Chapter 16: MEMORABLE FLASHBACKS

"Rube, bro! What are you doing here? "yells the devilishly handsome multi-billion-dollar investor from about a dozen meters away, as he walks slowly toward the broad-shouldered Castañeda, "Where's Nick?" Orion asks while his sinewy arm is wrapped protectively around a wet and soaked Hiraya.

"Told him to back up the talents who went to rescue the Security Staff's Alpha Team who got attacked in the forest a while ago," the Supervisor explains while shouting at the top of his lungs. "Don't know who the fucktards were but they caught themselves a lone survivor and Nick's on his way to surrender the unconscious douchebag for an 'interview' with my wife. After all, it's her specialty. I trust her enough to make that grunt sing Streisand soon enough."

By the time The Rube was done clarifying, his eager and curious listeners had already reached him.

"Heh, for a moment there I thought that you were Nick because you're about the same height and size," laughs Marion while slapping his close buddy on the chest. "I only realized it was you when we were close enough to see your blond hair by the light of the full moon. I remember that Nick has the same color of hair as mine."

"Bruh, are you calling me fat?" guffawed the former military man with the Mafia connections. "If I'm fat, what the hell would you be, a goddamn scarecrow on a pole?"

"No, bro… Neither of you two are fat," the grinning royal hurriedly corrected his laughing listener. "Both of you are just built like a tank or a brick wall… you know, muscled and heavy-set like a wrestler…"

"I don't know, Marion. That still sounds like fucking fat to me…" chuckles the joking resort owner.

"Anywaaay," interrupts the still-dripping Raya, "I still need to check on my pet Calvin and get a change of clothes before I catch a lousy cold… or maybe even a damn fever."

"Can you throw me a shirt while you're at it, Hiraya?" sweetly requests the silk-robed Marion. "I don't want to catch a fever either"

She wraps her slim arms around his sinewy neck and gives him a long open-mouthed kiss. "Sure lover, no problem. And what nightie would you like me to wear tonight?"

He grins, passion dripping from his stare. "Surprise me, my lady."

"Okay…" she replies with a naughty sparkle in her eyes then walks sexily away, her bouncy and luscious behind swaying gracefully. At the door of the tent, she turns to blow her lustily staring 'master' a quick flying kiss.

"God! Will you two get a room?" exasperatedly exclaims Castañeda. "Oh, wait! I just realized that you already have and we're right beside it, dude."

The two comely friends loudly laugh in unison, as they usually do when they find the time to meet and talk.

"Cas, about those attackers in the forest," the younger-looking man began, shifting the topic completely. "Have you ever encountered anything like them before?"

"Yeah sure, but in a fucking warzone and never at any branch of the Midnight Resort," was the conjecturing answer that the curious monarch got. "Plus, they were heavily armed complete with bazookas and grenade launchers as if they were going to fight a small terrorist army!"

Both bewildered men fall silent for a moment then Rube ends the awkward pause with a request that sounds like he's pleading – no, begging – that his pal listen and do what he's asked.

"Marion, I got a bad feeling about these assholes," Rube began. "And I had that weird premonition thing before they attacked which was why I warned all the talents and the rest of the hotel security to gear up and expect the worst. Good thing I did because not an hour later, they suddenly pounced on the Alpha group of the Security division and now, that team is completely wiped out," Marion's Mafia-connected friend concludes sadly.

"Well, good to hear those strange supernatural hints of yours still work, Rube…'

"I know, right? But I'm also getting the strong bizarre nudge that they are after you or someone close to you," the man nicknamed Cas by his friends continues. "So, after tonight, I suggest you and Raya should go back to your suites in the resort just so you're both secured for at least the time you plan to stay here. Like I always say, better to be bloody safe than fucking sorry."

"Why me?" asks the surprised Orion who could hardly hide his startled expression. "And how the hell do they even know I'm here at your family bordello? I've told no one about this trip but my immediate family members and I know this secret is safe with them. And I can't believe that you could have told anyone outside the resort, did you?"

"Hell no, bub! Why would I?" exclaims the older-looking dark-haired male. "That would go against company policy and I'm not that insane!"

"Ok, we will stay outdoors only for tonight then get ourselves back inside first thing in the morning. But if they plan on doing anything tonight I can protect Hiraya and me, no problem. You do remember who you're talking to, right?"

Oh no, here we go again. I suddenly feel a fucking flashback coming… The Rube thought to himself.

+++

About five years ago, in the middle of Sicily, Italy around midnight…

"Dude, what the heck is this place? What's with the secret entrance and the code word mumbled at the door?" the puzzled military man whispered to his client, who was also a military man but with a grand monarchial title and royal background. "This place gives me the creeps, man!"

"Don't worry, just follow my lead in everything I do and I'll take care of you here," Orion gently assured his nervous companion. "Relax bro, it's just a club."

"Bro, I know you. When it comes to your family and mine, there's always something more than meets the eye and my 'spider senses' are telling me that this is no normal exclusive pub!"

"Will you have the usual, Sire?" a tuxedoed waiter inquired politely.

"Yes, same brand and vintage, please," ordered the unknown prince. "Oh, and make it for two…"

The suited server slightly bowed and then exited through a small door with a small circular glass window on the upper part of it. It was after a few minutes that he returned and served a bottle of red wine to the two tuxedoed customers.

Or was it REALLY wine…

Rube sniffed at the sticky and thick liquid in his crystal-fluted wine glass, unsure if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing.

Is this fucking blood?

He counted up to ten after the waiter had left before he confronted Marion with continuous whispered queries.

"Dude, is this blood? What the hell kind of club is this?" the Rube hissed in a low voice to avoid being noticed by the establishment's other clientele. "Who the fuck did they kill to get this crap? And since you were asked by our server if you will have the usual, it means you're a regular here in this freaky place, right?"

"Calm down Rube. First off, no one got killed to get that drink in our wine glasses and second of all, it's not crap. It's the best grade blood that Wagyu cows have to offer," Marion soothingly explained while staring into his brawny friend's royal blue eyes. "Finally, this quote-and-unquote 'freaky' place is a frequented club for high-class and powerful vampire family lines in Europe… Possibly, even the whole world."

-place cricket sounds here-

It took Cas a full three minutes before he found his voice to recover and reply…

"Vampires? As in Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's book Vampires? You mean those fuckers are real?" Rube almost shouted though he started out talking softly.

"And the movie and even the comic version, man," confirmed the self-proclaimed vampire. "Vlad Tepes AKA Vlad the Impaler or Count Vlad Dracul the III… He's supposedly related to my family somehow if what my Father said is true, that is."

"So, all the stuff Bram Stoker wrote is true, is that what you're saying?" inquired the incredulous listener.

"Not all of it, but he did get the part about Mina Harker right…"

"Hold up! You mean that darn chick was for real?" yelled the astonished Cas who couldn't keep his bewilderment hidden anymore. "What the fuck, Orion!"

"Actually, she was based on Stoker's mother…" placated the royal "…and she was the one who supposedly told him the whole epic story, which he turned into a bestseller of his time even until now."

"If you're a fucking vamp, how could you walk in daylight? I've seen you do it lots of times. Damn man, you even got a slight tan!"

"That's where the weird part about me and my generational line comes in…"

"I don't know, bruh, but I think weird is the new normal for you, "sighed The Rube in defeat. "At the rate you're going, you could even tell me you're a bloody Martian vampire and I'll believe you…"

"Well, my explanation is not as crazy as that, I'm afraid," the young-looking prince admitted. "My Grandfather has been studying vampires and similar supernatural beings for almost all his life. In his studies, he came across a different kind of bloodsucker in a small country somewhere in Southeast Asia that is impervious to the sun and only has small insignificant quirks for weaknesses…" Marion momentarily paused to let the attending waiter refill his glass with the crimson liquid.

As the formally dressed attendant walked away with Marion's chosen drink, Reuben eagerly pushed his untouched "wine" toward his principal, "You can have mine Marion. I can't drink that stuff even if my life depended on it, not unless we cook it. And keep going with your Gramps story. I think it's starting to grow on me…"

Orion chuckled a bit then continued, "But these odd Asian vampires do not turn by being drained of blood, a bite or being born as one like I was or being made to drink another blood drinker's blood. Oh no, it's something much simpler," the vampire prince then took a breather as he takes a sip from Reuben's glass, increasing the suspense factor of his current story.

"Go on…" impatiently stated the skilful human who was sitting in front of him.

After wiping his mouth with a napkin Marion went on with his tale, "They become vamps through swallowing an enchanted charm that the owner has to willingly pass on to an agreeable vessel, ideally to a family member," continued the well-dressed aristocrat. "It looks like a small normal-looking stone that you have to swallow. And since it cancels out a European vampire's weaknesses, it can do the same to the Asian version when they are mixed. These Asian vampires are called 'aswang'."

"Which is why you could move faster and are stronger than mere humans," Rube seriously said in sudden realization. "And why you can heal a lot faster too.

"True, and since I swallowed the aswang stone when I was still a child, I could mingle with other normal humans without them realizing what I really am. Which is how I, and my Grandfather, want it."