Birth of a Dark Nation

by Rashid Darden

  I broke down into sobs.

  "I told you this would happen!" he shouted. "He was to be protected at all costs."

  "I know Baba…"

  "I suppose he wasn't The Key after all. Damn."

  "But…"

  "Contact Horton's on Kennedy Street to make the arrangements. Tell Cissy and Steve. Have them notify his parents."

  "Babarinde…he's not dead."

  "What?"

  "He survived."

  "How?"

  "I picked him up and I ran back home with him. We gave him our blood."

  "And it's working?"

  "So far."

  Babarinde remained silent on the other line.

  "Baba, are you there?"

  "Is he awake?"

  "No."

  "Continue the transfusions as long as you need to. This time might be different."

  "Okay," I sniffed.

  "Dante. Everything is going to be okay."

  Babarinde clicked off the phone and I stood still in the dark hallway. Everything would have to be okay because I couldn't imagine a life without Justin.

  Changing

  By the next workday, Justin was still in a coma. As a board member for Magdalene House, I had some decisions to make and Victor wasn't remotely interested in dealing with them.

  "Your man, your decision, your consequences," he said as he went off to rehearse with his band on Sunday afternoon. I sat in constant vigil at Justin's bedside, waiting for him to wake up.

  I decided to tell Steve and Cissy that Justin had taken ill and that he'd be out indefinitely.

  "What do you mean 'indefinitely'?" Cissy asked. "What happened to him?"

  "I'm afraid I can't say," I told them.

  "I mean, is he sick or was there an accident?" Steve asked.

  "It's nothing like that," I said.

  "Is he in jail?" Cissy asked.

  "Lord Jesus, he got locked up!" Steve exclaimed.

  "Listen!" I shouted, my patience growing thin. Startled, Steve and Cissy looked me in the eyes.

  "Justin has the flu," I said quietly, hypnotizing them into submission. They nodded.

  "He will be back soon. Just needs a little while to recover. Do you understand?"

  "Yes," they replied in unison.

  "You will both be in charge until he comes back. The Foundation trusts you. Do you understand?"

  "Yes," they replied.

  "You will not ask me about Justin anymore. If anyone else asks you about Justin, what will you tell them?"

  "He has the flu," Cissy said.

  "He'll be back soon," Steve said.

  "Good. Now get back to work…please."

  Steve and Cissy quietly left the foyer of the building. I had really hoped not to have to hypnotize Justin's friends, but humans didn't often accept just anyone's words on face value. At least now I wouldn't have to worry about them worrying.

  I returned to the house and sat by Justin's bedside for the remainder of the day. At around seven in the evening, Justin finally stirred. He moved his head slightly to the left, then the right. Victor entered the room silently, having heard Justin's rustling.

  "Justin?" I called out to him in a firm voice and held his hands. "Justin, are you awake?"

  "Where am I?" he asked.

  "You're at my house. I'm here. Victor's nearby."

  "Why can't I see?"

  "We covered your eyes. The light will hurt."

  "Take this shit offa me." He let go of my hand and then tried to take the scarf off that we had used as a blindfold.

  "Justin, don't."

  He removed the scarf and tried to open his eyes.

  "Oh God! Oh God, it hurts!"

  I took the scarf out of his hands and covered his eyes once more. I made the knot tight behind his head so it wouldn't slide off.

  "I told you not to take it off."

  "What happened?" he asked.

  "You were attacked."

  "By a vampire?" he said, slowly reaching up to touch his neck.

  "Yes. A nightwalker."

  "Oh God."

  "I got you back here quickly."

  "Am I going to turn into a vampire?"

  "What? No!"

  "That's how it goes, doesn't it? You get attacked by a vampire and survive, you become a vampire. Right?"

  I stroked his face.

  "There's only one thing we call a vampire survivor: lucky."

  He dozed back to sleep. Victor disappeared.

  Twenty minutes later, Justin inhaled sharply, waking himself up.

  "Dante?" he called.

  "Yes, I'm here."

  "How did you fix me? The truth."

  "I carried you back here. I started an IV with Razadi blood. And I put some in your mouth in the hopes that you'd drink it." Victor reappeared in the room and stood silently in the corner.

  "Did I?"

  "Yes, I'm pretty sure you did."

  "Will it change me?"

  "Yes. It will change you."

  He looked away from me and began to sob. I touched his face and he recoiled.

  "We had to do it. There was no other way to save you from the attack. Listen, before you know it, the wounds in your neck will heal. Your strength will come back, in time. I promise you."

  "How could you do this to me? I don't want to be a vampire."

  "You won't be a vampire. You will be greater than a vampire."

  "Leave me alone."

  "Listen, you ungrateful son of a bitch," Victor said. "If it wasn't for Dante, you would be dead by the side of the road. It doesn't give me great pleasure to know that my blood runs through you now, but it does. Like it or not, you're going to be one of us. That, Son of Adam, is the greatest gift a Razadi can give a human. Now, be thankful that my brotherhood has chosen you, because it could have easily gone the other way."

  "But I didn't choose you…" he mumbled before he fell asleep.

  I left his side. Victor followed me into the hallway.

  "He's just confused," I said. "He doesn't understand how serious this was."

  "I don't give a fuck," Victor said. "He's yours."

  "He's ours."

  "So says Babarinde," Victor retorted.

  I was disappointed in Victor for being so cold and callous about everything, but my heart ached more for Justin. I knew this transformation would be long and painful, but I also knew he could do it. He, more than any human I had ever known, deserved to be more than what he was before.

  I went outside into the garden and picked a basket full of vegetables: onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, red peppers, kale, and chickpeas. I also picked handfuls of the herbs that had no names.

  ~

  "Wake up," I said. "It's time to eat."

  Justin stirred and sat up in silence. I put the tray down on the bed and carefully picked up the bowl.

  "You ready?" I asked. He nodded and opened his mouth as I spooned the soup in.

  He was still angry and sad. He ate in silence until the bowl was empty.

  "I need my phone."

  "Why?"

  "What do you mean 'why?' Am I under arrest?"

  "No, it's just…"

  "Then give me my fucking phone."

  I produced his phone from my pocket and put it in his hand.

  He fumbled with it for a few seconds. Being blindfolded, there wasn't much he could do with a touch-screen keypad.

  "Who do you want to call?" I asked.

  "My mom."

  I opened the contacts on his phone and scrolled down to his mom. I pressed the green call button and put the phone back in his hand.

  "Hi…mom?" he asked. "Hey. Nothing. I just got a little sick. Oh, I dunno. Caught the flu or something. I'll be off work for a few days. No, I'm okay. Seriously, I'm fine. Yeah, I slept through Sunday. Hope you didn't worry."

  He put his head down and listened to his mother in silence.

  "She did? Well, tell her I said thank you. Yeah, her daughter can send me her resume whenever. We could use help du
ring her winter break for sure. Well mom, I gotta go. I think I want to take a nap. Of course. Tell dad I love him. And I love you, too. Thanks, mom. Bye."

  He held the phone out for me to take back. I grabbed it and our fingers touched. He pulled back immediately.

  "Everything okay at home?" I asked.

  He nodded and lay back down on the bed, turning away from me. I picked up the tray and hurried out of the room, turning the light out as I went. In the shadows, I could see him shake in silent sobs.

  ~

  Early one morning, a few days later, he began to moan.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  "My mouth hurts really bad," he said.

  "That's a good sign," I said. "It won't be long now."

  "What won't be long? Ouch, good God, Dante!"

  Justin covered his mouth. I could see he was fiddling around with his teeth by using his tongue to push on them.

  "Push 'em, that's right," I said. "Push them on out."

  After a few minutes, he was ready.

  "Tissue," he said. I got a napkin from his dresser and put it under his mouth.

  "You ready? Push 'em out," I instructed. I saw his tongue move one last time on the right, and I heard the faintest of pops, like a knuckle cracking. One more time on the left. He spit out his two old canine teeth into my napkin.

  "Good, Justin. You got it."

  "What the fuck just happened?"

  "Your fangs are coming in. Your old canines were loose. The new ones will be in soon. Then you can eat and protect yourself."

  "Jesus," Justin said, lying back down. "When do I get to take the blindfold off? Are my corneas gonna pop out too?"

  I laughed.

  "Your corneas will not pop out. In a day or so, your vision will be better than ever. Trust me."

  He turned away from me in silence and I left him alone once again.

  ~

  "I think this process is…going better than it did in Louisiana," I said to Victor a few days after that. We sat at the kitchen table finishing up bowls of rolled oats with blackberries on top.

  "LaPlace was a fucking nightmare," Victor sniped.

  "Yes, I know…but this time…"

  "His eyes should be mature now," Victor interrupted, abruptly throwing his spoon into his empty bowl with a clang.

  "I agree. Let's do this."

  Victor and I entered the room. Justin was sleeping on his side.

  "Wake up, babe," I said, lightly shaking him.

  "Babe?" Victor scoffed. "Why don't you just make him your ipsaji?"

  "Must you trivialize everything? And what if he is my ipsaji, then what? Hmm? You'd have to finally respect him? Heaven forbid."

  "What's ipsaji?" Justin asked, as he stirred awake.

  "Never mind that," I said. "It's nothing. Are you ready to see again?"

  "Yes," Justin said.

  "Well, take the damn blindfold off," Victor said.

  Justin reached around, untied the scarf, and peeled it off. He blinked several times.

  "Damn," he said.

  "How's your vision?" I asked.

  "It's…perfect."

  "As it should be."

  "No, like for real. It's perfect." He blinked several more times and wiped his eyes. "I can see every detail about this room. It's…it's colorful. Like really colorful."

  I smiled. He looked down at his hands.

  "Oh gross! My hands are so…wrinkly! How the hell did that happen?!"

  "Justin…your hands always looked that way."

  "What?! It's like…these folds on my knuckles are fucking humongous. And look at all these triangles! Like…how the hell? This is crazy!"

  "I'm telling you, that's just how hands look! You have crazy good vision right now."

  "Holy shit. That's crazy. Can we go outside?"

  "Sure. Let's visit the garden." I reached out for Justin's hand and he took mine. He moved slowly because he was still weak from the attack, but I was happy that he was confident enough to test out his newly reborn eyes.

  "This is the first time you've smiled," I noted, as we walked down the stairs. His eyes were wide as he inspected every crack in the wall.

  "I haven't had a reason to," he said.

  "You're alive," I rebutted.

  "Whatever."

  We exited the house through the kitchen door. The sun was setting and some shadows had already cast themselves over the back yard and the alley, but some deep golden rays still slashed their way across the garden.

  "Oh my God. This is beautiful."

  Justin let go of my hand and walked down the rusty iron stairs to the backyard. He slowly walked through the arbor trellis that served as the entrance to the garden, lightly holding onto it for steadiness. He surveyed the small plot of land intently, taking in each portion a square foot at a time.

  He slowly knelt to the ground. Soon, he was on his hands and knees, surveying the vegetation in the garden with the intensity of a prospector looking for gold.

  He cupped his hand and dug it into the soil. He lifted it up into the sunlight and let the dirt slowly fall back into the ground. His human eyes would just have seen dirt. His Razadi eyes saw hundreds of shades of brown and black with crystalline specks of minerals thrown in.

  "This blessed plot," I quoted. "This earth…this realm."

  "What?" he said.

  "Shakespeare," I replied. He nodded.

  "I'm glad you can see," I said. His finger traced a path in the soil.

  "So am I," he said. I placed my hand on his shoulder. He recoiled slightly and looked up at me. I could see his pupils contract to pinpoints, then dilate again. He relaxed and leaned his head against my thigh. I exhaled.

  ~

  A few nights later, he moaned. Again.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, as I entered the room. Luckily, Victor was out for the evening. Catering to Justin was not in his repertoire.

  "My stomach is cramping. I'm really, really hungry."

  "Do you want some more soup?"

  "It's not filling me."

  "I'm sorry."

  "What am I supposed to do?" he asked me pitifully.

  "Ultimately? You're going to have to get some blood."

  "I know. It's like I can tell that's what my body's craving. Ever since…ever since I got attacked and woke up here…like…you know how you crave Chipotle all week and you might have like nine meals to get through before you actually go down and get your Chipotle? Well that's how I've been feeling, even though I know it's blood that I want."

  "You sound sad."

  "I am. I guess y'all are gonna have to take me down to the sorority house soon."

  "No. I won't let your first time be with some random chick."

  "What difference does it make?"

  "It makes a difference. I'm yours. I should be your first blood."

  I bared my fangs and sliced a thin line along my wrist. Justin sat up eagerly. I placed my wrist against his lips. He held it in place with both hands and drank the blood seeping out of my vein.

  When it's done right, getting your blood sucked feels better than a blowjob.

  "It's not going to fill you," I whispered. "But it will keep you healthy until you get some human blood."

  Justin quietly continued sucking.

  "Okay, that's it for now." I removed my wrist from his mouth, even though neither of us wanted me to. My blood would rejuvenate in short order, but a pint was about all I felt like risking right now. The last thing I wanted was to be too weak to defend him if something happened.

  "When your fangs finish coming in, I'll teach you how to bite properly."

  He nodded.

  ~

  A few nights later, I heard Justin calling my name. I went to the door and he beckoned me toward the bed.

  "Get in."

  I froze.

  "You not kicking me out tonight?"

  "Please. Just get in bed with me. Please."

  I shut the door and walked over to the bed. He was finally getting some
color back into his skin. Once he got some sunshine and made his first kill, he'd be better than he ever was before.

  He reached over and turned the light out on the nightstand. I took my shoes and my jeans off.

  "Basketball shorts?" Justin asked. "Hot as it is outside, your nuts must be musty as hell right now."

  I smiled.

  "You like my authentic African musk, though."

  "Gross."

  I slid underneath the thin blanket next to him as he lay on his back. I took his hand in mine. He turned on his side and faced me.

  "Dante."

  "Yes?"

  "Thank you for saving my life."

  I inhaled and slowly exhaled.

  "You're welcome."

  He leaned in and kissed me on the forehead.

  "So as it turns out, I become somewhat of a bitch when I bounce back from almost being murdered. I understand now that the only alternative to be being turned into a daywalker was my death. And let's face it: I'm not ready to die."

  "I'm not ready for you to die, either."

  "All my life, I've just been floating. I never felt like I made a mark anywhere. Never thought I had it in me to be important or make a difference. But surviving that attack…undergoing this transformation…I can see better. I can smell better. I can hear better. And it's like…the entire world just came out from behind a curtain. I feel the pulse of the world now. What was I doing all these years?"

  "It doesn't matter what you were doing before. All these things happen for a reason. Your purpose was written before all this. Your destiny is already determined."

  "Proof beyond faith."

  "Proof beyond faith. You better believe it."

  He nodded.

  "I'm hungry," he said.

  "I'm horny."

  "I think we can work out a compromise," he said. We kissed and I bared my fangs.

  The Lessons

  The next day, Victor stormed into the room with the grace of a rabid elephant.

  "Your lessons begin today," he said to Justin abruptly.

  "Don't you think it's too soon?" I asked.

  "No. He has our blood now. If he's going to get attacked like a Razadi, then he needs to fight back like a Razadi. And it starts with the lessons."

  Justin was awake but gave Victor no acknowledgement as he tapped away on his laptop, trying to telework.

  "Are you ready?" Victor asked.

  "I'm working," Justin said curtly.

  "Oh, excuse me," Victor said, as he began to turn away. Suddenly, he turned back toward Justin, snatched the laptop from the bed, and threw it to the ground. It made hideous crunching sounds as it hit the floor and went black.