New Generation
Chapter II
So you children of the world
listen to what I say
if you want a better place to live
then spread the word today
show the world that love is still alive
and you must be brave
or you children of today
are children of the grave-
"Children of the Grave"-Black Sabbath
When the Tepes children finally reached the ages of five and seven, Adrian began their training regiment. Adrian started small but gradually built them up. His first act of discipline was to take them fishing. While it didn't seem like much, Adrian used fishing to teach his sons patience, because patience is what is needed when teaching two young children about combat techniques. When it came to Hand-to-Hand combat, Adrian explained to Lysander and Alcander the proper techniques of throwing punches and kicks, and how to defend yourself from an opponent attempting to do the same. To explain melee combat, Adrian instructed his two sons with sticks as swords and with actual shields for defense. To explain to his sons how to use a sword properly, Adrian purchased the carcass of a pig and hung it upside down in the family barn. Adrian explained that the flesh of a pig is similar to that of a human, and instructed Lysander and Alcander where to strike it with their swords. The final stage of Lysander and Alcander's training was firearm training, but that was taught more by their Uncle Richter, because he was better with a rifle than their father.
Adrian continued to train his sons a little everyday after school, even when Lysander and Alcander became teenagers. Both children grew into handsome young men. Lysander shared his parents' blonde hair and had kind of a mix of his parents' eye color, but his father's brown was more dominate than his mother's green. Alcander, like his brother, shared in the hair color of both his parents', but unlike Lysander, Alcander inherited his mother's green eyes.
*
In October 1819 Adrian was conversing with his brother-in-law, Richter Belmont, in the Tepes backyard while a cool Romanian breeze blew quietly through the air. "I'm going to be honest with you Belmont," beamed a proud Adrian; "I believe that both my children are equal in skill, if not possibly more, than Christian."
"What makes you so sure?" replied Richter.
"Because they were trained with the Tepes family history of fighting!"
"Oh!" beamed Richter, "then that means that we, the Belmonts, have you defeated. After all, we've been keeping some of the Tepeses at bay for…"
"Only the evil ones," Adrian interjected.
"And Lysander and Alcander are the 'Good Tepeses,' correct?" Richter replied with sarcasm.
"Of course!" retained Lysander's and Alcander's proud father.
*
On the other side of town, school was letting out for the day. Fourteen-year-old Alcander Tepes was reclining against a tree, waiting for the arrival of his older brother, Lysander. "Hey Alcander!" exclaimed a pretty brunette girl. "What are you doing?"
Alcander's eyes immediately lighted up. But his eyes always lighted up every time he saw Jessica Sage. Jessica was a petite fourteen-year-old with blue eyes and brown hair. "I'm waiting for my brother to show up, so we can go home," he answered, while doing his best to hide his nervousness. "What are you doing, Jessica?"
"Nothing really. I just saw you leaning against that tree like you were all alone and just thought that I would come and say 'hello' to you."
"Well, I'm not alone anymore now that I'm talking to you." Jessica giggled, and Alcander smiled-a smile that seemed to grow the more he stared at Jessica's white dress.
"Hey you!" exclaimed a voice from a far. "Get away from her!" Alcander rotated his eyes to the voice and discovered that it belonged to Brian Falkner, a school athlete that had his eyes on Jessica. "That's my girl, Alcander!"
"Brian!" shouted Jessica, obviously annoyed that Brian had addressed her as 'his girl.' Brian Falkner was a well-built fifteen-year-old with brown eyes and brown hair. His parents were slightly upper class, and Brian often wore some of the best clothes to school. Most girls at the school found Brian very attractive, but Jessica was turned off by his pompous attitude. Lysander and Alcander considered Brian to be nothing more than a spoiled child, who talked a good game, but couldn't back up his words with action; even though the Tepeses and Brian came from a similar background. Like Brian, Lysander and Alcander's parents were both wealthy, but neither of them wore the finest clothes to school. Their clothes were considered average, and Adrian and Maria raised their two sons to treat others as they would wish to be treated.
"Really?" Alcander said with a smirk; "I don't seem to see anything that makes her your girl."
"She's my girl because I said so!"
Alcander sighed. "Brian, when are you going to get that silver spoon out of your ass?"
Jessica laughed at Alcander's statement, but with Brian, it hit a raw nerve. He couldn't stand the words 'silver spoon.' Nevertheless, he was determined to keep his cool and make Alcander out to be the fool. He tried reverse psychology by informing Alcander that he too was born with a 'silver spoon.'
"Yes," Alcander replied, "but unlike you, the 'silver spoon' is not stuck in my ass!"
Brian gritted his teeth. He was furious! Alcander was making him out to be a fool in front of 'his girl.' In an attempt to redeem himself, he threw a punch at Alcander, but Alcander simply swatted the fist away and punched him hard across the jaw. Brian tumbled hard to the ground, but when he attempted another charge against Alcander he was thrown to the ground by a force behind him. Brian didn't know what hit him until he rotated his body to see sixteen-year-old Lysander hovering over him. "You know my brother's right," Lysander began. "You wouldn't fall so hard if you could get that 'silver spoon' out of your ass!"
"To hell with both of you!" Brian shouted. Completely embarrassed, he left the school grounds while his fellow students chuckled at his cowardice.
Lysander and Alcander merely laughed at the defeated Falkner's words, and Jessica joined in with them. "You know Sander, I didn't need your help to handle him."
"Yeah, I know, but I can't stand that little bastard. He's such a smart-ass thinking just because his parents are rich and he plays rugby that he's some kind of king."
"Which is why he thought that I was going to go out with him," added Jessica. "I would never go out with someone like that!"
"Well," Alcander began, "I don't think he'll be calling you 'his girl' anymore."
"Hopefully not," chuckled Jessica.
"Jessica," Lysander began, "would you like us to walk you home since the two of us have to walk in the same direction?"
"Certainly! I'd love to have an escort with the Tepes brothers!"
Lysander and Alcander laughed. "All right, lets go then!"
*
Lysander and Alcander escorted Jessica to her home, and would have enjoyed spending some time with her if they didn't have to fulfill their obligation to their father to practice their skills. Immediately after school, Adrian put his sons through practice drills in order to keep their skill level high. He drilled them for an hour, and then they were free to do as they wish. Lysander decided to walk through the woods adjacent to the Tepes residence, while Alcander decided to read some on a book he borrowed from the library on Romanian history.
When it came to their country's history, Alcander and Lysander found some interest in reading about their province of Wallachia. In school they were taught about a Wallachian prince named Vlad Tepes. Their teacher referred to this prince as the 'Impaler,' a title referred to his favorite method of torture; and by the name 'Dracula,' which means 'son of Dracul, or son of the Dragon.' Both Lysander and Alcander asked their father at one point in their lives if they were in any way related to this Vlad Tepes, because they shared the same last name. Their father told both of them that they shared a very distant relation to Prince Vlad, but that he was nobody to admire. He was a cruel-heartless man, who made a pact with the Devil. The majority of what Alcander read in this book about Prince Vlad was nothing he hadn't heard before. That Vlad Tepes was a mighty warrior, he supposedly rose from the dead as a vampire, and he has been hunted down by a vampire slaying family known as the Belmonts. Both Alcander and Lysander were taught by their uncle Richter Belmont that his family was the same as this particular Belmont family described, and that he too had faced the dark prince along with their father, Adrian. Yet there was one thing in this book that caught Alcander's eye: There is also a legend that as a vampire, Vlad Tepes fathered a child with a human woman.
"Never heard of that before. I'll have to ask Dad about that later."
While Alcander continued to read his mother called to him through his open bedroom door. "Cander," said Maria.
"Yes?"
"Where's your brother?"
"He went for a walk in the woods."
"Would you go and get him, and tell him that supper will be ready soon?"
"Yes, Mom." Alcander closed his book and set off into the woods to find his brother. He knew exactly where Lysander would be, because the two of them often relaxed at a particular tree in the woods.
Alcander spotted his brother sitting on a branch, and leaning back against their favorite tree. Lysander appeared to have something in his mouth, but Alcander couldn't quite figure out what it was. "Sander!" Alcander called.
His brother's voice sent a bolt of lightning through Lysander's heart. He hastily took the thing out of his mouth and turned to his brother. "Damn it, Cander, not so loud!"
"Sorry, but Mom…" Alcander ceased talking when he noticed what Lysander had in his mouth. Lysander was smoking a cigar. "Sander, what are you doing!? Dad would kill you if he caught you smoking!"
"But he won't so long as his 'little boy' keeps his mouth shut."
"Damn it, Sander, quit calling me that! Just because I'm the youngest doesn't mean I'm a tattle-tell."
"You were a few years ago."
"Yeah, well, that was then, this is now."
Lysander took another puff of his cigar. "So you won't tell Mom and Dad?"
"No."
"Good, I'm going to hold you to your word Alcander."
"You can trust me, I'm your brother."
"That means a lot."
"Listen, where did you get that cigar from anyway?"
"Christian gave it to me."
"He did?"
"Yeah. The last time we visited Aunt Annette and Uncle Richter and Christian was around he bought some cigars and gave one to me when I asked."
"I know that Aunt Annette, Uncle Richter, and Sidra don't like the fact that he smokes. They say that it's bad for his conditioning when it comes to his training."
"Yeah, well, he doesn't care, and he doesn't smoke that much anyway," Lysander pointed out. "Besides, he purchased his own home and he doesn't feel that he lives under his parents' roof anymore."
"Yeah, I can understand that," Alcander replied; "but you still live under your parents' roof, Lysander."
"Yeah for now, but I won't one day. And when that day comes, maybe I'll take little Miss Jessica to come and live with me."
"What?!" exclaimed Alcander.
Lysander laughed. "Thought that might hit a raw nerve with you, but I wouldn't mind getting with her. She's damn good-looking!"
"Yeah, well…" Alcander started, "I saved her today; and not only that, she's the same age as me."
"So what? I'm older. I'll bet she'd like an older man."
"I don't think so."
"We'll just wait and see, won't we little brother?" Lysander added with a grin.
Alcander returned the grin, "Yeah, I guess so."
"Speaking of what happened today Cander, I wouldn't be surprised if Brian Falkner doesn't try to avenge himself tomorrow. He'll probably have to get help with some of the guys he plays rugby with, because he's too damn scared to handle anything by himself. He talks a good game, but that's about it."
"Well, I'm not scared of him," a bold Alcander replied.
"Yeah, I know you're not, but since he's not man enough to do anything alone I'll be there to help you out if you need it."
"Thanks Sander."
"No problem. By the way, what did you come to tell me?"
"Oh, Mom said that supper is ready, and she sent me to get you."
Lysander smoked the last of his cigar and descended from the tree branch. "Good, I'm hungry actually. Lets go!"
