Moonlight Crusade: Chapter 4, Part 1
Kyle learns a few more tricks and more about Ursula.
“The next Feat is called Devil’s Reflex. Essentially, it’s simply reacting with superhuman speed.”
“Okay,” Kyle said. “How does it work?”
She shrugged. “There’s no trick to it. You’ll simply spar with me until you learn it. Now, try to punch me.”
If he had considered swearing to be unchristian, then hitting a woman was downright demonic. Still, he decided to go with it since he was pretty sure she could take care of herself. With that, he threw an awkward punch.
The next thing he knew, he was on the ground. In front of the altar. Ursula stood triumphant over him. “What happened?”
“I grabbed your wrist and flipped you.”
“I didn’t even see it!”
She smirked. “The Devil’s Reflex allows us to move faster than any human. You have no experience using it, so you couldn’t react.” She helped him back to his feet. “Again.”
He extended his arm in another punch while trying to focus on her attempt to grab him. However, a sharp pain abruptly rocked his stomach. He doubled over, groaning. “What the…?”
She folded her arms. “I punched you in the stomach.”
“I thought you were just going to keep flipping me!”
She explained, “A large part of the Devil’s Reflex is anticipating your opponent’s actions. I can’t train you to only guard against flips. Don’t expect Kyrios or his family to be so considerate.”
He managed to straighten up. “Family? Does that mean they are a cult?”
“Not as you know it. You see, most vampires belong to a family called a manzil. I used to be a member of the Kyrios Manzil. However, there are many others. The manzil who reign over the smaller ones are called the Guide.
“Does that mean I’ll have to fight them as well?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know the whole future. Some events are more fixed than others.”
His eyes widened as he stared at her. “Wait, you can see the future?”
She gave a slight nod. “That’s my Satanic Gift.”
“Satanic Gift? What’s that?”
“Every vampire gets a special ability that can only be utilized by them. Don’t get your hopes up just yet; you’re not ready. You have to master the other Feats first.”
That was really cool, but it presented a problem. “Does everyone in Kyrios’ manzil have one?”
She shrugged. “I left the group a long time ago. Everyone who serves him now joined after that. I only know his Satanic Gift.”
“Which is?”
“You’ve already seen it for yourself. No one he turns can attack him. He leaves a piece of himself in everyone whom he injects with his blood.”
Interesting. It was somewhat of a relief as well. “You mean no other vampire has that power?”
“No. And even if they did, you’ve already been turned, so it wouldn’t affect you.”
He rubbed the back of his head. “Um… okay. Yeah.”
“We’ve talked enough. Let’s return to training whilst we still have moonlight.”
* * *
After two hours, Kyle collapsed to the floor, exhausted. Ursula had thoroughly kicked his butt. However, he didn’t think that was entirely the reason for his current state.
“What’s wrong?” Ursula said while standing over him.
He was on his knees with his palms on the floor struggling to hold him up. “It’s like the first time I gave blood.” He probably wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon. “I feel really sick.”
“Ah,” she said and bent down to put a hand on his shoulder. “Your metabolism finally resumed.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you notice you haven’t eaten anything since being turned?”
“I…” He had been too focused on his agonizing situation. And… “I wasn’t hungry.”
She explained, “When you’re turned, it’s a great shock to your system. Your body copes by freezing its metabolism. But after a day or so, it resumes with a bang. Simply put, you need to eat.”
A new kind of sickness came over him. Everybody knew what vampires sustained themselves with. “Please don’t say it.”
She did. “You need to consume blood.”
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no! I can’t do that! It’s too much!”
She smiled. “I think movies and television have given you the wrong idea. Come with me.”
Ursula led him downstairs to the dining hall. It was a plain white rectangle of a room with a small adjoining kitchen. She opened the fridge and removed a slab of white and pink wrapped in plastic. Kyle watched with fascinated dread as she put it on the counter top and unwrapped it. It appeared to be a very fresh cut of meat. Blood and all. Dear God, he was really supposed to eat this, wasn’t he?
He had expected some sort of bag or IV to drink blood from. “Won’t it be hard separating the blood from everything else?”
“Not at all. Place your palm on it.”
He did so, having no idea what was going to happen. The beef was cold and smooth with condensation still present. “What exactly is — ?”
His words were cut off when his palm attached to the meat with some sort of suction. His immediate reaction was to try and remove it.
“Don’t fight it, Kyle.”
Despite his apprehension, he managed to calm himself. He then noticed the blood on the beef was disappearing in the direction of his hand. More, importantly, though, his nausea was retreating swiftly. “Am I… sucking it up?”
“Yes,” Ursula said. “An elegant approach, for a more civilized age.”
What the…? “Did you just make a Star Wars reference?”
“I’ve been alive for centuries. Plenty of time to watch your popular films.”
His hand abruptly detached from the beef. There wasn’t a speck of red left on it now. “I don’t taste anything.”
She chuckled. “Of course not. You didn’t use your mouth.”
Kyle examined his palm, somewhat expecting to see a mouth or some sort of opening. But there was nothing. It looked completely normal.
Ursula explained, “The Feat is called Phantom Maw. It leaves no trace. A very clean way to feed.”
“And every vampire does it this way?”
“The refined ones, at least. Kyrios and his manzil still do it the old-fashioned way. However, they refuse to partake of Christian blood. You saw what they do with it instead.”
Jerry and Treia butchered, their essence drenching the room. Suddenly breathing heavily, he managed to quickly get the image out of his mind. But it would be back. It would never leave for good. “I want to kill them and I hate myself for that. Christ said to turn the other cheek, but I can’t do that with them. They need to feel the same pain as their victims. And yet, God wouldn’t want me to do that.”
He didn’t know how Ursula would respond to that, but she still surprised him. “Most people don’t understand him. Christians are taught that their god is a god of peace and love, but he condoned — and in many cases ordered — countless acts of violence.
“What do you think is his true nature?” Kyle asked.
“God is strong and proud. He rewards loyalty greatly but does not suffer disobedience.”
There was an obvious problem with that. “Then, shouldn’t he be the first to wipe out vampires?”
She said slyly, “Perhaps. But that would now include you. Many are victims who were turned against their will. Should they be punished for that?”
“I guess not. But nobody could possibly see Kyrios or his cult as victims. They’re monsters, every one of them.”
They began walking back to the sanctuary. “Most monsters were once victims, Kyle. A tragic incident or an abusive upbringing can shape anyone into a cold-blooded killer who knows only hate.”
He decided to ask the question that had been on his mind for a while. “What made Kyrios into a monster?”
“That is not my story to tell. But his blood is in you now, so you’ll find out soon on your own.”
He didn’t know what that meant, but it was clear she didn’t want to discuss it, so he didn’t pry any further. He did, however, continue to wonder about it as well as the other vampires with Kyrios. Like Chloe. What was her story? Why did she choose to serve him? He hadn’t picked up on any malice from her — or much of any emotion for that matter. He just didn’t know, and even if Ursula was feeling forthcoming, she didn’t know about any of the people with Kyrios anyway.
They soon arrived back at the sanctuary. “I think that’s enough for one night. Your skills are improving at an astounding rate. Tomorrow, we’ll pick it up again.”
