Epilogue

Epilogue

He sat frozen in his chair before he blinked his black eyes and took in a breath of air. The soulless eyes glanced around the room to see he was sitting in a purple colored room. Black silk curtains ran along the purple walls from the ceiling and onto the black carpeted floors. In the center of the white ceiling hung a dome like lamp that gave off a strong white light. In front of him was a black marble coffee table and in front of the table sat Zachary, puffing on a small cigar and sitting with his legs crossed. Behind Zachary sat a large bed with purple covers that were lined with black designs.

Zachary smiled. "Hello again, Bugsy." His red eyes glowed as he sat his arms down onto the black iron handles of his chair. On top of his messy blond spiked hair sat a pair of black wired framed glasses.

Bugsy blinked for a moment at Zachary. "What the hell is going on? Where is that prick invisible Billy?"

Zachary tapped his foot on the floor. "Well, you took care of him. Nicely done, may I add?"

Bugsy gave a wicked smile and cocked his head to one side. "You may. Now..." His lower jaw protruded outward, exposing his lower crooked teeth. "What the hell is going on?"

Zachary puffed on his cigar, blowing smoke out of his nostrils. "Cigarette?"

Bugsy lifted his head and looked at Zachary with unmoving black eyes. "Why not?"

Zachary leaned forward and held out a pen shaped black device. Bugsy reached out and snatched the device and held it out in front of Zachary. "What is this?" He asked with a snap.

Zachary pointed at the device and leaned back into his chair. "That is what is known as an electronic cigarette. I would ask you to smoke from one of those for now one."

Bugsy looked at the device for a moment and then lifted it to his lips. He drew a puff at the mouth piece of the device and as he did, the other end lit up with a small red light. He let out a cloud of vapor and smacked his lips. "Not bad, but why do I have to use this?"

Zachary smiled. "Well, you are sharing lungs with a very dear friend of mine and he express his concern of your smoking habits."

Bugsy snarled his upper lip as he took another puff from the electronic device. "Sharing lungs? The hell are you talking about, mate?"

"We will come back to that later. As of now, I want to go over some things with you." Zachary puffed on his cigar and blew out smoke from his nostrils. "First, I have taken the liberty of becoming your mentor."

Bugsy cackled as he let out some more vapor from his mouth. "You what?"

"Second, this is going to be your room in my manor. You will remain here rent free until I deem you freedom."

Bugsy cackled again.

"Third, you will be allowed your freedom, only to the limits of the manor walls."

Bugsy stared hard at Zachary. "You listen here ..."

"Forth, your killing nature will seize here and now. If you kill again, I will promise a punishment against your will that is far more horrible than any of your nightmares." Zachary interrupted with a stern glare. "Finally, you will do as I say, when I say it. I promise I will be fair to you in return, but those are the rules you must keep."

Bugsy took in a long draw from the electronic smoking device and blew out a heavy vapor at Zachary's face. "Or you'll what? Drink my blood?"

Zachary grinned. "Why do you assume that I drink blood?" His voice was cold.

Bugsy rolled his eyes. "Come off it, mate. We both know that you are some sort of vampire. Hell, everyone that isn't stupid should know that."

Zachary gave a chuckle. "I am no vampire, Bugsy. I am far more than that."

Bugsy gave a confused cackle. "Then you must be the palest man in history. What are you then?"

Zachary stared at Bugsy with a grin. "Something you should be afraid of."

For a long moment, no words were expressed between Bugsy and Zachary; they stared at each other in silence. Zachary's red eyes glowed as they stared into the soulless ones of Bugsy.

Zachary leaned forward very slowly. He closed his eyes and opened them. As he opened his eyes, a pair of red glowing glass orbs replaced his eyes and beamed at Bugsy.

Bugsy cackled. "If you think that hypnotizing me will work, it won't."

Zachary nodded. "I thought of that, but it isn't your mind that I have hypnotized." He kept his red eyes on Bugsy's. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Bugsy's eyes widened and he breathed heavily. "What is going on?" His black eyes began to fade into a brown. His nose shrunk and his thin bony frame grew thicker. The black straight hair began to curl as Richard emerged into being.

Zachary blinked his eyes and they became normal. He removed the glasses from the top of his head and held them out to Richard.

Richard blinked for a moment and glanced to the glasses being held out to him. He slowly took the glasses and placed them onto his face. "Did it work?" He asked sheepishly.

Zachary leaned back into his chair and puffed on his cigar. "It did."

Richard glanced to the electronic cigarette in his fingers. "Did he ... Did he take this very well?"

Zachary nodded. "He seemed to like it." Zachary held the cigar in between his teeth and leaned over the chair to pick up a large laptop. He opened the computer and sat it down on the coffee table in front of Richard, facing the screen to the young man. "You done well, Richard. We will have to record the change for him to understand."

Richard nodded and swallowed hard. He stared down at the screen on the laptop.

"Is there something wrong?" Zachary asked with worried eyes.

Richard sighed. "There are a lot of things going through my mind at the moment. You will not be there every time I change. What do I do if I can't help it?"

Zachary smiled with assurance. "One step at a time. We will find a way to control the changes. I know that this is uncharted territory for you and Martha, but I will be with you when you enter it."

Richard nodded and ran a finger across the touch pad. "What do I say to him?"

Zachary stared at Richard. "Tell him that everything is alright and that you are not afraid of him. Tell him that who you are. Tell him the truth."

Richard took in a deep breath. He ran the curser over to double click a video recording program. As the program opened, he saw his face on the computer screen. The timid Richard let out a heavy sigh as he clicked the record button. "I am Richard Thomas ... The other half of you ..."