Blueblood 5.1: Red Alert!! - 25. Tattle Tale 2

David wasn’t budging. His arms crossed over his chest in defiance. “What opportunity?” He growled. “We won’t stop the Tattle Tale.” He looked again at Vlad and then he walked forward. “You! You were in that video. You stopped those people at the Transylvania All Hallows Eve thing!”

Vlad nodded, “I did.”

“He prevented a lot of deaths,” Colin added.

“And you were in that video you sent to watch you go through this process,” David said. “You were a vampire!”

“And still am,” Vlad said calmly.

David was a handsome young man with brown hair and brown eyes. About twenty-five years old. “What did you do to Cody?”

Mark sighed, “Okay. If you want this to go that way, fine. We’ll answer your questions.”

Vlad shrugged a smile, “I saved Cody’s life. He and your friends were doing something that were going to get yourselves killed.”

Colin shifted slightly where he was sitting, “I asked him, how many different vampires are there? Do you know?”

“What?” David asked. “There are vampires and people that aren’t vampires. If they drink blood, they’re vampires.”

“Like Daniel?” I asked quietly.

“He was made a vampire!” David said defensively. “He never killed anyone. He refused to be the vampire that drank Human blood.”

“Neither do we,” Stan added.

“There are the source vampires,” Gaius said. “They are immensely old having been around for thousands of years. We call them the Old Ones. There are their victims. They are the Wild Ones, unable to speak or think about anything other than the hunt for blood.”

“Our point is,” Mark began. “It’s a shame your brother felt he had no way out. Would you have killed him if we had a way for him to not be the vampire that drinks blood?”

David wasn’t ready for this. “There is no way.”

Vlad waved at the sun shining in the windows, “We are here. Now. In broad daylight. We don’t drink blood and we don’t burn, but we are vampires.”

David’s eyes narrowed as he looked very suspiciously at us. “So you claim. You want us to stop the Tattle Tale.” He almost growled.

“Wrong,” I smiled. “We want to give you front row seats. So when you write again you have more facts.”

David’s eyes widened when he heard that. “Front row seats.” He repeated to make certain he had it correctly. “I don’t understand.”

Colin nodded and waved David toward a vacant seat on the sofa, “Please, sit and relax.”

Human behavior was constant. There were signs as to what was going on in a mind by subtle movements and gestures. Those folded arms over his chest were now loosening and beginning to lower. His defenses were lowering. “You’re not angry?”

“We’re not happy with it,” Colin admitted with a slight nod. “You gave the world our addresses.” He shrugged. “That’s personal information.”

“However,” I said slightly louder than Colin and then lowered my tone, “what I read was pretty accurate. Observation and facts presented were reported, even if the conclusion was not so accurate.”

Stan grinned, “It was a bit…” he sought a word, “innocent due to ignorance.” He looked at Colin and then to me. “Are we sure this is the best course of action?”

“Absolutely not,” Colin chuckled as he shook his head slightly. “That part of me is screaming for me not to do this.” He shrugged, “Time will tell.”

“We stepped out when we got on the internet and spoke to the various vampires in the many different countries.” I said simply. “Risking exposure when we invited governments to know the truth. Again, when we let selected scientific minds around the world in on the truth.”

“Trust is very difficult for us,” Colin said sadly. “Our nature is to hide and never reveal ourselves to anyone.”

“We are stepping out of the shadows and trusting some additional people carefully,” I said cautiously. “We have a new President we need to let know what’s going on. The previous President knows as to key people in our own government.” I waved at Mark, “Such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mark and Stan are just two of those agents working with us.”

“Why?” David asked. He was relenting more as he sat forward slightly.

“To help people like your brother,” Colin said. “He is not the first person who thought there was no choice. We want people to know there is a choice and we’re offering them one.”

“To do that,” I added. “We need someone to put what we’re doing out there. What you are doing with the Tattle Tales is a way of doing that.”

“You want us to publish the Tattle Tale?” Sarah asked.

“After you approve of what we write,” Blake said a little bitterly.

I shook my head, “No.” I smiled, “I would hope you would be aware of publishing responsibility.” I held a hand up, “If you don’t, you become a yellow journalist like the National Inquirer. Who are your writers?”

Sarah held her hand up and looked a little embarrassed, “I am now. I am majoring in Journalism. Cody was, but since he came back from Romania, he has shifted his focus to a more current events format.”

“Where is Cody now?” Colin asked.

“Oceanside,” David answered. He shrugged, “Carlsbad really.”

Vlad chuckled lightly, “I guess my suggestion for him to leave it alone was a bit much.”

“You can un-suggest, can’t you?” Mark asked.

Vlad’s head wavered slightly in uncertainty, “I’ve not really had much experience with taking away a suggestion.”

“Do you think we need to?” Stan asked Colin and then to me. “Vlad?” He asked Vlad.

Vlad shrugged, “Like I said, I don’t regularly try to undo what I suggest. I may have pushed a little hard. We’ll see.”

Colin nodded with a smile. “I hope you don’t have plans for today. We’ll be flying down to Oceanside. It will be easier if you are there with us.”

“You are flying there?” Blake questioned. “It’s only about two hours by car.”

“If the roads are clear,” I pointed out. “Los Angeles is known for traffic issues. We need to get back to Manhattan for the next part of our trip.”

“And we hope you will be with us on this trip,” Colin pointed out.

“Trip? Where?” David asked.

“We are returning some friends to England, then to Russia,” I said. “Our next big trip will be China.”

“China!?” David balked. “We can’t go to China!”

“Why not?” Vlad asked. “You went to Romania. You have a passport.”

“You want the truth,” Gaius said. “We’re giving you a place on our team to get the truth.”

“While on the team,” I cautioned. “Please don’t reveal our names or information about what we’re doing while there. It could make things…difficult.”

“What is Cody doing now?” Colin asked.

“He’s pretty much lost,” Sarah admitted. “Since he came back, he’s floundered.”

Colin nodded, “This is a way to help him, too.”

 

We quickly went back to the Bob Hope Airport with the three from Pasadena and flew to Carlsbad. When they boarded the plane, they were trying to act like it was no big deal, but I saw the expression on Sarah’s face. So did Mark. “Wait until you see their other plane.”

Stan chuckled, “Their really big plane!” He said sitting down next to Mark.

“And their really, really big mansion!” Mark added.

“Which they know about as they gave the address to everybody,” Stan said opening his laptop.

David looked at Stan’s laptop, “That’s a different laptop than I’ve seen. It’s thicker.”

Stan grinned, “It’s an extension of Buddy.”

Mark’s eyes rolled, “And here we go again.” He grumbled.

“Mark,” Stan chastised Mark. “We have an amazing computer I named Buddy. It’s the best computer and network in the world!” He patted the laptop. “I’m trying to create a more portable version, so we don’t have to drag the larger CPU when we go on location.”

“You go on location to do what?” David asked.

“Help those in each place come out of the darkness,” I said. “We possibly number in the millions world-wide. Every country, every culture have vampires. All hidden.”

“All vampires aren’t good,” David protested.

“No, they aren’t,” I agreed. “Not all people are nice.” I shrugged. “There are vampires we have no choice but to kill them. The ones we call the wild vampires are simply predators. They are only concerned with getting blood. The only factor common with all of them is blood. The ones who are criminals become more dangerous. Dr. George Holms wants to put all vampires on the medicine we take to allow us freedom of movement during the day and eating food again. We’ve gotten a few that are criminals and taken their ability to turn others into vampires away. Vampires are made of doctors, lawyers, housewives, priests, teachers, miners, young, old…everyone. Almost all are victims.”

“What you think you know about vampires,” Colin added. “Forget it. You’ll learn the truth.”

Stan grinned, “Who was your programmer for the computer?”

“Blake and I are,” David replied. “Why?”

“It’s pretty good,” Stan smiled and typed again. He turned his laptop so they could see his screen. “I know you know what this is.”

David’s eyes grew and Blake’s mouth dropped open as he only said, “Wha…”

I looked at a screen that showed a rotating word, “Tattle Tale.” The gothic lettering font was red over a black screen. A screensaver.

Stan reached around and tapped a single key and the screen showed what looked like a sheet of paper with a modern font, apparently to look like a newspaper. “I commend you both!” Stan nodded with a smile. “You thought of many ways to protect yourselves. That excuse of needing to change before we got to the plane…” he nodded, “You used to type up this message telling what was happening. If you were to disappear, this message would go out to all who were reading Tattle Tale. You included the police…” he grinned bigger, “and the FBI!” His eyebrows wiggled amused. “Which is interesting as Mark and I…and some others are the FBI!” He chuckled at Mark. “They also included the NSA.” He shook his head. “It will go out if you don’t enter a code in twelve hours.”

“A Deadman Switch!” Mark smiled.

“Precisely!” Stan nodded.

“How?” Blake waved at the screen. “Our server is encrypted, and password protected! No one can break in!”

Stan was patiently smiling, “Nothing is totally protected.” He shook his head, “Buddy,” he patted his computer again, “is far more powerful a computer using codes and language I taught him. He’s broken through some of the most sophisticated encryption and firewalls. No government can restrict us.”

“Any program that is used by agencies for word search by telephone, email or text,” Mark nodded in Stans’ direction, “Stan helped for years to improve. Any computer foreign or domestic can be monitored.”

“Breeching your system was child’s play,” Stan said proudly. He held his finger up to make a point. “I also have control. I can stop your program. I can even disable your entire computer or erase the whole thing. I won’t.”

“This is legal!?” David gaped.

Mark gave a grudging nod and shrug, “It’s necessary. How are we going to protect ourselves and others if we don’t know?”

“You have got to trust us!” I said simply. “We’re strangers to you.” I looked at Colin. “Trust is hard for everyone! It just seems to be increased by the venom just as it does our senses.”

Colin smiled and nodded, “It does.”

 

The flight was very short. We had barely gotten in the air when we came back down. Carlsbad and Oceanside were almost the same cities. Almost. Really, they were just smaller cities attached to San Diego! What I saw was they were beach cities. A lot of shoreline with white sandy beaches.

Again, the time of day and Buddy told us Cody was online at his office at the ABC News station Channel Ten. Again, renting an SUV, we drove quickly to the station.

We walked in the entrance and spoke with the receptionist.

“We’d like to speak with Cody Billingsley,” Blake said.

It must have been normal to have people just come in and ask for one of them. She gave us directions to his office he shared with three other reporters. Only one other, a woman was here at the moment.

“Hi, Cody,” Blake greeted quietly.

Cody had changed from the last time I’d seen him. I had seen him dressed as a tourist in Romania. The stocking covered head covered a lot of blond hair. Now, he was clean shaven, hair combed and in a white shirt and wearing a loose tie of blue. He looked adult, opposed to how he looked the year or so ago. He looked up surprised to see Blake. He saw David, Sarah…then he saw Mark and Stan. His eyes widened as he saw and recognized Vlad! He jumped up, backing away defensively holding his hand up swearing, “I haven’t told anyone anything! I swear!”

The woman at the other computer looked up concerned.

Vlad smiled, “I know you didn’t.”

It worked on dogs, so I tried it with Cody. I felt calm and pushed it in Cody’s direction, “Relax.” I really needed to work on this. The woman reporter just returned to her gaze to the computer screen and began working again. Cody stood a little straighter and sighed, his whole demeanor relaxed.

Colin bumped me lightly in the side and smiled at me. “Damn.” He said softly. “We know where your talents are.”

Vlad walked a bit closer to Cody. “I asked you to leave it alone,” he jutted his head in David’s direction. “I didn’t suggest he do the same. I messed up your life.” He smiled at Cody. “I’m sorry.”

“Is there somewhere we can go to talk?” Colin asked.

Cody didn’t even hesitate, “High/Low. It’s across the street. I need a drink.”

Colin waved Cody toward the door, “Lead the way.”

 

Oceanside and Carlsbad were beach cities or towns. It wasn’t just a restaurant or bar. There were many across the world the same way. It was both. Applebee’s, TGI Friday, Ruby Tuesday and many other copycat establishments. The bars and lounges would open later, but we had a seating area in the section off the bar area.

Before we even sat, Vlad looked at Cody. His voice did the resonating as he said, “You’re free to talk to us.” He waved around the table. “All of us.”

Cody let out a breath he must have been holding a while and he relaxed even more. “What did you do to me?”

We sat around a round table. A waitress came and took our drink orders. Cody ordered a scotch.

“You know who I am,” Vlad said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” Cody nodded.

“You know what I am,” Vlad added as he continued. Then he waved at Gaius and all of us, except Blake, Sarah, and David. “And what they are.”

“Them, too?” Cody his eyes widened.

“All of us are,” Colin said.

The waitress brought our drinks. Cody took his shot glass shakily, threw his head back and swallowed the whole thing! I saw the grimace as I knew it burned!

“Another, please,” Cody said with a voice that said he felt the burn. The waitress’s eyes grew in surprise.

My eyebrows rose as did Colin’s. I saw Mark was smiling. It was a serious situation, but Cody’s reaction was funny. I smiled at the waitress, “We just gave him some difficult news. I promise, he won’t be driving.” The waitress nodded and went to get the other scotch.

“We’ll pay for this. It’s a lot to take in,” Colin admitted. “You have to understand,” he waved at us. “You would have killed all that are vampires, with no real knowledge of who they are. That would include us. You want to protect people from a threat, but that isn’t us.”

Cody looked at Vlad, “What did you do to me?”

I smiled sadly at Cody, “He hypnotized you.”

Cody frowned, “He didn’t wave a pocket watch in my face. He just told me to leave it alone.” He shook his head. “That simple statement hypnotized me!?” His head wavered as he thought, “I’ve never been hypnotized before.” He threw his hands out in frustration. “I’ve never even seen a man hypnotize anyone except on television!”

“I did just a few minutes ago when I told you to relax,” I said. “Each of us have the ability to hypnotize. Emotion is the key component of a vampire. It’s used frequently to unlock forgotten memories by a therapist or calm a victim to be fed on.” I shrugged. I waved at Colin, “Now he reads emotions better than anyone. Using it, he can tell if they tell the truth.” I waved at Vlad, “He can convince anyone to do what they never dream of. He’s just been doing it for several hundred years. He can do it without a lot of effort.”

The waitress came with Cody’s drink putting it down. This time Cody didn’t need to drink it quickly. His hand was steadier as he sipped the precious liquid that gave him courage. “So, why are you here? With me?”

Colin sat back and smiled, “We want to offer you a chance to do what you started.”

“Your Tattle Tale is a good bit of writing,” I smiled. I looked at Sarah, “I know you wrote it,” I looked back at Cody, “but you gathered the facts.”

“I gave that up,” Cody said bitterly. “I had no choice.”

“If we give you the choice,” Vlad began, “Could you do it again?”

Cody grudged a shrugging nod, “I have a job.”

“What is it you do?” Colin asked. “You’re a reporter, I understand. You gather the information Channel Ten’s anchors report to millions in San Diego and surrounding cities.”

Cody couldn’t look at us, “I cover everything from political corruption to military issues from the Marines’ Camp Pendelton to the Navy!”

“That must be hard for you,” I said sincerely. “Do they talk to you?” I asked and leaned forward. “I mean, do the officers or military enlisted talk to you? You have never even been a cub scout. They probably don’t trust you. You aren’t military or former military.”

Cody’s eye narrowed and asked suspiciously, “How do you know that?”

I chuckled and waved at Cody, “It’s written on your whole body!”

“Tell us you’re happy there.” Colin said and then held his hand up quickly, “Remember! I can tell if you lie.”

“I don’t get it,” Cody almost wailed. “First you tell me to let it go, now you want me to pick it back up.”

“Because you went in like un unguided missile!” I stated firmly. “You had no target that put you and others in danger. You could have killed innocents! We’re offering you a target.”

For the next hour and a half we caught Cody up with some things. Reassuring Cody, David, Blake, and Sarah they would be an independent source of information.

“But know this!” Colin said quickly. “If you don’t have the facts, and if what you report is wrong, we will publish what the facts are, and you will be discredited.”

“Do you want to go to China?” I asked.

“When?” Cody asked.

“In a week or so,” Stan grinned. “After a stop in Manhattan, Charleston…a quick stop in England and Russia, then we go to China!”

Cody shook his head, “For how long? You were in Romania for months!”

“We never know,” Colin shrugged. “The shortest trip was to Egypt.”

“I have an apartment,” Cody was working it out in his mind. He looked at Blake, “You are in your last semester at Caltech!” He looked at Sarah. “You’re in your first year.”

The situation was tricky. Cody did not want to be on our payroll. He didn’t want it to seem that we were paying him to write on the Tattle Tale. We would have to provide him with room and board, but he didn’t want us to pay him. He reasoned that he could not be unbiased if he took money. Finally, it was decided that Cody would take the week, finalize things with the apartment, his job. He and Sarah would be going with us to China.

 

We had known this might take more than a day, so we had booked a hotel in Pasadena. I looked at the exterior of this hotel. The Langham Huntington. We dined at the Raymond 1886 restaurant at the hotel. Colin told Cody, Blake, David, and Sarah we were paying and to order whatever they liked.

Unbeknownst to the others I did go to the hostess and asked if I could speak to the chef that was preparing tonight’s meal. I smiled as the young woman approached me.

“Just a word of warning,” I grinned and pointed as my friends were sitting down. “See that rather large man with the dark hair?”

The chef looked and nodded.

“That’s Colin Wentworth,” I began and wondered how I could explain it. “He’s my husband and whatever he orders....” I began grinning, “don’t just double it, but triple it!”

I watched her eyes grow. “Triple it?”

I nodded, “Consider quadrupling it!!” I chuckled. “He has a very big, big appetite and a fast metabolism. I know you use portion controls but let them go for him. We pay for his extra portion. Please. I don’t want him moaning from hunger pangs!”

The chef laughed and put her hand on my arm. “I think we can handle it.” She looked at the rest at our table. “Any other things about anyone else?”

I shook my head, “No, the rest of us is normal.”

This was a five-star hotel! The guests’ special needs were met! It said so on the menu! I sat by Colin.

“What did you do?” Colin asked with a little suspicion.

“Just warning the kitchen about your appetite,” I grinned and shrugged.

“Prepare yourselves,” Mark warned our four guests. “The man is a bottomless pit!”

Stan nodded, “And that’s not exaggerated!”

Colin sat back a bit, “I’m not that bad.” He said weakly, “Am I?”

I pulled him in for a kiss, “I love you.” I wasn’t answering his question.

Sarah smiled at us, and I knew it was coming, “So,” she pointed at Colin and me. Then pointed at Mark and Stan, “And you two are married.” She pointed at Vlad and Gaius, “And you two are married?”

Vlad nodded, “That’s right.”

“There have been a few marriages here,” Gaius chuckled. He looked at Vlad, “You had two before me. You had three children with your wives. Legitimately.”

Vlad just chuckled, nodded and smiled, “Five pregnancies, three surviving children and grandchildren...” he wavered his head slightly. “I lost count of the grandchildren. You had a wife in the past,” he grudged a shrug, “You have a son with one woman you didn’t marry. And three grandchildren.”

I pointed at Colin, “He had a wife and daughter from the past.”

“Wait until they meet Amasis!” Colin chuckled. “He can’t even remember how many wives and husbands he’s had.”

Sarah smiled a bit sheepishly, “Sorry, but you don’t...” she looked for a word, “None of you act gay.”

I pointed at Vlad and Gaius, “Especially them?”

“Or you and Colin!” Sarah defended. She looked at Mark and Stan. “They are married and in the FBI!?”

Stan grinned and pointed at Mark, “He still is, but I got out because our working together as agents would have been...” he paused.

“More difficult?” Mark offered.

Stan nodded, “To say the least.”

The waiter took our orders.

It was during the meal and Colin began eating his “Filet of Ribeye” with his usual gusto! I was pleased that they did listen to me and at least doubled his portion on his plate. The waiter bent to whisper to me. “We are preparing another plate for him when he gets to the bottom of that one.”

“Good man,” I smiled at him.

Colin was right there and with his hearing, he heard all of it. He grinned at me. “That’s what you did.”

“Yep,” I grinned.

After the second plate arrived, Cody chuckled. “Have you ever gone to one of those restaurants where if you eat this colossal steak everyone at the table eats free?”

“Or maybe go on that show on the Cooking Network,” Blake grinned, “Man verses Food?”

“They could hire him as the host and win every time!” Cody laughed.

“That wouldn’t be fair,” Colin shook his head. “I have an unfair advantage.” He put his fork down. “We’ve enjoyed some light conversations, but I need to warn you. You are determined to do this?”

Our guests looked at each other, but David nodded and said, “We have to warn people. After Caleb died...”

“I know,” Colin nodded. “You are all old enough to join any military where they would put you in the line of fire.” He sighed, “As you are determined to tell people...I was shot twice in Romania. The one would have killed me if Devon hadn’t stopped him.” He took my hand, “Devon almost died when they shot him. Where we will be going is going to be dangerous. They will kill you! Not the vampires, but their network of Chinese Agents.”

Cody’s and Sarah’s eyes widened.

“We could be brought up on charges of spying,” Mark said seriously. “We won’t be, but they can make it seem like we were.”

“It’s their country,” Stan added.

Colin hung his head slightly, “I don’t know.” His head wavered as he looked at me. He waved at the four at our table. “We’re taking them into some dangerous situations. Are we sure this is the right thing to do?”

Cody looked alarmed, “You can’t back out of the offer now!”

I smiled at Colin, “It’s the age thing, isn’t it?”

“They’re just kids!” Colin waved at them.

“You said it yourself,” I pointed out. “I was their age when I enlisted in the military. I went to war. I risked my life to save other lives. I was adult enough for them to put my life at risk.”

Colin nodded, “True.” He looked at our four guests. “This won’t be fun and games. It’s not a video game or some wild adventure. Vampires and humans can kill you!” He waved at Stan and Mark, “These men are trained agents! They learned how to handle themselves.” He waved at Vlad and Gaius, “They have had a long history of handling combative situations. I’ve lived a long time and learned how to deal with it.” He touched me, “Devon served in armed combat.” He waved at the four, “You bragged about killing online, but I insist: you do what we say when. No questions! You agree right now. If you are told to do something, you will do it!”

Cody and Sarah nodded.

“You say it!” Colin demanded.

“We will do what you say,” Cody said seriously.

“We swear,” Sarah nodded her agreement.

Blake grinned, “I’m tempted to take time off from school to do this.” He chuckled, “I won’t because I’m so close to finishing and I want it done.”

David sat forward slightly, “I know this is very serious.” He glanced at his sister, “She and I both know. We watched it destroy our brother. We aren’t risking anyone else.” He looked at Cody, “I’m trusting my sister’s life with you. I know that these men will protect her, but you watch out for her, too. Post your progress daily!”

“Hey!” Cody looked at us, “How are you getting your connection to your own network? If you use China’s network satellites! Won’t they be able to see what we’re doing? They had a big issue with Google.”

Stan smiled, “We will be using Buddy’s satellite connection. Our computers we bring have the ability to use Wi-Fi or the Starlink connections.”

“They don’t need Wi-Fi,” Blake said to be clear.

Stan grinned, “We call ours BuddyLink! That’s why my laptop looks so thick.” He waved overhead at the stars. “There are communication satellites everywhere! Buddy’s coding will allow him to use any satellite to bounce the signals off of.”

“One other thing,” I began. “We are out in the world to help, not to kill. Keep that in mind. Photographs might prove a point but will endanger the people we’re there to help. The monsters out there are Human.”

“Their own country could prove dangerous to the victims,” Colin nodded as he added.

“Pictures from our chapter of the VUN in Manhattan need to be discrete,” I cautioned.

“The VUN?” Blake asked.

Colin grinned at me, “My husband has a thing about names. He calls it the Vampire United Nations.”

Mark chuckled, “He also has a thing about movies and television shows.”

“The point we need to make,” I added. “This is very serious! The lives of many will be effected by what you write. I trust you will keep that in mind when writing. Responsible journalism.”

David nodded, “Believe me, we know.”

Sarah’s head bowed slightly, “We watched our brother suffer. We were determined no one else would have to go through that.”

“Caleb was my friend,” Blake admitted. “We have an education about this threat coming, but we will do the right thing. We don’t want to frighten anyone needlessly. We intend to report the truth.”

Colin nodded, “We just want you to remember, in publishing the truth, you consider the who that truth will effect. Remember they are victims. They aren’t all enemies.” He smiled. “The plane we took today will be back here in...” he looked at me and the others, “next weekend?” He offered. “We need to get things going to go to China.” He looked again at David, Blake, Cody, and Sarah. “Will the week be enough time to pack for you?”

“You need to prepare for being gone a few weeks,” I added. “As it is our plane, you don’t have to worry about what you can and can’t bring.” I smiled. “TSA has no jurisdiction with us.”

Mark chuckled, “The shortest trip for us was to Egypt. We were in Romania for about two months!” He glanced at Colin and grinned, “Does that shiny new plane have a washer and dryer?”

Colin nodded, “Two of each!” He leaned closer to the three newbies. “They’re high efficiency washers, too.” He shrugged, “I’ve never used them, but they’re guaranteed to clean everything!”

My head went back a bit and I asked, “We have to carry the water used? That water adds weight! How is that efficient?”

Colin grudged a nod and explained, “Yes, but the amount of water used is reduced by the machines. When we are at any airport or near a fresh water source we can refill the tanks.” He threw his hands out. “I’m told it uses a third of the amount of water needed and can handle the toughest stains and gently wash delicates. Nothing is perfect. It was built into the plane.”

“It sounds as if you like being a vampire,” Cody observed. “You have money, you eat great food, flying around the world, and are known by some very important people.”

I watched Colin stiffen when he heard that. I reached out and took his hand. I held a hand up to Colin, “Until very recently, it was a nightmarish life that all of us had.” I then shrugged, “Well, almost all of us.”

“We worked hard to have any sort of life,” Colin admitted. “I lived in my nightmare over a century.” He waved at Vlad, “He for over five hundred years.” He shook his head, “One of us for over two thousand years!”

“Always in the dark and eating nothing but blood,” I added. “It’s only because of our friend George we have been able to be out in the world and we want to stop it.” I squeezed Colin’s hand, “Reverse it if possible. We can die. The only benefit is that isn’t a set time.” I shrugged again. “The Earth, the sun and the very universe will eventually die. I just don’t want to see it necessarily.”

Colin nodded quickly, “Have your passports ready and pack.” He pointed at them, “We’re leaving.”

 

The flight back to Manhattan was lengthy but didn’t seem as long to me now. I was using a laptop to check on the Tattle Tale online. Colin’s sigh told me he wasn’t that confident about something. I looked at Colin whose mind was elsewhere other than on the plane.

“Do I need to ask?” I asked him carefully. “You know what will happen next.”

He literally had to physically return to the plane as his eyes came to me in surprise, “What?” It was only a few seconds later when what I asked sunk into his mind for him to understand. His head wobbled a shrugging shake as he smiled. “It’s nothing.”

I nodded, “It was something to make you let out a sigh like that.” I shrugged, “Don’t tell me if you don’t want to, but are you having second thoughts about what we just did?”

His head retracted a little as he laughed lightly, “I’m on fourth and fifth thoughts about what we did. That’s way beyond second thoughts. I’m not immune to lack of trust. These three are so young.”

I nodded, “They are.” I agreed. I waved at the laptop. “This Tattle Tale site is pretty good. They have millions of followers. It’s well written and approaches the whole vampire situation giving suspected evidence and let the reader reach their own conclusions.” I shrugged, “I believe it is Cody that got the facts, but it was Sarah that wrote the articles. Cody, David, and Blake are more sensational. That leans toward the yellow journalistic.”

Colin nodded, “They gave our addresses to the public.”

“They did,” I nodded. “I dare say our protection is pretty tight. They won’t get onto Wentworth’s Island and the manor. The certainly won’t gain entrance to Holms Laboratories. We’re safe as long as the FBI is there, and our President knows.” I smiled, “Not to mention the governments in Great Britian, Romania, and even Russia now. I got the feeling that they saw it as a game.”

Colin’s eyes widened, “A game!?”

“Like Dungeons and Dragons,” I nodded. “Or some other role-playing game people become obsessed with.” I turned to Colin more directly, “The shows on television that want to appear as a reality show to show ghosts or some other paranormal events.”

“We aren’t like that!” Colin defended. “They portrayed us as monsters!”

I nodded again, “We are monsters.” Now it was my turn to sigh. “We aren’t like the show Supernatural with Sam and Dean traveling the country fighting demons, witches and other bumps in the night. Blade! Popular movies about some nasty vampires. The popular media has shows galore about us and we are seen as monsters. We aren’t. We are victims. Anne Rice and her Interview with the Vampire...”

“We’re nothing like those!” Colin protested.

“No, we’re not,” I agreed. “In history vampires are monsters. Say what you will, Bram Stoker wrote a story that gave Dracula a heart. Yes, he was a vampire, but he sought his love! That same thing ran through many shows and fiction.” I motioned between Colin and I, “We’ll be taking the whole religious portions out. I’m not evil. You’re not evil...” I chuckled, “Some proved they were evil as Humans and just became worse as vampires. We’re romanticizing the vampire now.”

“Remember Eva when we were in Romania?” Colin asked. “Like most in that part of the world, they believe in vampires.”

“But won’t talk about it,” I nodded. “It was the same in England. People knew but didn’t discuss it. That needs to change.” I held my finger up making a point. “We knew this was going to be tricky when we made the first broadcast. I mean the very first broadcast from our apartment in Manhattan.” I smiled, “Poor George reminded us again and again how dangerous it was to step out in the world. Are you sensing deception from any of those four?”

“No,” Colin’s head wavered a little. “We’re including nonmembers of the VUN with us going to China. Are we moving too fast?”

I looked at him doubtfully, “You’re thinking we should slow down.” It wasn’t a question.

“I don’t know!” Colin stated firmly. “I’m more worried about China than I was ever worried about England, Romania, or even Russia!”

I nodded, “Because we...” I motioned between him and me, “are basically English. We descended from Europeans. China is totally different. Different culture and especially by government. That’s why we included Amos Shang. He knows China.”

“And we’re taking children to China!” Colin moaned. “What was I thinking?”

“You’re doing it again,” I said simply as I smiled.

“Doing what?” Colin asked surprised.

“Taking responsibility for things you shouldn’t,” I pointed out. I turned his face to look at me. “You didn’t do this. Just like we didn’t bring them to Transylvania. Cody and his friends came on their own. This time we’re bringing them with us. We will provide transportation and even provide meals and housing, but they are NOT being paid by us.” I smirked at him, “And you said yourself, these children are at the same age as I was when I enlisted and was sent to a warzone.” I grudged a shrugging nod. “Granted, I wasn’t a soldier, and I did not fight. I was there to help and to heal. These children would be sent to fight in a war as necessary. I’ve helped with injuries to young people as young as Sarah. Missing limbs and some very grave injuries.” I frowned. “Why? Because group B wanted group C to leave or convert or some dumbass reason.” I tapped my own chest, “And me, being from group A had to get involved as we always do.” I was getting louder, “I became a vampire, but again, I am here to help and heal in a war that has been almost silent for ten thousand years!” I sighed, “It all comes down to greed.” I frowned and shook my head, “Because whomever in the past wanted what others had and devised a way of getting that from others whether they were willing to give it or not.”

Colin’s slow nod and guilty smile told me he knew what he’d done. “I didn’t mean...”

“No!” I stated. “You do that. Where did this come from?” I shook my head, “You have a strong sense of right and wrong and a strong desire to do whatever is necessary to fix things. You almost never talk about your father or mother.” My head wavered, “I know you didn’t agree with your father’s having slaves. That was because of Josiah and his mother. I know more about Willie than your father. Willie is now your step-father-in-law. I know you inherited the plantation from your father. When was that? Did you have any siblings? Was your mother also a cousin as Debra, your wife was? Can you remember that far back?”

Colin chuckled, “Yes, I can remember that far back.” He took a breath and sighed, “No, my mother was not a cousin, but she was a member of a prominent family in Charleston.” He shrugged, “I didn’t know her very long.” His head gave a slight shrug. “I wasn’t the last child.” He grinned.

“You weren’t,” I said.

He shook his head, “She had another son almost a year later, but he died shortly after birth.” He looked sad a moment. “She and my father didn’t really stick together after that, and she died about five years later.”

Infant mortality was much higher in the past.

“My father died in my nineteenth year,” Colin admitted. “I was married then, and we just had Gabriella. That was in 1834. He had begun drinking a lot after my mother died.” He grudged a nod, “You’re right. I don’t mention them much because I really didn’t know them. I wasn’t kidding when I said Willie was more of a father to me than my own.”

“You were a good parent, and you are a good man,” I said firmly. “You have a terrific daughter. David, Cody, Sarah, and Blake will come and we all agreed they could reach more people.” I pointed at him. “We had governments and federal agents to assist. This squad of young people will be key in letting people know what’s out there.”

Colin was relenting just a little, “This is going to be the most dangerous destination we’ve gone to. I don’t want anyone hurt.”

I smiled, “We’re vampires and you’re scared of them?” I said pointing out the irony. “Are you afraid because what you know or because of what you’ve been told?”

Colin grinned, “It may be propaganda. However, the reputation has been earned.” He looked over at Stan. “Stan, is our satellite connection going to be secure in China?”

Stan looked up from his place by Mark, who was napping at the moment. “Sure.” He typed a bit more on his laptop. “I’m just beefing up the security. The firewalls and giving the sentry buddies some added teeth.’ He grinned. “No one will hack in!” He pointed at Colin. “With the new plane, Buddy will be able to handle our conversations to each other and the other capitols of the VUN. All our equipment, phones, computers, and tablets will be going through our extension of Buddy on the plane.” He looked curiously at Colin. “Do I create a separate login for our vampire hunters joining us?”

Colin looked puzzled, “And you think we should why?”

“Because we need to monitor what they’re doing,” Stan stated simply. “Just as Buddy sifts through everyone’s internet searches and correspondences, we need to do that with them. We need to know what they said and to whom. The signals by Buddy to and from everyone need to be monitored. We aren’t there to spy. We need to make sure what we say and do can’t be used to make us look guilty of anything.”

“Because they will use it as an excuse to detain us,” Mark said. He hadn’t moved or even opened his eyes. “I heard what you both said and you’re both right.” His eyes opened and he sat up. “Damn this hearing. I didn’t mean to, but it is due to propaganda and from what we know about them. We invited those scientists from China and told them what was in their country. We’re going there to help those there that have the venom.” He pointed at Colin, “And you know they will use any excuse to use it for their advantage.”

“Buddy will monitor everything we do and keep it on record,” Stan pointed out. “We could go there and have no problems...”

Colin looked suspiciously at Mark, “But you don’t believe that.”

Mark threw his hands out in exasperation, “Of course, not! That’s what makes me good at my job!” He pressed his hands to his chest. “I was raised by my parents where Dad saw the good in most situations, while Mom expected the worst! They are a mixed marriage.” He chuckled, “Mom has a tendency to be cynical and Dad is an optimist! Yet, their marriage has survived almost four decades! It’s no wonder my brother and I have the humor we do.” He shook his head. “Anyway, just like I said before we went to Egypt, you land the plane and get off with confidence. We know why we’re there. You don’t let us be bullied. We’re bigger than they are.”

Stan grinned, “We’ll make sure they know, no one can get on our Wi-Fi without our permission.”

“We need to press the reality to Cody, Blake, and Sarah,” Colin said. “We aren’t committing any espionage on them. They can’t do it to us.”

“We just need to be careful,” I added.

 

We landed at the airport in New Jersey and were flown back to the VUN in Manhattan. We took the elevator down to the residence level where we returned to Mark’s and Stan’s apartment. Amanda was there at the moment and greeted us, as did the many dogs there. All happy we had returned. They were no longer corralled with their mother but wandering around the room exploring. A particular happy yip sounded at my and Colin’s feet.

“Dan-D!” I greeted scooping him up. He was very excited to see us and was licking me earnestly in that joy. “I know, we were gone so long!”

Colin laughed, “It was just a day.” He petted Dan-D who was now in trouble as he wanted both of us.

“Which compares for him by two weeks!” I corrected handing Dan-D over to Colin.

“What!?” Colin asked. “A week maybe. I thought you compared years in Human years by six or seven.”

“No,” Mark chuckled picking up Hiccup. “Yes, for the average dog, six or seven years compared to a Human’s life.” He was getting a similar welcome from Hiccup. “However, during the first year or months of a dog you need to make it twelve to fifteen years, depending on the size of the dog. Pusik is a large breed, so is their father. So twelve years is the one we need to use.”

“Does it make much difference?” I asked knowing the answer. I looked at Amanda, “How were they while we were gone?”

“No problem at all,” Amanda replied picking up Scout in her lap with Pechenye. “I should tell you Pusik has begun to ween her brood.” She smiled as she stroked Pechenye. “I don’t blame her. Keeping all of them fed would be a challenge. Keeping this many bellies full has to be exhausting!”

I stroked Dan-D gently, “I can see someone has caught up with tis siblings. He’s as big as they are now.”

“I should also tell you about what happened this morning,” Amanda began. “I worked with the Old Ones last night. After the sunrise, I came here to check on the puppies and Pusik.” She petted Pusik again, “I came straight from them to here.” She chuckled. “I know what Pusik, and her puppies are here for. I didn’t think. I had spent several hours with Iustina, Ralph, and Repetate...Pusik reacted to me aggressively.”

“She attacked you?” Colin asked.

I looked at the rottweiler who was calmly enjoying Amanda’s strokes. No anger or aggression about her, “Were you hurt?”

Amanda shook her head and laughed lightly, “No. It did take me a few seconds talking to her to recognize who I am. It makes sense. The Old Ones’ scent was all over me and she did what she was trained to do.” She looked at Mark, “But she has to know we’re vampires. That you are a vampire. She doesn’t react with you or Stan, does she?” She waved at me. “She loves Devon and Colin! They’re vampires.”

Mark nodded and sat with Hiccup, “Yes, but she knows our scents and cancels them out.” He shrugged as he chuckled, “Everyone loves Devon.” He rubbed Hiccup affectionately. “We will have to teach the pups to seek a new vampire by the general scent. If necessary and we have something the target vampire wore or had, they can seek the new vampire with little trouble.”

Amanda looked at me, “They are starting to ask some questions I don’t know how to answer.”

“Oh?” I asked. “Like what?”

“It was Ralph that asked about Wayne,” she began hesitantly. “Was Wayne still angry.”

I remembered Wayne’s reaction to Ralph, knowing Ralph was the reason he was a vampire and lost everything. None of those three were stupid or simple. In fact, they had an above average intelligence judging by the speed they learned. There were thousands of them in the past and their main focus was to survive. A Human that survived a bite from them had to be rare. Did they ever confront a Human they turned into a vampire? Cause and effect were not hard to figure out. “It may be time to let them know what they are and what they did.”

Colin looked worried, “They did cause millions of deaths.” He touched me, “I know you love them, but...”

I nodded, “Yes, they did.” I sighed feeling a sense of sadness. “I said it before, they are what they were created to be. I still don’t think they are evil but thrust into a role they didn’t ask for.” I looked at Colin. “How are they going to feel when they know the truth?” I threw my hands out in frustration, “This whole process of teaching them to communicate has been for one reason. To find out what and how it happened. Now that they are understanding and able to comprehend...I fear it will be devastating for them!”

Stan frowned, “It was devastating to Wayne and to all of us.”

Again, I nodded knowing the truth of what he said, “We knew this would come. We aren’t going to be here in about a week. I can’t stay, but they need to have someone to deal with this when they know what they did.” I looked at Stan. “In all these vampires in the world, don’t we have a psychiatrist, psychologist, or therapist in our numbers?”

Stan shook his head, “Not that knows about the Old Ones.”

“In England,” I began. “We needed a specialist that could deal with Jeremy Proctor. We don’t know of any other?”

Colin turned me around to look at him, “Devon. What they did was horrible. I can’t even begin to imagine the guilt that would bring anyone.” He took a breath and slowly added, “I don’t know if anyone could live with that guilt. If they choose death rather than live with it?”

“That is not the answer!” I said loudly. “Suicide is a quick end to great pain.” I raised that finger, “Or is it? I believe there is something after death. There have been too many testimonies to say there is not. Killing themselves may be just the beginning. We don’t know.” I started crying as I remembered Gizmo. “I loved Gizmo. I love those three here. Thinking that they will suffer because of what those evil men in the past did...NO!!”

“They aren’t immortal,” Colin reminded me.

“No,” I agreed. “Neither are we. I got that.”

“Some things cannot be avoided,” Amanda said softly.

“They may die,” Colin shrugged lightly.