Blood 4 Life

by M. Lorrox

  Sadie smiles and rinses her hands. “Thanks, babe.”

  Mary stands in the hallway near the front door. She holds her keys and driving gloves in one hand, while her other hand fidgets on the handle of her suitcase. She appears to be in her late forties, although she’s not. Her light-brown hair is wrapped in a bun and held in place with a fancy wooden clasp. Her glasses are edged in silver, and she wears a tiny bit of makeup. Her blouse is a green that matches her eyes, and she wears a gold pin on the lapel of her pin-striped suit. It’s in the shape of a serpent wrapped in an infinity symbol, biting on to its own tail.

  Sadie makes her way down the stairs. “Mary!”

  Mary lets a smile creep across her thin lips. “Hello, Sadie.”

  Sadie kisses her on the cheek and hugs her tightly. “It’s so good to see you, Mary.” Oh, she still smells the same! Sadie inhales deeply.

  Mary smiles and closes her eyes. “It’s good to see you too. It has been a while.” A lot has changed.

  Sadie releases her. “Yes, yes it has. Five years, I think.”

  Mary smiles and nods. “That sounds about right.” The smile abruptly changes to a joking seriousness as she squints her eyes. “Well, first things first. Where should I put my bag?” She holds up an overstuffed, extra-large rolling suitcase.

  “Oh, of course.” Sadie turns to her side and points up the stairs. “The last room at the end of the hall is for you. We have an air mattress we can inflate later. Make yourself at home.”

  “Thank you, my dear.”

  Mary carries the large bag in front of her as she climbs the stairs. Sadie watches her. She even looks the same. Still beautiful.

  Mary sets her luggage down in the room. It’s small, with a desk in one corner, a bookshelf and leather chair in another, and just enough room on the floor for an air mattress. Mary pauses and looks more closely at the shelf. Many old and interesting books line the shelves, but she stops at one and smiles. Frankenstein. She opens the cover to the inscription she wrote many years ago.

  She half smiles as she closes the book. What was true will forever be… A quiver runs through her. But today is far from yesterday’s tomorrow.

  She pushes the book back onto the shelf with abrupt speed, and the shelf shakes. A tiny picture frame sitting on top tips over. She notices it, and in a flash, she catches it with her other hand. She looks at the image inside; it’s a picture of Sadie and Charlie.

  Mary smiles and sets the frame back up in its place.

  On the way down the mountain, Eddy cracks a window for some air. He still feels queasy.

  Craig yells back from the front, “Hey killer, I got the AC on.”

  “Yeah, I know. I just need some air.”

  Sophia, riding in front again, leans over to Craig. “Just let him be.” She bends to look in the mirror at Eddy. He looks pale, even for a vamp. “Ya know, Eddy, you’re a really good shot. Those were one-in-a-hundred hits. It was really windy down there.”

  Eddy doesn’t answer immediately. “June’s dad’s been teaching me archery, and to gauge the wind. He’s a good teacher.”

  She turns back to face him. “We could use ya tomorrow, at the hunt. I’ll be shootin’ and, well, you just might be a better shot than me.”

  Craig shoots a look of disbelief to Sophia.

  She notices but continues. “Bet we’d make a hell of a team. Whaddya say?”

  Eddy’s head is against the cool window. It bounces against it whenever Craig hits a bump. All he can think about is that zombie in the dress—and then its head exploding. “Maybe next time.”

  Sophia laughs. “There won’t be a next time, not with me.”

  Jess leans over Joe toward Eddy. “Joe and I are going, but it’s up to you. You don’t have to come.”

  Nobody is talking. After a moment, Joe asks if they can put on the radio. Craig pushes a button and a CD fires up. It’s an old Nirvana album. Craig sings along and hits some large potholes.

  Eddy’s head bounces hard against the window. It’s gonna be a looong ride.

  As they approach Eddy’s block to drop him off, Craig whistles and points out the window. “Shit, that’s a lot of dead Zs.”

  Jess nods. “Yeah, damn…oh, Craig, this is his house.”

  Eddy leans forward. “You can drop me off by the mailbox.”

  “Whatever you say, killer.” Craig pulls up next to the fence. “So, uh, who took out all the zombies?”

  “Probably my dad.”

  Sophia turns to Eddy and grins. “So, it runs in the family then?”

  Eddy can’t help but smile back at her. “You could say that.” He opens the door to hop out, but Sophia puts her hand on his knee.

  “Think about tomorrow?” Her eyes plead with him a bit more than what he is used to.

  Eddy opens his mouth and shakes his head. He starts to say something, but stops. “Next time.” He gets out of the truck and walks toward the gate. He notices a black Mercedes parked in the driveway. Mary must be here.

  As soon as the truck turns the corner, Eddy looks around to see if anybody is looking. He doesn’t see anyone. He bends down and leaps straight over the tall fence, landing a little more sloppily than usual. He drops down and steadies himself with an arm. He feels woozy.

  He stands and walks inside, heading straight for the fridge.

  Sadie finishes preparing dinner and calls out to the family to come down to eat. She’s made spaghetti and meatballs, and her extra garlicky garlic bread. Everyone knows what’s been cooking; the aroma of the meal has filled the house. Rusty is bouncing underfoot, hoping for scraps. Sadie sets a meatball into his bowl and pats him on the head. “There you go, Rust.”

  Charlie comes downstairs with Minnie. He just finished getting her cleaned up and into her pajamas. She clutches Valentine under her arm. Eddy comes down too, playing with his phone and not looking up a single time as he navigates the hall and stairs.

  As the family starts to plate their meals, Mary comes down wearing a red silk kimono with flowers embroidered on it with silver thread.

  Charlie looks at her and clears his throat. “Are you comfortable?”

  She raises an eyebrow.

  “I mean, in the room. Is there anything you need?”

  “It’s quite fine, thank you. That air mattress feels very comfortable.” She savors the scent filling the room. “My, does this dinner smell lovely!” She places her arm across Sadie’s back and onto her shoulder. “Thank you for cooking, and for hosting me tonight.”

  Sadie smiles at her. “You’re very welcome.” She hands Mary a plate. “Help yourself.”

  The family fixes their plates in the kitchen, and then they move to the dining room where a set table is waiting.

  Sadie sets down her plate and smiles, glancing between Charlie and Mary. “Wine?”

  They both answer, “Please,” and smile back at her. She retrieves three glasses from the cupboard and a bottle of red wine from a cabinet.

  She returns to the table, but no one is eating yet. “Please eat.” She turns over the bottle in her hand, studying it. “I hope you like…Red Blend… Well that’s not very exciting.”

  Mary shakes her head as she finishes chewing her first bite. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She turns her attention to Minnie. “Miss Minuet, do you remember me?”

  Minnie, acting shy, shakes her head.

  Sadie sets down the wine glasses. “Minnie, dear, this is your aunt Mary.”

  Minnie stares hungrily at her plate while Charlie cuts her meatballs for her. “Hello.”

  Mary purses her lips, thinking back to when her daughter was so young. “Well, Minnie, it’s very nice to see you again. You were very small the last time we met.” She looks over at Eddy, who is still absorbed by his phone. She smiles. “You’ve grown up a good deal since I saw you last, Eddy. You are looking tall and strong.”

  Eddy sets his phone down and meets her gaze. “Yes, I was nine when we last visited. How’s the farm?” He remembers great rolling fields a
nd lots of animals. There was a great big barn near the house, and during the days he would build forts with the heavy bales of hay. He would climb and jump into great mounds of loose straw, and he remembers running around inside the barn, dodging the sunbeams that penetrated the cracks of the old wood.

  “Oh, I don’t live there anymore, not since my promotion to the High Council. I’ve moved to the city.”

  Eddy frowns. He would have loved to go back and visit.

  “It’s still there, though, and friends of mine live there now. Perhaps you can go visit sometime.”

  Eddy smiles at the thought. “That would be fun. Thanks.” He watches her nod, and then she lowers her eyes, looking down to her lap. A strand of her brown hair has escaped from her bun, and it falls from behind her ear—drawing a line leading to the neck of her robe. Eddy notices how thin the robe is, how it moves and shakes when she breathes.

  She smiles and reaches for her wineglass. She brings it to her lips and drags the glass across them as she smells the wine. By far the best part of wine is the scent, the temptation of taste. She opens her mouth and licks her lips, then presses the glass into them to take a sip.

  Eddy looks away, staring blankly across the table. Charlie tilts his head and raises his brow at his clearly distracted son.

  Eddy jolts back, flushes, and looks down at his plate. He starts to eat.

  Mary enjoys the simple flavors of the cheap red wine, and she smiles. Sadie notices Mary’s pleasure and smiles. Charlie notices Minnie’s skin and frowns.

  Between bites, he motions to Minnie. “So, what happened today?”

  Sadie’s brow furrows; she realizes that she never told Charlie what happened. “Well, there was…a disturbance at the farmers’ market, and we had to leave in a rush.” She looks at Mary and frowns. “We can talk about it after dinner.”

  Mary nods. I’m not visiting on a whim, after all.

  Charlie grumbles but keeps eating. Eddy and Minnie eat in silence. Sadie and Mary drink their wine more than they eat their spaghetti.

  After dinner, while everyone relaxes with full bellies, Eddy gleams at Mary. “Aunt Mary, I remember that you used to tell the best stories.” He sneaks a glance in his father’s direction, smirks, and continues. “I was wondering, do you have any old stories of Dad?”

  Charlie takes a sip of his wine. She has lots of old stories of me, kid, most of which you don’t want to know.

  Mary grins at Charlie, thinking something similar. Then she looks at Eddy, shifting her body toward him. “Well, I do indeed have a story I was thinking about recently. Has anyone ever told you about your father and Catherine the Great?”

  Eddy, excited and surprised, looks back at her. “No, definitely not!”

  Mary smiles and pushes her plate a fraction of an inch away from her before looking up. “Could we retire to the sitting room, and I’ll tell a little story?”

  Charlie nods. That is a good story, although it’ll just make things worse with Eddy…the little punk.

  Sadie asks Minnie, “How does that sound? Would you like Aunt Mary to tell you a story about Daddy?”

  Minnie smiles for the first time tonight. “Yes, please!”

  Mary laughs. “Well then…” She starts to stand, her torso still angled toward Eddy. As she leans forward when sliding her chair back, the folds of her robe dip open, revealing some of her bare sternum and stomach to anyone who was looking. “Let’s go sit together.”

  Eddy again stares blankly as the family moves to the other room.

  Charlie puts his hand on Eddy’s shoulder as he walks past. “Come on.” She’s too old for you, kid! He chuckles to himself as he walks to the living room.

  Mary sits by Minnie on a love seat and drapes a blanket across her lap. Charlie and Sadie sit on an adjacent couch, and Eddy sits on the floor. He grabs a pillow and holds it in front of him.

  Mary grins slyly at Sadie, then turns her attention to Eddy, and then to Minnie. “This story has your mother in it as well, and it’s the first time I really met your father.”

  She spreads her hands across her lap. “Let me see, where to begin… Well, I was living with your mother, in Italy, on a large estate on a hill, overlooking the Mediterranean. We had a whole pack of dogs that lived on the farm with us and the others. Oh, I should say, there must have been a dozen or so of us all living together.” She smiles at Sadie.

  Sadie smiles back, taking a deep breath and reminiscing about that life. She thinks about the dogs, about Mary, and about the others they shared the land with.

  Mary continues. “Well, the House of Elders called a great meeting, just like…” She looks cautiously to Sadie, who nods.

  “Just like the one they are calling now, and they called upon the brave Order of Knights to come.” She looks at Minnie. “And that’s when I saw your daddy for the first time. He was just as strong then as he is now, and he had a great, thick head of hair that was longer than yours!”

  Minnie opens her eyes and mouth wide and looks at Charlie.

  He laughs and nods, recalling his previous look.

  Mary licks her lips and continues. “Yes. Well, you see, in Russia there was a woman named Catherine, and she was very friendly to…to the House of Elders and to our kind. She had a very mean husband, who was of royal blood, so there was a chance that he could claim the throne.”

  Charlie is listening to her, and he feels Sadie take his hand. Is she taking my hand because she knows this is hard? Because she’s proud? Because she cares? It feels nice. He squeezes her hand back.

  Mary looks around the room. She can tell she has the kids’ attentions, at least. She looks at Eddy. “Catherine had great aspirations, and the House wanted to help her get to the throne. The House called for volunteers to go undercover and join the ranks of her guard. Their mission was to first ensure that her husband came to power, and then it was to ensure that she would succeed him and become queen.”

  Eddy clears his throat. “Wait, I don’t get it. They went before he was even in charge?”

  “Yes. You have to remember, Eddy—” She leans ever so slightly toward him. “Time is on our side.” She smiles and looks to Minnie. “Your daddy volunteered to lead the mission, to go far away and live for years in hiding with other knights as regular guardsmen. They sent and received military intelligence to the House and to Catherine using a secret encryption.” Mary pauses and smiles. “Do you know what that is, Minnie?”

  She shakes her head.

  “Like a secret code—” Mary reaches out to tickle Minnie, “—that only special people can understand.” Minnie laughs and Mary smiles. “A hidden language that can only be seen if you know where to look.” She looks at Eddy. “Someday you’ll learn these secrets.”

  Charlie shifts on the couch. Yes, someday they both should learn them, but not FROM you, and not FOR you.

  Mary looks at Sadie while taking a breath, and she sees that she is relaxed and calm. Sadie’s hair spills over her shoulders and glimmers with a sheen from the light. Her skin looks soft, her arms strong. One leg is crossed delicately over the other. Oh! If only we could go back to that life in Italy!

  She looks to Eddy and then to Minnie. “Where was I…” She glances up; Charlie is about to say something, but she continues. “Oh yes. The brave knights kept the House of Elders informed, and with our political influence and other strategies, we nudged and guided the world toward embracing Catherine.

  “It took almost ten years for the mission to be successful. At the end, when Catherine and her guards seized power, they called it the ‘Bloodless Coup’ because the knights and the House planned things so well that no one was killed when Catherine took power.”

  Charlie squeezes Sadie’s hand, hard. No. If the history books knew only of the blood that fell from MY sword, it would have a very, VERY different name.

  Mary knows this truth as well, and she moves on. “Catherine was such an excellent leader that they called her ‘Catherine the Great,’ and they called the period that she
reigned ‘The Golden Age of Russia.’ If it wasn’t for your father and the other brave knights, hundreds of thousands of people—” she glances at Eddy, “—regular humans and people like us, would have suffered.

  “Those knights were heroes, and they received special recognition after their mission’s success, but they received neither reward nor thanks from the Russian people they helped, and in fact, hardly anyone alive today really knows of their sacrifice.” She looks straight at Charlie. “The knights performed a great service to all mankind, and they should always be honored.” She smiles at him.

  Charlie nods in approval and forces a smile in return. Never again, though, Mary. Never again.

  Sadie pulls her hand from Charlie’s tight grip and puts it on his lap. She looks at her daughter. “Minnie, darling, did you know that I had named one of the dogs at that farm Valentino?”

  Minnie looks down at her Valentine, then over to her mom. “Really?”

  Sadie smiles as she gets up and walks over to her. “Yes, indeed I did. He was such a great dog, and he always protected us.”

  Mary inhales quickly then clears her throat.

  Sadie reaches down and takes Minnie’s hand. “He was pretty also. Come to bed; I’ll tell you all about him while I tuck you in.”

  Minnie yawns. “I’m not tired.”

  Mary laughs and stands up as well, then looks at Charlie. “I think we should maybe make ourselves something to drink, and when Sadie gets back we can talk about this meeting.”

  Charlie stands and walks toward her, extending an arm out to guide her. “Let’s talk in the dining room.”

  Eddy jolts up. “Can I stay? I want to hear what’s going on.”

  Charlie looks at Mary and sees her grimacing. As bad as you think it is, I’m still not going. “No, Eddy, not tonight.”

  Eddy, in a flash, steps in front of Charlie and stops them. “Dad. Come on. This affects me too.”

  Charlie clenches his teeth. No, it doesn’t, and you have no idea what you’re talking about. “We’ll talk later.” He brushes past Eddy, puts his hand across Mary’s back, and leads her to the kitchen.