by Greg Hair
“Alessandro,” said Ryker, “this is Katarzyna. Katarzyna, meet Alessandro. He’ll be traveling back to Venice with us.”
Neither Alessandro, nor Katarzyna, spoke. They simply stood there, looking at one another.
“I hear you,” Jasmin said, picking up where she left off. “But, I don’t think we’ll be going with you. Though we’ve seen the video, I’m sure you will be fine without us.”
“That’s the second time I’ve heard about a video.” Ryker turned his attention back to the German. “A vampire in Paris mentioned it. What video?”
“I can’t describe it. It’s best you watch it when you get back to Italy. You and your friend are Consuls, though. I am sure you’ll be okay without our help.”
“I hope so,” said Ryker. “Thank you for everything you’ve done to help Annelise.”
“What?” asked his wife. “Who has helped me? With what?”
“Nothing,” he said. “It’s time to go.”
“Okay. Who is this?” she asked, looking over at Alessandro.
“Alessandro, I am. Yes, Alessandro. A friend, to be sure.”
“Umm, okay,” said Annelise. “Well, nice to meet you.”
Ryker led his wife, Alessandro, and Katarzyna, back down the hill, toward the village, and headed south.
Chapter 17: Requiem
“And how’s our lovely patient feeling today?” asked Jacinda.
“Still pregnant,” Bianca said, sitting up in her bed. Though she’d only been carrying the twins for a couple of weeks, she looked like a woman who was ready to pop.
“That’s good.” Jacinda lay her ear on Bianca’s stomach.
“Is it?”
Jacinda put her hand on Bianca’s and took an air of seriousness.
“Yes, honey, it is.” Bianca’s ‘doctor’ raised back up. “Good heartbeats. Are you feeling okay? Do you need anything?”
“I feel as well as I did when you asked me earlier. No, I don’t need anything. I’d like to feel useful, though. The only thing you guys let me do out of this bed, is walk around. Even then, I can’t walk very far.”
“Well, that’s because you’re on an island, silly.”
Bianca rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just trying to lighten the conversation.”
“Is anyone gonna even let me out of here to go to the wedding?”
“Yes, of course. Anything to change the topic of conversation around here from that other sham of a wedding.”
“What other wedding?” asked Bianca, eyebrows furrowed.
“Oh, shit,” Jacinda whispered. “I—“
“What? What other wedding? Jacinda, tell me,” Bianca demanded.
Jacinda fidgeted with the cap to prenatal vitamin bottle. Her hands visibly shook.
“Damn.” She slammed the pill bottle down on the dresser, cap still on. “Damn.”
“Please,” said Bianca. “Is it Nicholas?”
Jacinda shook her head, then turned around to face her friend.
“Jamie and Serinda got married.”
“Oh, my God. Oh, my—,” Bianca threw her hand to her mouth, but it made no difference. By the time she finished vomiting, her bed was soaked, and so was she.
“Fuck,” Jacinda said. “I’ll get some towels. I’m so sorry.”
Jacinda ran out and returned a moment later with clean towels, LillyAnna, and Landon.
Suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing when Bianca let out a low growl. Her eyes turned red, and her appendages began to contort and grow.
“Shit!” yelled LillyAnna. “She’s shifting. She’s gonna kill the babies!”
“Jacinda, go get Bijan,” Landon said.
The teen girl raced out of the tent as Bianca face elongated, forming a snout. Her claws extended, and fur began sprouting all over her body.
“Grab her!” said Bijan, running into the room, followed closely by Jacinda. “Hold her down!”
Bianca thrashed about, her arms and legs flailing and hitting her friends who sped frantically around her room, trying to find a good position where they could help stabilize her.
“It’s like she’s possessed,” said Landon.
“She is,” LillyAnna said. “With anger.”
“Everyone stop talking, and focus. If we don’t calm her down, right now, the babies are doomed. We only have seconds left.”
LillyAnna and Jacinda, each grabbed an arm, while Landon held down Bianca’s legs. The pregnant werewolf’s bestial screams echoed out of the room. Bijan held her head in his hands.
“Hush, Bianca,” he said. “Sshhh. Hush now.”
Bianca continued her shift, her stomach beginning to grow.
“I’m sorry,” Bijan said. “Please forgive me, Bianca.”
Removing his hands from her head, the Persian werewolf pulled his arm back and let it fly, connecting with her left cheek, knocking her out.
Almost as quickly as it began, Bianca’s shift regressed. Bijan placed his hands on her stomach as everyone waited with baited breath for the results.
Seconds ticked by until he finally spoke up.
“The babies are there—they’re okay.”
“Why did you tell her?” Landon asked, looking at Jacinda.
“Calm down, honey,” LillyAnna said. “She obviously didn’t mean to. It was a matter of time, anyway. There’s no way we were going to keep something like that secret forever, and we were foolish to even try in the first place.”
“Why?” asked Bianca, still half unconscious. “Why would he marry her? Why would she do this to me? Her own sister?”
“Keep her calm when she wakes,” said Bijan, leaving the room, “and keep an eye on the babies.”
“Hey,” said Catalina, bursting in. “What’s going on in here. I saw the commotion, and…oh, wow, what happened?”
“Bianca knows,” Landon said, throwing his hands in the air. “She knows about Jamie and Serinda, and we almost lost the babies.”
“Landon!” snapped LillyAnna.
“Sorry, Jacinda,” he said.
“No, I’m sorry,” she responded. “I’m so sorry, Bianca. I’m so sorry that he did that to you, and that you had to find out from my big mouth.”
Bianca began coming out of her sleep, again growing upset.
“What’s done is done,” said LillyAnna. “Bianca, honey, you have to try to calm down. Your pulse is racing.”
“Look at her, Lilly,” said Catalina. “Look how much she’s sweating and how pale she is. It’s gotta be more than her pulse.”
LillyAnna and Catalina, both put their hands and ears to Bianca’s stomach, facing each other, as if they were psychically sharing diagnoses.
“Landon,” began LillyAnna, “I need some cold washcloths. We need to get her calmed down. Fast.”
Landon raced out of the room and came back seconds later with a bucket full of cold cloths.
“A bit much,” LillyAnna said, “but I’ll take it.”
“What is it?” he asked. “What’s going on?”
“She’s sped up,” said Catalina, applying wet washcloths to Bianca’s head and neck. “The excitement and stress have decreased the amount of time she’s got until birth.”
“What does that mean? What are you saying? We’ve got a week now? What?”
LillyAnna and Catalina looked at each other, standing on either side of the pregnant werewolf.
“Two or three days at the most,” LillyAnna said. “If we’re lucky.”
“Oh, Bianca,” cried Jacinda, “please forgive me.”
“It’s not your fault,” said Catalina.
“No. It’s not,” LillyAnna followed. “It’s everyone’s fault for keeping it from her to begin with. One of us was going to blurt it out eventually. It’ll be okay, Jacinda.”
Bianca raised her hand, motioning for Jacinda to come closer.
“It’s okay,” Bianca said. “There’s nothing to forgive on your part. It’s Jamie and Serinda that need for
giving.” She turned to LillyAnna. “Are the babies okay?”
“We think so, but these births are right around the corner. I’m ordering you to bedrest. For you, and them. They’re going to come when they come, but we still want to prolong it as much as possible. Any strenuous movement on your part, even walking around the building like you’ve been doing, might be what pushes you over.
“Because you got so upset,” LillyAnna continued, “your body apparently thought you were close to shifting, so it decided to schedule these babies to enter the world sooner.”
“My back hurts so bad, already.”
“I know, baby.” LillyAnna ran her hand over Bianca’s wet hair, tangled hair. “But, I can’t have you up and walking. I need you to do it.”
“I’m gonna miss the wedding,” Bianca said, closing her eyes from exhaustion.
LillyAnna smiled. “No, you won’t. I promise.”
“Everybody, we need to give her some rest,” said Catalina. She put her hand to Jacinda’s back, rubbing gently, and led her out. LillyAnna and Landon followed close behind.
Chapter 18: Requiem
It was dawn the next day, the day of the wedding, when a gondola silently slipped up to the dock on Poveglia.
“Ryker, hun, there’s lots of hotels in Venice. Why is everyone staying here? The building is so rundown?”
“We’re trying not to attract too much attention. Renting entire hotel floors and such.” Ryker’s mind had been racing to provide logical answers to Annelise since he’d reconnected with her at Burghausen.
“This is Alessandro’s home,” said the Italian. “A beautiful home, it is.”
“Sometimes you remind me of some character from a science fiction movie,” Annelise said. “A little, green guy with big ears. I can’t remember his name.”
Ryker looked back at Alessandro who had a puzzled look. He then looked at Katarzyna, who sat closer than she needed to Alessandro.
“Don’t worry,” said the Dane. “I know who she’s talking about. It’s okay. He’s a good guy.”
The four disembarked from the boat, and approached the Octagon, the main building on Poveglia.
“Annelise!” cried LillyAnna from a second-floor window in the Octagon.
Seconds later, the werewolf was outside, running into Annelise’s arms. Ryker turned, looking for Alessandro’s assistance with LillyAnna, but found the Italian vampire had disappeared. Katarzyna approached to help.
“Why are you crying?” asked Annelise. “I missed you, too, but are you upset about something?”
“Well, yes—you, and everything you—“
“We are so sorry, Lilly,” began Ryker, “that we are late in joining you guys on vacation. We were tied up with some things. I can see that you’re still upset that we didn’t come down when you did, but we’re here now. So, let’s say nothing more. Where’s Landon?”
“Hi, I’m Katarzyna,” said the Polish vampire, extending her hand.
LillyAnna, shaking the woman’s hand, gave Ryker the same puzzled look that Alessandro had given Annelise.
“Landon’s inside,” she said.
“Will you please take my wife to our room, and tell her about all the shops you’ve already found since you’ve been here. I know she’s eager to go shopping with you. I need to speak to Landon about certain…behavior modifications, now that we’re down here. Katarzyna will go with you, and quietly fill you in.”
“Umm, sure.” LillyAnna wrapped her arm through Annelise’s, and led her, and Katarzyna, into the building.
About an hour later, with word having traveled around the tiny island about how to act with Annelise, Ryker walked with Landon toward the other end of Poveglia.
“We’re near the field,” said the werewolf. “I think we’re close. There’s a slight charge starting to fill the air.”
“I don’t know why he just vanished like that.”
“I’m gonna have to get back soon. Got a wedding to get to get ready for, you know. I can’t believe I’m actually getting married tonight.”
“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. By the way, do you have everything you need for that?”
“Everything but a priest. The guy that works for the church we’re using is out of town. It was kinda short notice on our part.”
“Well, we’ll find one. We always get what we need when we’re supposed to. By the way, thanks for showing me the video, of Jamie’s wedding. I’m sorry now that I asked to see it, but a couple of vampires had mentioned it, so I needed to see it. I just wish now that I hadn’t.”
They stopped in the middle of the field at the other end of the island.
“He’s here,” said Landon. “But I can’t get a lock on him.”
“He’s moving, fast, behind the trees surrounding the clearing. I think he’s trying to throw us off, like he doesn’t want to be found. You know, he was actually acting strange on the way back to Venice. I just wasn’t really paying attention. Had Annelise on my mind.”
“Alessandro!” called Landon. “We know something’s going on. We can’t help if you won’t let us. Come on out and talk to us.”
Silence answered him for several seconds, then suddenly, Alessandro appeared in flash, standing before them.
“Alessandro wishes to not talk to anyone, right now.”
“Well…too bad,” said Landon. “We’re your friends, and we want to know what’s going on.”
The Venetian vampire lowered his head, almost in shame.
“Alessandro is remembering things. Before I was the way that I am.”
“You mean before you were turned?” asked Ryker. “You’re remembering your human life?”
Alessandro nodded.
“What is it you remember?”
“Alessandro does not know the year of his birth, but knows he is very old. He was a man of God in the beginning.”
“The beginning?” asked Landon.
“The Church, I think,” said Ryker. “Is that what you mean, Alessandro? You were a priest in the early Church?”
“Yes. Then Alessandro became a man of medicine, as well. In the region of Mugello, north of Florence, Alessandro lived.”
“Mugello region? Why does that sound familiar to me?” Ryker asked, almost to himself.
“What is it?” Landon asked.
“I don’t know. It’ll come to me in a minute. Go on, Alessandro.”
“And I met my beautiful wife, Carina. The most beautiful woman who ever lived.”
“Did you hear that, Ryker? He just used ‘I’.”
“Probably because he’s going so deep within.”
“We were married there, in that region of Mugello, where I called home. And we had children. I am a father. Or, was rather.”
Ryker suddenly snapped his fingers.
“That’s it. I know where I’ve heard the name Mugello.”
“Well, what is it? What’s the big deal?” asked Landon.
“Landon, standing before you, though I don’t think he knows it, is the original Medici. Alessandro is the founding member of the powerful banking family of the Renaissance, those who commissioned great works of art, and produced popes and queens. Our Italian friend, here, is living history.”
“That is all Alessandro remembers, now. The rest is very dark.”
“Probably because your memories are nearing the point when you were turned, and you’re still blocking that,” said Ryker.
“Listen, Alessandro,” began Landon, laying his hand on the vampire’s shoulder, leading him back toward the Octagon, “everyone here is your friend. Don’t carry this burden, the weight of these memories, alone. People here are helping me, and we’re helping Ryker with Annelise. We’re all helping Bianca. Understand? We’re more than friends, we’re family. We’re your family, now. Don’t be afraid to talk to us. We need each other now, more than ever, and helping each other to shoulder their burdens will only make us stronger, not weaker.”
Landon looked over to see Alessandro crying.
“Is there anything more, Alessandro?” he asked.
“Yes. One other thing.”
“I think I know what it is,” said Ryker, stopping the threesome’s progress toward the main building. “Is it Katarzyna?”
“Oh, yes. Yes, it is.”
“You haven’t felt what you’re feeling in quite some time,” said the Dane. “And now that you’re feeling them again, you don’t know what to do with them, and you feel guilty. Am I right?”
“Oh, yes. You are right, my friend. I fear…”
“Betraying your wife?”
“Yes.” Alessandro lowered his head, appearing to feel shame.
“It’s okay,” said Landon. “There’s nothing wrong with you feeling this way. You will always love your wife, always. She knows that, and she would want you to be happy.”
“She will not be angry with Alessandro?”
“No,” said Ryker. “And I’ve seen the way Katarzyna looks at you. I can tell you that there’s something stirring in her, for you.”
“Don’t worry,” said the werewolf. “We’re here for you in any way that you need us. It’s been so long since you’ve been down this road. We’ll guide you. But, let’s wait until after the battle, when we get back to Venice, okay?”
“Oh, yes,” said Alessandro. “It is best to wait.”
“By the way, Alessandro” said Ryker, “you mentioned you were a priest?”
Chapter 19: Requiem
Everyone from the small island of Poveglia gathered inside the tiny nave of Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Tiny for a Venetian church, anyway. Ryker, in his black tuxedo with a Windsor tie, his blond hair and beard more prominent than usual, stood at the entrance directing guests where to sit, though there really wasn’t much to that job.
“I’m not sure what side to sit on,” said Catalina. “I’m a friend of both.”
“Yeah,” began the Dane, “we’re not really applying that rule tonight. You sit where you want to. That’s all I’ve been telling people. But, if you’re looking for someone in particular to sit next to, we put Bianca in the front, next to Annelise.”
