by S. J. West
I sigh in relief, but hold myself back from feeling that emotion fully until after I hear the rest of his explanation.
“Then how did you help her?” I ask in a whisper, needing to know the answer yet frightened to hear what he might confess to next.
“I was one of her servants,” Julian says. “In 1609, my sister and I went to work in her household when we were in our mid-twenties. During that year, I did things that I didn’t completely understand the consequences of until it was too late.”
“What did you do that you feel so guilty about?”
“The countess said I had a trusting face,” Julian says derisively with a shake of his head. “During that year, she invited twenty-five impoverished noblewomen to stay with her at the castle. Before that time, we had all heard rumors about a torture room Frenecz had built for her in the castle, but I never truly believed it existed. It wasn’t until she asked me to bring her one of the noblewomen that I learned it was real. Back in those days, torturing a servant was a fairly common practice among the elite.”
“Really?” I ask aghast. “That’s horrible.”
“We weren’t seen as more than livestock to the nobles. In their eyes, we weren’t human. We were just creatures who served them in any way they needed to be served. Anyway, it wasn’t until then that I learned how truly sadistic she was.” Julian glances over at me. “There were tales about Elizabeth. People said she bathed in the blood of virgins to maintain her youthful appearance.”
“Did you see her do that?” I have to ask.
“Not exactly. I did see her covered in blood when she came out of the room, but I think it was just because it splattered onto her. No, I saw her do something I thought was much worse at the time.”
When Julian remains silent, I prod, “Which was?”
“I saw her drink their blood like it was wine,” he says, like it’s his sin he’s confessing.
“She drank the blood of the girls she killed but she wasn’t a vampire? To me, it sounds like she was a vampire.”
“She didn’t need the blood to survive. She drank it because she got off on it.”
“Got off on it,” I ponder. “Are you saying it satisfied her sexually?”
“That and mutilating the girls’ bodies seemed to do the trick for her. She was insane with bloodlust. We all knew she was crazy, but it’s only recently that I’ve figured out what was wrong with her. If she had lived in this time-period, I believe she would have been diagnosed with schizophrenia.”
I want to make a joke and ask him if he’s sure he’s not crazy, too, but I decide to refrain from acting on my natural snarky instincts. Julian is being sincere in his explanation about his past, and I don’t want him to stop. I know he holds vital information that I need to be made aware of concerning his world. It might even save my life one day.
“If the countess hadn’t started killing noblewomen, her sins probably would have gone unnoticed, but people started to pay attention when the daughters of influential families began disappearing.”
“Did they catch her?” I ask.
“Yes. One night, the authorities came to the castle and discovered the dead bodies of a few girls. Three of Elizabeth’s cronies were arrested and subsequently executed for their crimes.”
“And what happened to the countess herself?”
“Since she was of noble birth, they simply walled her up inside a room within a tower of her castle. They left small slits in the wall to feed her and provide her fresh air to breathe, which was a kindness she didn’t deserve, if you ask me. She spent three years in that room before she finally died.”
“So, when did you become a vampire?” I ask. “How did that happen?”
“It happened on the night of Elizabeth’s death,” Julian tells me. I can feel his uncertainty as he says, “To be honest, I’m not sure what happened. I can’t remember much about that night… none of us can.”
“So, there are more of you? More vampires?”
“Yes, there were ten of us in the beginning.”
“So, in the whole wide world, there are only ten vampires in existence?”
“No. There are only eight pure-blooded vampires left.”
“What happened to the other two?”
“They died.”
“And how do you kill a vampire?”
Julian raises an eyebrow at me. “You should be aware that if I die, my companion at the time dies along with me.”
I hold my hands up to him, palms forward. “I didn’t want to know so I could kill you myself,” I profess. “I was just curious if you can die the same ways vampires do in the movies.”
“Sunlight has no effect on me. Garlic is scrumptious in my book, even if my sister hates it, and a wooden stake through my heart only stings a little. There are only two ways I can die.” He pauses as he considers me. I get the distinct feeling that he’s judging my trustworthiness. Finally, he says, “I can only die if my companion dies or if I lose almost all of my blood.”
“I assume you figured this out when the ninth and tenth vampires died.”
“Yes,” he confirms, looking and feeling uncomfortable talking about the subject. “One of them fed on his companion for too long and drained her of blood. She died in his arms, and he followed her into death.”
“And the other one?”
“He had an accident that made him bleed out faster than his body could heal him. He ended up dying from his injuries, and his companion passed away at the same exact moment.”
“So, the rest of you have always had a companion to feed off of?”
“Yes. We’ve all been fortunate in that respect. You’ve all been very fertile.”
I have to snicker at that one.
“You still haven’t explained how this happened to you and my family. Why are we bound to one another?”
“My apologies,” he says with a tilt of his head. “I was getting to that before we got sidetracked. Like I was saying, we don’t know the specifics of what happened to us, but we do know magic was involved.”
“Magic? Like Merlin kind of magic?” I don’t know why I’m surprised by his casual use of the word. Of course magic was involved! How else do you explain the unexplainable?
“Yes,” he answers, “in a way. I’m sure you’ve come into contact with a witch or two during your life, you just didn’t know it. There’s at least one in every city in the world, no matter how small.”
“Are you telling me this bond we have is caused by a spell?”
He nods. “A very powerful one at that.”
“Who cast it?”
Julian shrugs. “I wish I could tell you, but I don’t know. All any of us remembers is waking up in the dungeon of Cachtice Castle with our heads resting on the point of a pentagram. We don’t remember how we got there or who cut our throats.”
“Someone cut your throats?” I say, imagining in my mind’s eye such a gruesome scene. “Was it part of the spell?”
“It had to have been. I think they wanted to drain our blood for some reason, and that, plus whatever else they did, left us thirsting for it when we woke up. We were all practically dead by the time we made it out of the castle. The only thing that kept us going was an incredible urge to return to the one person we each loved most in the world. I went back to my wife and…” Julia stops. He looks away from me and closes his eyes. I’m not sure if his reaction is because he’s reliving that night in his mind or if he’s having trouble finding the words to describe what he did once he made it back home. I hear him sigh and he finally looks back at me to continue his tale. “I went back to my wife and attacked her. I was so thirsty for her blood that I couldn’t stop myself from gorging on it. Luckily, I regained my senses before I completely drained her. By biting her, I unwittingly made her my first companion that night.”
“Wait. Are you telling me that your wife was one of my great-grandmothers?” I ask in disbelief.
“Yes,” Julian says, “she was.”
“Well, doesn’t
that make you my great-grandfather?”
Julian shakes his head. “No. I couldn’t remain married to her because I needed her to have a child to carry on her bloodline for me, and she wouldn’t do that unless she could remarry.”
“I didn’t realize people got divorced back then.”
“We didn’t. She and I simply moved to a new town and told everyone there that we were brother and sister. My wife was very beautiful. It didn’t take her long to find a suitable husband.”
“And you were ok with that?” I ask in disbelief. “Didn’t you just say you loved her?”
“I loved her more than anyone else in the world,” Julian defends. “And that’s what doomed her and your family to this fate. We believe that the spell that was cast made us return to the one we loved the most and feed on them to replenish our own blood supply. What we didn’t realize at first was that only the blood from that person and their children would be enough to keep us alive.”
“What happens if you feed on someone else’s blood?” I ask. “Or can you?”
“Two of us have befallen that fate,” Julian says. “I would rather be dead than live like they do.”
“Why? What happened to them?”
“They went insane,” he says, looking distraught. “It’s ironic in a way. They didn’t want to keep feeding on their loved ones, so they tried to get what they needed to survive by ingesting the blood of others. They ended up losing what little humanity they had left and turned rabid, for lack of a better word.”
“And they’re both still alive?”
“Yes. They still have their companions’ family lines going, but it’s only so they can live. They don’t feed on them anymore. Apparently, once you’ve tasted the flesh of others, you don’t want your companion’s blood any longer.”
“Are you able to turn someone into a vampire?”
“Not precisely. We can’t give another person immortality, but we can curse them with the same ravenous need for blood that we have. The humans who are turned actually end up with a shortened lifespan. Knowing that the window of their life is closing faster than it should makes them seek retribution for what was done to them.”
“That’s horrible.”
“That’s my world.”
I can see now why my mother wanted me to have a normal life for as long as I could. Knowing that there are actual monsters lurking in the shadows makes everything seem so much more real now. There’s no way for me to turn back the clock and escape all of this. Julian may be describing his world, but he’s also explaining what I’ll have to contend with for the rest of my life.
“So why are the descendants of your wife the ones who are bound to you? Why only her blood?”
“That was a great mystery to us for a very long time. It was only until modern science discovered how to unravel the mysteries of DNA that we were able to understand what caused the bond.”
“So it’s not just some magical mumbo jumbo?” I ask in relief.
“Not all of it,” Julian says cautiously, picking up on my skepticism. “Part of it is magic, and part of it is science. Though, I seriously doubt whoever did this to us understood what they were doing on a molecular level. Magic has a way of using nature to accomplish what the caster desires to happen.”
“What’s the science behind it all, then? I can understand that better than blaming it purely on some obtuse mystical force floating around in the universe.”
Julian smiles faintly. “You are so much like your mother. She was always the logical one in the family.”
“I think most people can cope with changes in their lives if they’re explainable.”
“Well, from what I understand, my companions and I share a symbiotic relationship with one another. When I first drank the blood of my wife, portions of her genes were spliced into my own. My body in turn produces what is essentially a virus specifically designed to interact with your genetic code. This virus is transmitted from me through my saliva every time I bite you. It attaches to your cells and injects my altered genetic material directly into them. Your cells transcribe my DNA, which in turn provides you with traits like increased speed, agility, strength, and stamina.”
“Ok, so in a way it’s sort of like gene therapy,” I say, thankful I can at least understand that part. “But why do I feel this undeniable urge to be close to you, and why did I only start to feel it when my grandfather died?”
“I’m afraid that’s where magic comes into play. I can’t explain that part any other way. I know you want a logical answer, but that’s the best I can give you right now.”
I won’t lie and say that I’m not disappointed. I was hoping there would be a sensible explanation behind my attraction to Julian. Having it lumped in with ‘it’s magic’ really doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation. If there was a logical reason, I might be able to find a way around it. No such luck, I guess.
“So, what is Helen? How has she been able to live for so long?”
“Our bite can shorten a human’s life, but our blood can extend their life well beyond a normal mortal existence.”
“So, you gave Helen some of your blood three hundred years ago? Why?”
“For the most selfish reason of all, loneliness. I wanted someone who would stay by my side and live for longer than seventy or eighty years. I needed someone I could rely on.”
“How much longer do you think Helen will live?”
“It’s hard to say, but she was only sixteen when I changed her. I would put her age at about sixty-five now. So, I suppose she could live another 150 to 200 years,” he shrugs. “I simply don’t know.”
“When you drink my blood,” I say hesitantly, “will it hurt?”
“Not much,” he reassures.
I freely admit that I’m not looking forward to being bitten by Julian, but I’m mostly concerned about how the virus in his saliva will change me.
“After I drink from you the first time,” he says, “you’ll end up falling into a deep sleep.”
“For how long?”
“I can’t say for sure. For some it takes only a day and for others it’s taken as long as a week to reawaken.”
I shake my head. “I can’t be gone that long. Kaylee would start to worry about me.”
“Is that the pregnant woman you were with last night?”
“Yes.”
“And the man. Was he her husband or your lover?”
“Most definitely her husband,” I’m quick to reply. “I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment.”
“Why not?” he asks, as if what I said is completely unacceptable.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t date much. Never have.”
“That’s going to need to change, Sarah, and as soon as possible.”
I’m about to make a pithy retort about how he can keep his opinions to himself and his nose out of my love life, but then I remember why he just said what he did.
“You need me to have a child you can bond with after I die.”
Julian nods his head. “It’s just the way things have been done for a very long time now. Maybe it would be easier if you simply thought of it as a family tradition.”
“And if I don’t have a child, will you end up dying when I do?”
“Yes.”
I sense the thought of his own death doesn’t bother him too much.
“Why is staying alive so important to you?” I ask. “I get the feeling you would welcome death.”
Julian studies me for a moment like I’m a curiosity. “Why does it seem like you know precisely what I’m feeling all the time? During this whole conversation, you’ve been able to judge my moods and tell just how far to take your questions. How is that possible?”
I stare at him for a while, trying to judge whether I should entrust him with my deepest, darkest secret. The only other person in the world who knows about my ability is Kaylee. We never told her parents, and she never told Ben. I always thought we would carry my secret to our graves. Julian
continues to watch me, waiting for an answer to his question. I decide to tell him my secret. If I do end up having a child to continue my family’s tradition it’s possible my progeny will inherit my ability, and Julian will need to understand it might be a part of every descendant after me.
“I’m an empath,” I confess. “I can tell what people are feeling.”
His eyes widen a bit in surprise, but he quickly recovers. “I’ve heard of people like you, but I can’t say I’ve ever met one before. You’re very rare, Sarah.”
“I guess rare is nicer than saying I’m a freak of nature,” I half-laugh, not feeling comfortable discussing my peculiar gift. “At the beginning of this conversation, you said Elizabeth Bathory was responsible for what happened to you. How can that be true if she was already dead when you were changed?”
“She was a student of the occult and had dealings with witches who drew on the dark arts for their power. The ten of us who awoke in that room were the ones who gave the most damning testimony at the trial. We believe the witches who befriended her cursed us as punishment for betraying Bathory’s trust.”
It’s hard for me to imagine living four hundred years without any end in sight. Would I be happy with eternal life? It was a hard question to answer. Very few people want to die, but would living forever really bring any of us more joy?
“Besides the side-effects you mentioned,” I say, “will I change in any other ways?”
“You’ll become completely immune to any other vampire’s coercion.”
“Coercion?” I ask, not liking the sound of that word.
“At the nightclub, did you feel odd when you were with me?”
I slowly nod my head. “Yeah, I felt like I didn’t have control of myself.”
“We have the ability to put humans into a type of trance so that they do what we ask without fighting us. I apologize for using that on you, but we needed to talk. It simply wasn’t the right place or time to have the conversation we’re having now. I needed you to find me and come here of your own free will.”
“I smelled cinnamon and chocolate while we danced,” I tell him, remembering the strange encounter clearly.
“When people are under our spell, they tend to smell what brings them comfort. I suppose cinnamon and chocolate are smells that put you at ease. It makes it easier for one of my kind to relax people and make them submissive to our will.”