Vamp

Copyright @ calibeachgirl All rights reserved, 2012

Thanks to estragon for editing my story. Thanks to you for reading. sophia

The next day, the little door-bell gave a soft tinkle as the three young Asians entered the market. One immediately closed and locked the door, putting the 'CLOSED' sign up; one went to the back of the small store and the third walked toward the deli case, pulling out his gun as he went.

"Gimme the money or I'll blow your head off," he screamed, waving his gun around, afraid of it more than Giovanni was.

Unfortunately for the one that walked to the rear of the store, he met Jade who had been taking inventory and as he tried to drag her down for the rape, she moved so quickly her blurred face was the last thing he ever saw as she tore out his throat.

As his lifeless body dropped to the floor, she heard gunshots ring out and ran to the front to see Giovanni lying on the floor, a spreading pool of blood on the floor near him. Jade never hesitated between stopping the gunmen from leaving and tending to her love and made her choice. There was always time for retribution later, she knew.

The pool of blood became worse and she knew what she had to do, even though she had tried so hard not to. They never had the 'talk' as she hoped; lovemaking had taken up the night and the morning didn't seem the right time. Carefully, gently, she lifted his head to her lap as she knelt down next to him and then, knowing there was no return but no choice, she bit his wrist and then her own. As she pressed them together, the mixing blood flowed through his supine body and even as she watched, his wounds slowly clotted and closed and within minutes, there was no sign of damage as even the skin returned to its normal color.

"Tesoro caro," she murmured, rocking back and forth holding him as she cried, this time the tears flowing freely down her face.

The door opened and Lorelei rushed in. "Oh, God, oh, God, is he?" she asked, silently.

"I think so but he won't wake up." Jade held his head to her tighter.

"Did you?" Lorelei knelt down, looking at Giovanni's body on the floor.

"I had to; there wasn't anything else I could do. He was going to die!" Her voice dropped. "He was going to die." She cried once more.

"Let me see." Lorelei moved closer, peering where his wounds had been. She gently touched him and heard a slight moan and he moved, slightly and slowly.

"Wha... wha' happennnn?"

"Shh, caro," answered Jade. "Just rest for now, you're going to be all right." A single tear flowed. She could count the number of times in her life she had cried and this was the worst of them all and the best of them all.

"Now what?" Jade asked. "How do I tell him?" She still sat on the floor, cradling his head. "Now what?"

"I don't know. You're going to have to tell him something. There's someone in the back, isn't there?"

"Yes, he's dead; I killed him." Jade turned her head toward the back of the store where the body laid. As his body had fallen to the floor, Jade had seen the tattoo of the Wah Ching gang. She had a target.

"Good. We'll deal with him later... tonight. Right now, we take care of Giovanni before his mother finds out and dies of a heart attack. My God, I never thought this would happen, it's such a small little store."

"That's why. It's a small market, easy to rob. Oh, my poor Giovanni."

"I'm going to make sure the door is locked and then we're going to clean him up and make him comfortable and wait." Lorelei got up from the floor and walked to the door. She rattled the knob and, satisfied it was locked, went to the cooler at the back and pulled out two bottles of water.

"Drink," she said, handing one to Jade. Taking the other one, she unscrewed the cap and then gave some to Giovanni, just a sip at a time.

Several hours later, Giovanni stirred once again and his eyes opened. He was still lying on the floor, his head cradled in her lap, her hand massaging his forehead and cheek.

"Tesoro caro," she whispered, kissing his face, her tears falling onto his eyes.

Lorelei stood up. "I am going to his house and get a change of clothes. We can't let his mother see these. Tonight, we'll take care of that miscreant back there and then we'll go hunting while he rests."

Later, after they had washed his body and helped him dress, they took him home to their house and put him to bed in what was now Jade's bedroom. Lorelei knew that Jade would eventually return to hers, if only for a while, and felt no jealousy. They had loved for fifty years and when there was no end in sight, what was a few months or years?

..........

At two o'clock in the morning, Jade brought her black Challenger around and the two women went back to the store. They carried the plastic-wrapped body to the trunk of the car and threw him in. Driving south along Highway 1 until they were past Pacifica Jade pulled the car to the side of the road and they dragged his body to the cliff and threw him unceremoniously off to the water and rocks far below.

"Bastard," said Jade, peering into the darkness, trying to see where the body had landed. "Rot in hell."

It was a quiet ride back north to Sea Cliff, and after putting the car back in the garage, the two women went into the house, stripped off their clothes and burned them in the fireplace.

They looked in on Giovanni, soundly sleeping as his body healed itself from the near fatal wounds he had suffered. Lorelei took Jade by the hand and they went back to the room they had shared for nearly half a century and snuggled together, just holding one another for comfort.

Jade fell asleep, emotionally exhausted. Lorelei looked at her paramour. So many changes in such a short time... She searched Jade's mind, looking for what might have caused such a difference in her behavior but found none, Jade's mind having submerged the incident with the kidnapped boy so deeply that it was lost to them both. Lorelei, determined to discover what had happened, resolved to keep thinking about it.

For Lorelei, it was another sleepless night.

..........

Two days later, Mrs. Ragucci knocked on the door and was greeted by Juanita. "I'd like to see my son, please."

Juanita stood aside and after letting the woman enter, escorted her to the living room. Lorelei came into the room a few minutes later.

"Buon giorno," Lorelei said, her Italian flawless. "Lei è venuto di Giovanni."

"Sì, non l'ho visto nei giorni ed il mercato è stato chiuso. Le persone chiedono".

Lorelei listed to the woman, realizing that she was right. Following the shooting, Giovanni had not left Jade's bed and the store had, indeed, been closed. No wonder people were asking what was happening. "Lovers," she answered, "what can you do?"

Lorelei nudged the woman's mind just a little more, letting her accept the explanation without further question.

Giovanni's mother smiled. "Sì. Amanti..."

Juanita appeared with espresso and cannoli. After putting the tray down, she returned to the kitchen.

"Giovanni has spoken to us about expanding the store, a little. It's going to be closed for a few weeks while new fixtures are brought in. They are very excited."

"Have they spoken marriage yet?" Giovanni's mother asked. It was one thing that her son had fallen, evidently happily enough, for a young Chinese girl but to live together?

Lorelei could feel the woman's discomfort and immediately made her calm. "It's a different world, today. But, I'm sure that marriage is in the near future. I think they want to be sure. Jade wants children."

"Bambini?" She had waited for years, hoping that Giovanni would find a good woman to marry and have children with. Was this it? She wasn't Italian but she was young and looked healthy and seemed nice.

"Yes, children. I know that you've wanted grandchildren for quite a while, haven't you?" Lorelei looked at the woman, eye to eye.

"Why... si, I have. How did?"

"It will turn out all right, don't you worry. Things will be wonderful, just you wait and see. Let me walk you home."

"Grazie, Signorina Lorelei."

The two women left the house, Giovanni's mother having forgotten about seeing her son, still convalescing upstairs.

Lorelei stopped at the market and entered, closing the door quietly behind her. Blood was still on the floor, now dried and dark. In the back was the second pool of blood and she spat on it. "Bastard." Dropping two gallons of bleach onto the floor, she mopped away the blood enough that it would not be noticeable to the casual eye.

..........

Two days later, flyers were given out at Saints Peter and Paul Church, known as "La cattedrale d'Italia ovest," or "The Italian Cathedral of the West." The church served as the home church and cultural center for San Francisco's Italian community since its consecration years before and most of Giovanni's customers went there for Mass.

The flyers each had a coupon for twenty-five dollars free food from the market as celebration for its upcoming renovation. Lorelei had decided it was the easiest and most productive way to empty the store in time for its remodeling.

Letting five people in at a time, Jade and Lorelei soon emptied the store of its stock down to the walls. The fresh meats and cheeses went home with them and to Giovanni's mother.

The next week, everything was removed and a new addition was extended into the large parking lot, doubling the size of the store. With a new linoleum tile floor in place, all trace of the shooting and its accompanying killing were gone. New cases were brought in, doubling the size of the delicatessen side and a new meat counter for Mannings' beef was established.

As all the new stock was brought in, the store began to fill once again with food and every day that passed saw more and more people watching through the windows, waiting for the re-opening.

In the meantime, Lorelei and Jade had walked the neighborhood at night, looking for members of the Wah Ching gang. After three weeks, they had determined the location of over twenty members in the surrounding area and the day of vengeance was quickly approaching.

.........

"It's beautiful," he said, looking at the new store. With one arm around Jade's waist, he pushed open the market's door and slowly walked in. It was incredible, he thought. Walking down the aisles, he saw groceries imported from Italy and France and even Greece. The new meat case held his attention, laid out with so many cuts of meat.

Giovanni ran his hand through his hair. He had looked in the mirror, wondering how his hair was starting to gray. It was too bad, he thought, that he had been so sick while all this had been going on. He would have liked to have seen the construction. How he had become sick, though, he didn't remember but his mother, when he finally spoke with her, had told him how Jade and Lorelei had taken care of him, speeding his recovery.

In an hour, the Salesian priest from the church would arrive to bless the store, something his mother insisted upon. That was all right, he decided. It would gather more attention to the new store and the opening day crowd would be large. The parking lot had been turned into a picnic area and a fiesta had been planned to follow the blessing.

Jade handed him two new dollar bills and purchased a Toblerone chocolate bar. Lorelei pulled out a small frame, took one of the bills and put it in and then hung it on the wall behind the register. "Your first new dollar," she said. "Congratulations."

"No, thank you," he said. "I don't know what to say."

"Do you love Jade with all your heart?" Lorelei asked.

"You know that I do," he answered, his arm still around his lover.

"Then, that is thanks enough. Let's open the door. The priest is here... a little early but that's all right."

The priest and two altar boys walked through the store, splashing holy water as they went. Lorelei handed him an envelope with their offering.

Outside, the sounds of an Italian band were starting, the accordion especially vibrant and food was being served to the large crowd of people already gathered. Across the street, several members of the Wah Ching gang were watching, Lorelei noticed. She would attend to them later, she said to herself, maybe even this evening.

Turning, she returned to the party.

..........

That night, Lorelei went for a walk toward Chinatown. Over the years, the Chinese community had moved closer to North Beach and the Italian neighborhood, bringing their gangs with them. Wearing her customary black, she blended into the shadows well, almost disappearing into the dark.

By the time she returned home, three members of the Wah Ching gang had been dispatched, their bodies littering a dank alleyway.

Washing her hands and face, she sat down at the kitchen table and poured a glass of wine for herself. While killing was distasteful to her, sometimes vermin had to be eradicated before the poison spread too far. Her revenge had just begun.

Jade and Giovanni were up early when the rising sun filled the house with warmth. He gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek and they left the house for the market.

..........

The 'new' store was a success and Giovanni soon hired two men and a woman to help them out. While the money was not necessary for either Jade or Lorelei, it was important to Giovanni and for that the two women were glad. Lorelei wondered just what she and Jade were. To call them women was both accurate and so wrong.

That night, Jade found Giovanni looking in the mirror at his hair. It had turned white, much to the surprise of everyone who knew him. He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated.

"Giovanni, per favore, è venuto qui," she said, calling him to her. "I need to tell you something..."

He sat down on the edge of the bed and held her hand and she wanted to say something but found she couldn't.

..........

The next day, Giovanni went to the store by himself. Lorelei and Jade went to Chinatown, looking. Along the way, they stopped at a small restaurant and had noodle soup. Jade looked around, listening to the language as it flowed around them.

"There are two here... they are near the kitchen, eating. They will be leaving, soon, to play cards at a private club."

"Good."

The bodies were found later as one of the staff was putting garbage into the dumpster behind the restaurant.

"That makes five," said Lorelei. "How many will make us satisfied?"

"I don't know. I just know that it's not enough."

"How did Giovanni take it?"

"I slowly explained it to him. I was surprised."

"He must love you very much. The conditions were quite different than..."

"You and I? You and Ambrose? Yes, I suppose it was but there was no choice. I couldn't stand to lose him forever. I don't know if I would have done it, otherwise."

"Could you have lived with him, knowing he was going to age and die?" Lorelei remembered her grief at Isabel's death, a grief that still haunted her late at night as the darkness filled her room.

By the time they reached the house, they were holding hands, something that had been missing ever since Giovanni had entered their lives. Lorelei looked at Jade, the longing evident. She would have been embarrassed and ashamed and they would have to accept that this had been the result of hunger and emotion, something that had been missing for her the last month. "Come," she coaxed, "let me hold you."

Jade clearly tried to control her emotions while her heart melted in the face of Lorelei's heartache. "I believed I'd never know love like you and I have again but he loves me."

"I know," Lorelei replied, holding her lover by the shoulders and fixing her eyes upon her. "I feel the same way. I was alone and then you came along into my life. With you my emotions had been hungry for so long and..."

"I... I understand," Jade admitted. "It's nice to be held by you. I love you. I love him. I can love both. To know the pleasure of being touched, to smell your scent, to stroke your skin, to feel the softness of your body..."

Tenderly, Jade kissed Lorelei's parted lips and moaned into them. She shuddered, wrapping her arms around Lorelei's body.

Lorelei smiled, her eyes once again upon her lover. "We're so alike," she whispered, silently. "With the same kind of past that we can't forget." She paused, struggling with some question that she felt unable to ask. Jade waited and Lorelei finally said, "Stay with me. Love me, again."

"I'll always love you. I'm sorry I neglected you. I need you. Giovanni is one thing, you are another." Jade's mouth drifted over Lorelei's forehead, her cheekbone, her throat. She murmured persuasively into the warm hollow where he pulse throbbed with a faltering beat. She smiled at such an overwhelming response.

For a while they lay together, thinking their own thoughts and listening to those to be shared.

Later, they heard the front door open and Giovanni enter. It was seven o'clock in the evening. "I'm sorry I'm late. The people kept coming and coming."

"That's all right," Lorelei said. "We went for a walk... visited Chinatown."

"I brought home steaks, four ribeyes. Any takers?"

"I'll get Juanita to fix a salad."

"Great. I'll start the grill. You know, I was thinking..."

"What?" asked Jade, smiling, knowing full well what he wanted to ask but too shy to say anything in front of Lorelei.

"Well, maybe later. I better get to those steaks..." Giovanni walked outdoors to the grill and began to put some kindling and charcoal briquettes into it.

"Typical man," said Lorelei. "They all want to cook over an open fire. Must be the caveman gene."

Jade laughed, watching as her love started the fire that soon would be giving them dinner.

..........

Jade wrapped her arms around his waist and as he held her tight, she was aware of his arousal pressing against her. "I'm addicted to your hugs. I love your touch."

Giovanni smiled down at the woman in his arms and the trusting way she smiled back at him. He had no doubts at all for what he wanted to say. "Jade, you know I love you."

Jade smiled. She knew he loved her. She knew his innermost secrets, his every thought, his every desire.

He slid one hand along the slight curve of her hip in slow delight. He loved everything about her, the way her eyelashes curled around her eyes, her nose, her chin, the courage she had shown when he was shot. Somehow, something had come into his mind, telling him he had been shot. He thought he knew when but he didn't know how or why. Every time he was with Lorelei or Jade, the feeling grew stronger that something had happened. Would he ever know? He wasn't sure but he knew he had survived thanks to the strength the two women had shown in his care.

"I hope you're going to do more than just stare all night long," she laughed. Jade lifted her arms to encircle his neck. "I feel like a young girl, again."

For a moment, he was confused at her words. She was only twenty-six, how could she not feel like a young girl?

Giovanni bent his head toward hers and traced the edge of her upper lip with his tongue. He repeated the gentle touch, enjoying the gliding caress with an intensity that surprised him. His senses narrowed to the tip of his tongue as he dipped into the heat and softness of her mouth again and again.

The kiss seemed to go on forever and suddenly he was aware that they had been touching and kissing with increasing ardor for some time. His hand was on her breast and he could feel her nipple hot and erect up the center of his palm.

"Jade," he whispered against her lips, wanting to be sure she was with him. Never had he wanted her more and judging from the way her body arched again him and the soft sounds purring in her throat, she wanted... she needed him with a passion equal to his own.

"Gio," was all she could say, crying out softly. She touched his face and the contact was so electrifying he wouldn't have been surprised to see smoke.