Bella Vita (11 page)

“
Wow! This place is really,
um, interesting. Structurally, at least.” I smiled.

“
I love it.” His eyes were
lost in a distant thought.

“
Dominic!” A male voice
called out to him, I turned to it.

“
Excuse me?” Dom's voice
became steal.

“
Oh, bollocks, it's Master
DeDominico now, right mate?” The guy had an Australian
accent.

“
Hey, Leland! Man, how long
has it been?” Dom hugged a tall tan guy, that couldn't be much
older than us.

“
Isn't it supposed to be
Mr. Williams or something snobbish like that? Aye, it's been a
while.” He punched Dom in the shoulder.

“
Too long, my friend.” The
smile on Dom's face was huge.

“
Hi! I'm Emma Hutchinson,
Dominic's fiancée. And you are?” I held out my hand.

“
Mate, you are forgetting
your manners. I'm Leland Beau Aldridge the first.” He bowed to me
before he took my hand and kissed it.

“
Eh, it's nice to meet you,
Leland.” I blushed nervously at him.

“
Don't worry, darl, I won't
bite ya. Your beau would kick me arse.” He laughed.

“
Look, bud. My name is
Emma.” I huffed. He was ruffling my feathers.

“
Ah, Emma,
mia bella
. This is
Leland. One of my best buddies. I grew up with him and his parents,
Beau and Kylie- good vampire family. I spent some time with them in
their homeland of Australia. It's actually where I got one of my
tats. Oh, crud! I've got to go, my love, I've a class to teach.
I'll see you later.” He kissed me briefly and then ran off at light
speed.

“
Wonderful!” I
grumbled.

“
Don't worry your sweet
face. I'll keep you company.” Leland said and he offered me his
arm.

I was tempted to ignore him and run off to
my class, but I had a few hours to kill. So I took it.

“
So, Leland, tell me about
yourself.” I wanted to know more about this vampire that was so
suddenly in my life.

“
Well, I'm from a
traditional vampire family- only I knew about vampires from the
beginning. We are always surrounded by the vampire culture, it
would've been foolish for my folks to try and hide it. So, I knew
from the get go what I would be. My family has been around for a
long time. Um, they've a horse rescue. I'm 20, although like you my
aging has slowed down. I was born in Newcastle in New South Wales.
I like long walks on the beach, sunsets, sweet blood, and bold
girls that try to pump people for information.” He winked
his
hazel green
eyes at me.

“
Well then... I guess we're
going to be great friends.” I felt drawn to his charismatic
personality.

“
Now, how about you tell me
something about yourself, short stuff.” His words were more like a
command, but done in a way that I couldn't resist.

“
Let me guess, you're a
skilled compeller?” I understood the feeling at once.

“
Perhaps. I'll tell you
mine, if you tell me yours.” He was addicting.

“
I'm a healer, a psychic,
and I've mental abilities that I don't know the right word for.
Your turn, Aussie.” I felt like I was suddenly in a peeing
contest.

“
Wow, quite a gifted one
you're. Well, darl, I can compel, but it's more of a natural thing.
I'm a healer as well. But I'm an excellent tracker- so much that I
get to teach the intro class this year.” He beamed at his own
excellence.

“
Does that mean I'm going
to have to call you Master Aldridge?” I dreaded this
thought.

“
Nah. I like Leland. But if
you want make a sweet pet name for me, feel free. Special
permission given to you for that.” He was such a flirt.

“
For now, I'll just stick
with Leland. What level are you at healing?” I was hoping that he
would actually be part of one of my classes.

“
I'm in as advanced as you
can get here without specializing, level four. Why, trying to see
where you might end up?” Usually being teased bugged me, but his
words felt like coming home to a close friend.

“
Actually, I was wondering
if you would be in another class with me. You see, this is my first
go around here and I didn't want to be completely alone. And I'm in
Advanced Healing 4.” I proclaimed with all the pleasure of watching
his smug face drop.

“
Wait just a second here,
missy. You are just starting this semester and you were placed in
the level four class? How is that even possible, what other classes
do you have, ya bugga?” He looked at me with suspicion.

“
Excuse me? Did you just
call me a 'bugga'?” I was flabbergasted.

“
Oh, sorry, mate, it's a
term of endearment back home.” Leland looked sheepishly up from his
dark blonde shaggy hair.

“
Right. Well I've Healing
4, Mental Training 4, Tracking 1, History of Our People 1, and
something about learning our ways one or something.”

“
Wow, that's bonzer! You're
like a conch?” His words were lost to me.

“
What?” I felt like an
idiot for asking.

“
Sorry. I know, the slang
is different. Bonzer is like great, and conch is a bloke that would
rather work than play.” His forehead pinched together as he tried
to define his Australian slang for me.

“
No, I'm not a conch. I'm
just naturally gifted... And do try to remember I'm a Yank, so some
things will be lost on me.” I smiled.

“
You're a seppo? Wow, never
would've guessed it. You seem like you could be from anywhere given
the right lingo and accent. So, should we stroll over to the
gardens?” He looked me in the eyes and I felt absolutely
comfortable with him, it was like my fears just melted
away.

The healing class began at two in the
afternoon and lasted an hour. Leland and I sat outside until we
needed to go in. When I entered the large glass room I was taken
aback by the amount of space that was available. And the blue tint
to the glass, made the room feel like being underwater. In the
middle of the room, everything was cleared away and throw pillows
were placed. Along each wall, tables were setup for what I assumed
to be potion making. I sat next to Leland. The woman standing at
the front of the room was a thin wiry woman. Her hair was a soft
brown with ringlet curls- clearly from the natural humidity in the
room. She was easily five foot seven, but instead of being
imposing, she was very down-to-earth. Her brown eyes were very
kind. Before she began the class, she called me to the front.

“
Welcome, Emma Hutchinson.
I'm Mistress Fleur, but please call me Lily unless you see someone
official come in the room. I realize that you have some
extraordinary abilities for healing and mental control. I also
understand that most of the people in this room have been together
since the beginning. Please feel free to jot down anything that
you're not familiar with as we go and later we can work on it
together.” Lily's words were softened by her French
accent.

“
Thank you, Lily. I hope to
be able to follow along. I don't know much of learned healing,
perhaps they should've put me in a lower level class. But I do know
that I can heal my own way.” I smiled at her.

“
Perhaps today after class,
if you have time, we can discuss your special talent?” Lily's voice
was like soft rose petals floating on a spring wind.

“
I think I have some time
before my mental training class.” I nodded.

“
Good, now please sit and
just try to relax and get your bearings.” She dismissed
me.

“
Thank you.” I went and sat
back down next to Leland.

I sat and watched as everyone in the class
followed exactly what Lily had to say. I, on the other hand, was
lost. I didn't understand why they had to go through all of these
exercises and use creams to heal small wounds. It seemed as though
everything that they took extra time to do, I could do within
seconds. After about forty-five minutes, I decided that I
definitely did things differently. I was seriously curious as to
whether or not these vampires could heal death or the dying.

“
Excuse me, Lily?” I raised
my voice over the sounds of people packing up for the
day.

“
Yes, Emma?” Lily's voice
was soothing like menthol to congestion.

“
I was wondering if these
healing practices had any effect on healing the dying or curing
death?” The room became silent.

“
Um, death is something
that we don't control. It can't be healed. Why do you ask?”
Although her skin had visibly blanched, I could read the curiosity
in her eyes.

Do I say anything?
“I've heard of people bringing freshly dead
animals back to life.” I hoped that I didn't give anything
away.

“
That would truly be a
miracle, Emma. I've, in all my hundreds of years, have never heard
of or seen another vampire with such abilities.” Her eyes searched
the very depths of my soul.

“
Oh, okay. Never mind
then.” I looked down at the ground, my face felt hot, and I could
tell many of my classmates were staring at me.

“
Once you're packed up and
things are put away you're welcome to leave.” Lily announced to the
classroom.

I desperately wanted to bolt from the
room.

“
Hey, Em, I'll see you over
in Mental Training.” Leland said with a wink as he left the
room.

How did he? Oh I told
him.
I was nervous about having to talk
about what I could do with my own healing powers.

“
Emma?” Lily's voice broke
through my internal rant of nerves.

“
Yes, Lily.” I tried to
smile.

“
Please, come and sit with
me.” Lily's presence was relaxing like sitting in the garden with a
cup of tea, but I was still terrified that I was a freak- I went
and sat across from her.

“
I feel that your question
was brought on from personal experience and not just a curious
mind. How about you tell me what you can do, and we'll figure out
how to place you. Okay?” She smiled at me.

“
Well, I know that I can
bring things back from the dead- at least things that are just
dead- nothing rotting.. or at least I hope not. That would be
gross. I can heal others when I direct my energy to their injuries.
And I can cure fatal wounds. That's about it. But I don't use
anything other than my own energy. I didn't know there was another
way to do it.” I stared down at the table between us.

“
Mon
Dieu
, that is quite amazing. This class is
meant to teach people to cure injuries, nothing fatal, but
relatively bad ones. We use all things necessary to get the results
we want. I've never met a vampire that can utilize their energy in
such a manner. Do you think you could show me?” Her face was lit
with excitement.

“
Um, are you injured
somewhere?” My nerves tripled.

“
Not yet, but a small
injury I could heal quickly myself, I'd like to see you heal
something larger. Nothing fatal. Could you do this for me?”Lily was
holding a large knife, my stomach dropped to my knees.

“
Mistress Fleur, are you
sure?” I was really scared.
What happens
if I fail?

“
Yes, Emma, I'll make a
gash that would take me hours to heal, but you'll heal it.
D'accord
?” She nodded as
she asked.

“
Yes, Lily.” I responded
automatically.

I watched in weird terror as my new
professor took the wicked looking knife in her hand and slashed a
huge wound on her left forearm. The blood sprayed out, and then
flowed down her arm in a steady stream. My fangs dropped into place
from the scent of pure vampire blood.

“
Now, heal it, if you would
Emma.” She was transfixed by my every movement.

I placed a towel over the wound to stop me
from becoming more distracted by the blood. I held the injury as
tightly as I could and closed my eyes. I quickly went into a calm
state. I sent out my energy to the wound. It was easier to handle
through my mind's eye. Within a minute I had all the damage undone.
I took the towel off and handed it to Lily. She looked from her arm
to me with sheer amazement.

“
Emma, I just don't know
what to say. Are you sure you can do everything that you've said?”
Lily was examining her unscathed arm as she asked me the
question.

“
Yes, Lily. I can.” I said
point blank.

“
Perhaps we can bring in
another healer, and set up private lessons for you at the same
time. What do you think of that? In the meantime, I would like you
to try and teach some of your skill to the class, so I'll give you
twenty minutes each day to try and guide the students in this form
of healing. Okay?” I followed Lily's movements as she stroked the
spot where she had sliced straight through to the bone.

“
If you think they can
learn this, then I would be honored. But, I have to go now.” I
checked my watch.

“
Oh, yes, of course. I'm
sorry to have kept you so long. Have a good day, Emma.” She briefly
looked up, but basically waved me off.