Kapitel 31: Time Out Everyone!
Alyssa and Pablo sat at the table and traded a few shots while Gabriel drank from his bag, all not saying a single word for several minutes. After finishing his bag of blood, even Gabriel was feeling better as he strolled back into the kitchen and sat down at the table with the two humans, who were both looking at him. They both had that look your parents would give you when you're in trouble or just got home late past curfew, like they were very disappointed in you.
"What?" Gabriel asked, even though he had an idea and was just playing dumb.
"You haven't been up front with us, Gabe." Pablo replied. "There are more than a few things that need to be clarified tonight."
"What he said," Alyssa concurred, before taking another shot.
"I'm sorry," Gabriel said, realizing he'd be caught. "I tend to keep my secrets close to my chest. Vampires cannot afford to be too loose with our vulnerabilities. It's not that I don't trust you, quite the opposite. I've told you guys far more than I have any other human I've ever interacted with before."
"But it appears some lies actually hold truth," Alyssa said, pointing to his hand. "It turns out sunlight is a little more harmful than you suggested."
"It can be," Gabe finally confirmed, "But it would take hours in the sun to cause this kind of damage. That light Diane projected was more intense because that specific spell was created to detect creatures and harm them. This prevented vampires from spying on witches whenever they met to discuss things. Once they knew we existed, they had taken great measures to make sure they were ready for us."
"Fair enough," Alyssa said, "But you need to be up front with everything."
"Shoot." Gabriel said, sitting back in his chair. "What do you want to know?"
"How about your age?" Alyssa started, "It appears you've been telling everyone different numbers. When were you born?"
"I was born in the year 473." Gabriel answered, "BC."
"BC?" Pablo repeated, his eyes as wide as saucers. "That means you're almost twenty-five hundred years old!"
"Why did you lie to us about that?" Alyssa asked.
"Everyone lies about their age," Gabriel said, "I just stopped saying BC a long time ago because I got rather tired of being asked questions about Jesus and the Roman Empire."
"Well I guess that would be annoying," Pablo admitted, "But that's quite a difference from what you were telling us."
"I also didn't want to intimidate you," Gabe replied, "I found over the years that shortening my alleged time on Earth make people less intimidated. I was just doing it to make you guys more comfortable, well, as comfortable as you can be with a vampire."
"Fair enough," Alyssa said, sitting back and folding her arms. "But you don't need to do that with us. We can handle anything."
"Even Gargoyles?" Gabriel asked.
"Okay, that was a tad freaky," Pablo admitted, "We could have used a heads up on that. I almost shot at one off the cats a few days ago. It would have been nice to know they were powerful, mythical creatures so I wouldn't mess with them."
"You can't harm them," Gabriel informed him. "Bullets would have no effect. You'd just piss them off, nothing more."
"Nice to know," Pablo said, sighing. "Any other creatures we should worry about?"
"Many," Gabriel admitted, "But none that we have to worry about in these parts."
"Let's get back to that black cat," Pablo started, "You asked him to ask this Goldman woman for a powwow about the undead. What the hell is that about?"
"She's been around for a while," Gabriel explained, "I wanted to speak to her about the undead because I'm curious about something."
"That can't be it," Alyssa said, "Don't hold back."
"Alright," Gabriel said, realizing he had to be honest. "I was asked to speak to some people on behalf of the council. Gather up specific Intel about the undead and when they started to appear."
"The council?" Pablo repeated, "You spoke to someone from the council?"
"Yes," Gabriel confirmed, "They sent someone to speak with us in New Lycan, when Alyssa and I were in separated interrogation rooms. They also sent that same person to question me about the incident with the Californians."
"Who would they send that fast?" Pablo asked.
"They sent the only vampire that's powerful enough to cross the ocean without resting." Gabriel answered.
Pablo's eyes widened "They sent Cornelius?"
"Yes," Gabriel confirmed, "He's looking rather well."
"Isn't that Gabe's brother?" Alyssa asked.
"Yes, it is." Pablo confirmed. "And what happened?"
"He said the council spoke with California," Gabriel said, "Informed them that they were wrong to attack Denver without letting them know first. For that I was let off the hook, and that's when Cornelius asked me for something in return."
"That sounds like the big bastard," Pablo replied, "He does something for you and then ask for something in return. Classic vamp manipulation."
"What did he want?" Alyssa asked.
"Information," Gabriel answered, "Cornelius and the council know that I communicate with humans and other monsters a lot more then they do. They want to take advantage of my contacts to ask questions and survey them about the undead and the history of them."
"This doesn't sound right," Pablo said, thinking about it. "What are they up to?"
"If I am to take Cornelius at face value," Gabriel replied, "The council appears to be ready to step in and bring this undead thing to an end."
"It's just self serving." Pablo added, "I guess they finally realize that no more humans means no more food. Not the best reason to get involved, but I'll take it. Humanity needs all the help they can get."
"That's for sure," Alyssa agreed.
"Cornelius in New Lycan," Pablo said, giving out a big sigh. "That had to be interesting around all those wolves."
"They knew who he was," Gabriel confirmed, "They were all seriously intimidated."
"I don't understand," Alyssa said, "Why are they intimidated?"
"Besides his scary size," Gabriel answered, "Cornelius is the most well know Vampire in the world. Most monsters know who he is and fear him. I think the only vampire more well known than him, well, that would be Dad."
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Pablo agreed.
"Wait a moment, your father?" Alyssa repeated, "So, your Dad is the most well know vampire by monsters?"
"No, by the world." Pablo replied, "Even humans are aware of how badass he was. For thousands of years, many monsters knew him as Tyrannius."
"But to humanity, he was known as Tyrannos." Gabriel continued for him, "The ancient Greek ruler whose name is the very standard for modern dictators. My father is the reason why oppressors are referred to as 'tyrants'."
"Then he went underground for over a thousand years," Pablo said, "He popped back up in Romania in the 1400s,
"Yet since it had been over a thousand years since his last appearance in history," Pablo added, "So this time out he was known as Vlad the Impaler."
"Wow, that's not creepy." Alyssa said, "How did he get that name?"
"He impaled a lot of people," Gabriel answered, "Tens of thousands."
"Why haven't I heard of him?" Alyssa asked.
"You have heard of him," Gabriel said, smiling. "The Impaler is his nickname, not his surname."
"What is it?" Alyssa asked.
"His name was Vlad Dracula." Pablo answered.
"Dracula?" Alyssa said, turning to face Gabriel again. "You lied again!"
"I did?" Gabriel asked.
"I remember you telling me that this book wasn't true!" Alyssa chided.
"It wasn't!" Gabriel said, "First of all, Dad's not dead."
"Wait, he's not?" Pablo said, "I thought the council replaced the monarchy?"
"They replaced nothing," Gabriel said, "When Dad wakes up from his nap, he'll expect to take his stop at the head of the table."
"Wait, how long has he been napping?" Alyssa asked.
"A very long time." Gabriel replied, "A few centuries, which means he doesn't even know about the undead. I don't even think any of the other elders really know what's going on up here on the surface."
"That's interesting," Pablo said, "Imagine a rancher goes on a trip and returns weeks or months later and the cattle on the ranch have been wiped out by a plague while you were gone. Imagine just how pissed off you would be if that happened to your food supply?"
"That explains the council's actions quite a bit," Gabriel said, "They're gathering Intel and trying to make it looking like they're doing something about it. So if the elders wake up and see this mess, they can at least claimed to have tried to stop the food supply from going extinct, save themselves all a brutal impaling."
"He still does that?" Alyssa asked.
"Not for a very long time," Gabriel said, "But he looking at this mess might make him want to impale the entire council if they have nothing to show him."
"Alright, we have the why," Pablo said, sitting back down. "So what are we going to do now that we know?"
"I made a promise," Gabriel said, "I promised Cornelius I'd at least try, and I have been. Speaking to some elders in the eastern cities. We need to speak to this witch and see what she knows. There's a possibility she's old enough to remember when it all started."
"Sounds like a plan," Alyssa said, "But we're all going."
"I agree," Pablo said, "I want to speak to hear as well."
"Alright," Gabriel said, as he realized there was no point fighting. "But don't do too much talking, I need to get the information for my brother."
"We'll go on Monday," Alyssa suggested, "After we take Diane to school. Let's all go to our corners and all cool down before talking to Mrs. Goldman. It will give me time to talk to Diane as well and resolve things with her too."
"Alright," Gabriel said, as he stood up to go. "Pablo and I will take off and give you some space."
Alyssa followed the men to the door and closed the door behind them after they walked out. Once the door was locked, she turned around and the grey cat was standing in the middle of the room. Alyssa wasn't scared because if Diane was telling the truth about his identity, the cat used to be her pet as well. They had history.
"Smokey," Alyssa said, as she couldn't believe she was talking to a cat. "Let Diane know that I'd like to speak with her, please."
The cat gave a short sound before scampering back into Diane's room to get her. Moments later Diane came out of the room but the cat was still following behind.
"Is he alright?" Diane asked, still upset she hurt Gabriel.
"He'll be fine," Alyssa said, as she walked over and hugged her sister. "Vampires heal very quickly and we gave him a bag to speed up the process. He's already much better and will be good as new tomorrow."
"I didn't mean to," Diane said, clearly remorseful.
"I believe you, and so does Gabriel." Alyssa said, "Take a seat and I'll make some tea."
"Alright," Diane said, as she sat down at the table. "You're not mad at me for keeping my power a secret?"
"I've kept secrets too," Alyssa said, smiling back. "We can get through this, and we will have a nice, calm and very civil discussion with Mrs. Goldman about it."
"That sounds good," Diane said, relieved to see everyone had calmed down.
Alyssa was pouring the tea into cups and she decided to change the subject so Diane wouldn't feel do bad.
"Listen to this," Alyssa called out, "You are never going to believe who Gabriel's dad is!"
Kapitel 32: Conference at the Cauldron
Hours before Alyssa walked Diane to school that following Monday, after a weekend of peace and quiet, Gabriel left the building and walked over to Mrs. Goldman's place of residence before the sun came up. As he walked into the hallway of the building, standing there at the end of the hall was the same black cat that had been following Gabe and Pablo around town for a while now. Gabriel looked down at the black cat as he sat pretty, constantly keeping an eye on the vampire.
"Hello again," Gabriel said to the small ball of fur. "Oscar, right?"
"Correct blood sucker," Oscar replied. "Are you just going to wait here for the next few hours?"
"Yes, I am." Gabriel answered, "And I have a name too."
"My apologies, Gabriel." The cat said, "I don't normally converse with vampires long enough to be on a first name basis."
"Understandable," Gabriel conceded, "We can be a finicky bunch."
"I've never heard a vampire admit that," Oscar admitted, shaking up a bit.
"There are some of us who are humble," Gabe offered, "It just takes us a lot longer to get there. A lot longer."
"Fair enough," Oscar said, "She is expecting you downstairs."
"I'll stay here," Gabriel countered, "I promised to wait for them. It's best not to leave them out, because they've got enough issues with trust."
"I understand," The cat said, "Our reputations tend to cause some of those issues with the humans."
"Mine more than yours," Gabriel countered, "Yet I completely understand why they fear me, because they're my food. It's like asking a rat to trust a cat, the distrust is not assumed and is quite earned."
"I see," the cat replied, "My master and I have known about your presence here in the town since the beginning when Alyssa was sent out on her first salvage mission and didn't come back for over a week."
"Since the beginning," Gabriel said, thinking about it. "I guess I should thank you for not confronting or exposing my secrets."
"Exposing you serves no purpose," the cat said, "It also risks exposing ourselves. It doesn't make any sense if you're not causing trouble."
"Usually I'm accused of causing trouble," Gabriel admitted, "Most vampires are well known for stirring things up."
"But you're not most vampires," Oscar noted, "My master is old enough to know your history, hence another reason why she is not that concerned but still cautious."
"Not a bad attitude in this world," Gabriel agreed, "You can't afford not to be."
"Indeed," the cat concurred.
There was a long silence that took over from there, as the vampire and the cat stood there at the staircase for what seemed like a few minutes to them but was a few hours to the rest of the world. It was only a matter of time before Pablo and Alyssa arrived after dropping off Diane at school. They seemed surprised to see Gabriel and the cat waiting for them, but Gabriel was offended by their shock.
"Let's not keep her waiting any longer," Pablo said, "I have to report for wall duty in less than two hours."
The cat started to head downstairs instead of up.
"Isn't her apartment this way?" Alyssa asked.
The cat stopped, looked back at them and meowed.
"He said she's not waiting for us there," Gabriel said.
"Lead the way fur ball," Pablo said, as he didn't honestly care where they were meeting as long as they got things started.
The cat descended towards the basement to a part of the building that Alyssa had never seen before. When the reached the bottom of the stairs, if looked like a dead end but the can walked up to the wall and growled for a moment. As if controlled by machines, a secret door popped open, much to the surprised of the three people watching. The cat led the and walked through the opening and Gabriel went second as the two humans followed behind. Once they were all inside the door closed behind them, but they didn't look back but preferred to see what was in front of them. There was an assortment of plants, and in the middle of all it was a big black pot that many of them had read in stories but had never seen in person until then.
"Where the hell are we?" Alyssa asked.
"This looks very creepy," Pablo added.
"It's a cauldron." Gabriel answered, "But one that hasn't been used in a while."
"Quite correct," the old woman said, as she smiled to greet them. "This cauldron hasn't been active since Diane's mother passed away."
"Why not?" Pablo asked.
"Rules," Mrs. Goldman said, "It takes two witches to safely control a cauldron. I haven't been able to use this puppy since I lost my friend, but that might change soon."
"You're talking about Diane?" Alyssa asked.
"Yes, I am." Mrs. Goldman replied, "While an active cauldron might scare some people, it's actually very beneficial to the town."
"How so?" Gabriel asked.
"They can repel the undead," the old lady answered, "The power from the cauldron gives the undead a bad vibe and they stay miles away from it. Alyssa, haven't you notices more undead activity since Diane's mother passed away?"
"She's right," Alyssa said, "The dead at the walls and even the herd activity did go up a lot around the time mom passed away."
"That's fascinating," Gabriel said, taking note of it. "What about the cauldron repels them?"
"We think it's the aura of death," Mrs. Goldman answered, "The cauldron kind of reminds them of the underworld and that's why the undead stay away from them. It's like a sixth sense, as they can detect it miles away and make course corrections."
"That's amazing," Pablo said, "So how soon can you get it fired back up?"
"Not yet dear," Mrs. Goldman said, "I'm sure Alyssa would prefer I take things slow with Diane when teaching her the craft."
"Yes, I would." Alyssa said, "But are you sure she's strong enough to handle it?"
At that moment, Mrs. Goldman let out a bellowing laugh, as if the young woman had said something that was very funny.
"You have a nothing to worry about that, dear." The old lady replied, "Diane is a special one, as you can see from all the guardians that have been gathering."
"How many are here now?" Gabriel asked.
"I've honestly lost count," Mrs. Goldman said, "I've never seen anything like this outside of Salem."
"Why is this happening?" Alyssa asked.
"It's because of her aura," Mrs. Goldman answered, "A witch's power broken up into seven magical fields. The first four are the elements, which are magic used through earth, wind, water and fire. Then there is light and dark magic. As a witch grows up, her aura will naturally gravitate to the one that fits her abilities. Some witch's auras are strong enough to take on two powers, classified as a main and a minor. When a witch has two, they often compliment each other. For example, my specialties are in earth and water. This is why I also work with herbs and potions, as that's part of my special abilities."
"That's quite interesting," Pablo said, "But which one is Diane?"
"The seventh," Mrs. Goldman answered, "Which is called the heavenly aura. We haven't seen or felt an aura like this in centuries but she has it."
"What does that kind off aura do?" Gabriel asked.
"Everything," Mrs. Goldman said, "Diane's aura allows her to access any of the other six powers at will. She can control them all. That makes her the most powerful witch in the country, possibly the world."
"Wow," Alyssa said, trying to grasp what was being said. "So not only is my sister a witch, but she's like a super witch?"
"Not exactly," the old lady corrected, "Because she can access all elements that makes her an idea person to lead. Leadership is often chosen from those who have a heavenly aura as they are able to work with everyone. Now that a new aura like this has arrived, I'm unsure how the others will respond."
"The others?" Alyssa repeated.
"The witches in Salem," Mrs. Goldman answered, "They will no doubt send someone to find out where this aura is. Do you think I'm cleaning up around here just for kicks and to be nostalgic? I'm preparing for company."
"How many?" Gabriel asked, as he was suddenly concerned.
"I'm not sure," Mrs. Goldman answered, "But I will use whatever powers I have and the rule of law to stop them if they try to take here away. I should also let you know that the guardians here all came to serve the heavenly aura. If Diane doesn't want to leave, these guardians will defend her, even against other witches and fellow guardians. I hope the witches will notice that and use diplomacy rather than do something stupid that we'll all regret."
"I don't even know if I want her to take part in all this," Alyssa said, concerned for her younger sister.
"You don't have a choice dear," the old woman said, "Sooner or later Diane was going to show signs of powers, and I would have had no choice but to step in if she didn't talk to me about it first. This isn't a bad thing, dear. Diane has a power that she can use to protect herself and this town from the undead. And because of what she is, Salem will always offer her a home if she wants it. She has a place that will welcome her with open arms, and accept her just the way she is."
"If it's like that, why did you leave?" Gabriel asked.
"Politics," she answered, "Without a heavenly aura to lead, the elemental council had no choice but to become the ruling body. There's been infighting and conflict ever since. It's not as bad as I make it out to be, but it was too much for me so I left to find a better and quieter place to do my thing."
"But now they're coming to us?" Pablo asked, "How will we explain this to Max?"
"I'm not sure, but we'll burn that bridge when we get there." Mrs. Goldman answered, "What I need is permission to train the child and get her caught up to what a witch her age should know. Is that alright with you, Alyssa?"
"It is," Alyssa said, surprised herself to hear it. "You knew my mom, so I assume you'd be her first choice too."
"I appreciate that dear." The old woman said, giving her a hug. She turned to look over at Gabriel, "Now, you wanted to talk to me about the undead... something about some questions your council wanted answered?"
"I did," Gabriel said, "But it can wait. We have to get ready for your company. Tell me more about the witches that might be coming..."
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