First Death Pt. 03

"Then that is a risk I will have to take," I said, somehow finding my nerve, "because I will not stay here with Ian."

Lily looked at me; it seemed like she was almost irritated by my gall. For a moment, I thought she would influence me or use whatever deadly skill she had but instead, she relented, "All right, but you need to get some sleep."

I felt relief wash over me; I watched her stand and leave the room, shutting the door behind her.

...

When I woke up, Jinx was curled in a ball on my chest again. It unnerved me a little, knowing that he was just as competent as a human; instead of dumping him off onto the bed, I nudged him.

"Hey, get up," I said, feeling ridiculous talking to a cat.

"Meow," he replied, stretching his long form out before stepping onto the bed, only to curl into another ball and fall asleep.

I looked at the alarm clock; it said 4:57 pm. It must have been light out though I couldn't tell, the room was pitch black. I stretched and found the lamp on the night stand, flicking it on. The bedroom was a decent size, the large king bed took up most of it, though there was a chair in one corner next to a small table stacked with books. The clothes Lily had set on the bed the night before were still there. I got up, discovering the door next to the bed led to a large bathroom, with a huge walk in shower, a separate soaking tub, and a double sink. I grabbed the new clothes and shut the bathroom door behind me, cranking the shower on. As I undressed, I thought it was odd for her to live in a cabin, alone, but have a double vanity; it was almost as if, when the cabin was built, there were intentions of two living here.

After I showered, I wrapped the soft towel around my waist, standing in front of the large, long mirror that took up almost the entire wall. I raked my fingers through my ordinary brown hair, letting it fall into the usual messy bed head style that I had adopted since I started college. I put my glasses back on, staring at the man in the mirror. He looked familiar; lightly tanned skin, five o'clock shadow, thin, lanky frame with no defined muscle, just scrawny and tall. I never thought myself anything special, but I was attractive enough to draw in plenty of women in Cali; perhaps because I wasn't the typical sun-bleached beach dunce, or hulky gym rat. I found a bag on the counter, full of masculine personal care crap. It must have been something else Teddy grabbed for me; I slathered on the deodorant, rubbed pomade in my hands and then in my hair. I lathered the shaving cream on my face only to drag the new razor over and scrape it off, cleaning up the shadow from my skin. The last bottle in the bag was some cologne; when I smelled it, I found it to be a dark, robust scent that I was not familiar with, but it was nice enough. I dabbed some on my skin before pulling the tags off of the new clothes.

They were very, very nice, nicer than anything I had ever worn. The shirt felt smooth as silk on my skin; it was a dark purple, collared button up. I slipped the jeans on over a pair of new boxers, surprised at the luxurious feel of the denim. Even the socks were soft. After I stuffed my feet into my dress shoes and slipped the new corduroy black dress jacket on, I realized Teddy was right. I would have never dressed like this. I looked over myself in the mirror, no longer familiar. The man I saw appeared suave, sophisticated, like someone on the cover of GQ.

"Meow," the cat said. He sat on the edge of the bed, looking over me.

I glanced at him, unnerved. I wondered what he was thinking; I opened the door and walked out into the living room.

Lily sat at a table in a yellow plaid shirt and tight jeans, a half empty beer bottle next to her; she typed a few things on a lap top before looking up at me. Her eyes wandered over my body, judging my appearance, though not commenting on it, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," I said as I walked to her, sitting across from her. Only then did I realize it was my lap top she was on, "what are you doing?"

She shut it, sliding my phone across the table, "I withdrew you from school."

"What," I said, my brows furrowing. I grabbed my phone and unlocked the screen, though it appeared my fingerprint security did little good to stop her from getting in. I scrolled through my emails, finding that she had contacted Professor Milburn, feigning to be me. I was apparently going through a tough time due to the loss of my brother and was pulling out for mental health reasons. She had sent out several texts as well, contacting my Dad, saying that I went back to Cali because I couldn't handle being around family right now and a few to Tiff and Jacob, saying I was staying at home because my Dad needed me around. I looked up at her, slightly angry, "What the fuck?"

Her blank face portrayed no emotion, "Matthew, you're illegally flying into another country. I can't have your friends and family file a missing persons report and broadcasting that you're nowhere to be found. I had Teddy grab your things from your Dad's last night, so I could cover your tracks. If—when things are over, you can pick up your life where you left it."

I knew she was right, but that didn't lessen my anger, "I was almost done with the semester—now I will have to go back and repeat the entire year," I grumbled.

"Yes, you will," she said, taking a sip from the bottle, "but that is a lot easier to do if you aren't missing and presumed dead, which is what would have happened otherwise."

I glared at her. I had put in a lot of hard work this semester and now it was all for not. I knew I could do it all again but it still irritated me. I grabbed her bottle and drew a long swig; I needed a drink. I held it in my mouth for a moment, swishing my tongue around through the thick, metallic tasting liquid. Slowly, she raised one eye brow and a smirk grew on her face. Immediately, I began to gag. I ran into the kitchen, slamming the bottle down onto the counter as I leaned over the sink and coughed out the contents of my mouth. It burned like hard liquor as I heaved it up. There was blood all over the sink. I turned on the faucet, sticking my head under the tap to suck in water, spitting it out while I watched the thick, red liquid swirl down the drain. I panicked, thinking it was mine, until I caught sight of the bottle. It looked almost home brewed, with a wired on rubber stop latched onto the neck. I thought it was a reddish brown bottle, until I saw the legs of the contents pulling down, leaving clear glass behind. The clear label on the front read "A-."

I tried not to puke more, rinsing my mouth out, "What the fuck is this?" I half shrieked.

Lily rose to her feet, walking to me. She grabbed the bottle and in one long swig finished it off before saying, "A Negative. This batch is from Japan."

"Oh god," I shuddered, trying not to dry heave some more, "you have to be fucking kidding me. What is it mixed with, either?"

She slightly pushed me out of the way, rinsing the last of the blood from the bottle before setting it upside down in a drying rack, "Saki. An indigenous liquor always pairs best. Maybe you should eat something, Teddy put some food in the fridge."

I did my best to hold off the nausea and stumbled to the fridge; pulling it open, I saw several neatly lined bottles of blood with different labels, A-, B+, O, AB-. I held my breath, trying not to panic while I found the fixings to make a sandwich. There was bread on the counter. Lily pulled out a knife, cutting board and plate. I didn't think much of it first, until I realized that she had no reason to use them. Maybe they were for the person who the second sink was meant for.

I made my sandwich and asked, "Where are Teddy and Ian?"

"I sent them to the city last night to my condo; I told them that I would drop you off on my way to the airstrip," she said, grabbing another bottle.

I swallowed a bite, "But you're not going to. Right?"

Lily watched me eat in silence. Eventually, she replied, "Right. Though, I'm still not a fan of this plan, Matthew."

I finished of my sandwich, "I'll stay in the car or something then. What happens after?"

She looked distant. I couldn't put my finger on it until she pulled out a pen and piece of paper, scratching a name and address down, "If I don't come back before dawn, you will take the car and leave. Go to this address, tell him what happened. He will help you."

I read the name, Evan McGowan. I wondered who he was to her. "All right, if that happens I will do as you say, but what happens when you succeed?"

The look on her face told me she didn't think there was much of a chance of that.

"I suppose we come back and go our separate ways," she said. "You should pack."

She popped open the bottle and drank it while walking away from the kitchen. I cleaned up my mess and went to pack.

...

The sun had barely set before Lily walked out to the car, the fading light in the sky contrasting the darkness of the surrounding trees. She loaded up a bag and several large, dark cases into the trunk. I added my backpack and laptop bag, watching her secure the front door through a touch screen on the outside; I could hear the massive lock slam into place like a jail cell.

When I opened the passenger's side door to get in, Jinx hopped up and sat in the driver's seat, only to be shooed away when Lily climbed in. We didn't talk. It was clear from her demeanor that she was deep in thought, no doubt planning how to take Lucas out. It was only an hour until we arrived at a small airstrip; there was a large private jet waiting. I failed to hide my surprise when she turned off the car.

"Wow," was all I said. I thought about the red eye I took from Cali, stuck in the middle seat in coach.

She glanced at me, "You didn't honestly think I would fly commercial? A vampire in a tin can with a bunch of humans?"

"I guess not," I admitted, after having thought about it. She got out of the car, leaving her keys in it. Jinx raced forward, bounding up the stairs into the belly of the plane. Lily grabbed a few of the cases out of the trunk, passing them to who appeared to be the copilot. He carried them up the steps while she grabbed her bag and the final case; when I had my stuff, I followed her up the stairs and into the belly of the plane. It was huge and more lavishly furnished than any hotel I had stayed at. Jinx was positioned on a long couch that ran down one side of the plane, his paws were perched on the window sill. As the copilot pulled the door shut, the captain came out to make his checks of the cabin.

"Good evening, Ms. Cain. The weather looks good for our flight," he smiled sincerely, almost flirtatiously, "It has been a while since you took her out, but she's still in immaculate shape."

Lily returned the smile, "I hope so, because they charge me an arm and a leg in storage fees here."

The captain went about his task before returning to the cockpit. I sat in a large reclining seat, facing Lily, "You...own this plane?"

"Yes," she replied, "I used to travel quite a bit more than I do now. It ended up being cheaper in the long run." She shrugged.

Jinx swayed as the plane taxied down the run way, fighting to stay up right as the plane took off into the sky.

"How do you have the money? I mean, you don't work," I was dumbfounded. I realized that six hundred years was a long time to amass a fortune, but it still had to come from somewhere.

She got up and walked out of my view; a few moments later she came back carrying one of the smaller cases. She set it down, unlatching the top. It was full of ice and bottles; she grabbed one and handed it to me.

"No way," I said, sitting back in my seat, "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on my dumb ass."

"It's actual beer," she replied.

I grabbed the bottle and checked the label; sure enough, it was blood free. I twisted off the top and smelled it before I took a swig of the dark stout. She fished out a bottle that read AB+ and flipped the top open.

"When one cuts a deal with Death to become a vampire, someone has to resurrect them from the grave, like I did for Teddy. After my benefactor came to collect me, he took me to his coven where he taught me a few skills. I discovered he was holding out on me, though, so I killed him," she said off handedly, like discussing the weather. The shock must have been on my face, because she added, "I was reborn to be evil, you realize. I wanted his knowledge—the mistake he made, was teaching me how to read blood memories. We took out the entire coven, all but one man. Ian."

"Who is we?" I asked, sipping my beer.

"Lucas and I," she said. "My benefactor was wealthy in life and in death, so our initial fortune came from what we collected from him. Ian, though, he was a whelp of a man back then. Never liked to get his hands dirty. He was handsome and smart, but Lucas and I were ruthless and brutal; we left him behind and continued on our way. We traveled across England, over to France, draining every notable vampire in our path. At the time, I considered Lucas an ally; I taught him to read the blood memories and with each elder we slayed we amassed a treasure chest of knowledge, lifetimes of skills we never had, but that we knew none the less. Honestly, I lost count. We walked the country side, traveled on horses, slept in the woods like gypsies. When we got to China, we bought a ship and went to Japan, traveled the south pacific, around the world to South America, then to Africa. Most of it is a blur to me now because when I think back to it all I can see is a wave of strangers' memories. It took us maybe a hundred and fifty years to get back and we ended our journey by traveling from Spain to Ireland. Ironically, that is where we ran back into Ian; he had been captured by a locals and imprisoned. They were still trying to figure out how to kill him by the time we arrived. For whatever stupid reason, I sprung him from his cage and the three of us made our way back to England.

We lived there for a while; Lucas built a coven and surrounded us with vampire fodder. Ian tried to take Lucas and I out, unsuccessfully—he fled. Around that time, Death wanted us to change sides to be good. It was an easy decision for me, I had grown bored of the coven and the endless killing, but Lucas refused. I was forced to leave and since then he has been after me. It wasn't a surprise—the memories we had amassed made us the two strongest and oldest vampires and since I switched sides I went from ally to competition. With the small fortune I stashed away from him, I bought up several blood banks across the world. The excess is ciphered off, processed and bottled for the modern day vampire on the go," she raised her bottle ironically, "He's made a few attempts over the years to take me out but he hasn't had the balls yet to come after me face to face. So, finally we will end this tomorrow night." She took a long pull out of her bottle.

"Why aren't you confident that you'll win?" I pondered. I could see it in her face.

She gazed out at the black sky, "He's faster and stronger. I might be a better fighter but I've lived off of scraps for the past several hundred years, while he has drained whomever he felt like. And," she pulled her phone out as it buzzed, "I'm out of practice."

She held it in her palm, taping the speaker so that I could hear. The screen read Ian.

"Hello my love. I was expecting you sooner, but it appears you are running late?" His faint British accent attempted to come out lovingly.

"A slight change of plans, Ian. I've decided to take Matthew along with," she looked at me while talking.

There was a pause before he responded, "I am not sure that's the best idea—Lucas will have his entire coven after you. Dragging a human along will just slow you down. Have you left yet? I will go with you, I can help you take him out."

Lily raised a brow, seemingly shocked at his offer, "Sorry, Ian but we already took off."

"I'll catch the next flight out then," his voice was cold, slightly urgent.

"That won't be necessary. I'll contact you when it's done." She ended the call before he could respond, then shut her phone off before looking at me, "If you want to check your messages, now would be the time. I want you to leave your phone off so you can't be tracked."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and flicked on the screen. There were a few messages from Tiff and Dad. I scrolled through them and typed hasty responses to let them know I was fine and just taking some time to get my head wrapped around things. When I turned it off, I glanced up to Lily. Her stoic face was calm but the way her eyes squinted made me worry, "Is something the matter?"

She glanced at me, "I don't know. I just have a bad feeling about this. I can't quite put my finger on why. Ian is behaving strange."

"I can't imagine what he's like when he's normal," I replied.

"Very much the same," she shrugged, "but less helpful."