sanguineangels

by Various

  The Boston I’d left had changed, but it was still very much the same. Except there were more shadows than I remembered. As I breathed, the stench of my kind lingered on the air. They were here, imbedded into the city just as the cobblestones had once been on the streets. Now was not the time to dwell on other vampires.

  “I’m sorry, Brenna, what did you say?”

  “I said we’re here. I was wondering if you wanted to come up. It’s where I used to work.”

  “Sure.” I forced a smile. “That’d be great.”

  She nodded as we crossed the street. We walked into a building on Winter Street and entered through a set of glass doors into a building housing a Chinese restaurant the size of a closet, a lottery store, and a pizza joint. Brenna pushed a well-worn button for the elevator. A lavender sign hung on the wall next to the elevator indicating the Boston Tearoom was upstairs. Bats fluttered in my stomach at the thought of entering the establishment, but to please Brenna, I boarded the elevator.

  The scent of stale cigarettes, cloves, and the whiff of old garbage penetrated the enclosed space. I tried not to gag. With each floor the bats in my stomach grew more frantic. Dread weighed me down as the elevator came to a crashing stop, landing on the third floor, with three loud thuds before allowing us to leave. As soon as the door released, the hackles rose underneath my skin, and the muscles in my back danced as my wings pushed against the inside of my flesh, wanting to burst out so I could escape. Danger lingered in this place. It wasn’t the kind of threat I was used to, it was unknown, the place that loomed before me possessed an energy that I could see. Its brilliance was brighter than the sun. I turned my head from it, desiring nothing more than to crawl back into the safety of the elevator and run outside. Before I could back away from Brenna, she walked off the elevator and into the light. There was no choice but to follow. As I traversed the few feet between the safety of the lift and the door to the Tearoom, the tips of my wings stretched the skin and poked the fabric of my shirt up. I took a deep breath.

  This place can’t be that bad, I thought as I settled my wings back into their rightful resting place and walked into the unknown.

  The light allowed me to enter as I crossed the threshold. The energy inside the Tearoom suffocated me like I was breathing liquid air. The heaviness made me dizzy, and I wondered if this was how humans felt when they came in here as well. I didn’t think the energy just affected me. It would affect anyone who walked in, but more so if the human was intuitive.

  Brenna smiled as though she’d returned home after a long vacation. This place was familiar to her.

  A mural of a winged horse and griffin fighting reared in front of me on the wall. Each creature battled for something–good and evil probably? Then an odd sensation came over me, as if someone were watching me. A presence on my left pushed against my thoughts. It wasn’t unpleasant, just intrusive. I turned to find a painting of a woman in white surrounded by pillars of stone. A sense of serenity descended over me when I gazed into her face. She smiled and winked at me, but when I stepped forward, touching the cool surface of the wall, the image was gone and she was just a robed figure looking down at me from a misty glade.

  “Can I help you?”

  A tall, thin black man with unruly hair and a mustache stood in front of us. He looked to be in his forties, but the only indications of his true age were the small shots of gray in his hair. In his hands he held a broken pair of glasses. Waves of knowledge and understanding flowed from him and hit me like ripples. There was no lie about him. He was a kind and willing guide.

  “Gee Peter, has it been so long that you don’t recognize me?” Brenna asked him.

  His expression changed from business to pure excitement. A light appeared in his eyes, and he wrapped Brenna in a big hug. He looked almost formal in the gesture, but I realized it was just how he was.

  “Raven! How are you?”

  I looked at her quizzically. “Raven?”

  She blushed. “It’s the name I read under. It helps with privacy.” She turned back to Peter. “Is Edmund here?”

  “Did someone call me?” I heard a voice behind me as the elevator door opened.

  I turned and stared into the eyes of a man who was truly all seeing. He saw through whatever shields I had, slicing my past and identity from me, taking them all in with just a movement of his power. His mind slammed mine so hard I dared not fight him. Even though I could do some serious mental damage to him, he could fuck with my psyche, and I didn’t need that. This man had the same brightness I encountered before entering the Tearoom. This was the force that protected the place. I deduced he owned the Tearoom and was a truly gifted psychic. To him I was as easy to read as a street sign.

  “You might want to leave,” he said to me curtly.

  Brenna looked at us and was about to say something, but he opened his mouth first.

  “Raven, oh my God! How the hell have you been?” he breezed past me and took Brenna into a bear hug.

  As he strolled by me, I got a whiff. There was an odor of decay about his body. A sickness lingered inside of him, and it had been eating away at him for years. It was not cancer, but something in his blood, a plague that medicine kept at bay. I wondered how long he had been infected. He turned to me while in his bear hug and his gaze bored into mine. He knew I’d scanned him in some sense. He didn’t like it, but didn’t dare lash out at me again. Edmund had made it clear I was not welcome. I nodded slightly and made for the door, trying to sneak out before Brenna spotted me.

  “Where are you going?” she asked. “I hoped you’d get a reading.”

  “I don’t think I need to know my future. I think we both already know it.”

  “Nonsense. Besides, I’m sure Edmund would be happy to give you a reading. He owes me one.”

  Both he and I turned to Brenna.

  “It’s not a good idea. I’ll meet you outside.”

  “No. Edmund, you don’t mind, do you?”

  He didn’t say anything, but he shot daggers of energy at her. If Brenna felt anything, she ignored it.

  “Fine.” He smiled. It took him a moment, but then he gestured for me to have a seat at his table.

  I sat down, not knowing what to expect. The last thing I wanted was to find out my future, but as it was, I couldn’t disappoint Brenna. As I shuffled the cards Edmund placed in my hands, a ray of hope blossomed in me for the first time in centuries.

  Chapter Eighteen

  My name is Veronica.

  The tarot cards I mixed had been used many times before. The lamination had worn thin in places, but I continued to move them, back and forth until I had the urge to stop. I placed them on the table in front of Edmund, looking at him attentively, wondering what he would come up with. He stared at me, his mind boring into mine like a hot poker. My instincts were to enclose myself in barriers to keep him out, but it would do no good. He would get through.

  He gathered the cards and held them with his eyes closed, focusing on my energy. Edmund inhaled as if evaluating my present situation and gazed down at the cards in his hands. His fingers were long, and slender, but unlike Devon’s, Edmund’s were daintier, the hands of one who should have played as a concert pianist, but this was not Edmund’s calling. He was one to protect the Tearoom and see it kept moving into further centuries. I envied him this because he had a purpose, where I had nothing, save a hunger that drove me to kill everything I’d ever loved. The reading made me hopeful because it might actually change my future. I wanted to believe that, but deep down, I knew I was doomed to be Devon’s pawn for the rest of my years.

  Edmund held the cards a little longer and then turned them over, causing them to click softly as he placed them on his small table. I scanned his table wondering if all of the things he’d collected were relics to help him focus or just personal items. A picture of his mother stood next to a pile of papers. Two chalices, one black, one white, adorned opposite sides of his table. The scent of old coins clung to their glazed surfaces. I
assumed he used the goblets as representations of balance. In the middle of the table was a large crystal the size of Edmund’s fist, standing on its base. Energy resounded off of it like a tuning fork.

  The first card Edmund turned over was the Devil. I smirked as I examined the picture. The man in it resembled Devon with his cruel smirk. The next card was Judgment. The image on the card was an angel blowing a trumpet, its wings covering the sun and sky as the humans below cowered in fear. The next card, The Hermit, was the representation of a lone man inside a cave huddled near a rock. He had long white hair, a wizened expression, and a single light to guide him. The next was a skeleton holding a scythe. I chuckled as Edmund placed it on the table. Of course I’d get the Death card.

  Edmund looked at me as I laughed. The chill cut from his eyes into me and I stopped chuckling, realizing how serious he took the reading. The next and last card was The Tower.

  “You think that because a demon made you into what you are, beating you into submission, that you are enslaved to him. You punish yourself for killing your sister. Just because you stayed with a man doesn’t mean you have to damn yourself for an eternity.” He paused and took a drag of his clove cigarette and then hacked up a ball of phlegm.

  I caught the whiff of old pot in his clothes and in his mucus.

  “Judgment is something you give yourself every day. You feel because of what you are, you cannot communicate with anything around you, even your own kind. Again you blame yourself for staying with a man that rammed his fist into you. It was your duty to accept his proposal because you thought you’d never have another man ask you to marry. Your parents indulged you, but your sister hated you for taking so long. She wanted—”

  “I know.” I cut Edmund off. “I was stupid. Mary hated me so. I think she haunts my house. I mean, I eviscerated her to death. And” I stopped, my mind catching up to my words. How had he known so much about me? It was unsettling. The information cut right to the heart of my soul. He was right. I hated myself for letting Devon control me so.

  “Hush! Even though your sister was killed in the house, I don’t think she lingers there, but I’m not sure. I don’t think that’s what you’re here about. You want to know the future. Well, what I can tell you is this. The Hermit says you have been alone for a long time, searching the world, trying to regain what you once lost. You walk a path behind a mask that doesn’t fit. If you had looked at the matters of faith in your heart, you’d have found the answers to your questions, but you were destined to meet Brenna.

  “The next card is Death. This is present time. You’re about to enter into a new stage of life. You’ve come out of the cave after so many years and now you have a companion.”

  I glanced at Brenna, who smiled at me as she talked with Peter. I didn’t like what Edmund said. His train of thought was leading toward Devon.

  No. I shook the thought away. Devon wouldn’t have her. I’d kill him before he would get Brenna. I shuddered at what Edmund had said. He was good. Power radiated off him like a furnace. He truly was the real thing, but I didn’t know if I wanted to heed his advice.

  “The outcome of everything is The Tower. It shows your world crashing down around you. This card is the future, but it’s already coming upon you as an old foe returns. He’s already in the city, waiting for the right time to make himself known. He knows where to find you, how to get into your resting place. He comes to claim what is his. He won’t stop until he has both of you, and in the end you’ll have to choose between the better of two evils. It’s all up to you. You do have help, but not in the way you think. Sadly, this is all I can tell you. The rest is up to you to figure out.”

  Edmund leaned back in his chair and took another drag of his cigarette. So many questions loomed in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t ask him. How did he get the information? What was Devon going to do? Choosing between two evils didn’t sound too good. Edmund had a key into the future that I’d never understand. Even though I had mental abilities, I didn’t understand the sort of power he and Brenna possessed.

  “Tell me one thing: how will Brenna fare in this whole event?” I had to ensure her safety. Maybe I’d face Devon alone and leave her in Edmund’s care. Devon would never know where she disappeared. If I died, he’d leave her alone, thinking his conquest of her would no longer be relevant because I expired. If I won, then I would never have to expose Brenna to him again.

  Edmund finished his clove cigarette and snuffed it out in a marble ashtray, forcing it down harder until it splintered and cracked.

  “Brenna will get all she has ever wanted. Maybe even more than she bargained for in the arms of Death. Don’t worry about that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back upstairs. You’re welcome to stay and look around and, if need be, come again.” Edmund wheeled his chair back and got out of the seat.

  The chair hit the wall, causing small chips of green paint to come flaking off and pictures to rattle. I was afraid one might fall, but it seemed the nails were securely in the wall and were used to Edmund’s rough treatment. I sighed as I stared at the cards on the table. This had been my first real reading. I understood why humans were fascinated by the prospect of having someone tell them their future. It gave them some reassurance and a hint as to what path to follow if they lost their way. I took one last look at the cards, wondering what to do next. As much as he had given me answers, he had left me with so many questions. What did he mean when he said that Brenna would get what she always wanted? It must have been something between them. I got up, noticing for the first time the mural on the ceiling. It was the universe with Saturn as the centerpiece. The artist had to be very talented to create it because drainpipe covers had been turned into different planets, others, asteroids. Shooting stars traveled through the painted universe like cars on a predetermined course. Stars twinkled around Saturn, and the sun dulled in comparison to the awesome planet.

  “Cool, isn’t it?” Brenna said.

  I nodded. I didn’t want to show her any of the doubt or fear I had when I’d gotten the reading.

  “How was the reading? Did you learn who your next Romeo would be?”

  “Hardly,” I laughed, smiling at the thought. If only that were the case. “It was very informative,” I said at last. By the look on her face she wanted to know all of the details, but before I could tell her, Edmund called her over.

  Brenna glanced at me and shrugged her shoulders. She looked at the man she truly respected and cared for. He had been a generous person and given her much she had to be thankful for. I wondered what it would have been like to have someone like him, but no. My fate was to wander through the world alone.

  Chapter Nineteen

  My name is Brenna.

  Veronica was not happy with Edmund’s reading. Her mouth tensed, causing wrinkles to appear around her eyes, marring her marble smooth complexion. I wanted to speak with her, but my old boss called me up to his apartment. I left her to absorb what he’d said. Besides, I needed to talk with him after so much had happened. I wasn’t sure where the lines blended with Veronica and me anymore.

  She had attacked me, but then saved me from herself. The conflict loomed in her whenever I looked at her. It was as if her brain danced in duality between what she was and what her scattered humanity dictated. She couldn’t admit that part of her was a thing without the ability to feel pain, something without a conscience. She crossed that threshold over two centuries ago. I hoped Edmund could sort out some of my many questions.

  As we stood together in the elevator, the back of my mind began to itch. I shook my head, trying to ignore the tingling.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked as we stepped off the elevator and into the lobby.

  I closed Edmund’s door behind me and followed him into the living room. I plopped down on his black leather couch while he went into the kitchen and got a drink. After a moment, the door opened again and the clicking of claws sounded on the hardwood floors as the dogs came running. Justin, a miniature gold
en retriever, pounced on me, licking me as if he were still a puppy. Next came Isis, a half Chihuahua-Jack Russell terrier mix. When she saw me, she yipped and barked. I pushed Justin off and put Isis on my lap, and she sat there as if she were on a throne. I smiled, remembering all the times she’d sat on my foot waiting for me to scratch her belly. Things had been simpler when I’d been younger. Edmund, Isis, and I had been roommates for a year while I was in school. That was then, and this was now, when I had vampires to worry about and wondered if I’d be living the rest of my life in only a few short days.

  The front door closed again, and I heard the elevator go down. Joshua, Edmund’s boyfriend, must have dropped off the dogs and gone back out. Joshua used to go to school with me as well and worked at the Tearoom while I did. It was there that he became involved with Edmund and had been one of the reasons I moved out of Edmund’s after only a year.

  “You weren’t supposed to be in Boston until Samhain,” he said while standing at the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room.

  I shrugged, thinking of Samhain, the Celtic name for Halloween. It was true I hadn’t planned on coming to help him with the annual séance the Tearoom held until then. When he called asking me to help with the ghostly gathering, I thought it a little odd. It was unlike Edmund to call anyone to come and visit him, let alone ask for help. His abilities kept him cloistered as the emotions of others pressed on his mind. Even though he had the same abilities as me, he was more powerful than I could ever imagine. While I’d been living with him, he’d only ventured out once or twice a week. He employed dog walkers and couriers to do his grocery shopping. The world was just too much for him to deal with. I, on the other hand, learned to drown out the static of others’ feelings. It was easy. I imagined a volume control and turned it down to a reasonable level. It shut out much of the din, but there was always static lingering in my mind from all the bustling minds.