The Blood Talisman

by Kim Culpepper

  “It’s something my father used to say to me. He was always thought of as being evil but he had the same plan as I have. We only want immortality amongst all supernatural beings. Wolves don’t want to be immortal because they look forward to death. Undoubtedly it’s painful to change into a wolf and they don’t want to do it for an eternity.”

  “As angry as I am with Alex, I couldn’t ask for a better punishment for that cheating piece of crap.”

  They stopped in front of the conference room with double doors. He placed his hands atop her shoulders and said, “Us vampires get a bad rap. We aren’t all evil. We only wish to live.” He opened the conference room doors and took her into a place just off from the board room. It had five white salon chairs with IV lines placed beside each one.

  “There is a more humane way of doing this. It’s less messy. Doing it this way doesn’t mean that you can avoid killing someone. You will eventually want to. I’m afraid it’s part of the disease.”

  “Are these chairs for me or for them?”

  “They are for the donors. We hook them up to take their blood and you can drink it directly from the vein.”

  “Why not just drink it from a bag?”

  “It doesn’t work that way. You don’t get the full effect unless you drink it from the source itself. You would have to drink twenty bags to get the energy you could from one person. You ready?”

  “Yea, I’m starved, but can’t I eat regular food?”

  “You can but you will never get full until you drink blood. Most of us don’t even eat anymore. Think of it as you drinking in their energy rather than their blood.”

  A young man in his late twenties came and laid down on one of the elongated chairs. He was shirtless and wore baggy black jeans. He was covered in tattoos and scars. He had piercings all over his body and his face. Silver rings encased his fingers. He looked like what society would dismiss as a lost soul, someone whom most would think to be a vampire or some other strange creature. He placed black earphones with tiny skulls on them into his ears and relaxed his head on the chair.

  Ram walked over and pulled a chair up beside the young man. He inserted an IV into his arm. The donor didn’t even flinch. There were several scars on his arm. Amalia wondered whether they were self-inflicted or a result from donating so much blood. Ram glanced up and noticed Amalia looking judgingly at the young man’s arm.

  “Some people find pain to be pleasurable, Miss Amalia… and don’t worry about getting a disease. He’s a regular donor.”

  “I honestly didn’t even think about that.”

  “We are not immortal yet. You still need to be cautious with your life. You are a new vampire and when you have been introduced to this much power, this quickly. Let’s just say you will have an overabundant need to want to throw caution to the wind.”

  Ram sat Amalia on another chair. He unhooked one tube from the extensive machine and handed it to her. She placed it up to her lips and the blood began to flow into her mouth.

  At first it made her sick to her stomach, to think that she was drinking someone else’s blood. Then her entire thought process changed. It started to feel like drinking water. Her body felt immediately energized and overcome with happiness. She drank more and more. She still wasn’t full when Ram pulled her back from the tube.

  She took a deep breath of air as she released her mouth from the red, flowing wonderland. She lunged forward for more but Ram pushed her back. “That’s enough. You must take this slowly.”

  The donor lay asleep, oblivious to his surroundings. Ram unhooked the blood IV and pushed fluids into the donor’s veins. Amalia watched every move he made.

  Ram finished up with the donor and turned back to watch Amalia in her new-found state of wonder. Her eyes were as big as saucers and her black pupils practically covered the brown irises.

  “How long does this euphoria last?”

  “It is different for every vampire. Some feed often and others feed not so much.”

  Amalia lowered her head and looked at her feet. She wanted more but resisted the urge.

  “I can’t even think about Alex right now,” she said.

  “It’s okay because you don’t have to until morning. I can show you to your room, if you like.”

  Amalia lifted her eyes back up to meet his. “I really don’t want to be alone right now.”

  He placed his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

  “You don’t have to be alone, my sweet Amalia,” he whispered into her ear.

  She luxuriated in his embrace. She felt nothing and even if she were to spend the night in Ram’s arms, she wouldn’t care. She relished this new freedom from emotion she’d found. She relaxed in his arms and thought of nothing.

  Chapter 17

  The salty sweat burned his eyelids from looking up to the sun in the desert. Alex was back in the heat, back in the desert, back in his own small version of hell. He dreamt of killing hundreds, if not thousands, over a course of time. The wolf plagued his dreams with its memories of death. His covered eyes raced back and forth as he fought to awaken from the nightmare, but as he opened his eyes from the hot desert a new nightmare was revealed.

  He was still prisoner in a hospital full of vampires and evil wolves that wished nothing more than to keep him from Amalia and completely destroy his life. His eyes searched the white, crackled ceiling for answers but it gave none. He felt a breath of air come from a silent nose next to him. It brushed his arm and disappeared into the room. He immediately thought of Amalia. He entertained the idea that his nightmare had ended.

  He turned his eyes, expecting to see a beautiful brown-headed Amalia next to him, but it was Selene instead. He jerked himself up and away from her. She remained asleep as he gazed down upon her naked back. She lay face down on the bed with her blonde hair encircling her face. Every time she breathed, her hair blipped a little more across her face, revealing her rosy cheeks and freckled nose.

  He slowly eased himself out of the bed. She didn’t wake but rolled over to the other side of the bed. He found his boxer briefs on the carpeted floor and pulled them on. He snuck off to the bathroom and quietly shut the door. He backed away from the door, then gazed at himself in the mirror and barely recognized the man he had become.

  “Murder and now adultery? What have you done?” he whispered to himself in the mirror.

  The man in the mirror returned no answer. He only stared back, judging.

  Alex looked away from the image, down towards the sink. The water was running down into the drain. He stared at the sloshing water for what seemed like hours but in reality was only minutes. He heard a soft knock, followed by an even softer, caring voice.

  “Alex?” it whispered. “You okay?”

  He slammed the tap off and jerked the door open. Her hair swished inward to the bathroom as he stomped by her. He began to search the room, ripping open drawers on the giant mahogany dresser and hurling open doors of the wardrobes that were filled with suits and dresses.

  Selene watched him, in amazement. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve this unjustified treatment, but she took it anyway. She stood silent in the doorway.

  “I’ve got to get Amalia and leave. This place, these things I’ve done… they’re ruining me,” he yelled out.

  “Alex, I… I don’t know what to say. I thought everything was okay. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t you do that. Don’t you go and blame yourself. I could have stopped what happened here last night, way before it ever ended in the way it did.” He was pacing the room incessantly. Eventually she grabbed his arm and stopped him.

  He now stared intently at her. He had so much fury in his eyes that she wondered why he wasn’t turning.

  “It will be okay. Amalia doesn’t know. I won’t tell her. It’ll be like this never happened,” Selene said. “I promise.”

  “But it did happen.” He pushed her hand off of his shoulder and walked over to the bed. He plopped down and stared at his fidgetin
g hands. “I can’t change that. I’m going to know.”

  Selene came and sat beside him. He looked up into her eyes and she could see the moisture in them begin to build.

  “I think you needed comfort in an uncomfortable situation. Look at what you have been through, these past few weeks. PTSD would not even begin to cover it. You have to give yourself a break. You turned to a woman that cares about you and loves you for who you are now and for who you used to be, unconditionally. You showed me that you needed love and that is what I have given you.”

  “I should have waited for the comfort from Amalia. I need to see her. I need to talk to her… alone.”

  Selene sighed. She left him to his thoughts and retreated to a shower and a fresh change of clothes.

  When she returned to him, he was dressing in khaki pants and a dress shirt. All she’d been able to find was a tight pair of workout pants and a spaghetti strapped tank. She felt extremely underdressed compared to him.

  He tucked in his shirt and zipped his pants up quickly, turning away from her so that she could not see what was underneath. He glared into the bedroom mirror and combed his fingers through his overgrown hair. He was starting to look like the type of man who would do the things that he had done. The scruffy hair, half-unbuttoned pinstriped shirt, khakis, and stubble on his face fit him perfectly. He would wear this face for now. He needed to get Amalia and get home with her and explain everything. She would understand. She would have to understand. He hoped the love they had for each other would overcome this. It had to.

  There was a rattle as the door to their room was unlocked. Selene and Alex looked at one another. He prepared to fight and she prepared to support him, as she had this whole journey. The door opened and Amalia stood there, her arms crossed. Alex could tell that she wasn’t happy. Ram was behind her. He placed the keys back into his pants pocket.

  “Amalia!” Alex exclaimed and ran over to her.

  He put his arms around her and held her tightly. She didn’t hug back but she didn’t push him away either. He smelled her fragrant hair and reveled in the soft clothes covering her tan skin. She always smelled tropical, like suntan lotion and coconuts. Her clothes and skin felt like silk. For the moment of that embrace, he was back home.

  “Alex. That’s enough.”

  Alex released her. He pushed her hair away from her glowing face. He could tell that she was irritated but he didn’t care. He needed to touch her. He needed to feel her warmth

  She pulled away from him and walked into the room, leaving Alex and Ram at the door. Alex followed her.

  “Alex, I know what went on here last night in this room.” She looked over at the disorganized bed sheets. It made her sick to her stomach. She rolled her eyes at them and her gaze turned to Selene, who stood there, looking innocent and blank. Selene nervously smiled at her.

  “Why the fuck are you smiling? Oh I guess you should be since you fucked my husband!” Amalia yelled.

  “Baby, please don’t. It wasn’t what it seemed,” Alex cried.

  “Don’t ‘baby’ me, Alex.”

  Alex touched her arm, gently. Amalia shoved him back across the room. Alex landed against the mirror. It shattered into shards and fell onto the floor with him. He felt his heart breaking in his chest and his head throbbed to no end. Blood trickled down the back of his neck onto the clean shirt.

  Selene ran over to Alex and helped him up. He brushed the back of his head with his hand and wiped the blood onto his pant leg, leaving behind a smeared bloody handprint.

  “Amalia, what did you… how… why?” Alex spluttered.

  “She’s a vampire,” Selene stated.

  “That’s right. I’ve joined the crazy house. You’re a werewolf, I’m a vampire, and she’s a witch. Oh, what a tangled web we weave,” Amalia said, taunting Alex.

  Alex walked over to her. “Can we talk about this? Alone?” He looked deep into her eyes.

  She caught his gaze and his eyes were those of the young boy she had fallen in love with in school. They had gloom to them but the young boy was in there somewhere. His eyes flickered but his recent actions prevented her from falling for their innocence.

  “No. Everyone in this room is involved,” she said, flailing her arms about.

  “Would you take this more seriously? This is our marriage. We are married! You and I. Not us and them.”

  Amalia stopped and stared at him, surprised.

  “That’s right Alex, we are married. You and I. But you made the decision to include them. I didn’t. You made that decision last night when you decided to sleep with HER!”

  Amalia pointed at Selene and paced over to her.

  “I bet you didn’t make it hard for him to refuse you either, did you?” she asked Selene.

  Selene just stared at her endlessly, uncomfortably. Her silence seemed to irritate Amalia as she started pacing quicker in front of her like a lion stalking its supper.

  Alex walked over and took Amalia by her arm once more. She whipped her head round quickly to look at him. Her hair slapped him in the face as she turned. She looked like a sneering bull to him and it made him almost crack a smile. However, he was afraid of making her angrier so he resisted the urge.

  “Amalia stop this. You’re acting like a child. We can handle this like adults. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

  “Don’t patronize me.”

  She flung him across the room again. This time he landed on a nightstand, crushing it down to splinters. His pinstripe shirt was now ripped on the back and one arm. It made him angry that she was being so ridiculous. The anger swelled within him and he could feel the wolf coming upon him. His nails began to grow and his teeth ached. He was turning and he couldn’t stop it. He growled in agony, trying to stop it but it was too late. The pinstripe shirt had fallen to the ground in front of him and he stood over Amalia, heaving and slobbering for meat.

  She laughed, precariously. “Do you think I’m supposed to be scared of you as a wolf?” she said, backing closer to Selene.

  She turned quickly to Selene and grabbed her by her neck. Yanking her hair back, she bit her.

  “NO AMALIA!” Ram yelled from the doorway. He raced over to them and pulled her off quickly. “Spit it out,” he ordered, referring to Selene’s blood that was now dripping from Amalia’s pursed lips.

  She obliged and spewed out the dark red substance.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “You just bit the same witch Ember did before she died,” Ram explained.

  Alex’s anger quickly turned to despair and he immediately changed back from wolf to human. Ram picked Amalia up and carried her over to the bed, laying her down gently on the soft sheets. Alex wrapped Selene’s neck up with his torn pinstripe shirt and whispered, “Are you all right?” into her ear. She shook her head yes and he turned his attention to Amalia and Ram.

  “I’m fine really. I feel kind of nauseous but I’m fine. Well, except for you putting me on this particular bed,” Amalia said.

  “I could give two shits less about this bed,” Ram replied.

  Amalia coughed slightly and turned to throw up off the side of the bed. Ram comforted her and gently rubbed her back. Blood trickled down out of her nose. Ram caught it with his index finger just before it reached her mouth.

  “Guard!” Ram yelled out towards the door he had left open. A brawny man came charging in, ready for a fight. “It’s okay, no one’s in trouble, but bring me a doctor. Hurry!”

  The guard disappeared, shouting into his pocket radio. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion to Alex. He stood frozen in place, watching another man take care of his wife. He just wanted to scoop her up in his arms and run away with her.

  The doctor came rushing in and hooked her to an IV with fluids. He pushed a needle into the tube leading to her arm and she slept.

  The physician pulled Ram off to the side and Alex followed them to listen.

  “She’s more stable at this stage than Ember was but I can’t g
uarantee that she will live. I’ve induced a coma for now. She should be fine for a few days. I will keep you abreast of any changes.”

  “Thanks, doc,” Ram said and the physician left the room.

  A nurse remained behind to monitor Amalia’s vitals. Another nurse dressed Selene’s neck wound over in the corner of the room. She finished and left the room.

  Alex had come back to his senses and focused his energy towards Ram.

  “This is all you. This is all your fault,” Alex growled, grabbing Ram by his collar.

  Ram grasped Alex’s hand and twisted it off of his shirt.

  “I believe she was angry with you and your mistress. Not me.”

  “She’s not my mistress. We’re only here because of you. How is that not your fault?”

  “I don’t have time for this. I have to find that blood talisman before she dies. Excuse me.” Ram exited the room.

  Selene walked over to Alex and pulled him to her. They hugged briefly as they stared at Amalia as she lay there on the bed. She looked peaceful. Alex did blame himself for what had happened but he would never admit it to Ram.

  Alex sat on the bed next to Amalia. He stroked her hand and brushed her hair away from her face. She looked so innocent. She appeared nothing like the monster that Ram had turned her into. He couldn’t be angry with her. Tears welled up into his eyes and fell onto her blouse.

  “Alex, my brother will be here soon. What do you want to do?” Selene asked from across the room.

  He didn’t give an answer. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to save his wife. He wanted to take her back home and be with her and forget about everything that had happened. He wanted to go back to the past and live there. The past was better than this wicked present that was playing out before him. He didn’t want to live in this time anymore. He had forsaken all of his moral values and betrayed his wife. He had murdered a total stranger.

  He didn’t know where his mind was nor did he care to find it. On the cliff of madness, he would stay comfortable. He would stay and hold his wife’s hand while Selene looked on and he wouldn’t care about anyone or anything else except this very moment.