Chapter 65

My clothes were shabby as I walk into the alley I hadn't seen in weeks, but I could feel the old happy memories of my time with Furlow and Longsworth come sweeping back. That was until the C rank Night Hunter said beside me, 'I don't sense any vampires here.'

She was young, named Rose, and turned only a few years prior. I could sense the excitement she had at being a vampire. Some humans wanted to be vampires and she looked to be in her early thirties. She might have been among a family of humans that served the vampiric society and was given the opportunity to become one.

Now here she was, serving me in finding Longsworth. Her clothes had been distressed and I had made sure she wasn't wearing any symbol of the Night Hunters. If he saw it, he would run. I murmur, 'You are still young.'

She didn't seem to like that answer as I let my senses slowly unfold, walking slowly down the alley. Like previously, there was no sign of a human begger, not even a sound. But then I sense movement and my head snaps to the side, scaring Rose. She hadn't expected that, but the movement was only a rat scurrying by. Letting out a breath, feeling my own anxiety rise, I slowly let out my pheremones hoping for anything. That's when I sense him and let out a sigh of relief.

It was coming from a small tent and I call out, 'Longsworth?'

There was a little motion but not much as I slide the tarp away. He looks up and my stomach lurches, black veins were starting to appear in his eyes as he says in a thin voice, 'Natasha?'

Swirling around, I grab Rose by the shoulder and say, 'Go to the car, grab two bags of the blood I had you bring.'

She looked a little unsure, but nods and takes off back to the car. Squatting down and coming into the makeshift tent, I say softly, 'Longsworth, I'm going to help you.'

'No point, too late for me now,' his hunger weakened voice murmurs and holds out his arm.

Much like mine, I see the bite marks and whimper. Tears spring to my eyes, but I force them back as I roll up my sleeve and growl, 'Not yet you don't.'

I slice into my arm with my own teeth and hold it against his mouth. At first he tries to resist, but finally he accepts it and drinks. Tears were slowly rolling down his face as he drinks deep. My head spins, but I shake it off. He was taking too much, but he needed mine more than a humans at this point. Rose pulls back the tent door and cries out when Longsworth opens his eyes. I hiss at her, 'Calm down, he hasn't turned yet. He is in the first stages, my blood will help pull him back.'

She looked shaken and more than a little unsure but finally nods, handing me the blood. I ask Longsworth to let my wrist go and he does, with a hiccup of utter despair, but I give him the blood bag as I slowly lift him into a seated position. His hands shook violently, but he held the bag nonetheless as I say to him, 'Longsworth this is a friend. She has never seen a vampire turning into a ghoul before, but she is here for you. We are going to help you up and get you somewhere safe.'

'Nowhere is safe.'

I couldn't agree more.

--D--

Standing there, looking through the glass at Longsworth's prone figure in the hospital bed, I am thrown back to Furlow and I.

He had strapped Longsworth to a bed, and had slowly spoon feed him blood. It was terrible seeing the withdrawls from the Tridum, if it hadn't been for that Longsworth would have recovered in about a week from the ghoul symptoms.

'So this is the bio-chemist you kept praising on the way here?' Igor asks in that sharp way of his.

His arms were crossed, the cane resting on the glass wall separating us from Longsworth who had been mildly sedated after realizing where we were taking him. I nod, watching as the dialysis machine pulled the silvery liquid from his blood and six liters of fresh was being pumped into him to help feed him. Igor says in a not so impressed monotone, 'Doesn't look like much of anything.'

'He is brilliant, and helped me learn a bit about the world of biology when I was younger. Its unfortunate for him, his mind is of genius level intellect, but he hides it behind Tridium.'

Igor doesn't reply as Nick comes up, ending a call and says, 'The meeting is rescheduled for Friday of this week.'

'Two days,' I murmur.

'We don't have enough time to wait for you friend,' Igor replies, giving Nick a look I couldn't place once again.

I nod, saying, 'Once the dialosis is done, I will speak with him. Right now he needs medical attention more than my help.'

'A bitten beggar. Nina, you have very strange friends,' Ki says as he walks up to us, two A ranked Night Hunter behind him as he says, 'E, the Five are waiting for you. The meeting will be held tomorrow day at 0630, it would be best if you went ahead to Kotowa.'

Igor nods and replies, 'So it seems.'

With that he gives me a bow, his brother a handshake and seemingly silent conversation with their eyes, then he is gone. The two A ranks following after him as Ki comes up. Ki hands me the folder I had asked to bring with the aces, the symbol having now been scanned, and the chemical makeup of the card itself, the inks, and the blood.

Nick turns and says, 'Is there anything I can do to help?'

'No.'

'Then I have to leave you for a short time, word has reached me about the other clans I must verify, then I'll return.'

Nodding, he steps away, walking down the hall. The hospital had a special staff that dealt with nothing but vampires, which was in the sub-basement floors. Ki watches as a nurse blushes when Nick walks by and he snorts, 'Purebloods, always getting the action.'

Giving Ki a smack on the arm I say, 'Dude, you are one too.'

Ki chuckles, but then sobers saying, 'Its good to see a smile on your face Nina, for a moment there I thought we lost you.'

'I'm still here, just needed time to grieve. Seeing Longsworth helps. Knowing he is still here makes me feel centered. Takes me back to my time with my teacher when we helped him the first time.'

'How did Furlow, right? How did he do it?'

Shrugging, I reply, 'He knew as long as the iris hadn't gone black, Longsworth had a chance. So he slowly brought him back over a couple of weeks. The withdrawls were the worst but he came back from the preverbial death of the ghoul.'

'You teacher Furlow sounds like an amazing man.'

'He was,' I murmur with a soft smile.

The nurse watching over Longsworth comes out and updates us, 'He's almost finished with the blood, but the dialysis will take a few more hours.'

'Is he up to me visiting?' I knew I should wait, but just as Nick said, time was of the essence.

The nurse looks back at the thin man in the bed and sighs, 'Yes, but no more than ten minutes.'

I nod, looking down at the file in my hand and then back at Ki. It was time to face Longsworth. So gathering my wits, I open the sliding door into his room. The slow rhythmic sounds of machines, heart monitor, blood pressure filled the otherwise silent room. My heels clacked on the tile floor as I come over and stare down at Longswortg's face.

'You lied to me,' he mutters, eyes still closed.

'How did I lie to you Longsworth?'

'I guess it could be said it wasn't a lie but an omision.'

A small smile comes to my face as I ask, 'What omision?'

'That you have become clanned.'

'Oh Longsworth, I'm not clanned. I haven't been for over two hundred years.'

Slowly his eyes open, the veins in his eyes looked more gray than distinctly black as he looks at me and says, 'But your blood?'

'It was an emergency, and I didn't have time to consider the fact he was a Pureblood.'

Longsworth seemd to be weighing my answers to their truthfulness, but finally nods as if satisfied, and asks, 'Why did you bring me here?'

It was enough for me to sit down by his bedside and hand him the file. He just stares down at it asking, 'What is it?'

'A question we need answered.'

His tired, gray stained eyes slowly look up at me as he says with a sardonic smile, 'You know I don't do this anymore Nat...'

My heart slams with fear as I cut him off saying, 'Nina, my name is Nina now.'

He stops, looks at the glass partition and continues, 'Nina, you know I am not that person anymore.'

A small smile comes to my face as I lean in and whisper, 'For all those years, why did I see science weeklies still around your sleeping bag. We are both people that never truly leave what we love.'

It was silent between us, ny eyes staring as his face falls and he says, 'Despite everything I still love to learn.'

'Longsworth... Samuel, you can't change the past, but you can make a change for the better in the future.'

Longsworth lets out a small chuckle, shaking his head and says as he looks up at me, 'Furlow used to tell me that all the time.'

'Maybe its time you started listening,' I reply softly, sliding the file towards him.

His eyes follow the movement, as if contemplating what this could mean, what road this would lead him. Just then the nurse comes in and says, 'Sorry Ms. Simmons, it seems Prince Nicoli needs you.'

Nodding, I stand and Longsworth grabs my arm with more strength than I expected and I look down at him. He gripped the file in his hand like a lifeline, and says as if I am the other, 'Be careful Nina, the road you walk is dangerous and the path dark.'

'I know Longsworth, moreso than you can imagine.'

With that he releases me and just before I leave the room, he says softly, 'This isn't natural refinement.'

My eyes snap to him, his small withered form in the bed, but those eyes nothing but steel. There was more to that statement but I would have to ask him later as I slide the glass door back into place.

Nick was waiting in a small office the nurse lead me to. Taking a seat, I ask, 'So Nick what is the news?'