Chapter 28
Steven awoke with a sudden jolt and began patting violently at his clothes. "I'm on fire! I'm on fire!"
Gripping his hands, Heidi stared intently into the terrified man's eyes. "You're okay; you're safe. This is part of the process."
As if invisible flames were crawling up his shirt, Steven twisted his head up and away. "How much hotter will this get?"
Hesitating, Heidi confessed, "Like you said, you will be walking through fire. Your human self has to be consumed."
Steven rose to his feet, whimpering like a child as he began pacing the circle of flattened grass. The once cool breeze now felt like hot desert winds. Accompanying the intense heat, an indescribable soreness had spread to all his muscles and joints. He stopped pacing when he noticed Heidi's concerned look from where she calmly sat. He inhaled deeply and said to her, "I can do this. I'll be strong."
Heidi forced a faint smile. "I know you will be."
Within an hour, as the summer sun hovered low on the horizon, Steven had begun to twist on the ground, no longer able remain still. He tugged at his sweat-stained clothes in search of any relief from the burning sensation. There would be no more crying in the grips of such agony. He gritted his teeth in an attempt hold back his screams.
Sensing the growing torment, Heidi gripped one of Steven's flailing hands before holding an oak stick before his face. "Steven! Steven! Bite down on this. You can scream as much as you want. The stick should muffle your voice from any chance passersby."
Steven bit onto the stick and released an animal like wail of pain. With his conversion having only begun, he could only think, Days! Days! This is not right! Steven rose onto his knees, letting the stick fall from his mouth. Between gasps for air, he said, "This is wrong. This is so wrong. I need a doctor." Wanting to return to his car, Steven jumped to his feet and sprinted in the direction of the ridge. The toxin in his blood burned even hotter as he used his muscles, which in turn affected his neuromotor skills. Steven tumbled clumsily to the ground but rose quickly as he tried to run once more, only to fall hard onto his stomach within a few steps—the rough prairie grass scratching his face with each fall. He rose once more, this time attempting to walk swiftly towards his car. When he reached the top of the ridge, he collapses against one of the rotting farm fence posts in agony, the pain growing with each second.
Heidi calmly appeared at his side, kneeling next him as he clung onto the fence post. She cried out, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"
Steven pressed his head against the post, silent except for his labored breathing.
"I'm sorry," repeated Heidi before looking away, overwhelmed by her uncharacteristic worry. She reached for Steven's shoulder, stopping herself since she knew this would only cause him more physical pain. Wishing she could ease his suffering, she cried out again, "I'm sorry!"
Gasping for air, Steven focused on a small ant crawling along the base of the fence post. His pain felt as if a million ants where chewing away at his flesh, crawling through his veins, forcing their way into his head. Steven wiped away the blood and sweat beading on his face before gripping the fence post with both hands. He smashed his forehead against the post as hard as he could, feeling nothing from the impact. He quickly realized that the vampire toxin would never let him fall unconscious. When Heidi's hand came to rest on his forearm, he failed to notice her touch or how her words strained with regret; he felt nothing. He could not feel the sun or wind on his face. All the sounds of the world now fell on deaf ears. He only felt the sensation of being burnt alive.
Steven wept and screamed. His body writhed as he held onto the top of the fence post, his gaze fixed on the rotting wood. Nearly blinded by the pain, his eyes fell upon an ancient remnant of the old farm from when the post supported cattle wire: a twisted, rusty nail protruding from the wood. Steven's body became still as he glanced at vampire beside him.
Heidi leaned closer, her hand needlessly caressing his back. "What is it? What's happening?"
Steven stared into his friend's eyes for a long moment until he said, "I'm sorry." He pressed the inside of his arm against the broken nail and pulled with all his remaining energy, tearing a deep gash into his flesh from his elbow towards his wrist.
As blood splattered across Heidi's face, her vampire instinct awoke. Steven shoved his blood spurting arm into Heidi's face; subsequently, before he could wonder if she would react, the sound of his bones breaking rung in his ears as her mouth locked onto his forearm.
Heidi began consuming the young man's blood with uncontrolled fervor. The first gush of blood into her mouth tasted as sweet as blood had ever tasted. With the understanding that she was lost to her vampire bloodlust, she insanely drew in even more blood as fear entered her eyes.
With each draw of blood, Steven could feel the violent passage of blood through his various blood vessels, as if the veins and arteries were being ripped apart. The pain raced up his arm into his head as each draw caused him to cry out. With his arm firmly locked in Heidi's clenched jaw, Steven fell backward with a faint glimmer of hope that his suffering would soon end.
That hope vanished just as quickly when Jane appeared over Heidi's shoulder, followed by two male Volturi guards who appeared on either side. As Felix gripped Heidi by the shoulders, Jane said in a flat, commanding tone, "Heidi, stop."
Panic stricken, Heidi looked up at her friend, pleading with her eyes for Jane to break her bloodlust.
Jane unleashed her gift of inconceivable pain on her friend, blinding Heidi with a seething pain that caused her to release Steven's forearm, the man and vampire each collapsing to the ground in their own agony.
As Heidi clutched her head with both hands, Felix promptly tossed the woman through the air to put distance between her and Steven. And before Heidi could remount her attack—her bloodlust still apparent—Alec paralyzed the woman with his gift of sensory deprivation, leaving Heidi blind and deaf to the world.
With the rabid vampire isolated, the three remaining Volturi guards observed her, waiting for the bloodlust to quell. Within seconds, she began calling out Steven's name.
Steven held up his bloody and broken arm to Jane—the pain of broken limb completely masked by the sensation of being burnt alive. "No!" he cried. "Let her feed on me!"
Jane smiled. "Sorry. We are not going to let a little discomfort change your mind. You decided."
"Please," pleaded Steven, "I beg you. Kill me!"
"Sorry," replied Jane with an unremorseful smirk.
Steven collapsed onto the ground and began writhing in the prairie grass like a wild animal, his eyes darting in every direction until they returned to Jane, his tone now filled with rage. "Why!"
Slowly, Jane turned to her incapacitated friend, who now showed more self-control. With a faint smile, Jane leant over the writhing Steven and said, "Your part of the family now. It's now my duty to protect you."
"I hate you!"
"Good," countered Jane as she straightened, staring down her nose at the distraught man. "That's the best place to start."
Still fidgeting, Heidi clasped her hands together to show her growing composure. Despite this, her voice betrayed her distress as she called out. "Alec, you can release me now."
With an approving nod from Jane, Alec let Heidi's senses return. When Heidi swiftly returned to Steven's side, Felix positioned himself behind her should her bloodlust return.
However, Heidi's expression turned from concern to anger as her hands came to rest on her hips. "How darrrrre YOU! The vampire kicked Steven in the side, breaking several ribs—the pain unnoticed by the man in light of the searing venom replicating in his blood. Taking a step back at Felix's insistence, Heidi shouted at Steven, "I would have drained you if Jane had not been here to stop me! When your ascension is complete, you and I are going to have a long talk about this."
Felix turned to Jane and Alex. "Maybe we should put this man out of his misery."
Alex smiled. "I just might agree with you, but I seem to be all out of pity at the moment."
Padding his empty pockets on his sun robe, Felix added, "Hmm, I seem to have forgotten mine in Italy."
"Shut up!" snapped Heidi.
Steven looked up Heidi, pleading again with what little of his voice remained, "Kill me."
Heidi's angry glare suddenly faded at the sight of Steven writhing in the grass. She could now see how his movement had begun to slow, filling her with worry as she turned to her friend. "Jane, what if I took too much blood?"
"You didn't."
"But what if I—"
"You didn't," injected Jane.
Heidi pushed Felix's protective hand away and knelt beside Steven. "His movements are slowing too soon."
"It's the venom," said Jane. "You know that."
Heidi returned to her feet with a growing look of concern. "I know. I..."
Jane moved to Heidi's side, gripping her friend's hand in a rare show of support. "I know." Jane then knelt beside Steven, waiting for the young man's wild eyes to meet hers. "There is something I...we can do for you, brother." Jane exchanged looks with the two male Volturi guards. "We could speed things up a bit." Jane directed Heidi to step back as the male Volturi positioned themselves on each side of Steven. The three vampires each took a limb and bit into his flesh, adding their venom to his bloodstream.
Steven screamed in utmost horror as Felix's hand slammed over his mouth to muffle him. The intensity of the fire consuming his body grew until there was nothing more than an intense white light of pain. Time had stopped; the sun and the moon became one of the same as the entire world faded away, leaving Steven with the sense of being burnt alive atop an invisible funeral pyre.
Heidi returned to Steven's side, replacing Felix's hand with her own as she took responsibility for muffling his screams as the young man unknowingly tore at his own clothes, his broken arm twisting sickly as it pulled at his garments.
At the behest of their astute leader, the male guards began patrolling a wide perimeter around the site to make sure no humans strayed too close.
The first day passed without incident, followed by the second as Heidi remained diligent at Steven's side. She attended to Steven's broken arm, straightening it until the venom repaired the bones—including his ribs. The woman remained calm, happy that the venom had worked quickly, more relieved that her consumption of blood had not been a threat to Steven.
Though the conversion had progressed without major incident, Heidi's worry returned on the third day once Steven had stopped writhing, his wails subsiding until he falsely appeared to be sleeping. Heidi rose to her feet and walked up to the top of the ridge where Jane and Felix had gathered. "He's entering the final stage."
Jane remained focused on the naked body lying amidst the torn clothing and disturbed grass. "He reacted differently than most, especially at the beginning, but it's only a matter of hours now."
Heidi nodded. "He is the sensitive type."
Felix groaned.
Eyeing her large friend, Heidi chided him, "It's not a bad thing."
Finishing his latest patrol, Alex returned to the ridge. "What will he feed on?"
"Big game," replied Heidi.
The others shared looks, saying nothing in light of Heidi's unusual tension.
"What if..." Heidi turned to Jane. "What if he hates me?"
When Jane refused to answer, Felix commented plainly, "We tear his head off."
Heidi crossed her arms as she focused on Steven. "I know. What about his gift? Jane and Alec won't be able to neutralize him."
With a slim smile of unwavering confidence, Jane said, "We can deal with a newborn the old fashioned way." She placed her hand on Heidi's shoulder. "But I don't think it will come to that. The bond you two had before his conversion should still be there."
"How can you be sure?" asked Heidi.
"I can't," replied Jane. "Sometimes we just have to follow our hearts, beating or otherwise. A human friend taught me that."
Heidi took hold of Jane's hand, pulling her friend close. "How did you know that Steven would become my friend?"
"I couldn't be certain," replied Jane, "but I had a hunch. He's a puppy dog, and you're a..."
Heidi eyed her friend. "What? A bitch?"
"Strong willed," said Jane to placate her friend. "Puppy dogs tend to latch onto strong women."
Felix snickered. "Just be careful; he might chew up all your fancy shoes."
Without looking back, Heidi calmly said, "Felix, would you kindly punch yourself in the face."
Before the man could curse, he punched himself hard in the face, barely noticing his own strength as his face remained unaffected. He growled as he stretched his fingers. "I told you not to do that."
"Quiet," commanded Jane in her uncanny commanding tone. "His senses could return at any minute. If he flees, we'll have to be ready."
The three Volturi spread out along the ridge to prepare themselves for the worse, each studying the landscape should things come down to a battle.
...
Floating on a bed of air, Steven first heard the faint sound of birdsong broach the silence. Far from true consciousness, he next heard the wind roar through the branches of a tree as its bark stretched and creaked. A vast ocean of prairie grass then rustled loudly, reaching a cacophony before softening promptly to normal levels.
The blinding white light that he had been staring into began to fade, becoming a brilliant blue. He watched in awe as a clear sky came into view. Still unable to move or speak, he began to wonder, Am I dreaming?
He felt a soft breeze brush his skin as his peripheral vision spotted the sheltering oak tree at his side. Thinking that he could hear the sound of an approaching thunderstorm storm, Steven realized that his hearing had become more sensitive, that no storms were approaching. He began to focus on the sounds, isolating them in his mind to discover the source to be the breeze simply rustling the nearby prairie grass.
He tried to lift his arm, finding his limb too heavy to move. Only then did he realize that he no longer felt the intense fire. Am I dead?
Either way, he did not succumb to fear or worry. He continued to lay calmly under the tree, adjusting to his sharpening vision and hearing, wondering if he could actually see the stars of the universe through the blue of a daylight sky. When he realized the absence of prairie smells, or the lake, he inhaled deeply. The smells that had been absent—and others new—flooded his mind. He eyes widen with the realization, I'm a vampire!
Eventually, he could move his mouth, followed minutes later by his head, then his arms, and lastly, his legs. He rose slowly to his feet to discover himself naked, covered in dried blood and dirt, smelling of sweat. Around him, he found his tattered clothes amongst the disrupted prairie grass and clumps of dirt.
The flood of sensations forced him to move slow and cautious. Had he not a clear understanding of what had happened, had he been turned into a vampire without prior knowledge, he assumed that panic would have a complete hold of him, that he might have ran through the forest like a rabid animal.
With every passing second, Steven astonishment grew as his newly heightened senses discovered the environment around him. He turned towards the lake and slowly walked into the marshy shore, descending into the water to find the sensation divine, purifying. We waded out until the water reached his stomach and began to wash his body clean. I have been reborn, baptized by fire, he thought.
Somewhat alarmed, he realized that he had not been breathing with having only taken short sniffs of the air to sense the environment. No longer needing to breath, he performed his first experiment and sat down onto to the silky lakebed, submerging his head beneath the water. He listened to the hidden life in the lake as his entire body seemed to sense sonically the many fish swimming in the murky shadows, including a couple turtles hovering just below the surface. He became amused when the leeches that approached did not dare latch onto his vampire skin as they sensed the danger.
When Steven finally exited the water, he inspected his healed arm, the bite mark undetectable, the broken bones perfectly mended. Observing the twinkling sunlight reflecting off his skin, he smiled as he began to ponder the purpose—if any—for this reflecting of light.
The escalation of sensations eventually became overwhelming for Steven. Returning to the center of the circle, he became completely still as he returned his attention to the sound of the soothing waves of the lake, focusing his thoughts as his mind continued to strengthen.
Over the next few hours, he contemplated his transformation. He believed he was still Steven, that the change did destroy his human persona. His values had not been forsaken, his beliefs unchanged. He still valued human life, though he could no longer call himself one. He still longed to explore the same forest, to listen to the same music.
Recalling more of his favorite things and activities, one seemed different: he found the idea of his favorite foods simply memories, already foreign in nature.
There was one important change, he no longer felt alone. He had not forgotten Heidi. In fact, his thoughts swirled around her from the moment he had awoken. He had hurt her, and the guilt for what he had done to her weighed on him. Queerly, he wallowed happily in his guilt, pleased that becoming vampire had not destroyed his apathy.
Acclimating more to his changes, he began to focus solely on Heidi. He could sense her unease without needing to look back at the ridge—he had noticed all of the Volturi and their observation shortly after awaking. Sensing her anguish, he smiled at her struggle at remaining absolutely still.
Having passed through this unforeseen veil into a secret world, Steven shuddered at the graceful understanding that he had truly ascended. With new senses that would let him rediscover the universe—on new unimaginable levels—infused him with endless warmth. Perhaps he had died, but death was not an end, he knew this now, for someday, he would stop being a vampire and continue life's journey. Until then, his un-beating heart had already begun to swell with passion, admiration, and joy for the one special person who had bestowed this gift to him.
Lightly clearing his throat, Steven better understood that he only had to speak softly for her to hear him. He whispered, "Heidi, I love you."
The woman appeared instantly at his side, the wind from her flash of movement sweeping around them, throwing her hair forward about her face and shoulders. When she brushed the hair aside, her eyes, though dry, appeared vulnerable.
Steven reached for her hands to find them soft and warm, their bodies now equal in composition. He looked into her eyes and said, "I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive—"
She kissed him, wrapping her arms around him tight, in way that seemed she would never let go.
His head still spinning, Steven playful finished his question as soon as their lips parted, "—me?"
"As long as you promise not to do that to me ever again."
"I promise." When Steven heard the sigh of disgust from Felix, he could not help but laugh, and laugh he did, without reservation, something he had not done in a very long time.
Felix turned to Jane. "Are we done babysitting?"
With her eyes fixed on the couple, Jane replied with a simple, "Soon."
Steven recalled Jane's words that tauntingly welcomed him to the Volturi. He understood fully that her words carried truth. Human Steven dreaded the thought of being part of a coven. Alternatively, he now had Heidi, and he had a purpose—even if it was only to stand by her side. He belonged to a family now, something he thought he would never experience again. Keeping Heidi in his embrace, he looked up at the three Volturi guards standing along the ridge, and softly said to the smallest one, as if the woman stood directly before him, "Thank you, Jane."
Those simple words, and the sincerity they carried, were all the affirmation Jane needed to prove that his ascension had succeeded—better than expected, she thought. With a faint smile forming on her tight lips, she replied softly, "You're welcome, Steven. The two of you have a month to adjust, to...celebrate. After which, I expect to see you in Italy. We have work to do."
As the three Volturi turned to leave the forest, their acute hearing discerned the couple embracing in a kiss. A faint groan of displeasure rose out of Felix, followed by Alec's words to his sister, "You will probably regret this."
Jane frowned with disgust as she attempted to ignore the audible spectacle. "Let's hope they get it out of their systems quickly."
Having his doubts, Felix groaned once more, concluding his sentiment with a heartfelt curse in an ancient tongue.
Author's note: One more chapter to go.
