Requiem for Blood

by Alexandra Hope

  “Are there other vampires?”

  Erika snorted. “Growing lonely already? Should I set up an online profile for you?”

  “I don't know what an online profile is but I'm sure I do not need one.”

  “Wow, your mom really did keep you sheltered from the world.”

  It was Troy again but this time Olivia didn't turn to him and continued on as if he had never said anything. “Are there other vampires in this world?”

  “No, you're the only one. The sole vampire in this gigantic world. Lonely isn't?”

  “Why haven't you made other vampires as you have made me?”

  “Like I said,” she began, all traces of amusement gone, “you can only turn a blood drinking human into a vampire and last time I checked drinking blood wasn't all that popular. I'm not even sure if it's legal.”

  David had entered the living room and positioned himself on the wall across from Olivia. The fireplace was crackling and above it was a picture of a boy who resembled him. He took a bite of his sandwich and once it had went down, he spoke quietly. “So Olivia, you know that Erika kil....turned you?”

  Erika jumped up from the couch, huffing in exasperation. “Yes! I killed her. You don't have to skirt around it but she begged me for it.”

  All eyes were on Olivia but she kept her own low. David had wanted to hear whatever was going through Olivia's mind. Was she shouting no, that isn't the truth? Or was she quietly tearing up as she admitted that it was the truth? Either way, he knew she was less than happy and wished that he knew the truth just to console the girl. He knew what Erika had been capable of all along, even if he didn't know all of her plans. Still, even if Olivia had been prepared for it, he wondered if she truly deserved to be stuck with something as cruel as immortality.

  “Now back to your question. No Olivia, there aren't any other vampires but you can create as many baby vamps as you want with a bite and blood exchange. That's how you can create your vampire bloodline.”

  “Should you really be telling her this?” asked Troy, annoyed. He was tugging at the hairs that fell just over his eyes, his fingers twisting and wrapping through the strands in frustration. Olivia didn't need to hear it in his voice, she could tell after days of studying her sire that he always did that when he was annoyed. It had been involuntary. She didn't want to watch him as closely as she did, in fact she wanted to pretend he didn't exist so the guilt she felt over her sister's death wouldn't exist as well but that would never happen. They were one in the same. “Who knows what kind of terror she would unleash on the city if she just started turning people?”

  “You need to stop reading so many comic books. The most that would happen is she would have a bunch of people who are as insanely loyal to her as she is to you,” Erika said. She then went on about pyramids and how being at the top meant he would have dozens of minions worshiping him but he didn't hear her.

  “What?” he asked in a small voice, confused.

  “You'd have a whole army of vampires that you could boss around!” Her voice was animated as she stretched her arms out.

  “No, what did you say before that?”

  “She says I am loyal to you because your blood turned me. Because you are my sire.”

  Troy took a few steps back, dumfounded. “I'm your what?”

  “A sire. A CREE A TORE,” Erika said obnoxiously.

  “So I'm going to be doomed forever to have her follow me around like a puppy because you stole my blood and used it on her?” his voice rose on the end.

  “No!” she said in shock. “Just until you die, whenever that'll be.”

  Troy rolled his eyes and they went on about things she didn't care to listen to. She walked around the house and eventually decided to take a shower when she noticed the dirt that clung to her. David had bought her some clothes after noticing how uncomfortable she looked in Alexa's to which she was grateful for. She had entered the living room and when Erika felt her presence she quieted her voice and then pretended not to be speaking. She had heard Troy shout about something concerning her mother and inquired.

  “What are you two talking about?”

  Erika smiled at her. “You needn't concern yourself with kitsune affairs, my little vampire.”

  “It's stupid of you to make light of my involvement in your plan when you seem to need me more than I need you.”

  Erika couldn't contain her amusement as she chuckled at Olivia's boldness.

  “You want to be involved little v—”

  “Olivia.”

  “If you want to be involved, just sit down,” she said, shooing her, “and don't throw up when I tell you the ugly truth.”

  Sixteen

  “You're lying!” Olivia shouted.

  Olivia's body was shaking but this time it wasn't from a lack of blood. She was furious. She heard everything Erika said and wanted to kill each word as they came out. Troy looked as if he had been stunned by them and even David looked temporarily shocked, possibly sickened. Erika watched as they all reeled from her story.

  “You know nothing of my mother!”

  “I know she ordered hundreds of people to be slaughtered, she's a bad woman,” said Erika, shaking her head. “And she pretty much brainwashes people with creepy blood rituals.”

  “You're lying.”

  “Ever wondered what happened to Seth? That poor idealistic boy? Yeah, your mom killed him and fed you his blood. Oh, and what of other people who opposed her? Here's the punch line: They died and you drank their blood.”

  Olivia shook her head and pounded a fist against the wall. “She knew humans didn't need to die for their blood. She procured them from hospitals....”

  “...and back alleys were she killed hundreds of people on her own. The homeless, the runaways, actually anyone she was strong enough to kill died at the hands of your mom. What was it that Felicity said?” She stroked her chin, “Oh yeah. Kill those who wouldn't be missed, right? Where do you think she learned that mantra from?”

  Troy was recovering from what she had told them but he was still having a hard time believing Erika as Olivia was. Sure, he didn't know anything about her mother and the colony she grew up in but he was having a hard time believing that she had been the daughter of a serial murderer considering Alexa came from her as well. When he had met her, she seemed normal and the least bit harmful, certainly not capable to killing thousands of people with no remorse.

  “How would she have killed thousands of people without this making the news?” asked Troy.

  “Very carefully planned,” she replied then turned to Olivia, “Surely your mom told you why the people who are in the colony exist? She sought them out: the thief, the weapons master, the lawyer...” Images of Natalie, Tomas and Felicity's mother, Anne, scrolled through Olivia's head. She shook her head in an attempt to rid her mind of the images.

  “I don't see why you're having such a hard time accepting it since you seem to be an advocate for being a monster and OK with it. 'I've always been a monster'” she mocked, “Isn't that your thing? So why are shocked to find the person you came from is an even bigger monster?”

  “Cut it out Erika!”

  Despite technically being older than David by several thousand years, she had been perpetually twenty four in looks and yielded to his words. “Fine, I'll shut up but here's some food for thought little one. If you don't believe me, go home and see for yourself.”

  It had been night and she was free to go and challenge Erika's version of the truth if she so chose but instead she remained still against the wall. David's cellphone went off and he excused himself away, bidding them a goodnight as he retreated to his own home, Erika's words weighing heavily on him. Troy wasn't tired but he didn't feel comfortable in his own living room as long as a vampire was there so he went to his room and locked the door but not before telling Erika to get out. He had to put up with Olivia but just as Erika's protection didn't extend to Alexa, his home wasn't extended to her and promptly kicked her out at nine o'clock
each. He didn't know if she had a home but he figured with over a thousand years on this planet she had probably found a place or two to sleep at or at least a rock to live under.

  Erika hung around and studied Olivia despite being kicked out. Olivia tried to avoid her gaze, assuming one look into her eyes would force all her thoughts out. When she finally turned to leave, Olivia stopped her with a question.

  “What do you want from me?”

  “To be a good little vampire and stay here.”

  “I'm clearly just a pawn to you,” said Olivia as she thought on what Erika said about her mother. The killings had temporarily stopped her thought process but it was more than that. She wanted to piece together what Erika was planning now and knowing the truth about her mother, which she had sought after, and about Troy had only been tiny pieces of the puzzle. Now she was holding out for the rest. “I don't mind being a pawn as long as I know how I'm being played.”

  “Oh that's cute,” Erika said. “You want to know how you're being played? Well, first you must know the game and then you must know that I hold the pieces and you're definitely an expendable piece, a pawn. You are not the chosen one and I could've, if I wanted to, fed any human a copious amount of blood, killed them and brought them back as a vampire.”

  “So why me?”

  “Convenience and, if you must know, I intend on training you to kill your mother but like I said I could have used anyone.”

  Olivia eyes shot up and met with Erika's. They seemed honest enough but she couldn't believe her plan had hinged on her killing her own mother. If it hadn't been so insanely ridiculous, it might have been laughable but Erika was far from laughing. “You honestly think I would kill my mother for you?”

  “For yourself. Your mother stole your life from you. You were never human so my advice is to angry, get a little rage and kill her.”

  “I don't know if it is because you've lived above humans for so long but to think I would ever kill my own mother is....insane.”

  “She wanted to kill you all along so the only difference is you're getting to her first!”

  “She wanted to kill me so that I can become this. To live together forever, with her and now that she knows I'm a vampire, it will only be a matter of time until she turns herself.”

  Erika looked down at Olivia with a smile on her face, and she shook it as if she were looking down on a foolish and idealistic human. She took a handful of hair and tucked it behind her ear, spreading her red lips apart before she began to speak. “And who's blood do you think she will use?”

  “She could use yours.”

  “But she wouldn't.”

  “Do you think you could stop me from telling my mother about your plan?” asked Olivia, boldly.

  She scoffed. “I wouldn't bother.”

  She had been standing at the entrance of the living room, one black boot on the carpet, the other on the hard wood floor of the foyer. She motioned her hand to the door, “Go on.” She leaned her head forward, “Tell her.”

  Olivia regarded her with wary eyes and taking that as a hint she took a few steps back and put her hands in the air. Olivia was out the door but heard Erika's words behind her, “Search for the truth.”

  She didn't know if it was from moving so fast through the city or from the mist in the air but her hair was soaked when she ran a hand through it. She stared at her palm and saw each ball of water roll back and forth. Though so minuscule to the untrained human eye, she watched each bead gleam in the light and dazzle like silvery powder in it. She wiped her hand on her jeans as she approached the colony. It suddenly dawned on her how long she had been away from home. Fifteen days. She closed her eyes and her fingers traced along the rods of the gate, grateful that a shadow was cast on it so if anyone had been walking they wouldn't see her and she knew for a fact no one would hear her. The first person she saw was Sam who had been limping but for the most part still in good shape. She was slipping her red hair through a ponytail holder when someone called to her and she turned in their direction. Allison was walking toward her, her fingers wound up nervously.

  Sam bent down and tried to console the little girl who while wasn't crying, still seemed to be pained and distraught. Before Olivia could listen in, she heard another sound, the familiar clattering of boots on wooden boards. She watched as Felicity walked down the steps of her house toward the small gathering of students. Olivia noted it had been absent of adults and figured they must have went out for blood and left her in charge.

  “Olivia is a traitor and anyone who happens across that traitorous good for nothing girl is to kill her on sight.”

  “No one’s going to kill anyone,” shouted Sam, defiantly.

  Lately Sam had grown more irritated with Felicity despite her quiet nature. She had wondered what Felicity had done to make Sam so mad but then again, what hadn't Felicity done to make people mad? She had an innate talent for being cruel and even if Olivia never felt the sting of her cruelty she couldn't deny that that was just the way she was.

  “I'm sorry, were you left in charge?” she asked, blinking. Felicity shook her head, “I didn't think so.”

  “But the Matriarch would never...” a boy was trying to say but had a hard time getting the words out, “we can't kill Olivia.” He sounded on the verge of tears and Olivia was surprised to hear someone like that speak so passionately about her. The boy was Randy's twin brother Fin and while he hadn't been the closest thing to her he still didn't seem like one who would stand up for her survival, especially after she had killed his brother. She wondered what it would be like if she had one more sibling, how would they look at her after finding out what she had done or even if her mother knew the truth about Alexa's death. She couldn't believe Erika; she had to believe in herself and what she knew from growing up with her mother, that although she had the potential to be a monster, she just wasn't one.

  There were twenty four heart’s pumping and excluding herself and Randy they were still short one. The lack of his rebuttal had clued her in from the beginning but now she was certain Noah had been absent. She noted that that had been the reason Allison had clung to Sam instead and started to think just where he was. Her thoughts had taken her away from the sight before her but something familiar had quickly brought her back.

  “Not gonna happen.”

  The group of students turned toward the voice and Olivia did as well. White hands were stuffed in jean pockets and faint red scars were scattered across the arm of the person who walked toward the children. “You're not gonna kill Olivia,” he said nonchalantly when he came to a halt. She recognized his voice but he looked different, more like her at least in color. Noah had grown pale since the last time she saw him and he must have finally taken scissors to his overgrown curls. There was also this air about him that she hadn't seen before. It was as cocky as ever but even more so, it was authoritative.

  “Don't try to undermine me because you think you're something,” said Felicity, waving him away. Olivia could hear a small sigh from Noah and watched as he continued walking until he was on the same step that Felicity was on. For the first time, she saw his face. She knew she hadn't been away for years or even months but it had felt like an eternity since she had seen Noah. His eyes were cold as he stared out into the crowd, reminiscent of her mother's but he still looked like himself underneath that layer. He still looked playful, disobedient, young and sixteen. And then she remembered he had turned already turned seventeen. Why, she thought, is he still here? Had he changed his mind? Or did her mother really stop allowing seventeen years old to hunt by themselves? She watched as his eyes flicked from student to student as he spoke, words she hadn't been paying attention to. They gazed out over the crowd but in one swift movement they darted and he had been paralyzed by the sight of something. Olivia saw his eyes roll upward and meet hers as if it were all in slow motion. She saw his eyes widen and gloss over but was gone before they could linger any longer.

  Before she went back to Troy's house she mad
e a stop for blood near the hospital. She figured the weaker her target the easier it would be to feed and while it was, it still wasn't easy for her to erase their memory. She had started to believe that the one time with Felicity was a fluke as Erika had said. She wiped the blood from her mouth and gave the little girl a proper burial several miles away. There was something about burying this girl that made her feel sick beyond the fact that it was a human life she so selfishly took, she just reminded her of Allison who never failed to remind her of herself. Allison clung to her as she clung to Alexa and in some ways she used Allison as a tether to the relationship she once had, to the feelings she once held. She threw dirt over the little girl and gave a brief apology before heading to his house.

  The lights had been off when she stepped inside and instead of turning them on, she just walked soundlessly through the house and up the stairs to the guest bathroom. She stripped herself of her sister's shirt and took a quick shower then put on another pair of jeans and a top as if she were gearing herself up for another night. There was still some night left but not enough to go anywhere even if she wanted to. Instead, she stared out her new room window and watched the stairs dance in the sky.