by Danae Ayusso
He blushed with a small smile. “I’d like to see you again, when I’m clothed and you aren’t bleeding all over, and killing isn’t involved. Can I take you out? Dinner, movies, shoe shopping?” he offered.
“No,” Andrei sneered.
“Yes!” I said with a face-consuming smile. “If I’m not dead I’ll be at that church turned vampire lair turned prison that takes up the entire block.”
Tybalt chuckled. “I know the one. Marshal Belova–Revnik bought it out from under us. The Queen was certain we’d be the only ones that turned out, so they didn’t bother to go and instead sent an errand boy, and they neglected to cast a spell against vampires. Who would have thought?” he rhetorically asked.
Again, I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, but it’d make a great story over dinner.
“It’s a date!” I beamed.
Tybalt chuckled. “It’s a date, regardless of what your warden says.”
Andrei growled and headed off as fast as he could, leaving the smiling, very confused, werewolf behind.
I had my first date!
An actual date where the guy asked me. Not a blind date. Not a set up.
It was an actual date with a hot, nice guy that wanted to take me out regardless of the snarling, murderous vampire that wouldn’t leave me alone.
“You could do better,” Andrei grumbled under his breath.
I chuckled; my eyes were closed, my head rested against his neck, and I was completely drained of energy with the draining of my blood.
“Not really,” I said with a smile. “Good guys, nice guys, they don’t give me a second glance, ever. I’ve been on more blind dates than I can remember, have been stood up more times than I can count, but not once did any of them look at me the way Tybalt did. The way he looks at me, it makes me feel special and not special needs… If I die, can you please tell him I’m sorry for missing our date?” I asked.
Andrei growled again. “Nyte,” he sneered.
“Jerk,” I grumbled.
“Most of the time,” he agreed, to my surprise.
From what I could tell, it wasn’t often that Andrei lost the stick that I assumed was permanently up his butt, so when he did I took advantage of it.
“Why did you do this to me?” I asked.
“How else would you get home?” he retorted. “You are in no condition to walk, and from what I can tell you have an affinity for finding trouble and hanging out in cemeteries.”
If that was a joke, he needed to work on his delivery.
“Aside from finding trouble and hanging out with the dead, why did you bite me, drain me-”
“Bathe you, redress you, put you to bed in high thread count pima cotton sheets and bedding, brought one of the purest virginal vessels of rare blood for you to devour?” he finished, adlibbing a lot of it, and filled in the blanks that I hadn’t even thought to ask or bring up. “You deserve nice bedding, the finest nourishment in the blood market, designer French silk lingerie, and the finer things that you never knew were available or would think to ask for. You did not want them, but I wanted them for you. That’s why.”
That was one of the most romantic, and twisted, things I had ever heard.
“Oh, thanks,” I said. “I don’t need you spending money on me. Dressing me. Undressing me. Bathing me. Feeding me… Actually, can you feed me? I want a cheeseburger.”
“Nyte,” he said in a clipped tone. “The sun will rise soon and we must go to ground. You have already gained the attention of Matka Ziema, and asked of her to save the life of a child of the moon. That type of request does not come without a price, one that I fear will be your soul or mine.”
I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about.
“Go to ground? You better not bury me again,” I warned, trying to open my eyes but they wouldn’t move and felt cemented shut.
“Not without a good reason to bury you,” he conceded.
Andrei isn’t nearly as amusing as he thinks he is.
Since he wasn’t going to be forth coming on the going to ground thing I asked the obvious.
“Matka Ziema?”
He sighed. “I suppose it only makes sense that you would be ridiculously inquisitive when nearly dead.”
I smiled. “Human nature.”
“Or being annoying on purpose.”
“Let’s go with human nature,” I said with a chuckle.
“Very well,” Andrei said, his tone soft. “We go to ground in order to align ourselves with the elements,” he explained. “Everything in the mythical and paranormal world is shackled, in a sense, by rules which are tied to Matka Ziema—more commonly known to those outside of the Slavic world as Mother Nature or the Goddess as you know her—and if we do not respect those rules, abide by them, the Horned God will seek a pound of flesh in her honor. Werewolves are tethered by the full moon, Vampires by the sun, Shifters by mortality, Man by stupidity, Necromancers by death, Witches by the light and blind devotion, and Warlocks by arrogance. The rules seem like such simplistic things, completely redundant and easily overlooked and broken, yet it is because the rules of Matka Ziema were broken that each of the above mentioned are hindered by each species specific tether created by the Horned God as punishment. And no, I am not going to get into a history lesson with you right now,” he said when I started to open my mouth to ask just that. “Predictable girl,” he huffed so I made a mocking face.
“So what are the rules for us...for vampires?”
“Oh, you are one of us now?” he said sounding shocked and slightly appalled.
“Tone and superiority noted,” I mumbled and he nodded his acceptance of my not-really-waving white flag of surrender.
“We pay homage to Matka Ziema, in a sense, by immersing ourselves into her womb on the eve of the heightened thaumaturgical cycles,” Andrei explained, yet I still didn’t understand a dang thing coming out of his mouth. “When a vampire disrespects Matka Ziema’s rules, her laws, and tries to harness the power instead of allow it to flow through them and back into her, it changes them. The results are sometimes beautiful, where Matka Ziema blesses the being, but more often than not they turn into monsters, abominations, that reek of power and evil. That is, according to lore, where strigoi originated from: Matka Ziema was not pleased and the Horned God was vengeful as a result. We are children of Matka Ziema so we have to abide by her rules and law. She giveth life thus she can taketh away.”
I snorted. “Did you just tell a joke?”
“No, yes and no, but mainly no. I suppose the same can be said as to why vampires can no longer bask in the sun, and are cursed to walk the night like the demons that historians and scholars have made them out to be. Everything in the mythical world is cause and effect. Always remember that.”
Obviously Andrei was a lot smarter than I had initially given him credit for, a mistake that I would never make twice. Luka was a complete airhead that didn’t care about anything but himself. But something Andrei said, the way he worded it, was too specific and the way it left his lips was wrapped with such regret that I had to ask.
“Cause and effect like me?” I whispered.
When there wasn’t an answer, I had my answer.
“We really have to stop meeting like this, Passerotta,” Giovanni said.
No, I won’t stop meeting him like this.
“Any time we can meet is the highlight of my day, Polpetto,” I reminded him with a smile, looking around, trying to get my bearings.
We were sitting in the church-turned-prison on one of the pews separating the nave. Overhead, sun came through the stained glass windows that made up the roof and windows along the walls on the sides, painting the area in a beautiful rainbow of light. The painstakingly detailed scenes in glass told the tale of creation, one that shouldn’t have been in a Catholic church, and of the Horned God and Goddess, and many stories from Wiccan beliefs and some with Pagan origins, even those of Satanists.
“It’s so beautiful,” I whispered, watching the rainbows
dance across the area. “Am I dead or unconscious?”
Giovanni took my hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze, watching the lightshow with me. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Sis. You’re merely unconscious, very unconscious, but alive. Sorry to disappoint you.”
I made a mocking face. “I’m not longing to die, Polpetto. I’m just tired of being denied everything I’ve ever asked for… Okay, that sounds like I’m longing to die,” I admitted, making a face, and he chuckled. “If I am a vampire, a child of the night now, I will never see this again. Its beauty will be lost to me forever, won’t it?”
His face dropped with understanding. “I’d nearly forgotten how much you love the simplicity of a rainbow, of the way the sun passes through each colorful pane of glass and paints the world around you in beautiful light.”
“When surrounded by the mundane and ugly you have to find beauty in the little things,” I reminded him. “The Goddess answered my prayers for once.”
He smiled. “I told you the Goddess didn’t abandon you.”
It was an ongoing argument we’ve had with each other again and again, even before his death. Unlike my brother and mother, my faith had started to wane more and more with each person I buried. All I had left was my mother, and she was almost a stranger to me once Giovanni was gone. I loved her, I loved her more than anything and it killed me that I couldn’t take her away with me, but her husband would never permit it. The controlling monster didn’t even know we were talking whenever possible over the years via the telephone; he forbade her from seeing and talking to me.
Where my brother and mother openly practiced and worshipped, as did papà and our grandmothers, I stayed away from that openness. When I lost them, I lost my faith, in a sense, when it came to openly practicing. In private I prayed, worshipped, and sought peace and acceptance to the existence I was forced to live. Giovanni always teased that my understanding of the Goddess and Horned God went beyond handed down teachings throughout the family and coven. My grandmothers called me a Herald of the Goddess, and at times I believed it, but how could one that is chosen and blessed be put through so much pain and unimaginable loss and abandonment and still have their beliefs and faith?
We weren’t Christians and I wasn’t Job.
I was simply Shawn.
“Did you ask for a reversal of your presumed vampirism?” Giovanni asked with a smirk, knocking into me.
“No,” I said, making a mocking face. “The Goddess doesn’t answer when I ask for something for myself, you know that. Selflessness and pure intent is blessed by the Goddess, selfishness and agenda is punished by the Horned God. For years I asked for death, so I may join you in the afterlife so you no longer have to linger as a ghost at my side. But I was denied again and again. I now believe there was a reason for that, because I had a purpose and there was a higher meaning to my existence, and that was for a single moment and prayer that needed to leave my lips in order to save what I couldn’t stand to lose.”
A beautiful smiled filled Giovanni’s face. “You saved an innocent, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Tybalt is innocent and beautiful, sexy as sin, impressively endowed, and asked me out on a date.”
Giovanni gave me a look. “I’m terrified to ask how you know about the hung thing, ew, but was the invitation in thanks for saving him?” he asked, concerned and sounding like my overly protective brother once again.
“No. He’s a werewolf and I met him when he was a wolf then he was a man, a naked man, then a wolf again then a man… It has to be physically exhausting to switch back and forth so much.”
Again, he gave me a look since I was getting off topic.
“What?” I asked, blushing. “You always talked about boys with me, why would talking about hot werewolves be any different?”
“Yeah, but only when I get to see them, too,” he reminded me, making a mocking face. “Did he only ask you on the date because you saved him? Because that’s not the right reason to ask someone on a date. That’s a thank you card or flowers, not a date.”
It amused me that my brother, Mr. Popular but never had a significant other, is suddenly the authority on romance.
“No, I don’t think Tybalt even knows he needed saving or that I saved him for that matter. No one wants a big hot, unlucky mess like this,” I grumbled with a pout. “Andrei knows what I did, and he told me not to do it. He’s really demanding and bossy and irritating with his overbearing nature. There’s a connection in our heads where we can communicate and it’s driving me nuts! Is that a vampire thing?”
Giovanni gave me a look. “How in the hell should I know? I’m a ghost, not a vampire, Sis. And I don’t hang out with vampires, not like you do.”
Good to know, but it wasn’t helpful at the moment.
“Tybalt is a werewolf, not a vampire,” I said. “And his body is amazing, eyes beyond words, and the way he looks at me,” I paused then shivered. “It took strength I didn’t know I was capable of to keep from eying, well, you know.” I motioned towards my crotch. “Yeah, impressive doesn’t even begin to describe it.”
His eyes widened. “Whoa. Now I’m sad I missed that one. Damn Catholics and their cemeteries and churches keeping the heathens out.”
I giggled; it was an ongoing joke when growing up in Usk, and how they hated our kind out there and tried to chase us off with pitchforks and crosses for years.
“We’re good looking heathens,” Giovanni reminded me, hugging me tight. “All those losers that stood you up or didn’t call you for a second date, weren’t worthy of such an amazing heathen. If the Goddess answered your prayers, and saved the wolf with the Shakespearian name because you asked her to, that means she never abandoned you. She was just waiting for the right moment, when you needed the confirmation that she was still with you most. The Goddess has always been with you, Passerotta, she just has a strange way of showing it at times.”
That actually made sense in a sense.
“Is that why you’re here and never left me?” I asked.
Giovanni smiled. “We aren’t meant to know the bigger picture, Sis.”
That translates to he didn’t know.
“We’re merely here to play a role in a production that never ends and is larger than we could ever imagine. My role was insignificant compared to yours-”
“But you were, and will forever be, the brightest star in my life regardless of how long that’ll be,” I interrupted, caressing his cheek. “I love you, Polpetto.”
“Don’t call me meatball, I hate it when you call me meatball,” he complained before kissing my head. “You need to wake up now.”
Giovanni says that too often for my liking, especially when we’re like this.
I looked around again when an unsettling feeling of dread, despair, and sexual frustration flooded me.
In the backrow, looking at me, was Andrei.
Just like at the dream of Giovanni’s funeral, Andrei was there looking at me, his face expressionless but his eyes were like molten amber ribboned-cognac and contained so much emotion that it caused tears to flood my eyes.
“Wake up now,” Giovanni whispered. “If you don’t, you’ll miss some very important events that will affect you. Wake up.”
My eyes shot open and I gasped; I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears from my eyes and they eventually focused on the white gossamer draped over my face. My hands went to my chest and started patting, looking for the hole or wound from the fencing, but there wasn’t one.
Dang it! Was that just a dream?!
I groaned in frustration and pulled the white netting away from my face. “I really wish you’d stop preparing me for burial,” I complained. “It’s getting really creepy and annoyingly foreboding.”
A chuckle pulled my attention to the woman standing next to the bed; in her hands was some medical tubing that she was looping around itself. The woman was tiny, little person tiny but proportionate, skin dark chocolate colored with sandy blonde hair and piercing li
ght hazel eyes that were much too large to be considered human, elongated ears, and long, thin fingers.
“It is force of habit and respect, the netting, so you cannot blame him for that. He will be pleased to know that you have finally rejoined the world of the living,” she said with a smile, her full black lips revealing small triangular teeth causing my eyes to widen. “It was touch and go there for a moment, but the Goddess apparently has other plans for you, Child.”
I sat up, pulling the covers around me.
I was back in the black wallpapered room, the one I woke in before, and was dressed in a non-bloody camisole and panties set.
“That annoying vampire needs to stop undressing and redressing me when I’m unconscious,” I grumbled. “It’s weird and boundary overstepping to say the least.”
The woman chuckled, shaking her head as she packed up her supplies into a medical bag. “You do very weird things to that creature, take pride in that,” she said.
That’s interesting and good to know.
“I’m Shawn,” I greeted.
“As I have heard. I am Dr. Melody Willa,” she introduced.
That was a human sounding name.
“Not to sound rude, but what are you?” I sheepishly asked.
Dr. Willa didn’t appear to take offense. “I am a healer, a doctor as the title would suggest. I have advance knowledge of all physiologies. When needed, those with means contact me if services are required. Marshal Belova–Revnik called in a favor owed, and I came. We are nearly even now, though I may be hard pressed to count this one against him.”
That couldn’t be good, but it was interesting information to know.
“I meant you aren’t human… That was rude, wasn’t it?”
She softly chuckled. “Yes, it is rude to ask that in our world, but I understand since you are a baby. I am what the Finish call a Haltija.”
Not sure what that was, I nodded as if I knew.
“Why would you be hard pressed to count this against Andrei?” I asked. “Do you send me a bill? I don’t have medical insurance so I might have to make payment arrangements. If that’s okay,” I quickly added.
