Within the Cards

by Donna Altman

  “Why are you looking at me Vamp, and why do you assume to know me?” I yelled back at him through my thoughts.

  Oh yeah, I forgot he was a mere hybrid. They couldn’t read minds. Only my immortal race could do that. He was the weaker of the immortals, a simple vampire.

  “You don’t remember me at all do you?” His thoughts wilted as I read them.

  I saw him slightly slump in his chair as if the breath of a human left him. The little cry baby, at least now he got the picture. Stupid vamp didn't realize I could read his thoughts. Apparently, he was mentally challenged, and he doesn't remember Witchyres could do this. Oh great a stupid, arrogant vampire, this was just my luck.

  “If you had slithered through my thoughts in the past, I would have remembered the smell.” I snapped. I rolled my eye in discuss that this vamp thought he had some right to look at me. Stupid vampires made me sick. Their breed was repulsive.

  “Awe, but I have my dear many times, even in your bed.” His thoughts were gloating.

  What was this? He read my mind. He could read minds as well as I could. That was strange for a hybrid vampire. They didn’t have unusual powers. I had never heard of such. They’re just blood sucking night crawlers. He read my thoughts. I had to find out more information about this rodent.

  “I would never lower myself to you. I am above the lines in which you crawl.” I returned with a hiss.

  Oh my god, I was ready to puke. If I were human, I would already be running to the door to find the nearest bathroom to blow my breakfast. Thank the Gods I wasn't a pathetic human worm. Why was I stuck here with a bunch of worms and a rat?

  “Oh my dear, what little you have remembered. I can thank your family for that.” His thoughts were loud as he glared at me with his eyes.

  I knew the heat of his body increased because his scent became stronger. What did he know about my family? I dare him to have that attitude with me. I would have to show him that I was the superior immortal around here. Why did he think I had forgotten something? The more he sent his thoughts to me, I felt the anger boil inside of me. My family? What was he talking about ‘thanking’ my family? I felt the heat rise in my body. This vamp was pissing me off.

  The professor cleared his throat to communicate he was ready to start the class. This distracted me, and I again heard the thoughts of the others in the class. These thought made me laugh to myself, which was a good thing for this vamp. It gave me a chance to cool off, before I ripped his head off.

  The thoughts of the females that sat near this rodent sang out louder than the others. I was in disagreement with the thoughts of the brunette girl as she slumped down in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “This is going to be one boring class,” she thought.

  This was not going to be a boring class, not with a witchyre and a vampire in it. This dark haired girl sat next to the blonde known as Trish. I knew I didn’t like her with her arrogant attitude. Trish was an insecure girl that worried those idiots attraction to me was greater than their attraction to her. She tried to hide her insecurities by acting confidently, but I could see through her act. This stupid human female, why wouldn’t they be more interested in me? I looked damn tasty. Little did she know I wanted the dark haired male to try to “hit this”, that would be the last hit he ever made. I smiled to myself, proud to know I made these humans uncomfortable.

  Again, the brunette female’s thoughts were in my mind. However, she was right this time with her perception of this professor. He was a “mousey little man”. Maybe I should take him out of his miserable life before the vamp got a chance at this slug of a man. Was I the only one that realized this little dweeb had thoughts of killing every student in the class? Hmmm, of course not, damn mind reading vamp.

  Maybe being in the class with the rat was not the only reason this was going to be an interesting class. Watching this professor go over the edge on the rest of the students might be quite fun, not to mention the food it would leave me. I dare that damn vamp to step in my way of the crimson bliss that would be splattered all over the place. The mouse interrupted my thoughts.

  “Valeness, Eleanor.” He called from the desk where he sat as he veered over his glasses.

  “Yes” I returned to him. He looked at me as if he wanted to kill me. The vamp was already irritating me now this man was increasing my agitation.

  “Ms Valeness,” he addressed me “are you named after the great Eleanor Roosevelt?”

  That damn vamp was starting to get on my nerves. How dare he smirk at my expense. He had to be demented or just downright stupid. He was crazy because not even a half-witted vampire was fearless enough to take a chance of pissing off a witchyre. I had to let him know I was a witchyre, and I would make him sorry he was an immortal. Of course, I was talking about a race of rodents.

  “No!” I replied with a short, impatient answer.

  “Do you go by Eleanor or Ellie? He asked.

  This professor was not going to make it to the end of the class period. Much less, would he make it to the end of this semester if he kept asking me stupid questions. Maybe, I should go ahead and persuade him to start his killing spree. No, I had to find out more about this vamp before additional attention pulled itself toward this class. I wouldn’t know how to explain that the vamp and I were the only ones that survived.

  “Eleanor, I do prefer.” I used my powers of persuasion to move him to continue through the roll before he irritated me further.

  “McRyne, Daughtry,” He called as he looked over his glasses “or do you have another name that you prefer?”

  “Yes sir, Daught,” the voice from the familiar smell called out.

  His name was Daughtry McRyne. I did not remember this name. Where had I seen him before? Daught? Hmmm, I couldn’t help but smile and forced my thoughts toward him. This would push the vamp. He would not be able to take my defamations, and he would react so I could get him out of the way.

  “Daught, is it? You look more like a scared vermin rat to me.” I lashed my thoughts at him.

  “Ellie, you never had trouble calling my name before.” Again, his thoughts were gloating, and he had a smirk in the voice of his thoughts.

  I snarled at him. I gave him a glace of my razor sharp fangs, which I was not afraid to use. He was getting even closer to the realization that I may not be his maker, but I would make him wish he had been in another place at the time of his creation. I could not believe this vamp hadn’t reacted to my insult. He had to be stupid.

  As the class continued, I couldn’t help but try to make myself remember where I had crossed paths with this vamp. Why did this bother me so much? I encountered many vampires in my existence and none of them made me feel the way this one did. What was wrong with me? I sniffed the air again as I hoped the scent had changed to the rat smell I expected from a vamp. Still a sweet smell, damn it, my nose failed me once more. Why was I letting him get the best of me? I had to get him out of my head.

  Finally, the class period ended, and the many pieces of food started to leave the room. He wasn’t moving. I sat in my seat and waited for his next move. Was he ready for a confrontation? Vampires were usually a little smarter than this one. They knew they could not win against a witchyre. What was his problem? Has he had some vampire mental breakdown? He moved from his seat. I prepared myself for his meager assault, but he turned toward the exit. It was about time he admitted defeat. He would never be able to withstand an assault by me. Hmmm, he did have a cute butt. I rose from my seat and followed behind him as his thoughts continued in my head.

  “Why do you insist I know you, vamp, and why do you insist I have forgotten you?” I snarled at him from behind. He did not turn to face me. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. I tried to concentrate on the sound of his voice, but I still didn’t know where we had crossed paths.

  “Because you do and you have, if you could only remember what your family took away from you, you would remember our life together. Ellie, I love you and som
ewhere deep inside of you, you love me too.” He insisted.

  I knew there was no other explanation other than living among these humans had caused this vamp to lose his flipping mind. He declared his love for me. There was no other explanation. He was insane. He had become a certified nut case.

  “Love a vamp; never. Stay out of my way, and we will get along fine in this class, but if you cross me, I will make you sorry your maker ever found you,” my thoughts lashed out at him.

  I moved quickly around him. I did not want to listen to him anymore. He was driving me insane. Why was he so insistent that I knew him? Where did I know him? Just before I reached the door, I looked around to see if any of these pieces of food were standing near, but they had all gone to their next class. I snapped my fingers, and I vanished to the safety of my dorm room.

  Relieved to have that vamps thoughts out of my head; I leaned against the door to my room. The room was still the ugly white it was this morning, so I made some changes. A quick snap here and there, awe yes, it was easy to make it home seeing my sister insisted I come here. When I finished redecorating, the walls were a faux finish of red with a black glaze over them to deepen the crimson color. It was the same color of blood. This color made me thirsty. Hmmm, I was getting hungry.

  The windows accented with curtains of black lace broke up the crimson on the walls. I lay on my bed of black silk, and the thoughts of this vamp were in my mind again. Where did I know him? This was going to drive me to the padded cell next to him. That wasn’t what I needed. I would rather face annihilation than spend eternity next to a vamp that thought he was in love with me.

  I knew this was going to be a strange semester. Our professor was a potential psycho mass murderer, now a vampire and a witchyre shared the same class. It was going to be hard enough because our kind despised each other. Now to share the class with a vampire mental case that demanded I was in love with him in some past life I didn’t remember. Even harder, this unbalanced idiot declared his love for me. What was wrong with this vamp? Maybe it would be a good idea if I found another class to hunt.

  “NO,” I shouted.

  I felt my cold body temperature increase. The heat started from the bottom of my feet and radiated up through the ends of my hair. I slammed my fist against the wall, knocking a hole through the paper-thin drywall.

  “Oh well,” I laughed, “I’m glad no one was in the other room, but it’s nothing a snap of the fingers couldn’t fix.”

  My thoughts focused again on the vamp. I would not back down from anyone. Hmmm, I don’t know why he interested me. He was just a mere vampire, a crazy one at that. I was a witchyre, and I was superior to his kind. So why was I worried about this vamp? I rolled over in my bed as I screamed into the pillow of black silk.

  I would give him enough rope to hang his deranged self before I get rid of him. I had to remove him before he drove me insane. All of this pressure made me thirsty. Now let me see, the dark-haired male wanted to ‘hit this’. If that is what he wanted, I could make it happen. I smiled and began to laugh. Of course, it would be in his nightmares. Now where would these pieces of food hang out? It couldn’t be anywhere that would be tremendously appealing. After all, they were only food that waited for me to partake of their nourishing blood.

  I looked through the pieces of paper the man at the registration office gave me when I registered for these stupid classes. Now what would humans at college do for enjoyment? Awe, yes here was what I had been looking for, Union hall. This paper stated it was a place college students could meet and socialize with other students. Hmmm, this was where I would socialize with Mr. Hit this.

  Chapter Five

  UNHAPPY YEARS

  “Ellie” I screamed into my pillow. “Why won’t you remember me?”

  My temper boiled, and my body felt as if it were on fire. I rolled onto my back and again my mind focused on her. The memory of my past life faded to almost non-recognition, but my life with Ellie was strong in my thoughts. It was one hundred and ten years ago that Ellie changed me into the undead that I am now. We sent the first ten years of my new life together; I was her pupil, her lover, and constant companion. She told me many stories of her life prior to my change. This time was what she called the ‘unhappy years’.

  The history of the witchyre race wasn’t entirely clear in my mind. The only things I knew about them was what I learned from Ellie and my readings of supernatural creatures. There were no history books on our races. We were nothing more than a myth of untruths. We didn’t exist. Human beliefs were mistakes to protect their fragile minds. If they lived in a world of knowing vampires, witches, werewolves or any other mystical creatures were real, they would not feel safe at night when they closed their eyes to dream. Their nights would be full of the same insomnia as mine.

  Ellie’s story was full of strange and breath-taking events. Neither she nor I were ever supposed to exist. She should not walk among the immortals. She was the unexpected myth of generations of mutation. These myths were true, and these mutations were never supposed to happen. Even within her own race of mutated immortals, she was different. Ellie was a rebel in her own right.

  Eleanor Valeness born some two hundred and fifty years ago was the granddaughter of an elder vampire with psychic powers. Considered different from the normal vampires of his time, he was an outcast. His ability to see the fate of others put fear in the pure blood race. This fear was so much that they banished him from the vampire family. He had to hunt and walk the earth alone. His powers were terrifying to their clan. These differences requested indulgences that didn’t exist. The leaders of the vampires saw these differences as taboo. When a being had abilities that were out of the norm for a vampire, they were outcast or extinguished. Her grandfather was one of the lucky few; he was an outcast.

  In present times, very few hybrids had these abilities. Once the hybrid rulers recognized a vampire had these abnormalities, they ordered their creator to destroy them. This was in part because of Ellie’s grandfather and her race. Her grandfather’s maker didn’t destroy him because he feared there would be a time he would need such premonitions. Every immortal knew he or she could not refuse their makers no matter how long it had been since they saw them. We were not concerned with the amount of time that pasted since we crossed our maker's path or how long we had been outcast. This proved to be a mistake for his maker. Ellie’s grandfather was the precise reason Ellie’s kind existed.

  A coven of witches and wizards befriended her grandfather; they did not fear him. His abilities were normal to their kind. These witches and wizards did not fear vampires either; they were an even match for them. Each group lived in harmony with the other. Vampires were immortal and fed on the blood of humans, not witches. Witches and wizards had no desire for this meal. Although their lives lasted many hundreds of years, unlike the vampires, they would eventually die. Their existence was only for the enchanted. They were not destructive or dangerous unless provoked.

  Through his time of being with his new friends, he met an exquisite witch. She was one of the most alluring witches of her time. In the vampire clan, one could have sex outside their race, but breeding outside of the vampire race was a non-allowed treat. However, Ultress no longer lived under their control and rules. He and the witch fell in love, and they married. They united to create several offspring. This was the first time a vampire and witch reproduced spores. This union produced a new race the vampires would never accept and eventually the witches and wizards would not accept them either.

  Never again would Ellie’s grandfather be a part of the hybrid vampires. They would have nothing to do with him or his powers. His existence as well as all of those devised from this union risk elimination if the hybrid vampires found out about his creations. This meant Ellie, nor I would exist.

  For the most part, an immortal’s creation was from the bite of a purebred or reproduced by two of the same kind. Hybrid Vampire female could not reproduce offspring because they were dead, totally immor
tal. This wasn’t true for a male. If he reached puberty in his mortal life, the trait of reproduction lived knowingly in his immortality. This was one of the things along with the lust for sex, which carried on and increased in the world of the walking dead. With the female sterility, it was impossible for vampires to reproduce by any other means except changing a mortal through a bite.

  The purebred immortal males could reproduce with a human female, but this didn’t concern them because human females were only food. There was no attraction for a male vampire to a human female. He fed on her blood and satisfied his sexual urges that were overwhelming. However, impregnating them was not a problem because he usually killed them while drinking from them before he was finished. The witches usually stayed away from the vampires because their feeding habits repulsed them. They saw them as mongrels and nasty. The two races did not mix. Of course, this was before Ellie’s grandparents met, and the witchyres arrived.

  When Ellie’s grandmother became pregnant with a half vampire, half witch child, she controlled its rapid growth and fierce rage by placing a spell on her body to expand and make her organs become hard as stone to withstand its destruction. Only a witch could withstand the monster inside of her; the monster that craved her blood and wanted to drain her vital juices from within her womb.

  In the vampire world, the ancestors of a clan were only allowed to create a new vampire. This was to control the numbers of their followers and the balance of food. To change a human, they bit and sucked the blood from the human. Just before their victim as rendered dead, they open one of their veins and the human drank the venom of the vampire. This was a willing act by the human because they were under the charms of the immortal. When a human drank from a vampire, it was erotic for both the vampire and the human. However, it was a rare event. The leader of the vampire’s could only give consent for the exchange of venom. On occasion, vampire of higher-ranking got permission to use his or her venom. This meant you were several thousand years old and had your own coven. Otherwise, the younger vampires bit and sucked either leaving their victims part drained never remembering what happen to them or leaving their dead carcasses to rot. Most young vampires could only do the latter.