Bloodrose

by Cassidy Raindance

  "Having me, Lydia bait, baby sit your pet isn't the smartest move in the world then is it?" I said with some attitude.

  I saw her eyebrow go up but I wasn't ready to stop, "You should have just killed her when you found another excuse that was convenient, if not ethical."

  It was a jab at her banishment of Lydia years ago. The Queen hadn't been able to execute Lydia for the murder of her husband, the Chancellor, because Lydia's creator had stepped in and accepted eternal death on her behalf.

  When she had realized that Lydia would live, she found an old treason law that was legal but hadn't been used in thousands of years.

  By sleeping with me, Lydia had in effect committed high treason. Not sure if the Royal Court would over throw her for sentencing her to death a second time, even when a Vampyr life had been volunteered as tribute, she sentenced Lydia to a lifetime of banishment with a sentence of eternal death upon trespass.

  "If you want to see unethical you can go join the court of Thaddeus and get your rocks off judging them," said the Queen, "But you wouldn't last the day,"

  Not her sharpest retort - she was distracted.

  "I continue to baby sit, then?" I asked.

  "Yes," said the Queen, "You baby-sit. And you get her to come to dinner tonight,"

  I threw my arms up in the air.

  "You have to be kidding me! We're not just bringing the family pet to dinner. We're catering to her special human diet and letting her think she's our equal?" I asked.

  The Queen cocked her head to the side and my entire body tensed. That was a look I had seen her give her food before. She wasn't above eating another Vampyr though it certainly didn't taste good, the blood beginning to expire as soon as it left the human host, inedible after a few weeks though still able to be absorbed.

  "What do you think humans are?" asked the Queen.

  I licked my lips, a quick flip of my tongue across my dry lips. The snake watching the mouse. I had to be a still mouse. And I did the only thing I could - I told the truth.

  "I think we should spend less time playing with our food and just eat," I said, "I think we should make sure we're valuing Vampyr life more sacred than the life of tasty versions of cattle, of humans,"

  The first part was my motto but the last part sort of snuck up on me. It sounded like Lydia speaking but with my voice for a second. It didn't sound good out loud and it looked like the Queen didn't think it sounded acceptable either. She folded her hands, clasped, in her lap and bowed her head for a moment. It made me uncomfortable. After several minutes she looked up at me with a grave expression in her eyes.

  "Sebastian, we are just like the humans," she said.

  "Only better," I murmured Lydia's words and regretted them as soon as I said them. Not because I didn't believe, but because I hadn't meant to be Lydia's talking piece.

  "No," said the Queen, "And I'm going to clear this up for you right now. I haven't told anyone this and it's something that will stay between us or I’ll cut your tongue out,"

  I sat forward then.

  "I'm listening," I said, hopeful that she would continue after several seconds sat sitting and staring at me.

  "But are you ready to hear this?" asked the Queen.

  What do you say to that? No? I nodded and hoped that she would get to the point.

  "We're not of this world," said the Queen, "We are an alien species that crash landed thousands of years ago and annihilated the indigenous species, replacing them,"

  "Well," I let out a breath I had been holding, "That's a new one,"

  I ran my hands through my hair and sat speechless for a moment. I wanted her to be joking.

  "How does that help me with my babysitting?" I asked with a touch more sarcasm than I had intended.

  The Queen got up and pulled a book from a safe behind a painting. The book was ancient, pages disintegrating at the edges. She flipped open the book and showed me the front page. Sure enough, there was her name in a ship log of some kind.

  "A ship?" I asked.

  "Yes," said the Queen, "We spent 16 years in space and I fell in love on that ship,"

  "You never mentioned a husband," I said.

  "That's because he wasn’t my husband. A slave, he was human," said the Queen.

  "Wait..." I said, "Where did you get him?"

  "From our home planet," said the Queen, "Humans are not indigenous to Earth. And we are not indigenous anywhere - we are the result of a man-made virus, the Vampyr virus promising eternal youth and sold to the highest bidder,"

  "This is insanity," I said, turning a page in the ship log and looking at the different entries, "It can't be but...this can't be a forgery. It's all true?"

  I looked into the face of the Queen and found a woman carrying a burden, a secret bigger than her and she had kept it for thousands upon thousands of years.

  "Every word of it," said the Queen, her fingertips running across the top of the ship log pages, "And the virus had unforeseen side-effects,"

  "Are you sure we’re human?" I asked.

  I couldn't imagine being a human, not really. I had been born a Vampyr. I had hit puberty and had turned as all born Vampyrs did. It was the Halflings that turned later in life, their 20's or so. And the pets, the humans that were bitten and injected were the ones that were turned immediately. They weren't on par with a born Vampyr and never would be. But they still counted. They were still one of us. And here we had all fooled ourselves into thinking we were superior - when we were the result of what? A science experiment gone wrong?

  "We are human," the Queen said, "But we have lost our humanity, all of us. It's going to result in our own self-destruction and possibly the destruction of the entire human population,"

  I looked down at my hands and tried to see the differences. The teeth that came down much like a snake when we fed, the heightened senses, the strength, increased brain function, the slowed aging almost to a standstill. We weren't immortal but we were darn close.

  "Why do we even need our humanity?" I asked, "Perhaps we're better this way? These feel like features, not side-effects,"

  "It's all you've known since birth," said the Queen, "You haven't really known love, known pain, known loss, injustices, suffering - these are human things."

  "You want us to suffer so that we can find our humanity again?" I asked, "To feel compassion for our food and what, starve? So that you can keep a pet named Prussia and we can kill off our own kind with self imposed restrictions?"

  It didn't sit well with me. We were better than the humans. We were more than the humans. They were food, cattle, pets, and amusement wrapped in one.

  "Prussia is the key," said the Queen, "I don’t know how yet but she is. And if she dies, we all die,"

  "How do you know that? Why her?" I asked.

  There was no way that a human could be so important.

  "I don't have all the answers yet and you need to focus on your task while I find those answers," said the Queen.

  She came around the desk and sat on the edge of the desk in front of my chair.

  "Prussia is much more than just a human," said the Queen, "She holds all the answers and right now I need time,"

  "Because she's human and has the life span of a fruit fly compared to us?" I asked.

  I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that the fate of our species, superior and evolved, rested on a simple human that worked in a grocery store, or at least used to.

  "If you can't protect her, tell me now," said the Queen, her tone denoting that her tolerance for skepticism was waning, "I can cut you loose, you can run wild with Lydia and I'll find another way to keep her safe, against her will if need be,"

  "No need for dramatics," I said, "If our fate rests on her, I will be there every moment of the day from now on. I will be her unseen shadow,"

  I wasn’t exactly leaping at the idea of ‘running wild with Lydia’ as it were. Besides, this sounded interesting and it sounded like Victoria needed me. What fascinating stories could my great gr
andmother tell me after keeping this secret for so long – if it was all really true.

  "I'd prefer if you were seen," said the Queen, "It would make things a lot easier if you could make sure she developed… interest in you. I know you have that irresistible charm when you really need it and right now, it would make things a lot easier,"

  "I can take a hint," I said.

  "And with Lydia out of the way it should be smooth sailing," said the Queen, "When she comes for dinner tonight be sure to mention that we had a consultation position just open up,"

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Because," said the Queen, "I didn’t get her fired from her job so she could work a string of fast food positions next. I want her in this house as often as possible. Make it happen."

  Chapter 13

  "What are you doing here?" I asked, "I thought you said you would call?" reminding him of our less-than conventional conversation about my guilt and his blackmail.

  "I was in the area. I thought I would just stop by your work but they said you don't work there anymore," said Sebastian, "Everything okay?"

  "Everything is great," I said, sarcasm dripping from every word, "Except the part where I got fired for being late, again."

  "You've been fired for being late before?" asked Sebastian.

  "No, I was late again, not fired again," I said, but it gave me an idea, "Do you think there is a chance I could get my job back? Maybe give Tom a chance to calm down?"

  "I guess you could try," said Sebastian, "But isn't there anything else you would rather do? I can't imagine you as a cashier the rest of your life..."

  And that hurt. A lot. Mostly because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. But to have him point it out...It just hurt.

  "Do you have any brilliant ideas on what I might be qualified for," I asked, defensive, "you know, with all my cashier experience and all of that?"

  He looked at me and for once I knew an expression of his, because it was obvious. His face looked as if he thought he had just stepped on and triggered a landmine. Keep walking on the off chance that it's not lethal or tread carefully to avoid explosion? He picked up a piece of fruit from the fruit basket on the kitchen counter and began tossing it as one would absentmindedly toss a baseball, a gentle toss and catch.

  "Now that you mention it, I think you're great with Victoria," he said, taking a cautious side-ways peek at me as he continued playing catch with the fruit.

  "But friendship isn't paying this week's rent, now, is it?" I asked.

  I laughed at the absurd suggestion that listening to an old woman was a skill set of some sort in the workplace.

  "Actually," Sebastian stopped tossing the piece of fruit and looked at me with a bit of surprise on his face, "This week it is."

  It was my turn to look as though I had stepped on a possible land mine.

  "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard you say," I said.

  "We just had a consultation position for Victoria open up," said Sebastian, who started tossing the piece of fruit again, "She put me in charge of finding someone for her just this morning. I think my work is already done. I like it," He smiled at me then.

  "Consultation?" I asked, "What does that even mean? And how is it that it just happened to 'open up' all of a sudden?"

  For a moment I wondered if he planned to actually eat the apple he kept tossing around or just continue to bruise it. I could hear a resounding thwack every time his giant hands caught it and flung it back up overhead.

  He gave a sigh and stopped tossing the fruit again to give me a look that said he didn't understand how I didn't understand.

  "It's a fancy way of saying friend," said Sebastian, "Elizabeth had been her consultant but she left for a much better place and Victoria has been lost without her company,"

  "A much better place?" I asked, "Is she some kind of a dragon lady for a boss or something?"

  Sebastian burst out in laughter.

  "Dragon lady?" asked Sebastian, "Oh my goodness, Victoria will think that's a hoot! I don't think she's ever been called a dragon lady,"

  I felt bad for referring to a kind-hearted woman like Victoria as a dragon lady and regretted that she would know that I had called her that. She really is a sweet old woman. A bit pushy as old women can be and kind of meddlesome to be honest.

  "I didn't mean it like that, you just made it sound like-" I said, Sebastian cutting me off.

  "Like she’s a slave driver?" Sebastian continued to smile, "No, she's reasonable to work for and she likes you. I think the only thing that would make me more of a favorite than you at the moment is if I manage to persuade you to consider this job. I would be in her good graces for a good while," he continued to smile at me, looking pleased with himself.

  "I think I'll stick with trying to get my job back first," I said, feeling that maybe I needed to be more cautious.

  Something just felt too good to be true about the whole situation. It bordered between unexpected lottery and charity. I didn't trust either of those explanations.

  "Well now you're just being stubborn," he said, "I’m not going to catch you running in the park at 1 in the morning again, am I?"

  That had me raise my chin up higher. It felt like an insult in every way possible. I could tell that he knew I was offended.

  "I'm sorry," he said, "Look, just give it a try until you find out of your old boss gives you your job back," he shrugged, "Worst case scenario, Victoria asks your advice on random old lady things and pays you a neat six figures,"

  "Six figures?" I blurted out, "You've got to be kidding."

  Now his face matched mine with surprise.

  "No..." he said, he looked at me and stopped moving around, apparently not sure why I had been so surprised at how much Victoria paid for consulting.

  "That's what Elizabeth was paid. I'm sure Victoria would just assume pay you the same," he said, "Not high six figures, just around 100,000 or so and then perks , benefits and other boring stuff,"

  It didn't take me long to figure out that Victoria, bless her heart, was kind and generous. And if she wanted to talk my ear off about her days in the 40s or something while I tried to get my old job back then I was all for that...as long as it pays, I'll sit all day and listen.

  "I'll take it," I blurted out as he bit into the apple, "I'll do it. When do I start?"

  He was mid-bite when I said it and he froze when he realized I wanted the job after all. He didn't finish taking the bite. He took his mouth off of the apple and pointed at me with it.

  "You won't consider the position because you pretty much say you don't have any skills but I say it pays more than your cashier wage and now you're all over it?" he asked, confused.

  "Money talks," I said, feeling stupid the moment I said it, "But I'm still going to try to get my old job back. This is just..."

  I couldn't think of what this was. Last time I couldn't think of what something was, it ended up being called cheating. What did that make this?

  "A trial," offered Sebastian, "Well that's fantastic. It saves me time sorting through finding someone and Victoria is going to be thrilled, really."

  "When do I start?" I asked, ringing my hands, still feeling awkward as if taking advantage of a kind old woman's heart, "Tomorrow?"

  "Tonight," he said, picking up my keys next to the front door and holding them out to me.

  I took a step back, not understanding what he meant. What in the world could be so important that I was needed the moment I was hired unless it was some sort of trick? He must have sensed my hesitation.

  "It's perfect, Victoria wanted you to join us for dinner anyway," said Sebastian, trying to coax me out the door, "She's expecting us,"

  "I'm actually waiting for Robert," I said in a quiet voice with a bit of a wince.

  I knew that Sebastian still sought my affection but he also knew that I still wanted to try to win Robert back. I felt bad because I had put us both in this situation and even after everything Sebastian had said, the blackma
il, everything - I still felt guilty.

  Sebastian looked around and then finished taking the bite out of the apple that he had started before. I watched as he moved the piece of apple to the side of his cheek and talked with his cheek full of apple.

  "When is he supposed to be here?" asked Sebastian.