I turned to Kristine to have a heart-to-heart. As she looked at me sorrowful, I turned cold. Playing at my emotions was not going to help her here. In fact, it was going to do the exact opposite.
"You know I have no intention on talking to you anytime in the immediate future. You betrayed me. If there is one thing I absolutely cannot stand, it's disloyalty." I said looking in her eyes. She seemed confused by what I said.
"What do you mean? I did not betray you." Kristine said thinking it over. She truly did not see anything she did wrong. It filled me with more annoyance and anger than previous.
"You really do not think you did anything wrong? Even though you knowingly walked me into a torture chamber relabeled 'massage therapist'. Come on now, you must have known how much it would hurt because I know you have been there before. Why would you not tell me about it? Do you just enjoy seeing me in pain and agony? Or perhaps you thought, 'hey, he's a new breed. We can use this for testing.'? What could have possibly been running through your mind when you did that?" I asked seriously. Her next answer would decide if we ever conversed again.
"I had no idea it would be that bad. No one did. It was painful for the rest of us, sure but nowhere near that bad. It was barely even worth a scream the first time for all the rest of the vampires. Only for you was it as bad as it seemed. I held your hand more because I like touching you then for comfort." Kristine said looking at the other vampires sitting down. They all met us with a shrug like they had no idea.
"Why would it hurt me worse than it did the rest of you? That does not even make sense." I said annoyed. I could not think of any single reason I was in such worse shape then the rest of the vampires.
"It might have something to do with you being a new breed; the first new breed in history." Kristine said taking a shot in the dark. That possibility had not even crossed my mind but I still could not see that being the reason. So I was slightly different then the rest, I did not look it or act it. I only had a tad extra strength and speed. Maybe some extra mental capacity but that was still unknown.
But my physical changes, no one could have guessed just how much of a factor they would play. Or how deeply different I truly was.
Kristine looked at me for a moment before saying, "Well I could not know and neither could you. You cannot blame me for something neither of us knew."
I was erupting with anger at that statement. She was trying to dictate what I could and could not be angry about. Sure I should not be angry but she should have told me there would be some pain even if only a little bit. It was not like this was a fight where I had to expect it. The massage therapists back in the human world worked wonders without ever putting the patient through even the slightest discomfort.
"I can certainly blame you for walking me into an agonizing 'massage' and not giving me any fore warning whatsoever. How would you like it if I took you to meet my old karate instructors and they spent the day slamming you into the ground full-strength. But just for the sake of argument, let's say they are vampires so their strength is equal to ours." I snapped back. The woman looked in the air thinking about it before answering.
"I guess I would not like it very much. The surprise would not be a welcome one." Kristine said as she looked back down towards the ground.
"Exactly. You would not like it. So how do you think I felt?" I yelled. The 2 vampires on the side of us jumped from the sudden shout while the rest just looked down the line. The vampire behind the podium looked down his nose at us before scoffing and continuing what he was doing before.
"You need to think about how other people feel when you do things. You have always been a tease, which I like, but sometimes you take it too far. I cannot even say for sure whether I believe you really like me or not. Either way, I will not be toyed with any longer. I hate to be cocky but I am a very handsome man and I could have plenty of women, human and vampire if I so desired." I said looking at her very seriously. I was truly a prime pick as I was pretty good looking and in excellent shape. It is not like I was the smartest in the room at all times but never was I the dumbest.
"Okay, fine, you are right. I really am sorry." Kristine pleaded. It would still take some time but she raised some good points. I could not stay mad at her forever for something that was not even her fault no matter howangry I was at that moment.
"We really should not even be having this talk. Just do not be disloyal again and we will be fine. Tell me when I am making a bad decision or when I am walking into something blindly like I would for you. And I would definitely tell you, 'hey, Kristine, whatever you are about to do is definitely going to hurt but I am not sure how much so take this as a warning." I said sternly. She had a guilty look in her eyes hearing that but it was true.
Talking to her like this made me feel like the adult and her my little kid. I was not willing to babysit anyone I had the potential of dating so this was her only chance. She needed a hard lesson to grow up.
"If we have to go through this again, it will be the last talk we ever have. There are thousands of vampires in this base so avoiding one will not be that much of a task. Not to mention I do not even know when or where you go on missions to or where your hometown is." I replied deadly serious. I was not going to mince words with her as she needed to hear the hard truth of the matter.
"I do not think it is that serious but ok." Kristine said back lowly. But she was loud enough for me to hear clear as day.
"This is not a game, Kristine! You need to be serious for once. For fuck's sake." I yelled at her. She and all the rest of the vampires jumped when I screamed this time. It was much louder than a few moments ago. Tears started welling in her eyes but it did not phase me like it might some other time.
My name was called next for feeding. I did not want to sit out here with Kristine any longer so I jumped up and rushed back. Feeding was a pretty fluid process as I did not plan on saving every human we get. They were willingly throwing their lives away so we could feed so I could not dwell on it too long.
As I walked over to the bar to finish my conversation with the bar hand, I caught sight of Odesza for the first time outside the arsenal. From the direction he was walking, I had to guess he was going to the princes. But I would not be able to hear him once he entered the room unless I could keep the door from closing fully. Thinking quickly, I came up with something.
I sprinted off towards my room where my bag was before grabbing a small block from inside. It was a door stopper but with how thick the door was and how large this stopper was, it would certainly be seen. I quickly studied the shape of the stopper before going into a barren corridor under maintenance. As I took deep breaths in and out to focus, I looked at one spot on the wall.
I punched at full speed to take a chunk out of the wall but had to do some witling to get the correct shape for the door stopper. After two minutes, I had just what I needed.
When I ran back to the princes' room, the door was already almost closed so I only had one chance at this. I threw the block towards the door and it wedged in the perfect spot to stop the door before it closed. The guards did not seem to notice as they did not move when the wedge flew past them.
Even though the door was metal, a stone door stop would be more then enough to stop it. Now the only thing left were the guards on this side of the door but if I casually walked up to them or started a ruckus, my plan would be foiled. Luckily, another vampire was walking towards the door to get a mission.
I carefully stayed behind the person and shifted as we came to the guards to avoid being seen. The woman and I walked through the guards but as we did, I was spotted. With lightning quick reactions, I chopped both guards in the neck and placed them on the floor softly to avoid the noise. Now there was a clear view of the thrones.
"Yes, my prince. Skytel is progressing at an alarming rate. He could very well be the child of prophecy." Odesza said kneeling before the princes. I could not tell which he was talking to since he said prince and not the plural. Finally after a few moments, someone answered.
"I see. What do you think we should do; kill him or let him do our bidding until the prophecy comes true?" Hoizon asked the blind man. Even the princes treated Odesza with the utmost respect and trust.
"Well, if we let him live, his clan will eventually wipe the vampires out. But if we get rid of him now, it could set a bad example for future recruits and cause an uprising at some point. Taking out a fresh recruit who has not done anything wrong would look bad to all the vampires and the Moonwalkers when they found out. It would be hard to explain his body to the humans as well." Odesza said clearly favoring one side. He must have a sweet spot for me since I learned his lessons quickly and he was always eager to teach me something new. His methods were different than most vampires as well. I had to assume it was because I was a new breed but whatever the reason, I sure was glad for it at that moment. Under no circumstance would I walk out alive if they decided I was too much a liability in that instant. Odesza himself was too strong for me but him and all the princes together? No.
"Then we will have to let him live on. He will be a great benefactor while he is here. We will train him into an obedient machine capable of dismantling and destroying the Moonwalkers." Hoizon said talking about me. I tripped and hit the door as one of the guards started moaning and waking up. The princes looked toward the door but before any of the guards came out, I was gone. If they caught me in that moment, it would mean sure death for me. But I did wonder what their prophecy spoke of that they were afraid of. They were like gods among the vampires and humans so I was terrified of anything that caused them such fright.
Diach would be the best to talk about it with. As usual, he was not in the room nor the bar so I would have to hunt him down. Everyone I asked gave me different directions, though, so I could not rely on anyone to help but me.
After over two hours of looking, I finally found him. He was down in one of the maintenance corridors tunneling through the rock. Judging by the heat coming from where he was going, I could only assume it was going to be an exit from lower than the current.
"Diach, we need to have a talk." I said to him grabbing his shoulder. He jumped up in exictement before turning around ready for battle.
"Oh, Skytel, it is just you. You gave me a fright." Diach laughed before he really looked at me and saw how worried I was. I explained what I heard from the princes and Odesza before a long silence resounded.
"Well this is quite the interesting turn of events. The princes are afraid of something, and it is my disciple to boot. They are always ready for war so I have never imagined what they could possibly be afraid of. We will have to stay together from now on to keep any harm from befalling you from the princes or any of the others. But I will watch them all to monitor if any updates come about." Diach said proposing the plan to me. I was still unsure of my part but it sounded good so far. After nodding, he continued his speech.
"You will carry on as usual but make sure to focus in your training sessions as they will prove to be a great benefit in the future if what the princes fear comes to pass. No one has ever 'left' the vampires so they will do everything they can to keep you an obedient soldier." Diach said with his chin in his hand. He was extremely deep in thought at this. But his plan sounded good as it was the only course of action we could come up with at the moment. We would certainly need to bring others onboard eventually but for now, it was best to hide this from everyone, even Kristine, Allie, and the general from before.
After another hour of tunnel digging, we went back up to the main area of the base. It was as lively as always almost like they were trying to distract me from something. The paranoia was setting in and I could not even imagine how I was going to get through the next day let alone months or years if need be. Everyone I walked by, I watched carefully.
Diach saw this and grabbed my shoulder to calm me down. He seemed to be operating as normal but I could only think 'what if they are all in on it and are waiting to sacrifice me? Or what if they are just waiting for an opportunity to take me out?'.
"You have got to calm down. If the princes or Odesza see you like this, they will know you heard something you should not have. Relax and just take it day by day. No one will try to get you as long as the princes want you as a weapon." Diach said quietly. What he said made a lot of sense. There really was no reason to worry around a bunch of low rank foot soldiers. The princes and Odesza were the only ones I needed to worry about.