Deadman's Blood (7 page)

Mark asked, “Who are the Ancient Ones?”

“The Ancient Ones are four born vampire brothers. Their father and mother were said to be the first vampires, but I’m not sure I believe that. In any case, as most of my family knows, having two children in a born vampire family is very rare, but four? To my knowledge, there has never been four born to a set of vampire parents since.

“The four were named Mathew, Douglas, Larsen, and Wallace. All four were considered royalty and when the father died, his kingdom was split into four. All four were successful lords of their courts, but due to Larsen’s more generous heart, his court always dominated in numbers. It is said that it was Larsen who proposed something very near to what the Black Orchids initially intended, which is, as you know, to provide an organization to educate humans and supernatural beings so that they could live in harmony together. It was also to be a refuge for those with abilities they did not understand or know how to use, a place for them to be taught how to use them responsibly.

“Petty power struggles and jealousy posed a threat among the brothers. Wallace and Douglas were notorious for their inhumane treatment of humans and supernaturals alike, and soon overtook the Mathew kingdom. It’s not known what ever became of Mathew, but it is thought that Douglas and Wallace had him executed.

“In between acquiring the Mathew court, Wallace’s and Douglas’s courts, combined, did not even come close to the population of Larsen’s court. Humans and supernaturals flocked to his kingdom in droves hearing what a kind and just court it was.

“It was when Larsen’s wife was mysteriously struck down that things came to unravel. Grief-stricken as he was, he ignored his responsibilities for a time and did some traveling, only to come back and find that his brothers had come in and divided up the masses of his court.

“It’s not known what happened to Larsen after that; many think he was killed by his brothers; others think he ended his own immortal life, but whatever happened, he was never seen again.

“The petty disputes between the two remaining brothers ended in bloodshed and the four courts were never to be heard of again.

“One great asset that Larsen had given to the world was the ‘Archives.’ A very loyal scribe that Larsen employed recorded them. He and his descendants kept the archives safe and kept recording our Vampiric history for many centuries.

“It is said that when the Black Orchids came into being, the archives were given to them for safe keeping, but power struggles began there too, and the archives were hidden away in a vault somewhere. So much time has passed that those who knew where the Archives were hidden are long gone.

“After finding this artifact in the altar room, I believe that the Archives may be hidden there or somewhere near there.”

The artifact had been passed almost all the way around the table. Devon said, “With the animals on it, it reminds me of a coat of arms.”

“Exactly. I think it is a coat of arms of some kind,” Dominic said.

“And this symbol where the four animals meet, what is it? It looks like a stick-figure king,” Devon pointed out.

“You are very perceptive, Devon. I was puzzled by it too, but I think I figured it out. I think it is the royal seal of the four courts combined. If you look closely, it seems to be made up of letters. A ‘W’ on top of an “M” make up the body of the king. The head of the king seems to be made by a “D” laying on its side with the flat side down. An “L” on its side seems to make up part of the crown. Granted, it is primitive, but all four letters are there,” Dominic explained.

“Interesting. So two arms point to two animals above and the two legs point to the other two animals. So each animal represents one of the brothers?” Devon asked.

“Yes, Wallace is the wolf, Larsen is the lion, Mathew is the eagle, and Douglas represents the bear,” Dominic said.

As he handed the artifact to his left, Josh grabbed it with just a little force and Devon noticed one of the symbols move near where the stick figure seal’s right arm pointed just below the eagle.

Devon said, “Did you see that, Josh?”

Josh answered, “I didn’t see it, but I felt something move.”

Devon held out his hand, “May I?”

He examined it closer and saw that there were four small spots at the ends of the stick figures’ hands and feet that seemed to move slightly. “I don’t think this is just a coat of arms, Dominic. I think it is a puzzle box or container of some sort. I had been handling it so gently that I didn’t notice before, but there seems to be something inside it.”

“How fascinating,” Dominic said as he got up from his seat to look over Devon’s shoulder.

“Maybe it’s a combination,” Josh said.

Devon said excitedly, “Of course. That’s exactly what it is, Josh. Dominic, who was the first born brother?”

Dominic looked in his notes. “Umm, the first born was...Wallace.”

“And he’s the wolf, right?” Devon confirmed.

“Yes.”

Devon touched just below the right leg where the wolf was. “And the second?” Devon asked.

“The second is Douglas and he is…the bear,” Dominic relayed.

Devon touched just below the left leg where the bear was, then asked, “Okay, the third?”

“The third is Mathew and he is...the eagle,” Dominic answered.

Devon touched just above the right arm of the seal stick figure pointing to the eagle.

Dominic said, “And the last is Larsen, the lion.”

“Right,” said Devon and pushed above the left arm, under the lion. A tiny mechanical click sounded and one end of the fluted, hand-carved cylindrical artifact popped open.

Devon handed the artifact carefully to Dominic, who was as giddy as a little kid being presented with a puppy. “Here, Dominic, you do the honors.”

He smiled and took it out of Devon’s hand as if it was a piece of blown glass and slowly walked to his seat, never taking his eyes off of the object.

Dean said, “What’s in it already? I’m about ready to jump out of my skin over here, Dominic.”

Dominic heartily laughed; he truly loved Dean’s sense of humor and his child-like excitement. Dominic took a deep breath and slid the contents out into his other hand. It too was cylindrical and ornately etched with bears, wolves, eagles, and lions; and the now familiar stick man adorned a circle area in the middle. It had jewels here and there and appeared to be pure silver with delicate filigree between the animals. Each end of the cylinder was decorated with what Dominic thought were caps that were bulbish in shape and ended in a point, like an onion dome or Russian castle roof.

Darby said, “My God. It’s so beautiful, but what is it?”

“I believe it is a scroll case.” He carefully removed one of the ends to reveal a piece of ancient parchment. He didn’t touch it with his fingers but instead asked Bernard to get him his gloves from the top drawer of his desk.

Bernard was back in a flash and Dominic put on some pristine white gloves and gently pulled the parchment from the tube. Trying very hard to be as gentle as possible to the ancient scroll, he opened it to its full extent. It wasn’t large. Many of the table’s guests were now huddled around and behind Dominic as he started to translate the ancient vampiric language.

Dean’s impatience got the better of him. “What does it say?”

“Well, it seems to be in a lost language that combines the ancient vampiric with that of some of the old crone’s witch-lore writings. From what I can tell, it is she that is writing it and it seems to be one of her prophecies. I don’t think anyone has ever seen anything like this in hundreds, maybe thousands of years. I’m not sure this is the exact translation but I’ll improvise.” He shook his head, in awe of what he was holding and reading, then continued.

“Four brothers of the same high court will be brought together once more to build a just and noble kingdom that binds the supernatural with the natural. But a dark one lurks in the shadows as he’s done for centuries, ensuring they not know of their destiny and that their numbers never reach four.

“Unbeknownst to all, including the dark one, the fourth brother and the other three know not of one another and this is what has kept him safe from harm. A quest of his own will draw the fourth to his lineage and all will be set in motion. The dark one guises himself as a friend, but the blood on his hands will be revealed when archives of the Ancients are opened once more.

“The four will have allies with great power and that power will be quadrupled by the destruction of ‘one’s heart’ as payment for their good deeds.

“The battle with the dark one will be most ferocious and when the dust settles the dark one will be no more. The four will bring together all of earth’s creatures as one to live in harmony and without fear for centuries to come. Their family name will live on as the kind and noble ‘Lion’ for all of time.” Dominic stopped and pondered what he had just read aloud to his family.

“I don’t get it? Why do prophecies always have to be so cryptic? Why can’t they just say, Joe Smoe kicks Bob Blob’s butt because he is a bad, bad man. Then everyone will live happily ever after,” Dean said.

“Look at that, fuzz face likes fairy tales,” Blake said.

“Don’t start with me, Bat Bean...ooooh I like that. It rolls right off the tongue. Giant green bean meets bat boy to make giant bat bean,” Dean said, rather proud of himself.

“I like it,” Mark roared in laughter.

“You are such a moron, Dean,” Blake said snidely. Blake shook his head as Rowan buried the smile she was hiding from Blake behind her hand.

Melanie asked, “What does it mean, Dominic? Is it about the Larsens?”

“I’m not sure,” Dominic admitted.

Devon said, “It can’t be about us. We’re not four brothers.”

“That isn’t exactly true. In vampire history, I have found that cousins in the same family are often referred to as brothers. Like two families forming a clan. If that is the case, then we...you are four now with Josh,” Dominic explained.

“Is the dark one the Dark Angel?” Rowan asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe. But that would mean the true identity of the Dark Angel is a friend or a colleague.”

Anton said, “That’s not good. Not looking forward to going up against the Dark Angel.”

A knock came at the front door and Bernard jumped to his feet to answer it.

*****

The rest of the group had started to stir when Bernard peeked his head into the dining room and asked Josh to join him. Josh got up and headed for the door, holding onto Melanie’s hand and pulling her behind him.

“What’s up, Bernard?”

“Well, I called Dr. Rowe here to check on your hand. I felt with such a bad cut, he should take a look at it,” Bernard said.

“You shouldn’t have, Bernard. It doesn’t hurt a bit,” Josh said.

“You should have it looked at, Josh. It looked like it was bleeding pretty bad before you took a shower,” Melanie urged.

“Fine. But I’m telling you it’s fine,” Josh argued.

Bernard walked Josh and Melanie into a room at the other end of the house, where Dr. Rowe was unpacking something from his bag.

“Ah, Mr. Brenner and the lovely Ms. Harper. How are you both?” Dr. Rowe inquired.

Melanie said, “Very well, Dr. Rowe. Thank you for coming.”

“So, Josh. I hear you had a run in with a nasty jar,” Dr. Rowe joked.

“It’s not a big deal,” Josh said.

“Are you kidding? He crushed it and the lid,” Bernard interjected.

“I’m sure the jar just had a flaw in it and I grabbed it at that fragile spot,” Josh argued.

“Well, let’s see how deep it is. I’m sure Bernard cleaned it well. He’s been patching you all up so much lately that he’s practically an MD himself,” Dr. Rowe said with a chuckle.

Josh held out his bandaged hand to the doctor. The bandages were red all the way through. Dr. Rowe carefully unwrapped his hand. “Hmm,” he said, looking at Melanie. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were a vampire and healing yourself quite quickly.”

Bernard stepped forward as Melanie and Josh both looked at the unbandaged hand. There were two red lines across his palm, one about an inch across and the other about a quarter inch, but the wounds looked two weeks old and almost completely healed.

Bernard stuttered, “But...but...this morning...”

Dr. Rowe looked from Bernard to Josh then said, “Been biting vampires lately?”

“Uh no,” Josh said.

“Well...I don’t know what to say, you certainly don’t need my services. It looks fine. No infection. At this rate, by tomorrow you won’t know you had a cut at all. Quite remarkable for a human. The only explanation I can come up with is that you were in contact with a ‘healer,’” Dr. Rowe said.

“A healer?” Melanie asked.

“Yes. They are quite rare - the real ones that is. There’s a ton of charlatans out there but the real thing can be quite miraculous. I’ve only met one in my long career,” Dr. Rowe explained. “Well, since you won’t be needing my services, I guess I will look in on Dominic and say my hello’s,” he said, packing up his stuff.

Bernard said, still stunned, “Thank you, Dr. Rowe, for coming. I’ll show you to Master Dominic.”