‘Okay. I can see you’re still mad. But you better get over it yourself. I won’t wait for you forever, you know.’
‘No? GOOD. Don’t wait. I don’t want you to, you idiot!’
I heard the car door open, and David quickly dropped my arm as Mom called out, ‘Lili? Who are you talking to? And what on earth is taking you so long?’
When Mom appeared, he lifted my suitcase into the trunk, slammed it shut and turned to her.
‘Hello, Mrs McIntyre. How are you today? I just thought I’d come say goodbye to Lili—wish her a safe trip and all.’
‘Oh,’ she said, with a rather curious look on her face. ‘Hello, David. That’s very nice of you, I’m sure, but really, we must be going.’
‘Yes, we must. Goodbye David,’ I said, rubbing my wrist. Then I quickly jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door.
~~***~~
My first flight to Australia was an eye opener. Door to door time, nearly twenty-four hours. But I’d watched movies, chatted to Claire, read magazines and dozed. The flight was long, but tolerable.
Not this time. This time, it felt like we were flying around the world again, and again, and again. I couldn’t focus on the movies or magazines, and there wasn’t anyone to chat to. There was a man beside me, but he was older and seemed to be doing work on his laptop. Other than the initial polite greeting, he hadn’t said a word to me.
When we finally touched down it seemed to take forever for the plane to taxi to the gate. And of course there was a huge line of people at the customs counter. At least I had my Australian passport—that line was a bit shorter. Then there was the wait for luggage, and of course mine was one of the last to come off the plane.
Crystal had said I was to watch for her near the taxi rank. I wasn’t standing there long before I heard a horn honk, and I spotted her car. She pulled over, popped the release and the trunk opened. I quickly threw my bags in, then opened the passenger door and jumped in beside her.
She looked at me and smiled, and it occurred to me that Crystal was probably incapable of looking anything other than stunningly beautiful. Her almond eyes were relaxed, her porcelain skin was as flawless and smooth as ever, and her long dark hair looked like something from a shampoo commercial—smooth, shiny and perfect. There was no suggestion of stress or sadness in her appearance. She looked as she always looked—calm and in control. So, what was with the great urgency to see me?
After the initial pleasantries about how my flight had been and how well I looked, she queried me about why I had to come back on such short notice.
I gave her a quick rundown of what had happened that day in the gardens—the day the young ghost appeared to me and asked for my help. She frowned as I finished my story and suggested that I speak to Sam and Elizabeth about this because, although she admitted she wasn’t very knowledgeable about ghosts, something about the whole thing didn’t sound quite right to her.
After that we drove along in silence for a time, then she turned to me for a moment, and I could see what looked like indecision on her face. When she spoke there was a slight edge to her voice that I hadn’t heard before.
‘You must be a bit curious as to why I wanted to pick you up?’
‘Well, yes, I was a bit surprised.’
‘I’d been trying to decide whether I should go see you—or if I could wait until Christmas. You don’t know how glad I was to hear you were coming back sooner. Anyway, I don’t know how to start so I’m just going to jump right in. You see, it all started with Tom. He misses Claire dreadfully. Funny, I didn’t think he would. But it seems he’s grown very fond of her. After she left, he started becoming more and more restless. He still did rounds, and he even came over to chat once in a while. But then he started to disappear for days at a time. Michael and I suspected he was slipping up a bit, but he was leaving the area so we didn’t get too worried about it.’
‘You know, Crystal, I’ve always wondered why Tom doesn’t just find a vampire girlfriend—I mean, it would be a lot easier, don’t you think?’
‘It would, if he wanted to leave here. But you see, we won’t allow any other vampires to stay.’
‘Oh, I see.’
‘And you know Sam won’t leave. And Tom and Sam are so close so I don’t think Tom will ever leave either. So, he meets these human girls, and gets involved. But these relationships of his have never lasted very long … at least, not before Claire.’
It was my chance, and I took it.
‘What about Sam? Does he, too, meet human girls, like Tom does?’
She smiled. I was sure she knew why I’d asked.
‘No. Well, yes, I believe Sam has had dates over the years—friends of the girls that Tom dates mostly—but he never seemed to get terribly involved with any of them. Sam changed when he met you. We all saw it, and we were happy for him.’
There was still one thing that I wanted to know, that I hadn’t been able to ask Sam. ‘How do they do it, Crystal? I mean, as vampires, aren’t they meant to kill people and drink their blood? How do Tom and Sam spend so much time with us, have relationships with us, safely?’
‘Lili, imagine your favourite food in the world. Now, imagine that the aroma of this food is ten, or even fifty, times as strong and enticing as it would normally be. Now, what if you hadn’t eaten anything for many hours and you were really quite hungry. Could you, if you had to, sit beside that tempting food, and not touch it?’ She paused for a moment, watching my face, then continued. ‘Of course you could. And so it is with them. They can control themselves; they just don’t let themselves get too hungry.’
She sighed, and when she spoke again, her voice was more serious.
‘Anyway, we’ve gotten side-tracked. Like I said, Michael and I suspected Tom was slipping up a bit, but because he wasn’t doing anything in our area we didn’t get too worried. But Sam worried. After all, Tom is like a brother to him, so he’s tried very hard over the years to keep Tom in line. But this was different. Tom was different, and none of us knew where he was going. And that had Sam worried.’
The traffic slowed as we got closer to the city. It was mid-morning but there were still a lot of cars on the road. Crystal kept her eyes on the traffic, but continued to talk.
‘Anyway, Sam tried to follow Tom, several times, but Tom always gave him the slip. So Sam started spending time with Erranase. You see, there was always a strong connection between Tom and Erranase—much more so than with Sam and Erranase. Anyway, Sam hoped that Erranase might know something about what Tom was doing, and where he was going.’
‘And did he? Did Erranase know what Tom had been doing?’
‘No, I don’t think he did. But the real point is … well, I can only guess it must have been Erranase that said something to Sam about it. I don’t know of anyone else that could have told Sam. You see, there are so few that know about this ability. And even fewer that have actually seen it done.’
‘Ability? You’re losing me, Crystal.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry. I know I’m not explaining myself. It’s just—I haven’t had anyone that I could talk to about this. Michael doesn’t even know.’
There was definitely something very wrong. And as I continued to look at her, I saw a strange expression cross her face.
‘Hey, whatever it is, it’ll be alright. You always say so. If Sam is in some sort of trouble, then let’s help him, if we can. But please, don’t take it all on your shoulders—whatever it is.’
‘You’re so sweet to say that, Lili. But unfortunately, this is something that is because of me. You see, Sam found out that I have the power to return vampires to humans.’
I wasn’t entirely sure I’d heard her correctly. In fact, I was pretty sure that I couldn’t have heard her correctly. Weren’t we just talking about Tom? But it sounded like, I mean, could Crystal have actually said she has the power to return vampires to humans? Could she actually have that ability? That couldn’t be what she said, could it? I mean, if she could do that
, why wouldn’t she have done it earlier?
‘Lili, I think I’ve upset you. Let’s go to my place, and I’ll make us a coffee and we can sit and talk. It’s a rather long story, and I want to explain it right … so you understand.’
We were in the city now, making our way past the turn off to Debs apartment, then up the hill toward the park. Everything looked the same as it had when I’d left a few months earlier. And yet, it all seemed a blur. I was exhausted from the flight, of course, but I don’t think that was it. My mind raced with the thought that Sam could be human. Maybe this was why she’d said it would all work out for us. We could be together—for real. We could be a normal couple. We could have a family. We could grow old together. He could be the one sitting beside me on that porch, watching our grandchildren play. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head.
When we walked into the house I started to relax. Her house smelled like her—that subtle scent that reminded me of angel-food cake—sweet, but not overpowering. It calmed me instantly. Besides, I knew that whatever she had to tell me, it couldn’t be bad. After all, what could be bad about Sam becoming human?
I sat at the kitchen table while she made us coffee.
‘Where do I begin?’ She asked, looking anxious when she sat down across from me.
‘Well, you could begin by telling me how you’re going to make Sam human. I mean, you are going to, right?’
‘It’s not that simple, I’m afraid,’ she said, looking down at her hands.
‘Why not? I don’t understand. I mean, this is wonderful news, Crystal. I don’t understand why you would be upset about it. It’s the best news I could possibly imagine.’
‘Before you get too excited, let me explain how it works—and what I know. Let me go back to the beginning. It was so long ago. Like I said, I can only imagine that it would be Erranase that told Sam about it. I’m sure Michael knows nothing.’
I tried to sit quietly, but my legs jiggled with nervous energy. Why hadn’t she told me about this earlier? She knew how badly Sam and I wanted to be together. This was the solution, wasn’t it? I found it hard to focus on what she said, but I tried.
‘One day when I was at Mladen’s school, he wanted me to meet a young boy who’d been brought to the school—a boy who had been changed into a vampire. No one could understand how or why he’d been changed. No one took the blame, and no one hung around to teach him the vampire ways. But it was clear by his flame red eyes and translucent skin what had happened to him.’
‘Who brought him to the school?’ I regretted the question as soon as I’d said it. I mean, really, did it matter? I only wanted to hear the end of the story, not all the details.
‘It was one of Mladen’s teachers. There’d been rumours in a nearby town, about a very sick boy. The teacher suspected what might have happened so he went to check it out, then brought the boy and his mother to the school. That’s when Mladen sent for me.’
‘So that you could change him back to human, right?’ This part I was interested in.
‘Well, yes, as it turned out. But I didn’t know that at the time. Mladen had me sit with the mother while she told her heartbreaking story. You see, the boy was rather simple minded. And his father had left them years earlier so she was raising him on her own. She rarely left his side, but this one day she had to leave him alone for a few hours. When she returned he was gone. She was beside herself with grief and guilt. Luckily he was found by some nice boys that knew him, so they took him home. They didn’t understand why his eyes were red—they just thought he was sick. Word got out about this sick boy, and that’s when the teacher heard about him.’
Crystal paused, and took a sip of her coffee. I smiled and nodded, hoping she’d hurry up and get on with it.
‘The boy was very weak. He hadn’t been able to eat or drink, and his skin was getting more and more translucent every day. His mother broke down a few times while telling me the story. When she finished, she just looked at me with tears running down her face, and begged me to help him.
‘That’s when Mladen asked me to hold the boy. I hesitated, but Mladen urged me so I gently reached forward expecting the boy to recoil, but for some reason he seemed to accept my touch. I took him in my arms, like you would do with an infant. He was so light—there was nothing to him. I rocked him and hummed a little lullaby which seemed to give him some comfort. And as I did this, I began to cry. I’d never cried before, Lili. The sensation was unfamiliar, but it felt right. So I just continued to hum while I rocked this poor boy. Eventually, a tear made its way down my cheek and dripped onto his face. When this happened he closed his eyes and went very still. I thought the poor boy must have died, even though I’d been told it wasn’t possible for a vampire to die from hunger. But when he opened his eyes, they were blue, and then his skin began to regain some of its colour.’
Crystal smiled, seeming to enjoy the memory. ‘I looked at Mladen, hoping for some sort of explanation, but he shook his head and simply told the mother to take her boy home and give him food and water. He said that he’d be fine, once he’d eaten and rested. Needless to say, the woman was overjoyed, and thanked us over and over again.’
‘I don’t understand Crystal. So, what happened?’
‘It was my tears—the tears of a dhampira. You knew that dhampiras are rare, didn’t you? Well, not only are we rare, but it seems some of us also have rare powers. This was very old magic, and something that is not well known, even in our world. As I said, I’m pretty sure Michael knows nothing about it, and so I can only put it down to Erranase. He has lived many thousands of years, so it is possible that he’s come across this before.’
‘And Sam has been spending time with him.’
‘Yes, Sam has been spending much more time with Erranase than ever before.’
‘But if you can … I mean, if he can be human, then …,’ I couldn’t even bring myself to say it.
‘Lili, that mother was going to die of a broken heart. And the boy would never have been able to understand his condition. He was truly pathetic. That was what brought me to tears. That was what saved him—his own pathetic condition, and his mother’s heartache.’
‘Oh, so you can’t just cry any old time … so you couldn’t just, you know, sit down with Sam and change him?’
She shook her head, and looked down at the table.
But she could at least try, couldn’t she, for Sam’s sake? I mean they were such good friends and all. I took a deep breath, and tried to keep my voice calm. ‘So, Sam found out about this power, and asked you to help him become human.’
‘Yes, Lili, Sam asked me to make him human so he can be with you and lead a human life,’ she said, looking at me now—her eyes wide.
‘And why … I mean, does this scare you? So, maybe it won’t work in every case. Is that what you’re worried about? But you could at least try, couldn’t you?’
‘I’ve only ever done this twice in all my years, Lili. And the second time was very much like the first—a young girl—she was only thirteen.’
‘And you’re afraid because … Sam isn’t as young as they were?’
‘I’m afraid because both those times, the change had only just happened. With the boy, it was weeks. With the girl, it was a few months. But with Sam, if I remove the contagion, his body may be cleansed but it may also be a body that is ... I mean, the vampire contagion is what keeps him looking as he does, as he did when it entered his body. If the contagion is cleared from his blood, his human body could simply turn to dust.’
The significance of her words hit me like an avalanche. He could die. Really die. Cease to exist. Now I understood why she was frightened. But she was only guessing, right? It mightn’t work that way at all.
‘Crystal, have you spoken to Mladen to see what he knows?’
‘Yes, of course I have. I went to see him immediately. He doesn’t know any more than I do. Like I said, this ability is extremely rare. Mladen had never seen it before I cured the boy, he h
ad only heard of it. He was nearly as surprised as I was when that boy opened his eyes and they were blue again.’
Her distress unsettled me. I was used to her being the calm one, the one that took everything in her stride. ‘So, what can I do, Crystal? You want me to talk to Sam, and talk him out of it?’
‘Yes. That’s exactly what I want. He has been pressuring me, begging me. Seeing him in such a distraught condition pulls on my heart strings. Then, knowing that he could die, well, it might be enough to bring me to tears. I can’t discuss this with him; in fact I try not to be alone with him. I’ve been careful, but he’s so determined.’
‘Okay, I’ll speak to him. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. He’ll listen to me.’
My words sounded much more confident than I felt, but I would certainly do everything in my power to make him see reason.
‘I hope so. I mean, if he’s going to listen to anyone, it will be you. It’s been so hard. And to be honest, I think he’s been getting encouragement from Elizabeth.’
‘Elizabeth? What makes you say that?’
‘Well, it’s just something he mentioned once. He said Elizabeth thinks it will work.’
‘But why would she want him to take the risk? That doesn’t make any sense.’
‘Elizabeth only knows what Sam has told her, so she mightn’t have any idea of the risks involved. But when you think about it, regardless of whether it works or not, she wins. If he becomes human, then he will age and eventually die and then he’ll be with her. She will finally be able to leave, and take him with her. But if it doesn’t work, and he dies straight away as I fear he might, then she still wins, just sooner. So, you see?’
‘Oh, I see what you mean.’
‘So, you’ll speak to Sam, today?’
‘Yes, but first I think I’ll go see Debs. I need to take a shower and change out of these clothes. Then, I’ll ring Sam.’
Crystal smiled, back to her beautiful, calm, collected self. She stood and came over and gave me a big hug. ‘I’m so glad you’re home, Lili.’
Sacrifice (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 2) Page 4
