Scent of a Vampire

by Jude Stephens

  "I'm not sure I want to talk about how they were, you know killed. I want to remember them the way they were so full of life and laughter. I can't remember ever seeing them mad at each other. I guess I can be glad that they went together. Neither of them would have wanted to be left without the other."

  Janel sat beside me, "You know what I remember the most about your parents? The way that they looked at you. With such pride and joy and love pouring out at you. You know I never told you this but I was jealous of the way your parents loved you. It sucked having grown up in foster care. Your family is the only one I ever had. Whenever we would go to your place during spring breaks or the holidays, I would pretend that I was your sister and they were as proud of me as they were of you. And if only for a little bit I would feel loved and cared for like you."

  "Oh Janel, how can you not know that they did love you like you were their own. They were so proud the day you graduated from nursing school."

  Janel and I were quiet for a minute. Each lost in the thoughts of the people we had both loved and would miss.

  "My only regret is, I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to them. That's something else the Guardians will pay for one day." I vowed.

  Janel said, "I get a little creeped out hearing you talk about revenge and that sort of thing. It goes against everything you are."

  "It goes against everything I was. But all of that was taken away from me when I found my parents with their throats slit. Now I just want the bastards who are responsible to pay for their sins."

  Janel shook her head, "I'm still sad to see my sweet little Olivia become a Rambo or something."

  "Ummm, not Rambo. How about Xena, warrior princess?" I asked while striking what I thought would be a warrior pose. Janel rolled her eyes, "How about more like a Barbie princess?"

  "I am so not a Barbie princess type. That is totally you with your Jimmy Chu shoe wearing, Prada purse carrying, Channel smelling butt!" I hit her with the pillow and we both ended up falling over with laughter. We laid there for a while, thankful to have some normalcy in the wake of all Scent of a Vampire – Jude Stephens

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  that had happened.

  "Well then, I guess I better get my beauty sleep." Janel said tucking herself under the covers.

  "I'll be right behind you, I just want to run next door and give Roberto a quick thank you for the necklace." I said as I headed for the door.

  Janel snorted, "It better be quick. Don't blame me if you can't keep up tomorrow."

  It really was my intention to say thank you, give him a quick kiss and get myself to bed; my own bed. I went next door to Roberto's room and knocked softly. No answer. I didn't think it was dawn yet so I turned the knob and went inside and stood frozen as I watched the naked backside of Roberto pounding into a blond woman who was on all fours in front of him.

  Chapter 23

  Through a red haze of anger, I saw myself walking forward. I wanted to turn and walk away. But the rage was controlling me. With a feral growl, I launched myself at the couple on the bed.

  From far away I heard the woman screaming. But I could not stop myself from the attack. I was remotely aware I was scratching, biting and tearing at Roberto, who stood in front of the woman to protect her. And then I felt strong arms encircle my waist and drag me off him. I turned to snarl at whoever had pulled me off and looked into Roberto's shocked blue eyes. As the red haze began to fade, I turned in confusion and saw a bleeding Cristoforo trying to calm a hysterical blond woman. I began to shake as if my body was wracked with seizures. Roberto turned to a crying, Janel who stood in the doorway, "Go get some blankets. I think she is going into shock."

  Janel ran out of the room and came back seconds later with a blanket that Roberto wrapped around me. He picked me up in his arms and carried me downstairs away from the wailing woman.

  Robert laid me on the sofa, "Shhh cara, it's not your fault. Your system was sent into a natural response to what you thought you saw."

  Not my fault, I thought? I had inflicted wounds on another human being. An innocent human being. I felt panic start to rise inside me. Roberto commanded, "Look at me Olivia, breathe, slowly, in and out. Concentrate on breathing. That's it piccolina."

  I concentrated on my breathing and turned my head to see Janel standing in the doorway. She was frightened; frightened of me. I could smell the fear on her. Even though I didn't want Janel to be scared of me, I marveled that I could smell her fear.

  Roberto turned towards Janel, "Don't be scared. She had a shock that caused her sensory receptors to go on overload. In time she will learn how to control it." I turned to look at Scent of a Vampire – Jude Stephens

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  Roberto, "In time? Roberto I just hurt someone. And I scared that poor woman. I don't have time. I need to learn now."

  "I understand your eagerness Olivia, but your powers are still emerging. We will do what training we can. But right now I don't want you worrying about this incident." He looked over at Janel, "Would you mind giving us some privacy for a few minutes?"

  Janel nodded and bolted from the room.

  "I hate to see her scared of me Roberto. I've never scared anyone in my life, not even on Halloween." Roberto smiled at me, "Ahhh Halloween. You probably wouldn't believe it, but I love Halloween."

  "I don't believe it." I said truly shocked. He laughed, "I went to a costume party once dressed as Dracula."

  "You did not!" I laughed.

  "Oh yes I did. They had a contest and I didn't win. Some thought my fangs looked too fake."

  "Oh you're pulling my leg. You are so bad, teasing me like that."

  "I am not. Ask Cristoforo. He was there." At the mention of Cristoforo's name I stopped laughing,

  "Oh Roberto, I need to go and apologize to him."

  "Listen cara, first we need to talk about this between me and you. You thought that I was having sex with another woman? In a room right next door to you? After loving you a few hours earlier. Have I ever given you a reason to think I would do that kind of thing?"

  "No Roberto, I can't explain the pain I felt when I thought it was you. Everything went red and it was like looking down on myself and I wanted to stop but couldn't." Roberto looked thoughtful,

  "That may be the key to helping you control your senses. Tonight when you were

  'looking down' on yourself do you think it was like an out of body experience?"

  I tried to remember what had happened and to think about the details, "It was like that, but not quite. It was like my spirit was free along with my mind but not my entire mind. It was almost like I was torn in two."

  "Hmmm, tomorrow when we do some control training, we will work with that and see how well it works for you. Now I want you to go to bed and get some rest."

  "Okay, but first I want to apologize to Cristoforo." As we got up I grabbed a hold of Roberto's arm. "I don't want to go back to the room with Janel. I think she's a little bit scared of me now.

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  Is it all right if I sleep on the sofa in here for a few hours?"

  "Piccolina, I'm sure she's over it by now but if you don't want to sleep there you don't have to.

  You will not sleep on the sofa. You will come back where you belong, beside me." He bent and kissed my mouth softly, "You should never sleep anywhere else but by my side." He kissed me again, gently probing my mouth with his tongue.

  "Why did we think this was wrong?" I asked. "This feels so right." I kissed him back wrapping my arms around him. "I love you Roberto, I've had to lose love in order to find love and I'm glad that I found you."

  Roberto stilled in my arms, "You honor me Olivia. I am not worthy of your love. But I will try and not make you regret it. I swear."

  We kissed once more and walked arm-in-arm up the stairs. I stopped by Janel's room to apologize to her and say goodnight.

  "Are you all right?" She asked.

  "I'm fine
. I'm sorry for all of the commotion. It was a misunderstanding." I said.

  She got up and came over to hug me, "It's okay sweetie. I'm not going to pretend to understand what's going on with you, and regardless of whatever that is, I will always stand by you. You're my best friend."

  "Thank you Janel. I can always count on you. I'm going to stay with Roberto for awhile." At Janel's look of disappointment, I said, "We will spend all day together tomorrow. I promise."

  "Well okay, I'll let you off the hook then. Goodnight"

  "Goodnight." I said as I closed the door and joined Roberto, who was waiting for me.

  "Well, one down and one to go." I said.

  "You don't have to apologize to Cristoforo. He shouldn't have brought that woman back here in the first place. This is a kind of sanctuary for us and I don't like anyone to bring outsiders here.

  He knows that and he is constantly trying to push me. That's what he does best."

  "But Roberto, I hurt him. I attacked him. I have never attacked another person in my entire life.

  I have to apologize."

  "Okay, but it's not necessary," he repeated. When we entered the bedroom, Cristoforo was just coming out of the bathroom, having obviously taken a shower. His hair was wet and he had a towel wrapped around his waist. I didn't see a scratch on him. I know that I had seen him with bloody scratches earlier.

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  "Cristoforo, I am so sorry for attacking you like that. When I came in here I thought you were Roberto and I lost control. I've never done anything like that before. And again I'm so sorry." I said in a rush.

  He stared at me for a minute and shrugged as if to say he didn't care if I apologized or not.

  Roberto leveled him with a glare. "Accept her apology Cris."

  "Why? So your little Sensay can feel all better?"

  "No. How about because it's a decent thing to do?" Cristoforo laughed, "When have I or you for that matter, ever done the decent thing?"

  Roberto sighed.

  Cristoforo followed suit, but said, "Apology accepted."

  "Thank you." I murmured.

  Cristoforo just stared at me with a look of challenge in his eyes and dropped his towel. I gasped and quickly turned around. I heard him laugh again.

  Roberto said, "Forgive my brother. Believe it or not we were raised with better manners than he demonstrates." Cristoforo had dressed and was heading for the door and simply said,

  "Appearances can be deceptive." When the door closed behind him, I sat down on the bed, feeling really tired. Roberto came over, "You are exhausted. You need to get some rest. It's still a couple hours until dawn."

  He took his shoes off and said, "Scoot over." He got into bed fully clothed and pulled the covers over us. He gathered me in his arms and I immediately relaxed. He kissed my head, a comforting kiss; the kind a mother would give her upset child. He started talking about his life.

  "I was born in what is now Creccio, Italy in 1532. The Italian Renaissance was in full swing. I was born after most of the great artists of the period. Botticelli, Raphael, and DaVinci." I lay there listening to Roberto's rich voice mesmerized; to be a part of history like that was utterly amazing. He continued as he stroked my hair. "I did get to see the building of St. Peter's Basilica. Our parents would take us to Rome, which is in a neighboring province quite often.

  Madre thought it was important for us country ruffians to be exposed to some culture. Of course Padre would go along with Madre's wishes but we all knew that he would rather be home with his grapes. Our family grows some of the best grapes in the region. I remember quite clearly on a rainy trip in early April in the year 1561, I went about town on my own.

  "Even though I was just a pup, not even forty, I longed for some freedom. I walked the city streets and found myself in front of an edifice that was being constructed.

  "Wondering what they were constructing, I stopped to study it. Hearing a strange muttering I walked around to the back of the construction and saw a beggar man muttering to himself Scent of a Vampire – Jude Stephens

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  about the stinginess of the powers of heaven or some such nonsense. He turned and saw me and stared at me intently and said "Now hath my life across a stormy sea like a frail bark reached that wide port where all are bidden, ere the final reckoning fall of good and evil for eternity." I lifted my head to look at Roberto, "You're not telling me that it was Michelangelo, are you?" I asked with no small amount of skepticism.

  Roberto chuckled, "I am telling you exactly that. Though I am surprised that you knew that was one of his works."

  "I will have you know that I took an art history class in college. Not only did I take the class, but also I got an A. I really enjoyed that class. I've always wanted to visit the Louvre."

  "Then we shall. It would be my pleasure to take you there one day soon. Ahhh, piccolina I can't wait to show you all of the wonders the world has to offer.

  "We can have a moonlight picnic in front of the great pyramids, stroll on the Great Wall of China, and make love on the beaches of the Mediterranean."

  It all sounded too wonderful to be true. I really wanted to talk to him about making love on the beach but right now I was more intrigued about his encounter with Michelangelo.

  "So why did Michelangelo recite his 'On the Brink of Death' poem to you?"

  "Well, he was an extraordinary man, to say the least. I never met anyone like him again. His instincts were incredible. He recognized the difference in me the moment he looked at me. I've often thought that was how he was able to create all of his masterpieces, because of his ability to look at something and see beyond the block of marble, the blank canvas or the man standing before him."

  "Wow." Was all I was able to express? To have been able to meet a man like Michelangelo was the most amazing thing.

  "Did you speak with him?" I was dying to know.

  "Of course, though at the time I had no idea who he was. He was a strange man in that he was probably rich enough to dress in the grandest of fashions, but always dressed as a peasant would in those days. We discussed architecture and philosophy, the arts and life and death."

  "Were you there the entire night with him?"

  "We were and as a matter of fact, we met several times over the next few years whenever I was in Rome. He sort of became a family friend. He visited our estate in Crecchio once. I remember him and my father having a good time debating the Holy Church." Roberto chuckled.

  Unbelievable. The man in front of me was once friends with Michelangelo. It was a very surreal moment. Roberto continued, "I am pretty sure Michelangelo knew precisely how different we Scent of a Vampire – Jude Stephens

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  were from normal humans but in the years that I knew him he never broached the subject. I was very saddened when I learned of his death a few years after we had met. That is a very difficult thing Olivia, to lose friends and people you love just because you will outlive them many lifetimes over."

  He sounded sad. I had never thought of the pain that went along with meeting a new person and knowing they would only be your friend for a short time. I reached up and cupped his face in my hands, "I'm sorry Roberto. It must be so difficult to know you will outlive most people that you meet." Roberto kissed the tip of my nose, "It is cara. That is why the evolved species usually stick to their own kind. It is rare and sometimes dangerous to have different species mingle."

  "What do you mean by dangerous?"

  "Well, if you can imagine when two different species breed, it is not always known what the end result will be." He said in a serious tone.

  "Do you mean that an offspring can result in malformations or genetically altered sub-species?"

  "That is a possibility; of course we are all in our own way a genetically altered sub-species. Have you ever heard of Alistair Allgood?"

  "The famous rock singer?" I asked

  "Yeah, that's
him." Roberto grimaced.

  Everyone in the world knew this famous rocker. His picture was in the paper on a daily basis. He was constantly getting in trouble. I had just read a newspaper article about him last week.

  Something about him being on a transcontinental flight and taking his clothes off and insisting that he be flown to Siberia because he wanted to run with the tigers.

  "Surely you're not telling me he is an evolved one?" I asked incredulously.

  Roberto again grimaced, "He is unfortunately, the product of a rather disastrous love affair between a satyr named Phineas and a siren named Amethyst.

  "Supposedly Phineas, being a woman chasing, wine drinking philanderer came upon Amethyst as she traveled to her new home in the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic. Well, Phineas being Phineas seduced her with promises of marriage and a happy ever after. When he found out she was expecting their child and fearing her Father's wrath, left her high and dry so to speak. The end result is Alistair Allgood who, as you are aware has the voice of an angel or more like a siren and the all of the sense of a drunken lout or a satyr." I sat there with my mouth hanging open. What can you possibly say to such a story?

  I opened my mouth to ask a million questions but Roberto said, "I'm afraid that I've kept you up with all of my stories piccolina. It is almost dawn. Sleep with me in my arms mia cara and let our Scent of a Vampire – Jude Stephens

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  sleep be peaceful." I felt myself relax as the weariness of the day overcame me. I smiled as I thought my dreams would be of great art, traveling with Roberto and heartbroken sirens.

  Instead I dreamt of a silver wolf.

  Chapter 24

  I woke up at noon, still wrapped in the cold comfort of Roberto's embrace. I was groggy, as was my usual custom. As I lay there the dream I had came back with startling clarity. I was standing by a wide river that ran next to a dense forest. I could smell the rich earth that was the forest floor. I could even smell the pine scent coming from the trees.