16 - ‘Come gentle night…’

Two days after Trevor had saved him from the vampyres, Kemp was sitting on Trevor’s sofa, watching as the dhampir paced back and forth in front of him.

“You’re still fighting this,” Trevor said, obviously trying not to growl.

“I’ve been blocking it for so long…” Kemp told him in an attempt to explain why.

“That’s no excuse. Close your eyes and reach deep down inside you. It’s there; you just have to find it.

“If I reach any deeper I’ll come out the other side,” Kemp muttered in frustration.

“Whatever it takes kid,” Trevor barked out. “You can’t save the world if you hide from the truth of what’s within your grasp.”

“I’m not a superhero,” Kemp said angrily. And his brother’s words came back to him suddenly. ‘No, but you have a duty to use what is at your command.’ “You sound just like Leif. He said almost the same thing to me, though not in the same context.”

Trevor cocked an eyebrow questioningly.

“I, umm, witnessed a murder and the killers came after me.” He told Trevor what had happened. “That’s sort of why I’m down here now.”

“Human’s or vampyres?”

“How the hell would I know? They stabbed the man to death, they didn’t drink from him.”

“You would have known Kemp, if your senses had been awake. Like you’d have known before they showed themselves the other night that there were three vampyres close by. They knew that you were a dhampir just as I did. You’re broadcasting it without realizing it. So you’d better get a handle on that or the next time you’ll be a dead one.”

“Wait a minute, you knew? They knew?”

“Exactly, although I don’t think they realized that you have no control over it yet.”

“Well that sort of sucks.”

“You think huh? So settle back, concentrate, and see if you can get in touch with the dhampir half of your being.”

Kemp nodded slowly as he leaned his head on the back of the sofa. Closing his eyes he tried once more to focus all his thoughts on finding that part of him that made him more than human. He envisioned himself walking down a long, dark street as he searched for his enemies. Figures came towards him, his father, his brother, but he brushed past them, somehow sensing what they were but knowing they were not his prey. As he did he felt something stir and change deep inside of him. Maintaining the vision he continued moving, searching each person as they appeared, reaching out somehow in an attempt to know what they were. “There,” he whispered as he suddenly knew which one was vampyre.

His eyes flew open and he stared at Trevor. He saw, sensed, and understood in an instant that the man standing in front of him had vampyre in him as well as human. “I did it,” he said softly. Then he chuckled. “I think you scared me into it but it worked.”