by K A HAMBLY
‘That’s it, you’re leaving? So you're not going to kill me too?’
‘No, it was never our intention to. You are far too important Jyrki.’
Then they were gone as quickly as they came and my thoughts were once my own again. Many years had now passed and there was still no sign of these creatures. I had come to believe they were what father had spoken to me about the day we were out in the woods, looking for food. He sat on a log skinning a rabbit as if he would normally, but I knew there was something else bothering him that day. He wouldn't reveal much to me when I asked but knowing how well my instinct was developed he couldn’t very well lie to me either. It was a curse of the curse, as he used to call it. All he would tell me was that he had news that the clan had broken the agreement and Mardok was not happy. I wanted to question him further but I sensed he didn’t really want to worry me.
Winter was now back again and Mother Nature had shielded its beauty once more with a fresh coating of snow. I loved this time of year. I sat on the tree branch and whistled a song I had heard a while ago. It was an old Finnish folk song, which had struck a chord with me. I breathed in some of the chill air and rested my head against the trunk. Many nights I have spent gazing up at the sky. The bluish tint served as a canvas to the map of the heavens. I think I knew every star that graced the sky as they shone and flickered above me. I continued to keep my gaze on the snowy mountain ahead as I knew something very special was approaching. A ray of majestic green and yellow lights swathed towards me. I smiled and sat reveling in its beauty. I must've seen these Northern Lights, or Revontulet as they are fondly known in these parts, so many times, but every time was always like the first.
Dawn broke, bringing with it the sound of heavy machinery and humans. I sat upright on the branch and looked over the forest. ‘Damn,’ I had heard right. They were coming to tear down the trees in preparation to build a road that would connect the two villages either side of me. I jumped down, landing perfectly on my feet and frantically gathered up my belongings, which didn't really amount to much for a 200-year lifespan, but I was an immortal who had a purpose at least, so I didn't feel I had any right to whine. Apart from having to seek blood and learning to suppress my urge for the taste of human, I didn't know how much better life could get anyway. This was all I knew.
After leaving the safety of the compound in the Aaland Islands, humans became far more interesting. I had never met one before let alone spoken to one, which made entering into their world a far more difficult move for me. I didn't know if I had the strength within me to resist the urge for their blood, but I had to try.
Since my family had been gone, I have travelled all over Finland, preferring the safety of its dark and enchanting forests to the cities. Yet, I knew the day would arrive when I had to venture into the world to protect the Ankh, and that time was now. Something was calling me to a distant land.
I preferred to travel at night, so I was particularly thrown back when I had no choice but to leave Ivalo at the break of dawn. The humans were about to tear down the forest and I didn't think finding me in among it would be a good thing for either of us.
It took me six days to travel to Lake Pielinen. I usually stopped at daybreak to rest and eat. My diet consisted of anything I could find wandering around the woods at the time. I felt as long as I kept the demon happy, I wouldn't shift into my alter ego so quickly.
It was dawn when I reached the lake. Due to the mist, I had not noticed the wooden bridge at the other end of the island, so instead I chose to row the small boat I had found. I felt it was a much safer option to be away from the humans I heard on the mainland.
There was a slight breeze that harbored a Nordic chill in the air. Not one to depend on the function of breathing, I stopped rowing and inhaled. The air was crisp and fresh which made the sweet scent of human blood too irresistible to miss. Where was this human, I wondered. All I hoped was that they stayed well away from me whilst I weaned myself from the taste.
I began rowing again listening to the gentle swish of the water beneath me. My mind was relaxed and free of all the demonic chatter when I felt a jolt as the boat bumped into the land. I snapped out of my thoughts and placed the oars inside the boat. With the rope, I tied the boat to the post of the small wooden jetty and climbed out. The mist soon cleared and the island revealed itself to me. It was quiet and didn't seem to inhabit any humans, but the stench still wafted over from the island opposite. I knew this was a great place to be while I prised myself off the taste. It was the only way in which I could prepare myself for the wider world.
After exploring the island for the last hour, I had stumbled upon an old derelict farmhouse. It was in an idyllic spot, giving me a wonderful view of the water and the islands opposite. Now I had found a place for safety the hardest part was learning to control my thirst. Days soon turned to nights, before I knew it I had been on the island for a few months. The snow had surely melted and spring was beginning to show all around, but food was becoming scarce in these parts and my hunger was becoming uncontrollable.
I felt I had no choice but to make my way back to the mainland.
CHAPTER THREE
The hunger was excruciating. I wasn't sure how much longer I was able go on without anything fresh to drink. My weak lifeless body slumped back against the tree as I stared into nothingness. I longed to feel something against my ice-cold skin. Whether it was in a moment of madness or delirium from no blood for a week but I suddenly found myself reaching inside of my jacket pocket and pulled out my pocket- knife. My hand shook from exhaustion as I reached over my forearm. Carefully I guided the tip of the blade over the flesh. The trickling of the crimson liquid gave my body the jump-start it needed, my eyes filled with elation of the release. The numbness I had felt, after losing my family, slowly disappeared as I felt the charge I needed to protect the Ankh surge through my body.
I licked a drop of my blood from my arm and screwed my face up in disgust; I spat it out and wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my black sweater. Still, I was not sure what the fuck I was doing.
My head was in another place.
As vampire blood was so precious, to draw our own blood was a forbidden act in our circle. I shouldn't have done it, but what did it matter anymore. I had no one to adhere to anyway, but after last week's fiasco, I did not want to attempt to go into the neighbouring village. The humans were becoming a little too suspicious. Besides, Father would not have been too pleased with my recent efforts for food.
I was just about to get up from the leaf-strewn floor when I heard a few ramblers laughing in the distance. This Island was not safe anymore. The villagers had already begun a hunt for the killer.
‘They're too close,’ I mumbled to myself as I rummaged in my bag for an old t-shirt.
The wound was gaping and trickling with blood.
Hurriedly, I wrapped the black shirt around my arm and secured it.
I looked up.
Over the rustling of the leaves on the trees, I could hear their voices getting closer. My hunger rendered me weak and exhausted, but there was no choice, I had to leave.
A sharp pain crept up my arm making me flinch. I yelped, drawing attention to myself.
‘Did you hear that?’ a male voice said
‘Hear what?’ another answered.
‘That sound, just then.’
‘No, it might’ve been a deer. I just saw a family of them a few yards away.’
As I bent down to pick up my bag, I caught sight of a figure in a blue jacket walking behind the bush. He was about 20 yards away. I kept low on the ground, hoping the crisp rustling of the leaves would not send them my way. I waited until they carried on walking in the other direction. Now they were out of view, I crept through the bush, running at an alarming speed through the forest, careful not to trip up on the protruding roots of the trees along the path. I was now making my way back to the island as I felt I would be safer until I could find a way to leave Finland. I only wished I could've con
trolled my hunger a bit more when I arrived on the mainland last week. I felt so guilty about killing the young man that the horror of what happened began to play out in my head again as I ran.
I never meant to hurt anyone. After witnessing my family turn to ash, I lost control of myself for a while. Selfishly, after I landed on the mainland I found myself wandering for days on end until I reached a point where I just could not do it anymore. By the time I arrived at a small village I was starved and had no energy to catch anything. I was overcome by the sensuous smell of blood that lilted in the air like a fresh summer morning. I tried so hard not to let go of myself but the transformation took over me instantly.
The only way to fight the demon off was to drink blood.
As I inhaled, my eyes latched on the young man loading up his van with wood. I was instantly drawn to him, and there was no turning back. The rational voice in my head had no effect whatsoever on the rest of my body. It was straight in for the kill.
He didn't see me coming either thankfully.
I took the plank of wood and without any remorse; I smashed it across his head. As I almost drained him of his blood, I stopped, as it was far too dangerous to carry on.
With all my strength, I pulled myself away from his lifeless body and instantly I could feel myself coming through again, but I was not proud of what I had done. I was disgusted with myself and spat the remainder out of my mouth before making a run for it.
This is exactly what I am still doing now, running.
I paused for a brief moment and looked behind me.
I was still alone but my dark thoughts were very much with me. It was only now that I had realised something; I had broken the pact my father had made with the Ancients. That made me far worse than a killer in my eyes. I was ashamed of who I was at this point.
Somehow, I had to redeem myself.
An eternity of guilt and remorse was far worse than anything imaginable. My only hope of leaving these small islands to Helsinki was stealing the boat left unattended at daybreak by some local fishermen I had been watching. Father had spoken about the Helsinki many times and at this moment, it seemed like the best option.
There was nothing I could do.
As the boat was not due back for another few hours, I made the decision of returning to the old derelict farmhouse I had found, for safety. No one would find me there, I hoped.
The previous owners left suddenly years ago. As far as I knew, no one had been there since. As I walked along the rocky footpath, I cowered down as the trees stretched over into an arch above my head.
We were a tall family, Draven being the tallest, at six-foot six. I followed at six- foot four. I was easily detectable and not easily forgotten. I folded my arms for comfort as the memory of them being alive lingered fresh in my head.
I missed them something terrible
I must've been so wrapped up in grief I wasn't paying any attention to my surroundings. I continued walking, passing the broken wooden gate of the house when I spotted some kind of metal machine parked outside.
Two strange men were sitting in it watching the house.
‘Shit!’ I crouched down behind the crumbling wall.
This was the last thing I expected to see.
The two strange men got out of the doors, armed with rifles. My initial reaction would have been to kill, but I promised myself I'd change. I had to.
‘Humans, they just don't know when to butt out,’ I muttered.
I peered over the wall at the two men looking suspiciously around the property. One of them had a strange kind of accent, which struck me as odd.
‘Take a look around the back...’ The dark haired, tanned skin man ordered the tall guy with the accent.
I looked around for an escape, to my left was the path that ended with no trees for cover, and to my right the garden wall, which had crumbled that would've left me exposed. I had to sit and endure it. If the worst came to the worst, I pondered...well...
‘There doesn’t seem to be anyone living here now. All I can see is a pile of old junk that was left by the previous occupants.’
‘I wonder why she said he was here. Do you reckon it could've been an animal that attacked those people?’ The guy with the accent said.
‘Stride, I am certain he's here, but if he's gone now I just hope he turns up soon...c'mon let's get the hell out of here.’
I sat nervously behind the wall, fidgeting with the frayed ends of my sweater. I could not believe what I had just heard. If I'm right, which I normally was anyway, they knew of my kind. That didn't seem possible in my mind, but I didn't have much time to rationalise things in my head right now, I had to get the sword from the house quickly before they knew I was here.
With no other option but waiting by the lake until dawn, I knew I had to leave right away in case they showed up again.
I listened out for a bit until I heard them slam the doors and drive away through the back entrance, which joined onto the road into the village. As I took a glance over the wall and assured myself they had gone, I relaxed my chest and picked myself up from the floor.
‘Time Jyrki, time,’ I kept repeating to myself as I ran up to the door.
I could feel myself getting into a right state.
I sprinted upstairs into the small back bedroom and grabbed my bag from under the bed. Frantically, I pulled the bag open to check Draven’s sword was indeed safe
. Looking at it, with its missing piece cut out of the blade you wouldn’t think it was anything special, but Father always swore it was forged during the Blood War, and had been used to kill the vampires.
My instinct told me it would be needed one day, so I placed it back in my bag and grabbed the rest of my things, mainly books. I looked around the room, afraid I had left something that could be linked to me. There was an old armchair, a pine dresser...I screwed my eyes up, and walked over to the dresser. A black and white photograph of a young couple stifled my curiosity. I slung the bag over my shoulder and picked up the frame.
‘So lucky,’ I whispered to myself.
A painful wave of emotions attacked me as it dawned on me how alone I was. I placed the photo back and picked up the book next to it.
‘Irving Washington's, History of New York.’
I threw the book into my bag and ran down the stairs. It was getting on for dusk, so I slammed the door shut behind me, and decided I would hunt for food on my way out of the island.
I was hungry.
The last meal I had was more than a week ago.
Sometimes, depending on the richness of the blood, it would sustain in my system for longer, hence I could go without food for a vast amount of time.
Now human blood was off the menu, I decided to look for it elsewhere. I didn’t have much choice but to turn back to rabbit food again.
Still panged with guilt, I vowed never to taste the delicacy of human blood ever again. Although now that I had a taste, I knew it was going to be too difficult to resist it, which worried me greatly, as I was heading to the city.
It was almost midnight when I reached the lake. I would have been there in an instant, but I felt like taking a slower pace tonight and soak in the memories of home one last time.
There was nobody around but nature's nightlife.
I sat on the bank and enjoyed the simple tranquillity of watching the ripples in the water, with the moonlight adding a beautiful lustre to it. I think I could've stayed here forever completely immersed in my thoughts.
‘Oh fuck, what am I doing here?’ I said, gritting my teeth.
I clenched my bag tightly as I stood dumbstruck on the pavement. I did not know what I was expecting to see when I got off the boat in Helsinki, but this certainly superseded my expectations.
‘Don't do anything rash.’ I kept repeating to myself as I saw people hurriedly pass me. Blood, I need blood, was all I could think.
My lips were dry and it was getting harder to control my natural instincts.
I could feel myself
starting to panic, so I crossed the street to try to avoid a group of people that stood next to me.
The promise I made my father about never exposing our identity to people hung firmly in the balance.
I felt like I was going to shift.
I stumbled off the kerb, feeling weak and dizzy.
‘Hey watch it!’ a voice yelled ‘You nearly hit me off my fucking bike.’
I swerved my head towards the guy on the bicycle and glared.
‘You freak!’ he screamed back at me as he rode off.
The voice in my head kept telling me to stay calm. If this had been somewhere else he wouldn't have stood a chance, but I had to try to fit into this mad world, I just had to. Feeling like I should not have come here I sat down on the edge of the pavement and tucked my head into my hands.
‘Are you alright son?’ the voice called from behind me.
I turned around and looked at the slightly overweight middle-aged man standing by the shop doorway with his arms folded. My nostrils flared as I inhaled the smell of fresh meat that wafted from the door. My eyes widened and my throat yearned for some warm blood.
‘Why do you ask?’
‘You look like you need a good feed that's all.’
He was right. I was so weak after all the travelling I dare not take a guess at what I looked like to him.
‘I don't suppose you have anything fresh, maybe with a little blood on it?’ I asked as my eyes were firmly fixed on his blood stained apron.
His eyes narrowed and his grey brows knit together.
‘Blood you say? What are you a wild animal?’
I sat open mouthed and thought I had landed myself in a bit of bother.
‘Er, yes. I prefer my meat like that.’
