When she finally reached the spot where she had left the girl, Leisha found nothing. She scanned the surrounding area. Before she had time to look around, she heard a footfall directly behind her.
Leisha turned to see a man holding a specialized gun, aimed at her head.
“You may be fast, but the tranquilizer bullet will go directly into your brain before you’ll be able to kill me.” She stared into his hard brown eyes, unmoving. He might have been military, but the longer she stood there, the more his hand began to shake.
When his arm slipped about an inch, she lunged for the gun and was able to barely tip it before he got off a shot. The tranquilizer hit her in the neck, just below her jugular. Leisha gripped his wrist in her viselike grasp. He groaned and the gun fell from his hand as she heard his bones snapping.
The drugs were starting to affect her already. She moved her hand up to his neck to crush it.
“Don’t do it!” came a frantic plea to her right.
Leisha looked over at Samantha. She knew Samantha had some reason about not killing these men, but couldn’t remember what. Leisha shook her head.
Samantha put her hand on Leisha’s arm to move it, but Leisha didn’t budge. She was supposed to kill this man . . . wasn’t she?
“Leisha,” Samantha begged. “You don’t have to kill him.”
Leisha was on the brink of consciousness when she saw Nikita’s blurry figure appear and twist the man’s head, killing him instantly.
Samantha’s horrified screams were the last thing she heard as darkness engulfed her.
CHAPTER 7
Samantha leaned her head back in her seat. She had spent the first two hours in the plane sobbing and it gave her a headache. Her eyes were now puffy, and she wasn’t feeling any better. She had cried herself completely dry and felt too drained and exhausted to shed more tears. Her emotions were starting to numb, and she welcomed it.
That soldier’s death kept playing in her head.
Nikita had patiently tried to explain to her that killing the man was the most logical and practical thing to do. No matter how she had tried to protest, he wouldn’t be moved on the matter. When he finally convinced her she was safe with him, that nothing more could be done after the matter, she grudgingly allowed him to walk her to the car, Leisha’s unconscious body carried over his shoulder like a sack of grain.
Amazingly, she did feel safe with Nikita, even after witnessing what he was capable of.
Samantha cradled her head in the backseat of the barely functioning, bullet-ridden car the whole way to the small airport. She didn’t know how Nikita was able to get direct access to the plane hangar—they hadn’t seen a soul on the tarmac; there were no security checks.
Once they had gotten on the plane, Nikita left her to look after Leisha while he went in the cockpit and flew them out of there. Samantha had no idea where they were going or who this Ptah was, but she knew by going with Leisha, she had just changed her life dramatically.
There was something otherworldly about Leisha and Nikita. She had seen them in action on the highway. They were downright superhuman. Their strength and speed was astounding. While she watched them kill all those men, she wondered if she might have made a mistake in freeing Leisha. Could they be the “bad guys,” while her father and his men were the “good guys”?
The thought of her dad brought back a memory of him at the compound, in which he was staring directly at her through the torn door. He knew she had helped Leisha escape. If she was in the wrong, would he ever forgive her? But she knew in her heart she had had that vision for a reason. She was supposed to rescue Leisha. Not knowing how her gift worked, it wouldn’t make sense for her instincts to inspire her to save someone evil.
All those people killed . . . Samantha felt a wave of compassion for all the men who’d lost their lives tonight. Before her mother, she had never experienced death, personally, though her visions had introduced her to the concept at an early age. Somewhere in the world in this very moment, loved ones left behind by the dead grieved.
Samantha got out of her seat and went to the back of the plane where Leisha was lying across the seats. The plane was decent sized. She had never been in a private jet, so she didn’t know what to compare it to, but it seemed pretty nice. The seats were large and plush, complete with foot rests that folded out like recliners. There were ten seats all evenly spaced, except for the four along the back—those were right next to each other, which was good for Leisha, who remained unconscious the entire time.
Nikita had assured her Leisha would be all right, but Samantha could not help but worry. Leisha was shot in the leg and in her side. She’d also been hit in the neck with some kind of tranquilizer. That would take a while to recover. To add to the damage, Nikita refused to take her to the hospital, giving off an air of impatience. Samantha had to press him until he finally agreed to dress the wounds with strips from an extra shirt he’d found in the trunk of the car. The whole time, he acted like he was indulging a little child.
Samantha laid her hand over Leisha’s forehead. Leisha felt slightly cool—Samantha didn’t know what to make of it. Leisha stirred under her touch and Samantha jumped back, startled.
Leisha, groggy, opened her eyes, taking a few minutes to focus on Samantha.
“How do you feel?” Samantha asked. She knelt by Leisha’s side and took her hand.
“I’ll be fine in a few minutes. I just need this stupid drug to wear off.” Leisha pulled her hand out of Samantha’s and very carefully sat up. She closed her eyes briefly against a dizzy spell. “Nikita didn’t hurt you at all, did he?”
Samantha suppressed the memory of Nik twisting the soldier’s neck. “No, he’s been pretty accommodating, actually.”
Leisha’s eyes widened at that, but didn’t press the matter. She looked at Samantha with a kind of gentleness. “Are you ready to tell me who you are and why you tried to rescue me from that compound?”
The pregnant silence filled the air. Samantha pursed her lips and looked to her right, her eyes burning with unshed tears.
“I’m giving you my protection, Samantha,” Leisha squeezed her arm, “which is a big deal, and I think I deserve to know what your situation is.”
Unable to protest, Samantha sighed. She sat next to Leisha and explained, “My father works there. I don’t know details about what he does. Anyway, I already told you that I followed him to the compound tonight.” She wrinkled her nose. “Actually, I hid in my dad’s trunk and snuck in that way.” She omitted her unique ability. Though Samantha knew she’d end up confiding in Leisha about it in the near future, for the time being, she’d keep the knowledge of her gift to herself—she’d promised her mother this much.
Leisha accepted the information as if it were no big deal. The woman’s facial expression suggested she could see holes in her story, though wise enough not to push.
Staring at Leisha’s bandaged leg, Samantha couldn’t bring herself to meet Leisha’s gaze.
“Does it hurt a lot?” she was surprised that the makeshift bandage wasn’t already soaked in blood. The bandage on Leisha’s side hadn’t bled very much, either.
“No, it doesn’t hurt anymore.” Leisha bent down and slowly unwrapped the bandage. She lifted her pant leg to show Samantha smooth, unscarred skin. Samantha gasped at the sight.
Samantha reached out for Leisha’s torso, fingers shaking, and removed the dressing. The woman’s tan skin showed no signs of scars, either. So, this woman had super strength and speed, and could heal rapidly, too. What in the world was she?
As if she could read Samantha’s mind, Leisha spoke quietly, “I am a vampire.”
The simple statement was enough to floor Samantha completely. “T-th-that . . . No.” She swallowed. “They don’t exist.” She had been helping the wrong side after all. She had betrayed her own father for a vampire! It couldn’t be true. Samantha’s heart leapt.
Leisha made a soothing gesture with her hand, but did not touch her.
&nb
sp; “The story I have to tell is very long. It happened about two thousand years ago.” The vampire paused. “Are you ready to hear it? I can give you time to get used to the idea of our existence, if you need it. But I must explain everything to you before we arrive in India. You have to be prepared before you go to the vampire’s lair.”
India? Vampire’s lair? Leisha couldn’t be serious, could she? Samantha groaned.
She had been a complete fool! She was going to be surrounded by vampires. They were going to ravish her flesh and drink her blood, and kill her. Everything around her suddenly started to shift, her head spinning. The day had already been a lot to take in, but this was just too much!
“I promise you will be safe,” Leisha reassured. She deliberately put her hand on Samantha’s shoulder and rubbed her back in soothing circles.
The motion eased Samantha’s tense muscles and she felt herself relaxing. Her breathing became even and she no longer felt lightheaded. Samantha lifted her head and met Leisha’s gaze. The woman’s green eyes were full of concern and something else. Shame, maybe? “You don’t like what you are, do you?” Samantha whispered.
Leisha looked to the floor. “I have to accept what I am. There is no other choice.”
“How old are you?” Samantha asked, her inquisitiveness piquing.
Leisha seemed amused. “I’m not exactly sure. You lose track after a time. But I was turned into a vampire with the first of us. That was approximately two thousand years ago.”
This beautiful young woman sitting next to her was two thousand years old? It seemed too impossible to fathom.
“This will be a lot to take in, and I’m sorry that I have to give you so much information. But there is little time. It began in my village in Africa, near Egypt.”
“You’re from Africa?” Samantha interrupted. “But . . . you don’t look . . . you know . . . African,” she said lamely.
“I don’t know who my biological parents were.” She said it matter-of-factly. “I was found on the north shore of Africa. I believe my parents died at sea, but I have no memory of it myself. I was only a baby at the time.”
“But you didn’t stay in the village close to the shore where you were found?”
“There was a terrible storm that killed half the village the day they found me. I was considered a bad omen.” Leisha continued conversationally. “I was passed around to a few different villages until the shaman of one village agreed to take me in. The village witch doctors were highly esteemed, so when he decided to raise me, the rest of the village grudgingly accepted me.” Her face softened as she reminisced her past. “The shaman raised me as if I were his own daughter. I loved him deeply.” Leisha swallowed. “Anyway, when I was probably around the age of eighteen or so, there was an awful drought in that area. The drought was large enough that simply moving to a more fruitful area wasn’t an option. It got so desperate that many people in the village wanted to offer me up as a blood sacrifice to appease the gods, but my father wouldn’t allow it. He tried every calling spell he knew to bring the rains, but nothing seemed to work.
“That’s when Ptah first arrived into the village. He wanted to harvest our land for gold to pay homage to Ptolemy XV Caesarean, the last Pharaoh of Egypt.” Leisha paused and looked at Samantha. “You see, we had already traded all of the gold from the surfaces near our village for what food we could get. What Ptah wanted to do was dig deeper for more gold. There was a belief that digging too deep in the earth could unleash things from other worlds, and our people would never have agreed under normal circumstances. But we were desperate, and in exchange, Ptah promised us food and water. It was an offer we simply couldn’t refuse.”
“So . . . vampires are from another world that you unleashed when you dug too deep? But we mine in Africa all the time now. It’s a huge source for diamonds. Are you saying that every time someone is mining over there, they unleash more vampires?”
“No, that’s not it.” Leisha took a breath. “As far as mining today, I have a theory: Because so many people have become more practical and less superstitious, it has simply taken away the powers from other worlds.”
“So, if you have faith in it, then it will happen, but if you don’t believe, then the powers can’t touch you?” It seemed a weak explanation to Samantha, but if Leisha’s story was really true, then what other explanation could there be?
“It’s just a theory. May I finish?” At Samantha’s nod, Leisha continued, “Nothing happened at first. Ptah had workers from all over mining just outside of our village, and they were bringing up an abundance of gold. Our village was being fed as if we were all royalty. Everyone was happy.” Leisha smiled, a mixture of nostalgia and sadness. “I’d never been happier.”
There was a story in itself from just that comment. Samantha could sense it. “What made you so happy?” she asked.
Leisha stared out the window to the night sky. “I was in love,” she said simply. “His name was Tafari. He was one of the workers in the mine. It had been my job to bring the miners water every day, and we got to know each other over the months.” Her tone was filled with awe. “He was the most beautiful man I would ever know and I thanked the gods that he actually loved me back. We got married right away and Tafari quit the mines so he could be my father’s apprentice. He was to take his place as the village shaman one day. Our time together was cherished . . .” Leisha cleared her throat, her eyes fixed on Samantha. “You must understand, I wasn’t considered very pretty in that area. I was different and people were still wary of me. Before Tafari, I had just assumed I would care for my father until his death, after which, I would either be offered up as a sacrifice or roam from place to place until my own end. The possibility of sharing my life with another had never actually occurred to me.
“But Tafari was different. He had this depth to him that allowed him to see the real me. He made me feel desired, and we connected so well. You’ve read all the poems about true love? Well, that’s how it was between us . . . And when we had Adanne, life seemed more perfect than I could ever have believed possible.”
Leisha brushed her cheek, but not before Samantha saw a blood red tear slide down. She realized Leisha didn’t talk about Tafari to many people, if any, and was touched to have Leisha take someone like Samantha into her confidence. It made her wonder if vampires were really as bad as legends made them to be. Leisha certainly appeared humane enough. Samantha hadn’t known her long, but she already knew this woman was warm and compassionate.
“Anyway,” Leisha said. “Ptah and his men had been mining in our village for just over a year when it happened.”
“What happened?”
“No one knew exactly. There was some kind of accident in the mine and ten men were killed. A few days later, another tragedy struck the village. The chief’s hut caught on fire, consuming his wife and children. The next day, a camel broke loose and trampled a woman in its path. There was this surge of random, fatal accidents with no explanation.
“My father was completely tense. I went to visit him; he was with the chief at that time. They both had haunted looks on their faces. ‘We’ve simply dug too deep,’ my father told me. ‘We have unleashed a chaos demon.’”
That wasn’t something Samantha was expecting to hear. “A chaos demon?” she repeated. “So, a chaos demon invented vampires to wreak havoc on the earth?”
Leisha sighed. “Stop trying to get ahead of the story. Just listen.”
“Sorry.”
“So, where was I? Chaos demon. My father told me a demon from another world had managed to wiggle his way into ours. It didn’t have a body, but it did have the power to influence bad things to happen.
“He said not to worry, and sent me away while he and the chief prepared to deal with the demon. He had an idea of how to get rid of it, but he wouldn’t tell me how. Tafari left me and Adanne to help my father. But I was curious. I waited until after Adanne was sleeping soundly before sneaking out to see what they were going to do.
> “I crept to my father’s hut and peeked through a crack near the entrance. Ptah was tied up on the floor, surrounded by little bits of incense and magic sticks. My father and Tafari were chanting softly just outside the circle. Men I recognized from the village stood quietly in a corner.”
Leisha’s eyes glazed with vagueness, unfocused. “A strange sensation overwhelmed me. It was as if darkness had taken on some sort of unseeing form, like a mist creeping up my spine, embedding my body and soul with a feeling of dread. It felt like there was only despair in my future, like I was doomed to fall into a never-ending pit of darkness.” Leisha hugged herself, shivering as if she were experiencing it all over again.
“Suddenly, the feeling left me and I saw what looked like a strange, dark cloud hovering above Ptah. I glanced at the men in the corner and suspected by the looks on their faces that they had felt the same despair that I had. As my father began to chant louder, the dark cloud lowered toward Ptah.
“He looked terrified as it descended closer to him. His skin was ashen, a gleam of sweat showed on his forehead. His eyes were so wide they looked like they could pop out of his skull at any time, but he did not cry out. He just watched as the cloud came closer and closer toward him. Then, just as the dark mist began to touch his skin, it disappeared.
“That was when Ptah screamed—a shrill, pain-filled scream. His body writhed on the floor, as if he were being tortured. The trauma continued for maybe five more minutes before it all stopped. Ptah’s body now lay so still I thought he’d died. The men in the corner pulled out knives as they approached Ptah’s body, but my father held a hand out for them to wait. He was watching Ptah intently.
“When Ptah’s eyes opened, they did not resemble his anymore; they were shining pools of complete blackness. It was as if his eyes were the embodiment of what pure darkness was supposed to be, ready to engulf any light that approached.” Leisha paused and looked at Samantha. “They are still like that, those eyes. I suggest not looking directly into them when you meet him. They can have a disorienting affect on humans.”
Dissension Page 7
