The Two Vampires (26 page)

The sorcerer settled
on a rock outside his cave and transformed back into a man.  He shook himself so he felt human again, and grounded to the earth.  He thought darkly about what he had seen.

Two vampires.

What were they doing here and why were they investigating the deaths?

It seemed most unlike vampires.  Surely all they cared about was killing?  They would not care about what he had planned. 

They were already immortal.

But what if they planned to interfere?

He could not let that happen.  It was still two weeks until the next full moon when he would need to perform the second sacrifice, the one that would complete the ritual and raise Nathaniel.

That was two weeks that his plans could be thwarted, that his vision could be ruined.

He paced back and forth, thinking about what he should do and considering the most appropriate way to kill them.

He knew where to find them as he had followed them back to their stone cottage, while keeping out of sight.  But he did not know how strong they were. 

He would need to test them.

He pictured the country side surrounding their cottage in his head.  It was not far from the stone circle, no wonder they had found it.  He pictured the lay of the land and remembered the church.

The graveyard.

Now that was an idea.

He would wait until it was late, until it was dark and they were likely to be asleep, then he would carry out his plan.

He hoped they would be weak, that they would fail the test:  That they would either run or perish.

Sarah slumped back
on the sofa and held out her glass as Daniel poured her some wine.  She took a gulp and sighed. 

The excitement of their arrival had worn off. 

Now she could not shake off a feeling of dread.

She took another sip of wine, hoping that it would help.  It did, a little.

Daniel sat down next to her and she rested her head on his shoulder.  It was starting to get dark outside and Daniel had lit a fire in the hearth.  It crackled away and provided a soft warming light.

This would be an ideal situation if it was not for her lurking memory of those bodies.  That smell.  The crow.

Sinking into negatively was not good.  The lower she sank the more it was impossible not to think of her children.  Of hugging them, providing them with comfort, while making herself feel better.  She had to snap out of it, but how?

Blood.

Her veins felt dry, and she was beginning to notice her mood was influenced by how recently she had fed.  Blood made her feel jubilant.  It enabled her to push aside her fears and memories.  It made her feel strong.

Hunger made her weak, not just physically but emotionally.

She sat up and turned her head so she could look into Daniel’s dark eyes.

She uttered one word.

‘Blood.’

He put down his glass and stood, pulling her with him, and went straight to the door.

Sarah let her hunting instincts take over.  She was not afraid to be wild as she knew it was the only way to make herself feel better.  Daniel would stop anyone getting hurt.  He was right by her side, and he would stay close, protecting her.  Protecting anyone that might happen to venture into her territory.

She sprinted into the night, her presence covered by the dark, and felt a strong wind slapping at her skin.  If the moon was out the clouds were too thick to tell.

She appreciated the darkness and the speed.

She felt exhilarated.

She stopped and saw a stretch of woodland - the oaks she had longed to see.  If there were any large prey to hunt that was where she would find them.

She glanced over her shoulder, checking that Daniel was still with her, before speeding down the valley towards it.

As she approached the woodland she slowed.  She did not want to scare away any animals that were there.  She started to stalk inwards.  It was even darker under the canopy of trees with their new leaves that smelt fresh and vibrant.

She stilled and listened hard for a heartbeat, a sense of life, of blood.

She heard tiny beats coming from every direction.  The forest was full of life.  There was life in the trees, in crooks and holes and burrows.  But she wanted something larger so she listened harder.  Further away she heard a deeper beating and sped up, shortening the gap so she could see what it was.

She was so hungry, so thirsty – she could not wait to feed.  As she neared the pumping heart she could not stop.  She saw a small red deer and was on it in less than a second.  It was young and not used to this form of danger.  She sank her teeth through its neck and felt whole again as its blood flowed down her throat, its power into her cells and muscles.  The blood tasted sweet with youth, and she drained every drop, feeling the heart slow and then stop.  She held the deer tight, not willing to miss any blood she could get.  Finally she released her teeth and set the deer by a tree, feeling sad about ending its life.  She tossed some leaves over it as a mock burial.

She glanced up at Daniel who was leaning casually against a tree.  She was just about to speak when he brought his finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet.

It was his turn.

Sarah listened out, wondering what he had heard, and discovered there was another young deer nearby.

She watched Daniel intently.  It would be interesting to see how he did this.

A shiver of fear ran through her as she saw his face turn feral and his vampire teeth extend in anticipation of blood.  He must be hungry, she thought, as she had drunk his blood again, and she had not been lenient about how much she took.  Next time she would be.

She followed Daniel stealthily through the trees and watched as he sprang onto the deer, taking it completely unaware and sinking in his own fangs.  She could hear him swallowing blood, but just as the deer’s heart started to slow Daniel stopped feeding.  Just like that.  He withdrew his teeth and let the deer go.

The young deer, its soft red fur only just visible in the dark, looked dazed, but it did walk off and Sarah could tell it would recover.  Daniel would have to teach her to stop so she could do that too.

‘Nice show,’ she said as Daniel returned to her side.

‘Why thank you,’ he said, and took her in his arms.

He tightened his grip and sprang – directly upwards, making Sarah gasp and her heart pound.  They landed on a branch and sat down side by side.  Sarah giggled.  God, blood really did make her feel better.

She swung her leg over Daniel so she was sitting astride him, trusting him to keep balance, and kissed him passionately.  She felt hot as he returned her kisses and pushed his tongue against hers.  She felt him harden beneath her and she groaned.  He contracted his hips, pushing against her, and she wished she was not wearing jeans.  She jumped up, balancing on the branch, and made a show of whipping them off while standing on one leg at a time.  She leaped back onto Daniel – catching him off balance – but he steadied them just in time so they did not fall.  He pushed against her again and quickly undid his buttons, freeing his erection.  She kissed him again, biting at his lip and sucking, sharing blood and breath as she sat on him and moaned as he thrust, making her feel electricity in her bones and very soul.

Later she lay back in bed, satisfied, staring at Daniel with loved up eyes.  He was so God damn sexy.  He had fallen asleep first – so much for tapping into her dreams.  She thought back to their lovemaking and could not help but blush at the thought of the things they had done, at the way he made her feel, the power he had over her.

She listened to the wind whistling around the outside of the building, then thought she heard something else in the distance.  A creaking movement, was that footsteps? – It sounded like feet dragging against the ground. 

She listened, now alert to danger.

As the wind blew against her window a draught penetrated the cracks in the wood, and she smelt the stench of death. 

She heard the noises getting closer and realized there were lots of footsteps, and she could not hear heartbeats.  Whatever was coming was not human. 

Either that or they were dead.

A rush of nausea engulfed her and she vomited beside the bed.

Panic came over her in waves – a terrible sense of foreboding rose up inside her.

‘Daniel – wake up, wake up NOW!

THE TWO VAMPIRES

The sorcerer concentrated
hard on the graveyard before him.  To raise the dead he needed to spark strength of will and purpose into the bodies buried under the earth.  The graveyard was old and most of the bodies lying there were beyond decomposition, their muscle and skin disintegrating with time.  More recent burials had taken place in a far corner of the graveyard, and the sorcerer willed the dead there the power to move, to break free from beneath the ground. 

The scent of decomposition struck him as the earth broke and the first rotting body clambered into the night.  A sense of sickness possessed him and he strengthened the wards that would protect him from the dead.

As more bodies broke free the sorcerer used his magic, reaching for its essence within him, and instilled the one piece of knowledge that was needed in their minds:  They would find and kill the two vampires that were sleeping in that cottage over the hill.

If the vampires escaped they would hunt them and they would not stop until the vampires were dead, or their own bodies were too broken to act.

As more dead broke free of the earth the sorcerer glanced up at the crescent moon.  It was low in the sky and shining a dull red, as if it were reminding him of the sacrifice he would soon perform, when he would raise the old vampire - Nathaniel - from beneath the nearby stone circle. 

Nathaniel was not dead in the same way as these mindless bodies that were fighting free before him.  Nathaniel was weak; drained of power by the witches that had entombed him, to prevent him from killing the people of their town.

It was not a desire for death that made the sorcerer want to bring Nathaniel back – it was a desire for life.  A desire to be immortal.  Not as a vampire, for that would bring with it the constant craving for blood; he could lose his mind to it, and would need to rely on others for sustenance.  No, he did not want that.  On raising Nathaniel, the sorcerer would demand his price for bringing him back to life; a sample of his blood.  He would use it in a spell that would give him eternal life.  He would live forever, while still remaining a sorcerer, and keeping his magic and his mind. 

The blood of any vampire would not be powerful enough for the immortality spell.  It needed to be the blood of an old vampire, and old vampires were rare.  Nathaniel was the only one he had discovered.  It was convenient he had been buried with a ritual and needed a powerful spell to bring him back to life, for that was something the sorcerer was capable of helping with. 

The first part of the ritual was already complete.

The sorcerer refocused on the present.  The smell of death was nauseating, and he wanted this task complete.  He wanted those vampires to die.  He had watched as they had discovered the site of his first sacrifice.  He suspected they did not know that there was an old vampire entombed beneath the stone circle, but that they had been attracted by the presence of the remaining blood.  The sorcerer had killed four people at the site, and at the next full moon he needed to kill four more.  He could not risk that those vampires would get in the way when it was time for the next sacrifice, for if they did he would need to start the ritual from scratch. 

He focused on the movement of the dead; the skeletons and half decomposed bodies, and willed them to walk over the hill.  He willed them speed and strength far beyond their previous humanity.  Magical strength.  He imbued the bodies and their former minds with the need for violence and the power to fight.

The sorcerer pulled up his hood and lowered the boundaries of his body so that he would blend into the night, and followed after the dead as a wraith in the darkness.

‘Daniel – Wake up
– Wake up – NOW!’ Sarah said, shaking him roughly.

Daniel jerked awake, ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, looking around.

Sarah was about to try and explain the terrible stench of rotting flesh as she stumbled from beneath the covers of their bed and started to grab her clothes that she had tossed onto the wooden floorboards before climbing under the blankets, the horrible sense of foreboding that was gripping her, the sound of feet dragging along the ground that was quickly getting closer, but in the instant that she was trying to find the words the expression on Daniel’s face changed: his light-hearted sleepy look turned instantly serious and he too was out of bed.

He had heard the footsteps that were approaching, and from the look on his face he had smelt the sickening scent of death.

Daniel dressed at lightning speed and was just shrugging on his leather jacket when there was thudding at the door, he quickly looked at Sarah and she nodded to show she was ready – her heart was pounding hard in her chest and she felt that she might vomit.  Again.

Sarah followed Daniel as he approached their small window and yanked it open.

‘After you,’ he said.

Sarah moved as quickly as she was able, which was mightily fast now she was a vampire, and was squeezing herself through the window in a flash.  She jumped to the ground, bending her knees as she landed.  She looked up and saw a sea of rotting bodies and skeletons jerk their faces so they were fixed directly on her.  In that moment she was glad of the darkness that obscured the details of their form.

Tears welled in her eyes as they started to approach, and she jolted as Daniel landed lightly at her side.

‘Let’s find somewhere more defensible to fight,’ Daniel said, already moving away from the dead.

Sarah nodded and started to move with him, but her mind was going into slow motion.  A part of her knew it was the panic, the horror, and the revolting smell.  She did not know what to do, and in her moment of hesitation the closest member of the pack jumped towards her.

Before she realized what was happening she was knocked to the side, and she knew Daniel had stopped it getting her, and he was trying to pull her up and away, but something had hold of her foot.

She let out a wail that she could hear traveling into the night, over the sound of muscle-less bones crunching and grating, as they swarmed closer. 

An image flicked into her mind of something grabbing her foot before, and she had a brief moment of déjà vu – had something like this happened in a dream? 

She kicked hard, determined to be free, at the same time as Daniel kicked the head of whatever horrible thing it was that was holding her, and it released her foot as Daniel managed to pull her to her feet.  He took her hand and she welcomed it, feeling reassured by his presence.  Adrenaline was clearing her thoughts, and the closeness of death was spurring her into action.  Sarah sped with Daniel, away from those bodies; the dead, holding onto Daniel’s hand for her life.

They ran up the hillside, Sarah grateful for her quick vamp reflexes that were kicking in, making it easy to avoid the lumps of granite stone scattered randomly over the moor.  Sarah could hear that the dead were following them, and they were fast, but not as fast as she and Daniel.  Relief swelled inside her as she realized that, as vampires, they were definitely faster than the dead, and she and Daniel were gaining ground by the second.

They reached the crest of the hill and stood for a moment on the large granite protrusion at its top, looking down on the horrible bodies that were after them.

‘What
are
they Daniel?’ Sarah asked, ‘They better not be zombies,’ she muttered, her voice only just audible over the sound of the wind that was pummeling her body.

She had seen one too many zombie movies and the idea of viruses infecting people and making them behave like they had rabies repelled her.

Sarah glanced at Daniel’s face.  He was looking closely at the approaching dead; studying them.

‘I can sense magic… I think something, or someone, must be controlling them, animating them,’ Daniel said, gritting his teeth.

‘The crow,’ Sarah said.

She knew something had not been right about the crow that had been watching them yesterday, it must have been another vampire, or a witch, or something – but what did it have against them?

There was not time to dwell on it, the dead were quickly getting closer.

‘What shall we do – can we fight them?  The one that grabbed me was strong,’ Sarah pointed out.

‘Yes, we can fight them, and we have to, but let’s go further from here.  We should find somewhere where they can’t surround us – we will have a better chance if they can’t all attack at once.’

Sarah looked down as the dead approached, and estimated there were about fifty of them.  Fifty to fight – were they really going to manage?

But Daniel was strong, and she would have to trust him.  She just wished her first fighting experience as a vampire wasn’t going to be quite so disgusting.

Sarah clutched onto Daniel’s hand as he started to race from the dead once more.  This time she managed to react in time so they would not touch her again.  Not yet.

‘Make sure we don’t go near any other houses,’ Sarah projected straight into Daniel’s mind, through the connection that was provided by their linking hands.

She did not want their pursuit of the safest place to fight putting people in danger.

‘Don’t worry Sarah,’ Daniel reassured straight into her mind, as they continued to run.

Sarah nearly tripped on a rock as she was listening to him and resolved to pay all her attention to what she was doing.  They were descending the hill into a valley and the ground was becoming marshy under her feet.  The wind was blowing in her face, blowing away the scent of decay, and filling her nostrils with the smell of damp earth.  She spotted a narrow stream glistening under the dim light of the narrow moon and jumped as they approached, smoothly landing on the other side.

She allowed herself a moment to look back, and saw the small army descending the hill behind her.  She swallowed, trying to prevent herself from retching, and felt Daniel squeeze her hand.

‘We will be fine,’ he said.

She turned, as did Daniel, and they ran on.

‘They’re still coming Daniel!’ Sarah called.

Daniel did not reply as there was nothing to say; he just gave her a reassuring glance and continued to run. 

The wind changed and the smell of death hit Sarah again.  She stopped and this time she could not stop herself, she did retch, but nothing came up as her stomach was already empty.  Daniel held on to her tightly.  She glanced up at him between heaves and saw his brow creased with worry.  He was anxiously keeping a look out.  She glanced back and saw the dead were still advancing, and quickly looked away.  She stood up straight, breathing shallowly so as not to take in anymore particles of reeking flesh, and let Daniel guide her on.  His dark hair was flying back as they moved against the wind, and she took comfort from its beauty, the mass of subtle colors reflected in the moonlight, trying to force away thoughts of what was pursuing them.

Why were they so intent on following us?  She knew they wanted to kill her, to kill them both.  Why else would they be after them?

If the dead were controlled by whatever had been that crow, maybe another vampire, why did he want her and Daniel dead?  And why didn’t he just fight them directly?  He, or she, must be incredibly strong to control so many bodies – God, even if they fought and survived this onslaught – they would still have to fight whoever was controlling this situation.

Sarah jumped over a slab of granite, only just seeing it at the last minute.  They were ascending another hill and their path was becoming steeper as they did. 

She could not believe the speed of the dead behind them.  Daniel must be right, she thought, they must be controlled by magic – how else could they move like that?

She stumbled, gasping as she fell on her face, pulling Daniel down next to her.  He jumped straight back up, holding her hand so tight it hurt – wrenching her shoulder back in his efforts to right her.  She jumped too and was soon running again. 

They reached the top and she allowed herself a moment to look back – the dead were a third of the way up the hill behind them.  She and Daniel had gained a little ground.

‘Let’s look for somewhere to go Daniel,’ she said, trying to control her breathing.

Daniel nodded.  Sarah watched his eyes, for a second, as they started to scan the landscape.

She squinted into the dark herself, trying to find somewhere defensible.  She did not really know what she was looking for – Daniel had said somewhere the dead could not surround them – so she needed to look for somewhere that had a back, maybe and bank or a stone wall, and ideally sides too.  Somewhere where no-one lived.

She looked about again.  Over to her left she saw a small hamlet of cottages, so she turned away from those and looked hard to her right.  She and Daniel were really high up so she could see over a couple more of the hills.

‘Daniel – I think I can see some kind of hut over there, with a bank behind it,’ she whispered, pointing into the distance. 

She did not know if the dead could hear her, of if what was controlling them might be able to, or if that person was even nearby.  She was, however, acutely aware that the dead were getting closer and they really needed to get moving.

‘Yes, let’s go,’ Daniel said in a rush.

Sarah did not know if he had agreed with her for lack of a better option, or whether he actually thought it was a good place.  She did not have time to ask him.

She raced on.  If she had not been a vampire she would not have made it, and even so her breath was really hurting her lungs.  Fortunately her legs still felt strong and it was easy to keep them moving.  They ran down towards another valley, catching the putrid scent of death as their followers mounted the hill behind them, forming a line that spanned the crest of the hill.  It was as if they were fanning out, trying to trap them, Sarah thought as she looked behind.

Daniel glanced back and this time he tripped, pulling Sarah down.  She giggled, and Daniel shot her an astonished look.

‘Sorry, hysteria kicking in,’ Sarah projected into his mind.

Daniel quickly lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it fast, yet tenderly, making waves of love travel to her heart, easing the fear that was gripping her.  It made her feel like it did not matter what pursued them, for at least they were together.  Images of her children, Megan and Bea, swam into her mind and she leapt to her feet again.  She had to stay strong for them.  She had to return to them.

Daniel was up by her side and he gave her hand another squeeze before resuming their speedy pace.

Sarah felt her feet squelch on marshy ground, and tried to be as light footed as possible so as not to get her feet stuck in the bog.  As they ran on clouds obscured the moon, and quickly the sky became darker still as the clouds too disappeared.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder again.  She could not see those that followed her as they were masked by the darkness of the valley, but she could tell they were still there for she could smell them and she could hear their creaking bodies.  She shuddered and ran on, tears that fell down her cheeks quickly whipped away by the harsh wind.

She was getting impatient now, tired psychologically of running, of the building fear and tension.  She knew that soon they would need to fight, and a part of her, the reckless part, wanted to turn and fight now, to conquer her fears and to get the fight over.  But they had to be sensible; they had to make sure their chances were as strong as possible; they had to fight in the most advantageous place to defend.

‘Sarah,’ Daniel projected, ‘you see those woods to the right?’

‘Yes?’

‘Let’s take a detour that way, through the woods - I can strengthen myself,’ he said, his words traveling through their connected hands so as not to give any clues to those that chased them.

‘OK,’ Sarah said, a wave of panic rolling over her – was there really time?

When Daniel communicated mind to mind she grasped a general sense of his emotions, and she could tell he was very tightly under control, trying to mask his fear and stay together; to protect her.  But she could tell that under the surface fear and doubt were there.

She held his hand firmly as they ran towards the woods, aware that she would soon need to let him go if he was to feed.  Would she have time to feed too?  Could she risk it?  If she could it would make her stronger, and she would feel more confident – but would it make her more reckless?

She knew that she and Daniel were ahead of the dead, but they were quickly advancing on them.  She really could not believe how fast they were moving.  And what about whoever was controlling them?  She should keep a lookout for that crow while Daniel’s feeding.  She should protect Daniel – then he could strengthen himself enough, and he will be more able to protect them both – because – let’s face it – he’s the best fighter.  He’s more experienced, and he can use magic.