on dark Nigerian nights

Bassey whimpered, holding the tree behind her. What little sanity she'd had shimmered, letting the blood flow from her as the distinct tingle of a new vampire's venom seeped into her blood. Her entire body called to it, opened up under his assault, knowing that this wasn't Ansa. Knowing that this was another vampire. One whose venom could cause irreparable damage if Bassey let this continue.

And yet, everything in her was begging him to never stop. To drain her till she couldn't walk, couldn't breathe, couldn't exist.

Roaring with all the strength left, she grabbed him by the head and pulled him off him, spinning him around as she flung him as far as she could. Breathing heavily, she watched him fall gracelessly, as he disappeared into the dark, hidden by the short bushes. She touched her neck and felt the puncture holes. They should have healed by now. But his bite had poisoned her. She was dizzy and bleeding and her body was begging to be fed on.

Falling to her knees, she held herself up, listening to his growl in the distance. He should never have gotten that close. Bassey had grown soft. She'd been fooled by his seemingly human visage, the picture of a young, teenage boy alone in the forest. No doubt, all that pretense was gone now. With the rumbling of his breath, his true nature revealed itself as the screeching, fanged beast he was. She didn't need the light from her phone to show the dead, flakiness of his skin or the yellowness of his eyes. She'd seen Ansa in the thralls of feeding enough times to know what Isaac would look like if she could see him. 

When he moved, Bassey was waiting for him.  As soon as he leaped out at him, her hand shot up, knowing where he was coming from. She caught him by the neck, and banged him right down into the ground as he snarled, holding her hand, sharp nails scratching at her to wound her.

She wasn't healing. She was only getting weaker. But she didn't let go. 

"How did you get in here?" she roared as her grip tightened. 

He snarled at her, too drunk on her blood to calm down or think clearly. All he cared about was feeding and the fact that she was still bleeding wasn't helping him regain his sanity.

"Let him go, Bassey."

She felt Ansa, mere seconds before she heard her voice. Bassey should have sensed her sooner. She was slipping, losing the connection between them. If Ansa could sneak up on her, and get this close without alarm bells going off in Bassey's head, then she was in more trouble than she knew.

"It was you," she said, voice shaking as she strained to hold on to the struggling vampire while accommodating Ansa. "You brought him here."

"Do you want me to heal you?" Ansa asked.

Unable to handle both of them at the same time, Bassey pressed one hand into Isaac's face, while the other remained on his neck. Giving a sharp, hard twist till his neck snapped. He froze and went still.

With a little more clarity, she turned to Ansa.

"I want you," she said. "To tell me why the fuck you brought another vampire into my town!"

"I was going to tell you," Ansa said, walking closer.

Bassey stepped back over Isaac's body, keeping it between the two of them. It was a feeble attempt at protection but anything between them would always be welcome. Even if it was the body of a boy who'd just attacked Bassey a few seconds prior.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"He's my ward."

"He's a child," Bassey said, pointing at him.  "You turned a child into a vampire."

"It wasn't my choice."

"Are you speaking to me about choices?"

"Bassey-"

"Please stay where you are."

Ansa stopped moving. "I'm trying to explain."

"Explain from over there."

Bassey ought to stop antagonizing Ansa. She knew this. And yet, she couldn't help it. A part of her wanted to see how much she could get away with before Ansa snapped. But the other part of her took comfort from being away from Ansa, being out of her reach. The fact that Ansa let her speak this way was so far removed from reality that Bassey was sure she'd be able to convince herself that she was dreaming.

"I left to find a suitable place to rest," Ansa said. "We needed some time apart from each other."

She'd made that decision without informing Bassey. Ansa had left her, unfettered, confused, and lost. She'd scoured the entirety of Ansa's estate and every inch of Akpata, looking for Ansa. If she'd known any other acquaintances that Ansa had, Bassey would have gone in search of them. Unable to travel in her condition, Bassey had sent people to Ansa's other properties in Cross River and Akwa Ibom. Even her most obscure residence in Lagos and Enugu that she hadn't visited in decades. Just because she wanted to see a woman who'd walked away from her.

Yet here she was talking about "some time apart" like they'd agreed to it. 

"I wanted to give you a couple of decades to live your life however you want."

Ansa paused, looking at Bassey like she was expecting a reaction.

"I'm sorry," Bassey said. "Was I supposed to clap?"

"I was trying to do what's best for you."

"And yet here you are, only four years later." Bassey touched her neck and winced.

"Let me heal you." 

"Last I checked," Bassey said, ignoring Ansa's offer. "A couple of decades was equal to twenty years."

Ansa lowered her head, scoffing quietly.

"You've grown bold in my absence."

"If you want me quiet, tell me to shut the fuck and I will."

As soon as she said it, Bassey regretted it, realizing that Ansa might just do that. She used to do it all the time. She'd pretend that she wanted to have a conversation, then command Bassey to bend to her will. Which was fine. Bassey used to be okay with it. But it had been a while and Bassey had grown to love her free will.

"I need your help," Ansa says. 

An uncomfortable coil in Bassey's stomach began to grow. 

"Isaac and a few friends were having fun around where I rested and they stumbled upon me."

"So you turned all of them?" Bassey asked. "That's why you're here? You're looking for a blood bag to feed your new nest of brand-new, bloodsuckers."

"Don't be nasty."

"I CAN'T FEED THEM!" Bassey screamed. "I'm not human, Ansa. I can't just tap a vein for any vampire and survive. You and I are-"

"I don't want you to feed them."

"Then what are you doing here?"

Ansa rubbed her hand over her face, pacing between the trees. The night had darkened in the time since Bassey took note and now, critters and night crawlers were waking, hissing through the bushes, creaking in the dark, as if eager to join Ansa's and Bassey's conversation. 

"I know bushers are rare to come by these days, but you're not the only busher in Akpata."

Bassey could not believe the gall, the audacity of Ansa to make such a request.

"You cannot be serious," she said as she crossed over Isaac's body, her anger winning over her fear.

"Calm down. Listen to me."

"You want to bind the bushers to your new vampires. For life."

"It will make them immune to their bound vampire's venom."

"It will also take away their free will."

"You've been bound to me for eighty years. Look at you. Healthy and strong as ever."

"That's not the point."

"Exactly, Bassey," Ansa said, meeting her, looking into her eyes like she was excited that Bassey had approached him. "The point should be that I am asking you for something."

"As what? A command?"

Bassey was operating on limited eyesight. She wasn't a vampire so she didn't share Ansa's ability to see in the dark. But she'd known Ansa so long that when Ansa's breath hitched and she minimally moved away from Bassey, Bassey knew Ansa was backing down. A rare occurrence, but one Bassey had been opportune to witness.

"The bushers in Akpata are barely at the beginning of their lives."

"I could make their lives longer."

"At the cost of being vampires' slaves?"

"You seem to be doing just fine."

"I'm doing fine because you've been gone for four years."

"Mind how you speak, Bassey."

Bassey opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't. Not really. It was such a simple command, but Bassey felt it in her core.

"I am… responsible… for every busher in this village." 

Even as she spoke, the command was messing with her head, causing her to bow. And Bassey hated it. Hated the bond. Hated Ansa.

"Ask them if they are interested," Ansa said. 

"How will that look?" Bassey asked, resisting Ansa's command. "How do I break that to their parents? Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry but the child you left in my care will now surrender their futures and their bodies to be mutilated and drained because Ansa couldn't control her thirst for blood."

Ansa slapped Bassey.

Bassey staggered back. She couldn't speak anymore. Ansa didn't need to tell her to shut up. She could feel Ansa's command, keeping her from moving her lips or uttering another word.

Standing there, tears fell from Bassey's eyes. Angry and powerless.

Ansa held her by the collar, forcing their eyes together as she bit into her hand.

Bassey shook her head and tried to pull away, but Ansa held her by the neck, pressing her bleeding wrist into Bassey's mouth as Bassey succumbed and knelt before her. She didn't want to. She really didn't. But Ansa's blood was as much an intoxicant to Bassey as Bassey's blood was to Ansa. Unwanted benefits of a bond that she thought she could resist. Clutching at Ansa's hand, she drank till her eyes cleared and the dizziness receded.

When Ansa took her wrist away, Bassey was ashamed that she reached forward.

"Please," she begged, before catching herself and pulling back, while Ansa stood.

"I'm back now, Bassey," Ansa said, towering over Bassey. Asserting herself as Bassey's superior in the worst possible way. "I meant it when I said I wanted to give you space." She straightened her shirt. "But you will not deny me again. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Bassey whispered.

Moving behind him, Ansa knelt and picked Isaac from the floor, putting him over her shoulder as she got up and walked away, leaving Bassey in a spiral into renewed chaos, as she fought with herself, hating herself for the weakness that she knew had returned.