STIGMA 2: Memory
Chapter 10: Memory
The afternoon wind rushed past my head, making strands of hair tickle my face. The air was layered with frost but I could barely feel the cold. Not with his embrace sheltering me from the elements as we flew through the sky.
Did I trust him again? I wasn't sure. I knew that I still loved him. That would never change. But everything depended on what he would show me. I hadn't yet come to terms with the extreme possibility that I wasn't who I thought I was either.
"Alex," Vergil's voice interrupting my thoughts. "We have to stop here for a few minutes."
I looked down as we descended to land.
"Teisha's house. Why are here?"
"You'll see." He knocked on the door. Three minutes or so passed before the door opened.
"Yes, Vergil. How can I help you?" Her thickly accented voice was calm and gentle."
His eyes were focused and almost steel like. "You know what I came here for."
Teisha's brown eyes darted to me. They were filled with concern. She sighed. "Your father warned me one day you would come here for it. But are you sure you are ready? Are you sure that she is ready?"
He nodded silently. "Yes."
"Just a moment." She disappeared back inside her house. She appeared shortly after with a small wooden box and pressed into Vergil's hands.
"Just promise me that whatever happens from now that you two will be careful."
"We will." I answered. "Goodbye Teisha."
She embraced me. "Goodbye little one."
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The Sparda home was slightly different than from how I remembered it. The outside had been repainted and the fencing had been replaced. However the windows were still boarded and up and no effort had made to restore the front garden.
"Did you or Dante fix this place?" I asked as we entered the house.
"We both did."
"Oh."
Vergil took my hand and led me outside to the back yard. It was still the same as last time; dead grass covered the hill. Those old oak trees still stood tall and proud. We sat high up on the hill.
Vergil opened the wooden box. Inside was a blue crystal the size of my hand.
"This crystal holds the memories of this house. It was sealed by my father's blood so the memories wouldn't fade." Claws extended from his left hand which he used to cut open his finger. As the blood dripped onto the crystal it started to glow.
"This memory is my own. I wouldn't let Father destroy this one."
"Dante, come and play." Lawrence ran up the hill, laughing as he ran. "Or are you chicken?"
"I'm no chicken!" A ten year old Dante very quickly caught up with him.
"Lawrence, wait for me." Lariska followed in her brown dress and boots as quickly as she could."
"Go back inside, Riska." Dante teased her. "Girls aren't allowed to play on the hill. OW!" Vergil had smacked him over the head.
"She can play with us."
"Who says?"
"I do. I'm the oldest."
The children ran off up to the trees. I turned to look down the hill and was suddenly sitting next to four adults.
"You have my thanks for completing this assignment, Danny." A man who I recognised as the dark night Sparda spoke. It was mid afternoon. The sun was still high in the sky. Eva sat by his side facing a man with dark hair and green eyes. He sat with a woman that I recognised as my mother. "Still I fear I have now placed you and Helena in danger."
Danny shook his head. "We don't fear for our lives, Sparda. More for the lives of our twins. Krases is more likely to send his minions after them then us."
"Then we will find a way to ensure their safety." Eva said. "We should be able to come up with something if we put our heads together.
"Do you still have any contacts in the underworld, Sparda?" Helena asked. "Anyone who would be willing to offer protection?"
"That's not a bad idea, Helena." Sparda replied. "However, something tells me that protecting your children may require more than a physical presence."
"MOM!" Dante ran to Eva. "Vergil tried to stab me again with his sword."
"I did not." Vergil protested. "Dante was being mean to Riska."
"Go inside you two." Eva commanded. "I'll deal with you later."
"But Mom!" The two protested.
"Inside boys." Sparda's voice clearly meant business.
"Yes Father." The twin voices chorused.
"I swear if those two weren't half demon they would have killed each other already." Sparda muttered half frustrated. His eyes grew wide. "Eva, that's it. Those two are the key to protecting the children."
"Sparda, what nonsense are you talking now?" Danny asked. "How are your demon spawn, no offense, the key to protecting my children?"
The memory left and we were once again back in the real world.
"So that's why." I said softly. "That's why I'm linked to you. That's how you were able to come back, Vergil." I turned to him. "But how did I not die when you did before?"
He shrugged. "Nelo Angelo and my body died. I don't think I actually crossed over. Come on. We should go."
The crystal glowed again.
"Wait." I said softly. "I think there's more."
"Riska, come down from there." Lawrence shouted at his sister who sat high up in a tree next to Vergil. She was dressed in green.
"Oh pipe down Larry." She started walking along the branch. "Vergil won't let me fall."
"Vergil loves Riska!" Dante sang.
"You wanna come up here and say that to my face?" Vergil threatened and jumped to his feet. As he did the branch shook. Lariska lost her balance. She grabbed the branch as she fell but sharp twigs cut into the pale milk white flesh of her tiny wrist.
Dante jumped and caught her. Blood was flowing from the wound on her wrist. Vergil jumped down after her.
"Dante, go get mom. I'll stay with her."
Lariska was crying as Lawrence and Dante ran down the hill. "Vergil, it hurts, it hurts." Vergil leant in and kissed her cheek.
Do you feel better? Mom always does that for Dante when he scrapes his knee."
Lariska smiled through her tears. "No but that felt nice."
He picked her up. "Come on. I'll protect you." She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck.
As the memory faded I looked at my wrist. The scar was filled with pain. A cool hand reached and fingered the scar and the pain faded.
"It's just a memory, Lariska. Nothing more."
But the memory continued on.
"No, I won't forget her!" Vergil snapped at his parents inside the warm living room. He stamped his feet on the carpet in front of the fire.
"Do you want her to die?" Eva pleaded with her son. "God he's so stubborn." She looked accusingly at Sparda. "I wonder where he gets that from."
"Eva, why don't we look at this differently?" Sparda knelt down to his son's height. "Vergil, I have a very important mission for you. I won't try to take away your memories but you are now charged with protecting Lariska."
"What do you want me to do father?"
"You are to tell everybody who asks that Lariska and Lawrence died with their mother. You will deny that she is still alive. In return I will watch over the twins and make sure nothing ever happens to them. If you two have contact then it will undo the block on her memories and she could be in danger. Do you agree to this?"
Vergil nodded. "You can count on me father. I won't let you down."
"Good. Now go to bed."
"Stubborn child." Eva muttered as her son ran off. "At least we could blur Dante's memories. Does he really care about her so much?"
"It would appear so."
"I spent months in that library looking for a way to protect you." Vergil said in a hushed voice taking me into his embrace. "I knew that once I was back in your life you would eventually regain your memories so I had to distance myself so that I wouldn't make it worse until I could find a solution. Marking you was the only way I could make you stronger." He paused. "I love you, Lariska and if you can't forgive me then I-."
"Would you please just shut up and hold me?" I whispered, fighting back tears. "I don't want waste any more time regretting what we could have had a year ago if it wasn't for this. Just be with me because I love you, Vergil. If even if you are a complete jackass at times."
I felt him laugh softly as I buried my head in his shoulder. This moment seemed to stretch onto forever as I relaxed and wrapped my arms around his waist. I never wanted this moment to end. It seemed like it wouldn't until my phone started buzzing in the pocket of my pants.
"McCann here."
"Alex," A very familiar voice spoke at me. "This is Mr Giovanni speaking. Where are you?"
"Segovia, sir."
There was silence for a few moments.
"Sir, are you there?"
"Yes Alex. I need you to come with me to the vampire council chambers. The coordinates will be sent via the screen on your headset. It is far too dangerous to disclose them over the phone."
"Yes sir but wouldn't it be more appropriate for a more senior agent like Agent Detrius to attend?"
"I've sent Carmen and a team of vampire hunters to the murder site in Canada. It appears our investigation has uncovered something far more shocking than we originally thought." He paused. "We believe that an old vampire warlord may have been buried there and someone is trying to or may have already resurrected him. We need to see Vakos and her cohorts immediately."
"Yes sir. I'll meet you there asap!"
I hung and placed my headset on. Sure enough the coordinates started flowing through. "Jesus, this place is only 2 miles from STIGMA. Why the hell would Mr Giovanni choose to build our headquarters there?"
"We should go quickly." Vergil looked worried. "Yes I heard everything. Come on!"
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The address Vergil and I were given was for an old derelict building. Mr Giovanni was waiting for us out the front.
"Sir." I greeted him. "Is this really the vampire council chambers?"
He didn't answer. Instead he stared at Vergil. "Interesting choice of companions, Alex. May I ask why he is here and what you were doing in Segovia?"
"It's kind of a long story sir."
"It will have to wait. Vakos is expecting us. Come now, both of you." He turned and went through the entrance into the building."
Vergil and I exchanged glances and just shrugged. Then we both followed him inside. Nikolai stood waiting for us at the front desk which didn't appear to be as shambling as the building's exterior.
"Good to see you again, Mr Giovanni." He greeted us. "Alex, it is a pleasure also. Vakos is expecting you. This way." We followed him into an elevator behind the desk.
I looked at the buttons. They only went to the basement levels. Nikolai looked to me and grinned like a shark at its prey.
"Vampires never have rooms above ground unless absolutely necessary."
"Oh."
"Ah here we are!" The doors opened. "We'll be passing through the catacombs on our way to the main meeting hall."
"Catacombs?" I looked at the sleek black walls. There were big white doors every five metres or so. "This place looks like an apartment block."
"It used to be catacombs many centuries ago. Mistress Vakos, like many of the elders used to sleep in coffins here. But some of our younger vampires wished for the conveniences of modern life so the catacombs were demolished and living spaces were built in its place. However old habits die hard. The elders will never change the name of this place. Some things like the past are too hard to let go of. Especially for oldest and the strongest among them."
"I see."
After of what felt like hundreds of metres of walking we reached the main meeting hall. The doors were more like two gates made out of hundreds of intertwining vines and branches comprised of wood..
Nikolai drew a small knife out of his jacket pocket and slit open his right index finger. He allowed drops of blood to fall onto the wood. The wood hissed and the gates opened.
"Only those bound to the council may open these gates." He explained. We followed him inside.
The vampire council comprised of twelve members. Each sat on their chairs high on platforms. Vakos sat to the left. The council was equally divided into men and women.
"Mr Giovanni," Vakos stood. "Welcome to the council. You honour us with your presence. As do you Agent McCann and Vergil, son of Sparda."
"I thank you for your warm welcome, Vakos." Mr Giovanni's voice carried and bounced off the walls around us. "However STIGMA's investigations in Canada have turned up something most troubling. It has come to my attention that the tyrant Krases was buried in Canada and that someone has tried to dig him up!"
"Impossible!" One council member stood to his feet. "The seals we imprisoned him with could not have been broken by vampire hands. Even so. It would take over two years for the seals to lose their effect once removed."
"Calm down, Xerxes." Vakos instructed. "Giovanni, do you have proof of this?"
"Yes I do. A medallion that was found on the corpse of STIGMA's traitor, the seer Yvanna. It was the same found at a dig site in the village where your prisoner was buried. All that was required was the blood of ten virgins to revive him." He threw a medallion to the ground. I gasped. It was the same shape as the symbol in the coffin.
"Yvanna did this?" I whispered. "Jesus, was that who she working for?"
"It is my understanding that Krases could communicate telepathically while sleeping. It is no surprise that he could have amassed followers while imprisoned." Mr Giovanni paced the floor. "We must stop find Krases and stop him before he does whatever it is he is planning to do."
"I think not my old friend." A voice echoed in the darkness behind us. A gasp went through the chambers. I dared to turn around. A man stood there cloaked in black. Long golden hair framed a sharply angled faced. Blue eyes blazed with anger and hate. The vampire Claudio and his men stood by his side.
"Krases." Mr Giovanni hissed. Vergil moved in front of me and gripped my hand tightly.
"Didn't expect to see me again did you?." Krases started walking towards Giovanni. "After you conspired with that whore and her brethren to betray me.
"You would see the balance broken and chaos unleashed on this world, Krases. What did you expect to happen? That we would let you run amok and do as you please?" Mr Giovanni snarled at him.
Krases moved closer and closer to him and ripped off his hood. I breathed sharply. That face. I knew that face. And finally the voice. It all fell into place. My knees threatened to give way beneath me.
"Well at least time hasn't done anything to your looks, unlike your mind. Wouldn't you agree Lord Sparda?" Krases grinned malevolently, fangs gleaming.
Author's note: My god this took so long to write. I knew this chapter had to be written just right. I rewrote so many sections over and over again.
Music for listening: I found Vaka or Untitled 1 as it's also called by Sigur Ros the perfect love theme for the first half of the chapter. For some reason it just seemed to work. For the latter half, a track called Zelem off the Broken Saints Soundtrack. Tobias Tinker is a genius!
Thanks for everyone's comments and reviews. Please keep them up.
Next Chapter: My Father's Sins.