The two women stood facing each other in quietude. The cold dawn air blew about them, lifting their clothing and hair and making them flutter around them. This chilled breeze made Emese's pores raise but did nothing to the vampire for she was immune to temperature changes. To her, it felt like a gentle wind whereas the human was almost to the point of shivering from it.
Outside in the waking morn, they stood and there was a combination of light and darkness in the sky. Patches of clouds in between held the early birthing of the sun, but night was still on the horizon too as blackness tainted more than half of the sky and the earth.
With their silence and careful observance of one another, neither woman attempted to say anything for a long time. Eventually, though, Emese was the first to make a move for it. She slipped past the vampire and headed back for the comfort and warmth of her home, to which she noted the woman followed some seconds later.
To distract herself from the slight tension, she busied herself starting a fire at the grate and as she worked at striking up the flames, she felt a presence loom over her. With this presence, she noted how a chill fanned down her neck, face and the exposed skin of her arm. Turning her attention to the rescued woman who stood mere inches away from her, Emese noticed she held within her hand a few logs of wood. Quietly, she took the wood, adding them to the fire that crackled inside the pit.
In silence, the two stood fueling the flames until Emese deemed it strong enough. She tried to bustle off thereafter to someplace else, somewhere she wouldn't feel that chill emanating from the woman but Anastasía stopped her in her tracks when she addressed her.
“I've been alive for quite some time,” she revealed to the woman who pretended to ignore her. Those unexpected words caused the brunette to look over her shoulder discreetly, her shadowed face marred with intrigue.
“You've made mention of this already, why do you feel the need to repeat yourself?” she queried as she didn't quite comprehend what the vampire gained from being redundant.
“I've decided to give you answers to some of your questions. If my memory serves me correctly, I was vague in my responses yesterday,”
Brown eyes eventually softened as they finally realized the vampire was being honest about sharing certain details. Turning her entire body so that she faced her, Emese's ears tuned in for the things about to come.
“Go on,”
“The year was 1126,” confided Anastasía. “I was born nearly two centuries ago,”
“That is impressive,” whispered Emese, her face morphing from deadpan to animated.
What the vampire shared certainly explained the quaint way in which she spoke she thought to herself. She grew up in a time that was most certainly different in not just language but culture, ideals, morals, and beliefs and such a thought was utterly mind-blowing.
“And were you really born here in Obscure?”
“I was, yes. Further north though. My childhood home sat upon a cliff that overlooked The Sea of Roray.”
“Wow,” she whispered again. “I wish to visit such a place, I am convinced it must be beautiful,”
“It was,” chimed Anastasía.
The woman frowned. “It was?”
“Destroyed by some terrible people,”
Regret permeating for being too inquisitive only to be given such a tragic answer, the woman expressed her sympathy. “I'm sorry that happened,”
“Don't be, that was a long time ago,”
“Right,” Emese mumbled, her careful gaze on the way the woman stood rigidly.
“What was it like back then?”
“The same as it is now; the people were just as fickle, illiterate, drunken, greedy, wicked, easily swayed, and paranoid. The only difference was that over a hundred years ago there weren't that many people in these parts of the province. Most of Obscure was just miles and miles of untouched land,” Untouched land to most, but not to her family, the woman continued in her thoughts.
“Things were simpler too, might I add.”
“I see and were you always of the occult?”
“Yes,”
“So that means you were born as the creature you are no—”
Anastasía interposed, causing Emese to fall into silence. “Saying what I am won't taint your lips nor would you be reprimanded for it. No one is within our presence to hear you refer to me as a vampire,”
“I know,”
“Then stop calling me a creature, it makes me feel like a thing or some sort of wild animal. Call me what I am if you want to continuously make it known that I am not human,”
It took some time for Emese to accept what the woman asked but eventually, she did. “You were born as a vampire?” she rephrased, watching how the vampire's whole demeanour shifted from what it was the night before. It was as if she was depleted and afraid of recounting things but still willing to share. Beneath her stern expression was a vulnerability that the brunette recognized.
“I was, yes. Conceived by my parents, birthed from a woman the same as you,” answered Anastasía.
“Is that possible, to be born a vampire?”
“Yes. The first person to exhibit vampiric qualities in all of history was certainly made, but I and many, many others were born this way. We were gifted our abilities as some might say naturally, although there are still others being turned,”
So that explained why she was able to get onto her property Emese contemplated. It made sense to some degree, the spell barred anything unnatural from ever making contact with the property. But then her mind drifted, since she was born a vampire and that made her immune to the powers of the totem, did it mean the man who attacked her was made into whatever he was rather than being born into it? Was he turned?
“The man who came after you, he is not like you?”
Deciding whether or not to answer that particular question, Anastasía concluded it was more than acceptable to share her response. “Unfortunately, he is also a vampire that was born,” But his abilities were nowhere near hers.
“Oh,” mumbled Emese. Then why couldn't he get onto the land she asked herself. What made this woman able to do so? What was it about her that left the spell ineffective? Could it be what she'd speculated the night she found her, besides her occult propensities, did she dabble in magic?
“Who was that being you prayed to a moment ago?” Anastasía questioned, pulling Emese from her mind.
“Ehia; Mother and Protector of the earth,”
“So mother nature then?” the being hummed, her attention locked on the brunette.
Nodding, Emese allowed her eyes to saunter from the woman's face to her exposed neck and collarbone, ogling at the way the wounds had healed completely without leaving so much as an indication that they were there. Such ability was thought-provoking and to the point where she felt some amount of envy; the ability to heal one's self like that would truly be spectacular.
The brunette pushed aside her thoughts though, not wanting to dwell on it for too long. She did not want to be perceived as ungrateful. “Have you ever heard of her before?” she asked the slender being.
“Not that I am aware of, no,” answered the vampire.
She'd heard of many gods and goddesses, no doubt. Ashea had always been a melting pot of cultures and religions, and during her life, she was exposed to all of them at some point but this particular deity she'd never heard of, however, she was certain it was one of the main ones rebranded for a sense of individuality and newness.
“Most people aren't so I'm not surprised,” said the brunette. “Where in the province did you escape from?”
“The place where I escaped from?” repeated Anastasía.
“Yes,”
Once more the vampire pondered the question. She didn't want to reveal too much but she did promise she would answer the woman's questions and as many as she could. The entire night she lay there, the guilt had consumed her. This woman was kind enough to house her and aid in her recovery and she had the gall to refuse her answers.
“It was located in the marsh,”
“The marsh?”
“Quite a place. It's incessantly wet and hidden. A haven for my kind, a nightmare for others,”
“I've never heard about a marsh here in Obscure,”
“Obscure is a big place, my lady and quite like the way I wasn't familiar with your goddess, I didn't expect you to know the place I came from either,” replied Anastasía.
Giving an affable nod, the brunette kept her gaze on the tall woman who began pacing around the dim house, her lustrous eyes fixated on every inch of the home.
“Your Idun is good, you know,” said Anastasía, her attention to an unadorned fixture on the wall. She realized it was of the same faceless being she caught the woman bowing down to. It also dawned on her that she hadn't noticed any of the idols in the home until then, though there weren't that many, to begin with.
“I realized I needed to learn it if I truly wanted to integrate into this country,”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Less than a year,”
“Less than a year?” questioned the Anastasía, both her brows lifting in adulation. However, mindlessly her hand reached out just then and slender fingers touched the figure carved from the wood. It was smooth, this wood. The figure itself was just a few inches long. Whoever carved it was skilful and with that thought it led the vampire to inquire. “Is this your creation?”
“Yes. It came from the same tree I was knelt by. It took me a few days to carve,”
Humming to herself thereafter, the vampire continued to scrutinize the being, unsure as to why she was drawn to it the way she was. Mayhaps it was the intricate details of the wings or how small it was. Whatever the reason, something about the idol seemed inexplicably familiar.
“I am impressed that you learned my tongue as fast as you did,” she continued mindlessly.
“Thank you,” Emese responded, her gaze on the way the woman handled the carving with such gentleness. “The women I'd meet in the market taught me every time I was there, to them I owe my thanks,” observing the quiet woman, she allowed the questions she'd been dying to ask ever since she remembered the woman to come fort.
“Are you from a well-off family?” she asked, causing the vampire to bring her lustrous glare to her.
“What makes you think so?”
“Well,” Emese hummed. “Your ability to blindly trust. I understand that at the time when I rescued you, you had no control over what happened to you and who was caring for you but the way you slept undisturbed without ever dreading or fearing unexpected danger was alarming. It is a gullibility that often accompanies the wealthy, especially the ones who rarely have any exposure to the real world,”
Pursing the ends of her mouth downward, her brows threading together lightly, Anastasía hummed. “You think the wealthy aren't vigilant or they're easily trusting?”
“Not all of them but I think you are,” answered Emese. “Also, I have such strong claims because of the gown you wore and the rings on your fingers,” she pointed causing the vampire to study her right hand for a second or two.
“What of them?”
“The stones on your rings are from rare gems; gems are expensive. The material on the dress you wore looked nice; it looked expensive. When I found you, after I started cleaning your wounds I couldn't help but notice the quality was much better than anything people like us wear which means you probably come from wealth, or you stole from them.”
Smiling, Anastasía couldn't help the fact that her fangs protruded and it gave Emese a view of the very things that had once sunk into her arm. Goosebumps riddled her skin and curiosity meshed inside of her mind. For a moment her mind wandered off— how many people had been bitten and lived to tell the tale or recount it to themselves?
“So which is it: are you married to some rich lord and the reason you ran away was that you were afraid of your duties, and the man whom I heard was your husband or was it your Lord father you ran from and the man who chased you was a soldier sent to find you?”
“Obsessed with narrowing down who I am, I see,”
“Money breathes trouble sometimes and it is a sort of trouble I wish to avoid,” replied Emese.
“Mmh,” Anastasía hummed. “And what about the latter?” she asked with intrigue. “You did say you speculated that I could've stolen the things I wore from the wealthy, no?”
“Possibly. My mind is steering me toward the first two though. So which one is it, the husband or the Lord father?”
“Mayhaps it was none of the above,” said the vampire, her eyes glinting with excitement. She liked that they were assuming her identity, she liked the hypotheticals because they were far more pleasant than the reality.
“What does that even mean?”
Shrugging, the vampire chose not to reveal anything more. She instead walked around the house and as she did her lungs were flooded with the wonderful odour that was the brunette and Tamas' scent. Casting a glance at her, Anastasia wondered if humans were ever aware of how they smelled to creatures like herself, most importantly she wondered if her rescuer knew her blood specifically was equivalent to nectar, a nectar that smelled as wonderful as a rose. But, other questions intervened in the being's thoughts.
“Why aren't you fearful of me?” she asked. “Why were you so trusting of me, that I wouldn't have attacked you nor the boy once healed? Mayhaps, you are this ignorant, wealthy soul that you speak of for the way you allowed me into your home is concerning,”
“I don't know. It's hard to explain without sounding like I am the gullible one but I knew you wouldn't have harmed us. I saw something in you and I knew that whoever or whatever you were that if I did that one thing for you, you'd be grateful and that would be all,”
“That is before you found out what I was, but afterwards, why didn't you call a mob, or spread the word about my existence to other humans or were you hoping to gain something for your goodwill?”
“I only go into town once a week and I wasn't going to waste a journey just to announce your existence to everyone. Besides, why would I reveal something so controversial to the people? They would've reacted strongly and one of two things would've happened: either they believed me and they came here to discover you, surely burning this entire place to the ground with you in it or they prosecuted me for my insanity or labelled me a lying witch, burning me and my home to the ground,”
“But you are a witch, aren't you?” the vampire asked unabashedly, her bright gaze scintillating.
“That's not what I am,” the brunette defended.
“No? Well, certainly not the immoral kind,” Anastasía replied with a follow-up. “You aren't like the witches in these parts, I can tell. Your ways aren't sinful and devious, and corrupt,”
“I'd imagine most witches aren't that way either,”
“How many witches from Ashea do you know of?”
The silence extended until a response fell from the brunette's lips. “None,”
“Then how can you judge whether or not they are good or that you're nothing like them?”
“I'm not a witch,” she replied with frustration.
“Then explain how a woman and young child defended themselves against three full-grown vampires without ever facing them. Answer me that,”
“I'm not a witch,” Emese reiterated.
She wasn't a witch but a spiritualist. There, in Obscure, there weren't that many people like that but back home, she'd known other spiritualists like herself; she'd also come from a family of healers, spiritual doctors, priests and priestesses.
Their belief in Ehia, The Mother had passed down from a relative who'd been a devoted believer and follower. During the lifetime of this forebearer, he'd gain many forms of blessing from The Mother, especially the role of friend/spiritual advisor to a great King, though it was short-lived. He did all this and was granted even more wealth and wealth not in tangible riches, but in the form of a supportive network of family and associates. The man had fathered nearly a dozen children whom he passed his knowledge and beliefs before disappearing.
With her thoughts having digressed, there was something the vampire had asked that stuck. What if she'd done what she did hoping to gain something in return? To an extent, she did rend her help to receive blessings from the goddess but now that she was face to face with this creature, she realized the blessings she could have might be different from what she anticipated. Perhaps, it was Ehia who influenced their encounter.
“I have something I wish to ask of you,” Emese announced shortly after the vampire continued scrutinizing the home for the millionth time.
“If it is about my identity or that of the man who attacked me I still won't relent,”
“That much I know,”
Anastasía turned around just then, noting the struggle in the woman by the way her face contorted. Her brows furrowed continuously, her mouth hanging ajar only to close and open each time she attempted to speak her mind. Sensing that it might be something complicated, the vampire executed patience and tolerance, but still, the brunette hadn't the backbone to let it out.
“Ask this thing that plagues you,”
“I guess the reason I was not big on revealing you to the public after learning what you were is that I have a wish I would like for you to fulfil. It is something I've been pondering since the revelation of your nature,”
Eyeing her suspiciously, Anastasía already knew what the woman would ask and despite not supporting it, she listened and waited to hear it be vocalized so she could shut it down immediately.
“As a wish, I would like for you to consider turning Tamas and me,”
“That is not what I am, my lady. I am no genie. My kind does not grant wishes,” she rigidly answered.
Annoyed and ashamed, Emese stared at the way the woman's golden whirlpools looked down at her with prejudice at her intrepidly daring request.
“Why not? I saved you and fed you the blood from my veins yet you won't consider granting me this?”
“Besides it being immoral to turn a child who can never consent to such recklessness, being what I am is not something I believe you and that boy would want. This is no joke. Life for you as you know it would be over. You would no longer be able to dwell in the sun, your hunger would not be satisfied by human food, you'd gain unimaginable strengths and that would eventually become a burden.”
“You become a recluse because people can no longer see you for they would start questioning things. Your appetite increases and that turns you into a killer. Yes, we have blood to fix that, but sometimes just a few cups are never enough. Sometimes you have to drink a person dry, sometimes you have to drink several people dry. And I know you are not a murderer nor would you ever like for the boy to be one,”
“That is still far better than being human.”
“But they are aspects like once your brother is turned he will remain a child forever,” the vampire shared and she could see that Emese's mind worked.
“You'd be turning him into a prisoner in his own body. He would never live a normal life, he will never be able to grow, get married, or have children and what if the boy wants those things?”
“At this point, immortality is far more precious. We will be able to live without sickness and fear,”
“You think being a vampire means living without sickness and fear? Fear is the sickness,” replied Anastasía.
“Have you met other vampires or creatures different in nature? Have you met another human, ever? You lots are an insane species. You're greedy and malicious, you threaten and want to eradicate anything that isn't of whatever monolith your kind is part of. If anything, I know for a fact you become more fearful as a vampire. You will have to live your life quietly to not provoke anyone into being suspicious. You would have to move constantly, forever searching for a new home because people would start to wonder why it is that you don't age.” she said, and her fangs showed because of how passionately she spoke.
Still choosing to be defiant, Emese countered. “A lot of what you've described is what it is like living as a single woman with a child. I live in constant fear every day. I'm afraid that just the mere sight of me would incite people, especially men into harming me and my brother for no apparent reason. I live in fear all the time. I'm afraid that at some point I will not be able to protect Tamas and that is why I ask you this thing. We will never reveal what we are to the world. We will never harm people, we will use the blood of the animals we rear to sustain ourselves,”
“Yes but for how long? A vampire can only live off of animal blood for so long before it stops quelling their thirst. A starving vampire is one of the deadliest things there is,”
“Yet you didn't massacre either Tamas or me,” countered the brunette catching the vampire off guard.
“You have my word that when we do consume human blood, we will do it with integrity and discretion,”
Shaking her hand, Anastasía heard the vehemence in her rescuer's tone. She heard the desperation and the need to be relieved of the things that made her human but she couldn't grant her this wish, although she could. She couldn't understand why the human would want such a curse to begin with.
“Look, truth be told you both have nothing to fear, you and your brother. You've done quite well protecting this place with your magic. I know you would deny it and or call it something else and don't blame you either for doing that but I recognize it. There was no way the man who chased after me would spare you and that boy unless he couldn't get in and the fact that you can withstand against him means you can withstand against almost anything,”
“But you got in,” said Emese. “And what if there are others like you?”
“And what of it? What would they do come looking for you and this place, the place where the supernatural doesn't know exists? No one of that nature will know about this place, not from me,”
“That is one of my fears, that someday while Tamas is still young and we're both here, something might get in.”
“Why did you come here then? Why did you come here knowing that danger, although low is still possible? Why don't you move if you have all these fears?”
“We moved here for opportunity and a fresh start. Fir had nothing else to offer me and I knew it wouldn't have anything to offer to Tamas when he gets older. The people there are happy living without change. Our governing family wants to hoard all the wealth and resources, only feeding us little. They want the people to work for next to nothing while paying outrageous taxes that keep them poor. I couldn't raise my brother in a place like that, so we fled. I can't afford to leave Obscure for now either. I spent all I had to buy this place and the animals I rare. What little I sell brings in even less, however, it is still more than what we would've gotten back home,”
“I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, but Obscure is no better,”
“Compared to our home it is.”
The vampire ruminated on the words her rescuer shared and although it touched her heart, she couldn't do this thing that was asked of her. Turning someone was hard work, not for her but for the human in question. It would be especially difficult for a child, the mortality rate was too high because never in history has there ever been a successful case where a child turned and lived. The process of morphing was excruciating and their bodies were never able to withstand reaching the brink of death and turning back.
“I'm sorry,” was all Anastasía said. Her tone was gentle and she hoped it softened the rejection.
Before the woman in her midst was able to respond, they were greeted with the sight of the dark-haired boy who surfaced from the room, rubbing his sleepy eyes, quite like his sister did.
Upon seeing the women, the boy started coughing. The vampire watched as the brunette's entire demeanour changed when she interacted with him and she thought it was the most heartwarming thing. She still couldn't believe the two were siblings for the way the woman treated the boy, anyone would assume he was her son. Mayhaps he was her child and she lied to her Anastasía thought but looking at the brunette, she felt like she wasn't one to lie without reason.
Breaking away from her train of thoughts at the siblings approaching, the vampire looked down into the face of the young boy. He was timid and twirled his fingers around as he observed her.
“Tamas wants to say something to you,” said Emese.
“Does he now?”
Emese nodded. Gently nudging the boy on the shoulder, he lifted his gaze to her. “It is okay, go ahead,” she spoke in their language.
The little boy switched his gaze to the woman with amazing eyes and spoke words she wasn't able to decipher well.
“What did he say?”
“Good morning, madame. Will you be joining us for breakfast?”
Gifting him a smile and being careful not to expose her fangs, which Emese noticed she did, finding the vampire kind enough to hide such a thing from the boy. She also thought the woman had a pretty smile and that added more to the list of things she admired about her in this new light.
“Tell him I said good morning and that I shall be staying to break fast with you both,”
Emese translated and with a giggle, Tamas ran off and after him, his sister followed. While the two talked and moved about their home, Anastasía observed them for a moment before quietly disappearing from inside the house.
The sun was now fully risen and its gentle burst of light shot through the spaces between the trees around the home, shining down onto her. Closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, the vampire felt emotional at that very moment. To be there, free, standing with her bare feet against the earth, the sun on her face and having no fear or worries, even for that short time was a breath of fresh air. She'd been deprived of all these things and the thought of finally getting them back hardened her heart— she was never going to be recaptured.
Anastasía wanted to tell the woman and her brother that she would be leaving soon but as she stood among the trees where she'd been dealt those immobilizing wounds, she knew it was better that way. They didn't know her, she didn't know them and now that she was healed she knew it was time for her to flee from there. Dorin would eventually search for he was persistent and if he somehow managed to get in there by way of his mother or others, she did not want to be within proximity of them. So while it was day and while she had the advantage to travel, she took it.
Sprinting through the wood with incredible speed, within a matter of minutes, the cottage and the land surrounding it disappeared behind the thick blanket of trees. Being sure to keep on paths that seemed to have been travelled on less, Anastasía made for the home of one person whom she knew, even after all these years would welcome her with open arms and give her the support she needed.
It didn't long for Emese to realize the vampire's presence was no more. When she stumbled outside, hoping to offer one of the animals so the woman could consume their blood, she was nowhere to be found.
Emese searched everywhere and didn't find her. She and Tamas waited until the day passed and night fell again, but the woman never returned. And it was as they lay in bed, ready to be consumed by sleep that they accepted their stranger was gone for good.