Jaden's Heart

by Melanie Jackson

  “I will be staying at Lady Hawk's estate. You will inform me immediately if there is any activity on her cards or accounts,” she demanded.

  Mr. Whitmore bowed. “Of course, my lady. You are not the only one with important matters to discuss with her. Perhaps when we find her, you can persuade Lady Hawk to give up these occasional disappearing acts.”

  “Indeed, I shall make a point of it,” Annora said as she let the door slam on her way out of Mr. Whitmore's office.

  She pushed buttons on her cell as she walked down the hall and into the elevator. “Wesley, its Annora.”

  “Did you find her?” the voice on the other end asked.

  “No, she's gone off-grid,” Annora said.

  “Perhaps her good friends Maxwell and Desiree will know where she is,” Wesley suggested.

  “Where are they?” she asked as she exited the elevator.

  “Los Angeles, a club on the upper east side. The Flowing Desire.”

  “Text me the number and address. I will see if I can find anything out. In the meantime, I will remain here for a couple of days to see if anything turns up regarding her location. If I don't hear anything within a week, I will return with Maxwell and Desiree.”

  “We will wait to hear from you, my lady,” Wesley replied.

  Annora ended the call. Elysian always made things harder than they had to be—even when she was mortal. Annora sighed. Of course Elysian would not have changed, she thought as she approached the waiting vehicle.

  “Did you find her?” the driver asked as she settled again in the backseat.

  Annora scowled. “No.”

  “What now?” he asked.

  “Back to the estate. Hopefully she will turn up in a few days,” Annora said.

  “And if she doesn't?” He turned the ignition.

  “Then I will have to make other arrangements,” she said as her gaze lingered on the hawk statue growing smaller in the rearview mirror.

  Six

  i watched Alexis duck behind a dumpster. She peeled off her layers of clothing until she wore only her jeans, light blue t-shirt, and my trench coat. The extra clothing, she tied together, then wrapped them in a plastic bag and hid them under the dumpster.

  She crossed the street and I followed, her constant shadow, all the way to Sal's. Taking a deep breath, she entered the diner with a smile.

  Annie, the waitress, greeted her with a tight, aunt-like hug. “Oh, my! What happened,” she gasped.

  “I fell,” Alexis lied.

  “Here’s your uniform. Come with me and I’ll get some ice for your face.” She handed her a functional yellow polo then lead her into the kitchen.

  I leaped onto the roof across from the diner and settled in to watch. Alexis ran about clearing tables, washing dishes, and emptying trash cans.

  This has got to be the most boring job that ever has existed. How could anyone willingly to spend eight hours cleaning up after other humans? I frowned and sighed. I’ll have to bring a book next time to occupy my mind. Next time? I shook my head.

  The rest of her shift was uneventful. Soon the strong aroma of fresh coffee, frying bacon and the unfortunate smells of heavy traffic exhaust filled my nostrils as morning lingered on the horizon. Finally! I thought as they cashed out the till and split tips.

  “You did a great job last night,” Annie commented as she paid Alexis in cash.

  “Thank you,” she said, beaming.

  “I will see you again, tonight?”

  “Of course!”

  “Okay, see you then,” the waitress said.

  Alexis waved goodbye and hurried back to the dumpster. She retrieved her clothing and quickly slipped them back on. I followed her back to the alleyway near my apartment, her makeshift home, in the small doorway of an abandoned retail building. Settling once again on the roof, I watched her count her money; with what I had given her, she had nearly six hundred dollars.

  She glowered at the money. “It's impossible. They don't exist,” she whispered, pulling on the trench coat. “Don't be silly! The woman's obviously crazy.” She gathered up the money, folded it in half, and placed it into her left boot.

  I dropped from the rooftop. “Hello!”

  Alexis scrambled to her feet as I stepped from dark shadows into the thin daylight. “Great, you again,” she said.

  The last lingering feelings of disappointment in myself for killing those humans disappeared upon seeing the bruise under her chin. The purple mark spread up the left side of her face.

  “You did ask if you would see me again,” I pointed out.

  “You shouldn't have come. I could be armed,” she warned.

  I laughed, moving to lean against the building a few feet from her. “I think I'll take my chances.”

  She scanned me suspiciously. “What do you want?”

  I shrugged. “I thought you could keep me company.”

  “And if I don't want your company?” she asked coldly.

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  She contemplated my words for a moment. “You can stay if you keep your hands to yourself,” she replied.

  “Promise,” I smiled and clasped my hands behind my back.

  “Are those the same clothes you were wearing two days ago?” Alexis asked.

  “Are yours?”

  She gestured to the alleyway. “I have an excuse.”

  I looked down at my muddied jeans and blouse. “Um... yeah. I have been out.”

  “Doing what?” she asked.

  “Hunting,” I replied without thinking.

  “Right, you're a vampire,” she said sarcastically.

  “You still do not believe me?” I asked, the strange pain from our earlier conversation reemerging.

  “Of course I don't. Come on, I mean, a vampire? They don't exist. You could have at least come up with something a little more original,” she said, crossing her arms.

  “I shouldn't have come,” I said and turned to leave.

  She reached out and touched my arm. I froze, basking once again in her warmth. “Look, I'm sorry, but you can't really expect me to believe you. I mean, the only way I would was if you...” her voice trailed.

  “If I what?”

  “Look, it's silly. I mean, I would need indisputable evidence,” she said.

  “I can prove it to you, but I will have to touch you,” I said, holding my hand out to her.

  “What will you do?” She scanned the alley, perhaps looking for someone to save her should she end up not trusting me.

  “Jump,” I replied shortly, looking up.

  Alexis followed my eyes to the top of the abandoned building. “I don't know,” she said skeptically.

  “I promise I won't hurt you.”

  She gingerly took my hand. “None of your hypnosis stuff.”

  “Trust me,” I replied, stepping closer to her.

  Gently, I put my other hand around her waist. “Hold on,” I said, grinning.

  She wrapped her arms around my neck, sending fire pulsating through me. I savored the heat for a second before pushing off. Alexis gasped, her hold tightening as we left the ground. We moved swiftly upward and landed gracefully onto the roof of the four-story building.

  Letting her go, she scrambled away from me.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, worried.

  “You... you're!” she stammered, her hand over her chest.

  I stood motionless, watching her stare wordlessly at me, her heart pounding in her chest as the wind tossed my wavy red hair, my lips a thin line.

  “You're a vampire!” she exclaimed and I smiled in triumph.

  The sun came out from behind the clouds, washing us in sudden warmth and radiating light. I saw the long list of questions within her lovely green jewels.

  “Wait! How are you outside?” she blurted.

  “Why? Are you worried I'll explode into flames?” I laughed.

  Darkening, she said, “You're making fun of me.”

  She scowled at me and I laughed. />
  “I can walk in sunlight, though I do get sunburned easily so I go through a lot of sunscreen. While we're at it, I avoid crosses and churches only because I don't like them. Like the sun, they cannot physically hurt me.”

  “What about garlic?” she asked, sitting on the ledge a few feet from me.

  “I don't eat food, and garlic is a food. So I suspect it will do what all food does, make me sick, but only if I ingest it.”

  “Food makes you sick, as in vomiting and... The runs?” she asked, eyes wide. “Do vampires get the runs?”

  “No, Immortals don't defecate. However, we do vomit and on occasion, urinate,” I explained with a smirk.

  “You pee?” Alexis exclaimed.

  “About twice a week, depending on how much blood I consume.” I grinned.

  She stared at me.

  “Yes, I drink human blood. I did feed off you, remember? I prefer fresh, but mostly I drink donated blood,” I said.

  “You mean from the blood bank?”

  “Yes, but it's cold and not as appetizing.”

  She bit her lip.

  “What?” I asked, wetting my own lips. I wanted to kiss her until those large deep emerald eyes closed in pleasure.

  “Can you drink animal blood, like Angel or the Cullen’s?” she asked.

  I admired the way the sunlight brought the gold out in her hair. “Pure fiction! We have to drink human blood. It has something in it that our bodies need to function.”

  “What?”

  “I don't know, I'm no scientist.” I shrugged.

  “Don't you want to know?” she asked.

  “Not in particular.”

  “Have you ever tried?”

  “No, I haven't, and I wouldn't ever want to,” I said, my voice harsher than I intended.

  She scowled. “But if it keeps you from hurting people...”

  “I don't care. It tastes good, it makes me feel good, and I know I need it to live,” I snapped. Alexis drew back from me and I instantly regretted my harsh words. “I'm sorry. This isn't a subject I prefer to talk about. It is rather personal.”

  “More personal than peeing?”

  “Much.”

  She sat for a long moment, downcast. “I wasn't trying to pry,” she said, her voice low.

  “I know,” I said. “I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm sorry.” She shrugged but did not look at me.

  I sighed. “I lived in my master's castle with many servants and guards. After she changed me, I killed everyone, not caring who or how old they were.”

  She met my gaze. “When I satisfied the blood lust, I stood among their corpses and felt nothing.” I looked away from her, ashamed.

  “I knew I should feel something, regret, remorse, sadness, but there was nothing. Only emptiness and it frightened me. So for a hundred years, I barricaded myself inside the castle, only leaving to feed,” I continued.

  “A hundred years?” she asked.

  I nodded. “I roamed those empty halls among their rotting corpses, alone, afraid of the monster I had become.”

  “Someone must have noticed that no one left the castle?” she asked.

  “Yes. Eventually, word spread and hunters came to rid the castle of the ‘demon.’ They rallied the villagers and entered my prison with fire, spears, and pitchforks. They came seeking my death but found their own. Even the Immortal Council received word about me and sent two Immortals to retrieve me. I was lucky they came. It's why it's a sensitive subject,” I said.

  “What would have happened if they had left you alone?” she asked.

  The sun was rising beyond the city's horizon, engulfing her in a halo of light. “I would have become crazed or I might have fallen into a deep sleep—a form of hibernation. Some very old Immortals can hibernate for a few centuries without drinking blood. Although, I have never heard of a youngling doing so,” I explained.

  “Youngling?” she asked, confused.

  “A youngling is younger than four hundred years.”

  “And older vampires can hibernate?” she asked.

  I nodded. “I heard the council elders do. Please stop calling us 'vampires'. We prefer ‘Immortals’.”

  “Why?” Alexis asked.

  “The word vampire comes with a bad stigma. Humans have twisted facts and fictions together to weave a bloody, evil picture regarding my kind,” I said, frowning.

  “So you're not evil, destined to spend eternity in Hell? Even though you sometimes kill people?” she asked and I could see her confusion.

  I looked at my hands and sighed. “I don't know if any of the religious tales are true. However, I can say that when I need to feed I can feel the demon lurking just below the surface. But the demon is not who I am. I'm a person. He just occupies space within me.”

  “You mean like a parasite?”

  “I suppose you could call him that. The word vampire only describes the part of me that's visible when I feed, but I'm more or less myself the rest of the time. He doesn't make me who I am: a friend, a soldier, and an adventure seeker. I'm just Jaden.”

  “I understand,” she said, resting her hand on my shoulder.

  Her fiery touch made me what to be closer to her. “It's okay. I just want people to see me as more than the demon,” I replied.

  “That's not what I see. So I call you an Immortal?” she said.

  “Please.” I stood. “We should return to ground level,” I said, once again holding my hand out to her.

  She blanched. “Could we use the stairs?”

  “But this way is faster,” I pointed out.

  Alexis sighed and unenthusiastically took my hand. Once again, I held her against me. “Ready?” I asked, thrilled by her closeness.

  She closed her eyes and nodded. I stepped off the roof's ledge and a moment later we landed in the alley. When I released her, she opened them again and let out the breath she had been holding, making me laugh.

  “We are taking the stairs from now on,” she said as she ambled over and sat on the steps. I joined her. “I have so many questions. Do you die if someone stakes you through the heart?” she asked.

  “No, only weapons made of pure silver are strong enough to puncture our skin. Fire can also hurt or kill Immortals, and I have heard that high-grade explosives or land mines can sever our limbs. In such a case, I guess it would be possible to bleed out,”

  “If you bleed like we do then I'm guessing you don't turn to dust or crack like ice when you die,” she concluded.

  “Today's movies are over the top. We look just like human corpses,” I said.

  “Do you like being immortal?”

  “I have never regretted my decision. Over the last nine hundred years, I have seen so much history and experienced so many things. It can be lonely at times, but I try to stay busy.”

  “Nine hundred years old?” she gasped.

  I chuckled. “I was born in the year eleven hundred. I'm exactly nine hundred and seventeen years old.”

  “So it's true. You don't age,” Alexis commented.

  “When you're turned, your physical appearance is frozen. I was turned three months after my nineteenth year,” I explained.

  Wanting to ask some of my own questions, I asked, “How old are you?”

  “I'll be eighteen in March,” she said, giving me a kind smile. “Who was the vamp—I mean, the Immortal who turned you?” she asked.

  “Annora. She was my master,” I replied.

  “How did she make you immortal?”

  “It's a very personal experience shared between two people.”

  “So you're lovers?” she asked, the light blush on her cheeks made her all the more radiant.

  “It's complicated, but yes, we were lovers, once,” I said sorrowfully.

  “Not anymore?”

  I shrugged. “I loved Annora but I was her slave and easily forgotten.”

  “You were her slave?”

  “Everything was different in medieval Scotland. A rival lord attacked my village. After
, slavers picked through the village, collecting the survivors and selling us off,” I explained.

  “Wait, they could just pick up random injured people and sell them as slaves?” she was clearly shocked.

  I nodded. “Without a lord or a weapon to defend yourself, the poor, young, old and injured were easy prey. I was eleven years old when they sold me to Annora for fifteen silver.”

  “Did those things happen often?” she asked.

  “Unfortunately, it was the fastest and easiest way for lords, kings or tribal leaders to gain more land, subjects and power,” I explained.

  “Annora must be very nice,” Alexis said.

  “What makes you think that?” I asked.

  “I mean, she was your lover, and turned you into an Immortal.” She met my eyes.

  Pain tugged at my heart. I had not really sat down and thought about it myself beyond the occasional flashbacks, and no one had ever really asked me about my life before being turned. Now, the memories unfurled in my mind, and the truth hurt.

  “I was her slave,” I repeated.

  “Oh. I'm sorry.” She frowned and rested her hand on my shoulder.

  It was fire on my skin even through my clothing. “It doesn't matter anymore. She is probably dead.” I shrugged her off.

  “Did something happen to her?” she asked, returning her hand to her lap.

  “I don't know. She disappeared right after she turned me.”

  “Oh,” she replied.

  “So, how was work?” I asked, needing to change the subject.

  “Great!” Alexis said, elated.

  I laughed.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” I said, smiling at her.

  “Do you have a job?” she asked.

  “Yes, it's one of the main reasons I'm here,” I said, frowning.

  Her eyes widened in surprise.

  “What, did you think I got all my money off of my victims?” I asked when I saw her expression.

  She looked away, blushing even more. “I'm sorry!”

  I gently touched her cheek and she regarded me with the kindest eyes I had ever seen. “It was a good guess, and it's not far from what many Immortals do. We do not kill our prey—well, we are not supposed to. If the right humans get suspicious, we could be discovered, and they would not like to find out that they are not the highest predator on the food chain. Therefore, we try to keep a low profile. I'm a finance lawyer. Right now, anyway,” I said, smiling.