Bathory Blood

Femi's Promise

Once Lucius had finished relaying the story, Minerva was too furious to speak and paced around the bedroom, trying to think. Erzsebet being stolen wasn't the worst news she could have heard. Stolen didn't mean anything. It would be a simple matter to find the thieves, kill them, and take the asset back. The worst news she could hear was that Erzsebet was awake, alive, and well. Finding the thief was all well and good; however, that would also mean finding Erzsebet, and it would be impossible to convince her that she should come back to the clinic. It will also be challenging to bring her in using force.

Minerva was well studied on vampire history. Only the Vesuvius family had kept proper records that were, despite it being at the behest of the Van Helsing clan, never burned. The Vesuvius clan had always been suspicious that the Van Helsings wanted power for themselves, and this was born out as they branched out to rule every developed country in the world. The Van Helsings were always too pious to want to keep a vampire around, so Minerva doubted they had achieved power that way. Almost as soon as the Vampire clans were destroyed, the Van Helsings filled the vacuum. They had everything in position, ready to seize power, and the Vesuvius family were the first to realize it. There was a short war, but the Van Helsings had the support of most of the other clans, who all wanted their share of the pie.

Transcripts by family members taken at the time of Erzsebet's incarceration in her own castle in Transylvania described how Erzsebet had sworn that one day, she would take revenge for what she saw as a betrayal by the human species. Minerva had only read the transcripts and diaries of her predecessors, but all of them warned that if Erzsebet ever did escape that she could bring about a new dark age of the vampire. That dark age would last at least until she died in five-six hundred years. Minerva also knew that with modern technology and with people like Dr. Franks, that things could get a whole lot worse. If Erzsebet ever discovered modern science's possibilities, the human race would become little better than farmed animals. It would be worse than a dark age; it would mean the end of everything.

Femi stood back, puzzled as to what exactly was going on. He had no idea what the thing was that Lucius was talking about, only that the item was precious. Luckily, with all the drama, it seemed Minerva had forgotten all about him, so he hung about with bated breath, hoping to discover what it was they were obviously so worried about.

However, Lucius hadn't forgotten about Femi. Lucius had been deliberately choosy with his words and cryptic enough that his mother would understand, but Femi would be left entirely in the dark. Lucius watched as Femi did an excellent job of pretending not to be listening while hanging on to every word, but he'd had enough. Who did this stranger think he was?

"Mother," Lucius hinted with a nod in Femi's direction. It was enough to remind her, and she blinked several times in his direction as though only just remembering he was there. Femi noted that when she spoke, it was as though she was looking through him rather than at him, "I'm sorry, Femi," she said, "You're going to have to leave."

"But I feel so good," Femi shared, "Let me help you. What is it that has been stolen? I have underground connections in the city. If it has value and somebody is trying to sell it, I will find them." Minerva considered his offer for a time.

"You're not seriously considering..." fumed Lucius before being interrupted.

"Very well," Minerva said to Femi, catching even him off guard. "Somebody has stolen something very valuable to me. You heard the description of her?"

"Is there any more? The more you can tell me, the better. What has she stolen?"

"Something important enough that I will pay ten million in Bitcoin to get it back. Is that enough information?"

"I'll see what I can do," Femi responded while pointedly ignoring the sighs of exasperation from Lucius. "Don't worry," Femi grinned at Lucius, "If I succeed where you failed, I shall not gloat... much." Lucius turned on him angrily, but Femi was already leaving. Ten million dollars into his personal account would end the embarrassing reliance on his parents for the pittance they fed him. Femi had tried to make his own fortune as his father had insisted, but things were easy. All of Femi's business ventures had failed. Not through incompetence, but rather a mixture of egotism, laziness, and his desire to party. His father barely looked him in the eye anymore, and he knew that it was because he was ashamed of him. He saw his son as a failure, and the pain in his eyes was unmistakable. This made Femi worse, and he ended up mixing with the wrong crowds, getting into trouble with the law. His father had saved him twice now from jail and vowed that next time, he would leave Femi to his fate. As a result, Femi was ready to grab any opportunity that presented itself. Ten Million would solve all of his problems. He could buy a big house and party till it killed him.

"Have you gone mad, mother?" Lucius fumed once Femi had left. He followed her into the security room and repeated the question.

"Do you know what's coming?"

"She killed Fumio."

"Dear, God," Not only was Erzsebet awake, but she had already fled. Minerva stared at the screen where Dr. Franks was sodomizing his young victim while slapping him around the back of the head and found him a welcome distraction for a time.

The doctor looked quite different when naked and while amid the throes of his sadism. The way his face was screwed up with pure hate. There was no other way to describe it. He hated so much spittle was flying from his lips, so much, he even hated himself. Likely, Minerva knew, despised himself for his own weaknesses. From the research she had conducted, just as she did with everyone in her circle, she knew that the doctor had been mercilessly bullied when at school. This suggested that he was used to playing second fiddle. However, just as with all those who've never had power, when they get it, they are often more abusive of it than anyone else. Minerva, herself, was prone to it too, as she knew well enough. As a female, to suddenly have power over men was the most fantastic feeling in the world, and how she had abused it and still did. So, she understood the doctor well, perhaps too well, for she found the similarities between them quite sickening.

"What will we do?" asked Lucius, breaking into her thoughts and reminding her of the situation.

"What else can we do? We find her." Minerva responded. "All hands on bloody deck."