Two Halves Series (18 page)

“You’re the same as me?” The question was impulsive.

“Concentrate, Sarah. Haven’t you thought there is more to the world?”

“Yes, but I tried to block that part out.”

“Good, you were supposed to so the seekers couldn’t find you. But you can’t anymore. The sooner you embrace who you are, the better.”

“Where are your parents?” I asked.

“All access to the underworld has been blocked. Two months ago, my parents went to break through to get your father. They never came back.” His eyes clouded. “I was told that if they didn’t return, I should find you. You were my only hope for a future where we would not be hunted anymore.”

An echoing knock vibrated the door.

“Shh,” William skidded across the room. He closed his eyes, leaned against the frame and took a whiff before turning the knob. The door flew open, almost knocking him back.

I jumped up.

“Give it to me now!” A pale man trembled as he stepped inside. Even though I’d never seen a real vampire before, I couldn’t mistake the hollow eyes and sharp fangs.

“Karl, you must stop following me. It’s not safe for you. I’ve told you the seekers are looking for me.” William said.

“You know him?” I asked, peeking from behind William.

“Yes, he’s been stalking me for blood.”

I used William’s body like a shield, wondering if the vampire was here to drink our blood. There was no way I would let him touch me! Would the creature be stronger than the bear I’d faced eight years ago? Would he attack us? My thighs trembled and I felt my foot tapping on the soft carpet, jiggling my weight from side to side.

William glanced at me from the side. “Not your blood. Vampires have an agreement with humans that allows both to coexist. We supply blood in exchange for human protection from demons.”

“I’m hungry.” Karl snarled. His pale hands shook and cheekbones stretched the skin as he smoothed his tongue over the cracked lips. I wondered where he’d found the strength to push the door so forcefully. His eyes sunk deeper, and empty veins pulsed under the skin on his face as if they craved blood as well. Was that what I looked like when my other half stirred?

“I understand what you’re going through. We’ll get more supplies to you soon, but the agreement will be void if you hunt humans. You won’t get any blood from us that way.” William said.

“Fine.” The vampire hid his fangs and stretched out his hand.

William pulled out a steel canister from his backpack. He opened the lid, and I smelled human blood. After he poured something else into it, the aroma made me lick my lips, but I’d never drink human blood.

“It will kill him. The blood is dead,” I whispered, remembering Aunt Helen teaching me the most important rule of drinking blood: it had to be fresh.

William handed the flask to the vampire. “It should hold you over for a while.”

Karl gulped it down, then disappeared before the container hit the floor.

I stood frozen. William just introduced me to a world outside of my bubbled Pinedale; one I tried to pretend didn’t exist.

William closed the door.

“How did he drink that? Dead blood is lethal to vampires.”

“Not anymore.” He shook his head. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes.” I nodded eagerly.

“What do you crave?”

Is this a trick question?
My stomach grumbled.

“What do you crave?” he repeated.

“A burger. Fries perhaps—” I sat on the bed, still in shock.

“Yes that will fill you up, but what do you feel is missing in your veins?”

“Blood,” I answered with more confidence.
Embrace your other half.
I squared my shoulders.

“There’s a silver canister in your backpack. Open it.”

“When did you—”

William raised his index finger to his lips.

I dragged my bag over and pulled out the container. Liquid contents swished inside. Centering the cylinder between my thighs, I turned and lifted the lid, then stuck my tongue out in disgust at the thick red fluid. “When did you drain it from a . . . ” I took a whiff from the thermos.

“An elk,” he finished.

I’d never had elk blood before—or blood that was dead and cold.

William waggled a finger at my backpack. “Pour the pink serum from that flask into the thermos. Here.” He took the lid from my hand so I could comply and watched while I extracted the flask of serum. “Go on, pour it in,” he challenged.

As instructed, I removed the cap and emptied the flask. As the serum flowed into the red goo, the mixture bubbled and simmered. Then it swirled, blending into the blood, diluting the viscosity. The canister warmed between my palms as the blood began to take on life. The smell of the burgundy fluid became more appetizing by the second. I held my nose so close small bubbles from the mixture fused around my nostrils, teasing my taste buds.

“The serum is waking up the dead cells,” explained William. “You can drink it now. You’ll be fine, I promise.”

The liquid was homogeneous, with no sign of the pink serum. I took a hesitant sip. As soon as its sugary flavour ran along my tongue, I lost control and gulped it down in a deep swig. Much better than rat’s blood. Much, much better. “Oh . . .” I sighed.

“Tasty, I presume?” William sat at my side.

“I guess I’ve been missing out a bit.
Erp
. Excuse me.”

“Tasty” was a weak word to describe it, more like scrumptious, delicious, mouth-watering. What else have I been missing? The hunger I’d denied, the feelings I hadn’t allowed, the senses I’d refused, experiences rejected, touches yearned for but never received . . . I was so used to living in my own world, isolated from everyone. Would being closer to William be as gratifying as it was in my dreams?

The dance floor was half empty. To us it didn’t matter. No one stared at me in my dreams. I was not self-conscious and one everyone should fear to cross. The music was continuous. It didn’t stop; we didn’t stop. I slipped my hands over his abs and chest, then up to his neck. His remained on my hips, moving them to our own rhythm.

Lowering his head to my neck, William kissed it gently, swooshing his lips over the surface of my skin, teasing. It tickled. I mimicked the behaviour on his chest. He yelped with pleasure, and his face came up, moving to my ear and inhaling. “Vanilla and aloe—my favourite,” he murmured.

“I know.” I placed my finger on his lips to hush him.

“Ouch.” William ground his teeth.

I pulled my hand away from his as the jolt of electricity from our touch brought me back. My palm stung. “Why does it hurt to touch you?”

“I’m not sure.” He blushed. “It only hurts when we touch in a non-platonic way.”

I felt elk blood rush to my cheeks. Could I love William as completely as I did in my dreams? Would I find the comfort of his body again? Would we be one? Could we be one?

We sat on the edge of the bed in silence, our thighs almost touching. William’s warmth oozed toward me. I wondered how hot his leg would be if it twined with mine. The fluttering in my stomach returned. As I exhaled my lower lip pushed out to direct the breath over my face, but it didn’t have the cooling effect I’d hoped for. William seemed just as lost.
Where do we go from here?

I welcomed the light breeze from the open window that flapped the curtains. The crisp air reminded me of the forest I’d stood in eight years ago. Two doors down, someone was finishing a slice from a large vegetarian pizza. One of the two ladies on the corner sprayed cheap perfume over her neck. A small fox carried a rabbit in its mouth as she led two kits across the road.

William stood to close the window, eyeing my sniffs. “If you can sense what I think you can, you’re much more in tune with your skills than I expected you to be.” He smiled with pride and concern as he returned to the bed. The pressure of the mattress sprang me up. “We have to be careful.”

“Because the seekers can sense me now?”

“Yes. If I can sense your feelings that much better, so can the underworld.”

“Why don’t they just let us be?” I groaned.

“We’re a threat. We can’t get caught.”

He pulled a sapphire ring from his pocket. “Put this on.”

I did, expecting the large ring to be loose, but it shrank to fit my finger. “How—”

“Just wait,” William whispered. “It will show you what you need to know.”

A light shot from the blue gem and struck the back wall of the room. A picture appeared as if played by a movie projector. The image jumped from dark rooms where figures fought one another in the gloom to brighter ones where people lived in peace. Then the darkness returned, illuminated only by firelight as rivers of hot lava burned walls into deep dungeons. The imagery unfolded silently, but inside my head it told me a story of the underworld as screams of tortured creatures, vibrated my ears. Agony filled their faces; death was a yearned-for dream as Aseret, a greedy warlock who became a demon lord tried to control vampires by starving them.

“Why are they doing this?” I focused on the orange-eyed seekers guarding their prisoners.

“Demons want to impose the laws of the underworld and rule all. They use spells to break creatures down before they have a chance to flex, stealing other’s abilities and powers to make them stronger.” William moved to the window and shut the flowery curtains. The irritating flashing from the motel sign no longer interrupted the flow of the image on the wall. “There’s a constant battle in the underworld as demons seek to destroy,” he continued. “Vampires are older and wiser. They haven’t changed who they are, unlike the warlocks who turned into demons when they sought power. Now the vampires are limited in their whereabouts because of the demonic takeovers.” William sat in the armchair. “They can no longer abide by the code established between them and humans. This world is no longer balanced.” He gestured toward the wall projection.

“The code: Blood in exchange for protection.” I recalled William’s conversation with Karl.

William leaned forward and took my hand; he squeezed it and a rush of energy shot from him, through my body, and out my other hand, the one wearing the ring. The imagery changed. Institutions where criminals received a new kind of capital punishment for their crimes: death by draining provided the supply of blood vampires needed. And William distributed serums to revive the dead blood.

“Vampires and humans work together but now have a common enemy to fight,” he added.

“The demons would kill a vampire.” Anxiety rushed through me; I wanted to understand everything, and quickly. I wanted to know why I was created.

“Wouldn’t even flinch,” William shook his head.

I flinched. “How are demons different from warlocks?”

“Demons have powers; warlocks have spells. The virtuous warlocks fight to restore the balance disrupted by the demons. The demons have been blocking access to the penitentiaries, hoping the vampires will self-destruct without blood. You saw Karl. He looked like he hasn’t fed in weeks. If the agreement between vampires and humans is broken, a new kind of war will be unleashed. The keepers guard the peace between humans, vampires, and warlocks. For humans, it’s the angel Gabriel. Drake heads the vampires, and Castall is the highest-ranking warlock.”

The window that had been slightly ajar flew open, and I jerked back. The flowery curtains fluttered into the room, and I leaned back to avoid them. The flashing light intruded again; I blinked in the same sequence. William rose and closed the curtains, this time so they overlapped.

“There’s no demon keeper?” I asked.

“No. Demons are not natural.”

The warmth from his body was gone. The chills that would normally run down my spine were gone. Cold passed through my back slower, teasing, thawing in some parts only to refreeze again.

“Some time ago, a high-ranking warlock became a demon. He wanted to take over the vampire and human world, using warlocks as his disposable minions. His name is Aseret.”

The wind whistled outside, forcing itself through cracks and smaller openings.

“
Is?
”

William nodded.

I knew I wouldn’t like this demon and pictured a giant monster with horns on his head and smoke spewing out of his nostrils, juggling little red spheres of molten rock from claw to claw while wild fires raged behind him, casting him into black silhouette.

“Sarah?”

“I’m listening.” I shook the image off.

“The keepers created a prophecy to bring him down. We are part of that prophecy. He’s now bound to the underworld and cannot escape to do more damage, but he has seekers and demons working for him. We’re supposed to bring balance back to the underworld.”

I looked at him incredulously. “You and me? But I don’t have the muscles you were talking about.”

“Didn’t you listen? We don’t need muscles.”

“Because their orange eyes will fry us before we get a chance to flex,” I quipped, and laughed, the sound tremulous. “Well, it’s about time something made sense in my life. I can’t believe I missed so much. I thought I was the only one—the only weirdo.”

William let go of my hand. The picture on the wall disappeared.

“Don’t say that.” He brushed his fingers against my face. The electricity that trickled from their tips ignited my body. “You’re special—we’re special. You’ve suppressed your most natural vampire instincts and functioned on a different wavelength from me. That’s why you couldn’t sense me the way I always sensed you.”

“You sensed me?” I bit my lower lip. “Since when?”

“Since you were taken away to live in Pinedale. Since I can remember.” He took a deep breath and added, “Even before I knew about you, I had a memory of you.”

A faint memory flowed through me. “I crawled behind you on a marble floor.”

“That’s right. We had to squeeze between the legs of a table.” He took my hand again.

I closed my eyes. “The cookies in the garden room. I followed you, but my sun hat slid forward when I bopped and blocked my view.”

“You were quick to push it up and grab the treats.” William laughed.

“How old were we?” I asked.