Ariel Marie

 

Thank the Gods above it is three o’clock! Time to get ready to blow this Popsicle stand!

 “Hey, Nadira, when you get a chance, I’m ready to take report,” Michelle called out from the door.

    “Give me a second!” Nadira answered quickly, typing her last notes in her patient’s chart. Her patient, Jonathan Christie, was a newly turned vampire. Found in an alley with wounds a mere mortal would have died from, he somehow survived the rogue attack, now considered a newly born vampire. A neophyte. She did one last check on the blood she hung on Mr. Christie before scurrying out of the room to give report.

     After working a twelve-hour shift, she was ready to get off work. She wouldn’t complain though; she went to nursing school so that she would have a purpose in life. Being the only daughter to the ruling vampire clan came with perks, the main one being not having to work. However, that was not Nadira. She’ll be turning three hundred and ninety-nine soon and actually loved having a steady job. Being the healer in the family a nursing career was right up her alley.

     The downside of being Nadira Olaru was that she must have a guard for protection when she left her home. Her father, the King, demanded that she be protected at all times due to their royal status. When she was in the hospital, her guard inconspicuously blended in with the patrons of the small supernatural hospital. She had tried to argue with her father about this since there had never been an incident. No one was stupid enough to try anything against her family but this was an argument that she lost.

    This morning’s plan after work was to go home, shower, and curl up with a good book. A filthy little romance book, that is. She just ordered a new one on her tablet by her favorite author that she couldn’t wait to dive in to. Her brothers always teased her unmercifully about her dirty little novels, as they called them. She didn’t care, her love life was non-existent, and there was nothing wrong with curling up to fantasize about her next book boyfriend.She briefly looked around the nursing unit, spotting Michelle’s blond head standing next to the nursing station.

    “This will be quick; it wasn’t bad tonight,” she said, sliding to stand next to Michelle.

    “That’s what I like to hear,” Michelle joked, grabbing her pen. After giving report on all of her patients, she hurried over to the locker room to grab her jacket.

    “Hey, Nadira, we’re going out for breakfast. You wanna go?” Anika asked, coming into the locker room.

    “Sure, let me just text Cyran to let him know,” she said, pulling out her cell phone, to send a quick text as they walked to the elevators.

    “You know they will still follow you,” Anika whispered, getting on the elevator.

    “I know, but I would rather it be from afar, then to have to argue with my father about it.” Few humans knew of the supernatural world and Anika was one of them.

     Meeting in their first year of nursing school, Anika and Nadira hadn’t been separated since. Once they graduated from school, Nadira helped Anika secure a job at the secret paranormal hospital, Lutheran Hospital. Lutheran Hospital was a small hospital created for supernaturals only. It was a small, undisclosed state of the art facility with a twenty-bed nursing unit. Supernaturals had the ability to heal themselves but the hospital was created for those with more severe injuries that would call for the attention of paranormal physicians. The hospital employed a mixture of human and supernatural staff.

     Anika was the sister that she always dreamed of. She accepted Nadira without hesitation the night she discovered Nadira was not human. Of course, she asked a million questions about myths, but Nadira calmly explained vampirism to Anika. She explained to Anika that she was born a vampire and was the youngest of five children. She shared what life was like with four older alpha vampires as brothers. As a vampire, she was unable to tolerate the sun for long periods. The humans created the myths that vampires would combust if they go out in the sun.

     They could go out in the sun, but it would drain all of their supernatural strength and powers, making them almost human. Her family was the ruling vampire clan with her father, Vladimir Olaru, being the king of vampires.

    “Who all is coming?” she asked Anika once they were seated in her silver Toyota Camry.

     “Lisa, Mel and Robin will be meeting us there.”

     “I haven’t seen Robin in forever! Where has she been?” she asked.

     “She’s been working on the East Coast. She got a job as a freelance photographer and has been moving around a lot.”

      Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of Lilly’s twenty-four-hour diner, which was well known for its breakfast, bakery, and coffee. They quickly jumped out of the car and went into the restaurant, where they found their friends already seated.

     The girls were dressed up, probably coming from a late night of partying. As soon as Anika and Nadira sat down, the waiter grabbed their orders.Working the weird hours of three in the afternoon to three in the morning leaves the twenty-four-hour bakery quite empty, leaving the girls to enjoy the whole restaurant to themselves.

     “You sure you don’t want anything to eat, Nadira?” Mel asked, laughing as their plates were delivered.

      “I’m not hungry. I just need a good cup of Joe and I’m good!” She laughed slightly, giving her usual cover story. None of the other girls knew that she was not human. “Where did you guys go tonight?” she asked, changing the subject.

     Vampires were not able to tolerate food. They were able to drink liquids, but their stomachs just could not digest food. Nadira was born a vampire and never had real human food. Liquids and blood were the natural diet for vampires.

     “Well, I wish I had your willpower with this good food! I know the minute I swallow this food, it’s going straight to my hips!” Robin groaned, taking a big bite into her pancakes. “We went to that new club down on West Sixth Street called Treasure.”

     The bell over the door rang, signaling patrons entering the diner. She glanced out the large window by their table, noting two black unmarked cars parked on the street in front of the restaurant. Her vampire vision allowed her to see that the first car was empty and the second car held her guard, Cyran, waiting for her to finish hanging out. A prickling feeling coursed down her arms at the same time the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention.

     That’s weird..........

 

 

Copyright © 2015 by Ariel Marie

 

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