She shook her head. “No. My arm’s burning like a bitch so I must have stabbed myself with something again to worship him. There’s a black hole in my memory after we drank the blood and you guys were all yakking about what’s been happening.”
Yuri quickly undressed. Then he helped Keisha to strip also.
“I wish I could enjoy being naked with you but I’m too tired,” she said with a yawn.
Yuri nodded. “I am content to hold you, knowing that your eyes are the color they’re supposed to be once again. Each time he does that, I’m afraid he won’t let you come back to me. I don’t know how we are going to stop him but I won’t let him keep doing this to you.”
Keisha held out her arms. “Then hold me, please. Hold me while I fall asleep.”
Yuri climbed into bed with her, turned out the light on the nightstand, and pulled the sheet over them. Keisha crept into his arms and he held her close to his heart.
As he felt her drop from consciousness, he promised, “I’ll never let you go.”
Chapter Eighteen
When the daylight just began to fade, the men all woke up since they were attuned to the cycle of day and night. As older ones, they were more able to stretch their awake time at both the beginning and the end of the night. Keisha slept on as Yuri showered, dressed, and then returned to wait for her to wake up.
He didn’t wait long when she sighed and opened her eyes to see him sitting next to the bed, staring at her. Her eyes widened as she was startled into alert wakefulness.
“Wow. Nothing like making me totally self-conscious. Not too freaky, watching me sleep, right? I didn’t drool or do anything else gross, did I?”
A smile played around Yuri’s lips. “First of all, vampires are truly dead to the world when we sleep so there’s no possibility of your doing anything gross like drooling. You are immobile, as we all are. Secondly, there is nothing you could do that I would find gross because I am head-over-heels in love with you. Third, I love to look at you, to gloat over the fact that you belong to me.”
“Belong? Hold on a minute there, old man.” She sat up and frowned at him. “I don’t know what kind of female you are used to dealing with but I don’t belong to any man. I belong to myself. I may choose to spend my time with you because I happen to be in love with you also. The feminist in me won’t allow you to say you own me.”
Yuri’s smile grew broader. “Oh? Well Ms. Feminist, is it alright if I like to think that I belong to you? Because this in-love thing is a two-way street. Together we are both so much more than we are apart.”
Keisha shrugged, “I guess so.” A reluctant smile appeared on her lips. “I did notice you bristling with jealousy over the attention César gave me.”
He frowned. “I don’t mind if other men look at you as long as it’s clear to them that you are with me.”
“Even vampires can be jealous?”
“I may be undead...”
“Differently-animated,” she corrected.
He nodded. “Yes, differently-animated, but I am still a man. One born in a time when females—even if they were royalty—were the property of their husbands.”
Keisha sniffed as she slid out of bed. “Then it’s a good thing we’re not married.”
Moving faster than she saw, Yuri was suddenly in front of her, one arm wrapped around her with his hand holding her butt to pull her against his erection. He used his other hand to caress the side of her face as he lowered his head to crush her lips in a passionate kiss . She moaned aloud as her body responded to his urgent request.
“Do we have time for this?” she asked breathily.
“Probably not. We need to meet the others and start out on our journey. We may or may not find him tonight. Finding him is the only way to set you free so that has to be our paramount concern. When you are naked, I can’t not respond to your beauty.”
“A quickie?”
The words were scarcely out of her lips when he turned and pushed her up against the wall. His lips nibbled at her neck as he quickly undid his pants. His cock, dark red and engorged, sprang free and pointed at its intended target. He rubbed himself against the moisture between her legs, increasing it until he felt her open for him. He pushed his way into her, impaling her while he grabbed her hips and moved her to pleasure them both.
Keisha breathed noticeably as he single-mindedly drove himself into her with the speed of a piston on a race car. She barely had time to feel much before the orgasm hit her with the force of a freight train. She screamed as she clenched around him. The waves of pleasure pulled her along to repeated peaks until with one final thrust, he held her hips firmly and groaned as he twitched in spasms inside of her.
Yuri buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. He dipped his head lower and his lips moved down to her neck, the quick bite producing a trickle of blood that he licked at gently. Keisha trembled with mini-orgasmic after-shocks. When he kissed her lips, she licked her own blood off of his tongue before she smiled at him.
“Phew. Even our quickies produce mind-blowing orgasms.”
Yuri nodded gravely. “That is how I bind you to me, reminding you that only I can give you this much pleasure.”
Keisha grinned. “Okay, Romeo. Point taken. Now I have to shower and get dressed so we can get this show on the road. You might want to join me for a quick minute.”
Yuri shook his head. “No, I want to smell like I just had sex with you. It will remind the other men whose woman you are. I won’t lose you, Keisha...I can’t.”
“I’m depending on that, Yuri. The others want to help me but they don’t care about me the way you do. I know you will do anything you have to and that gives me a sense of security I probably shouldn’t have.”
“Go...shower and get ready. Then we need to get upstairs to join the others.”
* * * *
It wasn’t long before they rode the elevator up to the main floor. They followed the sounds of conversation and found the other three vampires in a heated discussion.
“I still say we should leave her here with my guards to watch over her,” César said, frowning. “He has too much control over her. Bringing her with us will endanger us all.”
“He learned to control me seven-hundred years ago. From what you say, he’s spent some time over the past few hundred years learning how to bend your will to his also. Yet we are both going.”
“He was never able to completely control me as he does her.”
“How do you know he just hasn’t ever wanted to?”
César turned in surprise when he heard Keisha’s voice.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you have always done what he wanted you to do, even if it was reluctantly,” Keisha replied calmly. “So, there was no need to incapacitate you or your crew. I keep wondering about things and trying to solve problems. I’m a scientist so I can’t not search for solutions. Isolating the spores was only the beginning, as far as I am concerned. I can’t wait to synthesize actual usable blood so we don’t have to always rely on human donors.”
“You see,” Apolinar smiled at Keisha before turning back to César. “I have been a vampire for seven-hundred years, yet—until I met her—it never occurred to me to wonder if it was possible to create a really viable, yet tasty blood substitute. I never cared to learn that our vampirism comes from spores in our blood that were likely brought to our planet in the bodies of those who sought to create a new class of slaves. Think about it—the people of the ancient Mayan culture had no idea what else to call the creatures who came among them, except gods. They had no science which could explain spaceships. The people must have been a huge disappointment to their invaders since they were too technologically inept to be of much use. So, the plan was to share some of what they were—the spores in the blood—then to return when the human race had progressed to a more advanced, yet still malleable population.”
Apolinar turned and bowed to Keisha. “My dear, see the effect you have even on this poo
r man’s son-turned sailors’ cabin-boy? I don’t think I have ever attempted to think along these lines, nor have I ever cared to put together what I already knew, with what was going on around me. Your way of thinking has impressed me...or perhaps it was in our exchange of blood when you learned to see colors and I learned to use my brain. No matter the cause, I am grateful.”
César frowned. “Are you both calling me stupid? Saying that since my thoughts never threatened him, he never felt a need to stop me?”
Apolinar strode forward to embrace César. “No, old friend. I am calling us both slow to make connections. We are all intelligent in our own way but it is Keisha’s way that’s perceived by him as a threat.”
“Then we should do as I suggested and leave her here, surrounded by my guards. For her own good...and for ours.”
“To what point?” Yuri asked. “He can reach her mind over thousands of miles so distance won’t stop him. Maybe if she is there, he will expend energy to control her and be more...”
“Say no more,” Apolinar cautioned. “No need to draw his attention to yourself.”
Yuri looked surprised, and then nodded in agreement.
“I say enough talking. It’s time for us to seek out this false god and bargain with him.” Casimiro gestured at the door.
Those already in the room held their almost empty glasses. César poured blood into the two empty ones and offered them to the two newcomers. Everyone drank the dark red liquid, and then they walked over to the door, led by Apolinar. César was the last to leave. He punched numbers into the security system, and then spoke in a low voice to his guards. When he was done, he joined the group and nodded.
“We leave, either to find our destiny, or to be destroyed. Either way, it’s a nice night for it.” César nodded at the others, then levitated into the air and drifted in the opposite direction from the one they originally came from.
“Is that the right way?” Yuri asked Apolinar, who shrugged.
“We need to get to the pyramid of Chichen-Itza, to where so many blood sacrifices were held to honor the ancient gods. I believe he is heading the right way. This is his land, not mine anymore. We have no choice but to trust him.”
The rest of the vampires launched themselves into the air with varying degrees of finesse. They followed César into the night.
Chapter Nineteen
Keisha tried not to enjoy herself but the whole notion of being able to fly was so new to her that she was caught up in the bliss of being airborne. She floated along on the warm humid currents, smelling the blooming of the night flowers, and looking down on the occasional humans with amusement.
I wonder if any of them have any idea we are up here. Probably not. It never would have occurred to me to look up for people flying by, commando-style, not in a plane.
She glanced at Yuri who was right by her side, keeping up with her and yet alert to any change in direction from those leading them. He felt her looking at him and turned to flash a loving smile before he returned to protective vigilance.
I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I sure am lucky that you found me. First you saved my life, literally. Now you are teaching me a whole new way to live, complete with perks like flying, to make up for the huge downside of the whole blood-sucking-demon-thing. I just hope we are able to survive this night.
With the enhanced vision of a night creature, Keisha saw César begin his descent with the others right behind him. She and Yuri also slowed down and then landed. This time Keisha watched what the other men did and imitated them. Her landing was still not as effortless as theirs but this time—thanks to her quick learning curve—she didn’t just fall out of the sky.
As they regrouped, the cloud covering the moon retreated and Keisha gasped. They stood in the moon shadow of a pyramid every bit as imposing as those in Egypt. There was a stairway carved into the side they stood by, and an eerie stillness made her aware that she was the only one audibly breathing. Realizing that being quiet was a concern, she forced herself to slow her breaths down, since her heart wasn’t discernibly beating so there was no need for extra oxygen. Excitement and habit were her only excuses.
César nodded toward one of the corners. They moved slowly, following close behind him.
“There is an entrance to the main temple just behind this corner,” he whispered.
“I have been in there only a few times for special ceremonies.” He winced visibly. “Not a pleasant experience.”
As the rest of them approached him, César reached out a hand and pressed against a block that was near his knee. There was a grinding noise and the huge heavy blocks slid to one side, creating a door just wide enough for one person at a time to pass through. César squeezed through it, followed by Apolinar, then Casimiro.
Yuri gallantly waved at Keisha to precede him. She took a deep breath—more for nerves than for any real need for oxygen—and then she let it out and pushed her way through the stones. Yuri was right behind her.
They stood in pitch blackness with only a sliver of moonlight sneaking through the doorway. There was the sound of a match being struck and the visitors turned to see César holding a torch he had taken down from the wall. Apolinar and Casimiro also took torches, and lit theirs off of the first one. Still not talking, César led the way through what seemed like endless passages until they came to a main chamber.
Keisha was glad she didn’t need to breathe anymore. There was the stench of death in this room. Scattered around were bones, some animal, and most human. There was a pedestal with a kneeling pad and a bucket in front of it, into which a head would surely fall once it was separated from the body. There were skulls still in the basket. Most were devoid of much gore, having been dried by the cool dry air in the temple. None looked recent.
As they looked around at the various elements of torture comprising the religious rites of the ancient Mayans, César suddenly stopped and cocked his head as if listening. He nodded and then turned to the rest of them to speak quietly.
“This way. He is expecting us.”
Apolinar and Casimiro exchanged worried glances. César pressed on a stone in the wall and revealed a smaller passageway that was hidden behind an altar. Yuri took Keisha’s hand as they descended further into the pyramid, heading almost straight down into the earth. The air was now close, since little oxygen circulated this far underground with no apparent venting system. They continued walking for some time, with the torches sometimes flickering wildly at the paucity of fresh air to keep them burning.
Keisha wondered what they would do if they were suddenly in darkness again. She tried not to panic, but she gripped Yuri’s hand harder. He gave her a reassuring squeeze, keeping himself just behind her so she could sense the solidness of his body near hers.
Keisha heard mumbling ahead of her. As she rounded the corner, she saw César on his knees with his forehead on the dirt floor, speaking in a language she didn’t understand. Apolinar and Casimiro were on their knees as well, but they looked straight ahead of them. They had all dropped the torches they carried, but there was light enough to see from the few torches burning hung in holes on the walls. Keisha felt momentary panic that and they would be crushed by the vacuum. Then she realized it wasn’t air pressure that was crushing her downwards to land on her knees as well. Yuri also went down, and they both looked in the direction the power came from.
Standing at the far end of the room was what César had accurately described as a mummy. The figure was short, dark, and thin, with its dried skin molded to the bones underneath it. The skull had no hair but there were dark patches all over the entire body where tattoos on the skin stretched tightly across the bone. The body was naked except for a tiny dirt-covered loincloth covering its groin in the front. This figure should not have been able to move. Then it did.
It slowly advanced towards them. The hideously toothless, grinning skull of a face stretched taut spoke first in Mayan, then in Spanish, and finally in English. The voice sounded distant and stra
ined, from brittle and unused vocal cords and a tongue that looked like a dried piece of sandpaper.
“I will speak in your new language so that all will understand me. It is good that you have brought me the female to sacrifice in celebration of the return of the gods being so near.”
“No.” Yuri spoke with great effort, pushing out the syllable with difficulty.
The mummy walked slowly over to examine Yuri more closely.
“I don’t know you. I have never tasted you. You have no right to speak in my presence.” He turned dismissively away and walked over to stand in front of Apolinar.
“You have been gone far too long. You have forgotten the ways of worship I taught you so long ago. Your sharing blood with her let me hear her blasphemy. She will be sacrificed as so many were—to honor those who will return.”
Keisha’s eyes were wide open with terror as he approached her. He touched her with the tip of one of his dried twig-like fingers. She tried to move but was rooted to the spot as his fingernail tore a hole in her neck. He dipped a finger into it and then quickly stuck it into his mouth to lick at the blood.
He shuffled over to stand in front of Casimiro. “You have shared much blood with Apolinar, my servant. You are welcome to join us in celebrating the return of the gods. César the unwilling, will prepare her for sacrifice.”
Yuri tried to move but was unable to break free of the power the ancient vampire used to keep them all still.
Apolinar spoke with great effort, “Xaman Ek, most holy and exalted servant of the travelers who are gods,” he began.
The Mayan turned his attention to him.
“We did not come to worship the gods with you. We came to ask you to stop invading the mind of the woman. She is nothing to you. She is no threat to you or the gods. We beg you to be merciful and set her free.”
The Mayan smiled a horrible grimace that held no joy. The evil that glinted in his rotting eyeballs let them know his answer.
“You know you have no free will. You brought her to me because I wished it. She is only a female and unworthy of the gods but her blood will serve to let them know the old ways are being honored. She will be set free by being sacrificed to the gods who will return to set us all free. No longer will we be bound to these bodies or to this planet. We will travel among the stars with them and become gods like them: eternally young and strong. So I was told so long ago and so it will happen.”
Prophecy of the Undead Page 14