“I will be there for you in
your hour of need…” Ezra, my Angel, said before he and my past
memories began to fade. As he disappeared the music and noise of
the people began to rise to the normal noise level of a bar in full
swing.
Looking down at the kids
from the bar, they gaped up at me. Their looks sending me a clear
indication that they were pissed off that I wouldn’t walk
away.
Their scent soared around
my head. Looking at each one, I placed a memory to each of my past
feasts, which roused my hunger to almost uncontrollable. I could
feel myself falling into a frenzy being near them. All I could
think about was devouring their blood. Despite Ezra warning me of
my supposed impending death, I was perplexed, frightened and
furious. But the only thing that seemed clear to me was that I
wanted them–all of them. This was the only thing in all my years of
being a vampire that was ever really clear. To have that connection
and intimacy that drove us to feed. Their blood is the elixir that
sets our pained minds at ease, even if for only a fleeting
moment.
“You alright?” One boy
asked, his chin-length jet black dyed hair falling into his
eyes.
Nodding mechanically, I
made this gesture only to set him at ease. I took a step back. I
was losing all control and as if being directed, I lunged for the
poor boy that showed his concern and tore at the flesh of his neck
with my fangs. He cried out in pain and thrashed beneath me. I
moaned in delight. I was in my glory as his blood coursed through
my veins, unaware of where I was, not caring where I was. Faintly,
the screams of his friends finally broke through my frenzy, but I
didn’t care. Only when his heart fell into that erratic rhythm did
I pull back. As I did, his blood trickled down my chin.
Looking back to the boy,
his body lay there limp, weak and teetering on the verge of death.
As his friends let out another howl I let my gaze fall upon their
fearful eyes. Hopping onto the table I kicked off the contents, the
liquid from the lingering glasses splattering the friends. As they
all turned to run, I pounced, landing on the girl. Her pink
shoulder length hair flew across her pale face and together we fell
to the floor. She panted in fear, the hair that still covered her
face moved with each heavy breath.
“No, no, please don’t.” She
begged. But her plea for mercy made me smile in delight and I
openly showed her my nature. What did I care? I was not going to be
of this earth much longer, was I? Her tears began to flow
freely.
In my peripheral view, I
saw a large, lumbering biker walking in our direction. As he neared
I held firmly onto the girl’s shoulders, pushed myself up and bared
my teeth at him, hissing. Seeing this, the man stopped mid-pace. I
could see the confusion in his eyes and this delighted me. I looked
down at the girl and brushed her pink hair out of her face, leaned
in and whispered in her ear.
“You are lucky. Tonight,
you live.” I said, and as I did, my words stung my heart. But
quickly I shoved any emotion aside except my driven desire for
hunger and bloodlust. Swiftly I leapt up and off the girl to stand
before the biker. The girl scrambled to her feet and ran for the
nearest exit screaming and crying.
“You
wanted me to stop? Well, I did. But now–now
you
are the one that I want.” I said,
my voice not sounding like my own. The crowd had stopped dancing
and drinking and had focused on the biker and me. I found myself
loving the power I possessed and I delighted in the fear I
generated from the humans around me. I was on a
high.
“What did you do to that
boy?” The biker grumbled at me, concealing his apprehension with
his ruff exterior. However, his eyes revealed his fear. Deep down
he knew that I was unnatural. I turned my gaze from the biker to
the boy and back again. A wide grin played on my lips, uncaring
that my fangs glistened in the dancing multitude of
lights.
“Do you really want to find
out?” I asked maliciously, taking two… three… four slow steps
forward and paused inches away from him. Despite the fact he was
quite a bit taller and much larger than me, he figured he had
nothing to worry about. However, his attitude changed.
“Now look here, Miss. I’m
not looking for any trouble, you know? I just want–”
Unable to listen to him
ramble on I swiftly reached up, grasped onto his neck and lowered
him to my height. Choking and gasping for air, complete horror and
shock filled his eyes. As his face began to turn red, the other
patrons in the club began to cheer for the underdog but did nothing
to truly help him. Pulling him closer to me, I released my grip on
his neck allowing him to take in a deep breath before I ripped his
flesh with my fangs and lapped up the blood that poured forth. The
man howled and the crowd gasped. Only drinking a small portion of
his lifeblood, I pulled back from him and looked into his eyes once
more.
“Good night, and say hello
to God… or the devil, whomever you will share your eternity with.”
Placing a hand on either side of his head, I twisted his neck. The
sound of his vertebrae cracking made certain his demise. Letting go
the biker’s body fell heavily to the tiled floor. Looking around,
eyes everywhere stared at me and I felt self-conscious. Needing to
protect myself, I hissed and bared my teeth to those who stood too
near, my mouth and chin smeared with blood. Screams let out and
more from the scene left but others kept their ground in pure
awe.
As I heard a male voice
say, “She’s over there.” I turned to find a group of four male
police officers. A new fear befell me as I realized what I had
done. It wasn’t the taking of two lives that shook me, but that I
had done it in plain view of humans! As the policemen approached,
their hands upon their holstered guns, I steadied my stance for an
escape. As they drew within ten feet of me, I sprung forward. In a
blur I passed the police, but not before they let off a few rounds.
As their bullets flew past me, one managed to painfully pierce deep
into the flesh of my left shoulder. The sensation was something I
had never felt before, both hot and cold. The pain seared into my
flesh. The bullet became a foreign object my body tried to be rid
of, but couldn’t. I kept running as fast as my preternatural body
would allow.
Exiting the club I heard
the policemen pause. Having seemingly vanished before their eyes, I
knew they were confused and had no idea as to where the ‘young
woman’ went. When the front door appeared to open and close by
itself, I heard the police yell, “Over there”. Before they could
even reach the exit, I was in my mustang. With spinning tires I
took off.
Riding in the car, the hum
of the vehicle the only sound, my thoughts blurred and incoherent,
I began to weep uncontrollably, forcing me to pull over. Sobbing in
the idling car I wept not for the innocent lives but for the loss
of myself. I could no longer differentiate between my thoughts and
actions from the ones influenced by Adam. I felt violated yet
empowered. I mourned the death of my humanity yet reveled in
embracing what power my nature could bring me.
Time felt frozen in my
confused state of mind. Feeling calmer, I wiped the blood tears
from my eyes. As I did, the time on the clock caught my eye: 2:06
am. I had been in the car for almost an hour. The bullet wedged in
my shoulder was a dull and constant ache. The blood that had oozed
from the wound earlier that night had begun to dry and was sticky.
The lingering human nature in me caused me to rub my shoulder
hoping to ease some of the ache even though I knew it would do no
good.
Catching a glimpse of
myself in the rear view mirror, I grabbed onto it and re-directed
it to reveal my blood-stained face. With the back of my hand I
tried to wipe away the dried blood. No such luck. I licked the back
of my hand to moisten the dried blood and after a few more wipes my
face was blessedly clean again. Looking out the window I tried to
place where I was. Once I saw the familiar street sign, my heart
fluttered with anxiety and exhilaration.
“Come to
me
.” A voice whispered hauntingly in my
mind. My eyes darted side to side searching for Adam. But as I
looked for him in vain, I knew deep down it wasn’t actually Adam
speaking to me. It was only the voice of my desire for him that had
manifested and drove me to go to him. My body tensed remembering
the ecstasy that befell me when I indulged in Adam’s blood. Since
the last time I dipped my fangs into his chalice of immortal blood,
my thirst had not been quenched by anyone else. The only thing now
that sedated my hunger was him. Under the control of my bloodlust
for Adam, I put the car into gear and began to drive down the quiet
streets to be with him. In spite of what Ezra shared with me, I had
always known that he would lead me to my demise.
In a
daze, I walked down the familiar hall to Adam’s room. The door
already open, I walked in to find him sitting majestically on the
cream-
coloured
couch. Seeing me, Adam
rose to his feet, a sadistic smile on his face. Taken aback by his
greeting, I pushed aside my apprehension for the promise– or
hope–of being able to taste Adam once more.
“My child, you have learned
to embrace your power, your true nature; I am proud.” Adam began as
he walked towards me.
“Soon the fight within you
will dissipate,” he paused before me, raised his hand and cupped my
face. “But unfortunately, you will not experience it fully.”
Puzzled by his remark, I kept my thoughts to myself as I could tell
he had more to say.
“Deirdra,
my Queen, my paramour… It saddens me that it has to come to this.
Currently my situation has changed and I find myself having to
fight for my rank as King. I have to show my children that what I
say is the bottom line and my ruling
will
stand. My brother shall never
reign over me and you
are
to be sacrificed. You are going to be a part of
their greatest lesson.” His words spilled forth like poison and as
what he said to me sank in, I realized his new intentions for me.
Ezra was right; Adam would be the one to give me true
death.
I spun on my heels and ran
for the exit. But for all my effort, I only made it a couple of
feet before he leapt upon me. Together we landed hard on the floor,
Adam’s body pinning me down.
“I am going to miss you.”
Adam said under his breath as he pressed the side of my face
against the floor. He then fiercely tore the flesh from the crook
of my neck and began to drink my immortality away.
“No!” I
managed to cry out. Pain enveloped my neck and spread throughout my
body as he drank my blood deeper with each swallow. I let myself
feel the pain. I
wanted
to feel the pain. I didn’t want to fall into
swoon.
Lying on the cold floor,
Adam’s body began to feel warm against my ever-growing colder body.
The ache and pull on my veins became more intense the longer he
fed. A flash of my mortal life began to play before my
eyes.
I had placed myself in my
mother’s arms as a child and away from the grasp of this newfangled
devil. Looking up into her eyes I soaked up the love she showered
upon me with just a simple gaze. However the pain of true death
began to blur the mirage and the darkened edges began to devour it.
As my memory disappeared, a single blood tear fell and like an
orphaned babe, I felt alone and abandoned.
My skin began to shrivel,
crack and peel. I realized what was happening. My body was
decomposing at a rapid pace. The pain was excruciating, above and
beyond any past experiences–even burning in the sun. I wanted to
scream out. I needed to scream out, hoping it would release some of
the pain. But I could form no sound. As everything began to drown
out, my vision now lost to me, I faded into black.
Chapter 18
(Mylana & Eme -
December 23, 1999)
“What is this pain I feel?”
Mylana asked. Her face twisted in fear and agony. Mylana looked at
her beautiful child Deirdra, who looked at her sire with admiration
and love.
“It is my death you feel,”
Deirdra replied. The aura that exuded from her was peaceful and had
an air of acceptance to it.
“No, you cannot be dying!”
Mylana retorted. Unable to hold back her grief, blood tears
streamed down her face. She fell to her knees and muttered,
“No…”
Deirdra knelt down and
reached for Mylana. Wrapping Mylana in her arms, Deirdra rocked her
comfortingly. Mylana closed her eyes tight as the pain began to eat
at her insides, through her veins to the follicles of her hair. She
felt Deirdra’s death and died a little with her too.
As Deirdra’s firm loving
embrace lessened, the pain came to a halt. Mylana’s eyes shot open
only to find a severely decomposed body in her arms. Stumbling to
her feet, Mylana screamed in horror. As she stood, the movement
caused Deirdra’s dried-up remains to shatter from its form,
releasing into the air.
“No!” Mylana screamed over
and over.
Eme didn’t know how long
Mylana had been crying out. She had only noticed once she herself
had roused from slumber. Eme ran into her room posthaste only to
find Mylana writhing in her bed in agony. Eme cautiously made her
way over to Mylana and verbally attempted to wake her. Since that
resulted in nothing productive, Eme reached for Mylana’s shoulders,
grasped onto her firmly and shook her.