I finally understood why I was different from the other vampires. As a human I was a mother and a healer. I was always so in tuned to my children. My maternal side had allowed me to grow in a way in which another vampire would not be able to. It was this bond with my human family that has given me the strength to continue to live. My love for them allowed me to leave them in peace. I think that deep down I had known all along. It just took Ambrogio opening my eyes to see what he saw. I looked at the other vampires in the room and I realized neither of them had ever had children. They did not know what it meant to love a child more than yourself. I entered their minds and each one let me in. They envied me, the human family I left behind. The love I have for them. They also pitied me for my loss. Each one of them was willing to sacrifice their lives for me. I wept because I realized all of my strength came from within me.
With tears in my eyes I approached the girl and held her hand as her heart began to beat slowly. As I held her hand, her last memories were being played like a movie. I saw her meet the feign at a bar. I saw her in the throes of her passion with the monster. She did not know what hit her. So swiftly he feed from her and drained her to the point of death. Our torture was seeing her slow death before us. Helpless to prevent it. From the sound of her beating heart she had minutes. Her mind soon went black and her thoughts were no more.
I gently lifted the girl in my arms. Jack was at my side in an instant and together we took the girl to the proper channels. The girl did not deserve this to die unknown and alone. As we delivered the girl, I felt the warmth of a final tear escape my eye. I wiped it away. I was impotent to stop the feign.
18. CAT AND MOUSE
T
IME WAS RUNNING OUT AND we had not been able to put a stop to him. He was playing a game with us. I wanted to understand it. Unfortunately, there is never a reason for the things beyond our control. The police department was working on this in full force alongside the FBI. Fortunately for them we were all in the city, searching for the monster as well. Unbeknownst to them we were going to try to save our city.
Ambrogio thought it best to not leave the city in order to contain the damage to just one central area. I felt responsible for the deaths of countless unknown women and I had no way to cope. Ambrogio and Jack would not allow me to retreat back into myself, and so I spent my time drunk on Ambrogio’s wine. Where I was able to take their pain into myself no one could do the same for me. They all knew I blamed myself for this horror, but no one knew how to comfort me.
Suddenly, Ambrogio had had enough of myself pity and took my bottle of delicious wine from my hand and slapped the everlasting life from me. It sounded like the loud clap of thunder from an approaching storm. I was stunned into silence and found myself sober.
“Enough of this madness, Salome,” he yelled at me, shaking me by the shoulders. “Every day you are drunk on my wine and I have grown tired of seeing you try to destroy yourself for things beyond your control. So as the common saying goes ‘Suck it up Buttercup.”
I looked around at the counsel they all averted their eyes from me. I wanted to cry and retreat into myself, but this time I found the strength to face my future. I stood up straight. I could hear everyone preparing for a fight and instead I shocked everyone into silence.
“Thank you, Ambrogio, for your kindness. Now if you will excuse me I have to feed,” I said. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. Even Ambrogio had anticipated a fight.
“Salome, would you like some company? I heard Jack ask. I could sense he was afraid of a repeat of Mexico.
“Alone would be okay. I promise I will not have a repeat,” I told him and smiled.
I walked out of the house and I went to feed on what life had to offer. I feed on a deer and horse before I returned to Jack. This time I knew I would need to draw my strength from my very core. I could no longer feel sorry for myself. I had to learn to control my emotions and move forward.
*****
The counsel remained with us and together we would hunt our prey through New Orleans on into Texas and Mississippi and still we were no closer to him. I started formulated my plan but keeping Ambrogio out was an impossible task. As soon as the thought crossed my mind he was there by my side. This would be tricky, but I knew in order to avoid Amborgio’s intrusion, I would have to make a quick and last minute decision. I just had to be patient. Patience was still something I had not yet mastered and doubted if I ever would.
As luck would have it, I was hungry and needed to feed. Jack urged me out of the door and together we walked the streets of the French Quarter. Once on the outside of the perimeter I made a run for it. I was filled with that quiet exhilaration I felt every time I ran. Jack kept even with me. He allowed me to run, not knowing where I was going. I made sure to not think about where I was going. I kept West, then North, then West again, no clear destination. I focused on the bayous, the swamps. Once I reached Lake Charles, Louisiana, a silent comprehension dawned on him. I turned to him and smiled. He sweet face confused and he continued to follow me.
Within minutes we found ourselves outside of my old home. My family no longer lived here, thanks to Aunt Dora’s kind generosity. The old house on Simmons Drive was falling apart. Axel had done very little to maintain it after my disappearance. The windows were broken and what was left of them was covered in some type of green slimw. The kind you would need to use a pressure washer to remove.
I walked into my old home and walked the halls, the rooms, memories of a life I could no longer remember clearly.
“Evanescere,” I whispered into the dark.
I felt Jack’s hand on my shoulder and suddenly a need I have felt for so long erupted from within. I found myself in his arms, oblivious to everything around me. We were lost in bliss. It must have been hours before we began to see the rays from the early dawn that I became slightly aware. I saw the white dust everywhere, floating in the air, it covered my hair and it was on his gentle face. I quickly shot up and looked around me. We had managed to take down a wall or two and completely pulverize the rotted sheetrock. I looked at the floor and realized we had fractured the foundation. The spider web crack clearly visible. The ceramic tile broken into many pointed shards. I laughed a laugh, I believed I would never hear again. It was cheerful, melodic, bashful. If I could have blushed I believe I would have.
I felt a new kind of excitement and as Jack reached out to me I felt a new type of charge. I felt explosive. I saw Jack smile hesitantly at me, he was just as embarrassed by our actions as I was. For the first time I felt free and lighter. Like I could fly and touch the sky. Suddenly to me the impossible was not possible.
“This is so new for me,” I told him.
“For those of our kind, who love the way we love and the way we just did is an intense emotion. One I had not experience in the last several hundred years. It was as though I had been struck by lightning,” he explained.
“It was beautiful,” I cut him off. Still smiling like a silly school girl. As I looked at his, ice blue eyes, and his sweet face, I began to really see him, not as my maker, but as my future. Jack, was tall, muscular, his tattoos intimidated, yet I knew I could feel safe in his arms. I wanted to relive every moment. I remembered how I traced his square jawline. Dug my long nails along his back. How I explored every tattoo that covered his body.
He interrupted my thoughts with a soft kiss and I began to feel the fire within. He chuckled and pulled himself away. He must have seen a replay of our actions from my mind. Just as suddenly I remembered why I had come here.
I explained my plan to Jack. We could trap the feign here. My scent is everywhere. The house sits alone here, the closest neighbors are about half a mile away. If we could catch the feign here we could destroy him and cut all ties with my formal life once and for all. It would be perfect. We would be right off of the interstate. The bayou across the street from my old home made it difficult for humans to traverse thru both by boat and by foot. The fallen logs and other debris makes it difficul
t for humans. If we could catch him there in the bayou, we would have plenty of time to destroy the body before the humans arrive to investigate.
Jack was a bit hesitant, especially since it included bringing our prey near my former life. This was something that had to be done. Sooner or later he would find my scent near my human family and hunt them This was a risk I was not willing to take. He had to be destroyed. The sooner the better. I would destroy him myself to keep my family safe.
I remembered the bar where the girl met him and I figured why not go there first. With each passing minute, the day was growing brighter, the sun’s rays would betray us if we stayed. Although we do not sparkle or glitter, our pale, chalkiness gives us away. It is easier to see that we are not human than at night.
As we ran through the swamps back to New Orleans, the plan was becoming clearer, solidifying. If only we knew where to look. We hunted along the way, our extracurricular activities had drained me. We fed on wild boar, which by the way is abundant in this area. Jack did not care much for animal blood as it did not satisfy him, yet ever since my slumber if you could call it that, my hunger had considerably eased. I could go a month or more in between feedings. After a few hours we found ourselves back at Jack’s house. With some unexpected news.
In our absence a package had been delivered. A bloody heart, with a small card with my name beautifully written, A calling card. The feign knew where we were. Suddenly we knew this was a game of Cat and Mouse. I stood there frozen, unmoving. I fought the urge to retreat into the safety of my mind. My family needed me. Jack needed me. The humans needed. Somehow I was the key to finding this monster. I just needed to find the starting point and it dawned on me where the starting point was.
I escaped the dread of Jack’s house and walked to the St. Louis Cemetery and walked around lost in my thoughts. The St. Louis Cemetery was my alpha and omega. My death and my life. This is where it all started and I wondered what the connection was. I made my way to the old mausoleum, my first kill. I fought the urge to rip the hinges off the door again. I gently opened the door, it creaked. The frame was unsteady and I knew it was weakened after I tore it off the hinges that day so long ago.
I walked the five steps to the old coffin and wiped my hand over it. My hand blackened by the layers of dust. Looking at it again and the memories returned with a vengeance. I stepped back and looked at the dark copper coffin, and tore the lid right off. I was stunned into silence. The body of Bleu was gone. Jack must have sensed my emotion, my fear, my dread. He and Ambrogio were at my side in seconds. They too could not believe what I had just uncovered.
We did not understand what that feign had to do with these monsters. We were just as confused as we were before. I felt the insanity of my new life begin to boil. I began to doubt my very nature, Was this the reason. Did any of this exist? I knew I was alive sort of. I feared for the humans and I wanted to run, but this was something I knew I would have to eventually face.
I bit into my hand and with my blood I wrote my own taunt on the coffin, “Come out and play.” I felt the slow sting of my hand healing and within seconds it was perfectly smooth. Not even a scar remained. Jack looked at me confused, yet he could read my plan forming in my head. All that was left was to set the trap.
19. I HAVE NOTHING LEFT
O
VER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, I MADE several trips to Orange in the hopes of attracting my prey’s curiosity. He was bound to become curious. He just had to. I forced myself to believe this and I repeated it like a mantra. I desperately wanted to will it into existence. Jack and Ambrogio had been staying in Orange. At my old house. I made sure to not stray far from the house, despite the temptation to see my family. I could not endanger them this way.
I hunted again. This time I found myself in Houston looking for that one particular meal. It was dark and rainy this day. The sky looked ominous. It was the perfect day for cover and I was able to be outside without running into innocent lives. The only thing I carried was a large black umbrella. Over time it had become easier to blend in with the humans. I imitated their actions, their movements. Everything was about timing. Where I moved faster than the human eye could see, I had to learn to slow down; it was as though I was a newborn child having to learn to walk and crawl all over again.
I was walking the streets of downtown Houston, scanning the minds of those around me trying to find that one thief, murderer, robber. Raining days tended to keep everyone in doors. My hunt would be a bit more difficult. I breath in, the smell of the evening rain brings to me back to the faded memories of my past. I used to enjoy the morning rain. It was those days I would open the windows and air out the house. It was those days I would sit on the patio with the kids and laugh and play. Those were happier times. That life no longer belonged to me.
Suddenly I hear the anger, the rage. I follow the sounds. Slowly I approach, the sounds drawing closer. From the outside looking in, the store is being robbed. The cashier has his hands up in the air. I notice there is a glass divider meant to keep him safe. It did not look as though he was cooperating with the would be robber. I walked in the store. I hear the surprise in the robber’s thoughts. I looked at the clerk and put my finger up to my lips. The robber seemed uncertain what his next course was. I approached him and gently lowered his arm, gun still in hand. I could tell by the weight it was loaded. I looked at him are eyes locked on each other. I could hear his thoughts a mixture of confusion and lust. I cupped his cheek and removed his hood.
He was a young man, with an olive complexion and deep brown eyes. I noticed the tattoo on his neck his name in block old English letters. He had a green tattoo on his left eye of a teardrop. I scanned his thoughts to determine his reason. I saw a group of men planning how to make a quick buck. This sealed his fate. I reached out to him and held his hand and lead him out. I looked at the clerk one last time and I put my finger to my lips. He was safe now.
I fed on the young man. His blood was warm and delicious. He did not fight back. When I finished my meal, I sealed the wound and disposed of his body. I knew where to find the others. I would deal with them at a later time. For now, I ran back to Orange, there was more important things to do.
*****
I continued making runs to Orange and still no luck. Then one day, as I was running back to New Orleans I crossed the feigns trail. He had followed me to Orange. The trap had been set. The curiosity of my daily runs, must have got to him. I reached out to Ambrogio. He and Jack were ready. I turned around and headed back to my old home.
I slowed as I approached, unsure of what to expect. Jack and Ambrogio were inside talking quietly. The feign was near. His scent was stronger here. I deviated from the plan. He wanted me alone. I headed back east into the bayou and climbed a tree when suddenly I was hit from the side. As I flew across the air, I heard the crack of several trees. I had crashed straight through them, snapping them in half. I heard a menacing laugher in the distance.
I landed softly on my feet and curled into a crouch. I let out a growl. I heard him running at me again. I was ready for him. I waited for him to get closer before I jumped out of his way and landed behind him. I jumped on his back and wrapped my legs around his neck. I threw him as I flipped. I heard more trees snap. He came at me again. I heard Ambrogio’s thoughts telling me they are on the way. The must have heard the trees snap.
“Hold off,” I project this thought to them.
He rushed at me again and once again I was out of his way. It was a dance of death. I ran for him and we crashed into each other. When we crashed it was loud like the sound of thunder. Again I was on his back. I grabbed him by the neck and squeezed. I tried to take his head clean off of his shoulders. He tried to throw me off of him and I would not budge. He was mine and I would end him. He managed to throw me off again I felt myself fly through the air. I heard Jack and Ambrogio making their way towards me.
I landed with a loud crack. Another tree. I crouched again.
“What do you want?” I ye
lled
Laughter.
“Come and get me,” I taunted.
He walked into my line of vision, his hands brushing off the debris from his clothes. I noticed they were finely made. He wore a navy button up shirt with khaki colored slacks. His eyes were black and full of hatred. His hair had been cut short. I noticed his build was something that as a human I would have feared. I am no longer human and no longer afraid. Today I embraced the battle. I had nothing left. Everything had been taken from me.
I had the violent urge to destroy him. I felt pure madness in my mind. I needed to destroy him to keep my family alive and safe. I walked up to him. Again we fought. We missed each other’s blows. I had him in my grasp, my hands around his neck again and I pulled. Suddenly, some unseen force grew inside of me. I followed its lead and I bit into his neck. His blood flowed down my throat. I bit his neck again, taking chunks of his flesh with each bite. It sounded like granite breaking. In the back of my mind I could hear his screams of rage.
I felt the weight of the world suddenly fall off of my shoulders when we collapsed to the muddy earth. My arms and legs wrapped around his body. The sound of approaching thunder did not frighten me. I did not let go. I felt that if I let go he would flee and the world would never be right again. I felt my prey snatched out of my arms and a warm hand on my shoulder. I pulled away, into a crouch and snarled at who would steal my kill. It took a minute for me to realize Jack and Ambrogio had arrived. I looked over at Ambrogio, he had the feign held over his head by the neck. Blood continued to gush from the wound.
As Ambrogio, held him I tried to enter his mind. I found myself blocked from reading it. I grabbed his arm still he blocked me. I shook my head. Ambrogio and Jack tore him apart. The sound of him being shredded was something I had never heard before. It was a sound I could not describe, but neither would I be able to forget it. We gathered the pieces, and started the fire. We burned him there in the woods. The sweet smell of death polluted the air around us. It would be a matter of time before the smoke would be noticed by the humans.
Evanescere: Origins Page 13
