WHAT WISDOM LACKS... (PART I) THE CONTINUING SAGA OF SYLVIA THE VAMPIRE
E-Mail: [email protected]
By Ronald C. Tobin
It is a cold, gray, foggy night on January 3rd of the year 2002. At least, that is so here at Ocean Beach on the West Side of San Francisco. We see a tall, slender man walking proudly along the beach, not showing any concern for the damp, cloying cold. A sense of power and frustration, a man with piercing green eyes and a sinister smirk on his face. It is none other than Thomas Wisdom, Order Ruby Vampire, the one that tricked Sylvia into crossing over back in the Summer of Love in 1969.
Wisdom enjoyed reminiscing about the 1960s, because then he was really part of the "in" crowd. Mortals and vampires alike would flock to his parties, as he could always afford to hire the best local bands, and his contacts could get ample supplies of acid, hash, and pot. Wisdom had even sat down and talked to Timothy Leary on a couple occasions. Tom snickers, remembering that night that he told Leary he was a vampire, and the good doctor did not believe him! "Such a fine time," Tom remarked to himself.
Tom was walking towards the ruins of the old bathhouse when his preternatural hearing picked up the rapidly advancing footsteps of five individuals. Were there no fog, he would easily see them, as they could not be more than fifty feet away. "Such stealth," Tom muttered. "Must be some of my kin, coming to visit me." He then realized they were thinking about Sylvia - his 'mistake' during the Summer of Love of 1969, the act that made him a pariah and the occasional target of a hunt.
Sensing that the group approaching had purpose but was not intending to initiate hostilities, he relaxed as they came into view. Five stern looking vampires, four male, one female, and all in formal garb. Three of the males were from Order Ruby, as was he, the other male was from Order Emerald. The female, to his shock, was from Order Sapphire. "Gentlemen, madam, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Tom asked.
At this point the five flanked Wisdom on three sides. They were all staring and very hostile. The one directly facing him, a Ruby male Tom knew only as Charles, sneered and replied, "Lucky for you this visit is being made at the request of certain elders, O'Malley. We would just as soon call you out and terminate you now, but we are honor bound by oath to leave you unharmed, unless you break truce and attack."
"The name's Wisdom, Chuckie," Tom said with a snarl. "I ditched that uncool, unhip name of O'Malley back during the Beat era of the 1950s." Looking over at the female Sapphire, he continued, "You speak of oaths of honor, and you travel with a treacherous Sapphire?" Tom snickered as the lady vampire's eyes filled with hate. "Oh, I see. She is the enforcer, the assassin of this group. Good choice, that."
She took a step towards Tom, but the Ruby male standing next to her restrained her and said, "Don't let him provoke you, Terry."
"He's scum!" Terry Tilburtson said, teeth tightly clenched. "Truly, he is lower scum than was my father in darkness, Carlos Sandoval de Mendoza! At least I wanted to come across!"
"Ah, it is all so clear now, cats," Wisdom said, slipping into 1960s lingo. "This is about my poor misguided protege, Sylvia Patterson. Crazy, man. Am I right, Chuckie?"
"As if that was not obvious, Wisdom," Charles replied with a sneer. "I opened my thoughts and I know that you heard them. At any rate, as I said before we are hear at the request of certain Ruby and Emerald Order elders. We are here to inform you and advise you, and that is all."
Feigning boredom, Wisdom yawned deeply and rubbed his eyes. "Can we get to the point, Chuckster? I mean, I have my unlife to live, or is that to unlive?" Tom laughs at his own weak attempt at humor.
"A regular comedian you are, Wisdom," Charles said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "You should have played at one of the local comedy clubs. You probably would have been the first vampire act to bomb, baby."
All save for Wisdom laughed at this wit.
"Let's finish this, friend Charles," the male Emerald said. "Being in the presence of this unethical fool just makes my blood boil."
"Our Emerald brother provides wise counsel, Charles," the male Ruby standing next to Terry said. "Best to finish this now, lest I become unable to restrain our Sapphire sister here - and, perhaps, join her in destroying this maniac whose mere existence dishonors us all."
So amused was Tom by this line of conversation that he was about to burst into hysterical laughter, but, seeing the scowls on the faces of all the others, the Sapphire actually baring her fangs, he thought better of the gesture. "Like, mellow out, cats," he said calmly. "Just tell me what the elders sent you here to say and let's call it a night."
"So be it," Charles replied. Looking straight into Tom?s eyes, he said, "Thomas Wisdom, the elders of the Emerald and Ruby Orders, do hereby inform you, on behalf of Sylvia Patterson and her true daughter, Jacqueline Patterson, that you are hereby being called out for grievous injustices inflicted upon them due to your treachery in 1969 in which you tricked Sylvia Patterson into becoming a vampire against her will. As you knew then, and know now, transforming someone against their will is completely contrary to the protocols, as is taking the risk of transforming someone by yourself. We don?t need mindless revenants wandering the streets and scaring the mortals. As Sylvia was a breast-feeding mother, your act caused harm to her then infant daughter as well. You can restore your honor by self-terminating with the sunrise or by walking into a blast furnace of your choosing." Charles took a breath, then finished with, "What say you, Thomas Wisdom?"
"I refuse to commit suicide for my alleged crimes, man," Tom replied. "That would be so uncool. Deprive the world of Wisdom? No, way, cats, no way. I demand satisfaction. I demand trial by combat. If Sylvia and her brat can destroy me, she can have my stash and my pad. If I destroy them, I want safe passage out of San Francisco and I will promise never to return here. Too many negative vibes, man."
Charles positively beamed after Wisdom's reply. "That was the expected response. Very well, Wisdom. Your challenge has already been accepted. You are to present yourself at The Crypt tomorrow night at a quarter before Midnight tomorrow night. The trial by combat will commence at Midnight. Sylvia and Jackie can face you alone, in tandem, or in any combination of the two as they see fit. As they are considerably younger than you, this is regarded as fair. Do you accept?"
"As if you are really giving me a choice, Charles," Tom said with a smirk. "I know if I don't accept, you folks have leave to destroy me where I stand, which I have no doubt you could do. If I say yes and fail to appear at the stipulated time tomorrow night, it will be open season on Wisdom. So yes, I accept, but with one stipulation."
"And pray, Wisdom, what would that be?" Charles asked with a snarl.
"Don't get so uptight, Chuckie," Tom replied. "I say that it is NOT entirely fair to have one newbie and one who has been a vampire for only 33 years go up against someone like me, who has known the night for over 120 years, without a wild card for support. I do so want a fair fight." Tom pointed at Terry, then continued, "I give leave for that Sapphire spitfire there to assist Jackie and Sylvia when they fight me."
Before Charles could say a word, Terry replied, "I accept! If they will have me, I will be thrilled and honored to be there!"
"Very well," Charles said. "Your stipulation is accepted at the option of Sylvia and Jacqueline. See you tomorrow night at The Crypt, Wisdom." With that, the five vampires swiftly vacated the area, leaving Wisdom alone on the quiet, deserted beach.
Wisdom shattered the quiet by laughing hysterically. "They can't defeat me, man! I'm Wisdom! The coolest vampire in SF! Best thing since flower power! Them uncool chicks are going to go DOWN!"
[We now leave Mr. Wisdom on the beach and catch up with Sylvia and Jackie at Chez Noir, a small jazz club just off Telegraph in Berkeley. Along with a couple other vampires, and a few dozen mortals, they were listening to the vampire blues band headed by Midnight Silk, a band much in demand for their talent and their look.]
Ah! My friends! So marvelous to see you all again! It certainly has been much too long since I last appeared in the pages of this fine magazine! However, I am here now, so that is grand. Hope all has been well with you.
Midnight Silk's band is between sets right now, so I'll give a thumbnail sketch of what has been going on since the last time, when my true daughter Jackie became a vampire. We moved to San Francisco, took over a rather spacious two-room suite in the Motherhouse. I did indeed go over to France and spent a couple of weeks with Maurana, studying artifacts recently recovered from Atlantis. We did discuss the Moon and Mars briefly, more on that another time. We also discussed Order and personal matters. I learned a lot from her.
Jackie stayed here in San Francisco, learning the ropes from Aurea and Patricia Ann (the true sister of the late Victor Trent, don't you know), going to parties and having a marvelous time overall. She is very outgoing and very happy most of the time. I know she will be a good influence on me during the long years ahead.
What angers Jackie from time to time? The mere existence of my 'creator,' the one, the only, Thomas Wisdom. Though I have not yet seen him, I know he is in San Francisco. I have felt him close by a few times, mentally snickering and accusing me of being ungrateful. Yeah, like being transformed against your will and having to give up your nursing baby is something to be grateful for. All that, however, is finally coming to a head, an ultimate conclusion.
Yes, my sweet daughter is a newbie, just over two months since she received the dark gift. Normally such a one would have no business being involved in such a fight. A newborn generally has few powers and lacks the stamina to stand against even a 147-year-old like Tom. Jackie is special - she was brought across by Aurea, an elder with over 2100 years under her belt. Plus, folks such as Maurana speculate that Jackie was a vampire of some repute in a long ago previous life. That has not yet been confirmed, but I do know she possesses power and grace. Jackie exudes confidence, which I think is why I finally have the guts to face Tom down, end the nightmare, and start really enjoying myself.
Around Christmas, the topic of what should be done about Wisdom was a hot one between Jackie and myself. I was tired of not having settled scores with the scum, and Jackie agreed the time was right. She wanted us to go out on our own and confront the asshole in some dark alley and perform street justice. That DID sound tempting, but I explained that, since our grievance against Tom had to do with violating the protocols, we would be better served going the formal route. Besides, Maurana had suggested this while I was with her doing that research.
So, on the night of December 28th, Jackie and I discussed this with Aurea. She contacted Maurana and Sybille (de facto head of Order Emerald) and the formal "calling out" petition of redress was agreed to on January 1st. I know this all sounds horribly bureaucratic, but what you unaffiliated mortals do not realize is that there are only about twenty protocols, and they do not invoke immediately - the aggrieved party needs to step forward, and then Order elders review it and, if they concur, the redress petition is issued. Bringing someone across against their expressed will is a serious breach, which calls for either self-termination or trial by combat. I know Tom, he will refuse to suicide. Me, I do my own dirty work, so even though, because of the age difference, I would be entitled to have an older vampire stand in for me against Tom (and I received MANY offers that night, believe me), I will not do that. Especially with Jackie at my side, I know I can defeat that pompous ass.
I sense activity in the parking lot. Jackie has left her seat and signals me to follow, so I am doing exactly that. Once out there, I saw the five vampires that went out to meet with Tom. The lead, Charles, was talking to Aurea and with Paulina Van Trent, the 'bookkeeper' of the Bay Area vampires, a great lady with over 600 years under her belt. Jackie and I joined them presently.
"Ah, the ladies of the hour," Charles said with a flourish. "Message delivered. Tom refuses self-termination, agrees to terms of trial by combat."
"No surprise there, Charles," I replied. "Did he even seem the least bit surprised about being called out?"
"He did what he has a long history of doing - took it like some sort of big joke. Most of the time he insisted on speaking to us in some weird twisted lingo of the late 1960s," Charles stated. "He did, however, insist on a stipulation that I found bizarre, but accepted, pending your approval."
"Pray, what stipulation did that psychopathic scum have in mind?" Jackie inquired.
Charles was about to answer, but the lone female of the five, a Sapphire by the name of Terry Tilburtson, held up her hand in a gesture of silence and stepped forward. "As his stipulation concerned my person, I shall address it. Mr. Wisdom said that he did not think that the two of you against him would be a fair fight because of his age advantage."
"He clearly has no idea of my pedigree and just regards me as an ordinary newborn," Jackie said with a hint of glee.
"Exactly so," Terry said. "Therefore, he said it was fine by him if I were to fight alongside you two tomorrow night at The Crypt. I told Wisdom that was fine with me. What do you say?"
Jackie looked at me and nodded. I replied, "Well, this is not your fight, but you are volunteering and I can tell that you sincerely want to see Tom destroyed. Very well, Terry. We accept your offer."
We could hear that the band had resumed playing in our absence. "Might just as well enjoy the rest of the show, right Mom?" Jackie said with a grin.
It always warms my heart when she calls me Mom. I wish I really could have been more of a mother to her. Even should we prevail against Tom - which I am all but certain that we shall - that will not make up for what happened. We could destroy Tom a thousand times and that still would not be nearly enough. It will be justice, though.
About halfway into this set, Midnight Silk made a surprise announcement. "We have a new talent here tonight, folks. A good friend of mine and trust me, people - this here white girl can really sing the blues! Let's give a warm welcome to Patty Ann!"
Wearing some minimal makeup and a black suit that really hugged her curves, out walks Patricia Ann Trent! "I never knew this woman could sing!" I whispered to Jackie. The room hushed as Vernon Scott got a low, mournful wail out of his bass clarinet and Walter Scott worked on the string bass. Then Midnight chimed in, and it started to take on the tone of a mournful spiritual the slaves would have sung. Then Patricia Ann started to sing, and it was a glorious event. It was a song of great loss, a song of woe. A song of the sudden death of a friend and lover. I knew it was about her brother Victor, and I was astonished by its depth and complexity. It was an amazing song.
When she finished, there was not a dry eye in the house. I was teary eyed, Jackie was outright sobbing. She got a standing ovation, richly deserved.
Well, for Jackie and Terry and yours truly, the fun with Tom will be taking place tomorrow. You all will have to wait until the next issue to learn of my fate. Until then, pleasant dreams!
[Part I appeared in the January/February 2004 issue of THE THOUGHT.]
WHAT WISDOM LACKS...(PART II)
THE CONTINUING SAGA OF SYLVIA THE VAMPIRE
E-Mail: [email protected]
By Ronald C. Tobin
Hello once again, brave souls! Sylvia here, along with my daughter Jackie and a few friends here at the Motherhouse on Nob Hill. Some residents of this great city call this area Snob Hill, and they do have some justification. I must say, though, since the dot com bubble has burst, many of the so-called yuppies have gone broke and are leaving town. Well, that can happen when you do not invest with an eye to the future.
Enough of that CPA rubbish. It is the early morning of January 4th, a day that I will finally have my vengeance against the man who destroyed my life and my dreams, Thomas Wisdom. Granted, I recovered, and now I do enjoy being a vampire, but as I have said before I did not want the dark gift then. I still had a 'regular' life to live.
Strange how things have worked out, though. I mean, had Tom just killed me outright or had just extracted a pint and fucked me that night, I likely would not be here. That sounds silly, of course if he had killed me outright in 1969 the whole point would be moot. I mean, so many people died of overdoses in the late 1960s in the cities like San Francisco I would have been another statistic. And, well, had Tom just taken a pint that night, no real harm done. I very likely never would have run into another vampire during my life. I would have been there for Jackie growing up, but then chances are I would have lost her to that stomach cancer a couple months back. Perhaps it could have been stopped early, no one here has that answer.
It's funny, but here we all are, sitting and talking in the spacious front parlor of the Motherhouse, just discussing normal issues. No one is speaking of the upcoming fight, and I think it needs to be addressed. I want my mind put at ease. I want to feel as confident as Jackie does. I want to burn with a passion like Terry does. I want to know that Tom is the one who will go down in the fight and that he will not longer press upon my thoughts and disturb my slumber. Perhaps I want too much?
Presently Patricia Ann Trent walks in with this strikingly handsome male Ruby vampire, who radiated enough power and poise that I guessed he was at least 1000 years old. Jackie looked at him and started mentally undressing him. "Shame on you, little girl," I thought to her. Jackie just looked at me and grinned.
"My friends," Patricia Ann said, "I have the singular honor of introducing Helmut Von Kielsruhe, visiting us from Germany where he has spent the vast majority of his thousand years in the darkness." The epitome of Old World manners, Von Kielsruhe bowed and acknowledged each of us in turn.
"This is basically a pleasure trip for me," Helmut stated. "Decided it was time to really see the world away from Europe. It is proving to be quite the education." Looking over at Jackie and me, he continued, "I came here to San Francisco at this time at the urging of Lady Maurana to witness this unusual protocol fight, which I am presuming will start in roughly twenty-two hours?"
Checking my watch, noting it was indeed 2 AM, I replied, "That is correct, good sir. All of the necessary preliminaries and notifications have been made. Thomas Wisdom refused to suicide to apologize for having brought me across against my will, for making it impossible for me to raise my child, and for recklessly conducting a transformation on his own. As such, the trial by combat goes forward."
Helmut smiled softly and replied, "Your politeness shows fine manners, young lady, but please, just call me Helmut. That goes for everyone here, every vampire in this city for that matter." He pulled a couple vials of blood out of a tiny case in his jacket and handed one to Jackie and one to me. "Lady Maurana charged me specifically with making sure I handed these to you directly. Each vial contains 250 milliliters of blood from our recently departed 'leader,' Kristano Pa Anovas. She suggests you drink them just before you go down to The Crypt for the duel with Wisdom. Should give you both a power boost."
I simply politely murmured my thanks, being rather in awe of the gift, but Jackie, ever the bold one, asked Helmut, "Pray, why would she give us such a gift? Is this allowed by the protocols? I want a clean fight with Wisdom. I don't want anyone thinking we cheated. I want to defeat him fair and square, and I know we can."
Jackie's brashness brought out some low giggles from those in attendance, but Helmut took her very seriously and responded thusly, "Knowing that Aurea is your mother in darkness, I would say that your confidence in your abilities are completely justified. Absolutely so if you were in fact who we think you were several thousand years ago. However, yes, the gift of blood violates nothing, if some vampire wants to make a gift to Wisdom that is within their rights."
"But who would be so bloody stupid to do that?" Charles asked bluntly. "That guy is so irritating. He'll probably show up for the fight wearing a Dashiki shirt under a Nehru jacket with love beads! Probably hand out flowers to everyone, and say weird 60's stuff. Does he even HAVE any friends? Vampire or mortal?"
Helmut nodded politely and replied, "I am in no position to answer anything about Mr. Wisdom. I do know that Maurana and Sybille and a whole bunch of other vampires want him wiped from the face of the Earth. What he did was just incredibly wrong. I doubt the fight will last more than ten minutes, unless you play with him, and I don't recommend that. Good way to let your guard down, which is a great way to simply get yourself destroyed."
"That's hardly enough time to work up a sweat, ten minutes," Jackie replied. She just radiated confidence and power, power beyond her status. Yes, her body may well say 'newborn,' but her mannerisms, style, confidence, they all say 'elder.' I am in awe of my true daughter, and that amuses Jackie.
We stayed and brainstormed and discussed and at times just chatted downstairs until about a half-hour before sunrise. I suggested to Jackie that some rest would likely be a good idea, and she agreed. Terry said she would meet us here shortly after sunset to finalize battle strategy, a notion that I thought made a great deal of sense. Must needs have a plan of attack, even though any general will tell you that a plan tends to change rapidly once the enemy is engaged, and Wisdom is certainly the enemy. If he can destroy us, he will.
As I settled myself in my cozy four-poster bed for my daily slumber, I heard the whisper of the blackout shades covering the windows of the great house. This whole place is solar-proof, as are the bed canopies and even the topsheet is a special weave that will protect us in an emergency. Ultimately, I have a large chest at the foot of my bed that I could seal myself into to protect myself from daylight. This was much better than what I did back when I was an independent in Los Angeles. There, I would often as not sleep in a closet, in a well-sealed basement, even in a car deep down in an underground parking garage. Ah, yes, the good old days.
As I drifted off into the incredibly deep slumber of the undead, I sensed Tom thinking about me. "Pleasant dreams, Syl," he thought with a snicker. "Be seeing you and your brat newborn kid later. I'll bathe in your blood. I'll eat your daughter's heart and make you watch. Oh, yeah, and I'll kick that totally uncool Sapphire bitch's ass!"
**********
With my last spark of consciousness, I laughed and thought back, "Dream on, Tom. You are going down."
SAN FRANCISCO, Sunset, 4 January 2002: Thomas Wisdom awakens with the sunset, feeling refreshed and ready to smash some heads. Also thirsty, figures he'll off some homeless guy before the fight. "No one misses them uncool dudes, man," he says to himself. As speculated, he puts on his best Dashiki shirt, several strands of love beads, a Nehru jacket, and puts a few flowers in his hair. "I am just the coolest vampire in the world. Totally groovy."
Terry Tilburtson, renegade Sapphire befriended by the Emerald and Ruby Orders, had been up for a couple of hours, sparring with Charles. "You are a very competent fighter, my dear. Lots of street sense and a controlled sense of chaotic flux. I know that sounds weird, but it is apt as a description of your style. It may appear you are acting chaotically, but there is method to everything that you do. Keep your temper under control and you will be fine."
Terry nodded, pleased at the compliment and mindful of the warning. "I will do my utmost best, Charles," she replied, "I very nearly lost it on the beach last night."
Charles nodded and said, "We all came close, Terry. Wisdom has no idea how close he came to just being destroyed where he stood. No one would have blamed us, though I do get the impression that Sylvia and Jackie would have been sorely disappointed. I give them a lot of respect, you know. It takes a lot of guts to do what they are about to do. It is also wise that they accepted your offer of aid. I know Jackie is ultra-confident and very powerful, but she is a newborn just the same. Psychically powerful but she will have to be careful with her body. It takes a year for the body to fully transform, it does not matter who brings you across, how old they were, or whether or not you were a vampire in a previous incarnation."
Terry nodded and looked at her watch. "I best be going over to the Motherhouse. Promised Jackie and Sylvia that I would be there shortly after sunset to discuss strategy. Thanks for everything, Charles." She then walked over and gave him a big hug and then a long, passionate kiss. The love the two felt for each other showed passionately in their eyes.
"I think I heard a mortal in Arizona years ago use a word that really says how I feel about you, Terry," Charles stated.
"What word would that be, love?" Terry asked, smiling broadly.
"Twitterpated," Charles replied. "It means an all over marvelous feeling from your head to your toes. I like it."
"It does seem apt," Terry said, then she kissed him again. "I'll see you after the fight."
**********
Sylvia here once again, my friends. I slept fitfully after those first few hours of oblivion. I am already down to three hours of that. I wonder if Jackie gets that at all. Well, if she doesn't, then she must not need it. Frankly, she is not even as thirsty as I am. If I don't get at least four pints a week the blood craving will drive me nuts. Not Jackie, oh no. Aurea had to tell her point blank that she has to drink four to five pints a week so that her body transforms properly. The drawback of being an 'elder' in a newborn body, I suppose. Must ask Francesca DeWitt what she goes through, having been a vampire before for several thousand years and right now she has less years in the darkness than I do. That has to be really weird.
Enough of this. I can hear Jackie talking excitedly with Aurea and Paulina Van Trent, and not about the impending fight to the death just hours away. They are talking about, of all things, shoes. I quickly get dressed and join them in the small alcove, a place filled with comfortable chairs surrounding a small table. As usual, Jackie gave me a hug. This time, Aurea did as well. Paulina nodded politely.
"Anyway, after the battle I want to get myself a pair of stiletto pumps with a three inch heel," Jackie said to Aurea. "I think those would look so great on me when we go out dancing and club prowling,"
"You do have great legs, dear," Aurea said. "And among the great advantages of being a vampire is that you don't have to worry about weakening your hamstrings and screwing up your feet."
"That is so," Paulina opined, "but they do make an awful clacking sound. Very hard to be stealthy in them. Have to rely more on the illusions, and there are those mortals who can see through them. Give me a pair of comfortable, low heel shoes any day."
Suffice it to say I was amazed that, with a death battle approaching, anyone could just sit calmly and talk about such a mundane topic as shoes! Jackie saw the scowl on my face, smiled and said, "It's not that we are not taking the fight seriously, Mom. It is just that we have truly done everything we can do to prepare, save to brainstorm some strategy when Terry gets here. There is little else to do besides present ourselves at The Crypt well before midnight, send Wisdom into the great oblivion, and then really start enjoying being vampires!"
"I just wish I had your confidence, Jackie," I said softly. "I feel so divided, my mind tells me that we will prevail and it will be all over with fairly soon. I need this closure and, beneath all that brashness and bluster, I am sure that you need this closure too."
"Actually, I think the entire Bay Area vampire community needs this closure," Aurea stated. Looking at me, she continued, "I know that people back then were shocked when you just left the City and headed to Los Angeles. Folks figured you would want to settle scores with Tom right then and there. There were people just dying to have a crack at him. You did not have to go independent and then get threatened by the roving goon squads after Victor was annihilated."
I let out a big sigh, then said, "in hindsight I can see that what I did choose to do was not really the best option. However, given the state of mind I was in, little else made sense. I did stay with Tom for a couple years, and he did not introduce me to many other vampires. Those that he did have me meet were at least as warped as he was, just different. I did not want the company of vampires. When I left San Francisco for good in 1971, I swore just to be an independent predator and bide my time until I felt ready to try and settle the score with Tom. Frankly, that lifestyle worked reasonably well for me for the better part of thirty years. Victor's destruction, and now this absurd 9/11 mortal rubbish, has changed things. Now, well, I see advantages with being closely aligned with the Order, and I am pleased with how things are going now."
At that point Terry walked into the room and sat down. "Hope that I did not miss anything important," she said with a smile.
"Naw, we were just talking about shoes and Mom was reminiscing about why she went independent after leaving Tom," Jackie replied. "Guess we should be forming a battle strategy."
"Well, this is what we know about Tom Wisdom's pedigree," Paulina said as she pulled a laptop computer out of her briefcase. Data filled the screen as she punched a few keys and brought up various records. "He was born on 14 August 1854 in New York City. He and his family relocated to San Francisco in 1867. Even as a mortal he was a scoundrel and a low life, cheated at cards and was banned from several local casinos. In July of 1880 he met up with then 285 year old Ruby Vampire Albert Rains who had, at that point, been a vampire for 252 years. He transformed Tom at his request and adhered to all points of that protocol."
"I guess that means we can't blame Tom's bad manners on his father in darkness," Jackie said. This got a chuckle from all assembled, including yours truly.
"Well, what this basically means is that Tom falls into the standard category for the powers one would expect a Ruby to possess after 120 years away from the sun. His faults are legion, though: he is deceitful to a fault, he has an ego so huge no one else can approach it, he desperately wants to recreate his heyday of the 1960s when he really was the 'king' of Golden Gate Park, and he is not the least bit sorry for breaking the rules and bringing you across against your will, Sylvia. A friend of mine, long since slaughtered by a vampire hunter, told me that he thought the whole issue was hilarious. 'When she begged me to kill her during the transformation purge, man, that was just too funny,' Wisdom allegedly said."
A small sob escaped me at that statement. "I did ask him to kill me during the transformation purge. It was right when the milk started pouring from my breasts and I realized that I would no longer be able to care for my child that I had no desire to go on. He just laughed and said 'I already killed you once tonight, baby. Would be truly uncool to do it twice.' What an absolute asshole that guy is."
We wrapped up the briefing and then Jackie, Terry, and me left the Motherhouse and started brainstorming about tactics. I must admit I was somewhat shocked at how vicious Jackie and Terry wanted to be. They wanted to take their time and tear Tom to pieces, make him suffer a lot before dispatching him into the great beyond.
I argued for a quick dispatch so that we would not have to listen to him prattle on endlessly about how great he was, how I should be grateful to him for the precious gift that he gave me, and so on. In the end, we agreed to play it by ear and pay attention.
Time just flies by when momentous events are about to take place. I am very nervous. Jackie, on the other hand, is very calm and collected. She is masking her vast innate powers so that she appears to Tom as nothing more than a simple newborn. As for Terry, well she looked fierce. She even put on some body paint to look even meaner, which I understand is an old psychological warfare gambit that many Sapphires will use in a battle situation.
Just before we arrived at The Crypt, club now all nice and cleaned up and ready to reopen in about a week, Jackie and I gulped down the blood gift from Maurana. Terry gulped down a similar vial of Aurea's blood.
The security people were all over the place, none but the combatants and the five hooded observers (whose names and faces were unknown to us) would be allowed inside while the fight took place. Indeed, Order Security had been completely overhauled in the aftermath of Victor's demise. The door guard recognized us and waved us through.
The interior of The Crypt was suitably gloomy. The Goths would just love this place once again when it reopened. All the damage had been taken care of. Over the stage and extending well into the dance floor area our dueling arena was set up. Various objects and weapons were scattered about it, which really brought the reality of all this home to me. "This is really happening," I said under my breath. We are really fighting Tom to the death tonight."
Jackie just looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "A gift to you, Mom," she said. "After tonight, the nightmare ends. I think we should cut Terry in for a third of the take when we liquidate Wisdom's assets."
That made me laugh. "Of course, dear, provided assets is one of those things that Wisdom does not lack." Jackie and Terry laughed at that one.
Probably more pithy comments would have been made about what Wisdom lacks had he not arrived at that point, right on time at a quarter of Midnight. Sure enough, he really was wearing a Dashiki shirt, love beads, and one of those truly awful Nehru jackets. He tried to give one of the hooded observers a flower, but said vampire refused it. "You cats must be pigs, man, because only pigs don't like flowers," Wisdom muttered.
The Master of the Fight, also hooded, told us to come down into the arena. As the accused breaker of the protocols, Wisdom occupied the center spot in the arena. I chose stage left, Jackie took stage right, and Terry took the outside wall, so we were arranged in a triangle against Wisdom.
At five minutes before Midnight, the outer doors to the club were bolted shut. The Master then asked if any of us had anything we wanted to say for the record before the fight was to commence. Jackie and Terry declined, I declined, but Wisdom did not, which of course surprised absolutely no one.
"Look, I just want to say this is totally uncool. I mean, if Syl did not enjoy being a vampire, why is she still here thirty-three years after I so graciously gave her the dark gift. I made sure her true daughter was cared for. And this is the thanks I get? Man, some folks just don't know when they have it good. Now, you want to rid the world of Wisdom? Well, baby girl, kiss your true daughter, your scum Sapphire friend, and yourself goodbye. I'll eat your hearts before this is all said and done."
Presently the clock chimed Midnight. The Master said, "this is a fight to the death. No quarter is to be asked for or will be granted. Let the combat decide which party is in the right on this issue." He bowed and left the field. A gong sounded and, fangs bared, we all went at it.
They speak of time dilation during fights where one's existence is on the line. Seconds seem like minutes. I do see the truth of that. As I suspected, Wisdom is rushing towards me, totally ignoring Jackie and Terry at the moment. He leaped to pounce on me, but I bounced out of the way and then a well thrown knife from Terry sliced open his right side and a well projected thought pattern from Jackie had literally set his hair on fire. Fire is the one thing vampires fear greatly. Unlike other injuries, it can take weeks or months to heal.
Tom fell to the ground in a heap, howling in rage and pain. "Madness!" he shouted. "How does a newborn know how to handle fire attacks competently?" He put the fire in his hair out, and took a good look at Jackie. "Fucking hell - a returned elder!" And that was the last statement Tom would ever utter.
Terry and I watched in amazement as Jackie simply used psychic energy and tore Wisdom's arms and legs off and set them ablaze, tore off his penis and set it blaze, all the time Tom laid there, screaming incoherently, utterly unable to move. She even cauterized the wounds with flame so that they would not start regenerating.
That done, Jackie turned to me and said, "Go ahead and break his breastbone and wrench out his heart and eat it. Then, let's have Terry cut his head off. Sound fair?"
I did not say a word. I just lunged at Tom and smashed his breastbone and took out his still beating heart. Then, I took a giant bite out of it. Tom lurched once, then finally fell silent. Terry swiftly chopped off Tom's head with a finely crafted machete. After which the gong sounded again, signaling that the fight was over. Total actual time of the duel: eight minutes.
The Master of the Fight handed me a torch and I burned what was left of my 'creator,' Tom Wisdom. "I guess cool don't rule no more, Tommy," I whispered. Jackie and Terry just nodded.
Presently the doors to the club were opened and a throng of vampires and affiliated mortals rushed in, cheering loudly, chanting "Wisdom has left the planet! Wisdom ain't groovy no more! What Wisdom lacks is a body and a mind!" It was a bit overwhelming. I was still absorbing the fact that we had just managed to destroy the man who destroyed my old life thirty-three years ago. I was awash with conflicting emotions. Not so with Jackie, oh no. She was just so proud of herself, and frankly she had every right to be. The fight would have been far more difficult without her. I just hugged her and whispered, "Thanks, honey." Then I hugged Terry as well.
The revelry at the club lasted until the hour prior to dawn. As to dividing up Wisdom's possessions, once the fight had ended Paulina Van Trent had sent people to his place and she has promised a complete list by the end of the week. Doubt it will amount to all that much, but we shall see.
So, my dears, that is the end of the story of Tom Wisdom. I know I will sleep better this morning knowing that he is no longer here to heckle me. The breach has been sealed. Perhaps now I can really love again. I know I will smile more often, laugh more freely. I am ready for the adventure now.
Until the next time, my friends, pleasant dreams and, don't lack what Wisdom lacks now - a heart, a mind, a body...
[Part II originally appeared in the March/April 2004 issue of THE THOUGHT.]
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