Chapter 6
Darius and Cassandra have just finished getting all the copies of the footage to their respective locations when she receives the call from George. She hangs up and informs Darius that they are meeting a friend of George's at his office at 8 this evening about plans to visit the archives. “Why so late? Asks Darius”
“Yeah, I asked that question too. George just said this is all off the books and must be kept from all others in the office. He is telling everyone working today that there are carpet cleaners coming so the space must be clear by 6 pm,” informs Cassandra. “He also said to be ready to fly out to London in the morning.”
Darius says "Wow, he works fast! I guess we need to head back to the hotel room and repack."
"I really could use a trip home to grab more things, are you sure we can't swing by there? I promise to be quick."
"You grab a bag, throw stuff in, and we leave. I'm serious, nothing else."
"No problem."
While leaving the parking garage, Darius does a general scan of the cars in the area looking for possible tails and notices a 2010 Jaguar XJ in the parking lot, black with dark tinted windows. “You don't see those every day,” says Darius. Even though this is Manhattan and high end cars like that are common place. This one is telling Darius to be suspicious.
They head to her apartment, and she grabs more things while Darius stands watch. She is done in no time. Darius is shocked. "I guess you're good at being on the run."
While leaving, he notices the same Jaguar XJ sitting about a block down from her apartment. "That car was sitting outside of the parking garage we left earlier," Darius says
"Well, the only question is who would be following us,” asks Cassandra. “And how scared should we be right now?”
"They certainly have good taste, and are not worried about being noticed. If they wanted us, they had the perfect opportunity here at your apartment so I would say they are just observing us for now. My best guess would be it is someone wanting to keep this story quiet. I've never seen a government agent in a car like that, but the only other option is that it is vampires," Darius says, sort of thinking out loud. "God damn, I can't believe I just said that."
"What?!!"
Darius adds, "If our theory is correct, footage of them is in the hands of a major television network journalist. I am sure they probably want to keep their secret . . . a secret."
"Okay, but how do they know we haven't let the cat out of the bag already?" Cassandra asks.
"I think we'd be dead already if they thought that."
"What?” yells Cassandra, “Stop talking!"
"Well we also have to go to my hotel so they can follow us around the city I guess," Darius adds sounding very confident.
They go to the hotel so Darius can get his luggage ready. Again they both notice the car pulling up while they are walking in. They decide to eat in the hotel restaurant while they pass time until their meeting back at the paper. Cassandra nods her head towards the windows where their followers are sitting and asks, "Do you think we should order the vamps a steak, very rare?"
Darius, shaking his head says "Smart ass,” and smiles. They leisurely eat and have a drink until time for their meeting. The entire time they can see the mysterious Jaguar sitting outside. For 2 hours they sit there and there is no movement at all with the car. Their conversation has stayed on anything but the obvious situation they are in. Right now they just enjoy being alone together with great food and great conversation. It is as if no time has passed between them. After awhile, Darius asks if she will be okay while he visits the bathroom. “I'm fairly certain they intend to stay outside and wait for us,” he adds. Cassie nods her head in assurance, never one to admit weakness.
While she sits there enjoying how she feels again with Darius and wonders if this could ever turn into something with him, she hears a voice in her head. “I remember feeling that way once, embrace it,” the voice tells her. She knows exactly who that voice belongs to. It is the B.L.O.O.D. commander. She remembers that voice coming over the radio during the mission in Colombia and in her dream that night. Now she is scared! Is she imagining his voice in her head or is he really speaking to her?
Darius returns and Cassandra must keep her agitation a secret. She certainly can't tell him what she was thinking or what the voice said to her. Information he will demand to know if she tells him of hearing his voice in her head. Thinking that it was sitting there alone that had Cassandra noticeable shaken he says, “I am sorry I left you sitting alone, I will not leave your side from now on.” She reassures him she is fine and that she would prefer he piss alone. She smiles and says now she must excuse herself as well.
“Will you be alright here alone while I use the bathroom?” Cassandra asks jokingly. Again, he calls her a smart ass. She returns and they prepare to leave to head to their 8 pm meeting with George. Darius warns Cassandra that he needs to try to lose their tail on their way to George's office. He doesn't want whoever that is to follow them to the studio and possibly put George in danger as well. She agrees but doesn't want anyone to get hurt.
Darius asks what Cassandra expects to learn at the vampire archives that might help us. "Not sure. I just know my producer is not going to let me go on air with this story until I get more angles covered. If they are real, they must have a history, right? It is always good to know what you are up against." says Cassandra.
"You do realize this story could ruin both of our careers and possibly get us killed?" asks Darius.
"Why did you call me into this then if the goal wasn't to tell the truth, no matter the cost?"
"Well, actually I was kind hoping they would turn out to be mutants, robots, or something. Not vampires!"
"We are too far into this to turn around now. If they are real, I want to know about them." Cassandra says sounding determined.
"If I had a brain at all I would try and stop you,” Darius adds while shaking his head.
"Good luck with that."
"That's what I thought."
They leave the restaurant and Darius begins by driving normal until hitting a lot of traffic, then he begins to dart and weave in between cars trying to lose the Jaguar. Cassandra makes a suggestion to take a less direct route. They no longer see the Jaguar following them and feel it is safe to head to the office. As they pull in, they see the car already sitting there, seeming to be waiting on them to arrive.
"They already knew we were coming here," Darius says. They look at each other. “I'm not even going to contemplate that. Shall we get to our meeting with George?” He had reached that point in every life-altering event where you have no choice but to surrender. He knew he was incapable of walking away now, and the possible outcomes are as staggering as they are uncontrollable. Their walk into the television news studio building was silent. Neither of them even bothers to look at the Jaguar. There are no answers to be found there, only more questions. Cassandra was hopeful this meeting would be productive though.
George meets them in the hallway outside his office. Cassandra can tell he is nervous or edgy . . . or both. “There's my shining star baby girl” George says with that tender fatherly voice Cassandra loved so much. He kisses her cheek and turns to Darius. “Any trouble today?” he asks him.
“Well yeah, a little. A very flashy Jaguar has been stalking us all day. It's sitting in your parking lot right now.” Darius replies with extreme calmness even though he has no reason to be.
“Blacked out windows all the way around?” asks George.
“Um . . . yes why?” questions Cassandra, realizing George does know more than he has told them.
“They won't hurt you, I think they might be protection you actually. Okay look, I met you both in the hallway so I could give you a heads up on what you are walking into. Darius, I'm sure you've experienced some crazy things during your time in the military, and Cassandra I know how strong you are. Please keep
in mind that the only reason I kept things from you was to protect you,” George attempts to explain.
“Stop beating around the bush and tell me what is going on here,” demands Cassandra. Darius is in full soldier mode now, ready for anything and anyone. George notices!
“You are both safe, I promise. You've never in your life been safer than you are right now, and you will get some answers I know you need tonight. Let's get in there. I don't want to make her wait.”
Cassandra looks at Darius. “He still hasn't given us any actual information.” Just as they reach the door of George's office it swings open.
“Emily, what are you doing here?” Cassandra almost sounds pissed off that George's girlfriend is there. She turns to George for answers.
“Please Cassandra, sit down and let me explain.” asks Emily.
“I will stand,” adds Darius. Cassandra sits, mostly because the confusion of her current situation has made her very weak all the sudden.
Emily turns to Darius and introduces herself to him. “I am Emily, long time girlfriend of George and starting now I am acting liaison to both of you.”
“Representing whom exactly?” questions Darius as he shakes her hand. She smiles in response to his curiosity and realizes she must explain a few things before they will even entertain the idea of trusting her or her boss.
“George has informed you already that this meeting would reveal many answers. However, these answer you require in order to further your search are not easy to hear or accept for your kind”
“Our kind? That's an interesting word to use.” Cassandra is growing more and more suspicious of both Emily and George. She does not like the way it feels either.
“I and those that I represent are not human. We are of a different species that was splintered off of humanity in its very early days. Before I continue, I must express to you both how unique this event is. The clearance you are being granted is absolutely unprecedented in our history. The unabashed honor that I feel to be the one chosen to inform you of this, cannot be properly expressed in words. Please understand that the only reason this access is being granted is due to the situation reaching its point of no return and because you have been cleared by Osiris himself.”
The mention of the name Osiris creates a stir, from everyone. Cassandra, Darius, and George are all surprised to hear the name.
“He has become convinced that together, you may assist us in our fight and for this he is bringing you into the inner circle of our kind. For you to understand who and what we are, and to trust that we only have your best interest in mind, you must learn our history. The best way is to visit our research and genealogy center in London. We call it the Vril Institute, but the public name is the Vampire Research Society. That name actually creates less interest than the Vril Institute oddly enough. There your eyes will be opened to the real history, both yours' and ours'. You will learn how we have monitored certain events and intervened whenever necessary. Because no other humans have ever known the true history of life on Earth, we are unsure of how this will affect you. For this, we are attempting to ease you in so you can fully process it all. You both have shown yourselves to Osiris to be seekers of truth with unwavering character. We feel this will be in our favor. Osiris will be accompanying you on the trip to London and your visit there. I would now like to introduce you to your chaperone and the one who has been monitoring the situation from within the U.S. Government, Osiris.”
He seems to appear from the shadows. All three of them are startled; they were completely unaware there was someone else in the room. He likes it this way. He can observe people's true nature best when he is undetected. Osiris walks to where Emily is standing and gently touches her lower back, signaling her to have to seat. She humbly gives him a small bow and sits next to George. Osiris is dressed in the finest silk suit Cassandra has ever seen, dark beige with a subtle pin-stripping. The color shows off his golden complexion. He almost looks lit from within. He moves with such deliberate, quiet confidence; like a stalking lion waiting for just the right moment to strike. As he speaks the words “I am Osiris” Cassandra recognizes his voice right away.
“It's you?” she says as he kisses her hand. It was him speaking to her from within her head.
“I apologize for the intrusion but I had to be certain you were of strong enough character to handle all of this, both of you” as he turns to Darius.
“Darius” Osiris pauses and gives him a bow, seemingly to show humble respect to him, but this confuses Darius . . . and Cassandra. “It is a pleasure to formally meet you. In all my years,” he turns to Emily and flashes a cheeky smile to her as she lets out a small giggle and shakes her head at Osiris, he returns his attention to Darius, “there have been very few men who exhibit your particular skills; physically and mentally. It is hard to conceive that you are not one of us yet. You will be a great asset to our kind and our cause.” Osiris gives Darius the two-handed, handshake, further expressing his approval and acceptance of Darius.
Darius is now picking apart everything Osiris has just said in his head. All his years? Is he really God of the Underworld from Ancient Egypt? This would explain why that comment was so amusing to Emily. Why I'm not one of them yet? Does he plan on changing me?
“Now for the business at hand.” Osiris returns to the front of the room and assumes his commanding stance. “I am not one for sugar coating so I will get straight to the point. I have linked myself with all of you and am fully aware of your theories of what you have seen. You are correct, we are Vampire.” He pauses to allow absorption of this information.
Cassandra looks at George to see if he knew already. It's obvious he did. She then turns to Emily as she realizes Emily is vampire. She very much liked Emily. She helped bring back the old George after his wife passed. They had dinner, talked about fashion and politics. Cassandra felt betrayed, by Emily and George.
“Your must understand why you weren't told,” George pleads with Cassandra.
“Your curiosity is what makes you such a dedicated journalist, but is also why you weren't told. You could never have allowed me my privacy until you got the full story. Please know that wonderful quality is why you are being told now though,” Emily attempts to help Cassandra understand.
Darius has not taken his eyes off Osiris and seems unaware of the other conversation taking place in the room. Osiris smiles at him and whispers inside of Darius' mind with out saying a word, “You and your beloved Cassandra are in no danger, I give you my word.” Darius fully believes his words and nods in acceptance to Osiris.
“Our creation and history will be told to you in London. By learning how we came to be, I hope you will understand who we are and why we are worthy of your help. I have made arrangements for us to fly out tomorrow morning, very early. All of the instructions are in here. Please read this carefully tonight.” Osiris makes eye contact with each of them as he hands them each a sealed envelope.
“I'm terribly sorry Osiris, but who are you exactly? This is just about too much to handle. You're a vampire who works for the American government . . . CIA I presume. How and why does that happen?” Cassandra is mostly thinking out loud and is getting lost in the rush of questions swirling in her head. Darius can see she is upset and places his hand on her shoulder to reassure her she is not alone in this. She turns to him, “What are we doing?” She can no longer keep up the strong facade and a tear trickles down her face.
Darius pulls her into his arms and whispers to her, “Just following your heart, Cassie”. He kisses her forehead and she lets out a cleansing breath.
“All of these questions will be answered at the Vril Institute. I do see that in order to feel more comfortable with our travel arrangements and time spent together, you need some answers now. I will oblige. Emily, George, could you both excuse us for a bit?” Emily shows no expression of disapproval. She clearly honors Osiris' requests without question
. George isn't as understanding and leaves looking confused as to why they must leave.
“It is not for us to know darling. The night is still young; shall we have a night cap at your place?” Emily quickly ushers George out of his office.
“You are familiar with Ancient Egyptian beliefs and,” he pauses here to muster up the stomach to say, “. .mythology?” This is not the proper word to describe his people but he also knows this is how it is seen by people of today. He must speak their language if he is to be understood. It is easy to see for Darius and Cassandra that it pains him to call it mythology.
“We are familiar with the Osiris and Isis story, if that is where you are leading,” adds Cassandra.
“Our goddess, our creator, and first of our kind is Lilith. In my time of greatest need, she chose to invite me into her family. It was not Isis who saved me but Lilith. She made me Vampire just before I died. The story was told with Isis because that is how my people needed it to be. It benefited my homeland to let them believe it was Isis, so I allowed it. I could not tell them the truth after all. The knowledge gained during my transformation made my people the great society they became and for me to be made a God in their eyes. My kind and humankind have a very symbiotic, colorful past. A story I am sure you will enjoy learning.”
Cassandra is starting to realize what and who is standing in front of her and suddenly feels insignificant and important at the same time.
“You have nothing to fear sweet Cassandra. I need both of you just as you need me. You will soon come to know this.”
“Now I must excuse myself. I have some business to handle before leaving the country tomorrow. It has been a pleasure and I look forward to opening your eyes to our shared history and future.” Osiris gives them both a bow and walks towards the door to leave. “Oh, and please disregard the flashy Jaguar, they are following my orders. I must keep you safe.”
Cassandra let's out another cleansing breath and drops her head into her hands. A rush comes over her and she suddenly feels nauseous. “I'm not sure I can handle this,” she turns to see how Darius is holding up. He is deep in thought, still processing the situation in light of the new information. She can tell he hasn't even realized she has spoken, “Darius. . . you still with me soldier?”
He snaps out of it and looks at her. “You of all people can handle this.” She is surprised. He was listening.
“Well, let's get out of here. We can go back to my place for the night since we don't need to hide anymore. I really need to sleep in my own bed tonight,” Cassandra pleads.
“Sure, there's no need to run or hide I suppose.”