Chapter 12
“Come in…” Countess Dariah’s voice echoed from the other side of the door.
Opened it, I tentatively searched for her when I stepped inside her suite. “You summoned me?”
“Yes.” She stepped out of the closet with a box in her hands. It was only then that I realized her suitcase was on the bed, in the process of being filled.
“You are leaving?” My voice hitched with the discovery. She couldn’t leave; I needed her.
“I’m afraid so.” A strained sigh left her, and she placed the black box on the corner of the mattress. Her gaze shifted to the TV, bringing my attention to the breaking news broadcast playing on it.
A banner flashed bright red on the bottom of the screen, the title in huge white letters read: “VAMPIRES ARE REAL, AND THEY ARE HERE TO DESTROY US!”
“It is behind me, on this exact corner of Central Park where the monsters appeared just a few weeks ago. I’m standing here with Darla Thomas, one of the people who miraculously survived the attack. Tell us, Darla, what was it like to see the monsters eating humans?”
“It was horrible!” the woman shrieked, clearly traumatized by the experience as she held her dog’s leash.
The large German Shepherd sat calmly beside her.
“I still can’t believe it is real. I was walking my dog when he suddenly lost it, barking at nothing.
Trying to protect me from the danger I still couldn’t see, he ran towards the bushes, pulling me so hard I fell into them. ”
She wrung her hands while she nervously looked around, making sure no other monsters appeared.
“My sweet Milo is the only reason I’m still alive.
He pulled me into the bushes just as the monster landed in front of us.
Right where I’d stood a moment before.” Tears filled her eyes when she shook her head, trying not to relive the nightmare.
“I hid there with him while the Vampire devoured people, and hundreds more of it appeared. They were everywhere…”
“Thank you, Darla. I’m truly sorry you had to witness such a thing. We are certainly glad that you survived.”
Nodding to the lady, who rushed out of there with her dog as if her ass was on fire, the reported faced the camera once more.
“As you can see behind us, there is still destruction.” He motioned to the park entrance, where a few policemen stood.
“The park has been closed since the attack, but I’m told all bodies have been recovered and their families were contacted.
Unfortunately, the cause of death was catastrophic dehydration. Each victim fully drained of blood.
“It’s not true!” A frantic man shouted from the other corner, calling the attention of the police as he quickly approached the reporter. “Those were not Vampires. Vampires are not evil!”
The human halted when two officers blocked his path, making the reporter stagger back.
“I swear it’s true. I don’t know what those monsters were, but Vampires look just like you and me and they are here to help us. Their blood can heal humans. They saved my wife from her brain tumor. You have to believe me!”
The police struggled to contain him, but the reporter rushed toward him, searching for the next big story. “That’s okay.” He assured the police, who let the man go. “Tell me more about the Vampires who helped you.”
The man sighed in relief to have someone believe him. “It was a man, and he looked young. In his early twenties, maybe. He looks like a human because he was one before he turned. Just like any of us, but he is immortal. They all are.”
“And how did you find him?”
“Oh, I didn’t. He found us. When my wife was diagnosed, they gave her only three months to live.
I began taking her to a support group in St. Patrick’s Cathedral for terminally ill people and their family.
You know, to help us cope. One night, after the meeting, the Priest approached us and introduced a young man.
We’d seen him there before, but we just thought maybe he had lost a parent and was there for grief support.
Little did we know, he was a Vampire, and he offered to heal my wife. ”
“What did they ask in return? Did they make you a blood slave?”
“No!” The man shook his head, appalled. “Nothing. They asked for nothing. They just want us to know they are among us, and they are protecting us. If we want, as humans, we can donate blood to them like we do to hospitals, for their sustenance, but they don’t drink from people or kill them.
That’s more than fair if they can save human lives.
They told me to send anyone else who wanted to be healed their way.
Vampires only want to live a peaceful life in the open with us. They are not here to kill us.”
“If Vampires are here to protect humans, why didn’t they save the people killed in this park?”
Sadness enveloped the man’s face, and he glanced at the building across the street. “Many of them did save humans in the park, but they got here after the attack had already started. I saw a few of them up there, protecting someone from the monsters crawling onto the building and attacking them.”
The camera immediately followed his gesture, panning onto the top of the building across the street. Parts of the brick-and-mortar were destroyed, but I recognized it instantly.
It was where Dante’s penthouse was.
“Did the Priest vouch for the Vampire who helped your wife? Or did you immediately believe him?” the reporter asked, turning back to the man.
“To be honest, we were pretty desperate to believe anything at that point. Anything that would save my wife, but Father Diego vouched for him fervently. He said he trusted the Vampire with his life, so we said yes to the treatment. I’ll never regret it.
Words can’t describe how thankful we are for the Vampire’s help. ”
“So much for anonymity,” the Countess griped, reaching for the remote.
“So, Father Diego helps the Vampires find humans?” The reporter seemed flabbergasted.
“He helps them find people to heal. They want us to know they are nothing like the horror stories told to us in books or movies. They just want to live with us in peace. That was three years ago, and my Jen is perfectly healthy,” the man assured, glancing straight at the camera.
“We are not the only ones. I know others who’ve been saved by them too. They are all over the world!”
“Thank you, Mr.…?”
“Frank. Josh Frank.”
“You heard it here first. On WMA New York, Channel Five. Those monsters were not Vampires, but then, what were they, and why did they attack?”
He pressed a finger to his ear, seemingly receiving a message.
“Stay with us for another exclusive as we head straight to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for an interview with Father Diego, where we’ll unearth the truth about the Vampires among us.
Are they truly here to help? Do they want to live in peace?
Is Father Diego even human? I’ll bring you the answers to all these questions just after the break.
This is Mark O’Neil, reporting for WMA New York, Channel Five. ”
The screen went black when the Countess turned the TV off, her gaze shifting to someone behind me. “Call Diego and tell him the next phase of the plan got here sooner than expected.”
“Of course.” The guard immediately dialed, pressing the phone to his ear as he stepped out of the room.
My nose wrinkled. I hadn’t even noticed the poor man standing there.
“Is Father Diego a Vampir too?” I asked, stepping closer to the bed.
She nodded. “From our Mexican Clan… A Vampir and a Priest,” she chuckled at the irony. “He is still as devoted to his fate as he was before he transitioned.”
Taking it all in, I turned to the TV, the interviews we had just watched replaying in my mind. “How many people were attacked?”
“A hundred and five were injured but thanks to the team I sent there only fifty died.”
“Fifty is a lot,” I countered.
“I know. And their loss is a tragedy, but when you live in a world of supernaturals, things like that become relative. A thousand crawlers were released on you that day. Trust me, fifty casualties is a low number. If we hadn’t fought back, they could have killed the entire city.”
Anger and disbelief coursed through me. “A thousand crawlers coming for little old’ me seems like overkill.”
Sighing, she nodded. “Not by much when you consider how unique you are. Yet, the second attack was a distraction. I believe it had little to do with you and everything to do with us healing humans. Those driving this attack only stay powerful if humans fear them.”
“That’s why you are leaving.”
“I’m not running away if that’s what you are insinuating.”
My eyes widened. “Not, of course not. I—”
“Relax, I’m just teasing, yah?”
I returned her smile, but the man’s words kept echoing in my head.
He was so adamant about Vampires being the good guys.
“That is what Anastasia, André, and Vanessa were doing here, in New York. They were building a relationship with humans, coming out in the open slowly to merge the two races; to assimilate?”
Love colored her expression. “Yes, though it is my father’s legacy, not mine. That’s the world he envisioned once he truly understood who we were. One where Humans and Vampiri live in harmony, in a mutually fulfilling relationship. We heal and protect them, and they—”
“Feed us?”
Chuckles escaped her at that.
“To put it bluntly, yes, but it is more than that. When we donate our blood for their survival, and they donate theirs for ours, a silent bond is crafted between us. One that will never be broken. We help each other with the understanding that we can’t survive without the other, and the respect and compassion that blood bond nurtures between us is priceless. ”
“Sounds beautiful.”