Deliverance of the Damned

by Jean Marie Bauhaus

  He seemed to draw the same conclusion. “You’ve waited long enough. I don’t see any reason to prolong it. You’ve all done excellent work. We could never have pulled this off without you.” He addressed this last part to Celine. She nodded in acknowledgment, but resisted the urge to smile, helped by the knowledge that she would have to go on waiting. The others each had their cure stashed away, but she’d used hers on Julia. It would only take another day or two for the doctor to produce more serum, but it still sucked to have to wait.

  With no more question, Konstantin dismissed the assembly. Reynolds turned and threw her arms around Celine’s neck. “We did it!” Celine returned the hug. Then Reynolds leaned back, holding Celine out at arm’s length. “You did it.”

  “We. You were right the first time.”

  “So now we get to be real girls again, huh?”

  “Yeah! How ‘bout that?”

  “You want to come back to my room? We can drink a toast with our spiked blood, make a celebration out of it.” Her face turned sheepish. “The truth is, I’m afraid to do it by myself.”

  Celine’s smile faded. “I can’t. I gave my dose away, remember?”

  “Oh, that’s right. What are you going to do?”

  “You heard the doc. He’ll make more. I’ll just have to wait my turn.”

  Reynolds let her arms drop to her sides. “Well, that’s not fair. After all you went through for this.”

  Celine shrugged. “It’s only another day or two. It’s not that big a deal. I can still sit with you while you drink yours.”

  She waved a hand. “No. You should take mine. I can wait.”

  “Absolutely not,” Celine said before the offer could tempt her.

  “I mean it," said Reynolds. “You’ve waited long enough.”

  “So have you. It won’t kill me to wait a few more days. Besides, I could stand to heal up some more first.”

  Reynolds didn’t look convinced. But instead of arguing, she said, “Well, if you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure. Enjoy your humanity. You’ve earned it.”

  Just then, Ramirez came over to spin Reynolds around and grab her in a squealing girl hug. Celine seized the opportunity to slip away. She wanted to be alone to lick her wounds, both literal and metaphorical. Lowering her head to avoid eye contact, she moved through the crowd with purpose, acting like she needed to be somewhere. It worked. Nobody tried to stop her. Soon she was out of the common area and in a blessedly silent corridor, where she slumped against a wall, leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

  “Hey.”

  She opened them again to see Chris, dressed in prison orange, standing at the edge of the corridor. “Hey yourself.”

  He came toward her. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, everything’s fine. Great, even. I just needed a minute.”

  “You look better.” Moving in close, he brushed back a red curl that had fallen in her face. His fingertips grazed her cheek, sending a bolt of electricity through her. She shivered. “Not so banged up anymore,” he said. “No thanks to Julia.”

  “Yeah, well, I got her back, didn’t I?”

  He grinned, sending another lightning bolt through her, shooting out from her chest. What was it about this human boy?

  Not so much a boy, though, considering he was older than she’d been when she’d been turned. Not so human anymore, either.

  He put his hands in his pockets, filling her with instant regret. “I figured you’d be with your friends, celebrating and taking the cure.”

  “Yeah, well.” Her lips curled into a rueful smile. “I’ll get my turn when the doctor whips up the next batch.”

  He frowned. “What? I thought there was enough in this last round for all of you?”

  “I ended up giving mine away.” At his questioning look, she waved a hand. “Long story. Didn’t have much choice.”

  He reached out and took her hand, setting off a lightning storm within her. She swallowed.

  “You don’t have to wait, you know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He glanced behind him before leaning closer. “I am the cure. You can drink from me.”

  Celine stared at him, startled by his offer. Startled but intrigued. Her gaze drifted to his neck and lingered on his pulse point. She licked her lips.

  Then she put a hand on his chest and pushed him away.

  “That’s sweet, but—”

  “Come on, it’ll be fine. You won’t need to take much, and I’ll heal fast.” His lips quirked in a playful smile. “Bet you won’t even leave a hickey.”

  “I don’t—” She frowned, not sure what her argument was. “Are you sure?”

  In answer, he released her hand and raised both of his, twining his fingers through her hair as he pulled her to him and confidently claimed her mouth. His tongue pushed past her lips to taste hers, igniting a blaze in the center of her being. By the time he released her, she thought she might melt along with her resolve.

  “I’m sure,” he said, his voice a husky whisper. “Why aren’t you?”

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  “Go where?”

  “Where we can be alone.”

  He looked around. “We are alone.”

  “More alone.” She pushed him back and grabbed his hand. “I know. This way.”

  She led him down the hall, past the infirmary to a locked door, pausing long enough to swipe her badge through the lock before opening it and pulling him through. They hurried down another hallway, past office doors until they came to a stairwell.

  They raced up the stairs, Chris getting handsy and Celine giggling like a high school girl, not sure what to do with these feelings bubbling up inside her. The stairs brought them to a large room with a high ceiling. Cells lined a walkway on one side, a set of large windows lined the other, the two separated by rails and a deep well that plunged several stories, revealing identical floors below.

  “Wow,” said Chris, looking around. Sunlight flooded through the windows, but the rest of the area was in shadow.

  “You want to gawk at that,” asked Celine, “or at me?”

  He turned to her and grinned. “What do you think?” He reached for her. She rushed into his arms, both of them so eager to kiss that their teeth knocked together. They stumbled over to the wall, nearly tripping over each other’s feet in their refusal to let go of each other for even a second.

  Chris leaned her against the wall. He unbuttoned the first button of her uniform, but she stopped him before he could go further, spinning him around and tearing open the snaps on his jumpsuit, revealing the smooth, sculpted chest of someone who knew his way around a pushup.

  She leaned back to admire him, letting her fangs extend. She tore her gaze away from his pecs and met his eyes, her own questioning.

  He nodded and closed his eyes. Celine traced light kisses along his jaw, back to the spot where it met his ear, then down his neck, stopping over his vein.

  She bit down.

  Hot blood flowed over her tongue, and she gulped it down. It had been so long since she’d tasted fresh blood. She didn’t want to stop. She didn’t know how much it would take to cure her. Old instincts kicked in, urging her to keep drinking, to keep sucking, to drain him dry.

  Chris groaned after a few swallows. She wasn’t sure whether it was in pleasure or in pain, or maybe even fear. But it brought her to her senses. She pulled her teeth free and tilted her head back to look at him. He held her, cradling her head in his hand, and she sunk with him as he slid to the floor, her own strength fading, her fangs contracting with no effort on her part.

  “I think it’s happening,” she gasped.

  Chris pulled her into his lap. “It’s okay. Just ride it out.”

  She clung to him, her body shivering even though she felt warmer, not colder. She felt the steady beat of a pulse. It took a moment to realize it came from inside her, not from him. After a moment, her body relaxed, and she melted into his embrace, resting her h
ead against his chest, which felt as good as it looked.

  She still had traces of blood in her mouth. Suddenly, it tasted disgusting. She sat up straight and spat, then wiped her mouth. She looked at Chris.

  “I think it’s done.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She glanced over to the windows, at the sunlight pooling beneath them. “One way to find out.”

  She got to her feet, then held a hand out to him. He took it and let her pull him up. It took a lot more effort than she was used to. She eyed the wounds on his neck. “What about you? Are you okay?”

  “Don’t worry about me.” He nodded toward the windows. “Go on.”

  Celine approached the bank of windows, slowly at first, then picking up her pace, approaching with confidence. Still, she stopped just short of the light, reaching out slowly, cautiously.

  It felt warm, and it made her pale skin almost blindingly white. But it didn’t burn. Emboldened, she walked right up to the window, looking out at the prison yard and the guard tower beyond. She closed her eyes and let the warmth soak into her skin.

  A pair of arms slipped around her from behind. She turned and met Chris with a joyful kiss. Then, giggling and giddy, she broke away from him and twirled in the sun. She ran to the middle window before turning back to face him. She undid the next button on her shirt. “Come here,” she said.

  He didn’t wait for a follow-up invitation. He hurried over and helped her undress before stripping out of his jumpsuit. They stood there together, naked in the sun, taking their time exploring and enjoying, and for the first time since that fateful night in that motel room twenty years ago, Celine was just a girl, about to be with a dreamy boy, and for once, for this moment, everything was right in her world.

  TWENTY- NINE

  THE ONLY THING THAT made him feel truly alive was a dead girl.

  Except she was no longer dead, was she?

  She lay beside him, stretched out on her stomach beneath the large window, basking in the sun. Chris traced a finger down her spine, eliciting soft sighs.

  “You’ll get a sunburn if you’re not careful,” he warned her.

  “As long as I don’t combust, I don’t care.” Celine turned to face him, resting her cheek against her folded arms. “Am I starting to freckle?”

  He raised up on one elbow and leaned over for a better look. A faint brown speck appeared on her shoulder. “Yep. There’s one.” He bent down and placed his lips on it. “And here’s another.” He kissed a spot halfway down her back and then touched another on her round backside. “And here.” He stooped to kiss that one, too, but before he could reach it she shifted onto her side and looked at him, her expression skeptical.

  “Really?”

  “Yep.”

  She stretched an arm out and examined it with fascination. “Huh. You know, I used to hate my freckles, but after they went away, I missed them.”

  “In that case, I’m glad they’re coming back. But we don’t want you to turn right around and get skin cancer.” At the look she gave him, he asked, “You know about skin cancer and ultraviolet rays, right? Or did that news come out after your time?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Yes, I know about skin cancer. I’m not that old.”

  With a smirk, he moved a curly lock that had fallen in her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. “So how old are you?”

  Her gaze turned up thoughtfully a moment before she said, “About thirty.”

  “No, I mean total, not your age when you were turned.”

  Her brows drew together as she frowned. “Are you saying I look thirty?”

  “No. You look great. But it’s hard to tell with you guys. You all seem ageless.”

  “Well, I’m thirty total years old. I’ve only been a vampire for eleven years.”

  It was Chris’s turn to do the mental math. “So you were only nineteen?”

  She shrugged the shoulder she wasn’t lying on. “Nineteen and naïve.”

  “How did you become a vampire?”

  Again, she half-shrugged. “I let a friend drag me to this club. She’d gone to all the trouble of getting us both fake IDs, so I went. And I drank too much and let the wrong hot guy take me to his motel room. The next morning I woke up craving blood, and when I tried to leave the room, I almost burst into flames. I had to wait out the entire day there. My sire didn’t even come back to check on me. I ended up paying the jerk’s motel bill.”

  “You’re kidding me. So you don’t even know who sired you?”

  She studied a spot on her elbow. “To tell you the truth, I was so blitzed I don’t even think I could’ve picked him out in a lineup.”

  “Good thing for him.”

  She looked up. “Why?”

  “Because if you could point him out to me I’d kill him.”

  She smiled a smile that said he was sweet but he didn’t know what he was saying. He opened his mouth to protest that he did, but she raised up on her elbow and cut him off with a tender kiss.

  “Too bad he wasn’t more like you. My life sure would’ve turned out different.”

  “So what did you do after that?”

  Frowning, she sat up. “I couldn’t go back to my life. I was afraid I’d hurt someone I loved. I didn’t even bother to drop out of school. I just... disappeared. I sent my parents a postcard to let them know a serial killer hadn’t murdered me. And then I just kind of drifted.” She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged her legs. “Then Esme found me. I knew she was bad news, but she was all about survival, and that was what I needed then.” She shook her head. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this. Can we forget the last eleven years ever happened?”

  Chris sat up and reached for her. “Sure we can,” he said, gathering her into his lap. “Whatever you want.”

  She leaned her head against his shoulder and gazed up at him, her hand resting against his neck and stroking his jaw with her thumb. It felt good, simply holding her. Almost as good as everything they’d done before. Better, even. Cradling her head in his hand, he leaned down to kiss her, long and deep, taking his time and savoring her.

  A wet, grumbling sound startled him. He broke off the kiss and looked at her in confusion. She appeared as startled as he was. The sound came again, emanating from her stomach. She looked down and laughed, then looked back at him in astonishment. “I think I’m hungry.”

  Chris grinned. “You want to go get some lunch?”

  Smiling, she nodded, and they both climbed to their feet.

  They dressed and made their way to the cafeteria, holding hands as they approached the lunch line. Chris spotted his mom sitting alone at a table, saving a seat for him. She noticed him at the same time and waved.

  “Come on.” He pulled Celine along with him and went to talk to her.

  “There you are,” she said when they reached her. Her gaze flicked from him to Celine, down to their clasped hands, and back to him, filled with curiosity. “Whatcha been up to, son?”

  “Mom, you know Celine, right?”

  She grinned up at the former vampire. “I sure do. You brought my son back to me. I’ll never forget who you are.”

  Celine returned the smile and extended a hand. “Paula, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  Celine’s stomach grumbled again. She shot Chris an embarrassed look. He jerked his head toward the line. “Go on. I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

  She gave him a grateful smile, then turned back to Paula. “It was great to meet you again.”

  “Well, we’re not done, sugar. You’re gonna come back here and have lunch with us.”

  She glanced at Chris, who shrugged, then she smiled and nodded. “That’ll be lovely. Thank you.”

  “It’s my pleasure, sweetie. Now you go on and get some real food in you.” After Celine got in line, she turned back to Chris. “So what’s going on here?”

  He shrugged and took a seat across from her. “I like her.”

  “I like her too if she makes you l
ight up like that.” She was still smiling, but he could see the concern in her eyes. “You’re being careful, right?”

  “It’s fine, Mom. Don’t worry. You know, she’s not even that much older than me. She wasn’t a vampire for very long.”

  “That may well be, but she was still a vampire. She’s probably seen and done things you can’t even imagine.”

  Chris thought of all the things he’d seen and done since making the choice to draw that zombie swarm away from his mother. Things that she couldn’t even imagine. But he kept those thoughts to himself. “I’m not a kid anymore, Mom.”

  With a sigh, she reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “I am well aware. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

  Smiling, he raised up to lean over and plant a kiss on her cheek. He was saved from further questions by the arrival at their table of Hannah and the doc. They sat at the opposite end, with Noah perched in Hannah’s lap. Chris gave his mother’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze before going over to them.

  “I want to volunteer for cleaning up the shamblers.”

  Hannah and Konstantin exchanged a look. Chris rolled his eyes. “I’m not gonna lose it out there, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  The doc eyed him for a moment—a moment too long for Chris’s comfort. But then he nodded. “Okay.”

  “Celine will want to go, too.” He hadn’t asked her, but he couldn’t imagine her not volunteering.

  Konstantin nodded. “It will be a daylight operation, but we should have more serum ready before then, if she still wants to take it.”

  “She doesn’t need it.”

  Hannah looked up sharply, her gaze going to his neck. Chris hadn’t checked to see if his wounds had healed. He rubbed the spot self-consciously while Hannah gave him a knowing look. “I guess she doesn’t.”

  “That was foolish,” said the doc. “It could have been dangerous.” Hannah nudged him, and they seemed to hold an entire conversation in that silent way established couples had a way of pulling off. Suddenly he looked sheepish. “But it’s certainly one way to get the job done,” he said, looking at her. She smirked as she spooned mashed potatoes into her brother’s eager mouth.