Gazing out into the city, his empire, Jonathan marveled at his throne, at his kingdom. The sky lovingly demonstrated the grandeur present during dusk. New York City, containing a wealth of energy for the taking, thousands of souls, easily replaceable, braided the land. The Hudson River shimmered in the dying light; glinting on as the looming darkness approached. Moving about in their lives, the denizens remained unaware of the shade dwelling among them as Jonathan took life high in his lofty keep.
Sipping on a bottle of 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, drinking in deep, letting the fluid saturate his taste buds, Jonathan felt enraptured. This wine, with an astonishingly deep aroma with a distinctive, high-toned mint piquancy imprinted an olfactory impression dulled the pain lingering deep within his own body.
"Momentarily, I'll have my prize and this pain will abate." Jonathan thought to himself in an attempt to hold onto hope.
Savoring every drop as new bioenergy came to pour itself within his being. Every morsel of bioenergy worked to rejuvenate him as the pain diminished to a soft hum. Feeding while awaiting his prize, Jonathan rarely left his domain to ingest the bio-essence of individuals. Simply utilizing his superior mental attributes to incapacitate his victims and absorb their light from vast distances, he feasted. Honing onto the ambient energy emitted from their bodies, he sought them.
The energy leaked from their forms through temperature fluctuations or exhalation. Allowing some, to shine brighter in Jonathan's mind's eye, while other dulled and inevitably wisped to nothingness, lambs sacrificed to the void. In a city of this size, deaths happened too frequently for professionals to take a second glance. Carefully, he selected his victims. Wearily, choosing not to remove too many souls at a given time. Fifty, this evening, would suffice. Spread throughout the city. Throughout different boroughs.
Thinking of his past, Jonathan lingered for many moments, distracted as his thoughts carried him down his own stream of time. Weaving through the torrents of time, Jonathan came full circle as he thought of Alm and his mission. Now late returning with Samuel, Jonathan tensed involuntarily. Many weeks now passed from the time he contacted him.
Grabbing his cellphone, he dialed Chandral in a huff, "Where are they?" Jonathan asked Chandral after two rings while gripping his wine glass tightly.
Small cracks radiated through the glass in deep grooves as Jonathan's irritation gave way.
"N-no idea, sir." Chandral responded sheepishly "He is not responding to my calls or texts."
"What is his last known location? Don't I pay enough to have your phones tracked?"
Standing in a motel room, Chandral glanced around at the cleanly accommodation and a small round table containing a modest phone. "Yes sir, but it looks like he left the phone. I am at a loss of where he is. I keep trying to sense his energy, but nothing around here is pulsating a signal."
Gritting his teeth, Jonathan bit back rage toward the man on the other end of his phone. Composing himself, he slowly and sternly stated, "Of course he isn't sending out his beacon, he isn't in trouble. I need you to work harder to discover his location. His target is very precious to me. I would hate to replace you with Jasmine when you have been such a help in the past. Do you understand, Chandral?"
"Yes, sir!" Chandral responded with a frog in his throat.
Ending the call, Jonathan frustratingly threw his phone on a nearby chair. Assuming the task's difficulty potentially surpassed Alm's skill, Jonathan considered his contingencies as the door buzzer rang. Startling the man, the glass in his hand tremored slightly as the wine sloshed side to side. A servant rushed to the buzzer as it rang, once more.
"How may I help you?" The servant said into the microphone.
"I have him." A voice replied in between static.
Springing to full attention, Jonathan thought, "Curious that I did not feel them approach. "Considering this for a few moments, he continued, smiling, "Interesting trick, Alm."
Waving to the attentive servant who awaited further orders, Jonathan positioned himself to greet his guests as he contained the glee radiating through him. Many moments later, a metallic clang responded as the door opened into the penthouse.
Out walked a disheveled Alm. Tousled, his clothes hung torn, and blood stained upon his enormous frame. The largest and bloodiest tear sat on his stomach. Trailing him, a young boy with wide eyes furiously looked around the room attempting to absorb every sight. His clothes, equally as tattered, contained many points where they appeared torn or heavily soiled from terrain. An earthy scent lingered as a cloud around the two as well as the unmistakable iron odor of blood.
Such opulence, only visible to Samuel in television or stories, caused wonderment to be strewn on his visage. Since his arrival in New York, his expression of wide-eyed amazement remained etched on his face. The lights and vibrant energies, pulsating throughout the city, beckoned to him. Warmed around his navel, the surrounding bioessence of the metropolis, swirled within Samuel. The calloused thoughts inundated his mind as the streams of humans moved to and fro.
Standing at the entrance to meet his guests, Jonathan said smiling, "Ah, the guest of honor arrives."
Eyeing the boy carefully, Jonathan noticed his energy appeared masked, detached, nearly empty. Carefully swelling his own bioenergy, Jonathan marveled, as Samuel appeared to brush off Jonathan's presence. One, which, others, such as Chandral and Alm, took many months to grow accustomed.
Noticing, Jonathan's careful glances at the boy, Alm interjected, pointing his thumb towards Samuel, "He has looked like this ever since arriving in this city,"
"May I ask what happened to your clothing?" Jonathan said patiently.
"The boy is a quick learner." Alm said beaming. "Also, a good teacher." He said, patting Samuel on the back as this seemed to rouse the boy from his revelry. Glancing at Alm and then at Jonathan with an unreadable expression, the boy seemed to elicit the strangest barrier to Jonathan.
Turning his attention to Alm, Jonathan' scrutinized the man with an inquisitive glare. Thinking to himself, he said, "It appears something is different with him. I wonder..." Shaking his carousing, Jonathan returned his attention toward the boy, "Greetings, Samuel. I'm Jonathan." He said holding out his hand in a welcoming gesture.
"Greetings Jonathan." Samuel replied moving forward to shake his hand.
Electricity met their touch; a static shock flickering when both hands came together.
Time and space dissolved as the penthouse around Jonathan tumbled into an abyss. Thrown into the forest Jonathan's mind pulsated with a myriad of images. Tumbling twisting turning, Jonathan pierced the jumbled scenes as he saw Alm, and Samuel seated across from one another. Both of their energies shifted around them, great or as encompassing their frames as they melded together.
Image flashed to Samuel sprinting feverishly away from Alm. Panting, the bruised boy Flew swiftly from the behemoth of a man. His amber aura radiated around him as his chest heaved slightly. With matted her adorned with blood streaking down his face Samuel navigated the forest around him expertly.
Another scene shifted as Samuel beheld Alm's head in his small hands straining the boy worked feverishly toward an unseen goal. Bloodstream down Samuel's nose as he continued to hold tightly upon Alm's head. Alm's eyes rolled back as the white of his eyes fluttered. Inaudible, Jonathan craned his mind to understand what transpired before him.
Unknown knowledge and understanding traversed through the two. Flash after flash, each memory, each new experience, expressed new understanding to Jonathan. The boy was being trained by Alm. As quickly as the images passed before his eyes, Jonathan's mind crashed back into his body, returning to his penthouse.
Samuel and Jonathan looked at their hands. Meeting each other's eyes, Jonathan saw the amber flicker fade in and out of the boy's eyes. Letting go and placing his hand out, a servant pumped two squirts of antibacterial gel into his hands. Rubbing vigorously, Jonathan glanced at Samuel before witnessing a slight smirk on his youthful face.
"Right." He said while finishing cleaning his hands. "I see you have had some tutelage already."
Musing to himself, Jonathan thought, "Curious young thing."
Bringing himself to his full height, he said. "If you don't mind, Alm, I would like a word alone with young Samuel here."
"Whatever you have to say to me, he can be here as well," Samuel coolly said.
Looking down at the child. The boy looked up to him as a private conversation ensued. Quickly it transpired before Samuel stared again at Jonathan with an impassive expression.
"How insolent and at such a young age," Jonathan said slightly bemused. "So be it. Take a seat and I will regale you with a story you have never heard." Jonathan pointed outside to where his ornate chair lay and ordered a servant to bring another with hand gestures.
Don't forget to vote ;) Tap the screen and click on the star. Simple as that.