“He was capable of living off of farm animals? Are we capable of that as well?”
He gives me a condescending look. “We cannot die from lack of human blood. We will shrivel and become mummified, but will not die. Animal blood will retard the process, but will not prevent it.” Cassius, frustrated with interruptions, continues. “Finally, after years of arctic winter, the climate slowly embraced the spring with all its life and the tribe began to venture farther into the country in search of game. Although the weather continued to be difficult, the animals returned and nature was correcting itself. With food supplies replenishing, the tribe was becoming less reliant on the blood-water for sustenance. It was during this time that the small lake had dwindled with use and the High Council of Elders placed emergency restrictions upon it, but it was too late. It had another four seasons before disappearing, and the tribes began to fragment over the stress.
“After several cantankerous seasons of discontent, the tribe recognized an overpopulation issue and determined the time for relocating was upon them. They spread like seeds into the surrounding areas, cultivating the lands and doubling the population over and over again within a hundred years. With the daily challenge of subjugating land and starting new villages, the blood-water became folklore as the remaining effects of it dissipated due to the lack of consumption amongst the general population.
“Meanwhile, deep into the blackness, Anu was building his future, taking many mates that bore him many children. If a child did not have the privilege of genetic superiority, he wisely let the villagers raise them for future food resources. After a while, the recessive genes passed on to the majority of children, but
all
were shadows of the original. The green eyes were never duplicated, but were reinterpreted as blue and yellow, the blood thirst was experienced through the Resurrectio instead of birth, and immortality was diluted. His children were copies, not originals, yet they remained superior in every way to humans and used their talents to kill.
“After many years of Anu’s children feeding from the local villagers, supply and demand was imbalanced and the herd began to thin out. For years their strangeness contributed to the village gossip as they became the scapegoats for missing stock or the bedtime stories to scare children into obedience. When the villagers’ casualties became apparent, the unintended results were the more serious stories of cave-dwellers that seduced and drained life from their hapless victims, which was developed through millennia into what we now know in pop culture.
“The folklore compounded with rumors instigated a communal panic. In response to the rumors, locals organized an assault on the cave-dwellers, as they were called, and marched up the mountain to destroy them. Please remember these were barbaric ancestors, the beginnings of our kind, and were extremely vulnerable to myths and fear. Yet, I believe the villager’s reactions to be appropriate as they were being exterminated without thought by cave-dwellers that now numbered in the hundreds. The result of the assault is obvious, the villagers were butchered, drained, and all the excess blood ‘formed an eternal river of red that leads to the cave.’”
I interrupt Cassius. “How did they feed with no villagers?”
He squints in strained memory. “That is a perfect transition into the ‘Blood War.’ As you have observed, the villagers were massacred. Men, women, and children were disposed of within a matter of hours. In my opinion, it was a waste of resources and poor strategy, but I digress. As I mentioned earlier, they now numbered in the hundreds. Although most of them were young and did not require the large quantities of blood that Anu demanded.
“Apparently, Anu was disgusted with their hasty and violent response, as he was searching for new food sources at the far boundaries when the slaughter took place. Upon his return he expressed his fury by murdering the leaders responsible for the carnage. The others were frightened and acquiesced when he addressed them with dire news of barren lands and surrounding tundra. There was mild dread and after several nights without blood, some of the younger ones who had not experienced the Resurrectio started to disappear until there were none remaining. Vengeance weaved its way into parental minds and accusations laced with threats were issued to suspects. The
Knosis
states, matter-of-fact, that during this time brother turned on brother and mother on daughter until only a couple dozen lived.
“Anu had allowed the war to destroy his children, knowing that they were uncontrollable and lacked the skills necessary to survive the coming centuries through secrecy and deception. It was when they were reduced to those few left that he reappeared and put an end to the bloodshed. He forced them to choose two leaders and leave the caves, never to return.
“One of the leaders took ten followers, making a harsh journey through the tundra and into warmer lands and settling in the wild forests. His group embraced nocturnal hunting, developing a taste for raw meat. They fed on animals and humans; it didn’t matter as long as it contained white blood cells to satisfy the blood-water. Centuries crawled on as they evolved to their environment with thick hair for warmth, four sharp incisors resembling a wolf’s for tough meats, and a monstrous size to hunt the largest of predators. They became animals, feral and unthinking just as you met them the week of your arrival here.” He spit it out like poison and abruptly softened. “My ancestors stayed in the familiar caves, living off local villagers and faithfully drinking only the
pure
blood of humans. As a result, our teeth stayed as they were and our height actually lessened. Contrary to popular thinking, in that period of time humans were taller and bulkier than today, especially compared to the last 4,000 years. Through time they decreased in size, as did we, to blend in, but for whatever reason we remained as we are now even as the pendulum swings back. To assist in our camouflage at night, our hair became dark and we have an uncanny ability to move without sound.
“Evolution is quite the seer, knowing that we would live long lives and multiply until the earth was depleted of food, so we were robbed of fertility and only produce several offspring a millennia. Our lives are longer than our cousins, the waers, so we produce even less than they do.” He shifts with seriousness. “Adriel, you do the math. They are brutish creatures unable to control their desires and they breed at nearly twice our rate. We will be overrun and destroyed if we allow them to go on unfettered.”
It is so much to process, but I know there will be plenty of time for it later. To make certain I gather as much information as possible, I continue the questions. “What happened to Anu?”
He is caught off guard, expecting that I would become rabid with fear with the population issue of the waers, but regroups and says, “The Sumerians would worship him as the immortal Anu, eventually influencing the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Akkadians. Of course that isn’t his given name and we have no evidence as to what that was. The Sumerians were the first to develop writing, therefore, the first to give him a name. He is the only true immortal that we know of…
at this point
. His body somehow found a balance that controlled the burn, which leads us to death. Selfishly, he disappeared around 600 BC and has not returned since.”
I make an immediate mental note of eye color, appetite, and the cave location for future analyzing, but hold my cards close, as Cassius is not to be trusted. We both allow the silence to pressurize the room as I am lost in thought and he is intent on me. The pressure builds to the point of discomfort so I decide to siphon off a little with a few questions. “Cassius, do you think th…” My mind goes hot with racing blood. I recover quickly as the burst lasts only one or two beats, but he notices and reacts with serenity. His nostrils slightly flare, inhaling potential threats, and his head tilts with ears perked for battle. I see a suspicion crinkle as he squints and slowly stands, concentrating on the door behind me.
He speaks with a level just above intimate conversation. “Antonio, let our guest in.” From within the house I hear his servant walk to the door with urgency, yet open it with casual demeanor. Everything is smoke and mirrors. “Good evening, Persephone. He is expecting you,” says Antonio with silk in his voice.
She already knows where we are and turns to face Cassius as if waiting for approval to enter. Recognizing this, Cassius pauses for effect. Then with a nod that is more in expression than movement of the head, grants her approval. I stand as well, not because I am chivalrous, but my senses are on alert. He glides over to Percy gently, grasping both hands and kisses each cheek as is the tradition in many cultures. I catch myself dreading our next greeting as I really value my personal space. He says with aristocratic authority, “Welcome, Persephone. I apologize for intruding on your time. It seems the hour has run away from us. Please, have a seat. I have not had the opportunity to have a conversation with Adriel.” Like a cat, she moves into the other guest chair. I follow suit and Cassius dramatically trails behind. Is this guy for real?
He shifts attention from Percy to me and begins. “Again, Adriel, forgive my bluntness, but the Council of War is meeting in minutes and I have spent our hour together selfishly telling stories. I interview all that are new to our tribe, so please don’t think of this as some sort of interrogation. I just have several questions that will help me better understand who you are and how you will fit into our family. From what I understand, you were adopted. What are your earliest memories?”
I recall Percy’s warnings concerning lies or exaggerations and choose to be as truthful as possible. “Nothing out of the ordinary, just images of when I was two or three of playing outside. My childhood was quite unremarkable, as my parents went out of their way to create the most normal environment possible for me. I’ll always consider Brandon, Mississippi, home—the name alone raises powerful memories of good friends and fun on the reservoir, but it isn’t exactly the untamed streets of Hollywood.”
“Why do you think they made an effort to avoid attention?”
“I don’t know. I mean, I’ve processed how they did it, just not why. They were secretive, whispering behind closed doors late into the nights. I had always assumed it was about their marriage or careers, but as I grew older, I realized there was something they knew about me. Of course, I thought they were merely struggling with the fact that I was adopted, as they had never mentioned it. The guilt must have been a burden. Now after all the events that have happened in the last month, I don’t know.”
“So, they never spoke of your past?” He senses my distrust and says, “Obviously, you know that I am trying to discover your heritage and why you were not raised as one of us.”
Half-truth, but I’ll accept it. “Never said a word.” (Whole truth—I left out the note.)
He relents. “At what age did you leave and where did you go?”
I don’t like the questioning, but I feel cornered. “I left at sixteen and travelled the world, never really settling for any substantial length of time.”
“Where, specifically?” Peril laced every word.
“I played safe at first, working my way from New Orleans to Atlanta. After a year or so, I developed the confidence to spend the next two decades experiencing the world. I cashed in a paycheck and bought a ticket to Frankfurt. After several months, I felt something pulling me to Munich, then Paris, and on to Venice, Russia, Spain, finally resting in Africa, with several stops on the way back home.” It was a flicker with vampire speed, but it happened. His eyes caught Percy’s with revelation and his countenance hardened into chiseled marble. The playful innocence of Q&A was now over.
With hidden aggression he feigns tenderness. “Please explain what ‘pulling’ means to you?”
Damn! “It was a compulsion; I was chasing something that I still can’t articulate.”
“Was?”
The prickle of impending menace brushes my neck. It’s too quiet and I realize he is listening to me, not my words, but inside me, excavating truth from lies. I keep my eyes open in façade as I dive deep within. I start as blood being carried in pulsating speed through arms, careening by shoulders into legs, and directly up into the heart. Once the heart is reached, I explode, covering the walls and absorbing into the thumping rhythm. Spending a moment with hypnotic drums, I touch the electrical impulse that shocks and compresses the heart muscle to control the flow of blood. The impulse is not a stranger, but a natural part of my body that would obey my focused desires. Concentrating to steady the pulse that quickened from deceit, the source is uncovered. I blend with the kinetic energy building from subatomic friction, unleashing a fraction of the reserves. I have to bite back the taste of oxidized air as a current of electricity jolts inside my chest, escaping into my mouth. I am tranquil and unmoved in appearance, but frantic inside, as I have touched something I never knew existed. This happens in a second and Cassius is unyieldingly suspicious, so I disperse the remaining current and feed it to my body. The result is a slow, melodic heart beat with no spike or irregularities to cause interest. Mission accomplished.
I continue as if nothing happened. “Is, was, will always be, I guess.”
His demeanor is calm, but I know he is listening. “I believe you,” he responds and I hold back a sigh. “But I am curious as to how you shot a current of electricity through your body.” Startled, that pesky sigh escapes.
“Sir, the Council is calling. They have been waiting for you,” Antonio says.
Whew, saved by the bell.
Cassius rises with restrained power and tugs his antique vest to straighten the wrinkles. Percy and I stand with him to expedite the departure process. He curves around the desk facing the door and stops to address us on his left. “Thank you for your time, both of you.” He takes one more step and pauses. “Oh, and I almost forgot. Percy, you will no longer be Adriel’s trainer. Report to me tomorrow evening, first thing. Adriel, we will spend the later evening discussing your… unique talents.” His smile is sinister.