The Revelation

Kerri was growing tired of waiting at Florian’s house. For three months now, she sat there feeling like an outsider. Both of them were gracious hosts, giving Kerri everything she needed to be comfortable. The bed alone cost more than her apartment, and she was never asked to pay for groceries or anything else.

The rich walnut colored chair had cushions so deep, one could build a nest in them was not the over used sofas Kerri had grown accustomed to. Her thoughts moved to her Grandmother’s house. It was just across the road from theirs, sharing the same cattle pasture her parents used. The home always smelled of savory cooking or something sweet baking in the oven, with a hint of Grandma’s heavy floral perfume. It was an old farmhouse with furniture Kerri had seen since she was a child. The sofa cushions had faded flowers on them and worn arms. But it was home.

Home was a small town in South Carolina, where twenty of her first cousins lived within five miles, and her Grandparents were down the dirt roads. It was not Miami Beach, with a fireplace that pumped out warmth from a heater, and an ocean breeze moving through rustling palm leaves.

That town remained a human town, free of The Others and the issues they brought with them. A place still stuck in the past, where humans and The Others lived separately, in their own towns and their own societies. Her family were adamant that only humans remained in the family, and had recently shunned an Aunt for marrying a Werewolf. That was Kerri’s favorite Aunt, and she missed her dearly, but she went along with what the family wanted, blocking the phone number and not answering any calls.

After her family learned of Kerri’s involvement in exposing the Iron Oath, her Father stopped answering her calls, and her Mom’s text messages went unread. Eventually, her brother ceased communication, then her cousins followed. There was no one left for her. No one but the people she couldn’t understand.

Two Vampires in their happy and expensive home, sitting together on a sofa where they held hands and watched a show in a language Kerri never learned. The life in her home and her Grandparents’ home was missing. There was no lively chatter, food being served, cousins laughing over a spilled drink, and the younger ones playing outside. It was as cold and quiet as when Kerri went to college.

“College…” Kerri said quietly.

Florian raised his eyebrows. “What about a college?”

“I feel like I’m back in college.” She said. “That’s what this feels like.”

“How?”

Kerri shrugged. “I was so far away from my family, and I had a hard time talking to them. I did things in college they wouldn’t have liked. So, I kept things quiet until I told them I was joining the Iron Oath.”

Anika paused the screen where a raven-haired woman with ruby lips was nearing a steamy kiss with her once jilted lover. “What did cause you to join the Iron Oath?”

“You.” Kerri looked away, staring out the window. “Vampires did.”

“Vampires?” Florian asked.

“Yes. Vampires.” She said. “I had a girlfriend then. Taylor. We met on the way to class one day. Our eyes locked and that was it. She and I were an item right then, we just didn’t know it yet. I knew my family wouldn’t approve of it, so I said nothing. I kept asking myself how to tell them I was in love with a woman.”

Anika closed her eyes. “That must have been horrible for you. Was she one of us?”

“No.” Kerri shook her head. “I was getting ready to go home for a visit, and Taylor asked why she couldn’t come. She wanted to meet the people I couldn’t stop talking about. So, I told her the truth. We got into a fight, and she left. The next day… someone found her body on campus. Drained of every drop of blood.”

Florian took a long time to answer. “It’s no wonder you blame Vampires.”

“It wasn’t just Vampires. It was The Others. They were out of control! Murders were going up. So was the crime rate. Half of them were Other related. So, I said I’d never allow it to happen again. I changed my major and applied for the Iron Oath the next week. But something wasn’t right.” Kerri wrapped an arm around her stomach.

“Taylor always tried to tell me The Others weren’t what I thought. They were people like us, just living their lives. I always felt like she wasn’t telling me something. I never found out. They convicted a Vampire for her murder. It was an open and shut case, but…” Kerri trailed off.

“What?” Anika asked.

Kerri sighed. “I still don’t believe that woman killed her. I don’t know why she admitted it. I don’t know why she was staked for it. Or why Taylor was killed in the first place. I’ve always wondered, but I pushed it in the back of my head. Made myself believe it was just The Others protecting their own. Now I’m not so sure.”

“Do you want us to help you investigate this?” Florian asked, reaching out to give Kerri some comfort.

When his hand laid on her arm, she stared at it for a long while. At first, Kerri saw nothing but a pale finger that could easily wrap around her wrist. Once Florian spoke, the sympathy and care in his voice was so genuine, and she could not help but see things differently. There was a warmth in Florian she’d never noticed before. Something that could not be truly felt anywhere but the inside of a person when they most needed a friend.

“I want to know what happened.” Kerri said. “I want to know if the Iron Oath somehow got to her and why.”

Anika nodded. “We’ll help you. Tell us what to do.”

Kerri smiled at the two of them. A friendly smile that she had yet to offer Florian or Anika. The practiced pageantry wiped away from her face, and a broad grin that was almost child-like took its place.

“There are two things to do before I ask for that help.” Kerri said.

“What’s that?” Asked Florian.

“There are still Iron Oath execs to figure out. That’s one.” Kerri answered. “Second, I need to make a phone call.”

As Kerri walked away, the couple watched her slide a finger over her phone and stare at it for a moment. It was like she was afraid of something on the screen. She sucked in a deep breath, placing the phone against her ear and closing her eyes. A woman’s voice answered, and Kerri’s face brightened.

“Aunt Dianne? It’s Kerri.” She paused, waiting for the response. The excited shrieks were so loud that Kerri pulled the phone away from her ear. Then she smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m OK. I… I really miss you.”

“Let her go.” Florian said to Anika, pulling the woman back onto the cushions. “She needs to have that conversation. Whatever it is.”

Anika’s smile faded. “I wonder what the Iron Oath is busy plotting? They’ve been quiet other than Oliver.”

Glass bottles jostled against each other as Jacob moved them, staring at the swollen and bowing wood holding some of the most precious things the Iron Oath had ever created. This is what they were resorting to. Underground bunkers where water and vermin threatened to damage everything they had worked for. The glass bottles were labeled with yellowing paper and parchment, some of them covered with tape to preserve the old style script explaining the contents.

After years of using the formula, he had memorized what the old alchemists put together. A pinch of this, a dash of that. None of the measurements made sense to anyone but those in the Iron Oath privileged enough to be taught. It was a recipe passed down for generations, with the ingredients held by every large office in the world.

He picked up an amber bottle, blowing years of dust from it. The cork holding the contents inside was stuck fast after years of being in a humid underground space. Jacob gingerly tugged on it until a loud pop echoed in the room, and something that smelled of sulfur wafted to his nose.

“That stuff stinks.” Kristin said.

“You’re lucky I have good hearing.” Said Jacob. “Stealth was never your strong suit.”

“A Vampire can hear me with or without quiet shoes.” She scowled.

“But they didn’t. Did you find it?”

She nodded. “I did.”

“Set it down on the floor.” Jacob ordered.

Kristin sat a wooden box on the floor, covered in sandy soil. She stood to the side while Jacob made magic happen. To her, it was magic. Fascinating and awesome. A type of magic that no one but the Iron Oath knew of. A way to create life when there was no life, and would be no life without their interference.

He grasped hold of a device made of glass. One bulbous canister was crudely attached to a circular tube, made by bending and heating glass until it was just the right shape and thickness. The tube was melted onto a second canister topped with a metal cover turned green and bronze with the patina of age.

The cover lifted from the latch, and Jacob opened up the box. Inside was a pile of ashes, along with some pieces of fabric and thread he carefully picked away with tweezers. Having anything extra inside just wasted precious ingredients.

Every piece of the ashes went in the upper glass and Jacob carefully sat it on a table. The myriad of bottles had been arranged in an order, so it was easier to remember the recipe. Though Jacob had done it hundreds of times, if not thousands. It was second nature.

Different liquids dropped in, turning the ash into a gray fluid that trickled down the circular tube. A few moments later, the gray fluid swirled together in an iridescent blue, creating its own shapes and movements in the bottom canister.

“One last drop.” Jacob said. “Back away, Kristin. You know how angry he gets when I do this.”

Kristin made a face. “I hate seeing it.”

“You don’t have to watch.” Jacob said. “Not until you learn to do it.”

He held up a bottle with a wax label on it, slowly dripping the last of the ingredients inside of the glass. It was thick and crimson. So dark, the viscous fluid could be mistaken as purple. It slid down the tube until it collided with the blue, sending the vibrant color thrashing and fighting against itself.

Once the violent reaction began, Jacob turned the entire thing upside down, dropping the contents on the damp concrete floor. A puddle of blue and red refused to blend, pushing away from each other like a magnet when the polarity is the same. Eventually, the crimson crept toward its prey, taking it over like a tiger pouncing on a mouse.

The puddle bubbled to life, boiling and gurgling over itself as it grew into a mass that seemed to stretch out toward Jacob. Two hands emerged from the coagulated pile, bending their fingers as if they were just discovering the new appendages. An arm sprouted, then a second, as the bubbles formed a coating of skin on the developing body.

A face formed, twisted in agony as the thin lips opened wide, gasping for air to go inside lungs that had yet to form. The beard sizzled and singed, along with the hair spreading over the broad chest and arms. Soon, the puddle disappeared and a body lay on the floor. What most people thought of as a man of unmatched strength and formidable wit had become a whimpering child, curled in a fetal position as if he were begging for the pain to stop assaulting him.

“Welcome back.” Jacob said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Why won’t you let me die?” Oliver screamed, collapsing in a fit of exhausted tears.