“Still direct, I see. Very well. If I knew the exact names of the vampires in question, I would be happy to give them to you. I do not. To the best of my knowledge, there are none living in the vicinity of Lima. The ones that did this must have come from somewhere else. New York, most likely. That is where their council is located.”
“There’s a vampire council?”
“I’m surprised you’re not aware of it, actually. Abraham sat at its head until his death.”
The electric coffee-maker began to bubble and hiss. Tori stepped back into the living room and sat down in a recliner. “How much do you know about my time with Abraham?”
“The only thing we know for sure is that you spent more than a decade at his mansion. Our sources have told us that you were a vampire, once, but I can see with my own eyes that you are not anymore. We were hoping you might be able to shed further light on what exactly happened to Abraham and to his children.”
Tori pursed her lips, considering this. Charles sat on the couch, legs crossed, hands folded neatly in his lap. He let her take her time, not anxious. His calm demeanor reminded her of Theroen.
“Not just now, Charles. I’m going to hold off on telling any stories for a bit.”
“That is fine.”
“Are you sure it’s a group of vampires that killed my parents, and not just one?”
“The forensics work that the police have done indicates that … forgive me, Tori, but this is somewhat graphic. Can I speak plainly?”
Tori made a motion with her hand. Go ahead.
“The work shows that your father was held by his shoulders for a substantial period of time, and that he experienced heavy bruising in that area. The police believe he was struggling so much because he was forced to watch the murder of your mother. This would indicate at least two assailants, likely more.”
Tori grimaced, her mouth suddenly bitter. She swallowed once, took a deep breath, and nodded. “OK.”
“I am sorry for you pain. The Children share my sympathy.”
“Thank you. Tell me about the Children of the Sun.”
“We are an order that dates back nearly six hundred years. Our origins are Incan, though obviously we’ve expanded our ranks.”
“Obviously, since you’re white-bread British.”
The corner of Charles’s lip raised momentarily in a slight smirk. He continued.
“We were initially an order of Incan warrior-priests, formed and trained to deal with the Ngembe plague.”
“What’s … how did you say it?”
“En-gem-bay,” Charles annunciated. “They were a race of vampires that, as far as we know, originated independently of the Eurasian strain that you are familiar with. The Ngembe acted like a virus. They would infest a civilization and grow rapidly to epic proportions, reaching saturation in only a few decades. This would lead to their near extinction as entire communities full of vampires starved to death, or murdered each other for blood. A few would manage to move on to a new civilization, carrying this blood-plague with them, and the cycle would begin again.”
“How long did this go on for?” Tori asked.
“Centuries. Look at a timeline of South American culture, and you will find that it is full of civilization fragments. They build their way up to dominance and then … simply disappear. The disappearance of the Olmec and the emptying of the city of Teotihuacán are two famous examples, but there are several others, and we believe the common element in their sudden disappearance from the timeline is an infestation by Ngembe vampires. We have dated them at least as far back as eleven hundred BC, but there may yet be earlier examples.”
“Are there any Ngembe left?”
“No. The Children wiped them from the earth in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.”
“How can you be sure?”
Charles spread his hands. “How many vampire cities have you seen lately?”
Tori rolled her eyes, stood, and headed for the kitchen again. “What do you take in your coffee?”
“Black is fine, thank you.”
Tori returned with two mugs and handed one to Charles. She positioned herself again in her chair, sitting cross-legged, sipping at her coffee.
“So the Ngembe vampires come into existence at some point and start wiping out entire cultures …”
Charles nodded. “Yes.”
“And then the Incans figure out what’s going on and form a group to stop it.”
“Yes. There was a city discovered in the Andes Mountains in Peru just last year, a sister city to Machu Picchu, that we believe was a training ground for the original Children.”
“So they destroy the Ngembe and then what happens?”
“Cortez arrives in the new world, and his coming eventually decimates the native civilizations. We have reason to believe that both an Eresh and an Ay’Araf vampire were among the Spanish forces under Pizarro who conquered Peru. They would perhaps have been inclined to assist in wiping out a group specifically formed to kill vampires.”
“I don’t know what those words mean. ‘Eresh?’”
“Did Abraham teach you nothing at all of vampire history?”
“No, and I wouldn’t have had the capacity to understand it anyway. Let’s just … we’re not at my part of the story yet, Charles. Your people were right: I was a vampire once, but for now you should assume I’m just a normal human who has no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Very well. Abraham is, or was, an Eresh vampire, as is everyone descended from him. It is one of the four dominant strains of Eurasian vampire. Ay’Araf is another strain.”
“And they came to South America? I mean … isn’t that a long trip?”
“Quite, but if they managed it carefully, a pair of them could easily survive on a ship’s crew, along with its supply of rats. At any rate, they were alive when they reached the new world. They discovered the Children and, fearing what we might do to them, essentially instigated the destruction of Incan society. Most of the Children were murdered or imprisoned. The rest fled north, eventually making their way into what is now the United States of America around the time of the Revolutionary war.”
“And they’re still around today.”
“They have been based in the US for more than two centuries, and operate branches in many areas of the world.”
“And in all this time, no one’s ever heard of you. No one from the Children has ever thought ‘hey, I could totally sell this’ and brought the information to the History Channel or something?”
“If someone had told you, Tori, before Abraham abducted you, that they were a member of an order of vampire hunters that had existed for almost six hundred years, how would you have reacted?”
Tori considered this and nodded, laughing a little. “OK, valid point. I’d have thought they were nuts. But I know you’re for real. So tell me, what have they been up to, Charles? Six centuries of killing vampires?”
“More or less. Unfortunately, we have been forced to operate in secrecy and from a position of limited strength. We’ve not been able to stem the tide as much as we would prefer. Powerful vampires like Abraham arrived from Europe, where we had no presence, and the Children were simply unable to combat them as they had the Ngembe, or the early Burilgi immigrants. We have spent much of the past two centuries waiting for a weapon to wield against them. Now, at long last, they have drawn us right to one.”
“Really? What is it?”
Charles tilted his head and looked at her, eyebrows raised.
“Why, surely you’ve guessed, Tori,” he said. “It’s you.”
Chapter 5
Blood of Eresh
The phone was ringing again. Two didn’t want to answer it.
She had slept for nearly six hours since returning to her apartment, but she felt as though she had only just closed her eyes. The events of the previous night seemed to have given her temporary respite from the cold, dead feeling that had been her constant companion for so many months. Last night s
he had felt humor, contentment, and the incredible thrill of spotting the vampire. Now she was exhausted, but filled with a strange sense of hope.
In the other room, the ringing stopped, her voice mail greeting no doubt playing to whoever was on the other end of the line. This is Two. I’m not answering right now. Leave me a message. A few moments later the phone beeped, and the message light began flashing. The phone immediately began to ring again. Two considered answering it, but in the end the call went to voicemail again, and this time the caller gave up.
“Life’s a bitch,” Two muttered into her pillow, and rolled over on her stomach, falling almost immediately back into sleep.
A sense of nervous anticipation pulled her back awake a few hours later, in the early afternoon. It lay like a tight, hot ball in her belly, and after a few minutes of tossing and turning, Two gave up and rolled out of bed.
Breakfast – actually something of a late lunch – consisted of a glass of water and a couple pieces of toast. Two ate little on a normal day and the current state of her nerves had done nothing to improve her appetite. She wandered around her apartment in an oversized t-shirt, taking breaks to stand on the balcony and smoke, thinking about vampires and waiting for dusk.
She wondered if the vampire would return to the club. Two worried that she had squandered what might have been her only chance, losing sight of the woman in the crowd. She tried not to dwell too much on this possibility, but her nerves were eating away at her. There were so many questions. Even if she found this vampire again, would the woman talk to her? Would she grant Two’s wishes? Would she simply kill Two and be done with it?
There was a time when this latter option might not have bothered Two, might even have appealed to her. There had certainly been moments in the past few months where she would have welcomed the chance to escape into oblivion, but she felt alive again for the first time in so long, and with that feeling came the desire to extend that life, to make it last as long as it could. Forever, if possible.
At seven, Two took a shower. She dressed in a pair of black slacks and a cream-colored blouse, trying to look a little classier in case that would help her cause. She wrapped herself as always in the leather jacket Theroen had given her, made sure she had her keys and cigarettes, and left her apartment as the sun began to slip below the Manhattan skyline. She would walk for a time, as she always did, and when night had fully fallen and the time seemed right, she would make her way to the bar.
* * *
L'Obscurité throbbed like a young heart in the center of Manhattan. Two stood before it, finishing a cigarette and looking up at the neon sign. It was warmer this evening, with no rain, and there were small groups of smokers scattered around the sidewalk in front of the club. Two scanned them for the girl with luminescent eyes, but didn’t see her. This wasn’t particularly surprising; the vampire had probably not even left her home yet.
The same bartender was working, and he smiled as she moved toward him through the thin, early-evening crowd.
“I guess we made a new fan. Welcome back. Nice shirt.”
Two flashed him a grin. “Thanks! You remember me?”
“I remember everyone. It’s why they pay me the big bucks. I’m Thomas.”
He reached his hand out over the bar, and Two shook it.
“Hi, Thomas. I’m Two.”
“Name like that, now I’ll never forget. You busted up outta here pretty quickly last night. Trying to catch up with someone?”
Two decided that honesty was the best policy, at least to a degree. “Yes, actually. A girl I saw last night looked familiar, but she left before I could see if we’d met. She was sitting over there, real pale … I think her hair was light brown. Darker than mine, anyway.”
“Lotta girls come in here every night. You didn’t see her outside?”
“By the time I got out the front door, she was gone.”
“Maybe she went out the side exit.”
“There’s a side exit? Where does it go?”
Thomas paused, eyebrows raised. “Out the side?”
Two rolled her eyes, laughing. “Well, yes Thomas, thank you … but wouldn’t I have still seen her on the street?”
“Maybe not. That alley connects both sides of the block. She could’ve gone the other way.”
“Oh, shit. OK, if I see her again and can’t get to her in time, I’ll check the alley.”
“Sounds good. So what’s your poison?”
“Woodford Reserve, one ice cube, and a glass of water.”
“Not a fan of the Cup of Blood?”
“Too much sugar.” Two gave him a dazzling smile. “I’m sweet enough already.”
Laughing, Thomas went to make her drink. Two surveyed the bar. It was quieter than it had been the night before, and the clientele had thinned considerably; the next day was a work day for most of the world. There was no sign of Jeremy, the boy she had kissed, and Two was glad. He probably would have felt obliged to make awkward conversation, and she wasn’t interested in that tonight.
Her bourbon arrived, and Two leaned against the bar, tapping her foot to the music and watching the people. Thomas kept himself busy cleaning dishes and organizing the bar, but Two felt him glance at her from time to time, checking the status of her drink. Big tip for Tommy, she thought.
One drink became two, and two became three as Two waited. She was pacing herself, not drunk, passing the time by watching the bar’s one television, which was muted but had the closed-captioning turned on. No one was hitting on her, even though she was obviously alone, and the alcohol had helped to unwind the knot in her stomach. She felt warm and comfortable. Perhaps the vampire would show, perhaps not. There were worse ways to spend an evening.
Thomas touched her shoulder, and Two glanced over at him.
“I think I’m good, thanks,” she said, glancing at her drink, which was still half-full.
“Just wanted to let you know that I think your friend might be coming soon. If it’s who I think it is, she usually shows up around now. Her usual routine is to order a glass of wine and sit by herself, people watching. Seems a lot like you, actually; doesn’t really talk to anyone. She just watches.”
“She is a lot like me, I think. Or at least, like I used to be. Thanks, I’ll keep an eye out for her.”
It didn’t take long. Little more than ten minutes after Thomas had spoken to Two, the girl walked through the front door of the bar. Two’s heart seemed to do a crazy summersault in her chest before settling into a steady, rapid pulse. She tried not to stare, but couldn’t help herself. The vampire looked directly back and, far from being startled by Two’s attention this time, she only raised one eyebrow and smirked.
Two tried to match her gaze but, after a time, felt awkward and looked away. She saw that Thomas was already pouring a glass of red liquid – too thin to be blood – and he set it down in front of the vampire woman as she reached the bar.
“Merci, Thomas.”
“Pas de problème. Comment ça va?” Thomas answered back. His pronunciation and accent were smooth.
“I am well, thank you.”
The woman leaned against the bar and glanced around, sipping her wine. None of the three spoke for a time. Thomas cleaned. The vampire seemed caught up in her own thoughts. Two watched the crowd and stole looks at the woman at the other end of the bar. Finally, the vampire spoke.
“The wine is good, Thomas. I have things to do this evening and can’t stay long. I will see you again soon.”
“Come back anytime, snowflake. You’re always welcome here.”
The vampire smiled at him, and looked directly at Two for the first time since entering the bar. After a moment she turned and made her way toward a hallway near the back of the bar’s middle room.
“I’d say that was an invitation,” Thomas commented, polishing a glass.
“Doesn’t matter, I’m going anyway,” Two said, pulling on her jacket.
“Best move quick. That girl disappears in a heartbeat.�
�
Two left cash on the bar. “Keep the change, Thomas. Thanks.”
“Pleasure’s mine.”
Two moved through the crowd, into the hallway, and toward the door at its end. Somewhere outside, the vampire was waiting for her.
* * *
The alley was dark, and damp, and smelled like mold. It stretched for perhaps twenty meters in either direction, opening up to streets on either side. There were other doors that opened out into it, but all seemed locked tight. The vampire was nowhere to be seen.
“You’re kidding me,” Two said, running a hand through her hair. “You have got to be fucking kidding me! Where did you go?”
She moved down the alley toward the rear of the building, kicking boxes and old newspapers out of her way. There was no sound but the noise of her progress and the bass thuds coming from the club. Two reached the end of the alley and peered down the street. Nothing.
“God damn it, don’t leave me here!” she shouted back at the darkness, but there was no response.
Two began walking back up the alley, muttering to herself.
“Fine. Fuck you and fuck your stupid vampire bullshit. Fuck your stupid games. I’ll come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day after that. I’ll keep coming back until you talk to me.”
There was a sound like rushing wind, something heavy hit Two’s shoulders, dragging her toward the ground. The motion was fast, disorienting, and Two was sure that she would hit the hard cobblestones of the alley floor. Instead, she found herself cradled in the arms of the woman from the club.
“I’ll speak with you now, since you request it,” the vampire said, her voice icy and detached. “You know what I am, and we can’t have that. I’m sorry …”
“Wait!” Two shouted, and took in air to speak more, but it was too late. With one swift motion the vampire grabbed Two’s chin, forcing her head back and exposing the veins of her neck. The vampire lunged forward and Two felt a brief spike of pain, like fire lancing out from where the vampire had bitten her to touch every nerve ending. After a moment, the pain was replaced with warm, pulsating waves of pleasure that coincided with her heartbeat.
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