Invierea

by Bruce T. Jones

  “Prostitute?” Chuck attempted to make light of Gabrielle’s confession. “So you had sex for money to survive. Big deal. I killed people to survive. People have sex all the time, and believe me, it ain’t never for free. So you charged for what some women give for a hidden agenda. In my mind, that makes you smarter … and more honest than most.”

  Gabrielle looked at Chuck with an awkward smile. The big oaf’s logic was not far removed from the truth. Rugged and handsome, awkward yet honest and a closet full of skeletons; Gabrielle considered Chuck, the man who nearly drove a stake through her heart in New Orleans, as maybe a guy, the first, that could help break the bonds of shame and guilt. In renewed silence they strolled aimlessly through lower Manhattan.

  “Alright!” Chuck called out, breaking a prolonged silence. “Mexican Cantina, dead ahead,” he said, pointing out a restaurant in the next block. As they neared the restaurant, Chuck felt the urge to clarify his position. “You know, Gabrielle, you need to give yourself a break. In case you’re not aware, I will tell you. You are damn hot. Too damn hot to spend your life without a good man. I mean, Nick and I have killed a lot of people. I think that’s a lot worse than sleeping around for money. So should Nick give up Samantha just because he’s been a bad boy?”

  Gabrielle shook her head indicating she agreed with Chuck’s logic.

  Chuck stopped his relentless march toward the Cantina. He propped his chin in his hand, and began an impromptu examination of his companion. “I’m not usually attracted to skinny, two-hundred-year-old, ex-hooker Frenchy vampires, no matter how radiant and seductive they are, but if I were, I’d say you got it going on, Gabrielle.”

  Gabrielle smiled sheepishly. Not to be outdone, she added, “You know, for an obnoxious, Neanderthal, killing machine, you are not too bad yourself, Mister Chuck.”

  Sitting on our rooftop garden, Sam was attempting to rediscover the distinct taste of her favorite wine, while I nursed a beer. I intently studied every feature of her reborn body. She was the same woman I loved, but different. Minor imperfections were gone. Her hair rustled in the breeze as she surveyed the garden, taking in every detail through eyes that now appreciated the new beauty of the night.

  The night air was brisk, with a moderate breeze blowing through the shrubs and greenery that lined the rooftop balcony. I missed the revitalizing sensation brought on by brisk autumn nights like these. I missed those bitter winter days, when the warmth of the sun cut the chill that stiffened my body. I missed the sweat that ensued during the heat of passion.

  “You do realize, this changes everything,” I said, interrupting the serenity of the moment.

  “Like, you won’t need to find a new wife in forty or fifty years?” Sam replied gleefully.

  “Besides that. By the time you are able to go to a clothing sale, all the good stuff will be picked over.” Cursed or not, I was elated to have her home again.

  “I just think you’re upset that you will not be able to pull any of your mind-control vampire antics on me anymore.” Sam swirled her glass vigorously, attempting to derive more flavor from the grapes.

  I could not help but laugh. Becoming a vampire had not altered her wit in the least. But she needed to understand the implications of her new life. “There is so much I need to teach you. There may come a time when we are hunted, not because of my former career, but because of what we are. One day, the humans will find out. I never wanted your life to be … the thought of you being …”

  “Killed,” Sam exclaimed, completing my thought. “I’ve already got that one covered. And being human was not any great advantage there. I think if we agree that sooner or later, somehow, some day, we are both going to die, we will be able to enjoy what we have, and what I have become, so much more. So stop worrying about me. We will figure this all out, one day at a time.”

  Yep, still the same old Sam, but with a new paint job.

  “And right now,” she said, as she stood up, and set her wine glass down, “I want to see how this new equipment functions in the bedroom.” She took my hand and pulled effortlessly, lifting me from the couch.

  “Let me tell you something,” I said, giving a tug of resistance. “Gabrielle has had two hundred years to acquaint herself with her skills. She had instruction from Angelique, who has been the undead for almost twice as long. Don’t overrate your abilities. I see that gleam in your eye.”

  “That gleam, is the gleam of anticipation. After kissing you earlier, I realized things were different, in more ways than one. I think for tonight, you had better strap in for the ride of your life.” That kiss, I thought, was indeed different. It was a most tantalizing kiss. My blood was now Sam’s, her sensations were mine. And the overwhelming nature of just one kiss, brought about more concern than anticipation.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  NIGHTTIME RETURNED, UNLIKE any awakening ever experienced. The euphoric fatigue remaining, after last night, bordered lethal. Take the strongest sensation of the human body immediately during climax, expand it throughout the entire body, then multiply it by two, because we shared each other’s sensations. I vaguely remembered Sam collapsing in my arms as we spontaneously fell into unconscious bliss.

  I glanced over, delighted to see all of her appendages intact and no sign of blood anywhere.

  “Can you think of one reason why we should remotely contemplate leaving the bedroom ever again?” Sensing I had awakened, Sam purred softly, without opening her eyes.

  “Man’s got to eat.”

  “Wimp,” Sam teased, as her eyes remained shut. She stretched out her arm to my head, and began running her fingers through my hair. As if in slow motion, her eyes opened, and a glow encompassed her face. “It’s sad, humans will never experience sex like that.”

  “A simple thank you would suffice.”

  “Watch it, Mr. Vampire man. You are not the only bat in the tree.” Sam attempted to contain a giggle, but lost out.

  “That may or may not be, but currently, I am the only one you know.”

  “See, that just goes to prove you do not know everything.” The playful look on her face warmed my cold heart, a feeling that had escaped me for the majority of my life. As I rolled to my side to face her, the ache in my chest reminded me of my near call with true death last night.

  “Why my future little countess, what ever do you mean?” My curiosity was piqued as I propped up onto my elbow.

  Sam chuckled. “I know something that you don’t.”

  I rolled my eyes in the back of my head. “It has happened on very rare occasions.”

  “So what is it worth to you?” she asked, as she stopped with the head caressing, and unexpectedly yanked my head toward her face. The wisp of her breath was enticing. No longer the warm flow of breath, but rather equivalent to a fresh breeze of autumn air, she began gently kissing my face, with a quiver of anticipation in her lips. “I know it has only been twelve hours, but what do you think? Round two?”

  “How about you tell me about the other vampire first, and if I deem the information to be exceptional, I will consider allowing you another episode of orgasmic pleasure.”

  Sam kissed me quickly, and pushed back. She climbed from bed and paraded naked across the room to the picture window. “I know you are watching,” she said, without looking back. She opened the curtains, revealing the splendor of a crescent moon, suspended on a cloudless night. I studied the curves of her body, noting subtle changes since her rebirth. “If you stare any harder, I fear you will set my body on fire.”

  “Just admiring the artwork, baby.”

  “Last night, on the way to Phillip’s, I happened across a vampire, near the Brooklyn Bridge. He was some kind of sentry.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?” I barked, as sense of missed opportunity altered my playful mood.

  Sam wiggled her feet into a pair of black leather pumps and ever so deliberately began strutting toward me. “Do these shoes make me look fat?”

  “Sam!” I said, ob
jecting to any delay in a full report.

  “Nick, first things first. If I find you pleasing, Mister Vampire man, I will tell you everything … later.”

  Sam knew how to pull my strings from the very day I met her, and becoming a vampire did not alter her methodology one drop. Only after she had had her way with me, did she consent to return to the subject I deeply desired to learn of.

  “His name is Milton, but he goes by Maltor. I think his job was to watch for potential threats to his family, which I gathered was across the Brooklyn Bridge.”

  “Sam, why didn’t you tell me sooner? Don’t you realize he might be able to lead me to Sabine? Remember her? The last person keeping us here.”

  “I’m sorry, Nick. But my priorities have changed. It’s just … I no longer possess the same sense of urgency as before. For the first time in my life, the clock’s not ticking. It’s not like you were in any shape last night to do battle with the forces of evil. And let’s just say for argument’s sake, you went after Sabine and something bad happened … everything we experienced last night would have never been.”

  “Samantha, dear, following that logic, we would never get out of bed again.”

  “We could get out of bed and leave now, and never look back. Leave all the human strife behind, just you and me.” Her eyes searched mine; looking for just a hint I would agree.

  “Sam,” I began.

  “What would be wrong with ten thousand nights, just like last night, anywhere we wanted it to be?”

  “Just leave everyone behind, just like that? Dee, Gabby … you could do that?”

  “You’ve been doing that all your life, haven’t you? They’re all grown ups. I don’t think they need us to babysit.”

  “That was me, a very long time ago. I have changed.”

  “I wouldn’t call two years ago long. And yes you have. You love me, and I love you, at least I think I do,” she said with a grin. “It’s not like we’d leave forever.”

  “If there is a colony in Brooklyn, it is only a matter of time before it is exposed, just like New Orleans. In time, Gabrielle, Angelique, and my son, would be hunted down. If it were not for my contacts in Washington, we would already be a full-blown media circus. The only way to prevent that from re-occurring is to find Sabine, and contain whatever damage she may have created. Then, maybe we can finally be free.”

  “Nick, I am scared for you, for us. I have had a premonition, and it is so much stronger this time. I …”

  “Shhhh,” I said, as I put my finger to her lips. “I will be careful.”

  “That is what scares me. Look what happened last time you were careful.”

  “Okay, so I am a vampire, you got killed, and now you are a vampire. Is there a problem somewhere? As I remember, you were begging me relentlessly to become one.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about.” Sam backed out of my reach, disapproving of my sense of humor.

  “Hey, at least we are both immortal now.”

  “Nice try spin doctor, but given a choice, I think I would just as soon prefer to grow old with you and live out our days to an end. It kind of adds a need to live each day to the fullest, don’t you think?”

  “Look who’s spinning the topic now. You know I couldn’t live with even one person dying because of New Orleans, at whatever cost. Maybe before I met you I wouldn’t care, who knows? The point is, now I do.” I jumped out of bed and pulled on my jeans and a tee shirt. “How about if we start by finding out exactly what is going on across the river? As a compromise, I will even call in some additional help and try not to be such a cowboy this time.”

  Still naked, Sam stood, put her arms around me and kissed me. “How about we go for a stroll, talk more about this grand scheme of yours and find a bite to eat.” Sam giggled as she pulled away. “Bite to eat, get it?”

  We never ventured to Brooklyn that night. Maybe my sense of urgency had dissipated as well. The evening was spent exploring our new common denominators. We laughed and loved more carefree than ever before. As the night grew late, I ushered Sam on to sleep. Watching over her, waiting for sleep to come, my mind churned formulating plans. After several hours of wasted time, I gave up and decided to take care of business.

  It was ten in the morning, and Sam was sleeping peacefully. My instincts told me a phone call was in order. Mitch O’Reilly was pleasantly surprised to hear from me. I briefly explained the situation in New York, and asked if he would consider assisting with my well-laid, completely off the cuff plans. Mitch had not been back in the city for over ten years, or out of New Orleans for an equally long time. It took all of my negotiating skills and a pound of bullshit to persuade the crafty old detective to agree. More so than any other reason, Mitch claimed after I had left New Orleans life had been, as he put it, “as boring as waiting for a dog turd to turn white.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  AT THREE IN the morning, sitting by the hangar waiting for Phillip’s jet to arrive I reviewed my plans. I had enlisted Chuck’s services to scout out our targets, for what I hoped would be the final chapter in this tale gone wrong. It wasn’t hard for him to locate the brownstone in Brooklyn where a clan had formed. From Sam’s description, he located Maltor near the Brooklyn Bridge, and waited for him to lead him to the hideaway. Judging by the number of people that returned to the brownstone at such irregular hours, as opposed to any other building on the block, Chuck projected that there were about twenty potential hostiles.

  In New Orleans, ten female vampires, who had not stepped out in the world in over two hundred years, basically tourists went up against me and my seasoned crew of mercenaries. Truth be told, we did not fare well in that skirmish. In all honesty, we got our asses handed to us. Thirty Brooklyn vampires? Even if they weren’t vampires, just being ornery Brooklyners would be bad enough.

  But they weren’t ordinary. Departing at night and returning before dawn for three consecutive nights, Chuck witnessed their numbers increase. Pulling a missing persons file, Chuck had identified two of the women and three of the men.

  My worst fears were realized; an unchecked and careless explosion of the vampire population would inevitably lead to exposure, carnage, and the extinction of a race. But whose?

  The jet wheeled in front of the hangar and powered down. I leaned against the black Denali eager to see my old friend. Mitch was my kind of guy, hard as steel, but he knew when to bend. Whatever it took to get the job done. Mitch popped through the door first followed by Isabelle. I had not been sure he would be able to convince her to leave the French Quarter. By her own admission, she could not ever remember leaving the crescent city.

  Who I saw next was unexpected. Daniel followed Isabelle down the steps. “My friends, welcome to New York. Daniel, Mitch … Isabelle, it is so good to see all of you. Thanks for coming.”

  “I understand you are nearing the end,” Daniel said as he clasped my hand.

  “Possibly, but it might not come easy.”

  “If it were to be easy, should I not have stayed in New Orleans?”

  “Daniel, Mitch, I have much to share, but please excuse me for a moment. I need time with Isabelle.”

  “Take your all the time you need, Brian, as of six hours ago, I’m on the clock.”

  “Thanks, Mitch, so glad you decided to come to the party.” I did my best to mimic Mitch’s trademark sneer, but judging by his reaction, I fell short of the mark. “Hop in the car, we will join you shortly.”

  “Isabelle.” I barely got her name out before I found myself wrapped affectionately in her arms. The silky texture of her skin and scent aroused memories of the confused longings I held with each encounter in The Big Easy. Half-breeds; both of us were lost in a world we didn’t quite belong, our kindred spirits’ yearning made perfect sense.

  “I have missed you. New Orleans has been so barren since you left me there.”

  I pulled away enough to gaze upon her. Not one single feature of her face had changed. A tear has collected in the corne
r of her eye. I placed my hand against her cheek and brushed it away. “Isabelle. I have discovered why you are the way you are, but until a couple of days ago, I hesitated to share all that I have learned.”

  In her eyes I saw the curiosity, but also betrayal, for denying my feelings for her.

  Although they existed for both of us, strongly I might add, I had failed to yield to the desire of a kindred creature. “You know, until I became what I am, I never believed in any of this. I believed you and your friends were all living in some type of freak show fantasy world. But now, at least I know the truth about you.”

  For all of her life Isabelle had often questioned her own sanity. The seemingly endless barrage of a semi-lucid past could never be explained. All of her memories could not possibly be grounded in reality, as many people had told her over the years.

  A cold breeze blew Isabelle’s hair off her shoulder and she shuddered. I pulled my jacket off and wrapped it around her. “You and I are one in the same. We shared a common genetic thread. I thought you were crazy when you claimed to have lived for so many years, but in fact I live with the same anomaly. True you are much older than me, but basically neither one of us have aged a day since our mid-thirties. For you, that has been somewhere over two hundred years, for me, about sixty five.”

  Even as I began to explain our anomalies, the innocence resonating in her eyes only spoke of desire. I knew what she wanted, and if circumstances were different I would have relented. But maybe the information I was about to divulge would prove enough distraction to douse her fire.

  “Our parents, specifically your mother and my father, were vampires. Your father and my mother were mortal. The result was children with immortal lifespans, but lacking the need for blood or the specific weaknesses of the vampire race.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “My aunt told me after I returned home from New Orleans. Once she learned I was a vampire, she shared the secret of my ancestors. Once I learned of my heritage, I began to understand the reasons behind your behavior.”