Nos Faux Ratu Ch. 07

Silence.

"Okay, then I guess I'll have to --"

"Stop," came the ghost voice.

William's jaw dropped as a figure, cloaked from head to toe in white, appeared next to the floating redhead. "She can turn invisible?" he asked.

"No, she just moves faster than your eyes can follow," the redhead replied. "Actually, faster than my eyes can follow, and that's saying something."

"Holy crap! That's the chick who crushed that guy's head!"

"Succinctly put. My name is Nessa, and this," she continued, pointing to the other woman, who's face was still hidden from William, "is Jenna." Nessa looked at the young man. "And we're vampires."

William looked at the woman. "Bullshit. Okay, so the guy with the deflatable head looked like a werewolf --"

"Because he was," Nessa interrupted.

"-- and what SHE did was wicked beyond all reason," he continued, sticking his thumb out at Jenna's back, "there is no way that AUGH!" William screamed in a most unmanly fashion as Nessa floated closer and exposed her fangs.

"Stop it Nessa, you're scaring him!" Jenna said, turning to pull her mentor away. Then, her eyes met William's.

The young man fell backward onto his ass, and it wasn't because the woman before him was probably the most beautiful he'd ever seen. She just seemed so damn familiar. Her hair was the same pale blonde color that his was, and her eyes . . . powder blue against pristine white . . . he had only seen one other person whose eyes looked like that. Himself.

"Who are you?" he muttered.

The look of fear and pain that crossed that beautiful face did not belong there, yet it seemed intent on taking up residence. "I just wanted to keep you safe," she whispered.

"You . . . you're --"

Nessa kissed Jenna on the cheek, then stepped aside. This was not her moment.

William's heart was in his throat, his lungs were gasping for any spare bit of oxygen available, and his mouth had gone dry. His parents had told him when he turned thirteen that he had been adopted, and he had spent two years trying to find out where he had come from. What were his parents like? Why had they given him up? He had gone through the gambit of orphan fantasies, but never in his wildest dreams could he have come up with a scenario like this.

The woman before him got on her hands and knees and bowed her head to the floor. Again, this was not what he was expecting, particularly when he saw a drop of blood drip from her eye, trickle down her cheek, then splatter unceremoniously on the rooftop.

"You're my mother?" he said, finally getting all the words out through a mouth that did not want to work properly.

"I . . . I gave birth . . . to you," Jenna said, a pain she had tried to bury manifesting itself in her voice. "Your mother is Michelle Monroe. I couldn't . . . I couldn't --"

"I thought you were dead! I called and wrote letters and . . . and I got a friend to break into the foster care system's database, but nothing! Emails bounced . . . Wait, you know who my mom is?"

Jenna just hung her head. "Your mother is Michelle Monroe, owner of one of the few local clothing chains left in New Atlanta. Your father Ronald is a successful copyright attorney. You were born on November 3rd, fifteen years ago, at Emory Hospital. You've played soccer since you were old enough to run without running into everything, and you're first crush was on Jenny Trantham, a girl two years older than you."

"But . . . you . . . you've been spying on me? Why didn't you say anything?! You knew I was --"

"Because people around me die," Jenna interrupted, though with less gusto than she had expected. "I just wanted you to be happy."

"What about my father?" William asked. "Is he --" He stopped, because the woman's . . . his biological mother's face took on an expression that he could never have guessed. He had thought pain of loss or happy memory, but all he saw was hatred, pure and deep. "He isn't in the picture anymore, is he?"

Jenna was so angry, she was trembling. Her hands were so tense that she actually ripped a chunk of the roof off.

"Please, just . . . just tell me what's going on? You know everything about me, and I barely know your name. Don't make me keep guessing. Damn it, you drug me into this, so you owe me a damn explanation!"

From her hiding spot on the other side of a cooling unit, Nessa froze. This was what she had feared the most out of this confrontation. Blame.

Jenna stayed quiet for several moments. As her son regained his feet, she looked up at him. "Think of all I've done to keep you out of my world," she whispered. "Do you really want to know?"

William was left in a position he never though he would be in, namely possibly volunteering to have all his dreams dashed. How bad could it truly be?

"Tell me."

With tears in her eyes and her non-beating heart heavy in her chest, she did tell him. Everything. From the moment that evil came to her parents' front door to the second their eyes met on an Atlanta rooftop. Fifteen years of heartbreak, most of it born alone for a very long time. And when it ended, all that was heard was one young boy's breath and the hum of machines. Then, William turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing like thunder in Jenna's ears.

Jenna felt numb. 'What did you expect?' she thought. 'You abandoned him. Now it's time for payback.'

William stood overlooking the edge of the building. A heavy sheet of clear plastic encircled the top of the building, so it was not as if he was going to fall. He placed his hands against it, then stared out into the neon-broken city night. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that he had been joined.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Nessa shrugged. "Just standing here."

"Stand somewhere else."

"It's my building. I'll stand where I damn well want." The redheaded vampire turned. "But if you want to be left alone, then fine. I'm just going to say my piece."

"I don't really want --"

"Tough shit. You have every right to be mad, hurt, confused, but you do not have a right to hurt Jenna."

"She could have --"

Nessa put a finger to the boy's lips. "For as long as YOU'VE been alive, SHE'S been alone. Until she met me, she had one friend . . . ever, in all that time. She didn't have anyone looking in on her to make sure she was okay. No adoptive parents to kiss skinned knees, and no one to help her deal. She had a broken system and a corrupt government that had no idea how badly she was hurt. No one to put a broken heart and shattered spirit back together."

The vampire started to turn away, but stopped for a moment to look back. "And despite it all, she loved you. She once called you the 'one good thing' that she ever did. Maybe she didn't do everything the right way, but maybe it was because she didn't know how. You think this is hard for YOU to deal with? Just imagine what it was like for her." Nessa walked away.

William growled. He had wanted to be angry, but even before the redhead had spoken her mind, it had been hard to hold on to hatred. At least, it was hard, if not impossible, to hate Jenna. His biological mother. It was just so hard to wrap his head around it. He walked back to where Jenna had been kneeling. She had not moved.

"Please, stand up," he asked. When she didn't move, he put his hand on her should. "Please?"

Jenna regained her feet. She looked confused, but her hands had a mind of their own, reaching out and touching his hair and coming within inches of his face. It was like she was trying to memorize him.

"I'll finish this mess," she whispered. "Then I'll go. No more stalking. I'll leave you alone."

"I'll still know," he replied. "That you're out there. What you did. What you're going through. I . . . I just don't know what to say. I mean, most kids in my situation figure that there was a story behind why they were put up for adoption. But this? My mother is a vampire?"

"I've only been a real vampire for a few hours," Jenna mumbled, still fascinated with some part of William's face that only she seemed to see.

"Listen to yourself. A 'real' vampire. Whereas before, you were a bioengineered super-soldier pretending to be a vampire. And you're fighting werewolves? Or werewolf commandos?" William through his hands out in disbelief. "You can't make shit like this up, and you're saying this is who you are? This is where I come from?"

Jenna touched his face. "This shouldn't be your world. I . . . I can make you forget. When we send you home, you don't have to remember any of this. You'll be happy again."

"I don't want to forget you," he said, then threw his arms around her. "I just want to understand you."

Jenna felt a warmth that she thought the grave should have robbed her of, and she wrapped her arms around her son for the first time in fifteen years. She smelled his hair, listened to his breathing, and just absorbed as much of his essence as she could in that brief moment, afraid that she might never experience it again.

"Me too," was her response.

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A few hours later . . .

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When Jenna finally appeared back down in the VIP lounge, she looked like . . . well, Nigel could only equate it to Atlas finally being able to put down his load, even if only for a little while. She actually seemed to stand a bit taller, which was impressive for a woman who already stood six feet tall in flat shoes.

"You've been gone a while," he told his friend, giving her a quick but meaningful hug.

"William and I had a lot to talk about. He had a lot of questions."

"And you?"

"I pretty much knew everything about him already." She looked around until her eyes fell on Caitlin. "Did you really flash William with your boobs?"

"That was entirely Avery's idea. I'm not old enough to be a cougar."

"Or a MILF," Nigel suggested.

"Okay, I am missing both references," Jenna said, flopping down on one of the overly comfortable sofas with an un-Jenna like lack-of-grace, sinking into cushions like she was planning on staying there for a while.

"Where's William?"

"It's well past his bedtime," Jenna explained, "and he was pretty much exhausted. Nessa has a secure room in the floor below hers that he'll be staying in. And she's already locked the vents," she added, almost proudly. She saw Caitlin standing next to the couch, so she moved her legs and motioned for her new friend to sit down. Caitlin agreed, and even got Jenna to put her feet up in the Nightwalker's lap and succumb to a nice foot rub.

"I'm sorry I got so angry," Jenna continued. "I just --"

"Don't apologize for that," Nigel said, pulling up a chair. "We knew that you'd be mad, and for good reason. We tried to think of everything else that we could do, and this was the safest option. We figured you would understand that. We're just glad you didn't kill us before accepting it." He stared at her. "I'm still a little shocked that you're taking this so well."

The look Jenna gave him was one of pure wonder. "I held my son," she whispered. "I never thought --" She paused, feeling hot liquid at the corner of her eye.

"Holy crap," Caitlin said, "You cry blood?"

"That she does," Nessa said, floating over and landing behind her newest child. She kissed Jenna's head, and the newborn vampire seemed to bask in the glow of her sire's affection. The elder vampire saw a flash of something on Caitlin's face that resembled jealousy. The poor woman was probably wondering how she was supposed to compete with Nessa, not knowing that for the next year, it would be impossible if Nessa so willed it. But Nessa would not do that, not to Caitlin or to her newest child. Jenna needed to grow.

Jenna was oblivious to anything but that warm feeling that went from where her son's head had tucked itself into the crook of her neck to where his hands had grasped her waist. Caitlin had asked the right question . . . "Do you want him to know you?" 'Yes,' she thought. She did. She looked at the woman who had killed her . . . who had saved her. "We need to move against the Fool tonight," she whispered, her very voice pooling with blood and anger. "He went after William. No one harms my son."

Nessa nodded. "Nigel, I would like for you and Avery and possibly Ghede to develop a plan of attack. Use whatever daytime resources I have available to scout out and confirm the location of the Fool's new headquarters. He and his will probably be moving towards a nocturnal schedule without even knowing why, since werewolves are every bit as much creatures of the night as vampires. I am still willing to take prisoners if possible, but the Fool and the Hanged Man must die." Part of the ancient vampire still raged at the thought of the Hanged Man's hands breaking the neck of a demon. The neck of a friend. Yes, it was war, but that didn't mean that she was not going to take it very, very personally.

Nigel nodded. "I'll make sure that the Nightwalkers get some rest."

"You get some rest too," Nessa said, then glanced at the two women on the couch. "Jenna, why don't you go stretch your new legs, and see the city with your new eyes." When it looked like Jenna might object, the senior vampire said, "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to him. Now hurry, you've only got a few hours until sunrise, and you need to be back by then." Then, trying to make it sound like an afterthought, "Why don't you you take Caitlin with you? She can make sure that you don't lose track of time."

Caitlin looked a bit perplexed, but she felt relieved. "I'd be happy to," she said. It meant some actual alone time with the Empress, which was something she had been after.

Jenna nodded, but she did not leave immediately. She glanced at her maker and stood up, noticing that Lawrence had moved up beside Nessa. "You're . . . hurt?" she asked, trying to seek a name for what she was sensing.

Nessa smiled softly. "You're as in tune with my feelings as I am with yours. No, I'm not hurting, just very tired." She allowed Lawrence to pull her up against him.

The now-second-youngest vampire held his maker and kissed her cheek. "This is why she has to be careful with who she makes into a vampire. She is still strong, but not as strong as she should be."

"You should not hunt --" Jenna started to say, worried about Nessa's participation in the fight with the Fool, but a quick wave of anger flooded her feeling. Jenna backed away, her eyes down. As quickly as it arrived, the feeling vanished, replaced with love.

Nessa, pulled Jenna to her, bringing her into an embrace with her creator and Lawrence. "I cannot stand by for this one," she said. Not after Ipos." She moved Jenna's hand to Nessa's face, then to Lawrences.

Jenna felt a tingle. "I can feel that you're one of hers," she told the handsome young-ish vampire.

"Her blood runs through all of us," he replied. "It makes us family."

Jenna's still heart caught in her throat. The word "family" had for so long filled her with a fevered dread and sense of failure. She did not want that again.

"It wasn't your fault," Nessa reminded her. "You didn't hurt your family. You won't hurt us. Let us love you."

Jenna buried her face in Nessa hair and breathed. She felt like a child going on for her first day of school, afraid to let loose of her mother's apron strings. "I'm . . . God, I'm still scared."

"Don't be," Nessa whispered into her youngling's ear. "Go out, enjoy the night. I'll see you before sunrise."

Jenna tore herself away from the vampires, from her family, and headed outside with Caitlin almost literally on her arm. Instantly, she could smell things that she had never imagined before, some pleasant, some not, but all new. The faux brick of the building across the alley seemed to shimmer in her sight, and she could see every insect crawling in and out of its crevices.

"What do you see?" Caitlin asked, her eyes sparkling as she watched the Empress investigate everything like a tourist for whom the entire world was a curio shop.

"Everything," Jenna said, turning to look at her companion, who was standing under a corner streetlamp watching the new vampire. "I must seem like a complete idiot."

"You seem like a lot, but not an idiot. I don't know how I would be dealing with all this if I were in your shoes," Catlin replied, walking down the street with Jenna beside her, staring at everything but always bringing her eyes back to the Nightwalker.

"I'm not sure you want . . . what's that smell?" she said, stopping and sniffing the air. "French fries? Oh, those smell so good," she added, almost sadly.

"What's wrong?"

"Can't eat fries anymore."

Caitlin's eyes shot open and her face contorted to show exaggerated fear. "You traded French fries for immortality and superpowers? Are you mad?!"

Jenna smiled. "Laugh it up. Hey, can we get some fries?"

"You want to get food that you can't eat?" Caitlin chuckled when Jenna nodded excitedly. "Okay. Weirdo."

The two of them found themselves inside of a twenty-four hour burger joint, where every food item was capable of causing a heart attack all by itself. Caitlin figured that she burned calories like it was going out of style, so she loaded up her tray and sat in a corner booth with Jenna close by her side. It was the strangest date that the Nightwalker had ever been on. Jenna sniffed the fries when Caitlin wasn't eating them, and she also took some long, slow draws on the burger itself. She could still drink liquids, so Jenna was slamming back some soda while the two talked.

It wasn't the first time the two had conversed, but it was still odd for Caitlin to see Jenna opening up. The poor girl had effectively missed out on fifteen years of her own life, existing in the dismal, murky shadow of a trauma she had gone through as a teenager. Caitlin had a wealth of stories, and she was more than happy to tell all of them.

"So what are you going to do now that the Nightwalker program is over?" Jenna asked.

"Honestly, I haven't had a whole lot of time to think about it. I guess that I could always disappear from the government's radar and go into private security somewhere." She sighed. "Doesn't sound real rewarding, does it? Ooh, maybe I could open up a dive shop down in the Keys!"

"Will you teach me to dive?" Jenna asked again. "I know we talked about it --"

"Absolutely! Hell, I'd do it just to see you in a bathing suit."

That was where Jenna normally would have blushed, but she no longer had that response. "Wait, I can't go out in the day!"

"Don't stress it. You can dive at night and, if you go somewhere like the Bahamas on a full moon, the view at night can be amazing. What about you? I mean, is this thing with Nessa a permanent thing?" Caitlin blushed a little, but she grinned and continued with, "I mean in regards to your job this time."

"I really don't know. I guess I need a job, but not for a bit. I have a lot of savings. Too bad the church wasn't insured --"

"Church?"

Jenna blanched. "I lived in a church," she said, her voice and eyes haunted. "It's where . . . it's where --" She couldn't finished.

Caitlin was confused, but she didn't want to see Jenna upset again. "It's okay. You don't have to talk about it."

Jenna felt like she should sigh, but she had no breath. "It's where my family died. It's where He held me --"

"Wait, and you were living there?!"

"I thought it would make things right. That it would mean I didn't abandon them. I know, I know," Jenna said, cutting off an interruption from her friend, "In retrospect, it wasn't a healthy thing to do. I just couldn't let them go. Now, it's like I'm trying to figure out where I'm going without having been anywhere."

"But you have been places," Caitlin countered. "You may interpret your life differently now, but it was yours. You still have a son who wants to know his biological mother. You have friends, or at least people who want to be friends, and some of us --" For the first time, it was Caitlin who seemed a little shy. "Well, you have a place to start."