Of the Blood
Disclaimer: see chapter I.
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Chapter 5
Another chance encounter
"Hey, bartender!"
"What can I do for you, lady?"
"What's the strongest you've got?"
The bartender scratched his sweat-covered bald head. "Funny you ask me," he said. "Just the other day, a big, strangely-clad guy came along and left me a bottle of this." He produced a small, slender bottle with the letters P.G.G.B. imprinted on it.
"Is it strong?"
"Knocked three of my clients unconscious."
"I'll take it."
"Are you sure you can handle it, lady?"
Nadine nodded. "Right now, I find sobriety a lot harder to handle. Fill me up."
The bartender shrugged and served Nadine a delicate glass full of the green-yellowish liquid. It swirled with the promise of forbidden pleasures and ditto pains, like Eve's apple. Nadine took a sip. It felt like she was being hit on the head with a golden brick. Much better than the memory of the Pattern burning in her blood. She took another sip.
Nadine had lain on her bed until her legs felt whole again, then went out to have a drink. She could easily have visited one of her friends, lots of whom kept their refridgerator generously stocked with liquor, but what could she tell them? The story would sound implausible to even the most horrendously disfigured vampire, and apart from that, she herself hardly knew what happened.
The fact that she had arrived in her favourite pub just by stepping through the front door of her home did nothing to improve her spirits either. The booze did. Somewhat.
Immersed in her own thoughts, Nadine was barely aware of the appearance of a tall, black-haired man beside her, clad in a cloak of black and silver.
"This stool free?" he asked.
"Help yourself," Nadine muttered and returned to her drink.
The man sat down. "Say, bartender," he asked, "what's the strongest you've got?"
The bartender arched his eyebrows. "Another one?" he said. "Maybe you should exchange stories with the girl next to you. Anyway, we have this." He unstopped the P.G.G.B. bottle. The stranger sniffed.
"It's OK," he said, "I'll take it."
The bartender poured him a glass. The tall man took a swig that made Nadine wince. She was an 'experienced' drinker, and becoming a vampire had made her even more resilent to alcohol. Still, it seemed this man could handle the strong stuff far better than she.
The stranger looked at Nadine. He was quite handsome, she noticed. He also had a look of gloomy determination over him that made him somehow look scary. Nadine didn't mind. In fact, as a vampire who was immersed in the local gothic scene, she could even appreciate it.
"So," the man said, "had a rough day?"
"Quite," Nadine answered, before she remembered that she was not really in the mood to talk. What the hell... She drank more of the green liquid.
"Me too," he said.
All of a sudden, Nadine felt defiant. "Mine was worse," she said.
The man smiled at her with a fatherly smile. "No way," he answered.
"Wanna bet?"
The man looked at his glass and sighed: "Shoot, I'm in. Nothing but the complete truth. Loser pays next drink."
"It's a deal," Nadine said and shook his hand. "You start."
"Okay," the stranger said. "First off, I'm no ordinary guy. I call myself Carl Corey, but actually I'm Corwin, superhuman prince of the one real world of Amber."
"Yeah, and I'm a vampire," Nadine muttered. The man looked at her, as if he actually believed her without a second thought. She found it unsettling.
"Anyway," he continued, "me and my brothers and sisters lived quite peacefully for centuries on end. Oh, there was the occasional struggle for the throne of Amber, of course. Got my eyes burned out once for being on someones bad side – don't worry, as you can see, they've regenerated." He pointed at his face. Sure enough, Nadine couldn't find even the smallest scar, but neither could she detect any hint of mockery. Either the man was still telling the truth, or he was an incredibly good liar.
"So, nothing serious," he continued. "Then, however, came one of my brothers. Let's call him Brand. To Brand, conquering the throne was not enough. He wanted a whole universe of his own. So he studied, and studied, and studied until he knew how it had to be done – and how to gain the power to do it. Among other things, it involved the destruction of the old one. To attain that goal, he nearly killed his nephew, my oldest brother and myself - multiple times - but actually only succeeded in killing one of my sisters when he saw that we had beaten him." The last remark sounded especially bitter. "In the end, he was shot through the neck with two arrows and fell into the deepest pit imaginable." The man paused for a dramatic effect. Nadine waited patiently.
"Now, however," he said, "Brand has returned and has made it quite clear that he wants me dead. I played a part of some importance in his demise, you see. That's why I'm here."
"Impressive," Nadine nodded.
"That means you're buying the next round?"
"No," she said, "that means it actually comes close to my story."
"You see," she continued, "My name is Nadine. I was made a vampire some years ago, and had just begon to settle comfortably in my undead existence. Then, one night ago, I sneaked up on this huge man to bite him and drink a drop. Instead of falling in a trance however, as most vampiric victims do, he punched me. Hard. But not before I had a taste of his blood; it felt strong and powerful and... More real than anything I've ever tasted. I was afraid he would kill me, but he just looked at me and... disappeared through some kind of playing card."
"Interesting," the man said. "Go on."
"Next, I went to my sire to give the matter some consideration. Strangely enough, I arrived at his house almost as soon as I started walking. My sire, who has been studying blood for over a century, couldn't recognize it either. So we agreed to do some laboratory tests and I went home – again, much faster than I'd expected."
"When I woke up the next evening, however, I found myself staring in the green eyes of a small, red-haired, smiling lady who forced herself into my mind and riffled through all my memories, as if I was a cheap book," Nadine continued, shuddering at the memory. "Then she said: 'You are coming with me to walk the Pattern,' and next thing I knew, I had to walk over a blue spiral pathway that made every step feel like climbing up a mountain."
"Tough," the man said. He seemed genuinely impressed.
"Yes," Nadine nodded, "but I did it. Then, when I was finished, I was home again, and desperately in need of a strong drink. That's why I'm here."
"Bartender," the guy who called himself Corwin said, "bring us two more drinks. I'll pay."
Nadine and Corwin drank their next drinks in silence.
"But having a presumed-dead brother trying to kill you is also pretty bad, I admit," Nadine said.
"Yeah, well, I should be used to that kind of thing by now," Corwin sighed. "Anyway, I think I've had enough for tonight."
"You're leaving already?" Nadine realized she had begun to find his presence strangely comforting.
"I have to," he said, "but before I go..." He reached in his coat pocket and produced a deck of playing cards. One of them, he handed to Nadine.
Nadine gasped. On it was the picture of the very same man that sat before her, but now he bore a blade and silver, scaled gloves. He looked somehow like a mythical hero. Moreover, the card felt strangely cold and reminded her strongly of the one the big guy had used to whisk himself away.
"If you feel a strange, tingling sensation in the back of your head, as if someone is trying to get your attention, concentrate on my picture," Corwin said. "Otherwise, hide it very, very carefully."
"You know the lady who abducted me, don't you?" Nadine asked.
"I've never really known her," Corwin sighed. "Good night, Nadine." Nadine watched as he left the pub, taking huge, strong strides as he went. Some girls at a table next to the door whistled as he walked by, but he paid them no attention.
Nadine stared at the cool, smooth playing card. The picture stared back at her.
"If someone steps in and says: 'Congratulations, you're on candid camera!' now, I'm going to strangle him." she muttered.