by Tonya Nagle
Spinning around, she came face-to-face with sad, large eyes staring at her. She remembered those eyes. They reached into her heart and held her safe. The long, furry black ears hung on either side of the Telkhine's brown dog-like face. He pulled her rapidly upward and thrust her head above the waves.
Laura coughed, sputtered, and vomited salt water and blood, her blonde hair plastered against her face like a web. She gagged. The Telkhine brushed her hair away and held her head above water. Her lungs filled with air. She shivered violently but was cradled in his strong arms covered with seal-like fur. When her vision cleared, she saw many more Telkhines swimming protectively nearby. Beyond them sharks circled.
Sister, they spoke, you will not die beneath the waves. To what land shall we take you?
Her brain refused to answer, and she drifted in and out of consciousness. Pain twisted through her body with every gasp of air, but strong arms defended her from death. Time passed. The sky was still gray and stormy, when Laura came to. The Telkhines swam around and beside her. Sister, they called. Stay with us, Sister. To what land shall we take you? Laura did not understand at first how to respond, but her kinsmen were patient with her.
302
Can you take me to David? To the land of the Keres? Her mind couldn't focus.
All she knew was she needed to save him.
Sister, we don't know where that is?
Laura struggled to concentrate, as she spit out more water. These Telkhines were not from the land of the Keres. Then she remembered when she was small and on a boat with her mother. She had gazed into the water and saw the Telkhines playing. She wanted to play too and leaned over so far that she fell overboard. They lifted her back out of the water into her mother's waiting arms. Laura remembered giggling, because they tickled. Her mother knew them. Laura distinctly remembered her mother bowing, before the Telkhines sank into the depths once more.
When she thought it out, Laura asked them to take her to where the great river meets the gulf, the city of New Orleans. The Telkhines carried her gently on their shoulders, as they swam through the rough water. Her arms trailed limply by her side.
She coughed up more blood. Shark fins dove and reappeared, but they dared not approach the Telkhines, water demons in their own right. The water seemed never to end in Laura's exhausted mind. Her arm burned and every part of her exploded with agony. A ghastly, warm smell of death blew over her, and she shivered. Tender, webbed hands held her like a beloved child. Pain ripped through her.
Laura wept, when she realized how close she'd come to dying. If she had died, David would be forever lost in that dark world. Living was her only hope, his only hope, no matter how much it hurt.
The rain lessened the closer they came to the city, its harbor a tangle of debris and sunken boats and barges. One barge had been pushed on top of another. Here the 303
Telkhines gently lay her. She gazed into their faces, as they said goodbye. Then unconsciousness claimed her.
Laura didn't wake again until a large, black man wearing a denim shirt shook her.
"Are you Laura Cordelais?"
She looked up at him blinking, not sure he was really there. "Yes, I am."
"Let me help you, Miss. Mama Joe's been looking everywhere for you." He helped Laura into his dinghy and rowed away. She curled into a shivering ball, leaning over the side of the boat to vomit. He was a big man in shirt and jeans. No shoes. He must have lost his shoes too.
It was strange to row through the streets. Some streets sloshed with pockets of water. Some were rivers onto themselves, while others were perfectly dry. Debris and a dead body floated by. The man averted his eyes and rowed faster. Laura couldn't stop staring at the bloated form that didn't seem human anymore. Flies buzzed around it.
The French Quarter was an island. The water approaching it became progressively shallow. Her rescuer jumped out and dragged the boat up to a dry place on the steps of a nearby house. Laura tried to climb out but collapsed.
"No, Miss. Don't do that." He lifted her into his arms like a baby and carried her through the French Quarter. When they reached Mama Joe's house, the man spoke into the intercom. "I got Laura Cordelais."
The door flew open.
"Come in. Come in." The pink ribbons in Bernice's hair matched her pink dress.
"Quickly bring her this way." She led him to the daybed in the pink parlor. He deposited Laura gently and with reverence. Every part of her very human body ached.
304
Tears streamed down her face. Eunice went to get her something to drink, while Bernice covered her with a blanket. Laura couldn't stop shivering.
When Mama Joe wheeled into the room, the man bowed. "I found her on a washed-up barge."
"You're a brave man."
"You said there would be a reward."
"Yes, I did. What would you like, friend?"
"Only your blessing on me and my family."
Mama Joe laughed. "You shall have that and more. Come with me." The man followed Mama Joe into another room.
When Donovan entered the room, Laura reached out to her father. He rushed over and hugged her. She cried softly against him. "Papa, I have to save David. I have to."
Donovan cradled her in his arms and rocked back and forth. "Quiet now, my little one. We will save him, you'll see. Now close your eyes and rest." She couldn't stop crying.
When Laura's rescuer returned, he carried six meat pies and shoved them into a cloth bag. Before opening the door, he put the bag under his shirt. He smiled then rushed out the door. Bernice made sure the door locked behind him.
Laura's vision blurred and the events that happened around her took on a surreal quality. She couldn’t decide what was real and what wasn't, finally deciding it didn't matter. Nothing hurt anymore. She liked being hugged and closed her eyes.
"Mama Joe, she's unconscious," said Donovan.
305
"Let me have a look at the child." She rolled her chair over to the daybed and put her hand on Laura's face. "Not entirely. She's awake. She just can't answer right now."
The mambo moved her hand to Laura's head. "Well now, that's the problem see. The child's got a fever. Denise, get cold cloths, as cold as you can make them." Then she examined Laura further and found the long gash on her arm. "Bernice, get the penicillin out of my cabinet. Eunice, get my sewing kit. She'll need stitches."
Donovan looked away, as Mama Joe sewed up Laura's arm. Through half-closed eyelids, Laura watched. It was a weird feeling. Bernice brought bandages and when the mambo was ready, she helped in the wrapping. Laura drifted in and out of consciousness and called for David. Mama Joe crushed the penicillin into powder.
After mixing it with water, Mama Joe trickled it down Laura's throat. She coughed, then calmed right down. The process started again until they got the antibiotic into her system. Denise kept putting cold compresses on her head. From time to time, Mama Joe dripped blood into Laura's mouth from a goblet, only small amounts at a time but consistently.
When Laura opened her eyes again, she found her father dozing in the chair by the daybed.
"Papa?"
He embraced her and wept. "I was so worried. Mama Joe sent everyone out looking for you. How did you get away?"
Mama Joe came into the room with the girls. "So, Child, tell us how you escaped from the Kere?"
Laura grinned and snapped her fingers. An electric arc danced across her fingers.
With that she recounted her adventure.
306
Chapter 28
When Laura recovered and could think of it, she asked her father for her black coat. He went to get it.
"Are you leaving us, Child?" asked Mama Joe.
"No. I just wanted to show you something Mar ... a friend gave me before the unwinding ceremony."
"This friend being a vampire?"
"Yes."
"You know it's unsafe for you to be among them now," stated the mambo.
"I know that I am lost between two worlds ha
ving the hunger and no power to protect myself."
"But you can." Eunice laughed. She mimicked Laura by snapping her fingers.
All the girls did.
Laura smiled. "You're right. The lightning dances in me." She rubbed her fingers, and they glowed.
When Donovan handed her the coat, she took the scroll from her pocket and handed it to Mama Joe. Then Laura put the coat over her shoulders.
Mama Joe frowned. "Are you cold?"
307
"A little."
"People are dying of the heat, and you are cold. This isn't good." She whispered to one of the girls. A moment later, Bernice returned and gave Laura a cup.
Laura could smell the blood. She was so eager and grateful that she drained the cup of its last drop. Then she asked the girl for more and finished that cup too.
"Are you feeling better now?" asked Mama Joe.
"Yes, thank you."
The mambo unrolled the paper and read it. She turned it over and read it again.
Worry lines appeared on her face. "This ritual is incomplete. The end is missing."
"You're joking." Laura was distraught. "Maybe he translated it wrong. I'll just have to go see him." She got up to leave.
"No, Laura. You can't go there. You're not a vampire anymore."
"I have to do something. Can't we just do the ritual? Maybe we'll figure out the end as we go along."
"That's not how rituals work. But I can look through my books, and see if there's anything I can do. Any ritual we do will need something personal of David's."
"That's no problem." Laura reached into the pocket of her coat. Her face went pale. "Oh, no." She searched every pocket. The button was gone.
Laura rushed out of the house into the street.
Her father ran after her. "What are you looking for?"
"A small, white shirt button." She studied the ground beneath her feet.
"Laura, that's going to be impossible to find," her father protested.
"I have to find it. It's all I have of David's. He gave it to me right before we were brought to Adam. Where did we first appear in this world?"
308
"Royale Street." Donovan led the way to the spot where he had appeared in the rain, before he carried his daughter to Mama's Joe's house. They began their search there. Backbreaking hours on their hands and knees went by without success. It was getting later, and the sun had begun its descent.
Laura crawled through the mud and debris, examining anything that looked white. Donovan crawled in the area behind her. When she bumped heads, she was amazed to look up and see Zak, who was also on this hands and knees.
"Oh, my God, Zak." She hugged him. "You escaped! Is David with you?"
"No. The last time I saw him, he was with you."
Laura's face fell. Her body slumped in the mud.
"No time for that," Zak enthused. "What are we looking for? I can help."
"We're looking for a small white button. The kind that comes off a dress shirt."
Now all three crawled in the dimming light. The sun was just above the horizon when her father urged that they return to the safety of Mama Joe's house.
"We'll try again tomorrow," he promised. "It's getting too dark to continue."
Laura knew that it wasn't safe to be alone on the streets after nightfall. She sat in the mud and gloom of the afflicted city, blaming herself for everything.
Their life in Manhattan had been wonderful now that she looked back at it. Why had she complained? She hadn't forgiven herself for not being able to go to her mother's funeral. David brought her to New Orleans hoping that if she visited her mother's tomb she'd find some peace. In the process, she lost him.
She looked up at her father with tear-filled eyes. "I can't leave David in the dark.
I have to find it. I have to get him back." She wrung her hands. "You don't understand.
309
David's done everything for me. All I had to do was hold onto one little button, and I blew it." Tears streamed down her face. Zak patted her on the shoulder.
Donovan helped her to her feet. "We have to go now! We have to."
They had only gone a few steps when Zak shouted, "Stop."
"What wrong?" asked Donovan.
"Lift your right foot, please."
They looked down and sure enough Donovan had been stepping on the button.
He bent down, retrieved it, and placed it in the palm of Laura's hand. She closed her hand in a fist, and a smile beamed across her face.
"Thank you." She hugged Zak and then her father.
They rushed now through the darkening streets. Without electricity, the city took on a tomblike glow. Laura thought she saw shadows moving between the buildings.
Her heart pounded in her chest. She was heartsick over letting David down and now putting her father and Zak at risk. Vampires watched them. She felt their eyes on them.
The moon peeked through the clouds casting a meager light. Her human eyes caused her to trip, not seeing debris in the way. Solitary stars winked at them, as they reached Mama Joe's door.
"Zak, why don't you come in? I know Mama Joe won't mind one more especially since you helped us."
Zak smiled. "Laura Cordelais, you are the warmest and most endearing person I know." Then he paused. "For a vampire that is."
"But I'm not a vampire anymore."
"Oh," he chuckled, "but you are. Deep down in your heart, you're just a little blood sucker."
310
Laura and Donovan laughed.
Zak continued, "There are people waiting for me, so I must be on my way."
"They have a place here?"
"I have friends everywhere." He grinned.
Before Laura could ask any more questions, and she had a great many like how did he escape the Keres, and how did he enter this world, and . . . wait a minute, what's the end of the ritual, he was gone. He faded into the night like a dream.
Laura looked around puzzled.
Donovan pressed the intercom button, and they were admitted.
After supper Mama Joe went with Donovan and Laura into her formal, blue parlor to further discuss the ritual. She brought the paper and two antique books.
Spreading them out on a table in front of her, she began.
"No one has performed this ritual for hundreds of years. I don't know if it will work. Part of it is shadow magic from the pagan Europeans. But the other part is...well, I've never seen anything like it. It was probably originally Egyptian, which was translated into Greek, and then French, and finally into English. We don't know what was lost. Translations are not always accurate."
"But we can still do it, right?" asked Laura.
Mama Joe sighed. "There's risk whenever you alter a ritual. We are all in danger doing this. We could open the door and unleash the blood-thirst of the Keres on our world. We also don't know if David still exists. They could have destroyed him. When you summon him, you must challenge his identity. They could send someone else disguised in his form to deceive you. He must say exactly this: ‘I am David Hilliard.' An imposter won't be able to do that. I don't know why that works, but those that travel out 311
of body swear by it. Then there's also . . ." Mama Joe stopped here, as if not wanting to continue. "We must consider the possibility that David's been changed and does not wish to come back. If he completely surrendered to the Keres, he may try to destroy us."
Laura fought back tears. "I know he's still the David I love, and he's waiting. The vampires have been dreaming of David in torment. He's waiting for me to free him."
Grave concern etched Mama Joe's face. "Child, you cannot let your emotions sway you during the ritual. If you find that David is lost, you must let him go. Never step into the dark. The door could close behind you and trap you forever on the other side. Laura, do you understand?"
Laura opened her hand and looked at the small, white button. Zak's words echoed in her mind: It's the small things that keep us together. There are three do
ors.
"Yes, I understand. Please, tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
It was nearly eleven when the three packed up the necessary items and headed for the cemetery. Mama Joe put a black robe over her silver dress. She put a long silver chain over her head. Dangling from it was a key.
Laura asked, "What's that?"
"Years ago, the Cordelais family made me their crypt keeper."
Laura put on her black coat. Donovan lifted the black bag to his shoulder and carefully wheeled Mama Joe out the door into the street. It would only be the three of them tonight. Slowly, they headed for St. Louis #1 Cemetery. The streets were empty, even though the brunt of the second hurricane had missed them.
Only a few yards away from the cemetery's entrance, Laura saw a number of dark figures.
312
"Quickly," she whispered. Donovan pushed the mambo's chair faster. As they reached the entrance, Mama Joe, in a surprise move, spun her chair around to face the vampires. Laura and Donovan stood by her side.
"What do you want, Children?"
Eight vampires froze in their tracks. Laura saw fear in their eyes, when they looked at the mambo. One vampire stepped forward reluctantly. "We have no quarrel with you, Old One. We've come for Laura Cordelais."
"Well, you call me Old One again, and you'll get a quarrel."
The vampires moved back. They feared her voodoo.
"As for Laura, she's mine tonight. Dark magic will happen in this place in the next few minutes. You have been warned!" She raised both her hands, and the vampires scattered like leaves in the wind.
Laura sighed. "Already, it's started."
Mama Joe took her hand. "Now, Child, don't think about them. You have more serious matters ahead of you."
