Beautiful Monster-The Exchange

by Jeanne Bannon

  “I only have three days and then I have to go.” Her voice was little more than a whisper.

  Lev didn’t understand. “Go where?”

  Carly chewed on her lower lip, her eyes darted from Lev’s to the floor, then back to Lev’s again. She gave a little sigh then said, “To another dimension. I’m not entirely sure where, or what it is.” A half-hearted grin curled her lips but quickly faded. “We have three days together until then.”

  He felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach. He was losing her all over again.

  From above them, Alexei’s footfalls echoed. Then his brother called down the stairs. “Going out for a bit. Hope you can manage not to kill yourself in your grief.” He laughed at his own joke.

  “Do you want to go upstairs? We’ll be more comfortable,” Lev said.

  Carly nodded, and together they made their way back up the stairs and into the parlor.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “Do you have to leave?” Lev hated how desperate he sounded. “There has to be a way for you to stay.”

  “I’m sorry, Lev, but the passageway to the other side closes in just seventy-two hours from physical death. Hours have passed already. I’m afraid these last few days will be all we’ll ever have.” Tears shone in her eyes, threatening to spill.

  Lev hung his head. There would never be an afterlife for him, no passageway to the other side. He was already dead—a soulless being doomed forever to walk the earth. “Why can’t you just stay here?” Shame filled him immediately. He was being selfish. How could he ask her to give up whatever lay in that other dimension to walk the earth for eternity with him? He had no doubt it would be a far better place than where they were now.

  He took her hand and kissed it. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’d never hold you back.” He wanted to ask if there was a way he could go with her, but he already knew the answer.

  Carly placed her hand on his. “It’s kinda funny if you think about it. I’m dead, and you’re, well, you’re dead too, but we can’t be together because you have no soul. Talk about star-crossed lovers.”

  He knew she was trying to lighten the mood, but Lev found no humor in her words. He held her hand, marveling at how solid she felt. The hours had molded her into something more concrete. “You seem so alive!”

  “I feel alive.” She smiled weakly and pinched away the tears standing in her eyes.

  Lev kissed her lids and smoothed her hair. “There’s barely an hour before day will begin to break. I have to go to ground soon. Where will you go? What will you do while I sleep?”

  “I’ll stay with you.”

  “But what about Alexei? He’ll see you when he comes down to the basement to his sleeping chamber.”

  “I’m not so sure he will.”

  Lev was perplexed. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t think he’ll be able to see me. Those on the other side said it would be very difficult. Maybe you can because, well, I don’t know for sure, but maybe because I really want you to.” She shrugged.

  Lev’s brows knit together. “What do you mean by ‘those on the other side’?”

  “I was given a few ground rules just before I left my body. And by those on the other side, I’m not even sure who I mean. There were voices in my mind explaining things. Guess I’ll find out more when I meet the owners of those voices.” She kissed Lev’s cheek. “Why don’t you go to sleep now? I’ll visit with my family for a while. I want to make sure they’re okay, and I’ll see you tonight after sunset.”

  He had to go to ground, but a feral yearning nagged him. He was hungry, ravenous really, but there was no time to feed and he especially didn’t want to do it with Carly around. She’d never borne witness to that dark side of him. Lev had no choice but to wait until he awoke in the evening.

  In all his one hundred and forty years, this had been the most interesting yet excruciating day of his life, eclipsing even the evening of his turning.

  Carly gave him one last peck on the cheek before leaving, then Lev crept downstairs to the basement, threw open the door to his creaky old wooden sleeping chamber buried in the earth, and climbed in, pulling the lid shut over him.

  Sleep would come. It always did, but he was saddened knowing that as he slept, the hours ticked past—hours he could be spending with Carly.

  When Lev woke, Carly was already there, perched on the bottom step, waiting for him.

  He’d gone to sleep racking his brain for a way they could be together. He’d do anything to make that happen. But sadly, he could think of nothing. Despite being greeted with Carly’s smile, disappointment filled him.

  “Alexei’s up already,” she said when she saw him. “I can hear him upstairs, and it sounds like he has a friend with him.”

  Lev made a face and stood up, then stepped out of his chamber and onto the basement floor. After a quick dust off, he held out a hand to Carly, and she took it. He pulled her to him and kissed her eagerly. Although he hungered for her in the carnal sense, gone was the urge he’d constantly fought when he heard the rush of her blood or the beating of her heart. Lev was unsure if this was an unfortunate turn of events or something to be celebrated.

  He’d gone to bed uncomfortably hungry, and his need had grown during his slumber. He had to feed and soon, but he didn’t want Carly around to witness it. He’d lied, telling her he only drank from animals, but now she could follow him wherever he went and would probably want to be by his side until the time came for them to part.

  “So Alexei didn’t see you?” he asked, then remembered what she’d told him earlier.

  “I told you—”

  Lev stopped her with another kiss. “Not to worry. I remember what you said,” he whispered, then led her up the stairs.

  Alexei was in the dining room seated at a massive mahogany table, empty bottles of wine and a crystal decanter of Scotch were set in the middle.

  “Brother, this is Tony,” Alexei said without turning around.

  Tony was a small, slight man in his early twenties with thick blond hair and chiseled features. His cheeks were pink, and he held a crystal glass delicately in a slender hand. He extended the other to Lev. “Pleasure to meet you,” he said, a flirtiness in his voice. “You’re as handsome as your brother.”

  Lev smelled his delicious youth. It was heady and overwhelming. Then he noticed the pinpricks of blood on Tony’s wrists and neck. He smelled that too, taking in a deep breath.

  Lev threw a furtive glance at Carly. Tony had obviously been Alexei’s dinner, and Lev’s hunger was unbearable now, knotting and twisting in him. He tried to shoo Carly away with a look and a quick jerk of his head, but she took no notice and stood in the doorway, seemingly mesmerized by Alexei and his friend.

  Instinct finally kicked in, driving Lev toward Tony at lightning speed. He sunk his fangs into the young man’s left wrist. Tony smelled of expensive cologne and cheap wine, but tasted magnificent. Lev sucked and pulled, drinking his fill.

  “No, Lev. You’ll kill him. Stop!” His brother’s hands tightened around the collar of his shirt, pulling until his fangs disengaged. Tony slumped to the floor like a boneless lump of flesh, and tiny pools of blood soaked into the gray carpet around his hand.

  “You fool. You went too long between feedings. Now look what you’ve done.” Alexei pouted. “I wasn’t finished with him yet.”

  The scent of wine and Scotch were on his brother too, and Lev realized he’d been slowly getting drunk along with his friend. With each draw of Tony’s blood, Alexei’s alcohol level rose too. Lev felt the giddy high of imbibing and the tang of wine on his tongue.

  He suddenly remembered Carly and turned toward her. She was still in the doorway, her trembling hands covering her face. A low moan escaped her and then she, like Tony, slunk to the floor.

  “Good Lord. Is that Carly? I thought she was dead,” Alexei said, turning his attention back to his brother.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Carly,” Lev called. He
knelt beside her and gently patted her face with a trembling hand while Alexei hovered over them.

  “Is she dead now?” Alexei asked.

  Lev ignored him, smoothed Carly’s hair, and whispered soothing words into her ear. He hardly knew what he was saying and realized she must be fine. After all, she was already dead. It was what she’d just witnessed that bothered him most.

  Carly opened her eyes, and they quickly widened as she stared at a spot on Lev’s face.

  “A bit of blood, brother.” Alexei attempted to wipe Lev’s chin clean, but Lev pushed his hand away and thumbed it off himself.

  “Are you okay?” Lev asked Carly.

  “Yes, my dear. I heard you…well, that you died,” Alexei added with a smirk.

  Lev shot his brother a nasty look and helped Carly to her feet. Then they deposited her on a dining room chair.

  “Alexei can see me?” she said to Lev but didn’t wait for a reply when she caught sight of the still prone Tony. “Aren’t you going to help him?” Carly’s voice was tinged with alarm.

  Alexei rolled his eyes and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Suppose so. Poor fellow.” He picked up the young man, hefting him over a shoulder as easily as if he were stuffed with cotton balls, took him to another room, and was back in an instant. “He’ll live. Still has a pulse.” He looked from Lev to Carly. “Anyone going to fill me in on what’s going on? Are you, or are you not dead, Carly?”

  “Well, yes, I suppose you could say I’m kinda dead.”

  Alexei wiggled his eyebrows. “You managed to turn her in time, you devil,” he said to Lev, who promptly shook his head.

  “No. It’s not like that. She’s not one of us,” Lev said.

  “I’m in spirit form,” Carly replied.

  Alexei sat down with a thump in the chair opposite her, the one Tony had previously occupied. “Well now, this is interesting. I don’t quite get it, but it does sound intriguing. I suppose the two of you undead can now be together forever?”

  Tears slipped from Carly’s eyes, and she turned away.

  Lev gave his brother another dirty look. “No. She has to leave. We only have two days together.”

  Alexei seemed to be enjoying the conversation. He crossed thin legs and stroked his stubbled chin. “Where pray tell does she have to go? To, like, Heaven or something?” He chuckled.

  Lev looked to Carly for the answer. He wasn’t quite sure himself. She’d said she was going to another dimension, but he had no idea what that meant. Could it be Heaven?

  Carly shrugged. “Just another place, hopefully better than here.” Her eyes met Lev’s, and tears filled them again. “Except you won’t be there with me.” Carly’s expression changed, and she looked upset as if suddenly remembering something. “I didn’t know about…about what you do.”

  Lev knelt down beside her. “You mean how I feed?”

  She nodded. “You never drank from me.”

  He didn’t know if she was upset or relieved.

  “I didn’t want to hurt you,” he said softly.

  “But you said you fed from animals. Was that a lie?”

  Lev sighed and hung his head. “Yes.”

  He felt her hand in his hair, caressing, pushing it back from his face, and he looked up at her. “I would have understood. It’s your nature.”

  “I’m gonna go see Tony,” Alexei said, rolling his eyes. “Catch ya’ll later.” He flounced from the room with a little wave.

  Lev was relieved his brother was gone, though he knew he could listen in on their conversation if he wanted. But he probably wouldn’t. Alexei was easily bored.

  “Wouldn’t you have been scared of me then? If you knew the truth?”

  She nodded slowly. “Probably. But I know you love me enough to keep me safe. I don’t think you would’ve hurt me, would you?”

  His response was immediate. “No! Never.”

  “We only have two days left. How will we spend them?” Carly said, changing the subject. Though she was smiling, it was without humor.

  “We’re going to find a way to stay together, and we’ll use our last days to figure out how.”

  “But you’ll have to go to ground. You’ll have to sleep. There’s not enough time. Besides, I don’t think it’s possible. I have to leave the earth plane and…” She let her words trail off.

  “And, you have a soul and I don’t,” he finished for her.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Do you think he saw me?” Carly asked Lev.

  “Who?”

  “Your brother’s friend. The guy you…well, the man you just attacked.”

  Lev was embarrassed but tried to push the feeling away. He wiped at his face again to be sure he’d gotten all of the blood. He doubted Tony had seen Carly, though he couldn’t know for sure.

  “And what if he did? He’d only think you a living, breathing human being, or perhaps a creature of the night like Alexei and I,” Lev said. “I have a feeling Alexei’s able to see you because of his powerful senses. He’s stronger than I am. Remember when I told you about Alexei’s turning?”

  Carly nodded, seemingly satisfied, but there was a still fear in her eyes. Bringing up Alexei’s turning had been a bad idea. What an idiot he was, though Lev couldn’t help but recall the story Alexei had told him. It had happened during the Bolshevik uprising in their native Russia. The creature, Boris, was one of Lenin’s closest friends and allies, a power-hungry, older man—everything his brother abhorred. Boris, however, had taken a shine to the handsome young Alexei.

  It happened aboard a train filled with men bound for the Tsar’s Winter Palace. Boris had crept up on Alexei in the early morning hours while he was asleep in his bunk. Alexei’s first thought, as he’d related it to Lev, was that the large, grotesque man was going to rape him. “He had a strange look in his eye,” Alexei had said. “Like a ravenous lion eyeing a lamb.”

  Readying himself for the attack, Alexei had fingered a handmade shiv he’d hidden under the thin mattress. Unfortunately, he hadn’t time to grasp the weapon before Boris was on him. It would have made no difference, Lev and Alexei knew now. It would have been like trying to kill a gorilla with a toothpick.

  Apparently, Boris was foul but unusually powerful. Alexei had told him some of the beast’s power had been transferred to him during his turning. He’d felt it growing inside him, like a living thing, in the days and months following the attack. A creature of the night could never be as strong as the one who’d turned him. That was just how it was—a fact, plain and simple, one Boris had been sure his newly made monster knew.

  Months later Alexei snuck off, and the first thing he did was pay Lev a visit.

  At the time, Lev had been working as an apprentice in a leather shop. He’d left their parent’s home and found a modest apartment. Somehow he’d avoided factory work, the most common job in Russia at the time, which thrilled him because the hours weren’t as grueling. It allowed him time to pursue his passion—writing. In the evenings, Lev would spend hours working on his poetry and short stories by candlelight. Sometimes he’d write until the candle guttered out and would awaken in the morning with his head on his desk, fingers stained black with ink.

  Lev didn’t have many friends, and he liked it that way. He was social but only with a few of his fellow workers, and although he would have loved it, he didn’t have a special lady in his life just yet. He was only twenty-two. There was still time for romance.

  One Saturday evening, there was a knock on Lev’s door. He was expecting no one and debated if he should even answer. But his neighbor down the hall was pregnant, and her husband often worked late. What if it was her and she needed help? That scared him all the more, but how could he ignore a woman in need? When he opened the door, he found Alexei, wild-eyed and pale as a freshly fallen snow. His hair was an unkempt mess, his clothes dirty and ripped.

  Alexei stood on the threshold as if rooted to the spot. “Aren’t you going to invite me in, brother?”

  “My God, Alexei. W
hat happened to you? It’s been years since I’ve seen you.” Lev pulled him into an embrace and whispered, “Yes, yes, please come in.”

  “You thought I was dead?”

  “Yes, in the war.”

  “Well,” Alexei heaved a sigh. “I am.” He smiled. Those were the last words Lev heard, before he too was dead.

  Alexei was back in the dining room. A huge grin spread across his handsome face, pulling Lev from his thoughts. Something had come to Lev when recalling the story. Perhaps it was divine intervention, though he doubted there was anything divine about his life anymore.

  “Do you know where Boris is?” Lev asked his brother.

  Alexei’s smile guttered out.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Alexei cleared his throat. “Why do you want to know about Boris?”

  Lev thought he heard a wobble in his brother’s voice. “I think we need to find him. He might be able to help Carly and I.”

  “No! I can’t go anywhere near that pig.” Alexei shook his head and started to back out of the room. His handsome face transformed, giving him the look of a frightened child.

  Confusion settled on Carly’s face as she watched the exchange between the brothers, but Lev knew now wasn’t the time to explain. Although he’d never met Boris, the fact was the man was one of a handful of ancients—creatures of the night who’d been around since the dawning of time. And because of that, Lev hoped he possessed some knowledge, something neither he nor Alexei knew of to help him stay with Carly.

  Lev followed his brother. He wasn’t about to give up easily. “Boris might be able to help us. Time is of the essence—we only have two days!” An unexpected urge to cry swelled in him, but he swallowed it. He couldn’t show weakness now, not when Alexei was so upset. His brother was a loose cannon on the best of days. Still, Lev couldn’t help but wonder why he seemed so frightened of Boris. His brother had told him stories, and he knew the man was a bully, but Alexei had always given the impression he was in control—that he could handle his maker if he had to. It wouldn’t be easy to get Alexei to take him to Boris, that is, if he even knew where to find him. But Alexei was clever, Lev had to give him that. He knew a little something about everything, and what he didn’t know, he could find out. Modern technology was his brother’s passion—computers, the Internet. He even had a smartphone, something Lev didn’t have the slightest interest in. And there were occasions when Alexei hinted he knew where Boris was. Thinking back on it now, Lev had the sudden realization that his brother probably did know where his maker was, and maybe, just maybe, for some reason he also needed to know.