Still, ‘twas not long before that, too became irritating, as I had no choice but to endure it drop after drop— in me face, me eyes, stinging me wounds, taunting me, helpless to put me hands up to block it. Then as night fell and so did the rain continue, afflicted I be with the constant chills, trying desperately to control me shivering, fer I be wracked with pain each time I did.
The way the rain comes down hard, that be how I feel inside.
The next morning I awoke to a crab crawling over me body. I watched it out of the side of me eye as it crawled over me shoulder, across me breasts, and down to me delicate lower belly where it decidedly pinched me. I flinched sharply, promptly instigating yet more pain.
Lying there helpless as I be, the seabirds took liberty in diving down and pecking at me ruthlessly, the only thing I could do be to shout in attempt to scare them away; alas, it did naught to deter them. I discovered another diversion of passing the time by watching the blood seeping from me wounds, and then with each tide that washed it away with the cleansing sting of the saltwater, able I be to resume from the beginning!
Then, on the second day, I be able to almost bearably twitch me fingers and toes. Me feet were bare and slashed open.
Over the period of what I calculated to be three days— and through treacherously slow excruciating pain and monumental effort— I managed to straighten out me legs and back to lie nearly level.
What a significant relief that be!
I learnt to breathe slowly and deeply to ease the pain whilst counting the forceful thudding of me heart.
A mild distraction ‘twas, nonetheless.
Yet, shockingly, I noted that the pain becoming duller, and not sure I be whether ‘twas actually getting better, or if I merely be growing accustomed to it. I thought ‘twas implausible that I could have begun healing in that short of time. Nor did I welcome the prospect, still hoping fer death, but knowing that likely it had passed me by fer whatever God-forsaken reason.
Lie there fer several days I did, the sun scorching me skin relentlessly, praying to die fer all the pain I be in, yet I distinguished that apparently not be me destiny, although I willed it to be so. Screaming at the heavens, sun and sky became me new pursuit.
I tried to kill me pain, but only bled more. Now pouring out crimson regret and betrayal I be. Dying . . . praying . . . bleeding . . . screaming.
As the night drew in, the dread and the pain in me body eased, doing naught to ease the hideous pain in that which had become me heart.
Me hunger crept in so powerful, as never before I had suffered. ‘Twas the most intense hunger ever I have endured. ‘Twas as though me body be clawing and tearing at me stomach, devouring it steadily; me stomach struggling to fight back, but rapidly deteriorating, nevertheless.
‘Twas both astounded and appalled I be to literally feel me body steadily restoring itself. Yet after being trapped as that fer days, aware I be this unwelcome progression would be expeditious were I to reap some sort of sustenance, fer I be weak and starving fer any form of mercy.
I be famished and in need of consuming food, so when the tide moved out fully I discovered some carrageen growing in little bunches as they do upon the rocky outcrops on the seashores. A clustre of grapes they resemble, with all the grapes plucked off. By then I be able to move me arm just enough to strain to reach some to grab off the rocks.
Ravenously, I crammed the still sopping handful of the deep burgundy, nearly black seaweed, into me blistered, cracked mouth. I puckered at its distinctive extreme briny taste still reminiscent of the sea from whence it had come.
Underneath the cover of the carrageen, I discovered some periwinkles hidden, small blue-black shell animals attached to the rocks off the seashore. I occupied meself fer the greater part of the day prying one after another open to extract the tiny amount of tasty meat in each shell, ‘til they be gone, every one.
A couple of days later, I awoke to a lovely foggy morning. But me elevated mood ‘twas quickly banished when I sensed a person moving toward me, though still some distance away. I became nervous, lying there blatantly naked as I be, but still I hoped they would have only the best of intentions regarding me.
Gradually, I could make out the figure approaching. I already knew from the scent the person would be male, and just one. And finally, out from the fog stepped a fisherman, and likely as old as me father he be.
To me disappointment, I quickly recognised the same look of lust and carnage in his eyes as those brutes who assaulted me on the ship.
‘Tis most clear he expects to be having his way with me and undoubtedly then shall leaving me fer dead, as when he came. No true harm done then, after all, right? Perhaps he believes he’ll be assisting me toward me certain death sooner than this protracted anticipation I be torturously engaged in presently.
Thus, crawling with repugnance, there I remained lying with me eyes shut tight, waiting fer him to come near to me, whilst fully grasping his intent with me.
He moved toward me, vilely remarking to himself under his drunken breath on the luck of his stumbling upon this delectable stark-naked and destitute female. I heard him tugging the suspenders from his shoulders and the clanking sound of him disengaging the belt of his trousers.
He crouched next to me, his stench permeating me nostrils as he inclined closer to me and proceeded to deliver his pitiless bites upon me breasts whilst sniggering, his putrid breath shooting onto me in outbursts. I could feel the subtle vibrations from his pulsating veins, the all-consuming thirst in me acutely intensifying, invading me mouth.
Not able to tolerate his foul slobber upon me flesh another moment, I strained me head upwards the slightest and seized him by the neck, piercing into him with me teeth. The initial abrupt burst leaves me gasping fer more, he beside me thrashing about, nearly evading me frail hold upon him. I locked me jaw onto him and he stiffened as his bitter blood saturated me parched mouth, drawing his essence into me throat, filling me belly with his life.
As the fount waned, the thrashing did cease altogether.
Astounded I be when rapidly, I be able to lift me head easily, sit up and rise to me feet in one lithe motion. Though disgusted I be at feeding off the brute, I could not get over the supernatural renewal I had experienced.
I held me arms out and looked down at meself. There be not a sign of me ever having been injured in such a way! I tried out every part of me body, moving it as though I were dancing.
Perfect!
Then able to be up and walking about, I be able forage some more seafood to fill me limitless belly! I skirted the shoreline to walk along the water’s edge, to feel once again me bare feet comfortably sinking into the loamy sand . . . an exhilarating experience!
When the tide moved fully out, the sea calm and about to turn, closely I looked to the water’s edge fer little indentations in the sand— almost as if a person pressed hard with their thumb— fer scian mara, or “sea knife”, little fishes which live in shells about fifteen centimetres long.
Into the sand I dug with me fingers, but deceptively elusive they be and adept at burrowing deeper into the sand. Surprised I be when instead of a shellfish, I dug up a spectacular amethyst coloured sea-urchin. I thought better of eating it and replaced the sea-urchin safely beneath the sand. After quite the day of monotonous efforts, I ingested enough of them to sustain me fer the meanwhile.
I decided to take a repose.
Which gave me the unwanted opportunity to think.
I cannot return, fer the life I have left behind me be cold now. Lost I be and never can I return. Aye. Never again can I go back home.
Wander 'til the end of time I will, torn away from you ‘til you come back to me.
I will find you, Donovan.
Together we will be as we were destined, even if it takes the whole of eternity.
Never will I cease me searching fer you!
This I do promise you!
Epilogue
At long last, Aislinn took a deep breath and
looked over to Tenzin. His eyes were overcome with sorrow.
She gazed at him questioningly.
He took an extended inhalation before speaking. “Aislinn, that is much to absorb. I can only begin by saying you do have my regrets for your loss. Though I have never experienced the kind of love of which you speak, still I can imagine what you must have been feeling. I can discern the immense impact it has had upon you, still these centuries later.”
Her eyes turned down, the enduring melancholy present in them still. “Thank you, Tenzin. The compassion you have shown me, it does mean so much to me.”
“Moreover, my deepest remorse lies in the manner in which you were awakened to your true self. In all actuality, admittedly, I am rather repulsed by it all. Voljidaar had no right to subject you to those things he did. That is in vast conflict to the manner in which it should be done. The awakening of one’s spirit is intended to be a glorious occasion, not one to be disgraced by lascivious cravings of the flesh! Let us commence now Aislinn, the reparation of the detriment to which you have been submitted.”
“Indeed, and to you ever more grateful I will be! Yet, I entreat you abide, heed further as that be merely the beginning to me story. A great deal more I do have to reveal. And Dia knows, in excessive need of the reprieve of confession I be!”
Another deep breath Tenzin took, and settled in to listen more.
Aislinn was aware that her account would not be without difficulty for one as him to receive; which made her all the more appreciative that he was so inclined, for her sake.
Soeis, Book II
of the Anam Céile Chronicles
Do I deserve love again when I have done nothing but murder?
And when again I find him, will there be anything of me left to give?
Though she treasures her homeland of Ireland, Aislinn only knows she must find escape from the painful memories. Not knowing where she is heading, her intuition beckons her to Italy. Perhaps, she will resume her long ago dreams of becoming a famous violinist— such a thing would be possible there. But that was before her existence had been altered by her love for Donovan. How can those old dreams possibly even matter anymore— when she has lost everything that did matter?
Barely sustaining herself in the underground of Florence, Aislinn is found by a couple of stunning seasoned vampires who offer to take her under their wing and demonstrate to her how a vampiress should be conducting herself. While relieved to be taken from her dreary homeless existence and to be living in their beautiful old villa, she finds acclimating to their régime of seducing their helpless male prey with the lure of sexual promises to be inflicting turmoil on her conscience.
There is one catch. Aislinn is truly enticed by Katja, the angelic Hungarian golden-haired vampire. When Katja seduces her, Aislinn is awakened to pleasures she never imagined existed before.
And she wants more. Much more . . .
Even as she battles against everything that they are— and in turn, everything she is becoming— Aislinn cannot help but be overcome with the intense sexual lust, as well as the bloodlust of their realm. Determined to find her love reincarnate once again— as she avowed to him as he lay dying in her arms— she is struggling against losing herself and preserving her virginity in the midst of these increasingly overwhelming desires.
Then, one day, Aislinn is certain she glimpses and catches the scent of her love. With this new driving force, she is desperate to be with him again. But she knows she must be vigilant in safeguarding her secret. It is vital that she finds him before they do and relish turning him into their next victim.
When her cohorts imprison Aislinn in the dungeon, she sinks into despair. Now, how will she ever find him?
Worse yet, trapped there, how will she protect her love from them?
What Aislinn does not know is that she possesses powers of which she is unaware.
Will she discover them in time to save herself— and her one true love?
Excerpt of Soeis, Book II
of the Anam Céile Chronicles
The next evening, upon rising from her morbid slumber, Zahrah found me and promptly said, “Come, we are going into town!”
“Thank you, but I’ll remain here,” I said, as always I did when they went on their frequent hunts fer victims.
“I was not inquiring as to whether or not you wished to accompany us,” she informed me curtly. “Now put on some decent attire so that we may depart presently!”
I did not conceal the scowl that came across me face at being ordered about and forced to participate in something I did not wish to.
“What is your problem?” Zahrah asked me. “Why do you insist upon preventing yourself from delighting in the nature of what you truly are? Do you not realise that the beginning of your existence as a vampire is a time when all your experiences are heightened, as I sense your lust is? Never will you enjoy it as much as you are able to now whilst still you are young. Do not deprive yourself, A-sleen!”
Still, respond to her I did not. I turned and walked away, and went to me chamber and slipped into a fine lavender silk gown that complemented me hair nicely.
Pleased Zahrah be with me appearance. She had decided ‘twas time to train me as an accomplice to their seductions of unwitting men. “I shall take you under my wing, as somebody should have from your initiation. It shan’t be long until you are precisely as I need you to be . . .”
Zahrah led our expedition to the nearest town to find a suitable specimen fer me initiation to their lifestyle. She struts down the street, seemingly ignoring every eye she turns. Her head she carries so high, as a sculpture; her eyes wicked as she stretches her long legs, slinking as a feline. Men crouch at her feet as she passes, begging fer her consideration. Rather it be comical actually.
Fools! You hope to make her see you? Do you think you’ll be the one to make her queen of yer world? Fortunate you should consider yourself if she chooses to overlook you!
“Now A-sleen, observe and see how it is done,” Zahrah declared, when she had selected our victim fer the evening. Not that any other undeserving person would have been better, but particularly dismayed I be at her choice. A right lovely young man he be, utterly innocent; he could not have been even eighteen years of age. And, as was to be expected, quite easily enthralled he be by the three of us well-formed women.
Into our carriage he did climb without any hesitation, all wide-eyed. By this time, awful I felt fer what I knew be in store fer him. Never before had I spent even a few minutes of time getting acquainted with those I had fed from— conversing with them and charming them, inspiring them to trust me, to like me, to want me. Dreadfully unethical it felt!
Beside me he did sit, his heart rate accelerating straightaway. I smiled at him, hoping the sympathy I felt fer him didn’t show through. He took that as encouragement and placed his hand upon me thigh. I stiffened under his touch. Zahrah shot me a reprimanding, yet reinforcing look. I knew she expected me to play along. Though, I did not know if I could.
He leaned over and began kissing me upon the neck. I did not respond, nor did I stop him. I only remained there, stationary while his inexperienced lips fumbled their way about me neck. Katja leaned forward and ran her hands up his thighs, quickly reaching the bulge under his trousers. His breathing quickened as she stroked him through the material, sending bursts of warm breath upon me skin.
Then he bent his head lower and commenced with feverishly kissing the swells of me cleavage as Katja opened his trousers and revealed his excited manhood, gripping it expertly within her small hand. Zahrah shot me a look then, motioning fer me to touch him as well.
What? I cannot! Another man than me Donovan never have I touched! Nor do I wish to!
Yet I did, knowing better than to displease Zahrah. I grasped it and he groaned. ‘Twas warm . . . no, hot within me hand. I noted Katja stroking it up and down, so I mimicked her action. As I took over the motion, she knelt down and took him within her mouth. Louder he did groan and suddenly gr
abbed me face, covering me mouth with his, attempting to slice his tongue into me mouth.
Trying so hard I be to push down the urges that were rushing their way to the top! Instinctively, I stroked him firmer as he kissed me, feeling him thickening in me hand. So powerful I did feel! Besides me desire threatening to overtake me, the scent of his blood racing through his veins with his arousal be calling to me.
Katja rose up and placed herself beside him upon the other side of the bench. Sensing movement, I glanced to see what she be doing and saw her removing her bodice, freeing her breasts. The boy turned his head then and upon seeing her ample bared breasts gaped in astonishment. Sweetly she smiled to him, touching his head and gently guiding it to them. He did not hesitate to draw her large nipples into his mouth and suckle as an infant.
I watched, partially intrigued and partially jealous, while continuing to stroke him. Zahrah looked at me, motioning fer me to do something I did not understand. I stared back at her in confusion. Quickly she did become exasperated with me and resorted to using words.
“Climb astride him, A-sleen!” Zahrah ordered, her voice just a whisper. I stared at her stupidly, hoping she did not truly intend what it sounded as. “Sit upon his shaft!” Zahrah commanded again, more impatiently.
I shook me head in refusal. Trying to coerce me, she shot me a harsh stare. However, waver I did not. Again I shook me head, more vehemently this time, a staunch expression of determination upon me face.
As I knew where this all be leading fer him anyway, I made the decision to get it over with— fer him as well as meself— and picked up his hand and brought his wrist to me lips. Still immersed in the physical pleasure Katja be administering upon him, not a smidgeon of attention did he give to that which I be doing. Me lips brushed across his wrist as I deliberated.
Cailín (Lass) (Anam Céile Chronicles) Page 23
