by Tonya Nagle
"Here, Brutus." The dog looked straight into David's eyes and calmed. Hmm, mesmerization works on animals.
He came out carrying the huge dog in his arms. The archway of the front door collapsed seconds later.
"God bless you, son," said the man, as he hugged his dog like a teddy bear and sobbed.
Donovan handed the man his house key. "Listen, Ernie, David and I are going away for a couple weeks. Use my house."
The shattered man looked at him.
"Really?"
"Sure."
"Donovan, you're a great friend."
The fire trucks and ambulance arrived, and so had the sun. David hurried back across the street, and Donovan followed him.
Safely back in the house, Donovan turned to David, who slumped on the sofa still wearing his black coat.
"I thought vampires couldn’t go out in the day?"
"It's painful. We can get badly burned."
"Burned? And the fire?"
"I'm not one of those vampires who can walk through fire, but the cloud cover allowed me my powers and I am fast. That helped me find the dog and get back out before the flames reached me."
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"How did you know what to do?"
"I was a New York City firefighter for a while."
"You were?"
"I've done a lot of things. I don't need the money, but sometimes I take a job to break up the monotony of eternity."
Donovan disappeared into his bedroom. He returned with a small bag and took the map off the coffee table. "Come on. We have to go."
David frowned. "Why?"
"In another minute, the police and press will be here. The police will want to know if you know anything about the fire. The press . . . well, do you want to be on the front page of all the papers?"
David grabbed the cooler and cereal. Together they went out to the car. After David got into the front passenger seat, Donovan drove over his backyard to the next street over. They headed for the highway, as more fire trucks passed them.
"So do you often do heroic things like running into burning buildings?"
David slumped in his seat. With his gloved hand, he pulled the hood lower over his face. "No."
"Then why this time?"
"I really liked that dog."
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Chapter 11
Flames filled Laura's dream. She tossed and turned, fear in her throat. Then the flames subsided plunging her into darkness.
In her dream, she fell through the sky and landed on her back on a large, soft bed.
She couldn't see--highly unusual for a vampire. Strong, warm arms embraced her.
Someone was in the bed with her.
"Laura," he said. Something about him was so familiar. He kissed her. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and brushed against his fangs. So he was an immortal too. She inhaled his aftershave and smiled. Her fingers danced over the beginning of a beard and traced his smile. He was wearing her favorite scent. His hands caressed her breasts, and she moaned in delight. His touch felt so right. She fondled him in return, and he moaned. He chewed on her ear. Laura wanted him so much. They kissed and caressed and kissed. She surrendered to him entirely and joined with him. The act shivered through her like electricity. It felt so good, that she arched her back, and his hands reached to support her. This was better than the embrace of the storm, and she didn't want to let him go.
He was so gentle with her, that Laura knew this was far more than a sexual encounter. He loved her. She knew this without any words. Laura trembled with fire, 124
gasping for air, and when the release came, he held her there. The fire glowed through her, as he cradled her against him. She fingered the strands of his hair, which curled around her fingertips. Oh, if only she could stay with him.
"Laura, please, remember me. I love you. I gave you this ring as a symbol of my devotion." He kissed her and her fingers felt the strength in his shoulders. She reached around his back. This encouraged him to tighten their embrace.
"Don't let go of me."
"Please, remember me," he said. Suddenly the scene dissipated.
She screamed as she tried in vain to catch any threads of that moment. She had to keep him. She had to.
The dream scene dissolved and changed. Laura was running down Bourbon Street. She turned on Daulphine and went straight to the green and black house.
Banging on the door, Laura yelled for Mama Joe. After a few minutes, a young girl answered the door. "Mama Joe waits for you in her courtyard."
Laura flew over the roof of the house into the completely private courtyard nested between the two adjoining houses that comprised Mama Joe's residence. Ivy and ferns entwined with the wrought iron fence; each curve of the iron displayed an intricately portrayed face. Over time the plants and ironwork had merged to create a solid wall that protected the mambo's secret world, a world protected even from the storm.
Gargoyles peered out from between shrubs. A statue of Mary was surrounded by gardenia and shaded by a magnolia tree. Mama Joe sat in her wheelchair under an umbrella. She was spreading Tarot cards on a small table beside her but looked up when Laura approached.
"How can I help you, Vampire?"
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"You know who I am, Mama Joe." Laura took the chair opposite her. "What more do your spirit guides tell you?"
The old woman laughed. "They tell me that Laura Cordelais flies with the storm."
"Is that all?"
"They tell me that the greatest Telkhine of all time has lost that which she holds dearest."
"I don't know what you mean," Laura complained.
"Two men who love you will come, and before it's over, one will know the kiss of death."
Laura frowned. "Who are they?"
"Now that's the mystery for you to unravel." Mama Joe wasn't laughing, and Laura knew this signified the seriousness of the matter. "There is one more thing before you go."
"What's that?"
"Don't drink the blood," said the old woman as she turned over the last card.
Laura shivered, and the dream faded.
***
Car lights shimmered on the highway asphalt, as Donovan drove. "Next stop -
Miami. We should arrive with hours to spare, if we don't make too many stops." Their car sped south down Route 95.
David's attention was drawn to the sound of the surf rolling in. He remembered going with Laura to Coney Island. They sat on the sand together under the moon, she in his arms, while the surf rolled in. She told him that she needed to see her mother's tomb, and he kissed her and said he'd take her.
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The soothing sound of the surf didn't ease his worries this time. Something was wrong in that dream he had with Laura. She had changed somehow. But she accepted him eagerly and passionately. David still tasted her kiss on his mouth.
They had only gone a few miles when Donovan slammed on the brakes. A large, black alligator darted out in front of them.
"What's this?"
"Oh," sighed Donovan, "it happens down here from time to time."
David watched the gator amble across the interstate. Another gator appeared in the road. Then another followed by several more. The big reptiles paraded across the road. They hissed and bellowed. People hit their horns, but it made things worse. The large reptiles lunged at their bumpers, charging the cars instead of moving on.
"I've never seen anything like this," Donovan exclaimed. "We could be stuck here for hours."
Then they saw it. A young dark-haired woman had gotten out of her car and was videotaping the gators. One of the creatures spotted her and rushed toward her.
David leaped out the car door. She screamed and the people in the cars behind her were too terrified to intervene. They locked their doors against the menace. The gator had the poor woman cornered. It bellowed revealing a ghastly, cavernous mouth.
David grabbed the gator by the tail. It lurched in a mighty twist, bending his huge body and snapping at him, but David was
faster. He whipped the beast around, avoiding its jaws. Again the gator lunged. With one strong pull, David threw the raging animal over onto its back. Then he jumped to the woman's side. Grabbing her around the waist, he leapt straight into the air and onto the roof of a car.
The man inside complained, "Hey, you're denting my roof."
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David ignored him and whispered to the frightened woman, "Where's your car?"
"The red Taurus over there." She shivered and sobbed. The young woman sweated through her silk dress. David could smell her fear.
"Come on, sweetie. We can do this together," he said. Slowly they walked from car roof to car roof. When they ran out of cars, David floated her over to her car and quickly got her inside.
Before Donovan knew it, David was back in the car.
"We really have to get off this road."
Donovan backed up slowly on the shoulder, until he could get off the last exit.
Then they stopped in a little coffee shop and sat in a booth. From where they were sitting, they could see the lights from the tie-up on the highway caused by the alligators.
Donovan ordered a large coffee to go, and David unfolded the map.
"So do you wrestle alligators often?" Donovan joked.
David didn't mind his good-natured ribbing. Laughing he said, "No, but it was interesting to say the least. Now let's see if we can find another route."
Donovan examined the map. "Here. Route 1." Taking the coffee they headed out on the road again. They had time to make up. Rooms in Miami were already reserved and waiting for them.
"Twist and Shout" played on the radio. David smiled. Laura loved that song.
They had it on a CD at home and would dance to it. David loved dancing with Laura.
Just thinking of the times he held her close, dancing, smelling the flowers in her hair brought sorrow down on his silent heart like concrete. What if they couldn't get her back?
"What's Laura like?" asked Donovan.
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Now this David could talk about. "Laura is not anything like a vampire. She's cheerful and bright. She loves flowers; she planted geraniums and asters in boxes along the outside stairwell. One of our neighbors is watering them for her while we're away."
Donovan laughed. "You're right. She's doesn't sound very much like a vampire."
"Don't get me wrong. She can fly like a vampire, and she has the strength. Even though her appearance looks delicate, she's not really. Laura can be ferocious when necessary. But those times are few and far between."
"What else does she like?"
"Music. Laura loves music. We go to the opera whenever we can, and clubs, and Radio City Music Hall. She loves art. Actually she is currently showing in a gallery in Soho."
"Laura's an artist?"
"Yes. After becoming a vampire, she took night classes at NYU and got her bachelor's in art. Laura loves to paint flowers, but this new show is called "Night Scenes of Manhattan." Her paintings are very dramatic, filled with emotion. Some say they are filled with mystery. Laura paints views of New York that only a vampire sees. When we left, the show was going over big, with lots of sales and good reviews."
"If things were going so well there, why did you leave for New Orleans?"
David sighed. "Even in the midst of all her success, Laura's been a little depressed lately. She never got over not being able to go to her mother's funeral. One day she told me she needed to see her mother's tomb. I hoped that by visiting her mother's grave she'd find peace."
"Did she?"
"We didn't get much of a chance to discuss it."
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"What's Laura's favorite thing to do?"
David noticed how Donovan had changed the subject away from Laura's mother, but let it go. There appeared to be someone else in Laura's family with unfinished business. With an enthusiastic tone, David said, "Ice skating at Rockefeller Center. We skate there every chance we get. One night after it was closed, a security guard caught us skating and told us we had to leave. We just floated up and away. The look on his face was priceless."
"You enjoy being a vampire, don't you," observed Donovan.
"I didn't for a very long time. Then Laura changed my life. I'm a very different vampire now."
Donovan looked confused. "How different are you and Laura?"
"Well, you know we don't drink human blood, so we have no reason to hunt humans. Some would call us moral or civilized vampires. Some of our kind still drinks human blood, but the difference is they get their supply from blood banks or from donors."
"Donors?"
David was uncomfortable talking about this. "Um, donors are humans that willingly let vampires bite them."
"People really volunteer?"
"Yes. They want to be like us, part of our world. It's always a mistake. It's easy to get lost during the draining."
"You mean on the part of the donors?"
"No, well, yes, but on the vampire side of it too. The vampire can lose control.
It's very dangerous for both--the life of the human and the morality of the vampire. Of 130
course, the amoral vampires don't care about the life of the human. They lost control long ago. The hunger controls them. They appear to be like us but in reality they're brutal human hunters, sometimes tormenting their victims before they kill them. Then there are the savages. They make no pretense of humanity. They view humans as cattle to feed upon and their kills are usually quick."
A disturbing silence followed, and David, fearing he said too much added, "Laura and I are very different from other vampires."
"Yeah, I got that."
The lights of cars blurred by, as they sped on the dark road south. David ceased listening to the radio, and Donovan had exhausted his questions. The air smelled sweet like rain coming. David closed his eyes and tried to focus on a night when he walked in the rain down Broadway, hand-in-hand with Laura.
Suddenly it poured so hard, that cars were pulling over to the side of the highway.
Visibility fell to zero and Donovan steered the car into the breakdown lane and came to a stop. Time was ticking by that night, and David was never more conscious of its disadvantage. The two men sat there while the rain poured black all around them.
"Do you know anything about Laura's sister?" Donovan asked.
David closed his eyes. Why did every question have a painful answer?
"Is she a vampire too?"
"No, Evelyn Beaumont, that's her married name, lives happily in a little town in Connecticut with her husband and son. We don't have anything to do with her."
"Why?"
"After Laura's supposed suicide, she decided she had to tell her sister she was still alive, well . . . um . . . sort of. She called and her sister freaked on the phone." David 131
shook his head sadly. "I tried to convince her it was a bad idea, but she thought that if she saw Evelyn in person she could explain. We went to her house one night. When Laura knocked on the door, Evelyn opened it and threw holy water on her."
"Oh, God."
"God doesn't have much to do with it," sneered David. "Evelyn screamed at her,
'Begone, evil spirit!' Nothing happened of course. Holy water really doesn't do anything to vampires."
"Oh."
"Didn't she give Laura a chance to explain?"
"No. She kept screaming that a psychic had told her that an evil spirit would come disguised as Laura and not to let her in the house or it would kill her family."
Donovan put his head in his hand.
"Evelyn slammed the door in her face, and Laura was distraught. So on the following night she returned and knocked on the door, but no one answered." David paused. He disliked talking about the entire matter but continued to end the questions.
"Laura tied a red balloon with a note to the wooden gate in front of the house.
Apparently red balloons were Evelyn's favorite as a child. Then she went back to the hotel. I was sitting in a tree watching when her
sister came out, released the balloon into the air, and ripped up the note. When I got back to the hotel, Laura was packing.
She wanted to go home to New York. She cried for three months."
"How God awful. My poor Laura."
"Yeah," David exhaled. "When we all get out of this, if you want Evelyn's address, I'll give it to you, but please, never mention Laura to her. Let's just say it's not a good idea."
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Donovan nodded sadly.
An hour passed, and the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. David was never so grateful in his life. He didn't want to answer any more questions. Donovan pulled back out onto the highway to join the other cars headed south.
David heard the sound first. It went click-click-click. Then it grew louder. Frogs covered the highway, millions and millions of frogs. The car in front of them spun out of control.
"No," shouted Donovan, as he swerved to avoid it. Suddenly lights blazed head-on. He turned sharply, and they spun out of the way. Then a truck slid across the highway right at them. Again Donovan's quick reflexes saved them. Their car slid sideways at high speed narrowly missing another car, but it didn't stop. It slid off the edge of the road and into a ditch.
The air bag didn't deploy. Glass shattered all over David, but already the cuts were healing. He looked over at Laura's father. Donovan's eyes were closed, his face badly bruised and one arm was bleeding where the gearshift sliced it. David shivered.
He had to stop the bleeding, but he had promised not to bite him.
"Donovan?"
There was no response.
"Are you hurt? Donovan! Wake up. Laura needs you. Please, Laura needs you."
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Chapter 12
Laura's dreams cut her, tormenting her day and night. Love caressed her then fled from her grasp. She knew this not in any tangible way but by instinct. Her heart reached for familiar images, but they rushed past her, disappearing just beyond her fingers. First she was dancing with the most adorable dark haired man. Then he was gone. A blonde woman stood in a doorway, screaming, "You're not my sister. You're a monster," and a vial of liquid crashed against her face as the woman slammed the door.
