by Liz Crowe
“Vincent!” Felix exclaimed. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” Max said. He pursed his lips and crossed his arms as he studied my every move.
“Well, I don’t know why you think Vincent was there, but he wasn’t,” I responded.
“Why do you think Vincent was there?” Felix asked Max.
I felt Max’s eyes burning a hole through the back of my head as I watched the ground and water pass below us.
“Well Allison was hunting longer than I expected. So I expanded my hearing to see if she was in trouble.”
A chill went up my spine at the realization Max might have heard Vincent. I squeezed my eyes shut.
“And?” Felix asked impatiently.
“I heard something move way too quickly through the woods so I opened my eyes.”
“And?” Felix asked again.
“I didn’t see anything and I couldn’t lock on a scent.”
“And so you assumed Vincent was in the woods with me?” I asked incredulously.
“He had to have been. Nothing else could move that fast – no animal, no human. I sensed him! I heard him running through the woods.”
“But you didn’t see anything?” Felix asked.
“No,” Max admitted.
We flew the rest of the way back to Castle Adena in silence. I continued staring out the window and Max eventually gave up staring at me to glare out his window. Though Max hadn’t seen or smelled Vincent, it was obvious he was on to something and I wasn’t sure how long I could hold up this lie. And if I couldn’t keep up the lie, I couldn’t expect to keep secret my plans for tomorrow night. My new siblings could not find out about my planned rendezvous with Vincent.
The chopper landed smoothly on the helipad. The three of us exited the aircraft in silence, Max not assisting me as he had when we departed. Both Max and Felix were skimming over the rooftop way ahead of me. I was in no hurry for what was going to happen inside once they told Marlo and Lorenzo what Max suspected.
The door into the castle slammed in front of me. I paused for a second before grabbing the handle. I actually felt exhausted, something I didn’t expect with my new existence and after having just fed. I didn’t feel like I needed to sleep, but my head felt like it was overloaded and just needed some down time. I definitely wasn’t going to get that inside.
I opened the door and took the stairs three at a time. I was certainly enjoying the gracefulness that I had acquired since my transformation. I tried sneaking down the hallway to my room, but luck was not on my side.
“Allison,” Marlo called from somewhere downstairs, her voice echoing throughout the hollow hallway. “Can you please come down here?” Her voice was too kind for what I suspected was going to happen. I was not in the mood for an inquisition.
I navigated the stone staircase and crossed through the great room. My senses led me down another hallway to the dining room. It was ironic that my siblings had a full dining room, complete with china and crystal, when such items were superfluous for their lifestyle.
“Hey,” I nonchalantly said to Marlo as I entered the room.
“How was your hunt?” she asked, her eyes tense and back to the vibrant shade of lavender I was so accustomed. Max and Felix stood at an opposite corner of the table from Marlo. Lorenzo was seated at the head of the long, wooden dining table, his eyes a sparkling green.
“Max didn’t fill you in?” I retorted, hoping to deflect the question.
“He did,” Marlo responded matter-of-factly.
“So then you know it went well. It was much easier than I expected.”
“Was Vincent there?” Marlo asked cutting to the chase. Her eyes burned into mine. I had to look away.
“No,” I sternly stated in my best attempt to sound convincing. “I don’t know why Max insists he heard Vincent there.”
“He was there!” Max yelled. “It had to be him or another vampire. No mortal or animal could move as fast as what I heard cutting through the forest.”
“I doubt it was another vampire,” Felix added. “There aren’t many of us in this area that would have been hunting in the same spot at the same time.”
I burrowed my glare into the floor, unsure of what to say next. I felt all four sets of eyes focused on me.
“Just admit he was there,” Lorenzo demanded.
“What did he want?” Felix asked.
Chatter started between the three brothers.
“Do you think he could still be close?” Lorenzo asked.
“Why would he have risked his existence knowing one of us would have been with Allison?” Max asked.
“Where do you think he’s heading?” Felix questioned.
“We could probably go back to the forest and pick up his scent,” Lorenzo stated.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I looked up to see the brothers standing in a tight circle now plotting strategy. The image I had of these loving siblings, five of them who had been together for thousands of years, whom I thought would be there to look out for each other, were now plotting their brother’s demise. I couldn’t fathom how they could plot something so horrible after living with someone for so long.
Marlo still stood in the same spot, her arms crossed in a defensive position. Her eyebrows were creased, like she was deep in thought as she scrutinized everything about me. I looked back at the brothers who were still talking about Vincent.
“Wait!” I yelled. “How can you do this?”
The strategic brotherly chatter halted and they all turned their heads to look at me.
“Do what?” Max asked. Agitation was apparent in his voice.
“Vincent is your brother and the three of you are standing there plotting his demise! How can you do that to your own brother? To someone you’ve known for God only knows how many years?”
The room fell silent as my yelling echoed down the hallways. Everyone continued to stare at me. Lorenzo broke from the group and walked slowly towards me, dragging his hand along the table, his eyes never leaving mine. His blond hair fell over his shoulders and his eyes were red with anger. He stopped inches from me, bent to my height and pushed his face in front of mine.
“There’s one thing more important than family,” Lorenzo growled at me. His brilliant green eyes illuminated his pale face. His thirteen tear-dropped gold flecks barely moved around his pupils; his breath filled my nostrils. I had never seen this side of Lorenzo before. His anger was apparent as he stood there trembling with clenched fists. A pang of fear stabbed me in the stomach.
“What’s that?” I whispered back, holding his stare.
“Self preservation,” he snarled. His eyes still focused on me as if he was trying to read my mind. “The one thing that matters most to any vampire,” he continued, “is his or her own existence.”
“Lorenzo,” Felix called out.
Lorenzo stepped back from me and narrowed his eyes one more time before turning around and walking back to his chair at the front of the table.
I stood there in a bit of shock. So Vincent’s own brothers would turn on him to save their own existence. Sure they had told me there were punishments in place for rule breakers, but I thought they could at least let this slide considering the circumstance. It was apparent that I was wrong and it was a tough pill to swallow. I didn’t want to see any harm done to Vincent, but I could also understand their position.
“He…um…he was there,” I whispered to the room.
My brothers seemed to relax hearing the truth, but Marlo still stood there in her defensive position, still analyzing me.
“What did he want?” Max hissed at me.
“Uh, um, not much.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t want them going after Vincent but I also felt guilty keeping the truth from them.
“Not much?” Max asked sarcastically. “You want us to believe that Vincent risked his own existence for nothing much?”
I stared back at my siblings but their return stares were unforgiving. I was going to ha
ve to say something, but I couldn’t let them know about my secret plans.
“He apologized,” I said.
“Apologized? Vincent?” Lorenzo exclaimed as the brothers burst out in laughter.
“For what?” Felix asked through his laughter.
“Why is this so funny?” I asked.
“Because Vincent is the most arrogant person we know. He never apologized for anything in his entire existence!” Max exclaimed.
“Well he did apologize to me,” I said sternly. “For transforming me without my permission.” At least that was the truth and I hoped I was selling it.
The brothers continued their laughter as Marlo stood there like a mannequin. The amusement of my response eventually wore off.
“Is that all?” Lorenzo asked. “So he just apologized and left?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“And did he by chance tell you where he was going?” Max asked.
“No.”
“And you have no idea where he is?” Felix asked.
“No, I don’t. He apologized and then told me this would be the last time I ever saw him. That he had to flee to save himself from all of you.” I pointed an accusing finger at each of them. Tears welled up in my eyes, this time spilling over and burning my face.
“Ouch,” I howled as the tears ran over my cheeks.
Marlo snapped out of her stance and was at my side in the blink of an eye.
“You can’t let the tears flow, Allison,” she said as she dabbed my cheeks with the sleeve of her dress. “The venom will sear your skin.”
“What?” I gasped as I jerked my hand to feel my face. I could feel fresh scars on my face where the tears had rolled.
“Don’t worry,” Marlo reassured me, “you’ll heal.”
I ran to the nearest mirror hung on the stone wall and examined the fresh, pink flesh exposed on my pale face. I whirled around and looked at Marlo.
“I’m exhausted,” I flatly announced. “Why am I tired?”
“I’m sure you are after killing only one deer,” she said. “We’ll teach you how to rest.”
“Teach me to rest?” I questioned.
“Yes, you see, although vampires on a traditional diet need no sleep because of all of the human blood they consume, our kind must meditate, rest the mind, so that we don’t go on wild hunts.”
“Oh,” I replied. Something else about vampire life I didn’t know.
“Now which of you buffoons will help me teach Allison?” Marlo asked of her brothers.
Marlo volunteered Lorenzo to assist in teaching me how to meditate. He wouldn’t have been my first choice after what had just transpired in the dining room. Maybe that was why Marlo told Lorenzo he was going to help…to smooth over our earlier confrontation.
I followed Marlo and Lorenzo up the staircase and down the hallway. I heard Marlo whispering to Lorenzo that he should apologize to me. Apparently she forgot that my hearing was as good as hers now and I could hear everything she was saying. Or, maybe that was her point.
We entered my room and Marlo closed the door behind the three of us.
“Why do I need two people to teach me?” I asked with my back to the both of them.
“One will demonstrate and the other will tell you what is going on,” Marlo replied.
I quite honestly wasn’t in the mood for a presentation, but on the other hand I was really exhausted. Max must have been right; I needed more nourishment but didn’t get it because of my unexpected visitor. I didn’t quite understand what could be so difficult about meditating that two vampires had to show me. I sat on the edge of my bed and waited for my instruction to begin.
“Ahem,” Marlo cleared her throat and tossed a glance towards Lorenzo.
“Sorry Allison,” Lorenzo said. “Sorry about getting so angry with you before.” Lorenzo appeared genuine in apologizing to me but I wondered how truly sorry he was for any plans he had for Vincent.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“Okay, now we can get started,” Marlo announced. “So I already told you that our kind needs rest because of our diet.”
“Right.”
“But we also need rest because of how much energy it takes to reign in our senses. You remember when you awoke from your transformation?”
I nodded my head.
“Remember when you stood up and you could see the tiniest of details around you and you could hear every sound within a hundred miles?”
I nodded my head again. I was hoping Marlo was getting to the point soon because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep my eyes open.
“Well if you would have let your sight and hearing just wander, you would have been in constant hunting mode. Your hearing would be the first to pick up on prey and then your eyes would focus on that target. After you conquered your prey, your hearing would have taken over again. It’s a vicious cycle, but that is what we are in our most natural state; a perpetual hunter.”
The thought of that almost turned my stomach. I couldn’t imagine doing nothing but hunting for all eternity…conquering one victim just to immediately move on to the next.
“Most vampires don’t act like that though,” Lorenzo added.
“He’s right,” Marlo chimed in. “Most vampires control themselves to some degree so that they’re not in constant hunting mode.”
“Okay,” I said. “I get it. Our lifestyle is a drain on our senses. So how do I rejuvenate?”
“Well you meditate,” Marlo said. “But of course there are things you need to know.”
“Like what?”
“For starters,” Lorenzo said, “be careful where you decide to rest.”
“When a vampire is in a meditative state,” Marlo continued, “he or she is extremely vulnerable.”
“Vulnerable to what?”
“To attack or to anything in the outside elements,” Lorenzo said.
“I don’t get it. Our skin turns into armor when we attack…”
“Right,” Marlo said. “But when you meditate, all of your senses are shut down – your sense of hearing, your sense of smell, your sight.”
“If you decide to rest in the wrong spot at the wrong time,” Lorenzo added, “it could be fatal.”
I let out a sigh. “Got it.” All of the rules were starting to add up and were becoming quite the annoyance. I thought this existence would be free of rules.
“So you can perch anywhere,” Marlo started as she grabbed Lorenzo’s shoulders and pushed him to the floor. Lorenzo squatted, one arm resting on his leg, the other steadying him in between his legs.
“Perch?” I asked inquisitively.
“Yes,” Marlo replied. “Like a bird…or a bat,” she smirked. “You can perch anywhere, even hang upside down if you want.”
“Hmm,” I replied, letting that thought float through my mind.
“You recall when you went hunting with Max how he told you to let your hearing ‘reach out?’” Marlo asked.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Well this time you need to do just the opposite. You need to rein it in with more intensity than you are using now. You pull it in until you hear nothing around you.”
I looked at Lorenzo and he appeared to be concentrating on a spot on the wall. His eyes began to narrow.
“See, Lorenzo is pulling in his hearing in now. You can tell because his eyes are closing. Once your hearing is completely shut down, your eyes will close and your sense of smell will be cut off.”
Lorenzo’s eyes slowly closed and his shoulders relaxed. His face looked tranquil; quite the opposite from the incensed scene downstairs.
“Look,” Marlo said as she waved a flask under Lorenzo’s nose. “See, all senses shut off.”
“What’s in the flask?”
“Human blood.”
“Oh.” I felt silly for asking that question. “So how do you wake from this state?”
“You wake when your mind has had enough. It’s similar to how you slept as a mortal. You’ll just open
your eyes, but you need to be cognizant of your senses to not let them run wild.”
“Got it.”
“There is one other way you can wake,” Marlo added.
“What’s that?”
“If someone wakes you,” Marlo said with a glimmer in her eye. “You see, if you are attacked in this state, you will wake. Wanna give it a try?”
“You want me to attack Lorenzo?” I questioned.
“Well not attack him to hurt him, but maybe a good shove just to wake him.” Marlo winked at me. “You know, a little pay back for earlier.”
I let out a chuckle. “Ha, gottcha!”
I crouched on top of my bed and a big smile spread across my face. I was going to enjoy what I was about to do. I leapt off of the bed, grabbed the wood and iron chandelier, flipped myself into the air and planted a firm kick in Lorenzo’s side.
I didn’t realize my own strength. Lorenzo went crashing into the wall on the opposite side of the room, rattling the picture which hung there.
“What in the heck was that?” Lorenzo shouted as he sprang to his feet ready for a fight.
“Calm down, big boy,” Marlo said patting him on the shoulder. “You deserved it.”
Lorenzo looked over at me. I still had a smirk on my face.
“You kicked me like that?” he asked, breaking into a chuckle. I nodded my head in agreement and began to laugh with him. “You’re much stronger than I thought you would be for an infant!”
We laughed a bit longer and then Marlo cut off our fun. “Rest Allison, you need it. We’ll go hunting tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.”
Marlo and Lorenzo headed for the door.
“Hey,” I shouted. “Thanks for the lesson. I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” Lorenzo responded. Marlo smiled an approving smile. Apparently she had accomplished everything she set out to do this evening.
Chapter Eleven
Meditating was quite easy. After controlling my sense of hearing on my first day as a vampire, it was simple enough to rein it in and get some rest. And just as Marlo had promised, once my hearing was silenced, my eyes shut instinctively, as if my body knew what to do even though I didn’t. Everything went black and perfectly silent as my mind drifted until I thought of nothing at all.