So Dead, My Love Read online

  Lara said nothing, but suddenly whirled her up in her arms. “You must rest to regain your life forces. I have given you my blood, my love. You will be well soon, I promise. We are bound forever.” Samantha’s vision was fading, fuzzy. Her heart was slowing down. She remembered only Lara’s black eyes as she finally lost consciousness

  ***

  Samantha woke up again and even before she opened her eyes, she knew it was dark outside. And quiet. Slivers of moonlight cut through the blackness like laser beams across the walls and the open door frame. And Lara Karnov stood naked in the dark.

  Samantha sat up startled in the bed. She couldn’t see Lara. She was nothing but a silhouette against the door.

  “Lara.”

  “You are better now, my darling. I can sense it. Come to me.”

  Samantha did feel more invigorated. The pain in her wrist was just a dull reminder of the sharp razor slicing through. There was a tingle of power running through her. Was it Lara’s blood inside her causing the euphoria of energy?

  Samantha got up swiftly and reached for Lara. She was thin, painfully thin and her skin was smooth and cold like the finest porcelain. Samantha quivered like a wounded bird. Weak and intoxicated with desire, she eyed Lara’s bare breasts in the moonlit room. Pale, almost luminous, they were in perfect proportion to her slender build.

  Lara Karnov, the object of Samantha Barnes’s innermost desires, stood face to face, body to body, bare and lovely here before her. Her lips were inches from her own. Samantha could feel Lara’s eyes on her, feel the want piercing her heart.

  “I am glad I please you.” Lara’s voice was almost a whisper. “Make love to me, Samantha. It is what we both want.”

  Samantha could no longer control the wetness within her thighs and the throbbing there was more of an ache. She cupped Lara’s breasts in her hands and brought her mouth to them. Her tongue worked each one hungrily, savoring the smooth coolness. Lara’s head went back slowly in ecstasy, her flaming auburn hair falling behind her. Samantha felt Lara’s hand stroking her hair and for a fleeting, uncomfortable moment, that musty smell of old things hit Samantha again. Then suddenly and without warning, Samantha was paralyzed. She couldn’t move. Was it the powerful passion that had frozen her in shocked delight?

  Lara’s hands were once again gently touching Samantha’s hair and her soft, mesmerizing words raced through Samantha’s head.

  “I must feed tonight and you will come with me. The full moon and its glory will pale the land again. I still hunger, and tonight you shall feed with me, for tonight, you shall become my mate.”

  Samantha was lost in her voice. Lara’s dark, haunting eyes bore deep into hers and tore at her soul with a dark command.

  “Tonight, my darling, you will become my companion forever. You will feel the thrill of a new life everlasting.” She kissed Samantha fiercely on the mouth, then kissed her cheeks, her forehead, her eyelids. “Your love has enabled me to return, but I still need blood to survive.” She took Samantha’s face in her slim hands and brought it up to meet hers. “Do you love me, my Samantha?”

  Samantha heard the words in her heart and the answer came without thought, without reason. This was the moment she had waited for. She’d prepared to give body and soul to Lara Karnov and the frenzy that gripped her now only added to the intensity of her answer.

  “Yes!”

  Lara pulled her closer, nearly crushing Samantha against her. Samantha craved Lara’s mouth, but screamed as Lara tore the shirt from her body and flung it across the floor. Samantha still couldn’t move. She screamed again as Lara sank her sharp teeth brutally deep into her now exposed breast. Samantha sensed her life melting away in Lara Karnov’s embrace.

  Feeling chaotic fear grip her, she fully realized what it meant to become one with Lara. What she had to become to love her. Would death have been the easier way? Samantha uttered a low, guttural sound and her senses became alive with the fever of expectation.

  Lara released her, the blood from her breast flowing in a warm, irregular dance down her stomach and into her underwear. She watched it, trance like. Her eyes then fixed themselves on Lara Karnov and saw the blood trailing down her lips. Her own blood. Lara laughed, eyes full of passion and Samantha laughed with her.

  “Come, I will teach you the art of transformation. Open your mind to my commands, Samantha. Allow me to fill you with the freedom and joys of the night.”

  Samantha nodded, her thoughts no longer her own. What was going to happen to her? She brushed any doubts aside as easily as she dusted off the crumbs of a good blueberry muffin. She would follow Lara Karnov to the ends of the world. This was what she’d wanted. What she’d craved. And Lara promised that it would last forever. Forever.

  ***

  The full moon shed a strange discoloration upon the Island. Samantha sat in the middle of the clearing, for the first time aware of the many annoying sounds of the night; the incessant shrieking of the crickets, the eerie call of the owls. She blinked, hunger and lust pulling deep inside her.

  She couldn’t feel the cold. It was cold, of course, but she didn’t mind it. The soft, black fur warmed her and shimmered under the blue rays of the moon. Many emotions were racing through her and the freedom was overwhelming. Her life had changed so drastically inside the embrace of Lara Karnov. There was no going back now.

  She was wasting too much time. Lara waited and the smells and call of the forest and the blood lust were like a magnet. She jumped from the rock she’d been sitting on, feeling her paws hit the leaf littered ground. Catching the scent of a mate nearby, her nostrils flared with anticipation.

  Suddenly, a growl formed in her throat and Samantha released a howl that echoed unanswered and lonely through the brooding trees. Ahead, just on the edge of the deep forest, she caught sight of a looming form silhouetted against the moon. Samantha could see, even from this distance, the violence in the dark eyes glaring at her, hungry and impatient.

  Samantha ran quickly to crouch beside Lara. Mentally, they communicated, Samantha giving her the directions. The hate grew within her and she growled again, anticipating the taste of blood in her mouth. Mrs. Peabody would indeed be surprised.

  ***

  The dreams came again, but they were different. Strange, contorted animal shapes morphed into figures obscured by giant, swaying trees. Laughter and unbridled lust for blood racked her body. Suddenly, Edna Peabody’s bloated face bounced in front of her, terror in her protruding eyes. She felt herself take flight, lunging at the running Peabody.

  Hunger hammered in her stomach as she sank her teeth into soft flesh. The thick liquid, hot and metallic, went smoothly down her throat. The hammering didn’t stop though. She dug her teeth deeper again and again. Peabody’s body jerked beneath her. Samantha woke up screaming.

  Next to her, Lara wrapped her arms around Samantha’s shaking body.

  “There, there, my darling. It was a bad dream, no?” She ran her hand over Samantha’s hair. “Do you wish to tell me about it?” “It was a horrible nightmare. Not like the others.” Samantha shook her head and described to Lara the horrifying images that haunted her. It seemed so real. The last thing she remembered was being outside in the cold, on all fours while Lara spoke to her in her mind. She felt disoriented. Was she still dreaming? Lara Karnov was in her bed as if it were a normal routine. “What happened?”

  Propping herself up on one elbow, Lara turned to look intently at Samantha. Even though the alarm clock blinked 4:15 AM and it was still dark outside, Samantha could see the dark eyes of Lara Karnov. The power within them made Samantha forget everything except being here with her. Lara’s long hair draped the bare breasts beneath.

  “We are bound, my dear Samantha, by our love and by destiny, therefore, I will not keep secrets from you.”

  Her voice was low and serious. The scent of Lara was overwhelming to Samantha, and the arousal of lust was not something she wanted to fight off.

  “It wasn’t just a nightmare, Samantha.
Let me explain.”

  But Samantha didn’t want to hear anymore of bad dreams. All she needed was Lara. Why spoil the moment she’d waited for by discussing dreams. She’d had enough of explanations and theories and speculations. Samantha wanted to finally silence the voices of all the psychotherapists she’d ever seen. She wasn’t about to add Lara to her list of personal psychologists.

  So she put her fingertips to Lara’s lips and reached out for her. The soft, auburn hair spilled over Samantha’s naked body. She kissed Lara hungrily, fighting hard the temptation not to bite the thin, delicate lips of Lara Karnov.

  They made love until the weak rays of light peeped in through the drawn blinds, bathing them both in the muted colors of sunrise. Wrapped in each other’s arms, they slept while the rest of the world woke to the safety of daybreak.

  Chapter 12

  The first winter snowstorm hit Bayton Isle with a total disregard to mercy. The local news broadcasts became more frequent as they cut into regular programming to issue blizzard warnings, encouraging all to remain indoors.

  It was December and by all the news accounts, they had been blessed with unseasonably mild weather, an Indian summer, with just a teasing of Old Man Winter’s coming. But he’d blown into the Isle full force, unannounced, with no messenger to kill for the bad news. This was the time when Bayton Isle put away the bicycles and fired up the snowmobiles and SUVs.

  Samantha had weathered many a mean blizzard in New York City, but this would be her first winter in Bayton Isle. Everything lay under a blanket of white, the snow making little white sculptures of anything it touched. And the silence was uneasy. In New York, the city never quit, come blizzard or heat wave, it was always alive with the sounds of millions of people and cars and planes.

  But none of that mattered. Lara was here, in her life, in her bed. Never would she anguish over unrequited love or unfaithful partners. Lara would never leave her, never disappoint her, never not love her.

  And as Samantha lay deep in the folds of the leather couch, the crackle of the fire from the fireplace filling her with warmth, she smiled, stretched and thought of her paintings. They lay all about her house, not easily ignored. The painting of Lara still stood on the easel. Carmen had called several days ago but Samantha hadn’t answered. She smiled as she remembered the look of wonder and awe in Lara’s eyes as she stared at the ringing phone. It had been fun explaining to her what a phone did.

  She thought of Carmen. If she didn’t return her phone call, she’d come looking for her. She couldn’t have Carmen meeting up with Lara. Not yet. Maybe never. With those intruding thoughts came others, like unbidden ghosts from somewhere else. Bob Holder and the bank painting. Carmen. Romance books. Stephen Kendall. Carmen. Then the unpleasant thoughts came as well. Tamara. Karnov Mansion. For the first time, the thought of Karnov Mansion filtered through. She suddenly felt as if she’d been in some haze. Had she existed in a different universe entirely for the past days?

  She sat up and turned to Lara, who stood before the bay window, gazing at the snow falling outside.

  “Lara, why aren’t we at Karnov Mansion? Wouldn’t you be more comfortable there?” Samantha had been willing to make the move. She would change her life and live a sequestered life at Karnov Mansion if that was Lara’s wish. Lara didn’t answer.

  “Lara?”

  Samantha pushed herself off the couch and walked over to stand behind her. Lara was wearing gray, tight wool pants and a black sweater. She had pulled her mass of hair back and tied it into a tight twist that hung down her back. Samantha loved the semi-exposed, slim back of her neck. She kissed it, letting her tongue slide across the smooth skin.

  Lara turned, a smile on her face, and took both of Samantha’s hands. It was then Samantha realized, with surprise, that the scars on her wrist were almost gone. She stood dumbfounded as Lara held on to her.

  “My hair this way, it makes you happy dear? Perhaps I should cut it all off for you?” Lara had a playful look in her dark eyes, completely ignoring Samantha’s shock. “Yes, of course, you have so many questions, I know.” She guided Samantha back toward the couch, never letting go of her hands.

  The glow of the fire cast shiny, orange highlights on Lara’s auburn hair. When Lara sat down, Samantha snuggled between her legs, resting her head on Lara’s legs. Lara began to stroke her hair, something Samantha had grown to love. She trusted that Lara would tell her everything. Lara would take care of her.

  “You are healing well, my darling.” Lara said softly. “You see, this is merely part of being who and what we are. All wounds will heal faster than normal. You will never suffer scarring.”

  The vibration of her voice went through Samantha like a drug injected into the bloodstream. She remained mesmerized.

  Then suddenly, all the things she had read and seen in films about vampires came flooding into her memory. Would Lara disintegrate under the sun? How could she function if this was true? Would Lara only be able to go out at night? And then there was the coffin thing. Lara had not returned for it at Karnov Mansion. She was sleeping, like any lover would, in her bed. Would she run in fear from anyone wearing a cross around his neck? And what about herself? Would she become like Lara even though she was not a Karnov?

  All these questions overwhelmed Samantha. It was all rather exciting and exhilarating. She wanted to laugh out loud at the irony of it all. No one would believe the reality of Lara Karnov. They would have to be careful now, their secret guarded at all costs. The last thing they needed was the FBI or the police getting suspicious again.

  “Let me explain to you my darling,” Lara continued, her arms still holding Samantha tight, “You don’t think we have survived as a race this long if we were the creatures your fiction believes us to be, do you? A stake driven through my heart will not kill me, Samantha. We are not of this world.”

  “Not of this world? What do you mean? Are you from Eastern Europe? You know, where all vampires come from?”

  Lara’s eyes fluttered and she looked quietly away, shaking her head. “Yes and no, my Samantha. The Karnov are from The Dark, a very different universe than yours. It is dark and it is dying. We came into this universe because we needed more blood-” She paused, a strange, faraway look in her dark eyes. “Wilmon had sucked the land dry and his power was fading. We found your world and...” She paused, hesitant. “We came here, to your universe.” She turned back to look at Samantha, a tiny smile curling her lips.

  Samantha didn’t understand. “Lara, where are you from? I don’t understand.

  “Samantha, The Dark is an alternate universe that exists parallel to your own but it is so very different. The Karnov ruled The Dark but our world is dying. We needed sustenance. Blood. Wilmon found your world. And we are here. There are actually many parallel universes all crisscrossing.”

  “Yes, of course,” Samantha said excitedly, “I remember staying up late after a bad nightmare and listening to Art Bell and George Noory on the Coast to Coast AM radio show. They did several shows on parallel universes and how sometimes they can overlap. And that would explain why you can actually go out during the day and not sleep in a coffin. You’re not really earthly at all.” Samantha felt a chill course through her body. What Lara was telling her was hard to believe. A race of vampires from another dimension had invaded Earth ages ago? It all sounded so crazy.

  Lara’s gaze was intense as she stared at Samantha. “So you see, we are virtually indestructible in your world. Any violence to our bodies would be painful, as anything you do to a human body can be, a stab wound, broken bones, gunshot wound. But we will not die of these things. A recuperation period is all that will be required. And those silly silver and gold crosses, no, no,” she laughed, her voice low, soft. “These Christian writers have the audacity to presume their God and their religion the only thing to save them from we evil creatures. Very amazing that they took such liberties with who we really are.” She shook her head of auburn tresses. “Yes, we do need blood and of course, we h
ave the ability to take the blood and actually help to heal the wounds, but these punctures heal quickly and the host never knows. They will never concern themselves with such a tiny discomfort. A spider bite would pose a more troublesome thing.”

  She stopped, but Samantha was so enraptured by Lara’s story, that the silence was abrupt.

  Lara gently nudged her up. Samantha looked at her and felt flushed. The way those dark eyes constantly, intently surveyed her was at times exciting, at other times, disturbing. Lara smiled.

  “Samantha, Karnov Mansion is no longer standing. I had to destroy it.”

  The how and why had barely formed on Samantha’s lips before Lara continued. “Surely, you did not think we could continue living there and be safe?”

  She didn’t take her eyes off Samantha. Samantha had only shaped the thought of Tommy in her mind, when Lara reached out and touched her cheek softly.

  “Poor Tommy. Samantha, my darling, you were there. I gave Tommy what he wanted most. He will remember my mercy in whatever place he is now.”

  Like a jolt of electricity, that night struck Samantha. She still heard the begging in Tommy’s voice. Lara had killed him. That was what Tommy wanted. Then she thought of the blood that night. The blood that was everywhere, it seemed.

  “Did you drink his blood?”

  Lara didn’t answer. She merely sat there, lips slightly curled, tempting Samantha to seek her own answers.

  But Tamara said you would change if I freed you, Samantha wanted to say. Tamara had said that this was the very reason why Lara’s own family had destroyed her. But what had Tamara really meant? Did it matter?

  Lara reached over and took Samantha’s face, bringing it to meet her own. “You will know of these things, my sweet. You will learn the ways of the Karnovs and we will live forever, together. This is what you wanted. We have been together for centuries.” She ran a finger over Samantha’s lips, cheeks and eyebrows.

  “What about Tamara, Lara? Did you...” She paused, not wanting to give form to her thoughts. “Did she die like Tommy?”