Fire Nectar (18 page)

 
“It’s nothing
dear. I’ll wager it’s a bad cold.
 
Nothing to worry your pretty head about.” He coughed before continuing
hoarsely, “Daniella, it’s just that… I fear I will not be able to pay for the
room.
 
I’m a bit touched at the
moment.”
 
His hand reached toward a
glass of water nearby. She’d not remembered his human need for water, and
rushed to help him, placing the glass in his outstretched hand, from which he
drank, with effort.

 
“Father!
 
I am able to help you in a way that is
hard to explain, so I will have to show you. I am not the daughter you once
knew!
 
I am changed, and for the
better.
 
I have the ability to heal,
in fact to never grow old, and I can give this gift to you.” He frowned,
uncomprehending.
 
She smiled and
touched his face; saying quietly and with kindness,
 
“Let me show you. Please don’t be
frightened. You trust me - is this not true? Then trust me now as I show you
something your eyes may not believe.”

He nodded.
 
Of
course he trusted her.
 
More than anyone else in the world.
 
Picking up the knife, from beside the
bread and jam, she held it to her arm and looked at him, her smile still gentle
as she cut her own wrist without grimace, and watched as the blood flowed
freely.
 
Aghast and horror-stricken,
he looked from the sliced skin to her calm face.
 
He could not understand why she had done
such a thing, and more so – why did no look of pain
nor
fear cross her delicate features? What woman was this who could so calmly cut
herself? Then, before his weary eyes, the torn skin collected itself like two
bodies of water meeting in the middle, to become one once more.
 
He watched in amazement as the blood
vanished as though it had not spilled.
 
There was none on his blanket,
nor on her dress, nor
on her once again perfectly pale unscathed arm.

 
“What evil is
this?
 
What have you become!
”
 
Instinctively
she reached for his hands, but he recoiled, coughing violently.
 
He spat at her and hissed through
heaves, “Get away from me!
 
Get away
from me, demon!
 
You are not my
daughter!
 
You are a hound from hell
come to take me with you.
 
I’ll not
go. I’m a man of God! I’ll not go, I tell you! Be gone!
 
Be gone!
 
Be gone!”
 

He began to cry, sobbing and coughing and calling for his
daughter, not believing his eyes that it was she who sat beside him,
changed.
 
He looked like a child,
thus, and she could not bear it, objecting over and over, as she tried to
convince him that she was indeed Daniella, that he had nothing to fear, that
she could never - would never - hurt him.
 

His cough worsened, so painful to them both.
 
She knew at once that she must stop his
descent into madness. She forced back her tears, the sight of blood coming from
her eyes so horrifying to him that he nearly screamed. At once, she remembered
the powers of persuasion she now possessed.
 
She covered his mouth with her right
hand, wiped blood tears away with her left and measured her tone in the way
Elizabeth had taught her.

 
“Shhh…Henry.
 
Henry.
 
Shhh.
 
You are safe.
 
This is but a dream. A nightmare, I
assure you.
 
You are safe, dear
man.
 
All is well.” Her voice, so
calm, so soothing, repeated again and again until his breath lengthened and
slowed and she could hear his heart return to its normal beat.

The
father
who raised her, his
face now quiet and lax, was covered in spattered blood, sweat and saliva from
his ravings. She held more tears at bay through the strength of her love alone,
and continued quietly in almost a chant, “You are safe, Henry. You are dreaming
and you are safe in a warm bed. Daniella, too, she is safe.
 
She is with her husband in India, just
as she wrote you last.
 
He is so
good to her. They are well and happy and are expecting a child come summer
season. You will meet him as soon as he is born. She loves you so, and cannot
wait to see you again.
 
She… cannot…
wait.”

 
“A son!” he
whispered ever so quietly, his eyelids slowly falling closed. “Daniella having
a son… my grandson.”

Then to her horror and deep sorrow, fresh blood spread
wide onto his lips and he released his final breath.

2012

Adrian stood outside of
Daniella’s building and pushed the call button on the security intercom.
 
It was 2:30pm. No answer. He pushed “9”
to hang up and dialed again, but still no answer.
 
“C’mon. I saw your car in the parking
lot,” he said under his breath.
 
He
paused before pushing the button again. He didn’t want to look like an
idiot.
 
If she didn’t want to see
him, she didn’t want to see him. Walk away. Walk away, man. The possibility
jumped to mind that maybe she couldn’t see who called from outside, so maybe
she wasn’t avoiding him, in particular. Maybe she just didn’t expect it to be
him, and was avoiding someone else. His mind had all kinds of solutions that
enabled him to justify piggybacking the entrance of a fast-moving Thai food
delivery guy who serendipitously arrived and got buzzed in by the top floor.

Adrian practically jumped the guy to get in the door
behind him. The deliver guy boogied down to music in his headphones. The action
surprised him and he shot Adrian a look of “what the fuck, dude
?!
” for which Adrian apologized immediately: “Sorry
man.
 
Too much coffee.” Adrian shook
his head at himself, and to repent, gave the annoyed delivery guy the first
ride up the elevator while he waited for the next one.
 
For fun he waved as the door
closed.
 
The guy didn’t wave back,
unless biting one’s cheek and narrowing one’s eyes in contempt is a “wave.”

The elevator returned empty and he took it to Dani’s
floor where he stepped out and stood just outside the doors as they closed
behind him.
 
He looked down the hall
toward her door.
 
The mask of his
normal bravado left him. The man inside wanted more than anything to be seen
like
she saw him
.
 
To her he wasn’t
just a bartender who searched for courage in the bottom of a bottle.
 
To her, he was important, singled out of
the many faces in Los Angeles, wanted.
 
If she really was what he thought she was, a vampire - a being who stood
beyond time and human failings - that
she
should want
him
… He had
to know.
 
Was she?
 
If she was a vampire, was it true that
they sleep during the day?
 
He
walked forward.

He stopped. He was being crazy, he knew.
 
What if she was human, just a normal
human woman who compelled him so much that he was losing his mind? What if
she’d seen him outside and hadn’t answered the buzzer on purpose?
 
Shit.
 
He stepped to the right and then to the
left in contemplation and turned back around to leave, to push the down button.

The doors opened immediately and he stared at his
possibility for escape. The memory of her face as she’d watched him leave the
party was fresh in his mind. She’d all but told him to go, to leave with Brian,
but then her face… it silently begged him to kick everyone out and hold her. Or
was that just his imagination? Man, you’re acting crazy, he told himself and he
forced his feet to step into the elevator.
 

 
“Adrian.” He
turned at the sound of her voice, expecting to see Daniella standing in front
of her door.
 
No one was there. He
stood still, confused.
 
Had he heard
a door open?
 
No. He hadn’t heard
anything. He stared into the empty hallway. All the doors remained closed, just
as they had been when he’d arrived.
 
Suddenly the elevator doors shut behind him and he jumped.
 
He turned and pushed the button again
but the doors didn’t open.
 
“Adrian.” Again he heard her voice, but this time he realized he hadn’t
heard it aloud. He heard it whispered into his mind. He walked to her
apartment.
 

Standing in front of her door, he knocked and waited. She
didn’t answer. Suddenly he felt an intense urge to see her.
 
He knocked again, harder this time.
 
But still she did not come.
 
He cupped his hands around his ear
against the door to listen for sounds inside. He couldn’t hear anything but
that didn’t matter since the door was thick, he thought. She could easily be in
there, in the shower or maybe watching the TV, and she couldn’t hear the knock.
It was possible. Again, he knocked, several decibels louder than before.

Then a male voice called his name,
 
“Adrian.”
 
He turned to find Julian off to his left
walking toward him from the staircase as the door shut behind him. Confused
Adrian asked, “Yeah?”

In a
quietly
 
serious
manner Julian offered his
hand and explanation, “I was at the party last night. I’m Julian.
 
I was standing with Stewart when you
said goodbye.” Adrian shook his hand, recognition evident now as he scanned
Julian’s face.
 

 
“Oh, right,”
Adrian smiled.
 
“Sorry.”

“No worries. Dani’s not home, though,” Julian said as he
subtly wedged himself between Adrian and her door.

 
“Oh yeah? I
saw her car in the parking lot. A delivery guy let me in or I would’ve called
up.”
 
Adrian grew suspicious then,
wondering who was this guy, and what did he know of Daniella’s
whereabouts.
 
Plus he’d just heard
her calling him.
 
He knew there was
no way he was going to tell this guy that.
 
“She’s not home, huh?
 
How do
you know?”

“I’m her assistant,” Julian answered.

 
“Personal
assistant?” Adrian asked.

 
“Photographer’s assistant. Her
apprentice, actually.” Julian said steadily as
his
 
jaw
tightened defensively,
betraying his pride.

 
“
Ahhh
. Oh yeah, I saw a photo of you guys online.”
 

Julian registered this and felt his insides constrict and
his muscles tense.
 
“Yeah well,
she’s with her editor.
 
Her editor
always drives. The rental company is on its way to pick up the tables and
stuff, so I have to get to work now.
 
I’ll tell her you came by.”

Adrian threw him a disarming smile. “That’d be great.
Thanks.”

He started to leave but turned back to Julian and said,
“I know this is crazy. I really thought she was here. Because… it’s just… I
thought I heard her.
 
I could have
sworn I heard her say my name right before you got here.
 
Weird huh? Women… They get in your
head.”

He tapped on his forehead as he walked to the elevator.
This time the doors opened wide and he got in and pushed the button before throwing
a goodbye nod to Julian, who didn’t like what he’d just heard.

Hidden in The Safe, Dani frowned and whispered again from
deep within her death sleep, “Adrian.”

      
____________________

Dani awoke that evening mired in irritation, the pale
skin between her brows creased.
 
Completely out of character, she forgot to check the cameras before she
walked into the loft. As the painting closed behind her the hairs on the back
of her neck rose.
 
All at once she
felt the cold air, saw the open window, heard the uninvited voice purr,
“Daniella.”
 

Like a shot she jumped on the trespasser, fangs bared,
but as skin touched skin she felt herself overpowered and thrown down to the
floor as her captor straddled her hips and held her hands above her head. “Oh,
Daniella, you beast.
 
I’ve missed
you,” Elizabeth laughed.

 
“Elizabeth!
 
I could kill you for that,” Daniella
grinned, ecstatic to see her again.
 

Elizabeth leaned down and kissed her as she tightened her
hold, a devilishly sexy smile on her lips,
 
“You could try.”
 
Dani
laughed and, as reward, was released. She looked up to find Elizabeth across
the room sitting languidly on the couch, flipping channels on the flat screen
as if she’d been there for hours. Dani stood up, adjusted her clothes, smoothed
her hair, and walked toward her sire, shaking her head in wonder.
 
Elizabeth surfed the guide, “Why do you
even have a TV?
 
You can’t be
interested in the trite bullshit mortals put out nowadays.”
 

Dani leaned on the wall next to the TV screen and shrugged.
“There are some incredible shows.
Like Game of Thrones, for
example.
 
Boardwalk
Empire.
 
Homeland.”

 
“The Muppet
Show was pure genius,” Elizabeth remembered, “Those two old men criticizing
everyone from the balcony - hilarious.
 
Whoever thought ‘we need critics to make fun of us’ was a man I’d like
to meet.
 
And Gonzo, with his flock
of chickens - brilliant.”

 
“Beaker was
my favorite, but that show was a long time ago.”

Elizabeth waved the words away. “Beaker was brilliant!
And what is time to us?”

 
“Have you
seen Mad Men?”
 
Dani asked.

Elizabeth shrugged. “Mad Men reminds of when we still
took a backseat to men.”

 
“It’s how
things were.”

 
“Yes. I don’t
find that entertainment,” Elizabeth said with all seriousness.

 
“I like the
show.
 
It’s well written and well
acted. And I think it’s important for women to see how far they’ve come in so
short a time.”
 
Dani pushed the
power button on the TV and the screen went black.
 

Elizabeth dropped the remote, crossed one leg over the
other, and offered her most winning smile.
 
She wore a red cropped leather jacket, a cute black top, dark jeans,
heels and her hair was back in the ponytail she’d taken to wearing more often
than not these past ten years.
 
“Now
please tell me - who’s Adrian.”
 
In
answer to Daniella’s stiff reaction, she nodded to the phone in front of her.
“Julian texted you.”

Daniella saw for the first time that her phone had been
moved from her desk to the coffee table, and not by her.
 
She shot Elizabeth a reproachful glance
and checked the text three times. It read: Adrian came by today. Don’t
worry.
 
I told him you were with
your editor.

Elizabeth, never one to enjoy moving with human speed
when she didn’t have to, flashed to the window and peeked outside the closed
curtain.
 
“Beautiful night,” she
said.
 

Dani ignored her, put her phone down, and left for the
kitchen.
 
She needed time to
process, and used the role of hostess to bide her time as she poured them both
a meal.
 
Julian had lied for her,
which could imply he meant to protect her while she was vulnerable. If he knew
to protect her, then perhaps he knew what she was.
 
The words “Don’t worry” implied he
shared a confidence with her and wanted her to know he honored it. She couldn’t
believe she hadn’t seen it before, but it fell in line perfectly with a series
of actions he had taken, actions her depression had blinded her to.
 
Elizabeth turned and asked,
 
“Oh, can I have the glass we bought in
La Rochelle?”
 

Dani paused, and reached for the silver goblet, the first
of her collection.
 
Her memory
played back to how charmed Elizabeth had been back then by her idea, thinking
it a marvelous way to keep time. “Daniella, a better idea has never been had,”
she’d said encouragingly, inspiring pride and love with her smile.
 
As Dani filled the goblet, anger rose
from within. She failed to shove it back down.

 
“I’m
surprised you remember, Elizabeth.
 
I’m surprised I hold any space in your mind at all,” she turned with a
fake hostess smile doing nothing to mask the severity of her tone, the effect
intentional.

Elizabeth put all teasing aside. “You are forever in my
heart, Daniella, and often on my mind.
 
As I said to you last evening, I have kept watch and, in fact, on some
nights stood as close to you as the distance between me and that bed you never
lie in,” she said and pointed to the decoy bed in the far corner.

Daniella stared at her and found safety in a different
subject. “Adrian is a man who I find appealing. It’s not important,” she lied,
holding out the glass.

 
“Human?”
Elizabeth asked, again feigning ignorance as she took a sip.