"This way please, ma'am. Yes, please join this group. We should be gone within the hour." He looked and sounded quite tired, but young and energetic. His youth didn't match his military rank – it was too high for him.
"Yes, this way, sir."
The crowd of people passed him, and through a gap in the flow he caught sight of a young woman sitting on the ground around 20 metres away. She had two toddlers; one sat either side of her and both were listening to her, but she was too far away for him to hear as well.
He was directing hundreds of families, they were to be evacuated, the civilians. He'd seen what the war had done to them. In many cases it had ripped families apart, sometimes through the death of loved ones... and sometimes because they went to fight.
At fifteen he had applied for the army, but they said he was too young. At nearly seventeen he was tall enough to be older than he was, and he lied about his age, but no one really cared anyway. They needed soldiers, and he was strong and able and willing. So they let him through.
He had no wife, no children. He left behind his parents and younger sister, no one else. At first he told the truth about this, but hearing the other men talk about their wives he felt jealousy, and longing. So later, when asked, he'd talk about Catherine. They were newly-wed just before he joined, she was beautiful, kind, caring and generous. When he signed up she moved away to live with relatives, fearful of the war. They wrote to each other whenever possible.
It was generic stuff.
He received, and wrote, letters to and from his family. They never spoke of missing him, and he never spoke of the real horrors of war. He knew that they could be ill, and he wouldn't know. They knew he could be wounded and they wouldn't know. His parents thought he was too young to fight; they didn't know he'd lied about his age to get in. His sister was more open, she was terrified he'd die on the battlefield.
This girl looked no older than his sister would be now, maybe 17 or 18. He walked towards her, but his mind was filled with the thoughts of his sister. Did she look like this girl? What did she look like? How tall was she, was she engaged, what was she doing...
The girl was still talking to the toddlers, and as he drew close enough to hear, something made him slow down and listen.
'And then, once it's completely dark, and it has to be completely dark, you look up at the sky, and you say:
Star light, star bright
First Star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.
And if you've been good, and saying your prayers every night, then maybe, just maybe, your wish will be granted!"
The toddlers were delighted with this, clapping their hands and jumping excitedly.
He walked a little closer, and she looked up and noticed him. Seeing her face reminded him how young she was, and he wondered about the children. They were about 4 or 5, she couldn't be their mother. Maybe an older sister, looking after what was left of her family. She wasn't the only one.
'This way, ma'am.' He directed quietly.
She stood up quietly, taking a toddler in each hand. She was furious, but very, very scared, and vulnerable. 'My brother and sister.' She said coldly as she passed, having noticed his gaze on the toddlers. So he was right. And she was scared of being judged, and shunned by people who didn't think she was their sibling, but their mother. He felt very sorry for her, risking being judged while she was grieving for her family.
He watched her retreating back, and thought again of his sister. He hoped to see her again soon. Then, another group of people arrived to be directed, and he was forced to banish thoughts of his sister and his family to do his job.
He didn't think of her again until later, as the sun began to go down. He liked the evening, because the surroundings came to life. He'd grown up in the countryside, and loved the changes that came over everything once the sun was gone. There were clouds covering most of the sky, but there was a patch you could see the stars through. He thought of the toddlers, and he hoped they could see the stars.
The clouds had gone by the time he rode back toward Galveston, when the civilians had safely arrived. The sky was clear, and the moon was bright, as he first saw them. They were... breathtaking, there was no other word to describe them. He thought they'd got left behind, lost from the party of civilians, so he crossed the road to meet them, and dismounted from his horse. As he got closer to them, he realised breathtaking wasn't a good enough word. There wasn't a good enough word to describe the faces of these... angels? Or demons, walking on earth?
'He's speechless.'
And he was, for in dismounting his horse he noticed for the first time their pale, chalk-white skin and dark, ruby-black eyes.
One of the others leaned in towards him, and subconsciously he began to lean backward before catching himself. 'Lovely.' She said.
Her movement caused the third to move, the smallest one. As soon as she spoke he focused on her, because he could tell she was in charge. It was a useful skill, almost a gift of his, to be able to recognise who was in charge, and had come in use many times during his military career.
The small brunette was still speaking. 'he looks right – young, strong, an officer...'
As she paused he looked like he was about to say something, but couldn't force the words from his mouth.
'And there's something more... do you sense it? He's... compelling.' The brunette turned to the others.
'Oh yes.' The same one who'd leaned in to him before moved forwards again.
'Patience. I want to keep this one.'
The brunette's words made no sense to him, but again the other backed away.
The tallest spoke. 'You'd better do it, Maria, if he's important to you. I kill them twice as often as I keep them.'
'Yes.' The brunette, Maria, agreed. 'I'll do it. Take Nettie away, will you? I don't want to have to protect my back when I'm trying to focus.'
His eyes were wary, darting between the women, but something was stopping him.
'Let's hunt.' The smaller blonde, Nettie, said enthusiastically. He wondered what she meant, and found himself subconsciously moving away again. As the two blondes moved he stared at them, wondering if they were angels, moving so fast they were flying. Once they were out of sight he focused again on Maria, who in turn was watching him.
'What is your name, soldier?'
All of a sudden he was afraid, terrified. 'Major Jasper Whitlock, ma'am.'
'I truly hope you survive, Jasper. I have a good feeling about you.' Her soft voice contrasted her statement, as she lent forwards to reach his neck with her teeth. He was paralysed as she lent in, but as soon as her teeth tore his neck he collapsed to the floor. She fell with him, her teeth never leaving his neck, until she had to back away, her eyes burning scarlet. Then he felt himself being lifted and she ran, or flew perhaps, with him.
He heard the others voices, conversations and decisions, but he was drifting in and out of consciousness because of the pain, the white-hot fire burning him from the inside out, and no one could stop it. He begged them to stop, putting his pride to one side, and he heard Maria telling him there was nothing she could do. For three days he burned alive.
When at last the pain had faded from his body he sat up, disorientating himself at the speed. All three came to look at him, and then Maria sent the other two away so she could talk. They were irritated.
She told him they were vampires, and he laughed, but even as he dismissed it he thought back to when he saw them first. Even distracted as he was by the haziness of his memory, he remembered that he knew then they weren't natural. He'd thought demons, but were vampires not demons?
'Am I one now?' He asked her, and she nodded.
From that moment he followed her for guidance. He was unsure of everything in this new life and he watched and copied her. She taught him and several others to fight, and to fight well, but of course that led them fighting each other.
He fought against one of the others, and he won. He destroyed the other, ripping him and, under Maria's instruction, burned the pieces in the campfire they always had lit, but never went near. She was torn between satisfaction and annoyance.
He didn't know what this new feeling was, didn't understand how he was doing it. He was reading their emotions. He didn't know if this was normal for... vampires, or if it was just him. Maria never spoke about reading emotions, but that didn't mean she didn't. He was also scared of telling her, scared of how she'd react and what he should do. This was something she hadn't led him in and he had to decide for himself. It showed him how reliant he had become on her.
It was a while later he discovered he could control emotions of others as well. It was by accident at first, he stopped a fight between two of his brothers as Maria was trying to build up their numbers. He calmed them down using his talent instead of relying on strength to break them up like normal. It was one of the main reasons Maria put him in charge – his ability to stop fights, at least the ones he wasn't involved in. Once he was in charge the number of fights decreased.
When there were over 20 of them Maria led them in a battle. They fought at night, in a wasteland zone outside the city. He caught himself looking at the stars, and thinking about the poem the girl had told the toddlers, Star light, star bright, which led him to think of his family, his little sister... what he'd lost.
The fighting was fierce, wild, animalistic, but few of theirs died, just four. They killed all 11 of their enemies to take control.
Once the fighting was finished he walked around the wasteland. He was confused, and had no understanding of why. The fighting was certainly no worse than he'd seen in his human years, even though the fuzzy memories hurt to look at. He didn't know how to react to the feelings of others as well as himself.
She walked towards him, and he was amazed by the feelings of lust coming off her. He was desperate for guidance and reassurance, desperate for leadership and the knowledge that he was moving in the right direction. He wanted to forget the life he now had and everything he'd lost. He put his arms around her and kissed her, and she responded to him.
It was as animalistic as the fight.
The frequency of the fighting grew, she was greedy and power-thirsty, but the endless fights never blurred into one, his now perfect memory recall ensuring that he could remember each and every moment of bloodshed and battle.
He could remember how slowly each and every vampire around him got killed. He could remember the screeching tearing as teeth tore apart flesh, and the acrid smell of fires. He could remember Maria, each and every time. He could remember how as he grew older and passed three years his gift began to increase in power and precision, so he could read and control individuals, not perfectly, but getting closer.
He told her about his gift after a battle, the one for a tiny town but a large area of land in the west of Mexico. They sat by the dying fire. It had been a bad battle. They'd gone in with 25, and come out with 6. They would have been destroyed only they, Nettie and Lucy, ran away, leaving the two surviving newborns to fend for themselves. He didn't know what to feel about this, was sure this couldn't be right, but she said it was the only way, and he believed her.
Nettie and Lucy left to hunt, and he knew this was his chance.
She was scared and annoyed when he started, so he calmed her down until he'd finished. He sat next to her in silence, waiting for her to speak. She was the leader, he only the follower.
She spoke quietly after several long moments. 'How accurately can you control emotions?'
She was feeling no anger or fear, and this made him wary. 'My control improves all the time, but already quite accurately.'
He wished he could tell what she was thinking. It was hard to lie with emotions, but he knew you could.
He supposed he wasn't really surprised when she finally decided that his gift was of great use to her. He was promoted higher than before, to become her second-in-command. He helped plan the battles, angering Nettie and Lucy. Neither he nor Maria told them about his gift. Maria said they had no reason to know.
He began to notice a change in Nettie and Lucy's feeling when they were around him and Maria. They began to be furious, cold and calculating. They went to hunt together much more often, choosing to stay out of groups. He talked to Maria about this often, meaning that when Nettie and Lucy finally turned against them, they were prepared.
They won. How could they not, for he was a better fighter than all three of them and Maria was much faster than the others. They burnt the pieces of their companions for many years in the campfire, and he felt confused again as he looked at the fire. Was this really right? Was there another way out?
He pushed his doubts aside when Maria put her arms around him. This was the only life there was, the only life he could lead now.
It continued. The battles, the wars, never on the same scale as they had been in his earlier years after all the losses in the south, but they still continued. The newborns came and went. The sun set every evening. And he began to hate this life even more.
He didn't think it was right any more. He didn't like this life, but he knew no other and thought there was no other, and therefore no way out. He hated the blood and the battle, hated the scars that covered practically every inch of skin on his body. He pushed his depression to one side as much as possible. It angered Maria, and that was something he knew to avoid. Not all his scars were from enemies in battle.
Peter ran when he tried to kill Charlotte with the other newborns. They escaped, they left and he let them. He didn't want to destroy Peter. He felt that they'd die or be back soon anyway. Maria disagreed, she was furious with him. The new bites on his arms and torso the following day were proof. The venom burned him in silence.
It became harder and harder to push his depression to one side. It swallowed him and engulfed him, and he could find no way to stop it. It confused Maria, and slightly disgusted her. They avoided seeing each other for days at a time, because when they were together all they did was fight and argue. They hunted separately, even though they'd always hunted together before.
It was nearing sunset when Peter came back for him. Maria and all the newborns were hunting; he just sat watching the fire. Peter came from behind the camp to talk to him. He talked about his life now, with Charlotte. They'd not fought for years, they lived in peace. They travelled around, they hunted when they wanted to, they hid, but not to the same extent.
Jasper was convinced. As he left with Peter, he looked up at the stars. He remembered the girl with the toddlers, and thought of the rhyme. Behind him, Maria watched him leave.
Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight...
