World Of Monsters

"What?" Gabriel asked, even though he had an idea and was just playing dumb.

"You haven"t been up front with us, Gabe." Pablo replied. "There are more than a few things that need to be clarified tonight."

"What he said," Alyssa concurred, before taking another shot.

"I"m sorry," Gabriel said, realizing he"d be caught. "I tend to keep my secrets close to my chest. Vampires cannot afford to be too loose with our vulnerabilities. It"s not that I don"t trust you, quite the opposite. I"ve told you guys far more than I have any other human I"ve ever interacted with before."

"But it appears some lies actually hold truth," Alyssa said, pointing to his hand. "It turns out sunlight is a little more harmful than you suggested."

"It can be," Gabe finally confirmed, "But it would take hours in the sun to cause this kind of damage. That light Diane projected was more intense because that specific spell was created to detect creatures and harm them. This prevented vampires from spying on witches whenever they met to discuss things. Once they knew we existed, they had taken great measures to make sure they were ready for us."

"Fair enough," Alyssa said, "But you need to be up front with everything."

"Shoot." Gabriel said, sitting back in his chair. "What do you want to know?"

"How about your age?" Alyssa started, "It appears you"ve been telling everyone different numbers. When were you born?"

"I was born in the year 473." Gabriel answered, "BC."

"BC?" Pablo repeated, his eyes as wide as saucers. "That means you"re almost twenty-five hundred years old!"

"Why did you lie to us about that?" Alyssa asked.

"Everyone lies about their age," Gabriel said, "I just stopped saying BC a long time ago because I got rather tired of being asked questions about Jesus and the Roman Empire."

"Well I guess that would be annoying," Pablo admitted, "But that"s quite a difference from what you were telling us."

"I also didn"t want to intimidate you," Gabe replied, "I found over the years that shortening my alleged time on Earth make people less intimidated. I was just doing it to make you guys more comfortable, well, as comfortable as you can be with a vampire."

"Fair enough," Alyssa said, sitting back and folding her arms. "But you don"t need to do that with us. We can handle anything."

"Even Gargoyles?" Gabriel asked.

"Okay, that was a tad freaky," Pablo admitted, "We could have used a heads up on that. I almost shot at one off the cats a few days ago. It would have been nice to know they were powerful, mythical creatures so I wouldn"t mess with them."

"You can"t harm them," Gabriel informed him. "Bullets would have no effect. You"d just p.i.s.s them off, nothing more."

"Nice to know," Pablo said, sighing. "Any other creatures we should worry about?"

"Many," Gabriel admitted, "But none that we have to worry about in these parts."

"Let"s get back to that black cat," Pablo started, "You asked him to ask this Goldman woman for a powwow about the undead. What the h.e.l.l is that about?"

"She"s been around for a while," Gabriel explained, "I wanted to speak to her about the undead because I"m curious about something."

"That can"t be it," Alyssa said, "Don"t hold back."

"Alright," Gabriel said, realizing he had to be honest. "I was asked to speak to some people on behalf of the council. Gather up specific Intel about the undead and when they started to appear."

"The council?" Pablo repeated, "You spoke to someone from the council?"

"Yes," Gabriel confirmed, "They sent someone to speak with us in New Lycan, when Alyssa and I were in separated interrogation rooms. They also sent that same person to question me about the incident with the Californians."

"Who would they send that fast?" Pablo asked.

"They sent the only vampire that"s powerful enough to cross the ocean without resting." Gabriel answered.

Pablo"s eyes widened "They sent Cornelius?"

"Yes," Gabriel confirmed, "He"s looking rather well."

"Isn"t that Gabe"s brother?" Alyssa asked.

"Yes, it is." Pablo confirmed. "And what happened?"

"He said the council spoke with California," Gabriel said, "Informed them that they were wrong to attack Denver without letting them know first. For that I was let off the hook, and that"s when Cornelius asked me for something in return."

"That sounds like the big b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Pablo replied, "He does something for you and then ask for something in return. Cla.s.sic vamp manipulation."

"What did he want?" Alyssa asked.

"Information," Gabriel answered, "Cornelius and the council know that I communicate with humans and other monsters a lot more then they do. They want to take advantage of my contacts to ask questions and survey them about the undead and the history of them."

"This doesn"t sound right," Pablo said, thinking about it. "What are they up to?"

"If I am to take Cornelius at face value," Gabriel replied, "The council appears to be ready to step in and bring this undead thing to an end."

"It"s just self serving." Pablo added, "I guess they finally realize that no more humans means no more food. Not the best reason to get involved, but I"ll take it. Humanity needs all the help they can get."

"That"s for sure," Alyssa agreed.

"Cornelius in New Lycan," Pablo said, giving out a big sigh. "That had to be interesting around all those wolves."

"They knew who he was," Gabriel confirmed, "They were all seriously intimidated."

"I don"t understand," Alyssa said, "Why are they intimidated?"

"Besides his scary size," Gabriel answered, "Cornelius is the most well know Vampire in the world. Most monsters know who he is and fear him. I think the only vampire more well known than him, well, that would be Dad."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Pablo agreed.

"Wait a moment, you father?" Alyssa said.

"So, your Dad is the most well know vampire by monsters?" Alyssa asked.

"No, by the world." Pablo replied, "Even humans are aware of how bada.s.s he was. For thousands of years, many monsters knew him as Tyrannius."

"But to humanity, he was known as Tyrannos." Gabriel continued for him, "The ancient Greek ruler whose name is the very standard for modern dictators. My father is the reason why oppressors are referred to as "tyrants"."

"Then he went underground for over a thousand years," Pablo said, "He popped back up in Romania in the 1400s,

"Yet since it had been over a thousand years since his last appearance in history," Pablo added, "So this time out he was known as Vlad the Impaler."

"Wow, that"s not creepy." Alyssa said, "How did he get that name?"

"He impaled a lot of people," Gabriel answered, "Tens of thousands."

"Why haven"t I heard of him?" Alyssa asked.

"You have heard of him," Gabriel said, smiling. "The Impaler is his nickname, not his surname."

"What is it?" Alyssa asked.

"His name was Vlad Dracula." Pablo answered.

"Dracula?" Alyssa said, turning to face Gabriel again. "You lied again!"

"I did?" Gabriel asked.

"I remember you telling me that this book wasn"t true!" Alyssa chided.

"It wasn"t!" Gabriel said, "First of all, Dad"s not dead."

"Wait, he"s not?" Pablo said, "I thought the council replaced the monarchy?"

"They replaced nothing," Gabriel said, "When Dad wakes up from his nap, he"ll expect to take his stop at the head of the table."

"Wait, how long has he been napping?" Alyssa asked.

"A very long time." Gabriel replied, "A few centuries, which means he doesn"t even know about the undead. I don"t even think any of the other elders really know what"s going on up here on the surface."

"That"s interesting," Pablo said, "Imagine a rancher goes on a trip and returns weeks or months later and the cattle on the ranch have been wiped out by a plague while you were gone. Imagine just how p.i.s.sed off you would be if that happened to your food supply?"

"That explains the council"s actions quite a bit," Gabriel said, "They"re gathering Intel and trying to make it looking like they"re doing something about it. So if the elders wake up and see this mess, they can at least claimed to have tried to stop the food supply from going extinct, save themselves all a brutal impaling."

"He still does that?" Alyssa asked.

"Not for a very long time," Gabriel said, "But he looking at this mess might make him want to impale the entire council if they have nothing to show him."

"Alright, we have the why," Pablo said, sitting back down. "So what are we going to do now that we know?"

"I made a promise," Gabriel said, "I promised Cornelius I"d at least try, and I have been. Speaking to some elders in the eastern cities. We need to speak to this witch and see what she knows. There"s a possibility she"s old enough to remember when it all started."

"Sounds like a plan," Alyssa said, "But we"re all going."

"I agree," Pablo said, "I want to speak to hear as well."

"Alright," Gabriel said, as he realized there was no point fighting. "But don"t do too much talking, I need to get the information for my brother."

"We"ll go on Monday," Alyssa suggested, "After we take Diane to school. Let"s all go to our corners and all cool down before talking to Mrs. Goldman. It will give me time to talk to Diane as well and resolve things with her too."

"Alright," Gabriel said, as he stood up to go. "Pablo and I will take off and give you some s.p.a.ce."

Alyssa followed the men to the door and closed the door behind them after they walked out. Once the door was locked, she turned around and the grey cat was standing in the middle of the room. Alyssa wasn"t scared because if Diane was telling the truth about his ident.i.ty, the cat used to be her pet as well. They had history.

"Smokey," Alyssa said, as she couldn"t believe she was talking to a cat. "Let Diane know that I"d like to speak with her, please."

The cat gave a short sound before scampering back into Diane"s room to get her. Moments later Diane came out of the room but the cat was still following behind.

"Is he alright?" Diane asked, still upset she hurt Gabriel.

"He"ll be fine," Alyssa said, as she walked over and hugged her sister. "Vampires heal very quickly and we gave him a bag to speed up the process. He"s already much better and will be good as new tomorrow."

"I didn"t mean to," Diane said, clearly remorseful.

"I believe you, and so does Gabriel." Alyssa said, "Take a seat and I"ll make some tea."

"Alright," Diane said, as she sat down at the table. "You"re not mad at me for keeping my power a secret?"

"I"ve kept secrets too," Alyssa said, smiling back. "We can get through this, and we will have a nice, calm and very civil discussion with Mrs. Goldman about it."

"That sounds good," Diane said, relieved to see everyone had calmed down.

Alyssa was pouring the tea into cups and she decided to change the subject so Diane wouldn"t feel do bad.

"Listen to this," Alyssa called out, "You are never going to believe who Gabriel"s dad is!"