Children of Dionysus

by JN Moon

  Jamie looked on as he delicately drank from the red-head’s wrist, amused by my apparent battle. It seemed he, too, was fighting the bloodlust that rages inside.

  I sat there on his bed, blood dripping from my mouth, chin, and onto my chest as the brunette leapt over to me and tried to jump me. I grabbed her easily and held her down. “I don't want you. Get out.”

  “I'm not good enough for you? You're just using me?” she wailed. At least I think she did because by that point I had stopped listening. “Who do you think you are? You cannot just use me to quench your thirst.”

  Jamie by this time had got up from his woman and strode over. “Uh, yes he can. We are your superiors. Be glad we don't want to screw you. So far, I've killed every vampire I've drunk. And screwed.”

  Again, he gave me a sideways glance and winked, “We're simply protecting your honour,” he mused.

  Before she could answer, the door swung open and in sauntered Nathaniel.

  “Ah, Anthony,” he raised his eyebrows as he saw the two vampire women looking dishevelled on the bed, bloodied and wanting. “I see your undying love for Rachel is still alive,” he said surprised.

  “Nathaniel! Where's Rachel? No, I was just taking her blood. That's all.”

  Nathaniel looked unconvincingly at me and raised his eyebrows as if to state, What did you expect? “Anthony, please. Don't worry. It's not our nature to be monogamous. In fact, it is the exact opposite of our nature. In all my years, I've never come across a vampire that was. Or was able to be. Rachel awaits your presence in my room. You will find her quite changed; you should prepare for that. I suggest you clean yourself up a bit,” he said and then smirked.

  I saw Jamie shoot Nathaniel a look, and then I understood what he was saying between the lines.

  I pushed past him and ran to his room where she sat languidly in the armchair with her feet on a table reading. Nathaniel followed slowly with Jamie behind him.

  She was dressed differently, more provocatively and I could smell him on her.

  “Rachel, what have you done?” I cried in a weird, high-pitched voice. “Nathaniel, I trusted you. Both of you!”

  “Anthony, please! You really do have a low opinion of her and me. As I said, and as you know, this changes us. And I never promised anything other than to keep her safe. And I have done that, see, she is here and safe.”

  “Rachel,” Nathaniel spoke with calm authority. “Remember what I told you? In the beginning, your bloodlust spirals out of control. Just as yours is now. Anthony remembers this. You can ask Tom and Josephine. Anthony, you should embrace this,” he said artfully.

  “Yeah! Well, that ended well, didn't it? I cannot believe it. This is your fault,” I was talking to Jamie now and I faced him. “If you'd left her, I wouldn't have changed her and none of this would have happened.”

  “If I’d left her...” he started to say but then stopped. He could read the situation, I was hyped out on blood and seeing that my girlfriend had hooked up with her maker.

  I watched in horror and disbelief as she got up and walked over to Nathaniel, pressed herself against him, and traced her hands through that silky dark hair, as mine had done before. They looked intensely into each other’s eyes and I felt my world crumble into a thousand pieces.

  “Anthony, you should know better by now than to trust a vampire,” Nathaniel said suddenly.

  I leapt towards him, but Jamie stopped me dead.

  Nathaniel took Rachel's hand and led her off with him.

  I sat on the edge of the bed the wind knocked out of me. I couldn’t speak, my mouth hung open in shock like a doll.

  Jamie said nothing but sat beside me. A long bleak silence draped over us.

  At last, he spoke quietly, “I was only kidding about Nathaniel. I'm surprised, I guess. Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry, man. That is just low.”

  “I thought we would be together, like before,” I stuttered.

  “Yeah, but it's not like before, is it? I mean, let's face it, you've certainly screwed around since this happened. Maybe she just wants to even up the score a little before she realises how much you mean to her. It took you a while to figure that out. The bloodlust, the sex. He is right, it's addictive. At first. At first, it's all-consuming. Just thinking about it makes me want it,” he said awkwardly, and then realising what he was saying he edged a little away from me.

  “Jamie, give me a break. Nathaniel gave me his blood, transferred his genes or whatever. Tom, well, you had to be there. So, they were screwing all this time. Bastard. He knew how much she meant to me.”

  “Look, you know it's different for us. Have you ever met a married vampire couple? No. For good reason. We're not great at commitment. We are too volatile.”

  “Just hang on in there. And that's bullshit by the way. Not trusting a vampire. I don't trust anyone here, but I'd like to. Without trust, what the hell are we? It's messed up,” Jamie added.

  We wandered back to his room then, and he put some music on.

  I lay there smoking and trying to suppress the anger. Nathaniel had screwed my beloved. And me. Many times. At that moment I knew I'd leave this place and soon. Maybe Jamie would come, too. Get far away from this never-ending nightmare. Find somewhere without death following my every move.

  “We're damned,” I said at last. “Like the children of Dionysus. Damned and in Hell. Except our God offers blood, not wine.”

  Old Friends

  Nathaniel

  “Nathaniel, it's been an age,” Sigurd bellowed out as I walked in the main room, Rachel by my side. He stood up to receive me, as was his ancient custom. Some creatures never adapt. “Tyrell has been telling me of the mission. And our young Anthony is here, is he not? I'd like to see him,” he continued. I already felt bored in his presence. I had known him for a long time, unfortunately.

  “Sigurd, I didn't know you knew Anthony,” Tyrell added inquisitively.

  “Yes, indeed. He was somewhat misguided and lost when I happened upon him. I trust he is better now?” Sigurd finished the question looking at me.

  “Um, I don't think I'm the best person to ask right now. He’s having a little morality crisis. That old problem of monogamy and a bad conscience that some immortals cling to at the beginning,” I laughed.

  Sigurd and Tyrell looked at each other knowingly. “Nathaniel, you took his woman? I didn't even think you liked women. Why?” Sigurd spoke sternly, standing closer to show his opposing figure and his strength.

  “I don't owe you an explanation, Sigurd. You may have been fierce once, but you’re pompous now. What is he to you anyway? He probably won't even be around for much longer!” I murmured back. I wasn’t going to give that old phoney the courtesy of eye contact, he was one of the biggest frauds I’d known.

  “What do you mean?” Rachel shrieked, letting go of my hand.

  “He hurt me after everything I did for him. He can't be trusted, he's too extreme. Rachel, I didn't mean... I merely meant his anger will probably get the better of him. I wasn't implying... Rachel.”

  She looked at me with eyes of hate, her face hard like stone, and turned to leave. These new creatures were too volatile for my liking.

  “Rachel, I wouldn't do that if I were you. I made you, you have to stay.”

  She didn’t move and I didn't let go of her arm.

  “Nathaniel, what's gotten into you? In all these years, I've never known you to behave like this!” Sigurd’s voice was like white noise in my ears.

  “I'm leaving,” I spat. “Leaving this place. You bore me, the lot of you. Hypocrites and liars. She made me realize; I saw goodness in her. Innocence, trust. I saw it in him when I first met him, but it didn't last. Maybe that is the curse of our kind. The darkness entraps us, wraps its malevolent arms around us and all good, any good that was within us is lost. So, we turn to lust and blood to feel alive. And yes, it feels good. And every time I took her, I knew I was doing wrong. It excited me, more and more each time. Go ahead, judge me. I couldn't
care less. Tyrell, maybe I will seduce Alexander next. Such a beautiful man, just to think of him.”

  “Enough of this insolence.” Tyrell leapt up. I loved pissing him off, another pompous ass full of himself, using his title and money and claiming superiority over all others. Don’t get me wrong, there were too many vampires, too many killings. But this lot...

  Sigurd held him back as he leapt towards me, that made me grin. “Wait, Tyrell. I think our Nathaniel is lost and he needs our guidance. Guards, confine him whilst we think what we shall do with our lone wolf.”

  Technically, Tyrell and Sigurd had no authority over me, but something had shifted in me. Anthony’s actions of malice towards me had hurt deeper than anyone here could imagine. It had opened an old wound and one which I had been covering for a hundred years. My body was heavy, as was my heart. And in truth, I did like Rachel, but she alone wasn’t enough to bury the past.

  “Don't take too long, Sigurd. I need to drink, bring me someone.” I allowed the guards to take me to some quarters. Hopelessness filled my being along with contempt.

  I saw Rachel go and knew she left to find Anthony.

  Lovers Before

  Anthony

  Rachel was walking down the corridor on her way to see me, I could sense her. Her heart skipping beats with anticipation and her energy tense.

  As I noticed this I absorbed her energy, inhaling and exhaling slowly I soaked it up, sensing her every emotion.

  Her regret, oppressive and shameful weighed her down, and as I opened the door, pre-empting her, our eyes met, that outpouring of emotion drenching itself on me.

  “Come,” I said quietly and led her to my room, both in silence, our footsteps loud on the tiled Victorian floor. Everything echoed in this cold, large place even though my room was lavish in that antiquated way, the place sent a chill down me. I hated it.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I would catch the ghosts, poor souls no doubt who had lived here before when it was used to contain the mentally ill. Unsettling, and after my most recent change from Nathaniel, they become all the more prominent so that I had to concentrate even harder not to get distracted.

  Once inside my room, I went over to the fireplace and lit a fire. Taking a deep breath, I slumped down in the large armchair, legs outstretched. The conversation I was dreading, would she now leave me for Nathaniel.

  “Nathaniel's screwed us both?” I muttered and plonked myself down in the big armchair.

  She sunk into the chair adjacent to me, tentatively. “Anthony, I'm sorry. He told me about you, about all the women. And the men. He said that that was the way for us, and he, he...”

  “I know, Rachel. You cannot refuse Nathaniel. He is charming. Even I,” I said awkwardly. “Look, I just want us to be together. I don't want anyone else. I can't say much here, in this place, you understand?” I waited until she nodded.

  “He's possessive and I'm afraid,” she added. “And that Sigurd, I don’t trust him, I trust the friendly vampires least,” she shuddered.

  “Sigurd? He is here?” shock ran through me. I hadn’t known Sigurd knew about Tyrell. I remember clearly of his warnings, but I had stupidly assumed that he was not involved.

  “How do you know Sigurd?” she mumbled.

  “It doesn’t matter. I stayed with him for a few weeks; he kept me on the right path. No, it wasn't like that.” I wanted to hold her but the thought of her and Nathaniel still made me shudder. I know I had no right to feel that way, after all I had done. But I did. But love is a powerful force. And add vampires into the mix, blood, and sex it’s no surprise it gets messy. So, I fought my anger and gave in to hope instead. “Stay with me now, lay with me. Sleep in my arms?”

  We climbed into bed and slept in each other's arms, as we had done before a long time ago. Before the blood.

  The following evening, I awoke with my beloved in my arms. She was mine once more and this time I didn’t intend to let her go. Before I got up, I heard a gentle tapping at my door and knew Jamie had come to speak.

  “I'm going to need you tonight, Anthony. Sigurd has requested to see you before we leave and he wants to speak with Rachel. I think you'll find he'll keep her safe. That's my feeling anyway.” Jamie still sounded empty and I was intrigued at why Sigurd especially requested me.

  Jamie answered my thoughts, “Rumours, that's all I've heard. But the uprising, it seems is moving. I know that we need to be vigilant.”

  I showered, dressed, and gently woke Rachel. She looked lovely, sleepy, wrapped in the old brocade bed covers. At that moment it was like before, before when our lives were less complicated. I wanted to get her away, maybe go to Italy and find a place for us away from all this mess. Where we could spend our time in the galleries, in beauty. But I knew wherever we went the trail of blood would follow us.

  I waited as she showered and once we were presentable, we made our way to the main room, where I could hear Sigurd's laugh rumble throughout the main room.

  “Anthony, good to see you again. I have often wondered what you were up to. Tyrell tells me you are making good progress with the programme?” he bellowed.

  “Sigurd, I, I didn't think you knew about this programme. You said...”

  “A vampire never reveals all his secrets, Anthony. I knew some. But never mind that. I hope you've found your path this time? It's an honourable cause that you fight now.”

  “Is it?” To this remark, everyone stopped and looked at me. No-one would dare speak against it, not Jamie, not Nathaniel who now sat quietly on the far side of the room, reading a book as if everything was normal.

  “What do you mean?” Tyrell spat.

  “I mean the lost ones, the evil ones, as we call them. I have no problem wiping out their existence. But some of the others, it's like seeing myself die every night. Surely, we could...”

  “Yes, Anthony. The business of killing is a bloody one. Don't despair. I spent a lot of my past doing that. But, you are making a difference. Fewer innocents are dying; the blood is being kept off the streets,” Sigurd interrupted. Then looking to Tyrell added, “It may be time to consider a permanent force and perhaps if I may add, a reserve force. Not every man is born a soldier. I know from experience.”

  Tyrell was livid, but intelligent enough to know that Sigurd's suggestion made sense. His face turned from withheld anger, as Sigurd spoke and then softened some.

  “I shall give this advice consideration Sigurd, we can discuss this at length later,” he offered. “Now, may I introduce Jamie, the head of our Elite command force?”

  Jamie played his role well. He knew enough not show that apparent boredom in his eyes and greeted Sigurd with enthusiasm. After introductions and talk of the operations, Jamie politely excused himself along with me, but not before Sigurd asked if Rachel might stay in his protective custody.

  Nathaniel shuffled in his seat and watched the proceedings before him like a judge; his face wearing no expression.

  Rachel, however, shifted from one foot to the other twisting her fingers together. She always did that when she was nervous.

  I glanced to see Tyrell watching her before he suggested, “I think it would be better if she stayed here. There are plenty of rooms and the guards will see to her needs.” His anger and impatience with such irrelevant matters was apparent. “Jamie, you are to gather the squad and head out.”

  It pissed me off that we had to wait to be dismissed.

  Jamie obeyed the order and as he nodded Alexander came swanking in.

  “Sigurd,” he said loudly and purposefully. “It's been too long. Father; wouldn’t it be a great idea for me to take Sigurd out alongside the regiment tonight?”

  “An excellent idea,” Tyrell commented blandly, “But tonight. Alexander, we have other business to attend to.” He motioned towards Nathaniel.

  Nathaniel did not move, but stared intensely at Alexander and started to grin at him. Tyrell saw this and his jaw tightened.

  “Jamie,” Tyrell commanded. “Set off at once. Ta
ke this woman with you and see to it that she has some guards to attend her needs. You have more new recruits tonight, some you are familiar with. Eloise is waiting for you. I shall speak to you later. You will command Bath again tonight, for the uprising has its headquarters there. Find it and kill them all. I don’t want that kind in my army.” He motioned with a hand we should leave and the door was shut behind us.

  My Enemy, My Friend

  Anthony

  It was raining as we rode into Bath that evening and as we parked up, I looked around anxiously to find the newcomers Tyrell had mentioned, and before me, I saw some welcome and familiar faces.

  “Tom, Josephine! I thought you were dead! What happened?”

  “We had some appointments with Tyrell and his ‘team'. He wanted to ensure our past behaviour remained in the past, Anthony. And you, I see. You persuaded Nathaniel to change your human woman?” he mumbled. “That's a bit stupid.”

  “To you maybe, but I love her.”

  “We know, Anthony,” Josephine added, laughing, “I remember how well you loved me. And Tom. I—we look forward to meeting her.” Amused, she looked at Tom. “And loving her.”

  “Look,” I said angrily. “I did enjoy my time with you two, even though it almost got me killed. But in the end, it was empty, hollow. And I need more. And she is my ‘more’ so you won't go near her.”

  “Anthony, Anthony, calm down. We're just toying with you,” Tom added. “Right now, we have to play this stupid cat and mouse game of Tyrell's. We can't afford not to tow the fucking line, most unfortunately. Otherwise, we'll probably end up as spare parts. Good for you. I hope I get an invite to the wedding, that's all I'm saying. Maybe Josephine could be a bridesmaid?”

  “You're a pair of bastards,” I snorted. I knew they were messing around but they’d never understand, they'd lost too much humanity over the years. Devoid of genuine feelings, of emotion. As I had thought, in the beginning, you keep your humanity, your compassion. Apart from the bloodlust that spirals out of control. But in the end, after everyone you know and love is dead, that emptiness grows, darkness consumes your heart, and you are distanced from humanity.