Evil Origins
chapter TWENTY FOUR
Harrow
Life doesn't always go the way one imagines it would. All I ever wanted was to grow up. Knowing that you are going to die from a young age makes simply growing up as big a dream as any. When I was younger, I once walked through the cancer wing of a children’s hospital and I was ashamed by their courage. They knew they were dying, or at least that most of them would never have an opportunity to become adults, but they smiled and laughed so whole-heartedly. I had always wished that I had that kind of strength. To smile and find happiness in everyday, always wondering if tomorrow might be their last.
I don't know why, but seeing Renaud again made me think of the past. He certainly wasn't the man I grew up with anymore. Then again, I don’t think any of us truly were. He died for me. Stepped in and took my place the day he told Mihaela to save me. I should be grateful. After all, he had to face my demons and I know very well that he paid a steep price, but seeing him again brought back all the guilt. The military and counselors called it Survivors Guilt, but what happened to him wasn’t an accident. Our story was an educated gamble. I threw the dice looking for double sixes, and Renaud’s love and loyalty were the high score. I won the bet, but paralyzing guilt told me I lost the game.
The bodies of the soldiers I had dismembered were piled and organized like wood. I prefer to think of them as soldiers then just bad men in a terrible situation. I can justify victims of war easier than misguided men who paid a terrible price following a power hungry tyrant’s commands. It was a lie I know, but if you tell yourself a lie often enough soon you are forced to believe it’s the truth and then it’s easier to look in the mirror. I grabbed a head and examined it. His forehead was thick and rigid, making him look more like a Neanderthal than a man. He had wide eyes and thick lips. Definitely too ugly to be a lady’s man, but I was almost certain if I were to track down the rest of his components that I would find a giant muscular frame. He wasn’t sent for brain power, that’s for sure. Breaking my own rules was going to have a severe price, though. If they were missed, we would be forced to move to a new city. That was the only way we could truly be safe.
Sitting up, I heard a soft swishing sound as the burnt pieces of skin sloughed off my body falling to the floor like sand. Brushing my arms, I could still feel fragments of dead skin and a few slightly rough scars under my hands. It was a strange feeling to touch the baby soft skin that formed to replace the dead parts, yet also the damaged sections that still existed. It would be quite some time before I was completely healed, but I was presentable. Well, if one could call a naked vampire sitting in a dark, damp alley presentable.
A scuffling noise from the entrance of the tunnel caught my attention. A blurred figure was walking towards me, dragging something behind them. My eyes still hadn’t healed yet so there was a haze all around me. It would take some time before I could hear a rodent’s footsteps 100 feet away in the darkness or hear the hairs on its back as they scraped together. It took me a few moments to realize that it was Mihaela and that she was dragging a body behind her.
Dropping it in front of me, she whispered, “Daddy, you must eat if you are going to heal.”It was a child. A helpless child who had happened to step too close to an opening where Mihaela was on the prowl. “Oh Daddy, don’t look at me that way. You need to eat something if you are going to get strong.”
“We live by only feeding on the diseased and the corrupt.” The girl lying unconscious on the floor looked so young and helpless. She couldn’t have been more than 15 years old and despite her choice in clothing, which was a black miniskirt and a loose-fitting top and no bra, she seemed rather normal.
“If you are going to recover quickly you need to feed on young viral blood. Older, damaged people will slow down the recovery.” She was kneeling over the young woman’s body, running her fingers through her hair and revealing piercings on the girl’s cheeks, lips and nose. The young thing looked like she had been attacked by a nail gun. “She is a bad girl Daddy, so that makes it alright.”
“Mihaela what could this girl have done that is so bad that she deserves this fate?” She looked so young that I couldn’t imagine killing her just because I needed to feed. Mind you, she did look scrumptious and delightful. There was this thin little vein that poked out of her neck as she laid there motionless.
“She was naughty, Daddy. She was smoking and kissing a boy, letting the young man touch her all over.”
She had blood on her lips. Just a faint trace, but she was close enough that it made her breath smell so sweet. “She is still young enough that she can live a good life. She can still change her life around. Teenagers are meant to be stupid. I know, I was one.”
Grabbing my face on either side, she kissed me and whispered, “You must feed. It will take more than just her to heal you.” Giggling she asked, “Is there a school close by?”
I snapped, “No! We don’t hunt children!”
A smile filled her face as she ran her finger along her lips, “Then feed on this girl and save the younger ones,” as she took her finger and made a small gash in the girl’s neck. My arms trembled as the aroma filled the room, striking a blow to my self-control. “Feed on this one now,” she snarled. “Or you will bath in the blood of children! I am still your maker.”
The craving was stronger than I was. In my moment of weakness, I slowly bent over and licked the warm blood, enjoying the sweet twangy taste. Her skin was soft as my lips slowly connected with her flesh. I pushed my fangs into her, feeling the skin give way as I forced them in deeper. The girl moaned as my fangs dug in and Mihaela shushed the girl, who immediately calmed down and stared at me with these empty brown eyes. The blood gushed out like oil and I felt like I was drilling for oil, only this oil wasn't black. No, it was warm and sweet and after denying my urges for so long it tasted better then I remembered. MorallyI knew it was wrong, but this was the only way to quench my thirst and will away the hunger. For so long I had been living on rice. For the first hour after eating I’d feel full, but then it was like I had never ate at all.
Her body shook uncontrollably as I drained all her blood. I don't know why age changes things for me, but it does. If I were feeding on an older whore with a drug habit or a dying man with disease flowing through his body, I wouldn't feel guilt or turmoil. This girl wasn’t suffering and her life wasn’t beyond saving, so I felt guilt and shame. Her whole body trembled and I could feel her pulse slowing as I drained her bit by bit. Her time was almost over and her sacrifice would mean my survival. It still wasn't right though. Even if I didn't kill for fun as her heart made its last attempt to push blood though her body I knew that I had just stolen her life.
“We must find Murlin,” I said as I wiped my mouth.
“Let’s just leave the city and this war behind, Daddy. This isn’t our battle.”
“It is my battle. I stirred up the hornets’ nest. I must finish this.”
Running her fingers slowly through my hair she whispered, “Grab your brother and daughter and let’s leave this dying city behind. You don’t have to stay for the funeral.” There was always something so relaxing about her touch. Each stroke sent a tingling sensation all over that always made me just want lay there for hours. “Let’s run away like lovers, Daddy. Let’s just go. No planned destination, just us and the open road.”
“No, I need to find Murlin and track down Renaud.”
“I will help you save him because I love you, but he scares me.” I was well aware that she feared magic, especially Renaud’s magic. At their first meeting he did the unthinkable in her eyes. He killed her creator, who was like a god to her. He was a thousand years old. Not the oldest of our kind, but certainly one of the first. Up until the day he decided in a jealous rage to kill me, he considered himself godlike. Renaud made sure that he would never feel godlike again.
A giggle sang out, pushing away the silence. Mihaela stood up and dug out her phone and opened the screen. The light from the phone accented the sparkle in
her eyes and the smile on her face until it glowed. “I have a full menu arranged, Daddy. Let’s eat, then we can find Murlin and your brother.”