Part 10 (1/2)
”Now, there is a confession I want to make.” He thought for a moment about what he was going to say. ”My nephew has been captured by the Regime because he is the Falsifier, a man and a vampire, believed by the Anisaei to be the one to bring about their destruction.” For a moment, it seemed like what he had just said hadn't registered in their minds.
”Wait a minute,” said Senator Keegan, a woman sitting at the far end of the hall, ”Are you saying that your nephew, the boy we know as Alexander Howe, who graduated from Regnum University as the valedictorian of his cla.s.s, is a vampire?”
To this, some of the other senators remarked: ”Unbelievable!”
”This is completely wrong!”
”If we had only known!”
Senator Gars ran towards John and whispered to him, ”What you're saying is shocking, John. How do you expect us to believe this and to accept you now as our leader?”
”I just do.” He faced Gars with complete resolve.
Gars returned the look and gestured for silence. As the noise died down, he said to John with a smile. ”I'm glad you were honest about it. I'm with you.” The Senators erupted once again and started cursing John. Some of them even left. ”Senators, listen to me!” Gars pleaded. ”What John Howe has said is quite unexpected. Nevertheless, we mustn't react in such a way. After all, Alexander has been a citizen of the Regnum as long as any of us has been. He has proved himself to be a man of great caliber, in his thoughts, in his words, and in his actions. Never has he shown contempt for any of us and he has done so much, in terms of helping this society in whatever way he could. Granted, he is a vampire. Yet you would allow other vampires on board the Regnum; those who we call the Rebels. Besides, Alex is more human than vampire. According to Leader Howe, he is our only hope.
”His behavior only shows that vampires, if they are on our side, can be trusted. I say that Alex should be rescued and that the Rebels can come on board the Regnum, under one condition. That is: if any harm is done to any human of the Regnum by any one of the vampires, they are to be deported back to the Earth. We will not send them back to the Government, but to Antarctica, for we know no vampire is allowed to set foot on that land without prior permission from the higher order, from Anaxagoras himself. Under these terms, he shall be accepted. Is that understood?” Gars turned to John. The latter nodded. ”All those in favor?”
Total silence. Then, one by one, they spoke the word, ”Aye!”
Alex had the same dream as the previous night. He saw the emerald cross with the serpent entwined around it. Once again there was the same comforting, white light between him and the emblem.
He heard a voice, Anaxagoras's perhaps, calm, yet icy. ”Alexander, your time is soon approaching.”
Alex turned around looking for the owner of this voice, but there was none. He saw a stairway, carved into the walls and leading to a cave. There was a dim light coming from it. He walked up towards the cave and entered. The flickering light came from above him. It was not white, but rather like a yellow flame. ”Alexander,” the voice said again, ”You must follow me. Listen to what I have to say.”
”Why?” Alex said. ”Why should anyone listen to you?”
Anaxagoras laughed, ”No one listens because they are forced to. Do you really think that? No.” he paused. ”They listen because they know what I say is right.”
”I know what is right. So why should I listen to you?”
”You don't know what the truth is. Do not listen to anyone. That is what I am telling you. Listen to what I have to say and you will see the truth.”
Alex kept his eyes upwards at the flame-like light. ”Why are you telling me all this? What do you want me to see?”
The light grew larger, more radiant. ”What do you have to lose?” The light, ten feet away from Alex, grew as bright as the sun. A figure stepped out of it: Anaxagoras, cloaked and completely dark. Only the pale outline of his face could be seen. ”Come with me,” he said, hovering in the air like the angel of death. ”Come and see for yourself what will happen.”
Suddenly, Alex too hovered in the air. He knew Anaxagoras was controlling him. They sped higher and higher. Alex could see they neared to the top when he saw clouds. The edifice resembled the opening of a volcano. When they reached the threshold, Alex saw that the structure was in the ground and did not rise up like a mound.
”Where are we?” He asked. ”What is this?” He saw a large amalgamation of structures, a complex of pyramids, marble obelisks, and statues. They had come out of an eight hundred foot pyramid through a small ventilation shaft. The pyramid resembled the ones in South America. ”This is amazing!” Alex gasped.
”This, my boy, is called the Mausoleum of the Anu-Sa-Rimh!” Anaxagoras raised his hands and gestured to convey the majesty of the area.
”You mean the Blood G.o.ds?”
”Ah, so you know about them?”
”Is this Migra?” Alex asked.
”Yes.”
”But the place we were at before ”That was Antarctica,” Anaxagoras said.
Migra, the real Migra, was so lush. The complex stretched as far as Alex could see. The gigantic monuments were surrounded by lush gardens and sparkling fountains of gus.h.i.+ng water.
”This is the city of the G.o.ds,” said Anaxagoras. ”This is what people on Earth called Heaven, the Kingdom of G.o.d, Devanagari, Nirvana, and all the other names they have for paradise.”
”So, they've seen it,” Alex said, confused. ”But how?”
”In their visions, they have seen it.”
”Why are you showing me this?”
”This is your destination. This is where you must be, Alexander. You must join me!”
Alex turned hostile, ”You will never persuade me! Tell me what you must and let me go!”
”You have no idea what you are talking about. I have the power to kill you here in the realm of consciousness.”
”You killed your son! What's stopping you now?”
”I'm giving you a choice, like I gave my son.”
”What?”
”If you don't join me, then it will mean destruction for everything.”
”I don't believe that! That's not true!”
”You have no other choice.”
”That's not what the Prophecies say!”
”If you do not join me you will see what happens.” In an instant, everything Alex saw burst into flames.
He felt the heat of the fire burning him and heard the violent screams of women and children, begging for mercy. He saw flying s.h.i.+ps and objects of fire blazing down from the sky. The s.h.i.+ps were ma.s.sive, as big as the Regnum. As they landed soldiers flew out and attacked everything in sight. They created energy beams that caused ma.s.s destruction in every corner. Horrible painful lights flickered here and there as a result of the blasts, leaving behind dust, decay, and debris. The heavily armed soldiers attacked the Mausoleum, the pyramid in which Alex had been. They looked like oversized robots with rigid and bulky armor. They had no features, only two large lights for eyes. He realized these were just helmets. He saw other s.h.i.+ps, smaller s.h.i.+ps, attacking the larger ones.
They landed and the enemy soldiers rushed out. Alex saw that all these soldiers were humans! He saw John, Nikolas, Richard and so many other familiar faces.
”This is impossible!” Alex yelled.
”It will be so. You shall see,” Anaxagoras said, his voice penetrating through Alex's veins and beating in his heart.
”But, the war. It's...who are these people?”
”That's of no importance. Now, tell me.” Everything disappeared in a flash of light and they were back to the time of an untainted Migra. ”Will you join me?” Anaxagoras held out a white hand. His long gla.s.sy fingernails reflected the light.
Alex hesitated, pretending to consider. Then he smirked, ”These are just your tricks, nothing more. You think I would believe you so easily?”