Sekhmet's Curse (Pearl Vampire Chronicles)

by Dara Nelson

  Cameron nodded his head and stood too. “Fine,” I said as I also stood, “but I’m waiting right outside the cell.”

  Carlos held his hand out to me, “Of course you are.”

  Cameron ran to his lab to grab the shot while Carlos and I headed downstairs, “Honey?” he said.

  “Yes?”

  “I think I need to leave for a while.”

  “Why? I need you here. With me,” I whispered.

  “I’ve got to try to find a better cure. One that won’t kill you in the process of getting it. There’s got to be something out there.”

  I stared at him for a few seconds. He was right. I knew he was right. But that didn’t mean that I liked that he was right. I quietly nodded and rested my head on his shoulder.

  “That’s my girl,” he whispered as he kissed my forehead. “I’m thinking I’ll take Jason with me, stay off of airplanes. It’ll get us into remote areas more easily. Think Aquila would go for it? Who knows, maybe I could help him find a girl while we’re out there.”

  I laughed, “If anybody could, it would be you. I’ll talk to Aquila. But don’t stay gone too long. I miss you already.”

  He stopped and looked at me. Both hands cradled my head as he leaned in and kissed me, “You do know how much I love you, don’t you?” he whispered.

  “I do. And I love you.”

  He shook his head, “No, I don’t think you know how much you mean to me Sarah. Waiting for you when you were in that tomb was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. It’s entirely against my nature to sit around and do nothing. I really didn’t think I’d be able to do it. But because of you, and something that Matt said, I stayed. I stayed, Sarah. Because I love you so much and I couldn’t let you down, I stayed.”

  “I do know, Carlos. When your face was the first one I saw when I came out, well, let’s just say that shock is an understatement. But at that moment, I realized how much you loved me because you did stay. You stayed for me, honey, and that meant more to me than I could ever say.”

  He hugged me tight. “By the way,” I mumbled into his chest, “What did Matt say to you?”

  He smiled his crooked smile, “He told me I was that guy. I’ve never been that guy before. It meant something to me.”

  “Oh, Carlos. You’ve always been that guy to me,” I whispered as I hugged him tight.

  Cameron came around the corner just as we arrived outside the cell. I grabbed the keys off of the wall and unlocked the cell. Carlos kissed my cheek then stepped inside. Cameron followed, “You ready?” he said. Carlos nodded and rolled up his sleeve. Cameron swabbed it, then plunged the needle in, depressed it, pulled it out then stepped out of the cell. I pulled the door shut and locked it. Carlos walked over to the bars and put his hands over mine. He kissed me through the bars. My eyes were closed as he kissed me. Suddenly I felt his fangs drop near my tongue and he grunted. My eyes flew open just as Cameron grabbed my waist and pulled me backwards. Carlos gripped the bars and groaned. His eyes flew open, his changed eyes. He threw his head back, “Oh fuck! Fuck it burns! It burns goddamn it. Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  I turned to Cameron, “Let me in,” I pleaded.

  He shook his head, “I can’t, Sarah. He could hurt you.”

  “Do, Not, Come, In, Here,” Carlos gasped. I turned back to him, and screamed.

  “Oh my God. What’s happening to him?” I cried. His nose, mouth, ears and eyes were bleeding.

  “Stand back, Sarah,” Cameron yelled. I turned and jumped back just as Cameron threw a bucket of cold water through the bars of the cell. Carlos screamed then tore his shirt off. “More,” he yelled.

  Cameron had anticipated this and was just finishing filling the bucket again from the spigot on the back wall. He tossed this through the bars onto Carlos, who was crouched down on the floor. Carlos pushed both hands onto the floor. I watched as every muscle in his arms flexed and his fingers actually made dents in the stone floor. He was gasping and grunting, but I could see that he was beginning to calm down. I calmly turned to Cameron, “Give me the bucket and let me in, Cameron,” I said.

  He hesitated for a moment, looked at Carlos then nodded his head. He handed me the full bucket and unlocked the door. I grabbed the metal cup that was hanging on the wall and slowly walked inside. “Wait, Sarah. Not yet. I don’t want to hurt you. Stay back,” he grunted.

  “You’re not going to hurt me, Carlos,” I said as I walked up then knelt down in front of him. His arm shot out and he grabbed my wrist, squeezing tight. I winced, but reached into the bucket with my other hand. I scooped out some water and slowly poured it over his head. His grip loosened slightly. “My back, Sarah. Pour some on my back.”

  I did and he relaxed even more. He looked up at me, “Now my face,” he groaned. He let go of my wrist and rubbed the water over his face. I continued to pour the water over various parts of his body – his belly, his legs, his feet – until he finally stopped me, “Okay. That’s good. You can stop now,” he said. He smiled at me slightly then looked over at Cameron, “Son of a bitch, Cameron. That better have worked or I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “Ha ha. Don’t be such a wimp, Carlos,” Cameron said with a smile.

  “Cameron? How’s Matt doing?” I whispered.

  “Same as yesterday. Not any better, but not any worse either. And still unconscious. There’s really nothing you can do for him except watch and wait. And donate blood. Don’t forget, I need you to feed again now, Sarah.”

  I nodded then looked down at the empty bucket in my hand, “I think I’m going to bring this so I don’t have another mess to clean up though.”

  Cameron nodded, “Good idea. As soon as you feed and are recovered, come to the lab so I can draw a few pints, okay?”

  “Will do,” I said as I reached out my hand to Carlos, “hold my hair when I puke?”

  Carlos rolled his eyes, “The things a husband’s gotta do,” he groaned, smiling his goofy grin.”

  We found Aquila waiting for us outside of our room. We all walked inside and sat on the couch. “Wrist again?” I said.

  Aquila nodded but held out his other arm, “That’s fine, but please use the other arm. The first one is still a little tender from the tearing you did when you pulled out.”

  “Sorry about that. I’ll try to be more careful this time,” I whispered.

  “I know you will. But, please, let’s get on with this. Bahiti is waiting for me.”

  “She is?” I said.

  “Yes. Now that she’s already pregnant, she’s willing to help me relieve my, ummm, pressure,” he whispered.

  “Oh, okay. Carlos, please time me. If I don’t pull out after five seconds, please yank on my hair.”

  “Sarah, I’m not going to yank on your hair.”

  I turned and gave him a look, “Yes you are, understand?”

  He nodded, “Fine. Ready now? Drop your fangs.”

  I did and hovered just above Aquila’s wrist. He was tense as he waited for me to bite. I started mumbling, “I’m doing this to save Matt, I’m doing this to save Matt,” over and over. I nodded at Carlos, letting him know that I was ready. “Go!” he said, and I plunged.

  The room swam in and out of focus. I could hear voices. Carlos and Cameron were talking by the door, “Doc. She can’t go through this over and over. It’s got to be doing her some harm. There’s no way this is not damaging her somehow. It could be killing her, Cameron. Admit it, you have no idea what this is doing to her, do you?”

  “No, I don’t. But I’ll try to minimize her involvement as much as I can, Carlos. And David and I are working around the clock to try to come up with other solutions. But right now this is all we’ve got. I really wish there was something else, but this is it.” Cameron said.

  “Fine. But I’m leaving first thing in the morning to try to find something else too. I’m going to visit a witch friend of mine in Mississippi and a gypsy that Aquila knows in Romania for starters. I’m hoping they might have something that can help.�
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  That got my attention. I pulled myself up on the couch. I coughed a few times then found my voice, “You’re leaving in the morning?” I sputtered out before the nausea hit me, “Oh shit,” I said as I quickly grabbed the bucket and heaved into it. Carlos shot over to me and grabbed my hair. “Thanks,” I muttered as I spit out a few remaining drops of blood. “You’re welcome. But honey, you can’t keep doing this, you know that right?”

  I ignored his question because I knew he wouldn’t like my answer. “Why did you decide to leave so quickly? I thought you wanted me to talk to Aquila so you could take Jason with you.”

  “I talked to Aquila when you were passed out. He thinks it’s a good idea.”

  “You did and he does? Okay, then I guess it’s a good idea. But tell me about this witch in Mississippi.”

  “Who? Mona? I’ve known her for a long time. About eighty years, I think.”

  “Is she a vampire?”

  “No.”

  “So she’s over eighty years old? Are you sure she’s still alive?”

  “Oh yeah. She uses all sorts of magic to keep herself young. I’m sure she still looks like she’s twenty five, just like she always has.”

  “Really? Do I need to be jealous?” I said, smiling.

  He smiled back with a twinkle in his eye, “Sarah, you don’t have to be jealous of Mona or anyone else. Nobody else turns me on anymore other than you. You’ve ruined me for everyone else.”

  My sarcasm was clear as I said, “Oh, gee, I’m so sorry honey.”

  He laughed and hugged me, “I’ll bet you are.”

  “Would you help me get to the clinic? I need to donate blood then I want to go visit Matt for a few minutes to see how he’s doing, okay?”

  He slid his arm under my legs and picked me up, “You got it, babe.”

  A few minutes later, I had donated two pints of blood to Cameron, “How’s Matt’s treatment going, Cameron? Is he improving at all?”

  “He seems to be. He definitely hasn’t deteriorated, which is good. But he’s still in a coma with no reaction at all to stimulus.”

  I nodded and Carlos reached over and wiped a bloody tear from my eye, “He’s going to make it honey. We have to believe that.”

  “I know. And I’m trying. Really I am.”

  I hesitated a second as I looked out the window into the clinic, watching Matt in his bed next to Tracy’s bed. Carlos kissed my temple, “Go honey. Visit. I’m going hang back and talk to Cameron for a bit.”

  I nodded and pushed my way silently out the door. I walked out and pulled up the chair next to Matt’s bed. I choked back tears as I clasped my hand in his. I leaned down and kissed him on the lips. Nothing, there was no response at all. I wiped a tear from my cheek as I sat down in the chair, “I’m here honey, waiting for you. Please come back to me. I need you to get better,” I whispered, hoping that his subconscious could hear me.

  On the other side of the room, Carlos watched me through the glass while Cameron stood at the table, squinting into the microscope. Without turning his gaze from me, Carlos said, “I’m leaving tomorrow for a few days, Cam, and I need you to promise me something. Promise me you won’t let her overdo it. Don’t let her overdo this feeding, vomiting and donating cycle that’s so hard on her. She’ll push herself too hard, you know she will. I need you to promise me that you won’t let her do that. Will you do that for me?”

  Cameron looked up from the microscope and stared at Carlos’ back for a few seconds. He was torn between acquiescing to Carlos’ request and finding a cure for this deadly disease. Finally, he closed his eyes and nodded, “I promise, Carlos,” he whispered.

  Carlos nodded as he stepped towards the door, “Thanks, man. I’ll see you soon,” he said as he stepped out into the clinic. He quietly walked up behind me and wrapped his arm around the front of my shoulders then he kissed the top of my head, “How’s our boy doing?”

  My hand came up and wrapped around his forearm, squeezing tight, “Same, I guess. Still no response.”

  “Look at the monitor when you talk, Sarah. There’s a response in his heart beat every time you speak. He knows you’re here.”

  I watched it for a second. Was he right or was he just trying to make me feel better? I couldn’t be sure, but the gesture was extremely sweet. I stood up and hugged him. “I love you,” I said into his neck.

  “I love you too, honey.”

  “Let’s go eat and get some sleep, I’m exhausted.”

  We slowly wandered, hand in hand, down the hall to the kitchen. We fed and then were snuggling in bed a few minutes later. I kept interlacing my fingers in his hand then unlocking them. Then interlacing them again then unlocking them, over and over and over. Finally Carlos whispered, “Sarah, what’s wrong?”

  “Well, ummm, it’s just that, well, shit, I can’t, but, well, it’s just, ummmm.”

  “Sarah, spit it out.”

  “Matt’s on the brink of death, Carlos. I could lose him forever. So even thinking about sex just seems wrong. It seems evil. But you’re leaving tomorrow and I don’t know how long you’re going to be gone and I really want to, well, I just want to make love to you, but I don’t know if I can.”

  “It’s okay, honey. We don’t have to. I’ll be fine if we don’t.”

  “I know you will and I know we don’t have to. But a part of me wants to. But that part is fighting with the part who thinks I should just be sitting at Matt’s bedside worrying.”

  “What would Matt want you to do?”

  I turned around in the bed and looked at him, “What?”

  “Sarah. What would Matt want you to do? Think about it. Be honest.”

  He got me with that, and the smirk on his face told me that he knew that he had me. “Matt would want me to stop worrying and be happy, damn you.”

  “So stop worrying and be happy. But we still don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he whispered as he pulled me in closer to him. My back was to him and he began kissing the back of my neck. That was my sweet spot and he knew it. The back of my neck has always been my weak spot. The kisses sent shivers throughout my body. “You so do not play fair, you know that don’t you?” I said as I turned around to face him. He grinned at me, “Never have,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss me. He lovingly spent the next few hours making passionate love me, bringing wave after wave of pleasure that coursed through my body and finally gave me the sated exhaustion that I needed to sleep.

  I woke, alone, as dawn broke through the clouds outside my window. It had been a long time since I had woken up feeling so well-rested, so relaxed, so calm, so loved. I had Carlos to thank for that. For hours last night he had slowly, tenderly, expertly made love to me. He made me feel so completely loved that I had no choice but to totally give myself over to him. I stretched and rolled over onto his pillow, face first, and breathed his scent into my body. ‘Thank you,’ I thought.

  ‘Any time, baby,’ he thought back.

  ‘Where are you guys?’

  ‘We’re making good time. We’re off the coast of Panama. We’ll continue over water towards Mississippi, but with land in sight in case he needs to rest,’ he thought.

  ‘Okay. Be careful, sweetheart. And come back to me soon.’

  ‘You know I will.’

  I rested my eyes for a few minutes, avoiding the fact that I needed to get up, shower and then find Aquila. I really was not looking forward to that pain or the vomiting again, but I knew I had to do it. A knock on the door brought me back to reality. I threw on my robe and walked to the door. I had to suppress a groan when I saw that it was Aquila. “Ready?” he said.

  “Yes, but let me get dressed so we can do this in the lab. I want others there to help pull me off if I can’t do it,” I said.

  “I think I could manage it,” Aquila said.

  “I know you could, but with your strength, you might just rip my head off. I’d like to avoid that if possible,” I said, smiling.

  “Chicken,”
Aquila smiled back.

  “I see you’re learning some of Carlos’ humor. Give me a second,” I said as I stood up. I ducked into the bedroom, threw on jeans and a t-shirt and headed back out. “Okay, let’s go.”

  I gasped and shot up on the couch, “I didn’t stop. Oh God, I didn’t stop. Did I kill him?”

  Cameron put his hand on my shoulder, “Sarah, relax. You did stop. Nobody got hurt. Aquila is fine.”

  “But I don’t remember any pain this time. I always have the pain when I stop.”

  “That’s the thing. When you stopped this time, you looked at both of us with a bit of a smile on your face and said ‘That didn’t hurt this time’ and then your eyes rolled back and you passed out.”

  “So I had no pain this time but I still passed out. Whoa, hand me that basin would ya?”

  He tossed it over to me just in time. I leaned over and heaved a small amount of blood into it. I got up and rinsed it out in the sink, “That was much less than I usually throw up, too. How long was I out?”

  “About fifteen minutes.”

  “That’s better too. Interesting, maybe my body is adjusting to this, who knows.”

  I spent the rest of the day helping out in the clinic in between visits with Matt.

  **********************

  Meanwhile, over the swamps of Mississippi: “Jason, watch that tree on your left. Low branch overhead. Okay, now there’s that knot that I told you about. Slow down a bit, we go three trees to the right. Good, now a sharp left and there’s the willow. Her house is just on the other side of that willow. There. See that oil lamp in the window? Land on the walkway below. We don’t want her coming out and shooting curses and asking questions later. This is not a woman you sneak up on. Okay. Give me a second. Mona? Mona? It’s Carlos. Are you home?”

  The front door creaked as it opened. Jason gasped at her beauty as she stepped out onto porch. Her long blonde hair danced in the moonlight. “You’re late. You should have been here hours ago.”

  Carlos gestured to Jason, “Flight delay. The plane got tired. Sorry. Mona, this is Jason. Jason this is Mona.”