Requiem for Blood

by Alexandra Hope

  “Hey, don't cry....” he consoled. “How come you didn't tell me you have a sister?”

  That one word had been enough to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes. She didn't have a sister. She hadn't had one for two years when she resolved to leave it all behind but there she had been, on her steps. Alexa shook her head and then pushed Troy's hand off her shoulder. She ran upstairs and grabbed a bag, yanking her drawers open and stuffing the bag with everything from the drawers. She cursed when the bag had filled to capacity with just a few things and she couldn't fasten the zipper. Troy came up behind her and sat down on the bed.

  He was calm as he spoke. “If we're going somewhere can you at least tell me where and why?”

  “People will be here soon! They will come after us!” she shouted and then mumbled her next words, “And we have no weapons...”

  He knelt down beside her and stroked her head. “Shh, it'll be alright, tell me why...”

  “It's too much to say right now, please just pack!”

  “But where will we go? We have to think this through and most of all I have to know why. Should we call the police? Is your sister a danger to us or herself?”

  “No, it's nothing like that. And the police can't do anything!”

  “You can't doubt the effectiveness of people trained to protect.”

  “It's not the time to joke!”

  Troy stroked her back and mentally chastised himself for saying that. He slid two fingers underneath her chin and lifted it upward. Her eyes met his even though she was pulling her face away.

  “Tell me, please.”

  Alexa let out a long sigh and shook her head. She buried her fist into the ground and tugged at the carpet as she searched his eyes. She wished she could beam the information to his head with just one glance rather than utter the words she was about to say, but he looked at her as if he trusted her one hundred percent and even though it brought her some solace she was still hesitant to tell him. In the end she just forced the words out.

  Troy's head was spinning and he was trying to suppress the urge to vomit by the time Alexa had finished saying all that she needed to say. She had prefaced it with the word “outlandish” but never in a million years would he believe that the story she would tell would surpass outlandish and venture into downright creepy and borderline insane.

  “People who drink human blood so that they can become vampires?”

  Alexa nodded, her eyes wide as she waited for Troy's expression to change into something she could read. He swallowed hard as he thought back on the blood drive but he didn't ask about it.

  “Like immortal, night walking, flying, blood sucking vampires....fangs and all?”

  “If you don't believe me...”

  She pulled away but he grabbed her cheek. “I'm trying to.”

  “My mom isn't immortal....at least I don't think she is, but that is her intention. She wants to kill us all and make us into immortal vampires as a gift.”

  “What does she need to become an immortal vampire?”

  “Enough blood to field an army?” she asked, annoyed. “Honestly Troy, I don't know. I didn't stick around long enough to find out.”

  “Well she hosted a blood drive earlier today at the rec center. I donated...”

  “No, oh no...”

  “...and she told me my blood was unique.”

  Troy's words had iced Alexa's body over and she sat there frozen. Even her thoughts had been suspended in time and she couldn't conjure up one as she there quietly. Troy figured she had been paralyzed by fear which was natural considering all that he had just heard. He thought he should have been paralyzed by fear as well but he was strangely calm.

  “Is your sister a vampire? Like an actual immortal vampire?”

  Alexa's brain had thawed and thoughts flowed through her head again. She thought back on seeing her sister at the door and tried to remember if she had heard a heartbeat. It had been such a long time since she drank blood all day long but even the little bit she drank from time to time enhanced her senses considerably, still she couldn't remember hearing Olivia take a breath.

  “I don't know...” she said quietly. “I don't think so....no, my mom hasn't found the key to immortality because it just doesn't exist.”

  “It just doesn't or you just don't want it to?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Well if it does, shouldn't we tell someone? The state? If she's hunting humans...” His face paled at his own words while Alexa shook her head.

  He continued. “That is some sick stuff and there has to be laws...”

  She sighed and a faint smile appeared on her face. “You just don't get it Troy. My mom is the state and she has always lived above the law.”

  ****

  Nolan's stomach was growling as he sat in the dark cellar. He had lost consciousness but when he had awoken the smell of JoAnn's body had disappeared. That alone brought him some comfort. He quickly realized he wasn't alone and turned his attention toward the shifting he had heard on the far end of the cellar.

  “Your hearing has improved. I have never seen this happen so quickly.”

  He easily recognized it as Mar's voice and her body followed behind it as she came into view. Gray pools loomed underneath her eyes from the lack of sleep but she maintained her intimidating presence. He had abandoned all fear for his life and was left with an odd fear of disappointing her. Nolan straightened his back as much as could and addressed her with the smallest voice.

  “Matriarch.”

  Mar smiled at the word.

  “And so you have chosen,” she said, “to follow me?”

  “Yes.”

  Nolan could only faintly recall what had happened between the time he had last saw her and now but he felt a genuine change within himself as if all that he felt in the past had been sucked from him. Mar was fiddling with her silver necklace as she studied him quietly.

  “What is the most absolute rule of the colony?” she began quizzing him.

  “To obey the Matriarch.”

  “And what is the purpose of this colony?”

  “To find the blood that will turn us into truly immortal vampires.”

  She cocked one eyebrow upward as she looked on, amused. “Us?”

  “Yes. I will always serve this colony! I want to become a vampire.”

  “Vampirism is a gift I will bestow on only the most faithful of servants. So you, Nolan Martin, must prove your worth before getting any of my gifts.”

  Mar flicked her head to the side as she heard the front door close softly. She heard footsteps but the absence of the person's heartbeat threw her off guard. A perplexed expression drew on her face and she thought about going upstairs to find out who was there but remained still. The cellar door had been slightly pulled open and she heard Olivia's small breaths before she spoke.

  “I've returned mother.”

  “So you have,” said Mar. “And have you left your manners in the outside world?”

  “I'm sorry, but I needed to talk to you about Alexa.”

  Olivia closed the door and walked just a short distance away from it and practiced breathing as if it were still natural. She was also relieved that she could now see and think clearly. Mar's dark brown hair was in waves spilling over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. If not for the light brown eyes she shared with Olivia, she would have thought Alexa was standing in front of her. Her mother's clothing had also slightly resembled Alexa's in that she wore flats, leggings and a tunic dress, albeit black. She wore the same white lab jacket that she had on before but it didn't make her look any less like her sister. Olivia stood there wide eyed for a moment before her mother spoke up.

  “You wanted to speak to me about Alexa?”

  “Yes, I...” Olivia started. She was hesitant but she didn't know why and as her wandering eyes met her mother's again, she blurted out the rest. “I have found her tonight.”

  “Ah, my eldest daughter has been found,” she said sweetly
but unsurprised.

  “She has been living in the city for the past two years I assume.”

  Mar nodded but still she remained unsurprised.

  “Did you know?” asked Olivia. “That she was still alive?”

  “I've raised my daughter's to be self-sufficient. They do not die easily.”

  Olivia took a few steps back at her mother's words while still trying to maintain the guise that she was still a living, breathing human.

  “And you knew she would never come back?”

  “With as much hatred as my dear daughter had for me, I had a sneaking suspicion.”

  Mar's hand's slid across the table as she walked to Olivia. She could smell the blood mixed in with the salty water that was on her body and she noticed her hair was damp and in some parts it clung to her skin. Her feet were weightless and soundless as if she were floating across the ground. Olivia took notice and wondered how her mother trained herself to be so vampire-like. As human as she was, she embodied a vampire and was so good at it.

  “Why did you let her go then?”

  “Because every now and then, people surprise me.”

  Mar pressed her palms together and flexed her hands out leaving her fingertips still touched against each other. “Frankly, I believe a reunion is in order.”

  Olivia didn't know what her mother was going to say when she reported the news to her but the last thing she expected was for her to want to see Alexa again. There were very few things the Matriarch had patience for and it most certainly wasn't for traitors but on the plus side her patience was strong for her children so Olivia didn't know where that left Alexa.

  “Tomorrow night, after a much needed rest I want you and Felicity to go and fetch my dear Alexa.”

  “If you don't mind, I'd much rather go alone.”

  “Of course.”

  The sun was just peaking over the horizon, a pale yellow glow rising from behind the trees as Olivia fell onto her bed. She wrapped her arms around a pillow and stared out the window wondering if she would ever feel the sun against her skin.

  Olivia had slipped her freshly washed body into some dark jeans and threw a shirt on before she shrugged her arms into her cardigan. When she had made her way to the first floor she was immediately hit with the distinct scent of blood and she was almost certain that it was B positive. She could feel her canines lengthening as they forced themselves through her gums. It was a painful ordeal as she fought to hold them back despite the scent growing stronger. She heard footsteps coming from within the house and when she turned she was a little startled to see an unfamiliar face. He had a blood bag in his hand and was holding it out toward her. The man started to look familiar to Olivia and then she finally recognized him. He had been the guy from the state who had been checking up on them all those years. She knew he wouldn't willingly join the colony since she suspected he had a deep hatred of her mother but she didn't dwell on it. It wasn't any of her concern and quite frankly she was tired of extending her thoughts and concern to others, not that she was heartless though she couldn't argue with that, it was just exhausting for Olivia to care for others.

  Alexa had been the anchor holding her humanity down and when she left, it just drifted away from her. Noah used to entertain her with the idea that Alexa had gone for help, that she was going to come back, but when a year passed and she never did, Olivia gave up. She had spent the second year of her disappearance thinking of all the ways she had died, giving her excuses as to why she left her alone. And now that she knew where her sister was, she felt something burn in her chest like a spark igniting the veins that lead to her heart and setting it aflame with anger. Or maybe it was passion. Either way, she knew she hadn't felt hot or cold about anything from the moment she had left. It was like Alexa had taken her heart and sense of feeling with her, leaving her numb.

  She took a blood bag from the man whose name she couldn't remember and he scurried off into another part of the house. Olivia locked the bathroom door and tore open the blood bag, careful not to spill it onto herself despite how thirsty she had been. She sucked the bag dry within minutes and couldn't help but wish for several more or even a live human since she quickly realized how much better they tasted. When she had opened the door she saw Natalie walking through, dressed as unique as Noah in black sneakers splattered with neon colors and torn up skinny jeans and a midriff top. She looked nothing like what a thirty five year old woman was supposed to look like but then again, Natalie had never quite grown up and instead clung to her youth. Olivia imagined she was still a barely twenty something year old girl underneath that skin and it made sense for why she would seek out immortality. Natalie gave her a bright and cheerful smile as she waved.

  “Ah, you're back!” she exclaimed. She wrapped her arms around Olivia and gave her a tight squeeze. “It feels like I haven't seen you in ages and you're about to leave again!”

  “I will be back soon.”

  “I know but I just miss seeing your gloomy face,” she said as she thumbed Olivia's cheek. “Everything is so much less gloomy.”

  “Would that not be a good thing?”

  “Well, it's like this. When I see your gloominess I think about the cheerful little girl you once were and where she went.”

  “She died in a fire.”

  Olivia and Natalie turned their heads to see the person who had made that comment. Felicity was walking through the house, her boots clattering against the porcelain tiles on her way to the kitchen. She had said it so nonchalantly that it almost sounded like wishful thinking and the two of them didn't put it past her. She was wearing tight black pants and a white jacket that as her hair did, almost blended in with the white of her skin. Olivia spoke as if Felicity had never made the comment.

  “Well, I must be on my way.”

  Outside the house was empty and she knew the student's were in science class so she just continued out the gate. Once she had been out of ear and eye shot, she took off at an immeasurable speed, zipping through the area and past the beach until she found herself back at Alexa's home. She briefly wondered why it had been so easy to find her house when it had been so difficult to get back home but as usual, she didn't dwell.

  She heard shifting from within the house but had only heard one heartbeat. Forcing out an unnecessary breath, she took one step and then another toward the house until she was at the steps. She pressed the doorbell and when the door opened she was relieved to see that it was her sister. A deep red encircled her eyes and her lips were tight as she shook her head. Olivia suppressed the urge to hold her arms out, to place a hand to her face and tell her that everything would be alright. Alexa opened the door wider and motioned for her sister to come inside. Olivia stepped inside quietly and followed Alexa to the living room. Alexa fell back onto the couch but Olivia continued to stand just a foot away from her.

  “You are alone?” asked Olivia.

  Alexa nodded her head.

  “Where is the boy you have mated with?”

  Alexa shook her head.

  “He has abandoned you?”

  “No!” she screamed. “I thought Mom was going to send some people after me and I didn't want him to be her so I told him to go to the store.”

  “She sent me,” Olivia said gently.

  “Are you here to kill me?”

  Olivia couldn't believe how little her sister thought of her. They may have been separated for two years and of course she was angry for her sister's disappearance but the last thing she wanted to do was kill her. She shook her head and took a step toward her sister. Alexa flinched underneath her cold fingertips and shut her eyes. “If she wants me dead, I want you to kill me since you're the one I hurt the most.”

  “She does not want to kill you; she wishes to be reunited with you.”

  Alexa's eyes shot open and she looked at her with incredulity. “She couldn't possibly....”

  “She does.”

  Alexa ran her hand through her dark brown hair, flailing it back in anxiety. S
he was biting on her bottom lip as she studied her sister's expression. Mar had taught her how to read facial expressions, the emotions behind people's eyes but Olivia's were blank as if she didn't have a single thought. After failing to read her thoughts, Alexa averted her eyes to the bare walls in an attempt to hide the tears but Olivia had heard them before they spilled over the rims.

  “I'm sorry Olivia.”

  “Don't be sorry and please do not cry,” said Olivia as she took Alexa's trembling hands into her own. They were like cold marble stretched around Alexa's warm and imperfect fingers and within seconds she no longer felt the difference in their skin, only a smooth and icy surface as if they were her own. She thought about how her mother's words had so naturally slid off her tongue and how at times she felt like she was growing into her, but the thought was interrupted by her sister's voice.

  “Olivia?”

  “Yes.”

  “Take me to see Mom.”

  Whether Alexa knew she was a vampire or not, Olivia didn't want to risk scaring her by sweeping her up and speeding through the city. Instead they walked through the night for want seemed like hours. She was surprised to find that her sister still had the same endurance that she had in the colony despite being pregnant. After all, she had been the fastest and highest ranked student in their weapons training class before Felicity. They had approached the gates to the colony and when Olivia pushed them open and they stepped inside Alexa noted that not much had changed. Outside was quiet as before and Alexa figured the students had to have been in class. Alexa's feet were soundless as she dashed up the steps less in eagerness and more in wavering apprehension. She pushed the door open and Olivia followed behind her.