Parallel World

Chapter 29

"Looks like we're in a country that loves vampires," I said and pointed at an ad.

"Indeed!" Jack laughed.

We were looking at a picture of a sedated woman in a dental chair and a vampire leaning over her. Teeth for professionals, the caption said.

And so, we had arrived at the final destination of our European trip, Latvia, and were en route to the city centre to meet a local vampire. We got his details from Martin who, although he hadn't been here since 1905 and couldn't brace himself to visit the country of his birth, was staying in touch with his fellow countrymen.

Martin had told me so much about Latvia that I got curious and promised to visit it myself one day although I didn't think it would happen so soon.

Our meetings with Karel in Czechia and Sandora in Hungary had been a success and we hoped that the winning streak would continue in Latvia, too.

II

"Welcome to Barona Street, the most vampiric street in the whole of Riga!" Mareks exclaimed as he greeted us.

"How come?" I asked.

"Twenty five vampires in twelve buildings."

"Wow, I don't think you'd find so many in such close proximity to each other in New York," Jack reckoned.

He'd just paid for the taxi who'd brought us to the address provided by Mareks. Just like Sandora, Mareks invited us to stay at his place.

"Is the whole city so full of contrasts?" I asked when he had taken us through the inner yard. The building looked dilapidated and so was everything else - broken tarmac and paint that's peeling off.

"It's not just this city, the whole country is like this!" he cried. "Restored buildings next to slums, designer boutiques next to shops selling used clothes, Lexus next to Žigulis in the supermarket parking lot... Oh, pardon me, you probably don't know what a Žigulis is. It was a marvel of the Soviet car makers. Back in the day it was one of the most desired cars in the whole Soviet Union. A lot of people go to India to see vast contrasts but they might as well come to Latvia, it will save them money and spare them from getting Delhi belly."

Mareks laughed as he said the last sentence and his laughter proved to be contagious. Judging by his looks, his biological age was mid to late twenties, he had light brown, chin length hair and grey blue eyes. He was full of life and moved and talked so fast as if he was in a terrible hurry.

The staircase was even more impressive than the inner yard: lots of peeling paint, the last time something had been repaired here was probably half a century ago and the building still carried an aura of times long gone by. Mareks stopped outside a door, fetched his keys and invited us in.

The flat looked very 1930s: it had massive wooden doors, a high ceiling and big windows. The current occupants were fans of Scandi minimalism and natural colours.

Marks tossed the keys onto a table, put his hands in his coat pockets and turned to us.

"As I mentioned in my messages, I'd gladly escape this city that never sleeps and go somewhere nicer. This flat is not actually mine, it belongs to an old friend. I myself have a bolthole in the countryside. I could, of course, do a quick tour of Riga but, to be honest, I don't want to do it."

Jack and I looked at each other. The most important thing was the business talks and business was always best conducted in one's natural environment. We could do sightseeing in Riga on our own.

"Let's go to the countryside," I said.

"Great!" Mareks exclaimed. "I'm ready to go as soon as you are. Only... Where did I put my car keys?"

III

"I'd heard about SLOOD before," Mareks said.

We'd arrived at his country pad. The house was fairly small and modest, probably built a hundred years ago, and there was a small orchard with a well. Mareks had mentioned that he owned a few hectares of agricultural land but most of it was unused as he had no need for growing food.

"I'm so glad you're here," he continued. "A lot of local vampires have heard about SLOOD but it's incredibly hard to get our hands on it. I know a few vampires who bring it with them from Berlin but it's mostly for personal use. If I'm lucky, I can buy it off them a few times a year. I've told them many times to swap their minivan for a truck or at least a full size van but that's fallen on deaf ears. They just stick to their own ways even if it doesn't make sense."

That was exactly what we wanted to hear although he hadn't expected that it would be so easy. Karel had said he saw a market for Renviro, Sandora had promised to spread the word about VampNet whereas Mareks suggested that demand exceeded supply in Latvia. Perfect.

"I think I need to explain the situation here. You see, human blood is getting more and more disgusting and it's mainly for two reasons: heavily processed food with lots of nasties added to it and the fact that Latvians drink too much. Thursday is the new Friday here although I know plenty of people for whom everyday is Friday. And the booze they're drinking, yikes! Bottom shelf wine and cheap beer in a two litre bottle that isn't actually beer, it's diluted ethanol. The countryside is no better. Lots of people are moving to cities whereas vampires are moving to the countryside. Peace, quiet and not a soul around. Which is great until you need to hunt, then it becomes a problem. Healthy young adults are gone and conscience doesn't allow us to attack old ladies and children. There's no point attacking drunks, their blood tastes horrible. So, what do we do? We go after animals. Wild animals are good runners and there aren't enough domestic ones for everybody. I've seen some crazy things, you couldn't make this stuff up... Three vampires having a fight over a cow, imagine that?"

Sometimes Mareks was speaking so fast that I could hardly follow him. Whoever had taught him English had done a great job.

Jack was probably counting dollar bills in his mind. The Latvian market was small but it was a new market.

"Does that mean we can skip the formal introduction and sampling?" Jack was teasing Mareks.

"No way, get the bottles out," Mareks fired back.

The next moment Jack produced his little suitcase, put it on the well and produced three bottles and glasses.

"Martin always told us nice things about Latvia. What about you, you actually live here and probably see things differently?" I asked as we were sitting on a well, sipping SLOOD.

"Martin is a dreamer. He sees Latvia as it was, he doesn't see the country it is now. I think that's the reason he's not visiting, it would destroy his memories and break his heart. Everything has changed, nothing is the same. Latvia has the same problems as any other county but comes up with some bizarre solutions. Latvia is a country of contrasts and stuff that defies logic. For instance, one can learn that the same law can be interpreted in three different ways, depending on who needs to achieve what. One can also learn that a person who owns nine houses and four cars can be considered poor under Latvian law. After the collapse of the Soviet Union people learnt that they can speak their mind but no-one cares and that is actually worse than censorship. How do you reduce spending in a ministry? Fire the janitor and that's it, there is no need for further cuts. Politicians only care about the people right before the elections, the rest of the time..." He sighed. "Until 2007 I had no idea you could pick a presidential candidate in a secret meeting at the Zoo. Sometimes I want to shout like Michael Moore - dude, where's my country?! Ok, rant over. It's not all bad in this country. Latvia is a beautiful country and we have some truly great people here. Latvians are born creative. They're also natural born trouble makers, which comes in handy when we protest against the government. However..." He fell silent for a moment. "I have a good life here and don't need to weigh the pros and cons of moving abroad in search of a better life. I have this place, peace and quiet. I have a dream, you know, that one day Latvia will leave all this behind and when my beloved country shall be mentioned somewhere, it will be to celebrate its achievements. And I do hope that this time will come fairly soon."