Saints Of Satan Chapter Three

After another half hours walk into the woods, Maria stopped us in a clearing, a small circle of land bare of anything but a leafy carpet. She sat down cross legged, and gestured for me to join her. I obliged, and took a place next to her. The vampyress patted my knee, then stared across the clearing.
I didn‘t follow her gaze, for I could tell what was waiting for my eyes to see simply by the foul odour of sweat and filth that emanated from the three forms stood out of my line of sight.
“It’s good to see the male vampires of today’s world still succumb to my stereotypes. Why, the fact I could tell you were tracking us this whole time simply by your disgusting odour, doesn’t exactly say much about your hygiene, does it? When was the last time you actually washed, hmm?” I spat, allowing Maria to see clearly what I thought of the three vampires standing at the edge of the clearing.
“Mind your tongue, we do not wish to quarrel, we are here strictly on business” one of the vampires said, his voice deep and commanding. I turned my head, seeing for the first time the three of them.
A large black man stood at the fore, and by large I mean massive. His veins looked set to burst amidst his rippling muscles, his plain black shirt pulled taught about them. I had a feeling the shirt was the largest he could find, and still that was only just enough. I wasn’t impressed, however, I had seen others twice the size of him in my time.
Behind the vampire were two others, less huge but still with good physiques. They could have passed off as being your average boxer, although with much paler skin. I only glanced over the two of them, but from what I saw they both looked pretty angry.
“Business?” I growled, coming to my feet and taking a step back as they began to surround me.
“Yes,” the black one said, “Business,” He turned and began walking. I looked to Maria, and she grimaced, then winked and nodded at me to follow.
A hundred yards and an awkward silence later, we reached a large clearing, fully equipped with a fire, four blankets and a few backpacks unzipped and billowing travel equipment.
The leader strode to his, and made a point of pulling a long hunting knife out and twirling it round his fingers as he took a seat on his blanket. The other three followed suit, and I stayed standing, my hands clenched into fists by my sides, eyes vigilant.
“My name is Jeremiah, my two accomplices are Jonathon and Michael. As I have heard, you and Maria have already met,” the large black man, Jeremiah, said. He glanced across at Maria, who gave him a sly smile, then he looked back at me and continued. “As I am sure Maria has already told you, there is a proph-”
“A prophecy, I know, but what of it?” I interrupted, not in the mood for a long speech by the vampire. Jeremiah smiled, showing his pearly white teeth, and his two fangs slowly grew from his incisors.
“How do you feel about the clan?” He asked, his eyes bearing down on me. I held his gaze, and leaned forwards.
“I am not here to be taunted, you know well my feelings towards that of the clan,” I hissed, then stood up tall, waiting for him to continue.
“You have been gone too long, too much has changed. The clan is breaking, vampires are challenging the lords, separate groups are forming, each with its own plan to seize the rest. A civil war is afoot, and soon the entire clan will fall in a clash of sword and blood.” He paused, then sighed “What you see here is one of the last remaining group of vampires still loyal to the lords. We and a scarce few others have stuck true to the old ways, and have not been led astray by words of deceit,” again he stopped, waiting for my response.
“Whose words of deceit? How could this have happened, the clan was near stainless when I was, well, you know...”
“Still have trouble talking about it?” Jeremiah smiled, although I gave him such a glare that he immediately set his face straight, business like. “We have not been told much. What with the prophecy and the oncoming civil war, the Lords have not exactly been given leave to explain to us every detail. All we have is his name, Francis. He was blooded eight years ago, and despite his age, is extremely powerful. The vampire has turned the minds of almost five dozen vampires against the clan and hasn’t stopped there. More and more are joining him with each passing day,” Jeremiah looked me straight in the eye, “And soon he will have enough to start an all out civil war on the rest of the clan.”
My eyes gave nothing away. “So what are you doing here? Why have you contacted me?”
“We are here,” Maria answered, “on behalf of the Lords. They have sent us to find help so that we can take down Francis before he overpowers the lords,” she looked at me hard. “There are so few still loyal to the cause, and we need all we can,”
I closed my eyes, realising what she meant.
“We are here because of you. The Lords need all the help they can get, and apparently you’re the best man for the job. Even if you are a traitor,” Jeremiah spat. My head snapped to, a fiery anger exploding through my body, overcoming my mind and sending me into a frenzy.
In a split second I was upon him. My fists rained hell onto his face, and in two seconds flat he was on the edge of consciousness, a torrent of blood erupting from his nose. I grasped his throat, pulling his head in close.
“If you don’t want me to rearrange your features, I suggest you listen closely,” Jeremiah nodded dopily, his eyes rolling uselessly in his sockets, I carried on, “I am no traitor. The Lords banished me for a crime I did not commit, and the very fact they have sent your pathetic arse down here, to ask for my help, really is the crime. Now heed my word, if you ever call me that again, I truly will kill you,” I hissed, then flung him back, his body crashing into a large oak, knocking him unconscious.
I turned to the other two, daring them to move. They stayed sat, looking a little shocked, but otherwise unaffected by my sudden display of rage. Maria stood, then walked slowly to my side, putting her arm around my waist and gently walking me back to my seat. She stayed sat with me, and after a few moments of awkward silence, began talking softly.
“What the Lords ask of you, I of all people understand is an unbearably bold, but times have changed. The laws of the clan are coming crashing down, and the Lords have put them aside in this time of need. In fact, one of the Lords has even changed, I’m sure if you gave him the incident from your point of view he would-”
“Enough,” I stopped her, then came to my feet. “I do not seek their forgiveness or understanding, I- I need some time to think this through,” with that, I strode past the unconscious form strewn out over the woodland ground and into the surrounding shrubbery.
My mind whirred, and I thought back to the last time I was in the clan, what the Lords had sentenced upon me.
“John Woodchuck, you are sentenced to the murder of Harry Harker and treason to the clan, what say you in your defence?” Lord James announced, his voice echoing around the dead silence of the crowded hall.
I looked up, trickle of velvet blood streaming from my mouth and staining my dirty shirt. “I say, that you have accused an innocent soul. The very fact you would assume that me of all people-” I trailed of, biting my lip as my intense anger began to submerge. I lowered my voice, barely audible around the huge hall, “I am on the brink of taking my place on a throne by your side. Why would I be ignorant and stupid enough to dash away what I have worked towards for five years with an attempt on another’s life?”
“Because he was your competition! You bastard murderer!” screamed a vampiress on the front row, placing her hands on the podium and baring her fangs.
“Vanessa,” I began softly, but she pounced before I could continue. She laid into me, and I let her. I would have done so without the bonds holding my hands anyway, she needed to let out her anger before we could talk. A raging few moments passed, and I began to fear she was going to kill me, when two guards seized her arms. She slapped them away, then raised her fist again. Tears welled in her bloodshot eyes, and she slumped down, quivering in a small bundle by my side.
“He was my lover,” she moaned, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks. One of the guards leant down and gently picked her up, he handed her to one of her friends who had been stood alongside her. After a minute of pushing through the crowd and a heartfelt soothing, she got to her feet and stood at the back, her glare more painful than her beating.
“Maria,” James said, addressing the slender vampiress beside me. “You are charged for the attempt on the vampires life and the assisted treason of the clan. How do you plead?” Maria gave me a desperate look, and I sighed.
“I did it,” I said, and she bowed her head, guilt clearly clogging her mind. “Let her go, she had nothing to do with it.” The Lord looked hard at me, his eyes giving a tinge of sympathy. James had been my mentor and he clearly didn’t believe me. I doubted he even thought for a moment I had committed the crime. However it was his place to sentence the punishment upon me, and I didn’t blame him. I would have done the same in his place.
“Let her go.” James commanded, and Maria steadily paced off of the podium, much to the distasteful and aggressive outbursts the crowd let loose. “Silence! Enough has been said. John Woodchuck, you are sentenced a punishment worse than death. You are hereby banished from the clan. When you are lost, in dire need of help, alone and desperate, we shall not come. When you are threatened and endangered, we shall not come. When you need us most, we shall not come,” He paused, taking a breath then reciting the line he had hoped he would never have to use.
“Leave these halls in shame, do not look back.”
I blinked, stumbling over a root as my memories washed away in a painful cloud shame. The Lords had banished me, for eternity. Lord James’ words had cu me deep, leaving a hallowed hole in the pit of my heart. I had been wronged, and instead of being forgiven I had been asked by those who had hurt me to help them? No I thought to myself.
I paced back to the clearing, purposefully treading on Jeremiah as I passed. I stopped by the fire, letting it bath me in flickering light, casting a shadow over my face.
“I have made my decision. In the words of the Lords: ‘When you need me most, I shall not come’” I spat, enjoying the moment. “You’re on your own,” my voice cut through the air like ice, and in a flurry I left the clearing, the woods, the village, and headed on into the distance.
♦

Mariah stood by Jeremiahs side. “I can’t say I told you so. He was hit hard by the Lords; it was slim chance he would accept anyway,”
“I’m glad. All he would have been is dead weight,” he said evenly, then turned and walked back into the clearing. Maria smiled to herself, enjoying the irony in his last sentence. She turned and gave him a prod in his bruised ribs, he winced and she said evenly. “Real dead weight,” then sat down on her bedding. The other two chuckled, although they all knew the problem at hand.
“Lords aint gonna like this,” said one of them, and the others silently agreed, cursing their luck and silently praying they had enough to take on the problem at hand.