The next morning, I was a bundle of nerves, knowing what I had to pull off. Even though I knew Caelyn's routine better than my own, I was positive that would be the morning she'd come out of the bathroom early and catch me digging in her purse. I worked at being quick, but that only caused me to drop her bag on the floor…again. My hands were shaking so bad; I couldn't get a grip on anything. I pulled out her health card instead of my own, cursed under my breath and put it back so I could retrieve the correct one.
You'd have thought I would've grown used to going behind her back, starting several months ago with the whole swimming incident. I even took her driver's license out of her wallet and put it in my missing health card's place—with the back facing out—so its absence would be less noticeable. Once I finished burying the card in my pack, my palms covered with a thin sheen of nervous sweat, I ran to my room to get dressed. I needed as little contact with my mother as possible.
I'd purposefully only gotten into my bra and underwear. When she came into my room to say goodbye, I had a dress ready to cover my front.
"Mom! I'm getting dressed!" I had my line planned.
"Mink, I've seen it all before." She rolled her eyes. "You do realize I used to bathe you?"
"Yes! Several hundred years ago…" I protested. The banter was keeping my mind away from all the things I was deceiving her about, just as I'd hoped so that I wouldn't do something to give myself away.
She came over to kiss me goodbye—as always—anyway. "Have a good day at school, Mink. Do your best."
"Don't I always?" I gave her my best angelic smile.
"Can't argue with that." She turned to go. "But, hey, you two stay away from Hastings Street, you got that? I mean it, Mink, there are prostitutes and drug dealers all over down there."
I shuddered, my revulsion genuine… My mother and I had driven down that street once. "No problem!"
"7:00, okay?��
I did some mental calculating in my head. I should be left with more than enough time. Caelyn must've thought I was coming up with an argument.
"If you need to go back to the library, I'll drive you on the weekend."
"Okay," I said agreeably. My ruse had worked; she thought she'd won and, looking satisfied, turned to leave.
"Love you." She waved one more time.
"I love you too." I really did, despite my lying and scheming… *And,* I reminded myself, *I'm not the only one doing so.*
If Caelyn just wouldn't get pulled over for speeding or running a red light, my plan would work just fine. In fact, if something did turn out to be wrong with me, my mother would probably thank me for following through with everything I planned to do.
"Sorry, Maura; I can't. Not tonight. It's my mom's birthday, and my whole family's going out." Susie looked disappointed. She shouldn't have. If I were her, I'd much rather go to a birthday dinner than sit in a boring clinic waiting room all evening.
"It's okay," I assured her. "I don't mind going by myself at all. Besides, it would just be boring for you, and I really just want to get it over with. It's not like it'll be any fun."
"The dinner with your mom would be fun!" Susie was quite taken with Caelyn.
"I'll make sure we go out with her sometime soon then; I promise." I smiled back at her, hoping she wouldn't keep feeling bad about not being able to go along.
So, I'd be going alone. I felt more than a little nervous about going downtown solo. I'd never been downtown anywhere before, alone—Indiana Pennsylvania's downtown was too small to count—consisting of a few blocks along one street.
Susie kept looking at me all through lunch, and I knew she was trying to gauge my true reaction, but I managed to hide my trepidation well. I launched into a full-scale discussion of my plan to talk Ron into a Christmastime visit. Everyone in our group perked up their ears to listen. I so rarely talked about Ron that I knew it would be like revealing some kind of big secret. But as Susie walked off to her Biology class, I watched her back as if my friend were a life preserver floating away in the middle of a vast, empty ocean.
The trip downtown wasn't bad. No one bothered me on the SkyTrain while I read my English assignment. As fate would have it, our teacher actually did give us a rather large research paper to complete. Going to the larger library would then be a necessity, so I was glad Caelyn had offered to drive me on the weekend…and I was relieved some part of my story had become truth.
I found the clinic easily. The Broadway Station Clinic was an easy walk from the SkyTrain stop of the same name. However, the waiting-room was past capacity, with people standing against the wall, sniffling and coughing into their sleeves, since there weren't enough chairs for everyone. Since classes were back in full swing, cold and flu season was too.
The wait was two hours! It wasn't even 4:00 PM yet, so I'd still have almost an hour with the doctor. That would surely be more than enough time. Besides, if he ordered any blood tests, I already knew from searching the internet I'd have to visit a separate lab to get them done. The Biomedical Lab, unlike the clinic, in New West was open and would be easy to get to right after school. At the moment, I just had to find a two-hour distraction close by.
The library! Maybe I wouldn't have to bother Caelyn to drive me downtown on the weekend and having a few books with me would help back my original excuse for making my way downtown.
I figured out which bus to take from one of the friendly drivers waiting along the curb near Broadway Station. It wasn't far, about ten minutes on the bus. Once there, I got a card first thing in case I found books I wanted to take along, and then went to lose myself among the stacks.
I hadn't meant to but ended up losing track of time and staying at the library until my two-hour wait time had nearly run out. Jumping up from the table I was sitting at in a panic, I knocked my chair over and almost tripped over the jutting legs in my attempt to escape. I didn't look up to see if anyone had witnessed my humiliating fumble and made my way to the front desk to check out a small stack of books—three for my class assignment and two I couldn't resist for pleasure.
I was hurrying, worried I'd lose my spot in line at the clinic if they called for me and I wasn't there. As luck would have it, I saw the bus pull away from the stop just as I was running up to the stop. It would be fifteen minutes before another arrived, so I decided to walk to the next stop in an effort to keep warm. The late October air was pretty chilly, since the sun had disappeared behind the snow-capped mountains, and I was wearing a fall-weight jacket that was proving too thin for the evening temperatures.
I walked along quickly, but I wasn't scared of being downtown. It turned out to be something different in real life than what my mind had imagined. There weren't dark characters lurking in the alleys or sides-streets, waiting to draw in innocent victims. Rather, the sidewalks were filled with happy people. Students with backpacks, laughing and joking. Couples arm-in-arm or hand-in-hand, leaning into one another or whispering intimately in a way that made me long for Ron, my heart aching.
There were several cozy, well-lit restaurants lining my walk. I noticed I was hungry, and more than a couple appealed to my growing appetite. I almost stopped at a cute little coffee shop, the smell of the roasted beans making me sniff appreciatively, but remembered the clinic and hurried on.
I caught sight of a sushi place—I was absolutely dying to try sushi!—as I passed by an alleyway. It sat at the end of the darkened space, beckoning like a beacon in a storm. My stomach growled fiercely and the next moment flashes of the delicious, little ricey pieces danced in front of my eyes. All I could think of was food…well, that specific food. Oddly enough, although I'd never tried any of the exotic-looking rolls, I could smell every fragrance. Essences of avocado, fried shrimp and teriyaki-style meats invaded my senses. Some small, insignificant part of my brain alerted me I should be doing something else…something important…
I took a step into the alley, like a rabbit being lured into a carrot-filled trap. The sight of the sushi restaurant made me move forward. A couple steps more, and I was enclosed in darkness. A wariness came over me, but then the smell and imagined taste of sushi assaulted my senses again. Then, they picked up on something else.
It was the smell at first. A dark, delicious smell. The best male cologne I'd ever inhaled. I knew whoever was wearing that alluring scent was in the alley with me. There were no footfalls behind me, no sound at all, besides the traffic I could hear on the busy streets above and below me. But I could feel a presence—that itch at the base of your skull screaming out you're being watched—or followed in that case.
There weren't any doorways in which to hide down that particular stretch of alley, and I'd realized, once I'd started toward the restaurant, the space was deceptively lengthier than it had seemed upon first inspection. Every time I turned around, the space behind me was empty, as it had been the last five times I'd jerked my head around, certain I'd catch a glimpse of whomever I knew had to be there. I was about halfway through the narrow, dark walkway then, my skin consumed by the cold-running chill of fear.
Maybe I should call Caelyn? *No, Maura,* I stubbornly told myself, *you'll scare her to death. You're probably imagining things.* I could envision the near hysterics at the other end of the line and ruled that option out completely. Besides, I was almost at the other end. If anything should happen at that point, I was sure someone would hear me scream. Wow…I really didn't want cause to scream… I rubbed my hands over my arms in an effort to calm, comfort and warm myself.
I tried to put myself at ease by telling myself anyone who smelled that good could be no homeless drug addict. And if he meant me harm, wouldn't he have made his move before I'd gotten that close to the crowded street? As I inched through the last quarter of the alley, I took in a deep breath, just to catch one last whiff of whatever scent the guy was wearing. I tried to store it in my memory so I could try to find some to give Ron—and myself—as a Christmas present.
"You know I'm here, don't you, Maura?"
My legs felt like cooked spaghetti, and it was all I could do to keep from collapsing in utter fear, right there on the pavement. Though the deep male voice was smooth and beautiful…but still should not carry across the night in the syllables which made up my name.
My brain fumbled around inside itself for a reasonable explanation. One of the teachers must have been at the library? A far more rational part tossed out the thought that even if one of the teachers from my school was the mysterious, sweet-smelling man in the alley, he had been lurking around, not allowing me to catch a glimpse of him. And I just couldn't propose any way that could be a good thing.
Then, my brain tossed out anger, reminding me that person, whoever he might turn out to be, had stalked me, frightened me, made me doubt my own perceptions, only to let me come so close to a place of safety? He'd cruelly let me believe I'd soon be inside a well-lit restaurant, only snatch my safe harbor away when I'd believed myself to be home free. My ever-increasingly volatile temper flared white-hot, burning away most of the fear I'd felt. I irrationally whirled to face whoever he may be, infuriated by the twisted way he'd kept me rooted to the edge of the darkness at the very last few feet.
He was there then. And when I saw him, my consciousness slipped, like the swirl of a kaleidoscope, and I saw the revelation that was his face no more.
Dreams swirled through my head, strange dreams which made no sense. I dreamt of eyes, dark like mine—identical. They stared back at me with no reason, no purpose. I was lost in absolute blackness, with only those eyes to keep me company. My eyes, my own eyes. *Stop it! Stop watching me!* my dream voice, with no real power, cried out.
I started awake. Those eyes hung over me. I shut mine and screamed. I screamed for my mother, calling out for her again and again until I actually heard her voice.
"Maura! Maura listen!" I felt someone shaking me by my shoulders as I lay on the ground…which was cold and hard. "I'm here; open your eyes."
I did as I was told, slowly. Then, my mother's eyes stared back at me. Her long, dark hair was swinging into my face, tickling. "Mom!" I reached up to find her back, wrapped my arms around her warmness and pulled myself up to her. She hugged me back, pulling me close.
"It's okay, Maura. You're okay," she soothed into my ear.
My memory of the moments before blackness started to come back to me. I struggled to climb to my feet, pulling Caelyn with me, and somehow—in very awkward fashion—we managed to stand.
"Mom! There was someone following me… I think someone tried to attack me." I noted movement over my mother's shoulder.
"That was me." The same resonant voice from before reverberated in my ears in the close space between the alley walls. My mother didn't seem alarmed. In fact, she stepped aside, and my brain struggled to figure out why.
Until I saw him. My mother had been right; I did look like my father. We had exactly the same eyes. His features were my own, with a bit of Caelyn's thrown in to soften them, including her full, heart-shaped lips. I couldn't look at the man and not know who he was.
"Dad?" I squeaked—not how I wanted my first word to him to sound.
He nodded, and I noticed, even in the dim, his eyes welling. But they weren't tears. I felt panic as I saw the spill from one eye, and the liquid was just the color of blood.
My mind was reeling. I couldn't make sense of any of it. Of his sudden appearance, of the ghastly red tears in his eyes… My mind flashed back to the day I'd left Pennsylvania. The day I'd been crying over leaving Ron. That moment, he'd thought a tree branch had struck my eyes…and the red stains on his shirt. The welling red swimming in my eyes the night Ron's mom had gone into the hospital.
I fought to gain meaning from the images running through my head, from the image right in front of me. There had to be only one explanation. Whatever disease I had, whatever was wrong with me…I'd inherited the same. My dad was sick too, and he'd come back to help, or at least let me know what was wrong with me.
Whatever the reason, I was overcome with relief he'd finally returned. Overcome by questions, as well as love, at the sight of the man who'd helped create me. I started to cry, my body wracked by great, heaving sobs I couldn't control. I buried my face in my hands, hoping my father wouldn't get the wrong idea from my tears. I wondered why he'd been gone for so long, yes, but at the moment, I was overwhelmingly filled with the exhilaration of laying eyes on him for the first time. I put my hands down, away from my face, so I could tell him…so he wouldn't go away again.
I paused, unable to speak. My gaze followed my hands, smeared by the same garish red tears as those shed by the man standing in front of me. I looked up at him and my mother, my expression begging an explanation for the bloody tears staining my palms.
"I'm sick… That's why you came back, right? Are you dying? Am I dying?" I could barely speak, my voice straining to break through my crying.
The man, *No, Maxwell,* some part of my brain said to me, stepped over and his arms claimed me. He pulled me close, painfully close, to his body. He felt oddly cold through the front of his coat. Then, he held me away, so he could look into my face. His eyes glittered like black jewels through the red haze of his tears. His fingers traced lovingly, and like ice, across my face.
"No, my daughter," he said, his voice like dark music, "you are not dying. In fact, you will live forever." The next words he spoke crept over me like a rising tide. They thrashed and rose over my whole being, threatening to drown me in a surreal dreamworld, from which I might never return. "I have come home to tell you who you truly are, Maura. My words may be very hard for you to comprehend, but you were created from a very old, very elite bloodline. Very soon, my dear loved one, you will complete your transition into the exquisite creature you were born to become. A vampire."