by Nelson, Dara
I tried not to blush as I smiled at him.
‘God, it’s good to see you again, Sarah. I really missed you. Thanks for being here,’ Carlos thought.
“Like I’d be anywhere else, goofball,” I said as the chopper touched down, causing Carlos to wince. “What’s say we get you to a room so you don’t have to move again for a very long time. Sound good?”
‘Sounds like heaven, of course so does seeing you with the olive skinned beauty too,’ he thought as his grin tried to get bigger.
We managed to get him inside without too much pain for him. Transferring him from the stretcher to the hospital bed was another matter entirely. We were as gentle as we possibly could be, and he tried so hard to not cry out, but we could all tell he was in agony. As soon as we set him down, I asked one of the interns to bring two pints of blood. I still had to put the blood on my finger and in his mouth to get his fangs to drop, but I was glad when he drained both pints. David checked in his nose and down his throat. “The nose will probably take a few more days at least, but the vocal cords look much better. He might be able to speak normally by tomorrow,” he said.
“That’s too bad,” I said as I grinned at Carlos, “he’s much less annoying when he can’t speak.”
Carlos mouthed the word ‘bitch’ then winked at me.
Matt came over and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Do you want first shift or second?”
I looked at him with pain all over my face… I didn’t want him to leave.
“Sarah, one of us needs to stay with him, don’t you think? The nurses we have around here now are used to humans, they haven’t been trained yet on vampire care and David and Cameron need to get some sleep, so I think it’s best if one of us stays. At least for tonight, don’t you think?” he said.
‘You guys really don’t have to do that,’ Carlos thought to me.
“No, Carlos, he’s right. We can’t have you screaming out in the middle of the night when there are a few human patients here. One of us should stay,” I said then I looked at Matt. “Since he just fed, I’ll go try to get some sleep. You take first shift. I’ll be back in a few hours, but wake me if he wants to feed again, okay?”
“I think I could probably manage to feed him,” Matt said.
“Really?” I said. “You really want to stick your finger in his mouth and have him suck it off of your finger?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s not really something I’d like to experience. I’ll wake you, okay? Go sleep now. I love you, Sarah,” he said as he locked his lips with mine. Several minutes passed before he finally pulled away.
“I love you too. I’ll see you in a bit.” I looked at Carlos. “Try to sleep, dude.” He barely nodded. “Night,” I said.
‘Night, Sarah,’ he thought. ‘And thanks again. You’re still the best ever. And I can’t begin to tell you how much I missed you.’ I leaned down and gently kissed his forehead.
I smiled, nodded and stepped out of the room. I got halfway down the hall to our room when I said, “This is ridiculous. I’m not going to get any sleep alone.” I turned around, walked back into the clinic, grabbed an extra chair from the waiting room and walked back into Carlos’ room. Matt seemed to be expecting this, and was smiling and holding his hand out to me when I walked in. I set my chair next to his and gladly took it. I brought my feet up on the chair and rested my head on my knees, looking at Matt and smiling. The pace of the last week was catching up to me, and my eyelids grew heavy. Before I knew it I was out.
The nightmare began a few hours later. It was Carlos’ nightmare, but it was also playing in my head as I slept. It was Carlos, from a long time ago judging by his clothes. It looked like he was in a barn and he appeared to be shackled, with his arms above his head. He was beaten severely and in incredible pain… and he was starving, holy shit was he starving. I thought I was starving after going a month without feeding. That was peanuts compared to this. I had no idea that someone could be this hungry and still be somewhat conscious. The barn door opened and in walked Jonas, with a young, unconscious girl under one arm and a really scary looking horrible man walking on his other side. “It’s time Carlos,” Jonas said. “I’m tired of waiting for you. It’s now or never. You join me now, or I’m leaving you here to slowly starve to death.” Jonas dropped the young girl on the ground and unlocked Carlos, who immediately fell to the ground. Jonas helped him sit up and placed the girl across his lap.
Carlos looked up at Jonas said, “Please, I beg you, please don’t make me do this. She’s good, she’s innocent, she doesn’t deserve this.”
Jonas looked at the horrible man and nodded to him. “Have a seat next to my friend Carlos, Jeremiah,” he said. I could feel Carlos struggling as the evil scent of Jeremiah hit him. Jonas placed himself behind Carlos, putting both hands on either side of his head.
“Please, no,” Carlos whispered, but I could feel what he was feeling and knew that his fangs were already down. Carlos struggled to turn his head toward Jeremiah, wanting so badly to sink his teeth into his neck.
“No, no,” Jonas said, “he’s here because his scent brings your fangs down, she is the only one you get to feed on.”
“I can’t,” Carlos said through gritted teeth.
Jonas leaned down to his ear, “You can and you will, or I’m going to kill your sister, your brothers, your mother and every other family member of yours that I can find.”
As soon as he said that Carlos groaned, turned and sank his teeth into the young girl’s neck as a sob escaped him.
“NO!” I screamed, waking myself up.
Matt was instantly soothing me. “Sarah, you were dreaming. It’s okay, honey.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Oh my God, Matt. Jonas figured out how to feed on innocents. And he forced Carlos to do it too. Oh my God,” I sobbed.
Carlos’ raspy voice made us jump. “It took me ten years to hide my family, to give them new identities, make certain they were safe. Ten years I had to stay with Jonas, before I could finally turn him in to the Elders,” he whispered. “You should have left me at the bottom of the ocean, cause he’s coming for me and he’ll go through anyone who gets in his way, and even those who don’t.”
“Carlos, how did he find out you’re the one who turned him in?” Matt said.
“I told him,” he said.
We both jumped up and exclaimed, “You WHAT?!?”
“I thought he’d just kill me and be done with it. Instead he locked me in the cargo hold of that stupid ship. I don’t know why. I don’t know if he knew that the pirates were going to take it over and blow it up. But I can tell you that he had a plan, he always has a plan,” he said.
A voice in all our heads made all of us jump, ‘Of course I have a plan, Carlos. But if I told you what it was it wouldn’t be any fun for me. And after all these years, I’m looking forward to some fun, a lot of fun. I’m especially looking forward to meeting you, Sarah. Oh yes, you and I are going to be close, very close. I’m getting aroused just thinking about it, that and ripping apart Carlos and Matt. So much fun, so much time. Till next time,’ and then Jonas was gone. At least we hoped he was gone.
Matt’s hand was squeezing mine so tight I winced. “Did anybody feel him coming into our heads?” Matt said
We both nodded our heads. “He can usually come in without being noticed,” Carlos said. “He could still be here now.”
I stood up. “I’m calling Marie. Hopefully Musetta can help us. I‘ll be back here in five minutes. When I get back, I want you two to fill me in on everything you know about Jonas, okay?” I kissed Matt and headed out the door. I could only hope that Jonas wasn’t still in my head as I called Marie, the daughter of the voodoo priestess who provided a crucial piece to turning me into a vampire – a formula that she made from a variety of disgusting ingredients that made my heart rate increase – to allow the vampire ‘virus’ to circulate through my body before it died – and it slowed the speed with which Matt drank my blood – allowing him to stop be
fore he killed me, something that most vampires can’t do because it only takes seconds for us to drain an entire human body.
Marie said that she’d talk to her mother about our situation and to see if she thought that there was any way to block Jonas from being in our heads, or would allow us to notice him being there, and she’d call me back later this afternoon. On my way back to the clinic, I stopped by the kitchen and heated up six pints. I drained two myself and brought the other four to Matt and Carlos. “Okay,” I said after I’d helped Carlos feed, “tell me everything about him.”
“He’s over seven hundred years old. He was the original Enforcer, building the elite guard force that protected the Elders, brought over here by Victor, the original Elder, to protect him. Many felt that Jonas was somewhat bitter at having to serve under Victor, that he felt that he should be in charge. He remained an Enforcer for three hundred years though, protecting Victor and the others, but growing angrier and more bitter each day, until he figured out his technique for consuming innocent blood, which makes you much stronger and much more powerful than evil blood. That’s when he left, and began plotting his revenge against the Elders. Plotting and growing stronger by the minute, for over one hundred and fifty years, and wreaking havoc wherever he went. He was just about to carry out his plan when I told the Elders where they could find him. They captured him and imprisoned him. I begged them to kill him, but they said they wanted him to suffer instead. So they threw him in a prison they had built just for him, on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, more than one thousand miles from anything. He was feeding off the rats that got in to his cell. He finally managed to break out of the cell about twenty five years ago, but he was still stuck on the island because he could no longer fly, not for short distances like most of us can and definitely not a thousand miles, and he lacked the strength to swim very far. About a year ago, a small boat anchored in the cove and some shady treasure hunters started diving and looking for shipwrecks. One of them came ashore to look for food and, unfortunately for him, he was a really bad guy. Jonas fed off of him, then waited for the others that he knew would come searching for him. He killed all but one member of the crew. He told the last guy that he’d let him live if he helped him get the boat to South Africa. Of course, he killed him too, right before they arrived. He didn’t need him anymore. He’s been quietly gaining his strength back ever since, and interrogating every vampire he comes across. He’s got some serial killer named Lester working for him, so he can feed off innocents. And when I just happened to show up nearby in my travels…. well, he just couldn’t resist a reunion. Once he had me, I knew if he found out that I had a family of sorts again, people that I truly care about and would do anything to protect, you and Matt, I knew that he’d try to force me to join him, in order to save you. So I told him I was the one who turned on him before, the one who got him caught. I hoped that he’d be so angry that he’d just kill me quickly and it would be over with.” Carlos closed his eyes then, because he was exhausted from telling us all of this.
I walked over to Carlos’ bed and leaned down close to his face. “Carlos,” I whispered, as Matt smirked behind me, he knew me well enough to know what was coming. “I know you’re hurting right now. But if you ever do anything that stupid again, the pain that you feel now is nothing compared to the pain you’ll feel when I’m through with you. Got it?”
He nodded as he tried to smile. I leaned down and very gently kissed his forehead. Suddenly there was a quiet knock on the door. I shot back into Matt’s arms, both of us instantly tense and alert for anything. “Come in,” I said.
Maria opened the door slightly. “I’m really sorry to bother you, Sarah,” she began, “but Carmela is here with Juan and Sophia, and she’s asking to see you. If you’re too busy I can ask her to come back later.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s okay, Maria. I’m not too busy. I’ll be right there.”
She nodded and closed the door. I turned back to say goodbye to Carlos, but he was staring wide-eyed at the door. “Who was that?” he whispered.
“That was Maria, she’s a nurse here,” I said.
“I hope she’s going to be taking care of me,” he said.
I smiled. “I’d have to see if she’s willing to learn that. So far, she’s only taken care of humans. You’re the first vampire patient we’ve had since she started.”
He looked over at me. “Please check for me? Would you, Sarah?”
“Sure, Carlos, but only if you’ll behave yourself around her. Deal?” I said, and he nodded, an interesting and tame response for Carlos that kind of confused me. I turned to Matt. “You staying?”
He shook his head. “I need to go talk to Stefan and Penelope about Jonas. I’ll bring them back here with me in a little while, okay?”
“You’ll be okay by yourself for a little while?” I asked Carlos.
“I’ll be fine. I’m beat. I want to try to sleep for a bit,” he said.
“Let me know if you need anything, anything at all,” I said, and he nodded.
Matt grabbed my hand and together we walked down the hall. As soon as we rounded the corner near the waiting room, Juan squealed and ran to hug me. I scooped him up in my arms. “Play now?” he said.
“Of course I’ll play with you now, Juan,” I said.
Matt smiled and kissed my cheek. “Have fun, I’ll see you in a bit.”
I nodded and walked with Juan over to the toys. “Hello Carmela,” I said, “it’s so nice to see you again. What brings you here today?”
“Well, actually, I have a huge favor to ask,” she said, in Spanish. “My brother needs my help moving. Is there any possibility you could baby-sit Juan and Sophia for a few hours today? My neighbor was supposed to do it, but she’s got a bad cold. I would be back before five this evening, I promise.”
I had to just stare for a minute. Was she really asking me to watch her kids? Me? A vampire? She trusted me enough to do that? “I’d love to,” I said.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much,” she said as she handed me the diaper bag. “There’s formula, diapers and instructions in here. Sophia had a bottle right before we got here, and I just changed her, so she should be good for a while. Juan will let you know when he needs to go. Thank you so much,” she said as she stood up and handed Sophia to me.
I sat down on the floor next to Juan, with Sophia on my lap. “Blocks or cars?” I asked. He handed me a car. “Cars it is,” I said. I opened the diaper bag and pulled out a colorful rattle for Sophia. I kept her occupied with it, while I used my other hand to play cars with Juan. We sat playing for almost half an hour, before Juan got antsy and wanted to do something else. I knew we had a new kids’ play area outside, with a slide and swings, in the corner, where it was shaded most of the time. “Would you like to go outside and play, Juan?” I said, as I bounced Sophia on my lap. He jumped up and nodded his head. As we headed outside, I reached out to Matthew, ‘Are you too busy to meet me outside for a little bit?’
‘Not at all, but I was just going to bring Stefan and Penelope to talk to you, is now not a good time?’ he thought.
‘Can you ask them to meet us in Carlos’ room at five thirty? I’m going to be busy until then.’ I thought.
‘Sure, but what’s up, Sarah?’
‘You’ll see, just come outside.’
‘On my way.’
Juan, Sophia and I had reached the play area and Juan wanted me to push him on the swings. “Just a second Juan, I have someone coming to hold Sophia, then I can push you, okay?” I said.
“Okay,” he said, clearly frustrated.
“How about the slide first?” I said. “I can help you up there, if you want.”
That brought a smile to his face, and to mine. He reached for my hand and we walked over to the slide. I held tight as he climbed to the top, still holding tight as he slid down. “Wheeeeee,” he squealed. “Again.”
We moved back around to the ladder. “Well, this looks like fun,” Matt said,
as he joined us.
“Just in time,” I said. “Can you hold Sophia while I help Juan?”
Matt’s face fell “Sarah, I’ve never… ummm… I don’t know how… uhhh,” he stuttered. Unlike me, he had never been a parent when he was human – his human wife had died during childbirth and he had been shot while on duty as a cop about a year later – it was then that the Elders had taken him and turned him into a vampire.
I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Relax sweetheart. You’ll do just fine. And I’ll be right here. Now go sit on the bench.”
He moved very slowly for a vampire. He was clearly nervous. “Hold out your hands,” I said, which he did, and I gently placed Sophia in his arms, who promptly smiled at him. “See, you’re doing just fine.”
I stood and walked back to Juan. “Thank you for waiting so patiently, Juan,” I said as I helped him up the slide. He went down one more time then we moved to the swings.
“Higher,” he kept saying as I pushed him, while keeping one eye on Matt and Sophia. She was beginning to fuss a little, and I could see the panic forming in his eyes. “Juan,” I said as he flew back and forth, “would it be okay if my friend Matt pushed you? He can push you higher than I can.”
“Yesss,” he squealed.
Matt was over to me in a few seconds, handing Sophia to me. “You did great, honey,” I said, trying to calm him. “Relax, and don’t push too hard,” I whispered so Juan couldn’t hear me. I put Sophia up on my shoulder and patted her back. I got a big burp out of her almost immediately and she stopped fussing. “That was her problem?” Matt said. “How did you know that?”
I smiled at him. “Honey, I didn’t know that. Usually, when a baby fusses, it’s because of one of four things – they’re hungry, they need a diaper change, they need to burp or they need some love. I started with the burping, and it just happened to be right, this time.”
Suddenly Juan squealed. “Mommy! Look Mommy, look how high I’m going.”
Carmela walked over to us, beaming. “I see that sweetie. You’re going so high.”
