Yuri and Casimiro both winced, sharing his painful memories.
“How did you know how to confuse him?” Keisha asked.
Apolinar smiled and bowed to her.
“Ah, lovely and most intelligent Keisha, I think that part is from you.”
She wrinkled her brow in confusion. “How? I wasn’t even able to keep myself from mumbling Mayan words I don’t understand.”
Casimiro nodded as comprehension dawned on him. “I see now. I wondered how you were able to be so uncharacteristically analytical and realize he was afraid of being irrelevant. Thinking so practically is not one of your strong suits...at least not until now.”
Apolinar smiled. “Guilty. I have always been slow to absorb new information. After all, I was born to a poor family and never even taught to read. I was an uneducated cabin boy when Xaman Ek changed me for his own uses. He taught me only what I needed to know to worship his gods, which I did by his side for two hundred years. Then when he said he was tired and needed to retire below the ground to rest and build his strength for the long wait for his gods to return, I headed for the New World through Mexico. The USA is a fabulous place, full of new and exciting ideas. I taught myself to read and absorbed all that I could, but my abilities were limited by my early ignorance. I have never been one to plan ahead of time or think clearly enough to analyze anything. When I shared blood with you my dear…” He blew a kiss to Keisha. “I got more from you than I originally realized. Perhaps more than you got from me.”
Keisha shook her head. “No, I learned how to accept love and to give it. I closed myself off for so many years to focus on my research. I lost touch with my own humanity. How ironic that it took the blood of a vampire to make me more human.”
César leaned forward. “How did you know what to say to get to him?”
Apolinar smiled at Yuri. “Remember when I told you that I didn’t remember meeting you? That at my age some memories need to be discarded in order to have the room to create new ones?”
Yuri nodded. “How much more so must that be for someone who was ten times your age?”
“Exactly. I’m over seven-hundred years old and I find huge holes in my memory—times I can’t remember what happened, nor do I care. I have my beloved to keep me in the here and now. Every second we spend together burns indelibly in my mind. Unimportant things are easily forgotten.
“I realized that with over five-thousand years of memories, there would be many more holes in his memory. Even he must have realized from listening to the goings-on of the mortals above him, that they far surpassed his limited intelligence. Their grasp of concepts involving the physical world and their attempts to understand the cosmos would be totally beyond his comprehension. He knew only what the gods told him and that he should await their return. The many years he spent underground told me that even he realized he was tired of being alive.”
“So, you knew the way to get him to fear your words was to convince him that he would be of no use to his gods when they return? That he failed and his long years of tortured life were wasted?”
Apolinar nodded at Keisha. “Yes. Fortunately it worked long enough for him to forget to concentrate his mind-power on keeping us all immobile. César did what he was expected to because of his recent blood-ties, as did Keisha, whom he literally scared out of her own mind again. In defying him by standing, Casimiro and I proved to him that his power held no sway over us. As I hoped, he forgot entirely about Yuri.”
Casimiro asked, “Who is Ixtab, the goddess you implied he should worship?”
“The goddess of suicide. If his gods were displeased with him, they would expect him to rectify that by killing himself in their honor. That probably occurred to him many times over the centuries. Hearing it said to him was frightening.”
Yuri frowned. “What scared him about the lowlands?”
“After the gods bade him and others to share the blood, they cautioned them against turning everyone into what we are, lest there be no one left to feed on. He told me the story to warn me, just before he left me to sleep underground. He said that in the south lowlands the people didn’t heed the words of their rulers, who perhaps weren’t strong enough to control them. They fed off of each other with no regard for keeping some mortal. They shared the blood with everyone, until all that was left to feed from were the animals of the fields. Our spores can exist on animal blood but they don’t get as much nourishment from it. It weakens the host. Eventually their entire culture collapsed.”
Keisha leaned forward. “Of course. When I was doing my research I read that a new theory suggests that it was a drought that must have destroyed that culture. Currently anthropologists are examining evidence and trying to figure out what caused their downfall. How funny is it that we know the answer, yet we can’t tell anyone?”
Yuri added dryly, “They wouldn’t believe us if we did.”
“How many other things don’t they believe? In my research I found legends of space ships which came from the stars, and introduced the Mayans to the concept of the Earth as a globe. No one who hadn’t seen it from outer space could possibly realize that back then. They also taught them the concept of zero, which even the Romans hadn’t mastered yet at that point. They had astronomical knowledge that is on display at the huge pyramid at Uxmal, the Governor’s Palace. The nunnery quadrant is decorated with symbols indicating astronomical correlations that today’s scientists are still trying to understand. Despite all of this proof, today’s people are still resistant to the idea of ancient space aliens who influenced the Mayan culture. So, only the gullible and the hucksters are talking about the end of the thirteenth Baktun as significant.”
Apolinar smiled at Yuri. “See what a lucky man you are? You could talk to this woman for a thousand years and still learn from her each time she opens her mouth.”
Casimiro said in an aside, “Or you can find other uses for her open mouth.”
Keisha blushed and all of the men laughed.
Yuri stopped first. “I hope to enjoy every possible use of every part of her for a very long time. As you and Apolinar have found strength in uniting your very souls, so do I hope to achieve the same with this precious woman.”
Yuri’s hand was in her hair, tilting her face up for a passionate kiss. This allowed Keisha time to stop blushing at being the center of attention.
César sighed, “I see there is no possible hope of my winning this lovely woman away from you. There is nothing for me to do but wish you well.”
Casimiro spoke again, “So, all of that stuff about neutrinos and virtual particles, black holes and atomic power—all of that is now in your head from sharing blood with Keisha?”
Apolinar nodded. “Yes. I feel profound love for her, for helping me to become a more well-rounded thinking man. I’m so glad she feels she got something from me as well.”
Casimiro frowned. “Why is it that I don’t feel any immediate changes in myself?”
Apolinar smiled at him. “Perhaps there is nothing noticeable in you yet because you have had no need of any new abilities you have gained. I didn’t realize until early today, while I was awake and you slept, that the plan I came up with, what I said to him, could only have occurred to me using analytical skills and a scientific methodology that I have never possessed before.”
Keisha smiled at Apolinar. “I’ve never sung in the shower before I shared blood with you. I never saw or appreciated colors the way I do now. I never felt able to accept someone else’s love, or return it, before you changed me. I’m proud that you gained from me as well, since I felt like I got all of the benefits.”
“We all gain from each other when we share blood with others of our kind,” Apolinar said with a nod, “That might be the only thing which allows us to face the return of the gods nine years from now.”
César leaned forward. “You still believe they are coming back? That they want to negotiate with us for mortals to take back with them to serve them?”
Apolinar nodde
d. “I have never been surer of it than I am now. I spent many years trying to convince myself that the Mayan was just delusional or suffering from a vampire version of dementia. Everything that happened to us convinces me that we need to be ready to face them when they get here.”
“How?” Yuri asked.
“Why? It’s not us they want to enslave,” César said. “Just the mortals, and dios mio, there are plenty of them to spare. In fact, getting rid of a few million of them would allow the planet to support the remaining ones for quite a while longer. Over-population has been a problem too long ignored. Maybe allowing for the herd to be thinned would be a good idea.”
Keisha was shocked. “You would give up your fellow humans to an alien race—for god-only-knows what purpose—without any sense of guilt?”
César shrugged. “They are nothing to me.”
Yuri patted her arm gently. “All of us have been vampires for much longer than you, my sweet. We don’t have the immediate connection to any living mortals that you do so we don’t care as much about what happens to them.”
Keisha shook her head. “I’ve spent my entire life doing research to help people, to provide cures for diseases, to prolong lives, and to improve the minds of my fellow humans. I can’t suddenly decide they aren’t worth saving just because I’m not like them anymore.”
Yuri observed, “The two men who killed you weren’t worth saving.”
“No they weren’t. Yes, there are lots of humans who aren’t worth saving. But there are so many who are. So many who deserve a chance to improve themselves and to live a full life. They don’t deserve to be sold into slavery to an alien race by a bunch of sanctimonious, blood-sucking demons who don’t remember their roots as humans.”
Casimiro sighed.”I’m afraid I just now realized what I gained from you, beautiful Keisha. I have to agree with you. I have been a vampire for close to five-hundred years. I have always been interested in observing the new directions that human intelligence takes. I embrace new technology as it is created and I always look forward to the next big discoveries. After sharing blood with you, I find myself loathe to sacrifice any of the mortals we depend on so intimately for their blood, as well as, for the fruits of their labors.”
“Does that make you a bleeding-heart vampire?” Keisha asked with a grin.
The men all smiled, with Casimiro nodding. “I’m afraid so.”
“Then what are we going to do about what is going to happen in another nine years?”
Apolinar stood. “That, my dear, is something we should apply our considerable analytical skills to for the very near future. I will contact many of those I know who are of our kind, to discover their feelings and share my own. I suggest that we all do this, then share our knowledge regularly.”
César nodded. “I suppose I would miss the hustle and bustle of the over-crowded cities where a willing donor can always be found.”
“We really can’t be sure what the aliens are like, can we?” Casimiro looked around.
“Do you mean they might want to enslave some of us as well?” Yuri asked in surprise.
“They might.”
“It’s like that old quote from the days of World War Two,” Keisha began.
At the general look of interest from the others, she continued, “It was said by Martin Niemoller, a German minister, about the inaction of the German people when Hitler began his extermination policies. He said, ‘First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.’”
The men looked at each other, and then looked back to her, nodding.
“So, what you are saying is that in trying to plan to save the mortals, we might also save ourselves?” Apolinar asked.
Keisha nodded.
“Then I propose that we do as I have said and contact each other regularly to compare our discoveries. Nine years may seem like a long time to mortals but for our kind it is past in the blink of an eye. We have much to do and little time to work with.” Apolinar turned to César. “We don’t want to impose on your hospitality any longer, my old friend.”
César bowed. “You are always welcome in my home, Apolinar—as are the rest of you. We have shared an adventure worth remembering, which freed me and mine from the horrible machinations of the mad Mayan mummy. I will be forever in your debt. I may not be as convinced as you are of the danger our kind might face but I will keep an open mind.”
Apolinar stood, joined by Casimiro, Yuri, and Keisha.
“We will fly back to Merida tonight and use our round-trip plane tickets to get back to the USA.”
“Agreed,” Yuri said, adding, “I’ve had more than enough of this oppressive weather to last me a thousand lifetimes.”
Casimiro smiled and nodded at his countryman. “Me too. Like they say, I don’t mind the heat, but I hate the humidity.”
There was laughter and a general feeling of good will as they bid their host farewell and walked out into the muggy air of midnight on the Yucatan peninsula. With a nod, Apolinar ascended into the night sky, joined by the others, and they began their journey back to their homes. Each made a silent promise to use their talents to discover how to fight the return of the Mayan gods.
The end of the beginning...or is this the beginning of the end?
About the Author:
Fiona has always had stories in her head, with characters telling her about their lives. Often she wakes up with entire story arcs that she has to feverishly write down before starting her day.
Now that her four children are erudite young adults, she hides from everyone for hours, bringing the stories to life.
She hopes you enjoy your short trip into her mind as you meet some of the heroines and heroes who live there, and now on these pages also.
If you want to read more, she has a series of six contemporary romance books about the members of a large Hispanic family, The Reyes Family Romances. She also wrote two books about female spies who work for a top-secret international agency, as well as two stand-alone contemporary romances.
Visit her at: http://www.fionamcgier.com where the first page is her blog.
She is the member blogger on the 16th of each month at http://www.sweetnsexydivas.blogspot.com
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eBook ISBN: 9781615726684
Print ISBN: 9781615726691
Paranormal Romance
Short Novel of 42619 words
An ancient Mayan prediction about the end of the world has begun…who will survive?
Twenty-five year old dhampire, Isabella Denning is pissed that the world did not end on December 21, 2012 as the ancient Mayan’s predicted. She is tired of battling demons, fussing with her vampire father and his people and fighting off the advances of Alesandro Roma, an eight hundred year old vampire who fancies himself in love with her.
As if having a contract on her head isn’t bad enough, a portal has opened between the mortal world and the Underworld and unleashed unspeakable horrors on the fair city of New Orleans. Isabella might be the only person who can save the world, but at the moment she just doesn’t give a damn.
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Desert Flower
by Tom Olbert
eBook ISBN: 9781615726349
Print ISBN: 9781615726356
Contemporary Vampire
Short Story of 18,432 words
A lost dream, a desperate hope...lost innocence, and a horror black as night.
A young girl’s innocence is ripped from her when she is turned against her will into a vampire. Hunted and alone, Fleurette longs for escape from her hellish existence of eternal night,blood-letting and carnage.
In war-torn Afghanistan, another young
girl, Ruhee has been cast into another kind of dark bondage as a child bride. Raped, tormented and suffering, she longs for escape. These two lost souls find a strange but pure form of sisterly love together as they survive side-by-side in a world gone mad. Ruhee must grow up amid war and turmoil.
As if American predator drones and the deadly raids of the Taliban were not bad enough, she must keep her “sister”’s dark secret, while merciless vampire hunters lurk in the shadows.
When Ruhee comes of age and finds an unlikely but pure love with a brave but deeply troubled_young Taliban soldier named Batal, Ruhee finds herself trapped between light and darkness. Her heart is torn in two, and she must make an impossible choice between love and immortality, as her young life teeters on the brink of hell.
Table of Contents
Prophecy Of The Undead
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
About the Author:
Also from Eternal Press:
Also from Eternal Press:
Prophecy of the Undead Page 16
