A couple of months after writing my last page, I went out at night for a stroll through nature. I began running and circling the savanna until I reached the dump of a nearby town, searching for things, something to decorate the cave.
I was wearing black pants and a dark purple sweatshirt. Tomás and Amalia said the sweatshirt matched my dark blonde hair, with which I fully agreed. Since I discovered it, I always preferred sportswear to other styles. It was very comfortable for me, and I had gotten used to wearing it. The reason was simply that most of my former victims were mainly hikers, excursionists, mountaineers, or people who simply went out jogging.
Now that I have completely left human blood behind, I'll be able to try other styles, so I started looking for a mirror at the dump, and maybe something pretty. As I rummaged through the mountain of objects, I saw two men who seemed to be taking a child to a dark corner of the place.
"Don't get involved, stay out of it..." I thought, trying to ignore it, but the cries wouldn't let me, and I ran toward them. One of the men was keeping watch at the entrance, and I gently knocked him out, the other man saw me and pulled out a knife, trying to attack me, accidentally injuring himself with some debris in his clumsiness, cutting his arm. I held him by the neck and prepared my hand, and that's when my torture began.
I watched and smelled the blood gushing from the wound; I felt like I was going to relapse. After years of staying with Amalia and Tomás, his neck was very close, and it would only take a minute. I took a deep breath and just gave him a small blow, knocking him out just like the previous man. Then, I knelt down and continued looking at the throbbing wound.
"I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail Amalia, Tomás... Gonzalo... myself!" As I was about to launch myself, the little boy ran toward me and hugged me. I stood up and held him in my arms, and as he cried, he gradually began to calm down. That woke me from the trance, and I hugged him back, caressing his little head, and we left the alley, where fortunately, we found his mother already searching for him.
She cried, and without understanding anything she said, I assumed she thanked me and left, where another older woman and a man, who seemed to be the boy's father, were waiting for her. I returned to the dump to continue with my task. When I stood in front of the dump, I remembered the little boy once again, and then I broke down in tears when I realized what I had managed to do. I was happy with the progress I had made and seeing the fruits of the abstinence I had been in for so long.
I remembered the attack on Gonzalo's family and his little daughter, whom I left to her fate that fateful day, and while still sobbing, I murmured, "This time I didn't fall... this time I did it... I did it!" I laughed and cried in a whirlwind of feelings left by the recent encounter. Holding such a small, innocent human in my arms awakened a warmth in my heart that I hadn't felt in centuries of my existence. It made me see humanity in a different way; now I could understand the weight Gonzalo carried, the pain of having failed his little one, and the resentment he held for me being the architect of her death.
I took the mirror and some decorations, placed them in a backpack I had prepared, and started the journey back to the cave. When I arrived, I placed the things in different places, the mirror near my side, a small table, and some local handicraft figurines there. I lit a candle, more for decorative purposes, I needed to make the place more homely, and then I began writing again.
Before the ambush on Gonzalo, Od and I didn't really have preferences about the type of prey we hunted. I usually dealt more with men because they came to me, but since the incident and Gonzalo's conversion, I never again touched anyone who wasn't an adult, and that annoyed Od.
"More for me," he would say while feeding, and I would look away.
Comparing Gonzalo and Od made me realize, inevitably, how cruel and ruthless Od was. I had already seen it when I compared Od to Darius, who put his victims to sleep before feeding, and they were mostly elderly or terminally ill. I had learned that technique from Darius, which made feeding more agreeable, although I must confess that I often forgot when I had been without drinking for too long.
Od, and especially Arthur, were ruthless, and they didn't discriminate against anyone; anyone could fall under their claws. At least Od went straight to the point and didn't try to play with his victims like Arthur did, whom I will never miss.
I was back to my wandering with Od, and we traveled on the general route to the tundra, toward Siberia. We had hunted a couple of times more, and I couldn't stop thinking about Gonzalo. Where are you? What are you doing now? I worried about a newborn alone out there, at the mercy of his violent bloodlust and impulsive tendencies. I also worried if he hadn't exposed himself; after all, he was my newborn, and whatever he did, it would affect me just the same. Od told me simply not to worry and that Gonzalo would either be smart and keep a low profile or fall into the hands of another vampire and wouldn't survive an encounter.
"A weakling like him won't get very far, trust me. I realized he was weaker than the average newborn and surely when he reaches a year and goes past that stage, he won't have the capacity to defend himself and will have to hide around."
He paused and then added, looking into my eyes as we walked through the tundra.
"I've decided I'll never turn another vampire again. You were one in a million, and my attempt with Arthur resulted in a disaster. I failed him, and I don't want to fail you, Anastasia. From now on, I'll focus only on you. I also hope that you won't try to invite anyone else into our coven, like what happened with Darius, or your own vampire like Gonzalo. The risks are too great, and we were already too close to a disaster. Do you understand?" He asked, seeking my affirmation.
I took a sigh, glanced at the landscape, and accepted as a sign of defeat and resignation. We fed on a family living in a cabin, from whom I couldn't feed except on the family dog. I didn't feel like it; the recent events were unsettling, and Od tended to overfeed before spending long periods in the tundra.
In the distance, in the snow, while wandering in my thoughts, I glimpsed a silhouette. I saw the outline of a man of short stature, wearing dark blue jeans and a black hoodie, approaching at great speed, so I knew he was a vampire. I got scared and called Od.
"Od, another vampire is coming towards us," I murmured.
"Maybe he smelled the blood and is coming to snatch our meal," he said, laughing.
When I could see his face, I couldn't believe it. "It's Gonzalo!" I exclaimed in my mind. My heart leaped for joy at seeing him again, perhaps he finally reconsidered and came back to us.
But upon feeling his presence, I noticed something was very wrong, very wrong indeed. He stopped in front of us, and his face no longer exuded that innocence or angelic air. He wasn't looking at me with that tenderness and love that made my heart skip a beat. Instead, this time, he had that piercing look, as if he were sizing up me and Od. His mind was working again, but it seemed more like the gaze of a hunter than that of a lover.
"Hey!" shouted Od. "You still have red eyes! You've finally embraced your true nature by indulging in it," he said mockingly.
I could see a bit of blood on his mouth, and I believed I understood what Od was telling him. Od had tested Gonzalo that time we attacked the man since he suspected Gonzalo was going to be too immature and wanted to teach him a lesson.
"A blood bag from a hospital," he replied. Od burst into laughter and commented, "You are truly hilarious!" I tried to calm myself down and appealed to what we had gone through, trying to stay composed as I yelled:
"My dear, I've been waiting for the day you'd come back to us, to me. I wanted to follow you, but Od suggested I give you time, believing that eventually, you'd return to us, to me! I'm so happy!"
There was a moment of silence. I wished to hear his melodious voice, but there was only silence; something was wrong, I could sense it. Od took a few steps forward, positioning himself in front of me. Desperate, I persisted:
"Gonzalo, my love, you're starting to worry me. Is everything alright? Talk to us..."
He took out some sort of strange device and threw it toward Od. Od caught it in the air and asked, "What is this? Some kind of device? Looks like a phone."
"A phone?" I thought, realizing what Gonzalo had. He used to toy with a device that was capable of recording what he said, testing it over and over again when he was human. I didn't see much in it back then, but now, I understand why he had it and what it meant to me.
"It was a device I had for emergencies, an alarm of sorts. It was supposed to record video or audio in critical situations. I found it in poor condition, but I managed to fix it and discovered something very interesting." He pointed his finger and remotely turned it on.
The audio began to play, and the sound was what I feared. That thing had recorded the entire scene of the supposed accident, leaving both Od and me in evidence.
"So, you have a special gift... I'm intrigued, how did you achieve it? Is it some sort of telekinesis?" Od asked, unfazed.
"You... You killed my family, along with Arthur..."
Gonzalo mentioned Arthur. Arthur hadn't taken part in the attack. Arthur never met Gonzalo, and there was no way to communicate with him. He was just a head! Could Gonzalo read Arthur's mind? No, otherwise, he would have seen that Arthur wasn't there, never had been. It was just a head. Gonzalo had spoken to Arthur in some way or another, and he had betrayed Od and me, surely incriminating himself to be burnt and put an end to his misery, or Gonzalo couldn't hear the entirety of what happened that day.
"Arthur? How di... ahh," Od smiled. "You did it with your special gift, most likely," Od exclaimed.
"Od, please," I pleaded. I was about to ask for forgiveness, confess everything, and perhaps, just remotely, he would forgive me.
"There's nothing more to hide, Anastasia! He already knows the truth," affirmed Od, then added, "Anastasia became obsessed with you. I didn't understand it; I had no expectations for a cripple like you. But she insisted, and when she eliminated your family, we decided to move forward with the plan. Arthur disagreed, but because he would do anything for her, I also took care of him."
"All this, just because of her whim?!" Gonzalo yelled furiously.
"Od is provoking him," I thought. Od wants to kill Gonzalo. Od would never miss the chance for a fight. The words Od used to provoke Gonzalo made all my chances of having Gonzalo die right there; my heart completely shattered, trying one last time desperately to salvage what was left, I screamed:
"Gonzalo, please, I did it for you, for us! We could be together for eternity. She would never offer you that!"
Gonzalo began to move decisively to eliminate us, my soul was shattered, and I could only trust that Od would end it all; I couldn't do anything more.
They collided, and Gonzalo was sent flying. Although Gonzalo was stronger than Od, being a newborn, he lacked Od's experience, and they began to dance to the rhythm of the battle.
Gonzalo was much more agile and seemed to be keeping up, but for every dodge, Od struck twice; he was always one step ahead of Gonzalo.
"You can still remember your moves! Haha!" Od shouted.
"Gonzalo tried to strike Od, and he redirected his hand, saying, 'Not this time, my friend.' Od attacked him with fury and precision, tearing off an arm.
'I should have taken care of the cripple earlier, and now I will finish what should have been done before. Anastasia, prepare everything for the fire!' He shouted at me, triumphantly, but I was paralyzed, my heart beginning to doubt.
After Gonzalo's desperate efforts to keep up the fight, Od tossed him around like a ragdoll; it was horrible to witness. After disarming him and ripping off a foot, he proudly declared, 'This has been the shortest fight I've ever had. I'm deeply disappointed. You're even weaker than an average vampire. No matter how much you train, you should never have been a vampire. Who chooses a cripple to convert?' He said it mockingly, giving me a sidelong glance, then added:
'Now, you can join your annoying woman and the little squealing piglet you made with her.'
Gonzalo limped and tried to stand up. He stood there, with one hand in front and the other behind, seemingly preparing for something. I didn't know what to do.
"Anastasia, what are you waiting for? Prepare the fire now!" Od demanded, growing angrier by the second.
They both leaped into the air and collided simultaneously, but as they fell, I began to see flames emanating from what seemed to be Od's arm. Gonzalo held some kind of dagger or blade.
"A weapon? No one had ever created a weapon capable of destroying a vampire!" I thought, astonished. Od was losing.
"What... what is this? Ggggaaaah!" he screamed. He tried to go after Gonzalo, but Gonzalo managed to disarm him with the dagger.
"Ahhhhhhh...! This... this is not possible... how... what have you done?' he muttered to himself. 'No weapon can harm a vampire... no…"
"Anastasia! Help me... please!" Od pleaded.
I saw Od, engulfed in flames and spewing ashes. Gonzalo gave me a chilling look, and when I saw that weapon with its glowing blade, seeming to be red-hot, I didn't hesitate to run. I had finally freed myself from Od, but I had created a monster, an untamable being that would hunt me down no matter what.
After running for kilometers, deep into the dense forest, my thoughts raced. What was that dagger Gonzalo had? How could he communicate with Arthur? How did he manage to track us here, in the middle of nowhere? There were only a couple of things I was sure about. Gonzalo did possess a gift, I wasn't certain what it was, but he had one. The weapon he had created was able to overcome even Od. No one in all my centuries of life had created something that could kill a vampire. Gonzalo was much smarter than I thought, and finally, he was going to hunt me down to the ends of the earth.