by Tanja Neise
“I woke up in unbearable pain. I was screaming, and since I was lying right in front of my parents' house, my father and mother came running out. They immediately recognised what had been done to me; we saw friends suddenly change all too often. My mother was pregnant at that time. A pregnancy that had never been planned because she’d already reached the age of forty-five. Nevertheless, we were all looking forward to the offspring. The terrible time of the vampire wars had welded us together, and we regarded the new life in Mother’s body as a good sign.” His gaze was pointed towards the ceiling and he seemed a little bitter as he continued. Spellbound, I listened to his next sentences. “My parents dragged me into the house, straight into the cellar. They ought to have killed me or at least called the guards to take care of me. Instead, they stayed with me until my conversion was complete. My mother fed me as she had when I was an infant. For her, it was the most normal thing in the world. Not for me. I was disgusted with myself.” I could see the revulsion in his dark face. I could understand him completely and imagine how it had been for him then.
“But it wasn't your fault.” Wait a minute, what was I doing here? Since when did I understand vampires?
“I hated the bloodsuckers. They had abused and sucked my first girlfriend to death. She had died before she could celebrate her sixteenth birthday. My heart was like a stone. It still is. After a few days, my mother gave birth to a healthy baby daughter.”
“Sally,” I breathed into the silence.
“Yes, Sally. She was the sweetest baby you could imagine. I loved her and worshipped her. She was the only one who penetrated my emotional armour.” A smile flitted across his face, and I was enthralled to see how it changed for the better. “Since my mother was breastfeeding, she was exempt from the vaccinations for the time being, as people didn’t know how this would affect newborns. But when Sally was one year old, both were to be vaccinated. At that time, it wasn’t done right after birth, because this practice hadn’t yet been well developed, not like it is today.”
“How did you survive after that?” My curiosity almost took my breath away.
“Sally was never vaccinated.” Dark looked deep into my eyes again. “My mother kidnapped a child from a playground in the middle of the day.”
“What? And didn’t anybody notice?” I was completely shocked by this twist.
“She went straight to the vaccination authority. The officials assumed that the child was Sally. Both were vaccinated without questioning it. Then – it was only half an hour later – she brought the girl back to the playground. She explained to the angry people that she’d found the child sleeping under a tree, and then hurried home. I’ve been feeding on Sally since that day.”
What a story! It frightened and shocked me, and at the same time I was fascinated by the whole thing. “How many more of you are there?”
“Several.”
Okay, that's all he obviously wanted to tell me and I wouldn't probe any further for now. “And Mr Tensington? How does he survive?”
“That's his story. If he wants to tell it to you, he'll do it.” Dark's impenetrable, hard look stared right at me, but I’d be damned if I was going to be afraid of him.
“Why haven’t I been vaccinated?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been asking myself this question for months.”
“For months? You knew that I wasn’t vaccinated? How?” I looked into his eyes, in disbelief.
He tapped his nose. “I could smell it. That's why I brought the boss here, but he found you faster than I could have imagined.”
At that moment something reached for my heart and squeezed it together. Robert must have smelled it too. He’d only been interested in me because he needed food. Now it was clear to me why such a man would pay attention to someone like me. “Thank you, Dark, for your honesty.” Quickly, I got up and went to the bathroom. My eyes were already burning, and I didn't want any of the others to see me crying. But as soon as the door behind me had closed, tears were running down my cheeks.
Robert Tensington
My stomach contracted convulsively when it was so unexpectedly supplied with the food that I’d involuntarily renounced for decades. At the same time, I felt as if I could rip trees out of the ground, as the blood was very carefully spreading its strength inside me. This is what people who injected themselves with synthetic drugs must feel like. High – yes, that was the right name for my state. I was high on Liv's blood. Slowly, I realised that my senses were getting sharper, that I could hear Dark next door, quietly talking to Sally, and assuring her that he’d answered Liv's questions.
What questions? Where was Liv? I heard someone sniffling, quiet breathing sounds from people sleeping and the sound of a tap. She had to be in the bathroom. I got up hastily and found myself at the door a fraction of a second later. I partially had my strength back, and obviously had to urgently learn to deal with it again. I had to control my speed, which would now make some things easier for me. Slowly, and with deliberation, I opened the door and went into the corridor. Apart from the background noises, it was quiet, but only a moment later the bathroom door opened and Liv stepped out. When she saw me, she sucked the air in and stopped, as if rooted to the spot. It hurt that she now saw me with different eyes, that she would no longer be open and carefree towards me. I could clearly see the change in her face. I could hear her pulse fluttering excitedly. I detected the slight fear in the midst of her apricot scent.
“Hi,” I said quietly.
“Hi.” Then it was quiet around us. I looked at her, saw in her what she would be to me in the future. My heart contracted, taking my breath away in the face of what I was hoping for. “You're obviously better,” she noted, unnecessarily. But I was happy that she was talking to me and wasn’t running away screaming. In the course of my long life this had happened to me more than once. She was a fighter – not someone who allowed herself to be belittled. I admired her for that, and I desired her so much that it frightened me.
So as to look as harmless as possible, I put my hands in the pockets of my jeans and leaned casually against the wall. I knew that I would change in the next few hours. Human blood was a powerful tool for our species. It was like a rejuvenating agent that affected my strength, my charisma and my powers. She shouldn’t be afraid of me now, or at any other time. Instead, she should feel pride in what she had done for me – something no one else had been able to do. I already felt the power pulsating within me. And I was one of the most powerful vampires ever to walk the earth. And not because of the contacts and wealth I had accumulated over the years.
“Yes, I feel much better. Thank you,” I replied, lovingly.
The way I was behaving towards her irritated her, but what should I have done? Stay away from her? Give her the cold shoulder? All this was impossible for me because I never wanted her to disappear from my life again. “You’re welcome. Excuse me, I have to check on the boys.” She hurriedly turned away from me and I had to control myself so as not to run after her. I was drawn to her like magic, and so I plodded slowly after her into the living room. Sally's two sons were lying on the couch, sleeping the innocent sleep of a child. Hesitantly, Liv stood in front of the couch, clearly aware of my presence. She nervously kneaded a handkerchief between her fingers and looked down at the ground.
I couldn't help but go to her and tenderly put my hands on her shoulders from behind. Tense, like the tendon of a bow just before it was shot, she remained with her back to me. This was clearly a rejection; she was ready to flee at any moment.
The tender feelings that had previously developed between us seemed to have disappeared. The passion was gone, at least on her side. In order not to have to give in to the impulse to wrench her into my arms, I turned away and went to Sally and Dark. Determined not to run after this woman, I closed the door of the room and hoped to shut her out. To show her that I still belonged to myself, even though her blood was now taking root in me. She had no idea what effect she had on me, how much I’d become ad
dicted to her. It would scare her even more than she already had been.
“Hello, Sally, I hope you're alright.” It was really hard for me to have a conversation at that moment, but I had to do something, I had to distract myself. Dark was sitting next to the guest bed and reading a newspaper on the tablet.
“Yes, Mr Tensington. Dark helped me.” She gave me a charming smile. Sally was a beautiful woman with a strong will. Now that I was capable of it, I noticed the smell of Dark in her. He’d obviously given her a few drops of his blood to speed up the healing.
“Good.” What else should I say? Should I ask her if her brother's blood had tasted as good as Liv's? Annoyed, I closed my eyes for a split second. The distraction I’d hoped for did not exist here in this room. Troubled, I left the two without another word and moved into my study.
I desperately needed a clear head. Only how? My entire loft smelled of apricots, the smell that Liv so generously radiated without a clue. I tasted, smelled her, heard her and saw her. My body insisted on feeling her as well. If she knew how much I longed for her, she would probably leave the loft screaming. Speaking of leaving, why was she still here? We’d saved Sally and she was on her way to recovery. I was well again. A small selfish part of me hoped that she was still here because of me. Only because of me.
A knocking sound jolted me from my thoughts. “Yes?”
Of course, thanks to my regained powers, I had already known beforehand who wanted to talk to me. However, I had problems filtering all my sensory impressions, sorting them in my brain and drawing the right conclusions. For too long I had only been limited to what was possible for humans. Accordingly, a cacophony of perceptions prevailed in me, which I didn’t yet understand how to classify properly. Just as if I were a freshly converted vampire.
“Boss, I just wanted to know whether everything’s okay with you.” Spencer hesitantly stepped into my study and then stayed put.
“Spencer, thank you very much for asking. Everything’s okay with me. I'm not quite a master of my senses yet, but I will be.” I closed my eyes for a moment and heard my chauffeur exhale with relief.
“That's good.” He was pummelling his cap with his hands.
“Out with it. Something is weighing heavily on your mind.” It was perfectly clear. He hadn’t come to me for no reason.
Spencer looked at me seriously, and he was obviously worried. “The woman in the car. What should I do with her?”
Irritated, I frowned. “What woman?”
“Mr Dark is holding the woman who attacked Miss Sally prisoner in the boot of the limousine. When he brought her here in the other vehicle, I had to help him put the young woman in there. At that time she was unconscious. I don't usually interfere – you know that – but at some point there won't be enough oxygen in that small, isolated space. I don't think her death is what you would wish for.” The older man was now looking down at the floor again. Since when was he so submissive? Or had I withdrawn so much into my snail shell that I hadn't noticed?
“I'll take care of it.” Spencer was already about to leave when I added: “And thank you for informing me.”
One nod, then he was gone.
When was Dark going to tell me we’d kidnapped someone?
Anne Rumsfield
I waited briefly, but nobody came to suddenly open the lid of the boot and knock me out again. I could hardly believe my luck. Nobody had noticed that I was about to free myself. Inside, I was already rejoicing, but I shouldn’t be happy too soon and make any more mistakes. I’d already made enough mistakes on this job.
Carefully, I pushed the lid up a little – just enough to be able to peek out through the gap. The road was dark in front of me; only a soft light fell from an illuminated house entrance. The air was pure. Before anyone could even notice me – anyone who only had human powers – I’d slipped out of my prison and had closed the boot again. If the bloodsuckers came back, this would give me some very valuable extra time. A vampire would certainly have picked up on my actions; their senses were much too sharp.
So as not to immediately stick out as a walking target on the street, I merged with the shadows on the building wall. Not far from me, I could see the entrance of the skyscraper lit up. It was immediately clear to me where I was, after all, I had done my homework on Centrodynamics and Tensington very seriously, and had been very thorough in my research. I stood in front of the house where Robert Tensington resided when he, on the rare occasion, was in Seattle. Everything smelled like money, a lot of money. I disliked rich people, especially those who were obviously involved with vampires. At least, I had to revise my theory that there was one surviving bloodsucker. There had to be at least two. The parasite I’d captured and the one who was hiding himself in Tensington's company as head of security. And I’d eat my hat if there weren't even more of them. In my head, a picture was forming – a picture that resembled a snake's nest. This was something similar. A nest full of vampires. If I should uncover that, I’d secure a medal for myself and my boss’s job would be in jeopardy. A smile slid onto my lips all by itself as I imagined carrying out his job in the future.
But before it could come to that, I had to hunt these guys down. Unfortunately, I’d lost my equipment with the operation I’d just executed. The weapons, which I’d been carrying with me, were surely now all in the possession of my enemies. They had even taken away my wrist computer. Still, it was clear to me that it was only now that I’d have the element of surprise on my side. So what was I supposed to do? Without weapons and equipment, I couldn't possibly face a vampire. My gaze flitted up the skyscraper wall and rested on the top floor. It was dark up there – the sparse light of the sun that was starting to rise was certainly not yet enough to light up the rooms of a loft like that. They had to have shutters on the windows; there was no other explanation. I remembered my father's notes. Vampires didn’t die in the sunlight. No, they only got very intense sunburn within a very short period of time. The sunburn healed quite quickly as soon as they came out of the UV rays. They were all up there for sure, and none of them suspected that I was no longer slipping around like an eel in the car boot. I weighed up all the factors and made a momentous decision.
Olivia Morgan
Exhausted, I sank into one of the comfortable armchairs when he had left. Robert had left me alone, just as I’d wanted; yet why was I so depressed? Why on earth did the fact that he didn't fight for me pull me down so much? I’d been crying before our encounter – I hadn’t done that for a long time. There wasn’t really anything that knocked me down that fast. Actually... Until I had met two vampires, one of whom made my heart beat to a rampant rhythm.
It wasn't about what Robert was – it was much more about the reactions that I was displaying. One thing I knew for sure: he was more human than many people I had ever met before. My body reacted to him, and so did my mind. I was attracted to him like a moth to a light. I had difficulty staying away from him. Strictly speaking, I could have left this loft long ago. I didn’t believe they would stop me if I wanted to leave. Or would they? But I didn't have to worry about that, because I simply didn't want to do that. I didn’t want to remove myself from Robert. What had got into me? This attraction...
Frightened, I straightened up as the knowledge rolled over me like a hurricane. Grimly, I suddenly saw the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle slide into place, and a completely different picture was emerging in front of my inner eye. This had nothing to do with being in love and feeling attracted to each other. No! Oh man, how could I have been so naive? Hadn't I devoured enough novels about this species? How many times had I read about vampires not only drinking blood, but also possessing extraordinary abilities? About power of attraction that was nowhere near normal and had nothing to do with love. I’d been blind and had been deceived. I shook my head, sadly. Robert was a vampire, and he had obviously used the powers he possessed unscrupulously on me. Attractiveness: the word alone triggered a sarcastic chortle in me. He’d manipulated me and lured me into his bed
, or rather, into my bed.
Suddenly, I felt my alarm system activate and it took the air out of my breath. I had to get out of here as soon as possible. I had to find myself again, because in the last few hours I’d lost the person I was. I wasn't a little mouse that tied itself to a man without will just because he was using his vampiric power. Even if he was such a handsome man as Robert. I would never give myself to him again. Never!
Determined not to be manipulated any further, I grabbed my bag and almost ran to the apartment door. I hastily tore it open, and nobody stopped me. I had the chance to disappear now. I was only leaving my mobile phone, as well as my heart, behind in this luxurious apartment. My heart? Yes, I had lost it. Lost it to a man who wasn't who I thought he was. Who wasn’t what I had taken for granted: a human being. Before my mind had been flummoxed with the fact that the world as I’d seen it was not what I’d taken it to be.
I stopped in the open doorway, struggling with my decision. What if Robert was still the person I thought he was? What if he was the loving man who gave me my first real kiss and with whom I’d had sex for the first time? What if I was leaving behind my chance of happiness?
The next moment, recollections of the pictures I’d been shown as a young girl came into my consciousness with a jolt. Pictures of bloodthirsty beasts and people torn to pieces in a wild thirst for blood. Vampires were not human, even if I’d hoped for it with all my heart. I couldn’t be a dreamer who got lost in her romantic ideas. The heroes from the novels I read had nothing in common with reality, and above all, not with vampires.