He's ... in LOVE with me?

Chapter Eighteen

      It had been an agonizing flight, but necessary to endure since running across the Atlantic was not the best of ideas. Immediately upon landing in Tibet I ran as fast as I could to the base of Mt. Everest. It took about an hour and I was ready to ascend, ready for anything.  I wouldn't feel the cold or the snow and I didn't even care if anybody saw, of course they wouldn't because I definitely moved too quickly for the average human to perceive. 

     I worried for only a moment that my swift trudging legs would rupture too much snow and cause an avalanche but that was the least of my worries. The oldest vampire, Palden, has been said to live toward the top of the mountain. He lives in secluded area where the snow reflected too much light, making the cave entrance practically invisible. But not to me, and not in the dark of the morning too early for even the birds. I scaled the mountain, moving straight and up until a couple hundred feet from the top and then I stopped. I stood in my spot, closing my eyes, taking in the freezing air and wondering about the cold that I couldn't feel. My senses picked up something else. I could smell something, incense or candle. I ran around frantically looking for the shielded entrance. 

     Then I saw it. The sheen of a white tarp or curtain slowing jostled by the wind, barely giving away the secret it held behind it. The bottom of the covering stuck to the entrance by ties that were connected to what I assumed was the rock of the mountain. I untied the right side and slowly pushed the curtain aside. 

"Come in, down the hallway all the way to the end into the foyer." Said a mysterious voice. It sounded far too young to be Palden's and also seemed to come from an intercom system right next to the entrance of this cave.

I walked slowly down the hall, taking in my surroundings and not wanting to impose. Palden doesn't have a reputation for being the nicest vampire in the world, but he also isn't evil. Along the walls I noticed paintings of what looked like Palden, every hundred years to the next. The last painting before the hall let out into the foyer was of what looked like the most recent embodiment of Palden himself. Old and wise looking, his eyes pierced my own, instilling a slight tinge of fear into my blood. My train of thoughts disrupted by the man himself.  I turned to look straight at him. Dressed in white robes, his long white hair hung around his frame. His large beard hung from his chin touching his chest and making him look oh so wise. We made eye contact and I stood rigid as ice.

"Hello my dear, what is it that you came here for?" He asked, his voice deep.

I took a deep breath and then opened my mouth to speak:

"Someone that I love, someone dear to my heart is dying. The Doctor said the only way to save his life is for his heart to be injected with your venom. I understand that that request should come with a high price, I will do or get anything that you want. I will work in this..temple as your servant or whatever you please. I'll do anything you ask, just to please trade me the venom that I need. I'll do anything, your greatness, anything." I pleaded.

Palden looked at me, directly into my eyes. I could see him mulling over my deal that I would make. His eyes were calculating. He looked at me deeply, not in the way that I had expected. I began to become terrified of what I'd have to do to save Joey's life. If it meant he could live, then I would die right here. My thoughts were interrupted by Palden's words.

"You think... that.. you, young lady, are the only mythical being to have loved another, let alone another being that is a human? My dear, you young naive girl. Come now. We will go to my chamber. Come on, hop to."

Palden turned and began going down another hall. His words turned over in my head. Go to his chamber? What the hell was I about to do. And what was that about love? Oh my god, what did I get myself into? We reached a large ornate door. Palden undid the lock and turned the large brass knob. The door swung open into a massive room with a massive skylight partly covered in snow. The room must have been four times as large as mine with a large bed at the end of it. I dreaded Palden's next words.