PRINCE OF HOUSE VLADD
PART 8
BY ARTHUR
I shouldn't need to go through all the legal things by this time so just go ahead and read.
artcart65@vodafone.co.nz
The two lovers waited until it had turned to night before they took any further actions on their discovery, once Sin Yu was up and about, Peter called all his guardians to his office, when they were all assembled, Peter began to disclose what he and Swiftwing had found.
"It appears we are being targeted by some very greedy people from the bank, Sin Yu, what do you know about the CEO, Micheal Chase?"
"He's been your Fathers banker for over thirty years, there's never been a problem before, what do you have?"
"It looks like someone has been buying properties for us for cash and then charging us repayments and all the fee's that go with it, there has to be some sort of collusion with the accountants as well, the lawyers I don't know, maybe they're in it, maybe not, it seems that it has only just started and so far they have managed to take about $3.7 million if our figures are right."
"Well the first thing I would advise is to go and speak with Micheal Chase, then take it from there."
"Good ok, Caleb, can you set up an appointment for us first thing in the morning, tell them it's urgent and I want to meet as soon as possible. What I can't make out is, if they have been so honest with my Father, why start something now, they must know I would have advisors to help me and they would be found out sooner or later?"
"Maybe that's just it," interspersed Swiftwing. "They think because you're still young that you'd never pick up on it."
"Could be, let's see what Chase has to say tomorrow." said Sin Yu.
"I want both of you with me tomorrow Levi as well as you my love, Caleb don't let them know who I am when we go there, I want to just sit back and watch what's going on first."
"That could be difficult Peter, Micheal Chase was at your birthday party, he knows you by sight."
"True, but his staff don't, if it's not Micheal then it might be some of his staff, I don't want to alert them."
"Ok, we'll keep it low key when we go in."
"Now Sin Yu, I believe I have some training to do, I want Swiftwing to join us."
"Of course Peter, your mate should be able to defend himself as well as be a back up for you."
"Ok then ,we can't do much more tonight so let's go down and get rid of some tension." Peter smiled as he rose and, followed by Sin Yu and Swiftwing, he went to the lift.
It had been just another awakening, but now something felt different, the vampire leaned back into his chair and watched his four young sirings as they walked around the room half naked, their pale skin and well defined bodies, bringing a stiring of desire into their sires loins. His thoughts were, however on more important things than taking one of his boys to bed.
Of all the conspirators that had been at the table, only Gilliard Thomes and Gregor Antovich were of any real interest in his plans to take over the House of Vladd. Oh yes, he knew what the dangers were and what he would have to do to make his new house safe from the Father of the young Prince, still, what were the lives of a few human cattle compared to the eventual prize at the end.
The images of Chapman, Riley and Chase, flashed through his mind, they were only pawns and fools, if they really thought they would get away with leeching money from the young Prince, then they were in for a big surprise, he would give them a month at the most, as soon as the Prince had his first feeding, he would have all the power of his Fathers memories and experience, and they were long and many.
He had given them a false identity and all his details were well hidden from the conspirators, when, and not if, they were caught, he didn't want to be found out by their loose lips, every detail they had of him was false and every lead went nowhere, he could continue to work in the background as they fell, knowing what the rules were for traitors in the vampire world, the other three would not be around for long, just fools, his plan had been brewing for over fifteen years, every detail was checked and double checked, by making use of Thomes and Antovich he would see his plans bare very rich fruit.
The vampire settled back again into his chair and motioned for his youngest turning, a teen of about fourteen, slender, blonde haired, with a spattering of freckles over his small button nose, to come and sit in his lap, the young boy, with a wide smile ran to his sire and piled happily into the older mans lap, wriggling slightly as he felt the growing hardness beneath him.
Once Peter and Swiftwing were in the training room, Sin Yu handed both of them a long heavy wooden sword each, it was a lot heavier than Peter's Katana but about the same length, Swiftwing looked down at the unfamiliar weapon and, with an enquiring look on his face, turned to Sin Yu.
"This is not really my thing, Sin Yu, it's not a natural weapon for an Indian, what else do you have?"
"What are you used to in your culture?"
"We used bows and tomahawks."
"Bows I know of, but for the sort of fighting we do, they're no much good, what's a tomahawk?"
"A small axe or hatchet if you like."
"Ah yes, that I can do for you."
Sin Yu took the practice sword from swiftwing and turned to a cupboard on the wall, opening it he took out two implements that, too swiftwing, looked like small wooden sythe shaped weapons with short handles, handing the two weapons to Swiftwing, Sin Yu watched how he held them. Although they were unfamiliar to Swiftwing, it didn't take long for him to get used to the balance and feel of the weapons.
Swiftwing took a few practice swings with the weapons but found them hard to control the same way he had been taught with the tomahawk, Swifwing turned to Sin Yu with a question on his face. Sin Yu just smiled and then began to instruct him.
"Those are Kama, one is for the right hand, the other for the left, if you have them in the wrong hand you will feel the difference and they will seem awkward in their balance, they are a very old weapon but more versatile than your tomahawk, you can use them for blocking, stabbing, slicing and if needed, you can cut your steak with them." Sin Yu laughed at the look on Swiftwings face.
"OK, so how do you get the best from them?"
"First your actions must be made in circles, both small and large, do not try to use them in hard chopping motions like your small axes, these need finess and balance. If you learn to use them properly you will be able to defend and attack in the same motion, let me show you."
Swiftwing handed over the strange weapons, immediately Sin Yu went into a whirling, diving and ducking dance, the kama whirled over and around his head, then his body, even as low as his ankles, the Kama seemed to be like the blades of a helicopter, there was no way anybody could have got close to the whirling boy without being seriously cut to ribbons. Sin Yu stopped his demonstration and handed back the Kama.
"Let me get Peter started and then I will come back and begin to teach you."
Sin Yu went to Peter after picking out another wooden sword.
"These are Shinai, they are for practice, when you have mastered these then you can begin to learn about your true swords with the Bokken."
Peter looked at the bamboo weapon, the handle was bound in leather with three leather bands interspresed along the blade to hold it together, on the end was a small leather cap, it felt strange in his hands and the length was a little more than his own Katana, about 44" long.
"Now, there are only four basic strokes and about five hundred variations as well as what you yourself will come up with in time. First I want you to only practice the four first strokes, as with any weapon, your balance is vital for control, you're right handed so place your left foot firmly on the floor and bring your right foot sliding up to it and then take it out to the side level with your shoulder and slide it out front so your knees are bent and you are braced solidly."
Peter tried the unfamiliar stance, Sin Yu shook his head.
"No, no, like this."
Sin Yu moved like liquid bronze, suddenly he was beautifully balanced, Peter instantly saw the difference, Sin Yu's feet had hardly left the floor, he was always just a fraction of an inch from the wooden floor, he moved again, this time bringing his left foot forward in the same smooth step.
"You see now, I'm always on balance?"
Peter nodded his head in understanding.
"Now hold your Shinai like this, bring your right hand up to the guard, left hand down to the base, let the handle lay so that your thumb and forefinger are on the top and wrap your fingers around until the top of your wrists are in line with the V of your finger and thumb, lock your wrists and elbows, for these lessons I want you to work on control later you will be able to use your wrists to get more flexability in your swing."
Peter watched closely as Sin Yu showed him how to hold the Shinai correctly and maintain his balance.
"Now the four strokes are like this, remember that these swords are better for slicing than for stabbing, so, first, present like this, elbows tight into your sides, blade level with the floor and pointing at your apponent, head cut is straight up and down as you move forward, if you miss on the downward stroke, turn your blade upwards and bring your stroke back upwards in a continuous motion, see, down, up."
Peter nodded as Sin Yu showed him the smooth slash and foot movement.
"Next is the cross stroke, start with the same stance, bring your blade straight up above your head and on the down stroke angle the blade about 45 degrees and bring it down at an angle from high right to lower left, that's like from the left shoulder of your opponent to the right hip in a diagonal line, again a miss allows you to instantly reverse the stroke and cut upwards, third stroke is from the opposite side, top right to lower left and return, the last stroke is the lateral, you use this stroke to disembowel across the stomach or to decapitate. Right those are the bare basics, practice all those until you feel confortable, and don't forget your foot work, I'm going to help your mate."
Peter nodded and began to practice his foot movements, it was not as easy as Sin Yu made it out to be but he perservered until he was moving smoothly, next he began to practice the strokes slowly as he had seen his teacher do, Sin yu kept one eye on him to watch for his mistakes.
"Right swiftwing, you're lucky, I've watched you and you have a natural balance and agility, also, you have the heart of the warrior, the Kama must be used freely and not as a power weapon, again balance and smooth operation with the weapons is essential, don't try to force them, use your natural agility to determine their movements, use your wrists and flexablity, they are essentially cutting weapons but also have the added advantage of being built for stabbing when in close, let your natural balance dictate your actions."
Sin Yu took the weapons and again showed swiftwing what he meant with smooth flowing movements, firstly the blocks and counter attacks, then the first attack movements turning them into defensive blocks, swiftwing took back the weapons and began to follow the basic moves that he had seen done by Sin Yu. Sin Yu nodded his head in satisfaction that his first lessons were being taken in by the lithe Indian boy, he turned to Peter and watched closely, the Prince was learning fast, his balance was improving rapidly as the heavy Shinai would soon overbalance the boy if he was not in the correct stance for any certain stroke.
"Ok Peter, now lets try that with someone trying to cut you in half, watch closely on my blocks, each block can be quickly turned into attack if your balance is right."
Sin Yu took up another Shinai and took his stance in front of Peter, perfectly balanced and waiting as Peter set him self for his first attack. Even with Peter's enhanced abilities he could not break through Sin Yu's defence, faster and faster he attacked but Sin Yu's defence was too solid, after five minutes of sustained attacks, Sin Yu turned the tables and set to attack Peter, it took only seconds before Peter felt the first of what was to become, many sharp strikes on his body, but, ever so slowly he began to get better until, after the two had been sparring ofr over an hour, Peter finally got a strike on Sin Yu.
Sin Yu lowered his Shinai and smiled at Peter.
"Now you're getting it, let's change to the Bokken." said Sin Yu, and lowered his Shinai, and,turning from Peter he went to another cupboard and withdrew a pair of Bokken. Peter saw that they were identical to his Katana but again made from a heavy dark wood. While the weight was more than his katana, the shape and length were the same, Peter took the offered training weapon.
"Now Peter, all you've learned so far are the basics, the Bokken is more like your real Katana and will be easier to learn, use the same form of defence and stance, always watch your balance and don't over reach, I'm going to go and help Swiftwing while you get used to this weapon."
Peter took up his stance and began to practice his moves, he found that the lighter weapon was easier to use and his moves flowed more naturally with the lighter sword. Sin yu left him and went to where Swiftwing was going through the program Sin Yu had given him.
"Swiftwing, we can now remove the sheaths from the blades, you've picked up the moves very quickly, now let's see how you do with bare blades, remember, it's more important to learn the blocks before you go to offense, also watch where your blades are going, they'll take a leg off if you're careless." Sin yu smiled as he reached out and removed the wooden covers protecting the raw steel blades.
Swiftwing began his patterns again, this time he noticed that the Kama were lighter and swung with more ease as they twirled about his body, his wrists felt supple and his focus was more intense as the realisation of the danger was made clear by the spinning blades. For the next two hours sin yu went from one to the other, changing stances, adding moves and sometimes taking up a weapon for the boys to practice against a live opponent.
At the end of the four hour session, both boys were sweating heavily, Swiftwing felt the toughness of the training more than Peter becuase of his lack of enhanced abilities, while Peter was slightly breathless and his muscles were a little tight, swiftwing felt as though he had been squeezed through a wringer and collapsed on Peters shoulder as they left the training room.
"You both did a lot better than I thought you would, tomorrow Peter, you'll start with your own Katana,Wakazashi and Tanto, swiftwing you still need another day or two on the Kama, but when you have it down well enough I'll give you another weapon to train on that you might like."
"What's that?" asked swiftwing.
"I think that your people also used a lance, well we have something similar but much more effective, it's called a Yari, it's very good if you want to keep your enemies at a distance but you also need a little room to be able to use it properly, so with your ability with the kama and when trained with the Yuri you will have both along range and a close in weapon, I think you'll like it when you have mastered them." Sin Yu replied with a smile as the two boys helped each other walk to the lift, both of them needed a shower and a long rest.
Peter and swiftwing went up to the office, Dmitri, Jason and Mbeda were sitting on a lounge watching Tv, Jason was comfortably laying against Mbeda with his head on the chest of the African, his eyes partially closed as Mbeda carressed his hair. Dmitri was obviously waiting for his lover Sin yu to arrive, one look at the two lovers as they entered, told the three guardians that the boys had been given a real workout by Sin yu and smiled at them.
Peter could hear Simon and Max working in his bedroom as they cleaned and remade the bed for their Prince, there was a small amount of giggles and laughter from the two boys as they went about their duties. Peter grasped swiftwings hand and began to lead him into their bedroom and then the shower, dropping their sweaty clothes on the floor for Simon and Max to attend too.
Once in the shower the two lovers had very little strength left to do more than help each other to wash away the sweat of their training session, finishing, they both then helped each other dry off and return to the bedroom to get dressed in clean clothes. Simon and Max gave a small giggle as they watched the two lovers change but continued to go about their duties with small nudges and occassionally a little peck on each others lips.
Peter and Swiftwing returned to the office and took a seat on another of the lounges to watch the Tv screen with the others, Peter felt relaxed, everything he had wanted to do so far had been put in motion, now only the discrepancies in his bank needed sorting out, he still couldn't understand why a man would need to steal from him after giving his Father so many years of good service, Peter snuggled closer to his lover and let his senses reach out to the rest of his house to check on his staff, he immediately picked up on four new signatures, 'they must be the new staff hired by Trantor' he thought to himself.
In another part of the city, a cellphone rang, Gregor Antovich looked at the caller ID but there was no number or name showing up, with a gruff mumble about the stupidity of some phone companies, he opened his phone.
"Yes." he said gruffly, instantly he recognised the voice that answered. "What do you want vampire?"
"We need to meet, I have an offer for you that you will find interesting and very profitable."
"I already have a profitable offer from the others, what could you offer me that I don't already have?"
"Let's just say that they won't see out the month, they've underestimated the Prince and his abilities, you want to avoid being a part of his revenge then we need to talk."
Gregor didn't answer immediately but let his thoughts go over what the vampire had just said, one thing was for sure, a normal human could not think like a vampire, maybe he was right, maybe the others were heading for a fall, if so it would be a big one, in his own interests, he felt he should listen to the offer.
"Fine, when and where?"
"This Friday night at 8.30 at the Metropole, room 412."
"Fine, but no tricks, I'll be bringing some friends."
"Don't worry my friend, this is strictly business, I'm sure you will be interested in a little profit."
"We'll see, ok, until then." Gregor closed his phone and began to think more seriously about his position with the others.
Meanwhile, another phone rang, Gilliard Thomes looked at his phone screen for ID but there was nothing there, opening the phone he asked.
"Yes, who's this?" like Gregor he instantly recognised the voice.
"A friend, I'd like to set up a meeting with you, it's in your own interest to agree."
"Is it, well what's it about, my time is limited."
"If you continue to be associated with the others, I'd say your time is very limited, what I have to discuss may well be the only thing to keep you out of trouble, and, believe me, the trouble coming to the others is way more than even your office can handle."
"I see, ok, when and where?"
"Friday night, 8.30 at the Metropole, room 412, be there, it may save your life."
"Ok, the Metropole, room 412, Friday 8.30. I'll be there."
"Good, don't be late if you value your life and position."
The phone went dead in Gilliards hand as the vampire hung up, this was strange, why would the vampire want to set up a meeting with him and not the others, Gilliard sat back in his chair and let his mind wander to possibilities that had caused the strange phone call.
As the dark of the night began to give way to the coming dawn, Levi and Caleb showed themselves and the other four began to make ready to go to their respective rooms for the daylight hours, Swiftwing yawned and nudged Peter.
"Come on lover, I'm not like you, I need my rest and we've got to be ready to go and meet this banker some time today."
Peter smiled at his lover and made to rise from his lap but, only after giving a small kiss to the tight brown nipple beside his resting head, Swiftwing shuddered at the sudden nip and a shiver went through his body but he was just to worn out after the training and lack of sleep to make anything out of it other than to rise and pull his boyfriend to his feet and lead him to their bedroom.
Peter followed his lover without complaint, he was feeling a little tired after their session with Sin Yu, Levi and Caleb gave them a smile and short wave as they disappeared into their room. The two boys stripped quickly and slid their tired bodies between the blue silk sheets, Peter immediately spooned in behind swiftwings warm slender body, he could already feel his lovers body relax into the begining of sleep as his muscles relaxed and Peter grasped him closer, both were to worn out by their traininig to take anything further.
Peter's senses picked up Calebs approach to his bedroom door, he awoke instantly, the warm body of his lover was still pressed tightly to his own stomach and Swiftwings long raven hair, which he had unplaited before bed, was laying over the pillow and half way down the boys back, Peter parted the hair and began to lay soft kisses onto the soft bronze shoulders, his free hand slowly made its way down the front of the boys body, over the tight chest and slowly down the ripples of his abs until Peter could grasp lightly onto the rigid morning hardon.
With slow deliberate movements, Peter began to stroke the hardness under his hand, his own shaft began to thicken and lengthen as it lay between the silky soft skin of Swiftwings thighs, the feel of his round mounds pushing lightly back against Peter's abs as he began to thrust lightly into the hand that held his hardness in its grip. With soft moans, Swiftwing began to come to full consciousness as his thrusts grew more urgent and the hard shaft between his thighs worked itself in and out with his own thrusts. Peter gripped him tighter as they both felt the others need rise closer to the surface, suddenly, with a blinding flash of two minds combining, both boys spilled their juices as Caleb knocked on the door.
Peter shuddered with the climax as he felt his lovers passion in his mind, it was like being another person both recieving and giving at the same time, Peter raised his head and called for Caleb to come in as he released Swiftwings now softening shaft, the dampness of his emission still on his fingers, his own wetness was held between his lovers thighs to slowly leak across Swiftwings ball sack.
Caleb entered and with a smile at the tableau before him, the heavy smell in the air told its own story of what the two lovers had been up too, with a slight bow he relayed his message to Peter.
"I've arranged a meeting for 1.00pm with Micheal Chase so you have two hours to,...ahh, shower and dress." Caleb said with a smile.
Peter blushed as much as a vampire could and pulled swiftwing closer.
"Ok, we'll be up in a minute, ask Levi to get the limo ready after my boyfriend has had his breakfast, I want to drop by the Ellis Street building before we go to the meeting."
"Ok, we'll be ready when you are."
Caleb turned and left the room as Peter lay his face against his lovers back again to take in a deep breath of his unique smell, with a quick squeeze, Peter jumped from the bed while Swiftwing took it a little slower, he really needed another couple of hours sleep but, if his boyfriend was ready to go then he would be, tired or not. Both boys got into the shower and cleaned away their mornings fun, Peter tenderly rubbing Swiftwings smooth bronze body as though he was worshipping a greek god, the soap running down the slender defined body in small rivers of suds, once finished, Swiftwing took over and did the same for Peter, the long, strong fingers massaging all his boyfriends tenderest places, especially the main interest that hung manlike between the vampires legs.
The boys finally got dried off and made their way into the bedroom to get dressed and then into the office where Caleb and Levi waited for them, with no further hesitation, Peter lead his friends to the lift and down to the reception hall, there he saw some new faces around the room, all male and all working either bringing some lunch to the the security guards at the table, or going around cleaning, Trantor stood in the centre of the room overseeing everything, when he saw Peter appear he bowed and at the same time snapped his fingers, immediately the new staff stopped what they were doing and turned to Peter and bowed.
"Good morning My Lord." said Trantor as the small group appeared from the lift.
"Morning Trantor, everything ok here?"
"Yes My Lord, these are some of the new staff, I'm sure you will find them suitable, I've vetted them all and they are all prepared to become symbiots to your service, My Lord."
"Thank you Trantor, perhaps we can sort that out when I get back this afternoon, in the mean time my mate needs some food."
"Certainly, My Lord, I'll have Alfred see to it immediately." Trantor bowed again and turned towards the kitchen hallway.
Peter sat at the table with Swiftwing as they waited for his lovers food, Caleb and Levi left to ready the limo, Alfred appeared with a smile on his face and a large plate of hot steaming food which he laid before Swiftwing with a bow to Peter, once done, he turned and went back to the kitchen, Peter sat patiently watching his boyfriend as he ate his brunch, it was just shortly before 11.00am, they had three hours to fill, less 45 minutes to get into the city, that left him with about two hours to have another look at Ellis Street before the meeting.
Twenty minutes later and the four boys were in the limo and turning towards the highway into the city, Caleb and levi sat in the front and left Peter and Swiftwing alone in the back, Peter felt the unusual feeling of nervousness take a hold of his body but it was quickly dissapated by a warm hand grasping his own, Peter leant his head on the shoulder of his boyfriend and sighed with happiness, Swiftwing had left his hair unplaited and it fell in a torrent of raven black tresses over his shoulders and half way down his back, Peter thought it made him look even more sexy and mysterious as it flowed about his slender bronze body, Peter felt himself getting hard again and snuggled closer to Swiftwing.
As the limo pulled up outside the Ellis Street building, Peter nudged Swiftwing, the boy had drifted into a light doze as they drove down the highway. Swiftwing woke with a start and looked around as he tried to assimilate himself to his surroundings, Peter smiled at him as Caleb opened the rear door for them to get out. Once on the sidewalk, Peter took Swiftwing by the hand and lead him into the dark building. Peter could smell the scent of the vaga boys in the stale air, knowing that they would be sleeping in the sub-basement, Peter took his boyfriend by the hand and lead him towards the crumbling stairs.
Climbing to the first floor, both boys looked around, as the contractor had said, there was going to be a lot of work needed to make the rooms habital for vaga, from their elevated position, Peter could see the empty lot where he wanted the supermarket store to go, moving to the other end of the long room, Peter looked down, this side was a little larger and would be suitable for the nightclub, his plan of having the escape routes come out into both buildings looked a lot more viable now he could see the areas from this height. He had planned for each floor of the sub-basement to have two exits so if one was compromised, the vaga could escape through the other or, in an emergency, both exits could be used simultainiously.
The boys trudged up to the top floor and looked out over the city, Peter saw a small hatch leading up to what he presumed would be the roof, by enlarging that he could offer the Avian Vaga an extra exit as well as the large slider windows and balconies, he was well aware that both the Feline and Canine Vaga would be able to fight off most attacks and the fact they were close to the ground floor would make it easy to set up some emergency exits as they could easily leap the distance needed.
Peter hugged Swiftwing and, with a smile, turned his boyfriend towards the ground floor.
"It's all going to work, my love, everything is going to be ok, I can feel it."
Swiftwing increased his hug as they made their way down the old stairs. Once out into the street again, the two boys returned to the limo, they had half an hour to get to the bank for their appointment. Levi drove the limo with confidence through the heavy midday traffic until they were outside the Chase Manhattan Bank. The boys got out of the Limo and Levi drove off to find a parking place for the car below the building, he would rejoin them in the foyer.
The three boys waited until Levi reappeared from one of the lifts, holding open the doors he waited for the others to join him before pressing the button for the 40th floor that held the executive offices of Micheal Chase. The lift came to a smooth stop on the 40th floor, the four boys left the lift and made their way to the reception desk in the centre of the lobby.
Behind the desk sat a women of about fourty five years old, dressed simply in a slack suit of good quality, her hair was tied back in a tight bun and her thin glasses sparkled in the bright light coming through the wide picture windows, Caleb approached the desk as the women looked up at them, her face showed a little annoyance at the sight of the young teens approaching her desk, she looked up at Caleb as he stood in front of her desk.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Vallison to see mr. Chase."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Mr. Vallison to see Mr. Chase, he has an appointment."
"I don't think so young man, I know Mr. Vallison and he's definately not any of you, for a start he is about twenty five years older and I know him very well, now if you would kindly leave before I call security we can avoid a lot of trouble." The self satisfied look on the womens face said it all, she knew best and that was that.
"Maam, I suggest you call Mr. Chase and tell him Mr. Vallison is here for his meeting."
"Young man, you don't tell me anything, you are not Mr. Vallison and never will be, now please leave, you have one minute and then I will call security."
"You are quite correct Madam, I'm not Mr. Vallison." a smug look of victory came over the womans face at Calebs admission until caleb turned and pointed at Peter. "He is."
The woman almost broke out laughing as she looked at the young fifteen year old holding hands with a native american boy, that alone was enough but to have them holding hands was just beyond the limit of her christian upbringing.
"Leave now, all of you." her voice was stern and her glare at the two boys holding hands only made it worse, she reached for the telephone on her desk, enough was enough, she was calling security, the boy in front of her desk leaned closer, resting his hands on the top of the desk, his eyes boring relentlessly into hers, his voice was soft.
"You will call Micheal Chase and tell him, Peter Vallison is here, tell him now."
The womans fingers flickered over the phone numbers before she could control them, her bosses voice answered immediately.
"Yes Margret?"
"Peter Vallison, Mr. Chase."
"Send him immediately, please."
"Yes Sir."
Replacing the phone she turned her glazed eyes to the boys, "You may go in, he's waiting for you."
Caleb smiled and lead the way to the door as the glazed look in the womans eyes dimmed, she looked down at her hands as the office door closed behind the boys, a noise in front of her desk brought here eyes up once again to see Mr. Chase junior standing before her.
"Who were those boys, Margret?"
"Mr. Peter Vallison and friends, Mr. Steven."
The sudden paling of Stevens face was quickly hidden as he coughed lightly.
"Please tell my father I'm going out to lunch, I'll be back before 3.00pm." turning from the receptionist, he quickly made his way to the lift, taking his phone from his jacket as he stepped into the waiting lift, using the speed dial, he put the phone to his ear as it was answered by a familiar voice.
"Hello Steven, what can I do for you?" asked Micheal Riley.
"We may have a problem, I'm not sure yet but I think we should contact the others just in case."
"What! already, you said we had at least a month or more, what happened?"
"The bloody prince is here to see my Father, I'm not sure what it's about yet but it seems strange to me to have a kid come calling this early, and believe me, he's just a kid, couldn't be more than fifteen, I'll call Gregor and Simon, you call Gilliard, we can meet at the restaurant we used last week, say in about half an hour?"
"Ok, I'll get right on to it, see you there."
Steven closed his phone and reopened it to call the others, Simon answered immediately and agreed to come but he could not raise Gregor, as he closed his phone it began to ring again, caller ID showed it was Micheal.
"Yes Micheal?"
"I can't raise Gilliard, his phone must be off, bit unusual for a man in his position, what'll we do?"
"We'll just have to go ahead with the three of us, if they don't want in at this stage then lets's just drop them altogether, more for the three of us, I'm pretty sure Simon will see it our way, ok?"
"Fine with me, see you there in twenty minutes."
Steven closed his phone as the lift doors opened into the basement car park, he stepped from the lift and headed towards his car near the entrance, once inside he started the car and left the building for the small hidden restaurant that his little group used often. His mind was in a turmoil as he drove towards his destination, it just didn't seem possible that a kid as young as the one he had seen, would be able to put it all together this quick, if at all, besides the kid should have still been in school at his age.
The four boys entered Micheal Chases office, it took up the better part of the whole floor, large lounge chairs were arranged around the room, all facing inward towards the large glass topped desk in the centre, behind which stood, with his hand outstrecthed, Micheal Chase. Peter now recognised the man as one of his birthday guests, Peter did not take the offered hand, instead he sat in one of the chairs close to the desk, the look of confusion on the older mans face was genuine and troubled, it was not good that the Prince had snubbed his offfered hand.
Micheal sat down and looked at the young Prince, the boy stayed quiet for a few more seconds as he became more concerned at the steady stare of the boy.
"My Lord, how have I offended you, just tell me and I'll do what I can to correct it?" asked Micheal Chase.
Peter lets his eyes leave the Bank manager and looked up at Levi who stood on his right side.
"He's innocent, he knows nothing about it, Mr. Chase, my sincere apologies, my account has been invaded and money removed from it without my authority."
"My Lord, please excuse me but, that's impossible, I'm the only one that has access to your accounts, eveythign is here on your own computer system, none of it even goes through the banks computers at all."
Peter reached into his pocket and withdrew a sheet of paper, leaning forward he layed it on the desk in front of Micheal.
"Here's a list of the properties and monies that we've found so far, please check them out?"
Micheal picked up the list, within seconds he activated a seperate console on his desk, it was the same as Peters and seperate from the ordinary one that was sitting on the oposite side of Micheals desk. Micheal Chase read off the list and entered numbers and letters into the console, rapidly he read the words and figures on the screen, slowly his face turned pale as he read further.
"I'm sorry My Lord, but, but, this is impossible, the only access to your data is through this console and no one but myself has access to it, I don't understand at all."
Micheal paused as he entered more numbers and letters into the console, slowly his face cleared as he continued to make entries, wait for answers and then re-enter more information, after a further two minutes a picture developed in his mind, he looked again, but it was just not possible any other way, slowly his hands began to shake, his face showed more and more starin as the truth became evident. Peter watched as the older mans eyes began to leak a tear which slid unoticed down his cheek, looking dazed by the information, Micheal Chase raised his eyes to the young Prince.
"My Lord, I don't know what to say or do, I'm sorry, the fault is mine, my life is forfeit should you want it."
"Please explain Mr. Chase?"
"Certainly, first your assumptions are totally correct, your account has been accessed by unauthorised people, second, it has been done from this console, third, it has been sent around a number of other banks in an attempt to hide it, the manner that it was done could only have been done by someone in banking, fourth, and this My Lord brings shame on my own shoulders, the only person that could have accomplished all this in such a short time would be my own son, there's no one else that could have gotten in here to access this console, as to how he got access is beyond me. I'm sorry My Lord, I don't know what to do or say."
"Can the sums be returned to my account?"
"I can try My Lord, but the last deposit is in the Cayman Islands, I'll need to get the codes to the account to return the money here."
"And to do that, what do you need?"
"If it is my own son then all I need is to get him to reveal it."
"Please ask him to come in then, I can get that information from him and he won't be able to lie about it."
Micheal clicked on his intercom.
"Margret, please ask my son to come to my office immediately."
"Mr. Steven just left about five minutes ago for lunch, Mr. Chase."
"Where did he go to, Margret?"
"He didn't say, Mr. Chase."
"Get him on his phone please Margret, tell him come back now and see me."
"Yes, Mr. Chase."
"Well I'm sorry for that My Lord, is there anything I can do for you while we wait?"
"Yes, there is something else, this is my partner, Armand Swiftwing, I want you to set him up with full access to all my accounts, credit cards and anything else he will need."
"Certainly My Lord, I can have his cards ready before you leave, is there any limit to be placed on his cards, My Lord?"
"None, he is to have full access."
Swiftwing looked over at Peter with an awed look in his eyes, Peter reached over and squeezed his hand.
"If you are going to be my life partner you deserve to have all of the benefits." smiled Peter, Swiftwing lifted the hand that clasped his own and gave it a light kiss, Peter smiled again at his gesture, just then the intercom buzzed.
"Yes Margret?" said Micheal Chase.
"He's not answering his phone Mr Chase, I've left a message for him."
"Thank you Margret, please call security and have someone lock his office, no one is to have entry without my instructions, and cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day."
"Yes Mr. Chase."
"And, Margret."
"Yes Mr. Chase?"
"No gossip, is that clear?"
"Of course Mr. Chase."
Micheal switched off the intercom amd looked up at Peter with resignation on his face.
"My Lord, is there anything I can get you while we wait for my son?"
"Perhaps some lunch for my partner?"
"Yes, of course, would youllike to follow me to the dining room, I was just about to go for munch myself?"
"Yes, thank you."
The two boys got to their feet and, along with the guardians, followed Micheal out of the office and through another door into a small dining room where a waiter was standing patiently by a small round table. The five took a seat around the table and the waiter passed out small menu cards, Peter and the guardians refused but Swiftwing and Micheal Chase took theirs and read quickly through the lunch menu, after ordering, the five sat and waited until the two meals had been served.
Steven Chase looked at the message left on his phone as Simon Chapman and Micheal Riley continued to eat their lunch, Stevens face paled as he read his message, look up at the other two he told them the bad news.
"Well my friends, it looks as though we underestimated our little Prince, my Father wants me back immediately in his office."
"What are we going to do?" asked Simon Chapman nervously.
"Look we've got about $3.7 mil in our Caymans account so we can all access it any time, if we drop the other two that's over a mil. each, if we move quick right now we can be out of the country in a couple of hours and home free."
Micheal Riley looked over at Steven with a calculating stare, with a small nod of his head he looked at Simon.
"Ok, I agree, you two finish lunch, I've got to make a quick call to set up some time off, won't be a minute."
Micheal left the table and went to the bathroom, his cell phone in his hand dialing as he walked, once in the bathroom he heard the other end bbeing picked up, a deep spanish voice answered.
"Hola?"
"Manuel?"
"Si."
"Micheal Riley."
"What the fuck you want?"
"You want to get off those drug charges?"
"How the fuck you do that, ass hole?"
"Got an urgent job for you, you do it and you go home free, you in?"
"What I gotta do, kill some fucker or you just pullin my chain?"
"That's right, but it's two fuckers and you only got about half an hour to do it."
"What the fuck, you trying to get me sent down for life, ass hole."
"Not this time Manuel, you do this for me and all your records will disappear into the shredder, I promise."
"Well hommes, you get my little brother Jesus clear as well and it's a deal."
"Done, but I need it done right now."
"Where they at?"
"Spartas Restaurant on Bennet Street."
"Hey you lucky man, me and my little bro is only five minutes away, how you want it done?"
"Don't care, just get it done quick and clean, I'll be out front so you can get to them quick."
"Ok hommes, this won't take long, see you soon."
Micheal closed his phone and returned to the table and began to eat his cooling lunch as the othert two continued to make plans to escape, Micheal interupted them.
"I got a guy bringing some gear for us to get away with, he should be here in about five minutes, I got to meet him outside, you two wait here for me and then we can split, ok?"
Both the others mumbled around the mouth full of food as Micheal rose to his feet and left for the front door.
Peter watched as his boyfriend dug into the nice lunch set before him, he smiled at the thought of Swiftwings beautiful mouth chewing on something more intimate and shivered with delight at the picture in his mind. Micheal Chase seemed a little distracted but that was only to be expected under the circumstances, his own son had betrayed him as well as the bank. Although Peter knew he would be quite within his rights to dispose of the son himself, he was prepared for Micheal to take the lead and see what the punishment would be.
Peter sat back and waited patiently as the two continued to eat their lunch, he had all the time in the world, the son had to return soon and then all would be revealed.
TBC.
artcart65@vodafone.co.nz