by Kailin Gow
Kalina drew her own stake. “Stop!” she cried.
And then she was looking at her, or looking at herself – a mirror reflection, but a distorted one, like looking through a yellowed, cracked looking-glass in a carnival funhouse. The woman staring back at her was Kalina, but not Kalina – the same large eyes, the same full lips, slim nose – but older, thinner – the bony, ill-proportioned body of a junkie, with haunted eyes and a grimmer expression.
“Oh my…”
But before Kalina could finish putting together her thoughts, Jaegar had swooped down upon his attacker.
“Jaegar, wait…”
And then Jaegar had turned his assailant to face him, and he saw her face.
He stopped short, jumping back from the woman. “Kalina?” His voice was trembling.
“Who are you?”
“Get away from the vampire!” The woman’s voice was hoarse, ragged. She spoke haltingly – wherever she was from, English wasn’t her first language. “He’s dangerous –he’ll kill you.”
“I know he’s a vampire,” said Kalina, trying to calm the woman down. “He’s my vampire.”
The woman’s eyes opened wide in astonishment.
“I know what he is,” said Kalina. “I love him anyway. He’s never hurt me – he never will. Whatever you think you’re doing – you’re not.”
“He’s a vampire,” repeated the woman. “He must die.”
“Not this vampire,” said Kalina. “If you want to fight him, you have to get through me.”
The woman stood down, clearly more confused than angry.
“Who are you?” said Kalina again. “You’re like me – your blood…you can feel it, right? Who are you?”
The woman was silent for a while. “Max,” she said at last.
“Are you a carrier, too? Of Life’s Blood?”
Kalina saw Max blanch and panic. “How do you know about that?” She saw Max’s eyes fix upon her necklace – the ruby heart that Kalina had worn since her days at the orphanage, her one memory of her biological parents. “Where did you…”
Before Kalina could blink, Max had sprung upon Kalina, seizing the necklace and tearing it off her throat with a single, forced movement. And then she was gone, leaving the night as empty as it had been before.
“My necklace…” was all Kalina could say.
“I’ll go after her!” Jaegar began running. “I’ve got super strength – there’s no way she could outrun me…meet me at the hotel!”
“But Jaegar…” Kalina called after him.
“Stay safe – I’ll follow her scent.”
And with that, Jaegar too vanished into the night.
Chapter 5
Kalina wrapped her scarf tighter around her shoulders. No sooner had Jaegar vanished than the wind had begun to blow harder, chilling her veins. Kalina began breathing hard. How had she managed to get herself alone in an alley like this, on a night like this? She could feel the icy rush of danger, the knowledge that Stuart was there, was watching her. He’d just been waiting for a moment like this, a moment ripe for him to take her alone, to conquer her. She sensed his presence – tentatively, at fear, her sensation mingling with her fear, and then at last realized it was inevitable. The chill in her blood was inevitable.
He was here.
“I thought you’d have come sooner!” Kalina said out loud, trying to sound braver than she felt. “What took you so long?” She tightened her grip on her stake, willing Jaegar and the mysterious Max to return soon.
“My apologies.”
Kalina whirled around to face him and then stopped, shocked. What she had expected to see was a wild-eyed, blood-stained Stuart, a nightmarish creature of madness. Instead, the Stuart that was leaning against the alleyway wall was smooth, polite, even charming. He was dressed in a black shirt that had come half-unbuttoned; she could see the loose flow of his black slacks. She remembered how traditional Stuart always used to look- wearing a suit and te to even the most informal of occasions. Now, he looked as if he’d just been dancing away the evening at one of New Haven’s nightclubs. Kalina felt a familiar pang of longing as she stared at him. This handsome creature, this beautiful man – this was the man she had once kissed on her doorstep back in Rutherford, who had once taken her to the Senior Prom.
There had to be hope, Kalina thought quickly. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing Stuart, not after everything else she had been through. She had saved Jaegar after all, hadn’t she?
She would remain calm, she told herself, collected – not resort to violence unless she needed to. She would help Stuart see the light, to rediscover his own humanity. She had to keep believing that. As she stared at Stuart’s lithe, smiling frame – so much looser now, so much more relaxed than the tense, guilt-ridden boy who had once loved her – she knew that she could never give up on him, never give up on that shining glimmer in his green-brown eyes.
“Stuart,” Kalina gasped, but before she could finish Stuart had swooped across the alleyway, gathering her into his arms – his grip at once tight and caressing. She felt the swell of compulsion within her – Stuart was trying to subdue her, mesmerize her into submission. It was almost working…
She pulled away quickly. “Stuart, Stuart,” Kalina began, trying to keep her voice soft, trying to keep Stuart calm. “I’m so sorry about everything.”
“Hush now!” Stuart’s voice was light, even carefree. When Jaegar was under the influence of Life’s Blood, he had become a madman, enraged with passion. But Stuart seemed almost completely unconcerned. He didn’t even seem evil, Kalina thought – his eyes were almost kind, as patient and sweet as they had ever been. What if there was some hope – some chance…
“I have no regrets,” Stuart said. He caressed the side of her face; Kalina could feel her cheek tingle.
“What?” Could it be? Was Stuart over-mastering the noxious, toxic influence of the Life’s Blood within him?
“I know what happened,” said Stuart, almost genially. “I know you chose Jaegar. I know he became human. And for the first time in my seven hundred years as a vampire, my own chance at becoming human – at fulfilling my long-held dream – has been extinguished. It has never been bleaker for me, Kalina.”
She could see the sadness in his eyes as he continued. “So, I had no regrets when Mal poured the Life’s Blood down my throat, into my veins. It took the pain away. It took away the worry, the longing, the desire. It took away that constant battle that I was always raging with myself – my vampire nature against my human side. It allowed me to accept my fate as a vampire, not some mere half-breed aping humanity.”
Stuart gave a sad smile. “You see, Kalina,” he continued. “It looks like Life’s Blood hasn’t made me ill. It has cured me. It has cured me from ever wanting to become human again. It has cured me of my obsession with Life’s Blood, with you. Cured me of my need to steal my humanity from your veins.” His smile flowered, growing crueler. “That doesn’t mean, of course, I’m not still attracted to you – that I don’t still wish to have my way with you…”
Kalina took a step back, but before she could run, Stuart had wrapped her once more in his arms. His grip was tighter now, leaving red marks on her wrists and arms, as he took off running, setting both of them in flight, high above the streets of New Haven.
It was no use struggling, Kalina knew. If Stuart dropped her, she would fall hundreds of feet to the earth. Her chances were better if she waited. Still, her body wanted nothing more than to throw off this imprisoning grip, to escape. She could feel fear rise in her throat, taste it in her mouth.
“Where are we going?” she asked through gritted teeth.
“Somewhere private,” said Stuart lightly. “Where we can be alone. I’ve purchased a place nearby, a winery. Not California wine, out here, but parts of New England…”
“I don’t suppose you need grapes to make Vampire Wine,” Kalina said bitterly.
“Oh, I’m through with Vampire Wine,” Stuart laughed. “The wine I drink now co
mes from the veins of pretty little girls like you. But I like wineries – walking in the vineyards, operating the press. One of those things from my human life that I’ll never lose, I’m afraid.”
Stuart flew so fast, they landed before long in what Kalina noted worriedly looked like a remote stretch of land, far from any hint of civilization in the Connecticut countryside. They were at the door of an old farmhouse, creaking and unlocked. Stuart kicked the door open.
“Welcome home, my dear,” he said.
The place was cozier on the inside than on the outside. It had been furnished in the classic New England style – filled with quilts and pine wood.
“Shall I make you some tea?” Stuart asked; with such smooth sincerity that Kalina began to shiver. This preternaturally calm Stuart was almost more unnerving than the madman Jaegar had become. “Don’t try to escape, please – I’d hate to have to set the dogs on you.”
“No tea, thanks,” said Kalina, her eyes scanning the cottage for an escape route. She heard the loud, savage barking of dogs from outside and gulped – hard.
“Are you sure?” Stuart smiled at her. “I keep milk and sugar on hand for all of my human…ahem…guests.”
Kalina didn’t want to think about how many guests actually left Stuart’s cottage.
“So,” Stuart rounded the room, turning on the lights, “how did you enjoy your Yale tour? Thinking of going to Big Blue after all?”
Every minute that Stuart kept talking to her in that airy tone of voice was another minute for Jaegar to find her, Kalina thought. As much as Stuart’s blithe manner unnerved her, the best thing to do, she figured, was keep talking.
“Thinking about it,” said Kalina. She laughed bitterly. “We figured it would be safer than Rutherford.”
“It’s not a bad commute from here,” said Stuart. “And of course, this will be much more comfortable when I get the place renovated. You won’t have to live in one of those nasty dorms. You’ll have much more space. And I’m happy to cook you breakfast.”
Kalina’s jaw dropped open. “What?”
This wasn’t what she had been expecting.
“When you move in here, I mean,” said Stuart. He laughed. “I always dreamed of having a real life with you, taking care of you, providing for you, fulfilling your every needs…while you fulfill mine, Kalina.”
Was he joking? Serious? Kalina scanned his face and could find no sign of mirth. “I thought you said you weren’t in love with me anymore,” said Kalina, as carefully as she could.
“I’m not,” said Stuart. “But being a vampire is terribly lonely. And I do still have my appetites. Certainly, you’d rather live with me than get sucked dry, don’t you think? I can have any girl, Kalina, but I want you.” He smiled. “You’ve got spunk, you’re gorgeous, sexy, interesting, and Jaegar wants you.”
“Stuart!” She had no idea how to reach him, how to approach him. The polite veneer of this new Stuart was even more terrifying than the monster Jaegar had been – divorced from all sense and reason. “What…makes you think I’d move in with you?”
“It seems like the logical option,” said Stuart pleasantly. “If you move in with me – and perform all necessary, ahem, wifely duties to my satisfaction, I can guarantee that your friends and family will be safe. If not, well, it’s terribly easy for me to simply sink my teeth into your brother’s neck, and drain out every last drop of blood from his body. Not to mention your friend Maeve. She’s awfully good looking – a great body. And she did like me. You can tell a lot about a person when you’ve shared her blood. Including her location…I know where she is right now. And I could find her very easily. If I weren’t, say, distracted. By you…”
Kalina felt her blood run cold. Jaegar had been right after all. In this calm, collected figure, there was not a hint of the Stuart she had known and loved. She was in the den of a monster, and there was no way out.
Chapter 6
Jaegar dashed through the night, tearing through the darkness. The wind whipped at his back; he darted towards shadows, one after another vanishing as he approached. The mysterious Max was either very good at hiding, or she had managed to shake him off long since. Jaegar whirled around, looking into every corner of every alleyway. But there was no sign of anyone there.
Jaegar furrowed his brow. The scent of Life’s Blood, so powerful, so intoxicating, had vanished now, and the night was empty. How had she managed to get so far away so quickly? Even Kalina, with Life’s Blood coursing through her veins, didn’t have the power of superhuman speed.
“Hello,” he called out to the darkness, but there was no answer. Max had vanished, taking with her any hope of solving the mystery of her identity. Who was this mysterious woman – who looked so much like Kalina, a Kalina haunted by so much more pain, more sadness. Could this enigmaic Max have been Kalina, under other circumstances?
Jaegar knew that Kalina was adopted, that the situation of her true parentage, of her birth, was still mysterious. Was it possible that Kalina could have relatives out there, relatives that even she didn’t know about? The orphanage in Nepal…that was a lead that went nowhere. Even if Kalina was in that orphanage, that didn’t mean any other siblings had to be there.
For all Jaegar knew, there could be more carriers of Life’s Blood out there, many more. To his shame, the idea gave him a certain thrill. Life’s Blood had lost much of its effect on him after he’d been exposed to it and then made human again, but he was a vampire after all, and still drawn to the blood’s siren call.
Jaegar sniffed the air, trying to track down that familiar smell – so like Kalina’s, and yet so different – a strange distortion of the perfume he knew so well. But it was futile. Max was gone.
And what had she wanted with that ruby necklace? She had looked so surprised when her eyes had fallen upon Kalina’s neck – so shocked – as if the necklace had meant something to her…
Thinking about necks made Jaegar hungry. He hated the feeling. For those few, blessed weeks, Jaegar had been human, free of bloodlust, able to eat and drink like a normal man. But now he felt that insane hunger growing again, a hunger that he had learned to control centuries ago, but which now felt as new and as terrifying to him as in the days when he had first turned vampire. He needed blood – and quickly.
He wouldn’t hurt anyone, Jaegar tried to convince himself. He wouldn’t do any serious damage. He’d just take a little blood – just a bit, from a girl attracted to him, who would willingly do whatever he asked.
Almost unconsciously, Jaegar found himself making his way towards Club Night, one of New Haven’s seediest joints. He felt himself brush his way into the crowd, feel that familiar sense of pride and triumph as, one by one, the girls on the dance floor stopped to gasp, to stare, to linger their gazes upon his beauty. Seven hundred years and this feeling of power never got old. Before Kalina, he had never had to try to woo a woman.
He knew Kalina loved him – although he knew too how conflicted her feelings were, for him and for his brothers and maker – but this was different. There was no love in the eyes of the women fixed upon him as he made his way upon the dance floor, began swaying his hips to the music. This was just pure desire, naked and simple, a lust that matched his own.
A fair trade, he said to himself. They’d get what they wanted from him; he would get what he needed in return.
He found one girl in particular, a slender blonde college student dressed in what in other centuries could only be described as a corset, fitted tightly over a black leather miniskirt. All he had to do was glance in her direction, give her a tiny, imperceptible nod, and then she was his, dancing towards him, letting their bodies sway together in the music.
Memories of Kalina flashed through his brain, but he forced himself to ignore them. He was a vampire now, and he needed blood to survive – and Kalina’s blood was too dangerous to taste twice.
This is what he had to do to stay alive. He had never more than tasted Vampire Wine; the liquid was noxious to him. An
d, old vampire or new, he wasn’t about to start quaffing the stuff now.
“Want to get out of here?” he whispered, and the girl nodded, her intentions clear upon her face. He could feel her heart flutter against his empty chest.
He led the girl into a dark corner of the club, where they wouldn’t be seen. “Ready for something a little…different?” he asked her, staring into her eyes, concentrating his power, his ability to seduce…
In a few moments he could see compulsion cloud her face; she was willing and waiting for him. Not too bad, he thought – as long as he could stop himself from taking too much. In the morning, she’d think she just had a particularly raucous hookup, nothing more.
She sighed contentedly as he sank his teeth into her neck, drinking down the nectar, sucking it into himself, feeling its strength and fire line his veins. How long he drank he could not tell. He would stop, he told himself, in just a moment – just a moment longer…
“Jaegar?”
The voice broke his reverie, and Jaegar jerked up in time to see his conquest turn pale and stagger against the wall.
“I’m…not…feeling well…” she murmured, before collapsing in the corner.
“What…the hell are you doing?”
It was Justin, Kalina’s brother, his face wide with astonishment and horror. He was holding a stake in his hands – trembling, but strong.
“Go back to your dormitory,” said Jaegar to the girl, as softly as he could. “Clean yourself up. You won’t remember a thing about tonight, understand?”
“Understood,” the girl replied in a breathy whisper, rising and tottering – dream-like – through the dance floor, towards the exit.