Disappointed, he realized that he and Isabella were not married; it had been a dream. He still wanted to call out to her that he did, in fact, love her. But for the time being, he decided to be content with the fact that he was alive, and he drifted back into unconsciousness.
“When do you think he’ll wake up?” He could hear Danielle’s voice clearly.
“I don’t know. He is not like a human where you can take his vital signs and measure his heart rate. Yes, he is alive, but we won’t know how bad the damage is until he wakes up,” Jeremiah told her.
Excited that he could finally hear correctly and stay awake for more than a minute, he tried to call Danielle. A disgusting gurgling noise erupted from his throat instead of his voice, though. Alex wanted to cry; he felt so helpless.
“Jeremiah, he’s awake!” Alex heard Danielle rush to his side. “Alex, we’re here.”
He tried to speak again. That time, he let out more of a grunt than a gurgle.
Jeremiah’s gravelly voice came from the other side of him. “Don’t try to speak, Alex. You won’t be able to for a while. Use telepathy.”
How bad am I? Tell me everything.
Jeremiah started to explain. “You have been out for almost forty-eight hours. Alex, you are very lucky your body is self-healing because burns covered you from head to toe, but now they are fading away. Your eyes should heal themselves as well. My guess would be that you won’t be able to see for at least a couple more days. The reason you can’t talk is because your voice was also affected by the burns.” Jeremiah cleared his throat. “When a vampire is exposed to sunlight, it burns them on the inside as well as on the outside. We hope it heals itself too and you will be able to speak soon, but I can’t be sure.”
Jaiden? Alex asked.
Danielle grasped Alex’s hand. “You are in your own home now, in your bedroom. Jaiden and Isabella are both fine, although Isabella is terribly worried about you.”
Does she know what happened?
“No,” Jeremiah told him. “It is very important that no one knows what really happened until this project is successful. We told her, and Chris, that you simply didn’t make it inside before the sun rose. It was an accident.”
What did happen? Alex asked.
Jeremiah sounded upset with himself. “I need to add something; this batch didn’t have enough. Thank God it was enough to keep you alive but it was not enough to fully protect you in the daylight.” He paused. “You wouldn’t have lasted as long as you did without it, though. Don’t worry about that part. Just plan on getting better and trying again.”
Again? Alex wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through that again.
Jeremiah heard his thoughts. “Alex, this will not happen again. I promise.”
How do you know?
“I just do. Don’t I always succeed in my projects?”
He did have a point there, but still, it was hard to be ready to get back on that horse while he was lying there burnt and in pain. Eventually, he would do it, though, of that he was sure.
The following few days, Alex spent going through a painful recuperation and being fed intravenously with blood; from what, he decided he would rather not know.
Isabella sat by his side for the majority of his recuperation. While she sat in the chair beside his bed, she would talk about things Jaiden had done or what she had done with her day. Jaiden would usually be in her arms or lie in the bassinet near the bed.
Alex would nod his head to acknowledge that he understood her. He wished he could speak to her but it was nice to simply listen to her voice rambling on without being obligated to answer.
Frequently, she would check under his bandages, and if one of his wounds was healed, she would remove the bandage.
His voice finally returned after all of his burns had healed. He could sense that Isabella was close. He reached out and his hand grazed her leg. She was dozing in a chair beside his bed. He could hear her light snore, as well as Jaiden’s, who rested her little head against Isabella’s shoulder as she slept.
“Hi,” he whispered.
“Hi,” she whispered back. “How are you feeling?”
“I can speak.”
“Well, don’t exert yourself,” she ordered, then, in a gentler voice, told him, “It might take a while for you to heal.”
“Don’t worry,” he told her, “it’s fine.”
“I’m really happy you can speak again, though.”
“Me too.”
“I can’t wait for you to be able to see again. Jaiden has changed so much in just a few days.”
“Hopefully, it will be soon.” Alex couldn’t hide the wistful tone of his own voice. “Isabella, could you do me a favor?”
“Of course,” she answered.
“Would you call Chris and have him come and see me?”
“Sure, do you need anything else?”
He shook his head.
“Ok, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He heard her rise and shift Jaiden into a different position; then, he heard the door open and shut as she left. About fifteen minutes later, she returned and told him Chris was on his way.
“Is everything ok?” she asked.
Alex nodded his head. “Yeah, I think I am going to nap until he gets here. I’m sorry, Isabella, I’m just…so tired.”
“That’s fine, Alex, you get some rest. I need to make Jaiden a bottle, anyway.”
He heard the door open again.
“Isabella,” he called to stop her.
“Yes?”
“Thank you for helping take care of me.”
“You’re welcome, now have a good nap.”
He listened as she closed the door and wished he could see her smile.
He slept with no dreams. It felt as if he had just fallen asleep when he heard Christopher’s voice next to him.
“Alex.”
“Hhmmm,” Alex mumbled.
“Alex!”
“Oh…Chris, glad you’re here.” Alex tried to sit up a bit, scooting backward against the pile of pillows behind him.
“Here,” Chris said.
Alex felt Chris help lift his upper body so he could adjust the pillows.
“There, all set.”
“Thank you,” Alex told him when he was relaxed again.
“No prob, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes. It’s time to talk.”
“Alex, you said you weren’t ready.”
“It doesn’t matter now. Ironically, I can see that I need to talk about this. There is no reason not to tell you besides my own selfishness. My own selfishness in wanting to keep it…to keep them to myself.”
He knew without reading Chris’s mind that Chris was worried about his sudden change in attitude.
“I don’t understand.”
“Me either,” Alex replied. “It’s just…time.”
“Ok, then.” Chris sat back. “If you’re ready, then so am I.”
18
Perhaps it was because Alex could not see him but he didn’t feel quite as uncomfortable as he originally thought he would. After a deep breath, he began his story.
“Many years ago, before I became a vampire, I had a wife and three children. My wife’s name was Catherine. Oh, my Catherine was such a beautiful woman and a good wife. She bore first my two sons and then my daughter.
I loved my sons, who were both good boys, but my daughter was different. There was just…something about that little girl which made me want to spoil her rotten. My sons were hard workers even at their young ages and were a bit more independent than most young boys.
I lived in Russia, where I was born. Religion was what many based their lives on. Well, really, it was what pretty much everyone based their lives on. The times were really rough for the orthodox Christians back then. Patriarch Nikon had taken office and sought to reform our religion of orthodox Christianity.
Those who were in favor of the reforms assembled under Nikon, but those…who refused…were cal
led the old believers. My family and I were of the old believers. We felt our religion should not be changed. Those of us who rejected the reforms were tortured and executed, by hanging. So, many of the old believers went into hiding in the northern forests to avoid being found and persecuted.
Catherine and I took the family and fled. My daughter could not even walk back then, so the journey was very hard, but we had to leave or all of us would end up with our necks in the noose. We went deep into the woods until we found a small shack which I could possibly make livable.
The shack was made of pine logs which had already rotted quite a bit. The leaky roof looked ready to cave in and there was no door when we found it so the wildlife had been able to wander in and out at will.
Eventually, with a lot of cleaning up and a few repairs to the roof as well as the log walls, we made it very comfortable. We settled there with the hope that God would keep us safe.
Since we had arrived with practically nothing, I spent the rest of the chilly fall making our furniture out of the Aspen, which had been so abundant in the area. I surprised the children with a few toys I made from the excess wood used for the furniture. Back then, children didn’t need as much to keep themselves occupied as they do now.
Winter arrived soon and we could not grow vegetables in the frozen ground. Our diet consisted mainly of meat. I rarely went into the village because Catherine feared I would never come back.
But, I did have to hunt for meat. My sons stayed with my wife; never did we take a chance with the children. One very early morning, I took my bow and went alone into the snow laden woods to look for deer, or any other animal we could eat.
My bow was crucial to our survival then. It was a composite bow which my father had given to me as a young boy; I still carried it with me as an adult.
Depressingly enough, that morning as I trudged through the freezing cold snow, I saw nothing but rabbits scampering about. But, meat was meat. Quickly, I lifted the leather flap from the quiver, which sat upon my right side, and pulled an arrow out. I knocked the arrow and drew back to make my small kill. As always, I made the shot and went to retrieve the rabbit and my arrow.
I remember so clearly when I removed the arrow from the rabbit how my already numb fingers began to feel worse. It was so cold and I wore no gloves. I had only a hat with ear flaps and a woolen coat to keep me warm; my boots desperately needed repair in order to keep my feet dry. It’s funny how we were so poor and the times were so rough, yet because we had each other, we were blissfully happy.
I killed a few more rabbits that day and started on my way. The woods were thick with needle leaf trees and as I walked, the falling snow settled onto the trees. From there, the trees continuously dropped snowflakes onto my head.
I had been hunting for about five hours when I began to feel that something wasn’t right. Being that I was still quite pretty far from home and couldn’t knock the strange feeling, I quickened my pace.
It wasn’t much longer when the smell of smoke started to filter into the air. Then, the actual smoke filled the atmosphere around me. It was thick, strong smoke, which was not the kind that came from a cooking fire or a woodstove.
The feeling that something was wrong suddenly overcame me with a brute force. With three rabbits dangling from my closed fist, I began to run as fast as the deep snow would permit me. Drawing closer and closer to our home, the smoke became thicker until finally I could see the source of it.
It was our house. I dropped the rabbits and ran as fast as I could. Ashes mingled with the falling snow and then marred the pure white blanket which covered the floor of the woods.
As I rapidly approached our small burning shack, I did not take any precaution. I ran straight into the house without a thought of myself or what may have been inside the shack. The welfare of my family was the only thing which drove me.
Inside, the intense heat almost forced me to stop, flaming orange fingers reached out to grab my thick clothing, and it was impossible to breath. The shack was only two rooms. I remember scouring the first room with my eyes, only to find nothing but the flaming rubble of our belongings.
The second room…contained my worst nightmare. Through the smoke, I could see my wife; she sat in a chair with a thick rope tied around her. Her beautiful red hair had caught fire and singed off all the way to the scalp which was burnt and blackened. Her face was so badly burnt I barley recognized her. Catherine was dead.
Even in death, she had her arms extended out to my sons who sat tied together at her feet. I went wild. I screamed and screamed, refusing to believe any of it. My sons sat hunched together, their heads tilted inward toward each other. They were also burnt beyond recognition.
The fire grew larger, suffocating me more with each passing second. I reached down and wildly fumbled with the rope Catherine was tied with.
Then, without warning, a burning log from the ceiling caved in beside me, then another. I knew I had no time to remove their bodies. I had to get out of there if I wanted to live. But, inside of me…I didn’t care if I lived; my family was dead.
The fallen logs had created an even larger inferno for me to get through. I had to find the baby, though. I thought, maybe, somehow, whoever had done that horrible thing had spared her. I tried to see through squinty eyes. The smoke caused my eyes to sting so fiercely that I could not find my way.
Quickly, I searched the room for my daughter. I found her lying on the blazing bed of red hot coals; her small body was black and charred. I reached into the fire, took her tiny corpse, grabbed it and held her to my chest.
That’s when I heard a voice. She whispered all too calmly that I needed to get out, and that I needed to hurry. I couldn’t help but glance back at the remains of my wife and sons. How could I just…leave them?
Then, the voice told me again to get out if I wanted to live, and again I couldn’t decide if I actually wanted to live. I couldn’t move. I stood there like a stone statue.
Someone made the decision for me. A great wall of fire blocked my way out. It was all around me. But then, I felt a giant push from behind and I was thrown through the wall of flames, out the front door into the snow.
The snow outside was gray with ash. I coughed harshly until I had to throw up. Smoke billowed up in a large black cloud. Sparks and flames spewed from the crumbling house and I held my baby’s unrecognizable body in my arms as if she was still alive.
I fell to my knees in the snow; I held her to my chest and screamed until I had no voice. I wanted to die too. I wanted to go with them. I staggered to the burning remains of the house and threw myself, with her still in my arms, onto the snow beside the hot coals and flames of fire.
The only pain I felt was inside; my family was my heart and they were gone. Life simply wasn’t worth living without them. I held my daughter’s body tightly in my arms, determined not to let her go, determined to die with them.
I lay there even after the fire had died and the house was nothing but a pile of ash. I lay there for days holding my little girl’s small corpse as close to me as I possibly could.
I planned to stay there till I died from hunger and pain. I eagerly awaited the arms of death.
For the days which I lay there, no animals came to feast on me and no one arrived to see the cause of the fire. I was truly alone.
I don’t think one minute passed in which I didn’t curse God for causing such suffering. We had been good people and had always lived life for him, yet he had taken them from me and left me with nothing to live for. Little did I know at that time but I would feel the emptiness that started back then for over another hundred years.
Eventually, a friend of mine came venturing out to visit us and discovered me lying atop a pile of rubble and ash which used to be our home.
He called out to me, quickly coming to help. He grabbed my arms and flipped me over onto my back. When he saw the charred remains of my daughter’s corpse, he screamed loudly and staggered backward.
Finally, after a ti
me of vomiting and dry heaving, he gathered his bearings enough to try and pry her from my arms.
‘Alexander, you must let her go,’ he told me. ‘You need to put her down and come with me.’
That only resulted in him having to deal with me kicking at him and trying to fight him off. I fought as hard as I possibly could without letting go of my baby’s body. He covered his face to avoid the blows from my feet, and then he stood back and listened to my screams.
Screams for him to leave and that I wanted to die. That he could go to hell for trying to take me from my family. He did leave but he came back soon with more men who pried her body from my arms and then carried me away.
Soon, I passed out. I woke to see one of the men’s wives standing over me. She was tending to my burns. The second my eyes popped open, more screams erupted from within me. The rest of the household came running and when they arrived, the wife who had tended to me had pressed herself up against the closet door in fear.
Without any thought and dressed in only my underclothes, I jumped up from the bed which and ran from the house screaming about how they took me from my family.
I had become a madman.
I ran for many miles until I could run no more. Then, I walked sluggishly as if I were asleep. With no destination in mind, I found myself in a village wandering about aimlessly.
People on the street looked at me as if I were an apparition. I still smelled of smoke and burnt flesh. My underclothes were torn in some places as well. I must have appeared crazed.
A kind man came upon me and took me off the streets before I could be arrested. He gave me clothes and introduced me to the drink they called vodka. I detested the taste of it but it did return the numbing sensation which I so desired to feel again.
Before that day, I had hardly ever drunk but I ignored any voice inside of me that told me it was wrong.
I felt as if God had betrayed me. He took away all that I had had in the world. Twenty-eight years old and I had lost my entire family.”
***
Alex slumped back into his pillows. Telling his story had exhausted him, and honestly, he didn’t feel any better for it. It had brought back too many ugly memories which he didn’t want to remember.
Birth of Jaiden Page 11