by Aiden James
“Very well,” said Gustav. “We shall give him a little more time. For now, Txema can see him…but Alaia stays here.”
I almost said something to the effect this was my decision to make, but the look he shot me stopped those words before they ever made it out of my throat.
“Come, Txema,” said Chanson, who had crossed the reception area in what seemed like a carefully timed approach to coincide with Gustav’s verdict on how this would be handled. Dressed in a gorgeous plum sarong, tightly wrapped around her svelte body, her graceful steps would inflame any man’s pulse. For a moment, I was pulled back to her successful foreplay with Peter the night Alaia was conceived, and I fought to delete it from my mind. “Let me be the one to go with you. If a crowd will incite Peter to violence, then we must avoid making him feel so threatened.”
I nodded ‘yes’ while a mixture of fear and excitement continued to fill my entire being.
“There will be two vampires in attendance with you tonight, Txema,” said Gustav. “Chanson is more than capable of protecting you in most cases, but as long as Peter remains violently predisposed, then I will insist that more than one companion accompanies you.”
“Let me be the other one,” said Garvan. “After all, he recognizes me the most.”
He motioned to Armando and Franz to hold their protests, while nearly everyone looked toward him with surprised looks. Only Kazikli nodded for him to go on when Raquel openly questioned why Garvan thought of himself so highly in this regard.
“Because, I’ve seen his pain up close when he pulled it back inside his soul. That happened before anyone else in our group had seen him,” he told her, and then defiantly gazed around the room at his audience. “Therefore, it should be me…I’m the vampire who found Peter. Let me help try to save him!”
***
To conserve Garvan’s weakened body, instead of flying by vampiric means, Chanson and I walked with him along the beach until we reached the small cave system where Peter was detained. The main entrance was supposedly often filled with water from the tide. But, when we arrived that evening, the tide had retreated. I was able to enter the cave without the worry of being pushed or pulled into the sharp rocks that Mohini had worried about. Of course, my companions were impervious either way.
Chanson and Garvan allowed me to use a flashlight that Racco had retrieved from his plane, to light my path. After moving through two small caverns, we reached the cave that housed Peter.
“Do not let his bonds or physical condition alarm you,” advised Garvan, right before he led the way inside. “As long as he is a menace to others and himself, we have no choice but to use full restraints. Peter might even try to get you to release him or come physically close to him. I can’t allow that to happen, for your safety, of course. But you will be able to converse with him from a safe distance. Am I clear, Txema?”
“Yes,” I said, finding it hard to control my nervous excitement. “I’m ready to see him.”
Garvan looked to Chanson, and after they deftly nodded to each other, Garvan led the way in. At first, I only saw a barren room with glistening walls from a tiny spring that seeped into the cave system from somewhere above us. But then I detected a form…a man dressed in clothes that were far more tattered and filthy than what Garvan wore. I gasped once I recognized them as the remnant of the same suit Peter had worn when I met him at the Cascades restaurant four weeks earlier.
His head hung low, but he raised it slightly as he turned it toward me. The handsomeness was still there, although badly soiled from dirt and what looked like dried blood. His brown eye in profile regarded me suspiciously in its luminance, almost gold around the edges. The exposed skin on his face and left arm and hand were bluish in their paleness.
The love of my life is now a vampire!
“Peter, it’s me…Txema,” I said gently, taking a step toward him. I could almost feel my guardians flinch, ready to strike him if he turned savage.
“Ch-ch…cheema?” he asked tentatively. “G-garvan said he c-could find you for me…I-I…wh-where am…umm…where is h-here?”
His shoulders and head shook for a moment. For the first time, I saw a fang—nubile like Tyreen’s—as he grimaced and growled from some kind of seizure. It broke my heart seeing him like this…so incoherent and in obvious confused pain. I wanted so badly to run to him and throw my arms around him, but knew instinctively I’d likely be dead in a matter of seconds if I did that.
“Peter, we’re going to help you…Kazikli is going to treat your illness and make you whole again,” I said, picturing in my mind what a healed vampire version of Peter would be like, while knowing as such he would never be whole again. At least not in human terms.
As he listened, he stopped shaking as much, and seemed more cognizant of my presence, as well as Chanson and Garvan. But, his grimaced anger soon turned to tears, and torrent streaks of red streamed down his face.
“Wh-whole again?” he lamented, still regarding me from a profile view. “If t-that’s a joke, it’s c-cruel of y-you! I can n-ne-never be wh-whole again! N-not after wh-what they t-took from m-me-mee!”
He had started to rise to his feet, but slumped down to his knees in agony. Smoke rose from where the rusted metal chains that held his arms and legs touched his exposed skin. I desperately wanted to rush to his side against my better judgment, but could not, as Chanson held a firm hand upon my shoulder.
“Don’t try to engage him physically!” warned Chanson. “You’ll only aggravate his pain that will steadily grow worse as the mercury invades his skin.
“Those chains are coated in mercury?”
I felt immediate horror at the realization of what this cave must be used for. The thick bolts used to attach the chains to the floor and walls of this cave room confirmed it was part of an ancient dungeon of some sort. Meanwhile, Racco’s words about the effects of mercury on vampires resonated in my head.
“Yes…they are,” she told me, wearing a quizzical look on her face. The look faded a moment later, as she nodded her understanding of my thoughts. “It’s a minute amount—enough to ensure the prisoner’s cooperation. But, the mercury can be quite painful for a young vampire.”
“Did Ga-garvan tell you wh-what they d-did to m-me?”
At first I was confused, wondering what Garvan and the others might’ve done to Peter beyond this torture, and hoping to God I wouldn’t soon hate them.
“R-ralu…h-he killed m-my mom and dad, and I c-could do n-nothing!” he cried. “H-he…th-they tore them apart and m-made them s-su-suffer…. M-m-mom begged them to st-stop-p-p—I b-begged, but th-they laughed and ki-killed th-them-m-m…. Th-they took Sa-sara and ripped-d-d her cl-clothes off. H-he r-ra-raped her and t-tore her head off when he was d-do-done!”
I didn’t know what to say. I was too horrified to speak, and when I looked over at Chanson, she wore a similar expression to what I felt inside.
“See what I mean?” said Garvan. “He’s been severely traumatized, and I don’t see what we can do to fix this. Ralu was the one who attacked him after he murdered his family and fiancé, and it is Ralu’s blood that lives within him.
“Y-yes…h-he will c-come for m-me-e-e!”
“What?” said Garvan, perhaps unaware of the disdain in his tone toward Peter. “What are you talking about now?”
“He read my thoughts,” said Chanson, worriedly. “I was thinking ‘Thank God that Ralu can’t find him here’. How does a vampire read another vampire’s thoughts?”
“Gustav can do it,” said Garvan. “He keeps it to himself and never talks about it anymore….”
His voice trailed off. However, he didn’t have to spell out the next deduction in line for either of us. I tried to think of any vampire I knew of who could read another vampire’s thoughts. Gustav had turned Chanson, but I had no knowledge that she could read the thoughts of any other vampire, including her maker.
“I can’t do it—truthfully, I can’t!” she said, obviously reading my thoughts.
“It’s be-because he fed m-me-e-e his blood tw-twice!!” shouted Peter, who stood up as straight as his gnarled body would allow. He howled in a rage while turning his body toward us fully. I felt ashamed of my reaction, but I couldn’t help it. I shrunk away from him. “H-he told me-e-e that I would-d-d be his eyes-s-s and e-ears to f-fi-find Ch-e-e-m-meh! An-d-d here y-you ar-r-re!!”
I collapsed to my knees while I broke down in tears. Chanson and Garvan moved to comfort me, telling me to look away from the wretched vampire engulfed in smoke from burning flesh while trying to escape his bonds—a hideous vampire who used to be a vibrant and gorgeous man.
But Peter was no longer remotely close to that comeliness, as the half of his face and body that were hidden from me until that moment were entirely Chupacabra. Half of his scalp had rotted away, leaving just fragments of a once regal hairline, and the right side of his face and body were covered with the same sores I saw upon Ralu when he visited me by dream in Nepal. Even his teeth were an uneven jigsaw along that side.
I knew in my heart that the man I once loved more than any other was still locked somewhere inside this misshapen beast of a vampire. Even so, my heart sank at the realization that where Peter was trapped was likely beyond where anyone could reach him. At least he was for now, and perhaps forever.
But if what Peter said was true, and he unwittingly became the spy and servant of Ralu, then we were all in terrible trouble. It meant that Ralu could hear us. Ralu could see us, too.
It was now only a matter of time before he arrived in the Maldives to stake his claim. For Peter Worley? Maybe…but most certainly for Alaia and me.
Chapter 21
Ralu’s attack didn’t happen on the night when everyone expected it.
It happened the very next night.
We were ready on June 13th, and I assumed such a fiend would like the obvious connection to an occult number, even though it landed on a Wednesday instead of the Friday so often associated with calamity and miserable luck.
The vampires residing on Racco’s tiny island didn’t feel it had anything to do with human superstitions. After all, since Ralu was only two years younger than Gustav, his birth preceded this particular superstition by three thousand years. What they based their expectation of attack upon was the speed with which Ralu could move his army—believed to be back in Europe after ransacking Nashville and Charleston.
“He will attack sometime tonight!” Gustav announced to the nearly five hundred vampires gathered outside the palace at dusk that Wednesday evening. “We know Ralu is drawn to the boy…to his own blood that has polluted the veins, arteries, and heart of Peter Worley. Despite the advice from some of you, it will do us no good to execute the young man. Ralu will still find us, because he already knows which island out of nearly twelve hundred holds our blood hosts.”
He waited for the rumble of disconcerted voices to move through the throng and then grow quiet again. The anger and malicious words about Peter, me, and our baby girl were heartrending, and it took Chanson’s and Tyreen’s comfort to make me realize that the dissentious vampires would have to kill them and the rest of my guardians first before anyone could lay a fang or talon upon us.
“Silence!” shouted Gustav, when he had heard enough of their protests and discontent. “Do you all wish to become like Ralu? Hmmm?? If so, leave our circle now, and know that in the coming confrontation, no mercy will be shown to any of you. The mindless beasts that only recently have gained enough intelligence to move through towns and the smaller cities without Ralu’s constant guidance will be no match for us. You will die side-by-side with them…but only if you betray our cause. For the rest of us—the true warriors—we must defend the innocent Alaia and her mother, Txema. That means we fight to the death, if the fates decree our end time is finally here! Our continued prosperity as a vampire race depends upon it!!”
Immediately, a much louder roar of support filled the air, joined by our Maldives hosts, Xuanxang, and one hundred and twenty other vampires from around the world who heeded Gustav’s summons the evening before, shortly after Peter’s arrival on the island. Of course, my guardians were among the loudest, screaming their support spiritedly toward anyone who didn’t share their enthusiasm for my daughter’s and my safety and long-term survival.
That euphoria amongst Alaia’s and my supporters lasted all through the night. It didn’t wane until it was time for everyone but Koimala and his shape shifters to retire. Racco stayed with Alaia and I, despite occasional verbal digs from Armando and brooding scowls from Garvan. I had not had a chance to sit down with either Garvan or Armando to bring them up to date on where things stood between Racco and me. Unfortunately, the eve of a potential vampire war seemed quite inappropriate to broach the subject. I hoped it would happen soon, and that a lasting peace could be forged among all the immortals in my life.
But we never saw or heard from any of Ralu’s warriors.
Unfortunately, the beginnings of complacency were all that was necessary for Ralu to gain a solid foothold on the island soon after sunset arrived, Thursday, June 14th.
I was among those who didn’t expect an immediate attack right at dusk, and foolishly, chose to take a quick shower as the setting sun dipped into the western horizon. Several vampire patrols from Europe surrounded the palace, taking turns to watch over every point of access. Since my room was basically exposed to the outside world on three sides, Gustav made sure a patrol of a dozen vampires hovered along my room’s railings.
One might think that bathing in full nakedness while my security detail kept their backs to me still wouldn’t be private enough, but by then I had gotten used to taking showers in the open. That day had been particularly hot and humid, and I just couldn’t get rid of the stickiness. I hoped a quick shower would take care of the problem, waiting for the heat to dissipate once the sun went down.
I took a moment to change Alaia’s clothes and cool her down since she seemed to be uncomfortable in the heat, as well. I kept her bassinet close to the shower where I could keep an eye on her, and she babbled happily while she watched me bathe.
As I rinsed the conditioner from my hair, my vision was blurred by water for only a few seconds. But it was enough. When I opened my eyes, Alaia was gone!
Even as I write this, I remember exactly when she was taken. Her almost non-stop chatter ceased in an instant, and less than two seconds later when I peered through my dripping hair, her bassinet lay empty.
“Alaia?” I called out shrilly, praying that maybe her advanced development kicked in further, and she had somehow crawled out of her bassinet. “Alaia?? Where are you??!!”
I had barely wrapped a towel around me, and several of the vampires surrounding my room had already invaded my living space. Obviously, they had either read the fear in my voice or heard the alarmed thoughts racing through my head. One of them—a female that Raquel seemed to know well—spoke rapidly in French into a small radio attached to her wrist. The others beat me to the urgent task of checking under the bed, as well as other small areas Alaia might fit into. When they all stood again, wearing panicked expressions, I knew she was gone.
“Alaia!!” I screamed. “Oh my God—somebody took my baby!!!”
Garvan and Chanson burst into my room, with everyone else soon following them.
“Where’d you last see her?” Garvan swiftly retraced the very same steps the security patrol had done, moving twice to the bassinet as if expecting her to magically reappear.
“Right there—in the bassinet!” I shouted, while pointing at it and feeling my legs begin to give out. “She was right there just a couple of minutes ago, and now she’s fucking gone!!”
The slight blush on Chanson’s cheeks, from what I assumed was a blood cocktail at dusk to tide her over until she and the others could feed, rapidly drained away. Her complexion starkly ashen, she was as worried as me. But unlike me in my human vulnerability, Chanson could still think clearly…logically.
“We’re losing
time, Txema,” she said, her normally smooth tone on edge. “Drop your towel and let us dress you, so we can immediately begin our search for Alaia!”
She said this with authoritative force. Despite my modesty with Garvan standing nearby, this wasn’t the time for vanity. I dropped the towel and closed my eyes. What felt like hundreds of hands fully dressed me in a matter of ten seconds, from my underwear out to the Guess jeans and top I had set aside to wear again for the second straight night. By the time I was dressed, Racco, Kazikli, and Gustav had arrived from downstairs. They all looked worried.
“You didn’t see whom it was that took her?” said Gustav, while Racco moved to take me in his arms. I was far too upset to be comforted at the moment, but didn’t entirely push him away.
“No…but it had to be a vampire, because I only took my eye off her for a moment,” I said. “Ralu must’ve taken her, or maybe somebody working for him?”
I had no idea what any of them thought, but it seemed logical that a traitor might be involved somehow. After all, there were plenty of European vampires that looked upon my daughter and I disparagingly. Not to mention the group of more than one hundred vampires that arrived from all over the world the previous evening. Perhaps one of them carried a secret alliance with Ralu.
“I doubt it is Ralu himself, as I don’t feel his immediate presence, although he could be on the island somewhere,” said Gustav. “Kazikli, gather everyone downstairs. Chanson, you and Raquel should look for Alaia now. Garvan, I’m charging you with Txema’s protection. Let’s go.”
“I can protect Txema as readily as Garvan can,” said Racco, moving to block Garvan from standing by my side.
“No!” Gustav responded sternly. “She needs someone who can move her immediately out of harm’s way, should she be attacked. Last I checked, old friend, your alchemy can’t match the skills of someone like Garvan, who can fly to a height of a thousand feet in a matter of seconds.”