Michael
Silvanus and I came out fighting somewhere in the city, and like that first night, I wasn't much of a challenge for him. He was indulging me because I needed to vent and get out all of my frustrations. I tried every creature, using all I had to work with and my three parts together. But he was seasoned and knew how to counter all my tricks. It went on for a long time until we ended up on the embassy platform. We both heard a scream so loud that it resonated up from the harbor below us. Halting mid-fight, we walked to the edge, looking down at the water. I had never seen so much blood and teleported down onto the deck of the boat.
Juliet's head bobbed out of the water, and she swam for the side of the boat, trying to get her short blades stuck into the side. Louis and Marcus were hanging down, trying to take hold of her hands. Fish kept bumping the hull from the bottom, making it impossible for them to get at her. Silvanus and I put our weight on one side to make it tilt towards her. Marcus and Louis each grabbed one of her wrists, and I could finally breathe. As they were pulling her up and we stepped back, one of the giants dove at her, biting her around the waist and disappearing into the water.
All of the men dove down with the two. The water was almost black, making it hard to see anything. Fish came at us from all angles. I had dug my nails into the one that had Juliet climbing towards its head. Marcus was in front, trying to gouge out its eyes. The fish fought back, let go of Juliet, and went after Marcus. I grabbed its tail, pulling it away from him. When he had a hold of her, all I could do was kill them in my Werewolf form as they attacked us. A Riphath in the water would slow me down. If Silvanus was sinking, he would go down too low. I tried to keep track of everyone. I came up to take stock after killing two. Louis was first with an unconscious Juliet in his arms. "Carl! Take her." Louis tried to say. His head was going under the water and surfacing again.
Carl flew over while I dove again, searching for the rest. The few giants left were feasting on something at the front of the boat. Marcus was drifting in the dark, unconscious and hurt. I pulled him up, "Carl!" I yelled.
He grabbed Marcus from me. Jessy and Kubra surfaced back to back. "Get out of the water!" I ordered. They swam for the boat, and it was only Silvanus left… I took a deep breath and dove. Louis was next to me, pointing in a direction. All I could do was plunge deeper as Louis swam back up.
Silvanus was changing from a Riphath to a human. His eyelids were heavy. I held out my hand, and he clutched it. I dove down deeper, seeing the bottom. I needed footing to teleport. I swam as fast as I could. As soon as my feet touched, we were on the embassy platform, and Silvanus was coughing violently. I was back on the boat, making so many trips up and down, getting everyone there. Louis had Juliet in his arms, running for En-gannim… A tired Kubra and Jessy had Marcus and were following. When I had Charlene and Carl on the platform. No one had gone anywhere. "We don't have a communicator, and we can't travel from here," Louis said.
Juliet was my first priority, and I wanted to take her, but I was exhausted trying to catch my breath. I couldn't make a planetary jump, scared of the consequences if I didn't make it, so I opted for the palace, ran to find a communicator, teleported back, and pushed it into Jessy's hand. It was chaos when we all came out soaked. The administrator staff scrambled to get everyone to the med bay. Juliet and Marcus were still unconscious. I had never been to an En-gannim's hospital or whatever they called them and had to follow. When the two were in good hands, darkness followed.
***
Louis's voice was the first I heard. "Is she doing any better?"
"We can't say… The best thing for her would probably be draining a person."
"I'll go to Earth and talk to them," Louis said.
"It's not only that. I don't know what Rodrigo did to her… We had been trying to figure it out, but only he would know." One of the doctors said.
"What about all his notes and books?"
"It's incomplete. It must be on Zoreah. And even then, how could we figure it out in time?" The doctor shook his head and waved his hands as he spoke.
"Would it help to have Ahasuerus's scientist back?"
"Yes."
"That's a lot to get done… I'm the only one… What's the most important for both of them?"
The other man was quiet. They didn't know what to do. I had killed Juliet's lifeline in a moment of rage.
Louis walked over to me. "He's awake. Barely."
I was rushed by men, being prodded and poked. Louis stood back, waiting. "Jessy, did you find Chris?"
"They can't track him down... I don't know why?"
The doctors dispersed around me, leaving Louis a gap to help me sit up. "What do you want me to do?"
"If you can go to Zoreah, I can go to Earth."
I nodded.
"But first, you got to eat." Louis helped me to the feeding room. "I'm going to go. Will you be okay?" I waved him off, and Carl joined him.
It took me a while to find my bearings. I was also not going to waste my strength and decided to do the next part, human. Charlene was sleeping in a chair next to Juliet's bed. I walked over to her. When she came into view, I wanted to reach out and do something. Her skin was almost white, and she had wounds over her stomach and chest. If I had kept my cool that morning… None of it would have happened. I felt terrible walking away from her and past an unconscious Marcus.
***
Kubra had come with me, and the guards on Zoreah welcomed us. They knew us after the fight, and things were different. Without Silvanus there, I would have to go looking for Ira…
Kubra and I made our way into the city and all the way to the center. It was tedious walking like an average human again. I was getting used to instant gratification. No one was at Ira's house, and we kept going till we reached Jamal's place. It was empty, too. "What the hell is going on? Where is everyone?"
"Well, you know the place better than me," Kubra said.
"I don't even know where Selena lives," I commented.
"We will have to forget about Chris. Let's go to the city and see what Rodrigo left behind. Maybe… just maybe he was a good Samaritan."
***
We had to walk all the way back. I was getting ticked off. "You okay?" Kubra asked. He could see my nerves were shot, and they were. "You know you should give yourself a lot of time to get to grips with all of it."
"There seems to never be time…."
Kubra sighed heavily. "It has been nonstop since you changed. Not that Juliet is giving you any time to get used to it."
He was right and actually understood it from an outside perspective. I was not being unreasonable… It felt like she didn't even care about me. That night in the club, she didn't even talk to me or chase away the girls. I had thought she would at least be jealous. I killed someone on Earth, and she didn't let me speak like I was a child.
"Why does it seem that there is more you need to get off your chest," I asked Kubra, trying to get my mind to focus on anything else.
He seemed hesitant to answer. "I think the reason we were on Palmyra… Charlene and I were there because…."
I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to him. "Don't tell me?"
"You would think those two would run out of energy at some point."
"Charlene can't be serious?"
"Juliet is for it… all the way. You've set a new standard."
"How long will it be until others start branding women to see if they could match us?"
"I think the human-alien relationships will never happen. Not really."
"Jeez, I hope so. Maybe good, we're not on Earth anymore." I said.
"The government is cautious about what information gets out to the public. Can you imagine all the humans branding each other and all of them turning into all three of the bat… What the hell would happen?"
"Is that the f-ing theory?"
Kubra shrugged. "What the hell do we know anyway… Right?" We came up to the cave being rebuilt. "What if there are brandings in other parts of the freaking universe?"
"Even if there are. Who else would fall in love with three men before twenty-two?"
Kubra and I traveled to the Origin city. "What if another species is so deadly that one is enough. You'll wake up, and there would be some guy challenging you with some or other supernatural connection."
"Okay! You got to stop talking… No wonder you don't want to brand her. You're a half-glass-empty kind of guy. How do you know she'll change at all. What if nothing happens? Then Charlene's back to connecting to you or infection… You should've done that off the bad. Connect to her."
"It didn't satisfy her… It's about more than living longer. She wants the power… You would understand that. And I don't want my wife suffering at all."
"She isn't your wife yet!"
"That's all your fault. We were supposed to have a double wedding."
I smiled, feeling a little better having a conversation with someone who did understand all the variables and took it seriously. "Really? Was that the idea?"
"Juliet didn't tell you?" I shook my head, my smile gone in an instant. I didn't think a wedding was going to happen. Why did it upset me so much to only think about her?
It took us a while to find the lab and the library where Rodrigo was actually staying and working. They didn't have fridges, which meant Rodrigo wouldn't have had any vials with him on Zoreah… Would he not have stored some for her?
I left Kubra for a while, searching other rooms. It felt like it was going to take forever, and we didn't have time to waste. I heard the three Riphaths before I walked through a doorway that seemed like a common room.
"Chris?"
"Michael?"
"What are you doing, Chris? We've been looking for you the whole day."
"After our patrols, we come here." His speech was a little slurred. They were drunk. I turned away from him. He really was going on with his life. I didn't understand how he could do it? That morning when he and Juliet greeted each other... It was as if they had an understanding. Why was it okay that he was not there? My anger was building again, thinking about her deciding on her own. Chris was the one who said we should meet so that we are on the same page. Then he went and swatched her. There was no accountability… All I wanted was for us to slow down a little.
I couldn't tell him Juliet got hurt. Would he travel to her drunk? He would probably end up dead somewhere in space. I left them to join Kubra again. The three Riphaths trailed me like puppies. Chris wanted to take his next sip. Before I knew it, I slapped the drink out of his hand, and it fell on the ground, breaking and spilling beer everywhere. "Stop drinking, Chris!"
"Michael! What's wrong with you?" He kept slurring.
"Kubra, you don't have anything on you to wake Chris up?" He shook his head. Chris sat down on a chair and passed out.
It was hours before we had crates filled with things we thought relevant. Jamal and Selena were gone. I could only imagine they were somewhere sleeping together. No one knew that Juliet was hanging on by a thread.
"Before we leave, we better make sure we have everything," I said to Kubra.
We kept canvassing some more, and Chris eventually joined us. "How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Sober. So what's going on?"
"Why don't you travel to your counterpart and find out."
"You have an issue you'd like to get off your chest."
"What the hell do you care?"
***
Chris
Okay, if he wanted to play it like that… I wasn't going to hold his hand while he figured out his creature side… Like he did with Juliet on the farm… I groaned. He did help her carry Caleb. Fight her way through the galaxy. I never wanted to become Louis, who held the family together… In everybody's minds and up in their business. Raising babies. Sighing, I took a deep breath… "If I travel, I won't be able to come back and help you with whatever you're doing."
"No, you would! It will take you like ten minutes."
"Michael…" He didn't stop, rummaging through tube after tube. Kubra was doing the same.
"We can be glad that Rodrigo is so meticulous."
"Kubra, give us a minute."
He left, and Michael didn't stop. Softly, I placed my hand on his shoulder. He slumped back into the chair, his head drooping down… For a moment, I thought he was crying. His features changed to a Vampire. My body stiffened. I still had to get used to seeing him in all three of his new faces.
"Juliet is hurt…." He whispered. "It's all my fault… After you left, I freaked out about the baby… grabbed Juliet." My fingers tightened around his muscles. "I… grabbed her arm and hurt her."
I was so confused. "That's not so bad. Do you not remember what Louis put her through… She won't care."
"She and Marcus are critical… There was an accident in the water of Palmyra, and I wasn't there." I sat down on a chair… "They don't know how to help her… I'm unhinged because all she wanted was one baby, and I couldn't take it."
"Why aren't you there? Watching her?" His eyes slowly met mine. "I can finish here. You go be with her."
"She usually wants Marcus, but… he's hurt too. Everyone has their place… I have no idea where I fit in or why I'm even a part of all this."
I could deal with all his self-deprecation, but if it was that serious, I had to get him to a place where he could think straight. "Is Louis not there?"
"He's busy with other things."
"One of us has to go. She can't wake up with no one there. What are you searching for?"
"We need to study her modification."
"Wouldn't it be better to bring the scientists here rather than taking it there? We give her five x-tra days."
While I was still talking, Michael disappeared. It obviously made sense… I also traveled, but Michael wasn't there. I had come out into a room where Juliet and Marcus were in some weird-looking medical beds. Strange tubes hooked up to them. It seemed material-based… Because they didn't have plastic. It wasn't like an Earth hospital at all. A circular machine surrounded the bed and was constantly moving around them. I couldn't really get a good look at them, and Louis Warden and Carl came into the room with two humans tied up. I had to step back. They held the humans on top of them with the help of the medical staff. Louis cut a small slit in their necks. Marcus didn't need any prompting. He woke up when he smelled the blood, bit into the guy's neck, and drained the one human.
Juliet didn't even stir. That was the first moment the reality hit me. She might die. The three of them might die… Juliet was only dressed in her underwear, and I stepped closer, holding my breath. The wounds around her midsection were visible. Massive round piercings where the teeth of the fish penetrated her skin.
Marcus sat up, his eyes adjusting to the dim light in the room. The staff cleared him and threw his legs off the bed, making the machine monitoring him retract and stored itself away in the wall behind him. He made his way over to her, pushing me out of the way. Irritated, he waved in front of the machine. It powered down, retreating to a docking station against the wall.
The chances that the previous night would yield any fruit for them was almost nothing. He stroked her cheek, and his hand ended up in her hair, softly fisting a bunch, shaking… Marcus wasn't scared. He was angry, bending down and kissing her. "Why haven't you done anything to close the wounds and fix her?"
"We have your Majesty… Everything and anything. Nothing works. We have no idea what's going on." The one doctor said.
Marcus bent down low, rubbing his thumb over her lips. "Julie… Can you hear me?"
"We drugged her, your Majesty. She will not wake up until we can help her."
I ventured to touch him, but he shrugged me off. "Marcus, you have to go to Zoreah to find out what Rodrigo was doing and how he always helped her."
"I'm not f-ing going anywhere. You can go. I'm not leaving her!"
Louis dragged me out by the arm. "Chris, we have to go to the planet where we think Ahasuerus's scientists are... We need them to come back to En-gannim."
"The planet with all the vamps that hate us? That's a little risky."
"Come, let's go to Zoreah. We need to talk to Sung and your father."
I left easily. My Riphath attributes had their advantages. Marcus was taking it much worse than any of us. It had been fifteen years, and before I left, I cared much more about things happening than I did at that moment. Earth had made one way, and Zoreah had turned it around on me.
***
Ira and Silvanus were at the bar having a heated discussion. They waved us over. "How is Juliet?"
"Not getting better, that's why we are here… I know it's only been a week, but would you consider commissioning out your soldiers again?" Ira glanced at Silvanus, who wasn't looking too good. "You okay?" I asked the orange man.
"I almost drowned… So feeling a bit down in the dumps for being so stupid."
"The thing is, we need scouts, and Juliet is the only one that can recon without anyone touching her… So Riphaths are the next best thing we got."
"Or Caleb," Ira said.
"That's out of the question."
They soon agreed to go with us. Ira also wanted to know what was happening with Ahasuerus's army. If there were any left and who else defected off En-gannim.
***
We didn't know what we were walking into. Hessien was dead, and all the soldiers were killed, but it didn't mean there were more stored away somewhere.
The planet was dry, and the surface was mostly rock. The sky was an ominous red, making the ground around us reflect that same color. I wouldn't want to live there. The factories were established and were working, but I would be pretty angry having to leave En-gannim to live there.
We entered the building. Louis showed the man the emblem. "Who's in charge?"
The man scrambled and took us up some stairs to what looked like an office.
"Raas?" Louis and I said at the same time. The man had one steel arm, and the side of his head was shaven; a silver plate worked into the flesh. His once-long white hair that hung around his face was combed to one side. He still wore all black, proclaiming his allegiance. He saw we were staring at everything that he had become. "Torture on En-gannim was always rough. You would not want to make mistakes… But I made one." He lifted the arm and moved the new fingers on his mechanical arm.
"Where is Ahasuerus's team of scientists?"
"Why?"
"Where are here for answers. If you don't talk to us … we will take you back to En-gannim. Put you in one of the prisons."
He didn't like the idea. "They are not here."
"Where are they?"
"They were sold." That didn't sound good to me, remembering what Beatrice had said. "You're guessing right… There are a lot of aliens that want the teleporter tech."
"Who and where?"
"A man named Fahan… It won't be long before he makes his appearance… Just before Ahasuerus went to fight Juliet in the ring… He came to see me. Set a plan in motion for destroying her… Even if he didn't make it."
"How can they create it without the elements needed on En-gannim."
"How do the watchers fly?"
We all ran out of there. There was no time to lose. We teleported to Zoreah. The four of us stood in the cave with no roof. "Where is Idris?" I asked.
"Patrolling."
"Silvanus, take my dad to En-gannim. And stay there." I turned to Ira. "Who was the best teleporter besides my grandfather?"
"Beatrice."
"F- " I teleported to her hut, but the pestle and mortar were unattended. I ran through the house, scanning it quickly. I went to the neighbors, but she was nowhere to be seen, and she was with none of the women or her family. Everyone started searching. Sung was soon on the scene, asking me what was going on.
"I think she's been taken… You always cared that other species would find out how the vamps stole the ability… Well, did you ever think they would sell it?"
"If he did! It's because of Juliet. We told you what would happen."
I didn't have time to go into a debate with the woman. Ira and Silvanus appeared next to us. "I told you to get him out of here."
"If they had already taken her. They won't come after me… They would want…."
"Michael…" I had not thought about that. "But he's here on Zoreah... In the origin city."
"What's going on? Who has Beatrice?" Sung asked.
"Fahan," Silvanus answered, and the three of them were too quiet.
"Who is he?"
"A worthy rival," Sung said. "Just as big as us. Bodies covered in scales make for natural armor. Anatomy is the same… Legs, two arms. Heads with hair. Looks more like a man-like dragon. Their weapons are the problem. They fight with red glowing swords made from some element or… stone they have on their planet."
"What's the catch?"
"The catch is that if the blade strikes one of us… we can't teleport… Even the smallest cut." Sung said.
"When we were fighting the vamps in the thousand-year war, they showed up. But we defeated them. Back then, they didn't stand a chance. Their numbers were low. But it's been thousands of years, and the vamps can travel much more than a few at a time." Ira said.
"Do you have one of these swords?"
Silvanus nodded. "They are heavy like us. They wouldn't want to fight on Palmyra. Or En-gannim."
"Why would they want… How long do they live?"
"Not long…" Silvanus said. "A hundred years like humans… At most."
"I'm going for Beatrice."
Both men were hot on my trail. I was at the cave before them. Louis was sitting on the floor, waiting for us. We had to get back to En-gannim.
***
Michael came out at the same time as us. "I think we have something." He saw me. "Did you guys find something?"
"Just that we might have another problem rising up somewhere in space."