by Stina
She held hers out, and her mother grabbed them. The first thing she did was put them to her nose and inhale. She made a stale face and shook her head. “They’re beautiful, but they smell worse than manure.” Ivory gagged again, and the girls exchanged a look of wonder. “Come on, let’s not keep your father waiting any longer. He did not want to begin eating his stew without you girls.”
The girls followed their mother back to their cottage and Dena couldn’t help but look back at the edge of the forest. She didn’t have to search hard for what she was looking for, because just as she was about to be out of sight, she saw the pair of amber eyes looking back at her.
“Was that . . .” Kesh began when Dena brought him back.
“Dracula? Yes. He looks different than what you expected, doesn’t he?”
“Yes. I thought he would look more sinister.”
“Do not let his looks fool you. He is as sinister as the stories say.”
“Then why didn’t he kill you and Adie? You were only two small children. Seems like the easiest of any prey.”
“You did not allow me to finish. He is as sinister as the stories say, but Dracula is a force who acts on his own accord. He had other plans for Adie and me. Plans that we had no clue of until later in life.”
“I assume that you are going to show me now?”
Dena smiled and put her two fingers back on Kesh’s forehead. “Precisely.”
Years had gone by, and soon the girls forgot all about the strange man. They grew up into the most beautiful women and, when their mother died, their father sent them to America. Everything was so different from Cameroon, and the way they were treated by those with lighter skin appalled them. It took a while to adjust, but eventually, the girls found their footing in society.
Dena got a job at a fabric company, sewing materials together the way her mother had taught her, while Adie worked at home baking her favorite pastries for people around the small town they lived in. They didn’t have much, but they had each other, and that was always just enough for them.
Often, Dena was the last worker of the night. She enjoyed being able to come to work and start something fresh versus having to finish something from the day before. One night, after she finished the quilt for Mrs. Hinson down the road, she decided that it was time to go home. It was almost nine o’clock, and she was certain that Adie had something good cooking on the stove. She grabbed her petticoat and the lock-up keys so that she could be on her way. After locking the door, she began the five-minute walk to her home.
That night it was chilly, so she tucked her ears behind her collar and put her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. She wished she would have worn her hair down that day; at least the thickness of it would have kept the tips of her ears from being nipped. She was alone outside, as she often was when she walked home. Everyone in the neighborhood surrounding the shop was in their homes, enjoying their meals with their families. She smiled to herself wondering what crazy story Adie would have for her that night.
She’d only gotten about one hundred feet from the shop when she heard footsteps behind her. She didn’t turn around to see who they belonged to; she just sped up her pace. Hopefully whoever it was would either go right past her or enter one of the houses she’d walked by. No such luck. A rough hand grabbed her arm and whipped her around.
“Is this the pretty nigger girl you’ve been telling me about, Rolland?”
Alarmed, Dena snatched away and stepped backward from the man who had grabbed her arm. She’d never seen him a day in her life and didn’t know why he thought that it was okay to grab her the way that he had. He had a head full of red hair, with a red beard to match. He had to have been years older than her, and she hated the way his eyes ran over her body like she was a piece of meat. He was with two other men, one of whom Dena recognized as the nephew of the owner of the shop she worked in. She’d noticed Rolland giving her the eye a few times, but she never would have pegged him as the type of man who would plot on her. Then again, she was told the moment she stepped into America never to trust a white devil.
“Yeah, that’s her, Joe. Pretty as pie, isn’t she?”
Joe whistled his answer and licked his lips at Dena. For every backward step she took, he took one forward.
“Don’t ever touch me again,” she snapped and glared at him. “That is not how you treat a lady.”
“I would never grab a lady like that.” He grinned sneakily. “But you aren’t a lady, are you?”
“What do you want?”
“I want something that you got, of course,” Joe said and rubbed his hand on his crotch. “I got an itch that I need you to scratch. Boy, you have some nice lips.”
“Go to hell!” Dena shouted and spat at his feet. “I wouldn’t let you touch me if you were the last man on earth!”
“Who said anything about you letting us?”
On his signal, the other two men stepped forward and grabbed Dena, covering her mouth before she could scream. She fought as hard as she could, but it was no use. They were too strong. She did, however, manage to scratch Rolland good in the face. He gave her a brutal backhand to hers in return. Her head snapped back, and the blood instantly began trickling out of her nose. Her ears rang loudly, and the world around her was a blur as they dragged her out of the street.
“There’s an alley behind that old butcher’s market over there!”
When they got her to the alley, out of the eyesight of any onlookers, they dropped her by a couple of metal trashcans.
“This is where we’re going to put you when we’re done with ya,” Rolland sneered. “You niggers think you can just move here and everything is going to be all peaches. My uncle is too nice to your kind. Well, I’m from the South, and the only peaches we like are the ones under your skirt.”
“I can’t wait to see what she looks like underneath these clothes,” Joe said. “Hey! Don’t let any blood get on that coat and dress. My wife loves that color blue.”
“You men should be ashamed of yourselves,” she whispered. “You will all rot in hell.”
“Maybe,” Joe said, unzipping his pants after Rolland and the other man hiked her skirt up and removed her underclothes. “But not before you, bitch!”
Dena clenched her eyes shut, not believing what was happening. She didn’t even get the chance to tell Adie that she loved her one last time, or good-bye for that matter. Dena held in her tears, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She swallowed her sobs back and said a silent prayer, accepting her fate.
Suddenly, she felt the hands that were on her just go away, and that was followed by a few grunts and thuds. In front of her, she heard the sound of someone gurgling, but she was too frightened to open her eyes. She counted to ten, and by the last number, all of the sounds around her had stopped. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and she had to throw her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming.
Laid out in front of her with a hole missing from his neck was Joe. His eyes were frozen open in shock, and she knew he was dead. Behind her, Rolland and the other man she did not know were sprawled out on their stomachs in awkward positions. Pools of blood leaked from under them and onto the concrete ground of that alley. Her legs buckled as she tried to stand up. She didn’t think she would be able to walk, but she knew she had to get out of there. Three dead white men couldn’t mean her any good.
“Do not be afraid, my dear Dena.”
The voice shook her. It was one that she vaguely remembered, one that she only heard rarely in her dreams. Her head whipped left and right trying to find the source of it. That was when her eyes landed on those the color of amber. The memories of that night she and Adie were picking flowers and catching fireflies plagued her mind. Fear struck her heart, not because of the blood dripping from his skin, but because he looked exactly the same as he did in her memories. He hadn’t aged a single day.
“Stay away from me,” she whispered and held her hand out as if to keep him at bay. “Leave me be
. You killed them.”
“Dena, do not be scared of me. I only want to protect you. These men were about to do a very bad thing to you. They deserved a death worse than this.”
Dena looked again to the bodies of the men who had attempted to take her virginity, and she could not deny that she felt no sympathy for them. They were going to cause her a shame above all shames and just leave her body to rot. Was that what America was about? She turned her attention back to the man and noticed that the blood was completely gone from his face. He’d taken a few steps closer to her, out of the shadows. Still, he stayed far enough away so as not to feel like a threat to her.
“Who are you?”
“Ahh,” he said placing a finger in the air. “Is that the right question to ask?”
“What are you?” Dena tried again.
“Ding, ding, ding. Now that would be the correct answer. What do you think I am?”
“A monster.”
“I have been called that many times, especially when people see my true nature.”
“Your true nature?”
“Yes,” he said. “They usually run away screaming.”
Without warning, he transformed quickly in front of her, revealing his hideous face, long fangs, bulky muscles, and sharp claws. Dena gasped and screamed loudly. Her feet couldn’t move quick enough as she ran out of the alley and toward her home.
“Like that.” He chuckled, transforming back to his human form.
Dena ran like a madwoman until she reached her front door. She banged on it and feverishly checked behind her to see if she had been followed. It took Adie all of ten seconds to come to the door, but to Dena, it felt like a lifetime. She fell into her sister’s arms, and Adie instantly knew something was wrong.
“Dena, what’s going on? What happened to your face?”
“Mr. Alfred’s nephew and his friends tried to force themselves on me,” Dena gasped.
“What!” Adie made like she was about to go outside but Dena pulled her back and slammed the door shut.
“No!”
“Dena, some men tried to hurt you! Just because we have color on our skin does not make it right for people to assault you! I’m going to get help.” Adie snatched away and made to open the door again.
“They’re dead.”
“They’re what?” Adie shut the door and turned to her sister. “What did you say?”
“They’re dead. In the alley by the butcher’s shop.”
“You killed them, Dena? Oh, my God. You killed them?”
“No, not me. Him! It! Something like I’ve never seen before.”
“Dena, slow down. You aren’t making any sense. Who killed those white men?”
“A monster,” Dena said. “A monster killed them, Adie. Do you remember that man? That man from a long time ago when we were children?”
“What man, Dena?” Adie tried to pretend like she didn’t know what her sister was talking about.
“The man, Adie! The man with the roses!”
“She’s talking about me, my sweet Adie.”
Both girls screamed and clutched on to each other. They hadn’t even heard anyone sneak up on them. They spun around and saw the man, dressed in a suit and overcoat, standing in the entrance of their small kitchen. Dena’s eyes searched his face and his hands, but he was not the monster she last saw. She was confused and didn’t understand what was going on, but she held on to Adie like her life depended on it. She was not going to let her sister take a step closer to whatever he was.
“He’s the one who killed those men,” Dena whispered.
“You mean the ones who were trying to steal your innocence from you?” the man said. “The ones who were going to kill you and stuff you into the trash cans like you were nothing? He was planning on taking your dress and giving it to his wife as if you never existed. Now ask yourself this, Dena: are you sure you are angry at the right person?”
“But,” Dena stuttered, shaking her head from side to side, “what are you? I saw you change. You aren’t a person. You aren’t even a man!”
“Fair enough.”
“I remember you,” Adie whispered. “You’re the one who gave me the roses that smelled like apple pastries. I’ve never forgotten you, and how you moved so fast that night. I always knew you couldn’t just be a man.” Adie released Dena and went toward him.
“Adie, no!”
“How did you get in here?” Adie pondered.
“The window. It wasn’t locked, although it should have been.”
“Are you chastising us?” Adie couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her lips. She’d gotten close enough to him to run her fingers down the sides of his face.
“Adie, stop.”
“He isn’t here to hurt us, Dena. If he were, he would have done it already,” Adie said and focused her attention back to him. “He’s been following us for years. Isn’t that right?”
“I knew I was not as discreet as I had hoped to be.” The man flashed her a dazzling smile.
“No, you weren’t,” Adie said. “I would catch glimpses of you. I even saw you on the boat on our way here to America. I always blamed it on my overactive imagination, but now I know what I saw is true.”
“You have always been special, Adie, both of you,” he said. “Something has drawn me back to you for years. Your blood is strong.”
“What is your name?”
“Dracula is the name that the people have come to know me as. But I have adopted the name Daron.”
Both Adie and Dena looked taken aback. They, like everyone else, had heard the stories of the creature that lived off of human blood. The story of Dracula was told to scare children into never wanting to be outside at nighttime. It was told that he was cursed to walk the earth for eternity with no soul and that was what made him so merciless. He envied mortals so much that their blood had become sweet in taste to him. Dena thought it was just a story to keep the children in check, but after what she witnessed she was having seconds thoughts.
“You’re a—”
“The only vampire,” Daron informed them. “Made by witches. A bat, human blood, and a powerful spell.”
“Witches don’t exist.”
“I’m not supposed to either.”
Dena was quiet, and she blinked her eyes a few times. She didn’t understand what was going on, or why it was happening. What she did know was that, although she was skeptical, she did not find the monster in her home to be a threat. He did not look at them with eyes that wanted to cause them pain. She couldn’t describe what the look in them was, but it was something else. He focused his attention on Dena and only Dena.
“I apologize for even allowing them to touch you,” he said. “I only waited for them to pull you into the alley so that I could attack them in the shadows. Trust me, if the town found out I was here, everything would go into flames. I know from experience.”
“Why are you here then?”
“To bring you back to my home with me.”
“This is our home.”
“Is it really?” Daron raised his eyebrow. “Do you want to live forever shunned just because your skin is darker than the superior race? Do you want to forever not feel safe to walk out of your home?”
“No,” Dena heard herself whisper.
“Then come with me, and together we will be our own superior race!”
“Come with you, as in become what you are?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“A monster?”
“An immortal being. With more power than you could ever imagine.”
“Is that why you have been following us?” Adie butted in. “Because you want us to join you forever? Why us?”
“I have been on a search for a very long time for blood that smells as rich as yours. Only the richest of blood can mix with the blood of the most ancient. And in you, I found not one, but two. You will be fast.” He demonstrated this by appearing behind them in the blink of an eye, and they had to whip around again. “
You will be strong.” He demonstrated this by pulling the front door off of its hinges with no effort at all. “And I will bestow upon you gifts that will last you an eternity.”
“Gifts?”
“Yes, special powers to children created directly from me. Together, we will create a race unmatched. Together, we will be what the mortals should have been. I, of course, will give the both of you a choice. It is up to you.”
“If we say no, will you kill us?” Adie asked.
“No, my sweet girl. I could never dream of hurting the two of you. I, however, cannot lie. I would be very disappointed.”
“What do we have to do?”
“Leave all of this behind.” He put his hands up and looked around. “I mean, it’s not much, yet it is everything to you, right?”
Both girls nodded.
“If you come with me, you will have riches beyond your wildest dreams. All you have to do is drink.”
“Drink what?”
“My blood.”
“Gross,” Adie said and made a face. Dena nudged her, and she made a face. “What? It sounds disgusting. And if he’s a million years old, imagine how it tastes.”
Daron’s smile at that moment was the most genuine one he’d had since his creation. Adie, he knew, would be his favorite. If she agreed to come with him, he knew what gift he would bestow upon her. He let the two women deliberate with each other for a few minutes before they finally turned back to him. It was a decision that should not have been made so hastily but, unbeknownst to them, he was running out of time.
“What say you?” he asked.
“Adie has a question.” Dena rolled her eyes.
“First, please get rid of those bodies in the alley—”
“Already done.”
“Perfect. And secondly, if we become what you are, will we be young forever?”
“You will look exactly how you do now for eternity.”
“Okay,” Adie said with a nod. “We will do it.”
That time when Kesh came back, he wished he didn’t have to. It had been so long since he’d seen Adie, and the visions being shown to him by Dena made him feel as though he were right next to her. It was as though Dena was giving him a gift. He hadn’t known her before she was a vampire and, while she was the same person, she was so different as a mortal. She was so innocent. Hearing her voice was like music to his ears. It was as sweet as his favorite candy when he too was human.