British Columbia, CA – 1976
Alistair had told me that today was my supposed birthday, I was turned a year ago, and was no longer a newborn. I could feel the change, I didn't feel as strong or as fast, the ever present burn in my throat bothered me just a little less. Time passed differently for me now, it didn't matter what time it was, what day it was or what season it was. Soon the year wouldn't even matter. Time only mattered to humans, always in a rush. I had days where I sat as a statue, enjoying the forest around me. Sometimes, when I had been sitting still for hours, I could even get a bird to land on me for just a moment, before it sensed the predator I was.
Just as Alistair had said, we'd been traveling back and forth across Canada. We stayed in the depths of the more well known forest preserves, picking off backpackers that passed through. Always making it appear as a wild animal attack or completely burning the evidence. Alistair used every hunt he could as a test, getting me more and more used to not attacking on sight so we could eventually be around more populated areas.
It didn't work much in the beginning, when we set out, I would have mauled half the meal before he could even speak. But it slowly got better, mostly by force of Alistair holding me back until I was calm enough to listen. We would practice by waiting, smelling them, and holding myself until I couldn't anymore. Then we'd practice by finding them and following them as they hiked, seeing how long I could hold myself, first minutes, then hours and soon, days. I eventually got to the point I'm at now, where I can hold myself back to a degree and even last a couple days around the humans before I break. Alistair says it only gets harder when you have to be in an enclosed space with them.
But, while I'm thankful for the tough teaching now, it often gets heated between us. Newborn emotions would only add fuel to the fire, but it's during one that we discovered my power…
Flashback – Alberta, CA - 1975
Alistair and I had just finished hunting or "mauling" as he called it. I had failed again, I couldn't wait even a minute before I had shredded the group of three adult men. Alistair was making snide remarks about it as usual
"6 months we've been at this and you were finally showing improvement only to take ten steps back" he stated bitterly. "Maybe I was wrong, I don't know what I was thinking about taking on a newborn. What was I expecting! Another Carlisle?" He continued, the self doubt seeping into his tone.
I was seething, my emotions were always a rollercoaster, but especially after I failed. He had told me about Carlisle, the "man with unmatched control" he had met in England in the 1700's. Apparently the man fed off of animals? I had never dared try one, as Alistair spoke of the choice with such disdain.
"Well I'll never be him! If you want him so bad, go be with him, I'm out of here!" I screamed, running away from him as fast as I could, further into the deep snowy forest. If I could still cry, I'd be angrily bawling as I ran. I knew I couldn't really run away, the sire bond we had wouldn't allow it. It hurt to be far away from him, Alistair had explained that it's my body recognizing the bond, knowing he was where I was safe. Our bond was much like a child and parent, and because of that we fought often. Usually just spats, but today it seemed to boil over more than usual.
I slowed down as I started to feel the ache in my chest, knowing I was as far as I could reasonably go without being in too much pain. Even while mad, I didn't want to be far from him either. The bond is supposedly strongest in the first year. I paced about, punching a few trees and ranting to myself. Breaking me from my anger was a light heartbeat. It sounded like a small animal, a couple hundred feet from me. Rushing over, I grabbed it before it could move, it was a rabbit. Feeling curious, as this was the food Alistair's friend Carlisle ate, I bit down. I threw it from my grasp as I gagged. Unlike the sweet nectar that was human blood, this tasted like mud slugging down my throat. How or even why would anyone willingly subject themselves to that?
"Ah, my dear Sophie, and I thought you said you weren't Carlisle?" Alistair spoke with a smirk.
Startled, I turned around to him standing not far away, his presence making me feel embarrassed he had seen what I'd done, embarrassed over our fight. I didn't want him to see me like this.
"Go away!" I yelled angrily, looking away.
"Oh come on Sophie, no need to be embarrassed!" He said, clearly finding joy in the situation. My anger was rising, I just wanted..I just wanted him to leave for another moment. I turned to stare at him, feeling something flowing in me I hadn't felt before, just edging to get out. Before I could speak his expression turned to one of fear.
"Father?" He spoke quietly, he was looking beside me. But I didn't see anything, bewildered at what was happening.
"Please father, I'm sorry! Please why does it have to be this way, please don't do this! Why did you have to give our family to him? .WHY!" He was pleading now, looking like he'd seen a ghost, yet no one but us was there. Feeling his pain, I broke my concentration, grabbing his shoulders.
"Alistair! Who are you talking to? There is no one here!"
His gaze broke and he was looking at me, his eyes settling back down, but still looking around discreetly.
Flashback end ~
We hadn't talked much about what he'd seen. He only said that I must have some sort of mental power. After that, my training took another angle, besides trying to control my thirst around humans, it was also to try and pull my power forward. He had me meditate and work on feeling the sensation I'd felt that day in the woods. He tried giving me pointers based on how his gift worked. When I didn't immediately kill them, he had me try it on humans as well.
The first time it worked, the man kept screaming that a bear was coming towards him as he ran, that it had killed his friends and was chasing him. The next time, the woman kept looking down, yelling how she didn't want to jump, it was too high up. Alistair kept me from killing her immediately, long enough for him to calm her down enough to hear her say "I don't want to jump, please don't make me, I'm really afraid of heights, please!" Before she passed out and was drained. Alistair came to a conclusion based on the experiments, and his own experience. I could make someone experience a living nightmare, it pulled on their fears and crafted an illusion they were trapped in.
Alistair's explanation of how certain vampires acquired gifts made sense, I had died in my nightmare, surrounded by what I feared most. And now, I could inflict that feeling upon anyone.
Appalachian Trail, USA - 1985
I spent another year with Alistair before we split. The pain of being apart had lessened and we both were growing restless. Alistair was too paranoid to stay in one spot for long, and I wanted to find myself. After leaving North America I still tended to stay in less populated areas, not wanting to risk it, especially without Alistair to keep me in check. I traveled to South America and eventually Africa. I hadn't explored much of Europe yet, Alistair's fear of Italy had rubbed off on me enough to second guess going. I even got to meet some other vampires, some nicer than others, but I prefer my own company.
Recently however, I was able to learn more about my gift and how much more versatile it was than expected. I was playing with a human man one day, I'd been in this same situation many times before. He was afraid of heights, a common fear with humans. It was boring to see the same script play out. Begging to not need to jump or fall or whatever was happening, I couldn't see what they saw. My mind wandered, another person I'd played with a couple years ago had been afraid of a crazed lunatic with a knife trying to kill him. He'd even tried to run from the vision before falling off a ledge, he'd died before I could play again. Why couldn't more humans be fun like he was?
My current plaything shifted, "hey!" he yelled, "who are you?" I perked up, who was he talking to?
"Don't come near me!" the man had shouted as he started backing away. "Put the knife away, no one needs to get hurt!" Did she hear that right? Was he seeing a man with a knife?
"Here, you can have my wallet, we don't need to escalate things" The man pulled out his wallet and threw it in her direction. As she walked closer, he became more panicked. He was sweating like crazy, his scent smelling deliciously fearful. It's half the reason she used her powers on humans, the fear made them taste sweater to her. She quickly finished him off, thinking about what had happened, and if it meant something with her powers would change.
It took a few more experiments with wayward hikers to fully understand. Instead of the person creating their own nightmare, she could control the nightmare. That led to even more fascinating results in that controlling the nightmares, she had made her gift capable of offense. After using her gift to control a hiker into killing their companion, she knew she needed to test it further, particularly, the next time she runs into a fellow vampire.
Editors note:
I'm back after a long delay! I re-edited chapter 1 a little, but overall not very different. Hoping to have a chapter 3 out a little quicker this time. hope you liked the reveal of her gift.