The Scarlet Drop: The Vampire Legacies Book One

by Sarah Beth James

  I dragged myself upright and walked a while further; I knew there was a cliff face around here that over looked the river. Several hundred feet down, an easy death to just step off into nothing. Sometime later (my speed hampered somewhat by my drunkenness and possibly the clotting head wound) I found myself at the cliff face. I stood looking down, the tears had finally slowed and I now just felt empty, lost. The raw pain aching in my chest, I looked over the edge knowing what I had to do. In my mind I said goodbye briefly to my parents, my friends one by one, and for some reason I thought of Steve. My heart ached again but not with pain this time, with love and need.

  I hesitated hovering on the edge of oblivion. I loved him already, how and why I didn't know. Was he enough to stay for? I shook my head no, men lied and cheated. All they did was cause pain, too much pain. And I couldn't take anymore. I couldn’t allow myself to believe in a stupid idea such as love. Men only wanted one thing, sex and they didn’t care what they did to gain it from a woman, even hurt her.

  I put a foot forward hanging it over the abyss and sighed, preparing myself to jump. Just as I prepared myself to plunge forward, someone grabbed me and pulled me away from the edge, throwing me on the ground. Dirt threw up in my face and into my mouth I'd been thrown so hard. I glared upwards to see who my 'savior' was; I was shocked to see Steven standing there. Even more shocked to see how he looked, teeth bared in a snarl, panting heavily. He looked furious, but the only thing my muddled mind could think was, 'oh my god, he really is a vampire!'

  He shouted at me, demanding to know what I had been thinking. I was afraid; his anger was intense as he stormed towards me. He brought his fangs down towards my neck, "If its death you want, I could give it to you right now!"

  I screamed, trying to drag myself away from this terrifying creature. "Finally a human response!" he snapped, closing his mouth and stepping backwards. Slowly the creature disappeared and the man came forward. "I should drive you home, it’s late," he commented looking at the setting sun. I could see in his shaking shoulders how hard it was to keep a calm expression, a level tone right now.

  "Get the hell away from me!" I screamed, crawling away from him, throwing a hand full of dirt at him. Pathetic I know but the only weapon I had at the time. The knife in my jeans forgotten for a moment until I fell on it, the handle digging into my flesh. Snatching it out my pocket, I pressed the button shooting out the blade, holding it out in front of myself.

  He smiled at me, but not in a good way, a way that made my skin crawl as I saw those razor sharp teeth. "You want to kill yourself, yet you are scared of the one person who could assist you. “Well isn’t that just a mortal’s logic all over!” he complained.

  I dragged myself to my feet and ran. Behind me I could hear him laughing. I was sober enough by the time I reached my car. Even managing to clean up the cut somewhat. I couldn't face going home and having to see the disappointed faces of my parents yet again. They tried to ignore the fact I'd gone off rails, just looked at me with distain or regret sometimes. I tried to avoid them as much as possible, save myself the hassle of having to make up more lies to keep myself out of the funny farm.

  There was a house I went to when I needed to be alone; it was abandoned a long time ago. The old lady who had lived there had died and her family hadn't wanted to take it on, so let it to ruin. I knew that the key was still under the matt from when I used to tidy her garden when she baby sat me and stayed in the house often even now. It was there I headed now, my safe place of sorts.

  I parked the car around back where it wouldn't be seen and silently let myself in the back door. The furniture and all the old woman's possessions remained exactly where they had been all those years ago, just covered in a thick layer of dust. I lay down on the tattered dirty sofa that had once been red and thought about what had happened that night. I wondered if I was going crazy or if the drugs had addled my brain. I couldn't understand what was happening to me. My hands shook, and fear gripped my heart, what if I wasn't going crazy and it had been real? That was too horrible to think about. All the monsters in my dreams being real? The vampire I always knew would kill me in the city I live? Impossible! Maybe I did need the meds the Doctors kept shoving at me?

  I laid my head down and slipped into a dreamless exhausted sleep, hoping that when I woke things will start to make a little more sense to me. Or that I would wake up to find that all of this craziness was just a bad dream. That Toby had never come back, Steven had never arrived and that my lousy life would go back to the normal hell it always was. The hell I couldn’t exactly cope with, but could at least endure.

  The Vampire Legacies Book One:

  The Scarlet Drop

  Chapter Two

  Pale sunlight streamed through the window and woke me from my first deep sleep in far too long; usually I woke every few hours in a panic. Scared that he was coming back after me, that he would rape me in my sleep again. However many dead bolts or locks I had on my door, I never felt safe even for a moment. Things seemed a little less surreal this morning, more like a dream. I wondered for a moment if it had all been in my head all along, if the doctors had been right all along about me. That Steven really hadn't been there and it had just been my mind playing tricks to keep myself alive. I still felt so low, like killing myself, but my resolve had been shaken somewhat by failure the day before. The pain had dulled a little but still unbearable. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and glanced at my watch. It was nearly 9am, college would soon start. I wondered if I could face another day of seeing my ex or if even seeing Steve was worse? If I could fake another day of being ‘fine’ or if the faking would break me finally? Like it had been threatening to do for longer than I could remember.

  In the end, I decided to change my clothes for the few items I'd left in the house, just in case of this kind of thing. I always wore the same things, skinny jeans, tight strap tops and long sleeved shirts to hide the cuts. Robotically leaving for college as I had nothing better to do with the day, and then suffer a little more. I stumbled through the day like a zombie, not really seeing or hearing much of anything. I sat at my computer across from my perverted ex and didn't really notice him at all. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts, and two blasted days’ worth of hangover to concentrate on anything. I was a wreck, too exhausted to even manage to keep my masks up around people. If I was going to die anyway, what was the point in covering how I really feel anymore?

  Class ended suddenly snapping me from my daze; I hadn't realized it was so late. As I stood, Toby grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear, "Soon you will be mine bitch!"

  I stared at him in disbelief and pulled away, hurrying from the class room. I spent several hours in the library pretending to do homework, while really wallowing in self-pity and counting the hours till the bars would open again. My notebook full of doodles and half formed words showing my raging thoughts if anyone had bothered looking. Steve’s name repeated over and over again, the word vampire, a few random words that would later lead me to something far more then my current level of understanding.

  The second it was opening time, I shoved my work back into my bag and hurried down to get my fix. As I walked into my favorite bar, at the first table there was Steven, with my kind of poison waiting for me. I knew I was beaten, and slid wordlessly into the seat across from him taking the offered drink. What was the point in fighting this anymore? If I was really lucky he might just kill me. Put me out of my misery finally.

  He patiently waited till I'd downed two more drinks before he spoke, "I could hurt him for you, if you want me to? He would wake up in traction in the nearest hospital, take a few months to recover, by then you could be far out of state and safe from him." he offered.

  I almost jumped at the break in the silence; the thoughtfulness of the offer shocked me. No one had cared enough to offer me help since I was a child. I shook my head "He's not worth it, just some slime ball who likes to bully women." I sighed.

  "Then why do you let him get to you so mu
ch?" he asked, “Destroy your soul to the point of wanting to end your existence?”

  I couldn't answer, I didn't know why. Reason meant that I should ignore and forget about him, but every time I saw his face it was like a knife in the chest. Panic took away all reason in my mind, leaving me terrified. Even the slightest sound of his voice was enough to make me want to run in the other direction. To hide under the covers of my bed and never come out again. For all my strength, for all I had grown and learned to defend myself there was something about my old abuser which sapped all that from me leaving me a frightened little beaten child once more.

  I looked at Steve and he nodded, understanding what I couldn't put into words. He reached forwards and stroked my face, "You need to stop trying to hurt yourself and I won't always be there to stop you. I would be…… put out, if I were to discover something had happened to you I could not fix."

  "That was real?" I asked. He nodded slowly and effortlessly. "And you were?" Trying to work out how to ask if he was what I thought he was without sounding crazy if he wasn't.

  "Yes, I was." he answered with a smile.

  "You can't be? They don't exist! Six years of therapy proved that to me!" I insisted.

  Again that heart stopping smile, "Want me to prove the theory?" he asked, smiling a feral smile that almost showed his fangs. Enough that it warned me they were there, that the monster was reality.

  I stood, "I have to go." the lamest excuse ever. Everything was starting to feel just a little bit too real for my liking.

  "No you don't." he commented.

  "I have homework to do and people expecting me. I have to be home for dinner," my mouth rattled on with any excuse that came into my mind. I knew that I was babbling, but somehow couldn’t stop myself from doing it.

  Steven let me passed him, but as I walked away he commented "No you haven't."

  I turned to look back at him, but already he was gone and only an empty space remained were he had been. I was shaken, I couldn't believe anything I saw or heard anymore, I'd finally cracked, I realized. Too much to drink, too many drugs, I'd finally damaged my mind beyond all help.

  I went back to the forest, I couldn't breathe in town. Whenever I was stressed I would always find myself in a park, graveyard or green space, I found them calming. I used to turn off my phone or leave it in the car and just walk. Forget myself and everything around me; just give into the calming atmosphere around me. I felt like I was being watched by everyone I walked passed in normal life, crowds made me uncomfortable. Here it was different only the trees looking down at me. I felt safe, and alone.

  Alone was good, no voices, no good looking boys and definitely no vampires. Without realizing it I'd taken the same path as before, and ended back up at the cliff face. Stood there staring down into the abyss, taking in the birdsong. It wasn't that much of a surprise to see Steven waiting for me there as I walked the cliff edge. He was lying on the grass, eyes closed enjoying the sunshine. I sat down next to him, and waited to hear what he wanted.

  Minutes passed without sound, I wondered if he really was asleep. I stretched in the sunshine; it felt so good on my skin. I'd always loved the sun; it made me a little less sad. I lay back, relaxing a little, letting the sunlight warm my skin and lighten my soul a little. I actually felt really good, better than I had felt for a long while. I really needed to take more time to myself, to just try to escape from things. Do what made me happy again; try to forget all the pain in my life. Perhaps then I wouldn’t need to drink myself to death just to sleep a few hours.

  One eye was peaking at me, I realized when I glanced over, and hurriedly shut again hoping I hadn't noticed. "You know this is stalking?" I asked calmly.

  One eye opened to look at me, “I was here first, you could be stalking me", was the reply. I smiled in spite of myself. He sat up now, "No hurling yourself off today then. Or shall I come back later to save your life? What time is good for you?" he asked deadpan.

  I smiled despite myself, before my usual depressive attitude kicked back in. "Maybe it’s not saving I need." I commented looking away from him. Happy was bad, happiness always led to an even worse crash.

  "It is not death you need either!" Steve replied.

  "You know nothing about me!" I snapped standing sharply.

  Steven laughed bitterly, “You were hurt by that boy and you now like to jump off high places and drink until you pass out. So human, so fragile a mind, so typically normal. You are stronger than this Victoria, far better than letting yourself lose your mind over some little boy like that. You can be so much more then this shattered shell you like to hide yourself in. It’s about time you became the woman you were born to be. It’s only your weakness, your dependence on being nobody that is keeping you bound like this.”

  I was angry," What do you know of humans, vampire? You live in the world, but not with us. You pass by life never being touched by actually living. You will never die, never live and never feel what I feel." I turned away and walked back down the path to the forest. I didn't look back, didn't care what that creature thought. Lies, I cared more then I dared to admit.

  After a few steps, I realized that he was following me. I didn't stop, just carried on walking. "Does it penetrate your drunken mind that you aren't really living it either child?" he asked.

  When I turned around he was gone, "Bastard!" I swore and carried on towards my car. He'd taken the keys and left me with a long walk home.

  Where else would I go but back to the drink? I needed to forget all the things that hurt me, the men and the pain. And the words that were so true, but it took the undead to tell me. It was so easy to believe what Steve was that was the worst part. I felt like I'd known him forever from my dreams, and the bond grew stronger by the second. The voices in my head, the heavy thoughts preying on my mind, worse than ever. I needed him; I needed to be in his arms, breathing in his scent, kissing him. I knew in my soul that he was the only thing that could make the voices stop, the only way I could find peace.

  I almost went to look for him, without knowing how I’d find him only that I could. Just to see his face again, the need was so strong I left the bar and paced up and down outside a few times. I could feel him in the air, smell his scent on the wind. He was so damn close by, I felt like I could touch him. The urge in my heart told me exactly which way to go to get to him, like GPS but stronger. I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t see him again so soon. I’d be giving up more than I would gain. Goodness knows what would happen if I saw him in this state. The need for his company, his touch burning inside of me.

  I started walking (stumbling) along the road back to the house I'd spent last night in; I didn't want to go home still. I couldn't let my parents see me this drunk and confused. It was bad enough Steven had seen me at the cliff top; I couldn't share how I felt right now. Better to hide away, to try and figure all of this out on my own. I got to the house and let myself in. It was dark and quiet, just like I expected. No one ever squatted there but me. I sat on the dusty tattered sofa and I cried.

  I cried like I would never stop, my confusion filled my mind and as the tears kept on coming. I thought of Steve again, he must have a reason for trying to save me. God knows why, I was past helping, long past. All I could do was die and make it easier for us all. I had the pills in my bag, I could do it now, so easily. No one to stop me this time. I looked around at the dark room seeing the semi familiar shapes of the long abandoned furniture around me.

  This time I would, I could and I would. I opened the pills and poured them into my hand. I felt them lying heavy in my sweating palm, and then all of a sudden tipped them into my mouth and swallowed. I was calm, and lay back on the sofa waiting for death to embrace me.

  It was better this way; I only brought pain to those around me. Misery, suffering, I was tainted, cursed. Everything I had ever loved, everyone I had always lost. I wouldn’t bring that curse down on another person I cared about, even if I couldn’t connect the reasons why I cared so deeply for him. It
was time to leave this place, leave behind all my troubles. I didn’t even leave a note; it was pointless there was no one left to read it. The police would just rule it another teenage suicide from bullying and the case would close. My parents would pretend to cry at my funeral, like they had once loved me, a few people from school (the divas and drama queens) they could always shed a few tears on cue and that would be it. My body laying in a coffin somewhere turning into worm food, simple. A fittingly poor end to an uneventful life.

  The Vampire Legacies Book One

  The Scarlet Drop

  Chapter Three

  Time seemed to slow to an eternity, every moment felt like a life time. I felt calm and still, beautifully relaxed as I drifted in and out of awareness. The time was right, I was ready, let Death come for me at long last. Days I seemed to spend in this dreamlike state, awaiting my ultimate fate. I awakened slightly to a noise outside my mind, and tried to force me eyes open, but I was too drowsy, too relaxed now to care. I was ready for the end, I embraced it, and it was all that I wanted. An escape from the pain of living, a release from all the tensions of existing. I wished I had done this long ago, given myself the sweet released I craved.

  Someone had entered the room I was sure of that. I felt someone shaking my arm so hard it hurt. The skin felt like it was already starting to bruise up. That helped, my eyes fluttered open and then closed again, and yes my prince was there, my beloved Steven. He looked terrified, "Wake up Victoria!" he shouted.

  My eyes opened a second time and managed to remain mostly focused, "I'm awake" I muffled through thick lips. I wasn’t really, barely even keeping my eye lids open a few moments and I would be back under again.

  "You have to live, you have to wake up! You have to live for me if for no one else," he snapped, and dragged me to my feet, "I love you baby, I can’t live without you."

  I hadn't realized that the house still had running water, but it must have as I found myself under an ice cold shower of water. I struggled up to get out of the shower, but found myself pushed back into it and held there. I slapped at the arm holding me and struggled harder, this time I found myself lifted out of the water and wrapped up in a towel, again no clue where that had come from as I know there were none of those in the place. I knew every inch of it; I was there more than I was home. This practically was my home, as fucked up as that sounded.