by M. Lorrox
He untucks and lifts his shirt to show them the pattern of scars on his chest, right as they approach the burrito joint. “And that’s how I got the nickname Leo because the scars look like the constellation.”
Sky reaches out and traces one of the thin scar-lines that connect the bigger, gnarlier scars from the bullet holes. “Your Dad cut these, aye?”
Eddy nods.
Sky squeezes her exhale through her lips, blowing her cheeks out like a pufferfish. “And I thought my scars were badass.”
Jambavan rolls his eyes.
Eddy laughs. “Uh, are you alright, June?” She faces him, but it’s almost like she’s looking through him and not at him.
“Victoria shot Sophia?”
“Yeah.” He says in an exhale.
“I’m so sorry, Eddy.” She steps closer to him and leans her head on his shoulder.
He looks at her black hair against his shirt, then glances up. He notices Sky looking at Jambavan while biting her lips and sending her eyebrows into orbit.
Eddy puts his arm around June and smiles. “I’ll tell you guys more about Sophia later; she told me some wild stories.” With his other hand, he points to a shack that sits oddly in the center of a parking lot. “But first, let’s try some of these, quote, epic burritos.”
Just next door to the burrito joint, they sit at a park table and devour their meals. Sky slaps the top of the table with each word, “SO. DAMN. TASTY.”
Eddy takes another bite, nodding in agreement while he chews. There’s a party in my mouth, and no one else is invited.
June wipes a tiny drop of guacamole from her lip. “All I can say is WOW.”
Jambavan raises his fist and holds it out for Sky. “Mission accomplished.” She hits the top of his fist with the bottom of hers.
As June returns her napkin to the table, Eddy notices the bracelet on her wrist. “Oh, yeah. Sophia also told me that she made these.” He points to the bracelet.
June balances the huge burrito wrapped in foil on its end, just long enough to slip the bracelet off and hand it to Eddy, then she grabs her food back up for another bite.
“The beads are actually filled with dried hemoglobin. Each one is a pint’s worth.” Eddy passes the bracelet to Jambavan.
He gently lifts the bracelet out of Eddy’s palm. “That’s amazing.” He passes it to Sky. “Do they really work?”
Eddy had just taken a bite. He nods and speaks with a mouth full of food. He tries to not be too rude, so he places a hand over his mouth. “Dey maik yo mouf re-ull dry.”
Sky holds them up to the light. “Did she say how she makes them?”
Eddy swallows. “No, but she was traveling really light. I doubt you need a big lab or special machinery to do it. I’m sure someone could figure it out.”
Sky hands it back to June.
Jambavan sighs. “It would be a shame if the secret died with her.” He quivers. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s alright.” Eddy glances down at the bag again, then he looks back up with a face of alarm and excitement. “Although, she definitely did have some secrets.” He moves his food to his side. “Clear a spot in the center.”
Eddy opens the leather satchel and pulls out the small, velvet bag. He opens it, removes the ring, and sets the ring on the bag, where everyone can see. “She had this ring with her—on the hunt—in that bag.”
June points to the symbol on its face. “That’s the same symbol as the drink bottles.”
Eddy nods and speaks quietly, “The symbol is for Infinite Vampire, a cooperative organization of vampires.”
Sky reaches to grab it, then recoils her hand. “May I?”
“Go ahead.”
She picks it up and turns it over in the light. “This looks antique. Is it made of rose gold?”
Eddy shrugs. “I don’t know what it’s made of, but it is old; I think the whole thing was hand carved.”
Sky turns the ring over and then squints while looking at its interior side. “Is that writing?”
Jambavan holds out his hand, and she gently presses the ring into his palm so it can’t be dropped. He inspects the inside then looks at Eddy with shock on his face. “Leo, that’s—”
Eddy nods, “I know.” He turns to June. “You know that saying, ‘Life in the blood—death in the blood’?”
She nods. That’s what Charlie said to me when he turned me.
Eddy reaches his hand out and Jambavan gives him the ring. He holds it sideways so June can see the inside of the band. “These symbols are ancient Sumerian, and guess what it reads?”
She picks it up and looks closely at the tiny little carvings. “Really? Whoa. How old is it?”
Eddy shrugs. “I don’t know. Old though.”
A quake erupts in Sky’s body. Her eyes dart to the ring and then close.
Jambavan leans over. “What happened?”
She opens her eyes and sighs. “You know, there’s this crazy old legend, and this ring reminds me of it in a big, scary way.”
Jambavan puts his hand on her shoulder. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She shakes her head. “I’m sure it’s nothing, or that ring was made to look like the one in the legend, but it’s kind of freaking me out.”
Eddy rolls the ring in his hand, then he puts it back in the velvet pouch. He returns the pouch to the satchel, then he picks up his burrito. “Well, we’ve got a decent walk back, if you want to tell us.”
“Yeah, alright, lad.” She picks her burrito back up and mauls a huge bite from it.
On the walk back to the hotel, when they cross under a bridge, they leave behind them a lot of the traffic and noise of “The Pike,” as Jambavan calls it. The ring has been on Eddy’s mind, and he decides it’s the time to bring it back up. “Sky, do you want to tell us about that legend?”
She rubs her neck. “I suppose. It’s one of those old fairy tales, but this one always scared the crap outta me. This old lady used to babysit me when I was little and my...knight was on missions. She was my nanna, and I’m pretty sure she was evil, because she’d tell me the story every night she stayed with me, even after I told her I didn’t like it.”
“Only if you want, no pressure.” Eddy smiles over at her.
She looks at her feet as she walks. “Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there lived a man who had abilities far beyond what any other mortal possessed. He could fly, he could dance on water, and he could vanish into thin air and reappear at will. He was a god, the god of life itself.”
Eddy and June hold hands as they listen and walk.
“He lived peacefully in a village where some worshiped him, but over time, others grew jealous of his powers. A group of men used dark magic to capture him, strip him, bind him, cut him, then bleed him dry. They drank his blood, and they felt the power grow within them. They didn’t kill the god of life—because, he was a god—but now, with his powers, they started a battle with him. Many innocent villagers were killed. It rained blood down on the survivors and turned the rivers red.”
Jambavan interjects with a hand motion. “Wait, I’ve heard this before, but why does that remind you of the ring?”
“Let me finish! Jeez.” She frowns. “Where was I? Right; rivers ran red with the blood spilled from the great battle. The men who drank the god’s blood underestimated his power, and he tore them limb from limb, eating their flesh for strength and giving the rest to the wolves.”
June grimaces, remembering the torn apart zombie-bodies in the aftermath of Eddy’s hunt that past weekend. She glances at Eddy’s face for reassurance, but she doesn’t see his face the way it is right now—instead she sees him the way he looked when he was smashing the skull of the zombie that bit her ankle. He looked like he was possessed then. She shakes the image out of her mind.
“Angry at the villagers for having deceived him and for helping the men who tried to steal his powers, he cursed them.” An image of her old nanna tormenting her gives her a shiver, and Sky tries to hide i
t with a cough. “Excuse me.” She swallows.
“He said, ‘You all wanted my blood, and now you shall forever seek it. You will forever crave the living blood of your neighbor, of your children, of your spouse. You will chase life in the blood. You will never quench your thirst for it, you will not grow old and find release from this curse in age and death. No, you will wander throughout time, with guilt and shame as your companions. The evil—’” Her voice cracks, and she clears her throat. “‘The evil you carried out this night shall forever haunt you. And whenever you try and hide your shame from others and enjoy this world’s warmth of life, the life that grows from the sun, I will send you smoldering back into the shadows. For eternity, you are cursed.’”
Eddy swallows. The Vampire’s Curse, I’ve never heard this version of it.
“In a flash, the god disappeared, and the villagers were cursed. They instantly felt the hunger for blood, and they scattered back to their homes in the village. They became the world’s first vampires.” She takes a relaxing breath and looks at June. “Nuts, right?”
June nods. “Yeah, pretty intense.”
Jambavan stops walking and turns to them. “But you said the ring reminded you of it?”
Sky stops and rolls her eyes. “Impatient much? I’m still not done!”
“Oh.”
She starts walking again. “C’mon, and if Jamby over here stops interrupting, I might be able to finish the story before we get back.” She smiles at him. “So, that’s how vampires were created, according to legend... Because, you know, science didn’t exist then. But here’s the weird thing: I’ve looked the legend up and read the different translations, and only my old nanna’s version has this next part. I don’t know if she was just being demented and making the thing longer—because I didn’t like it and like I said, she was evil—but anyway, that ring...”
She shakes her head again. “Okay, moving on. Before the sun arose the next day, after the attack on the god and the curse was laid upon the villagers, the village’s shaman returned to where the sin was committed. He collected the adornments the men had stripped off the god and the weapon that they used against him. The shaman wrapped them up in the finest cloths he had, and he carried them all to a holy site in the mountains. He performed ritual after ritual with the objects that night and was pitied by the god of death.”
Jambavan looks at Eddy. “Have you ever heard this part?”
Eddy shakes his head.
“The god of death came to the shaman in the darkness. He came in the form of a man of great stature, but he was a pure and empty blackness with no features. Only a black shape and void. He said, ‘You are a fool, old shaman, but you are also no good to me in life. I cannot break the curse laid upon you and the others, but I can change it. I can give you respite from the constant hunger, relief from the scorching sun, and I can grant you permanent relief in death, but there will be an equally great cost.’
“The god of death said, ‘Take my brother’s silver jewelry and soak them in his blood—that which lingers in the chalice those fools drank from. The ornaments stolen from my brother will steal back his blood, and they shall forever lock it within.’ The shaman did as he was told, and the silver metals absorbed the blood and turned a reddish gold. The god of death then said, ‘You have cleansed the chalice. Now, you must use the ceremonial knife that cut the god of life, and you must use it on yourself. Empty the chalice of the jewelry, overflow it with your own blood, and drink it.’
“The shaman placed the jewelry on the ground, then grabbed the knife. Without hesitation, he cut off his own arm at the shoulder. He poured the blood into the chalice until it overflowed, then drank it to the last drop. When he set the chalice down, his hunger for blood diminished, and he smiled at the god of death.”
Eddy laughs. “That seems like a bold choice.”
Sky forces a chuckle, then continues. “The god of death saw the shaman smile at him, and he laughed. He said, ‘You are a great fool for smiling at death, but I shall still help you. To grant you and your village a release from your blood’s curse in death, you must drink of my blood.’ The god of death reached forward with his empty black form, and in the moonlight, he cast a shadow over the chalice. In the chalice, black liquid death swelled up from the bottom until it flowed over the rim. The shaman lifted the chalice and drank.”
Jambavan shakes his head. Never trust a god of empty blackness.
“The god of death said, ‘Death will now and forever be in your blood. You and your kin shall yet die, but your curse will not die with you. It will live on in your descendants.’ The shaman, pleased to have returned the natural cycle of life and death to his village, thanked the god of death, who then said, ‘Rejoice as you wish in your fate, but know this: these relics are cursed now and forever, and they can never be destroyed. They have taken part in not one, but two unearthly magics, and the power of the curses within have grown.’
“The god of death lifted the chalice and said, ‘Any liquid that ever touches this chalice will become an embodiment of death—a poison so strong that one drop spilled onto the land would disease and corrupt anything living within sight’s distance.’ He placed the chalice down and picked up the knife that still dripped the shaman’s blood. ‘This blade will forever thirst for blood, and if the thirst is not quenched, it will bind any man who touches it into a rage. In it, he will not eat nor drink, but will seek to replace his hunger with death. He will murder anyone who looks upon him until his strength fails, and the blade will possess him to carve out his own heart.’”
Eddy squeezes June’s hand.
“The god of death set the blade down and picked up the ropes that the god of life was bound with, and said, ‘If this rope ever again touches flesh, and for every time it does, a single fiber from it will bury itself into he who touches it. After a month’s time, that fiber will have grown into a serpent that will eat that man alive, from the inside out.’”
June clears her throat. “Ay yi yi, I might have nightmares.” Actually, that’d be great—if it meant I could sleep.
Sky tilts her head. “The worst is yet to come.” She swallows. “The god of death then said, ‘You will carry these items far into the mountains and hide them in the deepest cave you can find. For you cannot protect these items yourself, and your only hope should be for them to be secret and remain undiscovered. But be aware, you cannot hide the jewelry with these relics. The blood of the god of life that now lives in them, will call out to the minds of the ones who share in your blood’s curse, and the jewelry will make themselves found. Hide them all—each separately—and hide them well, for if they are all worn together by one person, that person will summon a great evil that the world has never known. The one who wears that pendant, those armlets, and that ring will be possessed by the vengeful blood that once filled the chalice, and he will walk among men as a god of destruction, bent on ridding the world of all life—and thus also—all death.’”
Jambavan swallows. “I see.”
“And so, the shaman immediately set out and found the deepest cave in the mountains, where he hid the chalice, the blade, and the rope. When he saw the sun rising as he left the cave, he indeed felt it scorch him like the god of life had promised. To his surprise though, the only part of him the sun scorched were his eyes, which in burning agony changed color. After the pain subsided, he felt the soothing warmth of the sun on his skin.
“He smiled, but for only an instant. For he knew that the gifts from the god of death came with the great costs that had been described to him. In his pocket, he felt the armlets, the pendant, and—” She takes a quick breath. “—the ring, and he knew he had to get them as far away from the other villagers as he could.”
When Sky pauses for a moment, Jambavan looks at her. “Then what happened? Or is that the whole story?”
She kicks a stone out of her path and then stands up straighter. “That’s pretty much it. My nanna said the shaman hid the armlets in the east and in the west, the
ring in the south, and the pendant in the north. The shaman returned to the village and cared for his daughter, and after many, many years, met with the god of death again. Over the millennia since the objects were imbued with the curses, the Cardinal’s Vengeance…” She glances around at the others. “That’s what Nanna called the jewelry, I forgot to mention that... The Cardinal’s Vengeance has found its way back into the hands of the vampires. They are cursed with the blood stolen from the god of life, and it is foretold that someday the jewelry will be rejoined and worn again, and the result will be the end of the world.”
No one says anything.
Sky turns to Jambavan. “That’s it.” She glances at Eddy and June. “Heavy stuff. Gave me nightmares for years.” She shakes her head. “Damn you, Nanna.”
Eddy nods. “Yeah, I’d have nightmares too... I wonder if my parents know that story.”
Sky shrugs. “Ask ’em. But that’s what that old ring made me think of... I can’t decide if I’m hoping that it isn’t the ring from the legend, or that it is, and that it can be protected.”
Jambavan scoffs. “I’m sure the whole legend is nonsense. There’s no such thing as black magic, and there’s no gods of life and death lurking behind the scenes.”
Sky nods. “Aye. I suppose you’re right. That might be a better thing to hope for.”
When they approach the hotel, Jambavan stops them. “I just thought of something. Eddy, there’s a man who is very knowledgeable about our culture’s artifacts and relics. He works here in DC. You could see if he knows anything about the ring.”
“Oh yeah? Cool. What’s his name?”
“Lorenzo Bernardi. You should be able to find him online. I’ve never met him, but my knight, Korina, has. She said she didn’t trust him, so be very careful.”
Eddy nods. “Thanks, I will.”
When they reach the hotel, they all exchange phone numbers before they split off.
Up in the room, Charlie and Sadie are in pajamas, painting with Minnie in the living room. Eddy sets his bag down in his family’s bedroom, and June looks for Skip in their room.
