by P. Mattern
Suddenly Jax appeared in the doorway.
“Hey Auntie Fress can I have some oreos? I wont get anything on the carpet, I swear. And maybe Cass wants to play some video games with me…I think he does…” he finished ,his voice trailing off, cutting his eyes hopefully in Cass’s direction.
His coffee forgotten, Cass jumped up from the table.
“Sure, Jax-I accept your challenge! Lead the way my man!”
Jax smiled for the first time, an ear to ear heart- meltingly charming boyish grin.”Sweet!.” he said, obviously pleased with Cass’s response.
Being a gamer himself, Cass thought he would have to underperform to give Jax a chance at beating him, but not only was Jax the superior player of the video game “Sanguinarians: The Monster Realm” but he very quickly racked up 90,000 points to Cass’s 55,000.
“I’m a BEAST at this game!” Jax said ,cackling as he scored more points, ”And you SUCK Uncle Cass!”
Once again Cass was tickled-the ‘Dark Orphan’ had called him ‘uncle. He made a mental note to play the new game until he could actually give Jax some competition though.
After a half hour of play Cass and Mitzi reluctantly left to make their reservation at an upscale bistro that featured ‘al fresco’ dining in a congenial atmosphere. Mitzi was pumped to be out in the fresh air.
“I love the underground Farmhouse,” she told Cass as she forked a generous mouthful of lobster salad wrapped in a buttery,warm filo shell,”And when I’m there I actually forget that we’re underground. But there’s nothing like fresh air. And I’m sure it’s good for les enfants.”
Cass nodded agreeably as he tackled his huge portion of macademia encrusted blackened salmon.”The thing is to keep a balance between safety and suffocation.” He explained as he chewed.”I’m not trying to keep you in the proverbial ‘pumpkin shell’ my sweet. But we have realities that we must contend with. Celeste keeps me abreast of Adrastos’ recovery-apparently he had improved but he’s not 100%, making it unlikely he’d do anything other than keep tabs and spy on you. The hybrid attack is inexplicable. It’s possible that Adrastos is using their services…they may have been there to abduct you. Or they may have another target that they were hoping to track by pressing you for information…” Cass’s voice trailed off as he drained a huge glass of iced tea with mint ,looking at her over the rim.
“Well, better safe than sorry. I just don’t want to be smothered. And I have a request-one you may think is silly.”
Cass wiped his mouth with a ecru colored linen napkin,leaned forward and, looking fondly into Mitzi’s eyes, responded
“Anything. Anything milady desires.”
Mitzi flushed slightly with pleasure at his response.
“Cass can we get horses to ride? Just one apiece so that we can ride together? I know it would take some doing-you’d probably have to hire a stable hand, build a structure to house them in and all of that…but..it’s the one thing I miss from my time in Virginia. I used to be rather good at riding. I won a first place ribbon in jumping at the Upperville Horse show when I was young…everyone else is so…accomplished, and It would be the perfect thing. “
Cass was taken aback ,and sucked in a surprised breath.
“Vivi you never fail to amaze me-I never know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours! But do you think that’s appropriate right NOW? I mean the twins birthdays are fast approaching and your-your-“
“Hugely pregnant,” Mitzi finished for him.”Yes I am. But I am a vampire, and Dr. Caligare said it would be a good way to get some exercise as long as I take it easy-easy in that I can ride but no jumps,at least until the babies come. And Buttercup will be helping me with the babies and I can look forward to riding every day.”
Cass rolled his eyes heavenward.”The lady can actually FLY but she wants to ride a horse!! Is there any chance of you letting me alone if I don’t agree?”
Mitzi smiled around another forkful of lobster salad.”Nope.”
Cass mock sighed as if under intense duress.
“Okay my love-you win! I’ll arrange for us to take a tour of what’s available from surrounding farms, try to get some local help also.”
Mitzi clapped her hands together in glee, grabbed both of Cass’s hands and kissed them.
“Thank you my wonderful husband! This is a dream, or should I say ANOTHER dream, come true for me!”
Cass adopted a cagey tone.
“I just thought of a wonderful way that you could thank me, “ he said, his eyes travelling across the table between them and then coming to rest, seemingly fixated on Mitzi’s abundant breasts.
Mitzi smirked.”Probably in the same fashion I thank you-multiple times-each day. Correct?”
Cass shifted in his seat.”Actually can we get the check and leave? I’m getting uncomfortable in a manly and virile way.”
After paying and tipping the waitress generously, Cass pulled Mitzi’s chair out for her and the couple walked around the side of the green and white awning festooned restaurant to the parking lot in the back. Because the restaurant was such a popular local eatery, they’d had to park some distance away. Halfway to the car Cass tightened his grip on her arm and hissed.
“Keep walking love-but we’re being followed!”
Mitzi felt Cass reach under his jacket for the dagger he always carried. Suddenly, behind them, they heard a galloping sound, as if some creature with more than two legs was closing the distance between them.This was followed by a loud whooshing sound as though the creature following them had leapt up to close the distance and had gone suddenly airborne.
Fangs extruded, Cass gave a low feral growl, turned, and leaped up into the air to meet the creature as it descended. Mitzi backed away in horror to see what he had risen up to meet. That it was a demon there was no doubt-she could see its yellow, spiny segmented reptilian wings flapping wildly and its strangely humanoid head with compound eyes and a strange mouthlike opening lined in triple rows of long, sharp teeth whipping to and fro on its snakelike neck as it attempted to find purchase on Cass’s body. As Mitzi stood frozen in place, Cass pulled a roll of what looked like thin golden wire from his pants pocket , did a flip over the creatures head and began to choke it from behind as it turned and snapped at him.
It seemed a battle that could go on for quite awhile, but then Mitzi, in her desperation, thought about the fire. The fire that she could summon and direct at will as a tribite, a ‘thrice-bitten’. Saying a silent prayer that nothing she did would harm the babies she carried inside of her, she focused with all her might on the creatures snapping head.
“Cass,move BACK!” she shouted, as she took two steps forward.
The results were immediate, and far better than she could have anticipated. The segmented lizardlike crown on the creatures head burst immediately into blue-green flames. The creature roared and fell from the air onto its back, rolling and rolling around on the asphalt trying to put itself out. But the fire was Magick, and having been administered by a thrice bitten, it was relentless in its destruction.
Through the wall of flame consuming the creature, shimmering in the air, Mitzi could see Cass’s handsome and dumbstruck face, staring at her. The creature had slowed its movements now, flopping feebly, as a black smoke issued upward and the air was filled with the odor of sulphur.
It only took the fire 5 minutes to completely consume the demon, leaving a strange haphazard ,straggling pile of white hot ash still smoldering in the center of the parking lot. Cass by then had crossed the distance between them, and scooping her up in his arms, flew to the SUV, gently depositing her in the passenger seat before he jumped in the driver’s seat. His face was scratched and smudged and his clothing wet with perspiration, and he jammed on the air conditioner as he started the Lexus and peeled out of the parking lot.
Mitzi, as stunned as Cass was at the effectiveness of her intervention, sat on the leather seat in disbelief, words failing her. Cass seemed to find his voice and gave a loud whoop.
“MITZI!” he said , smiling sideways at her as he drove , his eyes full of admiration.”That was AWESOME! How could I forget that you’re a tribite? And when did you discover that gift?”
Relieved at his reaction ,she replied, ”I’ve been practicing on my own, mostly when you’re at the University. I’ve discovered quite a few perks to being thrice-bitten actually!”
Cass could hardly drive for glancing at her every chance he could get, the same look of excitement and pride in his eyes.
“On your OWN! Holy shit! Wonder what ELSE is in your repertoire? We’ll have to have Celeste work with you on a regular basis refining your new talents! “
“So Celeste is a tribite also…” Mitzi said in a wondering tone.”I had a feeling that she was a while ago. She’s so prescient, on a level that few of us are.”
“I hope you don’t mind if I brag on you to the others, Mitzi. I’m just so proud of you! Of course I WOULD have handled it-I had the beast in a chokehold as you may recall,” he continued with typical male braggadocio, ”but the astralfire is much more effective for dispatching demons. And the demon might have followed us to the Farm. The farm is kind of unusual because its hidden from detection by an electromagnetic dome-the power to create it harnessed from the earth itself. That’s why its our own little’fortress of solitude’ in the middle of the Midwest.”
“Anyway”, he finished, ”I said all that to say this…YOU ROCK!”
The ride back to the farm was pleasant, with Cass holding her hand the entire way and bending his head to kiss it at every stoplight until they got outside of town to the flat Indiana farmlands. At the same time Cass was alerting everyone he had on speed dial on the wireless phone built into the dashboard of his SUV to brag about Mitzi’s first official demon kill. Everyone was thrilled and gave her many compliments and kudos. In a strange way Mitzi felt more bonded to their ‘tribe’ of vampires since the incident, felt as though she had proven herself somehow and risen in their estimation. She knew that she had always had their love and devotion.
Now, she reflected, she had won their respect.
Before they reached the farm she was getting sleepy-it had been a busy, strange and wonderful day, but all she wanted at that point was to lie next to Cass in her huge cloudlike bed, sinking into a peaceful oblivion.
She must have fallen asleep on the passenger side. When she came to partial wakefulness Cass was placing her gently on the bed, brushing her lips with his own.
“Sweetest dreams my darling,” he said. And so she slept.
In her dreams she was sitting up in the delivery room at the Farm, a beaming Cass on one side , and a smiling Dr. Caligare and Buttercup on her opposite side. The atmosphere was one of peace and joy, and as she gazed down into her arms she could see a naked newborn son in each: one with dark curly hair like Cass, and the other with straight champagne blond hair. The front of her gown was loosened ,exposing her breasts , and she seemed to nursing the babies. In the crook of her right arm the babe that looked like a miniature of Cass suckled contentedly. Mitzi experienced joy at the tug of his tiny hot mouth on her breast. But in the crook of her left arm the fair-haired babe was having difficulty nursing. He would take the nipple and start to nurse, then let the milk spill out of the sides of his mouth.
Again and again Mitzi attempted to assist the infant in feeding, growing concerned. Suddenly the baby opened it’s eyes and stared into hers. It’s eyes seemed too dark for a newborn, the green irises all but swallowed up by its dilated pupils.
Still looking at her the infant opened its mouth widely enough so that she caught a glimpse of rows of tiny razor sharp teeth. At that moment it sank its tiny fangs into her breast and finally relaxed as it drew her blood into its mouth, contented at last to be feeding, an angelic smile appearing at the corners of its infant mouth.
Mitzi sat up with a start, her heart pounding. The room was dark, except for the ersatz moonlight pouring in through the ‘window’ of the bedroom. Down the hallway she could hear Cass’s voice as he spoke with someone, and also the low background noise of the television in the Greatroom.
For a moment she wanted to jump out of bed and find Cass, just to be held in the protective circle of his arms.
“Just a bad dream,” she told herself,”Just a crazy bad dream,” she whispered aloud.
But somehow, in the recesses of her consciousness, the part of her that was prescient and attuned both to the seen and the unseen, she was not convinced.
Fressenda, dressed in a black silk dress and sitting comfortably on her red velvet couch smiled pleasantly over at her charges, Carey and Kimbra, as they sat on the matching loveseat opposite her . In between them was a silver tray that contained silver serving pitchers of both french-pressed coffee and Earl Grey Tea from Harney and Sons, as well as cookies and a small plate of watercress and cucumber sandwiches. The couple had requested a meeting with her, and she presciently was experiencing a rising excitement as she waited for them to speak, feeling that their request would be a confirmation that they would in some measure had decided to ‘join’ her little family.
They were holding hands, and Carey spoke first. Gone was the sarcasm and defiance she had experienced from him upon their initial encounter in the library. Now he seemed very nervous as he played with Kimbra’s fingers intertwined in his.
“Fressenda, Kimbra and I want to be married. We love each other, and have a total commitment to be together forever…but that’s only half of what I wanted to talk to you about.”
As if to bolster his courage, Carey nervously reached for his demitasse cup and took two swallows of his excellent, sweetened coffee. His hand was shaking slightly, but he continued.
“Kimbra and I have decided to be Turned. We want to become vampires, as you and your family are. Our reasons are twofold: we want to have the powers necessary to defeat the hybrids when they come, that’s the first one. But we also want our love to last an eternity. A human lifetime doesn’t seem nearly enough!”
Fressenda smiled beatifically at them.
“And –did you have a vampire in mind for this Turning?” she asked, although she already knew the answer that would be given.
“YOU,” Carey and Kimbra both said in unison, as Kimbra continued,”You have been our Mentor from the start, Fressenda. We trust you. And we love your brothers also, even that annoying one, Cass…they have been wonderful to us! But we wondered if you could change us as part of the ceremony. And soon.”
“You have a special advantage at this point in time, Kimbra-it’s one that I know you are not aware of. Did you know that when virgins are turned they receive special abilities because of their purity?”
Oddly enough, recognition was reflected in Kimbra’s eyes. Fress’s revelation resonated within her strongly-was it possible that subconsciously she had felt a foreshadowing of this time? Was that what had kept her from consummating her passionate love for Carey? There had always been a small voice that cautioned her, kept her from going too far…had that been predestined so that she would have extraordinary powers just when they were needed the most??
Kimbra swallowed, her eyes locked into Fress’s.
“What special powers, Fressenda?” she asked, in a voice filled with incredulity.
Fress shook her head slightly.
“ I’m afraid that I can’t tell you that with an degree of certainty, because even being Turned without virginity factoring into it is such an individual experience, no two beings experience it in precisely the same way. You will understand your specially granted abilities immediately however. It will involve powers that even Carey won’t possess. But….”Fressenda paused , and her beautiful violet eyes seemed focused on something way off in the distance. When she continued her voice was several shades lower and softer, as if she was remembering something-or someone-from long ago.
“But as soon as your marriage is consummated, “poof!’, your specialized attributes will be gone!”
Carey and Kimbra looked at each other sober
ly.
“Considering the showdown that we’re facing, I think it’s important that Kimbra be as prepared as possible…so of course I’m willing to wait for-for anything else.” He pulled Kimbra closer to him, ”What matters to me the most is that we will be pledged to each other forever-and you will be my wife.”
“I agree.” Kimbra responded, eagerness in her voice.”And, Fressenda, if you could arrange the ceremony as soon as possible, we would be most grateful.”
Fressenda stood up, and coming around to their side of the coffee table, embraced both Carey and Kimbra in a group hug.
“I can arrange it for tomorrow with any luck. It will be small but elegant and memorable. And it will be my pleasure!”
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Lux and Pierre’s first day together at the cottage began with Lux waking up in his bedroom upstairs and realizing that he was not alone. He and Pierre had finally made their way upstairs-barely-after a night that neither of them would ever forget.
Lux looked down upon his sleeping lover with a sense of amusement and amazement. He wasn’t quite sure what had been the catalyst for his turning Pierre. Unlike his fraternal twin brother Cass, he was a reflective male vampire that was not in the habit of following his compulsions without doing a chain analysis of possible consequences first.
Last night had been the exception. His normal inclinations and rationality had been swept away in the face of a tsunami of bloodlust, and the urge to consummate a bond with the formerly human Pierre, sharing the most precious gift that he had ever given to another energy.
Immortality.
Pierre stirred lightly in his sleep mumbling something incoherent, then abruptly raised up on his elbows, as though he’d been startled awake. His eyes were squinting against the too bright sunshine that was pouring in abundance through the large bedroom window but when he found Lux’s face he broke into a grin.
