Forbidden Days (The Firsts) (7 page)

“Well, see, we were meant to meet.  My full name is Bernadette, and I
hate
it.  But I don’t mind Bernie.  You just traveling through?”

“Actually, yes.  That’s why I think I’m eating everything in sight.  Haven’t stopped much.”

“That’ll do it.  Still, I’ll be back if you kill that thing.”

“You do that.  I could use the company.”

“Well, I will.  Your food won’t be much longer.  Enjoy.”

“Park.  My name is Park.”

“Park.  Unusual.  Well nice to meet you.  Welcome to Pine Run.”

Bernie went to answer a wildly gesturing teen on the other side of the room.  Park wondered at how easily she was speaking with Bernie, a total stranger, as if she’d known her forever.  Could it be her continuing development of her empathic skill? 

The first draw on the straw…ahh, it was even better than the one two nights ago.  If she let herself get addicted to these, there wasn’t enough time in the world on any treadmill to mitigate the damage.  Damn!  This really had to be the food of the gods.

She was happily sucking away when she noticed a slender dark haired man staring at her from several booths away.  When he saw
she
noticed him, he glanced away suddenly.  Dressed in a red plaid shirt like many of the locals, he looked clean, decent, but there was something about him that was wrong.  She could feel it.  He made her feel unsettled, and when she caught him staring at her again a few minutes later, her warning flags came up high.  It seemed her ability to read people was getting stronger. There was something off about him…badly…and she knew she had to leave.  She was looking toward him as Bernie came up from the other side of the table and startled her.  She jumped out of her skin, scaring the waitress too.

“Sweetie, you got too much of a sugar high.  You alright?  You look pale.”  Bernie sat a steaming plate in front of her.  Park turned to her.

“No.  Um, yes.  You know, I think you were right.  That shake was incredible, but it did fill me up.  Can I take that food to go?”

“Well, sure.  Let me have Presley sack it up for you.  I’ll be right back.  Here’s your check, sweetie.”

“I appreciate it.”  Park pulled out some cash, didn’t want to risk leaving any clues behind.  It was probably paranoia spawned by Bas, but she was smart enough to cover her tracks anyway, and to listen to her instincts.  Leaving a generous tip for her new friend, she got up and met her halfway across the diner and took the package from Bernie.

“I put some forks and knives in there in case you feel up to it soon.  And I did include that alka-seltzer.”  Bernie laughed.  Park looked at her and paused.

“Thank you.  This is weird for me to say, but I feel like if I could stick around we might be friends.”  Well, that was completely uncharacteristic.

But Bernie touched her arm.  “You know, I think so too.  There’s just something about you…   I’m good with people and I sense you have an interesting story.  If you ever come through here again, look me up.  I’m here most of the time.”

“I promise I will. Thanks again.”

Park left quickly.  She kept an eye in the rear view mirror, but never saw anyone following.  She was careful to drive around several roads to make sure.  But she had no tail.  Maybe the creep was just a creep.

After she arrived back at the cabin, she sat out on the porch swing and ate the entire breakfast concoction;  potatoes, egg, chili, cheese, onions, hot salsa, sour cream…every last bite.  Within ten minutes of finishing, she was gratefully bouncing the two effervescent alka seltzer tablets in warm water.  Thank you, Bernie.

Since she knew she would be driving again all night, she laid back down on the cushioned bench and let herself drift off to a dreamless sleep.  The next thing she was aware of was someone touching her hair.  She came awake quickly and heard Bas.

“It’s me.  We need to get moving.”

Park drew a deep breath.  “Sure.  I need to hit the bathroom first.  Hey, do you guys…never mind.  That’s too personal and I don’t want to know.”  A quick glance out the window showed she had slept the rest of the day away.  It was deep dusk, just the slightest tinge of rose left in the sky behind the departed sun.  She went into the bathroom and closed the door.

It was just a few minutes later, Park came out adjusting her shirt.  “I forgot to call work.  I hope they don’t send out a search party.  I’ll definitely call tomorrow.”  Bas was waiting on the bench, eating a banana.

“Hey, where did you get that?” she asked.

He grinned.  “Handy being a vampire sometimes.  Ready?”

“I think so.  Hey, I just wanted to tell you that at the diner this…”

She never got a chance to finish the sentence.

Bas suddenly exploded up and was gone out the door in a movement so quick, Park didn’t see him move.  There was a loud shriek and something that sounded like a thunder boom.  She raced out at her normal human speed to see Bas leaning over a body lying on the floor of the covered porch where she’d enjoyed her breakfast that morning.

He glanced back at her.  “Park, stay back.  You don’t want to see this.”

“What is it, Bas?  Is it someone you know?  Did they kill another vampire?  What happened?”

“Just go back in.  I need to deal with  this.”

Park couldn’t help herself, she started wandering forward, and she saw the brilliant blonde hair barely hidden now by Bas.  Oh, it couldn’t be…

She shoved her way past him and knelt beside the woman who was lying twisted beside Bas.  It was her.  Bernie lay face up, her eyes closed, her face untouched except for blood splattering her cheeks and liberally spotted through the crushed bleached hair.  The damage to her chest and abdomen, her clothes torn open, her skin ripped to shreds.  She wasn’t moving.  Oh, no, no, no…

“Bernie!  Ah, what happened to her, Bas?!”

“My enemy.  The one I told you about.  Shanks.  He killed her.  How do you know her, Park?”

“She was my waitress this morning at the diner.  Why would he kill my waitress?”

“I don’t know.  I would have thought he would have killed or taken…”  He trailed off. 

Park finished it for him.  “Me.  He should have taken me.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.  Why would he kill a completely unconnected woman?”

“That’s what I was going to tell you before this happened.  When I was at the diner, some guy there creeped me out enough to leave.  I could read him, sort of, and knew there was something wrong with him.  He scared the hell out of me.”

“That might have saved your life.  It was a blood-bonded.  Shanks couldn’t be out in the day.  He must have had a blood-bond follow you.  I still don’t get why he killed your waitress.”

“It’s my fault.  We…sort of hit it off.  We were laughing and talking and he noticed.  He picked her because I liked her.  It’s my fault.”

Suddenly Bernie twitched, her eyelids fluttered.

“She’s not dead!” Park yelled.  “Bas, she’s still alive!  We have to call the emergency squad.  Do you have your cell on you?”

“Park, they won’t be able to do anything.  The damage is too extensive.”

Park just sat there looking at him.  What?  But she was still alive…

“You can, can’t you, Bas?  You can do something.”

“I’m sorry, Park.  I can’t save her.  He tore the hell out of her.  Her wounds are mortal.  He made sure of that.”

“Then fix it!  This isn’t your fault, but you brought this here.  She’s an innocent, Bas.  You have to save her.”

“There’s only one way.  And I don’t think you want me to do it.  It will keep her alive but she will have to give up her life.”

Park was silent.  Her eyes met his.  “You mean changing her.  Infecting her with the virus.”

“That’s the only thing at this point.  And she would have to want it.”

“She would.  Bas, she had so much life in her.  I know she wouldn’t want to die.”  Park felt the moisture on her cheeks.  She lifted pooling eyes to his again.  “She can’t end this way. Bas, she has such an amazing laugh.”

“But you don’t know her, Park.  You don’t know if she would want this.”

“I do.  I know she would want to.  Bas.”  She put her hand on his, connected with him like they were able to do.  Touched him deeply.  “I know she would.  I was able to feel her like I do you.”

He sat there for several minutes.  Then several minutes more.  He looked at the young woman lying shredded and bleeding out on the aged wood floor.  He looked at Park, who was asking the impossible from him.  Changing someone implied so much responsibility and it wasn’t ever taken lightly.  It was irreversible, and without this girl accepting the life she would be forced into, he didn’t want to do it.  People died, that was just the way the world worked.  He should let her go to her natural death.  Only there was nothing natural about this.

His sigh was deep, his eyes haunted.  Park could feel the pain of the decision as he considered the right thing to do.  His eyes brushed across the woman who had only a short time to live to the one he was becoming more and more connected to by the minute.   He couldn’t do it.  He couldn’t let either one of them down.  He scooped the blonde woman up into his arms.

“I guess the reaper will have to wait for this one.”  And he carried her inside, followed closely by Park.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No.  We’re going to the basement.”

“Do you want me to wait up here?”

“NO!!”   He said the word explosively.  Then more calmly as he carried the woman to the stairs.  “Follow me, Park.  I can’t risk him coming back for you.  Don’t get out of my sight. And by the way, this isn’t pretty.  You are going to see something few humans have ever seen.  I hope you have a strong stomach.”

“I’m looking at a woman I really like with her guts ripped out.  I think I can handle it.”  Just as a reminder that she might not be right, a wave of nausea rolled up.  She tamped it down.

Bas laid her on a roll of old musty blankets he must have found down there early this morning.  Bernie actually moaned, which made Park smile.  She was going to make it.

“Lock the door.  It won’t stop him, but it will give us some warning if he decides to come for us.”  Park did it immediately.  Then went back to him and Bernie, but stepped back out of the way.

Bas pulled something out of his boot that caught the light of the bare bulb.  It was a stiletto, sharp and pointed.

“The change takes several days.  It’s started by feeding her copious amounts of my blood. It’ll weaken me.  That’s where you come in.”

Park already knew.  “You need to feed from me.  Okay.”

“She’ll fight, when she’s strong enough.  She won’t understand.  The change will begin immediately when enough of my blood is in her, and begins to be digested.  The pain will increase as the change increases.”

“Will she live long enough for that?”

“Don’t worry.  Once my blood is in her, she will begin to heal.  It will keep her alive long enough for the change to begin.  Then, it’s up to her body how it goes.  I’ve seen it go in as little as four days, but never easily.  Usually, it takes a week or longer.  Park, it’s extremely painful so you need to stay clear.  And I have to tell you.  Once in a while, a person dies instead of changing.  It won’t have anything to do with her wounds if she doesn’t.  It just means her body couldn’t adjust to the changes.  Okay?”

Park nodded.

“We need to get to my secure property in Vancouver as soon as possible.  I’m going to begin the infusion.  You stay right where you are.  I’ll come to you when I need to.  Whatever you do, stay away from Bernie.  And if someone comes through that door, don’t worry about us.   Look in that bag behind you.  There’s a flare gun.  It won’t kill him, but it should stop him long enough for you to get in the car and get out of here.  If he gets me, I don’t think he’ll come for you.  He would only track you to find me.  So, if I’m out of the  picture, you should be free to resume your life.”  He took a deep breath.  So did Park.  “Okay,” he said on an exhale.  “Let’s do this.”

Bas went to the other side of the room where he took some cording he’d found in the corner, and tied Bernie’s hands to the roof supports.  Then he sat near her head…and tore a hole in his wrist with the stiletto.  Red blood flowed freely and he sealed his wrist over Bernie’s mouth, holding her by the neck so that her head would drop back and let the fluid flow down her throat.  He kept this up for several minutes with no movement or reaction from the still waitress.  Park watched in concern and fascination.

Because it had been so quiet down there, the first gag from Bernie seemed thunderous.  She started pushing Bas away, but his greatly superior strength wasn’t even affected.  He held onto her and continued to feed her, in spite of her now being fully awake and gagging on every swallow.  Park felt horrible watching her struggle and try desperately to scream or get away from him.   And she felt worried about Bas’s blood loss.   Minutes later, he pulled back, stumbled a little as he got up, shakily, and stood for a moment staring down at Bernie, who was finally free to breath and cough.  Unsteady, he backed away, watching Bernie open her eyes and glare at him.  But her line of sight shifted when she saw Park behind him.

Bernie panted and tried to speak.

“Don’t…” Bas started to say, but then realized he, too, was too weak to do so and turned toward Park.  She came forward and put her arm around him, led him to the other side of the room where she had laid some blankets too.

“She…took…a…lot…” he gasped out.  Park planted herself in front of him and pulled her hair back.  She’d already removed her shirt, the pink lacy bra her only concession to modesty.  Then she presented her throat.  He latched on.  Harder than he meant to, but he knew the sting would be brief.  As soon as he began to draw, his strength began immediately to return.  He had no idea what it was, but
her
blood was different…stronger?  If that was possible, but whatever it was, it took him beyond his normal self.   He knew without a doubt that he would be faster, stronger, better, than ever before.  Because whatever she was, she was liquid fuel to a vampire.  God help them all if Shanks and his sire ever found out.  He was able to pull back much sooner, take less, than he expected.  He closed the wounds and rolled her into him.