Three Immortals Walk Into A Bar...
Shadows

Levant

I really want to get away from this irritating little man, but I know that Tepes will expect a full report, and if I have to tell him that I left before figuring out what is happening here, I’ll be in trouble with him. So I am glaring at this Gregor person, while he sits there looking hopeful and sad, and I cannot imagine what game he thinks he is playing.

Guardian angels? Pfft. Why tell me such a ridiculous story? I still think that it is far more likely that he is in the employ of one of our enemies, and has conducted surveillance to learn about me. But what is his goal here?

Clearly there is something unnatural about him, but to all appearances he is just a normal young human male, possibly slightly underweight, but otherwise unremarkable. I gather as much darkness to me as I can, trying to sheathe myself in its protection, but the shadows continue to be strangely uncooperative in his presence. His dark hair and eyes and jacket would normally be a good source of darkness for me to pull from, but it stubbornly refuses to come. I scowl at him, and I know he can hear me growling, and damned if he doesn’t seem amused by it.

He looks over to the side, gets an astonished expression on his face, and looks back towards me. Oh for fuck’s sake, is he pretending to talk to his imaginary friend? I wait to hear what nonsense he is going to come up with next.

“Levant,” he says quietly, “I do not wish to alarm you, but my Guardian has informed me that another vampire is on the way here. Were you expecting to meet with a friend?” he asks with absolute faux-naïf, an insulting air of disingenuousness.

I knew it all along. This is a set up. I didn’t tell him I am a vampire, and he hadn’t mentioned the word before now. But clearly he knows all about it. He is in the employ of some other vampire and was stalling to keep me here until they could arrive. I surge to my feet, prepared to get out of this bar. But he holds his hands up, as though to block my way. Is he threatening to touch me again, pull his trick of draining my darkness? I can’t afford that weakness while an enemy is approaching.

He glances over to the side again, and quickly withdraws his hands, clasping his arms across his chest. “No, no,” he says urgently, “I’m not going to touch you, really. I just think you should wait here. My Guardian says that the vampire is named Clyde, and he doesn’t seem to know who you are. He can just tell that you are here, apparently by…” he pauses, and pretends to be listening to something, “...by the darkness?” He shrugs.

Clyde? Never heard of him, which is odd. Tepes tries to keep track of all vampires, both for safety and to ensure that they pay the proper tribute. But any vampire is a threat, especially an unknown one. And I see at least one thing that Gregor has said is accurate: I can sense the approach of an older vampire, one more in control of darkness than I am. I feel the shadows being tugged away from me.

Or is this Gregor? Is this all part of some elaborate game he is playing?

I glare at him, frowning, and don’t even get the chance to ask what he is doing, before he says, “It’s not me! Look, my hands are right here,” moving to show his hands securely tucked under his arms against his ribcage.

I don’t understand how his power works, whether his hands are needed, but I don’t have time to think about that right now. I’ve decided that this really isn’t him - I can feel the vampire approach, feel his power, reminding me of what it felt like when Mozes arrived back in Scotland a year or two ago, how he swathed the entire town in darkness. Except that this time all the lights are staying on - this vampire appears to be specifically targeting only my own shadows.

I ignore Gregor for a moment, trying to concentrate on pulling the stolen shadows back towards me, and I can almost succeed. Gregor watches me, wide-eyed, and in another minute he murmurs, “He is here.” He gestures at me, still standing behind the table. “Perhaps it might seem more welcoming if you were to be sitting down?” he suggests.

I growl at him, and glare, and stay standing, my hands loose by my sides, ready for anything. For the first time I am glad that Maria didn’t come on this trip with me, she’d try to get involved and possibly be hurt, and that is the last thing I would ever want. I’m glad I’m alone. Damn the airport security. I realize I had to leave my weapons behind, so I’m not armed with anything except my strength, my fists, and my ribbons of darkness. I get them all ready as I stand tensely waiting for the impending arrival.

Gregor

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Poor Levant is utterly unsettled, standing at the ready as though he is a lion about to pounce. He sneers at my suggestion that he just sit back down and try to appear less threatening. Does everything have to be a fight with him?

I turn in my seat and watch the entrance to the bar as the new vampire arrives, expecting another hulking brute to come through the door.

I am shocked when I see that he is nothing like Levant. This new person has shoulder-length blond hair, bright blue eyes, and appears quite cosmopolitan and elegant. His expression is full more of caution and curiosity than aggression. If he is covered with shadows like Levant, it is nowhere near as visible. Levant’s shadows literally decorate his skin. This fellow exudes a sense of power, and possibly an extremely subtle darkness seems gathered around him, but otherwise he appears human. I wouldn’t think that other people even sense much remarkable about him, except that he is objectively extremely handsome.

He slowly approaches, and I am sure that I have a big grin on my face, I am so intrigued by what I am seeing. His eyes are locked on Levant, and I see the strangest flash of red in his irises, just for a second, before they return to a bright blue color. Huh. That’s different.

“They are both vampires,” Wolk confirms, “but yes, they do seem quite different. They both draw strength from darkness, and in their memories I see that they both drink the blood of humans as sustenance, but otherwise they seem very different.” A brief pause, then he continues, “Neither one has a Guardian,” then he shrugs and falls silent, and simply watches the scene unfold.

Clyde glances down at me with a slight frown, as though puzzled by my presence.

“Hello,” I smile up at him, not rising from my seat. I briefly remove my hand from where I have been keeping both of them shielded under my arms, to indicate another chair at the table. “Would you like to join us?”

He looks perplexed at my question, then looks back up at Levant when we both hear a pronounced increase in his agitated growling.

I try not to chuckle.

Clyde

I’m winning the battle of the shadows, obviously. They will always obey their master. By the time I arrive at the back of the bar where the vampire is waiting, I am in full control, my darkness held within, ready for any command. I do not wish to unleash it, of course. This location is packed with frail humans, and I long ago learned to harness my power in a way that does not lead to destruction. I don’t wish to harm anybody, definitely not the poor humans, not even this other vampire. Not unless I have to.

I just have to make sure that there is no threat here, that there is no risk to me, my people, or the population as a result of the arrival of an unknown vampire.

When I see him, I am a bit dismayed. He certainly looks threatening enough. He is standing at the back of the bar, behind a table, waiting for me, glowering and tense, clearly prepared for combat.

Sigh. I don’t want to fight him, especially not here.

I realize as I approach that one of the humans is sitting right next to him, at the table he is standing behind. It is a young man, who has turned around and is watching me walk towards them. His friendly smile is a very strange contrast to the aggressive stance of his companion. Who is this person? Is it the vampire’s minion? Lover? Familiar? Why on earth does the vampire have a human involved in this? I disregard the human as unimportant, and look back to the vampire. He appears furious which seems unwarranted, and wary which seems more reasonable considering that he knows I have stolen much of his darkness away from him.

When the human greets me and invites me to join them, I am surprised, but considering accepting the offer to sit, when I hear the vampire literally growling at me.

Ha! Really? Growling? How gauche. I hear the human make a strangled noise in the back of his throat and glance down, realizing that he is trying not to laugh. He is clutching his hands to his sides, hiding them under his arms, and smirking at Levant.

Well, I sure don’t know what is going on here, but I am going to find out. A cranky vampire and a laughing human are a mystery that I am eager to solve. I pull the offered chair out, sit in it next to the human, and we both turn our eyes expectantly to the glowering vampire now looking a bit ridiculous in his belligerent boxer’s stance, growling like some kind of pit bull.

The human loses control of his laughter and actually guffaws, and I look over and meet his eyes, and he grins at me.

Whoever this human is, I can’t help but like him.

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