*Author's note-I'm so sorry about how long this has taken. Aside from my other series consuming my attention, this took a bit more thought than the last two entries. I wanted it to be different than other vampire turn stories. I wouldn't say graphic but less romantic. I wrote it, rewrote it, then rewrote it again. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.
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When Nezrah said "safe house" I assumed it would be secure but spartan in design. The house that we pulled up to didn't even imply security but I trusted that it would be safe once we drove into the garage. Instead of rolling up, the door swung out and as we passed through I noticed it was made of metal nearly eight inches thick that latched with a loud clunk. I was led through another heavy door with a lock that required a security code and retina scan to deactivate it. A feminine electronic voice welcomed them all by name, but then alerted them of my presence among them.
"Female, human, heart rate 70 beats per minute and accelerating. Should a profile be created?"
"Temporary," Ming-Lu stated as she moved to a wall panel just inside the door. A keypad slid out and she began tapping away at it. After a few moments she waved me over and stepped away. "Stand still and say your name." I did as she asked and a flashbulbs went off above me, followed by a blue laser that ran up from my feet to the top of my head then back again. It requested my name and I gave it. First, last, and my nickname.
"Welcome Luana Smitty Smith. Your security clearance will expire in 24 hours at which time you will be expelled from the premises."
"Well that's a polite way of saying I'll get the boot," I said with a nervous laugh. Nezrah was behind me then, his arm around my waist. His hand firmly on my hip, he guided me into the living room that looked all too staged to be lived in.
"Formalities my Urbi for in that time the system will no longer recognize you."
By that I assumed he meant the whole lack of heart rate thing would make me unrecognizable. That made me wonder how it discerned them. Nezrah chuckled quietly and put his lips to my cheek.
"Do not take offense but that explanation will be much less difficult after tonight," he said then cringed for my reaction. I understood what he meant and laughed.
"But by then I would know what you do, " was my smirking reply and he simply shrug his shoulders. "I'm sure it reads any number of biometric data. I'm just curious if it's more than simple height and weight." That got a laugh from Ming-Lu and Yuri and I smiled cockily. "You assumed my only interests in school were art. I told you my father was a cop and that was half true. He was a forensic computer analyst, specialized in breaking into criminal security systems for the FBI. You'd be surprised how much more sophisticated criminals are than the feds when it comes to stuff like that. He used to sneak me into his lab on the weekends. Give me a couple hours I could probably rework this whole setup." I saw Yuri's eyes shift at that and Neville shook his head. Ming-Lu laughed again and took my hand.
"You make the men nervous but I like you Smitty," She said as she led me through the kitchen to another door. "Especially Yuri. He is not used to Nezrah being so...how you say...enraptured..."
"By a human you mean?"
"No, my dear, by any being," she said with a smile and it had none of the salacious predatory glint as the previous ones. It seemed she was being genuine and I didn't know how to take that. I had no snarky comeback or snide reply to downplay her implications. I followed her down a flight of metal stairs so long I would have thought I were in the center of the Earth had it not been so cold. My breaths came out in plumes before me and goosebumps rose up all over my body. Finally we came to another door, this one with a wheeled handle like an old bank vault. She spun it until it clicked and the door popped open with a hiss of air. There were a few moments in darkness and the sounds of Ming-Lu clicking away at another keyboard. Then there was that voice again.
"Welcome Smitty to the King's chambers. The environment is currently being adjusted for your optimum comfort." The sound of more than one fireplace coming to life was followed by the slow subtle rise of candlelight. What my eyes beheld was closer to what I imagined. The room was long and probably wide enough for 5 average sized men to stand shoulder to shoulder. Along one wall was overstuffed seating with scalloped cushions, the other was lined floor to ceiling with books. The carpet was so plush my boots sunk in a little as I walked the length of the floor to the chaise situated in front of the fireplace. I sat down, slipped out of my boots, and drew my feet up, I never needed to be invited to make myself comfortable. Ming-Lu came with a glass pitcher of infused water and a goblet. She poured me a glass and I could smell the mint and ginger as I took a sip. As I drank, she sat in the chair opposite me, her smile unchanged.
"You are something," she said finally and I was glad for it. The attention she was showing me was making me a little uncomfortable. "Yuri and I have been with him since the old world, before the courts found him. We are as much family as can be had for ones like us. I know he has told you of the clan system but there is no bond. It is simply a way for the Ancients to keep tabs on the new hires and their monetary gains. Even amongst the clans there is discord."
"Naysayers," I repeated the word Nezrah spat at me the day before and she laughed. Her teeth flashed through her thin lips and the smirk she wore took on a predatory glint.
"They have been dealt with."
"Yeah he said as much," I said with a nervous laugh and she poured me another glass of water. I didn't take it right away, looking from her to the glass and back again. She read my question on her own.
"The turn can be...messy," she said and looked away, something like embarrassment in her eyes. "He only wishes that you be the most comfortable he can make you."
"Well, I'm gonna need a little more than this water for that." I knew what she couldn't say. Things happen to your body when you die. Things that are left out of all the vampire movies made through the years. No matter how enraptured he may have been, being shat on would change Nezrah's vision of me.
"He assured me you would understand but I had my doubts." Ming-Lu rose from her seat and without being told I did the same, following her again to where I didn't know. She hadn't used any of her vamp voodoo on me since I met her outside of my apartment but I trusted her. Something about her seemed so honest, so human, that I couldn't see her doing any harm to me. I'm sure I was blinded by the grace of her narrow hips as she moved, almost floating down the narrow corridor with that gossamer jumper billowing over her alabaster skin. Her almond shaped eyes gave her an almost child like innocence when she smiled at me but that I knew to be an illusion of my own making. I had no doubt in her story of how long she and Nezrah had been acquainted. I knew from his own account that his time before he crossed the Atlantic was dark and bloody. If they were as close as she insinuated, and I had no doubt they were, she would have been present for the worst of it making her a very dangerous woman. Perhaps without the teeth and bloodlust even. Just as with Nezrah, the way she carried herself told of her body awareness. Her movements were fluid and efficient, even the fact that she wore flat bootie type slippers was telling of one who might be prepared for anything.
"Ummm, Ming," I said as we came to a room lit by bright florescent light. It was a stark contrast to what I had seen of this subterranean hideaway and this made me nervous. First the floor had four channels built into it, all leading to a wide drain in the center. On one side was a steel table that I had seen in enough coroners offices in crime television shows to know it's purpose. It wasn't the table that made me nervous but the four point restraints that were attached to it. Closer to the center of the room was gynecological exam table complete with stirrups, and more restraints. Along one wall were various medical machinery and on the ceiling was a high powered hose that seemed to be long enough to move to any point in the room. The room was sterile to say the least and I was started to think my trust in her may have been misplaced. For the first time this night, I didn't follow her and she laughed.
"You have questions," She said with that same smile as she took my hand again, though she didn't pull me along but stood just inside the threshold. "That was silly of me, of course you have questions. This place is not always used for such admirable a purpose as the uniting of two souls. In fact I do not believe it has ever been used as such, but you need not trouble yourself with such things..."
"Oh I'm troubled," I said, still unable to step inside. And she still didn't attempt to move me.
"There are times when this room has been used in the gathering of information..."
"You mean torture?"
"Yes but very rarely of humans..."
"Naysayers?"
A smirk and she repeated my question in the affirmative before I stepped over the threshold. "I am a woman of many talents Smitty," she said as she led me to the chair. She went into a draw on the wall and came away with one of those paper hospital gowns and handed it to me. I didn't need to be told what the next step was and began to undress. She seemed a little surprised that I did so in front of her but she kept talking as I pulled my dress off. "As you are, I am my father's only child. Born in a time when most believed that a curse of the gods, but my father was a progressive man. When most would have killed his wife and sold the girl child, he lavished us with love until the day he left this world. He treated me with the respect he would a son and taught me things most girls of my time could only dream of learning. When it came time for me to find a husband, he didn't force the issue and allowed me choose my prospects, much to my mother's chagrin but even she understood how difficult that would have been for me. Given my training in all things, it would take a certain type of man to look past my independence to find the delicate lady that dwells within."
"Was he even born yet," I asked jokingly as I hopped up onto the chair and set my feet into the stirrups.