Eternal Love Chapter Three
The jumbo jet hit the tarmac screeching and belching as the reverse thrusters slowed the plane until it stopped completely. The Rome sun had just risen and was beating down on the airport. In the first class cabin two passengers donned sun glasses and lowered the window shades in their aisle. It seemed forever for the jet way to connect to the plane so they could disembark. They each had a small suitcase which had fit perfectly in the overhead compartment. It was all they had brought with them to Italy. They removed the luggage, and the taller man, the blond, left a book he had been reading on his seat. It was an Italian/English dictionary. He had mastered the Italian language during the flight. He spoke it in the modern vernacular, better than his companion Ernest did. They headed straight to customs and immigration.
They approached the immigration officer as a couple. He opened his mouth to ask the usual questions: Where were you born? What is the purpose of your visit? How long will you be staying? Etc. But he looked into Ernest's eyes and said not a word. He took his stamp instead, and stamped two invisible passports.
The custom's officer was no more inquisitive, and waived them right through. They entered the main terminal of the airport and looked around. There were plenty of shops, boutiques and watering holes for them to spend time in while waiting for the sun to go down. Ernest found an ATM machine and said to Bookey, "Come with me."
At the ATM machine he pulled out his debit card from his wallet, and said to Bookey, "By the time we get to the hotel tonight, there will be a duplicate card at the front desk in your name, Gianni Marioso. That was my lover's name and since we don't dare use your real name, I thought we would honor his memory by renaming you."
Gianni threw his arms around Ernesto. "I am so humbled," he said. He held back tears because he knew he would shed blood.
"I just wanted to show my love for you," Ernesto said. "My pin number is 1702, the year of my immortal birth. I have assigned you a pin number of 2008, the year of your immortal birth." Gianni was speechless.
Ernesto inserted his card and withdrew one thousand Euros from the machine. That was the maximum that was allowed. "We'll get more at the hotel tomorrow," he said.
They spent the day window shopping and snoozing in the terminal's waiting room. Sometime during the day, they each purchased clothing which they believed would make them look like residents and not tourists. Finally, Gianni nudged Ernesto, who had dozed off, and informed him that it was almost dark. They left the terminal and took a waiting cab to their hotel, which Ernesto had pre-booked in Toronto. The front desk clerk gave them an envelope when they checked in. It was Gianni's debit card, which he placed carefully in his wallet. Previously, he made sure that his wallet contained no remnants of his former life. He even reluctantly destroyed pictures of his parents. Silently, he wished them a good life.
Shortly after they settled into their hotel room, they showered and put on the clothing that they had purchased in the airport. They wore identical silk shirts, very narrow cotton trousers, socks and narrowing tapered leather shoes. Neither wore underwear and both looked very Italian, except for Gianni's Nordic looks.
Standing in front of the hotel, the teacher asked his student if he would like to find their quarry for this evening. Gianni smiled. "Thank you for your faith in me Ernesto." He sniffed the air and looked up the street. At the corner there stood two prostitutes plying their trade. "Come!" Gianni said.
Before they reached the ladies of the night, Gianni said, "The red head on the right is a single mother. Her husband deserted her and she is doing this to support her infant son. The brunette on the left does this because she is a whore and loves cock. Would you mind sharing tonight Ernesto? If we are still hungry we will find another."
I share my existence with you, love. I will share my dinner. Ernesto approached the red head and gave her some money. "Take the night off, my lovely," he said, "and spend some time with your son." She took the money, thanked her benefactor and ran off.
"How about me?" the other whore asked.
"We are both married and have no place to go. Do you have someplace to take us? We would both like to share your delights," Gianni said in perfect Italian.
The woman smiled coyly and said, "I can't be giving two pleasures for the price of one. You will both have to pay, and in advance." She named her price, and accepted imaginary money from Ernesto. She slipped the phantom Euros into her bra. "Follow me," she said, "it's only a short distance. She led them to a run down building and up a flight of stairs to a studio apartment. The bed she beckoned them to was filthy, and smelled of semen, urine and feces. Ernesto and Gianni were appalled. "Let's make short work of her," Gianni telepathically said to Ernesto, who nodded in total agreement.
The woman stripped in seconds. She put the imaginary Euros in a dresser drawer, and lay on the bed seductively. Her clients lay down with her fully clothed. She was about to ask why they didn't undress when one of them kissed her on the neck. With that kiss she felt sexual desire that she had not felt in years. Tiny little pin pricks made her shiver and she felt that she was swooning. Then she felt the other gentlemen kissing her neck on the other side. The pin pricks made her shiver all over and she felt an orgasm coming on. Before she could think about it, or be amazed, she passed out as her orgasm overcame her.
When they were done with her, Gianni asked "Did you have enough, my darling?"
"I'm satisfied for now, Gianni, but we'll have to feed again tomorrow. Hopefully, we can find two victims tomorrow to satisfy us for several days."
The lovers slit the woman's neck in order to disguise their teeth marks. They left the room and closed the door behind them.
We didn't get much sleep today," Ernesto observed. "I think I'd like to go back to the hotel, make love to you and sleep through the day tomorrow."
"You'll find me your willing slave," Gianni agreed smiling. Without caring who might see them in this derelict neighborhood, Gianni reached over and kissed Ernesto.
"Faggots," someone yelled, and suddenly a teen aged boy was coming at them with a baseball bat. Instinctively, Gianni, the athlete, stopped the boy's advance by grabbing his arm. Gianni had forgotten his new strength and the boy's arm snapped right off. Before he could scream out in pain, Ernesto clamped his hand over the boy's mouth.
"Feed," he hissed at Gianni. Gianni picked up the arm and drank it dry while Ernesto drank from the wound in the boy's torso.
Ernesto pulled away from the stricken boy. "He's still alive. Drink," he said to Gianni, who finished drinking what he could before the boy died.
"I'm strangely not hungry now," Ernesto said laughing.
"Neither am I," Gianni echoed. "Let's get out of here."
Their sexual desires were at a peak after such feasting, and they hurried back to the hotel. They put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door and double locked it. With the speed of lightening, they were naked in bed together, taking little nips from all over their bodies. They were intoxicated by the taste of their blood.
"Fuck me," Gianni yelled suddenly. "I need you inside of me so badly." Ernesto turned Gianni on his back and raised his legs. He positioned his cockhead at Gianni's abyss of desire. They never needed lubricant. Their ass holes were always slick with blood, especially after feeding. Ernesto slipped in easily and began stroking slowly, trying to prolong his orgasm, but to no avail. The second he came, and his blood began to spurt into Gianni, Gianni came with an unworldly scream.
They lay still for a while, kissing each other and pricking their tongues gently. Finally, satisfied for the moment, they showered away all the tell tale blood, wrapped up in each other's arms and slept for two days.
Two evenings later, they dressed and went down to the hotel lobby. They asked the concierge if he had a map of the greater Rome area. He said that he did and let them borrow it. Ernesto spread the map out on the concierge's desk and said to Gianni, "Look, here's my town. It used to be miles from Rome, but now it's right on the outskirts, a suburb, if you will."
They discussed taking a cab, but decided they could get there faster under their own foot power. They soared through the city so fast that they were a mere blur and went unseen by anyone.
When they arrived in the village, Ernesto was stunned. The eighteenth century hamlet was a bustling twenty-first century bedroom community. It was still early and residents were getting off buses they had boarded in Rome. Each of them hustled to waiting cars to be driven home by family members. Ernesto smiled at the changes. They were not for the better as far as he was concerned.
He stood there at the bus terminal with his head bowed and his eyes shut. Finally he said to Gianni, "Come this way." Gianni followed him and soon they were in an older section of town.
"There it is," Ernesto said. "It still stands." A very old church stood just ahead of them. "It's much smaller than I remember it." He advanced toward the church and started to enter.
"Is it safe for us to go in?" Gianni asked. Ernesto got hysterical with laughter.
"You've seen too many movies," he said.
When they entered the church, Ernesto instinctively dipped his fingers into the holy water and crossed himself. Gianni simply bowed his head.
"You're right," Gianni said. "I have seen too many movies. The holy water didn't sear your skin and kill you off." Now it was his turn to laugh.
A voice suddenly said to them, Is there something I can do for you, gentlemen?" They turned to see a very young and a very handsome priest standing behind them. He was very tall, about the same height as Gianni.
"No Father," Ernesto said. "We are Canadians, but I used to live here when I was very young and I attended this very church. In fact I was an altar boy."
The priest broke out into a big smile. He extended his arm and said, "Welcome, then! Welcome! I am Father James."
Ernesto and Gianni shook his hand and introduced themselves.
"My, you are both so cold. Can I offer you a cup of tea?" the priest asked.
"No thank you, Father. We can only stay a moment. I just wanted to see if the church had changed any. Are your quarters still behind the sanctuary?"
James looked confused. "No," he said, "I live in the parish house behind the church. The room behind the church is a social hall. It has been a social hall for at least fifty years, long before you were born."
"I guess I don't remember things as well as I thought I did," Ernesto smiled at the priest.
"Ernesto, we have to go now," Gianni said. He was afraid that Ernesto might say something he shouldn't.
Again they each shook the priest's hand, but this time they hypnotized him so that he felt a warm glow coming from the two men.
They stood outside the church for a few moments and out of habit Ernesto instinctively sniffed the air.
"What are you doing, love?" Gianni asked him.
Ernesto started to laugh. "Before you came to me, I constantly sniffed the air searching for another of my kind. I never had success."
"Teach me how." Gianni pleaded.
"It's simple. Smell me. Think how your mother smelled, how your father smelled. Can you sense the difference?"
"Yes, yes," Gianni said. He was excited. "I can smell your blood."
"That's it," Ernesto said. He was pleased with his student.
Suddenly Ernesto stopped smiling. He sniffed the air again several times. As white as his skin was, it surely turned whiter. "I smell another of our kind," he said, "and he is very close."
Gianni sniffed the air. "Yes," he said. "I smell him too. It seems to be coming from down that street." He pointed toward a passageway which was more like an alley than a street. He took Ernesto's hand and they started toward the alley. They walked cautiously down the narrow lane.
"The smell is stronger now," Ernesto said. A little bit later he stopped in front of a doorway. The name plate under the door bell read, Francis Vinisti.
"I know that name, but it could not be him. He was my beloved teacher. What should we do?" he actually asked Gianni in confusion.
Gianni sensed Ernesto's distress and put his arms around him. "I suggest we ring the bell. We know that one of our kind lives here."
Ernesto nodded and moved his finger toward the bell. He was a good half inch away when the bell rang of its own volition. They heard a voice telepathically tell them to enter. "I know it is you, Ernesto, with a friend. I have waited for this day for three hundred years." The telepathic message said.
The door opened and after they entered, it closed behind them. Standing before them was a pleasant looking man with smiling eyes. He was no more than thirty year's old, but he was quite bald. He stood 5'9" tall and was short compared to Ernesto and Gianni. Gianni could smell the man's blood. It was a very pleasant odor, but much stronger than Ernesto's. He knew instinctively that Francis was much older than his lover.
Ernesto and Francis fell into each other's arms. Tears of blood flowed down both their cheeks. They began to wipe their blood with each other's tongues. Gianni began to feel hunger pangs.
"Sit! Sit!" Francis said beckoning them to a sofa. Ernesto offered what tears remained on his cheek to Gianni, who sucked them up greedily.
"Here, take mine too," Francis said to Gianni offering him his blood. Then he looked at Ernesto. "You must love him very much," he said. "You named him after Gianni." He had read their minds.
When they were all settled down and their tears were gone, Ernesto said to Francis, "I had no idea."
"Of course not," the kindly man said. "I loved my students too much to harm them. I am still a school teacher, but you should see the modern school I teach in and the tools I have at my hand. I can teach during the day as long as I keep out of the sun and keep the shades drawn in the classroom. Furthermore, I have been around a long time. I teach history from memory." He broke out laughing at his own joke, and Gianni and Ernesto smiled politely.
"So that's why your classroom was always so dark," Ernesto commented. We always had to learn by the light of our lanterns."
"Well, we use electric lights now," Francis said.
"Let me tell you my story," he said, and his two guests listened intently.
"I was born in Pompeii in ancient times. I fell in love with a young man when I was nearing thirty. I knew that he loved me too, but he kept avoiding having sex with me. One day he said that he could resist no longer and he took me to bed. I drank his blood when he came in my mouth and he agreed to turn me so we could be together forever." Ernesto took Gianni's hand and they smiled at each other. Francis continued.
"We were lovers for almost ten years. I was a merchant of perfumes in those days, and business took me to Rome. While I was there, Mt. Vesuvius erupted. My lover was killed by one of the few things that can kill us, fire. He was burned to a crisp, and I was devastated. For the next fifty or so years I slept as much as I could, hoping to forget my sorrow. Finally, I knew I had to get back into the world. I vowed to use my power for good. I settled in this small town and decided to be a teacher of young children. There is no greater calling. At night I would speed into Rome where I could find any number of derelicts to feed on. I clouded the minds of the residents here so that nobody realized that I never aged. I was able to continue my profession for centuries." He stopped to take a breath, and he smiled at his two companions. He was so full of joy, that he could barely continue his story.
"I had trained myself over the years to stop feeding a second or two before my prey died. That way I never had to spit out bitter blood. This practice led to my one terrible mistake.
"Your parish priest, Ernesto, was old and deformed. He made a habit of drugging young men and having sex with them in his quarters. I determined to feed on him and make the town safer for its young men. I entered his quarters one evening. Of course, he did not resist me. I drank of his blood, but I stopped before he died. Somehow, I must have stopped too soon, and he survived. Unfortunately he had turned in the process.
"The next Sunday, there he was in church. You actually sat next to me, Ernesto, and I put my arm around you. You were mourning the death of your lover, Gianni. When I put my arm around you, I could smell that you were newly turned. I read your mind, and I vowed revenge, but a few nights later, you did it for me. To my sorrow, you disappeared too. In a sense, Ernesto, you are my grandson and Gianni is my great grandson." Once again he laughed at his own joke.
Gianni and Ernesto stood up and embraced Francis. The teacher looked at them and said, "Please stay the night with me and sleep here tomorrow during the day. You can't imagine how lonely I have been. The children keep me going, but it's not enough. I beg you to exchange blood with me."
Gianni wasn't sure, but his recent mortal self was telling him that Francis was asking them for a three way. His immortal self told him that if he exchanged blood with someone so ancient, he would become an even stronger immortal. Ernesto and Francis read his mind and nodded at him. He nodded back and Francis began to disrobe.
They made love for hours. Each of them came repeatedly and each had a chance to be in the middle. Gianni was first in that position. When Francis's blood spewed down his throat and Ernesto's blood shot up his intestines, he experienced an orgasm that he could never be able to describe. The only thing he knew for sure was that no human orgasm had ever come close, and this immortal orgasm surpassed all others to date.
Francis kept crying over and over. "Thank you, thank you. I know that you must go, but I wish you could stay forever."
Ernesto told him, that they would surely return one day, but for now his mission was to show the world to his newly turned student. The next morning, Francis went to work with a spring in his step and a look of great satisfaction on his face. When he came home the sun was low enough in the sky for his guests to leave. They waited for dark, however, so that their return to Rome could go unnoticed.
To be continued.