Heart Two Heart (18 page)

“Hey mum, we are heading out. I’ll call in a
few weeks just to let you know we are fine. I love you and
pop.”

I heard her take a deep breath then just as I
expected she launched into her argument again. She was going to
berate me again for choosing to leave without telling her and pop
were we were going. She was also pissed off that I was taking my
nan Geho with me. Mum and Pop felt Geho should be punished not
rewarded by getting to live with Seraphina and me. Mum was also a
mess because she believed we would keep any babies we had away from
her. According to my mum all she ever wanted was lots of babies and
grand babies and now Seraphina and I were ruining that for her.

I listened to her cry, whine and demand for a
few minutes before I felt myself losing patience. Then she shifted
the conversation to the baby again. She actually blamed me for what
happened. As if I called my nan and said ‘kill it’ so I can have a
chance with my other eternal heart too. My mother was twisting
things so that she could get me to buy in with my guilt. Finally
I’d had enough of her guilt trip and I found myself growling into
the phone at her.

“Mum, you are a spoiled bitch. Just because
pop hangs on your every thought and gives in to your every whim
doesn’t mean you are a god. You are just a woman with an eternal
heart that thinks you walk on water. You need to step off and live
your own life. Not everyone sees and believes everything you
do.

If you keep pushing this with me things are
going to go bad. Think about what you said to me. Why should I want
to be here or have you in Seraphina and my life? I love you mum but
you need to start having a more open mind. Tolerance is something
that you really need to work on. I’ll call in a few days. Maybe
things will go a bit smoother than.”

I hung up the phone and slipped it into my
back pocket. I took one final look around the room and headed out
the door locking it behind me. I slipped the key under the mat
knowing that the tribe would probably have someone move in within
the next few days. Empty apartments didn’t stay empty long on the
reservation.

The moment I turned towards the car I knew
something was wrong. I was assaulted by the scent of fresh blood. I
swung my head left and right trying desperately to identify where
the smell was coming from. I looked at the car and saw the
passenger side door open. Seraphina however was nowhere in
sight.

I moved over and looked into the empty seat
and saw her cell phone blinking on the floor. Nan’s number flashing
back at me. I slid my finger over the answer button and was just
about to tell my nan to something was wrong when I heard the
whimper.

I knew the sound was coming from the master
bedroom of the apartment. I’d forgotten the phone I was holding in
my hand and turned back toward the apartment. My coyote howled in
my head and forced himself to the front of my mind just as we
smashed through the door and bolted towards the bedroom.

They had her tied to the bed by all four of
her limbs. She was gagged and her eyes were covered with a
bandanna. Her head was shaking from side to side and I could feel
her terror. I tried to speak to her through our mind link but the
fear was too high for her to have any kind of comprehensive
thoughts.

Her mind and body were already shutting down
to protect her from the horrors she expected to happen. I swallowed
hard and tried desperately to let her know it wasn’t going to
happen again. I wouldn’t let her relive that pain. I tore my eyes
away from Seraphina so that I could assess the real situation.

There were nine members of NOFS crammed into
the tiny space of the master bedroom. One was positioned very
closely to Seraphina and had a large buck knife located over her
throat. I moved towards them and the one next to Seraphina tisked
at me then said roughly while holding up two fingers

“You have two choices. Choice number one. You
submit to us. Drop to the floor with your hands behind your back
and allow us to chop off your head. If that happens we will let
your eternal heart go without harming her in anyway.”

The moment the words left his mouth the other
eight men moved towards me. When I growled and showed them my
jaguar fangs and claws they took a quick step back and the one next
to Seraphina shouted

“Or choice number two. I slit her throat wide
open in front of you, then we all shift into our skinwalker animals
and tear you apart limb from limb.”

I finished paying for my coffee and moved to
the back of the cafeteria. I let a tear slip down my cheek and I
slowly wiped it away with the back of my hand. Today was the tenth
anniversary of Seraphina’s death. I looked down at my watch and
knew that I still had another hour before my shift started.

January was always such a hard month for me.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to push Seraphina from my
mind. I learned the hard way not to allow myself to dwell on the
past. It would make me sick again and I was just finally getting my
act together. I felt a shiver go down my spine thinking about the
amount of time I’d spent in various mental facilities.

If it hadn’t been for my Nan taking care of
me and getting me constant help I would never have survived
Seraphina’s death and the death of my skinwalker. I felt a shiver
go down my spine and again reminded myself to let the past go.
Things were finally coming together for me. I was back to
practicing medicine and was even living on my own for the past two
years. I took a swallow of my coffee and considered heading into
one of the empty rooms and taking a small nap when I heard them
call for me over the PA.

“Dr. Natani to the ER Stat”

I looked down at the piping hot cup of coffee
in my hand. I took another fast swallow and allowed the hot liquid
to slip quickly down my throat. Then I tossed the cup in the nearby
receptacle and mentally thanked god for the distraction. I walked
out of the cafeteria and pushed the button for the elevator.

The moment the door opened I stepped in. I
watched the door close behind me and realised there was a
chupacabra now in the elevator with me. I turned slowly and allowed
myself to take in his appearance. He was vaguely familiar. I was
sure I’d met him when I was very young. I opened my mouth to speak
but he shook his head no. So I remained silent. Then to my surprise
when the elevator opened he motioned for me to step out with
him.

“Dr. Natani to the ER Stat”

I tried to decide if I thought the chupacabra
posed any danger to me. With today being the day it was something
inside of me was unsettled and more than uncomfortable. I heard the
announcement again on the PA and was about to decline joining him
when he said

“My name is Quopil Chēchitl. I have a child,
her name is Taini and she was born with the blood of a skinwalker
and chupacabra within her. All she needs is to share blood with
another nagual to finish the process. My wife and I have raised her
from an infant. She has a bad heart. We’ve done all we can to keep
her alive this long. She needs to finish being converted and
comingle her essence with her eternal heart, or she will die in the
next few weeks.

We all knew this time would come. I tried but
the part of her that is skinwalker is poisonous to me. Pau is
missing and, only a nagual like Pau or yourself can finish the
process. Her blood is poisonous to all chupacabra. We know your
history, and we know that you have rejected her in the past, but…
we are desperate to save our daughter and we are convinced that you
are her only chance. Please leave with me now and come save my
child.”

“Mum, where did pop go?”

I tried hard to take a deep breath but my
lungs refused to obey me. I was used to the pain. I knew that my
heart and lungs were failing. I knew even know my lungs were full
of fluid that’s why every time I tried to breath my chest rattled.
I knew that it would be any day now.

I know my parents had tried everything to
save me. They think I don’t know or understand but they are wrong.
I’ve heard it all when they think I’m sleeping. I know they can’t
finish converting me because I was born with something very wrong
with me. I know that my blood is like poison to my pop and with Pau
missing, I don’t think there is anyone else left that can help
me.

I guess I will end up dying after all. My
uncle Waylon had tried everything even magic from some old stinky
book he carries around. Nothing has worked. Now my mum and pop
cried constantly when they think I can’t hear them. Then pop left
last night and wouldn’t tell me where he was going.

He even let me see him cry and told me that
I’d to fight real hard to stay alive until he came back. That’s why
I am forcing myself to pull in the air even though I am so tired
and just want to stop. I hope he hurries because I don’t think I
can keep going for too long. I wish mum would tell me where he is
so I know how much longer I will have to fight.

I bet he went to find Pau. Pau has been
missing for weeks, and no one, not even uncle Waylon know where he
is. Maybe they think he won’t be allergic to my blood even though
my pop was. Mum says Pau is different. More like me. She swears Pau
will be able to do the impossible. I heard my mum take a deep
breath and I looked up to see tears brimming in her eyes.

I wanted to keep my promise to my pop. I was
trying so hard to keep my lungs working even though they were
fighting against me. I kept having sharp pains in my chest and I
knew my heart was working against me as well. I kept telling myself
that I’d to stay alive long enough for my pop to come home. It was
just too hard I didn’t think I could keep this up for much longer.
My pop needed to hurry. I forced my mouth open and croaked out

“Mum, he has to hurry…I don’t want to
disappoint him.”

I felt a sharp pain in my chest and was
forced to close my eyes. My head was swimming and I was so dizzy. I
heard my mum shout for my uncle Waylon and I knew that my pop
wasn’t going to make it home in time. I was so sorry. I tried to
open my mouth and tell mum to tell him I tried my best but I
couldn’t even move my mouth.

The moment we stepped into his house I knew
exactly where she was. I could hear her tiny little heart
struggling to beat. I heard her lungs rattle and I knew she was
dying. Then I was assaulted by the scent of Lilacs and vanilla. I
looked over my shoulder at Quopil as he pointed up the stairs and
we both bolted skipping more than half of the steps.

The bedroom door opened and I saw her small
fragile body lying on the bed. I was too focused on her face to see
anyone or anything else in the room. I moved towards the bed and
finally forced myself to look at the woman sitting across from
her.

I was here and ready to do whatever needed to
be done. Then I realised no ever explained how the blood ceremony
worked. When I was just a baby I remember my nan telling me about
the very first ceremony that Pau had been forced to endure during
the war. I remember hearing how painful and awful it was for him,
but the story didn't really tell me what I needed to do. Despite
that fact, I found myself racking my memory for the story.

Pau was a small chupacabra child during the
war when the Nazi’s imprisoned him. In the process of trying to
make nagual, they discovered skinwalker blood was poisonous to
chupacabra. Just because they liked to experiment and find out what
would happen, they forced a Vaettir to create dangerous blood magic
and combine both chupacabra and skinwalker blood together. Then
they forced Pau to consume the blood.

According to Geho, Pau nearly died several
times that first night, but in the morning he was even bigger,
stronger and faster than he'd ever been the night before. The Nazi
scientist seeing Pau’s new found health and strength decided to
replicate the process again. Like before Pau writhed in pain for
hours on end, but also like before he got well again. This time he
was even stronger and healthier than the last time.

The scientist remarked that now he was even
stronger and faster than the Vaettir. Still, the scientist wanted
to push the boundaries. He wanted to see if Pau could take the
shape of both chupacabra and skinwalker animals so again they
repeated the process. Pau did die this time. Three times to be
exact, but the Nazi scientist was able to resuscitate him. This
time Pau’s senses like smell, taste and sight seemed to improve
dramatically. Even odder however was his physical appearance had
changed. Pau definitely had the ability to shift into multiple
animals including those of the chupacabra and the skinwalkers.
Despite that, the Nazi scientist insisted they repeated the process
again in an attempt to push the boundaries even farther. This time
the blood had absolutely no effect on Pau. No negative or positive
effects.

They grabbed another chupacabra. This one an
adult male and tried the experiment again. The adult male died the
first night. The next day, and every day after that they tried the
experiment until every chupacabra they had in the camp died.
Everyone but Pau and Taini. Taini wasn’t part of that experiment
because she was already the lab rat of a very different and equally
as painful experiment. Taini wasn’t drinking the blood the
scientist mixed. No, they were trying to convert her with Pau’s
blood. It didn’t work. In fact all it accomplished was giving her
that cold energy that the skinwalkers feel when they are near her.
Nevertheless, when the Nazi soldiers or the skinwalkers they were
rewarding for some reason or another, weren’t using her body, Pau
and Taini drank nothing but each other’s blood for weeks on
end.

I heard the woman across from me clear her
throat and I forced myself back into the present. She gave me a
quick smile then said