I'm so sorry but today there's no time for anything else than to thank you for your dear comments shortly and to post this chapter. Have to go to work. Will be back at Sunday! Best wishes, yours Jenna
Translated by Lilith/Jenna
Beta read by Sg6169
Subjugation
"The road along the edge of the abyss is often the only one that leads around it."
Dr. rer. pol André Brie
This pain, in my head, my jaw… in the chest and my stomach… no pain that was unbearable, that drove you crazy and helpless all at the same time if you didn't know how to fight it. No, it was more of a calling, an urge, a need to finally lift your eyelids, to wake up and hope that all these exciting feelings of the last few hours, days, would return, and pull you back into this sensual frenzy.
But this time my awakening felt different, more controlled, more alert, as if some deep-rooted instinct was telling me that it was finally time to come around. Very slowly my mind freed itself from the solid grip of sleep, the soothing anesthetic. Slowly I raised my lids, blinked carefully into the dim light that welcomed me. It didn't hurt this time and the intense perception of my surrounding environment didn't overwhelm me as much the last time. Instead I was indeed able to grasp where I was when I lifted my head a little and realized that I still existed on some level, in the real world that I knew…
Satin, silk, decorated cushions, a canopied four-poster bed… Yes, I was probably still in heaven, or rather in Elizabeth's bedroom which she had set up in the basement of some house. Yet this was different from the other times I had awoken from my death sleep… The raging, crazy animal inside me had become calmer, had retired and with him, this high, this constant need for satisfaction of any kind had decreased. I was almost disappointed.
The last two days, had been incredible, as far as I could remember. Rough, driven by instinct, brutish. Never in my life had I felt so free, so strong, so untamed; never had I let myself go so much that I was able to forget that I had been a civilized man only a few hours ago. This new energy in me, this superhuman power had shouted to be let out. The animal in me had wiped out my humanity and had taken control of my body, giving me delights that I had previously never imagined in my wildest dreams. My mind had been completely void, all reason gone - and I had thoroughly enjoyed it. But now it was back, and I was able to once again think clearly; I remembered how it was to be a civilized person, how to control my body and not act purely on instinct alone. Even if the animal inside me was still quite dominant, at least it wasn't hindering the workings of my mind any more and I was able to sit up cautiously. For the first time since coming to this strange chamber deep in the cool basement, I was really able to see, to use my senses for something other than searching for new food or my next sensual climax.
The room I found myself in appeared to be some kind of cool storage facility for various foods and wines, because on one side were empty shelves and some barrels. Someone had decorated the cool, damp walls with velvet scarfs to create a more comfortable atmosphere and on the ground an expensive carpet had been rolled out. A few feet away from the canopy bed on which I now sat, were two steps leading to a heavy wooden door with a barred window. Next to that a single torch threw its flickering light into the otherwise darkened room, causing strange random patterns to appear on the rough, damp walls. A faint smell of blood and decay penetrated my nose and blood stains on the silky sheets, which covered the lower part of my naked body, caused not only fragments of memories from the last few hours to pass before my mind's eye, but also awakened my insatiable hunger again.
I took a deep breath and then frowned a bit displeased. The last two days in this room had felt like heaven on earth - now it appeared cramped and gloomy. Perhaps it was due to the fact that this time, when I woke up, there was no one else there to immediately help me satisfy my thirst, no Elizabeth willing to help me burn off my new, excessive energy in a very pleasurable but also exhausting way. To be all alone with myself, with this aching hunger inside and my newly awakened mind, was really strange, almost unpleasant, for it forced me to think about what I had done in the past few hours and what would become of me - what had become of me. A super-being? A monster? A higher form of existence? An immortal… a bloodsucker… a killer…
Oh yes, I had killed in the last hours – I could remember now. I had fed greedily on other people, had not been able to stop in time, not even with Elizabeth's help. Some had died. Elizabeth had dismissed it with a shrug and a laugh, used the excuse that this would happen to all new vampires. At the time, I had hardly cared about what was happening, I had been so consumed by my overpowering instincts, and had fallen into this ecstasy, which allowed no pity or thought. It was different now, because next to my mind, my conscience had also fought its way out from the depths of my buried humanity, reminding me of the values and morals I had once owned a few short hours ago, ensuring that I was very much aware of the dark side of my new existence, and it was this side of me that had also started to frighten me a bit. I had made the decision to be turned into a vampire for a very good reason: I had wanted to retain control of my life. Only to loose that control to this demon inside of me that wasn't any better than being consumed bit by bit from my serious illness. Although I might be stronger and healthier than ever before, the demon inside me was now hindering my ability to taking my life back into my own hands. As wonderful as the high of the first few hours in this new form of existence had been and as much as I still inwardly longed to fall back into that ecstasy again, my mind was telling me that it was now time to tame the beast within.
A strange tingling sensation deep inside let me close my eyes and sharpen my senses. A small smile slid involuntarily on my lips. Elizabeth. She'd come back, had not left me. And I could really feel her, felt her in the blood that rushed through my veins, felt her energy and her desire for me. Our connection was still so frighteningly intense…
The handle of the door was pushed down and one of the most beautiful women I had ever laid eyes on in my life floated into the room, closed the door behind her and then moved with swaying hips and a seductive smile on her rosy lips, towards me. Red, waist-length hair, poured in soft waves down her back like liquid fire, framing her pale delicate shape which was clothed in a dark green flowing robe. She took my breath away, like so many times before and my slowly beating heart was freed from its stillness.
"How's my little darling today," she whispered to me as she reached the bed. She walked slowly and with smooth, graceful movements around the end of it, keeping her eyes glued to me. My desire had immediately been reawakened the moment she appeared, a part of me that still couldn't be controlled, was now burning hot and hard between my thighs, and I felt the strong urge to grab her and throw her on the bed to take what I so desperately longed for.
"Have you been able to recover a bit? You're looking much better…" she continued, and stopped just short of me, far enough that I wasn't able to reach out and grab her so easily. I knew she was trying to tease me, for I felt quite clearly that her own desire for me was growing by the second. Vampires were so insatiable… something I was really enjoying at the moment, as well as this new incredible stamina.
"I'm hungry," I gave back quietly in a hoarse voice and I wasn't just talking about my hunger for human blood.
She gave a bright laugh, which immediately sent very pleasant showers down my spine. "I don't think this is anything new – but the fact that you can express this wish verbally, I see as great progress."
My eyebrows wandered toward each other a little. Had it really been that bad? Was it really possible that I had acted for a short time without reason or speaking?
"Can you remember anything of the last few hours," she asked and then sat down on the edge of the bed with a grace that had me once again feeling deep admiration.
"You… you did it…" I brought out quietly now and knew in that moment that we had not really spoken about what had happened. "You made me one of your kind…"
"And that's what you wanted," she replied smiling mildly at me. "I've freed you from the prison of your own frail body, from all the miseries of human existence…" She moved closer to me, raised one hand and skimmed it affectionately over my forehead and cheek - a touch that sent shivers of the most pleasant kind trickling through my entire body. "Eternal youth, Josef. No diseases, no more fear of death, because death has to bow to our way of life also. Incredible strength. Supremacy over all other creatures of this world. No one can match us, hold us back. The world is ours… if we want it…"
I closed my eyes, searched deep within me and knew she was right. I had never in my life been as healthy as I was now, had never felt so strong, so invincible, and yet it was different from the past few days. The intensity of the sensations had subsided. Although I still felt everything more precisely, clearer than I would have as a human being, it didn't bother me emotionally as much as it had before. I was so… so calm… so cool and unmoving, so very different from the way I was in my state of intoxication.
"Something's different," I finally gave back thoughtfully, and sought the gaze of her beautiful emerald green eyes. She nodded once and her smile became a little warmer.
"Your body and especially your mind has adjusted to your new form of being," she said quietly. "The last two days is only the beginning of it all. Now that you've survived your physical transformation, your mind is challenging you to set limits and to help you to adjust to your new lifestyle. And I'm going to help it."
She let her hand once again lovingly glide over my cheek and then put it back in her lap. "The fact that you haven't immediately pounced on me like before is already a good sign. It means your insatiable hunger for blood - no matter what kind - is over and that from this moment on it will only affect you in phases.
"But I… I am hungry," I stammered a bit awkward, longing for her touch again. The need to be close to her was so immense.
"I know," she smiled. "But the control over your needs and your reactions to others will now slowly come back - if you allow it to happen. This doesn't mean you're ready to be among humans just yet - that would be too much of a temptation. But we can start to work on your behavior during feeding. Because you do want to move among humans again, don't you?"
I nodded, my eyes drawn to her throat with all her appetizing talk and my hunger grew. I immediately felt this tingling in my upper jaw, felt my slow heart beat become faster again.
"So there aren't any more accidents and because I have no further desire to eliminate corpses, we should start your training soon," she stated, getting up, to my great dismay, before I could reach out for her.
"And as much as I love our little interludes," she added with a sleazy smile. "You'll have to learn to suppress your instincts in public, slowly but surely, and to control the animal inside you to survive, to become what you want to be, in order to be worthy of our community. I know you'll succeed. You needed the animal inside you to survive the transformation, to regain your strength. Now we have to tame it. And so…" She turned to the door and clapped her hands.
"I have a little surprise for you," she said in my direction, as the door opened again and I straightened a little in joyful anticipation. The beguiling scent of two humans, a woman's and a man's, penetrated my nose, before the first dark figure appeared. A crude, dark-haired guy who gave the impression you could get anything from him for money - so not my taste. But he wasn't the one who caused me to freeze, made my heart beat faster, and threw me into turmoil. Instead it was the young, ashen woman pulled roughly through the door and then pushed into the room, so that she stumbled towards my bed, visibly struggling with her balance. Her anxious, imploring eyes turned to me immediately; the expression in her eyes changed to a mixture of astonishment, dismay and disappointment, while I was unable to move for a moment. Anna. My dear little, Anna.
"This way, I think you'll quickly learn to control yourself better, Josef," Elizabeth continued gently and in that moment I hated her. "And I also think our guest will stay with us longer this time…"
Anna had in fact stayed longer. A lot longer. Whether this had been Elizabeth's intention or not - on that fateful day it would be the first and the last time in my life that I would take a human against her will and without really realizing it, employed my first Freshie. Anna had survived my lessons. My affection for her as well as Elizabeth's watchful participation in my first reasonable attempts to feed as a civilized vampire had saved her from taking her last breath at such a young age. She eventually voluntarily stayed with me, had been my constant companion, my lover and at some point the first Freshie to become my fledgling. My intense energetic and emotional connection to her and Elizabeth, even then, had made it clear to me what a huge step it was to turn another person, what risks it carried and how much the fledgelings depended, with this step into this incredibly deep connection, on their Sire - at least in the beginning. And no matter how long you had not seen each other, what distance lay between you, this connection survived, allowed you to feel if something happened to your partner, if they felt good or bad. The death of a partner, whether fledgling or Sire, was something that shattered your soul deeply, pulled you for a period of time deep into a hole, leaving an empty space in your soul, where you had previously felt them so intensely. It had been Anna who had caused me to realize this back then, when for the first time in my life, I had come into contact with the Legion, had fled from them and had been hunted by them. Anna had become one of their victims and her death had not only caused an immense hatred for this group, but had also been the reason I had joined Elizabeth and a few other older vampires and had emigrated along with them to the new world. It had been a hectic time back then… and the connection to Elizabeth had given me the strength, and support I had needed to rebuild my life in the States.
Now, so many centuries later, this connection suddenly seemed faint, barely noticeable, even though my Sire was sitting right in front of me at the long table where we had all gathered before the meeting and gave me a small smile. Whom I felt instead much more clearly, was the man who had, in a quiet voice, just summed up the last events that had taken place for those who had not participated in our actions. It felt as though he were a little tense, even though he appeared, to the outside world, to be completely relaxed. I also felt he was a little worried about Mick, although he avoided looking in his direction, and I even felt that he was hungry, that he thirsted for the blood of a person here who was probably for all those present a real temptation: Beth. That really surprised me, for I had always had the feeling that Gabriel was one of the few of us to have absolutely no interest in Beth's rare blood type and that he had himself completely under control concerning her. Now that his blood flowed so freshly through my veins, providing me with such wonderful new energy, I could sense it, although it was different somehow… different from the normal hunger of a vampire. There was so much excitement, so much curiosity, so much… hope? Perhaps hunger wasn't the right word for what the old vampire felt when his gaze brushed the young, beautiful woman at Mick's side…
I almost winced when I met Gabriel's admonishing look, and was immediately aware that he must have somehow felt that I had mentally invaded his feelings. Creepy…
"What I don't really understand about the whole thing," John Wu now rose to speak and in doing so reminded me that we were already in the midst of a very important meeting, "is, why the Legion hadn't sent backup into the hospital. The people there surely must have sounded an alarm!"
Gabriel turned away from me and somehow managed to shield his feelings from me, leaving me almost completely without a connection to him. This was not only a thoroughly unpleasant feeling for a newly re-turned vampire, but also unsettled me deeply. I had not known that such a thing was possible.
"Well, one of the reasons is that we were able to cut the power supply from the outside, leaving only a few devices running on an emergency generator," Gabriel responded calmly, as if our little conflict had not affected him in the least, "furthermore, I had positioned a large force at one of the Legion's other bases, and had them start a feint attack right before the fighting in the hospital began. As far as I know, the Legion sent their backup troops there first and only heard about the incident at the hospital, when it was all over."
"And what information were you able to recover from there?" Grigori said with this typically deep line between his somewhat bushy eyebrows. He and John had been the last to appear at our staff meetings because they had had the longest route to take. Besides them, it was also Malik, Elizabeth, Guillermo, Logan, Seth, Max and Kurt sitting at the table. And of course, Mick and Beth, who had both effaced themselves so far. I suspected this was due to the fact that they already knew what had happened there and hadn't had any questions up to now, because they gave an anything but indifferent impression, seemed to be awake and alert. Their 'active' time was still to come.
"At the very least, important data on the composition of their latest weapon against us and some addresses," Gabriel explained now, still very relaxed. "Most of the addresses are just stopovers, where a legionnaire in need is sent if he must flee, but with a little deceptive maneuver, one of our teams has managed to go through these contact addresses to obtain a list of buildings and facilities, behind which, switching centers or laboratories of the Legion can hide."
"This new weapon… how dangerous is it?" One could tell how uncomfortable John felt with this question. His narrow eyes flickered with discomfort and his fingertips pushed a little cramped into each other.
"Very dangerous, but I'll get to that later," Gabriel replied seriously. "At the very least it makes freeing Frank Peterson our number one if there's anyone who can find as quickly as possible an antidote for it, it's him… First however, I need know a few more things: Have you been successful with your actions?" His eyes moved back and forth between Grigori and John.
"I think things are starting to shape up well in Asia and Eastern Europe again," Grigori explained and really surprised me with this statement. "The Legion had never really been able to establish itself in these regions and our actions had not only badgered the smaller groups there, but also the larger organizations in Western Europe. Moreover, their respect for you there is still immense. They said that their recent attacks are based solely on a huge misunderstanding and that they certainly wouldn't want to dissolve the existing contracts. One is willing to renegotiate with you and cease all military activities in Europe and Asia."
"However, the negotiators of the Legion in Europe have already made it clear they're not able to do anything about the problems in the States," John added to my disappointment. "They said they don't have any control over the groups here, that the American Legion has been quite independent for centuries now and hasn't listened to them very much."
"Why does this statement not surprise me?" Gabriel uttered with a slight shake of his head and then looked at Malik.
"In Africa and the Arab world everything remains quiet," he declared immediately with a composure similar to Gabriel's. "The people there are struggling with their own problems. They don't need a war between humans and vampires in addition."
"Well, this is quite good news so far," said Gabriel, and inhaled deeply, gathering himself for a brief moment. "That's how it should be, because the things occurring here are much less positive." Another breath, then Gabriel looked at us again.
"The rumors that some older leaders of the Legion are trying to reunite their organizations, have been confirmed. At least one of them has started negotiations between the two quarreling sides and therefore seems to have made some initial progress. It looks as if a few of the units between the two parties are now working together again, as well as some of the labs."
There it was again, this uncomfortable pressure in my chest, which always seemed to build when confronted with bad news. Those were not the words I wanted to hear.
"This man is also trying vehemently to fight against our strategy of sowing the seeds of dissension and opposition and is therefore a serious threat to us. By no means is he allowed to be more successful than we are. At the moment the Legion is still split and we must ensure that it remains that way and that one of the two sides eventually breaks and contacts us to negotiate."
"Does anyone know who he is?" Beth now asked into the round and once again I felt Gabriel grow tense as he looked at her. Apparently it wasn't so easy to interrupt the connection to your fledgling and one could only keep it up for so long.
"Not yet," the old vampire replied and something deep inside told me that he wasn't being completely honest. "But we're trying to find this out and then we'll do everything possible to stop him. However, this will be no easy task."
"The supreme head of the Legion is so well camouflaged that it's almost impossible to uncover their true identities," Malik now added explaining. "But this man has ventured out quite far from his hiding place in order to regain control over the entire situation. He's currently very active, and perhaps circumstances will force him to drop his cover completely for moment. And when he does, we'll be there."
"What about our own strike force?" Elizabeth inquired and immediately looked over to Max and Kurt, who sat to my left. "Have you been able to recruit new employees?"
"Currently, because of our own actions, we've not had that much time for it," Max admitted, "but Patricia is excellent at this and has probably been very successful. The number of vampires beleaguered by the Legion who do not want to be intimidated anymore is growing daily. And we're also receiving, thanks to Guillermo and his family, reinforcements from Mexico." He nodded briefly towards the almost proud looking Mexican. Then his gaze wandered to Grigori and John. "By the way, some of your friends have already arrived as well."
"Well," Gabriel began to speak again. "We're still hoping to be able to negotiate with the Legion soon, so this first remains only a precautionary measure. What's important now is to plan our next big mission together." He gave Logan at his side a requesting gaze and the young vampire immediately got up overzealously, giving Seth a sign, who instantly switched on a projector that was connected to Logan's laptop. It only took a few seconds and a map of a large building appeared on the white canvas, which Logan had brought into the room before the meeting had started and had set it up at one end of the long table where we all sat.
"This is a diagram of the toy factory on the outskirts of Casa Grande, a small town in the south of Arizona," Gabriel continued. "It's of particular interest to us because it's not only on the list that Max obtained for us with his team, but also on the list Ben Talbot, who has decided to cooperate with us, gave us. For this reason, I have sent a request to one of my contacts within the Legion to provide me additional information about this factory at the risk of his own life. Yesterday, I received this from him." Gabriel nodded briefly to Logan and another, much longer and wider plan appeared on the screen. This really didn't look like a factory anymore.
"We now know with certainty that under this building there is not only a laboratory, but also one of the more important bases of the Legion," Gabriel explained further, while I just stared wide-eyed at the canvas. And it became even more incredible when…
"A few minutes ago these pictures came in…"
On the screen appeared a couple of bad-resolution black and white images of two men in white coats pushing an old, frail man in a wheelchair through a corridor and my pulse began to accelerate similar to Mick's, who had been sitting quietly to my right but had now come to life, as he leaned across the table in disbelief.
"That… that's Frank!" he exclaimed shaken and Beth at his side also craned her neck.
"God, he looks terrible," I heard her murmur shaken, as my own gaze roamed expectantly to Gabriel.
"Whether this is really him or not, we don't know for sure yet," Gabriel returned unimpressed. "The pictures are very bad and it could be a trap."
"You mean somehow they've acquired a person, who looks similar to Frank to lure us there?" Beth asked tense, but Mick shook his head several times, leaned in a little further, seeking intense eye contact with Gabriel.
"It is Frank," he said emphatically, and the excitement that had befallen him, made me pretty antsy now. "Believe me! I'm not mistaken!"
My eyes darted back over to the greatly enlarged image, which wasn't very good quality and fairly blurred, but the longer I studied the old man's thin face, his posture, his stature, the more sure I too became.
"We have to get him out of there as fast as possible! He won't last much longer! Just look at him!" I heard Mick urging and looked again at the old vampire who gave a deeply thoughtful impression.
His chest expanded eventually with a deep breath, then he bent himself forward a little. "Well, let's suppose that it is in fact Frank Peterson… It could still be a trap, a method to lure us in, especially you Mick, to catch us with a superior force of soldiers. And even if that's not the case, this center will be full of soldiers. You saw how many soldiers were stationed in the hospital. And these only to secure the entrance to the laboratory."
"So what exactly are you thinking now?" Mick brought out with an impatience that told me exactly how much the sight of Frank had thrown him out of kilter. This was not good. "That this is about to be a delicate situation? We all know this! But we must get him out there somehow!"
"That's in fact what we intend to do," Gabriel responded seriously and held my friend's pressing gaze without a problem. "But first we must be very, very cautious and we absolutely need to find out how many opponents we'll be facing and what weapons to expect. And we need to wait for the safest possible moment before taking any kind of action. We cannot risk a loud, costly battle that may even alert the local police. All this must happen fast and without any flaws so that no one notices. And that means the teams that will be carrying out the mission, must be thoroughly prepared. Impromptu actions not only make no sense but would be suicidal!"
Gabriel's voice was stern and strong and the look in his eyes strangely set. I was hyperaware of the energetic tingling between Mick and the old vampire, felt how Mick was struggling against the calmness Gabriel was trying to transfer to him with all his might, but finally my friend gave in, leaned back and took a deep breath, that allowed a large part of his strain to disappear along with it. I was fascinated.
"And who will take care of Frank's liberation?" Beth asked now, with deep lines of worry on her forehead and I already knew what her concerns were.
"Max will lead one team, I'll be leading another, and there will be one under Malik's leadership," Gabriel explained a bit exhausted. Well, handling stubborn fledglings could sometimes be quite stressful. Although… Mick wasn't actually his fledgling. Why then did it feel like that to me?
"And who will be part of these teams," now Mick asked and his whole posture told me how much he wanted to be a part of one of these teams. I wasn't the only one to notice this, for the fear in Beth's eyes was even more evident.
"If you're curious to know whether you're in on this, Mick, then I can answer you with a clear 'yes'," Gabriel voiced the young woman's deepest fear and her eyes became much wider. "I absolutely need you for planning and preparing, but I would not want you to go into the station."
The relief that washed over Beth with these words was almost palpable, yet I felt Gabriel was again not being completely honest, that he was holding back some very important detail. I didn't like that at all.
Mick had to swallow hard over this information, but after a moment of reflection he finally nodded bravely. He wouldn't have been able to do anything about it anyway, because the surge of vampiric energy, aggression, anxiety and tension that assailed us from the direction of the main entrance to the building, caused each one of us to freeze for a few seconds. All the energy and smells I was picking up were in one way or the other familiar to me. Lance, Thomas, Henry and Cynthia. Now the stress was really beginning.
I felt Gabriel let the energies inside him come together, then my connection to him was cut off again and his face took on this cold, dangerous expression, which revealed he had now slipped into the role of the strict superior vampire. I didn't have much time to think about it further because the next moment the door to our meeting room opened and Thomas entered, followed by Henry and Cynthia, and finally Lance. They all gave a very tense impression, but the fear of death only emanated from Henry and Cynthia whose eyes quickly scanned the many faces at the table, and avoided dwelling on any one of them too long. The fear they had was justified because there were some people in this room, whose hatred was immediately apparent. The strongest wave of hatred came, as expected, from Mick, who had consciously turned his back to the newcomers, closed his eyes with his head bent down and tried to breathe deeply and quietly to get his raging emotions under control. Gabriel's fears concerning the control of his emotions had probably not been unjustified.
The old vampire rose and walked with a stony face up to the two apostates who immediately backed away from him, but were prohibited by Lance from moving any further. Gabriel stopped and pointed with a welcoming gesture to one of the still vacant chairs at our table.
"Please," he told Cynthia, who was now much paler than I remembered her. In fact, she looked pretty bad now that I watched her, as she reluctantly complied with Gabriel's request, followed by an equally pale Henry, who complied with Malik's motion to take the other chair. Cynthia had, over time, lost a significant amount of weight, becoming thin and bony and had lost all the attractiveness she had ever owned. The fear and the uncomfortable life of being on the run from her own species had distorted her once smooth face and the many deprivations of recent months had made her look sick and haggard. Her betrayal had cost her her attractive appearance - and it was anticipated there would even be more to follow, perhaps even today.
The hatred in me also grew with every second I had to spend in Cynthia's presence, even using all my available forces to struggle against it. The knowledge that this woman had caused my best friend, with her selfish actions, unbelievable suffering, that she caused me and Beth a year of anguish, was just too oppressive, could not be displaced so easily. All I could feel for her now was contempt.
Her eyes just brushed mine when she and Henry had finally settled, and roamed on to Mick, who kept his eyes lowered, still clenching his teeth visibly. I could feel the hatred and anger boiling up within him as he struggled with the rumbling vampire inside and I also felt the strength that flowed through him as Beth pushed her hand under the table into his, squeezing it firmly.
"You can do this Mick," I heard her breathe and really admired her for having her feelings well under control. Her anger towards Cynthia had to come pretty close to mine.
The disdain and anger of the others, on the other hand, was shown quite clearly on their faces. Guillermo also had great difficulty sitting quietly and even a usually relaxed Logan glared at them hatefully. Only Max, Lance and Gabriel gave a fairly impartial face, but that didn't make them any less dangerous. I knew just how fast each one of them could change and become a dangerous beast - Gabriel above all.
"You know why you're here?" Gabriel now addressed the two frightened vampires in our midst with an icy voice as he slowly walked around the table, clearly displaying with his attitude who wielded the scepter of power.
Cynthia and Henry nodded in sync, but Cynthia's eyes flashed again throughout the room, as if she were looking for something… or someone.
"You also realize your cooperation is the only reason you're still alive?" the old vampire went on with a frightening lack of emotion in his voice.
Again a humble nod followed.
"Good." Gabriel stopped next to Cynthia. "Thomas told me over the phone, that you remembered on the way over here that you had once been allowed to visit one of the laboratories of the Legion we're looking for…"
"Yes, but I also told him that I had been knocked out and only woke up later in the lab," she objected hastily, but didn't dare look at Gabriel while talking.
"Nevertheless, you should at least remember how large the lab was, how many soldiers were present and what was being investigated there," Gabriel replied strictly and forced another nod from her.
"Then we're very excited to hear that," he added, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that Mick was finally able to raise his head again to look at Cynthia.
"When exactly were you there?" now Max asked coolly.
"A… a few weeks ago," she uttered in only a very small voice.
"Why?" it slipped blankly from Logan's lips.
"Because I was forced to by the Cercle," was her incredible response. My mouth wasn't the only one to twist into a mocking smile.
"Forced," Logan repeated with a false laugh.
For a brief moment rage flashed in Cynthia's eyes. "Yes, forced! Not everything is as simple as it looks! The Cercle has tremendous power and you cannot counter it effectively if you're totally on your own!"
"Are you expecting us to feel sorry for you?" now Guillermo exclaimed angrily, leaning forward to Cynthia almost aggressively, but something caused him to stop and lean back in his chair again with a deep breath. Not just something… but a light energetic tingling that had emanated from Mick and when I glanced at my now very quiet friend, I noticed he was still looking at Guillermo admonishingly. Apparently despite his hatred for Cynthia he was very much interested in hearing what she had to say.
"I don't need your pity," the woman returned now lowly. "I've never received anything other than contempt from this society. I don't think there's any reason for this to change today."
"You betrayed us!" Grigori blurted out angrily and I felt exactly how hard it was for him to not attack Cynthia. Betrayal was something he absolutely couldn't stand because of his own history. "Actually, we would have judged you some time ago!"
"Grigori!" Gabriel raised his voice admonishingly and our old Russian friend was again able to pull back, to compress his lips and remain quiet.
Gabriel addressed Cynthia again. "You said the Cercle forced you to… to do what exactly?"
"I… I had broken off contact with the Legion," she stammered. "I didn't want to… to do that… that anymore…"
"Continue doing business with them?" Grigori once again asked sharply and even Gabriel's warning glance couldn't keep him from staring at her angrily.
"Yes," was the honest answer.
"So, suddenly deep regret has seized you," it escaped me full of mockery and Cynthia's eyes almost pierced me the next moment.
"The Legion had started to use the cure to develop weapons against us," she hissed at me. "It would have been suicide to go on supporting something like that."
"Oh, so you're saying the Cercle still wanted this, yes?" Logan said, shaking his head.
"No, certainly not," she said quickly. "They just wanted to be sure the Legion didn't cease their research completely."
"What exactly are they hoping to gain from the research?" Elizabeth, who had up till now held back, asked. "After all, they too have been quite active concerning the cure…"
"Is it so hard a guess?" Cynthia replied. "They want exactly the same thing the Legion does. To mutate into super-creatures who will finally be capable of ruling the world and assigning the human race a place at her feet."
"Wouldn't it be much easier if they postponed this idea for a while and instead concentrated on exerting pressure on the Legion to ensure their attacks on the vampire world stop?" now John mingled in.
"It would be in fact," Cynthia replied. "But they're afraid…" Her eyes roamed cautiously over to Mick. "They're afraid of what Mick might become."
I was taken aback, frowned in surprise. "I don't understand. If Mick had indeed evolved enough to become kind of a Nigong… then… then they would have reached their exact goal. Why should they be afraid of this?"
Cynthia shook her head, a strange smile on her lips. "I'm not talking about his physical development, Josef – this is all much too uncertain to frighten the Cercle. It's more about what he is now and what role he could play in this war."
Now I understood nothing at all and it was probably written on my face, because Cynthia let out a small sigh and inhaled again.
"The Cercle doesn't want a peaceful coexistence with humans, Josef. They don't want a compromise. They want vampires to stand above humans, want to dominate and rule them. They believe it should have always been this way, that this is exactly what the future holds for these two species. So, is there anything worse for them than the appearance of a hybrid with immense strength, who stands exactly in the middle of the two parties, belonging to both sides, who could be a link between them, and perhaps have the desire and the potential to reconcile these two species?"
Cynthia had done it again: I was speechless. This was a direction I had never thought of. For me, Mick's hybrid state had always been something frightening, had felt unsettling, because the vampire inside him had such immense powers and at the same time was so unpredictable. That someone else could perceive him as a threat because of his humanity and his love for the humans, would never have occurred to me. But it made sense, and explained the actions of the Cercle. They had to reach their goal as soon as possible before something, brought about by Mick, happened to join the two worlds in which humans and vampires lived one day. Or they would at least need to prevent him from living long enough to cause a change of thinking in all of us.
It was Mick himself who startled me out of my thoughts by uttering a low, not very real laugh.
"I'm not some kind of savior…" He laughed once more, but the troubled flickering in his eyes, told me that he thought this was anything but amusing. Another burdensome role he didn't ask for was now hovering over him. "No one alone can change the order of the world. And I'm certainly not the knight in shining armor whose magical sword brings peace to all of us… I'm not even at peace with myself!"
Gabriel raised his hands soothingly and shook his head and for a moment I had the feeling a small smile was hiding behind his cool façade. "This is only the fear of the Cercle, Mick," he returned in a deliberately soothing tone. "We here all know these are only fantasies brought on by fear, which go hand in hand with fanatical, pathological thinking. We however are aware of what reality actually looks like. Nevertheless it's now become clear why the Cercle is out to get you, and we must keep that in mind. The fear of the Cercle is a serious threat to you and all those who mean something to you." Gabriel's worried gaze rested for a moment on Beth, then he turned back to Cynthia.
"So, the Cercle wanted you to re-supply the Legion with the cure… what was the purpose in ordering you to visit the lab?"
"To determine whether the people who work with the Cercle are sticking to their promise to use the cure strictly for research on its improvement and not to invent new weapons with it," Cynthia said quickly.
"And this has been confirmed?" Gabriel asked a bit hypocritically. We all knew better.
"It looks that way, yes," Cynthia returned and wrinkled her forehead confused, when Gabriel nodded to Lance, and he stepped up to the table, brought forth a small vial containing a red liquid from his coat pocket and set it on the table in front of Cynthia.
"What… what is that?" she stammered in confusion.
"The Legion's latest weapon," Gabriel gave back quietly. "Against us. Developed from the cure that you provided them."
Cynthia shook her head, but could not hide the discomfort in her eyes from us. "This… this can't be…"
"Because your cure is fake?" Gabriel asked with a cool smile.
Cynthia looked at him shocked.
"It argues in your favor that you were trying, despite the pressure of the Cercle, to boycott the Legion's work on the cure," Gabriel continued calmly. "And you were right – the cure you gave them would not have turned a normal vampire. But the minimum amount of the real cure contained in it was apparently sufficient for them to continue working on this… poison."
"Poison?" Henry repeated horrified, who had been holding himself back tremendously the whole time. It appeared it had abruptly dawned on him that he too was to blame for the Legion being able to develop this weapon.
"Yes poison. It's said that when it's injected into most vampires, they die," Gabriel answered his incomplete question. "So, I would call that indeed a poison."
Henry became even paler than he had previously been, while I began to wonder. If what was on the table before us was the remedy that had turned me back into a human, then Cynthia's fake cure couldn't have had anything to do with it - at least not alone. Hadn't August told Mick that the new weapon contained the remedy in a highly concentrated form?
"But we don't know that for sure yet," Gabriel added, and something strange was lurking there in his eyes, something that Henry seemed to miss completely.
"I didn't know… I didn't want them to develop weapons to use against us… I…"
Gabriel cut him short with a sharp hand movement and Henry dropped his shoulders helplessly. I saw how it worked in his head as he searched desperately for a way out of this whole mess and asked myself why Gabriel had left him alive at all. The goal to get a hold of Cynthia through him had indeed been reached, and he himself didn't appear to have worked with the Cercle, for a few times during Cynthia's surveillance he had given the same equally astonished impressions we had and therefore hadn't seemed to be able to add much to our illuminations.
Gabriel seemed to agree with me, for he turned to Cynthia again who still looked stunned at the remedy in front of her on the table.
"Who showed you around the lab? One of our old friends?"
Cynthia looked up again, nodded, affected. "Gallagher… and Ritchcroft was there too at that day…"
My heart began to beat a little faster. Apparently, Cynthia had just visited the laboratory that we were planning to visit soon and Gabriel seemed to have sensed this, because a breath of satisfaction caused his hardened face relax a bit.
"So Gallagher is the head of this headquarters," he asked to be on the safe side again.
Cynthia nodded.
"Was… was Peterson also there?" now it burst out of Mick and I held my breath for a rapid heartbeat.
She hesitated a little. "I'm not sure. I didn't see him then, but I've heard that he should be there now." Her cautious gaze went to Gabriel. "You… you want to get him out of there?"
Gabriel's eyes rested thoughtfully on her face for a moment, then he nodded restrained.
Cynthia, however, immediately shook her head. "This is crazy… There's no way you'll succeed. This laboratory is guarded like Fort Knox. And even if you were able to get in, you won't be able to get out again. The laboratory is equipped with the latest security systems and once someone triggers the alarm, reinforcement will arrive in a flash."
Gabriel responded, surprisingly, with a smile to Cynthia's scare mongering statements. "And the Titanic was also supposed to be unsinkable," he replied calmly and walked around her chair, gave the frightened Henry a disinterested glance and then looked back at Cynthia. "Besides, someone will be coming with us, who knows the place… "Another long look into her eyes made Cynthia tremble slightly. "You," the old vampire added and for a moment she just stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. That's when the head shaking started.
"No… I can't go back in there… never again," she stammered and I could tell, she really meant it. There must have been something there that scared her terribly. "There had been no discussion of this before. All you said you wanted was information about the Cercle and the laboratory - that was the agreement!"
"I don't remember promising you anything other than sparing you and Henry for now," Gabriel said in a cold voice. "And at that time I wasn't really aware of the extent of your actions." He nodded towards the remedy.
"We knew nothing of this," Henry uttered immediately. "At least I didn't!"
I couldn't believe it: in his panic Henry was now beginning to turn on Cynthia, who stared at him in disbelief.
"You were the one who tried to keep me from diluting the remedy out of fear of the Legion!" she returned angrily and Henry shook his head in panic.
"That's not true – she's lying! I tried to keep her from continuing to do business with the Legion that's all!"
Now even I heard the lie hiding in his words and his voice and Cynthia gasped.
"Your connection to the Legion was much more involved than mine," she hissed now, irrespective of his untiring head shaking. "You've even dealt with them on things other than the cure!"
Henry's panicked look flew up to Gabriel, whose eyebrow lifted a bit. "That's not true… she… she…"
"… she's lying?" said the old vampire lurking and I knew at that moment he had known about Henry's other business dealings with the Legion for some time.
This realization also seemed to transfer quickly to Henry, because his eyes reflected the great fear of death and he let out a barely audible whimper.
"Will you repeat that again?" Gabriel said softly, almost gently, and yet it seemed more threatening than any words he had previously spoken.
A tremor ran through Henry's body and the look in his eyes went from panic to pleading.
"Please, Mon Maitre," he began to stammer, "they… they put me under great pressure. They would have killed me otherwise… I…"
Gabriel stopped his whining with another cutting gesture. "I want to know just one thing, Henry. Were you the one who helped the Legion to develop the counterfeit cure into a reasonably functioning one?"
Henry swallowed hard. "They were going to kill me…" he whispered.
"And now they're able to kill many more vampires," Gabriel responded reproachfully.
"This… this hasn't been confirmed yet. After all the remedy hasn't really been used until now. Maybe these rumors were only meant to frighten us and in reality it's not nearly as effective as they're all saying…"
The smile that slid over Gabriel's face was cold and dangerous, and I knew at that moment that Henry had forfeited his life with his last sentence, his last lie. I felt Mick tense beside me as he was expecting a nasty turn in the interrogation. I was sure his feelings wouldn't deceive him.
"You may be right - at least we don't know what effect the remedy has on a normal vampire yet," said Gabriel now and walked away from the vampire who was shaking with fear. "But is it our ignorance that's to pay for your betrayal?"
"No, no… I…" Henry broke off. His eyes flew hurriedly over our faces, looking for anyone who might take him under his protection, but he was only met with scorn and hatred. "Please… I regret what I did. I… I've agreed to give you all information that I possess… I will atone for my mistakes. Please let me make up for it… please…"
I almost felt sorry for him, as he sat there, begging for his life. But only almost, because I suddenly realized this man had been playing this foul game with us for an incredibly long time and had known the whole time he was cooperating with us where Mick was. He could have ended Mick's suffering much sooner. Hate was the more appropriate feeling for this traitor and his lovely companion.
"And how do you imagine doing that?" Gabriel asked with raised eyebrows.
"I… I don't know," Henry whispered. "I'll do anything… anything…"
"Anything?" Gabriel repeated with a mild smile and the nod of the trembling vampire was followed by a strange exchange of glances between Malik, Lance and Gabriel.
"Then surely you can enlighten us a bit more about how this new weapon of the Legion works," Gabriel added softly, and sat down in an empty chair with this cold shark smile.
I frowned slightly as Malik stepped suddenly behind the bewildered Henry, grabbed his shoulders and held him in a viselike grip. There was a mixture of confusion, fear and horror in Henry's eyes, for Lance was now approaching him as well, grabbed the vial from the table, took a syringe from his coat pocket and drew the remedy up in it under our astonished eyes. Henry was the first to realize what was about to happen here, because he uttered a panicked "Noooo!" and tried to get up. But Malik grabbed him more firmly, held the squirming, screaming man with a vengeance to the chair, while Lance quickly bent down to him.
"No! Please, no!" Henry yelled, but that didn't upset me anymore, instead I watched with some fascination as Lance rammed the needle into the neck of the desperately struggling man and injected him with the dangerous liquid. Only when I heard a tormented gasp next to me and a chair being pushed back loudly, did I notice that Mick had taken the actions with less enthusiasm than I did. He had almost become ashen and struggled violently to breathe, and only the shock and panic in his eyes made me suddenly aware that Mick had constantly endured the exact same thing last year - in exactly the same enforced way. This had to inevitably led to a flashback of his trauma.
Beth seemed to understand this more quickly because she too had become a little pale around the nose, but this didn't stop her from stepping up to Mick, grabbing his face and in doing so forced him to look her into her eyes. "Look at me! Look at me Mick!" she uttered repeatedly and he followed her instructions, clung to her with all his soul to regain control of his erupting emotions, to fight off the panic attack.
"This is not you, Mick… not you!" Beth talked insistently to him and I too approached him, tried to reach him mentally, to assist him in his fight against his trauma. I almost winced as his intense fear and helplessness carried me along, as rapid sequences of image flashed before my mind's eye, images I didn't want to see: people who leaned over me, hands that held me down roughly, injected me with liquids that brought about terrible pain, Gallagher's sadistic smile… but just as suddenly there were different images that pushed before these nightmarish scenes. Wide, beautiful landscapes, the face of a smiling young man who was chasing me and then we jumped into a sparkling lake… and then there was Beth… again and again Beth, laughing, looking at me endearingly, caressing me… naked, clinging to me… I broke lose so rapidly from Micks mind that I even staggered back a small step. I had never had such extensive access to the thoughts and feelings of another person, had never experienced them with such intensity, and Mick hadn't even seem to notice it, was still focusing with all his might on Beth to block out the memories of his time in the lab and what was happening around him. He seemed to succeed slowly, because his breathing had become more stable, the panic in his eyes decreased. I however, was totally upset, because I still had to handle not only what had just happened, but also the things that were still happening around us.
All the others were now on their feet as well: Max and Malik grabbed a horrified Cynthia, who was preparing to storm out of the room, Guillermo, because he, like me, was worried about Mick, wanted to help and had approached us, and the rest of those present were in their feet, because all the things around them were too exciting to be able to remain seated.
Henry had fallen from his chair, writhing on the ground, now seized with visible cramps. His eyes were wide open, bulging out of their sockets and his whole body twitched and thrashed in excruciating pain. It had not been that bad with me…
Gabriel appeared, even in this situation, to remain calm and to know exactly what to do. He gave Guillermo and Logan a cautious hint, and they both approached Mick and Beth to help the young woman get Mick out of the room - which was probably the only thing that made sense. I myself, however, wasn't sure what to do, took a step to follow my friends, but then stopped when I heard Cynthia's quiet sobs.
The traitor had pressed both hands over her mouth and stared in horror at the now only slightly quivering body of Henry, as tears of shock ran down her cheeks. It was now so quiet in the room, that you could hear the weak, irregular heartbeat of Henry's, his halting, rattling breathing. And then it became silent. Paralyzing horror had settled into the limbs of all the others. None of us was accustomed to seeing a vampire die so quickly with such a minimal effort.
"That's how the remedy works on vampires," we all heard Gabriel's deep and unapproachable voice and the unpleasant pressure in my chest, caused by his words, made it hard for me to breathe evenly.
"That… that's horrible!" came from John Wu stunned and he had to sit down once again. He shook his head sorrowfully and Grigori sat down beside him breathing heavily.
"All the same, maybe we should test the remedy once more to play it safe," Gabriel added, looking back to Cynthia, who had still not totally recovered, because she had not been able to force herself to turn her away from Henry's motionless body. It wasn't until she felt Gabriel looking at her, and became aware that he was speaking to her, that she finally looked up frightened.
"And I'm not talking about you, my dear," he said gently and even managed to give her a gentle smile. He almost seemed to enjoy all the mental anguish he was giving our 'friend' with his whole behavior. His gaze wandered briefly to Max.
"Get Coraline," Gabriel pointed to him and the man immediately set into motion.
Cynthia's eyes widened in horror. Now nothing would hold her back anymore.
"No! No! Please!" she cried out in panic and I noticed her eyes filled with tears anew. "I'll do anything for you! Anything you want! But don't make her suffer because of me! Please! Gabriel!"
Max had stopped at the door and waited for Gabriel's reaction, as we all did. The old vampire looked at the heavy breathing, totally distraught woman in front of him - blank, well-calculated. Then he nodded slightly to Max and he came back to our table.
Cynthia let out a trembling breath, and slumped down into her chair, weakened by her emotional outburst. Her hopes had dried up, her will was defeated. She yielded to her fate, knowing that even if she could accomplish the job awaiting her, her life was forfeit. Because with traitors Gabriel knew no mercy.