His hand upon my face fell onto my stomach. I felt a surge of memories flood back to me in an unwanted tidal wave. A sharp breath escaped my lips at his touch. His eyes held mine as he spoke. “I murdered our child.”
I couldn't stand it any more. “I went back there,” I whispered mournfully. My voice monotonous. “To our apartment. I went out to hunt, but I ended up back at the house.” I forced myself to sit up, my lover slowly recoiled in bitter sadness, but I took his hand in mine. He softened. “I visited the grave my sweet. It’s abandoned. Ivy hangs overgrown over the tomb; it smells of death even though there is no body or no bones lying beneath it. I pity the place. I...”
“I took everything from you,” He answered, “Your brother, our unborn child, your life.”
“The past is forgotten,” I answered sadly. It was a lie. The past was not forgotten. It could never be forgotten.
Everard sighed heavily before reaching out his slender arms and encircling me in a tight embrace. He pulled me to his chest, and I let him. He smoothed my hair as he once did when I had arisen a distraught vampire. I closed my eyes, letting myself enjoy the moment one last time before I left him for good.
“Oh my love,” He said to me softly. “I have lain with many a mortal woman since you left me. In my pain I went on a killing spree, I indulged in the most twisted, sickest perversions that I could imagine. Yes, there were many beautiful mortals, but not one of them was as beautiful as you. When I lay with the living, it was not the temptation that I was seeing. It was you.”
I smiled into the silk of his chest like a bashful child. “Fool.” I whispered and for once I heard him laugh. It was like music to my ears, light and magical. For a time, we were not two immortal beings entwined in darkness. No. we were two mortal lovers again.
*****
I don’t how long we had been lying there on the bed, but I was awoken by the sound of my phone ringing. I sprang to my feet at the sound and pulled my phone out of my leather jacket. I looked at the screen. It was Kyle. Swiping my finger across the screen, I answered. Everard was sleeping like a raven-haired angel.
“I know you are at a loss as to why I haven’t come home, my love,” I whispered to Kyle, my anger burning. I knew that he wanted me dead. All this time he had conspired against me. He was jealous of my feelings for Everard. He was selfish. He wanted me all to himself but he knew that he could never have me. As much as I tried to deny it, I belonged to only one vampire: Everard Nightingale.
For a long moment, he didn’t answer. The phone line went dead. My fledgling was furious, I could sense it. could feel his hate, his resentment.
I turned to look at my lover then. He was sleeping, his arms spread wide out over the bed like an angel. I had to make my move now; I had to leave him, unnoticed.
I remained silent. All I could hear was the sound of the crackling fire in the hearth behind me. I stood as still as a ghost, unmoving, apprehensive. My head bowed slightly, looking at the floor. My mind raced as I began to think how he should never have taken my humanity away and killed our child. Even now, the memory was too painful to bear, even after all these centuries.
I could feel his eyes burning into mine before I lifted my head to look at him. When I did, he was half smirking his famous arrogant smile.
“I should go” I whispered in a strange tone. I tried to make a move, but my lover shot his hand out to my wrist, halting my steps. I looked down at his hand on my wrist before looking back up into his eyes.
“So soon?” He answered, “You’ve only just arrived.”
“I have business to attend to in London,” I told him. He snorted then.
“Of all the excuses!” He began, and just like that the monster returned. I was in no mood to listen to his childishness. I had put with his childish ways for half of my newborn vampire life. As a mortal, he had never been so cruel and deceitful.
“There is no further reason for me to stay now my love,” I whispered tiredly to him. Everard's eyes sparkled a deep blue then, and I felt my heart race.
“You are going to walk back into the world and be at great risk of being murdered while you slumber?” He questioned.
“It's a risk I am willing to take,” I told him, “Besides” I continued, “If I were to die, it would be by your hand. You're my death!”
Everard studied me for a long moment then before finally, gracefully walking over to me, his silken shirt shining in the dim candle light. I watched hi every move, waiting.
“You know I won't kill you” He purred gently then, his blue eyes glinting in the light. “I made you because you are beautiful. Why would I want to end such beauty?” Flattery.
“It wouldn’t be up to you would it?” I stated bluntly, unappeased by his flattering remarks. “My fledgling is a manipulator, a deceiver. He corrupts, and he possesses. If you were to kill me right now and he was in control, I wouldn’t stand a chance against you.”
“And how do you know this for certain?” He questioned, I frowned.
“You tell me,” I whispered, staring at him.
He was so calm and collected that it was maddening. I didn’t want to know any more, so I moved from the roaring fireplace and made way to the door.
“I have to go,” I told him again, but as I made way to leave, his cold slender hand caught my arm to prevent me from leaving once again.
“For over a hundred years I have not seen you, August, and now you are going to leave me again?” I turned my eyes to face him but when I looked at him, his face was inches away from my own. My soul set on fire as I stared into his eyes. I became uncomfortable being so intimately close to him. Even after all these centuries with him, Everard still had the power to seduce me and he knew it.
“What do you expect me to do Everard? Stay? And do what? No, I have a life back in London, I must return before dawn.”
“Dawn would have already reached London by now,” He said gently, “If you left for London now, you would be burnt to cinders in an instant!”
I laughed then. A sharp bitter laugh. “And that would be a bad thing?” I snapped, “We are evil creatures. Perhaps death is what should befall us!”
Instantly, Everard grew angry at my answer. He released my arm sharply.
“Then why don’t you walk into the path of the rising sun now if you truly want to die?” He snapped.
I did not answer him. I was tired of arguing. I sighed heavily.
“I don’t want to fight with you Everard” I muttered softly, “I have done what you have bid of me. I came at your call, and now I must leave. I have business to attend to, and a fledgling to kill.”
“You're going to kill alone?” He questioned me in his deep French accent.
“Yes,” I answered simply, looking deep into his eyes. For a long moment, Everard remained silent, his pale face an emotional mask.
“You’re too weak.” My immortal lover finally said, his voice low and dangerous. “Even a fledgling is too strong for you, my sweet.”
When I did not answer, he began to pace around the room before he finally resumed his seat in the red velvet arm chair. He spread his legs out over the little oaken table in a relaxed manner. I watched him from where I was standing by the door, and suddenly he seemed like the young man I remembered from our mortal years. He sat with a slender hand raised to his chin as if he was deep in thought.
“Sit,” it was almost a command. Hesitantly I obeyed, more out of curiosity than his power over me. A long silence passed between us as he sat there staring at me, drinking in everything about me. “It has been too long since I last saw your face,” He said to me. “After our ‘bitter’ departure all those years ago.”
I remembered our last goodbye. “What's done is done” I answered him, “I do not wish to dwell on the past any longer. I have let the past rule me.” Once again then my immortal lover rose to his feet and approached me. I watched him warily.
“I have missed you,” He said, raising his hand to entwine it in my long black silken hair.
He fondled my hair carefully as his eyes locked on mine. I could hear his strong heartbeat. “It has been too long my love.” I was trembling I knew I was. He was weakening me already, trying so hard to seduce me and I was allowing it to happen. But what did it matter how hard I resisted him? He was my maker, my lover and I loved him still.
“Can you forgive me for the death of your brother?” The mention of my brother pierced my heart like a knife. I had not expected him to mention the death of my brother here, yet he had, and he looked sincerely sorry.
I tried to turn away from Everard's strong gaze, tears rising. It had been over two centuries now since my brother's death, yet to a vampire, it only seemed like yesterday. The hurt would never cease.
“Everard please” I began, but he cut me off, pale hand rising to my face gently caressing me like a long lost lover. I bowed my head trying to hide my face, but he was no fool.
“It hurts you still what I did does it not?” He whispered softly. A strange thing for him. He is always so angry, so cold and cruel. But that was only the façade of the vampire; the mortal lord before me had been so different and so loving, not a monster.
“I need to know that I have your forgiveness for your brother.” He whispered gently, forcing me to look into his eyes. I could see that he was genuinely sorry for my brothers death, but I was uncomfortable with being begged by Everard for my forgiveness. I sighed heavily, trying to be strong. I was a vampire; we are not born to weep. It was hard to tell if I had even forgiven my lover for what he had done after all the years I had spent apart from him. Did I forgive him? Could I forgive him? If I stood any chance of surviving, I had no choice but to forgive him.
Looking into his preternatural eyes I whispered the words, “I forgive you.”
Silence. As he stared into my eyes he swiftly leaned down and stole a rough kiss from my lips. I allowed him to kiss me, a fool’s weakness. I now knew how my lover’s victims felt when under his spell.
He pushed me against the stone wall, and I succumbed to him. Gently his fangs bit into my lip just enough so that my blood bled into his wanting mouth. I felt his tongue lap at the tiny wound, tasting me ever so softly before he looked into my eyes once more. My blood painted his bottom lip red.
My heart was racing now from both excitement and fear. What was I doing allowing this raven-haired god to treat me in such a manner? I had walked into his home a strong and determined vampire, and now I was a mess. Weak at the knees for my maker, my lover, my one true companion.
“I’m thirsting” I suddenly whispered. The words had escaped my mouth before I had a chance to think about what I was saying. I saw Everard brush his thick black hair to the side as he revealed a long, sleek pale neck to me. Oh, it was enticing. So tempting, and I stared at the artery, listening to the rush of blood that swirled around inside of his perfect body. Thirsting and wanting, wanting to taste him more than ever now, I suddenly realized that I had not hunted for days. Now my blood lust was consuming me; my animal side making itself known.
“There isn’t a village for miles.” He purred, leaning against my fragile form. I could smell the scent of his hair, the perfume that only a fine young man would wear in this day and age. He smelled divine. Same old perfect Everard.
“Oh, how I want you.”
Looking into his eyes, I was blood crazed. Just the smell of him ignited my fury for his blood. I wanted to feel him running through me, and suddenly I wanted to know what it was like to be one with him again.
Slowly, taking my hand, my maker walked slowly to the red velvet armchair, never taking his eyes from mine as I hazily followed him. He sat down and pulled me into his lap. Placing a slender finger underneath my chin, he guided my face to his before consuming me in a passionate kiss. He nipped at my throat playfully, and I gasped at the sensation. Then I tore my lips from his and drove my fangs deep into his bare slender neck.
It started instantly, the low thrum of his heart against mine as I drew the blood to the surface lapping at the sweet, thick nectar that flooded my mouth like a red fountain. The images came to me.
A flash took me back to the time when we had been mortal, and I could see him upon his bed with me beneath him as he thrust into me as we made love. Another flash took me to Paris on the night of my change and for the first time, I saw properly how confused and crazed my lover had been that night.
I saw myself as a young mortal girl sitting by a dresser writing in a journal that I so loved, my free hand caressing the swell of my belly as I wrote. I was smiling. Another image after that showed me lying upon the Rue Chavern's floor screaming wildly, lashing and thrashing as I was turning, my chiffon nightgown stained red from between my legs as our child bled out of me as I died.
His heart was weakening, and I knew that if I held on any longer that I would kill him but he did not protest. It was then that I felt his gentle hand on my head, then guiding me as I retracted my fangs to look into Everard's eyes. For a long moment, he looked into my eyes before leaning up and placing a gentle kiss upon my lips, licking the blood away. “You belong to me, my love,” Everard whispered into my ear. “You always have.”
THE END
Another bonus story is on the next page.
Bonus Story 16 of 24
Love, Death and Soccer
He had to remember to wear a jacket. Canada was cold, at least according to humans. Nothing would make him stand out more than walking around in a t-shirt in the chilly Canadian weather. He always got in trouble for that in Germany. The coaches at the refuge center were always reminding him to blend in more. Refuge centers existed as a cross between a halfway house and a resource repository for vampires. They were especially valuable to stray vampires, which is what he was: a stray. He didn’t even have a coven to live with. Vampire loners were unusual, but not unheard of. Eclesia, his center in Germany, had everything: blood bags, cover stories, human clothes, and scripts to help new vampires interact with humans undetected. It was a shock to Colton at how much culture and society changed in a century. That’s how long it had been since he tried to blend in, 100 years. It was exhausting, maintaining the façade of being a human, so he had escaped to the mountains, feeding on animal blood and the rare humans that crossed his path, and he had never looked back. He had only entered the town to go to the centers. Now, he had no choice but to leave, because Colton was in a lot of trouble.
Colton had created enemies for himself before. Loner vampires had a bad reputation for being cocky, ungrateful, and to overall think they were better than other vampires. Isolde, a leader in a German coven, thought this of Colton, especially when he publically said ‘no’ to Isolde’s invitation to join his coven. Everyone coveted Isolde’s coven because they were the fastest, the strongest, and the richest coven in the modern world. Humans that knew of vampires were throwing themselves at Isolde’s feet, begging to be changed, but Isolde only acquired the best.
“Join us, lone wolf!” Isolde had said to a crowd of vampires at Berlin after seeing Colton’s power.
Everyone had expected him to say, “Yes, take me!” but Colton had spit on the ground and left.
Isolde was hosting his centennial Hundred Year Games when the insult happened. The games were nothing like anything Colton had ever seen; it was like the human Olympics, but even more grand. Teufelberg Hill was carved out into a stadium, with large torches made of human bones emblazoned on the earth in an ever-burning, enormous ring of fire, and tall stone towers were erected like Grecian pillars. All the humans were shooed away, fearing the fake storms created by vampires who had the powers to control the weather. Isolde had a knack for finding these rare creatures and hoarding them like trophies in a case. The humans who were unlucky enough to be anywhere near them were targets in the games. Colton lost count of the human casualties that day after 178.
He couldn’t join a coven like that. He only came to the game because of the free blood bags. He was famished, and the refuge center was giving out free blood bags at their booth to particip
ants. He smelled it from miles away. He had joined the amateur games because he had nothing else to do, and was starving.
“What’s your talent, boy?” said a gruff, disinterested German vampire at the sign-up booth.
“I—I, um,” Colton thought for a moment, looking at his hands.
“Well, kid? I don’t have all day. Pick a column.”
Colton scanned a wide piece of parchment, but his gift wasn’t an option. He saw strength, flight, agility, coercionist, weather manipulators, but nothing that he could do.
“Fire,” Colton said, barely above a whisper.
He tried not to ever use it, but he needed another reason to hang around and feed.
“Fire?” the vampire scoffed, his eyes widening.
“Yes. From my hands,” Colton said, running his hands through his blond hair.
The crowd around him was murmuring.
“You messing with me?”
“What? No. Is that not a good talent or something?”
The man laughed, whistling loudly to get the attention of some other vampires working the games. Three people with matching black suits walked over.
“Alright, kid. Show us first, and then I sign you up. There has not been an igniter breed in damn near a thousand years, and even that I think is bullshit. And I don’t know if you heard, but fire sort of kills people like us. I’ll drink pigs blood if you can set this piece of paper on fire.”
His fat, pale fingers were tented over the sign-up sheet.
“You might want to move your hands,” Colton said, pursing his lips.
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