Heart of the Dead: Vampire Superheroes (Perpetual Creatures Book 1) (13 page)

Jerusa now understood why Foster and Shufah had placed their confidence in the basement. Unless Kole could get his hands on some heavy-duty tools, there was no way he could storm their refuge.

But then a terrible thought occurred to Jerusa.

“What if he sets the house on fire?” Jerusa asked. “What do we do then?”

“He won’t,” Shufah answered.

“But what if he does?” Thad asked, his absolute terror mirroring the call in Jerusa’s heart.

“He won’t,” Foster said.

“How can you be sure?” Jerusa pressed.

The elder vampires exchanged a look as if they were unsure they should be speaking to her.

“Thanks to your friend, Kole has gone savage,” Taos said. “And the savage don’t think. They just kill.” He approached Jerusa, but stopped just outside of arm’s length. “You see, the savage are no longer blood drinkers, but flesh eaters. And their bites are toxic to vampire and human alike. If you face a savage and somehow survive with just a bite, its venom works to change you into a savage, regardless of how old and powerful you are.”

Jerusa’s hand drifted up to the shoulder Kole had bitten. All eyes were upon her. The only noise came from the rain drumming without and Kole raging within. No one moved to challenge Taos, so he continued.

“There is no cure for a savage bite,” he said. “No known method of extracting the venom. To be bitten is to be sentenced to death. So, my dear sweet one, would you please explain to us how you are standing here before us now?”

Jerusa shook her head. She looked imploringly to the others, but they stood still and silent, awaiting her answer. “I don’t know. Really, I don’t. Silvanus, the one who saved me, somehow pulled it out of me. He drank my poisoned blood and gave me back his own. That’s all I know.”

“Impossible,” Suhail said. “Even the ancients have never pulled off such a feat. By all rights, the act should have changed both you and this Silvanus into savages.”

“And here you stand,” Shufah said, her tone inquisitive. “Not a savage, but not a human, either. Tell us more about your savior.”

Jerusa sat on the floor, cross-legged, while she recounted her tale of Silvanus. The faces watching her remained placid, like masks at a ball. Now and then, they would raise an eyebrow or purse their lips, but they never interrupted. When she was finished, Taos threw up his hands.

“She lies,” he said. “She and her boyfriend have put us in great danger. We should kill them both and perhaps the Stewards will show mercy.”

“I’m not lying,” Jerusa said. “Thad and I have done nothing wrong.”

Shufah came forward and placed a calming hand on Jerusa’s shoulder. “Of course not,” she said. “Taos is impetuous and speaks out of fear for his own life. I promise, we will do what we can for you. But for now, I must ask if all you said is true. You met this Silvanus in the light of the sun?”

“Yes,” Jerusa answered, keeping her eyes locked with Shufah’s.

“And we saw him vanish before our own eyes,” Shufah seemed to be speaking to herself now. She looked up to her brother.

Suhail shook his head in disbelief. “Impossible. It’s just a myth.”

Taos looked at the twins. “What myth?”

Shufah stood to her feet. “The myth of the Divine Vampire.”

Suhail glanced at Jerusa. “Impossible,” he whispered. But in his eyes, she saw a flash of doubt.

Chapter Eleven

T
hey sat in silence for the next hour, listening as Kole drifted about upstairs, occasionally groaning and screaming. Then, without warning, he crashed through a window and disappeared somewhere outside.

“Where is he going?” Thad asked, his voice strained and hoarse. It was the first that he’d spoken in a long while.

“The sun will be rising soon,” Suhail said. “Kole will seek shelter until nightfall.”

“So it’s true,” Jerusa said. “Vampires can’t go out in the sunlight. Is it like the movies? Do we just burst into flames?” She couldn’t hide the horror in her own voice. It was a terrible thought, never seeing the daylight again, never feeling its warmth upon her skin.

“Don’t be stupid,” Taos said. “What would Hollywood know of vampires? Not that it isn’t a wonderful city to hunt in, mind you.”

“Don’t despise the movies,” Suhail said to Taos. “Misdirection is a great tool.”

“I don’t understand,” Jerusa said.

Foster crossed the room and sat next to her on the floor. “Some of the vampire myths are true, and some are false. Stories, whether they are movies, books, or passed on orally, have always served to hide vampires from the world. Let’s face it, the best way to make someone a skeptic of the fantastic is to immerse them in the fantastic. The tale of the vampire has been so ingrained in the history of the human race that only a very few will believe, even when faced with insurmountable evidence.”

Jerusa thought she understood. She had read somewhere once that humans had been so long in the light that they no longer recognized the miracle of it.

“So what is the truth, then?”

Foster looked up to Shufah. She smiled and nodded for him to continue.

“Only the very old know it all, and they tend to hoard the information. But I’ll tell you what I … we know.” Foster paused for a moment, as if unsure where to start. “Well, first of all, the sun is harmful to vampires, but not in the way you think. We don’t burst into flames, but we do have a serious anaphylactic reaction to UV radiation — UVA in particular. But it has to be in direct, high concentrations, like from the sun or UV lamps. Moonlight or electronic sources rarely have any effect on us. The older, more powerful vampires can withstand a bit of sun. But younger vampires like you and me and even Taos over there, well, just a few minutes might prove fatal.”

For the first time since walking into the presence of the vampires, Jerusa didn’t feel afraid. A wild curiosity filled her like a great unquenchable thirst. She wanted to know it all. Even Alicia drew closer, expectantly awaiting Foster to continue.

“How did I become a vampire?” Jerusa asked. “Will Thad become a vampire, too?”

Foster’s lips pressed together as he considered the young man hovering in the corner of the room. Thad glanced over, but his eyes were distant.

“There are two ways to become a vampire,” Foster said. “By bite or by blood. Usually, when a vampire bites, they will feed until the victim is dead. At least they are supposed to. That is the law.”

“The law?” Jerusa interrupted. “Whose law?”

Foster raised his hand to silence her. “I’ll get to that. Anyway, when a human is bitten by a vampire and lives, one of three things can happen. You live with no effects at all, the virus or whatever it is in the vampire’s saliva infects and kills the host, or it will enter the bloodstream, infiltrate the cells, then lay dormant.”

Jerusa cast a fearful eye toward Thad. The wounds from Taos’s fangs were still visible, surrounded by a patch of dried blood.

Foster smiled. “Don’t worry, little rooster. If Taos’s bite was going to kill Thad, he would be dead by now.”

“So I might be fine,” Thad said from across the room. “I won’t change into — ” He couldn’t finish.

“Perhaps not,” answered Shufah. “Time will tell.”

“If by tomorrow’s nightfall,” Foster continued, “Thad’s wounds are still present, then the infection has not infiltrated his cells. If, however, the wounds heal, it is a sign that he has been infected.”

“What if I am infected?” Thad asked. “What then? Will I be like … you?”

Foster looked to Shufah. She seemed agitated, not much in the mood to speak, but she smiled at Foster. “Go on,
sanam
. I have taught you all I know. Speak with liberty.”

Foster nodded. “When a person is infected with the vampire spirit, as it was once known, that person will continue with their life as though nothing has changed. They eat, they sleep, they age, all as if nothing had happened. The vampire spirit sleeps within in them until the moment of their death. When the infected dies, the spirit awakens and reanimates them as a vampire.”

“So what about these laws you were talking about?” Jerusa asked. “Who made them? Who enforces them?”

“The Stewards — the most powerful and ancient among vampires — have set certain rules in place,” Foster said, choosing his words carefully. “It is very dangerous for a vampire born of the bite to awaken from an unplanned mortal death. Can you imagine the calamity that would arise if a vampire, maddened by blood-thirst, would awaken in the morgue, or heaven forbid, a crowd of gawking onlookers? And the danger is not just relegated to the humans. Young vampires, especially those born of the bite, are weak and can perish in any number of ways. And unless they are completely destroyed, when a vampire dies, they go savage.”

Jerusa shuddered as the memory of Kole rising up, the hole from Silvanus’s fist still in his chest, flooded her mind.

Foster seemed lost in his own thoughts for a moment. “So the Stewards enacted several laws to protect the vampire race from extinction. One is that when a vampire feeds, they must make sure to kill the human. Another is to ensure that the human does not accidently rise as a vampire. For most vampires, that means mutilating their victims in one way or another. Every now and then, as in Thad’s case, a human is bitten and doesn’t die.”

“Do not forget to add yourself to that list,” Taos said. “Shufah fed from you countless times in defiance of the law.”

Foster ignored Taos and refused to meet Jerusa’s curious eyes. “If a vampire fails to kill their victim, the Stewards may choose to put that vampire to death. Most always, the human is executed.” Thad shifted nervously and started to speak. “There are rare occasions, however,” he said, cutting Thad off, “that a bitten mortal is found worthy and is permitted to live out the rest of their natural days in one of several quarantine communities.” Foster looked to Thad, who seemed horrified by this thought.

“So they’re condemned to some kind of prison camp?” Jerusa asked. “That’s terrible.”

“It’s not as bad as all that,” Foster said. “In these places, the bitten are free to live as they wish around others of the same circumstance. And when one of the bitten fall prey to mortal death, either accidental or natural, the others in the quarantine community act quickly to destroy the body before it reanimates.”

Jerusa’s insides gnashed against each other in a flurry of guilt. It was her fault that this had befallen Thad. Had she not called him for a ride, had she not invited him inside, none of this would have happened.

“But what if a bitten mortal wants to be a vampire?” she asked.

“Then they must submit themselves to the scrutiny of the Stewards,” Foster said, his eyes fluttering toward Taos. “And if deemed worthy, the bitten are permitted to be born of the blood. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Jerusa answered. “Just like what Shufah did for you. And Silvanus did for me.”

A strange look passed over the faces of the other vampires. A silent conversation seemed to radiate between them and she wondered what it was that she had said to make them look so worried.

“Being born of blood,” Foster continued, “especially by the blood of a powerful vampire, ensures that the fledgling will reanimate in strength and with as little blood-thirst as possible. Had you or I been born of the bite, we would be mad with thirst right now. But as it stands, we may not have to feed for a night or two, and the thirst will be controllable.”

Jerusa contemplated Foster’s words for a long moment. So much to process and understand. She felt as though she were navigating some elaborate dream. This was all too ridiculous. It couldn’t be real. Nevertheless, in her heart, Jerusa doubted none of it. She could feel the truth rushing through her veins, invigorating every cell.

“What makes a vampire go savage?” Jerusa asked, breaking the long silence.

“It’s unknown to us exactly what the vampire spirit is,” Foster said after a moment of contemplation. “A virus? A fungus? Or is it really some intangible entity? What we do know is that it is sentient, at least somewhat.

“When the vampire spirit enters a person, it first hides. When that person dies, the spirit acts as a symbiotic organism, raising them from the dead and granting certain powers as long as it is fed fresh blood. But we are not impervious. Not immortal in a true sense of the word. More
perpetual
than anything else. Vampires heal exceptionally fast, but if the injuries are great enough, even our enhanced bodies will die. When the heart stops beating or the brain ceases to function, then the vampire spirit goes savage, and that sentient symbiotic entity changes into a parasitic monstrosity.”

“That’s what happened to Kole?”

“Yes. When your friend pulverized his heart — not an easy feat, I might add — he brought about the savage change.”

“Everything would have been fine had you and that boy just died,” Taos said. His hair fell loose about his stony, handsome face and his eyes burned like cold fire. “Because of you two and your strange friend, now Kole is out hunting, feeding, and growing stronger. It won’t be long before he begins to make other savages.”

A question burned in Jerusa’s mind. She knew she shouldn’t ask it, that she didn’t really want to know the answer. But she couldn’t contain it. “If a savage bites you, human or vampire, then you become savage regardless?”

The room fell silent. Even the rain seemed to hush its rattling outside.

“All but you, my dear,” said Shufah.

Jerusa saw the questioning in their eyes, but she had no answer for them. Only Silvanus knew for sure what had happened, but he had vanished, blinked out like a shattered light bulb. She wondered where he was and if he was okay. The savage blood he had drawn from her had obviously attacked his own system. She prayed silently that Silvanus had not turned savage too.

A deep weariness settled over Jerusa. Her limbs seemed to double in weight and for a moment, she feared some new change was overtaking her. Foster pressed his back to the wall and slid into a sitting position, his chin pressed to his chest, his head lolling from side to side.

A knowing smile touched Shufah’s mouth. “It is your first sunrise as a fledgling vampire,” she said. “Can you feel it? That great, burning eye, rising over the horizon?”