I smiled, but now that my mind had cleared and my body was sated, something else bothered me. A tingling started in the back of my brain, just like those I used to have when I was human, letting me know something bad was about to happen. I tried to shake off the feeling as we walked down the street. That tingly feeling in the back of my head remained as I thought about the events of the evening. It was not going away, and soon something bad was going to happen. It had something to do with Veronica and Devon, as well as me. No, he was not done with us yet. Soon we would have to confront Devon once again, this time to rid the world of his evil. Looking back, I didn’t understand how I didn’t see him for the con he was when I had fallen for him in New Orleans, but then again, it was a city of mystery and anyone could wear a mask. It seemed that all three of us did. Now I had Veronica to myself and the night called for me to explore it so I could discover my new powers and be with the one who truly loved me.
Part Four
The Devil
My name is Veronica
.
She was my blood, forged from my own image, but there was something so alien about her. There was no beast nestled inside of her, as there was in me, because she had been born embracing it. Brenna had forced me to face my other half to stop it from hurting her. And I did. Ronnie and I squared off. I told her I didn’t want Brenna harmed. She was going to be our child. If Ronnie cared for her as she said she did, then we had to work as one. We argued, and then finally agreed to merge our personalities. We became one. Now it was as if there was a part of me missing, and yet it was still at my calling. I didn’t know how to share this knowledge. I didn’t even know how to absorb it myself. As Brenna walked beside me in the fall breeze, her cloak billowing behind her, I wondered if she would ever fit in with other vampires. The ones we’d encountered so far hadn’t detected anything different about her, except a softness of her aura. Part of her was still human. Something I was not.
I sighed, letting the breeze play with my hair. I had showed her how to use our powers. She was stronger than I, and her tolerance to the sun was unheard of. The first day she woke, she patrolled the streets, taking in the sights and sounds with her heightened perception. When I woke and found her gone, I panicked by the time the sun had set. I followed the invisible thread between us and found her standing in the Garden gazing at the ducks in the pond, marveling as she saw the mites jumping in their feathers.
I noticed how flushed she was. A faint blush adorned her skin. I asked her how long she had been out in the daylight. She said she’d been out since eight that morning, just wandering around. I couldn’t believe it at first because that meant almost ten hours of sun exposure and there was nothing, just the slight irritation on her hands and face, the beginnings of a more severe reaction. I asked her if the sun made her uncomfortable or if she had begun to burn. She looked down at her hands, noticing the color, and replied that she had been itchy for the past three hours, but it wasn’t anything that bothered her.
This tolerance was unheard of, even among the Ancients. They could go out, but some type of degradation happened in their cells. The newest ones had the greatest aversion to the sun. One would think it would be the other way around, the youngest still close to humanity would have the highest tolerance and the older ones would have no immunity because they were decaying inside. But no, it all depended on the beast inside of us and how much we indulged it.
Brenna had no demon, but I surmised if she had not fed, and had consistent exposure to the sun for days on end, eventually she would die because of it.
But now, a week after her changing, I wondered how she truly adjusted to her new life. She had become quiet and withdrawn and we had not shared the same bed since before her turning. I missed the closeness of her pressing into my body as we slept, even the scent of her hair. When I woke and found I had lost her that morning, I didn’t know what to do. Now it felt as if she was a stranger spending time in my house while I walked her through the nuisances of our existence; the woman I fell in love with had vanished. I hadn’t brought it up because I didn’t know how to broach the subject. How could I tell her she had changed and we were two separate beings?
Even when I tried brushing her thoughts, they were lost to me. I couldn’t penetrate the walls, and even her expressions were unreadable. The more I tried to bring us together, the more she separated herself from me. Everything in me wanted to take her into my arms and comfort her. My heart cried out to be wrapped in her very being, but she was so distant it seemed she survived on a desert island.
I couldn’t let her out of my sight. Devon hadn’t returned, but I knew he would. I had to care for Brenna until she was strong enough to go out on her own. She was too interested in the wrong things, obsessed with staring at candle flames instead of planning the future, but then again, I couldn’t read her thoughts, even with the bond we shared. My blood should have made it possible for me to go within her mind. I should have even been able to control her if I wanted to, forcing her to obey me, but I would not inflict the same lifestyle that Devon imposed on me. Every time I tried to look into her mind, she knew. She would look at me funny and then smile.
I smiled to myself at that thought. I was proud of her on that front. Some things I couldn’t teach her. Other things like how to hypnotize, move within the shadows, and how to tone down our senses were harder. She began adjusting to her life well and wouldn’t need my help for much longer. When that happened, I would disappear from her life, letting her make her own way, as it should have been with Devon and me.
I shuddered, wondering what his next plan would be. He sought to destroy me when he left Brenna for dead, but he hadn’t succeeded. I fought and overcame the beast inside me. Now I was something different, something even different from Brenna. I had combined the two elements of myself and didn’t know where I stood, but I figured over the years they would mesh completely. Things were still shaky in my mind about the demon, the cement of the combination of my two personalities still drying. I didn’t feel the regret of my sister’s death anymore. I didn’t feel the remorse of killing anything, but I would still only prey on the dying. Brenna had fulfilled her promise to bring me back into the light. She kept me intrigued long enough to let me bring her into my life, and now this was where I was.
“Veronica?” Brenna brought me out of my thoughts.
“Yes?”
“Let’s go back to New Orleans. I need to get out of Boston for a while. There are things that should be done before I can truly figure out everything. Can we go back?”
I nodded, thinking it was a good idea. The scent of our kind lingered in the air, growing stronger in the past few nights, and I wondered if this prompted her decision, but it didn’t matter. I had the urge to travel and now was as good a time as any. I figured I would help her to resettle back in New Orleans and then I’d disappear into the night and let her be on her own.
“When did you want to leave?”
“Now. I mean, it’ll take most of the night to get there, but I didn’t know if you would be up for the long flight.”
“I brought you here in a few hours, so I think I can manage, but you, you’ll need help getting your wings out. You do have them, don’t you?” I glanced at her, not sure if she even retained any of the shape shifting abilities all of our kind possessed.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I didn’t know. You’re not like the rest of us in so many ways I just assumed, but it doesn’t matter. Let me show you how to unfurl them.” I reached out my mind and brushed it against her, but recoiled when the lash of her psychic abilities slammed into my tether. It was obvious to me she didn’t want my help.
“No thanks, I can do it.”
She removed her shirt, her face knotted in concentration. The muscles in her back danced and grew and the skin turned black as her wings emerged. They were the same size as any of the others I had seen and the same texture, something akin to old leather. The mucous on them broke off into crystallized pieces as they emerged from her skin to be blown apart as soon as it hit the ground. She extended them, stretching them as a bird does after being in one position for so long. Her wingspan was over eight feet, impressive. If anyone saw us they might think she was some kind of fallen angel and I might be the inevitable prophet.
“See, I did it.”
She took to the air, her wings fluttering against my hair, as she cloaked herself from human view. It would not be good for any mortal to see us. I shrugged and removed my shirt as well, not caring if a passing human saw my tits, and then like her, I became invisible and I was airborne, off to New Orleans, wondering if I was running from something or if I was going to rediscover my destiny this time.
* * * *
It took us six hours to fly from Boston to New Orleans. We were not as fast as a plane, and as we landed in the muggy environment, both of us were exhausted. Flying took much out of us, and I longed for the emptiness of sleep to restore my weary spirit. We set down in a darkened alleyway of the French Quarter and began to blend in with the tourists still partying even though most of the bars had closed. We went back to her house and climbed up to one of the balcony windows.
As we entered into her bedroom, I caught a whiff of Devon, as she had slept with him in the weeks before. I crinkled my nose at it and put him out of my mind. Sleep was the most pressing thing. I noticed the bed and a deck of tarot cards sitting out on the bureau. I smiled as I thought of those cards. In the end they had predicted everything that happened to me. What Edmund had told me was just as veiled as what the old gypsy had said. How right she was, how I wished I had listened to her back then. She had been right about being able to save my soul. I guess I owed Fate a lot. I contemplated choosing a few cards about Devon, wondering what would happen next with him. I didn’t want to push my luck, so I left the cards where they sat.
The whirring of a fan started overhead. It cooled my flushed skin and helped to adjust my body temperature. At the thought my body regulated itself and the fan was now nothing more than something to circulate the air.
“Do you want something to drink?” Brenna called from the kitchen.
“Sure, whatever you’re having,” I yelled back and moved to inspect her open closet.
I pulled out a few dresses and saw that all of them were gothic. I held up a few of them up to myself and looked in the mirror, admiring how they would look on me. It helped that Brenna and I were about the same size, but if I wanted I could change my physical shape and appearance for a few hours, becoming taller, shorter, fatter, it didn’t matter. I never used that part of my power; I liked my own image well enough.
“You can keep it if you want. I have others in the closet and don’t wear that one much. Here.” She handed me a glass of red wine.
I took a sip and puckered at the tartness. I normally drank something sweeter.
I threw the dress on the bed and sat next to it, waiting for Brenna to say or do something, but she set her wine down and began peeling off the rest of her clothes. Her pants fell to the floor, revealing smooth, now hairless legs. I held my breath as she turned back toward the closet, revealing the curve of her ass. Passion rose up in me, and I wanted to fuck her until she moaned for me to stop, but I didn’t do anything as she opened up her bureau drawer and pulled out an emerald nightgown and slipped it over her lithe body. She picked up her wine and downed it in one swig. Then she stretched out beside me.
I yawned. The sun would soon break over the horizon, weighing down my bones as it always did when it was high in the sky, but instead of ignoring the pull to sleep, I decided to give into it.
I set the glass of wine on her vanity and pulled my pants off as well and left them on the wooden floor. I glanced down at Brenna, who now had her back to me, and slid under the covers. The coolness of the satin leached into my skin and I wanted nothing more than to turn over and take her. Images of how I would ravage her entered my mind, but I held my spot.
“Brenna?”
“Ehh?” she asked half in sleep.
“Nothing,” I whispered, knowing in my heart that there were no sparks between us, except master and child. When she had been turned everything about her had changed, including how she had felt for me. My heart broke and sadness leaked onto my pillow as the sun moved over the horizon, bringing me into sleep.
My name is Brenna
.
Veronica still slept as I watched the slight rise and fall of her chest. The movement was so subtle I almost didn’t see it. I swept a piece of hair that had fallen across her mouth and brushed it aside, feeling the softness of her lips. The mouth I had kissed when I was human. I remembered the night we shared, before I had lost myself, and longed for everything to be right between us. Veronica thought I didn’t need her anymore, thought I didn’t want her, and that crushed her. She assumed since I had become this new kind of being, my feelings for her had died, but none of that was true. On the contrary they had grown, so much I didn’t know how to contain them in my heart, but I didn’t know how to show her either. I was afraid of the intensity of everything.
The newness of my lifestyle overwhelmed me and I absorbed all of it, retreating into my own world. I hadn’t noticed, until recently, how much I hurt Veronica. I should have listened to her more carefully, felt the emotions in her heart, but the littlest things held my attention. Even now as I watched her resting, I knew how hard she fought against the beast inside her soul. It was in the way she walked and held herself. She was different. There were times she thought her hard won freedom would fly apart, and she would be two separate things again.
Both of us were different creatures, each born of the same strain of blood, but molded differently. I knew this by reading her thoughts, which she assumed were veiled. To most of our kind they would have been, but my mental abilities were three times that of hers. My tolerance to the sun was high enough it almost didn’t bother me, but if I didn’t feed, the sun would begin to peel the skin from my bones; as long as I didn’t let that happen I was fine. There were many other things I had discovered in the past week or so since I had become like her, or should I say similar to her.
I was something outside the race of vampires. I needed blood to survive, to allow me to live through the years while my body molded itself into something that lived forever, or close to it. I had the physical strength of other vampires and was stronger than a human, but I was not the strongest among my kind. The thing that set me apart from all of them was that I had no beast inside of me. In a sense, I retained my humanity. I didn’t have to kill to survive. I could take what I needed and let my victims live where all the others had to kill.
With Veronica––I didn’t know what to do with her. How could I tell her my feelings when I knew she was going to leave me, abandoning me to be on my own when now was a time I needed her most?
I stretched and got out of bed, knowing my movements wouldn’t wake Veronica. It was three in the afternoon and she would sleep until the sun set. I threw off my nightgown and went to my closet, slipping on a black dress that clung to my form. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and thought of the last time I had been before the glass. I glanced down at my bureau and saw my fake fangs sitting in an empty contact case. I picked up one of the acrylic teeth, wondering what I’d been thinking when I first put them on, pretending to be the creature I was today.
I noticed for the first time how different I looked. My eyes had become darker. They were now truly black, with a faint ring of silver separating my irises and my pupils. They expanded as the sun shifted to the other side of my house. The whites of my eyes were almost luminous, the red veins no longer there, and when I turned my head they flashed rainbow color like a fish’s scale. My skin had lost any imperfection, no more scars or freckles. I no longer had to worry about any unwanted hair on my face or legs. My muscles were more defined. I saw their outlines under my skin. I had become something better than what I was and had retained my humanity in the bargain.
I spied my tarot cards on the bureau’s surface, wondering if I should cut them to figure out what was going to happen. I had the power to divine the future. The voices that guided me through my readings, be they angels or just spirits, had not left me. I still felt their presence. Even as I thought of the tarot, I didn’t need to prove that ability to myself. It would always be there inside of me. For now, I left the cards behind and left the apartment to clear my head.
I walked through the French Quarter, perusing the shops as if I were a tourist. The scent of jasmine lingered in the air as well as the coppery scent of rain as the clouds moved from light to dark. An oncoming storm, but I didn’t mind the rain. The atmosphere contracted around me, making the air thick and dense. The storm would bring a welcomed relief from the humidity. It would cool off the area, driving tourists inside because they were afraid of getting soaked. For me, it was all a part of nature.
I came to the café where Veronica and I had first decided to sit and have tea. She had been so scared of what would happen between us that night. She so wanted not to come and meet me at the cathedral that day, but she faced her fears. I, on the other hand, had been so confident at how much I had charmed her when really it was she who had bespelled me. It had all been so different. It was only a few weeks ago, but a lifetime ago for me. I had been something else and had no idea what lurked around the corner of my destiny. I found my fate with her. I wondered if it would have been possible for me to continue on in the normalcy of my humanity, but I knew the answer to that question. I could never dream of going backwards. I loved what I had become. Everything was so wonderful; it made me pity mortals as they walked through life asleep. Not seeing and experiencing the things around them. I would have never known there were so many layers just in the scent of a rose. How first it was the subtle perfume of the morning dew that clung to it, the rusty clear smell of the minerals in the leaves, then the hint of acrid decay as the flower died ever so slightly each second, and finally, the burst of the rose’s own perfume. All of these were things I smelled when just inhaling. But humans, no, they only smelled the beautiful perfume of the bloom. I owed everything to Veronica and was glad she had bumped into my mundane life.
“Ehh, Raven, long time no see. Where you been?”
I glanced up. Most people in New Orleans knew me by that name to keep my privacy. Either way, I felt an affinity for the dark bird, even after my changing. I looked over to the counter and saw Gerard. He had worked here for as long as I had been coming in, but he never seemed to age and always looked like he was going to the next frat party.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said, glancing up at the menu.
“People’ve been looking for you. Figured you got holed up with some new fling and wanted the time away. You want the usual?”
I nodded, anticipating the taste of chai. The mixture of cinnamon, tea, and steamed milk as it slid down my throat like liquid silk. I took the tea and downed a sip, not bothering to let it cool. Gerard took in a breath through his teeth, marveling how I could drink it so hot, but I didn’t notice the temperature. I savored the taste with my enhanced senses. The spiciness of it settled in my nose as the rest of it mixed on my tongue.
“Who’s been asking about me?” I asked, licking my lips.
“Well, you know, the tourists referred by the hotels, and some of your regulars. There was this one though. A real looker came in demanding to know where you were. Had black hair, real nice figure too.”
I nodded, assuming it was Devon. He would find us sooner or later. I assumed it would be later. I was surprised Gerard said he had made a scene. From my encounters with Devon he liked to keep things quiet, like everything was a game to him. Veronica and I were his pawns. But no more. Now it was time for us to checkmate. Veronica knew this. When he came this time, both of us would be ready.
“A real looker, huh? What did he look like?” I knew how fond Gerard was of good-looking men.
“Oh, this one wasn’t a man, this was a woman. Real young. Once I told her you weren’t here she calmed down a bit, and said…something—what was it? I can’t remember, but I told her I didn’t know when you’d be back.”
I looked at him, my teeth lengthening. Why would a woman be looking for me?
It was unlike Gerard to notice women, even pretty ones. This one must have made an impression.
“Gerard.” I lowered my voice a pitch so he would fall under my spell. “You remember what she said, now don’t you? You can tell me.”
His face went lax and he would have fallen if he hadn’t been leaning up against the counter. He looked like a melting candle. I lowered my voice a little more and used less power, to give him back some of his self-control. I was still learning. After a moment, he regained his composure but still had a glazed look on his face.
“She said that she was staying in the cemetery, over across from Rampart. I thought she was a squatter, but she said for me to tell you she wanted to talk when you got back. It was important. She said something about a black rose.”
He stopped when I withdrew my power. There was no other useful information stored in him. I felt that when I brushed against his mind with my thoughts.
“Thanks, Gerard, you’ve been a big help.”
He blinked, wondering what the hell had happened, and then turned back to his work. I took another swig of my tea and threw it in the trash. I thought about it. A black rose. That meant nothing to me. Why the hell would a woman come looking—? Then it dawned on me. He wasn’t talking about a flower. He was speaking about the club in Cambridge.
My back itched because my wings wanted to come out. My feet urged to be on the ground to know I was still connected to the earth. I rushed down the streets until I came to the edge of the French Quarter. The cemetery was across the street, surrounded by a ten-foot thick wall. New Orleans had a very high water table, so whenever it rained the buried bodies used to float back into town. Because of that they built above ground crypts. If you got a wall plot, you were baked by the sun until there was nothing left but dust. The remains were pushed down into a collecting bin and someone else took the resting spot. It was an economic deal.
A clap of thunder broke the sky as a torrential downpour unleashed itself onto the cemetery. The rain plastered the clothing to my skin, but I didn’t mind much as it cooled me off and made me aware of my surroundings. Of course I was in a graveyard, but even though I was one of the dead, I was not going to be buried any time soon. I walked along the beaten paths between the ancient mausoleums. Many of them were nothing more than bricks, but a few of them were still in use. Wind came up from the storm and caught the plastic covering of those tombs undergoing restoration, flapping them wildly in the breeze, adding to the already creepy feel of the graveyard.
A few tourists squealed. They had been caught in the downpour, and since they were not used to New Orleans weather, they probably didn’t think to carry an umbrella. I smirked as I caught the scent of their irritation. It made my mouth water as I thought of their blood exploding into my mouth, working its way into my stomach, warming me. No, I did not need to give into the urges I felt. I was not like the others and never would be.
Stopping in my tracks, I wondered where the other vampire would be. Obviously, she wouldn’t let the other tourists see her. I closed my eyes and took in a breath, stopping my heart. I shut out the other noises, smells, anything that would interfere with me finding her. I cast out my mind, leaving the confines of my body and searching for this ancient vampire. Maybe she was as old as the one from the Black Rose. I assumed I’d find some trace of her energy in the cemetery, something of herself imprinted on stones or the environment. But with her being so old, she probably wouldn’t make it easy for me to find her.
I scanned the whole cemetery. My mind moved in between the gravestones, and even the cracks of the mausoleums that housed ancient corpses. I did find one that was fresh, but I moved on. I weaved around the tourists, who were now venturing out of the cemetery because it had stopped raining. They were nothing, just ants, mere annoyances compared to me. Then I caught something toward the corner of the cemetery, hovering near one grave in particular. Before I decided to reunite my mind with my body, I took another quick scan of the property, including the walled crypts, wondering if maybe she had found some way to move into one of them and share the space with the baked corpses, but there was nothing.
I sighed and settled into my own body, restarting my heart to warm my skin. I came to the burial ground for nothing, knowing this was a wild goose chase. I figured I should get back to the apartment before Veronica woke so I could beg her not to leave me because I needed her in my life. I began to walk toward the entrance and found myself drawn to the grave of the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau. Several offerings had been placed on her tomb, a full bottle of beer, stacks of three pennies, beads, and other paraphernalia that were representations of people’s wishes. I wondered if the believers ever got their wishes granted by the dead Voodoo Queen.
I traced the carved letters of her name, questioning if this woman was aware of my kind even back in her day. If she had been, did she interact with us? Had she been a great psychic or just a fraud? I knew little of her, except the fact she was a living legend around the city. She had been a powerful sorceress in her day, but also knew the local gossip of the time, so she weaseled her way into the lives of many people, and it made her rich.
“I wonder how much you really knew,” I said to the tombstone.