Chapter 17: MEMORABLE FLASHBACKS (PART 2)

"So, I guess your Grandfather fought this aswang fella to get his…what do you call it again? A rock?"

Orion huskily chuckled, the rumbling sound filling his broad chest, "It can be called a charm, a talisman, a stone, an anting-anting…"

"A what now? What the fuck is an anting-anting, M?"

"It's the actual term for it in their native tongue, which is Filipino."

"What the heck… so that thing you swallowed comes from the…"

"The Philippine islands," concluded the monarch as he finished what was in Rube's glass.

"So a Filipino aswang was killed off by your Gramps?"

"It wasn't so horrible as that, I'm afraid" the amused royal clarified. "An aswang can't die if they still have their charm inside them. And that usually happens when the one they've chosen who's next in line turns the honor down. Such was the case with the aswang my grandfather found when he finally searched those islands. The aswang was in a Philippine province called Capiz, I believe. Grandfather provided for his comfort during his final days, bought a house for his children and left enough provisions for his family to start their own business. It took a few weeks to finish all that but finally, when it was all completed, the very, very old man willed the talisman out of his body. He vomited it and gave the small smooth rock to my Grandfather then was happy to die the usual way we vampires do: he gave up the ghost and turned to ash." Marion concluded as he drank from his own wine glass while nibbling from a bread basket which was initially filled and placed on each table in the club.

"Then you're Grampa went home then passed it to you?" the human bodyguard excitedly asked.

"No, silly!" the phantasmal prince laughed. "I wasn't even born at that time yet. It was still the period of the Spanish era then on those islands and I was born a few years after that."

"What the… How old are you, really bro?"

"Around three hundred or so-so years, I've honestly lost count," was Orion's nonchalant reply as he dismissively waved a hand at his suddenly shocked and shaken friend.

"YOU'RE THREE HUNDRED FUCKING YEARS OLD???!!! B-but you d-don't look a day beyond t-twenty-five years, man!" stuttered the trembling bodyguard.

"Yes, an advantage for average blood drinkers like me is that we do look young for our age. And yes, I am three hundred years old give or take, but that is still young for a vampire, Rube," the comely royal laughingly mentioned. "And tone it down, bro. You just frigging announced my age to everyone here."

Reuben raised a hand to signal their waiter to approach the table. "Do you guys have water?"

The tuxedoed server nodded, "Yes, sir. We have Evian, Fiji, Liquid Death, Acqua Panna, Waiakea…"

"Bub, the only brand familiar to me is the first one you fucking said," was the bordello inheritor's crass reply. "Can you serve a bottle to me, please?"

"Evian it is then, Sir," agreed the waiter with a smile and an imperceptible nod then directed his gaze at Orion. "And you, Sire?"

"Acqua Panna, please."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

As the waiter turned around and walked away, Marion whispered to his table mate, "What's the water for, friend? I just want to wash some of the bread I've been eating because blood just won't cut it. Too damn thick for that…"

"I think I'm gonna need it if you still have any damn frigging shocking surprises for me…"

The vampire prince guffawed loudly, "Don't worry R, I think that's my last shocking revelation for today."

"Yeahhh, riiight. Whatever, dude! I don't think I can trust you on that one."

"BUT I trust you! Aren't you wondering why I chose you, a mere human to be my bodyguard?"

"I was about to ask that, O? Why on earth would you choose just a regular mortal guy like me to be your personal security aide?" the bewildered Cas enquired.

"Bro, don't sell yourself short. You might be mortal but you're no regular guy. You're a trained specialist in being a commando, a sniper and espionage. You are my friend and easy to get along with. Plus, you have proven yourself time and time again to be loyal, honest and trustworthy," ended Orion with a wide toothy grin.

"Heh, the way you say that makes it sound like I'm a pet dog and not your bodyguard," awkwardly chortled The Rube, his embarrassment at being praised obviously showing in his eyes and facial expression. "Another question though: It's bugging me how you got your dad to agree that I become your personal bodyguard. How the hell did you manage that, man?"

"Well, after our short stint at military boarding school where we became friends…"

Reuben interrupted with a sudden snicker "You're calling five years short?"

Marion looked at Reuben with a meaningful but slightly irritated gaze.

"Oh yeah, I forgot… you are three hundred or so years old. Please… continue," the younger male quickly quipped in sudden realization. "I bet five years feel like mere months to you and your kind…"

Marion rattled on, "Upon returning to our castle, my Father insisted on getting me my own bodyguard slash personal aide. Originally, I turned the offer down…"

"Of course, you would, bro," nodded Cas. "'Coz I should pay you to be my bodyguard and not the other way around."

"But he became damn insistent! He would regularly be pestering me to give in, and since I thought he just wanted to spy on me and the things I do, I kept telling him no. Finally, I thought of a plan to compromise and finally get him off my case. I told him I would give in to his request on ONLY one condition: that I get to choose the aide myself."

It was the human guy's turn to laugh out loud, "I bet my balls he put up a fuss when you said that! Damn, I'd give anything to see his face back then!"

Marion smiled a conspiratorial smirk then continued his tale, "Well, as you know now, your balls are safe, my friend. And yes, he did put up a fuss for a few days but unfortunately, I stood my ground and did not budge. After all, my mind was made up on who I wanted!"

"Well, talking from experience, you can be a bloody stubborn son-of-a-gun, pal. Going back to your Grandfather, what else did he find out about the Aswang's stone?"

At that moment, the waiter took advantage of the pause in the duo's conversation to serve their orders of water. "Here you are, gentlemen. I took the liberty of transferring them from their bottles to two Crystal glasses. I hope you don't mind."

"Thanks e lot, bub!" the well-built personal aide remarked with a friendly smile. "I think I will still be needing that."

The server, who was secretly gay, felt a shivering sensation at his customer's good-looking grin.

"I have to take a sudden visit to the restroom during my coffee break," the lusty waiter mumbled under his breath. "Quickies trumps caffeine any day of the week, especially with hot clients like this one."

Marion, who could smell the hidden passion of their sex-starved homosexual waiter for his close and ruggedly handsome, well-built buddy, decided to shrug off his newly found knowledge and continued with his tale; since The Rube seemed to be eating it up like a hungering man in front of a sumptuous banquet on a massive buffet table.

"Like I said before, he used and tested it out for a few years until I was born. That's how he knew its effectiveness in cancelling out most of our major weaknesses. He then offered it to my father who, for some unknown reasons turned the opportunity down," Marion confessed while shaking his head momentarily remembering the fights of his seniors over his Dad's negative reaction to his Grandpa's offer. "My Grandfather would then keep it a bit longer until he passed it on to me on my fourth birthday. By then he was already fully aware of its numerous capabilities to remove our weaknesses and even its additional perks."

"Besides death by sunlight, what else did it cancel out?"

"In addition to being turned to dust by the sun, it removed our adverse reactions to running water, fire, silver and garlic."

"What about holy water and the crucifix?" queried Rube enthusiastically.

"But that has never been our weakness, friend," patiently clarified the vampire businessman. "It's all part of the hogwash the author Bram Stoker made up to give credit to the Roman Catholic church. Unfortunately, this was further ingrained by the Hollywood film-making industry within the next few decades."

"What about a stake through the heart and decapitation?" the mortal interrupted without missing a beat when the vamp paused to take a breath.

"Rube, anyone and everybody is sure to die with those kinds of methods, not just us vampires…" Orion dryly stated while clicking his tongue and slowly shaking his head. "Even John Logan aka Wolverine of Marvel's X-Men would, bro."

"What about the thing with dying by drinking the blood of the undead?" continued the curious bro. "Will that kill you still?"

"And that is why I've brought you here today because I need your help, Rube," Marion confessed in a hushed tone. "And this needs to be a secret."

"What is it, bro? Is it THAT important?"

Orion nodded slowly, "It's my Grandpa's dying wish: He told us about a special woman whose blood from her uterus would make the combination of the two lines of vampires even more powerful. I think he found out about that in his studies in the Dark Arcane arts but I'm not so sure…'"

"How the fuck can I help with that, bro?"

"Help me find this unique female, Reuben! My father thinks it's idiotic nonsense to look for her but he doesn't have the stone. AND I do! I just want to see the truth in my dead Grandfather's findings."

'How can we do that? "the bewildered companion asked again.

"Man, are you fucking clueless or what? Remember you're about to inherit your father's international chain of bordellos due to his sudden death by a heart attack?" Marion exasperatedly explained.

"Oh yeah, right!" exclaimed the recently orphaned Castañeda in realization. "The Midnight Resort!"

"You are kind of slow today, aren't you Rube?" snapped the annoyed monarch as he placed his right fist under his chin and settled his same arm's elbow on the pub's marble-topped table." What the heck is wrong with you?"

"Hey, take it easy on me, dude! I wasn't the one who shocked the bejesus out of me by admitting that he's some kind of powerful three-hundred-year-old hybrid vamp!"

"Point taken… now, will you help me, bro?"

Reuben took one minute before he answered, "Okay pal, only if you promise to promote the Midnight Resort to all your rich, famous and powerful friends, relatives and contacts, then you've got yourself a deal!" the grinning new resort owner brought out his hand in the hopes of sealing the paperless agreement.

"Alright, you find me that special woman and I'll convince even the priests in Rome to go to your exclusive bordello!" agreed Marion as he took The Rube's large open palm in his and shook it firmly. "We've got a deal then, bro."

Which brings us to where we are today, dear readers.