The night was interesting as we talked and laughed. None of the other vampires ever talked to the bar hand I could tell as they gave me bad looks but they did not dare say anything as I was leagues ahead of them in strength. While most could beat me in a fight, why take the battle. The damage I would do to them was a sure thing.
We laughed on through the night while he continued making drinks for everyone. Occasionally he would send a drink away through the other workers behind the counter which piqued my interest with each one. It was not worth asking about as it would certainly curb the stories and jokes. There were not many others I could talk to so freely. Most vampires could not even hold my attention for moments let alone a whole night.
With each drink he sent away, I noticed more details; they were always in the highest grade glasses, different workers were always sent to the same areas, all the workers had on identical white uniforms, male or female.
The night came and went before I knew it. After waking up back in my room, I went to find Kristine. I thought I was clear that we had nothing to talk about but if she was looking for me, it might be something important. There were quite a few people I needed to make it a point to see.
After walking around the base for an hour, I found her in the feeding chambers. She was not waiting to eat but holding for her friend. As we met eyes, neither of us was happy to see each other. There was still a faint glimmer of hope from her but I had nothing but disdain.
"What do you want, Kristine? I thought I made it clear that I never wanted to speak to you again." I said coldly.
"I know but we need to talk. I have been talking to Ally and she does not think it is right how you are treating me either." Kristine began.
"Oh, she doesn't? I really wish I cared what a unconnected third party thought." I said visibly annoyed. This was not going to go anywhere and just being in her presence was pissing me off.
"That is not all. Ally rented out our cabin in the mountains. The resort we have is in the south so it will be snowing when we go. We thought it would be fun to invite you and Diach to go snowboarding with us. We go every year. It might clear the air between us." She said hopefully.
"Why would I want to go with you anywhere? What is in it for me besides a trip of annoyance and agitation?" I asked seriously. She was almost frozen in anticipation of my agreement.
"Well, you would have fun snowboarding with us. There might be some humans you take interest in as well. The mountain we are going to has an unlimited supply of blood so you could feed to your heart's content. Who knows when the next time we could all be cleared simultaneously long enough to take a trip like this." Kristine said praying for a favorable response.
"As much as I do not care to take a trip with you, Diach deserves this. I will swallow my pride and we will go. Do not expect any miracles." I said glaring at her. She pumped her fist in triumph before regaining her composure and taking her seat.
Now was onto the next appointment. As I walked back to the bar to meet Diach for our meeting, a general stopped me in the corridor. To my delight, it was someone I was familiar with.
The friend of Diach tapped my shoulder as I walked past. I had not even noticed him. As I took a look around, I realized I was in a far different area than I realized. My destination was approaching on instinct alone.
"Hey, Skytel, just the vampire I was looking for." The general laughed as he held onto my shoulder. I did not have time to talk even though I wanted to.
"I am sorry, general, but I really must be going. I have important business to handle tonight." I said trying to slip from the conversation. In an instant, the general's face changed.
"What makes you think what I have to say is not equally important?" The general asked straight-faced. He flipped this into a question of respect impressively fast.
"Everything someone of your status says to a soldier such as myself is of the utmost importance but this is something that cannot wait." I said skillfully covering my tracks. Sweat was beginning to bead on my brows as I stood here talking.
"I am glad I caught you while I was thinking of it. Let us walk and talk. You are probably going to see Diach and he is the perfect person to hear. He should have told you of this himself but with everything else going on he must have forgotten." The general said as we started to walk. We talked about various unimportant odds-and-ins as we walked towards the bar.
The vampires in the corridors shifted out of our path as we moved. We were walking at inhuman speeds as I was trying to rush to the bar. The general, though, walked with a grace that is hard to explain. His footsteps did not make the slightest noise but still it was like watching a ballerina at The Spring Gala whereas I had an almost clumsy appearance walking at this speed.
We finally arrived at our destination a few minutes later. Diach was busy pacing back and forth at the table as he waited. First, he saw me and had a serious look on his face but when he saw the general it turned into glee.
"Ah, General Shu, nice to see you. I was not expecting you here with Skytel. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Diach said sitting across from the man after their usual cheers and hugs.
"Well, I happened upon him as he was coming to see you. I was thinking about the tournament coming up and it seems your boy has not heard of it. Any idea why?" The general asked pointedly to Diach. Diach lit up at the question.
"Ah, yes, the recruit tournament. I had totally forgotten about it. A lot has happened over the last few weeks so it slipped my mind. I guess it would be a good idea to tell him so he is not walking into it blind." Diach said subliminally messaging me about Kristine. My brows furrowed at the thought but I had not the time to worry about her.
"Now is as good a time as any." The general said to Diach before they both turned to me. They were more serious now and it made me nervous.
"Well, recruit..." The general started. I noticed he called me recruit instead of youngin' or my name like usual. "...each year the vampires hold a tournament between all the new recruits over the last year to see who is the strongest. I am not sure tournament is exactly the right word; it is more of a battle royal than a traditional tournament. You all step into the ring at the same time and only one of you leaves conscious.
It serves to entertain the older generations but it also shows who is the strongest so we know who should go on what missions alone as well as who we should feel most comfortable taking on missions with us as well as who we should not, under any circumstances, take on some of the higher grade missions." General Shu started.
There was not a doubt in my mind that none of the new recruits would stand a snowball's chance in hell against me in a fight. Hell, they could all fight me at the same time and they would still lose. Half of the more experienced vampires would be no match in a fight let alone these weaklings. I let out a laugh at the thought of how quick this 'tournament' would end.
"Is something funny?" Diach asked seriously. Looking at him and realizing he probably did not realize how fast I would take out the trash made me laugh harder.
I finally calmed down enough to speak, "I am sorry but do you not realize how much of a handicap match this is going to be. You said yourselves that I am the only new breed. How do you expect a bunch of puny recruits to stand against me? I am more worried I may kill these children than I am about anything else." As I finished speaking, I started to laugh again at the thought.
"You say that now but there are a few recruits I have been keeping my eye on that may prove to be more of a challenge than you expect." The general said taking a drink out of his freshly delivered glass. Diach seemed not surprised at the general's words. They were hiding something and the thought, while interesting, was provoking as well.
"More of a challenge is not going to be enough. I will kill whoever it is you speak of just to send a message. I am the strongest and my strength will not be disputed any more after this tournament of yours. Take delight in the fact that you made the new number 1." I said seriously, looking directly at Diach. The words they said were greatly aggravating.
They really thought there was any recruit who could stand against me? I was supreme. I would rule this clan before long and my power would not be argued ever again after this. A message would be sent after this tournament. My power will be renowned across all of vampire kind.
"On to other matters; the results of your tests and the new breed." Diach said after letting me marinate for a few moments. I was eager to hear what they made of my tests; less so the new breed. While he was strong, I would be stronger when I honed my strength and his kind would not hold a candle to me.
"The new breed was not made that way according to the doctors. He was engineered. That strength was unnatural and it was something harvested by their scientists. The doctors say that Moonwalker had dead-man's blood running through his veins." Diach said which elicited a shocked look from General Shu.
"I do not know what that means." I said honestly having not a clue what they just said. Dead-man's blood did not mean anything to me. We all died to be made into Moonwalkers and Vampires so of course there was some remnant dead-man's blood. I did not understand why the general was so shocked at Diach's words.
"When we are freshly made, sure there is some dead-man's blood running for a while but the amount is negligible. That Moonwalker had much much more. He was brought back a second time after being turned into a Moonwalker and killed again." Diach said. I understood when he explained it that way and now I was the shocked one.
Generally after we die and come back, that is all she wrote. We do not get another chance. Even if by accident or only for a moment once we die, we die. There is no defibrillator for vampire and Moonwalker kind. The Moonwalkers were successful in bringing one back. And they brought one back better than before.
This was very upsetting news and would raise more than a few problems in the future. As we did not know where the main base was or where they did experiments even if we did find the base, we could not do anything about it. We were at a severe disadvantage on this news.
"The kings have ramped up our science division to find a way to replicate the results of the test. If we do not come up with something, I fear we may be in for a long, ugly decimation." Diach said to both me and the general. The general seemed to be deep in thought at his words.
"I am a new breed. I may be the key to finding what we need." I said thinking over Diach's words. It seemed like a good idea to me but the vampires had already thought of this.
"Yes, you may be. That is partially why the doctors ran tests on you as well last night. They wanted to find out if there was a key to your strength or even a hint of some kind. If it was not something they could find physically, they were going to try your blood. We have no positive results yet but they will keep running tests on the blood you gave them. We have to figure something out." Diach said putting his hands over his mouth in thought.
I just found a new life and I was not ready to give it up. If that meant the vampires needed blood or even if I needed to wipe out all of Moonwalker kind, I would do what needed to be done.