The Village Cafe

by Eraine Rivera

VISIONS OF THE PAST

  I left Rick's basement apartment later in the day to head home. It was a cloudy day and the wind whipped at my hair and coat as I fought against it to my block. I walked up the stairs to my apartment and when I entered I saw that my apartment was as I left it. There was no trace of what had happened just last night. I sat on my sofa and relaxed letting my eyes close as the silence wrapped me in its warmth. Images flashed through my head of Dine covered in blood and standing over a Leviticus as many others continued to drain him. He looked to his left and caught sight of a woman. He smiled and walked over to her.

  "Ariana. Always lovely to see you." Dine said taking Ariana's hand and gently kissing it.

  "The feeling is mutual." Ariana said looking over at Leviticus and smiling before turning her attention back to Dine. "I am also very impressed by the way you have been dispatching these elders. They are hard to track down and even harder to kill."

  "It was your idea to do this."

  "I wish I could take all the credit. Here is a list of the others." Ariana handed the list to Dine who looked it over with a furrowed brow.

  "Ariana, these vampires are not going to be as easy. The others traveled alone but people always surround Mortakie, Eraina and Helena. Mortakie has increased his army since the war in the sixteen hundreds. The twins cloak him in darkness."

  "Quit your blubbering. I will send in the slayers to take care of Mortakie's followers."

  "Mortakie is here?"

  "So I have been informed. He will make his first appearance at a cafe in the village. They will all be there."

  "Mortakie and the others will kill any slayers you send."

  "I just want to send a message to Eraina. She will understand what it means."

  "I'll try my best to take care of the others."

  "Of course Dine. If you have to expand your army then do so. Focus on annihilating the twins. They are too powerful, then take care of Helena and the rest is easy." Ariana evaporated into the darkness. My eyes snapped open as I tried to adjust to my surroundings. My heart pounded as my chest heaved from an unknown fear. I wasn't sure if what I saw was a dream or not. I looked out of my window and saw that the sky had grown dark. I turned back around and jumped.

  "Do not be afraid my child." Helena said as she made her way over to me.

  "You seem surprised to see us." Mortakie smiled as he sat on the recliner. Eraina stood by his side. I looked around almost expecting Rick to pop out of my bedroom.

  "Rick is not aware of our coming here nor will he ever be unless you wish him to." Helena said with a smile.

  “I’m glad you guys are here I have something to tell you.” I sighed before telling them about the dream I just had..

  "Leviticus is dead?" Eraina asked as a tear trickled down her face.

  "No Eraina. I saw him last night. He's a werewolf now along with a few others." Eraina glared at Mortakie.

  "Devilynn speaks the truth my dear." Mortakie sighed.

  "Why have you kept this from me Mortakie?"

  "To spare you."

  "To spare me what? Pain. I have had centuries of it! You promised that there would be no more treachery on your part and it has begun again. Is that why you begged me not to come with you last nigh?" Mortakie attempted to put his arm around Eraina but she evaporated before my eyes. He looked at Helena who nodded and evaporated as well.

  "What's going on?"

  "It is a long story my dear. One day I will tell you everything. It will be your first novel." Mortakie smiled.

  "Why am I seeing these things?"

  "Well you have tasted the blood of a vampire and Dine has bitten you. A small portion of the vampiric disease has been transferred to you. The visions you are having are pictures of Dine's past."

  "Does this mean I will become a vampire?"

  "No. You must be drained to the point of death then the vampire must give you his blood to drink to replace what he has taken. The disease will then engulf you and transform you into a vampire. You have done the opposite."

  "So what does that mean?"

  "I am not too sure. I have never known a vampire to be bitten by a human. I suppose in this situation you are a half-breed. You are still human but you might find yourself up at night, a bit sensitive to sunlight and thirst for raw meat."

  "Great as if my life wasn't messed up enough."

  "You should see this more as a blessing than a curse. The information you receive from these visions will prove quite useful in the future. It already has. Now we know part of what Ariana is up to."

  "Who is she?"

  "Ariana is a vampire and a very powerful sorceress by her own right. We do not know much about how she came to have these powers nor who she is working for."

  "I've completely lost you Mortakie."

  "Humans since the dawn of time have lived their lives in an enclosed reality unaware of the different forces that are at constant war to insure the safety of their existence. Do you believe in God?"

  "I went to catholic school for twelve years but I never bought the junk they taught us."

  "Well most of what you read in school is fiction and very little fact." I laughed and closed my eyes for a brief moment. Lights flashed around me.

  "We have done well and our boss is very happy. Now we have a new agenda. It seems that there are humans out there that need to be exterminated in the same manner as the vampires." Dine smiled as he sat down at the head of a long table.

  "What about the other elders?" A female asked from across the room.

  "They will have to wait for now. Our first victim is Belinda Wilson. Tanya and Karen will befriend our little bird and bring her here." The two girls chuckled with delight.

  "Well what about the rest of us. There have to be some more humans."

  "Yes Josh there is but we have to take care of her first."

  "But why humans? They have nothing to do with the war."

  "That is none of our business Josh. Ariana has her reasons and they shouldn't be questioned."

  The lights flashed again and I shielded my eyes from it. I awoke with a start and looked right at Mortakie. He sat with a concerned look on his face.

  "You had another vision?" I nodded and quickly told him about it. He nodded and rose.

  "Where are you going?"

  "I have to go and make amends with my wife, Eraina. In the mean time you should write these visions down. I think everything we have spoken about tonight would make a very interesting story."

  "Now you sound just like Rick." Mortakie laughed as he kissed my fore head.

  "You may want to consider telling him all of this. No good comes out of lies and treachery as you have witnessed tonight."

  "You have a point." I said as I watched Mortakie turn and head towards the door. "Isn't it easier to evaporate?"

  "Yes but I find it quite rude and shall use the door out of respect." I laughed as Mortakie walked out and closed the door. As I wrote down my visions I thought about Rick. We never kept secrets from each other. After an hour of writing I took my coat and left to Rick's apartment. The night was cool and all the teens were out in the village stalking the streets and various music stores. I made my way passed them and down the alley toward the basement stairs.

  "Do you think this is over?" I turned to see one of the girls from my vision.

  "Tanya?" The girl smiled as she grabbed my neck and slammed me up against the wall. I tried to wrench free but she squeezed even harder.

  "You think that you got rid of Dine and the others but they will become werewolves like the others we have killed. When that happens he will come back and finish the job." Tanya's grip on my throat was released as she was thrown aside by a black shadow. Tanya hissed as the shadow appeared. She lunged at Rick. The two tumbled around on the floor before Rick pinned her against the wall by her throat. Rick's eyes were red and he hissed showing his fangs.

  "I will not
stake you down and let the sun burn you to ashes! Instead you will take this message back to your coven. If you even think of coming after Devilynn again I will come to your precious club and burn it to the ground." Tanya hissed before evaporating in Rick's grasp. Rick made his way over to me and helped me up and into his apartment.

  "Why have you ventured here at night?"

  "That's when you're awake." I said rubbing my throat. "Besides I have something to tell you." Rick sat next to me on the sofa as I told him about everything that happened. He listened with little expression in his face but his eyes reflected anger.

  "I always thought that I would be the first one to bite you." He laughed the anger still in his eyes. Rick was very jealous. He may have laughed it off but inside it was tearing him apart and if Dine were not already dead he would gladly kill him.

  "What did happen to Dine?"

  "After we left Belinda and the others they took them to the roof of your apartment building and watched as their bodies were burnt to ashes by the sun. So Dine will not come back to seek revenge even though I am not too sure about Tanya and the others."

  "Yeah she didn't seem to happy with your threat."

  "That is why I wish to propose that you move in with me."

  "We tried this before and it didn't work out. Besides what if you get hungry one night and decide to snack on me."

  "If I wanted to do that I would do it regardless of where you reside." I laughed closing my eyes for a brief moment and in that time I had another vision. Dine was in Ariana’s arms drinking blood from her wrist.

  "I need you Dine. You will serve me and I will give you eternal life." Ariana said