I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t sure if there was anything I could say. It wasn’t like I could just tell her accidents happen – no big deal. Because it was a big deal, and Rose knew that. She wasn’t stupid.
And it truly had been an accident, which meant the fault really resided with me. If I didn’t have such little control over my own thoughts, then Heidi wouldn’t have been required to take up this responsibility in my stead. And ultimately, in attempting to protect Rose from my unstable mind, I had inadvertently forced something worse on her – the pain of having seriously hurt Heidi, never mind the pain of seeing her thoughts.
“I’m so sorry!” Rose repeated, rapidly deteriorating.
I reached out to grab her, doing most of the pulling with an astral limb while my fingers gripped her shirt, pulling her against Heidi’s hip. Rose covered her eyes with her small hands, beginning to sob incessantly, continuing to apologize incoherently.
Heidi was crying too, trying to take deep breaths to get ahold of herself. Finally, after a moment, she spoke up, her voice strained.
“Rose, sunshine. I need your help.”
My daughter’s hands flew away from her eyes in a flash, her face covered in tears and snot, her eyes wide with shock even as her body continued to hitch with uncontrollable sobs.
“Rose,” Heidi continued. “Go get me the…” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Get the maple syrup.”
What the hell?
I just stared at her in absolute confusion, not even beginning to comprehend what I was hearing. Why in the world did she want syrup?
Rose was on her feet in a flash, yanking open the fridge door so hard that it slammed against the counter, the entire appliance rocking violently as the back end came off the ground before settling again. She was then back just as quickly, uncapping the bottle and holding it up to Heidi’s lips like she knew exactly what she was doing.
And then it hit me.
Something so obvious, that I felt like a complete idiot the moment it registered.
Heidi wasn’t like me.
No, in fact, there were no other supers like me. No regenerating supers like me. There was a reason why other regenerators could die, whereas I could not. I didn’t need an outside source of energy to heal. As Nick had once pointed out, my energy and matter were coming from some unknown source, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Whereas, for other supers, they had to get it via consuming food – either that or their metabolism would start eating away at their own body to try to repair the more vital parts.
That meant a regular regenerating super couldn’t recover from having most of their body destroyed. And they might not even be able to recover from having most of their digestive track destroyed, being required to use their muscles and fat to fix that first, possibly killing themselves in the process, before they had any hope of eating to heal.
I also suddenly realized why Heidi was so skinny, even though there were times when she had eaten the most out of all of us. Why had I not realized the obvious sooner?
I knew why of course.
I was trying not to get too close to either of the sisters, afraid that my curiosity might become something else if I wasn’t careful, but I was quickly realizing I couldn’t afford to not know these kinds of things. What if Heidi had been unconscious?
Shit, now that I knew, I could shove food down her throat manually using my astral limbs, but if I hadn’t known?
I would have been helpless to aid her, and depending on the situation, she might have died. All because I didn’t have the self-control to draw a clear line in the sand and stick to it, instead keeping off the beach entirely.
Why in the hell was I so weak? Did I really have so little self-control?
Not anymore.
Never again.
I was going to learn everything I could about all of them, and I was going to learn how to control my thoughts and desires. Because all of our lives might depend on it one day. We couldn’t afford for me to be so weak-willed. I was only strong because of a gift I had been lucky enough to be born with, but I wasn’t strong where it counted.
No, I was weak as shit where it counted.
But not anymore.
I was going to do every damn thing in my power to beat my weak will into submission.
To hell with this shit!
Despite my internal self-loathing, I kept my composure neutral. My only physical reaction was pulling Heidi more tightly against my body, determined to make this work.
As Rose began gently squeezing the sugary liquid into her older friend’s parted lips, Heidi reached up with her good arm to squeeze the bottle more, gulping down half of the entire thing as fast as she could. I was sure a normal person would have vomited from the effort. In fact, I once knew someone who had done something similar on a dare, when I was much younger, and they did vomit after only drinking a fourth of what Heidi had just swallowed.
After a moment, Heidi sucked in a few ragged breaths while gently pushing the bottle away. Once she had caught her breath, she spoke again.
“Peanut butter,” she whispered, keeping her eyes closed.
Rose immediately dropped the syrup bottle and was snatching an open jar of peanut butter that was already sitting out on the counter, a spoon sticking out of the top. I carefully set the leaking syrup bottle upright with an astral limb as she made her way back, already pulling out a giant scoop of the calorie packed substance.
As I glanced at Rose’s now determined expression, I realized only after the fact what Heidi had just done. She was giving Rose a physical way to apologize, a very real form of atonement, a material method to make it better. Heidi could have just as easily ask me to retrieve these things for her, and I probably would have been able to do it faster, but she asked Rose.
In my daughter’s grief for what she had done, Heidi gave her a purpose. An outlet to make things right again.
Shit, Heidi might know Rose better than I did. She clearly understood her, knowing how her mind worked. And really, now that I considered it, her caregiving rivaled Freya’s, who had actually seen into Rose’s mind, whereas Heidi had not.
I wasn’t sure how Heidi and Rose’s relationship would develop as Rose grew older, but I felt confident about one thing – Heidi’s repeated commitment to stick with Rose, no matter what, was going to be her salvation from a possibly dark future. At the very least, it would be a huge buffer.
Freya, Lily, and I would all certainly be there for her once she was old enough to venture out into the world on her own, but I was well aware that she might go through a phase when she didn’t want to rely on us. But she wouldn’t be alone, because it was doubtful she’d ever go through a phase when she wanted to have a go at life without her friend.
Heidi would always be there – always welcomed, with no limitations.
I tightened my embrace ever so slightly on Heidi’s knees and shoulders, feeling her trembling begin to lessen. There was no noticeable change in the gory wound though. I suspected her healing ability worked too slowly to notice a change from minute-to-minute.
Once Heidi had stomached as much peanut butter as she could, followed by a little more syrup to wash it down, Rose found herself again with nothing to do, prompting me to ask her to begin cleaning up the blood. She complied without hesitation, and I saw in her expression that she truly did react well to being asked to do something to help fix her mistake. Honestly, I should have realized it when she insisted on helping to clean up the blood after our first meeting.
Having Rose shoulder the responsibility for her actions was going to do more for her conscience than anything else would – a fact that Heidi obviously understood.
I focused on Heidi again, examining her entire arm. “Can you move your fingers?” I wondered quietly when I noticed her hand was limp.
She shook her head, her eyes still tightly closed. “N-No. The nerves are…” She sucked in a deep breath. “Severed.” She then sighed. “I can kind of feel my pinkie finger, but that’s it.�
��
I considered that for a moment, truly not having any idea how advanced Heidi’s healing ability was. “Are you sure you don’t need surgery or anything?” I asked, knowing some regenerators could still end up with permanent damage. They might break a leg, but if the leg wasn’t set properly, then it would still heal crooked – just faster than a normal person. Likewise, sliced nerves wouldn’t heal right on their own without being surgically put back together, in which case, being a super-fast regenerator could have its drawbacks. A doctor might have to rebreak their leg in order to set it properly.
As far as regenerators were concerned, my power was rare even without the seemingly infinite supply of matter and energy that originated from an unknown source.
Heidi didn’t get a chance to respond to my question though. Instead, it was as if her body answered for her.
Unexpectedly, her arm began spasming underneath the grip of my astral limbs, and she shrieked. Rose immediately grabbed her friend’s face in her small hands, pressing her forehead against Heidi’s temple, both of their expressions agonized.
“I’m so sorry,” Rose repeated, her volume all but gone.
Heidi sucked in a ragged breath once the spasm stopped. I tried to see through the layers of flesh, muscles, and blood in order to determine if anything had changed, yet still I couldn’t detect anything noticeable. Honestly, I couldn’t even really tell what was what to begin with. Everything looked the same to me.
Heidi responded to Rose after another moment. “It’s alright, sunshine. Accidents happen,” she replied weakly.
Rose didn’t respond, her eyes tightening, her forehead still firmly against Heidi’s temple.
Heidi spoke again. “Did you do it on purpose?”
Rose pulled away, looking appalled. “No!” she exclaimed, her eyes tearing up again. “I’d never hurt you on purpose.”
Heidi peeked at her through her eyelashes, her lavender eyes a little unfocused. “Then don’t beat yourself up about it, sunshine. I’ll be back to normal in a few hours, and then maybe we can snuggle on the couch and watch a movie together. Or play dolls, if you want. And tomorrow, you can drink my blood just like normal. No big deal.”
“B-But,” Rose attempted, really beginning to cry again.
“Rose,” Heidi said more firmly. “I knew something like this could happen eventually. I just wasn’t expecting it so soon. But that didn’t stop me from feeding you.”
“You did?” I asked in surprise.
She glanced towards me, taking a deep breath. It seemed as if the pain had lessened significantly after the spasm. “Yeah, sis said Freya did something similar when she first met you two. So, I knew when Rose’s vampire eye finally showed up, it could happen. It’s just that Freya said she didn’t even know she had the extra eye until she was almost my age.”
I nodded slowly, wondering if the difference in diet was the reason why, considering that Freya had been borderline emaciated most of her life while Rose was feeding regularly. I figured I’d ask her about it later. In the meantime, I decided it was time to get Heidi more comfortable while her arm healed.
I glanced at the oven, noticing for the first time that it was on. I turned it off with an astral limb, and then asked Rose to put away the ingredients her older friend had gotten out to make dinner. When Heidi looked up at me with a confused expression, I smiled warmly at her.
“How does me ordering some Chinese food sound?” I wondered. “That’s your favorite, isn’t it?”
Her lavender eyes opened more fully. “Only because of the endless buffet,” she admitted, seeming a little bewildered. “Mexican is my favorite.”
“Then how about that?” I offered. “There’s a place nearby that delivers.”
“O-Okay,” she replied, sincerely having a deer-in-the-headlights expression now.
“And Rose can help you eat,” I added, seeing that my daughter was finished with putting everything away. “But in the meantime…” I slowly stood up to my feet, with Heidi firmly in my arms. “Let’s get you more comfortable upstairs in bed.”
Heidi and Lexi were still mostly living at Freya’s old house, with them sleeping on the couches downstairs whenever they stayed over at my place, since Lily’s house was currently under construction. However, I wanted Heidi to have the option of some privacy while she was healing up, which wasn’t possible in my living room. Thus, I figured I’d have Rose get some towels to lay on my bed, and put her there for now.
I cleared my throat then, and glanced down at Heidi’s bright red face. “And you can use the master bathroom to rinse off any dried blood once your back to normal,” I added.
“O-Okay,” Heidi repeated, averting her eyes as her face grew a deeper shade.
3: Threatening Blackmail
Heidi Stockton
January 15, 2735 – 1 Day Later – Late Afternoon
Heidi rinsed off her plate from a quick meal in between lunch and dinner, still feeling uneasy about the previous day. Her arm was completely back to normal now, but the memory of what happened wasn’t what bothered her. No, it was Freya’s reaction that bothered her – or at least, Freya’s reaction after she had seen in Rose’s mind what the little girl had experienced.
Heidi suspected Rose had initially seen Blaze hurting her, prompting the little girl to yank away in shock, but that wasn’t the part that would have prompted the look her mother gave afterwards.
Freya had been surprised, and then immediately reserved.
Honestly, Heidi considered it a miracle that Freya hadn’t noticed her secret sooner, since the mind reading vampire had peered into her thoughts twice now. Granted, from what she gathered, Freya had been very cautious about it, possibly skipping over the multitude of women Heidi had healed over the years…
Which meant, Freya had missed the importance of one healing in particular. The significance of it.
It was a secret Heidi desired to keep hidden for a multitude of reasons, and when Freya’s unique vampiric eye focused on her for the third time, without her permission as usual, Heidi suspected that Freya also saw how fervently she would protect that secret.
Not even her sister knew.
Which had made today especially uncomfortable, because Freya had stayed home to teach Rose how to control her third-eye. They didn’t need blood to make it emerge, only to activate the mind-reading ability. And, the eye appearing was the first step in using that particular superpower, which meant if Rose could control keeping it inside her head when she had the impulse for it to come out, then she wouldn’t have a repeat of yesterday.
Heidi had watched curiously as they practiced for thirty minutes at a time, before giving Rose an hour break in between sessions to work on her studies or play. However, Heidi couldn’t deny that it felt like there was a tension in the air between her and Freya. And she didn’t know what to do about it, because she didn’t want to be on the woman’s bad side.
But she also wasn’t going to budge on the issue.
At least Lily had been home for most of the day too, and Lexi stopped by to visit for a few minutes since she had a business trip, but now they were both gone. Lexi of course left to get ready for her flight, while Lily just left a few minutes ago after getting a message from Sam asking for her to meet him at work for a spontaneous date when he got off.
It was so romantic, and Heidi unexpectedly found herself recalling how it felt to be in Sam’s arms for over an hour…in his bed…
Heidi hadn’t thought he would really continue to hold her when she begged him to, but he did, even after Freya got home. And for some unknown reason, the otherwise possessive vampire didn’t appear to be upset at the sight, much to Heidi’s surprise…
She took a deep breath.
She knew the reason why. For one, Rose had been in bed with them too, but it was also probably because Freya was confident it was completely platonic on Sam’s side. No need to be jealous when he wasn’t interested. Not that he should be anyway. Heidi didn’t want him to be interested.
Or rather, she didn’t want to want him to be interested.
The truth made her heart heavy.
Sighing deeply, Heidi dried off the plate she had just washed and returned it to the cabinet where it belonged. She then turned around, only to jump when she realized Freya was standing right there by the table. Completely silent.
Heidi hadn’t even heard her enter the kitchen.
It made her heart race, knowing that the blood-drinking super could get the drop on her at any time, and Heidi would never see it coming.
“Umm, hey,” Heidi said awkwardly when Freya didn’t say anything. “Did you need something?”
“I want to talk,” she replied simply in a reserved tone.
Heidi took a deep breath, knowing this had nothing to do with Sam. At least, not directly. She then considered all of her arguments in her mind briefly, as well as possible compromises, before taking a step forward.
Freya’s brow furrowed when Heidi held up her hand, wrist upwards.
“How about we just make this fast and simple,” Heidi replied, her arm beginning to tremble. Having any kind of confrontation with Freya made her nervous. But, she knew they both wanted to keep this conversation vague, since Rose could probably hear them from upstairs.
Freya stared at her in disbelief for a moment, before coming closer and accepting her hand. However, instead of biting her wrist, she turned her arm over and gently sank her teeth into the other side to avoid making Heidi bleed more than necessary. Her vampiric third-eye appeared in the middle of her forehead simultaneously, glowing bright red as Freya sucked briefly on the spot she had bitten.
She then sighed heavily and pulled away, walking over to grab a paper towel and handing it to Heidi. It was obvious she was disappointed.
They were both silent for a moment, while Heidi dabbed at her arm, before Freya finally spoke up. “You know, you should be thankful for Lily and Sam. Had this been even a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated to lock you up to get what I wanted, much like Blaze did.”
The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal Page 3
