Blood Haven: Year One: A Mayhem of Magic World Story

by Nicole Zoltack

  Or is she the one pushing me aside? I can understand why she feels personally attacked by the werewolves. She tried to help them, and one of their youngest had attacked her for it. That isn’t right by any stretch of the imagination, but when frightened, who doesn’t lash out? She was a stranger, a strange vampire at that, and the child had been just that—a pup who didn’t know any better.

  That does not mean that he should have hurt her, though. Of course not.

  My thoughts have gone around and around like this whenever I do not daydream about Julian, and now that I am free, the first thing I wish to do is to seek out Julian. It is far past time for me to return his cufflink. He hasn’t tried to recover it, or has he? I wouldn’t know as I had been locked away in the dungeon.

  The dungeon, by the way, is merely the lowest floor of the largest castle on campus. It’s beneath the ground level, all stone with iron bars. It had been used during times of war to keep human prisoners so that the vampires would have victims to feed on. At least, that’s what my father told me when he brought me here for a tour. I suspect that he hoped that such a barbaric history would prevent me from wishing to attend here.

  “Father, you don’t have to worry. I won’t do anything to get myself locked down here,” I told him confidently.

  How wrong I had been. It only took a few months for my declaration to be proven false.

  Has the headmaster told my parents about my incarceration? If so, I will find out shortly. Mother will have left voice message after voice message if that’s the case.

  As soon as my cuffs are removed, I dash off to my room and secure my phone. A few messages blink at me, but none are urgent. It seems my mother does not know after all.

  There aren’t any messages from Julian, either, but then again, we didn’t exchange our numbers. I grin. It took us hours to give each other our names. Of course we hadn’t worried about our phone numbers.

  At least this should mean that he hasn’t learned about what happened here, but this also means I am in the dark as far as the happenings at Moonstone Academy. Are the werewolves as riled up as the vampires? Hopefully not. So long as the werewolves are unaware that some of them attended a vampire ball, the werewolves should only have their normal level of animosity toward my kind.

  Maybe it’s foolish for me to wish to see Julian now, with the growing hatred, but I am drawn to him, maybe like a moth to a flame, but no. Like a flower turns to the sun. I might not have seen him in days or spoken to him for that time, but I know he is waiting for me. We are bound in a way that defies logic, and I will not be separated any longer.

  After a quick shower, I change into a black three-quarter length sleeved cardigan and a black dress with a full skirt. A black bowknot rests in the center of the sweetheart neckline. Twin rows of three large knob-like buttons line either side of my waist. The above bodice is red with black lace cut into the shape of tiny moons. The skirt is sectioned into five, with three being black, the last two the same as the bodice. The dress reaches to mid-calf. As I adjust the bodice in the mirror, I realize something is missing, and I affix the cufflink to the bow.

  Excitement rushes through me, and I gather my skirts and dash to the northernmost part of the campus. It should be easier to sneak away through this route as it is not in the same direction as Moonstone Academy.

  Despite my great speed that causes everything to blur around me, I notice that there are guards along the perimeter. The sight of them gives me pause, and then a hand reaches to snatch my arm, and I’m yanked out of my race so jarringly that my teeth clang together.

  “Professor Marius,” I exclaim. “How good to see you. I was just…”

  “Trying to sneak off campus,” he states dryly.

  I can hardly deny the claim.

  “Why?” He appraises me as he releases my arm.

  “Why do I seek to have freedom after being locked in the dungeon?” I ask dryly. “Maybe that’s why.”

  “You had some interesting questions for me before,” he states. His careful gaze has me squirming. “What is it you wish to know?”

  “Why?” I blurt out. “Why do the vampires and werewolves hate each other? It seems to be almost innate in some of the vampires and werewolves.”

  "It is perhaps interesting that the two beings hate each other as they do, given that we were both created from curses."

  “Curses? You mean why we can’t walk in the sunlight. Well, some of us can’t.”

  “We’ve evolved and changed, and to some extent, the strength of the curse has faded over time, but that has not always been the case.” Professor Marius appraises me. “I suppose we have time for the long version of the tale.”

  I try to smile, but all I want to do is frown. A short answer would be nice. To escape would be even better, but perhaps learning the history of the two paranormal beings will only serve to help me best determine a way for the two to have peace at long last.

  Or it may just be best for Julian and me to leave all of this behind, to forsake the supernatural community, and find an area where we can be alone and have peace.

  But that would mean that Julian could not see his family ever again. While I may be willing to abandon my parents and their controlling ways, Julian loves his parents and his siblings. I won’t ask that of him even though I suspect he might be willing.

  “Ambrogio,” the professor starts, “sought oracles to learn his fate. He had been told nothing that made sense to him, just a few puzzling words: ‘The curse. The moon. The blood will run.’”

  I shiver. Blood is the life of a vampire, a life we cannot produce ourselves, which is why we must take from another.

  “Ambrogio reacted much as you did,” Professor Marius says with a laugh. “He didn’t care for what he heard, and he tried to puzzle out the meaning all night. In the morning, he was greeted by a young, beautiful woman who he quickly fell in love with. Her name was Selene.”

  “My mother’s middle name is Selene.”

  The professor nods. “A great many female vampires have that name as their first or middle name. Ambrogio asked Selene to marry him, and she said yes, but he wasn’t the only one to love the woman.”

  “The someone who cursed him,” I suppose.

  “Ambrogio suffered many curses,” the professor says sadly. “A jealous witch cursed Ambrogio so that the sun would burn him. Because of this… affliction, Ambrogio couldn’t see Selene in the morning when they were to leave to embark on the journey to his home and start their new life together.”

  “That’s terrible,” I murmur.

  "Ambrogio's love only grew, and he vowed to do whatever it took to be reunited with his love, so he sought the help of other witches, but none would dare to go up against him. Damien was said to be part-demon, and Ambrogio hadn't been the first to be cursed by the powerful witch."

  "What did Ambrogio do? Was he forced to be apart from his love forever?"

  Professor Marius eyes me. “Short answer? Yes.”

  Chapter 14

  Romelia

  My breathing hitches. “Did he at least see her again?” I ask, my words coming out thick.

  If their love had been doomed, maybe my love of Julian is doomed as well.

  Love. Is it love? It certainly feels that way, but it has been so short a period of time. My mind says no, it’s too early, but my heart says yes, and my soul…

  “Let me continue the story.” The professor smiles kindly. “Ambrogio had no choice but to seek out the help of a demon.”

  I shudder. “Fighting fire with fire,” I murmur.

  "Very much so. The demon, Horace, would help him for the simple payment of Ambrogio's soul. Ambrogio agreed to take a magical wooden bow along with arrows to kill anything or anyone. All Ambrogio had to do was bring the carcass to Horace's sister, Agatha. In order to regain his soul as well as one spell, Ambrogio had to secure for Horace Agatha's silver bow."

  “All of this for a silver bow? Why did Horace want it so badly?” I ask, furrowing my brow
.

  “Demons’ actions and their desires are not always easy to understand,” he says. He drops his gaze to the ground, probably realizing just who my father is.

  “Yes, I know that to be true,” I say dryly. “Did Ambrogio succeed?”

  “Ambrogio’s motivation was Selene, had always been Selene, so he killed swans to use their blood to write love letters to her.”

  “Because he couldn’t find ink,” I say, aghast.

  “Love mixed with a curse can make one go a bit mad,” Professor Marius says. “Despite wasting the arrows, Ambrogio did steal the silver bow.”

  “So he gained back his soul and could ask… No?” I break off, my excitement turning to dismay at the slow shake of the professor’s head.

  “No. Agatha realized she had been tricked, and she cursed Ambrogio.”

  “What now?” I cry.

  “He could no longer touch silver.”

  I finger the gold of the cufflink. If it had been made of silver, I wouldn’t have been able to touch it. Vampires can walk in the sun now, but silver is one curse that we have not shaken. Despite my demonic side, even I can’t handle silver.

  “Ambrogio couldn’t bring the bow to Horace. His soul was lost to him, but all that mattered to him was his heart. His heart and his love. He begged Agatha to understand, and he explained everything to her.”

  “If she had a heart, she would’ve removed both curses,” I mumble.

  "Agatha did have a heart, and she was powerful, as powerful as her brother but not quite as powerful as Damien. She couldn't undo any of the curses, not even hers, and she also couldn't return Ambrogio his soul."

  “What good is she?” I grumble.

  Professor Marius laughs. “She gave him great agility, endurance, speed, stamina strength, and amplified his senses. Agatha was one of the greatest hunters to live with her great silver bow. Maybe that’s why Horace wanted it, so he could claim that title. But Agatha’s blessing made Ambrogio as strong and skilled a hunter as she is.”

  “Let me guess. He used that skill to kill more swans to write more letters.”

  “Yes, but instead of using arrows to kill the swans, he used his newly acquired fangs.”

  I run my tongue along my own fangs.

  “In addition to the fangs, Agatha also granted Ambrogio one final blessing, that of immortality.”

  “But that’s a curse!” I blurt out. “If he can’t share his life with Selene, what does it matter if he can’t die a natural death?”

  “There’s more to it. To be granted that immortality, Ambrogio had no choice but to leave his love behind.”

  “To leave Selene?” I ask, not understand.

  “He had to give up his love,” Professor Marius explains.

  “Why would he agree to that?”

  “Agatha was a demon, remember? She did not tell him the circumstances of her gifts until afterward. He had no choice in the matter.”

  “That’s… twisted.”

  “Yes. But to give up love does not mean that they could not be friends.” The professor smiles. “Ambrogio was cunning and intelligent. He uncovered this, ah, loophole immediately, and that night, he didn’t write a love letter but instructions. He told Selene to board a ship and that there would be a wooden coffin stored onboard. She was to travel to its destination and bring the coffin with her, but she could not open the coffin until the sun had set.”

  “Please tell me Selene obeyed!”

  “She did, and the two lived as friends for decades in a cave safe, hiding away from the rest of the world. Soulless as well as immortal, Ambrogio did not age, but Selene, his love, she did.”

  “Was she a human then?”

  “I actually do not know what she was,” Professor Marius says. “I can try to uncover that detail for you, but because of his soul being with Horace, Ambrogio and Selene could not be joined together upon death. Their souls could not be together in Heaven.”

  I swallow hard. “You think Ambrogio would have killed himself to be with her.”

  “I do.”

  “What about Selene? Couldn’t she have become a ghost because of not wanting to leave Ambrogio behind?”

  “Only if she would have been murdered. A violent death can create ghosts, but she was dying from natural causes.”

  “And Ambrogio wouldn’t have been able to harm her, not even so they could be together. What if…” I force myself to ask, “What if she killed herself?”

  “I do not think that those who commit suicide can return as ghosts.”

  “What did they do?” I ask, my heart aching for the couple who lived so very long ago. “And say what you want, but Ambrogio never stopped loving her. He loved her always.”

  “He could not act on that love.”

  “He couldn’t touch her, couldn’t kiss her,” I murmur.

  “What did Ambrogio do? He did what he had done so often before but hadn’t needed to in the decades they had lived together.”

  I furrow my brow and then smile. “He killed a swan,” I guess.

  “Yes. He offered it to Agatha. When she saw what was happening and that Ambrogio had been true to his word and not acted on his love, Agatha altered the conditions slightly as she couldn’t quite undo her magic entirely.”

  “I thought all magic could be undone, though.”

  “The magic of witches should be able to, yes, at least in theory, but Agatha was a demon. Demonic magic is twisted in and of itself, and it does not adhere to any laws, certainly not that of nature.”

  “What did she allow?” I ask eagerly. “Did they have one night together?”

  “Ambrogio was allowed to drink Selene’s blood.”

  “That’s not romantic at all.”

  “It killed Selene’s mortal body, but it gave them a way to be together forever.”

  “How?” My eyes widen. “Did she become the first turned vampire?”

  “That is how the legend goes, but there is one story I found that suggests that Selene instead began to glow with such a radiant light that she floated into the skies and transformed into the moon. Every night, she would shine down on Ambrogio, when he was awake, and she could touch him with her moonbeams even if he couldn’t touch her back.”

  “I prefer that she became a vampire,” I mutter.

  "I prefer to believe that too," the professor says with a chuckle.

  “But what of the werewolves? How were they cursed, and how does any of this reveal the hatred between the two paranormal beings?”

  Professor Marius says nothing, and I’m afraid he won’t tell me the tale.

  “Please tell me,” I beg.

  “Why are you so interested in the histories of the two beings? Do you want to know about demons as well? Witches? Or only vampires and werewolves?”

  “If I wanted to, I can ask my father about the demons. Witches… I don’t plan on meeting any of them.”

  He lifts his eyebrows. “And you plan on meeting a werewolf?”

  I cover my cheeks with my hands to hide my blush, hating my demonic side that makes my emotions plain to see. Normal vampires don’t tend to blush.

  “Long ago, there had been a king. He felt threatened by a demon named Zarab.”

  “What is it with these stories all featuring demons?” I grumble.

  “They say that that the first out of all of the magical beings to ever exist was none other than a—”

  “Demon,” I supply.

  “A witch, actually, but I’ve always found that rather suspect. It would have to have been angels and demons, but maybe the witch is the first human to rise above the stature of neanderthal here on Earth, whereas the angels and demons lingered in Heaven and Hell for a time before the existence of magic came about on Earth. But demons have been around for a very long time, and they often caused trouble wherever they went.” He eyes me. “Often,” he stresses as if to say that it’s possible my father doesn’t, but he does, even with my own life.

  “So the king felt threatened by a demon
. Did the king challenge him to a duel?”

  “Not quite. A challenge, if you will. The demon claimed to be the most intelligent of all beings, and the king, Lycaon was his name, wanted to test that claim.”

  “How did he do that?”

  “He invited Zarab over for dinner. The main course was Lycaon’s son.”

  “He killed his son and served him for dinner?”

  “In a meat pie, yes. Zarab knew and cursed Lycaon to turn into a wolf. The meal was served late in the day, so late that it was night already, and Zarab made it so that every full moon, Lycaon and his descendants would change into a terrible, ferocious, mindless wolf.”

  “His descendants? How many children did he have?”

  “Just the one, but Zarab wasn’t just a demon. He was also a necromancer, and he restored life back to the son.”

  “Was the son a mindless minion of the necromancer?” I ask, my voice hushed with awed disgust.

  “No. Zarab was so powerful that when he did choose to restore life, it was life as you and I are standing here, with mind, body, and soul. Normally, a necromancer cannot return the mind or the soul, merely the body as an empty vessel that houses the necromancer’s soul.”

  “And over time, the werewolves have gained mastery of their transformation and can change at will,” I murmur. “What about the other shifters?”

  “I think they are related to the werewolves, but I haven’t done enough research into all of them.” Professor Marius holds out his hands. “I do not have a lot of time for research for matters that interest me, only for those that serve the academy.”

  I raise one eyebrow. “So you’re allowed to be interested in the history of werewolves, but I’m not?”

  “I’m afraid as to what is sparking this sudden interest of yours,” he says mildly.

  Afraid his suspicions might be too close to the truth, I drop my gaze. “You still haven’t mentioned why vampire and werewolves hate each other.”

  “Ah, yes, I did forget to mention one detail.”

  “Which is?”

  “Ambrogio. He and Lycaon were cousins.”