Colin leaned forward onto the altar and closed the book. "For starters, he's a genius."
Clarion arched an eyebrow in an achingly familiar way. "Not an evil genius." There was sarcasm in her tone.
Colin smiled. "Well there is that, but of course that depends on your definition, but yeah..evil." Colin twisted his neck until the vertebrae realigned and stood. "Come, let's eat."
---------------
Dishes made miniature islands on the dark blue of the tablecloth as they reclined back in their chairs and digested. "So, yeah, I was saying-- Stolov was a different breed of Vampire. He wasn't the warrior that Vlad was and he's never been as romantic as Stoker made Dracula out to be. He's always been a thinker--a strategist. The wheels are always turning in his head and he's always had the big picture in mind." He swirled the dark liquid in his cordial glass and sighed at the sleepy eyed Clarion. "I guess the best way to explain Stolov is to explain what we once were."
"When Hunters make it to their third or fourth century it's like being thirty for a mortal." He drained his drink and leaned forward onto the table with a big smile. "You're not as impulsive as you are when you're 21, but you're not as naive either. You've survived some of the horrors and realize that you can be a grown up and still have fun. It's like realizing responsibility isn't such a horrible thing." Clarion could only smile, as she was just now beginning to understand the meaning of being accountable. "It's like you're strong Claire, you're so strong." He smiled wistfully. "I mean, I'm strong now--but now it's power, it's essence. At that age, it's raw fucking energy." His words were crisp. They nodded at one another both understanding their own experiences with power.
"When Yoshi and I were reaching our fourth century, the world was wide open--literally. The 16th century. So much of the world was knew, but a lot of it was rough around the edges as well. We were at our height then." He tapped his finger on the table. "My god we were magnificent." Clarion smiled as she could feel the passion in his voice. "And she," he nodded his head off to the corner, indicating Yoshi. ", oh she was awesome." He seemed to use all the air in the room to pronounce the word, sending a delightful shiver down Clarion's spine. "She was beautiful-
"Still." Clarion tipped her glass at the smirking Colin.
He nodded. "That she is, but she was once glorious." He sighed. "We could all stand to knock a little dust off ourselves and get a little shine. "I did not learn the meaning of trembling in someone's wake until I saw her at work." He touched his tongue to his teeth in a moment of thought. "Once, they cowered before us all."
Clarion focused jade colored eyes on the man before her and watched as he retreated into himself for a fraction of a moment. "What happened?"
Colin was silent for a moment as he traced his jaw line, and then looked to Clarion with startled eyes as he registered her voice. "Stolov happened." His words came out in a hush. "In the 16th century we were a thousand strong." Clarion whistled appropriately. "And, a thousand strong are the ones who were ready, so that means all those who had reached a century. It got to the point where we just seemed ubiquitous and so we moved out into the world. We carved out little towns and hamlets that we lived in and stayed there. Some of us went home others made new homes. We started families, we lived like brothers and sisters. There was a time when we knew where every vampire was and when they had been made. We could pick out demons in towns thirty miles away. We had a system, a plan even. We were just too good." He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Too big for your britches, huh?"
Colin looked to Clarion and nodded solemnly. "That's the light way of saying it. We were fucking high on ourselves. We were lazy, is the truth of it. I mean, for us, fighting one Hunter was like fighting ten. So what if you town was overrun with 5 Vampires, we'll just send two, hell maybe one."
"Did you just not care?"
"Ha! On the contrary, we did nothing but, but we were going at it all wrong. We weren't about prevention, it was just about cutting down what we saw. We moved out of the commune and forgot half the shit we learned. Who needed to warn people when you thought you could clean up the mess yourself-- we just--
He trailed off and shrugged. "To say Stolov took advantage is too easy. There wasn't anything to take advantage of, he just walked right in and did his thing. See, while we were busy smelling our own shit, he was organizing. Now vamps have had leaders and rabble-rousers before, but not like him. He just wasn't looking for a one-time militia; he was seeking permanence. When we got together and built towns, he encouraged them to do the same. He gathered all those that were hunted and told them to simply live their lives. Go out get jobs, go and learn, start families." The level of his voice changed as he spoke his last words.
"He encouraged them to just carve out their lives. If somebody asked you what you did during the day, say you went to school. Say you had another job whatever. If you could move about in the day, tell them whatever they needed to hear, but don't give anybody any reason to think you don't belong. They ate his words up and they lived, breathed, and multiplied. Why beat the hunters when you can breed them out. It was easy for us to think ourselves superior when there were barely 400 in the world, let alone ten in country. But suddenly, one day you wake up and there are 50 in a town, a hundred in a country, thousands in a continent." He nibbled at his lip and then poured himself a shot of whiskey.
Hazy brown eyes looked up at green. "We weren't prepared for anything that happened. Just one day it all...all went up in flames." He paused and rubbed his hands down his face. Colin focused his eyes on the reflection of the chandelier light on the vase and just stared. "Somehow they all knew when to set them. One by one, our little towns and places of rest when up in flames. Hunters were forced into the streets and the massacre began. We weren't prepared, we just weren't. So many of us had been to war, so many of us had survived, but we were supposed to be safe. We were supposed to be ready...prepared." He touched a finger to his lips and continued to speak, almost oblivious of Clarion's presence in the room. The red head just watched Colin with a heavy heart. She knew there were no words and all she could do was let him ride out the firestorm that he was reliving in his mind.
"It was different when it was just us fighting for ourselves, but we found ourselves fighting for our families. Mortal wives, husbands, and children who had no clue of the monsters that lay just outside the door. For those who were killed, they died painfully: hacked into pieces strewn about to ultimate decay. Those who lived and fought suffered the most pain. They lived without being able to explain to their burning families why it was that they still lived. Why it was that they could stand the flames." He stopped speaking and sat back in his chair, his back straight and his palms flat on the table. His eyes still did not move from the vase. "For a fortnight it burned. Those that made it out, fled to the commune to discover it in ruins. The building itself stood, the books were still there, the temples were not defiled, but there was no life there. The bodies of the young hung from every entrance, every arch, and every window. It wasn't enough for him to destroy our present...Stolov erased our future." Colin took a well-needed breath and slowly he came back to himself and back into the room. He eyed a teary-eyed Clarion. "August 15, 1545."
A long reverent quiet swept over the room and they both let it move about them without question. Clarion wiped at her eyes and spoke a while later. "I don't know whether I should cry or scream."
Colin shrugged and poured himself another glass of whiskey. "My tear ducts are empty Claire and my throat is hoarse." He grunted. "We tried to rebuild and for a while, it seemed like things were possible, but Stolov appeared again and cut out our heart." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Rules number 1 through ten: we are your brothers and your sisters, honor each other always, lay down your life before you pick up your sword before the other."
Understanding passed through the red head. "Yoshi broke that rule didn't she."
"Aye." Clarion sighed and looked past Colin out into the hallway, silently deciding whether she should go check on the woman or not. "She had no choice, Claire."
A stray tear spilled onto Clarion's cheek as she drew her attention to Colin. "I believe that to be true, but she still bore the burden."
Colin couldn't help but smile at the woman across from him. She seemed to understand so much about the woman he had grown up with and it made him recognize the first signs of hope in himself. "Because, she would let none of us shoulder it."
Clarion seem to sense an inkling of what Colin was feeling and she mirrored his smile. "She loves you all."
He nodded. "We know that lass. But that stone wall in there refuses to believe that we love her and moreover she's afraid to tell us.
Clarion shrugged. "She doesn't want to lose you guys, and she thinks its easier to lose herself."
"True. True." He leaned forward a bit and grinned. "But I can see that you care, and I know that she loves you."
Clarion did not fight the blush that filled her cheeks. "I know she does as well."
Colin's face lit up with happy surprise. "She told you?" Clarion could only nod. "Well two points for the old fart, good for her."
Clarion chuckled. "Good for us, Colin. And good for you."
He smiled harder and reached across the table to clasp Clarion's hand. "Clarion, if you can bring her back...if you can give her that light that she so sorely misses..I, I.." he gave her hand a squeeze. "I don't know what I‘ll do, but if I had to fall to my knees and claim Vampires as a better race, then I'll donate my blood."
Clarion squeezed his hand back and laughed. "A better race, huh? You're a fool Colin." Colin laughed and stood up. He went to hold his hand out to Clarion and then stopped as he noticed the intense look of concentration on her face.
"What's up Clarion?" He spoke calmly, but every muscle in his body was tensed and ready to spring into action if necessary.
Clarion cocked her head to the side and looked up at him with a furrowed brow. "You said a better race?"
Colin looked at Clarion as if she sprouted horns. "A joke, what?"
"No, a better race. What did you say about Stolov...he told them to live, get jobs, go to school, start a family."
Colin leaned down on the table. "I'm not sure I'm following you."
Green eyes grew wide. "Breed." The word fell from her lips like a pin dropping in a library. "Breed, Colin, breed." She stared hard at the man, who was trying hard to grasp the concept. She stood and placed a hand on his shoulder as she encroached his personal space, so that they were nearly nose to nose. "Stolov doesn't want to kill me Colin." She stressed every word.
Brown eyes grew as large as green. "Oh my...he doesn't does he?"
Clarion shook her head slowly. She let out a small giggle and whispered to Colin as if they were school girls. "He wants to fuck me, Colin." Her words faded into the room and they both breathed at the same time. She backed away from the still wide -eyed Colin and began to move towards the hallway. "This is not just about Stolov becoming all powerful, this is about an entire legion of little Stolovs and Stolovas. Perhaps, a world."
"How's that for evolution." Colin added in the same quiet voice that Clarion used. "He's found himself a baby, hasn't he?"
She nodded. "Or a mama."
They both nodded. "You want the phone or the computer?"
With a large smile plastered to her face Clarion replied, "we'll alternate," as they both raced down the halls to the library.
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