Compression, Ignition and Emission

"Drop their chains, Target." Mr. X tilted his head. "I don't like bullying kids but this time, I'll make an exception."

"Don't!" Stephanie yelled from the background. "Don't kill him! Sell him to us!"

This only managed to stoke Ezra's anger. Am I an object to be traded? Am I that weak? No. No! Never!

"This is your chance, Ezra! This is your stage! Be the man that you are!" Genesis egged him on.

Target strode to them. "Friendly advice from your favorite peacekeeper. You're a newborn. There are a thousand ways to die. Don't choose this one." He whispered softly to Ezra. He touched the chains holding him down and they were sucked back into the cop's arm.

Ezra fell down on all fours, steam billowing from his mouth as he breathed deeply. He could feel the heat rising within him.

"Come at me." Mr. X crouched like a grappler.

"Gladly."

"Stop." Olivia commanded, her voice echoed as it carried an ethereal weight.

Crack!

The pavement beneath Ezra's feet cracked as his momentum was halted like he'd hit an unbreakable barrier. He strained but couldn't move a muscle. The fog of rage in his mind began to slowly disperse.

What the hell was that? I can't move!

"Fight!" Genesis yelled like a rabid wolf.

What is this? The two commands warred with each other within his body. It was like he had received a command from God himself. His body strained like two minds were inhabiting it. He felt like standing still on the spot and fighting Mr. X at the same time.

"What's this?" Mr. X leaned forward like Ezra was an interesting specimen in biology class. "Interesting." He whispered, his voice carrying a note of wonder.

"Ezra." Olivia's cold dead voice penetrated through his confusion, sending shivers down his spine. "If you do it, I'll kill you myself."

Ezra shuddered as control of his body returned to him. He stood up slowly, shaking his strained body.

"Oh man!" Mr. X groaned. "What a bummer. I was looking forward to schooling the newborn."

Genesis turned to Ezra with a grin. "So, you do have a sense of self preservation."

He turned to her incredulously. "You were just egging me on!"

"I egg people on all the time. It's up to them to choose what they want. I just wanted to watch a cool battle." She laughed.

Cool battle? Cool battle for who? With all the powers everyone has been throwing around, I'll just be paste on the floor. While his rage had clouded his judgement, Ezra still knew where he stood in relation to the other vampires. I'm still too weak. I can't do anything.

Target stepped forward and absorbed the chains holding Olivia and Genesis down. The red chain tattoo that Mr. X placed on their necks glowed ominously.

"You guys move on to the City Lord's domain. I'll meet you there." Mr. X waved his arm. "Don't try to disappear. If I don't find you there," he snapped his fingers, "you'll find out that the things on your neck aren't purely decorative."

Olivia nodded once and got back into the hover car like nothing happened. Genesis and Ezra followed suit, seating in their previous positions. The cop hover cars idling on either side of the tunnel followed them in an honor guard as Olivia drove out.

Silence filled the car as they cruised back into the bustling part of the city.

"That was stupid." Olivia filled the silence. "You can't even convert blood into vitality yet and you tried to take on an unknown vampire? What were you thinking?"

Ezra sat silently. He was asking himself the same questions before another thought crossed his mind.

"What was that?" He leaned forward. "How did you control me?"

"Oh that." Genesis yawned. "Since we turned you and our blood is inside you, we can control you. Don't worry. It's just us who can. All newborns can be commanded by those who turned them. As you feed, it'll fade away in a few weeks."

"Wait, what? Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"Sarah interrupted our question and answer session, didn't she?"

They can control me? Make me do things I don't want to? Why am I so weak? What can I do about it?

"How do I become powerful? How do you guys wield so much power? How do I get power of my own?"

"You're finally asking the right questions." Olivia looked at him through the rearview mirror. "There are two major vampire powers but you can't use any one now since you haven't learned the conversion."

"The conversion?"

"Vampires are powered by vitality. We are undead, so we do not create our own vitality except in a very specific circumstance..."

"She means sex." Genesis interjected.

"...which is why we drink the blood of any creature with life since it contains vitality." Olivia shot Genesis a look of annoyance.

"So we can drink other blood apart from human blood?"

"What blood did you think we ate and drank earlier?" Genesis turned around in her seat. "Of course. Vampires don't drink human blood anymore. It's against the law."

Ezra hadn't thought about it before but now, he felt weird for how easy it had been to drink and eat blood without thinking about where it came from. Maybe the presence of the chicken threw me off?

"Vampires have to convert the blood into vitality. The process is called conversion." Olivia concluded.

"How do I do that?"

"Simple. Conversion has three steps. Compression, ignition and emission." Genesis explained. "First, gather all the blood in your body around your heart and compress it. Second, ignite the blood with an intense emotion. It could be joy, sadness, rage or another emotion. Whatever works for you. Lastly, when the blood combusts and create vitality, you disperse it into the air. This creates an Aura. An Aura is the first major vampire power. Sounds simple right?"

It does sound simple.

"Why don't you try it now?" Olivia suggested.

"I will. Thanks, Genesis."

"Just call me Gen. How long will you two idiots keep calling me that without even asking if I have a nickname?"

"Thanks Gen."

"You're fucking welcome." She grinned.