Chapter 4: A Chance Encounter

Oskar was sitting at his computer when he heard the phone ring. “Oskar? Would you get that?” Dad’s voice floated in through his open window. He jumped up, ran down the stairs and grabbed the phone. “Hello?” There was silence on the line for a minute, then, a familiar voice “Can I speak to Dr. Dawson?”

“Who’s this?” Oskar asked.

“…Seth”

“Ok, just a minute.” He ran out to the back porch, “Dad, it’s Seth. What does HE want?”

Dawson quickly came in and picked up the phone, “Seth? …Is there a problem? … Ok, stay with him. I’ll handle it. I’ll be right there.”

“Oskar? Come with me.” Dawson started out the door. Oscar followed him to the car.

They hurriedly pulled out of the driveway and headed towards Seth’s house. “Are we going over there? Why? What does he want?” Dawson didn’t say a word. They continued on in silence. As they finally rounded the last corner, Oskar could see Seth standing in the middle of the street over the unconscious body of his father. His left arm was in a sling. They pulled over and parked, and as Oskar got out of the car, he could see tears in Seth’s eyes. He backed away as they approached.

“Oskar? Give me a hand,” he reached down, grabbed a limp arm and gently lifted Seth’s father off the ground. Oskar took his other arm and could smell the whiskey on his breath as he struggled to get his shoulder under him. With difficulty, they maneuvered him across the street, through the narrow gate, and into the living room. Discarded bottles littered the floor, old newspapers and dirty dishes were strewn everywhere, and a young boy and girl were sitting together in an old, stained lounger, with frightened looks on their faces. They couldn’t have been older than seven or eight. Dawson guided Seth’s father to the couch, and lifted his legs up as he flopped down, semiconscious. “Oskar, I’d like you to meet Stacey and Donald, Seth’s brother and sister.

“Hello,” Oskar smiled at them.

They smiled back uncertainly, but remained silent.

“Seth, have the children eaten anything today?”

He looked down at his feet, and slowly shook his head.

He handed Seth a handful of bills. “Run down to the store and get them some food – and some milk. And Seth, get something for yourself too. You have to stay strong for them. You’re the man of the house now. Can I count on you?” Seth nodded and silently slipped out the door.

“Oskar, give me a hand,” he began picking up the empty bottles and dirty dishes. Oskar quickly joined in. They went into the kitchen where Oskar saw two half-empty bottles sitting on the counter. Dawson quickly emptied them in the sink, and tossed them in the garbage with the others. Stacey and Donald timidly walked in and put some old newspapers in the garbage, then sat down at the table and watched as the Professor and Oskar washed and dried the sinkload of dishes. They had just finished cleaning up when Seth came in with a bag of groceries. He silently placed them on the table, and handed Dawson several bills and some change. “Keep it for later,” Dawson said, “but keep it away from your dad.” He put his hands on Seth’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “Promise me you’ll use it for food.” Seth nodded solemnly.

“Oskar and I need to get home, but call me if something happens you can’t handle,” Dawson shook his hand. Seth began putting the food in the refrigerator. As they turned to leave, he suddenly turned toward Dawson “Thank you. I…” he looked down at his feet.

“Just take care of your brother and sister. I know you can do this. You’re a tough kid.” Oskar saw the tears in Seth’s eyes as they went out the front door.

They drove home in silence. Oskar felt confused and guilty at the same time. Were they all like this? Somehow he couldn’t quite believe it. Jimmy and Jonny? Micke? No, it had to be different with them. They were just bullies; animals who tried to kill him and deserved what they got. Didn’t they? He deliberately stopped thinking about it.

As they got out of the car, Oskar took his Dad’s hand and squeezed it hard, “Dad? I’m really sorry.” Dawson smiled at him as they went in the front door together.

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Eli was still across the street at Jack and Henry’s house when Dawson and Oskar finished their game of scrabble. Oskar could almost hold his own by now, which made for a much more interesting game. It was late in the evening when they finally had had enough.

Oskar had no sooner started up the stairs when Eli burst in the door behind him, the splotches on her face partially obscured with flour. “Oskar, look what Jack’s mom helped me make! She handed him a plate of cookies. “Come on! Try one! I did this batch myself!” Oskar pretending to be serious, carefully took a cookie and nibbled a corner. He looked puzzled as he turned the cookie around and took a nibble off the other side.

“It doesn’t work!” he exclaimed. What did you do wrong?”

“What do you mean? You don’t like them?” Eli looked dejected.

Oskar carefully put the plate on the table, “One side didn’t make me small and the other side didn’t make me tall. It didn’t work!” He grinned. “But they taste absolutely incredible! I love peanut butter cookies!” He grabbed her and hugged her before she could build up a head of steam. “Eli, you are so …” He hugged her again. “I love you so much. Your cookies are wonderful! Dad! Come and have one of Eli’s cookies!”

Eli was grinning ear to ear as Dawson sampled one of her cookies. “Wonderful!” he exclaimed. You’ve outdone yourself!”

“Oh Papa, I’m glad you like them!” She hugged him. “I’ll be back in a minute. I have to help with the last batch.” She flew out the door and ran back across the street.

Dawson watched her as she ran, a lump in his throat, “Oskar, I really do understand why you were so angry with Seth. You certainly have your own inner daemons, but the heart of the matter just ran across the street. I think if I were in your shoes I would have been just as angry.” Secretly, he was convinced that at that age he would have done pretty much the same thing. The thought of anyone deliberately hurting her made him angry just thinking about it. Ah, if life were only that uncomplicated!

When Eli got back, Oskar was already in her room, working on his big Rubik’s Cube. He proudly held it up to show her he had solved the four center squares on all six sides. Now if he was careful not to mess up the pattern, he could solve it just like a regular cube.

“Oh Oskar! That’s great!” She went over, sat on the window seat, and gazed out the window. “It’s going to be dark tonight. There’s a new moon.” She swung open the window and felt the cool night air waft in, as Oscar sat down beside her. “Oskar, there are more cookies downstairs if you want some.” She smiled at him. “Do you really like them?”

“Eli, I love them! But how could you stand making them when they taste and smell so bad to you?”

“They really don’t smell bad; they’re actually kind of pleasant, you know, like flowers smell nice but you wouldn’t eat them. And of course I don’t have to taste them. It’s really only a problem if I eat them.” She turned and gazed out the window again.

She felt…restless somehow. She thought about her old life, the endless loneliness, the nightly routines, so different from today. Did she have the right to be so happy? She had an intuitive feeling that she needed to maintain that connection with her past somehow. In some odd way, it gave her present a much deeper meaning. “Oskar, I … I think I’ll go out for a little while. Would you mind?” she looked up at him, pleadingly.

“What do you mean? Do you want to go for a walk?”

“Not exactly. I feel like – flying for a while. Do you think that’s ok? It’s dark, so no one would see me.”

“I don’t know. Should we ask Dad?”

“No, I don’t want to bother him. It’ll only be for a little while.” She took off her shirt.

Oskar looked at her bruised body worriedly. “Eli, are you sure you’re well enough? You still look pretty bad. How about your legs?”

She pulled off her pants, “See? They hardly show anything anymore. They just got a little bit of sun. I just wanted to see what the old neighborhood looks like today. And it’s not like I’m going to be fighting a moose or anything.”

Oskar laughed, “Ok, ok. I really wish you wouldn’t, but go ahead. I’ll wait here for you. We haven’t slept in your room since the window broke.” He watched as she stepped out the window onto the roof, lifted her winged arms, and fell forward. She swooped over the pool, banked left and disappeared over the trees at the back of the yard. Oskar went back over to her table, picked up the cube and studied it intently.

=========

Eli climbed to a safe altitude and got her bearings. It had been years since she had been here, but she recognized many familiar landmarks; Parliament, the river, St. Paul’s. She headed for the East End, curious as to how things may have changed since she had lived there so long ago. She passed over the Tower of London, and could make out the familiar street patterns ahead. Whitechapel and Commercial Road were right below her. She descended slowly as she approached Mile End and Burdett Roads, her old neighborhood. Some things looked vaguely familiar, but much of what she remembered was either gone and replaced with newer row houses, or looked the same, only more threadbare.

The Tower Hamlets Cemetery looked the same, but a bit more overgrown and in disrepair; she descended rapidly for a closer look. She swooped low over the old crypts and finally landed in front of one she had called home for over a year. She stood there for a moment in the dark taking it all in as her wings retracted with a soft crackle. The eagle with its single remaining wing perched on the peak above the door, still looked as forlorn as it had when she saw it last. The crypt was in even more disrepair than when she had lived there, but upon careful examination, her old entrance, though overgrown, still appeared intact. Out of curiosity, she pulled away the heavy stone and lifted the old metal plate. Surprisingly it came away easily, in spite of the accumulation of dirt and rust. She crouched down and slithered through the tiny opening into the crypt chamber, where everything appeared exactly as she had left it those many years ago. An old copy of Romeo and Juliet, a bit dusty but still intact, was in an old wooden box in the corner. A ring of old keys that had given her access to various other hiding and feeding places she had managed to discover, were there also. The memories they brought back were not pleasant. She suddenly felt uneasy even being there, as the old memories became more vivid, and for a moment, her recent beautiful life with Oskar and Papa seemed as though it might be just a fantasy – a dream. She felt an adrenalin rush as the fear of that very possibility became palpable. She turned and scurried out the entrance, replaced the plate and carefully set the stone back in place.

She walked rapidly along the path towards the Cemetery gate, followed by legions of ghostly memories. Just as she was about to step out onto the sidewalk a sudden noise made her instinctively drop back into the shadows. She silently scurried up the side of the two-story outbuilding just inside the gate to the right, and crept across the roof to get a better view of the dimly-lit street. She saw two men walking slowly down the cemetery-side of the street; one was clearly a drunk, as he was weaving a bit as he walked. The second was clearly following him, but at least 100 feet back. But there was something about this second man that bothered her. Something about the way he was stalking the drunk. Something…she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Suddenly, as the drunk reached an unlit portion of the walkway, the second man, in an incredible burst of silent speed, covered the distance between them in four huge leaps and dropped the drunk in his tracks. Before he could even react, he was struck in the head and knocked unconscious.

Eli realized immediately that she was in the presence of one of her own kind. She froze in position and stopped breathing. She sensed the wind direction and realized that she was in a precarious position, as the breeze was blowing from behind her directly towards the crouching figure. Nothing she could do now but watch and hope he didn’t notice her.

The vampire stood up quickly, looked around carefully, then took off his jacket. Eli was startled to see that he was only a child – certainly older than Oskar , but still a child, judging by his height and face. She guessed perhaps 15 or 16; about Seth’s age. She watched as he pulled out a long flexible tube, and what looked like an old sheepskin water bag, and bent over the drunk. She watched him shove the sharp end of the tube into the man’s jugular and secure it around his neck with a strap. He then effortlessly lifted the man by the waist, feet in the air, completely over his head, and stood motionless as the half-gallon container, aided by gravity, gradually inflated as the blood drained efficiently from his limp body. When the bag was about two-thirds full, he dragged the man across the sidewalk next to the cemetery fence, put some white powder on the wound, and as he pulled out the tube, pressed a square-folded piece of cloth directly on the wound and secured it with the strap.

He suddenly raised his head for a moment and was still, as though he had heard something. Eli hadn’t taken a breath or moved a muscle, so she wasn’t sure what had alerted him. However, he quickly resumed his activity, and after making sure the man was no longer bleeding, picked up his gear and quickly sprinted on down the street out of sight around the corner. Eli waited a couple of minutes just to be safe, then stood up carefully and scanned the roof. She breathed a sigh of relief. She had to get home and tell Papa about this. It could present problems for them.

She turned into the wind with her arms at her sides, and, as quietly as she could, spread her wings and leaped into the air. She hadn’t cleared the roof when she was suddenly struck hard from above and driven downward. Her wings collapsed as he wrapped his own tightly around her, and together they fell like a rock, dropping 20 feet onto the hard gravel roof. She landed on her face and chest with his full weight driving her across the loose gravel, knocking the breath completely out of her. She quickly rolled to the side, jumped to her feet, kicked him solidly in the groin, and raced for the edge of the building, but he was up almost as quickly and grabbed her firmly by the hair in mid-stride. Her head jerked back and her feet flew out from under her, as he grabbed her around the chest with both arms and lifted her completely off the ground.

“Well! What have we here? A new little vampire, and a cute one at that. Hardly a mouthful though. Where did you come from?”

Eli struggled to get away, but it was no use. Not only was he bigger and stronger, she was still comparatively weak from her encounter with the sun. He relaxed his grip on her but grabbed her wrists tightly in his clawed hands as he turned her around to face him. All she could see was his black eyes boring into her. She struggled for a moment, but her claws were useless to her and her talons couldn’t get a good enough grip on the roof to give her any leverage. She looked at him defiantly with her cat-eyes and remained silent. “Got a little sunburned I see.” he laughed, “I hate it when that happens! It can ruin your whole day.” He examined her more closely. “I see you have sexual identity issues too. Boy I bet that hurt! Ahh, but It brings back nothing but fond memories for me.” He got an ugly look on his face as he tightened his grip and his claws bit into her wrists. “Now, where the hell did you come from? You’ll tell me eventually, I promise.” He smiled at her, deliberately exposing his fangs. She saw that he was much more muscular than he had appeared to be when seen from a distance. He was quite a formidable figure. She also noticed multiple scars on his chest and horizontal scars on his back as though he had been whipped repeatedly. He must have gone through his own hell before he was turned, since she was painfully aware that injuries acquired before being turned were never repaired.

Eli retracted her claws and talons and stood there motionless. He released one arm, firmly guided her to the center of the roof and motioned for her to sit down. When they were seated, he released her and leaned back against a ventilation shaft. “You realize you can’t get away, right? You’ll be no match for me, and I will definitely get angry if you make any such attempt. Now, I’ll ask you once more. Where did you come from?”

“That’s something I will never tell you, so try another question. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to come up with one I WILL answer.”

He jumped up and, with a single blow to the head with his open hand, sent her sprawling across the roof. He was sitting cross-legged in front of her almost before she had stopped rolling. He smiled at her, “This is getting us nowhere. Let me put it to you this way. I will not risk the attention I will get if you muck things up for me. I have perfected my food-gathering technique and have been successfully feeding in London, off and on, for over 300 years, without detection. I won’t have some stupid child eunuch screw it up for me. I’ve lived here in the cemetery for over 100 years and I’ve not come close to being discovered.”

“I’m not from anywhere around here, and am absolutely no danger to you. My food source is none of your concern, because it has no effect on your supply whatsoever.” She realized she had to be very careful. His temper was even more volatile than her own.

He leaned toward her, “Now that sounds interesting to me. I’m always open to new ideas. Exactly where and how do you feed?” His face was inches from hers; she could smell the mixture of whisky and blood on his breath, a price he was obviously willing to pay for his choice of victims. She could also tell that he probably never bathed, but then why should he? She certainly hadn’t – until Oskar.

She shook her head slowly, “Sorry. I can’t tell you that. I have my own reasons for keeping it to myself.”

He looked her over carefully. “Well you sure travel light,” he joked. I usually wear pants when I fly. I have to carry the tools of my trade in something. You must be close to home, and on reconnaissance or you would have to do the same. In your weakened condition, I would guess…within a 20-minute flight as the bat flies.” He smiled at his own joke. “That puts you in London somewhere and a direct threat to my anonymity.”

“Believe me, my source is far safer than yours.” Eli groaned inwardly. That was absolutely the wrong thing to say. This one seems to be quite proud of his cleverness, and I walked right into that one.

“Now I am intrigued.” he said, smiling. “I must insist that you tell me. I promise I will let you go if I like your answer. Otherwise…” he stopped smiling and again took her wrist in his hand.

“Ask me anything else, but I can’t answer either of your questions. It could lead you to where I live and I can’t let that happen.” She tried to sound sincere; even apologetic.

He sighed impatiently, “Where do you come from originally? How old are you?”

“I’m twelve, but I’ve been twelve for over 200 years. I was born in a small village in Sweden.”

“Well! Finally some answers! Now was that hard?”

Maybe I can disarm him a bit by sounding genuinely interested in who he is. “Now I’d like a couple of answers in return. How old are you and where do YOU come from?”

He grinned at her, “I’m 18, but I’ve been 18 for 325 years and came from right here, not more than a half-mile from this spot. I’m not a world traveler like you, although I was once in your part of the world. I like where I am and intend to stay here. But you present a problem for me.” That would explain why I thought he was younger. She thought to herself, The average height in those days was much less than today.

“I promise that, if you let me go, you will never see me again. You clearly didn’t notice me when I lived here 65 years ago, and I was here for many years.” She smiled at him.

“There were many more of us here at that time. I think the wars provided a more fertile ground for our activities and lessened the chances we would be noticed in all the disruption. But since then, I have worked hard to ensure that I and I alone control this area, much to the ‘annoyance’ and eventual deaths of many others like you.” He took on a darker tone, “Do you really think that I’m stupid enough to even consider taking a chance that you’re telling the truth?”

“Where do you live? How could you have stayed in one place so long without being detected, even by chance?” Eli was stalling for time, even though she was intrigued by his success at staying hidden for so long.

He paused a moment, then laughed, “Well, why not? I live right here, within sight of the tomb of Dr. Rees Ralph Llewellyn, a man I was indirectly involved with towards the end of the 19th century. I’ve always considered it poetic justice that I pass his stone every evening when I set out on my food quests. Now then! I’ve shown you mine, you show me yours.” His black eyes glowed as he flexed his claws.

The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. And why would he so casually tell her where he lived, when he clearly didn’t trust her? He was either lying, or… The alternative wasn’t pleasant to think about. And once again, she had walked right into his trap. He would now expect a better answer from her.

She thought carefully about how she should answer him. Even though he was a vampire like herself, he seemed – different somehow; more feral, more inhuman; more predatory. If he WERE human, he would probably be a sociopath, she thought to herself.

“I’m still waiting.” His voice hardened. “Tit for tat, remember? I’ll be quite disappointed if you end the game now.”

She slowly shook her head, “I really can’t tell you. All I can do is assure you that your secret is safe with me. I have no quarrel with you and you have my word that if you let me go, you will never see me again.” She felt a knot in her stomach, as his intentions became clearer to her.

“Then you’re of no use to me, and as far as I’m concerned, that makes you a liability. Too bad! You’re kind of cute for a eunuch.” He ran his clawed hands slowly up and down her arms. Her skin crawled as she pulled away from him. Suddenly his face lit up. He grabbed her again and examined her more objectively, checking her muscle tone, and prodding her back, legs, and shoulders. She felt like a horse at an auction. “You’re too consistently well-fed and healthy overall to be on your own, as small as you are.” He suddenly grinned as he got it. “You’re not alone! You’ve got help. No wonder you won’t talk to me. You’re protecting someone! Now that’s even more interesting. And I would guess that they have no idea where you are right now, or I would already be in trouble – unless…. they’re human! Of course! That makes much more sense, since as you know, our species tends to not get along well together. Who is it? A lonely desperate childless couple, taken in by your natural charms?” his voice dripped with sarcasm. “Am I right so far?”

“You’ll get nothing from me. You must know that!” She pointedly looked down at her scar, then back up at him, “I survived when that was done to me, and I hadn’t been turned yet. You think you can do better, go for it!” she realized that she had given up trying to reason with him. That was a dead-end road now.

“You think you’re immortal? You think that only the sun, or fire can kill you? Well, I can kill you too!” He paused, “ It’s your choice. Answer my questions, and I promise I will let you go.”

“No! You won’t!” Eli had read him clearly. She knew he meant to kill her no matter what she said. She needed to make sure he got nothing from her.

“Well, then. We understand each other perfectly.” He got a faraway look in his black eyes as his pupils elongated and became unnaturally sinister, even reptilian. He slowly stood up, and as she made a last desperate attempt to run, quickly grabbed both her wrists and pulled her up against him. He put one arm around her and squeezed her impossibly hard; with the other hand, he grabbed her neck firmly and drew her toward him. She felt his claws on her skin and watched as his fangs grew and his half-open mouth moved slowly towards her neck. “I haven’t fed normally since I killed another of you 30 years ago. You don’t know how much I’m going to enjoy this. And, in the end, it will be the sun that gets another chance at you.”

She could feel his fangs press against her neck as he felt for the spot. He paused for a moment, then she jerked from the sharp pain as he bit into her neck. She made a final attempt to free herself, but only managed to get a clawed hand free long enough to gouge some skin off his back before he pinned her arm again. She could feel her blood moving toward the open wound as his mouth moved on her neck. His eyes were vacant as he slipped into that blissful mental state she knew so well. She knew with certainty that he had dismissed her completely as being anything but a meal. She felt herself getting weaker, and willed her blood away from him, willed her heart to slow and stop, tried to will herself into hibernation.

She felt herself falling in slow-motion, as he forced her down on the rough gravel roof. She pulled her knees toward her chest in a final attempt to force him away from her, but he easily straightened them with a strong hand; then locked his hands together behind her back and squeezed even harder. She knew that if she were human, her ribs would have broken under the force of his grip; she knew, because she had done the same countless times before. She tried twisting her head, but he pressed his mouth against her neck so hard that she was effectively caught in a vise. She concentrated on Oskar and Papa. She had to live! She had to warn them! She thought about how worried they would be when she didn’t come home. How they would look for her and never find her and never know what happened to her. She knew he would leave her on the roof and the sun would destroy her body when it came up in a few hours. She knew that he would watch the newspapers, looking for stories about missing children. She knew he would eventually find Oskar and Papa. She couldn’t bear the thought. STOP! This is not going to happen! She felt her body shut down in response to this new, powerful command; her breathing stopped, her heart stopped, her major arteries collapsed, she closed her eyes and went limp. She saw Oskar smiling at her, Papa was calling her name….