Vampire Matriarch

by J. C. Diem

  Lying on the filthy carpet, I closed my eyes tightly in anticipation of pain and waited for something to happen. For several long moments, nothing did. Then I felt my flesh knitting back together as the bite mark on my shoulder healed.

  “Is that it?” one of the men asked uneasily.

  “Why isn’t she screaming and convulsing?” a female asked.

  “Because Alexis is different from us,” Katrina replied. “As she told you, she was a shape shifter. Now she is about to become one of us.” With my eyes closed, I couldn’t see her face, but I heard glee and satisfaction in her tone.

  Heat began to build in my stomach as her diseased blood took hold. It quickly changed from being merely unpleasant to an agony unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. I opened my mouth to scream as it began to spread outward, but the pain was so intense that I couldn’t make a sound. It felt as if I’d swallowed acid and it was eating its way through my entire body.

  The fresh vampirism that I’d just been infected with fought with more than just my necromancy. It was also battling with my werewolf. An image rose in my mind and I saw three different aspects of myself. One was pale, wore torn and stained clothing and had blood dripping from her fangs. The second was surrounded so thickly by zombies that I could barely see her. The third was my wolf. Standing on her hind legs, she towered over the others.

  For the space of a few heartbeats, they sized each other up. Then the wolf went on the attack. She tore into the zombies, ripping them limb from limb. The vampire leaped onto the wolf’s back and bit her savagely on the neck. Reaching over her shoulder, the wolf ripped the bloodsucker free and tossed her aside. The necromancer backed away and chanted in a low, commanding voice. More zombies appeared, conjured from the depths of my mind.

  Realizing who the greater threat was, the vampire and wolf exchanged a glance. By mutual agreement, they banded together to battle the growing horde of undead. They fought their foes, tearing into them with fangs and claws.

  Their war seemed to last forever and it became clear that no one would be able to gain ascendency over the others. As the fight wore on, I could hear myself screaming hoarsely. They were tearing my mind apart. If one of them didn’t win soon, I’d lose my sanity forever. At that thought, they broke off their battle.

  If you give in to me, I will allow you to have your three nights of ascendency, the vampire said to my wolf. She ignored the necromancer entirely.

  I was here first, the wolf snarled. You have no right to allow me anything. I’m stronger than both of you and I will win this war.

  But at what cost, the necromancer said slyly. Now that she wasn’t hidden by her minions, she looked like a normal human, except for her decidedly evil expression. Her mind has become fragile and she won’t survive much longer if we continue to wage this battle.

  The wolf knew the vampire and necromancer were both tricky and treacherous, but she couldn’t refute that claim. They all knew how dangerously close I was to the edge of madness.

  We will have to compromise, the wolf decided. Their conversation continued, but I was too far gone towards unconsciousness to hear it. I felt the sensation of a door opening in my mind then I blacked out.

  When the pain finally receded, I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the floor. Nine faces stared down at me curiously. One of the watchers leaned over and offered me her hand. “How you do feel, Alexis?” Her voice was melodious and her beauty was astonishing even with the layers of dirt that covered her skin and dark hair.

  “How do I feel?” I repeated and tentatively reached up to take her hand. She pulled me to my feet then steadied me when I swayed. Searching my memories and emotions, I found only emptiness. If she hadn’t told me my name, I wouldn’t even have known that. “I feel nothing,” I said honestly.

  That took her aback and the others shared uneasy looks.

  “Aren’t you thirsty for blood?” a female asked. She was much smaller than the others and was barely out of her teens. Her hair was shoulder length and might have been light brown. It was hard to tell the exact color since she was so dirty.

  “No,” I replied. “I’m not hungry or thirsty.”

  The beautiful brunette who had helped me to my feet looked disturbed. “Do you know who you are?”

  “You said my name was Alexis.”

  “What’s wrong with her?” one of the men asked. “She’s not like any new vampire that I’ve ever seen before.”

  That sparked a memory and I frowned. “I’m a vampire?” Even as I asked the question, I knew it wasn’t quite right. I could now see that they weren’t human. I also knew I was like them, but different somehow.

  “Do you know who I am?” the brunette asked.

  I stared at her and her eyes became mesmerizing. I felt the power she had over me and the connection that had been forged between us long ago. I also felt something missing. There was a hole in my mind where something had been torn from me. Reece, I thought. The pain that should have accompanied that memory was gone. It all came crashing back then, who I was, who she was and how I’d ended up becoming a new type of monster that the world had never seen before. “You’re my mother,” I said.

  “I’m your master,” she corrected me tersely. “Never forget it.”

  Katrina’s face was no longer too thin. Her cheeks were fuller and they were almost rosy from consuming so much of my blood. Gone was the façade that she’d put in place to cajole me into agreeing to drink from her. I’d allowed her to dupe me because I’d been so desperate and alone. She’d already had dominion over me, but I’d just taken the final step towards servitude. I was now bound to her until death.

  I thought my life couldn’t get any worse after I’d lost Reece. If I’d been capable of emotion, I would have been filled with bitterness to realize how very wrong I’d been about that.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Four

  “Will my dear husband attempt to rescue you, do you think?” Katrina asked and took a seat on the armchair that served as her throne. “Philip appears to be very protective.”

  “I doubt it,” I replied tonelessly. “He couldn’t handle it when he saw me turn into a werewolf. I haven’t seen him in weeks.”

  She gave a callous laugh and touched the old bullet wound that marred the otherwise perfect flesh of her forehead. My father had been the one to put it there. “If he couldn’t accept what you were before, he’ll utterly despise you now.”

  The other vampires were looking at me strangely, as if I wasn’t behaving as they’d expected me to. I saw my gun in one of the men’s hands. “That’s mine,” I said. “Give it to me.”

  I held my hand out and he moved back out of reach. “Finders keepers,” he sneered nastily. “It’s mine now.” He was as unkempt as the others, but he was still handsome beneath the grime. He was over six feet tall and had blond hair and blue eyes. He bore a superficial resemblance to my father, which was probably why Katrina had chosen him to be in her nest.

  Moving so fast that I astonished myself, I was suddenly standing in front of him. He started back at finding me standing only inches away and couldn’t hide his fear. Katrina went still and watched us from the corner of her eye, waiting to see what would happen. I sensed through our link that she was as disturbed as her lackeys at my speed.

  From the little I knew about vampires, they appeared to have a hierarchy. At the moment, I was at the bottom of the power structure. If I didn’t take my gun back, I’d remain at the bottom. I still had enough alpha werewolf left inside me to balk at being in such a low position, so I decided to take action.

  Just as my mother had done to me, I punched him in the face. If I’d been just a vampire like him, he’d have easily dodged the attack. Since I was something else, he didn’t stand a chance of evading me. My fist didn’t just shatter his temple, it smashed all the way through his skull, leaving a ruin of blood and brains behind. He fell to the floor, twitched a few times then expired.

  Katrina looked at me in stunne
d amazement when I knelt and wiped my hand clean on the dead vamp’s shirt. Picking up my gun, I slipped it into the back of my jeans again. I toyed with the idea of shooting her, but my mind skittered away from the thought before it could fully form. She was my creator and I was forbidden to kill her. It had been my intention to use her death as a form of suicide, but I’d fallen beneath her spell instead. I was now doomed to live in squalor, feeding from humans and cowering before my master along with my fellow minions.

  Rising to her feet, my mother strode over to me. My boots made me two inches taller than her, yet she seemed to tower over me. “Royce was my favorite,” she said snippily, as if losing him was a mere inconvenience. Her next words backed up that theory. “Where am I going to find a replacement for him?”

  I shrugged uncaringly. “I’m sure there are plenty of other men who look like my father.”

  That hit her like a mental slap. “He looked nothing like Philip!” she denied. Her eyes slid sideways, a sure sign she was lying even if she didn’t realize it.

  “If you say so.”

  She glared at me, trying to discern whether I was being sarcastic or not. “I forbid you to kill any more of your nest mates.” Her lackeys were relieved, but their relief evaporated when she added, “Not unless I tell you to.”

  Strangely, her order didn’t feel at all binding. I had the feeling that I could ignore it if I wanted to. I nodded and the remaining seven servants relaxed slightly. I saw that I had become more than just a curiosity to them. I’d only been a part of their group for a few minutes and they already feared me.

  “Get rid of his body,” she ordered and returned to her seat.

  Obeying her command, I bent to grab Royce and slung him over my shoulder. Goo splattered my jeans, adding to the stains I’d gained from my trek through the swamp. The dead vamp seemed weightless to me as I carried him from the house. I realized that I’d gained more than speed and strength when I stepped outside. My night vision was now even more acute than it had been when I was just a werewolf. Everything stood out in sharp relief. Even the darkest shadows were now easy for me to discern.

  I found my hearing had also improved when I walked off into the trees. Even above the noise of insects, nocturnal animals and birds, I heard the nest of undead monsters talking.

  “It should have taken three nights for her to turn into one of us,” one of the three remaining men whispered and I stopped to listen to their conversation.

  “I told you,” Katrina snapped, “she’s different from us.”

  “If she really was a werewolf, why didn’t your bite kill her?” the young female asked timidly.

  “I don’t know.” Katrina sounded puzzled. “Maybe because I first fed from her when she was a baby. I’m not sure how she survived that.”

  “I don’t like this,” a second guy said uneasily. “There’s something wrong with her. You should kill her.”

  I both felt and heard Katrina’s anger rise. “Who are you to tell me what I should do, Kevin? The last time I checked, I was the master, not you!”

  Through the link I had with her, I felt him cringe. She could dimly feel strong emotions from the creatures she’d bound to herself. “Sorry, master,” he said. “I’m just worried about your safety.”

  It was a lie and she knew it, but she didn’t call him on it. What would be the point? Vampires were all liars and none of them could be trusted. “What could she possibly do to me?” she asked uncaringly. “Alexis is bound to me and she must do everything I say.”

  I continued on before she realized I’d heard everything they’d said. I was pretty sure that Katrina was wrong. She had some power over me, but it was far from absolute. If I’d wanted to, I could have shot every one of her servants dead.

  Trekking through the swamp until I was far away from the ugly building, I tossed the body on the ground near the water. An alligator heard the noise and speared through the water. It veered away when it caught the scent and knew that the body wasn’t human. No creature with any kind of sense would try to eat the undead.

  I didn’t bother to bury Royce. Once the sun came up, he would be reduced to ash and only his clothing would remain.

  Unwilling to return to the house just yet, I prowled around the area. We were deep in the swamp and I could find no evidence that humans had been here in recent times. The canopy of trees hid the house from overhead view. Even the Shifter Squad might have trouble finding this place.

  My mother had asked the wrong question when she’d wondered whether my father would come for me. She should have asked if Agent Steel would try to rescue me. My father had given up on me, but my friends wouldn’t. They would search until they knew what my fate was.

  Kala had promised me that she would end my life if I turned. I had failed in my attempted suicide, but the team would do their job once they found me. Even if I was only half-vampire, they would still have to kill me. It was a well-known fact that all undead creatures were evil and that they had to be eradicated.

  Returning to the house before Katrina could send someone out to look for me, I paused when I saw a figure in the window. Stepping closer, at first I thought I was seeing a ghost. Then I realized it was my reflection. It was far weaker than usual, but it was still there, much to my surprise.

  Leaning in close to examine my face, I didn’t see any visible changes. My eyes were still dark brown and my fangs weren’t apparent. You couldn’t tell just by looking at me that I was a vampire.

  I used my torn shirt to wipe my face clean then finger combed my hair into a semblance of neatness. Entering the house, I returned to the parlor to find it empty. Spying my jacket still lying on the floor, I picked it up and donned it. The others had already retreated to the bedrooms in anticipation of the coming dawn.

  Taking the stairs to the second floor, I glanced inside the first two bedrooms to see the four females tucked beneath the covers, two to a bed. Either there weren’t enough beds for everyone, or they preferred to share. The third room contained Katrina and the remaining three males, all of whom were naked. I caught a glimpse of entwined limbs before I moved on. Their moans accompanied me to the end of the hall.

  Finding an empty room, I checked that the window was boarded over before lying down on the narrow single bed. I listened to the sounds of what passed for passion coming from the foursome and felt no embarrassment or shame. I might as well have been listening to a movie.

  When the sun finally rose a few minutes later, a hush instantly fell over the house. I expected to turn into an inert corpse along with the others and was surprised when I didn’t. Not only did I still have a reflection, it appeared the sun didn’t have the same power over me as it did a full vampire.

  Curious about what would happen, I rose and crossed to the window. I shifted the heavy curtain aside to see a faint bar of light coming through a crack in the boards. Wincing in expectation of pain, I held my hand in front of the light. Although I felt the warmth, I didn’t burst into deadly silver flames.

  “Well, there goes any chance of death by sunlight,” I said to the silent house. As I spoke, I finally noticed something that should have been apparent to me straight away, but had managed to escape me until now. I was still breathing. Placing two fingers on my throat, I felt for a pulse. It was much slower than usual, but my heart was still beating.

  Lying back down on the bed, it took a long time before I finally succumbed to sleep. Even before I’d become a monster I’d always been different from everyone else. I’d never quite managed to fit in and my strangeness was enough to set me apart once more. I was now something so different that there was no category for me.

  I wasn’t sure about my necromancer, but my wolf should have died along with my body when the vampirism took over. Both aspects of myself were now locked away behind the door inside my head. They’d apparently left my vampire in charge.

  Something had gone wrong during my transition into the undead. While Katrina and the rest of my un-living kin were capable of feelin
g lust, spite, hatred, anger and other petty emotions, I didn’t even feel that. My mother hadn’t managed to steal my mortality, but had done something far worse to me. I was now dead on the inside.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Five

  When I finally managed to fall asleep, it was shallow and dreamless. Moans, grunts and sounds of passion woke me shortly after dark. When the noise continued to echo through the upper floor for over an hour, I realized this could go on for some time. Lying on the mattress and staring up at the cracked ceiling, I felt a stir of emotion after all. I was pretty sure it was boredom.

  Leaving my room, I slipped downstairs without being noticed and snuck outside. The brief sight of naked, entwined bodies did nothing for me. I decided to vacate the area before I was invited to join them.

  My hair streamed out behind me as I sprinted through the swamp. I moved at a far greater speed than I’d ever been capable of before. I hadn’t even been this fast in my werewolf form.

  I didn’t realize I had a destination in mind until I closed in on the PIA compound. I’d left my watch in the SUV along with the rest of my gear, but I could tell that it had only taken me a few minutes to reach the base.

  Looking up at the thirty foot high electrified fence, I wondered why I’d come here. It was dangerous to be anywhere near the PIA compounds. Mark would know by now that I was missing. He was smart enough to figure out that I’d gone after Katrina alone. The team might already be on their way here to save me. They didn’t know that it was far too late for that now. As the oracle in Texas had prophesized, I was doomed.

  Smelling the swampy odor coming from my clothes, I wrinkled my nose. My ability to feel might have been taken away from me, but my sense of smell hadn’t. While the other vampires were content to wear the same clothes until they rotted and fell off, I wasn’t about to live in the same conditions. I’d left a backpack with several changes of clothing in the SUV. All I had to do was break into the base and I could retrieve it.