The Immortals of Sumer

Chapter Eight

I got upstairs to see Alexis already awake and checking her phone, which reminded me that I should, and I did as I woke up Lanie. Alexis was already getting up and stretching so Lanie was the one we were all waiting on to get dressed half an hour later. Alexis was begging Ruxandra for some coffee and I told her, “I’m sure that Lanie will need some coffee as well.”

Once Lanie got down here with the rest of us, I repeated what Ruxandra had suggested this morning and she happily helped convince them. “Hey, what do you guys think about going swimming before I meet with some lawyers at 3 PM? Who else needs a tan and some good laps around the pool for exercise?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes! I love pools,” Ruxandra said and she clapped.

Alexis chipped in, saying, “Yes to the tanning and f**k no to the exercise.” Lanie seconded that one.

I shrugged and said, “Cool, whatever, as long as we all get our asses into some swimsuits and let’s go!” It was fine as we ran back up to my bedroom to look at the swimsuits I have collected over the years. It was fine as we gathered our towels and our phones and AirPods and whatnot. When Michael and Brian followed us outside is when the girls questioned what their purpose was.

“My boyfriend thinks that with all the violence, finding the dead guys and seeing my stalker ex and whatnot had him concerned for my safety. Hence bodyguards for me and his sister, Ruxandra. There are two bodyguards watching her that are more hard to see since these two are always so close,” I explained away and Lanie thought that was so sweet and protective. Let’s not got here. Instead, I immediately lined up with the diving board and began to do a cart wheel, then a round off, then a back hand spring off the back board and arching my back into a dive as the water came closer.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the deafening silence that only water can give you. When I surfaced, the girls shouted that I was a show off and I splashed Lanie. An hour later, I got out of the water and grabbed our bong and some ice when Ruxandra brought out a baggie full of more weed. About two hours later, Lanie cussed as her phone went off and she said that she had to call her dad about pizza. Oh, yeah…Ruxandra and Alexis shared a whisper and giggled as they then got up and left without a word. What….? I got up, confused as hell, but then I sighed, thinking about jumping back into the water again.

As soon as it crossed my mind, I did it and dove into the deep end. When I surfaced, I realized Vlad was walking outside the house and up to the poolside. He seemed like he had something to say as he came up to me and offered me his hand. I slowly took it and then let him pull me from the pool. He looked over me, seemingly lusting after how barely clothed I was in my two piece bikini. I realized that he was remembering why he was here as he said, “My Uncle, Bogdan, and my brothers have decided to go on with the plan.”

“There is a new step in it, though; you will remain here with my bodyguards and your friends and school while I take care of everything to the East. Only then will I come back for you and bring you to our new home.” He was as serious as could be. He didn’t even wait for my answer. I was left beside the pool, dripping wet, and was too stunned to talk. Vlad strode away with intent and I wanted to scream or throw something at him and yet…This was what I wanted, I think…He was leaving but he was leaving me here with his two pets.

I sighed, wanting to fall in and drown at this point. I looked after where Vlad had entered the house, at the now closed door, with a scowl and whispered, “Well, good f*****g riddance,” before I just let myself fall backwards into the pool and held still, letting myself sink to the bottom of the pool as I screamed with every fiber of my being. I hated that bloodline and I hoped that everything bad that could happen to them did. However, now that I had screamed out all my air, I began kicking and pushing my way back to the surface.

I came up slowly, breaking the surface like the f*****g Grudge incarnate, and glared at the two vampires guarding me at the poolside. They shared a look and Michael sighed, knowing they were in for the ride of their lives because if they wanted to be paid to be around me then so be it! Work for it. I got out of the pool, my mood soured, and I wrapped the towel around me as I took off into the house to shower and get dressed. I had to be quick because I was sure that all of us girls were showering or had just showered so there wasn’t much hot water left.

I made sure to shampoo, scrub, condition and shave before stepping out of the shower, which sure enough had gone cold. I was blow drying my hair straight with my brush and getting dressed again when I hesitated. I went to the back of my closet to find my business suit. I grinned. It was a black blazer with thin white pinstripes, a blood red blouse, and a black pencil skirt. I matched it all with a velvet black choker and and red bottom Louboutin black heels. I spun in front of the floor length mirror on the back of my door and grinned.

Poor Vlad, first the morning after dress then bathing suit and now this skirt and heel combo…I couldn’t wait to torture him as I walked outside of my room and tried to peek over the spiraling grand staircase to see who was down there. It was 2:45 PM and I was ready so I went to the kitchen to grab a fresh, cold Monster and and then headed back up to the study. On my way up to the second floor, Bogdan joined me on the stairs and gasped. “You look so beautiful, my dear! Wow! The lawyers will have to take you seriously in that.”

“That’s the point or I wouldn’t be dressed up as a bimbo,” I said and he chuckled evilly.

“It’s amazing that you pull off whatever you try to wear, from Goth to corporate. You’re going to do well in our world. Now, let’s see what is going to happen,” he said as he opened the door to the library. There were four lawyers, three unremarkable men and a worked to death female, standing around the library table seemingly in the middle of an argument. Oh, boy…

“Miss Velden, it’s an honor to meet you and I have to say that this is the simplest case I have ever seen. Please forgive me for being so blatant but was your Uncle sick?” One of the male lawyers asked and the female sighed.

“First, what he meant to say, is on behalf of all of us, we’re sorry about your family’s loss,” she smoothed over and I realized she was the mother of the group, reining in the monkey children, making sure things happened behind the scenes. I was willing to bet she even changed the office ink on time so no one else had to even think about something so trivial. She was just that kinda woman.

“Secondly, my name is Miss Sanders, this is Mr. Lindon, Mr. Tyler’s, and Mr. Scott. Finally, we have reviewed your Uncle’s accounts, will, and the like and what Mr. Scott was trying to say is that your Uncle was very, very well prepared for any scenario, it would seem.” She cleared up and introduced herself.

I smiled at her as I shook her hand, unable to help myself from looking at her hands to see if there were ink marks. There were none so I looked at the men behind her instead. Bogdan stepped forward and asked for a report and they started laying it all out. Bogdan seemed to sense my overwhelming anxiety and started to break it all down in layman’s terms. It seemed Uncle was ready to pass on everything to me already but he hadn’t been sick or anything…

With him missing, there was a clause in his will about being incapacitated in any way to completing his duties meant to pass on such duties and responsibilities to me. Bogdan explained that with everything taken care of here, after today, the men would leave for war. As Lady of the house, I was to be good and remain docile here, like the damn olden days. What, was I supposed to learn crochet in the meantime?

Bogdan concluded with, “By signing this, you set into motion a new set of responsibilities for your family but you also set forth my family onto their future. Sign the papers, Lady Velden,” Bogdan said and I bit my lip, sighing. Talk about heavy…I leaned forward and signed here and there and then a couple of initials later, I felt like I had just signed my death certificate…

It truly had set into motion so much that day…

56 years later…

Uri, Tony, Jocelyn, and I were all tense as hell, ahead of the rest, hoping and praying that no one makes a sound and follows exactly where each of us has already stepped. The mark of the map was coming up. The tech was old-some iPhone 11 thing- but the map thing hasn’t been wrong yet. It was my great grandmother’s phone from 2023 with the screen somehow ‘screenshot’ with the map to our family home. My mother told me it was where it all started almost 30 years ago. When she was dying, she told me it was the last safe place-that Dracula would never look for our bloodline there again.

I had a hard time getting started, it was just a general picture of a map-the vampires gps tech nowadays is so much more precise and it follows you. This iPhone whatever was stuck on a broad map of a city that used to be called Velden or Veldare or something. I had to risk it and sneak in to use some of the vamps new tech to even find a reference to this Velden place. I saw enough to place that it was going to be a few states away and that was the first and last time I left a tech trail.

I had left an actual trail though on the way here because Tony-Jocelyn’s Army Ranger husband-had found our trail and us one night. When they found out who we were and where we were going, Tony was ready to abandon me and get very far away but Jocelyn, I don’t know, she saw something in me and stayed so he stayed. He warmed up to me eventually; my brother, not so much. The four of us have been trekking around the big cities, turning a normal person’s 18-hour drive into a 34 day long adventure.

Along the way, we found a mom and a little boy-Hayley and Hunter hiding in a basement cellar we had intended to sleep in for the night. They welcomed us and we welcomed them. After that, we found a group of other survivors-all I can really call any human not owned by a vampire. We were the hunted, the rebellious ones that refused a collar, the ones the vampires made it impossible to be and that was okay. I would take trees and rivers over a collar and being owned any day.

This group was close already and they seemed to-20 some days later-have melded right in with our group. Their leader, Devin, was a bit of a drunk at times and Uri and I didn’t like it but we all dealt with the world today in different ways so be it. Finally, as a group of 11, we made it to the mark on the map. We were so hungry and tired but the weather was gentle here. Sun filtered down through the forests’ leaves and a wind made the trees sway. A river was nearby based on the sounds of it.

I knew from the picture on great grandma’s phone there was a river that cut through the back corner of her uncles’ old property! We were finally getting there! Sure enough, the trees started thinning out before giving way for a clearing. The trees all stopped in a perfect circle to give some yard around this huge, worn manor. Hayley gasped behind me, rightfully so because huge houses like these usually weren’t left standing after the Pandemic of 2026. That was 57 years ago.

Any houses like this nowadays usually meant vampires parading around, partying, as slaves die for their entertainment…I shuddered now, not knowing what was waiting for us inside. A ten foot, cast iron gate wove around the huge dark manor’s driveway, ensuring limited vehicle access single file at the gate down front. The manor looked like a castle, only slightly smaller. Down the paved, but very cracked, driveway stood a Victorian Era manor; our new home. It was a two toned grey brick manor with a faded black roof. The inside was very dusty.

I came into the main entrance hall, gun pointed, scope fixed to my cheek and struggled to keep my jaw from dropping. In front of me was a mahogany winding staircase to the second floor with a beautiful gold chandelier enunciating the crème colored walls. The entrance hall flowed into the living room on the right and the dining room on the left. The pointed Gothic arch leading into both rooms was beautifully accented gold with gold Corinthian columns on both sides.

This place is huge! My family owned this? The living room had a beautiful hearth with old-fashioned gold moldings and the same dark mahogany wood flooring that you saw in the entrance hall. I saw ghost-like furniture covered in white sheets. Curiosity was burning in me so I pulled a sheet back for a peek or two. The furniture was a gentle crème color with dark wood including a divan, love seat, couch, and two chairs centered around a mahogany coffee table. Lots of sheets. The two stained glass windows were shaped with the same Gothic pointed arch.

The living room seemed to connect to a recreational room with leather furniture, a somehow still intact flat screen TV, and a minibar. Wow, this place hasn’t had electricity for years but my mind flicked through how cool it must have been to be raised here, great grandma sitting on the couch watching TV. No, back to business. Clear the house. Gun to shoulder, I went further into the house. It was silent except for my steps.

The recreational room connected to a library with floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelves filled with books and Victorian furniture placed here and there around the room with mahogany tables and old fashioned candle holders. There was a break in the book shelves for a hearth much like the others. It was great because all the candles in their holders and hearth meant this room would be the best to stay in during nightfall. The library connected to the sun room though. A weak point entry. Moving on…

The dining room to the left of the entrance hall was the same mahogany floor and crème walls with Victorian era styled chaired-more crème and dark wood- with a long mahogany table and a high arched stained glass window. There was a hearth in here as well and the same fancy gold accented moldings around the room. The dining room led to the kitchen which, like the recreational room, was “modernized” with stainless steel appliances and black marble countertops. The floor and walls were the same as the other rooms.

The kitchen was connected to the sunroom too, which was straight up renaissance looking with mahogany floors, stone walls, and arched stained glass windows. They were accented with gold velvet curtains and the furniture was gold velvet Victorian chairs that focused around a mahogany coffee table. How much gold crap does one need? I have always been partial to silver over gold any day. Oh well, first floor was cleared.

Up the winding stairwell, the first mahogany door you see was the master bedroom. The master bedroom had more mahogany floor but this room had gold tinted tan colored walls. I swear there was the most minute sparkle of gold fleck in this tan paint….The four poster mahogany bed had an off-white comforter with gold pillows and a gold valance. There was an old fashioned chest at the foot of the bed. The hearth was an off-white that contrasted well with the color on the walls. The ceiling was white with a gold chandelier.

There were mahogany dressers, a matching desk, and a matching bookshelf. The closet was huge and dark because there were no windows there so I didn’t take the time to investigate.. There was also an en-suite that was awesome! There was tons of counter space, white counters, with two gold sinks, white marble flooring, gold rimmed mirrors, a gold chandelier, with a marble and gold shower and a deep marble bathtub. I wished the water ran for this tub! My whole body ached for a hot bath.

There was that gold tinted tan color on the walls but the ceiling was white with gold moldings. It was all very beautiful even if it was gold and I knew that if we really did settle down here I would haul boiling water up here for a hot bath-no shits given. I wanna hot bath. The second door turned out to be an office study, which the master bedroom connected to. The office also connected to the balcony. The office was much like the library downstairs just with a mahogany desk and Victorian chair. Next to the office was the bathroom.

The bathroom was white marble counters, marble shower, a deep marble tub, gold moldings, and gold rimmed mirrors. All very fancy but all I really looked forward to was using that bathtub. I don’t think I have had a hot bath in over a year. It’s been waterfalls, rivers, and lakes as my bath the whole way here. It been everyone’s bath method for our whole lives but the uprooting has gotten bad. No one is staying in one place long enough to boil water to bathe. But my mom swore that Dracula wouldn’t look here.

I don’t know why but she always said this place haunts him. Fine. I knew I had to clear it out so that we can settle for once. At the end of the crème colored hallway was a mahogany door that led to the first guest bedroom. Clear. The first one, since there were three, was beautiful, of course. It had a mahogany four poster bed with a gold comforter, green sheets, and gold-fringed green pillows. There was a huge crème-gold carpet over the mahogany floor with gold crisscrossed green curtains over the windows-no stained glass this time- and a mahogany gold divan next to the mahogany hearth.

On the other side of the bed were two dark wood dressers and a matching wood bookshelf. It also had dark wood French doors that opened onto the balcony. Weak entry point. Back in the hallway, I turned left and the second guest bedroom was on the right while the door to the third guest bedroom was on the left. The second guest bedroom was the same dark wood floors, hearth, bed, and dressers. The bed comforter was blood red and so were the curtains on the window and the furniture. The walls were crème colored. In place of the bookshelf was a dark wood writing desk.

This room didn’t connect to the balcony though. Empty. The third guest bedroom didn’t either. Clear. It too had mahogany floors, a wood hearth, wood furniture, and tall windows. The four poster bed comforter was a damask pattern of royal blue and gold with gold fringed blue pillows. The mahogany dresser, desk, and bookshelf were on the right of the bed and on the left was a hearth with Victorian chairs and a dark wood coffee table in front of it. The curtains were damask gold and there was a gold chandelier lighting the room.

One thing I did notice was that most rooms had a hearth and either a chandelier or candelabras on the nightstands. Who designed this? I mean it was all very ostentatious with the gold and marble and chandeliers and stained glass. What was up with the stained glass anyway? It was only on the first floor apparently and I think I saw it on the circular attic window piece. Actually, there was a third floor according to the blueprints that I’d studied on the way here.

You could go up the winding staircase to the third floor but every door there was locked so all you got to see was the crème walls, mahogany floor, and mahogany doors. I called down to them and I took the stairs two at a time to get to the main entrance. The rest of the group was coming towards the manor with contempt.

“Home, sweet home, y’all,” I muttered as we shuffled inside. Uri looked right at me and said,

“This isn’t sitting well, sis.” And he was right about that; this was once our family history but Dracula was haunted by it so we never got to experience life here ourselves…deep down I worried that this was gonna haunt me now.

.(•).

The vampires black leather heels clicked on the marble as she walked to the Vampire Kings office. It was almost dawn so everyone young was going to bed but she strode forward with intentions. She was so giddy to be the one sent to see him. Every other vampire in her office was jealous of her right now. She had the printed up information in a folder in the crease of her arm but she had the electronic version pulled up on her phone and was sending it to the Kings email herself! His email. For a two hundred year old vampire, she was like a child right now with her excitement to see the King.

She wore the tightest red dress today and damn was she glad she had; it’s rumored that red was his favorite color. She wondered if he would notice her dress as she knocked on his office door. “Come in,” was barely heard through the door and, for some reason, it made her step into his office more timidly. She was hit immediately by his aura and fear clenched her gut for a moment before she shook it off internally. He was so handsome, dark hair short and curling at its ends.

His eyes never looked up from the papers in his hand but he reached out to her with his free hand and she got giddy again before she remembered the file in her arms and handed it to him. “My King, the intelligence sector sent this with urgency,” she said and he grabbed it and dropped it on his desk. Oh no…her boss had told her to ensure he read the contents and she come back with new directions. “ My Lord-”

“Why are you still here?” He asked, deadly quiet. She started to tremble a bit as she stuttered out:

“My boss said I was to return with your new instructions as it is dire.” He sighed, clearly annoyed, but never looked at her once. He picked up the file he had put down and then flicked up the cover with his long finger. Suddenly, he growled, standing up and taking the air out of the room as he did so.

She shrank back as he finally looked at her and asked, “When was this?!”

She was panicked. “Um, over a month ago, Sire, the intelligence division was going over what they took but they didn’t break in to take anything. If you look at the last pages, the picture of the girl that broke in and what she was looking for is all the data complied on the back! My boss just wanted to know about her photo-do we post her wanted dead or alive, my King?” she said. He looked away from her and she felt a little better. This whole meeting has left her strange feeling. He looked at her again and she nervously held onto his every word.