Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It took us a while to come to terms with our condition. We travelled to Europe, avoiding humans as much as possible; animals on the other hand were not so lucky. After a while I learned how to change back to look human and I thought my brothers. Although keeping the wings in was difficult considering the fact that they became very itchy if kept inside for too long. We were still able to change into wolves, but the full moon had no effect on us. At least one good thing came from the ordeal.

I had buried Anna near her village and given her the proper funeral rights. We still had to avoid the wolf packs that were sent to hunt us down; Orvyn wanted us dead no matter what. Without us dead he could never really become the Alpha.

The journey took several months, months which we used to master our thirst. By the time we finally stopped outside the town of Bucharest in Romania I felt no compulsion to drink human blood or any kind of blood for that matter. My brothers on the other hand were still battling with the tiny remnants of bloodlust. Wilbur had stolen some books from my mother’s collection and we also stopped to raid the woman’s-who we discovered was a witch- home.

During the journey Wilbur told us about the immortality spell that the woman had performed on us, it had only been done once before but the person died immediately after becoming the creature. Her books showed that it was only a descendant of the first witch that could perform a spell like that and that the woman was the last of the bloodline. The first man died because the spell needed the blood of a love struck virgin which is why Anna was used.

Finding that out did nothing but heighten my hatred for my mother. We discovered that we had increased speed, Edgar once ran so fast that he became nothing but a blur, the rest of us followed suit. We were also given heightened senses and increased durability. Our healing ability was doubled considering the fact that being wolves also increases our healing.

We entered the village of Bucharest as peasants, Edgar had taken up an interest in medicine and soon became to towns physician, Bryce was eager to learn every musical instrument that he came across, mastering it after only a few days of practice.

I on the other hand spent most of my days writing, Edgar had told me that writing down what I feel would keep me from going insane with grief. Wilbur read everything; he spent most of the time indoors with his head buried in books, taking advantage of his increased brain capacity.

It took us roughly a hundred years to procure the wealth that was needed to construct a castle near the town where we could live our lives in secrecy, the castle workers knew of our condition and supplied us with fresh animal blood.

 For a while, everything was going well, and then the villagers began suspecting us. So Edgar decided that we needed to leave so we packed up our personal items, bode the castle workers farewell and left.

From there we travelled to so many places, never staying anywhere for more than a hundred years. At first we thought that we were going to be alone for all eternity but then Edgar discovered a breakthrough.

It was four hundred years after our creation and we were in Asia. We had not consumed human blood in a hundred years and it was starting to weaken us. Edgar had gone out for a hunt in a nearby town; he had trailed a woman and attacked her. Unfortunately for him she was a very skilled fighter and he was weak. She managed to slit his wrist before he pinned her to the wall. As they struggled, he said that his blood poured on her mouth.

In anger he killed her without sucking her blood. The next day she arrived at our house at dawn, much to Edgar’s surprise. From her, we discovered that if a human were to die with our blood in their bodies, they would come back to life as immortals, but for them to complete the transformation they had to consume human blood.

These sub-species were very different from us in the sense that they did not have wings nor did they have claws. They were considerably slower in terms of speed and healing. We also noticed that their skin was very sensitive to sunlight, often turning red and smoking after long hours of exposure. Sometime in the seventeenth century, after years of experimentation and research Wilbur discovered a mixture that protected our creations from the sunlight. It was to be applied to the skin every month. We also discovered that our creations could be killed once wood pierces their heart.

At first they honoured us as their creators, but after about five hundred years I lost interest in them and faded into the background. The older vampires still remembered us vaguely but the younger generations had not idea who we were. We enjoyed the peace and secrecy, although we fought in a few wars out of boredom and I suspected that my brothers were trying to kill themselves. We had broadened our horizons over every new civilization that came, learned their language, their culinary, their fighting styles and culture. Modern times had made this task a little harder but we managed to drive away attention with ease that could only be achieved with great practice.

I myself had gotten exhausted with existence, I had seen civilizations come and go; technology advanced very hastily, much to Wilbur’s delight. Bryce had mastered almost every instrument known to man, he had even taken a young human as an apprentice but unfortunately Ludwig Van Beethoven had no interest in immortality so his talent died with him.

 

I glanced outside the window of the cabin of the Lear jet 85 as it approached land. Edgar had purchased it a year ago for long distance travel. We had just moved into one of the many houses that we had built over the years after spending twenty years in Belgium. It was Wilbur’s turn to pick the house and he picked the large house that we had built in Brookfield South Virginia during the 1920s.  It was one of the largest houses we had ever built aside from the castle in Romania. It was a 14,000-square-foot Tudor style private residence built in 1929 and surrounded by a 47-acre private forest, it was very impressive to say the least. We had barely settled down when Wilbur came barrelling into the great room, almost tripping over a box.

He told us that he had been reading our mother’s journal when he discovered a hidden note. Apparently our mother had attempted the immortality spell on Audrey, but she did not have time to feed her human blood. So she decided to use a potion that simulates death and revive her after we completed our transformation, I had always wondered why my mother had Audrey buried in a metal coffin. The news brought back hope and Edgar did not wait for even a second before prepping the jet and a day later I found myself in the jet’s cabin.

I tugged the end of my suit sleeve, I hated suits but Edgar had insisted that we wore them. I did not get my hopes up, for all we knew; this was a wild goose chase.

“How long till we get there, this compressed air is very uncomfortable” I asked, snapping them out of their thoughts. Bryce and Wilbur were dressed in similar suits. Wilbur had cut his hair short and his cheek boasted a thin scar that he had obtained during the First World War.

Bryce’s hair was long and slick and he tied in back in a pony tail making him look like a character from one of those old mafia movies. Edgar was not in the cabin, he was piloting the jet. He had never trusted the jet to any other pilot.

“We should touchdown in a few minutes” Wilbur replied, I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was nervous. Britain would be crawling with wolves and the pungency of our scent hasn’t really reduced over the years. Wilbur did not glance up from the old text that he was reading, it was one of the many texts that we had gathered during the medieval era. He removed his glasses and placed it away. The glasses were one of the many gadgets that Wilbur had created; he used it to convert hard copy documents to soft copy. He was in the final stages of converting all our texts to soft copy, carrying all the texts while moving was becoming rather stressful.  

The plane jolted as the tires scraped the tarmac of Cambridge airport, it skid to a halt, struggling with the wet tarmac. I realised that I as squeezing the armrest, I never got used to being in planes. I never felt comfortable on anything in the air except my own wings. I regained my composure and got up, Wilbur placed the text into his briefcase and Bryce put his coat on. Edgar emerged from the c**k-pit.

To say that Edgar had changed was an understatement. He had stopped working out about twenty years ago due to his profession. He had shaved his long beard, but he left his moustache untouched, his sleeves his numerous scars from the wars we’d fought. The cool moisture laden air filled my nostrils as we disembarked the jet; it had taken a lot of money to secure the hangar on such short notice. Bryce drew in a deep breath.

“The air hasn’t changed” He commented, we had never gone back to Britain after the incident, this was our first time in 1500 years.  

“Speak for yourself, it has gotten considerably colder” Wilbur complained as he rubbed his hands together. Edgar handed Wilbur his coat, we may be fifteen hundred years old but Edgar still treated Wilbur as his baby brother.

“You use up too much heat because you think too much” Bryce commented as we exited the airport, Edgar had rented a car during the flight. The silver Bentley was parked outside the airport, the Chauffer stood by the driver’s door. He was about my height with neatly cropped brown hair.

“Mr Aiken?” He asked as we approached the car. Edgar shook his hand and stopped him before he entered the car.

“That would not be necessary; I am capable of driving the car myself” The man began to protest but Edgar held up his hand, silencing the man.

“You will wait at the airport till tomorrow to collect the car” He said. We discovered the ability to influence humans with our voice and thoughts when we were in china in the 12^th century, our creations also showed this ability, although they only had the ability to deliver direct commands. We on the other hand could influence their emotions, memories and even personality.

“I will wait at the airport and collect the car tomorrow morning” The chauffer repeated with a dreamy expression on his face. He staggered towards the airport, nearly running into a luggage trolley. Bryce chuckled.

“That never stops being funny” He commented as he took the front passenger seat. I took a seat beside Wilbur in the back; he produced his laptop out of his brief case and began gliding through the keys.

“West Stow” He began as Edgar pulled out of the airport. “A small historical village about forty minutes from Cambridge, they made the town into a Saxon village”

Edgar scoffed “Like those brutish Saxons could match our craftsmanship”

“West Stow” Bryce imitated Wilbur’s voice perfectly, earning him a scowl.

“So what happens if this turns out to be a wild goose chase” I voiced my thoughts.

“Then at least we’ll be able to bash a few wolf skulls” A grin was spread on Bryce’s face as he spoke.

“I don't understand the pleasure that you would derive from that” Wilbur said.

“Payback for Berlin” Bryce replied referring to our last wolf attack, we were in Berlin when a small group of wolves ambushed us. We killed them, but not before they ripped off Bryce’s right arm. It took him about a week to grow it back.

“If we don't tread carefully, our situation will be a repeat of Berlin” Edgar said from the drivers’ seat.

I spent the rest of the trip staring out the window; I clutched the silver knife in my suit pocket. I let out a breath as we pulled into the tiny town.

I was amazed at their incredible craftsmanship; the village was an exact replica of how it looked when we lived here, although they didn’t restore the cage.

Edgar had arranged with the owners of the village to excavate in the courtyard of one of the houses, the crew had already set up their equipment when we got out of the car.

“Home sweet home eh” Bryce commented.

“Good evening Mr Aiken” A voice said from behind us. We whipped our hair back in unison, something that we had gotten used to. The bearer of the voice was a gruff looking man. He wore construction clothes and glanced at us with odd grey eyes.

“Ah yes, pleasure to meet you Mr...” Edgar’s voice trailed off as he offered his hand.

“Simon Burrows at your service” He shook Edgar’s hand. I heard Bryce swallow a chuckle as he heard the man’s name.

The man led Edgar to the site, Bryce walked close to me. Wilbur couldn’t stop staring around.

“Ironic isn’t it, an excavation worker named Mr Burrows” He whispered, I chuckled.

“What’s next, a musician named Harmony” Wilbur said. The crew was already scraping the earth with the huge crane.  

“So what happens if this is all just a wild goose chase” I mused.

“Well, Edgar will probably rip my arm off for wasting his time” Bryce pulled out a bottle of whisky from the trunk of the Bentley.

“Nothing like a little whisky to take the edge off it all” He took a large gulp and passed it to me.

“Well, unlike humans, it takes more than a bottle to whisky to get us drunk” Wilbur grabbed the bottle from me and sitting on top of the car.

“I know, that's why there’s an entire crate in the trunk” Bryce smiled. I let out a low burp.

“How do you think Audrey will react?” I said suddenly.

“Well, we can’t have her wolfing up and killing the crew”      

“That won’t be a problem; Audrey will be in a comatose state. We’ll revive her back at the house.”  Wilbur assured.

“It’ll be nice to have her back” I mused.

The sound of metal hitting metal rang in my ears.

“We’ve found it!” Edgar called.

Bryce finished the bottle of wine, flinging it into the forest and releasing an earth shattering burp.

“Time to wake sleeping beauty” 

Reviews

[Will Neill]

Micheal, I have read your second chapter, the story line follow's on well. Just once again while I belive you are eager to get it down on paper (so to speak) you have made little errors. Try not to repeat the same word if it can be avoided in the same sentence, or paragraph. It is hard when you use dialogue in any story to make it work well, while yours dose work within the theme I would leave out things like 'He Whispered, chuckled. emotions or expressions can be worked in elsewhere. let the players talk with out this if you can. Other wise a good second chapter.
Take Care.
Will