Night Eternal

You know all the usual stuff, don't read if it's illegal or you don't like sex or sex between two males offends you. All characters are purely fictional, and any likeness is a coincidence. Joshua Glynn reserves all rights to this story, the characters and the world they live in. Edited by Kumani

This is a story of two friends who after being apart from each other, discover a love between them they never knew could exist. Ryan thinks Coby is dead, while Coby is forbidden to ever come in contact with any of his family or friends ever again.

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Night Eternal:

Chapter 3: Family Business

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Chris had told me to dress in a suit. We were headed into the business district of the city.

In the car he said, "I have big plans for you Coby. Today your training shifts. You will begin to learn about my business and where you will fit into my organization."

"What kind of work is it?"

"At first it will be simple errands. You might be overseeing shipments, or delivering packages, or maybe even meeting with clients to deliver messages. Later, you will be asked to take care of more delicate matters. You see Coby, I run a rather large organization, with branches all across the country. I have local managers that oversee day to day operations in given areas. Until recently, I have been running this city's affairs myself, but my hope is that in a few years you can take over my interests here. I see a need to become more mobile in the future and I need to clear up my daily responsibilities."

"You make it sound like you run the mafia Chris…" I laughed a bit, thinking I had made a joke. Chris didn't laugh.

"That is a label you could very well give my organization, but I mostly run the business side of the organization. I leave the mundane to the Normals. The human members of the organization don't know who they work for. Only their top leaders know who runs the show. Our job is mostly keeping the heat off and keeping the smaller parts running smoothly. We end up doing a lot of clean up."

"So eventually I will have to…"

"Kill someone… perhaps, but you might not find that as difficult as you once thought…"

We rode the rest of the way in silence. We arrived at a tall skyscraper in the middle of the financial district. It was one of those really nice, big corporate buildings, everything clean and bright white, with a touch of metallic here and there. We drove into an underground garage.

Near the back of the garage, a large door opened admitting entrance to a private parking area. There were several very expensive luxury cars and SUVs already present. We parked in a spot marked CEO right near an elevator. The elevator took us up to one of the top floors. We entered into a small lobby. A beautiful young woman sat at the front desk, she beamed at us as we walked in.

"Mr. Westmore, your guests have arrived. They are waiting for you in room five."

"Thank you Camilla. How has it been without me these past months?"

"Mr. Sorrento is not you sir, but he has been more than kind and profits are up, so not bad at all sir. But we still missed you!" She had an infectious smile. "So is this the new assistant you were looking for?" she queried.

"Yes, may I introduce Coby Daniels?" She stood and walked around the desk, offering me her hand. I took it, bowed slightly and kissed it gently. It was a greeting Chris had taught me recently. She blushed a bit. She was gorgeous, wearing this tight, low cut, red dress. It showed off her ample cleavage and shapely hips very well. "Camilla I need a full security package set up for Coby and have office two prepped for its new occupant."

"Yes sir. It was nice to meet you Mr. Daniels." Her shifting aura told me just how nice it was for her. She was a Normal and she had done a good job of keeping her facial and body language neutral all this time, but her aura was alight with arousal. I figured I would have to ask Chris how he felt about inter-office dating later.

"She likes you Coby…" Chris grinned, as though he had already read my mind. As she walked out of the room, I was captivated by the sway of her backside.

We walked back to a large room. There was a lot of noise in the room from the many conversations that were going on. As we entered, a silent hush fell across the room as everyone turned and raised their glasses to us in salute. There had to be a few hundred or more in the large room. Come to find out, this was a family reunion of sorts. Chris's 'family' had started filtering into town just a few weeks after my awakening.

Over one hundred men and women that Chris had brought into the vampire world were present. All of them were working for Chris all over the US, some well over a thousand years old. Not to mention the hundred or so others brought over by his children. I found out later that I was the first new 'family' member Chris had brought over in over fifty years.

Chris introduced me to Jason Sorrento. He was the classic Italian cliché of a mobster, with the pinstripe suit, short cropped hair and that unmistakable accent. Jason was supposed to teach me about the 'family' business. Jason was the last vampire Chris had brought across, back in 1942. Most of the direct family was originally from all over Europe. Only me and Jason are from the US. Of course the entire family all live in America now. They moved to America way back in the early 1800s.

The meeting was a lot of hand shaking and introductions. Most were generally pleased to meet me. However, there were about thirty of the children that had been brought over in the last ten years by Chris's progeny, I got the feeling that most of them were jealous of me. I was given higher status than them despite my age, because Chris was my sire, making me the equal to that of their sires.

After a while, Jason came up to us, "Coby I have a few people I would like you to meet." Chris nodded his head and I went with Jason. He guided me to a side office. Inside was a small library. Seated on a couch in the middle of the room was what I could tell on first impression was a big man, even though he was seated. He had long, greasy black hair and a permanent scowl, even when he smiled. He reminded me of a big wrestler. He was wearing a dark suit that seemed ruffled and unkempt.

Standing over to the right wall reading a book, was a tall godlike figure of a man. He had really long, straight white-blond hair and very pale skin with almost pink eyes. He was albino, but gorgeous and had a warm smile as he looked up and replaced the book on the shelf.

"Coby, may I introduce you to Bradley Carrington," Jason said as he gestured to the albino.

"A pleasure to meet you Coby, I look forward to working with you." I took his offered hand and shook it.

"Likewise."

I was right. The dark haired man was massive. He stood up and slowly walked a bit closer, his shoulders could have been a meter across and he was at least seven feet tall. I could see the aura coming off of him… annoyance.

"This is Roth. He is a real survivor and can get you out of just about any tough situation." Roth didn't offer his hand as a sign of friendship. He just nodded at me when he was acknowledged. Over the next few weeks, I would learn that Roth was a bit power-hungry and saw me more as a usurper. He didn't like the idea of working for a kid younger than himself.

"I'm assigning them to work with you Coby. They will be under your direct command, but I suggest you use their experience and learn from them. They have been at this for many years already."

I just nodded my acceptance. And so began my life as a Vampire Mob enforcer… Man, life just kept sending me curveballs.

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Over the next month, I had been accomplishing lots of different things. I was working my way up and proving myself. Chris took a hands-off approach to this part of my instruction. I was given a lot of freedom to go and do whatever I wanted or needed to do. Brad became a real friend. He would go out with me a lot, just to hang out when we weren't working. We would even go feeding together sometimes.

Roth was only around when something needed to be done or during our daily gym sessions. Roth seemed to like showing me that he was a great fighter. We sparred quite a bit and although I held my own, he was a very powerful man and didn't hold back his punches.

I found that I preferred feeding off of guys, a fact that really surprised me. John had become a regular of mine. He couldn't get enough of me. I had a few others that became regulars too. For example, take Alice. She is this really sexy twenty something year old nymphomaniac. I think I keep her around because she reminds me of Jamie. What was really killing me though was the fact that all I really wanted was to be with Ryan.

Ryan was all I thought about most days. Chris was right, the longer I was away from him, the more I wanted to be with him. I would go to him when I wasn't working, just to check up on him. He never knew I was there. I always kept myself hidden. He was becoming my obsession. Every moment of free time I had, I spent it watching over him. After my third month as a Vampire I approached Chris about Ryan.

"Sir, I need to talk to you."

"Let me guess, this is about Ryan isn't it?"

"How…"

"You think I don't know you sneak off to see him every chance you get? I am actually glad you are getting the opportunity to practice not being seen."

"You had me followed?"

"Dear boy, I have to make sure that you don't get into trouble, because if you get into trouble, then so do I. It is the price I pay for siring you. You are my child now and until you are accepted, I will be held responsible for you and your actions. However, you have been making me proud! So, have you finally come to realize your true feelings for your 'friend' Ryan?"

"Yes, I understand now what you were trying to get me to see! But now I am cursed to a life of never being with him. So what is the point?"

"Who said you could never be with him? Coby, all you need is an opportunity to gain the favor of the Archon. Once you have the Archon's favor then you could ask to child Ryan. You can be with him forever! But understand he may resent you for it, because he too would have to give up all contact with his family forever. But then again, you have adjusted to it quite well. I do know that you haven't been to see your family in any of your outings."

"I understand it will be a hard choice for him, but I have been watching him. He is just as broken up about our separation as I am, although I'm not quite sure he has realized why yet. I know he needs me and I need him. I'll do whatever it takes to get him back. As for my family, I think if I saw them I would be too tempted to go to them. So I'm just staving off the temptation."

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I redoubled my efforts. I took on every job I could get my hands on for the Archon. Brad and Roth were working out. Well, Brad was working out, Roth was another story. Brad was becoming like my third brother. I found out, he is actually the oldest of the three of us, at just over fifty years old. He was Jason's first child. He has proved to me several times that I can trust him with my life, as he has become very protective of me. His experience has pulled us out of the fire many times and his power rivals my own.

He has also taught me a few things. He showed me this trick one night with one of my gifts while we were out in the countryside on business. It comes in very handy if you get caught out in the open when the sun is coming up. It allows you to merge with the open ground. He calls it melding with the earth. It is like falling into a lake, but instead of water it is hard earth. He also showed me how to take on the form of a wolf. He said it was a good trick if I have a run in with any Werewolves. He said they generally won't hurt other wolves, but they are not too keen on Vampires wandering onto their territory. It was also useful for getting into tight places and for climbing.

Roth however, fights me at every turn. He is always questioning my orders and he generally does things the way he wants, just to prove to me that I'm wrong. If he wasn't so brash about it, I would probably hear him out. He always wants to be the one calling all the shots and thinks that I am beneath him. He is only five years older than me, but most times he acts like he's a three year old. Brad is getting fed up with him too. He is reckless and he endangers us more times than not. He is so caught up in proving me wrong that he gets us into precarious situations all the time.

The good news though, is that Remington has started to take a liking to me. He has started requesting my assistance on more important tasks. After two months, we were asked by the Archon to hunt down a fellow Vampire that had broken one of the most grievous of our laws. He had committed the sin of not only murdering another vampire, but feeding on his life force to strengthen his own blood and power. This was called the Draining.

It did not take long to find the rogue Vampire. We chased him for quite some time until we had him cornered in an old abandoned building that had all of its windows bricked up. Brad watched the only exit, while me and Roth flushed him out. We split up in different directions. I was the first to engage the rogue.

I came around a corner and practically ran into him. I attacked with a claw to his chest, he was too fast and he easily dodged my swipe. A swirling dance of melee began, a cut to his arm, a flesh-wound to my chest, a gash to his right leg. Then, with surprising speed, he kicked my right leg hard enough to snap a bone. I crumpled to the ground. He took his chance and began to run for it.

It only took me a few seconds of concentrated healing to be able to stand on the leg again, but it took several more to be able to move effectively with it. That was more than enough time for him to get a good head start. I started moving again, but not as fast. I heard noises coming from down the hall.

When I entered into a room there was Roth with the bloody and subdued rogue, limp in his embrace. He was feeding off of him, but more, he was performing the Draining on him!

"Roth! What are you doing?" He didn't stop. The look in his eyes was predatory. It was a warning not to come any closer. I ignored it. "Roth, I can't let you do this!"

Roth threw the limp body to the floor. I could already see the body had no aura left, it was dead. "Sorry, too late. He was much too young blooded anyway. I didn't gain anything by it. I wanted him to know in his last moments what it felt like! An eye for an eye! Besides, this was a blood hunt. Anything goes in a blood hunt! You know that."

"But the Draining is evil, why would you lower yourself to perform it?"

"I may work for you, but it is not your place to judge me!" he yelled as he shouldered past me. I picked up the body and carried it out to take back to the Archon.

Overall we dealt with the rogue easily enough. We had become very good at dealing with problems like this. Although Roth was becoming more of a problem each time and I was still getting used to actually killing people, though I understood it was for a just reason. I was surprised at how easily I was able to kill when necessary. Chris had told me, that it was the beast that all Vampires have, that animalistic nature that makes the killing easier.

I was raised to "accepted" shortly after that. I was afforded all of the rights of Vampire society. Chris was no longer held responsible for my actions and I could get a place of my own now. Chris gave me one hundred thousand dollars to start my new life and another forty thousand dollar bonus for all the jobs I had completed up to that point. But that was not the last of his gifts. We took a ride back to the office.

"Coby I have one last gift to give you." We took the elevator up to the office, but we didn't stop. The elevator went up one more level up. I had always thought that the office was the top floor, but when we got into the elevator, Chris swiped a card over a panel above the buttons.

We arrived at the penthouse level, and I was floored. Before me was the most beautiful apartment I have ever seen. It was decorated in a modern theme, with lots of abstract and Asian touches.

We entered into the opening hall, and I do mean open. There was a walkway running all the way to the far wall that passed into a hallway continuing back to further rooms. To the left of the walkway, two steps led down into a large pit great-room. Even with several couches, chairs and small tables, there was plenty of extra room. A sixty inch flat-screen TV, hung on the wall, surrounded by bookshelves filled with books and DVD movies. Finally, the far left wall was a giant window, with a sliding glass door, leading to a huge patio. The patio even had a small pool that ran right up to the edge of the building.

"That glass is treated with a special UV coat. You don't have to worry about the sun through it."

To the right of the walkway was an identical pit, but this side housed a beautiful large kitchen and dining area. The dining area could also second as a boardroom table. The heavy long rectangular table and comfortable looking rolling chairs, made quite a sight. The kitchen was open studio style with all wood topped and faced appliances. It blended right into its surroundings. There was even a wet-bar on the far wall.

"There are some special supplies in the wet-bar, if you get hungry."

I was in shock… What had I done to deserve this? I had been a nobody, happy in my nothingness. Overjoyed to just hang out with friends and goof off, get a little education in the process. This was just too much. "I… wow, I… how can I accept this?"

Chris smiled at me, "How can you not! Besides, you will be running my company here before long and this place comes with the job!" he laughed.

Then, he escorted me to the back rooms. The first room on the right was an office. It was as nice as the rest of the apartment, a small library on one wall, with a beautiful glass and chrome desk just in front of it, a black leather couch and some nice looking chairs. It also had a big flat panel screen on the opposite wall that served a dual purpose, as a TV and a computer monitor. Next, there was a series of guest rooms and a small meeting room, with a table that seats eight comfortably.

Finally, he took me to the master bedroom. It ran the entire length of the left side of these rooms, a full quarter of the apartment. It was similar in layout to Chris's master suite, but not in design. The look was much more modern. It had a grand walk in closet, with some of my clothing already in place. In the past few months Chris had taken me on many shopping trips to fill out my wardrobe. I would need a lot more shopping to fill this closet.

The bathroom was a bit different. The shower was not quite as big as Chris's, but it made up for it in style. Mirrors made up the three walls of the shower, with multiple showerheads pointing in all directions. There was even a monitor behind the mirror on one side that you could see though, it was two-way glass. The tub in the back of the room was a large whirlpool style tub, considerably bigger and wider than Chris's. Impressive!

"Why is this not your place?" I asked.

"It was at one time, but now it is yours. My other home here in town will always be here as well, but as I said, this apartment comes with the job."

I decided not to argue the point. After the guided tour, Chris told me I would need to obtain a new vehicle and that I should speak with Collin for procurement. Collin found me a few choice offers. I ended up getting a Cadillac Escalade EXT, with all the upgrades. Chris was right about Collin. He found my Escalade and got me a sweet deal I couldn't pass up. It still took a big chunk of my money though.