SAVIOUR

1.

A very frightened ten-year-old sat in a corner of a darkened room while in the care of child services. The people he knew as his parents lay dead in a bloody mess back at the family home. For at this moment, Seth no longer had anyone with whom he could call family and he no longer had a place he could call home. This was to be the moment when Nicolas Moore would make himself known to Seth for the first time.

Who is Nicolas Moore? Nicolas Moore is another one of the so very few day walking Vampires left in existence and has been Gabriel Grimmel's right hand man for quite some time.

Now that it is certain, to those who take notice, that Seth is indeed a day walker, or at least a Vampire of some sort, he needs someone to look after him, guide him, train him and help him deal with all that he is, for Seth is to be so much more than a day walker, he may just be that saviour his father, his biological father, hoped he would be. Nicolas Moore was the man to be sent forward to take on such a role and be a mentor to a Human Vampire.

Nicolas claimed to be a blood relative to Seth. Being such a close friend to Gabriel Grimmel, Nicolas was able to provide a DNA sample and when it was compared to Seth's DNA it was determined that they were related. Of course, trickery and charm were used in spades. First and before a claim could be cemented, and only hours after Seth had been taken into care, Nicolas arrived to see him. His presence almost immediately had a calming effect on Seth.

Seth was like a wild animal, a wild child after being found by emergency services. When Nicolas first approached Seth, the child appeared almost catatonic. He held out his hand to the shivering lost little boy sitting in a corner of a darkened room.

'Hello Seth, it is alright ... I am like you, how about you take my hand?'

Seth, after a moment or two did take the hand of the man who stood on front of him, for that man would ultimately become his guardian, his mentor, the man who would show him the way.

***

Not far away from his seventeenth birthday Seth made one of his regular trips to his good friends' final resting place. Still feeling the guilt from Jason's death, even though he had not done anything wrong, Seth sat next to the grave.

'I am sorry my friend, I am in danger, I feel as I am prey to a dark force hunting me down and there is nothing I can do. I cannot run and hide; there is nowhere I can go. There is no escape. I have to just sit and wait its full arrival, yet it is you who lay in the ground. You stood at my side, you came to my aid, and I stood and watched you die.'

A tear rolled down Seth's left cheek as Nicolas stepped up beside him.

'It is not your fault you know, any of what is going on. Your father wanted you to be just as you are. He wanted, still wants peace, not trouble and death. You are special and you have a gift, a roll to play in what will bring different walks of life together, the death of your friend here really helps in bringing things forward.'

'A gift? Nick, I do not feel in any way special right now. I only knew Jason a short time and we had a connection, he died protecting me. You know my father was at Jason's funeral, why didn't he come to me? No one even told me that he was going to be there?'

'Your father not only wants to see you, but he wanted to see what it is that you have. He wanted to see those you know as your friends; in time he will come to you. Right now, there is still a danger. A danger that is growing, your father will do what he can do to protect you as will I and as I am sure your friends will too.'

'I am only too well aware of the danger. I don't want it to cost the lives of anyone else. It is going to have to come and get me. No one else is going to pay with their life for my existence.'

'Seth ... if things come to pass, there will be a lot less death ... we may even get the peace your father envisioned.'

A police patrol car entered the grounds of the cemetery and parked right in the center of the almost empty cemetery car park not more than a couple hundred yards away from Jason's grave. The only occupant, a male officer in uniform, got out of the vehicle. Seth and Nicolas watched, as the officer walked toward the side of the bonnet which faced them. The man rested against the car bonnet crossing his arms all the while looking towards Seth. Putting on a pair of sunglasses the man nodded and smiled.

'Come on, let's get out of here and get you away from the daylight' spoke Nicolas feeling uneasy and placing a hand on Seth's shoulder.

'I will be back my friend.'

Seth placed a hand on Jason's tombstone and glanced over at the police officer before moving to follow Nicolas. Before exiting the cemetery, Nicolas handed Seth a letter.

'What is this?' inquired Seth.

'You will see when you read it.'

Early evening of that very same day, the day Nick handed him a letter, Seth began to make his way to the Castlemount Arms hotel. The place where it all began just may be the place where it all will end one way or another.

Along his way, Seth came to an alleyway. It had already become quite dark by the time he got there, and the alleyway had no lighting at all. The quickest way to get to the hotel would be to go through that alley. Without thinking anything of it, Seth continued along his way to the hotel. Sensing that he was not alone but being unable to see anything out of the ordinary, Seth remained on course onto his destination. What could not be completely known by the young day walker were the number of numerous eyes watching him pass.

Seth also did not notice the passing of a police vehicle which had briefly come to a stop once Seth had entered the hotel. Having made his way through the foyer, Seth was greeted by the desk clerk. The desk clerk just so happened to be the same desk clerk who had worked there at the time his mother had first come to stay there with her family many years earlier. The same desk clerk who just so happened to look just as he did all those years ago, though of course Seth had no way of actually knowing any of this.

'Good evening young sir, how may I help you on this fine evening?'

Before Seth could reply, a female voice from behind him called his name. Holding in his right hand the letter that Nicolas had handed him earlier, Seth turned to see a blonde-haired girl standing no more than thirty feet away from him. Again, before Seth could say anything the desk clerk would speak first.

'Seth? As in Seth Grimmel, son of Gabriel Grimmel?'

Turning his head towards the desk clerk Seth would reply 'I do not use that surname.'

Looking back at the blonde girl, Seth would ask a question of his own.

'And who might you be?'

'Don't tell me you do not know of me; I would be very surprised if you did not know who I am. I am your aunt. My name is Alice.'

'My mother's twin sister? But you look so young.'

'So, you do know of me. You do know what I am right? I look so young as you put it due to what it is that I have become, or more precisely became, many years ago now.'

'Are you the one who wrote this letter?'

'Yes. I wanted to meet my nephew, to see if it is true, as well as that I am not the only one who wants to meet you.'

'To see if what is true? And someone else wants to meet me?'

Before Seth could get a verbal answer to either question someone else would approach from his left and from all of what had just occurred there was no need for an introduction.

'Mother?' asked Seth with an almost disbelieving quietness in his voice.

'Hey' spoke the desk clerk. 'You really are Seth Grimmel? So, it is true. Gabriel really does have a son. And you are to be ...'

Janice hushed the clerk before he could say any more.

'I told you already. I do not go by that surname' said Seth turning his head towards the desk clerk, 'nor do I know my father but yes Gabriel is my father, not that it matters I have never known him, and he did not raise me.'

'Trust me young man, being Gabriel Grimmel's son does matter, you just don't know it yet.'

Seth did not like how he was being spoken to. 'Oh really?' He briefly, at this point, considered what the clerk was about to say before he was hushed. He wouldn't be given time to dwell on that.

'You are my son too' spoke Janice as she approached Seth, placing her right hand on his left cheek.

'I thought you were dead', Seth's eyes fixated upon his mother.

'Your birth was complicated, and I did die. Your father revived me thus turning me. I am not quite like you. Your aunt and I, well we kind of belong to the night.'

'Why have you not come to me before now?'

'I wanted to, but I could not come to you, my son. It has been forbidden for me to contact you or have contact with you in any way. It was and still is your father's will. I so wanted to take care of you, be there from the beginning, be the mother I could never be, but it all just is so complicated.'

'So why now then? After all that has happened, why are we together at this moment?'

There came a lot of noise from outside the entrance to the hotel.

'Oh no they are here' spoke Janice with a sense of panic in her voice while also darting towards the desk clerk's counter. Alice giggled and Janice raised her voice.

'Seth, hide quickly.'

'Who are here? Why do I need to hide?' he asked.

'Hunters ... and they are here for you.'

Lucius entered the hotel foyer, and he was not alone. He entered along with his fellow hunters, all of whom came fairly well armed.

'So, this is the boy huh? The would-be saviour son of a certain Gabriel Grimmel.'

'It is indeed' spoke the desk clerk in response to Lucius.

'You son of a bitch' spoke Janice as she slapped the desk clerk in the face.

The slap in the face was actually unnecessary as the desk clerk's response had not informed Lucius of anything that he did not already know.

'I know you' spoke Seth, 'I have seen you before, you were at Jason's funeral.'

Lucius walked right up to Set and stared him in the eyes before beginning to circle him. Lucius always had an air of confidence about himself. He was always one to enjoy a moment rather than just to get on with things. Luke and Daniel, hunters who travelled with Lucius, could never understand this. They were faced with this moment to take out the son of Gabriel Grimmel, yet Lucius just had to have his moment.

For Lucius though, he felt that he was in a no-lose situation, he had back up on the way and their arrival would be imminent. Seth attempted to keep his eyes on this man who was at this point circling him, for Seth knew nothing of this person or even to the existence of hunters but when the next person came in through the doors of the hotel, Seth had to really take notice ...