Vampire Sunrise

Interfectorem

Stepping back into human time, I said, "Dicere," with help from Lilith. I had no idea how she was teaching me her magic, but I was thankful. At once, the music started playing, birds sung, and the witches grasped at their wounds.

Katie struggled with her speech but managed to communicate.

"What have you done to us?"

I waited a few seconds and replied, "Sweetie, not one thing other than drinking your blood. It helped me understand why you attacked me."

Katie replied, "Please don't kill us, we have families, children, and we weren't going to kill you."

"I know, but we do have a few things to discuss. Before you ask again, I'm not a vampire in the traditional blood-sucking since - I'm something else. And no, the vampires will not spare any witches on my behalf, again because I'm not a master vampire or whatever they call their most senior. I'm only twenty-three.

"Lastly, I'm not going to kill all of you. I'm going to let you decide the fate of the traitor in your group. I don't know your laws, but it's as good a time for me to learn as any."

Katie rolled up and sat on her knees. "Traitor? None of us are traitors; we are a family, a coven; these witches are my sisters," she said.

"Sisters can be bitches too," I pointed my finger at Amanda. "That one," I said.

Amanda looked at Katie and spoke, "Me, I'm the one that asked to come along and capture this woman vampire; how can I be a traitor?"

Interrupting Amanda, I said, "Don't believe her, Katie. Amanda, I'm not real big on lies, and I already have a fun-filled day planned, so please let's stop with all of this bullshit and tell everyone about John Maddox and how you're his blood whore."

Amanda's cheeks turned slightly red at my allegation. "John was my fiancé and claimed by the vampire virus over five years ago – everyone knows that. I've not seen him since, and I am a loyal witch through and through."

"Katie, surely you have some way to tell if she's lying?" I asked.

Katie said, "We don't spell other witches without their permission, but yes, we can tell."

"By all means, spell her. Ask if she let John and the other vampires feed on her. If she refuses to talk, I'll kill her now."

"Amanda, tell me the truth when I ask you." Katie made a few strange gestures in the air and said some words I didn't understand.

Amanda, "Have you had any contact with John in the last few months?" Katie said.

Amanda trembled. She slowly answered, "Yes." Her sister witches made gasping noises at the admission.

Amanda stood up and dropped her robes to the shop floor; she was naked. From her nipples to her inner thighs, hundreds of fang punctures were visible, some fresh. It was a sad sight and grotesque how they abused her.

The worst part was that I knew how she truly felt. When I drank her blood, I felt her longing to be fed from; and how she needed it.

She didn't see what they did to her as wrong; it was a reward and made her lover happy. She would let vampires do whatever they wanted to her and didn't realize her lover only allowed her to live so she could continue to help him kill other witches.

Katie started to cry as she listened to Amanda. These girls were sisters.

"Katie, what's the punishment for Amanda's charges?" I asked.

Katie took a few seconds and spoke, "She willingly supplied vampires with her blood and helped in the murder of her sister witches. Death is her punishment."

These witches had been through enough. I couldn't let Katie or the others live with Amanda's death too. This death, the end of their traitor sister, I could prevent from living forever in their consciences. These witches were not evil. The witch blood clearly showed me how they were the ones assaulted and hunted.

I moved into my rhythm over to Amanda and placed my icy hands around her neck. Twisting effortlessly, I turned her head around wholly, breaking bones and ligaments. I stepped back and waited for time to catch up with my actions. It was an instant, painless death. Amanda fell to the floor, unmoving as if she had somehow fallen asleep while standing.

The witches saw Amanda fall but didn't move; all of them were somber, with tears leaking down their faces. After a few minutes, Katie started chanting what I assumed was a spell making Amanda invisible. I could still see her, but she was inside a fog.

One of the other witches moved her hands in an upward movement, and Amanda's dead body lifted off the ground. It only took a finger to move her.

Two witches took Amanda, nodded at me then walked out of Adventure Travelers. Katie and the shopkeeper stayed behind.

"Katie, I'm sorry. I know your coven is going through a lot. I'll see what I can do to help, and If you need anything, I'm on the second floor of the Decatur Blood Bank Apartments."

Katie said, "You're a kind of demon, aren't you?" I nodded. "A demon helping witches, the other covens will never believe me."

I looked at the shopkeeper. "Shanetta, next time, just talk to me; my bark is worse than my bite." She was the newest of the witches and freaked out when she saw me. She had a great heart and was one of the purest of the four.

She was an air witch and exceptionally talented.

"What's your name," Shanetta asked?

"I'm Alice; nice to meet you," I said. Shanetta smiled, then rubbed her neck where I had bitten her. It felt good to have friends – of sorts.

I left Katie and Shanetta to work out the "everything" that just went down between us inside Adventure Travelers.