Chapter 28: The Cross Siblings

Paula arrived at the front door of Russell Cross’s apartment an hour and a quarter after leaving Jeremiah’s home. Russell was her younger brother by eight years, and he was her closes friend. At the age of twelve she took on many of the duties of raising Russell in the absence of their recently deceased mother. Their bond to each other was tight. During the day Russell was a 34-year-old Medical Lab Technician at a local hospital. At night he was a wannabe guitarist with no great aptitude for the profession. It was more a hobby than serious endeavor, and it was just one of two activities that he participated in with his many friends. Getting high and intoxicated was the second activity that Russell commonly enjoyed with friends.

“Hi, little brother,” Paula greeted just before stepping across the threshold of his apartment doorway and giving him a hug and a peck on the cheek.

“Hey, Sis, this is a surprise,” Russell greeted with a sleepy gaze.

Russell’s surprise was due to the hour. Paula’s knock on his door awakened him from a sleep induced by a meal that consisted of two large hamburgers, fries and three 16oz cans of beer. The marijuana he smoked an hour before the meal was responsible for much of his appetite.

“I needed to see you,” Paula spoke in reply to Russell’s comment.

“Yeah, I gathered that. It’s past eleven. Don’t you have to work tomorrow?” Russell returned as he looked at his sister with a sudden awareness that she was different in some way. “Wait a minute, what’s happening here,” he continued while pulling her under the vestibule light and closing the door.

“I quit my job,” Paula answered.

Russell was shocked by Paula’s report. He had known his sister to be employed since the age of eighteen, a milestone she reached 22 years ago. He could not imagine her without work.

“What? Why?” Russell questioned in shock.

“Something happened,” Paula sullenly returned.

“Is something wrong?” Russell questioned with a worry that his sister might have a health issue.

“No, I’m—okay,” Paula dismissed unconvincingly.

“You look better than okay,” Russell countered as he gave his sister a quick perusal. “You look great.”

Russell was having trouble determining what it was about Paula that was different. He had no doubt that she had lost some weight, but he had seen her lose weight before. What was causing him the most confusion was that she did not appear to be dressed or adorned in any extraordinary fashion. After a moment of thought, he reached for the living room light switch so that he could get a better look at his sister.

“I’m different,” Paula confirmed in a solemn voice.

“Different? Different how?” Russell asked as he flipped on the overhead lamp in the living room.

The light from the overhead lamp in the living room instantly flooded into the narrow vestibule where Russell and Paula were standing.

“You’re not going to believe it,” Paula returned hesitantly.

“Wow sis, you’re looking great.” Russell declared after examining his sister in the new light. “What’s happened to you?”

A smile instantly appeared on Paula’s face after Russell’s comment. She had no doubt that her appearance had taken on a more youthful look post her vampire transformation, but Russell’s declaration was the first strongly worded confirmation of it she had heard. Up until that moment, Charlie was the only person to notice the difference in her appearance, and his comments were always muted by indifference and anticipation.

“I know. Isn’t it great?” Paula quickly agreed with a wide smile.

Russell was surprised by Paula’s sudden jubilance following so swiftly behind her gloomy demeanor a moment earlier. He immediately wanted to know what was motivating it, but at that moment, he noticed how uncannily young Paula's face looked.

“Well—yeah. What did you do?” Russell asked as he leaned forward to get better look at Paula’s face.

“You remember Charlie, the guy I use to go out with?” Paula questioned.

“Panko, the criminal, yeah I remember him,” Russell responded with a hint of disdain. “What about him?”

“He did this,” Paula softly replied.

“I'm going to need more than that,” Russell advised with a frown.

The thought of telling Russell more than what she had already frightened Paula, but at that moment, she knew he was right. She also knew that telling Russell more is what she had come there to do and that now was the time to do it.

“How would you like to go on a trip?” Paula asked hopefully.

“Is it drugs? Cocaine—H?” Russell asked with an intonation of intrigue. “Because you know I’m always game to try something new.”

Despite Russell’s casual marijuana use, he was not opposed to experimenting with other drugs when he could get his hands on something new and different. Her brother’s infrequent drug use was not new to Paula, but she was quick to see that he had misjudged where she was going. After a moment of thought, she decided to go with drugs as an analogy.

“It’s better,” Paula claimed after a pause.

“Well, what is it?” Russell inquired enthusiastically.

“It’s the ride of a lifetime,” Paula softly assured. “It’s the ride of a thousand lifetimes,” she supported with a vague look of astonishment.

“Well, give me some,” Russell greedily insisted.

“It’s not like that,” Paula responded. “I mean, it’s not what you think. Charlie gave me a gift—a great big gift—and I’m going on a journey, but I don’t want to leave you behind.”

“What are you talking about?” Russell asked dumbfounded.

“Russell, how would you like to go on an adventure through time with me and Charlie, and a few others?” Paula questioned with hope and excitement in her voice.

“What are you talking about, Paula?” Russell asked with more insistence.

“I’m talking about us,” Paula vehemently stressed. “You’re my little brother, and I don’t want to leave you behind.”

“How are you going to leave me?” Russell nearly yelled with exasperation.

Paula paused to consider how she should respond. She was tired of dancing around the subject of her vampirism. In her mind, she felt as if she was more than human and better. Her fear now was that her brother would decline the offer because of a belief that she had become a monster. She soon concluded that Russell must not have that option.

“Maybe I should show you,” she gently suggested.

“Show me what?” Russell inquired while his sister moved to within inches of him.

“What are you doing?” Russell asked a moment after he noticed Paula was sniffing the air between them.

“You’ll see,” Paula huffed out between deep breathes.

A few seconds later, Paula’s eyes began to reflect light. Russell noticed the change and released a soft gasp in response. As the seconds ticked on, the light reflecting off Paula’s eyes grew more pronounced. Russell was startled by his sister's gradual transformation. After a few seconds more her canines began to grow into fangs and her fingernails into claws. From Russell's perspective, it looked as if his sister's deep heaving breathes were fueling her transformation. For the first time in his life, he was frightened of his sister, and he took two steps back.

“What's happened to you?” Russell asked with panic in his voice.

“I'm immortal,” Paula explained as she moved a step closer. “And you can be too, Russell.”

“I don't understand. What's wrong with your eyes? How are you doing that?” Russell queried in quick succession.

Paula stepped forward, grabbed Russell by the neck and forced him down on his knees despite his resistance.

“You're hurting me,” Russell complained with an intonation of fear.

“I'm sorry, Russell,” Paula declared with regret in her voice. “But I can’t do this without you. I can’t leave you behind. You'll thank me, I promise. You will.”

Seconds after she spoke, Paula pushed Russell's head to the side, and bit into his carotid artery. Almost immediately, she began siphoning Russell’s blood despite his best effort to fend her off. His struggle declined over the next few minutes, and his heartbeat stopped shortly after that. When Paula was sure that her brother was dead, she bit into the palm of her hand and began feeding her blood into his mouth. When the wound in her palm healed several seconds later, she bit into her palm again and repeated the process. Terrified that she might be doing something wrong, Paula repeated the act for a third time, and then she settled on the floor with Russell's head cradled in her lap.