Twice Bitten (21 page)

Not necessarily a terrible thing, I thought to myself. Peace and harmony seem like desirable outcomes for most citizens of the world, in my humble opinion.

“What makes it such a big deal for you to need the ones who bear the birthmark?” I said. “I know you need to feed on people and all, but why is it so imperative to keep someone like me around?”

Gustav released a long, low sigh before answering me. 

“Without the slight mixture of your blood in with our normal dietary intake of human plasma, we eventually lose the part of us that is ‘human’,” he said, glancing at my female companions sitting next to me and across the table. “We become savage, without any control over the primal urges at war with our limited humanity.”

He arose from the table, and I wondered if I had somehow offended him by my latest question.

“It is more than just the fact we would no longer keep our youth and our enhanced allure,” he resumed. “Eventually, we would have no self control in regard to how we treat the citizens of your world. I am afraid it would turn into a feeding frenzy upon human flesh and blood. Truly, if our enemies are successful in finding you before we can secure your permanent safety and prosperity, then very soon the human race shall be in grave danger. The tens of thousands of untamed vampires lurking in the shadows will feast without restraint until the last of your race is gone…forever.” 

***

Talk about raining on a parade. I didn’t know how to respond, and could only nod respectfully. If I had managed to open my mouth, I’m not sure anything would’ve come out.

Gustav was about to go on with more information, but one of the other vampires rushed up from the rear of the room and interrupted him. I didn’t recognize this particular creature, a young male with long dark hair and features similar to Garvan’s. Unlike most of those in attendance, he was dressed like most of the guys you see every day, back in America, wearing blue jeans and a green polo sweater.

“If you will excuse me, I must attend to something important,” Gustav advised. After a subtle bow, he was gone.

I wish I could say that I was getting used to this ‘here one moment, vanished the next’ routine among the undead immortals. Maybe someday….

With so much to think about, and the prospect of going home anytime soon seeming more and more remote, I was ready to return to my room. But my female companions wouldn’t let me go so readily.

“Come with us, Txema—come see the hidden treasures kept here in the castle!” urged Chanson.

Hard to resist her smile…even harder the collective charm of all three of these ‘ladies of the night’. If charm wasn’t enough, their ironclad grips on my wrists ensured my complete cooperation. They whisked me out of the dining hall and back out into the grand corridor before I even said ‘yes’ to their invitation. From there, we visited nearly a dozen chambers containing rare sculptures, paintings, and other works of art created by many of the world’s most famous classical artists—some French like Morel and Goujon, along with Italian masters Buonarotti, Titian, and Raphael. 

Not all works were haunting and dark, as might be expected. It surprised me to see full oil portraits of my three hostesses as well as Garvan, Franz, and Armando created by master painters that includes those mentioned above. The grandest, of course, was a full wall portrait of Gustav that was rendered by Raphael. This famous master also created a smaller wall painting featuring Racco and an unknown female, whom I assumed to be a former love from centuries past, together sitting on a horse.

Other areas they took me to included an immense library that featured some very old books and loose parchment manuscripts, along with a full array of modern titles from the past few years. I made a mental note to come back there in the next day or so, after seeing several MACs with the latest software and hardware upgrades. It could be my window to contacting my family and friends back home, as well as finding out the latest news in America and the world. 

Seeing the computers reminded me of how deprived and ignorant I had become in regard to current events, outside of what had been told to me by my vampire entourage and our alchemist host. In other words, except for the conversation with my grandmother and what Chanson shared with me, I didn’t know shit about anything going on outside of the castle and the ship that brought me there. 

Around eleven, Chanson dropped me off at my room. The closest thing to a confidante I would find in my new world, I could tell she was growing to like me more and more each day, as well. Maybe it’s because of our shared ancestry, and the fact she often reminds me of me. I wondered if it’s the same for her.

I was pleased to find a warm blaze burning in the fireplace upon entering my bedchamber. A thick terrycloth bathrobe had been laid out on my bed, along with a rose and a white envelope next to it. The rose was real…fresh. The envelope contained a short parchment note, from Racco.

“Txema, hopefully this will cheer you up. If interested in picking up where we left off yesterday, meet me in the main foyer at noon. You will find a snowsuit and boots in the armoire. Be sure to wear them, as an excellent adventure awaits you! Yours faithfully, Racco.”

All the warnings from my vampire protectors evaporated as I read the note a second time…and then a third. By the time I immersed myself in a hot bath in the Jacuzzi tub, I had already made my decision. 

I accepted Racco’s request for a date.

Chapter 17

I’m not sure when exactly I fell asleep that night. But, I can say it was sometime after midnight. It was one of those blissful experiences of slipping out of a tired mind and into the world of wonderful dreams. I loved the way it started, where I ran through a field of golden wheat up to my waist. Racco waited for me with his arms opened wide. His muscular chest was exposed within his unbuttoned, long-sleeved white shirt, like what the men in France wore two centuries ago.

But, then something happened in the dream. Darkness descended rapidly from an ominous cloud above, and Racco turned away in terror. He ran for his life, screaming, while the darkness increased and filled my vision. Brisk, frigid air embraced me, and I felt the icy surface of a stone floor beneath the tips of my toes, and the unforgiving contours of a primitive wooden chair under my butt. 

“Well, how nice-e-e-e!” rumbled a deep, and unfortunately, familiar voice. “Txema, you decided to drop by for another visit-t-t-t!!”

“What?! No way in hell would I ever want to visit with
you
, you sick bastard!” I hissed, while part of me worried that my mouth would surely bring a quick and premature end to my life—regardless of the fact I knew this was a dream. A very real and terrifying experience, but a dream nonetheless. A fucking horrid nightmare, more like it. “Why don’t you get out of my head and go screw yourself, and leave me the hell alone?”

The rumble deepened, becoming a guttural laugh. At the same time, the darkness lifted somewhat. I found myself sitting in the same damned room I visited in my last encounter with the demon vampire named Ralu.

“As much as I appreciate your discomfort with my presence, you are in no position to make such a demand!” he replied, his tone iced with contempt. 

I could make out the outline of his hulking figure sitting behind the primitive desk I had seen in my last dream with him. Unlike last time, the fire burning in the fireplace was a mere collection of smoldering coals that emitted short flames barely illuminating the room—this same chapel from my last ‘Ralu experience’, with ornate tapestries along the walls. But, more than last time, streams of moonlight poured through the stained glass windows.

“There’s nothing you can do to make me become some defiled blood princess for you!” I shouted, in no mood to go through the same shit as last time. If this son of a bitch was going to slice my throat open again, I wanted him to do it right away, so I could wake up and be done with this nightmare.

“It is the
only
way you will survive, Txema!” he retorted, allowing himself to chuckle sardonically before going on. “Otherwise, you
will
die when Gustav’s kingdom is overthrown. It is inevitable that my army, which is growing in numbers every night, will become too great a force for your measly protectors to overcome. When they are destroyed, I will add your pretty face to my collection!”

I could feel the depth of his hatred as he said this, which made me wonder why in the hell he would even offer me a privileged place in his kingdom in the first place. His chuckle grew steadily into a fit of laughter as he threw his head back, leaving no doubt that the thoughts in my head were fully open to his discernment. His facial features looked more hideous than I previously recalled, stretched grotesquely as his malicious joy reverberated off the walls and filled the air around me.

“I will leave you with two things to consider during the last days of your pitiful existence!” he sneered, once the laughter faded. “Gustav’s centuries of uncontested prosperity and tyranny will finally end before dawn, two days hence. That is the first thing to remember, Txema, and you can tell them all that the alchemist’s preferred residence will be nothing more than a charred pile of wood and rubble. My army of thirty thousand angry souls is on its way, getting closer to you each night.”

He waited for me to acknowledge his warning before going on, and I offered a weak nod. The picture in my mind of an enormous mass of Nosferatu vampires storming the castle in the darkest hours of the night scared the holy shit out of me—which brightened the mirthful grin on his face.

“Here is something else that will give you pause to reconsider my offer, if I am so inclined to extend it again in the near future,” he said, and in the next instant his shadow shifted. I gasped when I found him standing less than a foot away. There was no escape from the decaying flesh scent wafting toward me. “Meet your cousins, Sorne and Nere!”

Before my mind fully understood what he meant, he pulled out two severed heads from his cloak and laid them at my feet. He made sure to position their horrified expressions to where I could see them clearly, bathed in the light from a slender moonbeam. They both looked quite similar to me, with hazel eyes frozen in terror, and their mouths opened in the screams that must’ve taken place right before their heads were separated from their bodies. Not knowing which one was Sorne or Nere, one of them had their neck severed low enough to see the familiar birthmark.

I screamed.

“It must be something in the family that makes you all uncooperative,” he said, seemingly unaffected by the screeching timbre pouring out of my open throat. “Well, at least they will not be alone much longer…unless you come to your senses and join us, Txema. Join us before it is too
late!”

He laughed again, and this time he didn’t restrain himself. He gave in to an even bigger uproarious laughter fit, one that grew louder by the moment. All the while I screamed, and neither my hoarse cries nor his gleeful cacophony stopped—not until the world around me went blank.

Chapter 18

The last time I had a dream like this, I immediately awoke in a panic, grasping desperately at my throat to make sure it was still intact. Not this time. Instead, I slumbered in apparent uneventful peace, although scientists insist we dream all night long. The thing I remembered most, upon waking, were the bleeding heads of my cousins, as they laid lifeless near my feet.

I awoke just before 11:00 a.m., which gave me an hour to prepare for my noon rendezvous with Racco. Even though I bathed the night before, I decided to linger in the shower, letting the soft jets and waterfalls pour over me. I guess I hoped to wash away the memory of my most recent nightmare, while trying to savor the dream image of Racco’s bare muscular chest. I wondered if that part was an accurate representation, and whether or not in a few hours I would find myself in a warm embrace, stroking the soft, dark hair so openly displayed.

After dressing in the outfit left for me the night before, I headed downstairs to the foyer. Unlike last night, when I saw vampires frolicking throughout the castle during my tour, and human servants hustling about to meet the seemingly endless demands for one item or another, the place was deserted. Only the echo from a door closing somewhere behind me, along the grand corridor, interrupted the stillness that surrounded me.

No sign of Racco. With a few minutes to spare, I didn’t worry about whether he stood me up or not. However, I started to consider that notion seriously once a large grandfather clock chimed when twelve o’clock arrived.

Fortunately, the clock’s gothic chimes drew my attention to its glass case. Another envelope peered out through the door of the pendulum case. Smaller than the one left for me the previous night, it bore my name in script cursive. Also, unlike last night’s invitation, this one bore a red wax seal with a lion’s head pressed into it.

Of course, I opened it without delay. Racco’s favored cologne drifted toward me from the note.

“My dearest Txema. If you are ready for a delightful afternoon, step outside and allow Mercel to lead you to your seat next to mine. Racco.”