Both men looked liked they were losing patience with me.
"No, not a mutation. This is not a comic book. This is real life and in real life there is such a thing as natural selection."
"I know what that is. Charles Darwin. That's where traits that are needed for survival are inherited to keep a species alive." I felt really proud of myself for knowing something.
"You are correct Olivia. At some point man and bat became intertwined to keep man alive in some hostile environment. The end result being a new species that at this very moment is being represented by Alexander and myself." I felt like I was trapped in a really bad horror movie.
These guys couldn't be for real. Regardless of my skepticism I couldn't help but feel something big was about to happen. And I saw first hand the bionic jumping these two guys did tonight. I was curious enough to want answers.
"Okay, say I'm willing to believe you are some different species and I'm not saying I am, so what makes you different than the average male specimen?"
Finally Janel came back to herself. "Well Olivia, c'mon, look at these guys. They are not your average hotties..." With a chuckle Alex said, "No, not average at all." I haven't known these two men long but anyone could see Alex was more easygoing than Roberto. He was quick to smile.
He kept things light. Roberto, now he was one serious dude. Maybe that's why I had reacted the way I did. Alex represented fun and games. Roberto was more like me. Serious by nature, a bit conservative, yeah that's it; I was taken in by both of them because they both offered something I needed. It always makes me feel better to analyze and put things in order.
Alex said to Roberto, "May I?"
"Sure, don't scare them though," he warned Alex. Alex laughed, "Don't worry, scaring them is the last thing I want to do."
Alex walked over to a side table made of marble. With no effort at all he picked it up and began to pump iron with it. Janel and I gasped.
Alex put the table down, "Please, be my guest, try to move it."
Janel walked over to the table and placed both hands on the table and pushed. Nothing. It didn't budge.
"Okaaayyy. Now that was a bit freaky." I said. Alex moved so fast I didn't even see him until he was cradling me in his arms.
"What the heck? Put me down."
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Alex gave me a crooked grin and set me on my feet.
"Well, I will admit, that is not normal." Roberto moved over to stand close to Janel and Alex leaned into me so close I was sure he was going to kiss me. I once more found myself wanting him to. Instead of a kiss, I got the shock of a lifetime when two sharp incisors slid down from the top of his mouth. Janel and I screamed in sync so it sounded like stereo. The screams would have been comical in any other situation. But this was anything but comical. Roberto and Alex looked like they were bored. Alex sat back down and crossed his legs and Roberto leaned against the fireplace.
"VAMPIRES!!! God damn bloodsucking vampires." Janel screamed.
I grabbed Janel by the arm and backed up in the direction I thought the door was. I didn't want to turn my back on the vampires.
Alex said "Ohhh, please calm down babe. If we wanted to hurt you we could have done it at anytime. We could have waited until you were asleep."
"Alexander, you are not helping the situation." Roberto sighed.
"Ladies, please sit down. Alexander is correct though he is a bit tactless. We have no desire to hurt you."
"Why would we believe you? We don't know you, we don't know what you are and we're getting the hell out of here." His next words stopped me in my tracks. "Don't you want to learn about your gift? The sweet scent you sometimes encounter."
Dread filled me as I looked at Roberto. Alex was looking at me with what appeared to be compassion. This couldn't be happening. I felt a crushing panic bubble up within me. No one could possibly know about my strange ability.
"How do you know about that?" I managed to say.
"I know you smelled a sweet scent when you come into contact with Alexander and me. I also know you probably have encountered it before, by the look on your face. If I'm guessing correctly it most likely has been not in the best of circumstances. Am I correct in this assumption?"
"Yes." I whispered as I thought of Mae and the others. Janel said, "If you know what this is then you have to tell her. You have no idea what a burden it's been to her."
"Janel, please." I said giving her a pleading look. "Look, you got my attention and we'll sit back down and listen to your wild stories but I don't trust you and when you're finished, Janel and I are going to pack our bags and leave this place. We don't want to be involved in any of this crazy stuff."
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"Fair enough, but I should warn you that you are already involved in this crazy stuff. You see Ms. Sherman you too, are of a different species. Alexander and I knew the moment we encountered your scent."
Chapter 7
"No," was the only word to come out of my mouth. These guys were insane. First telling me they were vampires and then telling me I was of a different species. I started shaking, the kind of shaking when your system has a rush of adrenaline when you're faced with some dire news.
Not because I was afraid of these guys, but because on some buried level of my psyche, there was a minuscule thought that what they were saying was true. I am different, have always known and felt out of sync with the rest of the world. I listened to people all my life tell me I was over sensitive, or high-strung. I never once thought maybe I was different in a genetic way.
Well heck, who would think of that?
Janel wrapped her arms around me and glared at the two men who were still in the same exact position.
"What is wrong with you two? There is nothing wrong with Olivia." She proclaimed.
Alex got up from where he was sitting and said; "Of course there is nothing wrong with Olivia.
She has some special gifts she is not aware of yet. That's all." Janel and I said in unison, "Gifts?"
"What do you mean by gifts?" I felt like I was going to hyperventilate.
Robert groaned and began to rub his temples. "Alexander, why do you always have to speak out of turn? Why do you have to speak at all?"
Alex glared at him. "She has to know. You can't keep this from her. She has a right to know what's going to happen. The stakes are as high for her as for us."
"Don't you think that I'm aware of that? Who knows better than I what can happen? I have been fighting this battle for almost five hundred years. You have been at it what? A mere two hundred years, pup?"
At Roberto's use of the word pup, Alexander made a low growling noise and sprang at Roberto.
Roberto easily grabbed Alexander and placed a restraining arm around his neck. "Do not think to take me on pup. You know what will happen." When Roberto grabbed a hold of Alex, I involuntarily moved forward to help. The action didn't go unnoticed by both men. Alex calmed down quite a bit and actually gave me a little smile while Roberto just scowled.
"Don't worry babe, this old guy won't hurt me. Will you gramps?" Alex laughed.
I could see Roberto stiffen but he did let Alex go. Alex came over to me and pulled me down to sit beside him.
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"Listen Olivia, I may not be five hundred years old and don't always speak with all of the old world charm of that one over there. But I will always speak the truth to you. And the truth of the matter is you are different. There is a whole world out there with a lot of different things in it. You call us vampires and that is what we are. I don't make any apologies for it anymore than you should apologize for what you are or Janel for her being human. I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Why don't you ask? Then you can begin to imagine the world you have suddenly found yourself in."
I took a deep breath. Where to begin? If all they said was
true, then my world was about to implode.
"Do you drink blood?" I was dying to know this ever since they bared their fangs to us. Kind of silly but hey, I was a girl who read Bram Stoker's Dracula five times. Romantic that I was, I considered it a great love story and what girl doesn't like a love story, I ask you?
For the first time Alex looked a little uncomfortable.
"Yes we do." He said and frowned when I moved farther away.
"But I saw the two of you eat earlier." I said. Janel chimed in, "Yes. I saw that too, and drink.
They drank wine with dinner." She accused. Roberto was back to rubbing his temples and looking like he was getting a headache. I wondered if vampires got headaches and decided to add that question to my list. Roberto said, "If you had ever done any research on bat species you would know besides blood, bats have a varied diet. Besides we have evolved from bats and humans. We carry the best traits of both. We do need blood in order to be at our peak. Just like humans need to eat a varied diet, so do vampires."
Janel said, "That makes sense I suppose."
"Okay what about getting staked through the heart. Would it kill you?"
Even Alex began to look irritated. "Would it kill you?"
"I guess most of the things we've read or seen in the movies aren't real then."
Roberto said, "Most aren't, some are. There is always a grain of truth in legend. We are not harmed by garlic, holy water or seeing a cross. Our genetic makeup does leave us vulnerable to daylight, it's not like we would combust or anything. It's more like sensitivity. We also need to go into a state of torpor."
"What is that?"
"That is when our bodies go into hibernation like state. Our core temperatures go from eighty-six degrees, which is our normal to sixty-eight degrees. This is required by our rapid metabolism to replenish our bodies. During this time our heart rate drops to an undetectable level and our breathing stops. It is very much like death for a short period of time." Looking at me he Scent of a Vampire – Jude Stephens
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continued, "That is why you can scent us. Almost every species has a unique scent, as you will find out."
This was the part I was anxious to hear, but now that the time had come, my stomach clenched into a tight knot. What were they going to tell me? That I was some kind of monster?
Or I'm not like everyone else. Well that I had always known. Janel came over to sit by me. I'm sure she could feel my hand shaking as she took a hold of it.
"Okay, go ahead. Tell me what a freak I am." Alex began, "Ohhh babe, you aren't a freak. What you are is a Sensay. That is one of the most revered species in our world. There have only been a handful of Sensays, ever."
"A what? A sensei like in Karate Kid? Wax on, wax off?" Alex laughed. "No, a Sensay."
I looked at him like he was Costello and I was Abbott. He spelled it out for me.
"S E N S A Y"
"Well alright but what is a S E N S A Y?" Roberto chimed in, "A Sensay is a person who has heightened senses. You know taste, smell, hearing, touch and vision. It is the evolution jackpot more or less. It is believed that you have the senses of some of the best animals in the world.
For instance, dogs have superior hearing, jungle cats have a unique sense of touch with their whiskers, and hawks have an amazing range with their eyesight. Pigs are used to find truffles with their advanced sense of smell."
"Did you just tell me I have the DNA of a pig?!" I asked on the verge of hysteria.
"Of course not, not the DNA, but it's possible you have some of the same traits."
Alex burst out laughing. "Way to charm a lady Roberto."
"I didn't mean it like that and you know it." Roberto croaked.
"So, if I'm to take you seriously, I am a unique being who evolved from a bunch of different animals? I questioned."
"Yes. That's precisely what you are, a Sensay." Janel was unusually quiet during all of this and by the look on her face; she didn't believe this crap anymore than I did. As if by an unspoken clue we both rose.
"Ummm, yeah thanks and all for the dinner and our little chat but I do think it's best if we head home. This trip has been a little bit more exciting than what we had planned for. We were gonna have some nice dinners, play a bit of blackjack, and do some shopping. I don't think we had anything on our agenda that had to do with vampires and Sensays and pigs and...."
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Janel cut in "Drinking blood and death sleep. Don't forget about that."
"Yes well, thank you again. It was nice meeting you."
"Are you really going to walk out of here and miss the chance to know more about your abilities?" He knew just what would pull me in. A part of me wanted to keep going and a part of me wanted to know more. Maybe there was a way I could get rid of it; this gift or curse or genetic abnormality.
"Ahhh, I can see you're torn about this but let me tell you one more thing before you make up your mind. That explosion tonight was because of you." Roberto said in a matter of fact tone.
Unbelievingly I said, "Someone wants to kill me?" Alex sighed and said, "No babe, someone wants you. The explosion was a diversion for Roberto and me."
"Alexander is right. Olivia, a Sensay comes into their abilities when they reach an age of about thirty or so. I am taking a guess you must be close to that."
"Hey! Yeah, I'm going to be thirty soon but you don't have to advertise it."
Janel piped in, "She's a little sensitive about hitting the big 3O."
Alex laughed. "Really? I would not have guessed. But babe, you look fantastic. If you want to come over here and sit on my lap I'll show you just how much you turn me on.
Maybe even partake in a bit of hot monkey sex." He wagged his eyebrows at me. He had heard Janel in the lobby earlier tonight! I felt my face turn a hundred shades of red.
"Alexander! Please stop now. You promised you would proceed with caution concerning Ms.
Sherman."
"Never mind all of that. What did you mean when you said the explosion was a diversion? Are there really people after me? Why?"
Roberto raised his eyebrow, "You are a hot commodity Olivia and not just in this room." He gave Alex a look that made me want to take a step back.
"There are those who would like to use you for their misguided agenda. There is a group of people, mostly scientists, some so called religious groups who call themselves the Guardians.
They believe it is their duty to rid the earth of any species they feel threaten the purity of the human race."
"That is crazy. It also sounds a little too close to ethnic cleansing if you ask me. But why do they want me? How could they use me?"
Alex came over to stand by me and take my hand in his,
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"Think about your unique talents babe. How you scented Roberto and I this afternoon. Think about your talents that haven't shown yet, how those things could be used to track down and identify the different species out there. And babe, there are more species than vampires and Sensays." Roberto cleared his throat, "I don't think we need to go into that right now."
God no. I didn't think I could take much more. Why did I have to open my big mouth?
Roberto addressed me with a look of pity. "You need to understand something Olivia; you can't go back to your old life. Somehow they know who you are. They knew you were going to be in town this weekend. They will not let you alone now."
I looked at him and Alex. Alex couldn't look me in the eye; he was focusing on a spot somewhere above my head. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I felt numb, like I wasn't in my body anymore. Can't go back? Can't take care of my patients, have dinner with my friends, what about my parents?
I began to feel light headed. "I don't know what the hell you are playing at here but why should I believe you? How do I know that you are the good guys?
"Maybe these other guys t
he Guardians or whatever, maybe they're the good guys. You said they were scientists and religious groups. They can't all be fanatical." For the first time since meeting him, I saw Alex get angry, he stood up and said, "C'mon Olivia. Good guys don't put bombs in restaurants and hurt people. The guy who came to our table tonight to warn us is named Joey. He has two kids and a wife at home. He got all of the people out safely tonight but he fell through the floor and broke his back. Good guys, fuck that!"
"Ohhh, God Alex, I'm sorry." I went over to him and gave him a hug. I realized this whole night I've been thinking about nothing but me, something I normally don't do. I figured there was a lot I had to learn about myself, about this new world that had opened up to me.
But I needed some time. This is not an easy thing to grasp. One day you're an average girl, albeit a bit shy and introverted. The next day you're in a new world where there are different species.
I sat down and tried to absorb all they had told me. Alex and Roberto spoke in hushed tones and since it was only midnight, the guys decided to go down to the main floor of the casino and do a security sweep. I found it hard to believe there was a secret sect out there wanting to kidnap me and use me for their evil purposes, but I also wasn't going to go down there to flaunt myself in front of them just in case.
Crap, I've seen those horror movies where the girl goes foolishly running into the danger even though everyone in the damn movie has warned her.
Janel sat on the sofa and pouted, "I don't know why I couldn't go down to the casino with them.
Those Guardian fanatics aren't after me."
"Janel, they might have seen you with me or at the least know I'm here with someone and be looking for you too." Janel got up to pour another drink and said, "Well this just sucks. All of this Scent of a Vampire – Jude Stephens
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excitement and we're practically prisoners here."
"Awww, sweetie I'm sorry. This is my entire fault." Janel put her drink down to hug me. "No it's not your fault. You can't help you're a senthingy or whatever it is. Please don't listen to my bitching. I just want that gorgeous hunk of Italian man to come back."
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