CHAPTER 10
The moment I
entered the town I could hear the screams. ‘Great, now what?’ I quickened my
pace, hoping Valentine had not returned, but not ruling out the possibility. I gazed
around the town that I had lived in for 4 years now and my mouth hung open at
what I was witnessing.
The town was
infested with vampires. They were upon every home, every street; it was insanity.
The town had become a bloodbath. I started to walk slowly through the town, not
particularly wanting to see, but needing
to see in order to believe. There was a vampire on one street, sucking on the
leg of what looked to be a small child, pausing long enough to lick some blood
off his fingers. On another street, a vampire was devouring an older woman as two
small children watched in horror; holding each other as they screamed for their
mommy. I observed as the vampire smiled at them and then pointed to one of the
children, as if signaling who was going to be next. It was a disgusting sight
and my instincts told me it was Valentine; my instincts were never wrong. I
then realized I had to kill Valentine or he would never leave me, or the cities
I went to, alone.
My noise caught
the scent of something burning and I noticed that the houses that weren’t
infested with vampires were burning. ‘Looks like Valentine has finally started
recruiting some friends’, I thought staring at the horror-filled town. No one was safe in the town. I had to get as
many people out alive as I could. I started towards the first house in my line
of sight but could smell that no one was there, so I moved on. The next house
was eerily quiet but I could smell blood coming from the second floor. I walked
up the steps, not sure what I would find, sniffing the air, the blood smelling
like any fine meal would smell to a human. When I got to the first bedroom,
even with the door closed, the smell overpowered me; this was where it had
happened. I tried to open the door but it was block by something. I pushed a
little hard, shoving the door open with whatever was blocking the door flying
across the room to land in a heap on the bed. Immediately in front of my I
noticed a large pool of blood; I ran my finger through it as a lover does down
his woman’s cheek. I brought my finger in front of my eyes, transfixed by the sight
and smell of the blood. I wanted to taste it so badly that my stomach cramped
just at the thought. “No…” I whispered and with more will power then I knew I
had, I wiped the blood on my jeans. I went to the bed to examine whatever it
was that had flown across the room. When I got to the bed I realized it was a
little girl; probably the little girl whose room this was. She was lifeless and
bloodless, whatever it was that had killed her tearing her throat apart. She
must have died instantly. I leaned over her, the smell of blood so strong in my
nostrils. I leaned in close, the smell filling up my nose, urging my to taste
it, just a little… that there was nothing wrong with human blood, that it would
help me. The blood was a living thing, tempting me, wanting me to taste it. I
crawled on the bed and lumbered over her trying to stop myself but the blood
was too enticing. I grabbed the little girl in my arms and stared at the gap
where her throat used to be. ‘there… there was where I would taste her…’
I slowly inclined
my head, my mouth drooling, my tongue moving on its own accord, feeling the
sharp points of the two teeth, and then slowly parting my lips to meet the gap
of flesh that would soon fill my mouth.
“What the FUCK?” I
jerked my head back as someone screamed that in my direction. I knew I looked
like a monster but I didn’t care. I had been so close… so close… I haven’t even
heard this person come in I was so entranced with the thought that I would
taste human blood soon.
“Cindy? Cindy!
What have you done to her?”
I shook my head
trying to wake myself from my trance, but the smell of blood was still infused
in my system. I didn’t know what to do so I threw Cindy roughly away from me,
jumped off the bed, shoved the guy out of my way, so hard he crashed into the
wall and ran out of the house. I could hear the man calling Cindy’s name and
crying. Once I got outside I stopped to try and gather myself. I had to stop
myself before I did something like I had almost done. I felt something hit my
shoulder and turned around. The man was at his window, throwing things at me.
“How could you!
She was my only family… now I have nothing! Nothing! I hate you you dirty
vampire! You are the devil’s spawn and I hope you die a horrible death!”
He continued to
shout profanities and throw things at me as I stumbled out of his line of
sight. What had I almost done? I was just as bad as Valentine. And I knew as
long as he lived, he would hold that over me and make my life a living hell
like he had already done. I had to stop him.
I started walking
towards the center of town; towards the clock tower, knowing that was where Valentine
would be. I could smell his stink from across town. There was no denying it. I
stalked across town, ignoring everyone and thing around me. There was no point
anymore of me trying to blend in and act human. I was done with that game. I
would kill Valentine and start living my own life, start embracing the fact
that I was a… vampire. It was still hard for me to say but that’s what I was,
damn all humans and anyone who tried to get in my way. “Drake!” A women’s voice
called my name. Celeste. How I would miss her; those perfect legs; that sexy
smile of hers. She had been the best one so far; out of all the Celeste’s I had
met. I turned towards her to see her sitting in front of her house with a dazed
expression in her eyes. “Drake! Help me!” I looked at her with longing; she probably
tasted great. Then I thought, ‘What the hell? I’m leaving this town, it’s all
gone to shit, they all hate me, and I am sure they all think that Celeste is
the town whore. I need strength to fight Valentine and only human blood can
help me with that. One more dead human won’t hurt …’ I changed my course, now
heading towards her. She only noticed I was there when I was about five feet in
front of her.
“Are
you here to help me?” She asked, looking very helpless in her tiny pink skirt.
“Yes
babe. Now it’s time for you to relax and go to sleep.” I crouched down so that
both our faces were level. She looked me in the eyes, her face completely
blank, with only her eyes showing her fear. “I trust you Drake. You are here to
save me.”
“Yes…yes
I am.” I descended my head slowly towards her neck, my teeth growing at the
thought of human blood. “I know that we are both going to enjoy this very
much.” I inserted a happy memory into Celeste’s mind; the memory from a few
hours ago when she had ‘such a wonderful time’ with me. The memory was so
pleasant that she didn’t make a sound when my teeth punctured her neck even
though I knew how much it hurt. I nearly gasped in ecstasy when her blood filled
my mouth. I had never had human blood before, and her blood was wonderful. I
drank from her hungrily, draining her as I had done with the deer. I felt it
coursing through my veins, giving me strength I had never felt before. I never
wanted her blood to end, but when she was finally dry I gently placed her on
the lawn. She still looked beautiful even with all her blood gone. I stared at
her for a moment, allowing myself to remember the good times with her. I then
ripped out her heart and ate it, for good measure. Plus, it was a dessert after
that big meal. I sat down for a moment and closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling
of the blood flowing through my veins. It was better than I had ever imagined.
When
I opened my eyes again they were completely black instead of the green color
they usually were. A crowd had gathered around me to see what I had done to
Celeste. They all gasped in horror when they saw Celeste’s lifeless body, the
huge hole in her chest and her skin an ashen grey, devoid of all blood. After
they had had their morbid fill of looking at Celeste’s corpse, they noticed me.
Someone in the crowd screamed, taking in the full effect of my black eyes and large
fangs. Finally, my full strength had returned. I knew that I was strong enough
to beat Valentine, no matter what. I stood up and the crowd backed away,
terrified. “Get out of our town you freak!” a voice said from the back of the
crowd. It had been said quietly, but I heard it as though it was said into my
ear. In the next instant I was beside the person, his neck in my hand. The
people in the crowd shrieked. I saw who the voice belonged to. Andrew, the guy
Celeste had told me about; the man before me. “I could kill you in an instant.”
I growled at the man. Just to show how powerful I had become, with a quick
flick of the wrist, Andrew’s neck was broken. I heard a woman scream and the
crowd dispersed. They were done looking at the monster and ran for the safety
of the homes that weren’t on fire. ‘Stupid humans’ I thought as I started to
walk towards the center of town; toward Valentine. I could now feel him in my
mind, pulling me to him. It looked like he wanted the confrontation as much as
I did.
I
reached the clock tower. It was guarded by two vampires. ‘Not a problem’ I
thought. They were newly made vampires. They had no power, no strength. I punched
through the stomach of one of the vampires and ripped him in half as I used the
other hand to rip the second vampire’s head off. I was instantly coated in
blood but I licked most of it off my hand. ‘Why did I never drink human blood? They
mean nothing to me. This power is awesome’ I wondered upon entering the clock
tower. Laughter surrounded me and filled my head, making it impossible for me
to think for a few seconds. The time had finally come for me and Valentine to
fight.
The
laughter ended abruptly, allowing my thoughts to flow again. I looked around
the room and at first could see no one but I stayed where I was, with my back against
the door so that he could not sneak up behind me. I waited for him to make the
first move. I stayed there; tense, for a few more seconds until finally
Valentine revealed himself before me. “So
shall we fight? I have a dinner party to attend to soon so I would like to get
this over with.” I laughed, staring right at his face. “Let’s do this
then!” Before I even finished my sentence I was running towards him thinking I
could get to him before he could get to me. I knew that I could win this fight;
I had to win this fight; this is what all that training in all the different
towns had been for.
I
was on the floor before I knew it. Valentine was laughing above me. “Silly boy. You don’t know anything about
fighting.” I used my legs to trip him stopping his maniacal laughter. He
fell with a thud, getting the wind knocked out of him. “I don’t know anything,
huh?” I lunged at him, swiping one arm across his chest, using the other to
punch him square in the face, instantly breaking his nose. I smirked as he
started to bleed; apparently he had just fed as well or else there would be no
blood for him to lose. The smirk was wiped from my face, however, when I saw
the scratches immediately begin to heal and the blood stop dripping. “You are not as bad as I thought. Too bad
you can never kill me. I am more powerful than anyone; I can never be stopped.”
Suddenly
he was behind me, ripping my left arm off. I swore very loudly and staggered
away from him. I could not let this
guy win! I walked as quickly as I could away from him, spilling blood the whole
way; the wound starting to heal after 30 seconds. I could not heal as quickly
as Valentine, but I could still heal. I had to think of a plan; something that
I could do to get him off balance. I
started to circle the room, keeping him in sight, while I thought of what I
could do. And then, an epiphany. “So… Valentine… any word from Elianore?” I
sensed Valentine freezing in mid-stride. “I heard that she got murdered or
something, because of you?” I knew I had gotten under his skin when he growled “What do you know about her? You know
nothing!” I slowly made my way behind Valentine, keeping hidden behind the
pillars that were in the room. I could see, as if they were my own, that his
thoughts had turned to Elianore. He was not thinking about my location.
“Well,
I don’t know. She was the love of your life, so I heard.” I laughed to myself
as I saw Valentine grow angrier and angrier. I was almost behind him. Only a
few more steps and I would have him. He screamed then, not out loud but in my
head, his scream filling my head, making me stop and fall to my knees,
clutching my head. No… I couldn’t let him stop me when I was this close. I
closed my eyes and concentrated, concentrated on driving the scream from my
head, and focused on what he was saying now. “It wasn’t even my fault! If she had only listened to…” Before he
finished his thought, I lunged at him, putting all my strength into my right
hand in order to drive it through his chest. Valentine let out a surprised gasp
and looked down at my hand, not certain what had just happened. I let him observe
my hand for a few seconds more before ripping his heart through his back. I
walked in front of Valentine and made sure that he was watching me as I
devoured his heart. Valentine’s mouth was “o” shaped and the expression never
changed even as I tore his skull from the jaw, brains included ‘Finally’ I
thought as I watched his body slump to the floor. No longer would I have to deal with him or
hear his voice. I felt the blood from his heart coursing through me, giving me
more power than I could ever imagine. I had killed my master vampire, and now I
had taken his place. I had gained his powers and now I could never be stopped. As
if to prove this fact, the stump where my left arm had been began to tingle. I
looked down and watched in amazement as it started to regenerate.
‘It’s
time I start living like a real vampire’. I began to laugh as this thought
crossed my mind. I walked from the clock tower, covered in blood. The town was
still ablaze, still being overrun by vampires, and in an instant I wiped the
memories of all the vampires and all the humans in town. The vampires, confused
with their hunger and what they were doing turned on each other and soon killed
each other off. The humans, not sure what was happening, just started putting
out fires, helping each other out. I no longer cared about these people. I had
learned all of Valentine’s secrets after eating his heart. I had to get to this
dinner party of his. There were going to be important people there, important
people who may not be too happy when they found out Valentine was dead. I knew
what my next destination was and I had to get started; the sun was going to
rise in an hour or two, and I needed a place to sleep the day away. Though, if
I had gained all of Valentine’s powers… I looked at my left arm,
thinking if I had gained that power
from drinking Valentine’s blood… I wondered what else was possible… I couldn’t wait
to find out.
