You Will Stay

"They wait in the dark. When you go outside, if you aren’t careful they will snatch you and suck your life’s blood because they aren’t human anymore. They have sold their souls to the devil and will do anything to hide it. Believe me. I wouldn’t lie to you." She gave me a wink. I didn’t know if she was telling me the truth or not. Mom was just crazy that way sometimes.

***

We chugged our way across India going Southward from Chennai. It was a long, overnight trip. I was still awake lying there in my bunk wondering what tomorrow would bring. It was warm, as usual. Another passenger rode in the bunk below me, snoring loudly. There were four bunks in the room and all of them were taken. I found it strange to be riding like that in a room full of strangers, but this wasn’t the US.

We were all lying there fully clothed and waiting to get to our destinations. I flipped on my smart phone and looked down at the battery…fully charged. I was happy that I had turned it off, but there were no bars. Luckily, I had downloaded most of my email. I had to look through it again to make sure. I don’t know why I kept doing that, but I just had to be sure. I knew she would be waiting there for me, but how was it possible?

I had seen her body. I had seen her lying there embalmed. I had seen her lowered into the ground and a shovel of dirt thrown on the casket before we all left together, mixed with the flowers each of us had placed there so gingerly. How could she be alive? What was she? My mother had told me strange stories about the living dead, the walking dead, all kinds of strange creatures trolling the night, but Mindy couldn’t be a strange creature. Why was she alive?

I remembered the phone call I received the first night of my sabbatical. I guess I was somewhat famous, having written several books on parapsychology and the effects of the occult on modern day life…famous to a certain group of people anyway. I had sold books, I had all of the social media paraphernalia so I knew I was being followed, but this wasn’t something I expected. My dead sister called me and talked with me as if nothing had ever happened. I was angry at first. I scoffed at her, but I just couldn’t stop listening. The voice, the inflections, the memories we had shared so long ago and the affect was so familiar I just couldn’t ignore it.

I was on sabbatical. I decided to take a journey, a spiritual trip to India where I could do some research and get a chance to visit this strange person pretending to be Mindy. What type of person would do that? I kept shifting from wonderment to anger and back. Could she possibly be alive? That was impossible, yet again, I had heard of stranger things. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. The train rocked gently and despite the discomfort, the snoring, and the noise, it slowly rocked me into a deep sleep. Before I knew it I was being awakened and was rushing to gather all of my things and meet the minibus scheduled to take me from Chennai to the meditation center near Tamil Nadu.

I stepped off of the train. It was hot for being so early in the morning. A short man with dark skin, straight hair, and a bright smile met me and welcomed me to India. His name was Prashad. He quickly took my bag, one that was very small since I always traveled light, and we made our way to the vehicle. I climbed in the front seat, because all the others were already taken. That was a big mistake. As we pulled out into the busy road I knew it as we sped down the road swerving, cutting, weaving in and out to avoid cattle, people walking, wagons pulled by oxen, motorcycles…some with whole families riding on one bike. It was the most frightening experience I have ever had. It seemed that close misses were the normal driving routine. Prashad was rather quiet. I guess he was concentrating on the road, which I didn’t want to stop.

He finally turned to me, his head slightly bobbing from left to right as he spoke. “I see you are heading for Tamil Nadu. I’ll be dropping you off. The others are going a lot farther.” I smiled and gave him a nod. “You aren’t going to a retreat center, do you have family in India?”

“No. Well, yes. But someone…" I didn’t finish the sentence. He smiled pleasantly.

“I know that type of relationship. You don’t have to continue.” He grinned. “In any event, you’ll love it here. It seems overwhelming at first, but when you get used to the noise, the smells, and all of the motion, it will be the best experience of your life.”

“I hope so,” I said. Would I dare breach the subject? I did. “I got a call from someone who claimed to be my sister. But she’s dead,” I said. He lifted an eyebrow. “I was upset, but she sounded just like her. She talked about things only my sister knew about. Everything about her was my sister. I just can’t understand it. I was so curious that when I got some time off I had to come and see this woman.” He turned to me. He seemed hesitant, but he lowered his voice and spoke.

“She is probably the reincarnation of your sister. Some of the people who partake of the hidden arts, the occult, and the secret meditations of The Club are able to revive the memories from their former lives. It is a very secret little group of people. I'm surprised you were invited there. Was your sister spiritual in any way?”

“In a crazy way. She was fanatical.”

“That explains it then. Maybe she was planning on coming back all the time.” I shook my head and smiled. He laughed out loud. “I will tell you, my friend. You will be surprised at what India has to offer you when it comes to spirituality. One thing to remember…don’t drink the water.”

We both laughed. We continued in silence until we came to a small dirt road leading off the main one up into the hills. We turned off the road and slowly made our way up, and away from the hustle and bustle until we came to a gate. A guard at the gate opened the door and we drove in. We went around a circular driveway and stopped in front of a large, green double door. It was ornate with various carvings and large hinges painted in black contrast against the green door. The door handles and the locks were also black. Without knocking I was left there with my small bag not knowing what to expect.

I walked over to the door. Before I could knock the door opened wide. An Indian woman in a beautiful, blue Sari with a golden strip running through it stood there. She tilted her head slightly and smiled. “Can I help you, Sir?” She said pleasantly.

“Yes. I’m here for a retreat. Mindy invited me.”

“Are you aware that only women live here, Sir?”

“No. She didn’t tell me that.”

“Mindy is rather strange like that,” she said. She stepped to the side. “You may come in, Sir.”

“The name is John..”

“Ah. My name is Mindy.”

“There is more than one Mindy here?" I asked, walking into the middle of the room and plopping my bag down.”

“No, you dunderhead,” She said in a clearly American English accent. “I’m your sister you dummy.” She spread her hands and then slowly turned. “How do you like the new me?” My jaw dropped and she began to laugh. Her voice was a bit different, but it sounded just like her. “Come on John. Don’t go numb on me. We used to talk about things like this all the time.” She moved closer and whispered. “You remember all those horrible stories Mom used to tell us. They were true. We can live forever.”

I was just dumbfounded, but scared to even challenge her. “Mindy to John, is there anybody home,” she asked, stepping forward and wrapping her knuckles against my forehead. I stepped back and slapped her hand down.

“That hurts. Why don’t you stop that?” I said, rubbing my forehead.

“Because you never learn. So are you going to stay here or not, and learn about real spirituality? The spirituality of The Club.” She stepped closer and lowered her voice and she put her mouth to my ears. “This is the real shit, John.” I looked into her eyes. She gave me a single quick nod. “You know it’s me, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s impossible.”

“Nothing’s impossible. Grab your bag and I’ll take you to a cottage out back. We can talk later.”

“Isn’t this an all women’s center?”

“Yes. Lucky you.”

“Why didn't you tell me that?”

“Because you didn’t need to know. I have a lot of clout around here and can get away with just about anything. I have ‘outstripped the power and awareness of most of my peers’, as they tell me,” she said, as we walked out a side door to a very small, concrete cabin standing against a hill in the back of the retreat center. “Rest a little here and then come in in a couple of hours and we can give you some food, and you can get to know some of the rest of us, OK?”

“Sure. But we have to catch up, if this is real.”

“If this is real? Come on John. Come on! I’ll see you soon and we can catch up.” She opened the door and we walked in. It was cool. I turned on the small light. The bed looked very comfortable. To the right there was a small bathroom and a shower. To the right of the bathroom there was a small clothing rack and a small trunk. By the bed there was a small night stand with a drawer for personals. It was nice and clean, but rustic. She smiled as if reading my mind.

“You may just want to stay here forever,” she said playfully with a grin as she spun on her heel and headed out the door.

“Not hardly,” I said.

“Sure John, sure.” She walked out and closed the door behind her. I thought about following her. When I tried to, the door was locked.

***

After several hours she came back. I glared at her. She smiled and tilted her head slightly. The smile dropped and her face shifted to a curious look.

“Why’s the door locked?” I asked.

“Oh. I should have told you.”

“Yes, you should have told me.”

“We can hardly have a man running around with all of these women, now can we? What would the neighbors think?”

“You have a good answer for everything, don’t you?”

“Yes, because I don’t have to make anything up. So. Are you coming to dinner, or what?” I just stood there. “Come on, John. You are just so hard headed sometimes.”

“I don’t know who you are,” I said walking toward her. She grabbed my arm and spun me hard. She held my arm as we walked out the door heading to the dinning hall, I hoped.

“You just have to figure that out, don’t you?” She asked. “What do you think I am, some kind of monster? Do I seem like a monster, or your loving sister?”

“See that’s where I know you're lying. I don’t remember a loving sister,” I said jokingly.

“Hey. I gave you a blood transfusion. That was my blood when you had that stupid motorcycle accident. And when we were kids who fought to protect their little brother? Don’t tell me I’m not loving. That’s how I got to come back and remember everything. You should be so loving. If you will, you can live forever, but you have to give your heart to Her, or Him, or It. Which is it for you now?”

“Nothing. It’s been nothing since I lost you.”

“Well here I am and here’s your chance to get in good with some deity. What better place than in India, the land of the Gods and Goddesses. I want you to dedicate yourself to one of them.” I stopped walking. “What? Is that idea that bad?”

“Are you going to try to sacrifice me?” She bursted out laughing.

“You’ve been watching too many of those old, racist movies. Who would want you, John?” She tugged on my arm and we kept walking. “We don’t want to sacrifice you. We want to turn you.”

“Turn me? What does that mean?”

“We are, sort of, well... we are vampires and you are trapped in the midst of us.” I looked into her eyes. She didn’t blink or smile.

“Yeah,” I said flatly, and rolled my eyes.

“I’m not joking. I’ve always been a vampire and this is part of my family. When my body died, a horrible accident dismembered me, which is the only thing that could have made me die, and my personality and consciousness flowed back to my family. This is my family--my real family. So now I'm going to make my other family, you, into my real family because I love you so much.”

“That’s not very funny.”

“It’s not supposed to be, but you’ll think it is by the time we finish tonight. We're going to change your life tonight in the dining hall. Unfortunately we’ll be dining on you, but it won’t hurt, I promise. They know how important you are to me.” I tried to pull away and she gripped my arm in a vice grip.

“Don’t make me hurt you, please.” She pulled me forward. I struggled to get away but couldn’t budge. I began to panic. With a hard slap from her left hand she struck me and the next thing I knew I was lying on a table. Everyone was talking and laughing, just having a good time. There were a mixture of women, not only Indian, but of all races and nationalities. A heavy set woman in a plain white sari. Saw my eyes open.

“He’s awake,” she said. They rushed over and stood over me. Mindy pushed her way forward and stood right beside me. I felt strong. Groggy at first, but my strength slowly returned. She reached down and helped me sit up.

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

“Good. Very good. My allergies are gone for now, and no aches or pains.” I looked at her. “You hit me you…”

“Excellent,” the heavy set woman said, cutting in. “You're the first male to become part of our group in 20 years. I'm Sita and I welcome you.” I looked around. There were about 10 women there…only women. “Some of us didn’t desire this,” Sita said, "but Mindy is one of our eldest and she vouched for you. You are now part of The Club. Welcome.”

I looked at Mindy questioningly. “Don’t worry,” she said. “You may go after the retreat has ended. This is a retreat celebrating the Tantric body of Indian literature. It will be good to have you. We are getting older and need to find a way to keep our order alive. Children, more children will do that. We hope your contribution will be helpful–eventually.”

“Do I have a choice about this?”

“You always have a choice,” Mindy said. “Stay for your two month retreat and you can decide. And then, you can learn to live as what you are and then go.”

“What am I?" I asked.

“A creature of the dark,” she said without missing a beat. “You are a vampire that can eat, don’t you know that?”

“That’s impossible.” The women began to laugh.

“We have all tasted your blood,” a tall, young woman said. “All of us until you expired. We're sure of what you are. So you are bound to all of us for eternity. So eat, drink and be merry. Don’t worry about the water now. It can’t hurt you anymore." Her voice softened. "We can talk about the rest later, after dinner. I'll be your partner for the first day. Get some rest." She gave me a wink and walked out.

“That’s Parashanti," Mindy said. “Don’t worry about her, she’s a wild one, and kind of crazy. So let’s get you something to eat. Unlike in those silly movies, we like to eat food, if it’s cooked well. We can also enjoy the sun.” She grinned. I didn’t know what to do or say. My stomach growled so I decided to have some of that good old Indian food I had been looking forward to, but what was the price?

"I think you'll stay here forever," Mindy said with a grin. Everyone else nodded.

”We are sure of it,” said another, with a certainty I found unnerving.

The End

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