Apotheosis of the Immortal

by Joshua A. Chaudry

  “Sara, what’s happening? What can I do?” He wanted to help, but didn’t know how.

  Seeing his horrified grimace, she hid her face once again in embarrassment. “I’ll be fine; let’s just hurry.” Her voice was muffled as she spoke from behind her hands.

  “Don’t be embarrassed, Sara. I know this isn’t your fault. Just stay close to me and keep your distance from everyone else.” He took her hand and helped her to her feet. In minutes, they emerged from the forest at the town gates. Elijah wished it was closer to full dark, but he knew the shops would close if they waited much longer.

  As they walked into town, Elijah stared everywhere, completely amazed by the sights. He had only been about five years old when he’d last been here, and now it was like seeing it for the first time. It was just a small town, but it didn’t seem small to him.

  He had never seen so many buildings in one place, or so many people. Even this late in the evening, the place was buzzing with life. Sara was pressed firmly against him and was squeezing his arm ferociously as they walked through the town. He could tell she was fighting to keep her wits about her and hoped to god she didn’t lose control.

  “The first thing we need to do is get some new clothes so we don’t look so out of place in these filthy rags, and then we will get some food for you.” He whispered over his right shoulder to Sara who was now attached to him like a leech as she hung her head awkwardly. He searched down the row of buildings and signs until he saw one that read Gondal’s Tailoring and Linens.

  “There it is; stay with me, and remember to keep your head down.” He pulled her close and kissed her on the side of the head, ineffectually trying to ease her obvious misery. As they walked through the door of the tailor’s shop they saw a number of fancy dresses and all sorts of men’s clothes.

  “Can I help you?” A small voice piped up from across the room.

  “Yes, my wife and I need to purchase some new clothes.” As he spoke, he could see the man behind the counter eyeing Sara and pushed her further behind him. “We were raided on the way here. We barely made it out with our lives.” Elijah spoke to ease the man’s obvious curiosity. The man stood up and squinted; he was either suspicious or he couldn’t see well.

  “Okay, I’ll just need to get your measurements.” The man turned around and rifled through some things looking for his equipment.

  “No, we don’t really have time. I just need a tunic, leggings, and a surcoat with sleeves and a hood; my wife, only a simple gown and a surcoat. Anything will do.” He spoke quickly, knowing he needed to get Sara out of there as quickly as possible.

  “Well, everything I have is there in front of you; just pick out what you’d like.” The man pointed to the back wall and sat back down, never taking his eyes off of the pair. Elijah quickly grabbed everything they needed and walked to the counter.

  “What is this?” Elijah frowned as he pointed to a small hat lying on the counter.

  “That is called a beret; you have never seen one?” The man seemed surprised, and he held it out to Elijah. “Here, try it on. I’ll sell you this entire lot for seven billon obole.” Elijah tried on the beret and looked down at Sara, who was still staring at the floor.

  “Very well, I’ll take it, but all I have are silver deneros.” Elijah took them out of his pouch.

  “All right, five denero.” The man slapped the counter and smiled as he shouted, obviously his way of concluding a sale.

  “Do you have a room where we can put on these fine new clothes?” Elijah asked while handing him the silver.

  “Yes, there is a room in the back.” The man nodded towards a corridor connected to the adjacent wall.

  Elijah was glad to get away from him; he could feel Sara’s grip tightening around his arm and was worried she wouldn’t be able to control herself much longer.

  As they entered the room in the back, Elijah noticed her face looked much worse; the whites of her eyes were now bright red and she was beginning to resemble the monster he had seen last night.

  “It’s okay, Sara, just try to stay calm; we are almost finished. After this we’ll get something to eat.” He handed her the gown and surcoat and then turned around to change. “Damn, this is a lot of layers; I can’t believe people actually dress like this, can you?” Sara didn’t reply so he turned around and found her leaning against the wall, nearly unconscious. “Sara, Sara, wake up.” He shook her gently as he pleaded.

  After a few seconds, her eyes opened and she hissed, revealing two sharp fangs.

  “Sara, calm down.” He held her firmly against the wall. After a minute she began to look more human and Elijah let her go. “Here, put these on.” Elijah handed her the clothes again.

  In a matter of moments she had changed, and once again attached herself to Elijah as they walked back through the store and out the door.

  “Look over there,” Elijah pointed across the street to a tavern. “I’ll go in and get some food for us. You just stay out here and keep your hood up.” He opened his eyes wide and held her by the shoulders as he stared into her bright red eyes.

  “No, I need to stay with you,” she pleaded, trembling with fear.

  “I think it’s safer for you to stay out here. There are a lot of people in there; you might lose control. You’ll be better off out here. Just stay in the shadows where no one can see you. I’ll only be a minute.” He led her to the side of the tavern and reminded her again to stay there while he went inside for supplies.

  Walking into the tavern, Elijah was overwhelmed by the smell of sweaty men and barley ale. The place was loud and rowdy. He looked to his left and saw a man pulling a working woman into his lap; she quickly jumped to her feet and slapped him across the face. The man stood up, and, for a minute, Elijah thought he might slap her back, but he just sat back down and took another swig of his ale.

  “What can I do for you?” The man behind the bar was put together well and had a pleasant manner.

  “I just need some food, whatever you’ve got will be fine,” Elijah’s eyes were wide as he gazed around the room while drumming his fingers on the bar.

  “Well, we mostly serve alcohol here, but we do have some bread and maybe some turkey bits.” The man smiled and laughed.

  “Thank you. I’d like to have one loaf of bread and the bits. And please hurry.” Elijah kept tapping his fingers on the bar as his worry for Sara continued to escalate.

  A few minutes later the man brought out a bag. As he handed it to Elijah, a loud scream blasted into the tavern from outside. Everyone in the bar dashed out to investigate.

  Elijah expected the worst, and he was right. As he walked out of the bar, he saw a circle of men standing around Sara as she dropped the blood-drained body of a young man to the ground. Her hood had flown back, exposing her still-red eyes and distorted face.

  “She is a demon! We must kill her,” voices shouted throughout the crowd.

  Elijah watched as they came at her with swords and pitchforks. “We need to burn her. It’s the only way to make sure she stays dead,” another voice harangued from somewhere in the crowd.

  Sara was hissing and clawing at her attackers, but she was surrounded by a large horde and couldn’t watch them all. A few men slashed at her from the front as another man sneaked up behind her. He pulled back his sword, ready to thrust it through her heart.

  Elijah hadn’t wanted to kill anyone else, but he had no choice at this point. He raced forward and snapped the man’s neck before he could strike. Seeing his speed and power left the crowd awestruck, and everyone took a few steps back. Seizing the opportunity, Elijah cradled Sara in his arms and ran as hard as he could out of town. It would have been impossible for the townspeople to keep up with him. He could feel Sara gnawing viciously at his neck as he ran, but it didn’t slow him down.

  He didn’t know how long he ran, but he finally began to feel weak from the blood loss, although she was no longer sucking at his neck. Stopping for a minute to rest, he laid Sara on a hillside. Her e
yes were closed as he lay beside her. She looked human once again.

  He lay beside her quietly, wondering what he was going to do with her, if he could help her at all.

  Chapter 8

  Why couldn’t he sleep? Elijah’s eyes were heavy and his mind was weak; he couldn’t understand why he didn’t drop off to sleep immediately.

  “Elijah, my prince.” Sara rolled over and was now lying on her side with her head propped on her hand. Her dark hair fell down her back and gently caressed the ground. As he looked at her, she filled his soul with love; in spite of all he had seen her do, he saw nothing but beauty.

  “You rescued me again!” She smiled and crawled closer to him as she spoke.

  Before he knew it, she was on top of him, straddling his waist. She slowly leaned forward. What was she about to do? Elijah needed to be wary; she was very fast and strong.

  All of a sudden she went for his neck again, mouth open. But did she want to kill him or kiss him? Elijah’s instinct was to throw her off. He was strong enough, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He worried he might have made the worst decision of his life. Giving her the upper hand like this could get him killed… but then, where she had been gnawing just minutes ago, her soft lips and wet tongue stroked over the mending wound like healing rains.

  Her mouth moved across his neck and then down to his collarbone. Elijah couldn’t move. He was frozen in ecstasy. Once again her lips caressed his skin, and her soft hair cascaded down around her face, tickling him a bit.

  After taking a moment to regain his composure, he wrapped his arms around her and flipped her onto her back. Now he was on top; he was in control, and he continued to kiss her on the mouth and neck and then lower. Slowly, he ran his hand up under her gown, along the thigh of her bent leg.

  They continued kissing passionately as he pushed her gown further up and she pulled at his tunic. In just moments, their clothes were off. As they began making love, Sara moaned out in pain and ecstasy, as it was her first time. Elijah moved to retreat, but she grabbed him, urging him on; her fingernails raked hard against his back. Elijah was inside of her as they rolled over once again and continued making love; her hands were now pressed firmly against his chest. Before that night they had both been virgins, together they had become something much different.

  Once more she went for his neck, and once again her soft lips flowed against his skin. As need to once again feel her tongue on his neck built inside him, he was surprised by a sharp pain as she was once again sucking at his neck. It hurt, but he enjoyed it, and putting his hand on the back of her head, he pressed her face against his neck to let her know it was okay. It wasn’t the pain he enjoyed, but the closeness, and he realized then, due to his new condition, he was as able as he was happy to be her life-giving source.

  Grabbing a handful of her hair, he pulled her away from his neck and pushed her mouth to his. As he kissed her, he could barely taste the blood on her tongue.

  As the night lingered, her tenacious grip around his chest lost not a bit of fervor. He thought for a moment how drastically different his life had become overnight. He also decided that, until he could find a way to help her, until he could discover a more permanent solution for her hunger, she should use him as her only source of blood, and no more innocent people would have to die.

  Neither of them could sleep. Curled up in each other’s arms, the two talked about many things. Despite the recent atrocities that had changed their lives, they were both finally where they had longed to be for years.

  “We’ll need to go soon.” Elijah swept the hair from her cheek.

  “Where are we going?” She looked up into his eyes.

  “You’ve heard of Jaen; that is where we need to go. It’s to the south.” Elijah spoke with confidence as he laid his head back on the ground. “No more eating people, either. If you need blood, you will take mine, understood?” he stared into her eyes to emphasize his point.

  “Understood.” She closed her eyes and ran her fingers down his face; she seemed happy.

  Elijah knew, despite everything they had been through and the horrors they had witnessed, they were still the same people at heart. There were differences; they were no longer innocent children playing together, as they had years ago. Their childhood had vanished long ago, but only now had their innocence been taken from them.

  Chapter 9

  When they passed other travelers on the road south, Elijah would pull Sara close to him. He lived with the constant fear that she would lose control.

  The sun had just broken over the horizon when they first saw the city of Jaen. Just outside the city, he took her far from the path and removed his tunic.

  “Here, eat.” He turned his head and gestured toward his neck.

  “I’m not even hungry. I’ll be fine.” As she turned to walk back to the path, he caught her arm.

  “Please, Sara, feed yourself. I don’t want to risk any more lives.” He pulled her close and kissed her before he turned his head and closed his eyes. He still wasn’t used to watching her feed; her distorted face made her look like a stranger.

  After she was finished, he waited the moment it took for his wound to heal, then wiped off the blood and replaced his tunic and surcoat.

  “I’ve got a good idea where to start looking. I know Solomon, and he couldn’t come to a place like this without visiting the temple.”

  She nodded. She, too, knew of Solomon’s love for all things holy, which now seemed ironic, if not bizarre.

  Elijah was mesmerized when they walked through the city gates. “I didn’t know men could build such things!” He stared wide-eyed at all the buildings within the city walls.

  “That must be it.” Sara pointed towards the most beautiful and elaborate building Elijah had ever seen, and he knew she must be right. As they walked through the entrance of the building, Elijah saw a large group of men who all seemed to be moving and speaking as one. The language they were speaking was very similar to his own, but not exactly the same; still, he could tell they were praying.

  A tall man with a thick beard immediately noticed them and began to speak as he walked towards them, although Elijah could only make out a small bit of what he was saying. He was obviously agitated and seemed to be directing Sara into a different room as he motioned for them to remove their shoes.

  Elijah instructed Sara to wait outside while he quickly looked around for Solomon. He removed his shoes and sat them against the wall while she walked outside. This seemed to appease the man, because he quit talking and left Elijah alone.

  “You are from the north.” Elijah turned to look at a man speaking in his own tongue.

  “Yes, my name is Elijah, and I am here looking for someone.” Elijah went on to describe Solomon. The man immediately began to nod. He claimed to have seen such a man there just two days ago, but had no idea where he had gone.

  “He came in and watched the men doing their prayers. He watched for quite a while. He seemed to be carrying a great burden and it looked as if he wanted to pray, but perhaps didn’t know how, so I walked over to speak with him. As soon as I reached him he politely excused himself and left, and I haven’t seen him here since. Excuse me a moment.” After speaking with Elijah, the man turned and began shouting at a couple of young boys who were wrestling.

  Elijah recalled the pitiful, self-loathing look on Solomon’s face just after they had both watched their father murder their youngest brother, Malaki. He imagined that was the burdensome look the man had seen on his face a couple days ago, and it infuriated him. Solomon had no right to feel sorry for himself!

  Elijah quickly left the mosque, feeling an urgent need to find Sara, worried about what she might do. He looked around outside the mosque, but didn’t see her or her hooded surcoat anywhere. He immediately thought the worst and a surge of nerves began to crash around in his chest. He didn’t want anyone to be hurt, but mostly he was worried about what might happen to Sara if she couldn’t control herself.

 
“Sara!” He shouted again and again as he searched frantically, looking in every dark corner he could find. Hopefully he would find her in time. As he rushed through the market square he spied a petite, hooded figure stepping out from one of the shops. He was filled with relief as the figure turned to reveal Sara’s beautiful—and still human-looking—face. He rushed over to her as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

  “What’s the matter?” Sara’s smiling face quickly turned serious as she looked up at him.

  He reached out and grasped her left arm.

  “Oh, I see, you were worried I had run off to kill someone. You don’t have to watch me every second, Elijah. I’m not the monster you see every time you look at me.” She rubbed what seemed like a tear from the corner of her left eye as she spoke and then looked down at something she held in her hand.

  Elijah began to feel raindrops, first only one or two on his hand, and then pelting down everywhere. As rain began to pour from the sky, he could hear people scurrying about, trying to escape it. In seconds it seemed as if they were alone in the square.

  “I was worried about you!” Elijah shouted over the rain. “I don’t care about these people. It’s you; you are everything I have left and everything I care about. I know what these people will do if you lose control and they catch you… and I need to be there if that happens.”

  He was now gripping both of her arms and staring intently into her eyes. “I love you! I always have, and I would do anything to protect you from them—not the other way around.” He pulled her into his chest and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Always my prince,” she said softly as she wiped a wisp of hair from his cheek. “Give me your arm,” she said, smiling shyly.

  “What’s this?” he asked as she tied something around his wrist.

  “The man in the store said that if you turn it, it becomes the Arabic symbol for the number eight, but as it is, it’s the sign of a horse tether.” She grinned at the look of confusion on Elijah’s face.