The Turning (14 page)

They would just bite me every several hours. I tried to count the bites once when I was conscious to try and figure out how long I had been there.

None of the bites were healing, which scared me. I figured I didn’t have enough blood or strength for them to heal. Then a silly thought came in my head, and I was grateful I didn’t use the bathroom anymore, which would be the only thing that made this worse. If I had to sit there in my own waste, that would just be the cherry on top of this sundae. I was so weird, staring at death’s door and that’s what I thought about.

Waking later when someone bit me again, it took everything I had in me to keep from screaming. The pain was getting to be unbearable and I knew tears were streaming down my face no matter how hard I tried not to cry. Then there was a loud noise in the other room that sounded almost like a blast.

No, Brian, run
.
There are too many, they want to kill you!
I hoped somehow he could hear me. Suddenly I realized there was someone next to me, trying to get the chains off. It hurt too much to open my eyes, but I recognized their smell.

“Trent?” I whispered, completely confused, wondering if I was dreaming.

“Yes, Kelly, it’s me.” He tried to sound calm, but it didn’t work. I could tell he was freaked.

“You’re a vampire? No way, I’ve heard your heartbeat,” I mumbled, trying to focus through my cloudy mind. I was too weak to say much, and my throat was like the Sahara. I really was a bad vampire if I couldn’t tell who was human. “Don’t you dare bite or turn Nicole. I’ll kick your ass if you do.”

He let out a light chuckle. “No, I’m human, but I have known what Brian is for a long time. When he told me what was going on, I wanted to come help.”

“You and Brian have to get out of here, there are too many. Dante has at least twenty guys.”

“Kelly, it’s okay. Brian has other elders with him. They’ve killed almost all of them.” Just then he got the last chain off but he caught me before I slid off the chair. I didn’t realize the chains were keeping me up in the chair, or how weak I really was. Trent picked me up into his arms. “Shit, Kelly. You’re really bad, and you’re so light, fragile.”

I wanted to tell him thanks, but I passed out again.

When I regained consciousness, I realized I was in someone’s lap. I finally opened my eyes to see Brian’s big green, beautiful eyes looking down at me. “Are you okay, Brian? There were at least twenty of them—”

He cut me off. “Yes, my lovely Kelly, we are all fine, and they are all dead.” I started to cry, I was so relieved the tears just came. “Do not cry, my dear, you are safe. But right now you have to drink so you can heal.”

I looked around the car I realized we were in and saw a bunch of people I didn’t know, until I got to Jesse’s face and Ms. Drake’s. I stopped on her face, and smiled at her.

“Nice to see you too, Kelly, my dear. Go ahead and drink. You are going to need a lot of blood. We are all willing to donate some to you,” she coaxed with that winning smile again.

“Okay. Brian, you are going to have to stop me, I’m not very good at gauging that,” I warned him. All he did was smile and stroke my hair. I knew I couldn’t lift myself to his neck so I pulled back his shirt a little and bit into his chest. After several moments, he lifted me off him, which I took as the signal to stop.

I gazed back into his eyes. “Thanks. You taste like strawberry ice cream.” The whole car started laughing, but I wasn’t done. “And you rescued me, so I forgive you for being a
dick
in Miami.” He gave me a quick kiss then carefully moved me to the gentleman who sat next to him.

“Hi, Kelly, I’m Andre Santtuchi. I’m the elder for New York, and a dear friend of Brian’s.” Andre was extremely handsome, gorgeous brown eyes and longer, curly brown hair. Was that a rule? That you had to be hot to be a vampire? “We weren’t laughing at you, we loved your analogy. Most of us have been a vampire for so long we’ve forgotten what real food tastes like. I would ask you please tell me what I taste like when you are done drinking from me.”

I smiled and nodded as he brought me up to his neck. I sank my fangs in, and he let me have a very long drink. I think Andre might have been enjoying himself too much because Brian cleared his throat to signal that I had drunk enough.

I lifted my head and looked up to Andre and said, “You taste like black cherry pop, which is one of my favorites.” He started laughing and carefully passed me to the next guy.

“Kelly, are you starting to feel a little better?” I nodded, still having trouble talking. The man had green eyes, much lighter than Brian’s, and black hair that was tied back at the base of his neck. “Good, I’m Nicholas Ventura. I’m the elder of Annapolis. I was told you were in the Navy ROTC back in the day?” I nodded again and he lifted me to drink.

When we were done, he passed me to the next guy across the limo. Only rich vampires would take a limo to a bloody fight to rescue someone.

“Hello, young one, I’m Charles, Charles Rozmarynowski. I’m the elder of the Midwest, but I am originally from Krakow. I heard you have distant family who still live in Poland?” the man said, identifying himself. And again, I was just staring at the hot man holding me. He had great, deep blue eyes that looked almost like fake contacts. His ear length, darker blond hair fell into his eyes as he watched me.

“Yes, my mother’s side of the family is Polish. My great grandparents emigrated from there,” I answered, snapping myself out of my daze. Wondering how they knew so much about me, but loving hearing the accent that I grew up hearing.

He lifted me up to his neck and I drank from him too. Then he passed me to Jesse, and I started to try to get away.

“No, I don’t want to drink from Jesse!”

Jesse raised an eyebrow and frowned down at me. “Kelly, that would hurt my feelings if I had any. Why not?”

“You lied to Brian. I don’t trust you,” I blurted before I could stop myself, slapping a hand over my mouth.

“When did I do this?” he inquired, looking very intrigued now. I glanced over to Brian with wide eyes, begging for help. But he simply nodded at me.

“When I first saw you at the party, you walked up to Brian and called him an old friend. You said it was good to see him and that he looked well. You were lying,” I said with a sigh, knowing that this was going to be an issue.

“I was in fact, but the question is how you know this?” he mused almost as if he was enjoying this and seeing me squirm. Jesse’s light blue eyes sparkled with amusement. I found Charles’s hand and held on to it as tight as I could manage. He must have felt my tension, because he gave mine a gentle squeeze.

“I’ve always been able to tell when people are lying to me. A wave comes over me when they are. Almost like a cool breeze. My question is why did you lie to him?”

“That is truly amazing. Did you know she had that talent, Brian?” We all turned to Brian who blinked several times before shaking his head. Jesse continued. “I was lying about Brian and I being old friends. We have had some problems in the past, mainly stemming from us both being very competitive. So you can tell on humans
and
vampires?”

I nodded slowly, hoping he wasn’t going to bite me now, instead of the other way around.

He just laughed. “You are truly one of a kind, Kelly, go ahead drink up.” I sat up and let go of Charles’s hand. Biting into his neck, I drank and started to feel much better. And I could sense some of my wounds closing up.

“You taste like chocolate cake, the good stuff from Portillo’s.” That made everyone chuckle again.

“Kelly, I forgot to ask you what I tasted like,” Charles prompted. “I don’t want to be left out of the fun.”

I smiled at him. “You taste like cream from a cream puff or éclair.” His eyes lit up, and he smiled, nodding his head as if he was pleased. Jesse then passed me to Julie Drake.

“Hi, Ms. Drake, how are you?” I asked, feeling weird about biting another woman.

“Please call me Julie, Kelly. You are such a pleasure. Hurt and weak, but yet you are asking how I am.” She chuckled for a minute before continuing, “I did tell you my name, but I did not tell you I was the elder for North America.”

Wow, she was so nice and a big shot.
That’s rare.

“I also saw what happened at the party, and you did nothing wrong. I was very impressed at the way you handled yourself. Most new vampires are very timid and would have run back to their maker for protection. It takes a strong vampire, and more importantly a strong woman, to stand up for themselves when they are being accosted as you were.” She raised her eyebrow and looked at Brian now. “And I told this to Brian and gave him a stern lecture on how he handled the situation, yelling at you like that.”

A huge smile formed over my face. I was very glad to hear her say that. “Thank you very much, Julie, I’m glad someone is able to keep Brian in line.” Laughter rang out in the whole car, and it made me snicker to see all these really old vampires get such a kick out of me. They really let it loose when I glanced over at Brian and stuck out my tongue.

Julie craned her neck so I could get a good view of it. I bit into her softly and drank. She let me drink for a while, and not only did I feel much better, but it was like drinking liquid power. I pulled back from her. My eyes wide and all I could say was, “Wow, that was awesome.”

She laughed again and handed me back to Brian.

He took me in his arms so softly, giving me just the littlest hug, but I turned back to Julie. “May I ask how you all know so much about me?”

Julie nodded, pleased. “Nothing gets by you, does it, Kelly?” I just smiled at her as she continued. “When someone as old as Brian chooses to turn someone, they will be incredibly powerful for a new vampire. It is, how you say, a very big deal. His candidate has to be brought before a committee and we decide if that candidate is truly worthy of such a gift. You were the first one I have ever seen brought before the committee where all twelve members agreed unanimously that you were a good choice.”

“So this was all going on before I even knew I was, um, nominated?” I asked. She smiled and nodded at me. “Well I guess I’m glad you all liked me so.” There were a few snorts, then we stopped, and the car door was opened. “Where are we?”

“My home,” Brian explained. “I want to keep a close eye on you for a few days, make sure you are all right. I called Nicole and told her you were under the weather and would be staying with me for a few days while my personal doctor saw to you.”

“Thank you, I don’t want anyone freaking out again that I’ve gone missing. How long was I there?” I gazed up at him as he carried me out of the limo. He looked all choked up with tears swimming in his eyes.

“Three days,” Julie informed me, apparently seeing Brian couldn’t speak. “I apologize for it taking us so long. Brian wanted to go in immediately after we located you. I talked him into making sure you were there first and thoroughly scouting the area. It would have done no good if we had gone in there unprepared, outnumbered, and risked you getting killed.”

“I understand.” I was just grateful they got me out. “It was a very smart plan, and I thank all of you for saving me, and giving me your blood.” By then we were at the top floor of Brian’s building. The whole top floor was converted into a huge condo, high vaulted ceiling and windows. “How can you have all this light coming in, Brian?”

“The glass is tinted so nothing harmful gets in. It is what most people call bullet proof glass, but it works for us to keep out the sun.” He still carried me as if he was worried I was going to break. “I’m going to put you in my room, if that is fine with you. And then say goodbye to our guests who are leaving. I also have to make sure the other guests are settled.”

“Yes, will you come back and lay with me? I don’t really want to be alone right now,” I hedged. “I know it’s stupid, but that was—”

“It is not stupid at all. You have just been through a horrible ordeal. I would be honored to stay with you.” He gently laid me on his huge king size bed that was so soft and comfy I decided I never, ever wanted to use any other bed ever again.

Brian stepped out of the room, leaving the door open so he could hear me if I needed anything, I assumed. I was just starting to drift when I heard someone and saw Julie sit on the bed by me.

“Kelly, now that all the men have left, I have to know. What do I taste like?” she asked, almost seeming embarrassed by her curiosity.

I giggled a bit. “You tasted like a perfectly ripe, juicy pear that was picked right off the tree so it was extra fresh.”

Her face lit up. “Well thank you. That is quite a compliment.” And we both chuckled. “I do not normally do this with new vampires but I find myself caring a lot about you. Here is my card. If you ever need anything, you call me. Do you understand?”

I smiled up at her. “Yes, ma’am, thank you so much for everything.”

“It is I who has you to thank, Kelly. I have never seen Brian so happy and full of love. Not even when I first made him,” she said and clearly saw the surprise on my face. “Yes, I made him, hoping he would be my companion and lover. He did not feel the same towards me as I did him, but it grew into an aunt and nephew type of bond.

“Be patient with him. He is rough around the edges, but has a heart of gold. Brian just has trouble showing it. I have never known him to have a relationship with a vampire, or any woman, in the four hundred plus years I have known him.” As she finished she leaned over to give me a kiss on the head and tucked me in before she left.

It made me smile that Brian hadn’t been around the block several hundred times, but also made me laugh that we were both idiots when it came to relationships. This was going to be challenging to say the least. I started to fall asleep again, but soon felt strong arms pull me towards a cool body.

“Thank you, Brian.” Then I drifted into a deep sleep.

I woke up a few hours later, after a nightmare about being bitten all over my body. I couldn’t shake the sensation that it wasn’t over, that I was still in the warehouse. Feeling just nasty and dirty, I wanted a shower more than anything in the world.