GFD 12: Blood Ties - 35. Chapter 35

Taking my first look at him...I can't deny that I was a bit surprised.

'The Jeweler' didn't look as though he was much older than me, to be honest. I mean...maybe out of high school, but...JUST out of high school. After the utter disbelief he expressed over me being a 'halflife', I expected him to be much older. Wiser. Perhaps an old wizard with a long grey beard and a wrinkled face, that would somehow hold a collection of age old answers to everything that I needed to know about this world of darkness, and what to do about my abilities and their growing intensity.

I don't know...after Taryn, and Tim, and the rest...I should have learned not to trust my eyes when it came to 'vampire-kind' by now. It never leads you in the right direction.

He had a boyish face, but it was void of all boyish expression. Had he been human, he would have come off as one of those incredibly creepy children that seem way too mature for their age. Dark brown eyes occasionally glanced at me as he traveled down the line of plants before him. Above his eyes...a short, neatly trimmed cap of dark brown hair to match. He was a bit taller than me, wearing a set of clothes that looked elegantly thin. Almost like silk pajamas, and over them he had a thick robe draping from his shoulders to his ankles. Warm colors. A soft cream shade with touches of green. It was a strange sight to see. Mostly because of the way he carried himself. The way that he moved. I had never seen anything like it before. His subdued gestures and gliding steps were like liquid for the eyes. A part of the 'fashion' itself. So eerily soothing, but I was confused as to why he captivated me so.

The mellow music in the background echoed melodically throughout the open space of the greenhouse, and the Jeweler quietly tended to his duties with a sense of patience and grace, carefully snipping at their leaves, and turning them slightly, so as to catch a healthy dose of sun tomorrow while we were all asleep.

He smiled at me briefly, his whole demeanor as subtle and as delicate as that of a monk in meditation. But he didn't speak again. Not just yet. He was watering a few of his plants, very carefully, one at a time. And everyone around him remained silent until he finished. Taryn and I included. Something about his presence demanded that level of noiseless respect. I couldn't understand why, but asking him would have broken the silence. And I think it was understood that that was not an option.

Even over the bubbling sound of fountains surrounding us, I could faintly hear the constant 'whizzzz' of Strings' yo-yo, playfully rotating just a quarter of an inch above the floor beside me. Again and again. He never really stopped. He was almost obsessed with the feel of letting that circular pendulum drop from his fingertips and race back up the string to meet his palm again. Almost as much as he was obsessed with the constant gnawing on that soft cushion of bubblegum between his teeth. However, even his appearance was deceptive in its presentation. There was more to him than what we were allowed to see. I could just feel it.

And he wasn't alone.

Walking through a nearby part of the large greenhouse atrium, I saw another boy who looked about 16 years old or so, standing off to the side. He was rail thin. Tall and lanky. With high, pronounced, cheekbones and short, dark blond, hair. Long fingers. I specifically remember his fingers. Because he was very slowly turning the pages of a large book that he was holding in his arms, close to the chest. I could see some of the pages inside of the book, and they all appeared to be 'blank'. Not a single word was written on them. And yet, he kept his gaze focused on me, and on Taryn, and he felt no need to turn away when I stared back at him. Not even for the sake of possibly putting me at ease.There was definitely a few more hidden secrets about him as well. I remember stares like that. Gazes with that level of shameless intensity. I had seen it in the eyes of that assassin sent to Dash's sanctuary. In the eyes of Natpea as he stood at Soren's side in the fighting arena. In the eyes of those murderers that stabbed Jarrod through the heart in the IceZone.

According to Erick and Fallen's calculations...a few 'ex-hunters' had been rumored to be here on the premises. Apparently working for the Jeweler, but none of us could tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. There was a time when I wouldn't be able to find any real comfort in being around anyone who willingly killed people for a living. But...considering that I've basically become one of those people myself, and have made an entire family out of others that do the same...I might just have to bite my tongue on that issue for the time being.

As this 'Fabian Lockheart' reached the end of the row, he held his watering pitcher out to the side and I saw a few of his servants come to lightly take it from his hand. Another gave him a gleaming white cloth to wipe his hands with, and then he walked towards me with the warmest of smiles.

"My...you are quite young. Much more so than I expected." He said, staring at me with a sense of wonder. "You'll have to forgive me. When you've lived as long as I have, it is rare that I find myself surprised by much of anything. The sensation...it's exhilarating." He turned to Taryn, and his smile widened. "And you? You must be the sire. May I ask your name?"

"It's...Taryn..." He said, leaning away as the Jeweler slowly raised a hand to feel the softness of Taryn's hair.

"My, oh my..." The Jeweler said. "...So very lovely. A sight to behold. It is no wonder that you two found each other in the vastness of all the Earthly possibilities surrounding you. Fated to be or not. You both bring an elegant beauty to the immeasurable complexity of the prophecy itself. It is an honor to be in your presence. Truly."

Strings continued to yank that yo-yo around without the Jeweler noticing it much. However, when he absentmindedly let his foot bump into one of the large pots holding a small plant on the floor, his employer quickly gave him a look over his shoulder. Not an angry look. His expressions were much too understated to show something as boorish as 'anger'. And yet, the message was received, loud and clear. Which is something that I found surprising, as an immodest little brat like Strings hardly seems like the type to back down so easily without uttering a single word. Even a roll of his eyes might have been more acceptable than the instant submission that I saw as he moved away from the rest of us.

The Jeweler was quick to smile at me again. "I imagine you are overflowing with questions. Come...walk with me." He turned to walk down another one of the rows of plants in the room, and as two more of his servants moved in to walk at his side, holding various tools and nutrients for the soil, Taryn and I were light nudged by a few of his guards to urge us to follow. "It must seem strange to you...a vampire tending to a greenhouse, when I haven't seen the sun in so very long." He said. "But I enjoy it. It brings me peace. It reminds me that our kind isn't all about death...but about life. Eternal life. An evolved life. Even during these late evenings, these plants seem to hold onto the light and the warmth of the Sun itself. I can feel the heat. I can almost see remnants of the day's sunlight reflected in their leaves. A faint glow, but a glow nonetheless."

"I was hoping that you could help me, sir." I said quietly. "You...you said that you could help me, right?"

"That I can, young Mimic. The question is...help you to do 'what'?" He smirked.

"I don't know. How to gain control? Figure out what I'm supposed to do?"

"You already know what you're supposed to do, Justin." He told me. "Believe it or not, you've known for a long time. Perhaps your entire life. You just weren't aware of it. So very few people are."

What? Why can't anything ever be easy with these people? "I'm afraid that doesn't make any sense. I need to learn to control my..."

"No." He said. Softly, but firmly enough to cut me off. "Control is not the goal, Justin. It was control that brought you here. It was control that has been blinding you from the truth all along. If your only desire is trying to find some strategic way to manipulate forces and events, warping reality in a way that best suits you and your current needs alone...then you and I are going to waste a lot of time here."

"But...I thought..."

"I understand." He said. "But do you?"

"I...I thought that..."

"If you're looking for ways to fight, run, and further protect yourself and the ones you love from conflict...then you already have all the weapons you need to do that. Whether you realize it or not. You are already much more powerful than even you realize. But all of those destructive abilities won't help you in the end. I can assure you, you'll just keep fighting and running and hiding and making bad decisions until you have eventually lost everything and everyone that you care about. If that's what you think you want from this life in darkness, I have nothing more to teach you." He said. "However...if you're searching for the light within...if it is meaning, awareness, and purpose, that you seek...then you will eventually reach a level where you have no need for weapons at all."

I felt Taryn take a hold of my hand. I think he was a bit uneasy just being here, but I gave his hand a squeeze. A silent signal to ask for his patience. "The light?"

"Yes, Justin. The light. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

I mumbled, "The Vampire Dawn...."

"Indeed." He smiled. "I take it that you have been out in the streets...seeking answers on your own, have you not? Believe me, the Dawn is much simpler, and yet much more complex, than you can possibly fathom at this point. Not because the concept is beyond your reach, but because you have yet to realize that your reach is as infinite as you need it to be." He stopped walking for a moment, apparently finding an inch or two of small, leafy, branches that were reaching out beyond the parameters of his personal design. He reached for one of the tools in his servant's hand...and clipped them back to perfection before handing the tool back to him. Then he continued walking. "Is it safe to assume that your experience with the circles have gotten to be more frequent?" That perked my ears up. "Patterns. In thinking, in action...a string of events that only display their true purpose once the circle has been made complete. Circles that get smaller as your ability to recognize them increases in accuracy?"

"Yes. How did you know?" I asked.

"How did you not?" He asked in response.

"Can you tell me what it means? What they are?"

"There is no need. We've already had this conversation. And yet...it hasn't happened yet." He smiled, snipping away at a few more leaves beside him.

"Please, don't do that. Can't you just tell me? I don't understand anything about how these circles work..." I said with a frustrated sigh.

"But of course you do, Justin. You understood just moments ago, when you attempted to get past my security." He told me. "You may not have been aware of it...but you're beginning to see the paths being laid out in front of you before they happen. You simply need to discover a more effective way to pay attention."

His security? A circle? What circle? "I still don't get it..."

"You felt it. Didn't you? They wouldn't let you pass. They wanted you gone. Things began to escalate rather quickly, did they not?" The Jeweler turned to me, his smirk taking a different tilt. "I have a lot of faith in my security, Justin. They do their jobs well. But you could have easily slaughtered every last vampire in that room if you allowed yourself to do so. I can practically taste the power within you. It wouldn't have been much of a conflict at all for you if it had come down to a physical confrontation. But...you didn't want to be a part of that circle. Did you?"

"I didn't....what?"

"You saw the events unfold. Faint and distant...in the back of your mind. You knew how things would play out. You knew how the circle would begin. You knew how the circle would end. You had already been a part of it before it happened. And you chose to avoid it. Thus...as I told you, you will eventually learn to see far enough ahead to not need any weapons at all." He began to walk forward again, leaving me just as confused as I was before. "Out of one circle and into another, on and on into infinity. On and on. On and on..."

"Justin, I don't know about this." Taryn whispered. "This doesn't feel right."

"I know. Just...hang on." I said, and I picked up the pace a bit so that I could get close enough to get the Jeweler's attention and ask more question. But when I got within a few steps of him, Strings' yo-yo shot out from his hand and the noisy crackle of electric sparks suddenly jumped up at my feet as it touched the ground.

The Jeweler put up a hand to calm him down, but Strings kept his eyes fixed on me until I stepped back. "You'll have to excuse Strings, as he can be a bit 'high strung' at times." He said.

"Please...I've come all this way. Just...tell me what questions I need to ask. What lessons do I need to learn? I feel like I'm losing control..."

"That is because you are trying to control everything that is outside of you, when it is what's inside that you need to concentrate on. It's the only thing you ever had any control over in the first place." He said, then reached up to touch my cheek. "You must understand...the person that you are now has no way to understand what you need to know. Somewhere inside of you is the key to the Vampire Dawn, and many wonders that reach beyond all imagination. In order for us to find that key, we need to discover who you truly are. Because you don't know yourself, Justin. You only know the prison you've built around you. Your 'image'. Your armor. Your spirit is strong, but you've spent a long time trying to protect yourself from pain. A fortress, where your true self is being held captive. If we want to find the answers we seek...we'll have to dig deeper. Uncomfortably so. Your armor, your 'weapons', will do you no good. For me to guide you, you have to be open."

"I am. I...I mean, I will be. Whatever you need to know...I'll tell you." I said, hoping that this was leading somewhere.

"'Tell' me? No. This is not some therapy session where you unleash your demons and reveal your secrets and leave feeling all better. No, my boy, you will work. You will discover parts of yourself that you never knew were there. I intend to break you open...until all of your defenses are gone. ALL of them. And then we can get to work." Taryn gave me a worried look, and I gave him one back. But I straightened up and told him, "I'll do what I have to do. Just...show me how."

"'How' is the easy part. The difficulty comes when you try to find the strength to figure out 'why'. That is where the true character of any being is tested." He began to walk forward again, but this time allowed me to walk at his side. I looked behind us to make sure that Taryn was ok, as he was following just a few steps behind. "It takes a very special combination of factors to create something as rare...as unique...as a vampire Mimic. It is not a random roll of the dice. It is not a simple mutation. You were chosen, Justin. Chosen because of who you are, and because of what you've been through. Beauty through destruction. A work of art, cultivated through tears and suffering."

"I didn't ask to be chosen..."

"There would be no need for the choosing if anyone claimed a desire to carry the burden." He replied. "Still, the gift is yours. And yours alone. You can warrant it or waste it. But you'd be doing more than a disservice to just you and your sire if you chose the latter."

I checked back over my shoulder again to make sure that Taryn was ok. He still seemed a bit uncomfortable, but he kept his distance while we talked.

"So...you've seen the Vampire Zero, I see..." The Jeweler asked.

"I...wait, what...?"

"He was once a very powerful vampire himself. One with great potential. Pity that he didn't make it to join the rest of us in eternity. Nor will your 'friend', Comicality. Or so I have heard."

Suspicious about where he was getting this from, I focused a bit more on my own thoughts. Searching. I said, "It was sad to see Zero go. But I don't think Com is gone. Call it a hunch."

"Perhaps not yet. But his circle as well as a few others have reached their end. With others...soon to follow." He replied, this time looking back over his shoulder at Taryn as well. "...Soon to follow..."

There it is. I could feel it. It was subtle. A well-practiced technique, for sure...but one that I was able to sense because I had done it before myself. Someone in that room...was poking around inside my thoughts. Feeding them to the Jeweler as he saw fit. A 'mind thief'.

It's hard to describe the feeling, but you know it once you detect it. A gentle nudge at the back of your conscious mind. A pull. A 'leak'. And once I became aware of what was happening, I began to lock in to where it was coming from.

My eyes wandered around the greenhouse, my senses looking for the culprit. And...as if drawn to a certain direction like the needle in a compass...I found him. The skinny boy with the large book was standing behind a row of plants, his reading ability reaching out to me, sifting through my thoughts and memories as if I had given him a personal invitation.

It didn't take much at all for me to remember how Kid was able to block my prying eyes back at the lot, but this time, I turned up the juice to really let this boy know that he was fooling around with something he shouldn't be messing with. Kid's extra activated, I allowed the mental static to rapidly increase in volume. Louder, and louder, and louder still...until I looked up and saw the boy starting to wince from the assault on his delicate senses. His eyes squinted shut, and I gave him an extra jolt of pain as the extra reached its peak. The boy jumped and gasped with a pinch of agony, accidentally bumping into one of the nearby tables and knocking some stuff over and down to the floor. Even the Jeweler seemed to experience a touch of pain as a side effect.

The boy, looking at me angrily from between two plants, opened his book and began to tear one of the pages inside....but the Jeweler gave him a signal that steadied his hand.

The Jeweler took a moment to recover and said, "Excuse the intrusion. You must understand that I get my fair share of people here with...less than positive motivations. We have to be careful..."

"I can understand that. But I can appreciate you telling your 'people' to stay out of my head." I said, staring the boy in the eye. Still hearing the whizzzz of Strings' yo-yo's behind me.

"My apologies." He told me. "He goes by the name of 'Bookworm'. He is a close personal consultant of mine. An advisor. I hope you don't mind a few paranoid exercises on our part when it comes to new visitors."

"Trust me...I mind." I said, and now waited a moment or two for Taryn to catch up and I could take a hold of his hand again. Just so I could keep him safe.

"Bookworm and Strings assist me in keeping out all forms of undesirable element. We are the guardians of many sought after secrets in this facility. And one other. 'Minefield'. I'm sure you'll meet him tomorrow evening once we get started."

I asked, "Tomorrow evening? What about tonight?"

"Don't be too eager, young one. We have a lot to cover. It takes time. Effort. Tears. You will have to struggle through much inner pain and conflict before you can ever hope to move forward. It is best to absorb the lessons I have to teach in moderation. Excess and speed will hurt more than it helps in these matters."

"I told you...I don't need any more pain. I've had enough pain in my life to last me until the end of time." I said.

"And you think that will, somehow, protect you from all the pain you may have to face in the future, do you?" I didn't answer him, but I don't think it mattered. "There is no quota for misery. No 'paying your dues' in order to guarantee a happily ever after. No matter what you've done or what you've been through...people are always going to hurt you, Justin. There will be many times when life becomes full of such emotional torment that you will want to give up. Times when it will devour so much of your soul that you have but a tiny spark left to keep you breathing." He said. I instinctively took a hold of Taryn's hand, holding tight so I could protect the ONE thing in this life that I had left to live for. "The scriptures will not be kind. The obstacles in your way...will not play fair. But it is your heart that will pull you through. Your heart...that has been so utterly broken. Dragged through the sewage and the slime, mistreated and manhandled by forces that you could never hope to control. Soooooo much pain. I can see the agony of it all still lingering in your eyes."

"I don't want any more pain. I want something better. For once, I have the chance to get AWAY from all of that. I can finally be happy..." I whimpered.

"No, Justin. You can't. Not yet."

"Why not???"

"Because it is only when you have been reduced to absolutely nothing...only when you've lost all hope...that you will even begin to understand." He said. "Only when life itself has suffocated you to the point where you no longer have the strength to fight for air...only when ALL of your friends have turned their backs on you...when those you love have abandoned you...when the ones you've trusted have betrayed you...it is only when your very spirit and sense of self has been battered and abused, laughed at and rejected, scoffed at and ignored...only when you've been mocked, and pressured, and *TORN APART* so many times by so many people that something as simple and pointless as human tears won't do the unfathomable sadness within any justice at all...only THEN will you begin to feel the change in you. Only then. It will ache. It will burn. And it will linger...for a long long time." The Jeweler put is hands on my shoulders to look me directly in the eye. "When everything you hold dear and close to your heart begins to breakdown, and life has beaten you into total submission...punishing you beyond your ability to endure ANYTHING more...that's when your 'protection' will be stripped away. That is when the many layers of self deception and flimsy excuses and blatant hypocrisy will cease to exist...and you'll be forced to experience your existence through the eyes of someone who has earned their sight. Right from the very core. The center of all things." He said, now with slightest of grins. "And if you live through it? *IF*...you live through it...then you will see the very essence of Darwinism at work, my friend. Only then, can you stand up and say that you are truly worthy of your survival. Only then can you be certain that your gifts were given to you with a purpose. One that means more to you than all of the pain and anguish that life has to throw at you. More than those who would do you harm. Those who try to break you. Who try to discourage you. Your PURPOSE, Justin...will outshine your suffering. Your purpose will keep you strong." He stepped away from me as if to examine me proudly from head to toe once again. "THAT...is the path of the Vampire Mimic. From there...you have the chance...no, you have the duty....to become something truly legendary. To leave a mark worthy of your immortality. One that countless others will find and follow for centuries to come...and aspire to be something greater than the weaker minds they are today. That is where you will find the happiness you've been searching for. That is when you will earn a place as one of the most revered members of our kind."

"This all seems like so much to take in..." I sighed softly.

"It is. Believe me." He replied. "But once we find out who you are, then we'll really be able to figure out what you're capable of." With a wide grin, he almost seemed to have a thrilling chill run through him as he said, "This is a VERY exciting time! I have been waiting many long years for an opportunity like this. It will be an absolute honor to figure out just what you are. However, until then, I would like to invite you to stay in one of our many rooms here in the building. You and your sire will be granted every convenience. We will spare you no comfort, nor expense. I will need you to relax. Enjoy yourselves. And tomorrow evening when you wake...we shall begin chipping away at the shell that surrounds you. We can find out who you are."

"I already know who I am..." I said.

"No. You only have a vague idea of who you are. Won't it be interesting to see what is lurking below the surface? What will it be like...once you realize that you are not 'you' at all." He told me. "I would imagine that...since the circles have began...your two inner sides have been experiencing some...friction, as of late? Those conversations aren't just in your head, Justin. You're beginning to see the light. My job is to help you focus so you can understand it for what it is. And I will have great pleasure doing so, I assure you. So be ready." The Jeweler turned to the silent boy at our side, and said, "Bookworm, please take our respected guests to the suites below. They may choose whichever one they like. Be sure to give them the best treatment possible. He is our savior, after all."

"We won't be separated, right? I want to keep Taryn with me." I insisted.

"Of course. Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way." He said, then he walked forward to hug Taryn around the shoulders. "I want to make your days here comfortable, Taryn. We will take good care of you. You have my word. You have brought us all a great gift. And we appreciate all that has happened, and all there is to come. You are just as much an important part of the prophecy as the one you love."

"Um...thanks..." Taryn said, a bit confused as to why the Jeweler was looking at him like that.

"The rooms have all been appropriately sunproofed. The shades close automatically at dawn. If you have any needs at all, my servants will be on call. Simply ask."

And with a nod of his head, the Jeweler signaled Bookworm to take us back out of the greenhouse as I watched the Jeweler lightly wave his hands in time with the classical music playing on the speakers above. It was a strange and awkward meeting, to say the least. But he seemed to be a little bit more sane than Zero was during our first meeting. So maybe I should prepare myself to be...'broken open', or whatever. I don't even know what he means by that. But...I'm so desperate for answers at this point, I'd be more than willing to humor him for a little bit.

I don't want more pain and agony. I don't want the burden of a 'purpose'. I just want to find some safe place for Taryn and I to go, where we can escape the horrors of the world and share our love for the rest of eternity. That's what I signed up for, that's what I want. The sooner I find this Vampire Dawn message and give it to whoever wants or needs it....I can go back to loving my boyfriend. To feeling his warmth beside me. Holding his hand. Tasting his kiss.

That's all I ever wanted. That's all.

The rest of daylight and darkness be damned....