::CHAPTER 2::

Not to toot my own horn as the humans say, but I was an inventor and artist of the greatest kind. Well that sounded more arrogant than I’d thought. In my defense it was true. I had centuries to perfect my craft into a signature blueprint so unique that anyone who knew anything of art or innovation could tell an Alejo Veracci design at a glance. No two designs were ever alike but there was something about each one that was identical and even I was not sure what it was. A person didn’t have to be a connoisseur of sorts to appreciate it. Even a child who couldn’t tell a finger painting from a Van Gogh knew that a Veracci painting was something worth collecting.

These weren’t my words. I’ve read them time and time again from all sorts of critics and inventors over the years. I had to have a hobby to pass the time after all. Waiting for eight strong, very immortal, very pro-life beings to die was so tedious that I had to think of something to take my mind off the wait. Never had I imagined that it would become a pastime that I enjoyed or even needed when too many thoughts plagued my mind.

Standing in solitary, I paced the room. It was my studio and every corner was cluttered with new and old masterpieces that I had created, art supplies, scraps of paper and post-tantrum broken brushes. The most valuable things in the world were the rare things. I couldn’t produce new work every week. If I did, the paintings wouldn’t be worth nearly as much. Every five years I released something to a gallery of my choice and let them marvel and squabble over who the new owner would be. I even attended auctions to see how well some were doing. I took pride that there were criminals who, as much as they tried to duplicate the pieces, could never catch the signature that I had subtly imprinted into everything I created. A person could always detect that something was off.

Now I was studying a different signature. It was the mark of someone as skilled and, dare I say, more adept at inventing weaponry than myself. Loki, Loki, Loki. As much of a mischief maker as your name suggests. I smiled down at the slender dagger.

It was a weapon that held the coldest seduction. All dangerous curves and sleek sensuality. I could taste it. The power to bring a man to his knees. It was sexy, yes, but it was nothing flaunted or overt. There was a modest sex appeal about it and any male of any race could tell you that modest sexiness outshined the in-your-face sexiness without a doubt.

The blade had a platinum handle with a crude and yet magnificent piece of sculpting around the edge, working as a sort of grip. From that handle protruded a blade born of a material that was completely new and other. Its glow was violet in the darkened room, bouncing light off the walls. Some might have described it as eerie but I found something about it fascinating. I may not like Loki but I admired his craftsmanship. He had somehow managed to capture the effects of the ultraviolet rays found in the sun and then style it into a deadly weapon like the master blacksmith that he’d been whilst alive. Hats off to you my good man. Hat’s off to you. You are a true professional.

Even through the loathing that passed between Loki and me, we had a respect for each other’s talents. I would quicker marry a human than admit it to him, but I wondered how he created such weaponry. I often thought of one day working with him to fashion an entire arsenal. I could only imagine the work we could accomplish side by side if he wasn’t so intent on my death and vice versa.

By now I had decided that Loki had to have known that I would be away when he staged his attack. He was aware that I had as many weapons as him designed to kill our kind and I wouldn’t have hesitated to use it to protect myself if I was present. He had been bidding his time…waiting for me to leave.

The bad blood between us was only rivaled by his hate for our father. I was surprised that he hadn’t taken care of him personally when it seemed that he was waiting to do just that with me.

I had been the one to go against him each time he tried to get close to our inheritance. Naturally he blamed his exclusion on father and me. He was our father’s son by birth and thought he had the most rights to the inheritance. Unfortunately for him, we weren’t humans who left everything to blood family. We were predators who were ruled by survival of the fittest. Only the family father chose, as in the family he willingly Changed, were allowed to live with him. He was the illegitimate child in our world and was to get nothing.

Sitting at my desk, I gazed down at the blade. I had been studying it for days. While it never ceased to amaze me, it also drove me mad as I tried to figure out how it was made. It kept me awake some mornings like today. I should have been sleeping. It was already two in the afternoon and I hadn’t slept a wink.

Someone had left this behind on purpose and Loki meant for me to find it. He knew me as well as I knew him. It was left so that I would run myself into insanity trying to figure it out. I knew I should leave it alone but how could I when I had a piece of technology so tempting and so close and yet I was unable to crack its secrets? It was the ultimate peeve for any inventor especially if said technology was created by a top rival.

An ultraviolet blade. Ingenious. I looked at my boarded up windows. It was the desperate form of protection of a being who was an ever-flinching slave to the sun. The poison that had tainted my system during the Change had killed me for a few hours; a fact that had those dratted humans insisting that our kind were undead. What in heaven’s name is ‘undead’? You either are or you aren’t.

During the time where our bodies weren’t alive, the venom from our Maker’s fangs would affect our cellular structure and bodily systems. Our blood was of a lower temperature and our heartbeats too faint to hear for the ears of anyone who wasn’t our kind. The blood we drank for sustenance leveled out our body temperatures and sated our thirsts. We became physically stronger and our cells regenerated so quickly that it took a short while to heal most wounds. The strengthened cells created stronger tissue that made up even stronger organs. Our new hearts were tougher and were able to pump blood more quickly, hence we were able to run and move at far quicker rates than other races. Though some movies overdid that fact. We did not have sex at bunny rabbit speed. Of all the things Hollywood could come up with…

The melanin in our bodies was lowered considerably and our skin pigments grew lighter. In some beings like myself, the melanin levels didn’t extend to our hair and eyes but it was rare. Very rare. The lack of melanin also made our skin extremely sensitive to ultraviolet rays. And something – that couldn’t be explained scientifically – affected our bloodlust when direct sunlight hit us. Tests and studies had been conducted over the years but there were no concrete answers. 

“Alejo? It’s two in the afternoon. What are you doing up so late?” Samuel asked at the door.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I replied not taking my eyes off the UV blade.

“Still obsessing over Loki’s little toy?”

“Oh it’s much more than a mere toy. So much more. So well designed and astoundingly executed.”

“I sense some admiration,” he teased.

“Understatement.”

“You really should get some sleep, sir.”

“I will in a bit. I can’t get this thing off my mind,” I huffed, “It follows me in my dreams you know. Did I tell you, Sam?”

“Yes. And I told you that it’s unhealthy to obsesses—.”

“Scrutinize,” I corrected leaning closer to the blade.

“Ahh yes. That’s what you’re calling it now. I forgot. Forgive me, sir,” he said, “It’s unhealthy to scrutinize something this much.”

“You’re being mean and mischievous, Sam,” I smiled, “Teasing me so. I’m only trying to understand the weapon that wiped out my family. I think I am justified in doing that, aren’t I?”

“Of course. You would be if your motives were that honorable,” he said.

“And you think your new Master isn’t honorable? Well if that isn’t hurtful, I don’t know what is. Go away, Sam before you wound me further.”

“You’re so full of it,” he rolled his eyes, “I’ve never seen your feelings hurt and I’ve known you for over two hundred years. You are trying to get rid of me so that you can play with your new toy.”

“I resent that,” I said and glanced up at the older man.

“But do you deny it?”

“Not even.”

Samuel folded his arms and chuckled. He had been putting up with me for years. My father had turned him but I had adopted him as an advisor. We weren’t friends, but we were close enough. “So have you thought about my suggestion?” he asked suddenly.

“Which one?”

“About being married. It will help you to—.”

“Why would I think over a suggestion after I rejected it?” I cut across him before he began some impassioned speech on love and ruling happy worlds.

“I thought you might have needed some time to give it thought.”

“And that notion was fuelled by what exactly? I remember oozing resentment at your idea, scoffing at your plans, laughing at your hopes and rebuking your dreams. The fact that you still think I’ll agree to something so – no offence – ridiculous is out of sheer stubbornness on your behalf,” I sighed, “I will not take a wife. I will not get married. I will not tie myself down to some feminine nag.”

“So if it were male—.”

“No!” I scowled at what he was implying.

“Sorry. I was just trying to understand why you’re so against this,” he shrugged unashamed.

“If I listed all of the reasons, eternity would pass us by. It is easier to say no and move on with life.”

“Go to bed, sir,” Sam placed a hand on my shoulder, “You need your sleep. You have to wake up early tomorrow night.”

I looked up at him and sighed, “You know, I don’t see why I need a wife when I have you to nag me.”

“Don’t pout. It’s not becoming of a predator,” he chuckled. He’s teasing me. How dare he?

“Growl.”

“Much better. Now off to bed before I drag you there.”

I was about to protest but thought better of it. Samuel wasn’t one to give up. It was why he was assigned to be my advisor after I’d requested him. My father had known that I was the most hardheaded of all his legitimate children. The advisors that had come before Samuel had all been unable to deal with me. The priest, at first thought too soft to handle me, had been the only one to get me to do what my father wanted. He was quiet on the surface but he could be almost as deadly as Loki and twice as determined.

Rising to my feet, I placed the blade back into his protective holster and then wrapped it in fine cotton. Samuel took it to the safe for me. “Go on. Sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow,” Samuel nodded. Yes we do.

Lying in my bedroom moments later, I looked out of the specially tinted windows. They blocked direct ultraviolet rays while allowing some light. One day I’ll be able to walk in the light again. Feel the sun on my skin without being scorched. I lay on my back and drifted into semi-consciousness. It was not a true sleep, but for those few hours my body shut down on the basic levels and allowed some rest. I did not dream. I was aware of everything surrounding my body. If I sensed danger, it wouldn’t take much to regain full consciousness at will.

I gave myself six hours of sleep before waking up. It was eight o’ clock in the night when I looked around. My body was revived and I was able to step outside. Darkness covered the city. The moon shone big and bright with tiny pinpricks of light surrounding it. Cool breeze blew against my skin.

Walking over to the closet, I slid the twin doors open and stepped inside. The circular room was lined with racks of clothes. Two claps of my hands and the automated racks glided around me. I stood and looked at each item as they moved by in rotation. It didn’t take long to make a choice.

After a shower I got dressed and surveyed my reflection. The body was frozen at twenty-eight even as it passed through time with every second. Black hair was combed with the precise neatness of a true marine. The eyes were pale compared to the deep brown it had been in the life before. My skin was not as pale as most of my kind but it was far fairer than it had been once upon a time. The face was angular with a square jaw and straight nose. I had been told that my looks belonged to another decade. The body in the mirror had a bare amount of muscle that hid the power it was truly capable of. Human instinct tended to warn them on some primal level that I was not to be challenged.

I made my way downstairs where a woman was sitting on the kitchen table. She was not particularly beautiful but she was interesting to look at. She stared as I walked around the room. “Good morning,” she said. I nodded in her direction. Speaking to meals wasn’t a habit I practiced. It happened once and I didn’t plan on doing it again. “Not very friendly, are you?” she added. I turned to her, my gaze unblinking. She recoiled under the stare. I was hungry and tired. Now wasn’t the time to hold conversations with food.

“Good morning,” Samuel walked in with a nod in my direction.

“Good morning.”

“Oh so he gets a reply?” the woman mumbled under her breath.

“Be quiet,” I turned to look at Sam, “Don’t the maids tell them to stay silent anymore? I remember back in the days when you could have a meal in peace and quiet. Now, you have your dinner asking for your life story and political views. They have opinions now. Dinner with opinions. Imagine that.”

“Times are changing. Get with the program,” the woman grinned. The older man chuckled. “We may be food to you but we have opinions and thoughts and feelings too. You can’t disrega—.”

Cr-Crack!

The sound echoed through the room. A single, resonating sound. Sam flinched at the suddenness.

The feeling of bones snapping and poking through flesh brushed against my fingers. The body grew limp under my grasp. Sometimes breakfast doesn’t know when to shut up. I drained the blood from her and had a maid dispose of the remains. I had fed yesterday and today so wouldn’t need to feed in the next few days. I licked my lips and wiped my fingers on a napkin.

“You could have let her finish her sentence,” Samuel said. I ignored him. Some predators were more warm-blooded than others. Most had a conscience and I think I might have one too. I’ve never witnessed it in action before but I think it was hiding until just the right time to make an entrance. Samuel insisted that I was a good person deep down inside. Of course, he was more priest than predator. He had to think that.

We went into my new office and sat down. There was a lot to discuss. Samuel pulled out a handheld organizer to start taking notes.

“Let’s begin,” he said.

“Yes. Now that I am the last legitimate son of the – now dead – oldest of our kind, I have more or less inherited the world,” I said liking the way that sounded, “But unlike my father, I won’t be working through the heads of other countries.”

“How do you plan to overthrow the rulers? Humans are not going to take well to being kicked out of office.”

“Armies, my dear friend, armies. First we seize the cities ruled by those of our kind. Once we have an army of unstoppable, Marine trained, immortal predators, there is no way they can oppose us. Not for long at least,” I pat Samuel on the shoulder.

“That’s a lot of unnecessary bloodshed.”

“Unnecessary?” I raised a brow, “Nothing I do is ever unnecessary, Sam.”

“Many will die.”

“You underestimate humans. I’ve studied them. They have a very high survival instinct. The moment they are caught between what is dangerous and what is easy they’ll comply.”

“And let’s say that they don’t comply?”

“We’ll have an open buffet,” I shrugged, “Now for the hard part. Before we can do anything we need that army. And before we get that army, we need a plan of attack.”

“Alejo! Listen to me. This is too much of a risk. Look at how many you’re planning to kill to get what you want,” he shook his head, “It’s not right.”

“I’m not planning to kill anyone. But if they prove to be difficult…” I let the sentence hang. He could fill in the blanks himself.

“There are better ways to go about this.”

“You are my advisor. So advise,” I peered at him over steepled fingers, “Tell me your, quote-unquote, better ways.”

“Sir, you don’t need to bring war on anyone. You can take a more political approach. Win the crowd over. Make them see you as the ruler they need.”

“Samuel you truly are a man of the cloth,” my tone was all but patting him on the head, “Do you know what will happen if I go your way?”

“No one will die?”

“Yes. And I’ll open a world of choice where people can either be with me or against me. I don’t like that world. In fact I don’t like it at all. The world I see is where everyone is with me whether they want to be or not. A world where my word is not gold, but diamond; absolute, unchanging, unquestioned, and best of all, perfect. I’m not looking for a democracy. I don’t care much for votes and kissing babies and going to dinners with my beloved, wedded nag.”

“You weren’t held as a child, were you?”

“That’s beside the point.”

“Oh that explains so much,” Samuel said, “The only people you care about are the ones you deem useful.”

“So you think you’re useful? Arrogant are we?” I smiled.

“I don’t subscribe to any of the seven deadly sins.”

“Enough stalling. Back to matters at hand. I have to think this through. Come up with a plan of attack. My army will have the strongest of our kind. That means we will take recruits from here, here, here, there and over here,” I pointed out the little orange dots on the map spread out on the desk.

“I see you didn’t mark Bvendini,” Samuel smirked.

Plucking a crimson dot from the case I stuck it on the city. “Loki may rule there now, but when my army is expanded beyond destruction I will take Bvendini over,” I murmured, “Every square inch of that beautiful city.” Samuel looked up at me. Every trace of a smirk disappeared.

“You’re mad. You are absolutely insane…”

“Sanity is overrated, Samuel my good man.” 

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A pic of Alejo's advisor/sort-of-friend/partner in crime Samuel. Finding a young priest isn't the easiest thing. I don't care much for his looks I just needed someone in his 20s. Damn near impossible to find these days. Guess not at lot of 20-something year old guys want to give up the ladies. 

That aside, a piece of Alejo's dark side will come out in the next chapter. And sad to say...it was kind of fun writing it. His mind is a twisted place and I adore him that way lol. 

What do you think of him as a character so far...not that we had a real chance to see him fully yet.