by S. M. Bowles
“But he does!”
I could feel my blood stirring with the sudden realization. It was a very strange feeling, that somehow I remembered him, was a part of him and he was a part of me and those parts were longing to be reunited. It was all I could think about; how much I loved him and always wanted to share with him all the wondrous sensations we created whenever we were together. Herrik stopped long enough for me to catch up and stood with his back to me.
“And I cannot…I will not let you suffer the consequences of loving me,” Herrik spoke over my thoughts as I stood shaking my head no unwilling to hear such horrifying words. “I think it’s time for you to go home, Emily. I’ve kept you far too long.”
“Home?” I whispered.
“Yes. Home, to your family. I know you’ve thought about it. I know how much you’ve missed it. You want a normal life, Emily. You don’t want to live like this…you’re not meant to live like this.”
“No,” I muttered. “I can’t. I don’t even remember my family!”
“I’ll help you.”
“You’ll help me? How?” I demanded. Herrik didn’t answer but he didn’t really need to either. I knew he could stir up all my old memories just as easily as he could cover them up. “Please, Herrik. You can’t do this to me. Don’t make me forget. Don’t take this away from me!” I used his old trick to hide my thoughts. “You can’t,” I insisted, “I won’t let you!”
There was a flash of anger in his eyes combined with a hint of worry, “Pray that I can, Emily. Pray that I can!”
I started to cry then turning started to run; determined to get away from him and to escape all that he was saying.
“Emily, wait,” Herrik called in a voice that froze me in place. I couldn’t break free from him the way I sometimes could from Avery.
“Yes, Herrik,” I said dazedly.
He was standing directly behind me. His hands were on my shoulders and I heard his voice in my ear, “You are everything to me…” he whispered.
“Everything,” I murmured.
“I love you.”
“I love you, Herrik.”
I felt the backs of his fingers brush the length of my neck from behind my ear to the curve of my collarbone. I leaned my head back against his chest and closed my eyes. My flesh shivered beneath the pressure of his mouth and for the briefest of moments we were one; locked together in some strange symbiotic ecstasy.
He whirled me about and taking my face in his hands he kissed me; softly, solemnly, lovingly.
“Please don’t,” I whispered. “Everything I am, I am because of you; for you, Herrik.”
“I’m sorry,” he was still holding my face in his hands; his eyes swimming with unshed tears.
A violent pain began throbbing behind my eyes all the way through my skull and to the back of my head. It only lasted a split second then I heard it. A shot in the dark. I gasped and all the strength left me. Herrik and I both fell the pavement. I vaguely sensed someone searching through his coat pockets. Then when they were done they came to me and went through my purse. They noticed the diamond earrings that Herrik had given me and tried easing them from my lobes.
“No!” I screamed and clawed at the face of the person as they bent over me unwilling to let go of such a precious gift after what I had just learned.
“Fuck!” they howled in pain and reached for their gun again.
I heard the click of the trigger, once, twice. It was jammed and before they could pull it a third time it was swatted from their hand and went spinning across the pavement end over end. The next thing I knew the body of the thief was lying broken and battered in a haphazard sprawl beside me and I saw Avery bent over Herrik. He gently shook him by the shoulders and called to him but Herrik did not respond.
Avery slashed his wrist and held it to Herrik’s lips but as soon as the blood entered his mouth it seemed to pour out of the wound in his chest.
“Why won’t he heal?!” Avery cried out in anguish. “When did he last…?”
I sat up shaking and crying, “I…I don’t know!” I bawled.
Avery scooped Herrik up, “Where’s the car?” he demanded.
I stumbled to my feet and kicked my shoes off, “This way!” I started running, hiking my dress above my knees and my bare feet pounding the pavement with Avery half a step behind me.
“Key!”
It was in Herrik’s coat and I had to search more than once because my fingers were trembling so badly I couldn’t come up with it right away. I unlocked the doors and Avery carefully arranged Herrik in the backseat. I slid in beside him and laid his head in my lap as Avery took the wheel. He drove with a frantic, preternatural skill that had us miles away from the city before I could fully grasp anything that had and was happening.
“Help him damn it!” Avery snapped me back to awareness.
“How?” I wailed. “What do I do?!”
Avery’s jaw clenched. He jostled for something from under the cuff of his pant leg and handed it to me. It was a vicious, thin blade with an ivory handle. He looked at me in the mirror and nodded, “Go on! Do it!”
I howled mournfully as I ran the blade across my wrist then held the livid, weeping wound to Herrik’s mouth. My blood ebbed and flowed but Herrik never made any attempt to draw more from me than what came out of its own accord. Avery glanced back from time to time but there was never any change in Herrik. I silently cried and bent over him whispering words of love and encouragement, praying to whatever god there was to save him.
By the time we were in the canyon I had lost a great deal of blood and started to feel weak and faint from all the anguish and from having given so much to Herrik. I was hardly aware but Avery took a sharp turn well before the gate and was taking us to the summit where the private elevator from Herrik’s apartment was. When we reached the plateau the car skidded to a stop and Avery launched himself out of the driver’s seat then wrenched the passenger’s door open and gathered Herrik back up.
“Hurry!” he screamed at me.
I slid across the seat and fell onto the ground. Avery whirled about and with a concern I would never have imagined possible from someone like him, “I can’t carry you both,” he gently laid Herrik down beside me. “Here,” Avery ran his teeth across his wrist and held it out to me.
I shook my head, “I can’t.”
“You must,” he ran his eyes over me.
“Herrik…please…” he looked so lifeless staring blankly up into the night sky.
“Herrik would never forgive me if I save him only to lose you.”
The way he said it wrenched my heart, “He knows.” I thought to myself as I accepted his outstretched arm. I shivered when all the tiny hairs covering my body stood on end as Avery’s essence began to course through me invigorating me from the inside out. He was so different from Herrik – so simple. Everything seemed either just black or white, there were no gray areas.
Avery believed what Avery believed and anything beyond his realm of interest he differed to others to decide considering them higher matters and unworthy, so to say, of his particular set of abilities. I could feel that Avery was fiercely loyal, too, to Herrik, to Artur, to me and, “Oh, my, he loves Penny.” I pretended not to have noticed. A moment later Avery helped me up then carefully gathered Herrik back into his arms. After a brief search we found the hidden door and I heaved it open.
Avery flew down the stairs and I followed two at a time. He had already called the elevator and as we stood waiting for its arrival all the horrifying images of Herrik being shot played over and over in my mind. Desperate to block them out I closed my eyes and willed the world away. It seemed to take forever for us to reach Herrik’s floor. Artur was already there when we arrived in the meeting room. Avery laid Herrik out on the vast oval table then came and stood by my side.
“What happened?” Artur was tremendously calm as he looked Herrik over.
“He’s been shot. He won’t heal. Emily and I…we both tried.”
“Ssh,” Artur bent his head to Herrik’s chest and laid his ear against it. “What is that?!” he asked mystified. Artur ripped Herrik’s shirt open to his navel and gently placed his palm over the gaping wound the bullet had made. “Help me,” he commanded Avery.
Together they hovered over Herrik, their hands one on top of the other. Concentrating they willed the bullet loose. Artur plucked it from hole in Herrik’s chest and reflexively dropped it onto the table when it buzzed and whirled slashing at fingertips. It bounced and rattled against the wood seemingly with a life of its own.
“What is that?!” Avery frowned at the tiny orb.
“It’s one of ours!” Artur said aghast. “A bullet…a bullet designed to kill vampires.” Artur snatched it up and expertly disabled it. “See,” he pointed to the device.
The bullet was shaped like a miniature drill with half a dozen or so razor-fine blades protruding from the sides. Artur placed it on the table and reactivated it and as the bullet began to spin the blades fanned out. Artur ripped a piece of fabric from Herrik’s shirt and held it against the bullet which instantly tore it to shreds.
“That is what it did to…”
Herrik gasped and sat upright clutching at his chest, “Emily!”
“I’m here!” I cried as Artur tried to force him to lie back down.
“No! I have to see her!” Herrik was on his feet and I threw myself into his arms. “Oh, thank God!” he smothered me with kisses. “We have to go! I have to get you out of here!”
“You can’t! Damn it, Herrik! No one can know what happened! Someone tried to kill you! One of your people tried to kill you!” Artur pointed to the bullet while Avery seized him and forced him into one of the seats at the table. The words rang in Herrik’s head though he tried to shake them away.
“No?!” he cried burying his face in his hands. “Why?” he stammered as the weight of Artur’s statement sank in.
“We don’t have time to think about that now. We need to get you cleaned up before anyone sees you.”
Herrik weakly agreed. He turned to me and asked me to stay, made me promise not to go to my apartment without him then let Artur lead him away. He glanced back over his shoulder at Avery, “The car,” Herrik mumbled. Avery nodded and moved toward the elevator.
I aimlessly went to the living room to wait for Herrik and Artur. I buried my face in my hands while I considered all that had so recently taken place. I wondered if there was anything I might have seen or heard that would help Artur and the others piece together exactly what happened.
“Emily?” a soft voice came from right beside me startling me out of my reverie.
“Carah,” I croaked.
“Are you alright?” she asked sounding quite anxious. I couldn’t tell if it was nervousness or concern but there was something foreboding in her tone.
“She couldn’t possibly know!” my mind warned.
“Where is Herrik?” Carah glanced around expectantly.
“He’s with Artur,” I figured that much was at least safe to say.
She knelt down in front of me and brushed the hair back from my forehead, “What’s wrong?” she asked as she studied me from head to toe. I quickly assessed how I must have looked to her and couldn’t come up with a viable falsehood. I shook my head unwilling to share the evening’s events with her and pulled away from her touch imagining that she was somehow trying to catch a glimpse from my mind. I kept my thoughts obscured so she wouldn’t be able to force them from me.
“What’s wrong?” she persisted “What happened?” she clearly looked down at my wrist where I had slashed it open in my desperation to keep Herrik alive. It had only partially healed after Avery helped me and it wasn’t at all painful so I had completely forgotten it.
I quickly covered the wound with my hand and just as I did Avery returned saving me the need to explain.
“Kitchen accident, nothing serious,” Avery hurried over and nipped his fingertip then smothered the sore with his blood.
It was hardly believable, dressed as I was and Carah eyed Avery suspiciously. She stood up and faced him then looked as though she was going to question him further but there was something in Avery’s expression that she was obviously hesitant to challenge. “Where’s Herrik?” she asked much more brusquely than when she had spoken to me.
“I’m right here,” Herrik strode into the room.
She and Avery turned to look at him but I kept my eyes on Carah. Something wasn’t right in her expression. She looked scared and surprised when she saw him walking towards her with Artur close on her heels.
“What can I do for you?”
She looked as though he was the last thing she expected to see, “It was you!” my mind accused though I frantically kept the thought to myself. Herrik came and took a seat beside me and Artur went to Avery’s side. Artur took him by the elbow and led him away as though they had something important to discuss.
Herrik took my hand and inspected my wrist then looked up at Carah expectantly, “Emily had a little,” Herrik turned to Avery, “what did you say? Kitchen accident?”
“Yes,” Avery nodded then turned his gaze back to Artur.
“Is there something you needed; I’m sorry we’ve been preoccupied as you can see.”
“Oh, uh,” Carah cleared her throat uncomfortably, “it can wait. It’s nothing important,” she turned intending to hurry away.
“Are you sure?” Herrik persisted.
“Yes, really. I’ll come back when you’re not so…so busy.”
“My door is always open.”
Carah smiled and nodded then slowly walked away.
Chapter 14
As soon as she was gone Herrik, Avery and Artur all started speaking at once. They obviously hadn’t seen what I noticed in Carah’s expression or manner. None of them mentioned or acknowledged in any way how suspicious she looked and sounded. For a moment I second guessed myself. Carah and I had never gotten along and I wondered if my distrust was making me see things that weren’t truly there.
I glanced over at Herrik, he was still sitting beside me though he was looking at Avery and Artur who had come back and were standing in front of him. His eyes darted back and forth between the two of them as they each pelted him with their theories and ideas. Herrik was thoroughly distressed with the thought that someone they all knew must have been the one to have made the attempt on his life.
I couldn’t bear to watch all the anguished emotions washing over him and knew I had to speak up even if I was wrong.
“It might have been Carah,” I whispered.
Herrik was the only one who heard me. He turned and looked at me with an incredulous expression, “What?!”
Avery and Artur quieted at the sound of his voice.
I took a deep breath, “I…I think it was Carah.”
“No. Absolutely not!” Herrik shook his head back and forth.
It wasn’t at all the reaction I was expecting. Herrik’s outright rejection of the idea stung and I hastily stood up and faced him. “What makes you so sure?!” I asked and unfortunately I sounded more like a jealous housewife than a confident, informed accuser.
Artur touched my elbow, Avery looked away and Herrik’s expression softened when he realized how much he had upset me.
“I’m sorry,” he stood up, “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. We’re all on edge right now and none of us are thinking clearly.”
I started to explain myself, my suspicions, but Artur cut me off, “Emily, you don’t know what you’re saying. It’s just not possible. In fact it’s quite impossible that any of the vampires here could plan an attempt on Herrik’s life without him knowing.”
Avery and Herrik nodded assent to what Artur had said.
“Why not?” I demanded. “He’s just as vulnerable as any of us. In fact more so with his open door policy and his unwavering trust of…of everybody…”
Herrik smiled and it seemed to say that there was something that they all knew, some vital
piece of information that I just didn’t understand.
“Carah could not have planned an attack on my life without me knowing. I assure you. None of the vampires could. They have all pledged themselves to me and…”
“A pledge?!” I guffawed. “You think someone’s word protects you from them doing you harm?” I was outraged.
“She doesn’t know,” Herrik apologized to Avery and Artur.
“Doesn’t know what?!” I demanded.
Herrik looked at Artur who cocked his head as if to say OK.
“Sit,” Herrik took my hands and pulled me back to the chaise then sat down beside me. Avery and Artur pulled chairs across from us. “Well, you see,” Herrik bit his lip nervously, “when a vampire comes to join us they are allowed to stay on a trial basis without any questions or obligations. If they like it, if they decide to join our community there is an…an initiation of sorts and they have to agree to pledge themselves to me.”
I shrugged my shoulders still not fully understanding.
Artur met my eye, “The pledge is more than just words, Emily. These vampires, everyone who is already here,” Artur motioned to himself and to Avery then all around as if to indicate the entire compound, “are bound to Herrik by more than just words.”
“We are bound by our blood,” Avery added. “We have all willingly given our lives to Herrik.”
“Oh,” I felt a hint of understanding creeping across my mind. I remembered Artur and Herrik arguing one day, “How many have you pledged? Dozens? More? Do you have any idea how much it’s changed you; how powerful you’ve become?” Artur had asked him. “You’ve taken their blood…all of it…and replaced it with your own,” I mumbled awestruck by the idea and all its implications.
Herrik was reluctant to admit it but didn’t deny it either.
“If I choose, and only if I choose, I know the thoughts and intentions of every vampire who calls this their home. At any given time I know where they are and what they are doing. It is not a power I wield lightly.”
I buried my face in my hands and thought about what a terribly immense burden it must be. I felt awful for Herrik. So many people, so much responsibility and to have to exercise so much restraint, “How is that even possible for…for just one person?” I thought to myself. I reached over and took his hand, “I’m sorry, Herrik. I…I didn’t…”