Struck (A Vampire Novel) ✔

Forty-Eight

My illness was escalating. Whatever flu, or resulting pangs from overexertion, that was causing the increasingly painful waves over my body was becoming more apparent as the days went by. I was finding the concoction of herbs in my tea to be my only release, and that was only temporary. My father, Zachary, convinced me to stay with him at the reservation at least until I began to feel better so that their medical examiners could care for me should it get worse. And it did get worse.

I couldn’t eat well any longer. The things I did get down were the bare minimum. When the tea wasn’t suppressing my symptoms, my muscles felt strained and on fire. The pulsing in my head was increasing until every noise felt like Hell bouncing on my eardrums. Everything was sore, from my flesh down to the gums of my teeth. My stomach pain was associated with a sense of nausea. And I was hungry. I was so hungry, but I couldn’t get myself to eat.

When the tea was proving to be less effective, the medical examiners gave me a different type of pain relieving liquid. It was thick, like honey coating my tongue. And it was far more effective and longer lasting. I only hoped it would prove to help me get over whatever illness was wracking my body, and then I would be able to leave the reservation.

I had expressed my wish to my father not long after thinking over his offer to stay. It was a tempting offer. For one, I would have a family once again. It would be a large family as well. I found my days surrounded by hunters, each one holding a warm pull to their being as if affirming the fact that we were family, even if not all were by blood. Not all the hunters were kind to me, some seemed suspicious or otherwise uncaring, but many were warm, loud, and affectionate. I almost never got time to myself except for when I was in my own room. As it turned out, most training hunters had roommates, but being that I was more a guest than trainee I was let off of the requirement.

Another tempting factor was my father himself. I knew my mother had left him, but it was strange to actually have a caring male figure in my life to feel pride at my actions and unconditional fatherly love. Despite having gone my entire life without him, and definitely not feeling as though I actually needed him, I felt a part of me that longed for that stability I had lost when my mother passed away. It was only in the back of my mind that I kept locked away the fact that I had felt that stability with Aveline and Xander.

That brought up my third temptation. If I were to stay at the reservation, it would allow me to have a reason to stay in this supernatural world where demons, witches, and vampires existed. Perhaps I could train as a hunter, but have my own code of morals. Perhaps over time I would come across my lost companions once again and maybe when that time came, they would see me as the hunter I had become but still remember me as the girl they had felt attached to in their care. I would be more than another hunter’s face; I would be their Elysia. Yes, a large part of me longed to have some reason to stay in touch with that side of my world.

But the fact remained that I didn’t need anyone but myself to survive. I didn’t need my father’s affections or pride. I didn’t need a large family to cling to for support. I didn’t need vampire companions such as Xander, Aveline, or Corentine to protect me. And regardless of what I may have wanted, I didn’t need… him. I didn’t need a Master vampire to want me in ways no other had; to commit to in ways I never had been able to before. I only needed myself.

With that decision made, I decided to take back my life; to be alone and learn more about who I was by myself especially after all the struggles I had been forced through that may have altered who I thought I was before. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to the life I had before, but my father would help me. He took my decision with disappointment, but respected it. He planned to aid me in changing my name and location, in order to maximize my ability to start anew somewhere else outside of this chaotic, supernatural world.