Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) (84 page)

Fear looked over Love's naked body. She was tenuous, but gorgeous. Young and lively, the fancy of every man's desires. He thought the few that weren't incited by Rebekkah's body would crawl to meet this one in the darkest alley or most secluded hill. He enjoyed the concept.

“Will you hurt her in any way if I work for you?” Love asked again. She was demanding an answer.

“Work for me? I do not employ, I use. Will you be so eager to let me use you if you truly know what I will make you do?” Fear moved to Love and raised his left hand to her chin. He caressed it.

“If you touch it, you bought it.” Love quipped.

Fear lowered his hand. “You have a sharp wit on you. I could use you.” Fear squinted his eyes at Love. “Not like this, not as you are now.”

Love took a hold of Fear's left hand. She pulled it towards her, placing it on her chest, sliding his cold fingers up to her warm neck. She positioned Fear's hand around her throat. “Go ahead.” Love stared at the back of Rebekkah's head. “Make me into what my love is. Make me a vampire.”

Rebekkah turned back to see Love. She was too late Fear had already done it. Fear's hand had broken Love's thin neck. It flopped in his grasp. He lifted her closer to him as Rebekkah watched, her feet dangling. He opened his mouth to sink his fangs into her exposed shoulder. He drank her succulent blood, draining her. Fear used the tip of his tongue to slice the center of his right palm, ensuring blood would flow. He pressed his own flesh into Love's wound letting it bond. Rebekkah watched in horror. Fear had taken yet another person from her. She dropped to the ground, sobbing. Fear had a wonderful proclivity for suffering.

Fear turned to look at Rebekkah. “Don't worry. In three days she'll be yours again. Cheer up, I won't be hurting you after today either. She made quite the good deal for you tonight. She serves two purposes. More blood and your guaranteed cooperation.” Fear glared at Rebekkah. “And if the day comes when I no longer need her, I can use her death to help motivate you.”

Fear dropped Love's body. She made a light thud on the floor, her head bounced with the impact.

“You are truly evil.” Rebekkah said to Fear as he walked past her and down the stairs.

“Be sure to clean her up and cloth yourselves before you leave. You'll be carrying her for the next three days. Having two naked women in the streets, one a vampire, one dead, would not be the right kind of attention I'd enjoy.” Fear said while leaving.

“You bastard.” Rebekkah yelled, her eyes watering.

Rebekkah stood. She picked up Love, placing her in the wooden tub that they had used yesterday to clean up in before entrenching themselves in the bed for the night. Rebekkah washed around Love's wound, rinsing the fresh blood off her body. Rebekkah's tears mixed into her skin. Her soul-mate was gone.

Three days prior a large fire raged in the night. Rebekkah walked as she always did, to the next town. Fear had chosen to linger behind and meet up with her later. She had spotted the glow from beyond a nearby hillside. The flames quickly engulfed the two story farm house. Rebekkah stopped for a moment to bask in the radiant heat of the uncommon site. She had seen many fires during the day. And in many towns at night. Nothing was like this. The building was in the middle of a vast field. It danced in the night, it called to Rebekkah.

A scream rang out from one of the upper rooms. It was a young girl. She was about to be burned alive. The second floor was more like an attic than an additional level to the house. It was more than twenty feet off the ground. Rebekkah leaped up to the top of the building. She had surprised herself. It had been many centuries since she had used her full strength. Masquerading as a human for too long she was amazed by how agile she actually had become through the years. Rebekkah tore into the roof with ease. Her knuckles ripped through the hot timber with speed and precision. She jumped down and quickly seized the young girl from the flames surrounding the room. Rebekkah smashed the window, escaping with the girl close to her. They landed in the dirt. The girl was still hysterical from the fire, coughing and crying. Rebekkah didn't want her to focus on the fact that her entire life was burning in front of her eyes. She had an idea.

“Why is my home burning!? Why is this happening?” The girl's long blond hair was flaring in the wind. She was sobbing, her mind fixated on the tragedy.

Rebekkah didn't know exactly how to respond. The girl was inconsolable. “Don't worry, it'll be okay. Look, you're still alive.”

The girl screamed, nearly passing out while she hyperventilated. Rebekkah's pep talk wasn't working. “Then I'll die along with them!”

The girl's words were disturbing to Rebekkah. She was very young, tall, and thin. She was beautiful to Rebekkah. She didn't want this girl to die just after being saved. The girl reached for a shattered rock that Rebekkah had landed on and split in two. It was sharp, it cut her hand as she picked it up. The girl brought it to her neck and screamed.

Rebekkah stopped the girl with a kiss. She knocked away the stone from her hand and kissed her intently.

“Look at me.” Rebekkah said calmly as she placed herself between the girl and the fire. “See only me. Focus on my eyes. Let me take you away from here.” Rebekkah's right hand caressed the girl's left cheek softly. “I will help you.” Rebekkah kissed her firmly on the lips. She slide her hands to the sides of the girl's face, blocking out the light from the fire. Rebekkah was creating a world for her to escape to. Making a physical fantasy to which there was no fire, no sadness, or anguish to feel. Rebekkah rested her forehead to the girl's. “I will make you happy from now on.”

Rebekkah transformed her words into reality. Through the constant swindling of men from town to town, Rebekkah was consistently wealthy. She put the both of them up in a lavish inn. They were served fresh fruits, well prepared meals, and all the wine they could drink. Rebekkah made the girl want for nothing, save to catch her breath under the sheets. The girl knew nothing outside of that room. Three days of solitude passed and had abruptly ended with Fear's arrival.

* * * *

Twenty years came and went as Yugo searched for his gift. Damien had but little help to offer him, believing that not all vampires had gifts. That some of them had nothing, while others received powers like Fear had. One day Yugo did find something. He realized that he was able to bend the reality of another person's body. The initial experiment did not sit well with Damien. They had to torture a man that was trying to kill them. A common bandit that had tried to mug them. Yugo kept him alive to explore his talents. Weeks lead to Yugo's result. He was able to, with a great deal of concentration and imagination, augment a person's physiology.

At first Yugo played with his ability for months, performing simple tricks. He would make the men fighting him lose their will to harm him. That quickly turned to allowing Yugo to remove entire memories from people. To erase their minds and leave them without any recall of what or who they had seen. This came in handy for Damien and Yugo, they were able to hide themselves more effectively than ever. From there Yugo did more drastic things. He filled a man's stomach with poison and watched him die. Damien was appalled and told Yugo to never attempt such a thing. To either demoralize their enemies or kill them swiftly, not to toy with them. Yugo listened, partially. He was able to develop more uses of his gift. Some out of torture, some out of killing. He even found out how to restore health to the human body. A skill that he used to barter with.

The two decades had produced many benefits for Damien and Yugo. Several hordes of men had tried to assault them. This had led to them picking up a vast amount of money from their assailants. They had become rich without trying. Yugo was ecstatic about their change in status, Damien was not.

They had settled at a busy bar, drinking at a booth set far in the back. Their cups were full, their minds active. Yugo had convinced Damien that there were more than enough bad men that wanted to harm them in the tavern. Damien agreed to feed on the men rather than the vermin and livestock that were the livelihood of the local farmers. Yugo's argument was sound, but Damien knew Yugo only wanted to feed on human blood he had grown accustomed to.

The bar maid came up to them. “Do you fellows need anything?”

“No, we're good.” Damien told her.

Yugo slammed two coins onto the table. “Yes, we'll take two more pints!” He said while finishing his drink.

Damien looked at Yugo in disappointment.

The bar maid noticed a light purple glow in Yugo's eyes. “Okay, I'll have them over for you soon.” She left with their order, hurrying back to get away from Yugo.

Damien turned to Yugo. “Do you really have to be that flagrant with our money? Now every thug here is going to try and attack us when we leave. We've spent more than a month's income in front of the men here. It's too much.”

Yugo smiled and wiped off his chin the foamy beer that had spilled. “Don't worry. We're doing this town a favor by killing them. If they go for us, then they won't mug the next folks and the ones after them. We're stopping a cycle of pain. This is God's work.”

“God's work is leading men to God.” Damien stated.

Yugo quickly answered. “That's exactly what we are doing. Leading men to God, directly. Bad men at that! Men that need to be truly saved! We should get extra points for that!” Yugo was getting loud.

Several groups of lowly men were now blatantly staring at Yugo.

“See.” Yugo gestured to the men in the opposite dark corner. “They eagerly await us to deliver them to God.”

“Keep it down Yugo. We don't kill out of desire, we only defend. Can't you even attempt to be abstemious here?” Damien was scolding Yugo for doing what he had said nothing about for more than the last ten years.

“Why the change all of a sudden?” Yugo smiled at the men in the corners. “You never had second thoughts about this before? They're going to die in the end anyway. We're helping them along, that's all.”

Damien shifted his position. “Yes, as always, you're right Yugo. Let's get this over with.”

Yugo stood up, threw a few coins on the table and left with Damien in tow. Three groups of shady men instantly scurried out of their chairs to follow. Damien opened the door and Yugo stepped through. Damien looked around the room he counted eighteen men shuffling towards them.

“Don't think about it too much Damien. If it makes you feel better, I can do it all.” Yugo said to make Damien feel better.

Damien said nothing in return. Both he and Yugo walked down the street. Damien kept a good eye on the men that came after them. They were slow, lagging behind them. They were waiting for the light to fade from outside of the bar.

“Fine, you take most of them. I'll take the runners.” Damien settled with Yugo.

Yugo and Damien lead the men down the block. Damien noticed they were all formed into one large gang. He figured that by the amount of money Yugo was flashing around, their individual take was going to be worth it to work together. Six of the men pulled out knives. Three reached for short pipes hidden in their pant legs. The rest readied their fists.

Damien shrugged.

“What's the matter?” Yugo asked.

Damien spoke under his breath. “They don't seem to be very successful thieves. Only half of them are armed. The rest plan on beating us up with bare hands. It's almost sad.”

“Yes, but these men chose this.” Yugo reassured Damien.

“I know, as did we.” Damien became resolute. “Okay, this is far enough.”

Damien and Yugo turned around. The gang was surprised. They stood, waiting for one of them to say something.

“You have a problem we can help you boys with?” Yugo smiled. He looked at Damien.

One of the men with a knife in his right hand came forth. “Give us your money and we won't have to hurt you.” His statement was bold and confident. He had clearly done this before.

Damien grinned. He knew what was coming next. Yugo had developed a wit about this type of conversation. It had become quite funny to them both.

“Oh, this? You want this?” Yugo pulled his coat back, exposing the stuffed coin purse on his belt.

“Yeah. Hand it over or we'll have to kill you both.” The somewhat short, stout man repeated his threat. He played with his knife as he said it.

“So those are my choices then? Either hand you my coins, or have you attack us?” Yugo was pissing the man off intentionally.

“Okay, we can do it our way then.” The man was getting impatient.

“Oh, no, wait. I didn't mean I wouldn't cooperate. Here, you can have the money.” Yugo fiddled with his belt, fumbling, making it seem as if he was still drunk from the beers he had earlier. The bag fell to the ground. “Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to do that. But here, you can take it now.” Yugo stumbled to the side, a few feet away from the money.

“Glad to see you came to your senses.” The man stepped forward, reaching for the bag. He tossed it up into the air, catching it with his hand. “Okay, now you too.”

He was plainly asking for Damien to follow suit and give him his money as well. Damien smiled. “You seem to have a slight problem.”

Yugo closed the distance between him and the mugger, placing his left hand on the thug's back. He gently landed a soft touch. Then Yugo stepped back.