Immortal pleasures, p.25
Immortal Pleasures, page 25
My phone pings. It is a message from John.
I promise I knew nothing about Hernán’s plans! He is out for everyone now seeing only blood and wanting to only feed. His hate is magnified from the serum. I will tell you why because you must know he will not be the same.
I recently received a new formula for a serum from one of my freelance scientists. It enhances a vampire’s powers. So far we have kept it under wraps because it also makes us more violent and lethal, and our thirst more insatiable. He has access to the safe in the clinic with the unreleased products. After you left, a vision of him screaming sparked in my mind. I ran to the safe and found the serum gone. Be alert. I will do my best to find him.—J
“Great,” I whisper, then show Alex the message. His eyes scan it quickly.
“I guess we have to be ready for anything. And I want that serum. Sounds like trouble if it gets out.”
Highgate Cemetery is split into two parts. One is fairly modern and open to the public. You can find Karl Marx buried there beneath his face carved in stone. His statue is of such a magnificent size one can’t miss it.
The other side is from the Victorian era. It’s overgrown with wild roots bursting through graves, breaking ancient stone. London is a wet place, the perfect climate for moss to cover everything with soft brushstrokes of green. Crops of mushrooms poke from broken graves with all engraving eroded away. The mushrooms are proof of life after death along with the centipedes and earthworms. Beetles and spiders also make their homes in this cradle of death. Life-size angels look down upon the paths. Broken and fallen crosses litter the ground. At all times of the day and night you can hear birds. This area of the cemetery is considered a hazard for visitors because of the sheer number of graves and amount of foliage. And because of its age most of it is protected by the local council. It isn’t considered safe enough to allow visitors to wander on their own during certain hours.
We walk up a short flight of stairs, and we are truly inside the cemetery. The stone angels take on demonic shapes as their shadows twist with the moon in and out of the clouds. The large crypts can hide any large creatures or vampires lying in wait. Even the darkness of these crypts sends a chill through my body. The scent of corpses is heavy in the air. The decay sits like an invisible mist caught in the spiderwebs and countless iron gates.
Alex and I stop at the same time—we both smell fresh blood and flesh. Because people are not allowed here at night there is little to no light, and with so little illumination, our other senses are on high alert. We pick up the pace as we walk again toward the line of unmarked crypts housed inside a single long building.
The scent of blood is stronger. I look to Alex, who has a strained look on his face. He is hoping to hear a human heartbeat. There is not one I can detect; however, he is older than I am and may have powers that I do not possess.
Hernán stands beneath a single lit lamp. In one blood-soaked hand he holds a large bone saw. His boots smell like fresh corpses. The scent is heavy from the crypts, which are down a short flight of stairs. Only one gate is open. I step forward, considering he has been hunting me. John was correct. Hernán is not the same. There is definitely something even more unhinged in his eyes. All the death he has caused is reflected back to me.
“Are you ready to die, La Malinche?” he growls.
“Hernán Cortés. You have not even earned the right to touch me let alone have my body. No one will ever have that without my full permission or use me. My destiny and life are mine!”
As these words lash from my tongue, I allow my teeth and nails to reach their full length. The fresh blood swimming in my body leaks from the tears in my gums and fingertips. My vision sharpens; my breathing grows huskier. All the things I wanted to hide were meant to come out in this moment. The viciousness of my nature has found a place in time to show its beautiful hideousness. I shriek into the night at him. Alex’s face has changed to its full vampire form as well. His teeth are longer than before, and the calm softness is gone.
“La Malinche. Look at you in all your beauty. I’m going to enjoy ripping you apart to see what lurks inside. Where are all your little male pets you keep on a sexual leash? You have just the one now? All you bitches are the same.”
“Fuck you, Hernán. You will answer for your entire existence,” Alexander says in a calm, determined tone.
As slowly as possible I bring my hand to my back pocket and remove the syringe. Half is hidden beneath the cuff of my leather jacket and the other half in my hand. Hernán doesn’t acknowledge Alex. His burning eyes that are completely black are fixed on me.
“Malinalli, what makes you all so beautiful is also the very thing I want to see break.”
“Well, you will be very disappointed with me. I’ve been broken more times than I care to recount. There is nothing left for you. I am not the same woman you knew.”
“We will see. I can’t wait to find out. I admit I underestimated you before, but I won’t make that same mistake again.”
“Who made you, Hernán? How did you become such a twisted fuck? I know it could not have been Cuauhtémoc.”
His face contorts and twitches beneath the lamplight.
“It doesn’t matter, but if you must know it was only by a fated moment in battle. A filthy Indian warrior I cornered and killed.”
My blood congeals in my brain for a moment as he says this. Enough talking. It is time. Without saying a word, I look to my left. From the rusted and warped stakes around a grave, I rip off the iron chain attaching them with my left hand. My hope is to land enough blows to get close enough to take him to the edge of his life so he can look into my eyes as I do it. Even though I can’t consume Hernán’s blood for sustenance, I can make sure every drop saturates the ground.
My internal freedom is the most precious part of my journey and now also the love I found with Alex. Hernán can’t have either.
I swing the chain side to side while approaching Hernán. The syringe is still in my right hand. In an instant Hernán runs toward me with his mouth open and fangs out. The bone saw is overhead. Alex runs toward him at the same time. I continue to swing the chain, trying to get a hit on Hernán before Alex tackles him. Hernán swerves from me and takes Alex head-on. Alex howls when the bone saw slices into his shoulder.
The two men pummel each other with the sound of rabid jackals fighting to the death. Half of Alex’s trench has been ripped off in the process. With Hernán’s head exposed for an instant, I kick him straight in the temple with the sharp tip of my boot. He releases Alex for enough time for Alex to scramble for the torn portion of his trench. As I leap toward Hernán, he catches me in the chest with his foot. I fall to the ground, and he is on top of me with his spittle falling on my face. His jaw is clenched.
The bone saw is at my throat. Alex is behind him with the syringe raised overhead. Hernán releases me and swings the saw toward Alex again, catching him across the face. Alex rears back with this blow. I use this opportunity to raise myself up just enough to plunge the syringe into Hernán’s shoulder. He screams, “You bloody cunt!” In his rage he jumps to his feet and lifts me into the air before throwing me across the path. I hit a large gravestone in the shape of a Celtic cross. I’m dizzy and losing blood inside of me. Something has ruptured. Still, I get to my feet.
Through blurry vision I can see Hernán and Alex brawling again. I can’t tell if Hernán is slowing down or if it’s just the impact fucking with my senses. I wobble toward the two with one hand across my waist.
I scream into the air, “Malinalxochitl! One last time. Now!”
With both hands I dig my claws into Hernán’s sides just beneath the rib cage. Hernán backhands Alex, sending him across the path into an iron gate and spiked rods linking chains to protect the graves.
With a burst of hot energy, I twist my entire body and throw Hernán in the same direction he threw me. Alex groans. My heart stops when I see him on the ground. He lies wheezing with an iron spear through his neck and a broken stone Virgin Mary lying shattered across his chest. There is bloody foam trailing from his nose and mouth. His eyes are glassy.
Just a short distance away in the trees I see the figure of a woman. I can smell blood and roses on her. A moan escapes her lips as she points in the opposite direction. “Malinalxochitl,” I whisper before following the length of her arm with my hazy vision. Hernán is vanishing into the night. I look back at Alex. Seeing him like this pains me.
A rib has punctured my left lung and the side of my heart feels crushed. I’m hemorrhaging internally, or at least what is left from my last feed. My legs are heavier with every step toward Alex.
“There is adrenaline in my pocket. Use it and get yourself about a body full of blood. What I brought isn’t enough. This shot won’t last long.”
With all my strength I shake my head before falling to my knees. The image of Chantico is a dim light in front of me.
I can have rest, at long last, next to the love of my life if I choose, or I can jump into the largest, deepest body of water ever. It is the infinite body we call time that is just a manifestation of the universe. Is it time for me to slumber in the arms of my ancestors?
My heartbeat begins to pound in my left ear. I look down and see Alex has plunged the adrenaline shot into my thigh. Now I face another big choice: I have to be the one to leave him. But I don’t want to, not with him in this state.
“I’ll be back and I’ll call John. He owes us,” I whisper to Alex, then feel for my phone. It must have fallen out. I touch Alex’s clothing. It’s not there.
My eyes shift toward where I thought I saw Chantico. In the spot I can now see Max’s dead body. I look back to Alex, who is now unresponsive, though his eyes are still wide open.
I lean in and kiss him on the lips with a lifetime’s worth of heartfelt tenderness while pressing the bag of blood back into his mouth so he can heal. I kiss him again. “Come back to me,” I whisper. The slight dampness left from his saliva and the blood on my lips is stronger than any ring he could ever place on my finger.
I look to the sky, which is still dark. I have to move fast, but I drag Max next to Alex. “May your soul and your kindness find its way back here. Rest. Find my Chantico and walk with her in gardens. I think you two will get along well.”
When I move to run back to the clock shop for blood before the adrenaline stops working, I see both of our phones are smashed. I have to call John from the landline, and I drink blood until I’m full in order to recover.
* * *
Hernán raced through the cemetery, sweating blood. It gushed out his nose. He had watched others experience this rage and power while they experimented to find the perfect dosage. After, the vampires were killed. This potent concoction would not be free, or for just anyone. Until now, it had never been used in an open environment.
His vision appeared red and his throat burned with a fiery thirst. It took all his self-control to run and not kill anything that moved in a frenzied attack in the open. He needed to feed, but there were no humans nearby. John’s clinic was not far. He could hide out there and drink what blood was left in the clinic’s supply.
That was the downside to this concoction they didn’t understand: It raised the user’s metabolic rate. So it was excellent in a fight with humans, but for fighting with other vampires, it was best to have blood on hand to replenish. He could feel his body burning through what blood had surged through his system.
Without thought he burst through the front of the Highgate house, breaking the lock. At the basement door leading to the clinic, he rubbed his eyes, trying to see clearly enough to enter the code. The frustration made him scream and kick at the reinforced door.
“Hernán!”
His head jerked to the left. John stood at the top of the stairs.
“It is the one thing we can’t get right. The thirst.”
John calmly walked down the stairs and entered the code. When the door opened, Hernán dashed through to rip open the refrigeration unit filled with blood. His teeth and nails tore into each clear pouch before he gulped it with head tilted back. He discarded each one on the floor after he drank.
“Are you done?”
Hernán heaved as he looked back at John.
“Good. Before they killed George, he was able to hack into her computer. I will keep an eye on her movements. We will get her.”
Hernán’s eyes were less dilated. “I don’t care where she is. I want her.”
“We stay here until I get more information on her whereabouts. You must also stay here. You can’t go running around like a rabid hyena. I will lock this door for your own protection while I get you a fresh body.”
“I only want to feed.”
“Don’t worry. You will.”
John turned and left the clinic and locked the door behind him. His phone rang, displaying a number he didn’t recognize. He rushed to the top floor of the house to avoid Hernán hearing the conversation.
“He’s gone.”
It is Malinalli.
John paced in the attic room. “I know. I have him locked in the basement. He will remain high for I don’t know how long. He might turn on me, as he has taken two doses of the Hyde. He has fed and is somewhat calm. We never did that in our experiments. This might be a roller coaster. He will have the strength of many. We need backup. This thing we created.”
Malinalli paused.
“There is a way. I want you to lure him to Mexico. With Cuauhtémoc’s help he won’t stand a chance.”
“And your lover?” John asked.
“You just focus on your part.”
“Fine. Mexico it is. You and I can talk after, maybe come up with an arrangement, especially if your lover does not show.”
“Get Hernán to Mexico in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. I’ll arrange private transport. Wait for further messages.”
The line went dead. John didn’t like the idea of going to Mexico, but it was the sure way to destroy Hernán. It could also mean the end of him, but without George, what was there left to live for?
* * *
I felt pleased John had agreed to everything. Now to lay the final trap. I dial Cuauhtémoc’s line. It rings twice, but this time he answers.
“Malinalli, you were in my dream last night. That is why I answered. What is it? Even in my dream I could not see what happened to you beyond this point.”
“Are you ready for your revenge? A true reunion of blood and hell?”
“You mean he will be here?”
“Yes. Get yourself and your men ready. Cortés might be on some vampire super-serum when he arrives. I got busted up, but I survived.”
“You will always survive, mujer. It is in your blood. I will be waiting and arrange for you to stay in Cholula. If he is here, you have all of me at your disposal. Will your friend join?”
I pause with the pain of that question. “I don’t know.”
“Leave everything to me, Malinalli.”
“Thank you, and see you soon.”
I have to go back to the Notting Hill flat to retrieve my passport and computer. Then it will be the earliest private flight I can find. Have to get a new phone as well. In fact, I’ll buy one for Alex. One day I will gift him with a watch as a reminder of our time at the clock shop and Max.
But first I have to rush to the cemetery with more blood for Alex.
I run to the exact spot where I left the two bodies. The sun will rise within the hour.
I figure I can hide Max’s body and help Alex back to the flat. When I arrive both bodies are gone. The dark stain where Alex had bled out still appears wet. I sniff the air, but cannot sense either of them. My eyes squeeze shut to see if I can feel him. Nothing. I feel blocked, shut out. Panic rises in my throat. Maybe the flat. With renewed speed, I head back to Notting Hill, which is a long run. There will be a phone shop along the way I can break into.
* * *
The flat is dark, but I do not smell Alex. My heart ignites into the kind of flames that movie vampires die from when exposed to sunlight. We were meant to be in this together and now he has gone rogue. Hernán doesn’t have him. Then it hits me that maybe he wanted to leave me and found a way. That Alex has chosen to leave after all. I sit in the dark, pushing thoughts of him away. Like the days when it was about mere survival, I can’t cry or mourn. It is death that matters now. My emotions shut down. I open my laptop.
The earliest flights I can find are the following morning and both private. Works for me. Perhaps if I stay here, Alex will come back. However, when the time comes for me to leave, I will choose to walk out that door with or without him.
I have no way to contact him. If I can’t reach him, on the flight I can try to see where he might be, feel his energy. I look at my new phone, already synced to the cloud. It is John.
Hernán is calmer, but still on the warpath in a delirious state. And he is changing. I can’t leave him alone like this. What is the plan? We should move fast before he takes another dose. In his distracted state I managed to retrieve some of the serum.—J
I text back:
Booked you a private flight to Cholula. Tell him you both plan to capture me there. Get him to Cholula then stay out of the way.
It will be another battle. A battle I will not lose no matter the consequences. I call the landline at the clock shop. No answer. I plan to stop on my way to my flight, but maybe Alex has skipped town and skipped out on me. Until the last possible moment before my flight leaves, I wait.
Time has caught up with me in the worst way.
My flight has landed at a different airport than John and Hernán’s. John continues to send me frantic messages as Hernán is becoming more erratic and out of control. He tried to bust through the cockpit once after consuming the amount of blood of three humans he’d stashed in sterile bottles. Luckily John had called ahead and requested no staff on board except the pilot.
