Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2006 16:32:49 -0600 From: Dan Nelson-Kangas Subject: Jake's War Chapters 12-14 Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction from the author's imagination. The story and its characters are products of the author. Any similarities to other stories or characters are purely coincidental. Any similarities of characters to persons living or dead are entirely coincidental. This story contains homosexual themes, if that offends you or it is illegal for you to read such material, read no further. The author retains all rights to this story. Do not reproduce or post this story on other sites without the author's permission. Author's Note: Thank you for reading my first publishing of a story I wrote. This is a vampire story that I have been bouncing around in my mind for a long time. You will notice some aspects of `vampire nature' from popular books and movies like Anne Rice's thrillers and Underworld. I am a great fan of vampire fiction. Thank you to the authors who have inspired me to publish my own work. This includes Comicality and Julien Gregg of GayAuthors.org and the many I have read on Nifty.org. Comments and criticisms are most welcome. Contact me at DanielT315@gmail.com. Special thanks to all those who have sent me comments!! I'm most appreciative of the feedbacK! Kepp writing me if you want, I love hearing from you. Chapter 12 Tristan woke up a couple of hours before the sun set. This new sleeping schedule was messing with his mind. He stretched and headed for the shower. After he was finished, he put on the fresh clothes that had once again been laid out for him while he slept. He decided that he would go and see if Jake was awake. He was really attracted to Jake, physically and mentally. He had gotten over the initial shock of Jake being a vampire, and came to really enjoy talking with him. He felt good when he was in Jake's presence, he felt safe there. He hadn't felt that happy and safe in a long time. When he knocked on the door to Jake's suite, Tristan heard Jake call for whoever was at the door to enter. He gently opened the door and stepped into the sitting room. . His breath caught as he saw Jake. Jake was shirtless and standing before the large windows through which Tristan could see the sun as it began it's descent to the western horizon. Tristan loved how Jake looked standing there in front of the beautiful view. Classical music played softly in the background. "Make yourself comfortable, Tristan," Jake said. He turned and smiled at Tristan as he pulled on a shirt. Tristan smiled back, still captivated by the sight of Jake. Tristan saw that the injury from the previous night was gone. Jake motioned for him to sit on the couch. Tristan hesitantly moved towards the couch, "Sorry if I interrupted you." "You didn't," Jake said, sitting down on the couch. "I was just stretching, had to do some extra work on my shoulder because of that injury." "It looked healed to me," Tristan said, relaxing into the leather of the couch. Jake smiled, "Yeah, it is basically healed. But the muscles are tense and tight, so I had to stretch it out." Tristan nodded and looked around the room. It was comfortable in a contemporary design. The west wall was almost entirely made up of the large windows. On the wall with the door he entered through, which they now faced, was a cabinet where he guessed a TV and stereo were housed. Large bookcases covered with books, magazines, and other print materials as well as various knickknacks flanked the TV cabinet and were also positioned on the other two walls. Those walls also had large paintings and framed photographs. Two more doors lead out of the room. Tristan knew one lead to the bedroom and the other, Tristan saw, led to a lavish study where Jake had even more books as well as his desk and computer station. He glanced back at the bookcases in front of him. On the top shelf in the center was a large glass case. In that case, Tristan gazed on a large sword. The sheath was highly decorated with gold and precious stones. The sword's handle was embedded with jewels as well. "It was my father's," Jake said. "And his father's before that and his father's father's before that. It's the symbol of the Valto family power." "How old is it?" Tristan asked, looking at the shimmering stones. "It was crafted about a hundred years before my birth," Jake said. "So over six- hundred years." "Wow," Tristan said. Jake laughed softly, "I have things that are far older than that, things I've collected over the years, and a few things that were handed down to me. "Follow me," Jake said, rising. Tristan followed him into his study. Jake first pointed to three glass cases on the shelf at eye-level on one of the bookcases. Tristan looked at the first one with curiosity at what appeared to be a clay tablet. "It's from ancient Sumer," Jake said. "Roughly six-thousand years old." "This papyrus," Jake said, motioning to the second case, "is from about the time of Christ. And these," he motioned to the third case. "Are various coins from the past two thousand years, starting with Rome." Tristan was amazed at these treasures. Jake smiled and pointed out a few of the coins. "I used to have far more treasures than this," Jake said. "Well, I have others here and at my other homes, but I have given many away." "Why?" Tristan asked. "So others can learn from them and enjoy them," Jake answered. "I've given or sold them to museums and other institutions of learning. Now, let me show you something over here," He walked across the room to the shelf behind his desk where yet another glass case sat. Tristan gazed upon a dazzling gold necklace with a large sapphire in the middle. Along side of necklace, there was a gold ring bearing a crest decorated with tiny gems. "Family heirlooms," Jake said, smiling. "Recognize the crest?" "It was on the sword," Tristan said, recognition in his eyes. "And it's carved in the front door here." "Correct," Jake said. "It is the Valto family crest; a bird with a sword in its clutches. On this ring, the hilt of the sword has a sapphire, as does the bird's eye." "And the sword in the sitting room has a sapphire in its hilt. And this necklace has a sapphire at its center," Tristan said. "Yes, this crest and the sapphire stone are symbols of my family," Jake said, there was a twinkle in his eye. "They have been the symbols for as far back as I can trace the record, which happens to be when these were made. It was around 1050 AD." Tristan gasped slightly. "You know your family line for one thousand years?" Jake took Tristan's hand and led him through the sitting room and into the bedroom. He pointed at a mural that covered one wall. Tristan gazed on a large family tree. Jake pointed at the root of it. "Henrik Valto is the oldest member of my family I know of. From him, I have mapped my family's history through the paternal line, those who carry the Valto name." "It ends with you," Tristan noticed. "Yes, I was the last surviving heir of the Valto name," Jake said. "For a handful of generations no more than one male survived. The Valto name has died out with me. Although I have created false heirs in order to maintain my wealth. However, I started tracing the lines of my father's sisters. " "Alicia," Tristan whispered, noticing one of Jake's cousins who didn't have a death date. "Is that...? I thought she was your lover or something?" "Yes, that is the Alicia here, but no she is not my lover, only my cousin" Jake answered. "Marek made her a vampire about fifteen years after me, she too was dying, and I couldn't stand the thought of losing my favorite cousin." Tristan nodded and looked around the wall, the families of his aunts expanded out down through five-hundred years of Jake's life. Jake led Tristan back out to the sitting room where they resumed their spots on the couch. "Why did you change your name?" Tristan asked. "For a very human reason," Jake said. "I was forced to move because of changing times in my homeland, and it was easier to be accepted in the new land under a different surname. I use other first names in order to make it seem I'm reproducing." Just then a knock came at the door. "Come in, Dante," Jake called. Dante's large body came through the door. He smiled at Tristan and took a chair near them that Jake pointed to. "What's the latest?" Jake asked. "No unusual activity happening that we can pick up in the city, but sun hasn't set yet," Dante said. "The captive, the watcher, has been interrogated, but he says he will only talk to you." Jake frowned and nodded, "I'll be down shortly. Could you have some food prepared for Tristan and something to drink for me?" "Of course," Dante said standing and exiting the room. Jake scratched his chin as he thought, Tristan asked, "what are you thinking?" "I'm confused about the captive watcher," Jake said. "I'm trying to think of what he may have to say and why he'll only say it to me." "Maybe he's just buying time," Tristan said. "Maybe he has no plans on telling you at all." "He'll tell me," Jake said, "one way or the other." "What do you mean?" Tristan asked. "He'll either tell me," Jake said, discomfort flashing in his eyes, "or I'll read his mind and find out what he knows." "You can read minds?" Tristan asked. "Yes," Jake answered. "All vampires can read mortal thoughts. Watchers have better defenses against it than most mortals, but I'm too powerful. Vampires can block each other, but not always. We also use it as a form of silent communication and communication over long distances. "And no, I have not read you mind. I can detect your presence from far away now, but all I feel is a few surface thoughts, nothing deep or important." "Why haven't you?" Tristan asked. "Maybe I'm hiding something or maybe there's something in there that is the key to why Zalmon wants me." Jake frowned, "I try not to read people's minds without permission, especially people I like. Additionally, I trust you and know that you are telling me all you know. I don't need to read your mind to know that, I can sense you are a good and honest person. And plus, if I didn't tune out the millions of voices and thoughts I hear from people around the world, I'd go insane." Tristan looked thoughtfully at Jake. "Thanks, for trusting me and saying I'm a good person." He blushed and looked down. Jake smiled and patted him on the back, "let's go see about food, shall we?" Chapter 13 Jake and Tristan headed down to the dining room. They took their seats and soon Jeff appeared to offer Tristan a drink. Tristan asked for water. Jeff left and soon returned with two large glasses, one with water, and one with a dark thick liquid he gave to Jake. Jake thanked him and took a sip of his drink as Tristan sipped his water. "What are you drinking?" Tristan asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. Jake set his glass down, "Blood. It is human blood to be exact." "Oh," Tristan said, all the stories about vampires he had heard came back to him. Jake looked down, "I hope that doesn't upset you. I am a vampire, after all. I need blood to survive, but I don't have to drink it every night, and it doesn't have to be directly from the human like some stories say. The amount I drink is not nearly enough to kill a human either, and it is willingly given by donors." Tristan nodded, "I understand and it doesn't bother me. I'm glad that you don't have to kill though." "A long time ago," Jake said, immensely relieved Tristan didn't hate him. "That's the only way we drank, directly from the human. It's the only way we thought we could drink it. We drank every night as well. We, however, have evolved. We realized first that we didn't have to drink a human dry, small amounts were fine. Then we learned we could drink blood that had been removed from the source and stored. On a rare occasion, in the case of a truly serious injury or some other ailment, we have to drink large amounts of human blood but it doesn't have to be directly from a human. We've also learned that blood from other mammals can sustain us when human blood is not available, but we can't survive on it forever. Our watchers are often the main donors for us, and we also have arrangements with blood banks. It's a secret, of course." "Do any vampires drink directly from humans?" "Some of the lone vampires have been reported to still prey on humans. Additionally, there have been reports of renegades preying on humans," Jake answered. Jeff came out with a plate of food for Tristan who thanked him. Tristan started eating and Jake continued drinking his blood drink. Both Jake and Tristan stole glances at each other, hoping the other wouldn't notice. Tristan noticed Jake change slightly as he drank. It was like any remaining damage from the injury or any fatigue melted away and he was the powerful man Tristan had come to adore. Wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans, he looked so human, but at the same time, he looked so much more. When he finished eating, Jeff came back and cleaned up their dishes and went back to the kitchen. Jake motioned for Tristan to follow him and he led him down through the secret passages to the command center. Dante was there along with Chris and Amy. "No changes," Dante reported. Jake nodded. "Stay here, Tristan," Jake said. "I'm going to talk to the captive. I'll be back soon." With that, he turned and walked out of the command center and across the large cavern to a door that led to a short passage. At the end of the passage, he found the set of cells and entered the one with the watcher by using the fingerprint scanner. A short but muscular Hispanic-looking man sat on a bed along the wall; he looked up at Jake as he entered. "Count Valto?" he asked, his Cuban accent was thick. Jake nodded, "And you are?" "Julian Celino," the man replied. "How long have you been working for Zalmon?" Jake demanded. "Twelve years," the man responded, sitting up straight. "I worked primarily with Tarja." "And what is it that you would only tell me?" Jake asked. "A warning," Julian said. "Treacherous times are at hand. You will be betrayed." "Oh?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow. "How exactly will I be betrayed?" "Traitors walk among you," Julian whispered. "You mean, other than you?" "One or more who are inside your trusted circle," Julian said. "They have yet to reveal their true allegiance." "Why should I believe you?" Jake snapped. In a flash, he was holding a gun to Julian's temple. "Tell me why I should not kill you now." "I want to help you!" Julian said, only flinching slightly at the pistol. "You know that Zalmon is not at that house those others escaped to last night. I promise you that you won't find anything there of interest." "Three traitors went there last night," Jake said, lowering his gun. "That is of interest. And why would you help me?" "Zalmon lied to me! He tricked me!" Julian hissed. He quickly regained his composure and moved on. "Will you abandon your mansion to go hunt them?" "That doesn't concern you," Jake said. "Fine," Julian said. "But beware, tonight you will be betrayed. I tell you this is true." Jake turned to leave, "we'll see. And I'll let you live for now." Jake slammed the cell door shut and started to walk back towards the command center. He was deeply disturbed by what Julian had told him. Jake didn't trust him, but his vampire sense told him that there was some truth in what Julian told him. He frowned as he tried to decide what to do next. Chapter 14 Jake's eyes looked out across the group in front of him. All of his forces and all of Brad's were sitting around in the command center. Everyone looked anxious for what was to come. "The captive watcher has provided me some useful information," Jake said. "He has told me that the farmhouse that we tracked the vehicles to last night is, in fact, Zalmon's supporter's last stronghold in this city. However, Zalmon will most likely not be there. "The plan is this; the majority of this group will be going to attack the farmhouse. I will be following up on another piece of intelligence that the captive gave me Additionally, I'm going to need a couple volunteer vampires in addition to the normal five watchers to stay here and make sure nothing happens, though I doubt it will." Jake paused and looked once again at the assembled men and women, "I know all of you want to go out there and hit the stronghold, but a couple need to stay behind. Are there any volunteers?" Everyone hesitated and then two of Brad's vampires raised their hands. Their names were Paul and Ryan. Jake nodded, "Thank you. Now, Brad and Alicia are in charge. I will see you all back here after we all do what we need to." With that, Jake turned and left the room, Tristan and Alicia caught up to him as he headed through the cavern, he motioned them to follow him into a small chamber off the main cavern. He shut the door and turned to Alicia, "you're concerned, I take it?" "Of course," she said, narrowing her eyes. "You're leaving the mansion with two vampires we barely know and you are running off alone. What is going on?" "Exactly what I said," Jake responded. "Everything is fine. Jess, Jeff, Amy and Jane will be here too. The mansion will be safe. And I'm following up on a lead the captive gave me." "Don't you want someone to go with you?" Alicia asked. "No," Jake said. "I'm strong enough to deal with it by myself, and I need you with the main group. Trust me." She frowned but relented. She hugged Jake and left the room. Tristan looked at Jake with concern. "Am I staying here?" Jake nodded, his features softening, "unfortunately where I'm going is too dangerous for you to come with me." "But what if something happens here? Or if something happens to you? I mean..." he broke off. Jake rested his hands on Tristan's shoulders and squeezed gently, "nothing is going to happen. And if anything goes wrong or if you need me, I want you to concentrate on my name. I'll hear you. Try now, just think about my name." Tristan hesitated but did what Jake said. Jake felt Tristan calling for him mentally and made a quick mental tie before sending Tristan a mental assurance. "See?" Jake asked, smiling warmly. "I'll be able to hear you no matter where I am." Tristan nodded but didn't move; Jakes hands were still on his shoulders. Neither of the men wanted to move, to let go of each other. Their eyes locked for a moment and a tingle shot through Tristan. Jake let go of him and turned, "I should be going. Go up to my suite and settle there for the night. I'll see you later." Tristan followed Jake to the main hall of the mansion where he parted and went up the stairs as Jake continued outside. The others were getting ready to leave as Jake hopped into his black sports car and sped down the long drive and out through the gates. He piloted his car away from the mansion towards the city lights. Tristan walked into Jake's sitting room. He felt odd being there without Jake. He felt like he was invading Jake's private space. He sighed as he looked around. He looked over the shelves and looked at the various books, some looking to be hundreds of years old and some written in languages Tristan didn't understand. He smirked slightly as he came across a section with numerous vampire novels including Dracula and Anne Rice's thrillers. He then looked at the selection of movies Jake had and again found a section with various vampire-related movies including the many versions of Dracula, the Blade series, and those based on Anne Rice's novels. He decided to settle in and watch Underworld which was about vampires and werewolves according to the back of the case. He wondered if werewolves were real too as he started the movie. The overwhelming realization that these beings that so many stories have been written about were real hit Tristan as he watched the movie. They weren't just made up creatures used to entertain audiences, they were real beings. Tristan realized that the stories and movies were often times wrong about what vampires were like, but they did have some things right. He tried to process all that he had seen and experience in the past week. Part of him told him it was only a dream, but he knew it was real. As the movie ended, Tristan got up and stretched. He wandered downstairs to get a snack. Jeff was there and prepared him something to eat and carried it back to Jake's sitting room for Tristan. Tristan settled back in after setting up some classical music to play and grabbing a book on the history of vampire legends. About an hour had passed while Tristan read when a knock came at the door. He figured it was Jeff coming to collect his dishes so he called for him to come in. He was surprised to see one of the vampires Jake had left behind, Ryan, enter the room. He looked at Tristan and smiled. "Can I help you?" Tristan asked. Ryan's smile sent shivers down his spine. "Yes," Ryan sneered, "you can." Ryan pounced on Tristan. Tristan tried to fight but Ryan overpowered him and tied his wrists and ankles. Tristan looked up in defeat and asked, "What do you want from me?" Ryan laughed, "You can't escape your destiny this time. Zalmon will see to that." With that, he gagged Tristan and then sent a message using his cell phone Tristan began concentrating on Jake's name. He prayed that Jake could hear him. Ryan paced the room impatiently. After about five to ten minutes, he turned to Tristan. "He can't hear you!" he hissed. "And even if he could, there's nothing he can do now!" "Is that so?" Jake said, emerging from his study, gun pointed at Ryan. "You underestimate me."