Warm Food Cold Body

by S. Y. Robins

  Going to her computer Sina only found mentions of staking the vampire to end their curse. Gia wasn’t quite a vampire yet, just infected with his taint. She also had no idea where the vampire lived and couldn’t think of where the lair could be. Yeah, the Internet liked using terms like “tainted” and “lair” when referring to vampires. Most of the sites seemed to be junk filler for all of the click-bait that had a prominent position on the sites. Some seemed to be old .html files that hadn’t been updated in a decade or more.

  Nothing worth knowing here, Sina thought as she opened a program to message Oona with.

  “That didn’t work, Gia’s back in the hospital. Help?” Sina’s message read.

  Oona’s knock at her door came ten minutes later.

  “What happened?” The witch asked, looking around the house. “Oh. We forgot your window. That’s how he got in.”

  “Yeah, it’s sorted now but what if he comes back? What if it’s the summer and we have the windows open and the wind blows the garlic away and the crucifix falls out of the window? No, we need something more permanent. What was that you mentioned about making Gia a witch?” Sina asked, desperate to help her friend.

  “Well, vampires hate witches and will not drink from them. We’re usually quite safe from them. That’s why it takes an actual witch to kill one, most of the time. I don’t care how much praying you do to protect yourself, vampires are more terrified of a witch than they are the cross and words.” Oona revealed.

  “What do we need to do then? Does she just have to convert to “witchiness” or something? Do a pagan ritual to be accepted into the witchfold?” Sina asked without any idea of what the proper terminology would be.

  “Kind of. But she has to become an actual witch. Not just one of the followers of witchcraft but an actual witch. The twitchy nosed, pew-y finger kind of witch.” Oona said with some trepidation.

  “How? I thought you had to be born that way?” Sina asked, going to the kitchen to prepare herself a tea.

  Oona followed, putting a cup down for herself. “Well, a ritual has to be performed at Midnight on Halloween but I’m busy at that time so you’d have to do it.”

  “What kind of ritual? Can I even perform it? I’m not a witch, I’m not even pagan!”

  “You can do it, I’ll have a word with the local god there. I’ll also write it all down for you.” Oona said, obviously making mental notes. “I have a lot to do that night so just follow my instructions, alright? You’ll do fine.” Oona said, patting Sina’s hand.

  “Now, tomorrow night is Halloween so you have to get ready to take her up tomorrow night, alright? Make sure she’s at the stone circle at midnight. Do you know the one I mean?” Oona asked.

  “Yes, the Nine Ladies. I wish you were going with me! I know I’m going to mess this up somehow.” Sina fretted.

  “Love, you’ll do fine. It doesn’t have to be exact but gods can be pernickety and like their rituals. I’ll drop off what you need while you fetch Gia.” Oona said, putting her empty tea mug down.

  “Now, I have to go. You should be alright for the night but buzz me if you need me. I’ll leave my phone charging and on all night. Take care sweetie.” Oona seemed to drift out of the house with her goodbye, preoccupied with whatever else it was she had going on.

  Sina wished her friend wasn’t so busy. She knew she was going to muck this up somehow.

  3

  Sina pulled up as far as she could to the stone circle, not very close. Gia wasn’t as bouncy this time, still almost catatonic but the doctor had still released her. They knew someone had been attacking her, draining her blood now, at least. The doctor had said he’d hold Sina responsible if something happened to Gia but she’d taken on that responsibility. This was the only time of year this was possible, after all.

  Sina pulled Gia out of the car, trying to pull the bag she’d brought with her. The plastic handle tore halfway there as Sina cradled Gia against her body. Sina screamed in anger as the instructions blew away. Now what? Sina finally made it to the circle and set Gia on a blanket she dropped onto the ground and kicked out so Gia could sit on it.

  Sina then went with a torch looking for the instructions. She saw thousands of tiny scraps of paper, ribbon, and other detritus people had left behind. She assumed they were spells, wishes, and pleas. Giving up, knowing she could be there for hours trying to find the right paper, Sina went back to the circle.

  “Look, god, goddess, whichever you are here, I’ve lost my instructions. Without your help my friend is going to be toast. I don’t mean to be rude but I really need some help and understanding here. Look at her.” Sina pointed down to the listless Gia. “She’s helpless because of a vampire…”

  Sina cut off her words as a blue light shot out of the ground and surrounded Gia.

  “We know why you are here Sina. Oona came to us earlier.” A deep male voice boomed out.

  “What’s happening?” Sina asked, a bit freaked out. It wasn’t everyday blue light shot out of the ground and a voice vibrated out of the air.

  “We are changing Gia. Her body has to change to do the things she’ll be able to do now. If you’d like to wait and read a magazine we’ll call you…” the voice broke off, chortling. “No, I kid, I kid. It’s done now. Thank you for being such a protective friend and for bringing us our newest witch, Sina. I hope your friend can one day repay your kindness if you should need it.” The voice said as the light disappeared.

  “Thank you!” Sina called out as she rushed over to Gia. She’d really gone to sit on a rock at the voice’s prompting.

  Collecting Gia and pulling her back to the car was difficult because now Gia was bouncing again.

  “Holy moly, Sina, do you know what I can do now? The things I know?” Gia blinked and they were walking in the sands along the edge of the Valley of Kings in Egypt. Another blink and they were strolling up the streets of Paris in the dark. Yet another blink and they were walking the Great Wall in China. Then suddenly they were home and Gia blinked Sina’s car into the driveway, a twist and poke of her finger produced a Mexican pizza full of peppers.

  “Oh wow, Sina. This is awesome.” Gia said with wide eyes and a huge grin.

  “Do you know what the best part is? That vampire won’t bother you anymore. That’s the best part.” Sina reminded her friend quickly.

  “Oh, I’m not going to turn all evil now, I just can’t believe what I can do. Or the things I know. Such as the inventor of toilet paper knew there’d be arguments about which way the paper went so he released two drawings of his invention but only one still exists. It was up to the user! Right, yeah, that’s not worth knowing but it’s just one thing.” Gia said her beautiful face animated and actually happy.

  Sina was willing to take that over nearly dead, any day.

  Gia spent the rest of the evening practicing her new powers and revealing the answers to age-old questions to a smiling Sina. They didn’t get to bed until the sun came up they were so happy with Gia’s new life and the things she could do. Sina was still mainly pleased her friend was alive but also pleased for her that her life had changed so much.

  For the first time in days Sina actually felt like she’d slept peacefully and woke up later that day feeling rested for once. Gia was still asleep so Sina pottered around getting some work done and answering some emails she’d received from clients. Gia was up an hour later, bouncing and ready to go up to the pub.

  “I haven’t been in weeks, Sina, come on let’s go for a pint.” Gia said as she hopped from one foot to the other.

  “Actually you were just there a few days ago but sure, let’s go, I think you need walking!” Sina laughed as her friend ran for their coats.

  “I could just blink us up there, you know?” Gia offered, hopefully.

  “No, I really do think you need a walk, come on BFF, let’s get up that hill together.” Sina said, taking Gia’s arm and leaning into the climb.

  “Life is going to be so different now, Sina, oh so different
. For both of us, just think of the places we can go and the things we can see!” Gia’s enthusiasm was starting to spread and Sina wanted to ask Gia to blink them to Hawaii at some point but for now, they were walking into the pub and she saw Oona at a table by herself.

  “Oona, my Queen!” Gia hooted at their friend.

  “Oh stop it, silly girl!” Oona said with a blush but hugged Gia and Sina both.

  “It went well then, I take it?” Oona asked.

  “We’re here. It didn’t go as you’d planned but it worked, yes.” Sina admitted while Gia scarpered off to order drinks.

  “She’ll calm down soon. She just has to get used to the new energy she has flowing through her. And in a hundred years she may actually start to feel fatigue again.” Oona observed watching Gia all but buzz at the bar.

  Sina gasped and looked at Oona in shock. “What, a hundred years?”

  “Oh yes. She won’t be immortal, she can be killed, but now she’ll live much longer, heal much quicker and from things humans can’t heal from. She’ll never have cancer or the diseases that plague mankind and she’ll never know the pain of an aging body. One day she’ll just go to sleep and that will be it.”

  Sina was curious now. “How old are you, Oona?”

  “I will be 986 come July, Sina.” Oona said without blinking.

  “Whoa! Really? 986? You look great for your age.” Sina teased.

  “Yes, but it can be lonely sometimes. Especially when I know you’ll be but a dusty memory by the time my day comes. It can make one very sad.” Oona said before wiping away her melancholy. “But enough of that. Gia will be sorted soon enough and you’ll have your buddy back, just an enhanced version of her. Let’s hope that’s the end of that.”

  “Yes, let’s hope. I can’t imagine him coming back now.” Sina said.

  “So he’s male then?” Oona asked.

  “Oh yes, very. A handsome man with incredibly blue eyes. But the evil just oozes from him. He was terrifying. And naked.” Sina added the last with a shudder.

  “Yes, that’s how vampires hunt. They can transform into animals so they hunt naked to save clothing. I think they also just like the thrill of it.” Oona said as Gia brought their drinks over finally.

  “So, drink, a trip to Berlin, a gold watch anyone?” Gia asked teasingly.

  “You have to behave yourself, madam; you can’t be greedy with this you know? Well you can but if you do I shall smite thee!” Oona said with a smile that Sina wasn’t quite sure was teasing.

  Gia seemed to get the idea and started to calm down, sipping at her cider. This was the first time Sina had seen her friend truly relaxed in a long time. Sina smiled in happiness and enjoyed the buzz of conversations going on around her. She saw a handsome man she’d never seen before talking with the pub’s chef, and Oona waved at a girl she’d seen before but never actually spoken to. The girl, well woman, waved back and Oona sat back pleased.

  “Yes, let’s hope that’s the end of all of that.” Sina heard Oona say quietly.

  Sina woke in the night, covered in sweat, terrified to move. Someone, something was standing just at the edge of the bed. Fearing even to so much as breath, unable to move her body to run, Sina did all she could manage to do and let her right eye open just enough to see a hooded shadow of a man.

  The man bent down over her and Sina had to hold back a scream. She knew revealing she was awake would end in her death. She wasn’t sure how she knew that but she did. Fighting her own panic while trying not to take in another breath Sina waited. She did not cry out though she was terrified she would as the man bent over at the waist, sniffing at her hair, down her neck, to the very top of her back.

  Sina felt his breath on her skin and knew she wasn’t dreaming. This was real, the shadow man was really there and he was gloating over his power over her.

  Then Sina did the unthinkable, something she could not have imagined, and fell back to sleep waiting on the man to do something besides hover over the knob of bone at the top of her spine. Truly coming to wake as the sun shone through her window Sina sat up and looked around. The man had truly been there, she just knew it.

  Sina looked on the floor and saw no footprints, only her normal carpet. Scratching her head she dismissed the episode as a product of too much cider and went through the house. Gia was cooking breakfast and everything seemed to be back to normal. They spent the day as usual, well, a few weeks ago usual, and Sina worked while Gia helped her by going through emails.

  Gia usually volunteered at a local charity shop but the last few weeks had taken a toll on her relationship with the organization and it was going to take some repairing. Until that time Gia had volunteered to help Sina get caught up on her own work. The day passed by quickly and the night was spent in the pub, watching the goings on of the village as first dart players then quiz champions came in. Butties were brought out and Gia and Sina walked home, content that life was back to normal.

  That is until Sina fell asleep. About three in the morning she woke up to find the man had returned, this time he was knelt over her, pinning her to the bed. Sina couldn’t see anything, only blackness so black it seemed to be absorbing the light. Of course, she was laid on her stomach so that accounted for some of it but that didn’t stop the absolute panic Sina felt or the need she felt to run. But she knew if she moved she was dead. Then she did the unthinkable again and fell asleep waiting on the presence to leave or hurt her.

  When she woke up she flung herself from the bed, dislodging the lock on her window and knocking of the dried mince garlic. She’d thought the torment was over but having this same episode twice surely meant something. Brushing the garlic off her arms Sina went to the kitchen to talk to Gia. She was the all-knowing now. She’d know what this was all about.

  4

  Sina sat at her kitchen table watching Oona and Gia having some kind of mental argument. They finally seemed to come to some kind of agreement and Gia turned to speak to Sina.

  “You are experiencing what can be called a night terror. No, let me finish.” Gia said as Sina made to interrupt. “They can seem perfectly real and are utterly terrifying. People have described being dragged out of bed, abused, and many other episodes but sleep studies and video recording shows the sufferer never moves during this episode. It’s a sleep disturbance brought on by traumatic events, past abuse, and stress. You’ve been through a lot lately, I realize that. You’ve been so brave for me and now that I’m safe your body is tormenting you. I also know how to fix it.”

  Oona smiled, pleased with how well Gia was handling the situation. Gia was showing a maturity and kindness, a nurturing aspect, that she’d been missing in her previous life. Oona was quite pleased. She was even more pleased as Gia continued speaking.

  “What we need to do is cleanse this house. Oona’s going to do a cleansing ritual with some sage while you and I clean up all of this garlic and take down the crucifixes. Then your brain might start to recover from all of this.”

  We cleaned the house entirely, hovering up all of the garlic and then ran a pleasant smelling disinfectant around just to remove any lingering smell. We took down the crucifixes and called a repairman over the windows that needed repairing. Finally we all sat down to a meal Gia prepared while I finished some work and then we went to the pub. It was a lovely evening and Sina went home with a much clearer mind.

  As she said her goodnights to Gia, Sina stopped to hug her friend. “I believe you were right. I still felt this sense of oppression and that is gone now. I think I’ll sleep much better. Thank you, Gia.”

  Sina left her friend and went into her own room, shutting the door closed behind her. It had only been a nightmare, that’s all. Reminding herself to find a new pet companion tomorrow Sina did her usual and loaded a movie on her laptop to fall asleep too. Putting her earplugs in to avoid disturbing Gia, Sina quickly fell asleep and straight into the arms of the shadow man pursuing her. He was chasing her through a cemetery this time though, she could move, at least.r />
  Sina ran throughout the night, managing to break his grasp of her when he caught her in a forest at one point, and finally woke herself up just as the sun was rising. Going into the kitchen she fixed herself a cup of coffee and waited for Gia to start making noises before she began to make breakfast.

  Gia took one look at her friend and knew something was wrong with her. There were dark circles under her eyes, her skin was pale, and she looked utterly exhausted.

  “You had the nightmare again, I take it?” Gia asked sitting down to her breakfast.

  “Yes, but this time it was an all-night episode, and I could run at least.” Sina said, sitting down to her own. Sina’s dark hair hung down into her plate and she moved it aside to keep from getting egg yolk in it.

  Gia’s eyes widened as Sina moved her hair away from her neck and she spluttered into her coffee. “What the heck is that?”

  “What?” Sina asked, looking at her friend with concern.

  “That on your neck let me see it!” Gia quickly got up from her chair and knelt beside of Sina. Prodding at Sina’s flesh she saw two puncture wounds that were ragged and sore looking.

  “We’ve made him mad it seems and he’s found a new victim. Break the garlic out, he’s back. I’ll call Oona after breakfast.” Gia sat back down, feeling incredibly guilty, leaving her plate untouched.

  “What do you mean? But I don’t remember a thing!” Sina exclaimed.

  “No, I didn’t either but it happened all the same. This is my fault. We’ll sort it honey, I swear.” Gia assured, looking preoccupied.

  “I’m sure we will but why? Why does this keep happening?” Sina cried, tears rolling down her brave face. She’d held it all in but had to let the tears out now. She simply wasn’t strong enough now to fight them back.

  “He wanted me as a mate. He’d chosen me. Vampires reach a maturity level and start to feel a drive around the 500th year, this one has scoured England for a year searching a mate out. He’d chosen me. Now he’s apparently taking you as a replacement, and as payback. Oona and I will sort this.” Gia said coldly, her resolve steely.