by P. Mattern
Brick shook his head , a regretful look on his face along with a hint of wistfulness.”I wish I could say yes, Cass-but I’m just not a ‘9 to 5’-er. A regular gig wouldn’t suit …but I’ll be here to troubleshoot any time you need me. And that’s a fact.”
Cass nodded.”Be true to yourself, man .We all have to be.” Cass slipped an arm around Mitzi to give her a hug. “And I wanted to properly introduce you both to my new wife, Mitzi…the love of my immortal life .I caught her in a weak moment and she agreed to marry me-I’ve been walking on air ever since-even when I’m NOT hovering!”
To Mitzi’s surprise Brick asked,”May I hug the bride?” and at her nod gave her a resounding embrace.
“She’s really good people,” Brick said to Cass, after releasing her.”Very pure aura. Particularly for a tribite.” He said, nodding in a satisfied manner as he spoke.
“Thanks for the confirmation.” Cass replied. As the other members of the group, Charley, Merilee and Buttercup and Mitzi herself appeared to be perplexed he explained further.”Brick is an aura reader-he has an innate talent for assessing where individuals fall on the Light-Dark continuum. And Mick is a healer…that’s why she can only have brief contact with vamps. We tend to steal energy from her without meaning to…it’s just something that happens.”
“I might also add, for the benefit of the curious,” Brick interjected, his black eyes twinkling as he looked around the group, ”That Mick and I aren’t vamps-we’re Fay-half human and half fairy actually.” He looked specifically at Charley,”I know you were wondering about us.”
Mitzi’s eyes were large in her face.
“I always thought fairies were tiny. Like Hummingbirds.” She said in a muted voice.
Mick laughed and replied, ”Well that’s what centuries of bad press will do for you-we realize that that IS the popular conception. And I have wings but Brick doesn’t, before you ask. And if you have any questions about out reproductive lives-well it’s strictly none of anyone’s business!”
Her pronouncement made several members of the group chuckle. The curiosity concerning how other creature phylums reproduced was universal and axiomatic.
Cass raised a placating hand. “We would never be so rude. “he said, and then he made a sound in the back of his throat that sounded like a cross between a humming and a human version of warbling.
This was quickly answered in kind by Micaiella and Brick as they echoed Cass’s strange warbling and humming noise, and all three bowed slightly and reverently in deference to eachother.
The rest of the tour was rushed due to Charley and Merilee’s schedule. Cass gave them whirlwind tour of the flora species contained in the greenhouse that included glow in the dark mushrooms(panellus stipticus) that produced light on their own, a rat eating pitcher plant(Nepenthes Attenboroughii) shaped like an art deco pitcher with a beautiful heart shaped opening in variegated line of color from purple to vermillion to orange,and a Dancing Plant(Desmodium Gyrans) that actually moved its young leaves slowly to music. The group hurried through rows of moon orchids and also a huge Rafflesia Arnoldii plant that ,with its red and white dappled coloring looked like it should belong either in a Martian landscape or underseas. The tour ended with Cass tossing the keys to his car to Charley and Charley and Merilee laughingly running off in their Chuck Taylors to make it to their classes on time.
Buttercup was returned to her comfortable quarters to take a nap. And , thinking of how he’d like to spend the afternoon ,particularly since he was still on his honeymoon ,Cass began humming a song by Green Day entitled “Fuck Time” under his breath as he walked Mitzi back down the hallway to their room.
A thousand miles away, Lord Earl Adrastos, a vampire whose heart was seemingly covered by a layer of permafrost and First Seer Maung were having a meeting to decide once and for all the fate of one Parmitsvia Elaine Rabbit.
Adrastos was emphatic.
“I’m not sure that Parmitsvia should be allowed to give birth to my heir outside of Castle Faquier”, he said. “She should be present-here- for the birth.”
Maung bowed reverently and deeply.
“That occurance might bring on the unfortunate attendant problems of warfare with members of the V-net. She is , after all, the mother. And I have foreseen an additional complication that may factor into your decision making on the matter.”
“Well, high time you mentioned it to me,” Adrastos said in a sourly peevish voice. ”Exactly WHAT additional complication?”
Maung sighed deeply and audibly. This was the moment of shared revelation that he’s been dreading for weeks.
“She holds,” he said,”TWO offspring in the matrix. They are fraternal twins-both males. You are, of course the sire of the first conceived. The sire of the second to be conceived is-“
Before Maung had completed his sentence Adrastos had bellowed and forcefully flung a crystal goblet half filled with blood halfway across the immense room so forcefully that it shattered into a thousand sparkling shards against the immense mantle of the stone fireplace.
“DON’T YOU DARE TO SAY HIS NAME IN MY HOUSE!” Adrastos roared, his face mottled with the peculiar violet and vermillion colors of vengeful rage. With vampire quickness he flew over to Maung and with strong fingers captured the smaller man’s throat in a vicelike grip.
“So she couldn’t wait to be defiled by that common trash…so much so that she not only opened her legs and her sex to him but also her womb-making MY HEIR spend his months of Becoming rubbing up against a usurper-a commoner-
A BASTARD!”
Maung, frozen in place and fearing for his life, was greatly relieved when Adrastos finally released his grip after many tense seconds, allowing Maung’s small feet to again make contact with the stone floor. Grateful for air , Maung began to draw shaky and shallow breaths as Adrastos paced back and forth, his fingers rubbing the short, well manicured beard on his chin in contemplation.
After a few silent minutes he came back toward Maung so suddenly that the First Seer feared for his immortal life. But Adrasto’s tone had changed to one of eagerness.
“Maung.” He said, ”You will know when the birth is imminent ,when the bitch is ready to whelp-is that correct?”
“Yes my liege.” Maung confirmed. ”We will know at the exact moment the birth commences.”
“Well then,” Adrastos commented in a more pacified tone, ”That is when we will make our move, reclaim what is ours-and not before.”
Lux , his perfect features clearly distressed, focused his gaze on his lover Pierre, who had jumped up out of the bed that they shared and was pressed against the opposite wall of their bedroom, his eyes wild with incredulity and fear. It seemed impossible that a scant minute earlier he had been pressed up against Lux, abandoning his body to the intimate probing of Lux’s expertly wielded tongue and full, searching lips as Lux whispered endearments and ran his tongue down the side of Pierres face, to the hollow of Pierre’s throat.
In that moment of passion, Lux had abandoned every iota of restraint, and at that precise moment Pierre had looked up at his lover, seeing something he would never forget.
Fangs. In full extrusion.
Although Lux immediately realized his gaffe, one that he had been so very careful not to make until that unfortunate moment, despite the couple’s many hours of passion, the damage had been done, and Pierre, his eyes full of fear, trying to incorporate himself into the drywall ,was completely freaked out.
“Pierre!” Lux pleaded, realizing his fangs were no longer extruded,”I can explain!”
Pierre’s eyes were huge. He pressed himself even flatter to the wall opposite Lux.
“What ARE YOU?” Pierre finally forced out, his entire mouth seeming to tremble with the effort of speaking. ”What was THAT Lux?”.
Lux answered quickly and as calmly as he could, although his heart was beating out of his chest. ”It was what it looked like Pierre. I’m a vampire.”
Lux’s mind went back to the not so distant mem
ory of Fress’s disclosure to Mitzi last fall that she and Cass and Lux were vampires. If anything, Pierre seemed to be taking the revelation much worse than even Mitzi had. Lux found that a bit disappointing.
“Look Pierre, mon amour,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’m sorry for you to find out the way you did-that was MY fault entirely. But at this point you’re going to have to man up…or-“
“Or WHAT?” Pierre said, coming back to himself and sounding obnoxiously argumentative.”Or WHAT?” he repeated” You’ll fang me and suck out all my blood?”
“Only by request”, Lux retorted, his eyes narrowing,not appreciating Pierre’s denigrating tone. ”And you should be so lucky I might add.”
Pierre laughed, but it was a dry, mirthless sound.
“My father once tried to tell me that THINGS like you existed…I didn’t believe him. He tried to tell me again on the night he died, but I thought he was delusional. So after being celibate for two years I finally am attracted to someone-and he’s a vampire….perfect.”
“You called me a “thing.”” Lux said. He was trying to sound flippant but there was a layer of hurt to his voice, as if Pierre’s pronouncement had actually affected him.”Well you slept with this ’thing’ and had intimate relations with this ‘thing’ and not only didn’t I hear any complaints, but I recall you begging for more!”
A flush began to creep up Pierre’s neck-Lux couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment. Maybe both. And Pierre had peeled himself off the opposite wall and was standing far enough in front of it to cast a shadow.
A look of belated recognition reflected in Pierre’s eyes.
“And your family-the ones you introduced me to-Cass, Mitzi, Charley, Fress and the others?
They’re-“
“Vampires also, yes. And you might remember that we had you TO dinner, not FOR dinner.”
Pierre’s face fell and his next sentence came out forced and muffled ,as if he were fighting his emotions.
“Lux…I don’t think I can do this. I LOVED YOU. But I loved you as a human-I don’t think you get that part. It can never be the same. Never. You are not the man I thought you were…in fact you’re not a ‘man’ at all. You’re a creature. Or insanely delusional.
Not who I thought I fell in love with, anyway. I don’t care for your’bait and switch’ tactics. I’m a very pragmatic guy.
Whoever you are ,WHATever you are, it’s over. Now please get out of my apartment. You can keep your key for now, just leave it when you come back to get your things. I mean it man.”
Lux couldn’t speak for the huge lump that had formed in his throat where a voicebox should be. He could feel tears stinging the backs of his eyes while he wordlessly pulled on his jeans and his long sleeved pullover shirt and shoved his feet into his boots. He was glad that his hair was hanging over his face, which was burning with either keen disappointment or shame. Pierre’s dismissal was tantamount to a declaration that Lux was somehow not good enough to be his lover. And it stung.
Clothing and jacket on, Lux headed silently to the door ,leaving it hanging open as he exited. As much as he wanted to, he was unable to force himself to look Pierre in the face one last time. And as much as he wanted to weep, he refused to do so in front of Pierre, who had made him feel ashamed of being a Vampire for the first time in the two centuries since he’d been Turned.
As he drove to Fress’s cottage he wanted to curse, but there just weren’t any curse words strong enough to obliterate the sting he felt from Pierre’s words.
To his relief, Fress was home, and he immediately fell into the small woman’s arms, weeping like an injured child would to his older sister, relieved that there were no other witnesses to his meltdown. After his initial, pent up outburst had subsided, Fress eventually got him to go over to one of the couches, holding his head in her lap and making soothing sounds and stroking his blonde hair as he dampened tissue after tissue. It was nice that she immediately discerned that he and Pierre had broken up, nice that he didn’t have to explain. He wasn’t used to such immense sadness, and inwardly cursed the day he’d agreed to have a drink after work with Pierre. Lux felt that he had opened his heart in a way he hadn’t thought possible, even surmounting gender barriers to engage in his relationship with Pierre, and in his heart that made Pierre’s rejection feel even more devastating. Apparently attempting a relationship with a full on human entailed the risk of unfathomably painful emotional hazards.
And then there was a sense of guilt. Out of happiness and laziness he had to admit to himself that he’d let the affair go on much too long before revealing what he was. In retrospect he should have ‘fessed up’ at some point after the first time they’d slept together. Lux had to ask himself why he hadn’t-and came to the conclusion that he’d been leading a double life in his mind during the past few months,pretending that he was a human when he was with Pierre and assuming his proud vampire male energy persona the rest of the time.
At the bottom of it all there was a mare’s nest of emotional hurt that he realized would take some time to heal.
It was going to be a long road to recovery-and because Lux was a sunny, carefree soul and not a delayed gratification person, that personality trait would make getting over this ruined relationship even more difficult.
For the first time since the difficult transitional days in the 1800’s he felt completely lost.
Some distance away, another vampire was coming to terms with his own keen disappointments in the love arena. Daniel sat glumly looking at the 3 carat diamond ring glittering fiercely at him from out of its heart shaped pink velvet box. He had planned to pull it out of his pocket the previous night after Cass and Mitzi’s impromptu wedding, and propose to Fress on the spot. Always a player since his early teenaged years, he hadn’t expected to fall so irretrievably in love with anyone, especially another vampire , and particularly one with a complicated past that he could only guess at.
The night Fressenda had twice-bitten him, his consuming love for her was made apparent to him with a blinding, undeniable clarity. They were inside each other now-her venom had changed him forever from the DNA up, and his blood had been incorporated into her own essential being. She had fed on him-just the thought that she had greedily feasted on his life essence in that way took him to the most darkly erotic level of sexual sensation and longing that he had ever experienced. The sexual acts that he had participated in when he was human paled greatly by comparison. They seemed superficial and lacking. Humans just could not get as close to each other, try as they would to fill every orifice their bodies contained with fleshy parts of themselves to compensate for their inevitable separateness.
It was the blood and the venom that created a bond that could not be broken. And now he knew that he had damned himself to desiring her forever. He was desperate that she should desire him also, above all others. Even though it was an archaic gesture, his wanting to propose to her was part of his grasping to hold onto her in some sense.
But that finality in her voice, the look in her eyes when he had broached the subject of marriage, had crushed his dreams. He knew that Fress didn’t lie, ever, and that she had spoken the truth when she had informed him that she could not marry.
He briefly considered suicide. Even though he was a twice-bitten now he was familiar with ways of offing himself. Drinking bad blood was a sure way to sicken and expire. Fress had shown him a weapon she owned, an ancient ,ornately carved titanium knife whose tip had been dipped in a special and rare poison that could kill even tribites. He had contemplated removing it from its hiding place and plunging it deeply into his own chest. He had also contemplated going to Adrastos and begging to be part of the Dark and being turned into a tribite, knowing that the odds were that he would forget his previous life and loves-especially Fress. He also thought of leaving, permanently, without telling any of the others where he was going.
But he knew he would do none of those things, because he truly loved her, and killing himself w
ould be an act of selfishness that would cause her no small amount of pain. And that, he was not willing to do.
He gazed at the ring one last time. Around the old fashioned “mine cut” diamond, cut specifically so that the ring would be dazzling even in the dimness of lantern light, there was a setting using a pattern of woodland flowers and vines with smaller diamonds placed at intervals also capturing and reflecting the light. He had thought it was the perfect ring for Fress, whose soul spoke of nature, and who was the kindest individual he had ever known.
Suddenly he knew what he would do with the ring. He had a silver dagger that Fress had given him as a birthday present. It was already beautifully crafted, a relic from an ancient time, and had a rune inscribed on it alluding to granting the owner unfailing victory in battle. He decided that he would have the ring melted down and incorporated onto the hilt of the dagger, with the diamond as the focal point in the center. Every time he would have occasion to use it, he reasoned, it would remind him that he had been denied the very thing that meant the most to him in his immortal life. And he trusted that the agony of that memory would give him the feral rage necessary to use it to kill any opponent.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Back at Sunnyside Farm Mitzi and Cass gazed lovingly and wordlessly at eachother as they lay in bed. The artificial window was projecting slanting shafts of late afternoon sun onto the floor of their underground bedroom. All was peaceful and quiet, except for the low humming sounds of the various systems required to regulate the temperature and the air quality of the mansion in the earth.
From far away Mitzi picked up on another sound, at the same time her heightened olfactory senses picked up on a pleasant and familiar smell.
“Who’s cooking?” she asked Cass, who was propped up on one elbow on his side, his curly hair tousled, looking down into her face.
“Oh that.” he answered, “We have a cook. She lives in the back kitchen, a small suite of rooms behind the kitchen. Her name is Maya. She does Greek, Peruvian, Japanese and Italian food very well. And French cuisine flawlessly. And Kosher specialties for when Yaya visits. She’ll fix anything you want-but I told her seafood crepes for lunch, and a light sweet and sour endive salad-I hope that sounds good.”
