Twice Bitten (48 page)

He grew serious for a moment, as he considered my question, which only added to my unease concerning the subject of my blood and how it affected the immortality of more than three hundred vampires. Frankly, the notion that an entire breed of vampires could deteriorate into an army of Nosferatu vampires if deprived of my red corpuscles was an extremely heavy burden to bear. Not to mention it came with many terrifying considerations. Like, what if there wasn’t enough of me to go around for everyone? Would I be rationed off until I died? Or, worse yet, suppose a vampire like the one who had threatened me with violence back in December desired to literally drain me dead while gaining several centuries of virtual youth for only himself. With as many hateful looks as I endured back in China, and along the Kosi River in Nepal, that fear especially seemed well founded.

“It’s true that many are ready to begin the ‘restoration plan’ of invigorating our perpetual youthfulness by taking very small amounts of your blood, and to do this every few years instead of every few decades,” he told me, meeting my worried gaze head on with his solemn one. No bullshit here, so far. “In that way, we can more carefully monitor how much is taken at one time and prevent an accidental death.”

“By draining too much of my blood at one time?”
“Yes,” he said. “And that can also happen if too many feedings take place without allowing enough time for your body to recover adequately.”

Oh joy.

“What about someone taking more than they should—what protection would I have against that?”

“The same protection you have now.” He motioned to the other vampires, and although they all seemed preoccupied with one another, their magazines, and their electronic gadget distractions, I assumed they were listening to our conversation. “The bond that we share with you and your kind is an eternal one that we not only wish to protect from extinction, but it goes much deeper than that—especially for you and even Alaia. I’m sure I speak for all of us gathered here tonight in saying ‘We love you, Txema’. We will do whatever it takes to keep you out of harm’s way. Even if it comes down to killing comrades we’ve been close to for hundreds of years. Yours and Alaia’s well-being must always come first.”

Small pinkish tears formed in the corners of his eyes, and he suddenly looked away.

“Well, if you decide you do need something to help you sleep, let me know,” he said, after abruptly standing. “I need to check on our progress and call ahead to our associates at our landing point, in order to ensure that everything is fully taken care of for us and you upon our arrival.”

He didn’t wait for me to respond, and he suddenly disappeared. I assumed the soft double-clicking noise I heard was the door to the plane’s cockpit opening and then quickly shutting as Kazikli visited with the pilots. I glanced around me. Everyone else was still preoccupied with whatever they were doing before he exited the passenger cabin. At least there was cohesiveness, and the strife I witnessed earlier had truly dissipated.

After taking care of Alaia, who was ready for a diaper change and to be fed, I held her close to me. We smiled at each other and she seemed very much at peace, cooing a little more than usual as if she were trying to converse with me. I gently stroked her fine, dark brown hair that seemed to be getting noticeably fuller each day. Finally, she nodded off and we both fell asleep.

***

When I awoke, the vampires were busy moving about the plane, talking hurriedly amongst themselves. At first I thought this was due to the effects from the elixir they drank wearing off. But then I realized we weren’t moving.

The plane had landed.

“Is everything okay?” I said to Chanson, who seemed the busiest. One moment she was checking her laptop, and the next she had disappeared to some undetermined location…and then back again.

“Yes, everything is fine,” she said, pausing to offer me a wan smile. “Or, maybe I should say that everything is going according to plan.” Her smile widened and she disappeared again.

“Why are you
all
running around like this?”

Every time I tried to focus on one individual, they’d disappear like Chanson had. It seemed like they all had assigned chores. As I sat observing this craziness, I heard heavy thumps in the section behind the passenger cabin. The thumps were loud enough to awaken Alaia, whose gaze soon mimicked mine as she tried to follow the movements of one vampire after another flitting about.

“Okay, the caskets are all in a row now, so once dawn gets here we can all jump into our beds and put an end to this marathon nonsense!” Armando announced, and then he looked over at Alaia and me. My daughter’s smile widened, and she kicked her legs as if she wanted to run over to him. “Welcome to Nashville, Tennessee, lil’ darlin’!” he drawled.

“Nashville?!!”

“Uh-huh, that’s what I done just told y’all,” he continued, and walked over to us with the bull-legged strut made famous long ago by John Wayne. He gently picked up my daughter while continuing his antics. “That’s why I’ve been busier than a fox in a goddamned hen house gettin’ our beds ready for sun-up. Even though you can’t see nothin’ yet ‘cause it’s two-fifty-five a.m. and dark as hell out yonder, you damn well know that ole rooster’s gonna crow his lil’ ass off sometime in the next two and a half hours…at least by my reckonin’ that’s what he’ll do!”

If not for the shocking news Armando had told me, I might’ve joined Tyreen and Raquel as they paused to laugh at him. But despite our Armando’s seemingly limitless bag of impromptu jokes, I had far too many questions as to why this city had been chosen above all others as our plane’s destination. I mean, we had been traveling for damn near nineteen hours straight without a break. So why in the hell ‘Nashville’ over anyplace else?

“Because of what’s here,” said Kazikli, reminding me once more that my thoughts were an open book to any vampire on the plane. I had been unaware of his presence in the room with everyone else, although I doubt he ever moved from his seat in the back corner to my right. I just hadn’t noticed him yet. Like Chanson, his laptop was also open and he appeared to be reading something important upon the screen. Something with serious implications, I gathered, since he wasn’t smiling and looked worried. “Or, I should say
who’s
here.”

“What do you mean?” I said. “We’re not talking about Ralu again are we?”

“No…at least not yet,” he said. “And we certainly would never have picked someplace he could easily access. Which is very good for us, since you only need today in order to tie up some loose ends in your life.”

“Well, if that’s why we came here, why didn’t we fly to Richmond instead?” I couldn’t control my rising sharp tone or the lump of indignation I felt forming inside my throat. “That’s where my family is, and until I see them and introduce them to my daughter, there will always be loose ends—
terrible
loose ends, especially if Grandma Terese never gets to meet my baby girl before she leaves this life!”

I looked around the cabin for support, but only found Tyreen’s quivering lips and misty eyes to back me up. Despite her empathy for me, and my situation, I knew her tears and sadness were for her own loss of contact with those she dearly loved and was forced to leave behind. We had briefly discussed this when it became obvious we would have to leave Nepal and be on the run from Ralu once more. Her parents and boyfriend still lived in Atlanta, an hour’s flight south from Nashville—even closer to where we were right then as compared to Richmond.

“It’s not out of the question that we might find a way for you to see your family, as well as other loved ones on this trip,” said Kazikli, turning off his laptop and closing it when I stood up and moved toward him. He suddenly appeared in front of me, and I almost ran into his powerful chest. “But you’ll need your rest—at least five or six more hours of sleep—for the long and busy day ahead of you, Txema.”

“But, I’ve slept almost eight hours,” I protested. “Even Alaia doesn’t seem ready for a nap anytime soon. Besides, I’m getting hungry and she will likely be hungry again in the next few hours.”

I pointed at Alaia as she was busy trying to grab Armando’s face while he gently bounced her in his arms.

“Your daughter isn’t the one I’m worried about, and if you’d like we can have Racco’s chef fix her another bottle and then we can entertain her until dawn,” Kazikli advised. “Now I want you to lie down once more and try not to fight the urge to sleep. Your desire to eat can wait…you will be fine.”

As crazy as it sounds, I started to feel drowsy again, and the more tired I got the less I cared about eating. I wasn’t hypnotized, but Kazikli’s words carried some sort of magic. As I looked for my chair, Chanson and Nora had already reclined it and had retrieved blankets from somewhere else on the plane. I was badly outnumbered, and my own body and mind had betrayed me, as well. Like it or not, I was going back to sleep.

“I have already picked out a…a ‘nice’ outfit for you, cousin, when you awaken,” said Chanson, after she had tucked me in. “It will be waiting for you in the plane’s bathroom when you awaken. Once you have bathed, you’ll find the makeup items you prefer in the vanity. All right?”

“Okay,” I said, picturing the layout of the bathroom in my mind, although it was getting harder to hang on to consciousness.

“And, this is your purse,” said Nora, holding up a small beige Bottega Veneta handbag. “Remember that your passport and two thousand dollars in cash is inside. You shouldn’t need to use much of the cash for this excursion, but the passport will be a necessity. A limousine will pick you up outside the hangar we will be staying at, and it will arrive at 11:30 a.m. sharp. Your alarm will wake you to get ready at ten o’clock, leaving you plenty of time to get dolled up.”

“How did you get a passport without me filling out anything or taking m-my...pic-picture?”

It was getting harder and harder for me to focus.

“Unfortunately, the same way dishonest humans do it,” said Kazikli, his image getting dimmer. He was standing next to Nora…I think. “We had it forged months ago for such an occasion as this!”

He sounded like he was quite pleased and proud of himself, and he chuckled…but I could no longer see him.

“Rest, Txema…rest and know that we’ll be waiting for you when you come back,” said another voice, Garvan’s, and I could feel his cool touch upon my temples as he gently massaged them. It felt really good, and I wanted to tell him not to stop. “You’ll be glad you did this. Remember, we all feel the same about it…that it will bring peace and closure so your heart can move on….”

Chapter 15

I awoke on my own at 9:52 a.m. For a moment, I thought it was still dark outside. But once I saw the dimly illuminated crisscrossing steel beams above us through the windows on either side of the passenger cabin, I remembered that Kazikli and Chanson had told me the plane would be moved inside a nearby hangar until we were ready to resume our trip around the world.

The overhead lights remained on inside the passenger cabin, and my first priority was to check on Alaia. She was already awake. Smiling as she lay inside a Moses basket, an adorable pink outfit with ruffles had been set out for her on the chair next to the basket. Since I could smell a slight hyacinth scent, I realized Nora was the one to do this. I smiled at the tenderness shown to my baby girl.

The plane felt deserted. Although I knew my vampire companions were fast asleep in the room next to the passenger cabin, it seemed like all of Racco’s staff had left the airplane. Even as I listened intently, all I could hear was my child’s breathing and her soft coos.

We were definitely on our own—at least until dusk, unless the staff returned early.

I played with Alaia until shortly after ten o’clock, and then when my stomach began to rumble, I realized neither she nor I were likely to get fed until we left the plane. I carried her down the aisle toward the bathroom, pausing long enough to steal a peek at the row of expensive caskets I recognized from my brief stay in China months ago.

I had just stepped into the bathroom when I saw a note taped to the mirror. Well, first I saw how bad my makeup had smudged since yesterday, along with the destruction of Yangani’s efforts to create a lasting hairstyle from the previous afternoon. The note was from Chanson, reminding me about the outfit I was to wear that day along with my makeup, and that everything was waiting for me next to the vanity. She also gave me instructions on how to avoid tumbling down the portable stairs when I exited the plane with Alaia, as well as what doorway to go through in order to meet our limousine. After adamantly reminding me to be outside the hangar door and ready for the limo no later than 11:30 a.m., her last instructions were to make sure that Alaia and I were back inside the hangar by seven o’clock that night at the latest. Beneath her signature was a curious ‘P.S.’ It read, “Enjoy your date”.

“What in the hell is she talking about, Alaia?” I said to my little girl. I bathed and then dressed her in the precious outfit. She truly looked like a princess in waiting, and seemed almost as intrigued as I was, kicking her legs and waving her tiny arms while she smiled.

It’s moments like these that make me feel as if I could live through anything and be happy. Just as long as the unconditional love of my daughter remains that way.