The Story of the Vampire, L (Completed | Featured )

Part 3 - I want to kiss the moon

A mile from the villa, Vasvius called, "Rein up," and we were allowed to dismount and sit in the grass for lunch. A few boys helped to secure the horses and dish up the midday meal. Evidence of a farm nearby mounted, as the grass was short from goat grazing, and I could smell the sweetness of ripening orchard fruit. There were many bees buzzing, busy with their back and forth. We had dates, dried fish, and watered wine. While I sat and ate, I watched Vasvius walk away down the dirt road without even a backward look. I had been trained viciously to stand up as straight as I could and walk as if my spine were made of iron, but Vasvius did it in a way that made it seem easy. Somehow he seemed loose and yet completely in control of himself. I lay myself down entirely on the grass once he was out of sight, the ground warm from sunlight, and ate my fish half-asleep in the honeyed air. An older boy placed his hand lightly on my stomach, near my pubic bone, and normally, while such a sexual gesture would have earned him a well-placed clout and a fight, I only said, "Abi," softly. Leave me be, and he removed his hand.

Vasvius stayed away nearly an hour, and any one of us could have run. I thought about it, but made no move. I knew very well the punishment for desertion, which was facial branding, though I realized to my horror that all the rules I knew were rules for slaves and not soldiers. But perhaps the rules were the same, I reasoned, chewing my way through a pile of dates. I bore my teeth at a boy who tried to take a date from me, and he quailed. 

"I'm sorry, brother. Give me a date," the boy said, sitting back on his heels as I sat up to look at him. 

"I'll share nothing with a bunch of liars and whores," I said. "Who put his hand on my belly? Who wants his nose bitten off?"

"They won't pick you," the little one said, rubbing his face with the back of his hand, like a mantis. He looked a bit like a mantis, with his big eyes. "You're crazy. If you damage one of us, don't be confused about what happens to you."

"Pick me? What are you talking about? We've already been picked."

"Ignorant," he huffed. "A fool. Doesn't know anything. No one liked him enough to tell. Foolish, marching without a single thought in his head, directly to his death. Give me a date and I'll tell you what's happening now."

I put a date in my mouth, sucked on it, and put it in his cupped hands.

"Joke's on you. Who cares about a little bit of spit. I'd get the same from a kiss," he said, chewing it. 

"Tell me then." A breeze passed, blowing through my hair, blowing down my neck. I shook my head to shake away the sensation.

"They're going to eat us. Yes that's right. Everybody knows. They're blood-drinkers, directly from the shadow of the mountain, and if you fight back there's worse than death for you."

"What are you, eight? Get out of here, you silly screech owl. Wasted a date on you. Quit chewing. Swallow it. Who told you that, anyway?"

He held his hand out for another fruit and I whacked his palm with my wrist. "Ouch. Asshole," he hissed. "You better believe anything, because you don't know nothing. A boy got away once. He came back to our regiment to warn the others. He had bite marks on his arms. That's how I know. It's a family in regiment 12, not like yours. Shit regiment."

"What happened to him?"

"A shadow come in the night. Took him away again."

"You're a liar who likes dates. Why don't you run, then?"

He looked at me long. "That shadow had a beautiful face," he said, as if unable to contain it. "A face like the moon, pale white glow, a cool light. Gonna die anyway. I want to kiss the moon. I am only eight but I have dreams. Give me a nice death. I'm pleased to go."