Prince of House Vladd
Part 20
By Arthur
Jake remained leaning against the door while still holding the smaller boy close, he knew that it would not be long now before the furore started inside. Roland felt safe with the big man and had started to relax until the first loud noise from behind the door caught his full attention, he knew what was going to happen to the young teen inside, after all, he had been through the same thing for weeks now and not only by the guards and warden but by his fellow inmates as well.
Jakes sharper hearing meant he could hear everything said inside the office and so remained silent with just a touch of a smile as the voices rose until the men were growling and yelling at the younger naked boy that stood in front of them, had they taken more notice of the teen they would have seen no sign of fear in his eyes but more of an amused detachment as the threats of physical and sexual acts were discussed loudly as though he was not even present.
Suddenly one of the larger guards pushed the teen in the back and yelled at him.
"Get on the floor on your hands and knees boy, you gonna get so much doggy in you, you'll be dripping it out your hole for a week"
Jake smiled again as he heard the instructions and the sound of belts being loosened in anticipation of trying out new meat in their sadistic way, he also heard the creak of the warden's chair as the large fat man made it to his feet in readiness of fun with the teen.
Jake heard the beginnings of a scuffle as the guards moved in on the boy and started to push him towards the floor in readiness for the gang rape that was about to happen, Jake held his breath for a moment as he waited for his pup to truly react to the guard's advances, Jake also knew that the pup liked to occasionally take a boy but was always a top, he never bottomed for anyone and also spent most of his time with the bitches that came around so he was well aware of what the guards intended.
Another minute of scuffling ensued before the noise level increased and Jake heard the teens voice for the first time, it sounded slightly amused and deadly serious, it sounded as though the teen was directing his words at the Warden.
"Hey fatso, you think you can get that little thing up my hole, come and try it."
A high pitched voice stammered out in rage at the insult and then the office became a room of banging and crashing, loud yells and swearing, it was then that Roland became afraid again, he knew how vicious the guards could be when disobeyed and grew tense and worried for the young teen, it was when he heard a deep throated growl like some animal had been released in the room that he grew really terrified.
Loud screams and gurgles could now be heard clearly through the thick door as people tried to scramble away from whatever frightening animal had entered the room, the sound of snapping bones and dying screams of the men inside were mixed with tearing flesh and snarling growls, Roland had no idea what was going on but whatever it was, was very clearly from the depths of a nightmare.
Roland found himself shaking with fear as the screams and curses echoed through the solid door, only the strong arms of the strange large man, Jake, kept him from running away in fear and terror, he had never heard anything like the furore that was coming from the office.
Minutes later there was a soft knock on the door, Jake rose to his feet and pulled Roland away from the door to let it open outward and reveal the young teen standing there still in all his naked glory, only this time he was covered in fresh blood, none of it was his own. Jake did not allow Roland to look inside the office as the teen walked casually out into the hallway.
"All done?" asked Jake of the teen.
"Yes Alpha."
"Good Pup, now go find somewhere to get cleaned up and get dressed."
Without a word the teen took his skimpy clothes back from Jakes hand and walked down the hall looking for somewhere to wash up he found a small bathroom just down the hall and entered, five minutes later he reappeared and walked up to Jake and the new boy, Jake nodded in recognition and then leading Roland by the hand left by the front door, the two guards outside looked at the trio with strange looks but didn't interfere, if the man and teen had been allowed to remove the little toy boy of the Warden then it must be Ok. Jake lead the two boys to his truck and set them inside, he noticed that his Pup was eyeing Roland with a little bit more than idle interest.
"Not now Pup and even then only if he says it's Ok, got it?"
"Yes Alpha."
Jake started the truck and began the return journey to the Princes house, he felt well satisfied with the mornings work and was happy that his Pup had followed orders to the letter, the pup would be due for something special for his performance, Jake reached over and ruffled the pups hair.
"You did real good in there Pup, I'm proud of you."
The flush of colour to the teens face told of his pleasure at being singled out for praise which was very hard to get from any Alpha Male let alone Jake, a small rush of blood went to the teens groin and he wished he could mate the new boy right there and then, he looked like a real little spunky and would be a great coupling partner, small and slender just like the Pup loved.
As he drove along, Jake smiled to himself, he could smell the Pup's testosterone pervading the cab, Roland must have thought something was up as well as he scrunched closer to Jake for safety or reassurance, the pup was sending out sexual signals that finally made Jake growl low in his throat at the pup to bring him back to earth, the teen blushed and settled back in the seat at the sound of Jakes growl.
A little later and Jake was pulling into the driveway leading to the Princes house, all the security were on guard and the grounds were under continuous patrol, each check point waved through the recognisable truck of Jakes and he drove up to the front door, a small gasp of surprise came from Roland's lips as he saw the size of the house he was being taken too, with a tremble in his voice, he asked Jake;
"Where are we, why am I here, am I going to be used like in Juvie, is that why you took me away?"
The fear of more persecution was evident in his voice as Jake pulled to a halt.
"No boy, you're safe here, you don't do anything you don't want to in this house, and you'll be under the protection of a real live prince."
"Why does he want me, I'm a nobody, others only want me for sex and stuff, is that what he wants?"
"Like I told you boy, you'll be safe here and don't have to do anything you don't want to. Come on lets go meet the Prince and I think Leon might be waiting for you as well."
Jake got out of the truck and watched as the two boys did the same, then, he lead them to the front door just as it opened to reveal Trantor in all his glory, waiting for them. "Hi Trantor, got a present for the Prince."
Trantor just nodded and opened the door wider for the trio to enter into the main hall where Peter and his daytime crew sat waiting.
"Hi Jake, I see you found our boy, I'll just send down for Leon, take Roland down to the kitchen, Millie's got some food waiting for him, did you have any trouble?"
"Hi, Peter, no, no trouble, well nothing we couldn't handle that is."
"Ah I see, so the report I just got about a blood bath at the centre was wrong then?"
"Now young Prince, would I do something like that, I promise on my honour, I never laid a single finger on any of them." Jake replied with a small smile.
Peter looked over at Jakes young pup and quickly got the images from the teens mind, what he saw did not surprise him, nor did the setup Jake and manufactured for the meeting, also there was the marks of the beatings young Roland had been subjected too, Peter felt that he had little he could do about what was now water under the bridge, there was sure to be some very serious consequences from it but there was nothing they could do about it now.
"Ok Jake, well better get young Roland to the kitchen, Leon should be here shortly."
Roland was still stunned as he looked around the large reception hall as well as all the young guys sitting around, especially the young age of the Prince, he couldn't have been any older than Roland himself but seemed to command an authority way beyond his years, what Roland found a little comfort in was the mix of people in the room especially the young teen sitting beside the Prince dressed in obvious Native American garb, small breach clout and soft long moccasins, he was very obviously the Princes lover, it shone from both their eyes whenever they looked at each other, from this alone, Roland felt comfortable and at ease but he could still not wait to see his long lost friend, Leon.
Jake took him to the kitchen and left him with a large woman who was the cook, she had a friendly face and at the first sight of Roland's condition, began to fuss about with hot water and bandaids until he was patched up enough to sit comfortably and eat the meal she had got ready for him, afterwards he was taken back into the hall and, at the first sight of Leon standing waiting for him, Roland burst into tears and collapsed into his friends arms, all the horrors of the last few months crashed in on him in one horrific blast.
Roland knew he was small and not all that strong but he had always been able to resist breaking down, even when things got really tough in Juvie but, now in front of his only friend he couldn't resist any longer, he felt like a little boy lost in a world of hurt and terror and only the long arms of Leon wrapped around his shoulders could bring any peace to him, slowly he began to settle down until Leon lead him to a large chair in front of the young Prince and sat him down, Leon took the chair next to him.
Peter had not said a word as the new boy had broken down, it was obvious he had been under a tremendous strain these last months and had left it to Leon to settle the boy first before he spoke to him. Once Peter saw the Roland was more relaxed and comfortable, Peter began.
"Welcome to House Vladd, Roland, I'm Peter Vallison and this is my home, you're safe here and welcome to stay as long as you like, there are few rules here and you'll be taken care of to the best of our ability. I know all this must be confusing for you but, we have a good reason for trying to free you. Your friend Leon told us that you have very special skills, I don't know if you've been keeping up with the news around the state but we have a very large problem on our hands and Leon assures us that you are the only person who can help us with it."
Peter paused to let Roland take in everything he had said, before he continued.
"I want you to clearly understand, Roland, that you are under no obligations, what we would like you to do is dangerous and very difficult, if you feel you're not up to it we will all understand, you will still have the safety of this house and can still stay as long as you like. Now this is the hard part, not for us but for you, most of us here are not what we seem to be, I'm sure you've heard all the stories and read all the book or comics, but most of us here are not fully human, we all have special talents and habits that are way beyond what you may think, again I want to stress this point for you, while you are under the roof of this house you are fully protected and never have to do anything you don't want to, your safety is my highest priority, do you understand all this Roland?"
In a daze, Roland tried to nod his head but it was all so confusing, Peter immediately saw the confusion on the boys face and decided to scan him lightly while he waited, what he saw nearly made him sick, the images he picked up were way more than any boy of Roland's age and size should have been able to live with, from the first night of his sentence he had been gang raped by other young inmates, he had then been subjected to continual sexual abuse and beatings by the guards and Warden and often used by the same men as a sex toy, it sickened Peter to see what the boy had had to live with over the past months, Peter decided to call a halt to any further discussion until the boy had had some sleep and rested for a while.
"I can see that all this is confusing you Roland so I'm going to ask Leon to take you to your room and let you rest, if there's anything more you want to know then just ask him, he'll tell you the truth and then you can make your own decision as to what you want to do, whatever that decision is it will be respected by all of us, Ok?"
Again all Roland could do was nod his head as he looked at the young teen that everyone said was a Prince, he reached over to Leon and with a look at his friend and a further nod he rose to get some rest, there was just to much to find out and he was too tired to try at this moment. Leon rose as well and took his friends hand to lead him down the passage to one of the small accommodation rooms off the hall.
Once in the room, Roland collapsed onto the bed while Leon sat in a chair close by, for the first time in months Roland felt safe even though his mind was in a turmoil as to why he had been rescued from the horror place, most of what he had just heard from the young teen Prince was still a jumble in his head and he was not sure where to start with all the questions he had in his mind for his friend Leon.
Leon looked over at his long time friend, he hadn't seen him since he was turned and had no idea how it would affect Roland when he was told who all these strangers really were, he could see that Roland was nearly wiped out so stood and with a last pat on the head of his small friend, told him to get some sleep and they would talk later. Roland, with a small tear in his eye just nodded and rolled over on the soft bed and was almost instantly asleep, it would be nearly sixteen hours before he awoke again.
When he opened his eyes, Roland saw Leon still sitting beside his bed, still groggy with too much sleep he asked Leon what was really going on in the house and why they needed him.
"I told Prince Vladd about your talents with electronic locks, we have a very bad situation going on and need you to help us open a very complicated locking system, without you then we're all in real trouble." stated Leon.
"The...ah...Prince Boy said you were all different to me, what did he mean?"
Leon looked down at Roland and decided to tell him only part of the truth, too much and he would scare the teen totally and he did look so small and young lying on the white sheets, his dark skin shining with a thin film of perspiration from his midday sleep.
"Most of the people in this house are from a different world, not aliens but, well different, the same as I am now, that's why I disappeared when I did, I have to live a different type of life now and had to leave all my friends behind to protect them, I have a boyfriend now and we live here in this house and help the Prince."
"But how are you different, I mean you look the same as the last time I saw you?"
"That's just it; shouldn't I look a little bit older after all this time?"
"Well... I suppose so but we're both still young and don't show it like old guys do."
"Roland, in ten or twenty years time I'm still going to look the same, I'll live longer than you and won't age very fast as well, I'm one of the meat eaters, we live by eating raw meat, both my boyfriend and I are the same, we have to have fresh raw meat and the blood that goes with it to survive."
Leon sat back and waited for the explosion from his one time friend, instead a few wet tears were falling down Roland's cheeks as he tried to take in all that Leon had told him.
"Does that mean that if, after I help you, that I'll never see you again, Leon, you were the only friend I ever had, if you go I'll be alone again, I don't want that anymore, I don't want to go back to that place and end up being beaten and raped all the time."
"If you help us, I promise that you will never have to go back to that place, if you want me too, I can ask the Prince to help you."
"Is he the same as you, like, does he eat meat all the time and things like that?"
"No, the Prince is something very special, I don't think it's for me to tell you but I'm sure, if you ask him he will tell you all about some of the others that live here, now, do you feel like getting up and coming back to speak with him?"
Roland looked down the bed at his slim form under the sheet, it was then that he realised that Leon must have undressed him as he could feel his nakedness under the thin sheet, at that image of his thin body being bare he started to rise to the occasion much to his embarrassment as the sheet rose higher and Leon smiled at him.
"It's Ok Roland, I'll go and tell the Prince that you're awake and want to speak to him, Ok?"
Roland stammered his agreement as he tried to hide his erection from his friend, which, considering what they used to do together was a pointless exercise. Leon left his friend to find the Prince while Roland got out of the bed and found his prison clothes, once dressed he left the room and walked down the passage towards where he had been the day before.
As he entered the large hall, Roland saw that there were now many more people there than before, close to the boy that was the Prince, Roland saw again the Indian boy sitting close by the Prince, in other chairs there were a set of twin teens, an Asian boy and a white boy as well as another black boy, his friend Jake and his young friend sat in other chairs and two young boys of no more than about eleven or twelve were cleaning parts of the room.
Roland also saw some older men in uniform, some military and some must have been security guards, they were all sitting at a huge table eating and taking little notice of the group around the Prince.
Peter saw Roland enter the hall and waved him over to where he and Swiftwing sat on a large sofa.
"Come and sit here beside us Roland, did you have a good sleep?"
Roland did as he was told and sat gingerly down on the sofa a little way from Peter and his partner, he was still feeling nervous about the whole arrangement until he looked at his saviour, Jake, who smiled at him and nodded in greeting, Roland relaxed a little and waited for someone to speak to him.
"Leon tells me you have some questions for me, Roland?"
"Ye...yes... your...uhm...highness." "I'm not a highness Roland, just call me Peter, now what do you want to know?"
"I...I...want to know what you all are?"
"Fair enough, are you ready for some horror stories, Roland?"
"I...I don't know what you mean."
"Leon told you about him being changed, right?"
"Yes." "Well he's not the only one, I won't go into all the long details, but a lot of what you may have heard, seen or read about people of the night is real."
"People of the night?"
"Werewolves, Werecats, Avian and vampires, it's all real, that's what we all are, well most of us, we also have a lot of ordinary humans that like to work for us, like those security guards and military guys over there, the Cook, Millie and the Butler Trantor are also humans, your friend Jake here and his young friend are werewolves, my friends here and I are Vampires, the twins and Swiftwing and I are a new breed, we can go out in the day time, my other friends here are still of the older breed." Peter pointed to Sin Yu, Mbeda and Jason.
Roland sat stunned by the open admission of the young Prince, it was way too much to take in, all those animals and people of horror stories couldn't be real, they were just stories and movies, but then his only friend had disappeared and only now came to him unchanged by time, maybe, just maybe it was true. The only thing Roland could think to say was.
"Are you all going to drink my blood and kill me, is that why I'm here?" he said with real fear in his voice.
Carefully and slowly, Peter reached over to the fearful teen and wrapped and arm around his slim shoulders.
"No Roland, no one here will ever hurt you, you're far to valuable to us to let anything happen to you, you'll be protected at all times and no one will ever make you do things you don't want to do ever again, you understand?"
The warmth of the arm around his shoulders and the sincerity of Peter's voice convinced Roland he was in no danger and he began to relax a little as Peter let him go and he rested his back against the sofa.
"What do you need me to do for you...ahm...Peter?"
"I don't know if you've been keeping up with the news Roland, but like all societies, we have bad elements in ours as well, we've been fighting a war with some renegades, we've been winning most of the battles but the leader has managed to escape us, we've now tracked him down but he hidden in an old rocket silo way over in another state and we can't enter because of the electronic doors, Leon says you are the best with locks of that type and we need you to get us in, you'll be in no danger, I'll make sure you're protected at all times."
Roland thought about the offer for a while and then looked over at Jake and then at all the others in the room, what did he have to lose, he had nothing to go back to, no family, no other friends except for Leon, the only thing he worried about was, what happened to him after he helped them.
"If I get the doors open and you win the battle, what happens to me afterwards, I've got nowhere to go and no one apart from Leon?"
"You'll be able to do and go anywhere you like, Roland, I have a promise from the government that all your records will be deleted from their records, you'll be free to do whatever you want, you have my personal guarantee on that."
Roland thought about his situation for a few more moments before making up his mind, there was nothing else for him to do.
"Ok, I'll do it, when do you want me to go?"
"As soon as you're ready, Roland, just tell us what you need."
"I'll need to know what type of door it is and how they get their power supply, also some electronic tools."
Peter turned to Jake.
"Do you think that friend of yours can get Roland anything he needs?"
"Not a problem, Peter, just make a list and he'll get it for you."
"There's one other thing." Asked Roland with a shake in his voice.
"What's that Roland?" asked Peter.
"Well...uhm...do you think I could see Jake when he's changed into a wolf?"
Peter laughed out aloud as did all the others in the hall.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"I...I..."
In a second there was a deep growl from Jakes chair and, as Roland watched, Jake turned himself into his wolf form making Roland start back with fear and surprise as the huge wolf rose far above his small frame, its fangs dripping saliva and it's ears erect and menacing, immediately Roland sank as far back into the sofa as he could get, quickly Jake turned back and grinned at Roland.
"How's that?" asked Jake with another smile.
"It's real, you're all real, Leon do you do that?"
"I can Roland but not like Jake, I'm not a wolf."
"What...what are you then?"
"I'm a werecat, a panther in fact."
"A panther, like a real black lion?"
"That's right, I'll show you sometime if you want?"
"No, no that's Ok, I believe you, you know I trust you Leon, you've never lied to me or hurt me like others did."
Peter interrupted the friends.
"So, now Roland, what about that list?"
"I'll get right on it if Leon would take me to his computer, I'll need about an hour if that's Ok?"
"Take all the time you need Roland, Leon and all the others are here to help in any way you need." Replied peter as the two boys left for Leon's communications room.
"Ok Jake, what happened at the prison?"
Jake related his run in with the warden and his minions and what they had been up to, Peter nodded his head and then told Jake.
"Ok, I'll square it with the powers that be, there's probably a hundred cops there already looking for a culprit."
Jake agreed and then went silent as they waited patiently for Roland's list to arrive, it took an hour before the boy reappeared with the list in his small hand, giving it to Jake he sat in a chair to wait for more instructions from this strange group while he chewed lightly on his bottom lip.
Jake rose and went to a telephone, once connected he repeated everything on the list to the person on the other end and then finished with the words.
"And we want it yesterday Rob."
Jake returned to his chair and sat looking at his Pup who was more interested in Roland than what was going on, the lust in his eyes spoke volumes to Jake so he gave a soft warning growl to his Pup, the teen blinked and then blushed as he turned away from the unaware Roland.
Swiftwing whispered into Peters ear, they both looked at Roland and then at Jake's pup and then smiled a secret smile at each other before Swiftwing snuggled a little closer to his lover and soul mate.
"Are you hungry Roland?" asked Peter.
Roland blushed and nodded his head in silence.
"Why don't you go through to the kitchen and help yourself, Millie always has food on the go so any time you feel hungry just go and help yourself, there's no need to wait for an Ok from anyone in the house, you're our special guest here and can do what you like."
Again Roland blushed and rose to leave for the kitchen, Jake's Pup made to move as well but another growl stopped him in his tracks, Peter looked at the teen and smiled at Jake.
"Someone getting hot and bothered I see Jake?"
"It's his hormones, he can't control them yet, typical Pup, all he wants to do is hump something and eat."
"Why don't you let him talk to Roland then, maybe they will hit it off."
"Not a chance little Prince, the way that Pup is, he's likely to start humping the boy before he asks nicely and the boy is to small to handle the sort of workout this pup would give him."
"What if Roland was agreeable?"
"The answer would still be no, you see Peter, with us wolves, the older ones can control their wolf, if we're having a go at a bitch or human woman we can stop ourselves from changing so there's no damage done apart from her sore pussy, with a Pup, he has no control, once his knot forms inside the boy he would loose all reason and change into his wolf, the boy would then be in real danger, not only from being humped for about four hours non stop and having his small hole filled with the knot but the pup would probably bight him as well and either kill him or turn him. I don't think Roland would like that, this pup is just too young and inexperienced to try it on with a human boy as small as Roland." "Oh, I see what you mean, so you guys actually have a knot the same as real wolves and dogs."
"Yep, only it's bigger and lasts longer, if the Pup got at Roland, the poor boy would be able to park a Mac truck up his hole afterwards, that's if he was still alive to do it."
"Ok I take your word for it."
Jake smiled at Peter and frowned at his Pup.
"Vinnie."
"Yes Alpha?"
"You've been warned twice now, leave the boy alone, if you make even the slightest move towards him I'll have you on the table for the pack, understand me, Pup?"
"Yes Alpha." Vinnie said with real fear in his voice.
"What's with the table Jake?" asked Peter.
"It's for discipline, we have a table bolted to the floor of the basement, if a wolf plays up then he's chained to the table and the rest of the pack take turns humping him till he changes his mind, it can take up to three four days, if he changes to his wolf during it then he gets a beating until he passes out and changes back to his human form then it starts all over again, not fun is it Pup?"
"No Alpha." "You see, Peter, he played up and disobeyed me once when he first joined us, one day on the table changed his mind, of course they heal up quickly but the memory stays for life, that right Pup?"
"Yes Alpha." "So you stay away from little Roland, right?"
"Yes Alpha." Said Vinnie with a gulp of fear.
"Well, I think we'll take a break, Jake, while we wait for Roland's equipment to turn up, it's going to be busy enough when it gets here."
"Yep to that, Ok Pup, lets go home and get some rest, I'll come out with the truck when the gear is ready, Peter."
"Ok, thanks Jake, see you then."
Jake, with the teen following closely behind, left the hall and soon Peter heard his truck leave the front door for the city, taking Swiftwing's hand, he lead them both to the lift and went up to their own rooms for some R&R while they waited.
Eight hours later and Peter was awoken from his nap as Caleb entered the bedroom.
"The equipment has arrived and Roland is going through it with Leon and Carter, they're setting up some type of laptop for him, he says he'll need to take it with him, what do you want done now, Peter?"
"Call the airport and arrange for a plane for us all, tell the commander of the troops that we'll need them all and to get his transport organised, we'll also need about twenty extras from house Vaga to back us up, we don't know how many he has down there to guard him but I'm not going to take any chances."
In three hours it was all arranged and ready to go, Roland had been fitted with a small size black combat suit as well as a radio mic so he could be in contact WITH Leon and Carter as well as all the others in the attack group. Peter had assigned two of the Vaga tigers and two of Jakes wolves to guarding Roland when in the field, the four bigger teens and men dwarfed the small frame of Roland, there was no way anyone was getting close to him.
Once the planes had taken off they were only in the air for fourty minutes before they were landing on a grass strip only a few miles from Seatons command bunker, Peter sent out three avian to scout the area while the rest formed up around Peter, Swiftwing and Roland, just before they left for the sealed doors, two of the earlier scouts appeared and reported that they had seen about twenty Vampires enter the facility late last night, since then no one had emerged from the bunker, there was still about two hours of daylight left and Peter hoped they would be inside before the sun set and released all the vampires and Seaton from their day sleep.
Once outside the doors, Peter set the military snipers around the hill side with their wolf guards, nothing was to escape the bunker, Peter, Swiftwing, Roland and the others moved towards the doors, Roland stood back and looked over the setup, moving with a not before seen confidence he approached the doors and started to run wires from the modified laptop, he then produced a thin steel rod and began to poke around the panel of the lock, ten minutes later and the panel fell into his small hands.
Roland inspected the wiring inside the box then slowly began to run his own wires to different connections, nothing seemed to break the concentration he had on the small steel box, his hands moved confidently and with five minutes he had everything connected, next he sat on the ground with his laptop and began to type in scrolls of numbers, twice he paused as the computer ran columns of numbers down the screen, periodically, Roland would add more numbers and watch the results, within fifteen minutes and everyone heard a very distinctive clang and then a deep humming started and the huge reinforced steel doors began to slide open, Peter hugged Roland warmly before giving hand signals for his men to get ready to move.
Peter had one of the wolves pick Roland up and carry him for easier speed and movement, Roland seemed unconcerned about being carried like a small doll as the wolf smiled down at him, they moved quickly into the entrance of the bunker, the first room was mainly storage, Peter sent two cats to scout it out in case someone was guarding it, it was clear.
At the far end was another steel door, again Roland worked his magic but this time it was a lot quicker, the door slid open and revealed another large vault like room, this one had small sections set aside with doors into each room, quickly Peter's men went from room to room and quickly dispatched each vampire as they slept, that accounted for close on thirty vampires, Peter was glad they had got here before sun down.
The next door opened into a control room, this time Peter told the two tigers and two wolves that were guarding Roland to take him back outside and keep him safe, he didn't want to lose the boy now they had found their quarry's control room, Peter knew it was getting close to dark and any fighting they now had to do was not going to be pretty or forgiving.
Peter still did not know how many were still down here to protect Seaton, but he was sure there would be more than just those in the other section, touring the control room and finding nothing, Peter then set his men on finding where Seaton was hidden, there were three passages that lead away from the control room, one they had come in on and the other two were at the back of the room, Peter guessed that the stronger steel door was where Seaton would be hiding, the other door was also steel but looked lighter and more easy to get through.
Peter sent the bulk of his men to the lighter door and he himself, along with Swiftwing, Caleb and Levi went to the heavily fortified door, before they could find a way to enter, the door began to slide open, the four boys jumped back and took up a defensive stance, Peter's Katana was quickly in his hands as Swiftwing filled his with the two Kama, Levi and Caleb stood back to back, one hand held a tanto the other held automatics filled with silver bullets, they didn't kill a vampire but did slow him down enough to be finished off with the Tanto.
The four vampire attacked immediately they saw the four boys, at the same time screams and shouts erupted from the other passage way as the others discovered that the inner guard had had time to awaken, the noise was fearsome as swords clashed and gun crashed in the enclosed spaces.
Swiftwing made short work of his opponent as each time the vampire tried to cut him in half, he would vaporise into green fog and then reappear behind the vampire and cut him severely, almost as though playing with him but Swiftwing was deadly serious, it took only minutes for him to dispatch the vampire in a double cross handed stroke with both Kama, decapitating the him like a double edged scissor.
Levi and Caleb used their automatics to force the other two vampires back against the wall then moved in with practiced precision and also decapitated them both, Peter had his hands full, the vampire that attacked him was a lot older and therefore a lot more experienced and capable, their swords clashed and rang out around the room as the fight went back and forth, neither one being able to take the advantage until Peter used Sin Yu's training and took to the walls, it seemed that the other vampire was at a loss as how to counteract Peters daring move, by the time he had worked out a strategy it was to late and Peter's Katana was slicing effortlessly through his bare neck.
Swiftwing was standing next to the doorway, Caleb and Levi were near the middle of the room not even out of breath, Peter told them to go and help the others down the passage where the fight was still in full flight by the sounds and screams coming from there, Peter turned and surveyed the empty room until a loud scream from Swiftwing made him duck and roll, but not quite soon enough as he felt the slicing cold steel cut across his shoulder blades, had Swiftwing not yelled, his head would have now been on the floor, it seemed Seaton had again used his deviousness and attacked Peter from behind in an effort to finish him for good.
Peter rolled and turned to face Seaton but as he came to his full height, a heavy boot caught him in the sternum sending him flying ten feet back against a console in the middle of the room, his Katana flew off to the side about fifteen feet away, Peter shook his head as he felt the blood flow begin to slow as he healed the deep gash from Seaton's sword.
Peter watched as Seaton came towards him slowly, almost as though stalking him, the smile on the traitor's lips said it all. Against a human with a sword, Peter would have no trouble but unarmed against Seaton with a sword was another matter, all the advantage was with Seaton, suddenly another yell came from behind Seaton, Peter looked over the shoulder of the approaching vampire, Swiftwing stood alone about ten feet behind Seaton, his Kama tightly held in each hand.
"What about me, Coward?"
Distracted, Seaton turned to look at Swiftwing, as he came about, Swiftwing threw one of his Kama, it buried itself deeply into Seatons shoulder, Seaton took hold and pulled it free then ran at Swiftwing, as his sword flew down at the smaller Indian boy all it made contact with was a green mist that soon dissipated and the form of an unhurt Swiftwing took its place, again Seaton lashed out with his blade and again all it met was thin green mist.
The distraction had given Peter time to start moving towards his own Katana but Seaton was now awake to what was going on and turned on Peter and, using his vampiric speed cut Peter off from his blade.
"Now little Prince, let's see how good you are without a weapon."
As Seaton moved in to slice Peter, Peter again took to the walls but this time Seaton went with him, he was an old vampire and knew all the tricks, the blade kept coming closer and closer to Peter as he used everything he had to stay well out of reach of the killing blade.
Finally, in desperation, Peter decided to try something he had thought about but never practised, it was a time that he now had nothing but his life to lose, wedging himself into a corner, he watched as Seaton slowly closed in on him, the smile of triumph on the old vampires face said it all, finally he had the little shit cornered, it was now or never, Seaton lifted his blade slowly, hiss evil grin never leaving Peters face, then he swung the blade down with all his mighty speed and power, he struck nothing, the boy was not there, he turned, but he was to late.
Peter had watched the blade start its fast descent towards his neck, at the last second he pushed off the corner with all his might and speed going straight up and in a double summersault, flew over the head of Seaton as he completed his downward stroke, hitting the floor in a perfect roll he came up with his own Katana in his hands, Seaton had missed him by mere millimetres.
Peter advanced on the frustrated vampire, he decided to try taunting the vampire into making a mistake.
"Come on old man, can't get it up for the young guys anymore, huh?"
Seaton looked over at the now armed Prince, while the words from the boy did not affect him too much the thought of the boy getting the better of him took over all reason, in a blur he attacked but Peter was well up to the charge and retaliated with vigour and an expertise that Seaton did not expect from such a young boy.
The clashing of their blades echoed throughout the room as the two fought back and forth around the large room, neither being able to get a distinct advantage over the other, Swiftwing stayed out of it as he knew Peter had to do this on his own although he would not hesitate to move in if his lover and soul mate was in danger of loosing his life.
The noise from the other passage had dissipated into small and final one on one fights as the last of the vampires fought for their lives even though they now knew it was an impossible dream that they would survive this night.
At last Peter saw his opening, the rage in Seaton's face had made him careless and Peter was quick to take advantage, with speed and precision, Peter dived to the floor and rolled over under Seatons swinging blade, with a back handed swing, Peter sent his own blade hissing and slicing through Seatons left calf, severing the leg just below the knee, Seaton toppled even as his bodies defences began to seal the bloody stump and stop the bleeding but the damage was done.
Peter rose to his feet in one swift move and sliced downward to take Seatons forearm and therefore his sword from his body, all Seaton could now do was lay there and wait for his decapitation, Peter stood over him, Katana at the ready should the vampire try anything stupid.
"Well you've won, haven't you got the guts to finish it, you little shit."
"Oh, yes, I can finish it but your fate is not going to be that easy, you've caused a lot of pain and suffering with you arrogance and stupid plans and that deserves a special end so no others try it." Replied a steadfast Peter.
The look of wonder and then sudden dawning on Seaton's face told Peter that the renegade now understood what his fate would be.
"You wouldn't dare, the council would never allow it, it's against all the rules of the council."
Peter stared down at the vampire that had caused so much trouble, pain and suffering, both for the folk and for humans, it was at this time that Peter lost the last of his little boy morals.
"By the powers invested in me as Prince of the House of Vladd I sentence you to greet the sunlight on the coming morning, the sentence to be witnessed by all those present here tonight."
Peter's voice was cold and hard, even Seaton, for the first time since he had been turned in 1655 felt fear and almost a degree of admiration for the young Vampire Prince, to be sentenced to the sun was such a horrible way to die for a vampire that it had been banned by the ruling council in all countries, yet here was a young boy so incensed at Seaton's treachery that he was prepared to defy the council and watch as Seaton was burnt to death by the rising sun a most terrible and excruciating way to die.
Slowly Peter realised that the others were returning to the main room, the battle had been won but there had been losses mainly on Seatons side but only due to Peter's men being able to get inside before the sun set, they had a lot to thank Roland for, had they been late then the outcome would have been very different, as it was Peter's losses were still too many for his liking.
Levi told Peter of the final tally, they had lost six felines, nine wolves dead and just about all the others had deep wounds, those that had lost limbs would take weeks to regenerate the lost parts so would be out of action for along length of time, both Levi and Caleb had deep wounds in their chests and arms but the bleeding had stopped and as soon as they fed they would be back to normal after a good sleep.
It seemed that the only one to avoid any form of injury was Swiftwing, his ability to use his Shaman gift and turn instantly to mist had saved his life and limbs while Peter still showed the open wounds he had received from Seaton although he had stopped bleeding like the others he would need to feed as soon as they got back to the house.
Peter related to the others what he had decided about Seaton's sentence, not one of the folk objected or thought it was any less than the traitor deserved, they all agreed to stay as witnesses, a small store room was found and tested to make sure there was no way of escape and Seaton was put inside until it was close to dawn.
Seaton appeared to be half the person he had been before as he realised that there was no escape and no one coming from the council to save him from his fate, what he felt was worse was the fact that now the Prince would be entitled to take all and everything he had built over the last three and half centuries as damages and the council could only agree, the victor was entitled to the spoils to offset any expenses he had had, and Seatons properties were not meagre but covered four continents and millions of dollars, a very rich Prince was going to very, very rich.
Peter watched as Jake approached him from the passage, the big werewolf had a large deep wound running from the top of his shoulder all the way down to his finger tips, Peter almost smiled at the werewolf as he wrapped a piece of shirt around the wound to hold the edges together. Peter knew that by morning there would not even be a scar to show for his trouble.
"What happened to you Jake?"
"Fuckin little vamp, I had him by the neck and just as I was about to take it off his shoulders he pulled this tiny little pocket knife and tried to take my arm off, nearly let the son of a bitch go."
"So what happened?"
"I changed my mind and decided to take his arms off one at a time first just to teach the little shit a lesson before he lost his head."
Peter could hardly keep back the smile at the image of Jake getting angry with a young vampire.
"So all done in there?"
"Yep, they're just cleaning up the last of the bodies, the vamps we'll put out for the sun, our folk we'll take back with us, we lost some good people in there but it was all for a good reason this time."
Peter told Jake all that had gone on in the main room and what was going to be done to Seaton, at this disclosure, Jake lifted an eye brow.
"You're going to go against the council ruling without informing them?"
"Sorry Jake but it's my state, my folk, my war so the way I see it then it's my decision, it's the only way I know of to get the message across that this sort of thing can't happen again, if I have to stand before the council then so be it, but this is my decision and that's the way it's going to be."
"Fair enough young Prince, you know everyone in the five states will back you whatever you decide, so what now?"
"We get some rest and wait for dawn, when that's finished with then its back home and a long rest before I report in."
"Ok, I'll tell every to get some rest then, we've got about six hours to sunrise."
Everyone found a place to settle down for a few hours, the longer the rest the better the wounded would be when they left for home, Peter and Swiftwing fell into each others arms in one of the small rooms off the second passageway, they were both too tired to think of playing up so just relaxed back against each other and drifted into a light doze.
Peter woke with Swiftwing's arms still holding him closely, he knew instinctively that it was close to dawn, it was time to carry out the sentence on Seaton, Peter woke his lover and they both went through to the main room where everyone that was able, stood waiting for them to appear, Seaton was being held by two wolves ready for his final walk.
There was no chatter or sound in the room, everyone knew what was about to happen, even Seaton was resigned to his fate, there would be no reprieve for him this time, the party started to move towards the entrance to the bunker, outside it was still dark but the first faint hint of dawn could just be seen on the horizon as the exited from the bunker.
Peter pointed towards a clear area just in front of the doors, there Seaton was pushed to the ground and everyone stepped back a few feet to give the sun plenty of space to strike the traitor as it rose over the nearby ridge. Much to Seatons horror the sun seemed to speed up as it began its climb into the sky.
The first strong rays of sunlight hit Seaton on his lower leg and kept steadily climbing as he began to scream in pain and terror, his flesh began to melt and burn as wisps of vapour rose from his tortured flesh. The screams echoed around the empty hills and valleys as the sun relentlessly continued to climb upwards and the stench of ancient burning flesh made most of those present cringe at the thought of what the vampire was going through.
Finally, as the sunlight passed above his waist, Seaton could stand it no longer and collapsed forward so he was fully exposed to the death rays of sunlight, his end was quick as the sun devoured all that was once Seaton, the traitor to his kind, Peter coughed lightly as he tried to hold back the horror of what he had had to do, only the soft arms of his soul mate kept him from trowing up in front of everyone.
With a gentleness that was reserved only for Peter, Swiftwing lead him away and towards where the planes waited for their return home, all the other survivors of the battle, both able and wounded, silently followed the Prince that had proved he had what it took to rule such a violent and difficult world, all of them present knew without doubt that other more difficult times could lay ahead for the Prince of House Vladd, either now or in the distant future, for a lot could happen when you live for centuries and things never change, they just developed differently.
End.
Foot Note: As there is now a new story underway, the Prince of House Vladd is taking a rest, I have not yet decided as to if there will be more to follow on Peter and his folk, so you will have to bare with me for now and perhaps follow the new story instead, thank you all for your great following and the many, many emails of support.
Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz