Chapter 27: Oskar’s Good Idea

“Wake up, Hannah! Your mom’s here.” Oskar extracted himself from the tangle of arms and legs, kissed Eli, and climbed out of bed. He tucked his shirt in, slipped on his shoes, and headed across the hall. He had been awake since 4:00AM, thinking about their experience in the cave and Jonathan’s explanation as to why they couldn’t grow their wings, and had had a revelation. Now he had to figure out how to present it to Hannah’s mother. If he couldn’t convince her now, Hannah would be grounded and vulnerable for four more long years.

Hannah and Eli lay there together, smiling at each other across the gap Oskar had occupied up until a few seconds ago. “Good morning, Hannah.” Eli pulled her over against her.

“Good morning, Eli.” She could feel the heat from the super-warm spot where Oskar had been lying. “Oskar’s a little furnace, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he’s always been that way, but especially after he infected himself in Blackeberg. Papa said his normal temperature went up to a vampiric 99 degrees, but I’m positive he’s much warmer than that, even now.”

Oskar poked his head in the door. “Come on, you two. Breakfast will be ready any minute now.

“Come warm me up first, Oskar.” Eli held out her arms. Hannah giggled.

Oskar grinned at her and disappeared down the stairs, thinking warm thoughts.

§

By the time Eli and Hannah made it to the table, everyone else had begun eating. Jack smiled and pulled out Hannah’s chair for her. “It’s about time! If you’d waited much longer, there wouldn’t have been a banger left to filch for Einstein.”

Hannah blushed. “Well, he deserves them. He saved our lives.”

Well, there are still plenty for everyone, Hannah. Even a couple extra for Einstein.” Elaine passed her the plate.

“Where’s Dad, Mom? He couldn’t make it?”

“He’s working with Jonathan this morning, Hannah. They’re making improvements to the robotic arm that your father recommended.”

“He’s really working on that?! I didn’t know he did stuff like that!” Oskar was excited. Hannah’s dad was really nice. He knew he could talk to him much easier than to Jonathan.

“He’s an electrical engineer, Oskar,” Papa said. He has some new ideas relating to the small servo-motors in the arm that Jonathan liked. I’m sure he’d be glad to talk to you about it if you’re interested.”

“I am, Dad” he paused. It’s now or never. “Mrs. Sandstrøm? I was thinking about your objection to Hannah getting the shot. It’s because of the Ejuice isn’t it? And what it’s made of?” Oskar tried his very best to sound respectful.

“Yes, Oskar,” she said, guardedly. She was really getting tired of defending her position on this, but Oskar had never approached her about it before. She was actually a bit curious as to where this might be going.

“Well…what if she never had to drink the Ejuice? Would you let her get the shot then?”

“I don’t know, Oskar. Richard? Has Jonathan found a synthetic?”

“No, Liva. He hasn’t.” Papa looked at Oskar carefully. What is he up to?

“Jonathan said the Ejuice is needed for Hannah to fly or to heal herself, but without the Ejuice she’d just be normal, like she is now, right?”

“That’s pretty much it, Oskar. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but you are essentially correct.” Jack was becoming curious. Oskar definitely had something in mind with this line of questioning, but it escaped him.

“When you buy a house or a car, don’t you always get insurance on it? In case something happens to it?”

“Yes, of course, Oskar, but what does that have to do with Hannah?” Livia couldn’t understand what Oskar was getting at either.

“Think of the shot as a kind of insurance, Mrs. Sandstrøm. If Hannah were to get hurt by someone, like the way Eli was shot, you could give her the Ejuice to save her life. It only takes a few minutes for it to work. Jonathan said so.” Oskar deliberately left the wings out of the discussion. He knew Mrs. Sandstrøm didn’t consider them that important in the scheme of things, but the healing? All he could do was hope.

“Oskar is exactly right, Liva! I hadn’t thought of it that way before. If Hannah had the shot, and the 24-hour incubation period were over, the Ejuice could save her life if she were severely injured. I like it! Oskar, you’re a genius!” Jack slapped him on the back. Everyone was looking at Livia now. Hannah held her breath, afraid to say anything at all.

“So Hannah and Jason could have the shot, and never have to drink the Ejuice?”

“Correct, Livia. And the same goes for Nils and yourself. We should have thought of this earlier,” Richard said.

“Okay.”

“What!? Mom, did you say ‘okay’?” Hannah couldn’t believe her ears.

“Yes Hannah. I may be opinionated, but I’m not intractable. The Ejuice was my only objection, so you may have the shot, under the condition that you not use the Ejuice unless… absolutely necessary.”

“Wait a bit, Livia. You DO remember that Hannah would have to drink a half-liter of Ejuice at the time she gets the shot, just to establish the neural networks?” Jack took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.

“I do remember, Jack.” He didn’t have to remind me, but he did. . “And I appreciate all of you for indulging me in my, ‘prejudices,’ if you will. No matter how stupid you may think I am for having them.”

“Oh, Mom, I would never think that!” Hannah threw her arms around her.

Livia stood up abruptly. “I need to make a couple of phone calls. One to Nils, but I’m sure that one is unnecessary--we all know how he feels about this-- and the other to Jason. I feel I should tell him myself.” She smiled and retreated into the living room.

“Oskar, I simply adore you!” Hannah plopped down in his lap, put her arms around him and kissed him firmly on the lips.

He grinned at her, sheepishly. “I know you won’t be able to fly or anything, Hannah, but at least you’re closer, and safer…”

“Oh Oskar, don’t you see?! Maybe I can’t fly, but I’ll know that I could if I really needed to. And it means I’m technically a fairy, just like Eli. And you.” She kissed him gently on each cheek and squeezed him as tight as she possibly could. And he could feel her love and gratitude.

§

“That was a wonderful thing you did, Oskar. How did you ever think of it?” Eli rested her chin on his shoulder. It was their turn to sit in the waiting room while the Sandstrøm’s had their blood tests and received the injections.

“I just remembered the night in the cave, when you were freezing to death, Eli. And I thought about how helpless we were without the Ejuice, and how completely normal we were; and how weak. And then I remembered how fast you got your strength back after…”

“After you fed me?” She grinned at him.

“Yeah! And I remember how guilty you felt because I tasted so good!” he grinned at her.

She kissed him on the neck. “You’d taste good even if I didn’t have a vampire’s taste buds, Oskar.”

Jack laughed, then patted him on the back. “I owe you big-time too, Oskar. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get around Livia on this, but never thought of approaching it that way. I can’t think of anyone who deserves this more than Hannah.”

“Hannah really likes you, Jack. She says you’re the only adult who really treats her like an adult.”

“That’s because, when it’s important, she thinks like one, Eli. And when it’s not…”

The door flew open and Hannah rushed in, beaming. She stepped up in front of Eli, eyes wide, and put her arms at her sides and raised them slowly. Eli gasped as she heard a familiar crackling sound. “Hannah! You’re…”

“Gottcha!” she giggled. She opened her hands and dropped two crumpled balls of cellophane on the floor, then wrapped her arms around Eli’s neck. “We’re identical twins again, Eli! Now I’m a fairy too!”

She kissed Oskar on the cheek, and then grabbed Jack around the waist and buried her face in his chest. “I love you all so much!” She twirled around and around, arms outstretched, then plopped down on the couch, dizzy.

“As I was saying; ‘…and when it’s not, she’s even more endearing.’” He kissed her on top of the head. “Congratulations, Hannah. May all your fairy dreams come true,” he whispered.

She looked up at him, eyes shining, “They will, Jack. I’m sure they will.”

Jason came in with his parents, just in time to hear the end of the conversation. “If you call me a fairy, Hannah, so help me, I’ll…”

“Get used to it, Jason! You’re a fairy now, like it or not. Like Hannah says, if you’re not a vampire you must be a fairy.” Eli taunted him.

“Let’s go outside, Eli. I want to feel the sun on my…wings and things.” She playfully clawed at Oskar, then headed for the door, followed by Eli, Oskar, and finally, Jason, who was curious in spite of himself. Nils and Livia followed worriedly behind them, casting apologetic glances at Richard and Elaine.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Rich. Tell me again exactly why Sava stopped by the other night?” Elaine said.

“I thought I explained all that, Elaine. He wanted to set things right, after he heard how upset we had been at Marcus’s death.”

“But he conceded essentially nothing, if I understood you correctly. All he promised you was that he’d let you know beforehand if he was going to kill anyone else, at the same time he emphasized that he would do what he thought best, whether or not you liked it. Jonathan could have relayed that message to us himself. He gave you zip. In fact, he never asked you anything about our plans for her future. He never even asked Eli what she wanted. If he was truly concerned about being on the same page with us, why wouldn’t he want to know?”

Richard looked at Jack. “He’s an odd duck, Elaine. Who knows what he’s thinking? He’s even older than Gudmund was, and doesn’t have the benefit of his education. He was a simple miller before he was turned.”

“Don’t let him fool you, Rich. A man as street-wise and determined as Sava can pick up a lot of knowledge in 300 years. Jonathan has assured me that Sava is extremely focused. He may not have Gudmund’s finesse or powers, but he’s certainly his equal in the keenness of his mind. He came to see us for a purpose, but what that purpose was, I can’t hazard a guess. He doesn’t strike me as a man who wastes his time on niceties.”

“Perhaps that’s why he left as you were arriving.” Jack kidded. “You are an adult, who has also been a vampire. Maybe he thought he couldn’t fool you.”

She smiled at him, “But he obviously fooled the both of you.”

Jonathan opened the door and glanced around the room. “Are the kids gone?”

“They’re outside, Jonathan. What’s the problem?”

“I’m…not sure, Richard. I just got the analysis of the blood samples from the Sandstrøms , then double-checked them against your own, including Eli’s and Oskar’s.” He paused. “Hannah is no longer immune to the bite of a vampire.”

“What?! But that’s impossible!” Richard took the chart from Jonathan and examined it carefully.

“When each of you received the shot activating the Strong and Weak neural networks, we noticed that the isolated strand of junk Vampiric DNA still remaining from the vaccine, tacked itself into one of the templates used by the weak neural networks to build the wings, claws, fangs, etc. We weren’t worried because it was still just a piece of junk DNA, but we used it as a simple indicator that the process had been successful. It wasn’t there in Hannah’s sample. Hannah is no longer immune, and in fact, may never have been immune.”

“But she was, Jonathan! It was there in the tests after the vaccine was given to all of us.”

“Well, it’s not there now.”

“Does this put Hannah in any danger, Jonathan?” Elaine examined the chart closely.

“Absolutely not, other than that she’s no longer immune. It served no purpose with this injection whatsoever, other than to give us a quick indicator that the process was successful. Hannah’s injection was successful, as proven by a second and third indicator.”

“But we need to understand what happened, Jonathan. And I don’t think we should re-inject her with the vaccine until we figure out what happened.” Richard was extremely upset. This was all cutting-edge science, and for the first time, he was beginning to doubt the wisdom of forging ahead as quickly as they had before covering all their bases. “With Sava as the only vampire in the vicinity as far as we know, I’m not worried about Hannah being bitten, but still…”

“Perhaps we’re becoming too complacent, Rich. We’ve had too much good luck, and it’s made us a bit arrogant. We need to slow down, I think.” Elaine took his hands firmly in hers. “If we’ve hurt Hannah in any way, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“No, no! She’s perfectly safe,” Jonathan insisted. “Don’t worry, Elaine. We’ll get right on it.” He grabbed the chart and headed for the door.

“Why am I not convinced then,” she called after him as he disappeared down the hall. “He’s way too sure of himself Rich. I know he means well but I just don’t trust him with this. Will you and Jack watch him carefully and confirm his results?”

“We will, Elaine. I promise,” Jack said firmly.

§

Eli awoke with a start. She could hear Einstein breathing softly, and the skitter of tiny feet in Hannah’s many-caged menagerie. “Good morning, Eli.”

She sat bolt upright in bed. “Oskar! Are you…” she groped for him blindly, then breathed a sigh of relief as he took her hand and squeezed it tightly. “I’m here, Eli. What is it?”

“Good morning, Oskar.”

It was his turn to sit up. “What!? Where are you, Hannah?”

“I’m here at home in bed. Einstein says ‘hello.’ So do Romulus and Remus, and Nip and Tuck.”

“Oh, Hannah! What’s happened? How can you…”

“I don’t know, Eli. All I know is that I’ve been watching you two sleep for the longest time, and I was getting bored waiting for you to wake up.”

Eli and Oskar could suddenly see through Hannah’s eyes as clearly as if they were in her room. They gasped simultaneously.

“Hannah, please. Don’t take this the wrong way, but could you please stop doing that? It’s making me dizzy.” Eli plopped back down on the bed.

“Doing what? Oskar’s doing it, isn’t he? I just thought that now that I’ve had the shot, Oskar could talk to me long distance instead of just touch-talking.”

“But I was asleep, Hannah. I can’t do it while I’m asleep,” Oskar pointed out.

“Oh, yeah. That’s right, but then…” suddenly she was gone.

“Hannah? Where are you?” Eli took Oskar’s hand, but it was no use.

“She’s too far away for me, Eli. I’ve never been able to talk to you when you were at Hannah’s house, remember?”

Eli’s cell phone rang loudly. She scrambled out of bed, grabbed it off her dresser, and jabbed the speakerphone button. “Hannah? What happened?”

“I got scared, Eli. And then I couldn’t see you anymore.”

“Try again, Hannah.” She looked expectantly at Oskar, and waited. Nothing happened.

“It’s no use, Eli. I can’t do it. It’s simply not working. I don’t know what to do to make it work again.”

“Maybe we should go to sleep again, and start over,” Oskar kidded.

“It’s not funny, Oskar. Hannah was talking to us. In fact, at first I thought I was really talking to her, not touch-talking.”

“You were, Eli. And so was I. We were talking like this,” not like this. He grinned at her. And then had a thought: “Hannah? How could you see us if we both had our eyes closed, and were asleep?”

“I…I don’t know, Oskar. Eli, I’m scared. What does it mean?”

“Could you really see us, Hannah? Or were you just remembering?” Oskar was really getting excited now.

“Your watch is on the window seat, both of your robes are on the floor next to the bed, and you’re in your underwear, Oskar.”

Oskar grabbed his robe off the floor and put it on quickly. “Hannah!!”

“Relax, Oskar. I can’t see you…anymore.” She giggled. “Besides I’ve seen you in your underwear, remember? That night we went swimming when you made fun of my fairy undies?”

“Yeah, but you’re fourteen now! And…”

“You’re funny, Oskar. Cute in your undies, but funny.”

Eli could imagine the Cheshire grin on her face. Hannah had found a new weakness she could exploit. Eli could almost hear the gears turning.

“Eli, I think I can see you again…yes I can! Oskar, that robe looks very nice on you. But your undies are still showing.”

Oskar blushed, tightened the robe and looked around the room anxiously. Hannah laughed. “What’s he doing Eli?”

“He looks like he’s seen a ghost, Hannah!” they were both laughing now. “She got you, Oskar. Admit it!”

He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah you really did Hannah. You still can’t see us?” He took off his robe, just to make sure.

“No, Oskar! And I don’t know why. I don’t know why I saw you in the first place. It’s all so frustrating.”

Eli put her clothes on quickly. “Oskar, get dressed. We need to talk to Papa.”

“Get Jack too, Eli. I’m really starting to worry.” Hannah put her arms around Einstein’s neck and hugged him fiercely. All she had wanted was to have Eli’s wings. Now what did she have?

§

“Are you sure, Hannah? And you haven’t been able to do it since?” Jack was really concerned. And actually a bit frightened. This was something really different, and they couldn’t duplicate it. In fact, he and Richard had found nothing to indicate her telepathic abilities were any different than Eli’s or his own. They could all touch-talk, but only Oskar could relay thoughts over distance.

“No Jack. I’m really sorry! Some scientist I am! I should have been more observant. I didn’t even think about it when it happened, until it was over.”

“Hannah, you did nothing wrong. In fact, it’s all quite intriguing. I wish we could give you Ejuice. I’d give anything to be able to see what might develop then.”

Hannah grinned at him, “But Jack! Aren’t you worried about what might happen if I drank more Ejuice? Maybe my head would explode or something.”

“I…I’m sorry Hannah. You’re right. I shouldn’t…”

She laughed gleefully, “I’m just kidding Jack! I know you’d never suggest anything that could hurt me. I just know it!”

“No, you’re right to be concerned, Hannah, even if you didn’t mean it. I sometimes get carried away. It’s a fault of mine, as Henry never forgets to remind me.”

“It’s only a fault if you’re unaware of it Jack. And you’re aware of almost everything.” She squeezed his hand.

She trusts me too much, he thought to himself. I’m not worthy of that much trust.

Yes. You are, Jack.

He laughed. “I’ve got to learn to be careful what I think when you’re within touching distance, Hannah. Being a ‘fairy’ has its downside, as I’m beginning to realize.

“I don’t see ANY downside, Jack. Only good will come of all this. I know it.” It had only taken her a few hours to get over her fear and put her usual positive spin on everything.

“Well, as Eli says, ‘if Hannah says it’s so. It must be so.’ I have a great deal of faith in Eli, you know. I’ve known her for most of my life.” He winked at her. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, don’t you worry.” But he was keenly aware that they hadn’t yet told her about her lost immunity. And he wasn’t sure now was the right time.

“Who’s worried, Jack?” she grinned at him again. “It’s all just so very exciting!”

§

Ryan waved goodbye to his grandparents and boarded the train. He kind of enjoyed taking the redeye home from his visits, because he almost always got to spread himself out across the empty seats. He settled in, leaned back and closed his eyes, thinking about everything that had happened over the last few days.

He had called Eli just before he left the house, just to make sure she and Oskar were still doing okay, and to assure them both that he would call as soon as he got home. Eli told him Jonathan had insisted on it, largely because he was still investigating the extent of Marcus’s involvement with the church and how much he may have told them. She assured him that, once he knew the full extent of Marcus’s involvement with others, if any, they could all relax a bit.

If his attention hadn’t been focused on the cute girl with a sketch tablet in a seat two rows up, he might have eventually noticed the stocky, well-dressed fellow five rows behind him, who was watching him like a hawk. And after he struck up a conversation with her, he was pretty much oblivious to anything else, especially after she expressed an interest in his own artwork; in particular, a new one he had just finished the day before, depicting Mrs. Dawson as she flew across the meadow towards them that day. It was for a story he was writing, he told her. They got on so well together that before he knew it, the train had pulled into the station, where he was quite delighted to find out that she also lived in Sunderland, and within a few kilometers of his own house. After hurriedly exchanging phone numbers and email addresses and promising to stay in contact, he headed for the passenger pick-up area to wait for his parents. He pulled out his cell phone, debating whether or not he should give Oskar a call so early, when he spotted his parents pulling up on the other side of the street.

He jumped up, hastily slipped the phone in his pocket, grabbed his luggage and started across the street, but was brought up short by a firm hand on his shoulder.

He turned around just as a bus lumbered past, so close he could feel the blast of air brush him back. “Be careful, young man. Or you may not get a chance to get much older.” The man, much shorter than himself but impeccably dressed in a nicely-tailored suit, slowly relaxed his iron grip, bowed slightly, then turned and walked away, expressionless.

“Thanks…” He reached up and rubbed his shoulder. Damn! It felt like he had me in a vise.

“Over here, Ryan.” His mom waved to him.

He gathered up his luggage, carefully checked for traffic, then headed across the street.