Chapter 7 - Connections

Delilah

Pain. It was the only emotion or feeling I could identify. My body was being tortured, and I was powerless to stop or resist that pain.

After my living nightmare of being attacked by a woman more beautiful than anyone I'd ever met in my life, this new pain was all that I could find in my memory of all pain in my life. The birth of my son had seemed like scrapping a knee compared to this agony.

Every single nerve in my body was alight with an unholy fire. I was being roasted from the inside out, slowly and methodically. Every beat of my heart only seemed to spread the flames through my body. Every pulse sent a new wave of hell into every inch of my being.

With every struggling pound of my heart I felt myself drawing closer to some grand finish of pain; and then the sweet release of death. The dark void where I was writhing in agony, every scream punctuating the already dismal situation, had descended very suddenly on me, and only my tiny spark of light was left. In that tiny spark of humanity and life left to me I could still think, but mostly feel. Feel the terrible nothingness that I was trapped in.

But, in that tiny flicker of my soul I had kept hope.

I hoped that I had lived well enough in life that this pain would only be short and that I could live happily in the afterlife.

At least I hoped there was an afterlife at any rate.

I had grown up in a strong Christian family: going to church on Sundays, praying regularly, and reading from the Good Book. I never cheated or stole anything from anybody, and I had never killed anybody. I was very respectful to everybody. I was a good person right? I mean I said a few things, and done a few things, in my life I wasn't proud of; who hasn't? But that didn't mean I had to go to hell did it?

Was this hell? Was this what had been meant by a lake of fire and brimstone? A never-ending torment prepared for the devil and his angels. Separated from my family and friends for the rest of eternity, to endure my agony in silence and solitude.

Hell.

Had it happened to me?

What happened Lord? Where did I go wrong?

The pain spiked, and I couldn't contain the bloodcurdling scream that erupted in synchronized time with the ache in my heart. My limbs and body seemed to react of their own conscience; every muscle and nerve reaching for some cooling antidote.

And then I felt my deliverance.

The unholy flames that ravished my body slowly began to recede, like the Red Sea before the hand of God. Slowly, the devilish heat peeled itself away from my limbs and torso and retreated. A serene, blissfully cool, feeling was left to bless my charred soul.

But something was wrong. The flames were moving to my heart and intensifying. My heart took off like a horse at the sound of a bullet; galloping ahead with reckless speed. And as my pulse sped through the vast eternity of this forever-long moment, new layers of feeling and emotion seemed to press themselves upon my mind.

I reached out with this new sense of feeling, and discovered small pockets of celestial essence surrounding me. A small fluttering of fear fluttered around my spirit, tethered in several lines on invisible anchors around me. Each string was distinct and strange to my new senses, but it seemed as though each was an old friend whose name I had forgotten.

Attached to it, like a weight to a thread, was a torturous feeling. As I accessed this new sensation, the fear was barely noticeable next to the presence of several new pains, each one almost a living entity all of their own. Each one also rooted to that same anchor as the fear breeding around the lines I could see.

And in that same instant I could hear beating hearts; each as desperate in rhythm and struggle as my own. And as I heard and felt each beat of those hearts I found the anchors to the lines of emotion. The lines disappeared into brilliant depths of light inside the hearts I heard racing ahead of some deadly predator.

And then the pain was gone from my body. The only sensations remaining to me were the still presences around me in pain, low moans and gasps escaping their throats, and the new dry burning in my own throat. It felt as though all the moisture in my throat had been replaced with the vast heat from the Sahara and Mojave deserts combined. It was almost as unbearable as the pain had been.

But as I lay pondering this, a thought occurred to me. I had more strength than I remembered. I could feel the raw power in my muscles, the dormant energy waiting to be used. And my thinking capacity seemed to have increased as well. While I could feel the throbbing pain in my throat, I could think around it and still explore with my other senses.

The feeling alone was fascinating.

I opened my eyes. Instantly the world around me was thrown into astonishingly sharp detail. I could discern every single pattern on the trees, trace every single vein on each individual leaf, and hear birds in varying distances around me location. How had I ended up in the forest? My last memories didn't match my new ones.

I pushed myself up to my feet, it seemed so much easier now with this new found vitality in my body, and took in the amazing detail of my surrounding area. I was in a sheltered little glen, maple and oak trees forming a vast canopy above my head and spattering the sunlight into small patches on the forest floor. I was on the nearby mountain, but which side. This area could very well have been inaccessible to people without four-wheelers. But, it was beautiful nonetheless.

A masterpiece.

Then my attention was drawn to the bodies lying on the ground by my feet. They were all heart-wrenchingly beautiful. Each face would be coveted by the world's modeling agencies, sculpted and designed by the angels themselves. The brawn and grace that balanced perfectly on the few males, and the celestial glamour that lay upon the women was breathtaking. But what really stunned me was the uniform skin tone amongst these sleeping angels. It was a pearly white. Soft, yet hard in the same moment. It was just too hard to describe this subtle perfection that alighted these faces.

And as I stood and gazed at these sleeping beauties, scouring my mind and heart for any link, my negligent memory surfaced and placed names to these serene personages. David. Laci. Amanda. Nina. Bekka. Jeremy. Lucy. How did I never notice these beautiful people before? I had worked with them, a few very closely. How had my eyes missed these heavenly creatures?

And then they stirred. Rousting themselves up from the leaf strewn ground they gazed about them, and I gasped in spite of myself. Their eyes burned with the same dark blood red evil as the ones who attacked us. And as my comrades looked around at each other, I could see the lines from their hearts again. The leaden pains had disappeared only to be replaced by numerous beads of dazzling and exotic lights: curiosity, wonder, amazement, fear, shock, apprehension; amidst too many others to name.

"Delilah?" a familiar tenor voice, now richer and more velvety than before, asked.

I turned to the speaker, and I could see new beads cropping up on David's heartstring: fear, terror, and confusion. "David?" I asked, thinking for the first time I might truly be in a dream or fantasy since the pain had left my body. And I couldn't help but be amazed at the slight tinkling I heard in my voice, it was almost musical in its quality.

"You look different," he whispered, his voice showing an awe in his response.

"Do I?" I asked. I twisted around until I spotted a nearby puddle of water from an old rainstorm and moved toward it, noticing the almost lack of feeling as I crossed the flat ground. As I gazed into the glimmering surface I could see what David meant. I had never looked better in my life. My face, my hair, and my skin seemed to radiate an angelic aura all its own. I looked much akin to my former coworkers around me.

"What happened?" David asked, his voice rising a little; and yet there still lay that underlying suave, rich, soothing tone to it. I turned to face him, his brow was furrowed in confusion. "Why are we here? Are we all dead?"

"No, you're not dead," said a deep voice.

Every head in our small group snapped to focus on a familiar figure emerging out of the shadows around us. His shoulders were broad and angular. Muscles rippled across his chest and arms, and his whole demeanor was that of a warrior from another era. He cast an almost majestic sense about him, and his heartstring showed only confidence and assurance as he gazed at us.

As he emerged from his dark shelter the setting sun burst upon his skin and erupted into a glimmering shower of sparkling crystals, causing all of us to gasp. He was breathtaking and beautiful, though I'd never really thought to call a man beautiful before. But as I lived and breathed, each breathe assaulting my senses with the organic aromas of mountain soil and flora and an exotic new sweet scent unfamiliar to me, he was too stunning to be human.

And not but a step behind him stepped the woman he had once appeared so ominously to us with. She was even more radiant now than I had remembered, and her skin shimmered like the man standing by her. Together, they seemed complete. One unit. No division I could think of could separate the one from the other.

"We're not dead?" asked Laci timidly, fear apparent in her voice and heartstring.

"No little one," the woman said soothingly, all trace of the malice I remembered in her voice gone. "You have been given a wonderful gift. A change and opportunity for a new life."

I felt an eruption of shock issue from around me. We had subconsciously grouped around each other, seeking protection. David and Jeremy had taken the front flank, while the girls and I huddled back. But there was no way to prepare myself for this new wave of emotion. So many different lights flew along the heartstrings I saw, and felt, amongst my comrades that it was amazing to me that I didn't feel completely overwhelmed by these familiar sensations that still were foreign to my body.

As I studied through the problem I watched the two figures step out of the sunlight and ghost carefully toward us. Each step they took was taken with care, I could plainly see that. And there wasn't quite so much sanguinity between the two of them anymore. With each step I could see new beads of apprehension and uncertainty added to their heartstrings.

"What are you talking about?" David barked, though the effect was slightly mollified by the operatic tone in his voice.

"You have been changed," the male said studying our faces carefully. "Do you not feel it?"

We all turned to each other and knew they were telling the truth. Each of us, I knew as I felt their heartstrings, was sizing up our mental evaluations of how we felt. But, they still hadn't answered our question.

"What are you?" Jeremy asked, his baritone voice a harmonious tone to David's own tenor.

The two creatures smiled, the man chuckled silently. "Have you not guessed yet young one?" the woman asked politely.

"Vampire," Laci whispered.

"Yes," the male said. "We are vampires. My name is Logan, and my mate is Barbara."

What? Vampires? But that was just stuff for romance novels. Vampires don't really exist. Do they?

The emotions caterwauling around me stole my attention away. My companions seemed to be just as perplexed as I in this startling news. Amanda peered around Jeremy's shoulder with a query look on her face. "Then why didn't you burst into flames with the sunlight?" she asked, her normally soft alto voice now lighter and airier.

Another chuckle from the male vampire Logan. "That's only a myth young one," Barbara said patiently. "But we will talk later. For now it is time."

"Time for what?" Laci asked, stepping back a pace.

"To hunt," Logan said with a gleaming wide smile. "Your thirst must be satiated soon or you may lose control over your emotions."

As he mentioned a thirst, my throat flared up in flames as though a hot poker from a blazing furnace had been streamlined down it. And I could feel the fresh waves of pain as my companions felt the renewed vigor of their own thirsts roaring to the forefront of attention; demanding relief.

Barbara and Logan grasped hands and took off running down the mountain. Hesitating only for the merest second, we all moved after them. It was completely exhilarating to feel the rush of wind over my face, the ease with which my muscles responded to my will. And the nearby pockets of excitement and joy told me the others were nearby and loving the feelings as much as I was.

We reached the outskirts of town with the last fading light of the sun slowly winking out, welcoming the promising rest of night. The smells of the city were not what I was familiar to, my new senses increasing every single car and piece of power equipment into a irritating in my nostrils. But amongst all the olfactory cluttering my nose, I could smell a tantalizing aroma. So warm and perfect. It was so appealing that I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I just had to have that appetizing scent.

"What is that smell?" Nina asked. "It smells so good."

Logan smiled slyly. "You'll just have to follow your nose to find out."

Nina hissed in anger at the snide remark, but didn't seem deterred in the slightest. None of them seemed to be able to focus on anything but that smell; even I was having a hard time forming coherent thoughts while that smell was in my head.

"Return to the mountain when you've had your fill," Barbara said. Her face was very businesslike, which was hard to look at under the onslaught of that wonderful aroma. "We'll be waiting to explain everything."

A few of the others, I'm not quite sure which, didn't even wait until Barbara had finished speaking before taking off in full speed for that smell. I paused for a moment before I leapt away from the small hillock where we had congregated and began following my nose.

It was so difficult to focus. I kept feeling so many different emotions attached to that smell, and I didn't even know what it was yet. But I felt anxious, excited; almost aroused by it. I ran through the twilight falling onto our little town in Arizona, searching for that hidden aroma.

And then I found it. It was coming from a little apartment building less than a mile away; it amazed me that I could gage the distance that precisely without having traveled it at all. A short jog later, I was standing outside the little two story building, a sign outside read "Desert Vale Apartments". The source of the smell was on the second floor, behind door number 15.

I crouched low and sprang to the railing on the second terrace. It almost seemed to be slow-motion to my body, and I had more than enough time to lash out with one hand, and swing myself noiselessly onto the cement boardwalk. I smiled at the abilities my new body kept impressing me with.

I paused for just a moment as a new wave of emotions came over me. It was strange yet so familiar. It was affectionate and caring, but I couldn't quite classify it. But as I took a deep breath to consider further this new emotion assailing my mind the breeze shook up more of that intoxicating perfume that had drawn me here and I quickly lost interest in the unknown emotion.

I paused at the door and considered for a split second. I didn't want to leave any strange facts about how I'd gotten in. I turned my head and spotted an open window. Placing both hands upon the window I quietly hefted myself inside the small living quarters.

It was sparsely furnished, probably living on a college student's budget. A small love seat sat across from a miniscule TV set placed upon an old coffee table. The kitchen was poorly decorated with black and blue tiles, making the pasty white fridge stand out even more.

I breathed deeply, searching out the scent. It was coming from the bedroom, as was the emotion I couldn't place earlier. I ghosted over to the bedroom door, a quiet moaning coming from behind it. I paused, a conflict rising momentarily in my conscience. What was I doing in this person's house?

I took a deep breath to steady myself and then it happened. I lost control.

The scent was so strong it overrode all hesitancy and care I had in my control. I pushed the door violently open and stepped into the room. A young couple, tangled amongst sheets and covered in sweat, was staring at me with a mixed look of fear and amazement.

But I didn't pause long enough to really take in their emotions. I leapt from the doorway onto the bed in a movement that would have normally surprised myself. The man tried to dislodge me from the bed, but he might as well have been pushing against a brick wall with the strength and bloodlust I was feeling. I threw him from the bed where he slammed into the wall and slumped to the floor.

The insignificant threat dealt with, I turned my attention back to the woman still cowering beneath me on the mattress. She shuffled back into the headboard, which was very nicely decorated with seagulls and seashells. I moved forward, and without even thinking it, I grabbed her and bit into her exposed neck.

Her blood. It was so succulent and sweet. It was the most expensive and rarest of wines. I drank greedily, my body and throat screaming for more like a crack-fiend. But the man had gotten off the floor and smashed the desk lamp onto my head, where it had shattered without so much as a prickle to my body.

I relinquished my hold and slammed the husband once more into the wall, this time with my powerful body against his bare skin. He shivered as I bit into his neck and felt the euphoria wash into me again, deep and tranquil. Behind me I heard a strangled cry of pain, and the man's feeble attempt to push me off and move toward his mate.

And then something happened to break my bloodlust spell.

I recognized the emotion: love. These two loved each other. And their love was so strong it forced several memories of this powerful emotion into my mind, blurring all other thoughts. My family. My son and his wife. My granddaughter Aaliyah.

I ran from the room as fast as I could, praying to God to forgive me. What have I become? A cold-blooded murderer? A killer who attacks a victim even in the heat of passion?

No. I would not become a merciless killer.

As I found this new determination, I felt a slight tugging at my heart. As I explored this new feeling in my heart I felt a great surge of bloodlust come from David. No! I would not let him suffer my mistake.

I paused for a moment in my panic. But how could I find him in this town? Even with my new speed I could be too late. As I was thinking, I felt a pull at my heart again, this time in a direction instead of feeling. I prayed to God that it was David and took off into the night.

Barbara and Logan watched their army stalk off into the night. Logan was not as confident as he made his mate believe. Something about a few of them did not sit well with him. But he would not tell Barbara. She was so happy. And he would suffer death itself if it made her happy.

Barbara slipped her hand into Logan's. "Let's go wait on the mountain," she said, winking at Logan.

Logan smiled and together they ran back up the mountain, aiming for the same cave they had hibernated in before, waiting for the return of their newborns.