Desolation: Chapters 13 & 14
Dominion of the Damned: Book One
In a world where zombies roam and vampires rule, how far will Hannah Jordan go to survive?
Desolation is the first book in my post-apocalyptic horror trilogy, Dominion of the Damned.
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Chapter Thirteen
Paula wasn’t wrong about the house seeming like paradise. Even at night, Hannah could see that it was beautiful. A Spanish-style bungalow, probably built in the 1920s, it had a big front porch fronted by wide stucco arches, and a large front yard filled with shade trees and lush greenery. It was all lit up inside, and a sconce on the front porch burned with a welcoming glow. Hannah was already in love.
But she paused at the end of the front walk. “Who used to live here?”
Paula was already halfway down the walk when she stopped and turned back. “Why do you ask?”
“It belonged to someone, right? Somebody who didn’t make it?”
Paula’s smile was replaced with a look of sadness, and she nodded. “The Burells. Nina Burell was expecting. That’s why there’s a nursery all done up. But she didn’t make it through the siege, and Captain Burell—that’s her husband—he left everything behind and moved into one of the apartments. It was just too painful for him to stay here. But don’t worry. He’s given his blessing for you to use the place.”
Noah began to squirm. Hannah hurried to follow Paula inside before he started to fuss. Inside, the house was fully furnished and decorated. It looked like a Pottery Barn had mated with an Ikea, which suited Hannah just fine. “Tell the captain thank you for me.”
“I will, dear. Chris!” Paula called. “You still here, son?”
“In here!” a deep voice answered. They followed it into the kitchen, where a tall guy with sandy-blond hair was busy putting away groceries. “Hey,” he said. “I was trying to get these put away before you got here.” He stopped what he was doing and leaned on the counter. “I’m Chris.”
“My son,” said Paula. “He’s about your age, I think.”
That seemed about right. Chris was cute, with a nice, lean build and floppy hair that stopped just short of getting in his eyes. Hannah shook his hand as she introduced herself and Noah. “Thanks for doing all of this.”
“It’s no problem. People are usually pretty shell-shocked when they get here, so we do what we can to make them feel at home.” He grinned at Noah. It was a nice grin. “Your baby’s cute.”
“He’s my brother,” she clarified.
He nodded. “Well, there’s formula and baby food in the cabinet, and there’s milk and eggs and fresh veggies in the fridge.”
“Oh, and we brought over some clean clothes for you, too,” said Paula. “You’ll find a few sacks in the bedroom. I didn’t know what size you’d be, so I brought a variety. Just dig out what you like, and I’ll pick up the rest tomorrow when I take you on the grand tour. I figure anything in there’s gotta be better than that sorry ol’ prison jumper.”
“Thank you,” Hannah said again.
Paula set a key on the counter. “That’s yours.” She looked around. “Well, I guess that’s it. We’ll leave you to get settled, unless you have any questions.”
Hannah looked around at her new home and shook her head. “This is too good to be true.”
Paula grinned. “I know it seems that way at first, hon, but believe me, this is no vacation resort. Everybody pulls their weight around here, and we’ll expect you to do the same.” She waved her hands as if to shoo it all away. “But we’ll worry about finding you something in a couple of days, after you’ve had time to recover and settle in. There’s no hurry.”
“What about the vampires?”
“What about them?” asked Chris.
Hannah looked at him. “How many are there? Where are they?”
Chris looked questioningly at his mom and started to count on his fingers. “Well, there’s the doc, and Carl, and Steph, and—”
“There are six, counting the doc,” said Paula. “They usually spend all night patrolling the fence to make sure nothing gets in. They stay indoors the rest of the time.”
“Are you on a first name basis with all of them?”
Paula chuckled. “Oh, sure. Everybody knows everybody around here, and everybody’s in everybody else’s business. Don’t worry, we’ll get you caught up on the gossip in no time.”
Chris smiled, but Hannah wasn’t ready to yet. “What about feeding them?”
“There’s a blood bank,” said Chris. “They eat from that.”
“But who fills it?”
“Well, we do, dear,” said Paula, “but don’t worry. It’s strictly voluntary. Nobody’s gonna force you to give any blood if you don’t want to.”
“But most people are happy to,” said Chris. “I mean, if it wasn’t for the doc, we’d have all been rounded up and sent to one of those camps like the one you just came from. And you’d still be there.”
Hannah tensed up. She didn’t need this guy to point out that she owed a debt to Konstantin. But she didn’t have to be happy about it. Noah seemed to pick up on her shift in mood and started to fuss.
“But that’s not anything you have to decide tonight,” said Paula. “Come on, Son, let’s go. This poor girl’s exhausted, and she’s got her hands full with that baby.”
Chris nodded and straightened up to follow his mother out of the kitchen. Hannah saw them to the door. “I’ll come by in the afternoon,” Paula said as they left, “so you sleep as late as you want. Lord knows you probably need it.”
Hannah watched them until they reached the sidewalk. As they turned for home, Chris looked back and gave them a little wave. Hannah waved back, and then shut the door and locked it. She looked at Noah, bouncing him in her arms. “Let’s go see your room.”
Hannah might have slept all day if not for the baby. Waking to find herself in a comfortable bed, wrapped in down, there was a blissful second when she thought she was home, in her old room in the house where she grew up. It was followed by the pang of grief that met her every morning, in the instant when everything came back to her. She pushed it down as she pushed herself up, just like she always did, and went to get Noah.
Paula came for her at two o’clock. In between, she’d had time to take care of breakfast and bathe and dress both the baby and herself. She also had time to go through the bags of clothes Paula had left and pull out everything in her size. She only found a few things that were actually her style, but she kept everything that fit her, figuring that beggars couldn’t be choosers.
She chose a simple outfit to wear that day—a fitted blue T-shirt and a pair of denim shorts, with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. She wore her own shoes.
There were baby clothes, too. It was the first time since outgrowing the pack of newborn onesies their dad had stashed in the shelter that Noah had worn anything but a diaper. He didn’t quite know how to take it. He squirmed and fussed while Hannah dressed him, but she enjoyed it anyway. She dressed him in a pair of tiny blue jeans and a tiny button-down shirt, and almost died from the cuteness. Until he started to cry.
She sighed and picked him up. “I’m sorry, Boo. You have to get used to wearing clothes.” As she bounced him and tried to soothe him, she remembered going shopping with their mom for baby things, the way they both cooed and sighed over all of the tiny clothes. He’d had an entire closet full of clothes back home that he never got the chance to wear.
She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and went to his room to show him his toys. He’d never had real toys before, either, and something as simple as a rattle kept him fascinated for hours. They settled on the floor next to a beautiful solid oak crib, and as Hannah showed him a ring of big rubber keys, it hit her that it had only been a couple of days since they’d left the shelter.
Noah was happily gnawing on the keys when Paula knocked on the door. “Oh, good,” she said when Hannah went to let her in. “I was afraid to ring the doorbell in case I’d wake the baby.”
“He’s awake. He’s playing in his room.” Hannah looked down at the three-wheeled contraption that sat on the porch next to Paula. “What’s that?”
Paula grinned as she wheeled it inside. “It’s a jogging stroller,” she announced proudly. “We’ve had this sitting around the store for ages and we thought it’d never get used. But it’s all yours for as long as you need it.”
“Cool, thanks.” Hannah looked over the stroller. It was dark gray with a yellow racing stripe down the side, with big, maneuverable wheels and a canopy to shield Noah from the sun. It had all kinds of pockets, as well as a drink holder. It even had a built-in dock for an MP3 player. It made Hannah a little wistful knowing she’d probably never have a use for that feature.
“I figure we can take it for a spin while I show you around the camp.”
Hannah smiled. “Great. Let me get Noah.”
A few minutes later they were strolling down the sidewalk. Hannah imagined that this had been a bustling street before, lined with cars and manicured lawns, with children running around and riding bikes, chased after by their dogs. Now it was mostly empty, and most of the lawns were overgrown and wild. Paula pointed to each house they passed, some empty, some obviously occupied and cared for. She told Hannah who lived in the occupied houses, and what had happened to the people who’d lived in the others. Paula’s husband had been an Army Sergeant Major, and they’d lived on the base for years. After the bulk of the base’s troops were deployed to try and contain the outbreak, the virus got in and all hell broke loose. The uninfected holed up in the old fort that had been built back in the Cavalry days and fought off the infected. The siege lasted for weeks, until Konstantin had arrived with a cavalry of his own.
“I tell you what,” said Paula, “by the end there I didn’t think I was gonna make it. The officers who’d stayed behind, they’d go out in groups to bring back provisions, but it was always slim pickin’s. Everybody was worn out and hungry, and it seemed like it was never gonna end, and somehow I just knew Chris’s father wasn’t ever coming back for us. If it hadn’t been for Chris, I probably wouldn’t have fought as long and hard as I did.”
“That sounds awful.”
“That ain’t the half of it. And then! Here comes Doctor Konstantin, and all these soldiers in black, and they were killing those things with their bare hands!” She shook her head. “We couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it sometimes. I mean, real live vampires! Who would’ve ever thought?
“Anyway, they cleared out the infected and reinforced the fence to make sure the shamblers couldn’t get in again, and then stuck around to make sure they stayed out. The doctor set up his lab, and a clinic, and he helped us get back on our feet and get organized. It was his idea to start a communal farm.”
Hannah shook her head. “Back at the prison, they tell horror stories about this place. They say Konstantin uses child labor to run the farm, and that he experiments on the children. They call him Dr. Creepy.”
Paula threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, honey. That’s the best joke I’ve heard in a long time.” She sobered up when she realized Hannah wasn’t laughing. “Oh, but you weren’t joking, were you? Honey, did you think you were brought here so he could do experiments on your brother?”
Hannah looked down at the stroller, at Noah tucked safely inside. “I still don’t know why he brought us here.”
“Well, I can show you what we do with the children. Come on.”
They turned up a side street,. After a few blocks they came to an elementary school building. The play yard was filled with a few dozen children, just running around and being kids. She spotted Abby hanging upside down on a set of monkey bars. Abby spotted her, too, and waved.
Hannah waved back, smiling. She thought of Phyllis, and her smile faded. She wondered what her friend would have thought of the sight of a normal afternoon recess, and wished she could be there to see it.
Of course, Hannah was just paranoid enough to wonder, briefly, if this had been staged for her benefit, to put her at ease and make her more willing to give up Noah when they asked. But she quickly dismissed that notion. It was too elaborate, and why bother when it would be so much easier for them to just take Noah? Why bother bringing her there at all? Besides, these children looked too happy and healthy for this not to be a normal part of their daily routine.
Hannah couldn’t believe it. After everything that had happened, these people had managed to make a normal life for themselves. Well, as normal as you could get, considering what was still outside the fence, and the fact that it was patrolled by vampires.
Next, Paula took Hannah to see the farm. A lot the size of half a football field was filled with row after row of vegetables. The other half had been given over to a pair of grazing cattle, along with the calf Ned had told them about. Some nearby barracks had been converted into a chicken house. “There’s fruit, too,” said Paula. “There are trees scattered all over the base. Apples, peaches, pears . . . there are pecan and walnut trees all over the place, too.”
“This is where you get all your food?”
“It’s starting to be, now that the crops are mature. Of course, there was already enough food on the base to feed an army, and early on the doc had his people go out and bring back everything they could find from all the local stores. Most of that food ended up going to the prison. The doc’s doing his best to keep everybody there healthy. He’s hoping to show the others how much better it is if we’re all healthy and happy.”
“Like Kobe beef,” said Hannah.
Paula surprised her by laughing. “I guess that’s one way you could look at it. But it’s more than that. He’s trying to show them that we can all get along together and take care of each other. Kind of like… what do you call it? When two living things need each other to survive?”
“Symbiosis?”
“Yeah, that’s it. They leave us be to take care of ourselves, but they keep the shamblers at bay for us, so we make sure they’re taken care of, too. That’s how it works here. Hopefully someday it’ll work like that everywhere.”
“Most of the vampires I’ve met couldn’t care less about getting along or making us happy.”
“Well, you haven’t met all of ours yet.”
They kept walking, and soon they ended up at what Paula called the store. It was a two-story Craftsman stuffed full of furniture, clothing and other household items. Chris greeted them from behind a counter as they entered.
“What is all this stuff?” Hannah asked as she looked around.
“Stuff that nobody else was using, mostly,” said Chris. “And stuff they brought back from Walmart and the local stores.”
“The rest of it’s stuff other people donated or traded,” Paula added. “If you have anything back at the house you don’t need, you can bring it here and swap it out for something that you do need. Or you can buy stuff with credit.”
Hannah gave them a rueful smile. “I’m afraid I left my credit card back at my other house.”
“Not that kind of credit,” said Chris. “Money’s no good anymore, so when we work, we earn credit vouchers. Then we spend our credits on food rations, and whatever we need from here.”
“There’s clothes over there,” Paula pointed, “and baby stuff in one of the upstairs rooms, and canned goods back in the pantry. Baking stuff, too. ‘Course, that’s all priced kind of high, ‘cause once we run out there’s no replacing any of it.”
“At least not until we can get a wheat crop going,” said Chris.
Noah started to fuss. “What’s the matter, Boo? Are you hungry?”
“He looks like he’s ready for a nap, too. We’d better get you both back home.”
Chris came out from behind the counter. “I can walk her back.”
“Oh, thank you, son. My bunions are starting to act up. That’s a little more walking than these old feet are used to.”
“No problem.” He helped Hannah maneuver the stroller outside and down the steps, with Noah crying the entire time.
“Sorry about all the noise,” said Hannah as they walked back.
He smiled and shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s actually kind of nice to hear. We were starting to wonder if there’d ever be any more babies here on the base. I mean, there aren’t that many couples left here who are still young enough to have them, and besides, nobody’s in much of a hurry to bring kids into this world, you know?”
“From what I’ve seen today, it doesn’t seem like such a bad place to have them.”
“Yeah, but it’s still risky.” He looked off into the distance. “If those things ever got in here again…” His voice trailed off. He shook his head. “But that probably won’t happen. Not with the vamps patrolling the fence.”
“Your mom told me about what happened here, how you were all holed up in the old fort.”
“Yeah, that was a nightmare. I’m glad it’s over. What about you? How’d you survive?”
“Bomb shelter.”
Chris gave a slight laugh. “That would’ve been nice to have. How long were you in there?”
“From the day of the outbreak until, I guess, four or five days ago?”
“Just you and the baby?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. I would’ve gone seriously stir crazy.”
“It wasn’t so bad. It was well stocked, and we were safe.”
“So why’d you leave?”
She told him about her dad’s ham radio, and about everything that happened when she got to the house.
“Wow. Albert and Marie sound like a couple of bastards.”
“I thought you were all warm and fuzzy toward the vampires.”
He shrugged. “The ones here are good guys. But I’ve heard enough horror stories from other people the doc’s gotten out of those prison camps to know that most of ’em aren’t like that.”
“He’s gotten other people out?”
Chris nodded. “Orphaned kids, mostly, but when they have families he tries to get them all.”
“Why?”
“Why not? I think he’d get everybody out of there if they’d let him, and put an end to those camps once and for all. But they only let him have the kids, and sometimes their parents. I’m not really sure why.”
Because he doesn’t split up families, she thought, remembering what he’d said when she’d asked him that very question. “Do you know what Dr. Konstantin’s working on?”
“A vaccine. At least, that’s what Zach says. But he doesn’t really talk about it much, and the doc doesn’t talk much, period. He kind of keeps to himself for the most part. Well, here we are.”
Hannah looked up to see that they had reached her house. She hadn’t even noticed they’d walked that far.
“Maybe sometime soon I could give you the rest of the tour,” said Chris. “I could show you the old fort and stuff. It’s pretty cool.”
Hannah smiled. “That sounds nice.”
He smiled that cute smile of his, and nodded. “I’ll see you soon.”
She watched him head back down the sidewalk, and found she was still smiling after he left.
Chapter Fourteen
Hannah couldn’t sleep. She felt tired, but her mind, apparently, did not. It wouldn’t stop thinking long enough to let her drift off. She thought about Phyllis and the other refugees back at Esme’s camp and wondered how they were doing.
Would she ever see Phyllis again? Was there any chance the doctor could bring her here, too? She thought about Chris, about his smile and his promise to show her the rest of the camp sometime. Would that be like a date? Or was he just being nice to the new girl? Did she want it to be a date?
She worked hard not to think about her parents or the state of the world. She distracted herself by trying to name all of the Muppets. And then all of the Sesame Street Muppets. And then Fraggle Rock. She tried to remember all of the words to their theme songs.
She wondered if any of the Muppeteers were still alive.
She also wondered about the doctor. She hadn’t seen Doctor Konstantin since they’d arrived at the camp. Was he still recovering from his burns? It still made no sense to her, what he’d done. She simply couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea of an altruistic vampire with nothing but humanity’s best interests at heart.
And yet he hadn’t done anything to show that he wasn’t exactly what he appeared to be: a good guy who just happened to be a vampire.
Under normal circumstances—if you could call any circumstances involving a vampire normal—she’d try to keep an open mind. But these days, being too open minded could get you killed.
Still, she hoped saving Abby hadn’t caused him permanent harm.
Noah woke up and began to fuss. Hannah looked over at the clock and sighed. Not quite five in the morning. He still wasn’t sleeping through the night, a feat that Hannah was definitely looking forward to seeing him accomplish.
But tonight it didn’t make much difference. She got up to feed him, and then stayed up after putting him back in his crib. She was in the kitchen, heating up water for the instant coffee Paula had given her, when someone knocked on the door.
Hannah froze and eyed the door warily. She went to pick up a pot from the stove and weighed it in her hand. Cheap steel with a hard plastic handle screwed onto the side—not nearly as sturdy as an iron skillet, but it would have to do. Cautiously, she approached the door and peered through a crack in the curtain.
Doctor Konstantin stood on her porch, looking none the worse for wear.
Hannah chewed her lip, wondering what she should do. She remembered something about vampires not being able to enter uninvited. Was that true? If so, it couldn’t hurt to open the door and find out what he wanted.
Tightening her grip on the pot’s handle, she unlocked the door and opened it, just a crack. “Doctor?”
“Hello. I’m sorry to bother you.” He seemed a little surprised that she’d opened the door. “I was just out for a walk—actually, I was bringing you this.” He held up a small package, covered in festive gift wrap. “I was just going to leave it out here, but I saw your light and thought I’d check on things. Is everything okay?”
Hannah stared at the package, and then at him. He looked different. His burns appeared to have completely healed, but it wasn’t only that. A moment later it dawned on her that it was his clothing. Jeans and a dark green T-shirt. Like a normal guy. It was the first time she’d seen him in something other than the vampires’ pseudo-military fatigues or his white lab coat.
“Hannah?”
She realized she was staring and averted her gaze. “Yeah, we’re fine. I couldn’t sleep.”
He smiled, a little ruefully. “That happens to me a lot. Would you like some company?” When she hesitated, his smile turned sad. “Never mind. Forget I asked. Anyway, this is for you.” He held out the package. Hannah found herself staring again.
“It’s a housewarming present. To help you feel more at home. There’s a note, too. There was something I wanted to talk to you about, but I didn’t expect you to be aw—”
“I’m not inviting you in.”
It was his turn to stare. “Um, no. I’m only—”
She stood back from the door. “I’m testing a theory.”
He stared a moment longer, still holding his present out to her, before he seemed to get it. “Ah.” His smile returned, amused this time. “That is just a myth, you know.”
“Prove it.”
He eyed the pot in her hand. “Are you sure you want me to?”
She shrugged. “Just don’t give me a reason to use this.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve seen your prowess at turning household objects into deadly weapons.” Pushing the door open wide, he stepped over the threshold and into her living room, and then bowed with a slight flourish. “Voila.”
Rolling her eyes at his theatricality, she stepped past him and went into the kitchen, leaving him to close the door. Glancing toward the hall that led to the nursery, she made a mental note of everything she could bludgeon him with if he started in that direction. “Do vampires drink coffee?”
“I won’t presume to speak for all vampires,” he said as he followed her to the kitchen, “but I do. I won’t have any of yours, though. I know what a rare commodity it is these days.”
“It’s instant, anyway. You’re not missing much.”
He smiled and seated himself across from her at the breakfast bar. Only then did she notice that he still held the present he’d brought her. He laid it on the counter without comment as she retrieved her mug of water from the microwave. Once she’d fixed her coffee just the way she liked it, she carried it over to the bar and leaned her elbows on the counter. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“A couple of things, actually. To start with, your brother.”
She straightened up, her body automatically going tense. “What about him?”
“I’d like to sample his blood.” Before she could tell him to go to hell, he held up his hands and cut her off. “Not like that. I’d like your permission to have Zach draw some samples for our research.”
“Why?”
“He hasn’t been exposed to many germs. His immune system is about as pure as I’m likely to find. That kind of sample could be of significant benefit to our work.”
Hannah sipped her coffee, buying a moment to gather her thoughts. “Is that why you brought us here? So you could use his blood?”
“That’s the pretext I used to convince Esme to let you go. But I still would have gotten you out of there. A prison is no place for a baby.”
“And yet, you are actually planning to use his blood.”
“Only if I have your blessing.” Konstantin folded his arms on the counter and leaned in closer. “What have you heard about my work?”
“That you’re trying to synthesize blood, and you’re experimenting on children to do it.” She put down the mug. “That’s what they say back at the prison, anyway. Here, they say you’d never do that, and that you’re working on a vaccine.”
“Which do you believe?”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
He held her gaze steadily. “I don’t experiment on children. I sometimes take samples of their blood for my research, for the same reason I just told you. But I always get parental consent.”
Hannah considered this, but then became distracted by his reflection in the stainless steel toaster at the end of the counter. She reached over and opened one of the glass cabinet doors, and angled it until she could see his reflection in that, too.
He watched her with obvious amusement. “Vampirism is a virus, Miss Jordan. An illness.” The look of amusement gave way to one of sadness. He looked down at his hands. “I’m not some magical, supernatural creature that can defy the laws of physics. I’m just a man whose DNA has been altered.”
“So, you’re not undead?”
He looked at her. The pain and frustration etched on his face startled her. “Not… not like the shamblers. It is a kind of walking death, but not like that. The virus doesn’t kill you, the process does. The virus brings you back, altered. Your metabolism slows to the point where you don’t register a heartbeat or show signs of aging, which leaves your skin cool to the touch. You can’t digest normal food, you can’t procreate, and, well, you’ve seen what the sun does to us.
“Yet at the same time you heal at incredible speed, all of your senses are heightened and you’re stronger and faster than you ever believed possible. In a lot of ways, you’re more alive.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to explain. But I do think that the vampiric virus is similar to the one that is currently plaguing humanity. Perhaps even related. That’s what my research is about. I am working on a vaccine.”
“For vampirism?”
“For zombieism, for lack of a better term.”
“Why?”
“To release humanity from the so-called protection of my kind. To place us all on more equal footing.”
“But, why?” He didn’t seem to understand the question, so Hannah spelled it out. “I don’t get it. You’re one of them, and they’re in charge. And yet, here you are, rescuing us from that hell hole, risking your life for a little girl you barely even know, and now you’re actively trying to save humanity? Why? Why would you want to free us? Why do you even care?”
He stared at her, long and hard, before saying, “Because, vampire or not, I am not a bad man, Hannah Jordan. I care because it’s the right thing to do. We need you to survive, but that doesn’t give us the right to control you. And if you no longer need us to provide protection from the shamblers, you’ll be able to take back that control.” He took a deep breath. “Besides, I haven’t given—” He stopped himself and looked away.
“Given what?”
He sighed. “For the last sixty years, I’ve been trying to find a cure for this… this disease that plagues me. I’m no closer now than when I started, but I haven’t given up.”
Hannah set her mug down as she realized what he was saying. “You want to be human again.”
He looked almost embarrassed as she said the words.
“What about everything you just said, about feeling more alive and practically being a superhero?”
He shrugged. “In exchange for outliving everyone you grow to care about? Never getting to have a family of your own, never getting to feel the sun on your face… at least not if you want to keep your face?” He shook his head, slowly, sadly. “It’s not a fair trade.”
He sat there a moment in silence, lost in thought, or maybe memory. Then he said, “Anyway, lest you think too much of me for my altruistic love of humanity, I’m not doing it just for them. There are good people among the vampire race, although they are few, and they don’t hold much power. Those who do hold it are becoming so addicted to it that they’re going to destroy us all if they continue unchecked. You saw how it is with Esme, and she’s hardly unique.
“They’ve got other teams of scientists researching an alternative to human blood and trying to create a synthetic food source, but that sort of thing could take years to accomplish, if it’s even possible. Right now they’re content to survive on rationed blood, but sooner or later their hunger and greed will get the better of them. We’ve got to come up with this vaccine and restore the balance before that happens.”
“Is that what they think you’re doing? Working on synthetic blood?”
“Yes. And they need to keep on thinking that, or else they’ll shut us down.”
Hannah studied him as she took it all in. He seemed so earnest, so passionate about his goals, that it would be so easy to let herself be drawn in. But she shook her head. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”
He furrowed his brow and tilted his head. “Why would I lie to you about this?”
She thought for a moment, and then admitted, “I don’t know. I can’t really think of a good reason.”
“Well, you don’t have to take my word for it. You can see for yourself. Join my research team.”
Sipping her coffee, she narrowly avoided doing a spit take. “Excuse me?”
“That’s the other thing I wanted to speak to you about. I’ve come to offer you a job.”
“In the lab?”
“You met my assistant, Zachary, when you arrived. He’s been grumbling for months about needing an assistant of his own. You’re qualified, and this will allow you to supervise how we take Noah’s blood. And how we use it.”
“Qualified? I’ve only had two years of nursing school. And my last semester kind of got derailed halfway through.”
“That still makes you the most qualified candidate in this compound. Zach gets to the lab early. After the baby wakes up, go see him. He can take the sample from Noah while you watch, and he can go over the details of the job.”
Again, she shook her head, more in disbelief than anything else. It all sounded too good to be true. And in her experience, if it sounded that way, it usually was. “I need to think about it.”
“Of course. Just remember, time is of the essence. Please talk to Zach while you think.” He stifled a yawn. “I should be going. I didn’t mean to take up so much of your time.” He stood up and started to walk toward the living room, stopping himself just in time to avoid walking into a sun beam.
Hannah went around him and closed the curtain. “I guess you’re not going anywhere for a while.”
He stared in surprise at the sunlight outside, then at the clock in the kitchen. “I had no idea it had gotten so late. I had no intention of—”
“Don’t worry about it. Can’t do anything about it now.” She watched him stifle another yawn. “Anyway, you need to sleep. Come on. You can take my room for the day. At least somebody will get some use out of it.”
Without waiting to see if he followed, she went into her room and closed the blinds. She fussed with them a few minutes, making sure they wouldn’t let any lethal beams of sunlight through. When she turned back around, Konstantin was hanging back by the door, peering into her room.
“I really am sorry for the imposition. I’d happily sleep on your sofa, but I’d probably be more in the way out there.”
“It’s fine.” Actually, it was weird and frightening, but if he was on the up and up, and he was about to become her boss…
She wasn’t ready to trust him. Not exactly. But maybe it was time to start trusting what her gut said about him.
And her gut was kind of starting to like him.
“Thank you.” He sat on the edge of the bed to unlace his sneakers. “Don’t try to be quiet on my account. I’m a very heavy sleeper.”
“Okay. Good night, Doctor.”
“Hannah,” he called as she started to pull the door shut. When she paused, he said, “We were comrades in arms only yesterday. You can call me Alek.”
“Alek?”
He gave a little shrug and half a smile. “It’s short for Aleksandr.”
She was a little stunned at the realization that she was only now learning his first name. She’d known him for less than a week, but it felt like he’d been part of her life for much longer. She nodded. “Okay, then. Good night, Alek. Or, I guess, good day.”
He smiled. “Good day, Hannah.”
She shut the door and blew out the breath she’d been holding. Her heart was about to pound through her chest.
She returned to the kitchen with the aim of making another cup of coffee. As she picked up her mug, she noticed the gift lying on the counter. She set down the mug and picked up the thin, rectangular package. She poked a hole in the bright orange paper and peeled it back, revealing a picture frame. After tearing off the rest of the paper, her hand flew to her mouth.
She stared at a family portrait, taken at Cocoa Beach at the tail-end of Hannah’s last summer vacation. Her dad stood between Hannah and her mother, with one arm around each of them, squeezing them tightly. The three of them were all smiles. Hannah remembered how her dad kept making them both laugh. Her mom had already been expecting Noah by then, although she wasn’t showing yet.
A note was tucked into the corner of the frame. Hannah unfolded it and read, “I’m having the rest of your things brought down. They should arrive in a day or two. Also, please see me when you get a chance. I need to ask you about some things. Alek.”
Hannah batted away a tear on her cheek as she looked back at the bedroom door and wondered about the being sleeping in her bed. If he was a monster, he was sure a thoughtful one.
A hungry cry came from the baby’s room. Hannah tossed the wrapping paper in the trash and carried the picture into the living room, where she set it in a place of honor on the mantle. She stepped back to give it one last, longing look, and then went to take care of her brother.
Alek lay in bed and listened to Hannah moving about the house. He found his thoughts drifting to Irina. Even after all these years, she was never far from his mind, no matter how much it hurt to think of her.
But as he tried to conjure up her face in his memory, it was Hannah’s he saw.
He shut his eyes and tried to push away the vision. He told himself it was only because Hannah was so fresh in his mind. Anything else felt like too much of a betrayal. Hadn’t he already done enough to let Irina down?
The two women couldn’t have been more different. Irina had been sweet and gentle, easy-going and eager to please. She had been a peacemaker.
Hannah was a fighter. She was bullheaded and fierce, especially when it came to her brother. He admired her resolve, her willingness to do what needed to be done. She was a survivor. Like him.
Except he wasn’t, was he? He had survived the Nazis. Survived their camps, being forced into service, providing medical care to men he’d wanted to strangle. He’d survived it all for Irina, to get back to her, like he’d promised he would.
But he had failed that promise, and he didn’t survive that. The discovery that he was too late, that she had ended up in the showers, had ended him. All of his fighting had been for nothing. By the time he gained his freedom, Irina was already long dead.
He would have died, too, if Esme hadn’t found him. He had wanted to die. But not as much as he’d wanted to punish the monsters who’d destroyed their lives, who’d ravaged and tortured and starved his sweet bride before killing her and their unborn child.
It shamed him still, the state of weakness Esme had found him in, the moment of vulnerability that had altered him forever, taking away his ability to die. He only survived now because he had no choice. And he would never be with his Irina again.
As sleep overtook him, he dreamed of her. It was more memory than dream. They were together, in their little house, on the day the German tanks rolled into their village.
“They’re here!” Irina came rushing in from outside, where she’d been hanging the laundry out to dry. “Alek, the Germans are here! What should we do?”
Alek dropped the newspaper he was reading and rushed to the window. Tanks lined the village square. German soldiers were barging into houses and shops, dragging people out into the street. Swearing under his breath, he went to lock the door before turning back to his wife. “Stay calm.”
“Stay calm?” She shook her head, her face frantic. “We have to hide.”
He crossed the room to turn off the radio. “Hide where?”
She looked around the room, as if the perfect hiding place might reveal itself. “Then we have to run. If we go out the back door—”
“They’ll shoot us in the back before we make it twenty feet. ‘Rina, come here.” He opened his arms. She dove into them, clutching him tightly. “We’ve done nothing. We have nothing to fear from them.”
“But you have ties to the rebels! You’ve given them money. And we’ve given food to the Landaus!”
“Shhh. They don’t know that. And that was all me. You’ve done nothing. You’re innocent.”
She pushed back to look up at him. “It doesn’t matter. Sasha told me that they’re arresting people at random. Hitler wants vengeance!”
He couldn’t think of anything to say that might calm her. It was all true. She was right, they should hide. But where?
It was too late. He could hear their boots stomping on the ground outside. He pulled Irina close. “Listen to me. It will go better for us if we cooperate. Don’t fight them. Just stay alive.” Tears welled up in his eyes as he lifted her chin and looked into hers. He couldn’t bear seeing them so filled with fear. “Whatever happens, we’ll be together again. I swear it. I will find you, and the little one.” He put his hand on her swollen belly. “We’ll be a family again.”
She sobbed against his mouth as he kissed her. They clung to each other, pouring all of their love for each other and their child into their last kiss, as the soldiers broke the door down.
“No!” he shouted as his wife was ripped out of his arms. “Leave her alone! She’s innocent!”
Someone shouted something in German in his ear as the barrel of a gun pressed against his temple. He was forced to his knees.
“No!” Irina screamed. “Please! Please don’t shoot him!” A soldier restrained her as she doubled over sobbing. “Please! Alek, I love you!”
“I love you, Irina! I’ll find you!”
They dragged him toward the door, but this time, he fought back. This time, he was too strong for them. His fangs extended as superhuman strength coursed through his body. He fought off his attackers, breaking bones and tearing flesh, until they all lay on the floor at his feet. He turned back to his wife. “We’re safe now.”
But she had changed. Her head was shaved, and her naked body was reduced to skin and bones. Blood trickled down her legs, and she held her belly as she reached for him. “Alek!”
“I’m coming, my love!” But even as he reached out to her, she doubled over, coughing and gagging. Her face turned purple, and as she dropped to her knees, blood and foam erupted out of her mouth. “No!” Alek shouted. “No! Irina!”
He was still shouting when he sat up and opened his eyes.
AT first, he didn’t know where he was. But while he took in his surroundings the events of the morning came back to him. Sunlight still peeked around the edges of the blinds. He looked at the clock on the nightstand. Four more hours until sunset.
He lay back on the down comforter and listened for Hannah’s presence, but the house was quiet. He got up and padded to the door in bare feet, carefully cracking it open.
There was no sign of Hannah or the baby. She had left the curtains drawn for him. He found his way to the bathroom, where he splashed cold water on his face. He studied himself in the mirror and was surprised at how haggard he looked. Of course he still didn’t look a day over thirty-two, even though he felt every one of his hundred or so years. It would be easier if we had no reflection. How much simpler everything would be if I didn’t have to face myself in the mirror.
He dried his face and returned to bed. The pillow smelled of Hannah. His head filled with thoughts of her as he drifted back to sleep. This time he didn’t fight it.
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