H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (70 page)

“Faith.”

“That’s it? Just having hope?”

“To some, it is that simple. All they ever
needed to know is that you weren’t merely fiction. To others, you
will need to do much more. Josiah, you are a beacon of hope, but
your true calling is something not even I can tell you.”

“Not even you can tell me?” I asked,
completely perplexed and disappointed. “How is that possible that
no one knows what my calling is? I can’t stand living with these
cryptic codes.”

“Is that what you think, Josiah? That you
have been running around trying to solve a riddle?”

“I just don’t know what to do. Who am I
fighting? Krull? Carni? Other Mani? Atticai? Who?”

“There is no riddle, the answer is closer
than you think.”

“Please, answer me this, who am I
fighting?”

“Of the ones you mentioned, the answer is
none of the above.”

“None?” Huh?” Now, I was extremely lost.

“When you come to terms of what is living
inside you, all the answers that you’re seeking will be as
transparent and vivid as the red dress that I am wearing.”

“Inside me?” I asked. “The answer is inside
me?”

“You know what I’m referring to,
Josiah.”

“My parents? Tommy? Lena? What?”

“All of it. Your visions are being blocked
because you have vengeance and resentment in your heart toward the
wrong people. Once the things that are holding you back get
resolved in your heart, you will know exactly what to do. It will
be as clear as anything you have ever known.”

“It’s that simple? The answer is inside
me?”

“All the answers are out there. You will
need to lead a revolution unlike any other in the history of our
race. But exactly what needs to be done will only be revealed in
your heart, once there is complete forgiveness.”

My heart was tight and wound up. “With all
due respect, that isn’t good enough!” I blurted out.

“What isn’t good enough?”

“I can’t just come to terms with everything
that has been going on. Inside me, there is a war going on and I
don’t know how to turn it off. If I knew how to, I would have done
it by now. I have killed Mani, Carni and Tandra, all in the name of
this thing I have become. How will I ever be able find the kind of
peace you are explaining?”

“You can, Josiah. And you will.” Her
Holiness then smiled at me with a giant, beautiful smile. “In you,
Josiah… is a man. Not a Mani, not a chosen entity. But a beautiful
man, who wants joy and love. Go find it. Go get it. It’s yours for
the taking.”

I sat back and replayed everything she had
just said to me in my head. I allowed it to become a melody to my
soul, my very own private love song. I allowed her words to make
their way inside me and cultivate. After a few minutes of sitting
next to the Deity in silence, I stood up and felt a peace come over
me that I hadn’t felt since I was a little boy, sleeping between my
parents when I used to be scared of the dark. She was
incredible…

“Thank you,” I said.

“No... thank you, Josiah. You are more of a
blessing to me than you could possibly imagine.”

I didn’t know how to dismiss myself from
such a phenomenal woman. So, I leaned in and awkwardly hugged
her.

“Oh, my,” she said. “You are a muscular
boy.” She smiled at me and just simply nodded her head to give me
assurance.

I nodded back, knowing she didn’t see it,
but she must have felt it. I turned around and left the room. I
stepped outside the door and Romero gave me a look as if to say, ‘I
told you, she’s pretty incredible.’

I nodded at Wyatt and Romero. “Hey guys,” I
said. “Could you give me a minute? Is there a bathroom I could go
to?”

“Sure,” Romero said. “It’s right up the hall
to the left.”

“I’ll just need a moment.” Meeting the Deity
had done something to me I hadn’t expected. It had touched my
essence in a way I couldn’t imagine ever being possible. It made me
extremely thoughtful about my world. I wasn’t ready to deal with
such intense self-reflection. I went into the bathroom and shut the
door and locked it. I just sat on top of the toilet seat. I sat
there and just closed my eyes. The Deity had stirred up emotions in
me that I would have rather not felt nor remembered. I can’t deny
who I am. I have to accept that maybe the reason I was chosen for
this task wasn’t because I was merely a tough human being, but I
was also someone who recognizes and appreciates the finer things in
people. I couldn’t deny the love I had for Lena. She told me she
loved me before I left and I rejected it. I just didn’t know what
to do about her. She was the most indecisive woman I had ever
known. Flawed. When she finally did make a decision, it was usually
the wrong one. She hadn’t betrayed me with any malicious intent. It
was just that she thought that Tommy needed support at that moment,
so she stood with him instead of me. He needed her more than I did,
I remembered she had told me that. What Yari said was harsh and I
acknowledged that Lena did not seem to have a big-picture thought
in her head. It was all about her in the moment. But I couldn’t
stop loving her. Then there was Tommy, he was my best friend in the
entire world. I need him to be in my life again, but I couldn’t
just forget about the poor decisions he has made toward me. Again,
it became about friends who made decisions that upset me to the
point where I pushed them out of my life. This was something I was
going to have to work through in myself as well as with others.
Apparently, I wouldn’t find the answers I needed to know about my
future until I did. I had a flash of a fourth-grade report card and
my teacher’s comment on it: ‘Sometimes, Josiah does not play well
with others unless things go exactly the way he wants.’ I cringed,
remembering.

Dammit, just when I thought I was supposed
to ignore this crap, now I have to deal with it straight on.

I washed my face and headed back to Romero
and Wyatt.

“You okay?” Wyatt asked.

“I’m good,” I said. “I actually have never
been better.”

“That’s what I want to hear.” Romero said.
Then he blatantly changed the subject and tone and said, “You two
ready to see some of the greatest fights you have ever seen?”

“It’ll be nice to see someone else fight for
a change,” I said. With that, the three of us left the bunker.

Chapter Twelve

Romero stayed on a dirt road, and continued
south of Tijuana. We went about fifteen miles along a bumpy dirt
road. To the left of us, I could see a well-lit area. It reminded
me of an Indian casino you could see back in California that would
just be out in the middle of nowhere. But this was no Indian
casino. It was an arena that had enough security out front to
protect Fort Knox. I noticed that all the security were dressed
like the man who was looking after the church. Their attire was
military fatigues and they openly carried automatic weapons. There
was no mistaking that these guys would shoot you on sight if you
were going to make trouble.

We pulled into the compound that reminded me
of a military base. It was fenced in by barbed wire along a chain
link fence. I wasn’t sure exactly what they were trying to keep out
or who they were trying to keep in. All I knew was that it was
excessive, and that didn’t sit right with me.

It was quickly apparent that Romero was the
man in charge. Everyone saluted him as if he was a four-star
general. I was beginning to think there was a lot more to this guy
besides “businessman.”

As we made our way into the compound, there
was a giant arena in the middle of the small city. It was built
like the old Roman Coliseum I had seen in pictures. The only
difference was that this coliseum had a roof.

We parked in front of the coliseum, or
arena, as it was, and got out of the Ferrari. I was pretty blown
away by Romero’s facility and the obvious pull he had in this
place.

“Welcome to the new era of sports
entertainment, gentlemen. My fights make MMA look like a freaking
tea party. Let’s go inside and I’ll show you around.”

This was definitely exciting. This was the
kind of place that was right up my alley. If my life hadn’t gone in
the direction that it did, I could have easily seen myself ending
up in a place like this. A place where the toughest men in the
world slug it out to see who’s on top always got me excited.

As we entered the coliseum, the first thing
that stood out was that it was very modern on the inside. It looked
like the inside of the Staples Center in Los Angeles. There were
escalators and elevators to get to each level of the arena. Romero
had spent a lot of money on the décor of the place. It was fancy
and at the same time rustic and had a definite personality that was
all its own.

As we walked deeper into the arena, I heard
an awful howling sound coming from one section of the arena. They
were obviously the sounds of werewolves. Where they were coming
from exactly, I didn’t have much of an idea. I was about to find
out soon. Romero was leading us to the howling. He was definitely
not keeping it a secret. He obviously had no problem showing us
what the reason was for such horrid cries in the night.

We entered a giant room. It reminded me of a
boxing gym. It wasn’t in the main arena. It was a holding area
where the fighters would get ready for their matches. I had seen
holding areas such as these at arenas in the States. There was a
giant difference in this holding area, however. This one had
werewolves in cages. The moon was full outside so all the Carni had
transitioned hours before. I felt sick to my stomach seeing them
cooped up in cages, roaming back and forth like wild animals. It
was because of Tommy that I knew werewolves were real people with
real feelings. I didn’t hate Carni the way most Mani did. I knew
they had souls and were just as real as we were.

I looked at Romero with disgust and said,
“If the fighters want to be here and are fighting on their own
accord, why do you keep them in cages?”

“It’s by their own request that we keep
Carni in cages once they turn all wolfie. They only want to fight
when they are in the ring. That’s the only time they are getting
paid. It’s for everyone’s safety, and no one is more adamant about
Carni being in cages once the full moon hits, than the Carni
themselves.”

I guess it made sense. Tommy himself had
insisted on being in a cage until he was able to control it.

We walked through the room and all the
fighters stared me down. They would nod at Romero, but they all
knew I was a new guy who Romero was trying to bring in. I had seen
these kinds of looks before when I would go to a new workout gym to
train. It’s just in men’s nature to size another up. It’s was as
primal as men’s innate need to want to provide for their
families.

We made our way to the other side of the
room and there were two black double doors. Apparently, the
fighters had to walk through the holding area to get inside the
main arena area. Romero opened the two black double doors and the
three of us walked into the arena. The inside of the arena was
smoky and dark. There were a lot of very well-dressed people in the
crowd. They were all seated at tables looking toward the center of
the ring.

I looked in the ring and saw a cage. Inside
the cage there appeared to be a Mani fighting a Carni. As far as I
could tell, the Mani was winning. The Carni seemed badly injured
and confused in the ring. It made me a bit nauseous watching it,
knowing that Carni are no better than dogs when they turn. That
werewolf in the ring was disoriented and no matter what Romero
said, he was definitely exploiting them.

We exited through a side door of the arena
and Romero led us up a small stairway that was only a few steps. I
could tell we were still on the first floor, but we were just
elevated a tad. We walked up to a set of doors in a small hallway
that I assumed led to a couple of luxury suites. Then Romero turned
to Wyatt and said, “With all due respect, do you mind if I watch
the fights with Josiah privately? I’ll have you in the suite next
to us, and I’ll make sure women keep you company and make your stay
one you’ll always remember.”

Wyatt looked at me. I nodded at him and
assured him I’d be all right. He was then led into the suite next
to ours by a bodacious blonde that looked like she was ‘a party
ready to happen’ all by herself.

Wyatt walked over and then stopped at the
doorway. “There is no need for any female companionship.” He made a
gesture to the woman that basically told her to hit the road.

“What would you like, Wyatt?” Romero asked.
“We don’t judge here.”

“It’s nothing like that. I just might want
to get a power nap in before all is said and done.”

“Oh, trust me; you won’t sleep watching
what’s out there,” Romero said, confidently.

Wyatt looked at Romero and said, “I’ve seen
Josiah kick a lot of ass over the past six months. I doubt I’ll be
too impressed.”

Romero nodded his head, seemingly pleased by
Wyatt’s statement. Wyatt went into the suite and shut the door.
Romero led me to his own private suite.

Romero’s suite was much larger than the one
Wyatt was in. Inside the suite was a feast laid out that was fit
for a king. There were also three of the most gorgeous women
serving us. Something told me that serving food wasn’t the only
duty they had on their job description.

“I know you can’t eat,” Romero said. “But
there might be something you can gnaw on.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, I said. “I can
still eat whatever I want.”

“A vampire that can eat regular food? This
I’ve got to see.”

I made myself a plate; I packed on ribs,
mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and corn. I took five or six helpings of
cornbread. I was pretty hungry, it had been hours since I had eaten
last.