by Bre Faucheux
She followed the direction from where she heard the waters crashing to the river. The falls weren’t far and she reached them quickly, stopping as quietly as she had started. She knew her skills now were those of a hunter. She could prey and take what she pleased as silently as any predator could. And knowing that she would never be forced to harm a person again with the thrashing and relentless thirst, only intensified her love for those abilities. They were a form of protection. She could never be harmed in the ways she had before.
She stood silent, listening for anything moving, for any indication that Jayden was close by. She didn’t need to look far. He had found someone to feed on. She could smell the human blood coursing his veins, still fresh in his mouth. Running to him, she tried her best to remain quiet as not to frighten him.
Standing behind him, she waited for him to realize her presence. He didn’t immediately recognize her. His emotions appeared shocked once he realized that she was there, but his expression didn’t move as he faced her. Madison sensed that he was relieved to find her alive, but he remained ravenous. He tried focusing harder as the blood coursed through him, eventually taming his thirst for the time being.
“Why did you not leave them sooner?” he said.
She felt a hesitation before responding. He knew she was given shelter by the natives. Did he know of how the man had helped her?
“I didn’t know how much time had passed. They have some sort of healer. He aided me.”
“With what, pray tell? You look the same to me.”
“The pain is gone, Jayden. The thirst you feel, the burning, all the desires for release, it has fled from me,” she said, choosing her words carefully.
“You still feed on blood,” he said. “I can smell it in you.”
“Yes, I still require it. But I do not yearn for it as I once did. It does not demand release from my body.” She hesitated, hoping he would take in the true meaning of her words. “I can control it, Jayden.”
He looked at her, every tone of arrogance and confidence dissolving from within him. He didn’t immediately believe her. “They did this to you?” he said accusingly. His voice was almost protective.
“Not to me, Jayden. They did it for me. They helped me.”
He was silent. Looking to the ground, he stepped a few paces away. Madison walked forward and grabbed his arm to feel further into him. He was already growing thirsty again. It was controlling his every thought.
Trying to maintain control, he managed to find words again. “Why would they do that? Why would they aid you? They see us as their enemy,” he said.
“How often are you feeding now, Jayden? Is the thirst getting worse?”
“Answer me!” he yelled.
She stepped back again, giving him space. “They are not like the others, Jayden. They fear them as well. All the other tribes live far off through the lands to avoid them. They call them the Vam-pyr-ei-ak. All who live here fear them as we do.”
“You saw into their emotions, did you?”
She nodded in response. “They acted alone in their hostility toward us,” she said.
He seemed to accept this, but still could barely meet her eyes. “I killed all who searched for us.”
Madison looked at him with disbelief. “All? But their numbers were greater than we imagined. And you said there was more hiding in the mountains.”
“I gave them to the sea just as they did our own. They were owed no better,” he said.
She half expected him to appear proud of his deed. As if he had cleansed the earth of something vile in its existence. But the solemn aura he permitted to flow from his aura to Madison told her more than she needed to know. He didn’t want to live with the thirst any more than she did. His anger and hatred for their common enemy these past months remained strong as ever, but the pain inside him thrived. It fed upon that hatred and nourished its every desire. His disgust with his own actions was as strong as his hatred. She never expected that he could be so conflicted.
“It was easy at the beginning, to take from them,” he continued. “It was their penance for what they had done to us, to your kin, to my new relations. They took life from us and their punishment was to give it back. You were hardly fazed by it when I gathered those few for our sick.” He turned his head to see her. His expression still unchanged.
Madison neared closer to him again. His exterior of pride and self-assurance seemed to be breaking apart in front of her.
“If they were willing to aid you, would you accompany me? If perchance their healer can heal you too, would you desire it?”
He stared at her.
She thought for a moment that he may decline. “You once called it poison, Jayden. This thing inside of us is a kind of poison. We need to rid our bodies of it,” she said.
“They will see your having brought me as a betrayal. Simply because they aided you does not mean they will grant me the same kindness,” he said.
“Only because you feel you no longer deserve it,” she said sternly. He didn’t immediately answer. A tremor passed through him and she felt his thirst rising again.
“I was justified in my actions, mistress, but do not attempt to condone them.”
“I don’t believe that you feel anything for their loss, Jayden,” she said. “The others here fear them as well. Nay one of them will be crippled by their loss to this world. We deserve to survive this. And you deserve to be healed of this affliction.”
He inched closer to her. The intensity in his eyes matched the battering of discontentment he felt for himself. Lavishing in the power, and dreading the shame it brewed.
“I reclaimed our honor in what I have done. Do not attempt to take that from me,” he said, now only a foot away from her. His presence was as profound as it had been when she first saw him. She knew then that the people who cared for her may not do the same for him. His very exterior was frightening to all who didn’t know him. She had only gained witness to what was beneath when he was most desperate, perhaps even afraid.
“I could never seek to take anything away from you. I only wish to guide it to a better purpose. There is a purpose in what has happened. We were meant to survive. But you will be hunted if you continue to drink from them. As long as you live, you will be hunted. Anywhere you go, you will feed on the living. And if that be your way to life, you will be hunted for it.”
He continued to stare at her and she attempted to match his authoritative presence. His every emotion doubted her until that moment. Something she had said broke through him. His face still did not falter.
“I will follow you part of the way. I want to know of their willingness to provide aid to me before I approach them,” he said.
“You have nothing to fear from them, Jayden. And I cannot ask anything of them. I do not speak their language. You must come into camp with me and stay where I have been given shelter. The fewer there who know of your presence, the better.”
He seemed to understand the circumstances, but didn’t speak.
Madison realized that trying to talk him into the act of asking for aid wasn’t one of his natural methods of seeking help. He needed to have his hand forced.
Without hesitation, she took his arm in her hands, gripping it with as much force as she was able. She thought she heard him gasp, actually gasp, at the suddenly action. She pulled him away and ran with him in arm before he could protest. He could feel as justified or pleased with what he had done as he wanted. He could remember every kill and feel satisfaction for avenging everyone he may have cared for. Regardless of whether or not he gave such regard to her after having abandoned her in the woods, he had then tried to save her. That alone in Madison’s mind, gave him slight room for redemption.
She led him through the very path she came through to see him. She eventually let go of his arm once she knew he would continue to follow. He ran with haste beside her, trying to emulate the silence in which she moved. Neither of them made a noise as they rushed over the rocks and trees. She
felt Jayden’s emotions beside her and knew he would follow her to where ever she was taking him. He had obviously seen where she was being held as he admitted to having known where she had been.
She brought her arm out to stop him and he did. A gust hit their bodies as they halted. The wind they had created was the only sign that they had been there at all.
“Look familiar?” she asked.
“Vaguely,” he said. “I only sensed your presence here this morning.”
“Well, you were busy,” she said.
He wanted to lash out at her for the slight jab, but she didn’t give him a chance.
Guards appeared here and there just outside the tree line, keeping a watchful eye on the tribe as the others slept. The young man who had approached her appeared to have left. She hoped that their entrance would be as easy as her exit had been.
She reached again for Jayden’s arm, not giving him time to reconsider any other option but to come in tow with her. They went promptly and did not stop until they quietly reached the healer’s tent. As Madison reached for the flap to allow Jayden in, she heard someone gasp behind her. Jayden stepped backward and turned suddenly. The young man who had watched her leave, he had hidden from her view of the mountains. He opened his mouth to yell.
Madison rapidly sped toward him and gripped around his mouth, wrapping her arm around his waist and arms so he couldn’t move. His muffled cries tried to reach from beyond her hand, but her grip remained solid.
“Quiet now,” she said. “He means no harm.” The young man’s hair ripped from his scalp as he tried in vain to get away from her.
“Give him here,” said Jayden just loud enough for her to hear.
“Don’t hurt him. These people are our friends,” she said.
He nodded and gave his hand forth.
Madison hesitated, but then quickly threw the young man’s weight to Jayden. His sentiments told her of his sincerity. He wouldn’t harm him.
Jayden took the very same actions she had, muffling his mouth with one hand. Yet he took his other and roped it around the young native’s neck. He squeezed it just so he was short of breath. Within seconds, he began to lose his stamina and his weight fell to the ground. Jayden let him fall softly and looked to Madison.
“He will awaken soon. Lead onward, mistress,” he said expectantly.
“How did you know to do that? What was that?” she whispered.
“Can you not feel where their life resides? You let few people to your neck for a reason. It is as fragile as you and I once were.”
“You already speak of them as though we are so different,” she scoffed.
“That we are. We are of a different entity now. Can you not sense that?” he said.
She didn’t answer. She only stared at him. The veneer of his indifference once again strewed across his face. She felt that she was the only one who would ever be able to see through it.
Madison walked forth and took the flap quietly, stepping inside the tall triangular tent. Almost instantly, her healer sat up. She tried her best to remain calm. Jayden knelt down and entered the tent behind her. The healer observed her before looking at Jayden. He knew of her intent without having to speak. His wife stirred and uttered words to him. But his tone replied softly. Madison wanted nothing from him but help. And she hoped he would give it as freely to Jayden as he had her.
“Pray pardon me sir, but he needs your aid,” she spoke gently, trying to assure him of her intent. “I know not of your words or their meaning, but you have shown me such kindness. Will you not show this man the same if I wish it?”
She could hear Jayden breathing heavily behind her. She sensed that he was already thirsty in their presence. He hadn’t been among the living without attacking them in days. Standing about them without violent means was the most control he had exhibited in days.
She didn’t break eye contact with her benefactor, and nor did he with her. He lifted the cloth from his bedding and stood, his long hair falling behind him. Walking up to her, he shifted his eyes to Jayden. Taking his hand forth, the healer touched Jayden’s chest, just in front of his heart and closed his eyes. Madison knew he was searching for something. Perhaps he searched for whatever it was Madison saw worth saving. He stood there for moment and simply breathed deeply before Jayden as Madison watched. Within seconds Jayden’s breathing matched the healer’s. He held his steady pace of breathing and soothed whatever lay within Jayden’s restlessness. Madison could feel the surprise levitating from Jayden’s body. It rose from within him, and settled back in a state of calm. Jayden felt himself begin to fade, yet he stood motionless.
The healer spoke more words Madison couldn’t understand. But she knew their meaning from his expression. He would help Jayden. He would relieve him of the pain and the torrid thirst. He kept his eyes on Jayden and led him to the bedding Madison had slept on. Jayden willingly took the bedding and laid himself down upon it. The healer spoke words to his wife and she rose to gather things he would need from their baskets. She then took Madison’s shoulder and led her from the tent. She knew the healer needed privacy for Jayden to completely relax as she had in his presence.
The wife saw the young man Jayden had put under lying upon the ground and took him to the tent to lay him upward. She didn’t judge Madison or even look her way to gain knowledge of what had happened. Madison felt that she understood and was only grateful that they hadn’t done him harm. The young man was a protector of his tribe, but it wasn’t his place to oversee what the healer did or who he helped. Nor was it his place object. The young man was respected for his courage and duties, but the healer’s duties were of the utmost importance.
The wife took a seat just outside the tent on the ground where skins lay for seating. Madison thought that perhaps others had been there waiting to hear of their loved ones the healer had tended to. She joined her and sat next to her. The wife took Madison’s hand and placed it in hers, again speaking words Madison couldn’t discern. But she knew their meaning. It was right of her to bring Jayden there. He was a threat as much to himself as he was to others. He needed to be freed of the thirst.
Madison looked to the expanse of other lodgings surrounding her and closed her eyes. She took to listening to the sounds of nature over what was happening inside the tent. The mystery of what the man had done to help her would remain such, a mystery. And if Jayden and she were the only survivors of these past months, they would be the only ones served by the healer’s kindness. Even if she wanted to know of how he had healed her, she felt she could never understand. There was a sort of spirituality to these people she knew was beyond her depth. Yet she longed to know it in time. She wanted to learn of it and how they lived from the lands as they did. If they could cure such evil within a person, she knew they could guide them further.
The sound of the wife’s breath coming through the area where Jayden claimed “life resided,” gave Madison a sense of repose. She wondered if before the healer had taken away her thirst if the woman’s breathing would have encouraged a much more savage response. She hadn’t yet tried listening closer to another being beside her. The wife, as Madison had grown to refer her as, lay still beside her. She rested on Madison’s shoulder, clearly not fearing her as others did. Once Madison focused hard enough, she could hear more than her breath and beating heart. The rush of blood crashed against her thick veins. Her stomach churned as it prepared for an oncoming meal to begin the day. Her eyes moved from behind her lids back and forth, desperate to see something other than the dream that occupied her mind. Even her lashes created a sound as they moved. But it was her heart and her neck that had the most activity. They remained the loudest sounds Madison could hear. Her throat just above eagerly expanded to take air within her lungs. Never knowing what lay within her own body or how it was composed, Madison listened even closer. She felt as though she knew of every detail within the woman’s body without ever having seen inside it.
It occurred to Madison suddenly, that Jayden felt t
hat this separated him from others. He was different. Their hearts still beat, and their lungs still took in air, but they healed instantly. A sudden assault to their hearts or their throat wouldn’t do them harm as it would have before. But Madison felt more akin to the woman beside her for that very reason. She knew more of her own embodiment by knowing how this woman was composed than she had ever before. She was eager to know if Jayden had discovered more of their new abilities, but she was satisfied knowing that she took the time to appreciate them. She hoped Jayden would as well once he was recovered.
The sun slowly rose and the men protecting the tribe through the night took the remaining food of the previous evening from baskets near the ringed fire pit. They sat and ate quietly, attempting to not to make their notice of her obvious. They had clearly been told to not mind her presence, but Madison still felt their apprehension and a combined force penetrating the air surrounding them.
As the morning began to surface light on the land, more people emerged from their tents. They paid little attention to Madison and the woman still sleeping beside her. It wasn’t until the healer within the tent started to chant a familiar aria that they stared in her general direction. Every element to his voice seemed haunting to her even now. She recalled the tranquility she had felt when the man drifted the smoke about her body and chanted with the same spiritual element over her small figure. She hoped that Jayden felt the same sensation, and that it provided a kind of solace.
Minutes after the wife awoke and began to tend to a morning meal by the fire ring, the healer emerged from the tent. Madison caught a hint of the aroma from the herbs and smoke inside. They were familiar to her and pleased her disposition. She rose to meet the man’s eyes. He appeared composed in every sense. Madison discerned from him that Jayden was well, more than well in fact. He was sleeping.