Blueblood 4: Dracula - 8. The Symphony of Deceit Begins

It was after Colin and I went to our bedroom I confronted him. “Are you worried about Christian?”

“Yes!” Colin said and grabbed my arms. “Honey, I love you. I’m not worried that he could steal you from me, I’m worried that he may not be as innocent as you think.”

I nodded. “Okay, I respect that, but you can’t admit that he might be just what he claims to be?”

“Can you admit that he could be really a bad idea? Maybe, he is just…bad?” Colin asked simply.

I shook my head. “I don’t feel that. You said you didn’t feel anything.”

Colin nodded. “And that’s what’s worrying me! I felt nothing.” He turned and began to pace in his circle. “He was too practiced and perfect!”

I looked at him. “Perfect?”

“That’s my point! No one’s perfect!” Colin said. “I can’t sense a thing.” He shook his head. “The one I got anything from, was Alin.”

“Alin?” I shook my head. “He’s one of the good guys.”

Colin raised an eyebrow. “Is he?” Colin was doing his pace and stopped to look at me. “On a simple deception, he doesn’t have to do much.” He shrugged. “I dismissed a lot because I thought he was scared.”

“Of Iilya.”

Colin nodded. “I thought so, but Alin didn’t change with Christian.” Colin did the turn again away as he tried to work things in his head. “I am not psychic either, but I know what I felt. And that Cragen guy, he was a little too polished.” He shook his head. “Things are not what they want us to think they are. There is a lie somewhere.”

“Who would do that?”

“Not a who, but the whole situation is just…off,” Colin said. “It’s just what we expected it to be, wasn’t it?”

I was trying to follow him. “I wasn’t looking for him.”

“Weren’t you?” Colin asked. “Say it. You were looking for Dracula.”

“I was hoping I might meet him.” I nodded. “Sure.”

“You were caught up in this...tortured vampire. I was too. The brooding vampire because of a past he had no choice in.” Colin was saying. “He was that! He wouldn’t use his name. Why?”

“He was ashamed of it,” I said. “I think.”

“Or he wasn’t the vampire we thought he was. I might have picked up on his deception.” Colin said. “Do we know what the man…what Vlad looks like?”

“Just a poor painting that really doesn’t look human,” I said.

“What is the one thing the Christian said they wanted?”

“The serum.” I nodded. “They want that for sure. Were they deceiving us? It could just be that vampire lack of trust again.”

“I’m saying it’s very likely,” Colin said. “They were exactly what we wanted.” He saw my face and frowned. “You love everyone, Devon!” I started to protest that statement, but he interrupted me. “I’m not complaining, but face it, you do.” He held his hand up to further stop my objection. “That’s not a bad thing, baby, but you take people at their word. You loved Wayne, you loved Gizmo and you’re falling in love with this…Christian and I know it. Not romantically, but the…tortured vampire thing…” He squinted an eye. “Every time he spoke of Gaius, I sensed something more…personal.”

I sighed and a little irritated. “Can I say something now?” I said loudly.

Colin looked a little startled. “Sure.”

“You’re right,” I said glumly. “I was hoping to win Dracula to our side.” I brought him close. “I trust your instincts, Colin.” I nodded. “You’re probably right. You almost always are.”

“Oh,” Colin said and then smiled. “I thought…” he grinned. “Well, it doesn’t matter. I could be wrong.”

“You think he’s really Gaius?”

Colin shrugged a nod. “Kind of.”

I shook my head. “When you’re that sure…so adamant about something, I can’t say you’re wrong.” I shrugged. “If you feel that strongly, I have to admit…I don’t know.”

“We supposed to give this Christian the serum,” Colin said thinking out loud. “George said it would be difficult to reproduce the serum, but not impossible.”

“They have Alin with the serum in his blood.” I pointed out.

Colin nodded. “We give it to Christian and they have more. We gave Alin the serum here.” Colin said. “We’re giving Christian the serum there. We have to bring raw serum.”

“What do you think we should do?” I asked.

“Having vampires on the serum would stop them from feeding on anyone,” Colin said. “We bring just enough for a dose. That should stop Christian from feeding off anyone. Then we question him.”

I nodded. “Okay. I can give the doses.” I said. “Even the first dose. George should stay secure.”

Colin nodded. “That would be a good idea.”

We got up that afternoon and told George and the others what we thought.

“You think he’s not Dracula?” Stan asked a little disappointed. “I wanted to meet him.”

“We’re saying, he may not be who he claims to be,” I said. “We think he’s after the serum.”

George frowned. “I still think I should give the serum. There could be complications.”

“Has there ever been a complication?” I asked George.

George shrugged and shook his head. “With every medication, there is the chance that the body will reject it, or they could have a paradoxical reaction.”

“Which has never happened,” Colin said. “There is no prediction possible. I think it’s worth the risk until we find out more. Prepare one syringe and we take it to Christian.”

“We’ll need three, in case one is ruined,” I said. “We should give it to Cragen, too.”

It was two days later when Colin and I retraced our steps to the underground fortress. A bunker really. We made our way through the winding tunnels and came to the chamber where we had met Cragen and Christian. Once I had been somewhere, I knew how to get there again. The room was like an elegant study in a nice home as I described before.

Cragen was again in the chair he was in that first night, again reading. He rose when we entered.

“You returned,” Cragen said looking behind us. “Where is your friend?”

Colin didn’t even react. “He was doing something else. Devon here is giving the serum. He’s qualified.”

“That’s good to hear.” The deep voice said behind us again.

Colin and I turned as Christian came in.

Colin looked at Christian. “This does hurt. I’m sure Alin told you that.”

Christian nodded. “He did, but now he’s gained freedom. The pain is worth it.”

“I brought enough for you, too, Cragen,” I said to the other man.

Cragen looked surprised. “You do?”

I looked around. “Where should we do this? You will require rest after the dose starts your hearts again.”

“We have places that we rest during the day,” Christian said. He motioned for us to follow.

We followed a good ways. Like most places that had vampires a while, tunnels had been carved over many years. There were tunnels that went off in other directions. We came to a chamber. I didn’t like this at all. There were in the light of these candelabras…were basic slabs here. There were five empty ones.

“Slabs?” I said. “You don’t use mattresses?” I looked at Christian. “You know you can be comfortable when you rest, but a man with a reaction to venom does change his rest?”

Christian nodded. “I know it now.” He crawled onto one. “They are pretty comfortable. You use one?”

“Why would I? I’m not dead. Our mattress is very comfortable.” I pulled out the two syringes. “I only have serum for two…maybe three,” I said. “There are five slabs. One was Alin’s?”

“I have associates out there. They can get their serum later.” Christian said.

I nodded and smiled. “The first injection goes directly into the heart to get it to beat again. The next night we can do it in the arm.”

Christian smiled. “That sounds…” he took a deep breath. “…just delightful.” He began to remove his shirt. “You have the dose I need.”

I nodded. “I do.”

Both men were muscular enough, though I saw that Christian was more muscular and scarred from battles than Cragen’s body. I didn’t think Cragen was a soldier at all. I started with Christian and cleaned the area. Then inserted the syringe and inserted the serum. I did the same with Cragen. Both men were soon wracked with pain.

Alin came in soon after we gave the serum to these two. He looked uncomfortable as Christian reacted from the pain. He looked as if it hurt him.

I walked over to Alin. “It’s always hard to watch someone you love suffer,” I said quietly.

Alin looked startled at my statement. “Love? Who, me? Who do I love?”

I pointed at Christian. “Him.”

“I had a girlfriend, remember? Linda.” Alin said defensively.

I nodded. “And, I think, him.” I pointed to Christian. “He doesn’t age and won’t leave you. That’s why George is with Burke.” I said and shrugged. “Then again, he had David when I first met him. Only he was human.” I said. “Colin thinks that without the restrictions of the moral right and wrong, we give in to things we wouldn’t normally given the amount of time we have. George did.”

Colin walked up behind Alin. “Who is he?” He asked pointed to Christian. “He’s obviously a soldier at one time.”

“He’s Christian,” Alin said sensing he was in trouble.

“But that’s not true,” Colin said. “Don’t forget, I can do what Christian does. I can read people. He doesn’t give off anything. He hides something. Care to tell me what that is?”

“Who’s Iilya? I don’t think he’s what you say, either.” I said as I walked to a coffin. “As a matter of fact…” I said sniffing a slab. “I get the feeling that this is his.” I waved at the slab. “He gave off a particular scent, and that’s what I smell from here.” I looked at Colin. “Gabriella or Alex could confirm this.”

Colin nodded. “They could.” He looked at Alin. “Women really rule the world, you know?” He grinned. “But men are capable of using love to rule others just like they do.

I chuckled. “Yes, because behind great men, there is always someone that loves them. Women have used what talents they have to influence men and policy since the dawn of time. For those like Colin and me, it would be a man, but…still the same thing.”

“He is not Vlad,” Colin said. “Who is he?”

Alin was looking very nervous. “I can’t.” He said weakly. “I’ve only known him as Christian.”

“This whole thing was orchestrated to get us to give you the serum,” Colin said. “The oppressed vampire wanting to do what’s best for the others…why?”

“You might have said no,” Alin said. “He didn’t trust you.”

Colin nodded. “But by looking at the ones we did help didn’t tell you we would? We have denied no one. Why would we say no?”

Suddenly I understood it better. “He’s Gaius, isn’t he?”

Alin now looked panicked. “I only know him as Christian.”

I nodded. “What does he plan to do with this serum?”

“He plans to take us forward.” A voice from behind us again said. Why did they do that always behind us?

Colin and I turned to see Iilya standing there.

“Gaius wanted to motivate you into helping,” Iilya said. “Any reluctance would be prompted by a need.”

“Help him do what?” I asked.

“Take our place in world affairs.” Iilya shrugged. “He thought we were cursed.” He waved at the slabs. “We were undead. Then you come over with a medication that changed that. We can walk about and we can interact with men again. We can lead.” Iilya smiled.

“But we don’t want to lead,” Colin said. “The outside world would never let us do that. We remain hidden because they wouldn’t understand.”

“You have humans that work for you,” Iilya said. “They know what you are and still, they work for you and even protect you.”

“Because they got to know us and they know what we’re about,” I said. "They don't work for us, but with us."

“Whatever. Christian is tired of life underground. Just like me. He wants to be in the world again.” Iilya said. “His goals and yours seem to be the same.”

“I don’t understand why you were acting like a bad man,” I said.

“Again, to make you want to do this.” He waved at Christian. ”He was not inclined to trust you.”

“This ploy wasn’t the way to win our trust,” Colin said. “I hate dishonesty and deceit. In many ways, it’s worse than theft to me.”

I remembered something. “You speak English very well. No translators are being used.”

“I speak English, no problem,” Iilya said with a laugh.

“We need him to be honest when he wakes up,” Colin said.

We waited for Christian to wake up after the serum did its job. Christian sat up and rubbed his chest. “That did hurt.”

Colin nodded. “I said it would,” Colin said a little tersely. “I don’t lie, Gaius.”

The man looked at us and nodded. “You figured it out.”

“You were too…perfect,” Colin said. “Why?”

Gaius sat up more. “The fact was, you could say no. I needed this serum. Not just for me, but my son.”

I was startled about another family member being turned. “Your son is a vampire, too?”

Gaius shook his head. “He’s an adult now. He has some effects of being a vampire, but he was born to me and Kirsten about forty years ago.”

“Kirsten is a vampire?” I asked. “We were told we couldn’t have children.”

“She’s not a vampire.” Gaius grinned. “I never got a woman pregnant before, but he is my son. You just have to look at him and you can see it. He has my face.”

I looked at Colin. “George said we couldn’t!”

Colin nodded. “Can we see this son of yours?”

“Nicolae lives with his wife.” He said. “He works at night.” He chuckled. “He’s sensitive to sunlight.”

“He burns in daylight?” Colin asked.

“Not burns like I would, but he does…it’s like a very bad sunburn.” Gaius said. “His children have it too, only not as bad as Nicolae.”

“You were bitten by an Old One?” I asked. “The kind of vampire I showed you the picture of?”

Gaius nodded. “I was in a fevered state for several centuries. And then, one day it began to fade.”

“How long ago?” Colin asked.

Gaius thought. “About three or four centuries ago.”

My mind was going over what could have happened. Colin looked at me. “What are you thinking?”

“Spontaneous Remission?” I speculated.

“What?” Colin asked.

I waved at Christian…or Gaius….whoever he was. “He was bitten by an Old One. He should be a wild vampire!”

Colin nodded. “But he isn’t.”

“That’s my point!” I said. “Yet, his venom and the results of that venom reduced to where he regains his mental faculties and…” I waved at him. “…he created a son!”

“Three or four hundred years is not spontaneous.” Colin gripped.

“But it did reduce!” I took Gaius’ hand. “You’re not lying are you?”

Gaius looked puzzled. “What would that get me?”

“Wait, Amasis was a vampire for thousands of years,” Colin said.

I nodded. “And thousands to millions get cancer. Only once in a while, a person is spontaneously cured! For no real reason other than their body cured themselves.”

“But he’s not cured.” Colin objected.

“But he’s not as sick as he was.” I pointed out. “He was bitten by an Old One and became a wild vampire. Left alone, Wayne may have too in several hundred more years. Then Christian, or Gaius, got to the point where he could think again. Why? I can’t say, but since then and only recently, he was able to father a child. That’s something no vampire I know ever had been able to do.”

“What do you think we need to do? Take him to George?” Colin asked.

I nodded. “He would be the one to say what the why is if there is a why.”

“Do you think with time, Gaius would become…not a vampire?” Colin asked. “George talked about victims that would no longer be turned and the venom getting weaker.”

“We need to find out!” I looked at Gaius. “Would Nicolae come here and meet with us, if asked?”

Gaius nodded. “He visits often. I’m sure he will. Would this serum work on him?”

“We need George,” Colin said and looked at Gaius. “No more with this vampire paranoia, Gaius. You might be the answer we’ve looked for. We’ll be back tonight.”

Colin and I rushed back to the others who were all there waiting anxiously for our return. Everyone was asking their questions at once.

“Before you get excited,” Colin said loud stopping them. “We’re fine. The man’s name is Gaius. He’s the one that he warned us about.”

“Why the…” George asked.

“Wait!” Colin said. “What he told us…he was bitten by an Old One.”

“How could…” George frowned.

Colin looked at him. “What part of wait don’t you get?” Then he pressed on. “Over the centuries, he said his mind came back and get this…he has a son who is not a vampire!”

“Impossible!” George said immediately.

“Why? Isn’t everything there like sperm or something for us?” I asked.

“Yes, but fertilization just doesn’t happen!” George said. "Woman have a limited supply of eggs, but plenty. Men make their sperm."

I nodded. "That's basic biology. Why is there no fertilization?” I asked again.

“It just never did!” George said. “No vampire ever gave birth. The women that were pregnant when bitten just miscarry or the child is stillborn.”

“So, there’s no physical reason they couldn’t have a child,” Colin said. “The woman’s egg was okay?”

George nodded. “Yes.”

“Have you considered spontaneous remission?” I asked.

George was not ready for this. “I’ve not encountered it. It never happened!”

“This venom created a disease. No vampire lived long enough to have a remission. When remissions happen, it’s just in a few cases.” I said. “Other vampires just didn’t do this. He might have!”

“I’d have to see it,” George said doubtfully.

“That’s why we’re back,” Colin said. “Do you have enough equipment to do a DNA scan?”

George nodded. “Sure.”

“Gaius said his son’s name is Nicolae. He’ll be there tonight. We’ll see if he is Gaius’ son and maybe do some tests on both their blood.” Colin said. He nodded with a grin. “This could be the end of our nightmare.”

George nodded. “We’ll see.” He still doubted.