is only one stipulation. You must spend the entire night there. Dusk to dawn."
"Agreed." LaCroix said. He kissed his checque as he handed it to Miklos. "And taking the money from you two ... suckers ... makes it all the sweeter."
Around the bar, there were the sounds of wagers being made, countered, and accepted. When it was all over, Miklos had at least another five thousand dollars sitting in front of him.
#
Nick pulled the ancient aquamarine Cadillac convertible jokingly referred to by his friends as "the landfreighter" to a stop in front of Kessel House. Just as he was about to get out, a man came running up to the car.
"You can tell the ()&!# city for me that if they want this ()&!# building torn down, they had better get a ()&!# exorcist or the ()&!# Ghostbusters to do their thing to this place. Or maybe both. 'Cause none of my men are going back in there until then. And maybe not even then." He ran to a truck where the rest of the crew was waiting with the motor running. As soon as he was inside, the truck took off with tires squealing.
"I wonder where LaCroix is?" Javier asked. "He was supposed to meet us here. It's almost a half hour after sunset and he's ... "
"Right behind you." LaCroix staged whispered into Vachon's ear.
Javier came out of his seat in a shot. "What did you do that for?" He screeched, his voice at least an octave higher than normal. "You nearly scared me out of a hundred years growth."
"Because I can." LaCroix whispered loudly, a huge grin on his face. "Now to get on with our little wager. I think the three of you should accompany me."
"I think I'll pass on that." Nick said. "I've spent as much time in there as I care to spend."
"Understandable." LaCroix said. "You are excused, Nicholas. Javier and I will go inside. You may remain here if you so wish."
"Why do I have to spend the night in there?" Javier asked.
"Because it was your idea in the first place. This way, there will be no doubt that I fulfilled my part of the bargain."
"That's why I brought this." He held up a camcorder. "All you have to do is make a statement every half hour, or if you do see a ghost, you can just turn it on and record the whole thing."
"Where did you get that?" Nick asked.
"Do you really want to know? Okay, your ... girlfriend the Coroner loaned it to me. She also gave me this." He held up a checque. "Something about it being the price of her ticket to see this."
"Natalie?"
"You seeing any of the other Coroners?"
If a vampire could blush, Nick was blushing.
"Enough chatter. The night has already started. I suggest we begin now." LaCroix grabbed the Conquistador by the arm and started into the house.
#
"It is 1943 hours. Or 7:43 PM for those of you who are unfamiliar with military time. Javier Vachon and I have just entered the living room. So far, nothing unusual has happened." LaCroix stated as Vachon trained the camcorder on him.
Javier turned off the camcorder. "I still think I should wait outside. I might upset the ectoplasmic balance or something."
"You will stay right here with me, Javier." LaCroix insisted.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then all bets are off and I win."
"Okay. Okay. I'll stay here with you. I guarantee I'll be beside you the whole night. We'll be like Siamese twins joined at the hip. I'll be closer to you than ugly on an ape. I'll be ... " He suddenly paused. "Esperanza?" Vachon stared at the top of the staircase where a woman dressed in the style of a seventeenth century Spanish noblewoman stood. He looked at LaCroix, who apparently had not seen anything. "Esperanza ... Estas tu, mi amor (Is that you, my love)?"
The woman nodded and motioned for Javier to join her. Vachon handed the camcorder to LaCroix and ascended the stairs two at a time. At the top, he embraced his former lover and the two of them walked slowly down the hallway.
"So much for ugly and apes." LaCroix muttered as he watched Vachon run up the stairs after someone or something that only he could see. "Apparently the Spaniard is easily coerced into believing he saw a woman on the second floor. Obviously he thinks with his gonads."
#
"It is now 2030 hours." LaCroix said into the camcorder propped on the step of the ladder in the living room. "Still no sign of anything unusual. Unless you consider whatever or whoever Javier saw. I don't. And still no sign of Javier Vachon either." He turned the camera off. "This is going to be easy money." He chuckled.
"Are you so sure of that?"
LaCroix whirled around and blanched. "This is impossible. I must have gotten a bottle of bad blood or perhaps the person I drained earlier tonight was a drug addict, and it is influencing my perceptions." He quickly turned the camera back on. "You cannot be here. You are dead."
"You should know, Lucius. You were the one who killed me." The spirit of Senator Titus Aquilius Pletano said.
#
Pompeii 44 CE
From the doorway, fourteen year old Lucius Gaius Pletano silently watched the scenario being played out before him in the courtyard.
" ...And perhaps the next time ... " Titus Pletano brought his fist across the face of the woman before him. Blood spurted from the cut on her cheek. " ... When I tell you to do something ... " Titus cuffed her again. She sank to her knees. " ... You will do it ... " A blow to her head crumpled her to the ground. " ... Without question ... " He kicked her in the abdomen. " ... And without hesitation." He planted the heel of his foot firmly on her wrist. There was the sound of bones breaking. Without looking back, Titus turned and strode out of the yard.
Lucius ran to the woman. "Mother!" He cried as he lifted her bruised and bleeding head into his lap. "Why do you let him treat you like that? He has no right."
"You are the one who does not understand." Brigdana told her son, her voice somewhat muffled and slurred by her swollen and bruised lips. "He has every right. He can do as he pleases with me. I am not his wife. And even if I were his wife, he would still have that right. As it is, I am only a lowly concubine. Little more than a slave, but not much. At least he has acknowledged you as his son. For that I am grateful. That way, you will not be known as a bastard."
"He may have acknowledged me as his own, but that is all he has ever done for me. I know there is no love or pride in him for me, or for you. As it is, I am bound to him for my entire life. Perhaps if I had been born a slave, I could have been sold or traded if I displeased him."
"Yes. I acknowledged you, you ungrateful whelp." Titus said from behind him. They had not heard the senator come back into the hallway. "I had no choice in the matter. Your ... mother forced me to do it. She threatened to expose all of the illegal ... transactions I participated in while I was Procurator of Gaul. If they had came to light, it could have ruined my career and destroyed any chance I would have had for the senate seat I occupy now. As it stands, since I have no other heirs, as disappointing as that is to me, you are my hope of immortality."
Brigdana used this opportunity to scurry to her quarters.
"And for this I am supposed to be eternally in your debt?" Lucius spat at his father's feet.
Titus replied by cuffing the boy solidly across the face. "Don't you ever talk to me like that. EVER!" Again, he turned and left the area.
"You had best practice sleeping with one eye open. Your time is coming." Lucius muttered as he wiped a rivulet of blood from his lip.
#
Present
"Perhaps if your wife had not run off with that merchant, things would have been different." Lucien said.
"I never could understand why Terillia did that. I gave her everything she needed to be happy. She had a beautiful home. She had servants. She had wealth. She had status. Yet she left it all for some common ... tradesman."
"Perhaps he could give her what you could not. You were too busy consolidating your position with Rome to see that. You gave her everything all right. Everything but the one thing she wanted most of all. Yourself."
"How dare you!" The spirit of Titus said angrily. "You were always a hothead. You still are. I tried to educate some of that barbaric temperament out of you by sending you to Pronicius the Greek. Apparently that didn't work either."
"Oh, I learned my lessons well. I learned how to read the classics in several languages. I learned how to write properly, and how to do complex math. But the lessons I learned best were not taught at my tutor's side." Lucien countered.
#
Pompeii 46 CE
"Hey, Gaul boy!" Augustino Paceilli called to Lucius as he walked home after one of the sessions at Pronicius's house. Although Pronicius was brought to Pompeii as a slave, his reputation as a teacher was such that he was eventually given his freedom and permitted a villa of his own. "Don't you know that we true Romans don't want to be forced to associate with you half breed barbarians?"
"Yeah." Sextus Flavinus taunted. "Just because your sire is some high ranking Roman member of the Senate doesn't automatically make you a true Roman. You're no better than Marcellus's dog.
"At least my dog was sired by a ROMAN cur to a ... ROMAN bitch." Marcellus added proudly. "That's more than you can claim. Your mother is nothing more than a fancy barbarian slave woman. My father says her only talent was to give Senator Pletano a son, since his true wife couldn't."
The three boys also attended Pronicius's classes, and had done their best to make Lucius's time there as miserable as possible. They had taunted and harassed him every chance they could get. He could take anything they could dish out, but when they started slurring his mother, that was the last straw! He curled his hands into fists. "Take that back!" He demanded.
"Or what, Gaul boy?"
#
He gently eased the heavy door shut. Good. No one in the main room. Now all he had to do was get to the hallway and he would be home free. He pulled the torn sleeve of his toga across his shoulder and wiped some of the blood and dirt from his face. He had almost reached the hallway when he saw the one person he was trying to avoid standing in front of him.
Senator Titus Aquilius Pletano.
"And just who are you?" Titus asked sarcastically. "Some sort of street urchin? This only proves that you certainly are no son of mine." He cuffed the boy across his cheek, reopening the cut on it. "No son of mine would be caught dead fighting ... And in public ... And with the sons of the elite of the patriarchy." He cuffed him again. "Do you know how much it took to get you into Pronicius's tutelage? How many favors I had to call in? And THIS is how you pay me back? By fighting like common peasant trash?" He motioned to a slave cowering in the doorway. "Bring me a whip. The cat-o-nine-tails should do the trick." He slammed Lucius against the wall and tore off his toga. "If I cannot educate that temper out of you, then I'll beat it out of you."
Lucius clenched his teeth as the whip tore into his back. He bit his tongue to keep from crying out. He knew that Titus would stop the whipping if he showed any sign of giving in to the pain, but if he did that, his father would have yet another excuse to berate him for his 'cowardice'. Lucius was not about to give his father that satisfaction.
After what seemed like hours, but was probably not more than fifteen minutes or so, Titus finally stopped. Although Lucius was near exhaustion and in excruciating pain, he straightened up and looked into his father's face defiantly.
"And to make certain you do not forget this little lesson ... " He motioned once more to the slave, who was still cowering in the doorway. "Bring me that miserable cur that keeps hanging around the boy."
The slave hurried off to do as he was ordered.
"NO! Not Remus!" Lucius shouted. "I've had him since he was a pup. He has never done anything to you. Beat me again if you want, but do not hurt him."
The slave arrived with Remus.
"Hold him tightly." Titus ordered. He drew his short sword and drove it deep into the dog's heart. He slowly wiped the blood off his blade with a piece of Lucius's toga, and replaced it in its scabbard.
"You are really a pair of losers." He called to the youth who sat cradling his beloved companion's head in his lap. "One insignificant mongrel crying over another insignificant mongrel."
#
Present
"You truly were a coward as well. Shortly after that, you ran away from home rather than face your responsibilities as my son."
#
Rome 51 CE
"If you ask me, I think our beloved Emperor's little red chariot has gone round the bend." The soldier said to his companion as he removed his sandals outside the barracks. "I mean look what he just did to us. First he orders an entire cohort to the Bay of Napoli. Under sealed orders. And in full battle dress to boot. When we get there and our commanders open the orders, they say we are to collect a hundred pounds of seashells. And not just any seashells. Only Nautilus seashells. As a tribute from Neptune himself! Can you believe that?"
"Yeah, Vorenus. I can believe that. I was there too. Remember." His companion replied, picking up a jug and pouring the water on his aching feet. He handed the jug to his friend.
"That's right, Pullo, you were there." Vorenus took the jar and emptied it on his feet as well. "Then we are force marched back to Rome." He continued. "When we reach the city limits, we are met with a Full Honors Triumph and paraded through the streets like we are some kind of heroes." He shook his head slowly. "Personally, I think that the entire Empire is going to Hades in a handbasket."
"I can understand that." Pullo replied. "Our fathers and grandfathers served together under Augustus and Tiberius. And their fathers before them fought with the Great and Glorious Caesar himself in the Gallic campaigns. They all brought home glory and riches for their service. What do WE bring home? SEASHELLS!"
"You two had better watch your tongues." A third Legionnaire, also sitting with them, scolded. "Talk like that could mean your next duty station will be the arena. In front of a pride of hungry lions." The soldier stopped and quickly came to attention as he spotted a man in the distinctive red and white toga of a Roman Senator coming across the area. "SENATOR IN THE COMPOUND!" He shouted.
Word spread quickly, and soon the parade yard was full of soldiers, in ranks and at attention. "HAIL, SENATOR!" The said as one, as they clenched their fists to their chests in salute.
Titus Aquilius Pletano smiled at the salutation. It never ceased to delight him at such an acknowledgment of his position in the Roman hierarchy. "At ease." He said. "This is not an official visit. You. With the mouth." He pointed to Vorenus. "Fetch your Centurion to me. And make it quick."
"YES SIR!" Vorenus said as he saluted and scurried off.
A few minutes later, Centurion Lucius Gaius Pletano stood before the senator. "You wish to see me, Senator?" He said, saluting. He gave no outward indication that the man standing before him was his father.
"Yes. Centurion." Titus also gave no sign that the centurion was his son. "Is there some place we can talk? Privately?"
"Would my quarters be sufficient?" He showed Titus to the entrance to the barracks.
"That would be excellent."
Lucius shared the barracks with his men, but in deference to his rank, his quarters were in a separate room. It was small and sparsely furnished. A bed, a small wardrobe, a chair, and a table that served as a combination desk/washstand/nightstand were all the furniture in the room. In one corner, Lucius had erected a small altar out of some crates.
The senator picked up the statue from the improvised altar. "So this is where Orpesius went." Titus said, returning the idol to its perch.
"He is my personal god. You should know that, Senator Pletano. You gave him to me for my thirteenth birthday. He goes wherever I go."
"Really, Lucius. Must you be so formal? There is no one here but the two of us. Relax. I am your father, after all. Call me that."
"Yes ... Pater mia. (My father)." Lucius made the words sound like an epithet.
Titus looked his son up and down. "The army." He said when he had finished his inspection. "So that's where you went when you left home. Of all things, this is the last place I would have expected to find you. But then, it does seem logical. It is the perfect place for you to put that temper of yours to good use. And the discipline would teach you to channel it into productive applications. But answer me this. Why as a common soldier? If you had told me of your wishes to enter the military, I could have used my influence to guarantee you a commission. A Commander, or perhaps even a Lesser Tribune. But an enlisted man?" He shook his head slowly. "While I am glad to see you, this is but another disappointment on your part. This is so far below your status."
"That is exactly why I enlisted as a Common Legionnaire. I wanted to make a name for myself. On my own. I earned my rank on the field of battle because of my bravery. I am now in charge of a company of men, and they respect me for who I am, not for who my father is."
"Are you so certain of that? The name of Pletano is well known and highly respected throughout the Empire. It is even feared in certain areas."
"Perhaps in Rome. Or in Pompeii. But here, I am of no higher or lower standing than the man next to me. Status is not a factor. It is how bravely you can fight. And as you have often said, I am an excellent fighter."
"Why didn't you at least write occasionally to let the family know how you were? As it is, I had no idea what had happened to you were until I spotted you marching in the Triumph earlier today."
"Speaking of family, how is my mother?"
"Dead."
"DEAD! WHEN? HOW? And why was I not notified?" Lucius shouted angrily.
"She died two years ago. She angered me once too often." Titus replied with as much emotion as if he was talking about a used pair of sandals he had discarded. "And as I said, I didn't know where you were."
"YOU BASTARD! I should kill you where you stand!" Lucius started for his father, but stopped just short of grabbing the man by the throat. There was a long silence as the Centurion struggled to regain control. "You can thank whatever gods you believe in that it is punishable by death for anyone of lesser ranking to harm a member of the Roman Senate. It is the only thing that saved your miserable life. This time. I would however, strongly advise you to keep at least one eye on your back from this time forward." He strode forcefully to the door and flung it open. "This conversation is over, Senator Pletano. Leave. Now."
#
Present
"After you left, I had the soldiers get one of the slaves we had captured in battle and bring him to the training area. I had to have someone to take out my anger on. He was an excellent fighter. He died an honorable death."
"That is more than you gave to me."
"He deserved that much."
#
Pompeii 55 CE
Commander Lucius Pletano strode up the steps of the villa. He had received yet another promotion, this time to a commission. He strongly suspected however, that his father had arranged for it. His cohort had been dispatched to suppress a "peasant revolt" in a small village on the island of Sicily, even though there were at least three garrisons that were closer to the site. One of them actually on the island. The "uprising" was quickly subdued with only minor skirmishes, very few deaths on either side, and relatively insignificant casualties. In truth, the local civilian authorities could have easily handled the entire episode. Lucius received a battlefield promotion for his "bravery", even though his particular company had not even seen significant action.
"Lucius!" Titus came out to greet his son. "I am so glad you could take the time to visit me. I do so miss the hustle of life in Rome. The constant flow of people in and out of my villa there. It really was exhilarating. It was one of the things that kept me young. This place gets very lonely at times since I have retired from the Senate. "
"Retired? Is that what you are telling everyone?" Lucius sneered. "The way I heard it, you were only two blackballs short of being impeached. Seems that most of your cronies in the government were no longer in a position to cover your sorry ass any more. They were either dead, or out of favor, or facing criminal charges themselves, or worse, and you were about to join them one way or another."
"Do we have guests, Titus?" A young woman, in no more than her early twenties, joined the group. She was heavily pregnant.
"Yes, my dear." He said, putting his arm around the woman and patting her swollen abdomen. "This is Lucius. I told you about him. He is my son by Brigdana, that Gaullic woman." He looked at Lucius once more. "Oh forgive my poor manners. This is Phillipina, my wife."
"Your ... your wife?"
"Yes. We were married as soon as I found she was with child." Again he patted her belly. "The baby is due in about three weeks from now. We are hoping that this will be a boy. Then I will have a true heir."
The news cut through Lucius like a knife. He forced a smile. "I am ... so ... happy for you. Both on your marriage and for your ... impending child." He took several steps back. "I ... I must be going. My ... ah ...legion is headed to Gaul. I only stopped in to say my goodbyes. I ... don't know when I shall be back in this area again."
"Wait, Lucius. I have something for you. You birthday is in a few days, after all. I was going to have one of my servants bring it to the garrison, but now that you are here ... " He motioned, and a slave appeared carrying an ornately decorated box. Titus took it and offered it to Lucius.
Lucius opened it and took out a silver plated dagger with an ivory hilt encrusted with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and opals. "I ... cannot accept this." He said replacing it and handing the box back to Titus.
"I did not commission the armourer to forge it ... at great personal expense, I might add ... only to have you throw yet another favor in my face. You can accept it and you will accept it. And you will wear it." Titus's face turned hard. "Either in your belt ... or in your gut."
"Yes ... Pater mia."
"So you are off for Gaul." Titus's demeanor became cheery again. "Why is that? It could not be for replacement duty. The legion stationed there was rotated only two years ago."
"Apparently you have been too busy covering your behind in the Senate to keep up with the news from the provinces. For the past several months, there has been a growing discontent among the Gauls. Much of it, I might add, a result of your nefarious dealings when you were in charge there. And yes, Mother told me all about that. You did right to buy her silence by accepting me. If what you did there had been made public knowledge, it would have not only destroyed you, but it could have brought the Empire to its knees as well.
To get back to the reason I am going there, three months ago, an veritable army of rebels overran the garrison at Burdigala. Nine cohorts were sent from other areas to contain the fighting, but that has left those garrisons severely undermanned. Three additional legions, mine included, have been dispatched to quell this uprising ... Which I might add is a legitimate one, unlike the so called "uprising" in Sicily a year ago."
"You must believe me. I had nothing to do with that one." Titus protested. "I didn't know anything about it until the official reports were posted in the senate chambers. I must say, I was pleased to learn that you had earned another promotion for your abilities."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because I am telling the truth."
"That would be a first."
"I am your father. That should be reason enough."
"You are not my father. You never were my father." Lucius protested loudly. "All you did was provide the seed. The army is my family now, and if you will excuse me, I must return to my unit."
"That makes us even. You were never a son to me. And I was never completely convinced that I was the one who provided the seed, either. When this child is born, I will take the necessary steps to see that it is declared my sole legal heir."
#
Lucius waited in the shadows until the guard turned the corner. It was only logical that his father would employ a squad of private militia to watch his villa. Particularly after dark. After all, there were more than a few beside himself who would like nothing more than to dispatch the good Senator across the River Styx.
As the guard left his sight, Lucius approached the wall that surrounded the villa. He searched carefully and sure enough, there behind a section of bushes was the loose series of stones that he had used as a boy to enter and leave the villa at will. Apparently no one had repaired it, or even noticed that it existed. Silently, he eased the stones out of their resting place. He got on his belly and started through the secret entrance. Although he was much smaller the last time he had used this particular entrance, it was still large enough that with a little tight maneuvering, he was able to get through. He skirted the courtyard to the main part of the house. He thanked Orpesius that there was only a thin sliver of moon. No bright patches of light to give him away. It also meant that there was little light for him to see his way. Fortunately, he knew every detail of the villa very well.
He made his way to the hallway. From the dim light of the oil lamp in the hallway, he made out the figure of a woman in the first bedroom with an obviously distended abdomen. Phillipina. From his knowledge of his father's behavior, it only seemed logical that his wife would have her own quarters. It was likely that once he had assured himself of a "legitimate" heir, that he would have nothing more to do with her.
At the second bedroom, his assumptions were confirmed. Titus lay sprawled on his stomach, wearing only a disheveled loincloth, snoring loudly. Under each arm was a woman, neither of them obviously Phillipina. All three were reeking of alcohol. Undoubtedly, Titus had been to a drunken orgy, and had brought part of the party home with him.
Lucius smiled broadly. This was far better than he could have imagined. Titus, caught in a tryst with two women. Outside the home, perfectly natural, but in his own bedroom ... with his pregnant wife in the next room ... unthinkable. Especially for one in such a perilous social position as the former Senator Titus Aquilius Pletano was in.
Just then, one of the women awoke. Quickly, Lucius clamped his hand over her mouth before she could utter a sound. He motioned several times to the door, and the woman nodded in understanding. She got up, grabbed her clothes, and quickly scurried out of the room. Her companion awoke, and seeing what was happening, followed suit. Titus never moved.
"So ... father. " He whispered loudly. Again Titus did not notice. "You are still up to your old tricks. Bedding everyone but the one you are supposed to share your bed with. You did it with your first wife when you took my mother. You did it my mother with how many hundred other women. Now you are cheating on Phillipina too. You really are a gigantic piece of stercorum (shit). Tell me something ... father. When you tire of Phillipina, will you abuse her as you did my mother? Will you eventually kill her when she too, angers you once too often?" His whispers became louder and more angry. Titus still did not respond. "And what of the child? Will you abuse him or her as you did me? Will you beat him when he shows any signs of weakness as you did me? "
He pulled the jewel encrusted dagger that his father had given him earlier that day from his belt. Somehow, it seemed appropriate that he would use his father's own gift on him. "You know, you could have avoided all of this." He whispered. "All you would have had to do was tell me that you wanted me. That you needed me. That you loved me. Just once. That's all it would have taken. Just once."
Swiftly, he plunged the blade into his sleeping father's back. "That is for mother!" He plunged it again. "And this is for Phillipina. To be certain that you do not ever hurt her as you did mother." Again he drove it in. "And this is for the child. That he or she may grow up to never know the feel of the whip." Once more, this time he drove it clear to the hilt. "And this is for me!" He pulled it out and wiped the blade on his father's loincloth before putting it back into his belt. "And that is for what you did to Remus."
He left the same way he had entered. He mounted his horse and rode to where his unit was camped.
The next morning, word spread quickly through Pompeii about the nefarious murder of Senator Titus Aquilius Pletano. A state funeral was planned for two days from then. Lucius was not one of the mourners. He was well on his way to Gaul.
#
Present
"Incidentally." Lucien said. "Philipina gave birth nine days after you died. It was a boy. The son you always wanted. She named him Petros Marcus. When I returned from Gaul a year later, I found her and the child living in squalor. Since a widow has no rights, and you did not have any opportunity to publicly acknowledge the child as your own, they were not entitled to any of your inheritance. Since I was your only acknowledged heir, everything came to me. I moved into the villa ... your villa ... and the first thing I did was to bring Philipina and her son there with me. I gave her a position as my chief housekeeper. After all, she was my stepmother and one must take care of family."
"And the boy?"
"He, too had a very good position. As my personal assistant. I taught him everything that a proper Roman needed to know to survive. I even sent him to Pronicius. You would have been proud of him. He even became a teacher at Pronicius's side."
"He was your brother, and you treated him like a servant. You obviously couldn't stand to think that he should share any of my estate." Titus said sarcastically. "That just proves how much of a coward you really are."
"I am NOT a coward!" Lucien retorted. "I have faced dangers that you could not even begin to comprehend, and I am still among the living."
"That is if you want to call what you are doing living. You couldn't even face death like a man. When the time came, you chose to become a blood sucking monster over an honorable death."
"I chose to live! That is not cowardice. There is a great difference, which I do not presume that you would understand." He doubled his fist." If you weren't an hallucination, I'd show you just how much of a coward I am."
"Hallucination, am I?" Titus swung and landed a roundhouse right firmly on Lucien's left cheek. "Can a hallucination do that?" The vampire backed away, clutching his face in surprise. "I should also tell you that here in Kessel House, all exceptional powers are null and void. That means that here and now, you are a mere mortal, as am I."
"Interesting." Lucien replied, swinging at his father. He, too landed a solid blow to the head.
Titus responded by delivering a fierce sucker punch to Lucien's abdomen. The master vampire doubled over in pain. While he was in this position, Titus brought his arm down on the back of his son's neck, causing him to fall to the floor. Lucien quickly recovered, and grabbed his father's right ankle and twisted and pulled. Titus lost his balance and came crashing down beside him. In a split second, Lucien was on top of him, landing repeated blows to the Senator's head. There was a crunching sound and blood spurted from Titus's nose. With considerable effort, the ghost managed to roll over and sent the vampire sprawling. In almost one motion, Titus was on his feet, dragging Lucien with him. He threw his son into the wall. Lucien's head hit hard against the plaster. From the force of the blow, Lucien guessed that he had at least a concussion. Blood trickled from the back of his skull, making a red splotch on the plaster. As Titus came toward him to deliver yet another blow, Lucien planted his foot squarely into Titus's abdomen and pushed with all he had, hurling the other man into the opposite wall. Another bloody splotch appeared on that wall, too.
Titus dove for Lucien's abdomen and caught him in a bear hug. There was the sound of ribs cracking. Lucien pummeled Titus's back with all his might to try and loosen his father's hold, but to no avail. Locked in this position, the two men danced crazily around the room, knocking down pieces of furniture and equipment that the workmen had left behind.
Finally, Lucien managed to wrest Titus's left arm from around his waist. He pulled his wrist back and turned it sideways. He felt the bone snap as he loosened his grip. Titus's arm hung limp at his side. Titus backhanded Lucius across the face with his good arm and opened a cut across his son's forehead. Lucius lunged at his father and missed. Arms flailing, he staggered to the floor in an ungraceful heap. Titus attempted to capitalize on the situation by throwing himself on his son's body. He miscalculated, and landed in another heap beside him. Exhausted, they both lay there, breathing heavily, unable to move.
"Resa (Surrender)?" Lucien finally wheezed.
"Resa." Titus agreed. "Tuo (you)?"
"Resa." Lucius conceded.
It took a while but they finally managed to help each other to a standing position. Titus offered his arm to Lucien. Lucien grasped it to the elbow in a traditional Roman sign of friendship.
"I have waited two thousand years for you to stand up to me like that. Things would have been vastly different if you had." Titus said with a wide grin.
"If I had known that, I would have done it two thousand years ago." Lucien replied.
Titus turned and slowly walked away from his son.
"No." Lucius called. "Do not go. We have much to talk about. So much to say to each other."
"But I must leave. My time on this plane of existence is limited, and it is nearly over." Titus said sadly.
"Will you return?"
Titus shook his head sadly. "No. I shall not be back. I have accomplished what I came to do."
"And what is that?"
"Make my reconciliation with you. I can now continue my eternal existence in peace and happiness." The spirit slowly turned translucent and finally disappeared entirely.
Lucien stared at the spot where his father had stood for several minutes. In the back of the dining area, Lucien thought he saw another spirit. One he knew all too well. Fleur. He started toward her, but the apparition only shook her head. Then she too, slowly disappeared.
He did not notice when Javier Vachon came into the room.
"Well. That was an interesting night." The Spaniard said as he stuffed his shirt back into his jeans. "If I had known that Esperanza was that good, I'd have never left Madrid when I did." He buckled his belt and zipped his fly. "What about you? See anything interesting?"
"Who, me?" Lucien reached up to wipe the blood from his face before turning to face Vachon, only to find that there was nothing to wipe. His face was clean and whole. He surreptitiously inspected the sites of other injuries. Nothing. There was no broken or overturned furniture either. There were no signs that a fight had taken place only minutes earlier.
"Shall we go?" He said to his companion. "It is almost sunrise, and we shall have to hurry to get indoors before the sun comes up."
"I'm with you on that." Javier said as he took the camcorder from its perch on the ladder where LaCroix had left it. "As much as I enjoyed this evening, I don't think I want to be stuck here for the entire day."
#
Nick removed the tape from his VCR and put it back in the sleeve. "So, what is your conclusion?" He asked the three persons in his living area.
"I don't know." Javier Vachon said. "From what I see on the tape, it's hard to make a decision."
"But you haven't even seen the best part yet. The fight scene."
"What fight scene?" Vachon asked.
"The one where I struggled with my father's spirit. It should be right there at the end of the tape. Just before you came down from your little ... adventure with whomever you were ... adventuring with. " He motioned to the detective. "Nicholas. Continue showing the tape.
"Sorry, LaCroix. That's all there is." Nick said. "The tape is only good for a maximum of six hours, and you were there for eight hours. That means that the last two hours were never recorded."
"In that case, the only thing I can say is that the tape is inconclusive. I mean, it doesn't show whether LaCroix actually saw a ghost or not." Natalie Lambert added. She had been invited to view the tape as an 'neutral third party'. And of course, since it was her camcorder, and she had a stake in the bet also entitled her to be there as well. "To be totally honest with you, I dozed for several minutes about a half way into the tape. After all, watching LaCroix talking to himself for six hours is not exactly my idea of a Gemini winning performance."
"Yeah. All we have is his word." Vachon said.
"Are you doubting my word?" LaCroix glared.
"Oh, no." Javier blanched. "It's just that ... that ... Well, like the Doc says, there's no .. no ... " He looked to the others. " ... What's the word I'm looking for? The one that means ... You know ... "
"Empirical evidence?" Natalie suggested.
"Yeah. That's it ... empirical evidence. In my book, that means that the wager is a draw. Neither side wins. So, I guess all bets are off. We each take our money and shake hands like friends."
"As you said, Javier. 'Erroneo. Erroneo. E malo tambien.' " LaCroix replied. The slightest hint of a smile crossed his face for the briefest of seconds. "The bet is still on, and I win."
"But ... But ... "
"May I suggest that the next time you make a wager, be certain of what you are wagering on. The bet, as I recall it, was that I spend the night in Kessel House. Not that I see any kind of an apparition. I fulfilled my part of the bargain. Even you admit to that. Whether I saw anything out of the ordinary or not is immaterial."
"Doc?"
Natalie shook her head and held up her arms. "Don't look at me. I wasn't there."
"Nick?"
"As much as I hate to agree with LaCroix ... he's right. The bet was just for him to spend the night."
"Thank you, my son for finally seeing my point on at least one thing." LaCroix said smugly. "Now then, shall we adjourn to the Raven where I shall gladly collect my winnings."
Javier mumbled something, barely above hearing level.
"What did you just say?" Nick asked.
"You really don't want me to repeat that, do you?"
"If I remember enough of my high school Spanish." Natalie added. "What you suggest is anatomically impossible. Even for a vampire."
"Especially for a vampire." LaCroix reinforced.
#
Miklos handed LaCroix the two cheques. With a condescending nod to his two co-wagerers, LaCroix deposited his winnings in his pocket. As word spread among the patrons about the outcome of the bet, there was both cheering from the winners and grumblings from many of the losers. Most of the bets were based on the original bet, only that LaCroix would spend the night, not that he would see a ghost.
"A round for everyone, Miklos." LaCroix announced magnanimously "On the house. That should soothe any ruffled feathers."
He finished his drink and headed to the door.
"Where are you going now?" Nick asked.
"Back to Kessel House." Was the reply. "Just as the night was ending, I thought I saw someone else from my past. Perhaps, if I am lucky, she will reappear again tonight."
"And he said he didn't believe in ghosts." Vachon said as he took another sip from his drink. "In a way, that makes it all worthwhile. Even though I didn't win the actual bet, I sort of won anyway."
"Whose bet?" Nick asked. "If I remember correctly, I was the one who put up the money. That means you owe me. Ten Thousand dollars." He snapped his fingers and held out his hand to the Spaniard. "Pay up."
"Wait a minute, Nicky boy. You said you'd do that gladly. You know I don't have that kind of dough, and I probably never will. Either in this lifetime ... or in the next six lifetimes."
"And I did "lend" you the money gladly. But I will also gladly take out the ten grand in labor. You can start by washing and detailing the Caddy. After that, I'll think of some other ways you can pay me back ... For the next six lifetimes."
"Slave driver."
#
Cautiously, LaCroix entered the abandoned building. Though it was dark, he could see everything in detail. He was headed toward the dining area when he saw her. "Fleur. Is that really you?" He said as he quickened his steps toward her.
"Lucien, I knew you would come back." The apparition said softly as they embraced.
#
The End?
Not hardly.