CHAPTER 29
I came to with the sound of shouting in my ear. It sounded as if someone had a mega horn up against my ear.
"Oww, stop yelling at me." I said
"Grazie Dio, shes coming to." I heard Roberto say.
"Thank goodness I knew CPR. You owe me big time Chica." Juan smiled into my face. Juan gave me CPR? Ewww, what the hell happened?
"Cara, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. What happened?"
"I dont know. We were driving and all of a sudden you grabbed your stomach and doubled over. Then you blacked out. Did you have a pain? Should I take you to the hospital? We are pulled over on the side of the road."
"No, no hospital. Ill be fine." I croaked out. I didnt want to tell Roberto what happened in front of Juan and Cristoforo. I was learning the less someone knew the better off I would be.
Roberto must have guessed at my hesitation because he said, "Lets just get her to the safe house where she can rest. Juan, thanks for your help. I dont want to think what would have happened if you hadnt been here."
"Yes, thank you Juan. I am in your debt." I added.
"Well, chica, in that case maybe a kiss wouldnt be out of the question."
"JUAN!" Roberto shouted. I smiled, "No its not out of the question." I leaned up and kissed his cheek.
He smiled and walked back to the car. During all of this Cristoforo said nothing. He was probably disappointed I hadnt died.
Roberto returned to the drivers seat and when we were safely on our way again he said, "Okay, tell me what happened."
I explained to him about Alex being slowly drained. I told him about the pain and the knife and how it felt like I
242 was being sliced open.
"F*ck!" Roberto said loudly. "This is not good. Ive never heard of such a strong connection after a blood exchange. It must be because of your Sensay abilities. God how I wish Alexander hadnt taken your blood!"
"Im sorry, we had no choice. I couldnt let him die. Surely you understand that Roberto."
"I know Piccolina, I dont like it. I dont want to see you tied to Alexander this way. I hope there is a way to break the bond."
I let myself relax against the seat. I felt exhausted. Roberto noticed and pulled me over to lean against him.
I let myself relax and was drifting off to sleep when I felt myself being lifted in a pair of strong arms. I struggled to lift my head off of Robertos chest but he said, "No, relax Cara, were at the safe house. Im going to put you to bed. You will be safe here. Mark will watch over you while we sleep."
"When will Mark sleep?" I asked concerned for the quiet man.
Roberto shook his head at me, "Dont worry Piccolina, Mark will get some rest."
"Okay," I murmured and once again fell back to sleep. I woke up at three oclock. I hadnt slept so much in a long time. I had no clue where we were. I rolled over and was relieved to see Roberto beside me. I laid there for a while thinking about our plan. I knew we were close to Alex. I could feel him. The plan was for me to remain outside with one of the guys while the rest of them went in to get Alex. The less I was involved, the better position I would be in if I was to try and infiltrate the Guardians in the future. At least that was Robertos explanation. I really think he didnt think I was ready for a mission like this. He was probably right. I had only trained for one day for Gods sake. I kissed Robertos cool cheek and got out of bed. I opened two doors before I located the bathroom. I found
243 my backpack on the floor, so I was able to change into fresh clothes after my shower.
I opened the door that led to the hallway and went looking for the kitchen, hoping there was some food in the house. I was starving. I followed the smell of coffee. I found the kitchen downstairs. It appeared from the look of things, we were in a nice little Cape Cod house. When I entered the kitchen, I found Mark sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.
"Good afternoon Mark." I said cheerily.
Mark grunted. This was going to be a long afternoon.
"Can I call Janel?" I asked Mark.
"No calls." Was all he said.
"Did you eat?" I asked him.
"Yeah."
Okay then. I can see we were going to have quite the conversation. I made myself some scrambled eggs, but found my appetite had fled. The first thing I was going to do when things got more normal was find myself a Starbucks and order a grande vanilla latte. I roamed the house for a little while and then turned on the television and watched a movie that barely kept my interest. I was restless. The need to get to Alex was strong. As I sat there I kept picturing Alex in my mind. I was trying not to because Roberto asked me not to go there without him. The effort was giving me a headache and I lay down on the sofa. That is where Roberto found me a few hours later.
"Piccolina, we need to get going. We have already fed."
I was a little groggy, "What? Were ready? Okay."
Roberto looked concerned, "Are you all right Olivia? You look pale and Mark says you have been sleeping all day."
"Im okay, just groggy. I guess all of the late nights have caught up with me. Ill be ready to go in five
244 minutes."
I could feel Robertos concerned eyes on me while I climbed the stairs. I still felt tired. It was as if I had come down with the flu. I got ready as quickly as I could and met everyone downstairs.
"Do you want to eat something before we go?" Roberto asked.
"No, Im not hungry." I replied. I just wanted to get on the road.
We left the house a few minutes later and continued south. We were getting closer to Alex and the closer we got, the weaker I felt. I knew something was wrong. I didnt want to tell Roberto. I was afraid he may not want to continue with the mission. We made small talk as we drove, which I was glad about because I wasnt sure if I would be able to handle much more. We were just outside of Baltimore when my head began to pound so badly that I was going to be sick.
"Pull over" I said to Roberto.
"Whats wrong Olivia? Are you ill?"
"Im going to be." I choked out.
Roberto had barely pulled over to the shoulder of the road and I jumped out and vomited. I heard Juan and Cristoforo asking what was wrong and Roberto telling them I was sick. I was grateful they hung back and let me be ill in peace. When I could finally stand upright again, Roberto came around and handed me a bottle of water. Grateful, I took it and thanked him.
"Are you sure youre all right Olivia? You look awful."
"Gee, thanks..." I managed a small smile. "Ill be all right. Can you help me into the car?"
Roberto helped me back into the car and after saying a few words to the others; he got back in the car. Roberto stared hard at me. "We are not moving until you tell me whats going on Olivia."
245 I lifted my weak head to look at him. "Its Alex. Somethings wrong. I think Im feeling his weakness. We need to hurry."
"Merde! Tell me where to go! Olivia? Look at me!" he shouted when my head drooped.
"Keep south, I will tell you...when..turn." I slumped back.
Roberto peeled out onto the highway, with tires screeching. I tried to connect with Alex but it was like our connection was growing dimmer. It was like holding on to the back of a speeding boat and the tie line was growing longer and longer. Suddenly it felt like the boat turned.
"Turn here." I said to Roberto. He took a sharp right turn off the interstate.
"Where to next?" Roberto asked.
"Keep going straight if you can."
Roberto was speeding down the road. I hoped we wouldnt get stopped by cops. That would surely mean the end of Alex and maybe the end of me. Still, if I had to do it again I knew I would give my blood to Alex. It had brought me nothing but grief and yet I could never let him die while I sat back and did nothing.
"Turn down that small road up ahead." I said weakly. Alex was at the end of this road. I felt like what was left of his life force was pulling me down the road.
Roberto turned down the road and picked up speed. He came to stop at a high gate. "Is this it Olivia?" he asked.
"Yeah, hes in there and I think hes dying Roberto. Hes lost so much blood."
Roberto reached over and pulled me into his arms, "I will not let anything happen to you Piccolina. Every one of these bastards will die before you do, that is a promise. I want you to stay here. Ill leave Cristoforo here to protect you. But I want you to take this."
Roberto pulled a gun out of his leather jacket. I shook my head no, remembering how it felt to shoot Evan
246 back at my parents house.
"Take it. You probably wont need it but it will make me feel better. Please Cara?"
Reluctantly, I took the gun. "Can Juan stay with me instead of Cristoforo? Im afraid with the gun; I may be tempted to shoot him when he opens his mouth." I weakly quipped.
Roberto smiled at me, "Okay, I dont want to have to tell my parents my girlfriend shot my brother."
"Thanks. Now you better hurry. Alex is not going to last much longer."
Roberto kissed me, "When this is over Piccolina, we are going to take a trip somewhere. Just the two of us. No Janel. No Alex. No Juan, no one but you and I and Im going to love you from sunset to sunrise."
"I love you Roberto. Be careful. Dont get hurt, you will need all of your body parts in good working order in order fulfill your promises." I kissed him back with everything I had, which wasnt too much.
"I love you Olivia, stay right here by Juans side. Okay?"
I nodded and Roberto got out of the car to talk to Juan, Cristoforo and Mark. Juan did not look too happy to be left behind to babysit me. He opened the car door and got in.
"Im sorry Juan. I know you wanted to go in and rescue Alex. Its just I feel more comfortable with you than Cristoforo."
When Juan didnt answer, I asked him, "How long have you known Alex and Roberto?"
Juan smiled, "I met Alex in Tijuana in 1973, I believe. Sometimes we vampires forget years. We are much better with decades."
I had never asked how old Juan was, "When were you born?"
Juan laughed, "Im not sure. I was born sometime in
247 the early seventeenth century."
Trying to keep my mind off of Roberto and Alex I asked him, "How come you dont know your birth year?"
Juan shrugged, "There were not many records kept back then."
Beginning to really get interested I asked, "What about your parents? Wouldnt they know when you were born?"
"I never knew my parents." Juan said stoically.
"Ohhh, Im sorry Juan. If Im not prying too much, who raised you?"
"Well Chica, I was in an orphanage until I was eight years old or so when a family adopted me."
At the smile on my face Juan said, "It was not a family like you knew Chica. It was a living hell until the day I ran away."
"Awww, Juan Im sorry to hear that. It must have been really rough on you."
Juan laughed. "Rough? Well hell, precious little Sensay. Id guess it was ,,rough if thats what you would call being forced into selling your body so your so-called family would let you eat. You will never know what pain is until youve been forced to let people violate your body with anything, anyway they wanted. I used to pray one of them would kill me so it would stop."
I was horrified by what he was saying. "My God Juan. Im sorry."
Juan kept talking as if he didnt hear me. "I lived like that a long time, until a missionary and his family found me and took me in. I liked them. In the beginning they were good to me. Strict but very good."
Juan looked at me and asked me, "Did Roberto ever tell you what its like when your blood hunger begins?"
I shook my head no.
"It usually starts to kick in right around puberty. I had no idea what was happening to me. I had no family like
248 other vampires to show them how to hunt and when to know it was time to stop feeding. The Monteros who took me in never knew what happened. One minute I had been asleep in my bed and the next I was draining them.
When I came out of my hunger phase, I stared in horror at the Monteros in their bed with their throats ripped out. The worse was the image of Isabel. She had only been two years old."
As I recoiled from Juan in horror, he ran a hand over his eyes and sighed, "I ran from the house that day. For the next year I killed many people as I fed from them. Then one day in Mexico City I was in an alley feeding from a prostitute and a man spotted me. I was going to rip his throat out and drain him when his words stopped me.
,,I know what you are son. I know you hunger for blood. I can help you control that hunger and become strong. No one will ever be able to hurt you or have power over you.'
I decided to trust him and followed him to his home. He took me in and taught me how to control myself. He also taught me how to defend myself. He made me the man I am today." Juan finished with pride in his voice.
At last, a happy ending. I was so glad for Juan. He was a good guy and deserved to have peace in his life after what he had been through. I reached over and took his hand to show him how I admired him for all he had overcome.
"Was the man a vampire?" I asked.
Juan squeezed my hand tight in his. "No, he was a Guardian."