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.
Chapter 5:
Jake carried Tristan into the mansion and up to the third floor and into one of the guest bedrooms next to his suite. A watcher who was a certified EMT, Jane, came in to take care of him.
Jake went back down to the main floor where he met up with the others and all of them proceeded down into the wine cellar, through the secret door, down the passage, through the cavern and into the control room where a couple of the other vampires and Jess were monitoring things.
He quickly briefed them on what had happened. Jane called down to tell them that medically he was going to be ok, he just had to heal. She also said that she checked him for tracking devices or anything of the sort and found none. Right after that, a call from the council came in.
"Jacob!" A female voice came over the phone. "What's the latest? The council is meeting and we're trying to decide what to do." Jake could tell he was on speakerphone in a conference room.
"Teresa, here is everything I know." Jake said listing off everything from the murder to the presence of the enemy in the city to that night's raid and Tristan.
"Charles is dead?" said a male voice, Nathaniel, the head of the council. "Good."
"What about the man? This Tristan?" Teresa asked.
"He is obviously of importance," Jake said. "Why else would they keep him alive?"
"Could it be a trap?" Another voice asked, belonging to Mathias. "To see if any of our forces are there?"
"I don't think so," Jake said. "We would have attacked whether or not there was a captive, so that would be a pointless risk. And if it was nothing, why was someone like Charles there?"
There were murmurs around the council table.
"Do we know who Tristan is exactly?" Nathaniel asked.
"We don't," Jake said. "He's unconscious right now, so he can't tell us, and he had no ID on him of any sort."
"Inform us as soon as you find out anything," Nathaniel said. "Additional forces will be arriving in your area soon. Keep watching, and we'll watch to see if there is any emigration out of that city."
"Sounds good," Jake said and terminated the call.
Chapter 6:
Tristan White woke up hoping it had all been a dream. As he looked around and found himself in a room he didn't recognize, he realized it was all real. He sighed as he sat up in bed. The room was fairly large. He was in a large four-poster bed. The carpet was a dark maroon and the walls were off-white and had various tapestries and pictures hanging from them. It was dark outside the large windows. There was a knock at his door and a young man stuck his head in.
"Ah, you're awake," he said, a slight Southern accent to his voice. "How do you feel?"
"I'm okay," Tristan answered.
"If you want to clean yourself up, there's stuff in the bathroom through that door," he pointed. "You'll be able to have a shave and shower. There's a clean set of clothes for you on the chair over there. Once you're ready, come down to the main floor and we'll get you something to eat."
With that, the man shut the door. Tristan got up and went into the bathroom and shaved and showered. The water felt good but also stung the burn on his skin from the ropes. He finished showering and got dressed in the clothes left for him—a pair of khakis and a dark blue shirt. Once he was dressed, he made his way downstairs.
"It's good to see you up and about," Jake said. He was sitting in the dining room at the table as Tristan walked in. He had a newspaper in his hands. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," Tristan responded. "How long have I been out?"
"About sixteen hours," Jake said, putting his paper down. "Sit down, food will be out shortly."
Tristan sat down across from Jake and looked around. The dining room was large and elegant. The table was made of fine wood and so were the chairs. The parts of the house he had seen on his way down was extremely nice and well-decorated in a tasteful Old World style. "Where are we?"
"This is my compound," Jake answered. "Currently, ten vampires including myself and twenty watchers reside here. Usually it is just me; one or two other vampires, and five watchers."
"Watchers?" Tristan asked.
"Humans who are in service of vampires," Jake said. "It is voluntarily, of course. They started as our daylight guardians who kept us from discovery. They are loyal friends and compatriots. They help protect us, and we in turn help them."
"How many people know about vampires?" Tristan asked. "How many vampires are there?"
"The first question is easy. Only watchers and a few random other humans know of our existence." Jake answered. "The second one is harder to answer because not all vampires exist in our community. Some are solitary beings that don't interact with other vampires. Now there is the rebel faction. We are never sure how big it is. However, that number was reduced by three last night.
"However, we are a small number on the whole. There used to be more, but we got too big for our own good and we were almost discovered. Then the war broke out and our numbers have vastly shrunken since."
Just then the man who had talked to Tristan when he woke up brought in a tray with plates of food for Tristan. He set them in front of him and then turned to leave.
"Thank you," Tristan said.
"Yes, thank you, Jeff," Jake said, smiling. After Jeff left, Jake looked at Tristan, who had begun eating. "So, Tristan, who are you?"
"Excuse me?" Tristan asked, putting his fork down.
"What's your last name?" Jake asked, easing off. "Where are you from? What are you doing here in this city?"
"White," Tristan answered. "I'm from Colorado, I graduated from college out here last May and I've been working since. Currently, I'm between jobs."
"And how, may I ask, did you end up in the company of those men?"
"I was at home," Tristan said. "I have an apartment near the university. There was a knock on my door, I opened it and there was a guy there. Next thing I know, I'm tied up in that house."
Jesus, Jake thought. They sought him out at home? "Who was at your door?"
"Um, the head vampire guy was there. Charles or something was his name, I think."
Jake nodded, "did any of them say what they wanted you for?"
"No," Tristan said. "They just told me that there were plans for me. They kept talking about some guy."
"Zalmon," Jake growled. Tristan nodded.
"Who is he?" Tristan asked.
"Zalmon Yorath is a power-hungry traitor," Jake said. "He started this war. He was the one that tried to seize all vampire power for himself."
"Who was he before the war?"
"A member of our council—our ruling body," Jake said. "We as a society chose vampires to sit on the council for twenty year terms, and he was chosen. It used to be the oldest of us that sat on the council, but they got tired of it, so we came up with a new system. I digress, halfway through his first term, he attempted to stage a coup of sorts and take power. Two of seven council members were killed. Battle lines were drawn and he started a war when he was labeled as a traitor and a death sentence was issued for him. We've been trying to hunt him down and kill him since. But he has supporters, so it's a war."
"Why do people support him?" Tristan asked.
Jake sighed, "There are those who want power or glory and they see their path to it through him. Additionally, he's an extremely charismatic person. He can convince you of almost anything."
Jake paused before continuing, "I once worked with him, a long time ago when I was a new vampire. I was taken in by his charisma and passion. When the war broke out, he asked me to join him. I almost did, but I couldn't bring myself to betray my kind, to betray what we live for, to betray our four-thousand year history. I could have just stayed a civilian and not joined the forces fighting him, but I did. I've fought against him for a hundred years now."
"How old are you? Who are you?" Tristan asked. His mind was spinning with all of the information he was learning. Can this be real, vampires? He thought.
"I am Count Jaakko Valto. I'm currently a general in the vampire army. I was born in the year fourteen-hundred and ninety-four in what is now known as Kotka in modern-day Finland. I was the only child of a wealthy family. My mother died shortly after I was born and then my father was killed when I was fifteen. I continued along the path that a boy like me should. I watched over the family estate and all that. However, when I turned eighteen, I decided to travel. I visited all of the great cities of Europe. I was in Vienna when I turned twenty-one. It was there that I met a man who intrigued me greatly. I only saw him at night. We had a friendship for several weeks. Then I fell sick and I was dying. He came to me and told me what he was. He offered me immortality. I accepted. I was reborn into the life of a vampire in fifteen-fifteen and lived as one since. I'm five-hundred and twelve as of last May."
"You don't look a day over twenty three."
Jake laughed, "That is a benefit of being a vampire, I guess. Anyways, back to my story. My sire vampire was Marek Brynmor."
A look of sadness crossed Jake's eyes before he continued. "He trained me and I stayed with him for over twenty years. After that, I set out on my own again; I traveled back to my family's home and took residence there for a time. Since then, I've traveled the world, invested my family money, and pretended to be my own heirs. I now go by Jacob Valdemar. I retain my historic title of Count though my ancestral land is long gone. I came in possession of this house about twenty years ago. It was in horrible disrepair, so I had it renovated and had a few things added. I have a few other properties around the world, but this is my home and headquarters though I am often away leading part of the hunt for Zalmon and his followers. I was sent back here a couple weeks ago with my force for a period of rest and to look for Zalmon's supporters who might have taken refuge here. No one knew that we would find him here."
As Jake talked, Tristan had finished his dinner and Jeff came and took the plates away.
"Well, I have some work to take care of," Jake said. "Feel free to explore. There's a library and a TV room on this floor. If you need anything, Jeff will be around, probably in the kitchen."
With that, Jake rose from his seat and headed out of the room and off to the command center.