Chapter three

Ace walked into the club, he hated the smell of clubs. It always smells of human heat, sex, arousal, drugs, smoke, alcohol, etc, and ironically he uses all the things mentioned above except drugs, the only drug he has ever taken is red smoke. He is addicted to smoking, sex is a habit already and his body system is so used to alcohol that it now mistakes it for water. If not that vampires don't get drunk he would have been an alcoholic.

He caught a wave, his eyes followed it and saw that the hand belonged to none other than Wyatt.

He walked over to him, "your best friend is not with you tonight, that's odd," he remarked.

Wyatt smiled lightly, for some reason he seemed to be on edge tonight which is quite rare.

"He is with me, he just went over to the bar to get some drinks. Do you want some?"

"No thank you. I'm cutting on the alcohol for today, I had my tooth changed so doc asked me not to take anything that isn't water for the next 24 hours,"

"Oh, well then. Can we get into our discussion for tonight?"

He waited, the sooner they had this discussion the sooner he got out of this place before he was tempted to grab a scotch.

"Ace, ah. You and I go a long way back,"

"Yes we do," he said with a note of impatience. If he wants something from him all he needs to do is ask, he doesn't mind helping him although there is nothing he can possibly do for him that he couldn't do for himself.

"We have covered each other's mistakes in the past, remember when you were in the game newly, you fucked up big time and I saved your ass,"

"Yes, I can never forget that day. I owe you for that day and you know it. Thank you for that day, I'm grateful."

Wyatt nodded his head.

"After all these–"

"Sire, you know how much I don't like to be delayed and I'm not really in the right frame of mind now so please go straight to the point."

Wyatt cleared his throat, " oh yeah, the throat change isn't it, how are you holding up?"

"I'm holding up just fine, so will you go straight to the point so I can leave?"

"I thought you will love it here, we can change venue if you want,"

"No, it's okay. We are here already so we better get this done,"

"Okay, I have a family,"

"Really? Why is that not a surprise?" came his sarcastic response.

"I better be more specific, I have a daughter,"

"Okay, so what does that got to do we why I'm here,"

"She is my only daughter and her mother is the one I loved. She's dead,"

The smell of old pain cut rose from him.

"I'm sorry for your loss, how old is she?"

"She's about 10 years old,"

"You want me to babysit her while you do some nasty job, I could do that but if she pops on herself then she has to clean up herself,"

Wyatt gave an awkward laugh, "I won't call it babysitting but it's something along that line,"

"I'm gonna be real with you, I'm being hunted, not just by hunters but by another colony, the black tide colony. Ever heard of it?"

"Yes I have, I have quite a lot of enemies there, well go on," he said stiffly.

"Well, they have been searching for me lately."

"Everyone has been searching for you lately, you just disappeared. When you called and told me to meet you here I thought it was a prankster so I came ready to beat the crap out of him," he said and opened the right side of his jacket revealing a set of knives, small delicate knives that can scar you for life.

"So the part of them searching for you isn't new, skip to the important part, the smell of this place is gradually getting to me."

"Alright, so long story cut short, they now know I live here in New York City amongst humans but they don't know where I live as of yet. I had a vision of them yesterday where they found me, and my family, they killed my wife, son, and daughter,"

"Wait for a second, I thought you said you only had a daughter,"

"No I didn't, I said have a daughter,, I just never mention having a wife and a son, my daughter is more important, she is the only connection I have to my late wife,"

"She is Gloria's daughter? How come none of us knows you both had a daughter before you left? How many secrets do you actually have.?"

"Don't answer the last question, it's none of my business,"

"Gloria was a human, it was clear enough and she wanted our child to be raised properly, she wanted her to live a normal human life, go to school, learn how to ride a bike, make friends, go to prom, etc it was her dying wish,"

"And now?"

"And now she is in school, she has learned how to ride a bike, soon she will be going to prom but she doesn't have friends which remind me of her mother, she had only a friend and she was a roommate,"

Ace couldn't help but notice how Wyatt's eyes lit up as he talked about his daughter and late wife, the hidden joy and sorrow behind those eyes served as a reminder to him that love brings nothing but momentary joy and perpetual sorrows.

"So if I get the math right, some people are after you so you want me to look after your daughter for you for a while while you deal with those punks after you huh?"

"Not quite. The vision I had was a prophecy, it's either they kill my family or I take up my birthright as one of the elders in the realm,"

"Shit! Are you?-- what the actual fuck! You are a descendant of one of the elders? That's a very good thing you know,"

"I know but I don't want to be reverenced, I want my life with my daughter and my family at large. The realm council tried to warn me that delaying accepting my birthright will only spell doom for mankind and vampires but I refused to listen now the vision is as clear as day, I have no choice now but to go to the realm, I can't stay here again for more than a day else I'll be risking the lives of my family,"

"Hmm, this is some tough responsibility, I don't wish to be you right now."

"I don't wish to be me right now. So all I'm asking is for you to care for my daughter, you don't need to look after my son and wife, my best friend will look into that for me."

"Okay, so you want me to look after your human daughter knowing my hatred for them is sky-high. I was dealt with by humans when I was one of them so now I don't want to have anything to do with them but since you asked and because she is your daughter I can make that exception,"

"Thank you but that isn't the whole truth. She is half-human,"

"Jesus Christ—"

"She may not, therefore, make it through the change. I won't be there for her because of this shit I have to deal with, you're the closest purebred vampire I know and trust right now. If you help her she has a better chance of surviving the transition into a half breed."

"Shit! I can't do this. I've got so much on my plate right now and you are indirectly asking me to care for her for a lifetime and I can't do that. I thought it will be something I can do temporarily, and you know my case with the aristocracy, if I make another mistake I can be banned for life and that isn't something I want right now,"

Sadness, agony, and disappointment hit him hard, all three emotions weren't foreign to him so they did nothing.

"I'm sorry but if this is all you want me to do I can't, you have to ask someone else," With that, he stood up from the seat and held Wyatt by his shoulders.

"I am indebted to you but this is beyond me, if there is another way I can repay you I will but not this,"

"Think about it, please. You are the best shot I have at this–"

Wyatt stopped the sentence midway, his eyes popped out, and he stood up all of a sudden.

Mark, who had been staring at the two as they conversed, knew something was wrong so he quickly rushed to his friend.

"The Dark Chronicles– the chronicles, tidal–Guatemala–" he muttered incoherently. A great wave divided the sea of people in the club and it pulled Wyatt from where he stood, it took him outside of the club as everyone watched in awe. Mark and Ace ran after him but when they got outside, before their eyes he vanished into thin air.