Jade: Earth's Last Hope Against the Undead (7 page)

"So...how do you know a vampire?"

He grinned. "I was wondering when you'd get
around to asking. Well, it's a bit of a long story."

Jade gestured off down the road. "We've got
plenty of time."

"Back when they first came, I learned
something about them."

"What's that?"

"Well, obviously we knew soon enough there
were a lot of bad vampires. I knew that before most, but only
because of my arrangement at the time."

"What arrangement?"

"She came to me one day while I'd been
tending to the fields at my Grandpa's farm. Did I ever tell I
worked on the family farm?" He paused, but she didn't answer.
"Well, anyway, she found me and told me she wanted to protect
me."

"Wow, you're an easy date."

"Well, it wasn't like that. At first I
didn't believe her, but she kept coming back. Why me, I have no
idea, but she specifically chose me, and several others for that
matter."

He paused and she could see his cheeks
blush.

"Despite everything else, I was into some
bad stuff back then." He grunted, his tone solemn. "I mean, I
worked hard and all, but I was in a very dark place. Truthfully, it
was as if she could sense this and wanted me to succumb to it."

"Darkness?"

He moaned. "Do I really have to say it?"

She understood now, and shook her head.

"Well, over that handful of days she
explained to me what would happen. She would protect me and, in
exchange, I would feed her."

"You let her drink your blood?"

His eyes lowered. "Yes."

"Really? Did it hurt?"

He rubbed his neck. She watched, noticing a
hint of faint scars there. Nothing more.

"It's not that bad actually."

He looked up at her sheepishly.

"Seriously, I've heard the contrary." She
smirked. "Or rather, I've seen it. So how did you get away?"

"Get away?"

"Well I assumed you escaped. Otherwise you'd
still be feeding your mistress and all."

"She wasn't my mistress. She was a
friend."

Jade smirked. "So you have a vamper as a
friend?"

"Listen, when things got bad she was the one
who told me to go; said she'd check up on me, although I don't
think she has yet."

"She just sent you away?"

"Yes."

Jade thought about this, beginning to skip
beside him. "Well, Trent, I can't wait to meet your little vampire
friend."

They walked that way for a long time: he
lost in his past and her mocking him.

After a few days they came to a rather large
house in the boonies, in a patch of woods outside of Pittsburgh
proper. Trees lined the road to the house, which actually ended up
being a driveway. Lengthy patches of land skirted the road, with
woods as deep as she could see.

From the darkness in those woods, eyes
peered back at her. She wasn't afraid, though. She feared little
now that she had been changed, but she saw them well enough to know
what they were.

All these deer watching
us
, she thought, feeling a little like she'd been the
one caught in headlights. She kept walking in spite of a sense of
foreboding.

Something moved in the corner of her eye.
She tried to see it, but it moved fast. Elegantly it crossed
between trees. Then she heard an awful crash of muscle against
muscle, and slurping noises rose from deep in that darkness.

Jade drew her sword.

His eyes were keen on her. "What is it?"

"Saw a vampire."

"You sure?"

Her expression said, "really?" while her
voice said, "yes."

"Well, I don't think you'll need that
here."

"I'll keep it handy all the same if you
don't mind."

And then something moved behind her. Over
them. All around them. The bustle drew her eyes into a complete
circle.

It's my senses. They're somehow more in tune
with my surroundings.

It moved behind her again and this time she
spun fast with her blade raised. The steel came close, but stopped
hard when she saw who stood there. She stared into the woman's
eyes.

This is the woman he spoke of?

He pushed down the tip of her blade, which
she allowed. Jade sheathed her sword and watched as Trent hugged
the woman whose eyes never left her.

"Jade, this is—"

"Hiru?" Jade said, and the vampire
smiled.

CHAPTER 3

Friends in High Places

The vampire escorted them through a long
foyer of a house that had obviously belonged to someone with old
money. Antique paintings and pottery lined each and every wall,
displaying the owner's wealth. Hiru led them to a sitting room
where everyone took a seat.

"Welcome to my house," Hiru said.

Jade couldn't help but grunt, nor could she
hide her smirk.

"I see you don't believe me."

Jade shook her head. Her grin eroded her
ability to disguise it.

"Here's the thing, young Jade. There
are those things you know, and those you do not know. What you
likely
do
know is that my
race has been coming to Earth for many years to harvest humans for
sustenance. But what you
do not
know is that a very few of us have lived here among you for
quite a long time."

"You lived here...on Earth?"

"Absolutely. It's a quaint, but beautiful
planet. I'm proud to call it home." She waved around her. "And as
you can see, I've done well for myself."

Jade nodded. But still, her reluctance to
believe in goodness in any vampire persisted. And she knew it
showed.

"No, no. I didn't take these things from
victims. As Trent may have told you, I have arrangements to feed
myself. Any of those people are allowed to leave whenever they feel
the need. I, in exchange for this sustenance, provide them with
money and protection. But don't you doubt it for one moment; I am a
resourceful woman on my home planet and I'm equally successful
here. You've no idea what a determined woman can make of herself
from nothing."

But Jade did to some degree, although her
success hadn't entirely come of her hands and construction, but
someone else's. Though the who's and whys behind her alteration
might forever be a question, the fact remained, she had come to
this from nothing.

"For instance," Hiru continued, "I am the
one who created the machinery necessary to turn you from an
ordinary child into a knowledgeable and agile killing machine."

"You?" Jade said. "You did this? But
why?"

"Why indeed," Hiru said. "You see,
Jade, not all of us are bad. No one entire race can be bad. It's
impossible. Every being in this world and others each have a mind
of their own. They choose what is right and what is wrong. But it's
always
their
choice. My
choice was Earth." She stood and crossed to a painting, which she
stroked with a single slender finger. She examined what little dust
had gathered on her fingertip. "And again, as you can see, I've
done well for myself here. Why would I want to destroy everything
I've worked so hard to procure?"

"So, what? Are you and I going to fight the
other vampires?"

"Sorry, my dear, but it can't be like that.
You see, my own people cannot die at my hands or I'd never be able
to forgive myself. And on the off chance any did survive, they'd
come after me, not you." She crossed back to the chair, but didn't
sit. "And I'm not alone in my sentiment. There are others, too.
Many in fact. But I'm afraid this is a task you alone must
endure."

"No, not alone," Trent said.

Hiru smiled. "Indeed. This is precisely why
I sent you out for her."

"You, what...?" Jade said, her brow
furrowing with anger.

Trent held up his hands, patting at the air
in an attempt to calm Jade's critical gaze.

"Oh, he had no idea why I sent him out, dear
Jade. And although I did set matters in motion, fate is the one to
blame for you two coming together. A little luck if you may."

"But I saw you in the subway," Jade
said.

Now Trent looked bothered.

"Sorry, dears. I was just checking up on
Trent. After all, I did promise him that much. I also needed to
know whether you were strong enough for what we had planned for
you. I mean, we couldn't just make this alteration to each and
every human we stumbled upon. We had to choose wisely. Otherwise,
once matters are back to normal, there would be power trips and
such, inflated attitudes to subdue. It would have been an utter
mess. We couldn't trust any old human. They had to have a good
heart, and you dear have one of the best."

Jade wasn't so sure. Okay, she didn't think
she'd ever have it in her to conspire against others or cheat them
out of their earnings. No, that wasn't her. But wasn't everyone
capable of being bad? She thought long and hard about this notion
until Hiru interrupted her thoughts.

"The mere fact you are even quietly
questioning yourself now is precisely why we picked you. Why I
picked you."

Jade considered something else right then.
"So you also created those head harnesses?"

Hiru made a sick expression. "God no. What
an awful contraption."

"What?" Jade asked.

Hiru gestured to Trent. "It seems that where
I can make willing arrangements, others cannot, and thus their need
for those awful devices."

Jade contemplated Hiru's words.

"They're meant to achieve an agreeable
harvesting, dear."

At this Jade gasped.

Hiru prepared each of them a room for the
night. Jade's room was extravagant. She'd never stayed anywhere
that had such high quality sheets, so fluffy you felt as though you
were melting into the bed. Despite all the comforts that had been
provided for her, she still couldn't sleep.

She stepped out into the hallway, worried
who might catch her. No one was around, yet she already knew there
would be at least one other being who wasn't sleeping this night.
And this person found her easily.

"Trouble sleeping, dear?"

She turned and Hiru stood there in a long
flowing nightgown. A light breeze teased at the fabric, revealing
much of her bare breasts beneath.

"Yes, it's just that—"

"You like Trent, don't you?"

Frozen by this accusation, Jade said
nothing. But then she conceded with a hurried nod.

"I see." Hiru waved her to follow. "Come
join me at the table."

When they got there, Jade saw two cups
of tea waiting for them.
She'd known I
wouldn't be able to sleep
.

And this was true. Hiru might be a vampire,
but at her core she was still a female with female intuitions.
Casting all judgments aside, Jade believed with all her heart that
Hiru knew what it was like to feel that flutter in your stomach.
How your heart would leap when that special someone's eyes found
you, seeming to stare right into your very being, as if spying on
your soul. Surely every woman had felt that at least once in her
life.

"So," Hiru said, "tell me about your
feelings for Trent."

"It's just that—" She shook her head, mostly
because she felt somewhat delirious. "He's quite brave. Did you
know that?"

Hiru nodded.

"I mean, he saved my life when we first
met."

This time Hiru smiled. But she didn't drink
her tea. Jade, on the other hand sipped hers often.

Now Jade mustered up some courage. "I mean,
he's handsome, of course. Tall, dark and mysterious." At this Jade
smiled, feeling rather romantic. "But he's got this other side to
him. Almost like he doesn't judge anyone. Know what I mean?"

"I do indeed," Hiru agreed.

Jade looked at Hiru's tea. She'd finished
her own. "Are you gonna drink that?"