Eden

by Eden (lit)

  “You mean like enhanced night vision and things like that?” she asked.

  He crossed his arms and stood with his head down for a minute as if considering carefully what he was going to say next.

  “I mean everything,” he said quietly. “It’s not just my vision, it’s the way I perceive things. The world is not the same black and white place it used to be for me.” He looked back up then and Catrina felt a strange power in his stare. “I see you differently, Catrina. I want you to know that I still see you as my friend and you’ll always be safe with me … but I see you differently.”

  “Ah,” she thought. That would explain the smile he wore earlier which could only be described as carnal.

  “Do you mean you think of me sexually?” she asked, feeling comfortable enough to be frank with him.

  “Not exactly,” he said. “You know that you’re beautiful, but it isn’t your body that I’m wanting.”

  “What is it then?”

  He turned his back and propped against the counter as he admitted, “It’s your blood.”

  The silence seemed to stretch between them until the kettle whistled, causing them both to jump. Jacob poured himself another cup of tea, but Catrina shook her head when he offered her more.

  “What will you do when you turn?” she asked.

  “I’ll leave,” he said. “I can’t stay here.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted.

  “You’ll come with me,” she said without hesitation.

  “Catrina, no. Even with all of my knowledge, I’ll still be a new vampire. You’ll be putting yourself in danger, I can’t allow it.”

  “And how many times have you put yourself in danger for me?” she asked. Catrina walked over and put her hands on his arms, forcing him to look her in the face. “All vampires and werewolves have been excommunicated, right?”

  “Yes,” he whispered.

  “That means that when you turn you won’t be my priest any more, just my friend.”

  “So?”

  “So as just my friend and not a member of the clergy I’m telling you to pack your shit and get your ass on that bike with me and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  * * * *

  Two hours later, they were on their way. People gave them a lot of strange looks. Maybe they weren’t used to seeing a priest riding bitch. Who knows? It felt strange to have him with her, but natural that she should help him. Catrina could not for the life of her imagine leaving her dearest friend to fend for himself. Especially not a friend to whom she owed so much.

  “We should get inside,” he said as soon as they pulled up in front of her building. “I’m not sure how much longer this cloud cover will last.”

  “All day,” Catrina answered. “There’s supposed to be some bad weather passing through for the next few days.”

  She took his bags, along with the bag full of blades. Father Marion put her bike in the lift, but instead of pushing it, he picked it up and sat it inside.

  “Oh, my God,” she said.

  “Yes,” he agreed. “The change is progressing much quicker than I was expecting.”

  “Oh, no,” she said. “What about all of the holy objects in my apartment? Will you be alright?”

  “I think so,” he answered.

  When the lift reached the top he stepped forward and deliberately touched the silver lock and chain. Catrina cried out when the metal burned his flesh, but Jacob seemed to have been expecting it. He pulled his sleeve down over his hand and touched it again.

  “I have a theory,” he said.

  “And what’s that?” Catrina asked.

  She pushed him out of the way and unlocked the door. While she parked the bike he explained, “It’s my body that has been contaminated, not my soul.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said.

  He walked over and stood directly in front of the window, staring at the cross shapes on the stained glass.

  “These images cannot harm me,” he said softly. “My soul is still pure,” he explained. As he walked back toward her, he opened his robe to reveal the silver cross he wore. She watched as Father Marion removed his collar and opened the first few buttons on his shirt. “It is my flesh which is corrupt,” he said. And as the cross touched his skin he started to burn.

  “Jacob, stop it!” she yelled, snatching the silver away from his skin.

  She removed his necklace and placed it on the table before collapsing on the sofa. He sat down beside her and gave her a moment to collect her thoughts.

  “We’ll go back tonight for the rest of your things,” she said. “I’m not risking taking you out in daylight again.”

  “But the storm,” he said.

  “Screw the storm. I’m not afraid of a little rain.”

  “Thank you, Catrina,” he said softly.

  “You’re welcome.”

  She got up and went straight for the fridge. “I need something to drink. Do you want anything?”

  “You know I’m not a drinking man.”

  She tossed him a bottle and was amazed at his reflexes.

  “Chocolate milk?” he said, reading the label out loud.

  “Enjoy it while you still can,” she said. “I don’t know about you, but if I had to start drinking blood, I’d miss chocolate.”

  It was a few hours later before she worked up the nerve to ask, “So what will you do now? I mean … will you go on hunting vampires? Can you touch the blades?”

  “I do plan to go on hunting,” he answered. “Though her evil could not contaminate my belief in God, my flesh can no longer touch the blades. I’ll wear gloves.”

  “What about the holy water?”

  Jacob’s smile was kind as he told her, “You never needed me for the holy water. Any true believer can ask for God’s blessing and receive it. All you ever had to do was ask.”

  “I know,” she said. “But it made me feel better for you to do it.”

  “I can still bless the water if you want me to, but today will be the last day that I can touch it. After catching on fire this morning, I’ll not be having my daily pint of holy water any more. Without that to stave off the spread of infection, I’ll not be the same man tomorrow.”

  “You will be to me.”

  * * * *

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked.

  The rain was still coming down as they sat out that evening to collect the rest of his belongings. Even though it had slacked compared to earlier in the day, it was still quite a downpour.

  “Better now than later,” she said. “If the church put that much time and effort into you, I’m sure they didn’t just let you leave.”

  “You’re very clever,” he said, putting her bike into the lift. “And you’re very right. They had too much invested in me to just let me walk away.”

  “So who did they send?”

  “A necromancer, a wizard of terrible power. He was working for the church in the hopes of having his sins absolved. He never found me before, but I’m certain he traced me to this area of the country.” He looked her in the eye as he said, “Now that I’ve changed, he will be able to sense my location.”

  “Because you’re dead?” she asked.

  “Because I’m undead,” he corrected. “You ride on the back this time,” he added as he threw one leg over her bike. When Catrina just looked at him he explained, “I can see better at night and through the storm. I won’t risk you any more than you insist upon.”

  She climbed on behind him and held tight to his waist as they set out in the storm. The rain felt like needles, even through her leather jacket. She was grateful for the protection of Jacob’s body and huddled down behind him as much as she could. It felt like forever before they reached the cathedral again.

  He pulled around back and hurried inside.

  “I don’t think anyone has noticed I’m gone yet,” he said breathlessly.

  “Good. Do you need any help with anything?�
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  “I think I’ve got it,” he said. “Just help check behind me.”

  She helped him to gather up the crosses and other various holy objects scattered about his quarters, all the while looking over her shoulder. When they were finally ready to leave, Catrina went outside and secured everything on the back of the motorcycle. While she did this, Father Marion changed into a long black coat and began to put his remaining weapons inside it. His clothing was designed for combat, just like most of Catrina’s. She returned just as he’d strapped the last blades to his forearms and pulled down the coat sleeves.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  As soon as they stepped outside the rain picked up again, but that wasn’t why they stopped. Jacob put a hand out in front of her.

  “Did you hear that?” he asked.

  “Hear what?”

  But as soon as she asked she knew. Maniacal laughter drifted toward them through the alley and it was getting louder.

  Chapter Nine

  A tall thin vampire approached them with his hands in his pockets and his eyes cast down at the ground.

  “Why hello there, Father Marion,” he hissed. “Surely my arrival is not a surprise?”

  “What do you want?” Jacob asked, taking a step in front of Catrina.

  “Oh, nothing much,” the vampire said with a shrug. As he spoke more vampires came out of the darkness behind him and Catrina reached inside her coat to grip the hilt of one of her blades. “Just your head perhaps,” the vampire suggested whimsically. “Or maybe your heart.” He seemed thoughtful as he commented, “Because we’ll really need both.” Suddenly the vampire snatched his hands out of his pockets. His fingernails looked like razors and flashed in the dim light. “I recommend you pray to your God now,” he hissed. “That is if he still listens to one like you.”

  One of the other vampires sprung forward and Father Marion extended the blades on his forearms, slicing the vampire in half in an instant.

  “I am still of the light, though I must walk in darkness,” he declared boldly.

  Catrina stepped back into a fighting stance with a blessed blade in each hand. As Father Marion moved further away, a vampire took a swing at her. She severed his hand and watched it turn to ash before hitting the ground.

  “Ah!” he screamed. “They’ve got blessed blades!”

  “Coward!” the lead vampire yelled. “Take them! It’s one woman and a fallen priest!”

  Father Marion dropped to one knee, slicing off the arm of the next vampire to attack, and as he rose to his feet again he took off the vampire’s head with one fluid motion. The vampire who was still attacking Catrina looked up to see what had happened and she ran her blade up through his rib cage, piercing his heart.

  She put her boot on his chest and kicked, knocking him down into the mud before chopping off his head.

  “Is that the best you’ve got?” Jacob asked, flicking his blade so that the blood hit the lead vampire across the face.

  He watched as the other vampire snapped his fingers and what looked like two dozen more appeared down the alley. Then the priest did something unexpected and ran back into the house.

  “Jacob!” Catrina screamed. “What the hell are you doing?”

  He ran back out with an umbrella and the horde of vampires nearly fell over laughing.

  “Malik should have come for me himself,” Jacob yelled over the rain.

  “And why is that?” the vampire spat.

  “Because you are going to fail. You are all going to die here tonight.”

  The vampire laughed again. “Fool! You should tremble at the mention of his name!”

  Jacob opened the umbrella as he said, “I have become the shadow of death and therefore I fear no evil.”

  Catrina’s heart ached as she took a step closer to him. His pain was obvious with every word.

  The other vampires continued to laugh as Jacob said, “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.”

  “What’s he doing?” one of the other vampires asked.

  “He’s praying,” the lead vampire said with a laugh. “You fucking idiot! God doesn’t care about you anymore!”

  “Thy Kingdom come.”

  “Moron!”

  “Thy will be done.”

  “You’re gonna die!”

  “On Earth as it is in Heaven.”

  Just then one of the vampires in the back of the crowd started to scream and writhe on the ground.

  “He’s blessing the rain!” he screeched. “Get out of the water! Get out of the water!!”

  But it was too late. Catrina watched in horror as all of the vampires began to melt before her eyes. Their leader who had been so convinced of Father Marion’s fate seemed the most surprised. He stared down at his hands open mouthed as they melted away before his eyes.

  “I don’t understand,” he whimpered. “How can this be?”

  “Evil may have won my body,” Jacob answered. “But it can never possess my soul.”

  Catrina replaced her blades and approached him slowly. When she reached his side she was afraid that some of the rain had gotten onto his face, then she realized he was crying.

  “Jacob,” she whispered, taking him by the arm. “We’ve got to get you out of the rain.”

  She led him back inside and took the umbrella very carefully so as not to drop any water onto him. The vampires in the alley continued to scream and she asked, “How will we get out now?”

  “Give it an hour,” he said. “By then all of the rain that was blessed should have washed from the rooftops and gutters.”

  Then another thought occurred to her and she wasn’t exactly sure how to approach the topic. “Don’t take this wrong, but what about your clothes?” she asked. “You’re soaking wet and you were wet when you started to pray.”

  “I wasn’t wet with the same water,” he said.

  “Are you sure that’s how it works?” she asked.

  He opened the top of his shirt and put one wet gloved hand inside.

  “Jacob!”

  “I’m not on fire or melting,” he said with a smile. “So, yes that’s how it works.”

  An hour later when they stepped out the door she looked toward the crumpled, melted figures of the vampires. “What about them?”

  “The sun will take care of them,” he said.

  She climbed on the bike behind him and though the rain had stopped, she still huddled against his back to fight off the cold. Once they were safely back inside, she took their coats and hung them up in the laundry room over the tile.

  “Nice place, by the way,” he said. About that time he took off his shoes and water poured out onto the floor. “I’ll clean that up,” he promised.

  “Don’t worry about it. Can you believe that with a place this big there’s still only one bathroom?”

  “You go first,” he said quickly before she could suggest he go instead. When she went to object he said, “You’re shaking. I’m not exactly having to worry about hypothermia any more, now am I?”

  She laughed. “Does that mean you don’t care if I use all the hot water?”

  “There’s no reason to deliberately torture me,” he teased.

  She laughed again through chattering teeth and turned to leave the room. But when she reached the door she turned back.

  “What you did tonight was brilliant and very brave. You know, I’ve been thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “I’ve been thinking that maybe I shouldn’t do this alone anymore. Maybe I should have a partner.”

  His smile made her feel better as he replied, “Maybe. Look, I’ll stay in here till you’re done. I don’t want to drip all over the house.”

  “I’ll hurry,” she promised.

  “Catrina,” he said, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder.

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t pray in the shower, alright?”

  She smiled in response and headed down the hall toward the bathroom. By the time Catrina
reached the walk-in shower she was shaking uncontrollably. As soon as the water felt even remotely warm, she stepped underneath it fully clothed except for her shoes. At first she was shaking so hard that all she could do was stand there and rub her limbs. But gradually, her body temperature began to rise and she started to peel off her wet clothes. She tried not to use all of the hot water, but it nearly took it all to warm her.

  Once she was finished she dried off quickly and wrapped herself in a thick purple bathrobe to keep from losing body heat. She padded back down the hall and found Jacob wringing out his socks over the washing machine.

  “I’m done,” she said. “I tried to leave you some hot water.”

  “Alright then. Go dry your hair before you catch cold. Oh, and will you throw my robe in there for me? I didn’t want to track mud across to the guest bedroom or I’d have gotten it myself.”

  “Sure.”

  On her way past the bathroom she found him waiting at the door still dressed in his wet clothes. “Good night,” she said, handing him the robe.

  “Good night.”

  Catrina went straight to her room and closed the door. All day she had been nearly overcome with the need to fall down and cry, she just didn’t want to do it in front of the priest. She threw her robe across the foot of the bed and the tears were already starting. Normally, she would have slept naked, but she didn’t want to embarrass Jacob if she got up in the middle of the night. She pulled on a pair of blue and white striped pajama pants and a sleeveless white shirt.

  Catrina was already starting to shake with unshed tears before she made it over to the closet to find her teddy bear. His name was Hank and she hadn’t taken him down from the top shelf in years. She took out her small step ladder and pulled down the bear. As soon as she felt his soft fur against her face she started crying in earnest.

  So much had happened in such a short amount of time, she just wasn’t sure how to cope.

  “I can’t believe he’s a vampire,” she said, hugging the bear tighter. “It’s just so tragic. He can’t even touch a cross anymore,” she sobbed. “And he’s a priest.”