H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (47 page)

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

Goshi got up and walked out of the
courtyard. I watched him as he went inside the actual castle from a
side entrance.

Great, I hurt this guy’s feelings. I wasn’t
trying to do that. I liked the little guy. He was a kick-ass
teacher. I knew there was a depth to him beyond his blue surface. I
sat on the ground and waited for him to return. I didn’t know what
I was supposed to do. Was I supposed to go after him? That castle
was huge, I could get lost in there.

I waited for him to return for about twenty
minutes. I finally came to the conclusion that he wasn’t returning
to the courtyard tonight. I suppose the little guy needed a proper
apology from me. But the nerve of him to tell me that I don’t know
about heartache. I am heartache.

So, I got up off the ground and headed
toward the side entrance of the castle where I’d seen Goshi go
through. I walked into the castle and it felt like I had just gone
into a time machine. The place must have looked exactly the same as
it did hundreds of years ago. It was sensational how my dream was
spot on with the details of the castle. The walls were gray with a
very coarse finish. The floors were made of brick. Even the odor in
my dream was accurate.

I couldn’t help but get a sense of history
that was in this place. I walked around taking in the ambience. It
was quite intoxicating. Eventually, as I made my way to the back of
the dimly lit castle, I heard the sound of classical music playing
on a piano. I walked through the final part of the hallway and made
toward the music. I stood in front of the room where the music was
coming from. The door was slightly ajar and I poked my head in and
saw Goshi sitting at the piano, playing. I walked into the room and
sat on a wooden chair in the corner of the room and observed this
creature play some of the most beautiful music I had ever heard.
None of the tunes were ones that I even recognized. They could have
been Romanian, or maybe of his own little blue guy culture.

The room was empty except for the piano and
a couple of chairs. There was a bookshelf filled with music books.
“Wow,” I said, from the chair in the corner of the room.

Goshi stopped playing and looked over in my
direction. “Josiah, are you ready for your next lesson?”

“Are you going to teach me how to play the
piano?” I said, amused.

“I don’t need to teach you,” he said.

He didn’t need to teach me? “Is one of my
gifts that I can play like Mozart?” I asked.

“Maybe not Mozart, but you could give John
Tesh a run for his money!”

“You know who John Tesh is?” I laughed.

“Yes, Josiah, even a creature of the night
knows icons of such.”

“An icon?” I guess he was to someone. To
each their own, I suppose. “So,” I said. “You’re telling me I can
play the piano. How so?”

“Everything in nature has a melodic scale.
Every note, every experience, every memory is played out on the
grand piano of life. This piano is only an instrument. It is up to
you to find your own song, your own voice.”

“How will this make me a better
fighter?”

“It doesn’t. It will make you a better
leader. Being able to express yourself in other ways besides your
fists is a very good thing.”

I walked over to the piano and Goshi got up.
“Goshi, before I do this, you need to know I do care about what has
led you to me. It is just as important to me as why I have been led
to you.”

Goshi smiled.

“Goshi, I do have a question for you.”

“Oh, this should be good. Go ahead,
ask.”

Are you a Mani?”

It was the first time I had seen him smile.
“Yes,” he said, “I am.”

“Wow, I thought you were a–”

“—a little blue troll that happened to get
the Josiah Reign assignment?”

“It’s a good assignment,” I said.

“I know it is. You and I are making history
and you don’t even know it.”

“Trust me, I know it.” I stared at Goshi and
realized that in many ways, we were in this together. I was glad to
not be alone. I was happy that I had a mentor.

I looked down at the piano. “So, what do I
do with this thing?” I asked. I placed my hands on the keys and
pounded like a three year old. It sounded like a freight train
screeching to a halt.

“Please don’t do that, Josiah!” Goshi said,
as he stuck his entire arm over the piano keys to stop me. “That
piano has been played by some of the most amazing pianists in
history.”

“Sorry.”

“Just close your eyes and feel. Feel every
moment, every trial you have ever had. Feel the pain and feel the
celebration. Then allow the music to come out of your
fingertips.”

I closed my eyes and opened my heart. I
thought about the details of my life in which I had the most to
gain and the most to lose. I felt the keys with my fingertips. As I
looked deep into my soul, I pressed down on each key. Soon, the
music was coming out of me. It was my own music, my very own song.
The music moved me to tears as I played. I pressed the keys harder
and harder as each memory passed. Eventually, my heart had made its
way up to the loss of my family. I looked over at Goshi and he
seemed extremely moved by my outpouring. I had seen that look he
had in his eyes before.

I kept playing and as I did, I thought about
Lena and the last few months. The music poured out of me. The music
became a part of me. I was one with the notes. And the notes were
one with me. For the first time since I had become a Mani… I felt
reborn.

Chapter Nine

For the next three weeks, Goshi and I
trained every single night. We went over every detail and
idiosyncrasy of my gifts and abilities. He helped me master
fighting, flying, mind control, and we spent days on telekinesis.
Not to mention that we found time to get on the grand piano and
just allow our souls to play music that would make Beethoven and
Bach jealous. One thing we hadn’t done was go over any of my
prophetic gifts. I was eager to do so but whenever I brought it up,
Goshi would teach me something else.

It was my 24th day of training and when I
arrived in the courtyard, Goshi was dressed in some weird white
ceremonial robe. It was unusual to see a creature of the night
wearing what appeared to be a graduation outfit in the year 1900. I
wondered if this was the day I had finally reached the end of my
training.

I flew down into the courtyard. These days I
could land on my pinky if I had to. I had more control with my
flying than I did with my walking.

“Hey there, blue man,” I said.

Goshi looked over in my direction with an
unusual smirk on his face. He appeared to be up to something.

“Last day of training,” he said.

“Really, you think I’m ready?”

“Not even close, Josiah. But you do need to
go home after this, and take some time with your training and let
it become a part of you.”

“Then I’ll be ready?” I asked eagerly.

Damn, I wanted to be ready so I could move
on with my life.

“I will come to you once you have preserved
your gifts for a period of time.”

“You will come to me? You mean back in the
United States?”

“Yes.”

“You’re just going to pop up in all your
blue glory? Not to be mean, but you’ll stick out a tad in the real
world.”

Goshi looked at me and was not amused. “I
will find you Josiah, and we will have one final lesson, or should
I say, session.”

I had more questions, but decided to keep
them to myself. I really wanted to go home. “Okay, Goshi, it sounds
like a plan. So, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Really.”

“Then I can go home?”

“You could have gone home whenever you
wanted to, Josiah. You have chosen to stay here. It was always your
choice to leave at any moment you felt fit. You never had to come
here and see me. You would have been just fine discovering your
abilities on your own. It would have taken you much longer, but
eventually you would have mastered all the things I have taught
you.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you are the one choosing
your path. I know it doesn’t feel that way, but you are the one who
is completely in charge. I know it feels like a lot of things are
happening that are beyond your control. But, you are the one who is
choosing how to deal with them. You didn’t have to kill Atticai,
train Tommy, or even fight Goliath, but you chose to do all those
things.”

“How do you know all of these things about
me?”

“You don’t lock it away inside you. It’s not
a secret. You’re an open book, Josiah. And that is not a good
thing. That is your last lesson I want to talk with you about
before you leave. Only you control the information that you’re
sending out. I am a powerful Mani, but Josiah, you have become more
powerful than I. There is no reason why I should be able to look
into you and know your soul. There is no reason why someone like
Atticai, Krull, or even myself should be able to see into your
heart. You are unguarded. It is your Achilles heel. It could bring
you own.”

“How do I stop it? It isn’t like I’m running
around inviting you guys to know the depths of who I am.”

“Josiah, deep inside you there is still a
man. Not a Mani, not a mixed-martial arts fighter, but a man. There
is a core of who you really are that you need to protect. The man
that you once were before you became a Mani will always live inside
you. You need to protect that piece of you by surrounding it with
strength and wisdom.”

“Wow, I like that.”

“That also means you need to stop believing
your destiny is to walk hand to hand with a woman you barely
know.”

“Who? Lena?”

“Yes.”

“Barely know? I know her very well. What
does that have to do with my inner strength, or lack thereof?” I
asked.

Goshi stared directly at me and said, “You
need to stop this fairytale belief that part of your calling is to
stand next to a woman who isn’t part of your eternal plan.”

“Not part of my eternal plan? What are you
talking about? How could she not be? Saving her has made me who I
am.”

“And that is where it ended, Josiah. On that
night! She was a piece on the chessboard and nothing more. You
protected that piece but it’s not going to get you the checkmate.
If you choose to chase this fairytale, it could be the end of
you.”

“The end of me?” I was confused. I had
always thought that loving her was part of the calling. “I love
her,” I said.

“Do you?”

I thought about it. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because of all that we have been through
together. Do you have any idea the magnitude of what we
shared?”

“Shared?”

“Yes, shared,” I stated.

“What you have shared is a myth. A myth that
there is some mystical connection that has brought you together.
That some life force had decided that she is your destiny. All she
has become is a crutch that you’re holding on to because you’re
afraid of doing this alone.”

“That could be partly true, but it’s more
than that. I know it. What I have with Lena is real.”

“Real? What does that quite mean? Real?”

“There is substance to us. Something I don’t
think a creature like you is capable of feeling or even
grasping.”

“Is that so? Is it so hard to believe that a
creature like me might know what he’s talking about in regards to
women?”

I looked at Goshi. He was tiny and creepy
looking. I couldn’t imagine any female creature of any sort being
attracted to this thing.

“Yes, Josiah! Look at me with disgust! Tell
yourself that I couldn’t possibly know what love is. Tell yourself
that I have never been in love and that is why I’m being so
difficult. Maybe, just maybe the reason I am so indignant about
this subject is because I know better than most. I know what it’s
like to allow a woman’s love to destroy your true calling, your
true destiny.”

I paused and looked at Goshi. Was he this
adamant because love ruined his true calling?

“So, what should I do?” I asked. “Not love
her? Turn my back on what we have built?”

“No, but put it in the right perspective.
She can never become bigger than your calling, and if she ever
does, I’m afraid that will be the beginning of the end for
you.”

“Okay, point taken.” I was done talking
about this. “Now what?”

“It’s time for you to go home. It’s time to
apply all that you have learned to your daily life. You need to
become more than a fighter. You need to become a leader.”

I nodded my head at my little blue friend.
“Okay,” I said.

“It’s time to go back, Josiah.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Wow. So this is it? You and I are
done?”

“We are done for now.”

“Thanks, Goshi.” I was never good at this
kind of thing. “You are a great warrior, and an amazing
teacher.”

Goshi nodded and looked at me proudly. “Go
Josiah, I will see you soon.”

I walked over and shook his little blue
hand. When I did, electricity shot through me. It was powerful and
it nearly knocked us over.

“Damn!” What the hell was that?” I
asked.

Goshi smiled, “Don’t forget, I am also one
badass motherfucker. I could have wiped up the floor with you
anytime I wanted.”

I laughed and looked up at the stars. I
nodded at Goshi and flew up and shot across the sky heading toward
my hotel. It was finally time to go home. Thank God.

Chapter Ten

It took some slick planning but I managed to
get into LAX airport after a day and a half of flying during the
night.

I got into LAX at 5:00 in the morning. It
was still dark and I purposely didn’t call Lena or anyone else to
let them know I would be coming in. I wanted it to be a
surprise.