I'M NO ORDINARY MAN

Chapter 8

Now, everyone get inside the shield bubble,’ I ordered.

Three spherical bubbles appeared in front of us. I was about to get in, but Jack stopped me.

‘The Twist can fool the others, but not me...’ Jack told me and jumped into his shield bubble.

How could he have known? Would he tell the others? Questions bombarded every part of my mind, and I blamed it all on myself. Why had I been such a fool to release the Shield –

Field around them when I’d reached – No, I told myself. I mustn’t speak my mind out the location of the Sacred Land of Gods while Jacque was still stuck in my mind. It would be a grave mistake.

I leapt into the bubble and sealed it behind me. Jack was eyeing me in a satisfied way and I tried to maintain a straight face. I directed all the bubbles into the river and in the direction of the pyramid. Many strange and peculiar animals swam past us.

All manners of creatures and I spotted a pack of piranhas swimming towards us. But they changed course when they realized that we weren't normal humans. Rays of sunlight shone through the water as we ventured deeper into the Nile.

It was quite dark down there. And the journey was taking quite a while. My speed was at a minimum when I'm underwater. My mind wandered off with the silence.

Why had I actually been brought here? Was there something in the end that I had to achieve? Was I supposed to be the main character in this never before story for some unknown reason that will come to light soon enough? Was I?

‘Chris! Look up...’ Rose yelled.

I turned my head up, and my eyes caught a dark shape, swimming swiftly through the water. I tried to move our bubbles faster, for I felt a sudden urge of fear obscured me momentarily.

That's when the fact that I was no longer human struck me. I stopped the bubbles in their tracks. I waited for the crocodile to come nearer to me. It could sense that we had stopped.

Apparently, it was puzzled. Since when do humans challenge crocodiles? thought the crocodile. I closed my eyes as my mind intercepted the crocodile's thoughts.

‘Come on!’ I yelled.

My words actually pissed the crocodile off. It rushed at me, with its jaws wide open. The teeth glistened threateningly sharp, but I knew that my teeth were way sharper compared to those.

I lunged at it, giving a tight squeeze, despite its wild trashing and I cracked all the bones in its body. Then, I tore one part of the neck and tipped the blood out. It tasted queer but better than nothing. I felt energized. After sucking out all the blood, I let the body go.

I guided the bubbles to the base of the pyramid. There was a small box at the entrance. It was labelled in an ancient language. My mind translated it quickly and the words appeared before me, in English. I muttered, ‘ANSWER AND ENTER’ .

‘First, we have to solve a riddle –’

Electric bolts flashed through the water and struck the entrance. Dust bellowed up into the water. Pieces of human bones scattered all around us. I turned to Rose, astounded by her power.

‘That is her special power. You already know about the power transaction when the transformation occurs, right? There are certain vampires whom are gifted with a special power that cannot be passed on. Like your teleportation power. It is yours completely to use,'

I controlled the bubbles and guided them into the pyramid, through the hole Rose had created. The shield bubbles popped as soon as it was inside the pyramid. There was no water in the pyramid. I felt weird and entranced all of a sudden.

I thought of the burning meadow and the draining sensation wore off. I covered Rose with my Shield, knowing that Jack could conjure his own. It was dark, too dark. That made me uncomfortable, and thus I couldn't really think in this type of atmosphere.

I focused my shield on the ceiling, and it glowed. The faint glow revealed a long hallway. A hallway of mirrors...

I translated quickly, for we were in a hurry.

‘LIGHT . FIND .’

OK. So, this was the next riddle. This one was quite challenging. I've never actually seen a riddle such as this. Therefore, I decided to match it with my mind. There was only one result and that seemed likely.

Suppose Rose could break them all...

The moment the thought came, a new word appeared, TRAP. But no, I decided against it for the word trap existed in the riddle. That way wouldn't prove wise for a trap might just prove to be a waste of time. It could also mean us trapped down here for all eternity. ‘Mirrors are used for reflecting light. The reason anyone would ever put – ’

‘Get to the point already...’ Rose muttered ‘Fine! Behind the mirrors lie something that will bring us to the asylum of the dead Queen –’

‘Wait a moment, you never mentioned a Dead Queen. If it's a Dead Queen we are going to face, then my guess is it's Queen Cleopatra. She died many years ago. That would explain the pyramid... Her asylum is her tomb and this is her tomb...' Jack stated in a mystified way. Somehow, his words seemed to make sudden sense. There was no trickery in there. My vampire mind matched all the unsealed accounts of the Dead Queen and matched them to Queen Cleopatra. It matched her, but I could sense that there was something. A detail that was left out.

‘Shall I continue? Yes, as I said earlier. Behind the mirror lies a passage that leads to the Queen's burial chamber,’ I said while scrutinizing the mirror nearest to me.

‘I am very surprised you can't find the solution to this. Jack, we have done this before, don’t you remember? When we came across the Circus of Humour. Foolish clowns, thinking they could fool me. if only they had known that I was a vampire...’ Rose muttered. Jack grinned and flashed a smile at her. I found the memory hidden in his mind. The clowns had planned to spook rose and they had only made her laugh. The clowns faced a cruel death and their life ended at her hands. I swished away the memory of her covered in blood.

‘Well? How are we going to find the passage? You do know that we can't smash the Mirrors..’

‘I know that already. I am not stupid and you should know I'm not going to do that. It's easier than that. No need to waste my power or my strength,’ she sighed again.

She traced her fingers over the nearest mirror and I could see long slashes descending down to the bottom. She balled her hand into a fist, and an electric ball appeared.

She brought it close to the s***h marks. The s***h seemed to absorb the electricity. The s***h marks were completely viewable. I could see them clearly, now.

The reflections appeared. All except one. Rose strode over to the mirrors and punched it. It shattered with a deafening crash. I could see a passage within it. Good God!

How could Rose know the solution, and I didn't? I closed my eyes and summoned the Voice. But it didn't come. But I could hear a faint whisper that said something about arrogance not prevailing.

Rose put her hands to my lips, before I could utter a word. She explained to me that reflection helps in identifying whether or not that behind a mirror is hollow.

If the mirror is hollow, it won't reflect light. So, that's how that concept works... Suddenly, there was a burst of light and I saw a figure standing within the broken glass.

A dark figure stood at the base of the stairs. Who or what could it be? Was it another riddle? Or perhaps, a Guard of the Ancient Cleopatra Tomb.

‘Oh Jacque! It really is you...’ Rose cried and hugged the figure.

‘Hello, Jacque,’ said Jack, shaking his hands.

‘Hi!’ I muttered, unenthusiastically.

‘Wow! Your mind is so awesome... All those secrets, but some of them were impossible to read though. But there was nothing on the matter we discussed, Jack!’ Jacque grinned. I knew he was mocking me. Luckily, I had managed to hide some information, like the location of Table Mountain. But Jack knew, so I doubted that it will remain a secret any longer.

Anger blew within me like a wind of fire. I felt like a volcano, ready to blow up. I tried my best to control my emotion, but as hard as I could, I couldn't.

Next, I had slammed Jacque hard into the wall. Jacque punched me away. I landed on a staircase I hadn't noticed before. It was made out of pure gold. The gold reflected my eyes, and I could see my eyes glowing a bright red. ‘Oh, no you don't!’ yelled Jacque, who aimed a punch at me. He leapt through the air, I felt him rushing behind me. He was aiming for my neck, I read his thoughts.

I shifted away, inches before his teeth came in contact with my neck. I turned myself invisible but Jacque could still scent me. I focused hard and then, I felt myself disappear. Awesome! I could teleport without Table Mountain.

‘Table Mountain acts as an assistant to help you teleport. That doesn't mean you can't teleport without it,’ my Voice muttered in an agitated tone.

‘Are you angry – ’

‘I am angry at your arrogance of becoming a vampire....’

I reappeared behind Jacque and I had his neck in teeth range. I flew at him, and sent him flying downwards. I rushed him and my teeth was against his jugular.

One rip, and poor Jacque would be sent to the other side. The other side is also known as The Light. It is a world where ' dead ' creatures or non – human dwell. The vampires who are ripped, are sent straight to The Light.

But not all of them are ' dead ' ones. Some of them volunteer to enter The Light. Within this world, there is no need for bloodshed or hunting. you could say that everyone lived together like friends. But most vampires don't wish to go in there.

This is mainly because they can't drink blood once in there. For vampires, blood is what they exist for...

‘Fine! I surrender...’ cried Jacque aloud.

‘Extraordinary... You are a very interesting newborn. I wonder, if the Elders might be interested in you...’ Jack seemed deep in thought, as he shook his head.

My hands dug deep into Jacque’s neck and all of a sudden, cracks started appearing. Silver blood dripped onto my hands and they felt itchy.

‘Hello? Jacque to Chris. I surrender....' Jacque groaned as pain erupted from his throat. I released my hand. I hadn't realized that I had smashed Jacque's collarbone. The neck was almost broken, but apart from that he was alright. I rose from the floor, and Rose rushed to him. I ran to the golden stairs I had seen earlier.

I felt dizzy all of a sudden, as pain broke through my head. I fell down, wriggling in pain. The pain overtook me unexpectedly and I passed out...