Vampyre Blue (Alternative Women)

by Davena Slade Nicolaou

  She moved to him so fast and pinned him up against the wall by his throat, about a foot off the ground.

  'See.' He gurgled, and went on, 'Can you let me down please?'

  She dropped him. Tear's formed in her eyes, she had given herself away.

  'You bit me.' She mouthed.

  'No, no, no. I didn't Blue,' He got to his knees before her, 'I promise I didn't bite you. It was someone pretending to be me. If I bit you, you'd be like me. I didn't get to you in time to stop it all.'

  'Why?' She said softly.

  'I hadn't fed in a while and needed some sleep, the Oracle spiked my blood source and because I was weak it was more potent and I slept for hours. I awoke to find out I'd missed the beginning of the party and by the time I got to the Manor you had been bitten.'

  'Why was I bitten? Who bit me?' She asked.

  'You remember the dream? The one with me in it?'

  'You're in all of them.'

  'The one when I spoke back.' Pierre didn't want to argue, he wanted to be like they were on her birthday. 'I told you it wasn't me, but I didn't get chance to tell you, to warn you in time...' He paused, there was a look in her eyes, fury, anger and betrayal all mixed into one. 'You know who it is.'

  'Daen.' She mouthed, shocked and sickened.

  'Daen.' Said Pierre.

  *

  The morning after the night before Brett was beside himself. He'd gone back to Eliza's hotel but she wasn't there. He couldn't get in himself although the concierge on the desk assured him that she hadn't returned. He had no other choice than to go back to the dig site to look for her again and this time he was determined that he was going to be better prepared. Unfortunately for Brett it was a Holy Day in the local village and all the workers weren't there, neither were the western anthropologists or archaeologists, so he was all on his own again.

  Isis watched Brett, he could cause rifts in the prophecies, if he drew any attention to the library or the greater part of the temple and got more people involved, the rituals wouldn't and couldn't be performed and destiny would be rewritten. She couldn't have that, she would not have that, so Isis would have to intervene once again. After all she couldn't have people poking around her library that weren't invited.

  All of a sudden Brett had an overwhelming need to walk into the ruins Eliza had disappeared into. He couldn't understand how he seemed to know where he was going. He felt like a man on a mission. Down one corridor, another, a left here, a right, left, right, right. Like a labyrinth he knew like the back of his hand. It started to frighten him. An overwhelming grip of terror was seizing his mind.

  'Is this what happened to you Eliza?' He said quietly to himself.

  'Something like that.' A beautiful voice told him.

  Brett looked up to see a black face looking back at him, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. There was a luminance about her, her bright white eyes illuminated her iris's, the colour of shimmering emeralds glistening in the dark. He was completely overwhelmed and all of a sudden he fainted.

  *

  'She knows an awful lot about us doesn't she?' Asked Amelia as walked around her sister.

  'Yes she seems to.' Said Eliza.

  'And why do you think that is? How does she know so much?'

  'I don't know.' Eliza was becoming annoyed with her little sister, the tomes that Isis had let her see were comprehensive guides on every ancient ritual Eliza had ever been curious about and there were hundreds she had never even thought could possibly exist, she was trying to digest all the information, but Amelia kept interrupting.

  'You're the expert on everything ancient, why don't you know?'

  'I'm not a God!'

  'Ohhh,' She mocked, 'No need to shout!'

  'I didn't shout! Why do you have to be so impetuous all the time?'

  'It's what you love about me best-est!'

  Eliza's eyes rolled,

  'I swear if you weren't dead already I'd have killed you by now.'

  Amelia kept walking around the desk on which Eliza's current reading materials lay strewn. The light was just perfect, candles were in glass holders, safely away from the precious papers. Eliza could have stayed there forever, this was no prison, this was her paradise.

  Chapter Twelve.

  'You know Daen? How do you know Daen? Try to start from the beginning, like when I came on the scene.'

  'When you came on the scene,' Pierre smiled, 'Wow, well this could get quite interesting.'

  'Go on,' Blue sat up in her bed, 'Tell me everything.'

  'I’m not sure when Daen first started interfering in your life, but I wasn’t aware until he asked me to watch over you last year.'

  'What the fuck!?!' Blue was completely taken aback, 'Last year? He asked you to watch me?'

  'Yes.'

  'And how the hell do you know Daen?' She asked again.

  Pierre took a cigarette out, rolled it in his fingers,

  'Do you mind?'

  'No, go on...' She waited for his explanation.

  Pierre lit the cigarette and took in a couple of breaths.

  'It was 1808 when I first met Daen…' Pierre started.

  '1808 as in the year?' Blue interrupted.

  'No, ten past six in the evening you moron, of course 1808 as in the year. Would you like to hear my story?'

  'You don't have to be such an ass hole about it. 1808 was a long fucking time ago and I'm still not used to this kicking around for a long time drama. It was such a long, long time ago, well for me anyway.' Blue half smiled and shut up.

  'I was born into wealth,' Pierre paused, waiting for the interruption. Blue just smiled at him, so he carried on.

  'When I got to my late twenties I decided I was going to go on the tour, you know, Rome, Prague, Budapest, Moscow. Everyone was doing it and I couldn't be the only bourgeoisie to have the shame of not going. In Romania I met Daen, he was an older version of myself back then. We were out and out ladies men and we became the best of friends, he took me to the finest Artisans and institutions, he paraded me around like his new play toy. He introduced me to the finest brothels Europe had to offer. I learnt that there was so much more to life than I had ever imagined. We were so close, I think he thought I was the brother he never had. I was having the time of my life, drunk and drugged up. One night he bit a girl in front of me, it was so dark and sexual, we both made love to her that night. She didn't change, there is a lot more to changing a person. I found that out. He walked around in the day, like you do, I thought he was a really strong man. Then he talked me into the change. He made it sound amazing. He made me like him, immortal, but unlike him I can’t go out in the sunshine.'

  'You can’t go out in the sunshine?' Blue asked, 'but I can.'

  'You're different Blue, special. But no, I would burst into flames, it's way too hot for me out in the sunshine.' Pierre explained, 'So he turned me into a Vampire, a night walker. He didn’t expect me to turn out like I did, he hoped I would turn out like him because usually the night-walkers are just mindless drones. We did get up to quite a lot of devilish things back then, but I became melancholy and insufferable to him. He left me in Paris in the late 19th century, it was a good time for the melancholy in France, I got on well with the painters. A good friend of mine died when he was only 47, I think he got shot. I love his paintings, they have inspired a lot of people over the years but I digress. Daen went on with his precious Oracle. Of course he always knew roughly where I was, and I him, the blood tie. He would appear every so often, looking in on me. He was always looking for the reincarnation of his maker, Isis.'

  'Isis?'

  'Yes, the Nubian Goddess Isis. She once ruled all of Egypt and the known world, despite what the history books say.'

  'That explains all the statues of African women in his house then.'

  Pierre smiled at her.

  'Yes, classy hey? So last year Daen asked me to watch you from a distance to make sure you were alright, I agreed, I had nothing to do at the time.'

 
; 'Oh cheers, nothing to do at the time!'

  'No, I didn’t mean it like that. He thought, he thinks you are the reincarnation of his old girlfriend, Isis.'

  'What the fuck!' Blue shifted her weight from one hand to the other, 'That guy has some serious issues.'

  'Indeed. He bit you on your birthday, disguised as me. After that shit I walked away from him and his Oracle. I had told him to leave you alone before. I told him I was going to tell you everything. Then they put me to sleep with poison and he went and fucking bit you, before I could warn you. I am still beyond rage.' Pierre was tense, his jaw stiffened.

  'Why did you fall out with Daen?' Blue was curious as to what would lead them to that point.

  'I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you.'

  'You fell, what?' Blue looked overwhelmed.

  'Don’t worry, no pressure.' Smiled Pierre.

  'So what does Daen want with me?' She asked looking confused.

  'To take you as his bride and rule the world, or something like that.'

  Blue had a little bit of trouble believing all this.

  'Well you do like to drop bombs on people don’t you!?!'

  Pierre smiled again,

  'I try my best.' He said.

  'So what now?' Asked Blue.

  'I don’t know, Isis told me to come back for you. She told me to follow my heart and release you from Daen’s grip.'

  'Isis? You know her too?'

  'Yes, I went to find a way to kill Daen and instead I found Isis.'

  'Oh god Pierre, I’m such a fool!' Blue slumped forward into Pierre’s arms.

  'Hey now,' Pierre held Blue and stroked her hair, 'We’ve got to get you back to your friends and make sure everyone is alright. If I know Daen like I think I do, there’s something big happening and you Blue my precious Goddess are right in the middle of it all.'

  *

  'So where are we going sweet Prince?' Star leaned over him, champagne in one hand and the other on the Prince's leg. She stroked him, trying to tease out some affection.

  'I said it was a surprise.' He got up out of his luxurious seat and moved to the front of the plane to talk to the pilot she presumed.

  Star fidgeted in her seat, she hated being cooped up on aeroplanes, even if they were fitted out with the most expensive and decadent items on the planet. Star was claustrophobic and she had had just about enough of being stuck in a tin can. She may have been able to bear it if she was being lavished attention and spoilt with company that she just couldn't get enough of, but she wasn't.

  She took out her mobile phone and dialled Blue.

  'Hi honey.' Said Blue.

  'Hey Sweet Pea,' replied Star, 'How are you?'

  'I'm okay, I have lots of news, some good, some bad, some just unbelievable.' Blue smiled over the telephone, she had Pierre back, she was content.

  'OOo do spill!' Star got comfortable in her seat.

  'You'll never guess what happened! Right, well, where do I begin...' Started Blue.

  At that very moment the Prince had swept through the cabin and snatched Star's phone from her grasp. He threw it with as much force as he could muster and it smashed into a thousand pieces on the cabin wall. It even made a dint.

  'WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!' Screamed Star as she stood up. She had never been so angry in her whole life.

  The Prince grabbed her around her throat and threw her back to her seat. She was shocked and wasn't expecting violence of this magnitude from this perfect man. The gentleman she had fallen in love with. Tears formed in her eyes.

  'Why?' She muttered crestfallen, falling to her knees.

  'It was never you Star.' The Prince loosened his tie, unbuttoned a few buttons at the top of his shirt.

  'What?' Star said quietly, a bead of blood dripped down her face from her vicious attack.

  'I'm sick of this charade!' Shouted the Prince, 'I'm sick of your behaviour, your constant need for attention, for everything. You're just too much. I can't believe for one second that I imagined being more with you.' He was animated with his gestures, he could barely stand being in the same room as this sycophantic attention whore.

  Tears were streaming down Star's face,

  'Why are you being so vile?' She asked through sobs.

  'Look at you, you're pathetic. The woman in charge of her own legacy. You're a joke Star. I'm laughing at you. The whole world and I are laughing at you. I can't believe I even looked at you at that party. It was only because Blue wasn't so shallow. I see that now. She is born of nothing and she is a thousand times more regal than you.'

  With his speech done he morphed into Daen right before her eyes. Star didn't stop screaming until Daen knocked her unconscious with the back of his hand.

  *

  Teresa's limp dead body lay on the floor, the blood pumping from her neck. Her head lay somewhere else.

  Cleo carefully undid the knots around Jayne's arms and legs and cleaned up Jayne's wounds as best she could. Jayne was sobbing to herself.

  'Oh honey, we'll get you cleaned up. Now that psycho is dead you will be all alright. We both will.'

  Jayne kept on crying uncontrollably, she couldn't stop. She was heartbroken, the woman of her dreams lay in pieces on the floor. She crawled over to Teresa's body, the head missing, she moved around the floor looking for her face. Cleo walked over to her with Teresa's head in her hand.

  'Are you looking for this?' She dropped the head and spat on it, expecting Jayne to do the same. She didn't.

  She lay on the floor with Teresa's head staring back at her. She cried uncontrollably, she was inconsolable. Cleo got to the floor with her, she pushed the hair back from her face and prized the head out of her hands. Jayne could hardly breathe. Cleo helped her up and took her to the bathroom. She left the body in a mess in Jayne's bedroom. Her priority was Jayne and her state of mind. She ran a bath with Jayne in it. She needed to wash her properly in the warm soothing water. Soapy and warm, there was no way she was going to get her clean otherwise. She had to run the bath twice to get all the blood out of her hair. Her skin swelled around the rope burns. When Cleo got her out and into Blue's bed she applied salves and creams to her cuts and bruises. She covered the worst wounds with gauze and then bandages.

  'She was my soul mate.' Jayne had muttered between sobs.

  Cleo kept telling her she had lied and tricked her, but she was having none of it. She just kept crying and screaming for Teresa. Eventually she cried herself out and fell asleep in Blue's clean comfortable bed.

  Cleo watched her sleep, after such an ordeal she knew Jayne was to be watched closely. She was unpredictable and dangerous to herself. If she loved Teresa as much as she said she did, she was a danger to Cleo too.

  Cleo text Valentino telling him that she was okay and that Teresa was dead, that Jayne was fine and everything at the house was drama free. It was all coded. Then she just sat there and let everything run through her mind. She didn't have to sleep. She couldn't, she was on suicide watch.

  *

  Back in the city in her apartment, Blue was staring at the phone in her hand.

  'The phone just went dead,' she was puzzled, 'I was just talking to Star and the phone went dead.'

  'Do you think it’s bad?' Asked Pierre.

  'God I hope not, but I've got a strange feeling.' Blue looked at Pierre with a worried expression, 'We need to go back to Star's to go see what the hell is going off.'

  'Sounds like a plan.' Pierre said as he lit another cigarette.

  Blue sat on the end of her bed, she felt worried, she had never had a bad feeling like this since her mother and father had died when she was ten and the day she was bitten.

  'Hey, come on,' Pierre gave her a big hug, 'It's going to be okay. Okay?'

  *

  Brett regained consciousness with Eliza staring at him.

  'Did you bring the book with you?' She rushed him.

  He moved his head away from her in shock, his whole body waiting for an attack that was never going
to come.

  'You don't need to be so jumpy.' Eliza laughed at his over reaction.

  'Yeah, it's good to see you too.' He was starting to wonder why he was crazy in love with this aloof geek. She so clearly didn't feel the same for him he thought.

  He sat up, got his backpack and pulled out the ancient tome. Isis glided past and took the book from him faster than he could think about reacting.

  'Thank you for bringing this back.' She said as she swept past.

  Brett looked puzzled, 'What on earth is going off?'

  'I'm not entirely sure Brett,' said Eliza, 'Would you please tell us what is happening dear Goddess Isis?'

  'I'm afraid I cannot reveal too much at this point. I need you two here with me in this temple, to help me complete the rituals we will need to perform.'

  'What rituals?'

  'Dearest Eliza, you will just have to wait and see.'

  Eliza nodded, 'Yes Goddess, as you wish.'

  'Bless you my child, you have the patience of the ancients.' Isis told Eliza.

  Eliza blushed and turned to speak to her ghost sister.

  'Amelia, can you go back home and find out what's going off there?'

  'Of course.' And without question she vanished into the ether.

  Brett looked over to Eliza and smiled. Eliza looked to be in her element.

  'I fainted.' He said to Eliza.

  She looked up from the books surrounding her and smiled,

  'She has that effect on everyone.'

  Chapter Thirteen.