Chapter 8. Pirhanha

Chapter 8. Pirhana

Ryan Kelly snapped off the tv and strode swiftly from the break room with a string of muttered curses, most aimed at Minhea Prince.

“Doctor Kelly, if you’re break is over we could use you in…” an older doctor called out to his retreating figure.

“It’s not. I may be late getting back,” Kelly replied, dashing out through the electric double doors, straight to his van.

“Doctor Kelly!” The older doctor called out indignantly, following him to the vehicle. “When we called you in today it was with the understanding that you’d be here for the whole shift. We’ve got patients that need us in there. You can’t just…”

“You’ve got patients in there, Doctor Mitchell. Don’t you think you should get back to them?” Kelly sighed. “I have every intention of returning and, with any luck, I’ll still have a job when I do, but either way, I need to go right now.” He opened the door and started the vehicle and drove away, all without a single glance back at the opoplectic older man.

The drive out to the sprawling Prince Manor was spent imagining ways to kill Min, though he eventually decided that he didn’t really need to kill him. Just to cut out his tongue. And he wasn’t overly worried that doing it would be considered unethical or even criminal. In fact, he was reasonably sure that most of the family would consider it an improvement.

Arriving at the manor house, all he could do was shake his head. The news vans, paparazzi, an entire circus of media and tabloid personnel had taken up residence, some outside the gate, others, surprisingly, inside. The gate guard had been pulled from his post and the great wrought iron gate was wide open for any who would like to wander in. And wander in they had. Well-wishers were gathered all over the lawn with signs and stuffed creatures, candles and prayers, music and food. It was ridiculous! What’s more, it was bound to do exactly the opposite of what they professed to be hoping for! If Radu’s shields weren’t completely shot before, they were bound to be by now.

Gritting his teeth, he laid on the horn and slowly but surely made his way through the throng, doing his best to avoid seriously hurting anyone, but refusing to stop for them. The flashes of light alerted to him that his pictures would likely be in the next issue of whichever rag magazine bought them along with a story that was almost guaranteed to be entirely false. Laying on his horn, he continued forward, displacing a good deal of the people milling about with cameras and note pads, waiting to catch a glimpse of one of the Prince family members or, barring that, the doctor they’d all heard about. The last thing he wanted to do was hit the sirens and give them something more to blow out of proportion, but it was starting to look as though he might not have a choice.

Uttering a string of curses, he decided there was always a choice. Abandoning the long driveway that was cluttered with reporters, photographers and cameramen, he turned onto the manicured lawn, laying on the horn and yelling, “GET OFF THE GRASS!” to those slow to clear out of his way. Finally, he reached a place where he could pull back onto the driveway in front of the large manor home, blocking the view between the curiuos throng and his patients. Exiting the passenger side, he ran inside with his bag in his hand, hopefully before the papperazzi could get too many shots of him.

“Min, you sonofabitch, I swear to God I’m going to kill you myself, and when you revive I’m going to kill you again!” he yelled angrily, not waiting for anyone to direct him through the office to the door behind the desk. He paused, forcing himself to calm before opening it. He stood there thinking of ocean waves and waterfalls and sunsets and and anything else he could think of that fit the category of relaxing and calm.

He stepped inside and sighed to see Mircea trying to convince a horribly pale and gaunt Radu to remain down there with him.

“You think that it’s bad down here, brother. There are dampeners built in down here. And my sheilds for you as well. Brother, please,” Mircea resorted to pleading,as well as placing himself between Radu and the stairs, knowing that Radu could not overpower him as he was right now, ” I beg of you, do not do this. It will not go as well as you hope, and we will have more of them out there on the grass, by morning.”

“You look like hell,” Ryan told him, slipping past Mircea to see his patient, who seemed to be only partially aware of his surroundings.“And he’s right, they’re ridiculous up there. Pirrhana are safer to face than all of them. At least pirrhana don’t have deadlines.”

The look Radu gave him made it clear he didn’t understand what he was referring to at all.

“Radu, the closer you get to the feeding frenzy, the harder it is for you to maintain, right? Especially with your shields the way they are?”

“They are improved.” Radu assured him only to shake his head when Ryan barked out a harsh, “Bullshit.”

“They were improved.” Ryan contradicted, "Before all of this, they were almost to the point I might have trusted you to go to your isolated lab and back, but not now. No way in hell. I’m not convinced you’d make it to the top of the stairs, let alone to the door.”

“Perhaps not on my own,” Radu admitted, offering the first concession he’d given up to that point ,as he made his way up the stairs. “But Naitachel is on his way home..”

“He is home,” Mircea and Ryan stated in unison, exchanging a look that clearly stated their concern.

Radu should have known that. He should have felt it, sensed it before any of the others. Was it possible that the rest were loud and oppressive enough to drown out even the sereph?

“Yes, he is…” Radu answered, going a shade paler still, stumbling as he reached the top, exiting into his office. His eyes lost some of their shine.

“He is…he’s… in the kitchen...with Soraya and …” he began naming them off, his voice taking on a sort of breathy quality as he moved around his desk and toward the door to the great hall before his legs seemed ready to give out and he began to fold.

Mircea helped Ryan moved him into a chair. Ryan was already partway through his examination when Radu blinked, looking from one to the other as if only just realizing they were still there.

“My head,” he confessed at last. “It is… rather profoundly uncomfortable…”

“You don’t say,” Ryan sighed, setting his instruments aside, holding up a finger, knowing he didn’t need to repeat the directions he’d been giving every time they met so far. The results were far from encouraging. “Mircea’s right. You shouldn’t be up here like this, Radu. I am genuinely concerned how much damage this will do. What do you think they’ll do if you drop like that in the middle of all of those reassurances?”


“There, you see, brother. The doctor has…” Mircea began, only to be interrupted before he could continue.

“Unfortunately, Mircea,” Doctor Kelly continued reluctantly, “Radu might also have a point. They’re not going to let go of this without seeing and hearing him for themselves.” Turning back to Radu, he instructed, “We can explain how fragile you look right now with a prolonged illness, true enough, that you are finally finding your way out of, bold face lie, and while you appreciate their concern, you’d appreciate it more if they’d offer it in letters and emails from far far away. But first,” He drew an IV bag full of blood and a straw and passed Radu the make-shift ‘juice box’. “drink.”

“I could always thin the herd,” Mircea suggested, baring his fangs.

“I told you, keep doing that at me and I’ll pull the damn things, don’t think I won’t.” Ryan reminded him.

“It wasn’t at you,” Mircea smirked. “Merely in your vicinity. Have you truly so little trust in me?”

“No, I have far less than that suggested, but I was trying to avoid upsetting your brother with the news. So, here’s what needs to happen. Mircea, Nait and anyone else who can help build shields around you need to be close enough to do it. The rest need to be out of the way.” Ryan sighed, muttering under his breath, “I can’t believe I’m letting you do this,” before going on, “You will be brief and simply give a statement, then get the hell back downstairs. That’s it. You’re not answering questions, if need be one of us can do that afterward.”

“Why not just let one of us give the statement and answer the questions for him.” Mircea asked, “Would that not work as well?”

“I don’t think so.” Ryan replied. “They’re ready to all but pronounce him dead out there. If they don’t see him, they’ll just keep coming.”

“If they do see him, they still may.” Mircea sighed. “He looks so..”


“He’s right here,” Radu interjected breathily. “I’m right here. And there’s nothing for this but to just do it. So you need to either help me, or go back down to your library and await my return…”

“On a gurney.” Mircea concluded for him.

“If we’re lucky.” Ryan muttered as he figured out exactly what Radu was going to say, determined that it should be as brief as possible.

“You can not be serious!” Vlad exclaimed, joining them. At Radu’s cringe, he immediately moved to his side. Softly, he pleaded, “Uncle, you can’t…”

“Didn’t we just have this comversation?” Mircea asked Ryan.

Ryan fixed him with a steady glare. “Smartass.”

“Uncle Nait is here, as are Minhea, Matthias, my sons. Soraya’s in the kitchen with Brianna until we do this, then she will join us so that Brianna might help you, but the girls were caught at the theater overlong last night and won’t be back until after their shows tonight. There are no covered spaces for the car to get them, though Kristov is trying to come up with something.” Vlad informed Radu, who nodded his understanding.

“We’ll have to fix that.” Radu said, cringing at the volume of his own voice in his head, struggling against his stomach which threatened to give way, even as the stars played at the periphery of his vision. It seemed to him it might be a tossup which would happen first - he’d become ill, pass out or his head would explode. Giving his statement to the pirhana outside hadn’t even entered into that particular equation.

Vlad and Mircea exchanged a look, then quickly cleared their minds, each placing a hand upon Radu’s shoulder, Vlad to the right and Mircea to the left. For a moment, each experienced the noise and the weight of the emotions of all of those outside as Radu did,each staggering beneath it, before adding their sheilds to Radu’s almost absent own.

Though there were no silences, the sound lessened, the weight of the emotions of so many at once seemed less crushing than before.

“I am here,” Nait whispered as he entered the room. Vlad stepped back slightly, giving way to the seraph, knowing he could do more in aiding and protecting his uncle than any of the rest could. The rest of the family arrived quickly, adding their aid, such as it was, as well.

Watching Radu closely, Ryan told the others, “It’s now or never, guys.”

“He is correct,” Radu replied. “We must do this now if we are to get through it.”

Rising unsteadily he made for the great doors, flanked by his family. Katarina and Kristov opened the doors wide, then Ryan Kelly stepped forward, effectively pushing back the crowding reporters.

“Mister Prince will make a brief statement, and then he will go back inside and you will all remove yourselves from the premises.” He informed them all, glaring at them hard enough to cause even the most seasoned veteran reporter take a step or two backwards.

“And you are?” one of them dared ask, only to be glared at harder.

The question was forgotten as the Prince family moved into view.


Calls of “Radu” and “Mister Prince” rang out from all around them, accompanied by questions that bled over one into the next until none were truly comprehensible.

Radu held up his hand and they quieted.

“To start, I want to thank all of you for your concern. Your warm wishes and prayers are appreciated.” He began his voice soft enough to require everyone around him to go dead quiet so that he could be heared. “They are appreciated more, though, when offered without trespassing,” he went on, prompting laughter from the crowd. He paused, blinking hard a moment before going on. “As my nephew Minhea has told you, I have been ill. It’s been difficult. I am improving. However, the stress of having my sanctuary invaded does not help. At this time, I would ask that you all grant me the respect of my privacy. Please.“ He swallowed hard and glanced toward Ryan, nearing that proverbial wall. The doctor stepped forward, at that point, allowing his family to escort Radu further back into the manor once again.

“That’s it, folks,” Ryan spoke, making certain he had the attention of all gathered there,as Katarina and Kristov closed the doors once more. “That’s all you’re getting. And since you vultures all have the proof of life you came for, you’ll be leaving now.”

“Who are you?” someone shouted again.

Katarina moved to his side quickly and whispered something to him, causing him to look toward the diminutive blond beauty in surprise. Her smile confirmed her words, which he happily relayed. “ I’m the guy that gets to inform you all that the gate guards will be holding the gates open for you to leave for the next five minutes, after which time they’ve been given orders to close and lock them and we’ll be releasing the dogs. You don’t want to be on the property any more than we want you here once they’re released so, I suggest you move in an orderly fashion but quickly off the premises.”

Nervous laughter could be heard from different areas of the crowd. Surely he couldn’t be serious.

Ryan smiled a decidedly mirthless smile. “That’s it, people. Nice and orderly.” he urged them, nodding toward the guards who flung the gates wide open and did their best to urge everyone to leave as quickly as possible. The sound of dogs barking and snarling, coming from both sides of the house did more than they could to encourage everyone to exit the premises. Once they were gone and the gates were locked once more, Ryan turned and went back inside. Signaling Kristov and Katarina, they followed him in and the great doors were closed once again.

Once inside, however, Kristov and Katarina broke down in helpless laughter, though both were clearly quite pale and shaking with exertion, causing Ryan to look at them in equal parts concern and confusion.

“What could possibly be so funny at a time like this?” he asked, torn between a need to check their health status and the pressing need to check back on Radu.

“Nothing sir,” Kristov agreed, trying hard to pull himself together.

“We just wondered if perhaps now might be a good time to get some dogs,” Katarina suggested, prompting more helpless giggling from both.

“Get some…? ``Wait, so you don’t… they don’t actually have any…” Ryan asked, looking from one to the other.

Both shook their heads.

“But I heard them. We all heard….” Ryan pointed out, prompting more laughter and another shake of the head from both. “That was you?”

Both nodded, smiling brightly.

“How did you do it?” Ryan asked. “We all heard them coming closer. Getting louder.”

Both shook their heads again.

“You did not hear it.” Katarina replied. “Not with your ears, at least.There were no sounds. Not outside of your own heads.”

“Forgive us,” Kristov requested softly. “We had not the ability to exclude you from such subterfuge as our father could. Perhaps when we are older and more practiced.”

“Forgiven,” Ryan said quickly, “but next time don’t wait until they’ve got such a foothold on the property. Stop them before they set foot past the gate.”

Both nodded without hesitation.

“We are aware of our failure,” Kristov assured him, with his head bowed. “We deeply regret it. It will not happen again.”

“He is right. We should have sought one another out more quickly” Katarina agreed. Seeing Ryan’s confused expression, she clarified,”such actions require us to be in close proximity to one another to accomplish,” She lowered her head in shame as she vowed. “We will endeavor to do better.”

“I wasn’t trying to suggest you failed,” Ryan looked between them frowning. “What you just did was brilliant, and Kristov I saw on the news how you led them away earlier…ingenius.”

“Thank you, sir.” Kristov responded softly.

“And when they tried to interview you,” Ryan actually laughed. “I had no idea your English was so poor.”

Kristov and Katarina exchanged a look, both blushing brightly. That was a ruse both had always used to keep others from viewing them as sources of information.

“And here I thought the other twins were the actors in the family.” Ryan replied, shaking his head as he took the steps down below two at a time.

“This way,” Matthias met him at the bottom step and guided him quickly to Radu’s prone form.

Ryan swore, kicking himself for taking so long to get back to his patient. “Min, I swear to God, I’m going to…”

“And I’ll let you,” came Min’s surprisingly penitent reply. “I didn’t mean to cause all of that. It’s never gotten that crazy before.”

“Tabloids being what they have become nowadays, you’d think you’d have had some inkling,” Vlad replied. “This will not kill him, however much we might wish it would. He’ll go on fading this way until he is finally able to rebuild his shields.”

“And if he isn’t?” Ryan asked, measuring a dose of belladonna strong enough to take away the pain and allow the vampire to actually rest.

“Then he will continue as he has begun, to waste and fade.” Mircea replied. “Few with his capabilities last so long. Most will request a final ending rather than live as he has had to, closed off at times for decades. Even centuries. It has been that, or waste and fade as he is now, choosing to remain true to his referendum for our kind regarding yours. Only by building and maintaining his shields and his strength has he managed. But working alongside you humans, then bringing large numbers here to find you, then Min’s foolishness. I’m not certain ..” He shook his head, struggling against his anger and fear.


“I’m so sorry,” Min replied, his tone and expression leaving no doubt as to his sincerity. “I’m…”

Michael wrapped his arms around his uncle. “We know.” he assured him.

“You cannot help yourself,” Vlad sighed. “And you will find yourself impetuous enough to insist upon playing games with them again. Let us all agree that it will happen. However, let us also agree that whatever games you choose to play with them will involve you alone and will not bring them here again.”

“And if it’s my presence here that triggers it?” Ryan asked as he stood by, watching Radu drift off to sleep.

“That’s an easy one,” Michael replied, having already worked this out in his head. “We’ll all just tell them Min has the clap.”

Soft, half-hearted laughter made it’s way around the room.

“It’s okay, Min, “ Radu assured his nephew weakly. “You mean’t no harm.”

Min nodded, leaning into his nephew Michael’s embrace.

Kelly gave Radu the belladonna tincture and waited until his eyes had drifted closed and his body had visibly relaxed.

“Work out who will stay with him and when. With your permission, I’ll be here anytime I’m not at the hospital or the clinic right now.” the young doctor directed.

Mircea spoke up quickly, “there are more than enough rooms up in the main house and mirrorred down here. You may have your pick of any of them that are unoccupied.”

“Thank you.” He looked at the younger vampires and assured them, “We’ll get him through this.”

“Of course we will,” Nait agreed. “We’ll all take care of him.”

“I guess this means we’ll be celebrating his ‘Thursday’ down here,” Soreya pointed out.

Ryan looked confused. “His Thursday?” he asked. Most of the people in the room laughed.


“A joke that insists upon persisting hundreds of years longer than any thought it would,” Vlad smiled. “We were planning an surprise party for his birthday. It was very poorly hidden.”

“Ahh, “ Doctor Kelly nodded sagely. “I see. So his Thursday is coming up.” He looked at the prone figure.

“Then we’d better make sure he gets there.”