Lying down on the
cot, I continued to watch Vance until I fell asleep.
Sometime later I
was awakened by a soft nudge on my shoulder, and I opened one sleepy eye to see
my mother standing over me with a plate of food. She gave a nod, gesturing for me
to follow her. I did, and we went into the supply room where she had the table
set up.
“I thought you
could use some real food.” She set a plate of her steaming enchiladas in front
of me. She left another plate on the table for herself.
The food actually
smelled wonderful, and I realized with surprise I was starving. I picked up a
utensil, digging right in
,
and we ate together in silence for several
moments before she spoke up.
“I’ve been really
worried about you.”
“I know, Mom.”
“Things have been
crazy. Too crazy for a young girl like yourself.” She looked me over
carefully.
“I’m stronger than
you think,” I replied, and I placed another forkful of enchiladas into my
mouth.
“I know you’re
strong. I’ve never doubted that. I just hoped you would have the opportunity to
enjoy being a kid for a while.”
“Life has a funny
way of messing those things up.” I shrugged. “I’ve learned to deal with it and
do my best to move on.”
We ate a few more
bites before she continued. “What’ll you do if he dies?”
“I can’t think
about that,” I said, dropping my fork to my plate, my appetite vanishing
immediately.
“You need to be
prepared, Portia. I know it’s awful, but there are only two ways this thing can
go. Either he dies from not feeding, or you’ll feed him and he makes the
change, not to mention he’ll probably kill you during the feeding. Either way
you’ll lose him!”
“I don’t know what
I’m going to do!” I shouted, standing up and pushing away from the table. I
placed my hands on both sides of my head and squeezed hard, wishing I could
stop the incessant pounding going on inside. I felt like my mind would explode!
My mom stood up
and came over to wrap her arms around me. “I’m sorry, precious. I don’t mean to
be harsh. I just want you to be prepared, that’s all.”
“Dad said you
prayed for me at the church,” I said, pushing away from her.
“Yes, I did,” she
replied, searching my eyes.
“Keep praying, Mom.
I’m hoping for a miracle.”
I left her there,
walking down the hall and back up to the glass divider in the ritual room.
He was still
sleeping.
I watched him for
a few moments, knelt down on the floor next to my cot and took my own advice.
“Please, God,” I
prayed with all my heart. “Help us.” I knelt there for a long time, wishing for
some sort of a divine answer—something, anything, that would tell me what to do.
But there was nothing.
I heaved my tired
body up off the floor and crawled back onto the cot. I let the silent tears
fall as I cried myself to sleep once again.
When I finally
woke up, I looked at the clock next to me and realized I’d slept through the
entire night.
I rolled over to
check on Vance and found him to be awake, huddled in the corner with his legs
pulled up to his chest. His head was resting on his arms, on top of his knees,
and he was shaking violently. I jumped up and hurried over to the corner where
he was, sliding down the wall until I was settled next to him.
“Are you okay?” I
asked, placing my hand on the glass.
He didn’t
acknowledge me at all.
I stayed there
quietly for several minutes, not knowing what to say.
“Is there anything
I can do for you?” I asked, instantly regretting it, because I knew what he
wanted me to do for him.
He raised his face
to me this time, and I was surprised to see the tears streaming down his face,
his red eyes glowing at me with a cynical look.
“Vance. Please try
to understand,” I begged him.
He let his head drop
back down.
“I love you more
than anything. If giving you my blood would cure you, I would happily do it. It’ll
only make things worse though.”
He didn’t answer,
or even acknowledge me, for that matter.
We stayed like
this for hours, without speaking, while he shook uncontrollably. I was
beginning to think we were going to sit that way forever, neither of us willing
to bend to what the other needed.
When he finally
moved, it was to crawl away from me slowly, back over to the bed. I watched him
with horror written all over my face. I hadn’t realized how weak he had
actually become. As it was, he didn’t even get into the bed, instead reaching
up to grab the thin blanket there, pulling it over himself.
“Vance. Talk to me
please,” I begged him. “Don’t shut me out. I don’t know what to do.”
“There’s only one
thing you can do, Portia, and you aren’t willing to do it,” he said, not making
eye contact with me, his voice shaking. “It doesn’t matter anymore anyway.”
“What do you mean,
it doesn’t matter?” I said, slapping the glass hard to get his attention.
He slowly turned
his gaze toward me, staring at me with half-lidded red eyes as if he were too
tired to keep them open. Huge gray circles were now underneath them, giving
them a sunken look.
“I wasn’t lying to
you, Portia. I’m dying.” His voice was a whisper, and I strained to hear him.
I believed him.
Even though my head told me not to, my heart knew he wouldn’t lie to me about
this, and the pain was excruciating.
“I’m sorry. I want
to help. I just don’t know how.” Tears began slipping over the rims of my eyes.
“It’s too late for
apologies,” he muttered, closing his eyes.
“What do you mean,
it’s too late?” I shouted, slapping at the glass again to get his attention. “Answer
me, dang it!”
“I mean my time is
running out. I won’t be able to hang on much longer.” I felt like I was going
to vomit.
I scrambled to my
feet, turning to run out of the room and up the stairs.
“He says he’s dying!”
I blurted out, huffing into the kitchen, where my dad and grandma were sitting
at the table. “Help him, please!” I pleaded.
The two of them
exchanged a knowing glance, before my dad stood up.
“Portia,
sweetheart,” he said, coming to wrap his arms around me. “We’ve been
researching everything we could get our hands on. There’s just nothing else we
can find to do.”
“So, you’re just
going to let him die?” I yelled, shoving my dad away from me and staring at
both of them.
“We expected it
would happen,” Grandma explained, with pity in her eyes. “We just hoped for
some sort of a miracle, though.”
“
No
!” I
shouted at both of them.
“Portia, honey,
let’s try to let him go as peacefully as possible, okay? He doesn’t need any
more heartache than he’s already having,” my dad said softly. “Give him some
dignity.”
“You want me to
sit here and let him die? Let him die while he thinks we’re the ones doing this
to him? I can’t let that happen.” I ran back downstairs.
“Portia! Come back
here!” my dad called after me.
I didn’t stop
until I was standing outside the glass looking at Vance. I watched him for only
a brief second before I knew what I had to do. I placed both of my hands firmly
on the force field and pressed as hard as I could, letting my magic flow from
me and into it.
A hole began to
melt into the partition, widening until it was large enough for me to step
through. I went into the chamber and quickly reinforced the field from the
inside, sealing myself into the small cell with him.
I turned and knelt
over him. “Vance! Wake up, please!” I called out to him, just as Grandma and
Dad entered the room.
“Portia! What’re
you doing?” Grandma called out in alarm to me, and my dad raced over to the
glass.
“Don’t try to stop
me!” I said, before turning to shake Vance again.
“Take the barrier
down now!” my dad yelled to Grandma, and they both leaned up against it,
pushing with their magic.
I knew I didn’t
have much time.
“Vance! Wake up!”
I shouted at him, slapping him hard across the face.
He groaned and
opened his demon-colored eyes to look up at me, and I glanced up to see there
was a significant-sized hole melted in the glass now.
“Hurry!” I pleaded
with him. “We don’t have much time!”
I lifted him into
a sitting position, moved my hair out of the way. I cradled him against me,
pushing him toward my neck.
“Portia! Stop!” my
dad yelled at me.
“I’m sorry, Dad,”
I said to him, right as Vance bit hard into my neck.
I stiffened,
crying out in pain, and the blood began to flow freely from me and into him. At
first he just swallowed what poured into his mouth, but I could tell when he
suddenly became stronger, because he started sucking hard against me.
I shook and began
slowly sinking as I felt my strength depleting. He moved then, grappling to
change positions with me without removing his mouth, so he was now holding me
in his arms.
My eyes watched
the horrified looks that passed over my dad and Grandma’s faces. They finally
breached the barrier and came rushing inside to grab me.
Vance raised a
hand, and a force field shot out around us. He continued to feed on me,
drinking heavily, not letting them get any closer.
“It’s too late,
Sean,” I heard Grandma say, and she grabbed my dad, pulling him back toward the
opening. “We need to seal them both in and see what happens. We can’t let them
out.”
She had to drag
him out as he kept hollering toward us, calling Vance all sorts of names and
cursing the day he’d allowed him anywhere near his daughter. He helped Grandma
repair the cell wall, and when they were done, Vance dropped the shield around
the two of us.
He ravaged me now
with a hunger I didn’t think he would ever be able to stop, gulping my blood
down with relish.
I felt so weak and
tired. My mind started to feel hazy, and I knew I needed to speak to him before
it was too late.
“I love you,” I
said, with great effort. “More than anything, please remember that.”
He released my
neck suddenly and pulled back so he could look at me. His eyes were flaming
now, his blood raced through his veins, filled with the strength of my powers. He
was strong again, I could feel it.
“Don’t leave me,”
he said, holding me tenderly as he shifted me in his grasp, and I flopped like
a rag doll.
“I feel too weak.”
I tried to keep my eyes open so I could look at him as long as possible.
“It’ll get better,
I promise. Your blood will regenerate, and you’ll feel better.”
“And then what? You
and I will feed off each other until we’re both demons?”
“As long as we’re
together, that’s all that matters,” he said, his view distorted once again.
“I won’t live like
that, Vance. I let you drink from me, but I won’t drink from you. I won’t make
the change,” I said sadly.
“You’d rather me
make the change while you die and leave me here alone, after all you just did
to save my life?” Confusion flickered in his eyes.
My heart hurt, and
I felt like I was on the brink of falling into an abyss. “I’m sorry. It was the
only thing I could do to save you. I needed to give them more time to find a
cure for you.”
“I won’t let you
leave me,” he said forcefully, the alpha male in him demanding my compliance. “I’ll
force you to drink if I have to.”
I didn’t answer,
instead closing my eyes in exhaustion.
“Portia! Don’t you
dare sleep now!” he yelled, shaking me roughly.
I opened my eyes
and looked up into his.
“Listen to me,
baby.” He stroked his hand through my hair, rocking me in his arms. “It won’t
be that bad. We can both make the change. We’ll be able to be together, in
every way. We can make love with one another, just like we always wanted to do.
We’ll be strong and powerful. You’ll see. Please, baby, see what I’m saying.”
He pulled me to
his mouth, kissing me hard and desperately, trying to stimulate a response in
me, but I was too tired.
“I want to
be
with you, Portia. I want to make you mine in every sense of the word,” he
whispered into my hair. “Come on, baby, today could be our day.”
He shook me hard
again when I didn’t respond.
“Do you hear me,
Portia?” he yelled at me. “Do you hear what I’m asking you to do?”
His stare bore
into mine, and I knew what my answer had to be.
I lethargically
lifted both of my hands, placing them gently on either side of the face I loved
so much, and slowly began to speak.
“Vance Mangum,
Blessed Be.
I give now, my
heart to thee.
My soul is yours
to bind and take,
My love for you
will never shake.
I promise to
always keep you pure,
And never into
evil lure.
Let Heaven be our
destiny,
I love you Vance,
So Mote It Be.”
As the words to
our binding ritual filled the air, a white light began to emanate from both of
my hands. The light grew until it had completely encased Vance and then spread
over me also. I could feel he was shaking violently.
When I was done
reciting the words, I let my hands fall away and finally slipped into
unconsciousness.
Chapter 25
I was dreaming. I
felt safe… I was safe, dancing around in my field of flowers. Suddenly
someone’s arms reached out and snaked around my waist.
“You did it,
baby,” the voice whispered in my ear. “It’s going to be all right now. I
promise.”
I turned toward
the sound of the voice I loved more than anything else in the world.
“What did I do?” I
asked Vance innocently, staring into his bright blue eyes.