CHAPTER FIVE

"What? You serious?" Terry questioned Alison, "A vampire huh?"

Alison nodded her head, "Yeah... A vampire just something you need to be prepared for."

Terry thought for a moment looking toward the stairs, "Aren't they considered monsters? Like they have to kill other people to eat right?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about that. Look Bezel is a great leader and he may have to feed on blood now and then but in the end, he is the lord of this region and the king is aware of his... condition." Alison smiled walking to the red-carpeted stairs motioning Terry towards her, "His chambers are this way."

Terry bit his lip and stood still and, as he was about to speak Erebus interrupted him.

Erebus made a chuckling sound in Terry's head, "You aren't scared of a vampire are you, Terry? It seems you keep forgetting how powerful we really are now."

(Yeah but...)

"No buts there should be nothing that you fear now." Erebus seemingly growled in Terry's head.

Terry gulped but walked toward Alison toward the stairs, "Where did Dragoncal... I mean Darryl go?"

Alison then guided Terry up the stairs, "Oh D went out to report your arrival to the circle."

Slowly they made it to the top of the stairs Alison stopped in front of an ornate door across from the stairs. Terry looked at her for a moment and sighed figuring this was Bezel's chambers. "What will Darryl tell the circle about me?" Terry questioned.

Alison put her hand to her chin, "Hmm, Well he'll probably just tell them your affinity and that you are a tome finder. Anyway, let's go inside so you can meet the lord." Alison smiled pushing the door open.

When the door opened Terry looked forward the room appeared to be well lit even though there was no source of light. (Odd.) He thought to himself walking into the room. Alison closed the door behind him.

Terry noticed a small boy get off a large chair that was in front of him. The boy began to silently approach Terry not making a single sound as he approached so slowly. Terry smiled and kneeled, "Hi kid do you know where lord Bezel is?"

The boy froze with his bright red eyes growing wide. "How can you see me?"

"You aren't invisible little guy," Terry said with a smile.

"But… there isn't any light in here you shouldn't be able to see me."

"Nah kid. You don't know anything about the dark," Terry said with a short laugh., "It's bright as day in here. No darkness at all. I guess the room's enchanted to be lit up…. So where is the master of this mansion?" Terry smiled.

"I am." The boy said seemingly growing aggravated.

As the boy spoke Terry noticed fangs in the boy's mouth and Terry remembered the warning that Allison gave him earlier. "Oh, I see…." Terry smiled, "Why were you trying to sneak up on me?"

"Because… It's fun." Bezel said as his stomach grumbled loudly, "How do you see in the dark better than me?"

Terry blinked a couple of times, (Are we in the dark?)

"Yes, Pitch black darkness. But we see darkness as light." Erebus said.

(That would have been good to know.)

"You knew," Erebus said with a disinterested tone in his voice.

"I'm just good at seeing in the dark," Terry muttered after a long pause.

The young boy smiled widely looking into Terry's eyes. "Your scent… it's familiar… I know that scent you belong to me, don't you?"

"What do you mean?" Terry questioned.

"No there isn't any mistaking it. You came from the solitary orphanage a few miles, away haven't you?" Bezel said with a lick of his lips.

"What of it?" Terry questioned.

"So, you are my meal for the day!" Bezel said with a tilt of his head and a larger smile appearing on his face.

"What… are you talking about?" Terry questioned refusing to accept the obvious truth.

"Hmm... you don't get it, do you. Well..." Bezel turned to his desk and sat down with the same smile frozen on his face, "You are an orphan from that old orphanage... and in that orphanage, a tome finder by the name of Maya works for me. Children who wouldn't be adopted are sent to me. It keeps anyone from missing in the city and we have an unending supply of orphans thanks to the war on the golems." Bezel put his hands up to his chest letting his fingertips touch.

Terry swallowed what felt like a lump in his throat, "Are you saying that you..."

"That all the kids that went missing in the orphanage through your whole life had their lives ended by this so-called kid.... and your matron handpicked the children that went missing."

Terry almost felt sick to his stomach he didn't want to believe it, "Your lying! No one in my orphanage ever went missing."

"Are you sure about that? Usually, the matron there covers it up with a silly story or something along the lines of someone was playing and fell down a pit never to be seen again... to be honest, I think the pit story became her favorite and it kept the orphans in line."

"I…" the slickening feeling in Terry's gut grew even stronger taking away his very ability to speak.

"Calm down... Let me be honest with you Terry. You were the first. You were the first to fall into where I was trapped. All the ones that you were told fell down the pit you fell must have been offered as blood sacrifices to this vampire. Sickening feasting on children."

Terry's eyes grew wide his heart started to beat fast just as it used to when he cast magic before he had Erebus, "Why?" Was the only thing Terry could think to say.

"We have to make people useful. I even went through making a magic training class for you orphans." The boy licked his lips, "Your lot are so much tastier with awakened magical powers."

"You…. monster." Terry growled.

"I'm not a monster. I just made use of the useless. I have to feed somewhere. What's wrong with using my livestock."

"Humans are not livestock!" Terry yelled.

"Why not?" Bezel said with a yawn putting his hand over his mouth.

"I use humanity as a resource that's all they are. They make great slaves... builders oh and food. Humanity is the perfect livestock. All you have to do to keep humanity happy is give them an illusion of progress and hope just with that they will do as they are told."

"Your wrong! No human should ever be seen as that. Every person has dreams. Every person has a future and hopes you can't just take that away from them. It's wrong!" Terry exclaimed finally finding his voice again.

The boy smiled, "You have no right to lecture me, child. Do you have any idea how long I have been alive? So long that I have lost count. It has been at least a millennium that I have been stuck in this twelve-year-old body. I have wisdom and experience that far surpasses yours."

Erebus spoke in Terry's mind, "He's about to attack if he makes a single lunge or moves to where you cannot see him, I want you to put your hand out calmly and say suspend. It will buy you some time." Erebus was calm and almost sounded as if he was giving Terry a basic lesson in his powers.

"Thank you," Terry said out loud.

"Who are you talking to?" Bezel questioned.

"Terry smiled, "Let's this over with shorty." Bezel licked his lips and lunged towards Terry with superhuman speed. Terry rose his hand as Erebus suggested and spoke, "Suspend." Black tendrils descended from the ceiling and swiftly seized Bezel inches away from Terry's face. The tendrils then almost with sentience pulled Bezel up leaving him suspended from the ceiling.

"What? What is this magic? What did you?!" Bezel was panicking.

Terry smiled, "how does it feel to be helpless just like the children you murdered?"

"Shut up.!" Bezel yelled flailing uselessly acting like the child he appeared to be.

"Nah," Terry said with a strange feeling overtaking him almost making him feel empowered. Spells began to flow into Terry's head almost from nowhere. "Ensnare," Terry said with his arm still outstretched. The tendrils responded squeezing their captive tightly causing Bezel to gasp in pain unable to scream out from the pressure on his lungs. Terry sighed looking at the squirming Bezel trapped in his tendrils, "You were our lord? I don't know why I was looking forward to meeting you…. You are quite disappointing."

The squirming mass could not make a sound to respond to Terry's taunts,. Terry walked back to the door he came in and attempted to push it in quickly realizing that it was locked with magic. "Just imagine the barrier was gone and say dispel and the enchantment should go away," Erebus said in Terry's mind.

"Dispel," Terry said calmly almost in synch with Terry's words the door opened.

Alison opened the door, "Sorry for barging in guys you were just taking a long time...." Alison was cut short seeing the writhing mass of black tendrils holding a flailing mass on the ceiling. "W...what did you do?" She questioned dropping a glass pitcher of tea that she had prepared for herself and Terry. "What did you do?" Alison questioned Terry as the sounds of muffled agonized screaming filled the room.