8. WILLIAM (1782)
"I went to the woods to relieve myself," he said. "Not the most auspicious of moments for my new awakening."
I looked into his cold red eyes, which did not match his smile. We had stopped beyond a small village called Blacksburg in southwestern Virginia. We had hunted for months to fulfill my thirst, and although I had asked how William came to the new life before, he only now trusted that I was able to comprehend his story. Though Mary insisted that all of my new kind, vampires, were different, William waited until he was sure of me, waited the exact amount of time that he himself had needed with Mary before he was capable of rational thought. He was very convinced that my transformation was exactly the same as his in every facet.
"I did not see my angel of glory before she kissed me on the throat and made me so much better than I'd ever thought possible."
"I was not hungry, but you were so very alluring. I was alone too long. I finally tried my hand at something other than killing," Mary whispered. I guessed at her reasons, but I could not know. She was not a companion to me, but perhaps she wanted to be. I knew the bonds of found family as well as anyone. "You were too beautiful to kill, but too beautiful to resist.
William smiled at her, but there was not the same love in his smile as there was in her words. I looked at him closely, sixteen forever, and though I had lived more years, I knew that though I was now twenty-six for eternity, I would not match his age. I was older, yet somehow younger than him.
"She took me west, outside Harrisburg, and we stayed in a barn, much like you, while I transformed," he continued. "You know that pain," I winced as he said it, "I need not relive it. When I awoke, I was a new man. The thirst was unbearable, of course. Mary did not provide for me as I did for you."
He looked at her with reproach, and she looked away, an expression I did not understand clouding her face. It was a mixture of remorse, pain, and anger, but I did not know which emotion was most prevalent.
"We hunted then. I cannot tell you the joy of that first kill. It was as if I had finally found my place in this world. As if I was made for this life," his arrogance was back, consuming any other emotions he had displayed when he spoke of the change. "And I am made for this life. Everything I could not have but desired in my old life is in front of me. The power is…intoxicating. Nearly as intoxicating as the blood. I am better than everything else now, stronger. I could crush a British soldier with my bare hands, could destroy an entire regiment by myself. My greatest wishes were no longer fantasy, but reality," he moved from the present to the past in his speech, but gave me a glimpse of this person I had known before, and I knew he was wholly different.
"We moved through the Pennsylvania countryside, killing randomly until I was a newborn no longer, until I was able to be rational, somewhat, as you are now, Garrett. Mary was very patient. She is more adept at training newborns than she realizes." He smiled at her, and she smiled back, though her smile did not have the confidence of his.
"I knew the rule, our only rule, and I soon knew how to enjoy myself without violating it. We started by killing Indians and fur traders, attacking the occasional scout from the war. The scouts helped me to hone my technique. I took time with the British scouts, capturing them and speaking to them before I killed them. At first it was to gain information, but I realized quickly that the kill was far better with these captured scouts and soldiers. And I had no one to whom I could give the information anyway!" William laughed, and Mary shuddered. I wanted to shudder too, but my new mind did not accept that this was wrong. Perhaps this would be more fun than the way I was hunting. Perhaps the hunt could be more enjoyable. Was that even possible?
"So we began our new way of killing. Mary helped me to bear the scent of humans, and we moved among them, so that I could know them better. It was very difficult at first, and we fled a few times when the scent overtook me, but eventually I was able withstand the urge. I could stand right beside a human and not kill it. Then the fun began."
The gleam in William's eye was absolutely genuine. "I could prolong the glorious moment of the kill as I wanted after that. I could hold a family for days, killing them one at a time, savoring each kill more fully than any before it. I was powerful and I was happy, but for two things."
"As I told you when you first changed, we can only bring some aspects of our character with us, and some elements and memories are lost. I brought two with me. The first was my love of family. I had loved both my families, my own and that of the Continental Army. When I returned to New York, I could not contain my exuberance for blood with my old family, but they were one of the better feasts I had in my newborn state. So I refused to allow the same for my second family, namely, Mary and you." William looked at me then, hope filling his red eyes.
"I craved family more than anything besides the kill. Mary provided comfort, but I needed more," he looked at Mary again, and I expected his disappointment, but not hers. She did not share his desires.
"So we found you. I suppose 'stalked you' would be more appropriate. Our endeavors were not enough to fulfill us; Mary did not even enjoy our new form of killing, though I know not why. We had our feast for four years, but it was not complete. We found you as you marched to Virginia."
"He convinced me that we were not enough as two," Mary said. There was only resentment now in her expression.
"Who could possibly be more suited for this new world than Garrett?" William exclaimed. "You, who love freedom more than you love anything else, including your own happiness! I had discovered the ultimate freedom, and I could give it to the man who appreciated freedom above all others, who was willing to sacrifice being with the love of his life for it," William looked in my eyes then. "You speak of Susan often in your sleep. You will not talk of her awake, you love her so much, you're pain is so great. That you could give that up for freedom is remarkable beyond measure. You are perfectly suited for our world.
"And now we are three! My family grows, and so does my happiness!" He swept his arms wide, joy all over his face. For the briefest of seconds he resembled more closely the boy I had known, until his expression changed from a broad smile, full of white teeth, to a smaller smirk, a wicked look. The new smirk matched his eyes, which had never reflected his joy. "Tomorrow, Garrett, I will show you how I kill. We shall be a pair of vampires for the ages. Perhaps we can even convince Mary to join the festivities."
I looked at Mary then, and was surprised to find she was looking directly at me. Once again, her look held many emotions, warning and curiosity chief among them.
Before we hunted, Mary approached me. "May I speak to you privately, Garrett?" she asked, and looked up into my face. She was a small woman to me, I was over a foot greater in height, yet her presence was both gentle and commanding. Her pale skin made her doll-like, but the ferocity of her eyes dispelled the impression. Were it not for my memories of Susan, she might have convinced me to change my tastes from blondes to brunettes. She was incredibly beautiful
"Privately? Our family has no secrets!" William looked up from the clothing he was trying to wash in a nearby stream, wearing only his britches, so his golden skin gleamed brightly all over. His look was shocked. It was the first time I'd seen the expression on his face since I'd changed.
I was, frankly, quite surprised as well, although I knew from her eyes during his story that a great conflict stormed in her.
"It is simply a delicate matter about transformation and being a newborn I wish to discuss with him, as I have been around longer. This matter may embarrass him were he speaking near you." I saw that it was a lie immediately because I was looking directly into her face, but William saw nothing, and agreed with a nod. She loped into the woods away from the clearing without another word, and I followed as best I could, though she was faster. We went only a half mile before she stopped and turned, gracefully sitting atop the remains of a fallen tree. I stood above her, waiting expectantly.
"Well?" I asked, when she said nothing. She looked up at me, her expression unreadable
"Tell me Garrett, what was William like before…?" She trailed off and waited for my answer.
I hesitated, unsure where the question led, then described him as best I could. "He was happy, enthusiastic about the war and the cause, youthful. He was very trusting. He loved his family very much. He was not a great soldier, but he was a survivor. He could be easily frustrated, and had little patience, but he was almost never angry. He had the ability to make almost anyone feel comfortable. He was very forthright. He was my friend," I finished. I had a question of my own. "Is he any of these things now? I do not know if it is my newness, but I find him very different from my memories of before. How much do we change, from our old lives to the new?"
She was staring at me, but she looked away at my question, though she responded. "He is a great many of those things. He is trusting. He trusts both of us completely. He is still impatient. He places a great deal of importance on family." I gained very little from her answer as to the purpose of our conversation, so I waited again for her to speak. "I know not what qualities we bring from the old life to the new, but he seems to have some of them, and so do you. So do I." When she saw the flash in my eyes, she stopped my question. "No Garrett Smith, you will not here my story, not now. Perhaps…someday."
"You brought me here for a reason." I said.
"Be very careful, Garrett. William has a certain power to him, as some of our kind can possess, something beyond what we are capable of. He has a certain way of…convincing people to do what he wants. He convinced me to change you, though I did not agree with the decision. Everyday, he wills us to stay together, though three vampires together is a very rare thing. He approaches a home, and he is welcomed with open arms. Welcomed right up to the moment when the screaming begins. His way of killing is viscious and cruel. If he was compassionate in his old life, that characteristic was lost. It has been replaced with a desire for power. He calls us a family, but we are a coven, and he has a great desire to lead it. As he seeks to demonstrate his power to his victims, he seeks the same with us.
"You have an independent nature, Garrett. Keep it about you as you go on this hunt. It may not be the kind of hunting you desire. It disgusts me, and I have seen a great deal of horrible things in my time. Keep your independence about you whenever you are near him, hold it tight, or you may not recognize the monster you eventually become."
So this was a warning.
"He is waiting for you," she declared, and I knew the tone of dismissal. She folded her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms about her, and put her head down, deep in thought. I returned to William, and we left for his hunting trip.