by Gayla Twist
We both slithered under the tarp and crawled into the sports car. “Please, please, please…” I whispered to myself as I slipped the key into the ignition. I didn’t know how many Porsches there were in the garage. Luck was with us and it was a match.
“They’re coming now,” we heard Karl say. “The sun isn’t down yet. Either they’re mortal or they’re in light protective suits.”
“Roll down your window,” I hissed, and my maker complied. “When I give you the signal, we’ve got to ditch this tarp and go,” I hissed in the quietest of whispers. She responded with a small nod.
We heard a crashing sound, which I assumed was a door being kicked open by a jackboot. “Where are they?” a voice demanded.
“They’re not up yet,” Karl insisted. “Give me a moment and I’ll let them know you’re here.”
“Nice try. But we know you came here to warn them. And you didn’t do a good job covering your tracks,” the voice snarled. “Surround the Bentley.” We heard the sound of rushing feet.
I touched Alice on the arm. “Now!” With my right hand I turned the key in the ignition; the motor sprang to life. With my left hand, I grabbed the tarp and whipped it off the front of the car. Alice did the same on her side.
There was a group of vampires covered in light protective gear surrounding the Bentley. They looked over at us in surprise. I jammed on the gas and the Porsche shot forward. The garage’s rolling doors weren’t open, but that didn’t stop me. We slammed through the barrier, the door splintering before us.
I couldn’t suppress a shriek as the rays of the setting sun made contact with my skin, immediately searing off a layer from my face and hands. Alice dove down, hiding herself under the dashboard. “Here!” she said, thrusting something at me. It was a silk scarf. I did my best to wrap it around my head while I kept driving. At least it was a little protection. My hair had already begun to smoke.
We careened wildly across the front lawn of Lord Vagnar’s estate, crashed through the gates and were out on the open road.
“Here!” Alice shoved something else at me after riffling through the glovebox. It was a pair of dark sunglasses. That helped quite a bit. It was hard to keep my eyes open with the sunlight braising my eyeballs. In the rear-view mirror, I caught a glimpse of the black clad figures pursuing us through the air.
Being in less pain meant I was better able to focus on driving. I jammed the gas pedal to the floor and we began putting a bit of distance between us and the Bishop’s thugs. Still, vampires were able to move as the crow-flies and we were bound to the road.
“Should we bail on the car and fly for it?” I asked.
“No. I don’t think we can outfly them.”
That was fine, but I didn’t know if I could outdrive them, either. We barreled past something that looked like a highway sign and I jammed over into the left lane, nearly colliding with one of the vampires who had suddenly appeared outside my window. He jerked out of the way and then crashed into a tree. I hoped he was impaled on the branches, but I didn’t pause to check.
A moment later, we were on the highway. It was a lot smoother than the country road and I felt I was in more control of the car. “Stay in the left lane,” Alice instructed as a sign informed us that the highway was about to divide.
“No.” I shook my head while pulling into the right lane.
“But that way’s Budapest. That has to be where they’ve taken Jessie,” she snapped.
“I know! And that’s exactly where they’ll expect us to go,” I yelled back. “We need to make sure we’ve lost them and then switch cars.”
I could tell Alice was annoyed that I hadn’t obeyed her. And it was actually quite difficult not following my maker’s wishes. But we had to play it smart if we wanted to avoid being captured. We had to keep ourselves safe so that we could rescue Jessie.
“Scan the skies,” I told her after we’d driven another ten minutes and still hadn’t been attacked from above. It would be reckless for vampires to dive-bomb us with so many mortals on the highway. But I knew from experience that the undead could be unpredictable, especially when enraged.
Alice half climbed out of the passenger’s side window to get a good look around. It was a foolish thing to do, but I knew if she fell out of the car, she would recover almost instantly. “Nothing,” she said, as she retracted back into her seat. “I think we’ve lost them, for the moment.”
“Okay.” I put on my blinker and made for the next exit. “We’ve got to switch cars. This one is way too distinctive.”
I’d been lucky with my choice of exits; there was a gas station and a few mortals milling around. I immediately spied a likely candidate. “There’s one,” I said, nodding toward my target. He was a businessman, dressed in a suit and driving a black sedan. He’d probably pulled over to fill-up his tank, but he’d decided to have an argument with someone on his cell phone instead.
Alice went to get out of the car, but I put my hand on her forearm to stop her. “I’ll handle it.”
“I should do it. You don’t have as much practice using your influence,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but if the Bishops have followed us and I am attacked, you can get away,” I told her, jangling the key in the ignition to let her know it was still there.
“You think I’d just leave you?”
I nodded. “You’d better.” When she raised her eyebrows into a question, I added, “I can’t save Jessie on my own. I have no idea where they’ve taken him or how to find him. You’d have a much better chance. I’m more expendable.”
Alice didn’t protest. “Okay.”
I could hear the man talking as I got out of the car. His voice was raised in irritation. “That is not the deal we made,” he said. He had a thick accent, but I was grateful he was arguing in English. “You go back on me and I’ll squeeze you till your head pops.”
“Hello,” I said, approaching him.
He glanced in my direction, giving me an annoyed look. Then he did a double-take and lowered the phone. “Hello.”
I locked eyes with him and, in a soothing voice, I said, “You’re done with your phone call now. You can call back later.”
He immediately raised the phone back to his mouth and said, “I have to end this call now. I will call you back later.”
I smiled. He was surprisingly easy to get under my influence. That told me all his bluster was to conceal a weak mind.
“Do you like my car?” I said, pointing to the Porsche.
His eyes barely left my face to glance at the car. “Yes, very much. I’ve always wanted a car like that; a Porsche Spyder. James Dean died in one, you know.”
I hadn’t known. That probably would have influenced my choice. Still, I smiled. “Oh, good. I’m glad you like it. I’ve always wanted a car like yours. Shall we trade?”
“Trade?” My words seem to confuse him.
“Yes, I’ll take your car and you take mine. A fair swap.”
He shook his head. “That wouldn’t be fair to you. Your car is much more valuable. You’d lose money.”
His honesty surprised me. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as I assumed. “Thank you for telling me,” I said. “I appreciate your honesty, but I really would like to trade cars. Don’t you want to make me happy?”
“I do,” he said. “Very much.”
“That’s wonderful. Have you already filled up your tank?” I asked, nodding toward the gas station.
“Yes.”
I gave him another smile. “Perfect. Would you please pull your car up next to mine?” I didn’t want Alice to get out of the car and expose herself to potential attack. “Turn it the opposite direction so that the passenger sides’ are toward each other, but with enough room for the doors to open.”
“Okay,” he said, amiably, immediately scurrying over to do my bidding.
I went back to the Porsche and got in. “We’re switching cars; he’s going to pull up next to us.”
“Good.” Alice gave me a small nod of
approval.
“Wait until I’m behind the wheel before you get out,” I instructed.
“I’m sure that’s not necessary.”
I shook my head. “We’re not taking any chances.”
The businessman positioned his car and I went over to speak to him. He leapt out of the car immediately. “Did I do it right?”
He was so eager that I felt bad. “Yes,” I assured him. “You did it perfectly.”
Beaming, he felt encouraged enough to ask, “May I call you sometime?”
Glancing down, I noticed a gold band on his finger. “No, the only thing you’ll remember about me is that you trusted me, and I reminded you of your wife,” I told him. “In a good way,” I added hastily.
“My wife?” There was a hint of disgust to his voice.
“Yes,” I assured him. “In fact, you are going to start treating your wife the way you did when you first got together. You’re going to remember why you fell in love with her. And you’re going to help her remember why she fell in love with you.” I didn’t have time to dig into his relationship, but I sure hoped his wife wasn’t a jerk.
“Okay,” the man agreed, after thinking it over.
“Good.” I didn’t have all night to chat. We had to get moving. “The keys are in the Porsche. Drive home immediately and never drive it at night again.”
“But…” he stammered.
I let my eyes fill up with all of the intensity I could muster. “Never. Get another car, if you have to, but never drive the Porsche at night. No one should ever drive this car at night.”
He went a little glassy-eyed. “I understand.”
“Good.” I hopped into the sedan. “Now step out of the way please.”
As soon as I was in the driver’s seat, Alice exited the Porsche Spyder and slid into the man’s car.
“Thank you,” I told him as we drove off into the night.
“Thank you,” he called after us, waving.
“Don’t get back on the highway,” Alice instructed me. “We should stick to the backroads.”
I wanted to obey my maker; I wanted to please her so desperately, but I couldn’t. “No,” I said, driving back to the highway. “You’re thinking like a mortal.” That comment earned me a quizzical look, so I explained. “We’re too easy to spot from the air on a country road. On the highway, there are dozens of cars just like this one; it’s harder to find a needle if it’s hiding in a pile of needles.”
“What?” I’d confused her.
“Sorry. That was a needle in a haystack reference,” I explained. “I just mean we have to hide ourselves between the other cars.”
“Oh.” She saw my point. “That’s a better plan.”
We drove in silence for several minutes before Alice said, “How are you doing this? How are you making all of these split-second strategic decisions? You’re a teenager. You’re still a fledgling.”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I guess it’s because I have to. Any mistake I make means Jessie faces the sun.”
Chapter 3
The sedan had a navigational device that Alice managed to switch to the English setting. She was surprisingly adept at tech for a vampiress. Most members of the undead tended to stick with the technology that was around at the time they were turned. Very few of them had computers or cell phones. Even the ones who’d been turned more recently tended to shun technology, although Jessie had told me that was mostly an affectation to appear more sophisticated in undead circles.
“Where are we headed?” I asked, once Alice had the navigation dialed in.
My maker pursed her lips. “Normally we would be taken in by the Csorbos, but something has them spooked from helping us.”
“Okay…” That didn’t actually answer my question. “Do you have any other ideas?”
“Yes.” Alice leaned back in her seat and pretended to relax, even though I could see her body was still rigid as a metal rod. “Karl reminded me of a small getaway spot that we use to…” She stopped and then amended her words. “A hideaway that I remember from when I was young.”
Alice was turned when she was still in her twenties. She only looked a few years older than me. It was hard to remember that she’d been around since before the First World War. I guess people didn’t overshare back then.
“And you don’t think anyone will look for us there?” I asked.
“Not unless Karl tells them.”
I felt reasonably assured. Lord Braxton had risked the rising sun to be with Alice. He obviously had strong feelings for her, or he wouldn’t have risked frying in the rising sun. “Do you think the Bishop’s guards will try to hurt him?” I liked Karl and didn’t enjoy the idea of him being dragged down with me and the few surviving members of the Vanderlind family.
“I hope not,” my maker murmured.
On the outskirts of Budapest, Alice had me pull over and then turn down a side street. I could tell by the dilapidated building covered in graffiti that we weren’t in the best neighborhood. “We need a change of clothes,” she said. When I gave her a questioning look, she added, “We need to be dressed in black. All black. You’ll need a hoodie or a ski cap to cover your hair.”
“Okay…” I said, scanning the area. There didn’t appear to be many shops around. There was definitely nothing open.
“We ‘re going to have to just find some people in the clothes that we need and then trade with them.” She turned her face toward the window. “And you’re going to want to feed, while you’re at it.”
“I… uh… I understand,” I stuttered.
For a moment I thought that my maker was still disgusted with me for being the cause of her eldest son’s death. But I had the distinct feeling it was something else. Suggesting that we shake seedy men down for their clothes and then feed off them must have made her feel uncomfortable. For decades, she’d only fed from donated blood, acquired from the Vanderlind’s chain of blood banks. Plus, I’d hardly ever seen the woman in anything but a fashionable gown. Even though I was her progeny, she must have felt embarrassed by the whole process.
“Maybe this is something we should do separately?” I suggested. “We don’t want to draw suspicion.”
“Yes, that’s what I think as well.” Alice sounded relieved. “I’ll take this alley to the right. And you can try that one, further down, on the left.” She pointed to a squalid looking alley half a block down the street.
“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll meet you back here in ten minutes.”
My maker took a deep breath, like she was girding herself for an unpleasant task. “Better make it fifteen.”
I got out of the car and began walking down the street toward my assigned alley. My entire life my mom had trained me not to do stupid things like walk down an alley in a bad neighborhood, day or night.
But now I was a member of the undead. I had superior strength and lightning fast reflexes. I could rip the head off of any pervert who tried to hassle me. There was something thrilling about possessing such power; not only did I have the ability to fight back if some jerk-wad decided to hassle me, but I had to ability to win.
The only problem was, I wasn’t sure I was going to find a sleazebag lurking around in the middle of the night. It was almost three in the morning. My task was made more challenging by the fact that I needed someone dressed in all black, who was conveniently wearing a hoodie, or possibly a dark cap. What if Budapest had a pervert shortage?
But I was wrong. I was barely half way down the alley, before a charming gentleman made his presence known. He stepped out from a doorway and said a few sentences. I did not speak a lick of Hungarian, but with the way he was leering at me, I assumed it was something as charming as, “Well, hello there, sweetness. What’s a pretty little thing like you doing in an alley like this?”
I gave him a scan. He was dressed in dark jeans, a black leather jacket, and he had a navy sweater underneath. I could smell that he was a smoker. It somehow made sense that a man who hung around an
alley in the middle of the night would smoke. I sniffed the air, hoping to catch the scent of another person in the area to use as my late-night snack. One that didn’t feel the need to puff on nicotine all day. But I didn’t have any luck.
“Hello,” I smiled at him, fixing him with a steady gaze. “This might sound a little silly, seeing that this is your country, but do you happen to speak English?”
He cocked his head to one side, trying to translate my words.
“English?” I asked, never breaking my stare. “Do you speak English?” I said very slowly. I didn’t want to have to pantomime him getting undressed and handing over his clothes.
“Yes,” he replied, sounding unsure of himself. “I study vhen I vas in school. You are American?”
“That doesn’t matter,” I assured him. I didn’t have time to chat with my dinner. I didn’t know how long it would take to get to wherever Alice had in mind and the night was half over. “I need you to give me your clothes.”
“Vhat?”
“Your clothes,” I repeated. “Your jacket, sweater and pants. You need to give them to me. I need them.”
“Vhat will I wear?” he asked. He didn’t appear to be arguing with me, he was just curious. The night was a bit chilly, after all.
“You can wear my clothes,” I told him. If they fit him; he was quite a bit larger than me. “Or you can go home and get more clothes.”
“Okay.”
“Now turn around and undress,” I instructed. “Don’t turn around or look at me until I tell you it’s okay. Otherwise I’ll be very angry.”
He obeyed me immediately, turning his back and shrugging out of his black leather jacket. He tossed it on the ground, a little bit behind him. Next his sweater came off. After that it was his boots and jeans. When he went to remove his boxer shorts was when I had to stop him. “Not your underwear! Leave that on,” I blurted. The man tugged his undies back up over his rump.
I quickly shed my own clothes and got into his. The smell of cigarettes mingled with the scent of a cheap cologne. If I was still a mortal, I would have gagged. “Here, you can wear whatever fits,” I said, tossing my clothes to him. “And you can put your boots back on.”