The Division of the Damned (13 page)

"Sumerian, I take it that’s pre-biblical?”

"Indeed, Lilith was a spirit who lived in a willow tree, tended by the Goddess Inanna. Inanna was the Goddess of love but that’s not important. Lilith wasn’t a goddess; she was only a demon or a spirit. That is, she was of the spirit world but didn’t belong to the pantheon of the Gods. Demons are by nature greedy and evil, and Lilith was no different from the others. She wanted power. For that reason, she hatched a plan and seduced the mortal king who ruled at
that time, a king named Szaran
—
”

"I know this name. Maria told me about him yesterday.”

Michael nodded an
d ignored the interruption. "
—
and Szaran raised a mighty army to march on the Gods. It’s a bit more complicated than that, actually, but I wouldn’t want to bore you.”

"No, please, I want to hear this now.” 

"It goes something like this
:
Szaran actually loved Inanna but he knew he didn’t stand a chance because he was only a mortal and she was already promised to Dumuzi who was a sort of divine shepherd. Lilith told Szaran that Inanna secretly desired him, not the shepherd, and all he had to do was raise a mighty army to crush the Gods and Inanna would be his for the taking."

Michael gave Smith a quizzical look to see if he had understood. Smith nodded for him to continue.

"Lilith
,
in the mean time
,
had slept with Szaran. She disguised herself as a beautiful maiden and, after a while, Szaran fell in love with Lilith, not Inanna, and he soon lost interest in waging a war. This obviously didn’t sit well with Lilith, who was only interested in power, so she gave Szaran an ultimatum: march on the Gods or lose her. So he raised his army and marched on the Gods.”

"Was she that beautiful?” Smith asked, thinking of Maria.

"Allegedly Solomon suspected the Queen of Sheba of being Lilith, but whether it was for her beauty I don’t know."

Michael gave Smith a waggish look. "No, I’m only joking. She was very hairy and apparently the Queen of Sheba also had very hairy legs, and that was a good example of Solomon’s wit. That she disguised herself as a beautiful young maiden is all the tablet says. How, I don’t know.”

"Aha, I see.”
Though he didn’t.

"Anyway, the battle didn’t go too well for Szaran. At first they
conquered the followers of the Gods. They decapitated all of their prisoners and impaled their heads on spikes. The legend has it that the ground ran red with their blood. But then the whole pantheon of the Gods brought their soldiers to the field. Chief among them was Utu, the Sun God, Inanna’s brother. Utu thought his sister was in danger and, according to legend, his rage was terrible. A mighty battle ensued, and when Szaran finally admitted defeat, after a battle that lasted seven years, Utu used his power over the sun to incinerate all Szaran’s followers. Szaran was cursed to forever hide from the sun and to only take sustenance from blood, be it human or animal. "

"Why the blood bit in the curse?” Smith asked.

"The battle raged for seven years, and in those seven years, a lot of people died. So you see, al
l that blood for Szaran’s greed
—
”

Smith broke in. "But it was Lilith’s greed that started it, not Szaran’s.”

"The God’s didn’t recognise Lilith as a cause of the war. Lilith was a demon, so it was in her nature to create havoc. Szaran, on the other hand, was a king and he should have resisted Lilith and carried on paying homage to the Gods. That’s why they only saw Szaran’s greed as the cause of the bloodshed and why he was cursed to roam the earth as a vampire, so he would then understand how precious the life blood is. Lilith was banished but otherwise untouched
.
”

"A vampire?”
Smith pondered
.
"That can’t be right, though."

"Why not?”

"Downstairs, in one of the rooms, I saw a picture of the battle you just described to me." Smith waited until Michael nodded for him to go on. "The picture showed almost everything that you described.
The heads on poles, the land awash with blood and a figure turning his face to hide from the sun’s rays.”

"A
nd?"
Michael was casual but puzzled.

"On the knights' armour there was a symbol. It’s the same symbol used by the French underground, the Cross of Lorraine. It’s also the symbol of the Eastern Orthodox Church. If he was a vampire, how could he be a Christian too? It doesn’t add up." Smith spread his hands to show he didn’t mean to be pedantic but it was a valid point.

"How very astute but I have to disappoint you on this. Although it is very much like the symbol used by the Orthodox Christians, it’s not the same. This symbol was also used in Sumeria
where it had the title of 'Kad,'
a word that meant both king and lord. The soldiers who fought for Szaran painted it on their shields and armour to show that they were fighting for a king, for a mortal and not for the Gods. So you see, it doesn’t mean that Szaran was a Christian. He couldn’t have been, anyway. This all happened thousands of years before people started to believe in the Christian God as we know him. The tablet where I read this was carved about two thousand BC. It was found in the remains of
the ruined city of Ur by a knight called Henri of Lyon. He brought it back to the library of our Order and there it has stayed ever since.  As I mentioned earlier, we have access to records that no other institution in the world has or ever will have.”

"So you’re saying that my family and its entire heritage are based on legends of vampires, Sumerian vampires to be precise.” He was brisk, challenging.

Michael silently nodded.

"It’s quite a lot to
accept,
you know that my family were and are all vampires.”

"Th
ere’s more
. '
The Book of Blood,’
” breathed Michael.

"Of course, the bloody Book.”

"Lilith and Szaran were banished, but with them went the followers who had survived Utu’s massacre. They were not many but steadily their number grew. They were people who felt that it was up to mankind to decide its own destiny and not the Gods, people who were in awe of Szaran because he had tamed a demon
,
and those who were in awe of Lilith because she had fooled a king. For whatever reason, they joined the movement. Among them also grew a cult, a cult that worshipped blood and gave human sacrifice to Szaran and Lilith. The Gods were not blind to this and they gave the pair a warning. Still their number grew until they had another army that could face up to the Gods. 'The Book of Blood' came into being at this time. In it were the names of Lilith and Szaran. It also told the legend of the war with the Gods and their story up to that point, albeit a somewhat one-sided account of what had happened.”

"I’d forgotten about the blasted book," Smith acknowledged. "That’s the main reason I’m here, isn’t it?”

"Yes, and it’s the main reason you were sent away. Let me continue and it’ll all become clear.”

Smith nodded and sat back again.

"Szaran and Lilith hadn’t learnt their lesson and they marched against the Gods a second time. This time Utu’s dreadful sun destroyed them all. They attacked at night but that didn’t save them. Utu raised the sun against them and lit the night time heavens as if it were day. So the story goes, Szaran and Lilith fled as soon as they saw the Sun God and that is why they survived. They left Sumeria with the 'Book' and were not seen for a long, long time. Their absence stirred up more rumour than if they had stayed, and soon the 'Book of Blood' had become legend. The 'Book' turned up in ancient Greece where it was called the 'Biblion Haimatos
.
' The Greek witches that worshipped Hecate held it sacred and protected it. Throughout the ages, misguided cults and secret societies protected it and thus kept Lilith alive. Its very being seemed to feed Lilith and her power grew. Szaran aged, as every
mortal does, but Lilith lived on. She made prophesies and had them committed to the book, prophesies that have, up to now, all come true."

Michael finished and sat back. He said nothing and watched Smith for a reaction.

"That’s it? That’s the story up to now or is there more
?
There must be more, surely. What’s in the book, where is
it, what’s it to do with me and
—
?” he stopped in mid flow as he caught Michael’s knowing smile.

"So you do believe me, then?”

Smith recovered his composure. "Well, you hadn’t finish
ed or had you?” Smith explained.
"So you might as well finish so I can make my mind up.”

"Right, but first I need a drink. I’m thirsty.” Michael stood and went to a jug on a shelf. He poured two glasses of water and sat back down.     "The first name in the 'Book' is Lilith's. The second is Szaran's, her lover. The third is the name of their son, Pfahl. Pfahl was the first and the last boy child born to a vampire in this bloodline, until you and your brother appeared. Nothing for thousands of years and then two in one go, just as Lilith foretold.”

"My God, she predicted my birth
;
what does that mean, then?" asked a very dazed Smith.

Michael ignored him and ploughed on. "The other names are Thrace, who started the first vampire plague. Baloch who fought a war against the first Christians and almost
won,
and Daziel who coordinated the round-up of the Knights Templar under Pope Clement in 1307. Then
came
your father, Szoltan. Szaran died a natural death but the rest, from Pfahl onwards, are just resting until the next plague. If you give Lilith a child, that is if you sleep with Iullia, you will start the next wave. The curse of Utu will have been broken because the Son of Utu has lain with Lilith and vampires will be free to stalk the day. Make no mistake, James, you are who the
c
ount
says you are. You are his twin brother and you are, as was prophesised by Lilith in the 'Book of Blood', the Son of Utu.”

"Why only the Sun God’s curse?
I mean, why will they still be vampires who walk the day and not be turned back to humans?”

Michae
l pondered the question briefly.
"Good question. The thing is that the ancient Gods turned them into vampires, dependant on blood, but it was only Utu who cursed them to roam the night. There is no way they could break a curse put on them by the whole pantheon of Gods, but they do have a chance to break just one God’s curse.”

”I see, so why don’t they break one curse at a time?”

"It’s taken nigh on four thousand years to break the one curse. How long do you think it would take to break one made up by all the Gods? Besides, I think they like the idea of being on the top of the food chain. If they succeed, and are able to hunt the day, mankind is lost. We will
be cattle to them, to be slaughtered and used as they want. The Dracyl has no interest in becoming human again. He wants to rule over us, not be one of us.”

Smith took it all in as stoically as he could but an edg
e of panic crept into his voice.
"I still don’t understand
—
why me? I’m not a vampire, I can’t be,
I’m
British.” He shook his head slowly in disbelief an
d, after pondering for a second.
"I thought you said Maria is Lilith? Where does this Iullia come into all this?”

"She is, but Lilith has split her power between Maria and Iullia. That’s why your brother is in control and not Lilith. Lilith has been weakened by having to control two bodies. I’m not sure why. Perhaps she’s scared that the curse will backfire on her or she’s too vain for pregnancy, or God knows what. However, Iullia will carry the child. After its birth, I suppose she will vacate Iullia and go back to Maria’s body. When Lilith is whole again, she will have unlimited power. Think about it: the Old Gods are all gone, she’s beaten the curse and she has the 'Book
.
' There will be no stopping her and she’ll rule over the second plague like a Goddess. Your brother will be the eighth name in the 'Book' and your son will be the ninth. You, as the Son of Utu and therefore the medium for the change, will be the tenth. You will either be exalted by the second plague or you will die.”

Smith looked horrified until Michael added, "I don’t know, I’m only guessing the last part and, to be honest, I’m not really sure of the order of names after your brother. It could be you next or it could be your son.”

"What am I meant to do? Sleep with Iullia, have a baby and break a two thousand year curse?
Does the 'Book' really say that?
I still can’t accept that I’m in some book written by someone I’ve only known for two days.”

"I haven’t read the book
—
I haven’t even seen it
—
but I know from other sources that the son of Utu will either be the catalyst for a second plague or the end of the bloodline. I think you were sent away so that, when the time was right, they could send for you and manipulate you to do their bidding. I know they had familiars and servants keep an eye on you the whole time, and I know they picked Britain because the people aren’t as superstitious as on the continent, and I also know that you are not a vampire, not yet, anyway.”