The Rise of the New Bloods, From Dark Beginnings (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

‘One. Two. Three!’ 

  I shielded my eyes and kicked the balcony doors through with my foot. Shards of glass flickered through the air, so many diamond shards glittering in the night.

I saw Jimmy stand up from the leather chaise lounge at my surprise entrance; fear crossed his face when he witnessed my transformation.

I heard a click of a colt 45 to my left, I pivoted, and with a swift arm movement; I knocked the gun out of the guy's hand. He stumbled over the back of
the chair and smacked his head on the minibar.    

 
‘Wasn't expecting this were you, huh?’ I said, pointing to my face. ‘Well, I guess you weren’t expecting him too,’ I said, pointing towards Draven who had just came through the door with Stride.

Jimmy
held his hands up as if he was about to give in when I saw the silver door handle turn on the adjoining room door.

‘Is that April?’ I asked. ‘Is she ok?’  

  Something I was not expecting happened.

Jimmy's smug look drew across his face again. I flicked a look at Stride, then Draven, who both then slowly turned their heads towards the door. I braced myself for the inevitable, when a young boy of about nineteen walked through.

I heard Draven gasp as
if he knew him.

I started to panic, as my senses couldn't pick up whether he was human or not.

Something was wrong, I was sure of it.

  He walked over to us confidently and I saw amongst that jet-black hair and small, startling grey eyes that looked at y
ou wise beyond their years, my father.

That was it, he reminded me of my father when he was young.

But why, I wondered. Unless… 

 
‘Who the hell are you lad?’ I half expected Stride to be the first to question him. ‘Is this your idea of a joke? You are going to set a teenager on us, well, well, where’s your wolf pride Jimmy? Left it up your arse the last time you sniffed it?’

 
‘Don’t talk to me about pride when you, a stupid old fool trusted me with your precious information.’

 
‘You may think that, but at least I wasn’t a big enough fool to tell you about Draven,’ Stride sniggered. 

I noticed the boy kept glancing over towards Draven quite nervously.

Jimmy stood next to the boy with his arms folded, looking so pleased with himself in his designer grey suit.

 
‘This is Ryder.’

 
‘Ryder? Who the fuck is Ryder? I fumed. ‘Where is April? You asked us here, now where is she?’ I think I yelled so loud the people on the next floor must have heard me.

Draven raised a hand as if to hush me up. He was still loo
king at the boy inquisitively.

 
‘Why do I feel like I know you?’ he said.

Stride walked over to me and nudged my arm. His face looked as pale as mine did.

‘You know who he is don’t you?’

  I looked at him and shook my head.

I had an idea though.

Strid
e raised his eyebrows and sighed.

 
‘Yes, Draven, this is your son, but don’t be fooled, he is already working for us,’ Jimmy said.

Was this even possible?

My head felt like it was about to explode with the madness here.

 
‘Draven, please don't listen to him, he's bluffing. Let's get April and get out of here!’

 
‘Oh you think so do you? Ryder say hello to your dad!’

I never knew Stride to stay quiet long enough.

  ‘So is this part of your plan?’ I demanded. ‘You wanted us here, for what? The Ankh? So that thing there,’ I pointed towards Ryder, ‘can walk and terrorize this city in daylight, like how he attacked that homeless guy?’

  Ryder remained quiet.

He did not look too aggressive; instead, there was a deeper sadness dwelling in those eyes of his as he looked at Draven.

 
‘Where's the prophecy and April, did she decipher it for you?’

 
‘April is in the adjoining room, and yes she has told us everything.’

 
‘Well?’ Although, I was not sure if I believed him. ‘What did it say?’

 
‘Let's say the Ancient God's should never have allowed Mardok to write his prophecies,’ he sniggered. ‘Because the only way you're going to be free is when I put this stake through you. And I will stop you from returning the Ankh, Jyrki, believe me and when I do there will be a rise of new bloods replacing every last mortal here on this earth...’ he laughed. ‘Just as it should’ve been before these humans evolved.’

 
‘And what are you gaining from all of this?’

 
‘I will be gaining what is so rightfully mine, what I have been seeking for since Mardok threw me out of the Temple. I shall have that Ankh and the power of the Ancient Gods will be mine. YOU and the rest of this pathetic world will be worshipping me.’ 

 
‘Well, you're gonna have a hard time without the Ankh,’ I laughed. ‘Because, I don’t have it.’

I realised it was not such a laughing matter at all. On the wall behind Jimmy, I saw the reflection of the sun from the window as it was coming up over the horizon.

‘Oh shit!’ I whispered.

Draven must have been in harmony with me, as I saw him walk behind Jafar discreetly and push him onto the floor.

  Feeling this was an opportune moment to get out I yelled to Stride to get April from the other room.

Things began to turn chaotic.

Ryder, who was not so quiet anymore leapt towards me.

I was shocked by the power he had for a half vampire. He hissed and glared into my face as he held me down onto the floor.

I heard two shots coming from the back of the chair, headed towards the door where April was.

 
‘Draven – get April, please.’ I screamed.

The sound of the shot resonated in my brain. I wilfully tried to push Ryder off me but his strength was that of steel.

I had not encountered anything like him.

With all the strength I could
muster, the thought of April and Stride hurt or worse suddenly brought out the worst in me. I gripped Ryder around the neck and threw him against the wardrobe. I rolled over on the floor before getting up onto my feet to see Draven tackle the guy I had hit earlier with the gun.

Another shot was fired and the alarms eventually went off.

Jimmy was out cold on the floor and the last thing I was expecting to see when I swerved my head around, was Ryder who had already come up behind me, and began pushing me towards the window. This was all I could remember as I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin as I heard Blaze’s screams from down below...

.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I could feel so much heat, much more than I have ever been used to. My whole body was in a state of relaxation.

As my thoughts connected with my senses I realised I was laying down on a concrete floor with my eyes shut.

I shot up from the floor and gaspe
d.

For some strange reason my whole body was covered in sweat.

Am I dead now?

Is this how it is supposed to be?

I placed a sweaty palm on my bare chest and felt a slight pulsating movement.

‘
No, this can't be?’ I feared.

I took a deep breath, trying
to remain calm, when I glanced around and saw the room I was in wasn't somewhere I recognised. It was bare and hollow and only lit by a few torches on the wall.

What was I doing here?

I certainly felt different too, there was no possible way I could be human, could there.   

 
‘Oh fuck,’ I whispered.              

I could hear the sound of footsteps approaching me. They seemed not far in the distance either, but every step seemed to take an age to shift to the next. One step followed by the resonated ec
ho of the other.

I stared into the blackness and waited with instilled terror at what it would uncover. All my vampire senses were gone and I have never been more vulnerable. Suddenly, the sound halted, and I could feel the pounding of my heart beating ag
ainst my chest.

I sat waiting in anticipation of what I would find.

Slowly, an arm, that looked very much human lifted the torch from the wall and pulled it close to their chest. I kept my eye on the flicker of the golden flame as it walked towards me. The anticipation was gnawing away at me and I could not bring myself to say anything.

Then, finally, the voice belonging to the body it inhabited, spoke. 

  ‘Jyrki, I bid you welcome.’  

The voice was calm and unthreatening.

My guess was it belonged to an old man, of some sort. Was he human though, that was my concern.

  I hesitated to say anything. He held the torch in front of my face and I could hear him mutter to himself.

  ‘Yes, you are Amroath’s son alright.’

Father, he knows father.     

  The shock of hearing my father’s name was far too much to comprehend, especially in my human like state. I took a step back from the intense heat of the flame and stumbled backwards onto the hardness of the concrete floor.

 
‘I am Mardok, keeper of the Secret Order; I have been waiting for you for many years...’

Now I had a face to the name.

The man must have been at least five foot, with silver hair. He had a friendly face, but looked tired, as if he had lived through endless time. He had one hand clutching onto a walking stick and was wearing a brown robe.

 
‘Where am I?’ 

 
‘We have much to discuss, please, come...’

He gestured me to follow him, which I did. I walked about ten yards when he stopped by a secured door. Mardok just waved his hands over the loc
ks and they unbolted by themselves. I looked on in amazement.

Not even I had this kind of gift

. Just as I was about to ask who he was really, the outside of his world was revealed to me.

  No wonder I was hot. The dry Egyptian heat began to play havoc wi
th my chest. I coughed and spluttered as we stepped outside the door. If that was not all, the intense glare of the sun pained my eyes so bad; I had to cover them with my arm. Then it hit me. I was standing in the sunlight for the first time without the Ankh.

Mardok continued to walk ahead, with one hand grappling onto his wooden walking stick and the other waving about in mid-air for me to follow him. I turned back and saw I had come from the Temple of Osiris.

  ‘You will experience new things here, just take them for what they are. It is only temporary.’

 
‘Temporary? Am I human?’

 
‘For now. The beast has no business here.’

I lowered my arm and allowed my eyes to adjust to the light before walking any further, but the intensity of the light reflecting o
ff the sand made it so hard to focus. The golden pyramid standing so magnificently in front me, made me feel as if I was nothing at all. I was seeing things with my eyes for the first time as a human.

  My legs ached and I was thirsty.

Mardok somehow knew what I was thinking.

 
‘You will get refreshments in a moment, please step inside here.’ He pushed the stick at the west side of the pyramid, which I could only fathom that it was not visible to the naked eye. I looked around at the vast desert before entering; it was eerily quiet and deserted of life.

 
‘So what is this place?’ I asked, as I entered the building.

In front of me was a long narrow passage, which became darker the more you descended down. Part of me was having second thoughts about
all this when Mardok pointed towards a small room to my right.

As I walked in, the room instantly lit with many white candles. I panned my vision around the burnt ochre walls that were full of scrolls stacked on wooden shelving and many Egyptian artefact
s’ placed neatly on a wooden chest.

 
‘Come, and sit down,’ he pulled out a carved wooden chair for me, then one for himself.

I watched him as he struggled to pour some red wine into a goblet.

  ‘Here, let me help.’ His hands were shaking, and he smiled and apologised.

 
‘You have to forgive me; I am not as young as I was.’

 
‘So, you're Mardok? Who are you really and what am I doing here?’

 
‘Jyrki, have you ever wondered why in life some questions are better left unanswered? Because if we knew it all, what would we strive to live for, hm? I have been here since time began, some may argue I am time, but that is irrelevant right now.’

 
‘What do you mean by time?’

 
‘When the Ancient Gods ruled Egypt, they had in their possession many gifts, magic, power, wealth beyond your imagination, but what they didn't have under all that knowledge was the wisdom to see into the future, to see the destruction that would play out for mankind, the simplest of beings.’

 
‘I take it you’re not human then…vampire?’

 
‘Me? Oh no, I was one of the Gods aides that held that power until I came to possess a new sight, I was here when your kind was created by Ramesses, and despite my poorly efforts to stop it from happening, I entrusted your father to take the Ankh as far away from Egypt as he could.’

 
‘Hang on, you're an Ancient prophet, but you can't do anything to stop Ryder and the Others? I mean, I still don't know who they are or whose side they are on.’

Mardok wove his hand in the air and shook his head.

  ‘Wait! You have to forgive me, the others work for me..., and they are not your enemy, even though it seems that way. The one who killed your family was Ryder...and to your second question, no I cannot. I am nothing more than an old man now, besides I am not able to dabble in the future, just here to oversee things.’

 
‘So how the hell have you survived?’

 
‘I am an immortal, just like you. I have to ensure the human race will not be subjected to the unnatural order of things...things my peers created. I've lived in that temple for so long, waiting for this moment I saw a very long time ago.’

 
‘So, the Others, what are they?’

 
‘Yes I wondered if you would be curious enough to ask about them.’

He paused for a moment and called out for Randulphr, but he did not appear.

‘Hm, these wolves can be very fickle creatures…’

 
‘I know him,’ I muttered. ‘And the Ankh, where is it?’

 
‘You have many questions, but first thing, the prophecy, the future I foresaw, is happening now. You must kill Ryder with the Serpent Sword; it is the only way to stop Jimmy getting hold of the Ankh. However, Jyrki, this is the important thing, you must do this before midnight, Halloween, otherwise the dead will be walking the earth, and everything the world has come to know, will be wiped. The Ankh has served you well until now, but when you go back, you must do what I have asked.’

 
‘But, he's Draven's son...is there any other way?’

 
‘There is always another way Jyrki, but in order for that to happen Jafar must be stopped to save Ryder. You will face these hounds and you must kill every one of them before they end up causing too much damage. Jimmy is Jafar. You do know that don’t you?’

 
‘You’re telling me, Jimmy is Jafar… a wolf?’

 
‘He isn't who or what you think he is. Your good friend Stride has been duped into believing Jimmy could help him with the prophecy. Jimmy use to work for me within the Secret Order, but he soon became caught up in the greed and power. He has searched for you for years and when he stole the prophecy and found out about Ryder, well, they have been working together since. He is known here as the bringer of the Apocalypse.’

 
‘So that's why the Ankh couldn't be returned?’

 
‘Yes, because you would've become mortal before you have completed your destiny. Jyrki, we never chose you, your father did. He saw within you great potential. Draven has his own destiny to fulfil. Now, you must return, back to New York. The Ankh shall be with you, but remember, midnight Halloween. The curse will lift only once it's done, and please...try and not read the rest of the prophecy before. It is integral you don't.’

 
‘Really? But I don't have it.’

 
‘Yes, some things are best left as they are. I had only written the first prophecy when I was fortunate or rather unfortunate enough to witness the end. I was instructed not to do so but I wrote it for my own selfish reasons. Don't worry though, you are being protected.’

 
‘By whom? Those things I saw in the woods?’

He looked as if he did not want to say much more.

  ‘Er, yes. Have you heard of Anubis, Protector of the dead? When you see him, he will offer you great advice. However, these Gods don't show themselves freely. He is part of my Secret Order, to ensure Jafar and his protégés do not cause too much damage on Earth. We know them as the Hounds of The Apocalypse. They will bring horrendous change to mankind if you don't stop them.’

 
‘Anubis?’

 
‘Yes, Anubis is what he represents, his name is Randulphr. So now it's time for you to go back.’

 
‘Randulphr? I've already met him.’

 
‘Yes, and he is keeping you informed. Have patience and he will come to you.’

He struggled to get off the chair and gestured me with his thin, bony hand to walk back out of the Pyramid. I could not possibly leave without asking the one thing that bothered me since I
arrived here. I stood up from my seat and hesitated for a moment.

 
‘You want to know why you are human?’ he said, beating me to it.

 
‘Yes...’

 
‘Because Jyrki,’ he gestured around with his arm, ‘this place is the thin veil between your world and the next. Here you represent who you truly are.’

 
‘Who I truly am? What’s that?’

 
‘You’ll know when the time comes.’

He walked me to the wooden door. As he opened it, he paused.

  ‘I won’t come any further, you know the way back.’

I stood in the desert with the
most uncomfortable feeling of the sand between my toes. I looked over to the small stone building I came from, and then back to Mardok.

 
‘My father, he mentioned you once.’

 
‘Amroath was a good man just as you are. I couldn’t have chosen two better people to take care of the Ankh.’

  With that, he bowed his head and closed the door.