Dhampir Love (30 page)

     “Excuse me, how much is this doll?”

     “Madame, this doll is much too high.  Maybe you prefer one with smaller value?”

      “No, I want to know the price of this one,” sounding firm.

      Taking the doll, the clerk went to the register. Opening a book and flipping through the pages, she stopped at a picture of the doll in her hand.  Turning the book around for me to see I noticed the price was three hundred dollars.

     “I’ll take it,” without blinking an eye.

      “You big doll collector?”

      “You could say that,” I smiled knowing Abigail was going to be over the moon receiving two dolls.

      The clerk carefully wrapped the doll in paper before placing her in a box.  “Come back again.”

      “Thank you!”

      Before exiting the store, I looked at the corner where the man stood.  Without seeing him I went straight to my car and back to the hotel.

    
My suspicions had to be caused from all the horrifying dreams I had had about Tony disappearing before he actually disappeared.  Paranoid I wasn’t, but it now seemed I was beginning to think I was, but regardless of the man or anyone else, I couldn’t let anyone or anything stop me from my mission.

     Back at the hotel, I forgot about the man in town and spent the rest of the day thinking over how my reunion with Tony would be.  He had no idea I was on my way to Brazil to find him and how happy he would be or rather we would be
to be back in each other’s arms. 

     So, I thought it shouldn’t take more than a week or two, at the most, providing all goes well and I don’t run into bumps in the road. 

     Tonight, I slept a dreamless sleep.

     Waking up around five I dressed, headed down to the dining room for breakfast and coffee.  Carlo wasn’t in the lobby, but he was coming from the kitchen with a pan of eggs, bacon, muffins and pancakes.  Grabbing a plate I piled it high .You would think I was eating my last meal, but Carlo was the best cook.  Getting to the point I would bust, it was now time to give Carlo my room key and start my journey to Brazil. 

     “Mrs. Mureaux, thank you for your time with us.  If at anytime we can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to ask.  Visit us again and may God be with you on your journey to find your husband.”

     “Thank you, Carlo.  God will guide me to Tony.  I have faith and believe he will.”

     Handing Carlo the key, I tossed my backpack on my left shoulder and walked out of the hotel with my head held high. 

     Driving down the single road to the highway, I didn’t look back.  What I did, though, was look forward to Brazil and one step closer to Tony. 

     Getting the last of the ten thousand, I was now ready for the airport. 

     Arriving two hours before my departure to Manaus-Amazonas, Brazil, I stopped at the parking garage attendant and asked for pricing on storage for my car.  With no way of knowing how long I would be gone, I paid for six months of storage to be on the safe side.

     “We don’t offer refunds, Mrs. Mureaux.”

     “I’m not expecting one,” I said sarcastically.

     “Very well then, we’ll have your car in the deepest corner of the basement when you return.”

     “Thank you.” 

     My next stop was the Foreign Exchange counter to turn my Euro’s into R$ (Brazilian Portuguese) and five thousand dollars I had in my backpack.  I didn’t know how
much I would need in Brazil and wanted to be on the safe side.

      Taking my seat in the waiting area for my departure to Brazil I thought my honeymoon was defiantly one I wouldn’t forget in my life.  An hour later, it was time to board the plane.

     Taking my seat next to the window and buckling in, the pilot announced a slight delay in departure due to a minor malfunction which should be fixed shortly. 

     “Great,” I said out loud. 

     Staring out the window, I watched as an engineer truck pulled up to the plane.  Several men went under the plane and before long they departed on the truck.  The pilot announced the malfunction was fixed and our departure for Brazil would be underway shortly.

     “Thank you Lord,” I whispered. 

     Soon the plane was airborne and I was never as happy as I was watching the ground getting smaller and smaller.  In five hours I would be in Manaus, Brazil.  Closing my window shade, I closed my eyes clearing my mind of any doubts I could have possibly come up with to wish I had never taken this journey to find Tony. 

     The plane descended into Manaus around four in the afternoon.

     Not sure where to go, I walked up the street to a business booking tours for the Amazon Forest. 
Perfect
, I thought with one problem.  The bus wasn’t to leave until eight in the morning.  I couldn’t wait. 

     A local
, heading back to Ararinha Lodge, gave me a ride without a ton of questions and I paid him handsomely for his services.  Dropping me off in front of the lodge, I thanked him and went to dinner.

    My best interest was to stay the night at the lodge, but the more ground I covered the closer I would be to Tony.  Starting out on foot, I followed the river to a village just before the sun set.  Settling into a hut, which looked abandoned,
I placed my backpack on the floor and went searching for wood to make a fire.  I gathered large and small logs from outside.  Taking two smaller sticks I rubbed them together for a good ten minutes until I had enough friction to start the fire.  Warming by the fire, I heard what sounded like a branch breaking outside. 

     Going to the door, a small man stood four feet from the door.  “You in my hut,” the small man shrieked.

     “I need a place until morning.”

     “You go,” he said pointing toward the lodge.

     “Mister, I’m looking for someone and I need to rest.”

     “He no here.”

     “I know he isn’t here.  Maybe I can give you something for me to stay one night?”

     “You give what?” he asked.

      Holding up my forefinger I went into the hut, opened my backpack and took out five hundred dollars.  Turning around to go back outside, the man was standing in the doorway.  Holding out the money I asked, “I can give you this.”

     The man looked at my hand as I held the money.  ‘You stay, leave morning.”

     Handing him the money I thanked him and sat down in front of the fire. 

     He walked outside.

     The fire crackling brought colors of blue and purple into the tiny room filling it with warmth and making me move to the opposite side of the room.  The man came back with a small reptile placing it in the fire.  Sitting down with his eyes on his meal, he asked, “Who look for?”

     “My husband,” I said strongly.

     “Why look here?”

     “He was kidnapped and b
rought here.  I’m going to find him.”

     “Why think here?”

     “I was told he was.”

     “Forest big,” he said stretching out his arms.  “You look where?”

     “I’m not sure where to look so I started here.”  Bringing my knees to my chest, I wrapped my arms around my legs.

     Outside the rain started. 

     “A woman took him a week ago.  A vampire clan from Italy told me she brought him here and I won’t stop until I find him.  By the way—call me Jessica.”

     He smiled a small smile and said, “Joao.”  Joao got up with a stick, sat beside me and started drawing in the dirt.  Placing an ‘X’, he then drew a mountain drawing a line between the two.  “One day travel,” he said.

     “Did you see them?”

     Joao got up, paced back and forth, and then sat in front of the fire.  “Joao see everything.”

     “But did you see the woman with my husband?”

     Stabbing the reptile with a stick
and taking it from the fire he started peeling away the skin with his bare hands.  Grabbing the meat he offered me some, but I shook my head and said, “No thank you.  I’m not hungry.”

      “Eat,
good,” he commented continuing to devour the reptile.

     After
he licked his fingers and wiped them on his pants he continued, “Jungle big, lost, North, man and woman.”

     “And North would be?”

      Joao looked up and pointed behind him.

     “Well then, I’ll need plenty of rest.”   Joao didn’t say anything.  He lay on the floor with his back to the fire.  Taking my backpack, I put it under my head for a pillow.  Closing my eyes, I was soon asleep.

     In the morning I woke up shivering from the cold.  Joao wasn’t in the hut.  Coffee would be nice right now, but I didn’t have time to think of it because I had to get going to make it to the mountain before nightfall. 

     Going in the direction Joao pointed, I ran into thick brush and the trees which were spread apart, now coming together.  Lianas were spiraling up the trees blocking out the sunlight giving the effect of night, but I continued on hoping I was going in the right direction. 

    Forcing my way through the forest, I came upon a stream.  Tasting the sweet spring, wishing I had one of
Tony’s flasks to carry it in.  Slowing peeking through the trees was sunshine.  Dipping my hand in the cool water, washing my face and neck I took the time to rest before I moved on.

     Resting my hand on the bank of the stream, a snake slithered across
it causing me to lift my hand suddenly tossing the snake into the stream.  Now, it
was
time to move on.  Getting up, I decided to follow the stream hoping I was still heading north.   I walked the rest of the morning and afternoon until I found a make-shift shelter formed from rocks beside the stream. 

     Nightfall, I learned, was the beginning of the forest awakening.  Settling in for a peaceful night of sleep turned into a night of sleeplessness.  Grabbing my backpack, a jaguar sounded somewhere close and howler monkeys weren’t quiet either.  All night long, I heard the animals and now I wished I had hired a jeep with a guide to take me up to the mountain, but here I was in the middle of the forest and I couldn’t give up.  Tony was somewhere out here and I had to find him.  During the night, I fell asleep without knowing I had until I woke up in the morning.

     Hungry, I continued north.  A large snake stuck its head out of the water at me and I knew I should get away from the stream.  Going to the east a few yards, hoping I was away from the stream and the snakes. 

     Walking in a northeasterly direction I came across a village in a clearing appearing to be vacant.  The first hut, I came to, had its door open.  Peeking in, a fire was burning in the fireplace with no sign of life.   “Odd,” I said and then
I felt a stabbing in my back.  When I turned around a man with a spear attached to a long stick greeted me. 

    “I’m not here to harm you,” I told the man.  “I come to eat.”

     The man raised his eyebrows.

     “Food, hungry, eat?”

     Raising his spear a woman walked out of the trees.  Walking toward me, she lowered his spear to face the ground as she passed him.  Stopping in front of me she asked, “You seek the man?”

     I was shocked.  The only one I told about Tony was Joao and that was
the day before yesterday.  How did news travel in the forest? I wondered silently.  “Yes, I seek the man,” I said, not sure what man she referred to, but to agree in hopes of getting food in my growling stomach.

     “He not here,” she quickly stated.

     “I know he isn’t.  May I please have some food?  I’m very hungry.”

     The woman entered the hut and brought out a handful of round things resembling a biscuit.  Handing them to me, I immediately took a bite.  Whatever it was, which I didn’t want to know, I basically swallowed whole without tasting.  She offered me some water, which I gladly took. 

     Taking my backpack off my shoulders, the woman packed it with the round things and summoned the man to fill a bladder.  He attached it to my backpack.

     “No want trouble with white people.  Go now!”

     “White people?” I asked.

     “Ones prowl the night, hunt,” the woman said. 

     From the look on her face, she was dead serious. 

     “The night prowlers, do you know where I might find them?”

     “You seek no good.  Hunt, drink blood, no trouble,” she repeated.

     “I seek them because they have something which belongs to me.  If you could point me in the direction, I’ll be off.”

     The man walked up to the woman and whispered in her ear.  Both looked at me with such fear on their faces.  “Go now,” the woman said and pointed north.

    “Thank you for the food and water,” I said and started again on my journey.

    “You seek man, luck you need.”

     Waving to them I disappeared into the jungle.

     With my stomach full and water to drink, I walked through thick shrubs, creeping juniper, moss covered rocks and trees wishing the entire time I had a hatchet to clear my way, but I didn’t give up. 

     Pushing myself forward, I stopped for a breather when I heard running water. 

Getting up, I walked toward the noise to discover a waterfall surrounded with Orchids, Evergreen blue butterfly bushes with the most beautiful butterflies fluttering around. Cherry, Oak and Pines trees, and a lot of Redwood trees to help form a pond below with Bromelia
ds, growing on the forest floor.  Frogs, salamanders and snails made it their home.  Above the pond, the sky was blue with a hint of a cloud or two.   I had reached the mountain, or so I thought. 

     I ha
dn’t a shower or a bath for a week, and with no villages close by, I took a swim before the sun set.  The water was cold and refreshing as I made myself at home swimming and scrubbing (the best I could) all the dirt I had accumulated for the week. 

     Behind the waterfall a small cave looking to be abandoned was perfect for spending the night.  Climbing up to the rocks leading
to the waterfall was treacherous.  I slipped several times only to land back in the water not paying attention to the moss growing on the rocks.  I have to admit I was enjoying myself just a bit.

     As night fell upon the forest, again the creatures of the night could be heard echoing their cries
through the forest.  Huddled against the back of the cave, I heard voices coming closer to the waterfall.   Was my mind playing tricks on me or was I really and truly hearing voices. 

      Staying in a crouched position, I inched my way to the ledge peeking through the water.  Could it be? I asked myself as I watched four white bodies jump into the pool of water.  Slowly making my way around the rocks to see them in
the clear I gasped because I knew what was swimming in the pond.

      Vampires!!

      One female and three males laughing and swimming as darkness surrounded the forest. 

      “Did you see the one Freda added to her clan?” the female asked the males.

      “Ah, Kala, there’s nothing special about him.  Just another added member Freda chose as her mate.”

      “Well, I think he’s adorable,” Kala said before she dove under the water.

     I moved to get a better look at the woman underwater when a lose pebble under my foot dropped to the rocks below.

     “What was that?”  One male asked as three heads turned in my direction. 

     Crouching lower, laying my chin on the rocks, I tilted my head downward hoping I wouldn’t be noticed keeping my eyes on the vampires.

     “Could be another one of those monkeys,” another male said.

     “I bet it is.  Never fails how they follow us.

     “To finish off what we leave behind,” and all three laughed.

     Kala came out of the water and said, “The water’s refreshing boys.  Come in.”

     Kala dove back under the water and all three of the males jumped in.  Relieved, they thought I was a monkey because the last thing I needed was to be captured. 

     Staying crouched on the rocks, I noticed in the distance smoke billowing on the horizon.  Not sure which direction I was facing, I watched as the smoke thickened and chanting echoed through the forest.  Kala and the males heard it too and took off in the direction of the smoke.

     Easing myself up off the rocks, I scooted to the back of the cave, grabbed my backpack and watched the orange glow through the water
fall. 

     “Tony, wherever you are honey.  I’m coming to get you and take you home.  I love you.”   Closing my eyes, I didn’t hear the creatures of the night.  I heard only the water flowing from the rocks and concentrated on the sound until I fell asleep.

     During the night, I jerked myself awake.  Focusing my eyes, I realized something was in the cave with me.  Holding my breath, I watched two yellow eyes turn toward me.    A hissing sound came from where my foot was resting. 

Slowly, I placed my foot at the eyes and with all my strength; I pushed with my foot and watched the eyes disappear over the side of the rocks to the water below.

     Settling against the rock, hugging my backpack to my stomach, closing my eyes, I thought I heard my name in the distance.  “No Jessica, it’s your mind playing tricks on you,” I told myself.  “You’re only wishing you could…..” And then I heard my name again.

     Opening my eyes, I set my backpack to the side and leaned toward the edge peering around the waterfall.  The orange glow was brighter than before and the chanting was louder.  “No, I’m dreaming.  I have to be.  I’m hallucinating.”

   My name echoed again.

   Inching my way back to the cave wall, feeling I was close to Tony yet
so far away.

     In the midst of dozing off and on from sleep I managed to say. “Tony, I’m not giving up.  Not until I have you in my arms safe.”  I listened all night as my name echoed randomly until my eyes closed. 

     The forest started waking as I huddled against the cave wall.  My eyes tired from lack of sleep, I knew I wouldn’t make a mile or two today.  With the waking dawn, I huddled in the cave deciding whether to continue my journey or rest.  Sleep was on the horizon of my lids, but I chose to push forward toward Tony.  I grabbed my backpack and took one last swim before continuing.

  Taking the band from my hair and running my fingers from scalp to ends, I heard voices down below.  Easing myself to the edge, the four vampires were back.

     “That was one wild initiation Freda held last night.  If all new comers receive that kind of warm welcome, I’m game,” Kala said.

    
New comer
, I thought. 
Are they talking about Tony?

     “Aah! Kala, you want him for yourself,” the male said and pushed Kala into the water.  “Now tame your lust.”

     Kala came out of the water with laughter.  “I know, and Freda won’t share.”

    
Yes, they were talking about Tony.   

     “Let’s get back before Freda sends a search party,” Kala said. 

   
 
I watched the four vampires take off in the direction of the orange glow from last night.  Of course, I wasn’t as fast as they were, but as least I could cover more ground today.  My hopes that I was one step closer and I had to trudge forward.

     Grateful the vampires took a swim in the pond because I knew now I was on the right track to find Tony.  Easing myself down the rocks, I slipped on the moss and into the water.  My backpack slipped from my hand.  I hadn’t secured it to my back.  The water was cool, but I didn’t care.  Coming up out of the water, I saw my backpack floating a few feet from me.  Swimming toward the pack, I heard voices coming toward the pond.  Quickly grabbing my pack, I looked for a place to hide. The only place was behind the waterfall.  Swimming with my pack in tow, I slipped behind the waterfall.  I noticed my package of hair bands floating to the other side.  “Crap!” I whispered.

     The pale bodies came to edge and stopped.  Only two of them, a male and a female.

    
“Will you hurry!  We haven’t got all day,” the male said and they turned to look behind them.  Coming behind the others, I saw a male wearing only a loin cloth.  Inching my way around the falling water to get a better look, I gasped.  Tony!  He stopped alongside the others.  “For a dhampir you sure are slow.” 

     Tony stood facing the pond looking toward the waterfall.  The others dove into the water and quickly
I raised my legs to my chest.  Taking a chance, I moved my head a smidge in hopes he saw me, but he dove into the water. 

     The three surfaced and my bag of hair bands floated in front of the male’s face.  Reaching out, he took the package
and held it up to his face.  Examining it, he said, “Kala will love these.”