H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (65 page)

I flew down and landed on the front lawn. I
was in my Mani form and I could see someone on the front porch.
There was a person sitting in a white rocking chair just slowly
rocking back and forth. That person was Atticai. He was sipping
from a coffee cup, which I assumed had blood in it. From fifty feet
away, I could see the dark-red thick liquid coloring on his lips. I
calmly walked up to him. He looked straight ahead, never once
looking in my direction. I knew he was aware that I was there, but
he was refusing to look up at me.

I stood about five feet in front of him. He
continued to sip. He definitely had the presence of a mafia boss.
He was on a power trip and I guess I had to deal with it if I
wanted to speak with him.

“Are you going to speak?” he came out and
asked. “Or are you just going to waste my time?”

I looked at his piercing brown eyes behind
the white cup and said, “I have some questions.”

“Questions? You’ve come to the wrong place
if you’re seeking words of wisdom.”

“Maybe I did. But I need some answers. I
think you’re the only one that could really help me.”

“Help you? Why would I ever want to do
that?”

“Because you once believed in the cause,
though you may have looked at it differently than I do. But, you
understood that Krull couldn’t succeed in his need to tear down the
Mani. You knew he couldn’t follow through on his plan.”

“His plan? What plan would that be?”

“I don’t know. You tell me,” I said, as
delicately as I could, considering how difficult he was trying to
be.

Atticai paused, and then did an unusual
thing. He smiled and looked in my direction. “What is it you need
to know?”

“I need to understand what Krull is trying
to do. I need to come to terms with what exactly it is that I’m
supposed to do to stop him.”

“And why would I tell you that information?”
Atticai was resisting this conversation like a three year old at
the dentist.

“Because we may not be on the same side, but
we’re not on opposite teams. How does the saying go? ‘The enemy of
my enemy is my friend.’”

“What if the enemy of your enemy is also
your enemy?” Atticai scoffed.

“Is that what you consider me? An
enemy?”

“You’re damn close. You did kill me.”

“You were killing Lena…”

“Semantics.”

“Saying that we’re all three enemies puts us
in some bizarre triangle like the way we were the other night.”

Atticai grinned. “That was a bit sad, wasn’t
it? You managed to screw that one up pretty badly.”

If I gave this guy any opening, he threw a
verbal jab every time. He was relentless and passive
aggressive.

“It was probably a good thing,” I said,
adamantly. “To lose her.”

“When is it ever a good thing to lose at
anything or anyone?”

“Maybe when you have a calling that is
bigger than yourself?”

“That’s when you can’t afford to lose. You
have too many people depending on you.”

“We are still talking about Lena, right? As
I remember, you didn’t come out the victor that night either.”

“I never thought I had a chance. I figured
I’d throw my hat into the ring once you and your boyfriend decided
to go all Romeo and Juliet about it.

“That isn’t how I remember it. You spoke up
for Lena before Tommy did.”

“Again, with the semantics. All I know is,
it was good theater.” Atticai was pretty pleased with himself. His
smug look turned serious. “Josiah, you were given the one thing I
dedicated my entire life to seeking, and you didn’t even want
it.”

“That’s probably why it fell in my lap.
Maybe the Triat thought you’d be too emotional.”

“Emotional? DON’T YOU EVER TALK TO ME ABOUT
THE TRIAT. YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ANYTHING!!” Atticai was beside
himself. He stood up. “I should kill you right now. Just to end all
of the nonsense.”

“I don’t see that happening, big guy.” Then
I stood up and got right up in his face, or as close as I could get
to it. It would be pretty anti-climactic for Atticai and me to go
to blows out here in the middle of nowhere. With no one
watching.

Atticai stared me down and then slowly sat
back down “You’re probably right. It wouldn’t do me any good at
this point.”

I was surprised at how quickly Atticai
changed his temperament. He was just about to rip my head off and
now he was rocking back and forth like an eighty-year-old man. I
think he knew, he had no chance in a fight with me. I had become
something entirely separate from the average Mani. I felt pretty
indestructible these days. Atticai sighed and then said, “What kind
of answer did you think I might have?”

I looked at Atticai, and it appeared that he
was ready to have a civil conversation. “Well, first off, my
question is simple; how does the ‘Chosen One’ save the Mani
people?”

Atticai seemed amused by my question. He
pondered it and then said, “First of all Josiah, you can only help
Mani who want it. You’re not going to be able to change the hearts
of all the people. You can only help or save those who want to stop
the senseless killing of one another. There will always be a
portion of Mani who will never change their thought process because
they crave pain and destruction. It’s in their blood and you won’t
be able to get through to those vampires. Trying to turn them would
become your Achilles heel.” Atticai paused, and then said, “It was
mine.”

Holy Crap! Atticai was acting freaking
normal. He was actually having a thoughtful conversation with
me.

“How so?” I asked, extremely intrigued by
Atticai’s candor.

“For years, I was the voice of reason. When
everything you believe in falls on deaf ears, it’s pretty
disheartening. Eventually, you become… like this.” He was referring
to himself.

“Atticai, there is still hope for you. You
were given a second chance for a reason. You have to know that.
You’ve been through too much not to see that.”

“Of course I understand that, Josiah. I just
don’t think my heart would ever be into it again. I really don’t
care, anymore. Death is an awful reality. I was given a second
chance, yes. But I don’t think I want to waste it fighting for
this.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve sort of lost my passion for the fight
because I feel like fighting for this cause will be a lost
one.”

“I don’t think it is, or I wouldn’t have
been plucked out of obscurity to lead it if it was just going to be
a suicide mission,” I said, with certainty.

“Then they chose the right man for the job.
Josiah, the way you’re speaking to me right now is the message you
need to give to the people. Mani are tired of living in the
shadows. They want to have their own society where they don’t have
to lie about who they are. They dream of a Utopian world where
everything isn’t decided by bloodshed. The only way that can happen
is unity. You need to figure out a way to have all Mani work and
live together and stop with the reckless killings. If we stop
killing one another then we can start achieving amazing results.
But, saying it in theory is one thing and convincing Mani is a
whole different story.”

“Why is it so hard to have people
unite?”

Atticai was quiet now. He had made a
180degree turn and was opening up in a way I didn’t even realize he
was capable of doing. “I’ve said enough, Josiah.”

“Please, don’t stop now. Why, Atticai?”

For whatever reason, Atticai was having a
hard time revealing this last bit of information. I could tell this
part exhausted him. This was the one thing that bothered him the
most about his people. Finally he said, “Because Mani don’t see the
benefit of stepping outside themselves. And if they do, they are
only led by money, sex, or power. That’s why Krull has a legion of
vampires willing to die for his cause. Vampires and violence go
hand in hand.”

“So which is it?” I asked. “Do I fight Krull
or do I try to work with him?”

“I really don’t know. I think you might need
to seek out the Deity on this one.”

“The Deity? What or who is that?” I asked.
This was the very first time I had ever heard this name.

“You are green, aren’t you, Josiah? The
Deity is a young woman who has been given amazing insight from the
Triat. She’s like our pope.”

“She’s real young?” I asked.

“Not in years, but in Mani form. She was
turned when she was thirteen years old. She has seen it all.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Apparently she saw Jesus carry the
cross up Calgary and fasted alongside Gandhi. She has had a pretty
amazing life.”

“And you think she could help me?”

“I know she can.” Atticai stood up and
walked along the porch rail, looking out at the stars. For the
first time ever, he seemed like a regular person with dreams and
aspirations. He was being human. Not mortal, but for the first
time, he seemed to display a level of insight that was inspiring.
It was as if he was locked inside his own hate and somehow he
snapped out of it.

“Atticai,” I said. “It’s not too late for
you. You can stand right next to me in this cause. I’d be honored
if you would.”

Atticai just shook his head and calmly said,
“I’ll pass.” This would be a very hard sell at this juncture and I
decided not to pursue this angle any longer. Atticai was the kind
of person who needed to come to a cause like this on his own terms.
Maybe someday he’d come around, but for now I needed to find this
Deity.

“Where is the Deity?” I asked.

“Tijuana,” Atticai smiled.

“Huh? Donkey shows Tijuana?” I asked,
completely not expecting that to be the answer.

“There’s a lot more to that city than donkey
shows. You know that city is where the Caesar Salad was
invented.”

“Good to know if I decide to go on a diet.
Where in Tijuana is she?”

“I don’t know exactly. I have just heard
she’s been there for years. My advice is to go there and if the
Triat wants you two to connect, she will find you.”

“I hope you’re right. I don’t want to be
hanging out in Tijuana for months on end.”

“You know everything is legal down there.
There’s more to do than just go watch donkey shows. Camp out and
make a trip of it. Just don’t drink the water!”

I nodded my head and Atticai stood up and
went inside the house. He didn’t say goodbye, but I assumed we were
done. He was very cordial once he got past his bitterness. I did
have to admit, I was pretty impressed with what he had to say.

Chapter Seven

So, here I was. I needed to go to Tijuana,
of all places. I had only been to the city once. It was on my 18th
birthday. Tommy took me down there and we partook in all the
indulgences the country had to offer: alcohol, girls and even a
little icky wicky.

Being that it was my only experience in that
country, I didn’t have much to go on. I was pretty inebriated at
the time and have very little memory of anything that happened
south of the border. To think, I’d be roaming the streets of a
foreign country looking for a thirteen-year-old girl who was in
reality over 2,000 years old--it was disconcerting.

I assume the Deity spoke many languages by
this point. But I was going to need a guide to help me. The only
person I knew that was fluent in Spanish was Wyatt. He had spent a
lot of time in Mexico, and liked to show off every now and then and
speak Spanish to people who speak it fluently. So, he was
definitely the guy to take.

I approached him the following day at
breakfast. “Hey, Wyatt,” I said. “Would you like to take a trip
with me?”

“What kind of trip?” He said, as he sipped
his blood cocktail that Yari had blended up for him. Yari was real
creative in mixing blood with tomato juice and other fine beverages
to give the taste more of a kick.

“It’ll be a business one. I need to speak to
the Deity,” I said.

“The Deity? She is still around?”

“You knew about her?”

“Everyone knows about her. No one knows
where she is.”

“Atticai did. He’s says she’s in
Mexico.”

“Mexico? I better pack my poncho. When do
you want to leave?”

“Tonight.”

“No problem.” Wyatt went back to sipping his
drink and I headed back upstairs and decided to relax until the
evening.

Wyatt and I didn’t pack anything. We figured
if it took a while to find her, we would just buy whatever we
needed real cheap in Mexico.

We transitioned into our bird state and
headed south. From where we live, the only way to Mexico was a
flight over San Diego. San Diego is a beautiful city during the
day; not so pretty at night.

We made our way into Mexico and Tijuana was
the first city at the border. It was good that we didn’t have to go
deep into the country. As a matter of fact, we hit our destination
so quickly it felt like we were still in U.S., except for the
smell. Wow, the sewer system stunk down here. Holy crap, it smelled
awful.

I had checked online that the best hotel in
the city was a place called Ticuan. We flew over the city until I
spotted the hotel from the sky. We headed down and landed down the
street in an empty area so we could transition without anyone
seeing us. One thing was for sure, Mexico wasn’t short on taxis and
pharmacies. Everywhere I looked, I saw a taxi in the street and a
pharmacy on the corner.

We went inside the hotel and I was pretty
impressed. The hotel didn’t look like much from the outside, but
the inside was very high class. It made me forget that I was in
Tijuana.

We decided to share a room with two beds. It
would be easier to get up and go if we were in the same room. After
we got situated in the room, we decided to head on out because we
really wanted to get this over with.

Wyatt and I headed down to the parking
structure. There were about five taxis parked outside the
hotel.