by Bre Faucheux
She felt a mild interest in her presence, and a questioning of who had done this to her. She tried to evoke a sense of self-doubt. After all, she didn’t know the true identity of the men who did this to her, only that they were also natives of this land. And that they presided near the sea. She sketched an image of the three men on horses in her mind, as they stood before her camp, watching the remains of her people dying around her. Their backs draped in the furs and feathers of beasts they had conquered, trying make their appearance as fierce as possible. The man looked at her knowingly. He seemed to understand. His wife continued to hold her hand within hers and stroked it delicately. The man spoke more words Madison didn’t recognize, but again she knew their meaning.
He wanted to know how she came here. How did it begin, her journey? She pictured her home, as it had been before the French overpowered everything in flames and metal swords. How Jamison had saved her and had tried to take her as far away from the bloodshed as he could. Their few ships and the seemingly bottomless ocean they had crossed, their settlement, as humble as it was. Only now did she appreciate its splendor, now that it was gone, taken by the wind, sea and fires. And the sickness, the sickness that had befallen everyone who had survived so much to come to so little.
The man and his wife looked to one another. Madison felt that they knew the people she had encountered. And they were feared. They were feared by all the tribes nearby. No one ventured near the sea for dread of their dark practices. Many of their own had fallen due to their harsh conventions of self-protection.
The man said a name. A word she hadn’t heard before.
“Vam-pyr-ei-ak,” he said, nodding his head. He repeated it again so she understood. That was the name of the people that had attacked her. She saw in his eyes what they truly were to everyone else around them. They were given such a wide area to preside over because they were dreaded. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she was certain in that moment that she wasn’t the first that this had happened to.
The man took his hand to her stomach and questioned if she felt the thirst inside of her. Madison echoed the sense of peace she had felt through the night, and the satisfaction her body had from the blood they provided for her. He accepted this answer and was pleased with it. The thirst was gone, and she was partially healed from the sickness in its entirety. She wouldn’t feel the thirst or the yearning for the vicious taking of blood ever again. But the need for blood would be the same as her body’s previous need for water. She was no longer human, and blood would sustain her new body and abilities, and exhilarate it when she grew weak.
The woman took Madison’s hand and placed it back under the covers of her wrappings, allowing her to lay in solitude as the man continued the ritual. He spread balm mixes and waved his hands over her body. Smoke burned above her and he chanted a rhythm that she now found soothing.
The woman had gone and come back without Madison having realized it. She brought in cooked meats and fresh vegetables, and placed them before Madison. They then left her to eat and joined others outside. Madison wondered if the others knew of her presence there. She took the food eagerly. It was the most food she had seen in weeks. Even before the sea had taken her village, she hadn’t been able to produce food as beautiful as this. These people ate well. But she couldn’t eat all of it. It was only appealing for a handful of bites before she was full. Her body didn’t need this kind of nourishment as it had before.
She thought back to how much food she had eaten after the disaster in her village, and remembered that she hadn’t eaten anything. She only imagined that by that time, her body had already begun changing. Although the food was pleasing to her mouth, it didn’t hold the same satisfaction that the blood did. She would never receive the same pleasure from food again. It saddened her as she placed the unwanted food beside her, but she was comforted by the idea of never wanting for food in desperation again.
Madison continued to lie on the bed, not completely ready to venture outside. The image of her final moment with Jamison was the only thing that she could bring herself to think of. He knew what awaited him, yet he told her to run. Even in death, he valued her life above his. She was tempted to cry, but no tears came. If ever there were a time to keep her emotions away, it was amongst these strangers. Could they sense her emotions the way the man who cared for her had?
She looked into the light coming through the peak above her, her thoughts suddenly coming to Jayden. He wanted to find her again, to meet near the falls. How long had she been with these people? Had he waited for her? Had he been caught by them? She wanted nothing more than to allow all concern for him go without a second thought. He had abandoned her in her one true moment of need. He had seen honor only within his own preservation. She wanted to resent him for it. But he had come for her. He had taken her away from the path that would have lead straight to the Vam-pyr-ei-ak. She forced herself to brush away thoughts concerning his well-being. There was nothing she could do at the present.
Unable to rest further at the thought of everything that had transpired, Madison lifted the deer skin and quilts away and moved to get out of the padded bed. She found a pair of skinned shoes placed beside her. They were made with the same skins, only thicker. Painted with red and white, they formed to her feet perfectly. The image of a bird graced the front and she admired the detail of them. She lifted herself up and felt her body immediately savor the movement. She was more agile than before. Her movements were quick and her body responded instantly to whatever motion she told it to make. She was aware and very alert of the atmosphere around her, hearing all the movement occurring outside her small new home. There was a fire outside, producing more fresh meat and women nearby slicing vegetables. Men walked through the camp preparing horses and making preparations to leave for the day. She wondered if they were leaving to hunt for nearby animals. Footsteps moved outside and she spent a few seconds peering at the flap to the outside before she finally chose to open it.
Her eyes immediately adjusted to the light outside. The smell of the meat wafted through her nostrils. For the first time, she had a proper look at how these people lived. The detail before her was stunning, and unlike how she expected people to live so far from England. They had made use of the land in ways she had not thought possible. Some twenty peaked tents strayed across the expanse of the region, with tall hillsides surrounding their camp and trees gracing the sides. They protected them from intrusion and hide them well. These skinned tents were all shaped in the same triangular form. Sticks peaked out of the top in a circular formation. The long stick pikes were wrapped in cloth or skins of some kind, and were painted with grey fading from the peaks. The men walking about didn’t look fearsome in the way the Vam-pyr-ei-ak had. They didn’t try to appear as vicious animals, covered in furs from their conquered quests. Some wore their hair in long strands down each side, others let it flow freely. She marveled at the length of their hair. The men and women both wore beautiful beading in their hair and beading plummeted from many of their trousers and dresses to accent color along the skin. She took in the beauty of their garments. Many of the men didn’t wear tunics as men of her culture were accustomed. They let their skin be glazed by the sun, making it deeper and more foreign. They were more self-assured than she had seen men in the past, each knowing their duty for the day and going about it without someone such as Lyndon urging them along as the day grew dreary.
She stepped outside and walked a few feet with slight apprehension, unsure of how she would be perceived. It was indeed the reaction she had expected. The women near the fire stopped preparing their meal. The men by the horses turned to face her. She felt a wave of heat course through her veins and a pressure from the back of her throat as their eyes fell to her. The attention alone was overwhelming without the thrashing absorption of their combined distrust. Their suspicion wasn’t shared by the man who had aided her. She saw him from the corner of her eye helping the others prepare the horses. He was the only one who didn’t immediately s
top to stare at her. The trepidation surrounding them penetrated her stomach. She wondered if he had told anyone of her circumstances, of how she came to be amongst them.
She stepped forth slowly, with the knowledge that her every movement was beheld by those watching her. Keeping her eyes mid-level, she slowly observed each man and woman as she walked. She took their eyes into her own, trying to feel anything else coming from them other than their fear and morbid curiosity.
She reached the only man not watching her by the horses. The others standing beside him backed away slowly as she came closer, but her healer kept to his work on the horse he prepared for riding. Once she approached him he turned to her and smiled. He took her shoulder and spoke words she didn’t understand. But his concern for her seeped through his emotions and she felt the worry in his words. Assuming he was asking of how she faired, she simply nodded.
He looked to the others behind him and to the women near the fire. He spoke more words directly to them and she searched through the veil of his intentions for their meaning. She knew that he was somehow defending her, telling the others not to be afraid or not to draw away from her presence. She wasn’t to be feared, but helped. Jamison had expressed that true Christians didn’t turn away from those in need, but aided them in times of discomfort. She suddenly had affection for this man and saw the same qualities in him she had always seen in Jamison. His thoughts were of like mind to Jamison’s, and his way of persuading others to his desires and wishes held the same influence.
Even after he spoke everyone continued to stare at her, rather at than him. Only after a few seconds passed did they return to their work. A man talked from behind and pointed at her. His speculation of her intentions was obvious without Madison having to endure reaching to attain his emotions. His tone, his body, they all spoke for him. But the healer beside her continued to speak for her. Madison slowly backed away from him, from all of them. They didn’t trust her. They didn’t want her there. The weight of their enmity forced her eyes to the ground as she walked back to where she came. She closed the flap behind her and sat on the bedding, listening as the men continued to argue over her presence. Madison could only think of how to get away discreetly. She was grateful for everything this man had done for her. He took the cruel thirst from within her, and she was no longer a true danger unless she desired to be so. Yet they seemed to know better. They knew she was no longer human.
The man’s wife came into the tent presenting food to her, but Madison turned it away. She didn’t feel want for anything, except for nightfall to come. If Jayden was waiting for her, she wanted to return to him. Even with knowledge that he had abandoned her, he was the only soul in the world whom she knew wouldn’t turn away from her out of fear. He relished the change, but resented the way in which it came. And he knew she wasn’t a danger to him.
Madison lay on her bedding for hours, waiting patiently for night to overtake the day. She did not feel restlessness as she would have before as a human. Her mind required little to preoccupy her. As long as she could hear movement outside their triangular tent, the sound of voices and animals around, her thoughts were completely entertained. There was patience within her. Time didn’t linger as it once had. Even though the fierce desires within her stomach were no longer aching, she felt as though she was a predator of sorts, waiting, and listening intently to every movement outside. She paid close attention to each sound, for exact movements and the precision of every gesture outside the tent. She knew that this kind of practice would help to hone her new skills. She needed to know the whereabouts of everything before she could leave. Slowly expanding her depth of hearing, she searched as far as her mind could decipher.
She questioned whether she could search for Jayden in this way, perhaps by hearing his quick movements. For hours she attended to every sound she heard from all about the mountains surrounding the settlement. The distance at which she could hear amazed her. Men just outside the tent sang and chanted, their voices penetrating the surrounding breeze. There was a herd of deer grazing nearby. The hunters approached them with reticent movements. The deer heard their voices and trotted away swiftly, their feet barely gracing the ground as they fled. She soon heard the waterfall she had fallen from. The waters rushed passed quickly, leading to the source of water she assumed these people used to survive.
She doubted that Jayden had made use of this skill as of yet.
His impatient nature would never allow him to sit long enough to observe every detail such as this.
But then her mind drifted to how he had saved her. He had led her away from all the enclosing Vam-pyr-ei-ak in the woods.
Had he listened like this to find them? Was that how he knew where they were?
She searched harder for Jayden. Amplifying every sound in the woods as best she could, she listened to each noise. It was a very sudden movement she traced, followed by a crash. A nearby tree fell to the earth and a crushing sound ensued. Dripping, a trickling of blood, followed by a revolting cough bored through her ears. Jayden was hacking and trying to gain his breath.
Is he sick again? No, that’s not it.
He was trying to feed on a deer. He had killed it treading through the woods. He swallowed its blood and immediately became sick. She heard his hands reach for the ground below as he leaned against a nearby tree. She realized it immediately, hoping he had come to the same conclusion. They couldn’t feed on animals, only living people.
He coughed up the blood and spewed it upon the ground. Quickly recovering, he left the area. She lost track of him although she tried following the sound of the gust he created with his rapid steps. She lost him. The sound of the deer rushing passed where he had been was all she could hear. They came across the smell of blood, seeing the dead animal lying on the ground and quickly changed direction, stampeding away in the other direction. Their hooves charging against the ground overshadowed any other sound in the area.
It was brief, but she had a mere moment to try and sense what he was feeling. His emotions were easy to digest even with the distance, although being closer made it easier. Something was wrong. He was chaotic, and trying to feed upon any living thing he could find.
The thirst, it’s driving him to madness.
Jayden wasn’t near the ravine, but she wondered if he had already been there. She tried to concentrate on the sound of rushing water to bring her hearing back to the falls. The man who found her didn’t carry her far. Less than a mile, the water plummeted from the falls to the river below. She searched over the ripping water shredding rock below and tried to listen for a sign of Jayden. It was faint, but she heard him heaving. He was still trying to get the taste of animal blood from his mouth. She tried reaching for his emotions again. He was too distracted by his disgust for the taste that still engulfed his mouth.
It suddenly occurred to her, he had broken his own rules. He had told her not to walk about during the day. Why was he at the falls? Were the Vam-pyr-ei-ak gone?
He must have seen them leave. It must be safe to go to him.
She lingered patiently as it grew darker. She lay with her eyes closed listening to the movement around her. She smelled blood nearby and moments later the wife brought her a small jug containing a small amount, just enough to sustain her. Madison awoke from her trance for a moment to take it, and then fell back to her bedding as if she were resting. She still had a desire to know who had been supplying her with fresh blood. It had to be from a living person. She hadn’t thought of searching for the scent earlier as to who had been supplying it.
She lay there continuing to listen as the fires outside were put out with nearby river water and everyone returned to their tents, save a few. Those remaining were guarding the others from the night. She hoped her quick movements wouldn’t alarm them.
She waited for the others around her to take their rest and fall asleep before she quietly stirred. Lifting the flap gently, she stepped out of the tall tent and placed it back down. She turned slowly, knowing a person sto
od directly behind her. Her eyes met with a young man. He was about her age, perhaps slightly younger. He had a wound on his hand that had been carefully wrapped and treated with herbs. His hair flowed in the breeze behind him and she made out his proud dark features. He was similar to Jayden in stature and presentation. Staring at her, he stepped forward. She didn’t move. He knew that she was dangerous and yet he moved forward. She then saw that it was the same man who had spoken against her to her benefactor that very morning.
Why would he give me blood?
No sooner did the thought enter her mind that she realized that he probably wouldn’t do it for her. He was a guard, the same as the men protecting the tribe as they slept, riding along the edge of their region. His emotions were easy to interpret. He had offered his blood as a means of keeping his people safe. If she had someone to feed from, she wouldn’t be tempted to attack others.
She tried stepping to the side of him, but he blocked her way. She looked at him for a moment, trying to ward him off. He didn’t fear her as she expected him to. She tried again to step around him but to no avail. Knowing she could easily overpower him, she felt a slight anger rush through her. He still wouldn’t move. This wasn’t him trying to stop her from leaving. This was him trying to maintain control. She was a threat to him, and she needed to know her place.
The anger in her began to rise as his demeaning perception of her permeated the air inches from where he stood. She didn’t feel the desire to kill him, or even feed from him. She only wanted him to know his place beneath her, and that she wouldn’t be held back by him.
Without letting her eyes leave his gaze, she ran away from him at a rate no human could possibly match. Her motion was so sudden that he was left staring at the shelter behind her. He turned to see where she had gone, but she was already climbing the hills to the side of the enclosure. She barely made a sound as she ran. She was quiet even with the air moving rapidly passed her. Her feet hardly touched the dirt and rocks, disturbing nothing. The weightlessness was the only feeling she relied on to exhilarate her. She would never grow used to the thrill it gave her. Yet Jayden’s steps had been so heavy. His feet slapped the ground as he ran. She attributed his heavy steps to his growing thirst. He was becoming desperate for blood and made his presence less than difficult to hear coming.
