Bride of Blood:: First Kiss

by Anthony E. Ventrello

  She touched his hand and they were silent then for several moments. J.R. broke the silence as he yelled, “Last call!”

  Vercie kissed Anton on the lips and said, “I’ll see you again soon, sugar. It’s time for you to wake up. Find her, Anton. Love her. And don’t forget to visit me sometime.” She laughed.

  Anton’s eyes flew open and he was staring at the inside lid of his coffin. He shook his head and touched the lid. It was cold. Night time. Sitting up, he opened the lid and stared out into the dark basement. He looked over at Alexander’s coffin and could hear his friend beginning to stir.

  He knew at that moment what he had to do. He would start by waking Alexander and then call Rick. It was time to find Velara.

  Chapter 5 The Ceremony

  Rick, his wife Marcy, and their daughter Chelsea stood in the basement of Anton and Alexander’s home. The room was filled with candles for the Coming of Age Ceremony for Chelsea. Each of them were dressed in white robes with the symbol of Nephthys on them. Chelsea was about to take over the role as Anton and Alexander’s familiar.

  Anton, Alexander, and Rachael entered into the light of the candles. They also wore similar robes, but Anton’s had a sash that designated his rank of Master Vampire. Alexander and Rachael each wore golden cords around their waists which showed their rank of Acolyte.

  Anton handed Rachael a large gold-embossed book because she was the Mistress of Ceremony. Alexander looked at her, and he was taken aback by how beautiful she was in the candlelight. Anton’s mind was not on the ceremony as his thoughts kept returning to Velara.

  Why had she suddenly returned to his thoughts? Was she trying to get in touch with him? Was she going to come back to him? More questions than answers dominated his mind.

  “…and this is not a task to be taken lightly,” continued Rachael as Anton attention suddenly returned to the ceremony. “It is a life-long commitment that could very well result in your death and the death of those you hold so dear…”

  Anton began to think back to the night he discovered that she had left him. He woke to find that she was not lying next to him. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a great hunger. Perhaps she had simply awakened early and slipped out as to not wake him.

  After he emerged from the coffin, they shared he noticed that the house was dark. He could not feel her presence or her scent. He rushed to the kitchen table and found a note next to a half-finished candle. He picked up the note and read it with trembling hands:

  Dear Anton,

  Though I love you and always will, I feel that I have to leave you. There are things that I want to do that I cannot do with you. Please try to understand. For what it’s worth, I love you very much and I hope that our paths cross again, someday.

  Always Yours,

  Velara

  Anton collapsed to the floor and buried his face in his hands. He wept. For the first time in a very long time, he wept… tears of blood.

  “Anton, are you alright?” Rachael asked. He was standing next to her with big red tears running down his face.

  He quickly wiped them away and said, “Yes, I’m fine. Where were we?”

  “It’s time for the Chalice of Truth,” she explained.

  Anton nodded as Alexander approached them with a large crystal chalice in one hand and a dagger in the other. Chelsea looked at them nervously while her parents on either side of her gently squeezed her shoulders.

  Anton took the chalice from Alexander and said, “Now, Chelsea, drink from this chalice and let your blood be sealed with ours. This symbolizes your devotion and loyalty to us and ours to you. May no secrets or lies come between us.”

  After Chelsea drank, she would be bound to them for the remainder of her life, or until she chose to retire as her parents did. She would have a supernatural connection to them and would be incapable of lying to or deceiving them.

  Anton slit his wrist and allowed his blood to trickle into the chalice. Alexander did the same. Rachael raised the chalice high and then presented it to Chelsea.

  She gulped, closed her eyes and drank. She felt a rush overcome her entire body and then a strange tingling sensation. Then she felt like herself again, yet somehow different. She smiled brightly and returned the chalice to Rachael.

  Anton and Alexander smiled at Chelsea as Rachael proclaimed, “So let it be done!” All three of them came forward and hugged her. Then they each kissed her. She only blushed when Alexander did it, though.

  Rachael did notice and she felt slightly miffed. Actually, if Chelsea had not just been made a familiar, she would have gladly killed her and drained her dry. But she smiled and shook her head, as if trying to shake out her jealousy.

  Later, they were all talking about what Rick and Marcy were going to do with the more than generous retirement money that Anton had given them. The night was nearly at its end when Anton slipped away from his guests and went to his favorite spot on the roof.

  He gazed up into the night sky and thought about Velara. It had been so long ago that she’d left. He had believed that he was long over her. Any thoughts or memories of her were buried deep inside and locked away. But a few nights ago when the flood gates had been opened, all the hurt, sorrow and loneliness he’d felt were back. Why had he suddenly remembered it all?

  “There you are!” said Chelsea suddenly. Her head had just popped up from the edge of the roof. “We were going to get ready to leave and I…” She stopped when she saw Anton’s face. She climbed onto the roof and hugged him. “What can I do?” she asked him.

  “Nothing,” he said, “please, just stay with me for a little while longer.”

  She nodded and held Anton more tightly as he rested his head against hers. She felt his sadness run throughout his body and then seep into hers. She herself had not had experienced romantic love yet. Sure, there was this one guy in high school, but that wasn’t really love. Even after training with her parents, she truly had no desire to get married, much less date. Taking care of Anton would be a full-time job, and she didn’t need any distractions. However, she knew that someday she would have to get married because she would have to continue the family tradition. But it would be quite a while before she would have to think about finding someone. If only Alexander were mortal…she pushed the thought out of her head. Of course she noticed the way that Rachael looked at Alexander and the way he looked at her. It was obvious that Rachael loved him and that Chelsea could never have him.

  She shifted her position and held Anton’s hands. It broke her heart to see Anton sad. She was totally devoted to him long before the ceremony and had always loved him like a second father. The connection that the ceremony established allowed them to communicate on a mental level that was impossible with any other mortal. She touched the side of his face and felt a hot tear drop on her hand. The tear was blood. Blood was everything to them. It was their life and it would also be her life from now on.

  What did that song say? It was better to have lost a love than never to have loved at all? Bullshit! Not if it did this to you, she thought. She nestled her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for several more moments, not speaking. It would be a hard life that she would lead but it would be worth it. Her parents, her grandparents and so on had been familiars, and now it was her turn. It was better than getting a 9 to 5 job, and she loved Anton and Alexander with all her heart. Still, she knew that her life would change drastically from this day on.

  Actively listening, she heard her parents come outside. She didn’t want the moment to end, but she knew that there would be many more moments like this to come. In her heart, she wished that there could be such moments with Alexander.

  “I guess I’d better go,” she said to Anton, standing up. Anton nodded and wrapped his arms around her and brought her to the ground.

  “So, I’m sure that you’re ready for your trip?” asked Anton as he shook hands with Rick.

  “Yes, we’ll be heading out first thing in the morning,” Rick said with a tinge of sadness in his voice.<
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  “I’ll see them off in the morning and then come back to go over the books with you,” said Chelsea. Anton nodded again and hugged all of them.

  Anton saw them climb into their car and watched the tail lights as they disappeared for the last time. It was always a little emotional, this passing of the torch. Someday Chelsea would retire and she would pass the duties of a familiar on to her child. Anton wondered when or if he would see Rick and Marcy again. With a sigh, he walked back into the house.

  Chapter 6 Crystal

  Anton walked. He walked on and on with his thoughts running wild while his feet seemed to have a life of their own. He didn’t even realize that he walked out of town and made his way into the city, which was at least a good hour’s travel by car.

  As city noises surrounded him, Anton became aware of his surroundings. It had once been a thriving city 50 years ago, but a great exodus to the suburbs, the closing of factories and a rise in crime had steadily turned the city into a shell of its former self. Stores that had once sold nearly everything were boarded up and now unofficially housed the homeless. Several buildings were abandoned and not torn down. Crime and murder ran rampant and there wasn’t a safe street corner to be found. Anton recalled times when families would sit on their front porches and visit with their neighbors. Now the houses that were still occupied were filled with cautious people who didn’t even know their neighbors’ names. A large percentage of the homes were boarded up and even those were usually drug houses.

  Several projects had been started or planned to revitalize the city. There was a well-known chain hotel built downtown, a nationally-televised beauty pageant, and an impressive riverboat casino. But after an initial flurry of publicity and excitement, the public interest and continued financing for these projects, like so many others, soon evaporated. It seemed that nothing could bring the city back to its former glory.

  Anton found himself walking down what had once been the main street of the city. Soon he became aware that someone was following him. From the young man’s thoughts, Anton knew that he was planning a robbery. Further thought reading told him that the young man had killed three people and gotten away with it. Anton could hear the young man stroking the 9mm in his pocket.

  Anton suddenly spun around and the young man pulled out his gun in a hurry. “Hand over your phone and wallet, mother…” In the blink of an eye, Anton snatched the gun from the young man and threw it away.

  “Shit! How did you…” he said as he turned to run. He hadn’t gotten five steps when Anton suddenly stood blocking his path. Anton grabbed him by his neck and threw him against a building. The thug crumpled to the ground; his waste of a life slowly leaving his body. Anton took a quick glance around and then dragged him into the alley. A few moments later, Anton emerged from the darkness wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He didn’t even bother to call The Cleaners as a dead body found in this city was not a big deal to the local police. He would be left in the morgue and then eventually buried.

  A few blocks north on the same street was a bar. It was called Leo’s and there were a few cars in front. Not overly busy, but still enough patrons to choose another victim. Since the renewal of the pain of losing Velara had come back, Anton found himself feeding twice a night or not at all. Sometimes he felt as if the extra blood would wash away his sorrow. Other times his heart hurt so bad that he couldn’t even bring himself to kill. It was either gluttony or abstinence for him.

  As he walked in, he half-expected to see JR at the bar, but there was a rotund black man filling beer mugs. Anton approached the bar and expected the bartender to ask him to leave. The man did give him the once-over, but poured him a draft, nonetheless. Anton put a ten on the counter and mumbled, “Keep the change.” The large tip seemed to brighten his mood. Smiling at Anton, he moved on to other patrons.

  The bar was nowhere near as fancy as JR’s. There was only one neon sign and most of the posters were either ripped or faded. There was a row of torn bar stools and a few tables. Some basketball special was on the TV, and a small group of men were watching it and paid no attention to Anton at all.

  Then someone at the other end of the bar caught his eye. He had to do a double take. It was Velara! But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. She was smoking a cigarette and taking sips from the beer in front of her. She could have been her twin except for a few minor differences.

  The first thing he did was block her thoughts. He sometimes got confused when he talked to mortals as to what they said or what they thought. He walked up to the woman and introduced himself. She told him her name was Crystal. She invited him to sit down next to her.

  What struck Anton was how similar Crystal was to Velara. He recalled that she once told him about her descendants, but this was too strange to be a coincidence. Could she really be a descendant of hers? Maybe he was just simply seeing what he wanted to see.

  He shook his head and then looked at Crystal again. Her face was still similar to Velara, but not quite as much as he’d first imagined. She was slender and her body was quite seductive.

  While not large, her breasts were large enough and appeared quite firm under the blouse she was wearing. The shape of her legs was quite visible through her tight-fitting jeans. She had an ample bottom, and even the place between her legs looked delicious and inviting. It had been so long since he’d made love to a mortal woman, but he knew that he wanted this one in the worst way possible.

  As he continued to talk with her, he let his guard down and began to read her thoughts. With the help of his ability and casual conversation, he was able to learn quite a bit about her. She was in her mid-40s, divorced with two children who were staying with their father for the weekend. She worked at a local school as a secretary although she sometimes found her job unfulfilling. She’d once had dream of becoming a teacher, but an early pregnancy put an end to that. Still she was content with her life, except that she was often lonely. As she spoke, Anton relaxed his block on her thoughts and began to readily read them.

  “Do you have any plans for tonight?” Anton asked even though he knew she didn’t.

  “Not really,” Crystal said finishing off her drink. She set it on the bar. “I’ll just have a diet, please. I don’t want you to take advantage of me,” she said smiling up into Anton’s eyes. Her thoughts told him a different story, though. Actually, she did want to take him home. She had never been with a white man before, but she had always wanted to. She wasn’t modern enough to ask a man out. Although a lot of men did ask her out, she usually declined. How she’d wishfully dreamed that a man like Anton to come into her life. Actually, her heart wasn’t controlling her thoughts as much as her fantasies. She kept looking at Anton’s chiseled features and at his crotch, curious about how well he knew how to use that thing and what size it was.

  Anton really found no evil in Crystal’s soul. She never hurt or killed anyone. She didn’t have it in her to steal and considered herself a terrible liar. She was simply lonely and craved a man’s affection.

  “I don’t have anything else to do myself, dear,” he said, putting a $20 on the counter. “You could take me home with you so we could get to know each other better.”

  She smiled devilishly at him, as if she’d been secretly waiting for him to ask. And of course, she had. She nodded and then both of them got up from the bar and headed out the door.

  Crystal didn’t live too far from the bar. Although she could have easily walked there, the neighborhood was too dangerous to do something that reckless. Anton told her that he’d walked into the city which she found strange, but nonetheless gave him a ride.

  They walked in the door of Crystal’s apartment. Right away he could feel the loneliness that she had been feeling. Although she moderately decorated, there was not an overwhelming feeling of love about the place. Still, Crystal had not bought him there to discuss interior decorating.

  She took him by the hand and led him to her bedroom. Once inside, Anton began to kiss her passionately and
run his hands all over her body.

  The memory of him doing the same thing to Velara shot into him like an arrow from a bow. He pushed the memory away and tried to focus on Crystal. He was able to remove her blouse and kiss her warm flesh. Her perfume and sweat tantalized his nose, and he hungrily kissed her again and again. Crystal’s sighs and gasps penetrated his ears, but he was able to maintain some control over himself. He had to remind himself over and over again that Crystal was a mortal and could not take rough handling.

  He removed his shirt and allowed Crystal to touch and kiss his chest as much as she wanted. Again, Velara’s memory returned but he quickly squashed it. He removed her bra and began to suck, carefully on her dark nipples. She grasped the back of his head and moaned passionately.

  Soon he’d completely disrobed her and was running his hands all over her sexy, naked body. Her butt was much larger and rounder than it had appeared while dressed in her jeans. He gently laid her down on her bed. She reached up and stroked his hard, throbbing member. He closed his eyes and Velara’s memory came rushing back.

  He buried his head between her legs and went down on her. She gasped quite loudly and grabbed the back of his head. She ran her fingers through his long hair and moaned loudly as his tongue flicked her clit in a circular motion. She came several times as Anton expertly took her to heights of ecstasy she’d never experienced before.

  Anton made love to her carefully, yet enough to make her whimper with pain and delight from time to time. The sex was passionate and long. Crystal had never experienced sex that had lasted so long or had so many organisms during a single session. She frequently dug her nails into his back and scalp and cried out in pleasure.

  Finally, as Anton’s thrusts began to accelerate in both power and speed, Crystal’s body, drenched in sweat-covered body could take no more. Anton felt himself lose control as his eyes blazed and he focused on her neck. At the moment reached climax he dug his fangs into her neck. Crystal gasped from his explosion inside her and the pain of his bite. Her body trembled from both and then she lost consciousness.