H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (40 page)

“I’m sorry, did you say something?” I
asked.

She smiled pleasantly at me. “I said that
it’s crazy we’re the only two back here.”

“I know. What’s the deal with that?”

“Apparently, some hot-shot billionaire
bought the seats for his entourage and he never showed up.”

“Wow, that is crazy.”

Thank God she was talking to me.

I couldn’t imagine eleven hours next to some
silent princess with an attitude.

“My name is Josiah.” I made a handshake
gesture toward her. She shook my hand the way petite girls do, as
more of a ‘limp hand wiggle’ than an actual handshake. I found it
endearing, with her.

“My name is Helen.”

“I wouldn’t peg you for a Helen,” I
said.

“Really? Why not?”

I looked at her closely and said, “You look
more like a Heather or a Nicole.”

“No, I’m a Helen. I was named after my
grandma and she was named after Helen of Troy.”

“Ah, Helen of Troy, the legendary face that
launched a thousand ships.”

She smiled at me again, and this time she
had the spark in her eyes that girls get when they’re now
interested in you. “Josiah? That’s an unusual name.”

“I had unusual parents,” I said,
laughing.

“Had?”

“Yeah, they passed away a couple years
back.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

I smiled. I didn’t need her to feel sorry
for me. “I loved them but life goes on, you know?”

She gave me an awkward smile and nodded her
head.

I paused and looked at her. She seemed very
genuine. For a brief moment, I forgot about Lena. Lena was the
young woman who had turned my life upside down. Before her, I
didn’t believe in vampires, werewolves, or anything supernatural.
Now, not only did I believe in it, I was thrown in the middle of
all of it. In fact, I was apparently the main event in the forces
of un-nature.

“Are you going to London?” I asked.

“That’s what the ticket says,” she said,
winking at me.

“Are you connecting to another flight from
London?” I clarified.

“No, I’m doing some business in London.”

“What business are you in?”

“What are you? A cop?”

I laughed. “No, I was just asking.”

“I’m kidding, Jo-Jo. Lighten up. I’m in the
music business. I’m a producer for a little label in L.A.”

“Jo-Jo? I’m not sure you know me well enough
to call me Jo-Jo,” I said, jokingly.

“Do you prefer Josie?”

“How about Josiah?”

“So, we’re not at the cute nickname phase in
our relationship yet?” she asked.

“Is that what this is – a relationship?”

“There is definitely potential.” She was now
putting her flirting gear in overdrive.

“Oh, is there?” I said laughing. “For
potential crimes and misdemeanors?”

Who the hell was this woman? She was
hilarious!

She turned her body and got comfortable. Her
head was looking in my direction. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to
take a nap. But feel free to lift the arm between us and spoon with
me if you like. I mean, we’re all alone back here, just the two of
us. Fate right?”

I just looked at her with a big, goofy grin.
She was something else. She leaned her chair back and put her ear
plugs in her ears and was suddenly out like a light.

I, on the other hand, had just been smacked
over the head by Flirt-Girl 2000. I decided to take her lead and
close my eyes ,too. It was nice to finally relax. But no spooning.
Lena was a fleeting thought and then there was the business at
hand.

I thought about what I was about to embark
on. I was heading to Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania to meet some
mysterious blue gnome from some visions I’ve had. You know, your
typical vacation getaway…

I had been having a lot of visions of late.
Visions were new to me and I wasn’t sure if I had been interpreting
them correctly. For the most part, the visions had been pretty
literal.

The images and ideas in my first visions
encouraged me train my best friend, Tommy, to become a
cognitive-thinking werewolf, rather than an instinctual reactionary
to his current environment. He and I tapped into his human
cognitive thinking, even when he was in his wolf form. I was
exuberant that it had only taken one full-moon period. I was able
to accomplish that feat rather quickly. As far as we know, he was
the first werewolf to do so. I literally had the werewolf eating
out of my and licking me, not tasting me, but giving me the respect
and affection of a submissive to his master. When covered by fur
anyway. Other than the werewolf transformation and my taming and
training of him, in human-ish form, okay, in his Carni form, Tommy
was still and always my best friend and we were equals. It was new
to me, to tame the beast in someone I cared about. Maybe being a
werewolf whisperer could be a commercial calling. I laughed to
myself. That was the old All-American human way of thinking. I was
a vampire now, with powers yet unknown. And headed to Transylvania
to see what my visions would manifest in my destiny.

But visions weren’t the only things that
were new to me. The last few months, I had been through the
wringer. My life had been one of legends and nightmares. I know
that sounds melodramatic, but I’ was actually playing it down. I
had been given the keys to the Mani kingdom and I was still not
sure exactly what to do with them. Mani are a vampire race that has
been roaming the world for the last 10,000 years. From what I
gathered, there were a lot of them, but they are very unorganized.
They seem to be running wild and without a leader or any kind of
vision. That’s where I come in. There has been ‘a prophecy’ since
the beginning of the race, that a chosen vampire would come forward
and unite the Mani and bring peace to all. As far as I knew, and
with everything I had seen, I am that chosen vampire.

I know, lucky me.

I had the ability to transition into a great
white eagle whenever my heart desires. As an eagle, I was able to
fly all over, okay, not all the way to Transylvania, hence the
airplane, but my powers didn’t stop there. I was also one of the
rare Mani who could fly in my vampire form. My vampire form was
what I called my human form. These days it was hard to remember
which I actually am. I had lot of vampire characteristics, but I
still have a lot of humanity, too. I often feel confused about my
purpose. There wasn’t a Mani user’s manual or even a quick-start
guide to this, and to be honest, I wish there were because I had to
figure out situations on the fly.

I was also able to move things with my mind.
I hadn’t quite mastered that one. And to be honest, it was
something I wasn’t exactly comfortable doing.

I also had visions and premonitions in which
I could see things: past, present and future. So, all in all, my
life had undergone a few changes in the last couple months. I knew
in my heart, that I needed to figure everything out inside myself
before I could implement it outside of my head. Once I could
control all that I am, I would be able lead whoever would follow me
into whatever I needed to do. I was just hoping it became clearer.
Anyway, so to say that I needed some rest on an eleven-hour plane
ride was an understatement. Vampire or not, I was bushed.

I had left my friends back in Los Angeles
for this trip because I knew that I needed to do this adventure
alone. I was on a quest for truth, destiny, and I think I needed to
regroup about her. Among those friends was the love of my life,
Lena. I wasn’t quite sure exactly when I fell in love with her, all
I knew is that I had. Because I stayed indoors during the day, my
body clock was messed up now, well, make that my body calendar.
Sometimes I had to look at my cell phone to even see what day it
was, rather than the time.

When I was around Lena, I felt ten feet
tall. Saving a girl’s life a couple of times had the ability to
make a guy feel that way. And in my case, I have a giant hero
complex that seems to surface almost weekly.

I thought about my Lena and rested. I
pictured her short black hair, and brown eyes. I remembered our
last intimate moment together in Yari’s guest room and soon I
drifted off in my airline seat, trying not to spoon my flirty
row-mate.

Suddenly, I heard a slam! I opened my eyes
and I was no longer on the airplane.

I was having another vision.

This time I was no longer at Dracula’s
Castle. I was in some secluded dark alley, one that seemed to go on
forever in both directions.

Where the hell was I?

There was the stench of cigarettes and trash
looming in the air with a touch of that tarry aroma of fresh-lain
and pressure-rolled asphalt. I looked around, completely confused.
The alley appeared to go on for miles on both sides. It was neither
hot nor cold, almost as if I was indoors. But I wasn’t, I was
clearly outside. I could see the dark sky above me. The stars were
bright and something was very odd about this vision, like, where
was the North Star? The setting appeared to be a fantastical place,
unlike my other dreams where the locations were indeed real.

As I looked in the air, I saw a beautiful
white hawk fly over me. It circled me, almost taunting me to chase
it. Then I realized that this magnificent creature wasn’t trying to
anger me, but was asking me to play with it. It appeared the hawk
wanted me to transition.

Could I transition in my dreams?

I decided to give it a go, and sure enough,
my eye level dropped and I instantly transformed into the great
white eagle. The white hawk took off in the air above the long,
endless alley. I hurried after it like a school boy chasing a girl
at recess. There was a grace and beauty about this bird that I was
after, a trait you only find in the most elegant of women.

The hawk darted north and I continued to
follow. At times, she glided across the sky. I was assuming by now
that this was a female bird. I was careful not to get too close, I
was gliding behind her, just observing, not sure what this vision
meant or who the hawk was. I was just in the moment, enjoying my
surroundings.

This giant beautiful creature was almost as
big as I was. Her wingspan spread out in spectacular fashion. I was
mesmerized and taken aback by her beauty and grace. She seemed to
be flying with a purpose. I felt a tad apprehensive, but after all,
this was a vision and no one can get hurt in a vision, right?

As I looked to the air from about 500 feet
high, I noticed that I didn’t recognize anything. I wasn’t sure if
I was in an actual place or if this was a figment of my
imagination. We continued to what I perceived was north and I could
see the sun coming up, off in the distance.

We were headed toward a beautiful rocky
mountain that seemed to be something Rocky Balboa would have run up
in one of his ‘training montages’. At the peak of the mountain was
a plateau and it seemed like a safe enough spot to land on level
ground.

The hawk glided down and landed in poetic
fashion. I watched from above and was unsure what I should do. The
hawk squawked as if to say, ‘Join me.’

I wisped down and landed about ten feet away
from her. Was this hawk a Mani woman? I waited for her to
transition, but she didn’t. She waddled her way over to me and
gently pressed her head against my breast. It was a gentle move,
almost tender. I nuzzled back, and we just stood there on top of
this beautiful rocky mountain, cuddling in a way only two birds of
our magnitude could do. I felt safe and peaceful.

This was a very strange vision.

Suddenly, the hawk rose up, squawked, and
flew away at the speed of light. Her speed indicated that she did
not want me to follow.

Instantly, I awoke on the plane to find
myself in the middle of the worst turbulence I had ever experienced
in my life. Helen reached out her hand to me and I held it. “What
the hell is going on?” I said.

“Your guess is as good as mine. This is
pretty bad turbulence.” Helen didn’t seem as concerned as I
was.

I didn’t fly that much, especially across
the world. Hopefully it would settle down, and sure enough, it did.
When all was calm, Helen let go of my hand. “My hero,” she
said.

I knew she was teasing or even mocking me. I
smiled at her with a sense of relief.

You have no idea what kind of hero I
actually am.

Chapter Two

I looked around the plane and noticed all of
the window panels were closed. That was odd, considering that
before I napped, they were all open.

“Excuse me!” I called to the flight
attendant.

She got up from her molded employee’s seat
near the bathroom and walked over to me. “Yes, would you like that
drink now?” she asked.

“Actually, yes. Could I have a vodka and
Coke?”

“No, problem, sir.”

“One more thing,” I asked. “Is it still dark
outside?”

“No, it’s not. We are about six hours in and
the morning sun is out now. We apologize, there seems to be a
problem with the windows. They have all locked down, so if you were
planning on looking outside, you’re not going to be able to.”

“No sunlight can get in here?” I asked,
almost giddy.

“I guess you can say that.”

“And the windows are definitely stuck?” I
pressed.

“That’s what I said,” she said, almost
condescending.

What a break!

I wondered if the Triat had something to do
with it. I sat back in my seat and smiled.

“This has been a very odd flight,” Helen
said, leaning over to me.

“Oh, you have no idea!” I said, laughing. I
looked over at Helen and noticed she was wearing a completely
different outfit than she had on earlier. She was now wearing a
colorful blue and orange sundress with her legs nicely on display.
She had very nice stems, very shapely and a little bit of golden
tan that showed she was careful to use sunscreen. Either that, or
she loved her a salon spray-on tan. She must have changed in the
bathroom while I was sleeping. Speaking of which, it is about that
time for me also.