by Jenna Bernel
Eli frowned when he stepped inside and saw Audrey, "What the hell is she doing here?" he asked, visibly annoyed to see his ex-girlfriend-turned-blood-whore in the room. I looked back, and Audrey opened her mouth like she wanted to say something after the shock of seeing Eli standing there, but she didn’t speak, still obeying my Trance command.
"She was Henry's tonight. I had to take her. Look at her. She's on her last drain," I said, pointing at her emaciated shape.
"Clearly," Eli said bitterly.
"It's dangerous, though, you shouldn't have involved her." He continued to vocalize his displeasure, crossing his arms while simultaneously lighting up the blow torch, as Audrey sprang up from the chair.
I rolled my eyes at his intimidating display. Thanks Eli, like she wasn't petrified enough. "Do you really want to discuss this now? We need to get the hell out of here. I'll Trance her later, okay? Now let's go!" I said in a stern, but quiet voice. My high was starting to wear off now, and I could begin to think more clearly.
I yanked on Audrey's hand and practically threw her into the front seat of Eli's slick, black sedan. "Now sit here and stay silent," I commanded, and she closed her mouth tight, looking confused. She was on the verge of tears.
I climbed in the back seat with Henry, laying his head in my lap. I held down his arms and torso as his seizure continued. I gently stroked his curly blonde hair, hoping that it soothed him, and that he would know he was not alone in this half-conscious, terrifying moment. Eli finished repairing the door and jumped into the car, moving it at a slow crawl before turning off onto the street and slamming the pedal to the floor. I glanced back at the building that would appear so different once the sun came up, and then looked down at Henry. He would be quite different too. His seizure was beginning to subside into a small, consistent tremor, and I knew my blood had reached his heart, and was now being replicated and pumped through each and every vein, turning him.
"It's going to be okay," I whispered to Henry once more, as I caught Eli looking at me with concern through the rearview mirror. He knew I was saying that to myself more than anyone else, and I leaned back, closing my eyes, continuing to stroke Henry's hair as Eli sped off into the night.
Chapter 3: Turned
"How is he?" I asked Eli as I clicked the door shut behind me, entering his makeshift lab or rather, tonight, his makeshift hospital room. Henry was lying on the white sheet that covered the stainless steel table, hooked up to Eli's monitors. The seizure had finally subsided an hour ago, which meant he was moving into the next phase of transformation, as Eli called it.
"He's doing well. It should start any minute now. He's moving into phase two," he pointed his index finger, tapping at the monitor, his sleeve pulled up just enough from the motion to expose the ten-pointed star on the inside of his wrist. You have to look closely and possess the sharper vision of a vampire to distinguish the difference, but Eli's mark was ever so slightly faded from onyx black to a smokier dark gray, one of the after effects of my special brand of Infinity.
When the venom of a vampire takes over your body, the ten-pointed star and its interlacing lines emerge from within, marking your skin for all eternity that you are no longer what you once were. Our mark isn't a tattoo, but a rite of passage. It was supposed to be an honor, a privilege even to bear the star. You were now a devil's advocate at the top of the food chain for all time, but I disagreed. To me, it was a permanent reminder that a person's soul and humanity had been stolen from him or her. It symbolized the eternal destruction of any hope for having a family, while precluding life after death, and forever condemned the victim to remain on Earth with no compassion, love, joy, or even a true, beating heart.
A beating heart… I hugged Henry's manila case file tightly against my chest. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, waiting. Then, a minute later, I heard the beep from the monitor, and my eyes flew back open to see for myself. There on the screen in front of me, I saw the green steady spike of Henry's beating heart. I looked down at him on the table, and sure enough, his chest began to rise and fall with each breath. An emotion welled up in me that could only surface in a moment such as this. I squeezed his file tighter against my chest, relieved it worked again, because there was always a small shred of doubt that I accidentally killed someone instead.
I was hypnotized by Henry's methodical breathing. It was not like the breathing out of habit, or to smell the scents that surrounded you, like a vampire. Rather, it was like a human who breathed with a beating heart that needed to be fed with oxygen-filled blood. I sighed with relief and looked up to see Eli smiling from ear-to-ear, just as happy as I with the results. I suddenly wondered why my own heart refused to beat. This was the moment I usually returned to, and a strange feeling of panic swept over me as the sight of Eli's throbbing, carotid artery was suddenly becoming deliciously appealing. I knew I had spent too many hours this way, and felt myself slipping to the dark side.
"You did good, kid."
I smirked and threw the file at Eli. He snatched it right out of the air, his reflexes just as sharp as they were when he was vampire. He knew I hated it when he called me “kid.” Sure, I was only seventeen, and technically, he had been a vampire for five hundred years, until I accidentally turned him after venturing into a back room of The Basement with him for the first time over a year ago. But now he looked to be about twenty, and would continue to age as I did, as Mother Nature intended before the devil stepped in. I swallowed a lump in my throat at the thought. I didn't know how much longer Eli and I could keep this up before Brooks, the bartender, mentioned to his boss that he thought he saw some crow’s feet forming around my eyes. Eli's jaw set into a frown as he noticed I shifted into worrying mode.
"Can't you ever just live in the moment and be happy with what you've done tonight? You gave Henry his life back. You gave his parents their son back. Tomorrow he will wake up with a beating heart and you can tell him he can go home. He will knock on his family’s door six months after his sudden disappearance, and being presumed dead. He will hug his little sister, who for the first time in what seems like forever, won't have to cry herself to sleep. You did that, Daniella. You did that. And even if we age, or get caught, or God forbid, get killed, we are making a difference now, and that's what really matters," Eli sighed out the last portion of his speech, definitely revealing that he had spent more time on Earth than your average twenty-year-old.
It was corny, as Eli often was, learning to be a real human again instead of a TV version. He was navigating this new life the best he could, and was truly sincere in his words as the poster boy of our cause. He never showed me an ounce of resentment for what I'd done to him, and we became the Save Humanity Dream Team ever since. Everything he said came truly from his heart, and he used it as much as was humanly possible. I never cried, but this was as close as I got to doing so.
I lifted my fingers to feel my cheeks, which were now warm to the touch. My blood began to spark with heat as it started pumping through my veins. I concentrated on taking in the air before my eyes went wide as a pulse struck my heart. I sucked in a sharp breath, now in need of the oxygen, and felt the slow, steady thumping of my heartbeat returning. Eli's little speech brought back the human side of me that I was forced to tuck away while on a mission. The vampire within me is stubborn, and sometimes makes it difficult to find my way back, like my own form of drug that lingers too long sometimes after you take one more delectable hit.
I felt like myself again, unassuming teenager and all. I moved across the room and he smiled knowingly, observing the flush in my cheeks. I gave him a big hug, feeling the drum of his own heart against my chest.
"You're such a good friend, Eli," I said, squeezing him tighter before stepping back.
"Anytime. It looked like you were having some trouble with the transition, and you know I can't resist dishing out one of my classic, epic speeches," he said teasingly, punching my arm. Even though it didn't hurt, I rubbed the spot instinctively, like a human.
"I'm exhausted. I'm going to crash at Will's tonight," I said with a yawn, stretching my arms above my head.
"You know you can stay here. I'll sleep on the couch," Eli offered. I looked beyond the closed door, remembering Audrey's passed-out form, all curled up on the couch, and smiled. Eli knew she was there too and would gladly sleep on the floor if I chose to stay. He was just being the polite sweetheart he always was. I would be the one who was forever grateful to have him as my partner in crime. There was no way I could do any of this without him.
"No, that's okay. I'll be back before Henry wakes up." I looked down and brushed my hand against Henry's limp fingers, feeling the heat, and confirming he was really back before I headed toward the door. I wanted to be sure I was close to the exit before confessing my thoughts to Eli. I slowly faced him with my hand on the doorknob, prepared for a quick exit.
"Audrey's asleep. The Trance story is that you two bumped into each other and hooked up for the night, but afterwards, you decided to just be friends," I smiled as innocently as I could.
"Great, nothing like the awkward morning of a non-one-night-stand with none of the benefits," Eli quipped, his jaw set irritably.
"I'm sorry. It's the only thing I could think of for a good explanation as to why she would wake up on your couch," I admitted in defeat, stalling for time and what I really needed to tell him.
"Also…"
"Also, what?" Eli urged, his eyes accusatorily judging because deep down, he knew what I was about to say.
"I… I gave her a venom bite," I said quietly, looking at the floor.
"Dani! We've been over this. It's not a good idea." Eli's stress wasn't over my actions, but concern for my safety. He worried if I venom bit too many humans, it would be traced back to me. Just like my blood, we discovered that my venom also had its own unique brand of unusual. We tried it on Eli once, after I turned him human. We figured if it made him a vampire again, like venom is supposed to, then I could change him back with my blood, but it didn't do that at all. In fact, it made him vampire-immune.
We learned that my venom acts more like an anti-venom, and once you get it in your system, you can't be turned into a vampire, because the transformation won't take. Eli risked life and limb to steel venom from the "blood banks" run by the 7th Circle, a very risky operation. After weeks of testing it on himself, we finally figured out what it meant, and what power I truly possessed. Not only is it somehow possible for my blood to turn vampires back into human, actually more of a super-human since they retain many of their vampire abilities; but my venom can also keep humans safe and prevent them from ever being turned.
It's as if I were Gifted with the power to make vampires extinct. I shudder a little at the thought, and sometimes find having so much power unsettling. No one should have that kind of power, despite what the 7th Circle thinks. They love playing God, or rather the devil incarnate, and certainly wouldn't take kindly to a certain half vampire-half human like me, or my unusual Gift that can infuse its strength into the human race instead of destroying it.
They would definitely make it their immortal lives’ mission to kill me and anyone I changed, if they even suspected I had this Gift. Every time I help someone, I am risking us all. I swallowed hard at the idea of them hurting anyone I care about, and my heart began to race in panic. I took a deep, audible breath and looked up at Eli. His eyes softened a bit when he heard my heart rate picking up.
"Audrey was an exception. She won't be hanging out in those clubs anymore since I told her stay away. I promise I'll be more careful." I pressed my lips tight, and Eli nodded in agreement.
He knows he doesn't need to lecture me. I'm acutely aware of the risks. We have to take this process slowly; the 7th Circle isn't stupid. They're the oldest and most powerful vampires known to exist, and practically run our underground world, including The Basement. They will figure something's fishy if all their blood whores turn up miraculously sober, and can't be turned with their venomous bites. A cool droplet glided down my spine as I realized I'd broken into a cold sweat of fear. I'm often tempted to stop my heart and turn vamp just to shake these feelings, because sometimes it's easier not to feel anything.
Eli was instantly at my side, holding my cheek soothingly and stroking his thumb against my skin. "Don't go there. You have this Gift for a reason. This is no accident. We just have to be careful. You should get some sleep now. You'll feel better when you come back tomorrow and meet Henry, the real Henry."
I gave Eli a bright smile. He knows me too well, and he's right. I leaned into his palm and took a deep breath of relief before turning to leave. I was longing to crawl into bed. Turning someone is emotionally and physically exhausting, but in the end, totally worth it. Now I couldn't wait for the sun to come up and watch Henry open his eyes as he embraced his new life.
Chapter 4: Haunted
A flash of violet light streaked across the black sky, while in the distance, terrifying screams ripped through the air, and I realized they were coming from me. The searing pain of two daggers dipped in fire punctured through my skin, inside the soft flesh of my elbow, and the blood-curdling scream caught in my throat. The pain was so unfathomable, I was rendered paralyzed, and no amount of toxin could temper the icy sizzle surging through my veins. Darkness consumed my being and I felt as if I'd been left to die in an abyss, on a deserted, frozen tundra. My vision blurred in and out as I began to convulse while a smooth, but powerful hand stroked my hair. His baritone voice whispered, "It's going to be okay."
My bedroom door splintered when a baseball bat flew past my head, after crashing through it, and I heard my Grandma Ulla screaming in violent German. I slipped into unconsciousness, feeling her waterfall of hot tears rolling over my cold skin as she gripped onto me, mumbling an incoherent prayer.
My eyes snapped open and I shot upright in bed, clutching onto my elbow to rub out the memory of the pain. I hate that nightmare. The memory resurfaced into a haunting dream after I first turned Eli, and now, over a year later I still can't seem to switch it off. I flopped onto my back in frustration and stared at the ceiling fan, letting its breeze erase the sweat that beaded across my forehead from the dream. I kept rubbing the inside of my elbow before I held it up for inspection. I swear, one day if I look hard enough, I will be able see the marks of his teeth branded into my skin as clearly as the memory was etched onto my brain.
I rolled out of the tangle of silky, luxurious sheets on the queen-sized bed, and stopped short in front of the full-length mirror by the closet. I pulled out the hair tie that was so loose, half my hair was no longer secured, and let my long messy waves fall free. I gave my hair a couple of finger combs and sighed, looking at the paper thin skin on my elbow where I saw the blue veins pulsing beneath it, waiting for the bite to show itself, but nothing came. I swallowed hard and found my eyes in the mirror.
"You're so beautiful, Daniella. Like Elizabeth Taylor, but even more exquisite," my mother would often say with pride in her German accent. She was obsessed with Elizabeth Taylor, and never thought she could be so lucky to bear a daughter with an equally rare color of amethyst eyes. I think to her, the famous actress with the violet eyes, and always dripping with diamonds, represented the American dream my mother strove for, and I was the proof she achieved it.
Yeah, well, look where it got her. I was fourteen when I was turned, or half-turned. We still don't know exactly what happened to me. Maybe he thought he was endowing me with a Gift, and I tried to see it that way, but mostly it felt like a curse. My brothers and I were staying with our Grandma Ulla alone that summer in Germany while my parents settled their divorce, and attempted to shelter us from the ugliness. Like we hadn't heard them throwing things, screaming and crying for the past year, during the split. I wondered if I would have ever become what I was now, had I not spent that summer in Germany. Ulla told my brothers I was sick with some nonexistent German fever, and I stayed in my room for the rest of our trip. Meanwhile, she conspired with her superstitious,
old lady, voodoo friends to figure out what happened to me.
"Chimera," she yelled bursting into my room as I curled up into a ball of despair on the bed. The word rolled off her accented tongue, sounding like an exotic bird. I was a vampire chimera. Somehow, I had the abilities of a vampire, but managed to keep the beating heart and soul of a human, while shifting back and forth under my own will, from one form to the other.
By the end of the summer, when it was time to return to Chicago and start my freshman year of high school at Mapleton Prep, Ulla concluded that if I concealed the vampire side of me, I would age, my heart would beat, and I would even require oxygen. I could be a relatively normal person as long as I made sure not to be too super-human, and no vampires would even know I existed. I worked hard not to hear things I shouldn't at a distance, or bench press more than the guys, and I always bandaged my cuts, even though they were already healed by the time I got the box from the medicine cabinet.
The first two years I did okay with the adjustment and only let the vampire out once in a while, when I was alone in the city. I wanted to see how it felt, and realized the human in me gave me some control over my bloodlust instincts. It wasn't until The Basement member approached me while I was turned vamp during a shopping venture that another vampire ever detected or even spoke to me.
Well, I guess he didn't actually speak to me, but I certainly didn't have day-walking vamps hanging out with me in math class. Ulla warned me not to make my presence known in the vampire community, but I couldn't help myself. It was so hard to hide so much of me all of the time. I started attending The Basement parties out of curiosity, and Ulla was right, I shouldn't have gone. Even though I wholeheartedly believe in what Eli and I have achieved, my life has been like walking on a tightrope ever since, and at any moment, I could fall to my death.