by T. S. Ryder
“I’m sorry,” Kendra began cautiously. “I may be a little forward, but I have to ask... Keith Duquesne...”
Anais smiled sadly. “My late husband,” she replied, “He spoke very fondly of you, Dr. Allenby, and I know he would’ve loved to see you involved in the work we’ve been doing here... in a more official capacity, that is.”
That last comment appeared to confuse Kendra. “I don’t understand,” she said. “You say that as if I’d already done work for you and clearly...” She paused, connecting the dots in her head, her expression changing as she finally understood what Anais meant. “The blood samples he kept bringing me,” she said, not sounding particularly pleased. “I’m presuming that has something to do with this whole SNAFU.”
Anais nodded apologetically. “I had no idea he had involved you until I found his private notes after the police released his belongings to me,” she admitted, “He had no right to bring you into this, or to keep your findings to himself... but now we can’t go on with our research without you, not without setting ourselves back for god knows how long.”
“Which we can’t afford to do,” Sebastien added, eager to get to the point and get out of the lab. Expelling Kendra from his mind completely may not have been possible, but it was much easier to do when they weren’t in the same room.
“But I barely know anything!” Kendra defended herself, but Anais didn’t back down.
“You know more than you think,” she told her. “And once you’re fully acquainted with the situation, you’ll be more useful to us than you know.”
“Then you’d better bring me up to speed because I don’t want to spend any more time here than I absolutely have to,” Kendra said with a tone of bitter resignation, frustrated but aware that she was not in control of the situation.
“Tell me what you know so far,” Anais prompted her gently, doing her best to diffuse the tension.
Crossing her arms, Kendra replied. “He only ever brought me microscope images and bloodwork analysis results,” she told them, “I begged him for samples, but he kept telling me it was too risky. I thought he was pulling my leg until I saw the first batch – everything was so... off. Parts of what I saw seemed perfectly normal, but then there were these details that kept popping out that definitely shouldn’t have been there. The blood from the control group seemed to be carrying far more oxygen than should be possible, and had ridiculously powerful white cells and regeneration levels that were through the roof, while the blood from the diseased group showed signs of damage that pointed to cancer – but somehow seemed to behave like a virus at the same time. But that’s all I know. Dr. Duquesne kept me in the dark as much as he could without making me completely useless and refused to answer any of my questions. If it was anyone but him running me through all those hoops, I would’ve told them to go screw themselves and left on the first day.” She looked serious and angry, a feeling Sebastien could sympathize with, but couldn’t prioritize above the wellbeing of his Clan.
“That was the part we missed,” Anais said, looking hopeful for the first time in months, “We kept treating it like cancer and getting nowhere, but if the disease has a viral component, then we could try harvesting antibodies to create a vaccine.”
“But how the hell could this thing have developed in the first place?” Alex demanded, pain and frustration making him callous. “Vampires don’t get cancer!”
Kendra laughed. She had a beautiful laugh, bright and clear, a cheerful bell that rang through the laboratory... until she realized she was the only one amused by the comment. The laughter died out and she looked at them, confused and incredulous. “Oh, come on,” she exclaimed. “You can’t be serious.”
Sebastien looked to Kendra, half dreading and half eager for the moment of revelation. He stepped closer and opened his mouth, revealing the pronounced upper canines, longer and sharper than that of a human... and growing longer despite his efforts to control himself in response to Kendra’s vicinity.
This would be the true test of her mental strength and adaptability, and he prayed to god, more for her sake than for his, that she would not fail.
Chapter Five
Ah. So this was why he was so convinced that the police would not take her seriously if she went to them with accusations of kidnapping once they released her, the clinically detached, logical part of Kendra’s brain reasoned, while the rest of her was thrown into a frantic state of panic.
Like a trapped animal facing a hungry predator, her first instinct was to flee, but the men behind her grabbed her by the forearms the second she began to move, steadying her in place.
But they underestimated her will for survival, and when she kicked back, jabbing her heel into Beauchamp’s shin, he released his grip on her out of sheer surprise and the shock of the sharp pain that made him fall down and clutch his leg. Wasting no time, she punched the other man, who was no less surprised than his partner, and dashed into a sprint without looking back, desperate to get out of this place and away from the monsters that surrounded her.
Vampires. Freaking blood-sucking vampires!
But how could that be? Vampires weren’t real – they weren’t supposed to be real! And yet this very real man had stood in front of her and allowed her to see what she could only call fangs descending, growing thicker and longer right before her very eyes, glistening threateningly in the neon light of the laboratory. She knew there were crazy people who were into the whole ‘creatures of the dark’ thing and went as far as to attach prosthetics or even permanently alter their teeth to achieve the desired look, but she had no doubt that what she had seen was very real, even though her brain screamed at her that this couldn’t possibly be true. She had seen his teeth and the roof of his mouth as clear as day, and there was nothing there to suggest some sort of advanced mechanized braces or any other sort of artifice.
It was real.
Vampires were real.
Good god in heaven, they were real, and she was trapped in a house full of them!
She didn’t get very far, although later on, when her mind cleared and she was once again able to think clearly, she’d be surprised she’d managed to get as far as she did before Sebastien caught up to her and, grabbing her shoulders, forced her to a stop before turning her around to face him.
With another spike of panic blazing through her, Kendra screamed and tried to punch, bite, kick – anything! – but Sebastien’s eyes flickered silver as he said, “Calm down,” and, just like that, she was... well... calm.
It was not a pleasant feeling. She knew that she should be afraid and outraged, that suddenly stilling down like a toy that had had its batteries ripped out was not normal, and she felt violated by the action. Yet, as aware of the entire thing as she was, she still couldn’t will herself to react as violently as she felt the need to.
“What did you do to me?” she asked in half-choked voice.
“What had to be done,” Sebastien replied without remorse, “You could’ve hurt yourself.” There was a slight change in his voice there, a hint of... concern? But no, it couldn’t be. She had to have been imagining it. He didn’t care about what happened to her, only about how he could use her to his advantage.
“When they jumped me in the cab,” she muttered, suddenly making sense of her memories. “Beauchamp... he said ‘Sleep’ and I just...”
Sebastien nodded. “It’s one of our gifts,” he told her, “We can’t do much with it, though. Just simple commands.”
Despite the hold he had on her, Kendra felt herself growing angry again. “Sleep. Calm down. Stay. Sit. Roll over,” she spat bitterly.
Sebastien closed his eyes in exasperation. “It’s not like that,” he said, opening his eyes again, but Kendra had had just about enough of his crap.
“It is exactly like that!” she yelled at him. “My god, do you even see me as a person? Or am I just chattel to you?”
Whatever he had intended to reply, he never got a chance because Beauchamp and Stefan were suddenly ther
e, Beauchamp pissed and Stefan... of all things, amused.
“You bitch!” Beauchamp snarled, ready to pounce her. She was too fed up with the entire mess to be afraid of him, welcoming the confrontation instead, but before he could reach her Sebastien hand his hand around Beauchamp’s throat, holding him up with barely any visible effort, his face a mask of pure fury.
“If you ever speak that way to her again, there won’t be enough of you left to bury,” he growled, and Kendra believed he meant exactly what he said... as did, apparently, everyone else, because the next things he knew both Dr. Roche-Duquesne and Stefan were on Sebastien, trying to get him to release Beauchamp. The entire scene was making her head hurt, and she began to feel weak, swaying on her feet.
“Kendra,” she heard Sebastien call her name, but she didn’t seem to have enough energy to respond, and when she finally managed to look up, he was in front of her, Beauchamp free from his grip.
“I don’t feel so well,” she murmured, and he nodded.
“I’ll take her back to her room,” he told Dr. Roche-Duquesne.
“You do that,” she agreed, “I’ll find her tomorrow, and if she feels better, we’ll get to work.”
Sebastien put one arm around her shoulders and used the other to prop her up by her elbow. “Come on... let’s get out of here,” he told her, sounding gentler and more human than ever. She nodded and let him lead her back to the room she’d been assigned, and didn’t even bother to protest when he helped her lay down, taking her shoes off and covering her with the duvet once she was back in bed. “It’s the mind-spells,” he told her, even though she asked for no explanations. “You have a strong will and your brain is actively trying to fight them off.”
Kendra scoffed. “Doesn’t seem to me like my mind is particularly strong,” she told him. “Both you and Beauchamp got me exactly where you wanted me with just a few words.”
Sebastien sat at the foot of the bed. “Alex used more force on you than he normally would have because he wanted to make sure you didn’t wake up on the flight over.”
“Ah... so that’s how we went from Florida to Louisiana so fast,” she mused, mulling his words over in her head. If Sebastien was surprised she knew where they were (sort of), he didn’t show it. “So it doesn’t work the same way on everyone?” she asked, the inquisitive mind of the research scientist kicking in, seeking information as a form of coping mechanism because, for her, it was always easier to deal with things, no matter how difficult they were, if she understood what was going on.
“It depends,” he told her, playing along, “If you’re trying to give someone that final nudge to do something they already wanted to do, then it works like a charm... the less the human is likely to do what you want them to on their own, the more you have to push into their mind. It’s... not recommended to push too hard, though. Human psyche doesn’t take tampering well.” As evidenced by her sudden but steadily growing fatigue.
She yawned, hiding her head under the cover because she felt too weak to cover her mouth with her hand. “I’ll let you rest now,” Sebastien said, rising off the bed, “I’ll put Stefan at your door again, but I think you and Alex need to be kept apart until you learn how to play together,” he joked, and it sounded so odd coming from him... but, then again, she didn’t exactly know the man, just what he seemed like to her.
“Why is he so...” she began, but couldn’t find the words. “He’s not angry, but it does seem like I annoy him more than I should, considering we’ve only just met.”
Sebastien smiled, and Kendra couldn’t help but think how it lit up his face, lifting some of that gravity he seemed to always carry around. “He’s a little peeved you didn’t fall at his feet when he tried to talk you into taking the job with us,” he told her. “And... he lost someone to the disease. Someone he loved. I know, deep inside, he understands you need time to adjust to this, but he can’t help resent you for not taking this as seriously as he wants you to.” It made sense, Kendra supposed, but that didn’t make Beauchamp any less of an ass.
She yawned again, and Sebastien approached her, lowering his head to lay a kiss on her brow. “Sleep,” he whispered, but she had a feeling this was not... what did he call it? A mind-spell? Yeah, a mind-spell. No, it sounded like ordinary words, like a farewell for the evening... or the night, she supposed. He was a vampire, she thought as she drifted off to sleep. His day had just begun.
She woke up the next day, confused when she realized there was a black panel where the window had been the night before. She took a moment to let herself fully come to her senses before she got off the bed and went to inspect what turned out to be a thick metallic pane, like a window blind, that completely blocked the outside light from coming in. It seemed logical, she decided. In most of the stories, vampires burned in the sun, so it stood to reason that they’d want to protect themselves during the day.
She realized then that everyone in the house was probably asleep now, which made her wonder what she should do, presuming that she was probably the only person awake at this moment. Figuring that she might as well use the opportunity to snoop a bit, she used the bathroom and changed into clean clothes before stepping out into the hallway... only to be met by two new faces, both male. “You’re not Alex and Stefan,” she noted, remembering the names Sebastien had given her last night.
“No, ma’am. Daylight guard,” the one to the left replied as if that was supposed to mean something to her. “I’m Edward. My partner here is Jake. We were assigned to take care of you today. Do you want to head downstairs for breakfast? Or would you like to see the Doc right away?”
Kendra presumed he meant Dr. Roche-Duquesne and nodded. “I’d like that,” she said, and followed the two guards down the same path Beauchamp and Stefan had taken her the night before.
Dr. Roche-Duquesne was already in the laboratory, bent over a microscope. Now that Kendra was a little more focused, she took a moment to observe the woman. Sebastien introduced her as his sister, but she looked at least twenty years older than he was, with graying hair cut in a pixie bob and lines creased across her face. She supposed that meant that real vampires, as opposed to the fictional ones, did age... and then her mind did another double take when she realized she was already accepting the premise of vampires as a part of reality.
But it was either that or go completely insane, and she rather enjoyed being in full control of her mental faculties.
“Good day,” she said, both in greeting and to announce herself, since Dr. Roche-Duquesne hadn’t seem to notice anyone had arrived.
The woman lifted her head up just enough to see who it was and smiled when she saw Kendra. “Dr. Allenby!” she greeted her merrily and waved for her to come over. “Take a look at this sample,” she told Kendra, and she did as she was bid after adjusting the lens a little.
The slide was mounted with a stained blood film, and Kendra deduced it was a fairly fresh sample. Now that she could observe for herself this (for her) strange new substance, she was amazed by all the similarities and the differences between human and vampire blood. Not all of them could be seen through simple observation, but to her as a scientist, what she could see now was a source of what she felt could become an endless fascination.
“You know, when Dr. Duquesne first introduced me to this,” she told his widow, “I wanted to know everything about it, but the way he kept me at arm’s length turned me off it almost completely.”
Anais Roche-Duquesne chuckled. “I gather that was exactly why he was doing it,” she told Kendra. “He was trying to keep you safe while using you as a fresh set of eyes. The idiot.” Kendra lifted her eyes off the microscope and gave the good doctor a quizzical look. “Oh, what? Am I supposed to think him infallible just because he was my husband?” the older woman asked teasingly. “He did wrong by you. The fact that it got him the results he wanted don’t change that.” Somehow, hearing that made Kendra feel a little better about the whole situation. She was pushed into this through no fault of her o
wn, and it was good to know others understood it as well, especially after what Sebastien had told her about Beauchamp last night.
“Whose blood is this?” she asked.
“Stefan Beauchamp’s,” Dr. Roche-Duquesne replied, and chuckled at the stunned look on Kendra’s face. “I know, they don’t seem like brothers at all,” she said.
“I’ll say,” Kendra murmured, and took another peek through the microscope. “It doesn’t appear that he’s infected,” she noted.
“He’s not,” Dr. Roche-Duquesne confirmed. “We haven’t managed to find a cure yet, but our research wasn’t completely in vain. We devised a test that locates the disease with 97% accuracy, and we’ve found some ways of alleviating the symptoms. The method of transmission kept us baffled, though, until Keith decided to come to you.”
Kendra rose from the telescope again and took a seat on one of the nearby stools. “But that doesn’t make any sense,” she said, but Dr. Roche-Duquesne waved her head.
“You have to understand, for all the similarities, vampire physiology differs rather drastically from human in a number of ways that made figuring anything about this disease extremely difficult,” she tried to explain. “Their metabolisms are much faster and their cells repair any damage they sustain so quickly and so completely that viral and bacterial diseases barely presented a problem before.” Knowing next to nothing about the vampire race, Kendra took the doctor’s word for it, instead addressing a new source of confusion.
“Their?” she asked, “I thought you and Sebastien were siblings?”
“We are,” Dr. Roche-Duquesne nodded, smiling again. “I’m his baby sister.” If she were not sitting already, Kendra was sure she would’ve felt her legs wobble at that little piece of information. “Shocking, I know,” the older woman said, apparently amused by Kendra’s reaction. “It doesn’t happen often, but vampires and humans have been known to Bond and produce offspring.” Something about the way the doctor said the word ‘bond’ made Kendra practically hear the capital B.