by Megan Duncan
“I…I don’t understand,” I stammered violently, “you can’t die. You can’t!” I was begging her as if she could control the very act herself.
“I was at peace with it, and I was happy. I was ready to say goodbye to everything, but I wasn’t ready for you. I had accepted the hand that had been dealt to me, but now…now I would give anything for more time. I just wanted to know what it felt like to have a man look at me the way you do.”
“Let’s go back to the city then! I’ll be there for you, Autumn, through everything. I’ll hold your hand and we’ll get you better. I’ll stay with you for as long as you’ll have me.”
She shook her head, new tears spilling from her emerald eyes. “No, Will. Those…those treatments took away who I was.” She rested her hand on her heart. “All those medications, and…and the pain. If it’s my time then I want to go as me. Not as some drug induced, semiconscious lab rat. ”
“This time is different Autumn.”
“There’s no guarantee that it will even work, and I don’t want to go through that again. I don’t want to put you through that.” The fact that she was trying to protect me made tears build in my eyes.
“I don’t care about me!” I told her.
“I do!” she shouted back, and a fit of coughing overtook her. “This wasn’t how I wanted things to be. I never thought I’d like you so much. I didn’t feel like I was leaving anything behind when I was gone, but you…”
“I’m sorry.” It sounded foolish to apologize but I didn’t know what else to say. All I could think about was how I could change her mind. She couldn’t really know what she was saying; she was just talking out of fear from what happened at the restaurant. There was no way she was really throwing in the towel, was she?
“It’s my fault,” she said, shrugging. “I kept away from people for a reason. It was easy with my parents being the way they are.”
“Autumn, do you really want to give up? That doesn’t seem like you at all. Please just try, for me.” I wasn’t ready to give up and I didn’t want her to be either. We had something special, there was a definite connection; an electricity between us and I desperately wanted to know where it would go.
“I don’t look at it as giving up. I have been fighting this for years, William.”
“Then how do you look at it?”
“Giving up would mean letting this illness rule my life and I don’t want to do that anymore.” All I could do was shake my head at her. I couldn’t decide whether I was furious with her or with her illness, but I was convinced she didn’t really mean what she was saying.
“I refuse to accept that. I’m not going to let you give up. You might think there’s no guarantee that another surgery will work, but there’s also no guarantee it won’t. Is there?”
“Well…no…but…”
“Alright then. I’m saving you whether you like it or not, Autumn.” She opened her mouth to protest, but I held up my hand to silence her. “No, there’s nothing you can say to stop me.”
“But, William!” she pleaded with me as I stood up.
“Nothing, Autumn, nothing,” I told her sternly. I wasn’t going to hear any of it. I had one mission, and right now that’s the only thing that mattered.
“Where are you going?” her voice sounded more afraid than anything else. Fear of what happened, fear that I knew the truth, or fear that she pulled me in and I wouldn’t be able to let her go. Little did she know that meeting me could possibly be the only thing that would save her. Me! A murderous, blood thirsty, newly reformed, old vampire! The one good thing about being what I was is that living such a long life you meet a lot of people. A lot!
As much as I hated it, there was one individual in particular that had a very close connection with some of the best doctors, and scientists in the country; if not the world.
Ming.
He had searched everywhere to find the best of the best to work in his blood bank. Not only did he have the connection, but he also had the power and the money. The question was; would he help me?
“I’ve got calls to make,” I winked at her before walking out of the room.
I had a mission, and absolutely no time to waste. She gave me a teeny smile through her saddened expression and I hoped she knew I meant every word. I wasn’t going to give up on her. Everyone else in her life might have, but I wouldn’t. I wasn’t just fighting for her life, but mine as well. I knew that if I lost her I’d lose myself and there would be no turning back from that.
~
10
Deal With The Devil
Time was of the essence, but trying to gain the devils favor wasn’t easy. Ming had refused my every request to speak with him. Autumn was growing weaker each and every day, and I was growing more desperate. The stress level had increased my appetite ten-fold and with Ming ignoring me I had no other choice than to find blood someplace else. In a matter of weeks the wildlife population of Denton had been reduced significantly. But, I did find that I much preferred feeding on animals than microwaving the contents of refrigerated blood bags. Plus, drinking live helped subdue my darker side and I hadn’t had a “fang out” since the night Autumn fell ill, which was three weeks ago. The more time I spent holding back the monster I was, the easier it was becoming.
I knew it was time I gave up on reaching out to Ming. It was time I forced him to listen. Autumn’s health was slowly deteriorating, and I’d tried every other option I could think of. I just couldn’t come up with the money, or find a doctor that was willing to perform another risky surgery. It seemed as though every time they looked at her file they immediately turned me away. Back in my day doctors cared more about saving people than worrying about the politics of health care. In as little as one week I was thrown out of ten hospitals for causing a scene. I wouldn’t call using every curse word in the book a scene, or telling the last doctor he looked like the penguin from the Batman movie, a scene. No, if they wanted a scene I could most definitely give them one, but there wouldn’t be anything left of them if I did.
With every doctor within a nearly four-hundred mile radius either threatening to put a restraining order against me, or press charges, I knew Ming was our only chance. And that was why I was driving to his facility. I would break the door down if I had to; he would see me.
Before leaving for the city I stopped to see Autumn. She was actually more herself than she was most days. I walked in with an armful of fresh flowers, to find her sitting by the window painting. Her skin was paler than it ever was, and her body thinner, but the illness hadn’t tarnished her beauty. Those emerald eyes sparkled through her frail frame and sunken cheeks as I stepped into the room. I spent the afternoon with her as I always did, but today she was particularly distracted; working on an artwork that she wouldn’t even let me get a peek at. I pretended to be hurt by her secrecy, but in truth I was happy to see her painting again. I knew she enjoyed it and if she felt well enough to paint then maybe she was feeling better. It was wishful thinking, but positive thoughts have been known to work wonders. One of the few doctors who hadn’t kicked me out of their office told me so. Unfortunately, they focused on spiritual medicine and couldn’t do anything in the way of surgical procedures, but they did offer a lot of insight on the power of the mind. I couldn’t help but wonder if his techniques would work on me as well. I wasn’t exactly sick, but there was a part of me that I needed to learn to control. Mind over matter…or so they say.
I brought Autumn several books recommended by the doctor for her to try. It was hard for her at first, but I tried a few of the exercises with her and she eventually got the hang of it. After almost a week she began teaching a class at Shady Willows, helping the residents learn the power of positive thinking and the effect it can have on the body. They took to her easily with fascinated curiosity; many of them eager to find a cure for their ailments that didn’t involve another pill, or another dangerous side effect. I had no idea how she found the energy to do it all, but she somehow managed. At
times I felt like she wasn’t one hundred percent onboard with my plan; like she was playing along to please me, but she never said otherwise.
Memories of the last few weeks played through my head as I drove to the city to plead for Ming’s help. It was such a different drive than the last one. Before, I was pulling on an imaginary choke collar to keep from attacking him, and now I was thinking of ways to plead my case. I was willing to beg if I had to. Anything for him to offer the help I knew he could give. If I had to make a deal with the devil to save an angel, then that’s what I would do.
Thirty minutes later I was parked down the street from Ming’s concealed blood bank; staring at the vacant parking lot of a long forgotten manufacturing building. The tall, brick building was checkered with broken windows; tangled with clinging vines and moss. A rusted, rickety fire escape hung precariously from the southern side. I could hear it squeak with deafening intensity as two large ravens landed on it.
I sat, staring at the crumbling building until I felt I had built up enough courage. I needed to win Ming over; Autumn needed me to win him over. Inside that blood bank were the very doctors who could save her. They could very well be her last chance. In a moment of devastating fear I contemplated revealing the truth about me, and offering her the curse I so desperately tried to evade, but I just couldn’t do it. Turning her would be a fate worse than death and I couldn’t do that to her. How could I live with myself if I turned her into a monster?
My hand gripped the handle as I took a deep breath before pushing the door open. A bell chimed my entry, and I clenched my teeth together when a sickeningly familiar face looked up at me. Viola.
“You’re not wanted here,” she growled the words from her desk as she clicked away at the computer. I glared at her, marching toward the back door without acknowledging her. I needed to get to Ming’s office before anyone tried to stop me.
“Hey! You can’t go back there!” she shouted at me as she jumped from her seat. I glared at her, marching toward the back door before she could get to me. “I’m calling security!” she reached for her phone, but I was quicker. I wrapped my fingers around the cord, yanking it from the wall. It popped out easily and in one swift movement I placed the plug between my teeth, wrenching it free of the wires. Viola gaped at me, total shock and disgust plastered on her ugly, painted face as I spit the plug on her desk and flashed her the cockiest grin I could manage.
I stomped my way through the mass of scientists with their cluttered desks and bubbling beakers; through the doctors as they tested blood donations and filtered it from donors. Feeding before coming here was a very wise decision on my part; with as hungry as I’ve been, the intoxicating aroma of fresh plasma would have driven me mad. It was everywhere. With little effort I could pilfer any number of containers from the workstations, or simply walk into one of the refrigeration units and start gulping it down. But, there was something else that seemed easily accessible that I wanted just as much. Doctors. I could bypass Ming altogether and snag one of them; forcing them to help me. All it would take was the threat of one bite and they would help me.
Pushing away the thoughts of kidnapping and binge drinking in the storage room, I trotted toward the stairs to Ming’s office as security guards marched toward me, Viola on their heels. She was pointing at me, screeching profanities as all eyes rolled my way. Ming’s security guards were vampires, it would only take them seconds to reach me; maybe even less. I wouldn’t be shocked if they wanted revenge on the ass kicking I gave two of them the last time I was here.
As I grasped the handle for Ming’s office, the guards reached the bottom of the stairs. I flung the door open, slamming it behind me in less than a second, flicking the lock closed as they pounded on the door. I knew Ming had the door reinforced, so there was no way they were going to get in unless someone unlocked it for them. A gasping laugh escaped me at my small victory. I’d made it inside, and now all I had to do was convince Ming.
“You’ve got some nerve,” he growled at me as he stood beside the window that overlooked his factory. He’d probably been watching me since the second I opened the back door, but why had he let me get this far? “Didn’t I warn you what would happen if you came back?”
“Ming, listen…” I knew I had to get my point across, fast.
“No!” he roared, seething with rage as he flew at me. He pinned me to the wall, his fangs fully extended and his forearm crammed against my throat. “You listen! I told you not to come back here, William. I warned you!”
“I know,” I wheezed, willing my fangs not to extend. It wasn’t easy for me to give in to him, but if I fought back I’d never get him to help me. The old me could never control my temper, but I had to, Autumn’s life depended on it.
“Then why are you here?” he hissed at me, pushing harder against my throat as he breathed his smoky breath into my face.
“I…need your help, Ming,” I replied, letting my body go limp to show I wasn’t going to fight him. Fists pounded at his office door, and my eyes flicked over to it nervously.
“You can get your meals someplace else. We don’t feed traitors here.” His eyes raked across my body with disgust before he threw me across the room.
Drywall cracked against my weight as I crashed into the wall and then crumbled to the floor. I rolled over as a growl rumbled in my gut. Rage was building inside me, but I had to fight it. Ming’s footsteps circled around me as he anticipated my attack. My fist slammed against the floor as I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on the one thing that I knew could calm me down. Autumn’s beautiful face.
“Get up!” Ming ordered.
“No.”
“Get up!”
“No!” I lifted my face, finally opening my eyes once my anger had subsided.
Ming stepped back, a look of shock twisting his features. He’d seen something in my face that he hadn’t expected. I wasn’t sure whether or not that was a good thing. I’d never seen him look at me like that before. There was no time to wonder, so I stood myself up and faced him. He wasn’t threatening me for the time being; this might be my last chance to speak.
“I need your help.” There wasn’t a hint of the old William in my voice. No sign of the longstanding grudge that wedged itself between us.
“What’s happened to you?” He sounded almost afraid, but I could see in his eyes that the fear wasn’t for my safety but for his; like whatever was plaguing me might infect him.
“Nothing has happened to me, Ming.” I risked taking a step forward, and he responded by taking a step back.
“You’re different,” he responded, latching onto his smoking cigar as if it were some sort of security blanket.
“I’ve always been different,” I replied, a smile in my voice. It was true too. I’d never met another of my kind like me. Ming had always attributed it to my maker, a vampire whom no one knew. He’d always said there must have been something unusual about them that made me, me. I couldn’t say I disagreed. I didn’t know who my maker was, but I wished I did. There were so many questions I wanted to ask them. Why did they turn me? What happened to them?
My existence in this world was as mysterious as it was strange. A vampire and its maker were connected by an unbreakable bond, a bond which I’d never felt. I was found in an alley, left for dead in the midst of transformation when Ming had found me. He had saved me. We tried for years to find my maker, but we never found even a hint of a clue. The very fact that I was left for dead, abandoned by the one who should have sheltered me fueled the fire that made me the murderous monster I once was. The monster that Ming had loved so dearly. Through all that fury a tiny thought always hid in the back of my mind. That thought grew like a tiny seed in my head, until it developed into what I was today. A vampire desperate to find the purpose for his existence. Was I just some mistake by my unidentified maker, or was I alive for a reason? Maybe that reason was to save Autumn, because no one else would.
“What do you want?” Ming asked; his fangs retracting as h
e rolled his cigar between his lips.
“I need to borrow some of your staff,” I said, eagerly stepping forward to an open armchair.
“My staff? Why?”
“Because they are some of the best doctors in the country, and I need their expertise,” I answered, taking the evasive route even though I wasn’t sure if I should or not.
“And if you take my staff, who is supposed to push my product?” Ming questioned; always the businessman.
“I’m not going to take everyone, Ming! I just need some…” I paused. If I told him exactly what I needed, then he’d know what I was up to. My goal was to keep Autumn a secret, keep her safe from Ming and my kind. But, I knew Ming and he wouldn’t help me until I told him everything he wanted to know.
“Some?”
“I need all of your top ranking staff. I have something I need their help with.”
“My top staff? So, you’re saying you need my geneticists, my hematologists, my cardiologists and…”
“Yes!” I cut him off, desperate for him to just tell me his terms. I knew he wouldn’t help me for free; it would come at a price. What he didn’t know was that to save Autumn, I would pay anything.
“You’re not going to give up on this are you? William, nothing you do is going to change what you are. Nothing is going to stop your body from wanting what is natural. We are the superior species; it’s time you accept that,” he said, sounding more like a disappointed parent than the adversary he had become.
All I could do was shake my head; little did he know I had found the cure I’d been looking for. “This isn’t about me, Ming.”
“Oh? Then what it’s about? You looking to start a business of your own? I must say, William, I didn’t think you had it in you anymore. Let me guess, you’re going to offer…what? Kosher blood? Or, perhaps you’ll synthesize an organic substitute? Yes! You’ll be the one to crack the code to the formula my best scientists and doctors haven’t been able to in over seventy years!” He began laughing hysterically as he fell into his seat, propping his feet up on his desk.
