The First

by Michael Santana

  With the slightest whisper, she would have whole families murdered in the night for the smallest of things. If they happened to barter with her at the market, they would see their children slaughtered in front of them. If they were to disagree openly with something she said or thought, any guard could easily be beckoned to strike them down where they stood. The power of powerful men flowed from her fingertips.

  I followed the old man’s call to come, without once losing sight of the priestess. It had seemed he hadn’t noticed her in his attempt to get my attention. He was now trying his best to calm down the obviously agitated woman. He probably feared that at any moment one of the nearby guards would remove his head from his shoulders.

  As I approached, he was offering her some of his most beautiful cloths for free, in hopes that she could find forgiveness for his unintentional insult.

  “Yes. Yes. Yes.” I interrupted. “Where are these finest silks you speak of?”

  Her eyes cold and dark immediately looked into mine.

  “Excuse me!” she exclaimed. “It is bad enough that this horrid, horrible son of a whore has….”

  “I apologize for my rudeness” I interrupted again. “I didn’t see you standing there and may the gods strike me deaf since they had already blinded me with your beauty.”

  She went to speak again. Before she could utter a syllable, I spoke to the vendor.

  “Please,” I said to him, laying my purse of gold atop the pile of silks. “Please give the lady anything she desires, the whole shop if it would please her.” I turned to her and spoke. “I know this in no way will make up for my rudeness. I just hope that your heart is as beautiful as your eyes, and you can forgive this horrible man and me for our misdeeds.”

  That was when I first noticed my abilities to sway someone’s emotions. She looked into my eyes trancelike as I spoke to her. I realized I could have told her she smelled of camel shit and monkey piss and she would have been just as happy. Her mouth moved to form words without a voice. She spoke in silence as she gazed at me.

  “Ammon” I stated, “My name is Ammon.”

  At the sound of my name, her trance seemed to loosen its grip enough for her to speak.

  “I am the priestess Irisi” she replied and held out her hand. I took her hand in mine and smiled.

  “Am I forgiven?” I asked.

  She continued to smile and once more mouthed her silent words. It took me a second to realize that she was mouthing my very thoughts as I thought them. I had found a way not only to see the thoughts of others but also to use mine to influence their actions. I say influence, not command because it does not work with everyone.

  Some people are almost entirely oblivious to my charms. Others I can bend to my will as easy as a child molds clay. The latter occurs most often with women as I stated earlier.

  This new development gave me pause at the idea of making her my next meal. I had needed to feed though, so I made plans to meet with her later at her temple and went in search of a victim. It came quickly in the form of a lost young woman looking for her brother. With a smile in my eyes and an offer of assistance in the search, we were off into the dark.

  After feeding and properly disposing of the body, I rejoined the masses in the marketplace. I still had a little while before my rendezvous with Irisi, and I thought I might find something special for the occasion.

  I found out that night that sexual relations were still possible but held very little interest to me. Left to her own resources without the trance-like suggestions of my mind, she reverted to her usual ways. She attempted to seduce me.

  Irisi was a very skilled seductress and almost made me forget why I had come to her that night. Yet with every thrust into her, I could see the artery in her neck bulge and hear her heart beat more and more rapidly. This was very distracting as you might imagine. Yet, it seemed my distractions had little effect on the pleasure Irisi was experiencing. To be fair when you have someone’s’ every thought pouring into your mind it is not hard to give them what they want.

  What I wanted though, was to find out how strong my hold on someone could be. I started glancing into her eyes and pushed my thoughts into hers. As I looked into her eyes, her chin slowly began to rise and offer her throat to me. I thought better of this since my intention wasn’t to kill this woman, at least not yet. “Could I control her with my mind as I fed?” I wondered. Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to find out. I looked into her eyes one last time before lowering my gaze to her thighs. Her legs opened with an invitation as I placed my mouth over her artery and gently bit in. Her chest raised as a gasp of pleasure escaped her lips. I gently pulled the blood from her, as our minds stayed as one. With an exertion of strong will, I pulled my lips away from the flowing fount. Every part of me demanded I continue my feast. A guttural growl escaped my lips as I kept myself from tearing and ripping her flesh into wide chasms. I was still in the infancy of my being and control was a hard commodity to come by. At this time, I still had no idea what I was or of what I was capable. I was the student and the teacher.

  I do not want you to mistake my patience with Irisi as love. It wasn’t. It was merely a curiosity. A curiosity that would follow us for years to come it would seem. Therefore, control is what I showed as I gently licked the last remnants of blood from her inner thigh before rising to gaze in her eyes. “Forget” I willed her. “We just made love, only made love, nothing else.” I pressed this thought deeper. I cleared my mind to break my contact with her. I was ready to spring in an instant if any part of the suggestion hadn’t taken. That worry dissolved as she rolled over and fell fast asleep. I sat at her side watching her chest rise and fall, as she lightly snored until almost dawn.

  I was still thinking about what I had discovered as I moved swiftly through the Egyptian night. Reaching my own abode a few seconds before sunlight lit up the land, I rested. The real test would come in the night when I saw her again. I would see if the passage of time did anything to corrupt the thoughts I had left. I passed the day thinking of how this control could make the hunt decidedly easier. This idea was quickly dismissed as I thought of the pleasure of the hunt, the thrill of the kill. It would prove valuable in other ways though.

  I made nightly visits to the priestess, letting her appear to seduce me as I tested my theories even more. I had made sure after the initial visit never to let the guards see me. I did this in case my willpower failed me, and I succumbed to my true nature.

  Everything came crashing down one night during one of our many carnal adventures. I was feeding not from the femoral as usual but from the carotid when the scream rang out. I had become used to her loud cries of sexual pleasure and didn’t pay it any mind. Wrapped in the euphoria of the bloodlust, I was oblivious to the fact of how much I had drunk. She was nearly dead when the spell broke, freeing her mind.

  A squad of guards entered the room. My mouth was still locked onto her throat as they poured in. I hadn’t noticed their arrival until hands were grabbing me from everywhere. My eyes opened as I was pulled away. I screamed and struggled to break free, but there were just too many.

  Four men grabbed my arms, two on each side while the same was done to my legs. I was held securely in place.

  “The Priestess is dying!” one screamed.

  Two guards rushed to Irisi and pulled her to her feet. Blood still seeped from the wound in her neck. The guards had been right. She was dying. I had fed too much, and her body was failing her.

  I saw the weakness in her stride and heard it in her voice. But not in her eyes, her eyes showed no weakness at all. They shined bright with fury and hatred. Her raspy screams were garbled.

  The more she screamed, the more the blood slid down her neck fueling my lust even more. I wanted her. I wanted to finish her. I wanted to drain the blood from all in the room until a sea of it filled the chamber. This image played in my mind as she approached. She continue
d to scream, but her words were lost on me as the blood continued to weakly pulse from her neck. Finally, quietly my mind started to focus. I tried to reach out to her and soothe her thoughts. She smiled. It hadn’t worked. It seemed her impending death had made her immune to my charms. Her will was too strong. The guards held me tightly as she stood in front of me. I focused on her mouth. I listened intently trying to make sense of her words. The fog on my mind lifted as she raised the dagger high in the air.

  “You were drinking my blood. You were drinking my blood,” she kept repeating. “Hold him tight, and we will see how he likes it,” she bellowed. A glint of metal and a blade sliced deep into my throat. My blood poured down my chest and covered my outstretched arms, drenching them. Her mouth locked onto my throat and she bit down. I could feel the pull of her mouth. My eyes locked on hers as she drank. Her eyes returned to that glazed over look I had seen so many times before as she continued to pull. I could see that the sight of the priestess feeding on me disturbed the guards, as much if not more than the original scene had. Their grips loosened as she continued to feed. I could see their fear now as it took them over.

  She fell back into a seated position on the floor smiling at me. A guard released his grip as he attempted to catch her. Quickly he grabbed me again when he saw the smile appear across her face. She reclined, outstretched on the floor, staring off into the distance. She laughed. The guard to my left loosened his grip for only a moment, but it was enough. I jerked and freed my blood-soaked arm from his grasp. He reached for me again, but by now, my arm had become too covered with my own blood for him to grab hold and it slipped through his grasp once again.

  As he reached out one last time to grab my arm, I pulled him into me and bit down ferociously. The blood shot up in a spray as my teeth ripped into him. I grabbed the head of one of the guards on my leg and twisted. With a satisfying snap, I felt this neck break, and his body go limp. The guards fought fiercely, as one by one I sent them from this world into the next.

  A pain shot through me as a sword plunged into my back and exited my abdomen. I looked down at the blade protruding from me. Another blast of pain and another blade appeared. I saw the blood spill from my body onto the ground.

  I fell to the floor as the blood exited my body creating large pools around me. Another shout rang out in the chamber. A wrenching pain consumed me, as first one, then both blades were pulled from my body.

  The pain of the hunger spread through me. The blood that once had sustained me now surrounded me. It seemed I was finally about to meet the death that the priest had wished for me. The sight left my eyes as I lay there. The vibrant colors that surrounded me turned to a pale gray. The grayness soon turned to black. I heard someone pleading.

  “Please no. Please, no I beg of you” the voice cried.

  Blood first dripped then gushed into my mouth. I felt the flesh press into my mouth as the blood continued to flow.

  “Is this what you want?” a voice asked from somewhere in the distance.

  As the blood flooded my mouth, I felt the familiar ebb of power start to flow through me. The puncture wounds on my back pulled tight together and began to mend. The sinews of muscle and skin reached for one another. Not long after, my abdomen tightened as the process began again.

  The blood ceased its pumping as the guard’s heart failed him.

  “Another?” the far-off voice asked.

  “No please, Pleeeeeeeaaaaassseee” a male voice screamed as it came closer.

  His stretching of the last word helped me to zero in on him, and I snatched at the air. The body fell into me with a tremendous force. My little gifts from the pygmies finally found purchase and I bit into the supple skin. The guard wriggled and squirmed to no avail. I wrapped my arms tightly around his back and squeezed. His ribs punctured his lungs causing blood to cover me in a crimson shower. The sight that filled my eyes when my vision returned was one of magnificence. Aqua eyes that were once brown stared at me. The smile that was once so seductive now mirrored mine. The little points of her fangs glistened with saliva.

  “What am I?” she asked.

  I stared back in wonder.

  “I don’t know,” I replied.

  “What are you?”

  “I don’t know that either,” I replied.

  She stood above me staring quizzically. I returned her questioning look as I rose. We both stood in amazement as we examined my now-healed wounds and then each other. The wounds hadn’t left the slightest scar. It was as if the attack had never happened. I gazed upon her. I couldn’t quit staring at the newly risen Irisi.

  “Are you a god? Am I a god? How did you come to be?” she asked in a rapid series. My eyes fell on the guards she had just recently fed me.

  “Do you hear them?” she asked.

  “Them? They’re dead.” I said, looking at the two corpses.

  “The others” she replied. “They are coming.”

  I listened, and I could hear them. Not their voices mind you but their hearts beating in their chest. Irisi had heard them too.

  “I have to leave.” I thought.

  “Why?” She said aloud.

  “Why what?” I questioned.

  “Why do you have to leave? You can stay here.”

  “The guards are coming,” I said.

  “Then let them come,” she replied with a smile.

  She took my hand and led me. We stepped out into the courtyard and stood in the moonlight.

  “This body,” she said stepping out of her robes “this is all I was to them.” Standing there naked, she said. “I was a concubine to many men. I have degraded myself for their twisted pleasures. Now they will bend to my will.”

  I could see into her mind. She had many devilish things planned for her former lovers. I was soon to be a witness to one of the greatest massacres never known. It really is not fair to say I just bore witness. I participated fully and enjoyed every delicious second.

  Her body, naked and gleaming in the moons glow, cast dancing shadows on the walls. Her body swayed to a beat only we could hear. The beats of many hearts pounded as they neared.

  “Join me?” she asked.

  My garments discarded, I joined her in the dance. Gliding like a couple of spirits across the courtyard, we swayed.

  The four guards entered the courtyard in a crazed state, only to stop and stare at the beauty of their naked mistress as she floated to them. Her head turned slightly as our eyes met. The guards stared dumbfounded, blinded by animalistic lust as they watched every curve of her naked body. Her bare breasts and the short-cropped patch of hair between her thighs held their attention and gaze. If but only one had looked into the malevolent cold eyes, he might have saved himself.

  As they stared like starving dogs at a haunch of meat, a thought slammed into my mind. “Show Me.” Her mind whispered to mine.

  “Show you?” I whispered back.

  “Show me how you kill, I would know.” She thought back.

  I heard a whimper escape his mouth as his concentration was broken by fangs opening his throat. Once again, I felt the blood rush into me as she danced. The three other guards were oblivious to the plight of the man standing not five steps from them. Their eyes still locked on the twisting, gyrating form that was Irisi. Blood ran down my face and chest. My legs were covered with spatters from the initial tear of his flesh. She looked at me and smiled her approval.

  “Don’t let them escape.” She whispered.

  She floated to him slowly. His eyes stayed firmly locked on her sex as she neared. She reached out with both hands laying them softly on his shoulders as her hips continued to sway back and forth. His eyes rose to her breasts. Gently she pulled him to her, pressing her body to his. He joined her in the dance. I saw his body stiffen as she sank her teeth deep into him. Still, they danced. Blood spilled down his neck and arms. Still, they danced. His min
d shouted in alarm as the she-devil drained him. Still, they danced. Then with a guttural growl, she ripped into him and drank. The blood shot into the air as she fed. She raised her now blood-filled mouth from his neck and set her eyes on the other two.

  The face that now looked into theirs shook them from their trance. The men no longer had lecherous thoughts. Now the only thoughts that entered their minds were ones of escape. This was a futile one which was soon proved as we descended upon them. When the struggles finally stopped, and the founts of blood quit flowing the courtyard was painted scarlet.

  “I have always wanted to do that,” she said casually as she pressed her lips to mine. Her mouth left mine and traveled my body searching for the remnants of our victims. I stood like a statue as her tongue licked the now drying blood from my legs and manhood. Then it was my turn. My mouth found the little pool of blood that had settled and dried in the tiny crevice of her breasts. Following the trail down her abdomen, I stopped to drink from the pool that had settled in her navel. I continued to the furry patch that had hypnotized the guards and continued my caresses. Her moans didn’t go unnoticed as I licked. I paid particular attention to the actions that seemed to please her before following the path to her thighs and back again. The dead eyes of the guards were witnesses as urges uncommon to me took hold. Time passed in a haze as our two figures twisted and tangled more and more into one another.

  Chapter 7

  Irisi brought out a gold basin full of water for us to wash the last remnants of the sand-filled blood from our bodies.

  “Are you really a son of the pharaoh,” she asked.

  Appearing to know my answer already, she smiled slyly waiting for me to speak.

  “No, I’m not, I’m not sure I qualify to be anyone’s son”

  “So Ammon, who are you really? What are you really? Are you a man or demon?” she asked without pausing. “Is this because I drank your blood?” she said lightly pressing a finger to her fangs. The next few hours were spent explaining in great detail how I had come to arrive in Memphis. Every few minutes she stopped me to ask a question.