Twice Bitten (38 page)

I believe we were all surprised she came up with something that could work so quickly. Normally, there is a debate—often a
long
one! In my brief company with my undead comrades, I completely understand the rumor that they’ve been bickering amongst themselves over a variety of issues for centuries.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea, ‘Princess’!” beamed Raquel.

She looked over at Armando, who nodded in agreement, followed by Tyreen and Garvan. That left only my vote.

“Just as long as neither of you gets hurt on my account, I’m fine with it.” I smiled at the prospect that life in the palace—and even in the proposed relocation much deeper into the Himalayas—would be less torturous, at least mentally.

“Then, that’s what we’ll do.” Chanson’s smile was especially coy as she eyed me seriously again. “It definitely means you must never venture beyond the reception area where your food is set each day. Are we clear on that point as well, cousin?”

What could I say? She wasn’t about to let up until she got her way. And the compromise we had quickly worked out was one I could live with.

“Yes, I’ll do as you ask,” I agreed. “It’s settled.

***

Looking back on all of this, I’m glad that first Christmas away from my family and the country I grew up in was a positive experience, over all, for both days. Granted the dragon massacre of a defenseless mother will likely stay with me forever. That’s especially true given what happened to me in January.

I was just getting back in the groove of reading real books—one every few days—along with listening to music and playing games with my electronic devices. Keep in mind, that I had to ‘educate’ Raquel and Garvan on how to download apps and music to the Apple devices while they were in France, so I could use the damned things in the tallest mountain range of the world.

Developing a routine, one of mental survival, became a priority. I tried to pace my reading, playing, and music listening to certain times of the day, so I wouldn’t burn out on anything. Then I’d try and fully experience the palace daily routines, looking for nuances that I might’ve missed previously. I opened my mind to inspiration and insights from virtually anywhere I could get them.

One afternoon in mid January—a few weeks into this brand new approach and outlook on life—I was on my way downstairs to eat a little something. I had pushed my hunger to the point of physical weakness in order to make the food taste a little better. The sun was shining with very few clouds in the sky, and yet a light fog had gathered around the palace below my view from the third floor. By then the grand window had also been fully repaired.

I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked as if there were more dragon tracks in the fresh powdered snow that fell the previous night. The temperature was still quite chilly, and much of the morning had been cloudy with flurries. But, the fact we were having such a beautiful afternoon was something worthwhile to embrace. I let the sun’s soft warmth coming through the windowpane bathe me for a moment.

A light growl from my stomach prompted me to head downstairs, which was probably best. I had started to doze off in the quiet warmth embracing me from the sunlight and the billowing heat that poured down from the furnace vents outside my bedchamber. I moved downstairs to the main level, clasping the top buttons to my blouse to shelter my neckline. For some reason, my birthmark felt oddly exposed—especially as I moved past the window on the second floor.

As I stepped onto the ornate marble surface of the first floor, I heard what sounded like a girl weeping outside the front door. Two little servant girls had just left the table where I usually took my meals, and I could see rising steam from the plates and dishes they had arranged for me. But, they seemed oblivious to the whimpering sound that was growing steadily louder behind me.

I hesitated before continuing up to where my eating table sat, as Chanson’s warning repeated in my mind. Really, I had no intent of seeing what was beyond the door, especially since there wasn’t a peephole in the heavy door. I suppose Himalayan vampires don’t worry much about home invasions.

I decided it wasn’t worth worrying about and headed to my table, ignoring the image in my mind of a young Chinese woman begging for her life before becoming dragon cuisine. I believe if I could’ve moved out of earshot—even barely—the outcome of that afternoon might’ve turned out far different than it did.

As anyone reading this can already guess, I wasn’t able to do that.

Yet, it didn’t go down like you might think. It wasn’t a case of me feeling compassion for a stranger, and that I decided to risk life and limb to prevent the common immortal predator and human prey relationship that seemed to flourish there. No, it was something far worse. It was someone I knew and knew quite well who needed my help.

At first it was indistinct, once I turned my back on the door and headed to the reception area. Yet, a moment later, the voice and words were distinctly clear. In rising agony, I heard Tyreen calling for me—more like
begging
for me to come to her rescue.

So I did. I ran to the door, and fought with the locks until I managed to loosen them all. Then I pulled on the door to get outside, hating the low moan that the heavy wood made as it rubbed against the marble tiles.

“Txema…
help!!
I’m burning up…you’ve gotta get me back inside—
owwwww!!!”

Oh, my God—Tyreen!!!

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, less than twenty feet away. Part of the mist had cleared away, and my best friend was smoldering under direct sunlight as a heap of vampire flesh in the middle of the iced-over walkway. She was wearing the same maroon Pilates tights and gold pullover I saw her dressed in the night before. She screamed, reaching out for me to grasp her outstretched burning hand and arm.

In a matter of seconds, she would explode into flames and cinders—I had to move quickly to save her life. I raced out through the door and ran toward her, unconcerned if I slipped and fell or not.

That should’ve been my least concern. Even before the mirage of Tyreen suddenly shriveled up and vanished, I knew I was in terrible trouble. The closing door behind me took care of that news flash. But what happened next was much worse!

Out of the shadows on either side of the immense entrance to Xu Zheng Palace stepped two dragons. Eyeing me with cold crocodile eyes, almost orange in iridescence, their mouths were slightly open, exposing twin rows of predatory, long sharp teeth. The monsters were nearly identical, bearing the same gray skin as the other dragon I saw on Christmas Eve. Roughly ten feet in height, their long, muscular legs made jumping over to where I stood in broad daylight an easy effort.

I was speechless, and at first couldn’t find my voice to scream with. Instead, I found myself offering rapid-fire silent prayers that the pair would suddenly start flaming up like the image of Tyreen did, and then explode into nothingness. Unlike my vampire associates, the pair of dragons seemed to read my rampant thoughts, as they glanced at each other and then knowingly nodded at me. Or, perhaps it was the fact my knees were damned near knocking together.

They opened their sharp claws and moved to corner me. I noticed then that the one to my left had fluttering wings protruding from its shoulders. In a panic, I scooted away from them as much as possible, slipping and sliding on the ice that didn’t seem to bother my pursuers in the least. I was moving further away from the palace and my only safe haven. Yes, by then I had already found my voice again and was screaming as loud as I could for someone to come to my rescue—calling desperately to Garvan and Chanson mostly, and even to Gustav.

But, I was on my own…completely!

I thought about making a run for it, as if I could somehow make it around or through the legs of one of these lizard beasts. It didn’t seem possible…. No, correction—it wasn’t possible at all. Not with their close proximity and the slippery ice beneath my shoes. Worse yet, when I glanced behind me, I saw the sheer precipice that could send me tumbling thousands of feet to my death was less than fifteen feet away.

This time I was truly screwed. I had disobeyed Chanson’s strict orders, and now I would pay for it with my life. I had fucked things up royally for not just me, but also my child within me. Not to mention any vampire that depended upon our survival.

While lamenting about this, and feeling my throat go hoarse from all of my screams, the pair moved in closer to where less than two feet separated us. One took a swing at my face, and I felt the breeze from its near miss. I highly doubted the bastard would come up short the next time it took a swing. But as it hissed at me, suddenly a voice like thunder resound
ed from above us

“Teng! Woˇ
jian
gˋ
hu
iˋ
sha le niˇ!!”

A shadow descended rabidly from above. As I cowered from this newcomer, a figure dressed in a crimson and gold changshen landed directly in front of me, and like the inflamed image of Tyreen less than a
minute ago, whoever this was seemed ready to burst into flames at any moment.

It had to be a male, and with his back to me this mysterious figure faced the dragons, holding an ornate sword to fend them off. The golden crown with jade symbols told me who this must be, but before I could be sure I needed to see his face. Suddenly, he turned his head toward me. It was Xuanxang.

His skin began to burn, and while I expected him to be angry at me for not only disrupting his daytime hibernation but also endangering his very life, his expression was compassionate.

“Run, Txema—flee while you can!” he said, pointing to a path nearby that looked as if it descended down the mountain. Covered in ice and steep, it looked like another sure way to meet death that day. I pointed back toward the palace, since I couldn’t see another viable option, but he shook his head fiercely. “There is no time, and the conspiracy to kill you is too widespread in our midst to protect you any longer.”

The flames started to spread across his face, and I thought he would definitely die. But then his skin stopped burning and instead peeled away. As it did, loud ripping noises erupted from his back, and he turned to fend off the other dragons, since their initial attack was upon him. Meanwhile, large red fins began to grow out of the back of his head and down his back, and his hands quickly transformed into the same raptor-like claws of his counterparts.

In less than half a minute, the vampire Xuanxang had gone from a daylight-stricken inferno to a powerful dragon that dwarfed the other two by a least a foot. I should’ve already gotten back on my feet and ran, but I felt too terrified. Apparently, there was still something sensitive to my plight within him, and Xuanxang turned to face me after whipping the other two dragons off their feet with his fin-covered tail. When he looked at me that last time, I could almost see the struggle of vampire, human, and primitive beast going on within.

“RUN!!!”
he roared at me, his voice no longer containing any aspect of humanity. His fiery red eyes grew darker.
“RUN BEFORE WE ALL EAT YOU!!!”

My legs felt even weaker than they had when he first addressed me. But I crawled away while I felt him leering at me, surely struggling to contain the monster within that would love to tear me open and devour my entrails like the dragon I witnessed three weeks earlier. As soon as I could, I stood up and ran for the path, casting a terrified glance behind me.

The dragon that was once Xuanxang managed to subdue one of the other dragons. But the dragon with wings had slipped away from him and now pursued me in earnest. If I could reach the top of the path and make it down a few steps, I thought I’d elude the monster. For a moment, it looked as if I just might do it. Survival—at least temporary—was within my grasp. Yet, as I began to navigate the initial icy steps and stared down at the sheer drop of several thousand feet, I slipped and my feet went out from beneath me. Pulling myself up by the flimsy wooden rail that supported the path, I watched in horror as the dragon flew into the air above. It suddenly dove toward me. Its jaws and claws were poised to rip me apart.

There was nothing I could do. A valiant fight had ended, set up by falling for a trap set up by someone wanting me dead. If only I could do it over….

I closed my eyes and said goodbye to everyone I loved, beginning with my unborn daughter, whose brief existence would end as a minuscule morsel in this fiend’s stomach.

A pair of sharp claws ripped through my shirt and grazed my skin to where I felt the blood flow. Slightly lighter than the attack I expected, I braced myself for the inevitable first big bite. But then the claws gripped my shirt and bra and wadded them into secure bands to lift me into the air. Another angry roar was met by a defiant screech, and I opened my eyes.

Something huge and ugly—but certainly not a dragon—carried me. Picking up speed as it soared over the chasm, I dared to look up beyond its grayish-green, leathery legs. It was sort of like a bird, and also not at all. It had no feathers and was much bigger than any bird I’d ever seen pictures of, including the Andean condor. I suddenly realized I’d seen a creature like this on a Johnny Quest rerun that Papa would sometimes watch with my brothers when they were little. It seemed impossible…and yet what was impossible in this crazy world of vampires and other immortals?