“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” The woman said with an apologetic look. “When I’m at The Advocate I usually don't have to watch my speed. I guess you haven't spent much time with vampires.”
Katia let out a little nervous laugh and placed her hand over her racing heart. “I’ve never met a vampire before. At least, I don’t think so.” She smiled wryly.
The vampire laughed, her jade green eyes alight with good humour. “You’re new to this world, hunh? You’re figuring it out though; not everything is as it seems. You’ve probably come into contact with us before and just didn’t know it. Most of us live and work topside because it’s so easy for us to pass for human. I’m Mara, by the way.” She extended her hand again.
Katia reached out and took Mara’s hand. Her skin was baby soft, but so cold that Katia couldn’t help a small shiver from racing through her body. Looking her new acquaintance in the eye, she introduced herself, “I’m Katia. I’m just down here to check on my friend Sergei. I’m guessing you’re the one that helped him. If you are, I owe you big time.”
Mara tossed her wild mane of corkscrew-curled fire-engine red hair over her shoulder. She glanced over at a table set up against a far wall. Twisting her hands nervously, Mara shifted her eyes back to Katia. “Yes, that was me. It’s actually the first time I’ve turned someone, and he was already so far gone…I just hope this works.”
Katia nodded. “No matter what happens, I appreciate that you tried. I don’t imagine this was in your plans for the night.”
Mara shook her head, red hair bouncing around her. “No, absolutely not. Baal came tearing in here with your friend in his arms. I was the only vampire in the bar at the time. He begged me to turn him.” She gave Katia a sad smile. “I never thought I’d ever turn anyone, especially when that person wasn’t able to make the choice…” She trailed off, looking far away as though she were remembering something from the distant past. Shaking herself back to the present, Mara looked Katia directly in the eye. “I didn’t get a choice, so I hope he doesn’t wake up hating me for this.”
Reaching out, Katia took Mara’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Thank you. It must not have been an easy thing for you to do. Can I see him?”
With an appreciative smile, Mara nodded and motioned for Katia to follow her. As they approached the table, Katia sucked in a sharp breath. Sergei was laid out like a sacrifice. What skin she could see looked like a roadmap of pain. Black and blue bruising, gaping red slashes, and burn marks stood out in sharp contrast to his deathly pallor. His skin had taken on a greyish cast, his chest was still, his lips blue. Tears began to leak out of Katia’s eyes as she realized that she was looking at her best friend’s corpse. A cry escaped her lips as she reached out to touch his arm. He was cold — cold and dead. And it was because of her. The tears came in earnest now, streaming down her face as she sobbed and dropped her head down to rest on the stillness of his chest.
As she cried, a gentle comforting hand rubbing her back. She cried until her tear ducts ran dry. Speaking quietly, Mara tried to comfort her. “He looks better than he did when Baal brought him in. I know that may be hard to believe, but his injuries were much more severe. They’re healing which is a good sign. We cleaned him up too. We put him in a clean pair of scrubs we got from the hospital where I work. I’m a surgeon. I thought it would be easier for him to wake up clean, not covered in his own blood. It can be disorienting at first.”
Katia looked at Mara quizzically. “A vampire surgeon?” She shook her head. “Never mind, that’s hardly the strangest thing I’ve heard recently.” Katia paused and looked back down at Sergei’s prone form. “I can’t even imagine what he went through,” she said with a hitch in her voice. “What will he be like when he wakes up?” She asked, reaching out to smooth back a lock of hair off his forehead.
“He’ll be the same person you knew before. The turn doesn’t change who you are at heart,” Mara replied. “It’s a different world now than it was when I was turned. With blood banks and synthetic plasma, all he’ll really have to worry about is a change in diet. He’ll also need to get really friendly with sunblock if he plans on going out during the day.”
“You can go out during the day?” Katia asked, shocked. “I thought vampires died in the sun.”
Laughing, Mara replied. “Pop culture has actually really helped to keep us hidden from the world. We don’t turn to dust in the sun, we’re just very sensitive to UV and burn very easily. Silver doesn’t bother us, nor do religious icons or garlic. We have a reflection in the mirror, and we most certainly don’t sparkle like some books and movies would suggest.”
“I’m guessing the whole turning into a bat thing is bullshit too, right?” Katia said jokingly.
“Afraid so. We’re not a particularly showy species really. I mean, aside from the fangs and the liquid diet, the only bonus prizes are increased strength and speed.”
“You said
