The Monster Inside: The First Vampire Chapter 80

Aegin had been trained to wait . To wait and watch and listen and weigh the consequences of his actions before acting . To be silent as the air and seek solace only in the shadows . He figured that now that he was free of the Ridge Men, he wouldn't have to stick so strictly to those teachings . He truly had no idea what he'd been in for when he'd sought out Phillip .

He hadn't actually found Phillip though, technically, Phillip had found him . And almost killed him . It had only been Aegin's desperate release of information about Ra.s.sa that had caused Phillip to pause .

Ra.s.sa's father had been monitoring the underground networks of Fountain Ridge for a year by the time Aegin had encountered him . There were whispers of a secret project that the Kildares were funding, but never an indication of what it was or where it was being carried out . It had frustrated Phillip to no end . He'd contemplated travelling the continent to search every Kildare Family facility he could find, but he couldn't run the risk of leaving for such a journey that could take months if not years, only to miss a key piece of information floating around Fountain Ridge .

But when that piece of information fell into his lap and turned out to be far more detailed than he had imagined, Phillip had hesitated .

Of course he'd wanted to go and retrieve his son straight away after what he learned Ra.s.sa had been through . The boy he'd carelessly sent off thinking it was better for him . Phillip never thought he'd been so stupid and naïve in all his life . It was a mistake that he couldn't take back however, and with how heavily guarded Jerrica was, it was realistically impossible to rescue Ra.s.sa . Phillip had to wait for a change . What that change would be wasn't clear, but certainly things wouldn't remain the same at Jerrica forever . Cornelius was too impatient for that .

So, much to Aegin's dismay, Phillip had settled down and plugged himself back into the underground networks to await any information regarding the situation at Jerrica . Aegin knew it was a greater risk the longer he stayed in Fountain Ridge, as it was for Phillip . When this was brought up, Phillip had just stared back at the boy .

"Then where do you suggest we wait for information regarding Jerrica and the Kildares? Where would be our better option?" asked Phillip, "Without risk there can be no reward" .

"Is that what you told yourself when you let them chain your son?" Aegin snapped .

Phillip glared over at Aegin, and Aegin knew he'd crossed a line . Phillip may not have considered himself a n.o.ble anymore, but by the G.o.ds did his aura still feel as oppressive as any high n.o.ble .

"If Ra.s.sa didn't want to be chained, he would not have been," Phillip replied, "I have seen his abilities, and there would be nothing that could stop him had he wanted it" .

"n.o.body could want what has happened to him," Aegin replied .

Phillip nodded in agreement, "At the time, Ra.s.sa insisted that being in a cage, being chained, showing them all that he could be contained . . . he insisted it was the best way to have them accept him . He was adamant about it . And if I learned anything from my relationship with my father, it was to allow your child to make decisions for themselves . Allow them some form of independence, or they will resent you for keeping them back . As ironic as it was that Ra.s.sa's free choice was to be locked away, I couldn't bring myself to speak against it . I didn't want to become my father" .

Aegin was silent as he continued to watch Phillip's solemn expression, "I don't regret allowing him to make the decision . What I do regret was letting them take him away . I know it's just excuses but, after watching him slaughter all those knights, and then attack his best friend, it . . . I didn't know what to think" .

Aegin continued the silence for a while before he spoke up, "If it's any consolation, I don't think Ra.s.sa knew exactly what to think either . If I learned anything from him, it was that you cannot predict what will come of your actions . Whether your intentions were good or bad . The best you can do is face it with courage" .

Phillip barely reacted, but Aegin knew he'd heard .

In the end, the two of them spent the next year together . After Phillip watched Aegin fight one time in an underground gambling ring, Phillip had reprimanded him like a father would . It was a different feeling for Aegin, and he wasn't sure whether to feel offended or grateful . Then, after the reprimanding, Phillip had dragged Aegin out to the forest and began training him . Needless to say that under Phillip's tutelage, Aegin gradually got better in combat . His sloppiness and overconfidence melted away over time as he found a purpose to learn and to fight that had not previously been present . When Aegin entered the rings again after much insistence, Phillip had given a short nod of approval . It wasn't much, but Aegin had learned that it was enough . Enough for him to know that perhaps if given the chance, he wouldn't be as helpless if he were to encounter his father again .

They waited a long time for word regarding Ra.s.sa and the state of Jerrica . But when it finally came, it was well into the first month of Autumn in 1710 . Five years after Ra.s.sa's imprisonment at Jerrica .

And it was not a whisper either . It came in the form of a carriage that held the arrogant and cruel Doctor Sagen Zaroth . Phillip had known who it was straight away as it pa.s.sed by on the street . And he'd turned to Aegin for confirmation .

There was no cage though . No sign of Ra.s.sa .

Perhaps this was an opportunity . The Doctor had left his subject alone . But Phillip was suspicious . If not with the Doctor, was Ra.s.sa truly left all alone in those mines?