by Aiden James
“They don’t all hate you,” whispered Garvan from behind me. “You have more friends among us than enemies.”
I whirled around to face him while Chanson continued to drag me through the crowd. He smiled, and I felt grateful he kept pace. It engendered a sense of peace to see his determination to stay close to me. Not that my immortal cousin’s treatment of me as her little sister didn’t help create that same feeling of well-being. It just meant something extra to have this gorgeous male vampire also stay the course with me. I needed them both to get through the profound uncertainty I found myself floating in. I caught the thought as it bubbled to my mind, and I wondered again if it was pheromones or simple hormones from the pregnancy. This attraction was, at this point, becoming a distraction I would have to ask Chanson about when we had some girl time. I was beginning to doubt whether I would trust my feelings and when it came right down to it, whether I could trust myself.
We almost made it to the front, where Tyreen and Raquel excitedly called to us, acting like a pair of groupies at a Taylor Swift concert. But before we could join them, out of nowhere, the kings of our immortal gathering flew onto the lavish platform. I thought the restless crowd might erupt into a fervor rivaling the feel of that concert, and prepared myself for the possible crush of their bodies. Luckily, it didn’t happen.
Pomp and circumstance are handled differently among those who have been witness to such excesses from century to century, I suppose. Rather than an eruption of applause and spirited emotion, a deathlike stillness encompassed the entire room.
Dressed in their full raiment as vampire royalty, in rich colorful robes of the finest silk and inlaid gemstones, the pair moved over to their thrones and sat. Gustav and Huangtian Dadi were roughly the same height, but Gustav’s pope-like crown was a few inches shorter than the gold pagoda crown adorning Huangtian Dadi’s head.
To the best of my knowledge, Gustav Domnul-delael was the oldest vampire in the world, unless someone else predated his ‘turning birth,’ back when Mesopotamian civilizations flourished. Yes, he’s nearly five thousand years old. I always found his appearance to be somewhat frightening in comparison to much younger vampires like Chanson, Armando, and Garvan.
Gustav’s skin was as white as alabaster, and after a feeding, it became almost pink with slightly more blushing upon his cheeks. I’ve heard he can crush a man’s bones with the slightest touch, and yet when he held my hand to guide me to my place of honor at the celebration table in Racco’s castle last week, he did so as delicately as a newborn baby holding its mother’s fingers.
It’s the eyes that frightened me the most. They are like two matching kaleidoscopes where the color shifts like fractals between every brilliant shade of blue one can imagine and pure gold. Impossible to read accurately, I worry sometimes about the monster that lies dormant behind those eyes, behind the serene and fatherly façade. I’d never want to be the one to awaken it.
As for Huangtian Dadi, his appearance was similar to Gustav’s—at least in the sense of lifeless skin tone. Unlike Gustav, however, this ancient vampire liked to wear makeup. I’m sure of it. His cheeks and chin each had perfect circles of apricot rouge. And, unless I was wrong—which I’m not—he had a fetish for eyeliner.
Even so, it would be most foolish to underestimate the ruthless creature that had commanded subservience among his undead Asian peers for the past twenty-eight hundred years.
“Greetings to you all!” Gustav exhorted us, his rich, mellow voice easily traveling across the room. This morning, he also carried a long golden scepter in his lap embedded with jewels similar to the throne. “Our gracious host and fellow vampire ruler, Huangtian Dadi, and I have gathered all of you here to outline our course of action in response to the latest aggressions by my brother, Ralu Izcacus. It is imperative that we follow our new plan precisely, and that we all be ready to migrate to a safer vantage point at a moment’s notice.”
He paused, studying the crowd before him. I’m not sure if he expected a reaction of some sort, but for the moment, the throng remained quiet. The proverbial pin dropping on the floor and being the only thing heard would be quite apropos. Satisfied he had our attention, he nodded and then scanned the room… for me.
“Txema Ybarra, do you like your accommodations?”
Naturally, everyone turned to look at me, even Chanson, and I could tell she had no idea that our leadership’s conversation would include direct dialogue with me.
“Um, yeah, they’re pretty decent.” I shrugged while I looked around. George Romero would be so proud. No emotion—just a room full of the undead staring back at me. Mind you, the grand hall was already cold, and my flimsy coat was failing miserably to keep me warm. But, the vamps as a group were sucking even more heat from my personal space. “I guess the only thing lacking from my room is some decent TV. Since I don’t have HBO, I’m gonna miss the latest episodes of Game of Thrones.”
I’m not normally a bitch or some spoiled ingrate. But sometimes irreverent thoughts are impossible for me to keep locked up in my head. I didn’t think anyone present would laugh—although I heard a stifled chuckle escape from Tyreen. Like I said, it just comes out.
“What is Game of Thrones?” Huangtian Dadi’s voice sounded surprisingly smooth and melodic—sort of like Gustav’s, the first time I heard his. It must’ve been the tone of genuine surprise for the older vampires. He looked over at Gustav and then back at me again.
“It is a United States television program that features treachery, violence, and unbridled machinations for power in the human world while ignoring an encroaching army of the undead,” said Gustav, before I had a chance to respond.
He eyed me seriously, as if trying to decide if he should rebuke me for my smart mouth or not.
“So, it is fictional, this story?” Huangtian Dadi asked Gustav. I was entirely excluded from the conversation. For that matter, so was everyone else. “It sounds interesting. But what do the good citizens of the world think of such a tale? Perhaps they might gather their torches and pitchforks, as they used to do for all of us, and still do for Ralu in some places in South America, from what I understand!”
The crowd loved this, as uproarious laughter spread throughout the hall. My cheeks burned with humiliation. How sycophantic of them all, to ridicule the one TV show I found it hard to live without in order to further ingratiate themselves with our cabaret reject-looking host. But I did learn one thing. It appeared Huangtian Dadi had a better outward sense of humor than Xuanxang did. This could come in handy later on.
“Perhaps, indeed!” Gustav said. “Well, Txema, as I mentioned earlier, we have created a plan to deal with Ralu’s ever-increasing aggression. The enjoyment of your present accommodations might be a short term consideration.”
“We have other locations deeper in the mountains, and we must advise that if it becomes necessary to move on to higher ground then we shall do so with only minimal notice,” said the Chinese Emperor. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do,” I said, when actually the answer should’ve been ‘not so much.’
I was weary already from the travel, and knew my pregnancy’s physical demands might get to the point where moving at a moment’s notice would be damned near impossible. If there was any more moving around, it seemed to me that the sooner the better. It sounded like where we were now was the best our hosts had to offer, and I wasn’t really looking forward to someplace colder, but if it had to be done, I wanted to get settled. It then occurred to me that this must be that nesting thing I had heard about. Let me just say that it is really strange when you start to realize how few of your thoughts are truly from that magical thing we call free will, and how many of them are completely controlled by your hormones and brain chemistry. When I went back to college, I was definitely going to take some new classes.
“Good, then we will proceed as planned!”
Huangtian Dadi sounded pleased, and like Gustav, his eyes began to morph. Only in this case, the colors in his ve
rsion of the kaleidoscope eye syndrome were light brown and dark purple.
The two oldest vampires in existence stood up in unison. Everyone else seemed to assume the meeting was adjourned. For the second time that night, we had experienced a gathering that lasted all of five minutes. It seemed pointless, especially since nothing earth shattering was revealed. Couldn’t this have waited until later?
“I’m sure that all of you are wondering why we bothered to hold this meeting so soon. Am I correct in that assumption?” said Gustav, which made me do a double take… did he voice the precise thought in my head?
The murmur that had just begun died away. If this was a means to regaining everyone’s attention, it worked like a charm.
“We wanted to be sure we could easily assemble everyone at one time in one place, with very little distractions,” said Huangtian Dadi.
Gustav looked over at me again, wearing the slightest of smiles. I had no more doubt about his continued voyeurism into my head. The older vampires still had full access to my private musings, which brought me immediate dismay. “You may all leave now.”
And with that quick and to the point dismissal from the Chinese Emperor, the vampires gathered into groups of friends and acquaintances and left the hall chatting among themselves. But two vampires approached my little band of guardians who had moved to form a protective circle around me.
“Bravo—very good!” said an older male whom I recognized from two nights prior. “You all must feel it, too.”
I remembered his name was Kazikli. Dressed in a traditional tuxedo and black cape, his distinctive gold-tipped magician’s cane in one hand, a black top hat in the other, he nodded to everyone and then bowed before me. Behind him was a woman who I had already begun building a friendship with: Nora Sterling.
“Hello, darling!” she said, and stepped forward to give me a hug. The scent of hyacinth filled the air.
I always liked her hugs since she wore enough clothing to ward off the normal vampire chilliness. She was dressed in a formal evening gown, and the pair reminded me of an old photograph depicting one of the rich white-haired couples who went down with the Titanic. Only despite their hair color, Kazikli and Nora appeared in the prime of youthful adulthood.
“You are such a stunning beauty in that cheongsam, Txema!” He approached after my embrace with Nora was finished. He put his hat on his head and tucked the cane under one arm before he gently took my left hand in his gloved right one and lightly kissed it, sending a chill through my arm and tingles up and down my spine. A scent similar to spiced apples replaced the hyacinth. “But you are not safe here… and yet I believe things will work out for you and your little one to be.”
Such an odd statement, but one that struck a true chord in my heart. I knew very little about this ancient vampire other than he was a longtime confederate of Gustav, and one who engaged in an angry protest with our European King in regard to Ralu’s growing power.
“Then why in the hell are we here?” Tyreen ignored the abhorrent expressions upon Garvan and Armando’s faces. Even Nora and Chanson winced at this breach of etiquette. Raquel, however, seemed slightly amused as if she was learning to admire Tyreen’s spunk more and more. “We need to do whatever we have to do to make sure Txema and her unborn child are completely safe!”
I thought for a moment Kazikli had taken offense, and prepared for some dire punishment to be leveled at the neophyte vampire, perhaps even the end of Tyreen’s brief existence as an immortal.
His light blue eyes grew darker.
“I would have chosen some other place of refuge.” He paused to cast a cautious look around him, and continued in a softer tone. “It was never my decision—despite the fact many of us have been actively following Ralu’s determination to eliminate your bloodline, Txema. It may take some time to secure a better place, so you will need to be patient and careful. Be very careful. Never wander too far from where Chanson and your other guardians can rescue you. Do you understand me?”
“Yes… I do,” I said, and then looked over at everyone else.
They all eyed me seriously. I mean, what else could I say? I didn’t believe I could ever outfox, outrun, or hide from any of them. Hell, they always had come to my rescue. Even when I was almost killed when my dorm at UT was attacked, my defenders had been there.
“Good,” he said. “All of you must make sure never to let her out of your sight. Agreed?”
My guardians all nodded to him. Even Nora, although as far as I knew, my safety was not her direct responsibility.
“To this end, Gustav has arranged for all of you to share Txema’s bedchamber at my encouragement. The arrangements were not easily agreed upon, but eventually Huangtian Dadi relented.”
“Why not? What’s the problem? There’s plenty of room,” I said.
“There are those in the Dragon King’s court who feel that in this electronic age, the deeper alliances with human kind that our Court provides are outdated and no longer the necessity they once were.”
“Why does Dadi even care whether we all sleep in one room or not anyway? It’s not like we’re asking to camp out in his room.” Tyreen asked.
“Now that’s a good question.” Armando added.
Kazikli took a deep breath and hesitated before continuing. “Perhaps what’s coming will pass us by as a non-event.”
“What do you mean?” asked Chanson, in an uncharacteristic demure tone.
Perhaps she was afraid of offending this particular vampire. She seemed to revere him as much as she did Gustav.
He allowed himself one more cautious glance and motioned for us all to draw closer.
“A war among the higher races of vampires,” he whispered. “That’s why we must make sure we have nothing to fight over amongst ourselves or regrets that can’t be fixed. Protect Txema, and perhaps bloodshed among our kind will be avoided.”
The gravity of his words weighed upon my heart, and I was scarcely aware both he and Nora had disappeared in a flash. I had so many things I wanted to ask. This was my first glimpse into the inner workings their nation. What were these ‘personal alliances’ and a coming vampire war? Before I could voice a single question about what just happened, Chanson whisked me out of there, as she and the others raced back to my bedchamber—my tenuous safe haven.
None of my companions were willing, or able perhaps, to answer my questions; although Chanson and Armando took great delight in retelling of Huangtian Dadi’s barbaric rise to power. They told me in great detail of the first Lord of the Dragons, Cao Guojiu, who united the Asian vampire kingdoms through bloody conquest, with Huangtian Dadi at his side as most trusted advisor as well as general of his armies, both mortal and immortal. It is said that millions fell under his tooth and blade. When Cao Guojiu was destroyed, there were whispers that it was the advisor himself who did the deed, though never to Huangtian Dadi’s face. Even knowing what I did about the capabilities of these vampires, I couldn’t even imagine how it was possible for one creature to be responsible for so much suffering and death.
stayed up until an hour past dawn, and didn’t attempt to sleep until the last of my nocturnal companions, Tyreen, was safely tucked into her casket and quietly at rest. I started thinking about a lot of things, and became fixated on one subject: all my ‘firsts.’
I believed we always remembered the first of anything—whether that’s a first tooth lost, first day at school, first kiss—you name it. I had experienced quite a few ‘firsts’ in the past three months. Everything from my orientation at the University of Tennessee, to my first basketball practice with the legendary Pat Summit, to meeting my first serious boyfriend, Peter Worley. Oh, and don’t forget my very first roommate, Tyreen Davenport—now also the first human friend turned to vampire.
But, as I watched the sunlight creep in under my bedchamber door, I considered all of the recent firsts that were not so pleasant. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my first near-fling with an immortal human (Racco St. Germaine) in the French Pyren
ees. I loved his castle as well as the helicopter trip we took to go skiing in the Pyrenees—all firsts. Even the trip over the Atlantic on his expensive yacht was an overall enjoyable experience and another definite first.
What kept me awake, though, were the recent necessities that came with being the last of my kind—which in a very real sense is another first. Before two weeks ago, I had never had anyone dislike me enough to want to take my life. The fact I was the target of a ruthless murderer bent on wiping out my bloodline was most definitely an unpleasant first. Ralu had killed every distant cousin of mine that bore the same birthmark that Chanson and I share. We are the last ones, and since she is a vampire, I’m left as the only viable option to keep our heritage alive.
The list swelled as I thought about the other night, when I chose to have sex with Peter while 200 vampires watched. Not only was it a first, but it was also something I’d dare say no one else among the living had ever experienced! Then there was this whole business of running from Ralu after the ceremony ended… the support of the Chinese was supposed to be complete. Now I realized not only was it incomplete, but it could be dwindling. Not to mention the hostile stares from other European vampires I encountered during our conference earlier that morning.
I didn’t get to sleep for a long time. I started to fall asleep around nine o’clock or so, but really didn’t find deep sleep until noon. The next thing I knew, my companions were up and set to explore our temporary home.
“You’re probably as hungry as we are,” said Chanson, after I was finally fully awake and had dashed to the bathroom to throw up. Yeah, life sucked more than a little right then. “I can wait for you to shower and dress, but not for long. As for the guys, I believe we’ll have to catch up with them later on, since they awoke with raging thirsts.”
Indeed, it was just the girls and me. Raquel and Tyreen looked famished, and trust me when I say that is the last thing you want to see first thing.
“I promise to hurry.”
