Thirst No. 5 by Christopher Pike Read Free Book Online

idea what she’s talking about. What did I do wrong in the concentration camp? Is she judging me because I failed to destroy the place? It makes no sense. I told her enough about my time at Auschwitz for her to know I wasin bad shape when I escaped from the camp. But the way she talks it’s like she thinks I should have done a lot more to save the prisoners there.
    “She’s so full of shit,” I mutter to myself.
    Yet I wonder why I suddenly feel so guilty.
    I place another call, this one to Mr. Kram, one of the last surviving Telar and an ex-member of their inner circle. I met him not long before I destroyed what the Telar called the Source, a group of their most ancient leaders. With the help of Brutran’s Cradle I was able to wreck the Source’s psychic shield—a form of protection that made them virtually invulnerable. But it was Mr. Kram who launched a barrage of missiles at the last stronghold of the Telar and wiped out their physical bodies.
    He did so because I offered to spare his daughter, Alia.
    Unfortunately, Alia turned on me and I had to kill her.
    I spared Mr. Kram instead and held him to a promise to help me destroy his leaders. He did so because he feared me, but also because he hated the Source as much as I did. He had seen what they were capable of.
    I have kept Mr. Kram’s number just in case.
    He seems surprised to hear from me and wants to know why I’m calling. I put my question to him bluntly.
    “I want to know why the Telar referred to Yaksha and Umara’s son, Matt, as the Abomination,” I ask.
    Mr. Kram is slow to respond. “May I ask why you need to know this?”
    “Personal reasons. Answer me.”
    “There’s the obvious reason. Matt is the product of two powerful bloodlines. He’s the only child of a vampire and a Telar. It’s no surprise he’s as strong as he is. It’s as if the two most potent qualities of both races blossomed inside him.”
    “You say that like it’s a good thing. Yet the Telar feared Matt.”
    “Of course. He killed so many of us. It’s no surprise we should fear and even hate him.”
    “Still, you haven’t answered my question.”
    “Haven’t I?”
    “The Telar’s fear of Matt went far beyond his strength. The name you gave him—the Abomination. It’s as if you granted him legendary status, but not in a good way.” I stop to let my meaning sink in. “I want to know about the legends surrounding him.”
    Mr. Kram hesitates. “That’s not something we talk about, even among ourselves.”
    “Fine. But you’re going to talk about it now.”
    “Or else?”
    “Or else I will find you and force you to tell me to my face. And that, Mr. Kram, is not something you want to have happen.” I pause. “Talk.”
    Mr. Kram is a long time answering. “The legend of the Abomination existed before Matt was born. It came into existence thousands of years ago when the Source was almost solely focused on attaining the supreme reality. In those days theTelar’s inner circle was in daily contact with celestial beings of almost infinite power and creativity. It was these creatures that warned that if the Telar was not careful, one of their own kind would give birth to a man who was not a man at all. Someone who was never supposed to be born at all. These beings called this no-man the Abomination.”
    “And when Matt was born to Umara, an ancient Telar, and Yaksha, the first and greatest of all the vampires, the Source assumed that he must be this Abomination.”
    “Correct. As you know, a vampire cannot reproduce, and yet Yaksha did with Umara. That alone made us think that Matt was a man who was not supposed to be.”
    “Did you have any other reasons?”
    “Not long after Matt’s birth the Black Death—what you probably call the bubonic plague—struck Europe and Asia. You were alive during those days. You know that half the world was wiped out.”
    “The Telar blamed Matt for the plague?”
    “I suppose we needed someone to blame.”
    “What other