problem?”
“How much
else did you tell her?”
“I explained
the basics of the situation.”
“What’s
that supposed to mean?”
“I told her
about our mission. How we reclaimed the head from Mirabel.”
“Jesus
Christ.” Haruko brings a hand to her forehead. “Well...
what’s done is done.”
Why
is the head so powerful? I
wonder.
“The head...
well... all right. It’s a long story,” Adam says. “First
of all, let me give you some background. Beheading doesn’t
actually kill a vampire.”
Haruko snorts.
“We’re using the v-word now?”
“A revenant.
Whatever. We can’t generate our limbs or heads, but we can have
them re-attached.”
So
how do you
kill a vampire?
“You have to
go for the heart.”
Like with a
stake?
“Or
whatever. It doesn’t matter. You just have to destroy the
heart.”
“Why are you
telling her how to kill us?!” Aya asks, alarmed.
“It’s
not like she’s in any shape to attack you, so why would you
care?”
“Well...”
She shifts in her seat. “I don’t know.”
So the head is
still... conscious?
“Essentially.”
I open a package
of Pop Tarts. Where’s
the rest of her body? With Julian?
“Well, it
was, but it isn’t any more. We... don’t know where it
is.” He pauses for several seconds. “It went missing
about a year ago, at the same time her head did. We thought Mirabel
had stolen both, er, halves, but the more we find out about the
situation, the less likely that seems.”
I nod again,
nibbling around the edges of the first pastry.
“Our current
theory is that a third party stole both parts and then sold the head
to Mirabel or gave it to her as a gift,” Adam continues.
Doesn’t
the head belong to Julian? Why aren’t we bringing it to him?
“There
are... protocols we need to follow,” is all Adam says.
I stare down into
my lap. I’m too confused to ask any further questions, so I
finish the rest of my pastry in silence.
The three of them
go quiet. I lean my head against the window and try to keep myself
awake, but the hum of the engine and tires on asphalt soon make me
unbearably drowsy, and so I close my eyes, hoping for just a moment’s
dreamless rest.
Despite myself, I
dream.
10
A Dream of
Insomnia
{Adam}
I woke up on a
couch in an unfamiliar bedroom, alone. I sat up, reached for my
glasses, surprised to be awake or even alive.
The couch was
surrounded by books of all shapes and sizes, their covers heavy with
dust. One volume halfway down a pile caught my eye. Careful not to
topple the rest of the stack, I pulled it out from underneath the
others.
Exploring the
Human Memory by Dr. Elena Ortiz, Ph. D.
The door to the
bedroom opened. I looked up with a start.
It was Julian.
“You’re awake,” he said. “How do you feel?”
I shrugged. I had
no intention of talking to him about that.
“You might
be a bit groggy for a few hours. It will pass.”
“What
happened to me?”
“Aya put you
into a state of sensory deprivation. We refer to it as a whiteout.”
“Oh.”
“I should
have warned you, Adam. It’s all but fatal to expose yourself to
sunlight.”
“I see,”
I said, pretending I hadn’t deduced that already. “All
but fatal? So... what would happen, exactly?”
“Any contact
with sunlight would untether your soul from your body,” he
explained in a level tone, “but the blood would keep your body
alive. Well, alive in the sense you are now. You’d become a
ghoul. Your entire existence would be the search for blood.”
I grimaced.
“You will
find an almanac in your desk. It lists sunrise and sunset times for
the coming year. Please be careful.”
“Right.”
“Adam...”
“Yes?”
“We have a
theory.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “We
believe that no one who has accepted their mortality can be
reawakened. That is to say, no one who is at peace with their death
can be initiated. We are all, every one of us, desperate to continue
living.”
“That’s
funny,” I said,
“How much
else did you tell her?”
“I explained
the basics of the situation.”
“What’s
that supposed to mean?”
“I told her
about our mission. How we reclaimed the head from Mirabel.”
“Jesus
Christ.” Haruko brings a hand to her forehead. “Well...
what’s done is done.”
Why
is the head so powerful? I
wonder.
“The head...
well... all right. It’s a long story,” Adam says. “First
of all, let me give you some background. Beheading doesn’t
actually kill a vampire.”
Haruko snorts.
“We’re using the v-word now?”
“A revenant.
Whatever. We can’t generate our limbs or heads, but we can have
them re-attached.”
So
how do you
kill a vampire?
“You have to
go for the heart.”
Like with a
stake?
“Or
whatever. It doesn’t matter. You just have to destroy the
heart.”
“Why are you
telling her how to kill us?!” Aya asks, alarmed.
“It’s
not like she’s in any shape to attack you, so why would you
care?”
“Well...”
She shifts in her seat. “I don’t know.”
So the head is
still... conscious?
“Essentially.”
I open a package
of Pop Tarts. Where’s
the rest of her body? With Julian?
“Well, it
was, but it isn’t any more. We... don’t know where it
is.” He pauses for several seconds. “It went missing
about a year ago, at the same time her head did. We thought Mirabel
had stolen both, er, halves, but the more we find out about the
situation, the less likely that seems.”
I nod again,
nibbling around the edges of the first pastry.
“Our current
theory is that a third party stole both parts and then sold the head
to Mirabel or gave it to her as a gift,” Adam continues.
Doesn’t
the head belong to Julian? Why aren’t we bringing it to him?
“There
are... protocols we need to follow,” is all Adam says.
I stare down into
my lap. I’m too confused to ask any further questions, so I
finish the rest of my pastry in silence.
The three of them
go quiet. I lean my head against the window and try to keep myself
awake, but the hum of the engine and tires on asphalt soon make me
unbearably drowsy, and so I close my eyes, hoping for just a moment’s
dreamless rest.
Despite myself, I
dream.
10
A Dream of
Insomnia
{Adam}
I woke up on a
couch in an unfamiliar bedroom, alone. I sat up, reached for my
glasses, surprised to be awake or even alive.
The couch was
surrounded by books of all shapes and sizes, their covers heavy with
dust. One volume halfway down a pile caught my eye. Careful not to
topple the rest of the stack, I pulled it out from underneath the
others.
Exploring the
Human Memory by Dr. Elena Ortiz, Ph. D.
The door to the
bedroom opened. I looked up with a start.
It was Julian.
“You’re awake,” he said. “How do you feel?”
I shrugged. I had
no intention of talking to him about that.
“You might
be a bit groggy for a few hours. It will pass.”
“What
happened to me?”
“Aya put you
into a state of sensory deprivation. We refer to it as a whiteout.”
“Oh.”
“I should
have warned you, Adam. It’s all but fatal to expose yourself to
sunlight.”
“I see,”
I said, pretending I hadn’t deduced that already. “All
but fatal? So... what would happen, exactly?”
“Any contact
with sunlight would untether your soul from your body,” he
explained in a level tone, “but the blood would keep your body
alive. Well, alive in the sense you are now. You’d become a
ghoul. Your entire existence would be the search for blood.”
I grimaced.
“You will
find an almanac in your desk. It lists sunrise and sunset times for
the coming year. Please be careful.”
“Right.”
“Adam...”
“Yes?”
“We have a
theory.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “We
believe that no one who has accepted their mortality can be
reawakened. That is to say, no one who is at peace with their death
can be initiated. We are all, every one of us, desperate to continue
living.”
“That’s
funny,” I said,
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