Chapter 4
1742 Words
4
The cup shook so violently in Allie’s hands that a little bit of the warm cocoa spilled over onto one of her thumbs. She yelped and jerked her hand back.
“Oh my,” the woman lightly scolded as she snatched a napkin from the table and rolled a little closer to Allie. “Allow me.”
The woman stretched out her pale hand, but Allie shrank away. Her hostess froze and a look of pain appeared in her eyes, but the emotion was quickly swept away by kindness. She drew her hand back and lay the napkin over her lap. A smile danced across her lips as she studied the frightened woman before her. “There’s no need to be afraid. I make it a policy not to take my meals on the go. That’s quite a nuisance in someone of my-well-” She looked down at her legs. “Someone in my position.”
A twinge of regret struck Allie’s heart. “You… you can’t heal yourself?”
The woman laughed and waved off the remark. “Oh no. That is, vampires have impressive healing, but this-” She brushed one hand across her thigh and sighed. “This occurred before I was turned.”
“I’m sorry.”
The woman looked up and blinked at her guest. “Whatever for?”
“I didn’t mean to remind you of what happened.”
“Nonsense, child,” her hostess scolded her with a wave of the napkin. “I’ve become quite used to my circumstances, and it still amuses me to surprise people by my spryness. Now then-” She held the napkin out to Allie. “Take care of that spill. A little water from the sink will help.”
Allie took the napkin but didn’t stand. Instead, she grasped the cloth tightly in her shivering hand and studied the pale woman in front of her. Her voice was low and hesitant, but with a tinge of hope. “Why are you helping me?”
The vampiress leaned closer and a soft smile graced her lips as she spoke in a low whisper. “Because you need it.”
Allie’s eyes fell on the long fangs, but she swallowed the lump in her throat and managed a shaky smile of her own. “Could you… I’d like to know your name.”
The woman blinked at Allie before she leaned back and laughed. “Of course, where are my manners? My name is Lady Urbina, but you may call me Bina.”
Allie stood and gave her a strong smile. “Thank you, Bina, for everything you’re doing for me.”
Bina waved her hand at the sink. “Hurry along now and look to your thumb. And I see you have some stains on your pants.”
Allie looked down and cringed. Her clothes revealed the dustiness of the deck boards. She shivered as the memories came flooding back. “I really thought I was going to die out there.”
Bina rolled over to her and gave her hip a push toward the kitchenette. “Not on my watch, now shoo. While you do that, I’ll see what clothes I can find. You’re much too noticeable in that dated attire.”
“Dated?” Allie asked her as she looked down at herself.
“Yes. Those fibers are very much 21st century spun.”
Allie froze before she half-turned to her hostess. “What do you mean? What year is this?”
“The 23rd century.”
Allie’s jaw hit the floor. She swayed a little as the shock struck her.
“Steady!” Bina scolded her as she grabbed the young woman before she crumpled to the floor. “Let’s just get you sitting down again and have a nice little chat about the rules of time and space travel.”
“The 23rd century…” Allie muttered as she let the woman lead her in a daze back to her chair. She plopped down in the seat and stared dumbly at the table with her jaw slightly agape. “Different planet. Different century.” She cupped her head in one hand and her wide eyes dropped to the floor. “Is this a dream or a nightmare?”
Bina set a hand on the woman’s trembling shoulders and leaned her head to one side to catch Allie’s eyes. “Neither, and that puts you a very unique position and very interesting position.”
Allie lifted her head and blinked at her. “What do you mean?”
A mischievous smile slipped into Bina’s lips. “You get to find out how true the old saying ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’ is.” Allie blinked at her before a choked laugh burst from her parched lips. Bina grasped Allie’s arm and guided her to her feet. “Now let’s get you cleaned up and into some new clothes so you can drink your cocoa in comfort.”
Bina led the way to the coffin bedroom as Allie followed in a half-daze. She couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that she was centuries ahead of her own time and on a far-away planet.
Bina rolled up to an armoire and opened the doors wide. Though her hostess’ back was turned to her, Allie tried hard not to stare at the ‘bed.’ “You needn’t hide your curiosity,” Bina spoke up without turning to look at her. “I know I’d be very curious about such an arrangement if it wasn’t my own, and among the stars it pays to be curious about your surroundings. Though-” She looked over her shoulder and tapped the side of her neck. “Be mindful you don’t get too curious that you put yourself in a trap.”
Allie furrowed her brow. “A trap?”
“Or a pinch, or whatever the kids call it these days,” Bina mused as she resumed her search.
Allie noticed that the closet was full of clean-pressed pants and blouses, but there was a pair of jeans, a pair of dress pants, and two blouses of a simpler style than the ones the vampiress wore. Bina took out those sets and turned to her where she held them up. “What do you think of these?”
Allie stepped forward and rubbed the material. Though they looked like cotton, the fabric had a strange bouncy quality to them. “What are they made out of?”
“Stardust and wishes,” Bina teased as she draped the clothes over Allie’s arms. She patted the dress pants that lay on top. “Now see if these fit with one of those blouses and I’ll get to making you a new cup of warm cocoa.”
Bina rolled out of the room, making sure to shut the door behind her as she left. Allie’s attention was drawn inadvertently to the elephant, or rather, box in the room. Her face paled a little at the sight of the coffin.
Being left alone in the room with the unusual bed gave her a sense of urgency, and so she draped one set of clothes over a chair and tossed on the other. The clothes fit perfectly, and she paused long enough to admire herself in a full-length mirror. The fabric gave off a sheen that was easy on the eyes but reminded her of starlight on a still pond.
She hung the other set back in the armoire and hurried out into the main part of the cabin. Bina sat in the kitchenette but turned at the sound of the door opening. She looked Allie up and down with a soft smile. “Beautiful.”
Allie blushed as she walked up to her. “I’m just lucky the clothes fit.”
Bina looked at her empty hands. “You needn’t have put the other set away. They’re for you, as well.”
“But I couldn’t-”
“Nonsense,” Bina insisted as she returned her attention to the cocoa. “If we’re to be companions then I want you to be dressed comfortably and fashionably.”
Allie looked down at herself. “And this is the latest fashion in the 23rd century?”
“More or less but I generally am a few decades behind the times,” Bina admitted as she held out the cocoa mug to Allie. “The advantage of being an old vampire, however, is one needs only to wait until the old fashion comes full circle, and then I just need to dig deep into my closet for something fashionable to wear.”
Allie cupped the mug in her hand and studied the older woman. “Are you that old?”
Bina laughed. “Quite old, even for a vampire. Many people are amazed that I have never bonded with another.”
Allie tilted her head to one side and arched an eyebrow. “Bonded? Like made friends?”
Bina shook her head. “No, dear. Bonding, or to be more precise, blood bonding-” She paused and gestured with one arm at the table. “But perhaps you should sit down for this.”
Allie took a seat while Bina rolled up to park close beside her. She leaned back and cupped her hands in her lap. “Blood bonding is a very old and very intimate ritual between an immortal such as me and a human like you.”
“Were you once human?” Allie asked her.
Bina laughed. “Of course, my dear. No other species in the galaxy can become a member of the undead. That makes the blood bonding all the more unique. A vampire gives their blood to a human to prolong their life and grant them greater speed and strength, but in return they must protect the vampire during the day, and even most nights.”
Allie winced. “It doesn’t sound like they get much sleep.”
Bina shook her head. “No, but-” A horn rang out. The vampiress shot up in her chair and frowned up at the ceiling. “What in the world are those fools doing now?”
Allie’s pulse quickened. “What’s wrong? Isn’t that the foghorn?”
Her hostess shook her head. “No. That’s the signal that we’ll be coming to port soon.”
- Writer
