Forever Young Irina

Chapter 1

AUTHORS’ NOTE: This novel is a future sequel of sorts; a stand-alone story. It is not intended to be part of the current sequence of the Forever Young series.

April 2000, Seattle, Washington

Around eight PM Irina was through with the books and called Zoe, who said she would be there in twenty minutes. After some ten minutes, she was surprised to hear tires crunching on the gravel outside, so she turned off the last light and wheeled herself through the door, locking it. No car was in sight, so she assumed that someone had just used Ike’s parking area to turn around. It was balmy and pleasant, and not raining at all, so she decided to just wait there under the porch light for Zoe. Ike had painted the office that day and she was glad to be away from the smell.

The sound of feet walking in gravel caught her ear and she turned toward that sound to see who might be walking along the road in the dark. From the gloom beyond the small circle of light she began to make out a form moving steadily toward her. She called out We’re closed. Do you need to make a phone call?

The figure stopped and then to her horror, its eyes began to glow and it rocketed for her at an unbelievable speed. In a flash it was on her, toppling her wheel chair and spilling her out onto the ramp. She screamed. Her stomach churned at the fetid odor of its breath even as a sharp stabbing pain shot up her shattered and cast-bound leg as she hit the ramp, the creature atop her. Irina screamed again. With an iron grip, it crushed her toward itself as it bit her neck, fastening its ghoulish mouth there. Irina struggled mightily in spite of the stabbing pain from her injured leg. As the creature grunted in pleasure while noisily sucking blood from her, it sought her carotid artery.

As she screamed and struggled in its grip she realized that it was going to kill her. Her mind flashed back to that awful day at school only two months earlier that had brought her to this horrible moment. Why didn’t I just stay home that day? So this is what it’s like to know that you’re about to die…….

Her mind flashed back to the beginning of that fateful day.

Chapter 2

March 2000, Seattle Washington

The electric alarm buzzed angrily prompting Irina to burrow down into the covers, trying to ignore it. As the grogginess of a truly sound sleep receded, she realized that it wasn’t the buzzer telling her she had answered the $100,000 dollar question correctly on the game show she had just been dreaming about. It was only the reality of her bleak life in the real world intruding, signaling rudely that another school Monday was beginning.

Slapping angrily at it she finally silenced it on the fourth try and nearly succeeded in nodding back off within some thirty seconds when her dog Pepper bounded up onto the bed and began to nuzzle and kiss her.

Mmmm! Go ‘way, Peps! No kissy now! No! No! and then she opened her eyes to see her best pal standing over her, head cocked and eyes locked on hers as his tail wagged at a furious pace. Now hopelessly awake she reluctantly accepted that it was indeed Monday and that she was going to get up and go to school again.

An auto-pilot of sorts took over as she swung her long legs over the side of her bed, sticking her feet into her badly-worn house slippers and trudging off to the kitchen. Pepper followed and was prancing in circles as if to say ‘Hurry up Irina! You are not the only one here that needs relief!’ He bolted out the back door as quickly as she had opened it a crack, on his way to water the neighbors’ bushes.

Soon she emerged from the bathroom having washed her hands and face in cold water, and her auto-pilot began to speed up her weekday routine. Coffee was percolating in the ancient Dormeyer coffee pot, one so old that it was actually made in America. Two eggs were boiling as she took two carrots and an apple from the refrigerator, putting them in a paper bag to await the two boiled eggs. She broke and fried three eggs in butter in a cast-iron skillet that she was sure had come over on the Mayflower as she poured herself a half-cup of coffee and added a dribble of half & half. Never allowing herself more than a half cup of coffee a day, she sipped it gingerly as she added salt and pepper and flipped the eggs perfectly, thinking I could always just drop out and get a job as a short-order cook at Harold’s Diner.

The reality was that she was sometimes tempted to just quit high school and do something like that, but she had dreamt of becoming a successful accountant and even of opening her own firm one day. If she succumbed to her desire to escape the hell that her high school had become, she was doomed to a life of mediocrity and want. That was not acceptable to her and regardless of the exceptionally hellish week she had just endured, she only had three months before graduation. After that she would forever be removed from the daily dread of attending a school where she was often the focus of cruel taunts and pranks.

She could put in for a transfer, but the idea of doing that was nearly unthinkable to her. The thought of finishing school back in Delridge was not anything that was bothersome to her, but the thought that the Clique would count it a victory that they had finally succeeded in driving her out was more than she could take. No matter how bad it got, she was resolved to stay the course to deny them the satisfaction of seeing her leave.

Last week had been a tough one as she nearly went over the edge and came close to punching out one of the girls in the Clique. Instead she calmed herself and made her countenance neutral, enduring the insults with no sign that she had even heard them even while she seethed with indignation inwardly. In her heart, she knew that she had galled them all that much more, being as they got no discernible reaction from her, as always.

Still in the groove of her weekday morning routine, she finished her breakfast, drank the rest of her orange juice, rinsing her plate, cup and utensils. Then she peeked into her mother’s room and saw her passed out across the bed.

She had obviously gotten up during the night because as usual, Irina had half-carried her to bed the previous night and had tucked her in. No doubt she had used the bathroom and had taken yet another couple of rounds of the cheap gin she kept hidden in the bottom drawer of her dresser.

Picking up a few things that her mom had strewn about as she made her way to the back door, she turned off the boiling eggs and automatically put the things where they belonged as she made her way through the kitchen, noting that the rest of the house was picked up just as she had left it before turning in last night.

Pepper was standing there patiently, and began to wag his tail vigorously as he heard her approach the door. C’mon Peps she said as she turned back into the kitchen and gave him the last egg she had fried along with a slice of cheap bologna.

Off to the bedroom she dressed rapidly yet carefully, selecting an outfit assembled from the best clothing that the local Goodwill store had to offer. Satisfied at last, she saw herself in the cracked mirror of her dresser, wearing her only school jeans and a cream colored blouse with a slightly frayed left cuff. Cheap but clean white sneakers, saved for wear only to school were her everyday footwear. A champagne colored cardigan style sweater draped over her shoulders and held in place by a cheap brass chain-clasp finished her outfit for the day.

Staring back at her was a tallish honey-blonde girl with an athletic yet decidedly feminine figure, and a creamy complexion. Violet-blue eyes sat behind rather thick eyeglasses, framed in the cheapest plastic frames available at the Wal Mart vision center. A pert nose slightly turned up at the tip blended with high cheekbones in her oval-shaped face. Her sensual lips had a pronounced pout, giving her a petulant look unless she smiled, which was rare.

Satisfied, she walked briskly to the bathroom once more to brush her teeth and apply the little bit of lipstick she customarily used. As she did due diligence on her protruding teeth, she thought longingly of the day that she would finally be done with wearing the braces that she hated so much. No doubt those braces and her upper teeth contributed greatly to the pronounced pout she seemed to always display.

They had been painful last week when Mr. Minkus, her dentist had finished adjusting them. Nonetheless, she was thankful that her best friend, his daughter had known of the special social program for dental work of this type, and had helped ensure that Irina had qualified for it. Truth to tell, she should have had braces shortly after her permanent teeth had come in, but her dad had been saving money for that when he had died, and the badly-needed braces had been forgotten by her mother as she settled into a life of work from 2 PM to 10 PM Mondays through Saturdays. Drunkenness in her mother’s off hours competed with brief periods of sobriety and usually won out, with some sobering up on Sundays if the weather was nice enough.

Feeling a warm regard for Zoe Minkus, she finished her teeth and used hydrogen peroxide first, and followed with mouthwash, even as she combed her naturally wavy hair. She was losing the lighter blonde hair she had had throughout her childhood as her hair had begun to gradually darken slightly after puberty. Still there were some pale blonde highlights scattered throughout her honey-blonde hair, reluctant remnants of her younger days which stubbornly refused to change color. She hated them because of the taunts she received, The most common one being ‘Calico cat, the bucktoothed bat’ which pretty much described her hair color, her dental braces, and her nearsightedness. Wishing that her hair was one color so as to be one less thing that the Clique could tease her about, she vigorously brushed the thick wavy mass and clipped a barrette into place.

Ready at last to catch the special bus, she wrapped her two boiled eggs in wax paper and policed the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of her breakfast. Then she let Pepper out to fertilize the neighborhood lawns, if they could be called that. The tired blue collar neighborhood truly only boasted four lawns worthy of that designation along her block, being fenced all of the way along the aging sidewalks of the western peninsula area of Seattle known as Delridge.

As she rode along in the special bus, Irina realized how badly her neighborhood had deteriorated since the Free-Trade legislation had passed in congress years earlier.

She was grateful that she had qualified to be taken across town to this school as part of a special program, and even more grateful that she had qualified for the college tuition-aid grant. Amazingly it had seemingly dropped into her lap in her freshman year after the first semester when she had posted a perfect 4.0 average. Kids who commonly attended school in Bellevue were likely to be from posh neighborhoods such as Windermere and Laurelhurst. There were only eight kids on her special bus which was really only a large Ford van, furnished by the Elsie Foundation.

It could have been a truly good experience attending this school but for the Clique and their ceaseless cruelty. Still, she had maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA and was on-track to get her scholarship in only three months. With that thought foremost in her mind she girded herself for another day at school, already planning to circle the campus and enter through the cafeteria supply door to avoid the Clique.

As the small special bus came to a stop and the driver operated the special electric sliding cargo door, she sat in the back, slumped down in her seat as all of the others got off. The driver Mr. Glover waited patiently, reading the newspaper while Irina peeked now and then to see if any members of the Clique were lurking nearby. If so they would pounce on her with whatever cruel remarks they had thought up over the weekend while at their parent’s country club, whether playing tennis indoors, or golfing or sailing on Puget Sound or whatever rich kids did. Can you take me down the way some, Mr. Glover?

Sure can. Glover closed the doors and moved the bus up some three hundred feet and opened them again, saying All clear, Irina.

She rose from her seat and on the way out she looked at him and giving a rare smile, she said Thank you, Mr. Glover.

Pulling his sunglasses down on his nose briefly he smiled and said You’re welcome, Irina. Don’t let ‘em get you down, girl. You belong here.

The cafeteria service door was propped open due to the delivery service and Irina scurried to it as fast as she could, thankful that today at least, she could enter her special high school hell unnoticed.

Chapter 3

This is N two niner zero tango easy fox requesting permission for takeoff.

After a brief interlude, a tinny male voice replied Tango easy fox cleared for takeoff runway three.

Roger that, control. replied pilot Dominique Delaine as she nodded to the man beside her in the co-pilot’s seat. He shoved the throttles forward to full power and the plane accelerated smoothly. Shortly they rotated gracefully and became airborne in half of the length of the runway. In two minutes the sleek Gulfstream had climbed through the cloud cover, leaving Seattle’s Sea-Tac international airport as it banked and turned gracefully south over the Pacific. Shortly they were at cruising altitude and had been handed off to ARTCC. Dominique turned to Ian, saying You can switch to autopilot now.

I know Dom, but I like flying her myself.

Dominique settled herself a bit more comfortably in her seat then, removing her headset and adjusting the loudspeaker volume as Ian scanned the instruments like a pro. You could easily get your license at any time, you know.

Mmm, yes. I need to do that really before personal ID’s become more sophisticated.

She knew he referred to an alias that he would use for any such thing. Members of her vampire family were highly secretive about such things, as she had learned even before being invited to become a member. In fact any of the eleven other vampires riding in the passenger area could easily qualify for a license to fly a Gulfstream jet, but none save Ian could as easily take lessons and in-flight tests during daytime hours. Indeed, had not she been a qualified commercial pilot before becoming a vampire, she would have had the same problem on account of her limited tolerance to daylight.

She reflected on her past and how she had unwillingly become a vampire, being bitten by a rogue and rescued by a member of the family and brought over to eventually become a member. What had seemed like a disaster to her at the time had in fact become at the least an acceptable and often even enjoyable way of life. At age twenty-six she had entered a lifestyle that she could never have dreamt of. Speculating on that, she sat lost in thought as the Gulfstream bored its way gracefully through the bright blue sky, heading to the southeast.

***

Having landed at Sao Paulo, Brazil four hours ago they had easily cleared customs, via special VIP treatment skillfully arranged in advance by a family member. The group of thirteen vampires was enroute to Rio de Janeiro in a special small bus, a custom chassis version featuring window shades and which was leased anonymously. A carefully planted story was that they were a group of wealthy tourists from Hawaii who owned businesses both along the way and in Rio itself. They had passed through Taubate over two hours ago and were now in the most mountainous part of the trip, the last fifty miles.

Dominique knew that a leased Gulfstream was awaiting them at Rio’s international airport. What she didn’t know was that the lease was in the name of a shell corporation domiciled in the Nevis Islands of the Caribbean. She had asked Ian why they were changing planes and he had explained that owing to the resources available to the vampires they were going to attack, no precaution was too great to take. So it was that they were taking a roundabout way to Italy on a clandestine killing mission.

She hoped to be included in the final phase, but she had a feeling that she would be refused, having never done any real fighting since becoming a member of this clan. To be sure, she had endured and even embraced many hours of training, whether it be unarmed hand-to-hand combat, or with special weapons ranging from swords to small arms. To date though, the clan had been unwilling to risk their only international pilot on missions to take down covens of rogue vampires.

In an hour and a half, they were wheels-up and turning out over the Atlantic under a sickle moon, bound for Venice, Italy. As the miles slipped by, Ian sat in the passenger compartment with the others, studying maps of the Adige river valley and the area east of Verona. He thought we can’t plan too carefully for this raid. The Verrazano Coven is not to be underestimated. Thinking ahead to the rendezvous to be made with their allies from Germany and Austria, he was warmed at the prospect of renewing old friendships. He had not seen some of them since the Balkan conflict in Serbia in the mid 90’s. So it was that he sat lost in study as he pored over the maps and mentally went over a list of the weapons that would be waiting for them after they had departed from Venice.

Chapter 4

The day hadn’t gone too badly for a Monday. Irina had seen members of the Clique twice, but they seemed to not be looking for her and as usual most were parading about with their boyfriends between classes, each vying with the other to be seen by as many people as possible with their chosen jock.

She had an economics class coming up which she now dreaded due to two of the Clique being enrolled in that class at that period. After that it would be lunch time and she would have lunch with Zoe, eating outside if it was not raining, which was dicey in the Seattle area in March.

Economics was not as bad as she had feared, but twice Mr. Woods had called on her to answer two tough questions when no one had raised their hand. Irina never raised her hand except to ask clarification of some point. She dreaded being asked to furnish an answer because she knew that she would be ridiculed in some way for knowing the answer and daring to show anyone that she did.

The first time it happened, Sharon, one of the Clique muttered something and students near her tittered in laughter as Irina blushed. Just as she had thought she would get out of that class with just that one barb she was again asked by Mr. Woods to answer a question. She did so and he said it seems that there is at least one person in here today who read last week’s assignment. Very good, Irina. He reached and pulled the retractable screen so that it returned to its housing near the top of the blackboard, revealing tomorrow’s assignment. This is what we’ll cover tomorrow and yes, there’ll be a quiz.

About then Sharon muttered something and again some of the guys near her laughed, causing Mr. Woods to stop what he was doing and say "Sharon that’s the second time this period that you’ve interrupted class. Would you mind standing up please and sharing what is so funny with me?

Now the unintended focus of the entire class, Sharon blushed and said Ummm….I have nothing to share, Mr. Woods.

I see. Then do you not have an apology to make to the class, Sharon?

What! Apologize? I…ummm…I am sorry Mr. Woods. she said as she blushed and sat down. There were scattered laughs throughout the classroom then, as she blushed and riveted her focus on the top of her desk. The moment hung there, seemingly prolonged by the silence until finally, the bell rang and everyone busied themselves to go to the cafeteria.

As Irina made ready to leave, she glanced out the window and saw to her dismay that it was raining steadily. Sighing deeply she made her way through the hallway to her locker, knowing that she would be eating inside today. As she made her way to the cafeteria, Irina wondered if Sharon would somehow blame her for her own blunder.

Entering the noisy cafeteria, she glanced anxiously about, not wanting to sit anywhere uninvited. She had decided that if Zoe was not there, she would report to study hall and skip lunch rather than sit alone or dare to sit at a table with any of the students who lived in the Bellevue School District. What she didn’t know was that they weren’t all as bad as the girls in the Clique, but they were afraid to become targets themselves for seeming to be friendly with anyone that the Clique had targeted. As for herself, she avoided everyone except Zoe and had long since been branded as a homely, awkward, and curious but bright loner, who was just naturally antisocial. In fact she was an introvert, but not an antisocial one.

About to turn and leave, she heard her name called and saw Zoe stand up and wave with a big smile. She was standing near an empty table in the furthest corner of the cafeteria so Irina made her way over and sat down, placing her lunch bag on the table across from Zoe’s tray.

How’s your day so far? asked Zoe as she took a bite of macaroni and cheese.

Shrugging Irina replied It was good until Economics. Now I think the rest of the day will be bad.

Oh? What happened?

Irina gave her friend a summary of the events in the preceding hour as Zoe sighed and shook her head saying Maybe she was embarrassed enough to want to forget it. Then giggling she said I wish I’d seen that!

Irina took a bite of her boiled egg and a swig of bottled water as she shook her head. I saw how she looked at me as we were going out the door. She blames me for her own stupidity.

That witch! Just once I would like to see something backfire on that whole bunch, and their boyfriends too!

Irina had decided to change the subject when she heard some chairs being dragged back and noticed that Zoe had frozen; staring over her shoulder like a deer caught staring into the headlights of an approaching car. Turning to follow Zoe’s gaze, she saw three of the Clique and their boyfriends dragging chairs up to their table. Students at the nearest table got up and gave them their chairs, walking away.

Well four-eyes, are you enjoying your lunch today? said Sharon as the others stared daggers at Irina. She turned to face Zoe again and said nothing, calmly taking another bite from her boiled egg and a drink of water. By now the area near their table was hushed as everyone strained to hear what was taking place before their eyes.

S’matter, cat got your tongue? sneered another as Zoe froze in place, staring in silence at them while Irina ignored them, taking a bite of a carrot and another swig of water. Inside she was burning with anger that they were including her only friend in their hatred of her.

Zoe, it smells bad in here. If I didn’t know better, I‘d swear that there was a herd of swine at the other end of our table. said Irina as Zoe blanched in abject fear, swallowing and staring in horror at her friend for daring to say such a thing.

At the next table someone said Ooooooo! and some laughter started and then was choked off as Billy Basher, the captain of the football team stood up angrily.

With a flaming red face he looked angrily at the occupants of the nearby tables shouting What’s so damned funny?

The silence that followed by now had spread to three or four tables besides the nearest one as a couple of students stood up to see what was happening at