"You're thinking. You're not getting carried away by your thirst," Damion said approvingly.
"Dads, I wanted him to live. I had the perfect setup. I could have let him have a heart attack. I could have taken more blood and let nature to her work. It would have been the perfect alibi. No one would have blamed me. Where's my head!"
There was a moment of silence on the phone. Damion said, "Son, we want them all to live. If we had our way all of our victims would walk away. But emotionally at that point of arousal which none of us are immune to we want them completely, so completely so they'll belong to us forever and no one else. You still want him. Don't you?"
"Yes, I still want him. It's confusing I want him to live. I want him to die. I want him as a fledging. A lover. A friend. I don't want him to be a corpse. But, I want to kill him."
"The best thing to do is walk away and distract yourself from thinking about him. Son, too many times vampires make the object of their killer's passion into fledglings. More out of guilt than out of real desire for that person. >From what I understand you do not desire this young man's personality as much as you desire his death You're afraid."
"I'm afraid?"
"Of what will happen next," Damion reasoned, "When he can't smile back at you after you've had him. There is a sad satisfaction in being dead Josh."
"Not for a mortal that young," Josh protested.
Even for a mortal that young. I sometimes think Les, and many of us who are undead would have been far more satisfied if we had died rather than continuing on. Josh, I have killed my fair share of very young men and women there is no need to be," Damion sighed "I understand your upset. I should be there. Should I fly out? You never been this upset before."
"I saved his life. I'm confused, " Josh whispered "Why can't I be proud of saving his life?"
"Be proud of your self control," Damion urged, "I'm proud of you. Having compassion for a victim isn't a failing. Oui, it's in your nature to want to kill him. It's in your heart to be capable of loving him. Oui, in a strange way we do love our victims. Killing is an intimate act as intimate as any act you will do with a lover. We feel for some victims more than we feel for others. Victims who are not evil doers are the easiest to fall in love with. With innocents foolish mistakes of the heart can occurs."
"I understand dads," Josh said numbly, "You don't have to fly out I'll be all right."
Going into the confessional room, Josh neatly broke the camera and then took off his mike.
"I don't want anyone to here this. I want to confess that I was afraid tonight. When I was saving that young boy's life in my mind I was saving Brent's life. When Brent ran his car into a tree I was sick with worry that he would die. And when I called Brent and he was drunk I was sick with worry I was going to lose him," Josh wiped a tear from his eye, "I'm inhuman. But I have feelings similar to mortals. I love my kids, my boy friend, my friends, I love Brent. As much as I love Brent I can't put him on the Devil's Road. Brent belongs to mortals, He belongs to his family. Louis and Daniel are the first real family I ever had. When that boy was dying at the party I knew it was partly my fault. Mostly he was dying because of the drug reaction he was having. I didn't want the drugs to kill him It freaked me out he was dying. Maybe I was jealous of the drugs doing my job for me. Maybe I didn't want the drugs to be the cause of his death. I don't know. All I do know is life is precious to me. Who knows better than a vampire how easy it is for mortals to die? Killing is what I do. I probably have no right to love mortals. But, seeing Brent happy, running with him in the mornings. The life I know that is inside of Brent is so precious to me. So precious I could easily if I didn't love and value his company as much as I do I could easily take his life from him I never will. Because I love you Brent Best friends till the end."
Using his mind to fix the cameras, Josh left the confessional room
Thomas went inside, saying, "I wish Josh was attracted to me. Josh is a hero. I could fall in love with a guy who saves people. I guess he misses New Orleans."
"I guess he misses New Orleans'" Christov said, outside of the Chicago House reading Thomas mind.
"Right,," Christov scoffed, " I know it isn't New Orleans he's missing."
"Let the boys be together," Henri urged, "They need each other."
"Not a chance Not while we're in Chicago anyway," Christov said coolly.
"They both need a sympathetic friend," Henri lectured, "We all do."
"Don't you think I know that?" Christov growled, exasperated strolling to the cemetery with Herni.
"Wait," Christov said, sniffing at the air hungrily, "I smell living blood draining from a victim. It's coming from this tomb."
Pushing the door open, Henri whispered, "My God," he quickly crossed himself.
Hanging by chains was a once pretty young girl, violent gashes were made in her breasts stomach, and thighs. She was dripping blood on the grass and wild flowers strewn about her feet. Cockroaches and ants were scurrying up her naked legs Her parched lips were moving wordlessly, her mouth gaping open and shut. Her sweaty hair hung on her face.
"Knife wounds," Christov said stating the obvious.
"Torture for the sake of torture," Henri said trying to be dispassionate. Failing at it completely he broke the chains off the stunned woman's hands.
"Maybe it isn't torture for the sake of inflecting pain," Christov said, noting the dried semen and blood on her thighs.
"Ritual rape?" Henri said, soothing the girl
"This all remind me of New York Remember the drug dealers you mutilated?"
"After they were dead!" Henri cried exasperated, wishing Christov had more tact in front of the mortal "I would never rape a victim."
Driving his fangs into the girl's throat, Henri quickly killed her. Her mind gave him no information about her tormentors. It was full of chaos and screams. All he could visualize was her running through a park.
"You shouldn't have killed her," Christov said pensively, "Whoever left her like this obviously was going to return for the rest of his dinner. He or she's going to be furious at you for finishing their victim off."
"You're right," Henri sighed, gently placing the now at peace victim on the floor, "It was probably the young children in the coven which share this grave yard with us We must have gentle words with them."
"First things first," Christov said, sprinkling holy water all over the tomb from a vial, muttering and prayers in Creole. Christov threw some coins at the corpse.
"Just in case it's an ancient's kill This may distract him or her from going after us," Christov said fingering his Saint Christopher medal.
"You're going to amuse this so called ancient with your power?" Marie Glapion laughed in Christov's mind "next time you find a victim pour libations of rum for me and I'll cross whoever been doing these killings."
:"If it wasn't near dawn. I'd make an offering tonight," Christov said.
"Vampires, they make me laugh," she said scornfully, "They think they got power. I suppose cause they go around killing people. They don't know how to kill off evil in a soul."
"Neither do you. The vampires or vampires who think they know about killing and acquiring power. They're wrong," Christov said carefully, wary of her,
"Life and death is power, maybe they are right, " she said grinning "Maybe they are right but they are only a part of the power. It belongs to everybody who is good. Only if they are good."
Christov said, "Power belongs to everybody, good or evil. Birth, killing those are acts of brute powers."'
"Love is different," she said, "Love can kill out evil. Make an evilly insane person stop his evil. Only love can kill evil."
"Lestat and others of our kind kill evil doers all the time. I hardly think they love them," Christov scoffed.
"They don't love their souls after they killed them, so they say evil. If you love the evil doer after you kill them you also killed off the evil in their souls. That's real power Christov. Love the sinner destroy the sin in them," she said.
"What are you talking about? This power," Henri said puzzled.
Marie Glapion threw an amused glance at Henri She quickly disappeared from Christov's mind.
"Just talking,' Christov said, breaking out of his trance, knowing Henri couldn't see his visitation. Also knowing Henri would only scoff at his saying he had a visitor. "This young victim stopped being a young lady when she because someone's prayer," Christov said. "I think she was sacrificed,"
"Or she was just someone's dinner. Some jaded vampire who finds the common kill too simplistic to their taste. Or this could be a bondage fetish thrill kill," Henri said.
"Whatever is was wasn't our concern till you had to be gallant," Christov said bemused. After putting her body in a coffin, he left with Henri. "we have to keep a more careful eye on Pete. If it was the children they know he's in our coven. If they bear any grudge against us they might come after him. Why couldn't you have left her alone? She was almost dead."
"I couldn't let those monsters inflect more pain on her" Henri argued.
As if it's any of your business. You idiot. You fool, how could you be so foolish," Christov said crisply, rubbing his hands, "You better pray to God this was a bunch of superstitious vampires. You better pray that they are appeased by my offerings of coins. Damn it Henri what if they are into torture bondage killing. What if they come after us now!!"
"We have Michael for protection. If you feel I'm a danger to you and Pete we can part. You're right mon ami it was a mistake to kill her."
"A stupid mistake. No way will we part. How you ever survived this long without me is proof of miracles."
"Maybe we should leave Chicago?"
Impossible. Michael obviously as his own agenda, where Pete's concerned. I doubt if he'll allow us to leave."
"Then we should have left when Andre wanted to take us back home," Henri considered
"I didn't want to admit defeat to Damion. He's so controling Aggh. I understand why Alex hates Damon Damion's such a busy body. Look at how Damion tries to come between anyone who might have a chance with Daniel. How was I supposed to know you would get us all in danger."
"Christov you are making too much of this," Henri worried.
tbc