It was already dark when the 5 landed in front of a large looming castle like building. They all looked up at the large wooden door. All the way up the building, scatterings of lights lit windows giving it a creepy feel.
"Where are we?" Aisha asked.
Billy looked around, "judging by the city below, we are outside of Stone Canyon. Angel Grove is over there" he pointed to the other city.
"This is creepy" Kim said, "maybe we should just get out of here".
"I think we need to know what's going on. We need to know if he is someone we can trust or not and where his loyalties lie. I don't like the idea of him and his brother knowing our identities and possibly using it against us".
Adam didn't say anything. He had considered Rocky a friend before they moved but now he didn't know what to think.
Before anyone could object Tommy reached over and rang the door bell. On the other side of the door they could hear a series of bells. Several minutes later the door opened and they were greeted by an older man with thinning grey hair dressed in a dark three piece suit. He studied them carefully before asking "Yes? May I help you?"
Billy tried to place his odd access but couldn't. Tommy glanced back at the others nervously.
"We're here to see Rocky" he finally let out. "We're classmates" he added quickly as if it might help get them in the door.
"Of course" the man said opening the door further, ushering them in with a slight bow.
The room was a grand entry way with a high vaulted ceiling that seemed to disappear, several chandeliers, a marble fireplace consumed one wall and opposite a marble staircase. Beside the stairs a dark hallway led off in another direction.
None of the Rangers said anything; they were all too dumbstruck to find words. The man was halfway up the stairs when he paused turning around to look at the teens "if you'll follow me" he said continuing up the stairs.
They all realized they'd been standing and gawking so they hurried to catch up. He led them up the stairs and down the hall which was lined with a warm rich wood, then turned into a doorway that stood open.
"Sir, I am sorry to disturb you", the Rangers could see around the man into a large office made of the same wood. Behind a huge desk Rocky sat with his feet propped on the desk and a book in his lap that he appeared to be writing in.
"Oliver, you're only sorry because you know it will take you another week to hold me captive long enough to do this" Rocky said without looking up.
"I have no doubt Sir, however, you have guests".
"I do?" he looked up surprised to find the Rangers standing crowded in the doorway behind Oliver. "Give me a moment" he gestured to the couch that filled one wall of the office.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Oliver offered but they all stared wide eyed and shook their heads.
Rocky moved his feet off his desk shuffling a stack of papers to one side and folded another carefully. Then like some thing from history he held a wax block over a candle on the end of the desk and smeared it on the folded paper and sealed it with a stamp. "Oliver, can you make sure these get sent off?"
"Of course Sir" Oliver turned his attention from the teens on the couch to Rocky.
"The checks are signed and ask if anyone is going to Dimitri's" he handed the sealed letter over carefully. The man bowed a little taking the pile.
"Not so painful now was it?" he asked rhetorically. "Will you need anything else?"
"No. I'll show them out. Goodnight Oliver."
"Goodnight Sir" Oliver left out a door behind the desk that lead to another office and pulled the door shut behind him.
Rocky looked at his guests. Their expressions ranged from shock, confusion, and fear. He could guess why they were there. They wouldn't have found him without Zordon's help. In some ways it surprised him they hadn't come sooner.
He put his elbows on the desk resting his chin in his hand watching them wondering how long it would take for them to either panic or chicken out and leave. He suspected the latter.
"You live here?" Adam finally asked.
"Yes. I live here. I own it and there are between 80 and 100 others here at any given time".
"Is this like a hotel?" inquired Aisha.
Rocky sort of grimaced. "Kind of, more like apartments I guess. Most stay here all the time". He kept waiting for the question on the tip of everyone's tongue.
"Who are you?" Tommy finally said it; mentally Rocky guessed it would have been Billy. It wasn't exactly the question he was expecting. The one he'd been waiting one was "what are you" but he understood Tommy was really asking "who are you people".
Rocky folded his hands on his desk. "We are vampires. We've been here about 175 years – considerably longer in other parts of the world". He was a little surprised by their lack of reaction but he assumed they'd seen a lot as Power Rangers.
"Who do you work for" Tommy wanted to know.
"I don't work for anyone. If you are referring to your fight with this Lord Zedd, it isn't our fight."
"What about the conversation with Zordon?"
"What about it? I think you keeping our secret is a fair exchange for me keeping yours. Zordon knows exactly what we are. He also knows what we're capable of. He would risk turning us against him and you and possibly forcing us to bargain with Zedd – not that you would live to get that far" he said darkly.
"Is that a threat?"
"No. A warning. Many of us have worked a long time for the peace we have. If Zedd had the opportunity to make some of us evil, you'd have a massacre. But we'd risk it to keep the truth coming out. It seems Zedd merely wants to take over the world".
"Merely?"
"There are those who would destroy it and kill everyone in their path". He blew out the candle and stood heading to the doorway motioning for them to follow. Once out of the room he pulled a skeleton key from his pocket locking the room. They all noticed the well worn black knee length boots and the loose fitting shirt casually tucked in as if he had stepped from a period movie. He led them down the hallway to a narrower stone staircase.
"When you say 'we've been here for 175 years…' who exactly is 'we'?"
"We…" he paused on a landing for a moment as if trying to decide if it was the floor he wanted then continued upward. "We would be me, Oliver, Dimitri, Nicoli, and Caroline". Rocky turned off at the next landing and not far down the hall he stopped and pointed to several paintings. One contained a beautiful blond woman in a dress fit for a queen. Another painting was of three men dressed from the same time period.
"Who are they?" Aisha asked, but as they stared at them they all realized the man on the left was Rocky. At least he had the same eyes and mouth. The man in the middle stared back at them with icy blue eyes that made them shiver. On the right, a blond man and warm brown eyes looked back with a small grin as if he was holding a giggle in.
"Dimitri and Nicoli are my brothers. Caroline married Nicoli about 200 years ago. I found Oliver not long before we came out here, I saved him and he has stayed with me ever since" The Rangers looked at the painting again.
"Your brothers?"
"We have the same maker and we have been together along time". He continued down the hall.
"How old are you?" Billy asked trying to guess from the age of the paintings.
Rocky sort of shrugged "I was born some time around the mid 1370's. I've been a vampire a little over 600 years I guess. You sort of stop counting and it's not like we were given birth certificates then". Although they all heard it, none of them could really wrap their minds around the idea of their classmate being 600 years old.
"The bike you had at the park… it was yours?" Adam asked. It was the only thing tangible he could come up with to even begin to understand Rocky's age.
"Yes it was mine. I served with the British Army in World War I and the Americans in the second. I won the bike in a game of cards from a supply clerk, after the war he sent it to me".
As they headed down the hall they could hear the music before they got to the room. A pair of double doors stood open, loud music with a throbbing beat blared while purple, blue and green lights flashed. Inside dozens of people were dancing. A woman came running out of the 'club' "Rocky! Come dance" she yelled, unaware of significant change in sound volume in the hall.
"No Janice" Suddenly her attention was on the humans and a terrible smile crossed her face.
"What's this? You've never ordered take out for us" Rocky shifted putting himself between her and the Rangers.
"Try it and you will be dead before you realize what happened. You know the rules". She was still eyeing the group making them nervous.
All the group heard was a low growl then both were crouched feet from each other in attack positions and Janice's fangs and claws were bared. Her eyes had turned a milky blue. Several others from inside the door had stepped out at the commotion. Rocky let out a growling snarl and Janice took one half step back. Each of the humans took two steps back pressing themselves against the wall putting more space between them and Rocky's back.
A large man who had come out of the room slowly came over and the Rangers held their breath not knowing what he would do. But he grabbed the woman by the arm. "C'on Janice" he said tugging her backward but not taking his eyes off Rocky. Reluctantly she let him pull her back.
Rocky straightened up but didn't take his eyes off the crowd until they had disappeared and someone closed the doors. "I apologize for her" he said. There was nothing about him that appeared any different than when he was just another 16 year old kid in math class. "Janice has always been one to test the boundaries and she's been warned enough." He could still hear their hearts racing so he continued down the hall. At the end was yet another staircase and a small room where Devon stood. He saw Rocky and bowed but Rocky didn't disturb him and they went up the stairs where Rocky let them into a large library with a roaring fireplace.
None of them realized they'd even been cold until they were seated by the fire. Rocky settled into a tall wing backed chair.
"Devon isn't really your brother" Adam said.
"No he isn't. He is my Apprentice. I took him in about 15 years ago."
"What do you mean by Apprentice?" Billy wanted to know.
"Each vampire has a Master whom they generally spend years learning from. Generally it is their Maker."
"You aren't Devon's Maker?"
"No. House rules. No humans. No biting, no killing, no turning. With our Master Dimitri, Nicoli and I decided centuries ago we would find other ways and we weren't alone. We built this house as sort of a safe haven for those like us. We have another in Europe where Dimitri lives and one in China where Nicoli and Caroline live. Many stay here, live and work among you in nearby cities. We aren't exactly favorites amongst some of our kind" he shrugged. "But we manage."
"How do you blend in so well?"
"Years of practice I suppose".
"But you go out in the sun and we've seen you eat".
"Yes. We're unfazed by the sun, garlic, holy water, we can eat food if we have to for pretense but there is no nutritional value in it. No, we don't sleep in coffins, but we do sleep, generally every few days".
"What about wooden stakes?" Aisha asked.
"If I put a wood stake in your heart, you'd die. We're just like you in almost every way although our reflexes and senses are heightened, but we need blood to survive. In time, with practice one can go weeks between feeding and sleeping. At Devon's age… it's usually twice a week". Each of the teens looked uncomfortable at the idea of 100 vampires living in the house that needed to feed off someone every week regardless of what the rules were. Billy shifted on the couch "If you are so old, why are you still in high school?"
Rocky smiled gently, leave it to Billy "I have found it's an easy place for new vampires to practice blending in. It's more or less a controlled environment. Devon has the chance to practice being with people with minimal supervision from me. Plus spending time in high school allows me to keep up with the world. You'd be surprised how dated you can become. Plus there are limits to the age I can pass for. At 22 people start to get suspicious. If Devon is ready, we'll probably go to college. He's more ready than he thinks, he just lacks the confidence".
Every one was quiet for a while. "It's getting late and we'll have school in the morning" Rocky said standing. "I assume nothing of my agreement with Zordon has changed?"
Tommy looked at each of the Rangers in turn. "No, it hasn't. You'll let us know if you hear of anything of Zedd making a play for your people?"
"Of course".
"Thanks" Tommy shook his hand.
"So, do I need to escort you to the door or can you teleport through the window?"
"Um, the window's fine".
"Good. But if you come back, use the front door."
"Sure. Of course, see you tomorrow". The 5 disappeared into a flash of color and out the window.
Rocky wondered how they had really taken it all. So few humans ever found out, but these were hardly your average humans. They were used to dealing with weird, but generally it was other planet weird not fairy tale weird. It had felt like they had reached a sort of truce but only time would tell. Rocky headed back downstairs to check on Devon then deal with Janice.