Breathless Ch. 05

"You don't think it was an accident do you?'

She shook her head wildly.

Vlad glanced over at his sister who was fast approaching, easily able to discern that something was wrong. "Where are you going?"

"A friend's hurt," he explained. "We don't know how bad."

"Fleet of foot," Anya said, reciting an ancient werewolf blessing of safe travel. "Call us if you need anything."

Sadie wondered what would happen if Vlad really called on his people. If this wasn't an accident and he got mad enough, she was convince that there would be a war in the Gravestones before sunrise.

They both jumped in Sadie's truck, their quarrel forgotten as she peeled out, throwing her siren on the roof and pumping it up. She broke speeding laws, as well as the laws of physics it seemed in her efforts to get to her friend.

When they pulled into New Plymouth, Sadie's throat swelled when she saw that cute little Mini crumpled in the ditch next to the road. She could see Mary hovering over Mel's body next to the road, and the wraith was glowing with rage. She wanted someone to strike out at . . . wanted Melissa to call out for vengeance so she could do what wraiths were created to do, but Mel was unconscious.

Sadie knelt by her friend as the wraith screamed in anguish. Mary had been alone so long, and now a friend and lover was slipping out of her hands.

"Mel," the Arbiter whispered, "Can you hear me?" The goth chick's vital signs were so weak, and there was blood all over the seat. It looked like Mary had ripped the door off to get her lover out. "Mary, what happened?"

"I don't know!" the wraith shrieked. "I heard a crash, but I can't teleport unless vengeance calls. By the time I got here, the other car was gone."

"Melissa, who hit you?" Vlad asked, compassion overflowing in his voice.

Mel's eyes crept open, but only barely, and she gasped in pain. "Duh . . . Dazza," she whispered.

"I'm going to kill him," Vlad said. "I'll get 911 here."

"It's too late," Mary whispered, now hovering closer to Mel. "I see her life force fading . . . she's dying." Then a look of pure desperation crept over that pale visage. "Sadie, you can save her!"

"I'm not a medic!" Sadie replied, looking confused. "I can't --" She stopped. She knew what Mary wanted. "Mary, I can't --"

"Yes you can!" The wraith grabbed the vampire by the neck and shoved her against the ground. "You can save her! You can keep her with me! Damn you, you can't let her leave! She doesn't deserved to die for YOUR war!"

Sadie was tired of being smashed around, but she was too terrified to do much about it. She wasn't terrified of Mary, but rather was scared to death of what the wraith was asking. Mary didn't understand . . . couldn't understand. She didn't know what Sadie really was.

"Please?!" Mary's whisper was so heated and hungry that Sadie couldn't face her. The Arbiter felt a chill in her own heart as she watched her friend bleeding on the ground. "I don't care about the law or the rules," the wraith continued. "I just can't be alone again. I can't lose her. She's so beautiful --"

"What's going on?" Vlad asked, his phone still in his hand.

Sadie looked at Mary first. The wraith, in the matter of a week, had fallen in love with a twenty-something computer geek. It was a star-crossed romance . . . one in a million shot that they would ever meet. Sadie had given them to each other, and now she was being asked to seal the deal in blood.

'But I've only ever done it once,' she thought. 'And my blood . . . it's tainted.' She was different than any other vampire walking the earth.

"Please?" Mary asked again, her voice almost a whisper. She was fading, and Sadie was left wondering if the wraith had bonded with Mel in someway. She wondered if Mary would survive without the first love she had felt in centuries.

Sadie knelt beside Mel and lifted her head. Time was running short, so she would have to move quickly. "Melissa Neron, meet my eyes." She did something she almost never did, certainly not in the presence of other people. She let her guard down a bit and let loose some of her presence, letting it wash over the dying girl's body.

Vladimir shuddered as a deep, chilling power seeped into the area. 'What the hell is . . . she's not going to--'

"Melissa, I need you to look at me." Sadie waited until somehow Melissa was able to comply. "Look upon me, for I am Death. Do you fear me?"

Melissa shook her head. She knew of these words, for they had been spoken by the vampires at moments like these for thousands upon thousands of years.

"Look upon me, for I am Death. Do you accept me?" Sadie waited a moment, and this time Mel nodded. "Then let life end with death, and death begin with new life." The vampire was crying. She was scared out of her mind, and she couldn't even tell anyone why. She would tell Melissa . . . when she got the chance, she would tell her friend the whole truth. But that was for later.

Sadie leaned in, gently lifting Mel's bloody and broken body closer. She pushed Mel's head slightly to the side, exposing that slender, perfect neck. She saw where Mary had marked the girl, and set her fangs down just beside it. It had to be a clean puncture. Without further adieu, her fangs penetrated the surface of the skin and drank of the blood below.

Even on the verge of death, Melissa's body reacted as if she were experienced great pleasure. The draw of the vampire was powerful, and Sadie . . . Sadie was special. She took more and more of her friend's blood into herself, letting it mingle with Sadie's own. She released her hold on Melissa's neck for just a moment. "Now let the circle begin anew . . . take from me life, sleep, and be prepared to be born again." Then she bit down again, injected the mixed blood into Mel's bloodstream and let that mystical concoction take effect. Soon, Melissa would die, but it didn't mean that her story was over. Sadie held her friend who was also now, in the realm of the vampires, Sadie's daughter, waiting for the last of the girl's life to leave her. She had done it just in time. If the sharing of blood didn't occur before death, then the Turning wouldn't take. And at last, Melissa Neron rested in a temporary peace.

Sadie looked at Vlad. "I need a grave," she whispered. "Help Mary find a place. Put it in her yard. We'll need a sheet big enough for both of us to lie in --"

"Both of you?" Mary asked. She'd never heard of a fledgling vampire's master lying with them during First Day.

"Don't argue with me or question me," Sadie replied, fear still in her voice. "Not this time." She knew she would have to answer to the law for this, but she would risk it. Mary had been right when she said that Melissa shouldn't die because of Sadie's personal feud. She looked at Vlad again. "Make sure the grave is in the shade, but we'll need more shade still. Then, I want Dazza arrested and put in jail. I don't care where he is or who he's with. And I will take full responsibility for what has happened here," she added.

Vlad was mentally playing catch up, but that last statement hit like a brick. This was a rogue Turning, which meant that Sadie had put herself under the thumb of local authorities and the vampire council. And who knew what it would mean for her status as an Arbiter. She had risked everything to save Mel. 'She doesn't do anything with half a heart does she?' he thought as he followed Mary back to her home. He would dig a grave and then he had work of his own to do.

Ever so gently, Sadie picked up Melissa's body and carried it to Mary's house, where the wraith and werewolf were frantically tearing up earth in a backyard flower garden, trying to create a daytime resting place for the newly dead. When a vampire was Turned, he or she had to spend the first day of undeath under the earth, and Sadie intended to stay that day with her. She didn't understand why vampire masters and mistresses never did that anymore. To her, it was no different than leaving a day's lover before evening fell . . . it took away the magic of the thing. The thought of being buried, even partially, filled her with dread that most vampires couldn't even imagine. The very notion brought back memories she had fought to suppress: blood and decaying fleshing filling her nostrils and throat. She was possibly the only vampire walking the earth who suffered from severe claustrophobia, and for good reason.

Mary and Vlad had dug a grave in record time, six feet long and only about three feet deep. Vlad had actually taken his shirt off while digging, and Sadie's eyes caressed the lightly furred muscles of his chest and abdomen. She was appreciative, but past the point of lustful thoughts.

"A thin layer of dirt on top of the sheet," Sadie said, her voice quivering, "That's all we need. Then throw a tarp over to keep out any direct sun . . . I don't know how resistant to sun she'll be."

"Could she inherit your immunity?" Mary asked.

"It doesn't work like that and you know it," Sadie practically snapped. By the dark that hid behind all things, she was afraid. "Sorry." She saw Vlad laying a blanket down in the grave, apparently hoping to make the experience a little more comfortable. She appreciated his efforts, though she knew they would be mostly in vain. Humans had romanticized this process to make themselves feel better. Sadie had seen it done many times, but it was only the second time she had ever Turned anyone. And this time was much different than the last.

She looked at Mary. "Each vampire is unique." Sadie jumped down into the grave, then met her friends' faces with tears in her eyes. "She'll be different," she said. "She'll be different than other new vamps." Sadie locked eyes with Mary. "She'll be stronger. Will you still want her then?"

"Of course! She is a servant in name only. I would dedicate my existence to her happiness," Mary replied. A small, sick part of her was happy about this. Now, Melissa would not grow old and die. Mary would never have to be alone again. She hated thinking such things, but could not deny the power of the idea.

"Why will she be different?" Vlad asked. He had seen a few Turnings, but there was something different here . . . some kind of underlying force that he had never experienced before.

"Because of me." Sadie left it at that, motioning for Melissa's still form. Mary lifted her lover, staring at that face that would now be young forever. She kissed Melissa's cool lips then handed her to Sadie, and the vampire and vampire-to-be lay low in the grave.

"I want Dazza," Sadie directed to Vlad. "I want his head on a pike for what he did, and I want Frost. You know that Dazza wouldn't have done this alone. Somehow he found out that we had the papers." A look of panic crossed her face, but before she could speak --

"I'll find Terrance and warn him," Vlad said. "If this is the way they want to play now, then that's the way we'll play it."

Looking at him, Sadie didn't see the weak and spineless wolf she'd accused him of being earlier. He was alpha. He was a warrior, and the moon blessed him with its light. She smiled at him, the lay to rest next to Melissa, her mouth near the girl's neck. By providing blood over the course of the day, she could give the girl a jump-start on her new life.

Mary lay a blanket over their bodies before Vlad covered them up with about six inches of soil. Neither of them saw Sadie skin jumping under the blanket as shovelfuls of dirt landed on the two women. After a few minutes, the women were secured in their resting place.

"I will stay with them," Mary whispered. "The sun has no effect on me. When they wake, Melissa may call for vengeance," the wraith replied, her whisper escalated into a growl, "and for once, I will be happy to answer it."

Vlad pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "There's going to be trouble," he said. "Turning a vamp without authorization could mean death for both the old and new vamp if the authorities find out. If we can't trace this back to Frost, he'll be the one to make the decision. But I'll buy us some time," he said, flipping the phone open and turning it on. "Anya? Yeah, things are bad. Find Ivan and put him on. I need the pack's help with something."

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Close to sundown . . .

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Sadie had gotten very little actual rest. When she was afraid, her heart began beating as an involuntary reflex, and the sound of it had kept her awake. She wanted out of the ground and to feel clean air against her skin. She could feel the draw of darkness approaching, and that comforted her somewhat.

Over the last ten hours, she had periodically given Melissa injections of blood while drawing out some of the woman's decaying mortal blood. Melissa would not have the time to come into her powers the way most vampires did. She would already have enemies.

Melissa's body shifted and the girl groaned lightly. The sun was setting, and she was being born anew from the earth.

"It's okay," she whispered, her voice filling the tiny amount of air they had available to them. "It's all right. Don't panic. You're one of us now," she continued to croon, willing her voice to be calm and exerting her presence, feeling the girl's body relax next to her. "You're my child and my friend, and you are safe we me for now."

"I . . . remember," Melissa gasped, the last of the oxygen in her lungs escaping. She would never need it there again. "I remember what happened." She could feel Sadie's body against hers. "You Turned me. I didn't think . . . why?"

"I couldn't let you go," Sadie replied. "Mary wouldn't survive. I could never forgive myself for letting them --"

"Dazza!" Melissa shouted. "He hit me!" The previous night's events came rushing back to her. "I was on my way to the were meeting. You were right," she whispered heatedly. "It was a Turning schedule and . . . and the list of people they're planning on Turning --" She stopped when she heard Sadie chuckle. "What?"

"You're a tenacious bitch, you know that?" Sadie replied. "You just died, and you're still doing math in your head." Then she remembered that she needed to tell Melissa the truth. She felt the earth shift above them. Someone was coming. "Melissa, I need you to listen and I'm begging you, do as I ask." The desperation in her voice almost choked her.

"What?" Mel was actually surprised that she was clear headed. New vampires were supposed to be disoriented, and she wondered if it was Sadie's presence that had made the difference.

"You know how you've been wanting to hear my whole story? Well I'm going to tell you, but not right now. There's not enough time."

Mel was more than a little scared now. "What does that have to do --"

"You're not going to be like other new vamps. You'll be stronger than some vampires much older than you. Don't let anyone but me drink your blood. Don't even let Mary bite you until I've explained everything. I'm serious Melissa. You don't know what's running through your veins."

"Are you . . . some kind of experiment? Some vampire grown in a lab or --"

"Just trust me," Sadie replied. The cover was being lifted above them. "For now . . . welcome to the darkworld."

The two women looked up, the night-sky draped overhead where just moments earlier, dirt had been.

"It's beautiful," Melissa murmured, her irises expanding to take in more light than she ever could have before.

Sadie had been told that a new vamps first look at the stars was like glimpsing heaven. For her, it had been something else entirely. For her, it had been hell. But let Melissa have her moment where her blood sang in a non-beating heart and where the sky itself held unparalleled promise. Melissa was now immortal.

Then Sadie noticed that, along with Mary and Vlad, there were several unfamiliar faces looking down. She thought she recognized a few of them from the were gathering. She stood up, and saw a dozen or so werewolves nearby. They all looked unnerved at being so close to a wraith, but yet here they were. They were briefly distracted as Mary descended on Melissa, embracing her dark lover like a dream that she thought had been lost. Sadie's gaze drifted back to Vlad.

He was standing there in tactical riot gear, and even Sadie would've been afraid to tangle with him. He was so alpha that it filled her senses, and she could only imagine what it must feel like to the other weres.

"You took control of the pack, didn't you?" she whispered.

Vlad nodded. "I fought Ivan, but it was mostly ceremonial. He bowed out and now he's my second." His face was unreadable to Sadie.

"Why --"

"Because I'm tired of the vamps around here thinking they can get away with anything," Vlad growled.

"Are you here as a pack leader or a cop?" she asked.

"Both. We crashed the vamp party and arrested Dazza. There was some big brass there, Sadie," he said, looking angry. "I saw both our senators, at least one congressman. Judges --"

"That's what I was going to tell you!" Mel said. "Almost everyone that's going to be Turned on Halloween is big time, including Senator Trefauld!"

Sadie's eyes shot open. Senator Trefauld was the chair of the Senate's Darkworlder Oversight Committee. He was instrumental in controlling the allowable Turn rates in the United States. Normally this position wasn't allowed to be held by a non-human.

"He just got re-elected didn't he? He's got five and a half years."

Vlad growled. "There's a bunch of ways to get rid of him, but not until he'd done a lot of damage."

Melissa finally released her embrace on Mary, but the two women kept their hands clasped. "Like increasing the number of vampires that you're allowed to create or . . . Sadie, you . . . Are you going to be in trouble? For Turning me?"

Sadie felt cold. "I don't know. Technically, I should've been allowed a bunch of Turns by now by vampire law, but you're always supposed to petition the council. If the council felt that I made an unwise decision, you could be killed and I could be killed or imprisoned. And if Frost was behind Dazza's attack, you can guess how that vote is going to go." She looked from Mary to Melissa. "I'd advise planning to get out of the country. The rules down in Mexico aren't nearly as strict." She looked at Vlad. "Unless the law stops you."

Vlad shook his head. "Justice should be hard and swift, but not blind. I just called in my boys to keep everyone away until you were back up and on your feet. But what about you? As an Arbiter --"

"As an Arbiter, I'll stand by my actions."

"But that means that even if Frost shows 'mercy,' that the Bureau could still put you in jail for a long damn time."

"It's not fair!" Melissa said.

"No, it isn't. But I'll do whatever I need to in order to keep you safe."

Vlad looked grim. He hated this. He'd exert whatever influence he could with the pack and the police department, but the Arbiter Bureau was way over his paygrade. "Sadie, New Plymouth is surrounded by cops from other districts and there's a rep from the mayor's office. In other words, from Frost. We got nothing to pin him on, and Dazza isn't talking. He's all lawyered up. They know about Melissa. I have no frickin' idea how, but they know. And Frost is furious about us screwing up his announcement ceremony."

"Breaks my heart," Sadie said. Her life was fucked up beyond all recognition right now, so she wasn't too concerned about Frost's feelings.

"Arbiter," came a quite voice from behind her. She spun and looked. "Devlin?"

She hadn't seen Devlin since his special assignment to the mayor. "What are you doing here? Aren't you the mayor's rep?"

The young officer nodded. His gazed became transfixed on Melissa, who seemed to glow with her newfound power. She glared at him, using her normal stoic gaze as a weapon until he looked away. "They thought I would be the only one you might actually talk to. Lord Frost is mad, just like Officer Koloff said." He looked down. "You really think that Frost was behind this?"