Well Folks it has even been longer since I have written anything on "The Mark" but I have decided to shake off the dust off the files I have and bring it out once again. I hope you enjoy it.
JMH
trandar2002@yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adultwritingworkshop/
It is twenty-five years since the start of the Great War, a war that has yet to end. The world is now divided into four societies. The Voxian Union, Vassar Finance, GenCorp, and the Wilders. The Voxian Union had become a patriarch society where the vampire is its head. Families now lived in groups with a vampire who uses his blood to keep them healthy. In return, the vampire takes the blood and the love of its male members. In GenCorp and Vassar Finance, a caste system was developed with each person assigned a color to correspond to their gift as seen by the pendants they wore. The Wilders were those people who rejected both societies. They were made up of mostly of the non-gifted and were restricted to living in the southern hemisphere. GenCorp and the Voxian Union treated them as cattle for manual labor.
The war between the vampires and the drones had taken millions of lives but now a fragile peace has settled on the front. While they were practically still at war, they were no longer trying to invade each other's territory. There was hope among the common populace that peace could finally be achieved for they had other problems to deal with other then war. There was the rise of the world's oceans as the polar ice caps began to melt. There were the terrorist attacks made by Wilder rebels against the cities. There were even rumors that the world was being manipulated by an alien race calling themselves the Others. These were times of trouble. These were the time of prophecy.
Andrew looked through the tall grass to see the supply convoy as it made its way to the hunter's camp, to hunters who tracked Wilders such as himself. Andrew had been one of the first children born from the refugees who fled to the southern hemisphere and was one of the first in generations who never had to undergo the psi testing his parents had gone through as children. Both of his parents had been found out as telepaths early during the war and according to Wilder Law were banished to live on their own. Andrew's mother, now separated from the towns that provided the medicine she needed to hold back the psi madness all women faced, died a few days later walking off a cliff. His father took care of him as best he could, but when Andrew was 15 he contracted malaria and died. Andrew lived on his own until he was 18 when he found a group of Wilders being captured by hunters. Andrew saved the Wilders and was taken into their tribe. He told them his parents had died in the war, never telling them about their psi gift. If there was one thing Andrew had learned from his father was that it was not the hunters the Wilders hated most. This was because most hunters were "normals" like the Wilders. Some of them had once even been Wilders. No, it was not the hunters that the Wilders blamed for their suffering but it was the hunter's gifted masters back in the Voxian Union and GenCorp.
Today's shipment seemed larger then the usual three-truck convoy. This time there were four trucks and two escort jeeps. Usually there were no escorts at all. Andrew heard a bird call, the sign that he was to fire his rocket at the lead truck. He raised the rocket launcher and fired. At around the same time the smoke of four other rockets could be seen streaming toward the convoy but before any of them could reach their targets they exploded mid air. Only Andrew's rocket hit the mark, blocking the road for the other vehicles. It was then that Andrew felt a sudden pain in his head...telepaths.
"They have a telepath down there!" One of his fellow Wilders shouted.
Soon the jungle was alive with machine gun fire. Andrew, from his high vantage point was too far away to use his gun but still could fire his spare rocket. He reloaded the launcher and fired again, this time at the last truck trapping the convoy. The rocket approached its target but then seemed to slow down in midair. Andrew closed his eyes and prayed that the rocket found its mark. After what seemed like hours, the rocket whooshed back into motion and hit the truck. At the same time Andrew felt a sharp pain hit the side of his head. With the second truck destroyed it was not long before all gunfire ceased and was replaced by the wails of injured men.
Andrew hopped down from his tree top post and made his way down to the road where he saw the carnage. At least 12 of their own men had died as had 22 of the hunters. He was just checking the body of a wounded comrade when the commander tapped him on the shoulder.
"These are yours." He said as he handed two circular pendants to Andrew.
Andrew stared at the pendants with dread. They were the badges of a telepath. In the center of each pendant was a jewel that when in contact with a telepath glowed to match their caste color. For the non-gifted, the pedants would remain clear but for someone like Andrew just touching them would reveal his secret. Turning them down though was hard because in wilder society, carrying those pedants meant you had killed a telepath, making them a mark of honor.
"I don't want them. Give them to the dead. At least their families will gain something from their deaths."
"Have it your way Andrew. I'm sure they will appreciate it."
"Hey commander you should look at this!" A voice called near on of the trucks.
The commander left Andrew to tend the dead while he went to see what was discovered. Andrew closed the eyes of the man who had just passed away. It was just as he was removing his hand that another joined it.
"That was a nice thing you did." Hill said.
Andrew turned his head and looked into the eyes of his secret lover. Since it was well know that the telepaths and empaths preferred same sex relationships, the Wilders had responded by making homosexuality taboo. But Andrew was a telepath, and he did prefer the company of men, especially Hill. Andrew had just been lucky that Hill had felt the same way. While Andrew could never sense it, he liked to believe that Hill was a latent empath, the perfect lover for a telepath his father had told him. That was the only reason he could explain how Hill knew what he was feeling so well. Hill was also the only person to have guessed that Andrew was a telepath.
"It was also a dangerous thing to reject them."
"I know." Andrew agreed. While giving the pedants to the families of the dead was noble it could also bring suspicion on Andrew. In the harsh world of the Wilders, why should he care about the well being of the dead? It didn't make sense unless Andrew had something to hide. The Wilders had other reasons to be suspicious of him. While he had saved the lives of many of their men, none of them knew where he had come from. It had not happened once that an accusation calling him a hunter spy was thrown in his face. This usually led to fights. Andrew had to be careful in choosing which fight to win and loose. If he beat a man he should not stand a normal chance at beating, it would just add credence to the accusations.
Andrew continued to stare at Hill wishing that he could tell him that he loved him whenever he wanted, and not during the few private moments the two were able to steal while on patrol together. It was when the commander called the men together that the two lovers broke their stare.
When the men gathered around the truck the commander had his foot resting on the edge of an opened box, a box filled with hundreds of clear pendants.
"Wow, it looks like everyone can get a pendent on this trip." One of the soldiers shouted.
"No you can't Ed, you can only get one if it comes off the neck of a dead T." His friend elbowed him.
"What does it mean commander?" Hill asked concerned. Unlike most of the men, he had a sense of dread instead of victory.
"It can mean only two things lad. One, a large army of untagged T's is coming to invade or two and more likely, the T's have decided to tag everyone in the region like animals in a wild life preserve."
"A wild life what?" A trooper asked.
"Never mind it was before your time." The commander said curtly.
"Should we prepare for an attack?"
"No... we need to move the tribe into the mountains and try to outlast this storm." The commander decided. We also need to start making fake pendants so if one of us is captured they might let him go thinking he's already been tagged.
This bit of news sent a wave of relief to Andrew. If everyone was wearing fake pendants there would be no pressure on him to wear the real thing. This fact was not lost on the men would carried their own trophies and they complained about it to the commander.
"If everyone gets to wear pendants then where's the honor in me wearing one?" A man who had three of the small jewels around his neck complained.
"Yeah!" Several other men complained.
"What are you... men or women? Did you gain your honor by wearing jewelry?" The Commander shamed his men.
The men grumbled but finally agreed that the commander's plan was the safest course of action. As the men began the long trek back to the village the commander handed the two pendants to Andrew. Since everyone was now to wear the pendent, it made no sense to give them to the dead men's families. Andrew didn't ague in accepting them but as soon as they entered his hand, he closed his hand around them and put them in his pocket. What he didn't know was that one touch triggered a homing device in the pendent.
Today was Randal's 21st birthday. Today he became a man in the eyes of the Voxain Union. Today the master of the house would claim him.
Five families lived in the large house in San Diego while everyone had their own smaller house within the larger; most of them spent their time in the common areas. The younger children played in the courtyard while those in their late teens and early twenties played sports or worked out in the gym all in n attempt to impress the master.
Randal had been raised on stories on how the master had saved the family during the second great plague that marked the start of the Great War. His father would go on and on about how the master swooped down and claimed him as a member of the pack. Randal had prided himself in knowing that his father was the master's favorite. He was given the benefit of living in the house closest to the master's quarters. Randal dreamed of replacing his father who was now in his fifties but still looked like he was in his early thirties due to the blood kisses the master would bless his father with.
Randal though also had larger ambitions. He didn't just want to be the master's favorite; he wanted the master to make him a vampire so he could be a master as well. It was something he had begged the master to receive ever since he was a little kid. When he would ask his father why the master had never made him a vampire his father would laugh at him and told him that he would never want to be one. That was something he never understood.
The night of his claiming, his mother dressed him in a dark red robe so the blood would not startle him. He waited at the master's door until the last ray of sunlight disappeared over the horizons. Then one queue the heavy iron doors opened. Randal looked in the darkness inside and saw two points of red lights staring back at him.
"Son of Neil come to me and claim your name." Randal heard in his head.
The tradition had always been that the master would call you by you're father's name until the day he first took you're blood. It was another thing to mark one's entry into manhood. Randal walked into the darkness and was met by cold hands.
James was asleep again. He had been sleeping a lot in recent years and the problem was getting worse. It was a problem because almost no one could wake him up. Jason used to be able to do so but now, more times the not, he too would fall asleep with his lover. The only people who seemed to be able to wake James up were his sons, Nathan, Landon, and Chris. Sometimes it would take all three of them to shake their father awake and while it was necessary they all hated doing it. James would look so peaceful and happy when he slept that it almost felt like a crime to disturb it especially when he had Jason in his arms
Jason would always know when James was asleep. He would feel pulled to James like the opposite end of a magnet. Jason knew what James secretly desired, to go back into the long sleep the two of them had shared when they were hidden in the Arizona desert. Jason understood James's need but neither he nor James understood why.
Among the vampires, rumors were spreading that as an "Other" James was falling under the same sickness that wiped the Others out. Fears that the sickness would spread to the other Brides were becoming a major concern for the Voxian government. The whole legitimacy of the government was based on Other rule. Without the unifying force of James and Jason the clans would fight amongst themselves.
Many in the leadership wanted James quarantined, kept away from Jason but he would have none of it. Besides sleeping a lot there appeared nothing else wrong with him, then Jason wanted to be by his side. And while he still slept with James, it was becoming harder for Jason to wake up himself when he did.
This day though was a good day. When Jason opened his eyes, he was greeted to James's wide-open gray eyes and wide smile.
"I'm awake!" James said almost proud of himself.
"I can see that!" Jason said, returning James's grin.
"I'm sorry Jason..." James started to apologize.
"Shhh, don't worry about it. I'm just glad that you're awake. I miss you."
"I miss you too when your not here with me. I wish..." James started before Jason interrupted him again.
"But we can't James." Jason insisted. "We can't throw away our responsibilities to the clans and our families."
"I know Jason... I'm just so tired. All I want is for us to hold each other... to return to the embrace we performed on our wedding night."
"That was more like a wedding century James which is why we can't do it again. Who knows how long we'll sleep. We might never wake up."
James sighed in acceptance of Jason's arguments. "Then I must not fall asleep again. If I do so I don't know if I'll ever be able to wake up."
"No James you need some sleep." Jason said with sympathy. "Just keep a part of yourself with me so I can pull you back."
"I will Jason... I just fear that it might be you that gets pulled in." James said with concern.
"Well if it happens it happens. We'll still be together and that's all that matters."
"All right Jason." James said still with a worried tone in his voice.
James climbed out of bed, his muscles stiff from sleeping for three days straight, he took his shower, got dressed and then joined Jason for their feeding. Afraid that James might fall back asleep, Jason decided that they would stand as they bit into each other's necks. Since the day they became "Other" they had only found nutrition with each other. Jason would feed off normals every now and then, just out of habit, but his ever-increasing strength came from feeding off his husband. James too also grew stronger with each feeding and Jason could feel secure that James would stay awake for at least a few hours after he had been fed.
Once both were fed and Jason could see James was now wide-awake, they went to back to the bed and made love. It had been five days since the last time so they took their time at it. When they were done, Jason gave James another blood kiss. He wanted to keep James awake for as long as possible.
After the kiss, James looked with concern at Jason. "I know what you are trying to do Jason but you can't feed me constantly."
"Don't worry about it hon." Jason said to ease James's concern.
"You can't lie to me Jason. You know that." James said sense that Jason was starving.
"Yes but I don't want you to worry about it. Just promise me you won't go looking into my mind to find out the truth."
"...All right Jason. Just swear you're not hurting anyone or yourself."
"I'm not James. I promise."
"Ok."
"Well James I have to go take care of a few things but I'll be back in a jiff, just don't fall asleep on me."
"I won't. I think I better see the kids. They're probably worried about me."
"That would be good. Once I'm done with my business I'll come for you. We need to make a joint appearance before the clans before they become too concerned themselves."
"All right..." James sighed. He hated politics and was no good at it from his viewpoint but Jason needed him. His earnest nature helped Jason hold on to the support of the clans who less then trusted him.
As soon as he said his goodbyes to James, James walked down the hall to the room at the far end. Not even bothering to knock he pushed open the double doors revealing the man who waited inside.
"You look like shit!" Travis commented.
"I'm just a little drained is all." Jason said waving away the man's concern.
"Well I guess that is why I'm here." Travis said with a hint of resentment
"I'm sorry Travis. If there were any other way I would use it. I know how you hate leaving your family in Vermont but I need to keep James awake as long as possible until we find out what is wrong."
"I know... I know Jason. It is not a big problem for me. I'm the only "Other" y'all know. Besides James, there is no other person who can feed you."
"Thanks... well we better get started." Jason said nervously
`How do you want it, bite or kiss?"
"Bite, James should be the only one to give me the blood kiss."
"Your choice." Travis agreed as he offered his neck.
Jason fed of Travis until he was sure he would be strong enough to feed James if the need came again. When he removed his teeth he found that Travis was weak and it was only Jason's grip holding him up.
"Sorry... I must have taken too much." James apologized as he lay Travis down on the nearby sofa.
"Don't worry about it." Travis said weakly. "It gives me a good excuse to feed off Jacob."
"You gain strength from him?" Jason asked confused
"Yes, what did you think I fed on?"
"I never thought about it."
"Well that's where I have an advantage over you and James. I'm more human then the two of you are so I can still feed off of other people. That might change if Jacob and I ever become bonded like you and James did."
"If you do, you won't regret it."
"I know but I must still wait." Travis said sullenly.
"Hal..." Jason said under his breath.
Since the shooting, Hal had reverted to a Normal but that made no difference to Jacob who still cared for him. This did not mean that there was no strain in the relationship. Hal was and now looked like he was in his mid-sixties while Jacob, who never seemed to age a day, still looked to be in his mid-twenties. This was not a problem for Jacob but it was for Hal. Hal had become obsessed with his appearance. Insecure in maintaining Jacob's affection, he had dyed his hair, had the wrinkles in his face removed, and lipo-suction to help remove the weight he had gained due to a slowing metabolism. Jacob had retaliated by putting nontoxic white paint in Hal's shampoo and forcing Hal to eat rich food. Travis almost found it comical if it was not for the sad expressions Jacob would make when Hal would be hard on himself. Travis wanted to help but, being the other man in the relationship, knew better then to interfere. It was a terrible thought to have but Travis knew that one day Hal would get his wish and die leaving Jacob for Travis alone.
James walked into the common area to find his family waiting eagerly for him. Everyone loved him and wanted to get close but they held themselves back, allowing the three sons to greet their father.
"Good, you're still with us dad." Chris said as he hugged his father.
"I'm sorry to be worrying everyone." James apologized
"We told Jason to drink lots of coffee before he fed you. You need the caffeine." Landon joked.
Nathan for his part was red eyed and teary faced and was too upset for words. James pulled Nathan into a hug and kissed him on the forehead as he continued to give his apologies. When James released him he could see Chris giving him a "we need to talk" look. James responded by nodding his head and let his three sons take him aside.
"Dad... we need to find out what is wrong." Chris said seriously when the four of them were alone.
"I know son but what can we do. It's not like there are many `Others' to study you know."
"No, but there might be clues in Antarctica." Nathan piped in.
"But that area is forbidden." James said.
"To vampires it is... not to us, Chance, Jacob, and Travis. And since Jason is no longer a vampire he can come too."
"The clans would never agree to this." James argued
"Yes they would. We can tell them you are an Other returning to your home land. How can they forbid you from going?" Landon phrased the issue.
"I don't know." James said unsure.
"Dad, it's the only lead we have." Chris pleaded.
"..."
"Dad, if you don't want to go for yourself then go for Jeremy." Nathan said to break the silence. Jeremy was still in his cocoon and no one had been able to coax him out of it. If Jeremy was following Other development then there might be clues to Jeremy's. Knowing how James felt about family, the three sons hoped this last card would get their father moving.
Seeing the desperate looks in his sons' eyes, James finally understood how bad his three days asleep had shaken everyone. He knew that he could never by action or inaction scare them like that again. "All right sons, we'll go to Antarctica." James finally relented.