CHAPTER 32:

JADEN’S  POV:

Carrying Catalina’s lifeless body into her apartment, I kick the door shut behind me.  Her heart has long since stopped beating, her blood has thickened, the flow from her wounds has stopped.  Watching her murder on the television screen didn’t even come close to conveying the monstrosity of what was done to her.  Her entire body is covered by injuries.  Goddamn bastards even broke her arm.  As if the cutting, stabbing and choking weren’t enough. 

Not bothering with the lights, I walk through the darkness to the master bathroom.  I lay her carefully down on the plush ivory rug, in front of the large sunken bathtub.  After turning on the water, I carefully rip off what’s remaining of her clothes.  Then I take off my own bloodstained clothes.

Picking her up, I step into the bathtub and settle her on my lap.  Even though she is past caring at this point, I use a washcloth to gently clean her wounds.  I also pop the broken bone in her arm back into place, although the transformation will be taking care of the injury, along with all other injuries. 

I get out of the tub and leave her in, letting her body fall underwater.  While I dry off, I stare down into the tub, at the dead woman that I love.  Submerged underwater, her dark hair is floating around her bruised face.  The cuts covering her body won’t begin to heal until the sun is up.  By the time the sun sets, she’ll be completely healed and then some. She’ll be vampire. 

I lay a towel down on the rug and reach into the water to pull her out.  While drying her off, I kiss each wound that I come in contact with, ridiculously wishing that simple kisses could make it all better. 

Going through her drawers, I pull out a random nightgown and manage to get her into it.  I tuck her into bed, fanning out her wet hair so that it will dry faster.  As if on auto-pilot, I walk stoically to my own clothing and put on a pair of pajama pants.  Trying to hang on to the calm numbness, I walk back over to the bed and stare down at her once again.  Then I break down.

Am I doing the right thing?  As much as it would kill me too, would she be better off if I gave her the final death?  I’m so afraid that what my parents did will result in my Catalina turning into a monster.  If they are right, if a violent turning results in a violent vampire, she would be better off with a stake in her heart right now. 

I don’t even know what was in those shots.  I’m afraid to find out.  My parents’ cryptic remarks on the subject only leaves me to believe that it will come to no good. 

Had Catalina wanted to become a vampire, I would have been ecstatic.   I would have turned her myself in the most gentle way possible.  But she never wanted this and I would have never pressured her into it. 

I’m over three hundred years old and I’m strong.  No matter what the results of this night are, I can handle her.  I can make her good.  We’ll work through it and be happy.  I have to believe that.  I refuse to lose her and, if anything, I can use mind control on her while she’s young. 

Emotionally exhausted, as I feel the sun about to rise, I collapse onto the bed next to her, twining my fingers through hers.  When the sun is over the horizon, I feel her fingers twitch.  Then I’m asleep. 

I wake up to the sound of purring. 

My eyes snap open and I am staring into glowing greenish-gold eyes.  Eyes that used to be brown.  Eyes that shouldn’t have changed color after becoming a vampire.  They should still be brown.

Her face is expressionless, her eyes are curious.  As she crouches over me, her long hair is falling onto either side of my head, like a curtain enclosing us into our own private world.  Her face just inches from mine. 

I reach up tentatively to touch her cheek with my fingers.  Her upper lip curls up into a snarl, giving me a view of a delicate white fang. 

“Catalina?” I whisper. 

She blinks rapidly, then looks at me again in confusion.  Her head shakes back and forth rapidly, locks of hair brush back and forth across my face.  When I can see her again, she is no longer looking at me, but instead straight ahead, toward the headboard. 

Her head and chin still tilted forward, her eyes slowly move down to look down on me. “Jaden?”

“Yes,” I say in relief.

“What happened?”  She finally tilts her chin back down to look directly into my face. 

I swallow convulsively, “You’re a vampire now.”

She gets a wild look in her eyes, sort of like a cornered animal.  She simply says, “I remember now.”

Then an inhuman and even unvampire-like hiss comes out between her teeth.  Before my eyes, her fangs elongate, stretching out past her bottom lip.  I start in surprise, but quickly calm myself so that I don’t agitate her. 

Grabbing onto her upper arms, I shake her, “Catalina, it’s going to be alright.  I’ll help you.”

She rears back with an amazing amount of strength and in a lightening fast move, her hand swipes across my chest.  I am now in a halfway sitting position and look down at the claw marks on my bare chest.  From there, my gaze moves to her raised hands, and the sharp claws that have grown out of her fingertips. 

Catalina’s chest is heaving and she is panting harshly.  Her downcast eyes are staring at the blood trickling down my stomach and she seems mesmerized.  Her fangs retract back to normal vampire size.  Her nails do the same.  With a moan, she pushes me onto my back and sinks into my neck. 

I give myself to her freely, stroking her hair, telling her how much I love her.  But this isn’t what she needs.  She needs human blood.  Luckily, I have an apartment building filled with humans.  I’ll make sure she gets what she needs.  Everything is going to be alright because I’m determined that it will be. 

After a few minutes, I gently try to push her head away from my throat.  She resists, so I try again.  Another hiss comes out of her sucking mouth and I feel a stabbing pain in my throat.  This isn’t right, it shouldn’t hurt like this.  The pain increases and I finally realize that her fangs have elongated to their abnormal size while they are attached to my throat. 

She’s stronger than a new vampire should be, so I have to use an excessive amount of force to push her away from me.  Thankfully, she isn’t stronger than me.  She flies through the air, but lands gracefully, with a light thud, on top of the dresser across the room.  I keep my eyes on her as I slowly sit up.  She’s crouched there, staring back at me with that same expressionless face, slight curiosity in her eyes.  Her fangs retract. 

I hold out my hands in a placating gesture.  “You don’t need my blood, angel.  I’ll be gone only a few minutes, but when I come back, I’ll have what you need.”

She says nothing, just sits there.  Not bothering to even put on more clothes, I start backing towards the open bedroom door.  I make a palms down motion to her and tell her to, “Stay.”

Rushing down the hallway and to the apartment door, I run a hand through my hair.  My mind is racing with the implications of our situation.  Catalina is like no other vampire that I’ve met so far.  Whatever was in those shots turned her into a breed of her own. 

First things first, she needs human blood.  I take the elevator down two floors and knock on Rebecca’s door.  She answers, wearing a pink terry cloth bathrobe.  Not giving her a chance to speak, I grab her wrist and yank her out of the apartment doorway.  I reach out to grab the doorknob and shut her door.  Pulling her along with me, I guide her to the elevator. 

“What’s going on Jaden?  Did you miss me or something?”  She says huskily. 

“Or something,” I say and push the button in the elevator for the top floor.  Once the doors are closing, I stand directly in front of Rebecca and wait until her eyes meet mine.  “You will remember nothing of this night.”

“Okay,” she says softly. 

When I return to Catalina, Rebecca in tow, I am vastly relieved that she is still where I left her.  Sort of.  I leave Rebecca standing in the middle of the room and find Catalina in the walk-in closet, slipping a green cotton halter dress over her head.  She then reaches down and straps on a pair of jeweled flat sandals. 

“Going somewhere?” I ask. 

She lets out a humming sound and slowly twists around to look at me.  Then she takes a deep breath, “Hmm, something smells good.”

That would be Rebecca.  Before Catalina came along, she was one of my favorites to drink off of.  Among other things.  I shove my hands in my pajama pant pockets.  “That would be your dinner.”

Her lips slowly curve up into a smile at the same time that her fangs elongate, to normal vampire size.  The smile startles me, mostly because it is unlike any smile that I’ve ever seen on her beautiful face.  It’s . . .  predatory. 

As she moves to go past me, I grab her forearm, “Don’t take too much.”

She glares at me, but nods her head.  I sigh and let her past.  Instead of returning to the room, I pull down from some hangers a pair of jeans and a shirt.  Once I’m dressed, I lace up a pair of shoes and leave the closet. 

Catalina has Rebecca on her back, on the bed, and is vigorously sucking from her neck.  As I step around the bed, I quickly avert my eyes from where Rebecca’s robe has fallen open, showing much of the nude body underneath.  The sight of the woman I love sucking blood from a naked woman gives me an involuntary reaction in my lower parts.  It doesn’t help that Rebecca has a look of euphoria on her made up face. 

I adjust the annoyance in my pants and reach out to shake Catalina’s shoulder.  “That’s enough, angel.”

Instead of removing her mouth, Catalina growls and a shudder ripples through her body.  Realizing that she’s lost in her blood lust, I grab onto her jaw and push my thumb into her mouth, in an attempt to disengage her mouth from Rebecca’s throat.  “I said that’s enough!  Do you want to kill her?”

I yank her mouth away and she looks up at me with her eyes narrowed.  “What do I care if she dies?”

Something inside me breaks as a feeling of panic overcomes me.  I pull her into my arms, dragging her over Rebecca and hugging her tightly.  This isn’t happening.  I won’t let it happen like this.  Catalina is now kneeling on the bed in front of me.  I release her and use both hands to cup her face. 

“I love you, Catalina.”

She smiles wickedly and rubs her breasts against my chest, “And you know I love you.”

Staring into her eyes, eyes that no longer resemble her human ones, I quietly say while using mind control, “Catalina, love, you will never take more blood than what you need from a human.  You will never kill a human unless in self-defense.”

She blinks, then responds, “Who made you the vampire police?”

I repeat my words again. 

She simply stares back at me, then pulls out of my arms.  Her fangs are already going for Rebecca’s throat again.  In my frustration and anguish, I use more force than necessary to throw Catalina away from Rebecca.  Catalina doesn’t land in a crouch this time, but instead hit’s the wall and lands on her knees, with her back leaning against the wall. 

I rush over to her, regretting hurting her, even if the pain will quickly go away due to her new vampire abilities.  As I’m leaning over her, she looks up at me.  A mix of pain, confusion and hurt is in her eyes. 

“I’m sorry, angel,” I begin. 

Her eyes start to water, “What’s wrong with me, Jaden?”

I shake my head, “There is nothing wrong with you.  You just need time to adjust.”

Her head drops down, “I think you’re wrong.  There is definitely something wrong.  I feel . . . angry.”

I reach down in an attempt to pull her to her feet.  Her hands fly up to brush mine away, “Don’t touch me!”

“Catalina . . .”

She jumps up and starts to back away from me.  Her entire body is trembling.  The sound of lengthening claws can be heard and when she looks up at me, I see that her longer fangs are extending over her full lower lip. 

Catalina looks down at her claws in wonder, “You don’t have claws, Jaden.”

“No.”

She then uses the pad of her index finger to trace the length of one fang.  “Why are my fangs so long?”

I grimace, “I don’t know.  But, it seems that sometimes they are like mine.”

She looks at me in horror, “I’m not like you, Jaden.”

I try to sound nonchalant but probably fail, “You’re a vampire.  Just like me.”

I don’t mention the fact that her eyes are glowing with more than unshed tears.  She continues to back up until her back bumps into the balcony doors.  “Why am I different?”

“You’re fine, Catalina.  All that matters is that we’re together.”  I pause for a moment.  “I’ve decided that with your change, it’s time to move on.  Find another place to live, maybe go back to Europe.”

Ignoring me, Catalina gasps, “It was the shots, wasn’t it?”

“It’s nothing to worry about.  I still love you just as much as when you were human.  You still love me, don’t you, angel?”

Finally, her tears fall, and she nods, “Yes, I love you, Jaden.”

I try to smile for her benefit, “See?  If we start packing now, we can leave tonight.  I have my own plane.  We can sleep during the day while my pilot flies us across the ocean.”

She lets out a sob and shakes her downcast head, “I don’t think I’m like you at all, Jaden.”

“Sure you are,” I try to reassure her while taking a step towards her.  “We’re going to be just as happy as we were when you were human.”

Her next words shock me, “I have the urge to go back over to that woman and rip her throat out.”  Then she adds, “Tear her apart.”

I follow her gaze to where Rebecca is still laying in a daze, mostly naked on the bed.  I feel no stir of arousal looking at her now, not with Catalina’s gruesome words.  I take another step towards Catalina, but she reaches behind her to open the balcony doors and continues to back away from me until her lower back hits the railing. 

“Come back inside, angel.”  I order her. 

Looking sadder than I’ve ever seen her, she whispers, “I’m not your angel anymore, Jaden.  I think I’m one of the bad vampires.”

I open my mouth to respond, but before I can get any words out, Catalina hauls herself over the railing and jumps to the street below.  I run the few steps forward and lean over just in time to see her land on all fours.  Odd, because vampires usually land just on their feet.  Also odd because new vampires usually aren’t so graceful when jumping from that sort of height.  Most break a bone or two. 

From her crouched position, she twists her head around to look right up at me, then takes off running.  I leap up onto the railing and jump down to follow her.  I land on two feet.

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