Original Blood

by Greene, Steve

  “Quite lovely, Miss Beaumont.” Sylvia was standing near the doorway smiling.

  “Um, it’s black. I’d hardly call it lovely.” Julia’s voice was thick with sarcasm, more irritated at being frightened than anything else. Good God! She thought. How does this woman move so quietly? It’s infuriating!

  “Not the clothes, Julia.” Sylvia strode over to her in three graceful steps and caressed Julia’s cheek with one hand. To Julia’s surprise, Sylvia’s hand was warm. “I’m talking about you, child.” The woman’s eyes gleamed.

  “Aren’t vampires supposed to be cold?” Julia asked, feeling a little uncomfortable.

  Sylvia chuckled. “Only in storybooks.” Sylvia took Julia’s hand and placed it palm-side down between her breasts. “Do you feel it?” She asked and raised her eyebrows inquisitively while a devilish grin crept up the corners of her mouth.

  Julia was horrified! She yanked her hand away. “Feel what, you perv?”

  Sylvia threw her head back in a raucous laugh. “My heartbeat, girl! Do you think we could walk around as animated undead? That truly is a storybook tale! We are not magic. We are infected.” Julia only nodded in response as Sylvia continued. “Come, we have much to do.”

  “Just a minute.” Julia was steadfast. “I’m not doing any more until I call my family.”

  Sylvia scowled at her but said nothing.

  “I’ve been here for four days now. At least it feels like it’s been four days. Not that I would have any way of knowing.” Julia said with as much disdain as she could muster, which was not a difficult thing to do in that moment. “And all Avery’s had me do is exercise and run some kind of combat drill. Then I took a bunch of stupid tests and even let them put electrodes all over me while I slept. Now I want to talk to my family or I’m not moving one more inch.” She stomped her foot a little with the utterance of the last word and felt like a little girl trying to get her way. But honestly, that’s exactly what she was trying to do.

  Sylvia rolled her eyes at the display, but ultimately capitulated. “Fine. But you cannot tell them anything. I mean anything about the Seraphim.” Julia nodded. “I mean it. If I hear anything I don’t like, I’ll rip the phone out of your hands and destroy it and that’ll be the last time you call anyone. Understood?” Julia nodded again. “Your story is that you went to relieve yourself and missed the bus. You are with a friend and can’t get home because nothing is running. You’ll call them in a couple days, yes?” Julia nodded for a third time. Sylvia handed her a cell phone.

  Julia dialed her father’s phone number with shaky hands. He answered on the second ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Daddy!” She blurted out. “It’s me!”

  “Julia? Dear God, Julia! Are you alright?”

  “Yes, Daddy, I ‘m fine.”

  “We heard about your bus. How did you…”

  “I wasn’t on it. I went to the bathroom and it left without me. I’m fine. I’m with a friend now, but no busses are running. I can’t make it home. Is Mom okay?”

  “Yes, dear. She’s a little banged up, but she’ll be fine. I’d put her on the phone, but she’s very tired. She’s been sleeping a lot since the attack. It’s so good to hear your voice, Kiddo.” His voice got quiet, somber. “We thought we’d lost you.”

  “I know. But it’s all okay. You’re alright, I’m alright, Mom’s alright. Ginny?”

  “Yes. Ginny’s fine, too.”

  Sylvia twirled one finger in the air, telling Julia to wrap it up. “Listen, Dad, I gotta go. And I lost my cell phone. I’ll find some way to call you in a couple days, okay?”

  “Okay, kiddo. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Dad.” She almost broke at the end, her voice cracking just a little while her eyes began to water. She handed the phone back to Sylvia.

  “You alright, Julia?”

  She nodded.

  “Okay to continue?” Sylvia asked.

  Julia nodded again.

  “Good, then.” Sylvia led her out of the room and down a long hallway. She gave Julia an impromptu tour. All the while, Julia was lost in her thoughts. Had Avery lied about her mom being a vampire or had her father lied so she wouldn’t worry? She shuddered at the thought of her dad lying to her. She pushed past the thought as Sylvia continued the tour. “You have free rein of this facility to an extent. Some doors require special access privileges. There is a reason for this. Please respect that. You may not leave the premises or contact the outside world without proper authorization. The world outside is a very dangerous place right now and we don’t want you getting injured or killed or bringing unwanted attention to our little.. organization.”

  They turned down a different hallway and Julia caught a waft of something tasty. Sylvia stopped and pointed down the hallway, “This hallway leads to the cafeteria.” She turned and headed back the way they had come from.

  “Vampires don’t eat food, right?” Julia asked. “So, are there other people here?”

  “There are hundreds of people here, my dear. But the question you are asking is; are there other humans here? There are anywhere from twenty to thirty precogs here at any point in time along with their Handlers.”

  “Handlers.” Julia blurted. “That’s what you are? My Handler?” Sylvia looked at her quizzically. “Avery said something about it.”

  “Ah, yes. I should’ve expected. Avery does have a gift for gab. Yes, Julia. You and I will get to know each other quite well in the next few months.”

  “Months?” Julia gasped. “I need to get back to school! I need to get back to my family!”

  Sylvia stopped walking and turned to her, putting her hands on Julia’s shoulders. “Julia, you must understand. Many truly awful events have transpired. There will be chaos for some time and when the dust settles, the world will be very different from the one you know. Very different.”

  “But what about my family! They’re out there!”

  “I’m hoping that with you and I working together, we can get to them and bring them to safety. You need to focus on them. Much of your training will be difficult and more grueling than you can possibly imagine. Having something to focus on will help you get through it.”

  Julia paused for a moment before accepting what Sylvia had said. Talking about her family made her that much more aware of how alone and afraid she was. She thought about how worried and scared she was for them. “I need to help them.” She said with as much authority as she could muster.

  “Good. Then we will help them.” Sylvia turned and began walking down the hallway, then stopped, hesitating as if searching for words. “I feel.. That is, I think, since time is of the utmost importance, that we should accelerate your training.”

  Anything. She thought. Anything to keep them safe. “What do we need to do?” Julia asked.

  “Come.”

  Sylvia took her by the hand and led her quickly down a series of hallways that all looked eerily similar to Julia. By the time they reached their destination, she was thoroughly lost. When they came to a stop, they stood in a small room with dark wood veneer on the walls and a tile floor. Sylvia closed the door behind them and flipped the deadbolt, locking the door. On the opposite side of the room from the door they had just come in was a heavy wooden door with a small window near the top. A row of small hooks protruded from the wall next to it. Sylvia was fidgeting with a small white control panel on the wall near the door when Julia heard a sudden hiss like gas being released on the other side of the heavy door.

  “There we are.” Sylvia said as she peeled her sweater off. Then, looking at Julia, “You’ll want to remove your clothing, Child.” She said with a nod.

  Julia was wondering what she had gotten herself into. She stood in a stupor watching Sylvia as she unlaced and removed her boots.

  Sylvia glanced up at her. “Well, come on.” She rose to her feet and put her fists on her hips. “Lesson one; obey me without fail.” She said, obviously annoyed. “If you want to find your family, we h
aven’t got time to waste. And there may come a time when doing what I say could save your life. Now we don’t have time for this childish modesty. Remove your clothes or I’ll remove them for you.”

  Julia removed her sweater while Sylvia continued removing the rest of her clothes as well.

  When she had removed the last bit of her clothing, she subconsciously covered the tiny paunch of belly fat she had had since childhood. None of her boyfriends had ever complained about the imperfections she saw in herself, but she had always noticed them. Now her imperfections seemed all that much more apparent as Sylvia stood watching with her goddess-like body as though it were carved by the masterful hand of Michelangelo. Every inch of her was perfect. It seemed near impossible for someone to be so perfectly proportional. Her arms and shoulders were slightly muscled. Her breasts were as perky and firm as a teenage girl. Her stomach looked as though it was chiseled from marble with the slight grooves of her abdominal muscles barely visible. Her hips widened slightly into well-muscled thighs. Even her toes were the perfect length! Julia couldn’t help but be envious.

  “When this is over, you have to get me into your gym.”

  Sylvia chuckled a little. “It’s the virus. It optimizes your body. Every process, every organ, every muscle strengthens and becomes more efficient. We’re the perfect predators with one major drawback.”

  This time, Julia chuckled. “Yeah, I hear you guys don’t tan very well.”

  Sylvia clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “An unfortunate side effect, don’t you think? Anyway, this,” She said with a flourish of her hands indicating her body, “is not for you. You will not be infected. You are much more effective the way you are.” She motioned towards the heavy door. “Shall we?”

  Sylvia opened the door and Julia stepped through into a short tunnel the size of the door. After a few feet it opened into a circular room about ten feet across and barely high enough to stand in. The walls curved upwards into a dome that had a small vent near the apex. The room smelled of cedar and steam poured in from a hole in the center of the floor. Sylvia sat Indian style facing the hole in the center of the room and she motioned for Julia to do the same on the opposite side.

  “We’re taking in a sauna?” She asked Sylvia.

  “Not quite. More like a sweat lodge of sorts. You’re familiar with what Native Americans used them for?” Julia nodded. “You and I are going on a little journey together, Miss Julia. Are you prepared?”

  Julia nodded again but even as she did so, the steam invaded her lungs and her head began to swim. ‘Look at me, Julia’ she heard a voice whisper in the distance. Through the steam pouring from the hole in the floor she could see a beautiful woman. Sylvia. She thought. Her name is Sylvia. ‘Focus on me, Child.’ The voice was so warm and comforting. She locked onto the woman’s stare. Her green-blue eyes were so vivid she felt she could swim in them. She could get lost in them forever if she let herself. The steam thickened and came to life as though it were smoke. ‘That’s it. Breath deep.’ The voice echoed from the walls all around her and vibrated inside her head. The features of Sylvia’s face began to disappear, obscured by the whiteness of the steam. Yet the blue-green pools remained, transfixing her, hypnotizing her. Her stomach began to ache and tingle. She wanted Sylvia. She wanted to devour her, wanted her more than anything else. I need you. She thought. She closed her eyes and felt the warm caress of Sylvia’s arms as they wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close. The eyes were gone now. Only warmth and darkness came to her. She knew she would soon be bitten. The teeth of the vampire would bury themselves into her neck and she would give way to the ecstasy of the moment. She didn’t care as long as she was with Sylvia. Sylvia was all that mattered now.

  But the bite never came. Instead, she heard the hushed scrape of steel sliding over skin and felt a gush of warm liquid splatter across her face and chest. Her mouth was shoved roughly on top of the wound in Sylvia’s neck and the sweet, warm liquid filled her mouth and slid down her throat. She heard a cry of pain or ecstasy, she wasn’t sure which. She wasn’t even sure if she had made the noise or if it had come from Sylvia. She felt the warmth of the fluid spill out over her chest and run down her belly like a river, and still she gulped it down as fast as it would come into her.

  Then without warning, the warmth of the body that held her pulled away unceremoniously and she was spinning down into the river of blood. She gagged and spat. She was swimming, then sinking, then drowning. Her legs twitched and arms began to spasm. She clawed at her throat, clawed to reach the surface of the river of blood. But it was all in her mind. There was no escape. She had been trapped. She had been taken. Darkness shrouded her as her body went numb and all movement ceased.

  When she woke, she sat up in bed, drenched in cold sweat. Frantically she scanned the room and recognized it as her room at the Seraphim colony. Sylvia was perched atop the dresser in her usual position with her eyes closed and her hands resting, palm-up, on her knees with her index finger and thumb tips touching like a monk in meditation.

  “You tricked me.” She growled at Sylvia. The words were stern enough, but her tone held nothing less than a threat.

  “No, child. I merely..”

  “Liar!” She screamed and launched herself from the bed, her hands balled into fists. Her first punch was inches from connecting when Sylvia vanished in a blur of speed and reappeared next to her. Julia’s fist collided with the wall where Sylvia’s head had been and she heard a crunching sound. If there was any pain, she was too enraged to feel it. She turned to face Sylvia but felt herself lifted off of the ground and thrown to the floor where the vampire vaulted down on top of her and pinned her hands to the ground.

  “Stop!” Sylvia yelled. Julia continued to squirm beneath her awesome strength. Sylvia shook her. “Stop and listen!” She yelled inches from Julia’s face. Julia stopped and stared. “I did not lie to you. You said you would do anything to find your family.”

  “I never said…” Julia protested.

  “No, you felt it. I can’t read your mind but I can read your emotions. I empowered you. Now we can find them together.”

  “You turned me into a monster, you bitch! Now get off of me!” Julia began to fight and wiggle again but Sylvia would have none of it.

  “No! I didn’t turn you into a monster! I gave you a gift.”

  “Yeah, some gift. Now what? I live forever and never see the sun again?”

  “No. You are not a vampire.”

  Julia stopped. “What?”

  “You are not a vampire, Julia. You are Gifted.” Julia was confused but Sylvia went on to explain. “Until recently it wasn’t understood why, but over the last several years, our scientists have found that enzymes in the human digestive tract force the virus that makes us vampires to mutate into something better. You drank my blood. It is the final step in the bonding process. Now we are bound together until death.”

  “Until death? Who’s death?” Julia’s eyes narrowed.

  “Either one of us.” Sylvia realized Julia was no longer fighting and helped her back onto her feet. “When a human drinks vampire blood, they bond with the vampire. They also gain much of our strength.” To emphasize her statement, Sylvia pointed at the hole in the cinder block wall that was slightly larger than Julia’s fist. Julia looked at her split knuckles where only a few trickles of blood leaked from the wounds when her hand should’ve been broken in a dozen places. “You also have much of our agility, heightened senses, and quickness. Oh, and your hand will heal much faster than that of a normal human.”

  Julia realized her jaw was hanging open and closed it with a snap of her teeth. “And the sun thing?”

  “No. You will be immune to the effects of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. At least no more than a normal human is susceptible to it. Your human enzymes create a less potent version of the virus which enhances your abilities without the drawbacks we experience. There’s only one weakness you should be aware of.”

  “Wha
t’s that?” Julia asked.

  “It’s easier if I show you.” Sylvia drew a long knife from the scabbard on her hip and handed it to Julia. “Here, cut your throat with this. Slit it open from ear to ear.”

  “What?” Julia asked incredulously. “I’m not going to do that.”

  “Julia.” Sylvia’s voice seemed to float on the air. It echoed inside Julia’s mind. It was as though they were back in the sweat room all over again. Her consciousness flickered. “Julia, do as I say. Cut your own throat.” Julia could hardly believe what she was being told to do. But even more unbelievable was that she was considering actually doing it! “Julia. Do it.” Suddenly, she knew she must do it. Julia’s vision faded. The room filled in a euphoria-like fog. She would cut her throat with the knife and the world would be wonderful. Julia smiled, brought the knife to her throat and…

  Sylvia grabbed her hand and shouted. “Stop!”

  Instantly, the fog passed and Julia could see clearly again. Her eyes widened and she quickly dropped the knife. “What was I about to do? I almost cut my own throat!”

  “That is your one weakness.” Sylvia explained. “Gifted are susceptible to hypnotic suggestion by any full vampire. The science of it is, as of yet, unexplained. But now that you’re aware of it, it can be easily avoided. Simply, kill any vampire before they can gain full control over you.”

  “Just like that? Just kill them?”

  Sylvia nodded, with a smirk.

  “Sure. Just kill ‘em, Jules! No problem there!”

  “I’m serious, Julia. There’s no need to be sarcastic.” Sylvia chided.

  “Fine, then. Are you going to teach me to do all this killing?” Julia asked.

  “Of course, my dear. And today, we get started in earnest.”

  Chapter 14

  Virginia went downstairs and was startled to see how healthy her mother looked. The old burns were nearly gone. A few blotchy patches of skin remained, but nothing that suggested the severity of the burns she had sustained just a few days ago. Any normal human would’ve died from the burns, but her mother wasn’t human anymore. Her mother was something else, something inhuman. Her mother was a vampire.