Part 12 (2/2)

”You,” he said, grappling with her, ”are already too strong.” His tone was not at all displeased and Ryan even sensed a trace of pride as he fought to gain control of her. She realized how futile her position was and settled.

Victor looked down at her. ”You will not change. You will not grow old, and you will not die.”

Ryan pulled away from him, now even more afraid. ”This is blasphemy. If I do not die, how will my soul be redeemed?”

Victor's sarcasm was evident. ”I care nothing for the redemption of your soul. If you do not die, then it is no concern.”

Ryan ran to the hearth and plucked the dagger from the wall there. She held the knife to her throat, threatening.

”If I cannot die, then this will not hurt me.”

Victor elegantly sprawled into a chair, unconcerned. ”Oh, it will hurt you. But it will not kill you. Go ahead,” he challenged, his eyes gleaming, ”cut your throat.”

Ryan swallowed hard. She had never been afraid of death and did not fear it now. She would wake up tomorrow in the afterworld and this sacrilege would be gone. She took a deep breath, then raked the knife across her throat.

Blood spurted out and Victor, although feigning indifference, could not contain himself. In seconds he was on his knees holding his dark child. The blood flowed freely into his mouth.

Ryan lay there, realizing she had played into his hands. Although mild dizziness overtook her, death was nowhere near as the warmth began to spread throughout her body. Because of where Ryan had slit her throat, Victor's neck was at such an angle that his throbbing neck veins were nearly pressed against Ryan's lips.

Ryan nearly moaned in despair. What madness and depravity was this? That she should crave something so unholy, so unnatural?

”Do it,” Victor commanded through gritted teeth. His own pa.s.sion was consuming him.

Ryan could not fight the strange desire and leaned forward, biting him. She was surprised at the ease with which her teeth pierced his skin, but her surprise gave way to ecstasy as his blood flowed into her body.

The strange pictures came to her again, almost as if she was seeing through someone else's eyes. But the pictures were fuzzy and unclear and made no sense to her. Once more, it was different; this time more powerful, more painfully beautiful. She could stay at that peak of pleasure longer, but again in the end, had to pull away.

She collapsed on the floor, her heart pounding.

A scream startled Ryan from the floor and she sprang to her knees, but not as quickly as Victor sprang to his feet. Miriam was standing in the doorway, her eyes wide with terror at the sight of the two covered in blood. In two quick steps, Victor was at her side and broke her neck.

She fell to the ground with a thud.

Ryan looked at the dead woman on the floor. She looked at Victor standing over his faithful maid, covered in blood with an expression of mild exasperation on his face. She looked down at herself, her white s.h.i.+rt a crimson red.

Victor watched the girl on the floor. He knew this was a pivotal moment. It would be quite possible for her to break, and although he could make her as physically powerful as possible, he could do nothing to strengthen her mental state.

Ryan very carefully stood, as if the act itself could bring her stability. She glanced at the woman on the floor. She glanced at Victor, covered in blood. She glanced down at her soiled clothing.

”Do you,” she said, steadying herself, ”do you have another s.h.i.+rt I can wear?”

Victor's face was impa.s.sive but he inwardly smiled. He had chosen well.

CHAPTER 16.

SUSAN PACED AROUND THE OBSERVATION CUBICLE in her laboratory. She was not expecting Ryan for another hour, but she was impatient to begin. Not only was she driven by the possibility of medical knowledge, now there was an alien, medieval world flitting through her mind.

Susan glanced in at the empty bed where Ryan had once laid. What did one do when faced with the impossible? In the movies, the characters made one or two objections, then settled upon the most unlikely of explanations. These explanations never caused the mind-altering, life-changing experience they would in reality. Most people could not accept something as simple as death without months of an adjustment process called grief. Yet characters on television accepted UFO's, beings from s.p.a.ce, aliens, supernatural experiences, etc., without them making so much as an indentation on their mental landscape.

What did one do when faced with the impossible?

Susan would like to have discounted Ryan as mentally unstable. But other than her fantastic story, she demonstrated no signs of mental instability. In fact, she was extremely articulate and intelligent. Susan actually enjoyed listening to her, if she could just get past her discomfort over the content.

And then there were the physical aspects of Ryan that were, well, also impossible. Her anatomy was completely foreign. She had healed from injuries that would have killed anyone else, and had done so in a matter of days. She had already demonstrated levels of strength far beyond those of a normal human.

Susan stopped herself. This was going nowhere, because she was trying to think of Ryan in comparison to a normal human. Ryan was not a normal human, if she could be considered human at all.

Susan felt an odd sense of relief at having finally, even if silently, voiced the thought. Perhaps Ryan wasn't human. There were a lot of different species on earth. Perhaps she was a different form of primate, an offshoot of humans or a different branch of the family tree. Evolution said it could happen, humans just didn't think of it as happening to them.

Susan mentally went over what she knew about Ryan. She had to admit, if she were going to create a being with an extended lifespan, she would certainly include all the ingredients in Ryan's blood. And if she were going to genetically engineer a vampire, it really would not have need of a stomach, and its esophagus should certainly be connected to its heart.

This thought was extremely sobering to Susan.

But Ryan had treated the idea of a vampire with disdain. Was it just a matter of semantics? Could it be possible that such a creature could exist, living off the blood of others? Mosquitoes did, as did leeches. Would it be possible for a creature the size of a human to adapt in such a way? What chemical interactions would be involved? What nutrient breakdown of the blood could support such a creature?

The complexity of the questions was mind-boggling. It was as if all rules were broken and re-written for Ryan to exist. Susan was overwhelmed by the possibilities.

She shook her head to clear it. No sense in becoming overwhelmed before she even got started. She leaned around the corner to peer out into the hallway. The portion she could see was empty. She glanced at her watch and decided to make a dash for the restroom before Ryan arrived.

She stared into the bathroom mirror, plucking at her red hair. She saw many of her son's features staring back at her: the green eyes, the light sprinkle of freckles across the nose, the rosy cheeks. The thought of her son brought a smile to her face. Although Jason had gotten most of his looks from her, he had Brent's gentleness and irrepressible sense of humor. She was glad Jason seemed to get the best of both of them. Susan washed her hands, dried them on a towel, then exited the restroom.

She was straightening the cuff on her lab coat as she entered the hallway and almost missed the figure ducking into the elevator. She was not certain she had seen what she thought she had seen, so she hurriedly moved to the closing doors. She was too late, though, and the doors whispered shut in her face. The numbers began to light up as the car dropped to the ground floor.

Susan turned and was startled by another figure coming down the hallway. She relaxed when she saw it was the security guard.

”Albert,” she asked, ”was that Dr. Goldstein who just got on the elevator?”

The security guard nodded. ”Yes ma'am,” he said. He seemed a little puzzled. ”I don't know why he left so quickly, though. He said he came up here to see you.”

Susan was both thoughtful and suspicious. ”He did, hmm? Did you let him into the lab?”

Albert shook his head. ”No ma'am,” he said emphatically. ”I've been told that the only one who goes in your lab is you. I brought Dr. Goldstein up here, but I told him he'd have to wait in the hallway for you. He was kind of impatient, but I don't know why he wouldn't wait.”

Susan was no longer thoughtful, only suspicious. She had a pretty good idea why he wouldn't wait, and she was doubtful that Goldstein had come up here to see her. In fact, he was probably hoping she was gone. Fortunately, Stanley Meyers had agreed to all of her requests for added security, and there was no chance Goldstein could go snooping through her lab.

Susan re-entered the lab, and within minutes perked her head up. She heard another set of footsteps coming down the hall, but this time it was someone with a casual gait and long strides. Susan knew the ident.i.ty just from that leisurely stroll.

Susan went to the security door and opened it. Ryan stood outside of it, her hands casually thrust in her pockets. Susan was struck again by the power of her physical presence. She actually felt a little fl.u.s.tered, and then was both angered and mortified by the feeling. This caused her to be a little brusque.

”Please come in.”

Ryan smiled her predatory smile, not the least bit perturbed by Susan's blunt manner. She followed Susan into the observational cubicle.

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