The Ancient One

Chapter 18

"Jake," Mark said when he answered his phone. He'd still been in the church, praying and thinking.

"What's wrong?" Jake asked, hearing something near panic in his friend's voice.

"They've taken Amanda and Sam."

"I told him they were evil, but he was so sure she would protect him," Jake said, at the same time trying to figure out how to get them back.

"What are you talking about?" Mark asked.

"Kristi and her evil family," Jake stated, not understanding Mark's obvious confusion.

"Jake, vampires didn't take them. Kloss had a team kidnap them. I have no idea how, but he figured out that Sam is close to the girl, and is going to try and use Sam as leverage with her."

"I'll kill him!"

"Jake, I'd advise against you going anywhere near there. He knows you won't be happy, and he'll lock you up too. There has to be another way."

"I'll call you back," Jake said, and hung up.

Jake walked back up to where the girl had been treated, finding an older woman cleaning the room. Father Wolfram wasn't there.

"Do you know where Father Wolfram is?" Jake asked.

"He is in the study," the woman replied.

"Thanks," he said, and headed where he thought the study was. He vaguely remembered passing a room that looked like a study when they first arrived.

"Father, I have a problem," he said, when he walked in.

"I can offer advice, but it will be up to you to find your path with this."

"That's not the problem. It seems Captain Kloss, my superior in the hunters, has kidnapped Sam and Amanda. I want to know what to do. I'm too close to think objectively."

"That is wise of you," the old priest said. After thinking for a little while, he said, "I have an idea, but you probably won't like it."

"You want me to ask the vampires to help," Jake said, and the priest nodded. "I'm not sure I can do that."

"Son, I know you have seen a horrible thing, and it hurt you very deeply, but let me ask you a question. Do you believe Adolf Hitler was probably an evil man?" For a moment, Jake was confused by the question.

"Yes, I think he probably was," Jake said, trying to understand the relevance.

"Do you think all Germans are evil?"

"Of course not."

"Yet, they allowed a man everyone universally agrees was evil to lead them for a time. Can you not allow that there are vampires that are not evil, even if it's likely most are?"

"I don't know. I've lived most of my life believing they could only be evil, tainted by Satan himself, and I've killed many of them. What am I, if I've killed people that aren't evil?"

"Ah, now we get to the heart of it, don't we? You not only fight with the horrors of your past, but the possibility that you might have killed relatively innocent people." Jake remained quiet.

"Jacob, are you willing to put your prejudices aside, for the sake of your sister and nephew? Are you willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, there are vampires out there that might not be evil, and even might be good?"

"I...," Jake began, but stopped. He was looking down, tears forming in his eyes. It was hard for him to think about how many vampires he'd killed, and if even one of them wasn't evil, then he had killed an innocent. That was an evil act, which made him evil. "I am the evil one, just as she said."