I was left bedridden for nearly a month now, unable to move well or barely even speak. It was a mix or fear, anxiety and depression that left me weak and mute. I would drink the blood given to me by Isa, and was spoon fed the food that Ziva would bring me. Luca would also visit me, and help me with mild physiotherapy. He would make me walk around the room, and he would tell me about his medical experiences or strange things he encountered in the past. He had told stories about Genghis Khan, King Henry the Eighth, and Leonardo di Vinci. They honestly went in one ear and out the other as he spoke. I could tell he was trying to keep me entertained, but most of my days I was sleeping. Sometimes I would feel a presence when I slept but by the time I would open my eyes there was nothing there. This was one of those days. I was sitting in my bed, looking at the fire dancing in the fireplace like snakes writhing on sand. Ziva was chatting to me as she dusted and swept my room, but her words sounded like drowned water.
"--aking care of Elijah for three thousand years." Ziva's words made me snap back to reality.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I croaked, not used to using my voice. It was rare that I spoke these days, and Ziva smiled at me, her lovely curly hair bouncing around her like a beautiful cloud.
"I was talking about how I have been taking care of Master Elijah for three thousand years now." She saw the visible confusion on my face as she sauntered over to me.
"You're a vampire?" She shook her head and sat next to me on the bed.
"Then how?" She looked at me like a proud mother hen.
"There are two ways to extend your life without becoming a vampire. The one is making a contract with a vampire for servitude. The downside of that is that if you break the contract you are mortal. The other way is what we call a halfway transformation." She rolled her shoulders back and cracked her neck as she spoke.
"What's that?"
"It's when a vampire only does half the vampiric transformation with a human. The human drinks the vampires blood but the vampire never drinks the humans, or at least puts it off. This extends their life, however they are not immortal. They can take damage and die, whereas vampires and their servants can take much more damage before it can be considered lethal." She suddenly looked sad when she spoke, playing with a thin gold chain under her collar.
"Am I semi-immortal then?"
"Yes and no. You can detox yourself after they get a witch here so you go back to being a full mortal. If Elijah chose to drink your blood though, you would turn."
"What if another vampire drank my blood."
"It wouldn't work. When someone drinks a vampire's blood, they share a connection that is not broken until the detox or they reject each other after the mortal turns." The complicated information buzzed around my head as she spoke. The more she spoke, the more sadness and agitation I saw on her face. There was a question burning on my lips, and I could not hold back anymore.
"Who's Marie?" Ziva's face widened and she whipped her head over to me with wide and fearful eyes.
"Who told you that name?" I shrank back from her sudden change, shaking a little bit.
"Luca brought it up once." She noticed my trembling and sighed, grabbing my shaking fingers with hers. She smiled warmly at me and squeezed my fingers before placing one of hers over her lips to silence me.
"Marie was one of Elijah's ex's. He had a fling with her when he and his wife were going through a rough patch roughly six hundred years ago. She was a beautiful and kind girl, or so we all thought." Her gaze fell to the bed and I could see a pain hidden in her eyes. I almost told her she could stop if it was too painful, but she opened her mouth before I could speak.
"Elijah never fully changed his wife, because he was too afraid to subject her to the life he lived. She was like you, drinking his blood to survive. One day, Marie came to him claiming that she was dying. She said that she loved him and wanted to be with him forever, and begged him to turn her fully. Like a fool, he listened to her but under the agreement that if they continued their affair it would be behind his wife's back. He had been with his wife for over two thousand years and had never turned her, even though she was very frail. Marie demanded that he divorce her, and take her as his bride." Her eyes pricked with tears, and her voice cracked with pain.
"You don't have to continue." I waved my hands to hush her but she ignored me.
"Elijah refused and broke it off with Marie, sending her away. He had told his wife about the affair and she forgave him, but asked him to complete her turning on their next wedding anniversary. Marie caught wind of this and became infuriated. The night before their anniversary--" He voice cracked again and she had to catch her breath. I could feel her pain radiating off her and I knew what happened before she said it. I could also feel the love she had for this woman oozing out of her.
"You were close to her, weren't you?" Ziva broke down into sobs, her eyes bloodshot and her sobs deep.
"I grew up with her. We were both Hebrew slaves sold in auction, and stuck together through thick and thin. When Elijah found us and he fell in love with her, she took me with her. She was my best friend, my sister, and I owed her everything in my life." Her heartbreaking words were said between sobs, and I pulled her close to me. I wanted to ask for her name, but I could tell that if I asked she would break into a thousand pieces before me. So we just sat there, holding her like she did to me about a month prior as I was in pieces. Just as her sobs subsided, there was a trong knock at the door.
"Coming!" She called, patting my back with a small smile. She straightened herself up and wiped her face before approaching the door. I was curious about who it would be, wondering if it was close to the time for my nightly medicine. From the inch of sunlight I got I could see that the sunlight was fading. Ziva approached the door and opened it a crack before slamming it closed.
"Miss, please prepare yourself." She muttered to me, with a concerned look plastered against her face. I was confused until she pulled the door open to reveal a stone faced Elijah standing there holding a tray of food. My heart fell into my stomach and I looked down to my lap to avoid eye contact.
"You are dismissed," His deep voice rumbled to Ziva who gave me one last look before she hurried away. The door swung closed and soon it was only him and I left. I heard his soft footsteps walking towards me, but I paid no mind to him only staring at my lap. There was a large indent next to me on my right, but I refused to look at him. I heard a clicking noise, informing me that she had placed the tray of food on the left over nightstand. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity in silence.
"You've gained a lot of weight." His first comment irked me and I wanted to slap him but I restrained myself. It was true that I had gained quite a bit of weight from the rich meals I was fed every day. I once looked like a skeleton with skin because of my deflazacort, but now I had fleshed out curves and a little muffin top building up. My thighs and rear had gained the most weight, fleshing out my pear shaped body even more. I stayed silent and did not move, which was very hard as to not slap him.
"Are you going to say anything?" I did not answer his question. We sat there again, my heart pounding in pain and fear. After about ten minutes of silence, Elijah let out a sigh.
"Eat your food. You need to eat." He stood up and walked out without another word.
It started to become a daily routine for Elijah to bring me my food, whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. I never looked at him, and only ate when he left. He would sit there for a few minutes before leaving. He would never push me to talk, and if he did talk he would speak about nonsense like the weather. At first I was annoyed, but then I started to become comforted by this behaviour. I could tell he was the kind of man who struggled with apologizing, and was trying to do so in his own quirky way. I did not forgive him, but I was willing to push my feelings aside and make a connection. He came in one day when I could hear thunderstorms circling ahead. I could hear the rain around me, and the thunder rolling. It made me flinch at every roll, giving me flashbacks to that fated day only a month or two prior. I was so wrapped in my thoughts I did not hear Elijah walk up to me with my dinner until he sat next to me. I flinched at his sudden closeness and raised my head to have the first bit of eye contact with him in almost two months. His hair was disheveled, and his blood red eyes had purple marks under them. Other than that, he was his usual stoic self in a white dress shirt and black dress pants. He held a tray of salmon over wild mushroom rice, with a cream sauce drizzled over it.
"How are you feeling today?" He asked as he placed the wooden tray on my lap, the smell of the food almost intoxicating. I bit my lip, before breaking like a stack of cards being blown over.
"Tired." His eyes perked up at my raspy voice. I fiddled with the fork and knife, noticing the mug of blood off to the side of the tray. I began shovelling the food unceremoniously into my mouth as Elijah watched with a soft smile. The citrus in the cream sauce danced on my tongue, and the earthiness of the mushrooms sang with them. I was halfway done with my food in record time before Elijah spoke again.
"Maybe you should take a drink." I looked at him with chipmunk cheeks and saw his sweet smile which he then tried to hide under a cold mask. I still hated the blood, but I had grown accustomed to it at this point. After swallowing the large mouthful, I raised the mug to my mouth and took a large swig, my mouth glowing red. I was already feeling the alcoholic effects of the blood, but I still shovelled the rest of the food down my gullet and drank the rest of the liquid. When I finished and wiped my mouth Elijah took the tray from my hands and placed it on the remaining nightstand. My nightly dose always made me sleepy, and I let out a big yawn as I smiled in my drunken state. I felt a large cold hand rest over mine, and I flinched a bit but Elijah continued to grip me.
"Lay on your side, I will put you to sleep." Tempted by the offer, but still a little wary I laid with my back to him. His cold fingers began to draw patterns over my spine, lulling me into a false sense of security. His nimble and cool fingers stroked my skin under my nightgown in such a way it made me shiver, but also made me so sleepy my eyes had a hard time keeping open.
"Did you used to do this to your wife?" His hand stopped for a second before he continued. In my drunken stupor I realized that it was a stupid question to ask.
"Yes I did. She wouldn't sleep unless I did this." His voice was a little cold, but had a hidden warmth under it. It reminded me of a Canadian spring, with warmth exuding from the coolness.
"What did you hear about my wife?" I tensed up at the question, but relaxed almost instantly as his fingers resumed their drawing.
"I heard that she was a very nice woman who you loved very much." I slurred. It was not a lie, but not the whole truth of what I hold. He hummed and continued to draw on my back, seemingly content like a lazy cat.
"She was the best woman. She was very frail, but she had a power about her. She was kind and caring, but had a silver tongue she had no problem lashing with. She was strong in spirit even if her body was weak." I felt a pang of jealousy in the way he described her, wishing someone would describe me like that.
"Is that why you take pity on me? Because I'm frail?" I managed to choke out. Elijah fell silent but his fingers still gilded against my back.
"You do remind me of her. You both share a stubbornness and strong will. But that was not the only reason I chose to help you." I craned my head over to him, even though my eyes were falling even quicker than before.
"With every human I have ever met, the first thing they do is ask me to turn them. They crave immortality, or just me in general because of my strength. But you," He looked at me softly and pushed my hair out of my face as my eyes were a millimetre from closing, "You never asked me for help. You worked with your illness and never let it hold you back. My Sara was the same way." The name rang alarm bells in my body but it was too late. My eyes shut and my brain shut down just as I felt a phantom pressure over my forehead.