Angus said “But were the giants not all drowned in the flood?”
“Yes, but the Bible doesn’t say who the three sons of Noah were married to. After the flood, the Bible does show that all of the giants recorded after that were descended from the line of Ham, youngest son of Noah. I’ve long thought that maybe the wife of Ham might have come from the line of Cain. She might have been descended from one of the fallen ones and became the means by which the seed of the giants made it through the flood. She might have been a carrier of the vampire seed some way. There are several references to giants after the flood, in the time of Moses and in the time of King David too.”
Angus nodded, saying “I’ll have to read all of that again.”
“It may be that the first vampire was born to someone descended from Ham. As I said, all of the giants are recorded as descendants of Ham.”
There was silence as everyone thought about that and then Angus spoke. “You know, it may be that after the flood there were changes in the air. People didn’t live as long as they did before the flood.”
Marie said “Maybe that is when vampires began to burn when exposed to direct sunlight. It might be that there was no direct sunlight before the flood? There are three verses in the first chapter of Genesis that say the firmament was called heaven and that the firmament separated the waters above from the waters below. That was on the second day of the creation. I have wondered if there was a layer of water surrounding the earth, maybe a layer of permanent cloud cover. That would have dissolved as a rainfall lasting forty days when the flood started, and not to mention that there were great underwater reservoirs that burst forth to add to the flood of rainfall. The truth is, none of us knows the answer to the riddle of our true origin.”
“What of the stories such as that you vampires can’t come into a building unless invited?” asked Armando.
“Nonsense.”
“What about not being able to see your reflection in a mirror?”
Primping her hair and making as if she was combing it and straightening her collar, Marie said with an impish look “Mon Dieu! A fate worse than death! However would I stay pretty enough to keep Henri happy?” At this all laughed heartily, especially Henri, who said “You’d be beautiful to me if only wearing a feed sack.” At this she leaned over on the sofa to kiss him tenderly. Then she continued “And you can put away all that other nonsense such as having fangs which suddenly appear. We are quite strong enough to easily bite to feed if we don’t have our knives and bowls handy. And forget about wearing garlic to keep us away, or raising a cross to repel us, or that we can be killed only by driving a wooden stake through our hearts.”
Armando said “that one was always a favorite of mine” as everyone laughed.
“There are other tales too, such as that we can’t cross running water. Those are fables and old wives’ tales. However, such silliness has its usefulness. It makes us all the more unbelievable, and that is one key to our being able to remain unknown.”
“Is it really necessary to be so secretive though?”
Henri replied “Wide-scale exposure of our existence would eventually result in human carnage on a scale not to be believed. It would result in the worst war in history, and one that would never end.”
Armando asked “Why is that?”
“Once it became known among our kind that we were targeted for extermination, vampires everywhere would begin to make humans cross over by force to swell our numbers. Those of us who customarily shun human contact might begin to kill humans. It would be a world-wide nightmare without end.” Angus and the others exchanged somber looks, shaking their heads.
***
Eduardo Vasquez sat with his wife on the portico, overlooking Barcelona and the Mediterranean. They discussed Alandra who hadn’t eaten, and was content to lie in bed all day. She rarely came from her room and had little to say to either one of her parents. Even Celita couldn’t comfort her it seemed. They were distressed. Eduardo still believed that keeping the facts of Ian’s being found alive from Alandra would be best for them all in the long run. But it was hard to cope with his wife being so grieved too. He dared not tell her, for fear that she would tell Alandra, who was headstrong enough already. If she knew for sure that this Ian fellow was alive and well, she would move heaven and earth to get permission to travel to Marseille. He would have a hard time refusing her as he knew from experience.
Considering the options there seemed to him to be but one. He would hold to his original plan. Taking his wife’s hands he said “I think we should proceed with the beginning of the betrothal. We should take up where we were before all of this happened. The preparations for the trip and the change of scenery will work to help distract Alandra from her miserable state. She’s bright and naturally curious and loves to sail now.”
His wife looked tiredly at him, and agreed. They would send word to the Rodriguez family and reschedule their visit. The Rodriguez family had to come to their place too in order to conform to custom, so it would be best for all concerned to proceed as soon as possible.
Eduardo sat thinking Best we be away as soon as possible because news of Ian McCloud’s being alive and well might be spoken of where Alandra would hear of it. Almeria is much further away, closer to Morocco than to France. The further away from this McCloud fellow the better he thought. The sooner Alandra is betrothed the better.
He felt better already, having made the decision and getting his wife behind it. Things would soon improve, of that he was sure.
Chapter 24
The buildings with an occasional lighted window blurred past at an astonishing speed. Mimi was terrified, but bound and gagged. Tears of fright streaked her face as the wind roared in her ears. Suddenly she was aware of a sharp turn from the road and shortly after that, a sudden leap upwards to land softly. The gable of a house loomed overhead in the darkness. She was stuffed through an opening and then dropped a short distance to a floor in a darkened attic.
The vampire picked her up quickly and leaped down a flight of stairs. Taking a key from a pocket, he then unlocked a door and leaped down another flight of steps to land in a dank basement. An oil lamp sat in a corner on the floor, giving off a dim light. He carried her to an iron-barred partition and dropped her on the dirt floor. Fishing a key from his pocket, he opened an iron barred door and then picked Mimi up and sat her down inside of the cell. Producing a knife he cut the cords binding her and removed her gag.
He turned and in a flash had reached into a basket sitting in a corner and returned with several apples which he tossed into the cell. He then locked the door and flitted up the stairs like wind-blown smoke. The door at the top of the stairs was slammed and the key could be heard turning the lock. Then it was silent, except for her breathing.
Her eyes adjusted to the dark and she took stock of her surroundings. Mimi sat staring at a huddled shape in the corner. The shape moved, separated. She recoiled in terror as chills ran down her spine. A sweet voice said “Hello Mimi. Don’t be afraid. I am Celeste.”
***
Two days had passed after Angus and Armando had gone to Marseille. Ian had had two spells where he felt faint and his bones seemed to ache. They were less severe than earlier ones had been. Li had said something to Ian one day at the breakfast table that stunned everyone. He had suggested that Ian try to learn to do as many things left-handed as he could while he was imprinting. There was silence for several seconds after he said it. Eyebrows were raised, and then Ian said “By heaven, why didn’t I think of that?” Henri, Marie and Cosette then chimed in enthusiastically.
Ian had started doing things left-handed that very day, and had gotten good at some things already. He resolved to especially train himself at both swordsmanship and firearms operation from then on, but would do as many things as possible with his left hand, including handwriting. He was surprised to see how rapidly he was able to make the transition
<
br /> Ian and Li had been teaching Kung Fu principals to Cosette and Henri. Both had taken well to it. Marie participated now and then, but was preoccupied with arranging the wedding. Henri wisely kept out of that unless specifically asked. A good deal of time was spent on how to defend against a knife when only the enemy has one. Li was thorough and Ian did the drills with Cosette and Henri. In this way, Li couldn’t be hurt. An added bonus was that all techniques could be done at vampire speed.
Even though he had now become somewhat accustomed to seeing unbelievable things done by vampires, Li was still stupefied at the blinding speed displayed during practice. He thought long and hard about how it would feel to have such superhuman speed and power. He weighed not being able to be in sunlight and having to always conceal his vampirism. It occupied his thoughts a lot that day. Ian could sense that Li was distracted by something. He resolved to hold his peace until his friend came to him.
Marie would come and partner with Cosette at times when she could get away from her planning. She had let some of her correspondence pile up due to the press to get so much done in the time leading up to the wedding.
Li asked Ian privately one day if he could be brought over to become a vampire. Ian was stunned, talking with Li about it for the rest of that day, probing him. He was adamant, saying he had no family and could not expect to return to what was considered a normal life in China as long as the Triads were looking for him. Ian finally agreed to put it to Henri and Marie that evening.
After supper, they settled in the parlor. Ian sat next to Cosette on a settee, and Marie sat next to Henri on a sofa. Henri had been talking about banking and finance which all but Li thought was interesting.
Ian said “I have something that affects us all that I need to put before you this evening.” All looked towards him. Continuing on, he said “Li approached me today about crossing over to become one of us.”
There was silence in the room as eyebrows were raised. The grandfather clock in the grand foyer chimed the hour. Marie and Cosette looked to Henri for his reply. He stood and paced a bit, looking at Li as if able to read his thoughts.
Marie asked Li “Are you sure about this, Li? You know the penalty for feeding on humans. We would bring to bear all necessary resources if you ever transgressed that rule.”
Ian spoke then saying “I’ll stand to answer for anything that Li does, whether good or bad.”
Li said “I would never do that. I’ve learned much in these days with all of you in this household. But I learned more about love while here than anything else. With my time aboard Elsie’s Cloud as a crewman and being here, I would have to say that this is as close to a family as I will ever have.”
At this Marie stood and walked to Li, hugging him, and was joined by Cosette who also put her arms around him. Li was silent, but he was moved by their acceptance and affection. He continued “I have loved my life as a member of Elsie’s crew, but I believe that my fate is linked to Ian. You know my story and how I came to be a crewman?”
Everybody nodded signifying that they knew his testimony. It was quiet, and the grandfather clock ticking in the grand foyer made the only sounds. Finally Ian said “Li could have approached me later on and not shared his desire with anyone else, but it was his choice to do it this way now.”
As Marie and Cosette returned to their seats, Henri finally said “We usually only bring someone to cross over to save their life, and then only if we know the person and their behavior and reputation. But we’ve considered Alyssa, haven’t we Marie?”
“Yes, we have. She’s in Paris now by the way, Henri. But in my mind, she is still a candidate should she not marry.”
“Yes, she is” he said, taking his seat again next to Marie on the sofa.
Ian then spoke saying “What about you, Cosette?”
Cosette paused dramatically and stood up again. She then said very gravely “My only objection is that if Li crosses over, I would then likely become the worst marksman in this house.” At that she smiled brilliantly and raucous laughter erupted in the group. Marie laughed uncontrollably, and simply buried her head against Henri’s shoulder, her shoulders shaking with mirth. Even the stoic Li laughed hard at that one. Cosette hugged him and sat down.
Henri laughingly said “Then I think we’ve settled the matter. Do we do it now or wait until after the wedding?” Marie having stopped laughing said “Is there any reason to delay?” Everyone looked around at each other and there were no objections.
Henri said “Li, we can do this tonight or wait and let you have all the time you want to decide. You may not do as well as Ian did regarding tolerance to sunlight. That’s a consideration to weigh.”
“I’ll do it at your convenience whether tonight or when you want it to happen.”
Henri did the honors as the family watched. They resumed talking about the wedding as Li stayed under Marie’s watchful eye for the first two hours. He had lapsed into unconsciousness. Ian and Cosette agreed to stay near him all night. The three of them spent the rest of the night in the room which Ian had spent his first night at the chateau. Li had awakened during the night and was nourished with rabbit’s blood. Before dawn, he had his first seizure and was again given blood.
Chapter 25
Inspector Rousseau dismounted from his horse at the Angel’s Care orphanage. This was the second report of a missing child from the place in a short span, maybe only days it seemed. He would consult his notes on that point.
Speaking to the headmistress, he was conducted to the dormitory where the girl had been assigned to sleep. Walking about the large room he could see no sign of any foul play. He stopped then at the end wall, remembering the broken window up high. Looking up, he saw that the glass had been replaced. The window was shut, but looking more closely, he did see that the latch was still missing. The window was closed tight however. He decided to question the staff however, so he asked the headmistress to arrange it so that he could interview them one at a time. She made her own office available and the interviews commenced soon thereafter.
After some two hours, he had talked to everyone on staff including the cook and custodian. It was all to no avail. It seemed that the child had vanished overnight according to all that he could discern. Supposedly she had been accounted for at bed time. He wondered at that though, because there were several members of the staff absent, having bad colds. They were forbidden to be at work if sick by the charity’s founder, Madame Marie Lafayette. He speculated that the staff being cut down to a little above half of their normal strength the past week might have been tired enough to have missed one child or even forgotten or omitted the roll call at bed time. He knew the name Lafayette by reputation as one of the greatest benefactors for children’s causes in all of France.
It seemed likely that the child had deliberately run away and that the staff had possibly covered it up to cover their own laxity. There was no foul play, just one orphan missing among the hundreds living in Marseille alone. He had seen children in abysmal conditions passing through the worst areas of the city, and he pitied them. He would make no trouble for these overworked people. That would end up making it worse for all of the children there in the end, wouldn’t it? That is the nature of government he thought. Someone would do something to say that they had acted and as likely as not, it would be the wrong thing. This orphanage was cleaner and better run than any he was aware of. Most were dreadful. He resolved to report accordingly so as to blame no one officially. It would do his career no good to agitate a family like the Lafayettes either.
The headmistress made a report and filed it properly as she had for the first girl. She also wrote a letter to Marie and put it where the outgoing correspondence was waiting for the weekly courier to take it to Madame Lafayette.
***
Ian and Li sat in Marie’s kitchen, sampling the large selection of fruits and other food that she had prepared. They decided to go out be
yond the barn where Ian would instruct Li in swordsmanship. They worked at that for some three hours in full sunlight. Neither was affected. Li reminded Ian again that he needed to spend more time doing his stretching while he was imprinting. He and Ian both worked diligently with their left hands while exercising with the wooden sabers. Li had another weak spell and Ian helped him to drink. In under a half hour he recovered. His bones had ached and his skin and knees felt inflamed. Henri came and joined them after sending some dispatches via one of their couriers. He told them that Marie was going through her neglected mail now, and that she would join them soon. She and Cosette wanted to practice some Kung Fu. Henri suggested that they all go horseback riding that afternoon. They had decided to go get the pistols and work with them for a while, when Marie came running out at human speed.
She said “I’m going to Marseille today. A child is missing from our orphanage, Henri. It doesn’t seem…right somehow. I can go to see Angus and see the work being done on Elsie while I’m there. Cosette wants to come along and see the ship. I have sent for the largest carriage in case someone wants to come with us.” She then went back to the house at a run, Henri with her.
Ian and Li went to the rabbit pen and within twenty minutes they had topped up five flasks with fresh blood.
Within a half hour the five of them were on their way to Marseille. The ride there was uneventful, and passed quickly with Marie distracted. Once when Cosette playfully tousled Ian’s hair and kissed him, Marie stared right at him and said “Ian, we must do something about your hair. You must have been hacking at it with a knife. Why did you do that?”
“I first started to cut it while in the Far East. It is very humid in that part of the world in warm weather. I just wanted to have an easier time of keeping it clean. I hardly wore any clothing while in that part of the world. It was so humid.”
“Your hair can’t regrow to a traditional shoulder length in the remaining time of your imprinting. We must trim it. Whatever we do to it will be the way it will look forever. We’ll attend to that at the soonest possible time. You and Li must attend to your nails too. You want them to be trimmed short so they will never be a bother for the rest of your lives, and don’t forget your toenails either.”