by Mairsile
“To our first date,” she said and raised her glass. “And hopefully not our last.”
As we sipped on our beer, I made a fool of myself staring at her. “I must say that you look hermosa tonight. That means beautiful.” It was just a casual date eating pizza at the college hangout, and she was wearing an off the shoulder blouse that had me fantasizing about running my fingers across her collarbone and up to her exquisite neck. If that weren’t alluring enough, I had a thing for long blonde hair and green-eyed women. Very intoxicating.
“What? This old thing,” she joked, and flipped her hair back behind her shoulder.
I could feel the heat between my thighs as I stared at her subtle neck. I fantasied of sinking my teeth into her sublime jugular as I brought her to climax.
“Hey, girlie-girl, wake up before I drop you.”
“What?” Nikki shook her head.
“You were moaning in your sleep,” the old man said. “It was very distracting.”
“Yeah, sorry,” Nikki said. She was sorry, but it was because she couldn’t finish her dream. “Where are we?”
“Damn if I know?” the old man said. “I only know where Hawaii is.”
Nikki looked down at a swath of bright lights glittering in the night. “Wait. Stop. Is that Las Vegas? Turn around, you’ve gone too far.”
“I told you, I’m going to Hawaii.”
“But I need to go to Texas, damn it!” Nikki became irrational, screaming obscenities at the old man. She tried to hit the man, but he was too far away. Watching as California came into view, Nikki frantically fought the wind that held her up, and the old man laughed at her.
“Let me go, damn it!” Nikki demanded.
The old man shrugged and retracted the air that held her. He kept flying toward Hawaii.
Nikki careened toward the ground from a thousand feet, and ended up in a back alley on a street somewhere in Los Angeles. She suffered multiple broken bones and deep lacerations, but she only laughed maniacally at the pain. At least she had made it back to America and only 1400 miles away from Lilah.
An inebriated wino stumbled over and offered Nikki a drink from his nearly empty bottle, but Nikki couldn’t move her shattered arms. The drunkard sloshed a smile on his face and leaned over Nikki. With one hand, he pulled Nikki’s chin down and tilted the bottle until the watery wine trickled into Nikki’s mouth. Sputtering and spitting, Nikki’s eyes grew red, her fangs extended and she bit the fleshy part of the man’s hand, sucking deeply on his blood. Nikki wasn’t in control of her right mind, and reacted instinctively, gulping the blood as fast as she could. Her bones began to knit together, healing quickly at the infusion of blood from the drunkard.
“Don’t kill him,” Nikki thought she heard Lilah say. She took one last gulp from the man and then retracted her fangs. Feeling lightheaded from the amount of alcohol the man had in his blood, Nikki laid there for another few moments, allowing her body time to heal. And as her body absorbed the fresh blood, Nikki’s mind, dulled by the alcohol, was able to focus. The wino had passed out beside him, and the smell of urine and cheap booze became so bad that Nikki got up and limped away.
Once she found her way to the major thoroughfare, she saw a familiar name at the top of a high-rise building. She traversed the roads, making her way to the Hisaki Towers where she hoped to find Yamamuro, the Western immortal leader. She planned to persuade Yamamuro to have someone transport her to Texas, or at the very least, call Ludovico to come get her. That was if Yamamuro didn’t have her beheaded at first sight. Some immortals despised the insane, human or vampire, because they feared them as if insanity were contagious. She was immediately stopped when she walked into the lobby.
“Where do you think you’re going, Spirit?” a Japanese man standing in front of the reception desk asked.
“Do I know you?” Nikki asked, confused how the vampire would immediately know her as having the fifth element.
“I was at your sire’s mercy,” he replied cryptically.
Nikki looked at him closely and a vague recollection began to come into focus. It was in fact the man’s own sire who showed no mercy. Nikki slapped her hands on her knees and bowed, then said, “I am humbled to be in the presence of the man who so fearlessly accepted the poisoned dart on behalf of his sire.”
The man also bowed and said, “It was my honor.”
“I am here to seek a favor from your sire that would strengthen his friendship with my sire, and include compensation on my part.”
“What is it you want?” Yamamuro asked as he walked up beside Nikki.
***
da Polenta Ranch, Texas
“I remember!” Lilah sat up straight in bed and clapped her hands. “I remember,” she repeated.
Lilah looked around the bedroom and jumped when she saw Vince sitting in the dark corner, his eyes practically glowing.
“What do you remember, neophyte?” he asked cheerfully.
“Where am I? Have you been watching me sleep?”
“You are in my room in your house. And yes, I have been,” Vince replied. “So, what did you remember?”
Lilah smiled widely, not noticing her canines were extended. “I remembered Nikki!”
“Yes, she revived you,” Vince stated.
“No, before that. I remembered when she erased my memory. I remembered how sad she was when she did it. But the best part is that I remember how in love we were. We are!”
Vince felt a twinge of disappointment. One that he knew he had no right to, but couldn’t help just the same.
Lilah felt her teeth sticking out. “Oh my God. I have fangs!” She smiled as she felt her canines with her finger. “Do I look badass?”
Vince laughed. “Yes, very badass. Are you hungry?”
“Is that what the burning in the back of my throat is? Because it’s really starting to burn down to my stomach. Like acid reflux only worse.”
“Very good, neophyte,” Vince acknowledged.
“Stop calling me neophyte, and yes, I’m starving.” Lilah pulled the covers to the side only to realize she was dressed in an oversized t-shirt that exposed too much cleavage, and boxer shorts that she didn’t recognize. She quickly pulled the covers up over her breasts. “I should probably get dressed first.”
“You don’t have to on my account,” Vince teased, thankful that Nikki wasn’t there to hear his heart thump in appreciation. “Just stay put, I’ll bring a bag to you.”
“Actually, that’s probably a good idea. I don’t want anyone to watch me the first time I drink… blood. God, that sounds so weird.”
Vince gave her an understanding smile. “You’ll be surprised how quickly you get used to it.”
“Vince, where’s Nikki? Why isn’t she here? Is she still…”
“We don’t know where she’s at, and yeah, she’s probably still whacko. But you know that if she could be here, she would. I’ll be back in a minute with your colazione.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, her mind still on Nikki. She couldn’t wait to see her, to show her what she’d become. An immortal, like her, only not like her. She remembered Beulah telling her that she would most likely have the Air element because that’s what she had.
Lilah got out of bed and quickly got dressed. Then she jumped up on top of the bed and held her hands out like she had seen Vince do that first time. Nothing happened. She trilled her hands around, swishing and lifting them. Nothing happened. “How does he do that?” She tried one more time, closing her eyes and visualizing herself lifting into the air. She pushed her hands down and suddenly she shot up into the air, bumped her head on the ceiling, twirled around and ended up hanging upside down. She moved her hands several different directions, with disastrous results. “Help… uh, somebody?”
Vince came rushing in, a bag of blood in one hand, and his crossbow pistol in the other. He scanned the room, looking down the sight of his pistol. “Lilah?’
“Up here, Vince,” Lilah called from above.
Lo
oking up, Vince laughed so hard he fell on the bed. “What are… how’d you get up there?”
“I don’t know, damn it. And stop laughing at me.”
“No, I’m not laughing at you, neophyte. I’m laughing with you,” Vince jested. Because you’re so damn cute.
“Well, I’m not laughing, so you are laughing at me. And stop calling me a neophyte.”
“Would you prefer Neo or Phyte maybe?” he offered mischievously, setting the blood bag on the nightstand and putting his pistol back in its holster.
“I’d prefer you tell me how to get down from here. It’s not as comfortable as you’d think.”
“That’s because you’re upside down,” Nikki said, holding his hands out to draw the air toward and then under him. He drifted effortlessly to the ceiling, floating in place beside Lilah. He turned one hand up and the other hand down and flipped himself over. He grinned at Lilah impishly. “How’s it hanging, piccolo?”
Lilah swatted at him and ended up propelling herself across the ceiling, bumping her head into the wall. “Ow. Damn it.” Rubbing her head, more from expected habit than from the pain, she sighed and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this, though it is pretty amazing.”
“What’s amazing is that you’ve already learned how to fly… sort of. Most newly turned Air vamps don’t get their wings right away. Sometimes it even takes years.”
“When did you learn to fly, Vince?”
“I’d like to say that it was the second a Yankee fired a musket ball at me, but that wasn’t it. Actually, it was the first time I saw Niko without any clothes on. I thought she was a he, and I almost pissed in my pants and jumped up in the air. I didn’t come down.”
“That must have been pretty funny.”
“I didn’t think so at the time. Okay, don’t move a muscle or you’ll blow yourself out the door next,” Vince instructed as he maneuvered over to her. “Manipulating air is ninety-five percent mind over matter, and five percent physical.”
“You mean I just have to wish it and I’ll fly?”
Vince smiled at her innocence. “It’s more visual than that. It’s a lot like riding a horse. Your hands are your reins and the air around you is the horse. It will turn as your body, especially your hands, turn. Tilt too far one way or the other, and you end up with your butt where your head should be.”
Lilah was becoming weak from hunger and that was making her irritable. “Look, just tell me how the hell to get down from here.”
Vince leaned back on his cloud of air and crossed his arms. “Hunger getting worse?”
“Yes, damn it. Could you bring the bag—”
“No. I am not your errand boy,” Vince snarled. “Fly down there and get it yourself.”
“Bastard.”
“Neophyte.”
Snarling, her fangs protruded from under her lips. She looked down at the bed and closed her eyes. She envisioned herself gliding across the room and down to the bed. When she opened her eyes again, she was sitting on top of the dresser.
“That’s very good, piccolo,” Vince said with a proud smile. “But next time keep your eyes open so you can see where you’re going, okay?”
Lilah jumped down from the dresser and walked to the nightstand. “What’s wrong with my legs?” she asked as she grabbed the bag of blood and sat down on the bed.
“Your center of gravity has changed,” Vince explained, watching her eye the blood intently.
As hungry as she was, and as much as her body burned for what she held in her hand, Lilah was still reluctant to bite into the bag.
“It’s all right, piccolo. You must drink and gain your strength.”
She glance at him and nodded solemnly. “Vince, what does piccolo mean?” she asked as she bit into the bag with her fangs and drank. Her eyes grew large, her lips became engorged and her pale cheeks flushed bright pink as she gulped the thick, red liquid.
“It means little one,” Vince said as he watched her devour the bag as a child would a piece of candy.
Her body began to react to the nutrients in the blood, infusing her cells, her skin, her hair with vitality. Her short blonde hair seemed to glow as the curls became thicker, wavier, softer. Her green eyes had not lost their brassiness, nor her lips their plumpness. An aura of strength and confidence surrounded her as she licked a trickle of blood from the corner of her lip. That actually tasted good.
Vince watched, awestruck at her transformation. He had never seen anyone more beautiful than the divine creature smiling at him through pearly white cuspids.
“Are you okay?”
“What?” Vince came out of his stupor and saw the curious frown on Lilah’s face.
“I said, are you okay? You had a peculiar look on your face, like a love-struck puppy dog.”
Vince panic for a second, swallowed, and then let out a belch that seemed to go on forever. “Sorry. Touch of gas tonight. Must have been someone, I mean something, I drank,” he quipped, pounding his chest with his fist.
Lilah laughed at his antics. “I do feel much better,” she said, tossing the empty bag into the trashcan by the nightstand. “I was sure I was going to gag, but it actually tasted good, and I feel completely satisfied. Oh…”
“What?” he asked, floating down to the bed.
“Can I still eat steak or eggs and sausage or—”
“You can eat anything you want, piccolo, if you want to,” Vince assured her as he sat down in the chair. “You don’t have to, though. You don’t have to eat or breathe or even blink now, if you don’t want to.”
“What about sleeping? I mean, we’re awake all night, right?”
“Right, and you don’t have a choice on sleeping. We tend to pass out as the sun comes up. There are some much older immortals who don’t require as much sleep, but for us youngsters, it’s essential to get a good day’s sleep.”
“Youngster? Aren’t you like 180 years old? You’re older than the state of Texas, for Pete’s sake.”
Vince laughed. “But I’m much younger than New York state, where I was born. And you’re right, compared to you, only a day old, I must be ancient.”
“Well, maybe not ancient. I mean, not like Ludovico, right?”
Vince laughed. “Right.”
“And besides, I’m twenty-five years and a day old.”
Vince laughed. “So you are ready to venture out of the room? I believe that your mother is anxious to see how you are.”
“My mother? No, don’t call her that. She is definitely not my mother and never could be.”
“I understand, but, Lilah, she is your sire now. You must understand what that means in our world. She is your mother now, just as Ludovico is my father. You are under her aegis, and she must not only protect you, but protect her reputation as well. Because of that, she will treat you as a child, no matter how old you become. And I can promise you, based on the way she dotes over her other four daughters, she will be in your business all the time.”
Lilah frowned. Even before her mother died, she had always been independent, because that’s the way her father raised her. She and her mother clashed at times, especially over her dates, but she never doubted that her mother loved her. She would never betray that love. “Like I told her in front of everyone, I will not call her mom and I will not kiss her ass.”
“Just show her respect, Lilah. That’s all you have to do. If you disagree with her, keep it to yourself or talk to her privately. You must never embarrass her, piccolo. As your sire, she would have every right to kill you because of it.”
“You’re not serious?” Lilah scoffed.
Vince nodded. “I’m very serious. You’re not human anymore, Lilah, and you need to accept that,” he said sternly.
“Why are you being so mean to me?”
“I’m not trying to be mean,” he shrugged. “I’m trying to teach you as Ludovico taught me, so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did. Mistakes that almost cost me my life.”
Lilah’s eyes g
rew large, and she put her small hand over her lips.
Vince sighed, upset that he had frightened her. “In our world, piccolo, without respect, a vampire has no power. It is through his… or her children, who are willing to do anything for their sire, that they are the strongest. You are very lucky to have been turned by a woman who actually cares about her children. Not every powerful vampire does. Like that Russian woman, Irinushka. She sent her children here on a suicide mission because she cares more for the manipulation than the person. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Lilah nodded, gazing at Vince with her large, oval, green eyes. “What do you call her?”
“I call her mother in public.”
“Oh…”
“I called my human mother, Madre,” Vince added.
“That’s also the word in Spanish, too. Dorothea taught me a little Spanish but my mother didn’t want to be called that. Do you think Beulah would be offended?”
Vince shrugged. “I think you should ask her that.”
“Then let’s do this,” Lilah said, jumping up and opening the door.
“One more thing, piccolo,” Vince said, stopping her. “Your father and Dorothea are upstairs with Beulah and Ludovico. Even though you just fed, a human’s pull can be very strong to a newly turned vampire, and you must prepare yourself for that.”
Lilah glared at him incredulously. “You’re wrong, Vince. I would never hurt my father or Dorothea.”
“Just take it slow, and if it’s too much, if you think you’re going to lose control, then come back down here.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure, Vince,” she rebuked, and walked out of the room.
Vince shook his head and sighed as he followed behind her. Neophyte.
They walked into the main house and through the doors into the living room. Lilah stopped, a rush of senses exploding inside of her. She could hear thumping and realized that it was Dorothea’s heart beating. Her father cleared his throat and Lilah grabbed her ears, it was so loud. The smells overwhelmed her, there were so many. She could actually taste the air and it confused her.
Everyone turned and greeted her as she fought to control the bloodlust welling up inside of her. She lost the fight. At inhuman speed that would have frightened her had she realized how fast she was moving, she stood in front of Dorothea with her fangs protruding. Lilah tilted her head back and opened her mouth wide.
