My Vampire and I (20 page)

191
My Vampire and I
by J. P. Bowie

Those words of endearment he showered upon me linger forever in my memory. It's just too bad we don't live each moment as if it were our last. We always believe there will be a tomorrow. Marcus and I lay quietly in each other's arms for a time, until I remembered part of what Tony and I had overheard earlier in the catacombs.

"Marcus?"
"Mmm?"
"What are the 'Dark Forces' exactly?"
"Something I hope neither you nor I will ever have to deal with."
"But what are they?" I persisted.

He sighed, knowing I could keep this up until he was worn down. "They are the ultimate evil. A race of ancient vampires who haunt the bowels of the earth, feared by all who know of their existence."

"Why would d'Arcy contact them, then?"
"Believe me, he did not. The Comte is an inveterate liar.
Very little of what he says or does is coloured by truth. He is also a coward. To face the Dark Forces alone, one needs nerves of steel." "Have you ever faced them?"

"Never. I know of only one who has, and he was struck mute by the experience. The good thing is they keep to themselves. They need nothing we have, and I certainly need nothing from them."

"So all they do is lurk about underground? Not much of a life."
"It is their punishment."
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"For what?"
"For asking too many questions."
"Huh?" I looked up at him. He had a little smile on his face. "Oh, you. Okay, I can take a hint."
"Wonder of wonders," he murmured, covering my body with his.

So much had happened that neither of us noticed how late it was—or how early, if you prefer. As I lay in the shelter of Marcus's arms, I noticed a shaft of sunlight glint on the highly polished surface of the chest of drawers on the opposite side of the room. The sun was beginning to rise. I quickly ran to the windows and pulled closed the drapes—didn't want any of that touching my man!

He gave me a drowsy smile as I jumped back into bed. I could tell his time to sleep was coming upon him, and I curled up by his side, resting my head on his chest.
He's safe now
, I thought, knowing that neither d'Arcy nor Gregory could come near during the daylight hours. I waited until I heard his steady breathing, indicating that he had fallen into the deep sleep of the vampire. Then I slid out of bed and hopped into the bathroom for a quick shower.

As I dressed in front of the mirror, I saw some changes in my appearance. If Tony hadn't mentioned it, saying I had 'the look', I may not have noticed, subtle as they were. My skin seemed clearer, paler, my eyes brighter, despite the fact it was early morning, when I usually walk around with them half shut.

I smiled at my reflection. Were my teeth whiter and just a tad longer? No, I told myself, must be my imagination. After 193 My Vampire and I
by J. P. Bowie
all, Tony had drunk from Andorra for years, and his teeth looked normal.
After dressing, I wandered out into the kitchen, in search of a cup of coffee and Tony. I found both waiting for me.
He gave me a sleepy-eyed grin. "Quite a night, eh? You sure are getting an initiation by fire."
I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat by him at the table. "How do my teeth look to you?" I asked, grimacing at him.
"They look fine."
"Not fang-like?"
He grinned. "You don't grow fangs until you're changed, Roger. Drinking Marcus's blood won't affect your teeth."
"Hmm. Okay, I'll bow to your expertise in this matter. Did Thomas come back?" I asked, changing the subject.
Tony nodded. "Andy waited up for him so she could show him his room. She said he looked ... rosy."
"How much can we trust him, d'you think?"
"A good question." Tony gave me an appraising look. "Of course, you know the history between him, d'Arcy and Marcus?" I nodded. "Marcus told me."
"So, he's gotta see you as something of an obstacle if he wants to get cosy with Marcus again, right?"
I nodded again. "Something he said last night definitely gave me the idea I'm not high on his list of favourite people.
It also made me think that what he suggested might just work. It may be too crazy, and if it is, just say so..."
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"About us finding d'Arcy while he slept and offing him and the ugly one?"
I nodded. "I think Thomas was more inclined to send me on my own, but your help would be appreciated. D'you know where d'Arcy hangs out?" "I have a good idea, if it's the same place he had before.
We'd have to do some climbing."
"Okay. What would we need?"
"You're serious about this?"
"Yes."
"
Man.
" Tony sipped his coffee thoughtfully. "You know if this goes wrong we're dead meat, don't you?"

"Right, but we do stand a good chance during the day. A, they'll be asleep and vulnerable, and B, Marcus can't read our minds and know what we're doing. This is the only shot we'll get before he and Andorra wake up."

He gave me a long, searching look, then he finally nodded and stood up. "Okay, I'm with you."
"What will we use? Stakes or—"

"Cutting off their heads would be quicker and a lot more certain. Sometimes a vampire can survive a stake through the heart, but not the loss of his head."

 

I shuddered, thinking now of what we were actually proposing. To kill someone, even someone as ghastly as d'Arcy, would not be an easy thing to do.

"Or we could set fire to his villa," Tony added. "We'd just have to make sure they didn't escape."
"Wait. If we set fire to the place, they'd have to run out into the sunlight."
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"Not necessarily. I'd bet on d'Arcy having some kind of underground tunnel he could use to escape. Andy has one here." So nothing for it but to face them in their lair and do some chopping. Yikes. "Okay," I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. "Let's do it."

Tony had a Mercedes stored in the garage under the villa, so he drove us down to the local hardware store where we bought a couple of axes. Tony knew d'Arcy's villa was hidden atop a peak in a local ski area, so we drove some way out of the city, to the base of a really tall mountain.

"Wait," I said, yanking on his arm. "How the hell are we going to get up there?"
He pointed upwards. "There's a sky train the skiers use. It runs all year, and it'll take us most of the way. From there, though, we have to hike it."

Carrying our bags that held our murder weapons, we boarded the sky train and took off into the blue. At any other time, I would have enjoyed this ride. It was truly spectacular.

I mean, you could see as far as the city of Rome. It sparkled in the distance in the winter sun. Knowing what we had to face at the other end, kinda killed the moment. Tony had become extremely quiet, and I wondered if he'd chicken out when we got off the lift—not that I would have really blamed him. I was beginning to have some serious doubts myself as to the wisdom of what we were attempting.

We hiked up the trail Tony thought would lead to d'Arcy's villa. After about a mile, I started to get worried. This was 196
going to take longer than I had anticipated. My watch already read noon. Sunset was at five.
"How much farther?" I wheezed, the thin mountain air playing hell with my lungs.
"It's quite a ways yet. Maybe another couple of hours."

Okay, that would still give us three hours of daylight. We could still do this. But at three with still no sign of any damned villa, I stopped and motioned for Tony to sit with me at the side of the trail.

"This is crazy, Tony. Are you sure his villa's up here?"
"I was pretty sure," he muttered. "But now, I don't know."

Great. "Okay, if we don't find it in the next hour or so, we have to start back. It'll be dark before we get to the lift. Shit, Marcus and Andorra will be awake and madder than hornets.

And all for nothing." I moaned, my chin on my chest, knowing I had blown this.
"You're right. Maybe we should head back now. We don't want to be out here in the dark. I forgot to bring the flashlight." Oh, another great! Greater than great.
Jeez.
I stood up.
"Let's just check around the next bend. If we can't see anything, we'll head back."
He nodded, following me up the trail. When we reached the bend in the road, my shoulders went slack with despair.
Nothing ahead for what looked like miles and miles of mountainous trail.

"Fuck," I muttered. "Okay, let's get back while we still have some daylight." Feeling totally stupid and cringing at the thought of the unwelcoming committee we were going to face 197

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when we got back to Andorra's place, I clumped off down the trail, Tony straggling behind, obviously unwilling to listen to my ranting.

Of course, it got dark before we got very far. One minute there was a passable light filtering through the trees onto the trail, the next minute it was pitch black.

"Tony?"
"Yeah?"
"We'd better hold hands or belts or something so we don't lose one another."
"Okay." I felt his big hand take mine, giving me some feeling of comfort, and off we went again, blundering down this lonesome trail. Suddenly, Tony's hand tightened on mine. "D'you hear that?" he whispered.
"Hear what?" A prickle of fear tingled on the back of my neck.
"Kind of a flapping sound."
"Tony, this is not the time for horror stories. I'm scared enough."
"No, I heard something. Listen!"
I stopped dead in my tracks, and he barged into me, nearly knocking me over. "Tony, for Chrissakes."
"Sorry, but you stopped."
"Shh!" Now I could hear it. He was right. It did sound like something flapping ... wings flapping ...
big
wings ... Oh, shit! "Run!" I yelled, pulling at his hand.
"Run where? We can't see a damned thing."
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A low, sinister chuckling sound nearby froze the blood in my veins.
"Tony?"
"That wasn't me."

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, loud enough for Marcus to hear me, no matter how far away he was at this moment. But a hand was clamped over my mouth, and I felt myself being lifted into the air. Then, I'm ashamed to say, I passed out.

* * * *
"Roger, wake up, Roger!"
Someone was shaking me so hard, my teeth rattled.
Groggily, I looked into Tony's haggard expression.
"Thank Christ," he muttered, gripping my arm. "I thought you'd never come out of that."
"Where are we?" I asked, looking around the dimly lit room.
"We're in fucking Dracula's castle. Where the hell d'you think we are?"
"
Dracula
?" I stared at him, still not quite with it.
"The Comte d'Arcy. He took us off the trail and brought us here. I was right. We just hadn't hiked far enough."
"Well, if you'd had a greater idea of just how far up this mountain it was, maybe we could have planned this a little better," I said, glaring at him. "How was I supposed to know? Last time, I flew outta here."
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"Great." I rolled off the giant wingback chair I was slumped in and staggered to the window. I could see nothing at all. "Marcus has got to know where we are by this time, Tony."

"How'd you figure?"
"Because he can read my mind, and right now it's screaming, 'I'm in fuckin' d'Arcy's villa somewhere in the mountains!'" "He can't reach your mind here."
"Why not?"
"Because d'Arcy can block those powers just like Marcus can. This is d'Arcy's turf. He's the man here, in total control." I felt sick. "You mean Marcus doesn't know where we are?"

"Oh, I'm sure he and Andy will have worked it out by this time. Both of us missing while they were asleep. You offering to be a decoy last night. They'll have figured it out, all right.

But they won't be able to get in here."
"You told me Andorra rescued you from here before. Why can't they get in?"
"Because before d'Arcy
invited
her here. He will have revoked that invitation, making it impossible for either her or Marcus to enter the villa." "Damn, that's right. So we have to get out."
Tony's laughter was sardonic at best. "Hey, that's right.
Why didn't I think of that?"

Any further sarcasm was stalemated by the door being shoved open, revealing our old friend, the Comte, standing there, a vicious smile of satisfaction on his face. A smell, worse than a skunk's in heat swirled into the room, telling us 200

 

that Gregory lurked close behind. Jeez, how did d'Arcy cope with that?

"Oh my God," I exclaimed, gagging at the rancid odour.
"What the hell died and wasn't cleaned up?"
The Comte chuckled. "He is quite disgusting, isn't he? He has his uses, however." He fixed Tony with a malevolent eye. "I'm afraid, my dear Anthony, that he has become somewhat infatuated with you."
"What?" Tony recoiled in horror. "You're not letting that ugly son-of-a-bitch anywhere near me!"
"You have no choice in the matter," d'Arcy snapped.
"Come here, Anthony."
"No, no, no!" Tony backed up against the far wall, his face stricken with terror.

Gregory, the thing that had once been a man and now was some hideous grotesque, lurched into the room, bringing with him the stench of corruption. Yellow pus drooled from lips that moved in a ghastly parody of an anticipated kiss as he reached for Tony.

"You bastard!" I bellowed. "Stop this now!"
The Comte's high-pitched laughter was his only answer, his red-rimmed eyes gloating over Tony's terrified face.
"Stop it, you son-of-a-bitch," I yelled, lunging at him.

Without being touched, I was flung to the far side of the room and watched with a kind of fascinated revulsion as Gregory pulled Tony into his arms. The monster gazed at Tony's terror-stricken face with a sort of glee. A rumble of pleasure escaped his drooling mouth, and he brought Tony's face 201

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closer for what could only be the most disgusting kiss of all time.

"No!" Tony's scream echoed through the room. He raised both his hands above his head, and with a strength born of Andorra's blood, he brought both fists down on Gregory's head, causing the monster to stumble backwards and at the same time release Tony from his revolting embrace. "Andy!" The cry of terror was torn from Tony's lips, then before I could move to stop him, he dove headfirst through the window, his scream echoing back to where I stood, horror stricken, staring at the bits of shattered glass that still clung to the window frame.