Destined For a Vampire

by M. Leighton

  Sebastian walked to the child and squatted down in front of her.

  “Lilly, she’s here.”

  The little girl’s head popped up and her face lit up like she’d just found a long lost friend.

  Though she looked nothing like her father, she was just as stunning. Her auburn hair hung in long thick waves around her tiny face and her silvery eyes shone with pleasure. When I saw their pale color, I thought maybe that’s what she got from her father (other than pure gorgeousness): grayish eyes. It seemed that hers were just a bit more blue.

  “You’re Ridley?”

  I couldn’t help but smile at the bell of excitement that rang in her tiny voice.

  “I am.”

  She got to her feet and practically ran to me, taking my hand in her smaller one. “Come and see my room.”

  “Lilly, I need to talk to Ridley for a minute before you drag her off, ok?”

  Lilly sighed. “Ok,” she said, turning back to the doll she’d left half dressed.

  Sebastian shook his head in that tolerant way that parents do and turned his attention back to me.

  “She’s already eaten and had her bath. Bedtime is 9:00, no matter what she tries to tell you. She likes a story, but she’ll try to talk you into telling her a dozen, so don’t be fooled. She gets one.” He smiled, obviously amused by his daughter’s ploys. If possible, I thought that made him even more attractive. “She doesn’t usually watch much television, probably because her room is full of toys. Do you have any questions for me?”

  I tried to think back to babysitting etiquette. It had been so long since I’d actually done it, I felt rusty.

  “Does she have any allergies or medical conditions that I should know about?”

  Sebastian’s tawny brows rose.

  “No, but those are good questions.”

  For some reason, his compliment made me feel sparkly and wonderful. I couldn’t help the smile of pleasure I felt tugging at my lips.

  “What about a number in case of emergencies?”

  “My cell’s under the magnet on the fridge.”

  I nodded.

  “I shouldn’t be too late. I know you have school tomorrow, so—”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’m a night owl.”

  “Me, too,” Sebastian said, grinning. “Alright, well, I’ll get going. Make yourself at home. There’s food and drinks in the fridge. Just made some fresh tea.

  Help yourself. There are DVDs behind that shelf,” he explained, pointing to the built-ins that framed the gigantic fireplace. Then, as if deciding that was insufficient, he walked toward them. “Here, let me show you.”

  I followed Sebastian to the left of the fireplace.

  “It’s hinged,” he said, pulling on a discreet handle that lay at the edge of the shelf. It opened, revealing what probably numbered in the hundreds of DVDs.

  “That’s cool,” I said under my breath, duly impressed.

  “If you—”

  “Daddy, just go,” Lilly said from her place on the carpet.

  Sebastian chuckled. “Someone’s anxious to have you all to herself.”

  Lilly rolled her eyes in such an adult way, in such a grown-up gesture, that I had to laugh.

  “I want to show her my princess castle.”

  “Well, far be it for me to stand in the way of that,” Sebastian teased. “You two have fun. Lilly, you be a good girl.”

  “I will, Daddy,” she promised absently then took my hand again. “Come on, Ridley.”

  ********

  Two hours, one tea (a real one for me, a pretend one for her), several hide-and-seeks and three stories later, I was creeping down the hall, away from Lilly’s room, where she’d finally gone to sleep. She was much harder to refuse than Sebastian made it seem. Something about that dainty voice and those shiny blue-gray eyes tugged at my heart strings and made it virtually impossible to say no.

  I stopped a ways down the hall to listen, making sure that I didn’t hear her stirring or calling for me. As I strained to hear, a light in the otherwise dark room of Sebastian’s study caught my eye.

  I stepped past the suit of armor, giving it a wide berth, and stood just inside the doorway, peering into the dimly lit room. A wide desk dominated the space. It was stained a rich reddish color that matched the cabinetry that covered the wall behind it. The intricately carved wooden shelves held hundreds of tomes. I could make out the titles of several of them, all whimsical works. None of them really surprised me, though, since Sebastian was a Professor of Mythology. Among the many rows and rows of books, however, one collection stood out from the rest.

  It was a set of books that shared a deep red spine, each having gilded lettering that I couldn’t read from across the room. One book lay on a slanted platform, displayed under a light that shone on its old, leather cover. It drew me like a moth to a flame.

  As I neared it, the smell of aged paper stung my nose. My fingers itched to open the dusty cover and touch the wrinkled pages. I leaned in close enough to make out the faded symbols stenciled across the front, though they meant nothing to me.

  A shiver snaked its way through me and I thought I should probably get out of Sebastian’s personal space, but something inside me just wouldn’t let me move away from that book.

  Compelled beyond reason to open it, I reached out with one finger and gently lifted the cover. The leather creaked and that musty smell wafted up to envelope me in a puff of stale air.

  The first page was littered with a bunch of letters and symbols that I didn’t recognize. The second page was not much better, with its smeared images that looked like a collage of small, overlapping charcoal portraits. I paid them little attention, turning to another page instead.

  Line after line of markings and symbols crossed the page, filling it with words I couldn’t decipher and content that I couldn’t understand. I flipped through several more pages and found nothing but the same.

  I was just about to close the book when a crisp white corner caught my eye.

  It was stuck between two yellowed pages about halfway through the book. I turned there.

  On the paper was a list of the markings I’d seen on the previous pages of the book. Beside them were English words and phrases. It appeared that someone, presumably Sebastian, was attempting to translate the work into English.

  I turned the page and there, tucked between the pieces of dry old parchment, was another sheet of paper. This one held sentences that I could actually read and understand.

  It seemed as though the book was some sort of history of the vampire legend, a detailed accounting of where the tales had originated and how the “curse” had been passed down through time and generations.

  …began with Constantine. Of all the guardian angels, he was one of the greatest in his choir. His works were many, his dedication unmatched. But, alas, as every great figure must, Constantine had a weakness, an Achilles heel. His downfall would prove to be another heavenly being, a messenger angel by the name of Iofiel.

  Iofiel was the Angel of Beauty and Constantine loved her from the moment they met, just as Iofiel became enamored with him. It would only take days for their love to blossom into obsession, an obsession that would shift their focus from serving God and humanity and turn it toward one another.

  This was sin in the eyes of God, an act of rebellion, for it was never His intention when He created the angels for them to love anything more than they loved God and man.

  The second of their sins was committed when their duty began to interfere with their need to be together and, in direct defiance of God’s will, they left their posts as angels and hid amongst man, unwilling to continue to serve humanity if it meant being separated. During that time, Iofiel conceived and bore Constantine a child, a strapping young boy.

  Infuriated by their third and final act of rebellion, God dispatched dominions to return the two angels to Him. When Constantine heard of this, he hid Iofiel and their child with the humans before he left to find and kill
the dominions who sought to tear their family apart. His parting words to Iofiel were promises that he’d soon return for her and their son.

  Weeks and months passed, and every day, Iofiel searched the horizon for the return of her love. When one year had passed without sign of Constantine, Iofiel left the child in the care of an old woman and set out to find Constantine.

  She was quickly captured by more dominions and returned to God, never to see Constantine or their child again.

  When word reached Constantine that Iofiel had been taken, his rage toward God was so complete and so overwhelming that he sought to destroy Him. In his final and unforgivable act of sin, Constantine joined the dark angels of the earth, vowing to serve the one being he believed to be strong enough to defeat God—the angel, Lucifer.

  As punishment, God cursed Constantine by trapping his son in a human form and imbuing him with a power that no other of God’s creations possessed: the singular ability to take Constantine’s life.

  In answer to God’s punishment, Lucifer instilled in Constantine a venom, one that was filled with dark and unnatural elements. Lucifer believed the deadly bite of Constantine would destroy the child and spare Constantine his life.

  Unbeknownst to Constantine, his venom would create an aberration in the human race, a violent and blood thirsty mutation that neither time nor many weapons could destroy.

  For years, Constantine searched the earth for his son, sinking his deadly teeth into anyone that thought to get in his way. As his fury drove him, the venom corrupted him, blackening his soul to a state beyond redemption. As his darkness grew, he began to target the worst specimens of the human race, turning them into a soulless band of creatures known as Uccideres.

  Finally, Constantine located his son. The boy, named Boaz, had reached his nineteenth summer and was of full maturity. Constantine, still fearful of God’s prophecy, waited until night had fallen to approach his son. He crept in and visited him while he slept, while the boy was at his weakest.

  Constantine bit him in the neck, emptying into him a venom so toxic no mere mortal could have survived its effects. Only this boy was no mere mortal, and the venom, though it made him frightfully ill, did not destroy the child as Lucifer had hoped.

  Constantine, desperate to escape death, yet unable to kill his son, fed the boy his own powerfully angelic blood and then planted false memories in his mind. He made sure that Boaz would live a life free from the remembrance of his mission until such a time as Constantine could find a way to kill him.

  For centuries, Constantine and Lucifer have worked to destroy the boy, each time failing and each time being forced to provide the boy with new memories. And so the cycle will continue, as Boaz remains immortal under God’s pledge that he will not taste of death until he sees his father take his last breath.

  The words melted into a breathless tangle inside my mind. The story. The legend. Boaz. Constantine. Angels. The boy who can’t be killed. Could it be related to what Lucius had told me? Could it be related to what had happened with Bo? Could Boaz be my Bo?

  I blinked my eyes and saw dark wooden beams across a soft white ceiling.

  Confusion hammered at my brain. I closed my eyes, counted to ten and opened them again. Still, I was looking at the ceiling. Somewhere. And why was I on my back?

  I’d just been standing in Sebastian’s office in front of that book. And now…

  “I was wondering if I was going to have to wake you up.”

  I looked to my left and saw Sebastian. I sat up so fast my head spun. We were in the den and I was on one of the three sofas, Sebastian on the one across from me.

  “Was it that boring? I’ve always loved that movie,” he said, grinning pleasantly.

  “Movie?”

  Sebastian’s brows twitched, but they didn’t draw together. “Yeah. I know it predates you a bit, but I thought you might—”

  “We were watching a movie?”

  This time, Sebastian did frown. “Are you alright?”

  “I- I’m not sure. How long have I been asleep?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe half an hour. I hated to wake you.”

  I rubbed the back of my hand across my eyes. His answer only served to exacerbate my puzzlement.

  “What time is it?”

  Sebastian glanced at his expensive-looking watch. It was then that I noticed he was in different clothes than the ones he’d left wearing.

  “12:15.”

  Ohmigod! I thought. Where had the last two and a half hours gone?

  “Oh,” I said, trying to sound casual. “What time was it when you got in? I forgot to check the clock.”

  Sebastian gave me a concerned look, but said nothing about it.

  “11:30.”

  He’d been here for forty-five minutes and I remembered none of it! We’d apparently watched part of a movie together, too.

  “I guess I’d better get going then,” I said, pushing myself to my feet.

  “Are you sure you’re alright? I can drive you if you’re feeling ill,” Sebastian offered, coming to his feet as well.

  “Oh, no, I’m fine. But thank you.”

  I hated to seem as if I was rushing off, but I was so addled, I felt almost desperate to get away, to clear the fog from my mind. As I walked down the hall toward the front door, I could hear Sebastian’s footsteps trailing close behind.

  “Hold on, Ridley. I owe you some money for tonight,” Sebastian said, coming to stand in front of me at the door. I had my hand on the knob, ready to bolt.

  “Oh.” I couldn’t think of one good, sane reason to leave without taking the money, so I waited while Sebastian pulled his money clip from his pocket and flipped through the denominations until he came up with a hundred dollar bill.

  When he handed it to me, I felt guilty for taking it. I mean, apparently I’d blacked out for the last half of my stint and then had the nerve to fall asleep in front of him. That hardly sounded like he was getting his money’s worth. But arguing would only prolong the time I had to hang around, so I pocketed the money, thanked him and opened the door.

  “Are you free Sunday night? It would only be for two or three hours in the evening.”

  I wanted to snap at him and scream, Not now! But instead, I managed to control myself enough to smile politely and say, “Can you call me Saturday?”

  Sebastian nodded. “Will do.”

  “Alright, I’ll talk to you then.”

  “Drive safe.”

  I muttered something like okie dokie over my shoulder as I practically ran down the steps toward my car. Once I was inside it, I started up the engine and backed out, racing down the driveway at breakneck speed. When I reached the bottom, I came to a gravel-slinging stop and slammed the car into park.

  I rolled the window down to let the cool night air in then I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the rest. I pulled in gulp after gulp of the chilly air, hoping the cleansing breaths would clear my mind of the cotton that seemed to have invaded it.

  When I was feeling marginally more alert, I raised my head and opened my eyes just in time to see a red blur flash in front of my headlights. I looked around, hoping to catch sight of what was out there. I neither saw nor heard anything, but nevertheless, I locked my door and rolled up my window.

  Just before the window sealed out the light breeze, something disturbing and vaguely familiar tickled my nostrils. It was a sweet floral scent that I’d smelled before, and not at a good time. It was the same aroma I’d detected on the vampire that had crawled into my room and attacked me.

  A noise at the back of the car had me pulling the gear shift down into drive and flooring the gas pedal. I looked left and right then checked my rearview mirror, but I saw no sign of anyone or anything. But that didn’t slow me down. I barely even paused until I was pulling in behind Mom’s car in the driveway.

  Since I’d met Bo, I’d left my bedroom window open nearly every night.

  Except tonight. With no idea where Bo was or how to reach
him, and some kind of crazed vampire after me, I’d never felt more vulnerable.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The next day, I was pleased to have the distraction of Summer’s impromptu Forest Fest to dive into. Though I had no intention of going, it was all the rage at school and it’s all anyone was talking about. I let myself melt into the conversations, let myself get lost in the normalcy of parties, popularity and high school in general.

  That day, my ache for Bo seemed to be worse than ever. I felt detached from him in a way I hadn’t experienced before and it both terrified and distressed me.

  That bond we shared, that connection, had been the only thing that had kept me sane since his “disappearance” and it seemed to be fading little by little as the days wore on. I couldn’t help but wonder if that bite had something to do with it.

  By lunchtime, I found myself sitting at Summer’s table, surrounded by people I’d known most of my life, all strangers now. At least that’s what they felt like. I fiddled with my napkin as I gazed longingly across the lawn to the picnic table I’d shared for a while with my friends. And with Bo.

  My heart twisted painfully with thoughts of him. I slid my eyes over to the tree where we’d enjoyed several sunny days together, alone.

  In the very pit of stomach, I felt that oh-so-familiar tug and I latched onto it, closing my eyes to savor the tiny tingle that danced along my nerves. I’d felt it several times lately, so I knew he was somewhere close enough for me to feel him, yet still not close enough.

  But when that feeling grew stronger, more intense, I knew Bo had to be closer than usual. Sure he must’ve been standing right in front of me, I raised my lids to look around. I didn’t have to search for him, didn’t have to look anywhere but straight ahead, at the very spot I’d been daydreaming about.

  The wind blew through the branches of the big tree, dappling the ground beneath it with bright spots of sunshine, and for just an instant, I saw something shimmer in the light. Knowledge and recognition swelled inside me. It was Bo. He was here, at school, watching me, closer than he’d been in recent days.