Venice Days of Yore

CHAPTER 2 - MOUNT TAISHAN

Mount Taishan stood on the the edge of Venice. Adjacent to it was an intermittent blast of volcano spurting like a jet engine. Somehow the sound couldn't penetrate the cave. Lee had casted the cave under an embolus with a spell. Insects with phosphorescent and blimp abdomens clinged like ivy to the plafond of the cave. They came in thousands and travelled in thousands. Their illumination enshrined the realm giving it a devotional phenomenon. Gay as she was, she flayed her arms and her hair in the air evincing her body in a snakelike affectedness as calculated reciprocation to the carillon she was carolling. Rose was beautiful, young and fragile in her slender youthful body. Oftentimes she would take a stroll to the opening of the cave fearlessly as her aria graced the silence of the ambience. Her materfamilias, Lee more often than not spends time in the coven performing rites with magic books. She had a large collection of forgotten books in her library. She spent her younger years absorbing the missives. "I've spent my entire days looking for answers. Today will be the last rite I perform to hades. Go to your room Rose... Wait for me there. Do not touch the spell on your table. It's for your own good." Rose had stupidly danced to the cave opening.

"The vampires have arrived and the werewolves are converging. Very soon Venice shall be destroyed. I have no business here I told you. Take the little girl out of here. Take her far away. Your days will end too... You will join me!" A woman's voice echoed in the coven giving off an inviting social energy while thingifying an ominous importance. "But she's still very young and my days are few. I have no where to go. Traipsing the path of Winchester is not a child's play Lilith! You shall watch over me." A bright light emanated from the alter where she knelt. Red candles were used to form a big circle around the floor. They burnt fervently but the wax melted extremely slow. Lee told Rose one time that the candles have been there for centuries when she asked her why they never exhaust. "I was just like you... Naive and helpless. Take me to my room my dear. I'm feeble."

Rose stood close to the steep of the cave. High above the ground as it she tried to get a view of the lower structure when she was frightened by a growl traveling far side by side the entrance. The figure crashed on the face of the entrance sending waves of magic through the unseen barricade. Rose had seen a werewolf before nor had she heard of one. The brawny looking thing was catapulted far away by the spell into the mountains. She caught a glimpse of it. She thought she did. A clear picture. Quickly, she ran back into her space. She searched for Lee haphazardly. A deep frown seated on her face and fear seethed in her skin. For the first time, she was tinged by the hue of darkness. There was love; there was peace but she had not felt the touch of reality. Had she for once? She grumbled. Her presence in the coven swept the candlelight to many sides. "Lee! Lee! Something is wrong. Come see!" She pointed back at the doorstep. Lee stood. She hastily grabbed her sceptre and absconded with Rose from the coven.

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is the human animal?" Lee asked repetitively.

"I only saw him in a flash," Rose retorted.

Shrubs and decay fortified the wilderness against the kiss of the aubade. Hisses, crows, chirps, woofs, croaks clanged in ugly harmony without fretting Fang. She jumped down from the tree where she had slept. A python crept away from the tree flaying its tongue like it had found a prey. Fang bent sharply, cautiously looking for an object seemingly lost. Her yellow skin itched. A branch of tree etched her yellow skin. She peeped in displeasure and licked the blood on her arm. Immediately the opening healed. She ignored swiftly. It was a normality. Fang was the last immortal of the Japanese pack. Since she clocked thirty four, she had stopped aging. Unlike her predecessors who grew till centenary before hitting athanasy. Aphna had been her abode for decades before the brouhaha occured. Fang had survived ten cold wars and four imperial wars unscathed. Recently, she had found out her younger brother was alive. Right in the bar that night, few drunk men were being served beer. They swinged asses and evinced their chests in flirty ways. Homosexuality was not uncommon in Venice. The first chief had banged a teenage man. History had it. A young man brought in wine and placed it on the rough table. He was manhandled and s*****d in the a*s by a fat omi. It was unlikely that every partier there was not blueblooded. Fang sat in a corner watching the young attendant get bullied. He wasn't like them obviously but they seem to be self absorbed. One pulled him by the neck and he reacted with his tight fist. His teeth grew fangs and he inserted his claws in his opponent's flesh. Blood covered him and screamed in agony. He grabbed the boss by his fat stomach and left the flesh open. Others fleed for safety except Fang. She watched him curiously observing the blood dripping down his teeth. The inscription on his neck caught her attention. It was similar to the one on her neck as well. Then she recalled her last encounter with brother. Cold night, hostile environment, heavy rain, angry men and gore characterized the night they separated. The Jiu Jitsu trainees had surrendered to the ruthless magicians who invaded their city. They killed the entire inhabitants. Only few managed to escape. Fang and brother hid under a rock. They were soaked. Unexpectedly, a sorcerer appeared from behind. He scrutinized their helpless faces with sympathy. The wand in his hand was stretched at Fang's brother. Before he could cast a spell, Fang transformed and tried to attack him. He disappeared with her brother. Perhaps they had a good cause to raid the city. It was full of werewolves. Though they formed a pact - some fought for power and the others fought for serenity. The rest remained neutral. Few years later, she was never provoked to scour for her brother. He was dead, she believed. Nothing more until that night. How could he have survived? She moved close to the adrenaline filled supernatural. They stared at each other for long. The resemblance had become clear. They felt a bond. "Chi! She shouted." The room was silent. The werewolf growled and jumped through the window breaking them into pieces. Everyone stared in dismay from the floor. She followed him agitatedly. Even faster than he was. The moment was like a dejavu. They were just little kids when she found out her body was changing. Not the kind that happens to girls of her age. It was different, feral, instinctive and brutish. She wanted blood. She needed blood everytime. Humans were like food to her. Instead of her to play with her friends, she felt sympathy for their weakness. Fang watched her brother grow cold. He sat on the mat in the verandah playing with his toys. They were too young to be changing but their somatic structure was organic. Their parents were members of the first pack in Japanese - the trueblood. There was no panecea if they needed it. There was only bloodthirst, angst and sympathy. "Call the medicine man! Call him quick!" Fang's father beckoned her. That was the twenty first and last time the medicine man would visit. The first time he arrived, he had claimed he body was too strange to examine. She never responded to his medicine. "Your mother is dead!"