Bitter Sweet (12 page)

              "How strong was Aaliyah?"

              "She best Lucifer and he was supposed to be a being of power to rival God. God is supposed to be all powerful. I don’t know how else to describe it. Anyway, Lucifer went to God on hand and knee and told him what he had done. God listened to Lucifer in silent anger as he told him of how he had tainted the people he created and loved. God agreed to help Lucifer; afterward they would settle their differences over Eve’s betrayal. They would seal her away and hope that one day she would be able to forgive them both. Lucifer would have to call off this attack and never tamper with the humans again. Lucifer agreed. Already broken, he crawled back to Aaliyah and threw himself before her, confessing how wrong he was for what he had said. She welcomed him with opened arms, as she did still love him no matter how much it pained her to attack him as she did. When they hugged, God attacked her, binding her arms and legs. Lucifer then helped to strengthen the bindings with a set of his own. She cursed and screamed insults at them and both, Lucifer couldn't look her in the eye as they sealed her in a golden box that they placed deep in the earth, a single angel was charged with the protection of the box as God did not believe Lucifer could be completely trusted to keep Aaliyah sealed. To this day, the Angel Pandora still guards the tomb of Aaliyah somewhere under the earth.”

              “Pandora’s box holds the world’s first vampire captive?” she interrupted me again.

              “It was supposed to hold an evil that haunts man; Eve, now Aaliyah, could be seen to embody the fall of man and the rise of lust, gluttony, pride, sloth, wrath, envy, and greed. She was also vampire, I don’t know of any other creature on earth that haunts man except for vampire.”

              “Oh, well go on.”

              “Aaliyah did not feel safe controlling Lucifer’s demon army without him. So she created three others while Lucifer was away in the same way she was created. She was training them to act as generals to keep the demon in line in battle, but above all else if she were to fall, they were to create an army to one day again charge the gates of Heaven and overwhelm the angels and bring down God's throne. Our Elders claim to be these three others tasked with raising Aaliyah’s vengeance army,” he finished as he pulled the car to a stop, turning off the engine.

              “So you believe that?” she asked.

              I laughed. “Of course not; I'm no soldier in an army ready to take on God. The vampire are just another leg of evolution. A random genetic quark creating a parasitic being the main human population could not kill off, kind of like left-handed people. There are many things in this world that some humans spend their lives to keep hidden from the general public. We were just tougher than your average monster.” I got out of the car, appearing at her door and holding it open. ”Although, we may be more tame because we keep to ourselves,” I said, taking her hand, helping her up, and closing the door.

Vanessa Stanton

Chapter 14.0

Once out of the car, I looked up and I saw that we were outside an elegant modern hotel; its windows seemed to climb endlessly into the night sky. A boy in a white bellhop uniform had already come over to see if we had any bags. Alik took my hand and led me inside, past the doorman who was holding open the wide glass doors; he gave us a friendly smile as we walked by. The lobby was beautiful; chandeliers of black glass hung from the ceiling, strings of gold wove random cracked patterns in the black marble floors that glistened in the soft light off the cream colored walls. Boxes of blooming roses lined a long glass wall making the lobby smell of rose and the leather of the chairs spaced out where a few sat reading around a beautiful marble table. To one side, I could hear slow melodic jazz coming from a doorway along with purple and red light, a few hidden speaker in the ceiling carried the sound into the entire lobby. That must have been one of jazz clubs Alik mentioned.

             
Alik led me over to a girl at a long curving black counter; she was the same height as me and had long reddish brown hair draped around her, well… sexy figure, but it was her dazzling blue eyes that drew my attention. She could have given Sam a run for her money. She smiled at Alik and when she saw me, that smile died.

              “Haven’t seen you in a while, Alik,” she said accusingly, looking me up and down.

              “Hi, Alison. Sorry about that, I’ve been busy lately,” he replied and I heard what I thought was nervousness in his voice.

              Alison turned to Alik. “Yeah, I bet. She seems human enough.”

              “Can you call my mother down for me?”

              “Sure,” she answered, rolling her eyes.

              I pulled him away from Alison, “What do you mean your mother?!” I said in a shouting whisper. Ignore the contradiction please.

              “Everyone here knows her as my mother, and she wishes me to call her that. After all, she created me, so in a way, she is my mother.”

              “Oh” was all that came to mind, my previous nervousness escalated.

              “Why does it matter?”

              “I don’t know…” I looked away from him. "It just matters."

              “She’s on her way down to meet you.” Alison raised her voice so we would hear hers.

              “Thanks Alii.”

              “Wha eva.” She went back to her computer.

              Alik took me over to the leather chairs to sit while we waited. My curiosity peaked and I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “What was that about? Should the receptionist speak to you like that?”

“Oh, well, umm...” he said, looking at his feet. “She’s been trying to get me to date her for a while; she thinks that if we are dating, I would turn her.”

              “So she does know what you are?”

“Yeah, she’s a favorite of my mother’s. My mother even promised to turn her once she turned eighteen. Although Alii wants me to do it earlier, and has been very... persistent.”

              “Can I ask why you won’t do it?” I looked toward Alison, “she’s really cute.”

              “How she looks at me now... I can’t return those feelings. The closest example to the intimacy of changing another I can think of is sex. I’ve known her since she was eleven, I just couldn't do it,” he said in a low voice and turned to where a tall woman was walking toward us. She was draped in a black silk gown that ebbed and flowed over her form, trailing like water around her ankles, her hair was a white ash that flowed down to her waist, and her eyes were a bright purple. As she got closer, her arms stretched and she bent down to hug me; I was so shocked that I didn’t know how to react.

              “So, you’re the one who got the secret out of my son,” she said with a smile.

              “Mother, it wasn’t like that,” Alik said, standing abruptly.

              “Shush shush; I’m not talking to you,” she said, waving her hand at him and turning back to me. “I’m Lilith; I doubt he’s even told you my name. I’ve tried to cure his ruder habits, but he’s often gone for so long that I haven’t had much progress over the centuries.”

              “I can tell. Some children are just stubborn,” I said and I don’t know why I said it but it felt... natural.

              She laughed. “So you have managed to gauge him fully; that’s great. Well, come with me. We have much to discuss in private,” she said with a smile. She took my hand and walked me toward the elevators.

              In the elevator, Lilith took a small golden key from around her neck and stuck it in a special lock above the buttons. With a twist, it began to climb. I watched the numbers rise, feeling Lilith’s eyes on me the whole time. When it came to a stop on the seventy seventh floor, a little ding sounded and the doors opened to a beautiful penthouse. The same black marble from the lobby made the floor sparkle and frosted glass divided up the wide space with the help of a few elevation changes. Lilith led me to what would have been the living room. Chairs and a sofa scattered around a small table with a TV hanging above the only brick in the whole room, which housed a fireplace. She sat me down on the leather sofa that seemed to be part of the set of chairs in the lobby. She sat adjacent to me while Alik went to the bar that sat hidden in the corner behind a marble counter. He then came to sit down, holding a clear red drink for me. There was a beep and when he returned, he was holding a thick red drink for himself. I couldn’t help but look a little shocked at this.

              “Vanessa, I may be a vampire, but I’m not a complete monster; that is just fruit punch,” he sighed in a voice that made it feel as if I should have known this from the start. “Although, now that you mention it, maybe red drinks aren’t the best kind for me to hand you,” he smirked.

              “What’s yours?” I was staring at it.

              “O- at 98.9 degrees,” he said, taking a sip; my eyes widened uncontrollably. “Donated, of course,” he pointed out, as if this made it any better.

“Alik, if it bothers her so much, why would you drink that in front of Vanessa like that? I’d assume that would be uncomfortable for any human,” Lilith chided.

              “I’ve never done it before now; this is only the fourth time I’ve been with her.”

              “Wow, you must be very good to get this out of him so soon,” Lilith teased, smiling at me.

              “Mother, it’s not like that. Alisa is out of control, I’ve told you.”

              “Explain it again for me; my memory after millennia has grown faint at times. It’s a lot to sift through, you know?”

              He sighed. “Alisa thought it would be fun to bring back a few Masteria traditions outside the club. She lied to the humans, telling them her teeth were fake and when she showed them how much 'fun' it was, it spread like wildfire. The entire underground club scene has been tainted. The few humans she got to like the blood a little more than the others were turned into vampire, allowing them to start killing, which they enjoyed a lot. They became wild off of the over-emotional blood and Alisa just watched.”

              “Did you take care of her then? I know you like to uphold the rules.” It felt like I was missing something in the smug attitude radiating off of Lilith as she said that.

              “No, she’s elder to me; I couldn’t do that."

              "June would have tried if ordered," Lilith poked.

              "June took care of the others, but skilled as June is, she wouldn’t have been able to kill Alisa no matter how much she might’ve enjoyed to."

              “That's enough I suppose, I will go down and talk to Alisa later… Well, how does Vanessa work into this again?”

              “When I finally caught up with Alisa and the last two young, they had already found Vanessa and a date and were about to turn them into their victims. Her date ran off just thinking we were crazy humans. Jessica, one of the young, fatally wounded Vanessa and it was too late for a hospital to be of any help.”

              “Ah I see, so you gave her your blood then, didn’t you? You always were a noble one.”

              “I had no choice.”

              “Yes you did, you could have let her die,” she said with indifference.

              “Mother!”

              “Vanessa, don’t get me wrong. I am fine with him saving your life in the way that he did; I’m sure he has described that this is some grave act. He’s a bit on the dramatic side at times. With me being his mother and an Elder, he feels obligated to uphold rules and whatnot. However, can I trust you to keep our secret?”

“Of course, who would ever believe me? To be honest, I still don’t believe it myself in some ways.” It was the first time I had spoken in a while and before I realized, I was talking to an empty chair; Lilith’s arm was now around me.

              “Your heightened senses haven’t convinced you still, or the glass of human blood my son is drinking? Would you like a sip to believe it is truly what he says it is?” I remembered the taste of Alik's blood on my lips and raised my hand to my lips unconsciously. "Or maybe it’s Alik's blood you really want."  Alik looked like he wanted to interrupt her, but she raised her finger and silenced him. She appeared on my other side, her tone taking on the characteristic of someone telling a ghost story. “The world that you live in is filled with monsters and myth, dear; it’s something you will grow to know. There are things that are so beautiful yet so equally terrifying at the same time that you will be drawn into your own death, wanting it to happen just for one more touch or one more taste. Ignorance is not bliss, nor is there room for skepticism in the eyes of the naked truth. So keep an open mind, dear.”

              She took my hand in hers and placed it to her heart; there was no beat. “I guess that will have to do for now, but you should get him to take you to Alaska sometime around the next solstice; the wolves are beautiful dancers.”

              “I…” was all I managed to get out. My mouth opened to speak two or three more times. I’m not really sure why, but Lilith then relieved me from having to respond.

              “What would it take for our existence to be a certainty in your mind?” She was behind my chair now. “No normal human could do this.” She placed her arms lovingly around my neck, her fingers moving down my chest to trace a circle around my belly button. “My body is just as cool as my son’s as you can feel.” She moved her other hand to trace her fingers over my collar bone. “Maybe one of us feeding would convince you?” she questioned, leaning in so close that our faces touched. I shivered, but it wasn’t from the coolness of her lips on my skin. It was more from the anticipation of the bite. I wanted it.

              “Okay, I think you have played with her enough,” Alik interrupted, placing a hand on Lilth's shoulder.

“I have never seen you so protective dear; I was only asking a question,” she said, kissing my neck once more, then moving back to her seat with a smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

              “You didn’t,” I managed to say as calmly as I could during my mild panic attack.

              “Well, I’m sure you have a few questions for me, but I have one for you first.”

                      “A question?” I was finally able to look up into her eyes again.

              “Do you wish to become vampire?” I hadn’t been expecting that. When Alik had first told me what he had done to save my life, I said I didn’t want to become a vampire. Now… the idea seemed oddly alluring. I’d stay young forever; I’d be stronger, smarter, and faster. All of this appealed to my vanity. Yet I’d be giving up the life I spent the last 18 years building for myself. I’d have to die and let my body grow cold and my heart stop beating. If I stopped aging, I’d have to leave my family after a few years and I’d have to live off of humans. All the realities of this hit my sensibility harder. “Vanessa dear, are you still with us?”