In Love With A Vampire

by M. J. Stevens

  “So now all these birds have been placed in their positions … and what do we have to do? Wait for her to wake up?”

  “Yes, we have to wait for some time for her to be revived. At this moment, the magical energy of dawn is channeling through all these birds, binding them together and slowly transferring their essence to Rellie, giving her new life in the process. For the ritual to be complete, we need to wait until noon when the sun rises above our heads. That’s when the energy from the noon sun showers down and completes the ritual, and henceforth … Rellie will be awakened from the dead.”

  Jesse listened intently to Maggie, as if it sounded too unrealistic. But stranger things had happened, and she’d seen Maggie use her magic in ways she didn’t know was possible before.

  Jesse glanced at her watch, and her mouth was tugged in a frown. “But it will be hours before noon. Do we have to wait that long?”

  “I guess we have no choice but to wait,” Maggie said with a sigh.

  Jesse leapt back to the riverbank with ease, walked toward the nearest tree and leaned against it.

  “Are you thirsty?” Jesse asked. “I can zoom down the highway to the nearest convenience store and get us some cold drinks.”

  “Sure, that would be great,” Maggie said with a tired smile. Using her magic that morning had partially drained her energy, and Maggie looked like she needed a momentary rest.

  Jesse sped across the highway, got some cold bottled drinks and zoomed back at lightning speed back to the river.

  Maggie downed the bottle in one gulp, obviously very thirsty from the heat of the sun.

  “That feels refreshing,” Maggie said with a chuckle, as Jesse gulped down her drink too.

  “I’m going to my car and blast some air-conditioning,” Jesse said, and headed for the car.

  “I’ll join you,” Maggie said, and followed Jesse to the car.

  Once they were both settled in the air-conditioned interior of the car, both Maggie and Jesse rested comfortably in their seats, silent for a moment. Both of them were certainly preoccupied in their own thoughts.

  Maggie contemplated on her past, and in retrospect, she was surprised that she had actually agreed to perform the revival ritual. Maggie had vowed solemnly never to be tangled up with magic anymore, and doing revival would be the last thing on earth she would do.

  She knew that doing this revival would lead to dark consequences, but she knew that she had to do it because it was for the greater good. So for now, she tried not to ponder on what those consequences were, even though they were nagging at the corner of her mind.

  While Maggie was caught up in her own thoughts, Jesse was thinking of one person in her mind: Ken. Among all the storm of thoughts that were whirling inside her mind, she chose to focus on Ken. Where was Ken? Was he safe? Or more precisely, was he posing a threat to other human beings? Jesse prayed hard that Ken wouldn’t lay a finger on a human being, even though she kindly doubted so as Ken was a newborn vampire, and newborns tended to be wild and reckless.

  The morning seemed to progress slowly. Occasionally, Maggie and Jesse would strike up a conversation in the car, talking mostly about their own personal lives and reminiscing about their childhood. Jesse grew fonder of Maggie as she realized that Maggie was actually a kind-hearted woman who had participated in countless of charities in the past. Maggie also used to be a sportswoman during her university days, and she excelled in track and field.

  Maggie also learned about Jesse’s past, but she tried not to venture too deep into it because Jesse seemed reluctant to talk about it. Jesse shared about her favorite hobbies and pastimes, and hoped that Maggie would go on a rock climbing expedition with her in the future, to which Maggie agreed because the thought of such outdoor sports excited her. Maggie felt that she and Jesse could develop a form of friendship along the way, but it was too soon to tell. Right now, they only had one goal in mind … which was to revive Rellie.

  The noon sun finally peaked, scorching the grounds with its intense heat and causing the river to shimmer in its glaring light.

  “It’s finally noon!” Maggie observed, and immediately, the two women got out of the car and headed to the river, where Rellie still lay on the rock with the sun casting its glare on her.

  “I’m going to chant some words to complete the ritual,” Maggie announced, and Jesse retreated a few steps, giving Maggie some space.

  Incomprehensible foreign-sounding words poured out of Maggie’s mouth as she kept her eyes closed. She stretched both her arms out toward the sun, her body directly facing Rellie.

  Jesse watched as the birds were wrapped in a dark orange-red glow, and she finally realized what was happening. The birds were scorched by the sun, vanishing away until they became ashes.

  Maggie continued mumbling in a chanting mode, her arms flailing as if she was channeling some magical energy from the noon sun.

  Several moments later, Jesse thought that she saw Rellie’s skin tone slowly changed. Her lifeless pallid body was infused with the ivory hue of a normal skin tone, and the luster returned to her hair. Her cheeks became rosier as minutes passed, and all the bruises on her body fade away as if by magic.

  Jesse gasped in awe, seeing the revival taking place, working its magic on Rellie.

  Maggie continued chanting, and this time, she was waving her hands more wildly, more urgently, as if she was conducting an orchestra. Jesse could sense magical energy whirling with great intensity in the air, and it seemed that Maggie was working to channel that energy toward Rellie.

  Color had completely returned to Rellie’s body, and she looked like a perfectly healthy person, except that she was still lying there in a motionless state. Was Rellie still dead? Was she going to wake up from the dead at any moment?

  Jesse watched in anticipation, her gaze flicking back and forth from Rellie to Maggie.

  And all of a sudden, when Rellie’s eyes jerked open, Maggie’s chanting had stopped. Maggie too, had also opened her eyes, as though she knew that the ritual had been completed.

  “Rellie?” Jesse cried from the riverbank, waiting for Rellie to respond. But Rellie lay there quietly, her eyes still open unblinkingly, staring straight into the glare of the noon sun.

  Jesse gasped. Was Rellie in a coma? Why wasn’t she physically responding? Jesse could see that her eyes were open, but her body didn’t even twitch a little.

  “Is something wrong?” Jesse finally asked, looking at Maggie, whose eyes were still trained on Rellie.

  “Wait,” Maggie replied patiently. “It takes time for the magic to work. The ritual is done … and now we just have to wait and see what happens.”

  Jesse felt a sense of trepidation wash over her, but she couldn’t explain why. All she knew was that it didn’t seem right at all.

  Suddenly, Rellie sat up straight on her back like a spring, and then, she gave a sideway glance, first at Jesse, and then at Maggie.

  Jesse saw that Rellie’s eyes looked feral and disoriented, as if she was lost in the woods. Maybe that was a normal thing … because Rellie would be wondering why on earth she was sitting there on a rock in the middle of the river?

  Rellie sprang back up to her feet, stretching her body as if she had just woken up from an eternal sleep. She set her gaze on Jesse again, looking at her as though Jesse was some kind of a stranger.

  “Rellie … are you OK?” Jesse asked, edging closer toward the riverbank.

  But still, Rellie didn’t respond. Her eyes seemed distant and cold, as she hovered around the rock, swiveling her gaze from Jesse to Maggie.

  Couldn’t Rellie at least talk? Rellie was really giving her the creeps with her ominous behavior.

  “Rellie,” Maggie finally said after being quiet for quite some time. “Rellie, please talk to us. We’ll explain everything. We’ll explain how you got here, and what really happened to you. Just say something … anything.”

  But Rellie remained mysteriously quiet, her eyes filled with an unknowing darkness. For a momen
t, Jesse thought that Rellie might have been possessed. She didn’t look like herself, and Jesse could sense waves of chilling darkness emanating from her. She didn’t expect for Rellie to wake up in such a disoriented and ominous state. She thought that Rellie would break down and burst into sobs, wondering what was going on with her, and then demanded an explanation.

  But strangely, Rellie didn’t seem to be emotionally affected by any of this. She looked like she was in a trance, and she was staring at both Maggie and Jesse with those zombie-like eyes.

  “Are you sure the ritual worked?” Jesse asked, lines wrinkling her forehead. “Because Rellie looks like an entirely different person. She doesn’t look … human.” Seeing Rellie in such a state reminded Jesse of Ken. Ken wasn’t himself at all when he had transformed into a vampire, and Jesse couldn’t recognize the man she used to know. What if Rellie was adversely affected by the magic, and it caused her to become like this?”

  Maggie sighed. “I don’t know … but I’ve followed all the steps. She should return to normal, like the way she used to be.”

  Both of them couldn’t pull their eyes away from Rellie, who was still gazing creepily at them with those almost-hostile eyes that reeked darkness.

  “Maybe this is not a good idea,” Jesse observed, glancing at Maggie. “Maybe we should undo this revival thing.”

  Maggie’s face flushed red. “I don’t know how to undo this, OK? Reviving Rellie required powerful magic, and to undo this would require more than that. I don’t think I can channel that much magic … if I force myself to overload myself with too much magic …” Maggic trailed off, as if she couldn’t bring herself to say those words.

  “You would die,” Jesse finished for her. “I guess even though Rellie did get back to life, we still don’t get the Rellie we want.” Disappointment crushed Jesse’s spirits. She thought that this plan would work, and everything would work in her favor. But unfortunately, it didn’t seem to go the way she expected …

  Caught in her own storm of thoughts, she didn’t realize that Maggie was screaming until it was too late.

  Jesse felt a strong force pummel her like a meteorite, sending her rolling across the ground like a spinning top. She groaned in pain as she felt the pain throbbing across her body like sharp pins.

  She recovered quickly, and immediately sprang back to her feet. What she saw made her jaw drop in terror.

  Rellie was not standing on the rock anymore. Instead, she was now standing a few feet away from Maggie, whose face was etched with fear as she retreated slowly to the nearest tree as if it would protect her.

  How did Rellie get across from the river to the ground? She couldn’t possibly jump from the rock as it was humanly impossible to jump such a distance over the raging currently.

  “Jesse!” Maggie cried, leaning against the tree behind her as Rellie hovered around slowly in a threatening manner. “Rellie actually jumped from the rock to this side! She actually jumped! How could she have such an ability? No humans can jump like that! She jumped almost like the way you have jumped earlier when you tried to get her across the river to the rock!”

  Jesse realized what had happened, and her heart pounded so hard that it almost burst through her chest. Earlier on, Rellie had leapt across the river, and it was she who had collided into her, maybe by accident, and sent Jesse flying across the ground.

  Rellie had to have some enormous strength to cause such a strong physical impact on Jesse. But how did she get the strength from? Questions stirred ferociously inside Jesse’s mind. Rellie didn’t wake up from the dead as a human. In fact, she seemed to have woken up as something else, something completely different. Was she a … vampire?

  Jesse watched as Rellie paced around in circles aimlessly close to the riverbank, looking like a disoriented mental patient. Rellie didn’t seem intent on hurting Maggie and her, but instead, she seemed to be so caught up in her own world, as if in a trance, like she had no idea what to do next.

  Jesse zoomed over to Maggie, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “Are you alright. Maggie?” Jesse asked, her eyes filled with mixed emotions.

  “I’m not alright,” Maggie cried, looking terribly upset. “Something had gone wrong with the ritual. It just doesn’t seem right at all.”

  “Look at me, Maggie,” Jesse prodded, shaking Maggie’s shoulders, and she finally looked straight into Jesse’s eyes. “Did the ritual backfire or something? How come Jesse look … inhuman? I can only presume that she’s a vampire, by the look of things.”

  “But how can she be a vampire?” Maggie protested, her eyes becoming bloodshot with tears. “I saw her dead body. She was a dead human being, not a dead vampire. She died a human being, not a vampire.”

  “But she’s not acting like a human, is she? Look at her and tell me-”

  Before Jesse could finish her sentence, something pounced and attacked Maggie in a flash, drawing a scream from her throat and shoving Jesse aside due to the physical impact.

  “I’m thirsty!” Rellie howled in desperation, grasping Maggie tightly as her fangs slid out. Rellie was going to feed on Maggie! Maggie, who was clutched in a deathly grip, wasn’t able to wave her hands to channel her magic. So Maggie was at the mercy of Rellie, whose expression bore the wild lust for blood.

  Jesse had to help Maggie. Within seconds, Jesse rammed against Rellie with all her might, causing Rellie to be flung across the air before she had time to sink her fangs into Maggie’s neck. The impact caused Maggie to crash against the tree behind, and she shrieked in pain as blood oozed from her head.

  The smell of fresh blood dripping from Rellie’s wounds fueled Rellie’s lust, and she growled in raging thirst as she leapt back to her feet, heading back toward Maggie who was lying sprawled underneath the tree.

  But Jesse wouldn’t let her get to Rellie. Acting as a shield, Jesse sprang forward and blocked Rellie’s pathway to Maggie.

  Gripped with hysterical thirst, Rellie pounced on Jesse, trying to shove her aside to get to Maggie, who was lying in her own pool of blood. But Jesse fought back, resisting Rellie with all the strength she could muster. She tried to pin Rellie down on the ground, but Rellie used her knees and landed a painful kick into Jesse’s stomach, causing Jesse to groan in excruciating pain and roll to one side as she clutched her stomach.

  Like a wild and feral animal, Rellie roared and sprang toward Maggie, trying to taste all the fresh blood that was flowing tantalizingly in front of her.

  Jesse saw that Maggie was lying motionlessly on the ground, and guessed that she must have been completely knocked out. Out of the corner of her eye, Jesse saw a ball-sized rock about three feet away from her. Without another second thought, she rolled over swiftly at blinking speed, grabbed the rock and flung it as hard as she could in Rellie’s direction.

  Before Rellie had the chance to have any physical contact with Maggie, the rock hit Rellie with such intense ferocity that Jesse could almost hear a sickening crunch as Rellie tumbled onto the ground, howling in a chilling high-pitched voice. It seemed to Jesse that she’d probably cracked Rellie’s skull, but that wouldn’t stop Rellie from getting what she wanted as vampires could naturally heal and recover from any wounds.

  As Rellie writhed on the ground clutching her badly damaged head, Jesse dashed over to Maggie, trying to rouse her. Maggie’s blood stained Jesse’s clothes, and for a moment there, a wild lust for blood raged within Jesse, tempting her to lick every blood that was oozing on the ground like sweet honey. But over the years, Jesse had learned how to resist temptation when it came to human blood, but it wasn’t easy at first as human blood was like drug to her. But now, she was able to resist herself from bloodlust even though she was drenched in Maggie’s blood.

  “Maggie!” Jesse shook Maggie with all her might, hoping that Maggie would come out from her unconsciousness. “Maggie! Can you hear me?” It seemed that trying to wake up Maggie was a futile attempt, so Jesse had to find a way to bring Maggie as far away as possible from Re
llie.

  Using both arms, she heaved Maggie up with ease and carried Maggie on her back, ready to whisk her away from danger.

  “I’m going to get you out of here,” Jesse promised. She decided not to head for the car because driving would be slow, and Rellie would be able to catch up with her vampire speed. Jesse was going to run on foot, and run as fast as her supernatural ability allowed her to.

  With Maggie leaning against her back, Jesse zoomed through the forest at high speed, whooshing past leaves and branches. She crossed several small streams in her way, leaping over them with acrobatic ease as she tried to head for the forest exit at the other end. Once she reached the exit, the sight of a highway greeted her. Jesse had no idea where she was going, but she knew that she just had to run as far as she could if it meant keeping a safe distance between Rellie and Maggie.

  The scent of blood assailing Jesse’s nose was threatening to crumble the inner defense that was preventing Jesse from feeding on Maggie like she was a free feast. Jesse had to admit that Maggie’s blood smelled so temptingly good, and there were time that she wanted to pause and maybe take an occasional sip of her blood. But Jesse tried very hard to resist, mentally scolding herself for even harboring such thoughts in the first place.

  Where should I go? Where should I go? Jesse asked herself anxiously as she sped down the highway at a blurry fast speed. Jesse could feel her own energy draining, but not so much that it would impede her from running and carrying Maggie at the same time. But she knew that if she continued like this for a longer period, she might get physically exhausted and eventually collapsed. But for now, she was able to hold it … but she needed to know where to bring Maggie, and make sure that she was safe.