Chapter 5 Changes

Athens 243 BC

Janaline was walking the streets of Athens, looking for prey. She had become very particular as to what kind of people that she would prey on. She preferred to prey on those who would prey on those weaker than themselves. She relished the role reversal as these would attempt to make her a victim. She enjoyed their anger and fear as they would become her prey. Sometimes out of necessity she would prey on the innocent. It was her nature to view humans as nothing more than a source to satiate her hunger and nothing more. Over the centuries she had developed an ambition to rule over these people, however, her master did not seem to share this desire. She had become adept at reading his thoughts or so she thought. There were certain things that she could not discern no matter how hard she tried. Every time that she probed into his mind to see what his ambitions were she would see through his eyes, an image of her coming up out of the ground. It was a memory that she remember all too well. She still harbored bitterness there because of that but then she realized that Emetrius seldom let his minions exist beyond fifty years. She was unique because she has lived 675 years since her transformation to a vampire. She relished the power that came with such an advanced age. Over the years she had learned from her master about the others. The nameless one, Death, Nooroo, Austriel and Emetrius were the first vampires. They became what they were by a different means than all the others. The nameless one, Nooroo and Austriel all had several minions that were spread throughout the land. Only Death seemed not to have created any minions. It would seem that Death was the first one to have become a vampire. It was the nameless one that seemed to have any control over him. She had asked why he was referred to as the nameless one and the answer that she got was that no one knew his name and he never revealed it. It was he who had a grand scheme to control not only all of the vampires but the world in general. Janaline shared that viewpoint. It would seem that her master didn't. Exactly what his ambitions were remained a mystery for now.

***

Emetrius was in his subterranean lair, working on his latest project. There were fourteen marble statues there with him and he was working on the fifteenth. One could look at the first one and could barely make out the fact that it was supposed to be a woman. Because of his eidetic memory, he could remember every curve and contour of Elizabeth's face. He spent decades perfecting his sculpting so that with each statue, his technique improved. His last two efforts yielded statues that were so lifelike it would seem that they would come to life at any moment. The most recent one that he was working on was a moment that he remembered when Elizabeth was caught in a moment of pure joy. Her face was full and bright with a laughing smile. He was caught up in the memory.

***

"Nigel, what are you doing?" Elizabeth asked.

"Nothing." He had said as he thrust his hand into his jacket pocket.

"What are you hiding there?" she had asked with mock suspicion. When he didn't answer, she had grabbed hold of his hand.

"No!" he said as she began to wrestle with him.

"Let me see!" She demanded. 'Nigel Brown if you don't let me see what you have in your hand I will never forgive you." She crossed her arms and tried to give him an angry look.

"Never?" he asked playfully.

"I'll show you!" she said as she grappled with him. They both fell into the grass and rolled around laughing.

"Elizabeth Jones you will ruin your dress if you continue carrying on like that." A voice came from the street.

Both Elizabeth and Nigel looked up to see the face of the Jones family butler, James Stevens. They both quickly rose to their feet as Stevens looked upon them with stern disapproval.

"I'll see you later Nigel." She said as she kissed him on the cheek. She walked towards the butler when she turned and looked at him with such joy in her face.

***

It was the same face that was staring back at him now. He has immortalized it in the marble that he was carving. It amazed him that he could remember it so vividly. He paused in his work to go to a small chest that he had hidden. He opened it and removed a diamond ring. It was this that he was hiding in his pocket that day. It had been his grandmother's ring. It had been two days later when his entire existence had been changed. He had lamented his loss until he realized that he hadn't really lost her per se. It had taken several years for him to work it out but what was in his past was in a far distant future. He was aware of the nameless ones plan for world domination and he was not the least bit interested. It was true that he enjoyed the power that being a vampire brought but that was not the existence that he wanted. He worked out a plan to change all of that. It was a secret that he kept deep in a closely guarded part of his mind. He allowed Janaline's probes into his mind to help him develop his defense against the nameless ones telepathy. The nameless one constantly attempted to make contact with him. He wanted to gather all of the original five together to put a plan in motion but Emetrius balked at that. He only wanted to be with Elizabeth and he was going to go through great lengths to do so. He also realized that it was going to be 2,000 more years to put his plan into motion. He was going to prevent himself from ever entering that cursed blue box. Unless he could find that box before then and force the one known as The Doctor to take him back to that time in 1888 AD. He put the ring back into its hiding place when he became aware of Janaline probing his thoughts. He had to admit to himself that she was getting better at reading his mind and he needed to be ever more vigilant at keeping his secret…wait something is wrong. Janaline was in great danger.

***

Janaline was still looking for prey when she attempted to read her masters thoughts again. She could instinctively sense that he was thinking about what he kept secret and she was focused on trying to ascertain what that secret was. She had turned down an alleyway to track down the man that she had been absent mindedly stalking when he turned to face her. What she saw chilled her. It was not a man that she had been stalking but another vampire. It was the vampire known as Death. He opened his mouth in a silent scream and then crouched before her. Out from his clothing he produced a long slender blade. As she was getting ready to defend herself, he attacked with such speed that even with her preternatural reflexes she could not completely avoid the blow. He had stabbed at her heart but she was able to turn and so that the blade didn't pierce her heart but still the blade went completely through her. She closed her fist and struck him so hard that he flew into the stone wall of the building behind him cracking the stone. He recovered so quickly that she was unable to fend off his second blow. Once again she managed to avoid being stabbed though the heart but the blade still went through her again. Her blood was now flowing from both of the wounds that he had inflicted. If a normal human had caused these injuries they would be superficial but due to the fact that another vampire was doing it, caused these wounds to become much more dangerous to her. He began to feed off of her life energy even as she struck him harder. He flew several feet through the air as she staggered and fell to her knees. Immediately he was on her again stabbing her again and again. She felt her life fading from her as he raised his blade for a killing stroke. Out of desperation she grabbed him in tight embrace and sunk her fangs into his neck. She felt his blade go though her heart but she had begun to drain his life force from him. Even as she should have been dying she felt his strength enter her. She forced her way into his mind and saw nothing but chaos there. She saw another female vampire instructing him to take Janaline as his own. In a desperate frenzy he stabbed her again and again but to no avail. She drained him of his life essence as she consumed his blood. His power became hers and her wounds healed. Finally his thrashing stopped and he sagged to the ground. She let him slip from her grasp and he withered and turned to dust before her. She could still feel the pain of the wounds that he had inflicted and then she became aware that she was not alone. She turned and looked at Emetrius.

"Are you alright?" he said with genuine concern in his voice.

"I can feel his power in me now. I can feel his strength." She said to him.

"He was a primitive human before he had been changed." Emetrius began. "He was a cave dweller and had been a vampire for at least 1500 years before the nameless one found him."

"I can feel the primal energy that compelled him. Death was an appropriate name for him."

{That's right. Death was an appropriate name for him as I named him.}

Both Emetrius and Janaline turned to see the nameless one approaching.

I told you that this one was going to be trouble, you should have let me kill him that night. said Austriel.

[Come now, Death was little more than an animal and you both should know that.] Said Nooroo.

{He was one of us and this impudent wretch took it upon herself to try to become one of us!}

You take the wretch and I will take her master. Austriel said as she approached Emetrius. This one is pathetic as he doesn't even relish the power that courses through his veins.

[Austriel I think that you underestimate him.]

We shall soon find out won't we? she said as her eyes glowed amber.

{I will take care of this one; you stand back and watch Austriel.}

What happened next surprised everyone. Emetrius leapt forward and grabbed Austriel as she uttered an inhuman screech. He picked her up and used her as a weapon and swung her and struck the nameless one sending both him and her flying. Nooroo grabbed Janaline and took her away from the melee that had just erupted.

[Run!] He told her and he pushed her away from the combat.

Both the nameless one and Austriel quickly recovered and both moved to attack Emetrius. He fought them both with a fury that neither expected of him. He had grown more powerful than either had counted on. As one would draw life from him he would draw if from the other. Nooroo simplify watched from a distance. Janaline went a distance and then entered Nooroo's thoughts and watched the battle though his eyes. The three combatants looked demonic as they fought. Emetrius held up against the constant onslaught but could not keep fighting them both off. It began to wear on him as the both were able to bring their life draining attack against him simultaneously. He sank to his knees as the both moved in to bring the combat to an end. What happened next was a surprise to the victors. As Emetrius should have perished, he simply turned into a vapor before their eyes. Austriel screamed with hatred and rage and the vapor began to move away. She tore franticly at it as it moved along the street until it reached a small hole. The vapor sank into it and in a rage; she began to hammer at the paving stones on the street. The stones began to break. She would have attempted to dig her way into street itself if Nooroo and the nameless one didn't pull her back. She cried out in rage again.

[The sun is rising and it is time for us to get to shelter Austriel.]

She allowed herself to be drawn away. None of the three saw or cared that several sets of mortal eyes watched them as they went. The nameless one turned and looked at the hole into which the vapor sank.

{Impressive,} he said as he turned and walked away.

***

Janaline rushed to her shelter and immediately probed for her masters thoughts. She was able to pick them up as she realized that he was unconscious but alive. She caught a glimpse of a human female in a strange city. She picked up the name Elizabeth. Then she was forced out of his mind and left to ponder a mystery that had grown deeper.