Parachutist 2 – Our New World

Chapter 14 - Carmen's death.

A/N I am updating earlier because Carmen's story was published some time ago as a standalone.

Previously

My heartbeat got louder and louder, it boomed in my ears and then …. it simply stopped. I realized I was dying, I would see Pau again maybe… or maybe not, because surely I was damned… and then all went black.

Carmen

I was awake and the pain was gone. I opened my eyes and was assaulted by sensations, so many that it took a while to get adjusted to them. There was no light in the room where I was, but I could see everything in it, the colors bright, brighter than I ever saw before. I could also perceive a delicious smell I could not identify… I closed my eyes again, inhaling. Then something touched me, hands that were warm. I remembered cold hands soothing me. What was this?

I jumped from the bed, crouching against the wall. There was a man in the room, pale and olive skinned. In his beautiful face the eyes were red like the ones of the monsters who attacked us in the subterranean hall. Terrified, I wanted to scream, but from my throat came out a sound that was… inhuman. Like a growl.

"Tranquila" he said, "tranquila. I am not going to hurt you." He moved towards me. He was not very tall, but lithe and deadly like a bull fighter. As they often do, his black hair was kept out of his face in a short ponytail. He stopped a few paces from the corner where I crouched.

My throat ached and I realized I was terribly thirsty. It suddenly became the most important thing in the world.

"I need to drink," I said, with a voice I did not recognize as mine, but it came from my mouth.

"Of course. Wait for me and don't leave the room, I'll be back." He was out of the door in a second, but I was able to see his movement, fast as he was.

When he came back he was carrying a man, bound and unconscious.

…-…

I looked at the corpse at my feet. I had killed the man and sucked his blood. An uncontrollable instinct had compelled me to do it as soon as his smell hit me.

"Why?" I was trembling. I was not thirsty anymore, but the horror of what I had done was worse than the thirst.

So he explained. He introduced himself as Eleazar, asked my name, and told me what I had become and what we were. He said that, because I was not killed immediately, the venom inserted by the vampire who bit me had caused my transformation. I was meant to die in any case, but he had pleaded his masters for me and I had been accorded a reprieve. They had, in fact, given me to him. He had served them loyally for centuries.

"But you will be mine only if and when you'll want me," he added, seeing me wince. "I have done my share of what humans would call crimes, but I never forced an unwilling woman."

This was too much to process. I wanted to cry, but I discovered that I couldn't. I did not want to belong to any man, and most of all, I did not want to be a monster like he, and the others in this horrific place, were.

"I will not kill anybody anymore," I declared. "You took me by surprise, but it will not happen again."

"You'll have to feed, eventually," he said mildly.

"I'll starve, I want to die anyway. I cannot exist like this." I was practically screaming.

"Problem is, our kind doesn't die of starvation," he insisted, "only, you'll go out of control and will end up attacking somebody in plain sight, and that is not allowed, particularly here in Volterra. You will be punished."

I had killed my unborn baby and an innocent prisoner. It was too much already.

"I don't care," I said, "I. Will. Not. Kill. Again. Watch me."

He did not add anything more.

…..-….

Some time passed. My gentle jailer showed me his bathroom so that I could wash, a curious bathroom with no toilet – not that I had any desire to use it, which was weird - and he brought me my suitcase, that must have remained in the cell I had been put in when, drugged and lost, I arrived here. I did not speak much, but Eleazar did, telling me all that there was to know about vampires and about the Volturi, a sort of government of the immortal world. I discovered that I too now had scary red eyes, that I could not sleep, and that my normal bodily functions had stopped, which explained the toilet mystery. Undead, I would exist forever, unless another vampire terminated me. I hated it all, a never ending nightmare.

My thirst grew anew and Eleazar could feel my distress. Many times I caught him looking at me with a pained expression. I kept my face impassive and my eyes averted but, I felt his gaze on me all the time. And I realized I was seeing passion and desire. It terrified me, because he was so attractive: I had never met a more beautiful man. But his red eyes and what they implied would not allow me to give in. I started to believe that I could escape from the room where I was confined. He was strong, but I was strong too, according to what he had told me. Not controlling my strength, I had broken things in the room by mistake. Once I was out of it, what would I do? Before I could put any plan into action, one day he said he was going out.

"Please, please don't run away," he pleaded. "It will surely end badly if you do. You are a newborn, so it is not allowed and I am responsible for you. Wait for me, I want to help, I want to try something." Eleazar touched my cheek lightly, less than a caress, and was gone.

I thought I would not heed him, but in his words I saw a glimmer of hope, so I waited. When he came back he had a bag, with a medical glass container in it. It was full of a red fluid.

"Blood from the AVIS, in the hospital. It is donated and nobody died for it. You can drink." I was at the end of my tether, desperate with thirst, so I decided to believe him and I drank. The taste was strange, unpleasant, but my immediate need was soothed.

"This is not going to be enough and the doctor I know will not be able to give me more at short notice," he told me. "But I want to take you out of Volterra for a few hours this night, and with this you should be able to keep your control, if we meet humans."

At night he gave me a dark mantle, donned one himself, and we left the room together. We walked along narrow corridors without seeing anybody and we exited the palace from what was obviously a secondary entrance. He had a key to open it. The roads were deserted and no smell of human blood was taunting me.

"Now we run," he said. He took my hand in his and we ran together out of town. We went so fast, it was almost like flying. It was exhilarating and for half an hour I only thought about the pleasure I found in it.

When we stopped we were into thick woods.

"A British vampire who lived here a long time ago did not kill humans, he hunted animals," Eleazar said, "I thought it very strange and unnatural, but he didn't seem to experience any ill effects from it. Sometimes I went with him, as I was curious and he had become a friend. He is not even the only one to abstain. There are a few others who have made the same choice. Well, here there should be boars. I want you to try and catch one: I'll help you. We have to stand still, use our sense of smell and listen to noises."

I had no idea of what to do, but eventually I started to hear the forest's sounds, birds, small animals, rodents, snakes … and then a peculiar smell and soft oinks.

Boars, indeed. Agile like a panther Eleazar jumped, took one easily, despite the terrible tusks the beast had, and snapped its neck, bringing it to me.

I was so excited for the alternative he was offering that I reacted immediately, my sharp teeth penetrated bristles, hide and sinews, and I drank the animal's blood. It was… wonderful, not so much for the flavor –while drinking I didn't allow myself to remember how the man I killed had tasted – but because I could feed without being a murderer.

Later on I managed to catch a couple of boars myself, my senses taking over and telling me what to do.

Sated, happier than I had been in a long time, I looked at him. His eyes were not red, but almost black as he slowly approached. His strong arms encircled me and he was about to kiss my lips. I froze, fighting two different urges, to run from him or to embrace him myself. I felt his taut body shudder and then he released me.

"I am sorry," he said, "but to see you taking down the boar was… come, we had better go back to Volterra."

While we ran I tried to deal with my confused thoughts. First of all, I was grateful. He had pleaded for my life… well, existence, had tried to help me with my change, and, when I told him that I didn't want to drink human blood, he had respected my wish. In all probability, had he brought me another victim, I would not have been able to resist, despite my bravado. Then he had procured donated blood for me and showed me how to hunt animals. I had seen the other inhabitants of this palace only at their worst, when they were feeding, but he seemed quite different from them. Plus, he was devastatingly handsome. And he wanted me.

I had been the mistress of a repulsive man, what difference would it make if I gave myself to Eleazar in gratitude? I was sure it would not be as bad as it had been with Sandro, that pig.

When we were back in his rooms, I decided to take the plunge. I was very messy, my clothes ruined and bloodied, so I went into the bathroom, washed and did not dress again, but came out enveloped in a big towel. As I was in front of him I let it fall down, a clear message.

But, after an initial, passionate kiss, he refused me, albeit, pressed to his body, I could feel the hardness of his arousal.

"No, not like this, not just because you think you owe me," he said. "I will wait."

He showed me the palace and the incredible works of art it contained, the books, modern and impossibly ancient, the musical instruments, the beautifully carved game boards, the precious card decks, all that could help the coven to pass the infinite time. There was even a cinema. He introduced me to other vampires, but I deeply disliked everyone, apart from him. The female who had lured me to Volterra was friendly, and congratulated me for not having been killed. She obviously did not think there was anything wrong with what she did and I could not relate to her.

I also detected jealousy from other females, and realized that Eleazar, unattached for centuries – unmated, where "mated" defined a steady relationship between vampires - had been sexually involved with many of them and now he was missed. I had no reason to be jealous as well but, surprisingly, I was.

He told me what it was that he did for the Volturi, and why that made him very dear to the coven's leader, Aro.

Some vampires are gifted. Not only are they strong, fast and indestructible, but a few of them can do almost magical things, both at the mental or at the physical level. One tiny, evil girl, Jane, can send waves of pain that would stop any assailant, elicit any confession. Another, Demetri, can track any person, wherever that person is hiding. And so on. Aro himself can see all your thoughts, past and present, just by touching your body. He had been collecting talented vampires from all over, seducing or blackmailing them into service, in order to strengthen the Volturi Guard.

Eleazar's peculiar talent was… to sense talents, even in people that were still human. He was, therefore, invaluable and enjoyed a lot of freedom.

This allowed for him to feed in a quite different way from the others, I discovered. At least it was his practice when I met him.

In Volterra the existence of vampires, albeit theoretically a secret, was known or suspected by many. People learned, however, that to simply hint that you were aware of the secret would cause you to disappear, so nobody spoke of it. Presently, the Volturi performed occasional services for the Fascist regime, after all they were expert killers, they just needed a name and the favor was done, in Italy or abroad. The different Podestà were told by the Interior Ministers to let them well alone.

Now, Eleazar had became friendly with an insomniac doctor in the hospital, who often took the night shift, and they had concluded a silent agreement. Whenever there was a patient that was unlikely to survive, Eleazar was told and he took over. He quenched his thirst, the patient died quickly and painlessly and the doctor wrote a convenient death certificate. No questions asked, no autopsy performed. It was terrible, I reasoned, but at least Eleazar was not killing people with a future. The same doctor was the one who had given him the blood bottle.

To know that he tried to behave humanely, as far as that was possible, endeared him to me, so I opened up and finally told him my story. He did not say much when I sobbed but, the night after he left, telling me that he had a duty to perform for his masters.

It was not true.

I had not gone out of his rooms while he was absent. Really, I had nothing to say to the other vampires who resided here. I just waited for him to be back, hoping he would take me hunting, afterwards. I still was not supposed to go out alone.

When he was back he sat on the bed where I was laying and dangled a white gold chain in front of me, a chain I knew very well, due to the medal attached to it. A medal with an enamel engraving of the fascio, a medal dedicated to Sandro Buti by his comrades in 1932, tenth anniversary of Mussolini's ascent to power.

"He is no more," Eleazar told me. "I ended him and buried his body in a forest. He will not be found."

In that moment I realized how much I had changed, becoming indeed a predator. A feral joy overcame me as I embraced him. Revenge was sweet, and now I wanted Eleazar, my beautiful, dark avenger with all of myself. The deep burgundy of his eyes, due to Sandro's blood in all probability, excited me to no end. He sensed my passion and my desire, and this time he allowed himself to reciprocate.

"Yes, Carmen," he said, "let me make love to you."

Oh, what a teacher he was! Through his hands and his mouth I discovered my body. Like a desert of stones and dust being suddenly drenched by rain, I was flowering. He was slow, languorous, until there was not a part of me that was not open to him, craving him, craving to be filled, craving what I never had before. He had undressed me gently as he started loving me, but now he was naked as well, his shaft proud and erect. I had thought that males' privates were gross, but what I was seeing was perfection, created for pleasure, created to be worshipped. When he entered me I was more than ready, when he started rocking his hips I thought I would pass out, if that was possible for a vampire. And then I felt it, the inverted tremor descending from my depths to where we were joined, my walls contracting around him, a woman, finally, despite Sandro, despite my change and all that had wounded me. Not through venom, but through his love, I was reborn.

…-…

War came to Italy, but in our small town, quite isolated and free from bombing until 1944, things did not change much. At the end of 1944 half of Italy was occupied by the Germans and half by the Anglo-American allies, while battles raged along the Gothic Line. There were refugees, deserters, people adrift, a very convenient hunting ground for the Volturi. Italians starved in the last years of the war, but the vampires in Volterra certainly didn't.

In the late winter of 1944 Eleazar had to leave me for about a week, a torturous separation. He was sent by our masters to assess the talent of a vampire residing in Ascoli, near the Adriatic Sea. He left on foot, accompanied by two warriors, but came back alone.

He told Aro and his 'brothers' that the vampire he had assessed was not particularly talented, no reason to recruit him, so the trip had been a waste of time. However, when they got to Tuscany again and were waiting for the sunset in order to resume their journey, they met a young man, not Italian probably, that he sensed was already a telepath. Eleazar left, but his two companions decided to stay behind and change the human. They never came back to Volterra.

His personal opinion, which he told only to me, was that one of the warriors, Damon, whom he considered unstable and unreliable, had drained the target, instead of changing him. This would have enraged the other vampire, they probably fought and one of them was destroyed, with his killer disappearing, too afraid to come back here. I know now that the human was Edward Masen, then an American paratrooper, and that things went more or less as Eleazar thought. Only, for some reason they fought while the human was changing, and Edward, now a furious newborn, escaped them, running away. What happened to the warriors afterwards remains a mystery, but probably the fight between the two vampires had ended as Eleazar thought originally.

…-…

More time passed and the war ended. I loved Eleazar and he loved me. In his arms I forgot everything for a while, but my displeasure with living in Volterra was showing, albeit I tried to keep it concealed from him. He took good care of me: as I was no longer a newborn and was feeding on animals, my irises would change, he explained, becoming amber colored. To avoid this, he procured from his friend at the hospital a blood bottle for me at regular intervals. Its unpleasant, altered taste made sure that I did not start suddenly craving human blood. So nobody suspected that I was keeping a different diet, and the fact that I did not take part in the banquets was not considered strange, as Eleazar also didn't.

I said that Eleazar loved me. The force of this love I had yet to discover fully. He was faithful to me, despite the fact that I had not made any demand in that sense, but that was not all.

He still accompanied me to hunt, and I was glad to have him with me. I had become good at it and I knew that to see me excited him, so that, when I had sated my thirst we often coupled, not gently, but going at each other like untamed, wild animals. This fierce Eleazar, different from the considerate lover he normally was, pleased me, even if we did not speak of it. It was our secret, making the hunt twice as wonderful.

I had just drained a fallow deer, one night, and was going to follow the rest of the terrified herd when he preceded me and, after he caught up with them, he jumped on another buck. I was following close and stood frozen. I had expected Eleazar to bring it to me, as he sometimes did, but no, he lowered his mouth to the animal's neck and drank from it.

He raised his head and smiled. Some blood was marring his mouth and fingers and he cleaned himself fastidiously before speaking:

"I have to learn, because when we depart from here, this is how I'll feed." he said.

"Can we?" I whispered, "Can you?"

"Yes, I know that you'll never be completely happy until I do both. To leave the Volturi is not going to be easy, I'll have to negotiate it prudently, but Aro does not consider me a slave. He knows I am mated now, and the fact that couples wish to have time alone is well known and accepted. I can't stop feeding traditionally, for the moment, though, but I will as soon as we leave.

Incredibly happy and full of hope I followed him and we went back to Volterra.

Chapter endnotes

Did you like this little deviation from the main plot? I could not resist it. With the next chapter we are back with Edward and Bella.

Today I have 73 reviews. They are not a lot. I am very grateful to everybody who sent one, but, please, send me more of them.

The use of citrate as a blood anticoagulant started in 1914. Coupled with refrigeration it eventually allowed for conserving blood up to 3 weeks. This led to the creation of blood banks. AVIS, the Italian one, was founded in 1929. Containers were not plastic blood bags (introduced in 1960), but made of glass or steel. This, at least, is the result of my research on this issue, to make credible what happens in this chapter.

A Podestà was like a Mayor during Fascism. They were nominated by the central government, not elected democratically.

Fascio (plural: fasci) is an Italian word of Latin origin literally meaning "fagot" (as in a bundle of sticks), and figuratively "league". It was used in the late 19th century to refer to political groups of many different (and sometimes opposing) orientations. A number of nationalist fasci later evolved into the 20th century movement known as fascism. Here is what Sandro's medal could look like.

Obviously, if you have read The Parachutist, you know that the events related to Edward's change did not go as Carmen believes.