by J A Campbell
George was very irritated with his brothers for their stupidity and behavior. When the chatter between them grew too much for him to bear, he yelled for everyone to be quiet, though not as politely as was warranted with a female present.
"Are we just going to let her live here for free? Maybe wait on her like faithful hounds and make puppy dog eyes at her all day?" That last question was directed at the youngest whose full attention was focused on Marianna.
"Oh," she replied. "I wouldn't mind doing some work around the house... I also know a bit about gardening. I saw your little herb garden around the side of the barn, though I can't imagine what you need it for."
Donny brightened at her words and answered. "George, Sam, and I inherited a little bit of witch magic from our mother's side of the family. We lost most of it when we were turned, but can still work some rudimentary spells to keep the land around us safe from prying eyes."
"Fine," George gruffly interrupted. "She can stay as long as she stays on our property. I don't want any Council idiots to notice her or have her leaving any bodies lying around to attract attention."
She gave him a small grateful smile as he looked at her a moment before heading over to one of the stalls that must be his room.
Henry approached her and said he would be rooming with David so she could have his room. He offered to fix up the last remaining stall that was currently being used as Donny's office. It was nearing dawn then, so they showed her to Henry's room and went their separate ways.
They stopped in the doorway the next day when they returned from their various chores. Their house had changed when they returned; it was immaculate. All the clutter had been cleared, cleaned, and tidily put away, the floors swept and scrubbed, and she was currently beating the old rug that had been hidden somewhere beneath the clutter. They could only imagine how she managed to accomplish so much in one day. Even George was impressed.
* * *
Several months passed with the same routine, and her spirits brightened somewhat. She missed Darren desperately, and she didn't think the pain of losing him would ever go away, but she began to hope that somehow they could both find some happiness in this world. It didn't take her long to let go of her anger with her stepmother. If there was one thing Marianna had learned to deal with, it was emotional pain. She felt the best thing to do was to try to forget the terrible things that happened and remember the happier times.
Lydia, however, had not forgotten her pain. The fact that her enemy still lived bore a black hole deep within her heart. She used that anger to fuel her hunt for Marianna, but it was as if the girl had vanished from the face of the earth. Still, she wouldn't give up until she put a stake through the girl's heart.
She didn't know if the dead vampire had told Marianna that Lydia was responsible for her attack, but she couldn't risk another Council member finding out if they caught Marianna. Not that it would save the girl, but it would result in Lydia's execution if word reached the wrong people.
She needed to either get close enough to use a simple finding spell, or she would have to devise a plan to get Darren to help her. Only a strong emotional bond could find people from long distances. She strode into the basement where she stored her books on magic and started poring through them for answers.
Several days later, she smiled triumphantly. She knew how to get Darren to help her, and how to kill Marianna in one terrible blow.
That evening, she invited Darren over to tea. The young man was supposed to have been off at a prestigious university to study some form of mundane medicine. However, he stuck around with his parents and pined away for his lost love. She thought it rather pathetic. He was a handsome young man, he should have moved on to his second, or even third girl by now.
A solid rap sounded on the door, and a moment later he let himself in. This was his usual habit that she hadn't quite gotten used to.
"Do you need something?" Darren's face remained impassive. It looked wrong on him; she had rarely seen him without a smile or some exaggerated form of expression.
"Actually, I need your help to find Marianna." She leveled her gaze at him, but he seemed too tired to read it as a challenge.
"I won't help you kill Mari," he said, shaking his head. "I don't think she would kill anyone. She's not a danger to us."
She had suspected he would say as much.
"Killing is what they do. Violence is their instinct. The call is just as strong as their thirst for blood. Usually the two instincts are intertwined. I would know, I've been hunting them since I was younger than you are now."
"You know Marianna as well as I do," he argued. "If there's a way to survive without killing, she would find it."
"I called you here because I might have found a cure." She clucked impatiently.
"I've never heard of a cure for vampirism, and if the Council did, everyone would know about it by now."
"You are young and naïve. Of course there's a cure. It's expensive magically and difficult to make. There aren't many witches strong enough to concoct such a brew."
"I'm assuming you are strong enough?" Doubt remained evident in his voice.
"Of course I am. However I will need you to administer it." She hid her irritation for his disbelief in her abilities.
"Are you sure this cure will work?"
"No, I'm not sure, but what other choice do we have? It's our only hope to have our Mari back. Even if it's a small hope, we have to try. Don't you want her back?"
"Of course I want her!" He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "But you're right. I don't see any other choice. What do you want me to do?"
She smiled and leaned forward to lay her hand softly on his arm as she pulled a small vial from her pocket and held it out to him.
"I knew you would help."
* * *
About a week later, Darren ran through a sparse wood high up Mt. Trumbull in northern Arizona. As soon as Lydia finished her spell, he knew exactly which way he needed to go to find the love of his life.
He made his way around long fallen trees and thorn bushes in the direction of his love. He had driven to Flagstaff in Mari's father's car and left it at a gas station before starting out on four feet. He barely even took the time to eat. Not that he'd eaten much since she left. Food didn't taste as good without her there to enjoy it with.
He ran and ran until he passed an old mine. Suddenly bright lights exploded in his vision and he heard voices all around him. He tried to move but couldn't manage to even wiggle.
"Hurry, kill him now!" and "No, let's see what he knows first!" or "Don't wolves travel in packs? What if there are more of them around?"
It was in the midst of these voices that he changed back into a human. He didn't know if he would be able to speak, but he knew for sure it would be impossible in wolf form.
Unfortunately, speaking proved difficult. The only thing he managed to get out was her name.
"Marianna," he mumbled and the talking stopped.
"What did you say?" A large hairy vampire grabbed the boy's face angrily.
He tried to answer but all that came out was garbled variations of her name.
"Darren," a young-looking vampire boy called. "I bet you anything this is her lover from back in Kansas or wherever it is she's from!"
"Are you sure?"
"You need to pay better attention when people speak." Darren could see the one he now called Suspender Man answering back.
Hairy shouted, "Enough! Both of you! This thing may be here to kill her!"
Darren growled. Him? Hurt her?
"I've loosened your mouth so you can speak. Please explain what you're doing here so we can decide what to do with you," Suspenders commanded.
"I might have found a cure. I'm here to help her. Please let me see her."
"There is no cure for vampirism. I've been searching for over a hundred years and haven't found anything," Suspenders countered.
"The Council may have been hiding the cure for reasons unk
nown. Regardless if this is true or not, I have to try. I just want my Mari back."
They looked at each other doubtfully as they considered his words.
"All right, we'll take you to her. The moment you raise a hand to harm her, we will kill you." Hairy's statement made all the others turn toward him with raised eyebrows.
"She's grown on me," he said, a little sheepishly. Sheepish was definitely an odd expression for this vampire.
* * *
The men led Darren around the back of a large stable and motioned for him to wait outside. He complied as one of the men went through the door and spoke softly with someone.
"What is it?" He heard her say before she stepped outside into a ray of light emanating from the crescent moon.
His chest tightened when he saw her, and it was if his heart was breaking again. Her gaze landed on him and she stood stock still for the longest moment of his life before bursting into tears and running to throw herself into his arms.
He held her for a long while. Then he smoothed her hair and told her he loved her at least a hundred times, though she seemed to cry harder each time he said it. He tried to wipe the bloody tears from her face but only managed to smear the blood over her cold, pale cheeks. He didn't care. She was in his arms and that was all that mattered.
At some point, the others must have gone inside the barn, though he could still feel their gazes on him. That didn't matter. It was time to get his mate back. He wanted her warm again, he wanted his Mari back, and he would do whatever was necessary to make her his again. Then he would marry her and they would begin their lives together.
"Marianna, I have to tell you something important. There might be a cure. I might be able to make you human again."
She looked up at him in confusion. "How?"
"You have to feed from me. From someone who loves you enough to offer of themselves willingly," he told her gravely.
She shook her head. "I can't do that. I could never hurt you."
"You don't have to kill me; just drink enough for the cure to work. I heal quickly. You don't have to worry about hurting me. Please, I don't want to be without you," he pleaded.
She looked frightened. "I've never bitten anyone before," she admitted.
He smiled at her. "I knew you didn't have it in you to hurt anyone. You'll always be my Mari."
His heart swelled knowing that not even a curse such as this could change who she was. She would always be the kind-hearted soul who nursed kittens and grumpy old werewolves back to health. He fell in love with her long ago and even if this didn't work, he would still marry her and make her his mate.
He pulled her body against his with one arm and used his other hand to tilt her head back and look into her eyes for a long moment before he brought his lips down to meet hers. The kiss started out sweet and tender, but he deepened it until her scent and the feel of her consumed him.
She kissed him just as passionately until she suddenly stopped. He let her pull her head away and she looked at him in confusion for a moment until her eyes glazed over in death and she went limp in his arms.
He stood there utterly shocked and unable to comprehend what was happening. Finally, the pain hit and he cried out in fear and agony as he laid her upon the ground to check her over for wounds or something that could have caused this. He didn't understand, couldn't believe that this was happening.
At his cry the vampires rushed from the barn and crowded around the two. It took them a moment to realize she was dead. They pulled her from his arms and shook the poor sobbing young man to ask him what had happened.
"It should have healed her. She said it would heal her." That was all they could get out of him.
"Who said it would heal her? Where did you hear about this cure?"
"Lydia, her stepmother," he lamented. "She's a powerful witch."
"You idiot!"
"Fool!"
"Moron!" Words were thrown at him, and Hairy grabbed him by the shoulders to get him to look at him.
"The stepmother is the one responsible for Marianna becoming a vampire in the first place! You've helped her to kill your own fiancé!"
"What are you talking about? She wouldn't do that! She loves Mari!"
"The vampire who changed her said that he was supposed to kill her but turned her instead."
"That doesn't make any sense!" Then he remembered when he first learned of Marianna being turned and how Lydia was standing over the dead vampire. It suddenly became clear. She had used him to kill his Mari.
"It's true." The evil witch herself appeared behind them.
He turned toward the voice and was treated to a gruesome shock. There in front of the witch was the young vampire, Henry. He stood there with the tip of a wooden stake sticking through his chest. She pulled out another stake and looked at Donny. "You're next." She grinned wickedly, and launched herself towards him, but he dodged out of the way.
"You can't kill me, or you'll bring the entire force of Council Elite down on you. None of you will escape. Your best bet is to run and hope some of you make it out alive."
Darren backed up into the house and began searching through the kitchen for the supplies he needed. He could think of only one reason for vampires to need an herb garden. Finally, he found what he was looking for and made his way through the house and around the side that faced where her back had been earlier.
He stopped and peered around at the battle waging in the backyard. There were two more vampires down. He hadn't realized this woman was so incredibly powerful. He tried to locate Donny, the one who had smelled like herbs, and hoped like hell that particular vampire was still alive.
He found him standing apart from the battle, muttering something under his breath that Darren figured must be a spell. He made his way to the vampire and thrust the herbs out toward him.
"I have something that might work with these," Suspenders said. He rushed into one of the outbuildings briefly before coming back out wearing an ancient looking amulet.
"What is that?" Darren tried to examine the relic, but the vampire was already turning toward the fight.
"No time!" He quickly lit the herbs on fire and blew them toward the witch. They cracked and sparkled like fireworks as they shot toward her and flew around and around her. She stopped fighting for a moment and looked back toward the vampire and wolf with hatred and vitriol shining through her eyes.
The hatred soon turned to fear and then to pain. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as her limbs bulged and stiffened. Tree roots broke through her boots and dug into the ground. Her torso thickened and elongated, forming a tree trunk as her arms and face stretched upward. She cried out one last time before her face reformed and changed. An apple tree, complete with leaves and already ripe apples, stood before them.
"What did you do?" Darren looked at Donny, shock written on the werewolf's face.
"I turned her into a tree," he said, still staring at the tree as if afraid it might turn back into an evil witch. Darren remained very much afraid of that happening.
"How?"
"The amulet. It was a gift from my mother, who was a powerful witch. It keeps anyone from being able to block my spells. I'm not powerful enough to kill someone, not that we wanted to kill her anyway, but changing one living thing to another takes a lot less power." He stopped looking at the tree and turned toward his fallen brothers and Marianna. The remaining vampires had laid them in a row and closed their eyes so they looked as if they were sleeping.
They walked toward the dead, bowing their heads, and together they mourned those they loved.
* * *
One moment she was happily kissing Darren, and the next it felt like she was falling. She opened her eyes and looked into Darren's for a brief moment before he slipped from view.
Suddenly, she was watching herself from a few yards away as Darren held her. His face took on an agonized expression, and in that moment she understood. She had died, and was looking at her own dead body. Terror gripped her heart an
d she called out Darren's name, but he didn't hear her. No one heard her. All she could do was watch him panic and scream.
She didn't listen as her friends started shouting at Darren, at her. She could only watch in mute terror. Then everyone looked away from her body, and she numbly followed their gazes and her heart sank. Her stepmother had killed Henry. Sweet, cheerful, helpful Henry. She rushed toward him and tried to grab at her stepmother, but her hand went right through the woman. She couldn't help as the witch attacked Donny, though thankfully he managed to get away.
She wanted desperately to help, but all she could do was watch.
She watched as Darren backed into the house.
She silently cried out as Lydia killed Steven. The man had to be the only vampire allergic to magic. He constantly sneezed every time Donny walked by. No one would hear his sneezes again.
She saw George take a blast of a fireball to the hip, but he wiggled out of his pants before he caught fire and looked as though he would survive the wound. She saw another fireball smash into David's face. It happened so fast, he wouldn't have known what hit him.
Darren reappeared next to Donny, who retrieved an amulet and cast a spell. She was stunned and remained rooted to the spot as Lydia turned into an apple tree.
She wished she could help as Sam and Bruce dragged her corpse and the bodies of the dead brothers to lay them out, side by side.
She wished she could hold Darren when he fell to his knees beside her body and sobbed into her chest. For several nights, she stayed behind as all the grieving men worked together to convert the old cellar into a tomb for her and the other vampires. As they placed them all into stone coffins and affixed lids to each of the brother's resting places she cried with them.
They resisted covering her grave. Every time one of them moved to lift it, he would change his mind and leave the tomb.
Eventually, only Darren remained. He sat on the floor staring toward her coffin for days. A couple of days later, George showed up with a wooden crate packed with straw. Within the straw was a glass lid. He and his remaining brothers lifted it from the crate as Darren brushed the straw away and the men affixed it over her body. Donny sprinkled a mixture of tea-like liquid over the glass and murmured something that sounded like Latin.