Derek woke up with the strange sound hammering and clanking coming from downstairs. He got up and got dressed and ran down. It was coming from the servants quarters – he kept going down, through the kitchen and past the pantry – down the long hallway with small doors on either side and an earthen floor. The noise was coming from the last room down in the hallway on the left. The door was ajar and he poked his head inside.
He saw Claude with a huge hammer of sorts in his hand. He had dug a hole on the corner of the room and was hammering away at the foundation stone of the castle.
- “Are you mad?” Derek asked
Claude stopped the hammering for a bit, and looked up, “Good evening” and he continued hammering.
- “What in god’s name are you doing? Why are you destroying the foundation of my castle?” Derek asked.
Without looking back at Derek, Claude continued hammering, “for a safe haven for you”, he said.
- “Safe haven for me? What does that mean?” Derek asked.
With one stroke of his hammer, most of the stone crumbled to the ground and there was dirt on the other side. Claude threw the hammer on the floor above him and jumped up from the hole. He walked over to the door and picked up a shovel which was leaning up against the wall behind the door and handed it to Derek. He then picked up another shovel which was leaning up against the wall close to where he dropped the hammer and jumped back down in the hole. Derek looked up at him holding the shovel, horrified.
- “What? You expect ME to dig?” He threw the shovel down, “I will do no such thing!”
Claude looked back at him, “Suit yourself then” and started to dig down into the earth. Derek paced around the room some and once again asked, “why are you digging? I demand an answer that makes sense!” he said.
- “I told you, I am creating a new haven for you” he said, “a safe place for you to sleep in during the day.”
Derek’s eyes widened and he laughed, “You expect me to sleep here, in the servants quarters during the day? And why in hell would I do that when I have perfectly fine quarters upstairs?”
- “For your safety” Claude said, “you are vulnerable during the day, anyone can come and run a steak through your heart and I will not be able to protect you if that happens,” he continued, “so I am creating a safe place for you to spend the day, where most hunters won’t find you.” he said.
- “Hunters? Why would hunters come looking for me? Hunting what?” Derek asked.
Claude stopped digging for a moment and looked up at Derek, “If you are going to ask all of these questions, then you can come down here and help me since this is for you. If not then shut up and let me work in peace.” and he turned around and continued digging.
Derek was appalled at the way this man spoke to him, “This is servants work – I will do no such thing” he said. And with that he threw the shovel on the floor and went upstairs. This man was mad, that was the only explanation. How in the bloody hell did he expect that Derek was going to sleep under his castle, under the servants quarters no less? A lot may have happened in the last few days, but he was still lord of this house and he would do no such thing.
He went upstairs to the kitchen and started to look for some bread. He wasn’t hungry, but since the servants were all gone, he might as well find out where the food was kept. He would go into town next week to get more servants, but for now, he needed to be able to fend for himself so to speak.
He tore the kitchen apart looking for food, and found nothing. He went into the pantry to look and found a large barrel full of cured meat, a few blocks of cheese, and finally a couple of loaves of bread. The bread was hard, but he didn’t care. He broke off a piece and brought it to the great hall with him and started to chew on it.
The thoughts of everything that Claude had said so far to him were sinking in. Something horrible had happened to him, that changed him forever. Although he had no idea exactly what that change meant, he felt it, deep in his gut, that nothing would ever be the same again. He tried hard to remember the events of that fateful night, but it was all still a blur. It seemed the harder he tried, the more blurry things became. What he wanted more than anything in the world was to remember the face of the man that killed his family. He would bring this man down, no matter what it took, or how long, he would find this man and he would kill him in the most brutal way possible. This vow he made to himself.
The more he contemplated the events, the sicker he started to feel. This bread was sitting flat on his stomach, and was making him ill. He looked at the bread and although he saw no mold or worms on it, he still threw it on the floor. He felt his stomach cramp hard, and before he could react, he threw up the bread on the floor. All of it.
He fell to his knees and coughed to get the rest out. Once again, he felt almost like an animal, in all fours on his very own great hall. As he finally retched the remaining bread, he heard a laugh from behind him. He turned around quickly and saw Claude standing there, holding two shovels and laughing.
- “You can never eat food again, little one” Claude said, “any food other than blood, will always make you sick. I am glad you learned your lesson in private at least” he said
Derek stood up, “Why?” he asked, “why can I not eat food anymore?” he yelled at the man angrily.
- “You are a vampire now, for lack of a better term” Claude said, “You are undead – which means you are not alive, but you are also not dead. Only blood will sustain you.” he said.
Derek looked at this man standing there and telling him he was dead, as calmly as if he were telling him that his dinner was ready. And then the thought of Ashley, of his mother and father, gone, everything came together in his mind and just exploded. He leaped at the man who seemed to have been caught by surprise and knocked him down on the floor, grabbing his neck trying to strangle him, “WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME???” he screamed at the man.
The man’s neck felt like stone, it would not give under the pressure of his hands. The man looked into Derek’s eyes, with a look of sadness, he didn’t fight back, he just let Derek vent out his frustration and anger. Finally Derek realized what he was doing, and pulled his hands back from him, and stood up.
- “Its not your fault” Derek says “I am going to find the man that did this, and I am going to kill him” he said in a stern voice.
- “Alright” Claude said to him, “But I can promise you that if you do not take the time to learn to be ‘undead’ he will kill you before you even get the chance” he said, “He doesn’t know you survived yet, Derek. Once he does, he is sure to come back here and finish the job, and if you are not ready, you will not prevail.”
- “Good” Derek said, “I hope he comes back, and I will be ready for him”.
- “There are things you need to learn. There are powers that you cannot possibly imagine that you will be able to tap into now – that he can already tap into. You need to learn these powers, control them and use them for you to even stand a chance” Claude said, “Now, I can help you, I can teach you, but you have to start listening and paying attention” He threw one of the shovels back at Derek, “Come help me”.
Derek took the shovel and grumbling under his breath he followed Claude to the servants area. They dug for most of the night creating a long passageway deep into the ground.
——————————–
For the next week, they dug every night. They dug a tunnel, a room and it appeared that Claude wasn’t done yet. While they dug, Claude told Derek about his new “un-life”. He told him that Vampires liked to be called Kindred, he explained about powers that in time, Derek would come to posses. He explained that a whole world of supernatural creatures were now available to Derek, both to aid him and to hunt him. He explained about how political Kindred society was and warned Derek to stay away.
He also showed Derek where he had buried his family as well as Ashley and her family. Claude had also buried the horses and servants. The entire area in the back next to the stables looked like a cemetery. Derek tried to bring flowers for his family’s grave and couldn’t manage to keep them alive long enough to make it to the grave site. The flowers withered in his hands as he watched it – yet another reminder of how his life would never be the same.
During the day Derek would rest in his room. He wasn’t exactly awake but he wasn’t asleep either. So his mind wandered and he thought about his family, his Ashley and the life he had once had. Every night he woke to the new nightmare which was his new life now.
- “Ok we have dug a hallway, a room and another hallway How much more do we have to dig?” Derek asked as he continued to dig next to Claude.
- “I am not sure yet” Claude responded, “just keep digging” he said.
- “So when do I get to learn about these abilities I am supposed to have? Or is my new ability to dig?” Derek asked sarcastically.
- “Just keep digging,” Claude replied, “there will be time for other learning later” he said.
Their conversation was interrupted by a loud knocking coming from upstairs. They both stopped, looked at each other. They got up and ran upstairs by the door. Derek wiped himself down some to remove some dust from his clothing and ran his fingers through his hair to make it look somewhat more civilized.
- “You have to answer” he said to Claude, “I will be in the library” he said. Claude looked at him in confusion.
- “You said we have to keep up appearances, I am the lord of this house, I am not supposed to answer the door – I have people that do that – so go – hurry” Derek said.
Claude didn’t argue but went to the door. He waited until Derek was in the library and opened the front door. A man was standing in the threshold, he looked older, in his mid fifties, and Claude could not make out his clothes because he was wearing a heavy black cloak. The man looked surprised to see Claude at the door.
- “Can I help you?” The Claude asked the man
The man hesitated for a moment, and looked past Claude, and replied “Hmm, I am looking for the Earl of Kent? I was hoping to rest here tonight before continuing my journey to London?”, the man paused, “We spoke last month?” he asked.
Claude looked at the man, “Of course, Sir” he said, “Follow me” and he led the man calmly to the library. He knocked on the door, and Derek replied from inside “come in” and Claude opened the huge double doors to find Derek siting on a chair with a book. Derek put the book down as the man walked into the room.
- “Abbot, its nice to see you again”, Derek said to the man, “You may leave us now, Claude” he said to Claude, who nodded, and backed out of the room closing the doors.
Derek remembered that the Abbot had mentioned that he would stop by on his way to London to speak with both Derek and Ashley and council them since their wedding was only 3 months away. Seeing this man here, now, in his library, made him almost feel normal again.
- “Well, Son,” the Abbot said to Derek, “how have you been? I have to admit I was expecting to see your father instead of you in here. How is he?” he asked.
- “Why don’t you sit down,” Derek said pointing to one of the large chairs in the library, “would you like something to eat or drink?” he asked.
The abbot sat down on a chair accross from Derek and smiled, “No, I am fine, thank you,” he said, then he looked up at Derek and asked, “How is Ashley?”
No one had asked him that, since it had been just he and Claude in the house for over a week now. He just stared at the man, he couldn’t muster the words to say she was gone. He turned around to face the large window accross from the Abbot, looking for what to say and how to say it.
- “She’s gone” he said in a meek voice, “they all are” his voice felt so weak, quivering almost, he took a deep breath in and tried to get a hold of himself. He wanted to turn around, but he was afraid of the look on the Abbot’s face.
- “Gone? What do you mean my boy? Gone where?” he asked.
Each question was like another dagger through Derek’s chest. He didn’t want to talk about it, as a matter of fact he wanted to forget it ever happened, but he felt cornered. First of all this man was an Abbot, of course he couldn’t lie to him, but then again, if he told him the truth he would have Derek taken away, so what could he say?
- “They are dead, Abbot” Derek said, “all of them – my parents, Ashley, her parents…”
He heard the Abbot gasp behind him, “But how?” he asked. Derek was fighting to stay dignified – the last thing he wanted was to burst out weeping in front of the Abbot or let his rage take him over once again.
- “Abbot, this is very difficult for me,” he said “and I really do not wish to talk about it, if possible” his voice was trembling. He took a deep breath once again, cleared his throat and said, “Now then, let us see about a room for you tonight?” he turned around to face the Abbot.
The man took a few steps towards Derek, took both his hands in his, “I am so sorry, my child” he said, “we will talk tomorrow perhaps, and I will say a prayer at their grave site too.”
Derek nodded at the man, unsure of what to say – now this man would expect to see Derek during the day, “Well, you are welcome to stay, Abbot, but I have early business to tend to and I am afraid I will not be back until late afternoon.” Derek pulled his hands away, and walked towards the doors, “I will see to it that Claude has a room prepared for you, and tend to your coach, please wait here” he said as he left the room.
He walked out of the library and closed the huge doors, leaning up against them. This was a disaster – what would he do now with this man in his house? How would he explain that all the servants were gone too? He needed Claude. He ran to the kitchen, down to the servants quarters and no sign of Claude. He heard noises outside, and stepped out to see Claude tending to the horses and getting them ready for the night. Derek ran to him.
- “This is a disaster – what am I going to do?” Derek said in a panic, “I cannot turn him away but for him to stay here,” he paused, “its a disaster!”
- “Worry not, little one” Claude said, “You will have to sleep downstairs with me so that he will not barge in on your during the day. I am sure he won’t look for you in the servants quarters?”
- “Of course he will!” Derek protested, “He will wake up in the morning and realize that there is no food, breakfast so he will look for the servants.” He said, “I told him I was going to be out all day, so I have to be out of sight”.
- “Very well, then you will sleep in the stables” Claude said, “up top” he pointed up.
- “ARE YOU MAD? I WILL DO NO SUCH THING!” Derek said
- “Ok then, do you have a better idea?” Claude asked.
Derek took the horse reigns from him and said, “Let me think – you go prepare a room for him upstairs” he said as Claude just stood there and looked at him “GO! And take his luggage inside too” Derek said.
- “Very well” Claude said, and went back inside.
Derek put the horses in their stables, and gave them some feed. He was astounded at the strength he had in disengaging the coach, a task that normally would take 2 men. He was also able to easily move the Coach to the covered room next to the barn, where his own coaches were. As he finished putting everything away and was ready to come back in, he saw one horse, grazing in the field, on the other side of the fence. He started to move closer and realized it was one of his horses, actually one of his father’s prized back stallions. He took a bridle from the stables and moved out towards the horse. After about 30 minutes, he was able to wrangle the horse back and put him in his stall in the stables next to the Abbot’s carriage horses. At least having a horse would come in handy. After all of the horses were cared for, he went back inside and saw Claude in the kitchen.
- “He is upstairs with his things,” Claude said, “But he is suspicious that something is not right, you will have to tell him something about your family” he said, “Or he will have others come to ask questions.”
- “You don’t know that.” Derek said, “He may just take me at my word and move on to London like he said”
- “He won’t” Claude said, “I know”
- “Well until you tell me how you know, I do not believe you” Derek said
Claude sighed, why did everything have to be a battle with this young one. Sometimes this child pushed the limits of his patience.
- “Very well,” Claude said, “Do you remember when I told you that there were certain powers that Kindred can tap into? Well, this is one of them – the ability to read thoughts of others and I read his thoughts” Claude said.
Derek looked at Claude who was as serious as anyone could be. The whole idea of being able to read other people’s thoughts was ludicrous! It was so irrational, that Derek busted out laughing. Claude looked confused.
- “You can read people’s thoughts?” Derek asked, “That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard!” he said. Claude smiled back at him as Derek laughed. Suddenly, Derek heard a voice in his head, “Do you believe me now?”. Derek jumped – he turned around to see if anyone was behind him, and no one was. He looked at Claude, “Did you just do that?” he asked. The answer came in his head once again, “Yes”. He was looking straight at Claude, hearing his voice in his head but never saw his lips move. He felt violated, how could this man be in his head just like that? He tried to push the Claude out as he stared at him. Claude’s smile went to a frown as he looked even more intently at Derek.
- “You have the gift!” he finally said, “Do you know how rare that is? This will be a huge benefit to you!” he almost looked excited. Derek had no idea what he was talking about.
- “Gift of what? Of having some idiot in my head?” He asked.
- “No, quite the opposite” Claude said, “You literally forced me out of your mind. This is a rare and very powerful gift you have. Not many kindred can do that, and I will teach you how to use your natural ability to steel yourself so that no one will ever be able to read your thoughts.” he said, “but that is another story, the issue at hand is, what will you say to the Abbot?”
- “I am not sure” Derek said, “He was really thinking about taking this to the authorities?” he asked.
- “Yes” Claude said, “So you will have to come up with a story that covers not only the death of your family, but also the death of the servants”
- “I will have a story by tomorrow, although it is not right to lie to a man of the cloth” he said. “And I guess I will have to sleep in the stables” he sighed, “This is getting worse every day” he said as he went upstairs to check on the Abbot.