Bride of Blood:: First Kiss

by Anthony E. Ventrello

  She knew all about Christina Michelle and the others. She didn’t like the fact that Anton had slept with several other women since her departure. Still, vampire or not he was a man. She knew that to vampires sex was a form of stress relief. She knew his needs and how he felt about Michelle. She detested her greatly, although she admired the work she had done in the past. She would be a valuable tool in their war with The Order of the Dragon. Still she hoped that neither she nor Anton would ever have to see her again after the war.

  She closed her eyes completely and began to remember a time, lifetimes ago when they were in a similar situation. It had been the time of Alexander the Great’s march on Asia. She smiled and drifted off to sleep. That after all, was a story for another day.

  Chapter 15 Shortened Honeymoon

  It was late evening when Anton awoke. He sat up in bed and yawned. Looking to his left he saw Velara sleeping peacefully. She was naked but wrapped up in the sheets. He bent down and kissed her forehead. It was both a sad and a happy moment for him. Happy because they were reunited after such a long separation. Sad because they were going to part once again.

  Velara opened her eyes and smiled at him. She reached up and touched his face. He kissed it and closed his eyes. How badly he wanted to make love to her again, but he knew that she had to go.

  “War is coming,” she whispered. It was as if she could read his thoughts. He nodded and both of them got up. Anton walked over to the window and pulled the blanket down. The sun was gone over the horizon although the sky had a purplish tint. Velara came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. She nestled her head on his back. They stood like that for several moments, not speaking. He thought, “No, my love, it is not coming. It is already here.”

  Chelsea was standing in the doorway of the hotel room. The Cleaners were just leaving the room with the dead prostitute. “Take care of it, dear,” Anton said to her. She nodded and handed The Head Cleaner an envelope full of 100’s. Anton walked over to Velara who was adjusting her hair in front of the mirror.

  “Chelsea has the van out front,” he told her. She stopped arranging her hair, turned around and walked into his arms. They held each other close. She took in his scent and tried to burn it into her mind for later use.

  They walked out to the parking lot hand in hand. Sure enough, Chelsea stood beside the van, the sliding door was open. As they peered inside, they saw a black coffin where the seats had once been. All of the necessary shipping stickers were on it. It was ready to be shipped to Africa as quickly as possible.

  Velara let go of Anton’s hand and looked into his eyes. Neither of them spoke again for what seemed like several minutes. Chelsea looked at them sadly. She knew that Anton had been searching and praying for a reunion with Velara for several months. It was sad that they had to part after only a brief time together. She thought of her former boyfriend Erik who had recently been killed in a car accident. She had always thought he was going to be “the one”. With him she would be able to share her secret of what she did, and one of their children would carry on the family tradition. Now he was gone, and she doubted whether she would ever be able to love another. But she had to…someday.

  Velara broke the silence, “Instructions will be sent to you as soon as Lady Bernadine figures out what Drago is up to,”

  He nodded and held her one last time. He whispered in her ear, “After this is all over we will…”

  Velara put her finger to his lips and said, “When this is all over we will be together, forever.” She kissed him deeply and then said, “Put us out of your mind for now. You need to focus on this war. You must survive.” She kissed him again and said, “Adieu, best of loves, love of my life and keeper of my heart and soul.” After that she let go of him, and climbed into the van. Chelsea followed her and they hugged before she opened the lid to the coffin.

  Anton walked up to the open door of the van and said, “I love you. Both of you.” Chelsea hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Velara held his hand and squeezed it. Then she lay down in the coffin.

  “I love you,” she said. Then he crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and turned into what appeared to be a stone statue. Anton sighed and closed the coffin lid.

  Chelsea followed him out of the van and slid the door closed. He looked into Chelsea’s eyes and then kissed them. “Take her to the shipping yard,” he pulled out his wallet and passed her several hundreds. “Then I want you to go to the vacation house in Iceland.”

  She opened her mouth to say something, but he held up his hand, “It’s not uncommon in wars like this for familiars and their families to be killed. No arguments. I want you to get your parents and go there and don’t leave or contact anyone until I call for you.”

  She nodded and put the money into her purse. He continued, “Do not call me. I will call you. Do not call friends. Do not leave the cottage or draw attention to yourself. Remember you’re Icelandic and do not speak English when you are in town. Eventually, we will come for you, okay?”

  She nodded. She had been taught the Icelandic language for years and was fluent. She also spoke Spanish, French, Korean and Portuguese. The life of a familiar meant rapid and unexpected changes. She had to be ready to relocate and change who she was at a moment’s notice.

  She hugged him fiercely. She was scared, not for herself, but for her vampire friends. She knew that this war would result in many deaths. She hoped and prayed that Lady Death would not come for anyone she loved.

  Anton watched the van drive away. He already missed them. He prayed that he would see them again. He knew that only way was to win this war, and the only way to end this war would be with Drago’s death. He remembered his promise to Prince Vlad that he would personally be the one to send Drago to Hell.

  Dawn was approaching. It would take too long for Anton to make his way back home. As appealing as it sounded to see Alexander and Rachael again, it was just not possible to make it back before sunrise. He walked down the road and tried to collect his thoughts. He was tired. Very tired. He decided that a rest was in order. Maybe a few more hours than he usually did. Maybe a few days. And what better place to have a long and undisturbed rest than in a cemetery crypt?

  Carl and Felix were just about finished for the night. They had already robbed two other graves and were preparing for number three. Felix was sure that this grave would be the jackpot they were looking for because the woman that was buried there was very wealthy when she died.

  Carl was uneasy as he threw the last shovel-full of dirt out of the hole. He really tried to go straight when he got out of prison. He’d done a 5-year stretch for grand theft auto. He told his PO that he would get a legit job, but jobs were hard enough to come by for people that didn’t have a felony. Felix was an old family friend who offered to let Carl work for him. He had his hand in all kinds of illegal shit from fixing horse races to grave robbing.

  Felix was as bad as bad could get. It was rumored that he was “connected” and that he had once worked as an “insurance policy” for a local mob boss. He wasn’t above shooting a partner in the back instead of splitting a score. As they were digging he thought, “If this kid hits pay dirt on this grave, I’m going to plug him. He’s more trouble than he’s worth.”

  “Come on, kid!” Felix yelled as he lit a cigarette. “Open the casket and see what the old broad’s got with her!”

  “Alright!” Carl answer as he wiped sweat off his forehead. “Give me a minute!”

  “Time’s money, kid!” Felix barked.

  Without another word, Carl grabbed the crowbar beside him and started to open the coffin. He thought, “If this old bitch has some jewels or shit I can hit this old fuck over the head with the crowbar and bury him here!”

  Carl peered down into the open casket and saw that Felix’s hunch had been right! The old woman was buried with all sorts of jewels. I guess she didn’t want her family to get any of her shit, he thought. He turned to say something to Felix, but he was gone!

  Car
l got out of the hole and looked around. No sign of Felix. “Hey, old man!” he called. “Where the fuck are you?” There was no reply. Where did he go?

  He shook his head and turned back towards the grave. Anton was blocking his path. Carl was surprised to see him, but didn’t get a chance to react. Anton grabbed him and flung him hard into a large headstone. He died instantly.

  Anton closed the casket and said, “Sorry, ma’am.” He got out of the hole and then threw both of the corpses into it. He thought it was disrespectful to bury the two in the casket with deceased woman they were going to rob. Plus, he didn’t want to deal with The Cleaners twice in 24 hours. He just decided to bury them on top of the casket. Besides if someday the police discovered them, they would probably just think it was a mob hit.

  After finishing the job, Anton tossed the shovel into a dumpster. He walked over to the north side of the cemetery and found a large crypt. It was very old and very big. Some rich family with the name Green had used it until the family had died out. It didn’t look like anyone had been placed in it for decades.

  Anton twisted his fingers in a quick motion and he heard the lock inside the crypt turn. He pulled open the old, creaking door and went inside.

  The room was very dusty and smelled stale. He observed that the one window it had was stained glass and was dark blue. Not really capable of letting in any significant amount of sunlight. Besides the open slab that he chose was not in the pathway of any sunlight anyway.

  He climbed onto the slab and lay down. He didn’t require much comfort to be able to sleep although the hotel bed he’d slept in the day before was nice. Still it was sleep that he required, not comfort. And there were vampires who would actually bury themselves in the sand if they were desperate enough. For good measure, he used the same concealment spell that Velara had used earlier. The same one that Prince Vlad had taught him and that he in turn had taught Velara. It would make him appear to be a decomposing, lifeless corpse to mortal eyes. Velara always chose to use a variation where she appeared to be a stone statue for some reason. As the spell took effect, Anton felt himself fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  In the shadows, something stirred. Anton hadn’t noticed the vampire in the corner of the crypt. Of course he hadn’t. The spell that this vampire used was similar to his but was powerful enough to even stay hidden from vampiric eyes. The vampire looked at Anton and smiled and then returned to the invisible state. For a while, anyway. Until the time was right.

  ***

  A few miles away, Alexander and Rachael were wrapped in each other’s arms in Alexander’s coffin. They were both naked and content. Alexander felt Rachael’s breathing slowing down to almost a soft whisper of air. He knew that she was asleep. He said a prayer for Anton, for the coming war, and for himself and Rachael. Lastly, he prayed that Velara would be safe on her mission. Then he joined his beloved Rachael in dreamland.

  ***

  Many miles away, Chelsea was standing in a warehouse as two men carried Velara’s coffin from her van. A very tall man with long, dark hair holding a clipboard was talking to her.

  “Okay,” he said, “that is one casket bound for Africa, right?”

  She nodded and handed him the money. He took it from her and quickly counted it. He nodded in approval.

  “Thank you,” she said and turned to go, “take good care of it, will you?”

  “Don’t you worry, my dear,” the man said, “we will take good care of it…and you!”

  Chelsea turned around just as the other two men closed the warehouse door, trapping her inside. The man suddenly changed his appearance. His face grew longer and narrower. His eyes were white and had no pupils. He smiled at her, revealing long fangs.

  Before she could say anything, the other two men were holding her arms. She struggled to get free, but couldn’t. She surmised that the two were probably fledgling vampires.

  The large vampire walked towards her and touched her chin, “Yes, my dear, we will take good care of you and your master!”

  Chelsea was scared, but kept up a brave front. She was prepared to give her life for Anton. She realized who the vampire was, and looked defiantly at him and said, “Drago!”

  “Yes, my dear,” he touching her cheek with his long nails. “I warned your master that he would regret not killing me, and he shall!” He laughed loudly, as did his fledglings.

  Chelsea clenched her teeth and tried to remain defiant. But she was scared. She was more frightened than she’d ever been in her life.

  ***

  Miles away, Anton suddenly came out of his sleep and his eyes opened. It was the connection that he had with Chelsea and the distress she felt. He could see what she saw and felt what she felt. He sat up. So much for a nap. He had to help Chelsea.

  But before he could sit up he felt a cold wind blow over him. He fell back into a deep sleep. The vampire in the corner smiled and looked at him. Anton was totally helpless and would remain so until it was time for him to awake. The vampire would make sure of that. She would protect him with her very life if needed. She owed him that much.

  “Sleep, my love,” she whispered to him. She pulled the veil back from her face and the moonlight that crept in illuminated her soft Asian eyes. “You are not strong enough to help your familiar.” She caressed his cheek and bent down and kissed his lips. “Yes, my love, war is upon us, but war hasn’t started for you, just yet. Sleep and I will awaken you when the time is right.” She closed her eyes and whispered an incantation.

  Anton returned back to the pseudo-decomposed state he’d been in. The vampire pulled the veil back over her eyes and returned to her spot in the corner. One more incantation and she was a statue again.

  Coming soon…Bride of Blood II: Engagement in War

  Author’s note: There are many people who have helped me and have inspired me in the course of writing this book, but two stand out the most. First and foremost I would like to thank my wife and love of my life: Verl. She is the real-life Velara and this book would not have been possible without her love, patience and support.

  To my daughter JoAnna: You have acquired the gift of writing and imagination from your father. I love you and I know that greatness awaits you in whatever you do.

  To Catherine Zamora at Booktango: Thank you for your help in creating this E-book. I couldn’t have done it without you.