The Breed Chapter 23
The Breed
By Dream Janus
Disclaimer: All rights are protected and the story cannot be reproduced without permission.
This story is a work of fiction and contains scenes of gay sex between consenting individuals. If you find this offensive, are under the age of 18, it is illegal wherever you are to read this, stop reading now. Leave this site. If you are offended by harsh language, please exit this page immediately. You have been warned. This work of fiction is property of myself and may not be copied or used in any way without my express consent.
Much thanks and appreciation goes to Rubilacxe, my editor and second set of eyes__.
Note from Dream Janus: I now have a presence in Yahoo groups.
On Yahoo it is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dream_janus_stories/
If you want, I can be emailed at dreamjanus@yahoo.com.
2nd Note from Dream Janus: The Goth club scenes are from an actual club that used to exist here in Tulsa. I only saw the club from a distance and never went in. While a certain group did not exist at the time that the club did, they would have mixed as I described as that is how they mix in this day in age.
3rd Note from Dream Janus: As you may or may not know, the setting of this story is loosely based in Oklahoma, specifically in Tulsa as the base of the Conclave Complex. The clubs and so forth that are mentioned are based on real locations and I will post pictures of the locations as they are today, on the group in the upcoming days.
Chapter 23 "Distractions"
In Oklahoma City's down town sat a high rent executive office building. On the penthouse level was the Regia'an queen's residence and throne room. The two floors below it consisted of guard rooms, prison cells and incinerators. The floor blow that was the world head quarters of Regain Pharmaceuticals, the Regia'an face to the human world.
The queen was sitting in her throne room in a foul mood, it was not to say that she was ever really in a good mood but that day she was in a fouler mood than usual. Her throne room floor was marked similar to a gold and silver chess board. The only visible entrances were two doors on the south side of room and the platinum, gold and silver throne resided on a four step dais. A curtain behind the throne hid a third door. On three sides of the room where evenly spaced horizontal slots and circular designs.
The queen's dais had three flat screen monitors. One descended from the ceiling directly in front of the queen, the other two ascended on the left and right of the queen. She was watching all three of the screens without sound. The center screen displayed the cable news channel, the left screen displayed alternating security scenes from the building below her, and the right screen displayed a computer screen with a Windows-like interface. The queen's throne was a miracle of technology, by touching different locations on her bejeweled armrests she could control the monitors, manipulate the mouse pointer, activate traps or attack someone without even lifting her finger, literally.
A small blue light blinked on the queens left arm rest alerting her to the fact that she was soon going to have a visitor. With a quick press of a button the screens slid into their off and out of the way positions. She re-set herself in the throne from her relaxed position to the position she held when dealing with underlings, her feet flat with a stiff back and cold demeanor.
The left door opened and a guard looked in an announced, "Your messenger, your highness."
"Enter," The queen said with a cold but demanding voice.
The messenger was obviously a half breed-Regia'an as his appearance was not quite as feline as the queen or even the guard. The messenger entered the room and only stepped two tiles into the room and went down to one knee bowing to the queen. "Your Highness, Lord Marcus sent me to tell you that the whelp Lord and his human pet have been restored."
The queens eyes flashed with anger as she gently slid her hand over the hidden ornate controls of her throne until she came to a grouping of diamonds that were designed to match the markings on the walls with one hand and another grouping of diamonds that matched the titles on the floor with her other hand. "Stand messenger," she said with an evil smile.
The man missed the evilness in the smile and stood.
"I hate receiving bad news," the queen said after the man stood. She then depressed a diamond that corresponded to a horizontal slot near the messenger.
Immediately a large saw blade was ejected from the slot. The saw blade flew at the messenger at such speed that even with his parahuman reflexes he was unable to dodge its killing blow. The blade lodged itself in the messenger's neck causing him to bleed out quickly.
The queen watched the messenger thrash around in his death throws for a few moments and then sighed, she then pressed the diamond that corresponded with the title that he was lying on and watched as the trap door underneath opened up. The queen watched impassionate as the body slipped down the hole with a loud slop noise. Once the weight was gone the floor tile reset itself. She then pressed another button notifying her cleaning staff she needed them.
Back in the Conclave complex George had just arrived after being called by Antino for an emergency meeting. Once he arrived at the Conclaves main rotunda he was stopped by Marie, Simon and Anthony, all Antino's children and members of the Conclave counsel. They had him follow them into the catacombs.
"There is a major problem in the catacombs," Simon said in soft voice as they traveled in the elevator down toward the catacombs.
"What is going on?" George asked.
"You will have to see it," Anthony said in thick accent.
"Antino has disappeared," Marie said with a light French accent. "We believe he is on the hunt for the perpetrators."
George was confused but remained silent until they arrived in the catacombs and was led to the rubble of what used to be the resting place of Rex's body. The stone and metal capstone had been destroyed as well as a large portion of the wall. The heavy rocks littered the floor and the metal marker was twisted and could not be restored.
George growled as he looked inside the chasm for the body and roared when he found none. "I order a blood oath on whoever took his body!" George yelled as he slammed his fist into the wall. A small amount of rubble rained down from the ceiling, but George did not even care as he stalked off in a rage.
That night Toban and Kar drove to the Club Maximum. They were met at the door by the security guards and let through the door without even looking at the waifish twink Ty, who glared at them but remained silent. Toban wore a blood red shirt that matched Kar's electric blue, their pants were black and they both wore steel toed black combat boots. Even though they were there to have fun they were prepared to battle if the need arose. Their matching Joining bracelets continued to catch the swirling light of the club as the moved effortlessly through the crowd.
The security detail led the two Zoméa back to the manager's office without a word or without being given directions. Both the security and Bill were aware of the reason for the surprise visit tonight, though they were not fully aware of the whole reason, as of that moment.
"Bill," Toban said once they arrived at the office and the door was shut. He did not wait for the usual human pleasantries. "We came for three reasons tonight."
Bill, the human manager of Club Maximum, stood up and offered his seat to Toban without a word; Toban took the offered seat and smiled. He felt the confusion of the human security guards.
"1st thing Bill is WE are going to beef up security on all of our businesses with more of our special security guards," Toban began.
"No one is being let go," Toban then interjected before any objections could be launched. "They are just being added at our expense."
"2nd thing is I just came into possession of another club of a different type and need your opinion of how strong it is as a business, not your opinion of what type club it is," Toban continued.
"What type of club is it?" Bill asked.
"It is a Goth club near downtown," Kar responded, "named the Cistern."
Both Toban and Kar noticed Bill face darken slightly, but he remained silent. Toban restrained himself from reading Bill's mind to find out what caused the look, but it was intriguing, and he knew better than to pry.
"3rd and last, we came to have some fun and not be treated too different from anyone else," Toban finished.
"Ha...ha...ha..." the human guard laughed. His blue eyes gleamed with mirth at the boy that obviously owned this place and thought he was something big. His dirty blonde hair bounced as he laughed. "Sorry but that is almost impossible--most everyone knows that you are some VIP or some bad Mo'Fo by now or you would not have been brought back here by us."
Toban was not pleased and his anger grew by the second. "I am both a VIP and THE WORST MO'FO you will ever meet," he said as he stood and grabbed the guard by the throat. "If I can't be the same as everyone else then I will make sure they know it."
Toban then tossed the security guard into the nearby wall and sat down. His eyes were black in the iris and pupil with blood red everywhere else. Kar's eyes had also returned to their normal black, as he was ready to battle.
The guard quickly scattered out of the room as Bill shouted after him that he was fired. He would have to pick up any due pay later as Bill refused to pay his employees or former employees while the club was open.
Toban and Kar waited a few minutes and then re-entered the Club from the manager's office. Within a few seconds Kar was given a fruit drink and Toban was given a bloody fruit cocktail by the bartender, without even ordering them. It surprised both of them until it was pointed out by the bartender that they were paid for by a young man across the club from them. The young man had blue hair and silver eyes, neither of them knew if the eyes were real or contacts but they both nodded their thanks and smiled.
The blue haired young man took their smile as encouragement and began to walk over. By the time he was half way over to them Toban was able to identify him as a young vampire and began to take up a protective stance in front of Kar. When Toban did that the young man immediately stopped and put his hand out palms facing them, the Breed symbol of friendship and trust.
[I am Taryn,] thoughts were projected. [I mean no harm; I am new to the area and was just trying to be friendly.]
[I am Toban,] Toban responded. [He is one of my Zoméa Kar, with the problems that are going on at present both in the Breed life and our life specifically, I am very protective.]
Taryn smiled and nodded, [I understand completely.]
Over the next hour Taryn talked with Toban and Kar and they became friendly. It became apparent that Taryn had no clue who that they were beyond being Toban and Kar and that suited them just fine. They enjoyed each other company and the sport of people watching.
[Where are you staying?] Toban asked Taryn.
[I just got into town tonight, hadn't really thought about it,] Taryn acknowledged.
[Tulsa doesn't have a lot of places to sleep during the day, unless you go to a Haven, the complex or know someone with a protected house,] Kar explained, not even thinking what he might be implying or suggesting.
Toban looked at Kar with a bit frustration and then transmitted, [We have friends that can get you in a Haven or housed temporarily at the complex,] he offered and then privately transmitted to Kar, [I am not allowing a stranger into our home, especially with Davey and Shanny being there.]
[A Haven would be great,] Taryn acknowledged.
A few minutes later Toban had driven them to one of the two Havens that replaced Tyler's original haven. Once they arrived Toban led Taryn to the Haven's entry door, they were allowed in as the Haven's regular entry schedule was still ongoing. The door advisor recognized Toban immediately but with a look, Toban told him not to make a deal about it.
"How can we help you?" The older appearing man asked.
"He would like a room or whatever is available," Toban responded.
The door advisor stood up and smiled at Taryn. "My name is Mitch; I am the door advisor at this Haven and the first line of offense and defense for those who cannot protect themselves."
"I am Taryn, I just got here from Chicago," Taryn explained.
"Well Taryn lets get you a room and settled in," Mitch said taking Taryn's shoulder and leading him deeper into the bowels of the Haven itself.
The next evening when Taryn woke and went downstairs, several of the Haven residents were staring and whispering about him. Finally he got frustrated and went to Mitch and asked "Why is everyone staring and whispering about me?"
Mitch laughed heartily, "There are really two reasons. First you are new and they are trying to figure you out. Second and the bigger reason is they are trying to figure out why His Highness the Shade Prince Toban and his Zomé the Shadow Librum Warrior Kar brought you in here and were so friendly to you."
"Holly Shit!" Taryn exclaimed. "Toban and Kar are members of the Conclave royalty!"
"Yeah," Mitch admitted. "I don't really think they like to broadcast it too much though, get the hint."
"Oh, I understand that very well," Taryn said softly with an enigmatic smile. He was ready to go out and feed but knew that the feeding areas of the town were different than his home town of Chicago and the rules had to be followed. "May I have a dining guide?"
"Sure," Mitch said reaching behind his desk and extracted a small color coded map that also gave locations of emergency shelters. It was easy for anyone to read and if found would not be obvious what the map's purpose really was. The map just seemed to be a quadrant map of some sort.
Taryn examined the map and committed to memory. It was one of the talents that he carried over from life when he was changed. Once he was done memorizing the map, Taryn handed the map back to a shocked Mitch and said, "I have a photographic memory."
Over the next week, Bill took time to do as he was instructed by Toban and went to examine the inner workings of the Goth club, Thantos. He found that while he could not stand the music and was annoyed by the clientele, it was a money maker. The door cover charge was a bit steep but not extreme, the bar prices were also a tad high, but again not unreasonable. Overall a very good business with room to move in both directions, Toban would be happy with the club.
Once Toban received the two page report from Bill he decided that he needed to make an in person inspection of the club himself. He contacted the manager and let him know that he was the new owner and was going to make a secret inspection. It was setup that if he needed to Toban could reveal himself by using the codeword `Girl Friday'.
Toban, Kar and George all three decided to dress in period clothing so that they would be able to blend into the club clientele without problem. Toban and Kar both used their shadow energy to construct the clothing for themselves, with the exception of white shirts that they each chose to wear. George wore a crushed velvet red pair of pants and a suit coat with a white ruffled shirt.
The Goth club was in an old warehouse that had been converted in to the club; the windows were darkened with paint and other unknown materials that did not allow light in or out. The club was set in the common format of most bars with a front and back bar with DJ booth in the center of the room across from a large multi-leveled dance floor. The dance floor was littered with large speakers big enough for two people to dance on comfortably. The room also had the Gothic traditional iron maidens, body cages, and other fake torture devices littering the area.
Toban had researched that the club was not an emergency Haven and was in a prime feeding area, so he figured that it would be crawling with real vampires. They were surprised to see that the club was filled with nothing but normal humans dressed in Gothic, Punk, Emo and Metal style clothing. Even though the four styles shared the same club, the different groups did not mix, with the exception of the Emo's which mixed freely with the Gothic and the Punk as well as their own groups.
The music was Goth Metal at it's loudest, the club vibrated with each bass beat. Toban touched both George and Kar's foreheads so that they were all linked telepathically. He then led them further into the club itself. George paid the cover charge so they could go in without revealing who they were.
Once in the club itself Toban found the atmosphere to be over the top with gothic images and accents. He was watching the dance floor when he was backed into by a male Goth. The teen was not paying attention to where he was going and bounced into both Toban and Kar. The teen turned on them and glared at them haughtily
"How dare you touch me?" the Goth teen said with a dramatic flair and with a wave of his hand. "You dare touch the royal personage of the vampire Prince Christophe!"
Toban, Kar and George all three stifled laughs as the Goth teen was nothing more than human. To make it even funnier his make-up was not even put on properly and running in spots. Each one of them adjusted their faces to a mild look of interest instead. "So you are the prince of the Vampire's?" Kar asked with a straight face.
"OF COURSE I AM," He said with haughty indignation. "Even a mortal as ignorant as you should be able to see that."
"OHHHH," Kar responded with mock shock and then allowed his shadow energy to flow out and surround himself in a moving robe of shadows. "I am SOOOO afraid..."
Adding to the threat Toban allowed his eyes to glow in a feral gleam, changing just enough to bring the glow to them. He smiled evilly at the Goth teen and cocked his head to the side.
"Us poor ignorant mortals see a lot more than you would ever know, your majesty," Toban said licking his obviously extending fangs.
The Goth teen looked at the three Zoméa with a mixture of fear and awe. He began to shake and took a step backward slowly in case he had to run. The boy did not know if he would live to see another day or not.
"Ok, guys leave the dude alone," George said with a laugh. "He isn't even worth a snack."
Once the Goth teen heard George he breathed a sigh of relief but was smart enough to quickly turn and leave the area before anything else could be said. For the rest of the night He made sure to keep an eye on the three Zoméa and kept a good distance from them just to be safe. The Goth teen made sure that he left after the three Zoméa and with a group of friends.
Three hours later the three Zoméa left the club without even contacting the manager or security. Toban decided that the club would be a waste of his time to try and manage on a regular basis, so he began the plans to create a management company to oversee his growing businesses. Kar agreed that a management company was a good idea, but they all agreed that the company should be run by human friendly to Breed concerns and not members of the Breed.
The very next week Toban and Kar took Davey and Shanny to the Mall and began to shop for `Back to School Supplies'. The Breed Mall had several stores that specialized in school supplies for both human and Breed schools. Toban made sure that he purchased enough supplies so that both children would have plenty of back-up supplies whenever they needed it, Davey in human school and Shanny in Breed School. Toban and Kar also made sure that they had enough supplies for their own classes as well.
Toban and Kar then took the children to a specialty clothing store and purchased both the children clothing that would not only protect them, but also remain in good condition through all forms of play and other rough treatment. Toban and Kar also looked at a variety of clothes, some of them so they could mimic the clothes with shadow energy and others so that they could mix color in with the shadow clothing.
When the totals were finally calculated, Toban spent $3,430 on School supplies and $7,598 on clothing. When they were done with that portion of the shopping they went to the "Eye got my eye on U" store. They went over to a display of human eye contacts, which were intended to make obviously Breed eyes look like human eyes. Toban selected a set of brown contacts that would hide Shanny's obvious eyes, while at the same time Kar found a pair blue that matched his old natural eye color.
A technician came out and helped Shanny try on the contacts. When they finally got the contacts in her eyes she looked almost human in appearance. Toban decided that with a bit of hair dye she would look human, once her slightly pointed ears where hidden by the hair. Shanny blinked her eyes repeatedly as she looked in a nearby mirror. The contacts itched a bit but she figured that she would get use to them.
"You don't have to wear them all the time sweetie." Kar said as he kneeled to reach Shanny's height.
"We can get you some eye drops to help with any itch and discomfort," Toban continued.
The technician then helped Kar with his contact choice. The contacts matched his old color almost perfectly, close enough that no one short of a member of the Breed would be able to tell the difference. Kar was able to close and blink his eyes to clear to mild itching that the contacts gave him. With the applicator that came with the contacts Kar knew he would have no problem putting them in and taking them out.
Once they had selected their contacts they moved over to a wide selection of glasses and sunglasses. Toban found a pair of glasses that had necro-protective lenses that changed to sunglasses in the sun and had a visual access link to the Conclave Internet as well as the Human Internet. Kar found a similar pair that just had the visual access link to both internets. Once they had decided on the style the technician went to the back and returned with a box with each of the glasses, computer software and a docking station for each pair of glasses. The contacts and glasses cost an additional $4,600.
Once the unusual family was done shopping they walked to the food court and ate a decent meal. Toban had blood, a burger, small French fries and a milk shake, Kar had a double burger, large French fries and a coke, Davey and Shanny each had kiddy sized McFrenchies Meal. They discussed Toban's upcoming stay at Drum Major camp. His stay would only be two weeks as was Gina's the new Drum Major.
A week later Toban drove to the Drum Major camp, he took his baritone saxophone and clarinet with him. He was signed in as Gina's assistant Drum Major. The camp was at the state college and the drum majors in training were staying in the on campus dorms. Toban not only planned on practicing the skills required to be a drum major but he also took private lessons on both of his instruments.
Not only was camp set up to train the drum majors but also to give them time to enjoy making friends, swimming and other fun teenage activities. The high school students were able to enjoy the life on a real college campus, including the student union and bowling alley. Toban found that he was not the only member of the Breed to be at the camp and unfortunately gained a small following of the other Breed teens.
"Did you really get resurrected by the Ancient himself?" asked Anne a red haired Thrope wolf.
"Yeah," Toban responded. "After I was shot by a traitor."
"Dude that is too cold," Jason a blond Ghoul interjected. "But it is so wicked that you are that tight with the ANCIENT."
"Dumbass, He is the Shade Prince," Responded Peter Anne's brother and co-drum major. "He and the Ancient have to be close. They got to work together."
"Yeah, but now the Ancient is also like his dad or something," Jason retorted.
"Hey yeah about that," Anne interrupted. "How is it that you can run around without having to wear that nasty Necoblock most vampires have to wear in the sun?"
"Well I am only part vampire so apparently I am partly immune to the sun's effects," Toban began to explain. "While the sun weakens my extra vampiric abilities it doesn't harm me directly."
"That is so cool," Jason said also acting like just being in Toban's presence was enough to make him orgasm.
"But how can you be only part vampire?" Anne questioned.
"Apparently Thrope blood cannot be overtaken by the vampiric antibodies," Toban began to explain, "but they can exist side by side and it causes a bit of a change to both."
"I have noticed since my change that my lower canines no longer extend like they used to," Toban explained as an example. "I am the same strength as I was during the day, but my strength doubles after sunset, and it is like I get a second wind just after sunset as well." He paused and sighed. "I only need a couple hours of sleep and it doesn't matter if it is day or night."
"What about nourishment?" Peter asked.
"Blood as a vampire and rare or raw meat as Thrope are all that I can be nourished by." Toban acknowledged. "Everything else is just a comfort thing and fond memories when I was part human."
Over the next two weeks the new friends met regularly to discuss not only the day's events but the ongoing war and what they felt. Toban allowed each of them to voice their opinions without censorship and absorbed the information as politicians should from their constituents. When he finally spoke on their concerns he made no empty promises and made an honest effort to make the connections needed to make the required changes.
The last day of the camp was the award ceremony. Gina won the best Drum Major of the camp and Toban took 3rd. He could have easily taken 1st but he decided even before arriving that he would not use any special abilities to make others notice him. His position at the 3rd was only because the 4th place holder made one additional technical mistake that Toban did not account for when he planned his routine.
Toban had the weekend to relax before the school's band camp began and two weeks of that and then school began. He was ready for school to start and his life to have some semblance of normal once again. Toban and Kar were to take Davey and Shanny to school each day, Sherry and George would take care of Davey and Shanny for the hour after school each day, spend a little time as a family and then deal with Breed needs as the night progressed.
The first day of band camp found Toban standing on the stoop just outside the annex by the teachers' parking lot watching for the newly arriving freshmen. Kar was standing in the same position on the stairs that led to the quad between the annex and the main building, so he could catch the few students that came that way. It was both of their jobs to welcome the new freshmen and give them directions to the band room.
Steve walked up from the direction of the student parking lot and smiled at the focused look of Toban. While he had not been able to see much of his friend over the summer, he had kept up with what had happened and had made sure that he was doing fine. Without a word Steve jump up onto the opposite stoop beside the stairs and began the silent vigil waiting for the freshmen.
For the twenty minutes Toban, Kar and Steve introduced themselves and directed the freshmen and transfer students toward the band room. Once Toban and Kar verified telepathically and by checking their lists that every new freshman and the three new transfer students had arrived, the three friends headed for the band room themselves. They met right in front of the band room door.
Mr. Borden was happy to see Kar/Mike back and surprised to see that he had developed physically since the last time he had seen him. Mr. Borden handed the school fight song to Gina and Toban expecting them to hand it out to everyone present. Within a few moments the music was dispersed and everyone was ready to begin the newest year of band.
Meanwhile across the ocean in a darkened room Antino stood pressing a snarling growling body back against a hard stone wall. The shackles holding the persons arms and legs groaned with the inhuman stress as the person fought to free themselves from their captivity. Elzabeth stood to the left of the movement with her eyes closed and her hands outstretched. Charlett was to the right in a similar position, their minds reaching for the mind that once resided in the fighting, snarling body in front of them. Hoping to find some glimmer of the old personality that once was there.
Antino struggled with the growling, pissed, nearly mindless mass of muscles until finally he grew frustrated and head butted the body into the wall. It slid down the wall unconscious. Antino breathed a sigh of momentary relief.
Editor's Comments: Another interesting chapter but with some startling new happenings. And who or what is shackled across the ocean--and why?