Vampire World (29 page)
“Martin never
existed?” I said, still flabbergasted by this latest development.
Mr. FreeCut shook his head.
“I pretended to be Martin because I needed to protect you. Like Mr. Stake told
you, your life was in danger at every moment.”
For the first time, I spotted
the black X on his forehead. Why had I never seen that before?
“You thought you'd spoken to
Martin after the attack on my house,” Mr. FreeCut said. “But I was there with
you, so that’s why my fellow X-Fangers who saved you did not respond. However,
when I rescued you in Bloodwood Forest, I simply changed the tone of my voice.”
My caretaker actually had the
nerve to smirk. I wasn't finding his gimmicks amusing at all.
“I was with you all along,”
he continued. “Even at the beginning. I rescued you after you crashed my car
and fell into the canyon. I tried to stop that freak stalker from messing with
you, but he was just too quick for me. You did a fine job handling him in the
library though.”
He glanced across at Mr.
Stake and smiled before continuing.
“You need to know that Mr.
Stake and I are back on good terms, just like we were when we first formed
X-Fang a long time ago. We settled on our final agreement just before the
fireball tournament. I now agree with him that you need to know the truth about
your history. I wish I would have come to that conclusion earlier instead of
trying to hide it from you. I thought I was keeping you safe, but now it’s a
decision I deeply regret. All we care about is you and your safety.”
Mr. Stake cut in. “So we
promise you there will be no more games, unknown figures or secret messengers.
We’re together now. And we’ll stay together.”
A million words wanted to fly
out of my mouth, but they remained stuck where they were.
“I know you must be wondering
about this,” Mr. FreeCut said, pointing to his forehead.
I nodded, still too shocked
by these revelations to say anything all.
“Because of the dangerous
work we do, everyone in X-Fang must keep their membership a secret and hide
their tattoo when not with other X-Fangers,” Mr. FreeCut explained. “We have a
special lotion that completely fades it away, and another to restore it again
when needed.”
He pulled something from his
pocket. It was the weird mirror from my room. “Mr. Stake gave you this when we
were in disagreement,” he said. “Look into it.”
I trembled when I couldn’t
see my face.
“You don't see yourself
because vampires can’t see into mirrors that are from your home planet of
Earth.”
I gasped. Then I slapped Mr.
FreeCut with a brutal stare, wiping away his smile.
“Janice,” he said. “I know
that isn't your real name, but I do love you. Please forgive me for what I’ve
done. I shouldn’t have lied. You’re the most special person in my world. Even
though everything I did was to protect you, it wasn't right. I see that now.
I’m so so sorry…”
Tears began falling down his
face. But I didn’t care. I finally found my voice again. “You bloody son of a
bitch,” I shouted. And he deserved it.
“That’s only what I
expected,” he replied in a sad voice. “I can’t hide anything from you any
longer. And I promise not to. I’m not your father, Marissa. He is.”
He pointed to the screen and
I found myself staring at a family portrait. Then it hit me like a punch in the
face. I recognized my real mother and father.
Rapidly, everything that had
once been a confusing blur came into life-defining focus. My beautiful home in
Centerville! My popularity in High School! My friends! OMG, I could
remember it all. The attack in the
woods! The horrible bite on my neck! And my boyfriend…not Brett…but
Rob….Rob…..not the Rob from this world ……but the other world….Oh!”
“What happened to my
boyfriend?” I yelled. “He ran into the woods and I went to find him. Somebody
fucking tell me what happened to him!”
“It's bad news I'm afraid,
Marissa,” Mr. Stake told me. “He didn't make it. We were too late. His blood
was already drained by TriFang and his body discarded. Fortunately, John was
able to rescue you, even though you'd been bitten. ”
All I could do was scream.
Mr. Stake grabbed my
shoulder. “Marissa, I know you’re going through a lot, but this is not a good
time to lose control. You are one of us now, and it's our responsibility to
include you in
everything. We’re
about to embark on a most important mission to destroy the very same portal
that you were brought through. After years of spying and
research, we strongly believe that once
we destroy this, TriFang will no longer have a pathway to Earth.”
While still trying to collect
my scrambled thoughts, the ceiling lights slowly turned on and the other
figures in the room came into full view. There must have been at least twenty
of them. All together they removed their masks and revealed their faces,
together with the distinctive Xs on their foreheads. Some were old like Mr.
FreeCut and Mr. Stake, while others were young and remarkably handsome. Most
were male, though there were a few brave females in the mix. All were holding
lethal weapons such as stake guns, sharp blades, or bottles of holy water.
One of them immediately
caught my eye more than the others. He was tall, dark and beautiful. And of
course, blatantly familiar. My mouth dropped wide open as I gazed at Brett.
OMG. How dare he?
“Janice, look, please
understand….I…”
“You liar!” I screamed. I
couldn’t bear to look at someone who I'd thought was so true, so pure. What the
hell was going on with my life? It was crumbling in front of me.
“I’m sorry,” Brett pleaded.
“I swear I didn’t know any of this stuff about you when we met. I didn’t know
anything until right before we broke up. Mr. Stake did the same thing to me
that he did to you.”
“How could you…?” I said,
showing more rage than tears.
“I did it to protect you,”
Brett responded. “I wanted to tell you the truth, but I thought it would put
you in danger! That’s why I tried to break up with you after Mr. Stake and Mr.
FreeCut told me everything. I wanted you to be safe! I really had no idea what
was going on, I swear!”
He looked like he was about
to cry, which was a shame. He was too pretty for tears and being so sad. But he
was a liar, and that was just the way it was.
“Please understand me. I
still love you!”
“Get the hell out of my
face!” I blasted back.
I felt horrible and
exhausted. The room spun like I was drunk. I just wanted to get the hell away
from all these liars. All these fakes who I'd believed were good people.
I ran to a door, though I had
no idea where it led. Yanking it open, I found myself inside a stuffy,
pitch-black room. It immediately felt like a safe haven – a protective
place from all the lies and heartbreak.
Pressing my teary face into a
brick pillow, I thought about my family. My loving mother and kind father who'd
been hidden from me for so long. Myfriends. And my real boyfriend who was dead!
How had all these people been
erased my mind? Maybe drugs. Or maybe it was the simple fact that I'd forgotten
who they were after I was bitten. But now that I’d seen pics of my real family,
I remembered everything again.
The door opened. The light
shining in from the main room hurt my eyes.
“Please J…Janice,” Brett
stuttered.
“Get out of here!” I
screamed. “And my name’s not freakin Janice!”
Crushed, he left me alone in
the darkness. A million thoughts swarmed around in my head. Anger and hurt
slowly became agonizing confusion.
Eventually, I got some
control of myself. Any insignificant thoughts disappeared. Only one thing was
on my mind now - I was gonna run through that portal. Run away and never see
Mr. FreeCut, Brett or any of those lying asses ever again. I was going home.
Home to a loving family who told me the truth. But damn, I was a vampire. I was
a freak! What the hell would they think of me? And what if I got the urge to
drink their blood? Oh geez…
The door opened. I could
already sense it was Mr. FreeCut. Time to bash him again.
“Janice…”
He walked closer to me. I
didn't move or breathe a word.
“I understand I’ve lost you
now, and it’s all my fault. But you know damn well that you mean the world to
me. I swear that’s the truth. Like I told you before, my wife died young on me.
I could never have any children until I met you. You were a wonderful gift. And
you still are. You always will be.”
I was old and wise enough to
know things in life didn’t always make sense. But decisions had to be made now.
With the little strength I had left after such a severe emotional beating, I
stood up and got into Mr. FreeCut’s face. I showed him my fangs.
“You’re a lying, bloody scum
ass,” I told him, not flinching. He didn’t move a muscle in response. He
remained stone cold still, drowning in a sea of regret. My eyes were less than
an inch from his face. I wanted to slap him so hard.
Instead, I threw my arms
around him. “But I forgive you,” I said, tearing up.
“You mean the
world to me too,” I admitted. “And thanks for saving my life.”
Emotion washed over him,
releasing a flood of joyous tears. He also looked a touch confused. But so was
I. Had I made the right decision in being be so forgiving? I wasn't sure.
Nevertheless, I ignored the
fluff and cut right to the bone. I brought up the idea of jumping through the
portal to go home. I asked him if I would be a risk to my loved ones on Earth.
He answered without evasiveness.
“You may not be so much of a
risk as you think because you haven’t developed a thirst for human blood. It
may be possible for you to visit your family. But to actually live with them? I
don’t know. But I’m not saying you shouldn't give it a go.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I know
I’m a vampire now, and no longer the perfect little clean teen I thought I was.
There’s no going back to that. But I want to see them. I want to try.”
He smiled. I couldn’t believe
his reaction.
“Then you have my permission
to leap through the portal. In fact, I’ll go with you to Earth and do my best
to keep you safe. You’re an X-Fanger now. Our duty to protect people from
TriFang is not just limited to Vampire World. We also need to be on Earth to
protect the humans they target.”
“That way, I could be with my
family, my friends, and you,” I replied excitedly.
A thought then occurred,
cooling my rush of enthusiasm. “But aren't we planning to destroy the portal to
stop TriFang members hurting humans?”
“Destroying that portal won’t
completely stop them,” Mr. FreeCut explained. “There are others that we know
about, but haven't located yet. I’ve argued with Mr. Stake about this, and he
knows the truth. Yet he believes destroying this particular portal will help
boost X-Fangers' moral and power. It will, but it won’t stop TriFang from
getting to Earth.”
“So what do we do then?”
“We don’t tell Mr. Stake
anything until we get to the portal. Then, just before he and the rest of the
group destroy it, we jump through and you go home.”
I hugged Mr. FreeCut. He was
about to go against Mr. Stake again. The first time revolved around keeping me
from the truth. Now it was about getting me home.
“Mr. Stake doesn’t want you
going back,” Mr. FreeCut said. “He doesn’t believe that you can survive on
Earth. And he thinks you’ll be vampire bait. But I disagree. You’ve grown quite
strong. You can do it, and you have my help. But we’re going to need Mr. Stake
and the team's help to get to the portal.”
We agreed to keep our plans
quiet. Meanwhile I asked another essential question.
“Why couldn’t I remember my
family until now? Did you drug me?”
“Certainly not,” Mr. FreeCut
replied. “When a human is bitten and turned into a vampire, they temporarily
lose all memory. But their memory can be restored by simple things like
photographs and such. This is what happened to you just now.”
“So how did you keep track of
me?” I asked.
He pointed to the necklace
he'd gifted me a while back. “Through that,” he said. “You can’t see it, but it
has a camera attached.”
I gulped. Mr. FreeCut kept
his cool. “I don’t know how Mr. Stake kept track of you. But somehow he did. I
do know he got into the house.”
I couldn’t even speak; I was
stunned.
“I know it’s crazy,” he said
sympathetically. “Remember how you asked me about Dracula, a famous president
of Vampire World?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know that in your
world, a famous writer once wrote a novel about a vampire named Dracula?”
Wow! So it appeared that
interplanetary travel had been going on for quite some time.
While uncomfortably digesting
all of this, I certainly felt different. And scared. Scared that I might not
make it to the portal. And if I did, that I may have to face the ultimate
horror of not being able to get close to my family because of being a vampire.
All the X-Fangers gathered
around Mr. Stake as he revealed his plans. I recognized a few more faces, like
Senator BloodHunt, who now had the “X” visible on his forehead. What a liar. He
knew about the portal all along. But I didn’t hold grudges.
Clutching a stake in his left
hand, Mr. Stake warned that it was not going to be easy. First of all we would
make our way through an underground tunnel that led into the basement of the
Capitol building. Once there, we’d enter a room that was protected by a
security combination created by TriFang. Inside this room was a local
teleporter that we would use to take us further on to the main, interplanetary
teleporter we'd be destroying. I dearly hoped I would be able to complete my
jump though this machine before it was torn apart.
“Our job will be dangerous,”
Mr. Stake warned. “The portal room will be heavily guarded. Blood will
flow.
But we are the only ones who
can defend our world against the injustices of TriFang. Do not doubt that what
we’re undertaking is a noble deed; there is a very real risk some of us may not
survive. However, any who fall will be rewarded no matter what, because success
in this mission means that all of our children will be able to live in a safe
and just world where TriFang no longer exists.”
It was obvious that TriFang
had shamefully corrupted the government. But not everyone was involved. While
peering at the brave, warrior-like senators and government officials in the
crowd, I knew there were still some vampires in high office who cared about our
marvelous country and the noble ideas it represented.
The group was fully motivated
thanks to Mr. Stake's words. But I recalled what Mr. FreeCut had said about
multiple portals existing and wondered how the team might react if they knew
Mr. Stake was telling a lie. Or at least, not giving them the whole truth. Yet
we all told lies. We were all guilty.
I spotted a sorrowful looking
Brett at the back of the group. Holding a machete, he seemed disengaged, and I
was the one to blame for that. I'd crushed his dreams. But I made my mind up.
Just like with Mr. FreeCut, I was gonna give him another shot. But first, I had
to know if he really loved me. I wanted him to go with me to Earth and be my
protector. Would he have the balls to leave his homeland? If he didn't, then
I’d know that his love was never true.
I’d try not to think I ever gave a damn, even though I certainly would.
I approached him, captivated
by his beauty and grace, even though he'd lied to me. Well, sorta lied. I
literally pushed him into the adjoining room, not taking my eyes off his
gorgeous face. He looked stone-cold petrified.
I gave him the test and told
him everything about my desire to go home, and how I planned to do this. I also
spelled out that it would be risky, but so damn worth it.
“But I don’t want you to get
hurt,” he responded.
“If I don’t go, I’ll always
be hurt,” I said.
He hugged me. I didn’t back
away. “Okay,” he said. “For you Janice, I’ll do anything. Just as long as
you’re willing to stay with me.”
I kissed him hard, now fully
aware of the truth. Honestly, I’d never felt so good in my life.
“I love you,” he said.
We made ready for our departure.
Along with everyone else, Brett and I collected more weapons from a large cache
in the basement of the house. I fastened extra stakes to my belt. I also put on
extra belts that allowed me to carry garlic and holy water bottles, blades and
Bloodstop ointment. To complete matters, I found a harness that enabled me to
carry my stake gun across my back.
After everyone was fully
kitted, we went outside to where an armada of black SUVs were lined up on the
street. I followed Brett and Mr. FreeCut into one of these.
We were all a bit edgy,
especially after Mr. Stake's grim warning about the dangers involved. Whatever
happened, I was sure it was not going to be pretty. The crazy thing was, while
everyone else would be attempting to destroy the portal, I’d be trying to get
home. I so hoped I could make it through with Brett and Mr. FreeCut by my side.
The Capitol building was
sky-rocketing in the distance. I felt both sadness and shock that this was one
of the places that TriFang used to transport human blood from a different
world.
We came to an abandoned
building and crowded inside. There was a trapdoor concealed under a black rug.
“This is the tunnel that will lead to the Capitol building basement,” Mr. Stake
told everyone. “Proceed with caution.”
I found myself in a dank
tunnel with putrid green liquid sloshing around our feet. But at least this
time I was not alone. I gripped Brett’s hand and made sure Mr. FreeCut was
close by. Other amiable X-Fangers also watched over me. On one occasion I
tripped on a pipe hidden beneath the goo and several hands instantly reached
out for me to prevent my fall.
After some time, we came to a
solid wall barring our way, with only a small hole near the bottom offering the
chance of further progress.
“Behind this wall is a
passageway leading to the basement of the Capitol,” Mr. Stake whispered. “This
is a restricted area guarded by TriFang. Everyone must be very quiet as we make
our way to the teleporter.”
We crawled like mice in
single file through a tiny but thankfully quite short tubular passageway until
reaching the basement. Similar to the tunnel, it was dark and forbidding, with
suffocating walls that created a baffling maze. We loyally followed Mr. Stake
through this maze. After numerous twists and turns, we eventually came to a
door. Mr. Stake immediately set to work on the combination lock next to it.
He unlocked it without a
problem, then looked at us all.
“Behind this door is the
device that will transport us to the main interplanetary teleporter. Everyone must
jump through this. Remember, we will be transporting to a very dangerous place,
so be prepared to defend yourselves at all times. However, do not fire at the
device we need to destroy until I tell you to.”
We entered the room and saw a
small machine with a circular force field making a buzzing noise. Tons of wires
were connected to it. Everyone anxiously crowded around.
“This is it,” Mr. Stake said.
“I’ll be the first to go. Good luck everyone.”
He took the initial leap of
courage. Almost immediately his body disappeared into the bluish colored force
field. Others jumped in after him, including Mr. FreeCut. Then it was my turn.
“I’ll go first,” Brett said.
“No,” I responded, politely
brushing him aside.
As I stepped inside the
machine, it felt like my body was being sucked into an enormous vacuum. For a
few moments the world twirled madly around me. Then everything came into focus
again. I was in a very large room. I looked up and gawked at a machine similar
in appearance to the one I'd just jumped though, though massively bigger.
I remained fixated on this
technological marvel that was to be my vehicle home. It was so huge, a second
story had been built to accommodate it all. But it was also about to become a
target, which made me want to run up the ladder and jump into the world I was
meant to be in.
As the remaining X-Fangers
astonishingly materialized out of thin air after transporting, I found Mr.
FreeCut and Brett.
“What do we do next?” I
whispered to Mr. FreeCut.
Before he could answer, Mr.
Stake spoke. “Those responsible for cutting the wires, begin now. And those
assigned to destroy the main computer, proceed to the back.”
Just as I was about to scream
for them to wait, a series of rapid flashes indicated a new bunch of
teleporting arrivals. At first I thought it was some late arriving X-Fangers.
But I was wrong. It was armed members of TriFang, around ten of them, who had
caught on to our breach of their security. Another succession of flashes
occurred, these delivering even more TriFangers on the second floor above the
machine.