Twice Bitten (10 page)

“I’m not ready for this…I’m sorry,” I said, finally. I could never leave, but I was struggling to control my heart’s sudden desire to do just that. My growing attraction to this gorgeous vampire stirred my heart and alarmed my conscience. 

“Then we must wait!” Chanson announced. She raised her open hand to quiet one last protest from Garvan. “We will continue to watch over and protect you, Txema. Contrary to what you might presume, you have no say in regard to our surveillance of you. Know that we
will
interfere if necessary to save your life.”

She nodded her head and then motioned for Garvan and Armando to lead me from her presence. Right before we stepped out of the cave, I heard her call to me one last time.

“Make sure you avoid the shadows, Txema! The
Monstres Glabres
are growing in number and will continue to hunt for you, following your blood scent! You can call us anytime, and we will be there quickly. Stay safe!  Stay
alive
, Txema!!”

As her words finished, Armando and Garvan pulled me into the air, and we again traveled through the surrounding darkness at incredible speed. It seemed even faster than the trip to the cave. Once we reached Knoxville’s city lights, everything became an indiscernible blur. I feared we’d crash into Massey Hall, which came up suddenly.

Then we slowed dramatically. My window opened, as if some unseen hand loosened the latch and pulled the pane aside. As before, I again floated into the room. Peter still snored, unaware of our return, and there remained no sign of my roommate and her boyfriend…thankfully, I might add. I didn’t want to consider what might occur if Tyreen and Johnny awakened to find two members of the undead guiding my floating body through our dorm room.

“Good night, Txema!” Garvan and Armando whispered together, after they positioned my body next to Peter’s.

Peter stirred slightly as the window closed and the latch clicked shut, announcing my companions’ swift departure. The coolness that slipped into the room brought a shiver to him, and he pulled up the comforter to cover us both, despite the parka I still wore. A moment later, he snored again, as if completely oblivious to what had just happened. Clueless and innocent…a state of being I coveted, fearing it was gone forever. Life had quickly become so complicated. Amid so much death and danger lay a decision that had to be made…soon.

Chapter 10

It was almost eight o’clock when Peter woke me up. By then, bright sunlight filled my room, and a busy Saturday morning was already under way. Yet, it felt as if I had just gone to sleep an hour or so earlier.

“You had better get up, babe. The best of breakfast will be over and done with if we wait much longer,” he said, after my initial response was to roll away from him and the harsh light pouring in my window. “Tyreen and Johnny have already left, and they promised to save us a couple of seats in the cafeteria…provided you wake up and take your shower.”

I really wanted to sleep, especially since I felt light-headed. A headache would be coming soon. These late night vampire visits weren’t such a good thing for my health. But, sleep while your persistent boyfriend tries to wake you up is by no means an easy proposition either.

Peter had already showered, and was dressed in a faded pair of Levis and a Tennessee Volunteers sweatshirt. I wished to God I had my cell phone handy, so I could’ve taken his picture, dressed this casually. His hair was still wet, combed back from his forehead to reveal his regal hairline. I remember seeing pictures as a young girl of John F Kennedy Jr., and Peter’s thick head of hair often has reminded me of the late jetsetter.

“I’m up,” I muttered weakly, slowly bringing my leg over so I could step down from my bed.

“If you want to rough it today, just throw on some sweats and a ball cap and we can go eat first, and come back here afterward,” he suggested, grinning while he watched me slide down from my bunk and stumble to my dresser. “It’s up to you.”

“Let me take a quick shower, and I’ll be right back,” I told him. My head throbbed, and I thought for a moment I’d have to lie down again. But, after I grabbed my shampoo and body wash, much of the throbbing passed. “Go ahead and text Tyreen to let her know we should be there within the next twenty minutes.”

“All right.”

I watched him pull out his handset and plop down in a beanbag chair in front of the TV. Before he could look over at me again, I was already on my way to the showers. The expressions on the faces I passed along the way were a curious mixture of worry and tension, and just a few smiles. Surely, this had much to do with what I’d find out a short while later. Classes had been canceled for Monday, and UT’s Regent Board of Directors were discussing the possibility of closing school until after Thanksgiving.

Why?

Yes, the killings and abductions were enough on their own to warrant escalated efforts to keep the student body safe. But, more had happened since the last update…details to follow soon.

“Ha! You look like a drenched ‘Cousin It’ like that!” teased Peter, once I returned to my room with my dripping hair hanging over my face.

“Careful, buster, or it could be ‘Broom Hilda’ instead!” I countered, surprised he even knew who ‘Cousin It’ was, given his sheltered and often superficial upbringing. Sixties TV programs would’ve seriously cut into his X-box time as it is. The confused look he gave to my response told me that he had no idea who the comic witch I mentioned was. “You might end up turning into a little horny toad with a wart on its head!”

“Well, at least the horny part would still be here!”

“Ha! You’re
so
terrible!”

Time was wasting. A glance at the clock on the vanity confirmed more than twenty minutes had passed since I asked him to text Tyreen.

Shit!

“Did Tyreen get your text?” 

I hurried to finish getting ready. Deciding that wet hair would have to suffice, I moved on to a quick makeup job. Applying my lipstick as we scurried out the door, Peter acted as my mirror, to make sure it was straight with no smudges. 

“Yes, she responded right away,” he said. “And, she just sent a message a moment ago, asking ‘where the hell are you?’” He snickered until he saw my frown. Not the time to be teasing his ‘darling Txema’. “Okay, I guess we should just hurry, huh?”

“Yes, we should,” I said, tersely. “But you could do me a big favor and text her back that we’re on our way.”

I forced a superficially sweet smile, and Peter pulled the keyboard out on his phone, ready to send a reply. But he also started slowing down, almost to a full stop.

“Never mind, I’m dialing her now,” I told him, shaking my head as I dialed her number from my handset. 

She answered my call while Peter ran to catch up with me before the elevator door closed. 

“Yeah, I know we’re running late, but we’ll be there in just a few minutes,” I told her. “What security problem?”

Once we reached the main floor, I soon understood Tyreen’s advisement of a beefed up police patrol. It seemed as if there were cops everywhere, making me wonder if the rest of campus looked like the main lobby of Massey Hall.

It took nearly fifteen more minutes to make it through the security checkpoint at the building’s main entrance. The female cop who finally let us through was none too happy about Peter’s presence in the building, after he readily admitted he spent the night. The look of disappointment she gave me would’ve been no worse had it come from my mother.

“Damn, it took you two long enough….we’ve already finished eating!” said Johnny, making room at the cafeteria table so Peter and I could sit down with our scrambled eggs and pancakes. Tyreen sat across from us, shaking her head at either how late we were, or her man’s weak attempt at sounding pissed. “I guess I’ll just have to grab another pumpkin muffin to tide me over for the day!”

He got up from the table, after asking us all if we wanted something else. Tyreen told him that she’d like another cappuccino. Dressed in a purple wool pullover and matching tights, she looked rested. Although, the oppressive worry this week’s events had forced upon her remained thinly disguised beneath her lovely smile. It lurked in her eyes. I wanted to ask her how she was doing, but wasn’t sure what it would take for the delicate façade to crumble, and send her stress level soaring up. So, I focused on small talk, like what to make of the horde of police officers in the cafeteria and back at the dorm.

“Is this how it is everywhere?” I made sure I sounded light-hearted. It would be hard as hell to get any studying done at the library if this was the scene there, too. “I worry about who’s watching the usual villains ready to strike in Gotham City.”

She laughed for a moment, and the worry in her countenance briefly diminished. Even her gorgeous eyes twinkled a bit.

“You’ve got a way of cheering me up, sister,” she said, pausing for Johnny to set her cappuccino in front of her. The cup billowing steam, she blew on it for a moment. “This seems a helluva lot hotter than the last cup.”

“I had em’ heat it up just for you, sweetie!” said Johnny, his smile impish. Dressed in his preferred Vols football jersey, and the three gold chains he most favors, it suddenly hit me that he and Tyreen must have had plans other than hanging around campus for the day.

“What are your Saturday plans?” I shifted my glance from one to the other. Peter looked up from the pancakes and bacon that had completely absorbed his attention since he sat down. “I take it that you won’t be spending much time at the library or in the dorms today, huh?”

“You obviously haven’t heard the latest news, have you?” said Tyreen, shooting an ‘I told you so’ look at Johnny.

“More shit’s happened?”

“Yes,” she said. Worry clouded her face again. “They found two of the girls who disappeared the other night…or what’s left of them.”

“Oh my God!”

I hoped I sounded alarmed enough for her. Yes, I was just as horrified at the thought of what was discovered since the night before. But with everything going on, the initial shock I felt when Irma Goizane was gruesomely killed had waned with each new victim. It was more like a heavy sadness that this tragedy hadn’t stopped, despite my belief that everyone on campus didn’t expect the four abductees to walk again amongst the living.

“The head from one girl and part of the shoulder and neck of another,” said Johnny. 

He bit his lip to keep from saying more. Really, these were pointless details since we already knew the killers were beyond normal viciousness.

“And that’s enough for me,” said Tyreen. “I’m outta here!”

“So, you’re leaving?” I sought to confirm, surprised. “Are you just leaving campus and hanging around this area? You mentioned renting a chalet in Gatlinburg the other night.”

“No,” she said. “Johnny and I are heading down to Atlanta, to stay with my folks until this bullshit’s over and done with, and they catch the Ted Bundy ‘mo-fos’ who are killing people!” Her bottom lip quivered. Just like that, the fragile façade of peace and wellbeing was on the verge of going ‘poof!’

“Maybe we should go someplace, too,” said Peter, reservedly. “We can head to Nashville this afternoon. My parents have an unused guesthouse where we can wait it out until they catch the guys doing this. I mean, they’ve already closed school through Monday. With just a little over a week before Thanksgiving break, I’m sure they’ll cancel classes. This place will be a ghost town before the weekend’s out.”

“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. All three looked at me as if it was my decision alone to make. The second recent request to get the hell out of town, I needed time to think about this…to consider the situation and all viable options. 

“Yes you
do
know,” pressed Tyreen. “Go with Peter to Nashville, and you should leave right
now!”

“I’ll have to think about it,” I replied, more firmly, raising my hand to stop her from pressing harder. “I promise to be smart with this decision, and I’ll make it before tonight. Just give me a little time to consider everything. Okay? 

“We’ll be leaving around three o’clock this afternoon. If you haven’t decided to go with Peter, then your ass is coming with us! You got that, girlfriend?” Anger simmered within Tyreen’s emerald irises. “Hell, you can bring Peter with you, too, as we’ve got plenty of room in Johnny’s Caddy. We always have a good time together, anyway, so why don’t you both plan to go with us?”

“We’ll see,” I told her, despite Johnny and Peter’s enthusiastic support of her offer. “I’ll let you know in plenty of time before you leave this afternoon.”

***

Of course, Tyreen was right. I truly did need to leave. The question, though, was how safe would I be no matter where I went? If what the vampires told me was correct, then it wouldn’t matter if I headed to Atlanta, Nashville, or anywhere else in the country. Whatever menace had traveled across the Atlantic surely wouldn’t be deterred from tracking me down, as long as I resided on planet earth.

The complicated decision of leaving with Tyreen, Peter, or with the vampire ‘emissaries’ presently sleeping somewhere in the Smoky Mountains didn’t have an easy answer. I likely would’ve struggled with a final answer, if not for a phone call early that afternoon from Richmond, my home.