Un2Dead (Book One of the Un2Series)

Joey’s story continued.

“Ponce’s determination for possessing eternal life started with his quest for the Fountain of Youth. All our research told us that the Fountain would be found in Bimini. Once there we found this ageless society devoted to the care and well-being of a lush lagoon inhabited by a giant koi fish. The custodians were a primitive people and were easily charmed by a sophisticated conquistador. He presented them with the standard trinkets, beads and provisions we carried on the ship. Their chief was oddly fond of the jerky, if my memory serves me right. In return for his gifts, especially the jerky, DeLeon was serviced by the most beautiful women and showered with treasures of unimaginable value. I was there to catch his castoffs.”

Joey raised an eyebrow and nudged Wit with his elbow.

“Ponce wasn’t stupid. He knew the novelty of our presence would wear thin so he put the crew to work. We repaired buildings. We cleared overgrown brush. We made ourselves useful as Ponce forged a relationship with their leader. Within a month’s time we were living in the main house along with the chief and the village elders. Elders may not be the best term to use considering that not one person seemed to be older than twenty-five. Many evenings of wining and dining had passed before Ponce began questioning the chief about the youthful appearance of the entire village. Fumbling through a mish-mash of our language, their language and crude scribblings we determined it had something to do with the fish and the lagoon.

One day, a crew member lost his hand by putting it where his knife-wielding lady friend told him not to. A couple of villagers hurried him and his severed appendage to the lagoon. They dipped the bloodied ends of his hand and wrist into the water then touched them together. His hand remained stuck to his arm, albeit backward, and began to mend. Blood ran back into the wound and the hand slowly twisted into the proper position. We all watched in disbelief. Little did the villagers know that their act of kindness would lead to the demise of their people,” Joey sighed. The memory pained him.

“Demise of their people?”

“Yes,” Joey replied. “DeLeon felt the elimination of an entire society was well within reason if it benefited his quest for eternal youth. Like I said, he was a major league asshole. He instructed the crew to create a chamber large enough to transport the koi back to Puerto Rico. Upon completion of the chamber he ordered the complete annihilation of the village and its people. He filled the ship’s hold to the brim with all things shiny and jewel encrusted. We took everything from doorknobs to religious statuettes. We turned a once lush paradise into a rotting carcass.” Joey sighed again.

“How could you be a part of that?”

“I was different then. The world was a different place.”

“DeLeon said he received the armor from an ancient people. Were the koi’s custodians those people?”

“The armor was part of the plunder. We didn’t even know we had it until we emptied the ship! It was encased in an obsidian sarcophagus along with about a dozen papyrus scrolls. The parchments contained a series of what you might call hieroglyphics depicting its use. The guy who drew them up could have done assembly instructions for Ikea; they were so easy to follow. The scrolls contained many drawings of the koi along with images of flaming birds and snakes swallowing their own tail. There was also a set of bracelets in the case. Each bracelet was fashioned after one of the three beasts. They were companion pieces to the breastplate, as was the one used to lure you and me here.”

“What do they do?”

“The bracelets link the wearer to the armor. What good is being able to travel through time if you have to go it alone? They also have limited capabilities of their own. You can fast forward or reverse through time for a short period. They draw their power from the breastplate.”

Wit sat and absorbed what Joey had just told him. The workings of the armor interested him, but he wanted to hear more about Joey.

“So, what about you and Jayne? There seems to be just a little bit of dysfunction in your family.”

“Jayne is my little sister and I had always watched over her as any big brother should. Despite my warnings she became one of DeLeon’s conquests. She insisted they were in love, but I heard how he talked about her. He treated her as he would any concubine. Try as I might, I couldn’t keep them apart. Eventually I would be punished for my meddling.

Although DeLeon now had the armor and the means of keeping himself alive forever, there were strings attached. He would slowly age then reset. Then he would age again and reset again. He wanted to be immortal without having to do any maintenance. He continued to look for other means of immortality which eventually lead to the occult and then to vampirism. Our research finally presented us with a solid lead. We packed our bags and booked passage to Croatia.

DeLeon chose to bring Jayne along to help him pass the time. The journey felt longer than any I could remember. Weeks of being the third wheel wore my nerves thin. Prolonged togetherness had taken its toll on Ponce and Jayne as well. By the time we reached Croatia, they had broken up and reunited at least twice. The cycle was in its amorous swing and I was preparing the ‘Forget about him, you are much too good for him’ speech for the third time.

We made land and I acquired a horse and wagon large enough to hold our trunks plus room for whatever artifacts we might find while in Europe. Our first stop was a village of Kringa. The mayor confirmed the tales of a night-walker that still roamed the streets for more than two decades after his recorded death. All feared him but one, his wife. His evening wanderings often lead him back home to his marital bed where they would do some horizontal folk dancing, if you get my drift. She claimed he was a better lover in his death and found his cool damp skin refreshing on a hot summer night. He would then return to his crypt before sunrise, full of life’s blood and wearing a smile.

Jayne said she was all for DeLeon becoming a vampire if it made him a better lover. His backhand across her face triggered my fist meeting his face. In spite of my sister’s willingness to forgive him, I could not. Any respect or friendship for DeLeon I had ended then and there.

The mayor’s story ended with the men of Kringa and neighboring settlements finally banding together to break the vampire’s hold on their communities. They stormed his forest homestead and dragged him into the morning sun. His skin crackled and flaked as they staked his arms and legs to the ground. They drove a fifth stake through his heart and left him to fry beneath a cloudless April sky. To insure his complete demise they severed his head, placed it in a sealed box and buried it in a church yard. “

“Whoa! A little excessive!”

“Ya think?” Joey agreed. “By the way, that’s the box over there.” Joey pointed to an alcove near the koi tank.

“There’s a head in there?”

“A skull. All the meaty parts were stripped away during our later experiments.”

“Eeew.” Wit winced.

“Shall I continue?”

Wit nodded.

“DeLeon realized that pieces of a vampire were not going to give him the answers that a whole one could. We traveled to the crumbled ruins of the hunting lodge the creature had once used as a safe haven. DeLeon donned the armor and I a bracelet. He made final adjustments to the breastplate and we leapt back to a time when the vampire walked the earth. To my surprise it was only a decade earlier. So there we stood, a strapping teenage conquistador and a scrawny sixteen-year-old sidekick barely able to support the weight of his own armor. We cautiously approached the stacked fieldstone portico with swords drawn. My role as bodyguard dictated that I enter first. As I crossed the threshold, leaving the twilight for darkness, I was lifted into mid-air by a vise-like grip just below my jaw. I tried to thrust my sword forward but could not. I looked to see a familiar gloved hand holding back the blade and wedging it into the masonry. I heard DeLeon’s voice and a muffled clink of coins. ‘Here’s the vessel and the gold.’ He said, ‘I held up my end of the deal. Time for you to pay up.’ A searing pain shot through the side of my body as the venom tore through my veins. I crumpled beneath the pain and passed out. When I awoke we had returned to our current time and I found myself shackled in a straitjacket. I thought my sister would be furious with what had taken place. She was fine with it, to my surprise. Bitch! It knocked the will to fight right outta me. I ended up a teenage, bloodsucking lab rat.’”

“The vessel? He was using you as a vessel to carry the venom! What a asshole!” Wit almost laughed in disbelief.

“Yep. It turns out the asshole had traveled back prior to our trip and cut a deal with the pointy-toothed bastard. He would infect a victim of DeLeon’s choosing for a small sack of gold. DeLeon found it a fit punishment for my insubordination.”

“Joey, I’m sorry. That sucks, no pun intended.” Wit patted him on the shoulder.

“Of course, by the time we returned home to Puerto Rico, the happy couple once again hated each other. Eventually DeLeon decided that being eternal with a curfew wasn’t for him either. You would think you might want to consider the whole ‘can only go out at night’ thing before sacrificing another man’s life.”

“Hey, it may be a small consolation but if you weren’t a vampire I, and possibly Reese and Sunny, wouldn’t be alive. You couldn’t have known any of that nastiness was going to happen. You stuck by us. You took care of us.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, that nastiness has returned.” Joey repositioned himself into the corner of the couch.

“We will deal with it. You and I have been through some bad stuff before. We will figure something out. Hey, I remedied this recent Humpty Dumpty situation, didn’t I? We will find a way out of this.” Wit was trying to convince more than just Joey.

“I think DeLeon has the girls and is holding them here somewhere.”

Wit leapt from the couch again. ”Why? What possible reason could he have for that?”

Joey grabbed Wit’s flailing arm and pulled him back toward the couch. “It has to do with your venom. He is going to try substituting yours and Reese’s venom for the viper’s in order to recharge the armor. He won’t kill her but I’m sure it hasn’t been the most pleasant experience for her. I’ve been there.”

“What the fuck are we going to do? We have to find her!” The panic was rising in Wit’s voice.

“If he is holding them here I have a pretty good idea where that would be. More than likely he’s got her in the same cell where he kept me.”

“Show me! Take me there!” Wit was up and pulling Joey from the sofa.

“It’s not that simple. Even if I got you to the cell, then what? Besides, I’m pretty sure you’ll end up there soon. It’s not like he has an abundance of rooms in which to keep prisoners. What we need to do is figure out what to do once you are there.”

“Once I’m there I’m going to kill him!”

“Then what? Please, sit down and let me walk you through what I think needs to happen. If you don’t think it is a good plan, you can kill DeLeon all you want. First, you will have to get past Jayne. You’ve seen her work. Good luck with that.”

Wit’s head of steam began to sputter; he took a breath and took a seat. “Okay, tell me what you’ve got.”