Melabeth Forgive Me, For I Am Sin! (12 page)

“WHY?”

With longing and need, “Tonight I will feed from you, and you from me. And we will become one, together forever in our cursed lives. I have never wanted a woman, not in eight hundred years, but tonight you shall be mine. When you fe
ed from me, you will understand my need of you.”

“No thank you,” but he just laughed. He was stronger than me
, and so far he had been out smarting me. I hissed at him, “You can’t hold me forever.”

“When the sun sets, I will feed from you, stealing your power. Then you will feed from me, and take it back, and we will be together. I will have no need to hold you after that.”

I was taken back, I had no idea vampires could do that. I could not have this man take my blood, somewhere deep down in me, screamed at this idea.  I was desperate for escape, without thinking I asked, “Why wait until night?” That was a stupid question, why am I trying to hurry him up?

He laughed, “The sun is upon us.” He spoke as if I should know.

It took me a second, I was an idiot. Our blood would burst into flames if the sun hit it directly. In fact it felt as if it were slowly boiling under my skin right now. It was like sweating without liquid. My claws elongated; my arms were still behind him as my hands lay flat on his back. He realized what I was about to do and yelled out, “No, you are a
fool
.”

I pulled my claws down his back, and flames burst forth.

He screamed and threw me as he rolled in the sand to put himself out. Now that I was free from him, I had all the advantages, I could see. With my second sight I could see him just fine. He had stopped rolling around and now was screaming curses at me.

I attacked. He tried to claw me, but I simply moved or ducked under his swipes. I clawed anywhere I could, his arms, his side and his back. It had only taken a second and now there were so many flames coming off of him that my own hands had caught a blaze. I moved away from the now screaming fireball and shoved my own hands into the ocean.

The screams stopped as Peter collapsed onto the ground. In a few seconds he would burn away to a pill of ash. I ran up to him and grabbed his ankle; the lower halves of his legs where the only part of him that were not a flame. I quickly pulled him down the beach and into the ocean.

White smoke rose from the oceans as the hissing of the dying flames filled the air. I pushed his body under the waves so that he would not catch again.

When I pulled his body toward the surface of the water, he no longer looked human. His skin looked like a marshmallow held too close to the fire. His skin was black and full of cracks, and within the cracks pink and red flesh stood exposed.  His hair was gone and the face was a black mess, but of course I was having a hard time seeing him. My eyes strained in the light, I still had to rely on my second sight. It is of no wonder vampires were not out during the day. Between the brightness of the day and the chances of being burned alive, I wouldn’t have come out in the old days; not before sunglasses.

I put my head to his. I could make out the hole in his head, it was all that was left of his ear. I didn’t know if he could
hear me, I spoke loud and clear. “Remember this moment… for this is the moment that I Melabeth, SAVED YOUR LIFE.”

I dropped his limp
, crusty ass back into the sea. The ocean waves drug him out to sea, to what end, I don’t even care.

I walked up the beach for awhile and found a nice shady place under a group of palm trees. There I sat, not tired, but full of thought. Like the fact that Peter’s overwhelming desire for me, unnerved me. Not because he felt that way about me, because I responded, and even felt bad for almost killing him. That was only a side note of my troubling thoughts. I thought he was Michael, I would have… no doubt, no denying it anymore. I have always had feelings for Michael.

I thought about my night with him before we left to the cruise. The tattoo on my back, as he watched the artist work on me. His green eyes; always in my dreams. I felt like I owed David my life for what he has done for me, what he had sacrificed for me. Yet, if it would have been Michael on this beach, I would have betrayed David.

A tear slipped from my eye, it burned down my face. My tears had blood in them and the sun still was out and even in the shade I could feel its effect. Let it burn my face, the pain reminded me. It reminded me of what’s truly important. Not David or Michael, but REVENGE. Let nothing get in my way, otherwise my pain shall live in me, eating me alive.

Time to worry about getting back… suddenly I knew two things. Alice was fine, how I knew that for sure, was unsettling. That little shit stealing my blood, I was sure I would regret it. The other thing I knew was, I had no idea if Michael had gotten off that ship alive. Terror shot through my body. The last time I had really seen him, was right before the fire element started chasing me. I hadn’t really thought about it until now, I need to get back.

島

I waited for the sun to drop below the horizon, and for my mind to calm.

I had panicked when I realized I had no idea what had happened to Michael. To find out what happened, I would need to find Alice. To find Alice I would need to find out where I was. And the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that I had become reliant to other people. I always had thought of myself to be an independent woman.

I was not that independent, I relied on others for all kinds of things. I had no ID on me and no idea how to get one. I had no money; I would have to steal it. Alice, David, Ezra, it was always someone taking care of all those small details. Those details didn’t feel so small now. I had a feeling I was on an Island. The cruise ship had left Miami, and was heading for the Bahamas. There was no way I could jump across the ocean. I could swim, but it would have to be in one night, that wouldn’t work either.

I couldn’t even picture swimming there, what if I lost my way? Swimming in circles would not get me home any faster. Still I would handle this like I handle most things in my life; one foot in front of the other. I remember my grandfather telling me, "Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but you won't get anywhere."

I knew the big picture; I would start with the basics. First thing is first, clothes and food. Then I will find out where I am and then a way out. Finally, I will find Michael, and if he is alive, I will kiss him. That thought brought a smile to my face. Now all I had to do is wait for the sun to go away.

The sunset was behind the beach, I now knew where west lies. The sun finish
ed sinking behind the earth, the sky darkened, my eyesight cleared. I could now see the white sand and the topaz waters. The water was so clear I could see right down to the bottom. Black rocks jutted from the white sand. The tree line was not just palm trees, but various species of trees and plants. All with different shades of green, none of the trees stood very tall. The bushes were thick on the ground and made the land appear to be impassable past the beach. This area of beach was not inhabited by people. I chose to walk south, right or wrong it was a direction.

It was a direction, the wrong direction. I had walked, flashed and walked and saw nothing
, but empty beach. The beach curved and started heading west now, there was a real possibility I could be walking in a circle. And what would I do if there were no humans? I was starting to feel hungry.

My long walk gave me time to consider a mystery. I slowly recharged like a battery in some cases, I didn’t need to feed all the time. Vampires feed from humans to have power. In no other way could vampires get power. In Vegas I didn’t recharge, I had to feed, but in most other places I have been, I don’t need to feed if I don’t want to. This beach was void of humans, and I couldn’t feel that other power, that recharging. What on earth does the beach and Las Vegas have in common? Why is it  that I don’t recharge here or there?

I thought about it for a little bit. Vegas has this really crazy dead place, I could see all the spirits surrounding it. Maybe, it was eating all the energy of death and life. On this island there are no people, so that also means few people have died here. So there would be no energy from death or life.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Wait, that means that my other source of power is from… death. I feed off death. That makes sense; it’s also pretty damn weird and scary. Why do I feed from death? Why can I see ghosts? What the hell am I? A question I seldom like to think about.

I started walking again. Hunger ripped through my body; I didn’t care if it was a cemetery or town, I needed to eat. I had used so much power fighting on the ship, fighting on the beach. Let me not forget all the power I have used to heal myself.

I had lots of time to think because the beach never ended. I had started to travel North, my heart had sank; I was traveling in a circle. Then the beach ended, the trees and bushes grew all the way to the ocean leaving no beach. I noticed the water lay flat here, like a lake. This Island must wrap around and make a natural cove.

Now I was tracking through mangroves. A lot of the bushes had sharp thorns that cut at my bare skin. Just more pain, more energy to heal the cuts. Covered in mud and filth, I was so tired. Not just out of strength, but exhausted, I wouldn’t be able to travel in the sun. Weak, I pushed on; it would be an hour or so before the sun broke over the horizon.

Just as the sun rose, I buried myself in the mud face first. The cool mud made me feel good and relaxed, there I found sleep. There I found dreamless sleep.

I awoke upon sunset
and with a deep weariness I headed out again. Hope aroused in me when I saw light, it was light from homes in the distance. They lay across a wide stretch of water. If I continued my way up the beach I would be heading north and parallel with the light. Either I wade my way through the rocky shallows, or go through the mangroves. I would swim; swimming was such a relief from the drudgery of that terrain. I felt clean as I cut through the water, towards the promise of food.

As soon as I hit the beach I felt dismay. The current had taken me off target. I didn’t have the power to fly, but I could still climb a tree. I found out that I was only a few miles off, hopping down from the tree, I headed out.

It did not take long before I heard the sound of voices carried in the wind. The sky was full of stars and my eyesight became crystal clear as the starlight path was lit before me. I was passing an old beach house, the walls were an off white and full of cracks. The straw roof laid half collapsed inside the old structure. Bushes and small trees grew up the side and covered the windows. The front door hung by one hinge and was mostly rotted wood.

I could hear the voices clearly now and I realized they came from in the structure itself. I heard the voices
, but no other sounds to accompany it. It sounded happy, it sounded like children. Like the idiot I am, I investigated. Hunger drove me forward as I felt like there was food before me. Opening the old wooden door, it almost fell off in my hands. I walked inside, and as I did, the old door shut behind me.

There playing on the wooden floor, were two children. A girl that looked to be about twelve, she had black hair and dark skin. The boy was about nine and shared the girl’s features; they both stared at me with dark eyes.

I was annoyed, “Ghosts, why did I come here?”

The boy asked in a small voice, “Is it mother?”

The sister answered, “No… she’s a stranger.”

I shook my head back and forth, “How sad. Waiting for mom? Well bad news, she
's not coming.”

The girl
's face went from surprised that I respond to angry. “What do you know?”

I was not in a good mood; I was harsh when I spoke, “I know you’re a ghost, I know your mom is NOT coming. You’ll wait night after night, until you fade away.”

Both spirits rose up from the floor, floating. The children melted away until their bodies and faces stretched long and distorted. They screamed as they rushed toward me.

I reached out and grabbed each one by the throat. They tried to tear at my flesh, but their nails only made small scratches upon my skin. My claws were tearing into their skin, they had no blood. I squeezed tight.

I felt myself stealing their strength, their life force. Their faces were not full of rage now; it had been replaced by confusion and fear. Instead of trying to attack me, they were trying to pull away, but my grip was too much for them.

The smaller ghost started to dissipate as I drained his power. His white ghostly body fell away as black soot, which floated away in the air. Soon all that remained was his sister; I grabbed her with both hands. I squeezed her throat until she turned to ash.

It felt like I had feed, my strength returned and I felt whole again.

The house felt empty, the wood floor looked as if it had aged. Cracks started to spread across the walls. I walked to the front door and kicked it out of my way. The door hit the white sandy ground with a thud. I walked away from the old house. I could hear it falling to the ground. I turned to look, and only one white wall stood, surrounded by rumble.

If I had any doubt earlier, I couldn’t doubt now. I was stealing life energy from spirits; I could drain them by touch alone. In fact I could now feel that little trickle of power that I normally felt. Maybe it wasn’t just ghost I thought as I headed toward the town. Maybe I could feed off of all forms of human life; alive, dead, it didn’t matter. Nicks my father, the man who created me, he knew. I could visit him if I wanted. Suddenly I felt like a visit to Nicks was overdue. When I rested today, I would find a graveyard. I had noticed that it was easiest to enter the library where Nicks was, when I sleep near or at places of death.

I still needed some clothes.