Iðunn's Apples

Pandora

† the all-gifted first woman, who released upon the world the evils of humanity †

I landed in the Roman airport some hours later. I hadn't been able to sleep - for valid reasons, if I should say so myself. My mind kept turning over the things I'd learned in the past month, mulling over them until they had lost all shape and form. The fact - if it was a fact - that a woman had lived for more than two thousand years seemed incomprehensible to me. Just like the death of my friends, the realization came slowly.

In the airport, I was met by an Italian woman named Ludovica. She was human, she told me as she drove me from the airport to the hotel, but had been working for the Varkolak for two years now. Apparently, an ex of hers had turned out to be, well, a little older than she had expected. Once she had gotten over the initial shock, she had welcomed the idea, and here she was, even after she had broken up with him.

"We were just at slightly different points in our life," she explained jokingly.

In the lobby of my hotel, she handed me an iPhone. It took a quick look to notice that it was a 5. Not bad.

"The necessary numbers are all save onto it already. Mine is there, too." Then she handed me my room key.

Room 502 was a single suite, with a beautiful, minimalistic room, a bright bathroom and a panoramic window overlooking the city. Since the sun had long since set, the sky was pitch-black, but the city was emitting a golden, slow light. Beneath me, there was a river and, there, the dome of the Saint Peter's was lit up.

I put down my bag by the foot of the bed and threw my backpack on top of it. In the mirror, my face seemed tired and dreary. I was about to go to the bathroom to take a shower when my newly acquired phone began vibrating.

I picked it up. "Melissa Hamby here."

"Hello, Melissa," a voice, completely devoid of any accent, said. "My name is Aquila Vespillo. You might've heard of me - I'm a member of the Authority."

I frowned. "No. Sorry."

"No matter." His voice sounded warm and kind as he uttered those two words. "Could you perhaps drop by my room - number five-fifteen - within an hour? I'd like to brief you on what'll happen tomorrow."

Repressing a sigh, closed my eyes. I needed sleep. "Sure. I'll head right over."

After hanging up, I went to the bathroom and filled my hand with toilet paper. I soaked it in warm water and pressed it to my face, trying to soak up some energy. After drying my face, I did seem a bit more presentable, though that might as well have been an illusion.

The walk to room 515 was far too short to prepare me for actually knocking on this door. Staring at the bronze plaque with the room number edged into it, I realized how fucked up this really was. I didn't even know this man - but then again, had I known any of the men or women I had spoken to about this particular... thing? How could I even know if Varkolaks were real, or just something they had made up? - although I doubted anyone would just think up 'Varkolak' as the word for 'vampire' if they were just trying to prank me.

Besides, this prank was getting expensive - and I doubted that abductors would spend months on getting their victim to a five-star hotel in Rome when they might as well have taken her when they killed her friends.

Put simply, I couldn't find any alternative explanation to this mess that made any sense.

The door was answered quickly after my knock; I was clearly expected. It opened to reveal a pale, thin man, whose face had definite dog-like features to it. His shoulder-length hair was a light brown, and his eyes were intelligent and green.