by K. A. Poe
“Don’t I always?” she chuckled and spun around in her dress, giving us the full view. “I’ll be back later, and don’t expect me to be alone.”
Before I could tell her not to bring a stranger back to our room, Hannah had already waltzed out the door. Finally alone, I made myself comfortable in Salem’s arms on the firm mattress.
6. THE DAYS TO COME
Salem pulled the curtains open to reveal the oncoming sunset and we watched it together as I snuggled up comfortably in his arms. The sky was a magnificent display of pinks, oranges, and purples as the sun fell out of view. Within minutes the sky darkened and the vibrant hues vanished, replaced with a crescent moon surrounded by thick gray clouds.
“How many times have you seen a full sunset, Salem?” I asked quietly as I admired the sparkling stars.
“Countless times,” he answered, “but none has been quite as beautiful as this one.”
I smiled and turned over in his arms, now face to face with him. Our lips met in a simple kiss that could have progressed into more had Hannah not burst through the hotel door with her arm around some unfamiliar guy. He was not exactly the target I expected her to find: he wore a leather vest over a dirtied white t-shirt, dark blue holey jeans and rugged leather boots. The most startling thing about his appearance was a bright green Mohawk sprouting from the center of his otherwise bald scalp. I rolled away from Salem and sat up on the bed.
Salem cleared his throat, stifling a laugh and glanced over the man a few times to ensure he wasn’t imagining things. “Hello,” he said politely, trying to hold back a smirk.
“Hey,” the man replied simply in a deep voice. I noticed a silver barbell through his tongue and shuddered. Tongue piercings had always disgusted me.
“Are you going to introduce us, Hannah?” I asked.
“This is Erik! I met him down at the bar,” she said with what seemed to be a satisfied grin. “Isn’t he fascinating?”
“What is so fascinating about him?” Salem inquired.
“Tell them, Erik.”
“I’m in a band called the Raging Buffalos,” Erik said with a grin. I held back a chuckle at the hideous band name.
“What sort of music do you play?” I asked.
“Mostly metal.” He shrugged and turned to Hannah. “Are you coming to my room, babe, or what?”
Salem arched a brow and gave his half-sister a disapproving look.
“Of course we are. I just wanted you to meet my brother and his girlfriend…and to grab a change of clothes.”
“Hannah…could I have a word with you alone?” Salem said and glared toward Erik.
“Sure,” she replied glumly and asked that her ‘friend’ leave the room for a moment. “What’s the matter?”
“Are you insane?!” he shouted, rising from the bed. “You don’t know this man, and you are planning to share a room with him?!”
“I told you that I could get any man I wanted, didn’t I? What do you care if I spend the night with him? I am way old enough to make this kind of decision on my own.”
“How did you even get into a bar?” he scoffed. “You are physically sixteen, does he not realize that?”
“I have ways of persuading people, Salem. Besides, it’s none of your business. I proved my point, and I will see you in the morning,” she replied harshly, gathered some clothes and rushed out the door.
Salem slammed his fist against his end table, leaving a very noticeable dent in the wood.
“Calm down,” I said quietly. “There’s nothing to get upset about.”
He shut his eyes and sighed. “You don’t understand, Alexis. Hannah may be capable of controlling her hunger and feeding off of animal blood, but in the midst of passion she could become unfocused and kill him in a mere second.”
I blinked and stared at him in disbelief. “He has no idea what he’s gotten himself into…”
“Neither does Hannah,” he growled.
While Salem was no longer in a cuddly mood, I brought out Ezra’s journal and skimmed through it again as I leaned back on my lumpy hotel pillows. I came across an entry that caught my attention, made me curious and somewhat uncomfortable. Part of me hoped Salem wouldn’t notice what it was so as to not make the situation even more awkward.
‘Vampire Infertility
While vampires are capable of intimate feelings and engaging in sexual activity, they are physically incapable of impregnation. Fellow hunters have done studies on decomposed vampire bodies in order to test these theories and have proven them to be accurate. The only way to create another vampire is to Sire a human through a bite.
Studies have shown that a human is incapable of becoming a vampire until they are of pubescent age, therefore giving further proof that there are in fact no vampiric children.
Ezra N. Chase’
“Was there a time where people believed vampire children existed?” I mumbled aloud as I flipped through the crisp, aged pages.
“There have been many theories on that matter, actually. Growing up I heard plenty of stories about demonic children that thirsted for blood, but it is impossible for a vampire to impregnate someone or become pregnant,” Salem replied. “Why?”
“I was just reading an entry about it in Ezra’s journal, so I was curious,” I replied and looked at him for a brief second before glancing away.
“What else did you want to ask?” he asked knowingly.
“When were you thinking of getting married?” I asked.
“I didn’t have a particular time set in mind, actually.”
“We’ll be awfully young to get married right away.”
“It does not have to be immediate, Alex. We can wait as long as you want.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, Salem…I just wonder what everyone else will think of it.” I mumbled abashedly.
“People wed at our ages all the time,” he stated gently, then pulled me over to him. “No one’s opinion matters but yours and mine.”
I smiled and lay my head against his chest as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Before meeting Salem I had never even contemplated the idea of marriage. Boys were of little interest to me, possibly due to the fact that my ‘father’ was absent most of my life and I felt that the same would happen to me if I ever had a husband. I was too preoccupied with playing piano and reading to pay much attention to boys, aside from Jason but he didn’t count as a boy to me – he was a best friend and nothing more in my eyes.
“And, um, what about kids?” I mumbled.
“That one, I think can wait,” he answered. “While I may have been on this earth for well over one hundred years, I would like to enjoy my mortal youth for a while before engaging in parenthood.”
“I agree,” I said with another smile and nuzzled against his chest. “You are far too perfect to be real, Salem…”
“That is nonsense,” he said simply and hugged me tightly. I looked forward to the nights where I could once again fall asleep in his embrace.
7. HARSH WORDS
Hours passed as Salem and I lay together in complete silence. I thought of the future, of being mortal again, and hoping that Paul would forgive us and everything would be perfect. I wished that I possessed Hannah’s ability to probe minds, although it would be useless on Salem apparently. The moon had been devoured by the thick clouds and a fog veiled over the stars. I sat up and pried my laptop off of the nightstand.
“Want to read a few more e-mails with me?” I asked as I flipped it open and turned it on.
“I don’t know. The last time I did, I found out my home had been destroyed. Who knows what other bad news that thing carries,” he replied yet sat up regardless.
I ignored the message from Kim completely, trying to pretend it didn’t exist and hoping that it didn’t remind Salem too much of what happened – he being upset again was the least thing I wanted. The next e-mail in the inbox was from Karen, which excited me.
‘Alex,
My parents decided that we should all mo
ve to Denver so that they won’t ‘be too far away if I need them’. Ugh. I was looking forward to having a place of my own, but oh well. It’s probably better this way; I can save up money from a part time job while I live with them or something. Maybe they will let me stay in a dorm anyway, I don’t know yet.
Howard was kind of upset that I’d be leaving; now he’s down a cashier at the store. I was like ‘Yeah, Howard what did you think? That I was going to work here my whole life?’ To be honest I can’t wait to get out of this little town.
Anyway, write if and when you can. I miss you so much!
Love,
Karen’
Knowing that Karen was moving finally settled in as I read the message and I found myself disappointed at the idea of being more than four hours away from one of my best friends…but it wasn’t as if she was moving across the country. Maybe we would move to Denver too, I didn’t know. That would put me four hours away from Jason and Mitchell, though. Being grown up wasn’t as fun as it had looked as a kid. And after Salem and I lost our powers we’d also have to get jobs and possibly even attend college. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea. Was it all worth it? Was this what I wanted too or was I just doing it to appease Salem’s long dream of being human again?
Before I could dwell any longer on these questions I blinked at all of the exclamation points filling up a second e-mail from Karen.
‘Oh my god, Alex, you won’t believe this! My parents picked the best house in Denver they possibly could have! My room is HUGE!! I have my own bathroom with a whirlpool tub and a walk in closet!! I LOVE IT!! Next week Dad and I are going to paint my walls pink and I am just so excited! I wish you could see it!
The best part about it all is our neighbor! Oh my god!! His name is Brian Connors. He is gorgeous!!! I thought I would never get over Jason, but as soon as Brian and his mother came by the house to bring us a welcome basket, I was sure I was in love! You will have to meet him when you get back from your trip.
He asked me out to a movie and I of course said yes! I think moving to Denver is the best thing that has ever happened to me!!! Come home soon, I want to see you so bad!
Dad’s job luckily was easily transferable to here and mom works from home anyway, as you know. This is all just working out too perfect. I’m in heaven! Will let you know how the date goes as soon as I get back. SO EXCITED!
Love,
Karen
xoxoxo’
I shook my head and smiled widely as I read her e-mail. Her happiness was so important to me, and knowing that she was finally over Jason was a relief – for him and Karen. Scrolling through the inbox, I found that most of the other messages were spam. I was surprised not to find anything from Jason, but he was probably too busy with Eila to message me. I sighed and Salem put an arm around my shoulder.
“You miss them, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” I replied and shut down the computer. “More than I could ever explain.”
“You will see them again before you know it, and you won’t have to worry about them growing old without you.”
“You’re right.”
I stared out the small window once more, watching the brightness of morning slowly consume the darkness. My mind wandered into thoughts of Hannah – mostly wondering when she would return. Whenever it was, I was not looking forward to it. Salem was still furious with her; I had no doubt about that. She was acting like a kid and I hoped she wasn’t going to end up making this trip even longer than it had to be.
“You know what…it’s kind of odd that Richard or Paul never mentioned a cure for being a vampire after you turned me.”
“Perhaps they didn’t know about it.”
“Surely they would have known about it. They both had this book for years, why wouldn’t they take the time to study it and learn everything they could about vampires?”
“I imagine that Richard probably read the majority of it, and then shared his knowledge with Paul and Kimberly, therefore making it to where neither of them really needed the book and so it was passed along to you,” Salem explained. “Plus, Richard knew that this was what you wanted, so perhaps he felt it unnecessary to mention it.”
“Maybe, but Paul’s name was in it, too. Remember? Maybe they didn’t believe that part of the book or something, I don’t know. It just seems weird to me.”
A knock sounded on the door moments later and we both hesitated to get up. I reluctantly approached the door and peeked through the peep hole. A much disheveled Hannah stood at the door waiting impatiently for someone to answer. I begrudgingly unlocked the door and allowed her entrance, cautiously glancing back at Salem to see his expression. From the looks of it, he wasn’t very pleased. Her golden locks were in a mass of knots, her dress was hanging over her arm and she appeared moderately wobbly.
“Are you okay?” I asked, offering her a hand and leading her inside.
“I’m fine,” she laughed. “More than fine, even!”
“You don’t look fine,” Salem remarked, glaring at her from our bed.
“You’d look like this too if you knew how to have fun!” She laughed again and slumped over on her mattress. “Oh, I wish I could take that boy with us!”
“Oh, so he managed to survive the night, did he?”
“Of course he did, what did you think I was going to kill him?!” Hannah snapped.
“It is possible, and you should have known that. What were you thinking?” He shook his head in disgust. “I do not even know what to think right now.”
“It’s none of your business, Salem. Not like he’s the first or will be the last,” she giggled.
Salem eyed her with a look of disgust and didn’t respond.
“That was uncalled for, Hannah…” I whispered and kept my eyes locked on Salem. “Let’s just get ready to go before we have to pay for another day.”
After packing up our few belongings, I took the hotel key down to Gary and said a quick farewell while Hannah prepared the car. Salem stayed with me, silently following behind as though he were my shadow. I could tell by the disgruntled look on his face that he was still upset by Hannah. He hadn’t uttered a word since then, not even to me.
The car ride back onto the freeway was silent and unsettling. I hated for there to be conflict around me, especially when it involved Salem. Hannah could probably hear the distasteful adjectives I was using to describe her in my mind, but I really didn’t care – she deserved it. She had put me through enough stress already in the past few months that I was almost tired of her altogether – but I wouldn’t admit that aloud, especially not to Salem. Despite her crude behavior, he loved his sister…but it was my belief that he loved the little girl he knew, not the hellion she grew up to be. There had once been a time where she was a beautiful innocent little child and the two of them were near inseparable. Raziel had changed that forever.
“That isn’t necessarily true,” Hannah commented quietly.
“What?”
“Daniel didn’t make my personality like this. He had little poor Salem with him for a while and look how he turned out. This is me, deal with it.”
Salem eyed us curiously yet remained silent and brooding.
“You used to be best friends,” I said with a frown.
“Things change, Alex. Besides, I was just a little girl. He was eighteen. It was only a matter of time before we grew apart.”
“I don’t believe that for a second. I saw you two back then, in a memory, there was a bond there. That bond is still within Salem.”
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. The point is I’m not that little girl anymore. That was lifetimes ago. He needs to get over it and realize I’m my own person now,” she said. It was awkward hearing her speak as though he wasn’t even in the car with us.
“I will always be your brother,” Salem said remorsefully. “But I in no way mean to seem controlling. I might be judgmental of the decisions you make, but it is only because I still care about you, Hannah. You will always be my littl
e sister, and I will always worry about you.” He sighed and looked out the window. “Just as you are not happy with all of the decisions I have made, I will not always be comfortable with the ones you make…but you are independent and capable of your own choices. Do whatever you want.”
Hannah momentarily glanced back at Salem, I couldn’t tell if she was happy or saddened. Maybe both.
I felt some satisfaction in having inadvertently made them apologize to each other and come clean about their feelings. Now that the air was mostly clear about what had happened, I pulled Ezra’s journal onto my lap and resumed reading it as we continued our journey through New Mexico.
8. URGES
Myths in Relation to the Vampiric
It has been rumored throughout the ages that vampires have particular reactions to certain objects and even foods. Where these tales started I do not know. Many of these have been tested and proven false, unfortunate for those who relied on them. This is a simple guide illustrating what is accurate and what is false.
Garlic – Vampires have no aversion toward this food. While the strong scent can cause them to falter for a mere moment, it will not protect you or ward them off.
Bats – While vampires are commonly represented by the figure of a bat and tales have been spread of them even transforming into said creatures, to my knowledge this is not an ability that they possess.
Holy water – Holy water can scald their flesh to a certain degree, however vampires are capable of healing rapidly and thus it has little affect. It can however be used quite effectively as a distraction.
Sunlight – This is one of the more common myths. Sunlight is said to burn a vampire into a heap of ash. However, they can walk through the brightest rays just as any human can – which often makes it harder to decipher whether they are a human or a vampire.
Crosses – Crosses and crucifixes have no effect whatsoever on the monsters.
Graveyards – Cemeteries are noted to be a common feeding ground for vampires, generally at night time when there is less of a chance of human interaction. The reason behind this isn’t completely certain beyond the privacy provided and the lack of interference.