Vampires of the Sun (12 page)

              For the first time Norah thought her life was meaningful. Many aspects of her life had become about learning and she felt happy just spending time with Jack. Her heart hurt when she looked at him.

              Late one evening, before Norah was going to turn in for the night, she agreed to watch a movie with Jack. Watching Count Dracula seemed dumb to Norah but she watched it anyways because Jack had asked her to. He’d gotten a large selection of DVDs all about vampires for some unknown reason and wanted her to binge watch them. They’d watched the Underworld series the night before and Blade the night before that. Half-way through the movie, she could feel Jack’s eyes on her. Every time she turned her head to look though, he would turn his head away and pretend to be watching the film.

              “Why do you keep looking at me?” She questioned him finally, unable to stand the cat and mouse game they were playing.

              “I wasn’t,” Jack replied, keeping a straight-face, keeping his eyes on the TV.

              “Don’t lie to me, I can see you looking,” Norah warned, swatting at his arm. His hand caught hers before it could touch down on his skin. His hand was warm to her now that she was a vampire and today it felt like it was on fire. He was looking at her reverently, nothing hidden about his gaze. He let the heat show through and even a small bit of anxiousness in his expression. With his reaction, she didn’t know what to do or whether to be nervous. Slowly he leaned in towards her and she wasn’t sure if she should pull away or lean in so she sat still on the couch, waiting to see what he would do.

              Norah didn’t have experience with boys. She’d had a couple of flirtations in high school but they never lasted long. She was happy but it hurt inside of her to think that Jack might turn away from her or fall out of love with her. She wouldn’t deny him anything but she wasn’t sure he wanted a subservient girl. What if she gave him everything and he got bored? More than anything, she wished she could read his mind to be everything that he wanted and needed. Norah would have laughed if she had known that Jack felt the same way as her.

              The kiss came slow and soft. Neither Jack nor Norah seemed to be confident that they were making the right move. His lips pressed softly against her own. She could feel how smooth and dry they were. When he pressed harder, so did she, showing that she also wanted to be kissing him. Under her lips, Jack’s mouth cracked open slightly and unsure of what she was doing, she copied him, letting his tongue into her mouth. It was a game of wrestle and Norah was surprised she didn’t find playing tonsil hockey as disgusting as she always thought she would.

              Warm hands touched her neck. When Jack’s thumbs touched behind her ears and caressed down her neck, Norah’s whole body shivered. Taking it as a good thing, Jack pushed his body forward causing Norah to lose balance and knock back enough to fall onto the couch, splayed out for him to lean over. He smiled down at her, beaming in apparent happiness. She smiled shyly back before her lips were taken over again by his kisses.

              All over, Norah’s body shivered with his touch. Her sides, neck, and upper back were sensitive. Jack moved from her lips to her neck, kissing it, sucking on the skin, and biting while his hands touched her hair, trailing down and finally he touched her breast. It felt natural to Norah to let her legs fall on either side of him and to feel his body against her own. She didn’t reject his advances when he pulled the shirt she was wearing over her head, letting a man see her round breasts, cupped in a balconette bra, for the first time. His hands went to the back to unhook her bra strap, leaving mounds with pointy nipples free. Not able to help herself, Norah glanced at the ceiling to try to get her embarrassment under control.

              While she was looking at the ceiling, Norah could feel Jack’s thumbs tracing her nipples before she felt a wet mouth taking each one in, sucking and licking at the skin. Her knees trembled and it was good she was leaning back for she would have fallen otherwise. While he suckled at her breast, his hands played with her belly button. She tried to match the interest by holding onto his arms and back and hook her leg around the back of his.

              Trying to remain muffled, Norah could tell she was breathing hard in anticipation. Jack’s hands had moved even farther south, touching her legs and the fabric of her skirt. His left hand was cupped around the inside of her knee while his right hand trailed from her belly button to grab her inner thigh before he slowly slid his hand forward and touched her panties.

              Jack caressed the fabric on her hip bones, squeezing the skin slightly before his thumb reached its destination. He rolled it over the fabric that separated his skin from the wet mound that was growing. Touching the hem, he slowly dipped his fingers between her skin and the elastic and she could feel his skin against her own as they moved to find their way to her hole. He plunged the tip of his index finger inside, slowly spreading her wider before he slipped the whole thing in completely.

              Unable to stop herself, Norah let out a sound. It couldn’t be considered a moan. It was more of a surprised but not unhappy sound. Jack took the rest of his fingers off of her hip to rub at her gently. He must have decided that the fabric was in the way because he trailed his left hand down to touch her and remove her panties completely, leaving her only the skirt as intact clothing. Before he could touch her again, she moved to sit up so she could remove his shirt for him since he seemed inclined to only be paying attention to her.

              When the fabric was removed from his body, Norah kissed his lips again, bringing him to lay against her again. This time there wasn’t anything to keep their chests apartment. It was hot friction. Jack’s hands caressed her body again, creating shivers and extra lubrication so that when he met her cavern with his fingers, the middle one slid in easily while the thumb caressed her. She was sensitive on her outer rim and his touch sent pleasure through her entire body. Fitting a second finger in her, stretching her out, there was some pain but not enough for her to wince or turn back. The third finger hurt the most but she still took it in stride.

              Her body was heated and she was feeling pleasurable when Norah heard the metal on Jack’s pants unzip. She could hear him wrestling to slide his pants down and making a bold move, Norah brought her right hand down from his back to help. She was met with a warm, slick manhood. Unsure of what do, she fondled it and pushed her hand up and down it.

              A single drop of sweat dropped onto the side of her arm. Jack’s eyes were closed and he had a contorted expression that she could tell if it was pleasure or pain. When she stopped, unsure of how to proceed or what to do, Jack dropped from his extended elbows to bent elbows that allowed their bodies to meet again. This time, Norah could feel his erection against her leg. “Are you ready?” Jack grunted at her, making sure she was okay with what was about to happen. In response, Norah guided him to her opening with a small, curt nod. He paused before slowly beginning to plunge in. Unable to help herself, Norah let out a soft whimper. It hurt but as he sat there, inside of her, she got used to the size rather quickly. His hands were back to caressing her which helped her body want him more.

              Finally letting go of Jack’s arm that she had grabbed in pain, Norah nodded her head that it was okay to move. There was a lot of pain but as he kept caressing her, the motion eventually led to being pleasurable. Jack was thrusting into her and she could hear him grunting as he touched her legs, thighs, rear, and caressed around her opening.

              She could feel a rippling feeling inside of her and Jack looked desperate and his motions were getting quicker and faster until finally she could feel him arch out and something exploded inside of her with force. It felt strange and uncomfortable and she hadn’t finished. Jack’s whole body relaxed and he collapsed to on top of her, pulling out slowly before he let his hands go back to massaging her, bringing her back to that rippling feeling. His fingers used his own lubrication to touch deep inside of her and feel around for her sensitive spots enough that she was finally able to let go and reach an immensely pleasurable state that left her incapacitated for a few seconds afterwards.

              Together, their bodies lay spent and tired. Jack kissed her lips with hardly any strength and he suckled on her neck a little before he cradled his head and nuzzled his hair between her cheek and shoulder. Norah’s mind was working a mile a minute, thinking and replaying what had just happened. She thought sex was about getting off from the thrusting motion but she was beginning to realize that for her, it was more about the teasing and massaging hands. The actual delving of his penis inside of her did nothing for her. Wishing she had another girl with experience to talk to, Norah kept quiet. Her fingers moved up to curl into Jack’s hair and caress it softly, enjoying the afterglow. They stayed that way until almost before dawn. Forced to clean up, they moved to the finished closed off chamber that held their bedroom, locking all of the doors and arming the alarms. Once inside the room, Jack cradled Norah against himself again, locking her into his arms where they slept together for the night. Both Jack and Norah were content.

              Over the next few weeks, Norah had to grow accustomed to how clingy Jack was. Even if they weren’t making out, he liked to wrap his arms around her and hug her and he liked to cuddle with her at night or while they watched movies. She had to force him to stop when she wanted to read though because there was not a single comfortable way to read while someone was attached like a leech. She liked his attentions but it was unfamiliar for her.

              Norah stayed up late one night when she was reading, watching the sun come up while Jack retired to their room. She was immersed in a book on the history of hell and couldn’t be pulled away. She wasn’t interested in the religious aspect of hell but the history of how all societies and religions had created some sort of hell. The real interest that she didn’t want to speak out loud was wondering if vampires were demons and where they came from. Of course there were mentions in various history books of supposed vampires and maybe Vlad the Impaler or Queen Mary had been vampires but neither regal story told her who was the first and there wasn’t any mention of who might have been the first in what she’d read so far.

              Distracted by the phone ringing, surprised that anyone might give them a call, Norah suspected it was either Mr. Fairchild or James as they were the only ones who they knew had their number. It was Mr. Fairchild.

              “Norah” His voice sounded garbled and he made a nasty wet sound. “Norah, I’m sorry. They came looking for you. The clan is dead.” The wet sound came back and it sounded like he was choking. “James is dead. Claude killed him. They came for me, knowing I dealt with the accounts. I moved them though. I gave them to another lawyer but I kept no record of who. When they came, I said James had the records because he did. He gave them to the other lawyer for me. You’re safe but we’re all dead.” The man could barely speak. “Norah-“ and he cut off. She could hear him choking and he was dying. She could hear it through the phone that hadn’t disconnected yet.

              “Hello Norah” a voice met her on the other line. It was her father speaking. “Norah, honey. We need you to come home. The ceremony was incomplete when that little rat friend of yours kidnapped you. Norah, honey, I must insist that you come-“ With a cry of horror, Norah clicked the end-call button and threw all of the books off her lap and ran to the bedroom.

              “Jack, Jack! Wake up!” Norah pounced on him, trying to hold back the tears that wanted to flow out. “James is dead!” Jack looked at her in disbelief and a slight grogginess that showed her he wasn’t sure if he was dreaming. “My parents killed James and the rest of the clan and even Mr. Fairchild.” He told her to slow down and tell him how it happened exactly, wanting all of the minute details.

              “Norah, I want you to stay here. I’m going to go back and check out what happened. I don’t believe he killed them all. I have to find them and I have to make sure we’re still safe. It sounded that way but I need to make sure that we are.” Norah begged and pleaded with him not to leave her alone. She was afraid to stay there by herself. She knew he had to go but she was being selfish. Dead-bolting the door, Jack curled up with Norah in his arms and they fell asleep one last time together before Norah woke to find Jack gone without a word.

              Alone for days without word, Norah tried to keep to a normal schedule. She finished up the list of books she had been reading and started on new ones. She even took up messaging keira10001 again. Keira10001 had send her a slew of messages over the last few months that Norah didn’t know how to respond to. They were innocent enough, asking her if everything was okay and how things were.

             
//u//keira10001

              Hey! Sorry I haven’t been responsive. A lot has gone on in my life lately. I ended up moving across the country recently so I’ve been really busy. Things are only beginning to settle but I might be moving again soon. We’re not sure yet. Maybe this time I’ll move to the city and I can finally see you? Wouldn’t that be a blast? Anyways, I promise I’ll try to keep up more. Hopefully one day I can explain everything in detail to you.

              Norah couldn’t sleep during the night, afraid Jack would be caught and tortured for her location. Paranoid thoughts ran through her head that she might be caught during the night by lackey vampires if she didn’t stay awake. If the sun wasn’t up, she wouldn’t return to their room to sleep.

              After a week, Jack finally called her from Texas. “Claude wasn’t lying. The house has been ransacked and there was blood splatter from a struggle. He must have staked them because I see dust but I don’t see bodies. I can’t find Maxine. He might have taken her or she might have run away again. I want to look around a few pounds while I’m here. I’ve looked for clues of who the estate manager might be already but there is nothing to be found. I don’t think they found any hints either. I don’t have to time to visit Mr. Fairchild’s office tonight but I’ll go there tomorrow and I’ll call you. I want to go look at the facility you were held at as the last thing I do before I come back. I’ll keep in touch.” Norah couldn’t even get a word in.

              The next evening, when she woke up early, Norah heard the phone ringing. Thinking it was Jack, she answered but was met by an unknown voice. “I’m looking for Ms. Banks or a Mr. Vios?”

              “This is Ms. Banks,” Norah spoke in reply, apprehensive about who she was talking to. She couldn’t be sure that this wasn’t a trick from her father. She hadn’t changed her number yet and she was beginning to think she should have.

              “My name is Mr. Valencia. I was trusted with the care of yours and Mr. Vios’s estates. James gave it to me a few weeks ago. He seemed very worried and mentioned that if he did not get into contact with me over the next two weeks that I should call you and give you updated information.”

              “Please, go ahead. Unfortunately James was killed recently so he won’t be getting into contact with you again.” Norah warned.

              “James said that if I did not hear from him, that I was to split his entire estate up between you and Mr. Vios. It’s a staggering sum of money and assets. There are houses all over Europe and Asia as well as a penthouse in New York and a loft in Los Angeles. Is there somewhere I can send all of this information?”

              “Do you have a fax machine?” Norah didn’t want to give out her address.

              “Of course, I can send it that way if you prefer. I would have mailed it straight away but there wasn’t an address included in all of these files.”

              “Please send it all. I mean every last document. I’ll make sure we’re ready on this end.” Norah gave Mr. Valencia their fax number and prepped a stack of paper next to it in order to receive it all without the paper tray becoming empty. She waited for half an hour before documents started flying through the machine. When she had a sizeable stack, she’d load it up with more paper and wait. Norah had to repeat the process three times. When she was done, the stack of paper was six inches tall. Each had a small hand-written number on the bottom right so she could sort through it more easily and know which documents went together. It was a fairly easy process to handle.

              Starting from the beginning of the pile, Norah began to read and try to make sense of all of the paper. The books she’d begun reading on economics were helping her understand a good portion of the jargon and the rest she began looking up online when she got confused. Account numbers, real estate addresses, locations of businesses with manager contact information, and stock broker information loomed out at her. Every page with something very specific like an address, she made a copy. The copies went into a small stack with highlighter marks to point out relevant information so she could have the specifics separated from contracts and the wordier documents contained in the original bulky pile.

              With her head filled with numbers, Norah didn’t realize that the night was ending until the first ray of sunlight popped in through the window and put a glare on her eyes. Rubbing tiredly, Norah realized Jack hadn’t called. Any attempts to call his cell phone proved fruitless and went straight to voice mail. Leaving the papers in various piles to show what had been read and what hadn’t, Norah retired to sleep. She realized she hadn’t fed either and would have to make a point to get some blood when she woke up. Their supply of blood bags was running low too. She wanted to restock before Jack got back to prove she could be independent without him in case he was worried. Uneasily, she fell into sleep hoping Jack had just gotten busy like her and nothing had gone wrong.

              Blood had never tasted so amazing. Downing two bags, wondering how she could be so hungry, Norah made sure not to let a single drop fall onto the counter. When she was done, she kept looking through the papers, hoping to get farther and maybe even finish all of the papers before the end of the night. She dialed Jack’s cell phone half a dozen times throughout the night whenever she wanted to take a break. She even talked to Mr. Valencia earlier in the night to make sure all of the accounts were being switched to both Norah’s and Jack’s names. He assured her most of the paperwork was already filed. It had come to him nearly complete and his portion of the job was quite small. All that was left now was a waiting game and he advised her to call again the following Monday so she could get an actual update on the process.

              Monday felt very far away. The papers couldn’t mask her growing uneasiness at not being able to contact Jack but she continued to look through them because she didn’t want to leave it for him when he got back. It wouldn’t be fair for him to have travelled so far just to have to come back and make headway with the stack of papers.

              It took three days for Norah to get through all of the papers and in that whole time she hadn’t heard from Jack. She couldn’t help it. The tears came out when she thought about him not coming back. She had no way of knowing if he was dead or if he was in captivity. She decided to wait for him in Washington though. Maybe he found out what he wanted to know but had to be discreet in order to get back to her?

              Taking care of errands helped Norah feel relieved. Telling herself that doing this for Jack would bring him back brought Norah to a blood bank she looked up on the internet. Using the small bit of mind control that she remembered learning from Jack, Norah was able to make the guard forget she was ever there after slipping inside with a large bag. She dissipated her body in order to get past the security cameras and into the holding container to get at the blood. Filling the bag up as full as possible, she left without any detection or recollection from the guards of ever having been there.

              The next evening when Norah hadn’t heard from Jack, she began to think passed the idea of Jack never coming back and to the idea that she should arm herself. She had no experience fighting but she could find a way to at least arm herself. Skipping the nightly attempt to call him, Norah went out to gather the supplies she needed. U.V. lights seemed like a good idea to catch a vampire off its guard. She installed three on the back porch, two in the living room, and one in the entry way with all three switches wired together so that any one of them would turn all the lights on.

              Not wanting to go all Buffy the Vampire Slayer on anyone, Norah had opted not to buy and widdle down wood into stakes. She’d found some handy lawn ornaments in a home improvement store that would allow her an easy hold with a grip on a piece of metal in case she really wanted to stab someone. Placing six around the house, Norah felt much more prepared in case of an invasion.

              A week passed without hide nor hair of Jack. No one came knocking at the door and life continued to inch along. While sitting on the couch, going over the financial papers and having heard that there had been resolve from Mr. Valencia that everything had been transferred over, she made small notes and compiled the last of the information together which she found relevant. As she sat, finishing up, her nose caught a whiff of something strange in the air. It was the same smell she had noticed when she met Kenneth for the first time. She was smelling vampires.

              A figure moving outside the window on the lower porch caught Norah’s eye. Peering closer, she could see that it was Jack. Happiness flooded through her and she shoved the papers from her lap and ran to the door to let him in. He hadn’t noticed her newly installed lights. “Jack!”

              “Norah, run.” It came out as a whisper but stopped her in her tracks all the same. His voice sounded funny and harsh and as she looked closer, he was limping. “They are here.” Without thinking, Norah ran out to grab him and bring him inside. Closing and locking the door, knowing that glass wasn’t likely to stop a vampire, she put Jack in their room with the plan she’d developed running through her head. Opening the mini-fridge and throwing him some blood after remembering what he said about the restorative properties of blood during their training months before, she left the room and went back out into the living room.

              At the door, there was a man she didn’t recognize jiggling the handle. He was leering at her. With a small vicious smile, she flipped the light switch and the UV light flooded the house. Screaming in pain, the man tried to get away but he could hardly move and his skin practically melted off before his ashes scattered to the wind.