Chapter 7
The town council, or elf council, or whatever they called themselves, didn't meet at city hall, assuming the town even had a city hall. They met in a small park in the middle of town.
There was a large gazebo in the middle of the park and that's where we headed. There were half a dozen people waiting there by the time Elrod, Gladrielle, and I arrived. Three of them were men, three of them were women. I'm not sure what that said about elf society, or if it said anything at all.
The six people waiting for us were using glamor, or magic, or whatever you wanted to call it, to mask their true appearance, doing their best to look human. When they saw that Elrod and Gladrielle weren't hiding their true appearance from me, they dropped the glamor, revealing the dark blue eyes, the dark blue hair, the pointed ears, and the flawless skin.
“What's this about?” a woman asked.
Like everyone else, she was tall and thin and beautiful. Like everyone else, she appeared to be around thirty years old. She was wearing a dark green track suit with matching sneakers, making it look like we had interrupted her morning jog. Did people that didn't age even need to work out? In truth, I wasn't sure. Vamps didn't, but then vamps were, well, vamps.
“This is Low Campbell,” Elrod said, introducing me to the others. “She wants our help.”
“She's not human,” track suit said, looking me over.
“I'm a mermaid,” I said.
“So you're one of those.” Track suit made no attempt to hide the contempt in her voice.
By one of those, I assumed she meant a supernatural. Apparently, she was one of the people Elrod was talking about when he said that some of his people viewed supernaturals as a polluted species.
“What kind of help do you need?” a man asked.
“What difference does it make?” track suit said. “You know the rule. We don't get involved with . . . her type.”
“Some friends of hers are being threatened,” Elrod said. “By a vampire. A very old vampire.”
“Are your friends elves?” track suit asked me.
“No.”
“Human?”
“No.”
“So they're like you.” If a voice could drip with disdain when using the word you, hers certainly did.
“One's a mermaid like me,” I said. “The other is a . . . .”
Track suit held up a hand silencing me. “We don't really care what you call yourselves. You all come from the same corrupt source.”
“I'm willing to help her,” Elrod said. “But our law says I need the council's permission.”
“Why would you want to help her?” track suit asked, adding more disdain to her voice when she used the word her.
“She's a mermaid,” Elrod said. “Mermaids have human fathers, which means she's got human blood in her.”
“You're saying that she's not irredeemable?”
“In all of our years, how many supernaturals have come here asking us to help them save their friends?”
“He makes a point,” the man that spoke earlier said.
“I understand helping humans,” track suit said. “Like us, they were made in the Creator's image. But her kind is an abomination, they weren't made in the Creator's image. In point of fact, they shouldn't even exist.”
“And the world would be a better place if you just let us kill each other off?”
Track suit folded her arms across her chest and glared at me. “Your words, not mine.”
“Why can't you handle this vampire by yourself?” Gladrielle asked me.
“The longer a vampire has been around the more powerful he is,” I said.
“And this one has been around a long time?”
“His creator's creator was Nephilim.”
“Haven't heard that name for awhile,” a woman that had been silent said.
“Creatures that should never have existed,” track suit said. She glared at me. “Like her and her friends.”
“I take it you're voting no,” Elrod said.
“Of course I am,” track suit said. “The world will be a better place when her kind kill each other off.”
It was pretty clear that some of the elves, like track suit, divided the world into two camps, beings that were created by God, like angels, and elves, and humans, and beings that shouldn't exist, like the Nephilim and their descendants, supernaturals. The fact that we were part human seemed to make no difference to her.
“You'll get no argument from me,” I said. “Most supernaturals are irredeemable, but one of the people I'm trying to help is a mermaid. Like me. She's twenty-one years old, her father is human, and I'm not sure you can put her in the irredeemable category. Not yet anyway.”
Track suit grunted. “You’re honest. I'll give you that much.”
“What do you expect us to do?” Gladrielle asked. “If we agree to help you?”
“I don't know. Use your elfin magic to put the fear of God into the Count.”
“The Count?” track suit said.
“That's what everybody calls him, what he calls himself.”
“Is he harming humans?” the man that spoke earlier asked.
“Not that I'm aware of.”
“He doesn't dine on them?”
“He prefers to dine on other supernaturals.”
“Sounds like we should keep him around,” track suit said. “As far as I'm concerned, he's doing the world a favor. The more of your kind he gets rid of, the better off the world will be. No offense.”
“None taken. But then I don't offend easily.”
“You don't expect us to kill this creature do you?” a man that hadn't spoken asked me. “Because we don't kill, it goes against everything we believe.”
“To be honest, I don't care whether you kill him or not, I just need you to put the fear of God into him. Convince him to leave my friends alone.”
“I'm not sure we're capable of doing that,” Gladrielle said. “Most of our abilities are defensive in nature. We can protect ourselves, but we're not really good at threatening people. Or as you put it, putting the fear of God into them.”
“I could talk to him,” Elrod said.
Gladrielle looked at Elrod. “And say what? We all remember the Nephilim. You couldn't reason with them. They were full of themselves, so much so that they thought they were gods.”
“He's not Nephilim,” I said.
“He's not far removed.”
I nodded. “True. He's got the eyes of a Nephilim. And he is full of himself.”
Track suit studied me for a second. “You show uncommon wisdom for a creature of your . . . background.”
“This is why I think we should help her,” Elrod said. “It's been a long time since we've dealt with supernaturals. They may have changed.”
Track suit looked at Elrod. “Why would they have changed?”
“If you were to trace her linage, I think you'd see that she has more human blood flowing through her veins than anything.”
Track suit grunted. “The Nephilim had human blood flowing through their veins, but it was still polluted by their corrupt fathers. I'll admit that hers may not be as polluted as theirs was, but it's still polluted. Her hair and eyes tell you that.”
“We can't avoid supernaturals forever,” Elrod said. “Their numbers continue to grow, at a much faster rate than ours.”
Sounded like elves did have kids, they were just rare, kind of like mermaids.
Track suit looked at me. “How did you find out about us anyway?”
“I'm a detective. Finding things is what I do.”
“I bet it was the odious little imp, the one that keeps popping in and trying to have sex with me.”
I almost burst out laughing, picturing Wormby hitting on track suit. “He has a bucket list. I suspect doing it with an elf is at the top of that list.”
Track suit wrinkled her brow. “Bucket list?”
“Things you want to do before you kick the bucket.”
“Kick the b
ucket?”
“Die,” Elrod said. “Kicking the bucket is a slang term mortals use for dying.”
“I can understand why he'd want to do it with me,” track suit said. “But why would he ever think that I'd want to do it with him?”
I didn't have an answer to that question, so I just shrugged my shoulders.
“I think we're getting off point here,” Gladrielle said. “We need to decide if we're going to get involved with this young woman and these other supernaturals, or continue to avoid them.”
“What do you think we should do?” a woman who hadn't spoken asked Gladrielle.
“I think Jim's right. Their numbers are increasing, not as fast as the humans, but they are increasing, which means we can't avoid them forever. It wouldn't hurt to establish some kind of a relationship with them.”
“They have no leader,” track suit said. “They're just a bunch of wild dogs, running around untethered. You can't establish a relationship with a pack of wild dogs.”
“Certainly not with all of them.” Gladrielle looked at me. “But we can establish relationships with some of the more reasonable ones.”
“Waste of time.” Track suit looked at me. “No offense.”
“None taken.” I wouldn't get their help if I got upset or angry. It would just prove that track suit was right, that me and my kind were little more than wild dogs. I needed to remain cool and calm. I needed to seem rational and reasonable.
“If there's no more discussion on this issue, I think it's time we vote,” Elrod said. “Do we help the mermaid save her friends, or do we send her on her way, tell her to find help elsewhere?”
“Send her on her way,” track suit said. She stepped out of the gazebo and took off across the park's freshly cut grass, determined to finish her jog.
“I didn't know immortals needed to jog,” I said to no one in particular.
“We may not get sick or grow old,” Gladrielle said with a smile. “But if we sit too much, and eat too much, we can still get fat.”
“What about the rest of you?” Elrod asked the remaining five council members. “Do we help the mermaid or send her packing?”
“Send her packing,” the man that had been silent said.
“I'll leave it up to you,” the second man said to Elrod. “If you want to help her, you have my blessing.”
Elrod turned to the two women that were still there. “I vote no,” the one that had been silent said.
“I vote no,” the one that had spoke briefly said. She looked at me. “I'm sorry.”
Elrod looked at the third man, to see what he had to say. He answered. “I think we should help her.”
“I think we all know where I stand on this issue,” Elrod said.
That meant it was three votes in favor of helping me and four votes against helping me, with Gladrielle still needing to cast her vote.
“What happens if the vote is a tie?” I asked.
“Then I'm free to do as I wish,” Elrod said. “Assuming the vote ends in a tie.”
He turned to Gladrielle, as did the rest of us, waiting to see how she would vote. She had already talked about establishing relationships with some of the more reasonable supernaturals, so I assumed that she was going to vote yes. Turned out that I was wrong. Sort of wrong.
“I'm going to vote no,” she said, looking at Elrod. “As in no, you shouldn't help her. But I'm voting yes that we should help her, but I should be the one that helps her.”
“Why you?” Elrod asked.
“Because I know the man she's talking about.”
Got to admit, I didn't see that one coming. Although I shouldn't have been surprised. The Count had been around for thousands of years, just like Elrod and Gladrielle. It wasn't unreasonable to assume that at some point in their long long lives, they had run into each other.
“You know this vampire?” a surprised Elrod said. “This Count?”
“We met along time ago, in ancient Egypt. You might even say we were friends. Of course that was when he was still human. Given the chance, I think I can convince him to let her friends go.”
Elrod nodded like he understood and turned to me. “Looks like I was wrong. Slim didn't leave town after all.”
Elrod turned and left, as did the rest of the council, leaving me and Gladrielle alone.
“So you knew the Count,” I said, mostly because I didn't know what else to say.
Gladrielle smiled, but it was a sad smile. “A long time ago. My people lived along the banks of the Nile River. In what was known as the Upper Kingdom.”
“That's going back a few years.”
I tried to remember my ancient history. Before the pyramids had been built, before ancient Egypt became one kingdom, it had been two kingdoms, the Upper Kingdom, and the Lower Kingdom. I just couldn't remember if the Upper Kingdom had been up north, or up river, which would've put it south of the Lower Kingdom, not that it really mattered, what mattered was that this had happened over five thousand years ago.
“To you it's ancient history,” Gladrielle said. “To me it seems like yesterday.”
“I'm not sure the Count feels that way. He seems to have trouble remembering his life back then. He told me that he thinks the human brain wasn't designed to hold that much information.”
Gladrielle left the gazebo and headed across the park, strolling. I fell in alongside of her. “But then he's not human anymore.”
“He certainly isn't.” Gladrielle didn't say anything else. She just strolled through the park, lost in thought.
“So you knew him when he was human.”
“I did.”
“He was a physician?”
Gladrielle looked at me, surprised I knew that. “How did you . . . .”
“He wears this gold ring. It has an ankh on it. I asked him about it. He said that the symbol was used to identify physicians in ancient Egypt.”
“That's how I met him. His little sister was dying and he couldn't help her. He showed up at our village one evening, hoping that we had some sort of elfin magic that could save her.”
“He knew you were elves?”
“The world was different back then. There weren't nearly as many humans as there are today. We didn't feel the need to protect ourselves by hiding who we were.”
“Did your people help him?”
“We don't grow old or get sick. Aside from setting the occasional broken bone, we have no need to master the healing arts.”
“So you couldn't help him.”
“One of us went with him to take away his sister's pain. That was the best we could do.”
“Let me guess, you were the one that went with him.”
Gladrielle nodded. “That's how we met.”
“You think he'll remember you?”
“He'll remember me.”
“You seem pretty sure.”
Gladrielle smiled, another sad smile, then she looked at me. “That's because I'm the reason he became a vampire.”