***
Anna and her newlywed husband Lukas were hopelessly lost in Paris on their honeymoon. They had taken their own carriage with a team of four horses from Lausanne to Paris. Their driver Horst had never been there before. Accompanying them were Anna’s personal maid Liridona and her brother Andre who by now was twenty years old. The street they were on was a dimly lit one in a very seedy looking part of the city. They had just passed a small shop with a garish looking yellow storefront. Horst saw a figure standing at the entrance to an alleyway that looked like a man watching them. He hailed the man asking for directions to get to the Champs Elysees, but got no response. Andre got out of the carriage, crossed the street and approached the man, asking again for directions. The onlookers in the carriage were horrified to see the shadowy figure dart at a blinding speed toward Andre and leap on him, biting his neck.
Horst and Lukas jumped from the carriage and ran to the two. Lukas tried to pull the thing from Andre, hearing a sucking sound as he got there. A cold chill ran down his back at the sound that the thing made. It simply backhanded Lukas and knocked him sprawling even as its head darted downward and it again fastened itself to Andres’ neck.
Horst pulled a pocket pistol from his jacket pocket and cocking it, shot the thing in its head. It screamed and fell off of Andre and threshed about on the pavement making movements which their eyes could barely follow. They helped Andre into the carriage and Horst vaulted up as fast as he could to the driver’s seat and got the team moving as fast as possible to put some distance between them and the thing writhing on the cobblestones.
They drove for several minutes until Horst saw a building which he thought was familiar. He turned the horses toward it on a side street and as they passed by, they saw the way to the Champs Elysees. Within some ten minutes they were at their hotel. They all rushed in, half carrying Andre. The concierge sent the valet on duty to find a doctor.
In some forty minutes a doctor arrived at their suite. He examined Andre and said that he had lost a little blood, but not enough to account for his being unconscious. Shaking his head he advised them that if he didn’t wake up in the morning to take him to a hospital where he was a member of the staff. Giving them the address he departed.
***
Ian and Alandra had been resting by the fireplace. She had fallen asleep and he had lain watching her as he often loved to do.
Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. It persisted as Ian got up and put on some trousers and a shirt at vampire speed. Taking a blanket, he covered Alandra who was now awakening. He opened the door to see Anna standing there, tears streaming from her eyes. “Ian, come quickly. Andre has been attacked! He was bitten on his neck by some man. Please come now!”
Not intending to leave Alandra Ian replied “Where did this happen?”
“On some street not too far from here. Hurry, he’s unconscious!”
“Come in, and you needn’t worry. I want you to meet my wife, Alandra. Alandra, this is Anna Eschmann.” The two exchanged greetings. Ian said “Where is Andre now?”
“In our suite in this building.”
“Who else knows about this?”
“Just my husband, our driver, and our maid. Oh, I did have the concierge get a doctor.”
Ian raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“He looked at Andre and said that he couldn’t understand why he was still unconscious. I came hoping that one of you might be here.”
“You did the right thing. You tell your husband that I’m a health specialist who happened to be using Henri’s suite. I’ll bring Andre here. You needn’t worry. He’s even now becoming as I am. I’ll care for him until he makes the transition. Alandra, can you wait here for a few minutes?”
She sat wrapped in a blanket in front of the fireplace in a large chair and nodding her head “Yes, go now and help him.”
“We’ll return here shortly then.” He walked to her and kissed her and took the key and locked the door behind himself after he and Anna went out. They walked along the opulent corridors toward the suite the Eschmanns had rented.
“I’m really sorry to bring this to you, Ian. I was just so afraid and I thought one of you could help.”
“You did the right thing. All that I’m concerned about now is helping him to make the transition in the best way.”
“How long will that take?”
“Three weeks. Everything that is done in that time is critical to him forever. I’m going to have to get him out of Paris shortly though; maybe tomorrow or the next day. Your part of this is to keep the driver and your husband ignorant of what has really happened. You’ll tell them that I’m familiar with the type of disease that makes people turn mad and attack others and I have a colleague here who has treated its victims before. Tell them that Andre will recover. Can you do that?”
“Yes.” The two walked wordlessly for a bit and then she spoke. “Ian, your wife….she’s lovely. How did you meet?”
“We met years before I met you, even before I met Cosette, when I was still human.”
“Did you…did you love her then?”
“Yes. After I became infected and changed, I gave up on the idea of us ever having a life together.” He looked at her then as they walked and said “I feared her reaction if I told her what I’d become.”
She was silent as they walked, and looked down shame-faced, saying “I’m only too familiar with your fears in that regard.”
“You know, it’s because you sent me away that I finally ended up learning that she’d never married. I told her everything about myself then and she didn’t care. She loves me as I am. That she and I are married is something that is in part thanks to you. I want to thank you for that, and I do hope that you’re happy with your life now.”
They had arrived at the door to Anna’s suite and she turned to him and said “I am happy, Ian, and I’m so sorry that I drove you away and hurt you. I’ve hurt for years over that, and with you saying this, I’m finally healed of that guilt. I have a fine husband and two little girls that I love dearly. I’m very happy now.” She stepped close to him then and they hugged each other for a bit.
Then she said “Thank you, love. This means more to me than you can know.” Taking her key out she opened the door to their suite. They passed through the main parlor area to a bedroom to find Lukas Eschmann, the driver, and Liridona all seated around the bed where Andre lay.
Anna introduced Ian to her husband and to the driver. Liridona came to Ian weeping and took both of his hands saying “Ian, can you save my brother?”
“Yes, Liri. He’ll recover soon. I’ll take him with me to our suite. We’ll be moving to another place outside of the city shortly.”
In the privacy of his suite, Ian took one of his four flasks and holding it to Andre’s mouth, he poured a bit in. Andre seemed non-responsive at first, and then he swallowed it. Ian kept giving it to him until it was all gone. Andre opened his eyes. Ian spoke to him then saying “Andre, I’m Ian. Do you remember me?
“Yes…yes. Hello Ian.” he said with a weak smile.
“You’ve been bitten by a vampire and you’re now becoming one because you once took my blood. I’m going to be staying with you for the next three weeks or so until you’re past this stage. You must do everything that I tell you to do. Do you understand?
“Yes. Ian, am I going to… you know… be like…?”
“Yes, you’re going to be like me. I’ll see to it that this goes well as best I’m able. I’ll be with you the entire time.”
Chapter 83
Two days later, Ian arrived at the dilapidated house that was within two miles of the Angel’s Care orphanage near Paris. With him in the carriage were Alandra, Louis, Celeste, and Andre
Soon they set about making the place more habitable. Food, bedding, and blankets were brought in.
“Alandra, you are to stay with Louis and Celeste at Henri and Marie
’s suite. Don’t go anywhere alone, ever. None are to go out at night until we know more, just to be safe. Unless some of the others come I will be here for the whole time.. I’ll need powder and lead balls because we’re going to be doing some shooting here.”
“Ian, I’ll stay here with you two.”
“Lass, it won’t be too comfortable here. It’s cool weather to be bathing in a stream. I have to teach Andre how to bleed game too.”
“I don’t care, Ian. I’m staying and that is that. What do you think that bag is for?” she said, pointing to a large piece of luggage.
Smiling then he nodded and said “Of course you are, love.” and he pulled her close and kissed her. To Celeste and Louis he said “You two keep your eyes open and I want to know if anyone in Anna’s group can tell me anything about the place where it happened; anything at all that might make it possible for me to find the place. If you get any information from them at all, ask the concierge if he knows of the place
“Do you think Marie and Henri are going to be here anytime soon?”
“The courier won’t make the chateau before tomorrow, so the earliest could be two to three days if they come on foot. As long as there are no other vampires in this vicinity that want to stay here I’ll have no trouble. No one is to come around here if they’ll be traveling after dark, understand?”
“Yes.” said Louis, and Celeste nodded.
Turning to Andre, Ian said “Lad, get your shirt and pants off. You are going to be getting a lot of sunshine for a while.”
***
Three days later there was a knock at the door to Henri and Marie’s apartment suite. Mustafa walked to the door to answer it. He opened it to see a lovely tall and willowy lady with dark hair and large pretty hazel colored eyes. She curtsied and said “Bon jour, monsieur. I am Liridona Amsler, Madame Eschmann’s maid. May I speak to someone regarding my brother, Andre?” Mustafa took her hand with a smile and bent to kiss it, saying “Enchante’ mademoiselle.” Using his new alias he said “And I am Maurice Garnier, at your service. Please do come in.”
Liridona blushed and Mustafa thought he’d never seen anything more captivating in his life. Being a domestic in plain attire, she was not accustomed to being so gallantly treated by such people as this tall, dark well-dressed man. Showing her in, he took her to a sofa and bid her wait until he could get the others.
Shortly Henri, Marie, Louis, Celeste, Li, and Sophia appeared with him. All of them including the three women were carrying rucksacks that were bulging with unknown contents. From their clothing it appeared that they were going to some sort of an outdoor event.
She stood then, saying “Pardon me all, but I’m Liridona, the sister of Andre. I was wondering if I could come see him. Madame Eschmann has excused me for today and tomorrow.”
Henri and Marie exchanged looks. Mustafa made introductions all around and Henri said “Andre is in good hands, Mademoiselle. What exactly do you want to know?”
“Please call me Liri. I only want to see him and to know that he is well.”
Henri and Marie again exchanged looks. Henri shrugged, and said “If you can show Marie and me where this happened, we’ll take you to see your brother.”
“I’ll try Monsieur Lafayette.”
“Very well; let’s be going then.” They left the place then and at the staircase, Mustafa offered his arm to Liridona as she started down. Again, she was only used to following her employers, not to being treated so gallantly. Liridona blushed and she found herself liking his attention very much. And she couldn’t help but notice how handsome Mustafa was when he smiled, which was every time he looked her way.
They came to the carriage and supply wagon and Henri said “We’ll split up here, and meet at the house near Angel’s Care. Marie, Sophia and I’ll go with Liridona to try to find this place. You others take the wagon and supplies to the house.”
Marie cleared her throat and looking at Mustafa and Liridona, saw that she still had her arm linked through his. She said “Maurice, why don’t you come with us then?”
Sophia spoke then saying “I’ll go with Li.”
Mustafa brightened noticeably and escorted Liridona to the large carriage.
Within the hour, they had found a seedy looking garish yellow building with peeling paint in a seedy district. Liridona pointed to an alley about a block away and said “That thing was standing there when we drove up and asked for help to find our way.” Henri had the driver stop while he looked ahead at the place. Then he said “Drive forward at a normal pace. Don’t slow down.”
They passed the place and the alley had two three story buildings flanking it. There were some windows in each building. There was no sign of life in the alleyway. Henri had the driver go to the right at the next intersection and they passed the alleyway again as they returned by way of the next street over. There were two more large buildings that were four stories tall flanking the alleyway. Two pairs of vampire’s eyes in the coach took in every detail of the place including how best to climb up the walls, the handholds, number of windows and even how steep the roof was. The surrounding neighborhood was taken in one thorough sweep. Areas affording cover, entrances, and exits were all noted too. There was no doubt now that they could find this place again on the darkest night.
Henri spoke “Very well, Liridona, you’ve lived up to your part of the bargain. Now we’ll tell you something and you’ll have a choice of going back to the hotel and forgetting about this place and of our coming here with you. Or you can come and see your brother now.” Here he stopped and locked his eyes on hers and leaned toward her a bit for emphasis.
“If you come now to see your brother, your life will forever be altered. There is no going back to this moment. You may not reveal what you see upon pain of death. You, your brother, Anna, Lukas, his two daughters, and all of the domestic staff of both the Fellmans and the Eschmann’s will die if you talk about this to anyone.” Marie leaned toward Liridona and locked her eyes upon Liridona’s eyes and said “Don’t make this commitment lightly because I assure you that we don’t take it lightly. Do you understand?”
Liridona looked from Henri to Marie. She saw no hostility, but only a steady somber gaze from all, including Maurice. “You’re Ian’s people, are you not?”
“We are.”
“Then that’s good enough for me. He’s very kind and very wise. You have my word that I’ll keep everything about this a secret upon pain of death.” Henri leaned out the window and gave the driver directions to the abandoned house.
***
Liridona ran to her brother as soon as she got down from the carriage. He swept her up off her feet like she weighed nothing and it took her breath away. “Andre, you’re so strong!”
“I was sick earlier today, but am better now. Ian has already started my conditioning.”
She turned to Ian and stepping forward took both of his hands and kissed them. Looking at him tearfully then she said “Ian, I’m forever in your debt. I am so grateful for your kindness.”
“Nonsense, Liri. Others were only too kind in my time of need. I can’t forget that and I only want the best for Andre. Don’t give it another thought.”
“He is alive today because of you Ian, and we’ll never forget that. What is this ‘conditioning’?”
“Marie and Henri will explain everything. I have to take Andre hunting now. We’ll return after a while.” The two turned and bounded away into the woods in two leaps. Liridona gasped and turned to the others. Celeste and Alandra came to her and each put an arm around her. Alandra said “Liridona, we’re new to this too, so we’ll all learn together.”
Chapter 84
The imprinting went well enough and Andre was kept busy and out in daylight wearing only short pants as often as possible even on rainy days. He trained regularly with pistol and musket learning to reload properly and as rapidly as possible. Swordsmanship and knife fighting were a p
art of his regimen and he was forced to use his left hand much of the time to develop ambidexterity. Hand to hand combat was brought into his routine in just a few days and remained a part of the program.
Li and Sophia had joined them on the fifth day and Li took over the training much of the time to relieve Ian. The three women were astounded by the intensity of the training and they got to see firsthand when Andre would suffer a painful bout as he imprinted the tolerances he would have forever.
Li and Sophia went to investigate the neighborhood where Andre was attacked. They alternated with Ian and Henri on the night time surveillance, much of it done from the rooftops of nearby buildings. Alandra looked nervous when it came time for Ian to go at night the first time, but he reassured her that he and Henri were only gathering information on the location and strength of the coven.
Andre was counseled regarding his making love to a human and what he could and could not do. Li and Henri took turns taking Andre to one of the better brothels in Paris so that he wouldn’t become impotent. After the second visit to the brothel, he took up with one who was older by a good eight years, yet seemed to brighten each time she saw him in the room where the gentlemen waited. He became her regular for the allotted time of about two weeks. Ian was glad to be able to get out of taking him, but he did remind Alandra about what male vampires have to do to preserve their libido. Being too embarrassed to explain it to Celeste and Liridona, he was glad that Marie educated the two on the subject.
By now they had spent enough nights watching the area where the coven lived that they had narrowed down their choice to one three-story building. On the roof of that building, Ian had found a roof access that was not even locked from the inside. He thought that the vampires used it at times to leave or get back inside if they wanted to avoid using a street level entrance. Most such rooftop accesses in buildings inhabited by humans would be locked to prevent curious children from going there.
One night he entered it and took the stairs down to a door which he opened carefully. The stairs didn’t squeak and the door opened silently. There appeared to be two doors at street level. The street level windows were all equipped with heavy wrought iron bars. There was no visible external entrance door to any cellar if a cellar existed.