Dangerous Trails - Chapter 14 (PG-13)
Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 2:52 pm
Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Chapter 14
Steve’s day had been interesting to say the least. He hadn’t slept well with the throbbing of his shoulder, not knowing how to lay down without aggravating the unusual wound. The doctor had cleaned him up, took out some splinters, desinfected the hole and stitched the skin together. The bone wasn’t cracked through, but only scratched, which could lead to infection, so he got a prescription for a round of antibiotics and painkillers. The stake was in an evidence bag at HPD.
Danny had been giving him grief all day for not calling the police after the assault. Steve had told them that the thugs had fled the scene in their black van after realizing they had the wrong man, which Danny didn’t buy for a minute and said so in more words than necessary, while Chin just raised one eyebrow to say exactly the same.
Then in the afternoon, the black van and the two would-be-killers had been found next to a almost deserted road up north, the car wrapped around a big palm tree and both of them dead on impact. Nothing pointed to external causes, they obviously lost traction on the gravel and slid down a small ravine. Their identities were still unknown, but the team had already ordered documentary from the airport to see under which name they entered the state.
Steve knew that Mamo had something to do with this, but he decided to wait and let the man explain everything at his own pace, as Steve already felt as if his head would explode.
Steve hadn’t been to Mamo’s house but he knew where he lived. Mamo and his father had been friends, and they sometimes had given Mamo a lift home after surfing lessons. Mamo had inherited the house from an uncle, as he hadn’t always been well off. He had aged well, though. Steve couldn’t say how old he was, but he didn’t look that much older than when Steve learned to surf.
Steve was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the house and had to take a turn to park along the curb. He saw Mick’s rental in the driveway next to Mamo’s sturdy Jeep. That wasn’t surprising. Seeing Chin’s car at the curb on the other side of the street, was.
Steve knocked and Mamo opened with a smile on his friendly face. “Come in, Steve. What can I get you to drink?”
“A beer would be nice”, Steve said while he took in the people in the room. Mick and Beth were seated on the couch, Beth snuggled into him. Chin was in the armchair, and Mamo had obviously been sitting on one of the hard backed chairs that were only comfortable due to lots of giant flower-embossed pillows. Steve took the other chair.
He looked at Chin as if to ask why he was there. Chin looked back as if to calmly say: “Patience”.
Mamo came back with a beer for Steve and one for Chin. Beth had ice tea, the others had nothing.
“Let’s cut to the discussion we all know Steve is dying to have”, Mamo said. “Actually, it’s a bit hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with why Mick and Beth were really in that helicopter, and why they were targeted by a group of people.”
Steve perked up. Now the truth would come out. He wondered why it had been kept a secret.
Mick continued. “Beth and I were targeted by a group called The Legion. They forced us to leave L.A., get a fake identity and move to Hawaii. Sadly a splinter group of them found us here, and kidnapped us after dinner. The couple you found in the helicopter were those two Legion members. They hired the pilot to steal the helicopter. They wanted to take us to a hidden place on the North Shore to kill me and probably Beth.”
“But why?” Steve was impatient. A mob boss or a group with a weird name – what did it matter?
Mamo answered. “The Legion are a group of vampire hunters. Mick has been targeted because he is a vampire. As I am.”
You could have heard a needle fall in the deafening silence. Steve looked from Mamo to Mick to Beth to Chin. Chin didn’t seem fazed at all.
“You knew?” Steve asked him.
“I did. It’s a secret I’ve sworn to protect since I was brought into it. Actually lots of people know, but of course they can’t tell anyone.”
“But – vampires? You’re kidding, right?” Steve was starting to become angry. They were pulling his leg.
Mamo brought his chin to his chest, closed his eyes, then opened them again and looked up. His face was totally changed. His eyes were of a watery blue, his face had a white pallor with red blood vessels visible around his neck and his eyes, and he had fangs.
Steve shrunk back. Mamo held out a hand. “I won’t hurt you. I never did, did I?”
When Steve looked at Mick he had changed, too. Beth was still snuggled up to him as if nothing extraordinary happened. “Don’t fear them, Steve”, she said. “There are good and bad ones, as with humans, but these two are good people.”
Steve stood up and paced. “So, are there more vampires? A whole group of hunters wouldn’t be necessary if it was only you, right? Is that why you healed from that wound? Is that why they used a stake instead of other weapons? What was in that bottle you gave Mamo after the fight? And…”
“Slow down, Stevie”, Mamo chuckled. “All in due time.”
Steve sat back down.
“First of all, there are more vampires around the world, especially in the big cities, where they don’t attract too much attention, but here in Hawaii I’m the only one. We are kind of territorial and I like it that way. We can be hurt, but we heal fast, especially when we can drink blood afterwards. We can be killed with silver or by decapitation, we can be paralized by stakes. We don’t age, we are immortal unless you kill us. After we reach a certain age we can go out in the sun but it hurts and weakens us, so we’re more comfortable at night. We drink about a pint of blood a day to survive. We can’t eat anything else.”
!But I saw you eat at my parents’ dinner table.”
“I faked it. I only drank the wine.”
“How do you get blood? You need human blood, right?”
Mick answered. “We can survive with animal blood if we absolutely must, but not for long. Vampires don’t need to kill, they can either make arrangements with willing donors who must keep the secret, or they steal blood from the blood bank, or they go hunting in the streets for drunk or drugged people. Any way, they need to keep the secret. A rogue killing indiscriminately will be terminated. We have our own police force for that.”
Mamo smiled. “I have willing donors because I’ve been seen by some native families as their god. They initiate their own children when they are 16, then they donate a pint any other month or so. In exchange, I protect them.”
Chin nodded. “Our clan has been living with Mamo for many generations. It was hard for my mother when she married a Korean and in the eyes of her relatives tainted the bloodline, but Mamo accepted us after he initiated my father.”
“Is Kono in too?” “Yes, she is.”
“So this Legion… are they still after you? Do they know of Mamo?”
“No, they don’t know me. They were after Mick because they had a list of L.A. vampires. The Legion had started a culling because in their eyes the L.A. population had grown too big. A treaty was formed that most of the vampires would relocate to other places. But there was a splinter group who didn’t accept that and went after Mick because he was one of the council members who forged the treaty.”
Mick continued. “They sent four people after me, but they now have been dealt with. The head of our council and the head of the Legion made sure there would be no more attacks. Sadly we won’t be able to close the case for you in a convincing manner, as the secret needs to stay a secret, and we don’t have the identity of the attackers.”
Steve’s head was spinning. “I am sure we can just put everything into a file and close the case with the questions staying put. The governor wouldn’t believe this anyway. I’m more concerned about what to tell Danny.”
Chin smiled. “Let me take care of that. I’m sure we can convince him that we won’t get any more answers.”
Steve rolled his shoulders. “Thank you for clearing things up for me. You know me, Mamo, I wouldn’t have been able to let this go.”
Mamo nodded. “That’s why we decided to tell you. We didn’t want you to stumble over the truth and make things worse.”
“I still have so many questions, but I feel rather full right now.”
“We can continue this over dinner. Chin volunteered to make some human food. I always have some here for visitors, but I’m a lousy cook.”
They laughed. Mick was relieved that Steve had taken things so well. Mamo was relieved that the story of Steve’s mother hadn’t come up at all. Beth was relieved that the whole affair was coming to a close. Chin thought about how to get Danny off this case. He chopped up some vegetables for a salad and put a few chicken breasts on the grill. Rice was cooking in a pot.
Mamo opened a hidden cabinet and took out a bottle of blood. He was curious how Steve would react to them openly drinking it, now that he knew what it was. It was a bit like when a gay couple came out. People would pretend to be all tolerant, but the real test was their reaction to public displays of affection. Mamo hoped he didn’t lose Steve’s trust and friendship over this. He knew Steve was a great person, but this was a lot to take in. He watched the man who was currently slumped in the overstuffed chair as if all his energy had been drained. He had never dealt well with secrets that touched his personal life. Time would tell.
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Chapter 14
Steve’s day had been interesting to say the least. He hadn’t slept well with the throbbing of his shoulder, not knowing how to lay down without aggravating the unusual wound. The doctor had cleaned him up, took out some splinters, desinfected the hole and stitched the skin together. The bone wasn’t cracked through, but only scratched, which could lead to infection, so he got a prescription for a round of antibiotics and painkillers. The stake was in an evidence bag at HPD.
Danny had been giving him grief all day for not calling the police after the assault. Steve had told them that the thugs had fled the scene in their black van after realizing they had the wrong man, which Danny didn’t buy for a minute and said so in more words than necessary, while Chin just raised one eyebrow to say exactly the same.
Then in the afternoon, the black van and the two would-be-killers had been found next to a almost deserted road up north, the car wrapped around a big palm tree and both of them dead on impact. Nothing pointed to external causes, they obviously lost traction on the gravel and slid down a small ravine. Their identities were still unknown, but the team had already ordered documentary from the airport to see under which name they entered the state.
Steve knew that Mamo had something to do with this, but he decided to wait and let the man explain everything at his own pace, as Steve already felt as if his head would explode.
Steve hadn’t been to Mamo’s house but he knew where he lived. Mamo and his father had been friends, and they sometimes had given Mamo a lift home after surfing lessons. Mamo had inherited the house from an uncle, as he hadn’t always been well off. He had aged well, though. Steve couldn’t say how old he was, but he didn’t look that much older than when Steve learned to surf.
Steve was so lost in his thoughts that he almost missed the house and had to take a turn to park along the curb. He saw Mick’s rental in the driveway next to Mamo’s sturdy Jeep. That wasn’t surprising. Seeing Chin’s car at the curb on the other side of the street, was.
Steve knocked and Mamo opened with a smile on his friendly face. “Come in, Steve. What can I get you to drink?”
“A beer would be nice”, Steve said while he took in the people in the room. Mick and Beth were seated on the couch, Beth snuggled into him. Chin was in the armchair, and Mamo had obviously been sitting on one of the hard backed chairs that were only comfortable due to lots of giant flower-embossed pillows. Steve took the other chair.
He looked at Chin as if to ask why he was there. Chin looked back as if to calmly say: “Patience”.
Mamo came back with a beer for Steve and one for Chin. Beth had ice tea, the others had nothing.
“Let’s cut to the discussion we all know Steve is dying to have”, Mamo said. “Actually, it’s a bit hard to know where to begin. Let’s start with why Mick and Beth were really in that helicopter, and why they were targeted by a group of people.”
Steve perked up. Now the truth would come out. He wondered why it had been kept a secret.
Mick continued. “Beth and I were targeted by a group called The Legion. They forced us to leave L.A., get a fake identity and move to Hawaii. Sadly a splinter group of them found us here, and kidnapped us after dinner. The couple you found in the helicopter were those two Legion members. They hired the pilot to steal the helicopter. They wanted to take us to a hidden place on the North Shore to kill me and probably Beth.”
“But why?” Steve was impatient. A mob boss or a group with a weird name – what did it matter?
Mamo answered. “The Legion are a group of vampire hunters. Mick has been targeted because he is a vampire. As I am.”
You could have heard a needle fall in the deafening silence. Steve looked from Mamo to Mick to Beth to Chin. Chin didn’t seem fazed at all.
“You knew?” Steve asked him.
“I did. It’s a secret I’ve sworn to protect since I was brought into it. Actually lots of people know, but of course they can’t tell anyone.”
“But – vampires? You’re kidding, right?” Steve was starting to become angry. They were pulling his leg.
Mamo brought his chin to his chest, closed his eyes, then opened them again and looked up. His face was totally changed. His eyes were of a watery blue, his face had a white pallor with red blood vessels visible around his neck and his eyes, and he had fangs.
Steve shrunk back. Mamo held out a hand. “I won’t hurt you. I never did, did I?”
When Steve looked at Mick he had changed, too. Beth was still snuggled up to him as if nothing extraordinary happened. “Don’t fear them, Steve”, she said. “There are good and bad ones, as with humans, but these two are good people.”
Steve stood up and paced. “So, are there more vampires? A whole group of hunters wouldn’t be necessary if it was only you, right? Is that why you healed from that wound? Is that why they used a stake instead of other weapons? What was in that bottle you gave Mamo after the fight? And…”
“Slow down, Stevie”, Mamo chuckled. “All in due time.”
Steve sat back down.
“First of all, there are more vampires around the world, especially in the big cities, where they don’t attract too much attention, but here in Hawaii I’m the only one. We are kind of territorial and I like it that way. We can be hurt, but we heal fast, especially when we can drink blood afterwards. We can be killed with silver or by decapitation, we can be paralized by stakes. We don’t age, we are immortal unless you kill us. After we reach a certain age we can go out in the sun but it hurts and weakens us, so we’re more comfortable at night. We drink about a pint of blood a day to survive. We can’t eat anything else.”
!But I saw you eat at my parents’ dinner table.”
“I faked it. I only drank the wine.”
“How do you get blood? You need human blood, right?”
Mick answered. “We can survive with animal blood if we absolutely must, but not for long. Vampires don’t need to kill, they can either make arrangements with willing donors who must keep the secret, or they steal blood from the blood bank, or they go hunting in the streets for drunk or drugged people. Any way, they need to keep the secret. A rogue killing indiscriminately will be terminated. We have our own police force for that.”
Mamo smiled. “I have willing donors because I’ve been seen by some native families as their god. They initiate their own children when they are 16, then they donate a pint any other month or so. In exchange, I protect them.”
Chin nodded. “Our clan has been living with Mamo for many generations. It was hard for my mother when she married a Korean and in the eyes of her relatives tainted the bloodline, but Mamo accepted us after he initiated my father.”
“Is Kono in too?” “Yes, she is.”
“So this Legion… are they still after you? Do they know of Mamo?”
“No, they don’t know me. They were after Mick because they had a list of L.A. vampires. The Legion had started a culling because in their eyes the L.A. population had grown too big. A treaty was formed that most of the vampires would relocate to other places. But there was a splinter group who didn’t accept that and went after Mick because he was one of the council members who forged the treaty.”
Mick continued. “They sent four people after me, but they now have been dealt with. The head of our council and the head of the Legion made sure there would be no more attacks. Sadly we won’t be able to close the case for you in a convincing manner, as the secret needs to stay a secret, and we don’t have the identity of the attackers.”
Steve’s head was spinning. “I am sure we can just put everything into a file and close the case with the questions staying put. The governor wouldn’t believe this anyway. I’m more concerned about what to tell Danny.”
Chin smiled. “Let me take care of that. I’m sure we can convince him that we won’t get any more answers.”
Steve rolled his shoulders. “Thank you for clearing things up for me. You know me, Mamo, I wouldn’t have been able to let this go.”
Mamo nodded. “That’s why we decided to tell you. We didn’t want you to stumble over the truth and make things worse.”
“I still have so many questions, but I feel rather full right now.”
“We can continue this over dinner. Chin volunteered to make some human food. I always have some here for visitors, but I’m a lousy cook.”
They laughed. Mick was relieved that Steve had taken things so well. Mamo was relieved that the story of Steve’s mother hadn’t come up at all. Beth was relieved that the whole affair was coming to a close. Chin thought about how to get Danny off this case. He chopped up some vegetables for a salad and put a few chicken breasts on the grill. Rice was cooking in a pot.
Mamo opened a hidden cabinet and took out a bottle of blood. He was curious how Steve would react to them openly drinking it, now that he knew what it was. It was a bit like when a gay couple came out. People would pretend to be all tolerant, but the real test was their reaction to public displays of affection. Mamo hoped he didn’t lose Steve’s trust and friendship over this. He knew Steve was a great person, but this was a lot to take in. He watched the man who was currently slumped in the overstuffed chair as if all his energy had been drained. He had never dealt well with secrets that touched his personal life. Time would tell.
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