Microsoft Word - TheStormyLoveLifeofLauraCordelaisSusanCfinal

by Tonya Nagle

  Donovan wheeled Mama Joe down the lane between tombs. Each lane was like a street with a name. They walked past the crypts, all like small houses sheltering the dead. Mama Joe hummed gaily as if on her way to a picnic. She looked over at Laura and winked. "It's crucial to bring a good vibe with you, when you're about to do something important."

  Laura nodded. At the same time, she peered into the shadows suspiciously. The emotions of fear and weakness were new to her. She didn't like them.

  313

  When they came to the mausoleum of the Cordelais family, Mama Joe had Donovan wheel her around back. While the front held the name plaques of those entombed, the gated door was in the back.

  The mambo unlocked the gate and opened it wide like a mouth. The marble door was engraved with two beautiful columns entwined with ivy and lilies. The name Cordelais was engraved into the top beam and in the empyreal white space provided between the columns was an inscription that appeared as if floating. The words were simply this: Que tous ceux qui viennent ici le font avec leur cœur rempli d'amour (All those who come here do so with their hearts filled with love).

  Mama Joe unpacked her large bag and arranged the items on her lap. She handed a bottle of blood to Donovan, who dutifully leaned it on the ground beside the crypt.

  "For the ancestors?" asked Laura, confused.

  "No, for the hungry vampire we'll bring forth from the dark. Now do you still have the button?"

  Laura opened her hand and closed it again. "Yes, I have it."

  "Remember, Child, when the door appears, summon him. When he comes, challenge him. If it is truly David, then reach through and pull him to this side. Are you ready?"

  "I'm

  ready."

  Mama Joe splashed holy water on the door. "We ask God for an intervention to save a lost soul." Then she wheeled closer to the tomb. She drew three Xs on the marble with red chalk and knocked three times. "We ask the blessings of the ancestors interred here and from all the Cordelais' going back to the beginning." Then she read from 314

  Marchon's paper. "Midnight reveals the door." She nodded to Laura, who placed myrrh and mandrake against the door. Then Mama Joe unfolded a bit of imported Egyptian papyrus, on which she had painstakingly written David's name in hieroglyphics.

  Donovan placed the small firepot in front of the sealed door, and Laura placed the papyrus in it along with a dried lotus flower and set it alight.

  The mambo intoned:

  "Osiris, in your mercy we beseech

  A soul that's lost beyond our reach

  With gifts of myrrh and mandrake we implore

  You free that soul and open the door

  Between our worlds so all will be right

  We humbly beg bring that soul to our sight."

  Now Laura had to say the next part as the petitioner. She knelt.

  "Osiris, have mercy on a lover's cause

  Whose true love is trapped by Keres' claws

  With compassion's breath call this immortal

  And allow him passage through the portal

  That keeps the bloody demons at bay

  I beg Osiris to light David Hilliard's way."

  Then Laura stood up, holding the button. Donovan lit three candles that were placed on the roof of the tomb. Laura took a deep breath. This was the part that was ancient.

  315

  "O Horus of the two horizons, may the lost be renewed

  May you favor me with the beauty of your sight

  May the one who cometh forward from the netherworld

  Having been hidden from your glorious face

  Rejoice in the victory of your mercy in life."

  And this is where the passage was lost. With her eyes closed, Laura said:

  "O shining Horus, guardian of the dark,

  I place thee in my heart

  Illuminate

  the

  path,

  and make the lost one, renewed."

  Holding the button, Laura thrust her hand forward into the cold air. "David Hilliard, are you there?" she called.

  When she opened her eyes, the engraved portal was now a real doorway leading into a dark world. First the ugly, gray-white bat form of a Kere stood there, but then it changed into her beloved David. She pushed her hand through the portal, and he took it.

  "Laura, remember the challenge," reminded Mama Joe.

  Laura was shaking inside. She looked into his dark eyes.

  He smiled.

  "Are you David Hilliard?"

  He laughed softly then replied, "Yes, I am David Hilliard. I knew you wouldn't forget me, Laura."

  316

  "Oh, David." She was so eager to be in his arms. She pulled him toward her. He didn't move. "Why aren't you walking through?"

  "I can't," he said.

  She saw him try. Holding her one hand, he pushed against an invisible barrier that prevented him from following that hand. Somehow only the hand with the button could touch him.

  Laura wouldn't let go of him. "Mama Joe, what's wrong? Why can't he come through?"

  "I don't know, Child. We've done everything we can."

  Laura couldn't, wouldn't believe it. She pulled and pulled. Her father even grabbed her around her waist to help pull David across, but it didn't happen. The two lovers stood holding hands, but worlds separated them.

  "It doesn't matter, Laura. At least, I got to see you one last time. I'm so glad the unicorn's horn worked. You're going to have a great life."

  "Not without you," she cried.

  Donovan stepped back to give them more privacy.

  "David, don't give up. I'll find a way." She had barely uttered the words before he started fading into the dark. She held his hand tightly. "No, stay here. We're not done.

  We'll find a way."

  "I'm being pulled back."

  With his fingers slipping through hers, she cried out, "No," and leapt through the dark portal.

  "No!" screamed her father and Mama Joe in one breath.

  David was horrified to find his bride in his arms. "Why did you do this?"

  317

  "To be with you. I don't care what world we're in, as long as we're together."

  He was still in shock. "Laura, you can't be in this world. Terrible, horrible things happen to humans in this world."

  "Then make me a vampire."

  "You know I can't do that. The unicorn said if you were bitten again, that you would turn into ashes."

  "Maybe he was wrong. I didn't turn completely mortal. I have the hunger without any of the powers. And I can't hear you or feel you." She sobbed. "Or dream of you, even when all the vampires in New Orleans know of your suffering. I couldn't hear you call my name. I didn't know until Marchon told me. I was always coming back for you. I can't be without you. Now make me a vampire and not lost forever without you.

  I can't be without you, David." Tears streamed down her pale trembling face, which gazed imploringly into his.

  David hesitated.

  "What if the unicorn was right, then I will be killing you?"

  "Unicorns can be notorious liars," shouted Mama Joe from the other side.

  "She's right about that. Besides I didn't choose a mortal life. I chose you." Laura could see David's fear. She kissed him deeply, her tongue against his fangs. "Bite me, David, or I'll bite you."

  He chuckled at her obvious joke. It took him out of the terror of the moment.

  Laura looked him straight in the eyes, and he saw her great love for him and the courage of a magnificent vampiress. She was ready.

  "I swore I'd never bite you again, that I'd never bite any human again."

  318

  "Think of it as a gift you're giving me." Laura could see the portal fading, the images of her father and Mama Joe blurring. "Please, David, now."

  He held her tightly against him. "I love you," he said. Then gently moving the Telkhine robe off her neck, he placed his mouth against her. His fangs plunged into her.

  It was the most horrific
pain Laura had ever felt. She bit her tongue to stop screaming, tasting her own blood in her mouth. She embraced him harder, when she really wanted to push him away. Laura didn't want him to know how she felt in that moment. The agony turned her vision purple, and she closed her eyes. Her breath was on fire. She shook uncontrollably. Her toes went numb then her fingers. It was getting very, very cold. She couldn't feel the pain anymore. She couldn't hear anything except her heart, which beat slower and slower and slower.

  ***

  David would never want Laura to know how truly scared he was in that moment.

  One mistake and he would lose her forever. Her blood was so sweet it made him dizzy.

  But he had to stay focused. He had to listen for that last beat. There it was. He pulled his fangs out, bit his lip to add his blood then licked the wound to encourage healing.

  A light shimmered golden. David looked up from his dead wife in his arms. The portal was open, and he walked into the graveyard carrying Laura's body.

  Quickly Mama Joe locked the crypt's gate behind him.

  Donovan asked, "Is she dead?"

  David looked up into his father-in-law's worried face. "Yes, she is. But I hope within the next few hours, she will change."

  Then Mama Joe turned and handed David the bottle. "You must drink before you take another step?"

  319

  He would not surrender Laura, so Donovan held the bottle while David took a swig. Blood dribbled down his chin and splashed a little on Laura.

  "Don't worry." The mambo waved her hand. "We'll clean you up, when we get back. Come now. We must hurry. There's a bad smell in the air."

  She and Donovan led David back through the streets.

  They turned the corner onto Daulphine Street, only yards away from Mama Joe's house. Twenty or more vampires blocked their way.

  When they saw David, they were surprised. "You're David Hilliard!"

  David growled, holding Laura closer. "Is there a problem?"

  "No. Is Laura Cordelais dead?"

  "Get out of the way," he roared. David trembled inside. He felt cold like he did before Laura came into his life.

  The vampires disappeared into the dark. Donovan put a steadying hand on his arm and stayed close to him. The house was up ahead, and the girls were watching for them. As soon as they approached, the door opened to admit them and locked quickly behind them.

  "This way." Mama Joe led them to a pale blue bedroom in the back of the house.

  She pulled down the shades and drew the floral print curtains. David laid Laura's body on the bed. He sat down, holding her hand, and examining her face for any sign of a change.

  Donovan took a chair on the opposite side and watched. Mama Joe parked her chair, where she could observe everything. Two hours went by.

  Mama Joe whispered to Denise, and then the girl left.

  320

  "You can go stretch your legs and get some air," said Donovan to David. "We'll be right here."

  "Thank you, but I don't want her waking without me. I need to be here for her."

  "Is that how it was for you when you were made?" asked Mama Joe.

  David shook his head. "No. The vampire that made me left me for dead. I was a soldier in the New York 14th Infantry. A lot of us lay wounded and dying that day in Gettysburg, so many that they were still taking bodies off the field at night. When I saw a face look down at me, I thought I was saved. Instead he bit me.

  "When I woke again, it was daylight. My skin was burning, so I scrambled for shade. Weak from hunger and in pain, I hid out in a little patch of woods until dark.

  That's when I saw him. He was white like chalk. Rags hung on his emaciated body.

  Crouching over another soldier, he pulled him up and bit his neck, blood splattering everywhere.

  "I walked up to him and pulled on his arm. 'What did you do to me?' He threw me through the air into a tree. When I looked again he was gone.

  "I stole some clothes and buried my uniform. Even though I was hungry, I was reluctant to attack humans, not even the dead on the battlefield. I didn't want to become that creature. I fed on animals instead, hiding during the day, only traveling at night. But even the animals became scarce, as I worked my way slowly North to New York. Then one night I was attacked by two rebs unleashing the monster in me.

  Between my strength and blood thirst, they had no chance. For nearly a year, I destroyed anyone in my path. I lost count of the lives I took."

  "You were trying to survive. The hunger for many vamps is uncontrollable once released," offered the mambo.

  321

  "That's not an excuse for what I did."

  Mama Joe asked, "What changed you?"

  "I came across a civilized vampire, who took me under his wing. He taught me how to control the hunger, how to get past it and blend in again with humanity.

  Together we made it back to New York. His clan of vampires welcomed me. They gave me food, shelter, and protection, but all I could think about was seeing my family. I became desperate to see them. Even though I was advised against it, I could think of nothing else.

  "My father did not welcome me. He disowned me, calling me a deserter. My two older brothers had died honorably in battle. I didn't get to speak to my mother, who held my baby sister in her arms. I didn't get to say goodbye to my little brother Thomas.

  My father threw me out into the street, and in that moment I forever lost my family.

  "I had my new friends, the vampires of Manhattan. But even then I was alone in a bigger sense until I met Laura." David looked down at her stark white, silent face. His hand gently caressed her cheek, moving her long hair over to one side. "I need her to come back."

  Denise returned with a long blue dress. "Come now, gentlemen, out with you.

  We're going to change Laura, and see if we can get the blood out of her clothes. When we're done, you can come back."

  David and Donovan walked out into the hallway then the door shut. They leaned against the wall.

  "How did you escape from the Keres' prison?"

  322

  "They lost interest in torture after awhile and left me locked in a cell. When you began the ritual, I could hear Laura's voice. I used my new strength as a Kere to rip out the bars."

  "Whoa," Donovan exhaled. "How do you stop yourself from turning into a Kere and staying that way?"

  "I think about Laura."

  Donovan sighed. "Well, it's good to have you back."

  "Thanks," said David. "Uh, thank you for helping Laura."

  "She is my daughter."

  They had been through so much together there wasn't anything else to say.

  "Gentlemen," called Mama Joe. They walked back into the room. Laura was the same, only cleaned up and looking quite lovely in a flowing blue gown.

  Everyone took up their positions once more and waited.

  Eunice came in with a black bottle and two wineglasses, which she put on the table beside the bed, closest to David.

  "I figure you're going to need this when she wakes. How long does it usually take?" asked the mambo.

  "Usually less than twelve hours."

  Donovan asked, "What if she doesn't change in twelve?"

  "Then she's dead." The words came out sounding strange and hollow. David wished he hadn't said them. For the first time in his vampire life, he considered what he might do if she didn't return.

  Donovan nodded solemnly. He poured David a glass of blood and handed it to him. David sipped it all the while gazing down at his beloved's sleeping face.

  323

  They tried to wait with David, but as the night deepened one by one they left.

  First the girls went to play cards, then Mama Joe, and finally Donovan. Her father looked like he had aged years in a moment's time. His eyes would wander from David to Laura and mist up. Then Donovan would sniff. David knew how much he loved Laura, and how much Donovan regretted not being in her young life.

  Finally, looking almost as pale as a vampire,
Donovan said, "Call me if anything happens," and he got up and left.

  David could hear the intermittent chatter from the card game in the next room.

  Laura didn't move and showed no indication of changing. David took off his black coat and laid it across the chair in the corner beside Laura's.

  She looked almost alive and ready to dance in that gown. He lifted her hand to his lips. No sign of rigor mortis. David yawned and lay on the bed beside her. He kissed her pale cheek and then her lips. "Remember I love you, Laura," he whispered in her ear. Then he closed his eyes and after pulling her into his arms, he dreamed of a world of light.