Chapter Three Continued:
I was no longer tied. I opened my gritty eyes and felt the cool sea breeze on my face. It came from the open balcony across from me. My leathers had been restored, my boots sat beside the bed. My weapons were nowhere to be seen but that wasn't surprising. I noted the pitcher glistening with condensation across the room. A strong enough lure to get me moving. I felt weak as a kitten, staggering drunkenly across the room to the life-giving water. I downed the entire pitcher and still thirsted. But I felt steadier and took better stock of my surroundings. The balcony was high enough that even I probably wouldn't survive the jump to the rocks below. I could perhaps scale the side of the building, but I wouldn't have the information I needed. The door was locked, barred, from the outside. So I'd wait. I hoped they remembered that humans needed food. I was starving. I had no idea how long they'd had me strapped to that table, how many times they'd put me under, how much blood they'd taken. I did have one piece of knowledge to work with. They definitely wanted me alive. They'd take pains to keep me that way. Therefore I had some leverage, a bargaining chip if need be.
When the bolt finally slid, I was standing at the balcony staring out at the endless waves. I heard the door open and let my body tense, though I didn't turn around. The door closed with a click, and I felt the presence of "other". I hadn't had many experiences with this feeling, besides Frank. And a smell tickled my nostrils. Wood and pipe smoke. When he said my name, I did turn. In shock and anger. He repeated it.
"Graham Tanner, do not be alarmed."
Goddamn Frank stood across the white room from me, his posture wary.
I spat the first thing that came to mind. "Mother fucking liar! Rat bastard back-stabbing son of a bitch!"
He sighed, though he only did this for my benefit. Fucking vamps didn't need to fucking breathe.
"Graham, sit down." He gestured to a chair beside me on the balcony.
"You lied to me."
"No, I did not. Please sit. I only have a few minutes with you until..."
"Until what, Frank? They kill me? They finish draining me? You said you hated these fuckers-"
"I never said that. I said I'd become disgusted with them. SIT DOWN." Gone was the pleading old man, in his place the powerful monster.
I sat.
He joined me in the opposing chair. He rubbed the bridge of his nose before looking me straight in the eyes. "What have they told you?" he asked.
I glared at him. "Nothing. They stole my blood and drugged me. That's it."
"I was informed that the brothers visited you. They told you nothing?"
Brothers. My heart rate picked up, my depleted blood struggling to feed my organs. "No," I croaked out.
Frank looked worried again. "You need to feed," he stated.
"Goddamn right I do." My voice sounded almost level. "Your minutes are ticking, Frank."
"Yes. I'm here to warn you, Graham Tanner. I have told you the truth in our meetings, but not the whole truth. You must be prepared. You are strong, but they have weakened you by taking your blood."
"Why?" I interrupted. "Why do they want my blood? And no more half-truths Frank."
"They need your blood. Their supply has run out. They harvested from you when you arrived in this time and you escaped them. They have been trying to get me to lure you to them since then. I have refused. I believe we should go back to the old ways, before..." He paused. I waited. I couldn't quite get enough air.
"You know of the Project Genesis, Graham Tanner?" he finally asked. Slowly, carefully.
The meager blood in my body-enough to keep me alive but not enough for this-drained from my head.
I awoke to Frank's face hovering above mine, and the smell of food. He pulled back and shoved a plate at me as I sat up in the chair. "Eat," he ordered.
Chicken. A rare steak. Potatoes. I looked at him askance.
"They keep food for their supply," he told me.
I knew what he meant. The poor bastards they fed on. I ate it anyway, knowing I had to keep my strength. I washed it down with thick milk. When I was done, I set the plate down and settled back in the chair. Twilight brought with it the buzzing of insects, the call of birds, the crashing of waves.
I began.
"Genesis was the project my wife was working on. She was a medical doctor, but more she was a scientist. She was striving to make the world a better place, to eradicate disease." I watched Frank nod and wondered about his precious minutes. "How long do we have?"
"I talked them into a few more minutes," he said with a half-smile.
"So anyway, it was pretty much done before she...when she..."
"Almost burned to death," Frank supplied.
"How do you know?" I demanded. "How could you possibly know about any of this?"
"Project Genesis only existed because your wife was studying you Graham Tanner. Your blood made it possible."
"No." I shook my head to emphasize this, and felt a tremor start in my cheek. "Impossible."
"Why? She had in her hands a perfect human. Never ill, quick healing, invincible. Or very nearly so." He leaned forward. "Just like us."
I stood and went to the railing. No. She wouldn't have done that. Not without my consent. Not without my knowledge. She loved me.
A memory, foggy and distant, wriggled out of my subconscious. A prick on the arm. Awakening. Seeing her lovely face over mine. "Go back to sleep, my love," she intoned softly. And I had.
Trust.
I whirled on Frank. "Why are you here?"
"As I told you. The brothers came to me this morning. They told me they had you, and asked if I might help them convince you to help them. I agreed. I lied to them, Graham Tanner. I do not want them to succeed. If they do, then mankind is truly lost. And we will squander the Earth and destroy ourselves."
"I don't understand, Frank." I paced to the chair, then back. "What does Project Genesis and my wife have to do with anything? What-"
The door to the room opened. Frank sprang to his feet and flourished a bow so quickly I hardly saw him move. I turned to the door, and saw. The food had revived me, but God help me, I would rather have faced oblivion again than what stood before me.
"Hello Graham," she said, uncertain and beautiful beyond compare and looking at me from alien eyes.
Helen. My wife.
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