Grave Burden

by P. Anastasia

  I followed the trail to the back door. It opened up to a large grassy area—what appeared to have once been a dog park, but with the fences mostly collapsed and large patches of frayed chain-link gnarled up in coils along the perimeter.

  I heard a quiet shuffle of feet.

  Just as I sensed his aura, Derek dropped down from a rooftop. I ducked, narrowly avoiding him as he landed in front of me. I backed away a few steps and straightened up.

  Kathera had just come out from around the other side of the building and was approaching us cautiously. I hadn’t wanted her to get involved, but…

  “What have you done here?” Kathera asked.

  Derek snarled at her. “We have to survive, don’t we?” he replied. “We can’t all be like your perfect prince charming here. Maybe they don’t taste great, but it’s better than the putrid pig blood he feeds you.”

  “We drink that so we don’t have to kill,” she defended.

  “And what’s wrong with a little killing?” Light sparked through his eyes. “It’s what we’re made for. These people don’t belong here. Hell, they don’t belong anywhere.” He bared his fangs and hissed at me. “How did you know where to find me, anyway? Did Ve’tani tell you?”

  “I said nothing!” Ve’tani bellowed from above.

  I veered my head and looked up. Ve’tani was perched on the rooftop next door, her bright amber eyes glistening.

  “Then how did you find me?” Derek glared.

  “I’m Kathera’s Sire,” I replied. “You’re not the only one who can see into her mind.”

  “Lucky break,” Derek said. “I must have been,” he wiped his thumb across a bloodstain on his lower lip, “preoccupied.” Kathera approached and stood beside me as we ventured into the field, to put some space between the three of us. Derek followed and Ve’tani remained on her perch atop the building, watching us intently.

  Something told me I didn’t have to worry about her, yet.

  “You can’t stop me,” Derek continued. “You know what will happen if you interfere again.” Then he grinned at Kathera. “And you know that I can take control whenever I want. Not that you’ve needed much coercing lately.”

  Kathera shook her head.

  “Or did you not tell him about that?” Derek continued.

  There was fear and a plea for help wavering through her consciousness.

  Had she been hiding that from me all this time!?

  It didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was that this was going to stop.

  Today.

  “I’m here to help her,” I said, glancing at her with a softened expression and a sincere, calm tone. “I’m here to help you and Kathryn.”

  Derek shot a glance at Kathera and then back at me. “Who?” he asked with a snarl.

  Kathera’s eyes rolled back and her knees buckled. I lunged and caught her in my arms before she hit the ground.

  “I think it’s time you learned the truth about who we are,” I said.

  “The truth?” Derek laughed angrily. “I know exactly what I am. You’re the one who pretends to be something else.”

  “Not you,” I replied. “Us.” I embraced Kathera tightly.

  I made a conscious effort to slip into her mind and, as I did, Derek took a step closer. My wings broke free, tearing open the back of my shirt, and then came up around us like a shield.

  He froze in place and growled, his eyes igniting with a vivid red-orange glow; he knew better than to attack while my wings were out.

  I concentrated again on accessing Kathera’s mind, and this time I was successful.

  My surroundings went dark, and although my body was awake in the real world, my consciousness had linked up with Kathera’s and time had stopped in the alternate dimension of her mind.

  A faint flicker of light grew from the pitch black—sputtering lamps flashed on and off in the distance, dimly lighting a long hallway I’d seen once before.

  A rustle of footsteps and the sound of a struggle came from down the hall. I squinted and gazed in the direction of the noise.

  Derek manifested there, and he was holding Kathera tightly near his chest with her arms locked behind her back. Despite her angry grunts and her furious attempt to get away, she couldn’t escape his grasp.

  “You need to face the truth, yourself,” Derek said. “You’ve lost control.”

  “That’s one thing you have very wrong,” I replied. “I don’t control Kathera, nor do I control the way she feels about me. I don’t need to, because we trust each other.”

  “Trust did me a lot of good.” Derek scoffed. “I trusted her and she pined for you behind my back! And you… you got me turned into… this. I don’t believe in trust anymore. I believe in taking what I want.”

  “Kathera is my wife,” I said, “and you’ll never have her love, or Kathryn’s.”

  Kathera cried out and her body began to shrink, her frame becoming smaller, child-like, and her entire form changing into that of a young copper-red-haired girl in a white, tattered dress covered in dried blood stains.

  Derek released her, thrusting her away with disgust. “Who the hell are you!?”

  I gestured for Kathryn to come and she ran as fast as her small, bare feet could take her, barreling into me and clutching onto my jacket.

  Derek bared his sharp teeth at her and snapped in her direction. She yelped and huddled closer to me.

  “All this time,” I spoke, “you were trying to take Kathera away from me, but you had no idea who she was on the inside. Look at what you’ve done. Look into the eyes of the girl you raped!”

  Kathryn trembled beside me; I wrapped an arm around her to comfort her.

  “I-I never touched that girl!” Derek said furiously. “Who the hell is she and what did you do with Kathera?” He looked at Kathryn and then back at me. “What did you do with her?”

  “Show him what he did to you,” I said to Kathryn. She whimpered and shook her head, shuddering with fear. “You must show him,” I suggested again, stroking the back of her head. “Please.”

  She gazed up at me with frightened blue eyes.

  “Be strong,” I added with a confident smile. “I’m here.”

  She took a deep breath and nodded.

  Derek glared suspiciously at her as she slipped from my grasp and took slow steps toward him, straining to muster the courage to approach the enraged beast.

  “You did this to me,” she uttered, her voice breaking and barely audible, at first. She glanced back at me and I tipped my head reassuringly, giving her the strength to return her gaze to Derek. “All I wanted was to be with him,” she continued, “and you took that away from me. You…” She stepped closer to him and stared up into his dark brown eyes. “You forced me to partake in terrible things—things I did not want to do.”

  “You’re just some kid. I didn’t do anything to you,” Derek snarled. “I didn’t—”

  Kathryn lifted her arm up and turned it over so he could see the inside of her wrist. The skin was colored with black and blue veins where he had bitten her, and her upper arms still marred with bruises.

  “No! I wouldn’t—” He began to panic, looking for a way out. I felt his hold on her consciousness weakening as he contemplated a way to escape.

  Kathryn took one step closer, now within arm’s reach of him. He growled, but she held her ground.

  “I am willing to forgive you,” she said. “If you free me.” She lifted her fingers toward his face, but he jerked away and hissed.

  The hall went pitch black.

  I Came to in an uncomfortable position on the ground, in Matthaya’s arms, cloaked in the darkness of his wings cupped around us. After seeing that I had come to, his wings folded back behind him and he helped me to my feet.

  Derek stood in the distance gazing at us with a look of disgust. I didn’t know why he was staring at me like that, or what had happened just moments ago. All I could remember was approaching with Matt
haya and then everything went black, and I awoke shielded by his wings.

  I realized then why Matthaya had told me to wait out front; the strong scent of blood in the air agitated me. I had to use all my restraint to stop my hunting instincts from triggering.

  I took a step closer to Derek. The angry, feral energy that had radiated from him before did not seem as apparent, and I did not feel as threatened.

  “Let me talk to him, please,” I said, looking briefly at Matthaya.

  He flinched with discomfort, and thought to stop me, but then lowered his head and nodded.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked Derek. “Why can’t you let me go?”

  “I don’t understand,” he replied as I approached. He looked over my shoulder, at Matthaya, and then back at me. “How did I screw up so badly? What the hell did I do to push you away? To make you… cheat?”

  Is that what this was really about? He thought I had cheated on him?

  There was nothing further from the truth.

  “Do you know how hard it was when we lived together?” he continued. “Loving you with everything I was, while you kept secrets from me? I watched your nightmares bring you to tears in your sleep. And I had to listen to you calling out for him even as I lay beside you. You pushed me out of your heart and I was helpless to change your decision. I just want to know why. What did I do wrong?”

  “I-I wasn’t cheating on you,” I said. “The truth is, there’s more to this story than you know.” I looked back at Matthaya briefly and then clasped my cross pendant between my thumb and index fingers before looking Derek in the eye again. “To our story.

  “This cross belonged to the daughter of an English Baron in the 17th century. The very same Baron who had kept Matthaya as an indentured servant, and whose daughter would eventually grow to love a boy she was not allowed to be with.”

  A look of dread crept across Derek’s face and he pushed it back with a growl.

  “Matthaya was taken by Ve’tani and his death pushed the Baron’s daughter to commit suicide. That girl’s name was Kathryn. Part of her lives on in me, and with that part, a love for Matthaya.”

  Derek’s jaw tightened and he grimaced. “That was her?”

  I didn’t understand what he had meant, but I continued. “When I was with you, the nightmares were memories of her suicide. I didn’t understand them at the time, but they tormented me every night. I remembered everything. Drowning. Being swept under the waves while my limbs were entangled in kelp and debris. I remembered dying because I was Kathryn.”

  Derek looked toward the ground. “Damn,” he uttered beneath his breath. Our eyes met again and intense sorrow tugged at his lips. He curled both hands into fists and shook his head angrily.

  “I didn’t know. I-I didn’t understand,” he said. “I—” He lifted a hand as if he might try to touch my face, but I felt Matthaya step closer, leading Derek to withdraw. “How could I have? I didn’t know something like that was even possible.” His gaze lowered, a flicker of yellow-orange light coiled through his eyes, and he shuddered. “All this time, I thought you’d betrayed me. That you’d—”

  “I wouldn’t have done that to you,” I said. “I trusted you, and I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “So no matter what,” he pointed at my left hand, “you would have said no?”

  Our eyes met.

  “Yes. I wanted to tell you sooner, but I didn’t expect everything to happen like that. I was waiting for the right time to let go. It was just so hard. I didn’t want be alone, but I also felt that we weren’t meant to be together. I’m sorry for the way I treated you. For misleading you. I didn’t mean any of it. I was broken and stupid. And when Matthaya walked away, it devastated me.”

  “I believe you,” Derek said quietly. His voice was softer than usual, with an air of defeat.

  Matthaya approached us.

  “We are not so unalike, you and I,” he said to Derek.

  “I doubt that.” He refused to make eye contact with either of us.

  “The foolish young love Kathryn and I harbored for each other brought us to our sorry fates.” He took a step closer to Derek, who stiffened in defense. “But we were given a second chance. And, in a way, so were you. It is possible to move on. But you have to free her first.”

  Derek’s shoulders slumped and he lowered his head in shame. “I-I don’t know how.”

  “I am still here,” a hoarse voice sounded from nearby; we all turned to look back at Ve’tani, who was glaring at us from atop the roof.

  She leapt down, sending a flurry of shingles into the air, and landed with a thud nearby. She came to standing, brushed off her cloak, and shook her golden curls back over her shoulders.

  “I may be able to help,” she said, glaring at me and then at Kathera. “Not that I should, but I have grown weary of this spectacle, and the constant banter coiling through my brain.”

  Derek perked up. “How? What do I do?”

  She groaned and then pointed a sharp fingernail at him and growled. “I should sever our ties altogether… choose another.” She narrowed her eyes, but he did not mirror her callous expression. Derek’s look was of worry and fear, and I could wholly imagine the anxiety of being cut off from one’s Sire. Of being abandoned.

  “But,” she continued with a huff of discontent, “a Sire’s responsibilities are immense and the years have weathered my patience. I do not wish to seek out another so soon.” Her golden eyes flickered with light. “I must admit that my hasty decision to take you was not all in vain.”

  Derek was taken aback by her comment. He opened his mouth to reply, but Ve’tani raised a flattened hand.

  “Silence!” she said. “Or I may change my mind.”

  “What is to be done?” Matthaya asked.

  She cracked a coy smile, as if she were pleased with herself for the plan she had conjured. She glanced over at me, then at Matthaya, and lastly, at Derek.

  “Bite him,” she said flatly.

  “What!?” Derek’s eyes widened. “Why? Why would that—”

  Ve’tani shot a fierce glare his way. “You asked for my help,” she roared, “and I have provided it. Now take my advice, or I will leave you behind.” She flicked a hand at Matthaya and me. “Bite him! Both of you! You have wasted enough of my time.”

  There was immense doubt in Matthaya’s eyes and his feelings bled into my consciousness.

  “How do we know you’re not trying to trick us into killing him for you?” Matthaya asked. I had just thought the same thing.

  She scoffed. “If I had wanted him dead, I would have done it myself. Why would I waste my time waiting for you to do it?”

  The disdain in her expression convinced me she spoke the truth.

  I wrapped a hand around Matthaya’s. “She’s been around much longer than any of us. Maybe it will work.”

  “Do you believe her?” Matthaya asked Derek directly.

  “I don’t know if I’m in a position not to.” He staggered nearer. “I poisoned you.” He looked me in the eye before slowly taking to his knees. “Do what you will in return.” He lowered his head and lifted both arms up and out to the sides until the insides of his wrists faced the sky. “Even if it kills me.”

  “Why both of us?” I asked Ve’tani.

  “Because Matthaya is your Sire,” she replied. “And our venom strains are too alike to cancel each other out completely. But, by adding your own, which has been altered by this new era, it may be enough to neutralize his grasp on your mind. In lay terms: he bit you, you both bite him, things go back to the way they were.” She shrugged. “With any luck.”

  I looked at the faded forking lines inside my wrist.

  His venom would stay in me forever.

  I had no choice but to listen to her. Even if Derek chose not to access my mind ever again, his consciousness would always be there, haunting me from afar like a secondary Sire. I couldn’t let his existence interfere with my
own.

  Ve’tani didn’t sound completely confident that this would work, though. That bothered me.

  Matthaya reached for one of Derek’s wrists.

  But it had to work.

  I hesitated, staring at Matthaya for some kind of assurance that what we were about to do was the right thing. He didn’t have to say a word for me to sense his feelings. They convinced me that it was our only chance—that we had to try.

  I reached for Derek’s other wrist and his arm tensed in my grasp. “You’re sure it won’t… hurt him?” I glared back at Ve’tani and her fierce golden eyes gazed back at me, an air of smugness to her expression.

  “Oh, it will hurt, but pain is better than death.” She smirked. “Is it not?”

  What kind of creature found joy in someone else’s suffering? Ve’tani really was a monster.

  “It’s the price he must pay,” Matthaya said. He was fairly confident that this would work, despite whatever side effects occurred.

  I lifted Derek’s hand higher and then bent down until my face was within inches of his wrist. Anxiety surged through me as I neared his skin, and I felt the intense urge to pull away, my instincts compelling me not to do what I was intending.

  Matthaya came down toward his other wrist and a glint of green light flitted through his eyes as his jaws eased open. He, too, had to shake off the uneasiness.

  We weren’t supposed to bite our own kind. It was ingrained in us to avoid it and to fear it.

  I inched closer to the darkened, red-purple veins beneath Derek’s skin and my vision began to shift, changing colors as light in my eyes ignited. I couldn’t control the rage billowing inside me—a vivid, feral desire to retreat from the foreign, undesirable blood of another vampire.

  But I knew I had to do it. I needed to free myself from his control.

  My mouth opened and my fangs closed in on the fragile skin of his wrists. As I sunk my teeth into his veins, he cringed and let out a low, forceful huff, falling forward. Our grasps on him tightened as a potent, bitter taste hit my mouth and my jaw clamped down. Heat pressed through me—my venom propelling into his bloodstream.