NightFall: Book One: Bloodlust Is the Cure for the Immortal Soul (5 page)

“But
soon those feelings were superseded with absolute hatred. I then swore with
everything that I was, with every bit of
honor
left
in me, I would taste revenge. Revenge for my parents, retribution for all the children and the parents that they had lost.

“I was so filled with malevolence I was not thinking properly. I was blinded by my new found rage. My
faux pas
was trying to sneak into our enemy’s castle. But I was clumsy the way I went about it. My anger had clouded my good judgment. I was captured by the guards patrolling the area. They hastily threw me into a dungeon that had never seen the light of day
. The king did not even see me nor did he wish to.
They gave me not a second thought. I was fed every other day. The food left something to be desired. I guess they had tried to kill me by starvation.”

Saldivar finished the last of his wine and took a calming breath. He knew he needed it in order to get through the next part.

“I was beate
n a few times a week. Molested……
raped, even, by some of the guards who found my shame amusing.”

Saldivar’s face twisted in anger. “Had I been well, I would have killed them. But if I had killed them, I surely would have faced a beheading at sunrise, and alas, would have accomplished nothing.

“But with hardly any food or water-along with the beatings-I weakened quickly. I could not fight them off as one guard would hold me down while the other had what he called his ‘fun’ with me. Then, they would switch places and defile me.
Again and again.
It was a never ending humiliation.

“Oh
and how I despised them. They had sick, twisted minds. As they forced themselves in me, they would make me say
mea culpa
over and over again.”

Van audibly gasped. “
I’m guilty,” he said to himself more than to Saldivar.

“Yes,”
Saldivar concurred with fire in his eyes.
“Very revolting, those soldiers were.
I’m not sorry to say
that they have been long dead
. They probably met a
tragic end.”

Van nodded but kept silent. He wanted to hear the rest of Saldivar’s enchanting, yet sorrowful story.

Saldivar cleared his throat and went on:

“Well, this evil torture went on for a couple of months. It felt like a life time has passed me. I almost forgot who I was or why I was there. I was losing myself.

“That is, until one rainy night. I heard muffled voices. They grew louder.
Angrier.
I heard a desperate scream.
Then…….nothing.
Only silence creeping about me.

“I heard the dungeon’s door slowly creak open, so I huddled up in the very dark recesses of the dungeon, trying to make myself unseen.

“‘It is no use,’
the dark figure had said. ‘I can see you, so do not try to conceal yourself to me.’”

Van’s eyes widened in temblor but, nevertheless, sat mute. Though he was never put into a dungeon or debauched, he knew he was in his own prison on the streets of Paris. He had more in common with Saldivar than he first judged.

“Yes,
we
do,
mon ami
.” Sal
div
ar grinned. It faded quickly
as he knew he had to continue.

“You see, I did not know how this mysterious intruder could see me. There were no windows in my prison. Only dark, dank walls
surrounded me
with strange creatures
that sat
in every corner.

“I sat there, scared to the marrow. He had lit a candle so that I could observe him. He was a big man.
Tall.
Well defined and intimidating. I thought he was going to use me at the guards had done. It was not uncommon for this to happen. I did not know how I was going to fight off this one. I could not even fight off the guards and they were wicked enough as it was. But they were mere boys in comparison to him.

“Since there were no guards listening at the door, I presumed
he must have paid them for time with me. It had to be a hefty sum because he was allowed in pretty quickly. Money makes pe
ople do strange things,”
he said almost as a philosophical afterthought.

Van grimaced at the thought of being unable to fight off a man like this. And the disgustful way of being paid for and used against your will. Van couldn’t conceive of something this horrendous touching his life.

“Au contraire,
Van,”
Saldivar told him. “He was, in all senses, very different from the other males. I though
t
so at the time any way.

“The first time he had spoken, surprised me. His voice may have been composed and genteel, but it had a forcefulness that demanded the utmost attention. I was certain he had no trouble commanding a room fu
ll of the most glamorous people; p
eople who usu
ally would not
otherwise
look your way
.
He stood out in a way that was revered, if you will.

“‘Please.
Do not be
frightened of me, Saldivar,’
he had spoken ever so calmly.

“And like you,
mon
ami
,
I was perplexed as to how he knew my name and where I was hiding. I thought I was hiding perfectly. Oh, but he saw. He saw everything

“‘What do you want from me?’ I had asked him with trembling in my voice.

“When he answered my question and proceeded to explain, you cou
ld have imagined my disbelief a
s you have had the
same feelings of me. It’s safe
for me
to assume that
you still do,”
he said with a slight smile
.

“And, of course, I did not put my faith in his answer or his explanations. Moreover, I could not grasp at what he was telling me.

“So he began to grow angry and intolerant of me. I just knew he was about to kill me.

“‘Do I need to prov
e my strength to you, mortal?’
he had asked raucously.

“It was then I saw his teeth.
Ferocious.
Gleaming.
Sharp.

“I began to panic, ranting and raving like a mad man to escape whatever doom lay before me.

“But just as suddenly did I know the truth and calmed down. Why I had changed my mind so quickly, I did not understand. It was as if he was in my head.
My thoughts.
And……he was.”

Van gave Saldivar a discerning nod. Did Van himself not feel what Saldivar had felt long ago? No family? No friends? Being misused and abused by complete strangers? It seemed Saldivar was telling a story of Van’s own life.
His own trials and tribulations
save for the man with the teeth. Yes, he and Saldivar were different but they were the same in many ways. But Van had to know one thing before Saldivar continued. “This stranger called you a mortal. Was he not mortal as well?” Van had a feeling Saldivar’s answer was a negative. In the back of Van’s mind lingered the word ‘vampire’. He had never seen one. He’s heard stories of them before. Saldivar didn’t seem like a vampire. Vampires were blood thirsty monsters……weren’t they?

Saldivar smiled knowingly at Va
n. He knew Van was thinking of
how similar their lives had been and that he would be curious about the stranger and his words.

Saldivar thought before answering. “No, he was not, Van. I am not any more. But I am not a blood thirsty monster. Have I done anything to bring you harm?”

Van looked down at his lap, now ashamed of thin
king in such a way. “No,”
he answered honestly. “You have been nothing but nice to me. I just didn’t think there were such a thing as….well….you know.
Vampires.”

“Before you made any impetuous judgments about me or my kind, please remember that I still have much to tell you. Then, you may form an opinion about what is best for you.”

Van nodded. He would give Saldivar a chance to explain all that he had to. He took him in. Fe
d and clothed him. He d
id not try to harm him in any way. It was only fair to show him the same courtesy.

Saldivar cleared his throat and continued his story. “‘You could have this power, Saldi
var,’
the stranger had told me,
‘a
nd much more. But you must do as I say if you want to be free.’

“I then knew I must do as he had commanded. I nodded in response.

“He whisked me away from my hellish prison faster than I could blink an eye. How far we had gone, I cannot tell you for time had escaped me. We stopped at a run down shack outside of Versailles, not far from Paris, which is where the stranger
said we were. No one had lived in this place for decades and the stranger had informed me that it was the closest place he could find with absolute privacy.

“Before I could go on, I had to k
now his name. He simply said,
‘Zane’, and nothing more.

“Zane did not give me ample time to think about what was to come. I was terrified at first and thought I would faint as he sunk his teeth into my neck. I was convinced he would drain the very life out of me. Just before I fell from lack of blood, he lifted his head and looked into my eyes. They were blazing and beastly. My blood, smeared on his lips. He took a razor from his pocket and slightly nicked his neck. I saw the blood ooze from him. At first, I thought I would be
ad nauseam.
But when the first taste of this salty elixir hit my tongue, something came over me. I was like a ravenous beast and I starved for his blood.

“As I drank, I felt an electric-like sensation race throughout
my entire body. It was a slight tingle at first but after a few sips more, the tingling became overpowering, as if it were a being upon itself.

“Zane tore away from me, holding pressure on his wound. He told me a few crucial things before disappearing into the night. It was like he had never been there.

“I noticed myself starting to change gradually. I heard things with new ears.

Every whisper.
Every movement.
My sense of smell was that of an animal…..if not better. I could smell the blood of humans. It was and is the Elixir of Life. It’s intoxicating. Like a drug I had to imbibe.

“My vision: perfect. Even in the dead of night I can detect the scudding of a mouse of the flyin
g of a bat. No pun intended,”
Saldivar quipped.

“My strength was that of twenty of the strongest men. I could
run faster. Jump tall hurdles, though
not at first. I had to learn to control all of these new and very powerful senses. If you do not have enough volition over them, they could take you over, get you caught, or drive you out of you mind.

“Eventually, with age comes strength to govern these powers, wisdom and ability to know when to use them.