Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Visions of Darkness, Dreams of Light ❯ An Interview with a Vampire ;) ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 30

Sally was sitting at her desk, chewing on the end of a pen in annoyance as she went over a particularly stubborn equation. <Of all the things to do to start the weekend, this was not one I had planned.> Nicole beeped, and then stated in her monotonous voice "Message received. Origin: Wolf Pack Freedom Fighters."

Sally smiled slightly as she read the message. <It's been a while since I last spoke with Lupe. It'll be good to see her again. I wonder how the pack has been. I suppose I'll find out in a couple weeks…> She glanced at the clock on her wall and calmly closed Nicole before pushing away from her desk and giving a warning glare to the stacks of paperwork and research she'd been working on. She slowly stood up, and very carefully walked towards the door. As her paw reached the handle, she heard a swish and a thump. Sighing, she opened the door. <That's it. I need another filing cabinet. Between royal duties and homework…> She slammed the door in annoyance, wincing as she heard the sound of more papers hitting the floor. <I'm getting as bad as Rotor.>

Chapter 31

"You would be Drake?" A burly guard assumed.

"Uh…yeah…I would be…am I in some sort of trouble?" He asked very nervously.

"That is not a matter of discussion for here. The king has requested an audience with you."

"Uh…why?"

"That is not a ma-"

"Matter of discussion, I heard you. Loosen up a little, buddy. When does he want to talk?"

"Immediately, if not now." The guard replied gruffly.

"Funny."

"I was sent for my sense of humor." He stated monotonously. Drake gave him a look, unsure whether the guard was pulling his leg. "Follow me."

As the two neared the palace, Drake was once again awed by the structure. Where it was true the building was somewhat hurriedly built, it still had the air of royalty to it, as if the building was part of the king and queen themselves. He shrugged off his discomfort, hoping this was not as dire as it sounded. "Well, sir. I guess we have a little wait."

"Indeed. The king is a busy man."

"Makes sense. Lotta stuff needs to be run here."

"Indeed."

Drake waited for the guard to say more. After five minutes of stony-faced silence, Drake sighed and reached into his pocket. Surprised to find something there, he pulled it out to discover a bead filled ball the children had made for him. He chuckled and gestured to the guard. "Wanna play?" The guard simply sighed.

"No fair." Drake mumbled. The guard chuckled. The door opened, and another guard came out.

"His turn."

"Alright, finally. I'll beat you next time." Drake scowled at the guard, who had returned to his previous stony face.

"Captain, tell the headsman to make it quick. He's not such a bad sort."

"That I will, Sergeant."

"Headsman? Hey! What headsman?!? Waitaminute, let's talk about this-"

The sergeant watched the door for a minute before resuming his laughter. His son would get a definite kick out of the idea of his father playing a joke like that. <What an odd Overlander. I see why the children enjoy his presence. Although… I can't help but wonder about him… The royal family has kept the entire healing incident pretty quiet. Bullet proof vest, my foot. And the incident with the deroboticization. Something's going on here…>

"Come on! Sally came on to me, I swear!" The captain froze in position, then slowly turned towards Drake, aghast. "Gotcha!" The captain of the guard let loose a sigh of relief.

"Please don't joke like that. The king might actually dispatch the executioner to you."

"Sorry. Couldn't help it. I'm probably gonna die laughing." Drake replied with a bemused shrug.

"I imagine so. If the king heard that last one, I really don't think he'd wait for the executioner. We're here."

Drake scratched his arm a little nervously. "Could you… you know, not make it sound like I'm on death row?" The guard merely rolled his eyes.

"If I really knew what was going on, maybe not. All I, or any other of the guards for that matter, know is that you were summoned for some reason or other. I can't help but assume it has something to do with your helping to rescue the princess. Or it could be that you dero- er… did the other thing when you returned."

Drake grimaced. <So much for keeping all this 'low key'. Man, everybody must know something's up by now. Half echidnopolis knows by now, I'm sure. Jeeeez… I bet that's what the king wants to talk about. If it gets out that the royal family is harboring a vampire without letting the people know… there could be a riot, or… man, who knows what might happen. It could cause a lot of craziness around here… oh boy, I think I'm in trouble…> The guard opened the door and motioned for Drake to enter.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Drake stated a tad nervously. The guard suddenly grinned. Drake's eyes flashed crimson as he returned the grin. The guard took a startled step back. "I could tell you what it's probably about, but then I'd have to hurt you, wouldn't I?"

"If I actually thought you were dangerous, I wouldn't have brought you here. I'm beginning to see the reasons for these rumors I've been hearing…"

"Rumors?" The king asked slowly as he wheeled his chair closer to the door.

<Damn, the guy keeps a straight face with the best of them…> Drake thought dryly.

"Nothing, milord. I've just been a little too curious for my own good."

The king gave Drake a look. "Well, this matter doesn't require you to know what's going on. It's… a difficult matter to explain. If you'll excuse us?"

"Sir? Are you sure that's-" He stopped as Geoffrey and Hershey stepped out of the shadows. "Ah. Very good, sir." He snapped off a salute and left. Drake glared distastefully at the skunk. Geoffrey had a somewhat smug look on his face that had immediately put Drake on his toes.

The king sighed in annoyance before wheeling over to the human. "Sit down, boy. We have much to discuss."

Chapter 32

Drake slowly took a chair across from the monarch. "Like what, for instance?" He asked, trying to keep his anxiety from being too obvious.

"Like what we intend to do with you. It has rapidly become apparent to me that I cannot in good conscience allow you to continue running around as you have."

Drake swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you have been afforded special protection and privileges by our family, and I have decided that it is improper for it to continue without some kind of… negotiation… on your part."

"Negotiation? What do you mean, negotiation?"

"In all seriousness, you use our blood supply, you've been feeding on my subjects, and you've attacked several people."

"I attacked a guy who shot at me, and another who stabbed me! And I've only fed on two people! Mina and Sal! And what am I supposed to do!?! I need to eat!"

"Indeed. And I shall allow it to continue, given that you've done a fair share of the work around here, and that this occurred as a result of you saving a member of the royal family. Or someone close enough to be family." He stated with a shrug.

Drake sighed in relief. He sat up straight again and gave the king a suspicious look. "Then why did you call me here? Certainly not to make sure it was known that whatever debt your family might owe me has been paid."

The king nodded. "Very perceptive. You have a good head on your shoulders."

"That's great, but you didn't answer my question."

"True. I would like to offer you… a job."

"A job?" Drake asked blankly.

"Yes, a job. The pay will be good, more than enough to support yourself, with a possibility for increase in the future."

"A job. Doing what, pray tell? I mean, you wouldn't hire a vampire specifically as a cook or something like that."

"As a member of my secret service."

Drake stared. "What?"

"Since the losses of Valdez, Heavy, and Bomb- No, you don't know them, but you'll learn more soon- our service has lost a large portion of it's heavy hitters and stealth units."

"Your point?"

"Geoffrey recommended you to take their places."

"What?!? Why me?" He gave the skunk a shocked glance. St. John merely nodded.

The king gave him a skeptical look. "Because. Firstly, everyone knows there's something about you. Everyone. And they fear it. Second of all, you have strength, speed, a healing ability… and aren't afraid to resort to a more, shall we say, draconian policy."

"Drac- YOU WANT ME TO BE A FRIGGIN ASSASSIN?!?!"

"Keep your voice down. I don't want you to misunderstand. Some of the missions you'll have will require a… steady hand."

"In other words, they'll require me to kill people." Drake stated. His chest was hurting horribly. He rubbed it in an attempt to halt the pain. He couldn't do what was being asked of him. He couldn't even believe it was being asked of him.

The king gave him an appraising look. "These 'people' will be the worst of the worst. I don't intend to send you on such missions to terrorize people. You'd only be sent after people who have done terrible things that I can't afford to risk bringing in alive. Terrorists and the like. And those missions will hopefully be very rare. For the most part, you would go on missions with the others and help their efforts, likely as a combination of heavy artillery and medic."

"Medic?" Drake asked. He was feeling a little better.

"You can heal others, correct? You could possibly prevent other members of the team from being lost. And I'm willing to bet you won't leave a man behind."

"But… I don't know. This… this is a lot to think about."

"Understood. I just hope that you understand that you will be held accountable for any unnecessary casualties."

"So it's more like a surgical strike. I really am going to be an assassin, though."

"In the most basic sense, yes. Those missions will be… black ops."

"In other words, I won't be punished, but nobody's gonna know about them."

"Correct."

"Will I be able to quit?"

"Excuse me?

"Will I be able to say 'Enough, no more' and leave? And can I refuse a mission?"

"You can refuse the black op missions under regular circumstances, I suppose. But not the other missions, unless it is one that directly affects you. Say… if the young mongoose were in trouble. Or there is something pressing going on in your life at the time."

"So if Mina gets captured by Robotnik, I don't have to go with the others to help her?" Drake asked sarcastically.

"Well… it's hard to explain. You wouldn't, though. In some cases, you might be forbidden from going if your judgement would be clouded."

"I'll… think about it. I don't know. I really don't know."

"Good."

"I said I don't freaking know!"

"I know. That's good. If you had agreed eagerly… Geoffrey?" The skunk placed a bolt in his crossbow and fired it into the air. The bolt suddenly exploded in midair. Drake stared in shock. "I will not have a monster running around."

"You're a cold man. What if it'd been some kinda loyalty thing?"

"That would have been different, and obviously noticable. If you had been excited by the idea of killing… Kodos was. And he betrayed me."

"Ah. Understood. So… when do I tell you what I've decided?"

"Two weeks. That's enough time to decide, I trust?"

"I guess so. Looks like I've got some serious thinking to do, though…"

"Indeed. Do you desire an escort?"

"Nah, that's alright. I can see myself home." Drake managed before heading to the door, already lost in thought...

"Well, Geoffrey?"

"I'm impressed, sir. He took that far better than I hoped."

"Do you really think he'll do it, Geoff?" Hershey asked. "He doesn't seem to know what to do himself…."

"I don't rightly know, love. He might, or he might not. The bloke really does have some heavy thinking to do. I think he'll come around. He wants to do the right thing, but this… this could be a wrong thing for a right reason. Some people accept it, some don't. Considering what he is though… he may have to learn. He won't be able to slide through life as easily as he has forever. He's eventually going to need to decide where he's going to be and what he's doing. And when it happens… I'd rather he be firmly on our side."