Forever Young The Beginning (67 page)

“
Mmmm; I’m getting ideas
love. Best take care now lest I have to show you what I
mean.”

“
But Alandra, I haven’t
gotten to wash your back yet.” he murmured in a serious tone as he
intimately caressed her, nuzzling her neck and nibbling about her
earlobe. She squirmed and laughed a low and throaty sound. “The
fireplace is calling us. The fire you started in it should be just
about right now. The fire you started here in this tub can’t
wait.”

He picked her up as he stood up in the
tub and snagging two towels, he carried her out to the parlor where
a fire was crackling softly. Drying them both he laid the towels on
the floor next to the hearth, where they very slowly and
deliciously made love.

***

Anna and her newlywed husband Lukas
were hopelessly lost in Paris on their honeymoon. They had taken
their own carriage with a team of four horses from Lausanne to
Paris. Their driver Horst had never been there before. Accompanying
them were Anna’s personal maid Liridona and her brother Andre who
by now was twenty years old. The street they were on was a dimly
lit one in a very seedy looking part of the city. They had just
passed a small shop with a garish looking yellow storefront. Horst
saw a figure standing at the entrance to an alleyway that looked
like a man watching them. He hailed the man asking for directions
to get to the Champs Elysees, but got no response. Andre got out of
the carriage, crossed the street and approached the man, asking
again for directions. The onlookers in the carriage were horrified
to see the shadowy figure dart at a blinding speed toward Andre and
leap on him, biting his neck.

Horst and Lukas jumped from the
carriage and ran to the two. Lukas tried to pull the thing from
Andre, hearing a sucking sound as he got there. A cold chill ran
down his back at the sound that the thing made. It simply
backhanded Lukas and knocked him sprawling even as its head darted
downward and it again fastened itself to Andres’ neck.

Horst pulled a pocket pistol from his
jacket pocket and cocking it, shot the thing in its head. It
screamed and fell off of Andre and threshed about on the pavement
making movements which their eyes could barely follow. They helped
Andre into the carriage and Horst vaulted up as fast as he could to
the driver’s seat and got the team moving as fast as possible to
put some distance between them and the thing writhing on the
cobblestones.

They drove for several minutes until
Horst saw a building which he thought was familiar. He turned the
horses toward it on a side street and as they passed by, they saw
the way to the Champs Elysees. Within some ten minutes they were at
their hotel. They all rushed in, half carrying Andre. The concierge
sent the valet on duty to find a doctor.

In some forty minutes a doctor arrived
at their suite. He examined Andre and said that he had lost a
little blood, but not enough to account for his being unconscious.
Shaking his head he advised them that if he didn’t wake up in the
morning to take him to a hospital where he was a member of the
staff. Giving them the address he departed.

***

Ian and Alandra had been resting by
the fireplace. She had fallen asleep and he had lain watching her
as he often loved to do.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the
door. It persisted as Ian got up and put on some trousers and a
shirt at vampire speed. Taking a blanket, he covered Alandra who
was now awakening. He opened the door to see Anna standing there,
tears streaming from her eyes. “Ian, come quickly. Andre has been
attacked! He was bitten on his neck by some man. Please come
now!”

Not intending to leave Alandra Ian
replied “Where did this happen?”

“
On some street not too far
from here. Hurry, he’s unconscious!”

“
Come in, and you needn’t
worry. I want you to meet my wife, Alandra. Alandra, this is Anna
Eschmann.” The two exchanged greetings. Ian said “Where is Andre
now?”

“
In our suite in this
building.”

“
Who else knows about
this?”

“
Just my husband, our
driver, and our maid. Oh, I did have the concierge get a
doctor.”

Ian raised his eyebrows
questioningly.

“
He looked at Andre and said
that he couldn’t understand why he was still unconscious. I came
hoping that one of you might be here.”

“
You did the right thing.
You tell your husband that I’m a health specialist who happened to
be using Henri’s suite. I’ll bring Andre here. You needn’t worry.
He’s even now becoming as I am. I’ll care for him until he makes
the transition. Alandra, can you wait here for a few
minutes?”

She sat wrapped in a blanket in front
of the fireplace in a large chair and nodding her head “Yes, go now
and help him.”

“
We’ll return here shortly
then.” He walked to her and kissed her and took the key and locked
the door behind himself after he and Anna went out. They walked
along the opulent corridors toward the suite the Eschmanns had
rented.

“
I’m really sorry to bring
this to you, Ian. I was just so afraid and I thought one of you
could help.”

“
You did the right thing.
All that I’m concerned about now is helping him to make the
transition in the best way.”

“
How long will that
take?”

“
Three weeks. Everything
that is done in that time is critical to him forever. I’m going to
have to get him out of Paris shortly though; maybe tomorrow or the
next day. Your part of this is to keep the driver and your husband
ignorant of what has really happened. You’ll tell them that I’m
familiar with the type of disease that makes people turn mad and
attack others and I have a colleague here who has treated its
victims before. Tell them that Andre will recover. Can you do
that?”

“
Yes.” The two walked
wordlessly for a bit and then she spoke. “Ian, your wife….she’s
lovely. How did you meet?”

“
We met years before I met
you, even before I met Cosette, when I was still human.”

“
Did you…did you love her
then?”

“
Yes. After I became
infected and changed, I gave up on the idea of us ever having a
life together.” He looked at her then as they walked and said “I
feared her reaction if I told her what I’d become.”

She was silent as they walked, and
looked down shame-faced, saying “I’m only too familiar with your
fears in that regard.”

“
You know, it’s because you
sent me away that I finally ended up learning that she’d never
married. I told her everything about myself then and she didn’t
care. She loves me as I am. That she and I are married is something
that is in part thanks to you. I want to thank you for that, and I
do hope that you’re happy with your life now.”

They had arrived at the door
to Anna’s suite and she turned to him and said “I
am
happy, Ian, and I’m so
sorry that I drove you away and hurt you. I’ve hurt for years over
that, and with you saying this, I’m finally healed of that guilt. I
have a fine husband and two little girls that I love dearly. I’m
very happy now.” She stepped close to him then and they hugged each
other for a bit.

Then she said “Thank you, love. This
means more to me than you can know.” Taking her key out she opened
the door to their suite. They passed through the main parlor area
to a bedroom to find Lukas Eschmann, the driver, and Liridona all
seated around the bed where Andre lay.

Anna introduced Ian to her husband and
to the driver. Liridona came to Ian weeping and took both of his
hands saying “Ian, can you save my brother?”

“
Yes, Liri. He’ll recover
soon. I’ll take him with me to our suite. We’ll be moving to
another place outside of the city shortly.”

In the privacy of his suite, Ian took
one of his four flasks and holding it to Andre’s mouth, he poured a
bit in. Andre seemed non-responsive at first, and then he swallowed
it. Ian kept giving it to him until it was all gone. Andre opened
his eyes. Ian spoke to him then saying “Andre, I’m Ian. Do you
remember me?

“
Yes…yes. Hello Ian.” he
said with a weak smile.

“
You’ve been bitten by a
vampire and you’re now becoming one because you once took my blood.
I’m going to be staying with you for the next three weeks or so
until you’re past this stage. You must do everything that I tell
you to do. Do you understand?

“
Yes. Ian, am I going to…
you know… be like…?”

“
Yes, you’re going to be
like me. I’ll see to it that this goes well as best I’m able. I’ll
be with you the entire time.”

Two days later, Ian arrived
at the dilapidated house that was within two miles of the
Angel’s Care
orphanage
near Paris. With him in the carriage were Alandra, Louis, Celeste,
and Andre

Soon they set about making the place
more habitable. Food, bedding, and blankets were brought
in.

“
Alandra, you are to stay
with Louis and Celeste at Henri and Marie’s suite. Don’t go
anywhere alone, ever. None are to go out at night until we know
more, just to be safe. Unless some of the others come I will be
here for the whole time.. I’ll need powder and lead balls because
we’re going to be doing some shooting here.”

“
Ian, I’ll stay here with
you two.”

“
Lass, it won’t be too
comfortable here. It’s cool weather to be bathing in a stream. I
have to teach Andre how to bleed game too.”

“
I don’t care, Ian. I’m
staying and that is that. What do you think that bag is for?” she
said, pointing to a large piece of luggage.

Smiling then he nodded and said “Of
course you are, love.” and he pulled her close and kissed her. To
Celeste and Louis he said “You two keep your eyes open and I want
to know if anyone in Anna’s group can tell me anything about the
place where it happened; anything at all that might make it
possible for me to find the place. If you get any information from
them at all, ask the concierge if he knows of the place

“
Do you think Marie and
Henri are going to be here anytime soon?”

“
The courier won’t make the
chateau before tomorrow, so the earliest could be two to three days
if they come on foot. As long as there are no other vampires in
this vicinity that want to stay here I’ll have no trouble. No one
is to come around here if they’ll be traveling after dark,
understand?”

“
Yes.” said Louis, and
Celeste nodded.

Turning to Andre, Ian said “Lad, get
your shirt and pants off. You are going to be getting a lot of
sunshine for a while.”

***

Three days later there was a knock at
the door to Henri and Marie’s apartment suite. Mustafa walked to
the door to answer it. He opened it to see a lovely tall and
willowy lady with dark hair and large pretty hazel colored eyes.
She curtsied and said “Bon jour, monsieur. I am Liridona Amsler,
Madame Eschmann’s maid. May I speak to someone regarding my
brother, Andre?” Mustafa took her hand with a smile and bent to
kiss it, saying “Enchante’ mademoiselle.” Using his new alias he
said “And I am Maurice Garnier, at your service. Please do come
in.”

Liridona blushed and Mustafa thought
he’d never seen anything more captivating in his life. Being a
domestic in plain attire, she was not accustomed to being so
gallantly treated by such people as this tall, dark well-dressed
man. Showing her in, he took her to a sofa and bid her wait until
he could get the others.

Shortly Henri, Marie, Louis, Celeste,
Li, and Sophia appeared with him. All of them including the three
women were carrying rucksacks that were bulging with unknown
contents. From their clothing it appeared that they were going to
some sort of an outdoor event.

She stood then, saying “Pardon me all,
but I’m Liridona, the sister of Andre. I was wondering if I could
come see him. Madame Eschmann has excused me for today and
tomorrow.”

Henri and Marie exchanged looks.
Mustafa made introductions all around and Henri said “Andre is in
good hands, Mademoiselle. What exactly do you want to
know?”

“
Please call me Liri. I only
want to see him and to know that he is well.”

Henri and Marie again exchanged looks.
Henri shrugged, and said “If you can show Marie and me where this
happened, we’ll take you to see your brother.”

“
I’ll try Monsieur
Lafayette.”

“
Very well; let’s be going
then.” They left the place then and at the staircase, Mustafa
offered his arm to Liridona as she started down. Again, she was
only used to following her employers, not to being treated so
gallantly. Liridona blushed and she found herself liking his
attention very much. And she couldn’t help but notice how handsome
Mustafa was when he smiled, which was every time he looked her
way.

They came to the carriage
and supply wagon and Henri said “We’ll split up here, and meet at
the house near
Angel’s
Care
. Marie, Sophia and I’ll go with
Liridona to try to find this place. You others take the wagon and
supplies to the house.”