Chapter 3: El valor de un hombre
May 22, 2001
10:31 P.m.
On the Road, Charleston, South Carolina
“So in other words, vampires are real?”
“Yeah… they’re called FTMs, but they’re real.”
“Huh… cool.”
For the most part, the night was going far better than Jack Wallace had anticipated. Almost immediately after their little meeting to assassinate the drug lord he had accidentally smuggled into the country ended, the soldier knew that it was time to come clean. To take the next step and let her know about everything he was involved in, no matter how secret.
Thankfully, these twenty somethings of the new age have been raised to the tenants of the assassins, for better or worst. Nothing is true, everything is permitted… which I interpret as a fancy way of saying that nobody truly understands everything and anything once thought impossible is now actually probable.
So for the new readers joining us in our so called adventure, play the role of Padma and see how your reactions compare to hers. For those who’ve heard this before, you can play the role of Max the German Australian mutt; sleeping away in your comfortable little bed while the newbie learns the ropes.
“Ever since the days of Cain, humanity has been infected with a virus known as the FTV… it causes supernatural abilities and is fueled by the blood absorbed from mortal man, giving birth to the legend of vampires. There are other variants of this virus… but the most common one is the FTV.”
“So like a super soldier serum?”
“More or less. The problem is, besides making you powerful, is that it does grant immortality… the gods of the old world, be it Hellenism, Hinduism, or any of the other beliefs were pseudo-gods… they had powers no normal man could possess and lived long enough to be worshiped as such.”
“I can buy that.”
The two came to a stop light, Jack turning his head as to look at the younger passenger. “Why?”
“The internet is growing, Jack. Secrets aren’t finding the same holes to hide in, and fiction is starting to become more and more like reality. I’ll be honest, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard about FTMs.”
“It’s not?” The one eyed man asked, actually surprised.
The Indian shook her head, her long locks dancing about as if blown by the wind. No braid or band in them tonight. “I’m the pet of the head of the medical school at the university a student and an assistant. Before I even started to date you, he showed me an intriguing series of slides exhibiting human cells behaving in a manner I’ve never seen before, especially when they came in contact with blood. He told me though that it was just a government project, a Captain America sort of thing… doesn’t surprise me that they lied to him about that.
“Besides, I’ve listened to your phone calls. Do you know the wild stories I’ve come up with when you talk about killing a chimera or having to hunt down a chupacabra? I used to think it was code for something until I met your friends Fred and Trevor. They’re both vampires, aren’t they?”
“They are.”
“Are you?” The girl asked, a tad nervous from the way her tone shifted.
“I’m not.”
The light turned green, allowing the Turquois V8 Interceptor to shoot down the highway once more as they made their way to Charleston. Being so late at night, few people remained driving on these open roads; the rare car they did find Jack had no problems passing, dodging about with ease especially as he took this trip slow.
Slow being seventy miles per hour.
“So who are the Robber Barons? The ghosts of Ford and Rockefeller? Andrew Carnegie come again to beat those who tarnish his name.”
“Hilarious.” Jack dryly joked, the best he could do for humor. “The Robber Barons are a collection of intellectual FTM hunters who served under a woman by the name of Sylvia Vantel… Originally called the Magi, they retired when their commander became pregnant with her son Adrian…” Max winked an eye open, shifting about his bed, “… Pursuing more political and economic pursuits as they sought to make a better America. While originally working in tandem with the powers at be, younger members and the death of their more moral founders have caused the organization to take a dark turn… the Republic of Rome has become the Empire, for better or worse.”
“And Cerberus? The Templars?”
“Ghosts. Remnants of the old guard and nothing more. Only few of their members remain, finding ways to fight back as they live out their days as exiles… global power, no, the world is ran by the Barons now, and will be until the next group of idealists seize it from them and begin the cycle anew.”
They dodged a tumbleweed that blew past the road as the city of Charleston entered their view, their destination still unknown to Padma. Granted, she could care less as to where they were going; that her boyfriend was so involved in these conspiracies, a regular American James Bond was more than enough for her, especially if he proved to be some powerful player in it all.
“So what about you, Jack? What do you do?”
“I’m the man who makes sure these idiots don’t destroy the world while they fight over it… at least, that’s my day job.” Jack began, careful yet to reveal the truth. That would come only once they arrived at their destination, the embodiment of who he was. “I have a plan and a dream, but it’s taking me a long time to get it done… I know you said age didn’t matter and you’d love me no matter if I was twenty five or fifty… what if I’m a lot older?”
“By how much?”
“A lot.”
Padma considered it and, ever a youth, shrugged. “Assuming this isn’t one giant prank, I don’t care. Just, don’t tell me either.”
“I can’t… you’ll probably figure it out by the end of the night even if I don’t.”
The car began to slow as the traffic began to pick up, the duo nearing the edge of the city as they were forced to act like normal people for once. That was maddening to the driver, to say the least; once you’ve lived for so long, you tend to get annoyed with common occurrences such as waiting and taking it slow. He was a man with an objective, and pity for anyone (or anything) that got in the way.
“So there are mutants who are vampires. They control the government. Some guy named Adrian-” The girl tried to say, only to be cut off with a bark. Turning to find Max annoyed, something that had never happened before in what was an abnormally happy dog, the Indian American pointed her hand to him and asked “Let’s talk about that. Why does your dog hate him?”
“AV, as we call him to keep Max happy, is an experiment of my design… well, my approval more than anything else. He’s not as important as he thinks he is… but I don’t go a week without hearing something crazy about him. He was grown to be the perfect soldier… an anti-vampire if there ever was one. Nothing more than that… because of his biology, he’s useful to a lot of people.”
“What makes him special?”
“Humans have blood that heal vampires… Vampires have blood that grants other vampires more power… AV has blood that is toxic and kills most Vampires on mere contact. The only being in history with that ability.
“We’ll talk more about him another day… We’re here.”
Here was a tall catholic cathedral dedicated to St John the Baptist, an old building that paled in comparison to its larger brother in Georgia though still served the religious needs of the community. Motioning for the mutt to stay, the duo left the car and embraced the warm night as they moved forward, the lock on the door the first impediment in what could have been a wasted journey.
Not for Jack. Fishing a key out of his pocket, he undid the chains that bound the old Church as he pushed the central doors wide open, unafraid to disturb anyone as if he owned the place.
Was he a bishop in his own right? “I thought you said you weren’t catholic.”
“I’m the only man with the right to be non-denominational.”
Even in the dark of the night, with the internal lights and candles extinguished hours prior, the room still found a way to glow with the stained glass windows that lined its sides. Dozens of clean pews sat empty, patiently waiting for church visitors to take a seat in the coming weeks as the two respectfully walked forward, their soft steps making nearly no sound in the empty halls. Padma suddenly found herself regretting her comment about ghosts; if there were any to be found, they’d be here in this bastion of white.
Some comfort was to be had as Jack went to the offer, carefully removing the linen that covered it as he folded it on itself, placing it on the corner of the table. Then, stepping back, he turned to his girlfriend and gave the final warning, the point of no return for both them and us.
“You’ve been great so far… but if you go down there, you’ll never look at me the same again.”
“I’m fine with that if it’s the truth… but what do you mean down there?”
“The vault beneath all cathedrals.”
Placing his hand on the altar, the sounds of gears began to turn as the podium broke in two, pulling apart at the center as a stairwell lit by eternal crimson flames illuminated the descent, cold air contrasting with the warmth as a gust of wind blew into the pair. Both of them stumbled a few steps back at the attack, but once they had regained their composure Padma seemed the more excited of the two to make the journey down.
“Holy… it’s like a Dan Brown novel! This is so exciting!”
“Well… hopefully things don’t go as violently as Angels and Demons.”
The descent, fortunately, was even more peaceful than Jack could have hoped. Ever aware of the possibility of their master, the reverends of these cathedrals made sure to clean them regularly; no stone was misplaced, no cobweb present or rat to disturb their hunt for the truth. A truth, the secret to change the young girl’s world, was one etched in the foundations of a history older than even these hidden stairs.
“While some of their doctrines may be false and taught to further the goals of man… the Catholic church is still the oldest living Christian church in the world, built from the remnants of the one established by Christ during his time on Earth… and though they’ve been forbidden to share them with the general public, that entails them to certain secrets that only their most pious members can know.
“Such as who I am… and what I’m meant to become.”
The staircase ended as they came to a large room, empty of all things save for a painting that covered the entirety of the wall in the back room. It was a depiction of a desert land, one devoid of life save for the three persons who sat together amidst a pile of rocks, all garbed in clothing reminiscent of older times.
All three resembled one another, though their features varied ever so slightly. The man in the middle seemed to be the eldest and wisest; to his right must have been his son, ever so younger with a beard shorter and closer to his face.
It was the man to the left however was the most interesting, one who seemed to have been a relative to the other two though his age was somewhere in between them. Granted, that wasn’t the reason that Padma had instantly taken note to it, clasping her hand to her mouth as she saw the one thing that separated him more prominently from his family.
The scar that stretched over his right glass eye. Walking forward, Jack could have been walking into the past as he went and stood next to the caricature of himself, looking to his girlfriend as he finally said
“My dear… my name is Jack Elohim Wallace, and I am the man who will one day help give birth to God.”