Blueblood: A Dark Southern Aristocracy - 47. Hello?

After that had begun, Colin and I went into Adrian’s cell. Adrian rose, shaking his head. “No. I don’t want it.”

Colin looked at me crossing his arms over his chest. “He doesn’t want it.”

Walking up behind Colin, I shrugged. “Well, you did offer him the choice of taking the serum or facing the sun without it.” I shrugged. “I saw the man you knew as Brett burn, that was pretty gruesome. That man literally clawed his own face off.”

Colin nodded. “Yes, he did.” He scratched behind an ear. “It was sort of a…” he looked at Adrian, “…a warm up for Hell.” He chuckled. “That wasn’t a pun or anything like that. It just was.” He leaned in closer to Adrian. “Of course, you may not believe in a God at all. You might view death as the means you can escape punishment.” He frowned. “Well, maybe you’re right."

“But are you willing to risk burning in Hell for eternity?” I asked. “That’s a long time to risk your soul.”

Then George came in the room followed by Alex, Burke, and Willie.

I turned to George. “He wants to burn,” I told them.

George shrugged. “Fine, but first…” he brought out another syringe and good old mild-mannered George grinned the almost evil smile. “…you need to be de-fanged. We’re up high enough. If this isn’t what you like, I can take you somewhere there is no safety net. You can jump. It will be quick.” He thought. “Or I could bring a gun with one bullet and you could shoot yourself.” He shook his head. “But aim right. You might miss.”

Colin grimaced at Adrian. “There was a time when I thought there was no God.” He frowned. “For over a century I lived in Hell and I wondered how He could allow someone to do this to me, but I never dared challenge God by wanting to kill myself. I’m not as brave as you to risk my soul.”

I spoke with Colin but did it so Adrian could hear as well. “There is a chance that Adrian is right.” I looked at Adrian. “The problem I have with that because you committed a crime. There should be a price.”

George smiled. “Whether he dies on his own or not, we need to reduce the threat. Hold him down.” He waved toward Adrian.

Adrian now was backing away, which was not really possible as the room was restricted by the size of the room. He could not bite any of us as we were all vampires already. Like most bullies, he wasn’t that brave to fight us. Colin met the challenge by throwing his shoulder into Adrian’s gut and tackling him. I grabbed an arm as he tried to fight us off. Alex took the other arm, Burke grabbed a leg and Willie had the other leg and we held Adrian down on the floor. George opened Adrian’s shirt, cleaned the area over his heart and plunged the needle into the heart and released the serum. The reward was Adrian’s scream as the pain came. As Adrian was now in agony, we stood up.

“I guess we can leave him now.” Colin smiled as he reached down and gave Adrian’s face a light slap. “See you tomorrow.”

Colin and I retreated to our apartment. Colin was very quiet. I let him deal with whatever he was feeling a while, but finally I looked at him and asked. “What are you feeling?” He wasn’t depressed, but his mind was occupied with some thoughts.

I came to him wrapping my arms around him. “You don’t regret what we did, do you?”

Colin looked shocked. “What? No!” He sighed as he brought me close and embraced me. “In many ways, I do feel a sense of completion.” He grinned as he shook his head. “You’ll think it’s stupid.”

I gave him a surprised look. “Wow, your abilities have really grown if you know what I’ll think before I even know what it is.”

Colin chuckled. “Alright, I think it’s stupid, so I assume you will think so, too.” He hugged me and then walked us back to the couch where we sat. “I just…” he thought of how to say it. “…my life was incomplete. Before 1851, I wanted to find someone that I liked and loved to spend my life with.” He smiled. “Grow old with them and have a good life.” He grinned at me and kissed me lightly. “Now I have that. You. Then after I was turned, all I wanted was to get things back the way it was. Wentworth Manor had been destroyed and my goal was to get it back.” He shrugged with a grin. “I’ve done that. I wanted whoever is responsible to pay the price. Brett was taken care of. He’s dead. Marissa is being treated and will no longer be a threat. Adrian, as well.” He shrugged. “It’s sort of…” he looked at me with a smile. “…this is the silly part. I feel…let down.” He saw my face and nodded. “For over a century I worked to get these things done and now that it is been done. I feel like…what else is there for me?”

I smiled. “You’re right, that is stupid.” I grinned pulling his face to mine. “It’s stupid that you would think I would see that as stupid. It’s not stupid at all.” I smiled as I ran my fingers in his hair. “The thing is…” I smiled. “…I can only share a part of that. I didn’t endure the centuries as you have. I wasn’t turned in an attempt to destroy me. You are a good man, Colin, but you are hardly done. There is a whole new drama about to open up. Together, you and I are going to be attempting to bring others like us together. We’re not going to be done for a long time. I know there will be new challenges.”

“I love you, Devon.” He said softly as he pushed me into the couch.

I smiled as I pulled him even closer to me, my hands running over his back as I did. “I love you, Colin. You’re an amazing person. We have a long time to spend together. We can only make our lives better for both of us.”

To my delight, Colin was now unbelievably more passionate! He had gotten some closure to what had happened and now was even more energetic…he was free! We took it to our room as we didn’t live alone. We could be interrupted if we hadn’t. He touched everything as I did with him, too. We didn’t really get a lot of sleep that evening, but who needed it? I woke and realized I was being stared at.

I looked over at his happy emerald green eyes. I chuckled. “Good morning.”

Colin nodded. “It is!” He was now in motion coming closer bringing me to him. “It is a very good morning and will be a great day!”

I chuckled as he kissed me deeply. “Okay, who are you?”

Colin smiled as he shrugged. “I’m just very happy.”

I nodded as my arms went around him. “I see that.” I kissed him back. “I’m glad you are.” My fingers went into his sleep tossed hair. “Even this early, you are one sexy man.”

Colin grinned back. “No, you are, but, thank you.” He scooted so he was lying on top of me. “You are my mate, Devon. The perfect person for me. I love you.”

I grinned. “As you are for me. I love you.”

We made love again! It was almost an hour later when hunger drove us from the bed, forcing us to clean up and go to Vamps. We were enjoying our time when Gabriella and Alex came in.

Colin looked up and smiled brightly at them. “Gabby! Alex! Good morning.”

Gabriella froze, she was startled as was Alex, but Gabriella smiled at her father. “Good morning, Daddy.” She came closer. “I take it things are good.”

Colin nodded. “Very good.” We stood up as Colin waved them to the two seats at our table. “Sit, have a good breakfast.”

Alex chuckled as he sat beside Gabriella. “You’re in a good mood.”

Colin nodded. “A very good mood.”

“Not that I want details about anything between you two," Gabriella smiled and chuckled a little, "but does it have to do with Marissa and that other horrible thing we have here?” Gabriella asked putting her napkin in her lap.

Colin nodded. “Yes…” he gave a shrugging nod. “Like I told Devon yesterday, this ends a terrible chapter for me.” He leaned toward me and touched his forehead to mine. “Now we can concentrate on the next chapter.”

Gabriella nodded. “Which is what?”

Colin looked at me as he thought. “We need to contact the other vampires…I mean in Europe and the others in the world. We need to contact them soon. I thought having the web address would be the best way. We have their email connections and I could address them at one time.”

Gabriella looked questioningly at her father. “And say what?”

Colin thought a moment and spoke hesitantly, waving his fork as he spoke. “I’m not sure.” He looked at me. “I don’t like hiding things, so…” he shrugged. “I’ll say who I am and what our intentions are.”

I reached out and took his hand. “An announcement like that…on the Internet? Anyone could pick that up. It’s not that secure.”

Colin shrugged. “I won’t say right out, I’m a vampire just like you, contact me. Let’s get together and chat.” He snickered. “I’m sure there are worse messages out there on the web.”

I nodded chuckling. “I’m sure, but we don’t need that sort of attention.” I shrugged. “But someone could figure out what we are. They could let the world know we exist and what we are.”

Colin looked a little uncertain. “Maybe.” He frowned. “It’s a risk. I’ll be careful, but…perhaps we should plan for that possibility.”

Alex shook his head. “That’s dangerous.”

Colin nodded. “It is, but we don’t know.” He put his fork down. “We need to do it now. It could be very dangerous, but what are we gaining by hiding?” He propped on his elbows as he spoke softer. “Every group out there faces dangers. They are the wrong race or religion. They have the wrong government and face death. People are killed for petty reasons.” He smiled at me. “Even for being gay.” He took my hand and squeezed it.

I nodded. “We might become experimental animals,” I said quietly.

Colin nodded. “We could.” He looked at Gabriella and Alex. “There are people that aren’t vampires that know about us and they are fine with it. The only difference is they know us and even trust us. If the time comes when we are discovered, hopefully, we can assure them we mean no harm to anyone, but first, we need to contact the others.”

I sighed. This would be a drastic step forward. “We’ll talk with Stan. He may know a way to ensure safety.”

We went to the cells where Marissa and Adrian were being held. She was not the woman we’d met. Now she looked more like the young teenage girl she was when she was bitten all those centuries ago. No longer a vampire, as in she didn’t need blood. She was not done with treatments, but she would be soon. Adrian was also no longer that blood-sucking monster. Both looked defeated and depressed. They should be. They were responsible for many deaths. Marissa for giving her "gift" to some that were not as discriminating or careful as she claimed to be. Both were now in simple clothing, almost like an inmate, which they were. Contact with them by personnel here was limited with our caution to them that Marissa was good at manipulating people to do what she wanted. The gathering of other family members for Marissa was ongoing. Ruben assured that they were being held at a secure location. One did demand a lawyer. Ruben told him. "Sure. You can have a lawyer. Be sure to tell him you were aiding a couple of terrorists, that we have in custody. Your Great Auntie Marissa and your cousin Adrian will love being exposed. I'm sure that lawyer can come up with some defense for you in spite of our proof of evidence."

We spoke with Stan who assured us that he could create a program that could be sent with the address Colin would give and go to all those the others had contact with and they would not be able to stop it from happening and we could track who they were being sent to and received. All the vampires they had contact with would know and hopefully, if they weren’t on the Web, the message would spread by word of mouth. George was not pleased with the idea, but even he admitted something needed to be done. We couldn’t go any further without the input from the rest of us.

Colin’s image was arranged as he faced the screen. He was on our balcony terrace in our apartment. What was very important was the sun in the background which could be seen shining and Colin was exposed to the sun. He was munching on a steak! He was a natural! He swallowed and took a drink. He took a napkin and wiped his mouth and smiled. “First, hear me out. I love steak. There’s only one thing I like more, that’s a steak in the great outdoors. It’s a beautiful day.” He looked back at the sun which was a yellowish orb in the background. “It’s a nice sunny day and I intend to enjoy it, but if you are receiving this message…” he looked now at the camera. “…know this. I was just the same as you are.” He said with the unsaid knowing they would get the unsaid meaning. “I’m being treated for it. For a long time, I missed the world’s wonders. Now, I can really be a part of it.” He waved at the sky beyond our balcony. “This isn’t a stage, this is my home.” Then he looked very serious. “I’m contacting you because the person you knew as Marissa is no long First anything. And we don’t refer to it as the New World now. This is the United States of America. No longer is Marissa in power. She is alive and she also lives in the day like everyone else.” He smiled again. “I’m speaking to you through contacts she had and I will tell you honestly, I am not wanting to be the one to take her place. The world is always changing. She did not change. The old ways only kept things secret and did nothing to make things better for anyone. Things are not all resolved with me, but it is much better for me than it was in the past.” He waved at his steak and the sun. “You can do this, too, if you want it.” He got up and walked closer to the camera. “The old ways are obsolete. We are here. We want a life. We deserve a life. I have that now. If you’re interested, let me know. You don’t have to be isolated anymore. We can move toward a brighter future. I’d like to do it with all of you and we can do this side by side. Embrace a new life. Please, contact me. I’ll explain everything.”

Stan touched the laptop he was using and went to the camera he set up to use. "Okay." He grinned. "That was great. Unless you want to edit it or do it again. I think it's ready."

Once that was done, Colin walked back to Stan. “Is it ready? Just like that?”

Stan smiled and nodded. “It’s ready.” He pointed at the keyboard. “All that’s needed is to hit enter. You’ll send it out.”

Colin looked at me a little nervous. “Here we go.” He said as he pressed enter.

Stan had entered a monitoring program that came up. An image of the Earth rotated on the screen and was there with the other places that had vampires with computer access that were lighted. Each time a goal received the message, a breakdown of other places that each group that received the message and showed it was sending messages out to others that were contacts and a number telling who was receiving the message had arrived. The numbers were changing as the number of others went up higher. Literally, there were hundreds getting the message.

Stan smiled with a sigh. “That did it.”

Colin nodded reaching for me and bringing me closer. “Now. We wait.”