LAILA LEARNS THE TRUTH.....OR SOME OF IT

The Armenian Quarter is a beautiful, though mysterious evocative warren of Byzantine streets and narrow, romantic byways. Their cathedral dates from the twelve hundreds and exhibits a wondrous blend of eastern and western influences. Interior illumination rains down from a multitude of oil lamps suspended from the ceiling. Congregants sit on sumptuous oriental carpets, absorbing the haunting channts of young seminarians, a magical, spiritual experience. The gates of the district close at sundown and remain sealed till the dawn.

Laila lives within these walls, rarely venturing out. True, she has visited Hurva Square in The Jewish Quarter. Maybe she's tasted a hot chocolate or two at one of the outdoor cafes, but always in the company of her father and only in transit to and from her physicians. Yet she's managed to imbibe something of the outside world. via dog-earred magazines found in the waiting room (her father dozes or prays).She loves People Magazine. She idolizes the comically bogus miraculous Twilight threesome. And now, due to her unannounced nocturnal well-meaning errand, her prayers have been answered. She knows that they exist. Vampires are real. She has seen one. She has smelled him. And her father was there when it happened {see yesterday's post}.

So things have changed. Maybe due to the tiny drops of vampire blood supplied by Jean-Michel? Perhaps those gifts did more than preserve her life? It could be they've transformed her. Into a vampire? No...but into something close. She slips out of her home. The walls are thick. And who would even suspect? She knows how to compress her body and squeeze through impossibly narrow spaces, escaping the limitations of her suffocating citadel and melting into the dark.....a thin, young waif, dark haired and  wide-eyed, dressed in black and searching for deliverance. She silently makes her way through the inky shadows, attempting to hide...But there are those who can see in the dark....and one draws ever closer......