The Veil

XI

I met him, and he looked nothing like I imagined. He told me that he stopped using north-european vessels as a mean to cover his tracks. He also told me that he had tried to lay low during the last 200 years, after he declined Pentex’s offer and they started to hunt him down. We talked about science and how it related to who they are, what they do, and this universe, this plane. His desire for knowledge has kept him alive, it has allowed him to be above the curve as he has kept himself updated on many knowledge areas. He has been learning as much as he can, just to be able to survive the battle for the souls of mankind. We talked about the Pillars, but he made me promise not to say any more about that. We also talked about the Warriors of Destiny and the many things he has lived. I asked him for his permission to record his story so I could pass it on and, man, the things he told me are worth a book which I would consider writing. For the moment I will share one more story about his life and I will help him as much as I can to save mankind. It might be above his or my head, but it’s an effort that deserves to be done. To hell with Pentex and all the powers trying to destroy the world.

*****

When I woke up, it was nighttime again. I got out of my improvised grave and assessed the damage. My body was recovered but looked malnourished. The few clothes I had left on me were basically rags. I wondered how long had I been out, it should have been more than just months. I decided to go to my castle, to my servants. I needed to change and see what my next movement would be. I looked up to the stars, trying to give myself some sort of location and I realized I was away from home. Learning to navigate using the stars during my piracy days was a very important skill nowadays.

I started walking southeast to the direction where I knew my home was until I saw a road and decided to follow it. I remembered a couple of towns before my castle, little hamlets surrounded by a thick forest. The thirst was back, but I needed something else to satiate it. I needed human blood, I needed to feel normal. My mind was still woozy and I knew all I needed was blood. As I approached the town’s entrance, I realized there were lots of changes and wondered if I was actually in the right place, if my mind was not playing me tricks. The main road with a couple of houses on the sides were now big homes, farms on the sides and a huge, fully lit main road. I looked like a beggar, all malnourished and with torn clothes on. I was trying to formulate my story as this town seemed full of life.

I decided it was simpler to go for beggar, as I saw some of them around the streets. It could be a much needed meal, even though not the best one, and no one would miss them. I took a walking stick from a nearby tree and entered the town with my most inconspicuous look. I smelled bad, looked bad, and sure as hell no one would notice me, I would be just one more beggar. I acted like one, asking for food and spare change for a warm bed. Everybody looked at me and pretended I was not there, except the beggars. I saw them looking at me in a less than friendly way. I entered their territory and now I was their target. I laughed mentally as I knew it was the other way around completely. I saw they closing on me, so I started to retreat to a poorly lit street, away from the crowd and from pesky eyes. The lure was set and the prey was falling for it.

I turned around a corner and I heard their steps moving faster behind me. It was a closed alley, perfect for what I had in mind. Quietly I jumped to a rooftop and waited for my prey to corner themselves. Three guys showed up, I suppose the other two stayed behind keeping guard. When they reached the back alley, they started moving things to find where I was hiding. They sounded angry and I assessed my targets. I went for the bigger one first, it would save me trouble later. I jumped from the roof to his back, biting his jugular and feeding right away. I tried to be as stealthy as possible and it seemed to work, no noise was heard besides the noise his partners were doing while searching for me. I knew I had not much more time left before one of the other guys turned around and see me. I left some blood in his body and then jumped up again, just as one of the other two turned around and saw his partner drop to the floor unconscious. They were fully alert, I forgot to lick his wounds and close my bite and they saw the mark on his neck. I was sloppy but I was out of practice after my lethargy. As one of them decided to run back and alert the other two, I jumped back and faced them, with the nastiest grin on my face to make them freeze on the spot. It worked better than expected as one of them peed on himself. I jumped to the next one and drank from him, as I lifted the other one in the air from the neck so he wouldn’t make any noise. I left the second one unconscious and then went for my third victim. Too bad this was the only one roughly my size and his pants were soaked in urine. I left the three of them unconscious in the alley, feeling rejuvenated and I remembered to lick the wounds so it would be like they had mass hysteria or something. My senses were coming back to me little by little and I heard the other two guys asking each other what was taking the other three so much time.