Midnight Blood (Born Immortal)

by Yanski, Nicole

  There it is. Her widened eyes focused on the tree. She walked across the meadow toward it. She hadn’t been here since the summer, and wondered how long it had been down for. The roots had came up out of the ground when the tree fell. It was an older maple, but appeared dwarfed to Shayna. She was almost to it when she heard a crunch in the snow, and saw movement in the trees at the edge of the meadow. Suddenly, in a blur, there was Cain. He stood in front of her determined, he had the most serious look on his face, it frightened Shayna.

  “Don’t move Shayna,” his eyes were wide, “He’s dangerous and unpredictable.”

  Shayna was terrified. She froze. A million things flashed through her mind, horrible things, bloody things. She had read enough the night before to know what they were capable of. Her eyes were focused on Cain, his eyes were full of…fear. In that moment, she realized that he was trying to help her, and she felt a push in the middle of her back. Shayna gasped, she tried to scream, but nothing came out. Her throat was too dry from the cold air.

  “Shayna,” Cain said, and stepped toward her with his hands held up defensively.

  She turned slowly. She knew she wasn’t dreaming, but she wished she was, she didn’t want to see what or who was behind her.

  A huge black figure loomed over her, and she was blinded by the white of the snow, and the sun peaking through the clouds. Shayna had to blink until her eyes focused. She was in awe.

  “Please don’t move too suddenly?” Cain begged. She heard crunching snow behind her, as he closed in.

  Shayna smiled and the massive beast stepped toward her. She put her hand out, palm up, and it placed it’s huge wet, velvety muzzle in her cupped hand. With her other hand she reached up to his head and scratched between his ears.

  “He’s amazing,” she said to Cain when he stood next to her. “Is he a Friesian?”

  “He is,” he looked at Shayna in disbelief. “How do you know?”

  “I work at a horse ranch in the summer. This is my favorite breed,” Shayna put her hand under his forelock and rubbed his head there. The huge black horse pushed his head into Shayna’s little body, in delight, and she stumbled into Cain’s arms, “He likes that,” she said laughing, and regained her footing in the snow..

  “This is amazing,” Cain said. He was in awe too, “This horse is the most dangerous horse I have ever owned, or encountered, yet he is like a kitten in your hands.”

  She smiled at him, she couldn’t decide who was more beautiful, Cain or the horse. He looked so handsome standing there in the snow, he wore no coat or jacket. Just a light blue, cotton button up shirt, and a pair of khaki slacks. It seemed so odd to Shayna.

  “What are you two doing here?”

  Cain pointed at the horse, “He likes to take me on adventures,” he said smiling, “He’s an escape artist.”

  Shayna examined the horse. He was very tall, at least seventeen hands, and jet black. His mane flowed over past his neck, and his tail trailed on the ground behind him. He’s perfect. She thought.

  “What is his name?” she asked Cain.

  “Obsidion,” he replied, then changed the subject, “Ya know, he was following you for a while. Don’t you ever look around you? You should be more observant out here by yourself.”

  “I grew up in these woods,” she told him, “If there was anything dangerous out here, I would know.”

  “What about him?” he said, pointing at Obsidion, “I’ve seen him kill two of my stable hands, and break a trainer’s back, and I had to tell you he was behind you. You didn’t have the slightest glimmer of danger in your thoughts.”

  “He’s not dangerous,” she rubbed her hands down the horses neck and over his back, as far as she could reach. Obsidion stomped his right front hoof into the snow, with a thud, and grunted.

  “He’s not dangerous to you apparently,” Cain said in observation, “I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s like he’s known you forever.”

  Shayna was mesmerized by the creature, Cain reached for his halter and Obsidion rared up , and pulled away from him.

  “Whoa!” he said putting his hands up.

  When the horse was on all fours again Shayna reached for his halter, and grabbed it with a firm grip pulling him towards her, he calmed instantly, and stood next to her. His hot breath visible in the cold air when he snorted.

  “Easy,” Shayna whispered to him, he snorted again. She looked at Cain, “You make him nervous.”

  “He makes me nervous,” he said, with a chuckle, “Will you help me get him back?”

  How could she say no to those eyes, those eyes that were not shy? “How?” she asked.

  “Maybe he’ll follow you,” Cain said hopefully, “He followed you this far.”

  Shayna gestured for Cain to go, “Lead the way,” she told him. He turned and started to walk by the tree, she followed but Obsidion did not. “This isn’t working.”

  “Come on Sid,” Cain pled in frustration, and turned around. The horse stomped the ground and whinnied, and Shayna laughed.

  “Is he rideable?” she asked him.

  Cain returned to her side. “He used to be, but nobody has been able to get on his back in two, three years,” he looked down at her, she was starring at the horse.

  “Can I try?” she asked, turning her eyes up to Cain.

  “I don’t know,” he stomped at the ground like Obsidion had, “I would feel horrible if something happened to you.”

  Before he could say anything else, Shayna was walking toward the horse.

  “Wait!” he called after her.

  “Just give me a leg up,” she said. She stood beside Obsidion, and Cain rushed to her side. He wasn’t used to taking orders, but it felt right to obey, when Shayna was the one giving them.

  She gathered Obsidions mane above his withers, and Cain lifted her up by her leg until she was able to finally pull the other leg over the horse’s back. Obsidion stood perfectly sill through the process, and hoofed the ground again, once Shayna was sitting atop of him. Cain looked at Shayna and the horse. She was so petite and Obsidion was so massive, Bella Vista. He thought to himself. Shayna was focused on the horse, she squeezed her heels into his side, and was pleased when he began to step forward.

  Cain watched in amazement as they walked past him. His old obsession, and his knew one. They talked about Obsidion while they walked, and about how Cain had acquired him. He told her a story of how he saved the horse from a trainer who would have killed him, if Cain hadn’t been walking through the stable at a horse show, and found them. He had bought Obsidion for quite a substantial amount of money. But Cain was starting to think the horse seemed crazy.

  Shayna had other things on her mind, she had questions she wanted to ask him. She looked down at him walking next to horse. She saw his ring, she knew why he wore it. Underneath her clothes she wore her fathers necklace. She had taken it out of its velvet sanctuary and put it on before she went to bed.

  She swallowed hard, “Do you know what I am?” she asked him. This stopped Cain in his tracks. “Whoa!” she said to Obsidion, and the horse stopped abruptly. She faced Cain, she had caught him off guard.

  He slowly looked up at Shayna, his emerald green eyes sparkling in the snow, and his hair falling around his face, he was beautiful, if a guy could be.

  He nodded his head, “Yes, I do,” he said and remained motionless.

  “Am I really,” Shayna thought for a moment to find the right words, “What is called, a Halfling Princess?”

  Cain returned to their side and looked up at Shayna, “Yes,” he said.

  She felt dizzy, looking down at him, but continued, “So, when I turn eighteen, I will stop aging, and I will no longer be mortal?”

  Cain reached up and squeezed he gloved hand, “That’s correct.”

  Shayna’s expression turned to worry, “Will it hurt?” she asked Cain.

  “It shouldn’t,” Cain said with sympathy in his eyes, “But every princess is different, I guess, and you are one of a kind
, so I don’t know for sure. I’m sorry.”

  “How long does it take?” Shayna squeezed her legs around Obsidions belly and he walked forward.

  Cain strolled beside them, and said, “I don’t know how long it takes,” he looked at the ground while they walked. “I’ve never witnessed the change.”

  “And the bloodstone will protect me from the sun, when I change?” Shayna was full of questions. She never had anyone to ask them to, before. She wanted to ask the right ones.

  “Yes, but you have to wear it outside of your clothes,” he pointed to the silver chain around her neck.

  “Do I need it now?” she asked, reaching into her sweater to pull the gemstone out.

  “No, I guess not,” his eyes caught her bloodstone, “Where did you get that?” he said with great interest.

  “It was my fathers,” she responded, holding the necklace in her hand, she looked at it. “Why?”

  “These stones aren’t that easy to come by, for the most part, and they need to be polished to be effective,” he pointed at Shaynas necklace, “But, that is very rare. Do you not see the flecks off platinum in it?”

  Shayna held the stone in her hand, and rubbed the smooth surface. It did look different from the pictures on the internet.

  They were finally approaching his place. She could see Aunt Mill through an upstairs window watching them walk into the barn. It wasn’t long after they had Obsidion in his stall, with a blanket, oats, and hay, when Aunt Mill showed up with a single cup of steaming hot cocoa.

  “You must be frozen dear,” she said to Shayna, handing her a silver mug.

  “Mmm, thank you,” Shayna said and took the mug. “Sid kept me warm for the most part,” she took a sip of the cocoa.

  “If you two need anything else, just let me know,” she smiled at Cain and Shayna, and turned and walked out of the barn.

  “Thank you, we will,” Cain told the sweet old lady before she disappeared out of sight. He looked at Shayna and asked, “Can I tell you anything else Princess?”

  She smiled. He awoke something deep inside of her when he called her Princess.

  “How old are you?” she asked, and stepped closer to him.

  “More than three hundred years old,” he answered her.

  She was face to face with him, “What is going to happen to me?” Shayna was glad to have someone she could talk to, and oddly enough, she felt like she had known Cain all her life.

  “You’re going to be fine,” he said, trying not to make it sound like a lie. He didn’t want it to be a lie, he hoped it wasn’t. “You will have to drink blood to survive, not just one or twice a week, like you have been.”

  “Which is why my mom brings the blood home from the hospital, she keeps in the basement freezer?” she asked him.

  “Yes,” he said, “Does your mom know?”

  Shayna mindlessly played with the buttons on Cains shirt and said, “The letter I found from my father, said she didn’t, but he had told her how important it was for her to keep her job at the hospital and always make sure I hade some source of blood at least once a week,” she had never told anyone about the letter, or what it read, and it sounded bizzare hearing herself say it out loud. She frowned.

  “What else did your father’s letter say?” Cain inquired.

  She took a deep breath and let it out loudly, “He said, he would be back for me, by the time I turned eighteen. He had faked his death, because he had been in northern Michigan for too long, and people were starting to notice that he wasn’t aging. He wanted me to stay here, with my family, but that was before my grandparents moved to Canada. He said if he didn’t come back, that it would be because he was really dead.

  Cain frowned himself and looked to the ground at her feet, “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m starting to think he isn’t coming back,” a tear fell on to her cheek, “My birthday is in just a couple weeks.

  Cain saw the tear and placed his hand on the side of her neck, and wiped it away with his thumb. His hand was ice on her skin.

  “I’m here for you now,” he said looking deep into her eyes. Shayna was in her own Utopia “I’ll help you through this, you won’t have to do it alone.

  She was lost in his eyes and speechless. The way he looked at her made her think he was going to kiss her, she was disappointed when he didn’t. He moved his hand away from her and stepped back.

  “I should probably get you home,” he said.

  Shayna didn’t want to leave, she wanted him to hold her, to tell her everything would be okay.

  She went to Obsidion’s stall to say goodbye to the massive horse. When she walked out of the barn, she could hear him kicking his stall. They got to Cain’s car and he walked to the passenger side and opened the door for her. She sat down on the black leather seat, and inhaled the cars air. She loved the smell of new leather in a car. The seats in the BMW were cold, but they warmed up fast, once the car was running. He drove a lot slower than what Shayna had witnessed at the school.

  “Do you kill people?” she asked him, again catching him off guard. He didn’t like that she was able to do it, but it was the part of her mystique.

  “I have,” he said after a while, “I don’t anymore, that’s what I have the horse’s for, their blood is almost as strong, it doesn’t taste nearly as satisfying, but it works.”

  Shayna looked at Cain in disgust, “What about Obsidion?”

  “Not him, and I value my horses, I don’t take all of their blood,” he shot a look in Shayna’s direction. She didn’t like the sound of what he was saying. “He’s a lot like you, I have to be able to impel his mind, so I don’t hurt him or myself, and I can’t. I get nothing.” Cain smiled at the thought of his horse. “I’ve never seen anything like the two of you.”

  “What do you mean ‘impel’?” Shayna asked, her stomach twisting at the thought of the horses.

  “It’s kind of like mind control, I guess,” Cain admitted, “I impel them into a trance, to calm their minds, that way they don’t get hurt, and the don’t remember what happened either.”

  “Can you do it to humans?” Shayna asked him.

  “With the exception of one,” he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

  “Me?”

  “I can’t read your thoughts, I can’t feel your emotions, I can’t impel you, nothing,” he paused then said, “It’s kind of frustrating.”

  “Why would you want to impel me?” she asked and glared at him.

  Cain was quick to answer, “I don’t, I’m just saying that even If I wanted to, I couldn’t. I don’t know what it is about you Shayna, but you’re different than any other being that I have ever encountered.

  He licked his lips, hoping she did not see his extended canines. His mouth watered for her. The scent of her blood filled his car, and burned his throat.

  “I can’t keep myself away from you,” he confessed, “For the last few weeks all I could think about was how to get close to you, and now you’re sitting in my car, and I don’t have any inclining to what is on your mind. And your blood,” he breathed her in deep, and Shayna thought she saw a flash of red is his green eyes, “Your blood is so overpowering.”

  Shayna didn’t know what to say to him, they turned on to her street, and she realized that not once, had she told him where to go, she was more intrigued.

  “You’ve known about me?” she said.

  “For a while,” Shayna started to say something, but Cain interrupted her, “Shayna, I am dangerous to you,” he said, and accelerated the BMW, “I crave your blood, your human blood. Do you understand that?”

  Shayna looked out the window and silently nodded her head.

  They pulled up to her house and she finally asked, “Do you want to hurt me?”

  “No,” he said. “God no. I don’t think I could ever forgive myself if I ever hurt you.”

  She reached across the car and took his hand, it was so cold. She wondered if she would be the same way.

  “Trust yourself,�
�� she told him, “I trust you. You could have taken my blood in the woods today. You’re not going to hurt me,” she held his hand tight, not wanting to let go.

  “You are absolutely amazing,” he smiled and moved a strand of hair away from her eyes. “You’re so vulnarable right now, and you don’t even care.”

  “Not in the slightest.”

  She couldn’t move. Cain was so enticing. She was once again lost in his eyes. She wanted to be his princess, and she one hundred percent, believed deep in her heart, that he would never hurt her physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

  She touched his hair. It was soft and hung just below his chin. He leaned his face into her hand. She wanted him, she yearned for his touch. He was right, she didn’t care if he thought he was a danger to her. She knew he wasn’t. Their secrets had drew them to each other.

  They sat in front of her house for about twenty minutes, talking and making plans to go horseback riding. The emotions flooding through her body were indescribable. Her heart was pounding, and she felt like she was going to hyperventilate.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “It’s a secret,” he smiled.

  “I’ve lived here all my life, I know where everything is,” she said with a smirk, “So go ahead and keep your secret.”

  “That’s fine if you do know. I still want to take you there,” Cain said, and gestured past Shayna toward the house, “We have an audience.”

  Shayna looked over her shoulder, and saw Melina peeking through the closed curtains of the big front window. She turned back to Cain.

  “What time shall I be there?” she asked him fluttering her long dark eye lashes at him.

  He laughed at this, “Around nine,” he said still chuckling. He took her hand and kissed it, “Farewell my Princess, until Saturday we part.”

  Shayna felt her cheeks burn, “Bye,” she was able to say, but it was barely a whisper.