Melabeth the Vampire

by Hood, E. B.

  "I bet."

  I went on, "Ezra is amazed with how fast I am learning hand to hand combat. I am really quick with the weapons; guns, knives and swords. I really enjoy firearms. Next month Ezra wants me to learn how to use the bow and arrow. I still need more practice with knife throwing and darts. This brings up one of the questions I have. Ezra keeps talking about how much power and speed I already have. They already know how strong I am; do I need to hold back? How much should I be hiding from them?"

  Of course I would like to know why I am hiding this from them or why I am different. I know he would not answer those questions.

  Nicks thought a moment, and then said. "It sounds to me that you are not hiding much anyway. I’d rather the Whites not know too much about you, but it may be too late for that."

  Defensively I added, "I am holding back… a little anyways. Also, I haven't told or shown them about my second sight. I am not sure how much longer I can hide that either."

  "Second sight?" Nicks said with curiosity.

  Doesn’t he know? I explained to him about my ability to see sound, and told him about how I have used it. Nicks seemed excited about this power.

  I finished telling him about how I used it to see through Alice’s visions, he said, “You might have to tell them sooner or later. I would rather they did not know more than they have to, but you need their help for now, and I can’t see you hiding this forever, but hide it as long as you can.”

  “I will; how much training do I need to kill Devon anyhow?” I asked.

  Nicks thought for a second, and then said. "I am not sure; he is a sorcerer. I have been unable to find out what his specialty is. Whatever it might be, I believe him to be a powerful foe."

  "Specialty… what is that?"

  "I am sure that Ezra will explain it if you ask. We do not have a lot of time, what else have you been doing with your time?" Nicks asked.

  I thought about it for a second, and then said. "Well I have kind of a schedule now. I get up around two or three in the afternoon. David's at school, and on the weekends, his dad keeps him busy training. I can't see David, so I have been hanging out with Michael. Later in the evening Lea joins us, and sometimes Alice too. It has been a lot of fun hanging with them, but it has been educational as well."

  "In what way?" Nicks asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

  I took a drink of my coffee and then said, "Well, my time with Michael and Lea has been a good time for me to catch up. They have been showing me a ton of must see movies. We go to the movie theater at least twice a week. It’s a lot of fun, and some of the movies are so wild. Some of the special effects are real. Also I love Star Wars; that’s my favorite. When Alice hangs out with me, she is always challenging me to use my mind powers. We play games. Her favorite game is tea time; we sit and have tea with all her stuffed animals. She will make all her animals and dollies come to life. They start to move, talk and even dance. I have had the craziest tea parties with her and she makes me feel like I am in wonderland. Of course she does all this to teach me how to use my power, so Alice’s says.”

  “And does this help you learn?” Nicks asked.

  “No.” I answered, hoping he was not disappointed in me. “See, Alice believes me to be the first mental mute. She has never met or even heard of a vampire with fewer abilities in the use of mind powers. Of course I think she is extra mean to me, because I have not shared the reason I can see through her mind tricks. I am trying Nicks… I will do better. I will work hard on the mind powers.”

  Nicks gave me a big smile and then with a reassuring face, he said. “Do not worry about it. You may not have mind powers, but believe me when I say you are very special, and Alice knows this.”

  His words made me feel better. I hate not having mind powers; it makes me feel different. Then again, everything about me seemed a little bit different. Everyone thinks it would be great to be a one of a kind, but what I have found is that means I am all alone.

  “Thank you. I don’t feel like I fit in with anyone, not even with vampires.”

  Nicks gave me a serious look. “I know this, but fitting in doesn’t make anyone love or care about you. I will be proud of you, no matter what, and I will love you no matter what you are or become. You will never be alone.”

  That remark brought a smile to my face, and one small tear to my eye. I wiped it away and went on talking. “Well I flew once, but I have not been able to do it since. I have tried and Charlotte has been working with me. She wants to throw me off higher cliffs, but that just hurts. I know I can fly, but I have been unable to control it. I guess I have flown twice. The first time I was really drunk, so Charlotte’s new theory is that I need to get drunk; then she is going to throw me off a cliff.”

  At this Nicks laughed. “She has a different approach to teaching than I am accustomed to.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “Learning to fly will help you. Have you figured out any kind of plan to deal with Devon?” Nicks asked.

  “Not so much; I have been so busy learning all this new stuff.”

  Nicks said, with a thoughtful look. “Good, I don’t want you rushing into battle with Devon. I want to check in with you soon and come up with a plan; I would like to hear it before you do it. What is going on with The Order?”

  It's been a month since I talked with Alex, David had me call him. I guess I better tell Nicks; I hope this does not complicate my task of killing Devon. I said, "Well apparently there is this detective named Alex McDonald. He is good friends with Tony Abbott; that’s David’s stepdad. David’s stepdad works for The Order, and he hires his friend Alex to help solve cases for The Order. Well both of them have decided to cover up the mall killings; not for me of course. David being a Necromancer would not get a fair shake from The Order, and, even if The Order wanted to pin it on me; they are afraid of Alice and her family. In short, they are giving me a second chance. If anything like this happens again, The Order is going to put a price on my head, and you know something is going to happen again when I catch up with Devon. He is a high ranking Order member.”

  Nicks said. “I know he is. This is one reason that you must plan your revenge carefully. It would be best if you killed him, without bringing too much attention to yourself. If you plan well, you should be able to kill him in such a way that it will take them forever to solve the case… if ever.”

  I said. “Yes, I now understand why you had me wait to kill him. I need to get information from him first. I don’t need the whole Order chasing after me while I am trying to hunt down the rest of the biker gang.”

  Nicks smiled with pride in his eyes. “You are showing wisdom, listening to others rather than your feelings. Only when your emotions are under control… is when you will make wise choices. I must leave soon, so read my story before you go.”

  I opened the manuscript and started to read. The story was funny and entertaining. I finished reading and handed back the manuscript to Nicks.

  Nicks asked. “Well, what did you think?”

  “I loved it, but I am not sure of the life lesson at the end. The Dwarf’s greed is what saved him at the end? Or was it that greed devours everything?”

  Nicks laughed. “Sometimes it’s up to the reader what the story means. In the end, it is what it means to you that makes it enjoyable or important. From my point of view, I was trying to make you laugh.”

  “Well then it was a hit, and later I would like to read more of your writings.”

  Nicks smiled and said, “Most of all my writings are poems, but I would be glad to share them with you at another time; for now we are out of time. I am glad you liked my story. I love you, be careful… next time we meet I will want to know your plan.”

  I got up, went over to Nicks and gave him a big hug. “I love you too… try not to worry.”

  The world went black.

  My eyes opened; I was lying on my back on my bed. I looked over at the clock; it was only 11 am. The breaking of our mental contact had
awoken me early, but I still felt tired.

  I closed my eyes and let sleep take me once more.

  Chapter 12

  Swimming Lessons

  I got up around two.

  I got dressed then headed downstairs to get some food. I was warming some blood up in the microwave when Michael came into the kitchen. He was wearing black, faded sweat pants; and nothing else. I had seen him without a shirt before, but not up close.

  When I went to go to training with Ezra, Lea and Michael went swimming. On my way to the basement door, I would pass by the rear door that went to the pool. Through the glass I had seen Michael in a swimming suit; and that was a sight. Up close was another thing all together.

  I had to peel my eyes off his chest to say, "Morning."

  A big smile spread across his face. "Morning, sunshine, you're up early. Sleep well?"

  " Fine... You?"

  "Like the dead," Michael joked.

  Now that he was over the fact I was here, Michael was easier to get along with. He was still quiet and sometimes he lost his temper with me, but he has had his reasons. I couldn’t help but be difficult; it was in my blood.

  "Nothing clean?" I said this, and then made myself busy by getting my blood out of the microwave.

  A moment of silence passed before he said. "Why? Does this bother you?"

  "No… not at all. Why should it?" I tried to act indifferent.

  Michael let a little smile slip across his face that made him look… so sexy. "I don’t know. You seemed a little bothered by it… that’s all."

  "Not at all," I replied curtly.

  Michael laughed. If I would have had a pulse, my face would be red. Then I heard another person giggling from a few rooms away. It was Charlotte eavesdropping. She loved this.

  I changed the subject. “Why is everyone up so early?”

  Michael shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. Want to go swimming?”

  “Sure.” I had a bathing suit that I got when me and Charlotte went shopping.

  I had been too busy to go swimming. One reason is that everyone around here swam at night, and that’s when I was training with Ezra. I grabbed my cup of blood, and then said. “I'll go get my suit on, meet you at the pool.”

  “Okay, take your time. I need to get some breakfast, then I will be out.” With that, Michael went into the fridge and retrieved some blood.

  I left with cup in hand, and headed toward my room. I got to my room and went in; there on my bed were both Charlotte and Alice, great… what were they up to?

  Alice smiled and said. “Hi, sister, how are we doing on this fine morning?”

  “What are you two up to?”

  Both Charlotte and Alice said in stereo. “Nothing.”

  “Well could you two do nothing somewhere else?”

  Alice stuck her tongue out at me. Charlotte said. “She has no manners; I think she must have been raised by werewolves.”

  Alice giggled at this remark.

  “I need to get dressed,” I stated.

  “We’ll help,” Charlotte said, and then looked over at Alice. “I'll put up her hair. Can you get her a bathing suit?”

  Alice hopped off my bed and headed toward my closet, “Love to.”

  This wasn’t the first time these two had dressed me up. At first I felt kind of strange being naked in front of them, but I got over it quickly. There was one time I was a little taken aback by Alice. I had been changing, and she was staring at my naked body; she was staring in a way that made me feel a little uncomfortable.

  Later Charlotte explained why she did that. Alice was turned too young and was just starting her change into womanhood. I had seen her naked so I understood what Charlotte was talking about. I guess sometimes Alice would stop and stare at women.

  Still I knew that arguing about them helping me would take more time than just allowing them to help me. Alice came out of my closet with my blue swimsuit. I was glad they weren’t trying to dress me in some string bikini. I had bought a really nice blue one piece suit; I was not going to wear one of those modern swimsuits.

  Alice helped me get dressed while Charlotte put my hair into a ponytail. Charlotte left two long strands of loose hair in the front. Then she banded my ponytail every six inches. I looked into the mirror; I was wearing a very nice one piece blue swimsuit. It covered me well; it did not show too much skin. I liked it; I put on a white robe.

  “Thank you for your help.” I said to both Charlotte and Alice.

  Alice smiled. “Have fun.”

  Charlotte simply said. “No problem.”

  I left my room and headed toward the pool. Something felt wrong, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what. Whatever it was it probably wasn’t that important. I walked out the double doors to the outside.

  I froze in my tracks; there was a giant black tent over the pool. It wasn’t a cheap looking tent. On one half there were huge poles placed about every ten feet apart to hold up the base of the tent. The other half of the tent was attached to the roof of the house. Michael had beaten me into the pool and he was already swimming around. He popped his head out and threw his arms up onto the side of the pool.

  Michael smiled. “What you think? Alice and Charlotte said that Ezra was keeping you too busy to go swimming and that you really wanted to go, but I figured that you couldn’t handle the direct sun in a bathing suit. I had this put up; now we can swim anytime.”

  I think I could have handled the direct sunlight, but the fact that Michael did this for me. Wow, how nice. “Thank you. I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Say nothing, come swim… and enjoy.”

  I dropped my bathrobe and then tossed it onto a chair. When I turned back toward Michael, he had a look on his face that I have never seen before.

  He looked surprised and hungry all at the same time. Then he said with a quiet voice. “Wow… you’re… hot. I mean pretty… beautiful. You look good.”

  I was stunned at his response; I have never thought of myself as beautiful. Now I don’t think I am ugly, but he made me sound stunning.

  Then I looked down; I was wearing a red string bikini.

  I may as well have been naked. I have seen more fabric in a hanky than the outfit I was wearing. I was stunned.

  While I was still having my out of body experience, Michael said. “I like you in red; it looks good on you. I haven’t made you feel uncomfortable have I?”

  “No.”

  “Then come on in,” Michael said with a grin.

  It all came together… those evil hags; that’s why they wanted to help me. Alice played one of her mind tricks on me. She made me believe I was wearing my blue bathing suit. They had told Michael how much I wanted to go swimming with him; heck they even made sure they were awake for this.

  As much as I wanted to be mad about all this, I did want to go swimming. I would get those two back later. I guess there is no reason to be embarrassed about my outfit any longer. Michael already has had an eye full. So, with that thought; I took two steps and jumped into the air. I flew up about ten feet and then dove into the middle of the pool.

  The water felt great as it wrapped itself around my body. It was a completely different experience swimming now that I was dead. For starters, I didn’t have to breathe, and as I spun in circles, it didn’t hurt when water went up my nose. It helped that I was so strong; when I kicked, I flew through the water. I almost smacked my head against the wall of the pool because I was moving so fast. I could see why Michael and Lea loved to swim so much. Charlotte had told me that all of them liked to go out to the ocean at night to swim. That would be fun, and I can't wait until we all go.

  Under the water Michael joined me as we swam around each other. He made a noise under the water. I think he was saying something, but I was unable to make it out.

  The sound messed with my second sight. I was confused, and then smacked my head against the bottom of the pool.

  It really didn’t hurt, but it did cause me to swim u
p and take my head out of the water. Michael popped out right next to me. "What were you saying?"

  Michael had a concerned look on his face. He reached up and touched my head where I hit bottom. "I said, this is fun, but who cares what I said. What happened? Why did you hit your head?"

  I let him feel my head where I had hit the bottom of the pool. The bruise, if there was one, would have healed by now, and he knew I wasn’t hurt. Still I didn’t mind him touching me.

  I should, the voices in my head said; I told the voices to shut up.

  "I am alright. I just got turned around that’s all."

  "I have never seen a vampire get turned around." He said this with a smile.

  I couldn’t tell him that he just showed me the weakness in my second sight. I had read somewhere that sound travels faster in water. It would make all the shapes in my head the wrong size, even the wrong shape; it was very confusing. I would have to be careful not to let those images take over while I was underwater.

  "Are you sure you're alright?" Michael’s smile had fallen from his face.

  I had been in thought too long. I was about to tell him that everything was alright but then thought better of it. "No; everything is not alright."

  "Well what is it?"

  "It's not you. Are you sure you want to hear about my problems?"

  Michael swam over to the shallow end of the pool. There he sat down on an underwater seat that was built into the side of the pool. He motioned for me to join him. "I am all ears."

  The next few hours I bent poor Michael’s ear off. I told him almost everything and explained to him about how dealing with Devon was stressing me. I didn’t tell him about my second sight, or Nicks. I just made him think that all my information about Devon was coming from David.

  Then I said to Michael," I also found out that Devon was a sorcerer, and I don’t even know what that means."

  Michael had been quiet, nodding his head at the right times and saying "go on" or "I understand".

  Michael said. "I can help you if you would like me to?"