H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (27 page)

She said, “I’m glad you understand, because
I would do it all over again.”

“I know you would.”

“Lena, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“A lot of weird stuff happened last night
during my fight. I knocked the first guy out quickly, but the
second guy was a beast. And I was using powers by accident.”

“What kind of powers?”

I stepped back and Lena let go of my waist.
I went back into the kitchen to the sink. I grabbed a glass and
poured myself some water. “Okay, last night… during the fight, I
was able to move a 400-pound boulder using just my mind.”

“Are you kidding?”

“No, I’m not kidding. I was able to move
this gigantic rock just using my thoughts.”

“How did that happen?”

“I really don’t know. I was getting the crap
beat out of me by this gorilla.”

“You were?” Lena seemed concerned.

“Obviously, I’m okay. I’m here with you
now.”

“Alright,” Lena hesitated. “Go on.”

“This 450-pound man was on top of me and I
had my face in the dirt. He was beating on me something fierce and
I was running out of options. I could see a giant white boulder
about 20 feet away. I could also see to the left of me a group of
Carni laughing and mocking me. I remember just wishing in my heart
that somehow that boulder would lift off the ground and fly into
the crowd to shut them up.”

“Did it?”

“Not at first. I stared at the boulder as a
point of focus. That’s something you learn from fighting on the
streets. Whenever you’re getting the crap beat out of you, the way
you don’t pass out is maintaining a point of focus.”

She got even paler than she was. “Okay, go
on.” Lena did not like this story.

“I stared at the boulder and then wished in
my heart this thing would lift up. I shot my eyes at the crowd.
Then, as if the hand of God himself picked up the boulder, it rose
off the ground and catapulted 20 yards in the air and crashed into
the crowd.”

Lena looked at me with absolute amazement.
“I have never heard of that. That’s telekinesis. That is
unprecedented! No Mani has ever been able to do that. At least it
hasn’t been documented.”

“That wasn’t the only thing. Every time I
jumped, I would float.”

“Float?”

“Yeah, float like a helium balloon.”

“Not fly, but float?” Lena was even more
bewildered.

“No, I flew too, but at first, I floated. I
floated a few times until I realized my body was trying to
fly.”

“Josiah, do you understand what this
means?”

“No, not really.”

“I think the Triat has given you all the
Mani gifts and more.”

“What are the gifts?” I asked.

“Most Mani are given one. It is up to them
to find out what it is.”

“Just one?”

“Some Mani’s only gift is transitioning. But
transitioning is what makes Mani who we are, so it’s not really a
gift. It’s a given.”

“So what about the other stuff, Lena?”

“I have never heard of a Mani flying in
their Mani form, nor to being able to move things with their
mind.”

“Never?” I asked.

“I have only been in the know for a couple
of years. There are a lot of legends and rumors.”

I walked back into the living room and sat
in the big chair. Lena looked at me and grinned at the satisfied
look I had as I eased into the chair. “Men and their chairs. You
all have your thrones, even if they are only in front of a
big-screen TV.”

“Ahh. Yep.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed the
comfort of the chair.

Lena smiled. “Did you try to do what I told
you to do when you went to bed last night?”

“Which was what?” I asked.

“Did you listen? Did you open yourself up to
all of this?”

I smiled at Lena. “Actually, I did.”

“You did?”

“Yep, I did. And you know what? I think I
had my first vision.”

“Really?” Lena was surprised.

“Uh-huh.”

“Anything you’d like to share?”

I wasn’t ready to share my vision. I wasn’t
even sure if I was supposed to. “I will at another time.”

“When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“Well, you do know, don’t you, the rest of
us have had visions since that infamous night?”

“Everyone has?” I asked.

“Everyone has. Even Hector.”

“Well, what are they?”

Lena retracted in her body language.

“Is it bad?” I was now concerned.

“It’s not bad. I mean it could be if we
don’t succeed.”

“Succeed?”

“Surely, you didn’t think this was going to
end the night you turned into a vampire. That’s when all of this
began. Josiah, when you’re ready to share your vision, we will all
share ours with you. Otherwise, I’m afraid we will overwhelm
you.”

It’s amazing how well Lena already knew me.
“Okay,” I said. She was right. I wasn’t ready for her to dump a
bunch of visions on me.

“So, what are you going to do right now?”
she asked.

“I need to get some fresh air. I was
thinking about going for a light jog.”

“Don’t go to any more frat parties.”

“Oh, I won’t.” I got up from the chair and
walked down the hallway into my bedroom. I went into my closet and
pulled out my running shoes. I sat on my bed and took off my jeans.
My back was sore from sleeping on the floor. I decided to jump in
the shower before my run to and allow the hot water to loosen up my
back. It was a little trick I learned in MMA to shower before and
after a workout. I removed the rest of my clothes. I stood in my
bedroom looking at my naked body in the mirror. I stared at my
skin. It was so pale. I use to be pinkish tan, and now I looked
like someone had dusted me all over in baby powder. I grabbed a
towel from my laundry basket and wrapped it around my pale body. I
stepped out of my room and walked down the hallway to the bathroom.
Lena was in there .

“Excuse me,” I said. “I’m going to take a
shower.” Lena was embarrassed that I was standing there in just a
towel.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just freshening up.”
Lena walked by me and I could feel her eyes scanning my body from
head to toe. I hoped she liked what she saws. She shut the door and
I turned on the shower. I stepped in and let the hot water just run
down my body. It felt so good, as if the water pressure was
massaging my skin. Ever since I had transformed, I had a heightened
sense of touch, as if new nerve endings had grown on the surface of
my skin. I was hypersensitive to pleasure as well as pain. I
cleaned off all the key areas of my body with soap and I turned off
the water and stepped out. I dried off, and once again wrapped
myself up in the towel.

I stepped outside and went into my bedroom.
I put on a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt. I put on my socks
and running shoes. When I walked into the living room, Lena was
sitting on the couch watching TV.

“I’ll be back in an hour.” I opened the
front door.

“No saving damsels in distress.”

“Oh, you will always be my first damsel.” I
stepped out of my house onto the front porch. This was when I used
to see my old friend, Daphne. The red hawk. She was always there. I
missed that. I missed Yari, her Mani counterpart.

I stretched on my porch. Every joint in my
body crackled as if I was setting off fireworks. I stepped onto the
sidewalk and began my jog. It felt great to run. I could feel my
body loosening up. I headed down toward Cal State San Bernardino. I
passed the infamous frat house where this whole mess started. There
was no party tonight. Not a single car was parked outside the
house.

When I made it to the San Bernardino campus,
I made my way to the running track. I looked at my watch and
decided to time myself running the 440, which is one full lap
around the track. My best time in high school had been 58
seconds.

I started my way around the track. I decided
to pick up speed. I began running as hard as I could. Then,
something strange started to happen to my body. I was running at an
accelerated speed. It felt like I was running downhill. I zipped
around the track like I was going fast forward. I looked down at my
time, 33 seconds. Holy shit! That would be the world record if I
were human. I was floored by my time. Not only could I fly, but I
had super speed. I just might be Superman after all.

I decided to run up to the stadium. I ran up
and down the stadium stairs. As I ran down the steps, my body
seemed to glide, as if it was trying to fly. But I wasn’t allowing
it to happen. I ran up the steps again. When I reached the top of
the stadium, I looked down at the track. I could see a woman down
at the bottom on the field. I recognized her. It wasn’t just any
woman; it was Yari.

Chapter Seven

It took a few minutes for my heart to slow
down. She was stunning as ever. I walked down the stairs toward
her, watching her red hair blow in the wind. Not to mention her
body was still in immaculate shape, which I couldn’t help but
notice since she was wearing the cat woman body suit.

“So, this is what it’s going to take to see
you?” she said. “I have to stalk you?”

“How are you, Yari?”

“Do you hate me?”

“Of course not,” I said.

“Then why haven’t you seen me?”

“I needed some space. I needed time to
think.”

“Josiah, that night was intense for all of
us. For you to cut me off and refuse to speak to me was awful.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

She reached out her arms to hug me, but I
pulled back.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing, I’ve been in a hundred fights this
past month. . . “ I stopped explaining when I saw her step closer
to me.

“Come here, I won’t hurt you.”

I leaned in when I felt her arms wrap around
me. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I feel good. I feel strong.”

“That’s good.” Yari was trying hard to
connect with me and I wasn’t sure how to respond. I cared about
Lena and was not willing to jeopardize that any further by being
physical with Yari.

“It’s nice to see you,” I said honestly.

“Well, I was always a phone call away.”

“I know. I just needed to figure a couple
things out.”

“You said that already. Josiah, I care about
you. Do you have any idea what I have seen in the last 400 years?
I’ve had every kind of relationship. I have met the most powerful
men in history.”

I looked at her, wondering where she was
going with this.

“I want you to understand this: No one,
Josiah, ever made me feel the way you did!”

“Did?” I asked.

“Yes, did. You are a fantastic person, and I
am touched to have been the one to lead you to become who you are
for the Mani people. But your purpose is for greater than a
schoolgirl crush. You’re The Chosen, and all I want to do is help
you achieve your destiny. Help us achieve the destiny for the Mani
people.”

I believed Yari. She had a peace about her
that I had not yet explored. I knew I could always trust her. In
some ways, I trusted her more than Lena. So I decided to tell her
what everyone was dying to know.

“I had a vision.” I said.

“Just one?” she asked.

“Yes, and it happened today.”

“What was it?” Yari asked.

I paused and grinned at the absurdity that I
was about to tell her. “A little blue man in front of a giant
castle said I was to ‘tame the wolf’ and then come back to see
him.”

“Are you sure it was a vision, or could it
have been a bad sugar high?”

I laughed. “It was definitely a vision. It
was my first and only dream I have had since becoming a Mani.”

“A little blue man, huh?” Yari took a few
moments to think.

I tried to push the Smurf-like image into a
gnome in my head. Yes, a blue gnome. That’s what he was.

Then she lifted her eyes and looked into the
sky.

I followed her gaze and saw a sea of black
ravens circling us in the sky.

“We have company, Josiah!” Yari yelled.

“Who are they?!” I hollered back.

“I don’t know.”

Yari and I were caught in the middle of
something that was not going to be good. I could feel it. The
ravens surrounded us in a perfect circle. Yari and I had our backs
to each other. The ravens were loud and I had no idea what was
going to happen. There was a slightly larger raven that had a white
stripe along its wingspan, like a military officer of their ranks.
I could tell that he was the leader, and my focus was going to stay
on him.

Suddenly, in an instant, all the ravens
transitioned into Mani men. The raven with the white stripe on his
wingspan transitioned into a muscular Asian man that looked like
what you imagine modern samurai warriors would look like.

“Josiah?” the large, samurai-looking man
asked loudly, with a voice that sounded like a trumpet blaring.

“Yes,” I said.

“Walk up to me,” he proclaimed as if he was
royalty.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Come before me, boy!”

I looked at Yari and for the first time
ever, she appeared to be terrified, and that wasn’t at all
assuring.

“Do you question my command!?” the
samurai-looking fellow yelled.

I stood my ground. “Look Genghis, I don’t
make it a habit to bend over for every raven turned Mani who asks
me to come before him. Or disrespects me by calling me ‘boy.’”

“Do you know who I am?” The man had a look
of horror on his face.

He obviously thought my response should have
been more like Yari’s. I looked this guy up and down and had no
clue. He could have been an extra in a John Woo movie. Other than
that, I hadn’t the foggiest idea who he was.

“He’s Krull,” Yari hollered at me.

“Krull?” I asked.

“You know, the fallen Mani.”

“I wouldn’t say I was fallen. More like
reborn,” he stated. All of the Mani men surrounding us laughed. I
looked around and this was the first time I got a good look at
these guys. There were at least two hundred of them. Boy, were they
a sight for sore eyes. Some looked like body builders, while others
looked as if they had been on the high seas for months at a time.
They looked shaggier than the Carni men from the other night.