Apotheosis of the Immortal (4 page)

Chapter 6

“Elijah?” A soft,
familiar voice vibrated against his chest as he trudged along the road toward civilization. He stopped immediately, worried about what might happen now that Sara had regained consciousness, about what she might do. He walked over to a tree not far from the path.

Her face and clothes were still covered in blood, but her expression was now soft and heavy as Elijah knelt down and gently leaned her back against the tree. She seemed weak once again, broken, as if she were conscious but wished she weren’t. She just stared up at him blankly; he thought she must be in pain.

“Yes, it’s me, Sara. I’m here.” Elijah broke her stare and shifted his eyes to the ground. He was utterly confused; he had no idea what to do or say.

“Thank you.” She sobbed and then burst into tears as she pulled Elijah close and laid her head on his shoulder. “I have missed you so much,” she sobbed, as she wiped her tears on his shoulder. “Why did you leave me? I’ve waited for so long.” She was squeezing him tighter and tighter. “I’m so sorry.” She spoke between sobs. Though it was mostly healed, she could see the mark where she had bitten and sucked at his neck. She squeezed him tighter and clenched his tunic firmly in her fists.

“I’m sorry, too, but I didn’t think I had a choice. I couldn’t have borne seeing you with him. I couldn’t.” Elijah was also in tears, holding her close, realizing what a terrible mistake he had made.

“Of course there was a choice. I loved
you
, Elijah, and I would never have married your brother. If you had talked to me even once, you would have known that. I was yours; I wouldn’t even speak to Solomon for the first two years after I found out. I was waiting for you, but you never came; you never came.” She was still weeping, but her tone was sharper.

“Shhhh, I’m here now. Tell me, what happened to you, Sara?” He gently pushed her away and looked into her eyes. “Why were you trying to eat me?” Narrowing his eyes and furrowing his brow, he swallowed hard; he was afraid of what she might say.

“I don’t know.” Releasing Elijah from her tight grip, she sniffled and wiped the corners of her eyes with her knuckle. “The last thing I remember from before I blacked out is William chewing on my neck. Chewing! Like some animal.” She squinted and lowered her head. “Solomon just stood there watching,” Sara mumbled with teary eyes. “Your father must have sucked out nearly all of my blood before I fainted. That’s all I remember.” Her eyes were soft and apologetic as she looked up again at Elijah.

“What about your family?” he asked.

A deep sorrow eclipsed her face, and immediately he was sorry he had asked. He could almost see the painful memories rushing through her mind. She squinted against the horrors until her eyes closed completely.

“I remember all of it, even the smell of my parents’ burning flesh.” She just dropped forward and cried out.

Elijah couldn’t bring himself to press any further. He stared into space, baffled.
What was going on? What awful thing happened to spur this madness?

“After that,” she continued after a while, “all I remember is the smell of blood. The dead men on the road, the smell of their blood stirred something inside of me, a hunger… I couldn’t stop myself. Blood was all I could think about, and once I started I couldn’t stop, I just wanted more and more.” She had stopped crying now and was speaking more quickly, with enthusiasm, as if it had been terrible and wonderful all at the same time.

Strangely, Elijah could relate. He had experienced something similar when he took the lives of the thieves on the road. Still, this seemed different; it was so strange. He didn’t want to be a bigot, but Sara’s actions just seemed more perverse than his straightforward killing. Still, how could he judge her after what he had done?

“How did you kill all those men on your own Elijah?” Her thoughts mirrored his own.

“This dreadful experience has changed us somehow, Sara. Like you, I am much stronger and faster, but I have no desire for blood.” Elijah looked up and saw her embarrassment and remorse. “No, I wasn’t trying to say you are bad, or I’m better than you, only that I haven’t experienced that, at least not yet.” Elijah was worried, not just for Sara, but for himself as well. There were too many similarities between their circumstances. How long before he experienced the urge to tear through someone’s flesh?

“Anyway, when I saw you on the road, I could hear your heart beating beneath your chest and the fresh blood pulsing through your veins. I tried to stop myself, but I couldn’t; I lost control. It was like something else took over and was driving me on, forcing me. Nothing else mattered; I just wanted your blood.” Her eyes seemed to glaze; the excitement faded from her voice, changing to remorse and embarrassment.

“What have they done to me, Elijah?” She was weeping uncontrollably as she pulled Elijah into another tight embrace. “If you hadn’t left me, this might never have happened.” She sighed as she spoke, and her voice lost its fervor, as though her admission had released something.

Elijah had never looked at his actions in that way before, that he had left her, but now it seemed obvious, and his heart seemed to sink into his stomach.

“What are we going to do?” she asked, resting her head gently against his shoulder again. It seemed she was at least as concerned and perplexed as he was by their current situation.

“I don’t understand what’s going on, Sara,” he whispered in her ear as he held her. What had they done to her? What had they done to him? He placed his hand on the back of her head and gently stroked her hair. Maybe her madness was over. He knew he could never kill her, but wasn’t so sure about what she might do to him.

“But I know who does know.” His resolve hardened and his vision focused back to the beginning, back to William. “We have to find Solomon and my father,” he declared, glaring into the distance. They were out there somewhere, and he was determined to find them.

“What? What are you going to do when you find them?” Her voice sharpened with fear as she tugged at a lock of his hair.

“I’m going to get answers. I’ll find a way to help you, and then I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all—Solomon, Father, and that ugly bastard who was with them.” The fire and strength in his voice seemed to quiet her fears.

“I guess you will always be my prince.” The words danced from her lips in a lovely melody and flooded him with new strength as he met her gaze. After a moment she smiled and shifted her eyes down to her stained garments.

Elijah shook his head and tried to focus on what needed to be done right now. “First, we need to clean you up. We are almost to town, and you shouldn’t be seen like this.” Elijah opened the large satchel he had retrieved from one of the dead men on the road, figuring the thief no longer had need of it. He had filled the satchel with everything he thought might be of use, including a few garments and a leather sack of water.

Ripping off a scrap of his tunic, he poured the water over it and dabbed at her face and neck. The blood rubbed off to reveal the beautiful and innocent girl he had dreamed about so many times.

Though he’d never had the courage to officially make his affections known, she knew he had been in love with her then, but did she know he still was?

She giggled as he poured the water over her head and hands and rubbed until she was spotless. Rubbing the last speck of blood from around her mouth, he recalled how she had always captivated him, and he knew he was comforted to have her with him now, in the midst of this madness. He suddenly realized he had lost himself in his imagination and had been gently rubbing her face for far too long.

“That’s got it.” Blushing, he quickly pulled away and looked at the ground. After a moment he looked back up toward the soft curves of her face and saw she was still gazing back at him. His embarrassment at showing affection didn’t seem to have bothered her; she just smiled, warming his heart. Maybe she was simply happy to have him here, or perhaps she too still had some measure of feelings for him.

“You’d better put this on.” His eyes were shifting from embarrassment as he handed her the freshest tunic he could find. Taking it from his hand, she waited for a moment and then smiled again, perhaps glad that this strong man now seemed more like the nervous boy she remembered.

“Would you care to turn around?” she asked.

“Oh, of course.” His face burned with even more embarrassment at his ineptness, and he quickly turned his back to her.

Chapter 7

S
ara and Elijah
hid in the forest just outside of town. They had decided to wait until nightfall to enter, hoping the darkness would help conceal their presence. They were no longer covered in blood, but Elijah’s guilt over the events of the previous night wasn’t as easy to wash off. It was as if the world would be able to see right through his façade of youth and beauty to the monster he had become.

Darkness, he had decided, would be his ally. This is where he would live, away from the piercing light that would expose him for what he really was. Besides, if his father and Solomon were there, it would be much better if Elijah spotted them first.

“Elijah, I am starving. I’m beginning to feel weak.” He looked over to see her eyes were closed. Her voice was cracking as if she were scared.

He didn’t understand her problem. “Don’t worry Sara. I lifted quite a bit of silver from the rogues I killed last night. We will be able to buy enough supplies to last us quite a while.” Lying beside her on the ground, he rolled over and brushed her cheek gently.

“You don’t understand, Elijah. I can hear the blood pumping through your veins like a drum. I can smell it. It’s not regular supplies I am hungry for.” She rolled away from Elijah as she spoke, and he saw her wipe away a tear.

“Everything will be okay.” For Sara’s sake, Elijah hid his discouragement. He’d been almost convinced the incident from the night before had been a one-time occurrence, triggered by her closeness to death.

“It’s going to be all right, Sara; we will figure this out. Let’s try you on some real food and see if that helps. Just please be strong and don’t hurt anyone.” He pulled at her shoulder as he spoke. She lifted her face and he was horrified to see blood beginning to pool in the veins around her eyes; even the whites of her eyes were beginning to turn red.

“Sara, what’s happening? What can I do?” He wanted to help, but didn’t know how.

Seeing his horrified grimace, she hid her face once again in embarrassment. “I’ll be fine; let’s just hurry.” Her voice was muffled as she spoke from behind her hands.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Sara. I know this isn’t your fault. Just stay close to me and keep your distance from everyone else.” He took her hand and helped her to her feet. In minutes, they emerged from the forest at the town gates. Elijah wished it was closer to full dark, but he knew the shops would close if they waited much longer.

As they walked into town, Elijah stared everywhere, completely amazed by the sights. He had only been about five years old when he’d last been here, and now it was like seeing it for the first time. It was just a small town, but it didn’t seem small to him.

He had never seen so many buildings in one place, or so many people. Even this late in the evening, the place was buzzing with life. Sara was pressed firmly against him and was squeezing his arm ferociously as they walked through the town. He could tell she was fighting to keep her wits about her and hoped to god she didn’t lose control.

“The first thing we need to do is get some new clothes so we don’t look so out of place in these filthy rags, and then we will get some food for you.” He whispered over his right shoulder to Sara who was now attached to him like a leech as she hung her head awkwardly. He searched down the row of buildings and signs until he saw one that read
Gondal’s Tailoring and Linens
.

“There it is; stay with me, and remember to keep your head down.” He pulled her close and kissed her on the side of the head, ineffectually trying to ease her obvious misery. As they walked through the door of the tailor’s shop they saw a number of fancy dresses and all sorts of men’s clothes.

“Can I help you?” A small voice piped up from across the room.

“Yes, my wife and I need to purchase some new clothes.” As he spoke, he could see the man behind the counter eyeing Sara and pushed her further behind him. “We were raided on the way here. We barely made it out with our lives.” Elijah spoke to ease the man’s obvious curiosity. The man stood up and squinted; he was either suspicious or he couldn’t see well.

“Okay, I’ll just need to get your measurements.” The man turned around and rifled through some things looking for his equipment.

“No, we don’t really have time. I just need a tunic, leggings, and a surcoat with sleeves and a hood; my wife, only a simple gown and a surcoat. Anything will do.” He spoke quickly, knowing he needed to get Sara out of there as quickly as possible.

“Well, everything I have is there in front of you; just pick out what you’d like.” The man pointed to the back wall and sat back down, never taking his eyes off of the pair. Elijah quickly grabbed everything they needed and walked to the counter.

“What is this?” Elijah frowned as he pointed to a small hat lying on the counter.

“That is called a beret; you have never seen one?” The man seemed surprised, and he held it out to Elijah. “Here, try it on. I’ll sell you this entire lot for seven billon obole.” Elijah tried on the beret and looked down at Sara, who was still staring at the floor.

“Very well, I’ll take it, but all I have are silver deneros.” Elijah took them out of his pouch.

“All right, five denero.” The man slapped the counter and smiled as he shouted, obviously his way of concluding a sale.

“Do you have a room where we can put on these fine new clothes?” Elijah asked while handing him the silver.

“Yes, there is a room in the back.” The man nodded towards a corridor connected to the adjacent wall.

Elijah was glad to get away from him; he could feel Sara’s grip tightening around his arm and was worried she wouldn’t be able to control herself much longer.

As they entered the room in the back, Elijah noticed her face looked much worse; the whites of her eyes were now bright red and she was beginning to resemble the monster he had seen last night.

“It’s okay, Sara, just try to stay calm; we are almost finished. After this we’ll get something to eat.” He handed her the gown and surcoat and then turned around to change. “Damn, this is a lot of layers; I can’t believe people actually dress like this, can you?” Sara didn’t reply so he turned around and found her leaning against the wall, nearly unconscious. “Sara, Sara, wake up.” He shook her gently as he pleaded.

After a few seconds, her eyes opened and she hissed, revealing two sharp fangs.

“Sara, calm down.” He held her firmly against the wall. After a minute she began to look more human and Elijah let her go. “Here, put these on.” Elijah handed her the clothes again.

In a matter of moments she had changed, and once again attached herself to Elijah as they walked back through the store and out the door.

“Look over there,” Elijah pointed across the street to a tavern. “I’ll go in and get some food for us. You just stay out here and keep your hood up.” He opened his eyes wide and held her by the shoulders as he stared into her bright red eyes.

“No, I need to stay with you,” she pleaded, trembling with fear.

“I think it’s safer for you to stay out here. There are a lot of people in there; you might lose control. You’ll be better off out here. Just stay in the shadows where no one can see you. I’ll only be a minute.” He led her to the side of the tavern and reminded her again to stay there while he went inside for supplies.

Walking into the tavern, Elijah was overwhelmed by the smell of sweaty men and barley ale. The place was loud and rowdy. He looked to his left and saw a man pulling a working woman into his lap; she quickly jumped to her feet and slapped him across the face. The man stood up, and, for a minute, Elijah thought he might slap her back, but he just sat back down and took another swig of his ale.

“What can I do for you?” The man behind the bar was put together well and had a pleasant manner.

“I just need some food, whatever you’ve got will be fine,” Elijah’s eyes were wide as he gazed around the room while drumming his fingers on the bar.

“Well, we mostly serve alcohol here, but we do have some bread and maybe some turkey bits.” The man smiled and laughed.

“Thank you. I’d like to have one loaf of bread and the bits. And please hurry.” Elijah kept tapping his fingers on the bar as his worry for Sara continued to escalate.

A few minutes later the man brought out a bag. As he handed it to Elijah, a loud scream blasted into the tavern from outside. Everyone in the bar dashed out to investigate.

Elijah expected the worst, and he was right. As he walked out of the bar, he saw a circle of men standing around Sara as she dropped the blood-drained body of a young man to the ground. Her hood had flown back, exposing her still-red eyes and distorted face.

“She is a demon! We must kill her,” voices shouted throughout the crowd.

Elijah watched as they came at her with swords and pitchforks. “We need to burn her. It’s the only way to make sure she stays dead,” another voice harangued from somewhere in the crowd.

Sara was hissing and clawing at her attackers, but she was surrounded by a large horde and couldn’t watch them all. A few men slashed at her from the front as another man sneaked up behind her. He pulled back his sword, ready to thrust it through her heart.

Elijah hadn’t wanted to kill anyone else, but he had no choice at this point. He raced forward and snapped the man’s neck before he could strike. Seeing his speed and power left the crowd awestruck, and everyone took a few steps back. Seizing the opportunity, Elijah cradled Sara in his arms and ran as hard as he could out of town. It would have been impossible for the townspeople to keep up with him. He could feel Sara gnawing viciously at his neck as he ran, but it didn’t slow him down.

He didn’t know how long he ran, but he finally began to feel weak from the blood loss, although she was no longer sucking at his neck. Stopping for a minute to rest, he laid Sara on a hillside. Her eyes were closed as he lay beside her. She looked human once again.

He lay beside her quietly, wondering what he was going to do with her, if he could help her at all.