B007Q4JDEM EBOK (9 page)

“I lost my family, not only to the fire, but to becoming
what I am.
My friends, I couldn't see them ever again. Everything was taken away from me that night. Everyone I knew and loved eventually aged, withered away and died, while I was cursed to walk this Earth alone for eternity – watching it all unfold from a distance.”

I wondered if vampires were able to cry as I stared at him, but no tears came. The need to comfort him overcame me, but I didn't know how. “I'm so sorry, Salem...” I whispered, trying to ignore the growing curiosity to ask even more questions.

“Don't be,” h
e smiled and placed his cold hand against my cheek. “If none of that had happened, I would never have met you.”

I laughed, “Don't forget you're talking to the offspring of a vampire hunter.”

Salem just smiled. I admired his expression for far too long, I lowered my gaze and blushed. “Can I ask
one more question
?”

“Anything.”

“What happened to this Raziel guy?”

“He still exists somewhere, as far as I know.
For the first five years of my ‘new life’
, as he called it, he treated me as a slave. Although, he referred to me as his “apprentice”, I felt like nothing more than a servant. He taught me the ways of being a vampire, but it sickened me. I refused to indulge in human blood, knowing I had once been one – my
family were
humans, my friends. I would never have done that to them, why would I even consider doing that to anyone?”
h
e flinched at the idea. “He would have me bring him...food...every night.” The pained look on his face was almost unbearable.”

“People?” I gasped, knowing the answer.

He grimaced. “I wouldn't have felt quite as miserable had it been criminals or terminally ill beings...but these were innocent people.”

“
How could you put up with that for so long
?”

“I had no
other options, or so I thought,” h
e grumbled. “You weren't the only one who fell for the lore of vampires. Raziel tried to convince me the
stories
were accurate, that if I went o
ut in the daytime I would roast,” h
is eyes darkened, “
o
ne specific night, he made me do something intolerable. I couldn't bear to exist after that...He req
uested I bring him ‘young blood’
, as he called it. In other words, the blood of a child – Raziel said it was the tastiest, most refreshing blood imaginable. I had no choice but to obey him, at least that's what I thought at the time.

“
She couldn't have been much older than Hannah had been. I snuck through her nursery window, plucked her from her crib and presented her to Raziel. I immediately regretted what I had done. The next morning, I
decided
to end myself. It came down to either spending eternity doing his bidding or risking my existence by stepping out into the sunlight. I braced myself for death as I stepped out into the morning light, anticipating the inevitable – but it never came.” I noticed how he never referred to it as his 'life'. “I stood out in the sun for at least fiftee
n minutes, and nothing happened,” he stopped abruptly and changed the subject, “y
ou should call Janet, before it gets too late.”

I blinked, deep in thought as I tried to imagine what he had been through. “Yeah, y
ou're right...”

I
grabbed
the cordless phone, sat cross-legged on the sofa and dialed the familiar number. I waited through two rings this time, before her familiar voice answered.

“Hey mom,”
I said into the receiver.
Would I ever be able to stop
calling her that
? “I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“I'm
getting there
,” s
he sounded better, happier than our last conversation
at the least
. “How was your birthday?”

“It wasn't as bad as I
thought it’d be
,
” I laughed, “Karen threw
me a surprise party, which went okay
. Jason got me a laptop!”

“That's great, sweetie!” I heard the muffled voice in the backward. “I have to go, my dinner is getting cold. Go enjoy the rest of your
night
.”

“Okay, keep me posted.”

“I will. Don't worry too much.”

“I'll try. Bye, mom,
” It might be impossible to call her anything but that.

“Bye, sweetie.”

Salem delicately took the phone from my grasp and sat it on the coffee
table. “You have more questions,” h
e said knowingly.

“Just a couple,” I replied
shyly
. “What happened to the burns?”

“Becoming a vampire could be seen as a type of cleansing, I suppose. Any illness, wound, scar, or deformity you might have had as a human is healed upon turning.”

“Then, in a sense, isn't it better to become a vampire?”

“No!”
h
e shouted, causing me to look away in slight regret for asking. “
Nothing
is worth this sort of existence.”

“Okay,
” I croaked, “There is more...” I braced myself for anger, but instead received a smile.

“Ask away,” h
e said gingerly.

“It's more of a fact
than a question,
”
I twiddled my thumbs nervously, “y
our eyes –
they change color when you're ‘materializing’
things...”

He blinked. “You noticed that?”

“Yes...”

“I am impressed,” h
e smirked. “You must be very observant.”

“Not usually,
” I confessed.
“
What else can you tell me about vampires
?
  I want to know everything.
” I was surprised by my own question, but I had grown genuinely interested in the topic.

“While some of what you have heard or
read
or seen are definite myths, there are some attributes we definitely do obtain - such as speed. We can run quicker than any human, and drinking the blood of human
s makes us exceptionally strong,” h
e looked
disgusted for a mere moment, “p
owerful vampires can possess the ability to share visions, memories, with others by the mere touch of their hand. I spent many years experimenting with what I could and could not do after I left Raziel. It truly was amazing to me that daylight did not kill me, and I wondered what else I could possibly do.

I knew that sleeping was no longer necessary, but I attempted to sleep nevertheless – simply because Raziel claimed it was impossible, and I was stubborn enough to put it to the test. Unfortunately, he had been correct. I cannot even imagin
e what dreaming is like anymore,” h
e sigh
ed and looked at me, “t
hat's enough vampire talk for now
though
, I think.”

The room fell silent for a moment,
and then
Salem glanced up at the clock. It was nearing
10
pm. “Do you need to go somewhere?” I asked.

“No,” h
e replied, “I was just noticing your birthday is coming to an end.”

“I don't mind,
” I laughed.

“There was one last gift I wanted to give you, but I
wasn't sure how you would react,” h
e looked uneasy.

“What is it?” I asked anxiously.

“It woul
d be easier for me to show you, than to tell you.”

I eyed him suspiciously. “Are you going to summon something out of thin air again
or
something
?”

“No, not exactly,” h
e chuckled. “Alexis, I know it is hard for you to fathom right now, but you do mean a lot to me.”

“
Yeah, you keep saying that. Are you every going to explain what you mean
?”

“In due time
,” h
e smiled lightly. “Close your eyes.”

I hesitated a moment before letting my eyelids fall shut. My heart was thumping wildly in my chest as I waited intently for whatever was coming. My eyes almost flew open as I felt Salem's cool breath against the side of my face. Tenderly, he brushed his cold lips against my cheek.

“Happy birthday, Alexis,” h
e whispered into my ear.

I was speechless, breathless...
breathless
. “Salem...” I became more focused, “
y
ou can breathe?”

“No
t quite as literally as you can,
”
h
e replied, ob
viously stunned by my unexpected response to his action.

“Oh,
” My expression was blank momentarily,
and then
I grinned at him. “I was wrong earlier when I thought to myself nothing
could
compare to the laptop Jason
gave me
.”

His lips twisted into a magnificent smile before he stood up. I was uncertain what he was doing at first, until he pried me off of the sofa and effortlessly cradled me in his arms as he made his way up the stairs. I grasped his arms tightly, afraid with every step that he would drop me.
Somewhere deep inside I also still feared for my blood. What i
f he had lied about the animals or couldn’t control his hunger around me?

We approached my bedroom door, which was wide open and inviting. He laid me gracefully across my soft mattress and pulled the covers up over me. I nearly objected before he put a cold finger
to
my lips.

“It's late, and yo
u have had a long, tiresome day,” h
e whispered. “Get some sleep.”

“
But I haven’t even got to enjoy my presents yet
!” I playfully whined.

“Not even the last one?” h
e asked with an innocent grin.

“Well, when you put it that
way...I enjoyed one of my gifts,
” I yawned
. I was more tired than I had realized
.

“Goodnight,” h
e whispered sweetly and I drifted away into a deep slumber.

My dreams were filled with horrific images. A raven hovered over a burning house. Shrill screams of an infant. Salem, covered head to toe in flames, wobbling helplessly out of the smoldering building. A dark, cloaked figure whisking him up from the gray cobblestone alleyway. I heard him screaming, saw him writhing in agony.

“Alex!” Salem's voice yelled my name as the figure pressed his lips against the base of his neck. The world started to quiver and shake, and I heard him call my name again.

My eyes flew open. Salem was shaking me, yelling my name. “You were screaming in
your sleep...a
re you okay?”
h
e asked as he saw my eyes were open.

“I-I think so,
” I clung onto his cold, thin body. “It was horrible.” I sobbed into his shoulder.

“It was
only
a dream,” h
e said reassuringly.

“It was a
nightmare
, about you...” I muttered. “The burning house, Hannah, Raziel...and then I heard your voice calling for me.”

“That part wasn't a dream,” h
e smiled.

“There was a bird,
too,
” I remembered suddenly. “It was f
lyi
ng above the burning building…a
raven.”

Salem flinched. “Raziel claimed that some hunters could transform
into ravens.”

“Are...are Waldron's the only vampire hunters?”

“Most likely not, the world is a vast place, but the Waldron's are the only ones I
have ever directly encountered,” h
e stared at me inquisitively. “Maybe you should speak to Paul again. Ask him if he knows anything about that ability.”

“How would he know?”

“He knows a lot about vampire and hunter history alike. But don't tell him I sent you...he can't know that I am with you. In fact, it's best that no one knows.”

I grudgingly agreed to see Paul that morning after breakfast. I looked through the phone book Janet kept in the drawer of the end table beside the sofa then tossed it aside when I had an idea. I ran back to my room, plugged up my laptop, connected to the first password-less Wi-Fi I coul
d find and searched online for ‘
Paul's Auto Shop
, Willowshire, Colorado
’
. Fortunately
it popped up right away
.