Chapter Three: Hector

Hector feels bad about killing the girl. Rex takes him upstairs to meet his new Master. Hector walks up nine sets of stairs before they get to a living area. The living area is decorated with red and green banners and wooden chairs. The hallway leads to a throne room.

Hector walks into the room. Carpet is red and golden, with the oak tree in the dead center of it. Ceiling is rimmed with gold and white mason oak tree carved into it in the middle.. The chandelier is gold, with candles and red crystals hanging down from it. The walls are lined with stone statues of every king that ever was. Hector gets to the throne. He notices one statue is broken, all that remains is stone pieces. 

“Sire, I bring you Hector,” Rex says.

Rex kneels before the throne. The throne is made from an oak tree found on the battlefield of a ten-year war covered in the blood of the slain. It is a high-back, oak wood that is stained red with the blood of his enemies, studded with jewels along the armrest, with a black cushion forming part of the seat. Once Rex is on his knees, he pulls Hector down onto his knees. Behind the throne is a red tapestry with a living oak tree.

Hector dares to glance up and looks into the eyes of the man who made his world crumble. He sees a young-looking man with brown hair. He looks harmless until you look into his eyes. They are dark, empty voids that can see into your very soul and crush it. King Skorn smiles when he sees Hector looking at him.

“Welcome to my castle, Hector. I hope your arrival wasn’t too unpleasant,” 

“You know very well it was. I was kidnapped,” Hector says with a snort.

Rex elbows Hector in the gut hard enough to knock the wind out of Hector.

“You would do well to understand your place here, Hector. I am the god who holds everything together here. In my kingdom, lives are in my hands. I am sure Rex has told you about the rules by now. You would do well to follow them. We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to someone you left behind, now would we?”

“No, Sire,” Hector says through gritted teeth.

“Good, now that is out of the way. Rex will be your mentor. You will obey him fully, for his word is my word. Rex will make you into a good vampire, even if it is a horrible, painful path for you. It can be easy or hard. You decide. Questions?” 

“Just one, if I may, Sire.” 

“You may ask. I will decide whether or not to answer,” Skorn declares.

“Why was I chosen? Why did you have me hunted down and brought here?” 

“All in due time. You will learn the reason, but not until I trust you. Rex, start his training. I expect daily updates about him. Understood?”

“Yes, Sire,” Rex says.

Rex pulls Hector to his feet by his arm and marches him out of the throne room and to the outside of the castle.

Hector sees the sun is out. He recalls the myth that vampires will burn in the sun, pulls away from Rex and tries to go back inside. 

“What is the problem?” Rex asks.

“The sun is out.” Hector says.

Rex laughs and continues to head to a small shed under the porch of the castle. He grabs two cloaks and heads back to Hector.

“Yes, the sun is out, but these cloaks will protect us. Put it on.”

Hector takes the cloak. It is heavy and feels like silk under his hands. He puts it on. It feels cool, like it is becoming one with his skin.

“Some witch made them. They are made to keep us from burning in the sunlight.” 

“I see. Good to know.” 

“Yeah, come on, we have work to do.”  

Rex leads Hector to an enormous maze garden. The maze consists of stone walls eight feet high. It goes back about five miles across the castle grounds. There is  a small group of people waiting by the entrance. 

“What is this?”  Hector asks.

“This is your first lesson. You will learn to use your enhanced senses to find your way out of this maze. Humans have a hard time figuring it out. It is why it is used a lot to play with the humans, but a vampire should be able to sense his way out without setting off the traps in under five minutes,”  Rex says.

“Hector, meet your classmates. T They  are training just like you to learn to be  vampires. Everyone introduces themselves, so we can get to work,”  Rex orders.

The only girl in the group steps forward. “I am Ruby. We kind of already met. I am sure you remember,” Ruby says.

Hector looks at her, and he realizes it is the girl he tried to help the day he was turned.

Hector goes to her and grabs her by the neck. “You’re the reason I am here,” he says with anger in his voice.

“Enough, Hector. We are all here now. Let her go. We have work to do,”  Rex orders.

Hector lets Ruby go and rubs her neck.

“Now, as I was saying before I was interrupted, each of you will run into the maze and try to get out in five minutes. If you succeed, you get to move on to the next lesson. If you don’t, you get punished and do it again. Questions?” Rex asks the group.

No one says anything.

“Good. Let’s have Ruby go first. Then we'll have Ash, Trevor, and lastly,Hector, since he's new. Hector, your classmates have all been doing this for a few weeks already,” Rex says.

Hector looks at the maze and knows he doesn’t have a choice. He will do what he must to keep Kelanar safe.

Rex smiles and picks up the hourglass. 

Ruby runs into the maze. Hector waits to see if she will pass. Ash walks over to Hector.

“I am Ash. I didn’t get to introduce myself before you attacked Ruby. This maze is hard to navigate. It is a painful punishment. So, it is best to lean on your fellow mates. It makes the time here better.” Ash smiles at Hector.

Rex leaves and returns with Ruby.

“Ruby, you failed. I will give you your punishment after everyone has gone,” Rex says.

Ruby stands in line with the others, upset.

“Ash, your turn,” Rex orders.

Ash steps up and Rex turns over the hourglass. Alex runs into the maze.

Hector glares at Ruby and stands over by the one they call Trevor.

“Hello, I am Hector.” Hector says to Trevor.

“I am Trevor, but I am not here to make friends. I want to get my training done so I can join the actual vampires out in the real world,” Trevor spits out.

The last grain of sand drops and Rex disappears to retrieve Ash.

“Another failure. You will join Ruby in punishments. Trevor, you’re up,” Rex orders, frustrated.

“I will show you how it's done,” Trevor calls as he runs into the maze. 

Rex is about to get Trevor when he walks out the other side of the maze.

“Finally, someone's got some sense and might have a chance at being an actual vampire. Congrats Trevor, you get to move on to the next lesson. For now, you can watch Hector's attempt or head to the castle to get some blood with Jesse and Mike.”

“I know he is not going to get it the first time, so I'll head to the castle,” Trevor says and heads to the castle.

“Now then, Hector. Your turn,” Rex says.

Rex turns the hourglass over. Hector runs into the maze. The first choice he must make is left or straight. Hector quickly thinks and decides straight. He runs about three feet before he sees a dead end. He turns to run back and sees two big demons come out of nowhere.

“Wrong way! You must get past us to move on,” they tell him.

“Umm, can I get past you?” he asks them.

They laugh hard.

“You vamps are silly. No, use your skills to get around us or beat us in a fight. And remember, tick tock.” 

Hector notices they are standing kind of close together, so he acts like he is going to run at them. They brace for it. Hector feels his superhuman speed and right before he runs into them, he jumps over them and runs back to the start and takes the left.

 He travels down this path for another three feet before encountering another  choice: straight or right. He tries right and goes about a foot before having to choose again: right or straight. Quickly choosing straight, he hits another dead end. He goes to turn around and finds the path blocked by rays of sunlight. If he lets one touch him, he will burn, cloak or no cloak. While he is trying to figure out how to get around them, Rex shows up and turns them off.

“Time is up, Hector. You failed.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“One, you must start over and two, you must be punished. Failure isn’t an option to Lord Skorn. He wants his soldiers at their best. Come on, you will join Ruby and Ash for punishment.” 

Rex leads Hector back to the start of the maze.

“What is this punishment we have to get?” Hector asks.

Ruby and Ash go to stand by Hector to hear the punishments.

“I choose sunlight. You all will all run the next five minutes without your cloaks. The sunlight will burn like no pain you have ever felt, but you must learn to trust your instincts. It is hard at first, but maybe with some pain you can make yourself do it, because the punishments only get worse. Are you ready? Will you all go again?” 

Ruby takes off her cloak and hands it to Rex and goes in again.

Hector isn’t looking forward to his second turn.  He tries to focus on the choices he made last time, but Ash wants to talk.

“So, where are you from Hector?” Ash asks.

“I am from Sung. What about you?” Hector asks.

“Oh, I was there once. I am from Ranger.” Ash says.

Rex returns with a very pissed off Ruby.

“I was so close, just steps away from the exit.”

“Better luck next time, Ruby,” Rex says, laughing at her.

“Ash, you’re up,”  Rex orders.

Ash nods, takes off his cloak and runs into the maze.

Ruby is sulking, her cloak back on. Hector can smell burned flesh.

“So how bad is it?” Hector asks her.

“Oh, so Hector is talking to me now. It's fine, just you know,  sunburn.” Ruby tries to smile at him.

“I don’t think I believe a word you’re saying. I can smell the flesh from here,” Hector says.

“No duh. It's a horrible smell, and it hurts ten times worse than sunburn. Look, I am sorry about my part in the whole bringing you here thing. I was given an order, and I had to follow it just like we must all follow orders here,” Ruby says.

Rex returns with Ash,whose back is smoking. Rex returns Ash's cloak to him and Ash puts it on.

“Hector, your turn. Since this is your first punishment, I am going to tell you like I told them their first time. Bear with it and it will be over soon,”Rex says.

Hector takes a deep breath, centers himself, and then he nods. Rex takes off Hector’s cloak. The sunlight hits Hector’s skin, which feels like it is on fire as it blisters up.

“I know it hurts. It’s ten times worse than a grease fire burn. You can run the maze now or give it a few seconds to get used to the pain, then run. Either way, the cloak stays off until the five minutes are up. Your time starts once you enter the maze.”

Hector tries to ignore the pain and runs back into the maze. Rex turns the hourglass over and waits.

Learning from past mistakes, he goes left and then takes the next two rights. Another fork in the maze: straight or left. The pain is getting to him, and he can’t focus on anything. He lets out a cry and then runs to the left.

Once again, he hits a dead end, and he turns to face his challenge to continue. This time, his challenge is a female vampire.

“Get out of my way,” he says through gritted teeth, the pain becoming unbearable.

“Sorry, sugar, can’t do that,” she says sweetly.

She looks him in the eyes and chants.

“You don’t want to go anywhere. You want to stay here, kiss me, and have fun with me.”

Hector feels drawn to her, but the pain is keeping his mind off her and on the path he needs to get to.

“No, not happening,” he says.

He pushes her aside, heads back, and this time goes straight. The straight path takes him about six feet of path and then he runs into a right or left. His skin sizzles. He looks down and finds blood and big blisters on his hands and arms. He feels a wind across his back and then Rex is standing before him.

“Guess what? Time is up again,” Rex says. He hands Hector his cloak and helps him put it on.

“You will heal now that you’re out of the sunlight, but you failed again, so that means one more punishment. Let’s get back to the others and I will tell you the next one,” Rex says and leads Hector back to the others.

“Well, one out of four isn’t terrible. One last punishment, and we are done for today.”

“It will be an easy one this time since you all just got burned badly. Vampires need blood after sunlight exposure. Your punishment is no blood. You must heal the old-fashioned way this time.” Rex laughs.

“But don’t worry, you will heal within the next eight hours. It is just hours wherein you must think and try harder. That is it for today. Ash and Ruby, you may return to your rooms. Hector, I will show you your room.”

Ruby and Ash leave.

“All recruits share a room until they prove they have what it takes to be a vampire. Ash and Trevor are already sharing one, so that means you will share with Ruby. I want you to be nice and not kill each other,” Rex orders.

Hector says nothing, as he is in too much pain. He follows Rex back into the castle.

“All the vampires sleep on the second floor and the demons are on the first. Once you have earned some freedom, you can go everywhere except to the top level of the castle and the basement, unless I take you there,” Rex says.

Rex takes Hector to the second floor and goes to room 205.

“Basically, all these rooms are the same, so remember your room number.” 

They go into the room. There are two single beds and a blackout curtain on the single window. Two small wooden dressers are in one corner next to a small closet. Another door leads to a small bathroom made up of a tub, a toilet and a washbasin.

“There are towels in the cabinet. There are slaves who clean the rooms unless you tell them not to. They will still stock up on all you need. Everything you need will be in your dresser and closet. You will wear what you’re given. It’s the same for us all.”

Rex gets ready to leave the room when Ruby walks in.

“Really, Rex, you’re making me share with the vampire who wishes me dead?” Ruby asks.

“You two will get along. No fighting. Unless you want to answer to Skorn, get some rest. You both will need it."

“I understand,” says Hector.

Hector thinks, let me sleep. I am in so much pain.

“Fine, see you later Rex.”

“Good. Sleep well. I’ll see you both tonight.” 

Rex leaves the room and Hector looks at Ruby.

“Which bed is yours?”

“Mine is close to the window. You can have the one by the door. The dresser on the right is mine. You can have the left.”

“Fine by me.”

Not caring, he takes off the cloak and his jeans and lies down on his bed, hoping sleep will take him quickly.

Ruby looks at Hector.

At least he is cute. Maybe being his roommate won’t be so bad, Ruby thinks.

Ruby lays down on her own bed. She is use to the pain, but quickly falls asleep too.