I pulled away from him and looked him in the eye once more. “Turn your head to the side,” I said. As he did I turned my head away and felt the heat flood my eyes as my fangs grew. Even though he was blood influenced and would have no memory of this I didn’t want him to see me that way. I wanted to pretend, even if just for a moment, that we were just two average people. Just a man and woman about to make love. Unfortunately the fantasy had to reach its end before I could play it out. I needed to feed.
He gasped as I licked his neck up and down, locating the jugular. I took in one last, long, slow breath, inhaling the blood under the skin before pressing my fangs to his soft flesh. I was starving and shuddered with excited anticipation knowing his blood would fill my mouth momentarily. It was heady and I smiled to myself...forgetting.
Just then there was a knock at the door. I was rudely taken out of the beautiful escape I had been reveling in and snapped back into reality. “Fuck!” I said. Aiden didn’t move.
Rising quickly I threw the robe on as I padded to the door, hoping all the way there that I could get rid of whoever was on the other side so that I could continue on. My eyes went cold again and fangs retracted as I looked through the peephole. To my surprise Christina was standing there, looking more normal than I’d ever seen her in just a tee shirt and jeans. There was no point in trying to pretend I wasn’t there. To another vampire a knock is just a courtesy, and so powerless to do anything else, I opened it.
“Christina,” I said, only letting it fall open slightly. “What are you doing here?”
Christina looked at the ground and shuffled her feet, seeming much too meek for someone as important as she supposedly was. “Hey. Listen I know I promised to leave you alone, but well, I kind of need a favor. Do you mind if I come in?” she said, finally meeting my eyes.
“Um…ok,” I said. I had a feeling she was not in the habit of humbling herself and so whatever she wanted must have been pretty important. I opened the door wide and stepped aside allowing her access to the room. As she stepped in she noticed my dinner, both of them.
“Oh, you were about to feed? I’m sorry. I can come back later.”
I didn’t like the prospect of seeing her later. I wanted to get this little meeting over with as soon as possible. With much regret I decided to send Aiden away. “No, it’s alright. I can get something later.” Then turning to Aiden I said, “You’re going to get up and leave now. You have no memory of me. Go.”
Aiden mindlessly got up and walked out the door and I sighed a little, watching him leave. Then turning back to Christina I said, “Have a seat. What can I do for you?”
Christina took the chair and I sat on the edge of the bed waiting for her to begin. She sat for a moment, thinking, and seeming like she needed to choose her words carefully. “Firstly,” she began, “I need to apologize. Had I known you were pregnant I would not have asked you to come to the ballroom last night. I do what needs to be done, but I’m not heartless. I understand now why it disturbed you so much. It’s just that I was hearing all of these stories about you and I had to meet you in person, but I could have handled it much differently and for that I’m sorry.”
I stayed silent. “You’re wondering how I know you’re pregnant aren’t you?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes,” I said, finding my voice.
“I tasted it in your blood. But I’m somewhat confused. You don’t even seem like you’re through your first year yet, and already you’ve conceived. I’m just wondering how that happened.”
I didn’t know what to say. Part of me was scrambling to find an answer that was anything but the truth so that I could make an excuse, and another part of me was angry that this woman, whom I didn’t even know, would have the audacity to come here and ask me such a question. “It’s not really something I like to talk about,” I finally settled on saying. Even though she was clearly the leader in this town I reasoned that I didn’t owe her, or anyone else for that matter, an explanation. If she didn’t like it I’d move on.
“I see,” she said, “I’m sorry. My curiosity doesn’t give me the right to pry. I’m used to having all my children share everything with me, but obviously whatever has happened is your own business.”
That word again. Children. I was happy she didn’t want to push any further and so I changed the subject as fast as I could. “You said you needed a favor?”
Christina cleared her throat and got down to business. “Yes. I need you to follow someone for me.”
“Follow someone? Me? Obviously you have a lot of people who can do the following for you. You had a tail on me and I didn’t even realize it.”
“I know. But you’re good at finding humans, whereas most of my people just follow other vampires, troublemakers. They do well but a lot of them are overzealous and you’re more methodical. I need someone who can follow a human without losing their head.” She pulled a picture out of her coat pocket. A very handsome man with long dark hair and steely blue eyes had been photographed having dinner in an expensive restaurant on the waterfront without even knowing it. He was sitting in the restaurant’s window, huddled close to a leggy blonde. “I want you to follow this man,” she said, handing me the photograph. “All I know about him right now is that he goes to that restaurant at least every other night. I’ve tried following him myself but I lose him after he leaves there. I need you to find out where he goes after that.”
“A human? Why do you want me to follow a human? Is he a criminal or something?”
“You could say that. He’s a threat to every vampire in this city, and possibly later on worldwide.”
“He knows about vampires? What do you want me to do with him once I find him? You want me to blood influence him? Because I’m afraid I’m a bit limited in that area. Or do you want me to kill him?”
“No, I just want to know where he’s going and how to find him after he leaves that place.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll totally understand, but I’ll have to ask you to move on. I have no problem with you being here, but we all contribute, as I’m sure you did in whatever clan you came from in Cape Breton. If you can’t do that here you’ll need to find some other place where you can.”
“Alright. I’ll see where he goes,” I said.
“Great. Thank you, Rachel. I promise I don’t ask my children for much. You can be as close to me or as distant as you want but we all have to help out when needed. Especially with this matter. Be careful, he’s dangerous.”
“I don’t see how a human could be a threat to any of us. What makes him so dangerous?”
“Just trust me, he is. Be careful you’re not spotted. When you figure out where he goes and who he’s with come to this address.” She pulled a card out of her pocket and handed it to me. “That’s where I live. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
Before I could answer I felt my stomach cramp up a little. It wasn’t bad but having been interrupted before feeding hadn’t helped. I was beginning to feel sick. “You’re blood hungry,” she said, noticing my hand on my stomach. “You need to feed right now. At your age it can get out of control fast, and with your condition on top of that I wouldn’t advise you put it off.”
Little did she know just how much experience I had with that. “I’ll be ok,” I said.
Christina moved to the bed and offered me her wrist. “Please, take at least just a little to see you through.” She saw me hesitate. “If not for your own sake then for the sake of your little one. Pregnancy makes the blood hunger grow, trust me I know.”
Seeing that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer I took her wrist in my hand and tentatively bent my head downward to open the vein. Piercing her skin I sucked and swallowed, intending just to take a few mouthfuls, but the blood tasted so rich and sweet that I took more than I’d planned. The blood was like honey and a feeling of euphoria enclosed itself around me. Suddenly my mind was so clear I felt like anything was possible. After a time I realized Christina hadn’
t moved. She sat, a frozen smile on her face as I took in the crimson liquid. Finally I put her wrist down, albeit regretfully, and looked at her. She was smiling from ear to ear.
“God, I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
She was looking at me now in a very motherly way and reached out, stroking my hair. “I’m happy I could help,” she said, her smile spreading even wider as the dimple in her chin became more distinct. “Do you feel better?”
To simply say I felt better would have been an injustice to the offering she had bestowed on me. The blood she had nourished me with had given me new life, had given me hope. I felt like I could do anything and was afraid of nothing. Moments ago I had been tired, weak, doubtful. Now I was filled with dedication and an eagerness to get down to work. “I feel much better,” I said, “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. I’m very old so my blood is good. Normally that would hold anyone for a while, but in your condition I wouldn’t advise you to go very long between feedings. Keep getting it into you,” she said, standing.
I walked her to the door, holding it open for her as she stepped over the threshold. “I’ll look forward to hearing from you.” And with that she flitted away faster than I could get another word out. When I was alone again I promptly threw the burger into the trash can. The sight of it no longer held any fasciation for me as I felt I’d been satiated in every way possible. Feeling more alive than I had in weeks I dressed quickly and took a good look at the picture once more. I had a job to do and I was more than a little eager to do it. As I jumped into the truck and turned the engine over I caught myself thinking about how much I might like to stay here permanently. This new group of vampires might not be so bad after all.
Chapter Ten
Parking across the street from the little restaurant I turned off the truck lights so as not to be noticed. He was in there, sitting by a large window just like in the photograph, eating with a very pretty young brunette this time, who seemed to be hanging off his every word. She was somewhat younger than he was but that didn’t seem to be a barrier between the two. They talked and laughed for the better part of an hour until the check came and then jumping into a small black car they motored off down the street.
I waited a few moments and then quickly got into traffic with them, following just a few cars behind. It was almost midnight now and on a Friday in Halifax, university students were everywhere. The weather was mild for November and the college crowd meandered on the sidewalks, a lot of them away from home for the first time still enthralled with their newfound freedom. Stopping to wait out a red light I looked around at all those kids, most of them just a few years younger than myself, and felt a pang of jealousy. There had been no university for me and no hope of it. I had been too sick to string a proper sentence together at times, let alone be sent off to study. They were laughing and talking, dreaming of what their lives would be. Everything was ahead of them, and despite the fact that I had gained immortality and would outlive them all, I couldn’t help but feeling that perhaps the best part of my life was already in the past. I had left it back in Soldiers Cove with Gavin.
The light changed taking me out of my thoughts and I pushed Gavin’s face out of my mind, laser focused on the task at hand once again. We drove through parts of the city I hadn’t seen before and into a very nice looking neighborhood until the car came to a stop at a gate that said: “POINT PLEASANT PARK”. That was odd. Point Pleasant Park was a very large area with thousands of trees. Beautiful in the daytime, but would be impossible for humans to navigate at night unless they had some kind of light. Nobody was supposed to be in there after dark and so when the couple got out of the car and headed inside, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
I had opened up my distance hearing when sitting across the street and knew that this was someone the young woman didn’t know very well at all. They had only met a few times and this was their first date. Could she really be so stupid as to follow a stranger out into the darkness of the park? Apparently she was because he took her hand and they slipped from my view disappearing into a gathering of trees. It seemed like this man was not only a danger to vampires but to humans as well. Whoever he was I decided it would be best for this woman if I followed them. I slipped out of the truck and into the park, opening my distance hearing as I did so.
I recognized the man’s voice from the restaurant and followed the sound, crouching low so as not to be spotted. Coming to a place where I could see them and stay hidden I watched through the bushes as he spoke to her. He wasn’t speaking English now, but some other language I didn’t understand. It sounded strangely familiar. The woman looked like she was only half listening, but was totally fascinated with him even so. She reached out her hands and ran them through his long dark hair as he began to kiss her, pressing her body against him as tightly as he could, his fingers finding the zipper on the back of her dress. She didn’t seem to be in any danger. Quite the contrary, she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely.
The zipper came down a few inches and I shut off my distance hearing. I knew he wasn’t going to hurt her now, and so it was just a matter of waiting this out to see where he would go next. I sat down and prepared to be there for a bit longer when suddenly there was a rustling sound from behind me. Before I could turn my head to see what was going on, three large men had me pinned to the ground.
To my surprise, for all the kicking and squirming I did, they had me down. I couldn’t get away and before I knew it there was a sword to my chest, the tip of it ready to pierce my heart with one false move. Suddenly the man who had been in the process of seduction appeared over me with them as well. “What’s going on here?” he said.
A muscular blonde spoke up, his arms bulging under his short sleeves as he gripped the sword in his hand. “This woman was watching you. We didn’t smell her coming into the park and we tried to control her with our pheromones but it didn’t seem to have any effect at all.”
“It’s very strange Zale,” another one said, bending down to touch my cheek. “She doesn’t respond at all.”
The man I had been watching came closer and spoke to me. “Get up,” he said. Slowly I got to my feet as they formed a tight circle around me. “Julius,” he said, addressing the last man who’d spoken. “There are two reasons why you didn’t smell her and why your pheromones aren’t working on this one. First, she’s a vampire.”
“A vampire?” Julius shrieked. “Stand back and let me run her through.” I lurched backward releasing my fangs as one of the others grabbed me, pinning my arms behind my back. I felt myself growling under threat and wondering how the hell one stupid little human could be restraining me.
“Easy young Julian, all of you. We can’t kill her.”
“And why the hell not?” one of the others said, spewing venomous anger. “It would only be fair retaliation wouldn’t it? We could send her filthy ashes back to them in a box.”
Zale came toward me and touched my abdomen with a reverence that surprised me. “We can’t kill her,” he said, pausing with a smile, “because she’s been mated to one of our brothers. Welcome mother.”
Immediately the one who had been holding me let me go and I retracted my fangs. “Oh my god,” I said, the realization finally dawning on me. “You’re a satyr aren’t you?”
“Mercy and clemency,” Julian said, falling all over himself. “I swear to you we did not know. Are you hurt mother? I hope we didn’t injure you. Please forgive us.”
“Please, excuse my brothers. None are more than nineteen years of age I’m afraid. They are still learning.”
I relaxed a little seeing as how the threat had passed. “I’m fine,” I said. “No harm done.”
“What on earth are you doing here mother? Have you come looking for your mate? Who is he? I may know him.”
“No, he isn’t here. I’m not looking for him.”
“Then why have you come?”
Zale turned to the others and sa
id, “The mother and I need to talk in private. Everything is fine here.”
“What about the girl?” Julian asked, his eyes lighting up.
“You may take her if you wish.” With that they disappeared. Two of them going off in the opposite direction of Julian who was making a bee line for the young woman. Zale smiled to himself, amused at Julian’s haste. “Now,” he said turning his attention back to me, “you say your mate is not here, so why have you come to us mother? Not that we are unhappy to have you. It is an honor to talk with a mother who is aware of her position.”
“Well, to be quite honest I didn’t know I was following a satyr. I just thought you were a regular man. I thought you were going to hurt that girl. Not that what your friend is doing to her now won’t hurt her.”
The sound of a woman moaning could be heard off in the distance. “I assure you, she’s not being hurt,” he said, winking at me.
“But she will be, when she is pregnant and doesn’t remember what happened. And when she has to raise that baby alone. What then?”
His eyes grew sad for a moment in contemplation. “You are not without a good argument. I do feel a great sadness for our mothers. They carry us, love us, protect us until it’s time for us to join the herd and then they lose us, either as missing if the child is lucky enough to be found, or in death if we cannot get to him during his change. It is a heavy burden we ask them to bare, and I assure you it’s not lost on us. However, it cannot be helped. We do what we have to do to perpetuate the race, as all living beings do.”
“Can’t get to him? What do you mean?”
Zale raised his eyebrows in surprise at my question. “Surely your mate explained how the change works to you?”
Suddenly I was frightened. “I’m afraid not.”
“Oh, I see.” He ran his massive hands down his face and looked at the ground as if trying to figure out how to deliver some piece of bad news. “Well,” he said, gently, “not long after your son will turn fifteen he will develop a very bad fever. From the time it starts there is a window of three days for his father to come to him and bring him through his transformation. He has to be close to the one who sired him to survive it. If he can’t get to him in time, well, he’ll die of fever. I would have thought you knew.”
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: The Unborn Page 5
