The Chariot: Brothers at Arms

by Desiree Lee

  "He'll kill you over this?” Julio's eyes widened.

  "Maybe."

  "I'm sorry too in that case. I'll talk to him if you want. I'll take responsibility for it."

  "That's gallant of you Julio but we both know that neither of us resisted."

  "For what it's worth, I don't regret it. I try not to live with regrets. They weigh you down. It's bad karma for the soul. I'll only regret it if you get in trouble."

  She rolled to her side and gazed at him again, reaching out to touch his cheek softly. “Thank you. It felt great, don't get me wrong. I hadn't been with a man in a very long time. I just should not get involved with a Keeper. I've only put you even more at risk and that was not fair of me to do to you. If Luke finds out that we slept together, he'll probably take it out on you."

  "He'll probably do that anyway. He's your enemy. You know him though. What's the story between you two, if I may ask?"

  Michelle looked away for a moment. “Yes I know him. At least, I thought I knew him. He was the one who brought me in to François’ House. He is the one who made me a vampire."

  "When was that?"

  "1870."

  Julio choked on a cough. “Excuse me?"

  "1870,” she repeated.

  "One-eight-seven-zero?” He asked.

  "Yes that was the year I became a vampire. I was 20 years old."

  Julio laid there for a few moments, stunned in to silence. He had just slept with a woman who was 158 years old. He collected his thoughts and asked, “How did you meet Luke? How did he bring you in to the house? Why did he make you a vampire?"

  "You asked me this earlier. I was trying to think of where to start when Luke interrupted me. I'll start at the very beginning. I was born in 1850 in Macon, Georgia.” She didn't realize that she'd lapsed back in to her native accent as she recounted her story to him. “My father was a soldier, a Confederate soldier,” she added. “He died in the war. I was 14."

  "That's terrible,” Julio murmured softly.

  "Yes, it was. Mama tried to manage but there were eight of us kids to feed. She worked her fingers to the bone. It, plus her broken heart, put her into an early grave too. She died when I was 16."

  "Were you the oldest?"

  "Yes, I was. I should have kept the family together,” she let out a small sob. “I couldn't do it though. I tried but I couldn't. I got a job as a domestic, which provided room and board for me, but not for all of us. My sister Laura got a job as a nanny. She was one year younger than I was. She also got room and board. The rest...” She stopped. Her nose twitched. Julio waited patiently for her to continue. “The rest went to an orphanage. I told them when I made enough money I'd come back for them. I never did. What sort of sister am I? I left them there to rot."

  "I'm sure you must have done your best, at least what you thought was right for them."

  "I know that some of them got adopted, the littlest ones did at least. The war had left a lot of orphans though. Anyway, I was working for a family named Brundage. Luke was a friend of the family. He saw me when he was visiting the manor and took a shine to me. One thing led to another and we became lovers. Oh it was not right, but he wasn't the first man in the day to sleep with the help. He did negotiate with Mr. Brundage to release me from service. I wasn't a slave but it would not have been good for me to just up and quit the job. He took me to live with him instead. That was to François’ House. Luke never would tell me how he met François, but I soon got a crash course in the ways of vampires. I was frightened but I managed because I had Luke. He was my first lover."

  "What happened between you two? Why did you split up?"

  "I don't know. I thought we were still happy together but one night I came back home from feeding and he was gone. His things were cleared out and François refused to talk about him. I knew better than to test François’ will on it. He wouldn't have told me any more than he wanted me to know."

  "Pardon my saying it, but François sounds like an asshole."

  "He is stern and rules the House strictly but he is fair. I don't know what Luke's problem was."

  "Luke called him a betrayer."

  "I don't know what he means by that."

  "You have no idea at all? Not even an inkling?"

  "I didn't even know if Luke was alive or dead until I saw him today. I have no idea what he is thinking."

  "Alive?"

  "We still call it alive. I know the fashionable term is ‘undead’ but that sounds chintzy. My body may be dead in many ways, but in others I am very much alive, wouldn't you say?"

  "Other than the fact that you are pale as hell and cold to the touch, yeah I'd have thought you were alive."

  "Are you calling me a corpse?” She smirked.

  "Cadaver maybe, not a corpse.” He laughed.

  She gave him a light shove. “I know. Since we can't go in the sun, our skin pigment is affected."

  "I have a perma-tan."

  She had noticed. Even naked, his skin was not white. His arms and legs were darker from the sun, but the parts that normally would be covered by his clothes were light coffee colored. “Julio Mendoza, your name leads me to believe you are Hispanic?"

  "Puerto Rican on my dad's side. My mom's white."

  "The blend of nationalities gives you a gorgeous skin tone."

  "Thanks,” he gave her a small smile of appreciation.

  "Your turn. Tell me about you."

  "Not much to tell. I'm a native Floridian. We're rare, you know. Most people who live here are transplants or seasonal visitors. Especially the snowbirds."

  "Snowbirds?"

  "Winter residents. They live up north during the summer but come down here to escape the snow."

  "Ah, I understand. Go on."

  "Well my mom's side of the family is the Keeper side. I didn't even know about this until about a week or so ago when I got the card. She's a tarot reader herself so I have seen a zillion different tarot decks. Never saw a card like that one though so I took it to her to inquire about it. That's when she freaked out."

  "That is understandable. The Keepers usually are surprised that they were chosen."

  "She knew about it, but she never told me because she didn't think it would be necessary. She was going to tell me sometime in the future so I could pass the information on to my own kids, if I ever had any. She didn't imagine that I would be the next chosen Keeper. Once she saw the card though, she knew what it was. She told me everything. I still don't know what to think of it. I mean, here I am, just your average guy and then suddenly, bam! I'm some player in this vampire war that I knew nothing about and I can't do shit about it. It pissed me off to tell the truth."

  "I'm sorry. Tell me more about you though, before you got the card. I assume you're not married..."

  "No, not married. No girlfriend. I had a girlfriend but she was just too...” he shuddered. “Too clingy, demanding. That shit's not cool. She was insanely jealous. She called me at work all the time, got me in trouble. My boss told me that if she called again, I'd get canned. She knew what I did. I don't work in the office. I'm a security guard. I have an area I patrol and watch over and that's that. She'd always assume I was out cheating on her or something. Oh yeah, like that ever happened.” He rolled his eyes. “I just got sick of it all. I broke up with her and that was that."

  "What do you like to do besides security work?"

  "Well being a security guard wasn't my life's ambition, if you know what I mean. I'm an artist. I do mixed-media sculpting. I haven't sold enough pieces to pay the bills yet so I had to keep the job for that. Now you come along and tell me I have to quit my job. They weren't really happy about that when I called them today to tell them. I hope you follow through with your word."

  "You don't have to worry about that. I promise."

  "Well how do I know I can trust you on this? Is there some sort of Good Vampire Seal of Approval?"

  "You can stick your penis in me but you can't trust me?” She gave him a look of incredulity. />
  Julio thought on that for a moment. “I'm sorry. I'm an asshole."

  "No, you have a valid concern. The truth is, the Seekers travel light. We have to move quickly because we're racing each other to get to the Keeper first. I can't prove to you that you'll be financially taken care of right now, but when François and the rest of the House get here in a few days, then we can compensate you."

  "OK,” he nodded. What could he do but wait and see?

  "Tell me more about your art?” Michelle tried to redirect the subject.

  "Mixed-media sculpting means that I create pieces out of a variety of different types of materials. Lately I've been having a blast working with different metals. My typical day is get up in early to mid-afternoon, work in my studio for a few hours, shower, go to work, come home and chill out for a little bit, sleep, rinse, repeat."

  "Where is your studio located?” Michelle's mind quickly assessed that she might have more than one place to guard him at.

  "My garage is my studio. The only downside is that I have to park outside. Oh well."

  "So you own this house?"

  "Yeah, it's all mine, bought and paid for.” Michelle briefly wondered how he could afford to own a house on a security guard's wage at his age, but Julio continued with the explanation. “My dad died in an accident when I was very young. I don't really remember much of him, I'm sad to say. Just some fragmented memories. Anyway, my mom got a settlement and she put that money in to a trust fund for me. I got the money when I was 21. It wasn't enough money to set me up for life or anything like that, so I tried to do what I thought would be the smartest thing. I bought a house. I probably should have gone to college but, oh well. At least I don't have to worry about not having a roof over my head. I work to pay bills and fund my art addiction, but at least I don't have a rent or mortgage payment. I know it's not a real substitute for not having my dad around. If I could give it all up to have him back, I would do it without a second thought. I was just trying to make something good out of the situation, you know what I mean?"

  "Yeah, I understand completely.” Michelle was not lying. She too had been in a bad situation when her mother died. She too had to make decisions that were not ideal but were necessary.

  "Am I going to have to sell my house and move? Where does a Keeper live?"

  "The Keeper in Sacramento has his own house. He's so old now, I don't think he'd move even if we tried to get him to. He's very set in his ways. He was even less accommodating to us when he first received the card than you have been. When the Seeker found him,” she paused, laughing at the memory, “he threatened him with a shotgun. That story has never grown old. He told him, ‘I will hold your card but you're not biting my neck, bloodsucker!’ Then he waved the gun at him."

  Julio laughed. “I wish I'd thought to use that line.” He gave her a saucy wink.

  "He kept his word on that. He held the card as long as he was required and he never allowed any vampire to bite him."

  "Does it hurt? When you bite someone?"

  "It can, but it does not have to. Vampires have power within them. Again, it is one of those odd vampire physical traits that we can't explain, we just know is there. We can make the bite painful or pleasurable at will. It can be orgasmic or excruciating depending on what the vampire tailors it to be."

  "What would have happened to the vampire if the Keeper had shot him?"

  "It depends. A young vampire might actually die from that. Older vampires are stronger, more powerful. They might heal from the wound, unless the blast beheaded them.” Michelle paused, hoping she did not reveal too much of vampire weakness to him. The last thing she needed was for him to change his mind about being the Keeper and try to harm her. She hadn't seen any guns in her search of his house so far, but she had not looked everywhere yet.

  Julio considered that carefully. So they weren't impervious. That was good information to know. He stared once more at Michelle's naked body and wondered if he could bring himself to shoot her. Yesterday he would have said yes, if she threatened him, he'd have no qualms about defending himself. He wouldn't shoot her for no reason, of course. Today, things had changed. He'd sampled her body, tasted her essence. It was a far cry from a mushy profession of love, but so far she had not threatened him. He couldn't imagine a gunshot marring her perfect form. “You're wondering if I am thinking about shooting you,” he murmured. He studied her expression. It was calm, collected. He couldn't actually get a read on her so he drew his own conclusion, hoping he was not too off base. If so, she'd probably take offense.

  "The thought crossed my mind,” she admitted, almost reluctantly. “Vampires should not give mortals too much information about their vulnerabilities."

  "Good point. I am not itching to shoot you, Michelle. I will say this though. Don't threaten me. Don't make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry.” He flexed his arms and growled.

  "Do you turn green? If you do, that might be worth making you angry for.” She laughed.

  He shook his head and got up out of the bed. “So what do we do until the rest of your house gets here? Do you follow me around like a lost puppy?"

  Michelle sat up, pulling the blanket up over her breasts. She wasn't sure why she felt she had to do that. He had seen her naked already of course. His comment took her aback though and made her feel somewhat unclean, ashamed. “Yes, I suppose that is exactly what I do. Maybe you should have fucked me doggy style.” The bitterness of her tone was not held back. She stood up, pulling the blanket with her. “If you can behave for a few minutes, I'd like some privacy to get dressed please."

  "Yeah, sure,” Julio nodded and left the room. He had regretted the words the moment they'd left his lips. He walked out to the living room, picking the shirt she had been wearing up off the floor. He brought it back to the room, noticing she had closed the door. “I have the shirt you were wearing,” he said as he knocked softly. A moment later the door opened a crack and her hand thrust outward toward him. He held the shirt to her until she pulled it back in the room and closed the door soundly. “I'm sorry,” he said before turning away from the door. Whether she accepted his apology or not would remain to be seen.

  She'd heard him of course. Vampire hearing was excellent. She hadn't yet decided whether to accept it or not. She slid the shirt on and then pulled her panties and pants back on as well. She sat down on the bed, thinking. What am I supposed to do next? Think! I just have to keep Luke away from him until François gets here. That's easier said than done. She closed her eyes and tried not to let the thoughts overwhelm her. Luke would be a problem indeed. She knew him better than most anybody did, or at least she used to. How could he have changed so much? How could he have joined Pierre? What if he was right? What if François really was the cause of the war? No, that couldn't be the truth, could it?

  She knew she was hiding but she wasn't ready to face Julio again. Why not? She was normally the stoic one, the rock. She was unflappable. How did this man worm his way under her shell? How did he get to her like he did? Why did his wisecrack hurt as badly as it did? Michelle was frustrated with herself. She didn't want to let on how much his comment really bothered her.

  After several long minutes, she got up and left the room, slowly and quietly. She looked around but Julio was not in sight. She knew he was still in the house. His scent was strong and she could also hear him. Padding silently through the house, she found him in the dining room, sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cold cereal. “A bit late for cereal, isn't it?” She managed a weak smile.

  "My schedule is ass-backward. I am a night owl. This is breakfast time for me."

  "Oh, right. Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

  "I know. Sorry that I don't have, um, what you eat here."

  She didn't mention that he actually did have that, if he allowed her to bite him. She wasn't about to ask. He had already made his feelings on the matter clear to her. “I'll hunt tonight."

  "Hunt?” Julio dropped his spoon. It landed in t
he bowl, splashing milk over the rim. “I know you said that earlier but I guess it didn't really register until now."

  "Yes, hunt. That's what we call it when we vampires search for food."

  "Is there a particular kind of person you like to bite?"

  "Pardon me?” Her brow quirked upward with curiosity.

  "Does race make a difference in the taste of someone's, um, blood?"

  "Yes, it does but I don't have a particular preference there. The different blood types all have unique flavors as well."

  "So the various races, combined with the blood types makes for a vampire smorgasbord,” Julio panned.

  "That is one way of putting it."

  "Then you hunt them down like animals?"

  "That's a rather barbaric view of a vampire hunt."

  "Tell me how it is then?"

  "In the old days, I suppose that was true. The hunts were more predatory. The sexual revolution was a lucky break for us. Now most of the hunting is done at nightclubs or other social gathering places. It seems more like a pick-up rather than a hunt."

  "Except that instead of winding up in bed, the person winds up as the main course."

  "Yes, that is the point of a hunt. We still call it a hunt, though. I don't think the term will ever change."

  "What do you do with the bodies after you're done?"

  "Leave them in a safe place, resting quietly."

  "Resting?"

  "It is not necessary to kill to survive in most cases. If a vampire has no doubt that they can make a clean getaway, they will leave the mortal behind. It will leave them tired but generally not in danger. No more so than donating blood at a blood bank."

  "Why don't vampires just operate blood banks then? You wouldn't have to hunt. Your food would come to you."

  "I do believe that is the case in some cities. François has never had an inclination to do so. He permits us to keep the old tradition of finding our own food. Like I said earlier, you're safe. You can choose whether you want to feed a vampire or not."

  "If I do choose to feed a vampire, then what happens to me? I just get tired and need to drink a lot of orange juice and eat some cookies?"