A midflight vampires tal.., p.2
A Midflight Vampire's Tale, page 2
He raised his brows, mouth puckered with skepticism. “Yeah, sure. You say you’re a vampire. And you may look like one…” He gestured to her all-black clothing that swathed her in shadows. “But how do I know you’re actually one?”
Well. That was off-putting. Especially with that slight American twang of his, which was made all the more amusing by his prepubescent voice and the smug look on his face.
She pursed her lips. “You’re rather more difficult than I expected. I don’t need to prove anything to you.” Stretching out a pale white hand, she motioned with her fingers. “Come.”
“Prove it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Anything I do will frighten you. I don’t wish to do that.”
“I’m ten. I’m all about being scared.”
Oh for goodness sake.
“I am not a Halloween amusement.” She gestured about his bedroom. “You don’t belong here. Don’t you see that?”
She’d struck a nerve. His brown eyes softened with uncertainty. It was impossible for him to believe the life he led was anything but normal. He should have been smarter than that. She’d spotted storybooks scattered through his room, and a TV set mounted on a long cabinet. He must have known that he ought to have a mother and father, perhaps siblings, and attend school. Surely he couldn’t believe that two nannies, and the building he was confined to, or the supervised weekly visits to a nearby library or playground or museum, with plainclothes guards watching nearby, was normal?
He was staring at his arms, smooth and unmarred by scars. “They’re always poking me with needles. And….there’s always people coming to ask me things. People with white coats. They sometimes put wires on me.”
She nodded. “And when they take your blood, the needle marks always seem to heal without a trace. Don’t they?”
A muscle on his jaw twitched. “Yeah. They’d always ask how I was feeling. Whether the shot they gave me made me sick. Or…why I always healed so fast. They said it wasn’t normal.” His eyes met hers. “What…what am I?”
The way his voice tightened, the confusion on his face…it tugged at her heartstrings. “You’re very unique. I know you can hear better than most people. You have never been sick. You recover remarkably fast from bumps and scrapes. You may have tried to hide it but…”
“They always outsmart me.” His gaze turned furtive. “They’re always watching me. Cameras everywhere. Except for the bathroom. Wait. The one in here…they’ll see you.”
She nodded toward a corner of the ceiling. “I disabled the one in this bedroom. Don’t worry.”
He relaxed a little. “Wh-what am I then? Am I…am I like you?”
Her smile turned lopsided. “I thought you didn’t believe in vampires.”
“I didn’t believe you were a vampire. I thought vampires were supposed to be scary.” He bared his teeth, lifting his hands in a caricature. “You know, stuff of nightmares and blood and fangs and all that. You…” He waved his hand in a rocky motion that said, meh. “What’re you supposed to be anyway? A goth? Wednesday Addams?”
She stifled a laugh. “You are most amusing, Julian. Well, I suppose you aren’t afraid of me because you are like me. In a manner of speaking.”
She didn’t add, You aren’t afraid of me because you’re not big enough to realize that despite the dark and sinister thing within all of us, you’ll grow up into a True Blood. While I, a Hybrid, am your people’s greatest enemy.
There would be time to explain all that later.
“Which is…?” he pressed, his eyes suddenly gleaming with anticipation. “Come on. Prove it. You say you’re a vampire. So…”
Cheng sighed in resignation. “Children…all right. You get one bit of proof from me, and if you behave, I might be inclined to show you more.”
“You know…I like the way you talk.” He tried to mimic her speech, “Fancy a cuppa tea?”
“I do not speak like that.”
“You kinda do.”
She grinned, showing off gleaming white teeth with sharp canines. A little sharper than that of most humans, but not so sharp as to attract attention.
He clucked his tongue, the skepticism returning to his face. “My dog has sharper teeth.”
“You don’t have a dog.”
“If I had a dog. They wouldn’t even let me keep a fish or a hamster.”
“Can your imaginary dog do this?”
In a flash, she raised her upturned left wrist to her mouth and bit into her flesh.
“Ew…” he winced, looking like he wanted to gag.
She withdrew her teeth, tongue darting out to lick blood from her lips. The coppery taste zinged through her and her eyes darted to her wrist, drawing Julian’s attention there.
The marks were sealed shut, leaving nothing but unmarred skin and drying droplets of blood. She dragged her tongue over the blood and grinned at him again.
He shuddered. She saw the fear in his eyes. And…understanding.
“Okay…” he said, slowly nodding. “I think I’m sold. So…you’re a vampire. And…I’m some kinda vampire too.”
“That is correct.”
He ran a hand over his mouth. “Why don’t I have sharp teeth? And how come I don’t turn to fire in the sun? Am I gonna live forever? Do I need a coffin to sleep? What about garlic? Wait, I had pasta for lunch. There’s garlic in it. Okay, so I can eat garlic. What about—”
Cheng lifted a hand, wondering if it would be wrong to stuff his mouth with a sock. It probably was, so she said instead, “You need to stop talking.”
He didn’t. But he changed tack and pointed a finger at her, and asked, “Why’re you here then? And why should I come with you?”
Ah, finally. A relevant question.
“I’m here to do you a favor.” Cheng pulled the sleeve of her black jacket back over her arm. “And you’ll come with me simply because I say so.”
“Because I don’t belong here,” he repeated her earlier words.
She nodded, stretching her hand out toward him as he sat on his comfortable and warm bed. “Now, we have a really narrow window of time…”
“Where’re you taking me?” he interrupted.
“Does it matter?”
“You tell me. I don’t even know who you are, and what you’re gonna do with me.”
Cheng fisted her hands on her hips. “You ask a dreadful number of questions.”
He snorted. “I’m a kid. Whadaya expect? Don’t you know anything about kids?”
She didn’t have to consider the question. “I don’t,” was her curt answer.
“Well, you wouldn’t make a very good babysitter if you’re such an amateur, I—”
The word ‘amateur’ got to her. And now, not only did she have to resist the urge to stuff his mouth with a sock, she had to resist the temptation to strangle him.
She summoned her most patient and stone-cold voice, the type she used just before breaking bones, and said, “Let me stop you. I am risking my neck for one of you so don’t make it sound like you’re the one doing me a favor.”
The boy gave an insouciant shrug, oblivious to her tone. And of course, he picked up on something else she’d said.
“Wait a minute. One of you…” He lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper, “You know of others like me? I’m…I’m not the only one?”
“Silly boy, is that what was holding you back?” She clucked her tongue. “Yes, there are others like you. Too many for my liking if you ask me. But no, you’re not the only one. You never were. You’ve been trapped here all your life, and that’s not right. I am getting you out, and I’ll bring you to your real family.”
That got him moving. He threw off his blanket and stood as Cheng rose to her feet. He shrugged on a sweater, then grabbed a pair of sneakers for his feet as he asked, “Who are you then?”
Cheng pursed her lips thoughtfully. “They’ll tell you plenty of things about me. That I’m your enemy. That I’m only looking out for myself. Or that I’m out to kill you because of who you are.”
He paled. “K-kill me? Are…are you gonna?”
She scoffed. “I’m only your enemy if you see me that way. Yes, I am doing this for myself, but considering I’m here rescuing you, you should be grateful for that and cooperate with me. And no, I have no intention of killing you. That would be an utter waste of my valuable time.”
He let out a boyish snort. “You’re a vampire. Don’t you like, live forever? You have all the time in the world.”
“Not as much as you think. In any case, I want you out of harm’s way and safe with your family. They’ll take a little convincing about you, considering they have no idea you exist, or even how you might exist in the first place.”
He blinked as he absorbed that nugget of information. “Okay…but uh…how do you know about me?”
“I stumbled upon something I wasn’t meant to.”
“That doesn’t explain…”
“Would it help if I told you I have some hacking skills and took a peek where I wasn’t supposed to?”
His eyes grew wide as saucers. “No way, that is so cool!”
“I see that I’ve won you over once more. Good.” Seeing that he’d put his shoes on, Cheng veered for the window where she’d entered from. “Climb onto my back. Don’t look down.”
“We’re climbing out the window?” he squeaked. “It’s twenty floors up!”
“Then you’d better start counting.”
“Wait, wait. Are you gonna get Eve?”
She paused in mid-step. “Who’s Eve?”
The boy sighed and gestured to his bedroom door, in a vague general direction to his left. “You know. Eve. She’s the other kid stuck here. I’ve never been allowed to meet her, but my nannies talk about her when they think I’m not listening.”
Her mouth fell open. “There is another?”
“Another what?”
“Another clone.”
“I’m a clone?” He blinked in astonishment. “What did they clone me from? Okay, that’s a dumb question. A vampire, of course. Who did they clone me from? Am I some sorta scientific experiment?”
“Quiet. Not now. Where is this other child?”
Clearly still reeling from the word clone, Julian shook his head. “I don’t know. On the same floor, maybe. Like I said, I’ve never met her. I don’t get it. You said you’re a hacker, how come you didn’t learn about Eve?”
“I have some skills, but I—” Cheng stopped short, angling her head, hearing the sound of distant footsteps.
She was upon him, covering his mouth with an ice-cold hand, eyes warning him to stay silent. He did so. And the only sound was that of his heart thudding in his chest while she counted off the seconds.
Nothing.
She exhaled in relief. “No time. They’re coming to check on you any minute now. We have to go. I will retrieve Eve another time. Once I find out more about her.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
2
Sarah
Hello, doctor.”
Sarah sat down in the plush armchair, facing the older gentleman before her. The office was as it always had been, with a musty smell of old wood, piles of books squeezed on the shelves, and soft gentle lighting as the late afternoon sun poured in.
“It’s been a while, Sarah,” the psychiatrist greeted. He spoke like her, with a hint of a New York accent. “How’ve you been?”
“Good. No panic attacks. Haven’t needed my Xanax in months.” She straightened her top and crossed her legs. “But I’m helping out at a friend’s wedding next month, which is why I’m here to refill my tablets. Just in case.”
Please don’t ask me any more questions. I know you do that every time I see you, but I don’t want to rehash—
“Great to hear,” the doctor said with a satisfied nod. “You’ve come a long way from those supra-normal attacks you used to have. What’s it been, ten years?”
She fought back the sigh in her chest. He was just being nice. She ought to return the favor. After all, he’d been her treating doctor ever since…
“First attack when I was thirteen,” Sarah answered mechanically. She forced a smile. “But I’m fine now. I just celebrated my birthday.”
He glanced at his notes, confirming that her date of birth had, indeed, passed. He smiled back. “Happy twenty-fifth.”
“Thank you.”
“Did you do anything special?”
“Other than lamenting the fact that my one and only brother, Joe, decided to move to Italy six months ago to join the clergy? Sorry, I’m being sarcastic. I hung out with some friends and got drunk.”
She stopped herself, regretting that she had said so much. Her voice had cracked at the mention of Joe, and the doctor instantly picked up on it.
“Your brother’s gone?” He leaned forward, concerned. “You’re all alone then?”
“Yup.”
“How’re you coping?”
“I’ll be okay,” she answered bravely, though she plucked at her pants as she said this.
“You don’t sound okay.”
“I can’t do much about it, and…I don’t want to talk about Joe.”
He held her gaze for a moment, then relented. “Fair enough. How’s work?”
She brightened. “Good days and bad days.”
“Medical writing, if I recall?”
“Uh-huh. My boss is crazy. He should see you, doc.”
The psychiatrist laughed. “Why’s that?”
“He ‘fired’ me the other day.” She curved her fingers into air quotes. “Then he expected me to show up for work the next morning and lambasted me big time for not coming in. Nuts, ain’t it?”
“Sounds like a character. And uh...what happened to the guy you were dating before?”
“Who, Jason?”
“I think that was his name.”
“Pfft. Done and dusted. I think I’m gonna adopt, you know? I give up on men. No offense”
“None taken,” he returned a good-natured smile.
They chatted pleasantly for a while more, though Sarah wished he’d cut the consult short. She’d had a long day and simply wanted to go home.
Finally, the doctor handed her a prescription of Xanax. “Come back anytime, Sarah. Especially if those attacks of yours recur.”
“Pretty sure they won’t. But thanks.”
At last, she thought in relief. She couldn’t wait to get out of the doctor’s office.
飞机
You’re pulling my leg,” Henry interrupted me.
There was a hard glint in his eyes that suggested he wasn’t amused. He looked positively lethal at that moment, as if with one strike of his large hands, he could have snapped my neck.
It left me with little doubt about his true predatory nature. All charm and suavity, hiding what he was. Just like I was doing.
Not that I feared him. Not in the slightest. I could have bested him with my eyes closed. We both knew this.
No, he was simply annoyed at me.
“How on earth could you possibly have known what Sarah was doing right before you waltzed up to her front door with Julian?”
I tilted my head to meet his gaze. “Did you think I didn’t get to know her first? What she’s like, who she meets, her habits and tendencies? Did you think I would be so heartless as to involve an innocent human like Sarah without first getting to know her? I knew what she struggled with. I knew the pain and heartache within her.”
And I made full use of it.
I shrugged. “Besides, I spoke to Julian too, you know. I dug everything out from him. Everything he could remember after the fact. So I know a lot of what happened to Sarah. The only thing I didn’t know was…”
“What she truly was,” Henry finished. “And so you manipulated and deceived her, and opened a whole can of worms for yourself.”
My tone turned frigid. “I couldn’t have known. What were the odds that out of a myriad of potential choices, I picked someone like Sarah? You presume much, Henry Xia, to judge my actions without an understanding of why I did what I did. As if I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.”
“Aren’t you judging me now too? Haven’t you been, from the moment you laid eyes on me?”
I parted my lips, faltered, and stopped myself with a sigh. “You’ll forgive me for making assumptions.”
He let out a sound. “I am not him.”
My teeth ground together. “I know that.”
“Do you?”
Tension hung like a ghost between us. Unseen. But palpable. Felt.
Henry exhaled. “I’m truly sorry about all this. It wasn’t meant to be this way.”
“You’ve already apologized.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. Such a human gesture. But it reflected the exhaustion that must have been within him from being on the move for days on end. And now I’d joined him and Shastari. Running.
“Let me continue,” I offered, jumping at the chance to turn my thoughts away from why we were running in the first place.
“Yes. Please.”
I settled deeper into my seat. “Contrary to what you may have heard, Sarah and I had more than one conversation. Several, in fact. I didn’t, as you might put it, throw her into the deep end. Not straight away. But you are right, I manipulated her. I learned about her. I used her weakness to my advantage. The fact that she was so lonely, so isolated. You, most of all, would know that none of us could have survived so long without having an instinctive feel for people. Without learning how to…”
“Mold them to our purposes, like a potter with a jar of clay.”
“Yes, exactly.”
A soft rumble in the back of his throat, and a slight lowering of his chin signaled that he understood.
“I knew I could trust Sarah with Julian.” I smiled at the memory from two years ago. “It just took a little bit of work convincing her to open her heart to him.”
3
Sarah
Sarah sat in her brother’s dilapidated car. She brushed back her dark bangs and rubbed her tired eyes. They were bloodshot in the rearview mirror, hallmarks of a long day.
Irish blues. Baby blues.
