Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 16:52:29 -0600 From: Jason Gordon Subject: Things that Go Bump 17 Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction, which will include t/t and m/m relationships, and probably some sex too. If it is illegal in your area to read this, or if you are not old enough to read this (you know who you are), stop here. Otherwise, please enjoy. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is a companion story to "A Light in the Darkness." The story lines are related and the characters occasionally interact, and the frequency of this will be increasing. The stories begin at roughly the same time, and this chapter, as well as the next few, pairs with Chapter 5 of A Light in the Darkness. My sincerest thanks go out to Darryl AKA the Radio Rancher (darryltheradiorancher@gmail.com) and John aka Tigger who kindly edited this chapter, and to Kelly for his very helpful suggestions. And thanks to everyone for writing such encouraging emails. I am now posting my stories to a Yahoo!Group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jaygordon_1981/ as well. I'm putting them up there a little in advance so I can make final edits before submitting to Nifty, so if you are interested, you can check it out. It's closed membership to avoid spams and flames, so just let me know! Things That Go Bump, Chapter 17 "The Corrupter of Souls" James threw himself onto the bed next to Peter, across from Richard, as they worked together to hold the boy down. Peter's muscular frame was thrashing, his dark brown hair tossing wildly. "Peter, Pete, it's James and Richard.... You're at Sebastian's.... You're home...." "No," the boy shouted, softer now, still struggling. "Stop! Leave me alone...." "Pete," James said, closing his eyes, "listen to me.... Remember when we were seven and we went to play in the park.... You found that turtle, we brought him back to your house and kept him in a box as a pet.... You called him Mr. Whiskers.... I asked you why you picked that name and you said, 'It's a turtle.... What the hell do you name a turtle?' It's James.... Listen to me, Richard is here with me.... Richard has been with you every minute since we got you back.... He won't leave you...." Peter was still tense, his eyes still closed, but he had stopped struggling. James nodded to Richard, who leaned in and put his head on the boy's chest, whispering, "Pete, come back to me.... You're ... I don't know what I'd do without you anymore, baby...." Suddenly, Pete's eyes began to leak tears, and Sebastian and Richard could tell he was back. Slowly, he grasped at Richard, and James backed away. Peter's eyes had always been startlingly blue, but now they were almost radiant. James and Sebastian stepped outside, leaving them alone. "Richard will call if they need us," Sebastian said. "You did well, you got through to him.... It's more difficult than you might imagine...." They made their way through the house back to their room and crawled back into each other's arms. Neither would sleep any more, but there was nowhere else they'd rather be. As the rest of the house began to stir Friday morning, Sebastian and James dressed and made breakfast for their crew. Chris and Steve came down first. "What was that last night," Steve asked. Sebastian looked at James, who looked away and said, "Pete...." "So he's ... alive?" "In a manner of speaking...." "Can we see him?" James looked at Sebastian, who shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea.... James was very strong, and the circumstances were ... different.... Give him some time, and even then ... I need to warn you, neither of you should spend any time alone with him, or be physically close to him.... James's development is abnormal.... Young vampires can be driven to a mad frenzy by proximity to a living human, the heat, the smell of blood oozes from you.... He wouldn't mean to, but he could hurt you badly, or kill you, before he even realized...." The boys looked scared and nodded. "Don't act scared of him, guys," James added. "None of this is his fault, and eventually, he'll be fine...." When Avery and Sarah came downstairs, Sebastian couldn't help but shoot them a knowing smile that made the young woman blush. "Come, come," he said, laughing. "We're all friends here.... I'd not noticed until now, you both have the same light brown hair and those hazel eyes.... You look good together...." Horatio, stolid Englishman that he was, joined them looking neat and fit beneath his tweed armor, and then took Chris, Steve and James off to begin their lessons. After teacher and student's were gone, Sebastian asked, "Avery, could we speak privately downstairs?" The man nodded and followed him, after giving Sarah a quick peck on a still-blushing cheek. Sebastian closed the door to his office behind them and locked it, sealing the room's magical defenses. Avery raised his eyebrows. "We have to talk, my friend.... Have you remembered that I woke you?" "No...." "I needed some information.... One of the vampires who killed Pete saw a being kill Chang with his bear hands and burn him to ashes with a supernatural fire...." "Chang might not be you, but that is a ... dubious story...." Pointing to a bag of ashes and teeth on a shelf, Sebastian mused, "Tell that to Consul Chang.... In any case, the being sent his regards...." "Being, why do you keep calling it that...." "His name ... was Sammael...." Avery went white and sank almost involuntarily into his seat. "No.... That is not.... It's some upshot claiming to be the MAN.... Some low-level flunky...." "Avery ... I don't want to believe it either, but think about it.... What kind of being would have the balls to awaken ancient vampires with the confidence he could control them, to drag the supernatural into the light, to provoke a war between ... everyone...." "What kind of being could awaken a sleeping ancient whether he liked it or not.... Aethon.... Sebastian, I feel like ... it should be obvious, whatever the plan is.... And I'm just not getting it...." "We'll figure it out...." "Sebastian! If it's Sammael, it won't matter! There is NOTHING we could possibly do!" "So what? We give in? We serve Sammael and march off to the apocalypse? Avery, fuck's sake!" The man sank in his chair resting his head in his hands. "No! I'll follow you.... Of course, I'll follow you...." Sebastian put a hand on his muscular shoulder, his finger gently tracing where he knew the scar was hidden, and sighed. "I know, my friend.... But remember, all is not lost...." "The child of love? Who the hell knows what that means?" "I think we do.... I met with some of the others last night, and I think it might be James, a being with the power of my kind but born of love, a pure soul.... Gamaliel came for him, after all.... And besides him, I can't wait for you to meet these boys in Richmond.... I can't help but believe they play a role in all of this...." "James! Of course, it makes sense.... He was sired by one of the old ones," he paused when Sebastian gave him a look. "What! You've been alive now as long as any of them before they went to sleep, probably.... You are what you are!" "In any case, Avery, this means that I need you to begin training him immediately.... I'll assist as I can...." "Train him how?" "Teach him the basics of magic, offensive and defensive.... If he has an aptitude, teach him as much as you can.... But also, work with him on the advanced abilities of vampires.... Basically, we need to teach him how to be an ancient vampire," Sebastian said, with a laugh, as Avery shook his head. "This is where I will be of the most help, as you've so delicately pointed out...." "When should I begin?" "As soon as possible.... Work with Horatio to schedule a couple of hours during the day, then get him after the lessons are finished for a couple more.... And, while he's in lessons with Horatio, be sure to get with Sam about opening a portal with him in Richmond...." "Anything else, master," Avery asked with a cheeky spark. Sebastian cocked his eye and said, "You wish," wrapping an arm around the man's shoulder. "It really is good to have you back, Avery.... I'm sorry it took so long and it wasn't under different circumstances...." Avery turned, wrapping both arms around the slim, boyish vampire, staring into his brown eyes, almost losing himself in the golden flakes that made them so unusual. "There is no where else I'd rather be...." After a lingering embrace, Avery went to make a call to Richmond and talk to his old friend and student, a man who looked 40 years his senior, leaving Sebastian to begin the long task of responding to queries received overnight from agents around the world, and distributing orders to the same. Around lunchtime, Musa hailed him, his dark, handsome face, clearly of noble Arab blood, looking tense. "My friend, we have reached the tomb.... My men stand ready to break the seal, if that is your will?" "Do it," Sebastian said, sitting back and watching the live feed from deep within the temple complex. The scene was dark, and the huge stone sealing the tomb was covered in hieroglyphics, as well as vivid imagery of Sekhmet's darkest atrocities. A group of wizard-scholars stood before the seal holding an ancient papyrus, and began to chant the incantation. "Prepare yourself, Musa.... You are about to see the warlike Egyptian goddess of destruction!" As the seal rolled away, a cloud of toxic dust hit the air, but the men were prepared for it and caused it to dissipate with a carefully timed spell. A large onyx sarcophagus stood in the center of the room. The men puzzled over the engravings, and at last their leader put his hand on the center of its lid and read a few lines of the hieroglyphs, causing the lid to swing open. Musa gasped as the figure came into focus -- a tall, shapely woman, with elegant arms and shapely breasts, perfectly preserved for at least two-and-a-half millennia. Her body was lovely, but her hands bore hideous claws, and her face bore feline features. "When she's in a more pleasant mood, her face looks almost human with only feline elements, but when she is in her normal, foul mood, her face contorts to look something like a deranged, demonic tigress," Sebastian said. "Thank God she's still there," he said. "Can we install monitors in the tomb and seal it back up? But before you do that, I want the whole tomb rigged with explosives, maybe thermite, just in case...." "Why not destroy her now?" "If anyone comes for her...." "A trap," Musa said with a smile. "Still, it's risky...." "Well, if someone goes in there with the intent to destroy her, she'd know at once.... We'd risk waking her up.... But our intent is not to destroy her, but to protect the complex from unwelcome guests.... Or at least, that's how the man placing the charges will understand his orders, so when she reads him, that's what she'll get...." "Understood.... I'll relay that order to a trusted agent right away...." "Sir," a cute, wiry young man at a computer monitor called out. "I think we've got something...." Sammael, straightening his dark suit, walked up behind the man, who trembled. "What?" "There has been a spike in Council communications between Sebastian and Musa al-Kisai, as well as a dramatic increase in the number of international agents in Egypt.... The center of the activity seems to be open desert, sir, about ten miles from the Valley of the Kings.... Perhaps this is where they've hidden the head? "Perhaps," Sammael mused. It was frustrating to have unlimited power but only very limited knowledge. In essence, Sammael was an angel, and angels only know what they are told, or what they learn on their own, like humans. But given Sammael's disobedience, he no longer had access to divine knowledge, of course. "We can't go in now.... I don't want them to know how closely we're watching them.... Early next week, I'll take a team and investigate the site.... Good work," Sammael said, putting a hand on the man's shoulder softly. But even his smile made the man's blood run cold. But that was okay. Sammael liked that in a man. "Come along," he said, still smiling, leading the man back to what he had transformed into a well-appointed living space. "Have a seat," he added, pointing to the bed. As he put his coat on a hanger, revealing a tailored shirt that hugged every curvy muscle of his chest and arms, he smiled almost sincerely and asked, "Don't you find me appealing in the least? I was once called the most beautiful of all creatures...." He watched the man, who kept his eyes averted, curiously. "Come now, Andrew.... No secrets here! I was whispering in your ear long before you started beating off to the thought of your older brother...." The man looked ashamed and terrified all at once; he looked like he might just run away, despite his fear. But as Sammael began to unbutton his shirt, the man sat transfixed as Sammael revealed his perfectly crafted human form. Tall, tan and gorgeous, his upper body combined the best elements of the finest swimmer and the finest baseball player. His chest and abs were tight and perfect, his arms curvy with muscle. His pants hugged his bubble butt, and drew Andrew's eyes again and again to a healthy package. "In some ways," Sammael whispered with a laugh as he walked up to the man, "this would be more fun if you were straight.... It's more fun when they fight...." Desire overcame fear as Andrew raised his blue-gray eyes up from the crotch in his face, taking in every inch of the body looming large over him, to look into piercing blue eyes so light they might better be described as milky, beneath the strawberry blond hair which was hanging boyishly in his face. Andrew couldn't help himself as his long delicate fingers reached for the zipper on Sammael's pants. Sammael stepped out of his pants, picked them up and draped them over a chair, showing off his handsome backside to the entranced young tech. The demon leaned against the desk naked and confident. "Come here," he demanded with a smile that moved Andrew instantly. "And strip...." The tall, slender man did exactly as he was told, and soon stood naked before his master. Sammael grabbed him roughly, yanking on a handful of soft, boyishly unkempt brown hair, his grin turning menacing. Before Andrew knew what was happening, his chest was pressed into the wall, Sammael's powerful forearm across his back. "Is this how you always thought it would be?" Andrew could feel Sammael's large member probing his backside. "Please," the man whispered, half begging to be released, half begging for what must be coming. Sammael slathered Andrew's hole with precum and began to probe at the tight orifice. "No!" The man's cry was in vain, as Sammael lined up perfectly and began to put an inhuman pressure behind his invasion, at once stretching and tearing at the young man's ass. Sammael drove into the man in one long steady push, and by the time he bottomed out Andrew had nearly passed out from the searing pain. The young man was given no time to adjust as the demon began fucking him full-force. Just as the pain began to subside to tolerable levels, Sammael finished off inside him and allowed Andrew to slump, unconscious, to the ground. When Andrew woke, he was in the bed, just a few inches from the demon, who lay watching him curiously. He began to cry, and Sammael just shook his head, with almost as much curiosity, as disgust. "Humans...." Sebastian was feeling good about the day's news. No new attacks or developments, while the information they were receiving was indicating that they seemed to have rolled up most of Chang's operation. Most of his spies also seemed to have been identified. He slipped past a few wizards congregating in his living room around maps and into Richard's room. Pete seemed to be sleeping again, so Sebastian knelt by Richard and communicated wordlessly, 'How is he?' Richard looked at him with pain in his eyes. 'Some minutes, he's glad to be alive, other minutes he wishes he had died...." 'It'll pass.... Show him you love him, that what happened to him.... it wasn't his fault and it doesn't change how you feel about him....' 'He's a man,' Richard though with a note of discord, 'a man's man, built to overpower, and ... to be violated like that.... He feels powerless....' Sebastian sighed, and thought, 'Richard, I've kept something from you until now, but it might help.... Whatever you want, I'll do.... But there are two prisoners in the basement.... They're the ones...." Sebastian felt a wave of rage flow from Richard like he had only felt once before in recent days -- when Avery lost his lover. 'They're here?' 'Yes, I didn't want to distract you while you were looking after Pete.... But they are awaiting your, or his, judgment....' 'Take me to them....' 'You can't leave Pete alone.... Hold on....' Changing his target, he thought, 'James? Where are you?' 'Working with Avery....' 'Tell him I need you to sit with Pete....' 'Is everything alright?' 'No, but ... yes.... I'm taking Richard down to visit our guests downstairs....' A few moments passed and they heard heavy footfalls as James nearly ran downstairs. He quietly entered the room and slipped into Richard's spot next to Pete, sending the boy a little burst of loving warmth as he had learned to do naturally with Sebastian. Pete responded in his sleep by rolling over into James, wrapping an arm around his chest. It was a strange light for James to see his friend in, so exposed, so fragile, so much in need. Pete had always been the rough-and-tumble fighter, the macho icon, among the guys that James had been close to. James ran his hand through the boy's dark brown hair and sighed. Sebastian led Richard downstairs, where the sight of the captives made him gasp. "You didn't expect that they were receiving VIP treatment, Richard?" Both figures were still, drifting into consciousness only rarely. Their bodies were drying out from being drained again and again. "I can revive them if you'd like to talk to them?" Richard nodded and Sebastian pulled two bags of blood from the refrigerator. He tossed one to Richard, who began pouring it slowly into Vanessa's mouth, while Sebastian did the same for Martin. Slowly, they began to move, prodded by the pain that coursed through them as blood again flowed through their veins. "What is this," Vanessa asked, her voice hoarse. "Pig," Sebastian said as he resumed pouring the thick, cold liquid into her mouth. "It won't make you strong, but it'll keep you coherent.... And help you feel.... I'd like to introduce you both to my assistant, Richard...." Richard looked at them, and any pity he might have felt for them vanished beneath the weight of the memory of Pete, curled up in tears in his arms, recounting how he felt during the last minutes of his life. "I thought," Richard began, haltingly, "I'd ask you why, I thought ... I'd want to kill you...." After a long pause, he walked to a shelf and grabbed what looked like a pair of surgical shears. "But really, all I want is to make you suffer...." Carefully, he used the shears to cleanly dis-articulate the left pinkie of both vampires. Their screams were less satisfying than he had hoped -- in fact they sickened him, that he had caused them sickened him, that he wanted to continue to cause them sickened him. But he wore a hard mask as he walked up the steps. When he was out of the basement, he ran to the toilet and threw up. Feeling Sebastian's hand on his shoulder, he straightened up, crying. "I ... can't bear to do what they deserve, and I can't ... let Pete do to them what he ought to...." "When he's well ... we'll let him see what we've done to them, and I will assure him that they will suffer things he cannot fathom.... I'll do what must be done, my friend, when the time comes...." Richard put his hand on Sebastian's without looking at him. "Thank you.... I'm sorry to put this on your shoulders ... especially now...." "These are hard times, and hard choices must be made.... I've done terrible things, and if God can bring himself to forgive those, then I can live with having this on my conscience," he said, helping the man to his feet and back to his room, where James had fallen asleep holding Pete. "Young vampires," Sebastian whispered, wistfully. "Leave him," Richard said. "I'll take Jean Philippe out and find a few humans to drop in.... I think we're all running on empty...." "Remember the rules, Richard, and teach Jean Philippe.... Only a bad element.... Of course, Jean is welcome to bring anyone who finds him sexually appealing for himself, but only food for the rest of us...." Richard nodded at Sebastian's moral commandment: don't dominate a human unless they prove dangerous in some way to society.... The exception for Jean Philippe was simple; he wasn't in a relationship, so he could use his natural charms to draw in a willing partner, one who would be nearly as satisfied by their encounter as he. By the looks of the young vampire, a twinkish reddish-blond with penetrating hazel eyes, that would be particularly true of any woman, or man, he brought home.... When James awakened, Richard had returned and thanked him. "By the way, dinner is served in your room.... Sebastian's waiting on you...." James smiled but shook his head at Richard, who looked freshly fed himself. He still had that fresh pink in his cheeks. James made his way upstairs and found Sebastian chatting with a man in his thirties, wearing a suit and a wedding ring. "You really have a way with the pervs, little boy," James said to Sebastian, wagging his eyebrows, as he closed the door behind him. "I was just telling Luke that he reminds me of my daddy," Sebastian said, playing along, putting a hand on the man's thigh. It actually felt good. Luke had kept in good shape. "Do you ever play with your own little boy, daddy?" The man smiled at the game, and if they couldn't read him like a book, that smile would have given him away. James could see the naked form of the man's thirteen year old son, the things the man had made the boy do, on the waves of lust pouring off the man. Sebastian saw the look a moment to late, as James dispensed with the mind control and delivered a sickening blow to the man's jaw. James's fangs sunk into the man's thigh right through his pants a moment later, so Sebastian went with it and began feeding from his neck. There was little use in keeping the man alive at this point, so they drained him completely until he lay dead on the bed. Sebastian looked at James as he looked at the aftermath of his actions. "I ... meant to save you from ever having to kill," Sebastian said, sadly. "I'm sorry...." "Don't be," James said, simply, straightforwardly. "I wish I didn't have to do it, but I'm not sorry I did it.... You saw what he did ... to that boy, to his own son.... It might be," he began, looking deep into Sebastian's eyes, "it might just be that, without beings like us, justice would fail in the world.... Perhaps there should be a better way, but there might not actually be a better way...." Sure enough, Sebastian could feel ... not hatred, but indignation, flowing from the boy.... "We aren't gods, we aren't...." "No, we aren't.... But he wasn't going to stop, he was never going to stop, you saw that.... We aren't God, but maybe he crossed our path at just the right time.... No more or less than a heart attack that kills a bad man at just the right time...." "I don't know.... I think you're ... in this case I can see.... I just think we shouldn't get too comfortable thinking about ourselves in those terms...." "I won't," James said. "But I don't think I could have lived with myself, knowing I was sending him home this evening...." Sebastian hugged the big boy tightly and felt the unmitigated flow of emotion. No corruption here, he thought to himself. Given the hour, James returned to Avery to continue his training, rather than return to his lessons, and this time Sebastian joined him. He stood aside and watched as Avery demonstrated some very basic defensive techniques. Sebastian hoped they would be as effective against demonic attack as they were against human magic. But he had his doubts. In his long, long life, he'd only faced off directly against an embodied demonic power once, though he run afoul of a few people who were possessed. But, generally speaking, the host body limited the power of the invading force; but demons did it anyway, because none but the most powerful could manifest themselves outside a host body. Luckily, the act of manifesting a form required to function in this world was nearly as draining as controlling a human host. James did exceptionally well, as everyone expected, managing in one day to begin to deflect some of Avery's more slowly cast spells. "We'll work on speed next," the man said, patting James on the shoulder. "But before we break, I want to see something. Sebastian, will you help?" He stepped forward and nodded. "Given the extraordinary development of your mental powers, I'd like you to try on Sebastian what you did to me and Richard.... But with a twist.... Sebastian will be trying to do the same to you in return...." James looked at him and said, "I couldn't.... Not Sebastian...." "Don't think about who or what he is, and don't be concerned for him.... Knowing you, you won't be making him do anything he wouldn't want to do anyway.... Just have at it, with as much power as you can manage.... Gentlemen?" They nodded. "Please begin...." The both smiled as each sensed what the game would be: which could make the other take off his shirt. Sebastian was instantly shocked, because he was accustomed to controlling the mind of human or vampire alike with a glance. Finding he could not do so with James intrigued him, as well as piquing his competitive nature. He felt he had been holding back, so really freed himself. And yet, nothing. James, meanwhile, probed and prodded with his mind, finding that he could make the slightest inroads, he could entice Sebastian's own desire, suggesting that Sebastian really did want to take his shirt off. As Sebastian redoubled his efforts to overpower the boy, he failed to notice that his own body was responding to the boy's suggesting. Avery stood slack-jawed as the weeks-old vampire defeated his sire's will. It was only when James smiled and kissed his cheek that Sebastian looked down and saw his own bare chest. Avery left without comment, leaving Sebastian to stare uncomprehendingly at James. "I ... don't understand...." "I don't know much about these things, or how they're supposed to work, but I can tell you how I did it...." Sebastian nodded. "You know, I could tell immediately I couldn't mentally overpower you, but your feelings, they were wide open...." James stepped up to him so he towered over him, stroking his cheek with the backs of two fingers. "See, just now, I made something happen in your body," he laughed, "not by grabbing your dick and yelling at it to get hard, but by stoking your desire to make it do what I wanted...." He leaned in and kissed Sebastian, gently stroking him through the silky pants. "Mmmm.... You know, you make a good teacher and a good theorist.... That was the best, and most enjoyable lesson, I ever had.... By stoking the right feeling, you made me want to do what you wanted me to do.... This could be our major weakness," he mused mostly to himself, unknowingly echoing Sammael's sentiments. James squeezed him. "Take it from the recently human, our emotions, definitely a chink in the armor, but they can be a source of great strength...." Sebastian looked up at him with a question.... "Well, like today, I was just able to produce a piddly little energy ball.... I hit Avery with it and he actually laughed.... But I bet, knowing how to do it now, that if I saw you in danger, I could incinerate an army of warlocks.... I mean, what could you do if you had to save me?" Sebastian squeezed him and shuddered to think what he might do. "Exactly...." Sebastian laid his head on James's chest and said, "It's funny.... I thought we were training you, but in the end, you might teach us all a thing or two...." "It's nothing...." "No! It's not nothing.... It's amazing what you can forget, or can get to be jaded enough to ignore, over the endless passage of time.... We've forgotten that we stand on earth like men, beneath heaven and the forces that rage around us, we've forgotten that some things are worth fighting for, we've forgotten that we are capable of love, what love can be...." He was almost bitter, "It's like waking up and realizing that you've wasted 3000 years...." James laughed, his eyes boring into Sebastian's heart, and whispered, "Those were the 3000 years that carried you to the 3000 years we get to spend making up for it...." He smiled brightly as he felt Sebastian squeeze him tight. Later that evening, while James practiced a few new violin techniques Sebastian taught him, Sebastian sat in his office responding to emails. When Avery appeared in his door, he looked up and saw the man's apprehensive expression. "Are you alright," Avery asked. Sebastian laughed and smiled happily. "Why wouldn't I be?" "I never ... thought he could do it.... At best, I thought he might resist you for a while...." "Why would that bother me? I just hope we can teach him enough that we can all survive this battle...." "Well, it's ... been a long time since you weren't the master...." "Honestly, it's liberating, Avery.... In any case, it's different with James, because his strength is my strength...." Avery nodded. "How?" Sebastian recounted James's account and Avery sank into his chair, shaking his head. "Amazing...." As they sat talking, a message from Americ flashed on Sebastian's screen. Sebastian clicked and the man appeared. Though he looked tired, he looked impeccably kept, and Sebastian laughed a little, thinking that Americ looked a lot like Anderson Cooper, and wondered if that worked as well on the women Americ enjoyed as it would on the scene boys looking for daddies. "Hello, Americ.... Avery's here with me.... What's up?" "Sebastian, you look like you're thinking naughty thoughts, I'm not interrupting am I?" "No, Americ! The naughty thoughts were about you," he began, fessing up to the man who laughed and shook his head. "Am I the one vampire over three hundred who hasn't succumbed to a little experimentation with you?" "Not only vamps over three hundred, Americ," Avery said, announcing his presence and raising his hand as if admitting a secret. "Avery, there was little succumbing in your case.... More like weeks when I had trouble scraping you off of me.... In any case," Sebastian answered, causing both men to laugh, Americ's bold blue eyes shining now. "As for all the other 'so-called' straight vampires over three hundred, I have no comment, in order to protect the innocent.... Unfortunately for you, Americ, the window of opportunity has passed and you'll never know the pleasures an old one can deliver...." Avery nodded sympathetically and laughed. "What can I do for you, my silver fox?" Americ grunted again and shook his head. "Back to business.... Since you told me about the Oracle's message, I've been watching human message traffic for possible signs.... I ... I've got something...." Sebastian leaned in. "It seems that there's been an incident at a small Greek fishing village.... Nearly everyone is accounted for.... Most of the hundred or so residents were found dead in their beds...." "Cause of death?" Americ laughed coldly, shaking his head. "Apparently, starvation...." "Aethon," Avery spat, and Americ nodded. "You said ... most...." Americ nodded again, slowly responding. "The handful of teens ... are gone, three boys and two girls, ages 14-19...." Sebastian was seething, as Americ suspected he would. "Are there any signs of his presence, and indications of where he's going?" "No, but I have a feeling he won't be hard to track.... He's acting like an angry god, but this is the modern world.... Follow the bodies and maybe we can get ahead of him...." Sebastian's fist crashed onto his desk, but he struggled to control himself and nodded. "Thank you, Americ.... Let's get some people tracking him.... His energy shouldn't be that difficult to find, unless Sammael is able to cloak him...." Sammael sat at his desk and read the same report that Americ had found. His fist, too, struck his desk top. "Stupid prat! He has no inkling of the new world," he said, looking down at the cowering Andrew disinterestedly. The man just looked at Sammael with terror in his eyes as he sat at the demon's feet, arms wrapped around his knees. "Hmmf," he grunted, picking up the phone to call the vampire's escorts. "Keep the body count to a minimum," he said, "and remind the ignorant fuck this isn't the stone ages.... It might have been hard to kill his kind in the old days, but now even the humans have the technology to burn him beyond repair.... And if he continues to piss in my breakfast, that'll be the least of his worries...." "Yes, my lord," came the quick reply, and Sammael slammed the phone down just as quickly. Looking down at the cowering mass at his feet, Sammael smiled. "I'm bored," he mused, and Andrew began to cry softly. Sammael rolled his eyes as he shook his head, grabbing the young man by the scruff of his neck. "Excellent.... You know what I like...."