SURVIVAL

by Karen Payton Holt

  She rushed forward on legs which were suddenly stiff with reluctance.

  The naked flames which lit the tunnels danced her shadow mockingly over the walls. Images of the talon-fingered ‘Nosferatu’, the first vampire captured on celluloid in 1922, dragged his claws through her imagination. The aged poster she had seen as a child had printed its own copy into her young mind; it had gloweringly declared the character as a ‘symphony of horror’.

  Leizle’s legs moved faster as she shook off the crippling fear and outran her demons. She needed to see Oscar’s ruddy complexion and know that he was there to protect her. Of course he’s alright. Buried under half a ton of kitchenware maybe, but he’s fine.

  Running flat out, she executed a ragged turn into the dining cavern, and entered the kitchen, where she stopped dead.

  “You thought I’d forgotten, eh?” said Oscar.

  Leizle’s pounding heartbeat distorted Oscar’s words as she bent double trying to catch her breath. “What?” she wheezed.

  “Happy birthday?” said Oscar, suddenly wondering if he had taken the concept of ‘surprise’ too far when Leizle looked about to keel over.

  Her frown evaporated as she finally found enough air to say, “My birthday. How did you know?” She placed her hands on her hips. “And, what on earth was all the noise about? You scared me half to death.”

  “Well, let me see. Your eighteenth. Rebekah told me. And, I wanted to surprise you, and I couldn’t think of a subtle way to get you here.” Oscar frowned. “I think that was all the questions. So, Mademoiselle, let’s eat.”

  “Can I go and change, first?” Leizle glanced down at her grubby jeans and sneakers.

  “Sure,” beamed Oscar.

  An hour later, Leizle and Oscar were relaxing at a table with empty plates and full stomachs.

  “How did you get ingredients for a cake?” Leizle put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand as tiredness made her head feel heavy and filled it with shifting sand.

  “Ah, that would be the wonders of powdered egg. I’m afraid even Connor could not find any fresh ones.”

  “He was in on it, too?” Leizle’s green eyes glowed in the lamplight. The sand in her head shifted and made room for Julian’s chiseled features, as she asked, “Will we see them soon, do you think?”

  “Rebekah? Connor? Or Anthony... ouch!” Oscar’s pained expression was real, even though Leizle’s kick in the shin was playful. “Sorry, lass. There’s no telling when they’ll come. But, at least we know Rebekah and the baby are okay.”

  “Yes, we know that much, I guess. But, nothing else, and I’m going nuts.” Leizle’s smile was tight with disappointment.

  “It was good of Connor to send Anthony to tell us.” Oscar reached out to cover her hand, putting a stop to her restless tapping on the table top. “They will come.”

  “I’m sure they will,” she said. Exhaustion made sleep an enticing form of amnesia, and Leizle finally gave in. “If feeding me was a ploy to get me to sleep?” Leizle smirked. “You’ve done a grand job.”

  “I couldn’t let your eighteenth go by without a celebration,” Oscar said.

  “Thank you. G’night Oscar.” Getting up, she dropped a kiss onto his cheek, and set off on the walk back to her cavern. She kept her eyes front and forward when passing Rebekah’s doorway. I’ve spent too much time in there.

  As birthdays go, she’d had better. And I’ve never had one without Rebekah. Yawning widely, she lay down to sleep. Her head was filled with past birthdays, Rebekah, and Julian. As her eyes drifted closed she hoped she would dream about him. A half smile bowed her lips as goosebumps sweeping over her skin rekindled the sensation of Julian’s caress.

  Too cold to touch her yet, Julian sat and watched her sleep. His face was chiseled in ice. His dense tissue had forged a path through the bitter-cold night and he still wore the frost of its touch. Plumes of refrigerated night air cloaking him condensed as moisture on the polished stones of her cavern walls.

  The heat haze of her slumber was a brazier of hot coals to his senses. Everything about her burned him, even her titian hair; every time she moved and the light caught it, its fiery strands licked flames across his retina.

  Julian sighed, he’d come to find her. He wanted her with him, even though it would mean hiding her in the soundproofed room inside his house for the time being. He had been unable to concentrate not knowing what she was up to. She has a reckless streak that tears me open whenever I think of it. Julian’s smile was rueful as he admired the stubborn chin in evidence even while she slept.

  Tendrils of Leizle-laden hormones tortured him, drifting across the cavern to bind him, tighten his chest, and tempt him to taste her... to bite.

  Retreating urgently, he retraced his steps to the laundry room where he turned on the faucet and poured hot water into the large Jacuzzi-like pool.

  Shedding his clothes, Julian lowered himself into the water until he disappeared below the glassy surface. His dense tissue settled him on the bottom, and he eased into the meditative state of revival sleep. In a moment of crystal clarity, Julian knew he could command the pain and suffering of loving Leizle. She makes me feel alive.

  Unable to resist her call, he surged up and emerged from the water. Dressing quickly, he shrugged into his shirt and, with the damp towel slung around his neck and his jacket dangling from his fingertips, he left the cavern. The naked flames of the torches sizzled and spat at the spray of moisture as he shook his wet mane to clear his vision, and rubbed the towel over the saturated strands.

  The sudden draft of his arrival in her cavern drew a soft moan of protest from Leizle. Standing with the towel hanging from distracted fingertips, he ran his hand through barely damp, blonde-bronzed hair and focused on her sleeping form.

  He allowed her scent to infuse him slowly, panting gently. He filled his lungs little by little, until he felt her in every fiber, and the searing hunger to touch her had been eaten away to merely a ravenous burn. His cheeks were flushed from the vials of human blood he drank at the dispensary and the animal blood he had hunted down on the way. I haven’t seen her for days, so I’m taking no chances. Languishing deep in revival sleep, he felt almost human. His desire was earthy and physical and, drawn by her alluring scent, he laid out on the bed beside her.

  Propped up on his side, he settled his palm at her waist, and his cool, minted breath feathered her neck. He smiled as a frisson of exhilaration darted through her soft center, and the kiss he pressed to her shoulder dusted her skin in a shiver.

  A glorious flush of heat flooded her breasts and tingled through her belly and thighs as a feline stretch arched her body, releasing the tightly wound spring of tension. Closing his eyes, Julian rode the warm wave of her scattered blood cells, and the curves of her body were a model of the perfection he had constructed in his mind.

  She rolled towards him. He ran his hand over her contours, moving carefully over her thigh, hip, and ribcage, and pulled in a deep breath as he warmed his palm on her breast. Stroking his thumb over burning skin to tease, she was the perfect fit as he knew she would be.

  When he closed his lips over her soft mouth, he felt the relaxation of slumber slip away and confusion spark through her brain in an electrical storm of activity. The disorientation of delicious excitement suddenly dissolved into panic and her pulse rate peaked as she pulled away.

  “Don’t go,” he muttered, his thumb continuing to caress in languorous circles until his fingers at last closed over her nipple and, lifting his head, he locked his darkened sage eyes to hers.

  “You’re really here. It’s my birthday.” Her sleep-scrambled words tumbled as the distracting tug of his fingertips thickened her thoughts.

  “Happy birthday,” Julian purred as he hovered over her lips again.

  Leizle’s eyes glazed with pleasure and her fingertips played with the edges of his open shirt. Never taking her eyes from his, she peeled the fabric away, spreading her palms over his taut muscles. With every s
troke of her hands, her expression of wonder gave way to longing, touched with uncertainty.

  A half-smile softened the chiseled planes of Julian’s face as he allowed her to explore. Motionless, he veiled the intensity in his gaze as she stroked the muscles of his chest and down over his braced abdomen. When her fingers pulled at his pants, his hand closed over hers, holding her still.

  Her agitation sang of a girl on a voyage of discovery, her intoxicating scent was spiced with nerves, and as Julian breathed it in, raw satisfaction settled in the pit of his stomach. She has never been here before.

  He moved to kiss her again with a growl rumbling in his throat. “I want to, you know I do,” he breathed as his hand covered her buttock and he pulled her into his groin, demonstrating his frustration. “But, I want it to be right, and there are other things.”

  Julian ached with restraint as he took his time, exciting her skin with his caress.

  Leizle was lost as the surge of longing gathered her thoughts and whisked them along, tugging them beneath the boiling surface of desire. Every vision of Julian was an explosion of light, and every touch of his cool skin grazing over hers was a sensation she could hardly bear. Anticipation came up for breath, when finally, his hand covered her stomach, his fingertips stroked down and dipped between her thighs. Her gasp delighted as much as the damp heat of her arousal tortured him.

  “There are so many other things.” His chest rumbled with satisfaction. “You won’t be disappointed, I promise.”

  Trailing his lips down over her body, he followed the flush his fingers laid over her skin, pausing to dip his tongue into her tummy button. Her shudders vibrating beneath his lips were entrancing. Anticipation flooded his mouth as he dared to taste her. Dipping his head between her thighs, his cool mouth savored her excitement.

  His demonstration left Leizle breathless as, holding her carefully, but not letting her escape, his tongue played over her sweet scent until the shivers racking her body almost drove him crazy.

  He smiled against her trembling stomach, trailed kisses up over her breasts, and kissed her lips just as her bones turned to jelly. He molded her soft curves to his, tucking her gently into his side.

  Julian almost appeared human, lying out on his back with a hand supporting his head and a slumbering Leizle nestled in to his chest. Except that his face was bone-white with tension, his eyes blackened pools of hunger, and his harsh panting breaths barely eased the pain.

  He promised himself he would make her first awakening perfect, and it had almost killed him. The knife blade in his throat he could manage, but the surge in his groin which pulled at his velvet heat when the thigh she draped over his pants brushed his naked stomach, he could not. He was a hunter, and the perfect texture of her skin was a blank canvas he ached to mark as his, to brand her. His compelling desire to possess her and emblazon her flesh with his ownership gnawed away at his restraint.

  “Don’t leave,” her sleep-laden voice begged.

  Julian was stunned. His vampire speed would have whisked him away before she could register it, but she already knew. Almost before I did, she knew. He thought about telling her he needed to feed, but distaste clenched his throat. He had a vial of blood in the jacket he’d discarded. It will take but a moment.

  “I’ll be back before you can miss me,” he said, and he went.

  Leizle’s body rocked when his sudden departure released the mattress springs and rolled her onto her back. As her shoulder blades settled onto the cotton sheet, and she began to feel lonely, he was back.

  “You see, vampire quick can be a good thing,” he laughed down into her upturned face.

  “It has its uses.” Leizle flushed beneath his scrutiny as the morning-after feeling of embarrassment clutched at her heart. She had never experienced it before, but her instincts were undeniable. She steeled herself for Julian’s regrets.

  His amusement melted as his gaze swept her body, dark patches clustered as rouged paint daubs on her skin. “Got a few battle scars, I see,” he whispered. Even though Connor had told him it would happen, the reddening marks gave him pause. His eyes wandered back to her anxious face, and his smile dissolved her doubts. “I’ll have to try harder next time, hmm?”

  His hands stroked over her thigh, and the languorously happy expression which blossomed on her face moved him quickly back to satisfaction. He nuzzled her shoulder as he murmured, “We should be getting back.”

  “I am coming with you?” Leizle asked. She didn’t want him to leave her again, and hope flushed her cheeks.

  “You read my mind, how could I leave you now?” Julian let a feral grin spread across his face, inhaling the scent of her quickening pulse, an instant response as he moved over her.

  An hour later, Julian helped Leizle to pack the bare essentials. Like a satellite drawn to a planet, his movements mirrored hers, their silence filled with contentment as his touch flirted with her skin at every opportunity.

  “I can’t think straight.” Leizle smiled.

  “I can come back,” he said, winding a copper strand of her hair around his finger and looking at it as though it held the secrets of the universe. “I want to check on Oscar, in any case.”

  “Is he leaving tonight, too?”

  Julian found focus with difficulty and nodded. “Seth and Greg are meeting him in the woods. They’ll be fine, and I’m sure Harry will be pleased to hear the news.” He glanced into her face and smiled. “The worst is over, Red.” He laced his fingers through hers and said gently, “Let’s go say goodbye to Oscar, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said firmly, and felt the bones in her fingers creak before Julian released his grip with an apologetic glance.

  “Sorry, I forget. You better do the holding bit.” He waited as she folded her fingers around his relaxed hand before they moved towards the door to say goodbye to the eco-home... for now.

  Chapter 29

  The meadow surrounding the eco-shelter bore the scars of battle. The fallen guardsmen, like crumbled statues in an ancient graveyard, had become their own graves and headstones. The night air was heavy with mist, and to say it clustered as if drawn by the magnetic force of evil would sound dramatic, but Sebastian stood in the shadows; his wavy hair weighted with moisture and the frost-colored pearls decorating his dark coat complemented the clouded hue of his unseeing eye.

  He had not moved for many hours, his feelings never stirred, even while watching the sun’s heated fingertips glowing red as they gripped onto the horizon – as though reluctant to leave – and the rise of the silver moon bleaching the color from his surroundings.

  The bitter cold suited his mood. The human nest was empty.

  So, this is where Doctor Connor tore off Serge’s arm and went head to head with Captain Laurence. A sneer revealed venom-drenched teeth, and as sarcasm struggled with envy, he muttered, “What passion he must have felt, to risk so much.” Sebastian sluiced the rain from his hair, letting it run in an icy flow down his neck. He tugged hard at the roots, pulling the flesh on his face tight, and his eyes glazed with hatred. “His pain will be keener for that.”

  Curiosity rooted him to the spot as he tilted his head, and, playing the moonlight over the glistening dew on the field, he studied the trail of compressed flora. The crushed blades of grass revealed the route where a hefty man had crossed into the wood. I only missed him by an hour or two.

  Disappointment buried a blade in Sebastian’s chest. He took off across the meadow and the blackened maw in the hillside loomed large and swallowed him whole as, for the first time, he set foot inside his nemesis’ lair.

  Inside the pitch black tunnels, his feet glided soundlessly over the glacially-polished floor. Polished to minimize noise, I’m sure. A kicked pebble this close to the threshold could bring death down upon them. His clawed fingers scored deep lines into the tunnel wall, dislodging gravel and pebbles to scatter over the floor and spoil the hard-won meticulously smooth finish. The screeching sound of his nails kept him company as he progresse
d further, marking the territory as his.

  The heavy odors of mud and potatoes coated Sebastian’s nasal lining and he guessed it was deliberate. Another form of camouflage, a prey well-versed in the potency of odors. Their efforts were impressively effective. He slipped past the heavy curtain of sackcloth, and the atmosphere on the other side was a banquet of human odors.

  Absorbing the cocktail of delights, he considered the possible outcomes if he had been the vampire who made this discovery. I would not have let sentiment cloud my judgement. I would have ruled them, and bent them to my will. The imagined excitement of terror-laden blood pumping through human veins dripped venom down his chin.

  With measured curiosity, Sebastian paced the tunnels. Such a wretched existence.

  The meeting cavern smelled of human tenacity and determination. There were hiking boots lined up along one wall, and wet weather gear of all sizes still hanging on metal nails. Sebastian laughed aloud at the rock climbers’ headbands with flashlights attached. Pathetic creatures, like moles stumbling around in a world where eagles dare.

  The dining cavern and kitchen smelled of carbolic soap and a strange woodland essence, and his fascination waned as the hope that the habitat was not the empty shell it appeared, died.

  It makes life simpler, of course. The only human who mattered to him now was Rebekah, and her baby.

  Sebastian checked his watch and smiled. It was midnight. The council favors two a.m. as the perfect time to convene. So, I have two hours to rile up Serge, and have him demand satisfaction in court.

  He grinned as confidence gathered his thoughts and wove them into a plan. And, Doctor Connor will have two hours of ignorant bliss before the hammer falls. Principal Julian, of course, is the council, and he’ll have no choice but to attend. “Council protocol is inescapable,” mocked Sebastian, enjoying the irony of ‘physician, heal thyself’ and a principal hogtied by his own status. And the boxer? I’m sure I can get past him.