Shufah had admitted that she had never witnessed a fledgling quite like her, and Jerusa was beginning to get a sense of what she meant. Her strength outmatched Foster’s, and that in itself was impressive. Foster was her fledgling twin, born the same night — and from the ancient and powerful blood of Shufah — even so, he was no match for her. She wasn’t sure how old Taos was, but if she had to guess, she’d say more than a few centuries. Yet, when they had their little battle back at the house, she would have overtaken him had the fight not been stopped. Though Taos would never admit to it, the fear she had seen in his eyes told her that he had been on the verge of fleeing.
But then there was Shufah and Suhail, the beautiful twins of untold years. It was clear that they were millennia old, but just how many Jerusa was afraid to think about. Surely her speed and strength didn’t outmatch theirs. Perhaps they had stayed back with the younger vampires for fear of being separated.
But if not …
Jerusa shuddered at the thought. If she truly held this much power now, what would she become if permitted to live a thousand years? Could she use this to her advantage to sway the minds of the Stewards? Would they see her as an asset, or a threat?
Jerusa didn’t want to know those answers.
“What is the matter with you?” Shufah asked, circling around to stand before Jerusa. “Have you gone mad? What if Kole had still been here?”
“I was following Alicia.” Though she wanted to look at the ground in shame, Jerusa forced her eyes to stay fastened to Shufah’s. “I knew that I would be safe. She would never lead me into harm.”
“Take it from me, child,” Shufah said. “A restless spirit is a jealous and bitter entity, no matter what they lead you to believe. Do not put all of your faith in the dead. They have their own motives that the living can never understand.”
“Alicia is not like that,” Jerusa said. Her voice quivered, as much from anger as from fear. “She’s not like the rest. She’s not just my friend, she’s like my sister.” Jerusa caught Alicia’s face from the corner of her eye. The ghost’s mouth pressed tight, her brows furrowed. She seemed touched by Jerusa’s words.
Shufah’s eyes flickered to the top of the scar poking out of Jerusa’s shirt collar. “Still, you need to learn to reign in your emotions, for they are the master of your powers. You are like a toddler behind the wheel of a car: dangerous, unruly, and irresponsible with the force you wield in your hands. Kole is gaining strength. With each brain, he regains a little more cognitive awareness. He is still but an animal. But your blood, your brain, would give him a large leap forward. Trust me, a mindless savage is a kitten compared to a self-aware savage. Be careful from now on, if not for your own sake, then for ours.”
Shufah sure did have a grasp on the sword of guilt. Jerusa wondered if Shufah had ever spent any time with her mother, for they both had the technique down pat.
A strange thought occurred to Jerusa. Had Shufah ever been a mother herself when she had still been mortal? Could she be a mother now? It was obvious that she and Foster were lovers. One could argue they were husband and wife, bound in the eternal vow of blood. Was sex an option for vampires? An image of Foster and Shufah tried to invade her thoughts, but Jerusa shut the doors of her mind, denying it access. Jerusa still felt the same way about men — to be honest, it seemed to have become worse. Thad, Silvanus, Suhail and even the harsh and hateful Taos — she found them all attractive. If she took a husband, could she someday give birth to a child?
“What is it?” Shufah asked, noticing the puzzled look on Jerusa’s face.
Jerusa’s cheeks blushed again. Shufah was right. Jerusa did need to get ahold of her emotions, if for no other reason than to not be an open book to anyone gazing upon her.
“Nothing,” Jerusa said. “Nothing important.”
Shufah looked down on the headless corpse. “This body is fresh. Kole is not long from here. Let’s spread out and search for his trail.”
The other vampires dispersed into the forest, but Jerusa stayed near the remains of the campfire. Thad stayed, as well, drawing close to her as his human eyes scanned the darkness in vain. His scent was intoxicating. The thundering of his heart, the roar of his rushing blood, was a maddening chorus.
She wanted to snatch him up, carry him off to someplace far from here, hide him where this strange world of the undead could no longer trouble him. Right now, though, she’d settle for just holding his hand.
Jerusa reached out to take hold of his fingers, but at that moment, a noise rattled in the underbrush and Thad turned, startled. Having missed its target, Jerusa’s hand dropped to her side in defeat. Though the night was too dark for Thad to see her awkward attempts to hold his hand, Jerusa felt foolish nonetheless.
“What was that sound? Did you hear it?”
She stifled a laugh. He had no idea just how well she did hear it. In fact, if she concentrated, she could not only pick out the creature’s high pitched-breathing but also the machinegun firing of its heart.
“Don’t worry,” she assured him. “It’s only a raccoon.”
“Really? How can you tell?”
“I can see it. Smell it. Hear it. Take your pick.”
“That’s amazing.” He cleared his throat as he contemplated his next question. “Do you like being a vampire? I mean, you’ve got to, right? To be so fast and strong. It’s like being a real-life superhero.”
“I don’t know,” Jerusa said. “I feel like I’m dreaming and I can’t wake up. The world around me has changed, but then again, it hasn’t. It’s like looking at the same black-and-white photograph your whole life and then, one day, you glance at it and it’s in color. It’s still the same picture, but now you see so much more. Does that make sense?”
Thad shook his head. “No. Not really. Sorry. I guess I’ll get to see for myself someday.”
“Do you want to be turned?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I sure don’t want to be locked up in one of those prison towns for the infected.”
This thought excited her more than she realized it would. If Thad became a vampire, she wouldn’t have to be alone. Foster and Shufah might stay with her for a while, but they were like a newlywed couple whose honeymoon had been disrupted. Eventually, they would seek to be alone. It was clear that Taos had no love for her, and Jerusa didn’t trust Suhail. But if Thad were changed, they could spend eternity traveling the world together, immortal companions.
It was a lovely fantasy, but not one likely to come to fruition. Even if she and Thad survived the inevitable battle with Kole, they still had the Stewards to deal with. Jerusa was confident that Thad would be found pleasing in their sights. But she harbored no such hope for herself. The best she could hope for was the life of a fugitive.
Thad seemed to sense her sadness for he drew close to her, and even though he knew it was dangerous, he draped his arm over her shoulder. She wanted to lean her head against his chest. She wished that he would bend down and kiss her. But this would have to do. She didn’t have any business being this close to him in the first place. She didn’t have a desire to feed, but who knew when that would come? And when the thirst did show its face, would it arrive in a slow, trickling stream or would it overtake her in a deluge of murderous desire?
Eighteen years of being on a first-name basis with death had given Jerusa an untainted appreciation for life. At no time, even at her lowest point, had she ever considered suicide. Still, Jerusa knew that if she were to kill Thad while in the throes of uncontrolled bloodlust that she could never forgive herself. One day of that guilt would be unbearable. An eternity of days would be torture. If she killed Thad, she would build a fire hotter than the sun and run screaming into its embracing flames.
Jerusa caught movement in her peripherals. Alicia stood near the headless corpse, but her attention was focused elsewhere. The ghost stood straight, staring at the emptiness before her. Her hand darted about in animated little gestures, and though she was as silent as ever, she seemed t
o be talking to someone.
Jerusa broke from Thad’s embrace and approached Alicia.
Thad stood his ground, unwilling to draw closer to the headless corpse. “What’s wrong?”
“Alicia is acting strange.”
Hearing her name, the ghost girl turned.
“What are you doing?” Jerusa asked Alicia. “Are you talking to someone?”
A puzzled look furrowed Alicia’s brow and puckered her lips. She gave a slow nod.
“Who are you talking to?”
Alicia pointed to the empty space in front of her.
“Is someone there? I don’t see anyone.”
Alicia’s head tilted as though her confusion was throwing her off balance. She pointed down at the headless corpse, then to the empty space before her.
“You’re talking to him?”
Alicia nodded. She touched her eyes, pointed at Jerusa then shrugged.
“No. I can’t see him.”
The corners of Alicia’s mouth dropped and she regarded Jerusa with an unsure glance. She whispered something over her shoulder to the unseen spirit of the dead man, who apparently stood by her side.
“What’s going on?” Thad asked.
“Shufah was right,” Jerusa said. “I can’t see ghosts anymore.” She pointed at the headless corpse. “Alicia is talking to his spirit, but I can’t see him.”
“Curious,” Shufah said, startling both Jerusa and Thad. “Why is it you can still see Alicia, but not any of the others, do you suppose?”
Jerusa had a theory, the same one that she had held for two years as to why Alicia was different than other ghosts, and it seemed to apply just as well to this situation. Jerusa had never spoken of her theory to anyone, not even Foster, and she didn’t feel like telling it to Shufah now. Jerusa couldn’t explain why, exactly. Shufah had been nothing but kind to her, a soft and gentle mother, ever since Jerusa had stumbled into becoming a vampire. Perhaps it was the lingering sting of her comment about not trusting Alicia. Or maybe it was the yearning Jerusa saw in her eyes … yearning and a bit of jealousy. But more than any of that, it was Taos’s whispered warning of an enemy other than himself that closed her mouth.
Taos wasn’t the type to whisper, so that meant he was afraid of being overheard. Suhail and Shufah were the only two vampires in the group that he feared. Jerusa’s suspicions were leaning toward Suhail with his passive aggressive glances, pouting demeanor, and eagerness to find Silvanus. But she couldn’t rule out Shufah.
Jerusa had been taken with Shufah right from the start, but charisma often hid a dark heart. She couldn’t assume that just because Foster had always wished the best for her that his lover would do so as well.
She felt dizzy and mentally exhausted. The loneliness of her predicament weighed upon her like fathoms of water. One would think that she would be used to it by now, being the outcast that is, but loneliness is never a thing you gained a tolerance for. It accumulated in your blood, like mercury or arsenic, weakening your system until there was no hope of survival. Loneliness was the cruelest of poisons.
There had been people in her life, her friends from school, Foster, even Alicia, but none that Jerusa had truly connected with. There was always part of her she couldn’t yield over to them, and so the poison remained unchecked within her. Her friends were lost to her now. Jerusa couldn’t return to school, and she was now a danger to any human, including Thad. Even though she and Foster were now both vampires there would always be a certain divide between them. Foster and Shufah’s love for each other formed a kind of barrier around them that no other was permitted to cross. Jerusa didn’t begrudge this … well, maybe a little. And then there was Alicia, whom Jerusa loved more than any sister, but how close could she ever be with someone she couldn’t hear or touch?
There had been one, however, whom she had briefly hoped could be the cure to her solitude, one who seemed to share her affliction.
Where was Silvanus right now? Was he still alive or had the vile venom of Kole’s savage bite worked its mischief in him? Jerusa didn’t know what was worse, thinking that Silvanus had died to save her life or that he, too, was becoming savage. If she called his name, would he appear, scoop her into his arms, and whisk her away to some happily-ever-after fairytale?
She really needed to lay off the romance novels.
Suhail and Taos returned from their scouting, entering on opposite sides of the circle, saving Jerusa from having to answer Shufah’s question about Alicia.
“I could find no trace of Kole’s trail,” Suhail said, sensing the awkward moment.
“Me either,” Taos said.
“Nor did I,” Shufah added.
Alicia got Jerusa’s attention, pointed upward into the trees, and pantomimed swinging from branch to branch like a monkey.
“Alicia says that Kole took to the trees. That’s why there’s no trail.”
Suhail made an unimpressed noise. “That doesn’t matter. It’s clear that Kole is headed back into town.”
“And how do you know?” Shufah asked.
“The pattern of his victims, dear sister. He’s a hunter. It only makes sense that he go where the meat is.”
Alicia shook her head no and pointed in the opposite direction of town.
“Alicia says that Kole isn’t going toward town. She says he’s going that way.” Jerusa showed them the direction that Alicia indicated. She expected a retort from Taos, but strangely, he remained silent. It was Suhail that spoke up.
“Please, spare us the mockery. You did well tracking this corpse, but to be truthful, any one of us could have sniffed it out, probably even the mortal.” Thad backed away, uncomfortable with being addressed. Suhail continued. “Savages are little more than animals. Their only instincts are to feed and survive. Why would Kole move away from town?”
Jerusa didn’t have a good answer for that, but she took a stab at it anyway. “I don’t know. Foster said that savages have a particular weakness to light.” She looked to Foster for help.
“That’s right,” Foster said. “The pupils of the savage dilate and become fixed. Bright light is painful to them, though not fatal.”
Suhail rolled his eyes. “Thank you for the anatomy lesson. What is the point?”
“My point is, Kole doesn’t like the bright city lights. He would rather stay out here in the dark.” Jerusa looked to Shufah. “Maybe he just wants to hang out here and hunt the campers and hobos he comes across.”
Alicia shook her head, indicating that Jerusa was wrong, too.
“Well, then what’s he up to, then?” she asked the ghost. Alicia tried for several minutes to sign and signal whatever it was she had learned from the spirit of the headless man, but in the end Jerusa just couldn’t understand what Alicia was trying to say. “You know, you’re terrible at charades. If I survive, we’re both learning sign language.”
Alicia shrugged, then motioned for Jerusa to follow her.
“She’s going to show us where Kole is.”
“No,” Suhail said. “I say we head back into town. That’s where Kole will strike. He has no reason to stay out here and he certainly wouldn’t backtrack.”
“I think we should follow Jerusa,” Foster said. His voice was strong and clear, without a speck of doubt. “She has no reason to lie to us and no motive to lead us off course.”
“What do you think, Taos?” Shufah asked.
Taos’s fierce blue eyes were locked upon her, though from fascination or fury, Jerusa couldn’t tell. He reached up and ran his finger through the loose strands of hair that had fallen into his face. “What the hell. I’ll follow. I’m curious to see if the blood witch can deliver.”
“What about you, Thad?” Shufah asked, surprising not just him, but the rest of the group. “You’re in this as much as the rest of us. You have equal share in this danger.”
It took a moment for Thad to find his voice. He had relegated himself a second class citizen, a human among vampires, and had not anticipated being considere
d an equal. “I think we should listen to Jerusa. She won’t steer us wrong.”
“It’s settled then,” Shufah said, sweeping around to face Jerusa. “Lead the way, young one. But, please, tell your ghost to walk a bit slower this time. Covering ground at high speed is great for retreating, not so much for stealth.”
“You got that,” Jerusa said to Alicia. The ghost nodded, but seemed anxious and more than a little put out to have to slow down. Alicia turned and started off through the trees and Jerusa motioned for the others to follow.
For a long time, no one spoke and she fell back into her thoughts.
She couldn’t understand why vampires in movies and books always moped about, lamenting their fate. She loved being a vampire. The rules and laws were a tad annoying, but physically she had never felt better. She wanted to scale the nearest tree and take to the branches as Kole had done. She wanted to pull Taos aside and force him to teach her how to make fire with her mind. She wanted to …
Thad’s feet tangled in a length of thick vine that draped across the forest floor, and he face-planted on the ground.
Since they were moving at a slow pace, Thad could keep up and didn’t need to ride upon Foster’s back. No one had considered that Thad was virtually blind inside the dark forest. Jerusa doubled back to help him to his feet.
“Well, that was embarrassing.” Thad dusted himself off even though he couldn’t really see how dirty he was.
“It’s all right.” Jerusa pulled some brambles from his shirt. “I’m the queen of klutzes. If you only knew how many times I tripped going up the stairs at school. And that was in broad daylight.”
Taos walked by and gave Thad a hard slap to the back. “You’re so loud we might as well all be wearing cowbells.”
“I can carry you, if you like,” Foster said to Thad.
It was clear from Thad’s face that he’d rather crawl upon the forest floor on hands and knees than climb onto Foster’s back. A man’s pride was such a fragile and volatile thing, much like a crystal glass full to the brim of nitroglycerin. Jerusa didn’t think she’d ever understand male pride, but was well versed in the art of being embarrassed, so she could empathize.
Heart of the Dead: Vampire Superheroes (Perpetual Creatures Book 1) Page 20