by Lillian Grey
“Haven’t seen you in a while, Alik,” she said accusingly, looking me up and down.
“Hi, Alison. Sorry about that, I’ve been busy lately,” he replied and I heard what I thought was nervousness in his voice.
Alison turned to Alik. “Yeah, I bet. She seems human enough.”
“Can you call my mother down for me?”
“Sure,” she answered, rolling her eyes.
I pulled him away from Alison, “What do you mean your mother?!” I said in a shouting whisper.
“Everyone here knows her as my mother, and she wishes me to call her that. After all, she created me, so in a way, she is my mother.”
“Oh” was all that came to mind, my previous nervousness escalated.
“Why does it matter?”
“I don’t know…” I looked away from him. "It just matters."
“She’s on her way down to meet you.” Alison raised her voice so we would hear her.
“Thanks Alii.”
“Wha eva.” She went back to her computer.
Alik took me over to the leather chairs to sit while we waited. My curiosity peaked and I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “What was that about? Should the receptionist speak to you like that?”
“Oh, well, umm...” he said, looking at his feet. “She’s been trying to get me to date her for a while; she thinks that if we are dating, I would turn her.”
“So she does know what you are?”
“Yeah,”
“Is she also immune to you?”
“No, but she’s a favorite of my mother and at times its harder to not affect some. Think of it as shes been desensitized but my mother has promised to turn her once she turned eighteen. Although she wants me to do it earlier, and has been very... persistent.”
“Can I ask why you won’t do it?” I looked toward Alison, “she’s really cute.”
“How she looks at me now... I can’t return those feelings, besides they aren’t real, I do still affect her. Also changing another is not too unlike the intimacy of sex. Also I’ve known her since she was eleven, I just couldn't do it,” he said in a low voice and turned to where a tall woman was walking toward us. She was draped in a black silk gown that ebbed and flowed over her form, trailing like water around her ankles, her hair was a white ash that flowed down to her waist, and her eyes were a bright purple. As she got closer, her arms stretched and she bent down to hug me; I was so shocked that I didn’t know how to react. Where he skin touched mine I felt the cold and empty but hide that in my shock.
“So, you’re the one who got the secret out of my son,” she said with a smile.
“Mother, it wasn’t like that,” Alik said, standing abruptly.
“Shush shush; I’m not talking to you,” she said, waving her hand at him and turning back to me. “I’m Lilith; I doubt he’s even told you my name. I’ve tried to cure his ruder habits, but he’s often gone for so long that I haven’t had much progress over the centuries.”
“I can tell. Some children are just stubborn,” I said and I don’t know why I said it but it felt... natural.
She laughed. “So you have managed to gauge him fully; that’s great. Well, come with me. We have much to discuss in private,” she said with a smile. She took my hand and walked me toward the elevators.
In the elevator, Lilith took a small golden key from around her neck and stuck it in a special lock above the buttons. With a twist, it began to climb. I watched the numbers rise, feeling Lilith’s eyes on me the whole time. When it came to a stop on the seventy seventh floor, a little ding sounded and the doors opened to a beautiful penthouse. The same black marble from the lobby made the floor sparkle and frosted glass divided up the wide space with the help of a few elevation changes. Lilith led me to what would have been the living room. Chairs and a sofa scattered around a small table with a TV hanging above the only brick in the whole room, which housed a fireplace. She sat me down on the leather sofa that seemed to be part of the set of chairs in the lobby. She sat adjacent to me while Alik went to the bar that sat hidden in the corner behind a marble counter. He then came to sit down, holding a clear red drink for me. There was a beep and when he returned, he was holding a thick red drink for himself. I couldn’t help but look a little shocked at this.
“Vanessa, I may be a vampire, but I’m not a complete monster; that is just fruit punch,” he sighed in a voice that made it feel as if I should have known this from the start. “Although, now that you mention it, maybe red drinks aren’t the best kind for me to hand you,” he smirked.
“What’s yours?” I was staring at it.
“O- at 98.9 degrees,” he said, taking a sip; my eyes widened uncontrollably. “Donated, of course,” he pointed out, as if this made it any better.
“Alik, if it bothers her so much, why would you drink that in front of Vanessa like that? I’d assume that would be uncomfortable for any human,” Lilith chided.
“I’ve never done it before now; this is only the fourth time I’ve been with her.”
“Wow, you must be very good to get this out of him so soon,” Lilith teased, smiling at me.
“Mother, it’s not like that. Alisa is out of control, I’ve told you.”
“Explain it again for me; my memory after millennia has grown faint at times. It’s a lot to sift through, you know?”
“Millennia…” I couldn’t help myself, she winked at me and Alik continued.
He sighed. “Alisa thought it would be fun to bring back a few Masteria traditions outside the club. She lied to the humans, telling them her teeth were fake and when she showed them how much 'fun' it was, it spread like wildfire. The entire underground club scene has been tainted. The few humans she got to like the blood a little more than the others were turned into vampire, allowing them to start killing, which they enjoyed a lot. They became wild off of the over-emotional blood and Alisa just watched.”
“Did you take care of her then? I know you like to uphold the rules.” It felt like I was missing something in the smug attitude radiating off of Lilith as she said that.
“No, she’s elder to me; I couldn’t do that."
"June would have tried if ordered," Lilith poked.
"June took care of the others, but skilled as June is, she wouldn’t have been able to kill Alisa no matter how much she might’ve enjoyed to."
“That's enough I suppose, I will go down and talk to Alisa later… Well, how does Vanessa work into this again?”
“When I finally caught up with Alisa and the last two young, they had already found Vanessa and a date and were about to turn them into their victims. Her date ran off just thinking we were crazy humans. Jessica, one of the young, fatally wounded Vanessa and it was too late for a hospital to be of any help.”
“Ah I see, so you gave her your blood then, didn’t you? You always were a noble one.”
“I had no choice.”
“Yes you did, you could have let her die,” she said with indifference.
“Mother!”
“Vanessa, don’t get me wrong. I am fine with him saving your life in the way that he did; I’m sure he has described that this is some grave act. He’s a bit on the dramatic side at times. With me being his mother and an Elder, he feels obligated to uphold rules and whatnot. However, can I trust you to keep our secret?”
“Of course, who would ever believe me? To be honest, I still don’t believe it myself in some ways.” It was the first time I had spoken in a while and before I realized, I was talking to an empty chair; Lilith’s arm was now around me.
“Your heightened senses haven’t convinced you still, or the glass of human blood my son is drinking? Would you like a sip to believe it is truly what he says it is?” I remembered the taste of Alik's blood on my lips and raised my hand to my lips unconsciously. "Or maybe it’s Alik's blood you really want." Alik looked like he wanted to interrupt her, but she raised her finger and silenced him. She appeared on my other side, her tone taking on the characteristic of someone te
lling a ghost story. “The world that you live in is filled with monsters and myth, dear; it’s something you will grow to know. There are things that are so beautiful yet so equally terrifying at the same time that you will be drawn into your own death, wanting it to happen just for one more touch or one more taste. Ignorance is not bliss, nor is there room for skepticism in the eyes of the naked truth. So keep an open mind, dear.” I assume the look on my face still held a small amount of disbelief. “What would it take for our existence to be a certainty in your mind?” She was behind my chair now. “No normal human could do this.” She placed her arms lovingly around my neck, her fingers moving down my chest to trace a circle around my belly button again that empty feeling came across me and I found myself drawn to her as if she was the only thing that could fill the hole. “My body is just as cool as my son’s as you can feel.” Her touch was cool despite the warmth of the room. She moved her other hand to trace her fingers over my collar bone. “Maybe one of us feeding would convince you?” she questioned, leaning in so close that our faces touched. I shivered, but it wasn’t from the coolness of her lips on my skin. It was more from the anticipation of the bite. I wanted it but she took my hand in hers. She placed my hand to her chest over where her heart would be; there was no beat as she continued to breath steadily for about a minute holding eye contact. “I guess that will have to do for now, but you should get him to take you to Alaska sometime around the next solstice; the wolves are beautiful dancers.” she said breaking the hold she had on me.
“I…” was all I managed to get out. My mouth opened to speak two or three more times. I’m not really sure why, but Lilith then relieved me from having to respond.
“Okay, I think you have played with her enough,” Alik interrupted, placing a hand on Lilith's shoulder.
“I have never seen you so protective dear; I was only asking a question,” she said, kissing my neck once more, then moving back to her seat with a smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” I managed to say as calmly as I could during my mild panic attack.
“Well, I’m sure you have a few questions for me, but I have one for you first.”
“A question?” I was finally able to look up into her eyes again.
“Do you wish to become vampire?” I hadn’t been expecting that. When Alik had first told me what he had done to save my life, I said I didn’t want to become a vampire. Now… the idea seemed oddly alluring. I’d stay young forever; I’d be stronger, smarter, and faster. All of this appealed to my vanity. Yet I’d be giving up the life I spent the last eighteen years building for myself. I’d have to die and let my body grow cold and my heart stop beating. If I stopped aging, I’d have to leave my family after a few years and I’d have to live off of humans. All the realities of this hit my sensibility harder. “Vanessa dear, are you still with us?”
“Huh?” I said, losing my train of thought.
“Did that surprise you?”
“A bit...”
“I see you haven’t given it any thought until just now with so much going on in your life.”
“I’m not doing that mother, you know that,” Alik stated.
“Alik, I love you as if you were my own child, but sometimes your views on our race are so disappointing. We are not monsters as you said so yourself not more than ten minutes ago.”
"I said I am not a complete monster. I’m still a monster.”
"Vanessa, does my son have green skin, tentacles coming from his head, or an odd addiction to cookies?" The sesame street reference made me laugh and she smiled. "Vanessa doesn't see any of that either.”
"That's not what I mean and you know it."
“Then what part of you is a monster, dear? You look human, you speak like a human, and you walk like a human.”
“But I am no longer human; would you say a wolf is a dog, as it barks like a dog, walks like a dog and has a fuzzy tail?”
“Of course not, because it does not act like a dog.”
“As we do not act like humans.” His voice wasn’t angry, but there was a finality to it that said he no longer wanted to talk about the subject.
“Will you never believe differently?”
“So you would have me turn every girl that comes across me? Emily, Susan, Diana, Crystal, Elci, and Alison would all be vampire now.” How many girls does Alik deal with? I couldn’t help but wonder. He is the cutest boy I’ve ever met, so it shouldn’t be a shock that he has girls around him often I guess. I wonder who he likes the most? Am I high on that list?
“Not that others did not do that for you, but you could at least consider beautiful girls like Alison and Vanessa. There is a presence about girls like them. Something innately special. I think that’s what has brought you here tonight.” She smiled at me. “As for Alison, the subtle assertion she gives off, it’s compelling; close to how Alisa gets those to follow her. These traits would make for great additions to our kind.”
“No” was all the response Alik gave.
“You say you’re not human, but you still think of yourself as a monster, which is a human idea you still cling to. As vampire, a human’s idea of a monster should not matter.”
“My idea of a monster matters.”
“Well you aren’t the only vampire in the room dear, don’t think so highly of yourself.”
“You talk about me, yet compared to the other Elders, June and I are the only ones you’ve ever turned despite being around for however many millennia you’ve existed,” he said with a smirk.
She was next to him in the next second. “Well, that’s because I love you two. Alison will be eighteen in two weeks. Also, you don’t know everything I’ve ever done,” she teased.
“Sure, mother,” he said and slipped away from her, going back over to the bar to refill his glass.
“Do you see how he treats me?” she said in a mockingly sad voice.
“Before you make me want to not give you this.” He tossed her the signed CD.
“She seriously signed it…” Lilith moved to a display case placing the CD inside softly.
“Can I ask a question,” I asked timidly.
“Of course dear; I’ve been waiting for them.”
“Why are you different from the vampires that attacked me?”
“What do you mean dear?”
“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but you seem human enough.” She threw Alik another smug look. “I mean, they seemed to enjoy the idea of killing and scaring me. You and Alik have been so… nice; nothing like what movies portray or anything.”
“Alik saving you felt like your own Edward Cullen coming to save you, huh?”
"I couldn't take anyone who sparkles seriously, but is it anything like that? Is my presence here hurting you?”
“No dear, I am perfectly fine. The main difference between us is our ages; the young are more susceptible to emotion than the mature. They haven’t found out how to lure a human in and make them calm to make the blood calm. When whatever chemical markers fire off that create fear fill the blood that enters us as we feed, it can alter the emotional state or personality of the young, making them wild and uncontrollable. In some cases, even self-destructive.”
“Do some make wild vampires on purpose?”
“The major covens will hunt wild young for sport. A sick hobby but I can't watch everyone."
“How do they make them wild?”
“If you were being stalked in the dead of night by a young vampire, your heart rate would slowly climb faster and faster as he drew closer; the sound of your elevated heart beat would be clearly audible to the young one. That would drive the young one mad with the need to drain you dry. Although, it is rare that we don’t figure out where an outbreak of wild young stems from and punish the coven that is responsible. It’s just that trying to keep tabs on every vampire in the world would be impossible; some create just to have something more challenging to hunt. When the young wake up and find out what they are, they assume lik
e you have: that they must act like what they see in movies and attack humans who are scared. Vampire like June and Alik here remove threats to our secrecy.”
“How do you make a vampire?”
“Hasn’t he told you yet?” she asked, outraged.
“It was confusing because he’s told me something about it being like a viral infection, and then on the way something about Lucifer and Eve and souls?”
“Hmmm, I never thought he would have told you that story since he doesn’t believe in it himself. Considering I lived it in a manner of speaking, although, the simple explanation is that: enough of your blood needs to be removed from your body and replaced with the blood of vampire to allow the change to take place unhindered.”
