34 chapter 34 : Monster-creating god.
In the office, the two former friends looked at each other intensely in a moment of silence, Zakaria was dressed in an elegant 4-piece suit with black leather gloves, Harper had the same outfit but he was wearing an elegant coat as well.
Zakaria moved at high speed to stop right in front of Harper before placing his hands on his shoulders and smiling...
Zack: At first I didn't believe it but when I saw the photos...(smiles) Oh Harper, it makes me so happy to see you again...
Harper: The pleasure is shared. It's quite…unexpected…
Zack: Our reunion doesn't seem to really make you happy my brother but I understand, I abandoned you to certain death and am showing great hypocrisy towards you.
Harper: That has absolutely nothing to do with it, it's just that the days of desperately searching for you have passed and I've moved on. If I blame you for anything it's for keeping me in a certain ignorance for three decades, I knew nothing about the total hostility of witches towards us and it almost cost me my life but I learned a lot of things on my own so that's fine for me.
Zack: You...Harper, things were so simple with you sometimes that I wanted them to stay that way.
Harper: It's okay. Why am I here, my "old friend" ? Why did you talk about hypocrisy ?
Zack: (sighs) I have a lot to tell you. Come, take a seat Harper…
Harper sat down and Zakaria poured him a glass of blood.
"If you're going to talk to me about something then start with this agency and your connection to the government." Harper said emotionlessly to Zakaria who just nodded before starting to speak.
"You have already met Lorenzo so know that the creation of the Armory has something to do with his father. In fact, the Armory is what inspired the SIA and he created it with the help of the original vampire who hunted his own children, Mikael.
Mikael was a rather special vampire who very rarely fed on humans but preferred to feed on vampires, a cannibal who in his own way defended humans and wanted to erase the error that is our species, starting with his own children.
The Armory's main function was to collect magical artifacts to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, but its second function was to help Mikael hunt his children.
New Orleans, Chicago, The Armory helped him but each time they narrowly escaped.
Lacking considerable funding, Mikael mentally manipulated the governor to finance The Armory and this matter was traced back to the president of the time who was also secretly informed of the existence of supernatural creatures.
After learning of the existence of The Armory, the government created a secret agency which will be under its influence, the SIA and over time, The Armory became a subsidiary office of the SIA and an upheaval came after the recruiting someone else, Rayna Cruz.
You should know that since then, Mikael had run the agency single-handedly and with a masterful hand, this didn't necessarily suit certain humans so with the arrival of a supernatural human as powerful as Rayna, the agency experienced its first divisions especially since Rayna was instinctively hostile towards Mikael.
To avoid clashes, the two factions of the agency were created with the H faction led by Rayna Cruz, it brings together elite human soldiers and several congregations of witches including that of the virgin with whom you dealt.
On the other side, there is the V faction led by Mikael, it brings together several vampires transformed by Mikael himself and at first he was totally reluctant but he ended up understanding that he needed more great hitting power.
Mikael's own children weren't his only targets, you were also on his list, but the most formidable opponent we faced was another organization, the Strix and their terrifying resources.
Facing this organization made Mikael realize that he needed to increase his strength. Only, he didn't transform just anyone because all the agents chosen were not only elite soldiers but also people who joined after being victims of vampires.
They fight fire with fire knowing that in the end, Mikael will kill them all and that's something they have all accepted.
As for me...Harper I haven't told you the whole truth about me. Just like you, I was also a ripper before I meet you and when I left you, I moved to Europe to England where I changed my name to Jack Burrow.
Unfortunately for me, a very distressing event caused me to return to atrocious habits out of drunkenness for human blood, I once again became a ripper, a local legend, "Jack the Ripper".
October 1923, I met Rayna Cruz who had just exterminated the only group of heretics in France and she came to London to make me her prey, she almost killed me but someone, another vampire saved me and I was able to escape.
Later when I regained control of my impulses, I came back here where I discovered the agency to join in to protect humans from other vampires like us... rather this monstrous part in us. » Zakaria said as Harper looked at him silently, in fact this wasn't his first reunion with Zakaria.
Harper was the one who saved Zack that night against Rayna, he had already noticed Zakaria for a while but hadn't shown himself in London.
He had saved him that night in gratitude for everything Zakaria had done for him and that was also when he had met Rayna for the first time. He would never tell Zack that he was his savior, he had made his life and was far from needing it.
Harper: I never thought you were a ripper too, now I think I have a theory about the disorder.
Zack: I'm listening...
Harper: I think it's an extremely rare syndrome among vampires that affects a specific category of humans and even within this category it's rare. To put it simply, those who have been humans with noble souls thirsting for goodness, justice and with great empathy are likely to be rippers by becoming vampires. It's a curse arising from the duality between the noble soul violently corrupted by the new violent, bloodthirsty and instinctive nature of vampires.
Zack: That's the most plausible theory I've heard. You have always been brilliant my old friend...
Harper: What does SIA want from me ?
Zack: Mikael has disappeared, it'll soon be 16 years since we have heard from him or a single small sign of life. We cannot count on the witches of the human faction, this situation suits them.
Harper: You at least know that the originals and I were friends, right? Do you want me to find the one who wants to kill them? Do you think under different circumstances I could have led Rayna to you if I knew she wanted to kill you ?
Zack: Harper, they're monsters.
"Monsters like me, remember…?" Harper asked before taking a mouthful of blood while looking Zakaria in the eyes.
Zack:…
Harper: I don't understand why you're going after them, the real threat would be an organization like the Strix. Klaus and Elijah live in the shadows, searching for meaning in their already problematic existence. I haven't heard of any large scale massacres caused by them or carried out any activity aimed at world domination unlike the Strix.
Zack: And your friend, Marcel Gerard. He runs an entire state in the shadows and-(interrupted)
Harper : When you gave me the gift of immortality you told me it would put me above the laws of men. Has your guilt blinded you to the point of forgetting what you told me? Marcel protects the innocent and makes Louisiana prosper...
Zack: Times have changed, our species must disappear. We are monsters and even if some of us have good intentions, can you say the same about the rest? Sooner or later, the call of blood brings us back to our monstrous nature or slaughter becomes a norm.
"After meeting an older vampire who forced me to commit atrocities for pleasure, I thought like you. But you see I-(interrupted)" Harper was interrupted by an alarm that sounded throughout the building and Enzo opened the office door.
Enzo: We have a problem...Talia woke up and escaped her cell.
"These cells are imbued with restrictive magic, it is impossible for a vampire to escape. Who is the idiot who left his door open?!" Zakaria said displeasedly.
Enzo: Her door was closed, when she woke up she immediately drank the blood in the pouch according to the surveillance camera images. She screamed over and over that she needed more blood, asking where she was before trying to break the cell window. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she pressed her palms on the window which exploded in a few dozen seconds.
Harper: She did this without using brute force?
Enzo: Yes, regulator. However, that's not the strangest thing...
Zack: Speak...
"She broke the necks of several of our soldiers using magic..." Enzo said as Harper and Zakaria immediately stood up, Talia had become a vampire but she could use magic.
Underground, a unit of elite soldiers was heading towards the containment cells. They were vampire soldiers, elite human soldiers transformed by Mikael himself and each of them were over 100 years old, they were dressed in elegant all-black suits with red ties.
These guys were far, far from weak with their knowledge of human close combat and they were very good shots with rifles loaded with wooden bullets.
The exits had been locked to prevent Talia from escaping so the passage was opened for them.
They arrived in a hallway where they found Talia sitting on the floor curled up clutching her stomach as she was in the grip of excruciating thirst, the blood in the pouch was far from enough for her, she needed a lot more.
"Senior officer Hamilton of the H faction, for the murder of several SIA agents we are obliged to neutralize you and confine you until the faction leaders decide your fate. We advise you to comply but if you resist we'll use violence against you. » The one who seemed to be the leader of this unit said as Talia slowly got up to look at them.
"You...damn vampires...where is Harper ? What did he do to me ? WHAT DID HE DO TO ME?" She finished her sentence screaming as black veins appeared under her eyes.
The elite agents wanted to draw their weapons but Talia was already in front of the leader at the front, clearly surprised by the speed of Talia, supposed to be a baby vampire, even though he was more than 100 years older.
The leader was surprised but that was all, he easily pushed Talia away and sent her flying with a front-kick before taking out a smoke grenade to throw towards Talia and as the vervain-infused smoke spread, Talia breathed it in to feel the inside of her body begin to burn as did her skin in contact with the smoke as the elites backed away from Talia's screams of excruciating pain.
These guys were not jokers but agents who knew their job, their skills and the equipment at their disposal very well , they weren't going to waste time in a fight when they have the means to neutralize their target easily and intelligently.
The effect of the smoke had been considerably effective, Talia had burn marks all over her body and was considerably weakened physically.
The elites wasted no time after the vervain dissipated and went straight to seize her. At the same time, the airlock opened letting in Harper, Enzo and Zakaria who saw the men neutralize Talia.
The unit leader immediately came before Zack to report and confirm that the target had been neutralized when suddenly, Talia used magic to inflict pain on everyone in that hallway.
The elites, Enzo and Zakaria, all were curled up like shrimp on the ground grabbing their heads from the pain as a big smile appeared on Harper's lips.
*clap*
*clap*
*clap*
Harper cheered as he walked towards Talia who with all her injuries looked at him with anger but also great confusion as the spell had no effect on him.
Harper was an enhanced heretic and could directly absorb magic from any spell cast against him.
Talia: Harper...why doesn't it work on you? You made me a monster...I'm going to-(interrupted)
"The simple humans I transformed just became completely normal vampires but you...a witch, became a heretic thanks to my blood...fascinating" Harper said in admiration as she placed his thumb on Talia's lips .
Talia: I don't want to live like this...with this terrible thirst...kill me...please...(cry)...Please...
"I understand, thank you for giving me this magnificent discovery. I'll free you..." Harper magically made Talia's heart crush in her chest as blood came out of the woman's mouth whose body turned grayish and covered in black veins.
Harper's discovery may have been incredible but one thing was certain, he was not going to breed more heretics because he himself knew the frightening potential of this hybrid race, heretics with bad intentions would be almost impossible to deal with.
This discovery made him even more special than he already was but that was not all, Harper didn't know it but he was no longer even linked to the originals in the sireline.
The 9 other vampires who were sacrificed to Rosalie's fusion ritual were part of different lineages, this perfect fusion with Harper's blood created a whole other lineage of his own because if Zakaria and he were from Elijah's lineage at the base, the perfect mixture with the other lineage freed Harper from its link.
Harper was an anomaly in every way and Rosalie had created the most dangerous creature in the entire supernatural world. If Harper can make any witch a heretic, then he's a potential monster-creating god.
