Zamani

by Angelic Rodgers

  “Please, sir. You’ve not paid and I don’t do rough trade on the streets. Please.” Her face was wet and Olivia could see she was young and quite scared. She was no innocent, but she was not deserving of abuse, either. Olivia grabbed the man by his filthy collar, easily throwing him against the opposite wall of the alleyway. He sat on the ground, hard.

  “I believe you’ve been asked to leave.” She wiped her now grimy hand on her trousers. She was still in the shadows enough that neither the abuser nor victim could see her face. The drunk struggled to stand.

  “Mind your own fucking business. I paid the whore and I’m going to take what’s coming to me.”

  The woman stood and waited for the resolution, and Olivia could sense from her that she was not only hoping to save her evening by offering herself up to her rescuer for a fair price but that she also wanted to see the drunk get his due.

  The drunk was unsuccessful in standing, but he kept up his tirade. “This whore’s not your concern.” As the drunk slurred this at Olivia, she stepped closer to where he sat, squatting down so they were at eye level. His first impulse upon realizing his challenger was female was to laugh, but the fear that looking into her eyes caused to well up choked out any laughter. She smiled at him, a slow grin that spread across her face and scared him to the point that he lost control of his bladder. Without a word, she took the woman by the hand and they walked toward her hotel.

  The prostitute’s name was Lisette. They didn’t speak as they walked. Instead, Olivia lit them both cigarettes and they smoked quietly until they reached the hotel, still walking hand in hand. She knew the woman would spend the evening with her, and she knew that she would pay her handsomely enough that she’d not have to worry about working the streets again for some time.

  Later, as Lisette slept, Olivia simply sought her madam. Olivia explained that Lisette was hers now, and that they were family. Between Olivia’s powers of persuasion and a few well-placed gold pieces, the woman was more than happy to forget Lisette existed. She wasn’t, after all, a cruel woman, and there were plenty of girls waiting to take Lisette’s place.

  During the week Olivia stayed in New Orleans, Lisette was her constant companion. Olivia tried to gain access to Marie Laveau, hoping to meet her, but to no avail. She quickly found that Marie’s network was strong and that those from out of town couldn’t just decide to meet her. These barriers were something completely foreign to Olivia, and eventually she tired of trying. She realized that she needed more knowledge of the magic that Marie possessed if she were to make any headway.

  She left one morning unannounced, slipping out of the hotel room before Lisette awoke. She left an envelope for her that would allow her to reestablish herself. As she checked out of the hotel, she paid for another week’s worth of lodgings for her.

  She’d also left her with a far more sinister gift; Lisette would have been loyal without being turned, but Olivia knew she could use the girl as an information portal.

  She also knew she’d be back.

  And it’s always good to have family.

  Chapter Eighteen

  After leaving Christophe, Olivia took a cab to the Quarter. Cabs are never difficult to find one on the edge of the Garden District, and the short walk to St. Charles helped her shake off the irritation she felt with herself and with Christophe. It had been foolish of her not to prepare for this. She had put it off, hoping it would be later. Wren’s mistake with Alex had certainly messed up her plans. He’d been so easy to control before, and while she had no doubt she could handle him even now, she knew it would be more difficult as he realized the truth about his new existence and started to test his abilities.

  She asked the cab driver to take her to Frenchmen Street. She slipped from the cab and waited until it pulled away from the curb before she took off down the street toward the river, the opposite direction of most of the traffic. She wanted to stand at the river and remember that night so long ago when she’d first come to New Orleans and taken the Pontchartrain Railroad to the lakefront.

  Old Smoky Mary, the train she’d ridden that first night in New Orleans, was long gone. She moved toward the old Elysian Fields Avenue milestone in the neutral ground and realized someone else was standing there. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Lisette had been following Christophe for some time, but he’d never realized it because she was skilled with cloaking.

  “I thought you might come tonight, Olivia. I was at the ceremony earlier, and I saw them. I also felt Christophe’s reaction.”

  Olivia moved closer to Lisette in the dark, kissing her on the cheek lightly. “So, I suppose it’s true; did you recognize them?”

  Lisette nodded. “Zofia. She had some new vamp with her, though, and I think that’s what Christophe reacted to. The pair of them were stunning, and in the thrall of the drumming, the new one let her guard down enough that Christophe sensed her, as did I.” She chuckled. “At least I had the good fortune to be your first true conquest in New Orleans. I can only imagine how the poor boy must feel now that he knows he’s not so special.”

  Olivia smiled. “Well, they can’t all be you, my dear.” She threaded her arm though Lisette’s and they started to move toward Washington Square, back away from the river. “He does have a special place in my plans; they just aren’t, I’m sure, what he’s imagined they might be.” She paused for bit and added, “I may need your help with him.”

  Lisette patted her on the arm. “You know I am happy to help.”

  Lisette led Olivia back to the crowds and noise. They rarely hunted together, but they made a very good team when they did. Lisette had been forever grateful for Olivia’s influence in her life and held no ill will toward her. Her life on the streets at the mercy of a madam had been much harsher than the life of a vampire. Since Olivia turned her, she’d been in control of her life. She willingly embraced the power Olivia gave her. Her independence had been important to her, too, so she was relieved that Olivia hadn’t wanted to impose the boundaries of a conventional relationship on her; the two had remained close friends, but they allowed each other to come and go freely.

  Christophe, they both knew, would be a different matter. He’d always been at the mercy of female power in his life—his mother, his grandmother, and his sister. Now Olivia. He also would eventually realize why Olivia had chosen him, and unless she handled the situation well, he might have a complete meltdown. While that wouldn’t be the end of the world, Olivia would rather he procure the information for her willingly. Getting his sister or his grandmother involved could completely wreck her plans.

  Olivia trusted Lisette with the whole story from the start; in that week they had spent together in 1881, Olivia sat in bed, talking excitedly about how Marie Laveau had most certainly discovered the secret to eternal life without the same limits that Olivia faced. “I can’t explain it,” she’d rambled, “but I knew that she was the original Marie; it wasn’t her daughter. Can you imagine it? Being able to move from one body to a new one, taking all of the wisdom from your past life with you and being free to start over completely? Not only that, but if this is truly possible, it must mean there is something else than here—and that death isn’t the end. Maybe I can bring Daniela back.”

  Lisette had been caught up in the energy of it all back then; after all, she was new to the idea of being a vampire. If vampires existed, who was to say what Olivia described wasn’t possible? She’d wondered why it was so important to Olivia at the time, but as she lived as a vampire, she came to understand a bit better. Not only would being able to move from one body to another make it easier to conceal her true identity, but also she’d never really relished feeding. On an animal level, she loved the hunt and the exhilaration of the feeding and the control that came with it, but if there were a way to live forever and not have the messiness of feeding, that would be ideal. Donors were useful in times of exhaustion, but to be truly free of obligation to others would be a welcome change.

  Olivia, unlike Lisette, felt
no sense of obligation to anyone. The true motivation for Olivia was to bring her beloved Daniela back from the dead. She’d spent the years in between 1881 and 2012, when she returned to New Orleans to live, chasing trails of evidence around the globe, looking for some proof that what she hoped for existed. She’d written Lisette sporadically, telling her of different leads she found, then following up with letters revealing yet another charlatan or dead end.

  All roads led Olivia back to New Orleans. She’d become convinced that Daniela was already reincarnated, and she’d felt the pull of her so strongly that she’d been drawn back to New Orleans. When she returned, Lisette wasn’t sure that it wasn’t just wishful thinking on Olivia’s part, but she was glad that she’d returned for awhile. She found Olivia’s presence comforting, and she felt less lonely with her there. New Orleans was not devoid of vampires or donors, and Lisette had enjoyed the company of donors and other vampires from time to time, but she felt a special affinity for Olivia. Family lines were important to her now in ways that they hadn’t been when she was a mere mortal. Olivia might be ruthless in her own way, but she was always honest with Lisette. Had she been inclined to do so, Lisette thought she could make a living as a writer based on Olivia’s stories and letters. But, she’d never had such aspirations, not truly. She’d kept the letters, though, tucked away in a French Market coffee can, safely hidden in the back of a closet of the small cottage she’d bought in the Treme after Olivia left New Orleans. She wasn’t obsessed with Olivia, but she loved her and would always be grateful to her.

  When Olivia returned in 2012, Lisette saw the same sparkle in her eye she had that first night they met, the Eve of St. John. Lisette was reading and had fallen asleep. In her mind, she heard Olivia’s voice calling softly to her, her laughter soft and scented with violets. She’d run to the door and swung it open to see Olivia standing there, smiling. She invited her in, and later, as they drank wine in bed, Olivia told her she was here to stay. “I think she’s here, Lisette. I don’t really know how or why she’s here, but I swear I can feel her.” Lisette simply listened, happy to have Olivia back, hoping she would stay.

  Chapter Nineteen

  New Orleans has always been a refuge for outlaws and misfits. The hiding place for pirates and criminals of all sorts, New Orleans had the code of silence long before Vegas packaged it up as a catch phrase for bad behavior on vacation. Lisette’s occupation in the 19th century was so rooted in organized crime that it was hard to untangle. Thankfully, she was merely a lower level employee when she was turned and her exit from working the streets hadn’t even been noticed. Working girls went missing all the time. It was part of the game.

  Olivia had a purpose in turning her. She knew Lisette would be grateful and seize the opportunity for what it was—a chance to be in control and independent in ways she never could have imagined before. Olivia spent the week training her to hunt. She was a quick study and took to mind control and suggestion techniques quite well. They were, after all, tools of her former trade. She also had no qualms about taking what she needed for sustenance, whether it be blood or money. They were merely products on the street of commerce, just as her tail had been when she was a working girl.

  The two women spent each night mingling with the people in the streets, picking their marks. By the end of her stay, Olivia and Lisette had ventured out in the morning business traffic, making men on their way to their offices their marks. Lisette need never worry for money again with her newfound powers of persuasion.

  Olivia also spent time teaching her ways to identify Others and how to conceal herself. In her years of travel, Olivia had developed some techniques of her own, and she’d learned from some of her elders. In the beginning she assumed when she felt that strange tension grip her—a mixture of anticipation and fear—that her father had found her. It was too similar to how she felt in his presence, and it confused her until she realized there were Others in the world. She’d laughed at herself when she realized this; after all, she had turned Daniela without even being aware of what she was doing or what the consequences of her actions would be. If she could turn someone unawares, surely her father had turned people in his long lifetime, and more than likely those had turned others.

  Not long after she’d left her father’s house she learned that this was true. She was sitting in a cafe watching people when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise and the familiar feeling of invisible icy fingertips just barely grazing her skin, first at the nape of her neck, then around her chin, as if cupping it and turning her head. She saw him.

  He was sitting at the back of the cafe, the corner shadowed as the sun started sinking a bit lower in the late afternoon. He didn’t appear to be paying attention to her or anyone else. Instead, his eyes were closed, a ledger in front of him, his pencil forgotten for the moment. She didn’t understand why, but she felt compelled to take her coffee with her and sit across from him at his table. The cafe was fairly empty at this time of day, so there was really no one who would notice. She moved to his table and sat silently and sipped her coffee, watching him. His hair was chestnut brown; she wasn’t sure how long it was, as it was pulled back and away from his face, even though a few tendrils had escaped, falling over his brows, which were shaped and tamed. His lashes were long and thick. She felt herself blush as she wondered how those would feel fluttering against her skin. His face was finely featured, his skin perfection. She looked down at the ledger in front of him and realized he must own the shop, as it looked like ordinary cafe business of inventory, costs, and profits.

  “So, I take it you’re newly turned.” He spoke softly, but the words were so unexpected that she’d started as if he’d shouted it at her. She looked up from and saw him smiling at her, his teeth incredibly white, even against his pale skin.

  She shook her head. “No. I was never turned. I was never turned. I just was. I am.”

  He held out his hand and she took it, halfway expecting and fully wishing him to raise it to his lips. He shook it instead. “Now that’s a new story for me. My name is Istvan. Let me refresh our cups, and you can tell me this incredible story.”

  She told him all she knew, and they switched to wine well before her story was over. He listened as she told him of her lineage, the story of her mother’s death, of her upbringing, and finally of her loss of her sisters, Daniela and Sasha.

  “I don’t understand, though, why I feel such affinity with other vampires I do not know. Here, for instance, I felt your presence and was both drawn to and repulsed by you. Eventually the attraction was stronger, obviously.”

  He smiled at her. “We simply are aware of our own kind, especially if they are receptive to being discovered. I am lonely here, so I tend to deliberately seek out my own kind. You are not used to having to shield yourself from others. You were in a way looking for me, too. I can help you, Olivia.”

  “Why wouldn’t I have felt that way with Daniela and with Sasha? I never felt that sense of repulsion, certainly.”

  “You were family with them both. You turned Daniela. She turned Sasha. You had nothing to fear from either of them, and you, like your father before you, held them closely in your mind, I suspect. Without training, neither of them would have been able to stir such fear. They simply were not threats to you. They were, in a sense, forever stuck in an infant stage in their development. They had the hunger, but they had not developed their power, nor did they know how to use it fully.” He paused. “Think about how in the wild it would be easy to come upon a bear cub or a wolf cub. There is no fear there, no repulsion. The only fear is in where the mother is. Daniela and Sasha were like cubs.”

  He continued. “In many ways, there was no reason for them to develop their skills; locked in your father’s castle meant they did not truly have to hunt. You mentioned he brought quarry to you while he kept you there, after all. There was no competition, no need to develop those skills. For you, on the other hand, because you were born and raised vampire, you have advantages none
of us had. You didn’t have to overcome years of normal human conditioning.”

  This made sense to her; in her father’s home, he was her only threat. No one else within those walls was vampire until she’d turned Daniela who had in turn unwittingly turned Sasha. Her own nursemaid served as her donor when Olivia was a child. Feeding from the help had been a normal part of growing up for Olivia. She’d been trained in the basics of hunting as she grew older. It was a game to her, and she’d been allowed to visit the village and to take advantage of visitors to the estate. Her freedom ended, however, when her father realized what she’d done. Daniela was meant to be his bride, but Olivia had fallen in love with her and turned her before he’d managed to secure the marriage. As a result, he’d locked the two of them up, along with Sasha, a cousin Daniela accidentally turned in a moment of desperation when she was separated from Olivia.

  Suddenly the turning of Sasha made sense to Olivia in ways it hadn’t before. Daniela turned Sasha purely out of her need to survive. The hunger—both for the sustenance and kinship of blood--was too great for her to ignore. By the time both Daniela and Sasha were sent back to Dracula’s castle for hiding, it was too late; they were both fully turned. In the months that passed before Van Helsing arrived, killing both Daniela and Sasha, Dracula, Olivia’s father, kept the three of them alive by allowing them access to the castle donors and by bringing them prey rather than allowing them to hunt freely.

  Captivity was a hard existence for all of them. In her anger of not being allowed her own freedom, she didn’t realize without training and guidance that Daniela and Sasha would have been unable to survive in the world. They would have been careless in their feeding and would have been quickly discovered as vampire. Or they would have gone mad from improper feeding. Van Helsing had done the two of them a favor, she realized. She was the only one capable of true survival on the outside, and she’d been too naive to realize they needed training and education.