The Embrace

by Jessica Callaghan

  Gabriel didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong and for the third night in a row we visited a town, this time on the other side from the previous night, and found a pitiful young girl whom Gabriel swore was the best victim. After he taunted and killed her, his lessons tailed off.

  For the first few days everything had felt exciting and new. Gabriel taught me how to kill and how to run through the woods like a true hunter. As the days passed and we continued to find new places and new victims, it became tedious.

  For the first few weeks of my vampire existence life was a monotonous circle. Gabriel had promised that we would get out of my small town to avoid suspicion and to experience the world, but his promises had failed to materialise. I had been stuck in this dead end place for 21 years and even though I now ceased to age, it seemed that the years would carry on regardless. I would end up spending eternity in this place one way or another. The only difference now was the fact that I wouldn’t die an old spinster as I wouldn’t die at all.

  Nothing about the vampiric world was the way I had expected. That first night and the first kill had been paradise. I had freed something within me, some hidden desire, and fulfilled it as much as I could.

  I had seduced and killed a man twice my size and seen the pain in his eyes as he approached death. I had fed on his blood to stop my hunger and I had felt no remorse. That hunger and passion had been more than my expectations, but the world Gabriel and I were living in was far from the first night.

  For two weeks we visited town, hamlet and city, finding damsels in distress whom Gabriel taunted and eventually devoured, allowing me to feast on the leftovers of his catch of the day. It fulfilled my physical desire but none of my mental lust was even close to being met.

  Even our own relationship seemed to have changed. I had expected to throw aside petty, human differences but something about Gabriel’s lust for these helpless girls unsettled me. We had lost the passion between us.

  I loved him just as much as the night I first spoke to him, but something was undoubtedly different. Gabriel had changed, or maybe I had. Either way the bond between us wasn’t the strong, healthy one I had been expecting. We were cohabiting without joy and without desire. We were just two killing machines who slept side by side every night, but never shared anything more with one another.

  After a fortnight of this monotony I needed to break free. Instead of waking up from my catatonic state and waiting for Gabriel’s piercing eyes to open too, I decided to leave and hunt for myself. I silently moved next door to my sister’s old bedroom which I had turned in to a walk in wardrobe for my many outfits.

  The old tales portray vampires as more beautiful than humans, like a race of supermodels, but it’s more than that. It’s not that we change that much physically when we go through the deathly embrace. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the same girl I had always been: my hair colour remained unchanged, my eyes were still the same shade of blue, and my figure was still frail and petite.

  It was my persona that was transformed. I had an aura about me, like Gabriel had always had. My energy wasn’t as strong as his yet as he’d had years to develop it, but something about me was different. When I walked down the street, a human being I had known since childhood would recognise me and comment on how remarkable I looked. Every negative opinion they had ever held about me would be erased, and whenever they thought of me the only image that would come to mind was perfection, whether that was true or not.

  In reality the aesthetic appearance doesn’t change that much. We remain as beautiful or as flawed as we always were in life. The thing that changes is the human perception of that physicality. We come across as more beautiful than before, more like the person you have always wanted to fall in love with. The feeling a human gets when they look at a vampire is remarkably similar to love at first sight: a blinding, overwhelming feeling that somehow you must meet this person, no matter what the cost.

  I enjoyed the new sense of freedom my appearance gave me. Everything I put on possessed that flattering quality all girls desire. I picked my outfit of choice: a loose silk dress, red as it was my favourite colour, with a black sash around the middle to highlight my tiny waist. I brushed my hair into a suitable state and slipped my feet into dangerously high black stilettos. I applied a shocking red taint to my lips, the only bit of makeup I needed on my deceivingly beautiful face.

  I had no reason to carry a purse or a handbag. My charisma meant I needn’t bother with ID or money as no one dared to question me. By the time they realised I had gone without paying or without proof of age, I would be long gone, if they even realised at all.

  I decided to go back to the green. It had been two weeks since my first kill and I thought that returning to the scene might resurrect the excitement I had lost somewhere along the way. I used the front door, rather than the window, to exit the house. I had no idea if Gabriel had woken up yet but I didn’t want to explain my actions to him. Something about Gabriel’s behaviour since my transformation scared me and anything that can scare a killer is a dangerous sight.

  I left our shelter alone and ran to the green, my hunger building with every step I made. The heartbeats in my head still pounded, even after a fortnight to get used to them. They never quite reached the aching intensity of the first night, but they were still a constant presence in my head.

  As the heartbeats intensified I knew I was getting closer to my potential victims. I was apprehensive about being out on my own as I was still unsure of what to do. I had only ever killed with Gabriel by my side. The few times he let me inflict the killing blow on one of his pathetic young victims, I had never been fully satisfied.

  I imagined the first kill again in my mind with perfect clarity. I could feel the pulsing jugular under my lips, the heart beat fading away as I sucked the energy from a man who had once been so full of life, and most of all I remembered the pain in his eyes as he came to realise that I was the one who would end his life. I was becoming woozy as the memories of that night resurfaced. I could hardly stand up straight by the time I reached the green and my whole body began to shake as I walked along the pavement.

  Happy couples walked along beside me. They held hands and smiled at one another as they walked along, content that they loved one another completely. As I walked past them their heart beats resonated loudly in my mind, poking out from amongst the throng of other sounds. Each one was tantalising but none of them held the perfect clarity that I was looking for.

  I could feel each one of them looking at me even when I tried to avoid their gaze. The second they looked at me they fell under my spell. Males and females alike would suddenly desire to know me, they ached for me no matter who they were.

  Their yearning for me went beyond the physical. Something about their very soul seemed to want me. The women wanted to touch my soft, unblemished skin and run their fingers through my hair. The men wanted to caress my soft cheeks and run their lips along the edge of my neck.

  Something about my persona scared them too. I seemed to be too beautiful, almost too perfect to be real. They could sense there was something unnatural about me and they were seduced yet terrified by it. All of these emotions swept over them in a second, and the moment I passed them their feelings disappeared before they even had a chance to sort through them.

  The man and woman would look at one another and carry on as before but their subconscious could tell that the other person had felt something for the mysterious woman who passed by. That night they would return home, pledging undying love for one another, and fall into each other arms. They would claim the reason for their renewed affection was love but really it was nothing more than guilt. Each person was trying to make up for the fact that they wanted, even for just a second, to throw themselves at the mercy of a complete stranger.

  All this would come from one glance at me. The power I held after my transition was so intense it almost scared me.

  I continued to wonder around the green, avoiding the chattering
groups leaving in dribs and drabs from various places. The pubs were still open but the encroaching darkness had forced many people back to their homes, and my pool of victims was rapidly diminishing. I still held out hope that I could find the perfect person, but I was beginning to become worried.

  I decided to take a different approach. The past few weeks had been filled with power games where Gabriel putting himself in the role of the predator, firmly in charge of the situation. I needed a change and a new routine.

  I ran into the centre of the green and closed my eyes, letting the heartbeats wash over me and soak in to my skin. I don’t know how long I stood for. It may have been minutes, maybe hours, but I waited eagerly for that perfect heart beat to stick out from the rest of the music living in my head.

  It finally hit me. One heartbeat rose from the throng and began to beat so furiously my head started to ache. I opened my eyes and heard the sound of footsteps sweeping slowly towards me. This was my goal, my food for the night, coming towards me at a speed so slowly it tortured me. I was desperate to taste this person, and so I turned eagerly to survey my meal.

  Before me stood a young man who was somewhat more striking than the average human. His cheekbones were harsh and jutting but they gave his face a sculpted appearance. As he approached me, I could see the soft ripple of muscle stand out under the short sleeves of his shirt. He had the arms of an athlete, not a body builder but still a soft definition that implied health and life.

  I was enamoured not only with the incredibly strong heart that beckoned me, but also by his pure beauty which seemed to invite me in. Had I been human I would have been struck with a paralysing fear of the beauty this young man possessed, but as a vampire I knew my appeal must have been far stronger than his. Part of me wished I could turn him in to a vampire so that I could see what incredible power this young man would develop.

  He approached me tentatively and stopped close enough for me to feel his breath on my cheek. He opened his beautiful lips to say something but a sudden rush of power flew over me and I grabbed his arms, pulling him towards me and locking him into a powerful embrace, our lips pressed against each other. This was more than hunger washing over me, it was lust.

  Several times the young man’s breath began to fade and he tried to pull away but my desire was overwhelming and I kept him locked in my arms with a tight grip. Eventually I let him pull away as I had no desire to kill him yet, and certainly not by suffocation when his blood was calling to me. The young man gathered his thoughts, and his breath, and his words stumbled out.

  “I came over to see if you were okay. Do you want to...um are you...I think you must be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He gave up in with exasperation, struggling to get his words out. I smiled at this tender yet pathetic human gesture.

  “Thank you. You know, you are quite beautiful too. Do you love me?” I asked him, still holding him close. His eyes searched mine for a clue to who I was but he found nothing but darkness. That was all there was inside me.

  “Yes, god yes.” He whispered.

  I saw his pupils widen as adrenalin and lust poured into every corner of his body. I leaned closer to him and kissed his soft cheek.

  “Tell me again” I murmured against his flawless flesh.

  “I love you” he replied.

  I kissed along his jaw line and down his throat before resting and returning up his neck to his jugular vein, the heart of the pulsing beat emanating from this heavenly mortal.

  “Again” I ordered and he complied, pledging his undying love for me despite the fact he didn’t even know my name.

  He repeated the phrase without any prompting. The intoxicating force of the admiration directed at me forced my fangs to poke through my gums. I was ready.

  I pulled away from his pulsing neck and let my devoted follower see my true face. Something in his eyes was different from my first kill. My first victim had realised that I was death personified, and had seen all the evil that walks hand in hand with me. He had screamed from his very core, praying for forgiveness, salvation, peace, anything that could stop death in it’s tracks.

  This man was different. He recognised the darkness in my eyes and I could see that he knew death was coming, but something about him was resigned to this fact. He didn’t try to struggle or flee and the look of love in his eyes hadn’t left. If anything his desire for me had grown stronger. I didn’t understand.

  Without Gabriel to guide me I had no idea what any of this meant. As a human being my radar for the emotions of others had been mortally wounded after the murders. My transition in to a vampire had just made matters worse, and now I didn’t understand human psychology at all.

  Despite my confusion, something about this man’s utter abandonment made me feel strong. My body was growing more powerful as I drank in his obvious enthralment, but this wasn’t what I had come for. I wanted the drink that came from his veins, his blood and his life.

  So I did it. For the first time as a lone predator I sank my teeth into the neck of this beautiful man and let the hot blood pour out over his skin. I lapped it up eagerly as tiny droplets gathered in the crevice of his neck and soaked the edge of his T-shirt. He let out a sharp gasp as he felt his body growing colder. I put my hand on his shoulder to steady him and stop him from collapsing. I pulled my head away, finally gathering the strength to stop.

  It was then that this man showed me why he had appealed to me above all others. He was still standing and his blood was still pouring out. His body was more resilient than I could have hoped for. The blood in his veins was already filling me up but there was even more coursing through his weakening body. I didn’t doubt that this man alone could fill my veins to the point of bursting.

  I licked the puncture wounds on his neck, as Gabriel had told me that our saliva can help the healing process, and kissed down his neck before resting at the flash of chest that showed above his shirt. I bit into his body again in this more intimate spot. Every one of my kills with Gabriel had been at the neck, and I was thrilled to have the chance to experiment.

  The blood was flowing down his body and as I pressed my cold skin against his I could feel the hot liquid gathering in pools on his shirt. The last remnants of life were leaving his body and small gasps of air escaped from his lips. I looked up towards him and saw his face twisted and contorted in pain but as his eyes flicked open I saw only desire behind them.

  I had no time to be confused. I pressed my lips back onto the new wound and sucked the final droplets from his dying body. I pulled away one final time and felt his body become limp. I pushed him backwards on to a nearby bench as my head whirled in ecstasy.

  My whole body was tingling and I felt triumphant. In just minutes I could have climbed Everest or conquered a mountain lion. I leaned down and bit this beautiful man’s bottom lip. A tiny drop of blood escaped and I licked it away before finally leaving him rest. I pulled my head away and stopped to stare at him.

  I had killed my first victim alone and he had willingly surrendered to me. I had felt a desire for a human being stronger than any lust I had ever felt, except for my feelings for Gabriel. I had no explanation but I was overwhelmed and, most of all, satisfied.

  Chapter 8I waited for a few moments, listening to the people around to wait for the perfect moment to speed away from the scene of the crime. I had no idea whether to hide the body or not, and even if I had decided to I wouldn’t have known how to do it.

  I stared at this man who had surrendered to me and let his untainted blood seep into my cells, rejuvenating me from the inside out. Just as I began to ready myself for my return to an undoubtedly curious Gabriel, I heard something behind me.

  A voice escaped into the darkness. “Hello Louisa” The voice said.

  I turned around to see who had interrupted me and was shocked by what I saw.

  Gabriel stood behind me in the grass with a calm yet threatening expression on his beautiful face. I was struck by terror: although I loved him, I had betra
yed him by hunting alone. I didn’t know how well he would take it.

  “Nice kill” he said, a cold sneer forming on his face. The sneer sent a shiver down my spine.

  I didn’t respond. I thought it best to let him air his opinion before I put my foot in my mouth. I was still unsure how to handle Gabriel now that I was one of his kind. I didn’t want to risk angering him any more than was necessary.

  We stared at each other in silence and Gabriel’s gaze drilled into me. I wished I could read his thoughts or understand what was going behind those sharp eyes. Excuse after excuse flew into my head. I tried desperately to pick the best one from the throng to justify my sudden departure, but each one left me cold and I decided to honour our bond. I had to tell him the truth.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t even know why I came out here.” I whispered into the cold, dark atmosphere with a softness that didn’t befit my cruel nature.

  For the first time since my death and transformation I felt utterly human-like a vulnerable young girl trying to broach a serious topic with her boyfriend. I risked a glance at him and saw that he was nodding his head emphatically.

  “I think we have some things we need to talk about” he answered with no hint of emotion. “We need to clean this up first” He cocked his head towards the beautiful man lying dead on the bench.

  How could I have been so selfish? Going out on my own had been a terrible decision. I would have left this man here to rot. His body would have been found sometime the next day and no doubt a young, attractive man like that would catch the attention of the press. I almost risked everything we had built together just because I wanted to satisfy my own desire.