Blueblood 3: The Others - 14. If This Was A Movie, It's A Bad One

Amasis woke and was a little groggy and said something that the translator couldn’t understand. From his inflection, in his original language form of “damn.” He rubbed his chest. “Yes. Knowing it will hurt and experiencing were two different things.”

I smiled and nodded. “Yes.” We helped him sit up more. “I agree with that first remark…whatever you said…everyone that goes on the serum says an equivalent.”

Colin smiled also at Amasis. “You look better!”

He did! He had moisture in his eyes. Not a lot, that would come with the doses, but he had some. I looked at his head and realized he still had stumble there. I smiled at him. “This is the start of a new life for you.” I rubbed his head where the stumble scratched my fingers. “Going for a new look?”

Amasis grinned as he ran his hand over his head. “I had the same look for a long, long time.” He chuckled. “I thought I’d grow it out.”

I nodded. “That could be nice to see. Was your hair curly or straight?”

Amasis shrugged with a smile. “I don’t remember.”

Colin had brought a mirror and held it up in front of Amasis’ face. “Have you seen yourself as a vampire? You’re not that creature anymore.”

Amasis looked and he pulled an eyelid and looked in his own eyes. He smiled and then his eyes opened wider as he held his chest. “It’s gone!”

“What’s gone?” I asked.

“Every night, I woke with the sensation I just got used to,” Amasis said. “I don’t crave my nutrients!”

Colin nodded. “Yes, it’s gone. Tomorrow, we’ll give you something solid to eat.” He leaned closer. “You'll know if eating camel is a good thing.”

Amasis chuckled but looked at me. “You did this…for me?”

I smiled. “You mean the serum?”

“I mean, you had it before,” Amasis said. “You knew how it hurt and yet you went off the medication, knowing it would hurt again…you did it to prove a point to me.”

I shrugged with a nod. “It was to show you. That was easier than explaining it all.”

Amasis smiled and hugged me. “Thank you.” He hugged Colin. “I can tell you the truth. I’ve never had friends before.”

That struck me wrong. “You are surrounded by people.”

Amasis nodded. “I had people that worshipped me, I had people that feared me because they believed I was a god.” He shook his head. “There are things that are fuzzy for me to remember, but I keep hoping someone would stay. Faces merge and no one was there for me. I gave the kiss to those I thought would stay.” He looked sadly at us. “I thought Nabia would turn out to be that one, but she was showing signs that she too will go out and disappear.”

I nodded. “Well, you didn’t give us that kiss. We’re not leaving you.”

Amasis smiled. “I believe you.” He looked at us puzzled again. “I liked the fact that you were never scared of me.”

Colin looked surprised. “Why would we be scared of you?”

Amasis looked at me. “Because you knew I wasn’t a god.” He sighed. “Every one of these people have known me all their lives. Their parents knew me, their grandparents knew me and I never changed. I didn’t grow old and I didn’t die. They knew I was a god. The ones that didn’t know me as a god were thieves and evil men. They would steal from me, if I let them. My forces defeated them and life was the same.” He smiled. “It’s nice for someone to see me as a man.” He pointed to his head. “That’s why I’m growing my hair. I want a change.”

“What about Nabia?” I asked.

Amasis nodded. “Nabia was different.” He smiled at a memory. “She’s beautiful, but she was once so much more than she is now. She also saw me as a god. I got to know her and her fear of me turned to love. She once saw being loved by a god was special. Then she knew me as her husband and then she saw me as a man, but not quite…not a whole man. I didn’t age. I gave her the kiss to bring her to what I believed was the afterlife. She was happy for a while, but she is nearing the end. I know she will leave me.”

I nodded. “Well, if she takes the serum, maybe she’ll change her mind,” I said. “She’ll be free to go out and see the world again.’

Amasis nodded. “I hope so.”

The sun rose again and then set. We began the injection again. This time, Nabia was there. She watched in horror as Amasis suffered. Colin, George, Burke and I watched, too. This was not an easy process to witness. I saw the conflict in Nadia's eyes. She hated to see him suffer. I also knew she understood that in order to be free again, she would have to go through the same agony. Finally, she covered her eyes, shook her head and left the chamber. The problem was, I had a cold chill down my spine because I could sense what she was wrestling with. She didn’t think she could do this. I wanted to go after her, but I didn’t want to leave Amasis. I had promised I wouldn’t. I looked at Burke. “Can you have my mother or Gabriella find Nabia so they can talk to her?”

Burke nodded. “Sure.” He rushed out of the chamber.

My mother came to where we still sat with Amasis. “I don’t know what to tell you.” She said sadly. “She’s locked herself in her chamber and won’t answer.”

Colin looked concerned. “Can’t we force it open?”

I looked at him. “She’s queen. No one will dare.”

Colin frowned. “I will!”

“You forced mine open.” I nodded and then remembered the crashing. “How’d you do that, anyway?”

He waved back at a heavy statue of a cat. “They’re more than just decorations; very heavy.” He thrust his arms in a thrusting motion.

I was worried about what I was afraid she was going to try to do. Why I thought she might be is because of what she’d seen. She watched Amasis suffer and in spite of this being something that would free her, she was afraid.

It was over an hour before Colin came back. “She’s gone.”

“Gone? Gone, as in not here?” I said hoping.

“As in not here,” Colin said. “We’re sending people to look for her.”

One of those people looking was her own son.

Amasis went through the pain and slept again. It was after sunrise when Amir came to me slowly. Tears in his eyes as he held a linen garment. I knew it had been worn by Nabia.

I knew it. It was a lead weight in my gut, heavy with the knowledge of what it meant. I rose from the pillow. “Don’t say…”

Amir nodded as he was now crying more. “She did.” He held out a parchment. “Here’s what she left.”

Okay, I don’t pretend to read this, but I had the translator and scanner. For me, it was all scrawl from the beginning, but I ran the scanner over the parchment and looked at the little screen. Her note said to forgive her and she was sorry, but she couldn’t take the medication and she couldn’t live like this anymore. I sighed looking over at the sleeping Amasis. I looked at Amir. Amasis lost a wife, but Amir lost his mother! How would I feel? “I’m sorry, Amir,” I said softly and hugged him tightly. “I am so sorry.” I hated what he was going through. I also dreaded how I would have to tell Amasis.

Colin shook his head when he came back and I told him what they’d found out. George had given Amir something to sleep and sent him to a chamber to sleep. He would be ready at sunset to do the same for Amasis if needed. It might delay Amasis’ treatments. “I don’t understand,” Colin said sadly. “She had a way out.”

I nodded and showed Colin the translation of the note. “She didn’t think she would be able to do the serum,” I said. “We knew this might happen. We could offer only a continued life down here. She couldn’t do that either.” I waved at Amasis. “He knew it was going to happen.”

Colin shook his head. “We could have done something!” He said angrily. “I would have come up with a way to get her out of here: taken her to England, New York…anywhere other than here. She didn’t have to do this!” He said angrily. “George has refined the process! It doesn’t hurt any more with the discs!”

My mother came in when he was saying that. “She was very, very sad, Colin.” Mom said. “Gabriella and I have spoken with her many times. We told her what the world was like and how taking the serum let her have the freedom to go out there. She just…” she shrugged, “…couldn’t see it.”

I nodded. “When she saw Amasis suffer tonight. I knew.” I said frustrated. “I knew what she was going to do!” I said angrily.

Colin nodded. “So, did he.” He waved at the sleeping form of Amasis. “He said so.”

“This may hurt him more than taking the serum,” I said. “I think he really loved her.”

Mom nodded. “She was twenty-three when she married Amasis. She was twenty-five when Amasis made her a vampire.” She thought. “Amir is twenty-eight. She’s live half of her life down here.” She looked at Amasis. “She couldn’t do it for thirty to fifty years. How did he do it for nearly three thousand years and keep his sanity!?”

I looked at Amasis. “He’s got a strong mind and a strong will to live,” I said in pity. “Hopefully, that will to live will carry him through this.”

We lounged around a low table on big pillows to plan what to do next. Willie, Alex, Chuck, and Shelly were continuing to ask others in the villages. They also looked for other tunnels and saw where they went. They were always looking for anything that said the Old Ones. Mark was helping to search the Internet for activity with Tad Morsi and his brother, General Rafa Morsi. The problem was also that we needed power! A power cable was suggested, but even if we had one, where was the power being carried from? Amir had a generator in his village. We needed more than that. Colin suggested getting another more powerful generator and bringing it down to Amasis’ City.

“Then we’ll have to deal with fumes and ventilation,” Mark said. “A generator that can produce that much power will consume fuel. Then we’re talking about bringing fuel down here and where to store it…”

“Is there a way to have….Buddy…” Colin pointed in the direction of Amir’s village. “…run on battery power like our little computers and devices? They are solar powered charged cells. Is there a geothermal generator? Anything to help.” He looked at George.

George shook his head with a sad chuckle. “Oh, no, the human body I know. Vampires, I know. Disease and injuries, I know. Engineering? No.”

“What’s the nearest big city to here?” I asked.

“All along the Nile,” Stan said. “The nearest…anything of size is Markaz El Adwah. That’s a good…” he thought a moment. “…twenty to thirty miles…” he thought again. “…west?” He waved his arm. “We’re in the desert!”

“There are villages near here.” I pointed out.

Colin shook his head. “Basically, they are tents. A lot of them; Amir has one of the few…semi-permanent structures. It can be broken down if needed when needed to move. They put those villages there because of the underground water source and access to the tunnels to here.”

“How do these villages support Amasis’ City?” I asked.

Colin shrugged. “I guess that’s why they don’t have chickens, they need…” he tried to remember, “…what do chickens eat?”

“They’ve done it for thousands of years this way,” Willie said. “Only now are they starting to lose the young people in the villages. The big cities offer a more tempting life.” He looked at Alex. “How many men do you say Amasis has now?”

Alex thought. “A few hundred?” He shook his head. “And that’s from all three villages like what Colin described.”

“There are farms along the Nile that do support this city,” Colin said. “But they are decreasing in number.”

“Amasis’ City is dying?” I asked.

“They are losing people.” Willie nodded. “Eventually, Amasis will either go up to the surface to find somewhere else to live.”

I looked at my watch. Amasis would wake up soon. A heavy weight was in my gut knowing what I had to tell him about Nabia.

“This city…as wonderful as it was and as amazing as it…” Colin said, “…will end.”

“With the threat of Rafa Morsi added, Amasis may not have a choice about staying.” I groaned. “A lot of people will lose a lot more than just a god. They may lose their reason for existing. This has been their lives for over two thousand years!” I looked at Colin pleading. “We have got to find a way to help them!”

Colin leaned closer to me. “Devon.” He took a deep breath. “I know you love Amasis.” I know my eyes widened and he held his fingers my lips. “No, listen…” he smiled. “You do that. That’s who you are.” He grinned. “You have people here that you fell in love with. You did in New York and at Thornwood.” He waved at Willie. “Take Willie, if left up to me, he’d still be in that abandoned subway station feeding on rats!” Colin looked up seeing Willie look embarrassed. “Sorry, Willie.” Willie just nodded and waved that it was okay.

“You brought me to see Willie!” I said. “I didn’t know about him!”

“Yes, but you made me see he couldn’t stay there.” Colin pointed out. “Because of you, we took him from there. You gained his trust and got him to let George examine him and we got him help. Now, you call him Dad! I told you he was like my father, you made him your father…by law! Then there was Edwin. You talked him into the serum. There was Matt, you talked him into the serum and got to know why he was resistant.” Colin looked at Wayne. “And there’s him!” He pointed at Wayne. “He was a wild vampire. I would just have killed him be done with it…”

“He gave himself up!”

“Yeah, but you charmed him. You got him to trust you when he was a wild vampire even before he got the serum.” Colin said. “I would have gotten the samples and gotten rid of him.” He shook his head. “Not you.”

Wayne was nodding. “You did get through to me. I did trust you even then.”

Colin nodded smiling. “You’re doing the same with Amasis. I love him, too. He is a nice man. I’m not talking about romantic love for any of them, but you do love them! You love Amasis; the human being. You did with everyone here! You care about Amir and the others.” He frowned. “But, look…wouldn’t it be easier to move this one vampire? We free him and get him out of here. We take him back to New York, or take him to London.” He waved at the underground city. “It will be a shame for this to end, but it may have to. These people can pursue lives elsewhere.”

I waved in the direction of Amasis. “He won’t know how to deal with all that!”

Colin nodded. “We’ll be there for him. We’ll help him. He already trusts you.” He waved at Stan. “Stan’s getting those scrolls on the hard drive…”

Stan grinned. “Downloaded to Buddy.” He clarified.

Colin nodded and grinned. “Whatever…I’m saying….we’ll continue to look. There may be more down here, but we may have to get Amasis away soon; for his own safety.”

“The Old Ones were here,” I said. “The Others may still be here.”

Colin nodded. “And you were right to come here. We found out a lot about those vampires. Almost everything ends.”

“No!” I said angrily slamming my fist on the table. “They have lived here so long, we come and in a few weeks only to witness the end of this?” I waved at the chamber and the surrounding city. “I won’t believe that. I can’t believe that!”

Mom leaned over the table. “Honey, you may not believe it, but that doesn't mean it’s not going to happen.” She smiled sadly at Willie. “I know, as wonderful as life is now…we will one day be apart. We will end.” Willie nodded bringing her hand to his lips and he smiled back at her. She looked at Colin and me. “You two…will end. Everything ends.”

Colin swallowed and nodded. He looked again to me pleading that I understand. “Even if Amasis has a lot in his treasury, it will stop. He needs an export. Trade. That’s just business.” He sighed. “He doesn’t have that. There is no future for Amasis here. I think he knows that, as well.”

I nodded. “Fine.” I was in short frustration and got up. Yes, I was mad. I began walking out and heard Colin’s footsteps behind me hurrying to catch me.

“Wait!” He said evidently having said it before and I hadn’t heard him.

I felt him take my arm and he forced me to turn around. “What?” I asked.

“Why are you angry? We won’t leave him here. I swear. Hell, he can have a bedroom next to ours! I don’t intend to leave him.”

“You know?” I said narrowing an eye at him making him back up as he looked shocked. “I hate movies like this.”

Again he was a little blindsided by the derailment of my train of thought. “Movies? Like this?” He was searching in his own mind for what I was talking about and finally gave up. “What!?” He finally asked.

“Okay, here’s an example.” I began. “I saw this movie…there was the little gorilla that spoke sign language with a couple of humans on a project, she happened to be from an area in the Congo where she had seen evidence of a lost city. She painted pictures that had the eye in it. Solomon’s diamond mines or something. That proved to a human she knew where it was because of the eye. She and her…humans go there and find this lost city that no one could find for thousands of years! They get there and that very day is the day a volcano blows and wipes the whole city away!” I said. “The whole thing! The city, the mines, and diamonds. Why that day? Why not render the whole thing moot by blowing up a year before or a hundred years before? Or even next year!”

Colin smiled as I ranted. “Because there’d be no movie? Drama?”

I nodded and began to move on. “Well, I don’t like this movie. This city has been here a long, long time. The United States hadn’t been formed! The land was there, but George Washington’s great-great-grandparents hadn’t even been born when this city was up and running! We get here and within a couple of weeks, it’s going to die.”

Colin chuckled as he tried his best not to, but stopped me from going on. “Devon, this isn’t a movie.”

“Damned right it’s not.” I patted him quickly on the chest (he was unhurt and I never would hurt him) and grumbled. “I’d demand my money back if I saw this lousy movie.”

Colin grabbed my shoulders and made me look again at him. “First, we didn’t kill this city. We just happened to be here. Second…” he looked at the cave. “…the city’s not dead.” He thought of how to say it. “…it’s coughing right now, it’s not dead yet.” He hugged me. “Third…” he grinned kissing me. “…I have got a lot of movies to watch to catch up with you!”

I nodded. “Yes, you do.”

“I don’t want Amasis to give this up, but there is no solution I can see. We won’t leave him.” Colin said again. “We still have time here and more research and need to find evidence of The Others.”

I nodded and gave Colin a smile. “You know I’d never love anyone else.”

Colin nodded hugging me. “I trust you, Devon. You’ve got a big heart, I know you love me. I don’t doubt it one bit.” He looked sheepish. “It’s the others I don’t trust.”

I nodded. “I can’t help how I feel.”

Colin nodded kissing me. “It’s okay. I feel I can trust Amasis. He’ll need you very soon to deal with Nabia’s suicide.” He hugged me tighter. “Just be careful.” He rubbed me on the chest. “That’s my heart in there. Take care it doesn’t get hurt. I love you, Devon, very much.”

I nodded kissing him. “I know. I love you.” I said hugging him tightly.

Colin nodded. “I know.”