Samantha handed over the phone. “Sorry, I guess I got caught up in the news feed.”
The girl smiled in understanding, then left.
Leisha picked her up from the group a few minutes later. They didn’t talk much, which suited Samantha since she felt introspective about what she’d just experienced. I don’t care about not having a normal life anymore. The realization lifted an unnoticed pressure from her shoulders.
When they got home, Samantha immediately went into the dark basement and found Nik sitting on the dirt floor, whittling a piece of wood.
She sat next to him and hugged him tightly.
“Um, hi.” He paused before returning the hug. “Are you alright?”
Grinning, she wished it was lighter so she could see his expression. “Better than alright. I’m really happy with where I am right now.” She could see his lips curving up through the dimness and felt happiness bubbling up through her chest. Leaning into him, she closed her eyes and listened to the sound of his knife carving through wood.
After several minutes, Nik put down the wood and the knife. “I’m glad that you’re happy, Sam,” Nik placed his hand over hers.
She squeezed his hand and stood, surprised when Nik stayed with her, his fingers lacing with hers.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s see what Leisha is up to.”
Leisha, as it happened was cooking, but paused to glance down at their entwined hands, tossed a pointed glare at Nik, and then resumed what she was doing.
“It smells delicious, Leisha,” Samantha said. “I hope you made enough for us.”
“Of course.” The blonde pulled a pot of marinara sauce from the stove and poured it over a steaming bowl of angel hair pasta. “Why don’t you get some plates and forks? I’m just about finished here.” She looked at Nik. “Did you want any?”
He nodded. “I’ll have a little.”
In a few minutes they were all sitting around the table eating Leisha’s cuisine. The vampire had made the sauce from scratch. She’d added some garlic, oregano and rosemary to make the flavors dance on the tongue.
After they’d finished, Samantha leaned back in her chair. “Now I wish we had some dessert to go with that.”
Leisha nodded her agreement, but made no move to get up.
Chuckling to himself, Nik stood. “I’ll go find something for you two. I could stand to get out of the house for a while anyway.”
“Thanks, Nik.” She smiled up at him.
“You should get something for yourself while you’re out, Nikita.” Leisha said.
He seemed to hesitate, then reluctantly nodded.
Smiling after him, Samantha turned back to Leisha holding a hand over her chest. “Are you okay?”
Leisha grimaced while rolling her eyes. “Heartburn.”
“Oh. Should we call Nik and ask him to buy some antacids?”
She shook her head. “There’d be no point. My metabolism would process it too quickly for the relief to last long. You’d think it would be the same with the heartburn, but it tends to stick around for a while.”
A thought struck her. “Is that why you’re always so hungry? Your body isn’t hanging on to the food fast enough for the baby?”
“I believe so, yes.”
It was quiet for a moment before Samantha changed the subject. “So have you decided what you’re going to name him? Calling him the prophecy child is getting pretty old.”
Leisha smiled. “I don’t know yet. I’m trying to decide if I want to give him an African name, or something more common these days.”
“I think you should do both. Make his middle name an African one or something.”
The vampire looked thoughtful. “Maybe. Where I grew up, our middle names were the day of the week we’d been born on.” She smiled. “I didn’t have one because no one was around when I was born.”
That sobered them both. Samantha hesitated, then asked, “Do you ever think about what Ptah said to you the night you killed him? About him knowing who your real father was?” The memory of that night was burned into Samantha’s mind with perfect clarity. Ptah had orchestrated a scene that made it look like Leisha was loyal to him so Tafari wouldn’t trust her anymore. It had worked all too well. Then, just before the vampires launched their assault on the immortals, Ptah had given Leisha a tantalizing clue about her biological father. Restrained by Ptah’s vampire guards, Samantha had been there to see the whole conversation play out between them.
Ptah turned Leisha’s face to his. “There is much that I have kept hidden from you, but no longer. When you come back home with me, I will reveal to you everything about the world I come from and how that may relate to the prophecy child.”
Leisha had told Samantha that Ptah originated from the same world that the prophecy child’s spirit would come from. Samantha wondered if Leisha’s curiosity would be enough for her to rejoin the vampires.
Abruptly changing the subject, Ptah whispered intimately, “I know your father.”
Leisha shook her head in puzzlement. “Of course you do.”
“No, not your foster father. I speak not of the shaman. I know your true, biological father.”
“How could you know him?” she asked.
Ptah’s smile was full of arrogance. “As I said, there is much you don’t know. You have no concept of your true parentage, of how special you are.” He stroked the side of her stomach to her rib cage. “You have powers and abilities that I could awaken for you. I could give you so much more, Leisha.”
Pulling the girl out of her recollections, Leisha nodded. “Of course I do. It would be nice to unlock that mystery, but when I killed Ptah, that information died with him. There’s no way for me to unearth it.”
Unable to think of a response, Samantha got up and put the dishes in the dishwasher. After a few minutes of rinsing and arranging plates and silverware, she turned back to Leisha. Her friend was looking thoughtful.
“What is it?”
Leisha shook her head. “You don’t want to hear it.”
“You mean you were thinking something about Nik and me.” It came out more bitter than she’d meant.
The vampire gave a helpless shrug. “I think you both know how I feel.” She pulled her blonde hair from her face. “I already told you that you’re old enough to make your own decisions and I don’t want to interfere, but you do know that you could never be with him, right?”
Spine stiffening, Samantha leaned against the counter. “Why do you say that?”
Leisha walked over to Samantha and patted her shoulder while she mirrored the girl’s stance. “That didn’t come out right, I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you feel defensive, Samantha, but he’s done a lot of stuff in his life. He…” She seemed to be searching for the right word then sighed. “He’s simply not good enough for you. He’ll pull your morals down further than I already have.”
“No, he won’t,” she practically snapped. “In fact, I think it’s the other way around. He doesn’t simply look for any old victim anymore. He’s trying to take on your feeding standards instead. I think he’s becoming a better person because of our relationship.”
Leisha raised an eyebrow. “And it doesn’t bother you that he was going to drain your blood the first time you met?”
Goosebumps broke out along the back of her neck when Leisha mentioned it, but she’d never acknowledge the discomfort. “But he didn’t. And if we’re bringing up moments from the past, he was there for me after Annette, you know….” Samantha shuddered. “If he hadn’t been there and used his luring power to pull me out of that agony, I think I would have gone insane.”
“Alright.” Leisha pulled her hair off her shoulders and behind her back. “So he’s a better vampire now. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Would you say that you’ve become a better person being with Nikita?”
She opened her mouth to say yes, but she couldn’t. The truth was that she didn’t really know. Circumstances
had turned her life upside-down. There was no way Samantha could judge things in black and white, not with what she’s seen. She’d learned that there were times when killing was necessary. But how did she explain when it was okay? After some reflection, it occurred to her that she didn’t truly understand who she was anymore.
Leisha was watching her with pity swelling from her eyes. Samantha closed her mouth. Without another word, she went into the next room and turned on the TV.
Chapter 19
March 3rd
A few days passed, and Leisha still didn’t know if anything could be resolved. She truly didn’t want Samantha to be hurt, but she couldn’t just keep her thoughts to herself.
Leisha was in her room, trying to ignore the “lover’s chatter”. It bothered her on a few different levels. When it got quiet, she couldn’t take it anymore. She could easily picture them snuggling against each other, comfortable in their silent company.
“I’m going for a walk,” Leisha said as she passed them in the living room. This wasn’t unusual. She went out nearly every night. For some reason, she felt cloistered in the house. Maybe because the baby was constantly moving. He never seemed to sleep or rest within her womb. She also felt a need for physical affection. Something she knew she wouldn’t get any time in the near future, if ever.
She’d always been fine, being alone for a long time, so when she had moments like these—missing Tafari—she blamed it to her constantly changing hormones and tried to ignore the feeling.
Walking along her usual route, she came to a clearing in the woods within fifteen minutes. The nights were cold, and being a vampire didn’t prevent the bite of the chill, but it wouldn’t hurt her long term. Somehow, she liked to feel the icy air seep into her skin. It made her feel alive.
Leisha was still walking when she heard a peculiar sound. She focused on the noise for a few moments, and gasped as she realized it was a helicopter. The part that alarmed her the most was that it wasn’t moving on. It sounded like it was circling around.
She immediately turned back towards the house. Then, she heard several heartbeats above her, getting closer. They’d jumped out and were about to drop almost on top of her.
Leisha took a fighting stance as she yelled out to Nikita that trouble was coming and jabbed at the first soldier square in the face, and he immediately went down. Another soldier dropped from the sky, and he swung at Leisha, but she dodged to the side. It was way too awkward to hunch down with a big belly, so Leisha fell completely to the ground and swept her leg under her opponent’s.
He went down with a grunt and she jumped up as quickly as she could with her larger belly and stomped on his neck, snapping his bones.
Another man grabbed her from behind, his arms holding hers down. Leisha kicked his knee hard, snapping it backwards. The man bellowed and fell, letting go of Leisha. Just as he was crumpling, something sharp hit Leisha’s neck, sending a burning sensation from that area toward her chest.
Leisha cursed, pulled the dart out, and began running as fast as she could.
“Nikita!” she yelled. “Get out, now! I’ll find you.”
She didn’t need to go back to the house to find out if he’d heard. She knew that even if he couldn’t understand everything she’d said, he’d understand the context. His vampire hearing was enough to let him know.
Leisha headed toward the city. She could make it there in twenty minutes at a dead run normally, but with the drugs already in her system, and the burden of her baby, she was much slower.
If the soldiers had been regular humans, then she knew she could have made it. But they weren’t normal. They had heightened strength and speed. She didn’t know what kinds of experiments Mason had done with vampire blood, but was all too frightened of the testing he would do to her in her current state.
She was still running as fast as she could, but knew she wasn’t fast enough. Her lungs were beginning to burn from the exertion and her legs felt so heavy. She hoped the drug wouldn’t affect her son.
A strong arm came around from behind. Leisha immediately swung her elbow into his sternum. The man grunted, but didn’t let go. Another soldier came into view with handcuffs dangling from one hand. Swiping her foot out, Leisha was able to knock the cuffs out of her opponent’s hand. He bent to retrieve them while the man holding her punched the side of her jaw. It shouldn’t have knocked her out, but the jarring impact mixed with the tranquilizers was too much.
The next thing Leisha was aware of was the hard metal she was lying on. She didn’t remember blacking out, but she was now in a small room instead of the forest. There was no lighting, but she could see into the shadows. It was more like a cell. There were no windows, and Leisha couldn’t tell whether the room was underground or not. She could see fluorescent lights above her, but no switch to turn them on. Other than the metal slab used for a bed, there were two large drains in the floor and a door in the far wall that was shut so tightly that the edges were barely noticeable. The place had recently been sterilized. The scent of ammonia was practically burning her sensitive nose.
Leisha rubbed her stomach and realized that her baby wasn’t moving. She poked at him gently, hoping to prod some kind of response, but got nothing.
Her pulse quickened and breathing suddenly became difficult. My baby! Leisha closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry or panic. She still heard his heart beating, so she assumed it was merely from the drugs.
Once she got herself under control and thinking logically, she got up and began feeling for any hidden panels in the walls and floor. Discovering only a couple of electrical outlets, she sat on the metal slab, closed her eyes, and tried to listen for anything.
After thirty minutes, she heard very faint footfalls, but she couldn’t tell how many were coming. There was some electronic processing, then air hissed and swirled as the door opened.
Two soldiers filled the doorway with their rifles trained on her. Mason stood behind them. He clicked a remote in his hand and the harsh florescent lights turned on above.
Blinking through the brightness, she saw some cameras angled from the ceiling in the hall, but that was all she could see before Mason closed the door. He stayed behind the soldiers as he spoke.
“I have many questions I’d like you to answer. First of all, how long has Samantha been having visions?”
Leisha hid her surprise and almost barked a sarcastic snip, but then decided she was curious and wanted to get some answers herself.. “How did you find out?”
He tossed her a look that said she’d underestimated him. “Her mother left me some hints before she died. And after I looked at the security tapes, I was able to puzzle things together to determine Samantha knew where to find you.”
Pursing her lips, Leisha decided that it wouldn’t hurt to tell him, and she wanted to see what his reaction would be. “She’s been having them since she was really little. I think three or four .”
Mason closed his eyes as if she’d delivered a low blow. “That’s why she left me,” he murmured. It was so low, but she could hear it easily.
“Are you talking about your ex-wife, Mary?”
Glancing at her as if he’d forgotten she was there, he pressed his lips together.
Folding her arms, Leisha gave a half smile. “So you’re saying that you didn’t know why she’d left you all those years ago, huh?” She raised an eyebrow. “Now you know it’s because she wanted to protect your daughter from you. I guess she knew what line of work you were in then.”
How could both my wife and daughter think that I would allow Samantha to be hurt? Didn’t Mary know that I would have protected our baby? The thought came from Mason. Leisha usually could only read people’s minds if they were weak-willed or drunk. The fact that he’d projected so strongly spoke volumes about his emotions.
“That’s not what I’m here to talk about,” the man said tightly. He paced the width of the cell. “We were able to find you when Samantha logged into a Facebook account under one of h
er known aliases.” He sighed. “I honestly didn’t think I’d find you because I thought you were smart enough to stay off the grid.” Mason gave another of those condescending looks. “Once we traced Samantha’s login to a girl’s phone, we checked any and all activities she engaged in that Samantha may have done with her. We sent in agents to scope out the area and search for Samantha based on her description. You weren’t nearly as thorough as you should have been, you know.”
Momentarily closing her eyes, Leisha couldn’t believe that one act had been their undoing. She had no idea Samantha would want to login to her old Facebook account. If she got out of this, she’d definitely sit the girl down about what it meant to keep a low profile.
Mason stopped and shook his head as if to clear it. “But we’re getting off subject. My next question.” He glanced at her stomach. “How is it that you’re procreating? Our studies of vampires show that all the men are sterile.”
Leisha cocked her head. “Not the women?”
He waved a hand. “The women ovulate, but at a rapid speed. We thought it impossible for a human man to impregnate a female because of how quickly she ovulates. You don’t even bleed at the end of the ovulation, so I’m sure you didn’t even realize you ovulated or have a hormone cycle.” He gestured to her. “Which begs the question of how you were able to get yourself in this condition.”
When she didn’t respond, he slowly stepped between the soldiers toward her. “What I’d like to know even more is where that creature has taken my daughter.”
Forcing down a smile at this news, she gave him a blank stare.
“I wouldn’t try to be so stoic if I were you. You know firsthand what we’re capable of doing to you. I’m trying to avoid that so we can do some more experiments.”
Schooling her features, Leisha inwardly cringed.
“But I will do whatever it takes to find Samantha, even if I have to kill you to get to her.”
At that, she gave a bitter laugh. “If you kill me, then you kill your own daughter.”
He roughly grabbed her hair and forced her to look into his eyes. “What did you do to her?” he spat.
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