The Embrace

by Jessica Callaghan

  We eventually made it back to my bedroom and I managed to regain my senses enough to check the clock: 1 hour till sunrise. I lay back on the bed and Gabriel slotted into place next to me in his natural position.

  “You did brilliantly tonight.” He said proudly.

  I smiled to myself. It was strange to be bonded to him by the act of murder. I prodded him gently and pointed at the clock, still too dazed to speak.

  “I know, it’s nearly sunrise” he mused. “I put up blackout blinds while you were transitioning. They aren’t as powerful as I would like but they will do for a few weeks.”

  I had never felt as close to him as I did that moment. He wrapped his arms around my body and closed his eyes. I wasn’t sure what to do as I had never slept as a vampire but I followed his cue and closed my eyes. That night, for the first time, the two of us drifted off together into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 4The night when I first saw Gabriel was also the night most of my family died. I never fully understood their deaths. A child can only understand so much, and it was difficult for me to process all of the chaos and destruction I experienced over the course of that night.

  After my extended family left the house my brother Michael returned from his secret date, and my mother was waiting for him. I sat by the door to my bedroom and listened to them screaming. I didn’t hear the details of the things they were talking about but I grasped the basic principal after my mother’s parting words.

  I heard her pounding up the staircase in the expensive heels she wore for dinner parties. “Get a good night’s sleep! It’ll be your last one in this household.” She screamed.

  After she said this, an uneasy silence fell over the household and I raced back to my bed, fearful that my mother would realise I had been eavesdropping. I burrowed underneath my duvet and pulled it tight over my head. I was terrified of the tension building in my house. The only thing I knew was that I didn’t want Michael to leave. He was my brother, he had to stay.

  It took me hours to get to sleep that night. My worrying keeping me awake until long past 1am, very late for a girl who was just 13 years old. I awoke only an hour later when a sharp squeal emanated from another corner of the house. It sounded like someone was in pain and I knew I should find the source.

  I stood up from my bed and walked out of my room, tiptoeing softly to not awaken my already enraged mother. I tiptoed gently down the stairs, avoiding the creaking ones as only a resident could. I reached the bottom and quietly visited every nook and cranny of the ground floor. I couldn’t find anything suspicious.

  I went back upstairs and carefully pushed open the door to my sister’s bedroom. She was still fast asleep on the bed and so I gently tiptoed up to her, preparing to slink in next to her for a comforting cuddle. I knew I was too old to be doing it, but she never argued. I think she needed the comfort just as much as I did.

  She was incredibly still and so I reached out to touch her shoulder. Her skin was icy cold, colder than anything I had ever felt. I recoiled in shock. It was then that I realised she wasn’t breathing. I felt my own breath catch in my throat as I shook her with a new sense of urgency. She fell to the side and I saw her glassy eyes, wide open and staring blankly at me. Her face looked peaceful at first glance, but there was something else lingering underneath, an edge of horror and torment that was grotesque.

  I saw blood trickling from a score of open wounds over her throat and chest, and I felt myself becoming dizzy. I backed away in horror, preparing to scream but realising my voice wouldn’t leave my body.

  I ran next door to my brother’s bedroom. He was lying on his bedroom floor, sprawled out at an awkward angle. I ran over to him and wrapped my arms around his muscular frame, struggling to reach my childish arms around his bulky body. He was still and cold like granite. His carpet was matted with blood. I had never seen so much blood.

  As I wept into my brother’s arms his blood seeped through the carpet and onto my own body, staining my feet and the bottom of my nightgown. I shook him one last time, trying desperately to rouse him and tell him that we needed to save Beth, but he didn’t wake up. He was dead too.

  I don’t know how long I stayed in his room before I finally realised there was nothing I could do. Time lost all meaning that night. When I recall the events in my head they blend into one big chasm of memories, each filled with terror and loss. I just remember the blood. I remember it so vividly I can almost smell it. Until the day I died I could remember that rusty, salty scent that filled the air.

  I ran out of my brother’s bedroom to escape the smell but my night gown and my feet were coated in dried blood and the aroma followed me. I shuffled down the corridor with my sight restricted as my eyes filled with tears. I had often had nightmares like this. Once Michael was left to babysit Beth and I, and had let us watch a scary movie. I was only about nine years old and for weeks after that my dreams had been filled with images of death and gore. I would wake up drenched in sweat as my heart raced and my body flooded with adrenalin. This night was just like those nightmares, but I was living it.

  I knew that whoever had killed my siblings must be in the house but I didn’t run. I was too preoccupied with the feelings of loss. I had lost them both and nothing could bring them back. I didn’t look in my parent’s room as I already knew the outcome. My parents would be lying dead in their bed and I would turn around to find the masked killer waiting to pick off the last member of the family. I walked slowly down the stairs one last time and then I heard that strangled cry again. Someone was in the house, alive.

  At that point my natural instincts took over and I knew I had to find the owner of that painful sound. I ran as quietly as I could to the back of the house and went to the only area I’d missed: the patio. I looked through the French doors and saw my mother’s back, her elegantly prepared hair falling neatly down her spine. Her arm fell limply at her side like a rag doll and a figure stood behind her.

  She was being held up by a huge, lurking shape. I couldn’t make out his face but he radiated an energy of gloom. I was chilled to the core and longed to run upstairs and curl up in my warm bed, forgetting everything. I shook this notion out of my head. I couldn’t escape this now.

  I turned to the side and slid my petite body through the tiny opening the killer had left. I found myself outside in the fresh air. The crickets were silent and the stars had been snuffed out to leave a dark expansive canvas covering the sky. I didn’t have a weapon but I still quietly crept towards this mysterious murderer.

  It wasn’t long before he heard me. His ears pricked up like an excited puppy and he dropped my mother on the patio, an old piece of rubbish to him now that I was there. He turned to me and I saw blood dripping down his face, coating his clothes and his skin. That smell hit me again and I was seized by nausea. I could barely stand but I backed away from this man anyway.

  He was pure evil, I could sense it. I looked into his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. He was the devil in human form. He walked up to me and grabbed me by the arms, not worried about the possibility that he could damage my tiny body. I shrieked as loud as I could and he slapped a monstrous hand over my mouth. The blood smeared over my chin and mixed with the tears falling from my eyes. I surrendered, ready to join the rest of my family in death.

  I’m not sure how it happened after that. I closed my eyes in preparation for what was sure to be a painful end but then the pressure on my arms disappeared and I felt as if a heavy weight was lifted from the atmosphere. My legs collapsed underneath me as I no longer had the killer to hold me up, but I forced myself to be strong and open my eyes.

  I looked up at the empty space where the murderer had stood and saw not one but two men. One was the bloodstained creature who had slaughtered my family, but there was another figure. He was tall and strikingly beautiful, and there was something strangely familiar about his demeanour. He was locked in a tight struggle with the bulky killer and at that point my body gave up. I closed my eyes and let myself shut
down.

  In my unconscious state I dreamt of the two men and realised where I had seen the beautiful hero. His familiar presence was that of the shining aura I had seen in the garden earlier that night. Whoever it was that I had seen back there had saved my life and for that I would be eternally grateful.

  I let myself fall into something more than sleep. My body was completely rebooting. I had to rid myself of the terrible shock I was experiencing, but no matter how much I tried I couldn’t get the metallic scent of blood out of my mind.

  Chapter 5I woke up pressed against Gabriel’s body. Due to our highly different sleeping schedules we had never had the opportunity to fall asleep together and wake up again the next day. It felt oddly comforting, and for the first time since my death I felt like I was at peace.

  He wasn’t awake yet so I took a moment to survey his exquisite face. His dark hair swept across the front of his face in a perfect arc and his ebony eyelashes had the feathery quality of a child’s. His high, arched cheekbones framed his face and his flawless skin shone out even in this peaceful state.

  I took my hand from his loose grip and slid off the bed. I stared at myself in the mirror. I’d always expected to disappear in the mirror like vampires do in the stories and even after looking at my reflection several times I was shocked that I could still see myself.

  I was wearing a loose, blood red dress made of a soft silk, almost like a negligee. I had worn it for my night with Gabriel, the night I’d died, and had never bothered to change it. My own skin didn’t shine quite as brightly as Gabriel’s, it was more of a dull glow like an expectant mother. However the complexion was flawless. I had no blemishes anywhere and I had the kind of smooth skin that invites you to touch it.

  My eyes seemed to me to look like they always had. They pierced more than an average human but they didn’t seem to possess the unnatural brightness Gabriel’s eyes always had. It seemed to me as if nothing much had changed about my appearance. I looked like someone who was happy and content, but not a bloodthirsty living corpse. The only signs of my new nature were the flakes of dried blood on my chin.

  I went to the bathroom and washed the last of the blood from my face. I tried to recapture the feeling from the night before, the moment I had snuffed out the life of a human, but I couldn’t. I could remember what had happened, although the details were hazy. After I had embedded my sharp fangs into the man’s neck I lost some of the clarity I had possessed before. I wondered what Gabriel had done with the body. I knew how to kill but I didn’t know how to handle the details, and I knew I would have to learn eventually.

  Just as my mind was buried in thoughts of the previous night, Gabriel appeared behind me. He grinned at me and wrapped his arms around me, folding my small frame into his much larger one.

  “How do you feel?” he asked me with far more joy than he’d shown the night before. I didn’t really know how to answer. I still had a deep emptiness inside and every emotion that surfaced seemed synthetic. The only true urge I had felt was hunger. I decided to be honest with him.

  “Empty” He kissed me again in that passionate way, as if his kiss could wake the dead.

  “We’re going out tonight” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. I’d never seen him so animated.

  “Don’t we go out every night?” I asked sarcastically. He smiled at me again and left the room. I was beginning to get tired of his mysterious demeanour. I knew that I was meant to be the student but surely I had every right to know our plans. I was far from a child.

  I started readying myself for the night ahead. I had no idea what “going out” meant to Gabriel but I decided to throw caution to the wind and dress up. Judging by the way the men had looked at me the night before I could wear a plastic bag and seem like a goddess, so being overdressed wouldn’t be a problem.

  I still had my old clothes and I picked out a floaty black dress and stilettos. The dress had been amongst many outfits designated for my “when I’m feeling brave” moments. I had never managed to summon the courage to wear these dresses before as they were all too short, too formal or too anything I could think of to justify picking something safer to wear. Now that I was immortal I had millions of nights ahead of me. I would have to get used to standing out sooner or later.

  I put bright red lipstick over my cupids bow and brushed heavy black shadow over my eyelids. Alongside my blonde hair the entire look had an eerie sensuality to it. Gabriel was wearing a suit but I knew from experience that no one looked at his clothing. They immediately saw the glow to him and no-one could move past it.

  He took me to the nearest big city, about an hour away. I guess he was trying to give me an experience of the real world. We ran most of the way through the back roads but as we neared the city we slowed down to avoid any unwelcome attention. Most girls would have been worried about ruining their make-up but I hadn’t even dropped a sweat on our journey.

  We neared the limits of the city and the houses popped up in clusters. As we walked through each neighbourhood the drumming sounds hit me again. They were still deafening at first, but now I knew what to expect and instead of hurting me, the sound excited me. I felt my whole body tense up like a dog whose hackles have risen at the thought of a fight.

  Gabriel reached for my hand and I felt the pent up excitement rippling under his skin. This wouldn’t be my first kill but this might be the first time I could watch Gabriel kill and the most vampiric side of me longed to see him with a pulsing vein under his teeth. I realised now that this was the kind of hunger I had been expecting when I became a vampire. I hadn’t experienced it before because I hadn’t known the taste of blood, but now that I had taken a life I was begging for more.

  We reached the city in good time, just as the darkest time of night hit us. The drumming was fading slightly as I grew used to it, but it was still there in my mind and during the quiet moments it would return to almost painful levels.

  I reached the city as much in the dark about our plan as I had been when we left my home. I didn’t know how to choose my victim or how to dispose of the body correctly but Gabriel didn’t seem concerned by that. He obviously had some plan in his mind. He turned to me and I could tell he was growing excited, bristling with anticipation.

  “I can’t wait anymore” he said to me with an impish grin on his face.

  The pounding in my head increased steadily as he took me deeper into the heart of the city. I didn’t know who he was looking for but I followed him with complete abandon, like an adoring puppy.

  Finally he stopped in a street near the heart of the city. There were a few couples walking down the street, each wrapped up in their respective conversations. When they passed us however their whole dynamic would change. They were each drawn to us for some reason unknown to them. With the click of a finger they would have abandoned one another to be with the beautiful figures they saw before them: the regal male and his angelic girlfriend.

  Behind this attraction, part of them feared us. They didn’t know what drew them to us and this unknown quality scared them. They all pulled their hoods up and quickened their pace, avoiding us at all costs. Yet a moment of doubt still lingered there, each one of them wanting to know more about us. While they sped away, every person turned back for one last look.

  “Can you hear that?” he asked me in a hushed voice, trying not to draw more attention from the fearful passersby.

  At first I didn’t know what he meant but then I could hear it. The drumming was near the peak of a magnificent crescendo, each heartbeat building into a symphony. I nodded my head in amazement, too shocked to gather enough power to speak. Gabriel grabbed me by the wrists and locked his eyes onto mine. This was the sign that a lesson was to follow and I could ignore him at my own peril.

  “Being a vampire isn’t simple, but hunting is. Your body is built for this, every cell and every fibre of you is made to hunt and kill. Your mind acts like a compass. That drumming noise is like radar, directing you to your prey. Every vampire has differ
ent tastes, and yours will develop, but your body instinctively knows where it’s supposed to take you. When these heartbeats begin to synchronise, that’s when you know you’re on the right path.”

  After he said that my whole body reared into action. I was desperate to follow the sounds in my mind until I reached the object of my desires.

  “So it’s taking me to the person I need to kill?” I asked him. He shook his head lightly and patiently like a true teacher.

  “Not exactly.” He answered. “More like it’s taking you to the right area. It takes you to the places where the hearts beat most strongly, so that you have the most choice. When you reach the people who own these hearts it’s up to you to make the call and decide who lives and who dies.”

  I felt like I was at an all you can eat buffet: all this choice out there, countless humans waiting patiently to die at my hands.

  “Watch me” Gabriel said and with that he disappeared into the darkness.

  I was left totally alone. The lovers who once passed through were now choosing different paths. Gabriel and I had been standing there for long enough for our presence to seep into the buildings around us, and the humans were being told by their subconscious to avoid whatever lurked in this street.

  I didn’t know where Gabriel had gone. Did he want me to follow him, or make me own way to the victim? I decided to venture out on my own and make use of my internal navigator. I let my body guide me out of the street and deeper into the twisting pathways of this urban jungle.

  Just then I felt it. There was a subtle change in the air. I was no longer alone. There was something in the darkness around me, something that wasn’t human. Gabriel stepped out of the shadows with a still expression on his face.

  “The noise in my head is so powerful. Has it changed for you?” I didn’t know what to say. I was overwhelmed by how close I was to human blood, yet how far away.