Bitter Sweet (8 page)

              "Our blood... has several properties that are beneficial to human life, one being its healing abilities. However, all it takes is a drop to leave you addicted."

              "I’m a junkie now, too? This gets better and better," I laughed harshly.

              "I will ignore that comment," he mumbled. "The Elders, the three oldest vampire in the world, they maintain the veil, or law. It is a vampire’s life of secrecy or death.”

              "Okay, stop; the teens in your club, Underworld; I mean have you never heard of Twilight?! It’s not that big of a fucking secret."

              "Did you believe any of that garbage? Night Children or as the news put it: ‘teens who took an appalling act too far’ are just a fad. Underworld and Twilight are just dark fiction and stupid fiction respectfully. We are hidden thanks to all of that. This is the age of science, not monsters and myth.” I opened my mouth to interject, but he went on and raised his voice. “Although the more pressing problem is that I’ve given you my blood to heal your injuries."

              "So you saved my life and now I am to be your pet, bound to you by some addiction? Or you’re going to kill me out of regret,” I stated as if it were fact.

              "You are a human being and no one's pet, and no matter what happens to me because of it, I will never regret saving your life!" he said loudly, turning and raising his hands in the air angrily.

              "Then what’s the problem?!" I yelled, jumping from skepticism back to anger.

              “I’m dead, goddamn it! You’re alive; we are opposing forces that have clashed for nearly as long as humankind has existed. To give a human vampire blood without taking their life fucks everything up. We are only supposed to take. Death and life cannot occupy the same space at the same time,” he said, pacing. It looked like his arms would blur because they moved so fast at times.

              “You’re dead?" He stopped pacing and was in front of me. He took my hand and placed it to his chest and I felt nothing, flinching away. "Okay, say I believe this, which I don’t by the way," I couldn’t hide the quiver in my voice, "why tell me any of this? Isn’t this breaking some secrecy or whatever?”

              “I gave you my blood already, there is nothing worse than that,” he said, his voice returning to normal. “I’m sorry for yelling, I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just that I never wanted to do this, not in this way, at least.”

              “Do what?”

              “I didn’t want to see you again and it be us angry at each other,” he said, looking at me for the first time in a while. Our eyes met for a moment and then we looked away from each other. It was silent for a while, the city's noise in the background not intruding.

              “Well, what now? Do you kill me tonight, or what?”

              “What?” he asked, looking shocked.

              “You said you would have to kill me, didn’t you?”

              “If they were to order it… I don’t know.”

              “Why not just kill me now and save yourself the trouble?”

              “You still don’t get it, do you? The whole point of this was to keep you alive. I want…” He seemed to think better of what he was going to say.

              “You want what?”

              “No, I need you to come with me to see the Elders.” It felt like he was going to say something else, but I didn’t press the issue.

              “Why do we need to meet these Elders?”             

              “They will have to know about you. There is no higher crime than this, apart from lifting the veil, which I have done as well, I guess.

              “I’m sorry, but no.”

              “No?”

              “No, I’m not going.”

              “What do you mean you’re not going?”

              “To see your Elders; I have a life to live. Thank you for saving my life and watching out for Sam that night, but… I’m sorry, I’m not going.”

              “You don’t get it; your mundane human life is over. The world is a much bigger and scarier place than you ever knew. That world could find you and if you want to live through it...” he said, appearing in front of me.

              “If what you say is true, then the moment I go to see whoever this is, I am dead,” I cut him off.

              “You don’t understand…”

              “I won’t tell your secret. As you said, no one will believe me.” I turned to the car and reached out for the handle, but he beat me to it, opening the door as I stopped and looked at him.

              “I have a promise to keep,” he said and he had the key out of my hand and shut my door once I was in.

              He walked around and started up the car without another word; he sped through the streets and freeways with his lights off, weaving in and around the other cars on the road as if they weren’t there and ignoring stop signs and street lights. When we got to my street, he slowly pulled up and stopped the car; he leaned back in his seat, placing his hands on his face.

              “I’m sorry, I really am,” I said as I reached for him, but stopped and grabbed for the handle.

              “You know, I could turn you now and all of this would be over,” he said, almost as if I wasn’t supposed to hear it. “This isn’t over, you know?”

              “Have a good night; I’d like to say see you soon, but I rather not.”

              “I know you wouldn’t, that’s why it will be harder the next time I see you. Good night, Vanessa.”

              I got out and closed the door and walked up the path to my front door. I placed the key in the locks and once inside, I walked upstairs to the bathroom and washed my hands. I took my clothes off, placed them in a bag, threw them in the back of my closet, I showered for what felt like and eternity and got into bed. I then heard his car start and pull away. I lay awake a long time until sleep finally won out.

Alyon Alik

Chapter 07.0

             
I sat outside her house and just listened to her moving about, waiting for the first sign of tears or a break down. I imagined bursting in and wrapping my arms around her and soothing her, saying everything would be alright and we could go off together and be alone. Then I came back to reality and knew I was just listening for her to pick up a phone and try to tell someone or her parents what had happened. Then what would I do? Would I burst in and kill her parents, saying it was for the greater good and then steal her away? At that point I had to leave, damn the repercussions.

              I drove fast, the lights and signals of the streets meant nothing to me as I unconsciously made my way home. I hadn’t expected the reception I met, but I wasn’t thinking.

              “Alik”, said Ayara brightly as I walked in on her, my mother, and Ario.

              “Yes, to what do we owe this pleasure?” asked Ario, more disgusted.

              My mother’s eyes were on me, but she stayed silent as I spoke. I could feel Ario’s temper rising as I told my story, but it was my mother who I kept my eyes on; she was the danger in the room. Vampiric law had been broken and I was one of the laws’ keepers; my Masteria wasn’t helping my case either. Ario, third and lowest of the three elders, was expressly in charge of keeping Vampiric law, and instantly saw it as his duty to punish me. My punishment, of course, was destruction. Talking had allowed me to claim and become myself once again and fully see the room while keeping my eyes on my mother, who sat unmoving.

              Ario saw it as a chance when I went on one knee to apologize for what I had done, and he attacked me, appearing next to me. He made a grab for my throat to rip it out, but I had no intention of dying. I blocked by grabbing his wrist and spun, holding onto his wrist to put his hand behind his back, tilting his arm up to force him to kneel. In the same movement, I pulled the dagger at his belt from its sheath and put it to his neck.

              “Alik, what is it you are doing?” asked my mother so calmly that it scared me. “Ario is well within his rights to kill you for what you have done tonight.”

              “He is not. Nothing I have done was done for lust or sexual joy. I did it to save a life. The law states that our blood shall not be shared with a human for those reasons. In the fear of creating banshees and succubi. However, it is conveniently overlooked when it is done to network with the businessmen and the higher classes of the world.”

              “A technicality!” shouted Ario, still at my mercy.

              “True nonetheless.” My mother’s smile gave nothing away as to her intentions. “Nonetheless, this is still a danger to us.”

              “What does this girl bring to us?” asked Ayara.

              “Nothing,” I admitted.

              “Release Ario,” demanded my mother. I did as she commanded and moved back, keeping the dagger. Ario turned to attack me again. “Brother, stop it, you will just embarrass yourself again.”

              “Do you intend to let him live then?” spat Ario, and just the look the two females gave him made him step back.

              “I do, taking the law in the light he has cast it in... No law has been broken. We can bring this girl into the veil and all will be right. On the conditions that she be turned.”

              “No,” I stated and my mother gave me a look that made Ario cringe further, but I held my ground.

              “You may meet her and bring her into the veil, but she is still human. There wasn’t even enough blood to hint at a change. She merely healed, in less than six months she will be no more than a human,” I informed them.

              “She will still know about us. It is a secret life of vampire or death,” said Ayara.

              “Again, I mention your human consorts.”

              “He has us there, sister.”

              “Okay Alik, if you wish to play this game, you may. I will go meet with…”

              “I will bring her here and be present at the meeting,” I cut in.

              “Of course,” said my mother, reaching the limits of her patience. I think Ayara picked up on it.

              “Brother! Come, you have a cut on your neck and the sun in here is keeping it from healing and we have some justice to deal with in China. I know how much you love your justice,” stated Ayara, taking Ario by the hand and moving him away out of my mother’s hall. Everything was still for the ten minutes it took both of them to be out of earshot. That’s when my mother moved.

              I had never been so scared as Vampire as I was at that moment when I lost sight of her. Her next gesture felt as if it was intended to wound. Where she might have attacked to punish, I moved on instinct and it could have been to save face or her original intent, but her hand was placed on my shoulder.

              “You might not be admitting this to yourself, but you love this girl, I can see that. Still, that does not excuse what you put me through with Ario and Ayara here.” Her voice was chilling and I was clutching the dagger harder than I should.

              “I am sorry; I didn't know they would be here, I was not thinking,” I said ashamed.

              “A first for you and this is why you are still standing,” she pointed out, her voice colder than ice. “Next time you will die for your crimes if you create such a scene. Am I understood?”

              “Yes.”

              “Good,” she said, patting my shoulder twice. “I look forward to meeting this girl tonight.” Then she walked out of the room and I took a deep breath. And realized the dagger was no longer in my hand, my nails biting into my skin, my hand trying to clutch at a dagger I no longer held. I had heard my mother walk a million steps, but never had I heard her move with the slightest difficulty as she did now, I thought as I felt the blood heat and steam from my hands as I relaxed and unclenched my fingers.

              “You hurt mother…” June whispered, walking out of a shadow.

              I just turned and left, not daring to think what would happen if I responded to that.