by L. M. Justus
Nathaniel sat up, startling me. He filled his lungs with two deep breaths before turning to me.
“That was quick,” I said.
His shirt and pants had giant holes in them, but the skin underneath was smooth, without a trace from the burns.
“The length of death after feeding is relative to the amount of blood taken. Thus, the small bit taken during an emergency feed requires a much shorter death sleep,” he replied.
“Oh.” I thought back to when Sarah had shot me in her apartment and I’d bitten her. I guess it was possible I hadn’t been out for my usual hour.
“I guess we’re stuck here until the sun goes down,” I said.
“Indeed.”
“Listen, you tried to hypnotize Sarah so it wouldn’t hurt when you bit her, but it obviously did hurt her. I thought I was the only vampire who couldn’t hypnotize people. Is my problem contagious or something?”
Nathaniel frowned. “I have never encountered this problem before. I suspect the anomaly in this case lies with Sarah.”
Now it was my turn to frown. “What do you mean?”
“I suspect she is immune to vampire mind control. Her brain clearly functions in an atypical fashion because she can read thoughts.”
I had so many questions and I was pumped about finally getting some answers. “Nathaniel?”
He looked me straight in the eye. “Yes, Reed?”
“What’s wrong with me? Why am I different? I mean, why can’t I mesmerize people? And more importantly, why am I able to go out in the sun? Am I only half a vampire or something?”
“No, that is impossible,” he said, shaking his head. “Becoming a vampire is akin to contracting a virus or disease. You cannot catch half a disease; you either have it, or you do not.”
“But . . . I don’t understand,” I said.
“There are certain humans who exhibit unusual abilities,” he began. “Sarah, for example, who can read people’s minds. These humans manifest special powers when they become vampires. This means if Sarah were to survive the transformation into becoming a vampire, she would have at least one extraordinary power.” He paused.
“Another example,” he continued, “is the Queen. As a human, she was reputed to have the ability to sense people’s feelings, even when they were not in close, physical proximity to her. As a vampire, she can absorb one’s memories as though she had experienced them first-hand.”
Ugh . . . it made my skin crawl when I thought about the time she’d kissed me with her cold lips and sucked out my memories. Her looking twelve years old had made it even more disturbing.
“So, what does all that have to do with me?” I asked.
“My guess is you also had a special ability when you were human, and that ability has manifested itself into your capability to walk in sunlight and touch silver.”
“That doesn’t explain why I can’t hypnotize people.”
“Yes, well . . . this is conjecture, mind you. The King in New York might help you find more answers, as he has done extensive research on this subject. I believe he is attempting to find a way for all vampires to walk in the sun. This makes him exceptionally interested in you, of course.”
“Okay, the thing I still don’t get is that I didn’t have any special ability when I was human,” I said.
“Perhaps it was not as obvious as Sarah’s special skill, but if you take some time to think about it, you may realize there was something, however insignificant.”
I’d think about that later. I still had lots of other questions. “All right then, how did I become a vampire in the first place? At the beginning I thought it was because Pythagoras–”
“Panagos,” Nathaniel corrected.
“Right, whatever. Anyway, I thought it was because he bit me, but you bite people every night, and they don’t all become vampires.”
“Very good,” he said, as if he was proud of me, his eager student. “To make a vampire, you must drain the human almost completely of blood, which is a significantly larger intake of blood than a normal feeding. Almost ten times as much, in fact. Then the human needs to consume some of the vampire’s blood. Even a small amount will infect a human,” he said.
“Hold up a second. I never drank any of that guy’s blood.”
“You did. It is the only way. Think back to the attack if you wish to find the answer.”
I so did not want to replay any part of the attack ever again, but I did want answers. I closed my eyes and pictured the scene of the attack from the moment I’d been tossed through the air and landed in the front room of my house. I’d grabbed a piece of wood to defend myself, and when the vampire came at me, I’d slashed him across the face. His blood had spurted all over me, including into my mouth.
Goddamn it! I had consumed some of his blood, but not on purpose. That meant I’d been turned into a vampire by accident.
“You have realized something?” Nathaniel raised his eyebrows.
I heaved a big sigh. “Yeah. You were right. Of course.” I wasn’t sure why I felt so disappointed about turning into a vampire by mistake. Maybe if there was a reason why I’d been turned, I’d feel like my being a vampire had purpose. Maybe everything that had happened would somehow be justifiable. But now? I had to accept it was a stupid case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and nothing more.
I slumped back against the cave wall. “He didn’t choose me or my family for any particular reason. It was just bad luck.”
“I agree,” Nathaniel replied. “Panagos was not in his right mind when he attacked your family. He was quite aged, even for a vampire. All vampires eventually lose their sanity if they survive into their fourth century. Every vampire was once human, and the human brain was not meant to hold centuries worth of memories, experiences, and emotional trauma. Therefore, the older vampires usually end their long existence when they first notice the onset of dementia. There is a ritual we follow to ease them from this life. I do not know why Panagos hid his mental decline and avoided meeting the sun as he should have.”
“You mean vampires kill themselves as soon as they notice they’re starting to go crazy?”
“Yes. It is far preferable to succumbing to raving lunacy and risking exposure to the human world. Clearly, humans are aware of the tragedy that befell your family. Panagos risked exposing us all.”
“So the bottom line is . . . Panagos killed my family and accidentally turned me into a vampire because he was insane. And that’s it?”
Nathaniel gave me a kind look. “It is only natural for you to seek a reason for your misfortune. An explanation for your losses might help you deal with the grief. The unfortunate reality is there often is no logical explanation. Tragic things happen to good people with no better reason than bad luck.”
I supposed that was true, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. I stewed while we sat in silence. Sarah hadn’t stirred once during our conversation.
I thought back through my life, trying to figure out if I’d had some sort of special ability like Nathaniel suggested. How could I have been able to do something extraordinary and not even noticed? No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with anything. Maybe this king in New York really could help me find some answers.
“What time is our flight to New York?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“I am afraid we can no longer fly out of Las Vegas,” Nathaniel replied.
“What? Why not?”
“The vampire contingent the Queen has sent after us will expect us at the Las Vegas airport. If we continue with our old plan, they will apprehend us there. When darkness falls, we shall depart on foot and procure another vehicle. Then we will make our way north into Utah. We can catch a flight out of Salt Lake City.”
I huffed out a sigh. “How could the vampires attack us in the middle of the airport? You said they try not to attract humans’ attention, and I’m sure people would notice that kind of thing. And–” I continued, cutting Nathaniel off before he got a
chance to answer, “I thought you said Vegas was neutral territory, whatever that means. I assumed that meant we were safe from vamps attacking us.”
“I did not say the vampires would attack us, I said they would apprehend us. There is a difference. If we have Sarah with us, they will threaten her well-being to force us to obey their instructions.”
“Fine. So what does neutral territory mean?” I said. Nathaniel had a real knack for explaining away every one of my perfectly logical points.
“There is no ruling monarch in Las Vegas or the surrounding area. It is an unwritten rule that any vampire can visit the city with impunity, meaning they can do as they will without fear of punishment. As long as they do not expose our kind to humans, of course, but that is always in our best interests.”
“So, if there was a king or queen in Vegas, what difference would that make?”
“Any vampire wishing to enter a territory ruled by a king or queen must obtain permission from the ruling monarch. Most likely, that permission would not be granted.”
“Do we need permission to go to Salt Lake City then?” I asked. All the vampire politics made my head swim.
“Absolutely,” Nathaniel agreed. “Although the King in Denver rules the area that encompasses Salt Lake City.”
“God, how the hell do you keep track of all that? Is there a vampire territory handbook or something?”
A small smile curved Nathaniel’s lips. I tried to remember if I’d ever seen him smile before. It was such a tiny change in his expression, yet it completely transformed his entire face. He almost looked . . . normal.
“How are we going to get permission to go into Salt Lake City if the kings normally say ‘no’ to that kind of request?” I asked.
Nathaniel’s face fell into his usual bland look. “I expect we will be granted permission based on our promise to vacate the area expeditiously.”
I shifted my position and wished I had something more comfortable to sit on than the rocky cave floor. Sarah was still sound asleep. Her shirt was dusted with sand and smears of dirt, and it clung to her side, emphasizing the perfect curve of her waist.
“Nathaniel, do vampires ever have . . . you know, relationships with humans?” My cheeks felt warm.
Nathaniel looked at Sarah before turning his glance back at me. I wasn’t fooling him for a second. “I do not wish to meddle in your personal affairs, Reed; however, a romantic relationship with a human is not the wisest course. You should be very careful.”
“Sure,” I said. That wasn’t the answer I’d been hoping for. I lay down on my back and studied the ceiling of the cave. It was going to be a long day of waiting for nightfall.
Nathaniel
The sun made its slow trek across the sky from east to west. The shadows shrank when noon approached, then lengthened once more as evening neared.
Nathaniel had spent many a day throughout his long existence waiting for night to fall, forced to remain sheltered from the sun. He sat patiently, while Reed shifted position yet again.
At last, the sun sank below the horizon amidst a curtain of orange and gold. The twilight sky enveloped the desert landscape and Nathaniel’s senses sharpened.
“We must depart,” he stated, rising to his feet.
Reed’s head whipped up. “Finally!” He stood and shook out his limbs.
Nathaniel started toward Sarah’s sleeping form on the cave floor, but then stopped. “Perhaps you should rouse her,” he suggested. “You can carry her while we run. If you prefer.”
“Oh, okay. No problem,” Reed replied, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.
Nathaniel moved to the cave entrance and scanned the desert, listening to the crickets and the soft breeze blowing across the sand. He stepped outside and walked a few paces and used his natural sense of direction to orient himself.
Moments later, the other two approached from behind. Reed gave him a lopsided smile and stood waiting with Sarah in his arms. Nathaniel stifled a grin of amusement at the innocent looks on their faces. He cleared his throat and said, “Follow me. Try your best to keep up.”
They sped through the night, mere blurs in the darkness. Their excellent night vision made it easy to avoid obstacles. Even Reed, brand new to his vampiric abilities, traveled through the desert with effortless grace.
After a solid half-hour of running roughly north-west, they hit a highway. They veered north to follow it, and a road sign confirmed it was the I-15. Now they required a vehicle and Nathaniel planned to commandeer the first one they encountered.
Less than a minute later, he spotted a tan-colored sedan speeding down the highway up ahead. He ran past it and stopped in the middle of the road, waving his arms to catch the driver’s attention. The tires squealed on the pavement when the driver slammed on the brakes, and Nathaniel danced back several steps. Humans were never quick to react at the best of times.
The driver was a lone male, similar in size and build to Nathaniel. With little effort, Nathaniel mesmerized him into giving up the car as well as his clothes. He changed into the driver’s garments, discarding his burnt clothes on the ground at the side of the highway. Adding insult to injury, Nathaniel instructed Reed to feed from the man. Why waste such a convenient opportunity?
Reed obeyed with some reluctance and then crawled into the back seat of the car for his death sleep.
Sarah gritted her teeth and shot Nathaniel an accusatory glare. It was unfortunate, but necessary for him to continue breaking her precious human laws. Soon enough, she would accept this fact and the reality of their situation. As it was, she didn’t argue. They drove off, leaving the confused and mostly naked driver at the side of the road, his memory safely erased.
After an hour of stony silence between Nathaniel and Sarah, Reed gasped when he awoke in the back seat. Reed sat up and scrubbed his hands through his hair, creating a disheveled mess.
“Hey,” Sarah said.
“Hey, yourself,” Reed replied with a smile. Nathaniel frowned at the smell blossoming within the car’s interior. He wished the attraction between the other two didn’t have an odor.
“Can you switch spots with me so I can try to get a little shut-eye?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, sure,” Reed answered.
They squashed past each other in the confined space. Sarah lay down in the back to rest, while Reed buckled himself into the passenger seat.
“So, what’d I miss?” Reed asked.
“A lot of silence,” Nathaniel answered. “I believe Sarah is upset with me for stealing this car.”
“Ya think?” Sarah said.
Nathaniel turned to Reed and grimaced.
They continued driving for another hour in quiet, their high beams cutting through the darkness, lighting up the empty highway ahead of them. Eventually, Nathaniel turned on the car radio, hoping Sarah would be able to remain asleep with the music on. He found a station to his liking and allowed himself to relax.
Nathaniel’s mood lifted when one of his favorite bands came on the radio. As he got into the music, he began to sing along softly. “Honey honey, how you thrill me, ah-ah, honey honey . . . bop bop bop wa-ooo.”
Reed turned his head very slowly. “Are you . . . singing?”
“Does it bother you?” Nathaniel asked.
“Uh, no . . . it’s just that, you don’t seem like the singing type. At all. Kind of the opposite–”
“I happen to like this song,” he interrupted. “It is one of my favorite modern groups, a band from Sweden by the name of ABBA. Have you heard of them?”
Reed stared at him. “Dude . . . that’s not modern. That’s like, stuff my grandmother listens to.”
“I meant ‘modern’ relatively speaking, of course. Did you know one of the most popular artists of my time was none other than Wolfgang Mozart? He died during my human lifetime. I adore his work. His symphony number 40 is simply one of the most brilliant pieces of music ever written.”
“Yeah . . . don’t know that one. I’ll have to take your
word for it.”
“You would recognize it if you heard it,” Nathaniel said. What were they teaching these ignorant youth in school nowadays?
“If you say so.” Reed said. “Hey, you know what I just realized? I don’t even know your last name. You have a last name, don’t you?”
“Dubois. I am Nathaniel Henri Dubois.”
“Wow, that sounds really French,” Reed said.
“I was born and raised in France, although my mother’s family was from England. My first name was given in respect to my maternal grandfather,” Nathaniel explained. He enjoyed sharing this information with Reed.
Their car crested the next rise and emergency blinkers flashed in the distance. At least one car had been in an accident. Someone was shouting, and a man waved his arms frantically to flag them down.
“We must continue driving,” Nathaniel said. “We cannot stop.”
“What?” Reed said. “No! They need our help. Look at that guy.”
“Goddamn you, Nathaniel,” Sarah snapped. “Pull over for Christ’s sake!”
He glowered, but complied by pulling off the road when they reached the scene of the accident.
“Fine, but Reed and I will remain in the car. And be quick about it. We must leave before the authorities arrive.” Nathaniel could not allow Reed to go near the humans; the scent of blood would cause him to reveal his vampiric nature.
Sarah leapt out of the car and raced into the fray. Unfortunately, Reed took off after her.
“Reed! Stay here!” he shouted. Nathaniel growled and cursed under his breath and chased after the belligerent boy.
A red Toyota Corolla rested in a slanted position across the right lane of the highway, and a mangled motorbike lay several feet farther away on the gravel shoulder. A pick-up truck was at the side of the highway with its emergency flashers on. It looked like the Corolla had struck the motorcyclist, trapping him in the undercarriage of the car. Two men, presumably the drivers of the Corolla and the truck, were attempting to lift the car off the screaming victim. Sarah rushed in to help.