Daughters of the Damned

by Cecily Dawson

  At nine centimeters she started pushing. She pushed for the better part of three hours.

  “AAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH!” Gretta screamed.

  “Push Gretta, you’ll have beautiful baby in no time.”

  “I can’t!” she gave up, the pain felt like someone was stabbing her in the vagina with a knife over and over again. “I can’t!”

  “You can do this Gretta. Think of your baby, you have to push!”

  Gretta held her breath and bore her chin to her chest and pushed with everything she had inside her. The ripping of her vagina and the pain of the baby’s head caused her to scream. A scream that could be heard throughout the entire labor and delivery ward. Suddenly it was gone. The pain was gone and the room was silent.

  After moments of hushed voices and frantic movements she heard a cry. They handed her a beautiful baby girl and she was instantly in love. Gretta observed the child’s upturned nose and pouty lips. “I’m going to name her Akela.”

  She and Akela left the hospital a few days later. No one was there to retrieve her, although she’d called her mother a few times she got no answer. Her old roommate was out of town but offered her to stay at her place if she needed it. She called a cab and went home where she found her parents sitting on the couch watching television.

  “So, I see you had it,” her mother said.

  “Yes, and IT is a baby. A baby girl. Her name is Akela,” Gretta looked at her parents, hoping for some sign of hope.

  “Con- “her dad started to say something but was hit in the side by her mothers’ elbow.

  “Well, I hope you know that we don’t plan to help you with anything. We’ve put everything we’ve had into paying for your education and you chose to throw it away to have a baby. Now, you must do this on our own,” her mother said, laughing at the screen and turning her attention to her father. He looked at her with pity in his eyes. That was enough for Gretta.

  She swallowed the lump in her throat, the pain was a ball of scorn. She slowly ascended the stairs to her bedroom where she released the tears that had been bottled up since the night of passion. Akela was still sore and need a bath. But who would watch the baby while she did that? What had she done; how would she care for a baby alone? Who would be there to support her? What had Walter meant when he said that giving birth was dangerous?

  She nursed Akela until she was asleep, then she took the quickest shower she could take and went to bed.

  The next morning, she awoke to an empty house. Her father had always left early for work and her mother had bridge. She hadn’t even checked in on her to see if she and the baby were alive. Gretta knew she’d messed up, and she knew that she’d chosen to have this baby despite the appeals of her mother and wagging tongues of the church. She’d consciously made this choice and she would not pay for it for the rest of her life.

  The first three months went by quickly and on no time, she fell into a routine. Drop the baby off at the sitters, go to work, pick her up and come home. Six days a week she toiled trying to raise enough money for the first and last month’s rent on a place of her own. Akela grew strong and she was the quietest baby she’d ever seen. Her sweet spirit was what drew her mother in, finally. Once she came around, her father fell in line as well and things were back to normal in no time.

  “Gretta,” her mother said bouncing the baby in her lap. “She may be teething already, look at how she chews my finger.”

  “Mom I don’t think it’s a good idea to let her chew your finger, I mean is it sanitary?”

  “You chewed on your mothers’ finger when you were a baby Gretta.”

  “That’s disgusting,” Gretta said mixing the last batch of chocolate chip cookies.

  “This baby’s hungry, mommy come feed me!” her mother said handing the baby to Gretta.

  “I’ll be on the porch, it’s a beautiful night,” she announced and went outside to enjoy the evening.

  The baby had latched on securely and as she gulped, more milk came down to replace what was drank. Gretta looked up at the night sky. Stars had formed an almost circular ring around the full moon. It was the most beautiful sky she’d seen to date.

  She looked down at Akela, who had stopped suckling and looked into her eyes. Her sweet face was round and pink. Her cheeks flush and this was the first smile she’d received since her birth. “Hello Akela, mommy loves you so much,” she whispered.

  “Don’t forget about us, grandma and granddaddy love you too. Honey we’ll be back we’re going to town for ice-cream.”

  “OK, thanks for the invite!” Gretta teased.

  “You weren’t invited. This is our date night.”

  “Gross.”

  “See you Gretta.

  “Have fun!”

  She watched them drive off and then went inside to put the baby down for the night so that she could take a hot bath. She’d planned to curl up and watch some television afterward. Before she could even begin her shower, the baby let out a blood curling scream from her bassinet. Gretta ran to see what was happening.

  “What is it sweetheart?” she picked her up in her arms and the baby turned and squirmed so much that she had to put her down on the bed. “What is it Akela?”

  She looked closer and Akela’s face seemed distorted, something was happening to her. Her fingers began to grow and her feet began to change, and all Gretta could do was gasp in horror as her baby transformed in front of her to a whimpering lump of fur.

  It is dangerous, you don’t know what we are… those words rang in her eyes as her baby lay there motionless. She slowly approached as the lump of fur moved up and down in labored breathing. What is it?

  Where’s my baby? She said to the space between them.

  She heard sobbing and panting and deep breathing and went in the direction of the lump on the bed, but when she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she realized that it was her own sobbing mixed with the baby’s panting and deep breathing. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as she walked toward the bed. She reached out for the fur and moved it to its side. It was a wolf, a baby wolf, how could it be? It was her baby. The creature suddenly came to life and barking and growling at her in ferocious attempts.

  “Akela!” it’s mommy.

  “Akela!” she reached out to pick her up and pulled away in the knack of time as the baby bit down clamping her teeth together. The baby wolf was ready to devour her whole. She picked up the wiggling ball of rage and placed it in her hamper and closed the lid. She could see through the slits that the wolf was ok. It whimpered and howled and raged until it went to sleep.

  Walter, she had to find Walter.

  “Gretta!” her mother called from downstairs. “We brought you ice-cream!”

  “OK mom, I’ll be right down.”

  She slowly walked over to the hamper again, to check on the growling baby. Inside she found a transforming baby girl. Akela had come back to her.

  “What are you doing? Why in Gods name is my grandbaby in the dirty clothes hamper?” her mother stood at the door.

  “I- she…”

  “Why are you crying? Gretta, give me that baby!” Her mother walked around the bed and took the baby from her hands and held her close. “My sweet grandbaby.”

  Gretta stood there, tears sliding down her cheeks, unable to speak of what had just occurred.

  “Honey you need to see a doctor; I think you may be dealing with post-partum depression.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “I’ll keep the baby with me tonight. You need some sleep.”

  What if-tonight…

  That was when Gretta knew she needed to get Akela out of there, if anybody found out what she was. No one would understand and they would take her baby away from her, kill her even. Dangerous… the word rang in her ears. Without explanation she decided to rent a small cabin up in the mountains, where things were quiet, secluded. Her parents once again stopped speaking to her when she took their grandbaby away from them.

  Akela attended
a small school where she was raised like any normal girl, except when the moon was full. The only way to keep her safe was to chain her up on those nights. When she was small it was much easier to chain her up in a room or place her in a kennel. But, as she grew older, she could not be contained as easily, it got to the point where she had to release her into the wild and hope that she would return. In the mornings she’d look for her along the mountainside. She often found her lay out under some tree or by the freeway underpass. She was always drained and weak and she was usually down for two to three days after a hunt, it often took all the energy she had to transform. The toll it took on her body was scary.

  When Walter found them again, she was 16. He explained what she was and how he’d come to be. He was very concerned and wanted to take her to a special school that could help her to control her cravings. Although he’d only been up the mountain a few times, when he did they argued. They’d fought for most of the evening about the paper, the number of bodies that had gone missing in the area and the fact that they’d soon catch up to her. Walter left them around 5:30 pm to return to the city.

  That night, she turned for the last time in her mother’s custody. When Gretta saw that the moon was full, she chained Akela up in the yard with heavy chains that were attached to two oak trees on either side of her house. When she started to turn, she screamed and howled in agony. Then, the veracious beast didn’t recognize her mother anymore. She lunged at her to kill, but Gretta sat nearby watching over her, making sure that she did not escape. She held a shot gun in hand in case any other animals were drawn to a fight in the darkness.

  As dusk turned to daylight the beast on the ground became a girl again, helplessly chained by both arms, and exhausted from a night of fighting, she hung loosely drowsy from sleep. Just then a van pulled up and inside was a husband and his wife who’d lost their way. The woman looked at the girl first then at the woman on the porch holding a shotgun. The girl was unable to hold her head up from lethargy.

  “Please, unchain me mamma,” the girl pleaded, pulling at her chains.

  The woman got out of the truck and ran to the girl, “Sweetie are you ok?” she asked the girl before turning in anger to Gretta.

  “Ma’am you are trespassing. This is private property,” Gretta pointed the gun toward the stranger. She could see the man in the background already dialing 911.

  “This is child abuse! I’m calling the authorities,” she said as she walked back to her truck.

  Gretta started to panic, what would happen if the police came? They would take her daughter away. In a plight of desperation, she cocked the gun and fired, and the bullet hit a tree in the distance.

  “Get in your truck and drive away now!” she screamed.

  “Mama, please. What are you doing?” Akela cried pulling at her chains.

  “Get off my property!” Gretta yelled again. Shooting again at the same tree. She started walking toward the truck and the lady got in and they drove away. Gretta knew she didn’t have long, so she ran inside and dialed Walters number.

  “It’s time, hurry,” Walter got there just before the authorities did. He was able to take her away before the police handcuffed Gretta and took her off to jail. She had to find a way out of the school to find her father, she had so many questions. Perhaps he knew where her mother was. Akela was pulled from her thoughts again when the intercom called all students to the auditorium for an important announcement.

  Each class filed into their perspective sections White, Yellow, and Green. There was no Navy until mid-year. The dignitaries took their place in the front of the atrium. Duchess walked to the front of the room and the yellow light flashed, indicating they needed to quiet down.

  “Ladies, it has been reported that we have a breech in security along the south border of Harmagito. Vampire hunters have gotten through the outer gates. We have our agents on them, but just in case, we are placing you on lockdown for the remainder of the night.”

  Everyone around me broke out into chatter. I listened in again to see what I could find out, on several people around me discussing the last breech, apparently it ended in a fire and three dead students. Other students were saying that the ring of darkness could not be penetrated by anyone from within the school because of the darkness that resides here. No one could leave. Ever. Unless the ring was broken. Drisdol used his powers to penetrate the spiritual and mortal realms but he himself no longer had the power to break the ring of darkness. Apparently, he off resurrecting an army that would be able to fight with him and help him to penetrate the ring.

  “Please understand, there are fierce vampire hunters who have been hunting our kind for thousands of years. We have always had to defend ourselves, but be assured, the council is aware of the situation and they have their best agents on it. When we dismiss you, I’m going to ask you to go directly to your rooms and lock the doors.”

  The green light started flashing and we began to file out of the auditorium. In the hallway, girls stood in hungry packs eyeing the new girls.

  “Hey, Rune and Natira, please come with me. I want to show you guys something,” Akela went in a direction opposite the crowds.

  “Aren’t we supposed to be going to our room to lockdown?” Natira said.

  “Yes, but we’ll be fine. I hate being locked up.”

  I blindly followed, but merely out of curiosity.

  “I found this place last week when I was truing to get away from the crowds.” She snuck past the guards and down a long corridor that led to a door. There was a lock on it but it was not secured. She led us down a steep stairwell into a dungeon type basement. There were spider webs everywhere.

  “We need a light,” I whispered.

  “I got it,” Natira whispered and in her hands two balls of energy appeared, each softly glowed with a bright light that illuminated the stairwell. Downstairs the room was barren except for a few boxes and huge black trunk. Akela opened one of the boxes and pulled out a blanket and spread it on the floor, then she lit a match and put it to the lamp. We sat in a circle around the lamp. First, we didn’t say anything, we just sat. Then, I started to talk.

  “O.K. let’s make a pact.” Natira said. “We have to stick together.”

  “What’s that?” Akela whispered.

  “What’s what?”

  The low swishing sound of the wind turbines could be heard in the backdrop, but they were able to push that consistent noise aside and tune into the immediate room surrounding them.

  “Quiet, listen to that noise.”

  We were quiet and we heard a slow dragging noise. It was as if someone was dragging their feet upon the cement floor. Rattle. Steps.

  “Someone’s here.”

  Natira waved her hand over the lamp and it went dark.

  “I saw you guys come down here,” a voice whispered from the stairwell.

  No one said a word. We just sat there frozen, unsure who had followed us.

  “Rune?” she said my name.

  “Is that Lucy?”

  “Yes, it’s me, Lucy- from last night.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank Godness, are you alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Guys, she’s cool. I slept with her last night.”

  The girls giggled. “I mean I shared a room with her, a dorm room but a separate bed,” I corrected myself, feeling my cheeks flush.

  Natira waved her hand over the lamp again and the light flickered and then burst into flame revealing Lucy’s smiling face.

  “Hello Lucy,” I’m Natira and this is Akela.

  Lucy extended her hand, “I’m Lucy Blessing.”

  “So,” I searched for conversation. “This is our first lockdown, Do they happen a lot Lucy?”

  “No, actually this is only my second.”

  “I’m sure it’s me that they want,” I cringed as soon as those words parted my lips. How could I say something so arrogant? As if the vampire hunters would breech the perimeter just for me, when there are prob
ably 10 other vampires here.

  “I doubt it,” Akela assured me. Then directed her next question to Lucy, “Won’t the iron mites stop anyone from getting past the perimeter?”

  I looked at Lucy and our eyes locked for a moment, again I could see the sadness that pervaded her heart. She looked beyond me asif she was searching for the answer.

  “Lucy?”

  “Yes, umm the ring of darkness can only be penetrated by a pure soul. The original four-member council put a curse around the school that could only be broken by the power of the four council members, but since three are no longer here, the ring cannot be broken by anything dark. It must be something that is completely opposite of darkness.”

  “Light,” I said. “So, who knows anything about the Duchess?”

  Lucy spoke up again, “She is a diehard. Her family has been around for thousands of years, I heard her father served three terms on the council and they are retired to the mortal realm. She was a student here many years ago before she married a mortal and they had a child, but according to rumor, it died.”

  “The child?”

  “Yes,”

  That explained her coldness. She seemed detached and unattainable.

  “How do they know we’re here? I though we were hidden from the rest of society.”

  “They know were here.” Lucy opened here bag, “I have something to help us pass the night,” she pulled out a bottle of peach vodka.

  “Lucy, oh lala- I thought you were an angel?” Akela teased.

  “She’s a dark angel!” Natira added. The girls laughed. But Lucy’s expression changed and she dropped the bottle back into her bag. Shame covered her expression and her eyes shot to the ground. Then, she settled in her defiance, “I was- until he- “she couldn’t utter his name.

  “Who is he?” Akela asked.