"By the Christians, it is written
That in the black Myrthian age
There existed an addiction to blood, blood, blood, blood
Drink it up, fifty years 'bout enough, time to come back
They want to call the bluff
Ok then, time to come back (what up)"
Sam Waymon & Clipping – "Blood of the Fang"
Celeste stood in the doorway of her bathroom, stupefied.
Terry's red-rimmed eyes held her planted there until her brain-fog lifted by digesting the words he spoke.
He wanted to keep their baby.
She groaned internally as her acceptance of the lexicon shift—fetus to baby—snagged a hold in her heart and mind. Had he been a human and said those words, she would've shouted with joy and hugged him. Instead, she glimpsed the fangs in his parted lips, noticed how the lateral incisors of his bottom teeth were sharp, too.
Beastly.
That's how he appeared standing there, blocking her path out of the bathroom. Is that what their child would look like? A ferocious creature preying on people?
Terry's eyes darted from her face, and he took a deep breath. When he spoke to her again, his fangs retracted. The illusion had forever been broken. She could never see him as a human again.
"Please…keep my child. I'm sorry for putting hands on you…that wasn't right. It was uncalled for…I reacted blindly to Abai being here."
"They said they'd be waiting for you if you showed up again. They had a message for you, too. You can't hide from them forever."
"Pack some things. You're coming with me," he said.
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
Terry gripped her arms tight.
"Do you want to be here at nightfall when a deadly vampire clan shows up looking for me? Huh? They probably have one of their human familiars watching this house right now, ready to contact them because they've seen my face."
"They said they would protect me and the baby—"
"They don't give a damn about you!"
His voice reverberated in a tone not human. Celeste's eyes watered with fear. Terry stroked her arms gently and pressed his forehead against hers.
"You are carrying something they have been dreaming about for centuries. Our baby is their bargaining chip for something your human mind can't even conceive. If this child can go full term and be born…they will have no further use for you."
"If this child goes full term? You don't think she can?"
"No human woman has ever carried a damphir. There's no telling if your body will reject the foreign vampire genes along the way. I am a Daywalker, a vampire of the rarest kind. That means our child will be one, too. They will use her and kill you."
His eyes told no lies.
"Why do you want me to keep her? You make it sound like her life is beyond danger. Why would you want to bring a child into the world to face harm? Hmm? Why risk my life?"
Terry's eyes watered.
"She's my only chance to have a family that I can keep with me if she makes it through. She'll live a long, long time Celeste…and I won't be alone anymore. I love you, and if I can keep a part of you around to cherish like the other family members I've lost…then she's worth fighting for."
"What about me, Terry? Will you throw me away once you have what you want?"
"I want you both," he pleaded.
Celeste's eyes welled up. The pain and yearning in his voice weakened her. He cradled her face.
"I have to hide you in a safe place."
"Where will we go?"
"I need to get you to Mémé's place."
"We should take all of her things with us then."
"Go pack a few days' worth of clothes. I'll put her stuff in my truck bed. It has a retractable cover over it. Hurry!"
"Her boxes are in my sewing room, and some of her papers are on my desk in there."
Terry went to retrieve his great-great-granddaughter's belongings, and she ran into her bedroom and threw clothes and underwear into a small travel suitcase. She dumped toiletries from the bathroom into a plastic baggie and froze when the doorbell rang. It was only five thirty in the evening. The sun didn't set completely until seven thirty.
"Answer it," Terry said.
He stayed near her bookshelf.
Celeste held her breath. She made out the figure behind the colored glass and sighed.
"Micah," she said.
She opened the door, and her relief poured out in a nervous laugh. Micah stared at her with concern.
"I came to check on you. Took the night off instead of wondering if you were okay."
Terry came from behind her and Micah's face grew tense.
"The clouds…" Terry said.
He opened the security door and stepped past Micah. Celeste looked up at the sky the way Terry did.
Dark, steel blue rain clouds blotted out the sunlight, turning the sky a menacing shade of impending doom.
"Ohmigod," Celeste said.
Micah tilted his head to look at them.
Streaks of lightning appeared like white spider veins flashing across the sky. A flock of unknown black birds flew in the sky within a giant circle.
"It's too late. The sun is hidden. I can't get you far enough away without them tracking us," Terry said.
He ran back into the house and grabbed Miss Irma's boxes. Celeste grabbed her suitcase.
"What's going on? Where are you going?" Micah asked, grabbing her hand.
"I can't explain. I'll call you if I can," she said.
Micah squeezed her hand.
"Duchess…tell me. The truth."
Terry carried two boxes at a time and collected Miss Irma's life on two trips.
"Celeste, we have to leave…now!" Terry said.
Rain threatened to fall. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a slow moving low fog filling up the street. Celeste shook uncontrollably, remembering what happened the last time she got caught in a fast-moving fog. She locked her front door. Micah stayed on her.
"Duchess!" Micah said, his eyes full of fear.
"I have to hide from some people. We thought we had time, but the sun is gone," she said.
She jumped into Terry's truck. Micah tried to open the passenger door and drag her out. Terry rushed forward and shoved him against the truck bed, his fangs bared and ready to tear the life out of her cousin.
"Terry, don't! He's our baby's family," she shouted.
Micah held his hands up to protect his face.
"I knew you weren't shit!" Micah spat out.
He wrenched his eyes away from Terry and looked at her.
"Go to St. Augustine's. Father Mbenga can hide you," Micah said. "It's church, though. I don't know if he can go in."
Terry released Micah's shirt and looked at her.
"I can ask him to invite you in again. Will that work?" Celeste asked.
"He invited me in before. It should still be safe for me to enter," Terry said.
"I'll follow you guys over there," Micah said.
He carefully backed away from Terry and fumbled with his keys to press his key fob. Terry climbed into his truck quickly and took them several blocks through the Quarter to hide in the fog. He drove with one eye on the road, and the other watching the surroundings. Celeste kept expecting the white van with ghouls to sideswipe them, preventing their escape.
"Where are the people?" Celeste asked.
The empty streets blanketed with fog were an anomaly. There should've been plenty of people still walking around and filling the Quarter with life. They headed north and parked in front of St. Augustine's. The church stood like a gothic rendering of salvation.
Terry jumped out of the truck first and ran to Celeste's passenger side, helping her get out. He held her hand tight and kept her near his side. Micah pulled up behind them and ran to the locked church doors. He banged on them and pulled out his smartphone.
"I'm calling the church office number," Micah said.
"Can we break in?" Celeste asked.
The fog swirled higher, covering them in a thick layer. Visibility diminished and with it, the dampening of sound all around them. Their voices sounded like they were in a closed vacuum. The acute silence and shroud of whiteness around them gave Celeste the sense that they had entered another dimension where only the three of them existed. Micah's voice became loud on his phone.
"Father Mbenga? It's Micah Profitt…I'm outside the church with my cousin Celeste and her…boyfriend. We need your help right now! Please let us into the sanctuary!"
The longest seven minutes held Celeste in a vise grip as they waited for the priest to open the church doors.
"What is happening?" Father Mbenga said, swinging one of the double doors open.
Micah grabbed Celeste's hand and pulled her inside first. They turned to look at Terry.
The father of her child looked so helpless standing there with uncertainty in his eyes. Celeste wanted him with her.
"Invite him in, Father Mbenga," Celeste said with a calm and firm tone.
She didn't want to take any chances.
"Come inside, son," Father Mbenga said.
Terry took a step forward.
Celeste locked eyes with him. She clutched the priest's arm.
"I need you to say 'I invite you inside'," Celeste insisted.
Father Mbenga looked confused, but he glanced at Terry and spoke the words.
"I invite you inside the house of the Lord. Will that do?"
Terry walked across the threshold.
Nothing happened. Celeste hugged him.
"What's going on here?" Father Mbenga asked.
Micah ushered the priest past the vestibule and into the main sanctuary. Father Mbenga flicked on more lights and they moved to the front pews. Celeste sat next to Terry and Micah perched across from them in another pew. The priest stood in front of the tabernacle.
"What do you need help with?" Father Mbenga asked.
"Duchess got herself mixed up with a vampire. She's pregnant by him," Micah said matter-of-factly.
Celeste put a hand over her face.
Father Mbenga, thankfully, didn't laugh them out of the church. He stared at Terry thoughtfully and took off his glasses. Pulling a handkerchief from the pocket of his slacks, the priest wiped the lenses carefully and then placed the round glasses back on his kind face.
"Show me," Father Mbenga said.
Terry stared at the priest, doubt clouding his expression.
"Show you?" Terry said.
"Yes."
Terry glanced at Celeste, unsure. Micah jumped up and slammed his right hand into his left.
"Will you show Father Mbenga what you are?!" Micah shouted.
Celeste gripped the edge of her seat, feeling uneasy. Terry stood and faced the priest. His body blocked her view of the shorter man.
"Mother Mary…Father of God!" the priest shrieked.
Celeste lowered her head. She knew exactly what Father Mbenga experienced. The confirmation of something otherworldly brought on feelings of terror. It knocked all previously held beliefs out of whack. Father Mbenga backed away from Terry and ran to the tabernacle. He gathered himself together and slowly turned to face Terry again. He held out a six-inch gold cross.
"You are an abomination…a scourge upon the earth…." Father Mbenga said.
Terry confronted the frightened priest and took the cross from his hand, placing it back on the tabernacle.
"That doesn't do what you think," Terry said.
"But this does!" Micah shouted.
Micah rushed behind Terry and choked him with a long, silver-linked chain. The skin on Terry's neck sizzled and blistered. Celeste screamed. The odor of burning vampire flesh sickened her.
Terry fell to his knees. He grabbed the chain, but it burned his fingers and he cried out in horrible pain.
"Micah! Stop it!" she screamed.
She ran to her cousin to pull the thick, five-foot long chain off of Terry, but Father Mbenga grabbed her arms and yanked her away.
"What the fuck are you doing?!"
Father Mbenga shouted at Terry.
"In the Holy Name of Jesus, I invoke the keys of St. Peter and the Church's authority…I bind each and every demon in and around Celeste Profitt and around us…in Jesus' name I bind them all, and I bind any demons supporting them, their evil leaders, and any minions of Satan…"
Father Mbenga's voice rose to a crescendo and blood drenched the silver chain slicing Terry's throat. Micah gained the upper hand and looked victorious wearing Terry down.
"Please…stop this…we came here for help to save me and my baby!"
"You won't have that vampire's baby, Duchess! It will destroy you and give these demons more evil to use!" Micah yelled.
Celeste stared at her cousin as if she'd never seen him before.
She truly hadn't.
Paralyzed with shock, Celeste could only watch helplessly as her beloved cousin tried to murder her lover.
"Micah…please…he's not what you think—"
"I tried to warn you, Duchess. Back in the Quarter, I told you to leave him alone."
Her eyes watered, and Micah's face blurred.
"My job is to spot these bloodsuckers…but you ran into his arms like a fool. Now look at 'cha," Micah panted, "Pregnant with a demon's seed."
"She's innocent," Celeste pleaded.
"She?" Micah said.
Terry slumped forward onto his stomach, weakened and damaged by the silver chain. He still breathed, but Celeste heard the gurgling of blood in his throat. Micah draped the chains around Terry's arms, binding them together behind his back.
"It's a girl," she said.
"Blasphemous," Father Mbenga spat at her.
He released her once Terry was no longer a threat. The priest had a wild look behind his glasses. Celeste knelt down near Terry.
"Get away from that unclean thing!" Father Mbenga barked.
Micah pulled her from Terry and glared at her.
"Trust me, Duchess, we know what we're doing," Micah urged.
The double doors of the church blasted open. Celeste and Micah whipped their heads toward the entrance.
The Deacon, Abai, stood at the entrance with his long black coat flared out behind him. His clan flanked him, gnashing their teeth and frustrated by the barrier. Abai's gaze stayed on Father Mbenga.
"Stupid little priest," Abai barked out. "Nothing you do will stop us from taking what we want."
Father Mbenga pointed at Abai.
"You are not welcome here! Evil cannot enter God's house without my permission."
"Celeste…dear sweet, Celeste. Invite us in and we will save our brother."
"I alone have the power to invite others into the House of God," Father Mbenga yelled with conviction.
"She is a member of this church, therefore, she too can invite us in, Father," Abai said.
Father Mbenga and Micah stared at Celeste. She could nearly smell the fear on them. Jerking away from Micah, she knelt down and tugged on the silver chain. Terry groaned. She lowered her face to his.
"Celeste, get away from here if you can…save yourself…save our baby…" he whispered in agony.
Two firm hands wrapped around Celeste's throat. Father Mbenga threw her against the tabernacle and she spun around to claw his face with her nails. He choked her again, squeezing the life from her and the baby.
"The fuck are you doing? Leave her alone!" Micah shouted.
Micah grabbed Father Mbenga's arm and yanked him away. The priest reached for his gold cross again and pulled it apart, revealing a sharp blade beneath. He stabbed Micah in the side.
"You lil bitch!" Micah said.
He staggered back and fell to his knees with blood gushing out of his abdomen. Slamming his hands over the wound, Micah glared at Father Mbenga.
"We're supposed to wait for the others to come and handle this…not attack my cousin. Are you fucking crazy?!" Micah shrieked in a weakened voice.
Celeste gasped for air and fought not to pass out. She crawled on her hands and knees toward the open entrance doors. If she couldn't trust humans not to kill her, she had to run from them it seemed.
Father Mbenga jumped on her back and circled his thick fingers around her neck once more.
"You're a filthy whore lying down with them!"
Father Mbenga banged her face against the floor as he strangled her. Celeste reached out her right hand. She could barely make out the shape of Abai standing at the entrance.
"Celeste! Say the words! Let us save you and the baby!" Abai shouted.
Abai's voice sounded stressed and, more importantly…afraid for her. Could Terry be wrong about him?
"I…I…I invite you all in…." Celeste gasped out.
The world spun into a graying darkness as she watched swift obsidian shadows whip past her. A blood-curdling scream rang out and broke off abruptly. She could breathe freely again. The soreness in her throat pounded with the rush of blood in her veins.
Micah whimpered and wept quietly behind her. She rolled over and sat up. Rubbing her neck, she waited for her eyesight to clear.
"Don't kill my cousin," she said.
Her voice came out low and almost unintelligible.
Twelve strikingly beautiful Black vampires stood around Micah and Terry. Evenly six males to six females, they all stared at the floor. Father Mbenga's lifeless body was a crumpled heap in the center of them. She knew it was lifeless because the priest's head sat ten-feet away upon the tabernacle with a look of shock on its bespeckled face, the dead mouth wide open and frozen with the final breath of life that came out a scream. Blood dripped down the side of the tabernacle in long vermillion streaks, with the bladed gold cross impaled down the center of his forehead.
Micah kept his hand jammed against his stab wound, his expression woozy from the blood loss.
Abai glanced over at her.
"Come here Celeste…free our brother from his chains," Abai demanded.
Micah shook his head at her.
"Duchess…don't help them. They want us dead! We're food to them…stay back!" Micah begged.
The vampire named Mia crouched down and dug her claws into his side, ripping Micah's wound further. His cries of pain echoed throughout the church. Mia licked his blood from her claws and stomped over to Celeste.
"The Deacon gave you a command…do it!" Mia said.
She slapped Celeste across the face, leaving another scar that would need time to heal like the last time they met. Celeste lashed out and punched Mia in her legs. Mia lifted her by the throat and held her high.
"Mia…put…her…down," Abai said.
Mia dropped Celeste to her wobbly feet and punched her in the gut, knocking a loud breath out of her. Dominique flew at Mia and shoved her face back.
"Don't you harm it. Keep your jealousy in check," Dominique hissed.
Abai reached out toward Celeste.
"Free him for us," Abai said, his tone stern.
"Promise not to hurt my cousin," Celeste said.
She rubbed her belly and the pain there almost caused her to pass out. All the other vampires except for Abai and Dominique snarled at her, their monstrous fangs gleaming from the lights inside the church.
"No harm will come to him," Abai said.
"Don't believe them, Duchess. Don't worry about me. I'm good with God…I can die in peace and receive my salvation. You won't if you listen to them," Micah said.
The unexpected loud thud on the roof forced their eyes toward the ceiling. Other loud poundings struck the roof in different places.
A large winged creature crashed through the roof and landed on top of the tabernacle. Celeste's blood ran cold and fear gripped her even more than being surrounded by a vampire clan. At least they looked somewhat human.
The thing on the tabernacle was the stuff of childhood nightmares.
A gargoyle.
Skin the color of mottled stone with horns protruding from its forehead, the monstrosity had sharp fangs just as deadly looking as the vampires. To Celeste's catholic eyes, it looked like a grotesque mockery of an angel turned inside out. No genitalia was present.
"Gadreel," Abai said, with a touch of disdain. "Still simping for God, I see. Tell me forgotten brother…do you really think the most high…the most hypocritical Lord… will let you Old Ones return to heaven once you've done your penance for ten thousand years more?"
Abai glanced at the ceiling, listening to the movement above them. He talked tough, but Celeste sensed apprehension.
"You, Arakiel, Baraqiel, Kokabeel, Danuiel, and the others…don't you get weary of being used to go against us, your equally fallen siblings?" Abai sneered.
"WISHETACHIHU ĀYITAGEŠIMI!" Gadreel shouted.
Celeste and Micah both screamed and slammed their hands over their ears, the pain from the sound of the gargoyle speaking making their eardrums bleed.
"Gadreel, there are humans here. You can't speak the language of heaven without harming their weak ears. Aren't you breaking the rules of your penance? You vowed to protect them, remember?"
Gadreel focused his attention on Celeste. His deep-set eyes looked like pewter stones.
"Leave us, human woman. There is no need for us to deal with you until that sin in your womb has been born," Gadreel said.
He spoke to her in English, his voice sounding like the creaking of giant ancient doors that should remain closed. Celeste rose to her feet and used the pews to help keep her balance with all the anxious trembling she experienced in her limbs. Her stomach churned with so much fear she thought she might puke, but she had to be strong for her baby.
She started weeping.
Keeping the baby became a top priority. Father Mbenga turning on her, calling her a whore and even her own cousin calling the little one inside her a demon seed, shored up her resolve to keep it. Her upbringing in the church taught her that God had a purpose for everything in her life. Celeste chose to have faith of a mustard seed at that moment.
Stumbling over to Terry, she dropped weakly on her knees and pulled apart the knot in the chains, freeing him from bondage. She tossed the chain on the pew and tried to lift him up. Mia pushed her away and turned Terry over.
"Terry…Terry…" Mia murmured with soothing affection.
His eyelids fluttered and opened slowly. He looked up at Mia, who stroked his hair and touched his throat that clotted with blood. The woman had love in her eyes. She kissed him on the lips. Celeste's stomach tightened.
"Duchess?" Terry said.
He pushed Mia back, his eyes darting around, looking for her. Mia snarled, her fangs wet with saliva.
"I'll fucking kill you!" Mia shrieked.
The vampire lunged at Celeste, and all hell broke loose in the sanctuary.
Faster than the human eye could follow, more gargoyles crashed through the roof all over the church. Abai and the other vampires battled the gargoyles, but Celeste could not follow their unnatural speed fully. She caught glimpses of shadows or felt dark streaks moving, like the buzzing of mosquitoes flapping past her ears when she couldn't swat them fast enough. She sensed the whooshing of air above her and witnessed pews and the tabernacle crashing to pieces, destroyed with all the tussling and tearing of flesh. Blood rained around her from the vampires and gargoyles that were injured. Crimson blood dripped everywhere along with a dark orange fluid that had to be from the gargoyle's wounds.
Under great duress, Micah crawled to her, and she helped him get on his feet. They limped together toward the double doors. She paused in her steps to rest because Micah was so heavy. Glancing back, she caught a flash sighting of Terry sprinting toward her. Gadreel flew at him with an outstretched wingspan ten-feet across and lifted Terry off the ground. Terry used his claws and razor-sharp teeth to rip chunks out of the gargoyle's shoulder. Other gargoyles flew above them, fighting vampires who kept attacking even while they were being shaken like rags back and forth high above her. The horror flying about the church looked like a hideous medieval painting of Dante's inferno come to life.
Mia leaped high into the air and landed on Gadreel's back to help Terry knock him into a wall.
"Get out of here, Celeste!" Terry screamed.
Another gargoyle grabbed Mia mid-air, ripping her face to shreds. Gadreel burst through the rafters carrying Terry, making another gaping hole in the roof.
Celeste couldn't help him.
She could only help herself and her cousin.
Turning back to the entrance doors, Celeste's blood pressure dropped, and she passed out on the floor.
Micah toppled right over her.