Chapter 11: Vampires Aren't Real

Ciara awoke slowly, opening her eyes, blinded by white light. It hurt, so she groaned and closed her eyes tight. Raising her hands to cover her face, she felt weak. She heard a moan to her right and slowly uncovered her eyes to see who or what it was that was moaning. She saw Caliga napping in what looked like a hospital chair.

Ciara slowly pulled herself into a sitting position after having realized that she was laying in a very uncomfortable bed that had all white linen. She observed her surroundings. She seemed to be in a hospital room. This theory was reinforced by the intravenous needle in her hand and the air tube in her nostrils. What was she doing in the hospital? She was supposed to be dead. Corvenius had severed her head from her body during the battle.

She leaned over and gently shook Caliga until he was partially awake. "Caliga," she called out.

He didn't hear what she had said, he could only see that she was awake. He woke up fully after rubbing his eyes in disbelief. She was really awake. He jumped up and embraced her as if she'd been missing for several years and then been found. "Oh, I missed you. I'm so glad you're okay," he said kissing her forehead.

"Caliga? What's going on? Why are we at the hospital? Did we win the battle?" she asked as he sat back on the bed to look at her. He looked confused. "What? What is it, Caliga?"

"Caliga? Who's Caliga?" he asked, a tone of question heavy in his voice.

"You are," Ciara answered, baffled that he would forget his own name.

"No, Ciara, I'm Nero," he replied slowly.

"Oh? You've gone back to being called Nero? That's great. Did we win the battle?" she asked quickly.

"First of all, Ciara, I've always been called Nero. Second, what battle?" He was more confused than ever.

"The battle for power of the Camarilla. You don't remember? You act like you weren't there."

He was silent a moment, then slowly got up and backed out of the room.

Now Ciara was confused. How could Nero never have been called Caliga? She remembered the day he changed it. And his behavior when she mentioned the battle? It was strange and she wanted answers.

She had her legs hanging over the side of the bed, and was removing the tape that held her IV in when Nero returned with a doctor. She stopped and looked up at him. The doctor smiled and shook his head. "Now, now, Ciara, I realize you're eager to get out of that bed, but you ahve to stay put for now," he said with a german accent as he went to the bed and helped her lay down, replacing the IV tape.

"Who are you?" she asked as he took her pulse.

"I'm Dr. Burton, Ciara," he introduced himself. "I hear you're calling Nero, here, by another name and asking about a battle? Why is that?"

Ciara glanced at Nero standing by the door with a look of worry on his face. She looked back at the doctor. "Yes, because his name is Caliga, he changed it. And I want to know if we won the battle."

"Ciara, there was no battle, and Nero never changed his name," the doctor said sweetly, looking down on her in pity.

She laid there silent for a moment, then replied insistently, "Yes, there was."

"No, there wasn't. You dreamed the whole thing up."

"How could I have dreamed that up? I was awake the whole time," she insisted. She reached up and felt along her gums, searching for her fangs, but not finding any. "Where are my fangs? Why am I ain a hospital?"

The doctor looked shocked himself for a moment, then he sighed. "Fangs?" He glanced back at Nero who shrugged. "Ciara, what do you remember after your home was broken into?"

"My children were murdered by a vampire and then Nero and I were turned into vampires and we owned a chain of successful gothic nightclubs. We moved to Dawson Creek and built an army of vampires to fight the Camarilla-a group of vampires that run the city at night. I was killed in battle...I think," she said looking past the doctor at Nero. "Don't you remember?"

"No, Ciara, he wouldn't remember because it never happened. Vampires aren't real," the doctor said, a tone in his voice indicating concern.

"They have to be..." she trailed off. "Why am I in the hospital?"

"Well, Ciara, when your children were murdered-not by a vampire-by a house thief, you tried to kill him-a mother's pain, you know?-but he overpowered you and you tripped, hitting your head hard on the coffee table. We barely managed to save your life and we're worried that you might have brain damage. Ciara, you've been in a coma for the past five years," Dr. Burton said.

Ciara lay in the hospital bed, her eyes wide with shock. "What?"

"Everything you just described to me never happened. That was your brain trying to keep active and alive while you were asleep," the doctor said as Nero stepped up beside him.

"You're kidding, right? But it was so real," she said shocked.

"Your brain would make it feel real."

"So my children really are dead?"

Nero nodded sadly. "But we're still married and I've missed having you here with me for five years."

Ciara wanted to believe what she was being told, but at the same time she didn't. Her only wish when she was a vampire was to be human again, and now she was, so why was it so hard to believe? Just accept it, you got what you wanted, she thought. She wasn't totally convinced that vampires weren't real, but for Nero, who seemed so happy to see her, she accepted it.

"Okay, so now what? I just get up and go back to regular life like nothing ever happened?" she said sitting up in the bed.

"Well not like it never happened, you can't just erase what happened, but yes, after a few tests then you can go home and resume your life," the doctor said smiling.

"Tests for what?" Ciara asked.

"To check for brain damage, normal brain activity, stuff like that. Though I'm sure you'll be just fine, nothing to worry about. Just rest for now," the doctor said as he moved for the door. "I'll be back in later to take you for those tests." Dr. Burton left Nero and Ciara alone in the room.

"Did all this happen the way he says it did?" she said dropping her eyes as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Yes, Ciara. That's the way it happened," he mumbled.

After a moment, she asked, "Do we still live in the same place?"

"No. I bought us a small house just out of town and..." he trailed off.

"What, Nero?"

"I made sure we have room for children." He kept his eyes down as though embarassed. "That is if you want more."

Ciara smiled and reached for Nero's hand. "Sounds nice," she said when he had looked up and locked eyes. "Come here," she whispered edging him forward to kiss him.

The doctor came back a few hours later after Nero had had the chance to fill Ciara in on what had happened in the last five years, moved her into a wheelchair as her muscles were weak from lack of use and took her for brain scans. The results turned out fine and Ciara was released a day later.

Nero took her home to the little house he had bought and Ciara was immediately charmed by its coziness. She remained there for several weeks, rebuilding her muscle strength until she could go out and find a job as a secretary at a legal outfit.

A year later when they could afford it, Nero and Ciara had a baby boy named Logan, and Ciara was happy once again. All thoughts of vampires had disappeared from her mind and she was where she wanted to be.

One dark, rainy evening when Nero and Logan were gone she sat in the living room trying to read and relax, but couldn't concentrate due to the thunder and lightning crackling and crashing. She put her book down and relaxed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of lightning, but she also saw something else.

She slowly stood up, going to the window, waiting for another flash of lightning. She felt fear well up in her chest, fear about what it was she might see. It had looked like a person standing out in the rain. A moment later, the lightning flashed bright and brillian, revealing what had caught her eye.

In that brief moment of light she saw a pale figure dressed in black, with shaggy dark hair and black makeup. It had the face of Nero, but Ciara knew that it was really Caliga. He grinned his toothy, sadistic grin, the lightning glinting off of two large fangs.

When the lightning died, Ciara stood shocked with what she had seen. She began shaking her head, backing away from the window slowly, chanting over and over, "No. Vampires aren't real. No. Vampires aren't real."

She fell backwards over a footrest, but quickly collected herself, pulling her knees to her chin, crouched in a corner.

That's how Logan and Nero found her. Cowering in the corner, clutching her knees, rocking back and forth chanting, "Vampires aren't real. Vampires aren't real."