My Stuff

Obey

A tall man with no sense of fashion stood in the center of the once grandeur lobby. He spun in a slow circle admiring his work. “All you boys had to do was listen to me and behave. You wouldn’t be in this situation if you did.” The man took off his glasses that he did not need and wiped the blood spatter off of the lenses with a clean corner of his shirt and put them back on. “Let this be a lesson to you boys. If you’re still alive when I return, I will finish you off like I did the two half vampires.” Max whispered under his breath, “Good riddance.” The man ran so fast, he could not be followed by the human eye.

Max left the four boys inside the cave where the hotel sunk into. He returned to his quiet, suburban home with its white picket fence and his loyal dog. A dog which is really a Hellhound, bred to protect its owner during his most vulnerable, daylight. Max had his eye on a woman he wanted as his wife, but she had refused his advances. She was recently divorced and didn’t want to be in a romantic relationship any time soon. So, he settled for being her friend until she was ready. Max wanted his boys to turn her children so she would agree to be with him, but David did not want to turn anyone else.

David and his boys were comfortable with just the four of them. The two half vampires were turned by Max to keep them in line. Star was a high school drop-out looking to escape her familiar responsibilities. Laddie was a child stolen from an abusive home. Max gave Star and Laddie over to David to care for, hoping they would complete the change. Star didn’t want to be a vampire, and Laddie was too young. But it didn’t matter now, Max killed them both. He had snapped their necks while the boys were still at the boardwalk.

Max sighed. He shook his head to clear the recent events. His boys attacked him but ended up losing. He was much older than them, more experienced and powerful. The Lost Boys had been with Max for almost a century. He was sad to see them go but it needed to be done.

Pain

If someone would have told Marius that he would be driving through California with Queen Akasha in the backseat behind the tinted divider, he would’ve laughed. Marius is an Elder who has spent two millennia guarding ‘Those who should not rise.’ The Queen’s resurrection three years ago was an accident. A fledgling had stumbled upon her and the king’s sanctuary and had awakened the queen. Marius was furious and also scared. The Queen’s appetite for blood is substantial. However, her blood lust would be sated temporarily when she created a new vampire.

So, when Queen Akasha awoke, she found the number of vampires had dwindled. She was highly upset and demanded Marius find what was left of their kind. King Enkil, in his state as a living statue, tried to stop his queen from leaving the sanctuary. Akasha was not going to submit anymore. She was done being Enkil’s puppet. Even though Akasha was the first vampire and turned Enkil, she was never treated as his equal. Enkil tried to lead Akasha back to her place as a living statue, but she attacked him and drained him of all his blood. Thus making herself the single progenitor of the vampire race.

Akasha is not what Marius knows her to be. The Akasha he knew was selfish and violent, only caring about herself, and sating her bloodlust. Instead, she is very distraught by the loss of the number of vampires. Which is why they have been trying to locate any and every vampire to ensure their survival. So when she felt the twinge of pain coming from a beach town she and Marius were passing through she had him stop. They searched almost every inch of this town, the closer they got to the source the more Akasha felt pain.

They were standing on the beach as the sun started to set. Queen Akasha closed her eyes and concentrated on finding the source of the pain. Marius stood a few feet behind her. He watched the queen pivot from right to left facing the ocean. When her body faced a lighthouse in the distance she stopped and opened her eyes, “There!”

Akasha didn’t wait for Marius. She took to the skies, closing in on the source of the pain. They flew so fast, humans could not see them. They were nothing but a blur. Akasha lands on top of a cliff near a fenced-off set of rickety wooden stairs. Marius lands beside her, “My queen, you should let me search the area first.” “Nonsense, I can feel them. They’re within reach,” Akasha floats down to what looks like an entrance to a cave. Marius stays close behind her.

The queen navigates the dark tunnel, entering the main cavern, the scent of vampiric blood is overwhelming. The setting sun provides minimal light. Even with the cavern growing darker, Akasha could still see the entire cavern. “Marius!” Queen Akasha is angry.

Akasha is outraged. Four vampires have been chained to the cavern walls, almost drained of all their blood from various open wounds. She approached the closest vampire. His head of dark hair hangs over his face. His chin to his chest, a bare chest covered with slashes and stab wounds. She could smell the Holy Water and salt that coated the chains. His wrists were raw with burns and blisters. Akasha slowly lifts his head, “Child?” The boy slowly opens his eyes. Akasha could see he was on the verge of dying, “Let’s get you all down.”

Marius had entered the cave. He watched as the queen approached a chained-up vampire. Marius did the same with a blonde boy. He held the boy’s head up by the chin and peeled open an eye. Marius watched his iris move, “You poor boy.” He works to get the chains off. The boy’s raspy voice was quiet, “He’s coming back. He will be mad.” Marius had gotten the chains off and was lowering the boy to the ground. “What is your name?” The boy’s skin was grayish and he was suffering from severe blood loss, “Paul.” “Who did this to you?” Paul licked his dry, cracked lips, “Sire.”

Both Marius and Akasha growled. She had removed the chains from a smaller blonde and laid him down. “Marius? Are the others close by?” Akasha looked to her companion. “They are en route. I suspect they should be here…now,” Marius stood from laying down the fourth vampire to greet the other vampires that have been following the queen. The vampires following them are newly-turned and owe their new existence to the queen.

A group of six enter the cave, four men and two women. The women clamped their hands over their mouths in shock. Marius’ voice echoed throughout the cave, “They need blood immediately. You four head back out.” The men left to retrieve some blood. “Sarah, Mabel. Let’s clean up the wounds, they’re saturated with Holy Water and salt.” The two women found some bottles of water and grease rags near some tool chests and proceeded to flush the wounds as best they could. The rest will be healed after they feed and time.

Confrontation

The four men return each with an unconscious body over their shoulder. The boys were propped up and held while they fed. One of the women ventured over to an alcove where a four-poster bed was placed. She gasped when she saw the halflings, “My queen.” She turned to the side as the queen approached the bed. Akasha looked into the dull, lifeless eyes of a beautiful woman. She bent over the bed and closed the girl’s eyes, “My poor child.” When she moved to stand she saw the child, the little boy.

Before Akasha could say anything in regards to the halflings another vampire entered the cave. “What are you doing here?” Max may be a few hundred years old, however, he has never learned the history of his kind. He didn’t realize he was standing in the same room as the Great Mother, the first vampire. “I demand you all leave at once. These boys are mine to be dealt with,” Max arrogantly stood tall. Max saw David, Dwayne, Marko, and Paul have been unchained and fed, “You had no right to interfere.”

“Watch your tone boy,” Marius growled. The amount of anger and power radiating from Marius had Max shuffling his feet. He cleared his throat, “These are my boys. They needed to be taught a lesson.” “Oh, and what lesson may that be?” Marius asked, not even hiding his disdain. “To execute orders when they are given and to behave,” Max is failing to assert his dominance in front of Marius.

A cold, feminine laugh rang throughout the cave, “How naive. Telling young vampires to behave. What a silly notion?” Max flashed over to Akasha, “Now, you listen here young lady.” Once he was closer to her, Max was too late to realize his mistake. He tried to take a step back but Akasha stopped him. “No! You listen to me! I have spent the last two millennia as a statue, and before that my king and I ruled the world. I awaken to find my kingdom gone, my children slaughtered or in hiding. So, I set out to search for what is left of my children, and what do I find?! Four younglings chained and dying. For what? For being what they are?!”

Max has taken another step back but has not stood down, “They were killing too many! Their habits were going to expose us!” Again, Akasha laughs, “They are vampires. Humans are nothing but food. Chattel to be slaughtered.” Akasha looks into Max’s eyes, peers at his memories, and sees the truth, “No. That’s not why you’re punishing them. You are bored with them. They were to be tossed away like broken toys.” Akasha is disgusted by Max and the treatment of his fledglings, ”They are no longer yours. They were never yours, to begin with. They are my children, and we are taking our leave.”

Akasha could see Max’s human mask slip away. He launched himself at the queen, thinking he could kill her and take the vampires for himself. Max did not understand who he was talking to. Akasha flicked her wrist like she was fanning away a floating piece of lint. Max crashed into the wall on the other side of the cave. His body slumped down to the floor. Akasha was in front of him so fast he flinched, “I was going to leave you alive since there are so few of us, but now I see you don’t deserve to walk the earth any longer.” She flicked her wrist again, setting Max on fire.

The four vampires each support a Lost Boy as they exit the cave. One of them kept looking back to the bed, to the little boy he grew to care about before turning towards the exit. The vampires reached the top of the cliff and watched as a billow of smoke and flames flowed through the entrance of the cave.

Queen Akasha walks over to the boys. She observed the four of them and can tell which one is their alpha. “You were his first,” It wasn’t a question, David nodded his head anyway, “David. He turned me then Dwayne.” Dwayne lifted his arm that wasn’t wrapped around the guy’s shoulder. “Paul was next, and Marko is the youngest,” David introduced his brothers. Marko and Paul were close enough to grasp each other’s free hand. Akasha could see they were lovers. “The other two?” Marius asked. David closed his eyes, the tale-tail prickling, burning sensation of tears, “Star and Laddie. Max thought they could keep us in line with how he wanted us to behave.”

Marius nodded to the men supporting the Lost Boys. Everyone returned to their vehicles. They were going to keep traveling, stopping in San Francisco for a while before continuing. This will give the Lost Boys time to heal and figure out their next move, but they will not be returning to Santa Carla. It is no longer home. Their cave was in ruins even before Akasha set it ablaze, their bikes destroyed by an angry sire. There was nothing keeping them here, and they felt safe with this group, with the Queen.

David and his brothers have been given the opportunity to live as they should. Free of their overbearing sire, free to choose where they go. After spending time with Marius and Queen Akasha, they decide to stay and learn from them. Max had kept them in the dark about so much they felt like newly-turned fledglings in the presence of the Queen.

The next decade was spent traveling the rest of the United States, Canada, and parts of South America. The queen found a little under five thousand vampires. Only fifteen are traveling with the queen as her personal guard, including the Lost Boys. Those four had become her favorites besides Marius. They treated her as she should be treated, respected her, yet kept her on her toes. Never a dull moment with Marko and Paul pulling pranks on the rest of her guards, Dwayne having intellectual conversations about a recent book he read, and passionate debates with David.