The Night the Vampires Came

Chapter 4 - Bonus Content - Alternate POV

Chapter 4 - The Path Opens

Three months later, Oslen contemplated Renat Rykov again using his secure line. About a month ago, Oslen had told his men to join the search for Mearnox but did not ask in earnest. They had a secret code when a request was made under duress. Oslen secretly signaled Renat to do nothing at all, nothing except to protect the family that still resided in the vicinity of Manna City.

Over the past couple of weeks, he had been using smaller armed cells to scour the world for the entrance to Mearnox. Oslen knew his efforts would prove useless. It was a Charlie Liang said before he died — the Reaper will only be found when he wishes it so.

One does not simply stumble upon the gateway to purgatory, no matter how many guns or soldiers are employed to the task. Oslen asked Jaduerial if the gods would help in the task, but the spirit said Mearnox is a fortress. It does not open its doors unless the King of the Underworld will it so. For thousands of years, those doors have remained closed. Not even Orienne herself could open those doors.

For thousands of years, the Reaper has slept in his cavern, churning out Black Waters running in underground streams through the earth.

The one who finds that entrance will be someone the Reaper would willingly risk allowing in his home.

Risk.

What on earth would convince a God of Death to risk his very existence to open the doors to a place no living being has ever entered? Jaduerial was asking for the impossible, but Oslen wasn't in any hurry to fulfill the spirit's request. As long as Oslen kept Jaduerial sequestered in an abandoned storage facility at the edge of Manna City, his family was safe. As long as Jaduerial couldn't wander unfettered, the city would stand.

Oslen was never a sentimental man. When he was young, there were periods from time to time when he longed to see the city topple and fall into ruin. There were, at times, when Manna City seemed a larger-scale version of River Way. Back then, he was free to wander the city but never free to truly live in it.

Now, the city laid in ruins, ravaged by the Blight Rain. Oslen roamed about it now and then to stave off his boredom and to find supplies. Yes, for the first time in his life, even Oslen had to worry about base matters such as where his next meal was coming from. Even he now understood the pangs of hunger that came from skipping too many meals. It was a hunger that was different than the need for blood that he was so accustomed to in his youth.

Some time ago, he even acquired an abandoned car. It was a black rusted old thing with seats that were brazenly showing off the cheap foam under the leather. In his mind, Oslen could almost hear Glenn laughing at him as he struggled not to hit every curb from Aemon to Manna City proper.

There were times when Osten sat in that driver's seat and stared at his aged hands around the steering wheel. He imagined what it was like for Glenn Winick to have spent his life driving him from each ball to business meeting, knowing that the Lord Thorne who rode in that back seat was an imposter. He was a thief who had stolen Glenn's birthright, the spoiled, entitled spawn of two gods who had taken up residence in a place they had no business being.

"Did you hate me? You hid it so well." Oslen asked the darkness beyond the stained windshield. "I wish I had only known."

As Olsen walked from the car, he glanced over his shoulder again. Here in Manna City, the streets were lined with ghosts. He could almost imagine it was Julian wandering that street, whistling to himself while sporting the latest ridiculous fashions. How he dreaded each memory of Julian, and yet beneath it all, there was the smallest shred of his heart that missed the fun, the laughter, and most of all — the escape from duty.