The Teaching

by R.W. Perkins

waist, lifting her entirely off the ground, and hurried towards the edge of town. When they reached the edge of town, Valdarius transformed himself into a Raven, in mid-stride, with Morgan in tow, he went in search of Szuzzanna. Valdarius had no idea where Szuzzanna would go, but he could track her easily enough. He finally sensed her location and started following in the direction in which he felt her presence. His search led him to the old cemetery in the lower class section of town. There he found Szuzzanna kneeling in front of a tombstone, she was crying. As Val approached, he heard her say, “Why mother, why did I let this happen to me? Who is going to take care of father now that both of us are dead?” Just then Szuzzanna felt Valdarius’ presence and jumped to her feet and wiped the tears from her face. “What are you doing following me like that? Can’t I get any privacy or time by myself anymore?” Valdarius was about to reprimand her about shape changing in the middle of the street, but thought it could wait until a later time. Instead he spoke to her as gently and comforting as he could. “My dear girl, I am sorry that you had to confront your father like that, but I knew the day would come. Now that it has, a great burden has been lifted from you. You are no longer keeping a secret from your family. Maybe in time you will both come to understand the others feelings.” With that said, Valdarius bid her goodnight, grabbed Morgan and flew away, leaving her alone.

  Szuzzanna was glad that Val had gone, but now that he had, she felt more alone than she ever remembered feeling in her life. This made her cry again. Szuzzanna kneeled down in the grass and put her face in her hands and wept. As she sat there, she felt herself remembering her life with her father. The memories were all warm and comforting and made her start to feel a little better. Then she realized that that’s all they were was memories that would eventually be forgotten, and she could never go back. She started to sob again. Now Szuzzanna could only think of how she could change back into the person that she was, and realized that that was never going to happen. She either needed to accept what she had become, or somehow destroy herself. Vampires could not kill themselves; she knew this from what Valdarius had told her in the beginning. Morgan could do it for her, but Szuzzanna is the whole reason Morgan was now being transformed. It would not be fair to ask Morgan to kill her, not that she would do it anyway. She already knew what Valdarius would say. She did not even want to think about that option at all.

  It was beginning to get dangerously close to daybreak when she thought of the perfect solution. It would destroy her and relieve her fathers agony of knowing that his daughter was a creature of evil. She would confront her father tomorrow night and let him put a stake in her heart. With that all settled in her mind, Szuzzanna hurriedly started back to the castle. When she arrived, Morgan was in her room waiting for her. As soon as Szuzzanna entered her room, Morgan rushed up to her and threw her arms around Szuzzanna in a loving hug. Szuzzanna began to speak but Morgan put her hand to Szuzzanna’s mouth and said, “Don’t say anything my love, let me take care of you and you will feel better when we wake up.” They stood there looking into each other’s eyes for several moments. Neither one wanting to move, yet wanting the other to do something. Finally it was Morgan who broke the stillness. Still looking into Szuzzanna’s eyes, Morgan leaned in and told Szuzzanna, “I am so glad that you have chosen to make me one of you, now we can spend an eternity loving each other. I love you Szuzzanna!” With those words, Szuzzanna melted into Morgan’s arms and just gave herself up totally to Morgan. Morgan sensed this and tenderly kissed Szuzzanna on the lips. Their tender kiss turned into heated passion and they floated to Szuzzanna’s bed and made love for hours. Szuzzanna woke first. She lay there looking at Morgan and admiring her innocent beauty. The knowledge that Szuzzanna was planning on getting herself destroyed by her father would devastate Morgan. Szuzzanna decided that she would not tell Morgan of her plans, as a matter of fact, lying there with her lover, Szuzzanna started to have second thoughts about going through with it at all.

  Szuzzanna and Morgan are awakened by Valdarius’ appearance at the side of the bed. Val tells them that it is time to get up, they have some things to take care of tonight. He enters Szuzzanna’s mind and tells her, “I think that it would be best if we were to send Morgan home for a few days so that you and I can concentrate on your lessons. Szuzzanna began to dispute the idea, but Valdarius continued in a very convincing voice, “You have a lot to learn and I can teach you more if you do not have the distraction of your friend.” “I promise that we will send for her in a few days.” Szuzzanna reluctantly agrees and asks Val, “Can you give us some time? We will be down shortly.” Szuzzanna looked down at Morgan, looked back to say something to Valdarius, and he was gone.

  Morgan lay there with a look of confusion on her face. She was not part of the conversation between Valdarius and Szuzzanna so she had no idea what was going on. When Szuzzanna looked down into Morgan’s eyes, Morgan could tell something was different. “Val thinks that I need to be more focused on the lessons that he has to teach me.” Szuzzanna told Morgan. Morgan replied, “That is understandable, I will help you any way that I can.” Szuzzanna’s eyes started to tear as she told Morgan, “Valdarius says that you have to go home for a while so that I am not distracted by your being here.” Morgan went silent, she was afraid of going home. She knew that she was different and did not want to think of what might happen if her family senses the change. And what if she gets ’hungry’? What is she supposed to do about that? Morgan finally said, openly crying now “I can’t go home, what will happen to me? I am afraid, don’t let him make me go home, Please!”

  Morgan was starting to get very emotional when Val appeared in the doorway. “It is time that we go now” He walked over to Morgan and looked into her eyes and comforted her, “Everything will be fine, I will not let anything happen to you while you are gone, and we will call for you in a few days.” His words made Morgan calm down and she knew that it would be all right. With that settled, Szuzzanna and Morgan got ready and went downstairs to meet Val. They found him in the same spot, outside by the fountain.

  They flew to the usual location and transformed back into their human form. The first order of business was to take Morgan home and make sure she would be safe. When they got to Morgan's home, Val went inside with her. Val 'explained' to Morgan's family that she was not feeling well and that they needed to take care of her for a few days. He told them that she was likely to get a fever and that she would have strange urges.” To control these urges, you must feed her as much rare red meat as she can eat." he tells them. He then adds, "In order for her to get better, she must stay here, I will be back in a few days to check on her."

  The next few nights were filled with more instruction in the ways of their lifestyle. Val told Szuzzanna all about the history of their line. He told her about the other vampire families that have come along, some trying to take what is Val's, and now Szuzzanna's. He told her of the vampire army that he had made to protect himself, and how to do it if the time arose again. Val taught Szuzzanna everything that he could in those few days, knowing that some of the things she needed to learn she would have to figure out on her own. Szuzzanna was very intent on the teachings, but by the third day, she was anxious to get Morgan back.

  The time finally came, and Val and Szuzzanna went to Morgan's house to get her. Val went in and talked to the family. Morgan's father told him, "That was the strangest illness I have ever seen, we ran out of meat one night and she tried to bite my arm off." Val looked at the wound, and the infection that was forming. While Val still had the family mesmerized, he cut his own palm and spread the blood on the man's wound. "The wound will heal within a couple days, but I better take Morgan and put her under observation." He then collects her and carries her out to where Szuzzanna waits for them. They then return to the castle.

  Morgan wakes up. Szuzzanna had already left the room. Where she had gone, Morgan had no Idea. Morgan got up and pu
t on the same clothes that she had worn the night before. She wandered through the hall in search of Szuzzanna. Szuzzanna was nowhere to be found, but Morgan could sense that she was still in the castle. Morgan continued to look everywhere but could not find her. There was only one place in the whole castle that Morgan had not looked, but there was no way Szuzzanna was there. Morgan roamed some more and found that she was standing at the threshold of Valdarius’ forbidden hallway. She could definitely feel Szuzzanna’s presence within the castle, but could not pinpoint her location at all. Morgan stood there and pondered the idea that Szuzzanna was down there. If she was, Morgan knew that Valdarius would be angry if he found Szuzzanna there. Morgan also thought that maybe she should go down and get Szuzzanna out of there. She also knew that if Val caught her down there, the consequences would be even worse for her. Not wanting her lover to get into any trouble, Morgan decided that it was worth the risk if she could find Szuzzanna before Valdarius did. She set off down the hall.

  At first, it was no big deal. She was confident that she would find Szuzzanna and get out of there before anything happened. As she descended deeper into the hallway, she started to get an eerie feeling. She could not explain it, but it seemed to be getting colder and darker the farther she moved down the hallway. After she had walked for what seemed like fifteen minutes, she started seeing strange, forbidding drawings and paintings on the walls. Morgan stopped to look at one. It was very unsettling. The images depicted a battlefield. There were many bodies lying on the ground dead and bloodied. The most disturbing part of the painting was that there were what appeared to be small children, limp and lifeless, hanging on spikes outside the castle walls. Upon further inspection, she recognized the castle as Valdarius’. This terrified Morgan and she almost began running back up the hallway. Just as she was about to bolt, she heard a noise coming from a room at the end of the hall. She had to go see if it was Szuzzanna. She crept up to the door as slowly as she could, fear and dread working its way into her almost lifeless heart. She was afraid of the possibility of opening the door and finding Val, and more frightened of him finding her. Morgan stood at the door for several moments trying to get up the nerve to open it. She could not seem to get past the fear. She finally said to herself, “What can he do to me? Kill me, I’m already dead.” And with that, she started to push the door open. The door was very heavy, but to her surprise, it opened easily and without as much as a creak. She peered inside to take a look around. It was very dark inside, so dark in fact that she could not even see the walls. It felt almost as if the light had been siphoned out of the air. As her eyes focused a bit, all she could see was a faint hint of light that appeared to be coming from under another doorway that was more that 30 feet across the room to the left. Morgan started to make her way inside the room, feeling along the walls to help keep her balance. The far wall was only a few steps in front of her. Morgan got the feeling that this was a long corridor leading to the door at the end. She continued to feel her way along the wall towards the door. She had only gone a few feet when she stumbled on something on the floor. As she was falling, she reached out for something to hold on to. She found some kind of a pole and was able to catch herself and regain her balance. She inspected the pole with her hands. It was buried in the ground and fairly sturdy. She felt to see how tall the pole was. Just at the end of her reach, she felt something that brought back images of the paintings from the other hallway. She felt a point at the end of this pole. Immediately she reached down to see what it was that she had stumbled on, already knowing what she would find. What she picked up was a small spherical object with two holes in it. She instantly knew that she was holding the skull of a small child. She was horrified by the thought of what she was discovering to be the truth of whom and what Valdarius really was. Now fearing for the safety of Szuzzanna and herself, she knew that she must find Szuzzanna and get out of there as quickly as possible. Morgan made her way down the corridor as fast as she safely could, feeling spikes and skeletal remains of children the whole way. It took her several minutes to reach the doorway at the end of the corridor, and when she did, everything went icy cold. Even being partially transformed, this feeling made Morgan very uncomfortable. She did not want to be there anymore and the fear almost made her turn and run. Her love for Szuzzanna made her stay and keep going. Morgan reached for the door and was just about to open it when she heard a voice calling from inside. She went completely still and listened to the voice. The man inside was pleading with someone, “Please, let them go, you have me. Don’t harm them anymore.” There was no response to the man’s pleas. Morgan knew that man’s voice. It was very familiar, but she could not place it. She listened closer and could here the soft weeping of several other people inside the room. She was afraid that one of those other voices could be Szuzzanna. She slowly pushed the door open just enough to see inside. What she saw was more horrifying than anything she had ever seen in her life and more so than she could have imagined from the images in the main hallway. She could only see half of the room, but that was enough for her. Along the wall of the room there were several children lined up, some in cages, some strapped and shackled to the wall, others were just hunched against the wall in lifeless lumps.

  Morgan could not tell for sure if any of the latter were even alive. All of the children she saw were in some state of torture, bleeding and bruised. She did not see Szuzzanna in that group, so she pushed the door a little farther. There were children everywhere, all in some kind of torture device or another. In the middle of the room, locked in a spiked cage suspended from the ceiling, she saw the man whose voice she had heard earlier, she recognized him immedietely. It was Szuzzanna’s father. He was facing towards the side of the room that Morgan could not see. He appeared to be looking at someone. Morgan opened the door a little further to reveal Valdarius standing in front of Szuzzanna’s father with what seemed to be a red hot poker. As if sensing some unwelcome presence, Val paused and looked toward the side of the room Morgan was in. Instinctively, Morgan used the powers of her mind to try to conceal herself. She knew that Valdarius’ powers were far greater that hers and he would discover her in no time. She decided that it would be best if she were to leave. As quickly and as quietly as she could, she began to back down the corridor. She took the chance of tripping on debris and began running back towards the way she came. She made it out without incident and headed directly to her room.

  Morgan had only been in her room a few minutes when Szuzzanna came in to see her. As soon as Szuzzanna entered the room, she could tell that there was something distressing Morgan. Szuzzanna moved towards Morgan. That was all it took for Morgan to break down. She exploded in a torrent of tears and sobbing. Szuzzanna rushed to her and held her in her arms as if trying to protect her from whatever was distressing her. Morgan just melted into Szuzzanna’s arms, trying to figure out how she would tell Szuzzanna what she had discovered about Valdarius.

  After several moments, Morgan was able to stop crying enough so that Szuzzanna could understand her. Morgan told her about how she had went looking for her, and that she ended up going down the forbidden hallway. "You went where?" Szuzzanna asked, practically yelling at Morgan. This made Morgan start to cry again. Szuzzanna hugged Morgan closely, and Morgan began to tell her the rest of what happened. "It was your father down there Szuzzanna, he had him caged like an animal and was torturing him." Szuzzanna's anger at Valdarius was growing to an extreme. Morgan then told her about the children and how some of them were most likely dead. This infuriated Szuzzanna and she ran out of the room and straight for the forbidden hallway.

  She was so focused on getting to the hallway that she didn't even notice Val. He was standing at the end of the hallway waiting for her. She would have run directly into him if he had not spoken before she got there. "This hallway was the one place forbidden in this castle, and your friend has violated that rule." he says
to her. Stopping in her tracks, Szuzzanna says, "You have my father, and a bunch of children down there so you can torture them, and you think I care that your precious rule was broken?" Valdarius glared at her with an intensity that scared her. "You should very well understand why I do what I do with the children, and as for your father, he came her the other night hunting you." This news makes Szuzzanna step back. As for the children, after thinking about it, she can understand the need for their blood. It is innocent and intoxicating, and helps keep vampires from aging. One part of her lessons that she had not utilized yet.

  As for her father coming here to hunt her, she is still angry at Val. "You should have told me he was here and I could have dealt with him my way." she tells Val. He responds, "There is still compassion in your heart, and I knew that if the time came, you would not be able to kill your father." He continues "The hatred in his heart for our kind is very strong and I knew that if he were to find you, he would take advantage of your remaining compassion for him, and use that weakness to kill you." Valdarius manages to explain everything to Szuzzanna so that her anger subsided. "After all, it was for your safety my sweet princess."

  Val agrees to take Szuzzanna to see her father, but she must first figure out a way to calm Morgan down. He tells her, "Until Morgan's transformation has progressed further, she will not understand this, you must make her understand or she will have to leave this castle." Szuzzanna agreed and went to talk to Morgan.

  Morgan is still in their room, huddled in the window, sobbing. Szuzzanna sits next to her and tries to explain what Val was doing with her father. "If Val had not found my father, I would most likely be dead now." she tells Morgan. "But why must he torture your father, And what about all those children?" Morgan asked, crying loudly again. Szuzzanna tells her, "I did not know about the children being here, but I do know the need for them." Szuzzanna spends the rest of the night explaining to Morgan all about the need for the children, and the ways