by Liz Crowe
My breathing was labored. I wasn’t sure if that was due to Lorenzo sitting on my chest or because of the ordeal I had just experienced.
“Wha…what…what happened…” I stammered.
“Lorenzo, get off her; she can’t breathe,” a muted male voice commanded.
Lorenzo removed himself from me and cautiously backed away. I tried to lift myself but had little strength. Marlo laid a hand on me and said something. I closed my eyes and focused my energy on speaking.
“What in the hell was that?” I struggled to ask.
I heard light chuckles, then Marlo scolding her brothers.
“Allison, how are you feeling?” Marlo asked, her head above me observing my face.
“I…I’m not sure.”
“Listen to me. You have to drink this. It will make you feel better,” she said.
I nodded my head weakly. Felix held up my head as Max rushed to my side with some sort of liquid concealed in a shiny flask.
“Drink,” Max instructed.
The thick, cold liquid hit my tongue, washing away the heat. If a fire hose was pushing fire through my body before, this drink was certainly helping to squelch the fire. It slid down my throat and took the heat with it. The reprieve I felt was most welcome. If I could have grabbed the flask myself I would have chugged all of the sweet liquid.
“Easy now,” Max said as I drank. Once in my stomach, the relief spread over my body. I felt almost functional, still weak, but I could sense my strength returning.
“You’re going to be fine,” Max reassured me.
I finished off the flask and lay back, wiping my mouth with my arm.
“Can somebody tell me what happened?” I asked to no one in particular.
I opened my eyes and saw four blank expressions peering over me – Lorenzo, Marlo, Max and Felix. The last time I saw these four, we were at the Halloween party but the costumes were now gone, replaced with everyday looking clothes.
“You, uh,” Felix started, trepidation in his voice. “Um, you have been…”
“Transformed,” Max finished. “Spit it out Felix. She would have figured it out sooner or later.”
“Transformed?” I questioned. My mind drifted to thoughts of my most recent nightmare. The incomprehensible heat I felt, like I was standing in the middle of Hell. And before that, the frigid misery I endured, like I was standing in the middle of Antarctica. Then flashes of Cain and Ina came before me, both withering on the ground in pain as they were…transformed.
“But how?” I questioned. “I never consented. I mean I knew I had no choice, but I wasn’t ready. Not now,” my voice trailed off. I wanted to cry yet no tears welled.
Marlo sat on the bed next to me. “Vincent changed you,” she stared into my eyes.
I stared back, searching Marlo’s face for answers. Her eyes were different. They were pallid; not the typical dazzling lavender I was used to. I expanded my search of her face. Her cheeks were sallow and her skin appeared drained of what little color she normally had.
“Vincent?” I questioned. “Why? Why would he do that?”
“At the Halloween party, you almost attacked Jenna,” Marlo said.
“I did what?” I exclaimed with what little energy I had.
“Almost,” Lorenzo said. “I got Jenna out of there before she could suspect anything. I told her you weren’t feeling well.”
“So she’s not hurt?”
“No, she’s fine and she didn’t suspect a thing.” Lorenzo assured me.
“But why would I have attacked Jenna?” I asked to no one in particular. One of the brothers was about to respond but I cut him off. “Oh Lord,” I sighed. “My symptoms. Vincent was right, you all were right. My symptoms got the best of me, making me attack my best friend...” I trailed off, almost not believing what I was saying.
“Vincent feared that we would kill you because of the almost attack,” Marlo stated. “Without thinking, he bit you and transformed you. You’ve been out a few days going through the transformation.”
I gasped. This was not how I wanted this to happen. I knew I had to consent at some point, but at the very least I wanted control over the time and place and wanted to be able to say goodbye to Jenna even if she didn’t realize it was goodbye. I would have told her I was traveling the world with Vincent and she wouldn’t see me for some time. That lie seemed believable. But Vincent took that away from me. How dare he! How could he have done that? What a selfish bastard to take it upon himself to transform me into a vampire without my consent.
He transformed me, I thought. He transformed me. I tried to let the words sink in but it felt so unreal that I was now part of the damned, one of the living dead. I paid particular attention to my body. I wiggled my toes and moved my fingers. Other than feeling weak, I really didn’t feel much different. He transformed me, I thought again. I’m a vampire.
“I’m a vampire,” I whispered. My companions didn’t say anything as my new reality set in. But the more I thought about Vincent’s selfish actions, something dawned on me. He may have damned me but he had actually saved me. I knew that by not immediately consenting, I risked the sort of thing that almost happened. I took the chance that my symptoms would worsen and I wouldn’t be able to control myself. And that’s precisely what happened. I had almost attacked Jenna. Something had triggered the venom inside of me and I hadn’t been able to control myself in her presence. Who knew what would have happened had Lorenzo not gotten her out of the room in time. And who knew what Jenna really saw and if she had believed I simply wasn’t feeling well. I almost exposed their secret to a mortal, breaking one of their rules which should have resulted in my death. But Vincent intervened and saved me from that death sentence. He saved me! I was still here! Although I wasn’t technically alive any longer, it was better than the alternative. Wasn’t it?
And then I realized something else. In saving me, he had damned himself. He had broken his society’s cardinal rule by transforming me without my consent, and there was only one punishment for that.
“Where’s Vincent?” I demanded.
“We’re not sure,” Felix replied.
“Does that mean he’s still alive?”
“He’s not alive. None of us are.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes, he still exists,” Marlo assured me. “But we don’t know where he is.”
“We can promise you he won’t show his face here though,” Max said sternly.
“Why?” I asked, fully aware of the answer I was about to receive.
“Allison,” Marlo said, “Vincent broke a rule.”
“If he shows here, he’s a dead man,” Max added.
“What? But he’s your brother!” I exclaimed.
“Brother or not, the rules are the rules and if we don’t enforce them, then all of our existence is on the line,” Marlo explained.
“But this is different, isn’t it?” I asked. “You said nothing like me ever existed before so how could your rules apply to me?”
“Simple,” Lorenzo coolly replied. “No one outside of this room knows of you and what you were. No vampire suspects that he can conceive with a mortal. Therefore, the rule applies because you are, I should say were, a mere mortal to any other vampire. Therefore, the rule applies.”
“Why would anyone have to know that I didn’t consent?” I asked. “We could say that I did and everything would be okay. Vincent could come back.”
Marlo shook her head. “There were four of us there, Allison. We were all witnesses. Eternity is a long time to hold a secret like that with that type of consequence at stake. There’s no telling what the future holds. If one of us lets that secret slip, all of our fates will be sealed.”
“We won’t seek him out, Allison,” Max chimed in. “But Vincent understands what he did. He knows we have no choice but to enforce his punishment if he comes back.”
“But---” I started, but Marlo cut me off.
“Enough.” She firmly pronounced. “
For now that is. There are more important things to discuss at the moment.”
“Like what?” I demanded.
“We gotta teach you how to hunt,” Max announced. His face lit up with excitement.
I groaned at the thought.
“Gotta get you out there before you drain our stash,” Felix said as he shook the empty flask.
“That was blood?” I asked disgustedly. I looked at the sleeve of my shirt where I had wiped my mouth earlier and noticed a red stain. I felt disgusted.
“Of course it was,” Marlo replied. “What did you think it was?”
“But it tasted so good. It wasn’t what I expected at all,” I mulled. “I guess I didn’t really think about it.”
“Come on; let’s go,” Max eagerly commanded as he headed for the door. Felix and Lorenzo followed.
I swung my feet over the side of the bed and attempted to stand up.
“Whoa,” I exclaimed.
I looked down and the floor was a dizzying sight. I could see every granule that created the stone floor, every flaw and nook and cranny. I looked up at the wall and it appeared to lunge at me and again could see every detail of the stone. I stared at the painting, a framed picture running the length of the wall. I saw all of the individual dots that created the scene but couldn’t see the complete painting. It was a mass of varying shades of blue and oddly enough a mass of black dots running through the center in what appeared to be a word. And then there was the noise.
“What is that?” I yelled and covered my ears. I heard nothing but noise, and lots of it. I heard a stereo playing, crickets chirping, the noise of a bird’s wings as it flew through the air outside. I heard a vacuum running and a car motoring down a street and a rush of other noises.
“Allison, concentrate,” Marlo yelled at me as she pulled my hands from my ears. “You have to concentrate. Look at me.”
I gazed into Marlo’s eyes. I could see every pore in vivid detail on her face. Her eyes were a blur of lavender and blue and her face was surrounded by a red glow.
“Concentrate,” she yelled again. The noise was killing my ears.
I stared into Marlo’s eyes deciding to focus on the gold flecks. I counted them; thirteen, just like Vincent, just like me. I repeatedly counted them as Marlo continued to instruct me to concentrate. The noise started to fade as I counted and recounted the flecks in her eyes.
The minute details of her face blended back to reality and the noise faded into the distance. One by one her pores smoothed back into the canvas of her skin. The individual flecks of purple and blue faded to reveal the lavender eyes that were familiar to me.
“What was that?” I asked. I glanced at the painting on the wall and could now see it in perfect clarity. It was a storm over the ocean with menacing waves and ocean spray splashed against a black sky.
“Listen to me,” Marlo said seriously, turning my face back to hers. “You need to learn to control that. You have to focus at all times on what is around you so that you aren’t distracted by all of the details.”
“Okay, but what was that?” I asked, still not understanding.
“That’s the hunter in you, your untamed senses. You can see vivid details for miles, allowing you to easily spot the pumping heart of your prey. You can hear miles beyond what you see, expanding your hunting territory. Once you find what you are looking for, your sense of smell will take over and only one thing will be on your mind – your prey. Your sight and hearing will go back to normal after you drink. But lose control of this and you will lose your existence. Understand?”
I nodded, understanding that if I let me senses overtake me – again – I wouldn’t be able to control my hunt and that would be the end for me. I didn’t like the serious tone Marlo had with me. I missed the jovial spirit she had when we met at the Halloween party. Then again, she was dealing with a lot. Her own brother had committed the most serious of crimes, and she would never see him again or it would result in his death. And me, the newborn vampire she felt the need to babysit so I didn’t slip in my ways and subject myself to Vincent’s fate.
Marlo stared at me to make sure I understood her explanation.
“Come on,” she said as she twirled around and leapt into the hallway.
I started towards the door but my reflection in a full length mirror caught my attention and I took a double take. I stopped in my tracks and inched backwards towards the mirror. I looked at my reflection. It was me but somehow different.
My skin was smooth like porcelain, not a blemish in sight and surprisingly paler than when I was a human. Not a single hair on my head was out of place; it looked like I had just left a salon. My hair was styled with sharp angles framing my chin, and was a vibrant shade of blonde. I should have looked like a mess after the hell I just went through, but I didn’t. I looked at the rest of my body which was amazingly fit. I grabbed a bicep and felt a muscle. I was never able to build muscle as a mere mortal but seemed to have developed them through my transformation. I lifted my shirt to see my stomach and to my surprise found chiseled abs. I looked up in shock and then saw my eyes. My naturally blue gray eyes were anything but average. A dark ring of blue bled into a lighter shade which bled into a light gray. And the tiny gold specks, which had been present before, were still there but now circled my pupils.
“Hey,” Marlo called from the doorway.
I looked at her and back at my reflection, still not believing what I saw.
“You’re even more beautiful now,” she whispered.
I continued to stare at myself. I had never considered my mortal self beautiful. Sure I thought I was an attractive woman, but this transformation was something else. No plastic surgeon could have ever achieved such results.
“I don’t get it,” I whispered.
“What’s that?” Marlo reentered the room.
“How? How did this happen?” I waved a hand up and down my body. “Where did the muscles come from?”
Marlo chuckled. “The venom, of course. You are now the perfect hunter. No one will be able to resist you.”
Her words stung – perfect hunter. More like perfect killer. A wave of revulsion ran over me at the realization of what I had become. I was part of the living dead; a soulless, eternally damned killer whose only purpose was to condemn man just as the devil had wished. I couldn’t stand to look at myself any longer.
Chapter Ten
Come on,” Marlo called out from the hallway.
It wasn’t difficult to tear my eyes away from my reflection in the mirror. I imagined that most would have found it easy to stand there and stare at the perfection – the flawlessly sculpted muscles, impeccably coifed hair – but I was very uncomfortable knowing the source of all that perfection was pure evil.
Marlo was heading down the hallway to my left and I followed behind her, keeping her pace. I felt different, as if I were floating over the floor, my feet never touching the cold stone. One glance at me feet told me I was in contact with the ground but I seemed to be moving with a grace and agility, almost an airiness, I never had before.
We arrived at another wooden door down the long hallway.
“The security center?” I asked, sensing this was the room I was in the night of the Halloween party.
“Yes,” Marlo replied. “But it’s also our command center.” Marlo pushed open the door. “Come on in,” she beckoned.
The room looked completely different from what I remembered of that night. All of the furniture had been removed from the room including the wall of monitors. I looked around for the couch I had sat on before all of the mayhem broke out that night, but it wasn’t there. In fact, there were no signs that my transformation had even happened. I didn’t know what I expected to find, but there was nothing there. The only item in the room was one lone computer which sat on top of a small but ornate wooden desk near the wall with the stained glass window, the same window I had opened and unknowingly tipped off my enemies that I was nearby. Felix sat behind the desk typing away.
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“What’s going on in here?” I asked.
Max appeared out of nowhere behind me. “You’ll see,” he said, a smile spreading across his face.
A noise, like stone grinding on stone, started from what sounded like the middle of the room. The floor began to mildly vibrate and then felt like it began to move.
“Oh no,” I said and covered my ears. “Concentrate, concentrate,” I whispered to myself.
The room erupted in laughter. I looked up to see all of my new family there laughing at me.
“No Allison, it’s not that. You’re fine, it’s not your senses,” Marlo reassured.
I straightened up and removed my hands from my ears, confused by what was happening. The noise continued and the vibrations intensified.
“Look,” Lorenzo commanded and pointed to the middle of the floor.
The center of the stone floor began to shift. A large rectangular piece of stone gave way, dropping several inches beneath the perimeter of the floor where we stood. The piece broke in a straight line down the middle, each half moving to the side. In its place was what looked like a giant piece of Plexiglas that rose to floor level. Lights flickered beneath the surface like a television set being turned on. A world map slowly came into view. At first it was just an outline, yet clearly that of a world map, and it quickly populated with color. Finally, several different colored dots appeared twinkling over the surface.
“What is this?” I asked. I looked up to find four sets of eyes staring back at me, apparently waiting for my reaction.
“This is how we hunt,” Max said with a twinkle in his eye.
He walked to the map, glided over its surface and found North America. He tapped it with his foot, and then tapped a few more times until a map of the States was visible. I could see hundreds of colored spots blinking all over the map.
Lorenzo leaned in and said, “Marlo did tell you that Max was the hunter in the family, right?” He smirked as he looked at his brother with a little brotherly pride.
