Keira
There was nothing good on the radio so I turned it off. Nicole had been out for half an hour now and I started worrying about her. Maybe she had been robbed on her way back here and raped by an old homeless man with a white beard. Or maybe she had fallen down a cliff trying to find the bar and broke both of her legs with no one to help her around. I felt kind of guilty for sending her alone, in the middle of the rain, to seek for help while I waited here in the car.
The weekend hadn’t turn out to be anything like we had planned. We were supposed to go to the beach and have a swim, have sun and returned with a fabulous tan that would make everyone envious, but instead it was raining and we were in the middle of the road trapped in mud.
The simple thought of Nicole down the cliff screaming for help was enough to made me realize that I had to go and get her.
I went out of the car stumbling a little from the wet ground that was unleveled now.
-I will need new shoes after this- I thought. I left the field as quickly as I could and then walked in the pavement to avoid stepping on the mud. I was completely alone; no cars were passing, which left me with no choice but to walk.
I walked in a straight line until I started doubting if I was going in the right direction. I looked back… I couldn’t see the car anymore. I turned again and saw someone standing in front of me.
I started sweating. Maybe there was an old homeless guy after all. The man started walking towards me and I was just paralyzed, I couldn’t move.
-Please don’t rape me- I said when the figure was only a few feet away from me.
-What? – Someone said laughing. It seemed familiar.
-Ian? – I said trying to see between the rain.
-Yes- he said.
-What are you doing here- I asked coldly.
-I’m going to the beach with Paul and I heard you and Nicole were having car trouble over here, so I came to see- he said.
-Really? – I asked. Finding a lame explanation now I knew the truth about Ian.
-Well… It’s more like I heard from the bathroom that conversation and decided to come and see how you were doing- he said coming towards me now.
I was able to see his face more clearly now.
-I don’t need your help- I said.
I started walking again.
-Nicole is with Paul- he said.
-Oh- I said.
I doubted for a while, but then decided to go back to the car, so turned around and walked towards my old location.
-Keira, wait please- he said.
I kept on walking, but only a moment after he was standing in front of me disturbing my path. It was funny that I didn’t really care that he was a vampire. In fact, it kind of suited him. He didn’t seem dangerous, or at least not to me. I ignored what he ate and how his transformation had been. I tried to remember our talk when he went over to my house trying to recall if he said anything about Paul; but the truth is that I was too angry at him then to listen to what he was trying to tell me.
-What- I said.
-Can we talk? – He asked
-About what-
-Us-
-There is no us Ian- I said –Us ended that night in the woods, and when you kissed Victoria-
-Keira I’m sorry about that. The Victoria thing I only did it because… -
-Because you thought that would make me go back to you- I interrupted.
He was quiet for a moment and then came towards me.
-You know what? – I said stepping back –I don’t want to hear it-
I walked pass him and walked as quickly as I could.
-Keira- he said.
I ignored him and kept marching forward.
-Keira- he repeated.
The next moment he was standing in front of me again, and this time he grabbed me by the shoulders.
-Keira I love you- he said.
I was still. Those three words. Those three words I had been waiting for such a long time, and they were finally coming out of his mouth.
-Why…-
-I love you- he said while he took a step towards me.
-Why are you telling me this now- I said, almost pleading.
-Because I realize now- he said –That is not that I care about you. It’s much more than that-
-Ian I…-
-I’m sorry for everything. I was a jerk that night in the woods and I promise you it will never happen again- he said.
-It’s not only that. Ian you are… You are a vampire-
He didn’t retreat. He held my face between his hands to make sure I was looking at him.
-It doesn’t matter. I would never harm you Keira, and you know it.-
-I…-
-Please give me a chance- he said.
He ran his fingers down my hair and looked straight at my eyes.
-I love you Keira. Please give me a chance to prove it-
I slowly gave into his embrace, and when he noticed he laughed in relief. He then took my face between his hands again and gave me a deep kiss on the lips.
-I love you- he whispered.
I smiled and kissed him again as he wrapped his arms in my waist and pulled me up while he smiled.
Paul
I was in Nicole’s house having dinner. I helped her with the dishes and picked up the table in only seconds. It was one of the advantages of being a vampire. As soon as I was done I pulled her towards me and kissed her on the lips.
-I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet my father- she said.
He was out of town working and left Nicole in charge of the house. She was an only child, since her parents had gotten divorced at an early age, so she was pretty independent.
-He would have liked you- she continued.
-It will have to be the next time- I said.
I kissed her softly in the lips.
-You haven’t showed me around- I said.
She took my hand and directed me over to the stairs.
-This is the first floor- she said –and this… -
She climbed up the stairs while she pulled my arm so that I would follow her.
-This… is the second floor –
We were next to the door that led to, what I supposed, was her bedroom. I watched her as she went inside and sat on her bed.
-This is my bedroom-
-I supposed-
I went towards her and leaned, pushing her back. I breathed in her smell and kissed, now deeply, while I forced her to lean back. I climbed over until I was on top of her and ran my hand up her waist. I held her against me.
It wasn’t until she touched my bare stomach that she realized how cold I was.
-Oh my god- she said –You are so… -
-Shhh- I interrupted her, and kissed her again.
She would find out eventually, but it was not the moment. I felt alive, almost too alive. I tried to stop when I realized my face changed, revealing what I really was. I stopped kissing her and turned my face to my right, but she kept on going. I tried to think about something else, trying to relax. It wasn’t easy.
She smelled really good. Her blood was calling every inch off me, and all I could think about was how delicious the taste of it would be.
“Shit Paul” I thought “Think about something else. You can’t harm her”
She kept on kissing me, ignoring what was happening with me in that very moment. I took a gap of air and stopped breathing hoping that would help, but the desire of it was too strong. All I could see was her skin, so fragile and delicate that it would break with only a squeeze from my hand. All I could smell was her blood, flowing around her body like water. I felt as I started to loose control over myself. All I could think of was tearing her apart in pieces, but the only thought of that horrified me. I tried to stay focused, trying to repel that monster inside of me; that same monster that made me loose control that night with Ian in the woods. That could not happen again. I could not do that to Nicole, I cared about her too much.
That was the problem. I cared about her too much to think about what was best for her and let her go, leave he alone.
She searched for my lips and kissed me again. Thank god she didn’t open her eyes.
I breathed deeply and relaxed as I felt my body melt into her’s, feeling how the sound of her heart pumping all that blood faded away. I focused only in her breathing and her lips kissing mine. I took her hands away when I felt her trying to take of my shirt. I kissed her for a while longer and then pushed myself away when I was sure my face had changed again.
She looked at me, penetrating me with her dark eyes. I couldn’t see what she was thinking, but she seemed worried.
-Are you okay? – She asked.
-Yes… Why? –
My face was, as far as I could tell, so there wasn’t any reason for her to worry.
-You seem… In pain- she said sliding her hand through my cheek and following the shape of my lips.
-I’m fine- I said.
Although I knew I wasn’t.
When I arrived home all I could think about was how closed I had been away from killing her. If I hadn’t had that strength, that will and resignation to harm her she would be death by now. It had been too tempting, a stupid act from me. I thought I could control myself, but now I could see that even with animal blood I found it hard to keep myself from showing who I actually was. There was a thin line between passion and violence, especially in vampires, so whenever I opened one gate, the other one opened too. I had to be careful with what I did.
“It would all be so much easier if she knew” I thought, but I didn’t want to take that risk. I didn’t want to risk loosing her.
I passed around my living room while I thought for a solution, a way out.
The house was huge, but my favorite place to be was the living room. It was large, made of wood, with a wine colored leather couch and a small table in front of it. There were bookshelves all around it containing every kind of books, from novels to biology and history books. It was, by far, my favorite place to be.
I stopped walking as an idea came to my mind. I went rapidly towards the left bookshelf and searched for a mythology book that I had bought a few years ago.
Myths and Creatures
It said. I opened it up and turned the pages.
-Mermaids, Werewolves, Elves, Goblins and Leper cons, Beasts and finally… Vampires.
The book was full of illustrations, showing all kinds of vampires.
The typical bat-transforming vampire, the ones using long tunics, the ones with long wings that could fly and finally the normal ones. The vampires that fed on human blood and burned under the sun. I read the whole section looking for something that would help me, but there was nothing there. I sighed and closed the book. I realized that in the last page there was something written. A small paragraph titled the Elixir of Life.
-How typical- I said to myself.
I read the paragraph closely.
The Elixir of Life
The myth says that who drink the Elixir of Life will live for ever, but it has a complete different function when it comes to these supernatural creatures.
Mermaids will become into permanent humans, replacing their tales by legs and leaving them without their powers.
Werewolves become human again or may stay in their wolf form for the rest of their lives.
The other creatures that can use this special Elixir are vampires, for as they are death this substance will make their heart start beating. They will gain life and loose their desire for life, their speed and their strength, but in return they will become human again.
The last person to ever hold this Elixir was Theodore Fleming, vampire in the beginning of times, who disappeared after using it and hid it from the world. The location of this substance is now unknown.
That was my answer. I had to find that substance and drink it. Only in that way I would be able to be with Nicole, only in that way I would be able to be myself. This was my chance to be human again, to return to the past and become who I was intended to be. I would be able to forget all that happened in the last fifteen years and start a new life, as a person, a living person.
People saw us as monsters, which we were, but they often made the mistake of thinking we had a soul; we were good depending on the lifestyle we chose, but the truth is that we have no soul. We are death. Living dead people, who were designed to kill and feed on the race we used to belong to.
That simple thought made me realize that I could hide what I was, but I would never change it; not even by feeding on animals.
I wanted blood, and I had to kill to obtain it and that was my life, which was what I was created for; a machine to kill and drain blood.