Chapter 53: A Grand Entrance

April 1999

We needed some help in devising a training program to get into shape and get there fast. I could only think of one person who had the background to advise us how to get into shape quickly. When Dread got back to the mansion later that night, I told him of my request to be our personal trainer. At first, he balked, stating that he really did not have the time, or the experience to advise someone on fitness matters, but we knew better. He finally agreed, promising to give us two hours a day only after the threat of disobeying Tayla occurred to him. We thought that would be plenty. Putting us on a tight schedule was his first order. I was amazed how he was able to account for each minute of the day.

We worked through the night until about three am, until Rachel just could not think anymore. However, I could not stop thinking though I had to admit I was tired too. It was more than time to take a break. It was time to go to bed. Tayla had left us alone that night. I felt she did not want to distract us from our planning and training. However, as we left the library, I saw a telltale mist slithering down the hall and around the corner.

She had not contacted us, but still the last few hours Rachel and I had been working on details of our mission, she had been nearby, listening and watching. I could not help thinking that she had a bad habit of eavesdropping and spying on people. She was envious of humans, envious of our ways, our sensibilities, and our urgent need to live all we could in our short life span. Seeing her plight, I pitied her despite her greatness in power and wealth. I saw myself as blessed for the riches I had already, not for those the Queen had assigned me.

We abandoned our efforts for the evening, and retired to our large bedroom, down the hall from our children. The alarm rang again at the same time as yesterday, four o’clock in the afternoon. However, I was already awake, sitting in my chair in our room, watching Rachel sleep.

She rolled over to turn the alarm off, after she attempted to wake me. After she saw me sitting there, she moaned, “Oh God! What hit me? A train?” she exclaimed. She fell back into the pile of covers. “I am so sore!”

“It’s just the beginning, dear. You will be even sorer tomorrow, because of the lactic acid in your muscles. You need to drink a lot of water.”

“Right now, I need to bathe in a lot of water. Hot water!” She started to crawl to the edge of bed. Her appearance was tousled hair, no makeup and clad only in a tee shirt and panties. She muttered how she looked like a wreck as she walked into the bathroom next to our room.

To me, she was beautiful. Not because she was able to present herself as an attractive woman, but because of her commitment to a cause that she knew little about. I found her courage attractive, as well as her unselfishness. Because of her husband, she had agreed to enter a life and death struggle. I felt guilty for bringing her into this. In addition, if anything ever happened to her, I knew that dealing with it would finish me. We were that close.

I heard the water start to run, as the twins burst through the door. Running up to give their Daddy a big hug, they embodied all the things that I wanted to keep alive on this earth. I wanted to make sure they had the chance to grow up and be who they wanted to be. If I failed in this endeavor, that was not going to happen. I played with them while their mother soaked in the tub. They took me to the playroom where Shade had made sure they had ample means to keep their active imaginations busy throughout the day.

Their mother appeared in the doorway a while later, wearing workout clothes. She was going to finish the course. Rachel was motivated enough to see this through, even though she was hurting.

A few hours with the kids first, she was probably thinking.

Therefore, we played, laughing and playing games. Shade appeared, calling us to dinner. We had supper, this time with the kids. However, this time, Shade served dinner in the formal dining room. An elegant room it was, of baroque design and French provincial accents. It was good to have them at the table with us. The warm candlelight bathed the room’s walls with a golden champagne colored light. Shade had outdone herself, as she had prepared a spread fit for a Queen. Dread and Anubis joined us, as did Moon, Leach, Decay, Talon, Shade and several other familiars I had not met yet. Moon explained that they normally worked the Lower Estate, but Tayla reassigned them to help with our preparations.

It was a fine meal, with an exquisite wine from Tayla’s own vineyards. We had a very relaxed conversation, of subjects far from the ever-present one of vampires, and of the upcoming struggle. I enjoyed my company, the meal, my family and myself. At this point, one would think everything was perfect. However, nothing ever is.

I had lost track of time. The pink and orange streaks beaming off the thin clouds had disappeared along with the golden sun, replaced by darkness. It was almost into the month of May. It is easier to lose track of time than you think, especially when you rarely see the sun.

I sensed a chill in the air and on the windowpanes. Then the chill turned to cold. The sun had all but disappeared when all the candles began snuffing themselves out, leaving us in the room of almost total darkness. Then, in the darkness, the candles began to light on the table all by themselves! The Queen was paying us a visit! All the familiars stood up with heads bowed in homage to the slender, stunning, figure wearing a black gown that slithered into the dining room. Tayla always entered a room this way. With a grand entrance, she left everyone speechless. Even the twins did not say a word. I was not quite ready for my children to see any of this. In fact, I did not want them exposed to any of this at all. Rachel would have been in total concurrence with me, if we had had time to talk about it.

“Am I interrupting something? A party perhaps? I detect a lot of gaiety here in this room. I can sense these things. Is everyone happy?” She cocked her head left, and then right as she asked the questions. She was dressed impeccably in a black satin gown, with black gloves. Around her neck were diamonds, as were hanging from her ears, and around her wrist. No doubt, there were some on her fingers as well. Her hair was immaculate as well as her features, accented by flawless makeup. Her eyes were kind, which departed from the usual tall dark European personality that I had come to know.

She looked at me, and then at Rachel. Smiling, she asked, “How are my special friends tonight?” Then without waiting for Rachel’s answer, and mine she bent down to look at the twins.

Jennifer moved away from her, as she did not know her.

Jonathan leaned over to me and whispered, “Daddy, who is the pretty lady?” I smiled, knowing that Tayla heard his whispers as well.

I thought it best to introduce them to my new friend. “Jennifer, Jonathan, this is Tayla. She is the lady who this house belongs to and all these people work for her.”

As if in stereo, the twins spoke to Tayla. “Hello Miss Tayla.” Tayla responded to them. “What beautiful, sweet children you have, Rachel. You must be so proud! Oh, what it must be like to be a mother!”

“They can be a handful, Tayla. Still, you’re right. They are beautiful, and sweet.” She patted them both on their heads, giving Jennifer a small hug.

If there is one thing I know, it is this. Women will always find something to talk about when they get together, and usually, it will be about families and children. I had learned from the beginning when I had first met Tayla that she had a fondness for children. She had reminded me that taking children was the most disgusting part of vampirism. She had never confessed to taking a child, but she was very adamant about being opposed to it, particularly when she mentioned her brother Rascha’s habits. I sensed deep inside a longing from her humanity that she longed to have been a mother. She longed to be able to give life as opposed to taking it.

However, a vampire cannot have children, not because of the usual, more obvious reasons but perhaps because of this one. The Bible says that children are a gift from God. God would never allow an innocent to be inside the body of someone dead and inhabited by a fallen angel. The mere thought of it was inconceivable. Oh, now there is a pun!

Tayla took her place at the head of the table, in a high backed St. James chair, with heavy, carved wooden arms. A familiar who I had not seen, brought out a bottle of wine, and poured her a glass. She looked so impressive, so commanding of attention that no one spoke until she spoke. The room had warmed up some. The chandelier that hung from the vaulted ceiling had lit up its many flame-shaped bulbs. The room was aglow in warm amber light. Everything in the room had a golden color to it, except one thing, and that was Tayla. She had not dined yet.