Drawing Down the Mist

by Sheri Lewis Wohl

  Instead, here she was driving into the heart of the madness and asking for a silver knife. Part of her wanted to give Dee one. The other part, the more experienced part, knew that would be sending her to her death or, worse, putting her in a position to be turned. In all her years, she’d never turned another. She’d been pleaded with, offered millions of dollars, and been threatened, and she’d still refused them all. Even those she’d cared for. Especially those she’d loved. It wasn’t what one did for a lover if they shared any true affection at all. Well, to be more precise, it wasn’t what she’d done for those she’d really liked. She hadn’t loved anyone since before she’d been turned. She wasn’t sure she could love anyone again.

  After a long silence, Dee said, “I think you’re underestimating me. I’m not totally incapable.”

  “No. I’m not underestimating you. I’m confident you’re quick, smart, and capable. I could tell that the moment we met, but you have to realize that you don’t know what you’re up against. It’s like the old saying about bringing a knife to a gunfight. These things are not human, and their abilities exceed anything you’ve ever seen before.”

  “These things? Are they different from you?”

  Ouch. That hurt, and the feeling was unexpected. Normally she couldn’t care less about being considered less than human. She’d had a lot of time to get used to it and didn’t totally disagree. Coming from Dee, it had a bite she couldn’t have anticipated. The answer she gave her was honest. “No. They aren’t different from me.”

  “Then I don’t see the problem.”

  Sasha certainly did. “You saw how fast those two back there were, right?”

  “Yes. So what? I might not be able to smash their heads to jelly like you can, and I get that. To quote you, what you have to realize is that I know where the heart is, and I can use a knife or a stake or whatever you give me. I can do it.”

  Katrina sighed as she saw a woman, or what used to be a woman, race on foot past the front of the car close enough she could have reached out and tapped the hood. She only braked because she didn’t want to be slowed down by running over her. “Did you see how fast she was going?” She pointed to the vampire now racing up Post Street.

  “Stop. I’m telling you I can do this. You’re not going to be able to save the world all by yourself. I can help, and you’d be stupid not to let me.”

  Another ouch. Normally being called names rolled off her. She simply didn’t care enough about who was spouting for it to matter. With Dee, it suddenly mattered. Still, she planned to hold her ground. She refused to put Dee in danger. “It’s complicated, and I’m not doing it all by myself.”

  “Not all that complicated from my point of view. Stop the vampires, save as many humans as we can. Get the world spinning in the right direction again. What am I missing here?”

  “I’m a vampire. What about me?”

  Dee put her hand on her arm again, and once more, her touch sent a rush of warmth through Sasha. She liked the way it felt, and there was no changing that. “You’re different in a way that really matters,” Dee said.

  She thought about what she was planning to do before the night was over. Did it really set her apart from the ones they’d be hunting? The truth was a little hard to admit to the woman riding next to her, but she did it anyway. “I don’t think so.”

  ***

  Sasha’s tone made Dee really look at her. Maybe she was being naïve. After all, she’d just found out about the existence of vampires, and here she was making a call that sounded like they’d known each other for years. It was one of those immediate things, a connection that didn’t have a good explanation and that people had a tendency to distrust.

  Why not believe it? After all, everything in her world had taken a giant step to the left. Everything in everyone’s world had taken that same giant step. Half her neighbors were probably gone by now, her house was a pile of rubble, and she was riding through the city with a gorgeous vampire. Take all that together, and she had no trouble buying into instant attraction and the feeling of having known Sasha for a lifetime. It was all good, and she decided not to fall victim to distrust. She was going to say screw it and trust her one hundred percent.

  “I’m sticking with my instinct. You’re not like them. Not at all.” She pointed out the window to a female vampire who was feeding on a woman who’d made the mistake of wandering out into the night. How many times throughout the city was this same scenario playing out? It made her sick to even consider what the answer might be.

  Sasha glanced at the macabre scene outside the window and sighed. “No, in many ways I am not like that. Do not mistake me for human, though, because I am very much a vampire and have been for a hundred years. Don’t forget that fact.”

  “Trust me. After what I saw a couple of minutes ago, that’s not going to happen. It still blows my mind, that hundred-year thing.” Dee couldn’t help it. The writer in her wanted to know the story. The way Sasha fought, she had to have been some kind of soldier. Housewives and daughters didn’t fight like that.

  A long silence stretched out as Sasha continued to navigate the streets that were cluttered with empty cars, along with a few of the military vehicles Dee had seen earlier in the day patrolling the streets. She worried they were going to be stopped. It didn’t happen, as it appeared what was left of the military was more focused on the vampires. Shots rang out behind them. She didn’t turn to see. The world seemed to have already come to an end. The one thing that gave her hope was the occasional faces she’d seen peering out of the windows of the downtown condos and the houses they passed as Sasha drove south. All wasn’t lost yet. She hoped.

  Sasha finally spoke. “I came from a very special family, and because of that, we were targets.”

  “For the vampires?”

  Sasha shook her head. “No. Targets for those who wanted to take everything from us, and they did.”

  “Are they vampires too?” She was stuck on that idea. It was incredible to think that might be the case.

  Again she shook her head. “Only me. They are long turned to dust.” Her words were so quiet Dee almost didn’t hear them.

  The sadness in Sasha’s voice made Dee wish she could put her arms around her and hold her close. The obvious love she had for her family was clear, and she had no doubt that losing them had to be a difficult burden to carry. She thought of how she’d feel if her family was dead and gone, leaving her alone in the world. The possibility turned her cold.

  “It must have been hard to stay young and watch everyone you knew grow old.” It was impossible to imagine.

  Sasha glanced over at her, and the tears in her eyes glistened in the dash lights. “I would have cherished being with them as they grew old and died normal, natural deaths. That’s not what happened.”

  Dee almost didn’t want to know but couldn’t help herself from going all the way. “I know you said you’d share your story later, if we survived. Tell me now, please. What happened to them?”

  “My family was executed.”

  ***

  The drive to the park on the city’s south side was relatively quick. It was just a couple of miles from the hotel, and thanks to Katrina’s grand plan, very few cars were on the streets to slow their journey. Another sign of how right everything was with her vision.

  A short distance past the massive hospital that rose from the lower part of the hill, a large sign told them they’d arrived. The main part of the park identified as Manito consisted of a mass of sloping green grass, a large duck pond, and covered picnic areas. A moderate parking area was designated right off the north border, but Eli drove past it and through the park on one of the narrow roads that appeared to traverse the park. He made several turns until they came to another parking area tucked between the hills that gave the park such an interesting character.

  “We’re here.” He got out and came around to her side of the car. He’d been blissfully quiet for most of the drive and was once again acting like the obed
ient Eli she demanded. She was glad he’d thought his behavior through and gotten himself back in line. She really didn’t want to have to train a new assistant until she was firmly placed in her new position.

  After he opened her door, she stepped out and glanced around. From where they were parked she didn’t see anything special. Wasn’t this supposed to be some grand garden? The jewel of the city? A few roses grew up to their left, and that was about all she could see. If this was what people around here thought of as a special garden, they needed to set their expectations higher. No wonder she’d never been inclined to come here before. No wonder she’d never thought to look for her here. This wasn’t the kind of place she had grown up surrounded by. Of course, who knew where she’d been in the intervening years, and this could appear to be paradise in comparison to some.

  “Are you certain we’re in the right place?” She sniffed, moderately impressed by the pleasing scent of flowers wafting through the air. Perhaps there was more than was currently meeting her eyes. She doubted it, given that she was rarely wrong about anything or anybody. It was one of her gifts.

  As she stepped out of the car, three men raced at them. Not now, she thought as she stood her ground. They stopped a few feet away and quivered. Their eyes darted around like animals on the hunt. Essentially that’s exactly what they were: hungry and looking for a meal. The young irritated her, even if she had made them. They were simply too needy, and she wasn’t teacher material. She might have given them life immortal, but making it stick was up to them. She preferred the style and grace of older vampires, like Eli. He was perfect for her purposes. She’d gifted him with immortality, and he’d been a loyal servant ever since. It wasn’t something she’d taught him. On the contrary, she’d left him to his own devices. If he made it, wonderful. If he didn’t, oh well. He had not only made it; he’d flourished. Now, he complemented her style with his own, and it worked for both of them. He was handsome, grateful, and obedient, his earlier moment of sass aside. Given the war they’d just waged on the humans, she’d give him that as long as it didn’t happen again.

  “Stay.” Her one word had the desired effect. It always did. Everyone responded to her commands, human and vampire alike. That was only one of the reasons she was the perfect person to be on the throne. That’s the way she thought of this anyway. A return to the days of royal rule. She hadn’t been born of royal blood. At this point that didn’t matter. Her long life had gifted her with everything she needed to be worthy of a crown, and thus it would be. Those asses back in her suite had thought it would be them, a council of vampires, sharing the power. Stupid, that’s what they were. She wasn’t. Stupidity had cost them everything.

  The recently turned vamps stood with their arms hanging and their mouths working. It was like watching a trio of snapping turtles. It wasn’t attractive. It never was. The cravings were the most intense in the first few days. It felt like the body was on fire, and the only thing to ease the hunger was to feed the fire with blood. Fresh, warm human blood. Old, young, male or female—it didn’t matter as long as the heart was pumping and the blood flowing. She still remembered that feeling even all these years later. The newbies in front of her wanted to move, to search out that rush of fresh blood, but they didn’t.

  She stared at them long enough for them to completely internalize her supremacy. It was a little like imprinting baby animals. Because she took the few minutes necessary to do this, they would always know her and respect her. They would become part of her legion. Young, strong, and helpful. Best of all, disposable.

  “Go back,” she commanded them.

  They turned as one and returned in the same direction they’d come. Their arms still hung at their sides, and they shuffled their feet. “Oh, for God’s sake, you look like zombies. Have some pride, boys. Run!”

  They did, picking up speed until they were running fast, their arms swinging at their sides, and then they disappeared from sight. Soon enough they would find what they sought, and within twenty-four hours they would be ready to do whatever work she gave them. It was just the beginning. There would be dozens, hundreds, thousands more in the blink of an eye. It would be like the red tide flowing in from the ocean. She smiled.

  She turned her attention away from her future soldiers and back to Eli. “Where is she?” No other cars were in the lot, no one else in view. Anticipation of what was to come was growing too strong to ignore.

  He said nothing, just turned and began heading to the end of the parking lot. There he walked up several concrete steps and stood at the top, presumably waiting for her to follow his path. He should have waited and walked with her instead of expecting her to follow like an obedient puppy. Her annoyance with him was beginning to grow again.

  Keeping her anger in check, she followed his path. She would have time enough for him later. Once she arrived at the top of the steps and stood next to him, she understood. Ten or twelve steps down on the other side and hidden from view when standing in the parking lot spread out a garden worthy of the finest English manor. Even in the darkness it was clearly magnificent, and for just a moment, she was impressed. The air was filled with the scent of thousands of blooms. She particularly liked the fountain that was the centerpiece of the garden.

  “She’ll meet us there.” He pointed to the fountain she’d been admiring.

  Despite her appreciation of the design and the work that had gone into the garden, she wasn’t impressed with its suitability as a meeting place. An uneasy feeling settled over her, and she frowned. “I don’t like it. Too wide open.”

  “I get your hesitation, but just remember, it’s the same for her. Once we’re down there, no matter what direction she comes from, we’ll be able to see her. It’s wide open. No way to get close and still stay hidden.”

  Katrina studied the garden more intently. Eli was right. No one could stage a surprise attack if she was standing by the fountain. Everything was open and visible inside the garden. Tall shrubs surrounded the exterior, which gave her pause. Then she decided they were far enough from the fountain not to be an issue. Only flowers swept up close.

  “Let’s go. How much time before she gets here?” Katrina started to descend the steps and walk the concrete path to the center.

  Eli glanced at his watch. “If she’s on time, five minutes or less.”

  Five minutes? She’d been waiting far more than five decades for this moment. Three hundred more seconds was nothing. All her irritation with Eli faded away as energy buzzed through her, and she was smiling as she almost ran to the fountain.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The look of shock on Dee’s face was pretty much what Sasha expected. Her next question wasn’t. A little insulting but not unexpected or illogical. If the shoe was on the other foot, her thoughts would roll the same way.

  “They were criminals?” She did like the note of disbelief in Dee’s words. That took some of the sting out of the insult.

  Sasha smiled because it was so absurd to think about anyone in her family as a criminal. Her gentle, fun-loving sisters. Her delicate, bright little brother. Never. Not in this life or the one they went to. They were waiting in heaven for her, not that it was the direction she was likely to go after the life she’d lived. She had committed some sins she didn’t think she could ever atone for.

  “No, they were not criminals. They were royalty.”

  Dee’s head whipped in her direction, and she stared at her with big eyes. “No way. Who are you? I mean, really, who are you? Why, all of a sudden, do I think Sasha Rudin is a made-up name?”

  This was a conversation she’d had with very few over the years, and she did mean very few. Even Rodney and Prima had no idea of her birth family. She had to think if she wanted to share it even now. Dee was so smart and so alluring. She made her feel alive in a way she hadn’t for a hundred years. Sasha was drawn to her like no other person ever. Not even her lovers. The few she’d taken to her bed had been fun. They’d made her feel less empty, though never quite era
sed the emptiness. She glanced over at Dee and made up her mind.

  “I was born Maria Nikolaevna in 1899.”

  “You’re Russian. Now that you say it, I can hear a ghost of an accent. It’s cute.” Dee was nodding and then abruptly grew still. “Wait. Maria, as in…”

  “Yes.”

  “Holy crap. How did this happen?” She waved her hand at Sasha in a way that seemed to encompass everything. She got it.

  “Let us just say that history is not always written exactly the way it went down.” Sasha pulled the car to a stop around the side of a greenhouse building in Manito Park. She motioned toward herself. “Case in point.”

  “Wow, weren’t you like twenty, twenty-one or something like that? I’m trying to remember my history, but you’ve kind of blown my mind, and facts have flown out the window.”

  “I was nineteen.”

  “Holy crap, nineteen? That’s insane.”

  “Yes.” She remembered how mature and adult she’d considered herself back then. How she’d known that the love she felt for the other woman had been the real thing because she was old enough to know true love. It was going to be the kind of love that lasted forever. What a fool she’d been, and how she’d paid. “A vampire was part of the firing squad. She’d been part of the guards who’d watched us during our captivity, and she was there when they gunned us down.”

  “She turned you?”

  “Worse. Before she shot me and before she turned me, she’d been my lover.”

  Dee was shaking her head. “That’s not right. Not in any world. Not in any time.”

  She wasn’t wrong, and in intervening years that truth had become a heavy stone on her heart. Particularly considering she wasn’t even the youngest in her family. She didn’t want to think about that night or the basement or the sound of the gunshots right before they ripped into her. Or of the woman she’d grown to trust and love who’d carried her bleeding body from that room. She’d thought she’d come to save her. She’d been mistaken about many things that night. It wasn’t life she’d given to her; it was hell on earth. It wasn’t love she wanted from Sasha; she’d demanded obedience and servitude. She’d hated her for it then, and she hated her just as much now.