Vampire Greek: The Burning King

Roman came from nothing, became nothing and dreamt of nothing. Any dreams he had were always the memories of others, whether they be people he helped or the victims he tortured. Now he dreamt of nothing, a pit of blackest stretching across his mind. But something came into focus, he opened his eyes and he was little, laying on a couch in pink pajamas and watching tv. A woman’s hand with black nails was wrapped over his, and there were toys on the floor. Suddenly a door slammed and a man stormed past the room, carrying a big bottle of whiskey. He muttered something about centaurs and started slamming things in the kitchen. Roman was lifted up and laid back down, then the woman put a blanket over him.

“Just act like you’re asleep, Willa.”

Willa! This was her memory! But why was he experiencing it? Willa/Roman immediately disobeyed her mother’s instructions and stood up, wiping her eyes while trying to keep the blanket on herself. She/he could hear the two of them shouting back and forth in the kitchen, but Willa was too scared to go in there. Her mother came dashing out the kitchen, reaching to pick up Willa but the man grabbed her by her hair and knocked her over, landing on the toys by the couch. Willa ran past the man as her mother screamed for him to stop and entered the kitchen. She pulled open drawers she could barely see over, reaching into each of them until she finally pulled out a kitchen knife. Screaming at the top of her lungs she ran at the man crouching over her mother and he looked up. Roman could see the look of surprise on Zeus face as she plunged the knife into his left eye, then everything exploded. Roman could feel every inch of Willa’s burning body but the memory went dark. He could hear falling debris, roaring fire and sirens in the distance but there was nobody nearby to help. Willa’s eyes opened again, and now she was standing on the other side of the street, watching her house burn down. She screamed for her mother and tried to run over there, but someone was holding her back. Roman recognized the shadowy figure as Thanatos, but he wasn’t wearing his hood. Without it, he was an old gray haired man that looked at Willa with pity.

“You’ll be okay, little one. The gods are requesting you.” Roman looked at his hand, Willa’s hand as it turned into golden sparkles of light and starting to fly into the sky. Everything went dark again, but something whispered to him. It was loud but indistinct, and getting louder by the second. He wanted to respond, to answer it and find out what it said, but he couldn’t find the sound. It was all around him, even though he himself wasn’t anywhere in particular. It was invisible and intangible, and so was he.

“Roman?” Willa’s voice called out to him, waking him from the void.

“When did you get home?”

Roman opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was Tyran laying right next to his head, staring at him intently.

“You better not give me a prophecy.” he told the baby. He continued their little staring contest until he lost, then sat up.

“I don’t know how I got home. I passed out on the sidewalk.” He yawned and stretched, feeling rejuvenated, but extremely sad. He decided not to talk about the dream, he didn’t know how she would respond to what was probably her most traumatic memory. Running his tongue across his teeth, he noticed his fangs were there, although they were a little smaller than they used to be.

“So you did it? You’re a vampire again?” Claire asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. In the flesh.”

Caitlyn scooted past him to pick up Tyran. Barry came in and looked at Roman with a fierce intensity.

“You should’ve become a werewolf. Then you wouldn’t have had to die again.”

“I’d rather not have fleas. Thanks though.”

Claire had seen that look in their eyes before, back in highschool.

“Barry, how about you go get some water?”

“Sure.” Barry walked out without looking at anyone else.

“What’s wrong with you two?” asked Willa.

“It’s that old werewolf versus vampire thing.” Claire explained. “A generations old grudge that runs blood deep. When Barry became a werewolf in highschool, it led to a huge fight. Half the school was demolished. Barry and Roman reconciled eventually, but now Barry senses Roman as a whole new vampire, and Roman senses Barry as a whole new werewolf. They’ll be fine… eventually. As long as their instincts don’t override their memories.”

“Hey Roman!” Barry called from the front of the house. “You got company!”

“Is it the gods again?” Claire asked, afraid.

“No. It’s your sister.” Roman replied, sniffing the air. “Everyone stay back, especially you, Willa. They’re after the gods.”

Roman and Claire walked out of the front door while everyone else watched from the windows. Nia was standing outside with seven other vampires all in the middle of the street. Roman recognized one as the guard that wouldn’t let him into Nia’s hotel room.

“Why are y’all here? My neighbors are gonna think this is a flash mob.”

“You know why we’re here Roman. We want to meet the gods. You can take us, right Roman? Hi Cece!”

Claire looked at her sister angrily. “Go back where you came from.” she spat.

Nia pouted. “Come on, You can’t be still mad. I told you, what she did to me she would have done to-”

“GO HOME!” Claire shouted.

“You heard the woman.” Roman started cracking his knuckles. “Leave.”

“You talk real big for a fledgling.” Jordin stepped forward. “Don’t make me put you in your place.”

“Jordin chill. He’s not actually a fledgling. He’s stronger than you think.”

“I’m stronger than you think too.” Roman warned her. “You’ve seen my memories.”

Clouds collected in the sky above them, turning grey and dark quickly. Thunder rumbled overhead and the smell of petrichor filled their noses before the first drop of rain hit the ground.

“He can do shit like this?” Jordin asked Nia. Nia looked at Roman nervously and he was just as worried.

“This ain’t me.” The air prickled with electricity. “NIA WATCH OUT!”

Roman pushed Claire back into the house as dozens of lightning bolts started blasting the ground where the vampires stood. Roman dodged just in time but could still feel the heat on his skin. He looked around and saw that three of the vampires had been incinerated on the spot, dark marks of ash where they formerly stood. Some of the others were angrily watching the sky, trying to avoid the next bolts of lightning. two of them turned heel and vanished, running so fast they were complete blurs.

“How in go’s name is this happening?!” One of the vampires shouted. The lightning finally stopped, But everyone was still watching the sky.

“He knows. And he’s not even going to give you the chance. Give up, before he hunts you down.” Roman told her as he approached.

“Aren’t you hunting him down?” What makes you more qualified than us?”

Roman’s skin tingle and he heard a soft buzzing sound.

“GET DOWN!” Roman pushed Nia down and covered her with his body. The lightning struck him and boiled his body from the inside out, cooking him like a microwave. The lightning stopped but his skin still felt like fire. Standing up straight, Roman looked at his hands and saw that he hadn’t been harmed, dark smoke was emanating from his body.

“Do you think I’m qualified now?” He said with a smile. Frowning, Nia allowed Roman to help her up.

“I can’t do whatever is you have done, but I know you didn’t have this when you killed that wind god. If I ever find a demigod or a god on earth, I’ll make them pay.”

“You sound like me.” said Roman, startled. Nia rolled her eyes and regrouped with the remainder of her group.

“You’re forgetting you came from.”

One by one, the vampires turned into bats and flew off into the shadows, weaving in between houses to avoid being struck by lightning. Willa stepped outside of the house and the raining stopped. The thunder kept booming, but softer.

“Was that you?” Roman asked her. She shook her head.

“I’d never attack you. I didn’t do it last time and I wouldn’t do it now.”

“Then it’s time. He’s waiting. Claire, Barry, watch Caitlyn and Tyran. I’ll be back soon.”

Claire nodded in agreement and Barry held out his hand.

“Don’t die again. I don’t like babysitting duty.”

Roman laughed.

“I wouldn’t plan on it.”