by JN Moon
“What of Jamie?”
“The last I saw was Emidius looking for him. He wanted to be with her, he was sick of being a vampire, sick of taking orders from Tyrell and killing the lesser immortals. Other than that, I don’t know. I recovered, I came to find you, I sensed where you were, we went to ground. I don’t know anymore.”
The silence between us wasn’t unsettling, it was peaceful. We ran again together. We had both changed beyond imagining from our human existence. Life would never be the same.
Eventually we arrived in Bath. As the Elite had been less interested in Rachel, I thought her home would be safer for us to stay. Her tiny Georgian terrace home on the outskirts of the city was musty and cold from the months we’d been away. Mail had piled up so we had to shove the door open. As we plugged in our phones they buzzed with missed calls, all out of date by now. After switching on the heating to get rid of the musty smell and warm up, I went upstairs in search of a much needed shower. I had no clothes to change into so I chucked the filthy rags into the wash. We feel the cold, being sensitive to everything—noise, light and weather.
We logged onto the net to check the news to see if there were any unusual stories related to Tyrell and found a story about the complex that the Elite had used as their HQ. The building that Jamie and I had blown up. Of course the news was false and reported the explosion due to faulty gas mains. Plausible I guess, because the site was very old. I suspect that other members of the Elite vampires gave that report to the media. I know enough to believe they have a powerful empire around the world.
I had a ton of unanswered messages and emails from family and friends. My stomach felt heavy answering these. I had to lie. I lied that I had been called away as a close friend had been ill, though I guess it wasn’t so far from the truth. I hated lying, especially to family and the few close friends who’d been brave enough to try and maintain contact. But what else could I do? For the time I shared with them, in their mortal existence, having to lie made the breach even wider.
I heard nothing from my vampire friends. I had expected something from Jamie. Our friendship had been short, but we had been through Hell together. I hoped he was alright. Maybe he wasn’t even a vampire now.
As I wandered into the living room, Rachel blurted out, “I had a dread about the payments for my home, my bills, but it seems they’re all up to date. And I just checked my bank statement and it says I’m twenty-seven thousand pounds in credit. Where the Hell did that come from?”
I knew the answer to that and I knew she’d hate it. And I had to tell her...
“When Nathaniel turned you, when he stayed with you, he set up a fund for you. You know he’s wealthy, you don’t know how rich he is. He made you, he saw it as his duty to protect you. Things, as you’ve seen, get out of hand when you enter the paranormal world and having a base, a home to flee to is important. I know you’re probably pissed off about that, but really, he cared. He just wasn’t stable. Something happened to him in his past that tipped his mental state. I don’t know what. But anyway, that’s why you’re fine.”
She didn’t say a word. I could tell by her stern expression she was angry but at the same time, without his help, she may not have had a house to come back to. He was unbalanced, that’s putting it mildly, but going from human to vampire isn’t exactly the easiest trick for anyone to pull off. I would know. Any weakness seems highlighted. Any deviance becomes exaggerated.
“Any news?” I asked.
“Family, friends, work...all good stuff. Nothing macabre. Thank God.”
We closed up the computers and went to get dressed. My clothes were washed and dried, though shabby from the time in the crypt. Then we were ready to head out into the city to merge into society again, and it felt odd being so completely surrounded by humans.
Even before our sleep, I had only kept the company of vampires for a long time and I had forgotten what it was like to be surrounded by mortals. Staring at them with their drinks and their carefree living, laughing, relaxing. I envied them. Life is so easy for them. They have innocence about them. They are like children, deceived, misguided and susceptible. I wanted that.
I remembered when I had thought briefly I could've been turned back to human by the Elite, and that was an interesting idea though not possible. There had been reports of the Elite’s genetics plan. They were in fact breeding an army of vampires by splicing the genes from the Elite and injecting these into the lost souls they thought fit for carrying out their orders. Gene therapy not used much in human medicine and for good reason. Nathaniel had saved me, having his genes infused into me. I think that’s why he has such a hold over me. I am now part of him.
I wondered at the lengths Tyrell had gone to, to breed his Elite army of immortals before Jamie removed his head. “Ah, Jamie, I guess you’re with Emidius now?” I mused.
I ran my fingers through Rachel’s hair. She looked good enough to eat! We stood in a small, crowded bar, so close to humans. I loved their smell. It intoxicates me and makes me feel wild. Intentionally, I stand close, envious of their mortal existence, their life that is not driven by blood-lust. So fragile, so pure, even the nastiest humans are, to me, so frail.
Sometimes a thought will rush into my mind; I could just drag them off and drink them. But I don’t.
And so we stood there looking like them with our untouched drinks in our hands. It came to me then the reason I felt so disturbed.
I would have to teach her how to hunt. Humans. She’d only ever drank the blood of immortals so far and I don’t think it had even occurred to her that she would have to drink a living human’s blood. I would teach her to drink only evil doers. She had drunk the blood of her Maker and of me. It sustains us but we cannot thrive on it. Only human blood can do that. As she had been changed in haste during the Elite war, then captured, she hadn’t spent any time with mortals. She had been held captive by Nathaniel at the Elite’s complex, my being unable to be with her due to Tyrell’s evil campaign. I had entrusted her safety to Nathaniel, who I had also injured, but that is another tale...
When I was first changed, I had almost bled her dry. And after her I had killed innocents. I couldn’t tell Rachel this. I couldn’t bear the way she would look at me if I told her that. She would see me as a heartless murderer. Which of course, I was. My first kill. I would tell her about that in time, a long, long time in the future. But for now, for tonight, we would head home and I would try and put this out of my mind.
Marcus
Anthony
His presence was like a nightmare. His great wings beating slowly, he was a sublime manifestation. Crouching on top of a small Georgian terraced house, near Rachel’s home, he looked more animal in his stance. Not human.
His eyes followed Rachel and the slight upturn of his lips gave away his intention towards her. His thoughts seemed to muddle inside my mind and I realised he was in my head. Standing up slowly he then jumped to the ground softly, pulling in his huge black feathered wings. As he stepped towards us, instinctively my body tensed, my mouth parched whilst adrenalin pumped like wildfire.
We faced each other eye to eye, my feet planted, heart racing, and heat flushing through me. Silence echoed around us, wispy shadows flickering on buildings under the slight moon light. The only sounds our breathing.
One more step towards us and Rachel gasped, making me jump instinctively.
Lunging forward, I threw all my power at him, but he laughed and made no effort to push me aside. His expression changed when he realised he’d underestimated me and staggered back a few steps, his mouth dropping open, his arms flayed and then a huge grin appeared. He grabbed my arm, I struggled, bringing my other arm up to punch him, jerking my body back at the same time. The death grip on my arm didn’t allow me to move though. I felt like a child or a fish as I wriggled from the end of the fishing line. I wasn’t going anywhere. My grunted curses were cut short as the winged man spoke. I looked up to see Rachel speechless and motionless, terror etched on her
beautiful face. My anger was quickly morphing into hatred as I saw her fear, but at that moment, I was powerless to do anything but listen.
“I don't want to fight you. I have come to ask for your help.” His voice sounded preternaturally deep and echoed around the buildings.
In place of anger, cold fear ran through my body. My throat dry, I swallowed hard. I forced my words out of my mouth. “Leave, whatever the hell you are!” I didn't want this. The supernatural world was bigger than I could imagine and every time I went out something crept out of the shadows to bring its messed up world into mine. Or so it seemed.
We stood in a face off. He was not backing down, so I took Rachel's hand to leave. He made no effort to stop us and I never looked back.
I wanted our life back and I was determined to get it.
I heard him inside my mind again, calling me. I stopped abruptly and turned towards him. He had followed us, but the lightness of his step meant that I hadn't heard him.
“What? What is it that you need my help with? You seem powerful—more powerful than me. So what use can I possibly be to you?”
“I was searching for Emidius. I cannot find her. You have her blood in you, so you can help me.” He tilted his head the way an animal does when it is listening.
I had no idea what the feathered man was. He looked human, but didn’t act human. His actions, his movements were animalistic.
“Help you find her? I doubt it. If she chooses not to be found, I cannot do a damn thing about that. Why are you looking for her? Who are you?” The words spewed forth.
“I have been watching you.” I noticed then that his slate grey eyes had no whites, they were solid grey and I sensed an ancient power.
My gut was tight. Rachel had not spoken a word and I thought she was fascinated by this ethereal vision by the fact that she looked awe struck, her eyes beaming. My instinct told me to be careful, that although my strength is increased, I needed to be wary of his.
He seemed to have some air of divine presence about him, but also something darker, something menacing. His skin was slightly tanned and his features, though perfectly symmetrical, were large, like him. Big velvety eyes, high cheek bones, and mouth slightly too big for his face. Wearing just jeans and a hoodie, his body was lean and stealthy. Wild, dark hair. And those massive black feathered wings. What was he?
His voice was so deep and reverberating. “My name is Marcus. I'm not a vampire but a nephilim. My kind hates vampires. In fact, we spend our time hunting you down and killing you. To us, your kind is a vermin to humanity, taking human blood, killing them. I grew bored of the slaughter and after three-hundred years, I wanted to taste something different from life. I made that decision in a heartbeat, and that changed everything.
“I tasted vampire blood. I am the only one of my kind. As I’m sure you know, nephilim blood is lethal to vampire kind although it is, so I hear, divine.” He said this last part with a smirk. “But that doesn’t mean that vampire blood was lethal for my kind. Nobody’d tried it, and I changed that. Nobody had been brave enough, until me. Until now...”
He paused here and took another step forward. My heart skipped a beat and my stomach tightened even more. He was going to drink us?
In the deathly silence we stood amongst the compact nineteenth century houses on the edge of the city. We stood there in silence for several minutes, and not a soul passed. I felt cold from the cloudless sky and brisk wind. Marcus radiated a cool aura which chilled me further. I watched him. He stood there in the moonlight like a mythical character that had stepped straight from the pages of a fable, his breath coming out in steaming puffs. He continued his tale when neither Rachel nor I responded...
“Now I am hunted by vampire and nephilim alike. I am a new breed. A hybrid. I am damned by God, damned by my own kind, and damned by those I hunted. And so I fled here, to this small city to find the demi-god, Emidius. But I cannot find her so I sought out the one saved by her. When I find her, I will drink her blood. I hope it will restore my place, my connection with God and allow me to reinstate my soul. But I can find only you.
“You are powerful in your own right. You who hid for months, yet you were strong enough to wipe out the Elite. You drank from demons and survived their venom. You are much stronger than you think, and even more so with the blood of Emidius running through your veins.
“I must restore myself to my former glory. I have never fallen foul to debauchery. I am from pure angelic blood, from the essence of God and my blood has been tainted by that of an impure vampire. With this blood, I am experiencing uncontrollable rage and hatred, lust and desire. I wish to purge myself of these impurities. I must not be ruled by the blood of the underworlders that run through my veins.”
Before we could answer, he continued, “I need companions. I know enough that I cannot survive this on my own. I had thought I would find Emidius. She at least would no doubt find my predicament diverting and could help me. I left the North, I left before my kin found out. Before they realised that I had stopped before I killed a hapless vampire, scanned its macabre face. I hunted many that night and killed them all, except this one. I had long ago locked out the wailing cries of lesser immortals; it could have been saying anything. But as I stopped and looked at it, it was female. It was angry and it was scared. Its face was contorted from screaming. I have rarely known fear.” He paused.
“We nephilim never spoke to those inferior to ourselves. We are a proud race and our anger surpasses all beings, except that of a demi-god. I scanned my victim's face searching for clues, clues as to what life felt like to be a vampire. I took her head easily with one hand and tilted it to the side. I could hear her heart beating so fast, pumping. Pumping that evil elixir that held a thousand souls or more, for this one had lived a long time. And I knew then that there would be no turning back. This would determine my fate. I have lived so long, a celestial being in grace. And now, finally, I gave into temptation in the guise of a vampire, or was this really the Devil? Did her blood really hold the souls of the dead? I put my teeth over her artery and bit gently at first. It was odd but easy, within seconds that corrupt fluid flowed its way into me. Once I started I couldn't stop. The creature let out a pathetic wail as it slumped to the ground and I stood there swaying.”
He continued, his tale spilling forth in a flurry with no thought to breathe between sentences. “As the infected blood rushed through my veins, then too late I prayed. The sudden comprehension of my error dawned and I begged God for mercy. What have I done? I was terrified, shock sweeping over me and I fell to my knees and convulsed, my wings now with the sinister poison in them, turned from pure white to black! My life, my purpose, my mission flew before me in a mass of swirling confusion.
“I vomited—so strange. I had never had any illness. Then I passed out where I was next to the dead vampire. When I awoke with a pain so severe and was horrified to find the mess that I had made. A thousand thoughts whisked in my mind all at once. I had been tempted, and now it was too late, spiralling to the depths of Hell with the blood of a fiend in my body! I had committed the worst crime of my kind. In fact, it has never been documented that any nephilim had drunk the blood of a vampire. For a vampire to drink the blood of the nephilim was considered the worse crime of all. But I had just created a new crime more heinous than that!" He started laughing somewhat hysterically.
I was dumbfounded. It was too absurd, too surreal. His low ethereal voice boomed with pain of his own disbelief.
“What had I been thinking? Surely this was some evil hex, a spell that something more powerful than I had cast. And now the weight of the situation fell upon me. I got up unsteadily knowing I should go and confess to my elders. But if I confessed, death would ensue followed by an eternity of torment in oblivion with all those terrible souls that I myself had cast there. No. I must leave and fast. I needed to clean myself, but I was too heavy to move, to fly. For the first time in my life, my wings weighed me down, my body dense with that unholy blood of a va
mpire.”
Rachel and I stood there in bewilderment as this fallen angel told us his life story, spewing it all out. I wanted him to leave as I sensed a threat from him. But I was too transfixed by his tale, by him. I had so many questions.
“As I walked to the place I called home, the humans around me looked at me with disgust, crossing the road to avoid me. It was terrible, none of this was normal. I felt strange as that blood flowed inside me and awoke with it a carnal yearning that I had never known. I need your help. You are the only ones who can help me, at least until I find Emidius.”
“I can only tell you where I last found her, hidden from the world in a cave. But whether or not she’s still there, I don’t know. Others may know. If I can’t find her, what will you do then? You cannot stay with us; your own kin will no doubt be hunting you.” I was adamant that I would not accept him.
Rachel added, “It is too dangerous for you to stay here. We know only a few of our kind, the others.” She looked at me. “Jamie? Maybe he’s with her, he could help.”
I nodded. She was right. If anyone knew where she was it would be Jamie. Last time I’d seen him he’d walked away from Emidius, but she had gone after him. I still had his number.
“I can call him and ask, but you need to find somewhere to stay. You cannot stay with us.”
“I swear to you that I will see to it that no harm comes to either of you. If my kin come here, the only creature that could save you from them is a nephilim. No other could protect you. You don't seem to know much about us,” he added rather shocked that we didn't know.
“We don’t, no.” I looked at Rachel who looked pale in shock. “We will help you, but you’re asking too much to come into our home.”
“It would only be for tonight, please? I don’t want to be alone.” He paused and looked uneasy. “As hard as this is for me to admit, I am afraid. Lonely, scared. I have no others.”
Rachel said, “But how can we trust you?”