Forever Young Ch. 02

"Leave or die." She said forcefully, her eyes taking on the red glow common among our kind.

"And why the fuck do you care if we kill an Incubus." The female said looking back at me.

"That Incubus is my son and under the protection of your King, and I would rather die than let you touch him once more." My Mum ordered, her lips curling up into a smile.

"How am I to know you are a member of Zachariah's court?" asked the male. He seemed more level headed than his female companion.

"Because of me." a voice intoned from the shadows.

A young man stepped into the light of the alleyway. He looked no more than 19. His hair was a blend of blonde and brown muddled together, his eyes were a deep shade of blue and he looked around 5'8 or 9. He looked so innocent yet I knew he was someone important. The two vampires gasped and immediately dropped to their knees.

"Your Majesty." the vampires intoned as one.

"Why did you attack the Incubus?" the man asked.

"Zachariah?" my mother said asking a silent question.

He nodded and my Mum moved quickly to me pulling me up to my feet. My head swam from the blood loss, but after a few seconds later I steadied myself leaning against my Mum. So this guy was some sort of King.

"I asked you a question!" Zachariah said to the vampires his voice carrying a power behind it I did not expect from someone so unimposing.

The male vampire proceeded to answer Zachariah.

"We have not fed in weeks and he seemed to be fair game."

"He is the son of a member of my upper court, and as such is subject to my protection."

"But your majesty we did not know" said the female "We were..."

Zachariah growled and I saw his fangs drop. Ah so he was a Vampire king.

The two vampires were silent and Zachariah slowly walked forward. For someone who didn't appear to have much muscle he was obviously very powerful. Powerful enough to rise to become their king at least.

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse." Zachariah said now standing in front of them.

"Now let me ask you something, what is the punishment for attacking a member of my upper court?" Zachariah asked them.

"Death" my Mother answered still holding me protectively.

Zachariah nodded and stepped towards the vampires.

"Wait." I said stumbling forward slightly.

Zachariah stopped and looked at me and cocked an eyebrow. I stepped forward slowly and said quietly.

"Killing them would serve no purpose, how would that make anything better?".

Zachariah grinned and his eyes sparkled slightly.

"You truly are something special."

He looked down at the vampires then said baring his fangs.

"I as King of this territory hereby banish you from my kingdom. Never to return under my reign, I swear this on my blood and seal it with yours"

His hands shot out and slashed a small gash into each of the vampires on the necks, and their blood dripped onto the floor. They still remained on their knees, unmoving and silent.

"Be gone." he said waving a hand and the two vampires sped away quickly out of sight.

He sighed and his shoulders slumped. He suddenly looked exhausted, depressed almost, that was a feeling I knew all too well. He turned to me and smiled slightly before he stepped forwards. My Mum placed a hand on my shoulder then spoke to Zachariah.

"Thank you Zachariah, for coming as soon as I sensed my son was in danger."

"It was and is my duty to protect you and your descendants Delphine."

Zachariah stepped towards me and laid a hand lightly on my shoulder. He was shorter than me but his demeanour was that of someone of authority.

"I hope you will recover well, I wish for you to know that I am truly sorry for what has happened to you." He said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pendant on a black chord.

"Wear this as a symbol of my court, simply show it to any vampire and they will be warned that you are of my court and under my protection." He continued.

He handed it to me and I slipped the chord slowly over my neck. I felt groggy, probably from the blood loss and I leaned against the brick wall of the alley. Slowly sliding down cradling my head in my hands.

* * * * *

I shuddered as I withdrew from the memories rocking back and forth against the wall. My head hurt, my vision was blurred and I couldn't think straight. I felt a hand at my elbow and jerked in shock as I felt it brush over my scar. My eyes slowly focused on the face above me.

Darren was looking down at me with fear and concern prominent on his features. I heard him speak and after a few seconds comprehended his words.

"Daniel, are you ok? Talk to me."

I looked up at him and saw his fangs. I jerked back from him along the wall rewarding me with a look of confusion from him. I felt the blood rush out of my arms, pin pricks of heat emanated from my bite scars at my elbows and biceps.

"I...I don't want to die. Pl...Please let me go." I stuttered as Darren slowly moved towards me.

"Daniel, I will not harm you. Please I only want to help." Darren said solemnly.

His fangs however were down, and my instincts screamed for me to run. I might be able to outrun him. I had fed from him which might help. The memories that had resurfaced were still fresh in my mind. I had the token of Zachariah still around my neck. I hadn't taken it off since he had given it to me. If only I had managed to stop the first vampire with it before he had smashed my head against the wall I would never have met Darren.

I fumbled at my neck and slowly pulled the charm out from underneath my shirt. The rune shape glowed slightly. An eerie dark blue light that emanated from the carved rune. Darren stopped dead and looked at me with wide eyes. He saw the charm and bowed his head and when he looked up his fangs had ascended.

"I meant you no harm but if it is your wish that I should leave, then so I shall." after that he extended a hand to me which I took hesitantly.

He bowed slightly to me then turned and moved away faster than my eyes could follow. I sighed in relief and collapsed back against the wall and my vision blurred until I slipped into unconsciousness.

** ** ** **

Darren

** ** ** **

I had left him unprotected in an alleyway on the verge of unconsciousness. Who knew he may already be out cold by now. There was nothing I could do however. The rune Algiz warned me that he was a member of my Makers court.

Zachariah as he was known by his friends, was my maker and the vampire King of the whole of Europe. I was one of his governors and a high court member yet I still could not approach anyone claimed by him without his express permission. That was where I was going, to meet my maker.

My makers "Palace" as it were, situated outside of London, some 20 miles away. I ran there quickly easily reaching it within six minutes, traversing the distance easily. The large house was fenced in, but the fence was not there for defence. There were guards paroling the grounds, all vampires. No-one would be able to get through them, well almost. If I truly wished I could have killed half of them before they even knew what was going on, it would take a concerted effort by a group to breach the defences.

I really needed to mention to Zachariah to hire some older guards. The older the vampire the stronger. As it was, these vampires were only around 250 years old or so. I was four times their age which meant four times as strong and fast.

I slowed as I approached the gate, allowing the two guards stationed there to notice my presence. They wore black uniforms with black masks covering half of their faces. Their eyes however remained exposed, glinting with curiosity.

I approached with my hands raised in innocence before the guards began speaking.

"State your business here." the first, a woman stated.

"I have come to request an audience with Zachariah." I said noticing the daggers she was staring at me.

"State your identity." the other a man asked.

"Darren Duccenhull." I said catching his eyes.

"Your true name." the woman asked.

"Wulfstan Tash Adair Duccenhull" I intoned staring at the woman.

She bowed her head to me and I saw him get a look from her companion before he followed suit. The women looked up at me then continued speaking.

"I am afraid his Majesty is indisposed at the moment." she said slowly.

"It is important that I speak with him soon." I said my thoughts flashing back to Daniel.

"His Majesty gave strict instructions that he should not be disturbed, and even if you were to attempt to interrupt him you would be as unsuccessful as we have been." she said quizzically.

"Explain?" I asked taking a small step towards her.

"His Majesty is inside his quarters with his new...acquaintance." the male said slowly raising his head .

"And why is it that you have been unsuccessful to gain entry into the room?" I asked becoming more agitated by the minute.

"The Fae has blocked the doors to prevent any interruption." the female said cautiously.

"And how exactly did he get his hands on a Fae?" I asked looking between the two vampires.

"Now that is a long story." a voice from behind me said.

I turned and was face to face with my maker. He was topless, barefoot, and wearing a dark blue pair of jeans and smiling widely at me. He had not changed in the year or so I had not seen him in. He did however seem happier than I had seen him in a very long time.

I sniffed the air and caught the whiff of Fae surrounding him. I inhaled deeper and caught the distinctive scent of my makers blood mixed into the air. He had obviously been having a lot of fun with this new person. Even to allow the Fae to feed from him was a big step, and as for a monarch allowing another to feed upon them was almost unheard of.

He stepped towards me and extended his arms. I returned the hug and patted him on the back before pulling back and grinning. I inhaled again and felt my nose twitch slightly in embarrassment. Unfortunately being this close to him allowed for me to pick up the scent of cum clinging to his body. I cocked an eyebrow at him but he waved me off.

"I cannot stay long, he may wake up soon." he said quietly, taking a step back.

"Then I shall make this brief." I said to him .

He nodded for me to continue, but then waved a hand to his guards who quickly ran towards the house.

"I have met an Incubus, he seemed to be afraid of me due to my vampiric nature. He seemed to relapse into some form of trance and then showed me your sigil. Zachariah what happened to him?"

I asked observing my maker.

"From who you have described I am guessing this is Daniel Makana." He said his hand moving up to his face to rub his forehead.

"He was attacked when he was 16 by two vampires. They pinned him in an alley way and forcibly fed from him, and judging by his weakness afterwards they used their venom to cause him pain. His mother sensed his danger and sought my help to help save him." He finished and looked up at me concern written on his face.

"His mother is Delphine, I have met her once but she seemed wary of me. He is still traumatised Zachariah, after he came out of his trance he seemed terrified of me. Although that may have been caused by the presence of my fangs." I said to my maker.

"I knew he would not recover from the attack, he is afraid to allow people to become intimate with him. He may be physically recovered but mentally he needs to heal, which in the past five years he has not done." Zachariah told me stepping forward to place a hand on my arm.

"You must persevere, help him recover from the incident. You must not be to rash with him. He must live through the memories to overcome the trauma." Zachariah told me lightly squeezing my arm.

"But what if his mother..." I began before Zachariah interrupted me.

"She will not be a problem, she did not quite take his declaration of his sexuality too well and as a result he moved away from her." He told me moving his hand up to my shoulder.

"He is afraid of me... he does not want me near him. Your sigil alone forbids me from seeing him." I said looking down at him.

He smiled up at me and shook his head slightly.

"You are still so ensnared by rules. I am you maker, and you are my progeny. I will always be here for you, as I am now. And also as the King of this territory I am able to negate any rule I wish. It is my kingdom, and you are my child. I Zachariah hereby give you permission to approach Daniel Makana." He said grinning at me.

"How should I approach him?" I asked smiling down at my maker.

"He will naturally be hesitant but give me a moment." my maker said lowering his head slightly.

He extended a hand up to my forehead and I felt his mind touch mine. My blood echoed his and he carefully drew on my memories of Daniel. Careful not to touch any other. I thanked him for that. He pulled his hand away a moment later and then thought for a moment before speaking.

"He seems to show an interest in you, but only when he views you as human. The moment he remembers you are a vampire he immediately becomes fearful. If I were you I would focus on keeping him calm. By doing so it should help him focus on you as a person and not as an object he should fear." He paused for another second before continuing;

"Do not let him see your fangs, at least not yet. He must learn to feel safe around you before he will be able to deal with your vampiric nature, also I think he mistakenly believes that our fangs can only cause pain. Oh how I would love to see his reaction when you prove that wrong."

I bowed my head to my maker and knelt on my right knee before him, as was customary from a progeny to his maker.

Zachariah reached out and rested a hand on the back of my head before he whispered quietly,

"Go to him. I pray to any and all gods willing to listen that you find happiness my progeny as I believe I have."

"I heard of Santiago's disappearance and I wish for you to know that I will do whatever is within my power to return my brother to freedom." I said raising my head to look at my maker.

"Your brothers blood line are searching for him, Dieter had already departed to find him with them and Michael is preparing to leave as we speak." He said pulling me up to my feet.

"Now Darren go to Daniel." Zachariah said patting my arm.

I turned around and ran, moving quickly back into London leaving my makers estate far behind. The journey back was short but all through the journey my mind sorted through my makers advice. Zachariah was a far better maker than most vampires were lucky to have. He treated me as his son, willing to protect me in any way he could.

On my journey towards Daniel my mind quickly flashed back to Zachariah making me. Zachariah had only chosen to turn me when he found that I was already dying, much as he had been when Dieter had turned him.

When I was human I had been seeking the hand of a human woman but I was not the only one. The other man who had wished to marry her challenged me for her, I had been overly confident and when the fight had begun he had easily disarmed and mortally wounded me and left me to die on the bank of a river. Thinking back I couldn't even remember the name of the human woman.

Zachariah had found me once night fell and reached into my mind, he saw my fear of death and took pity on me, he could have easily killed me to put me out of my pain but he saved me instead. He made me a vampire and taught me for many years, his teachings are still with me, and no matter how hungry I was he had always taught me how to control my thirst, and how to ensure the human did not die.

I swallowed and felt the familiar ache in my throat as my thirst flared. I was already in the alleyway where I had left Daniel.

He was gone.