Evanescere: Origins (12 page)

HEN I HEARD JACK WAS GOING
TO schedule a counsel, I was not sure what to expect. There were five vampires
who made up the counsel, with Jack being among the five, they began to arrive
one by one over the course of the week. I was surprised when I saw that Lorelei
was a part of the council. I had not seen Lorelei since I became a vampire. In
the meantime, there was two more murders. Jack hacked the police database to
see what evidence there was. The
modus operandus
was the same. A young
black woman drained of all blood with no visible wounds.
 

All of the victims were in their late twenties to
early thirties. We just did not know what the connection was to each of them.
They fit no profile. They were black, white, Asian, Hispanic, short, tall, rich
and poor. No one woman had any visible connection to the next. Each victim a
stranger to the next. The police felt powerless to protect the city. They were
working under the assumption that maybe there was more than one murderer, more
than one serial killer and that is why they could not find the link between the
women. We would need to move swiftly to defend the city. We were going to war
on a dangerous predator.

What frightened us even more was the fact that
this rogue was destroying our town. All of the other vampires in the area were
all concerned. I had never realized just how many vampires there were in New
Orleans, at least a dozen. Many of them just wanted to maintain their
anonymity. We were grateful that they would help us defend the city. The only
problem was we did not know how or where to find this monster. No one knew who
created such a monster. Ambogio painted a description of the feign from both my
memory and his. Obviously Ambrogio painting was more contemporary than I had
expected of him. Ambrogio was talented this way. The paintings in his villa
were stunning, many of them were from past styles, such as the Renaissance,
Impressionism and Expressionism. There was so much detail to his art. I guess
when you have the eternal time you just make do with what you are given. I was
surprised by his attention to detail on the feign.

The vampire we sought has a short dark hair, broad
shoulders, has an olive complexion and a stranger mark on his neck. It was
something we could not quite entirely work out. As I looked at him, I could
make out the slight Creole features on his face. So we knew he was definitely
from Louisiana. The only thing we could do is scour the missing persons’
database to find out who this man is. Jack searched the databases and came up
empty. He continued to search for a clue, a lead, or whatever brought us closer
to his capture. The council meeting was one member short. We were waiting for
an old one. Apparently he was coming in from somewhere in the Middle East.

According to some unseen edict we could not begin
the council meeting until all members are present. At this point, time is of
the essence. This feign was on a rampage. The tourists are currently staying
away from the French Quarter, this was bad, really bad. We just did not know
how bad.

I stood silently watching and listening, when
something about what Ambrogio said, kept intruding into my thoughts. I thought
back to what he said and repeated the conversation over in my head. Suddenly it
clicked. Ambrogio said the he followed the feign from Italy to Mexico to New
Orleans.

“Ambrogio, where in Mexico did you say you
followed the feign?”

“I followed the trail to Northern Mexico,” he replied
curiosity dripping in his voice. He sensed I knew something yet; I to had
learned to keep him out. Jack turned to me. The questions burning in his mind.
The answer was obvious but I still did not know the reason.

“Jack when we went to Mexico we heard about all of
the women disappearing in Northern Mexico,” I began.

“Yes,” he interrupted.

“You see Jack, we made the assumption that human
men were killing the women, but what if the feign was actually responsible and
we took care of the wrong problem. What if he was near us the entire time?” I
explained.

“But why?” He asked, “What would be the reason for
his actions?”

“The only thing I can think of is that he has some
connection to the monsters that left me for dead. We have to try to find the
connection. We are running out of time?” I said anxiously. If it had been up to
me I would have left in this moment, this very instant to hunt him down and end
him. “Jack,” I continued, we had been hearing of the murders form England,
Italy and Mexico. We assumed it was just coincidence, senseless violence, but
it was not until we were in Mexico that he more dangerous. More violent like he
just exploded and let his nature take control. Maybe it was there that he was
trying to capture our attention. Think about it. In Mexico, the bloodshed was
higher. He wanted us to know he was there. Even Chief believed another vampire
was responsible but he could not prove it,” I explained. My anxiety rising by
the second.

Suddenly comprehension dawned on him. He called
for the council members to gather in the courtyard. This was big. Before he
entered he called the missing council member; he could not be reached.
Something was wrong. I sensed their tension. The council will proceed
regardless of what edict declares. This was an urgent matter that needed our
immediate attention. It appeared that the old one had forsaken us. The question
was why?

As the council met in the courtyard discussing
their theories, there was a silent knock on the door. Lorelei went to answer. I
heard her surprise. I saw what she saw; the feign had brought death to our
door. I saw the woman barely breathing, curled on our doorstep. In an instant
Jack and the others were by her side. Jack lifted her in his arms and swiftly
carried her to the couch. He checked her pulse. It was unnecessary we could all
hear her heart stuttering and slowing down. I caught a familiar scent.

I was stunned by the familiarity of it. I wanted
to follow the trail before it was lost. While the council attended to the girl,
I walked to the door. I breathed in the night air, I caught the strong scent of
rain, the smell of the Magnolias. The scent of the feign was stronger out here
enhanced by the rain. I was about to run off after the monster when a steel
grip grabbed me. I turned around, in a crouched position, ready to attack. It
took me a second to snap out of it. It was Ambrogio, slowly shaking his head.

“You are needed here,” he said gently.

“His scent is strong. If we follow it now we can
catch him,” I said. I pleaded with him to let me go in pursuit and still he
shook his head. His shoulders sagged with age, with helplessness.

“Now is not a good time,” he gently told me. “You
need to keep your humanity, this monstrosity is not going to destroy the very
thing that allows you to have compassion and love. It is what makes you
stronger than us all. Your strength, your power, it all comes to you because of
the maternal instincts you never abandoned. You take away another’s pain, the
way a mother comforts a sick or injured child. If you lose your humanity for
the sake of this being you will lose everything that you are,” he tells me.

I finally understood why I was different from the
other vampires. As a human I was a mother and a healer. I was always so in
tuned to my children. My maternal side had allowed me to grow in a way in which
another vampire would not be able to. It was this bond with my human family
that has given me the strength to continue to live. My love for them allowed me
to leave them in peace. I think that deep down I had known all along. It just
took Ambrogio opening my eyes to see what he saw. I looked at the other
vampires in the room and I realized neither of them had ever had children. They
did not know what it meant to love a child more than yourself. I entered their
minds and each one let me in. They envied me, the human family I left behind.
The love I have for them. They also pitied me for my loss. Each one of them was
willing to sacrifice their lives for me. I wept because I realized all of my
strength came from within me.

With tears in my eyes I approached the girl and
held her hand as her heart began to beat slowly. As I held her hand, her last
memories were being played like a movie. I saw her meet the feign at a bar. I
saw her in the throes of her passion with the monster. She did not know what
hit her. So swiftly he feed from her and drained her to the point of death. Our
torture was seeing her slow death before us. Helpless to prevent it. From the
sound of her beating heart she had minutes. Her mind soon went black and her
thoughts were no more.

I gently lifted the girl in my arms. Jack was at my
side in an instant and together we took the girl to the proper channels. The
girl did not deserve this to die unknown and alone. As we delivered the girl, I
felt the warmth of a final tear escape my eye. I wiped it away. I was impotent
to stop the feign.

IME WAS RUNNING OUT AND we
had not been able to put a stop to him. He was playing a game with us. I wanted
to understand it. Unfortunately, there is never a reason for the things beyond
our control. The police department was working on this in full force alongside
the FBI. Fortunately for them we were all in the city, searching for the
monster as well. Unbeknownst to them we were going to try to save our city.  

Ambrogio thought it best to not leave the city in
order to contain the damage to just one central area. I felt responsible for
the deaths of countless unknown women and I had no way to cope. Ambrogio and
Jack would not allow me to retreat back into myself, and so I spent my time
drunk on Ambrogio’s wine. Where I was able to take their pain into myself no
one could do the same for me. They all knew I blamed myself for this horror,
but no one knew how to comfort me.

Suddenly, Ambrogio had had enough of myself pity
and took my bottle of delicious wine from my hand and slapped the everlasting
life from me. It sounded like the loud clap of thunder from an approaching storm.
I was stunned into silence and found myself sober.

“Enough of this madness, Salome,” he yelled at me,
shaking me by the shoulders. “Every day you are drunk on my wine and I have grown
tired of seeing you try to destroy yourself for things beyond your control. So
as the common saying goes ‘Suck it up Buttercup.”

I looked around at the counsel they all averted
their eyes from me. I wanted to cry and retreat into myself, but this time I
found the strength to face my future. I stood up straight. I could hear
everyone preparing for a fight and instead I shocked everyone into silence.

“Thank you, Ambrogio, for your kindness. Now if
you will excuse me I have to feed,” I said. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.
Even Ambrogio had anticipated a fight.

“Salome, would you like some company? I heard Jack
ask. I could sense he was afraid of a repeat of Mexico.

“Alone would be okay. I promise I will not have a
repeat,” I told him and smiled.

I walked out of the house and I went to feed on what
life had to offer. I feed on a deer and horse before I returned to Jack. This
time I knew I would need to draw my strength from my very core. I could no
longer feel sorry for myself. I had to learn to control my emotions and move
forward.  

*****

The counsel remained with us and together we would
hunt our prey through New Orleans on into Texas and Mississippi and still we
were no closer to him. I started formulated my plan but keeping Ambrogio out
was an impossible task. As soon as the thought crossed my mind he was there by
my side. This would be tricky, but I knew in order to avoid Amborgio’s
intrusion, I would have to make a quick and last minute decision. I just had to
be patient. Patience was still something I had not yet mastered and doubted if
I ever would.

As luck would have it, I was hungry and needed to
feed. Jack urged me out of the door and together we walked the streets of the
French Quarter. Once on the outside of the perimeter I made a run for it. I was
filled with that quiet exhilaration I felt every time I ran. Jack kept even
with me. He allowed me to run, not knowing where I was going. I made sure to
not think about where I was going. I kept West, then North, then West again, no
clear destination. I focused on the bayous, the swamps. Once I reached Lake
Charles, Louisiana, a silent comprehension dawned on him. I turned to him and
smiled. He sweet face confused and he continued to follow me.

Within minutes we found ourselves outside of my
old home. My family no longer lived here, thanks to Aunt Dora’s kind
generosity. The old house on Simmons Drive was falling apart. Axel had done
very little to maintain it after my disappearance. The windows were broken and what
was left of them was covered in some type of green slimw. The kind you would need
to use a pressure washer to remove.

I walked into my old home and walked the halls,
the rooms, memories of a life I could no longer remember clearly.

“
Evanescere
,” I whispered into the dark.

I felt Jack’s hand on my shoulder and suddenly a
need I have felt for so long erupted from within. I found myself in his arms,
oblivious to everything around me. We were lost in bliss. It must have been
hours before we began to see the rays from the early dawn that I became
slightly aware. I saw the white dust everywhere, floating in the air, it
covered my hair and it was on his gentle face. I quickly shot up and looked
around me. We had managed to take down a wall or two and completely pulverize
the rotted sheetrock. I looked at the floor and realized we had fractured the
foundation. The spider web crack clearly visible. The ceramic tile broken into
many pointed shards. I laughed a laugh, I believed I would never hear again. It
was cheerful, melodic, bashful. If I could have blushed I believe I would have.

I felt a new kind of excitement and as Jack
reached out to me I felt a new type of charge. I felt explosive. I saw Jack
smile hesitantly at me, he was just as embarrassed by our actions as I was. For
the first time I felt free and lighter. Like I could fly and touch the sky.
Suddenly to me the impossible was not possible.  

“This is so new for me,” I told him.

“For those of our kind, who love the way we love and
the way we just did is an intense emotion. One I had not experience in the last
several hundred years. It was as though I had been struck by lightning,” he
explained.

“It was beautiful,” I cut him off. Still smiling
like a silly school girl. As I looked at his, ice blue eyes, and his sweet
face, I began to really see him, not as my maker, but as my future. Jack, was
tall, muscular, his tattoos intimidated, yet I knew I could feel safe in his
arms. I wanted to relive every moment. I remembered how I traced his square
jawline. Dug my long nails along his back. How I explored every tattoo that
covered his body.

He interrupted my thoughts with a soft kiss and I
began to feel the fire within. He chuckled and pulled himself away. He must
have seen a replay of our actions from my mind. Just as suddenly I remembered
why I had come here.

I explained my plan to Jack. We could trap the
feign here. My scent is everywhere. The house sits alone here, the closest
neighbors are about half a mile away. If we could catch the feign here we could
destroy him and cut all ties with my formal life once and for all. It would be
perfect. We would be right off of the interstate. The bayou across the street
from my old home made it difficult for humans to traverse thru both by boat and
by foot. The fallen logs and other debris makes it difficult for humans. If we
could catch him there in the bayou, we would have plenty of time to destroy the
body before the humans arrive to investigate.

Jack was a bit hesitant, especially since it
included bringing our prey near my former life. This was something that had to
be done. Sooner or later he would find my scent near my human family and hunt
them This was a risk I was not willing to take. He had to be destroyed. The
sooner the better. I would destroy him myself to keep my family safe.

I remembered the bar where the girl met him and I
figured why not go there first. With each passing minute, the day was growing
brighter, the sun’s rays would betray us if we stayed. Although we do not
sparkle or glitter, our pale, chalkiness gives us away. It is easier to see
that we are not human than at night.

As we ran through the swamps back to New Orleans,
the plan was becoming clearer, solidifying. If only we knew where to look. We
hunted along the way, our extracurricular activities had drained me. We fed on
wild boar, which by the way is abundant in this area. Jack did not care much
for animal blood as it did not satisfy him, yet ever since my slumber if you
could call it that, my hunger had considerably eased. I could go a month or
more in between feedings. After a few hours we found ourselves back at Jack’s
house. With some unexpected news.

In our absence a package had been delivered. A
bloody heart, with a small card with my name beautifully written, A calling
card. The feign knew where we were. Suddenly we knew this was a game of Cat and
Mouse. I stood there frozen, unmoving. I fought the urge to retreat into the
safety of my mind. My family needed me. Jack needed me. The humans needed.
Somehow I was the key to finding this monster. I just needed to find the
starting point and it dawned on me where the starting point was.

I escaped the dread of Jack’s house and walked to
the St. Louis Cemetery and walked around lost in my thoughts. The St. Louis
Cemetery was my alpha and omega. My death and my life. This is where it all
started and I wondered what the connection was. I made my way to the old
mausoleum, my first kill. I fought the urge to rip the hinges off the door
again. I gently opened the door, it creaked. The frame was unsteady and I knew
it was weakened after I tore it off the hinges that day so long ago.

I walked the five steps to the old coffin and wiped
my hand over it. My hand blackened by the layers of dust. Looking at it again
and the memories returned with a vengeance. I stepped back and looked at the
dark copper coffin, and tore the lid right off. I was stunned into silence. The
body of
Bleu
was gone. Jack must have sensed my emotion, my fear, my
dread. He and Ambrogio were at my side in seconds. They too could not believe
what I had just uncovered.

We did not understand what that feign had to do
with these monsters. We were just as confused as we were before. I felt the
insanity of my new life begin to boil. I began to doubt my very nature, Was
this the reason. Did any of this exist? I knew I was alive sort of. I feared
for the humans and I wanted to run, but this was something I knew I would have
to eventually face.

I bit into my hand and with my blood I wrote my own
taunt on the coffin, “Come out and play.” I felt the slow sting of my hand
healing and within seconds it was perfectly smooth. Not even a scar remained. Jack
looked at me confused, yet he could read my plan forming in my head. All that
was left was to set the trap.