Finally, I made it home and I sighed in relief as I entered and got away from the night. I slid my bookbag off of my shoulders to see my mother cooking macaroni by the stove.
"I'm home," I told her.
"That's good, honey," she said in her usual sugary sweet voice. It always grated on my ears. "Your father will be home soon and hopefully everything will have gone well." She smiled brightly which was when I noticed the small bruise on her cheek.
"Mom, he didn't hit you again, did he?" I asked dangerously.
"Oh, he didn't mean to. He fell off of the couch and his beer bottle hit me."
Liar
"If you say so. Is he off on a deal?"
"Yes. He's selling the cocaine we got last week and it should make enough money to pay off the payment for this month." Can this woman be any stupider? She's living with a crackhead husband that's selling crack and she acts like it's just a job.
"Whatever. Can I have my food?" She handed me my macaroni and I made my way upstairs and to my computer, the only one in the house. I continued reading the story from Fanfiction like I had last night when the phone rang. A few minutes later, Mom called.
"Sweetie? It's for you." I groaned and sauntered downstairs only to hear Amber calling my name.
"Esmeralda, get out now," she stated, her voice uncharacteristically harsh. "Get your parents and get out. Do it now or it may be too late."
"What?" I asked, not really understanding her command. It was then that the pulse hit me. My eyes widened. Why hadn't I sensed it before?
"They're coming for you." Her uncanny ability to freak me out succeeded as I heard the front door burst open. I threw the phone to the ground, uncaring if it broke, and ran into the kitchen again. A vampire stood in the doorway, a smile on his pale face.
"Hello," he crooned. My poor mother dropped the ladle she'd been using and dropped to her knees at the vampire's feet. The vampire, in turn, petted her head softly and smiled evilly at me. "Come to me," he said, his voice lowered to an almost perfect pitch. My head swam momentarily and I shook it to clear my thoughts. The vampire's eyebrows raised and his smile grew wider. It was then I realized I'd done something very wrong. "So you are the one I've felt. I've been searching for you, my dear. If you come with me, I'll spare your mother." My mother was still fawning at his feet, stroking his thighs and legs in adoration.
"What did you do to her?" I asked, clenching my fists.
"I have done nothing. She is just mesmerized by me, aren't you?" Mom mewled - freaking mewled - and the vampire patted her head like a pet. "That's right."
"She has nothing to do with this," I said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"You're right. She doesn't," the vampire mused. His hand on her head suddenly grabbed a fistful of her hair and he hauled her to her feet. I saw his teeth elongate and he smiled at me before plunging them into Mom's neck, his eyes on me the entire time. I froze instantly as blood spilled from my mother's neck down her shirt. To my shock, she groaned in ecstasy and wrapped her arms around him. The blood drained from my face as I watched the sickly grotesque scene.
"Stop it!" I whispered. "Mom, stop it," I continued, louder. "Mom…MOM!" I finally lurched forward towards my dying mother and the vampire dropped her to the ground. She cried out in protest but he kicked her across the room. She slammed against the counter, flinging the knife set into the air and I gasped. This could not be happening. As her body crunched against the floor, the knives barreled down to her prone form. I turned back to her, but the vampire was suddenly at my side, grabbing my upper arms in a death grip.
"Watch, little one. This is what happens when you disobey me." Time slowed as the knives fell onto my mother, each piercing her body to the hilt. My mind, in a last resort for my sanity, shut down all activity, leaving me in a zombie-like state as I stared at her now dead body. The vampire pulled me against his body and leaned in closely, burrowing his face in my neck while running his fingers through my hair. "Your blood calls to me," he murmured. "You're the one going to save my soul." His other arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me harder against his body. "Come, lifemate. Come with my willingly." His tongue traced my jugular and he nipped at my now rapidly beating pulse.
"The hell she is," I heard from the doorway. I looked to see Amber, her hand extended with a rotating white ball of light on her open palm. The vampire's eyes narrowed on her.
"So you're a mage," he said. "You're wrong. She's coming with me." Amber released the ball of light and the vampire let go off me, moving from the attack. I stumbled toward Amber and she grabbed my shirt and drew me behind her. The vampire settled on the ground once more, a self-confident smirk on his face. "Who would teach you such an art? Surely my kind hasn't stooped so low."
"You'd be surprised, vampire. Szayel has long been our friend and mentor." The vampire laughed.
"Szayel? That bastard's still alive?" Amber's eyes narrowed. "That makes sense. He may be an ancient, but he doesn't deserve the title of vampire. He's a human lover," the vampire spat out. "Where is he, little girl?" Amber smirked at him.
"Sorry, but compulsions don't work on me," she stated saucily. "Now why don't you go run along now before I call the other mages to my side?" The vampire smirked at her.
"Now why would I allow you to do so? Look at the mother…what happened to her, I wonder?"
"You didn't have to kill her," Amber growled out. She closed her eyes momentarily and chanted one sentence. At once, my world spun and I stumbled to the ground only to find myself in a clearing far from the city. "Now here's a fitting place to fight, vampire." My eyes widened and I scrambled away from the glaring pair.
"And the one who wins gets the girl," the vampire stated smoothly before lifting his fingers. Before my eyes, the fingers elongated into talons. "And to make sure she doesn't run…he snapped his fingers, causing me to fall backwards unconscious.
I awoke in the darkness again. Where was I? Where was the vampire? A shudder ran down my spine while my gaze darted around the darkness. Spotting nothing moving, I slowed my rapid breathing and sank to my knees. With nothing else stopping the adrenaline overload, I began to cry, the sobs racking my body. I hugged my stomach and dropped my forehead to the floor. I felt so alone, like no one could ever find me again.
"Why? Why are you feeling so sad?" I looked up at the sound of my voice. "Don't be sad…I'm here!"
"Stop it!" I cried out, holding my head.
"Why are you afraid?" my voice came again, in a lower pitch. "Why?" This time, the voice was a low, velvety purr that left me breathless. "Who has hurt you?" the voice queried again. I finally felt the familiar emotions beating against my heart. Was my god talking to me? I sat upright and hugged my stomach once again.
"Who are you?" I asked quietly to the darkness.
"Who has hurt you?" my god asked again.
"It was…a vampire," I whispered. "He killed my mother." With my statement said, the voice became silent. "Please…help me. He's come to kill me! He's fighting my friend. Save her, I beg of you! I'll give you anything, just save her!" I yelled, tears again rolling down my face.
"I'm sorry. I am too far away to help you, but I come, mor-forwyn. There is another hunter in the area and I feel him coming. Stay alive for me." I woke to violent shaking. Amber stood above me, her face streaked with her blood.
"Run, Esmeralda." She was ripped off of me as the vampire above me snarled at her.
"Tsk, tsk. Didn't I put her to sleep for a reason?" He squatted next me and brushed a bit of Amber's blood from my face. "Now, lifemate, stay still for me and I won't put you back to sleep." He took away his hand and stood once more, facing Amber. When he snarled, I barely spotted the blur of light headed for the vampire. To my surprise, his body began to disintegrate into mist.
"I don't think so," I heard Amber say. The light pierced the vampire and it screamed in pain and agony. I sat up to survey the scene. The vampire had an arrow of light in his chest while Amber held a longbow of the same light. "This magic was made my Szayel himself. It can pierce any form you possess and will burn any part of you it touches. How does it feel?"
"Wench!" the vampire snarled, pulling the arrow from his chest. As he did so, his face changed. Instead of the pale perfection it was before, it slowly began to decay until only a few strips of flesh adorned his skull. Needless to say, it was highly disgusting. I crawled away as I felt the urge to vomit once more, but the vampire didn't stop me.
As I hurled my macaroni onto the ground, I felt a slight breeze pass my left cheek. I looked toward the fight once more to Diego standing beside of the now decayed vampire. Diego wasted no time in plunging his hand into the vampire's chest and I looked away in revulsion. I'd done enough puking in the last few days to last me a lifetime. I heard the thunder and I turned a few seconds later to see the ashes floating away with the breeze. With this done, Diego turned back to me.
"You," he stated, his beautiful voice enveloping my injured mind. I gulped regardless. Amber, however, appeared between Diego and me, cutting him off.
"If you want her you'll come through me."
"I've heard about you as well," Diego stated. "But it is the other girl that I am after."
"You can't have her, vampire." This got Diego's attention.
"I am no vampire. I am a Carpathian." Amber stiffened, then moved to the side to allow him access to me.
"Amber?" I asked cautiously, ready to run.
"It is safe, Esmeralda." Diego walked slowly toward me, his confidence clinging to his skin. He was a beautiful man in the face of this tragic day. He had long brown hair and piercing blue eyes and he moved with grace. He stopped by my feet and squatted down to my level. He gently stroked my cheek and moved his hand away once more.
"So your name is Esmeralda?" he asked softly. "That is a beautiful name."
"Are you the hunter?" his eyes widened in mock surprise.
"Oh, you know of our kind?"
"No. It's complicated, but I heard a hunter was coming." Amber threw a glance my way and I shuffled, suddenly uncomfortable.
"Then I'll bet you are wanting explanations," he continued, ignoring the tension in the air. "Come. I will take you to my house." I looked at Amber, who nodded once.
"All right." Diego picked me up bridal style and cradled me gently into his chest, as if I were something precious. I smiled and turned my face into his chest, hiding the faint blush. He chuckled, seeing my embarrassment, but looked upward. "Have you ever wanted to fly?" he asked suddenly. I looked up at him.
"Of course. Why?" He smiled down at me before jumping straight up into the air like a rocket. I screamed, throwing my arms around his neck in a death grip, and I heard him chuckle.
"Look, Esmeralda." I slowly turned and looked down only to see the town twinkling in the night. I gasped. It was so picturesque and beautiful, like a painted backdrop only painted by the best artists. He changed directions, heading west instead of straight up. He turned me around, making me scream, and held my back against his body. "I won't drop you," he murmured into my ear. I shivered in reaction. This man was lethal. I now was facing the ground and I smiled childishly as I held my hands out like Peter Pan. My eyes closed slowly and I just reveled in the feel of the wind against me. Diego, sensing my new state of mind, swooped downwards and performed a few twists. Instead of screaming, I laughed at the sensations.
All too soon, Diego swooped towards the ground and landed in a clearing. He turned me around and I spotted a Victorian style mansion sitting in the middle of a forest. There were about five acres of cleared land and the house didn't have the finery as other mansions had. It had no fountain in the middle and only sported flowers lining the driveway. Everything else was a manicured lawn. A small iron wall surrounded the house and Diego led me to it, pushing the gate open for me.
"Do you enter out of your own free will?" he asked quietly, seriously. I shivered in reaction.
"Yes?" I asked, more of a question. He gestured inside and I stepped in his home. Immediately, I felt a small change within me, like I had done something irrevocable.
"Come inside and I will tell you all you need to know." I followed Diego inside and through the spacious foyer of his home. We ended up in a library of sorts with highly comfortable couches outlining the Persian rug in the middle of the room. "Now, I'm sure you're hungry. Would you like something to eat?" I felt a pang as I realized who had cooked me my last meal. I felt even worse to realize that I really wasn't torn up about her death. The woman had raised me as best as she could and I didn't even cry over her death.
"No," I croaked. "I'm fine." Diego cocked his head to the side but ignored the womanly statement.
"I know that you can see over long distances. I sensed you the other night, but I couldn't pinpoint your location. Why is that?" I shrugged, but pulled out a moon shaped necklace from my shirt.
"Amber gave me this. She said it was designed by Rhiannon." Diego stiffened.
"Rhiannon of the Dragonseekers?" I shrugged again.
"I don't know. That's all she told me."
"Interesting. That necklace is what kept you alive all of these years. She must have known what it does." Diego leaned forward and studied the jewelry.
"What does it do?" I asked.
"It keeps your powers invisible from both of our kind." Well, I guess she was looking out for me all along.
"Then what is your kind?"
"We are Carpathians, creatures of the night. We drink blood, which keeps us alive. We're immortal but cannot stand the sun."
"But that's vampiric!" I protested. He shook his head.
"No, the vampire is an evil creature who lives on the terror of humans and Carpathians alive. In essence, they are fallen Carpathians."
"How are they fallen?"
"To understand, you must realize that our race is dwindling near extinction. There are only a few of us left and even fewer mated pairs. A Carpathian male, once he reaches a certain age, loses the ability to feel emotions and to see colors." My eyes widened. "It happens at around 200 years, but it entirely depends on the Carpathian himself. The women, our lifemates, are the light to our darkness. They give us back our lost abilities and complete us. In recent years, there have been human women able to survive the conversion."
"Wait, I was called a lifemate!"
"Yes. You have the ability to become a Carpathian female and as a male, it is now my duty to protect you. You are valuable to our race, even if you are not mated. Sadly, you are not my lifemate, but your mate exists out in the many hunters across the world."
"So…the vampire that attacked my mother…there could be more of them?"
"There is no question. There WILL be more."
"Why? What's so special about me?"
"Because vampires are fallen Carpathians." My mouth dropped open, but no words managed to come out. A ghost of a smirk flitted across his face before he settled back into his usual impassive features. "As you know, we lose our emotions and colors after 200 years. A life without emotions is not a life at all, but there is one emotion we feel. Every time we kill, it gets harder not to stop. What I call our inner beast starts to rage and call for more blood. When the kills become too much and the call too powerful, we cross an irrevocable line, usually by killing an innocent human. That is when we become nosferatu: the undead. The nosferatu can inherently feel, but only thrive off of suffering and pain. Their joy is in the hunt and in the kill; it is how they can survive."
"And the hunters hunt them?" I asked. He nodded once, leaning back into the couch and throwing his arm across the top of the couch.
"Yes. Most hunters were sent out by our late prince, Vladimir Dubrinsky. Even with his death, we still continue to hunt in his name."
"So…what now?"