Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!!
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life, you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!!
Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks.
jmsotc@yahoo.com
Chapter 35 Interview with the Vampire
I was to meet Jayce in one of the sitting rooms at the Watchers' Council Headquarters. The furniture was lush and velvety. I stood waiting for him for several minutes listening to the ticking of the clock and reading the titles of the books on the shelves. Many were written long ago and their titles faded to near unreadable. Some were current titles by current others. I smiled to myself seeing every book in the Vampire Chronicles.
"Find something amusing?" Jayce asked as he walked into the room.
"Just that you have all of the Vampire Chronicles. I guess you enjoy good fiction."
"Believe it or not, Eric, it is not fiction."
"Excuse me?"
"It is fact."
"I find it unbelievable that vampires exist such as are described."
"You will have a chance to see for yourself. The Council is sending you to speak with one."
"Excuse me? Speak with one?"
"You are to visit the vampire Marius to get information concerning the demon Macai. I'm sure he will surprise you. He's not like any other vampire you've met."
"I'm sure he isn't," I answered with a note of sarcasm. "I will be sure to pack my wooden stakes, holy water and crosses."
"You won't need them."
"Let me be the judge of that."
I left the room heading for my room, my equipment and my suit. If I were going to make any headway with a vampire who has seen most everything on this world, I would have to appear different than anything else he has seen. Batman should suffice for the occasion.
The Council gave me a car to drive to Marius' estate. It was about an hour's drive north of the Watchers' Council castle. When I finally arrived, I knocked at the door. A young man met me with wonder in his eyes.
"Have you come to kill us?" he asked in surprise and fear.
"No. I'm here to see Marius."
The boy prepared to slam the door on my face when a voice rang out from the shadows. "Let him enter. I sense no ill will in him."
The boy opened the door and stepped back so I could enter. "Marius de Romanus, I presume?" I said.
"You presume correctly." Marius stepped out of the shadows to reveal a youthful face framed by platinum blonde hair. His eyes were deep blue and I found myself sinking into them. "What a strange garb you wear," he said to me. "Please, come in. Let's retire to more comfortable surroundings."
Marius wore a red velvet smoking jacket with a white silk cravat underneath. I followed him down a hallway and into a lavishly decorated sitting room. "I must say your costume is not too strange, at least to me, at any rate."
"What do you mean?"
"I will tell you momentarily. Are you thirsty?"
"Why are you being so nice?" I asked. "Demons such as yourself do not have it in them to be nice, unless they have a soul, which is rather uncommon in the vampire world."
"I'm afraid that you have been introduced to the world of vampires by only a small species of vampire. You cannot use your crosses and holy water against the likes of me."
I looked upon Marius narrowly. He must have sensed what I was thinking as he continued his conversation. "You believe those images, those holy objects to be harmful to me. Take them out."
I pulled out my wooden cross and small vial of holy water. He held out his hand and I carefully placed the cross in it waiting for his hand to burst into flame. It did not. Marius clutched the cross tightly before handing it back to me.
"Pour your water upon my skin and watch."
I twisted the cap of the vial off and poured a small amount of water onto his hand. I expected to see his skin burn and peel, but it did not.
"You see. Your tools do not harm me."
"Then you are not a vampire."
Marius opened his mouth to reveal his teeth. "I am a vampire."
"Tell me this great mystery."
"Vampires have been around for a long, long time. And like the many species of humanity, vampires have different species. The differences in vampires, however, are more distinct than the differences between the species of mankind.
"The species I belong to is a species with souls. We retain our humanity after we are turned. Holy images have no harmful effect on us. We are not demonic. We are the human breed of vampires.
"Another race of vampires, no doubt the ones you encounter on a regular basis, are demonic in nature. They retain some semblance of humanity in that they hold the memories of the being turned into the vampire. Those creatures, however, have no soul to them. They are demonic, pure and simple. The evidence of their nature comes with no reflection in mirrors, the harm holy icons inflicts, and when they are about to feed, their demonic face manifests with their foreheads furling, their eyes yellowing and their teeth becoming ragged.
"There exists a race of vampires that are completely and utterly animalistic in nature. They can walk and talk among humans, even in the sunlight. But when they manifest their vampiric nature, their entire bodies change into that of a bat-like body. They sprout wings and become pure beast. The only way to kill them is for the beast to lose a large amount of blood. Wooden stakes, holy water, and crosses do not harm them."
I stood in silence at this creature's information. He sounded so sincere and so knowledgeable. As much as I wanted to stay and learn more about the vampires, I had other more pressing business to attend to.
"Do you know why I come?" I asked.
"You seek assistance. That is usually why people come to me. Unless it is to give me a hard time about my home and it's filling of young boys."
I vowed in my heart to ask him about that very thing. Why would a vampire need a house full of boys except to keep his self fed or for sex slaves? "I was sent here to ask you about the demon known as Macai." Marius's face became rather serious at the mentioning of the demon's name. "I see you've heard of him."
"I've fought him, but it was a long time ago."
"Tell me about it."
"Several hundred years ago, England was flourishing under the rule of Arthur. At that time, King Arthur had a court of knights who served him and the welfare of all Great Britain. It was also during that time that a close friend of mine, Merlin was his name, also served Arthur.
"A very powerful, very arrogant wizard by the name of Calomar sought to harness a great force to help take over the kingship. He opened the book of Macai and brought forth the demon. Calomar believed he could control the demon. He could not. Macai had slain Calomar and sought to be ruler himself.
"Many knights died defending Camelot. Camelot was seeing losses it had never seen before or since. I was contacted by Merlin himself to battle the demon. Being immortal had its advantage.
"This part you may find interesting. While on my way to Camelot, I was met by a young boy dressed in the guise of a bat. He was a stranger in a strange land, he said. He came with me to Camelot and there, joined by a warrior princess, Merlin, the Bat, and myself faced Macai."
I was interested in finding out whom this Bat was, but again, I had to keep Marius on track. "How did you fight Macai?"
"I used the sword Excalibur. The Bat aided me in keeping the demon distracted so Merlin could perform the incantation and return the demon to his book. It was a great battle but we prevailed."
"Who was this Bat?"
"I don't know. He never told me his real name."
The way Marius looked at me I knew he was holding information from me. Part of me sensed that it was for my own good that I did not know. I decided to trust him since he was so forthcoming with the information I needed.
"May I ask what happened to the Bat?"
"He left," Marius answered. "Once the battle was over, he left to continue his journey."
"What was his journey?"
"He was on his way home. That is all he shared with me."
"I wonder if he found it."
"I don't know, but I'm sure he did."
"I appreciate the information. I am also here to ask you to join me."
"Join you for what?"
"Macai has been released from the book and the Council of Watchers needs your help in putting him back."
"I will join you tomorrow night."
"Thank you?"
I turned and left the room. As I headed for the door, the same young man who answered the door came to walk alongside of me.
"Why are you here?" I asked him.
"The Master has taken us in to teach and educate us."
"Does he ever harm any of you?"
"Never. He loves us and only wishes the best for us."
I nodded to him.
"What were you doing with Master Marius?" he asked.
"I needed some information on some beings I've been dealing with."
"Marius is smart. I'm sure he can help you."
I smiled at the boy and exited the castle, climbed into the car and headed back to the Watchers' Castle. When I arrived, I found the castle to be strangely quiet. Perhaps something had gone wrong inside. Did someone take it over? Maybe it was Macai again. Caution, I decided, would be the better part of valor.
I floated up the side of the building and climbed into the nearby window. Quietly I approached the door to the room I was in and listened. A faint sound came through the door and I quietly opened it.
I followed the sound down the corridor and down the stairs to the second floor. I heard a door open and then close. I stepped back and beheld a woman of beauty, according to the heterosexual male and lesbian worlds at any rate.
The female had long black hair and blue eyes. She wore a gown of blue and white silk. A small gold crown rested upon her head. She was definitely out of place in this time but not of the location.
I decided she must have been an intruder and I went into action. Jumping from my vantage point I tackled her knocking her to the ground. She rolled with the tackle and pushed out knocking me off of her. She rolled to her feet, as did I, and we faced off.
"You don't want to do this," she said. Her voice was commanding, yet still holding her femininity. I was impressed.
"On the contrary, I do. You do not belong here. Tell me, where are the others?"
"I will not give you that information."
"Then I guess we have no choice but to resort to violence."
"Be my guest."
I swung my leg up at the woman. She grabbed it and spun me around. I felt like a rag doll in her hands, she had such strength. She threw me into the wall and I felt some of the rock give way to the force that threw me.
I slid to the ground as the woman approached. I manipulated some heat molecules and created a ball of fire, which I threw at her. She held up her hands and for the first time I noticed two metallic bracelets on her wrists. The fireball hit the bracelets and knocked her back but did not kill her.
I jumped to my feet. I felt my mutation going into effect, strengthening me. The woman brought her fist at me and I dodged. I grabbed her by the wrist and used her own momentum to toss her forward into the wall already weakened by me being thrown into it.
The woman hit the wall with a crash and the wall gave. I looked through the hole and saw the woman stand up amongst the rubble. Quentin and Jayce were sitting on the sofa with teacups on the table in front of them.
"Quentin. I found this woman. I don't know who she is or what she wants. Her strength is great," I said.
"Very great," the woman replied as she literally flew at me and punched me. I went flying across the corridor and through the wall on the other side. The impact hurt me greatly but my mutation was already kicking in, repairing any of the damage done.
Slowly I stood up to see Quentin rush over to the female and Jayce rush over to me.
"Are you alright?" Jayce asked.
"Yes. Quentin needs to get away from her. She's dangerous."
"That she is," Jayce agreed. "But she's also on our side."
"What?"
Jayce took my hand and helped me up and through the rubble.
"Eric McCoy, also known as Batman, meet Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. Your majesty, this is Eric McCoy."
"Ah yes," she said. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," I said. "Sorry if I hurt you."
"Don't worry. You did not. I hope I didn't hurt you."
"Oh, you did," I answered.
"Eric, please join us," Quentin invited.
"She's unbelievable," I whispered to Jayce.
"She is quite a wonder woman," Jayce replied.
To Be Continued...
Two characters introduced to Eric in this chapter. The first appearance by a character created by Anne Rice and the first hero in the DC universe not directly connected to Batman, a hero very famous in the DC Universe. If you don't know who Hippolyta is, she is Diana's (a.k.a. Wonder Woman) mother.
I heard about Marius a few months ago and became intrigued by him. The first book I read with him as a major character was "The Vampire Armand" by Anne Rice. As I read "The Vampire Armand" I found myself falling in love with both Marius and Armand. They both had qualities I found extremely attractive and sensuous. "Blood and Gold" is also an excellent book dealing with Marius's past. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn't help by find a way for Marius to be included in the story. And this worked out nicely. I also dropped in a little bit of a mystery in this chapter. I wonder how many of you caught it. I know many of you believed it to be Lestat showing up. I hope you are not disappointed.
More good stuff to come! Keep reading! Also, as always, comments are welcome.