She is Immortal
Born of the Aryan People Millennia ago
She is alone,
There were others like her
Some good, some evil
For eons she has battled the forces of Darkness
With no place of true refuge
She cannot die
For she has the grace of Krishna,
And the blood of Kali runs in her veins
In the end
She is the only one
She is Sita
The Last Vampire
West Virginia University
1998
No sooner have I returned from my brief sojourn to the past,
then I decide it's time for a change. It's been too long since I've
tried something new.
I arrive at the school early on the first day that dorms open
for the second semester. I have decided to attend college as a theater
major. As I said, it has been a long time since I've tried something
new.
Once again, I am using the name Alisa Perne.
Seymour gets out of the passenger seat of the car. He's
going to be attending the college as a creative writing major.
"So." Seymour smiles. "Where to first?"
"First," I say. "We find our rooms and then we unpack.
After that, I'll see you at dinner." I smile. "Don't forget to
mingle."
"Hey," Seymour says. "You don't have to worry about me. You
try to stay out of trouble."
"Trouble?" I grin. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Every time I let you out of my sight you get attacked by
some supernatural evil." He didn't need to remind me of that, but I
take his joke in the spirit that it was intended. Harmless.
I watch him carry his things towards his dorm. I'd offered
to help him carry the bags, but ever since I cured him of aids, he's
been very independent. Though it was my story that got him, not only
on the best seller's list, but a scholarship to this fine school we
are about to attend.
I remember to pretend to be having trouble dragging my
steamer trunk to the door. If I wanted, I could carry it one handed,
with the car in the other, but I must put on a show.
"Need some help with that?" a voice asks. I'd heard him
coming, a big boy, his steps deliberate, and he's wearing Brute.
He's freshly showered, his breath tinted with mint, gum. I know all
this and more without turning my head.
I grin shyly at him, remembering all the while that I am
Alisa Perne, 19 year old college freshman. "Hi." I say. I let none
of my age show.
I can see in his eyes, and can sense his emotions. He's not
being nice, he's hoping to get some. And soon. I smile inwardly
when I realize merely by looking at him that if I say no he
will...insist. This will be great fun.
"Sure thanks."
"My name's Biff." he says.
Of course it is. "Alisa Perne." I shake his hand, using not
even a fraction of strength, let him continue to think I'm weak.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see that Seymour has already
made a friend. They are walking towards the car to get more of
Seymour's things. I catch my breath for a second.
No, it couldn't be! I walk ahead of Biff to show him where
my room is. My mind almost stunned by what I had just seen. His
hair is longer, but he is unmistakable. The boy walking with Seymour
is Tut!
Cairo, Egypt
1344 B.C.E.
Sita was escorted into the throne room of the Pharaoh of
Egypt. The room was empty. The man who'd escorted her exited,
obviously to fetch the young monarch.
Sita silently swore to herself. She'd let herself become lax
in her financial dealings, and had found herself in debt to the
government of Egypt. And now, because of that, she was a slave. "Ah
well." she thought. "Let this serve as a lesson to teach me
responsibility." The only thing that really bothered her about this,
was the duty assigned her. It seemed that Tutankhamen had reached
the age where he might become troublesome to those ruling the
kingdom.
In order to combat the boy's growing rebelliousness against
those controlling him, it was decided to distract him with...a
companion. And Sita's beauty was just what they were looking for.
Her first day as Tut's slave was surprisingly pleasant. Tut,
for all his growing rebelliousness was rather shy, having lived most
of his life with only his few relatives, and of course, the priests
who really controlled the government.
As it turned out, he wasn't quite prepared for her beauty, or
her intelligence, much less her presence. The first day was much
like the orientation she would take millennia later at West Virginia
University.
He gave her a tour of the palace, and when that was done, he
absolutely did not know what to do with her. It was obvious to Sita
that they were both being watched by the priests, she knew where each
and every spy was. And she could tell that her young friend also
knew they were being watched, and that he feared the priests.
"So what do you want to do?" she asked.
"Ah, I don't know." Tut admitted. "What do you want to do?"
Later, Sita would be amazed at just how well that phrase caught
on. She smiled. "Do you play Senet?" He was only twelve after all.
He'd just entered puberty by the smell of him.
At her question, his face lit up. "I do." he said. "Do you?"
He turned out to be a very good player. She let him win the
first game, but he saw through her deception. Through the hours of
their playing, she learned he was a very intelligent young man.
It was also then that he started to open up to Sita. She began
to quite like him as, day after day they would play a few games of
Senet, and go for walks along the Nile. He told her of his life before
she'd come, his sisters, but he always carefully kept the conversation
away from the subject of the priests, who still watched them like
hawks.
Thanks to Sita's influence, he gained a taste for hunting,
adding to the activities they would share. She watched him as he
began collecting walking sticks, bows, and taught him how to drive a
chariot, how to swim, and he taught her how to fish.
It wasn't long before Sita realized that Tut had fallen in love
with her. And she was astonished to realize that, she loved him in
return!
West Virginia University
1998 C.E.
I meet Seymour as promised for dinner. His new friend, I'm
happy to say, isn't with him. I'm not ready to face him yet, I must
find out why he is still alive, he does not have the smell of a
vampire. And the resemblance is too strong for him to be a
reincarnation.
"So did you make any new friends today?" I ask him. Seymour is
not stupid. He can tell something is bothering me, not that I make a
huge effort to hide my emotions from him, but he is more perceptive
than most humans.
"Why?" he asks. "Have you spotted some old acquaintance that
will try to kill you?"
I ignore the question. "Who's the boy who helped you carry
your things?"
"Tommy?" Seymour asks incredulously. "He's a theater major
here. Second year. Why? You know him from somewhere?"
How much should I tell him.
"Yes I knew him a long time ago. A long LONG time ago. But
don't worry as yet. I'll find out what's going on."
Biff approaches the table. He looks from me to Seymour and his
eyes narrow.
"I'll see you later." I say, grinning.
"I see you've made some friends." Seymour said. "Try not to
hurt him too much."
"Just his pride." I say.
I cannot, simply cannot believe Biff. If ever a person
inspired by a stereotype, it is him. He does not even try to be
subtle. We eat dinner in the Dining Hall, then he offers to give me a
ride in his car. Can you say obvious? Never-the-less, I am feeling
humorous, Seymour will no doubt enjoy hearing about this tomorrow.
He parks in some out of the way area. Deciding to continue to
play the bimbo, I ask; "What are we doing here?"
"Don't act like you don't know." Biff smiles. Hmm, he's not
quite as dense as I thought.
"What-" Biff wastes no time. He kisses me, hard, well hard
for a mortal anyway. And his fingers reach for the buttons on my
shirt. It's show time!
"Stop!" I cry, pushing him away. He's surprised, not just at
the fact that I'm able to push him away, also that I would. Then he
is annoyed.
"You don't need to play hard to get." he says. "I know what
you want."
"I want to leave." I say.
"No you don't." He says and kisses me again. I push him away
once more.
"No." I say firmly. He ignores me. "I said no." I let some
of my age in this time. He draws back, but not for long.
"Uppity bitch," he mutters, tearing at my shirt. I hit him.
He's out cold. What to do?
Tut isn't in his room. Good. It is a simple matter to sneak
in his window. I know that I am being watched, but the watcher is
not worried about me, he is watching Tut. I have known for quite a
while.
I look around the room, surprised at the man that Tut appears
to have become. Sci-Fi and fantasy books occupy the same shelf as
Musical scores, and historical fiction.
His music collection ranges from Beethoven to Offspring. Quite
a complex man this Tut. His tastes had always been in opposites of
each other.
But once more I am forced to face the question, why is he
alive? I will see him tomorrow in class, but I am not ready to face
him. I must prepare.
The talk has begun already. As I walk to class I hear the
conversations around me. Biff has been found, hanging by his ankles
from the flag pole, naked. People think it is a fraternity prank.
I enter the theater, greeted immediately by piano music,
Bohemian Rhapsody to be specific. Played expertly.
Not surprisingly, I find that the pianist is Tut. He glances
up as I enter. My hair is dyed black, and cut short. He does not
recognize me.
"You look to be new here." he says, still playing.
"I am. This is Theater 102 right?"
He looks up at me for a moment, the look on his face
suggesting my voice is familiar to him, but he apparently dismisses it.
"That's right." He does not look at me again. He's
recognized me, I can sense his surprise, shock and, happiness mixed
with apprehension. The same emotions I felt when I saw him yesterday.
Cairo, Egypt
1338 B.C.E.
"Happy birthday Tut." Sita whispered in the boy's ear. He
started awake, almost screaming but Sita clapped a hand over his mouth
to stifle it.
Once he saw it was only her, he calmed down.
"Sorry," Sita apologized smiling. "I didn't mean to startle
you."
"That's all right." Tut smiled. "What was it you wanted so
early?"
"It's your eighteenth birthday." she replied. "I wanted to
give you your birthday present, and I wanted to do it in private."
The boy knew what she meant, the priests' spies.
"So they're still asleep?"
"Of course, you've never gotten up so early before."
"That's true, so what's my present?"
"Not here," she whispered. "Come on."
She led him to the stables, where they hitched up the chariot
and sped off into the rising sun. She directed him to an oasis they
visited frequently, then bade him to stop.
She took his hand and took him to the edge of the water, then,
taking his jaw in one hand and the back of his head in the other, she
kissed him.
That night, Tut returned to the palace with Sita, no longer
a virgin. For a reason that was never known to Sita, or even to Tut,
their liaison had left him with more confidence he'd ever had. And in
the end, too much.
"How dare you leave the palace grounds without permission!"
the priest remonstrated the young ruler.
"How dare I?" Tut asked incredulously. "How dare I? How dare
you? I'm Pharaoh in case you have forgotten. And perhaps you've
forgotten what that means, it means I am God, the same as was my father
before me, and I was a fool and a coward to let you and your ilk
intimidate me. Well it ends tonight." With that, Tut turned his back
on the priest and walked out.
Sita heard the argument, and she smiled, pride swelling in her.
His transformation was due in no small amount to her love and
friendship. Then Sita heard something else, the killing blow to the
back of her love's head.
As fast as she was, she arrived to late to anything but avenge
the boy's death. Then, planting a final kiss on his body, she fled,
knowing she would probably get the blame for this.
West Virginia University
1998 C.E.
It being the first day of the new semester, the teacher only
tells the new students what he expected of him. I hear and remember
every word, but my attention is focused mainly on Tut. Likewise, he
eyes me warily.
"Well," the teacher says. "That's all I really have for you
today, so unless anybody wants to do some improvs, you're dismissed."
Most of the class rushes to the stage, seems Improvisation is
quite popular.
I get up to leave, excusing myself. As I enter the hall I hear
the teacher say; "Tom? Don't you want to join in? This is usually
your thing."
"Thanks anyway Mr. Garrison." Tut says. "But I'm not feeling
all that well. But thanks anyway."
He exits the theater into the hallway. I am standing by the
door. I grab him and slam him against the wall, trapping him.
"Why are you still alive?" I get right to the point.
"I could ask the same of you." he gasps, regaining his
composure. He struggles but I hold him fast.
"You first." I say, he may not be a Vampire but there are other
means of staying alive, most are just as dangerous as I've learned.
"If you let me get some breathing room," he says. "I'll tell
you."
I release him, but hold onto his arm. "Go on," I say, letting
some of the steel out of my tone. After all this time, my feelings for
him have not changed I realize. I hope I don't have to kill him.
"I am Immortal." he says. "That day I was struck on the back
of the head by the head priest I became Immortal. We call it
Awakening."
"We?"
"Yes, there are others like me. Some good, like me, some not
so nice. We can only be killed by decapitation. When one Immortal
kills another, they gain that Immortal's power and knowledge. Now what
about you? I know you aren't like me, we can sense each other."
"I am a Vampire." I say simply, still assimilating what he's
told me. "When one Immortal kills another, you fight each other?"
"Yes, in the end, there can be only one, but not all of us
go out of our way to find other's heads. I actually have several
Immortal friends." He stares at me. "How long have you been a
Vampire?"
"Over five thousand years."
"That means you were a Vampire when I met you."
"Yes. But we are not all evil like in the legends."
"Well that's good to know."
A sudden thought occurs to me. "What is the range on your
Immortal Sensing ability?"
"What? I don't know, the immediate vicinity. Why?"
I do not answer, but not because I do not hear him. Now that
I have found him again, I'm not about to let him get away again.
Whoever is watching him may be an immortal waiting to strike.
It does not take long to find the watcher. He is in the trees
nearby, watching with a telephoto lens. He does not see me coming.
It does not matter.
I grab him quickly and spin him around. Once again I get
right to the point.
"Why are you watching him?" I ask. "And do not lie to me, I'll
know if you lie. And if I suspect for a second you are lying I will
rip off your head."
"I'm not an Immortal." he says quickly, obviously guessing my
suspicion. "I mean your friend no harm. I'm a Watcher, we watch and
record the activities of Immortals. But we don't interfere. We never
interfere. Your friend is in no danger. From me."
He is telling the truth. "What do you mean, from you? There
is another Immortal nearby?"
"His name is Paul," he says. "They've met three times before,
in 2 AD, 1565, and 1899. All three times it ended in a draw, but there
is no love lost between them."
My blood freezes. "How many heads has Paul taken since the
last meeting?"
"What?"
"You know what I mean! With each head they take they get more
powerful! Now how many?"
"Five."
"And Tut?"
"Four. Ramses, 1997; Thomas, 1912; Sarah, 1905; John, 1900."
I don't hear the rest. I am already running to where I can
smell Tut, and hear the clash of steel against steel.
I needn't have worried it seems. As I reached the battlefield
Tut's blade sliced off Paul's head. Then came the smell of ozone, and
then the light show.
The shockwave knocked me back as lightning struck in the same
place several times over. When it was over, I rose to my feet, while
Tut knelt on the ground, still dazed from the experience.
I walk to his side, kneeling by him.
"What the Hell was that?" I ask him.
"That," he said tiredly. "Was the Quickening. The power and
knowledge of Paul is now in me."
"You didn't tell me about that part." I scold. "I thought
some freak storm had come by."
"Sorry," he grins. "But you kinda left suddenly."
I kiss him hard on the mouth. "You're forgiven."
This should turn out to be quite a year.
The End
Next: James Cameron's newest blockbuster brings back memories, and an
old friend for Tut in; Unsinkable
Disclaimer: The Immortals, and Watchers belong to Rysher Entertainment.
Sita, and Seymour are the Intellectual Offspring of author Christopher
Pike. King Tut is an actual Historical Figure, and West Virginia
University is an actual College. There fore, there's no way you'll
ever pin that rap on me.