“Because Grigor and his father, they wanted Efia's blood and the particulars get a little bit confusing.”
“Then what happened?” I almost didn’t want to know the answer.
“That's Efia’s story to tell. Everyone has the right to tell the story of their own Embrace. Just know, that at 18 she was fully Embraced because she really had no other choice. But, I can tell you that Grigor has our mother and the boys are working on a plan to get her back.”
Chloe stood up and walked over to the fountain and placed her hand under the flowing water. She was giving me space to process the information that she just gave me and I appreciated it. I would be 18 in a few months and realized that milestone was the key to all of the strangeness of the past days.
We remained silent for several minutes; Chloe pretending that the fountain was interesting and me letting her. As I looked at the back of the girl that I now knew to be my sister, I began to wonder what her story was and how she came to be with Efia. I was just about to ask her when Tabitha came into the garden and sat next to me.
“So, have you to been getting acquainted?”
“A bit, mostly Chloe was telling me a little bit about Efia’s life. This is all a lot to take in.”
What I wanted was to find out how this affected me and what would happen on my 18th birthday. I had always wanted to know about my family history but I was even more confused than ever. The phrase “Be careful what you wish for” was never truer than that moment. My ancestors were Vampires and I was next.
Chapter 6
The next day I was to attend a family meeting in the conference room. I was nervous about sitting in the same room with a group of Vampires no matter how much DNA we shared. This wasn't my ideal reality and I especially didn’t want to find out what was in store for me once I turned 18. A feeling of dread grabbed ahold of me and I had to struggle to breathe.
Chloe found me sitting on the edge of my bed trying to catch my breath. Seeing my distress she immediately came to my aid. I tried to tell her that I was okay and wave her off but she wasn’t having it. She forced my head between my knees and held it there until the panic left me and I relaxed. When I felt her release my neck I sat up slowly; tears mixed with snot were running down my face and dropping off of my chin. Not the least bit grossed out, Chloe took the edge of her sleeve and cleaned my face before wrapping me in a hug.
We were still holding each other when Tabitha and Veronica came in. Veronica ran over to us the make sure we were okay while Tabitha checked the windows and the bathroom for intruders. Satisfied that we were alone, she came to sit next to me.
“What happened?”
“Panic attack.”
“Oh, Chey, you’re gonna be okay.”
“No, Tab, I’m not. I didn’t ask for this. All I wanted to do was graduate from high school and move to a big city. I wanted to go to college and date the wrong kinds of boys and cram for tests. I wanted to be late on rent and eat Top Ramen every night. But, never once in my life did I think that it would be fun to have a Vampire after me for my blood and have to run to other Vampires for help!”
By the end of my tirade I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I was scared and alone in a compound full of beings that resembled people but weren't. I wasn’t really sure what was going on. I didn’t trust Tabitha to be objective and I was afraid that Chloe had been brainwashed with the same mysticism. I had just found my sister, and two brothers for that matter, and I felt as though it was costing me my sanity.
The girls remained silent, knowing that nothing they said right then would help. They were in this reality with me.
“I think we should get you ready,” Chloe said breaking the silence. “We have your clothes in the closet and your hair will be fine down or in a ponytail.”
Chloe started to busy herself with the details for preparing me for the meeting. I wondered how long she had been here; how long she had been living with Vampires and waiting to become one. If it was a lot for me to take, Chloe must be overwhelmed. Guilt ran through my veins like ice water. I was suddenly a big sister and felt I had to fix things. I stood up, shook off any feelings of apprehension and followed her to the closet.
“Chloe, how long have you been here…in the compound?”
“We move a lot, but I have been with our family since birth. One or the other of our great grandmothers has always had me. They took me from Mom before Grigor could get me.”
Now it was Chloe’s turn to look guilty. We were both thinking it. Why had they taken her and left me to be raised by strangers? Traitorous strangers at that. I knew that the question was clear on my face so I turned toward the closet mirror and pretended to adjust my hair; one dreadlock at a time.
In the mirror the reflection of Tabitha and Veronica making my bed and straightening my room gave me mixed feelings. I felt like a cross between an invalid, an unintelligent child and a spoiled socialite. I had to decide how I was going to deal with this. It was obvious that I couldn’t run. Tabitha and Raphael had found me so easily the last time. There was really only one option. As deceptive and secretive as Tabitha had been, she'd never once put me in harm’s way. She must have been just as conflicted. I would have to just suck it up and see what the future held. I mean, really, how bad could it be?
I always ask myself the stupidest questions! ‘How bad could it be, Cheyenne?’ Really, really bad. The conference room was full of people. Abraham, Israel, and Providence were in their seats to Efia’s left and Pleasant, Rachel and Eliza were to her right. Sitting on a lower dais directly in front of them, however, were six additional people. All of them had my chocolate brown eyes and varying degrees of brown and light brown skin. And the most unnerving thing of all was that they were all smiling at me. You know the saying ‘like a kid in a candy store’? Well, I knew what the candy felt like.
There were four high backed chairs sitting in the center of the room facing the double dais. They were elaborately carved with Calla Lilies adorning the middle of the back. The legs of the chairs met the polished floor with the claws of some type of large cat. The carvings were so painstakingly done that I would not have been surprised if the claws came to life and moved. Zander and Jordan were standing near the four chairs as we approached. Veronica remained outside but Tabitha took a seat in what looked like a jury box along one of the walls. She smiled encouragingly at me from her seat and I tried to relax.
Chloe took my hand and led me to my chair where we waited to be addressed. Efia and 6 other people stood, waiting for the room to quiet. They allowed the room to quiet down before one woman stepped down and walked toward us. She was intercepted by a Steward with 4 regalia stoles draped over his arms. I watched as this woman placed them on Zander and Jordan, kissing each cheek as she was done. They were black and adorned with red Calla Lilies on one side and an SC on the other. She walked passed me and placed a stole on Chloe’s shoulders, kissed her and stepped back. I met her gaze head on and took a deep breath. Whatever fate that awaited me would not find me on my knees.
“Hi, Cheyenne. My name is Amelia and I am your grandmother a few times removed. Welcome to the family.”
With that, she placed the stole on my shoulders and kissed both of my cheeks. The dais erupted in applause and Amelia wrapped her arms around me in the warmest hug I had received in a long time. Tentatively, I returned the hug even though my nerves were shot. Having a Vampire's mouth that close to my neck wasn't something I had ever been prepared for.
The noise died down and Amelia returned to her seat on the dais. I noticed that my siblings had all taken their seats and I was the only person still standing. As I backed toward my chair, Efia stopped me with a raised hand as she stood. She took the steps from her chair to the conference room floor in long elegant strides and began to pace about. From her profile, I knew that she was preparing to speak; but, for some reason hesitated. When she reached Zander’s chair, she stopped and turned around.
“Cheyenne St. Clair,” she began with a voice thi
ck with emotion. “Today you will be invited into a world unlike any you have ever known. In less than three months you will be 18 and even more vulnerable than you are now, but the choice is still your own.”
Efia looked into my eyes and raised an eyebrow. Before that moment, that look might have intimidated me, but I found it hard to separate her from the girl on the ship and the slave on the plantation. All I really wanted to do was give Efia a hug and tell her that everything would be okay. It was quite the strange sensation to want to protect someone who I had seen bite someone’s neck.
Deciding to throw caution to the wind, however, and believing that things couldn’t get any worse, I walked straight up to Efia, tilted my head slightly in an awkward bow type gesture and wrapped her in a hug. There was a silence in the room so loud that I thought everyone had left. I started to pull away just as Efia slowly raised her arms to return my hug. We stood there for a few more seconds and then she backed away. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears and she cleared her throat before speaking.
“If you accept our invitation, your Embrace will be scheduled for your 18th birthday. Until then, however, you will need to be educated in all things St. Clair. There will be combat training as well as education of the Vampiric political structure. Then there is the Oleander clan and the act of retrieving your mother that will also need to be addressed.”
“What is an Embrace?” I asked.
“Your ‘turn’, my dear. To be Embraced is to become a Vampire.”
And there it was. I was next on the Vampire list. I looked at Chloe and saw a small smile cross her face. She nodded her head at me as if confirming all that Efia had just said. I looked at Zander and then Jordan. Both of them were waiting for me to decide.
Efia had said that we didn’t have the luxury of time, so I ran through the events of the last few days to try to find some explanation; anything to challenge what I had been told. I stared at the floor and remembered my foster mother’s voice and how vicious and heartless she had sounded. I remembered the look on Raphael’s face when he had punched the SUV window. And then there was my mother. I wondered if I would be allowed to help rescue her. At the moment it occurred to me that I simply had a choice between Efia and this Grigor character.
I straightened my stole and took a deep breath. This was indeed the first day of the rest of my life. From this point on I would get answers to all of the questions I had.
“When do we start?”
Chapter 7
The reception had started right after Efia opened her wrist with an ancient knife and poured three drops of her blood into a small silver cup. It was all I could do to keep from throwing up when she handed it to me and told me to drink. All that I knew about Vampires was that they were supposed to bite you and you died or you turned. No one had ever told me that you had to drink their blood.
I was assured that the three drops were just ceremonial and that the blood would actually be beneficial to me. Over the course of the next three months I would ingest more blood from either Efia or one of the others to insure my health until my Embrace. Chloe had told me that she had been ingesting blood for many years and it helped with her concentration and physical fitness.
I was introduced to the remaining members of my family and struggled to keep track of them. I knew that I was a direct descendant of Pleasant’s and that she had one child that was Embraced and everyone in her line of descendants was a grandparent of mine. Abraham and Israel were Uncles many times removed and their descendants were cousins. Dizziness had almost overwhelmed me by the time I had met and received each individual welcome.
Amelia’s welcome was the most emotional. She had been there when my grandmother had taken her last breath and years later when I had taken my first. She held my hand and talked to me about how much like my grandmother I was. How she had also dreamed about Efia’s life and of the great courage she had.
We sat for hours just at the edge of the party talking about our respective lives and what we had done up until that point. She asked me about my likes and dislikes and if I had a boyfriend. It was the best feeling to have someone so interested in me. I had missed out on so much while being raised by Joyce Redding. I couldn’t believe how much I had loved her only to have her turn on me. The more I thought about her, the angrier I became.
I began to feel anger fill my lungs like water and, at first, I couldn’t breathe. I sat very still and blew the anger out in a slow, controlled fashion. I kept blowing the anger out of my body, releasing myself from bondage and pain. I blew until my lungs were empty and I had to gasp to fill them. It felt so good to let it out. My shoulders were relaxed and I rolled my neck to relieve the stiffness. As I rolled my head towards Amelia, I froze. She was staring at me with an amused look on her face. She was clapping wildly and turning to look around the room.
The entire room had become eerily silent except for Amelia’s clapping and laughter. Everyone in the room was staring at me and I became really self-conscious. After straightening my ponytail and stole, I rubbed my finger on my teeth to make sure that no food had been left there. I had no idea what was going on and that was a feeling I was starting to resent.
Amelia’s jubilance was joined by Rachel’s and then Pleasant’s. I watched as my grandmothers clapped and laughed and danced about the room hugging anyone in their path. There was one person who didn't join in the celebrations. Violeta. She was introduced to me as Zander's fiance, although Chloe used a different word for it. Vampire relationships were a bit more formal than those of humans. Violeta, who was as quite possibly the most gorgeous person I had ever seen, simply stared at me from the far corner of the room. Her attention felt different than the others, less joyful. She simply wasn't happy that I had been reunited with my family. Maybe she was jealous that my brother's attentions were to be divided between yet another sister.
Chloe and Zander sat next to me as I continued to wonder about Violeta..
“Well, that was something,” Zander said. I thought I heard a bit of pride in his voice.
“What was something?” I asked, still completely lost.
“She doesn’t know yet, Zander. Remember, no one has told her anything. And I don't think she made it that far in the Historia Lamia” Chloe sat there shaking her head. For as young as she was I believed that she was the only person who understand how lost I felt.
“My apologies,” Zander inclined his head in a gesture of repentance. “You were very angry a moment ago, correct?”
“Yes. I was thinking about my foster mother…how she basically sold me out.”
“Yes, well, that anger filled the room and began to suck the air out of it. All of the St. Clairs are Elementals of some sort. It is our attribute. Each of us with varying degrees of power. Once you are Embraced you may be able to stop air circulation all together but we can’t be sure. It is a very rare and dangerous gift.”
Here we go again, I thought. Another wild tale I was supposed to buy into. I didn’t think I could take anymore. Shaking my head, I began to stand up and walk away when I felt the air rush out of my lungs. I tried to inhale but there was almost no air to be found. I grabbed at my throat trying to rip it open to let oxygen in when my lungs suddenly inflated again. I fell to my knees for the second time in as many days, gasping for breath. Zander put a hand on my arm to help me up and I looked straight into Chloe’s eyes.
“See?” she asked. “See how dangerous we can be?”
It wasn’t that Chloe had caused me any pain. My physical body hadn’t been touched at all. She had changed the amount of oxygen in the air by merely thinking about it. There was definitely more reading to be done because that shouldn't have been possible.
I was wondering how she could have pulled off that trick when Artemis and Apollo came in followed closely by several people in red uniforms. Each person went up to a member of my Vampiric family and took off their chokers to exposed their necks. Red was not just the color of their uniforms, it was symbolic of what they were.
&n
bsp; Food.
Chapter 8
Chloe walked me back to my rooms after the reception. She stayed close to the door, as if she was not quite ready to leave. I recognized the loneliness in her eyes and held my arms open wide. We both fell onto the couch as she hit me with an embrace that could have downed a line backer. Several minutes passed and we were still on the couch holding onto each other for dear life. Her silence had allowed me to think about the night’s events.
“You want to know what’s going on, don’t you?” Chloe asked, breaking my reverie. “It’s easy to explain but hard to believe. If you want to know, I’ll tell you. I don’t care what Efia thinks.”
Her defiance was adorable and I squeezed her once before letting go.
“Yes, I want to know everything about these attributes, but let's start with those walking blood banks.”
Chloe’s laugh was a magical sound. She laughed so hard that she fell off the couch. I wasn’t sure what she was laughing at but it was almost too infectious to resist. She got up from the floor and went over to the intercom system on the wall, calling down to the kitchen asking for tea to be brought up before coming back to the couch.
“They are called Sanguine Fare. It is loosely translated Latin for Blood Vessel. We call them Fare for short.”
“So, the letter on the choker?”
“It helps visitors know who belongs to whom.” Chloe was way too nonchalant for me.
We had just watched people have their necks bitten and she saw no problem with it whereas I didn’t understand any of it. Why didn’t they put up a fight.
Our tea arrived, delivered by a woman dressed in black but not one of those I knew to be a Vampire.
“So the red uniforms are Sanguine Fare and the black uniforms are for Vampires. But she's not a Vampire, right?”
“She, my dear sister, is a Steward. They are the people who take care of everything for us. Hollywood calls them Drones, Ghouls or hunchbacks like Igor, but, as you can see, they are nothing like that.”
Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) Page 8