by Mikel Wilson
"How did this happen?” her mother asked.
Lillith had never seen such weakness. Her mother was the strongest black woman she had ever known. She kept her athletic build by working out three times a week without fail. Whether she was sick or not, she trained. She took excellent care of herself. Her long braids were always shiny, her skin was nearly flawless, she had never looked her age, and she’d never shown so much as a sliver of weakness. As both a mother and a nurse, she faced everything head-on. Being a single mother had never been easy on her. Lillith had learned as a child never to ask about her father, whom she had figured had aban‐ doned them because of her. Even when Lillith built up her courage to ask for any information about him, the answers were very vague as her mother always spaced out while speaking about him.
“Mother, we were attacked by a vampire. He said something about being an Elite, and he wanted Mack‐ inzie to be his bride while I serve in his court. I'm not lying, Mother, I swear, it really happened!” Lillith sobbed as the darker side of her transformation receded at the emotional reactions from both Mackinzie’s mother and her own.
Her mother, Alisha, took a deep breath and rose from her knees to slowly sink into a chair. She got her breathing under control and was able to explain what she knew.
“I know, baby, I know it’s real. When Susan and I were young, something similar happened. The vampires
invaded our small California town, and if it weren’t for a young girl they called a slayer, or maybe it was a hunter, we would be dead... Or worse, maybe even one of them. My parents and Susan's parents fled that town and came here, hoping it was just a bad dream. But now, twenty years later, it’s happening again.
"Mom! What's going on? Why is this happening to us?" Lillith inquired, her hands trembling.
“I don't know, I didn’t understand it then either. All I know is that there was a lot of bloodshed, deaths, and the papers and everyone just covered it up. All the missing people and unexplained deaths. Those creatures came and tried to destroy everything we held dear. They said it was a plague, but we knew it was something not natural.”
Lillith’s anger grew as she listened, and her eyes slowly turned to nearly an amber-red as she asked, "Why didn't you tell us about this? Maybe we could've been prepared! Why did you keep this from us? Did they kill my father?"
“No, sweetheart, they didn't kill your father. I promise, one day you will know about him, but now is just not the time.” She spoke with such emotion that her entire body trembled. Lillith knew it had to be something to do with this, but she couldn’t figure what exactly could cause her mother to be so upset.
They sat in silence for a little while before Alisha walked calmly over to her daughter and asked, “How is the hunger, child?”
“Getting bad, Mom.” Lillith could feel herself weakening.
“I will go to the hospital and get some blood for you;
do not give in and begin feeding. It will change you. Call Mackinzie, have her and her parents here when I get back please. This is very important; we must get a handle on this hunger before you lose your humanity.”
Lillith texted Mackinzie, asking her to come over, but there was no reply, so she called and again, no reply. She worried something was wrong, so she decided to walk the short distance back to Mackinzie’s house. As she approached, she noticed the house looked dark and quiet, which was odd since she hadn’t been gone that long. She walked up the steps and rang the doorbell several times, but no one answered. Now really scared about what may have happened, she began knocking frantically and with the last hard knock, the latch gave, and the door creaked slowly open.
As she moved into the utter darkness, she stepped into something wet. The room smelled of blood, driving Lillith’s heightened senses crazy, and when she flipped on the light, she couldn’t believe what she saw. The horrors of what was left of Mackinzie's parents were lying face down on the living room floor, both bitten.
Lillith’s shock didn’t last long before the sight and smell of the blood triggered her animalistic tendencies. She tried to fight it, but she just wasn't strong enough. Without even realizing she’d moved, she was kneeling beside Mackinzie’s father and the fight was lost. She sank her teeth into his neck and began to feed.
He’d lost a lot of blood already, but Mackinzie’s dad was still alive as he weakly pleaded with her and tried to explain what had happened. “The man… He came here.
He said something to Mackinzie, and she did this to us. Please, please, I'm begging you to stop.”
As the blood did its job, Lillith came back to herself and stopped feeding. That’s when she could hear the softer sounds of voices from outside, and she walked over to the open balcony to find Mackinzie and Christian standing in the garden, talking quietly with each other. They turned as one to look at her, and she could see that both their faces were covered in blood.
“Your own parents! How could you do this to them, Mackinzie? They are your parents!”
“Yes, we talked about it, remember? They will be able to live forever now, just like us.” Mackinzie responded, sounding nearly brainwashed.
“Your mother is next,” Christian said as he bowed in greeting. “Then, we can go back to our island.” Kale appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, just as Christian turned toward him. It was as if he had summoned the driver and knew exactly when and where he’d make an appearance.
“We must get my soon to be queen’s parents and prepare them for the change,” the vampire said and Lillith felt uneasy at how quickly the other man obeyed.
Mackinzie wiped the blood from her lips and hugged Lillith. “Let's go make your mom a member of the family.” "Mom went to the hospital to get blood for us," Lillith started to explain without consciously meaning to give so much away, but before she could finish, Christian laughed. "It would seem you no longer need that either," he retorted, pointing to the blood drying on her chin.
Lillith quickly wiped her chin, and her heartbeat with terror at the thought of putting this curse upon her mother. She couldn't, could she? Then again, how could she live her life without her mom?
As Kale took Mackinzie’s parents to the van, the three of them walked to Lillith's house. The sound of the night rang through Lillith's ears. Every dog bark and howl of the wolves suddenly seemed to make sense to her.
"Unreal, isn’t it? It's amazing how a small change can open you up to the world you have always lived in and show you a side you never knew was possible. No longer are you hindered by your human restraints. You are now free," Christian declared as they made the short trip to Lillith’s home.
Lillith led them to the kitchen table and they sat to wait for her mom to get back.
Christian continued to explain things and talked of the glories of his home, the beauty of his castle, and the love of his people. All was well until Mackinzie asked about his father.
“He was a strong leader,” Christian responded, and his voice began to tremble as he went on. “I have been raised my entire life to be his heir although he never showed much interest in me. All I have ever wanted was to take the throne, to find my place as King of Taldor, to prove myself to my father. I shall finally be able to sleep peace‐ fully, no longer wondering if I could reach my full poten‐ tial because I will have reached it.
“My mother died when I was born, and he once told me that every time he saw my face, he saw her. It's a sad thing when a father can't show affection to his own son.”
Christian’s story was cut off when they heard Alisha entering the house.
Lillith ran to meet her, but her mother pushed her to the side quietly and whispered, “They are here, aren't they?” Lillith nodded, and her mother called out to them, telling them to come out.
As the pair entered the room, Christian bowed to her and introduced himself. “Hello, I’m sure you know by now that I am a vampire. To be more specific, I am Chris‐ tian of the Elite vampires, soon to be king of Taldor. I have come to offer you a life where you will never age,
never die.”
He began to move toward her, and Alisha took a step backward. She held one hand out in a defensive motion as she slid a stake from behind her back with the other. "Stay there, I don't want to hurt you."
“Hurt me?” Christian laughed. “I now see where your daughter gets her strength. You human women are just too much; you think so highly of yourselves that you don't even fear for your life as you stand in the presence of royalty. For your age, you are quite beautiful, wouldn't you like to live that age forever? I'm offering you a gift."
“And I'm offering you a chance to leave my home, Christian of the Elites. I will only make the offer once before you become dust. It's your choice, vampire, leave or fight.”
Mackinzie and Lillith were completely shocked at Alisha's boldness, her strength, and her pure foolishness. She stood eye to eye with something far stronger than she, yet she stood unafraid. She stared down Christian with a confident smile as if she had a secret none of them knew.
Rather than attack the woman who openly mocked and challenged him, Christian turned his attention to his bride to be and her best friend before again bowing. “I shall not disrespect your home, my dear, but know this... We shall be family soon enough. Just remember that soon, you will have to join us.”
“The only joining will be you joining the countless vampires that have fallen. Whatever you bloodsuckers are planning will not come to pass; that I promise you,” Alisha announced firmly, her homemade stake still held tightly in her grip.
Christian slowly walked past Alisha, turning when he stood at the door and keeping an eye on Alisha, who kept her back to him, seemingly without a care.
Lillith held Mackinzie in place to keep her from following him. “Stay here. I don't know what's going on, but we need to find out. Okay?”
Christian looked at the girls and smiled. “I will see you at sunset, ladies... And you too, Miss Alisha. I really like you,” he said with a grin that showed his fangs.
"Vampire, it's obvious to me that you don't know what side you're on,” Alisha responded as she turned. “I remember you saying that you are soon to be king. Is this the example that you want to set? Maybe you can rise to the occasion and be the king your people truly need, or maybe you’ll just be the arrogant vampire that I see before me... No more, no less."
"You will all learn your place soon enough," Christian announced before exiting the house with a sinister laugh.
“Mom! Spill! What exactly is going on? How do you know so much about vampires?”
“Mackinzie, where are your parents?” Alisha asked as she got a good look at Lillith's shirt, which was covered in blood. Mackinzie’s shirt also showed blood stains, and dried blood still covered her chin.
“We turned them. Christian said it was the only way we could truly be family.”
“And you?” Alisha asked as she eyed Lillith’s shirt. “Were you a part of that?”
“The thirst got the best of me, and I couldn’t help myself. I fed, but they were already turned, Mom. I swear.”
Alisha shook her head in disgust as moved to a chair and sat down. “You girls, sit, we have much to discuss.” As Lillith and Mackinzie moved to the couch, she began to explain. “The reason I know so much about vampires is because I once fought them. I was the first vampire slayer to be born in nearly one hundred years. When I was still a young woman, California was under attack, and it was up to me to fight them back. Along with a group of vampire hunters, we succeeded in driving them back to their island, but it was a brutal fight. With so many casualties, our parents decided we needed a fresh slate, so we moved here. We didn't want you girls to know the dangers of war or about the other side, but it seems the war is once again coming, and you two girls are on the wrong side of it.”
"Mom, do you know how strong he is? He could've killed you," Lillith cried.
"No, he would've dropped where he stood," Alisha replied, flipping the pointed stake in the air and catching it with the opposite hand before twirling it around and placing it in her back pocket. “You see girls, I have faced ones like that before, and he is exactly the same as they were. He’s arrogant, and so sure of his powers over humans. I am something far different. I am a vampire hunter. At a young age, I was found through some prophecy, and I was trained by the council to be stronger, faster, and more skilled than the vampires. I did my job in California, and I’ll do it now.”
Alisha paused, seeming to gather her thoughts before turning her attention to Mackinzie. “I saved your mother from a breed of evil vampires called the ancients. They nearly killed her, but I turned them all to dust to save my best friend...” Her voice broke as she continued. “...Only for her to be turned into a bloodsucker by her own daughter! Susan deserved better than that, your father deserved better than that.”
Lillith watched as her mother took a deep breath and shook herself, straightening. “I have so much to do. Most importantly, I have to get your parents back before they are fully turned, but first, I must contact the council to inform them that the vampires have once again returned.”
Chapter Three
Alisha left the house to see what she could get done, and Mackinzie and Lillith were left alone, staring at each other in shock at what they had just heard.
“Christian doesn't seem like the vampires she talked about. He seems gentle in a way. You know how parents are always overreacting,” Mackinzie said.
“That's true, but my mom has always seemed to be hiding something from me. Now I’m wondering what else she hasn't told me?” Angry, Lillith stood and put on her jacket. “Let's go find Christian. Maybe he can fill us in because it's obvious to me that there is much more going on than we know.”
As the girls walked up the street, they could hear the night calling to them. It was as if the sound of wolves howling filled the air. They had become creatures of the night, and with each person they passed on the sidewalk, their animalistic hunger grew and rumbled inside them.
“The hunger is returning, Lillith. I can feel it putting me on edge,” Mackinzie cried, holding her stomach.
“I can feel it too, Mackinzie,” Lillith responded even as she tried to control herself. "We cannot give in! Come on, let’s just see if we can find Christian. We can start with that alley he left us in yesterday."
As they headed in that direction, they were bumping into people moving too slowly, not realizing the danger these two teenage girls presented. The girls managed to keep their thirst under control and finally, they reached the alley. Walking to the other end, they found Prince Christian standing as if waiting for them, arms folded across his chest. Mackinzie’s parents stood beside him, and Kale stood slightly behind the trio. It looked like they were awaiting the girls’ arrival.
“My soon to be queen,” Christian called to Mackinzie, “I am so happy you have returned. You too, Lillith. I am happy you have decided to come with me. It is nearly time for us to return home.”
Christian turned and led them all to the van where they filed in and rode to the port and toward what he told them was his vessel. As they exited the van, another vessel arrived, flying the flag of Christian’s home. This one wasn't as large as his, but it was obvious that it carried some type of significance judging by the looks that Kale and Christian exchanged.
A young woman excited, wearing a long flowing green dress, her red hair blowing in the night’s breeze. She leveled green eyes on them as she bowed to Christian.
“Dawn, what in the nine realms has caused you to make the trip between this one and ours?”
“My lord, you have been gone far too long. There is trouble on Taldor; your soon to be kingdom is threatened.”
“Speak,” Prince Christian ordered, his hands behind his back as he began to pace.
“The counselor, Maximus, is plotting to take the throne from you, saying you are unworthy to sit upon it. General Robert plans to initiate a Rising challenge and he has the support of the army. They plan to take the ring from your finger and have you imprisoned.”
“How did you escape to tell me this?” He questioned, wondering if she was telling him the truth.
She slowly bowed her head and handed him a scroll with a seal on it. Christian recognized it as the mark of King Alexander's best friend and most trusted advisor, Jacob. He broke the seal and leaned against the van as he read the scroll.
“And how is Jacob now?” Christian asked when he’d finished.
“Dead, my lord. He gave his life so that I might warn you.”
“I am going to take my throne!” Christian spat.
“My lord, not to speak out of turn, but perhaps, you should stay here where it's safe, where you and your bride can make a new life.”
“Bride? I am not his bride!” Mackinzie asserted.
Dawn bowed to both Mackinzie and Lillith and apologized for her error, although she looked confused about what that error was exactly.
Lillith smirked while Christian angrily explained as he nodded toward Mackinzie, “You were almost correct. She will be my queen.”
“Ah,” Dawn said, nodding in understanding. Well then, I'm sure your soon to be queen will make sure you are happy here in her world.”
“My father raised no coward,” Christian snapped. “Dawn, you must train the girls before we go home. If it is war they want, it is war they will get.”
Lillith quickly darted in front of Christian. “I don't recall us saying we would be fighting in any war for you, and Mackinzie doesn't want to marry you. Are you hard of hearing or just a fool?”
Dawn jumped between them and struck Lillith in the face. Lillith quickly returned fire with a punch as they began circling and sizing each other up.
“This should be good,” Christian observed as he watched intently.
Lillith carefully observed Dawns movements, keeping a steady pace with her as they circled until finally moving forward to try to sweep Dawn’s foot out from under her. Dawn stumbled but didn’t go down, and Lillith scored with an uppercut. Dawn took the blow flush in the face and didn't flinch as her eyes turned red and she grabbed Lillith’s hair, pulling her down and slamming her face into the pavement.