Vivienne

When Faye scanned the interior she was even more mesmerized than before.  Four chairs seemed to seamlessly curve out from the floor and were outlined in a soft blue neon.  Faye couldn’t quite figure out if the seating was a computer chair or some space age egg.  She pointed at the plush seat, “Star Trek.  I mean all the seats have buttons on them.”  She marveled at the spacious compartment covered in padded black leather, and floor with a rubberized carpet that seemed to be made for comfort and safety. “Is it really necessary to have six windows on each side, Vivienne?”

Vivienne removed her chiffon cape and hung it on the back of the space-egg she’d picked and sat down. “Might I inquire what you meant by saying Star Trek?”  Vivienne furled her eyebrow and pointed to the windows. “They weren’t a choice.  I do believe that is part of the design for this type of helicopter.”  Vivienne went over the buttons on the chair. “These are for various functions that the company was lovely enough to integrate.  The top set is for entertainment.  We can follow the news, watch a movie, play some sort of puzzle games and even listen to your favorite music.”  She buckled herself into the chair and leaned back. “The second row is for deploying your tables.”  Pressing the first button, Vivienne watched a small square open from the floorboard.  A twisted set of metal tubes with soft white-yellow light slowly spun upward and locked into place.  Pushing up from the center of the little metal stand, five blue leaves opened like a tubular flower in moonlight.  Vivienne pointed to the calming violet light in the center. “I thought making them look like moonflowers was fitting for, yes?”  She continued,  “There are two that you can use for various things.”  Vivienne pointed to the small thumbstick below the buttons. “This turns your chair.  It will allow you to access the compartments behind you or give you a better look out of the six windows you were complaining about.”

Faye sat down and buckled herself in and started laughing as she started playing with her chair by going in slow circles. “I didn’t complain about the windows.”  She watched as the doors closed with a hydraulic hiss. “So cool.”  Faye raised her eyebrow and turned her chair to face Vivienne, then pointed to her girlfriend. “Engage.”

“What?”  Vivienne stated and looked up with a silly smile on her face. “I do believe that I understand.  A pop culture reference of some meaning?”

Faye held up her hand and made a Vulcan salute. “Nothing?”  Not seeing any reaction from her girlfriend, Faye put her hand down. “No fun.  Curious though, why can I remember something like this, but I can’t remember my family or what we did?”

“Incorrect.  I was trying to recall where I had seen that before.”  Vivienne pulled out her phone and typed for a second and handed it to Faye. “That is from the Jewish faith, a ritual I have only seen a couple times.”  She pointed to the phone. “The letter Shin.”

Faye chuckled for a second and waved both of her hands with a huff, “Stop.”  Faye closed the web browser and handed Vivienne back her phone. “I still don’t know why I am remembering random things like that and nothing important.”

“Alas, something I can help with.  I am a doctor.”  The vampiress winked. “I confess that the subject of the mind isn’t something I am overly familiar with.”  The whine of Nightingale’s turboshaft engines went to full power and slowly the helicopter lifted into the air. “Regaining memory is much like finding keys to a lock.  Turn the right key and the memory returns.”  Vivienne pointed to the control panels on the chair. “Those reminded you of something.”

“A television show, Vivienne.  When I said engage, that was a line commonly used in the show.”  Faye sighed, “You and I have lots of TV to watch.”

Vivienne started laughing, “Mon amour…” Admiring the half-frustrated look in Faye’s almond shaped green eyes, Vivienne admired her girlfriend’s blended features a bit longer before finishing. “Beautiful, intelligent…hidden behind adorable glasses when I first saw you…”  Vivienne blinked, “...You have this whole world before you now and you want to watch television.”  Vivienne bit her bottom lip for a split second, “...and you call me boring for watching humans interact.”

“Robot.”  Faye started laughing as well. “That does seem very boring.  At least the TV will be somewhat entertaining.”  Using the thumbstick Faye turned her chair once again and opened a small refrigerator. “Hey, real blood.” Seeing the plastic bag and smelling the rich iron emanating from it made Faye’s throat begin burning.  She grabbed the first pouch and turned back to face Vivienne, a desperate look crossing her face. “I…wa..burning..but…um..”  She pointed at her throat. “I want to tear into this, Viv.  Without ruining the dress.”

“Interesting.  Martin didn’t tell me about the snacks.”  She held up her finger. “Don’t do anything yet.”  Vivienne felt the odd tingling sensation of a hunt about to begin. “I am out of practice, but what you have in your hand doesn’t seem right.”

Faye sniffed the bag again, “It smells like blood.” She shrugged, “It’s just cold.”

“Throw it to me.”  Vivienne politely asked.  She caught the bag once Faye softly lobbed it over.  Studying it closely, Vivienne smiled. “The label is wrong.  This says it is blood, but the label is incorrect.”  Vivienne looked up and studied Faye’s eyes once more. “You aren’t in desperate need of blood, the ring around your eyes is barely visible.  Do not drink this.”  Vivienne nodded and pointed, “Put this back where you found it.”

“Ah…um…sure.”  Faye caught the bag when Vivienne threw it back to her. “What are you doing now?”  She inquired after she put the bag back in the refrigerator. 

“Texting Martin.”  Vivienne sent her inquiry, “Someone on his staff had to have done it.  I have never known him to bring actual blood, it has always been mixed with alcohol to disguise the scent from others.”

Faye shook her head, “You can’t trust Martin, you know.”  She pointed at the phone. “The answer will be that he knows nothing about it.”  Ignoring the pain in her throat, Faye continued. “He has to answer that way regardless.  Either he knows and is lying or he doesn't know and is telling the truth, it’s the same answer and tells you nothing.”

Vivienne snapped her fingers, “I jumped the gun, it would seem.”  Shaking her head, “I acted too quickly to the news, much like I did with Doctor Smith.  I told you I am slipping.”  Vivienne heard the monster in the back of her mind laughing.

Faye saw the change in Vivienne’s eyes, “Viv? I know that look.” Unbuckling herself from the seat she fluidly moved to Vivienne’s chair, kneeling down. “It’s me.”  Faye clamped her hands on Vivienne’s cheeks. “Listen to my voice, Vivienne.  It’s just that…thing.”  Faye could see the raging conflict in Vivienne’s precious blue eyes. -Eyes.-  Faye’s mind echoed the word, “Vivienne. Look at my eyes.  You said you wanted to bask in them for a century…Stay with me.”

-Betrayed.  Your clever webs are broken.  Down here in the dark with me is where it is peaceful, quiet.  Just the way you…want it.  Left all alone.-  Vivienne felt herself reaching for the vortex of black that promised peace.  Suddenly there were sparkles and shapes twinkling in the dark, a kaleidoscope outlined in a loving green. -Faye.-  Vivienne pushed the inky black from her conscience and heard a maniacal as it faded in the distance. “F..Faye?”

“I’m here…I’m here.”  Faye quickly kissed her girlfriend. “Come back.  Say your name for me please…”

Half dazed, the ancient vampire tried to answer the question she’d heard. -So many names.  Which one is right? Is there a right answer?-  She asked herself while she followed the sparkles back to reality. “V-Vivienne M-Moreau.”  Vivienne blinked her blue eyes and confidently gazed at Faye. “Vivienne Moreau, Mon amour. Yes..”  She leaned down and flurry kissed Faye on her lips and cheeks. “...I am going to gaze into your luscious eyes for at least a century.”

Getting back to her feet, Faye tried to sit in Vivienne’s lap but found she couldn’t get comfortable. “I found the only flaw in this beastly machine.”  Faye kissed Vivienne on the cheek once more and sat back in her chair. “Alright, we know the blood label in there is wrong.”  Faye looked up in thought. “How many people knew we’d be in Nightingale?”

“I assure you the list was very short.”  Vivienne turned her chair and looked in her own refrigerator, “I have the same thing here.”  She sniffed and read the package. “It certainly smells like blood, but this is wrong.”  Vivienne pointed to the huge letter ‘S’ on the package. “There is no such thing as blood type S.”

Faye nodded her head and licked her lips. “That is making me hungry, Vivienne.  I can smell it much better now that it is out of the fridge, but I think I knew it was there before?” She raised her eyebrow, having partly confused herself. “The two bags I had at the house I knew were there the entire time.  I think.”  Faye flopped back in her chair thinking about her initial moments as a vampire. “There was just so much, I didn’t think about it at the time.”

Vivienne looked away from the package when her phone beeped. “Mon amour, this was just as you suspected.  He denies any knowledge.”  Looking back down at the blood bladder Vivienne started reading the label carefully. “These dots don’t belong.  They are odd.”  Vivienne looked outside and saw the full moon. “I have it.  Look here.”  Vivienne got up and walked to Faye, “Each one of these means a phase of the moon.  New is blank, the others mean quarter, half and full.” Vivienne walked over and glanced at the clock on her phone. “Nightingale will get us to Petersburg in about thirty minutes.  That is how long we have to figure out the mystery.  So much blood though.”

Faye turned and pulled a bag from her own cooler, “They are identical.  Same things.  A peace offering?”

“There are many possibilities.  Whoever did this, knew enough about vampires and knows I am a doctor.  This is a code of some sort.”  Vivienne held up her finger. “It is probably safe to drink, I don’t smell anything added to this.  Let’s try and figure out the message first.”

“I said before it could be a trap, but now I am not so sure.”  Faye frowned and pressed the button for the radio, where a robotic voice calmly asked, “Genre please.”  Faye chuckled and shook her head, “I swear I am on the Enterprise.”  Faye then answered the question being posed to her from the radio. “R&B please.”  Faye heard the soothing low tunes start from within her egg-chair. “You know…”  Faye paused to consider saying what was on her mind, “...We could take all of this with us to meet Franco Tarsey tomorrow night.  It is possible that he’s the one that did this.”

Vivienne sat quietly and thought about what her progeny was suggesting. -Trust.  It means you have to trust them.-  Vivienne told herself, “I wonder what its function is.”  Vivienne pulled up Martin’s number and looked to Faye. “I agree.  Tarsey is the least likely to betray us since he wants my help.”  She kept looking at the package, “I still don’t know why he would send a letter then what looks to be a coded message in blood.”  Vivienne raised her eyebrow. “Normal packaging tells a doctor who, where, when and how long ago the blood was collected.  Along with the huge lettering denoting the blood type.”

Faye smiled, “This has elements on it.”

“Indeed.” Vivienne slowly read them. “Yttrium, Livermorium, Iodine.  Then a chemical compound is listed C₂₁H₃₀O₂.”