by H. T. Night
“I will.”
And Tommy was gone out of my head.
I aimed my flight downward. It was in the morning. So, I wasn’t too worried about being seen, but I still did not want to be sloppy about it.
“You ready to land, Donya?”
“Yes, I am so cold.”
I landed in a giant parking lot, right out in the open. I could see a Denny’s up the ways. Thank God for all-night American cuisine.
I let Donya go as we hit the ground. She immediately hunched over into a ball. She was extremely cold. I wrapped my trench coat around her. I would have done it before we left, but I didn’t think about it. Once we were in the air, it was impossible to take it off in the air and there was nowhere to land.
“I don’t think my trench coat will be enough,” I said, as I warmed up Donya’s body with my arms and hands. She was thin and extremely fragile. This was the first time I had a good look at her. She was stunningly beautiful, even for a woman her age. I stood her on her feet and wrapped my arms around her and gave her giant bear hug to keep her warm. She was dirty, but even though I had just rescued her from a prison camp, she smelled feminine. She didn’t smell great, but she did smell like a woman.
“Who are you?” Donya asked, as this stranger in front of her hugged her for warmth.
“I’m a friend.”
“You said you know Atticai?”
“Yes, I know Atticai. We’re a little bit bonded by life.” I continued to hug her and she started warming up.
“Hey, let’s go get some coffee and let’s see if they sell any sweatshirts at the front counter.”
Donya and I walked up a ways and made our way to the Denny’s restaurant. This was definitely a Hawaiian Denny’s. I have never seen so much pineapple decorations. I looked behind the front counter and saw a bunch of sweatshirts with charity names on them. I bought three extra-large sweatshirts and wrapped Donya up in them.
“May I use the restroom?” Donya asked me for permission as I put the last sweatshirt on top of her.
“Of course you can. You don’t need to ask me.”
“I have been a prisoner for many years. I have forgotten what I need to ask to do.” Donya was quiet.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Why did it take Atticai so long to find me? Also, why isn’t he here?”
“I know this is going to be hard to understand, but Atticai still doesn’t know you’re alive. I recently found out about you and planned your escape without him knowing. We were afraid he might jeopardize our mission if he knew. He’s kind of a hothead and we needed to get you out of there without creating an international incident.”
Donya stared at me and now she seemed extremely confused. “It’s been a terribly long time since I’ve seen him. A hothead. Yes, that describes him. One of the last things he shared with me was who he really was. I can only assume you are the same?”
“Because I can fly?”
“Yes, but you can also shift change?”
“Shift change?”
“Turn into other entities.”
“You know about the underworld in its entirety?” I asked.
“Atticai wanted me to be able to protect myself, but he refused to turn me into what he was.”
“A vampire.”
“Yeah, a vampire. Before Atticai, I thought it was fiction or a myth. I was wrong.”
“He mentioned shift changing to you?”
“Yes.”
“Shift changers are a myth,” I said. “There has been no proof of them. They have come out of the minds of creative writers in the past ten years.”
“You’re real?”
“Yes.”
“Why couldn’t they be real?”
“Did Atticai say they were?”
“He wasn’t sure and he said it was a possible option.”
“Let’s get something to drink.”
“Can I ask you a favor?”
“Of course.”
Donya looked at me and I could see the pain and misery in her eyes. For a brief moment, I had a glimpse of her fear and panic. “Can you wait for me next to the restroom? I’m a little scared.”
“Hell, I’ll go inside if you want me to.”
“You won’t have to do that.”
Donya went into the restroom and in about four minutes, she came back out. “Oh my God, there was hot water for hand-washing!”
My mouth dropped open at her deprivation. “Let’s sit at the counter,” I said. “Let’s get some hot liquid in you. Do you want coffee or hot tea?”
“I’ll have coffee. It’s been years since I had coffee. Or sugar.”
We walked over and sat in a couple of stools in front of the counter at the front of the kitchen. The waitress walked over to us and asked, “Would you like something to drink?” The waitress was very Hawaiian and very pregnant.
“We’ll have two coffees,” I answered her. “We’re not going to be needing menus. We’ll be leaving shortly.”
Donya licked her lips, looking at an apple pie in the pie case. “Oh hell, of course, you have to be starving. What am I thinking? Oh, miss? And a big piece of apple pie for the lady, please. Warmed. A la mode. Vanilla. Thanks!”
Donya grinned. “I’ll eat it fast. I haven’t had apple pie and ice cream since the 1960s. Bless you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said. Lena was weighing heavily on my mind and I wanted to get back ASAP. But Donya had clearly been starved for decades.
I looked over at Donya. She was very thin and extremely tiny. She was barely five feet tall and probably weighed 85 pounds. I couldn’t imagine what she had been through over the past forty-plus years. To be honest, I didn’t want to know. If she chose to share her information, then I’d discuss it with her. Otherwise, my job was to try to bring some joy back in her life. I’d leave that to whatever therapy she wanted to go to after this ordeal.
The waitress put two cups of coffee in front of us. I wasn’t a big coffee drinker. I often burnt my lips trying to drink the stuff. That is why I normally drank iced coffee, as a way to get my caffeine without setting my mouth on fire.
Donya and I finished our cups of coffee. Hopefully, the sweatshirts would help keep her warm for the remainder of the Mani flight home. I decided to let Donya also wear my trench coat, too. I’m not sure what flowed in my veins, but whatever it was kept me warm when I flew. I was never cold. As a matter of fact, I had never thought about it until tonight.
Donya and I slipped outside. When the coast was clear, she held on tight to my body and I flew my butt off. I needed to get to Lena as fast as I humanly and vampirely could.
Chapter Sixteen
We headed over the United States mainland and I continued my accelerated speed to get to Victorville as fast as possible. It was ten minutes from the mainland with the speed at which I was hauling ass.
I landed with Donya in the front yard of the house and it was 5:00 in the morning. By traveling east, I was able to make time stop. In other words, it was the same time in the morning that I left in the Philippines than it was in Victorville. We were now in the Pacific Standard time zone. The trip had taken a pretty insane toll on both of us.
Donya didn’t talk much as we entered the house, but I knew how grateful she was. I hoped by myself telling her that Atticai had thought she was dead all those years gave her some understanding. I placed her in Tommy’s bedroom and wrapped her in blankets. I told her that I needed to check on my wife and to get some rest.
Tommy, Yomaida and her doctor were in her room. There were nurses outside the bedroom, looking busy. “What’s going on?” I asked, worried.
“Lena has been in labor for the last four hours,” Tommy answered. He was holding Lena’s hand at one side of her bed and Yomaida was at the other side, giving her ice chips. All the while, the doctor was in a compromising position between Lena’s legs but there was a sheet to guard her modesty. Lena was hooked up to a machine in the room, which beeped out her heartbeats as well those of both my boys.
> Lena looked at me with a ‘Thank God’ look on her face.
The doctor peeked out and said, “You’re at 5 centimeters. You’re halfway there. Hopefully, we can rock and roll in a couple of hours. Don’t push yet.”
“I know,” Lena said.
“Hi, sweetie,” I said. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m in a lot of pain, but what are you going to do? I’m delivering twins.”
The doctor looked at her. “The pain meds should kick in soon. We can’t give you a lot, just something to take the edge off.”
She nodded.
Tommy looked at me and asked, “Did everything go smoothly?”
“Yes, as smooth as four vampires breaking into a compound and rescuing a prisoner could be.”
“Where is she at?”
“I put her in your room. I wrapped her in some blankets. It was a cold flight. She is an older woman who was in no position to make that kind of flight. I want the doctor to check her out when he has a minute.”
The doctor looked at me and said, “I can see her right now. Lena should be okay for the next few minutes. Where is she at?”
“She’s downstairs in the room right next to the dining room,” Tommy answered.
“I’ll show you, Dr. Kukoc.” Yomaida stood up and she and the doctor went to check on Donya who was downstairs.
“Do you want to go down with them and make sure she is okay?” Lena asked me.
“No, babydoll. You rest all that you can during labor. You are going to need all of your strength for the delivery. Donya’s going to be okay,” I said. “I know it. The doctor will find that she is just dehydrated and is in some need of food.”
“Why did you have the doctor check on her if you already knew that? You are psychic, you know.” Tommy laughed.
“I’m not psychic. Actually, I’m not sure what I am. I probably could pull off a pretty cool show in Vegas if I wanted to. It’s just good to have a second opinion on her health.”
“Especially when only one of you is a doctor,” Tommy reminded me. There he goes. He liked to raise me up, just to knock me down. That’s a best friend for you. Then Tommy looked down at Lena and said, “I am going to get you more ice chips.”
“That would be great. Thanks, Tommy,” Lena said, sounding extraordinarily weak. “Thanks to you and Yomaida for all you have done.” Lena squeezed Tommy’s hand and he looked down at her and gave her one of his classic winks.
Tommy walked over to me and gave me a pat on the shoulder. It was an attempt at affection, but he knew I was exhausted and just wanted to be with Lena. He did pull me outside the bedroom, however. “You good, Josiah?” Tommy asked, quietly, so Lena couldn’t hear.
“Ain’t I always?” I said, exhausted.
“I was worried.” Tommy looked at me seriously.
“Why?”
“Well, once I found out that you’re mortal, it is a little scary thinking about all the crazy shit you do. I thought you were Superman, and now it appears you’re just Batman.”
“Batman is still pretty badass,” I said.
“Yes, he is, but...”
“But what, Tommy?” I asked.
“What makes Batman so much more interesting is that he can die. One bullet in the chest is the end of him,” said Tommy.
“Don’t forget, Tommy, I’m still Superman. I have all my Mani abilities. I think that makes me even better than Batman.”
“Maybe, but you’re still not Superman.”
I looked at Tommy and wanted to give assurance that everything was going to be okay.
“Tommy, I don’t have to be Superman.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are. You’re my little Superwolf that can take a bullet for me if I need it.”
Tommy went downstairs and went back into the room to see Lena. I knelt down next to Lena and took a hold of her hand. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m okay.” Lena looked at me and she knew that something was wrong. “What happened out there, Josiah?”
“You don’t need to know the gory details. Just know that we all arrived back safely.”
“Was it more gory than you killing Cyrus in the house we all live in?” Lena sounded weak and this was not the kind of conversation that a woman who was about to give birth needed to have.
“Lena, I did what I had to do for the safety of everyone. Especially you and our soon-to-be boys.”
Lena looked white as a ghost and I wanted her to stop talking. She didn’t look well.
“Josiah, I can tell something is bothering you.”
“Not now. We’ll talk later.”
Then Lena touched my heart with her hand. “Josiah Reign, I’m about to have your babies. If I want to know what’s on your mind, you’re damn well going to tell me.”
I sighed and smiled. “I was scared, Lena. It was the first time I felt that kind of fear. I had jolts of fearful moments over the past couple of years, but this was different. I was afraid for myself. I could care less about my own life when it really comes down to it. I was afraid for you and for the boys. When I believed I was invincible, I could do no wrong. I knew no matter what, that I wasn’t going to die.”
“Before you were a vampire, you were a fearless man. What changed?”
“You changed. You being pregnant changed everything. I don’t know if I’m cut out for this. I want to make sure I am here for you and the children.”
Suddenly, Lena started panting heavily. “Here is another contraction!” Then Lena screamed.
“Breathe, baby, breathe. Remember your breathing.” I had no clue what to do.
“I know about my breathing! I’ve been breathing the whole time you were gone!” Lena yelled at me.
That’s my girl. Keep breathing.
Chapter Seventeen
For about an hour, I felt completely helpless.
All I could do was sit next to her and remind her to breathe and feed her ice chips when needed. Lena was in a lot of pain. I think there was something going on with her body, other than her natural contractions. Also, the doctor seemed to be far more panicky than I would have liked. His body language was telling me something was seriously wrong. Everyone except for Donya was now in the room, giving Lena moral support.
After about ten minutes of doctor and nurses talking in code about Lena’s condition, I finally said, “Everyone, get out of the room. I only want doctor and nurses in here.” I planned on staying. I wasn’t sure what was about to happen. I wasn’t sure if Lena was about to deliver two aliens out of her stomach.
I studied everyone’s face in the room. Something was wrong. There was a lot of blood and I was unsure what to make of it.
“I think we should have done this in the hospital!” Dr. Kukoc said to me.
“It’s a little too late for that,” I said.
“Actually, it isn’t; we can get her to the Memorial Hospital in about 20 minutes, 10 minutes by airlift. Those facilities would be far better than a bedroom.”
I looked at Lena, and I knew we couldn’t deliver these babies in a hospital. If something bizarre happened, or if something went horrifically wrong, we needed to keep this in our house. We couldn’t let the press get a hold of the story. What if the babies came out with fangs? Would our entire Mani culture be revealed from the newborn PKU blood tests? We didn’t know what to expect. I did know that I didn’t want TLC knocking on our door to do a documentary on us. I felt that we needed to be fiercely private, to protect ourselves, at the moment, from the Tandra media, as well as Krull and his followers, who would dearly love to murder my children if they knew of their existence.
Although the situation appeared dire, I looked at the doctor and said, “We are going to deliver the babies here, tonight, in this room. Everything is going to be okay.”
In my heart, I know there would be a good outcome. It didn’t look great in the present scenario, but I knew this was going to work. I had had too many visions about the future that had both boys and Lena
in them for this to go as wrong as it appeared. I had to follow my instincts, and those instincts were saying, ‘Stay put.’
“Do whatever you have to do to get this room exactly how you need it. I want all nurses in here,” I said plainly to the doctor.
The doctor looked at me and nodded his head. “May I ask you to leave for about ten minutes so we can organize the room to the highest of safety standards?”
“Of course!” I stepped outside the room and went downstairs to get a glass of water. This was pretty nerve-wracking. I couldn’t even imagine poor Lena and the kind of courage it took not to bawl her head off and beg for better drugs. When I came into the kitchen, Yomaida, Tommy, and now Donya were sitting around the table.
“How’s it going in there?” Tommy asked, concerned.
“It isn’t going too well,” I muttered.
“Is there anything we can do?” Yomaida asked.
“They want to take her to the hospital. I have a horrible feeling if they take her there, no good will come of it. I am at peace about staying here. I know everything is going to be okay.” I sat at the table and was exhausted. I had been up for 48 hours straight.
I laid my head down on the table. Donya looked over at me and asked, “Who are you?”
I looked at Donya and said, “I don’t even know anymore.”
“What I can tell is that you are many things to many people. You’re going to exhaust yourself to the point where you’re not going to be able to function.” This was coming from a woman who had just spent the last forty-plus years in a prison camp.
My mind was started to feel a bit delirious from all the fatigue. “I’ll rest once the boys are born,” I said.
Tommy walked over to me and sat right next to me. His face was concerned. “Is Lena going to be okay?”
“She will be, even if I have to heal her myself.” I gave Tommy a wink as if to say, ‘Don’t forget who I am, and what I am capable of doing.’
“No, Josiah, I am quite aware of all your abilities. I just wonder if sometimes you know about them. You hardly use your skills.”
“Atticai showed me thoroughly how to use my abilities when he was Goshi. I choose to not use them because they are too extreme for most situations, but if a situation calls for it, I won’t hesitate to use them.”
