Melodies of Blood 2

by Maialen Alonso

  The wood creaked and his heartbeats accelerated even more and just when it seemed like it would stop his heart came back to life. Had she returned remorseful for having abandoned him? No.

  The face that appeared was blurred by his tears and was unknown. Caleb had never seen a man with red eyes before and now that he thought about it... Didn’t his mother also have that disturbing eye color?

  “Caleb,” he listened to the stranger. “Your mother took your life. I can give it back to you. I will be your father. I will show you everything you want to see and feel.”

  A question tried to come out of Caleb’s throat but blood began to pool there. It prevented him from speaking and almost drowned him. Nothing that Caleb had heard made sense, but what did he care? If the last thing he would hear were the words of a madman, he could accept that.

  Time passed strangely. Although, Caleb had the feeling that it had stopped completely. His eyes were no longer able to see anything, but he felt as the mysterious man gently moved him to make him comfortable. Caleb felt a piercing pain but after the extreme pain that he had felt before Caleb barely noticed it. Something was poured over his mouth. It slid slowly down his lips and into his mouth. Caleb didn’t recognize the flavor. Perhaps, because his body was already covered with his own blood.

  “Drink boy,” the stranger ordered. “You have a great future ahead.”

  Caleb swallowed with difficulty and was sickened by the metallic taste of the blood. Within seconds his body felt as if it was on fire. Every centimeter of his skin burned and the heat was concentrated in the areas where his flesh was torn down to the muscle. If hell existed, he was sure he had just walked through its doors, because the pain that arrived in a horrific wave surpassed the pain caused by his mother’s attack.

  Caleb screamed, writhed, and eventually died suffering terribly.

  It seemed like he entered into some kind of strange dream. Caleb’s whole life appeared in front of a dark background that seemed endless. Every painful past memory recurred in such a real way that it was like getting stabbed with a knife. The image of his suffering was clear and sharp. The images of him suffering appeared one after another. They showed him unable to achieve a lasting stability. A small measure of yearning for happiness made him want to fight to live even as he drowned in the depths of his own being.

  ♫♫♫

  The sound of birds singing, the sound of the breeze, and the smell of a cold new dawn ...

  Caleb opened his eyes in confusion. The sound of his skin rubbing against the soft sheets sounded so clear that he thought he was still asleep, but he wasn’t. He could feel everything around him. Even the flight of a small fly that escaped the first throes of winter.

  Every second that passed Caleb felt even stranger. He stood up and placed a hand on his head. Everything was spinning and when he looked at the new room he occupied Caleb noticed that his vision was different. He couldn’t explain how his vision was different. Maybe, like an animal’s vision? Maybe.

  Small flashes brought back memories of the attack he suffered at the hands of his mother. Which made him think the attack had really happened. Was he still alive after that? Caleb looked at his naked torso that was wrapped in bandages and drenched with a red liquid that indicated that he was still alive. In that moment of confusion, the door opened and a man of great proportions entered the room. He was a mature man which Caleb had seen before. He was sure it was the stranger who came to see him during the last moments of his life. To hear his last words and to accompany him on his last journey.

  “I know you’re confused,” he spoke before Caleb. He sat in an elegant wooden chair. “Do you remember your last moments of life?”

  Caleb furrowed his brows in distrust. What did he mean by his last moments of life? He was still there. Automatically Caleb’s mind started thinking about his memories. The man had offered to be his father. He had also given him his blood to drink and had told Caleb that he had a great future ahead. Then came the unbearable pain and finally the darkness. Caleb had died in the stranger’s bearlike arms.

  “I died?” The stranger nodded. “How is it possible? I’m here.”

  “And do you feel the same, boy?” Caleb lifted his gaze pensively. “You can’t feel the beating of your own heart. Your breathing is due to a reflex of your own body. You’re no longer human, Caleb. No longer alive.”

  The man got up and the chair finding itself freed from his heavy muscular body creaked and scooted next to a nightstand. He picked up a large mirror wrought in what looked like silver and handed it to Caleb.

  “Look,” he ordered.

  Slowly Caleb held the mirror in front of him. It felt so light that Caleb thought it was impossible that it was made from any type of metal. Caleb stifled a small cry. The man staring back at him did not look like him. At least not in every way. His dark, cold eyes had become red and fierce. The bluish shimmer of his raven black hair had been enhanced and the features of his face were softer and more beautiful.

  “You’re a sorcerer?” Caleb asked slowly while moving the mirror to stare at him. The man gave a hoarse laugh.

  “Of course not, Caleb. My name is Amadeus and I am what you are. We are no longer alive, we are not human.”

  “I don’t understand you.”

  “You will. You can remove the bandages from your body. Although they have been cured they were made by a vampire while you were human, so there will be scars.

  “Vampire?” Caleb frowned remembering the perfect image of his mother. Now he was perfect too and his eyes were just as red. “I am one, too?”

  “Yes, I turned you.” Amadeus looked at Caleb for a moment and perceived the questions that were about to leave his lips. “I’ve been watching you since I knew of your existence. Yet I was not the only one. Your mother did too. It’s the reason why I couldn’t help you before. I deeply regret it,” he confessed with sincerity. “I don’t know why but from the beginning I felt concern for you. I felt like your father. I wanted to help you, teach you.”

  “All this is …”

  “I know how you feel. When I was turned I was as confused as you.”

  “We’re monsters,” Caleb added.

  “So are the humans,” Amadeus said surprising Caleb. “Let me tell you what you have become. You are the angel of death. Your strength, your intelligence, absolutely every one of your abilities have increased by over a hundred times. You are now able to break the skull of a man with little effort. There is only one thing. The payment for our non-life. Your food will be human blood. You will kill and you will enjoy doing it until you find your way and define yourself as the new being you are. You’ll have to decide what kind of vampire you are going to be, but to get there you will have to shed a lot of blood because your hatred is great and uncontrollable.

  Hate, yes, in his heart there was so much accumulated hatred for all of those that surrounded and Caleb knew instantly what would happen. Revenge would fall on everyone as the sharp point of the sword of Damocles. He would pierce their hearts joyfully. The suffering they had caused in him would be imitated and increased until they stopped breathing and died.

  “I can see in your eyes the thirst for revenge. You are thinking about who has hurt you during your life. I won’t stop your revenge. When I drank your blood and you mine we created the ‘Melodies of Blood.’ I’ve seen everything inside you and one day you will see what’s in me. Go get them, boy. But do not leave clues about what we are. We must remain in the shadows of the unknown. Your body is ready.”

  Without waiting for Caleb to say or ask anything he left Caleb alone in the room. Amadeus was not a vampire who enjoyed death. He had overcome that phase a long time ago, but he couldn’t interfere in what was about to happen. He had seen Caleb’s memories and was horrified at what had happened to him. Amadeus knew that Caleb would never recover if he didn’t hunt those who had broken his heart, stomped on his h
ope, and almost turned him into an empty vessel. They were not innocent, were not good people, they were pure human filth.

  ♫♫♫

  Caleb spent the whole day lying in bed. He barely moved. It was difficult to digest so much information and he thought he might go mad. He was dead. He was a vampire. Everything was real, not a dark dream. It didn’t take long to feel the thirst once the sun went down. Caleb drank plenty of water but the thirst wasn’t sated. It was difficult for him to finally realize that it was the bloodlust. He knew immediately who’d sate his thirst, not just for blood, but also for revenge. Caleb opened the window wide open and inhaled the scent of that full moon night. Snow already covering the ground and the temperature didn’t affect his body. Caleb wouldn’t feel cold even if he walked naked through London in middle of winter.

  Caleb jumped onto the street instinctively without thinking about his actions. Nothing, not a bone broken nor did he stumble. It was a perfect jump. He laughed, laughed unable to quiet his voice that resonated strongly and advised Amadeus that soon a river of blood would stain the white layer of snow.

  Caleb sighed and started walking under the cover of night. His fate was not far, but he would enjoy the tranquility of the night before unleashing the demon that slept inside of him. About fifteen minutes later he stood in front of the house whose pleasant memory had been stained, torn and trampled. He saw the center window. It had been the room that Jones once occupied and now was occupied by his avaricious and macabre daughter. Yes, she would be the first to suffer his anger, and then there would be many, many more ...

  Emily slept peacefully in the big bed. She had changed the decor of the entire room and it now reflected her taste. She probably hadn’t even waited for her father’s body to cool. Caleb moved with such stealth that even the most careful agile cat in the world would envy him.

  “Brat,” Caleb whispered while climbing on top of the bed. “You’re lucky. You’ll get a quick death.”

  Caleb gently moved the bed with the intention that his first victim would wake to see his angry and bloodthirsty eyes. He’d never forget that face of terror.

  “Hi, Emily.” Caleb almost smiled. “Surprised to see me?”

  “What? How? You should be …”

  “With your friend the count?” Caleb continued speaking. “Oh, I was. With him and his friends. You dared to sell me like an object.”

  “Stupid.” Emily tried to look strong, but the smell of her fear gave her away.

  “Do you have any last words before I kill you?” Caleb asked coldly. “No?”

  She spat at him and tried to take a breath to scream and alert the employees who were sleeping peacefully, but Caleb would not let her upset his dream of revenge. He covered her mouth with his hand and she began to squirm like a trapped snake.

  “No, Emily. You’ll die tonight and pay for your sins. You killed your father, who was a good man, and you sold me to a sadist knowing what was going to happen. Accept the consequences of your actions.”

  The next morning, a poor servant girl who carried a breakfast tray up to Emily’s room woke up the other servants with her screams. The surrounding houses also heard the girl’s scream. The room was awash with blood. The white color chosen by Emily to decorate the room lost its purity and was now dyed a deep and bright red. Her mangled body was still in bed. Her eyes and mouth were wide open fully expressing the terror that Emily had lived before she died.

  Caleb had let loose. It would be difficult to stop the vicious cycle in which he had just delved. Caleb was in his new room enjoying the memories of the night before. The horror he had created. He had a list of names for revenge and for those people he would prepare something much more intense, terrifying, and painful. The count and his minions would be next and the hope of someday finding Phil woke up in his dead heart. Phil’s betrayal which had resulted in Jerry dying in a terrible way would not remain unpunished.

  Emily’s death had shocked London. Rumors of the macabre scene had aroused the imagination of everyone who spoke of the murderer. They described the murderer as a horrible beast from hell because it certainly could not be the work of a human being.

  Amadeus did not say anything about it. He just kept giving Caleb information about what he had become. Amadeus taught Caleb how to hide his red eyes with special drops. Their eyes returned to their original color for a few hours, but they had to be careful because their eyes reverted to their new state quickly.

  Caleb absorbed all the new information that entered his brain. Every night he went out in search of a victim to quench his uncontrollable thirst. This was normal according to Amadeus. What he did not tell him was that there were two paths. Either his human side took control, or his vampire side did. It was like splitting into two halves, one side must maintain control and that side would define the rest of his life.

  ♫♫♫

  More than a month after his transformation, Caleb walked the streets of the most luxurious areas in London with two of his companions. Always the same routine, people watching, searching and despair. He didn’t know the name of that group of men. Didn’t know their location. He only knew where the count lived, but he would be the recipient of his final act of revenge. Caleb had prepared something special for the count and he would enjoy those memories for the rest of his life, fueling the hatred and resentment that the count had created in his dead heart.

  Tired of being watched Caleb managed to ditch the two men that Amadeus had imposed on him as guards and headed to the docks. He’d try his luck with another name on his list. Caleb had not forgotten Phil or his betrayal. Because of Phil, he’d almost died. In order to save him, Jerry had ended up burned to death. Caleb suffered. He still remembered the look of terror in Jerry’s eyes as he’d yelled for Caleb to run to safety.

  “It’s him,” Caleb whispered unable to silence his voice.

  Phil was older. His hair was almost completely white but Caleb would recognize him even in hell.

  Caleb watched him all day. The best part of being a vampire was not feeling the passage of time like the mortals. Caleb could stand there without moving a millimeter for days and he wouldn’t feel tired at all. When Phil’s workday ended and he left the port Caleb followed his steps closely. Phil stopped at a tavern for dinner and twenty minutes later exited a little shaky. It was evident that Phil had drunk too much alcohol. They climbed up steep, dark, damp streets, and crossed lonely and dangerous alleys until finally, Phil entered through an old half rotten door that Caleb knew instantly he could shatter with a touch.

  Caleb waited a while there. He held as still as a statue. He tried to put some order in his mind that had become chaotic with emotion that intoxicated him. What good luck! The oath he took would be fulfilled.

  Darkness reigned inside the house, but this was not a drawback for someone who was still able to see and smell in darkness.

  “You’ve been following me for a while,” Caleb heard Phil’s hoarse voice from some dark corner of the house. I don’t know who the hell you are but get out of my house before I kill you.”

  At first, Caleb was surprised. He had been stealthy yet he had still been seen. It was something that he definitely would not repeat.

  “It’s been a long time Phil. I see that you’ve led a quiet life.” After Caleb’s initial surprise he returned to normally cold demeanor. Caleb started walking harshly, making sure that his crashing steps into the wood were heard. “But not everyone has forgotten your sins. They haven’t been forgotten by me.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about boy. If you don’t leave immediately I’ll rip out your guts and give them to the dogs.”

  “Really? You think you’re capable of such a feat?” Caleb laughed and walked out of the cover of darkness that had kept him hidden.

  Phil’s expression showed his shock. He dropped the large rusty knife that he’d held in order to defend his pathetic lif
e and it fell with the tip digging into the wooden floor.

  “You ... Are you Caleb? Are you alive.”

  “Let’s just say not quite. Tell me, Phil,” Caleb began to walk calmly towards him. He placed his hands behind him and he had a small smile on his face, “have you lived a happy life these past years? The years that you stole from Jerry.” Caleb’s smile disappeared.

  “Caleb, I was scared.”

  “You lied.”

  “Wasn’t my life worth it?”

  “Not more than his.”

  “You’re …,” When Caleb walked near the candlelight Jerry saw red eyes that pierced him with an inordinate hatred and he felt like he could barely breathe, “a monster.”

  “You’re right.”

  It was no longer necessary to speak. Caleb was bored with the fear that was reflected in Phil’s eyes. Phil had always been a coward and Caleb didn’t want to hear his pleas for mercy. Phil didn’t deserve anyone’s forgiveness.

  Caleb grabbed Phil’s face and placed a firm hand over his mouth. He wanted to avoid hearing any shrill screams that would endanger his goal.

  “I’ll be merciful this time,” Caleb said. “Our years of friendship will grant you a quick death. You should be grateful.”

  It felt like Phil tried to move his head desperately begging for mercy, but there was nothing in the world that would free him from his fate. It had been a difficult decision for Caleb to make. He felt like the memories were crushing him and knew that Jerry would not have liked for him to be led by revenge. Despite this Phil’s destiny was to die that night. After all Phil had lived a few more years than he would have. Now it was time to say goodbye.

  “Goodbye, Phil.”

  Phil managed to utter a groan despite the force exerted by Caleb on his face. Phil’s skull broke in Caleb’s hand with a dry, strange and almost melodious sound. Blood spurted. Phil suffered for a few seconds. When Caleb released him his body dropped and hit the floor. Phil’s lifeless eyes stared at Caleb and Caleb was able to strike out the second name on his list. Caleb turned and left Phil without a hint of remorse.