The Vampire Pirate's Daughter (20 page)

I look up at him, from where I have my face
hidden in his chest and I say softly, scared that someone might
hear me, “I think I am pregnant.”

The shock on his face, makes tears burn
behind my eyelids again and I feel another sob escape my lips.

He asks urgently, “Are you sure?”

I nod my head, yes, and then I say forlornly,
“Pregnant and only seventeen. Before, years or age never bothered
me, but now that I am here in the proper seventeen, I feel as if I
have disappointed everyone, especially Amanda. The last time I was
sixteen, being pregnant out of wedlock was immoral. I would have
been shunned by everybody I knew and I cannot help it if I still
have the same notions and believes.”

He says softly, suddenly excited, “We’ll get
married soon, before anybody notices.”

I laugh sarcastically. “Do you propose we
tell everybody that the healthy baby was born three months too
early?”

He holds onto me tightly, whispering in my
hair, “Susie, stop worrying about everybody else. I love you and we
will be together always. The initial shock was great, but now when
it has sunk in, I think I would like to have babies with you.” He
laughs softly. “Lots of babies. It does not matter what everybody
says, and I am not going to allow you to turn something beautiful
between us into something ugly.”

I cannot help when I start crying again. He
continues holding onto me silently and eventually I cry myself to
sleep.

When I start showing at five months, I am
the centre of attention of my little family. I think amused that
the child I am carrying in my womb will have six fathers - five
immortal. I laugh at the look on Amanda’s face when I tell her
jokingly that soon she will be a grandmother. I felt such dread
when I had to tell them that I was pregnant and I was unexpectedly
surprised when they laughed happily at my scandalous revelation.
Justin, Herman, Claude, Edward and not so much Peter, fight for the
privilege to touch my stomach tentatively and when I cry out in
amazement when the baby kicks me from the inside, they rush toward
me. Amanda reprimands them to be careful in case they knock into
me. I am permanently pampered and coddled by them all as if I could
break and I am not allowed to work in the vineyards, although
Andrew and I go for long walks every evening. Every night I cuddle
tightly into the arms of Andrew and I am content.

In my seventh month of pregnancy, while
Andrew and I are preparing supper, I look over toward him. He does
not look well.

I ask, “What’s wrong? Are you coming down
with something?”

“I don’t know. I do feel awful. I think there
is a draft in your room and it has probably given me a chill.”

“We must ask Amanda if she has anything for
you. I’ll go quickly.”

He holds me back. “We can ask her later.”

“I think you should go lie down. How long
have you been feeling ill?” I suddenly recall the last few days
when he was only picking at his food and not really eating. I
answer for him worriedly, “A while now. Why didn’t you say
anything, Andrew?”

He looks weak on his legs and I lean into
him. I put my arms around his waist and I try to get him to walk
with me toward the nearest chair.

I say admonishingly, “You are burning
up!”

Thankfully, Edward comes walking in. I hear
him vaguely ask if there are any more popsicles left. He looks over
at us and then he scoops his arms in under Andrew, just as Andrew
collapses. It happens so fast.

Edward walks down the hall carrying
Andrew’s limp body and calling Amanda’s name. She comes out of the
library and then I see her visibly gasp. She looks toward me
worriedly, while she instructs Edward to carry Andrew down to the
cellar.

“
Why the cellar?” I ask unsure.

“How long has he not been eating?” She asks
me, avoiding my question.

“I don’t know. He has been picking at his
food for a few days now. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

I follow them worriedly toward the cellar.
They take Andrew toward Callum’s sanctuary and lie him down on the
luxurious burgundy couch.

While I light a few candles to brighten the
dark room, I look around. I have not been down here for such a long
time. I cannot believe that Callum has been gone almost four years
already.

Amanda interrupts my thoughts and instructs
me, “Sit with him, I am going to fetch a few things upstairs.”

I sit down on the couch next to him and I
look down at his soft face. He is so boyishly handsome. His full
dark eyebrows define his face. His dark hair curls over his
forehead that is beaded lightly with drops of perspiration. His
lashes are long and frame his eyes darkly. I cannot see his deep,
brooding eyes because they are tightly shut. I take his hand softly
into mine and I wonder worriedly what could be wrong with him.

Amanda comes back and she is carrying a basin
and washcloths. She has a multitude of bottles with her, which she
carefully places on the little table in the middle of the room.

Softly I ask, “What is wrong with him
Amanda?”

“I had a suspicion, the first time I met him,
but then his birthday came and went and nothing happened. I thought
I was wrong. Maybe his birth certificate reflects the wrong date,
or his adoptive parents did not know when he was really born.”

“
It cannot be, because he did a genealogy
of his family, so surely he would have discovered if his birth date
was wrong?”

She smiles agreeable. “How would he know
if the date on his birth certificate is wrong? He would not have
searched his own personal details, only those related to his mother
and father and other ancestors.”

I suddenly grasp what she is saying. “No.
You mean he might be inflicted with the sickness?”

She smiles softly. “I wouldn’t call it a
sickness.”

Hurriedly I explain, “I didn’t mean sickness
in that way, I meant he is turning. You are going to make him drink
your blood and he is going to become a vampire.”

The thought hits rock bottom. I will be the
only one here - human. My hand reaches protectively toward my
extended stomach.

I look up at her worriedly. “If he survives
the turning, the Four Judges will have him killed.” I start crying.
“So either way, he will be dead soon.” I did not want to lose
him.

She stands behind me and puts her hand
comforting on my back while she looks down at Andrew. She says
softly, “He looks so soft and innocent laying there. Call me when
he wakes up so that I can explain the choices to him.”

Softly I cry while I sit with Andrew and I
remember the first time I saw him. He made me feel like jelly, when
I looked into his eyes while he was so ignorant of me. He has not
had the easiest life, living with Mr. van Heerden, always feeling
unwanted. It must have been so sad.

I wipe the sweat from his brow and I sit
beside him. I get one of Callum’s books and I pull a chair closer
to the couch. I fold my legs in under me and I start reading.

Later I hear Andrew mumble, “Susie?”

I put the book down and I smile down at him.
He looks so weak, and he whispers, “What is happening to me. I feel
weird, as if I am disconnected and I am so terribly thirsty.”

I smile down at him reassuringly. “I am going
to call Amanda. Don’t fall asleep again, try to stay awake.”

I run through the tunnels and up to the
kitchen. All the lights are off and it is night. Sometimes they are
so inconsiderate when they forget there are people here who are
unable to see in the dark.

I knock against the kitchen table, groping
for the light switch. It flickers on and then I run through the
hallway, yelling Amanda’s name. She comes rushing from upstairs and
I ask angrily, “What are you doing? Andrew is awake and I think he
is dying.”

Tears start running down my cheeks and she
hushes me. She walks ahead of me and I follow her, trying to keep
up.

When we reach Andrew, she sits down next to
him unhurriedly. She smiles down at him kindly and she talks to him
softly. I am standing inches away from her and I can barely hear a
word she is saying.

I see first the look of shock wash over
Andrew’s face and then acceptance. He looks up at me and his eyes
are miserable. He whispers croakily, “I cannot leave you,
Susie.”

I hear Amanda say, “You do not have to leave
her. She will still be here and everything will be as always, if
you choose the change. Do not be afraid, it is okay to be one of
the living dead. Look at me, my happiest years has been the years
since I died.”

I see Andrew frown and he looks back at
Amanda. I want to rush to him and throw my arms around him.

Amanda stands up and says to me, “I’ll be
back now.”

I sit down next to Andrew again and I take
his hand into mine. I trace my fingers over his palm softly, and I
see a faint smile on his lips. He asks, “Remember when we were
stuck in the basement of that building? Amanda says she knew this
would happen that day she told me you were a vampire.”

I see his eyes go hazy and I wonder frenzied
where Amanda could be. I am going to have to safe him. I look
around for something sharp so that I can cut myself and let Andrew
drink from me. I find a letter opener and I hold it above my wrist.
I feel nervous hurting myself. I smirk, so much for wanting to live
on the edge, face death and defy it. I push the sharp point into my
wrist and suddenly it flies out of my hand.

Edward is bending over me and he growls, “Are
you stupid, Susanna?”

I look up at him shocked.

He continues, “He will kill you.” I look at
Edward confused and he explains, “You are human now and once we
start drinking your blood, we secrete a chemical that renders a
human helpless. Therefore, it is easier for us to drink until we
have had enough, without having to fight you. Once he starts, he
won’t know when to stop.” He shakes his head and mumbles to
himself, “Did Amanda never tell you anything?”

I consider this and realize that Amanda and
Shayne had always treated me like a child and they have always
protected me. I have found out more things about my kind since I
have met Callum and his friends, than before. I want to ask Edward
if this is why I turned mortal again after the vagrant vampire bit
me. Did this chemical that was injected into me, to calm me,
suppress the vampire virus in me, did it kill the virus, eradicate
it and heal it?

Edward turns away from me, he picks up the
letter opener and then without hesitation he cuts his wrist open. I
watch the crimson blood ooze from the wound. He sits down next to
Andrew on the couch and he says softly, “Here boy, drink this. It
will make you feel all better.”

I see Andrew’s eyes grow wide and then he
reaches up to Edward’s arm. He folds his lips around the wound and
then I see him bring his hands up and fold them around Edward’s
arm. He drinks greedily.

Just then Amanda walks into the room and she
exclaims stunned, “What are you doing, Edward?”

“Don’t worry, Amanda. You can still mother
him, but I’ll stay by your side and help you look after him.”

I see Amanda nod approvingly.

Edward pushes Andrew’s head away from his
wrist and when Andrew is lying down again, he closes his eyes
tiredly. Already I can see that the color has returned to his
cheeks. Edward whispers softly as he leans down toward Andrew,
“This means starting over.”

I look at Edward amazed, because I have never
before realized that he could be so compassionate. His joking and
mockery of everything around him was hiding his real
personality.

Amanda says, “He should stay here. We can
give him Amanda’s supply of pills in the meantime. He has to be
kept a secret.”

I see Edward look toward me, but I do not
recognize the look in his eyes. He asks Amanda curtly, “Have you
spoken to her about her choice.”

Amanda looks at me suddenly and then she
returns Edward’s gaze admonishingly.

Edward shrugs and walks away.

I ask, “What choice, Amanda?”

“
You know we cannot turn a human at random,
but you have been a vampire before. If you chose to go back to the
way it was, we can always ask permission from the Four Judges.”
Hurriedly she adds, “Only if you want to, Susie. Make the choice
only for yourself and nobody else.”

I ask confused, “How?”

“From what I understand, the vampire venom
binds around the vampire molecules in your body and confines them,
suppressing them. However, if someone changed you back, it would
break down this layer. The vampire virus is stronger than your
human cells, and they would once again, be in control of your
body.”

I sink down in the chair behind me and I
notice that Andrew has drifted off to sleep. I never contemplated
the idea, never even considered it. Should I roll the dice and go
back to the way it was. I feel the baby kick me ruthlessly and I
smile softly to myself. I believe there is no choice. Even now,
with Andrew becoming a vampire, I will remain human. I am sure I
could always convince him to be human again. I want to be mortal
and I do not want to be stuck in this body forever
anymore.

I sit in the chair across from Andrew. I
change my plans and dreams to include a different Andrew. I make
future plans and decide to wait until the baby is older before we
go on our reckless adventure, although I do not feel the
irresponsible urge to look death in the face defiantly any more. I
have to consider the baby and what might happen to him or her,
should something happen to me.

When Amanda walks into the room again, she
looks down at Andrew shocked. I notice that the color has drained
from his face and he is insipidly pale. Amanda hurriedly leaves the
room.