by Tish Thawer
I could tell this was upsetting for her. She sounded guilty and almost apologetic, even though she had nothing to be sorry for. Terrance had brought this on himself as far as I was concerned.
"The moment I penetrated his mind, I caught the image of him feeding off a woman in the dark. She was tall, thin, and had long, blonde hair from what I could tell. The moment that I locked on and tried to expand the image, Terrance's shield snapped into place, causing me a lot of pain, and then our connection was severed."
We all sat there in silence, none of us really knowing what to say. I had never heard of anything like this and from the quiver in Evie's voice, neither had she.
Bobby broke the silence by asking, "Did you recognize the woman?"
"No. I didn't. I was hoping that I could have picked up on a name or something more specific, but as soon as the image started to sharpen, it was over and I was being knocked out."
"Terrance says that whenever he thinks of that woman his thoughts go all fuzzy. Do you think that's the reason you were unable to wake up? Because of whatever weird effect this woman has on Terrance?" I asked.
"I've been thinking a lot about that, and it definitely seems like the most logical answer. But I just can't figure out how the woman could be affecting Terrance or me." Evie looked up at Dax and smiled sweetly. "I thought that Terrance had started reveling in the kill and had figured out a way to hide things from us, but now I'm not so sure. I almost think that he may be just as much a victim in this situation as the girl in the woods. I hope everyone can understand that I feel we need to keep Terrance around until we can figure all of this out."
Whether I was as convinced of Terrance's innocence or not, I knew it would make Dax feel better if Terrance ended up not being the bad guy we all thought he had become, and that made me happy. "Is there anyone that you can contact to see if something like this has ever happened before?" I asked.
"Dax and I have discussed it, and we've decided that I should contact my Sire. If something like this has ever been recorded, then I'm sure Balam will have heard about it. Now, let's go feed and get this club open. I know that this situation has everyone on edge, but I'm fine now, so there's no need to worry."
I wasn't as convinced by Evie's pep talk as everyone else was, but that was because of what I had accidentally heard her and Dax discussing. I was going to approach her about it, but then she and Dax started heading towards her office. I could only assume she was going to make the call to her Sire now and I certainly didn't want to delay that. We needed to get some answers as soon as possible. So instead, I headed out to feed along with Bobby, Dom, and Tori.
We usually were able to charm a few people in the park nearby, taking only our fill and then making them forget. No harm, no foul. I, for one, couldn't stand the idea of hurting anyone, and it wasn't my fault that I required blood to survive. So like most vampires, we fed only out of necessity and didn't hurt anyone in the process. We were almost complete opposites to the vampires of legend, but I wouldn't change a single thing. I was happy in this life, and I knew everyone else in our clan, Terrance notwithstanding, felt the same way.
If Rose was eventually changed, I would be the happiest vampire alive...what a contradiction.
* * * * *
(Evie)
"Dammit, Dax! I know Christian heard us talking from inside the office. I'm telling you, he is displaying signs that he's the one being triggered. I need to talk to him about it."
"Evie, please. Let's get to the bottom of this thing with Terrance first. I will be just as happy as you if it is Christian that's being triggered, but right now you have to understand that I am a nervous wreck because of what happened to you. You have no idea what it was like sitting there next to you and not having a clue how to help. I thought I'd lost you." Dax pulled me close and I could feel him trembling slightly.
Dax was right. The situation with Terrance needed to be our first priority, but for reasons I couldn't explain I felt a strong sense of urgency about Christian becoming our new Sire, and I couldn't deny that it had me on edge.
* * * * *
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Good News
(Rose)
As soon as Dad heard the knock at the door he fell straight into panic mode, and for some reason, so did I. I was now listening for any noise that could identify our unexpected caller from behind my cracked bedroom door. So far, all I heard were jumbled voices.
After deep breaths and a few thoughts to convince myself that I was a badass, I started down the stairs when I finally heard something...a female giggle. What the fuck?
As I rounded the corner, I got a good look at the intruder. It was a woman with long blonde hair in a pencil skirt and heels. And she had her hand on my dad's arm.
"Rose! It's okay honey. Please come here. I'd like you to meet someone." Dad's voice had sort of a high-pitched, panicky sound to it.
As I walked towards them, my dad took a step back and the woman turned around to face me. She was really pretty and had a Barbie doll smile plastered on her face. "Hi, I'm Meredith." I shook her hand thinking, and I should care why?
"Honey, Meredith is one of my clients from Masen," Dad explained.
Why would one of my dad's clients be at our house on a Saturday night? I didn't think I liked where this was going. "Didn't you just finish your meeting in Masen last night, Dad?" I asked, all the while keeping my eyes plastered on Meredith's.
"Yes, actually I did, so this is quite a surprise." He looked at Meredith and then gestured towards the living room with his arm outstretched. "Why don't we have a seat in the living room and you can tell me to what do we owe this pleasure?" Meredith led the way, Dad followed, and I slunk in behind them.
Once we were all seated in the living room–Dad and Meredith on the couch–I huddled in the recliner, Dad turned to Meredith. "So, what exactly are you doing here? Is there something wrong with the campaign we discussed?"
Okay, so maybe Dad's nervousness was coming from the fact that he thought this woman was unhappy with his work. I still thought it was pretty damn odd that someone would just show up on our doorstep instead of calling to set up another meeting.
"Actually, after you left, the partners and I discussed your campaign and we absolutely love it. So much, in fact, that we want to ask you to head up another campaign for a sub-company of ours. That's why I'm here. I was so excited to tell you the good news that I thought I'd just follow you back from Masen and deliver it in person," Meredith explained. "I have a friend in the area that I'll be staying with, and I thought we could get together for lunch tomorrow to discuss the details."
She had such an excited buzz about her and her smile was about to drive me nuts, so I took her story for what it was. Dad took a deep breath and visibly relaxed. "Well, that is fantastic news. I'd be honored to head up another campaign for you. And yes, lunch tomorrow sounds great." Dad grinned and looked in my direction. His smile faltered slightly as he took in my expression. I was sure I wasn't sporting the most gracious look on my face. Whether I believed her story or not, for some reason I just didn't like this woman very much. Maybe it was because she looked so much like my mom.
* * * * *
CHAPTER TWENTY
Old Friend
(Evie)
After Dax and I had settled on the questions that I needed to ask my Sire, I had requested to be left alone. I couldn't remember the last time I had spoken to Balam. It had been so long ago that I 'd been triggered and made a Sire, that it truly felt like a completely different lifetime. Even though I considered my Sire an old friend, I was still a bit nervous to actually be contacting him.
Usually once a new Sire left their original clan to begin their own, there was no further contact between them. Not that it was forbidden, but it was usually just not a necessity, and for whatever ancient reason, that's just how things worked.
Traditionally, once a vampire was confirmed as the triggered vampire in their current clan, they were then led through history lessons a
bout their kind. This included all the different new "powers" that came with being a Sire: the poison of true death, the sedative of eternal life, the scanning abilities, and the importance of choosing their consort. Once they received the guidelines on how to use each of these things, they would then go through the "Passing of Powers" ritual. This is where their Sire passed abilities onto them. They were then expected to leave their current clan, set up a new home location, and begin building a clan/family of their own.
The first vampire that they sired became their consort and shared in their scanning abilities. This was the most important, and the first thing a new Sire needed to do. They had to choose wisely, because once their consort was changed, they were eternally bound to them and if they died...so did the new Sire.
After choosing their consort, there was no limit to how many vampires they could create. The process of the change was pretty typical. The Sire bit the chosen person, and then injected them with the sedative of eternal life. The Sire would then feed from the person until they were dead. Once the new vampire had risen, the first thing they were made to do was drink from the Sire. That sealed the bond and completed the process. Once the bond was made, the new vampire then drifted to their "normal" coloring. Most people rose as light vampires, but like Terrance, if they carried sorrow and pain within them, they would mostly likely show signs of that by drifting to a darker color.
As I sat there recalling all the lessons that Balam had taught me, I started to feel a little more relaxed about contacting the man who had blessed me with eternal life, even though I hadn't spoken to him in over a thousand years.
After digging his number out of my archives, I took a deep breath and dialed.
"Hola, habla Balam."
I smiled. His accent still carried its Mayan heritage, and even though he could speak English, he chose to speak modern Spanish. To this day he continued to go by his real Mayan name, Balam. Just hearing his voice made me realize how much I'd missed him.
"Hello Balam, this is Evangeline."
"Evangeline mi amor, no te he visto en mucho tiempo"
He knew that I hadn't spoken Spanish for hundreds of years, but he was going to make me ask anyway. "Balam, you know I no longer speak Spanish, may I ask that we speak in English, my Sire?" He was very formal when it came to titles and respect.
His only reaction to my request was a small "hmph," and then he said, "Yes of course my darling. I was just saying it has been forever."
His voice was kind and immediately took me back to the villages of Chichen Itza. I wasn't originally from Yucatan, but when I was turned by Balam, who was one of the original Mayan people, Chichen Itza was where the clan had actually lived. I had been amazed when I realized that the lair of a centuries old vampire clan resided below the ruins and still did to this day.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Balam asked.
"I have a situation developing within my clan that I have never experienced before, and I need to ask you some questions." I figured there was no point in beating around the bush.
"What's the situation?" Apparently he shared my desire to get straight down to business.
"I have a vampire who has drifted permanently dark, which is unfortunate but not unheard of. The problem I'm having with him, however, is that when I scanned him, trying to reveal the cause of his darkening, I was forced into unconsciousness and trapped there until I cleared my mind of the incident." Balam continued to listen as I explained further. "It was only then that I was able to wake. My vampire also reports that whenever he thinks of a particular woman, his thoughts get...fuzzy." I hoped I was giving him enough details to explain the oddness of my situation properly.
Silence lingered for more time than I was comfortable with, but I knew that I needed to let Balam process this information. The man had a millennium of experience and history to sort through. I just hoped that something rang a bell.
"Have any of your other vampires drifted permanently dark, or is it just this one?" His voice was calm, but serious.
"No. Just Terrance."
"And you say that his thoughts get fuzzy when he thinks of a particular woman, correct?"
"Yes. And I think that due to our mental connection, whatever this woman has done to Terrance is why I was knocked out when I tried to scan him."
"Yes, I would suspect that the mental connection with Terrance and the image of this woman is related to why you were knocked unconscious."
It seemed like he had an idea of what was happening, so I was only happy to wait for his next question.
"Has Terrance shown any aggression towards the other vampires in your clan?"
"No. We have him chained up right now, and he's not exactly happy about it, but he hasn't tried to hurt any of us. Dax and I noticed about six months ago that he started to have trouble drifting back after feeding and he started to become very quiet and solitary. We started keeping an eye on him, making sure he fed with the others, instead of by himself. And up until last week, he had never killed anyone before, but now he appears to have drifted permanently dark." I couldn't help the sadness in my voice. I really didn't want to have to deliver the true death to him.
"Evangeline, even though as the Sire you are immune, it is absolutely imperative that none of your other vampires get close to Terrance from now on. He is a danger to your clan."
"What? Why? He's chained up, and like I said, he hasn't shown any sign of aggression towards any of us." This was starting to confuse and scare me.
"Evangeline, please do as I say. I don't want any of your other vampires to become infected."
"Infected? What are you talking about?" This conversation was definitely not going how I'd imagined.
"Yes. Infected. I'm almost certain that the woman that Terrance encountered was in fact a zôt–or what you would refer to as a demon."
* * * * *
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Lunch with Barbie
(Rose)
I watched Meredith scoot closer and closer to Dad as they made plans to meet for lunch the following day. I had found a creative form of entertainment that allowed me to remain calm throughout the rest of her unexpected visit. I repeatedly imagined myself flying across the room and strangling her to death to pass the time. It was pretty fun.
Once she had finally left I excused myself and headed straight to my room. I thought it would be best to avoid any conversations about her at that moment. You know the saying...if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
A few minutes later Dad knocked on my door. "Honey, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Dad. I just want to go to sleep." I could tell he was considering pressing the issue, but thank god, he didn't.
"Okay, honey. Goodnight then. Oh, and Rose, I'd like you to go with me tomorrow. Meredith and I are meeting at the café in the business district for lunch, and I thought you could do some shopping while I met with her. Then we could take in a movie or something." Dad sounded so upbeat, and after our argument tonight I really did want the chance to continue our conversation about getting a car and moving out.
"Okay Dad, sure thing. That sounds just great." I would fake it for him, but I still didn't like the fact that my dad was going to be having lunch with Barbie.
* * * * *
(Jeremy/Dad)
That had been quite a surprise. I couldn't believe Meredith had followed me back from Masen, straight to my house no less. I had told her, when we started to see each other every month during my overnight visits to Masen, that she was going to have to understand that there was no way that I could bring her here to the house where Rose's mother had been killed, especially since she looked so much like her.
It was over a year ago that I had met Meredith, and even then, it had been a shock to me that she looked so much like my wife. If I was being honest with myself, the fact that she did resemble Loraine so much had probably contributed to why I had gravitated to her to begin with. But once we began to spend some quality time together, I realiz
ed that she was a wonderful person and the fact that she furthered my career had nothing to do with it.
