Bloods Gem (3 page)

My sister Celeste was lucky. She does not
have a gem. Females have it easy. They pick who they want to be
with. If she picks anyone at all, she has only two choices, vampire
or human. She envies Ill-suen men because she thinks it's love at
first sight, accompanied by the romance and fireworks she longs
for. It’s all because of the stories she’s heard, some true
perhaps.

Maybe in
ten
years
I will change my mind and want this. Ten years
left to live and enjoy freedom then my time for fun is up. Ten
years to try to be good and not thirst for my desires.

My true love will be gone forever never to
return.

Daniel

“
So, what do you think sis? Can we
pull it off?”

I’ve been trying to convince her for awhile
to take this journey with me, so I wouldn’t die of boredom.

“
Father would kill me, Daniel. Plus
you need time to think.
Alone
.”

The conversation wasn’t going in the
direction I wanted it to go. “What’s there to think about? The
hatred I have? It would be best if you came, so I won't have time
to dwell on the anger. You would be able to stop me from killing
her, you know it’s true.”

Annoyingly, she rolled her eyes. “Give
yourself more credit. You're not going to kill her. You’ve had
plenty of time for the immunity to kick in.”

“
The slip ups?” I asked looking down,
embarrassed. She smacked me on the side of my head.

“
Shut up and just suck it up,” she
hissed.

“
Fine but if I don’t come back, you
will have my death on your hands, knowing you could have saved
me.”

A slight growl issued from her. I chuckled
at the thought of maybe winning this argument.

“
I’ll go to father if you don’t think
you can handle this on your own. Grow up. You’re a hundred and ten
and acting like a child,” she accused.

“
Guess not,” I mumbled under my
breath, knowing that once father got involved, there was no
winning.

I tried to think of a clever response. “I’m
really only eighteen if you count this,” I said, gesturing and
pointing with both fingers in toward my body.

“
Your body doesn’t age, Brother, but
your mind should. Act your freaking age.”

She did have a point, but I couldn’t help
but continue my charade. “So act my age huh?” I said sarcastically,
hunching over and shuffling around, as if walking with a cane.

She busted out with a loud laugh. “Your
vampire age, dumb ass,” She squealed, before a loud knock sounded
at the door, startling us.

We knew who was behind it and put on our
serious faces, hiding our smiles. I sauntered to the door, sighing
before opening it. “Father,” I addressed him.

“
I assume you’ve managed to set things
in order for your journey.” he asked, remaining in the
doorway.

I nodded. “I have things in order
Father.”

“
Good. Then you wouldn’t mind
following me to the study hall,” he said, turning away.

The study hall, as he calls it, is a huge
room with a million books. He assumes we sit there and study the
human world all day, everyday, which in most cases, good Ill-suen
do.

“
Sure.” I glanced back at my sister
lifting an eyebrow and half smiled.

She giggled under her breath.

“
Is there a problem?” My father shot a
glare back at me.

I cupped my mouth, realizing what my sister
said wasn’t far off. I was acting like a child. “Not at all. I’m
following.” I announced, deciding not to act like an
adolescent.

Excited about my journey,
my stomach churned, legs had turned to rubber, as if they would
buckle under me.
I figured it was the thought of
leaving for awhile that was getting to me. I tried to pull myself
together.

My father frowned, brows knit. “I know the
feeling son.”

That’s the reason I hate being around my
father for longer then a few minutes. He knows what I feel. A
humbling experience, depending on what my feelings are at the time.
“It’s not what you think, Father. It’s just--”

Smiling, he shook his head. As we walked to
the east wing of the castle, I glanced over his shoulder at the
sparring room for children. Remembering when I was that age was
almost bittersweet. I was going to miss the fun I had here. The
only place I called home. The only place that will ever be home, I
was leaving and it was depressing.

Whenever I enter the library, I'm reminded
of my younger self. Studying with Celeste and too young to
appreciate the knowledge and wisdom surrounding us. Dark walls rise
into the third story ceiling, lined with books, aged by time. A
spiral staircase leading to the second and third level of the
library retains the musky smell of cherry.

Father guided me to the second level, into
the antechamber, hidden behind a bookcase. There, in the middle of
the room was a large desk with a leather suit case, already opened.
As we approached, he began explaining items I was to take with me
that occupied the case. “Passports, cash, drivers licenses, credit
cards. If you are going to need more cash I can wire it to you, but
I think you have enough here with the credit cards.”

“
I was under the impression I wouldn’t
need this much stuff, I won't be gone that long.”

“
You know the drill. Do I have to
remind you how long this journey could take?”

“
Not as long as you think,” I mumbled
under my breath.

He ignored the comment. “You have a few days
before you leave. Is there anything you wish before you leave that
I can help with?” His formality annoyed me.

I thought of something I wanted, only he
could provide. Sensing his reaction, hot anger rose in me.

“
You know I cannot allow that. You
must save yourself for your gem.”

“
I know. The gem. Blah. blah. blah,” I
mumbled. I hung my head in defeat, still trying to think of
something to say to make him change his mind.

“
There’s no point. It will not
happen!”

I rolled my eyes. I haven’t been able to act
on these new desires, and it was killing me. Only recently did I
start feeling the need for love and sex, when before I had never
thought about them. The thought has been occurring to me these past
few months that I should take a vampire wife of my own. When I
returned, I figured I would do just that. There’s no law against
wanting more than my gem.

My father slapped me back to reality with a
nice big pat to the back almost knocking me into the wall.
Instinctively, I flashed my teeth but quickly withdrew knowing that
was a losing battle. “Go, have some fun before you leave, but stick
to the plan. Don’t give into temptations.” He looked at me as if he
already knew my thoughts before I did. I walked away
aggravated.

I’ve had many years to
study, experience life to some degree, and acquire some wisdom. I
have tale
nts and abilities I cannot use except in
private, for fear of humans noticing our kind. Even when I went to
school among humans I was not able to compete in sports, or music,
because father was afraid I would excel beyond human capacity--slip
up—and someone would notice.

If it wasn’t for nature and privacy of our
woods, I would have gone insane. I always felt better when night
came, because then I could roam in the wilderness on my own.

My first human kill occurred at Saps
Natural Falls. It was a bright sunny day and I was hungry. When I
began hunting deer, I heard a woman and child coming down the
hill.
Hiding behind some trees I saw a
woman yelling at a child.

As I listened to her thoughts, her intent
was to kill the child. I decided to act on not only my want for the
woman's blood, but as her daughter's savior.

Walking toward the river, the woman grabbed
the child by the back of the neck, forcing her to her knees. Unable
to watch any longer, my anger grew uncontrollable. I ran down the
hill and behind the woman. Grabbing her by the back of her neck she
released the little girl and started yelling for help. I looked
into the woman's eyes and asked, "Why?"

She looked down at her feet, sobbing,
unable to respond
.

My glance fell to the
frightened child, “Whats your name?” I asked.

“Haley,” She
replied.

"Haley, your mother and I
need to talk.” I pointed to the hill behind her, “Would you mind
going up to that hill and waiting un
til we're
done?"

She nodded and I watched her run up
the hill until
she was
out of
sight.
Returning my attention to the
woman, I forced her to her knees.

"So, this is what you were
going to do?!"

Forcing her head into the
water, I wanted to show her what it was like to be deprived of
life.

She struggled and I
finally pulled her up, knocked her to the bank, unconscious.
Standing above her helpless form, instinct kicked in, I drank
deeply.
I drank until I could no longer hear a heart
beat. I placed her into the water and watched her float downstream.
S
taggering back, I let my body fall to the
ground and closed my eyes. Moments later, I opened my eyes and the
girl was standing above me. Sitting up, she kneeled next to me. I
placed my hand on the back of her head erasing the memories of that
day. Heading home I knew I would face the wrath of my father. I had
adopted a human child.

My flashback was
interrupted as I had a misstep with the stairs.

My thoughts continued as I
made my way to the bedroom, the little monkey on my left shoulder
was giving me ideas, and the one on the right—a voice so soft I
barley heard it, said, “I’m better than this.”

It’s not like I’ve killed
a ton of people. Actually, it’s only been five, and they were all
dangerous people who shouldn’t be allowed on the street in the
first place. In my head I did try hard over the years to follow my
father’s wishes when it came to resisting. But when I went away for
a few years on my own , I slipped.

Tonight would be a gift to
myself. A going-away present. I deserved it. I had been a good boy
for a long time.

It was getting late. A
sign that it was the perfect time to hunt for my last meal.
“Daniel, you ready to go?” My sister walked in on me while I was
lying on my bed staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

“Damn, you ruined my
moment,” I growled. “What do you mean, “am I ready?””

Trying to hear her
thoughts, she was blocking me out.

“Father told me to
accompany you tonight, so don’t do anything stupid.” Hands on her
hips, she rolled her eyes.

Jumping from the bed towards her. “Come on
sis, this can be a present from you to me. Let me spend this night
on my own,” I pleaded.

“
If I do that and you get into trouble
it will be my head. Plus, I want to get some fresh air tonight.
It’s been too cramped here lately since they sent out the invites
for your going away party.”

I looked for some sort of
motivation to prompt her to help me.
“I will owe you
forever Sis. I promise. I wont get into any trouble. I need this
time to think. Howell and Cesar are supposed to meet me at the Dark
Room for a guys night.”

She tapped her foot impatiently. “Well, I’m
going to check in on you guys once to make sure.”

“
Sounds good!” I shouted, almost too
excited. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, looking for anything
telling her not to believe me.

“
Okay, if I do this you will do
something for me,” she said.

“
Anything!” I shouted.

“
Have Howell meet me in my room
tonight after you guys are done.”

Oh boy.
This
was not what I expected but a fair trade, I thought. “Your serious
aren’t you? You know father will kill him if you two…” I couldn’t
bear to think of her and

She interrupted before I changed my mind.
“Don’t worry about Father, Dan. Just get your ass out of here
before I change my mind.”

She didn’t let me finish my train of
thought and I wasn’t about to negotiate knowing there was nothing
more I could say. I reached down to hug my sister and realized I
needed to secure my alibi with Howell and Cesar
as soon as possible.

“
You wont regret it Sis. But please
don’t do anything stupid with Howell. I won’t forgive myself if we
have half retarded babies running around the castle and neither
would father.”

Daniel

Finally, I was out. Away from the shackles
and my fathers suspicious eyes. Free of the training. If I had to
smell anymore virgin’s blood I was going to go nuts. But that was
part of our training to be ready for our gem. They tempt us with
the blood of a virgin, they say it’s the most desirable scent,
aside from our gem.

I knew my immunity had built up. The first
five years were the hardest; they had to restrain us until we no
longer bared our teeth to the scent. They also do this to all new
vampires who want to join our family. If they choose to live the
innocent life we do, they must go through the same training we do
as an initiation. It was a difficult necessity. We still craved,
but we have more control and make sure to drink before we get too
thirsty. As long as we’re full, we usually don’t crave and if we do
it’s easier to control.