by P. Mattern
Celeste spoke, her piercing blue eyes commanding the attention of the others. ”Being somewhat prescient I get a certain sense of what’s going on in Mitzi’s situation, so I’ll just tell you what I’m feeling. The first thing you should know is that she is not in imminent danger of cessation - no one wants to destroy her.”
An audible sigh of relief could be heard in the room.
Celeste continued, smiling a little as she perceived that the atmosphere of near group hysteria had subsided.
“The next thing you need to know is - whoever arranged to have her taken there believes he is in love with her… believes that they are meant to be together.”
Lux and Cass turned immediately to each other then back to face Celeste, ”That’s bad enough” Lux said, disgruntled. ”She can’t possibly actually KNOW this person - is he delusional???”
“I can’t see how she knows him - maybe she doesn’t. But his ardor for her means he won’t allow her to be harmed by anyone… that is perhaps a good thing.”
Charley held out his hands, ”Why HER? Out of anyone - why would he want HER?” His voice had a plaintive note, as if he were regressing to a childlike state. His eyes appeared to moisten. Suddenly he begins to shake, his face twitching uncontrollably, his eyelids rhythmically drooping. Fress quickly pulled him over to a chair, where he continued to shake as if having a petit mal seizure.
All of his friends ran to immediately encircle him, ”Fress, What’s wrong with Charley?” Merilee asked in a hushed tone. Makenna stood beside her with a worried expression.
“It will be fine in a few seconds”, Fress answered, she had squeezed into the overstuffed leather chair right next to Charley and was holding one of his hands as he seizured. ”But he will be embarrassed when it stops. He’s not unconscious; he can hear everything everyone is saying. He didn’t want anyone to know he still has these… little neurological fits. Not even Mitzi knows he still has them, even though he’s twice -bitten.”
A look of recognition crossed Cass’s face. ”Ooooh - Mitzi told me he used to have these. She thought that his being changed eliminated them.”
Fress took a Kleenex out of her pocket and dabbed at the corners of Charley’s mouth - the seizure activity was apparently on the wane. ”He still has them - less often than he did before. Especially in stressful situations he’ll have an onset, or in situations that involve a really loud noise. I found out he still did when we tried to go bowling once.” Her voice took on a fiercely protective tone. ”He’s coming around. He’ll be his excellent self in a minute.”
All eyes were on Charley as the seizure activity faded and his hands stopped shaking. The look in his eyes said it all. All eyes stayed upon him as he shook his head as if to get the rest of his neurological cobwebs to clear out.
“Sorry guys”, he said, not really meeting anyone’s eyes. Then, in typical Charley fashion he followed up by adding, ”Guess what? I’ve been meaning to tell you all - I have these seizures sometimes!”
A smattering of laughter rippled through the group - Charley received reassuring hugs from the ladies and good natured jibes and claps on the back from the guys. In a way Charley’s seizure incident had united the group in spirit and in a determination to rescue Charley’s mom.
Celeste took charge of the meeting at that point. Everyone agreed that a vampire search and rescue operation would take place within a few hours that would involve pinpointing Mitzi and Byron’s location and bringing them back to Fort Hunt.
Celeste, being the Prescient of the group, provided more information on Mitzi’s situation that increased the groups resolve when she told them that, even though Mitzi was in no immediate danger of demise, her captor did have an agenda.
“You won’t want to hear this Charley, and I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but he plans to make Mitzi a ‘Thrice - bitten’.”
Charley appeared so stunned that Fress rushed to his side in case he seizured again, but he waved her away.
“Why would he want to do that? OH - because he is himself ‘thrice - bitten’… and plays for the Dark Team?”
“Precisely.” Celeste replied. ”The one stipulation is - he needs her permission.”
Charley practically chortled, ”Then what he wants is a moot point - he’ll never get it. She would NEVER agree to that!”
Celeste sighed and turned wearily to Ariel, who answered Charley.
“You know your mom well, Charley. But if this is what he wants - and he is a very powerful vampire, living outside of the cultural constraints of the V-net - he probably has thought of ways to – er - persuade her.”
“But you know my mom - she’s ‘Southern stubborn’ as they say - no one, including me, her darling son, can make her do anything she doesn’t want to do.”
Ariel looked at Charley, a sadness settled over her lovely gamine features and there was pity in her eyes, ”Charley what if he threatened to harm the person that means more to your mom than anyone in the entire world? What would Mitzi do then?”
Charley’s shoulders slumped dejectedly, ”Of course. Anything to keep me from harm. I see now what we’re up against… And by the way-does this festering ‘tube of horrible’ have a name? Just curious.”
Ariel and Celeste looked at each other. Ariel answered, “Yes, Charley. His name is Adrastos.”
* * *
Chapter 18: Away
It was a real’ Alice in Wonderland’ moment.
‘This is getting tiresome’ Mitzi thought, looking around at her new surroundings, wondering where she was, and exactly how she’d gotten there. ’I must have Transient Global Amnesia’ she thought.’ That would fit because I know who I am but I can’t remember changing time zones. ’From where she stood the room appeared to be circular (‘tower?’ She wondered) and made of roughly hewn stone. There were 4 sets of huge casement windows placed evenly 15 feet off the floor. On one side of the immense room was a fireplace so tall that two people, one person standing on the shoulders of the other, could have stood up in it. There was an immense fire going. She noted with a start that there seemed to be no doorways in or out of the room, although in the rather gloomy half light afforded by the casement windows she saw several females dressed in dove grey garments that included head coverings and were somehow reminiscent of novitiate nun’s habits.
The room was huge. Several of the women Mitzi had noted seemed to be setting up an ornately carved bed with ungainly handmade looking mattresses - or were they called featherbeds? Mitzi wondered. All the women seemed to be ignoring her except for the one that appeared so suddenly at her elbow that she was startled. ”Oh!” She said. The nunlady dropped a small curtsy. ”I beg your pardon, Ma’am. I didn’t mean to startle you. I just thought you might want to freshen up.”
Mitzi looked around her. ”Is there a bathroom?”
“No, Ma’am - just alcoves…” The woman pointed out several stone partitions that flanked part of the wall near the fireplace that were so cleverly constructed that they almost invisible. ”There’s a bath in there, supplied by the hot springs that run through this mountain. You are welcome to change clothes also if you would like.” Mitzi saw the woman eye her up and down, taking in her housecleaning outfit - a black Henley shirt and black granny - waist jeans - with a look of mild distaste. ”You can do that now and have refreshments also if you’d like.”
Mitzi looked into the woman’s face - even featured, plain but pleasant, eyes guileless and so pale a blue that they appeared to be almost clear.
“I’d like some water, please.”
“Also in the alcove - there is a cool, spring - fed fountain in there. And if you’d like a refreshment now - well, there’s me.”
The woman stepped closer. Mitzi could make out faint lilac bruises on one side of the woman’s neck, and a smattering of faded – to - the point of being – barely – visible bruises scattered over the top of one full round breast. Mitzi became aware of a burning in her throat and a strange desire bubbling up from somewhere deep in he
r core. Part of her was repulsed, and wanted to pull away violently. Part of her was inexorably drawn to the woman’s creamy neck.
“Are you sure?” Mitzi croaked, her throat suddenly more parched than she could ever remember it being.
“Yes ma’am. That’s what we’re here for. They call us the ‘wet nurses’.”
The young woman stepped closer to Mitzi and tilted her head back, offering Mitzi access to her neck. As Mitzi hungrily pressed her lips to the woman’s neck and took what had been offered, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was a “twice - bitten’. That she was indeed a vampire.
The woman was delicious, a fine type A negative, just as Mitzi had been when completely human. A feeling of deep refreshment and revitalization swept over her. Finally she was able to pull herself away from the delicious creature.
“Are you sure that you don’t want any more, ma’am?” The girl had a blush high on both cheeks and her eyes were dark liquid pools, as if she had taken belladonna. Her irises had disappeared.
“No - that’s fine; thank you. What is your name child?”
“Buttercup, ma’am”.
Suddenly overcome by curiosity, Mitzi asked, ”Buttercup how many times have you been bitten?”
“Oh dozens and dozens ma’am. But as long as we only provide refreshment for once and twice bittens we never change. We were genetically modified for this service - we produce more new blood cells than we need and if we aren’t bitten regularly the excess blood in our system becomes painful, so we enjoy providing this service.”
“Well, thank you Buttercup. You were… delicious.”
Buttercup blushed prettily. ”Thank you ma’am. And now your bath.”
Mitzi’s need for sleep after feeding seemed overwhelming but she fought it to step into the steamy sunken pool in the alcove. She was up to her neck in bubbling warm water, applying a sweet - smelling lavender soap to her extended arms when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. She slowly turned her head and let out a small gasp.
Leaning casually against a wall in the corner of the alcove stood a bearded man in anachronistic garb, sporting a Prince Valiant haircut and staring at her intently. It seemed to her that she was looking up and up - he appeared to be at least six and a half feet tall.
Instinctively she lowered herself deeper into the bathing basin, praying that the light was low enough to conceal her nudity. Still the man stared, not speaking.
The staring match was getting uncomfortable. Mitzi finally broke the silence by saying, ”Excuse me. I prefer to bathe in private. I hope you don’t mind.”
The man cocked his head to one side as though examining a rare species of bird. Finally he spoke.
“Ah but I DO mind. I prefer to surprise my guests - disarm them, so to speak. I find creatures of every designation, be they transcendent, humans, were folk or other tend to answer more truthfully without the concealing trappings of weapons or apparel - thus providing an opportunity for a more open and productive conversation. Do you agree?”
Mitzi was nonplussed.
“I’m not sure. I find conversing in the natural distracting and unnatural for the most part. And unfairly intimidating. Particularly when half the participants in the conversation are clothed - namely yourself.”
Was that a smile playing around the corners of the man’s mouth? The dimness of the lighting did not permit her to ascertain that, but he spoke again.
“Then would you prefer that I disrobe also?”
Mitzi was disgruntled. It was her assessment that the conversation had taken an unfortunate turn somehow despite her best efforts.
“No - thank you - and I will thank you to leave me so that I can dress and we can attempt a proper conversation so that I can find out exactly who you are and we can cease talking in riddles.”
She still couldn’t read his expression so she added, ”Please.”
He stepped yet more closely toward her, without speaking. For a few moments Mitzi thought wildly that he intended to join her in the bath after all, fully clothed in his anachronistic garb. But eventually he sighed in resignation and replied, ”As you wish madame.”
The next moment he was gone as if vanished. Mitzi hurriedly stood dripping and grabbed a huge white bath sheet from a low stool beside the basin. The back of her hair was damp with steam from the bath and she wondered what she must look like. Grabbing an ornate mirror from its place on a low stone shelf she held it to her face, peered into it, and then stared.
The very surprised face staring back at her was a face that she hadn’t seen in over a decade. The worry lines on her forehead were all but disappeared. The laugh lines that ran from her nose to the corners of her mouth, once pronounced, were barely discernable. A high flush of pleasure rose on both her cheeks. How many years had been wiped away she wondered. Ten - maybe fifteen? The permanently tired look she’d grown used to seeing on her reflection had been replaced by an alert and inquisitive expression. All of this was part of the changing into a twice - bitten she knew, but it had happened so gradually that she’d scarcely noticed it before now.
She dressed in the clothing left to her - a pale green dress of an excellent material that she couldn’t identify with a low bodice and bell sleeves, - no bra - her underthings were a camisole and pantellettes of an ecru colored gossamer light material, and there were velvet slippers for her feet in a dark blue. She would have preferred to redress herself in the clothing she’d arrived in but had no idea where it had gotten to. ”When in Rome…” She muttered under her breath.
At that point it occurred to her that she didn’t recognize this place and probably should be panicking-but she felt calm. She remembered that her name was ‘Mitzi” but she felt very vague about her past and had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Part of her, urgent and insistent but somehow removed from her and seemingly far away - kept prompting her to remember - but remember what? She wasn’t sure… but it gave her an uneasy feeling.
One of the wet nurses came to take her to the atrium. Not knowing what else to do, Mitzi followed her obediently and was alone only a few minutes, looking at some excellent and valuable looking oil paintings on the walls, when the same tall man joined her there. He seemed to take in her appearance with an appreciative gaze and a slight bow before speaking.
“Good morning. There is an axiom I’m thinking of - you may be familiar with it. ”A man is what he repeatedly does.”
Mitzi met his gaze evenly. ”That would be Aristotle. And I assume that you have something to do with my being here.” He answered her with a question. ”Do you remember where you came from?”
She shook her head slowly. ”No - I get - flashes of another place but I can’t seem to remember. Do I have amnesia or something?”
“No”, he answered. You can’t remember yet because you were ‘stunned’ - that is, the neurons in your brain were short circuited. I do apologize for that extreme measure, but it was necessary to get you here I’m afraid. It will wear off in a few more hours, never fear.”
“Tell me” Mitzi replied in a peeved voice, ”Do you make a habit of kidnapping people and bringing them here or am I your first?”.
“Kidnap?” The man repeated, as if contemplating the significance of the word. ”You are, of course, free to leave at any time. Although you may want to ascertain where you are first. I wonder if you’ve given that any thought.”
Mitzi answered him, ”East. Somewhere in the East. I know that much .I can sense it. And remote - I haven’t heard any planes, or helicopters or vehicle noises. Just the birds.”
Adrastos put his fingertips together and pressed them to his lips contemplatively.
“Very observant.” He then walked a few feet to a low table on which sat an ornate crystal decanter filled with a ruby liquid and accompanied by two equally ornately carved crystal glasses.
“May I offer you a refreshment?” Mitzi’s first inclination was to shake her head in refusal, but she realized that she was actually very thirsty for bl
ood, and she could smell the faint bouquet of it from across the room. Her throat burned for a taste.
“Yes”, she replied.
As the gentleman poured two glasses deftly, handing her one, he said casually, ”You are in Motuo County China, my dear, a small community in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, virtually untouched by modern civilization. A virtual Eden by any standard - beautiful, verdant with plant and animal life and geographically stunning. Have you taken in the views from the portcullis?”
Mitzi nodded in assent as she concentrated on trying not to drain her goblet of blood too quickly. She found that she was starving. The gentleman was right, it was beautiful here. Even the tops of the graceful trees bobbing in the wind were filled with a half dozen bird species that Mitzi couldn’t identify. But even with a panoramic view she was unable to identify any roads, not even a crude path. When she spoke again she was thinking out loud.
“How did I get here? There are no roads. And who ARE you?”
The man gave a slight bow with an accompanying sweep of his hand. ”I am Adrastos. My brother Patraeus and I welcome you to our abode, Faquier Hall, a castle standing only because it was carved into the mountainside. The terrain here is naturally unstable, preventing any building, no roads, and no homes - therefore we have no neighbors. Only the mountains and the sky are immovable, eternal and permanent here.”
“Oh”. Mitzi replied. Adrastos looked at her expectantly but she was distracted by a flood of images, images of another life in another location. She was beginning to remember. Suddenly she blurted out, ”Why am I here?”
Adrastos stood up straighter and smiled. ”You were invited by me.” He responded. Mitzi frowned. ”Why? I’m not a celebrity - in fact I’m sort of nobody. And I have a son. And I want to go home. If this is some sort of ‘blind date’ – well you’re going to be sorry. I don’t even talk to strangers on the internet.”
