Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series)

by Virgil Allen Moore

  “Then how do you explain yourself?” Damien fired back.

  “I can't. Not yet, at least. Give me some time.” Yugo smiled. “Give me time.”

  A crackle of thunder rang across the sky. Rattling the carriage as they rode onward.

  “Speaking of, I think that's our sign.” Damien noted.

  Damien and Yugo opened the top cargo doors of the carriage. They fell off. The wood was rotten from years of weathering. The wheels shattered. The attachment to the horses broke away. The entire carriage came to rest on a mound of old dirt. It was at a slight slant and was about to fall apart by anyone's terms. The horses ran off. They were alone.

  “I think this means we need a new place to sleep during the day.” Damien remarked.

  The rain started falling down hard. The carriage quickly flooded. The roof gave in, water poured through several small openings that had developed from the constant dry days and cool nights. Suddenly it collapsed in on itself. In a moment of true uneventful awe, Damien and Yugo were now homeless. The clouds above dissipated, giving way to a clear night sky.

  “No, I'd say that's our sign.” Yugo commented and laughed.

  Damien chuckled. “Let's go. There's no reason for us to stay here.”

  “Where to?” Yugo asked.

  “Further west. To Moscow.” Damien pointed into the distance.

  “Moscow? Really? This should be fun.” Yugo smiled.

  “They say the only thing you have to fear in Moscow is losing your life.” Yugo burst out laughing. “And we've already lost those!”

  Damien was not as cheerful about mocking their own deaths. He still considered them both damned first and foremost. To list that as a benefit was unnatural to him. “Never-the-less, that's where we're headed.”

  Yugo began walking west. “Then we should get going.”

  Damien followed suit and joined Yugo's gait. “Aren't you going to ask why?”

  Yugo turned to Damien. “Me? Ask why?”

  “Of course. You are always so inquisitive about everything. I'd figure you'd ask.” Damien was trying to hold back. He had originally wanted to hold the knowledge over Yugo's head for a few miles before telling him. Now that wasn't an easy option.

  “Okay, if that's all there is to it. Let's be on our way.” Yugo nearly skipped along. He was blatantly ignoring the obvious question.

  It was driving Damien insane. “Okay.”

  “Okay, what?” Yugo asked, trying not to grin.

  “We're going to find an order that may know more about other vampires and their gifts.” Damien admitted.

  Yugo stopped walking. “You mean you've known of this for a while? Why didn't you tell me? Why haven't we gone to see it earlier?”

  Damien turned to Yugo. “Because.” Damien was sheepish about answering. “We may have to hurt some of the monks before they will let us inside the gates to do our research.”

  “You mean they won't simply open their doors and invite two vampires in for some tea?” Yugo was being an ass and he knew it.

  “You don't have to say it like that.” Damien started up on the walk ahead again.

  “Yes I do.” Yugo caught up to Damien. “If we have to break a few arms, then that's their fault. As long as we don't kill them or drink anyone's blood while we're there. I don't think either of us will have that much of a problem. Or do you know something else you're not telling me?” Yugo was right on everything.

  “It's rumored that they know how the first vampires were created and why.” Damien said under his breath. “Now let's be on our way.” He said quickly.

  “Oh, hell no. You're trying to track him down aren't you?” Yugo was right again. “You think that this temple we're headed towards has information about him and where he's from.” Yugo was spot on. “You want to find him and get even. Don't you?”

  Damien struck Yugo on the left side of his cheek with a fast right back hand. They both stopped silent, staring at one another. There was anger in Damien's eyes. His breath was heavy, his muscles were stiff. He was about to strike Yugo again.

  “Don't ever say that I want revenge on the man that killed me.” Damien was seriously infuriated at Yugo.

  Yugo put his right hand to his face. The skin had blistered from the impact. There was enough friction that it partially caught fire when Damien made contact. “Fine, lesson learned, I won't say it again.” Yugo rubbed his cheek. “I just want to ask one thing and I'll shut up.”

  Damien was slowly calming himself. “What is it?”

  Yugo stepped right up to Damien's face. “Tell me everything.”

  * * * *

  Rebekkah's left foot poked out from underneath a thick woolen blanket that writhed atop an old unpainted bed. Sounds of quickened breaths echoed the room as it seemed to sway with a linear motion. The pace hastened, the breathing became heavier. Rebekkah's foot twitched with feeling, revealing more of her leg as the blanket slipped off. Her smooth leg was gliding across the coarse sheets.

  The room bellowed with constant effort from under the fabric. Strands of long blond hair peeked out form near Rebekkah's left hip. The ever revealing winter accessory gave away more of the scene. A dainty elbow jutted out next to Rebekkah's knee. It was light skinned, fine and unmistakably female. The bed moved, the earth shook around the two figures embraced under the remaining covers. Rebekkah's left hand grabbing, twisting the bedding around it. She let out only gasps of emotion filled with unworded songs. Her breath now parched, exhausted from the conductor playing the fevered symphony below the blanket.

  The thin, long blond hair under the sheets shifted to the other side of the bed. The covers slide down as the figure moved towards the bed post. It was a beautiful young girl. She was tall, on the edge of five foot ten. Her face was long and almost frail. Her chest was flat, but shapely. Her amazing skin was glowing from the recent covert exercise. She opened her eyes. The dark, deep brown had a speckled pattern. She was haunting. Her hair reached just past her stomach, concealing most of her body after she flung off the rest of the sheets to cool her sweat. Her right hand lay limp, hanging off the side of the bed, slick and damp.

  Rebekkah's breath stabilized. Her still short red hair was frazzled, almost puffed into a ball. She looked extremely content. Her exposed left side, was exceedingly red. Her cover fell off the bottom left of their bed. Rebekkah lay with her eyes unfocused on the ceiling.

  “That was.” Rebekkah wasn't able to find the words to describe the feeling that was still overtaking her body. The small quakes she endured were astounding. “You are Love, sweet, sensual Love.”

  The girl at Rebekkah's side smiled. “Love?” Her voice was soft, silky. It complemented Rebekkah's ear with its presence. It was high, lofty. “I like that name.”

  “I didn't say it as a suggestion.” Rebekkah turned to the girl. She leaned on her right arm, propping herself up. Her red hair bobbed about. “Haven't you remembered your own name by now? The fire was days ago.”

  “But I like it. Besides, we haven't exactly been doing things to jog my memory. I like Love, it sounds right.” The young girl took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “Then you're my Love.” Rebekkah leaned in to steal a kiss.

  With a fervent gaze, Love kissed back, savoring the moment. Finally pushing Rebekkah away to speak a minute later. “What now? What about him?”

  “Fear? I don't know. I guess I'll leave him.” Rebekkah was unsure of her ability to do so.

  “You think we can escape him?” Love asked, turning to Rebekkah. Her blond hair was sliding off her thin shoulders, quickly exposing her back and side.

  “I-” Rebekkah's sentence was interrupted by a crash coming from downstairs.

  The inn that they were rooming at was being attacked. Rebekkah and Love were on the second floor. It was only an hour after dark. Love sat up in the bed, waiting for the unknown. Rebekkah huddled into a ball on her side, knowing what was to come.

  The wooden door shattered as a man in black stood with a disappointed face.
It was Fear. There was fresh blood caked on his black cloak. There was more pooling at his feet. His green eyes stared into Rebekkah's soul. Love sat, letting Fear make the first move.

  “You must be the one she left me for.” Fear said to Love.

  “You must be the one she left for me.” Love said to Fear.

  Fear turned to Rebekkah. “Get up, we're leaving.”

  Rebekkah didn't say anything.

  Love put her left hand on Rebekkah's right hip to give her support.

  “What's the matter? Is she holding you back?” Fear looked down at his cloak. There were several small nails in it from the men that attacked him. They were from when he started killing people at the front of the inn. Fear pulled one out. “Shall I end her life now? Or after I kill you for causing me so much trouble?”

  Rebekkah didn't know what to do. She scrambled to think of something, nothing came to her. If she left with Fear, she would never see Love again. If she sided with Love, Fear was going to kill her.

  Fear tossed the nail up into the air and caught it. “Tik tok.” Fear eyed Love. “She is beautiful, I must admit. You've got quite a catch there. If you'd prefer, I can-”

  “-I'LL GO WITH YOU!!!” Rebekkah screamed. She jumped out of bed, naked and crying. She walked over to Fear.

  Love stared at Fear with discontent. He was taking what she had spent days to get. Someone that saved her from a fire that wiped away all memory of what she was in the neighboring town. Fear was robbing her of the woman that found the happiness she didn't see in herself.

  Fear turned his back to Love. Rebekkah walked with her head held low beside Fear.

  “What was it that you wanted me to do?” Love asked Fear with a curious voice.

  “Exactly what Rebekkah does. Lure men out into the open so that I can kill them without a scene.” Fear kept walking down the hall.

  Love called out from the bed. “What would happen if I said, yes?”

  Fear stopped, he turned back. Rebekkah didn't, she didn't want to hear what Love was about to say.

  “You would become my second slave.” Fear told Love.

  “But slaves don't volunteer. If I did this, would you still hit her?” Love was bargaining.

  “What?” Fear didn't expect this young frail thing to be negotiating.

  “Answer me. Will you hit her if I join you?” Love was about to make a sacrifice she didn't fully understand. Love got up and walked into the hallway.

  Fear looked over Love's naked body. She was tenuous, but gorgeous. Young and lively, the fancy of every man's desires. He thought the few that weren't incited by Rebekkah's body would crawl to meet this one in the darkest alley or most secluded hill. He enjoyed the concept.

  “Will you hurt her in any way if I work for you?” Love asked again. She was demanding an answer.

  “Work for me? I do not employ, I use. Will you be so eager to let me use you if you truly know what I will make you do?” Fear moved to Love and raised his left hand to her chin. He caressed it.

  “If you touch it, you bought it.” Love quipped.

  Fear lowered his hand. “You have a sharp wit on you. I could use you.” Fear squinted his eyes at Love. “Not like this, not as you are now.”

  Love took a hold of Fear's left hand. She pulled it towards her, placing it on her chest, sliding his cold fingers up to her warm neck. She positioned Fear's hand around her throat. “Go ahead.” Love stared at the back of Rebekkah's head. “Make me into what my love is. Make me a vampire.”

  Rebekkah turned back to see Love. She was too late Fear had already done it. Fear's hand had broken Love's thin neck. It flopped in his grasp. He lifted her closer to him as Rebekkah watched, her feet dangling. He opened his mouth to sink his fangs into her exposed shoulder. He drank her succulent blood, draining her. Fear used the tip of his tongue to slice the center of his right palm, ensuring blood would flow. He pressed his own flesh into Love's wound letting it bond. Rebekkah watched in horror. Fear had taken yet another person from her. She dropped to the ground, sobbing. Fear had a wonderful proclivity for suffering.

  Fear turned to look at Rebekkah. “Don't worry. In three days she'll be yours again. Cheer up, I won't be hurting you after today either. She made quite the good deal for you tonight. She serves two purposes. More blood and your guaranteed cooperation.” Fear glared at Rebekkah. “And if the day comes when I no longer need her, I can use her death to help motivate you.”

  Fear dropped Love's body. She made a light thud on the floor, her head bounced with the impact.

  “You are truly evil.” Rebekkah said to Fear as he walked past her and down the stairs.

  “Be sure to clean her up and cloth yourselves before you leave. You'll be carrying her for the next three days. Having two naked women in the streets, one a vampire, one dead, would not be the right kind of attention I'd enjoy.” Fear said while leaving.

  “You bastard.” Rebekkah yelled, her eyes watering.

  Rebekkah stood. She picked up Love, placing her in the wooden tub that they had used yesterday to clean up in before entrenching themselves in the bed for the night. Rebekkah washed around Love's wound, rinsing the fresh blood off her body. Rebekkah's tears mixed into her skin. Her soul-mate was gone.

  Three days prior a large fire raged in the night. Rebekkah walked as she always did, to the next town. Fear had chosen to linger behind and meet up with her later. She had spotted the glow from beyond a nearby hillside. The flames quickly engulfed the two story farm house. Rebekkah stopped for a moment to bask in the radiant heat of the uncommon site. She had seen many fires during the day. And in many towns at night. Nothing was like this. The building was in the middle of a vast field. It danced in the night, it called to Rebekkah.

  A scream rang out from one of the upper rooms. It was a young girl. She was about to be burned alive. The second floor was more like an attic than an additional level to the house. It was more than twenty feet off the ground. Rebekkah leaped up to the top of the building. She had surprised herself. It had been many centuries since she had used her full strength. Masquerading as a human for too long she was amazed by how agile she actually had become through the years. Rebekkah tore into the roof with ease. Her knuckles ripped through the hot timber with speed and precision. She jumped down and quickly seized the young girl from the flames surrounding the room. Rebekkah smashed the window, escaping with the girl close to her. They landed in the dirt. The girl was still hysterical from the fire, coughing and crying. Rebekkah didn't want her to focus on the fact that her entire life was burning in front of her eyes. She had an idea.

  “Why is my home burning!? Why is this happening?” The girl's long blond hair was flaring in the wind. She was sobbing, her mind fixated on the tragedy.

  Rebekkah didn't know exactly how to respond. The girl was inconsolable. “Don't worry, it'll be okay. Look, you're still alive.”

  The girl screamed, nearly passing out while she hyperventilated. Rebekkah's pep talk wasn't working. “Then I'll die along with them!”

  The girl's words were disturbing to Rebekkah. She was very young, tall, and thin. She was beautiful to Rebekkah. She didn't want this girl to die just after being saved. The girl reached for a shattered rock that Rebekkah had landed on and split in two. It was sharp, it cut her hand as she picked it up. The girl brought it to her neck and screamed.

  Rebekkah stopped the girl with a kiss. She knocked away the stone from her hand and kissed her intently.

  “Look at me.” Rebekkah said calmly as she placed herself between the girl and the fire. “See only me. Focus on my eyes. Let me take you away from here.” Rebekkah's right hand caressed the girl's left cheek softly. “I will help you.” Rebekkah kissed her firmly on the lips. She slide her hands to the sides of the girl's face, blocking out the light from the fire. Rebekkah was creating a world for her to escape to. Making a physical fantasy to which there was no fire, no sadness, or anguish to feel. Rebekkah rested her forehead to the girl's. “I will make you happy from now on.�
��

  Rebekkah transformed her words into reality. Through the constant swindling of men from town to town, Rebekkah was consistently wealthy. She put the both of them up in a lavish inn. They were served fresh fruits, well prepared meals, and all the wine they could drink. Rebekkah made the girl want for nothing, save to catch her breath under the sheets. The girl knew nothing outside of that room. Three days of solitude passed and had abruptly ended with Fear's arrival.

  * * * *

  Twenty years came and went as Yugo searched for his gift. Damien had but little help to offer him, believing that not all vampires had gifts. That some of them had nothing, while others received powers like Fear had. One day Yugo did find something. He realized that he was able to bend the reality of another person's body. The initial experiment did not sit well with Damien. They had to torture a man that was trying to kill them. A common bandit that had tried to mug them. Yugo kept him alive to explore his talents. Weeks lead to Yugo's result. He was able to, with a great deal of concentration and imagination, augment a person's physiology.

  At first Yugo played with his ability for months, performing simple tricks. He would make the men fighting him lose their will to harm him. That quickly turned to allowing Yugo to remove entire memories from people. To erase their minds and leave them without any recall of what or who they had seen. This came in handy for Damien and Yugo, they were able to hide themselves more effectively than ever. From there Yugo did more drastic things. He filled a man's stomach with poison and watched him die. Damien was appalled and told Yugo to never attempt such a thing. To either demoralize their enemies or kill them swiftly, not to toy with them. Yugo listened, partially. He was able to develop more uses of his gift. Some out of torture, some out of killing. He even found out how to restore health to the human body. A skill that he used to barter with.