Chapter 95
Katelina woke the next evening to a face full of black. A wave of panic crashed through her. She tried to move, but she was pressed tightly against Jorick's cold body and jammed in a small box with no air. The tattered remnants of nightmares clung to her, and the oppressive darkness held them close and refused to let them melt away.
She tried to open the lid, but her arms were trapped beneath her. She needed air, and light. She needed to be reminded that she was alive and not dead.
Jorick stirred beneath her, woken by either the tiny butterflies of her fear brushing against his consciousness, or her attempts to escape. He took a deep, shuddering breath and shifted so that his hand lay on her shoulder. "Katelina?" he murmured uncertainly, his concern a palpable entity that filled what space was left around them. "What's wrong?"
"I need out of here!" she whispered, her voice tight and high. "I can't breathe! These things are air tight!"
"What?" It took him a moment to differentiate between a physical ailment and panic. Once he did, he soothed her softly, "You're all right. You're obviously breathing or you wouldn't be talking. Rarely is anything as air or water tight as advertised, besides, I left the lid cracked, remember?" His tone suddenly turned serious. "I'm afraid you'll have to get used to it. It's very likely that you'll be sleeping in here with me for many nights to come. Unless, you'd rather take a chance and hope that someone with a grudge to settle doesn't wake before I do?"
She suddenly forgot that she was suffocating. "What do you mean wake before you do? Don't you all wake up at the same time?"
"No, each wakes on their own, at their own time," he explained calmly. "Some at full night, and others while the sun is still sinking. It just depends."
"Of course they do. And exactly when do you wake up?"
"Usually as the last edge of the sun has disappeared. There are exceptions, of course. Like you, I can be woken early by any manner of things." He fell silent. "I believe we've discussed this before."
"When?" she asked, but then she remembered the fight at Oren's first house, when he'd told her that vampires could be awake in the daytime. "Oh. Yeah. I don't understand why we have to sleep in one of these, anyway. You don't at home."
"When a vampire isn't at home, it's easier. Not only is it added protection in the event of windows, which this basement has, by the way, but it's a protection against others. If someone sneaks up on us while we're in bed there'd be much less warning than if they have to open a noisy lid."
"That and Oren likes them," she grumbled, the memory of his old coffin filled basement rose in her mind.
"Yes, he does. A lot of vampires do, simply because it's clich¨¦." He shifted effortlessly and raised his palm to the lid. "Come, we'll rise now."
Jorick swung the heavy lid up and open, as though it was made of cardboard, and then waited for her to move. She sat up stiffly and looked around the basement. Some of the other coffins were already open and empty, while a couple of vampires were in the process of getting out of theirs. Her eyes dropped away quickly, as if she'd seen something she shouldn't have.
"You can get out now," came the whisper in her mind. She scowled at Jorick and his intrusion, but he only looked at her with growing impatience. She climbed clumsily out of the casket and tried to ignore the vampires who'd stopped to stare at her. Her whole body ached! And having slept fully dressed, including her coat and stocking hat, hadn't made it any more comfortable. After a night in a casket, she understood why vampires were in perpetual bad moods.
Jorick swung easily to his feet. He stepped out, like a dancer pirouetting, and closed the lid while Katelina opened the tattered suitcase. She could feel eyes on her and so she settled for stuffing her hairbrush and deodorant in her pockets; everything else could wait. She snapped the case closed and looked at it uncertainly, then up at Jorick.
He opened the casket and chucked the suitcase inside, then let the lid drop. "There. No one will bother it." He held his hand out to her. "Come."
She wanted to ask how he could be so sure, but not in front of their audience, so she just took his hand and let him lead her up the stairs. They entered what had once been a kitchen, and the vampire with the tattooed face leered at them from the darkness. Candle light spilled through the open doorway. The flickering light danced on the thick cobwebs and on his sharp exposed fangs.
Despite his presence, they passed wordlessly through the kitchen and into the large front room where Oren stood with a random spattering of vampires. A recently ended conversation dangled in the air and left them as silent as ghosts. As Jorick and Katelina approached, Oren turned to face them. Like yesterday, his blonde mane fell lose down his back, and it seemed he had abandoned his usual light, button down shirts for a heavier black sweater. "Ah Jorick, you're awake."
Jorick's tone was somewhere between friendly and suspicious. "So it would seem." He didn't look anywhere but Oren's face, and yet Katelina got the impression he'd glanced around the entire room and could have told her who, and where, everyone was.
Oren didn't respond to Jorick's comment, but continued. "I know you're not familiar with the way we do things here. We've agreed on feeding once we wake. I assume you're not," he paused uncertainly. "That you still need to go find- food?"
Jorick raised a dark eyebrow while Katelina slowly processed the implication. "Yes, I do. I'm not feeding off of her, Oren. I thought you'd know that."
A couple of the other vampires snickered, but Oren simply shrugged. "It's hard to tell. That is the usual reason for keeping a mortal around. It isn't as though one feeding a day would kill her." His smile was forced. "But, of course, that isn't your reason."
"No," Jorick answered flatly. "It isn't."
Oren cleared his throat and went on, "You won't find a lot of humanity roaming out there." He inclined his head towards the door. "But the wildlife is abundant. They haven't learned to hide from us yet."
Jorick nodded his understanding. "That's been my preference of late, anyway."
"Yes, I've noticed. Though I recall a time when it wasn't." His smile turned almost sarcastic, but faded quickly. "Return as soon as you can, we have much planning to do."
Jorick nodded, and tugged Katelina's arm, but she hesitated. She'd accepted a lot of things so far, however this wasn't going to be one of them. She'd barely dealt with the memory of him and Nirel, and casual feeding was something she didn't want to see. She could just stay at the house with Oren.
"Not tonight," came the silent answer. She shuddered and shook her head no, but Jorick tugged again, this time with more force, and she had no choice except to follow.
The front door opened onto the broad snow covered porch, and Jorick pulled her clear to the bottom of the wooden steps before he stopped for her to fasten the coat tightly.
"I don't want to go."
"I'm aware of that, but I'm not leaving you here alone. In case you haven't noticed, little one, I have enemies here." He turned his face away from her and let his eyes drink in the velvet sky.
"Really?" she asked sarcastically. She pulled the brush from her pocket and tried to whip her hair into shape. "I don't suppose you intend to tell me what you did to piss them off?"
He turned his face to her again, his dark eyes smoldering. "You forget, I was an Executioner for many long years. It's not a popular position."
"Of course." She stuffed the brush back into her pocket. The deodorant would have to wait. "This whole place is just fantastic."
