by P. Mattern
“You might feel a little sting at the end, when we stop the suctioning to draw out the blood,” he told her kindly.”But it won’t last an instant. And it does leave a little bruising that takes a couple of days to fade. I haven’t technically been human for awhile, but both Pierre and I worked at a blood donation center for awhile and Pierre has actually BEEN a blood donor himself when human and he thinks it doesn’t hurt as much as a blood donation. Right Pierre?”
“Right,” Pierre answered immediately.”Just make yourself as comfortable as possible. Some of the humans put in earbuds and listen to music while their donating, as a distraction technique and to relax. Would you like to listen to music?”
Raine shook her head.
“No thank you. I am here because I want to be, because I agreed to help you in exchange for protection and food. I make it a point to live up to my promises. What I’m going to do is lie back and close my eyes and breathe and you gentlemen can proceed anytime. I haven’t perfected my meditation routine but I’m getting better at it and I will be just fine.”
With that she laid her head gently back and rested each of her her hands, palm up on her knees. Pierre and Lux looked each other over her relaxed body for a minute and then simultaneously, with utmost gentleness, raised her wrists to their mouths and began to feed.
Lux especially had underestimated how famished for blood he really was. Only after Pierre shot him a warning glance did he withdraw his perfect lips from her wrist. Her blood had been sweet and rich tasting, with such a nice bouquet that he had wanted to drink forever.
It hadn’t felt in any sense awkward to the vampires, but the room was infused with an air of reverence, as if they had just taken communion together. Even after they both withdrew from her, Raine’s eyes remained closed. Finally Pierre reached out impulsively and stroked her hair.
“Raine sweetie , are you okay?” he asked softly.
In answer Raine opened her eyes and stretched upward like a cat.
“That was amazing,” she said, stifling a yawn. “Not traumatic at all. I almost felt as if I were the one being nurtured, and not the other way around. And images kept rising up in my consciousness. YOU,” she said, pointing her dainty finger at Lux, ”I saw you running through woods with a rifle, and you looked a lot younger, like 15 or so.
And YOU,”she continued, angling the same dainty finger so that she was pointing at Pierre. “You were in an alley somewhere getting beaten by 3 other guys. You looked younger too. They took your backpack and ran off. You had a cut on your forehead and a black eye.”
Lux and Pierre were quiet for a moment, staring at each other.
Lux was the first to speak.
“Raine…well I can’t speak for Pierre but it seems to me that you have an unusual gift of some sort. In a past existence long ago, before I was granted my immortality I did a lot of hunting in the woods.Pierre?” he asked, holding his lover’s gaze, ”Did what Raine picked up on for you really happen?”
Pierre looked nonplussed, as if he were struggling for words.
“Uh, ugh… I would have to say yes, but I don’t really want to get into it right now…but yes, what you saw Raine was close to something that really happened to me a long time ago.”
Raine sat up looking thoughtfully at both Lux and Pierre without saying anything.
“My grandmother was an Auger,” she said,”An interpreter of omens. My mother’s sister was a garden variety psychic. I might have gotten a little something extrasensory by inheritance…maybe. I do get images in my mind sometimes. And also in dreams on occasion. I don’t ever know quite what to do with them though. I never know how to interpret them.”
The three of them looked at each other for another long minute. Pierre looked down, and seeing the lateral bruise forming on Raine’s wrist, brought her wrist up to his lips to kiss it.
“Sorry about the bruise,”” he said ”And thank you for the gift of your blood. I feel a connection with you…”
“So do I,” Lux interrupted, ”I hope Raine that we can all be good friends, apart from your gift of blood to us. It would be an honor, really.”
To their surprise Raine looked down at the twin bruises on her inner wrists and giggled a little.
“You know I always wanted siblings when I was growing up,” she said ,”I especially wished for brothers that would protect me from my parents. Now here it is years and years later. I wished and prayed for two fiercely protective champions every chance I got, even wished on dandelion fronds before I sent them into the air with the innocence of my child’s breath giving them flight.
And now here you are. And you’re VAMPIRES. And I’m sitting between you. And I finally feel safe .Crazy, isn’t it?”
Lux slipped his arm around her, sensing that it would be okay.
“This symbiotic triangle that we are in now, Raine…I want you to understand that Pierre and I see it as a sacred thing. We would never hurt you, and we are BOUND to protect you.”
“Lux is right,” Pierre said, putting an arm around Raine from the other side, ”What you just told us doesn’t sound crazy at all. In fact it makes perfect sense. Some things are serendipity. Others present with more power, like serendipity fueled by destiny. That’s what this feels like. Can you feel it too Raine?”
“Yes,” she answered immediately, looking at both of them in turn, ”Yes. Definitely that. And something else too but I can’t articulate it .”
“It’s okay ,” Lux assured her.”You don’t have to. I think that we are all on the same page here.. Well,” he continued, also stretching his long body out like a cat,”Would you like us to walk you back to wherever you’re staying. Let us do that, please.”
Raine seemed to hesitate, and Pierre asked gently,”Where have you been staying Raine?”
“I have a pup tent in the woods,” she told the vampires,” her voice quiet,”The family in a RV nearby has been letting me shower at their place. I tried the caves but I just can’t sleep underground for some reason.”
Pierre shot Lux a concerned look over Raines head. Lux nodded slightly and turned his attention to Raine again.
“Raine we have plenty of room here, beds that aren’t even filled,” he said .”We don’t want to undermine your self-sufficiency or anything, but it might be dangerous for you to travel solo. Wait! What are you using for transportation? How did you even get here to join the camp?”
Raine smiled, a flicker of pride shining in her eyes.
“I have a motorcycle,” she told them.”It’s a nice ride for across country. Gets a little cold though.”
Pierre, always unconsciously noting physical aberrations on humans due to his extensive medical background, looked down and saw that the backs of Raine’s hands were badly chapped. He whistled almost soundlessly under his breath.
“Raine dear you need to let us do our part of the contract and take better care of you. I happen to have some salve for your hands and spending any more time in the cold is contraindicated at this point. Let us get you situated. We can put your bike on the back of the Winnebago for now and take it down when you want to ride it. How does that sound?”
Raine looked at the vampires shyly.
“I always thought vampires, if they existed at all, must be evil. But you guys are like angels. I don’t know what to say. I’m overwhelmed at your kindness…thank you!” she said enthusiastically.
Lux stood up.
“Then it’s settled,” he said firmly. “Now let me show you where you sleep.”
It was dawn and Cass, Ab, Jaxon, Lux, Pierre, Byron, Cary, Blue and the ex-military human Rafe were on a knoll some distance from the campsite. Each day the vampires ritually sent the solar powered drones out to fly in a wide radius around the camp. The purpose of the drone surveillance was to detect any entity , especially government entity, that might be following them in their Western exodus.
Mitzi had supplied the team with many thermoses of coffee and hot chocolate as well as her special Scottish eggs(hardboiled eggs wrapped in sau
sage, rolled in panko crumbs and deep fried) and homemade biscuits in a special thermal container to keep them warm. The frosty air seemed to enhance their appetites as well as their sense of comraderie.
Jaxon , Ab and Blue were staring intently at the screen images the drones were sending back. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual. Nothing that indicated that they were being followed by the military, or anyone else for that matter.
Pierre had headphones on and was listening to world news reporting. It was the usual for the most part: the Mideast was still a mess, the world economy was in a decline, acts of terrorism had decreased in scope but still were constant…and then something the radio announcer said caught his attention and he stood stock still.
The news person was talking about blackouts on both coasts. Wireless interruptions and unexplained power outages in many areas, including D.C. and even reaching as far inland as Chicago.
Pierre started to smile, then broke into a grin. He ripped the headphones from his ears, and still wearing them around his neck ran over to Lux and threw his arms around him.
“You WON THE BET!” He exclaimed. Lux looked puzzled and next to him Cass looked suspicious.
“And which of our MANY bets would THIS be?” he asked coolly as Lux started to snigger uncontrollably.
“The one about when the blackouts would start!” Pierre reminded Cass with an air of triumph,”Cass you said not until after the first of the year and Lux said in November…and guess what month we are in ?”
“Crap!” Cass commented ungraciously, sill watching the receiver screen as he manipulated the controls on the largest drone.”This isn’t another one where I have to wear ladies’ undergarments is it? Because those damn things are so uncomfortable they are like boob prison!”
“You know perfectly well which bet this was. You owe me money this time…BIG money!”
“Fine ,” Cass snapped back in a crabby voice, ”Take your filthy lucre. And you’d better spend it quickly too, before the economy hits the proverbial Cosmic Cow Pie and U.S. currency isn’t worth as much as Confederate currency after the Civil War!”
“Oh I already know what I’m getting,” Lux replied smugly, ”I am going to gift a small Winnebago travel in to a very worthy couple. An elderly human gentleman just passed of natural causes and his wife doesn’t drive and is trying to sell it…that’s where I will put the bonus bucks-a travel vehicle for a couple sorely in need of one!”
“That’s sweet of you,” Pierre said, turning to kiss Lux on his beautiful curvy lips.”I bet I know who you’re giving it to…Savannah-Bruce, right?”
“You know me so well,” Lux replied happily,”She was only turned three months before the Great Upheaval started. She started life as a human male and was in the process of transgendering when she was Turned by a vampire she accidently hooked up with in a club. She and her partner left Fort Hunt riding a motorbike with only a backpack and the clothing on their backs. They very narrowly escaped a chipping when their neighborhood was cordoned off. She is one of the most endearing, loving and humble energies you’d ever want to meet…and incidentally a kickass writer. Very talented.
I just wanted them to have a permanent place to stay,” he finished, happiness shining in his eyes.
Cass had stopped listening moments before. Knowing that Blue had amazing visual gifts he called to him, ”Hey Blue, come look at the drone surveillance screen here…am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?”
Stefan wanted to strike the small human Hispanic girl across the face again, his rage causing a miasma of red to descend over his visual field. Already she had a violet bruise forming across her left cheekbone. He raised his hand again and then abruptly changed his mind and dropped it to his side.
“You CAN’T be pregnant! You’re a human and I am a vampire! I am NOT siring any little bastard Dhampirs!” he shouted.
They were standing in an isolated part of the woods some distance away from the populated area of the campground, the place where they had been meeting secretly the past few days in order to have sex. Adelina was the fifth child of one of the human couples traveling with the vampires. Although her older brother had originally been assigned as a Donor for Stefan, she had convinced him to trade with her because she was captivated by the tall and handsome vampire. From the first time he had fed on her he had taken sexual liberties that she had allowed him based on her fascination with him. His presence was mesmerizing to her, his physical attentions addictive. Although she was pretty, compared to his glorious body , ebon hair and mysterious dark eyes she felt mousy and insignificant. She craved him though her heart had warned against it from the beginning.
It was the old moth to a flame analogy. She felt that she was being swept away to her own destruction, but was powerless to stop herself. She admired his arrogant self assurance, his skill in lovemaking and thrilled at his touch, whether rough or gentle.
Now as she met his eyes , smoldering with repressed fury, she found she still loved him in spite of his having struck her. Although she feared to speak, she felt that she must.
“Stefan I will never tell that it was you…I would never do that. I thought you might be pleased. “ she told him, and her statement was only half a lie. In truth, the idea that she was carrying his child, his FIRST child, thrilled her to the core. But she had known he wouldn’t be happy. After all, his family had been important and influential in the world of the V-net. She was certain that her pregnancy would be seen as a scandal.
Stefan was glaring at her. His head was lowered, his long black hair hanging over his face.
“Get rid of it,” he hissed,”Surely there is someone in this camp that knows how to do it. I’ll make some discreet inquiries myself. This can never happen, do you hear me? My parents would be insulted that their first grandchild be a Dhampie bastard spawned by a little tart like yourself!”
Adelina let his angry words fall like sharpened stones all around her. She didn’t care what he was saying now. All she cared about was the tiny being growing inside of her. It didn’t matter what Stefan wanted at this point.
He was still continuing with his diatribe.
“I don’t care WHAT it takes! Maybe a round of rough sex will SCARE it out of you and make your greedy little womb eager to empty itself!
Get rid of it or I will rip it out of you with my bare HANDS Adelina!,” he was saying with a snarl ”Do you GET that you little mindlessly breeding MORON?”
She nodded. Although she had no intention of doing anything he was suggesting she didn’t want to anger him further. She knew that she would not only have to tell her father that she was pregnant but also what Stefan had said.
She was pretty sure that her father would want to kill him.
Adrastos was breakfasting with his son Argent. The table had been set up in the solarium, the warmest room in Faquier Hall. Adrastos allowed none of his employees to eat with him. He and Argent ,both sitting at right angles to each other at one end of the large , 12 foot long carved mahogany table, were the only ones seated there.
The table was covered with many delights: stuffed pheasant, raw oysters on the half shell, steaming plates of fish and venison, tiny chicken and vegetable pies baked in pastry shells, candied fruits and nuts and a huge wild boar that had been roasted over an open fire for hours.
Some distance away another table had been set up offering the same delicacies. First Seer Maung, Captain of the guard Royal Chavez, and most of Adrastos’ personal staff sitting there were enjoying the company of some of the female energies, human, clone and vampire that resided within the castle walls.
Argent looked longingly over at the Staff table, thinking that he wouldn’t mind lighter company than his brooding and capricious father. They looked like they were having more fun than he currently was , listening to his father drone on and on about proper conduct within the castle walls.
Adrastos pointed over to the other table with a meat fork whose bone handle was carved with images of pheasant and deer.
/> “Never dine with the staff,” he told Argent. “The only exception to that is if you want to have a private dinner with one of your mistresses. Never fraternize with the staff or soldiers. You will continue your studies privately here, Argent….I expect you to become an accomplished and learned male energy.”
Adrastos finished his diatribe and hefted a heavy carved crystal glass of blood to his lips.
Argent flipped a lock of his nearly shoulder length hair back from his face.
“Father who CAN I make friends with? “he asked. Argent found that for all the perks living at Castle Adrastos offered he missed interacting with vampires his own age.
Adrastos studied him without speaking for a moment, making Argent fear that he had misspoke and somehow managed to anger his father.
“I can arrange it if that is what you wish. I do have allies now, especially since the commencement of The Great Upheaval. They are in my debt, but even setting that fact aside, they would , I am sure, jump at the chance to have their offspring tutored in many important arts here at Faquier Hall. I will send out announcements immediately..How many companions do you require my son?”
Argent hadn’t even considered having peers in proximity and Adrastos’ question took him by surprise.
“I’m not sure…8 or 9 perhaps? More male than female energies please!”
Adrastos nodded,”I’ll make it an even dozen then. Seven males and five females. How does that sound?”
Argent hadn’t felt very hungry but at his father’s good news he suddenly felt both renewed and famished. “Brilliant father! Thank you so much,” he answered, his mouth stuffed with pecan encrusted chicken.
Adrastos looked at his son fondly and sighed. Now he was running a boarding school for young vampires. The lengths that he found himself going to because of his son amazed him.
A servant appeared at his elbow.
“Excuse me sire,” he intoned, bowing elaborately, ”The dancers are here. Do you have any instructions for them?”
Adrastos peered into the far corner of the solarium where bejeweled and feathered dancers in costume awaited their cue.”
