Blood Born

by Jamie Manning

  “Why would I know?” he asked, confused again.

  “Because you’re the one who did this to me!” I stepped away from him then, suddenly furious that he was denying what he did.

  “You think I bit you?!” he snapped back, smiling and very close to laughing. “You think I’m a vampire?”

  “Aren’t you?” I couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. At that moment, it really didn’t matter.

  “Can’t you smell me?” he asked, his voice much calmer and softer. “Can’t you smell my blood?”

  “Yes.” One simple word. That was all I could eke out as Chance moved forward, stopping only inches from me. He was doing it on purpose. I cleared my throat and tried to ignore the pulsing vein in his neck. “Yeah I can smell it.”

  He smiled wickedly. “Then I’m human,” he said, almost whispered. “So no, I didn’t do this to you.” With that he moved away and I felt my body shudder in his absence. I was mad at myself for letting him get to me so easily. I made a quick vow to put a stop to that ASAP.

  “How is me smelling your blood proof that you’re human?”

  “Because if I were a vampire, you wouldn’t have looked at me that way.” His eyes were like knives, carving their way into me with fierce precision. I wanted to look away but couldn’t.

  “What way?” I asked, getting madder by the second that he was being so smug.

  He flashed that crooked smile again and said, “Like you wanted to bite me and have a taste.”

  I did want to taste him. He was right. And he knew it. That really pissed me off. “Don’t worry your pretty little head,” I snapped. “I wouldn’t bite you if my life depended on it.”

  “No? Well, we’ll see how you feel if that time actually comes.” The tone with which he said the words scared me, almost like he knew that one day I would, in fact, have to drink his blood to survive. The thought both made my stomach turn and my mind swim in dizzying euphoria; I disgusted myself.

  “So if you didn’t do this, then who did?” I had to move the subject away from the idea of me biting into his muscular neck. My life, or unlife, already had enough problems; the last thing I needed was to attack a stranger, hot or not. I caught a glimpse of Chance’s eyes as he turned away from me. A tiny sliver of fear was hidden there. It left as quickly as it came, but it was there nonetheless.

  “I can’t tell you,” he said, crossing the cemetery away from me.

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s not my place.”

  “Not your place? Not your place!” I was getting madder with each passing second. “That’s ridiculous. You dig me up and tell me I’m a vampire but suddenly it’s not your place to say any more?”

  “I never said you were a vampire. I said you were bitten by one.”

  “There’s a difference?”

  “Yes, there is.”

  “So I’m not a vampire then?” I watched Chance’s body rise and fall as he took a deep breath before turning to face me.

  “Not technically,” he finally said, worry littering his words.

  “Can you stop being so cryptic?” Trying to ignore the smell of his blood and pry information from him at the same time was starting to unnerve me.

  “Sorry.” He lowered his eyes then quickly brought them up to meet mine. I felt my face burn.

  “Just say what you mean.” I fought to ignore my flushed cheeks.

  “I mean you’re not a vampire. Not exactly.” Chance had a sorry-I-don’t-know-how-else-to-explain-it look on his face, the dimples in each of his cheeks prominent. The sight of him made my heart beat faster.

  “Okay,” I said, breaking free from our moment by looking away. “I don’t claim to be an expert, and my memory is unreliable right now to say the least,” Chance half-smiled at me. “But if a vampire bites a human, doesn’t the human become a vampire?”

  “Not if the vampire doesn’t want you to,” he finally responded. “He has all the control.”

  “He?” I asked, happy to finally be getting even the tiniest of information from him. “So it was a he who did this to me?” This time, no matter how much his eyes and scent and muscles were drawing me in, I refused to look away from his face. “Who was it?”

  “I’ve already told you, it’s not my place to say.” My level of frustration was rising with each breath I took. Why wouldn’t he just answer the question? What was he hiding?

  “Fine,” I replied through gritted teeth. “I get it. Not your place to tell. Whatever.” I took a deep breath to calm down, then added “Then who’s place is it?”

  “Mine.”

  The voice rose from the weighty fog like a monster, startling me, and I spun around to find the source. There, standing on the opposite side of the open grave, tall and dark and looming, was who I could only presume to be the vampire that killed me.

  “Sorry for the mess,” Chance spoke softly, practically falling over each word. “I was going to clean it up but I—”

  “Became distracted,” the vampire interrupted, staring me down as he spoke. Chance winced like a scolded dog. “It’s fine,” the vampire continued. “You accomplished the most important part.” His eyes never left mine, and I realized that he looked much closer to my age than the ancient, Dracula-type corpse I had been expecting. I suddenly found the moment funny. I couldn’t remember my name or where I came from, but a fictional character from an ancient book and movie popped right into my head. Talk about stress. I glared at the vampire, the glow of the moonlight casting shadows across his face, making his appearance more model-like than walking-dead-like.

  “How are you, Avaline?” So he knew my name, too. The night just kept getting stranger and stranger. The vampire’s voice was like warm liquid, flowing into my ears and instantly soothing me. I suddenly felt as if none of this horrible night had ever happened.

  “Fine,” I said, my eyes fixated on his. Even if I had wanted to—and I didn’t—I couldn’t have looked away. His eyes were hypnotic. I stared into them, the bright amber gold clear as day even from across the foggy cemetery.

  “He’s compelling you.” Chance’s deep, sexy voice whispered over my shoulder, and like a faucet being turned off, my mind rose from its trance-like state.

  “Very impressive,” the vampire said, his smile as brilliant as Chance’s. “Very well done, Avaline. A perfect jumping-off-point, as they say. Looks as though you’ll be a fast learner.” His voice stood out to me with its old world sound, a sharp contrast to his youthful, urban looks.

  “What’s impressive?” I asked, my mind still hazy from being controlled.

  “How quickly you were able to free yourself from my thoughts,” the vampire spoke. “How you forced your mind to ignore what it was being told to do. Not an easy feat, my dear.”

  “I’m not your ‘dear.’” I had to fight the urge to puke all over myself.

  The vampire simply smiled. “Forgive me for not introducing myself,” he continued. In less than half a second, he was inches from me, my hand now resting in his, a wry smile on his face. My mind hurt trying to process what it had just seen—him moving as fast as lightning. “My name is Aldric Kruger. Please, excuse my rudeness.”

  “What rudeness?” I snapped back. “Forgetting to tell me your name? Or killing me and stuffing me in a box in the ground?” Apparently I was oblivious to the fact that the undead man standing in front of me could kill me faster than I could blink my eyes. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it, but the unbelievable events of the night kept the realization at bay. It was like the filter in my brain had been disarmed and I was free to speak my mind. Aldric’s smile faded a bit, my words obviously having an effect on him. He quickly recovered with a tiny laugh.

  “Be very careful, Avaline. Do not let my youthful looks fool you. I’m over a thousand years old, and I could rip your head from your shoulders without thinking twice.” Even as he said the words I didn’t believe them; something told me Aldric didn’t believe them either.

  “Do it and I’ll kill you
.” Chance’s voice caught me off guard. I spun to look at him, and what I saw scared me. His face was twisted in to a gnarled expression of anger and rage. His arms were taut at his sides, the muscles rippling beneath his skin. His fists were tightly coiled and beating against his legs.

  “Really?” Aldric said with a hint of surprise in his voice. “Well, Mr. Caldon, I must say you never cease to amaze me.” Aldric was mocking Chance now. Somehow I knew that Chance would be dead before he could even get close enough to Aldric to kill him. “But perhaps you should heed the warning given to Avaline, my friend. It is in your best interest, believe me.”

  “I am not your friend,” Chance said through clenched teeth. The anxiety evident in his body seemed to intensify.

  “Your title really is irrelevant. You will do as I say.” Aldric only glanced in Chance’s direction, his body firmly planted in front of me. I focused on his eyes, which seemed to burn with anger toward Chance. My heart fluttered with worry. Apparently, Aldric could sense my uneasiness.

  “Look what you’ve done, Mr. Caldon,” he said, turning his attention back to me. “You’ve upset Avaline.” He paused a moment, then added, “Apologize to our guest.” I wanted so badly to take my hand back and run away from Aldric and Chance and my newfound-but-unwanted life. I wanted to go to sleep and wake up to find that all of this had been a horrible nightmare and I was back to being normal. I closed my eyes for a moment, hoping that when I opened them, my dream would come true. It didn’t.

  “I’m sorry, Ava,” Chance said from behind me. I could tell without even looking at him that he meant it, though I’m sure he wasn’t happy about being told to apologize.

  “It’s okay, really.” I felt bad for Chance, I honestly did. But somehow I couldn’t look away from Aldric.

  “Ava?” Aldric said. “Well, please forgive me again, Ava. I was unaware of your preferred epithet.” Aldric’s smile felt sinister, almost evil. A chill crawled my spine and settled into the back of my mind, warning me not to trust him; no problem there. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, shall we move on to what’s important?” He dropped my hand and stepped away from me. As soon as he did, I noticed his missing presence. I hated the feeling. He stood with his back to me for a moment before flashing over to where Chance stood. My eyes couldn’t move fast enough to follow him without making my stomach turn. By the time they caught up to him, he had Chance lifted off the ground by his throat.

  “Stop it!” I screamed, running over and pulling on Aldric’s arm. I could feel a surge of strength pulsing through my veins, strength that was both foreign and familiar to me. Suddenly I felt like I could do anything— except make Aldric let Chance go. His arm was hard as stone and immovable, like trying to knock down a brick wall. “Leave him alone!” I shouted again.

  Though I was getting nowhere, I didn’t let up. I kept pulling on Aldric’s arm and hitting him and kicking him, doing whatever I could to keep him from killing Chance, who clearly was close to dying. His face was blood red and he was grasping desperately at Aldric’s large, firm hands clenched around his throat. His legs kicked wildly in the air, trying to find the ground below. A whiff of his blood flooded my nostrils and made me weak-kneed; apparently intense emotion or stress made the smell—and craving—more intense. Just what I needed.

  “He must be punished,” Aldric said, his stance unwavering. The way he stood motionless, hard and rigid like a statue, sent shivers down my spine. His fiery eyes remained locked on Chance’s distorted face. I had a sinking feeling that I was about to become witness to a murder.

  “Killing him is a bit much for punishment, don’t you think?” I couldn’t believe such a calm statement came out of my mouth. Inside, I was raw nerves and energy, feeling like I would burst if touched. “Let him go, Aldric. I’m sure he’s sorry.” Without realizing it, I had stopped assaulting Aldric and simply stood docile behind him, like I somehow knew that he would do what I said. After a few more seconds of choking the life out of Chance, he did.

  “Lucky for you, Mr. Caldon, Ava is sympathetic. Try to remember that I’m not.” Aldric dropped Chance like trash into a can. He crumpled to the ground and began coughing intensely. I wanted to kneel down and make sure he was okay, but Aldric’s angry temper told me that would be a mistake, so I resisted.

  “Now, I’m sure Ava has many questions, yes?” Aldric looked from Chance to me, and I don’t know why, but I smiled.

  “I do, I guess.” The affect he was having on me was really confusing me and making it difficult to focus. I honestly couldn’t remember a single thing I wanted answers to. I looked over at Chance—mainly to buy some time—and was relieved that he seemed a bit better. The color was slowly coming back to his face and he had stopped coughing. I allowed myself to calm down a bit, and questions began flooding my mind.

  “Where am I?” I asked, not recognizing any of my surroundings.

  “A small town outside of Boston,” Aldric answered. “Wellesley. Such a beautiful name, no? Pity the environment doesn’t quite live up to it.” Aldric’s smugness was revolting, but I didn’t have the time to teach him politeness—not that it would’ve made a difference, I’m sure.

  “Am I from here?”

  “More or less.” Aldric smiled again, that creepy, crooked smile he had already flashed more than once. I wanted to keep pressing, force him to tell me everything I knew he was keeping from me, but I moved on.

  “Am I a vampire?” I asked. Aldric’s wild eyes were intoxicating, fighting hard to draw me in again.

  “Yes, but not in the capacity that I am a vampire. You are very special.”

  “Special how?”

  “You are only half vampire, Ava. You are also half human.” He paused for what I could only assume was dramatic effect—I was getting the feeling being overly dramatic was a vampire specialty. “This means that you, like all vampires, will need blood to survive, but you also have human traits as well. A very special case, indeed.” Aldric moved slowly toward me, much slower than earlier. If I hadn’t seen his feet actually touching the ground, I could’ve sworn he was floating across the cemetery.

  “What does that mean?” I asked. Aldric smiled charmingly. I caught a glimpse of Chance in my peripheral. Pissed wasn’t a strong enough word to describe the look on his face.

  “It means you possess both good and bad traits from each species. You are strong and immortal, like a vampire. But you are also emotional, and therefore vulnerable, like humans.”

  “How can I be both immortal and vulnerable at the same time?” Aldric laughed at me, but not in a cruel way. Well, not in a totally cruel way. It was more like the way an older brother would laugh at his kid sister. Did Aldric see me that way? As his baby sister that he had to protect and show the ropes?

  “The term ‘immortal’ only refers to the fact that we do not grow old and die. We can, however, be killed. The fact that you are part human is going to bring to you an entirely new set of threats that all other vampires cannot possibly imagine. Therein lies your vulnerability.” I lowered my eyes from his, totally freaking out over the fact that not only had I just been told I’m a vampire—okay, half, but still—but I was also told that my life was going to be in constant danger by things I would never see coming. Perfect.

  “What about this ‘needing blood’ thing,” I went on. My mind was working overtime trying to process all I was hearing. “Am I going to have to drink it?” The thought made me sick—but also intrigued. I was officially disgusted by myself.

  “You want it right now, don’t you?” Aldric’s eyes fixated on mine, like he and I were the only two beings on Earth. I could almost feel him reaching into my soul, or what was left of it, and touching me.

  “Yes.” I quickly decided lying wasn’t in my best interest. I had to know what was going to happen to me now, no matter how badly I didn’t want to hear it.

  Aldric waited a moment before continuing. “Yes,” he finally said. “You will have to drink. But not to live, like myself and others. You
will need blood to fully realize your strength.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Like I said before, you are a special case, Ava. The first of your kind, in fact. Soon others will discover your existence. Others that will want to, well, meet you, for lack of a better term.”

  “Kill me, you mean?” Suddenly his words were making sense. “Other vampires will want to kill me because I’m, what, different?”

  “Not just different,” Aldric answered, a slight lift in his normally somber tone—like this all excited him in some macabre way. “But better,” he went on. “You possess what every vampire wants.”

  “What?”

  “Humanity.”

  “Humanity?” I asked, growing more and more confused.

  Aldric’s face looked sad, almost defeated. “You still have your humanity, Ava. The one thing no other vampire will ever possess again. The one thing they all want. You are what we can never again be. You are alive.” I suddenly realized that Aldric himself was included in that group of “other” vampires. That was the look on his face I couldn’t quite explain—jealousy. A chill crawled my spine, and though I couldn’t really feel it, I shuddered anyway.

  “Don’t let my words scare you, Ava.” I swear he was listening to my thoughts. “You will be fine.”

  “And how do you know that?” I said, trying to hold back tears. “How do you know I’m not going to walk out of this cemetery and into a pack of crazed vampires on the hunt for humanity? You can’t promise that, can you?” I stared hard at Aldric, his face drawn and suddenly much older-looking than before, like he had experienced a lifetime of pain—which he probably had. I then realized that I was going to end up just like him, pained and worn and eternal. “I just want my old life back,” I added, feeling defeated. I felt a rogue tear jump ship and roll down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away, secretly praying that Chance hadn’t noticed. If he did, he didn’t show it. Aldric, on the other hand, wasn’t so considerate.

  “Ah, there are those nasty human emotions I mentioned. They always have a way of showing up at the least desirable moments.” The callousness of his words made me want to claw his eyes out, which only made the tears threatening to pour from my eyes harder to contain. “Ava, please do not waste your energy on wishing for things that cannot be. Your life is with me now. With us.” He looked up at Chance—who was still standing off to my right, sulking—and smiled, seemingly over the fit of rage he held against him a few minutes ago. “Dreaming of a life that is over will do nothing but turn you bitter and fill you with contempt.”