Vampires of the Sun (8 page)

              Forced through a doorway sideways, they left whatever wing she was being housed in and entered a ritzy, square room. This room had windows draped with thick curtains that were tied back with tasseled ropes. It was dark outside but she could see lamps that lit up a large garden with walking paths.

              The room itself contained comfortable looking, red brocade couches pushed up against the walls that were lined with deeply colored wooden paneling. The ceiling, made of glass, was lit up by the chandelier in the middle of the room. On the far wall stood a baby grand piano and a small raised stage. Norah expected that if this were a room for a party, it would be where the band played.

              Expecting it to be empty, the room contained a smattering of well-dressed, elaborately masked people. She questioned if people was the right word when she saw Mauve in a clear space by herself while the others were gathered together. All masked eyes were on Norah and she recognized their hungry, blank looks that matched Dawn’s when they’d first met. Before, she didn’t know if she should struggle or not, but knowing that each and every person in the room was a vampire, Norah kicked out her feet at the man holding her right arm.

              Crying out in pain as the man squeezed her arm tightly, Norah tried to sink to the ground but the men supported her weight all too easily. They took her up to stand next to Mauve where she was held in place from running, facing the crowd in front of her.

              No one said a word. It was dead silent. Anxiously, Norah looked at the glittering eyes staring back at her as her own eyes focused on the elaborate ball gowns and suits worn by the anonymous creature standing mere yards away from her. They waited that way until finally the grand set of doors that led off into another unknown hallway opened and her parents glided inside with an all-important manner. They were unmasked and their faces filled with diplomatic, fake smiles.

              Cocking her head sideways in confusion, Norah noticed something she’d never noticed before. Her parents hadn’t aged a day. They looked the same as always. When she saw pictures on the rare occasion, Norah had previously thought they were digitally altered or just weren’t catching the wrinkles and crow’s feet that should have marked their faces but it wasn’t so. They had perfectly healthy, glowing, young skin, neither looking a day over 35.

              “Norah! How wonderful to see you!” Her mother, Mara, exclaimed with Claude nodding along in delight. Norah couldn’t help but look at them coldly, pissed off that they would allow this to be done to her. “No need to be upset, Darling. We’ll explain everything to you and all of your worries and troubles will be gone. You can do anything you like.” It pissed Norah off even more that her mother was treating this as something as simple as why she couldn’t go to a slumber party or to a school dance. It was a miniscule and unimportant event to Mara.

              Turning away from them to look at the crowd of eerily reverent bodies, Norah looked at the way they preened and smoothed their clothes out in order to get attention from her parents. “Christopher, take Michael and head back to the custody wing.” Claude ordered to the men who still remained at Norah’s side, holding her in place. Wordlessly they left and Norah’s thoughts on escaping began to come back.

              “Where will you go Norah? We are your parents. You will do as we say.” Mara ordered with a coldness in her voice. Norah wanted to act childish and shout at her that anywhere was better than here but she wanted to be more graceful than that.

              Norah’s silence seemed to be a clue to move onwards with the procession. One of the masked members, a man in an all-black suit and black shirt with a black tie that was paired with a blood red mask stepped forward. With him, he brought a simple, clear wine glass. After he handed it to Mauve, he stepped back into the crowd. Norah saw a flash of concern in his eyes before he turned and faded away.

              Piqued with interest, Norah faced Mauve, watching her fluid motions. On her right hand pinkie she wore a ring with a sharp, pointed end. She used the ring to slice a fine, thin line on the inside of her left wrist. Stoically, she placed the openly flowing wound over the glass, catching most of the blood that trickled out. Some of it fell to the ground, splattering the marble with a sickly, rust colored liquid. Turning the wrist away from the glass, towards the ceiling, Norah could see it heeling right before her very eyes. The skin cinched itself shut and the blood left behind left barely any stain on her skin.

              “We are gathered here today to celebrate a new stage for Claude and Mara’s family. The miracle birth of their baby girl Norah and her transition into becoming one with the vampires is an exciting time for us. In all my years I’ve never seen anything like it. Let us welcome Norah.” In chorus, Norah was welcomed by everyone in attendance at Mauve’s command. “We’ve worked arduously to keep Norah safe, whether it was from the humans, from herself, or from other vampires. Once we have completed the ritual, she will be able to keep herself safe and we can exert our focus onto making our family even greater than before.”

              Moving to flank her, Mara and Claude each stood on a different side and took hold of Norah’s limp arms and brought them up in the air, holding them like an offering. Mauve moved in front of her and brought the wine glass up to Norah’s lips, urging her to drink. She moved her head side to side to avoid the liquid that poured onto her pristine white gown before Mauve grabbed hold of her hair and held her steady and dumped the liquid into her throat.

              Metallic tang coated Norah’s mouth, leaving behind an oily residue. The blood that dripped down her throat had a different taste than her own blood. It was sweet and surprisingly didn’t cause her to gag in disgust. It was almost like a strange tasting candy. Despite the taste, Norah still wanted to spit it out, knowing that it was someone else’s blood.

              As soon as she appeared to be done swallowing the blood, lips gently touched her wrists. She could see her parents suckling at her skin seconds before she felt sharp punctures of teeth into each one of her wrists.

              Norah wasn’t a masochist but while there was pain and a strange feeling of the blood in her body rushing into her arms, creating a strange tingle, it wasn’t unbearable. It was actually slightly pleasurable, like the feeling of her stomach dropping from a high height like a roller-coaster or a ride at the fair. The longer the feeling lasted, her eyes slowly closed and her head drooped forward. Suddenly, her knees buckled underneath her weight and she sunk, her parents kneeling with her to the ground. She hadn’t any strength left.

              When all of her strength was gone, Mara lifted her head up, propping Norah’s whole body up against her own. She could feel her mother’s cold, hard body and the familiar scent of flowers wafting through her nose when she breathed. Norah felt the skin on her father’s rough wrist pressed against lips and his thumb pushing down on her chin to open her mouth to allow the tangy, sweet liquid to pass through and flow down her throat. Her parents switched places in order for Mara to commit the same ceremony. When it was complete, Claude gently picked Norah’s strength-less body up from the cold ground and cradled her in his arms. All was numb in Norah’s body except for a spark of fire beginning in her toes. It moved to flow upwards into her body and despite the need to cry out, she didn’t make a peep or a twitch.

              The ceremony was over for Norah. Claude called forward the same man who had held the glass to carry Norah out through the doors he and Mara had entered through while they stayed behind. The man was gentle, making sure not to hit her head when he left the room with instructions to take her to the preparation chamber. It felt like he carried Norah for forever. They passed through a labyrinth of doors until it felt like they’d reached the outside and were out under the stars.

              “I’m here to rescue you, Norah,” the man’s voice whispered in her ear. She recognized Jack’s voice and her heart leapt for joy. She wished she could hug him but only pain greeted her when she tried to move her body at all. “I wanted to save you before but I didn’t make it in time. I’m so sorry.” He was acting like it was the end of the world for her. “I’ll take you away from here. I’ll bury you properly so that you can become a vampire and I’ll help you with whatever you ask of me.” His forehead touched her own and she could hear the anguish in his voice. He kept walking until he reached a car. Norah heard the trunk pop open and he placed her in the back. Before the trunk closed, she could hear an alarm going off in the distance and then everything was silent.

              Blackness and stale air greeted Norah when she opened her eyes. She was unbelievably hungry and dizzy. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized she was in a long box. The events of the past few days hadn’t resurfaced in her memory and she began to panic thinking she had been buried alive but the memories rushed over her like a wave and she had an inkling she was in a coffin from the way the plush interior caressed her skin. In a way, it calmed her to know she was in a coffin because from myth and fiction, vampires liked coffins. Norah didn’t like it but she forced the dislike to the back of her mind so she could focus on the task of getting out.

              Pushing against the lid in the direction that felt like up, she couldn’t budge the lid, despite the creaking sounds that greeted her forceful motions. Norah wanted to gasp for breathe but she found that she wasn’t breathing at all. She could force the air in if she wanted but it felt wrong and harsh, burning her throat and nostrils just like the first time she took a drag on a cigarette. She screamed out for help.

              An hour passed while Norah struggled to get free of the box but no matter how hard she struggled, the lid wouldn’t come free. She switched out between shoving against the lid, kicking with her feet, and screaming for help. A scritch-scratch sound caught her attention and Norah stopped moving in order to listen better, trying to figure out what the sound was. It was almost like she went into a trance as her hearing improved when she tried to properly listen. As she listened, the sound grew louder and louder, not from her enhanced hearing but from the fact that it was growing closer and closer as she waited.

              Ten more grueling minutes passed until a loud thumping sound beat on the outside of Norah’s box. Once the thumping started, it was followed by a scraping sound. It sounded a lot like metal on metal. Finally the scraping and thumping stopped and Norah’s ears were greeted by silence. Before she could react, the lid was ripped off its hinges and hands shot through the opening to grab her and pull her out, despite her screams and struggling.

              “Norah! Calm down!” Jack’s voice greeted her from the darkness. Opening her eyes to look at her would-be attacker, Norah was greeted with relief to see Jack’s face looming out at her. She leapt even further into his arms, happy to see him. He stumbled and almost dropped her in surprise as he scrambled to keep both of them from tipping over and backwards into the hole in the ground.

              The relief was short-lived as sparks of pain shot through Norah’s gut and forced her to sink to the ground. “What’s happening to me?” She cried out, hurting all over.

              “It’s okay Norah. It’s part of the process. You’ve to ingest some blood. After that, you’ll be okay. I brought some with me!” From a bag on the dirty ground behind him, he produced a hospital grade bag of blood with an amazing red color. Taking it in hand, it was cold to Norah’s touch. “I’ll have to teach you control so that you don’t kill anyone. For now, drink this so you’re not quite so debilitated by the hunger.”

              Unsure of how to actually drink the blood, aware that her front was still coated in the blood from when she was turned, Norah put the bag up to her mouth and bit down. Nothing happened as she gnawed on the plastic. In frustration and hunger, she kept gnawing without result. Suddenly she felt the blood from the bag gush into her mouth. Feeling with her tongue, there were definite fangs popping out of her gums in the same place she’d seen Mauve’s. Tears stung her eyes as the realization that she had fully become a vampire and she was walking a path of no return and she turned her face away from Jack so he couldn’t see her cry or suck down blood like an animal.

              “Good Girl,” Jack whispered. It was familiar to her ears. His hand was warm and reassuring on her head as he used his fingers to untangle the dirt and strands of hair that had become beaded together.

              “I heard you! I heard you say that before! It was the night we met at the club. Did you follow me home? I heard your voice on the wind.” Norah wasn’t sure how to feel about the realization that he may have stalked her home.

              “I did but only to make sure you remained safe. I promise! Please finish drinking.” Jack urged her. She continued to do so until the bag was completely drained, glancing up at him when she was done. He was trying to cover the hole back up with the coffin still in the ground, erasing evidence that she’d come from the earth. “As soon as I’m done we’ve got to leave. It would be too easy to track us here. Your parents are furious and looking for you. If you want to go back to them, you can but I wouldn’t advise it.”

              “I don’t want to. I’m so angry at them. How could they keep this from me? How could they allow Mauve to treat me so badly? No, I’d like to be as far from them as possible. What can I do to help?” Throwing the empty blood bag back into the sack it came from, Norah stood up. She was ready to get her hands dirty metaphorically and stop acting like a damsel in distress.

              “I’m almost done actually. And as for what you can do, it’s whatever you want. As long as you don’t go into the sun, you’ve got an eternity to decide. Even then, after a few thousand years I hear that the sun won’t even be a problem. I’ve never met a vampire who has lived that long. It’s just a rumor really. We can go anywhere from here. We should leave this town honestly. Austin isn’t a safe place for you anymore.” Stepping on the dirt to smooth it with his feet, Jack threw down the shovel and turned to look back at her.

              “Can we stop by my old condo? I need to find Maxine and I could get money for clothes or whatever we need. I can’t keep wearing this. It’s not exactly Halloween so I think a blood soaked dress might make waves.” She really needed to get cleaned up.

              “We can’t. Even if it wasn’t likely to be watched, it’s completely empty. I’ve already went there when I was first looking for you. They cleared it out. I guess your parents never intended to keep living there once you were turned. They had you in captivity for over a month. As for you dog, I already rescued her. She was wandering around outside your building looking hungry and dirty. She bit me a couple of times but I managed to take her back to James’s place” Jack motioned for her to follow him and she did, surprised when her feet weren’t in pain from her bare feet stepping on rocks and stickers in the sparse patches of grass. It felt like she was gliding and in control of her of her arms and legs in a way she hadn’t been before.

              The ground Norah had been buried in was an empty patch between a church and parking lot belonging to an old, already-shut down convenience store. Everything around them looked run down, and the dark didn’t mask the rustic nature of the scenery. It was sparse, empty, and on the outskirts of Austin.

              Jack headed for the only car in the parking lot; a black Hyundai Genesis. Norah followed him in, claiming the leather passenger seat after making an attempt to dust herself off. When Jack started up the car, softly playing jazz filled Norah’s ears.

              “I didn’t take you for a jazz person.” She offered up to break the silence that had set in.

              “I listen to everything almost. Anything that can make me feel something inside.” His hand reached out and turned the volume up slightly with a smile on his face.

              “Where are we going then? I know you want to get away from town. I agree that we should leave but I wouldn’t know where to go.” Before meeting Jack, Norah had thought about just disappearing from her current life. She could have run off to meet keira10001 and begun to live in NYC. She tossed around the thought for fun, thinking about what it would be like. But she wasn’t discontent with her life so it was only a passing fancy. “What if we went north? Way far north, I mean up to Idaho? There are woods there and a beautiful lake near the Canadian border. I saw some pictures once on my social media.” She wanted to say that they should go to New York City but the reality of what they both hit her hard and she no longer thought it would be a good idea to meet keira10001 until she knew she was in control of herself.

              “I don’t think we need to bother going that far. The U.S. is a large place. Even searching for you one town over would take a lot of time and effort. Besides, there is a place in Kansas we could go. It’s not exciting nor is it filled with interesting woods or lakes but it is safe there and we have friends who can help take care of us.” Norah just shrugged. It was only an idea. “For now, I’m going to take you to my place so you can shower. I’ve got more blood you can have there. I’m not a prude but sometimes it is easier to just drink from a blood bag over hunting someone down. With CCTV the way it is these days, it’s rather difficult to remain undetected.”

              Half an hour outside of town, Jack pulled into the drive-way of a lovely, ornately land-scaped, brick house. There were two other cars in the parking lot out front. Jack pulled in right behind the last one and they got out and headed to the front door. Jack unlocked it and motioned for her to come inside, locking it back behind them.

              “We lock it at all times to make sure we can keep normal people out. We wouldn’t want them wandering in on accident.” Turning at the sound of barking and footsteps, Norah saw Summer and Dawn flanked by James with Maxine running slowly behind all of them. When she saw Norah she went crazy and ran to her. Norah picked her up and hugged her until Maxine squealed to be let go.

              “What is she doing here?” James questioned in a way that Norah couldn’t tell if he was asking in anger or confusion.

              “I found her James! I had to take the initiative and grab her when I could. I couldn’t save her from immortality but I managed to get her into the ground before her parents realized she was gone. You were right about all of it. The Banks vampire clan has been mucking around with experimentation. Norah was the only one sired who lived from Claude and Mara but there are other test subjects at that facility you had suspicions about.” Jack’s eyes were fevered with excitement as he spoke, relaying all of the information he had learned.

              “We’ll talk about it more in detail later. What will you do now? They are bound to be looking for her and won’t stop.” James warned, glancing back and forth between Norah and Jack.

              “Kansas Clan was the best I could come up with. I trust they are still willing to help us?” Norah had thought Jack knew what he was doing but listening to his words, she was beginning to realize he might be winging it.

              “Kenneth was our source for all of this information. I can tell he has some sort of problem with Claude. He may have even been a part of their circle at one point and he might have even been sired by Claude.”

              “Jack, I’ll take Norah upstairs and show her to the bathroom and an extra change of clothes. She’s smaller than I am but I’m sure I have something that will fit.” Summer offered, breaking up the conversation. Off-put that Norah wasn’t going to be allowed to keep listening to the conversation, she followed Summer up the plush carpet stairs. The carpet felt amazing on her feet in comparison to the rocks from outside. Norah had to tuck the skirts of her ruined dress up so she wouldn’t trip as she walked and despite being immensely dirty, she felt almost like a princess.

              The bathroom Summer showed Norah to was very modern just like with most of the furniture in the house. There was a black deep-soaking tub that matched the angular black sink and mechanical-looking toilet with a flushing handle that dangled from the ceiling and a see-through, glass shower with a rainfall showerhead that could fit at least three people inside. The backdrop was all white with stark white washed walls and white cabinets and tile.

              “I’ll bring you some clothes, just get cleaned up for now,” Summer said, shutting the door behind her as she left. The tub looked really nice to Norah but she didn’t think she was clean enough to take a bath so she decided to use the shower instead. Locking the door and making sure there was an available towel in one of the cabinets, Norah stripped down. She turned the water on and adjusted the temperature to something that was bearable and didn’t scald her skin upon touch. In-laid in to the wall was a deep recess that had a cave-like look to it. It contained soap, shampoo, and conditioner which Norah lathered up individually and cleaned herself with. The water felt restorative and when she stepped out, Norah felt like a new person entirely.

              Using the fluffy towel, she dried herself off and wrapped the towel around herself to conceal her body. Opening the door, expecting to have to go find Summer, Norah was surprised to find the clothes neatly folded and sitting next to the bathroom door. Scooping them up, Norah popped back into the bathroom and proceeded to get dressed.

              The clothes Summer had left for her were a bit big but she liked the sarouel, draw-string, black pants and sleeveless black tunic. There was even new underwear for her with the tag still attached to guarantee freshness.

              When Norah was finished getting dressed, she patted downstairs, barefoot again, with her dress wrapped in the towel she used. She didn’t know what to do with the bundle in her arms. Following the sound of voices, she ended up in the kitchen where everyone was gathered. “What can I do with these clothes?” Getting up, Summer grabbed the clothes out of her arms and proceeded to dump them in the trash without a word before moving back to her seat. She grabbed Maxine up off the floor and put her in her lap. Norah didn’t say a word but she was confused by how comfortable Maxine was with Summer.