The Undead Heart

by Tate Jackson

“I am Beck, just different, like you said.”

  “I can get used to this Beck.”

  “Good, because I’m the only Beck you are going to get,” she smiled. “What I can’t get used to is that Potter.”

  “What do you mean ‘that Potter’?” she asked coolly, the smile falling from her face.

  “Well, I don’t know him, but doesn’t that Mohawk and all those tattoos bother you?”

  “You’re right, you don’t know him, and no, nothing about him bothers me. He happens to be a brother to me and my best friend. I love him as much as I love you. So, please don’t talk about him like that anymore. I won’t have his feelings hurt.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any offense,” Bev said quickly. “I just meant that he scares me a little.”

  “I’m sorry, too. I’m just a little touchy where Potter is concerned.”

  “That’s okay, I understand.”

  “Is anyone else home?” Beck inquired.

  “Not that I’ve seen.”

  “I’m going to go see where everybody’s gone to,” she said, getting up from the table.

  ***

  She found Potter, and her four bodyguards, scattered around the yard. Damon and Jeff had a truck pulled out and were doing something under the hood. Darian and Shane were sparing, and Potter was watching.

  Potter saw her coming, jumped across the yard, and hugged her. “I love you, too. And don’t worry, my feelings aren’t hurt that easily,” he smiled. “I should have known you heard that. She’ll warm up to you.”

  “Eventually.”

  “What are they doing to the truck?”

  “Trying to find out why it keeps backfiring,” he said, walking with her over to the truck.

  “Start it up” she said to the hunters. Jeff jumped into the cab of the and started the engine…POW!!!

  “Yeah, it’s backfiring. Have you adjusted the carburetor?”

  “I tried that, it didn’t help. The plugs are fine, too,” Jeff verified. She climbed onto the front bumper. “Let me check something.” When she stepped back down, she tossed a part to Jeff. “Your distributor cap is burnt out.”

  “I didn’t know you knew anything about engines,” Potter said.

  “I know a little,” she said. “Where is everyone?”

  “Some are hunting; everybody else is sleeping or fighting.”

  “I’ve been meaning to talk to you. Do you remember the promise you made me?”

  “That I would give you whatever you asked me for? Yes, I remember,” he said, walking with her back across the yard.

  “Can we go somewhere where we can’t be heard? I want to ask you for something, but I don’t want anyone to know about it until it’s done.”

  “Sure.” He led her over to the side yard, but before they could enter the woods, Bev came out the front door.

  “Beck!” Bev yelled across the yard. “Yeah!”

  “Are there any tampons here? I started, and I can’t find any,” Bev yelled.

  Before Beck could answer her, she heard crashing sounds from the woods on the other side of the yard.

  “Shit!” she yelled as Leso tore out of the woods, Richard hot on his tail. “Damon! Get him!”

  Damon shot across the yard and managed to tackle Leso on the front steps, smashing Leso and her steps to the ground.

  “Aww, damn it!” she cussed as she ran across the yard. Why did they have to keep breaking her house?

  Richard was helping Damon hold onto Leso when she got to the porch.

  “Sorry, I tried to catch him.”

  Leso was still fighting to get loose. “What the hell is going on?!” Bev asked in a shocked voice. “He’s just reacting to your period,” Beck explained. “ Don’t worry about it.”

  “Were you going to eat me?” Bev asked Leso, sounding a little scared.

  But Leso was still struggling to get loose and didn’t answer. This was a lot worse than with Richard. He’d come to his senses once Potter had gotten him off of her. Leso didn’t seem to be able to control himself near as well.

  “No, it’s a protection instinct. He was going to guard you. If he didn’t kill you knocking you to the ground first, that is.”

  “I need to get him out of here,” Richard said, pulling Leso back across the yard. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Beck yelled after him, “Somebody is going to fix my steps!”

  “Yes ma’am,” he called back over his shoulder. Potter laughed. “That was fun.”

  “Yeah, lots of fun,” she scowled, looking down at her destroyed steps. Potter looked over at the other hunters. “Jeff, go buy this lady some tampons.”

  “What?!” Jeff exclaimed. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Do you see me smiling?” Potter answered in a stern voice. “Aww, man,” Jeff moaned, and walked across the yard toward where they kept the vehicles.

  As soon as Jeff’s back was turned, Potter’s face split into a big grin.

  “You are an evil man,” Beck smiled.

  “I know,” Potter said, the grin still on his lips. “Ain’t it cool,”

  “Is Leso coming back?” Bev asked in a worried voice.

  “Yeah, he’ll be back,” Beck said. “It will probably be a few days though.”

  Bev looked disappointed. “I have a lot to get used to, I guess.”

  “It should get better after a while.”

  “I hope so,” Bev mumbled, going back into the house.

  Potter looked at Beck. “Still going to tell me what I’m supposed to give you?”

  “Yeah, just give me a minute,” she said, and she ran into the house.

  ***

  When she came back out, he was waiting for her. “Let’s go.”

  He led her about a mile from the house before finally stopping.

  She sat down under a tree. “Why did we have to come out so far?”

  “You said you didn’t want to be heard.”

  “Can you hear people from a mile away?”

  “No, but we passed several hunters on our way here.”

  “I didn’t see any,” she said, surprised.

  Potter smiled. “Well, that’s kind of the point, Beck”

  “I want to ask you a few things.”

  “Go ahead,” he said, sitting down across from her. “When you became a hunter, how long did it take you to adjust?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “How long did it take you to get used to being as strong, and as fast as you are?”

  “Oh, that’s not really something that you have to get used to. It’s just something that’s there when you want it. It’s no different than a human that’s strong or fast. I’m just stronger and faster.”

  “How about the rest of it? The scents, your hearing, your vision?”

  “Again, it’s the same as being human only the scents are stronger, my hearing is better, and my vision is more crisp. I can see further, and in more detail.”

  “How does hearing as well as you do not drive you crazy?”

  “It’s not like that. You hear everything around you, but your brain filters most of it out. You only pay attention to the things you want, or need, to hear. The rest is just background noise. It’s like when you’re in the kitchen talking, but you can still hear the television in the living room. You hear it, but your brain tunes it out.”

  “Okay. How do you sense vampyres?”

  “I’m not sure how it works, but it feels like a tingling in my brain. The closer the vampyre gets, the stronger the tingling gets.”

  “Doesn’t your head tingle all the time here?”

  “No. Once I know that there isn’t any danger, it stops.”

  “So, you don’t have to kill vampyres?”

  “No, I don’t have to, I want to. Not the vampyres here, or any other vampyres that feed on animals, but when I come across one that feeds on humans, every fiber of my being screams for me to destroy it. Why do you want to know about all of this anyway?”

 
She pulled the syringe out of her back pocket. “Because you’re going to give me your blood.”

  “Excuse me?” Potter questioned, his eyes on the needle. :I’m going to give you what?”

  “Your blood,” she repeated..

  “Why?”

  “So I can become like you.”

  “I’m not going to do that,” he said, shaking his head. “You promised to give me what I asked for.”

  “Well hell, Beck!” he yelled. “I didn’t know that you wanted to shoot up with my blood when I made that promise!”

  “But, you did promise to give me anything I asked you for. Did you lie to me?”

  “Damn it!” he shouted in frustration. “No, but have you really thought about this?”

  “I’ve thought about it for eight years. You wouldn’t remember it, but we even talked about it once.”

  “Why do you want to do this?”

  “So I can live longer. So I can spend more than just a human lifetime with Richard and my family. I think I’ve earned that right, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do, but what you’re asking me for might kill you,” he said in a pleading tone.

  “I don’t think it will.”

  “You may not think it will, but you don’t know that it won’t.”

  “No, but I’m pretty sure it won’t, though.”

  “Have you talked to Richard about this?”

  “No, you know he’s throw a fit.”

  “Gee, I wonder why?” he said sarcastically. “You should ask him before you do this.”

  “No, I shouldn’t. Besides, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

  “He’s going to kill me.”

  “No, he won’t.”

  “Oh really? You weren’t there when he found out that I knew you were supposed to die in the past. That man beat me like a steel drum,” he snapped.

  She smiled. “You’re not really afraid of Richard, are you?”

  “Hell yes! When it comes to you, that man is crazy!”

  “Even if he does get a hold of you, you’ll heal right back up.”

  “Having my bones broke still hurts, you know?” he stated in a peeved voice.

  “You’ll be fine.”

  “Even if my blood doesn’t kill you, you don’t know that this will even work.”

  “There’s only one way to find out. Give me your arm.”

  He grudgingly held his arm out to her. She drew the syringe full of his blood, pulled her short sleeve tight around her arm and stuck the needle in her vein.

  “Beck?”

  “What?”

  “Just don’t die. Okay?” Potter said. He sounded scared to death, and she felt a little guilt about putting him into this situation, but not guilty enough to stop.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  She didn’t know how much of the blood to use, so she shot half of it in, recapped the needle, and put it back in her pocket. A few moments later, she felt like she had shot herself full of tranquilizers. Her vision went dim, and her brain became fuzzy. She had time to wonder if she had killed herself after all, before being pulled into the darkness.

  ***

  When she woke up, she was in Potter’s lap. “Oh, thank God! I was afraid you were going to die on me,” he said in relief. “

  Why? What happened?” she asked, climbing off of his lap. “Your breathing became rapid, and your heart rate slowed to almost nothing.”

  Except for feeling a bit groggy, she didn’t feel any different.

  “It didn’t work,” Potter stated.

  “How do you know?”

  “You still have your scent. We lost that when we changed. It keeps us from being tracked.”

  “Well, damn it! I really wanted this to work,” she said sadly. “How long was I out?”

  “A little over an hour. I’m sorry this didn’t work for you, but look on the bright side.”

  “What bright side?”

  “You’re still alive, we don’t have to tell Richard we did this, and I’m not going to die,” he smiled. She could feel his relief at not having to tell Richard and couldn’t help but smile.

  “Let’s go home,” he said and took her hand.

  “Richard can’t be that bad.”

  “Oh yes he can.”

  “Did he really beat on you after I left?”

  Potter laughed. “Like I stole his money!”

  “That’s terrible. He shouldn’t have done that.”

  “It was understandable. I did keep one hell of a secret from him.”

  “But I made you promise not to tell him.”

  “Yeah, I told him that, but from the twenty-three bones he broke, I was able to deduce that he didn’t care.”

  Shocked, she exclaimed, “He broke twenty-three of your bones?!”

  “At least. He was a little upset,” he said, turning her head to look at her. ‘What’s wrong?”

  Beck stopped walking and put her hand to her head. “I don’t know. My head is buzzing.”

  “Buzzing?”

  “Like my brain is vibrating,” she said, rubbing her forehead. “That’s not possible.”

  “What’s not possible?” she asked confused.

  He just stood there with his mouth hanging open.

  “What?” she asked again.

  “No, it didn’t work. If it had worked, you would have lost your scent,” he whispered softly.

  “What?”

  “It sounds like you’re sensing the vampyres around us, but you can’t be, because it didn’t work.”

  Did it work? Is it possible that she’d kept her scent, but still became a hunter? She looked down at Potter’s hand entwined with hers and squeezed. She felt and heard his bones shatter.

  “Oww! Damn it, woman! There were other ways to find out, you know!” he yelled, shaking his hand.

  “Sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know it would be so easy.”

  “It worked! It actually worked! You still have your scent, but it worked.”

  “I’m a hunter?”

  “It looks that way. The first female hunter to ever exist,” he said, shaking his head.

  “Awesome!” she said and started walking again. “Hey, since you still have your scent, there’s no reason we have to tell Richard right away, right?”

  “You know, for a hunter, you’re a wuss,” she laughed.

  “It’s not you he’s going to jump on when he finds out about this,” he mumbled as they stepped out of the trees. He grabbed her arm and stopped her when he saw Richard and Harley on the porch.

  “Can you hear them?”

  She tilted her head and listened. She could make out their voices, but not what they were saying.

  “Not really. Can you?”

  “Yeah, they’re talking about Leso.”

  “I can’t hear it clearly.”

  “We need to get away from here and see what you can do and what you can’t do.”

  “Alright, give me a minute,” she said and walked across the yard to the porch where Richard was. “How’s Leso?”

  “He’s fine, just a little mad at himself.”

  “He’ll get over it,” Harley laughed. She climbed up the steps and went into the house. When she came back out, they had moved on to talking about Seanán and Tiarnán.

  “All they do is fight with each other,” Harley said. “It’s getting out of hand. They knocked a six foot hole in the wall last night. I thought Charley was going to kill them both.”

  Potter frowned. “How did they do that?”

  “Tiarnán threw Seanán through it,” Harley explained. “What were they fighting about?” Beck asked.

  “Last night they were fighting over the remote control, which would make sense if they didn’t want to watch the same thing. They were fighting over who was going to hold the remote,” Harley laughed again.

  “They’ll fight about everything and nothing,” Richard said. “I really don’t care if they fight. It’s just that they destroy everything in thei
r path while they’re doing it. They don’t stop to think about what they’re doing.”

  “I’ll go talk to them,” Potter said, getting up.

  Beck jumped up. “I’ll go with you. I want to see Jenny anyway.”

  “I’ll take you,” Richard said. “No, you won’t. You stay here and fix my steps.”

  “Oh, right. I can do that.” She leaned down and kissed him. “I’ll be back soon.”

  She hopped off the porch and followed Potter through the backyard and into the woods.

  “I can talk to the twins later. Can you wait to see Jenny?” Potter asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Good, because right now I’d rather find out what you can do.”

  When they got to the creek, he grabbed her and jumped to the bottom. The water was only a couple of feet deep, but the water was cold.

  “See if you can jump back up.”

  She looked up to the top and leapt. She wasn’t anywhere near as graceful as they were with her landing, but at least she made it to the top. She looked back down at Potter.

  “Like that?”

  “Just like that,” he laughed. “That was so cool!”

  “Now, jump back down.”

  She took a deep breath and jumped. Cold water sprayed up at her when she landed, but she was fine.

  “Okay. Now, lets see if you can run,” he told her after they were out of the creek. “We’re just going to run along the break.”

  He took off running with her close behind. She could hear the wind whistling in her ears. She wasn’t as fast as him, but he never got out of her sight. When he stopped a minute later, she nearly ran into his back.

  “Okay, you didn’t lose your scent, your hearing didn’t improve, but you got the strength and speed, and you also got the ability to sense vampyres. How’s your sense of smell and vision?”

  “The same as it was before.”

  “It’s strange how some of the abilities missed you,” he mused, bewildered.

  “Maybe it’s because you drank modified toxin, and I used your blood. Or maybe, it’s just because I’m female.”

  “It could be either one of those, I guess. Well, that’s it, let’s go.”

  “Wait, that’s not it. You still have to break one of my bones to see if I heal like you..”

  “Are you nuts? I’m not going to break any of your bones!” he gasped, looking horrified.