Vampire Miami

by Philip Tucker

  “We have to take advantage of the confusion,” he said at last. “Get you to the embassy as soon as your eyes clear up.”

  “How are they looking?”

  He leaned forward. “A little lighter. Looks like it might be going away like I said.”

  She laughed and turned back to the mirror. Peered into them. Her iris and pupil were visible now, both still an absolute black, but the whites of her eyes had lightened to an ashen gray. “Thank you, Lord, thank you thank you thank you.”

  She fell back into her seat, and then turned to him, grinning. “Let’s go find Mama B and Maria Elena. Maybe my eyes will be completely clear by then, and we can go.”

  “Yeah.” He nodded and then paused. She stopped. There was something about the way he was looking at her, a special look. His eyes warm, his mouth quirked into a private smile.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” He shook his head, and a smile quirked his lips. “I was just thinking about how things have changed since you showed up. And to think we’re just getting started.”

  She returned his grin, squeezed his hand, and got out of the car. They made their way to the door, but Selah couldn’t resist and broke into a run. Ran through the open doorway, waved to Tyler and Burnel as they stood up in alarm, and on through into the courtyard. Ignored everybody, the sudden questions, and ran up the stairs. She just wanted to see her grandmother. Raced down the hall to their door and opened it. Was suddenly seized by panic: what if she had died? What if she hadn’t made it? What if Karl had lied?

  “Selah!” said Mama B from where she sat in her armchair, wrapped in a blanket. Delight fanned through her face, and she tried to climb out of her chair but Selah was in her arms before she got more than halfway out. “Oh, Selah!”

  They held each other tightly. Selah buried her face in her grandmother’s chest, squeezed until Mama B protested, laughing and pushing her away. “Mind my ribs! They’re not even close to healed yet. You can’t go squeezing an old woman like that.”

  Selah leaned back and was about to tease her when she stopped cold. Mama’s face had grown grave. “What’s happened to your eyes …”

  Selah pulled back and looked away. Mama B reached out with two gentle hands and turned Selah’s face back, tilted it up to the light. “Your eyes, honey. What in the Lord’s name did they do to you?”

  “It’s getting better,” she said quickly. “They were pure black before. They’re clearing up.”

  Mama B was shaking her head. “What happened, girl?”

  Selah took a deep breath, and then turned as Cloud limped into the doorway, pushing his way through the gathered throng. His face was pale once more, but he smiled bravely and stepped inside. “Mrs. Brown.”

  “Cloud!” There was genuine pleasure in her voice, surprise and delight. “You’re alive! Praise be, come on over here so I can get a good look at you. And the rest of you, close that door! This ain’t no spectacle for you to be gawking at! Give us some privacy.”

  Cloud limped inside and pulled a chair over to sit next to Mama B, who took his hand warmly in her own. “I never. To see the both of you as you are now. Oh, what a blessing. Do we have time to talk? Can you stay?”

  “Sawiskera is dead,” said Selah. “Theo, the Dragon, he’s leaving Miami. We don’t know who’s in charge of the city. Everything is going crazy downtown.”

  “And on the Beach too,” said Cloud. “And it all went down just before sunrise. People will be too scared to act today. Everybody will be frozen, waiting for the vampires to wake up tonight.”

  “So this is a good time to act,” said Mama B, nodding firmly. “Now is the time to get to the embassy.”

  “We just need to wait for my eyes to clear up,” said Selah. She turned to Cloud. “How do they look now? Are they better?”

  He peered at her, and then reluctantly shook his head. “Not yet.”

  Selah forced the words out. “What—what if they don’t change?”

  “They will,” said Cloud.

  “What happened?” Mama B’s voice was sharp. “What did they do to you?”

  “A ritual,” said Selah. “The vampire king. He said he was tired of life as a vampire. Said he was going to steal my humanity, make me a vampire in his place. But it was interrupted. It didn’t get finished.”

  Mama B frowned at her, Cloud equally silent. Selah looked from one to the other, panic rising in her chest. “No change? None at all?”

  Cloud shook his head.

  “Well, we have to act today. Whatever we do, we can’t wait,” said Mama B. “If we go to the embassy, they might just consider her a vampire and turn her over to Plessy.”

  Selah shivered and hugged her arms. Closed her eyes. Her vision remained completely normal, but the thought of looking out at the world with gray and black eyes chilled her.

  They sat in silence. “Well,” said Cloud at last. “We can’t just sit around. Maybe we can head over to the general’s and see if he has any better ideas.”

  Mama B drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair, and scowled. “We can’t risk them thinking you’re some kind of vampire. And the general struck me as a man of good sense. He might have something to say worth hearing.”

  They collected Maria Elena, who had suffered a concussion and some cuts, and piled into Cloud’s new car. They cruised out into the General’s neighborhood until he parked before the general’s home. Selah gazed at the front door. Thought of Joey and Cassie, of Cholly. How they had been here not so long ago.

  Cloud spoke into the security speaker, and the general waved them in. Inside the kitchen the morning light was resplendent across the cabinetry and broad kitchen counter. General Adams didn’t quite hug any of them, but he shook their hands, which was clearly the closest he could come to open affection. He then sat them all down with breakfast and coffee and heard them out.

  When Selah finished her last part of the tale, he stared off into space, thinking. Selah cupped her coffee in both hands and inhaled the bitter aroma. They waited, staring at the general, waiting for him to provide the solution.

  “Well. I’ll be damned. I’ve never heard the like. Ancient vampire lore is beyond me. You tell me the ritual was interrupted, but it’s gone past 10 a.m. and your eyes remain the same as they were at dawn. It may very well be that what was done is irreversible.”

  Selah tried to stay calm. To not immediately break in and contradict him, explain in reasonable terms that he was absolutely wrong and that she was going to be just fine.

  “That said, you are welcome to wait here for as long as you like. We can run some basic tests on your blood from my office. I don’t have anything approximating a proper lab, but we can see what we can detect, especially since we can contrast it with your previous sample.”

  “All right,” said Selah when everybody turned to her. “Let’s wait till this afternoon. Maybe by then.”

  Cloud passed out on the couch, and Maria Elena spent time with Selah, working on her hair and gently pressing for details about what had happened. Eventually Mama B pulled Selah away and brought her to the general as he examined her blood. He took a sample, pressed it between two slides of glass, and looked at it under a microscope. He did the same with her older sample, and after a tense twenty minutes, arose to consult his books. Tried some different tests that Selah couldn’t follow, and then sat down, face drawn, expression concerned.

  “This isn’t good. I’ll speak to the point. Though my test was incredibly basic, I can tell that your blood has changed. Mutated somehow. I’m guessing that it’s because of the vampiric influence. It doesn’t correspond exactly to what my textbooks state vampire blood should look like, nor does it react in the same manner to certain stimulants, but it does seem to have been strikingly affected by this ritual you underwent.”

  Mama B clasped Selah’s hand tightly. “What does this mean?”

  “I have no clue.” He frowned at his hands. “I am but an amateur chemist. This is far beyond me. I know next to nothin
g of vampire biology. However, one thing I do know, and that is the military complex and government. If you go to them in this condition, they will want to tear you apart and see what makes you tick. It would not be a pleasant experience. In essence, you might simply be exchanging slavery in this city for a similar state in a national lab.”

  Selah shook her head. “No.”

  “Further, who is to say that your blood in its current condition could be of any use in resisting vampires? That which made it unique before has undoubtedly been corrupted. Thus our original purposes may no longer be valid.”

  “Oh, honey,” said Mama B, but Selah didn’t want comfort. She stood up.

  “I’m not going to let them hide me away in a lab. I need to find a way to reverse this. To get this taint out of me.” She began to pace, trying to restrain herself, not lash out, break things.

  “Well,” said the general, “this effect took place while you were undergoing the ritual. Perhaps there is somebody who knows how this ritual works, and can run it in reverse.”

  Mama B nodded. “Yes. Exactly! We just need to find somebody who knows this ritual and get them to cleanse you.”

  “Right,” said Selah, trying to keep the bitterness from her voice. “I’m sure there are dozens of vampires who know this incredibly ancient ritual here in Miami, and who would be just glad to help me out.”

  Mama B subsided. The general tapped his lip. “Perhaps the answer doesn’t lie in Miami, then.”

  “Then where? A government lab? No thank you.”

  “No,” said the general. “Miami isn’t the only vampire city. There is another where elder vampires exist. Where one may live who knows the answer to this problem.”

  Selah stopped and stared at him. “LA. You’re talking about going to LA?”

  The general shrugged. “You can’t ask for help here in Miami. You can’t risk going to the government, especially since they will probably have no answers and only a million questions. So. LA.”

  Mama B shook her head. Selah stared at the general. “And Mama B? Maria Elena?”

  “I can probably negotiate something. I do, after all, have the uncorrupted samples of your blood. Perhaps I can force the government’s hand. I’ll give them the vials if they take Mrs. Brown and your friend too.”

  “What about yourself?” asked Mama B.

  The general smiled mirthlessly. “I don’t intend to leave. Not while anybody else is trapped behind these walls.”

  Selah thought quickly, fighting to smother her sudden hope. “If I were to go to LA, I’d be able to learn more about the Blood Dust. Be able to figure out where it came from, and maybe…” She looked at Mama B, who did her best to return her smile. Looked back to the general. “But then I still need to escape the city.”

  “One step at a time,” said the general. “Let us agree that this is the only course of action available to us, and take it from there.”

  The rest of the evening passed quietly. Selah stepped out onto the porch with Mama B and they sat in two rocking chairs to watch afternoon turn into dusk. Mama B held her hand as they rocked back and forth quietly, and finally Selah could hold it back no more. She turned to her grandmother as tears filled her eyes.

  “Mama, I’m so sorry.” Mama B shook her head, but Selah spoke on. “Since I arrived. I thought I was so adult. Sacrificing everything for dad. Trying to save him. But all I did was ruin things. Hurt people. I thought I was being so brave, but I was just being foolish. Now you’re out of your home, and Cloud’s friends are dead, and Cholly—“ She couldn’t go on, and the pang of grief that creased Mama’s face was too much. She slid out of her chair and onto her knees and buried her head in Mama B’s lap as the sobs wracked her frame.

  Mama B gently stroked her hair and held her tight, and Selah cried as her regret and grief rolled through her like vast beachcombers washing up upon the shore. She thought of Cholly, of his love for Mama B and the question he would now never get to ask her. She thought of Cassie and Joey, of how briefly they had been a presence in her life, but how much they had sacrificed for her. She shook her head and moaned, and her tears redoubled.

  ”There, there,” said Mama B. She held Selah until her sobs grew softer, and then lifted her chin. “Selah, listen to me. I love you.” Selah looked up at Mama B’s face, and saw in her eyes and smile such a sweet tenderness and compassion that her tears stopped altogether. Mama B cupped her cheek. “Do you hear me? I love you, child, and always will. This world—this world is what it is. A great and beautiful and terrible place. It breaks people down and lifts them up on high. It ends dreams and mocks us and blesses us and teaches us the value of love and humility. There is no question that you have brought change. That you have been an agent of change here in Miami. Sawiskera is dead because of you. We’ve lost good friends, but Joey, Cassie, Cholly—they died doing what they thought was right. For a reason. Your blood, it carries the potential to change this world. They saw that, and they decided to risk everything for that chance. You didn’t kill them. They died so that you can continue to change things, but not just here in Miami. Everywhere.”

  Selah rubbed her sleeve across her eyes, and shook her head. Mama B pressed on. “I feel their loss as deeply as you, and I will never forget the good and wonderful man that Cholly was.” Mama B pressed her lips together as she struggled with her emotions, but then she nodded and continued. “A wonderful man. But child, that is the nature of this world. We cannot control it. We cannot hope for fairness, or justice. We can only do the very best that we can, and when we have the chance to make a difference, to help others, to make this world a better place, than that is the most sacred and grave responsibility that any one person can have.”

  Mama B stroked Selah’s hair once more, and managed a tender smile. “That is your responsibility now. You have to live up to it. You have to continue growing and making a difference. That is how you honor Cassie, Joey, and Cholly. You do everything that you can, you fight to make a difference, and you will see that one day, if you manage, you’ll find a peace within yourself and the life you’ve lived that will make you look at this world with a wonder and joy made all the deeper and more powerful for all the pain you’ve had.”

  Selah swallowed and nodded her head. She lay her head back down on Mama B’s lap and looked out over the wild lawn to the street beyond. Mama B continued to stroke her hair, and for a long time they just sat there, Mama B rocking gently, neither speaking. Dusk finally fell, and with a groan Mama B stood up. “Come on. Let’s see what the general’s got cooking for dinner.”

  “Mama,” said Selah. She felt strange, suddenly. Almost a sense of vertigo, a swirling in her eyes. “Do we—do you know if our family has any Native American blood in it?”

  “Native American?” Mama B paused. “Hard to say. I don’t think my parents did. Though my own grandmother, she might have done. Why do you ask?”

  Selah studied her hands. “Sawiskera. He said my blood has this property because I’m descended from his brother. Teharonhiawako. You ever heard of that name?”

  Mama B shook her head. “No.” They stood in silence, and then Mama B shook her head once more. “That sounds like foolishness. I wouldn’t pay it no mind. That monster was crazy. Who knows what he believed or why.”

  “All right,” said Selah. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She stood up. Mama B pushed open the screen door, and together they went inside.

  Cloud was speaking with the general in the kitchen, but Selah walked into the bathroom. She already knew. Could feel the darkness stirring within her. Could feel the strange and delirious energy coiling through her body.

  Selah turned on the bathroom light and looked in the mirror. Two jet vampire eyes stared back at her. She forced herself to not look away. Looked deep into them, but no matter how hard she stared, she couldn’t see any depth. Any soul. Anything that resembled the Selah she knew.

  She killed the light, but the darkness wasn’t as absolute as it should have been. It was as if moonlig
ht were tracing the edges of things, even in this closed little room. Her eyes. It had to be because of her eyes. She held her hand up before her face, and saw each individual finger. It should have been impossible. It wasn’t.

  Selah stepped out, walked into the kitchen, and into its bright illumination. Stopped in the doorway, and looked at the three people gathered around a map, making no effort to hide her eyes. Mama B dropped her coffee. It crashed to the tiled floor, and shattered. Cloud clenched his jaw, and even the general grimaced.

  “I’m going to LA,” she said. A sense of rightness suffused her. “I’m going to find a cure, and then I’m going to help the government create a vaccine. And then I’m going to hunt down every last vampire, until there’s not one of them left.”

  Cloud stepped forward and looked her full in the eyes, deep into their black depths. Selah felt a great and vulnerable hope arise within her, a desperate yearning, a terror of rejection. A storm of emotions roiled behind his eyes, and then he took her face in his hands and kissed her. He pulled back, and nodded. “Then I’m coming with you. I don’t know what the future may bring. But in your voice I hear a chance for hope. No matter where you go, I’ll be there.”