Invierea

by Bruce T. Jones

  “Of course he’s alive,” Chuck called out from across the room. “The asshole broke my arm, if anyone cares,” he added, in dramatic tones. “But what the hell are you doing alive, Sam?”

  Chuck’s words hit me like a bucket of ice water. I gasped for air. Sam looked down, grabbed the stake and pulled firmly. I arched my back in agony, as she withdrew it from my ribs. Apparently, as Chuck began to swing the mallet, the collision of our arms redirected the razor sharp spear through my ribs and into my lung—missing my heart.

  Blood pooled on my chest and Sam placed her hand over the wound. I was speechless. The woman was dead in my arms one night ago. And there was nothing I could do to save her. Now, here she was saving me. I gritted my teeth in pain, but allowed her name to pass my clenched teeth. “Sam?”

  “Don’t talk,” she instructed me. “Help me,” she cried out, not knowing if my wound was fatal.

  Gabrielle jumped in to assist, pulling Sam’s hand away and studied the injury.

  “No,” she began. After further examining the wound, her signature impish smile returned. “This will not kill him.” She placed Sam’s hand over the wound. “Keep the pressure firm.”

  Sam’s face instantly shone with relief.

  “I hope you know I would not do this for just anyone.” With her fangs, Gabrielle lanced her wrist and brought it to my mouth.

  Sam smiled coyly, realizing I was not only dazed from the injury, but bewildered by her presence. “It was Angelique,” she said. “Angelique brought me back.”

  With a mouth full of blood and a hole in my chest, the best I could do was to silently ask, “How.”

  Her smile dissipated, instantly replaced by a hint of shame. “You were right to believe I was dead. I was, for a time. You were gone, when Angelique came to me. She resurrected me … for you.”

  I labored to speak as the hole in my chest had yet to seal. “And she made you a vampire?” My tone, what little I could manage, was unjustifiably cold.

  “No Nick, she only saved my spirit. You were the one who consumed my blood. But I was dead and unable to receive yours. When Angelique brought life back to me, it was your blood that filled my mouth and coursed my veins. As if I wasn’t already bound to you, I am more than ever now.”

  Her words penetrated my confusion. Samantha was a vampire. The overwhelming urge I fought so hard to resist now existed in flesh and blood. Rather ironic, my desire to keep her human led to her death, and my desire for her not to become a vampire was what saved her. My eyes searched hers. The depth of her chestnut eyes, vibrant … and yearning.

  In the instant I searched for the truth, Sam sensed my conflict.

  Bewildered by her newfound skills, I searched her eyes for answers.

  “Angelique has taught me … a few things.” Telepathically, she experienced my confounded reservations. Pulling her hand away from my chest and Gabrielle’s from my mouth, she moved her lips close to mine. “Kiss me, Nick.”

  This was not a request. Her thoughts proved to be stronger than the words my ears perceived. She reached around my neck and pulled me up with a strength that she had never possessed. I was in no position to offer any resistance. Our lips met, and all of the sensations of two years of bliss unfolded within my body simultaneously. It was Sam! All doubt and confusion dissipated within an immeasurable instant. And she knew it.

  “Oh geez,” Phillip moaned. “Get a room.”

  My heart pounded like an earthquake. Breaking off the kiss, I gasped for air, still reeling from my injury. Sam peeled back, her expression forecasting concern for the severity of my wound.

  “We need to get out of here, now,” she suggested, quietly.

  Feeling the breath of her words on my ear, unsuccessfully I tried to spring to my feet. Though it had substantially slowed, blood continued to trickle down my chest. In a swooping motion, Sam effortlessly lifted me off the floor.

  “Whoa,” Phillip exclaimed, amazed at her ease of effort.

  “There is no way you get to carry me out of here,” I whispered. “I can walk.” As my feet hit the floor my body nearly collapsed had it not been for Sam’s vastly improved reflexes. “Okay, let’s get out of here,” I said weakly as Sam propped me up.

  “Wait just one damn minute, Nicholas Tepes,” Dee announced loudly. Begrudgingly, I stopped in my tracks, and turned around. “Nobody is going anywhere! Yet. Somebody is going to explain to me exactly what in the hell is going on. Right now!” Dee’s voice quivered.

  Chuck approached Phillip, Dee, and Gabrielle, holding his wrist. “Nicholas Tepes? I don’t know any Nicholas Tepes, but Brian there,” he said pointing at me, “just broke my arm.” He waited while everyone looked in my direction. “I was about to put that stake through his heart, until you showed up.”

  Gabrielle suddenly recognized Chuck from New Orleans. I had never sensed any sort of aggression from her, until now. A swooning rage was about to explode all over Chuck.

  “Gabby, it is alright. I asked him to come. He has only ever done what I asked of him.”

  “Why?” Nearly growling, her body posturing for an attack.

  As Chuck studied Gabrielle’s face, his eyes lit up. It had only been two years, but suddenly the memory of her face appeared in that dirty, damp crypt. It was Gabrielle and Celine who had pursued Chuck and Jimmy through the French Quarter. The haunting terror, a fear that had yet to dissipate, suddenly illuminated his eyes.

  Gabrielle searched his thoughts and uncovered his fear. “Yes, you do remember me,” she proclaimed as she stared into his eyes. Feeling her absolute power Chuck looked away.

  “Brian wanted to die,” he announced while staring down. “He told me he’d rather spend his life in hell than an eternity on earth without Sammy. I tried my best to talk him out of it, but he insisted.”

  Sam looked at me, hers eyes glistening with love. “I understand.” she said softly. At once, she understood my undying commitment and love for her. She understood why I had wanted her to remain mortal. She understood that without her I could not exist. She understood a depth of unending love she never knew existed.

  “Why don’t we all go home, and get some rest,” I suggested. “We can get together tomorrow night, and sort all of this out.”

  “You cannot go home,” Phillip warned. “The cops are watching your place. You are wanted for murder.”

  “It will be all right, Phillip. I can handle the police. There are no victims left. Even the shooter has disappeared.” I smiled at the efficiency of my former employer. “I am willing to wager, you will not even be able to find one shred of evidence that any crime took place last night.”

  Phillip looked at me with an eye of admiration. “Man, if only …”

  “Come on, let’s get out of here.” I pushed the elevator button as I looked back at my frazzled friends. Gabrielle broke the silence as we neared the ground floor. She elbowed Chuck softly in the ribs. “The night is still young, would you like to take me out for dinner?”

  “Gabby!” I said sternly, giving her an implied warning.

  “It’s fine, Nick. I understand,” Gabrielle replied, confirming she understood my concern. “No biting; I promise.”

  I gave them both a forbidding gaze.

  “I know what you are thinking Bri—Nick, but I promise I will play nice. I promise not to stake her, as long as she behaves herself.”

  Holding on to Sam as we rode down, she looked at me with a puzzled expression. “Phillip told me you own this building, that you recently purchased it. Why didn’t I know anything about it?”

  The restrained smile that shone across my face was one Sam had grown accustomed to. “I bought it … for a wedding present. I thought you would like a condo with a view of the river. I was refurbishing the floor we just left, the rest was going to be yours to decide what to do with. I thought you would like a place, new to both of us. You know, our home.”

  Sam smiled broadly. “This is my building?”

  “Yep, all yours.”

&nbs
p; “So, if I was mad at you, I could throw you out?” she continued playfully.

  “Yep.”

  “Well, from now on, you had better watch it, mister. I was only shacking up with you for a place to live in Manhattan. This changes everything,” Sam warned.

  “I am sure it does,” I agreed. The bell chimed, as we reached the ground floor. “I think I can walk by myself now, Princess.”

  “No, I think you are not capable of anything on your own ever again. And in case you did not hear the news, I am a countess, not a princess.” Sam leaned into my ear and began to whisper, “And one other small detail, which might have escaped you, I am a vampire too.”

  “I know,” I said with a sigh of exasperation. “But you are not a countess until we are married,” I reminded her.

  “That’s what you think.”

  Dee looked at Phillip as they walked through the lobby, just behind us. “Nice wedding present, don’t you think?”

  “Thanks a lot, Nick,” Phillip called out from behind. “Now I am going to have to buy Mrs. Trump here a building of her own.”

  I turned, continuing to support my weight with Sam’s help. “I’m sure she’ll be happy with a check, Mister Moneybags.”

  We all had a laugh at Phillip’s expense. As far as materialistic possessions were concerned, both Dee and Sam were happy living for experiences over valuables. Sure, they loved to shop with the best of them, but it was more about the time spent with friends than the purchase itself.

  “Okay servant boy, let’s see if you can walk now.”

  My legs wobbled as I separated from Sam. Her attention was lost in the vast lobby atrium. Three of the exterior walls were glass. The elevators backed up to the fourth wall. In the center of the room was a large waterfall fountain, with a rock-pond expanding out to both sides. The scent of fresh topsoil and cedar mulch filled the room, as the landscapers had only delivered it two days prior. The garden was void of any plants or trees as they were scheduled to be delivered later in the week. All of the gray and brown stone footpaths were freshly laid, outlining the paths that would ultimately wind through the atrium. Sam imagined the finished product, as she gazed about the room.

  “This is going to be beautiful,” she exclaimed, as we passed outside into the crisp night air, collectively taking in the view of the river. “The driver can drop you guys off, after he takes Dee and I home,” Phillip offered.

  “I’m hungry,” Chuck announced, mainly in Gabrielle’s direction. “I know you don’t need to eat, but would you like to tag along?”

  “As you have promised not to, how did you say it, stake me, yes I would like to tag along.” Gabrielle winked at Sam and smiled, then directed her attention back to Chuck. “Will your arm be alright?”

  “I’ve had worse.” Chuck held his arm tightly. “Hey Denman, wait till you get the bill for this one.”

  I shook my head, while locking the door to the now uninhabited building. “Sam and I are going home.”

  With everyone leaving, Chuck and Gabby watched in uneasy silence as the car pulled away. “So do you eat food?” Chuck asked timidly.

  “Generally I prefer active Marines, but in a pinch, a retired one will suffice.”

  Chuck stopped in his tracks. “You going there before I’ve had my first beer. Damn, it’s gonna be a long night.”

  “Do you still want to kill me?” Gabrielle’s asked without searching Chuck’s mind for the answer.

  “Looking like that? Not hardly. Besides, Brian, I mean Nick, explained the way things are. So I’m cool with you.”

  Gabrielle, had she been human, would have blushed at Chuck’s flattery. “Are you sure your arm is alright?”

  “Honestly, it hurts like hell, but it’s nothing a little tequila can’t numb.” Chuck looked at Gabrielle out of the corner of his eye as she walked along side. She did not look as menacing as he remembered. As a matter of fact, to the contrary, she looked downright inviting. Remembering Brian’s claims of vampire mind reading, Chuck decided it was better to talk than to think. “So Brian, uh Nick, tells me you can read minds.”

  “We can, some better than others. I have the gift, but I only use it when I feel threatened. I find it rather rude to invade a person’s private thoughts without provocation. Besides, if I knew everything someone was thinking, life would become quite boring.”

  “So how’s that work?”

  “Well your brain sends out thousands of electric signals. We have sensory cells, much like sonar, which can read these signals. Not only what you are thinking, but what your mind is telling your body to do. But, like putting a key into a lock, it takes concentration to accomplish. Imagine trying to insert a key in a locked door as you sprint past it. We must be focused on our target to thoroughly assess the thoughts.”

  “And you don’t feel threatened by me?”

  “Nick felt it was safe for me to be with you. That is all I need to know. Everything else, I would prefer to learn from you without an unfair advantage.” Gabrielle had to purposefully look up to make contact with Chuck’s face. As she did Chuck looked away quickly, feeling she had caught him, checking her out.

  “So Nick tells me you are a friend who can be counted on … and as he put it, a killing machine.” Gabrielle was not in the habit of vague conversation. When she wanted to know something, she simply asked, sometimes rather bluntly.

  Chuck cut his eyes to her, but turned away quickly as he saw she was still focused on him. “Do I make you nervous, Monsieur Chuck?” Gabrielle prodded, amused by his obvious discomfort. Thus far, he was not at all what she expected. Killing machine? Not hardly.

  “All right,” he began as he stopped and took her gently by the arm to face him. “I am not complicated like Nick. I’m just a guy. I like to eat, drink, work, and have sex with beautiful women. I’ll admit, I find you very attractive. But I know if I look at you, my thoughts are gonna run to the gutter, cause that’s the kind of guy I am. The only difference is, most women haven’t got a clue what I’m thinking. You on the other hand, if you choose, can know everything I’m thinking. I don’t like opponents with unfair advantages.”

  “So I am your adversary now?” Gabrielle, curious as to Chuck’s reasoning was tempted to take a peek inside his head, but decided to let the events unfold naturally.

  “No, no. It’s not like that at all, I’m just some kind of control freak. Surprises can kill ya in my line of work.” Chuck wrinkled his eyebrows, struggling to get the words to reflect his thoughts without thinking them first.

  “So if I understood some of what you just said, if you look at me, you will think about fucking me, and you are afraid I will read your mind, and it will make for an awkward evening.” Gabrielle was thoroughly enjoying dismantling Chuck’s confidence.

  “Bingo.” Glowing red as a tomato and well aware of it, Chuck chose to look in a store window for a quick distraction.

  “Well, why don’t we just leave it with the understanding that you are a guy who likes sex, you find me attractive, and would like to have sex with me. I think if we mutually admit to the concept, we can dispense with the awkwardness.”

  If this woman was going to spend the night dissecting his brain, Chuck was going to need a shit-pot full of tequila to survive the evening. “Okay, sure,” he began, trying to regain his confidence. “I’ll admit when I look at you the thought crosses my mind. I’d have to be some kind of altar boy not to.”

  Gabrielle smiled even deeper. He was beginning to shine just as Nick had described him, raw, edgy, a rough and tough teddy bear. In her year in New York, she had never heard a confession of admiration quite as poetic as Chuck’s. Not having taken a lover after her liberation from the convent, Gabrielle began to consider the possibilities. The sudden consideration of actually having sex wrinkled her edge. Time to change the subject, she thought. “So Nick says when you are in the field you are the most dangerous person he knows.”

  “No less than your friends,” Chuck asserted.

  Gabrielle was
taken aback by the accusation. Her smile quickly dissipated to a frown. “I have killed no one.”

  “I saw the video,” Chuck declared. “Don’t get me wrong, at that time, I wanted nothing less than to track down all of you, and make your death as painful as possible. Rob was a good friend. But that’s what war is all about, kill or be killed. And you people were just trying to survive. I can’t fault you for wanting your freedom. But damn, your friends were some evil bitches.”

  “I am sorry, I alone could not save him. Nick has shared many stories about Rob … and you.” Gabrielle’s frown deepened as the images replayed in her mind. “I know how much he meant to the both of you.”

  “He was a good friend to us all,” Chuck reflected solemnly. “But you are right about me. It’s what I was born to do. It’s what I have done all of my life, and most likely what I will die doing.”

  “That seems sad, to spend your life in such a destructive manner, only to inevitably succumb to violence. Do you not feel as you have no other purpose in life?”

  “Purpose, me? You might say I’m some kind of adrenaline junky,” Chuck explained with a smile. “I don’t know if that counts as a purpose. Killing isn’t a purpose, just a means to an end that sometimes goes with the turf.”

  “And the thought of dying does not concern you?”

  “Well, when I get up every day it’s typically not one of those things I think about. But we all got to go one day, well except maybe your kind. It’s not like I’ve got people depending on me anyhow.”

  Although he was smiling, Gabrielle heard the emptiness in his tone. “So there is no Mrs. Chuck on the horizon?”

  “Are you kidding,” Chuck laughed uncomfortably. After a prolonged silence waiting for a rebuttal, he mused why not? He decided to turn the focus on Gabrielle. “How ’bout you? What’s your story?”

  “No. I was never fit for a husband or boyfriend. In France, I was orphaned and became a prostitute at the age of fifteen. I am not proud of my past, but the choice was mine alone. So as you say, I own that.”