THIRTY-ONE

“What do you mean the building is on fire?” I asked as I ran to the window and pulled the drapes aside. On the street below, people were filing out the doors, some coughing and gagging, some crying.

Aloysius grabbed Jose Luis from the bed and started out the door with him in his arms. Aaron grabbed my hand and pulled me from where I stood as if I were glued to the floor. “Where to?” he yelled to Aloysius as they ran down the hall.

“To the beach,” Aloysius yelled back, already running down the stairs. “With Jose Luis in this condition, we can’t risk contact with any of the other tenants. Everyone was told to meet there.”

“Where are Lucia and the children?” I yelled to them. Sirens blared in the distance.

“Lucia was still home. They are with Mateo and the others. They should already be out of the building,” Aloysius said as he touched the doorknob on the front door. “It’s ok, not hot. I think the fire is below. We have to use the staircase.”

“You should’ve let me jump from Jose Luis’s room,” I said as I fought to see through the dark smoke already making its way into the hall.

“And risk people seeing?” Aloysius said.

“Can’t we teleport, or whatever it is you do?” I asked. There had to be an easier and quicker way.

“Again, we can’t risk people seeing. It’s a nice morning. People will most likely be on the beach. We can’t just appear there.” He grabbed the door to the stairwell and pulled it, running through. Aaron caught it before it closed and pulled me through it.

“When we get outside, slow down in front of the people gathered on the street. Once we’re away from them, who cares, run like the wind,” Aaron said as we rounded the landing and started down another flight.

As we reached the front doors of the building, the fire trucks were just pulling up. People gathered outside, their arms around each other, crying and looking up at the skyscraper they called home. A few people sat on the sidewalk, coughing into handkerchiefs or their arms. A little girl hugged her dog against her chest, her mom holding the back of her shirt to keep her close.

Paramedics exited their vehicles and looked around the crowd, taking a few of the coughing people and ushering them to waiting ambulances. The police worked to get the people to safety by holding traffic so they could cross the street. I looked through the chaos but saw none of our party save for Giovanni. He was the only one waiting for us.

“Señor, the child,” a short, thin paramedic stopped next to Aloysius and looked over Jose Luis. I bit my lip but Aloysius remained calm.

“He is fine. He’s just sick and his medication makes him tired. The smoke did not affect him,” Aloysius explained in perfect Spanish before the man nodded and moved on to someone else.

As soon as we were away from the crowd, we ran full speed down the hill toward the beach. As we approached the spot Aloysius had designated as the meeting place, Jose Luis lifted his head.

“What is happening?” he asked with a raspy voice. I ran to his side.

“It’s ok, my love,” I assured him. “Everything will be ok. It was just a small fire in our building. We’re on the beach.”

Mateo approached as we neared the spot and took Jose Luis from Aloysius’s arms, setting him down on a blanket spread on the sand. Jose Luis closed his eyes again.

“Where are Lucia and the children?” I asked. I dropped to my knees next to an unconscious Jose Luis.

“Margarita took them so they wouldn’t see Jose Luis like this. She’s getting them breakfast in town,” he explained.

Kalia and Fiore sat down next to me and Kalia put her arm around my shoulders. “Why is he unconscious again? He was just awake and talking,” I asked.

“It’s nothing. It happens sometimes. His body just wasn’t ready yet but he probably woke up because of being jostled around. He’ll awaken for good when he’s ready.”

That made sense and if Kalia was saying it, I believed it. As I looked around the surprisingly deserted beach, I noticed movement in the distance. Three figures approached, taking their time.

“Who are they?” I asked no one in particular as I pointed in the strangers’ direction.

“Probably people out for an early morning stroll. They’ll just pass, I’m sure,” Aloysius explained but his eyes narrowed.

“Something’s wrong,” I whispered as a chill ran down my spine. I looked up to see how far the strangers had gotten and in what seemed like an instant, a beautiful, dark haired woman appeared before us. Mariana. The supposed bodyguard we had previously used.

“What a beautiful day for the beach, don’t you think so?” She smiled at us as if she were part of the family. “Mateo, my dear, aren’t you going to kiss me hello? I’ve missed you so much.”

Mateo stood stock still, his mouth open but no sound came out. Fiore and Kalia placed themselves in front of Jose Luis. Aaron took heed and did the same. Only Aloysius took a fight stance, his knees bent, his fangs out, and his pupils shining red.

“Oh, please, quit with the dramatics, will you?” Mariana looked at Aloysius and laughed, tucking her long black hair behind her ears, her dark eyes still glued on Mateo. “It just doesn’t suit you.”

“What do you want?” I asked and, for the first time since they approached, looked at her companions. Arturo stood next to Mariana and on her other side was their human servant, Maria. Both had blank looks on their faces.

“You know what we want,” Mariana looked at me and motioned behind me. “We came for the boy.”

“Absolutely not!” Aloysius yelled. “Melinda gave him back to us. Why would she suddenly take him back?”

“Personally, that is none of my business so I didn’t ask. I was given an order and I’m going to follow it. I’m just doing my job,” she said with a seductive smile in Mateo’s direction. “Baby, I think you should come work with us. It’s much more fun than working for this dried up vampire and the benefits are definitely worth it.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Work for whom?” Mateo finally got words out of his mouth.

“And who are you calling dried up?” Aloysius added.

“One question at a time, please,” her voice was sickeningly sweet. “Melinda, of course. And you know I was referring to you, Aloysius. You’ve lost your power over this city. I suggest moving on. Lima has a new ruler now.”

Mateo moved forward a few steps. His eyes softened when they reached her face. “Mariana, why are you doing this? I thought we loved each other.”

“You loved me,” she said without an ounce of compassion in her voice. “There’s a difference.”

“How can you say that? You didn’t spend all those years with me and not love me,” Mateo pleaded. I looked around and everyone stared at Mariana in disbelief at her cruelty.

“That’s the difference between you and me. You are so trusting and gullible you believe anyone. You even believed me when I said I’d give you what you want,” She laughed again and took a step backward, away from Mateo. “It was never my intention to give you immortality.”

“You said it was. You promised!” Mateo yelled finally losing his composure.

“No, sweet, sweet Matthew,” she smiled again and I saw red. “If you think back on our conversations, it was you doing all the talking. I just listened and nodded to whatever spewed out of your mouth. I never came right out and said I would turn you.”

“So why did you stay with me for so long?”

“Because I found you quite entertaining. You amused me, and…” She bit her lip like a shy school girl. “You were great in bed. Like it or not, you are not my only one, right Arturo?” She gave him a flirty smile. We all looked at Arturo in time to see him stiffen. Mariana winked at him.

“Mateo, let her go,” I said tearing my eyes away from Arturo. “She is not worth it. You will be turned by someone much better and much more powerful than her.”

Mariana laughed and turned to me. “How sweet that you all took him in and made him one of your own. But tell me, just what kind of vampire do you honestly think our boy here will make?”

“A damned good and loyal one, unlike you, Mariana,” Aloysius offered.

“Wrong. Just look at him,” she waved her hand over Mateo’s body as if he were nothing more than an exhibit. “He’s a cop, for Christ’s sake. What is he going to do, feed off animals or blood banks for the rest of his existence? Is he going to ask politely for blood instead of just taking it like a normal vampire? Now I have honestly had about enough of this. Just hand over the boy and we’ll be on our way. You’ll be free to return to your lovely apartment. The fire was only confined to the storage area and the garage.”

“You started the fire?” Kalia asked.

“Maria was the star of that show. As a non-threatening human, no one questioned her when she entered the garage. Not even your beloved doorman. It was necessary to flush you all out without the humans interfering, not to mention Tomas’s family.”

I turned to look at Maria just as she turned and ran away down the beach. “Seriously?” Mariana rolled her eyes. “Useless human. Now, are you going to give me the kid or do I have to take him by force?”

“Malinda gave him back. She gave me her word that she wouldn’t stop us from leaving that day. Why now?” I asked.

“She said you could take him from her then. She never said anything about her taking him from you later. She wanted you to turn him so that you would be his maker. The bond between you and him would be forever tight and it would hurt you more when she took him from you.”

“No!” I screamed and jumped to my feet. “No one is going to take my child!”

“Then by force it is. One wave of Arturo’s hand and your saviors here will be rendered immobile. Is that how you want to play it?” She asked as she smiled at Arturo. No one said a word. “Ok, Arturo. Work your magic and we get our prize just in time for breakfast.”

Arturo raised his hands and closed his eyes. In a blur, Aloysius dove through the air and tackled him.

“No one takes our child.” A familiar voice said. “Not without going through me.”

As Aloysius rolled on the ground with Arturo, sand flying every which way, we turned back in the direction of the voice. The sand finally cleared enough to reveal a man standing with a gun in his hand and dark glasses on his face. His lips smiled toward me and my stomach turned as familiar butterflies took over.

“Christian?” I dropped to my knees and stared at him. “Is it really you?”