My Love Eternal

by Liz Strange

  As I was dressing in clean clothes Giovanni spoke. “I don’t think the world will be at a loss with this guy. The only things he seemed to have of interest are junk food, crack and pornography.”

  “I didn’t get the impression that he was contributing much.”

  “I just thought you might want to know, after what happened last night.”

  I was dressed and running a comb through my long, wet hair. “I’m okay, Giovanni. Really. Something happened tonight when I was with him. Everything seemed to click, and I made complete peace with who I have become.”

  “And what you have become?”

  “Yes, and what,” I answered honestly. “Now, let’s get out of this hole. It’s disgusting in here.”

  Giovanni laughed and took my hand. “It’s too bad it’s not like the movies, where the vampires flounce around in expensive clothes and never get blood on themselves, except when their supposed to look scary or sexy.”

  I kissed him deeply then pulled slightly back. “This is better.”

  We drove away into the swirling snow, leaving behind the clerk’s now-battered body. Giovanni made it look like a hold-up gone horribly wrong. He even dropped some of the man’s stash, implicating drugs as the reason for the overkill.

  There were few cars on the highway, and we kept a steady pace as we continued westward. I was lulled into an almost hypnotic state by the car’s movement, and the endlessly monotonous landscape. My mind wandered back to the night before and Giovanni’s story of the girl.

  “Why did you tell me about Seraphine?” I asked after hours of silence.

  “You needed to know what we are up against.”

  “No, I mean, why did you tell me about her? You could have just said that someone was killed which led to a vendetta, or simply that someone discovered what you were. You didn’t have to tell me about her.”

  “Wouldn’t you have wondered why you kept seeing her face?”

  “I see lots of things from you in my mind, lots of faces. You could have told me anything.”

  He stole a quick look at me and his expression was solemn. “I will never lie to you, Rachel, and I needed to share this with you as much as you needed to know the truth. It might save our lives one day. I have been carrying this around with me for many years and I have never shared it with anyone. You are the only one I have ever wanted to tell. Do you understand?”

  An unsettling sensation emanated from Giovanni. It crept over my skin. It was part hurt, part grief and part relief. “Yes. I’m glad that you feel that you can be completely honest with me. There should be no secrets between us, but you still haven’t explained how they figured out it was you. Can you tell me?”

  “I suppose it’s best to get this out in the open. You have to understand that this is like picking a very painful scab, and letting the pain leak out. I have held it off for so long… well, after that night I stayed in that house. I wrapped the girl’s corpse up in a blanket and placed it in an empty room. I didn’t know what to do, I was wild with grief and I was afraid. The one who changed me didn’t even try to speak to me after that. For two nights he brought people back to me to feed on, but I wouldn’t. On the third night, when I awoke, he was gone. The few items of clothing and his bag of money, even his horse was gone. I was alone. I found a note from him on the table, which he had managed to write in rudimentary Spanish.

  “It said, Giovanni. This has been a mistake for the both of us. It does neither one of us any good for me to stay. Perhaps our paths will cross again one day. Good luck and Farewell.

  “And that was it. I was alone.

  “I looked in nightly on her corpse, all the more sickened as it began to decompose. By the fifth night, the bloodlust was too great to ignore any longer. I was crazy. I had absolutely no control over myself. I stumbled out into the night, running through the forest until at last I found myself in a familiar area. Then I encountered a clearing, realising too late exactly where I was.

  “There on the rock where our only kiss had occurred, was a shrine of sorts, with candles and food, flowers, ribbons and rosary beads. There was also a small picture of Seraphine that someone had drawn. Sitting there, quietly in the dark, was a young man. He was slightly built, with thick blond hair. As he heard me approach, he looked up. I wanted to take him to feed, but when I saw his face I was shocked.

  “He looked so much like her it was uncanny. He had the same fine features, and eyes the same colour as hers. It was like looking upon her face again. He rose to his feet, dusting the loose dirt from his pants. He couldn’t have been much older than she had been, maybe eighteen. He indicated in the direction of the rock when he spoke. ‘Did you know her?’

  “I ignored his words and walked over to the small picture. I touched it gently and stared down at the image captured on the page. It was a very good likeness of her, highlighting her innocent beauty. I felt a terrible sickness in my heart, but I could not even grieve because his blood was torturing me with its nearness. I could smell him, and hear his strong heart beating. As I turned back to him and he saw me clearly in the candlelight, he gasped. He took a shaky footstep backward, making the form of the cross over his chest. The picture dropped from my hands. The unconcealed terror in his icy eyes taunted me, and I could not resist. I grabbed him, all but crushing his spine with my bare hands. He struggled wildly and screamed out for help, but there was no escape for him.

  “I had never tasted anything as wonderful as that young man’s blood. I felt a satisfaction and fulfilment so complete is was almost perfect. Soon his struggling stopped and his heart slowed. When I was finished, I placed the body behind the stone and sat. I was sick with shame, and yet I felt powerful, strong. I didn’t understand how something like what I was could exist. I had never heard of anything like it.

  “I was still sitting there, alone in my shame, when a group of men approached. I heard the sound of pounding hooves, but I was too sick at heart to care who it might be. Soon I could make out a group of men, almost a mob. Some carried swords and canes, and others simply had offerings for the shrine. When they saw me there, the leader dismounted and strode up to me. I could see a family resemblance in this man also, but his hair was darker, and he was more solidly built. ‘Who are you?’ he demanded.

  “‘A friend. I am just paying my respects.’

  “His eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Do you know what happened to her?’

  “‘No,’ I whispered.

  “‘She has disappeared. It’s been many days and we fear the worst has happened.’

  “‘The worst?’ I knew he could have no idea what the worst really was.

  “‘Yes. Some lunatic must have gotten hold of her on her way home.’

  “I was silent after that. The men all gathered around, effectively circling me. The body of the young man was close, but could not be seen from their position. The smell of their blood was maddening and I had to fight to keep control. ‘Did you see a young man here?’ another one of the men asked.

  “I shook my head. The leader came even closer to me. ‘Come here where we can see you,’ he ordered.

  “I had no choice. Slowly I stood and walked into the center of the group. I was still wearing only the trousers and the coat, and the man’s blood was visible on my bare chest. I looked into his eyes, and saw understanding there. He knew instantly that I was not human, then one of the others began to yell, ‘He’s here! He’s here! Charles is dead!’

  “I fled up the path in a blur of speed, knocking the man to the ground. Without thinking, I headed back toward the house where I had come from, having no other place to go. Behind me I heard the pounding of the horses and the screams of the men. They followed but I was too fast. I eventually lost them and found my way back to the little house. I stayed there for the rest of the night, unbelievably frightened at the thought of being discovered. Soon the sun came and I fell asleep in the room that had been my home for so many nights.

  “The next night when I awoke I instantly remembered wh
at had happened, and knew I could not stay at that house any longer. I needed a plan, and some money to get myself far away. There was some back at my room in town, and it was my plan to go there for it, change and leave town. Where I was going to go after that I didn’t know. I couldn’t return to my family. The thought of losing control and hurting one of them was too horrible to imagine. I just had to get away then try to figure out what I was, and how I would live.

  “Then I heard them. A large crowd was approaching the house. They were a way off still, but close enough that it would have been tricky to slip away unnoticed. I wasn’t aware of my abilities then, the strength, the speed, or the influence I could have over another’s mind. I panicked. I grabbed her corpse, thinking I would bury it somewhere, and I slipped out of the house. I could physically hear the voices and the movements, and mentally hear the thoughts, but I wasn’t able to differentiate between the two. It was all garbled and confusing, and distracted me from thinking clearly. I made it about a mile from the house before I crossed paths with two men on horseback. I knew instantly that one of them was the man who had challenged me the previous night, one of Seraphine’s relatives. I saw a light bobbing to the rhythm of the horse’s movement. I was frightened, and I was thirsty. I had only fed once in six days, and the effects were ravaging my body and my mind.

  “I jumped out from the tree line, startling the horses. One whinnied and reared on its back legs. The man dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, while the other managed to get his mount under control. He locked eyes with me, angry hate-filled eyes that burnt right into me. He jumped down and when he was close enough to see what was in my hands, his rage flared. ‘Monster!’ he screamed and he had no idea how right he was.

  “‘I didn’t mean to kill her,’ I said.

  “He snatched her body from my arms, and seeing the state of decay he retched, dropping her to the path. His partner joined him, but underneath his anger there was fear. I snaked out and snatched the smaller man from where he stood. I leapt from where the three of us had been standing, and landed effortlessly several yards away. I stuck my fangs into the man’s neck and drained his life away in minutes. The other man looked about in bewilderment, unable to track my preternatural speed. Finally he spotted us and ran to where I was feeding from his friend. He stopped just short of me, his bravado fading. ‘What are you?’

  “‘Something to be feared.’ I tossed the now-dead body of his friend at his feet.

  “‘I know you. I know who you are! My sister told me of you! Giovanni, that’s your name!’ He pointed a shaky finger in my direction, his eyes wide with fear.

  “I was just about to take him as well, when I heard the distinct sound of horses, and the voices of many men yelling to one another in the darkness. I had to get away if I was to save myself. I turned to run and I heard him screaming after me, declaring his revenge for his sister’s death. ‘I will find you, and I will find a way to kill you, whatever you are. The Desmarais family will not rest until you have been destroyed!’ His words howled in my ears as I ran away. I snuck back to my previous residence, climbed in a window, and got my things. I left that town, and travelled as far as I could for many nights. When I was satisfied that I was somewhat safe, I did everything I could to figure out what had happened to me. Eventually I discovered the truth. I read and I listened to folklore from all the places I visited. I learnt about the pain from the sun. I gained control over my strength and learnt how to move so fast I could not be detected. I learnt how to read and sometimes influence others’ minds, though that was a lot of hit and miss for many years. Occasionally I even met others like us.”

  “What about the one who made you? You don’t even know his name?”

  “No name. Nothing. In all the years that I have existed I have never seen or heard from him again.”

  “I’m sorry for you. What a terrible way for that to have happened. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you to guide me, and protect me.”

  “I’ve survived.”

  “Yes, but what a way for it to have happened.”

  “Things happen for a reason, I firmly believe that. Perhaps I needed to go through what I did, to find my way to you.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe. So now the fight will be both of ours. I think that together we can get through anything.”

  “I do too. So have I answered all of your questions?”

  “Well, what happened to your family? I mean what did they do when you disappeared?”

  “My mother came to France to search for me when the family I was staying with informed her of my disappearance. She did her best to look into it. I know that there was some speculation that Seraphine and I ran off together, but that was quickly kyboshed. My mother spoke with the brother, Henri, and he told her that his sister’s body had been found and buried, and that he had no idea what had happened to me. Eventually she gave up and returned home. She dedicated herself to my siblings and her many grandchildren, and life went on without me.”

  “Hopefully life will go on without me.”

  “It will, my love, I promise. Time does heal all wounds. I think that maybe now, after all these hundreds of years even my pain will heal.”

  “I hope I can be a part of that.”

  “You already are. I would never have talked about this again if I hadn’t met you. I had almost reached the point where I didn’t care if I existed any longer. I had been without reason to exist for so long, destruction seemed almost to be a blessing. You see, as long as I have been running, the Desmarais have been chasing. They have grown in number and resources, becoming powerful and wealthy. Without a reason to want to carry on, I have toyed with the idea of letting them catch me.”

  My voice was heavy with emotion when I spoke. “Don’t ever say anything like that again.”

  “I won’t. For the first time in a long time I feel happy, and I feel a reason for my existence. You.”

  “Then together we will do whatever it takes to make sure that the Desmarais never find us, and that we never forget how miraculous it was that we found each other.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  We continued on to Winnipeg then flew out of the country. It was easy to slip away. When we reached Europe, Giovanni arranged for one of his contacts to prepare new identification documents for us, and then it was as if we had disappeared from the face of the earth. In a way this was true, because the girl I once was no longer existed.

  Together, with no fear and no regrets, we left my old life behind. The future was wide open and ours for the taking.

  Chapter 11

  Ten Years Later

  The night sky was a vast expanse of twinkling stars. The air tasted of salt from the sea. The wind sweeping off the waters was warm, and it was warmer still in the arms of my love as we lay on the sand. Though the temperature neither helped nor hindered us, I still found its sensation comforted me. We lay together on the shores of a great body of water, secure in the relative safety we found there.

  After many years of moving from one place to another, never staying longer than a year and sometimes only a few weeks, we finally settled in a medium-sized Greek town nestled along the Mediterranean Sea. I was introduced to several of Giovanni’s contacts throughout our travels, and learnt the locations of several of his real estate holdings.

  I also gained control of my thirst and my powers. With Giovanni’s guidance I adapted quickly to my new existence, and no longer considered myself a hindrance. I knew how to play the part to pass as human, how to cover the trail of my kills, and to assume new identities as needed. Being a vampire was even better than I could have imagined.

  I was also given access to several accounts that he held throughout the world, being conveniently listed as his “wife.” It was a strange arrangement, with several accounts being left in trust to his “son,” and now wife or “daughter” in the event of his death. It was a simple way to pass on his wealth from one era to the nex
t without raising any alarms. Gaining fake documents was never a difficult task, considering some of the parties he aligned himself with. Still it amazed me, the ease with which he sailed through one identity to the next, and one country to another. After all the time he had spent roaming the earth, he had perfected the art of assuming new identities.

  We settled in our new home after a decade of a gypsy-like lifestyle, when Giovanni was finally sure the Desmarais family had been shaken from our trail. Of course it was always a matter of time before either our not aging would force us to move on, or our pursuers would catch up with us again. They were a dedicated and crafty bunch, fully committed to the destruction of what they believed to be an abomination, namely vampires, and specifically Giovanni.

  For now we were settled. The town was lovely, and our home offered us the privacy we needed. We kept a small yacht, available for a hasty retreat if needed, and many sailors in the vicinity were ready to captain her for the right price. Above all else, we had each other.

  The world was right then, beautiful and uncomplicated. Our love was strong. We had escaped destruction before, and we could do it again. Giovanni was the best instructor and a fierce protector. He made me feel strong and adored. There was never a second thought about the life I had left behind. I fully embraced who and what I had become.

  The land was strange and exciting to me, and somewhere even Giovanni had not been in a long time. It was a place with a long history and a proud heritage, with many large cities to hunt in, as well as remote mountains and forests. We also had quick and easy access to several other countries bordering our adopted home, and we knew that spreading out our feeding ground meant less chance of detection. Even in that day and age, different countries did not easily share information about crimes committed within their borders with others.

  I was so happy there. Greece was somewhere I had long dreamt of visiting, even as a very young girl. I never thought that I would make it there even for a holiday, much less have the chance to make it my home, however briefly. I was enchanted with its history and the culture. The landscapes and the architecture were breathtaking, even in the dark of night. The people were beautiful and exotic to my inexperienced eye, and I interacted with them as much as I could without drawing suspicion.