It had been sixty years ago since they had last seen each other.
“I think Alexander has made it clear that I do not want to see you,” Caleb said as soon as the door to his room opened. “Do I have to kick you out of my house by force?”
“You never change,” Galatea smiled theatrically approaching the bed. “Have you no desire to see your mother?”
“I think the answer is obvious. Perhaps I would if I had a mother.”
“I see. Then what am I?”
“The bitch that bore me and tried to kill me.”
“Ha!” she said dramatically. “I guess you’re right. But I never stopped being your mother, bitch or not.”
“What do you want? You never come to see me without a reason,” Caleb continued, staring at Meryl and Alexander.
“I’ll be a few days in the city. I cannot just come see you?”
“You already have. So you can go.”
“Then I’ll come back when you’re better, and we’ll talk,” she said.
“Don’t bother.”
Caleb looked at her with ill-concealed fury, his eyes bright with anger, and hatred. Meryl wondered a thousand things. The woman did not seem offended or hurt by the words of her son. She didn’t care.
Alexander went after her to ensure that the three were leaving without creating another problem. Meryl, however, did not move. She walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
“You’re well?” Meryl asked with concern. “If you need anything let me know.”
Caleb sat back with a groan, recalling the time when he was a child. It had been three hundred years and he still remembered the smell of the streets full of moisture. The rags he wore when he was only ten years old and how the woman who he called mother beat him every day while shouting all manner of abominations.
“That woman gave birth to me, but she’ll never be my mother.” Caleb sighed astonishing Meryl with his words. “I hate her as much as she hates me.”
“I should not ask, but what happened?”
“She said she was raped and became pregnant,” he said suddenly, without showing any emotion. “She’s hated me since I was born and it took me too long to realize it. It has been more than three centuries and it still seems like yesterday. Once she broke my ribs because she was drinking more than necessary and remembered what had happened. That I was born.” Caleb lay back on the bed, putting his crossed arms behind his head and left a place at his side for Meryl to sit there. “When I was thirteen years old I ran away after she tried to kill me with a knife. After that many things happened.” his voice lowered and his eyes darkened betraying that part of his past would remain hidden to her. “When I was twenty we met again. She was a vampire and seemed to have changed. For a moment, I thought I would finally have a normal mother because she smiled at me. I was wrong. Do you remember the afternoon I first fought with Pein?” Meryl nodded. “I heard you asking Alexander about my scars. The day she made them was the day that she tried to kill me for the last time.”
Meryl didn’t look at him. She was completely absorbed in his words, not knowing what to say. It was something beyond her experience. So much misery and pain. That your own mother tried to kill you was too harsh and incomprehensible to her.
“Amadeus appeared before I died. I had almost lost consciousness,” Caleb continued as if speaking of something ordinary and unimportant. “He had transformed my mother and took pity on me and here I am now forced to put up with the presence of that woman.”
She thought carefully about what words to use. A simple sorry was irrelevant since she had not suffered the same misfortunes. She thought about it several times and found nothing to say. Nothing that would make him feel a little better. However, he did not need that, he had overcome his past long ago, and so he looked at Meryl’s dismayed face.
“Don’t you go crazy looking for words of encouragement when I do not need them. For me, this is unimportant,” he said after watching her for a few minutes. “Telling you about it is part of that. Keeping your misfortunes to yourself is what makes them a curse.”
“It’s hard to say anything Caleb. I really do not understand this type of situation. Not completely. My father was not a good man. He was a drunk who left us indebted, but he never hit me or my brother.”
“Then give thanks for that,” he lay back. “Now, will you feed me?”
Meryl stared at him, the sudden change of topic surprised her and her mind went blank. She knew that she had to let him bite her again, but not so soon. She nodded. After all, he had told her she was unable to deny him anything. She turned to face him and began to feel the strong beat of her heart when she looked into his eyes and couldn’t help blushing. His eyes looked at her and his half smile seemed to hide something sinister.
“Come closer,” Caleb, said.
She did as he asked and stood near his head. He took her hand and brought it close to his mouth smelling its aroma.
“Do you know when blood is the tastiest in a human?” he asked suddenly.
“No, can blood have different flavors?” Meryl asked
“Yes. The faster your heart beats the tastier it becomes. The more the special properties are powerful in us and give us a life force that is impossible to obtain otherwise.”
Meryl thought and for a moment panicked. Pure terror made her heart race. She began to panic, because she already knew Caleb quite well, and knew that she had to take his words seriously. She could not imagine what he planned to do to her body to get her to that state, but surely he would not have to try too hard.
“Why are you making that face?” Caleb asked, looking askance. “You seem terrified.” He laughed. “Ah! Fear is delicious. I do not deny it, but tell me, is there any other way to get it?”
He could feel the girls fear and could not deny that he enjoyed it very much. Her bright, watery eyes moved him more than he could have ever imagined. He could not stop the urge and pulled the small frail hand he still held, causing her to fall on him. Scared she struggled a little because she could not understand anything. However, she began to calm down when she saw his head bent toward her jugular. She took a relaxing breath. Meryl thought that this was all a joke. She didn’t feel his bite.
Caleb gently brushed her skin with his mouth and sucked gently with his lips. A jolt of desire ran through Meryl from her toes to the crown of her head. It was something she had never expected.
“Ecstasy causes the blood to taste sweeter,” Caleb whispered near her ear.
“Caleb ... wait, what?” she muttered, closing her eyes tightly and feeling the rhythm of her racing heart, pounding so hard that even she could hear it.
“The blood runs faster,” he continued moving his mouth down to her clavicle. “Though you struggle and deny it again and again. Your aroma betrays what you really feel.”
Caleb’s strong arms wrapped around Meryl’s waist. Meryl continued to tremble from confusion and embarrassment. This could not be happening. It was all too strange and sudden.
“What are you doing?”
“Listen to your heart,” Caleb replied resting his cheek on Meryl’s without diminishing the strength of his arms. “Don’t you want to help me recover?” He smiled.
“No, not like this. Why are you doing this, Caleb?” Meryl asked.
He moved slightly back to watch her. Caleb could see how confused she was. He could not deny how much he liked her. Just by looking at her eyes he could guess all of her thoughts and he knew at once that she had never felt another man’s hands on her skin. He thought it was endearing and couldn’t fight against it.
He had been with hundreds of women during his lifetime, but none had succeeded in making him feel so much passion. He was so eager to touch her, to hold her and kiss her. On the one hand, it infuriated him and on the other he loved it. Meryl, who at first did not attract attention for being such a
n ordinary girl, provoked all sorts of new feelings.
I like her, he thought suddenly, as he watched her.
He lowered his head and continued to gently kiss his way to Meryl’s clavicle. Her skin seemed soft but he had to suppress what he really wanted or risk losing her.
Meryl was ready. The aroma was appropriate, her heart was covered with a slight ecstasy and her blood pumped through her veins with the strength of a wild stampede. He opened slightly the dress he had bought for her, seeking the vein running through the upper chest, it was better than the vein in the neck but still not the tastiest. However, that was for another day, because to get to that vein he had to go much further.
The closeness of his lips caused a small sigh that hid a small groan. He had not expected that but knew that Meryl’s body accepted him completely. He just had to change her mind and make her desire him as much as he did her. However, she was a girl who didn’t know about that art and it would be an arduous task that would take time. The difficulty was not getting into her mind and making her nervous just thinking of him. The difficulty would be making her admit to that new feeling.
This bite felt nothing like the first. There was almost no pain. It was as through her skin just felt a pleasant tingling throughout her body. As if she had taken some kind of drug. Her head was still spinning from all that had happened, and she felt her body want more.
Her thoughts suddenly disappeared and everything went blank, shortly after, there was nothing more.
Caleb laughed and rubbed his face. It really annoyed him that she would faint, but he also understood that it was something that surpassed all experiences. He could only wait anxiously for her body to get used to losing blood as soon as possible, and that these pleasant moments lasted longer.
Melody no.6
Sleeping
Meryl was once again in her bed, but not as weak as the day before. She tried to remember if what happened was real or a dream. She rubbed her eyes wearily. It was as if she had been several days without sleep. The images passed through her mind like a movie in slow motion. She felt a little embarrassed and tried to understand why Caleb suddenly acted like that.
What most confused her was how she should act now. After that, she was not sure whether to behave as always. All she could do, without any doubt, was avoid him when possible, because that way she also avoided uncomfortable and embarrassing situations. Her mind felt foggy and tired. She wasn’t used to these situations and it was taking its toll. After a while, she remembered his words and she began to realize something.
The words appeared in her head. Her blood was more appetizing, and that was an accurate explanation that seemed to simplify her entire situation.
“That’s why he is interested in me,” she muttered getting out of bed. “That’s the only reason.” He wasn’t interested in anything more than food. That was clear in her mind. However, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Why was she thinking like this, she asked herself, she should be happy that was the only reason he was interested in her.
“Your breakfast is in the kitchen.” Meryl heard as soon as she exited her room. “You should hurry or it will get cold.”
“Ah, thanks, Alexander.”
“Do you feel well?”
“Yes, of course. I’m going to go eat.”
Meryl climbed down the stairs while putting her hair into a ponytail. Pein was in the kitchen close to her breakfast. Danger seemed eminent. “Don’t even think of touching it, Pein.” Meryl smiled sitting down next to him.
“It’s unfair that my brother prepares you these meals and only gives me leftovers,” Pein said.
“That’s because you don’t need to eat human food,” Meryl said.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m his younger brother. He should take better care of me,” Pein said letting out some innocent and childish jealousy.
“Hey, there’s something that’s bothering me,” Meryl changed the subject. “Is your name really Pein?”
“No, it Pheinian, but Pein is simpler and I like it more,” Pein explained.
“I don’t know which name I find stranger,” Meryl said thoughtfully without hiding a small chuckle.
“Yours isn’t normal either.” He stood and left towards the entrance of the house.
Meryl took a while to eat her breakfast. There were still many things on her mind, especially how she felt. It had hurt that Caleb could think of her as an object. Did he look at her the same way she saw vegetables? As simple food and nothing else. She sighed and decided to stop thinking about it, no matter what or how she owed him her life and she had to pay by being his food. What the hell, she would do it.
“Meryl?”
“Tell me, Alexander.”
“I’m going to the city. Would you like to join me?”
“Yes.” She smiled, it might be a good distraction. “And Caleb?”
He’s sleeping right now. Don’t worry about him,” Alexander said. “When we get back. Will you give him breakfast?”
“Yes,” Meryl replied slightly uncomfortable. “Of course.”
“Ok, when you’re ready we’ll leave,” Alexander said.
“I won’t take long to get ready,” Meryl said while climbing up the stairs to the second floor.
When they left the house Jeoff waited patiently outside for them with the car running.
Meryl had only spoken with him once. He was a serious and reserved individual. At first sight, Jeoff didn’t appear to be a bitter person.
The road to the city was deserted as always. A car was a luxury item reserved for only the highest class vampires and if a human drove a car without permission he would be stopped immediately.
Before entering the city Alexander once again gave Meryl the bracelet to cover her wrist. Meryl didn’t understand about the mark or why it was so important that she had to hide that she didn’t have one. She put on the bracelet without a word.
They parked on a street that Meryl didn’t remember. They seemed to be in the middle of the city. Everything had changed so much that it was completely different to what she remembered. From when she happily walked through the city towards work.
“Do you need anything?” Alexander asked.
“Huh?” Meryl looked at Alexander in confusion as she got off the car.
“If you need to buy something tell me, ok? We’ve come here to do some errands. Caleb asked me the other day if you needed something and now that we’re here we can buy you whatever you need,” Alexander explained.
“No, I’m okay. I don’t need anything. I have more clothes than I can wear in a lifetime.” Meryl smiled thinking about the large closet full of clothes. “What do we need to buy?”
“Well, the most important thing is food. Before you came we would buy it on a whim, but for you, food is a necessity,” Alexander said.
For a moment, Meryl felt like a burden. This trip was just because of her? They didn’t want her to die of hunger. Having seen some people in that pitiful state didn’t help her feel better. They were surely feeding on only bread and water.
Meryl followed Alexander into the area and noticed that there was surveillance. Almost as if, it was the most important thing on the planet. There were armed men everywhere. This area took up almost all of the space in the building. Almost as if this was a commercial center. Meryl noticed that the men were vampires. Because they couldn’t hide the looks of disgust on their face when they looked at her and how they wished she weren’t there. There were huge banners indicating products for sale on each floor: food, clothes, cosmetics, furniture, and absolutely everything that a vampire could need. This included food and on the last floor, you could buy humans.
“Get that look off your face Meryl. I don’t like it either, but we can’t do anything about it,”Alexander said when he saw that she got closer to a 13-year-old boy who was chained to a cart an
d was there to serve them in whatever way they needed.
“If Caleb runs this place why does he let this happen?” Merylasked.
“He can’t do anything about this place because this entire building belongs to Amadeus,”Alexander explained. “If it belonged to anyone else this building would alreadybe closed, but that is impossible. Now it’s better that we stop talking or they will hear us.”
“Ok.”
The place looked normal but the scarcity of products was evident. Especially regarding food, everything was fresh from the farm. Bread was made from the wheat ground in a millby slaves on the city’s outskirts.
Alexander let Meryl chose what they bought because she was the one who would eat the food. The young teenager seemed amused by them or maybe it was because they were nice in the way in which they treated him for the very first time.
After an hour more or less they returned to the car and drove back to the mansion. It looked like it was getting darker and it might start to rain. The humidity was heavy in the atmosphere.
“I think that with everything that we bought, we should have enough for a month.”
“We didn’t go overboard?”Meryl asked. “Maybe we should have bought less.”
“Don’t worry about the money.” Alexanderlaughed when he saw her expression. “You need to eat and I like to cook for somebody who does not only need it but enjoys it.”
When they arrived at the mansion small drops of water began to fall. Alexander told Merylto go inside. That he and Jeoff would bring everything into the house. The weather wasn’t good and if she got wet she could catch a cold.
Once inside Meryl thought for a few seconds and decided to go up to Caleb’s room. Her legs trembled as she climbed the stairs because with each step that she took. Memories from yesterday invaded her mind, but she did not feel repulsed. Mentally she was in disagreement but her body did not respond like she wanted.
Meryl stopped in the hallway and bit her lip. Whether she liked it or not she had to go inside because she had to feed Caleb continuously until he recovered completely. He was still wounded and the poison had not disappeared. Meryl continued walking and opened the door only to be shocked at what she saw inside. She would never have imagined it. The sight was unnerving.
Melodies of Blood I Page 8