Chapter 6 (Adam Novus Chronicles - Book 1)

There is not much to do while walking through the endless sea of green but talk.

“I certainly can’t turn into a bat!” Marcus indignantly answered one of my numerous questions.

“How the hell would that work anyway? It would break the principle of mass conservation in a way that makes my head hurt. Forget what you watched in the movies, Adam, most of it is pure fantasy.”

“Hold your horses there chief, I was just asking… so no bats, what about garlic?” I asked next, knowing that it would hit another nerve. It did; the look he gave me was an equivalent of a middle finger.

We needed almost four weeks to get to the so-called civilization, a small village on the Amazon River where we could rent a boat to take us to another village, a little bigger but with a somewhat regular plane delivery. Marcus’s futuristic phone couldn’t get a signal out here, but it did have a GPS receiver that pinpointed our location and a detailed map application that showed exactly where we needed to go.

Those weeks of walking proved to be extremely educational for me. He gave me an abbreviated version of major events of the past decade, and while they were interesting (and some of them horrifying), nothing happened during my absence that I would call world-changing. The other things, the ones I knew nothing about before, were changing how I saw the world.

Marcus first explained his kind to me, the vampires. For one, the sun did not instantly kill them, just gave them a serious case of sunburn, and only with prolonged exposure would they die. But not him, he was an old vampire, mostly immune to it; the young ones were very susceptible to ultraviolet radiation. If unable to get to the shade, a few hours of exposure would cause certain death. And by that time—it was a blessing; the process was excruciatingly painful.

After a few decades, the immunity kicked in and they could more easily interact with the world.

He said that he considered his condition as being changed by a strange magical virus. Giving him some advantage and immortality, but with a drawback of being sensitive to the sun, and a need to drink blood from time to time. Their bodies were not producing some essential ingredients, which made drinking blood a necessity, like a supplement for vitamin deficiency. It didn't have to be human blood, even if it was the most potent. They could survive on animal blood and often did, but apparently, the taste of it left much to be desired.

In fact, he was in this jungle hunting those two vampire criminals; they had broken the law. They went on a killing spree and drained a few humans, which was a capital offense. Unfortunately, they got the drop on him and would have ended his existence if I hadn't shown up.

“How did they capture you?” I asked, confused; by his account, he was much stronger than they were.

He self-reproachfully shook his head. “I got overconfident, careless. Thinking I was the predator and they were the prey. It seemed they planned on that and set a trap for me,” he exhaled and said much quietly. “They got me with freaking tranquilizer darts; it’s quite embarrassing. They did use a dosage that would be enough to put a good-sized elephant under, but still.”

“But why didn’t they kill you on the spot?”

“Oh, that one is easy. The little interrogation session you interrupted was so they could extract all my secrets, bank account passwords, and such. I wouldn’t give it to them… they were going to kill me anyway.”

Marcus then explained to me a bit more about the social dynamics of his kind.

Vampires were grouped in clans, and the older ones had an area of control. His area was New York City, so those two corpses we left behind were his responsibility. He decided to hunt them alone simply to prove to himself that he still had it; not a smart move in retrospect. They thought that by running all the way to the Amazon, would be far enough to escape his wrath. It was not.

His kind mostly preferred the night to day, it was more pleasant, but he had been known to enjoy a relaxing rest in the park during the day, particularly if it was a bit cloudy. That was it for vampires: follow the laws, do not drink human blood from the vein unless it is from a willing donor, and keep a low profile. Do not expose their kind to humans, and you could live however you liked; break those rules and you are going to be busy by pushing up daisies. Holy water was out, and he had a gold cross pendant on a gold chain around his neck. Oh, and a stake through the heart myth was very true. Not that surprising really, on account that if you stake just about anything through the pump which keeps the body alive, they are most likely going to bite the dust… seemed logical to me.

Another thing he felt strongly about was that he and his kind didn't sparkle. It was an odd thing to say; especially with the sheer vehemence he used to emphasize that. I couldn't figure out why anybody would sparkle, except Vegas strippers and drag queens; all that glitter was a trick of the trade. Even so, I could see that it was a very sensitive subject for him so I didn't want to push for a more elaborate explanation.

“Are you shitting me?!” I incredulously yelled after he told me that vampires were not unique in the supernatural world, which (evidently) I was now a part of.

“I will never understand that phrase, and I am not shitting you, I'm telling you the absolute truth,” he replied, obviously amused by my skeptical facial expression.

As it happens, vampires are merely one type of supernaturals out there, there are also numerous other kinds. From a wide variety of Weres to witches, and everything in between: elves, demons, angels... Marcus even told me that Dragons were also supposed to be real, although nobody has seen one for thousands of years. That last one I had the biggest doubts about; even he admitted that those were only hearsay stories. I mean, angels and demons were already stretching the boundaries of my imagination, but… Dragons… yeah, right.

He did give a long lesson about body shifting abilities the Weres had, and how they are the same weight in their changed form as they are in the basic human one, only differently redistributed. There was an entire lecture on how they all have two nuclei in every cell, each containing the DNA for one of their forms. Then their supercharged RNA activates the switch between which nuclear DNA their cells read and catalyzes the protein-altering reactions so the transformation is swift.

Did I mention that Marcus tends to get very specific in his explanation, to the point where I had to stop him every so often, so he could explain what the hell he was talking about?

I took basic biology and did pretty well with my grades, but most of his scientific talk went over my head.

The Weres supercharged metabolism and ability to shift had a drawback—they were mortal. With a lifespan that was far greater than that of regular humans, but in the end, Weres had to deal with a progressive deterioration of their bodies and mercifully quick end.

Vampires, in particular, did get immortality, increased strength and speed going for them. Not that there were many old vampires around, since the law of probability got most of them. Just look at how many people die every day from easily avoidable accidents. Now, multiply that by all those additional years, and a chance that a piano will drop on your head rises considerably.

Also, for a long time, they were all hunted—by humans. That sounded ridiculous to me for a minute, until I remember that a lion is much faster and stronger than a mere human, and we had almost hunted them to extinction. It is a clear case where quantity is quality on its own. Should I even mention that we are the reason why there are no more woolly mammoths around?

A while ago (and by that, I mean hundreds and hundreds of years ago) most of the supernaturals got together and made some rules about how they would interact with humans. Sorts of ground rules that each species needed to enforce on their own. The vampires’ part was quite straightforward: not wantonly feeding on humans anymore, keeping their existence in complete secrecy, and staying out of human politics; those were a few of them.

The ones who disagreed with the rules were… dealt with, without mercy.

That was not done out of the kindness of their hearts, but as an act of sheer self-preservation. It was quite normal in those times to hunt those that were different in any way. Burning the Salem witches being a good example, and there were apparently no real witches involved there, simply humans being their crazy selves.

Oh, and witches being real was another shock… but then, why wouldn’t they be? They were a breed unto themselves. Originating from regular humans with certain talents, they selectively bred themselves into something more. Essentially, they used the rules of animal husbandry to emphasize certain traits, and they have been doing it for God knows how long. Talk about commitment passed down the generations.

Over the centuries, the stories about the supernaturals became myths and legends; material for fiction books, and later, inspiration for horror movies.

There was no doubt in my mind anymore that a completely hidden world existed, living amongst humans, and keeping a low profile. With all the modern weapons around, it was understandable. For example, a werewolf was quite resilient by regular standards, but put enough bullets into one, and he would be as dead as a doornail. The same was true for any other species.

The point was that supernaturals all over the world lived their lives like everybody else. With jobs, families, and 401k plans. Just like regular people, with the added bonus that their genetics gave them something extra.

One of the most fascinating things to me was the existence of magic; that was cool on so many levels. As a kid, I loved this comic Mandrake the Magician, and finding out that magic was real—beyond awesome.

Marcus had to burst my bubble explaining that magic was very rare, and could in most cases do nothing more than small parlor tricks. He heard stories that there was a time when magic was in a much larger supply, but it seemed that over time it vanished. It is essentially a type of energy with a finite reservoir, comparable with crude oil. By now, only the drags on the bottom were left… what a bummer.

That the demons, angels, and elves were from other dimensions was nothing I wanted to think about; I had too much on my mind to even consider how freaky that was.

“So… where do I rank in this strange new world of yours?” I asked Marcus during one of our rest periods. After I told him everything that happened to me in excruciating detail, hoping that he could explain what had happened to me.

“I have no idea, Adam; I’ve never heard something like that happening to anyone else. But I promise you that I will try to find out if there is any information that can shed some light on this mystery. I have a friend that is the semi-official guardian of ancient lore, a parallel supernatural history. If anyone can dig up some obscure piece of information—it’s him.”

“Thanks,” I replied appreciatively. Well, that was at least a move in the right direction. There must be someone out there who could explain it all.

“Listen, Adam… I want to talk to you about something.” He said after a few moments. Emotions he was feeling and a somber face conveying the seriousness of the moment.

“OK…” I replied and nodded for him to continue.

“I already told you that I owe you my life, but to my kind that is not a mere phrase; it carries a much deeper meaning.”

“Marcus, it’s not such a big deal, you don’t have to—” I tried to stop his gratitude speech; those were always a bit uncomfortable for me.

“For God's sake, will you keep quiet for a minute! I’m talking about important things here.” He interrupted me, and then exasperatingly sighed.

“As I was saying, that particular statement carries far more weight to my kind than it does to humans. Adam, we live long lives and hold certain customs to be sacrosanct. You saved my life, and that creates a special kind of bond between us, a bond of brotherhood. It also means that you can count on me to do everything in my power to help you with anything you need, to provide safety and shelter in times of trouble, and to make your enemies my own.”

That last part he said in one breath, and the words had a ceremonial note to them; it sounded as if he was pledging an oath.

“Thank you….” I murmured after a while. What was I supposed to say after that? Giving him a thumbs up somehow didn’t seem fitting. Nothing did, so I left it at that.

We broke our camp not long after and continued with our trek through the Amazon Jungle.

***

We walked and we hunted, and I found out that traveling with a vampire had its advantages. He could smell food on the hoof a mile away, and quickly kill it. At first, he was a little skittish at drinking blood in my presence, but considering that the first time he saw me consume food was as I was showing bloody chunks of the still-warm liver in my mouth, he got over it. He admitted it was one of the most disturbing sights he had ever seen, and coming from a centuries-old vampire, that says a lot.

At first, Marcus beat around the bush at telling me exactly how old he was, but he did talk about some things as if he was personally present. Like traveling with Christopher Columbus on one of his ships… the dude was positively ancient.

I don’t need much sleep, which was one of the new things I soon discovered about myself. Marcus needed at least five or six hours of shuteye, but I was perfectly fine with barely two, and it was not a regular kind of sleep. My mind never shuts off, I don’t dream, it most reminds me of that meditative state where you are relaxed and peaceful, but aware of what's happening around you, ready to react at a moment’s notice to any threat. That took some getting used to, but I kept watch while Marcus slept, not that there was any danger. Even the jungle predators sensed that they should not come too close to us; animal instinct and sense of self-preservation, I guess.

Chancing upon my vampire companion was the biggest piece of luck I ever had, who knows what would have happened to me if our paths didn't cross. I was alone, in a jungle, naked, with no money and documentation, unaware that a decade had passed me by. I would have been royally screwed, no matter what. God knows how many months I would have roamed the jungle, unable to find my way back to civilization.

That being said, there were some drawbacks to having a sophisticated companion on this hike through the primordial jungle. Do bears shit in the woods? Vampires do it too. I swear, if I’d heard one more complaint about the lack of toilet paper, I was planning to stake him. I even made a real wooden stake as a joke, and then gave it to him so he could use it on himself if he felt that life without modern amenities was too unbearable. He thought it was hilarious, and said he would keep it as a memento of his Amazon adventure.

As I mentioned before, the jungle has an uncountable multitude of bugs. Insects in all imaginable varieties, and the damn things have a life mission to bite anything that moves. While Marcus applied copious amounts of bug repellent every day and still got bitten regularly, I did not. My native trick with pulped Arrieras Ants was not necessary anymore. Not one mosquito had so much as landed on me after I returned to the surface. They and all other species of creepy crawlers avoided me completely for some reason. When I asked if Marcus had any explanation, he actually gave me the middle finger, murmuring something about the unfairness of life, while dislodging a large spider that was eagerly climbing up his leg.

“So, how did you become… a vampire?” I asked one night when we made a camp in a little clearing. The big snake’s leftovers were burning in the fire. And yes, I ate most of it… it tasted like chicken.

He gazed into the flames and smiled with an expression of painful sadness. “You know, it has been almost a century since the last time somebody asked me that. And I don't think I ever told anyone the full story.”

Marcus then looked at me and nodded.

“I came to America in 1498 with Christopher, and soon realized that the entire voyage was a mistake, as were the others he made earlier. Those voyages of exploration were crimes he… no, we unknowingly committed that will forever lay heavily on my soul. I called myself a Doctor doctor then, but I guess I was no better than a village shaman—we knew so little. Certainly nothing of viruses, germs, and disease vectors. His previous visits left presents that kept on giving, a devastating concoction of maladies that to this day plague this continent.”

Marcus grabbed his backpack and pulled out a half-full bottle of amber-colored Rum, he appropriated from his captors. After taking a big gulp, he offered it to me.

“You see Adam, once a pathogen becomes established in a population, that population develops a level of tolerance; it is not in the interests of the pathogen to kill its host. So the pathogen becomes endemic, only killing a small proportion of those infected. We carried with us smallpox, measles, influenza, bubonic plague, typhus, cholera, yellow fever, and so many more. The indigenous population had no resistance, and they were dying in numbers you wouldn't believe.”

He grew silent and took the bottle back to take a healthy swig.

“I was young and filled with this need to help people, no matter their origin or the color of their skin. Christopher allowed me to open a field hospital where I started to treat the sick. There were so many I hardly slept for months. He decided to leave and I stayed behind, knowing it was a certainty that I would never go back to Europe again. That was OK by me, I had so many patients to take care of; compared to them, my fate was irrelevant. He didn't leave without bringing a small gift to Europe, the sailors carried syphilis with them, a disease that is still alive and thriving. But all my efforts seemed to be in vain, only a small percentage of people survived, and the new ones just kept coming. Then I met her…”

He whispered the last sentence and fell silent again, swept away in the sea of old memories.

“You met her...?” I prompted him as I honestly wanted to hear the rest of this story.

“The most beautiful woman I've ever seen, a striking vision from the first moment I laid my eyes on her. I could not even pronounce her native name so I called her Esmeralda, as her eyes were the color of emeralds. She started helping me in the hospital, caring for the sick without any concern for herself. I guess that made me fall in love with her, not that I would have told her anything. I was excessively shy, and I didn't have time to think about my love life when every day I had to wake up and face the misery the day would bring. She was there every day and every night, tireless and persevering. A saint if I ever saw one. But then everything changed…”

Marcus took another swig.

“It seemed I had dared lady luck one time too many, and I contracted one of the diseases from my patients. It wasn't that surprising really; I was oblivious about infection prevention and control. Soon, I was on my own deathbed, knowing that my days were numbered and that there was nothing that could change that, but… I was wrong. Esmeralda came to me that night, and in a broken Spanish she picked up from me, offered another way, something I did not know was possible. It is funny how easily I said yes, I didn't need to think about it. That night she changed me, and made me into what I am now.”

“She was a vampire!” I almost shouted. “But why was she there? Why…” I didn't know what to ask.

“Because she wanted to help the suffering people, for she was a protector at heart. I didn't know what she saw in me, but I am grateful that she had given me an extension to life. Dying is not a thing I wanted to experience, I still don't.”

“Couldn't she… I don't know, have turned all the others that were sick?”

Marcus slowly shook his head.

“This is a heavy gift, Adam. Not one to be passed on lightly. As young vampires, we are hypersensitive to the sun and our emotions are raw and heightened. We are way too aggressive and confrontational; instincts take precedence if we perceive someone as a danger to us.

Esmeralda needed to remove me from the hospital so I wouldn't… hurt my patients, and then looked after me for years, so I wouldn't kill someone I would regret later. Fortunately, there were enough people I trained to be my apprentices so the patients were not left alone.

Her will was unshakable, and I never met another person with her amount of self-control. If she had turned all those that were dying, she would have created a whole lot of wild predators that would have been worse than any disease. Even today, our numbers are controlled or we would become a plague on this world. Besides, being turned is not a sure thing; most of the time the body succumbs to change, so it is a gamble either way.”

He paused and said in a much quieter tone, “I am certain that if I turned to be evil, drunk with power—she would have ended my life in a second, and it would be the right thing to do.”

We sat quietly, looking into the fire, and passing the bottle from time to time. There were so many questions I wanted to ask him, but I knew that most of them would bring him pain, and I didn't want that. Marcus has become my friend, maybe the only friend I have left in the world.

The one thing I asked him was, “Do you practice it still, the medicine, I mean?”

He laughed. “Oh no, not for a long time. I still keep myself informed about all the new stuff that is discovered, but I saw enough pain and misery to last me several lifetimes. I donate to hospitals and medical research now, as a way to satisfy that need for helping others.”

We finished the bottle in silence and laid on our bedrolls.

Laying on my back and looking at the stars, I sensed the moment he had fallen asleep. Nevertheless, for many hours, I could not bring myself to even close my eyes. Conjuring pictures of events that happened centuries ago, and thinking of all the things I learned, kept my mind occupied.

I wondered one thing, an existential question, I guess. Was his eternal life a gift or a curse? Being able to go through centuries unchanged, and at the same time to know that most of the people around you would in time grow old and die. How does one deal with that?

It seemed so… lonely.