by B. N. Toler
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
“And what happens when we get there?”
“I’ll teach you about what you are and how to use your power to the best of your ability.”
“How long will that take?”
“A complete transition takes about a year, but you’ll need a lot of training, and that will depend entirely on you.”
“A year?” I ask exasperated.
We stare at each other through our sunglasses when finally Daniel crosses his arms. “Listen, kitten. I’m not going to coddle you and treat you like a little princess. I train hybrids to be fighters, to utilize their gifts. I don’t tolerate liars or quitters. If you come with me, you are making the decision to trust me to make you the best, even when you think I’m an asshole and you hate me.”
“You make it sound so tempting,” I say dryly.
“Are you coming or not?” Daniel pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his front pocket.
I bite my lip as ‘all fear-consumed Aldo’ battles with ‘revenge Aldo.’ I have lied to Daniel already when he asked about my siblings, but he won’t ever find out about it. Nothing he said sounds like fun, but it sounds like it will get me closer to what I want. The better I am, and the stronger I am, the closer I am to being able to kill vampires. “I’m in.”
Daniel lights his cigarette and nods his head towards the car door. “Get in.”
Four hours later, we’re heading west on Interstate 95 through North Carolina. Neither of us has spoken much. I’m practicing this new thing called stop talking and telling too much about yourself and four hours in, I’m nailing it. Daniel is apparently just anti-social. I finally can’t take it anymore and ask, “So what’s your story?”
He snorts. “Are we sharing details about our lives?”
“I’m just trying to make conversation.” I shrug.
“My story is that I help our kind. I bring them in, train them, and give them a place to belong. What’s your story?”
“I already told you about my aunt and my twin. That’s pretty much it.”
Daniel smirks and I can tell he thinks I’m lying. “Well, now that we know each other’s stories…” He lets his last word trail off with a sarcastic tone.
I have no idea what he’s implying. Actually, I do. He thinks I’m a liar. I am, but how would he know? Desperate to change the subject I started, I ask, “What happened to the guy that attacked me the other night?”
“I fed on him and left him in the alley,” he answers casually.
“You fed on him? Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Is that how you get your blood? You just attack humans?”
“Yes. Mostly bad ones, like ones trying to rape a half-naked girl in an alley.”
“Uh, I wasn’t half-naked and I’m a woman,” I correct him. Daniel snorts, but I ignore it. “So how often do you feed?”
“At least every other day. We can go months without feeding, but it severely weakens us.”
“To what point?”
“If you go long enough without blood you will revert back to your truest form.”
“Truest form?”
“Human.”
“That’s it?”
He snorts again. “You wouldn’t be able to heal and you could die as easily as any other human.”
“So we’re not immortal?”
“Just like a vampire, we can live forever, but if we get staked through the heart with a wooden stick, we’ll die if we haven’t had blood.”
“So what’s so great about being a hybrid if we can die?”
“Because you still have a heartbeat.” I think about this before responding. “Which means you’re undetectable. No vampire, healer or blood healer will know what you are because they’ll hear your energy and your heartbeat,” he adds before I have a chance to respond. “You’ll be in transition for about a year, which means you are more susceptible to blood starving. Your body needs blood more so in the first year than any other.”
“I don’t know that I can feed on a human.”
“You’ll know soon enough. Get some rest. You got a long night ahead of you.”
I don’t ask what he means. Instead, I watch him for a few moments before I drift off to sleep. He looks almost elegant behind the wheel; like he’s one with the car, an intrinsic being; he’s the heart, the car’s the body. Rolling my eyes, I lean my head against the window. This car is probably the only thing he’s ever been truly passionate about and it’s easy to see why. The car can’t talk back or be angry with him. It is his, and he controls it completely.
South Carolina is beautiful in the fall. Daniel lives in Myrtle Beach, just off of the strip. I slept the remainder of the ride from Virginia, boredom being my sedative, when I realized Daniel wasn’t up for conversation. He pulls into the driveway of a beach house about six blocks from the beach. The smell of sea salt is thick in the air as I emerge from the car. We enter the house through the door closest to the driveway and Daniel leads me to the second floor where he pushes open a door.
“You’ll sleep here.” He stands just outside the door and off to the side so I can enter. The room is small with a full-size bed covered in a seashell-patterned comforter. There’s a nightstand and dresser with a mirror. It’s actually a pretty nice room, but the best part about it is it has its own bathroom.
I plop my duffel bag and purse on the bed and turn back to Daniel.
“It’s not much, but it’s yours.” He shrugs.
“No, it’s great. Thank you.”
“Change clothes and come upstairs. We’ll eat and then do your initiation.” He goes to close the door, but stops and adds, “Dress somewhat warm. It gets chilly here at night.” After he closes the door, I slump down on the bed.
Initiation? Is he for real? I have no idea what I’m doing. I just voluntarily signed my life over to a stranger. To gain power, knowledge, and courage, I have to go to great lengths. One of my favorite quotes by T.S. Elliot comes to mind. Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. I guess it’s time for me to see how far I can go.
Lucy sent me to Daniel and she would have never put me in harm’s way. She hid so much from me and I know she thought she was protecting me, but it’s still disappointing. I hate that I let Thomas make me believe Lucy was some horrid kidnapper that had planned to sell us to vampires. How could I have ever believed that? Now, I must trust her. I owe that to her.
It takes me an hour to shower, slip on some skinny jeans, brown leather knee-high boots, and a white sweater, cut low that reveals my cleavage. My hair is straightened and my makeup is flawless. Staring at myself in the mirror, I love what I see. I’ve never been one to be conceited, but I look better than ever. My skin glows and my eyes are bright. Is it because I’m transitioning?
I make my way upstairs to the top floor. Several voices speak over each other, as several conversations are going on at once. The top floor is an open plan, the living room, kitchen and dining area all together in one room, the kitchen only divided by a counter. Daniel sits at the end of the table covered in newspaper with piles of crabs. Three others sit at the table with him and an older, exotic looking woman stands in front of the stove in the kitchen area. Sensing my entrance, Daniel stands and motions for the man sitting beside him to move. As soon as Daniel’s eyes fall on me, so do everyone else’s.
I feel like the new kid on the first day of school who has no friends.
“Aldo, have a seat.” Daniel pulls out the chair that was recently vacated for me before he sits down and cracks another crab shell.
I smile appreciatively and take my seat. The exotic looking woman places a plate filled with corn on the cob and potatoes in front of me and shares a friendly smile. She stands planted beside my seat and stares at Daniel who remains lost in his food.
“Daniel, I swear. You are so rude,” she scolds him in her foreign accent. She sounds Hispanic. Her black hair is pinned up in a French twist, and he
r makeup is gorgeous, her eyes done dramatically to enhance her long, dark lashes.
Daniel rolls his eyes and wipes his mouth and hands with a towel sitting next to him on the table. “Sorry, Mama. Everyone, this is Aldo. Aldo, this is everyone,” he mumbles and starts back on his food. I flash a shy smile to everyone staring at me. The woman he called ‘Mama’ pulls the dishtowel from her shoulder and pops him in the arm with it.
“Daniel, she knows no one and you act so rude.” She touches my shoulder. “Aldo,” my name rolls off of her tongue. “My name is Cassia, but they all call me Mama here. You call me Mama, too, okay?” She nods with a friendly smile.
“Okay.”
“Now, across from you is Eileen, beside you is Flynn, and this is Nick.” She moves to Nick and places her hands on his shoulders. He squeezes one of her hands in an obvious show of affection. Nick is an older man with thick white hair and a short beard. They remind me of night and day, her dark features compared to his.
I nod to everyone. “Nice to meet all of you.”
“Where ya from?” Eileen asks from across the table. Eileen looks about my age, but with bright green eyes and long jet-black hair tied back in a ponytail.
“Uh, everywhere,” I answer honestly. “We moved a lot.”
“Oh, do you have family?” Flynn asks from beside me. I glance at him and try not to let my stare stay fixed on him too long. He’s gorgeous—like make your toes curl gorgeous. Stellar blue eyes stare back at me from a face that looks like the Lord himself sculpted it with his bare hands.
“Had family,” I answer quickly dragging my eyes away.
“Now we’re your family,” Flynn says matter-of-factly, and I smile awkwardly, his words feeling a little cultish.
We continue small talk until everyone is finished with dinner. Afterwards, sitting in the living room, I continue to make small talk with four of my new roommates. Everyone is very curious about me; where I’m from; what I’m like, and it’s hard to talk about myself when I’m hiding pretty much everything. Their onslaught of innocent questions goes on for an hour, when finally, Daniel returns dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt.
“It’s time for your initiation,” he says casually.
“Which involves what, exactly?” I question.
“We’re family here, Aldo. This is you joining us, becoming one of us.”
“Okay.”
“You will drink from each of us.” Daniel stands in front of me, pulling me up from my seat on the couch, and leads me in front of the fireplace.
Drink their blood? Is he for real? “I’m not ready for that,” I say nervously.
“This is our way, kitten. I told you if you came with me, you agreed to trust me.” His gaze meets mine and I tremble as fear mixed with curiosity swirls inside of me. “Do you trust me?”
Do I? I’m not so sure, but I answer, “Yes.”
His eyes never leave mine as he takes my hand, pulling the sleeve of my sweater up. When his warm lips brush my wrist I freeze. He lingers a moment, our gazes still locked as his fangs erupt and he bites me. I shriek from the shock and the pain, but he quickly removes his fangs from my flesh and brings my wrist over a glass where my blood drips inside. Finally he takes my wound and heals it, making sure to lick the remainder of blood left on my skin. As he removes his warm wet tongue from my wrist, I see something flicker in his eyes. He wants more of my blood.
Before I can blink, Daniel pushes me to my knees. He bites his wrist and adds his blood to the glass and my body tenses as my mouth waters. Suddenly, my mouth hurts and I bite back the groan I want to let out in pain.
“Fangs, kitten. It’s part of it.”
When I look up at him my vision is blurred with tears. What am I doing here? This is crazy. He just drank my blood and I’m salivating for his.
“Look at me.” He touches my chin softly, forcing my eyes to meet his. “Do not fear this.” There’s a softness in his tone that calms me. I would have never expected he could be kind this way. Daniel holds my gaze as the glass is passed to the others, each one’s fangs protruding as they bite their own wrists and add their blood before Flynn hands it back to Daniel.
“We are a family here. We are of each other’s blood. A rarity in existence and when we are so few we must band together and protect one another. Let us not forget where our loyalties lie. Do you each agree to accept this young hybrid into our family?” Daniel stares out at the others, but my gaze remains fixed on him as he speaks. He’s mesmerizing. I see a leader of great strength, like a man ordained by some greater being for this purpose.
The others reply, “We do,” in unison.
“Will you teach her, train her, and protect her?”
“We will,” the others reply.
“Then let us share our blood to renew the commitment we have to each other and add this young hybrid to our family.”
Daniel raises the glass to the group, then turns to me and with a tone so deep it makes my stomach clench says, “Blood of my blood.” He sips from the glass and hands it to Flynn who also raises the glass and repeats his words as his eyes meet mine.
Eileen, Nick and Cassia do the same and then Cassia kneels before me. She takes my hand and wraps it around the glass.
This moment is so intense I can barely process what is happening, but with trembling hands I raise the glass and say, “Blood of my blood,” before I put the glass to my lips and drink. Everyone took small sips, leaving a larger amount for me and I gulp it down. I hate that it tastes like heaven on my tongue. When I finish, Cassia wipes the corner of my mouth with her thumb and takes the glass from me.
My mouth hangs open as my gaze moves back to Daniel. My fangs are sharp and foreign and my lips can’t close around them yet without discomfort. Silently, I wait for him to tell me what to do.
Daniel stares down at me and a soft smile plays his lips, exposing his fangs. The look in his eyes isn’t something I recognize, but it weighs heavy on me. Is it pride? I immediately jerk my eyes away and cover my mouth.
“You are beautiful,” Cassia whispers, pulling my hand away from my mouth.
“You will get used to them,” Daniel offers.
“How do I make them go back in?” I touch one of the pointed ends of my fangs with my index finger.
“Just relax. Take a deep breath,” Eileen says.
Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply. It takes a moment of concentration, but my fangs recede back into my gingiva. I run my tongue across my teeth and open my eyes.
Cassia kisses me softly on the cheek. “Welcome to the family.”
“Now we celebrate!” Eileen laughs as she plants a hard kiss on Flynn’s mouth. Eileen jumps up and grabs my hand, helping me up, before she kisses me on the cheek. “We’re sisters now.” Her green eyes hold a softness as she says the words.
I only half smile back, extremely overwhelmed by everything that is happening. Daniel could have warned me I was going to have to go through some kind of blood hazing. I definitely wasn’t prepared for that. Making a mental note, I decide to discuss that with him later.
“I know this is all a bit overwhelming, but that will fade. Soon, you will feel right at home. You’ll really feel like we are your family, not just us telling you that we are.”
“Too bad Bridge wasn’t here,” Nick adds from the sofa chair where he sits with one leg over the arm.
“She’ll meet him soon enough,” Cassia adds.
“Who’s coming tonight?” Eileen turns back to the room holding my hand as I stand in a daze, still trying to process everything.
“Not us dear.” Cassia sits in Nicks lap. “We’re tired.”
“Okay, so me, Aldo, Flynn, and Daniel. You’re coming aren’t you?” She turns to Daniel.
“I’ll meet up with you guys later. Keep an eye on her,” he warns and Eileen rolls her eyes to me where he can’t see.
“Okay, let’s go!” Eileen pulls me with her, and I chance a glance at Daniel who watches us as we exit.
“I hope you
love to dance, Aldo, because Eileen will keep you on the dance floor all night,” Flynn laughs. “Maybe I can actually sit down and enjoy a drink for once.”
I cringe at his words. I’m a horrible dancer and I’m definitely not in the mood for any kind of partying tonight. On second thought, maybe a couple of drinks wouldn’t be so bad.
The bar they take me to is busy, surprisingly, since it’s fall and there isn’t the usual summer tourist population. We sidle up to the bar and I order a shot of Jack Daniels straight up.
“You got an I.D. sugar?” The busty blonde bartender asks.
Immediately, Flynn reaches across the bar, grabbing her hand and when her gaze turns to his she freezes.
“My friend here is twenty-one. Give her whatever she wants,” Flynn says in a deep voice. He releases her hand and she steps back, blinking for a moment before she turns back to me with a smile. “You want a chaser for that sug?”
“Uh, a glass of water please,” I stutter.
“Cosmo for my girl here and I’ll take a gin and tonic,” Flynn adds.
The bartender turns and sets about making drinks while we each settle onto a barstool, me between Eileen and Flynn.
“Aldo, how do you drink that stuff?” Eileen twists her face as if she’s disgusted.
“I like the burn.” I shrug. “So, we can hypnotize people?” I ask.
“Yeah, but you shouldn’t try until Daniel teaches you. It’s not as simple as it looks and you can really fuck a person up if you’re not careful,” Flynn warns.
That wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I decide not to dwell on it. As long as I get to learn at some point. “So can I ask what your stories are?”
The bartender, places our drinks in front of us and Eileen takes a sip from hers. “That’s good.” She licks her perfect pink lips.
“Our stories.” Flynn nods as if he’s debating whether he should tell me or not.
While he broods, I throw back my shot and slam the shot glass back down. “Another,” I yell as I slide the glass down the bar.
Flynn and Eileen glance at each other.
“Flynn was twenty-two when he transitioned. He’d been with Daniel for ten years, training.”
