by C. L. Quinn
Slowly, he released her, and felt nothing as he noticed the burgundy fingerprints and gouges on her shriveled skin.
“Tell me.”
It took her a moment to be able to speak again. When she could, she glanced up at him. “You’re not going to like it.”
“I don’t give a fuck. Talk. Now.”
She hesitated for a few more moments, her head down, not looking at him. Bas thought he might end up having to torture it out of her. Then she looked up and spoke.
“You won’t believe this, but I was a real looker when I was her age. He liked me right away. Said I had the gift. I just thought he meant I was hot shit. I didn’t know anything about magic or supernatural crap then. And he’s the finest looking man on this planet. I swear to this day I’d probably fuck him again even though I know the deal. Well, you already know he wasn’t human. I never really found out exactly what he was while he was screwing me, but when I got pregnant with his seed, things changed. Then I was just the meat sack that carried his spawn. He kept me tied down, fed me the most godawful shit, blood and garbage I don’t know what. I was fucking sixteen! I was a kid myself…I didn’t know what was happening. But I wasn’t stupid, I knew I had to get out of there. So I seduced one of his flunkeys, some gnat- brained boy who used to clean up after me when I shit, because he wouldn’t let me go to the toilet when I needed to. He was under the vampires spell, but…I guess I made a spell of my own, cause I got him to let me go. I got out of there before that cocksucker got me. I went to the other side of the world. I fucked my way to Australia. It’s amazing how many guys don’t give a shit how pregnant a girl is as long as they can stick their dick in. I hoped all the fucking would kill the thing inside me, but it didn’t. And when the little hellspawn was born, I was gonna drown it. Look, I didn’t have no trouble with the baby, but I knew what it was. It was evil and it wasn’t human and I didn’t want anything to do with it. I was gonna kill it, but I couldn’t. So I was going to abandon it. And then I thought, what if he finds me? That thing is the only thing I’d have to bargain with. So I stayed there and tried to raise her.
I couldn’t love her, ya know? She wasn’t human! And then she started showing those weird special powers. She knew things she couldn’t know. And when she was little, she could move things without touching them. I got a little afraid of her too. Eventually, when he never showed up, I came back here, to New York for a while, then with some friends in Florida.”
Bas was sick to his core. What that little girl must have gone through. Even though he’d seen some of it, he just couldn’t imagine her level of emotional torture..
“In spite of it all, she was still your flesh and blood.”
“She was a demon. I couldn’t love that. I was always afraid eventually she was going to eat me. It was a relief when she was old enough and finally left. I ain’t had no good life. He fucked more than my young body…he fucked my whole life. You think I can forgive her for that?”
“She wasn’t responsible!”
“Tell that to the teenage girl who watched her grow up and remind her daily that there was evil in the world and it bred itself on you. Tell that to me from your fine house you got cause you’re a demon too. The only thing I wanted was that she wouldn’t have any more demons, that it would end with her. I guess you’ll breed with her now and I’ll be a fucking grandma to more hell spawn.”
She looked around the cell and back to Bas with her thin lips in a twisted line. “My life didn’t turn out so well, did it?”
He ignored her. He didn’t care.
“So you never really knew what he was?”
She sighed and let her body dropped to the ground. “I don’t suppose I could have a cig?”
He was disinclined to grant her anything, but he nodded to Jake, who left the room.
“I knew what he was. Some girl told me. She was there when he first brought me in. She bathed me with cool water and gave me chocolates. We would talk. When I asked her what he was, she didn’t tell me. But after about a month, we got sort of friendly and she opened up one day and told me. He was the original vampire. Imagine my shock. I was a kid and impregnated by a vampire. I screamed at him later that I knew what he was. He quietly sat down and told me that he certainly was an original.” She sat up excitedly when Jake brought her a cigarette and lit it for her, backing away with the lighter. She had the sense to be grateful.
Her eyes met Bas’s and held them for a moment. Her mood had changed and it seemed she was no longer angry or combative.
“He’s not the only one. He told me there are ten of them here. All I thought was that I hoped I never meet any more of them.”
Bas looked at his companions. They were all startled. The legend of the first vampire had never been confirmed. No one that any of them had ever known had ever known anyone who could confirm his existence. And now she was saying he admitted there were ten. Were they still alive? Cherise was certain at least the one who fathered Park was. She was terrified of him.
Bas would never forgive the bitch for how she abused Park, but he understood that she had been traumatized and abused too. He was no longer homicidal. He’d just backed up to tell Jake to arrange for her transport when Park burst through the door. Vaz grabbed her and held her back. He saw Park’s eyes take in the scene, four beefed up vampires standing around the room while her mother leaned against the same wall she’d seen Bernie against, in chains, sucking on a cigarette.
Her eyes shot to Bas.
“Everything’s okay?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want you here.”
“Well, I didn’t want you to kill her. She’s not worth it.”
Her mother looked up. Stared at her daughter. Looked her over carefully from head to foot. Then took a long drag on the cigarette, slowly releasing the smoke.
“Well,” was all she said.
Park looked at her but had nothing to say to her either. There was no fixing this, no happily ever after. The best Park hoped for was for her mother to leave and to never see her again.
Bas came and took her hand.
“Park, this is the broken vessel that brought you into the world. I hate her because she wasn’t good to you. But I won’t hurt her, because you don’t want me to. And because, as horrible as she is, she brought you to me.”
Her mother watched Bas gently hold Park’s hand. And closed her eyes. She just wanted to be done with all of it. The next moment Bas gave her that.
He stepped forward and said, “We’re done with you. I’ll have my men take you back to Ohio, and you never have to hear from us again. You had your youth destroyed. I get that. It’s up to you to try to salvage it. I’ll spend the rest of my life helping Park salvage hers. Just don’t cross my path again, and your life is your own. I actually don’t think you’ll do anything better with your life now, but that will be your own fault.”
They all walked out and closed the door. No one else heard the deep sigh from inside the room.
Cherise finished the assignments for her small staff that helped her keep the large mansion in order. She was smiling as she scheduled herself a weekend off. Then remembered no one was going anywhere until this war was over. She didn’t hear the footsteps behind her until they were right on her. But she knew who it was. She turned and looked at her bosses new lover.
“Cherise, we should talk.”
It didn’t surprise her. She laid her pen down. “Please we may retire to the table.”
They took seats opposite each other. No one spoke for several seconds, then Park leaned in.
“Please tell me what you know about myself, my mother, my father. I have only just discovered I’m not who I thought I was. I mean, I’ve always known I had some odd skills, but I didn’t know that wasn’t normal until I was older. I still don’t know exactly what I am. You seem to know a lot. And don’t leave out the details of how you know these things. Cherise, please don’t be afraid of me. I’m just a normal girl, honestly. I just want to live a normal life.”
“Ms. Park, I do not wish to upset or offend you. I only work for Mr. Bas…you are a guest.”
“He values you like a member of the family. I won’t change that. You may speak freely and there will be no repercussions. I would hope that we can become friends.”
Cherise shook her head. “Oh, mademoiselle, I don’t know about that. You bring up a time in my life I am not proud of. I do not wish to relive. I was there when you were conceived, when he took your mother and bound her to keep her until you were born to him. Nothing mattered to him more than you.” She looked Park over closely. “Quelle exquis. He would be so happy. You are very, very beautiful. Oh, he raged when your mother disappeared. Many died who got in his way. I might have too, but for par bonheur…uh, the luck, the good chance. He looked for you for years. For years, mademoiselle, for you. But your mother, she cloaked you and herself, somehow. He could not find you. He vowed if he ever found you, he would kill anyone and anything that had kept you from him. This is why we are in grave danger.”
“But, if he hasn’t found me until now, what makes you think he will.”
“You are manifesting, becoming…your powers are vivant, are coming alive. He will be able to sense that. And when you and Mr. Bas have your child, he will know instantly that another one with the blood of the first has been born.”
Park shook her head. “No, Bas said vampires can’t have children. That won’t happen.”
“Mr. Bas, he does not know. You are the child of an original. You can bear offspring. That is how your mother was chosen. She had the gift. Very few do. A first vampire can breed, but only very rare humans have the ability to bear their offspring. Your mother was one of them. That is why he was so excited when he found her. In all the millennia, the firsts have been able to breed only six times. You see how special you are. Oh, you and Mr. Bas would have extraordinaire babies. But he will not let that happen, if he finds you. He will take you to breed with one of the other firsts. Breeding with them…it is not a kind thing.”
Park’s heart felt like lead. God. She really came from monsters. And she really was endangering these people she had come to love.
“So I need to leave. You were right. Okay. That’s settled.”
“Oh, no, mademoiselle, Mr. Bas, he would kill me if he thinks I caused you to go. You must speak to him.”
“He won’t listen. And he will be killed if I’m here when my biological psycho father comes for me. I have to be gone. Cherise, I forbid you to tell him. If you do nothing else for me, please let me choose to protect those I love.”
Cherise quietly considered the beautiful young woman in front of her. “You are nothing like him. I always thought that the aggression and arrogance came with the blood. But you are a gentle soul, I see that. I feel that. He is in you, but he is not of you. I will be silent, if you request, but I think now I have been wrong. I think you must be protected. They will deal with what may come. I will help, and, Ms. Park, I have my own power. You will not be happy if your father finds you and takes you to his world. You do not belong there.”
“I can’t let him come in here and rampage against the innocent either. I always knew my life was off the rails, as much as I tried to put it back on. Cherise, I’m curious. How is it that you know these things? Are you…are you not human?”
“I am, but…there are degrees. Yes, I am human, but I am more than. I am from a race that comes from high in the Ural mountains. We are not known here in your civilized world. We are watchers of the supernatural, we are seers. Sometimes we can see the course of events, although not always. We have visions, and while they are reliable, we never know when or what. We can identify all forms of life, as I said. And there are many that the normal human would never know exists. It is for the best. They are ill equipped to deal with the bridge species. Those who ride between the worlds. It is my heritage to monitor and guide. I wearied of the bloodshed, and asked to be released from my destiny for the remainder of my life. Our lives are longer than normal by about a hundred years on average, but we are not immortal and we are not exempt from illness. I needed a rest. Ms. Park, I think you do too.”
“I’ll rest when it is time. Now is not the time.”
“You are planning to go. Go where?”
“That is…a good question. I don’t know yet. But I’ll figure it out. I have to. Cherise, thank you for your honesty. You’ve given me something I never had. A heritage. Not a good one, but at least now I know where I come from and what I am. It will be a peace someday when I can stop long enough to acknowledge it. I’ll leave you to your work. Bon nuit.”
Park stood and started to walk out when Cherise called her.
“Ms. Park.” She hesitated, then walked forward. “There is something I should tell you. Your child you would have with Mr. Bas…it is not a question of if. You are already…you carry the baby now.”
Park didn’t move. She just stared dumbfounded at Cherise. Then her hands went to her abdomen and she stared into Cherise’s green eyes.
“How…how could you know. We’ve only been together a few times and that was only days ago.”
Cherise put her hands over Parks. “It is my power. I know.”
She knelt and laid her head against Parks belly. With her eyes closed, her lips opened in a sweet smile, she caressed the flat curves.
“It is a girl child and she is very, very strong. You must protect her above all. She will be important someday. Ah, she is as lovely as I knew she would be.”
Park couldn’t think. What the…
“Talk about off the rails…I can’t conceive of this…a baby so soon…with a vampire. I need to lie down. For about nine months.”
“Mademoiselle, your baby girl will be here in six.”
“Oh,Cherise, I can’t deal with this alone. Thank you, but I really do need to go to my room. I’m overwhelmed.”
“But you are elated too.”
She knew her face softened and felt the smile spread, her eyes tear. “Yeah, I actually thought I would never have a child. I don’t want children…didn’t…but…”
Cherise hugged her. “I think it is going to be alright. I think we have strong people who love you already and will be here. You must stay, Ms. Park. This baby needs all of us.”
Park nodded, not sure what she really needed to do now, and went out the double doors.
Dez had the lights down, since Zach slept nearly twenty of the twenty four hours. It made it easy for her to get her own rest, since he needed so little care. The other four hours, she fed him and held him. And looked at him. He watched her the entire time he fed, too, which she found at once uncomfortable, and sexually stimulating. She had never in her life seen a conversion like this one. From the moment Park’s blood was infused with her own and fed to Zach, he’d been calm and rational. Quiet, a little catatonic at times, but calm and pain free. It still blew her mind that the little human had something so powerful in her veins. And…oh, god, it was good…
Bas had allowed Park to feed Dez for three days after the first, just at the end of the night before they all took their rest, so that Zach’s feedings would continue to include her blood. For the past two he had only Dez’s blood. And he was still doing incredibly well. Dez assumed he was over the hump and that most of the transitions at the cellular level were over. There was no sign of failure anymore at all. In fact, his transition seemed to have been overly stimulated because he was bigger than any new vampire she’d ever seen now. His muscular form was at least two, maybe three times what it had been. He was taller, too, the knee length shorts now hitting him mid-thigh. Most remarkably, and certainly to do with Park’s blood…his eyes were a bright electric blue. He was absolutely not a typical vampire baby. He was something new. What… She didn’t know.
Even buried in the sub level cells of the stronghold, Dez could feel the day coming on. It was time to rest. She
looked over at the multi-blanket pallet she’d constructed on the floor and slept in since she’d agreed to change Zach. It looked inviting. Maybe a little more blood for him, and she’d drop and sleep until nightfall. He was watching her cross the room and got up on his hands and knees, ready. She slipped down against the wall and started to slit her wrist, but he put his hand over hers and stopped her. He didn’t use words much, but his eyes were extremely expressive. He stared at her and then reached to the waistband of her jeans, hesitated while he let her understand what he wanted, and when she nodded, he yanked them down and off. She handed him the dagger, but he shook his head, lowered it and when he raised back up, she saw shining brilliant white fangs. What…? It took a month or longer for new vamps to develop fangs.
Zach’s hair was at his waist and although days ago she’d given him a covered band to pull it back, he left it loose, so when he leaned across her, it covered her legs and stomach. She felt the sting as he bit and began to drink from her thigh. This was definitely new.
Dez moaned, as she felt the flood of moisture pool between her legs, her own blood mixed with fluids that begged for stimulation she would not get tonight. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t take advantage of the uncontrollable sexual needs a conversion brought on. Of course, that hadn’t really been an issue with Zach, another gift of Park’s blood, she assumed. Well, it had made it easier to keep her promise to herself. And although he was nearly finished changing, she would stay away from him sexually. Although, oh, hell, this came close… she might have to go up to her room and get out her well used vibrator.
He lingered, but when she felt his mouth move up and then his tongue touch her southern lips, she groaned. She wanted it, more than anything, but she made herself push back and pull her jeans with her. She moved beyond his reach and left him sitting there staring at her with a small smile. He brought his fingers to his lips and licked them. She groaned again and turned away.