Last Teardrop (The Chronicles of Amber Harris), Page 2

  ***

  It was a nice fall afternoon. Fall was my favorite time of year. I know most people when asked why, will tell you that they love to see the leaves changing, but for me it was the weather. The spring was always too wet, summer was hot and muggy, and I could never seem to be warm enough in the winter. Fall, back then, was just right. I could be comfortable during the day and have a nice quilt to curl up under at night.

  On that fall day, Mother sent me to bring a plate of food to an elderly neighbor, who was no longer able to cook for herself. I generally did not walk that distance alone, but my walking partner, William, my younger brother was sick, and Father and my oldest brother, James, were working late on the dam that broke a few weeks before. “Do not worry, Mother, I will be fine. I will run up the road and be right back. I promise it will not take me long.” Mother had that worried look on her face, but she knew I was right, it would not be the first time I went out alone. “If it makes you feel better, I can wait for Father and James to come home and have one of them walk with me.”

  “No dear, I am sure you will be fine, just please hurry back.”

  I smiled and kissed her on the cheek as I left the house. I truly enjoyed the nice quiet walk alone. It was not dark yet, and I knew if I hurried, I would make it back before then.

  On arrival to Mrs. Leavers’ house, I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I decided it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Even though I wanted to deliver the meal, it was getting dark faster than usual, and I was starting to get worried. I shook the feeling off that someone was watching me, and knocked rather loudly on the huge wooden door. Mrs. Leavers’ husband died about ten years before, and their only son had taken ill and died when I was a baby. I believe my father and their son were good friends and about the same age. Because of this, my parents were always very close to the family. I used to come over as a child and help pick apples in the backyard. The Leavers always let me keep all the apples I was able to pick. When the couple became too old to take care of the apple trees, they paid James and some friends to cut the trees down and sold the wood. My mother bought some, and would use it in the stove to bring an apple smell to her baking.

  It took Mrs. Leavers a few minutes to get to the door. When her frail frame opened the door, she was very happy to see me with the food.

  “Come in child, I do not want to leave you standing out in the cold. Where are your brothers? You know it is not safe for you to be out alone?”

  Even in her old age she was very thoughtful. “James and father are still working, and William is sick again. Mother is worried, he has not eaten anything all day.” I did not mean to upset the old lady, but I could see after all those years, it still worried her to hear about a young child being ill.

  “I hope your mother has called for the doctor to come see him.”

  “Yes, she has, he will be over first thing in the morning.” This answer seemed to make her happy.

  “That’s good. Now let’s see what wonderful things your kind mother has sent over for me today. Do not tell the others, your mother's cooking is my favorite. I am sure anyone that has ever tasted it will agree.”

  I always thought Mrs. Leavers was sweet, but a little crazy. Every time I brought a plate over, she would tell me the same thing. I wondered if I would be that way when I became old. “Today’s meal consists of chicken, corn on the cob, a buttermilk biscuit, and a slice of cherry pie. Everything is fresh out the oven and should still be warm.”

  “Oh, thank you, dear. And please thank your mother for such a wonderful meal. Now run along home before it gets dark.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Leavers. Is there anything I can do for you before I leave?”

  “No, thank you, I should be fine for the evening.”

  As I turned to leave, I saw she was already getting settled at her table for dinner. “I will see you next week Mrs. Leavers.” I did not hear her reply, but I am sure she did not hear my last statement.

  Once outside, I noticed that the temperature had dropped a little. Wishing I had brought my heavier shawl, I picked up the pace to get back home. I still felt as if someone was watching me. It was such a weird feeling that I could not shake. As I passed a cluster of bushes and trees, I heard the leaves rustle. I stopped and looked up, thinking it must be some small animal. I watched in terror as the tree branches began to bend in a way that no small animal could do. My heart beat quickened, and I turned to run. Behind me, I heard a thud as something heavy hit the ground. Before I was able to take two steps, I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I was just about to scream when I heard a light laugh, a familiar laugh. I turned to see Robert standing there grinning.

  I knew Robert my whole life. We were the same age.

  “Oh, Amber, you scare so easily.”

  “Robert, how could you! I do not find that funny at all.” My words stammered from my lips and I yanked my shoulder from his grip. “Why are you out so late, and why are you following me?” The smile dropped from Robert’s face. He saw that I was not happy with him, and knew he needed to fix things. I knew he liked me; my parents talked about us marrying one day. When I thought about it, I could see him being my husband; however, that did not excuse him from giving me such a fright.

  “I stopped by your house to see if you wanted to take a walk with me before it was too late. Your mother told me where you were. I decided to wait for you to come from Mrs. Leavers’ house, so I could walk you home. I only wanted to surprise you, not scare you. Please forgive me, I meant no harm. May I walk you home?”

  I took a deep breath and thought about telling him ‘no’, but I did enjoy his company, and had not seen him all day. “Yes, Robert, it would be nice to walk home with you.” The smile spread back across his face as we turned to head toward the house. Sometimes when Robert smiled really big, I was able to see all of his perfectly sharp white teeth. His teeth were sharper looking than anyone I had ever seen before. Still, there was something about his smile that warmed my heart. Those last few months, I had found Robert to be more attractive. He stood at an even six feet, with sandy blond hair, brown eyes and a dimple on each cheek. He had a pale complexion. It was rather strange. He helped out on his parents’ farm, but his skin never seemed to reflect being kissed by the sun. As we walked back to my house, he joked about the look on my face as he jumped out of the tree. I did not find any of it funny. I reminded him of Judy, a girl we also grew up with, who was missing. She disappeared two months before. She told her mother she was going for a short walk and never returned home. Remembering that, Robert became more serious.

  “Do not worry Amber, I am always watching out for you. I promise I will not ever let anything happen to you.”

  He stopped walking and grabbed my hand. I stopped as well, to look up at him. He flashed another toothy smile at me, and then he slowly brought my hand to his lips. I was startled by this and began to pull my hand back, worrying that someone would see us. I removed my hand from his grasp just in time. From the bushes, I saw this fast moving blur. In the blink of an eye, there was a tall man holding Robert by the head. He gave me such a scary look that I did not know what to do. Should I run, scream, pass out? I looked into Robert’s eyes as he struggled to no avail to get away from this man.

  “Run, Amber!” was all I heard, all I needed to be told. I turned to dart towards the closest house. It was a few hundred feet away. That is when I heard the awful cracking noise. To this day, I still have not forgotten what that noise sounded like-the hair raising sound of something breaking, something that was not supposed to break-rang loudly in my ears. It made a frightful snapping and grinding noise, like a limb of a tree breaking, and then being ground into a stone all at the same time.

  I stopped and turned back to look. What I saw was something my eyes just would not let my brain process. That man, the one who had just rushed out of the bushes, and was just holding Robert with such a tight grip, had broken his neck. From where I stood, it appeared to me as if he
was biting Robert's neck. I started to scream when I felt this cold hand cover my mouth,

  “Shh child, it is too late for him.”

  I was unable to turn around; the grip over my face was too tight. All of a sudden, it felt as if I was flying. Everything around me was moving very quickly.

  I was not flying though; I was on someone’s back. It appeared to be a woman. She had long brown hair that was tangling itself around my face from the speed at which she was running. I was unable to see her face and too scared to ask any questions. I had many questions like: what did she mean by it was too late for Robert? Where was she taking me? How was she moving so fast? Instead of asking, I just held on. Soon we came to a clearing. There appeared to be a small cave. The woman slowed her pace, but before she could come to a complete stop, two other individuals emerged from the cave.

  It was two males, and they did not look happy to see me with her. The woman came to a full stop and dropped me. I fell hard on my backside, biting down on my lip to resist crying out from the harsh landing. I contemplated running, but thought it may not be wise, considering how fast the woman was able to run. I looked around and had no idea where I was or how long or far we had traveled. Whispers of a broken conversation brushed by me and I noticed the group was talking. I was unable to hear what the three were saying; however, it gave me a chance to get a better look at them. The female who carried me, looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties with long shiny, brown hair. She was about five foot five-close to my height, maybe an inch shorter, very slim and pale. It seemed that she had bluish-gray eyes, but it was getting dark, so I was not too sure. The man on her left was taller, maybe six feet, with shoulder length black hair, and was also slender and pale. He appeared to be the oldest of the group. He had fierce looking black eyes that matched his hair. The other man on her right looked to be about nineteen, not much older than me. Out of the three, he seemed to be calmest. He was about five foot ten, short red hair, and freckles that covered his face. His eyes were a bright green and his complexion too was pale. Their voices rose and I wondered what they were arguing about. I started to move forward to hear what they were saying. I tried to be as quiet as possible, but for some odd reason, all three heads turned and looked at me at the same moment.

  I will never forget the looks they gave me. Those three sets of eyes staring back at me stopped me in my tracks. It felt as if their eyes could burn right through me. My body froze and my mind went blank for a second. Then I suddenly thought about Robert. Were they about to do to me what that man did to poor Robert? Before I could think to move, the woman moved very swiftly toward me. She grabbed me by the front of my dress and pulled me to my feet. She started towing me toward the cave the others had disappeared into. I do not know what came over me, and before I could stop myself I started talking. “Where are we? What is going on? What happened to Robert?” I was trembling and tripping over my own two feet, as she hauled me further into the dark cave. “Please let me go. Please!”

  She stopped, her eyes seemed to be glowing red around the outer ring of her pupils and a slight snarl slipped from her lips. “You fool. Did you not see what he did to your friend? Surely he will do the same to you, if I let you go. He will find you. He will hunt you down, along with any and everybody you are near. I have caused enough trouble by bringing you here. If that boy did not care for you the way he did… I might have just left you.”

  Taking a breath, she tried to calm herself. Her face softened slightly. “The look in his eyes is the only reason you are still standing here.”

  I had no idea what she meant by ‘the look in his eyes’. My face must have had confusion written all over it.

  “You silly little girl, come along.”

  I felt the tears running down my face. I had not cried since I was a little girl being carried in the house by Father, after falling and scraping my knees; however, more tears were to come as the night went on.

  Once in the cave, I had trouble seeing as it was very dark. I wondered how the woman dragging me by my arm knew where to go with how dark it was. I tried to take in my surroundings, but I could not see anything. I could hear a light wind blowing behind me in the entrance, the sound of flowing water, and a weird fluttering noise. It was much colder in the cave than outside, and I tried not to chatter my teeth. It was a useless attempt. Between the cold and my nerves being on edge, I could not help myself. Soon I heard voices. I was not able to hear what they were saying, but there was harshness in their tones. As we moved closer, I was able to pick up on what they are saying.

  “She is no use to us. If we leave tonight we can head back home.”

  “Do you really think that will stop him? He knows we are here now. We should not leave until we find and kill him.”

  “What about the girl? She has already seen too much.”

  As we entered a small tunnel off to the right of the cave, the two men stop talking, and it seemed as if they turned to face us.

  The woman pushed me down ordering me to stay put. I was still unable to see any of their faces but she said to one of the men. “She’s cold, light a fire.” Once again, I heard what sounded like a snarl, then movement. In an instant there was a fire glowing a few feet away from me. That gave me a chance to look around. The fluttering noise I heard earlier was coming from bats flying over our heads. The walls of the cave were black and in some spots there was water dripping down the sides. The woman and two men were standing on the other side of the fire talking quietly to each other. I was still cold, so I tried to scoot a little closer to the fire. The moment I moved, all three of my captors made a circle around me.

  The tall man with dark hair leaned forward. “She does not listen very well, does she?”

  The woman smiled. “No she does not. She also is not very thankful, and she has too many questions.”

  With the three of them around me, it seemed as if the temperature had dropped. “I was not going anywhere. I just wanted to be a little closer to the fire.” This came out of my mouth like a whisper, which surprised even me, as I was not known for having a quiet voice. They moved away from the fire and I could feel the warmth start to seep in.

  “Maybe we should just drink her blood. She is only going to get in the way, and as you stated, if she tries to go back home, he will surely kill her. I am sure he is out looking for the both of you right now.”

  I was cold and scared, but I thought I was having trouble understanding what one of the men just said. I could not comprehend why the three of them would drink my blood, or why the other man would want to kill me. I could not speak, I gasped for air and I felt the tears running down my face, again.

  The redheaded boy came to stand over me. “Hmm, the scent of your tears makes you smell even better.”

  The woman stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the redheaded boy.

  “Enough Christopher, she is already scared and we need to figure out what to do with her.”

  Again, I looked up and had three pairs of glowing eyes examining me.

  “I already told you what we should do with her. I am really hungry.”

  The taller man stepped forward and yelled, “Stop! You know this is no time to be joking. We are running out of time and options. We need to think of what our next steps will be and quickly.”

  I was wondering at that moment, how I could have thought that the younger redheaded boy could have seemed to be the nicer and calmer one out of the three. The look on his face did not depict the stare from his eyes. If looks could kill, I would have died right then and there.

  There were so many questions still running through my brain. Before I had a chance to let any of them slip from my lips, there was a loud crashing sound that came from the opening of the cave. The three captors took off running. The woman stopped and turned around to look at me.

  “If you move before we get back, I will kill you myself.”

  She then took off after the two men. The next few minutes
went by very slowly. I did not hear anything besides the dripping of the water, and a few bats flying over my head. I am sure my mind was playing tricks on me, but after a while everything grew eerily quiet. I wondered if my three captors had decided to leave, but I was also too scared to move, just in case they were testing me. Finally I heard a noise, it sounded like fast moving feet coming toward me. Panic shook throughout my body. Was it my captors? Could it be the man that hurt Robert? Should I try to hide? I did not have a chance to react. My redheaded captor came back into the cave. I was not sure if I should have been relieved or even more worried. He must have seen the stress on my face because he slowed his pace.

  “Olivia and Isaac have gone after Jackson. I think he had a far enough lead once again for them not to find him. They have instructed me to stay here with you and to behave myself.” He snickered at the last part of his statement.

  I noticed the way he was looking at me. It reminded me of an animal watching its prey, with its head cock to the side just before it pounces. I started to slide backwards on my hands and butt. I only moved an inch or two before he spoke again.

  “Do not be afraid, I gave my word to the others that I will not hurt you. I am not quite sure why Olivia decided to save you, but I guess I will leave you in one piece until she gets back. What is your name?”

  I was unsure of what to think about the redheaded boy. Once again, he was looking calm and relaxed unlike the person I saw before me a few moments prior.

  I was wondering how he could go from one extreme to another so quickly, then I realized I had not answered his question. “My name is Ambrosia, Ambrosia Wilson. Why do you want to kill me, and why did that man kill Robert?”

  The redheaded boy laughed, and I wondered what I said that could be so funny.

  “You are a bold one aren’t you? I was the one asking the questions. Ambrosia? That is an unusual name. I do not believe many people use that name anymore. Do you know what it means?”

  “No, I do not, it is a family name. I was named after my great-great grandmother. Everyone calls me Amber for short.” He seemed amused by my answer. I watched as his lips twitch, as if he wanted to smile.

  “I believe Amber is a suiting nickname for you. Your hair and eyes both seem to be an ocher color.” Moving swiftly, he placed himself in front of me. He leaned forward and reached out to brush one of my stray hairs behind my ear. I jerked back ever so slightly. He noticed my movement and sighed, then dropped his hand.

  “Are you going to ask me what my name is?”

  He still had not answered my question about Robert. I questioned if he was playing a game. I decided to play along, hoping it would give me the answers I need. “I overheard the woman call you, Christopher. I assumed that was your name, is it not?” Before answering me he moved to sit down next to me. Not too close, yet close enough for me to see his face a little better. His eyes were mesmerizing, not only were they a brilliant green, but they seemed to have flecks of gold in them. I was certain it was just the light from the fire, although, it was very hard to break eye contact with him. It felt as if I was being pulled toward him. He must have observed me staring so intently into his eyes because he broke contact.

  “Do not do that, it can be very dangerous.”

  I was confused, what could be dangerous? He did not give me a chance to clarify as he continued talking.

  “Yes, my name is Christopher, and you can say that I am nineteen. At least I look nineteen, so I guess we can work with that.”

  I was shocked that he knew I was attempting to guess his age. I tried to speak again, except he began to talk first. “Like I said, I do not know why Olivia brought you here. Once she comes back we will hopefully find out. Jackson will most likely run them out east. I am hoping Olivia and Isaac will not go too far before they decide to come back.”

  He paused and I used that time to finally speak. “How did you know that I was trying to guess your age?”

  He smiled, “Because when you looked into my eyes, I was able to make a connection with your thoughts. I did not see too much because I broke eye contact. It can be dangerous for me to pull too many thoughts out of a humans head at once. It can cause memory loss if I am not careful.”

  This was not something I expected to hear. However, I also was not expecting to be sitting in a cave talking to someone who referred to others as humans--like he was not one himself. I thought this was very silly. “Are you trying to tell me that you can read my mind?” My misunderstanding must have been upsetting him, I heard him sigh.

  “No, I am not able to really read your thoughts. I can pick up on things that you are thinking when I make eye contact with you. It is like if someone was trying to talk to you from a distance and you only hear a few words out of the conversation. Though, if I stare too long into your eyes, I am able to pull the thoughts out more clearly, which like I said, if I am not careful, I can leave you with memory loss of that thought. Olivia said that you and a young man were out walking late. Why would a girl your age be out so late?”

  He was confusing me, again. He changed the subject without making sure I had a good understanding of what he was telling me. I decided to just try to keep him happy, and attempt to answer all of his questions.

  “Mother sent me to drop off a plate of food for one of our elder neighbors who is unable to cook. One of my brothers normally goes with me, but one was working late and the other was sick.”

  That is when it hit me. I was so worried about where I was, and what happened to Robert, that I did not even think about my family. “I have to go, I must go now. My parents will be very worried. What if that man, Jackson, hurts them too? I must leave.” I stood up and started to move toward the tunnel when I felt a cool hand grab my wrist.

  “Amber, I’m sorry but you cannot go home. Ever.”

  I spun around with tears running down my cheeks. “What do you mean? I do not understand. Who are you? Why did he kill Robert? Why can’t I go home? What about my family?” I started shaking uncontrollably. In response to my questions, Christopher pulled me into his arms and let me cry.

  I sobbed until the others rejoined us. I did not hear anyone coming, but Christopher must have, because he started talking before the other two figures appeared out of the tunnel.

  “Did you catch him?”

  The man and woman came toward us. I turned my head while still in Christopher’s arms to see them come from under the shadows.

  “No we did not. We lost his trail approximately forty miles out. I believe he might have crossed the lake. We did not want to waste more time trying to follow him through the water. Olivia was worried he would backtrack this way to find the two of you.”

  Olivia grinned as she moved closer. “It is nice to see that you two are becoming fast friends.”

  I felt Christopher’s green eyes searching my face. Before I had a chance to meet his gaze, he let me go and walked to the other side of the fire.

  “Your new friend has a few questions for you, Olivia.”

  She walked over to me and placed her cold hand on my cheek. “I know that this may be hard for you, but I will try to answer all of your questions to the best of my ability. Sit down by the fire, I know you must be cold.”

  2

  How We Came to Be

  After what seemed like hours of talking, I still did not have all the answers I wanted. And now they were looking at me, wanting from me what I believe was the biggest decision of my human life. I looked each one of them in the face, making sure not to make eye contact too long with Christopher. “I just need a little while to think about this. It is a lot to take in.” In the last few hours, they had explained that they were not humans, they were these creatures called vampires.

  Isaac, the tall long dark haired man, did most of the talking. He described the untold story of the Bubonic plague and how he, Olivia, Christopher and other vampires came to be. Following the plague that swept through Europe, there were four groups of
people: those who were unaffected by the disease, others who were affected, treated and survived. The individuals who lost their lives and one last group that no one talked about. This small group of people after receiving the standard treatment, which then was to be bled out by leeches, did not react well to the massive loss of blood. Instead of curing the plague, it altered something in their bodies. Doctors did not know what to do. In some cases to help relieve the pain that the patient was in, the doctors would give them an overdose of analgesics. This did not work.

  The doctors assumed that their patient’s breathing would slowly come to a stop, and cease their pain and agony. By the doctors slowing down their heart rate, it gave the new unforeseen virus a chance to alter the patient’s body much quicker. Without the heart pumping blood as swiftly as it normally would, the new cells that were forming, multiplied exponentially destroying the old cells. Since there were no hospitals, most patients were left at home to be tended to by their loved ones after the doctor was done making the house call. Because of this, family members would check on their sick relative in the middle of the night to see if they were still breathing, only to find empty beds. News began to spread of missing bodies, and figures of loved ones lurking in the night. In addition, there were dead bodies of patient’s family members being discovered in the middle of the streets. There was a panic; no one understood what was going on.

  The three vampires sitting before me could not truly explain it, since they were not first generation vampires. From what they did grasp, the patients that the doctors overdosed would wake up and feel perfectly fine, even better than before they were sick. They noticed they were now capable of doing things they could only dream of doing previously. These healed people were able to hear and see much clearer. Those who once needed eyewear no longer needed them to see. They could pick up things the average person would not be able to lift, and they could run faster than the human eye could detect. The only downfall to these new super humans was their feeding habits. They could stomach small portions of regular food; however, it had no real appeal. It took weeks of missing and dead bodies showing up before people started to think that it could possibly be these super humans killing fellow town members.

  Once the transformation was complete, not all the new healed super humans stayed home with their loved ones. Those who did found that the sound of the beating heart and the scent of their family members, were calling to them in a way they had not noticed before. Some vampires tried to stop themselves, but sooner or later, they would break. And before they knew it, they were drinking the blood of their loved ones, or anyone else that would come too close in their time of hunger. People were afraid to go out. Meetings were held in the villages to figure out what to do.

  As time past, those who had become super humans found that the town people had had enough, and started hunting them. Communities had decided whatever had transformed these humans into the blood drinking creatures, could not be godly and should be destroyed. Though the transformed beings were much stronger and faster than the average human, they found that during the day, they were the weakest and most vulnerable. Mobs were taking down the predators one at a time. Most vampires-the commonly used named for the new creatures-were able to escape, and fled deep into the hills and woods. They realized that even though they were stronger than the humans, they were no match for the midday mobs who sought them out.

  In the wilderness, the vampires learned to fine-tune their abilities. Some vampires chose to stay on their own, but most found it easier to live in small groups. They still preferred human blood and if there were hunters, campers, or people who just had the misfortune of passing through, the vampires were quick to make a meal out of them. If there were no visitors to the woods, the vampires would survive off of anything with a pulse. As time went on, the vampires realized that they were able to turn humans who did not have the plague into vampires. It was not an easy task, but if there was more than one vampire, the transformation moved quicker.

  One day while a man was out hunting, a pair of vampires decided to make him a meal. One vampire can easily drain a body of its blood in one sitting, although all of that blood is not needed to survive. While attempting to feed from the man, he began to fight back. In his struggle, he bit one of his attackers. The vampires instantly noticed a change in the taste of his blood and stopped feeding. Not quite understanding why the taste of the blood turned so bitter, they stood back to observe what they soon realized was the transformation of a human to vampire.

  No vampire had ever tried to feed off another, because there was no true appeal. Though a vampire’s heart still beats, it pumps blood very slowly. Because of the transformation, vampires no longer needed as much blood flowing through their bodies, which causes their heartbeats to be undetected by those without sensitive hearing. The transformation was a long process, which at different points the person could feel like every muscle in their body was being shredded and ripped. When the process was completed, the new vampire had all of the strengths of a vampire changed by the plague. The news of this transformation spread very quickly in the new formed vampire world. Soon other vampires were trying to turn other humans they came into contact with.

  Towns and villages were still on high alert, and would attack any vampire that came within the borders, so the transformations only took place when a human would be caught off guard in the wilderness. Vampires found that the transformation could happen with one or more vampires. The vampires sitting in front of me joked that it takes a village to raise a vampire. Human adults have an average of ten pints of blood in their bodies. Vampires have roughly five pints. When a human is transformed into a vampire, they must be drained of more than three-quarters of their blood for the vampire’s blood to take effect.

  If the vampire(s) and human are not exchanging blood once the human body hits this point the transformation will not work. Also, since one vampire body does not contain as much blood, the process will be much slower. With less blood entering its new host than what is leaving, it will take more time. The more donors during transformation the faster the vampire blood will have a chance to work. Another reason for having more than one vampire assist with the transformation, is that the new vampire will have a better chance of receiving a combination of all of their abilities, if the donors possess an ability, which some do not.

  While the vampire world was learning and growing as a new race, their estranged towns, villages, neighbors, and families were left to figure out what to do about the epidemic that had spread. Meetings were held, and governments got together to discuss what to do as a whole. Since the humans that had changed were in such small numbers, and the outcome of what would truly happen to them without food and shelter was unknown, everyone came to an understanding. It was to never be spoken of again.

  Evidence about those individuals who had become monsters was to be destroyed. Family members were instructed not to speak of those loved ones anymore, and anything that identified the lost souls was to be burned. Doctors were to destroy all journals they kept of these human beings that they treated. Any artifacts of the plague that was written was reviewed, any information about the monsters roaming the lands was not to see the light of day. Most people felt that if it was not spoken of things would go back to normal, and soon everyone would forget that the awful epidemic ever happened.

  In most cases, this plan went well. There were still groups of people on high alert, who would patrol their towns’ borders. And behind closed doors, there were always whispers of those who thought they may have seen something lurking in the shadows, or that a neighbor was harboring a family member who had not died or become well from the plague. As time past, people did forget. They went on with their lives, and became more comfortable going out alone and after dark. Only when another loved one would go missing were questions asked of what really happened to those banished creatures.

  This went on for decades. Here and there stories were told of those forgotten monsters that
lurked in the night. Eventually, through underground channels people began writing books. Even the law condemning the author or storyteller caught passing these stories around, to an automatic banishment from their home, safety, and shelter, did not stop people from telling the stories. As time went on, the books began to surface and circulate. Citizens were able to buy the books off the shelf of their local store. With every new generation some knowledge of: who, what, where, when, why and how, these creatures came to be was either lost or distorted. Most perceived what little bit of warped truth was left, was nothing more than a folklore.

  The three pale figures that sat before me, also explained that over the centuries the original humans that had morphed into these new creatures, the Elders, had become more violent as time passed. They were not sure if it had anything to do with the disease still wrecking havoc on their bodies or a new illness, but they had become true monsters, and were not content with living in the woods and feeding off of animals or stray souls that happened to wander into the depths of the forest. Most vampires were happy with the quiet life they were given, and did not take to the liking of an Elder vampire attacking a village and sending town people in to a panic-which would bring the mobs out to destroy their homes. It was decided that any Elder, who seemed to have lost all sense of reason and was only living for the lust of human blood, needed to be destroyed.

  Once the Elders who had become crazed with bloodlust, caught wind of the consequences their offspring were prepared to make should the Elder cross the line of good vampire to bad, most fled and went into hiding. The Elders hoped by fleeing from the small communities that had formed, they would have a better chance of feeding off of towns people and not be destroyed by the younger generation of vampires. The Elders no longer feed off of humans to quench their hunger, but took lives for the pure joy killing. Olivia told me how she once witnessed her Elder kill a person, and not truly feed from him. When she asked him why he took that man's life, he turned and smiled at her with blood dripping down his face and said, ‘I love to see the terror in their eyes when they know their life is going to end. That brings me more pleasure they their warm blood in my body.’ Before that time, she would have never thought about killing her Elder, she knew then that it would have to be done.

  As Olivia talked, I could only think of Robert and how that man, that vampire, snapped his neck. Before I knew it, I was crying, again. Christopher did not come to my side this time to comfort me. While I wiped the tears from my eyes, I could not help but to ask, “Did you kill him, your Elder?”

  She turned her head to the side, watching me like a feral cat, “Sweetheart, if I would had, you would not be sitting here, and your little friend would not be lying in a heap in the woods near your house.”

  That sent chills down my spine. I did not want to think of Robert being dead or discarded like the scraps of food mother threw away after dinner.

  Isaac spoke and broke my concentration, “Amber, you have two choices. Either you can come with us, and become one of us, or you can leave here and fend for yourself. If you choose to fend for yourself, it will be wise of you never to go back home, unless you want to sign a death warrant for you and your family. I cannot tell you that Jackson has left forever; I also cannot tell you that he will come back. Olivia, Christopher and myself have attempted to hunt him on and off for over two hundred years. He can be ruthless as Olivia has pointed out.” He paused before saying, “There are no other options that we are able to give you.”

  In one quick movement, Olivia was at my side. It startled me and I jumped. Christopher found it funny, “She is very skittish,” he joked.

  Olivia glared at him and his chuckling stopped. “Amber, this is a huge decision for you to have to make so quickly, I am sorry, we do not have a lot of time. As Isaac stated, we are unaware of what Jackson has planned for you now. We know that he is known to live and sometimes attack with other Elders, yet, we have not seen any others with him. He may be going back to get them to help find you. You were not supposed to see and survive everything that just happened. By becoming like us, you will have a better chance of fighting him off the next time your paths cross.”

  So many thoughts and questions swirled in my head, and I became very dizzy. As the fire before me began to spin, along with my captors, I felt the bile rise from my stomach. I tried to get up and hide what was about to happen, but my legs were not working. The dizziness overpowered me, and I could no longer keep it down. Before any of the vampires knew what to do, I threw up. Thankfully, I missed the three of them and my clothing. I slowly moved to the other side of the mess I made, and curled into a ball. I felt clammy all over and was not able to stop the shaking of my entire body. A weird silence settled in the cave, which was broken with an uncomfortable chuckle.

  I did not have to look up to guess who it came from. Christopher had moved very quietly to a different location of the cavern, “I take back that whole thing about you smelling really good to eat.”

  I glanced up just in time to see Olivia chuck a good size bolder-that I had no idea was even in the cave-at Christopher. Of course, he moved out the way before it hit him. I was unable to see it very well, though, I heard the boulder hit the cave wall and shattered into smaller pieces that crumbled to the ground.

  Isaac, who had been quiet during all of this, finally spoke.

  “Amber, are you all right? Once we are up and moving again, I believe we will be able to answer most of your questions. I do not think he will go after your family, if you are not there. I will be happy to go check to make sure they are all okay, if it will make you feel better.”

  Something snapped in me, and before I knew it, I was to my feet. “I do not want you anywhere near my house! How do I know you will not kill them? You want to kill me! You want me to just walk away from my family, from my home and become a monster like you, like Jackson! I would rather be tossed out there like old food scraps than become a monster!” My heart was pumping so fast, I could feel the heat radiating off of my body. I was no longer cold, no longer shaking. I was ready for a battle, ready to fight for my life and my family. I was ready to honor Robert’s life, but all I received was silence.

  A few minutes went by without anyone saying anything. I wondered if I was about to become a meal or just left in that dark and wet cave alone. I was truly surprised when they looked at each other, and then slowly moved near me. Since Olivia was the closes, I felt her hand touch my arm first, then Isaac’s hand, as he placed it on my shoulder. Christopher did not touch me; he only made sure to come close enough for me to see those alluring green eyes of his. Olivia spoke pulling me from the trance of Christopher’s green eyes.

  “Not all vampires are monsters. Yes, all of us have tasted human blood, but we have not gone mad with consuming lives. If we do drink from a human, we try not to take too much to cause them any harm. It is only known in our history that the Elders, the ones originally transformed from the plague, to go crazy with such lust. If any of us meant to harm you, you would not be standing here right now. We have no need or want to harm your family. As I declared in the cave entrance, I saved you because of the look of terror your young friend had in his eyes, thinking that you could have been in danger too. With Jackson distracted killing the both of you, it would have made it a lot easier for me to attack him.”

  Her words did little to soothe me. My body still shook and I wanted to yell. It took all my will not to scream what I said next. “How will my becoming a vampire help save my family?”

  Isaac turned me toward him.

  “If or when Jackson comes back to look for you, he will try to pick up your scent. By you going back home, he will be able to smell your human scent and attack. If you become like us and Jackson returns soon, he will pick up your new vampire scent. You see, once you become a vampire, you will give off a different smell than you did as a human. Although, some of your human scent will still be projected, it will indicate that you are no longer human. No matter where
you are other vampires can detect your scent up to a few miles away, as you them. Knowing that we have made you a vampire, Jackson will not go looking for you, which could lead him to your family.”

  Shaking my head, I started to back away from Isaac, and he dropped his hand to his side. Prior to getting too far from the circle, Christopher moved from my side view to behind me, as to hold me in place. My heart started pumping quickly again. I heard Christopher take a really deep breath.

  “Nope, you still smell funny.” He brushed my hair from my shoulders before placing his chilled hand on me, and I had to fight a shiver that crept down my neck and back. “Look, Amber, it is for the best. We do not offer to make everyone vampires nowadays you know. Most of the time we try to avoid you humans, unless it is feeding time.”

  I knew he was trying to upset me. His moods were confusing me so much, one minute he was talking about eating me, the next, he wanted to be my knight in shining armor, and then, he was laughing and making jokes. I was truly wondering if he was losing his mind too. I tried not to get lost in my thoughts. I took a deep breath, swallowed and stepped forward away from Christopher’s cool grip.

  “What if I leave, run away from it all? Go somewhere and start a new life? Would that keep my family safe?”

  Christopher put his hand back on my shoulder, “It would keep your family safe; however, you would still be in danger. Elders like Jackson, travel often to try to stay ahead of groups like ours who may kill them. You would never be able to stay in one place for long, not knowing when he may show up. You would be putting you and anyone around you at that time in danger.”

  I felt all the blood drain from my face. Was he serious? I slowly turned around to meet those brilliant green eyes of his, and was met by a very sad looking boy. He looked so young and harmless. For a second, I considered wrapping my arms around him. He must have read my thoughts because he backed away.

  Olivia took my hand and spoke gently. “Amber, we will give you a few minutes to think about it. It can be painful, but with the three of us, the transformation should go pretty quick.”

  My body shook in response. My world was falling apart right before my eyes. The only thought that ran through my mind was how upset I was that morning. I burned the eggs for Father and James’ breakfast. It did not bother them much; still, Mother felt it was best for me to leave the kitchen until I was able to calm down. Now here I was, having to make the biggest decision of my life.

  My heart was still beating hard against the wall of my chest. I turned to face Isaac, “If I say ‘yes’ what will happen next?”

  “We will begin to exchange blood. Like Olivia said, it will be painful. It at times will feel like millions of little pins and needles are poking you, or it will be as if every muscle in your body is being stretched, pulled, and torn. Since there are three of us, the process will not take as long. After that, I would like to do one more look out to make sure Jackson has left the area completely. Also, while we are making one last sweep of the woods, you can mark your new scent outside of town, just in case he comes back in the next day or so. If we have no luck finding him, we will move on from here. We are approximately a day and a half by foot from our home in Virginia.”

  I was not expecting such a detailed plan, albeit, I think that it left me with more questions. Did he just say they owned a home?

  Isaac smiled at me. This is the first time I had seen any real emotion from him. “Yes, we live in a home, it is on the outskirts of a small town, but we find it exceptionally cozy and we are not watched by our neighbors. Why does that surprise you, because we are vampires?” I was not making eye contact with Isaac, so I was not sure how he knew the questions running through my head. The three vampires chuckled at this. I assumed that his question was rhetorical, so I moved on to my other questions. “If I become like you, and we are able to mark my scent for Jackson to pick up, why do we not try to pick up his scent, find, and kill him? I will be willing to help, and then I can go back to my family.”

  Isaac shook his head. “You are not going to make this easy are you? Jackson is an Elder with many abilities. Abilities that have helped him live as long as he has. We are not truly sure how he does it, but he is able to mask his scent or change different elements of his smell to throw others off his trail, if you are not within viewing distance of him. Olivia was lucky tonight in finding him before he got to you. We were about to give up on him and head back home. Now please listen to me carefully.”

  He pulled me closer to him. I did not realize how big and scary he looked until I was being held in his grasp. My eyes slowly moved up his massive chest, past his shoulders and neck, to his face, to meet his dark eyes. I was unable to move, unable to speak. I just stood there wide eyed staring at this being.

  “Amber, I am losing my patience. I understand this is a huge decision for you to make. I can tell you care a lot about your family. Unlike most vampires, you do have a choice; however, your choice will not only affect you, it will affect your family too. No matter what you choose, you will lose, but we need an answer and we need one now.”

  I knew I could ask no more questions; that time had come and gone. I took a deep breath and met his glare. Because of the grip he had on my arms, I was powerless to turn and meet the stares of my other captors. I closed my eyes, inhaled, and then exhaled, feeling one last teardrop escape from my eyes. I swallowed, hearing the hollowness in my throat bounce off the walls in the cave and said, “Yes, make me a vampire.”

  3

  Time to Eat

  Although a vampire’s body runs on little sleep, we do still dream. It is not every time that we sleep that a dream occurs, yet, when a dream happens to disturb my sleep, it is always a repeat of that night. The dream ends the same way, I say ‘yes’, then wake up feeling lost and disorientated. I often wonder if the dream will ever change, if I will ever say ‘no’. What would have truly happened if I would have gone back home to be with my family? Over the years, I realized that it happened for a reason, and that is what I must accept. I am unable to change the past, so why harp on it?

  Walking into work is the hardest part of my day. The building does not have many windows that open, and the doors stay closed besides people coming and going. A very strong scent of human assaults my nose as I enter the building every morning. As the day goes on, my nose becomes a little desensitized to the fragrance of human, which makes breathing a little more bearable. I ask myself often: why do I torture myself? I do not have an answer for it yet. Still, for me to live closely among the humans, I need to be able to act like them, and try not to let the smell of their blood distract me. In all the years of my close proximity with humans, I have slipped only once. I am not proud of it. I made a huge mess for myself and family. I was a young vampire, and I believe we underestimated my strengths. Thankfully, I did not kill the person, but I came very close.

  I take a slow and steady breath and pull open the doors to the office. My desk is thirty feet away from the door, and the fresh air. My lunch break will be the next time I fill my lungs with human free air. With my hunger being so intense, I will have to make a dash to the blood bank before the end of the day. Humans will never know that it was a vampire’s idea to start collecting blood for storage. Although humans use them more often to donate blood to save other humans lives, the original blood bank was an alternative option for those of us who try not to feed off of humans. Not all blood banks are run by vampires. Only a handful of cities have vampire run blood banks. I have lived in many places where I had to find other sources of food. Rochester is one of the few places to offer what most vampires call our fast food dining, too bad they cannot do drive-thru.

  Mostly humans work in the blood banks, but there is always a vampire on staff. It works best because each person or vampire has their own room to go into. If they are human, they enter a room where blood is drawn, and they leave feeling the joy of having helped save a life. If they are vampire, they enter another room where they are
given a pouch of blood, and they leave feeling the joy of not taking a life. The humans, employees and donors, are clueless of the other transactions that go on, and vampires would like to keep it that way. Most vampires do not live in cities this size, but if they do, they are most likely to visit the bank.

  I can hear my boss’s car pulling into the parking lot. Every car has its own sound. If I hear it more than once, I can usually put a name to the person driving the car. For a Friday morning, Cynthia Bryan is early. She is one of those bosses who comes in late and leaves early. I have drifted through her thoughts a few times, and from what I saw, she feels that she has put in her time, that is why she is the boss now and everyone is below her. Since she worked so hard to be the boss, why should she kill herself now? That is what the employees are here to do. I do not have a problem with her. Like most managers I have had, they have no real issues with me. They appreciate my hard work ethics, being punctual, and always willing to lend a hand.

  My senses have detected that Cynthia has now entered the building. She, like everyday will do her walk around to see who is working before heading to her office for the day.

  “Good morning, Amber. How are you today? It’s nice to see you here early, like always.”

  I smile; she has never been very subtle about her motives. “Good morning, Cynthia. I’m well, and yourself? Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

  “No, I have nothing planned for the weekend. My mother is coming into town and I need to pick her up from the airport, but we have no plans as of yet.”

  “I wager you will find something to occupy her this weekend.” In agreement with my statement, Cynthia nods her head before walking away. She normally has very little to say.

  I hear more people entering the office. Their shoes’ slapping the pavement as they walk toward the door echoes in my ears. Lisa McAllen, my officemate, is one of them. She will probably ask me to go out with her for drinks sometime today. I have turned down her invites every week for the past two years, still she will ask me. One day I will have to accept her invite, it is not normal for someone who looks my age, to not have an outside life that others can see. As Lisa walks into the door and past my desk, she waves at me.

  “Good morning, Amber. I was hoping to beat you in, but I got stuck in traffic. Maybe one day I will be here before you. Is that Cynthia’s car out there? She is never here before nine thirty.”

  I look up from checking my email, pretending I did not know she was about to enter the room.

  “Hey Liss, how are you? I will hold my breath on you beating me into the office.” I try to give a light laugh before I continue, “Yes that's Cynthia’s car. She said her mother is coming to visit, and I think she is leaving early to pick her up from the airport.” It always makes her happy when I have the morning gossip for her.

  “Yes! No boss on a Friday afternoon. I'm so out of here early. Are you coming out with me tonight, no, I know, I figured I would ask anyway. Oh, I’m good thanks!” She is in a very good mood today, I must remind myself to ask her, and not just read her thoughts, to see what has made her so joyful.

  “You seem to be in a rather good mood today. What’s going on?”

  She puts down her purse, turns on her computer, and then comes to sit on my desk. I hate when she does that. I can deal with being in the same room with a human, but I try to keep my space from their pumping blood-like now, as it is thudding very loudly in my ears. Once again, I kick myself for not eating before coming into work.

  I lean back in my chair to give my teeth and her veins as much room as possible. I feel my mouth start to ache with anticipation of wanting and needing the blood that is at an arm’s length. It is going to be very hard to hold a conversation with her. She tosses her long blonde hair over her shoulder before speaking.

  “So, do you remember that guy I told you my sister wanted me to meet? Well, I met him last night. He was at my sister’s house visiting my brother-in-law. I stopped by to see if she had some shoes I could wear this weekend, and he was there! Anyway, he is just as good looking as my sister said he was, maybe even better than I might have thought. My sister’s taste in men is questionable. Long story short, before I left to go home, he pulled me aside and asked me for my phone number. I hadn’t been in the house for more than a minute before he called me. He told me he was glad we finally met and wanted to know if I would go out with him Saturday night!”

  I missed the first half of what she said. The pulsing vein in her neck distracted me, and I need to recover quickly. I avert my eyes from her neck and clear my throat. “What did you decide?” Her face lights up, those brown eyes of hers seem to sparkle.

  “I said ‘YES!’” I tried to stay really calm while he was talking to me, but I was screaming on the inside. I haven’t been on a real date in years. He is picking me up tomorrow at six o’clock, and he won’t tell me where we’re going. I'm a little worried about having him pick me up at my house, but since he is kind of a friend of my sister’s, I think it will be okay. You never know who you can trust nowadays.”

  I stifle a chuckle with her last comment. She has no idea. If she only knew that she was sitting within inches of a monster. “I’m so happy for you. Do you have an outfit picked out?” I am growing tired of this conversation. Her pulse is still ringing in my ears. I do not want to, but I may need to persuade her to go back to her desk. I try not to mess with the human brain too much, as I am unaware of the long term effects I can have, since I do not reside in any area for a long period of time.

  Having the ability to direct another beings’ movement and thought process is a hard urge to control. When I was younger and not able to oppress all my abilities, I made it hard for the family and me to stay in one place for too long. We have no clue how I ended up with more than one strong ability. However, we have learned to work with them. Part of each of my abilities came from each of my family members. Isaac is a very strong mind reader, with a hint of persuasion. Olivia is able to move objects with her mind, as long as the object has matter and is less than two ton. And, Christopher also can understand a person’s thoughts. His ability works a little different than Isaac’s. Christopher must make eye contact with said person, however, looking into his eyes for too long, can cause the person to lose that thought and or any memory floating around in their head at that time.

  From their abilities, I believe that I have taken on the traits of mind reading. I can read anyone’s mind with in a three mile radius, unless the mind is familiar to me, like my family. I can locate them anywhere in the world. I have telekinesis of any object, human, and animal, in addition to being able to persuade others to say, see or do anything I want them to do, against their free will. My most convenient ability is communicating with others mentally. It is like having my own mental two-way radio. Until about fifty years ago, we thought that was all I could do; it sure was enough to have to deal with. Nevertheless, we found one more thing I could do. While fighting to save the love of my life, my only love, I became so upset that I evaporated the creatures my family and I were fighting. I do not remember everything that happened because I blacked out for six days. My family filled me in with as much as they could; still, to this day we are truly unsure of how or what I did.

  I feel Lisa’s hand on my shoulder. She must have noticed my lack of attention. I think she asked me a question by the way she is looking at me. Before I can pull the question from her mind, she asks it again.

  “Are you listening to me?”

  I nod my head, and she rolls her eyes. “Do you think I should call him back? To see if he has a friend for you to meet, so we can double date?”

  I was not expecting her to say that, I really should have been paying attention. “Double date? Why would I go on a double date?” She blows a puff of air out of her mouth, it hits me like a ton of bricks. My mouth aches in protest, and I start to push my chair back to get up.

  “Where are you going? Amber, what’s going on with you? I aske
d you if you thought it would be safe for me to go on a date alone with Nathan or should I see if he had a friend for you, then it could be a double date.”

  My muscles have tightened; I take a few slow and shallow breaths. Looking at her, I see in her brown eyes without reading her mind, that she is very hopeful that I will think this is a good idea and will say ‘yes’. “Liss I think everything will be fine. You should go on the date with Nathan and have a good time.” I can tell I have upset her, somewhere in her mind she thought that it would be fun for us to hang out. I think she is finally starting to see that I will never hang out with her.

  “Okay, I understand. Well, maybe next time.”

  She is not as excited as she was a few minutes ago, but she is still happy. I breathe a sigh of relief since she finally stands up and walks over to sit at her computer.

  I take another shallow breath. I guess it is a good thing I need less oxygen than a human. In the last few minutes, I have only taken two or three full breaths of air to keep from inhaling her intoxicating fragrance. If I was human, I am sure my stomach would be growling. I need to concentrate on my job this morning; I have three hours, fourteen minutes, and twelve seconds to go until I can have my bagged lunch. Going through my e-mails that have accumulated since last night will help pass the time, and hopefully it will take my mind off of my officemate’s strong and steady pulse. “Okay, Amber, get it together”, my voice is barely a whisper, but Lisa has turned to look at me.

  “Did you say something?”

  “No. Not really. I was talking to myself.” Lisa surprises me sometimes by what she can hear. Most humans do not pick up on such low frequencies. To make her think I am still somewhat interested in her date, I turn to her and say, “What are you thinking about wearing on the date?” That should make her happy again, and I should be able to keep my mind off of killing her. Clothes are always a great way to distract me.

  In one of my past lives, I worked in a retail store. There was a lot of wonderful smells that drifted into the store. It was right next to the food court, and once people were done putting fatty foods into their bodies, they would enter the store. Nothing smells better than a full human fresh from eating food. I think the food enhances the smell of their blood. The invigorating scent does wear off once they do too much movement, but nothing is more enticing than a well fed human. The retail job was one of the harder jobs for me to work. Unlike here in the office, I have kind of adjusted to the people and their scents. In the clothing store I worked in, I could never truly get used to the smells because the people were always changing. The scent of the other employees I worked with was one thing to deal with, but no day was ever the same. No two people in a room will give off the same scent. With customers coming and going, I spent many hours salivating over the change of blood in the air...oh; here I go again, thinking about eating. I need to take a walk. I push my chair back, and face Lisa. “Hey Liss, I’ll be right back. I think I left my planner in the car.”

  Outside, I take a few deep breaths. The sun is out and shining very bright. I walk to my car trying not to move to swiftly. I never know who is watching me. I have to remind myself to walk at a normal “human” pace. As I get closer to my car, I notice that I will need to stop on the way home to have my car washed, no thanks to the flock of birds sitting in the tree overhead. I have had many cars, but this Audi S3 by far is one of my favorites. I was the first person to own this car in the United States. I love the sky blue glossy paint with a cream color leather interior.

  Many people look at me and wonder why I work. Countless people perceive me as a rich girl who gets whatever she wants. They assume that I am too good to work, and must be a “daddy’s girl” because of the car I drive, and the clothes I wear. I do have to say, looks can be very deceiving. Before I realized I should not care what mortals thought of me, I often wanted to scream out to them ‘hello I only have nice things because I have lived for over two centuries! I’m that monster that haunts you in your dreams, and makes you scared to go outside alone after dark. Want to trade? Want to leave behind everything you ever loved and never be able to have the one and only thing you truly ever wanted or needed?’

  I know that they would not understand. They would think I have lost my mind probably like the radio show host did this morning. That reminds me, I have not heard anything from my family today. Christopher is normally the first one to wish me a happy birthday. He likes to rub in the fact that I am getting old. That makes me laugh. I of course have to remind him that he is even older than me. I miss my family. I should have gone overseas with them, but I knew I needed some time to myself. They still do not understand some of the choices I have made, or why I have not fully gotten over those choices. Although I learned to live with my choices, I cannot lie and say I do not second guess giving up the love of my life. Nevertheless, I am happy he is living a better life because of me. That alone makes what I did, the choices I made, much easier.

  Years ago, I decided that I would not think about Him. I go as far not to even speak His name. Still, He is always in the front most of my thoughts. Isaac does not understand why I would tear my own heart out. It is not what either He or I wanted, but I knew it was for the best. Olivia only wants me to be happy. She felt it was not the best thing to do, and thinks it is not too late to go after Him. Christopher does not understand why I bother. He once told me, if I let Him go, I should just move on, and I could not have it both ways. My first instinct was to mentally pop Christopher’s eyeballs out of their sockets, but I understood he was just being himself and was not deliberately hurtful. Christopher is lucky I love him. And yet, Christopher wonders why I do not want to be with him, but we both know that it would never work.

  As I head back into work, I take a few deep breaths of the fresh air. I smell a cat nearby. Mmm, cat. If I tell myself that it may be someone’s pet, like that puppy this morning, or that I may get animal fur and blood all over my outfit, it will help me go back inside a lot faster. On my way in, I see Nick Anderson walking out. It must be time for his cigarette break. As he passes me, I hear his lungs pushing air in and out. His lungs sound damaged. I think it is sad; he is so young and from what I can read from his thoughts, he does not know how ill he will become soon. I have debated over the years if I should tell those who are sick or may become sick that there is something wrong. I always come to the same conclusion: I should not say anything. It may be hard for them to believe that some random person can walk up to them and say ‘you do not smell right, and not all of your organs are functioning properly’. I do not see that going over very well at all. Talk about not drawing attention to yourself.

  As a new vampire, I had a lot to learn about not drawing attention to myself. Besides all of my wonderful abilities—which needed to stay behind closed doors—there was also my self-control or shall I say my lack of self-control once I smelled blood. My new family thought they had it bad with Christopher’s mood swings and lust for blood, on the other hand, after making me a fresh new vampire, Christopher’s Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde routine was nothing. Years went by before the family felt comfortable enough to leave me alone with anything that had a loud and steady heartbeat. In the beginning, I needed to feed every hour on the hour. Looking back, I do not know how my family dealt with it.