Chapter 2 The Mighty Twelve

• Yolie:
• —You promised you'd tell me. - I scold him frowning.
• —And I will, but not now. It is very late and you must sleep. It's four in the morning and the party downstairs doesn't seem to be ending any time soon. I have taken a bath again and have changed my clothes. There are many more servants here, luckily and one of them has brought me a white dressing gown that covers me up to my ankles. I'm sitting on the bed in the room Alex assigned me when we arrived and I have him by my side, he tries to make me fall asleep. I suspect he wants to get rid of me quickly to go plotting with his bloodsucking friends. I have removed the lenses and put them away. Right now I am applying the eye drops because my eyes sting a little.
• —There are many things that don't fit Alex. You said that you, that ... vampires, were a few thousand. But only eleven have come here tonight.
• —Actually, my lieutenants are twelve.
• —One was absent from the meeting. Why?
• —Because, the missing one is who tried to kill you. I bite my lip. I burn to ask who the killer is, but I hold back. This topic always makes him uncomfortable. Now he's visibly much more relaxed, after I've met his...Wait, did he say twelve? 
• —Are they your disciples and you some kind of Christ Alex smiles —Would you believe me if I told you that I met him in person? - He whispers. I open my eyes in bewilderment. —You met Jesus Christ?-I yell.
• —Yes. —But... but. How? When? —Mhm. - he smiles amused. —Alex! Tell me, por favor, pretty please? - I beg, putting my hands together in prayer. He leans back against the pillows and spreads his arms invitingly. I walk over to him and lie down, using one of his arms as a pillow.
• —How about I tell you that story and then you go to asleep? - He murmurs stroking my hair. I make a face.
• —The Gospel according to Alexander Philipides...I don't think it's a good bedtime story Alex laughs out loud and I laugh with him. He growls and kisses me shamelessly. Squeezing me in his arms and sniffing me all over.
• —I love your witticisms. I must say, you handled Vlad very well, I'm proud. He won't try to seduce you again, I assure you.
• —Apologize to him on my behalf. I shouldn't have hit him. - I whisper. —On the contrary, it was exactly what you should do. The Wallachian prince's fumes are too high. I frown looking at him. —Alex, what is compulsion? —Mhm?
• —When you introduced us Vlad said I'm immune to your powers of compulsion. —Ah, yes. - He strokes my back. -. You are. Compulsion is like a kind of... hypnotism that we use, it is very useful to control some humans' weak minds.
• —Hmm. Does that mean my mind is strong? —Your mind is ... difficult to penetrate. It has layers and it forms a kind of spiral or labyrinth. Mastering it, for someone like us, is impossible. Takes advantage of my silence to cover my face with his lips. He kisses the tip of my nose and then brushes it with his.
• —Where is the woman he said he wants and that you have in your power? -I ask, looking at him suspiciousl —Don't be jealous, mikrí mou magissa. Vlad has been pestering me for months with the repeated request that I turn Eleni over to him. He has called me "his little witch" again
• —He wants Eleni? - I ask. - Why? —Well, because everything seems to indicate that that evil girl is the reincarnation of Vlad's first and most beloved wife. The man has been searching for her for centuries. I sit on the bed. Quickly pondering and ordering the pieces of the puzzle.
• —That's why you said you should ask Vlad about reincarnation.
• —Yes.
• — Isn't it weird? My... old self was called Yoleandra and now my name is Yolie. Vlad's wife was named Elennah. When he kissed my hand ... I don't know. I saw it or felt it. It is difficult to explain. It seems that when we return we do so with names similar to the one we once had. Alex sits up, hugs me and forces me to lie down again. —What happens between them is none of your business, precious. Do not worry. —But it's your business. - I say coming out of his arms and positioning myself on my side to look at him.
• —Why is Vlad demanding that you hand her over to him? Alex sighs in exasperation. —Well, because she is the granddaughter of my servants and because she herself has worked for me. We are a bit ... ah ... old-fashioned people. She belongs to my house, so to speak, the girl is my responsibility. I understand it that way and so does Vlad. I bite my lip
• —Kostas and Cosima smiled and were cordial when they saw me this time, did you say something to them ... did you forbid them ...?
• —No. Understand this precious, the previous time they were both angry at me, not at you. I decided to fire their granddaughter and that offended them. The Amíntoros family has served me for countless generations. My firing Eleni puts an end to that honorable tradition. She is the last of her family.Just like me. —I still don't understand. You fired Eleni and yet Vlad believes that you are responsible for her. It makes no sense.
• —What happens is that I fired her from my service on the island of Spiros, but she is not completely detached from me. I sent her to study hotel management at a very expensive university in the United States. I paid a full scholarship. Her grandparents are happy because the girl's future is now promising. After graduating she will be qualified to be more than a simple maid and her grandparents have faith that she will remain in my service in a managerial capacity, I own a hotel or two. I make a face at him. —Vlad wanted to hire her as a chambermaid at his hotel, Dracùl Haus in Romania. I refused and sent her to study, instead .I'm not as bad as you think, little witch. My eyes become slits —You're no saint either. - I say, leaning back on his chest. - Which brings us back to Jesus Christ. Tell me?
• —If you insist, períergi Magissa.-smiles.
• —What does that mean? - I look at him, opening my eyes. — It means "curious witch". I settle int his strong arms and he strokes my hair. —Well, during the Roman Empire I acquired different names and social status. I was both an important senator and a gladiator. During one of my many adventures, I was awarded the rank of centurion and my superiors sent me to reinforce the Roman presence in Judea. I was stationed in Israel at the time when he began his public life.
• —What was he like? - I ask impatiently.
• —He was ... much more than just a man. He had no physical appeal but something about him was powerfully attractive.
• —You mean maybe he used magiks? - I whispered.
• —No. What Yoleandra did was channel external energies for her benefit, Jeshua, as they called him then, used his own energy to help others. I never saw anyone do the same before or after him —Sounds like you admire him.
• —Of course. His... power did not reside in strength. He did not fight with swords or spears and yet he is the being with the most loyal followers in the world. His life was short, but it marked a before and an after. - He gives me a fleeting kiss.
• —How did you meet him?
• —You see, I was walking in the desert one day, at that time I liked to walk alone for days and think about the mistakes I had made while I was alive. When we came face to face, he immediately knew what I was and I could feel a huge power coming from him. I was greatly impressed by his ability to discern and the monstrous energy that seemed to flow from every one of his pores. I offered him riches and dominion over all the kingdoms of the world. He rejected it right away. Then, seeing that he was hungry, I provoked him to use his abilities and turn some stones that were nearby into bread. He preferred to keep fasting. Finally we returned to the city of Jerusalem and went up to a tall building. I asked him if he would die if he bolted from the building, he replied that it was time for me to leave him alone.
• —Have you ever read the Bible, Alex? - I whisper against his chest. My eyes are closing.
• —No, why? I snort.
• —What you just told me sounds very much like the temptations of Christ and you may not like it, but I think in that chapter you were described as the devil. —Seriously?
• —Yes.
• —Well, I really am a kind of demon, no matter where you look. I yawn. —When he was accused of being an agitator and a rebel against the Roman Empire, I appealed to Pilate on his behalf. The fool was more afraid of the angry mobs paid by the high priests than the divine wrath he would face for killing an innocent. Hours before the crucifixion I visited him in his cell and offered him the escape that was accepted by each of the guests tonight. You're right, precious. The idea of having twelve trustworthy people to support my work I copied from him. —He accepted? - I ask sleepily. - He agreed to convert?
• —No. He looked at me compassionately. With those huge, strange eyes of his. He told me not to feel sorry for him, that he had traveled his path and that he was ready to fulfill his mission —What mission?
• —To inspire humanity, I suppose. That of showing that the use of violence does not achieve everything. That of preaching with his own life, a different path. —That's so beautiful, Alex. - I murmur against his neck.
• —I know you think I'm cruel, precious. But you're wrong...- He caresses my hair and kisses me on the forehead. I smile sleepily. Apparently Alex Philipides is the disciple Christ never thought he’d make.
• Alex: I couldn't get her to fall asleep quickly. She was too restless. I made an agreement with the members of my coven, I will dedicate the hours of the day to Yolie and we will have our conversations during the night time. Now she finally rests. I must be careful, she has stolen one of my deepest secrets from me.
• I lock the room's door with a key. She will be able to open it from the inside as soon as she wakes up. With the mansion full of vampires I don't want to take the slightest risk. I've given her the only room which has no windows. This situation is difficult. Finally my precious little witch has let her guard down and I can now touch her. I want to kiss her, lick her lips, bite her ears and caress all that sexy little body of hers. Unfortunately I can't. My guests can hear our every word, they would be able to hear even the smallest noise produced by our... activities if we tried... something.
• Yolie is loud. She gasps, moans, or screams very easily. I love it, it fascinates me to hear those little noises come out of her cheeky little mouth. But I am not willing to share her orgasms with my guests.