In Love With A Vampire

by M. J. Stevens

  Finally, after a long moment of silence, Lipton said, “I’ll do whatever it takes to die … if it means that Catan will go down as well. I can’t let him trigger the Apocalypse. I can’t.”

  “I’m touched by your stoicism in all of this,” Dove remarked, carefully studying’s Lipton expression. “You know that you have to make the biggest sacrifice for the greater good … and there’s no other way. Be prepared for your doom, Lipton. It shall come. I’m letting you know in advance so you can be mentally prepared for it, and do everything that matters to you before you finally die for good.”

  Lipton heaved a huge sigh. He knew that death was inevitable for him, because Dove would work around the clock to figure out a way to kill Catan for good, and when that happened … Lipton would be dead as well. Maybe he should go look for Jesse, and say whatever it was he had to say before he died. The only person who mattered to him the most now was Jesse, and Lipton didn’t know how to break it to her without seeing the utter hurt on her face when he told her the ugly truth. He wanted to see Jesse for one last time, to tell her how much he loved him, and how he wished that he would be reincarnated after this … as a normal human being and not some kind of supernatural creature carrying a tragic curse. And when their paths crossed again in another life time, maybe they would fall in love all over again, and get married, have babies and just live a completely normal human life without any supernatural interference. Yes, that was what he would have wanted for himself, and for Jesse. He couldn’t bear to part with her, but he also knew that he had to make the biggest sacrifice so the world would be safe from Catan’s evil clutches.

  Lipton’s train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by Dove’s voice. “I know that this is hard for you, but believe me, it’s all for the greater good. You come from a line of Wingman warriors, and sacrifice has always been the virtue of your kind, no matter if it is a big or small sacrifice. I know that it’s virtually impossible to kill Catan, but with all the years of magic I’ve accumulated and mastered, I vow to find a way to put an end to his life. It may not end well for you, Lipton … but it may also not end well for …” Dove stopped as if saying the last word would shatter her composure and make her tear up.

  “You’ll die,” Lipton finished the last word for her.

  “Yes, it’s a huge possibility that I may also end up dead. Killing Catan will not be an task, but if I manage to kill him for good, it’ll definitely come with a price.”

  “The price of your life,” Rellie chipped in, realizing the enormity of the task at hand, and how dangerous it could be for Dove.

  “But I also fight for the greater good, so if I die killing Catan in the end, I’ll die happy and proud, knowing that I have saved the world from the Apocalypse, a tragic disaster that would completely transform the world and bring an end to all mankind.”

  “So what do we do now?” Lipton asked, glancing at Ken to see how he was doing. To Lipton’s surprise, Ken was intently listening to the whole conversation without even flicking a glance at the bloodied victims behind him. Maybe he was extremely afraid of Dove, who could threaten him with her powers if he decided to give in to his bloodlust and feed on the poor victims. Even Rellie seemed to have lost interest in the victims. Lipton was amazed to see the amount of resistance these two vampires have put up, when the victims all lay on the ground there like easy bait, all drenched in blood. Lipton wouldn’t expect such resistance from newborn vampires, but he guessed that Dove must have sort of put a magical spell on them to dampen their lust, maybe for a momentary period of time.

  “We have to keep Rellie safe for now,” Dove replied, shooting Rellie a sideways glance. “I’ll have to make sure that Catan doesn’t get his hands on her, for she is his Key. And the next thing I have to figure out is how to kill Catan for good, for he is far more powerful than I can ever imagine. But I’ll need some time to figure that out.”

  “What can I do to help?” Lipton asked, almost in a pleading tone. But when he looked at Dove’s face, his heart sank when he realized that he wouldn’t be able to contribute to the cause.

  “There’s nothing much you can do, I’m afraid. You’re the Trigger, and being the Trigger, you’re more of a harm than help. Sorry, I don’t think there’s anything you can do to help. Just go to your loved ones and bid your last goodbyes. Make peace with those you have wronged. Do what you have to do now before I finally figure a way to snuff the life out of you …”

  There was one thing Lipton wanted to do, alright. He wanted to soar up high into the sky, and dashed across the clouds looking for Jesse. She was the only thing on his mind now, and he hoped that she’d be able to accept the fate that was about to befall him.

  “Yes, there is something I have to do,” Lipton said firmly. Then, he turned to look at Ken and held his hand out. “Come on, Ken. I have to bring you back to your wife. She needs to know that you’re safe.”

  Hesitating, Ken looked at Lipton’s hand as though it was diseased. “Why should I go back to my wife?” Ken protested. “She’s going to hate me for all the things I’ve done.” Ken gazed at the victims on the ground, and when Lipton realized that Ken was actually showing guilt for the first time, he smiled in spite of himself.

  Lipton was pleasantly surprised that Ken was able to pluck even an ounce of guilt from his conscience, because it was unheard of that newborn vampires even had an iota of conscience, and they only become “sober” after a long period of time and having some form of rehabilitation for newborn vampires.

  “She’s not going to hate you,” Lipton assured Ken, trying to maintain the composure in his voice. Lipton knew that Jesse wasn’t going to hate Ken for turning into a reckless wild vampire, but he also knew that Jesse had fallen in love with someone else other than her own husband … Lipton himself. Lipton knew that Ken would be heartbroken if he found out that his own wife had given her heart away to someone else, and Lipton wasn’t going to divulge that piece of information yet.

  In his feral state, Ken would go hysterically berserk if he knew that his own wife had fallen for another man.

  “Yes, Ken,” Dove finally spoke when she noticed the hesitation on Ken’s part. “It’s better if you do as what Lipton says. You’re in a very vulnerable state now, and you need some mental and emotional support for what you’re going through now.”

  Ken didn’t respond, but it was an unspoken silence which indicated that he was finally relenting.

  Lipton turned to gaze at the victims lying on the floor, some of them still writhing in pain, and others were completely motionless. Lipton was afraid that some of them might have died, and he prayed hard that death had not taken them, but they were just in their state of unconsciousness.

  “What are we going to do about those victims?” Lipton gestured at the youngsters. “I can send them to the hospital now. They look like they need some serious medical intervention.”

  “Leave them to me,” Dove said in that mysterious tone of hers. “I can get them to the hospital. Don’t you worry about that. Just get Ken back to his wife, and make sure that he gets all the help that he needs.”

  “How are you going to bring them to the hospital?” Lipton asked, mystified. Sure, he knew that Dove was an Enchantress and was able to do whatever she wanted through magical means, but the idea of transporting five bloodied victims to the hospital by herself was a bit too far-fetched.

  “I have my ways. Why do you doubt that? I’m an Enchantress. There’s nothing that I can’t do … with a little magical help.” Dove flashed Lipton a mysterious grin, sending slight chills down his spine.

  “OK, if you say so. I’m going to bring Ken back to his wife now. Meanwhile, what are you going to do … besides making sure the victims seek immediate medical attention?”

  “I need to keep Rellie safe, and make doubly sure that Catan won’t get his hands on her. If he does that, he’d would able to tap onto all the dark powers of the universe, and channel them for his own evil purpose. You do what you need to do, Lipton … a
nd stop asking questions as time is of the essence. I’ll do my part, do whatever it takes to prevent the Apocalypse from happening.”

  “Got it. If you need any help from me, please let me know …”

  Dove shot him a look that made him suddenly feel weak in the knees, as though he had been harpooned at the knee joints. “I don’t need any help from you,” Dove began in a cold tone, “I don’t want any help from you. You are part of Darkness, and if I seek help from you, I’m inviting darkness into my aura, and that would contaminate the purity of my magic. I can’t have that. I’m sorry, but you cannot be of any help to me at all. You’re Catan, and Catan’s you. You are both one and the same.”

  Lipton opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. It crushed his heart to know that he wouldn’t be able to offer any help at all for the cause of the greater good, just because he was cursed to share the same body as Catan, and to carry his evil mark. He really wanted to help, and guilt pounded against his conscience at the thought that he wouldn’t be of any help for this noble cause of saving the world from the Apocalypse.

  “I can see the pain in your eyes, Lipton,” Dove remarked, her voice softening a bit when she saw how agonized Lipton was. “But you know the ultimate sacrifice you have to pay to save this world from the Apocalypse. And I need you to stay as far away from me as possible while I draw on magical strength from white magic. If you’re near me, you may contaminate this white magic with your dark aura, and it would affect my powers, and I wouldn’t be able to channel enough powers to help stop the Apocalypse. I need time to muster as much white magic as possible in this brief period of time, and I need to be sure that nothing dark interferes with it.” Dove’s eyes roamed around her surroundings, as if she was trying to sense something. “I can sense darkness all around me. The Great Darkness is descending, and once it has completely wipe every trace of white magic in our world, it would trigger the Apocalypse.”

  “The Great Darkness?” Lipton scratched his head. What was Dove talking about? Was there some form of darkness lurking around them which he couldn’t sense? The eerie way Dove had brought up those words sent inexplicable chills down Lipton’s back.

  “You can’t see this dark energy around you because you don’t have the supernatural sense for it,” Dove started to explain. “Because I’m an Enchantress and also a seer, there are many kinds of supernatural energy which I can sense. And right now, I can sense dark energy all around me, permeating like shadows, chasing away the rays of good energy. That is why Ken and Rellie are able to resist the temptation of feeding on the bloodied victims lying just a few feet away from us. Newborn vampires wouldn’t be able to resist, and with their feral and reckless nature, they wouldn’t give a damn in the world and would feed on any humans that come in their way. But did you realize after all this time we’re here … Rellie and Ken have been able to resist the bloodlust?” Dove gestured at the five blood-drenched victims, who would have drawn any nearby vampires to them in a split second.

  Lipton nodded. “Yes, I did notice that. It strikes me as odd, especially when both of them are newborn vampires whose consciences are clouded by their wild bloodlust.”

  “You’re observant, Lipton. I’ll give you that. The truth is … the Great Darkness has been unleashed ever since Rellie here became the Key. Rellie holds the source of the Great Darkness within her, and slowly, she’s unleashing traces of it into the world without even realizing it. She’s releasing this dark energy around us, and it’s slowly permeating the air that we breathe. Soon, it will spread like wildfire across the world, and once the Great Darkness has completely consumed the world, Catan will have to use Rellie as the Key to “unlock” her as the final step, so he would be able to tap onto the powers of the Great Darkness, making him truly and completely invincible. Once Rellie is “unlocked”, she’ll finally die the real death as Catan would have no use for her anymore, since she has already served her purpose. Catan would have mind control over almost everyone in the world because all of them has been infected by the Great Darkness. Catan can do whatever he wants, using every living being in the world as his tools to build his new Dark Empire. If he doesn’t like a particular person, he can simply kill them with a murderous thought, as everyone is linked to him through the Great Darkness. That’s how powerful he is … Since the Great Darkness emanates from Rellie, those who are within her presence will be infected. It is so deadly that when it infects a vampire, it will alter the vampire’s inclination for human blood. It tampers with the vampire DNA, altering their natural tendencies, slowly making them lose interest in human blood …”

  “But why would the Great Darkness do that to a vampire?” Lipton asked, his heart pounding with deep curiosity. “Vampires have been known to have natural inclination for human blood for centuries. You can’t change the spots on the leopard, if you catch my drift. What is the purpose of altering the vampire’s genetic makeup?”

  “Oh, there are many reasons, Lipton,” Dove continued in a somber tone, staring deep into his eyes. “The Great Darkness serves a great purpose, that is to have the Master of Darkness conquer the whole world, doing anything he wants at his every whim. He would be the Supreme Ruler, the king of the universe … nothing can stop him. Vampires have immortal life, and they don’t die easily due to their supernatural abilities. By altering their DNA, it would tamper with their immortality, and make them mortal, just like humans. And by doing so, all vampires would be as frail and weak as humans … and that is what the Master of Darkness wants. He wants to be all-powerful. And that is why Ken doesn’t have this strong desire for human blood anymore. He’s been infected with the Great Darkness, and soon, he would lose all the supernatural abilities of a vampire. He would just be like a human, all frail and weak, and unable to heal anymore. Yes, it’s slowly infecting all vampires in the world …”

  “How long is it going to take before the spread of the Great Darkness is complete?”

  “It’s going to be soon. I can sense dark energy everywhere now. And it isn’t good.” For the first time, worried lines creased Dove’s forehead, and her eyes seemed to have a gleam of fear in them. Lipton had never seen Dove lose her cool before, and seeing the flicker of trepidation on Dove’s face, Lipton knew the graveness of the current situation, and it would soon spell the end of humanity if Catan had his way.

  “So that means all vampires will not be … vampires?” Lipton asked, a lump of gulp going down his throat. If that were to be true, then wouldn’t all the world be safe from evil vampires that still lurked in this world? It would mean that evil vampires would lose the ability to feed on humans whenever they desired, and all vampires could live a normal life, just like humans. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?

  “Yes, that’s true. I know what you’re thinking, Lipton. I can read your thoughts. You think that it’s a good thing that all vampires would lose their natural abilities and become like humans, vulnerable and powerless. But you must know that for centuries, vampires have existed in our midst. To make vampires become like humans would affect the natural ecosystem of our world, causing adverse consequences. When all vampires are stripped of their supernatural abilities, it would make the world a dangerous place, because it means that Catan would be the Supreme Ruler and no one in the world would have the power to stop him anymore. He would be literally invincible, and there would be no supernatural beings left in the world who are strong enough to take him down. That’s the danger here, Lipton. By stripping all supernatural beings in our world of their abilities, Catan would be unstoppable, and he would be the most powerful being in the world, ruling with an iron fist and killing those who dare to challenge his rule, his supremacy. Lipton, when that day comes, you’d have wished that you were never born. But oh … I forgot … you’re him. So when Catan becomes the Supreme Ruler, you’d too by default, since you carry his evil mark.”

  Being reminded that he was part Catan shattered Lipton’s heart, for he wished that he had no part in any of this. But the curse had bound
them together, making them one, and whatever evil deed Catan had done, Lipton would carry his sins.

  “I choose to die if it means that Catan will die too,” Lipton said adamantly, still feeling the stabbing hurt in his chest, the pain of knowing that he was part evil, part of the imminent Apocalypse.

  Dove opened her mouth, but hesitated. Tragic sadness seared her eyes. She knew that Lipton would have to make the ultimate sacrifice, whether he liked it or not. “Yes, you must … die. I’m sorry to say this, Lipton … but your death would spell freedom for all of us, for all of humanity. Your death would bring forward Catan’s death as well, and the Apocalypse will cease to happen.”

  “I know that, Dove,” Lipton said in a heavy tone. “And I’m willing to die if it’s for the greater good.

  Dove approached Lipton with a regal gait, and placed one firm hand on his shoulder. “You’re really a warrior, Lipton. A true warrior. When the whole world learns about your sacrifice, you’ll be a legend, a legend for generations to come.”

  “I don’t care about being a legend. I don’t care about fame or status. I just care about … saving the world from the Apocalypse.” Lipton paused for a moment, straining against the waves of agonizing pain that was sweeping through him. Then, he turned to look at Ken, who was staring at him with eyes that seemed to have lost the feral luster he once had. Was it true that the Great Darkness was slowly changing him, normalizing him so he’d lose all his vampire characteristics? Did it also affect all the other vampires in Wartwick?

  Lipton swiveled his head to Rellie, and gazed into her eyes. It was true, alright. The searing newborn luster in her eyes seemed to have faded, and she looked more … human than vampire. Even when Rellie swept her glance at the bloodied bodies right in front of her, she was attacked by the newborn bloodlust anymore. It was as though her vampire diet had drastically changed, and she wasn’t keen on human blood anymore.