Rite of Passage III

Jess wouldn't deny she was amused as she mixed herself a cup of coffee in the lounge of the NSA's mobile base.

'…and if it weren't for Circe, you would all dead!' Dracula yelled as he paced in front of the three contrite boys.

They didn't open their mouths once to defend themselves. It just went to show how wrong her first impression of Vince had been. Back when she first met him, she was sure he was the kind of guy who would open his mouth and defend himself to the end of the earth if he was caught doing something wrong.

Turning out, Dracula had specifically told them not to go in.

Merle sat on a perch, cleaning her feathers.

The door opened and Black walked in. He glanced at his watch. 'Hate to interrupt you, but I am kind of pressed for time.'

Dracula looked at him. 'It's just as well. I've finished.' He folded his arms. 'You don't seem too surprised to learn that they're 16 year old boys.'

'We observed some of their fights at a distance,' Black said. 'They were too reckless to be anything else.'

Jess snorted in amusement. The three boys pulled faces. But Dracula smirked. Black walked around and sat down with a notepad and a pencil. He had waited quite a while. Because they were all minors, Black couldn't ask any questions, legally, until a parent or guardian was present. Jess's grandmother was dead and her mother knew nothing about what she'd been doing for the past few months. That was how Dracula ended up here.

'Right.' Black uncapped a pen. 'We have seen what the Helsing Society has done and we've seen how self-important they are, but we know practically nothing about them.'

'So, you want information on them?' Dracula asked.

'They've already been declared a national threat,' Black said. 'The next step is to find out where they came from, what they do, and how they operate. You seem to know them.'

Dracula frowned. 'I'd consider them more an international threat if I were you. They were started by a Dutchman in the late 1800s and spread as far as the British Empire did and then further still.'

Black wrote that down. 'I presume, then, that the novel bearing your name has some kernels of truth to it?'

'A little,' Dracula said. 'The story of how I encountered Abraham Van Helsing is long, and perhaps suited for another time. He was a career freelance vampire hunter who had a day job as a physician. I am the Vampire Lord. It is not uncommon for vampire hunters to come after me due to the prestige gained from the act of killing a Vampire Lord.'

'And the other characters in the story?'

'Greatly fictitious.'

Black nodded. 'So, Abraham Van Helsing founded the Helsing Society after what I assume was an unsuccessful attempt to slay you?'

'He did. And he used the most expansive empire in the world at that time to spread his influence. He enlisted everyone he could find: vampire hunters, ghost hunters, lycan hunters, general monster hunters, even witch hunters. The Helsing Society grew out of this. They dedicated themselves to killing any supernatural entities and life forms. According to them, that is all they kill.'

'According to them,' Jess repeated doubtfully.

Dracula smirked again. This time, there was something bitter about it. 'They didn't start killing humans affiliated with us until the 40s. By that time, they'd done away with the witch hunters and started enlisting witches.'

'Yeah, I wondered about that,' Howler said. 'You said they used witch hunters, so they must've hunted witches just like the rest of us once.'

'Indeed,' Dracula said. 'But, some bright spark realised one day that witches were still technically human. And they had the resources and the powers to take out any of the other monsters without the risk of needing to get in close to them. So they generally only had witch hunters anymore to track down young witches, but not to kill them.' He looked over at Jess. 'And that reminds me. The next time you see them, expect them to bring an entire coven after you.'

'I'm Circe,' Jess pointed out.

Dracula nodded in acquiescence.

'What exactly does that mean?' Black asked. 'Being Circe?'

'You've heard the Greek legends, of course,' Dracula said. 'The truth is that Circe is a title passed down a bloodline, not a singular woman. That's why different myths portray her differently. Each is a different woman.'

Black looked at her. 'And you're the new one?'

'Yup.' Jess took another drink of coffee.

'Circe has dominion over all other magic-users,' Dracula explained. 'Her very existence maintains magic in this world. If the Circe Bloodline left the world, so too would all of the magic in the world. As such, her job is to control the distribution of magic and punish those who abuse their power. One of her unique abilities is the power to strip magic away from other witches and warlocks.'

'And that's what-a happened to Ms. McGowan, in't it?' Frankie asked.

'That's exactly what happened to her,' Drak said.

'Sounds fair,' Black remarked. 'But…in the hands of a teenager?'

'My grandmother was the last one,' Jess said. 'She died of cancer a few years back. She had deemed my mother and my aunts unfit to hold and use the power, so it went down to me when she died. And, yes, I do have other female cousins, but I was the one she decided on.'

'An important thing to note,' Dracula said, 'is that most magic-users believe that Circe is a mere fairytale. They think she's a story that was made up to make them behave. And her story is often used on novice witches when they start experimenting with their powers.'

Black nodded and wrote in his notepad before he tapped his pen against it. 'This will be the strangest entry I've ever made.'

The kids around the room chuckled at that.

Black closed the notepad. 'But…now, stop me if I'm wrong, but these Helsing people have been a problem for you and people like you for roughly about a century?'

'That is correct.' Dracula nodded to the Drak Pack. 'These boys are under my guardianship because the Helsing Society attacked their homes and orphaned them at a young age.'

All three boys pulled faces.

'And the Helsing Society has such an easy time enlisting people because your kind are looked on with fear, as evil creatures,' Black said. 'So the best way to curtain the Society's power would be to reverse that image.'

'That image has existed for thousands of years,' Dracula pointed out. 'Besides, the fear you humans have for us isn't unfounded. Some of us feed on your flesh and blood. Human bodies are a natural source of food to us.'

'Yes, that has occurred to me. But I think it's high time we found some sort of a…' Black nodded his head. '…middle ground.'

:[

By the time they stepped outside, it was dark outside.

'Can you believe that took all day?' she remarked.

'Not past your bedtime, is it, Jessie?' Drak teased her.

'I could have asked you that this morning, Vinny,' she retorted with a grin.

Behind them, Howler and Frankie cracked up laughing.

Drak took a moment to work out how to respond. Then he chuckled.

'Yeah. I deserved that.'

AN: I'm only part-way through Season 2, so it may be a while before it comes along.