Highway West Progress

[jasonandrew]

New words: 22,000
Total words: 48,636
Note: I haven't posted an update in about two weeks
Type of scene: Mentor Explains the Universe and MCs take a trippy dream trip
Challenge(s): Getting the information out there, making it interesting, and setting up the main battles at the end of the book. The irony is that all of the characters are battling for their soul trying to improve their condition somehow.
Researched: Plato's three aspect of the soul

Work in Progress


“How exactly does that work?” Nathan asked. “It doesn’t make sense. Aren’t there magic laws? Isn’t there an order to how the universe works?”

“Nate, the world, the universe, is vast on a scale our brains can’t conceive. If we had the ability to know everything, we’d be gods.” Marty grabbed a beer from the box and popped off the cap and took a swig. “That said, there are a couple of theories. Here’s the one I tend to believe. Plato believed that the soul had three parts. The Logos is the divine spirit that gives you the ability to reason. The Thymos is that element that allows you to love and feel empathy. The Eros is the hunger and desire that burns you.”

“What does that have to do with vampires?” Nathan asked.

“The process that transforms a human into a vampire destroys the Thymos part of the soul. It burns it away. That leaves a gap in the soul. The Eros expands to fill that space. That’s the nature of the vampire. To consume without regret. To take without guilt. Ever lasting hunger.”

“And that missing part of the soul is their weakness?” Nathan asked.

“Exactly. That’s why vampires shy away from crosses when presented with faith. They lack the ability to withstand that sort of spirituality because they lack a full soul.” Marty added a bit of water to the egg mixtures and then started adding ingredients. “A vampire can’t enter into a home where a soul has imbibed a resonance without an invitation. That invitation forms a tactic permission that provides a bit of spiritual shielding.”

“Maybe the New Flesh found a way around that?” Nathan asked.

Marty shook his head. “Nah. If vampires found a way to do that, I’d have heard about it. The New Flesh seek to break down their weaknesses. There’d be a rash of murders the likes of which this world hasn’t seen in years. I think for some reason Acrimony was right and that because Eve isn’t human that the threshold curse didn’t apply to her.”

“Is she dangerous?”

“Anything that the New Flesh would be interested in should be considered dangerous.”

“Am I dangerous?” Nathan asked.

“Only if I train you properly.” Marty winked and then started cracking eggs and pouring the yoke into a large metal bowl. “And if you get a chance to grow on your own.”

“You said that you would answer questions.”

Marty nodded, adding in a bit of black pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper into the bowl. “That I did. Limited time offer. Ask your questions. Just start dicing those potatoes while we’re talking. I haven’t eaten anything solid since yesterday.”

“Fair enough.” Nathan washed several potatoes and stared dicing them. The first question was the most important question that had weighed on his mind since trying to sleep. “How long do you have?”

He nodded as though he expected this. “Hard to say really. I know I have this summer.

Maybe a bit longer. My lungs are too far gone for most magic and I’m not willing to deal with necromancy or bargain with Those That Wait Beyond.”

The bitterness in Nathan’s voice was not disguised in any way. “Why didn’t you tell me? Or the family? We could have taken care of you.”

“Nate, you’ve never looked into the eyes of your parents and seen nothing but
disappointment and regret and then wondered if they would have preferred you had died instead of your brother.” Marty took a long deep breath to stabilize himself. “I had to make things right. I couldn’t come back until I had a plan and made things good. I’m doing this just as much for me as I am for you.”

Nathan was eager to change the subject. He wasn’t quite ready to accept that his uncle would die. “Who are the New Flesh? What do they want? Why do they want me?”
“The New Flesh is just a modern nickname. I think Acrimony picked it from some old movie. I’ve learned about some of their names. The Cult of Scorpio. The Scions of Kali. The Sindici.” He covered his mouth with a napkin and then coughed. It was a wet nasty cough. It lasted several seconds, but the weight of the worry seemed to stretch it out for hours. “I doubt they even remember where they came from. History isn’t a big priority of theirs.”

“What do they want? Why do they want me?”

“They want to overcome all vampire weaknesses. They believe that if they can overcome that flaw in the black pits that remain in their souls that they can become invincible.”

“How does that work?”

“They believe as per ancient Hindi beliefs that all human emotions can be divided into four aspects. The New Flesh believe that vampires don’t have enough of the Thymos to break free of the vampire curse, but there is just enough spark that they can do it together. They combined bits of pagan and Hindu traditions to create four roles that they believe encompass all human emotions coming from the Thymos: Sympathy, Anger, Gratitude, and Guilt. They each take a role and take on that emotion for the group.”

“So then Acrimony represents anger right?” Nathan asked.

“Yes, he hates. It burns him. He channels it all into a laser like focus.” Marty poured the eggs into a sauce pan and held it over the butane oven. The eggs sizzled as it cooked. “And when they feel that they have mastered said condition they evolve in the circle. Agony was once Joy.”

“And why do they want me?”

“I think they are missing a part of the circle. The most advanced level.”
Nathan washed a couple more potatoes and then started slicing them. “I don’t understand.”

“The most advanced level of their system is Grief. To feel grief you must have empathy and a sense of morality. You must feel the pain of loss. I bet they haven’t had a Guilt since Bill and I killed him,” Marty explained. He stirred the eggs until they bubbled from a liquid mass into a yellow solid. “Just needs to cook a bit more. Start on the potatoes.”

He salted the potatoes and added bits of pepper and onions into the mix and then threw it into a pan and started cooking next to Marty. “What does that have to do with me?”

“We met them on the road near Seattle years ago. They were friendly and kind at first. We didn’t understand their nature at first until in the middle of a party one of them named Zeal had a vision. He prophesied that the son of Bill would be their new Grief. That started a fight. We killed several of them including their leader named Chagrin.”

“So I’m going to be turned into a vampire?” Nathan asked horrified.

“Seers glimpse a thread of a possible future. That’s in the name augury. They fish for the future. The future is always in flux until it isn’t.” Marty laughed a bit. “We aren’t that lucky and the universe isn’t that ordered.”

“And they work for a boss?”

“He is called Cenotaph. I don’t think he is human enough any more to know his real name.” The mere mention of his name seemed to darken the room. “He was once just like you. Hundreds of years ago. Only he learned to use his power to hurt, to corrupt. And then at the end of his life, he learned to live through consuming the essence of others.”

“That’s what you meant about the cost, isn’t it?” Nathan asked, horrified.

“The things we do leave a mark, kid. Believe me some things are better left undone.” Marty flipped the eggs and took a long whiff and then turned down the flame. “These are almost done.”

“I started a bit too late.”

Marty bumped Nathan and took control of the skillet. “You have to move the potatoes around a bit.” He used the spatula to rotate the potatoes to even the cooking. “This really helps with the taste.”

“Why not be a vampire? Isn’t that a form of life for you?”

He stirred the potatoes and shook his head. “I wouldn’t want to live a life where I had to kill to survive. I might be a bastard, but even I have limits.”

“You couldn’t feed without killing?” Nathan asked.

“Maybe at first. I’d lose that part of myself that cares and who knows what I’d do? My soul is bad off as it is. A hard life takes it’s toll, ya know?” He salted the potatoes a bit more and then grinned. “Death’s not the end of the world. Maybe that’s not the right way to phrase it. If you lived your life right without regret, then I think it all works out.”

“You mean heaven? You know if there is a heaven and God. All that?”

“If there is a heaven, really a heaven, I just hope I can watch Johnny Cash play one more time. In the meantime, we just do the best that we can.” Marty checked the potatoes and nodded. “Call for Eve. I think we’re finally ready.”