Reese Ch. 04

"I am responsible only for myself and my lack of action," Donatello replied. "I cannot use the excuse that there were others, but I'm afraid that there is more. After I left the man, I went to Paolo Rossi's home because I had been summoned- I was going there when the man stopped me. I had expected to find him gravely ill, but what I found was a party. I couldn't believe it! There were two senators that had been on their death beds the day before eating and drinking! How can this be? I asked Paolo. Is there a cure for this illness? I looked around to see bodies on the floor with gaping wounds in their necks and groins. What is this madness? I asked.

I cannot die! Paolo screamed and then laughed. How would you like to live forever? I thought that he was drunk-except he wasn't. I took a closer look at him and noticed that he was pale. Then I noticed the small holes in the side of his neck. The first word that came to mind was vampiro, but I was a man of science and did not believe in such creatures. Before I knew it, I was being offered the chance to become an eternal being. It sounded so promising ... I told myself that if I converted, I would have an eternity to make a contribution to mankind. You see-I was already feeling guilty for my past actions."

"What was the catch?" Vangie asked. "There's always a catch-what did you have to promise in return for your immortality?"

"Nothing on the face of it," Donatello replied. "I had to agree to help them if the need arose. I could not ask questions- I was only to obey. At the time it seemed like such a small thing but I now know that it wasn't. I spend each day wondering when I am going to get a summons. That is why we moved so frequently although it was pointless. As my makers they can find me anywhere."

"Who are they?" Vangie asked.

"The Borcelli's- Cristiano and his mate Elena. They give the appearance of being benign but they are as malevolent as they come. It is them that I was running from, but I believe that there is another who is looking for me, but once again, I am ahead of myself. The next thing that I am about to tell you will confirm that I am a horrible man.

You are aware of the galas- what I haven't told you is that the Borcelli's are the hosts. I was invited to one gala as were the others who were turned with me that night. Elena Borcelli is a beautiful woman. Like you are not only my mate, but my slave; it is the same for her and Cristiano. Cristiano is a cruel master as Elena found out at the gala. Apparently, Elena disobeyed Cristiano by sleeping with a human male. He might have forgiven her for that if she hadn't turned him. I don't know the entire story, but there was a reason why Cristiano didn't want this particular male turned."

"Oh god... Vangie whispered, "What did he do to her?"

"I don't know what he did to her before the gala, but I can tell you what happened to her during the gala because-I was a part of it as was Paolo Rossi and at least twenty others. Vangie-we used her in every way imaginable. I was drunk on my new life and thrilled that my cock could stay up all night. I was thrilled to have a chance to use it and it didn't matter who I used it on. Cristiano allowed us to do something to her that was rare- we were allowed to come inside of her..."

"You did that?" Vangie asked shocked and appalled. "Twenty of you abused that poor woman? What if she had gotten pregnant? I know what you're saying about your new life but Donatello..."

"I know and it's not something that I'm proud of," Donatello said. "It is one of many things that I wish that I could change. That was the first and last gala that I had been invited to- we were invited there just as punishment for Elena. Cristiano knew that we hadn't yet adjusted to our new strength and used us to hurt his mate."

Vangie shook her head in disbelief that her mate could have done something as horrific as he had just described and then there was Lisbeth...

"I know that there's more, but I need a break," she said fighting back tears.

"Of course, are you hungry?"

"I can't eat right now... I'll be back later."

Donatello watched Vangie walk away. She loved him and would be back but he knew that he had hurt her. He questioned his wisdom in telling her about Elena, but she had to know. While he waited, he went to the office and logged onto the desktop. He went to the news site first hoping for more news of Paolo.

"Here's the scoop," the pretty faced male reporter said. "Paolo Rossi is still missing. Investigators did find a pile of dust in one of the basement playrooms, but aren't sure that it belongs to Rossi. My guess is that it's him. All of his servants are still missing as are the party favors that didn't leave with guests... wait... It has just been confirmed that the dust is indeed Paolo Rossi! The next question is --who killed him? Stay tuned and I'll keep you updated..."

Donatello logged off of the site and went to the Borcelli web site. There was still no guest list, or any other details listed. He half wondered if there would actually be a gala. As far as he was concerned, he could have cared less. He wasn't going even if he was invited- but then he wouldn't be invited-he would be summoned and there was no getting around that.

He needed to relax. He logged onto the chess website and was glad to see that he had several games to catch up on. Before he started, he looked through the list hoping that his favorite opponent had played. He wasn't disappointed. He had played not more than three hours ago. Donatello started with the easiest opponent and ended with his most challenging one- his favorite opponent. Before taking his turn with him, Donatello went to check on Vangie. She was sitting on the back porch looking out into the darkness.

"I need more time to process things," she said without looking at him.

"I know dear heart," Donatello replied. "Let me know when you are ready to continue."

He could have forced it, but this wasn't the bedroom where he had control. They were now equals and he had to allow her time to process what she had been told. He went back to the desktop and began staring at the board. He saw a move, but didn't take it-it was too easy. He looked again and saw the trap. If he had taken it, he would have been forced to expose his queen.

"Nicely played," Donatello murmured as he examined the board for another move. He found another move, hesitated and just as he was about to take it; he saw another trap. "Aren't you the smart one?" he muttered under his breath. Once again, he wondered about his opponent. Whoever it was --they were obviously brilliant. He toyed with the idea of sending a message but nixed the idea. He was taking enough risks as it was. He felt Vangie standing behind him and waited to see what she would do. If she touched him, all would be well. If not...

He felt her indecision and he understood. It was one thing to not help those in need and another to have taken part in the abuse of another. She stood behind him for several long minutes before she placed her hands on his shoulders. Donatello let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and placed his hands on top of hers.

"Let's finish this," Vangie said hoping that there were no more horrific secrets. It had taken her some time to reconcile the man that Donatello was with the man that she knew him to be.

Donatello logged off and followed her to the living room. When they were sitting, he took her hands in his, brought them to his lips and kissed them.

"Thank you for understanding..."

"I don't understand," Vangie interrupted. "I don't understand how you could do what you did and I don't think that I ever will. The bottom line is that I love you and the man from that time is gone now tell me the rest of it."

"So," Vangie said when Donatello was through, "You think that the same person killed Rossi and some of the others who were turned with you."

"Yes and I believe that whoever it is will come after me as well."

"Do you have any idea of who it might be?"

"No," Donatello replied, "It could literally be anyone including one of us that were turned that night. There is only one other than myself left and the Borcelli's"

Vangie began tapping her fingers on his leg-something that she always did when she was thinking. Donatello couldn't remember when she started doing it, but at first it had annoyed the hell out of him. It hadn't taken him long to realize that it helped her to think and he stopped complaining about it. He loved watching her during those times. Her eyes were closed and her face scrunched up so that her nose crinkled. He watched her chew her lower lip unaware that her fangs had descended.

"Sweetheart..."

"We have to figure out who it is," she said suddenly. She frowned, touched her lips with her fingers and then looked at them. "I guess I'd better be more careful."

Donatello leaned forward and licked her lips clean before replying.

"You will learn to control that-what do you mean that we have to find him?"

"We have to find him before he finds us. Maybe if we talk to him... and do you want to know what I think? I think that if he had a choice between you and the Borcelli's he'd choose them."

"What are you proposing?" Donatello asked.

"I propose that we find him-and it is a him and offer to help him get rid of the Borcelli's..."

"Vangie..."

"Hear me out-you're at the beck and call of the Borcelli's right? They could call you at any time and demand that you do something for them and you would have no choice but to obey am I correct?"

"That's true, but Vangie the Borcelli's are centuries older than I am. Not only that, how do you plan to find this person? Where would you even begin?"

"Let me worry about that," Vangie replied her eyes glittering. She loved puzzles and this was a huge one. Her gut was telling her that if she didn't solve it, she would lose Donatello and that was unacceptable.

"What do you need from me?" Donatello asked oddly calmed by Vangie's take charge attitude.

"I need you to run your programs over the laptops and desktop-better yet I need another laptop. I need one with every bell and whistle imaginable and with the top of the line security system. I'll merge your system with that system and create a double wall of sorts-what?" Vangie asked when she realized that Donatello was looking at her.

"I... nothing... I had forgotten just how brilliant you are, but Vangie this is a dangerous game that we're playing. If the Borcelli's even suspect that I'm betraying them-we're both dead."

"If we sit here and wait for him to find us we're dead anyway. I don't know about you, but I would rather try to find a way out of this."

"Agreed," Donatello said after a few minutes. "But before we continue, you need to feed."

"Okay," Vangie replied absently. She was already making plans on how to find the unknown threat.

*****

"What are we going to do?" Jean asked Lewis.

"What can we do but follow his directions?" Lewis replied. "Edgar is safe for the moment..."

"I still think that we should call my father-how would he know?" Jean asked.

"Jean-listen to me," Lewis said with patience that he didn't feel. "That vampire went to party, manipulated things so that he could get Paolo alone. He kills him and gets away with it- What does that tell you about him?"

"We could turn him in-murder is punishable by death. We could make a deal with him-tell him that he'll live if he tells us where Edgar is."

"Jean-no. I forbid you to contact your father or anyone else for that matter. For one thing, he would know. He wouldn't hesitate to kill Edgar and do you know who he would come for next? You! Edgar told me that the room he's in is warded. That means that even if we found the house, we still wouldn't find him. I would also bet that the house is warded too. So even if we captured this Giovanni Barresi, we still wouldn't find Edgar. Our best hope in getting him back is to do as we're told."

"I think that you're giving this Barresi character too much credit..."

"And you didn't meet him!" Lewis snapped. "He's a man on a mission and that makes him even more dangerous. I repeat- do not contact your father and do not talk of this to anyone."

Jean agreed albeit reluctantly.

*****

Reese took his turn on the chess website and logged off. He had finally come up with a compromise regarding Edgar. He needed him-that was all there was to it. Without Edgar, Lewis wouldn't help him. The question was how much did he really need Lewis? All he really needed was to get invited to the gala... once that was done, he wouldn't need Edgar, but what was to stop Lewis from reneging? To complicate things even further, Marco had claimed Edgar. If he released Edgar, Marco would die protecting him.

Reese logged back on to the chess website and pulled up an empty board. He began to move pieces onto the board. Each piece represented someone. The black king and Queen represented the Borcelli's; the white King and Queen represented him. Edgar, Lewis, Jean and Marco were pawns. He realized that he had no knights or did he? He was sure that the Borcelli's did and he needed to find out who they were. As far as pawns... maybe the doctor and Emilio-but who else?

Looking at the chessboard helped. Finally, he came to a decision. He was going to let Edgar go, but not before he had an invitation to the gala in hand. As much as he wanted to, he wouldn't be able to go as himself. It was going to be hard enough avoiding Elena. He was certain that she would know him if only by scent. There had to be a way around that too.

But first things first-Edgar-what to do about Edgar...let him go, but he had to do something first. He picked up the phone and called Marco.

"What?" Marco snapped.

"We need to discuss Edgar," Reese replied ignoring Marco's tone.

"What about him and why do you want to include me now? You didn't care before."

"Are you going to pout like a spoiled brat or are you going to listen to my proposal?" Reese asked his tone icy. He had no time to soothe hurt feelings.

"I'm listening," Marco grumbled.

"I have been trying to get around needing Edgar to continue my plans...."

"You're not going to release him are you?" Marco asked.

"Do not interrupt me," Reese said sharply. "As I was saying, I need Edgar. There is no getting around it. I am going to release him into your care..."

"You are?!"

"Marco..."

"Sorry... continue," Marco said contritely.

"But that does not come without its risks. I will present these risks to you and you need to think very carefully before you reply. First, I will take some of Edgar's blood-that way I will always be able to locate him no matter where he is. Secondly-he will be your responsibility. If you try to run off with him-I will find you. If you try to betray me in any way-I will find you and kill you both. While he is with you, he will be allowed one phone call per day to his father and it will last for no longer than a minute. If you decide to do this, he goes to Germany with us. Just so that you are aware, he will be a walking ward."

"A walking ward?" Marco asked. "What in the hell is that?"

"I will ward Edgar as well as the house," Reese explained. "He will be visible only to you and me."

"So we could go out?" Marco asked his voice filled with hope.

"You could," Reese replied, "but I wouldn't suggest it. In a matter of weeks this will be over and you and Edgar will be free to do as you wish. Think about it- I will call you tomorrow."

"Reese- can I ask you something?"

Marco took Reese's silence as consent.

"What are you going to do when this is over? Will you kill yourself? Your entire existence has been about finding these people and now it's almost over. What are you going to do?"

Reese hadn't thought about it and he wasn't going to think about it now. There was too much to do. Instead of telling Marco this, Reese hung up. He wasn't going to say anything to Edgar or his parents until Marco had given him his decision. Reese already knew what he was going to decide, but he had to hear the words. When they talked again, he would go over the terms again-there would be no room for misinterpretation.

To pass the time, he logged onto the news site to see what updates there were on Paolo Rossi. He didn't react when they announced that they found ashes and then later confirmed that they belonged to Rossi. He didn't feel gratified that he had killed; the gratification came from the fact that one more name was crossed from his list. Marco's question popped into his mind. It was a valid question, but still one that he didn't want to think about.

He was saved from further thought by the sound of his cell phone ringing.

"What is it Marco?

"I'm in and before you ask, I understand the terms."

"Do you understand that if you betray me in any way that both you and Edgar will die?"

"I just said..."

"Answer the question," Reese demanded.

"I understand," Marco replied.

"Do you understand that you are to speak to no one of this?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand that you cannot tell Edgar's family where you are?"

"Reese, I understand!" Marco exclaimed now frustrated. "I will not betray you! I will not do anything to stop this fucking suicide mission that you're on. I will continue to help you as I always have! What else do you want from me?"

"That will be all," Reese said. "Add Edgar to our reservations, but use an alias that does not begin with the same first and last letters as his name."

Reese hung up without saying goodbye and vanished to the panic room. Edgar was lying on the cot staring at the ceiling. He sat up when he sensed Reese in the room.

"You are improving," Reese said.

"When are you going to let me go?" Edgar asked ignoring the compliment.

"I have a proposition for you," Reese said as he pulled a chair up in front of the cot.

Edgar listened without interruption and didn't say anything for a long time after Reese was finished.

"So," he said finally, "I'm still a captive but instead of this room, it will be in a pretty cage."

"You could look at it that way," Reese replied. "But in the pretty cage you won't be alone."

"Dante-I mean Marco will be there?"

"Yes and your fates are tied together. If he betrays me because of you, then you both die."

"Has he agreed to this?" Edgar asked his heart pounding.

"He has, but Edgar-you need to understand that his life is in your hands. If you escape, I will find you and Marco will pay the price."

"And what about my family?" Edgar asked.

"As soon as your father does what I need, then I will release you to do as you will."

"Just like that?" Edgar asked not quite believing him.

"Just like that," Reese replied, "but there are one-actually two more things. I will take some of your blood. If you do escape there will be no place that I can't find you. The second thing is that you will be warded. You will be invisible to all except Marco and me. If one of your family accidentally stumbled upon you they would not only be unable to see you, they won't be able to hear, feel or sense you."

"There is another option," Edgar said. "You could just let me go and my father still helps you."

Reese laughed.

"Edgar, even as we speak your mother is trying to convince your father to betray me. What do you think will happen if I release you? I cannot let you go. You have two options, you stay here or you go with the plan that I just explained."

"I guess I'll go, but have you talked to my father yet?"

"I will later," Reese replied and vanished.

*****

Elena stood statue still as her hair was washed and warm, scented water was poured over her. Ordinarily she loved the attention, but not now.

The crimson room was waiting. The memory of the blood red walls sickened her. She had barely survived mentally intact from the last time she was there. This time she was sure that she wouldn't. Cristiano would make sure of it. She had tested his patience one time too many and like him, she was at a loss as to why she couldn't understand why she couldn't stop thinking about that male. She stopped. Thinking about him was what put her in this position. She began to hope that Cristiano would change his mind about the crimson room and let her be used as she had been before. That had been far from pleasant, but mentally she would survive.