The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: Progeny

by Jessica MacIntyre

  Holly smiled just a tiny bit and forced herself to speak, her voice small. “Thank you,” was all she said.

  “I too have suffered the same condition you have. It’s a pain like no other. But take heart,” his voice strengthened as he lifted her head to look her directly in the eye. “I can see you’re almost as old as I am. You feel as though life is over, but it’s not over. There’s more to come and many good things that await you. Now is just a moment in time, a bump in the road. In a hundred years it will all be a memory, I promise.”

  Tears formed in Holly’s eyes. It was clear to see that his words had meant a lot to her. He took her in his arms for a moment, embracing her. “You’ll be alright,” he said.

  John and Margie looked at each other, quite impressed. Most vampires shied away from someone experiencing the loss of a bond unless they were close family. It was something most had dealt with, but also something, I had discovered, that was slightly taboo. The rest of the clan had kept Holly at arm’s length, but this new vampire didn’t seem bothered by her situation or demeanor at all.

  “Well, he’s got my vote,” John said after Kenzie excused himself to go talk with the others.

  “Mine too,” smiled Margie. “How about you two?”

  They looked at us expecting as much enthusiasm as they were feeling. “He seems nice,” I said. Gavin said nothing, simply stood there watching Kenzie work the room, clenching his jaw tightly as he did. I elbowed him to hint that he needed to give a response.

  “What? Oh, yeah, seems very nice. Rachel, I think we should be getting back.”

  “Right,” I said. I bent to give Holly a kiss and Gavin did the same. Then, without even so much as glancing at anyone else we were out of there.

  We took our time getting home. The wind was high, rustling the tree leaves all around us as we walked and the air was filled with the sound of branches scraping against one another and night creatures stalking. Gavin was sullen, deep in thought. I wished I could make my way inside his head for a look around as I knew he didn’t want to talk, but as always I was respectful of his mood. There was a certain level of privacy we gave each other when it came to our minds. Even though they were connected, we had an unspoken rule of never purposely entering for the sake of curiosity.

  I grabbed his hand and we walked silently home. “Are you sleeping tonight?” he asked after we’d sent the babysitter home.

  “No. I think I’ll do some more reading. You?”

  “Same. We need to speed this up as much as we can.”

  I nodded. “You’re right.”

  We spent the entire night on our respective laptops. Me on the couch and Gavin at the small desk across the room. The only break I took was when an email from Alexander came in. He had moved in with Leiv in Sydney about a year ago. I missed him terribly. He had left a few things in his old room and every time I walked by it I felt the urge to call him or go visit him or cry. Finally I’d had to close the door and keep it that way. He still came to visit from time to time. Leiv was still human and had given up on the blood den at Alexander’s insistence. He was looking to turn him, but Alexander was still considered too young to have a progeny. The clan in Soldiers Cove wouldn’t hear of it and the Authority in Sydney refused as well. If they could just wait another five years, however, they would be up for reconsideration. The two of them were very much in love and counting down the days. As a side effect of waking up in the middle of his transformation Alexander still hadn’t regained the power of speech. He was perfectly healthy in every other way however and so he was happily enjoying his new life and love.

  I made him promise to come for a visit soon. Ryan missed him too and the many happy hours they spent, drawing silently. Ryan was showing signs of being quite an artist at just four years old and that had excited Alexander to no end. He said he would visit and that he had some art supplies for Ryan. “Not kid stuff,” he wrote. “Real paint and brushes and a couple of small canvasses. If that’s ok with you?”

  I assured him it was and told him I was looking forward to seeing him. At five a.m. Gavin came over and closed the laptop on me, taking it from my hands with a small contrite smile. “Can we talk?”

  “Yeah, of course.” He placed the computer on the coffee table and sat facing me. “You’re right. I can’t hate Kenzie because he didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear. He’s only one vampire from one part of the world and there are others. I’ve been emailing with someone in Greece who might be able to find some answers for us.”

  “A vampire?”

  “Yes, he’s a historian of some kind. A professor. He speaks English but doesn’t seem to write it very well I’m afraid. I’m thinking we should go there and talk to him so we don’t have any miscommunications. Plus it will be harder for anyone to trace what we’re doing if we go in person. We don’t want to leave an electronic trail. Everything I’ve asked him is all hypothetical as far as he’s concerned for now, but I’m thinking we may have more success if we go there. We’ll find out if we can confide in him and plead our case. Greece is thought to be the birthplace of the satyrs anyway so if anywhere in the world contains answers I would think Greece would be it.”

  Historically speaking he was right. “It only makes sense I guess.”

  Gavin put his head in my lap and I ran my fingers through his dirty blonde curls. He sighed. “I do feel a sense of time running out, just like you said. And every day it gets a little worse.”

  “I know,” I whispered, leaning forward to kiss his forehead. “When should we leave for Greece?”

  “As soon as we can. I’ll book the plane tickets later today.”

  “Should we take Ryan with us?” I hated the thought of leaving him. As Gavin had said, every day the feeling of time running out was getting a little worse. Leaving him for any length of time, no matter how short, felt wrong.

  Gavin thought for a moment. “I think it would be best if he stayed here. My parents will look after him. It will give us a chance to look more quickly and make it home faster.”

  I had to concede that he was right. “Alexander said he was coming for a visit. Perhaps he can stay for a few days with him as well.” Although the thought of missing Alexander’s visit made me sad I knew that Ryan would be more than happy to spend any time at all with this favorite uncle.

  “Good, it’s settled,” Gavin said, closing his eyes. “We’ll get on a plane as soon as I can arrange it. I have a feeling that we’ll find the answers we’re looking for this time.”

  For the first time in a while I felt some actual hope. “Well, we’ve got nothing to lose by looking do we?”

  “No.”

  Chapter five

  Two days later we were on a plane at Halifax Stanfield Airport. We flew from Halifax to Toronto, and then from Toronto to Frankfurt, finally arriving in Athens after almost twenty-four hours of travelling. Upon landing we went straight to our accommodations just outside of the city, a little bed and breakfast type dwelling. More so somebody’s home than any kind of business. It was sweet and quaint with its old stone steps and various pieces of art scattered throughout the place. Night had fallen and the peaceful hush of a day’s end was caressing this mysterious and ancient city. Any other time I would have found this exciting or even romantic. Gavin and I had talked about travelling, but as of yet hadn’t done any. This was our first trip away from home, my first outside of Nova Scotia let alone Canada, and we were going to spend it looking for answers.

  “What are we going to do about feeding?” I asked Gavin when we had unpacked and settled into our cozy little room.

  Gavin gave me a confused look. “There are lots of humans around, Rachel. It shouldn’t be a problem when the time comes.” The time was drawing closer for me more quickly than usual. We had only fed a few days ago and typically once a week was sufficient for me as long as I could feed from Gavin every day. Ordinarily I wasn’t worried about feeding but suddenly it was becoming a bit of an issue, at least in my mind. Being out of my element in a f
oreign country was unexpectedly disquieting. Gavin must have seen the worry on my face because he asked, “Why? Are you hungry? Do you feel like you need something?”

  I did. Although I wasn’t just craving the taste of the blood or the end to the physical sensation of hunger that it would provide. I was craving the chase, the hunt. “Can we hunt here?”

  “That might not be wise. We don’t really know anyone. I’ve only had contact with the professor. He gave me the location of a blood den.”

  “I’m tired of blood dens. It’s too easy. I want to track. I want the chase.” Excitement flared through my body as I said the words.

  “We can do that when we get home.”

  His response irritated me. He wasn’t listening. Out of nowhere I began to tremble and sweat. “Gavin,” I said wringing my hands, trying to keep a grip on my emotions. “You don’t understand. I need to hunt. I need it now.”

  Hearing the urgency in my voice he finally realized I wasn’t just articulating a request. He came closer, taking me by the shoulders and looking me in the eyes. “Rachel, listen to me. We just got here. We can’t hunt right now. We need to get the lay of the land before we attempt anything like that. It would be foolish for us to hunt just yet. If you need blood you can feed from me, but right now hunting just isn’t possible.”

  I knew he was right but that didn’t stop me from sulking. Gavin smiled slightly and rolled up his sleeve. “Here,” he said. “What’s mine is yours.”

  I took his arm and pierced his flesh as hard as I could, biting down and sucking forcefully. I lay down on the bed with his arm over my mouth, sucking and swallowing in huge gulps, feeding with my eyes closed, reveling in the familiar liquid. It wasn’t what I wanted but it took the edge off. When I stopped and let go of Gavin’s arm I saw that I had almost chewed a hole straight through it. The veins, muscles and tendons were hanging free. Gavin winced a little as he took his arm back. It healed in less than a minute, good as new, and he wiggled it around to accommodate the new flesh. “It’s not like you to be so…aggressive,” he said.

  Embarrassed at my earlier behavior I turned my head away. “Sorry. Maybe I’m just jet lagged.”

  “Yeah, jet lagged. That must be it.” I wasn’t sure but I thought I detected a little trace of sarcasm in his voice. When I looked back at him he was smiling his big toothy grin. “Are you tired, baby?”

  “I am actually.”

  He leaned down and kissed my cheek, then my lips. “You sleep then. I’m going to do some reading. I want to be ready for tomorrow.”

  “You don’t need my help? I don’t want to put it all on you.” My eyes were beginning to burn from exhaustion as I spoke.

  “No honey, you close your eyes. I’ve got this.”

  I yawned and pulled the blankets up over me, not even bothering to get undressed. “Oh,” I said, “I’m sorry. Are you hungry? Do you want some of mine?”

  “No,” he whispered. “I’m good for tonight. I’m totally satisfied.”

  “Mmm…ok,” I said as I drifted off. A few moments later I was out.

  ***

  Professor Demetrios Petros had a small office located in one of the buildings in the history department at the University of Athens. It was decorated simply, the centerpiece being a built in bookshelf, filled to bursting. One need only look at the stacks of books, not only in rows but with other books piled on top of those rows horizontally, to know that this was just a portion of his collection. Angus and Duncan had similar collections of books, most old and very valuable.

  He was a stout little man, balding with a dark mustache and looked every inch a typical history professor. Even if vampires had been common knowledge to humans none of them would ever have looked at him and assumed he would be among them. He was, however, one of us, and in fact, was well over seven hundred years old and somewhat of an expert on satyr/vampire/human relations.

  He ushered us in smiling and giving us a robust handshake, kissing us each on both cheeks and motioning for us to sit down in the two leather chairs across from his desk. He took a seat behind the modest piece of furniture and leaned forward, folding his hands in front of him and now looking at us intently.

  “You’ve come a long way to see me,” he said getting right to the point. “Either you two are some type of satyr enthusiasts or you’re having a problem with them in some way. Which is it?”

  Gavin and I exchanged a guilty look. “Well,” Gavin began. “I guess you could say we’re having a problem with one.”

  “To be expected. They can be charming but are tricky and born troublemakers, all of them.”

  “No kidding,” I said under my breath.

  “Well, out with it. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on and I suspect you’re here because you didn’t want to leave any kind of paper trail as to your inquiries.”

  “You don’t sound like you think very much of them, professor,” Gavin said.

  “I don’t think myself better or worse than they are. We vampires are troublemakers too, of a different kind. If humanity ever found out about any or all of us they’d be well within their rights to drive us all into extinction. We have the potential to become a plague if we reproduce too much. That’s why so many places have such rules and restrictions on turning others. We’re no good to our own kind if we end up cannibalizing ourselves either.”

  Gavin thought for a moment. “I suppose you’re right,” he said.

  The professor’s face brightened with a flattered smile, then he folded his hands on his desk, becoming more serious. “So…what’s going on?”

  He had seen right through us and now we were feeling awkward. Gavin shifted in his chair and took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. “We need to know, that is, we have a son and …”

  I decided just to spill the story as quickly as possible, embarrassment be damned. “Gavin is not our son’s biological father. His father is a satyr. We’ve had some conflicting information on whether or not we can turn him before he transforms. We want to save him from that as you can understand.”

  The professor chuckled and I stiffened with agitation. There was nothing funny about our situation at all as far as we were concerned and we were offended at his amusement. “Sorry,” he said sensing my discomfort at his reaction. “It’s just that you’re not the first vampire mother to come to me with this dilemma. How old is the boy?”

  “He’s four,” I said.

  “Ah, Then you yourself are no older than perhaps five, am I right?”

  “Yes, that’s correct.”

  “And where you live, there are no rules on turning someone so young? I have to say I’ve not been to Nova Scotia in about a hundred years so I’m not familiar with what the current practices are. Are you permitted by your clan to turn him?”

  “They don’t know that’s what we’re thinking of doing,” Gavin said.

  The professor sat back in his seat taking on a more formal tone. “If that’s the case I don’t feel it would be wise for me to advise you on something that could break the laws of your individual clan.”

  “Please,” Gavin said. “You have to help us. He’s our son. Don’t you have any children?”

  The professor’s eyes softened. “I’ve had a few, and believe me I feel for your situation, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’d be breaking the moral code I live by in advising you. I’m sorry I can’t help you. I’m sorry you came all this way.”

  Frustration rose within me. It was time to stop playing games. This vampire had the answer I wanted and I wasn’t leaving without it. I reached into his mind and rummaged around, closing my eyes for a moment as I did so. I sat there in silence until I stumbled across something I wanted. “Does your clan know that you’ve been secretly advising the humans in government on the existence of vampires? Do they know you are planning to take all the money you are making in that endeavour so you can move to Argentina under an assumed name? I wonder…how does endangering all of vampire kind fit into your
moral code?”

  The old vampire’s face dropped into a confused and ugly stare. His jaw widened, he looked at me, dumbstruck. “How do you know that?”

  “Two things professor,” I said. “Firstly, don’t do that anymore. Stop providing information to the government. Secondly, help us. Do those two things and I’ll keep your dirty little secret.”

  He swallowed hard, knowing he had no choice now. “The only way you can save him is to have him consume the blood of another child. A human child. A child that comes from you, specifically a female. You are both a satyr mother and a vampire. Your children will have the only blood you can use to turn your son. You need what is commonly known in your situation as a sacrificial child.”

  Gavin rubbed his forehead. This was the same thing Kenzie had told us. “A sacrificial child? So you’re saying to save our son, we’d have to have another child and let him kill it to turn him vampire?”

  “Not necessarily. There’s been some success with banked blood. That is to say, you have another child and take some of that child’s blood little bits at a time through their life and store it. When the time comes you use it to turn him instead of filling him with the blood of another vampire during his turning. It hasn’t worked in every case, but unless you want to let him feed from a living child, and I do mean completely drain them which is guaranteed to work, it’s your only option. Which you’ll choose depends on how ruthless you are and how far you’ll go to save him.”

  Gavin was not exactly happy, but somewhat relieved. So was I. “Thank you, professor. You’ve been very helpful.”

  We stood to leave. “There something else you should take into consideration if you’re to turn the boy,” he said before we had a chance to go.

  “What is that?” Gavin asked.

  “These children, they don’t make good vampires. Not that any children make good vampires. It’s usually a bad decision since they lack reasoning in even the best of cases. But these children in particular…well…you’ve seen how satyrs act. No regard for anyone or anything but themselves and the perpetuation of their own species, which I suspect is how you got yourself into this mess in the first place.” I was offended at his insinuation, but bit my tongue. “They have a streak that’s much wilder than any normal child. Your son may be a regular four year old at this point, but mostly as they grow, and especially as they approach puberty, they become aggressive. Keep that in mind. It might be best to let the boy just become what he is.”