The Scarlet Drop: The Vampire Legacies Book One

by Sarah Beth James

  My graduation ceremony came around; there was no one there to watch me. My parents as usual were off somewhere, I didn’t even bother asking where. My newer friends had jobs, so couldn’t attend. All that I could see were the fellow members of my classes stood there watching. People I wouldn’t miss when I was gone, only one more day and I would pack the last of my things into my car and drive to the city. No one would find me there unless I wanted them too.

  As I stepped down from the platform after receiving my degree, something made me shiver. I turned to see two people in the distance watching me, Steven and Tony, before I lost sight of them in the crowd. So they were still around, watching over me even if it didn’t feel like it. Somehow knowing they were around made me feel better, safer. Even if I knew I could protect myself. I could have followed them, asked them where they had been. Yet somehow I knew it wasn’t time to see them. I wasn’t ready.

  With only a few hours left in this small town, I wandered back to the place he had first saved my life, the cliff face in the woods I had been to so many times, hoping to find him waiting. Again I was alone there, I sat and watched the sun go down and waited just hoping that he might appear. After a few hours of mediating, I decided to practice my spell casting and called forth a rain storm, under a large oak tree I was safe from the rain, not that it bothered me. I felt alive and excited by the power growing inside of me, I let it loose and a terrible thunder storm battered the hill side, lightning crashing and thunder rolling. The rain battered down harder and harder, I drew myself further under the tree to hide from it all. It was wonderful to be able to use my magic again freely, without having to hide it from those around me. I hadn’t called forth a storm since the night of the battle. I hadn’t even been sure that I could create one without the other man being near me.

  Eventually I grew weary from the magic and slept under the tree. I dreamt for the first time since my coma, I was still in the woods, but I wasn't alone. My love was there with me, he kissed me so passionately I woke up looking for him. There was no one there, my heart slunk. Then I heard laughter, I looked around and oh my god he was more beautiful then I remembered. Damp from the rain, hair plastered over his face. A leather coat battered around his thin frame, leather trousers so tight I could see everything I had dreamt of, and a black top stretched tightly across his muscled chest. "How are you?" he asked, his velvet voice making me tremble.

  I stretched out a hand to him; he was next in me before I could blink. His hand in mine was cold and damp, but it electrified me. I bent to kiss him and he pulled away gently. I wasn't taking no for an answer, I reached for him and kissed him deeply. He resisted at first but only for a moment, then he joined in. I had never known such passion as I felt then in the middle of a storm of my own making in a damp wood. We made love under that tree for first time, the ecstasy I felt, I had never known with any other man. Time seemed to slow and every moment caused a wave of passion I thought I couldn't stand. The thunder rolled overhead making it all the more exciting, as the waves of passion rolled over me the storm worsened.

  When it was over, I pulled my clothing back around me to warm my chilled bones. The storm was over now, burnt out during our encounter. I snuggled closer to Steve, trying to keep warm in the damp air. He played with my hair as we sat together in silence for some time. I was the first to break the peace, "Where did you go?" I asked.

  He looked at me, "You needed time. I was around waiting for you."

  "I thought you followed me a few times?" I asked.

  "So I did, if you had asked for me, I would have come" he answered.

  "Will you go away again?" I asked.

  "Only if you want me to."

  I answered him with a kiss.

  "Do you mind that I'm a witch?"

  "Do you mind that I'm a vampire?"

  I shrugged, "I always knew what you were, I was waiting for you."

  "I had to wait for you to grow up. I was there watching you. I saw your first step, heard your first word. Watched you at school, and when you had your first date. I never left you."

  In a way I had always known that he was there, which must have been where the dreams came from. "What do we do now?" I asked.

  "You live your life," he answered, "You go to school, and work, and do all the things a person does. But when you want me, you will be able to find me. I will always wait for you" he promised.

  “Can we have tonight?” I asked softly.

  “Yes, tonight we can have.” He promised.

  We did, and in the morning light he was gone. I got in my car, drove all day, and started a new life. He was right, life moved on. I grew a year older, and no more wiser. I found a job in a book store, got a pay rise or two, I was a supervisor now and worked full time. Steve wasn't always there; sometimes he would disappear for months at a time, and others he would be there every night I left work. But it was okay, because I knew he would be there if I needed him. We still made love, taking my breath away every time we did. I lived in the world during the day, at night I practiced my abilities. I grew strong in mind and body .I never saw the old crowd that I used to drink with and I hardly ever drank any more. I explored old and musty book stores searching for books on the occult to strengthen my knowledge. I didn't so much accept my abilities, but I got used to having them. Normal wasn't all it was cracked up to be I decided.

  Once, a parcel of musty old books arrived at my home without as much as a note. I knew they were from the hidden man, the one I wanted so much to remember. Yet it was still lost to me. Perhaps in time? Somehow I knew I had known him as long as I had Steven. It’s almost as if the dream that always came to me, was missing his face somewhere in the background.

  I’d found one memory of him, one I clung to. That he was best man at one of my weddings. He wished me all the best, but my heart was breaking. I was crying, pleading with him. Over what I did not know. For a moment it was almost like I was begging not to marry Steven, to run away with him instead. To not be forced into some union I didn’t want. But that couldn’t be right?

  The Vampire Legacies

  The Scarlet Drop

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tony sat on a bar stool, so drunk he could fall off of it any second. Downing some cocktail mixture he didn’t know what was, he knew it was strong and that was all that mattered. Steve was sober now, that had been five months of living hell. The uppers had locked them both in a house while Tony used magic to control the cravings of the other man, until he dried out. Tony had refused a hundred times, but he couldn’t tell them why so they had forced him to do his job. How could he tell them that the man was his ex-lover and if he was locked up with him then he was terrified that they would end up in bed together again?

  They hadn’t, but Tony had seriously struggled to contain his urges. Watching the man walk around half naked, stripping him to wash the puke from his skin and bail him into bed after a bad night of withdrawals. Five months without sex, it was a miracle he was even vaguely sane. Five months locked up with someone he both loved and hated. Five months without being able to check on Victoria. He just hoped that Christiana had been keeping an eye on her in their absences. He wasn’t sure what he needed most right now, a good lay or to see her face.

  He knew what had been done was needed, for Steven’s sake, for Victoria’s. He hadn’t expected it to take such a deep toll on his own soul. So much so, that the second they had been released he had headed to the first bar he had seen. Sat there on that very same bar stool ever since. For once he would allow himself the weakness, to feel the sins of the flesh. A cute guy gave him the eye, came close whispering dirty comments into his ear.

  Tony didn’t think twice, he let the sexy man pull him to his feet fully aware that he could barely stand. Slipping into his arms as they crossed the dance floor, resting his head on the other man’s chest as they danced far too close to each other. Tony felt his head tugged up, a warm mouth on his. Pleading, desperate for a response. He hadn’t slept with anyone since that
last night with his wife; he needed to feel alive again. Not just a puppet of the higher beings.

  He parted the stranger’s mouth gently with his tongue, kissing him back. Drawing energy from the other man as he did so, he was weak from using too much magic. The sexual tension between them building enough energy he could start to recharge. He felt safe, relaxed, as well as more than a little horny. When the man suggested going back to his place, Tony didn’t need to think about it. Just followed obediently behind. The man was also a mage, opening a door that took them straight there from outside the bar.

  Into a room with an impossibly large couch, soft music, plenty of good wine. Strong too, must have come from faerie folk by the taste of it. He was poured several drinks, one after the other. They tasted divine, as he cuddled on the sofa with the man kissing him. At the fifth glass he pulled back, “Are you trying to get me drunk?” he slurred.

  “You were drunk before I even found you, now I just want you to pass out.” The man commented.

  Finally Tony saw the danger in the situation; he tried to struggle to his feet as the room tilted dangerous around him. “Why?”

  “Because your little fang is about to have a big accident.” He laughed, “You were such an easy mark, so needy. I didn’t even have to try.”

  “I will kill you.” Tony said lurching forward swinging wildly, yet missing him as he could barely see.

  “Not with two bottles of faery wine inside of you, as well as a bottle of mortal whisky.” He laughed before vanishing.

  Tony was left alone, he had to do something. He couldn’t leave Steve to be ambushed. He drew on the fuzzy spark of his power, using it to transport himself to the other man. Or at least tried to, all he knew was he ended up in long damp grass in the middle of the night. He tried to stand, but dizziness was too much. He threw up in the grass. “God damn me for taking the weak path!” he cursed himself.

  He collapsed on his back; he had no hope of using his magic spark to try to heal his body enough to stand. All he could do was watch as the darkness covered the house that he knew in his soul housed his ex. A car pulled up across from him, Victoria came slamming out running towards the house. She shouldn’t be here, now he was going to lose both of them because he wanted to drink. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

  Tony dragged himself onto his hands and knees, crawling towards the house. Whatever it took, he was going to be in this damn fight. He wasn’t going to lose everyone he loved!

  The Vampire Legacies

  The Scarlet Drop

  Chapter Eighteen

  Steve had been gone for months now, the longest we had ever been apart. I didn't worry too much at first, but as the months had drawn by my concern had grown until one night I woke in a cold sweat shaking. He was in danger, and I knew I had to save him. It was 2am, but I was dressed and out of the door in moments. I took the car, and drove into the dawn, passed the lights of the city, passed the town where I used to live, passed the woods, even past the state boundaries, I knew where I had to go. I could feel in my heart where he was, what was happening to him.

  Hours passed in silence as I drove further and further down twisting lanes with no idea where I was. I saw a house in the distance, a half ruined farm house in the middle of nowhere down a road that was barely more than a dirt track. I turned down the drive, and floored the gas; I was so close to him now. I could hear his thoughts; he was in pain and lots of it. Front of the house at last, and out of the door as soon as I stopped. The door was ajar, I didn't bother knocking. "Steve?" I called, movement was my only answer. A dark shape skittered past the door to my right. I tried to turn on the lights, but the switch wasn't working. I crossed the narrow hallway and entered the room on my right, trying the switch there, no power. My heart was racing, the house was ruined half the ceiling was collapsed. A fire had gutted the inside; you could still smell the ghost of the smoke that had devastated the homestead. There was something else in this house, some dark presence, I could feel it. There was death here, lots of it. Ghosts of the past, echoes of their spirit, and yet that wasn’t everything. I could die here, but if I died for him so be it.

  Something ran past the door behind me, I span around, but it was gone. I walked through into the next room, what used to be a kitchen I think. There was an electric cooker in one corner all smashed up and the remains of a blackened and melted sink. I heard a low moan from nearby and realized there was a door near the oven; I opened it to find the old pantry. I couldn't believe my eyes, huddled in the corner of the tiny room covered in his own blood was my beloved. His leg was broken, and evidence of beatings and torture was clear even from where I stood. Cigarette butts had been put out on his skin, his clothes in tatters. He didn't stir as I moved closer; I laid my hand on his head, tilting it to face me. His head rolled back, his eyes glazed over, he had clearly been drugged. He tried to focus on my face, to stutter out my name through thickened and bleeding lips. His face was a ghastly white, he needed blood desperately. I started to roll back my sleeve to allow him a drink, but as I started something slammed into me knocking me to the floor.

  I sprawled on the floor for a minute looking up at my attacker; I'd never been so scared in all my life. It was a shadow creature, something I had read about and hoped to never meet in this life. It was huge, 7 or 8 feet high and about 4 across, a person’s shape, but just a shadow that moved fast. Its hands were talons with blood soaked tips. Why it had been torturing Steve I didn't know, but it had hurt the one I loved so it was seriously going to die! Probably be brought back a few times and then killed some more!

  I rolled back onto my feet and blocked the door to the little pantry, stopping it getting back in there. My willow wand was drawn out my back pocket in a second and ready for action. "You will not harm him!" I snapped.

  The creature slapped me across my face leaving deep bloody groves in my cheek. It was much stronger than I was, but not as angry. It shoved me away across the room and started to draw life force from my lover.

  The rage and power I had grown to control so well these last few years broke out of me and I turned in a second back to the rage controlled being I had once been. Thunder and rain hammered down on the roof of the house, lightning cracking overhead. I drew a great wind in through the door to batter the creature and slam it out the way.

  The creature threw itself at me, clawing and slashing at my belly. I could feel hot blood soaking my shirt and running onto the floor. I paid it little attention when my soul mate was in danger. I reached down into the very bottom of my soul and pulled forth all the power I had, and all the hate and pain and fear I had felt over my life time and brought it out in one last burst of power.

  The storm grew in strength, battering down on the house. Window shutters where dragged away as the wind howled freely through the now ruined house. Lightning tore a hole in the roof and slammed into the demon, wounding it greatly. I reached to the sky and brought down three more bolts of lightning into its body.

  I was scared a little, the power was controlling me, not me it, and my blood was flowing even more freely now than before. I knew that this could mean my life, but it didn't matter. Steve meant more to me than my own life. I pinned the creature to the wall with the strength of the storm as I created mystical chains from the raw energy to bind it.

  "I bind you to the earth creature, I bind you to this place and here I will bury you!" I screamed. I drew the floor of the house open and parted the earth underneath the foundations. Here is where I threw the demon bound in my chains and drew the earth and house back over on top of it. "I bind you for all eternity and beyond, may you never leave this spot or find rest in this world.

  The power of the storm consumed me, and I couldn't let it go. It burned hotter and faster through my veins without stopping. I knew this would mean my death if I couldn't stop it. Too much power in a fragile form.

  I crossed to Steve and used as much of the raw energy as I could, channeling more and more from the storm to heal his broken body and repair the harm
that had been done to him. After what seemed hours his eyes fluttered open, my relief was indentations I broke the link and collapsed to the floor not knowing if I would live or die at this point. Blackness flooded my mind and I lost the battle to stay awake.

  Hours passed by like seconds, I was aware of people around me talking and moving around, but I was too tired to open my eyes. My exhaustion ran to my very bones and I felt tired and old, like I could sleep forever. I know it wasn't a good thing to think, and that I would have to force myself to wake soon, but for now I allowed my mind to just drift off and relax. Healing my mind and body from the trauma.

  The blackness was comforting and still, a nice place to be. I drifted quietly away on a bed of shadow and inky darkness…..

  The Vampire Legacies

  The Scarlet Drop

  Chapter Nineteen

  After a long time, I stirred from my death life slumber and opened my eyes. I was home in my old bedroom, and the late afternoon sun was streaming through my floral curtains. I stretched lazily and turned over in bed, completely relaxed. A state I hardly knew in a normal day to day life. I felt new, and changed somewhat by the release of my powers after so long holding them in. I felt… complete.

  I sat up and stretched again in the sun shine, letting the warmth warm up my skin. Looking around I knew that there was no one in the house; my hearing seemed so much stronger now. Good, I didn’t want to have to explain to my parents why I was back after all this time without contacting them. I could hear the sounds of people in the next house talking, which I never could have before. I didn't think on it too much, didn't seems all that important right now.