Prince of House Vladd

THE PRINCE OF HOUSE VLADD

BOOK TWO

PART 1

BY ARTHUR

Introduction:

Welcome to the next chapter in the life of Poitr Vladd, Prince of the House of Vladd the Impaler, it is eight years since the uprising and defeat of the rebel forces, Prince Vladd is now 23 years old but still looks his young self of 15 yrs. Two presidents have held office since the events of the rebellion and Peter's influence has continued to increase in the five states under his control, all his closest people and friends were now well set into the running of his many companies and houses.

His personal guards had been increased by the hiring of 28 of the snipers and their commanding officer who had defended the folk in the time of the uprising, all had resigned from the official military and were now undergoing special training under Peter's body guards, Sin Yu, Mbeda, the Twins and Jason to improve their skills in the arts of protection of the folk, this included how to recognise other species of the folk without the natural aids that the folk had to recognise auras.

As each day passed, Peter and Swiftwing grew closer and more loving towards each other, if that were possible, their passion was well beyond that capable of any normal human and their escapades in the bedroom were almost at the stage of legend, much to their discomfort when they were seen by their guards each night.

While in the day to day affairs of normal humans, everything was it seemed, back to normal, there was, however an underground rumble of discontent in the country and the folk, if not careful, could be under new and very dangerous threats, it was a new time and beginning for the House of Vladd.

After the intercine war, the government had, as usual, tried, and in most cases, succeeded, in quelling any stories of monsters and devils causing the uproar, those who insisted that they had witnessed the horrors of the night were quickly discredited and sent to the back pages of the tabloids or threatened with incarceration in a mental facility, but the rumours did not completely die and, in the sacred halls and tiny country churches, the word went out for the destruction of the devils spawn.

The real trouble started on the election of Pastor Carabine of the Destiny Church, as the new President of the U.S.A. His religious views were well known and his unbending stance on what is right for others was the determining factor in his election, although the discrediting of his opponent by radical and religious news papers also helped, he was now the focal point for all the narrow minded political and religious groups to gather around. The time of the righteous was at hand and now the country had a leader that knew what God and President Carabine wanted for his children, against all advice, the President was going to rid the world of any devil spawn in his country, even against the advice of his cabinet and senior military he was bound by the law of God to rid the world of all and any abominations, be they human or devil.

Peter untangled himself from the firm body that was entwined in his, the warmth of the bronze skin emanated from Swiftwing's sleeping form as Peter ran his hand down the smooth coppery flank until his fingers lightly traced a line down between the slightly open legs, Peter felt Swiftwing give a shiver in his sleep as the fingers ran up and down the narrow cleft until, with a sudden groan of delight, Swiftwing opened his eyes and turned over to reveal his rigid morning wood for Peter to play with, Peter, with all his usual reserve, dove down on the warm flesh and immediately brought a louder moan of delight from Swiftwing's lips as he thrust upwards to meet the warm mouth.

A little later, as Peter lowered himself down onto the waiting shaft, he revelled in the sensation, as with all vampires, his whole body regenerated during each sleep cycle so that every time either he or Swiftwing were entered it was like the first time all over again. Over the last eight years their love and attraction had grown stronger by the day until at times they felt they would die from the sheer joy of each others love.

Most evenings, Swiftwing would go for a walk in the surrounding forest to commune with his old spirit gods and to feel the pulse of the Mother that guarded his soul, during these times he was always followed at a discrete distance by guards, usually from the felines and, also as normal, he could feel them close by and would often, and much to the guards concern, disappear before their eyes as he used his now enhanced abilities to meld into the surrounding trees.

To the young Shaman, the earth was his own private domain that he was allowed to share with the Mother, it also provided him with renewed strength and vitality as well as letting him see into the secrets of the land around their home.

Peter felt the hardening inside him and knew that his love was very close to filling him once again, he was now laying on his back with Swiftwing above him, their eyes fixed on each other as Swiftwing pushed forward for the last long thrust and, as the beautiful grimace of the long awaited release came to fruition, both boys let out a long drawn out moan that reverberated around their bedroom.

As the two boys lay in an exhausted peace, Swiftwing still well inside the warm tight space of Peter, lowered his lips to meet those waiting below him, the kiss held both passion and love as their tongues entwined, it was at this moment that they both heard the slight ringing tone of Peters computer out in the office, they both groaned in disappointment at the thought of having to leave this special evening ritual and return to the running of the five state empire that was Peter's responsibility.

Peter groaned as Swiftwing withdrew from the warmth and Peter, with a look of suffering patience, left the bed and warm arms of his lover to answer the call, had it not been for his vampire senses he would have run head long into the wall as he was still looking at what he had left behind in the bed as he moved out to the office/lounge.

The screen was on and the face of his Father was filling the space, Peter smiled at his father who, immediately lifted one eyebrow at the obvious glow surrounding Peter's flushed face, which only increased the look of embarrassment of his only son and heir.

"Well my boy, it seems you are still in love, how is your Swiftwing today, exhausted?"

Peter poked his tongue out at his Fathers image as he heard the deep chuckle from his sire.

"He's well, thank you dad, what are you calling for at this ungodly hour?"

"Ungodly, it's six o'clock in the evening; you should be up and about at this hour."

Peter gave his Father a smirk and replied.

"We were up."

His Father laughed and then got a very serious look on his face and Peter knew that what was going to be discussed was, in his Fathers eyes, very serious.

"Have you been watching the news lately, Peter?"

"Yes Father, but at this stage it's all only underground rumblings of the usual bigots and nut cases."

"Well the council thinks it is way more serious than that now Peter, you better turn on the TV news channel, I'll wait here for you."

Peter found the remote and turned onto the news channel, the face of the Presidents spin doctor filled the screen, he was standing at the dais in the press office of the White House, the room was silent as he related the latest orders of President Elect Carabine.

"And so, to reiterate, this morning the President has accepted the resignation of the speaker of the Congressional House of Assembly as well as seven of the armed forces advisory panel, he is also awaiting the resignation of twelve members of the Senate, all these positions will shortly be filled by those who are more able to understand the problems we are facing today with those of the underworld that have been taking advantage of the good nature of the people of this great and god fearing nation for too long. The President will be addressing the Senate on these matters this evening when he will inform them of the names of those promoted to take care of our countries needs in a better and more humane way than any previous administration, thank you, there will be no question time at this stage but a full summation will be handed to you on your way out."

The spin doctor left the dais as the room erupted into shouting chaos as reporters tried to get something more from the disappearing back of the man, Peter watched as the reporters milled about and tried to make sense out of the sudden announcement, Peter turned back to the computer screen where his Father waited for him.

"Well son, what do you make of that little announcement?"

"What the hell is he trying to do, create riots in the street?"

"More than that we fear, the council thinks he is going to force an issue until he can declare a state of emergency, he can then suspend any new elections until the country is at peace once again, this means he will have a total veto on any decisions of government and can extend the term of office for as long as he likes, we have a feeling he wants to start his own little dictatorship, but keep it within the law so he can't be called to account at a later time, we also think that that time will never be allowed to come, once he gets his state of emergency he will change the constitution for his own ends."

Peter looked at his Father in stunned silence as he heard the possibilities that could come from the latest news event.

"What can we do, Father?"

"Well not much at this stage, if we make a wrong move then he will have the whole country down on us, and we could never win a war against the whole country, it would be like the Salem witch trials all over again but worse, now I want you to start to make plans for any eventuality to keep your people safe, if you have to leave the country make sure you can take as many of the folk with you as you can, now there's one other thing I have to tell you so you better sit down."

Peter gave his Father a strange look as he sat in his chair and waited for more bad news.

"Now Peter, the council has watched your performance over these last eight years and, all of us are in agreement on this point, I am taking your mother back to the old country as are the other members of the ruling council, these new events need a younger and more active person to oversee and so, we the Council have unanimously voted to have you and your present council of folk, elected as the new ruling council of the Americas, all other states are being informed of this decision and you should be getting their letters of support within the next few hours, you and your new council will be the sole arbitrators of all and any decisions concerning all of the Americas, both North and South, you may wish to increase your numbers on the council with some from the South American countries, congratulations Premier, may you rule wisely."

At that moment Peter felt the warm arms of Swiftwing wrap around his bare shoulders and a soft whisper sounded in his ear.

"Does this mean no more time for sex with the Premier?"

The chuckle in Swiftwing's voice was obvious to the still overwhelmed Peter, all he could do was stare blankly at the face of his Father and throw his head back against the soft chest behind him, a feeling of a heavy weight seemed to descend on his shoulders as he began to realise what his Father meant.

"Well son, I think you have a lot to think on and talk over with your lover, all I can advise is for you to setup your headquarters down there, I have a feeling that Washington is not going to be a very safe place shortly, we are all going to close everything down over the next couple of days, there won't be any way for you to make contact until we are all back in the old country, so Peter, good luck and stay true to yourself, you know what's right and wrong so just follow your heart, stay safe son."

Peter watched as the screen went blank and his Father's face disappeared for very well what maybe the last time, a tear slipped from his eyes as he tried to catch his breath, all he had now was his love and the friends he had in this house, Swiftwing drew him in closer in a hug and wiped away the falling tears with his thumb, Peter lent back more firmly into his lovers warm arms, there was going to be so much to do and soon he was going to have to start making plans for the protection of all his people, both North and South not just the five states any longer.

After a shower and fresh clothes, the two boys held hands as they descended down onto the ground floor, Peter had earlier sent out word that there would be a full meeting of all of the household staff in the reception dining room, as Peter and Swiftwing entered they saw the room full of everyone on the estate, it was immediately apparent to everyone that something serious was under way, Peter was dressed in his black skin tight battle suit, his Katana over his shoulder, Swiftwing was in his moccasins and breechclout, his two Kama were hanging on his belt, these clothes as everyone knew, meant there was trouble on the horizon.

When everyone had quietened down, Peter related the news to them, after some time of discussion, every member of the house told Peter that they would without reservation stand by him and any decision that he made, the guard commander began to issue orders for a more intensive patrol system in and around the house and grounds.

The training of the house hold staff was to be increased so that they would be able to defend themselves if it came to that, next Peter began making contact with the other houses all over the states and sent messages to the known houses of Latin America, for the next three days and nights both Peter and Swiftwing were kept busy trying to amalgamate all the houses into one unit of defence.

The first problem was to bring them altogether and for old wounds to be healed and put aside in the face of the new threats, with the announcements made by President Carabine each day it was not hard to convince them to see sense and combine their forces into one cohesive force for the betterment of all the folk.

Peter sent out a call for all the leaders of the various folk from all over the Americas, the meeting was to be held at his estate where he could guarantee their safety, the time was set for the Friday of the following week, It was going to be a busy period for all of them.

The first hint of trouble came as Peter and Swiftwing were walking one evening towards House Vaga to talk with the Vaga council, the house had become a beacon of co-operation for other Vaga to follow and was now well established through out the country, it was these houses that the new President had in his sights for the first test case of his ideas.

Peter had been informed by one of his friends of the plans of President Carabine just before the man had been sacked from his post as he would not accept the rulings of the Commander in Chief; Peter quickly found a place for the man in his own large organisation.

Peter and Swiftwing had just turned a corner when they saw a crowd of angry people pushing and shoving a single woman as they cat called and bullied the young woman, both boys could see that the woman was human by her aura and that she was trying to protect a young boy of about five years old with her body as the crowd drew more angry with her, suddenly, from out of the murk of the approaching dusk, a single shot rang out, the crowd stopped in stunned silence as the sounds of running footsteps faded into the semi darkness.

Swiftwing was faster than Peter in his reactions as he saw the young woman sway and then begin to sink slowly to her knees, the young boy still held tightly in her arms as a small rose of blood grew on her back, as Swiftwing grew closer he could smell the distinct odour of cinnamon but could see no auras around the group.

The mass of the crowd began to thin out as they realised what had happened, all of a sudden, no one wanted to be held responsible for this unnecessary killing, the young woman had been one of the members of the Destiny Church but had had a new realisation when she had heard the words of the Pastor, now President, Carabine.

Often before she had been berated by church members for becoming pregnant without marriage, even though it had been a case of rape, often she had been pulled up to the front of the church services to be made an example of her loose ways, even then she would not divulge the name of their local Pastor as the Father of her small boy, now it was to late, the final indignity had come about, her little boy was now left without her or any other protection.

The little boy began to call out for his mother, not fully understanding what had happened, Swiftwing knelt down in front of the boy and sent out calming thoughts as he carefully pulled the little boy into his arms, again he got the strong smell of cinnamon as the boy, with tears running down his face, tried to pull away and go back to his mother.

Swiftwing soothed the little boy as Peter came up beside the pair, he too smelt the strong cinnamon odour as he got closer, it was then he saw, or didn't see what he expected, he called it to Swiftwing's attention.

"Look my love; do you see what I can't see?"

"What do you mean?"

"The boy, tell me what's wrong when you look at him?"

Swiftwing looked down at the crying boy, he now held in his arms, he also noticed there were no sirens of police or ambulances approaching their position, try as he might, Swiftwing could see nothing wrong with the boy apart from the now strong smell of cinnamon.

"What are you not seeing, Peter?"

"His aura!"

"What about his aura?"

"Look closer, what do you see?"

Swiftwing again looked at the small boy in his arms; slowly it began to dawn on him what Peter meant.

"He doesn't have one, he has no aura, but...but that's impossible, everyone has an aura, everyone and everything, it's the way of things."

"Well my love, for some unknown reason he doesn't, I've never heard of anything like it."

The two lovers stared at the boy in Swiftwing's arms, as the boy stifled his sobs he began to hug closer into Swiftwing's embrace and the odour of cinnamon grew stronger, to the extra sensitive noses of the two lovers it was almost overpowering, the sudden sound of a small childish voice brought both boys back to the here and now.

"Are you my Daddies, why do you have funny teeth, I'm hungry, where's my mummy gone to?"

It was the usual type of multi questions that any five year old would ask, every word running into another and not waiting for an answer to any of them, Swiftwing hugged the little boy closer and looked up at Peter.

"What are we going to do with him, we can't just leave him here, and you know what protective services do with small children?"

"Well my love, we can't take him to live in a Vaga house, he's not one of the folk, I don't know what to do."

Swiftwing got a look on his face as he watched the emotions run over Peter's face, the idea had come to him from out of no where, it was as though a deep hidden thought had been brought to the surface before he could even understand it.

"We have to take him home with us, deep down the only thing I have ever wanted, apart from you, was a son, I've tried to look inside his mind but there's just a blackness like a barrier, I can't get through it, please my love, let's take him with us, there's not much out here for him and at least he will be safe with us, please?"

Peter looked at the helpless five year old, he had never been able to refuse his lover anything, even though he was not quite sure what they were going to do raising a boy of this age, he couldn't say no to Swiftwing, just then something the boy had said popped into Peters consciousness, he smiled at the little boy as he leaned over to be a little closer.

"Hey little man, what's your name?"

The little boy gave out a small childish giggle as he looked at Peter, he twisted slightly to be able to look at him but never let go of the nice man that was holding him.

"I'm not a man, I'm a boy and my name is Stevie, my mummy says it's a special name because I'm a special boy." Again the boy giggled as he told the nice man with the funny teeth his name.

"Well Stevie, what do you mean; we have funny teeth?"

The boy giggled and reached out to run his small finger over Peter's lips.

"You got two long sharp ones just like this man, but you don't have green skin like him, how do you hide them like that?"

Peter almost jumped upright and Swiftwing would have dropped the boy had not Stevie had such a tight grasp on his chest.

"How can you see that, Stevie?"

By this time they had moved out of the alley and were closing in to the Vaga House, Stevie pointed to a young teen slouching against a nearby wall, he was one of the outer guards of House Vaga.

"Ooh, look, what a big kitty, can I pat the Kitty, please, please?"

Peter sent a mind message to Swiftwing.

"What the fuck have we got here, my love?"

The small voice interrupted any answer.

"Ohh, you bad, mummy said you can't use naughty words like that."

Peter and Swiftwing could only blanche at the ease in which the boy had been able to penetrate their natural defences, neither of them had even felt the boy in there, it was as though he had just seen everything as normal and nothing could be hidden from the little tyke and the boy thought it was all normal to him.

"Pleeease, can I pat the kitty?"

Peter and Swiftwing smiled at the boy but the look of confusion on their faces belied their outer calm, they moved towards the lookout over the road, the Feline recognised the two Vampires approaching him and gave a small wave of recognition; Stevie was still tightly clamped onto Swiftwing's chest as they stopped in front of the boy, next his little boy voice was heard as he reached out to touch the Feline boy.

"Yous a nice kitty, why are you all black, I like white kitties, do you know any white kitties, can I pat you, do you like milk, you got a long, long tail, what's your name, do you have a nice kitty name?"

The quick fire questions stunned the teen, he was in human form and yet this little boy could see his real demeanour, struggling with his emotions, the Feline tried to smile at the little boy but he was disconcerted that such a little guy could see him that way, then it also clicked with him, the little boy had no aura, he looked at the Prince and his consort for an answer, but it was soon apparent that they couldn't help him either, the little boy was stroking his hair but never let go of Swiftwing, it was almost a funny sight as the boy almost cooed.

"I like you Kitty, you're nice."

This in itself was amusing as when the boy changed into his Panther form he was nearly six feet long and stood three feet at the shoulder, the Feline boy was almost purring as the tiny hand rubbed his head, if he had been in form he would have been waving his tail like a windmill.

Stevie turned back to Swiftwing and asked.

"Do you have some more kitties like this one, he's nice, why do they call you a Shaman, what's a Shaman, you're good, can I go home with you, do you have any puppies, I like puppies bestest."

The torrent of questions almost undid all three boys, the little tyke seemed to have already got over the horror of what had happened no more than ten minutes earlier, he seemed to have accepted that he was now with these two nice men and had no more worries, Stevie thought to himself that it was a shame his mummy had to go away and he would miss her a lot but these nice men were good, he could feel it, and they knew a really nice kitty so they must be good, even if they had funny hiding teeth.

For all of his five years Stevie had always known who was good and who was bad, most times he didn't know why but he just knew, deep inside him who to trust and who to avoid, he had known that his mummy was in danger when they were walking back to the church but she wouldn't listen to his warnings, she never did, that was the only thing he was upset with his mummy for, she wouldn't listen to his feelings.

Peter and Swiftwing decided to go on to House Vaga and complete what they had come for then head back home, Peter put in a call for a car to come to House Vaga and pick them up, it looked as though the boys future had been set for them. As they walked into House Vaga, Stevie let out a scream of enjoyment as he saw all the boys and girls around the lobby.

"Look, daddy and daddy, lots of puppies and kitties, oh this is a nice house, it's got lots and lots of puppies and kitties."

The boy was almost jumping for joy as he looked at all the folk in the lobby and Swiftwing had to work hard to keep him in his arms, all Peter could do was shake his head in wonderment at the boy's antics, confusion still reigned as to how the boy could see the folk under their human form but for now it would have to wait until they got home, they had a meeting to attend, the boys voice interrupted Peter's thoughts.

"We going home soon, daddy, I'm tired now, can I have some dinner first please daddy?"

The boy was looking up at Peter with big blue eyes that were fighting to stay open, it looked as though it had been a long day for the little boy, Peter nodded his head.

"Yes Stevie, we'll be going home soon, just a short talk to my friends and then we'll go and you can have a big dinner, ok?"

"Yes daddy."

With those words the boy snuggled in closer to Swiftwing's chest and closed his eyes, within a second he was breathing deeply as he fell into a dreamless sleep, he was happy, he now had not one daddy; like other boys, but two daddies, that was even better, Stevie let his mind shut down and went to sleep, he was safe and that's all that was important in his world.

The meeting at House Vaga took nearly an hour and Stevie stayed tucked into Swiftwing's chest the whole time, at the end of the meeting, Peter led them out to the waiting car and the three were soon on the road home. Within an hour they were seated at the table on the Estate, Stevie had not moved from his perch on Swiftwing's chest, when Swiftwing tried to lay him down for a little, his small hands had taken on a grip of steel and would not let go of their handful of shirt, Swiftwing relented and just kept the boy in his arms, Peter gave him a peck on the cheek for being so diligent.

Trantor appeared by Peters chair and, much to the surprise of everyone; Stevie opened his eyes and with a strong yelp of glee cried out.

"Ice cream, ice cream, Pleeease, Transa, Pleeease."

The boy wriggled frantically on Swiftwing's lap as he tried to get down and find his own chair, in his small head he knew he was home and therefore safe, he could let go of his number one daddy now, as he looked around he could see other puppies and kitties moving around the room but knew instinctively that they would never hurt him, he smiled at each one as they would move past, he looked at his number two daddy.

"Daddy, you got lots of nice kitties and puppies here, I like my new home and I love my two daddies."

The innocent voice of the little boy almost had both teens in tears at the trust the boy put in them after such a short time, but what was he, none of them had the least idea what the boy was or how he could be without an aura, the source of all power in the natural world, the boy sat quietly waiting for his ice cream, he new the nice man Transa would bring for him, he had seen the big smile in the old mans head.

With the full trust of any five year old, Stevie allowed himself to be carried by his number one daddy up to his new home bedroom, he knew instinctively that his two daddies were going to be busy so he would have to sleep alone until they could come to him, the taste of cinnamon in his mouth told him he was perfectly safe in this big house.

Stevie allowed himself to be laid down on the big bed where his two new daddies slept, he cuddled into the clean warm sheets and closed his eyes, he was now safe from Pastor Wilson of Mummies church, Stevie often wondered in his mind why his first Daddy hated him so much, every time he saw Pastor Wilson he could feel the hate from his first Daddy, it was all too confusing for Stevie's young mind and so he tried to ignore all the feelings that the face of the man that sent his Mummy away, now he had two Daddies and he could feel that they liked him a lot, he would stay with them and eat lots of ice cream and play with all the kitties and puppies, Stevie sighed with contentment, he was home and he was happy; Stevie closed his eyes and drifted off to a dreamless sleep as his two new Daddies left the room.

Peter and Swiftwing left the boy to sleep as they went back to the office, once there; they both sat and discussed the unusual night's activities.

"I'm going out for a walk; I need to talk to the Mother about the boy." Swiftwing told Peter.

"A good idea, I'll send out a request for any information about a boy like him, maybe some of the older folk know something, I can't find anything in Dad's memories about a boy like him." Peter replied.

"Yes my love, it's strange that nothing is written or there are no legends about people like Stevie, I'll see you later."

Swiftwing gave Peter a deep kiss and left for the outdoors, Peter set about sending a global email calling for any information that might be out there; once that was done, Peter set to work on making the arrangements for the upcoming meeting, the logistics were huge but, with all his staff working together they would get through it.

Four hours later and Swiftwing was by his side as they looked down at the small bundle in their bed, all that could be seen was the silvery blonde head of Stevie as it poked out of the crumpled sheets, he was curled up in a small ball with the bedclothes wrapped tightly around him, his face hidden under the coverings, the two new Dads smiled at each other as they looked down at the small bundle.

Suddenly a very small sleepy voice was heard from under the bedclothes.

"Hello Daddy P, Hello Daddy S, I'm all stinky, can I have a wash now?"

Slowly the small smiling face of Stevie appeared from the covers, his slivery hair a little tangled from sleep, his startling blue eyes were still partially closed in the last remnants of sleep, with a big yawn, Stevie reached up with his small hands for Peter to pick him up; Peter reached down and effortlessly lifted the boy up to his chest, Stevie gave Swiftwing a half wave and smiled widely as he settled into Peter's arms.

"Daddy P is going to wash me but you can hold me after Daddy S." Stevie told his number two Daddy.

Swiftwing almost let out a loud laugh at the innocence of the small boy and he reached out and ruffled the blonde head as Peter took Stevie into the bathroom.

Stevie insisted that Peter undress him, he stood with his hands held straight up so Peter could remove his slightly dirty shirt and then waited for his number one Daddy to undo the belt on his small jeans, after removing the boys socks, Peter slid the jeans off the boys small slim hips and pulled them free of his slender little legs, once that was done, Stevie remained sitting on his butt on the floor and indicated for Peter to take off the slightly smelly socks, once that was done, Stevie bounced up on to his feet and indicated that Peter had to take the boys small tighty-whiteys off for him, Peter saw that the boy's small nail was pushing out the white cloth in anticipation, Peter laughed and slid the small underwear down over the boys narrow hips, letting the hard little nail bounce back and give a small slapping sound as it hit the boys white belly, Stevie giggled and swung his hips from side to side to make his little nail bounce again.

Peter decided to call a halt to the experiment and turned on the water of the shower for the boy but Stevie had other ideas, with a small piping voice he insisted Peter get in and wash him.

"You too; you too; Daddy pleeeease?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, Peter stripped and carried the boy into the shower, there he stood Stevie close to the spray and set about washing the wriggling and giggling boy as best he could, Stevie seemed intent on getting Peter to wash all the important bits over and over until both were well and truly washed, with a last giggle, Stevie reached up and jumped for Peter's arms as the shower was turned off, as Peter grabbed the flying boy, Stevie locked his small legs around Peters waist and clamped his arms around his neck until they were both out of the shower, Peter wasn't sure and was probably mistaken, but it almost seemed as though Stevie was rubbing himself up and down on Peter's firm wet chest, he shook his head, he must be wrong, the boy was too young to know what he was doing; Peter set the boy down and reached for a towel to get them both dry.

Returning to the bedroom, Peter saw Swiftwing standing with a thoughtful look on his face, the boys dirty clothes were held in his hands.

"He can't get dressed in these love and we've got nothing that'll fit him here."

Stevie piped up with a big grin on his face.

"I want Daddy S clothes, they nice."

Peter looked at Swiftwing with an enquiring look on his face, suddenly a picture of Stevie sprang into his mind, the boy was dressed in a small breach-clout and moccasins, Peter shook his head to clear the thought and looked at Stevie standing in front of him, a big grin on his small face.

"He wants a breach-clout like you have."

"Yes, I know, I got the same picture, ok Stevie, I'll see what I can do for you but in the mean time we have to find something else for you."

Again a picture flashed into both boys heads of a naked little Stevie running around the house. Oh well it was worth a try they both thought, Peter gave Stevie a final rub down with the towel and went to get dressed as Stevie jumped into Swiftwing's arms for a cuddle, he liked his two new Daddies, they were better even than his Mummy had been, she wouldn't let him run around without his clothes on, even when they were alone at home, he didn't like all the clothes he had to wear, they didn't feel right, now his two new Daddies let him be himself, they were lots more fun.

Peter rejoined the two waiting for him and they all headed down stairs to get the boy some breakfast, Stevie trying to pat every kitty and puppy they passed, much to the amusement of the various folk; when they got to the dining room, Stevie rushed to one of the chairs and sat down in front of a large bowl of ice cream, Peter looked at Swiftwing, Swiftwing looked at the smiling face of Trantor.

"I sort of got a feeling in my head he was going to ask for it." Trantor told them.

Stevie was already well into the bowl, small rivulets of chocolate ice cream running down his chin, both teens shuddered at the thought of ice cream for breakfast but it didn't seem to slow Stevie down in the least.

When he was finished with the large bowl, Stevie sat back with a look of satisfaction on his face, his small stomach now a little rounder, with sparkling eyes he opened his mouth and let out a loud boyish burp and then broke into a fit of giggles as he looked at the two faces of his new Daddies.

Swiftwing reached down and ruffled the boy's blonde head before taking a napkin to wipe off the excess ice cream from the boys chin, once he was clean, Stevie jumped to his feet and rushed towards the front door while shouting excitedly over his shoulder.

"I'm going to play with the kitties, Daddy S."

Swiftwing looked at Peter, both lovers could only shrug their shoulders and smile as the small white butt disappeared through the front door, he would be safe in the compound and they had other things to take care of, least of which was to try and find out what the boy was, while Swiftwing went off to find the right things to make Stevie his new clothes, Peter returned to his office in the hope someone out there had some answers for him, as the doors of the lift closed, his vampire hearing told him Stevie had found one of the Felines to play with and was laughing and screaming in delight out on the front lawn.

When Peter stepped into his office he saw a long list of emails waiting for him, one in particular caught his eye as it was marked in red and was flashing an urgent flag, Peter opened the email first, it was from a Councillor Ramon Delgardo from the Yucatán Peninsular; Peter read through the email.

To Premier Poitr Vladd

Sir, I may have some of the information you require for the boy you have found, in the time of the ancients, there was occasionally a boy born who was like no other, the boys were very rare and showed no normal aura and were believed to have powers way outside those of any other.

The old legends told of the last boy being born 300 years ago, he was believed to have been both human and of the folk with abilities of both worlds, the boys were said to be the center of good and evil, that is to say, if he is raised in an evil house then all his powers were turned to evil, if raised in a good house then the same would hold true and the boy's powers would be turned to good.

The marks of the boy are as follows, he will have a scent of spice around him at all times, when he is happy it will be quite strong, if he is angry his scent changes to that of a pungent odour, his eye teeth will usually be a little longer and very sharp, not like our fangs but they are usually a little more prominent, he will grow at a very slow pace but he is not immortal, normally the boys are very, very sexual, they reach puberty at about nine or ten years of age and become very active almost to the stage of being nymphomaniacs, they also have a great distaste for any form of clothing.

The boy's main food is usually for very sweet things but once he reaches puberty he then lives on the life energy of humans and the folk, he is not known for killing any of them, he just drains the energy from them by using his small sharp eye teeth much like we do when feeding, the boys will not feed on vampires, no one knows why but all others are fair game for him.

The boys are usually very adept at all the mind sciences as well as they can see through any human form so it is impossible for a shape shifter to fool him, you will also see that for some unknown reason the boys have a very close affinity to snakes, one was believed to have slept in the midst of a nest of vipers for most of his life, while he was never so much as even harmed, anyone else that tried to come close to him would be swarmed by the snakes in his defence.

The boys were only born one at a time, legend has it that only when one died was another born, the ancients simply called them, Others, they were held in awe and often became the center of worship for local tribes, they could also be very dangerous enemies when they reached puberty, if the boy you describe is an `Other' then you have a very powerful ally but he must be raised with love or he will turn his talents to evil.

I hope this is of some use to you in your search and if the boy is an `Other' then all of my people will be forever in your debt.

Ramon Delgardo.

As Peter reread the email he got a very strong and distinct smell of cinnamon, the lift doors opened and out walked the naked form of Stevie, the boy ran over to Peter and gave him a tight hug, he smelled lightly of cat, suddenly Stevie stepped back, his small body went quite rigid and his soft white skin began to take on a soft sheen, his bright blue eyes dulled until they were almost opaque, then, with a voice that was not his but that of a slightly older teen boy, Stevie began to speak.

"My lord Vladd, I am in your debt, take my form and love him for he is your future and the future of your people, this form will know horrors like no other incarnation but your love and the love of his other Father will sustain him, he will need the love of both of you if he is to stay true to his destiny, to complete him you must seek out the boy with the mark of the Toltec on his back, he will be the boys salvation."

As quickly as the change had come over Stevie, it disappeared and the little naked boy was again in Peter's arms for a cuddle.

"Did you want me Daddy P?"

Peter looked at the naked bundle and smiled, he did want to see the boy but was not aware that he did, it had only been a thought in his mind as he read the email; suddenly Stevie pulled back and looked at the computer screen.

"Oh, it's from Ramon, he was nice, his sire was an ugly vampire, he liked to kill lots and lots of small boys, Ramon was a good vampire, he killed the old man with the sun, Ramon didn't like the little boys dying."

Taken aback, Peter looked at the innocent face of Stevie.

"You, knew Ramon, Stevie?"

"Oh yes daddy P, not this time, but I knew him before the fire, he was nice, he liked kitties too."

Stevie snuggled closer to Peter's chest and sighed, his apparent innocence seemed unaffected by what he had just said, to Peter the mystery had just deepened, there was so much he didn't know, again the soft voice of the little boy came from his chest area.

"It's ok Daddy P, you can look and touch."

Peter was taken aback by the comment until he realised he had been thinking about Stevie's teeth, the small head came up and Stevie opened his mouth for Peter to look inside, the two eye teeth were definitely a little longer than a normal boy and, after running one finger gently over the two teeth, Peter decided they were decidedly sharper, suddenly Stevie closed his mouth over Peter's finger and began to lightly suck on it like a lolly pop or any other child would suck on a thumb, Stevie rested his head on Peter's chest and sighed with contentment.

Peter sat there as still as he could holding Stevie to his chest and let his feelings of lover for Swiftwing and Stevie flow from him, the boy wriggled up onto his lap and cuddled in closer, the feeling seemed just right to Peter as he looked down on the young innocent face of the naked boy in his lap, bending forward, Peter gently kissed the top of Stevie's head, the boy sighed again and dozed off.

More than a month passed, things in Washington had begun to turn ugly as new laws were made and there was an undercurrent of hate coming from the religious left, the first signs of open dissention were seen as people began to accuse others of witch craft and other horrible and terrible things, anyone who was seen as different was immediately set upon by crowds whipped up by the religious fanatics, most of whom were only doing it for the money that might be gained, there was no longer a feeling of right or wrong, the mood was changing to one of suspicion and it was spreading rapidly as those aligned with the Destiny Church looked for ways to more power.

Peter and Swiftwing were sitting in the main hall when they heard the alarm, armed guards appeared from the passage and were running outside, Peter and Swiftwing jumped to their feet and followed quickly, out in the front compound there were five Felines and two Canines, in their midst was the small figure of Stevie, it looked as though he was trying to get through the circle towards the far corner of the stone wall but the folk were trying to hold him back without hurting him.

The two boys ran quickly into the circle and looked down at Stevie.

"What is it Stevie, are you ok, what's wrong?" Peter asked.

"Daddy P, I want to go see my friend but they won't let me."

"Where's your friend, Stevie?"

"Over there, he wants to say hello, is all and they won't let me go to him."

Peter looked over to where Stevie had been pointing, what he saw made him gasp, and then he remembered what the email from Delgardo had said, with a small shake in his voice, Peter lifted Stevie's small narrow chin and looked into his eyes.

"Now you have to give me your promise you won't bring him inside and that he will be good to all the people in the compound, ok?"

Stevie looked at his number one Daddy as though he was not really saying that.

"Daddy P, he's my friend, he wouldn't hurt anyone, can I go say hello now, pleeeease?"

Peter almost laughed at the pleading look in Stevie's eyes, as he turned to Swiftwing beside him and shrugged his shoulders in defeat, both teens had tried to fight against that boy look and always lost so why be different now, with resignation and just a little sense of fear, everyone watched as Stevie happily skipped over to the largest rattle snake anyone had ever seen.

With little ceremony and no fear what so ever, Stevie plonked his small bare butt on the grass right in front of the snake and reached out for the snake to climb up his thin small arm, with barely a hesitation, the large snake uncoiled itself from it's defensive circle and calmly slithered up the offered arm to wrap itself around the small boys neck and shoulders, its now silent rattle hung down the boys back as the snake rested its own head on top of the boys, only its probing tongue moved as Stevie gave out small hissing sounds, it appeared as though the snake was quite comfortable and was going to sleep in the morning sun, Stevie looked over to his two Daddies.

"His name's." Stevie gave a series of hissing sounds through his pursed lips. "He's nice isn't he, he's going to be my friend now, can he stay with us Daddy, pleeeease."

Looks of fear spread over the faces of the normal humans and most of the folk, a rattler this big could kill off half of the population in the compound with little effort, while the vampires were immune to its venom, most others in the house were not.

Swiftwing took over the conversation.

"Well our little bundle of joy, you have to promise that he won't come into the house, he can live out here in the garden but you have to make him understand that he's not to hurt anyone in here, can you do that?"

"Oh yes, Daddy S, he won't hurt anyone, he said he just came to say hello and has to go back to the trees for a little while."

Stevie stopped and then began to give out soft combinations of hisses, when he finished he looked up at Swiftwing.

"He said he won't hurt anyone here unless they try to hurt me and that he won't be here all the time, only when he has to tell me something."

"Well ok Stevie, but you ask him to be careful, not all people like snakes and a lot are very afraid of him."

"Oh he knows that Daddy S, he won't be bad."

There seemed a sudden lessening of the tension in the compound as Stevie went back to talking to his new friend, everyone else drifted away and left the little boy to play, Peter and Swiftwing looked at each other in resignation, they had known that something like this could happen but they didn't expect it to be with such a large rattler, there were always plenty of small grass snakes around, now that they came to think about it, there were now far more grass snakes around than ever before, as they watched, the ground around Stevie suddenly began to move in strange ways until the boys legs were covered in the small thin grass snakes, he seemed totally unaffected by the phenomena and just continued to hiss back and forth with the rattler.

Peter and Swiftwing turned their backs and went inside the house, what else could they do, they had a very special son and he had needs, it was as simple as that, the two lovers decided it was a good time to have some fun and quickly left to go to their bedroom, they had kept their hormones in check while Stevie had been with them, they didn't want to do anything while he was in the bed with them, it wouldn't have been right and so they had had to find opportunities like this to have some one on one time.

Over the next three weeks, Stevie spent more and more time out in the garden with his slithery friends, while none of the folk were ever threatened by the snakes, they never the less kept a respectful distance while still being alert to any threat that the small boy may be under.

One evening, Stevie came to Peter with a look of worry on his small face, after jumping into his number one daddies lap, he looked up worriedly.

"What is it, Stevie?"

"Daddy P, my friend just told me there is some men watching the house from the trees, they're not nice men."

"Where are they Stevie?"

"They're not there just now, they come at night time and hide up on the hill and watch the house with big glasses."

"Are you worried about them, Stevie?"

"Nah, Daddy P, my friend is watching them, he said he has a lot of his family waiting for the men to try and make bad things happen to me then he will get his family to stop them."

"Ok, Stevie, but can you tell your friend that I would like some of my people to go out and catch one of the men tonight, I want to ask him some questions."

Stevie closed his eyes and was as still as a stone for a few minutes, he then opened his eyes and smiled at Peter.

"Ok Daddy P, he said he will let your people through and he will tell me when the men come back tonight so you can get one."

"Thank you Stevie, you did really good."

Stevie smiled hugely at the compliment from his number one Daddy, then a sudden thought struck his small mind and he took on a look of seriousness as he told his Daddy P what he had been thinking of.

"Daddy P?"

"Yes Stevie?"

"I want my old name back, I don't like Stevie any more, can I, Pleeease?"

"Well Ok, but what's your old name, we don't know what it is?"

"It's Quetzalli, but some of the old people called me Quetzlcoatl, but I like Quetzalli best, but you and Daddy S can call me Quetz if you want to."

Peter looked at the innocent face in front of him, he had heard of Quetzlcoatl when he was in school, it was an old Toltec god but he had never heard of Quetzalli, with a big smile at his little boy, Peter agreed.

"Ok, Quetzalli it is but, tell me, where did you get the name from, how did you hear of it?"

"Oh, silly Daddy, I knew it all the time but Mummy wouldn't let me use it cause the church would have been angry with her and me, she said it was a bad name for some devil people and the church hated devil people, but I know it's my name and it's a good name not a bad one."

"I know it's a good name because you're a good boy."

Quetz smiled up at his Daddy P they were good Daddies, they understood him best even if they liked to drink blood of bad men, but that was ok with him, they were really good.

As the house settled down to dinner that night, Peter explained everything to Swiftwing and they were soon agreed that Stevie was better named as Quetzalli, it suited his open demeanour and friendliness, Peter determined that he had better look up more about the Toltec people after dinner, as he sat thinking, Quetz suddenly stiffened and closed his eyes, he stayed like that for a few minutes then opened them and looked at Peter and Swiftwing.

"The men are up on the hill Daddy P, my friend said there are six of them spread out along the top of the hill, do you want to go and get one, he said he and his family will take care of the rest of them once you have one to question."

Peter jumped to his feet as did Swiftwing.

"Thank you son, we'll go and get one now, can you tell your friend we are coming?"

"Ok Daddy P, one of his family will be waiting for you to show you where a man is."

Peter looked down and the small innocent face of the newly named Quetz, he smiled and ruffled the silvery blonde locks.

"Thank you son, tell your friend thank you from us."

"Ok, Daddy P."

Quetz closed his sparkling blue eyes and stayed still for a few more seconds before opening them again and smiling at his two Daddies.

"Ok Daddy P, he's waiting for you."

Quetz went back to his plate of sugar buns and thick cream, the red jelly center running down his chin as he contentedly munched away while his two Daddies went outside to get one of the bad men.

As they climbed silently up the hill, Swiftwing took on an appearance of a thin green mist which seemed to roll silently over the ground without a sound, Peter moved as he had been taught by Sin Yu, always using his ability to stay just out of sync with a humans perception, swiftly they made their way upwards until they came to a small animal trail, there in the middle of the rail sat the big Rattle Snake, it raised it's head and swayed to the right then back to look at the two boys, again he repeated the gesture and Swiftwing nodded his understanding, the snake seemed to bow his head to Swiftwing and then silently wriggled into the bush to disappear from sight.

Swiftwing and Peter went silently off to the right still using their abilities to appear invisible to humans, it took very little time before they were standing behind the man laying prostrate on the ground, he had a communications set attached to his head and was dressed in black, on a tripod in front of him he was looking through an infrared scope towards the far off house, as Swiftwing quickly laid a hand on the com set, Peter pinched the nerve in the mans shoulder that would render him unconscious for a short while.

Using his vampire strength, Peter hoisted the limp form onto his shoulders and along with Swiftwing made their way quietly and quickly back to the house, in the distance behind him he heard the five sharp cries of the other hidden men, the snakes had made quick work of the watchers, anyone finding them the next day would just think the men had fallen foul of snakes.

Slowly, consciousness returned to the man, it had all been so sudden, one moment he was watching the target house, the next he was sitting bound to this chair, lifting his eyes he saw a group of young teens surrounding him, while all of them looked to be authoritive two of them had the demeanour of true leadership, one was a Native American, the other was a smaller dark haired teen, he was the one that appeared to be in full command and was the first one to speak.

"I know who you are and who you work for, what I want from you now is a full run down of all the orders you have received concerning this house and its people?"

"I don't know what you mean; I was just out star gazing."

"You can cut the crap, Ryan Wills, we know you're here for information for your boss, President Carabine, now we can do this the easy way or I will just take it from your mind, and that won't be nice."

Ryan looked at the stony faces around him, as he looked at an Asian teen his blood ran cold and he almost wet himself, from the mouth of the teen two long fangs protruded, `Oh god, Carabine was right, the house was full of devils spawn, he had no way out.' Wills shook his head as he saw the smiles on the young faces, what happened next nearly made him choke.

Through a doorway came a small boy running, he was naked as a Jay bird, as he looked closer he recognised the little boy, it was the one that the church had been searching for, the one Carabine had said to destroy, now the boy was here among the rest of the devils breed, Ryan knew he was lost, all he could hope for was the that the rest of the watch party would report it back and a rescue attempt could be made before he died, as he thought that he heard a small voice in front of him.

"You're a bad man, you helped to make my Mummy die, all your friends are finished now, I know what you're thinking, you's bad and your friends are bad."

Ryan looked at the little boy, his small face was screwed up as though he had eaten something nasty, his bright blue eyes were staring right at Ryan's face, he felt as though the little boy was going to climb inside his head, he then felt a strange tingling deep in his skull, the next thing he knew was the little boy looking at him and nearly in tears.

"You're bad, you're very bad, Daddy P, he's a very bad man, you should eat him Daddy P."

On hearing the little boy, Ryan did then wet himself, how could such a small boy know anything about him, but it was the thought of being eaten by these devils that really brought him undone, as he tried to open his mouth to beg for mercy, he was grabbed by a pair of twins and frog marched out of the room and thrown into a dark cell somewhere inside the house, he could hear other voices around him but could not see much.

"Well Quetz, what did you see?" Peter asked.

"Daddy P, he was really bad, he does things to little girls and it makes him laugh."

"What else does he know?"

"Oh, well Daddy P, the men from the church want to kill all of your friends and you too, I don't want them to kill my Daddies or my friends, can you stop them please Daddy P?"

Peter reached for Quetz and took him in a tight hug, as he looked at Swiftwing and the others, he whispered in the boy's ear.

"They won't hurt us, son, all we want to do is find out what they are going to do next."

"Ok, Daddy P, that's easy, they going to try to trap you all here then go to the other towns and do the same to all the good people, they're telling all the people of the church to hunt for the boys in the city houses and then try to find all of the people like you and Daddy S."

"Did you see when they are going to start this hunting?"

"Not really, but it's going to be soon, the President man is very bad and wants to use all the army men to get you."

Peter looked at the small boy and saw a tear start to fall down the soft cheek, he had the feeling that he should have stopped Quetz from searching the mans mind, he didn't expect it, and it was not what he wanted the boy to see, hugging his new son close to his chest he began to make new plans as he lifted the boy and carried him towards their rooms, the others looked at each other and a sense of determination came over their faces.

Once Peter had set the boy in their bed he went to his computer and sent out a country wide alert both on the open net and the vamp net, it was time to start to complete all the plans he had been making, if the worst happened they would have to flee to the many houses set up in South America.

TBC. Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz