by Tanja Neise
Sally was lying on the floor. Someone had lain her dead body down neatly, folded her hands and closed her eyes. She looked as if she was asleep. But the pool under her body, the metallic smell in the air, and the redness that was illuminated by our flashlights all indicated that she’d been killed. What shocked me even more, however, was the sight of the man lying a few feet away. Dark had been badly injured, but the blood that had also streamed out of his body was already drying on the wound to his throat. He was hanging on Anne's wrist and was drinking in great gulps. The look Liv's sister gave me I could only interpret as fearful.
“I think he’ll survive. He's been drinking for a few minutes, and my blood doesn’t seem to be harming him. The poison in it must have been neutralised in the transformation.” She seemed weakened. If Dark had been drinking from her for minutes, she wouldn't last much longer.
Resolutely, I joined the two of them. Dark would never forgive himself if he harmed Anne just because he didn't realise what he was doing whilst he was healing. “Hey, buddy! That's enough. Take a break.” As I spoke, I covered his nose so he could breathe and release his mouth from her wrist. My plan worked. Dark literally gasped for oxygen, just like a fish on land, he opened his mouth and inhaled eagerly. I snatched his wrist, abruptly. “Lick your wound,” I instructed Anne.
With a growl, Dark opened his eyes and looked at me hatefully before he finally came to his senses. He blinked briefly, then his head jerked to the side and his gaze found his sister’s body.
Silence spread through the laboratory. The other vampires were waiting outside in the hallway and had respectfully pulled the door to. Only a single torch stood on the floor, illuminating the room with its cold light. Long shadows were cast against the wall which created a creepy atmosphere.
Anne hesitantly laid her hand on Dark's broad back and whispered: “I’m so sorry. I couldn't save her. They’d chained me to the lab table and she cut her own throat so that she wouldn’t be used as bait to lure you here.” She swallowed, and tears ran down her cheeks. The scene seemed so intimate that I felt like a voyeur, so I left the two of them alone and retreated as well.
I sent a message to Liv, hoping she wouldn't probe any further. Anne’s alive!
But as is the case with women, they never do what you expect. Oh my God! Thank you! What about Dark and Sally?
I swallowed and tried to stall.
Robert?
Sally’s dead. Dark is in a bad state, understandably, I enlightened her.
At first she didn't answer, then she decisively announced: Bring them all home!
Yes!
The way back would be straightforward. From down here, there was a secret passageway that would take us straight to the edge of the forest. We just couldn’t have got in unnoticed that way from the outside. I would bring everyone home, including Sally.
Anne Rumsfield
One month later
I ran faster than I'd ever run before. The wind whistled through my now chin-length hair, which was now back to its natural colour. The moon shone down on us; from now on, it would no longer be possible for me to pursue my hobby in daylight. In spite of the exertion, my body was in such a good condition that I didn't even sweat during this crazy outing.
I’d chosen one of my favourite routes. Dark had flown to New York with me in Robert's private jet. I’d temporarily placed my belongings in storage after I couldn’t find enough room for them at my elite unit’s base. There was some memorabilia from my family that I could finally unpack and put in my new home. We’d given all the boxes to a shipping agent who would make sure they got to Seattle unscathed. Before returning, I’d planned to introduce Dark a little to the art of parkour; but it wasn’t at all necessary, as I noticed at that moment that he was a complete natural. Together we mastered the most difficult obstacles, and flew over the widest gorges possible between two skyscrapers. Never before had I felt so free and happy.
When we arrived at our starting point, where the limousine was waiting for us, we were only moderately out of breath. Smiling, I looked at Dark, who caught my eye and bit his lower lip for a moment.
“Anne Rumsfield, you're the hottest thing I've ever met in my life. I’d just love to show you right here and now what I’d most like to do with you.” His voice was deep and full of promise, and when he pressed my body to his against the car, I could really feel his desire. The hairs on my forearms shot up and my mouth became dry. As soon as we got close to each other sexually, I constantly felt the need to drink from him. In the meantime, I’d learned from Liv that it was my body demanding the ritual. Nevertheless, that wasn’t really possible for me; after all, I was just a vampire who’d been changed, and Dark as well. Those were facts, weren't they?
Dark had been able to drink from me without the poison affecting him, even though I’d been vaccinated. For two weeks I’d thoroughly committed myself to the research again, but now my field of work was finding an antidote to the vaccine my father had once upon a time developed. And I would find it; I was absolutely certain.
“Mr Higgs, if you like, what we have to stop here in public, we can carry on above the clouds,” I whispered in his ear.
I received a deep growl in response, as he nestled his nose into my neck and breathed in deeply. “Who says we have to stop?”
“Me! After all, I don't want my new housemate to be arrested for offending public decency.” Just the thought of living with someone in the future still caused me to experience a strange tingling sensation.
“Then the chauffeur should hurry the hell up so I don't demote him for offending me personally,” Dark hissed, and lifted me into his arms. Carefully, he put me on the back seat of the car and gave strict orders to the man in the front.
I was glad that Dark had regained some of his light-heartedness. In the first week after Sally's death, I’d hardly dared to take a few steps away from him. I’d felt the need to stay with him and the boys. The children had lost their mother and were suffering. Since I, myself, had been in this situation once, I knew only too well how much hatred one felt for the world in the first few days, and how little one understood that the world kept on spinning, even though it stood still for you.
Dark and I had bought a condo in the same lavish, high-rise building as Robert and Maggie. We’d all live there in the future. He’d had a sister taken away, mine had been given back to me. Life was not always fair and certainly not easy. But from now on, I would enjoy every second to the full, because I was no longer alone. I had a strong partner by my side and a family for whom I would do anything.
Dark slid over to me and put his arm around me. His fingers made their way into my hair and played with it. “You know what, Anne?”
“Mmhmm?”
“I love you!” The words were so quiet that at first I thought I’d only imagined them, but, next to me, Dark held his breath.
My heart racing, I straightened up and looked him firmly in the eyes. “And I love you!”
With a triumphant grin he whisked me up and gave me a kiss that robbed me of my senses.
Robert Tensington / Raphael
One week later
I felt like my heart was bursting at the seams. It was racing at a breathtaking speed in my chest as I tried, in vain, to calm down. I was standing on the beach under a phenomenal canopy of stars, continually sucking oxygen into my lungs, and waiting.
I was happy, and I wanted to show the world, with this human ritual, how much it had affected me. I wanted to reveal to everyone how great my love for Olivia was. To put it bluntly: I wanted everyone to know that she belonged to me, and for nobody to even dare begin to desire her.
This silly claim to possession was antiquated, barbaric and a typical male thing, but denying it, shutting oneself off from it, was absolutely impossible.
And as I pondered the thought of Liv and my tremendous claim to possession, one thing became quite clear to me. I loved Olivia more than my life, more than anything I had ever believed I loved. Fria came to mind,
my Fria, but that too had been more of a youthful infatuation. This unshakable bond that now connected me with Olivia was incomparable. I, Raphael Robert Tensington, was head over heels in love. Nobody could change that, least of all me.
I was happy to have found someone who saw me, my soul, my love. This was the true meaning of destiny. I’d had to wait many hundreds of years until my soul mate was finally born and we found each other.
A tune quietly drifted over to me. I looked up. The sky shone with a dark blue colour, illuminated by hundreds of stars and a great big full moon disc, which looked as if it could be touched. A gentle wind rustled through the palm trees. The air was filled with fragrant jasmine, which flourished here so abundantly.
When I looked to the side, I caught Dark's gaze. He looked at me with compassion, and smiled. In contrast to me, he seemed completely relaxed. No wonder – this wasn‘t his wedding celebration, after all, but mine and Olivia’s.
He was still the smooth guy he’d always been – he stood there, cool and mysterious. But one thing had changed; he was becoming more peaceful, which he owed to his relationship with Anne. In the meantime we’d become close friends. Real friends. Something I’d never thought possible. And yet here, too, fate had taught me better.
“Boss, are you getting cold feet?” His large hands fiddled with my tie and adjusted my collar.
“No, bloodsucker. Are you getting some kind of maternal feelings for me or something? Is that why you’re fiddling around with my clothes?” When I saw the serious look on his face, I couldn't stop myself from laughing.
Dark pondered, but suddenly he fell abruptly silent. “If anything, then fatherly feelings, although theoretically you could be my great great great great great great great grandfather. Look who's coming.” The hand that landed on my shoulder hadn't relinquished any of its strength, even though recent events hadn’t failed to leave their mark on him.
“Raphael, Dark!” Shazar looked at us one after the other and smiled, proud to be able to be there. “I thought I was going to be late.”
I calmly shook my head. “No, no; the women are taking far too much time again.”
Dark cleared his throat and thus drew our attention towards him. “Anne and I have another wedding present for you.”
“Oh, but that's nonsense. You don't have to give us anything,” I said, playing down the issue.
Dark's smile was mysterious and full of joy at the same time. “I think we do. It’s this: Anne made a critical discovery yesterday.”
Now he’d managed to make me curious. “Do tell!”
“There’s an antidote!”
“WHAT???” Shazar and I blurted out at the same time.
Dark proudly told us: “Anne disappeared into the lab sometime after our return from New York. Two days later she had the solution. Sir Rumsfield had already invented the antidote, and so that it didn't fall into the wrong hands, he hid it well.”
“And where?” I asked.
“In his daughter.” Triumphantly, as if he were the discoverer himself, he glanced back and forth between me and Shazar. “Anne's blood has been the antidote since her transformation. That’s how I was able to drink from her without anything happening to me.” Sternly, he looked into my eyes, which were wide open – I still couldn't believe it. “We have the antidote!”
Shazar expressed his delight first. “Wow! This is truly the best wedding present the leader of the vampires can receive.”
We enjoyed the moment that was also a moment of triumph. Because from now on, we would never again lose another vampire to hunger. Nevertheless, we would have to be careful in the future about who was given the opportunity to carry this antidote – but those were details we would take care of later. For the time being, the joy of finally being able to do something to prevent the extinction of our species prevailed.
We were still standing around like that, when the music sounded shortly afterwards. Music that had remained the same through the centuries. After a few chords, however, the melody fell silent again.
“I think that was your cue.”
I proudly positioned myself next to Shazar and Dark. I impatiently shifted from one foot to the other, while the other two stood calmly beside me. When Kat and Julienne hurried dazzlingly to their places, I smiled at them, happily. Now that the two of them were sitting down, it was clear that the final cosmetic touches had been seen to and things would begin.
Then, when I hardly thought it possible any more, music filled the air that made the hairs on my arms stand on end. My eyes, burning from the tears of pride that I was holding back, were directed forwards. And then I finally saw her. My love, my life. To the rhythm of Wagner’s Wedding March, Olivia slowly walked towards me, on Anne's arm. Her gaze held mine firmly captive.
She stopped in front of me and our hands touched when Anne ceremoniously handed her over to me. It seemed to me as if I’d waited an eternity for this moment, and yet even a thousand years couldn’t have prepared me for the feelings I now felt.
I felt how the tender body next to me began to tremble. Liv raised her eyes, which captivated me, and without words promised never to let go again. I carefully squeezed her hand and lifted it to my lips. Tenderly, I kissed her knuckles, one by one.
“Forever,” I whispered.
“Forever,” Liv replied with a smile.
- THE END –
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For the second part of my vampire series, too, I have to thank my dear colleague and friend Karina Reiß, who is steadfastly at my side when I write. She may be hundreds of miles away, but she is always there for me if I have a question and need mental encouragement, because I sometimes completely doubt myself.
Next, a thank you to my sweetheart, Daniela, who fought her way through the raw manuscript (under extreme time pressure!) and encouraged me with kind words every day.
My husband Michael deserves a big thank you! Thank you for always supporting me, even if I'm caught in a writing frenzy and am only present physically. The same goes for my children. Thank you, my chaotic family – I love you!
Thanks to all my readers who faithfully support me, write emails to me or contact me via Facebook. You encourage me and I love reading your messages. Please keep sending them!!!
And of course, thanks to every single reader, even if we have never communicated with each other before. I hope I have been able to captivate you with this two-part series.
Thank you!
Yours, Tanja Neise
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