68: The Lost Elder

The vehicle darted across the road. Everyone decided to let Boris break the ice and let them all in on where they were headed.

“If you’re taking us to your elders, count me out!”, Rick bluntly spoke and managed to offend everyone in the vehicle at the same time. Even his wife had expected some thoughtfulness from him at that point. “It’s better for all of our healths”, he said after a pause. They realized that years of hatred wasn't going to be erased in a matter of minutes.

“We’re going to an elder alright, just not mine”, Boris responded and winked. It took a moment for Hudson to understand what he had meant. Boris asked the driver to park the vehicle and announced that they had arrived. Rick and Sandra were still gathering their wits when Boris stepped out of the vehicle and approached the front door of an average looking house. He rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds. He looked back at the vehicle and saw them all gawking at him. He motioned them all to follow him and they reluctantly did. Rick Hudson was not moving an inch until his wife took a moment to convince him. A white bearded senior citizen, who looked like a college professor from his attire, opened the door. It was apparent that he had peeked through the peephole. He was careful from the moment he emerged from the house. He knew who and what he was dealing with. The Hudsons recognized the man the moment they saw him. He invited them all inside. The old man was doing all he could to make the tension fade away. The visitors reluctantly entered his house.

In a matter of minutes, they were awkwardly sitting around in his living room with coffees, teas and hot chocolates in their hands. The old man finally returned from the kitchen and sat across Aaron who was the only one not sipping on anything. He looked into Aaron’s eyes and smiled after a few seconds.

“So, the legendary beast has finally arrived!”, the man cheerfully yet softly exclaimed as if he was proud of the boy sitting across to him. Aaron sat there confused and wondered how that man knew about his recent transformation. The old man read the puzzlement on his face and chuckled.

“Relax boy! My name is Nicholas Armstrong but you can call me Nick. I used to be one of the elder vampires in the council until things spiraled out of hand”, the old man revealed. Aaron felt like he should be worried sitting so close to such a man but the man’s warmth was telling him otherwise.

“You headed them! You signed the truce! And now you sit on the enemy’s lap? Traitor!”, Rick interjected angrily and only stopped because of his wife who was trying her best to keep her husband at bay. Nicholas shook his head in disappointment.

“And your unjustified and un-fucking-necessary anger just proves me right!”, Nicholas responded with equal bitterness. The warmth Aaron had been so fond of, vanished the moment Rick butted in. “My own people are out for my blood and I am forced to seek information about my people from the other side”, he added with a hint of sorrow in his voice. It was apparent that the elder was extremely disappointed at what his people had become. Rick Hudson looked away and was out of words while Nicholas turned back to the Alpha.

“Tell me what happened. From the start if you can, please”, Nick requested Aaron and the formality in his voice was waning. He sounded curious to the level of desperation. Aaron decided that since the end times are theoretically upon them, there is no point in keeping things secret.

“When I turned, I could see and hear everything all at once but I could focus on everything”, Aaron revealed and the elder vampire listened thoughtfully. Sophie and Mike had their curiosity at its peak.

“That’s what comes with being an Alpha but what exactly did you see?”, Nicholas inquired restlessly. Aaron quickly cleared his mind and highlighted everything that was relevant.

“As I neared Mr. Hudson, I saw those red demons peeking at us from every direction”, Aaron revealed. He was getting where Nicholas wanted him to go. “Mr. Hudson and I wrestled for a bit and I was about to hit him. That’s when I heard it”, Aaron added. Everyone in the room stared at him, awaiting an explanation. “Just when I was about to let my paw down on him, I heard a demon say ‘For the glory of Lord Samael’ inches away from me and I smashed it instead of Mr. Hudson”, Aaron concluded. Nicholas gawked at him with astonishment and so did the rest of them. What Aaron had heard during his transformation had been a secret until then.

“The demon? What became of it?”, Nicholas asked reluctantly, expecting a vague answer but he had another thing coming.

“In the car outside”, Boris responded, much to the surprise of the old vampire. He immediately sprang up to his feet and darted to his door. Boris knew what the elder wanted to do so he accompanied him. Boris went to the car, unlocked it and let Nicholas feast his eyes. The elder vampire dreadfully stared at the hideous demon lying in front of him. It looked as if it had been drained of all the bodily fluids. The corpse had become almost half its size. It confused Boris.

“They decompose rather quickly. We need to get rid of it”, Nicholas said as the two took a look at the demon. Boris was searching his head for any ideas to get the corpse out of sight. “God! I always prayed to die before seeing this day”, Nicholas said and headed back to the house.

“But what about the…thing?”, Boris desperately inquired. He realized mid sentence that he was speaking too loudly about things that were to be kept secret. Nicholas sighed.

“Just put it in the pit on your right”, the elder vampire suggested without bothering to stop. Boris looked around and found a pit dug in Nicholas’s lawn with a bunch of flower pots lying around it. “Just moments ago, this hole was destined to host a dozen flower plants but now …huh. I guess that’s how fate works. Just leave it there. They turn to ash in an hour”, he added and went inside.

As he went inside the house, Aaron and company expected some answers from him. The way he was walking back to his seat, told them that he wasn't a bearer of good news at the moment. It took him a while to get back to his seat and even longer to come up with words to speak. He had taken long enough for Boris to return inside after taking care of the corpse.

“Did it ever occur to you that you are being instigated against each other?”, Nicholas asked after a long silence. His words hit everyone in the room like a truck. Nicholas simply caught those wild eyes around him and realized that he was right. “My friends, I’m afraid I have bad news”, he announced.