Nothing - Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The limousine pulls up to a wrought iron gate and slows, to either side a high wall with barbed wire on top extends as far as I can see. We are at the end of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. The full moon illuminates the desert landscape around us in a pale silver light. An armed guard steps from his guard house and approaches us with his weapon at low ready. As he gets closer to us I recognize it as an H&K MP5A3. The driver hits a switch and lowers his window to talk to the guard, who peers through the windshield in order to identify the occupants of the rear compartment. I reach out and gently probe his soul, he's Human. He spots me and in a flash I'm staring down the barrel of his sub-machine gun. There is no humor in his eyes. “He's with me.” my Father says and the guard lowers his weapon. The gate opens and we are waved through. Inside the gate is another world. Manicured lawns expand from either side of the now paved road. Stylish topiaries dot the grass here and there. What I take to be flowerbeds hug the largest house I've ever seen. As we pull closer I can make out columns lining the huge front door. A water fountain disgorges jets of water into the air in front. We pull up to the house and stop beside the fountain. The driver gets out and opens my Father's door first and then mine. As I get out of the limousine he stands with his head bowed and hands clasped behind his back. I sniff the air. It smells of sage and mesquite. The air is still warm from the summer sun.

We walk to the front door and it opens soundlessly for us, and what a door! Solid Oak at least five or six inches thick and bound in wrought steel swinging on massive hinges set into reinforced concrete. It is a door more deserving of a fortress than a mansion. A large great room opens up before me. Couches and chairs sit arranged into comfortable seating areas and nooks, and in the middle of it all sits an immense double sided fireplace. A roaring fire burns within it and I can feel the heat from the door. As I look closer I realize there is something peculiar about it, there is no fuel. The fire appears from out of nowhere and roars up the chimney. My Father walks over and sticks his hands into the flames and looks back at me smiling. I join him and after a moments hesitation I follow suit. Power like I've never felt before jolts my being and it is all I can do to stifle a scream of pleasure. It is then I realize it wasn't heat at all I'd felt at the door. “This house is built on an energy node.” he says simply. I look around me and for the first time I see a small army of servants scurrying around us. Some are dusting, some are cleaning and some pass through the room on their way to other tasks. One approaches with a tray heaped with food on a wheeled cart and stops in front of me, head down, hands clasped behind him. “You must be starving.” my Father says and I realize that I am. The servant sets the tray down on the small table in front of the couch.

“Thanks.” I say to the servant and he leaves us, taking the wheeled cart with him.

“It isn't necessary to thank them,” my Father says, “It is what they live for. It is their penance.” My ears perk up at this but I decided to ask him about it later.

I sit down on the couch facing the fireplace and dig in. My Father sits down beside me on my right. The food is exquisite! Some of it I can identify and some I can't, but it is all delicious. I eat like I am starving and finish off the tray in no time. As I drink the last swallow of what I believe to be grape juice the servant shows up again like a wraith. “Would my master like some more?” he asks. I realize I am no longer hungry and say so. “Very good sir.” the servant says and takes the tray away.

“Come.” my Father says, and I follow him to his office at the far end of the great room. Inside, soft leather upholstered chairs and side tables face an immense desk. Dark wood paneling and books cover the walls and the air smells of cigars and money. Behind the desk, my Father sits down in a magnificently appointed seat. Outside the window behind him I can see the moonlit grounds. Guards with dogs and guns patrol the walls of the compound. “Take a seat.” my Father says and I do as he suggests. The soft padding accepts my weight with a sigh of escaping air and the warm leather clutches my body in a loving embrace.

“Expecting an invasion?” I ask.

“We are not without our enemies.” he says and offers me a cigar. I decline and pull a cigarette from the pack on my pocket. I lean forward and he lights it with a chrome and wood lighter from his desk. We sit and smoke our respective poisons for a short time in silence. “Oh, where are my manners!” my Father says and stands up. He makes his way to my left and takes a crystal decanter from a long wood table. “Would you like a drink?” he asks. I look at the decanter and the amber colored liquid inside. “Kentucky Bourbon,” he says and smiles, “The best in the world.” He pours himself a drink.

“That sounds great.” I say. He pours my drink and hands it to me. I sip the dark liquid and swish it around my mouth. The back of my throat warms instantly as the alcohol makes contact. This is by far the best I have ever had. He takes his seat once more.

“Tell me everything.” I say. He looks up at me from his drink and nods.

“Everything is a tall order, I'll at least try and cover the highlights tonight.” He clears his throat and begins, “We have lived alongside Humans from the beginning of time. Most of their myths and legends are about us and much of their religions are based on us is some way or another. God and the Devil?” he spits the last word and I get the feeling he doesn't much care for it, “That's us. If I had a nickel every time some dope tried to summon me I'd have a lot of nickels. We have been tried and persecuted by them too. We've been accused of witchcraft and worse by those superstitious primitives from time to time. Vampires? That's us too, although as I'm sure you're aware by now, we don't drink blood. We are attuned to the life forces of the living creatures around us and can tap those if needed. Of course, excessive use of another creatures life force results in its death.” Suddenly I am four years old again and I wince. He looks sympathetic. “If I'd known I had a son that wouldn't have happened.” he says. What doesn't he know about me? After a pregnant pause he continues, “The truth is we run this world now, they just don't know it. Screw multinational corporations and the superpowers, we're the real power in this world.” He takes another drink of his bourbon and smokes his cigar. “Our family is small compared to the Humans. Since we're immortal there's no real need to procreate.”

“So I'm what, a happy accident?” I ask. He looks amused.

“I guess you could put it like that, although that's a rather crude way of saying it.” he says and looks me in the eye. “I loved your Mother. She wasn't like the others, but it soon became apparent I was endangering her by hanging around.” He sits and smokes in silence for several long seconds. “Things in our world are not always peaches and sunshine either.” he says. “In our family there are three different factions. There are a minority who believe all Humans should be destroyed and the world populated with our own kind. There are those who believe they should be given a chance to better themselves. Then there are those of us who feel the impure should be destroyed and forced to do penance for what they've done. I'm sure you've noticed by now how uncomfortable it is to be around them.” I nod. In my time living as one of them I'd suffered more than once from the mass of swirling thoughts, many of a dark nature, which were not my own. It took me a while to realize these thoughts were not mine, but those of the people around me. At times it was so bad I would get physically ill and was afraid I was going insane like my mother. The mental anguish I'd suffered around them had in time caused me to hate other people. I realize with a start how quiet it is.

“That's the reason you live in the middle of nowhere.” I say and he nods his affirmation. “Your servants...”

“Yes. They were horrible people in their first life and now they serve me as penance to make up for it. Their minds can no longer cause us suffering as you may have noticed. I don't know about you, but if this is hell,” he motions around him, “it doesn't seem that bad to me. The guards now, they're Human alright, but pure of heart. They go through an extensive screening process to make sure of that.”

“So, who's God?” I ask, half joking.

“My brother,” he says and takes another sip of bourbon, “Though like me he hates being named by Humans.”

“So, what is your name?” I ask.

“I am called Devlin.” he says and I can't help but smile. The connection is obvious. He rolls his eyes.

“Go ahead and get it out of your system.” he says and I try real hard not to laugh. I don't succeed. When I am done he continues. “The impure Humans are a constant irritation, although with training I can teach you how to block them out.”

“Mom went insane.” I say. It is his turn to look uncomfortable.

“I know,” he says, “She was a sensitive. It's probably part of what attracted me to her. If I'd known then what I know now I would have done things differently.”

A sudden thought comes and I blurt it out. “If your kind can produce children with Humans, that means you must be related to them. Right?”

He stiffens and I feel the hair on my body beginning to stand on end. “OUR KIND!” he says and grits his teeth, “I'll excuse it this time because you didn't know, but that's not a very popular theory among us. We can procreate with them yes, but I wouldn't say we're related...you might as well say we're related to chimpanzees. It's probably best if you keep that to yourself.” My hair relaxes and so does he. He looks apologetic. “I'm sorry. Most of us despise Humans, even my brother Jesus who wants to save their souls.” he rolls his eyes.

“That's really his name?” I ask incredulously and he laughs.

“Yeah, that's him. He looks nothing like the pictures they make of him though. He made the mistake once of trying to save them a couple of thousand years ago and look where it got him. They nailed his ass to a tree and tossed his body into a cave when they thought he was dead. It took him three days to come back from that! He'll never live that one down!” I shake my head. This is almost too much to take in all at once. I blink slowly and realize my eyes are getting sandy.

“I... I'm very tired.” I say and set down the rest of my drink and crush out my cigarette in the ash tray on the table to my right.

“You've had a long day.” he says. He and I go up stairs and he personally shows me to my room. It comes complete with everything a guy could possibly want, including a naked brunette between the sheets. However I am too tired even for foreplay and I just lay there with her behind me keeping me warm. Some of what my Father has told me seems fantastic, even hypocritical on it's face, but then again, what do I know. I've only been one of them for less than a day now. Perhaps there's something I'm missing. I fall asleep without realizing it. I do not dream.