• Rudolf The Red: Vampire kings of queens


    Chapter 1
    (1601 somewhere off the cost of Japan)

    Peter stood on the deck of his ship and looked out towards the sea, wondering what the hell he had been thinking two years ago. He had been on the run from his past. He was a vampire and with that came certain abilities. Super strength and speed where not meat for people who didn’t think before they acted. Two year back he had decided that the best thing for him to do was to kill a man and take his place on a ship called Liefde. It was not easy for him, but he didn’t want to think of the loved ones he had let down.

    Now, everyone around him thought his name was William Adams, an English navigator who was heading to Japan and worked in the trade goods market. ‘Idiot!’ He growled to himself as he glared at the sparkling water below him. Peter had been on the ship getting it ready to set sail later that day when a letter came from Adams ‘wife’. Well that had put a crimp in his plan. He spent the whole sea-trip wondering what he should do for this poor woman whose husband he had killed.

    When his ship got to Japan, Peter had agreed to talk to the tairo (senior counselor) of Japan for the ship. ‘I should have let someone else go!’ he hissed, pushing himself away from the wall and walking down the port side of the ship. Because he had been as so stupid to show off by shooting an assassin no one else saw. An he didn’t just take a gun to shot the man, oh no that would have been easy. He used his super speed and strength to throw a small stone throw the man eye! The tairo, whose name was Mr. Ieyasu; was so impressed Peter was now working for him and not by choice,

    In order to work for Mr. Ieyasu Peter had to become a samurai. He had started his training only a year ago. Even with his vampire skills to help him, it was a long process. He was trained daily by Mr. Ieyasu’s top ranking guard. Ieyasu was a samurai himself, but he had little time to train Peter. So each morning Peter was dragged out of bed and put through drills until he was sent out to do some work.

    Peter didn’t just enjoy being a samurai; in fact, he loved it. He loved their honor codes and their way of life. The problem was he didn’t like being held in Japan like a prissier making him hate it just as much as he loved it. As a kind of rebellion, Peter did as much damage as he could to their ways of life. He had found that the Japanese had some kind of fear of Catholics. He wasn’t a believer in God, but he believed it was worth pushing on the Japanese people since he was stuck there!

    He had thought about just killing William Adams off and taking on a new life, but finding an English man in Japan that wasn’t famous somewhere else was like finding a needle in a hay stack. So, he tried to talk about Catholicism as much as possible.

    He pushed his magic glasses up his nose to hide his real eyes from one of his crew. As the seeming average glasses showed a pair of blue eyes. Peter real eyes would be changing color with his mood. Without his glasses that would have chose quit a problem. He’d already had a lot of problems with humans in Europe and England. He spent one too many days fighting with some ‘vampire hunter’ over their beliefs.

    It would have been great if they were hunting him, but none of these fools thought vampires could go out in the sunlight and many other stupid things that story books had instilled in their minds. He found the Japanese didn’t have this problem, making the land very appealing to him.

    “Sir?” A young crew man named Baba said softly. Peter turned to him with a raised brow. “There’s been a ship spotted off the starboard side sir….Your order sir?” His young eyes darted about as if scared of what was going to happen. Peter’s eyes were much better than any human’s. He looked off the starboard side to see a ship he had heard of but never had seen. ‘Red’s Queen’: the Vampire King’s ship. Peter had only heard stories of the Vampire King, all of which were conflicting. The only thing anyone knew for sure was that the king was crazy.

    “Let’s go meet her and see what she is doing here,” Peter said to Baba before calling out his order to the rest of his ship. As they came up on the ‘Red Queen’ Peter could see his own kind running about it. A man dressed in the finest red fabrics he had ever seen stood at the wheel, his face hidden behind a large feathered hat. As they came along side it, a French flag was sent up the flag poll. “Bloody hell! My French is not very good,’ Peter groaned as the two ships were now side by side. He watched as the Captain, who Peter believed was the King, walked down to the place to greet him.

    “Eh monsieur comme peuvent je aide te?” The Capitan asked, taking off his hat to let his long curly black hair hang around his pale skin. Peter smiled lightly, trying to remember what ‘Eh’ meant. He hadn’t really heard the rest because none of it sounded like words he knew.

    “You don’t happen to speak English do you?” He asked hopefully to the very well dressed Frenchman before him. The man in red smiled, handing his hat to one of his crew.

    “Yes, I speak English and ‘Eh’ is Hello.” Rudolf said while fixing his hair.

    Peter tilted his head to the side, wondering how the man had known that was what he was thinking. But then he remembered his King was a telepath of a sort. Witch more then likely meant he had read Peter mind. “What is your name sir?” Peter inquired

    “My name is Rudolf Rouge. I am the Capitan of this ship.” Peter smiled wide as he heard the last name: Rouge was a French word he had learned, and he knew it translated into red. Rudolf smiled back at Peter before saying “I asked you how I could help you before and now I am asking again.”

    “The name is William Adams.” He watched as the King raised an eyebrow as if insulted by this. “Mr. Rouge, may we speak alone?” Peter asked, making the King nod. He then walked across the plaice to be led to Peter’s cabin. Once alone, Peter sighed heavily. “Sorry about that, these fools think my name is William Adams and I’m not in a position to tell them otherwise. My real nam--” Rudolf cut him off.

    “Is Peter Newkirk. I came here looking for you.” Rudolf then sat down on Peter’s desk. “Don’t get upset, I came to ask you to work for me when you’re done here.” Peter felt like someone hand taken hold of his shoulder, even though no one had. “Sit down and let me explain.” Without thinking Peter found himself sitting down. “I knew you could leave this mess behind by killing off Adams, and of course finding someone else to replace, but I don’t want you to do that. I want you to stay and keep on doing what you’ve been doing for the next 19 years.”

    “Um, alright I can do that Sir, but why did you come all this way to ask me to keep pretending to be Adams?” This was crazy in Peter’s eyes an mind. He found the words coming out of his month, but he hadn’t meant to say yes. Hell he wanted to get out of there, why was he agreeing to this madness? Rudolf let out a laugh that filled the room.

    “Newkirk, the Japanese will teach you many things that will make you a better warrior. Now you could do it the hard way and use magic to make them think you’re one of them, or you could keep playing the part of Adams who they already accept amongst them.” He pushed a stray black curl out of his face. “I think it would just be easier to be Adams. While you’re here, learn as much as you can and do whatever you please. In 19 years I will send someone to get you. You will fake Adams’s death and then board ‘The Red Queen’ as my second in command. Do you understand?”

    “Not at all sir, I mean I follow your plain of staying, learning, faking death and leaving, but I still don’t understand why.” Peter said, pushing his glasses up his nose out of habit. He watched as Rudolf crossed his legs like a lady while playing with his hair as if bored with him.

    “I have heard of your skill as a fighter for one and I know your secret for another.” Peter’s eyes widened as he stared at the man before him. Being a vampire was just the tip of Peter ice barge. For the King to know he was much more then just a vampire was a scary thing. “A few years here will only prove to make you stronger. After that, you can join me on my journey to find the Owanne of hate.”

    “What the devil is an Owanne?” Peter asked, feeling rather foolish for some unknown reason.

    “An Owanne is a being that carries a spirit power that feeds off of the emotions and states of minds. For instance, the Owanne of hate feeds off the world's hate. With the right person, it can use a power known as ‘the black fire’.” Peter felt like he was in a dream. Rudolf rolled his eyes. “There are many Owanne in the world. Some may not even know they are Owanne until they meet another Owanne.” Rudolf stood up, walking over to Peter.

    “For now, Newkirk, all you need to know is that you are an Owanne. That is why I came here looking for you. I, too, am an Owanne…God, if I say it one more time I just might scream!” Rudolf yelled at him “Just do as I told you and in 19 years we’ll talk more about what we are and why I need you alright?” The Vampire King stuck out his hand to Peter. Peter took a long hard look at the other man’s hand. Rudolf was a King, which meant that even if he didn’t wanted to know more about what he supposedly was, he couldn’t turn the man down. After all one does not say ‘no’ too the most power being of their race.

    “Alright sir, I look forward to this talk.” Peter said, taking his hand and shaking it. Rudolf made his way out of the cabin to get back on his ship without so much as a good-bye. This left Peter wondering just what he had gotten himself into this time around. He didn’t understand what an Owanne was, nor how he could be one and not know it. He didn’t know how this King knew he was one or even how the man knew of his secret. He had so many questions, but he had to wait 19 years before he could get any answers. “Come on men, let’s go back to shore.”