FicWad

Chapter 27



As the two groups started to get acquainted, and compare notes, Karin took the book that she had found and began to read. She wanted to get into the mind of which it was they faced, and then give it to Jean-Claude to see what he thought of it. She opened to the first chapter, which was titled "What Is a Vampire."

It read, "It seems that vampires have been around for some time. No one is truly certain what created them, or where they came from. Many of our interrogations yielded confessions that Cain himself, the first child of Adam and Eve, was the first. However, because of too many conflicting reports, we cannot say this for certain. If they are that ancient, we would have to assume a postdiluvian time period at least for the origins of vampires. Our investigations have shown something very interesting. Their creation to this day actually can happen two ways-the traditional way of biting, draining, and the drinking of vampire blood, and by birth. However they are created, one thing we do believe, and that all vampires are actually undead."

Karin rolled her eyes at this, and she already knew that she was dealing with someone who had no real education on vampires, but thought that he knew it all. He was like a man who swears up and down that he knows how professional wrestling works, yet has never set foot in a ring, and who is so far off the mark that, even if a wrestler told him what it was about, he would try to correct the wrestler on his knowledge. She then continued to read, "You may ask how something that is undead can give birth. Although a vampire is undead, that is, its flesh is not living, though the soul and spirit still reside in it, the vampire can use the blood it takes to bring to life the organs needed to reproduce for a time. Once done, and child can be born. Yet, just as each creature reproduces after its kind, they produce a vampire. I shall soon elaborate on blood use, but for now, we will define something.



"What does it mean to be /un/dead? The term itself sounds like Orwellian newspeak, (e.g. not 'good and bad,' but 'good and ungood.') However, to see it like this is helpful, because it is Orwellian in the sense that one is alive and dead at the same time. However the vampire comes to be, what happens is that, for whatever reason, the body begins to lose, or lose the ability to create blood. The body starts to die. The reason for this is because the birth, in truth, is unnatural-something dead is not supposed to produce life, and the offspring begins to die. The vampires we have interrogated call this'the awakening,' but I feel that they call it that in self-denial. They know what is happening, and know what they must do to preserve the child. However the blood dissipates, at the penultimate moment of the soul and spirit exiting the body once it is dead, a phenomenon happens to curtail the leaving. The Bible says that in the blood is life. Without blood, a body shall die. Somehow, the vampire can time it so that it can introduce vampire blood to the person before the exiting point. Because the blood has been inside the body of an abomination, it transforms, and takes on a sinister state."

Karin let out a snort, and caught momentary attention that she just dismissed. She then continued, "The blood that is introduced to the dying or dead becomes something desirous and delicious to the soon to be vampire, because the flesh is now craving blood. Even though it has achieved the blood, it is not enough to revive the flesh to where it can make its own blood. Still, because of the changed state of the blood, enough of it is in the system to trick the soul and spirit into staying in the body. The soul and spirit can still command the body, but the body itself is dead. It is both alive and dead at the same time, thus undead. Since it cannot create blood any longer, it now must obtain blood from other sources. The initial drinking also causes a physical change as well. In the mouth, the canines sharpen and become more prominent. They also become extendable when the vampire hungers or is enraged. All the senses become heightened, although our research has shown that a vampire has barely any ability to taste food-something of which we have yet to find an answer.



"Something else becomes interesting at the creation of a vampire. Though the soul and spirit are still in the body, because it has been released from being contained in a living brain, the vampire has the ability to tap into supernatural powers, and actually uses the blood it obtains to perform these acts, hence, the ability to bring certain areas to life in the body. This also allows great feats of strength, speed, the ability to extract static electricity from the earth, force push and pull, and other things. This makes for a powerful and formidable creature, but not indestructible."

Karin shook her head, not believing what she was reading. She would have thought that, after centuries of hunting and chasing vampires, they would have caught on by this point. All she could assume was that this was self-imposed ignorance. In other words, they wish to believe that vampires are evil so bad that they are willing to dismiss the truth and stay in ignorance so that their fears remain justified.



She jumped ahead, and read, "How does one recognize a vampire? Because they look so human, it is hard to peg them at first glance. In truth, what they commonly look like is really not their true form. The fact is that, they are very hideous creatures when their true form comes forth. However, there are some things they cannot hide. We have already discussed the teeth, so another thing to note is that their ears become a slight bit more pointed. They also have pale skin, and they do not breathe, though they can mimic the act very well."

It was getting harder for Karin to contain herself, and kept letting out achortle or two, gaining more glances from people as time went on. She then read, "They also emit no body heat unless they have just fed. Often, we have interrogated those that have just fed, for they have been quite powerful in apprehension, and they were giving off heat. This is how we knew that they had fed. We found it even odder that they continue to mimic respiration, even though they were caught, and amongst people who know what they are. However, Imust dispel some legends: they do cast reflections, flowers do not wilt in their presence, crucifixes mean nothing to them, nor does running water, cross roads, lack of invitations to enter, and other such Hollywood nonsense. Yet, they have displayed a strong sensitivity to garlic, but we dismiss this to their keen sense of smell."

"Well, at least they got the last part right," she mumbled to herself.

"What did you say," asked Anjou.

"I'll tell you later," said Karin.



She then skipped ahead and read, "Do they have weaknesses if the legends are not true? Well, garlic is one of them; another is the lack of blood. In time, if they do not get blood, they begin to become more bestial, and go into arage, and a bloodlust. If they are not able to obtain blood at this point, the body eventually begins to go into torpor. If that happens, it is only a matter of time. If blood is not introduced soon, the body shall crumble up and turn to powder. Another weakness is indeed sunlight. Some have wondered why this is. The reason lies in the fact that the deadness of the flesh no longer allows the creation of melanin in the flesh, and thus they are completely vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation. They do not die right away, but they do eventually begin to cook and die."

That, Karin knew was wrong. It was not that they had lost the ability to make melanin, but they never had it to start with. It was just the nature of the vampire, and something they were born with. It was similar to albinism, but not quite. She then continued, "One thing that we must look at is the business of the stake through the heart. We have actually come to find that this does not kill them like legend teaches. However, it is a weakness, in that, it paralyzes them. When the stake is removed, the vampire revives. The only sure fire way to kill them, outside of burning them outright, is to remove their heads. This is why staking a vampire is wise, because it eases the hunter in the decapitation."

Karin now was just shaking her head, sad that all of this was laced in enough truth that the unlearned just might believe what he read. She then read, "What are some of the dangers of the intermixing of humans and vampires? In these modern times, there have actually been humans that have shown that they would inexplicably wish to become vampires! It is certain that there have also been vampires that have been quick to cater to their wants. This is dangerous, because, in our time, we have certainly encountered too many vampires who would seek to enslave the human race, and turn us into mindless cattle as the sought to conquer the world. Indeed, for those that would come over, they would then give opportunities for this to happen, and that could bring a grim disaster. Another danger comes when dealing with an interesting creature that the Romanians have named the dhampir, ('dhampier' or 'd'amphile' in French.) The word itself means "little vampire," but that does not diminish what it is. It is the genetic cross between a human and a vampire. It is created when a human and vampire mate, or if a woman with child was bitten in that time period. This creature is not undead, and actually possess the best of both worlds: it can eat, walk in daylight with minimal precautions, it's body functions as normal, and has access to all the vampiric abilities, but only if it has been trained in the use of them. Otherwise, it is weak compared to a full vampire. However, we know that such a creation is an abomination, because such a union is not meant to be, solidified by the fact that a dhampir is sterile, and cannot reproduce. It also still must feed on blood, if only to use its abilities, once a month like a normal vampire. The reason why they are dangerous goes beyond just what they are. Although the dhampir is shunned by vampires for some strange reason, there would be enough humans that would think that unions between vampires and humans are acceptable. This would play right into the vampire's power hungry hands, and it could use that to accelerate global domination of their kind."

Karin had read as much as she wanted to stomach. She knew that A-team was now dealing with a bunch of loonies. They knew nothing as they ought, acted like they knew all, and tried to move on such things. Jean-Claude would definitely want to look at that.



In the meantime, Hartley was telling them who they were and what they were about. They were all graduates of the Mahora Academy in Japan. In fact, he informed Jean-Claude of the fact they actually fought the Bokor War, and conducted the wedding on the grounds of the academy, without actually knowing it. "Indeed, you had more aid than just the heavenly host that you claim,"stated Hiryuu.

"By the way," said Yuuna, "The wedding was beautiful."

She looked over at Karin, who was now tuned in on the conversation, "You looked radiant that day, Karin!"

She smiled and thanked her, and Hartley then continued, "That caught our attention, and we sent the information, well, that what we knew, to the Arlington Magic Society."

Jean-Claude looked askance at this, and Hartley said, "Although Uncle Sam would openly deny our existence, we are actually Company."

A smile curled on Hondo's face, and he said, "So, you're magic wielding ninja!"

"Excuse me," said Hiryuu.

Jean-Claude laughed, and said, "Allow me to introduce you to the second in command of A-team-Hondo Yoshida."

"Konichiwa, Yoshida Hondo-san," said Yuuna, and she bowed deeply. Because he did not know where to put her in rank structure, he merely matched the depth of her bow. Hartley then said, "Well, I never thought of it that way, but in asense, that is what we are. However, we are also like a special force, like Delta Force, SEALs, the Green Berets, and so forth. We're kind of the best of that, and the Company. The government cannot openly acknowledge us fully, in that; the public would not be ready for this, which is similar to how you must keep the Clan under wraps until the right time. It is interesting that you call yourself 'A-Team.'"

"Funny you should mention special forces, because it is the concept of the Green Berets' A-Team for which I was gunning when forming this group as abranch of the Clan here in the U.S. I know that we're more than twelve, but here we are."

Hiryuu then said, "You're branching out here in the states?"

"It has to start somewhere," said Jean-Claude.

"This is why I am glad that we're having the talk like this," said Hartley,"because, if we caught wind of this before we met like this, or that we were being employed by the Vatican-unofficially, of course-we may not have been so friendly. We would have at least arrested operations until we knew more about what your intent was. However, your dossier right here has said much."

"DOISSIER!" exclaimed Jean-Claude, "How much do you know?"

"Your remaining covert is good," said Yuuna, "But not well enough. Ever since the Bokor incident, we have been watching you. The AMS in cooperation with Uncle Sam has had NAS Black Ops people on you. You may not realize this, but there are a handful of them in the Clan itself!"

Jean-Claude stared at them, but was only partially surprised. He knew that the U.S. intelligence community-collectively called the Company-was good, but he never realized that they were that good! Hartley continued, and said,"Since then, Uncle Sam hasn't really seen you as a threat. However if this had not gone down, and you tried to form this group, there may have been some issues until we knew your intent. It may have not been pretty. I think we should both be glad that things happened this way."

Jean-Claude had to know, "How much do you know about us?"

"Quite a bit," said Hartley, "In fact, it took a bit, but we seemed to recognize you at the Rugby match."

Jean-Claude rubbed his chin, and said, "I thought you looked familiar."

"The Friar confirmed this for us, and we told him all that we knew," said Hiryuu, and Hartley interjected, saying, "Let me tell you what we know about you, and how we found out. I hope you have some time."

"Just enough," answered Jean-Claude, as he spun a chair around and sat, back to his belly, "What do you want to tell us?"