A Supernatural Assassin's Quest for Vengeance Against a Powerful Mage

He stared into my eyes, grinding his teeth together. If the look he gave me before when I was sitting against the wall could have killed me, this new one would have don't so and erased my entire ancestry from the world. He continued to sit there without speaking. I remained silent waiting for him to do the same. This particular battle of wills I had to win if we were going to get anywhere in this discussion beyond growling and threatening each other. He sat silent for an hour before finally saying anything.

"If you're going to kill me get it over with. I'm not going to tell you anything you want to know." The venom that filled his voice spoke volumes to me. He wasn't angry at me, but at himself for the fact that he was alive. The only way for that kind of anger and hated to build in a person is survivor's guilt. I may have been projecting from my past, but I had learned to trust my instincts and that's what his anger felt like.

"If I wanted to kill you I could have accomplished that outside on the lawn while we fought. I offered to let you walk away before we fought and I intent to still do so once we're done here unless you decide you want to stay." Again I kept my tone even and friendly despite having a little anger at the fact that he tried to kill me. I simply stood and waited for him to respond when he was ready. While he sat quietly I walked across the room to the small fridge we kept down there and pulled out a couple of water bottles.

Sindee came back down the stairs while he was still sitting silently watching me. She smiled at seeing me up and moving until she saw that every inch of my exposed skin was a rapidly healing bruise. "Andrew, you need to sit and rest while you heal."

"I'll be fine, just need to chat with our friend here," I smiled at her, hiding the pain I was feeling as best I could.

She walked over to a small closet we had down there and pulled out another chair and a small folding table. She placed them both right in front of our guest and turned to me. "Sit down before I sit you down," she stated looking ready to do just that. She could do it and knew so as I wouldn't raise a hand to her even if I had the energy to do so. So I complied with her wishes. After I sat down she continued, "Now if you will sit here and try to talk to our guest as you call him, I'll take care of what needs to be done for now." She stepped over behind him and untied his hands from behind him. She placed both of his hands on the table between us gently pulling up his sleeves. His hands and forearms halfway to his elbow were solid black. I shattered his bones when I hit them. Sindee made sure his legs and body were secured to the chair so he couldn't move at attack before moving back to his wrists. I used what energy I had to connect with her she reached for her Avatar and started working with Life Magick. She carefully took one arm into each of her hands, focusing the Magick through them. I directed none of what she was doing, just lent the energy I had to her spell and watched as she brought the shattered boned back together as if they had never been damaged, reduced the swelling caused by the force of the impact, slowly and carefully repairing everything that was done so that when she completed the spell it would be as if he had never been injured in the first place. Once complete she stopped the flow of magick and took a deep breath. I had to do the same as I felt drained again. "Now, can you gentlemen talk without trying to kill each other or am I going to need to stay and intervene?"

Our guest whose name I still hadn't gotten was just staring at his arms. I looked up to Sindee to see her smiling at the look on his face. "Thank you for taking care of me and our guest my love. I have more to tell you once he and I are done here." She leaned down we kissed. Nothing in the world could have made me happier at that moment as it told me beyond a doubt that we were both still alive and I could still change the possible future.

I placed the two bottles of water on the table and opened one. I took a drink from it before looking at him and placing next to the other. "Help yourself to either one, there's nothing wrong with them. No point in healing you just to poison you. As I said before, I have no intent to harm you."

He looked to his arms and then to Sindee. He looked back and forth like this at least a dozen times before speaking up. "Thank you ma'am for taking care of my arms," there was a hint of Irish in his voice but he either hadn't lived there in a long time or never had a pronounced accent from growing up with family who had the same. He reached for the unopened bottle of water, took of the lid and gulped half of it down. Setting the bottle down, he looked back at both of us.

Sindee smiled at him and replied, "You're welcome."

He turned to me and his jaw tightened a little before speaking. "Thanks you for the water," his tone was gruff and the muscles tightened in his jaw even more. "I was very thirsty and needed that." He shoulders slumped and he hung his head like the statement cost him a lot to make.

While I could have gloated, it would have been petty and counter-productive in this situation. I am not saying that I'm never petty, everyone can be from time to time, but I wasn't going to make the situation worse. "You're welcome." I turned to look and Sindee, "Would you do me a favor and bring something to eat down. I know I'm hungry after all that's happened and I'm sure he is as well. Maybe some food while we talk would be good for all of us. I'd also like you to join us for the conversation whenever you want to."

Sindee smiled playfully at me then turned to look at him, "Do you believe this? The man marries a doctor and expects me to be Suzy Homemaker. The nerve of some men," she held a straight face for all of ten seconds before laughing and heading for the stairs again.

I turned to look at him again with a huge grin on my face, "Got to love that woman. Now, if I may ask, what's your name?"

He looked me in the eyes, evaluating me I'd assume, before answering. "My name is Gabriel Roarke, you may call me Roarke if you'd like."

"Ok Roarke, tell me why you came here intending to kill me please."

"As I said outside, because you exist. Your kind is the biggest bane on humanity of all the supernatural creatures that exist." He stated flatly.

"You said that you were here because I exist outside. What kind of supernatural creature do you belive me to be?" I asked, genuinely curious as to the reply.

"You are a Mage, Witch, Wizard or whatever you prefer to be called."

"I am a Mage," I replied flatly. "Witches, Wizards and others such practitioners are mortals who have found access to powers through potions and such. Mages are naturally gifted with our abilities."

He didn't look any happier with the explanation. "So you're a Mage. The fact that you can use magic and ignore the laws of reality still makes you the most dangerous kind of supernatural being to all of humanity."

"How so? I've never murdered a human. I haven't broken the laws of society. I have killed vampires and their followers in defense of myself and my chosen friends and family. I'm no boy scout, but nor am I evil incarnate as you seem to believe. Why come after me specifically when I know there are humans out there who have been a bigger bane on humanity than I ever could be?" I didn't raise my voice, didn't argue, just pointed out the facts as I knew them.

"You expect me to just accept your word on this?" Roarke asked with an incredulous look on his face.

"No. I expect you to hear me out and discuss things like a civilized person. First point in my favor is the fact that you're alive and healed." He gave me a look like he was about to complain about being strapped to a chair but I continued before he could speak. "Yes you are still tied to a chair in my basement, but that is for my protection and that of my wife." I took another sip from my water bottle. "You may not believe this, but just because the supernatural exists doesn't mean we're all out to destroy humanity. There are vampires of several types; most of them do not need to kill to feed. Some of them choose to do so; they are not people I consider friends or allies. Some of us try to protect humanity from other supernatural creatures and threats."

"Why do you hide your existence from Humanity then?" was Roarke's reply.

The question made me a little hopeful that we may be able to resolve this at least somewhat peacefully. "Because humanity isn't ready to accept the existence of what's truly out in the world. Before you try to persuade me otherwise, let me ask you a few questions and see if you'll understand my reasoning." He nodded and waited for me to continue. I settled on my first question rather easily, "How did you first find out that there were things in this world that most people don't believe in?"

Roarke looked thoughtful, his eyes going distant as his mind shifted to the past, "It was about twelve years ago, I just turned fourteen and was running late getting back to the house from out in the pasture. The sun had already set and my house came into sight. All the lights on the lower floor should normally have been on by then, but I only saw the light in the main room through the window. My mother would normally have been in the kitchen making dinner by that time of night. I was a little concerned but figured she just had visitors in the parlor." He looked down and stared at his hands while telling this story. "I really did think there was anything wrong. When I got closer I could see that the front door was hanging open off the lower hinge as well. I started to rush toward the door and caught myself before just running inside to whatever danger was there. I rushed around to the side of the house where we kept the fire wood and grabbed the axe we used to split it. I moved to the back door and tried the handle. The door moved open quietly as I kept the hardware oiled for my parents as part of my chores. I moved through the kitchen as quietly and quickly as I could. When I entered the living room my pa was lying on the floor. From what I could see blood was flowing across the hard wood from his neck. I couldn't see the wound as it must have been under him." Tears started to flow from his eyes. He kept his face down trying to hide the pain he was feeling. He was silent for a few minutes before he was ready to continue. I didn't speak or move as not to break the mood, I think he needed to get this out as much for himself as anything else. "I must have stood there for what felt like forever when I heard a whimper and cry from up the stairs. The lights were out and I didn't want to turn them on and warn anyone I was there. I climbed the stairs careful to make as little noise as possible. When I got to the top of the stairs I could hear the low crying coming from my parent's room. I moved down the hallway as quickly as I could to the door that was cracked open. The curtains were open and the moonlight shone across the bed. There was someone on the bed with my mother. Her clothes were torn, shreds of cloth hanging off of her and the man had his mouth on her neck. There was blood all over her, the sheets, and the man as well. I knew he was hurting her and wanted to stop him. I rushed into the room to the bedside raising the axe as I went. I swung the axe at his back trying to cut his spine in two. He spun and caught my hand before it was even half way to him. He used his other hand to grab me by my neck and threw me across the room into the wall. I fell to the floor there and crumpled into a ball, my whole body ached from the force I hit the wall with. I heard my mother scream again right before I passed out." He took a deep breath and fell into silence once again. The tears continued to fall and his body shook. I could see how hard this story was to tell and knew that whatever was next was the hardest part of the story for him to tell. I heard breathing behind me and looked over my shoulder. Sindee was standing there behind me, tears in her eyes and her hand on her heart.

I reached back and pulled her to me into a hug. I felt a little dampness on my cheeks as her body pressed against me. I guess I was more affected by his story then I thought I was.

He choked up a little as he opened his mouth to continue, "When I came to again I was tied to a chair at the dining room table. My sisters were all tied to chairs as well. I was the youngest and the only boy in my family. I had five older sisters, the youngest was sixteen and the oldest was twenty-four. The three oldest were visiting from college for the spring holiday. Since they weren't there when I came if, I had hoped that they were out somewhere safe for the night. It was still dark outside the windows, so it was either that same night or the next. I started pulling at the ropes that held me to the chair when I saw them. The man stepped out of the living room into the dining room where I could see him. He wasn't a man, and he was still covered in blood. He told me that I shouldn't have interrupted his entertainment and because I did he wasn't going to kill me, he had a special punishment in mind for me. He revealed his fangs to me right before plunging them into my oldest sister's neck. I had read the stories, seen the movies, and heard the legends. I knew what he was; Vampire. He drank from her neck for a few minutes and I was sure he was going to kill each of my sisters in from of me as punishment for interrupting him. I only wish it had been that simple. He pulled away just as she seemed to be on the verge of dying. He licked the bit in her neck which closed the wounds before my eyes. He then bit into his own wrist and shoved it to her mouth tilting her head back. I was forced to watch as he did this to all of my sisters in turn. When he was done he turned to me, 'There are several ways to kill vampires young man but only a few that I guarantee will do the job. Forget about the stake to the heart; that will only slow us down until it's removed. Silver and Garlic are old wives tales. A cross or other holy symbols are useless without the faith of a true believer. Cut off the head, cut out the heart or better yet do both. Trap us in sunlight, but make sure there is nowhere for use to stay out of the direct light as even shadows can protect us. Those will work, there are some others that may work, but I'll leave those for you to find for yourself if you live.' He simply smiled at me; like this was the most fun he'd ever had before he continued. 'Your sisters here will rise at dark tonight and they will be ravenous like wild animals as I gave then no more blood that was needed to make the turning. You have until then to escape your bonds and stop them if you want to live and not see them turn into killers.' That monster then walked over to me, leaned over and bit me, taking blood until I passed out. I came to around late afternoon still lightheaded and sore from the previous night. I started struggling even harder, rubbing my wrists raw until they started to bleed. I finally managed to get the ropes to break an hour or so before sunset. I moved back to the living room, my father's body was still there. I rolled him over to his back to see that his throat had been ripped out. I forced myself to climb the stairs up to my parent's room to find my mother with bites, scratches and cuts all over her body. He left her on the bed with her clothing torn completely off, the remnants lying in tatters on the bloody sheets and floor. He legs spread open as if he just used her and left her there like she was garbage. There was blood on her face as well. I found the axe I had brought on the floor near where I landed when he threw me across the room. I picked it up and walked over to my mother's body. I wanted to feel nothing, to just be numb, cold and unfeeling about it. I wasn't able to. I used the axe to sever her head from her body and shoved it off the bed to the floor. I carried the axe down the stairs and severed the head from my father's body as well. I did this because his face was covered in blood as well. I couldn't tell if it was his or the creatures because he was face down in the pool of blood all night. While the sun was still up I went out to the barn and filled the gas can from the fuel tank we kept for the farm machinery. I took it inside and upstairs, spreading it in to all of the bedrooms and over my mother's remains. I poured a trail down into the hall and down the stairs. I continued to spread it around the downstairs and over my father's remains as well. By the time I completed all of this dusk was coming quickly and I could hear movement in the dining room. I walked in to see my oldest sister struggling to free herself from the chair, a look of hunger on her face as she stared at me, fang's already showing. I grabbed the axe again and walked up behind her chair. I couldn't look into her face, no matter what she had become, while I did what I had to do next. I swung the axe with all the force I could muster. The axe went into her neck and stopped about halfway through. She let out a howl like a wounded animal. Instead of just dying like anyone else would she kept screaming and fought harder to escape her bonds. I took another swing at her neck, aiming to the spine instead of the side. The axe bit into her flesh like trying to split a log. Once the spine was severed it slid through more easily separating her head from her shoulders. As my other sisters were starting to stir and move, I quickly went about taking their heads off as well." He took another breath and slowly let it out before continuing, "After I finished doing that I grabbed the gas can and went to refill it. I brought it back in and used all of it in the dining room and kitchen pouring a trail out the door. I went back into the kitchen and blew out the pilots in the range and oven before turning the gas on full. I went back around to my father's truck and pulled out a road flare. I took it around to the back of the house where trail of gas I poured led to. I lit the road flare and threw it into the gas through the kitchen door. The fire started and spread quickly as I walked around to the front of the house to watch it burn. I was standing in the yard in front of the house when the gas from the stove and range lit up. The resulting fireball blew out all of the windows covering me with scratches and cuts as the glass cut into and past me. Still I stood there and watched the house burn. I couldn't move away and couldn't just walk inside and let myself die with the rest of my family; it would have been a sin to do so. So I just stood there and watched. I don't know how long I was standing there watching but I couldn't move. At some point the Natural Gas main leading into the house was overheated and ruptured. The resulting explosion destroyed the house and sent me flying across the lawn where I landed hard and rolled into the street fronting the property. I passed out right there, unable to move, unable to think." He just fell into silence at

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THE END