Twice Bitten

by Aiden James

  You might recall how my vampire companions all carry distinctive scents. Aside from Chanson’s lilac scent, there’s cinnamon for Garvan, ginger for Armando, roses for Raquel, and honeysuckle for Tyreen, the newest vampire. Yes, it can be too much sometimes. The collective odors often remind me of a flower shop combined with some kind of weird spice boutique.

  Not an easy combo for a new mom to be. Definitely not, considering the accelerated morning sickness I already endured. Hell, it was afternoon and evening sickness, too. The ‘all day’ bullshit made me worry this unpleasantness might last throughout my entire pregnancy.

  I had nothing to compare this to, since mine wasn’t a normal human conception process. Less than twenty-four hours earlier, Peter Worley and I were forced to have sex while Chanson drained my blood until I passed out. The only fertilized ovum I’ll ever produce had begun its transformation into the fetus that in six months would become my angel, Alaia.

  “You look pale, Txema,” said Armando. “I believe a bottle of Perrier will restore your color, no?”

  Before I could respond, he had already disappeared. I’ve mentioned before how much I truly hate it when they do that sort of thing—here one instant and zip away the next.

  “Really, a glass of wine would be a better choice!” I called after him, or at least to where I thought he disappeared.

  “Uh-uh-uh,” chided Raquel. She stood behind Chanson, trying to steal a peek at what our vampire princess had just typed into her MacBook. “No alcohol fun for you, sweetie, until you’ve hatched your young!”

  Well, at least this was cynical wit I could relate to.

  “Perhaps you’re right,” I said. “I guess I’ll settle for a diet Coke instead.”

  Really, if I’m forgoing alcohol, then it doesn’t matter what they serve me, unless it’s blood. Armando soon returned, but with a glass of lightly sweetened iced tea instead.

  “I believe we have much to talk about before the plane lands in the next half hour.” He chuckled sourly while studying my face. “There’s much to be aware of in light of Gustav’s most recent update.”

  He reclaimed his seat after handing me my drink, ignoring a sharp glance from Chanson. It wasn’t the first time I’ve noticed how he sometimes irritates her. Whatever discussion she’d just had with Gustav left her in no mood for Armando’s cavalier nature that night.

  “Let me handle this,” she told him coolly, before turning her attention to me. Her emerald eyes seemed more luminescent than usual. Like Garvan, her long dark brown hair hung forward, although she brushed it away from her face so she could see me clearly. They all turned to study me, and I felt the blood rush to my face. I hate being the center of attention—despite what one reviewer of my first journal posted online about me last year. “Since we all heard the report from Xuanxang, it’s only fair Txema learns the truth about what is happening in China.”

  Chanson’s voice is almost musical, except when she’s upset or worried. When that happens, her words come off fairly harsh. I doubt she’d remain in high regard among her vampire peers if this were perceived as a normal weakness. No doubt some of her vulnerability is due to her overt fondness for me, her distant cousin.

  She and I are near mirror images of each other. We’re both tall and athletic, but with enough curves to pull an admiring eye now and then from either sex. My hair is only slightly lighter than hers, and our facial features and the way we talk and smile are nearly identical. The biggest difference is in our eyes, as mine are more hazel than hers. Then again, I’m told that Chanson’s eyes were the same as mine before she became a vampire.

  “Are we still going to the Himalayas and the Palace of Xu Zheng you told me about earlier tonight?” I hoped I didn’t sound overly concerned one way or another.

  “Yes, that’s our destination…or, at least our original landing point,” said Chanson, her tone brighter. It was as if she stole a peek at my inner thoughts, and it pleased her by what she found.

  Before undergoing the sacred ‘sex and blood’ ceremony—the Relance de sang, I mentioned—my thoughts were completely open to any vampire. I believe many of my readers have experienced this unpleasant ‘thought nakedness’ with a vampire by now. But after I was brought back from the brink of death, I soon found that I’d inherited a lighter version of their telepathic abilities. Yes, it can be somewhat disconcerting…and even annoying. But I’ve only been affected when around human beings like myself, which at the moment consisted of the pilots and the flight staff aboard the jet.

  Meanwhile, my thoughts had become a cloudy mess for my vampire companions to muddle through. Instead of the verbatim translations from my head they once freely enjoyed, they suddenly had to rely more on their intuitions and intelligence to define the bits and pieces they gathered from me. It provided my only shot at some sort of privacy, since Gustav has mandated I not be left alone or unprotected at any time.

  “Our original welcome to stay there indefinitely is now limited to a few months.” Chanson paused while the others nodded in agreement. Only Tyreen abstained, since she was the lone vampire aboard the flight uninvited to either of the meetings that took place since we left France. “Ralu’s presence in the lower plateaus of the Himalayas has greatly alarmed the Chinese emperor and those vampires loyal to him.”

  “Keep in mind that Huangtian Dadi’s vampire nation is much smaller than ours, where his one-hundred and twenty-four vampires are less than a third of our European group,” added Raquel, to which Chanson raised an approving eyebrow. She motioned for her to go on. “Xuanxang advised that the other forty-three vampires residing in the Chinese domain are either undecided in their loyalties, or have already given their support to Ralu’s cause.”

  I didn’t like the way this sounded…so bleak and a touch ominous. It was as if my fate, and more importantly, the fate of my unborn child were of tenuous concern in the bigger vampire picture. My world is no longer the global community to which all of you belong. I’d already witnessed first hand on several occasions how a ripple of unpopularity in the realm of the undead can have drastic consequences for mortals such as myself. I suddenly worried about the personal danger of traveling into a land where some of my hosts might hold the same contempt for me that Ralu does—regardless of any uniqueness from my heritage and bloodline.

  At present, I assumed the world’s vampire population contained roughly eight thousand souls—the vast majority condemned to serve Ralu in his personal and ruthless army numbering at least six thousand. The European vampire nation had shrunk to just over three hundred and seventy dark souls the night before, after Ralu’s attack upon‘le chateau de douleur’, Racco’s once-glorious castle in the French Pyrenees near Perpignan. The remaining scattered ‘vampiredoms’ are part of what Armando calls the HRBDA, or the ‘Hallowed Reclusive Blood Drinkers Association’. Apparently most vampire groups are extremely shy, and avoid contact with human societies at all costs…unless they cross paths with unwary, and thus unfortunate, stragglers.

  “So, I guess what I went through last night turned out to be for nothing…Ralu is still just as aggressive as he was before the ceremony—he still intends to subdue the world! Maybe we should continue on until we find a place that’s safer,” I said, pausing to look into everyone’s faces. Frozen expressions looked back at me, some mirthful while others serious…but all intense. “Somewhere in America would probably be better.”

  “Which America are you referring to?” Garvan sounded irritated and a tad worried, as if I had any real say in where we’d end up. “It’s true that Ralu has stepped up his attacks, and either continent will soon be overrun by his mercenaries. Unless you long for an existence languishing at the very tip of either the north or south poles, you should patiently await Gustav’s direction. He has a plan to deal with this, Txema…and some of it was laid out for us this evening.”

  “Then, why not speak clearly, instead of—”

  Before I could finish my rebuke, I felt the coolness of Chanson’s index finger
upon my upper lip. Surprised, I immediately shut up.

  “I think it’s best if we get settled in our new accommodations first, and then we can continue this discussion in a more meaningful way.” She cast another sharp glance, this time at Garvan. Armando snickered while looking on. For the moment, she ignored him, focused instead on the rest of her message to me. “The plan will make much more sense from within the environment where it will be carried out.”

  I politely nodded, both out of respect for my cousin—my strongest vampire ally—as well as the simple truth behind her words. She was right, there wasn’t a damned thing that could be done about our destination at this point. We would reach the Palace of Xu Zheng before long. Aside from having to refuel the jet to get us across either the Pacific or Atlantic, we’d need to secure a place free from vampire attacks—not to mention the far-reaching telepathy of Ralu Izcacus.

  “I’m hungry,” said Tyreen, after an awkward silence followed Chanson’s advisement to me. “My stomach’s churning again!”

  “You sound like a baby in need of milk and a good slap on the back, no?” teased Armando, which drew chuckles from everyone but Chanson, me, and Tyreen.

  “How easy it is to forget what it’s like to be a new vampire!” Chanson lingered the longest on Armando, since his chuckle sounded the most amused. “We could place her under your personal care…perhaps permanently. How does that sound?”

  That got him. His haughty smile was replaced by a sullen scowl and a pleading look in his eyes. I worried Tyreen’s feelings might be hurt by his reaction. But her expression told me that she missed seeing it, perhaps focused on Raquel’s enraptured look instead. No doubt, our diminutive imp looked forward to an opportunity to school the newbie vampire on how to procure lasting nourishment.

  “I guess I could round up some ‘RH negative’ from the kitchen compartment.” Garvan seemed anxious to escape the sudden tenseness between Chanson and Armando. “I’ll be right back!”

  “No, stay right where you are!” Chanson blocked him with her leg from leaving the aisle. “Tyreen needs to feed on the real thing for the first few days, remember? She can borrow from one of the flight attendants.”

  Despite her nubile fangs and glowing green eyes, I couldn’t picture Tyreen feeding on anything, whether a jackrabbit, rat, or any other small creature—much less another human being. I still pictured my dear friend as when she was my sweet and vivacious college roommate in Tennessee. Tyreen couldn’t hurt a fly. She’d always wait for Johnny Ayers, her boyfriend, or me to come to her rescue whenever she found a bug bigger than her pinky nail. This was literally the way things were just two weeks earlier.

  “Are you sure it’s okay?” A hopeful look began to spread across Tyreen’s face.

  As soon as Chanson confirmed it with a nod, Tyreen suddenly disappeared. Only a slight visible blur announced her movement to the rear of our seating area. A shrill scream soon erupted from the hallway beyond, where a stewardess was making final preparations for our arrival in China.

  I whispered a quiet prayer for the stewardess’s safety and turned my attention toward the dim images below. At least the fading moonlight was available for a few more minutes—long enough for me to define the enormous sprawling palace complex spread out across three hills below us. Then the plane began its final descent.

  Chapter 2

  We touched down on a narrow landing strip that nearly took us up to Xu Zheng’s grand entrance. By then, Chanson had organized us all to move quickly inside the palace, as a further precaution against the ever-encroaching threat of Ralu’s minions.

  Moving through the ancient granite gates, I’d never personally witnessed such glorious grandeur before in my life. I felt incredibly humbled to be there. The Palace of Xu Zheng gleamed inside a spectacular golden halo illuminated by rows of torches along its towering height. A menacing jade dragon adorned the apex of this main structure to the sprawling complex I first saw from my window seat. It loomed well over a hundred feet above a sheer precipice jutting out from the side of a snow-covered mountain.

  The rest of the buildings were spread out upon two other hillsides, although none presented the precarious challenge of being scaled by Ralu’s vicious army as the main structure did. I remember the strange sensation of feeling so vulnerable in a jet airplane with no room for error in negotiating the icy landing strip, and yet at the same time absolutely protected from all harm by my undead companions. Only when we exited the plane did that confident feeling wane to uneasiness, until Chanson and Garvan ushered me inside the palace.

  “After we are briefed by Xuanxang, I’ll have Huangtian Dadi’s servants accompany you and Garvan to your bed chamber,” said Chanson, once we were inside the building’s foyer.

  Two young children closed the doors behind us. It was hard to tell if they were little boys or girls. Dressed in purple and orange ornamental robes and slippers, they wore their jet-black hair in braided ponytails that hung down to the middle of their backs. They weren’t the only aspects of a bygone era to greet us. Our surroundings were illuminated by smaller torches along the walls and columns and throughout a long corridor that stretched before us. The place felt cold, despite a blazing fire burning in a huge fireplace located in what looked like a reception area just beyond the foyer.

  “Not to sound like a brat, but I hope my bedchamber is a hell of a lot warmer than where we’re at now,” I told her, seeing light mist from my breaths while looking around to get a fuller impression of what the immediate area was like. I mean, don’t get me wrong…chilly or not, the craftsmanship that went into building the palace was exquisite. I just wished the light jacket handed to me by Armando as we exited the plane was warmer.

  Detailed Asian tapestries hung upon many of the polished granite walls with pink marble inlays. The floor appeared to be made up of gray marble blocks with borders etched in gold, and the cornices for each pillar lining the corridor appeared to be solid gold, as well. It reminded me in ways of the Roman/Greco architecture of the late eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century in Europe and America, and yet at the same time carried a strong influence of the ancient oriental traditions.

  “Is it just us or will Gustav, Racco, and his team of servants be joining us, as well?”

  For the most part, the main floor of the palace seemed deserted. Chanson shot me a look that said I was acting impatient. But, since so far it was just the five of us—without any of the other vampires who flew from France to China accounted for—I believed some immediate clarity was only fair.

  “They will all be joining us, some sooner than others,” she said, and headed down the corridor toward the fireplace without waiting for my reply.

  Several more children appeared in the corridor, and these seemed a little older than the ones assigned to handle the main entrance traffic. They were dressed in similar robes and slippers. One of them, an older adolescent whom I could tell was a guy, wore a golden crown adorned with Chinese symbols in jade.

  “Come…I believe Xuanxang is ready to meet with us,” whispered Armando into my right ear. He placed his left arm inside my right one while Garvan flanked me similarly on my left side. “It’s been centuries since our last meeting, so this should be fun!”

  Fun? I wasn’t so sure this would be an enjoyable experience in any fashion. Unless the Chinese vampires always regarded others with the sullen look I saw upon the face of the decorated teenager who had moved next to the fireplace. Sullen but quite handsome, he awaited our arrival. As we approached, he smiled at us all politely.

  “It has been a long time, Chanson.”

  His voice was rich and mellow, and it defied his stern countenance.

  He stood several inches above Chanson and I—the tallest members in our group. The ornate crown he wore further enhanced his height. He sort of reminded me of the palace’s golden façade outside, as he was entirely dressed in gold. His textured silk changshen robe bore a light green disc in the center, which I later learned represented the moon.

/>   But that wasn’t what set him apart from everyone else in attendance. Nor was it the strong muscular body I glimpsed through the gaps in his raiment. Sleek and chiseled facial features, not unlike Armando and Garvan, would certainly cause a stir in most women. But the thing that captured my fascination were his eyes. They were turquoise in color, and seemed even more luminescent than the vampire quintet that accompanied me from France.

  Not that I felt attracted sexually, per se…at least not that night. It was more curiosity about what lurked behind those eyes.

  “The last time was when Gustav and I traveled to Hong Kong, back in 1917,” said Chanson, smiling shyly, as if she too were caught in the magical grip of his gaze.

  “Ha! I remember how neither of you wanted to be caught up in the carnage of the first European war!” He laughed, revealing a mouth full of perfect teeth and a gleaming pair of fangs. “Yet, was it not worse when France later fell to the Third Reich?”

  “No worse than living under Chairman Mao,” she quipped in response.

  He chuckled warmly, conceding their harmless joust of words with a nod.

  “So, tell me…who have you brought with you?” He turned to study me. “I am acquainted with Armando and Garvan, and I have seen the little one before in your entourage.”

  “Do you mean Raquel?” Chanson, motioned to her while smiling at me and at Tyreen, who had just caught up with the rest of us from the corridor. We surrounded him in an arc, while two of the servant youths brought chairs from around the room for us to sit in. “Xuanxang, allow me to officially introduce you to Raquel Meurtrier, Tyreen Davenport, and last but not least, my cousin…the now infamous Txema Ybarra.”