Operation (14 page)

The second possibility was also impossible because it would involve another vampire that had been made by the same maker. Thoughts sometimes overflowed into other vampires who were connected because of the same maker’s blood in the body. The way Dimitri understood this was that although new blood was always introduced into the vampire body, there would always be traces of the original maker blood. It was as if during the transformation, the maker blood embedded itself into the vampire heart.

Dimitri was most familiar with this occurrence because at times he could sense the feelings of Andre and Iliga, as well as those of Josip and Alexander when they were alive. Alexander had been their maker and through his bond, the link between all of them had been established. Dimitri involuntarily shuddered at the possibility of his thoughts. Alexander would have had to have made another vampire and that this vampire was also in the vicinity and the effect was this bleeding through of images.

But Alexander had never mentioned the fact that he had created another. It surely had not happened during the many years they had spent together and Dimitri was sure that if it had happened earlier, Alexander would have mentioned it to him. He would not have hidden it unless there was a specific reason why he did not want Dimitri to know.

Dimitri searched his own thoughts and memories of Alexander to see if there had ever been a mention of another even in the vaguest of terms. He could think of none yet the more Dimitri thought about what had happened and given that the possibilities were very limited, he was forced in the direction of his theory of another vampire. Perhaps there had been another and Alexander had thought they were dead and that was why there was never a mention of them. Still, that didn’t make sense. Dimitri had thought of Alexander as a father and himself the son. They shared their thoughts willingly and freely. There had been no secrets between them. There had to be another possibility.

Perhaps Reese, or the military, had found some way to create the link artificially. They might try to use it as some form of control or subversive communication tactic. They had taken samples of their blood to study and analyze, perhaps they had developed something? But if that were true, could they use it to find them—to track them down somehow? Could they be tracking them right now? What of the girls? Were they connected somehow to this as well?

As Andre exited the interstate, following the signs into Norfolk, Dimitri thought there were too many questions and not enough answers. All of this was happening at the worse possible moment. All of this was connected and if he wasn’t careful with their next move, it could jeopardize them all as well as the ultimate plan to get the girls back to the Balkans. Given the nature of this new problem, it just became a lot more complicated - not to mention dangerous as well. They would have to revise their plans And Dimitri would have to do what he had wanted to avoid from the beginning: Seek outside assistance from someone he didn’t know if he could trust.

Dimitri gazed out the window as the scent of the ocean reached him. The smell was always strong here on Ocean View Avenue with its constant breeze. Regardless, he found it relaxing and right now he felt the need for a few moments of solitude on the beach to ease his mind.

“Stop the van,” Dimitri said, “over in the lot next to the park. I wish to walk a bit. You can take the others home, I will meet you later.”

Andre pulled the van into the lot and parked. “Dimitri, are you okay” he asked.

“Yes. I just need to think. We have a new problem to deal with, a potentially dangerous development. I will explain later.”

“As you wish,” said Andre.

Dimitri opened the door of the van and got out. He walked to the driver’s side of the van where Andre sat. First, he looked at the girls, smiled and said, “You go back with Andre and Iliga; I will be there shortly.”

“Is something wrong?” Ishma asked.

“No. I have something to do and then I will join you,” said Dimitri.

He then placed his hand on Andre’s forearm.

“Take them home and get the girls settled.” Then he lowered his voice and spoke softly, “keep an eye out for anything unusual.”

“Unusual?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Dimitri said, “just keep them occupied. See if they have any information we might have missed about the military or any tests they may have undergone. I have a feeling we may have missed something.”

“What?”

“I don’t know,” replied Dimitri.

Andre didn’t say anything, but Dimitri saw understanding in his eyes.

‘I’ll see you in a bit,” Dimitri said as he walked off.

When he reached the top of one of the dunes, he turned back and watched the van depart the parking lot and head in the direction of their house. After the van was out of sight, he continued heading down toward the water. It was late and he did not expect to run onto anyone at this hour. Occasionally he would see someone, but the area was prone to a criminal element and that kept many away. It was just another reason why he liked the place.

Dimitri then did something he hadn’t done in quite a while; he removed his shoes and socks and walked barefoot on the sand. It felt both cool and gritty against the soles of his feet. The sensations were helpful as he tried to clear his mind of troubling thoughts. Distraction was the tool of choice he had always used to get to answers that his mind would not allow him to see.

He continued walking along the beach. There was just enough light from a few old fashioned streetlamps on the main boardwalk area so the foaming edges of the encroaching waves could be seen as they lapped along the shore. He kept a safe distance from the water’s edge as he walked further. Although he knew it could not harm him, the water brought back to many painful memories of their operations when they attacked the drug cartels.

Such a realist, he thought. A curse when you are a vampire who chooses to avoid reality on a constant basis.

How ironic considering what his own fate in life had been; a product of the unreal, or the undead. However, choosing to avoid reality did not affect the way in which he reached a decision. A perfect example was that it had been the logical and correct decision to end their relationship with Commander John Reese. He felt it was dangerous to them all and an unnecessary risk and Reese had agreed. So what had led to the human fearing them: To fear him specifically? Dimitri did not understand and it certainly did not explain the strange connection which had occurred this evening.

“What is it?” Dimitri said out loud. “What the hell is it that I am missing?”

The cawing of a seagull interrupted his thoughts and he watched the large bird from the corner of his eye as it flew by him. The bird appeared agitated at being disturbed from its slumber by his passage.

“Yes, I know,” Dimitri said, “Hell is a relative thing isn’t it?”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-E
IGHT

Christina stood at the front door of Reese’s home holding several Styrofoam take-out containers in her hands. She had stopped earlier at an Italian restaurant and picked up the food—she was not much of a cook, in fact she could hardly remember the last time she had cooked or even eaten food for that matter. She could eat if she wanted to, but simply wasn’t interested. She would tell him that she had eaten earlier and just warm up what she brought for him.

She moved to push the doorbell and stopped and stared at her hand. It was shaking. She was nervous? She found the sensation disconcerting because she could not remember being nervous. Why was she nervous? What was there to be nervous about?

Because this is the new you, a voice inside her head answered. How are you going to handle this new found desire to get close to someone? Maybe it’s too late.

She smiled and ignored the little voice as she pushed the doorbell and waited.

Nothing.

She pushed the doorbell again.

Still nothing.

Holding the food in one hand, she placed her other hand around the doorknob and turned. It didn’t move. It was locked.

A feeling of unease pervaded her thoughts.

“Oh shut up,” she said to herself and then gripped the doorknob firmly in her hand. She turned it until the lock snapped and gave way to her strength. She opened the door and stepped across the threshold and into the house.

That was when she heard him screaming.

Dropping the food containers, she moved swiftly toward the sound of his voice as he yelled at something or someone to get away. She followed his voice into his bedroom. As she entered the room, she saw that he was writhing violently back and forth in his bed as if trying to combat something that held him in its grasp. His clothes and bed linens were drenched with sweat. The sheets were twisted into rope like strands and were pulled out of their folded and tucked positions. Whatever was happening had been going on for a while she thought.

“No!” Reese screamed as he struggled. “I can not—I will not!”

She could feel the depth of his fear through his elevated bodily functions. Even from the distance, she could hear his heart racing. It was dangerously fast and she wondered if he was on the verge of a heart attack or something. She was also drawn to the seductive sound of the organ as it pumped and pumped his blood. The violent beating meant that his blood was flowing at an increased pace through his body causing it to be even warmer than it normally is when the body is at rest. She was drawn to that warmth. She could almost taste the sweetness of his blood as it flowed across her lips…

Christina stepped up to the bedside and grasped him firmly by the shoulders to try and calm him down. As her skin made contact with his she could feel the tremendous heat of his excited body from his elevated temperature. She was thinking about what a curious sensation it was when she was suddenly jolted by what felt like an intense electrical shock. However, it was not an electrical shock, but rather the shock of the sensation of his thoughts shooting through her.

Christina saw an image of what was attacking him, not through her own eyes but through his. It was a man which stood over John, the eyes were a burning red and his fangs red with blood, a male vampire. She also recognized something else about the vampire—the look of his face. He had dark hair, a tanned complexion and features that were characteristically similar to hers. He looked like the people of her own country where she had lived the majority of her life.

As the thought flashed through her mind, she felt or sensed something else. There was a brief, but recognizable feeling of a connection to something…she didn’t know how to explain it. It was as if a doorway had opened up in her mind and this doorway connected two adjoining rooms. The rooms represented two separate and distinct minds now sharing their thoughts. What had been previously locked up in the one was now shared with the other through the door. She didn’t understand it.

Reese moaned aloud, driving her from the thoughts and breaking the brief connection she had experienced. Christina was confused. She wanted to see more of this other vampire; she wanted to know for sure if there were others, yet she was concerned about what this dream was doing to him. The tremendous amount of fear he was feeling was tearing him apart.

Instinctively she grasped him by the shoulders and shook him.

“John! John! Wake up,” she said.

“No! No!” he screamed, “I refuse!”

He was still wrapped up inside of the horror of the dream. She shook him harder.

“John, wake up!”

“No! Leave me alone!” he cried, now moving his arms in violent arcs as if fighting off invisible attackers.

Christina jumped upon the bed and straddled over him. She held his flaying arms flat against the mattress. He squirmed under her hold. She tried to think of how to wake him from this deep dream. She had to pull him out of it.

A memory from her childhood flashed though her mind. It was so long ago. She was a child; a little girl sitting up in her bed in the cottage where she lived with her mother and father. She had woken crying and screaming from a nightmare where she had been chased by wolves through the forest near her home. As she ran, the wolves got closer and closer to her, nipping at her long nightgown. Slowly they tugged at the material and slowed her down so the other members of the pack could catch up to her. They tore at her nightgown and then began tearing at her skin. She began to scream.

Her father came into the room and woke her. He hugged her and kissed her forehead and cheeks with warm soft kisses. He made her feel safe from the dream. He told her she would stay with her through the night to make sure the wolves would not return. When she awoke that morning, he lay next to her on the tiny bed.

She remembered the way she felt that morning when she had awoken. The magical feeling she had that she was safe and would always be so because her father loved her and protected her. She could not recall ever feeling so safe and loved as she had at that moment. In fact, she had completely forgotten about that day and the feelings that were associated with it and she had never felt that way again. There was a pang in her heart when she realized she had not known that pure love and safe feeling from anyone again.

She was intrigued and surprised that this thought had arisen from the dark depths of her innermost thoughts. Feelings for her had been reduced to basic animal needs such as food, shelter, and survival. She embellished the rising of the memory and relaxed her mind as she tried to place herself back into that little girl’s body. She wanted to feel that way again—just for a moment—just for an instant she wanted to remember what love was.

She felt her father’s heavy broad arms wrap around her like a blanket bringing with it immediate warmth that shut out the cold. She felt his breath upon her skin as he soothed her with words and thoughts of happy things. She felt his kisses upon her moist cheeks where there had been tears of fear and imagined pain. He rocked her back and forth with a soothing motion that drove away all the bad thoughts and memories of the dream. Words failed to come to her on how to express or describe what she felt. Simply all she could do was know that she felt safe—she felt protected and she felt loved.