“I hope you had a pleasant time,” he says as we stand in front of my door.
I don’t respond. He inches closer. Closing my eyes, I inhale. He’s so gentle in touching my hands, pulling me close to him. I open my eyes and his face is so familiar. Peace washes over me, just being in his presence. It’s like home on a winter day.
He reaches in to give me a kiss and I close my eyes. The kiss was electric. A buzz of lightning tingles my hands and toes. It takes my breath away. Where did this man come from? I want to spend every waking moment with him.
The kiss leaves me begging for more. I lean in and kiss him again. He must think I'm crazy, but it feels so damn good. I can tell he feels the same. He doesn’t move. His tongue is all over my mouth. With my eyes still closed, he continues kissing my face and down to my neck.
He’s sucking my neck, which is unusual. I haven't had a passion mark since high school. But I don't stop him.
There’s a sudden surge of a slight pain. I jerk back and open my eyes. “I'm sorry,” he says.
But I notice a small amount of blood on his lips.
Bailey
I was fast asleep in my coffin at Cruz’s apartment when there is a loud bang on the door. I’ll just lay here; I'm sure Cruz will get it. The bang continues getting louder. I sit upright in my coffin and exhale. Who could this be? A hot wave of anger creeps up my throat. It’s Christmas morning. I have a big job today. I need my rest.
I drag myself to the door after calling Cruz’s name several times without a response. He must have gone to his parent’s house for Christmas. He told me he would. Peeking out the peephole, I view Lauren. She appears frantic, as if she’s in a rush. The anger suddenly shifts to concern for my love.
I swing the door open quickly. I can’t believe what was in front of me. It’s Lauren, her hair in a disarray as if she was struck by lightning. She barges in, pushing past me. Rage or lust shows on her slim face.
“Lauren,” I shout as I close the door. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t ‘what’s wrong’ me,” she barks. Her eyes are wide as if she’s possessed. “What did you do to me?”
“Nothing,” I respond. I had bitten her, but she wouldn’t truly be a vampire until she drinks some blood.
She darts glances around the apartment. “Who’s here with you?” she questions.
“No one. Come have a seat.”
I don’t want her to wander to the back. My coffin is there. She might get freaked out and run off.
She takes a seat on the sofa and shoots me a stare. The gaze of lust she’s hooked on me is like a bee on honey. Now all I need to do is convince her to indulge in a blood fest. Then she’ll come home.
“I’m sorry,” she says, “but I can’t get you out of my mind. I'm going crazy.” She gasps, “I'm having these weird dreams.”
“Calm down. It’s okay.” I reach in and give her a hug. “I'm here.”
She calms down, but my heart is racing. I’m hours from converting my true love to her authentic self.
She pulls away from my hug with tears in her eyes. “You look so familiar and my brain is hazy. I’m not thinking straight,” she insists.
“Listen, we knew each other in our last life. We were married.”
“What are you talking about?” She yanks away from my embrace.
“I love you and I'm not leaving without you.”
Her eyes dart with fury. “Are you crazy?”
“No, listen.” I grab her arms. “We are vampires, and it's time you understand. You're going crazy because you need to feed.”
“No, it's not true. There’s no such thing.” She stands.
I have to get her to understand. I reach for my wallet and pull out a picture of Amber. “Does she look familiar?”
She snatches the picture and a stream of tears flows down her cheeks.
“Please don’t cry,” I respond.
Her chest rises and falls and she covers her mouth, stepping back. She lowers her hand. “You and she were in my dream. Who is she?”
“She’s our daughter. You remember, don’t you?”
She falls onto the couch. The blood has escaped her face.
“Don't you love me? Somewhere in your heart you know this is real.” I run my hand across her cheek. “Our love is real. I traveled forever to bring you home.”
She shakes her head and covers her ears. “It’s not real.”
“It is!” I yell. I grab the mirror off the wall placing it in front of us both.
She glances at it. I don’t have a reflection but she sees that her eyes have turned orange. She opens her mouth and fangs are elongating.
Her piercing stare rips through me. “Have you turned me into a vampire?”
“It was already there, I just helped you remember. You just need one pint of blood and we can go home hand in hand.”
The more she cries, the more I become frazzled. I’m falling apart at the seams. All she needs is a little blood. She would feel so much better.
“Come. We must go.”
“Where?”
“To get blood. You need a feeding. Trust me, you will feel like a new person.”
“Where will I find someone to feed on Christmas? I will not feed today. I can’t.”
“You must,” I respond. Suddenly, I hear a crash of someone coming in the door down the stairs. Within minutes, someone is banging on the door.
“A human for you to feed on.” I wink.
“Lauren, Lauren, I need to talk to you,” a man’s voice screams.
Lauren
It’s Jasper yelling my name. I’m overcome with excitement that he searched for me. My joy is short-lived. I must escape. He continues beating on the door, not taking no for an answer. I share my location with him through my I-phone. That must be how he found me.
Bailey stands at the door, which is ten feet from the couch. He peeps through the hole, then walks back over to the couch, acting as if no one is there, refusing to let Jasper in.
“Your partner is at the door?” he spits.
Staying calm, my grandma’s words rise to my head like steam. Do what’s best for you. But I don’t know what’s best. I’m torn between the two. I want to be happy with Jasper. The crazy inside of me wanted to stay here with Bailey. Maybe go to this daughter he says I birthed. It seems so real, seeing her face.
There’s a thunderous crash, then a boom splits the air. Dust fills the room, but Jasper jumps to his feet. He has broken the door down. His pale skin glistens in the smoke-filled room. He’s in pajamas and tennis shoes.
“Are you okay, Lauren?” he says, walking toward me with his arms outstretched.
Bailey hops in front of Jasper before he gets close to me.
“Mind your business, boy. Go home,” Bailey insists.
I have to do something. Bailey glares at Jasper like his next steak dinner, clicking his lips, salivating.
“I’m not going anywhere unless Lauren wants me to.”
I’m confused. I don’t want them to fight. A brawl is looming in the air. The tension is heavy. weighing me down.
“Now leave,” Bailey demands.
“Are you stupid or hard of hearing? She didn’t request me to exit.”
Bailey grabs Jasper by his throat, lifting him in the air, his feet dangling. Bailey tosses Jasper across the room like an old rag doll.
Jasper flies into the wall, knocking the pictures to the floor. He lies on the floor for several awkward minutes. I’m furious, but I can’t let Bailey know how much.
“Now, sweetheart, you can feed off your partner over there.”
I continue holding my stomach, rocking back and forth.
“No,” I scream.
“You have to. Don’t you want to see Amber?”
I nod. I do want to see Amber. I want freedom from the stress and pain of this world.
“We can go home and have an eternal life, no pain, no death. No worries. Join me,” he says.
He grabs my hand and leads me over
to Jasper, who lays half-conscious on the floor. The blood pumping in his vien makes an excitement wash over me. I could feed and this ache would leave. I step on shards of glass that crack underneath my feet. My mouth waters.
I shake my head. How can I drink blood from Jasper? I can’t do this.
I turn, and my face hits Bailey's chest. He raises my head and I stare into his eyes. We must return home.
I'm in love and destined to be with Bailey. I crave him. He runs his hand down my face, and I don’t want him to let me go.
I feel the movement behind me but I’m too stuck in Bailey’s attention to move. Just when I’m about to spin around, I’m shoved and fall to the floor. Bailey goes flying across the room. He must have been in shock. Jasper caught him off guard and knocked the wind from his soul. I notice a stake has fallen out of Jasper’s pocket. He rushes toward Bailey. I inch toward the stake; I grab it for safekeeping.
Bailey bolts to his feet and slices Jasper across the face. Fangs bared, he moves in to bite. The rumble causes the floor to rattle beneath me. I don’t know how to stop the fight. Jasper gets Bailey to the floor and drives his foot into his face. He reaches toward his back pocket, looking for the stake, I’m sure.
But I have it in my possession now. Bailey grabs a hold of Jasper’s foot and tosses him through the glass window. On the inside, I scream. Terror rips through my body. But I can’t scream. I have to pretend. We are only one flight up; I'm sure Jasper will survive.
Bailey walks toward me and says, “Now let's go feed, my queen.” I bare my fangs. His eyes glow a yellowish color, and his nails have become long. I walk toward him with a warm embrace and drive the stake right through his heart.
His face becomes pale and dry. Life is being sucked from him. His hair shrivels, turning into dust.
“Why, Why?” he screams. Life oozes from his body. I love him, but I know there is no way that I could live an eternal life in another realm.
I have to finish the life I’m in.
Fairytale Christmas
A Fair Folk Saga
Merrie Destefano
About Fairytale Christmas
Three thousand years ago, a war began between the immortals and the mortals. It’s a war that continues to this day...
* * *
Before history began, a legendary queen battled a foreign army, braved the death of her husband, and faced betrayal at the hand of someone she trusted. This is the story of Eire, Queen of the Faeries, the Immortal One, and the leader of the Tuatha de Danann.
* * *
To this day, her homeland, Ireland, bears her name, and this is the story of the war that drove the Immortal Ones into exile. It’s also the tale of how she found help from an unexpected place, leading her to a love like she had never known before.
* * *
Fairytale Christmas is a story that spans thousands of years. It’s also the beginning of all of our fairytales and legends; it’s where mortals and immortals survive because they love one another, proving that love is the greatest gift of all.
* * *
This is the first installment in the Saga of the Fair Folk, a journey that lasts until the end of time.
Note To Readers
The vampire in this story is based upon a dangerous, legendary Celtic faery: the Leanan Sidhe.
Dates
These dates relate to Ireland and this story.
* * *
Ice Ages: 24,000 B.C. - 9,000 B.C. Approx. [Time of the Ice Giants]
Stone Ages: 12,000 B.C. - 2,000 B.C. [Time of the Standing Stones]
Bronze Age: 2,000 B.C. - 500 B.C. [Time of the Milesian Invasion]
Iron age: 500 B.C. - 400 A.D.
Glossary
Alba: Scotland
Albion: The island of Great Britain
Arrachtaigh: Monsters
Beidh mé: I will
Cara Maith: Good friend
Caorthannach: The fire-breathing mother of all demons
Cinn beag: Little ones, mortal
Ciorcal: Circle
Duine: Mankind, mortals
Eire Land: Ireland
Faery Cavalcade: The great faery cavalcades of old would travel in gusts of wind, disappearing and then reappearing again far away. Many Fair Folk believe that on the great Day of Judgment, all the Tuatha de Danann will turn to dust and blow away forever.
Ice Giants: Ice age glaciers
Liagchiorcal Chaisleán an Ridire: Castleruddery Stone Circle, near the Wicklow Mountains
Leanaí: Children
Leanan Sidhe: A faery who draws strength from drinking blood. This vampiric creature can suck the life from mortals.
Nightshade blood: The blood of a Leanan Sidhe
Nuckelavee: Half-man/half-horse demon from Scottish legends
Mares: An evil goblin or faery that sits on the chest of a human while they sleep, causing bad dreams.
Milesians: Invaders who conquered Ireland during the rule of the Tuatha de Danann
Muir Éireann: The Irish Sea, the narrow span of ocean between Ireland and England
Seanchaí: Gaelic storyteller who told folktales in a time before writing
Sléibhte Chill Mhantáin: The Wicklow Mountains
Tuatha de Danann: The Fair Folk, a race of immortal gods with magical powers, also known as faeries
Chapter 1
1,400 years B.C.
They came in longboats and we stood on the rocky cliffs, watching as they arrived. Faery and Duine stood side by side, immortal and mortal, the way we had always been. The Duine were our beloved cinn beag, our little ones; we were their feared and favored gods.
At that time, we walked hand in hand, sharing everything. The mortals fed us and clothed us. Our magic blessed or cursed them.
It was our way of life.
I loved them all dearly, for I was their queen. I was Eire and this grand island carried my name. Eire Land.
Ireland.
This was my home and my people.
But it all changed on that day when the Milesians arrived, storms in their wake, their Druids conjuring dark magic, their armor and their weapons fashioned in diabolic forges while a great sorcerer cast spells over each and every item.
I should have killed them all the moment they set foot on our island. I shouldn’t have trusted their lies, their broad smiles, their gifts of gold.
But the worst thing of all they brought to our shores was that cursed silver. Shaped into armor, it made the wearer invincible. Melded onto swords, it could poison my people, the Tuatha De Danann, and cause a fearsome illness.
They wore this magic silver in charms and rings and necklaces, they wove fine strands into their clothing. A few of them even drank it, so their skin would glow a soft blue in the darkness.
They camped for a day and a night, strange fires burning, the stench filling the valley. My sister, Caer, sensed danger before I did. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head, then she called for one of our kinsmen.
“Take the youngest children and flee, hide on the cliffs and watch,” she told him.
“What is it?” I asked.
“The darkest magic of all is brewing,” she whispered behind her hand. She knew more about this sort of sorcery, since her husband, Faelan, was a Leanan Sidhe. Her husband and mine stood side by side, dressed for battle, both of them carrying bronze swords and shields. Faelan lifted his head, closed his eyes, and drew a deep breath, then licked his lips.
The Druids were burning human sacrifices.
When the moon hid behind thick clouds and many of our soldiers had fallen asleep, the Milesians crept nearer. Then they attacked in blinding light, all of their silver weapons glowing bright blue. No one could flee fast enough as their swords began to swing through the crowds.
Three things can kill a faery.
One, if you steal his heart.
Two, if you cut off his head.
Three, if a banshee sings him to everlasting sleep.
All three of these things happened on that night
and more. My own husband, King Fethur, perished at my side, though we both fought valiantly, neither of us giving in to weariness. But one blade sliced off his head and there was no magic in the world that could bring him back to life. I didn’t have time to mourn, for the Milesians forced us back and back, trying to push us up a high cliff and then down into the rocky sea.
We fought, our casualties great. We lost more than a thousand men on that night.
My feet slipped, my sword swung in an arc of death, and my sister and I set our banshee blood free. We sang a song of death, though it was hard to find the right notes that could penetrate the thick silver helmets that covered the Milesians’ ears.
Faelan may have rescued us, though I don’t think that was his intention. While our banshee nature came to the front, so did his vampiric Leanan Sidhe ways. He already towered over the Milesians, being a full torso taller than any of them, and his black-furred skin and golden glowing eyes caused many of their soldiers to stumble in fear.
But when he began cracking their bodies in half and drinking their blood, a path of escape opened for us.
His darkness was blacker than their own.
We ran, searching for our children, and having no time to gather food or supplies. But our path toward the cliffs where my children and those of my sister were hiding was barred.
Three bright, silver-blue Milesian warriors stood in the way, all of them wearing head to foot armor, unlike anything we’d ever seen. Our weapons could not touch it, our songs could not penetrate it, and even Faelan grew weak when he approached them.
Holidays Bite: A Limited Edition Collection of Holiday Vampire Tales Page 74