The patch on his eye and an exaggerated limp gave Shen’s uncle the appearance of a sea worn pirate as he walked down the street with two other Chinese men of similar age. Even with his handicaps, he was still a force to be reckoned with. When Dumitru and three other vampires suddenly appeared in front of them, his demeanor remained calm and unruffled.
“Where is your nephew?” Dumitru jeered as he landed softly on the sidewalk and blocked their way.
“How do you exist? I thought you were destroyed along with your father,” Shen’s uncle said calmly.
All three men were shocked to see Dumitru, but not for the same reasons. Two, because he was obviously a vampire and one because he thought he’d destroyed him.
Dumitru threw his head back as his laughter rang through the night.
“Such an arrogant old man you are,” he sneered. “You thought you could destroy my father and me? What is even funnier is that, until recently, my father thought you are dead.” A deep noise that resembled a growl came from his throat as he continued, “That can be corrected. First, where is Wu Shen?”
Although taken aback with surprise to see one of the very same vampires he thought he’d destroyed standing before him, the old man was more concerned at the realization that the vampire clan behind the disappearances of so many Chinese immigrants, including Dao-Ming, belonged to them.
He hid his emotions well as he stood firm, looked Dumitru squarely in the eyes, and said, “He is not here.”
His heart sank when he realized he’d sent his nephew into such a perilous situation. Wadim’s clan was the worst of the worst. He wondered if they could even be considered vampires at this point. As far as he was concerned, they were carnivorous monsters.
He hadn’t heard from Shen in some time and was fearful as to what might have happened to him. The battle between himself and Wadim had been fierce. He and Shen’s parents were on a short pleasure cruise, when Wadim and a few of his followers attacked their small craft and the ship went up in flames. He suffered severe damage to his leg while personally driving a stake through that monster Wadim’s heart. When he fell into the water he was fortunate enough to fall in near a life boat manned by a few survivors. They drifted for some time before being rescued by the coast guard. When the coast guard searched for more survivors, they found none. Shen’s parents were taken by the sea.
“What a pity,” Dumitru snarled as he signaled for the other vampires join him in circling the three old men.
****
Shen was surprised when he stepped off the plane to be greeted by one of his uncle’s oldest friends. The trauma of recent events was only compounded by the news of his uncle’s death. It was the first time I saw him actually give way and completely lose control of his emotions. His cup finally runneth over. I put my arm around his shoulder as he wept; not just for his uncle, but for everything that occurred thus far.
****
It was as if the entire Chinese community had attended the funeral. Shen recognized only a portion of the people offering their condolences, but he accepted the all with the grace and gratitude.
The sun did its best to edge its way through the cloud laden sky as we walked slowly away from the gravesite. Shen did his best to hold it together while he thought of what the last minutes of his uncle’s life must have been like. He hovered close to me in an uncharacteristic manner. I had no idea what actually happened to him at Wadim’s den. Whatever it was, it left scars in him deeper than people could ever realize.
We made our way through the thick crowd to our hired car and got in. Mei-Lien and Dao-Ming followed closely behind. They were careful not to appear as if they were our companions. It was decided that, although we should not be out of each other’s presence for safety’s sake, it was better to not attract undo attention. Shen showing up at his uncle’s funeral with two women -one of them being the woman he was sent to rescue- would have created quite a stir. So, the women dressed in nondescript clothing, covered their heads in mourning cloths, and kept a respectable distance from Shen and me.
None were so naïve as to think that Wadim would take our escape lightly. We’d used up precious planning and escape time to attend the funeral and pay our respects. We needed to move quickly to take care of Wadim and his den once and for all.
The hired car drove around the block and returned to pick up Dao-Ming and Mei-Lien after they’d walked a safe distance from the cemetery. The girls scurried into the back seat. We were finally able to relax our tense bodies as the women snuggled in warm safety between Shen and me.
Shen stared out the window at the familiar sights as the car wove its way through the streets of Queens.
“We cannot stay at my place. They will be looking for us there,” he said.
I knew this to be true, but I was hesitant to suggest we go to my home. Jessica would be there and she was already upset with me for missing her art show. Explaining Mei-Lien to her would not be easy during the best of circumstances.
My chest ached as I thought of what poor Mei-Lien went through, but even greater when I thought of the longing I still had for her. It seemed abnormal for such a strong connection to have formed over such a brief period of time. It took months of dating Jessica before I could even remotely feel the connection I felt with Mei-Lien. Was it true what they said about soul mates? I’d never paid much attention to such dribble, but perhaps there was some truth behind it. After all, I’d never thought that a vampire was real either. Was Mei-Lien my soul mate? It would explain a lot.
I looked at Mei-Lien. Her pale face was almost ashen. I longed to take her in my arms and protect her from the world; especially from Wadim’s world. I cared deeply for Jessica, but in a different, gentler way. There was something about Mei-Lien that pulled at me from my core. I shrugged heavily. Jessica would have to handle this somehow. I saw no other options. We needed a place to think and plan. Besides, I needed to make a few phone calls to some relatives and collect a few things in preparation of facing Wadim again.
Before I could change my mind, I blurted out, “What about my place?”
“It is probably better than mine,” Shen said, “but I do not think we should stay long.”
Shen was also thinking about the reaction Jessica would have when we showed up at her door. He liked Jessica well enough and felt she made a good companion for me. Under normal circumstances, he would have thought nothing of invading her home like this, but these were not normal circumstances and she’d already expressed her unhappiness about my joining him. Even more so about my missing her art show. He wished we had an alternative place to go to, but he could think of none.
Mei-Lien shifted her weight and I winced. Shen looked at me with concern.
“Your ribs are really sore. How bad are you hurt? We have had no time to check the damage,” he said.
“I’ll live,” I said with more confidence than I felt.
He’d witnessed the beating I took and admired me for managing to keep up with them. My injuries had to be more extensive than I was letting on.
“We need to get you someplace and give you a little time to heal,” he said. When I looked embarrassed about my condition and was about to blow it off with a comment about how fine I was, he continued, “We will all have to be at our best when we face Wadim and his clan again. There can be no more surprises.”
“Speaking of surprises,” I said. “I’m surprised they killed your uncle instead of taking him back to the den or making him a vampire He’s of the same bloodline, right? Why wouldn’t they want him?”
Mei-Lien started to speak and was silence by Dao-Ming, who quickly interjected to answer my question.
“I know the answer to this,” she said. “I have been speaking with Mei-Lien and she told me.” Dao-Ming looked at Mei-Lien and smiled, “May I tell?” At Mei-Lien’s nod she looked at Shen and continued. “Your uncle was your mother’s brother. The bloodline that Wadim seeks is from your father’s side. The story that is that your father taught your uncle what he knew. He had studied with a great vampire tracker from the mountains of China. The tracker was so powerful that no vampire dared to mention his name, and a great celebration was held amongst the vampires upon the news of his death. He could not destroy vampires because he was not of the Tugurlan lineage, but he did great damage that wasn’t reparable. Vampires are very vein. They did not want to fight him for fear of their looks being destroyed.”
Shen nodded.
“Like Wadim losing his toes?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “That and more. Your uncle took to the world of vampire slaying quickly and had many tricks up his sleeve. What he did not realize… what no one realized, was that they were only temporarily killing the vampires. Like all the vampires after a stake was put through their Wadim did die. He was believed to have been on the ship when it burned and sank. He resurrected just in time to grab your unconscious parents and his son, Dumitru, and flee the ship to the safety of his hiding place where he could heal his wounds before the sea consumed the burning ship. Much damage was done to Wadim in his fight with your uncle. It took many years to renew full use of his powers.” Dao-Ming held Shen’s hand. “Just as your uncle thought your parents and Wadim were consumed by the sea, Wadim believed your uncle went down in the burning ship. He was so sure he did not bother to check to see if he was correct. He was content with the fact that he had succeeded in capturing the pure bloodline of the Wu clan. When he discovered your existence and that you were being raised by your uncle, he went into a rage and set his men out in search of you both. Capturing me brought you right into his trap.
“Sometimes, Wadim will take someone of strong character and fighting skills, like your uncle, and turn him into a vampire. Instead he ordered your uncle’s death. Your uncle was too strong willed and longtime vampire slayer. He would have never accepted being a vampire. He would have plagued Wadim for eternity as an enemy vampire, sought on revenge. Most vampires are servants of their creator, but your uncle had so much knowledge he would have become a vampire of equality to Wadim. That was something Wadim wanted to avoid at all costs. Since his bloodline was of no value, killing him would have brought great satisfaction to Wadim. Whoever killed him has earned great favor.”