- - - Chapter Nine: The Controlled - - -

"The vampire's attacks are getting bolder," Jedi Knight Jaro Tapal said. He was a large tall black man, who hailed from the Somali tribe. Most of his head was shaved bald, except for a thick braid he kept in the back.

"It's as if they have renewed confidence," Jedi Knight Depa Billaba said. She was a Hindu knight from India. "And the headquarters in London have yet to respond to any messages. We should have heard something back from them by now."

The two sat in a small room on low wooden chairs with no backs but there were plump cushions to sit on. Heavy woven tapestries hung on the walls and rich carpets laid on the floor. They were made of bright red and gold thread sewn in intricate designs. Light streamed in thin strips through the narrow windows. A small table sat between them with a steaming metal teapot and two cups.

"Perhaps the vampires are intercepting the messengers," Tapal suggested.

"That is a troubling thought, but not an unreasonable one. How can we determine if this is the case? Send a knight out?"

"We do not have one to spare."

"I know," Billaba said. "Perhaps . . . no, it is nothing. A fleeting thought."

"Please, speak."

"What if we send the padawans?"

Tapal straightened up. "You speak of Dume and Kestis?" Billaba nodded. "They are too young," Tapal quickly added. "Unexperienced."

"They are old enough to go on an independent mission. And they are strong. They have been taught well."

Tapal closed his eyes. The two fell into a comfortable silence. Billaba knew Tapal was praying to his god, Waaq. It was a mysterious religion, and the practitioners were not ones to share knowledge of their beliefs. It might be monotheistic as Waaq does to seem to refer to one singular god. However, it could be polytheistic. Tapal often spoke of the spirits of nature.

Both knights were currently stationed in Constantinople in the Turkish Empire, which had been declining in recent years. There was general unrest along its borders. Conflict is where vampires thrived. If someone didn't report in one day or didn't come home that night, it wouldn't cause a stir. It was the perfect hunting ground.

Tapal opened his eyes, picked up his teacup, and took a long sip.

"Waaq has given me guidance," he said. "We shall send the padawans. It will be a challenge for them."

Billaba nodded. "I shall go collect them. We should not wait on this matter. The sooner we get word to London, the better."

She rose gracefully and swiftly exited the room. Tapal enjoyed the silence and continued to drink his tea. His prayer had been odd. His communion with Waaq had been unsteady. He would meditate on this further that night.

The door opened, Tapal set down his cup and looked up expecting to see Billaba returning with the padawans. But it was not. It was a man with tan skin. A holy sword hung at his side, but he was not dressed in Jedi robes nor in clothes to match the Turkish residents. He wore an all-black fine suit. He had long wavy blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Was he English? Had London realized their messages weren't getting through and had already acted by sending a knight?

Tapal stood up.

"I am Sir Jaro Tapal," he said.

The man was quiet. He looked around the room. His eyes seemed to linger on the table and the cups.

"Are you alone?" the man finally asked. He spoke with an English accent.

"Are you from London?" Tapal asked.

"I am," the man said slowly.

His eyes had settled back on Tapal. He took a step closer. There was something Tapal didn't like about this Englishman, but he couldn't place it. Yet before Tapal could think further on the thought, the man struck. He was lightning quick. His hand lashed out and something slammed into Tapal's bicep. He growled and jumped back. He looked down at his arm to see a small bloody wound no bigger than a pinprick.

He looked at the man, ready to demand answers, but froze. The man held a long thin metal needle. The end was red with Tapal's blood. The man was holding it near his face. He looked at Tapal and smiled. Then he licked the end.

"Who are you?" Tapal demanded.

"I am Darth Vader," the man said with a mocking bow.

"Vampire," Tapal hissed. He did not have his sword, but that did not mean he was weak. He could overpower this vampire. It was still light outside. All he had to do was get the filth into direct sunlight.

"-Silence,-" the man said.

Tapal couldn't talk. He couldn't open his mouth. No matter what he told his body to do, it wouldn't do it. He felt cold and a bit dizzy. The man was walking around the room examining it completely unphased.

"-How many knights are stationed here?-" he asked. There was this mesmerizing note in his voice. Tapal had never heard anything like it.

"There are 44 knights and 7 padawans," Tapal said. His words came out smoothly. Why had he answered? This was a vampire! An enemy!

"--Are there any vampires captives here?-"

"Five." Again, why had he spoken?

"-Any females?-" The man had stilled. He stood in the shadows of the room. His eyes had turned to that sick gold color.

"There are two."

The man snarled. "How long have they been here? What do they look like? Are they part of the breeding program?"

The voice wasn't the same. Its siren call had stopped. Tapal had regained himself, and this time didn't answer.

"I asked you a question, Jedi," the man growled.

"And I do not answer to vermin," Tapal said as he lunged forward.

The Englishman jumped to the side. "-Stop!-"

Everything in Tapal froze. What was happening? It felt like there were hundreds of strings holding him in place. Had he been drugged when the vampire stuck the needle into his arm? Was it witchcraft?

"Let's try this again," the vampire said as he marched over to Tapal. He pointed a finger at him.. "-Tell me about the women vampires the Ord- "

The door opened to reveal Billaba along with two young teenage boys. The red-headed Irish boy was Cal Kestis who Tapal had been mentoring. The dark skin Arab boy was Caleb Dume. Both had long thin braids that fell down to their shoulder marking them as padawans of the Order.

"Who is this?" Billaba asked.

She was oblivious! She didn't know who this viper was.

"Go!" Tapal shouted. "Run!"

Billaba and the younglings jumped but otherwise didn't move.

"-Silence,-" the vampire hissed.

Billaba's eyes widened as she realized the danger. She spun, pushed the boys back, and slammed the door shut. Tapal could hear her shouting and the sounds of feet running away. He couldn't help but sigh. The vampire let out a long low snarl.

"You have done nothing," he said. "You have not saved them."

Tapal found he couldn't speak, but he could move. He stood up straight, raised up his chin, and glared down at the man.

"-You will find them," the vampire said slowly, "and you will kill them. You will kill every Jedi here.-"

This vampire was crazy. He would not . . . He was . . . He was a Jedi Knight . . . Waaq had chosen him! He . . . He was going to find and kill every Jedi Knight. Yes. That's what he was going to do. He nodded at the vampire, who smiled wickedly at him with a smile filled with pointed fangs, and then he swiftly marched out of the room.

Night had long since fallen when Vader finally made it back to the hotel. His black suit was splattered in drying blood. His stomach was fulll of Jedi blood. He snarled as he thought of the Constantinople temple. Padmé wasn't here. She wasn't one of the vampire prisoners. And none of the Jedi he had questioned knew anything about her nor much about the Order's breeding program.

His hands tightened into fists. His black leather gloves creaked.

He hadn't found her. She was out there and alive. He was sure of it! And the vile Jedi had her. He would find her. He would!

Sidious had granted him whatever he needed to carry out his bloody search for his wife. Vader had plenty of funds, resources, connections, and vampires at his disposal. He was tearing through Europe going after each major temple leaving each one a bloodied and burnt out husk. But so far he had not picked up on his wife's trail. He didn't even have a hint! He would find the Jedi. No matter where they hid, Vader would find them and kill them all.

He heard the crying from the hallway. He sighed as he opened the door to his lavish hotel room. Two of Padmé's maids were still up. Yané was holding a very unhappy crying baby.

"My lord," Cordé said with a small bow. Yané bobbed her head, but her focus was on bouncing and rocking the baby.

"Give him to me," Vader said.

He stripped off his gloves and coat and threw them onto the floor. Yané gently handed over the crying baby.

"Hello, Luke," Vader said looking down at his screaming son. "Papa is here." There was no effect. Vader kissed the baby's head. "He's still hot."

"The fever hasn't died down," Yané said. Her voice was tired and there were dark bags under her eyes.

"The doctor came by earlier," Cordé added. "Said it was just a small fever and it should pass with some rest. If it hasn't died down by tomorrow night, we should call the doctor again."

Vader let out a dissatisfied sigh. The maids had reassured him that babies get sick easily, and Luke was a strong boy. He would get past this. But Vader worried. He had heard of plenty of babies that passed from fevers. He didn't want his son to be one, especially since Padmé wasn't here. She had yet to really hold him or get to know him. How could he face his wife and tell her their son had died?

He couldn't.

"You need to go to sleep, baby," he said softly while rocking Luke.

No matter what Vader did, Luke continued to cry. Vader was tired and irritable. He was trying not to let this situation annoy him. But the crying was making Vader think of those two padawans. How they had cried out when the African knight, Japal was it?, had killed that Indian woman. The two little worms had escaped. Vader had ordered vampires after them. Hopefully, during the night, his agents would capture the two runts.

Unlike most vampires, Vader could move during the day. Sunlight did not affect him. The stronger a vampire was, the less sunlight bothered him. And Vader was the strongest. Even Sidious could only be in the sun for a short time. And Padmé, as a scion of Sidious, had inherited that trait. It was one of the ways she had hidden the fact she was a vampire.

"Luke. Luke. Baby, please," Vader pleaded. "You need to sleep. You must be tired. Your fever will die down if you sleep."

Luke continued to cry. What was Vader going to do? His baby needed to sleep, and yet Luke seemed determined not to sleep. If only he could command his son . . . He looked down at the small baby. Could he command Luke? He slowly lowered the baby down on a sofa. He pulled out his long needle. He barely pricked Luke's skin. The baby screams intensified for a moment, but then the crying evened out. Vader looked at the small bead of blood. He swiped it with his finger and stared at it. Then finally he stuck the finger in his mouth.

There wasn't much of a taste to it, but Vader could instantly feel the connection between him and his son growing. It took only seconds for the bond to be established. Vader sighed.

"Alright, let's try this." He picked Luke back up. "Luke. Luke," he cooed to get the baby's attention. The watery blue eyes were looking at him. Vader smiled. "-Sleep.-"

He rocked the baby. The baby kept crying.

Vader frowned. Had he not said the command right? He tried again. "-Sleep, Luke. Sleep.-"

Nothing.

He commanded again. Luke still cried. Vader plopped down on the edge of the bed. "What am I doing wrong?" he asked. Luke just cried in response. "You have no idea what I'm talking about . . . Wait! That's it. You don't know what I'm talking about." Vader laughed to himself. "You don't understand what I'm commanding you to do."

He kissed Luke.

"I guess it couldn't be that easy," he whispered. "Got to keep me on my toes, don't you young one?"

Both silence and darkness had claimed the hotel room. A man lay on the bed asleep with a baby sleeping on his chest. Jedi Knight Roron Corobb glanced around the room. There was no one else besides the man, no a vampire, and the baby. Corobb quietly crept into the room. Four more knights followed behind.

The five knights had run into the padawans Dume and Kestis, who had told a horrifying story of a vampire attacking the Jedi temple. Some of the knights had attacked their own kind. Something had been wrong with them, or so the the padawans claimed. They had tracked the vampire to this hotel. They would quickly eliminate the filth.

Corobb silently pulled out his holy sword. It glowed green in the dark room and illuminated the man. He looked normal. So normal and human. But that was just how the devil worked sometimes. Corobb had reached the bed, he raised his sword, and slashed down toward the head. But the sword slashed through no vampire. Instead, it slashed into the blankets and the mattress. White fluff floated into the air. A loud shrill cry filled the room.

The vampire had evaded the strike. How? Corobb hadn't even seen him move. The vampire was crouched on the floor next to the bed. Gold eyes glowed in the dark as he glared at the knights. The now-crying baby was clutched to his chest. Slowly, the vampire placed the baby on a small sofa near the window.

"And I had finally gotten him to sleep," the vampire said casually.

"Surrender," Knight Sora Bulq said. He stood behind Corobb on his left. "Then perhaps Allah will take mercy on your soul."

"You are outnumbered," Knight Khaat Qiyn stated. She was on Corobb's right.

"I may be outnumbered," the vampire said in a slow and low voice. His body was hunching over. His nails growing into long claws. "But I am not overpowered."

"Tch," Corobb grunted. He raised his sword into a ready stance. The vampire didn't have any weapons, but the long claws and speed were a deadly combination. But before he could move to strike, Bulq rushed forward. His blue sword humming.

The vampire moved fast. Way too fast. Corobb had never seen a vampire move like that. The vampire dodged Bulq's sword, grabbed his head, and slammed his knee into Bulq's face. Corobb heard the loud crunch of impact. Bulq shouted in pain and stumbled back. Blood poured from his nose.

Qiyn let out a shout and ran forward. The other two knights followed herl. The vampire snarled; his long fanged teeth clearly visible. His long clawed hands knocked Qiyn's sword to the side and slashed at her arm. He kicked at the next knight and landed a solid blow on the knight's chest, sending him flying backwards. He jumped at the third knight. He had moved too fast for the knight to get their sword up. The vampire slashed the knight's face. Blood splattered across the carpet and vampire. The knight stood in shock leaving them completely open as the vampire stabbed his sharp-clawed hand nto their chest.

The vampire wasn't waiting this time. He pushed the dying knight at the other three then rushed at Corobb. Corobb stabbed his sword forward, but the vampire ducked down low. The vampire's elbow slammed into Corobb's side, knocking him off balance. Corobb swung his sword at the hellspawn, but the vampire backed away.

Bulq had recovered and was running over. A bottle of holy water glittering in the moonlight. He swung it at the vampire, who hissed and darted out of the room into the hallway. The four knights followed with their swords raised and ready. The vampire had turned right in the hallway, but that was a dead end. The stairs were to the left, and the knights now blocked that route. What would the vampire do? Attack them? Try to seek shelter in one of the other guest rooms? Perhaps try to escape from a window.

Instead of looking around frantically for a way out, the vampire straightened up and slowly turned around. A smug smile was spreading upon his lips. Well, at least he would face death head on.

"Tell me," the vampire said, "after you've killed me, what would you do with my son?"

"He would be taken and purified. His soul can still be saved," Qiyn said.

"Then made into a Jedi Knight? What do you know of the Order's breeding program?" the vampire asked.

Qiyn and Bulq shared a questioning glance, but Corobb flinched. The vampire's gold eyes zeroed in on him.

"-Attack. Kill them, but keep the big one alive,-" the vampire said.

One of the doors of one of the guest rooms opened and an elderly man in his nightgown stepped out. He ran at the knights and jumped at Bulq. The man started to hit, kick, and even bite at Bulq.

"Get off!" Bulq shouted trying to push the man off. One of the other knights had grabbed the old man's arm. The two struggled to get the man to stop.

Then another door opened and a middle-aged couple ran out. They jumped at the knights and started to attack as well. More doors opened and more guests ran out. The knights were being quickly overwhelmed. Corobb had started off with just trying to push the human guests aside, but now he was having to kick and punch these ordinary people. They weren't vampires, but clearly the vampire had done something to corrupt their minds.

A small child wrapped their body around Bulq's leg and bit into it. Bulq shouted and fell to the ground. At once, three guests jumped on top of him. A lady grabbed his head and started slamming it into the ground over and over again. Even after there was a sickening crack, the lady still hammered the head into the bloodied floor.

Corobb watched in horror as an old man clung on to Qiyn's back. She was trying to throw him off, but others were grabbing at her arms and pulling them. She grunted and screamed as she tried to knock them off. Then an elderly woman lashed at her with a sharp decorative hairpin. The pin was stabbed into Qiyn's throat over and over again. The blood sprayed all over the old lady.

What hell had Corobb fallen into?

He was on his back on the ground. Three guests had him pinned down. He watched as the two remaining knights were murdered. One of which had their head twisted the wrong way. The other was kicked and beaten to death. The vampire hadn't moved. He stood in the same spot with his arms across his chest smiling.

"-Stop,-" the vampire said.

All the guests suddenly stilled. Even the ones on top of Corobb.

"-Return to your rooms, clean yourselves up, and go to bed. You will not remember this in the morning.-"

Without a word, the guests moved back into their rooms. Corobb pushed himself up onto his elbows. He looked at the bloodied remains of the other four knights. The vampire was marching over to him. He tried to scramble to his feet. Where had his sword fallen? But the vampire grabbed his arm and yanked him up. Corobb's head spun as the vampire dragged him back into his room. He threw Corobb to the floor.

"My lord, are you alright?"

Corobb looked up to see two ladies standing in the room. A third lady was sitting on the couch breastfeeding the baby. Two maids and a wet nurse, Corobb assumed. The vampire walked over to the wet nurse and placed a hand on the baby's head.

"How is he?" the vampire asked. His voice soft.

"Quite hungry," the nurse said. "I suspect he'll fall right back to sleep after this."

The vampire kissed the baby's head. He straightened up and ran his oddly colored black hand through his hair. Slowly, he turned and faced Corobb.

"You seem to know something about the breeding program," the vampire said. "Tell me what you know, and perhaps I will take mercy on your soul."

"Tch," Corobb spat. "You arrogant bastard. You dare to put yourself above God?"

It only took four long strides for the vampire to be standing over Corobb. His bare foot slammed down on Corobb's chest pinning him to the floor.

"Pray all you want, knight," the vampire hissed as he lowered himself down. With his black hand, he swiped at a fresh wound on Corobb's cheek. "See if God will answer your prayers, but you will soon realize the only God in this room is me."

The vampire licked the blood off his hand.

"-Tell me all you know of the Order's breeding program,-" the vampire said. His voice is slow and even, but dripping with venom.