Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2006 01:33:08 -0600
From: Dan Nelson-Kangas <danielt315@gmail.com>
Subject: Jake's War Chapters 5-6

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction from the author's imagination.
The story and its characters are products of the author.  Any similarities
to other stories or characters are purely coincidental. Any similarities of
characters to persons living or dead are entirely coincidental.  This story
contains homosexual themes, if that offends you or it is illegal for you to
read such material, read no further.  The author retains all rights to this
story.  Do not reproduce or post this story on other sites without the
author's permission.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading my first publishing of a story I
wrote.  This is a vampire story that I have been bouncing around in my mind
for a long time.  You will notice some aspects of `vampire nature' from
popular books and movies like Anne Rice's thrillers and Underworld.  I am a
great fan of vampire fiction.  Thank you to the authors who have inspired
me to publish my own work.  This includes Comicality and Julien Gregg of
GayAuthors.org and the many I have read on Nifty.org.  Comments and
criticisms are most welcome.  Contact me at DanielT315@gmail.com.



Chapter 5:

	Jake carried Tristan into the mansion and up to the third floor and
into one of the guest bedrooms next to his suite.  A watcher who was a
certified EMT, Jane, came in to take care of him.
	Jake went back down to the main floor where he met up with the
others and all of them proceeded down into the wine cellar, through the
secret door, down the passage, through the cavern and into the control room
where a couple of the other vampires and Jess were monitoring things.
	He quickly briefed them on what had happened.  Jane called down to
tell them that medically he was going to be ok, he just had to heal.  She
also said that she checked him for tracking devices or anything of the sort
and found none.  Right after that, a call from the council came in.
	"Jacob!" A female voice came over the phone.  "What's the latest?
The council is meeting and we're trying to decide what to do."  Jake could
tell he was on speakerphone in a conference room.
	"Teresa, here is everything I know." Jake said listing off
everything from the murder to the presence of the enemy in the city to that
night's raid and Tristan.
	"Charles is dead?" said a male voice, Nathaniel, the head of the
council.  "Good."
	"What about the man? This Tristan?" Teresa asked.
	"He is obviously of importance," Jake said.  "Why else would they
keep him alive?"
	"Could it be a trap?" Another voice asked, belonging to Mathias.
"To see if any of our forces are there?"
	"I don't think so," Jake said.  "We would have attacked whether or
not there was a captive, so that would be a pointless risk.  And if it was
nothing, why was someone like Charles there?"
	There were murmurs around the council table.
	"Do we know who Tristan is exactly?" Nathaniel asked.
	"We don't," Jake said.  "He's unconscious right now, so he can't
tell us, and he had no ID on him of any sort."
	"Inform us as soon as you find out anything," Nathaniel said.
"Additional forces will be arriving in your area soon.  Keep watching, and
we'll watch to see if there is any emigration out of that city."
	"Sounds good," Jake said and terminated the call.

Chapter 6:

	Tristan White woke up hoping it had all been a dream.  As he looked
around and found himself in a room he didn't recognize, he realized it was
all real.  He sighed as he sat up in bed.  The room was fairly large.  He
was in a large four-poster bed.  The carpet was a dark maroon and the walls
were off-white and had various tapestries and pictures hanging from them.
It was dark outside the large windows.  There was a knock at his door and a
young man stuck his head in.
	"Ah, you're awake," he said, a slight Southern accent to his
voice. "How do you feel?"
	"I'm okay," Tristan answered.
	"If you want to clean yourself up, there's stuff in the bathroom
through that door," he pointed.  "You'll be able to have a shave and
shower.  There's a clean set of clothes for you on the chair over there.
Once you're ready, come down to the main floor and we'll get you something
to eat."
	With that, the man shut the door.  Tristan got up and went into the
bathroom and shaved and showered.  The water felt good but also stung the
burn on his skin from the ropes.  He finished showering and got dressed in
the clothes left for him—a pair of khakis and a dark blue shirt.  Once he
was dressed, he made his way downstairs.

	"It's good to see you up and about," Jake said.  He was sitting in
the dining room at the table as Tristan walked in.  He had a newspaper in
his hands.  "How are you feeling?"
	"Better," Tristan responded.  "How long have I been out?"
	"About sixteen hours," Jake said, putting his paper down.  "Sit
down, food will be out shortly."
	Tristan sat down across from Jake and looked around.  The dining
room was large and elegant.  The table was made of fine wood and so were
the chairs.  The parts of the house he had seen on his way down was
extremely nice and well-decorated in a tasteful Old World style.  "Where
are we?"
	"This is my compound," Jake answered.  "Currently, ten vampires
including myself and twenty watchers reside here.  Usually it is just me;
one or two other vampires, and five watchers."
	"Watchers?" Tristan asked.
	"Humans who are in service of vampires," Jake said.  "It is
voluntarily, of course.  They started as our daylight guardians who kept us
from discovery.  They are loyal friends and compatriots.  They help protect
us, and we in turn help them."
	"How many people know about vampires?" Tristan asked.  "How many
vampires are there?"
	"The first question is easy.  Only watchers and a few random other
humans know of our existence." Jake answered.  "The second one is harder to
answer because not all vampires exist in our community.  Some are solitary
beings that don't interact with other vampires.  Now there is the rebel
faction.  We are never sure how big it is.  However, that number was
reduced by three last night.
	"However, we are a small number on the whole.  There used to be
more, but we got too big for our own good and we were almost discovered.
Then the war broke out and our numbers have vastly shrunken since."
	Just then the man who had talked to Tristan when he woke up brought
in a tray with plates of food for Tristan.  He set them in front of him and
then turned to leave.
	"Thank you," Tristan said.
	"Yes, thank you, Jeff," Jake said, smiling.  After Jeff left, Jake
looked at Tristan, who had begun eating. "So, Tristan, who are you?"
	"Excuse me?" Tristan asked, putting his fork down.
	"What's your last name?" Jake asked, easing off.  "Where are you
from? What are you doing here in this city?"
	"White," Tristan answered.  "I'm from Colorado, I graduated from
college out here last May and I've been working since.  Currently, I'm
between jobs."
	"And how, may I ask, did you end up in the company of those men?"
	"I was at home," Tristan said.  "I have an apartment near the
university.  There was a knock on my door, I opened it and there was a guy
there.  Next thing I know, I'm tied up in that house."
	Jesus, Jake thought.  They sought him out at home?  "Who was at
your door?"
	"Um, the head vampire guy was there.  Charles or something was his
name, I think."
	Jake nodded, "did any of them say what they wanted you for?"
	"No," Tristan said.  "They just told me that there were plans for
me.  They kept talking about some guy."
	"Zalmon," Jake growled. Tristan nodded.
	"Who is he?" Tristan asked.
	"Zalmon Yorath is a power-hungry traitor," Jake said.  "He started
this war.  He was the one that tried to seize all vampire power for
himself."
	"Who was he before the war?"
	"A member of our council—our ruling body," Jake said.  "We as a
society chose vampires to sit on the council for twenty year terms, and he
was chosen.  It used to be the oldest of us that sat on the council, but
they got tired of it, so we came up with a new system.  I digress, halfway
through his first term, he attempted to stage a coup of sorts and take
power.  Two of seven council members were killed.  Battle lines were drawn
and he started a war when he was labeled as a traitor and a death sentence
was issued for him.  We've been trying to hunt him down and kill him since.
But he has supporters, so it's a war."
	"Why do people support him?" Tristan asked.
	Jake sighed, "There are those who want power or glory and they see
their path to it through him.  Additionally, he's an extremely charismatic
person.  He can convince you of almost anything."
	Jake paused before continuing, "I once worked with him, a long time
ago when I was a new vampire.  I was taken in by his charisma and passion.
When the war broke out, he asked me to join him.  I almost did, but I
couldn't bring myself to betray my kind, to betray what we live for, to
betray our four-thousand year history.  I could have just stayed a civilian
and not joined the forces fighting him, but I did.  I've fought against him
for a hundred years now."
	"How old are you? Who are you?" Tristan asked.  His mind was
spinning with all of the information he was learning. Can this be real,
vampires? He thought.
	"I am Count Jaakko Valto.  I'm currently a general in the vampire
army.  I was born in the year fourteen-hundred and ninety-four in what is
now known as Kotka in modern-day Finland.  I was the only child of a
wealthy family.  My mother died shortly after I was born and then my father
was killed when I was fifteen.  I continued along the path that a boy like
me should.  I watched over the family estate and all that.  However, when I
turned eighteen, I decided to travel.  I visited all of the great cities of
Europe.  I was in Vienna when I turned twenty-one.  It was there that I met
a man who intrigued me greatly.  I only saw him at night.  We had a
friendship for several weeks.  Then I fell sick and I was dying.  He came
to me and told me what he was.  He offered me immortality.  I accepted.  I
was reborn into the life of a vampire in fifteen-fifteen and lived as one
since.  I'm five-hundred and twelve as of last May."
      "You don't look a day over twenty three."
      Jake laughed, "That is a benefit of being a vampire, I guess.
Anyways, back to my story.  My sire vampire was Marek Brynmor."
      A look of sadness crossed Jake's eyes before he continued.  "He
trained me and I stayed with him for over twenty years.  After that, I set
out on my own again; I traveled back to my family's home and took residence
there for a time.  Since then, I've traveled the world, invested my family
money, and pretended to be my own heirs.  I now go by Jacob Valdemar.  I
retain my historic title of Count though my ancestral land is long gone.  I
came in possession of this house about twenty years ago.  It was in
horrible disrepair, so I had it renovated and had a few things added.  I
have a few other properties around the world, but this is my home and
headquarters though I am often away leading part of the hunt for Zalmon and
his followers.  I was sent back here a couple weeks ago with my force for a
period of rest and to look for Zalmon's supporters who might have taken
refuge here.  No one knew that we would find him here."
	As Jake talked, Tristan had finished his dinner and Jeff came and
took the plates away.
	"Well, I have some work to take care of," Jake said.  "Feel free to
explore.  There's a library and a TV room on this floor.  If you need
anything, Jeff will be around, probably in the kitchen."
	With that, Jake rose from his seat and headed out of the room and
off to the command center.