Fantasia Concordat Ch. 03

"So let me get this straight," Dahlia began, "you're telling me you fought off two vampires? By yourself?"

Jack tried not to let his pride get wounded too badly by his companion's surprise at his victory. Following the encounter with the two vampires in the library, Jack had rushed home into the dull and darkening night. He'd been surprised to see how much of the day he'd lost, but he supposed the time of day correlated logically with the vampire encounter. He inferred from the results of his own magical counter-attack that the bright sunlight of day could prove disastrous to a vampire.

After he'd told Dahlia the story, she'd made him repeat it a few times, each time asking for details about specific parts of the story. She made no attempt to hide her shock at his success; her agape face and incredulous tone of voice obvious. Still, Jack noticed the sharpness in her eyes as he spoke. There were other wheels turning in her head, but he would have to wait for her to share those musings with him.

"It was technically only one vampire," Jack drawled, unable to stop the smirk from finding root on his face. "The other one was a bit, um, 'preoccupied'."

"Do you think this is funny, Jack?"

Jack leaned back in his chair. "Kind of, yeah."

Dahlia balled her fists and pouted furiously. She looked down and began grumbling to herself. The strange tattoos on her body began streaking over the surface of her skin in angry, quick strokes. Jack mused to himself that she looked close to stamping her feet and whining like a child.

"This is no time for jokes, Master. This could in fact be the worst possible thing to happen to you right now." Dahlia managed to keep her voice even and eerily quiet. Her words made a chill run up Jack's spine, and he fought the urge to say something just to hide the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Jack silenced a sharp retort in his throat and studied Dahlia closely. Her expression and tone of voice were severe, but he could tell her eyes were brimming with tears. Jack could tell she was afraid and the knowledge made his chest ache a little.

Jack decided to let the mask slip. "How bad is it, really?"

Dahlia arched her eyebrow a fraction of an inch at his uncharacteristically serious tone, but launched into her emotionless lecture without pause. "In my time vampires and humans never got along. There was a lot of bloodshed because vampire mages and human mages are quite similar in skill, you see. But seeing as how you didn't even know vampires existed, I thought their kind must have been eradicated, or gone into hiding. If they are bold enough to attack a human mage, then something is wrong."

Dahlia squeezed her eyes shut and pinched her nose bridge, "I haven't even begun to teach you magic and you're already fighting. It's the most aggravating and frightening thing for a one's student to be put into danger before they're ready..."

"Oh just admit it," Jack added with a light tone, "you're just worried that I could have gotten hurt."

Jack finished his performance with a goofy smile, but Dahlia took him seriously. She looked down without saying anything, her eyes misty and lip quivering. Wordlessly, Jack stood up from his desk chair and strode over to Dahlia's rigid form. She briefly looked up at him in surprise as he hobbled over. Her eyes went wide as Jack leaned down and squeezed her into a crushing hug.

"I'm sorry, Dahlia. I shouldn't joke. I didn't know you would be worried about me. I'm not hurt."

For a moment, Dahlia softened in his grip, and Jack believed she would return his embrace. However, she stiffened up once again, as if catching herself and gently pushed him away. As Jack released her, he noticed how severely she was blushing. He was a little put off by Dahlia's refusal to embrace him, but seeing proof of his effect on her gave him a peculiar joy.

"W-who would be w-worried a-about you, stupid?" Dahlia stammered and crossed her arms, averting her eyes and blushing face from Jack's. "Still," She began a moment later, having calmed down, "It's good that you are okay."

After a moment, something occurred to her and she spoke up again, "What happened to the vampire girl that you subdued?"

"I led her around in a maze through the city and then left her unconscious in an alley." Jack smiled to himself, "It was harder than I thought. Vampires must be pretty resilient. I had to break a cinderblock over her skull before she went out."

A moment of awkward silence passed before Dahlia spoke once more, "I still cannot believe you fought them off using a simple light charm! What kind of person thinks of burning a vampire's face with magelight in the heat of the moment? You didn't even know for certain that vampires existed!"

Dahlia scowled back at him accusingly, as if his miraculous success and quick-wittedness somehow offended her. Jack didn't let it get to him; he was so used to her habits by now that he knew she was attempting to hide her fear and insecurity. Most people, when confronted with an anxiety-invoking experience, have three responses: fight, flight, or freeze. However, there is a fourth option called "tend and befriend" and in this case, Dahlia was "tending" to Jack by acting as his concerned guardian. Jack felt a certain cautious gratitude towards her for her efforts and resolved to keep the mood light.

Jack was unable to tend or befriend in such a situation. He was not good with making friends and he had no one to tend to. His choice when faced with difficult situations had always been to convince himself of their lack of urgency. He would joke, he would smile, and he would fake nonchalance. It functioned as a shield, protecting his mind from the true reality of the situation. Now, he decided, he would share that shield with Dahlia. He wanted to do his best to make her feel as calm as he pretended to be. A sharp clearing of a throat reminded Jack that Dahlia was waiting for him to explain his thought processes while fighting off the two vampires. He quickly brought himself back into his confident façade and somehow remembered to smile.

Jack felt a smug pride well up inside him at her previous words as he continued, "I had to assume he was a vampire. I didn't have many options in the moment."

"But how did you know to use your light charm to fend him off?"

"I wasn't exactly sure," Jack continued. "But it was the only spell I could use at the time, without any further preparation. It was more luck than anything. I wasn't sure he was a vampire either. I just figured there was a chance that my spell could hurt him. If it didn't hurt him, I thought the bright light could at least blind him for a few moments while I tried to escape."

Dahlia once again had her shocked face on, forgetting her normally close kept dignity and stoicism. "You thought of all of that on the spot? You really are brilliant..."

Dahlia cut of her statement prematurely, blushing as she realized she had unintentionally said it aloud. Jack felt an odd stirring in his chest every time Dahlia became flustered or embarrassed. Looking at her standing uncomfortably with her arms crossed, trying to hide her expression, Jack decided to push her a little further.

"Well, I've had an even more brilliant teacher."

Dahlia looked up at Jack with a scowl on her face and a retort brewing in her throat. Searching for evidence of his mockery, her expression faded as she took in Jack's genuine smile and soon her blush deepened further. She lowered her head until her chin threatened to pierce her chest and she angled herself away from him, doing her best to avoid his gaze.

Just as Jack began to really drink in the scene before him; his thoughts were cut short by a loud series of knocks at his front door. Dahlia snapped out of her mood into a ramrod pose. Jack and Dahlia both looked at the digital clock on Jack's nightstand and then at each other. The time was 8:20 and each knew what the other was thinking: it was too late for this to be a regular visit.

Dahlia quickly sobered up and was back to her harsh analytical mode, "Were you followed home?"

"No, of course not."

"What about the female vampire?" Dahlia's tone was accusatory.

"I told you, I left her in a random alley, nowhere near my house and she was blindfolded on the way there anyway."

"Shit," Jack drew back in surprise at sound of Dahlia's cursing, "that means whoever is looking for you has your address now." And after a moment, "Is there another way out of this house?"

Jack shook his head. "There's the back door, but it only leads to my fenced-in backyard. The only exits from there are past the front door, or hopping over the backyard fence. I'm not really much of a fence-climber, with my leg and all."

Dahlia began biting her thumb, the tension beginning to bleed through, "What about going out a window?"

Jack felt a sudden resolute power solidify within him. "No," he said firmly. "I'm not going to run. I'm going to see who is looking for me and why. It's not worth it to me to go on the run without knowing what I'm running from."

"Jack, listen to me..."

"No Dahlia, you listen to me." Jack surprised himself with the hard tone in his voice, "I am not a victim. I'm not going to hobble away into the shadows and cower in the corner hoping the vamps don't get me in the night. I'm going to greet these assholes and see what they want."

Jack felt a snarl rising in his throat as he spoke the last words. He quickly stifled his anger as he realized he was supposed to be assuming a cheery and nonchalant attitude, both for his and Dahlia's benefits.

"Well then," Dahlia said, starting to pout again, "I guess we better not keep them waiting."

"Oh boy," Jack breathed, grinning with a sense of light amusement he didn't really feel. "I haven't had visitors in ages. Let's go see them."

Jack skipped down the flight of stairs as fast as he could, steadying himself on the railing and hopping on his good leg. Reaching the door at last, he paused a moment while leaning on the doorknob, catching his breath and calming his thoughts. With a deep sigh he turned the knob and yanked the front door open. Jack's stomach sank as he saw the last person he wanted to see standing outside his front door."

"Well if it isn't Nosferatu himself."

The male vampire stood in front of Jack, his face impassive. Jack noticed with a sinister glee that the burn marks from his fingertips were still visible on the vampire's face, although they had healed quite a bit. Jack bit his tongue as he panicked a little. He didn't know how the vampire had found his house. What could he do to escape now? Jack doubted he could use the light spell trick again. Jack was about to open his mouth for another witty remark to stall for time when the vampire spoke up instead.

"What's up, man?" The vampire did his best to smile charmingly and raised his hands in a complacent gesture. "This is a friendly visit, but we need to talk."

Jack stood agape at the doorway, but snapped out of his confusion once he felt Dahlia's presence next to him in the doorway. He looked to her, and saw her glaring daggers at the vampire intruder. The vampire flicked his eyes briefly to her lithe form, his expression hardening a bit. Jack felt a surge of pride at her anger on his behalf, but maybe he was reading too much into it.

"So let me guess: You need my permission to enter my house?"

The vampire let out a genuine chuckle at that. "No, I'm just being polite." "My name is Henry, by the way."

"I'm honored," Jack rolled his eyes and ignored Henry's outstretched hand as he entered the house, "my name is Jack."

"Well, Jack," Henry settled back into Jack's rarely-used loveseat and smoothly ran his previous offered hand through his hair. "We need to talk about what happened tonight."

"You attacked him," Dahlia offered.

Jack had been in preparation to answer, but Dahlia had beaten him to it. She spoke the words calmly and with deliberate pronunciation, as if she was being careful about what she said. It was obvious Dahlia was uncomfortable. Unlike Jack and Henry, she refused to sit down. She paced around the living room, throwing shifty glances in Henry's direction every few seconds.

Henry closed his eyes and breathed out sharply, "The way that Emily...handled you was wrong, out of the question even ..."

"She controlled me," Jack interrupted. "I do not like that. Not one bit."

Jack surprised even himself with the vehement disgust that rose within him and dripped into his words. This disgust brought him back to the scene in the library; him powerless under the captivating gaze of those otherworldly pupils. Jack was reminded of how his body had felt while under her spell. His limbs wouldn't respond to him at all. It brought back memories of the first time he woke up and realized his leg was gone. Jack shivered. He absentmindedly clutched the front of his shirt and brought himself back into the moment.

"Yes well, from what I understand, Emily got what was coming to her, and then some," he raised an eyebrow at Jack, but quickly changed the subject. "However, Emily did not know what you were a part of and was using you simply to feed. For that, I apologize on both our behalves."

Jack knitted his brows together. "What do you mean, 'what I am a part of'?"

Henry nodded, "That's why I'm here, to explain."

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and cleared his throat. Jack guessed he was getting ready to say something he had spent time preparing for this meeting.

"Jack, the Lord of my coven has given me orders to bring you in for a very important discussion," He looked to Jack to check for any complaints; finding none he continued, "When I found you and Emily in the library, I was actually gathering her so she could accompany me on my mission to ... find your whereabouts. I had no idea I'd actually run into both of you there. I guess that was just a little bit of rotten luck." He touched his burned cheek and winced a little.

"What does the Lord of your coven want with Jack?" Dahlia spoke up once more.

Henry looked away from both Jack and Dahlia, feeling uncomfortable, "I am not at liberty to discuss it." He suddenly looked up to Jack and sensing his waning attention continued, "But believe me when I say this; it is very important Jack, a matter of life and death even. And you will be coming with me."

Jack felt like he knew where the rest of this conversation would lead, so he decided to throw out a few curveballs and disturb the flow a little bit.

"I could run again."

Henry raised his eyebrows, "You certainly could, but just how far do you think you would make it? Even a healthy human would have a hard time out-running me, and you're..." he trailed off.

Jack winced reflexively; Dahlia hissed and looked ready to strike Henry across the face. Henry groaned and buried his face in his hands for a few moments before surfacing once more.

"I'm really sorry, man, that was too far..."

"Save it, Dracula," Jack waved dismissively with one hand. "The last thing I need is pity from my enemies."

Henry smiled, "We don't have to be enemies, Jack. I honestly hope you don't believe we are."

Jack thought for a minute before continuing, "So I can't run. What's to stop me from blasting you with light spells again and cooking you like a chicken?"

Henry chuckled lightly, seeming to catch on to the macabre little game Jack was playing.

"Even if you kill me right now, where are you gonna run to? We already know where you live, man. You could spend the rest of your life unable to sleep, afraid some vamp asshole is gonna creep up on you in your bed. But, I must reiterate, you are going to want to hear what my Lord has to say. It's in your best interest."

Jack said nothing. His index finger ran lightly along his upper lip and traced his mouth, thinking. Jack waited for Henry to fill the silence by saying more, possibly betraying something he wouldn't have otherwise. Henry took the bait.

"Besides," Henry added with a scoff, "your magic won't work on me right now. I've outfitted myself with some pretty top tier magic defenses before coming here. Anything you could whip up at your level wouldn't be able to touch me."

Dahlia looked up with a shocked expression at Henry at this. She squinted and leaned in closer to him, as if she could see the magical defenses he spoke of just by looking harder. Henry seemed puzzled in turn by Dahlia's confusion but decided not to comment. Jack began to thumb the stubble along his chin, deep in thought. Eventually he reached into a drawer in one of the end tables next to his chair and pulled out a piece of notebook paper. He crumpled the paper quickly into a ball with one fist and threw it at Henry. The paper ball bounced harmlessly off Henry's chest. He made no move to stop it.

"Hey," Henry said with mock irritation, "what was that for?"

Jack did not return his easy smile. "Your defenses didn't stop that."

"Well of course not, it only works on magic..."

"So any non-magically propelled projectile won't be stopped by your defenses then?"

"Well, I mean...I guess..." Henry began slowing down and choosing his words more carefully, realizing he had just let his guard down and revealed information he should not have. But it was too late; Jack knew what he needed to know. He had an edge and Henry knew it too. Henry wore the pained expression of a chess player who has walked unwittingly into his opponent's trap.

Jack rummaged in the drawer once more. "What about this, then?" He revealed his retrieved object to his captive audience.

Henry's eyes went wide with shock. "Is that ...a-a..."

"A grenade? Yes, yes it is." Jack smiled to himself and held the cold metal sphere up to the light, turning it as he looked at it. It was all theatrical, a show for Henry's benefit. He had somewhat of a hold over this negotiation now and he wanted to rub it in a little bit.

"A lot of people think it's the force of the explosion that kills you," Jack began, seemingly to himself.

Henry swallowed nervously and began flicking his attention rapidly from the grenade to Jack. Jack continued to pointedly avoid Henry's gaze and continued to speak wistfully while staring at his grenade.

"But really, it's the metal shrapnel that does it ... tears into you with a wicked speed."

After a moment, Jack lowered the grenade, resting it on his knee in plain sight for Henry to see. Jack looped his forefinger through the grenade pin and rested it casually in his palm. Jack noticed even Dahlia looked apprehensively at the metal object resting in Jack's grip. A slight smile tugged at Jack's mouth as he enjoyed the waves in the atmosphere he had made.

"So, what do you think; probably hurt more than a few light spells to the face?"

"E-enough joking around, man, this is going too far!"

"Tell me why your Lord wants to see me." Jack demanded.

"I-I can't, man! I was serious when I said I wasn't allowed to discuss that stuff," Henry was clearly nervous now and beyond cute social appeals.

Jack briefly mused that if vampires had active circulatory and excretory systems, Henry would probably be sweating right now. He almost laughed at that thought, but didn't want to spoil the moment. He forced himself to do no more than triumphantly smile, keeping his vicious giggles to himself. Jack began to spin the grenade by the pin on his index finger.

"Jack, don't!" Dahlia interjected.

"Tell. Me. What. I. Want. To. Know." Jack practically whispered the words, knowing it would add to their drawn out effect.

Henry's eyes were glued nervously to the grenade in Jack's grasp. He opened and shut his mouth several times, trying to draw saliva into his rapidly drying mouth.