by Anna Santos
My wedding night was strange. I tried to imagine Roland was Ewan, but I’d seen Ewan making love with other women. Roland didn’t have the same passion or ability to bring a woman pleasure as Ewan. It was all quick and clumsy, like Roland’s personality. But he treated me right, and he would do anything to please me. I was not easy to handle. I realize now that I was extremely spoiled, and unaware of what love truly was. I had a fixation with Ewan and I didn’t believe that I was just a means to an end for him to get easy money.
I was so naïve! Not even after Ewan had sex with me next to where Roland was lying dead with his eyes opened, lifeless, gazing towards us, did I realize that Ewan didn’t actually care about me. A rough and uncaring Ewan penetrated and hurt me, his eyes flooded by the recent blood he had taken from my former husband. It was nothing like I’d expected and dreamt of. His hands were cold and uncaring, ripping my clothes and making no effort to give me any kind of pleasure. It wasn’t common to kiss on the mouth, like it is now, but there were other things he could have done. I felt raped and used. He didn’t care about my needs or feelings. For weeks, I wondered why he had even touched me if he was only going to treat me as a common whore. But the worst was yet to come. After Roland’s death, things didn’t work out as Ewan expected, and it made him bitter and out of control.
Without any heirs, Roland’s family only agreed to give me an annual pension, until I could remarry again, or until my death. It was enough to have a comfortable life, but nothing like Ewan was expecting. Also, it wasn’t going to last forever like he would and I would, after he turned me. The jewels my husband had given me were worth a small fortune, but we couldn’t sell them without raising suspicion. Many times Ewan gave them to his human mistresses to please them.
I became a mistress myself, so I could satisfy Ewan’s love for money. Rich men would come to my house to “socialize” and give me expensive gifts. In return, they had the pleasure of my company, and some chosen ones had the pleasure of fulfilling my sexual needs. Ewan hadn’t tried to make love to me since Roland’s death. Thinking about it now, I have the theory that he only had sex with me because of the blood. Sometimes, I can glimpse someone’s life by drinking his blood, so I guess Roland’s blood was filled by lust towards me. Or maybe it had been the excitement of killing that made Ewan see me as a woman for the first time.
Drinking blood from drunken or drugged people makes us feel the same effects that they were experiencing. So normally Ewan arrived home drunk and incoherent. He fell asleep on his bed or came to my room, starting to cry bloody tears, saying how important I was to him. But he kept refusing to turn me; until I decided to force him.
One night, I cut myself in front of him, saying that I was willing to bleed to death if he still refused to make me a vampire. I wasn’t stupid, I knew he would live forever, and I would lose my youth and beauty. I was already nineteen, and he had said he would turn me at that age. I needed to turn while I was still a young woman. I was ready to face the consequences of blood thirst and weakness under the sun. The sun steals our powers; we become weak like humans and our super speed disappears.
He eventually turned me into a vampire. After the transformation, everything changed. I became immortal, and Ewan became mine for real. I don’t know if it was my recent transformation that made me want him even more and ended all my shyness in looking for him and making him my lover. However, he didn’t seem to mind my thirst for making love to him over and over again. For weeks, we were the only ones living in my house. The servants were drained by my hunger for blood, and Ewan trained me to enthrall them, so they surrendered peacefully. I didn’t feel any remorse in killing. I had never been so happy as then. He became my whole world.
Things spun out of control when our social life continued, and I started killing his former mistresses, because they kept alluring him with their promises of money and endless sources of blood. I couldn’t stand to have anyone else touching him, I would be insanely jealous. I killed the competition and made him go mad with my relentless demands of fidelity and monogamy. And I didn't believe him when he said that I was being paranoid, and he was only mine.
Eventually, we had to leave France and go to some faraway place before we were discovered, captured, and killed. There were many people, at that time, who believed in the existence of vampires, and even if I hadn’t met anyone else besides Ewan, I knew many of us existed and vampire slayers were common.
Chapter Three
18th Century
WE TRAVELED THROUGHOUT Europe for decades. I was happy then, believing the lie of eternal love. Feeding from men that would pay my expenses and introducing myself as a duchess beside my breathtaking brother, Ewan. We would have different names and different stories, but in the end all that we were looking for was money, blood, and a way of distracting us from eternity.
All that changed when we went back to France. It was the French Revolution and nobles were no longer welcomed. Many lost their heads and the possibility of losing ours was frightening enough, since it would give us the true death. However, the money was there and the killing too. It was an appealing food camp, nevertheless, and we weren’t the only vampires there.
Vampires have a distinct smell among our kind. It’s a way of recognizing each other. Many say I smell sweet, this is a plus to please my kind and be accepted; being beautiful and a female doesn’t hurt either. Vampires are known for killing each other to keep the competition away. Others get together in groups to better defend themselves. But most common are pairs. It’s very normal for a vampire to choose a mate for eternity.
The fact was vampires were crawling in Paris, hungering for the fools who were killing themselves in the name of the Republic. Monarchy was falling. The queen had been decapitated and the nobles were running away, and soon enough, vampires became a problem. Things became out of control and many were captured and killed, accused of betraying the Republic. We were in danger, so Ewan decided we should leave to Portugal. The gold found in Brazil brought attention towards that kingdom. Besides, Ewan preferred the absolute regime that was gaining force there, and was a synonym of richness for the aristocracy and the clergy.
We were a success among that society filled with religious beliefs, and ostensive clerical ceremonies. The King’s wish for grandness made him copy the French King Louis XIV’s decisions in art and architecture, and the incoming gold had nourished all his whims. The richness was there, as were the rich candidates for my hand. I married a rich duke who had a fleet of merchant ships. It was one of the many fleets that were bringing the gold to the kingdom. The man was old and repugnant, and his death wouldn’t be suspicious after a time married. Besides, enthralling him to believe we were happy together was quite easy.
Meanwhile, Inquisition was growing in Portugal. Many were killed, accused of sorcery or heresy. My marriage had to continue longer to keep away suspicions. My husband’s death had to seem the result of natural causes. The priests were checking the bodies for unusual things like fang marks. But we were professional in biting without killing our victims, and they wouldn't remember anything, or even find the marks. They were in strategic places, where women wouldn’t look, since bathing wasn’t a normal thing, and being naked was considered a sacrilege and a sin. We had to love those medieval ideas!
Chapter Four
America, 1890
ETERNITY CAN BE TEDIOUS when you can’t get older or stay more than five years in the same place. However, monarchies were dying, and America was now an interesting place to be. A new kind of civilization was arising, and science was blossoming, opening new horizons and solving mysteries.
I was getting more and more difficult to please, and Ewan was becoming strange, leaving for long periods of time to unknown locations. One day, he brought a little girl back with him to be our child. I normally liked children, but we didn't get along. She was annoying and capricious; nothing seemed to please her. As she was growing up, it was pretty obvious that she didn’t like me at all, and she had a stran
ge fixation with her father, Ewan.
Ewan was happy with the notion of us being a family; he gave Anastasia everything she wanted, and seemed unhappy with my reluctance to love the little brat. The fact was that Anastasia didn’t like me, but she pretended she did when Ewan was around. Eventually, I grew apart from Ewan while Anastasia became a beautiful young girl. But beauty was only on the outside because she was vicious and evil. She knew what we were and wanted to become like us. Furthermore, I knew that she wanted to take my place by Ewan's side, even if that meant killing me.
First, she started by bringing sick people so I would feed on them. Then, she would poison my blood reserves when Ewan wasn’t around. And finally, she betrayed me to a secret society of vampire slayers that Ewan was studying. They came and took me away one of the nights my master wasn't around. However, Anastasia’s plan didn’t work quite like she had hoped. I wasn’t killed like they normally do with my kind. Instead, I was kept for weeks, starving and locked up away from everyone, blindfolded and tied up in silver chains so I couldn’t escape. It was the scariest thing I had ever lived through!
Then a man came. I could smell him, the blood running in his veins. My thirst was unbearable and my basic instincts were alerted; I would rip him apart if I could catch him. Suddenly, the chains were magically gone without anyone touching me, and I could see again, even though my eyes hurt and my limbs felt heavy. The man in front of me was blond haired and blue eyed, with a nice face. He was tall and well-built. He kind of reminded me of an older Ewan. I almost cried with the notion of being apart from my love. My heart hurt as much as my body, but my eyes were dry because of the thirst. His features and gaze were strangely emotional as if he was glad to see me. I was intrigued by him.
“Are you hungry?” He asked softly. His question caught me off guard. I looked at him, suspecting that he was joking. I stared at him, waiting until I could move and make him my meal.
“Don’t bother,” he said, like he was reading my mind. “You will not be able to move until I want you to. So–you are Violet, born in 1601 in England. Your parents were Irish, though, and descendants from the Celtic people. You were turned by Ewan when you completed nineteen years of human existence. He raised you as his daughter and then as his sister–you’ve been living together as mates since he turned you.”
I looked at him, amazed by what these people knew about me.
“We know everything about you, Violet,” he stated. “If only we had found you sooner.” He sighed. “None of this would have been necessary. It would be less painful for you to suffer the new transformation, but–now it’s too late to complain.”
“What do you want from me?” I asked, confused and famished. My throat hurt just by talking.
“Your sacred blood.”
“What?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrow. “You want to become a vampire?”
“No, my child,” he said, approaching me and caressing my face. As he bent over me, I saw his fangs, and I realized that he was like me even if he smelled like a human. “Not like you, my dear. I’m very different. I don’t have the urges for human blood like your kind does.” He sighed and stared into my eyes. He brushed my face with his thumb while I tried to move my face away. “We feed from different things. And we are sons of the day. The sun doesn’t weaken us like it does to your kind. In fact, we were created by the Goddess to keep the world safe from the creatures of evil, safe from your kind.”
“Are you joking?” I asked. “I have never heard anything about that before.”
“But Ewan knows about us. In fact, he stole you from us before we could find you. And now that he doesn’t need you anymore, he tried to kill you for a second time,” he whispered in my ear. “Who did you think helped us finding you? He wanted us to kill you. But he is a fool if he thinks that turning you into one of his own would be enough to make us abandon you.”
“What nonsense are you saying?” I asked, almost screaming because of what he was insinuating.
“I’m saying that you are very important to us. You are a powerful sorcerer, descendant of the Celts. In your veins runs the blood of the Goddess, creator of all things, like it did in your mother. You are magical, Violet.”
The door opened when he was whispering these things in my ear. My tired brain was still processing all the illogical information, but my senses became captivated by the young girl in a white dress who entered the room. Behind her, a tall black woman stared at me with what seemed fear in her eyes.
“Your meal has arrived,” the man said, presenting the little girl.
I looked at him with pain in my eyes. Not a little girl. Not an innocent child. It was unthinkable for me even with all the hunger. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend she wasn’t there.
“Aren’t you hungry?” He asked, voice laced with expectation.
I opened my eyes. “I don’t eat children,” I clarified.
I softened my gaze to stare at him. “Please, don’t make me do this. Don’t, let me free,” I begged, because I knew the hunger would eventually speak louder, and I would curse that event forever. I had run out of tears, but I wished I could just close my eyes and pretend that I couldn’t smell the girl or feel my hunger.
Again, I felt his hand on my cheek, and he made me turn my head to where he was. I opened my eyes, noticing the smile he had on his face. Why is he smiling?
“I’m smiling, Violet, because you still have goodness inside your heart. You can be saved. Harmony, bring the jar of blood for our guest and take the girl.”
His words took their time to sink into my mind, but something was clear. He was going to feed me instead of killing me. “Why are you going to feed me?”
“So you will be strong enough to see your creator again.” My eyes glowed with anticipation. “You’ll see your creator and his new mate. He didn’t waste any time replacing you with the one he raised like a daughter. I guess he makes a habit of it.”
“I don’t believe that,” I said, noticing his mocking tone. He seemed to be amused by tearing my heart into pieces.
“You don’t need to. You will see it with your own eyes as soon as you are strong enough.”
“He turned Anastasia!” I exclaimed, my heart beat increasing and my cheeks gaining some color, despite the lack of energy left in my hungry body.
Ewan had sworn not to do that. Who knew how long were they having an affair? All those trips together and the secrets between them. She was only seventeen. How could he turn her so young?
“They probably planned it together,” the man said. “In fact, she was the one who betrayed your location to us.”
Somehow I knew what he was saying was true. It had the hand of Anastasia.
“You just have to forget them and embrace your new life. You don’t need them. You are a powerful sorcerer and you will become a powerful Eylone. It will take some time until you get cleaned of all the malicious vampire blood, but you will become one of us and you will be a powerful weapon against them.”
“What?” I asked, trying to understand his recruiting speech.
“You are one of us, Violet. We want you to come back to us and save your soul.”
“Save my soul from what? Hell? There is no heaven if I’m away from him.” I sobbed, feeling empty and betrayed.
“Now, child, don’t be silly. Did you ever believe that he loved you?”
“We loved each other,” I claimed, staring at him with angry eyes.
“Maybe you truly love him. However, Ewan only thinks of you as a nice toy to have around. If he loved you, he wouldn’t turn on you and plot your death.”
“He should have just killed me himself,” I muttered, feeling my heart aching and my soul tearing apart.
His hand was soft, lifting my chin to stare at him. “You have the opportunity to have a new start, to be purged from ancient sins, and to help protecting the ones you used to prey upon. If you don’t accept this, I will have to kill you, and I don’t want that. You are one of the last, and you are strong. I
know you are,” he said, making me stare into his eyes and calm down. “Your life is not over just because your heart is broken. You have found your true family, your ancestors and you will never be alone. We are here for you.”
“What do you want me to do?” I asked, intrigued.
I could smell the blood behind him, the woman was there with a jar in her hands. I was so hungry that my sight was getting blurry and I was almost fainting.
“Hold on a bit longer, Violet. Just tell me if you are willing to join us or not,” he demanded, and I focused on his eyes.
Ewan had betrayed me, and he had turned Anastasia into a vampire, so she could replace me in his bed. They tried to kill me, they broke my heart, and I never felt so alone in my life. Living was not that alluring anymore. What would I live for?
“You will have a new family. I’m here for you, too,” he muttered, next to my face, probably reading my thoughts and understanding that I was ready to give up. “Violet, you can make a real difference. Don’t give up. Live, live just to ruin their plans.”
Revenge—that was the word that echoed inside my mind with his words. Live to ruin his plans. Live to prove that they don’t get to decide when I die and when I can be replaced.
“Yes, revenge,” the man whispered softly, smiling mischievously.
“I’ll join you with one condition,” I said, looking at him with hatred flickering in my eyes. “You’ll let me kill Ewan and his new whore, Anastasia.”
“Of course, but only when you are strong enough. He is a powerful vampire; you are no match for him, yet.” The man smirked, pleased by my decision. Then he fed me himself, helping me drink the blood and holding back my hair.
Chapter Five
New York, 2009
I TRAINED FOR DECADES, and became one of the best vampire slayers to have ever walked the Earth. My sorcerer powers, which I'd never thought I had, were very useful in killing evil vampires, demons, and occasionally humans who deserved to die because of their dreadful actions. I became a defender of justice, and part of a secret society that protects humanity against evil. I also found out the truth about Ewan and his origins. More importantly, I found out that the man who had saved me was also Ewan’s uncle. Ewan had betrayed his clan and had kidnapped and killed several magic children before me. I was lucky to be alive. I was lucky to be given another chance by Galvin. He was a powerful Eylone sorcerer and he became my mentor and friend.
