Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) (47 page)

Orhn was not amused. His eyes squinted angrily at Yugo. Orhn tested the rest of his body, he couldn't move. His legs were fused shut as well.

“I haven't cut your legs apart because I don't want to injure you further.” Yugo stuck the blade into the ground next to Orhn and doused him with a bucket of blood. “It's strange, you seem to be absorbing it much faster now since the boils have disappeared. Normally there's a limit to how much a vampire can take directly through the skin, but I haven't found one for you yet.” Yugo sighed. “Well, I'm off to fetch another two buckets for your scabbed ass. You better make one hell of a vampire when this is all done. You owe me, Orhn. Rest up, and I'll see you tomorrow.”

* * * *

Another day had come and gone. Orhn laid there in the swirled dirt. Covered in a carapace of hardened flesh and blood he was crystallized into a near cocoon like structure. Orhn's arms and legs were still fused to each other, making it impossible for him to move. This was the sixth day of pain. It had changed over that time. Orhn had adjusted quite well to it. The searing had become a dull nagging at the back of his head now. It was more of an irritation than a stabbing sensation. He was feeling colder than normal and didn't understand why.

Yugo splashed another bucket of blood on Orhn. “That's six days, when are you going to heal up?” Yugo sighed and shook his head side to side. “Wait, I have an idea.” Yugo took up the knife from the ground and approached Orhn's legs.

Orhn coughed, and vomited instantly. After a momentary loss of bodily function, Orhn stopped shaking and spoke up, albeit faintly and with difficulty. “You can't cut me up, I need to heal. The blood feels cool on my skin. Just give me more blood and let me heal.”

“I've already done it, Orhn. You can move, you're limbs are free, and you can stand. If you can stand.” Yugo said with pride. He didn't want to get any more blood for Orhn. Yugo had enough of playing errand boy. This was his alternative to fetching more bodies. “Look at yourself. The new vessel that has come to form your flesh.”

Orhn's eyes filled with pain as he bore witness to the sight of his skin. It was jagged, rot with scars and mangled tissue from the quick cuts Yugo made to free his limbs. It was prickled, blood soaked, horrendous angles of skin. Orhn was not ready for it. He didn't want this. He coughed as he sat up, light red fluid spilled forth. It wasn't over yet. There was still more healing to come. A sudden rush came to Orhn's head, he felt cold and blacked out.

* * * *

“Are you awake yet?” Yugo's voice asked Orhn from above the head of the dirt bed.

“Yeah, but everything is fuzzy.” Orhn licked his mouth. “My tongue, it's healed. When did that happen? You cut it out last I remember.” Orhn felt his face, everything was normal again. He looked at his fingers and his hands, there was no damage.

“It started growing back yesterday. You've been asleep since then.” Yugo's voice was troubled.

Yugo was bothered by something and Orhn could hear it. Orhn sat up, he was wearing clothing again. “When did you get me these?” Orhn thought about what had happened to him. “When did you-” Orhn didn't want to think about it. He knew what Yugo would have had to do to remove the clothing he had.

“While you were sleeping.” Yugo said quietly, studying Orhn's face. “I did it while you were unconscious. I don't think you would have been able to take it. I had to cut you deep to get to it all.” Yugo paused, there was still something on his mind.

“You're hiding something. You aren't the same man that killed me a few days ago. What's wrong?” Orhn checked out the rest of his body. Absolutely nothing wrong. His skin was unblemished and unwounded. The gaping wound in his chest that Yugo caused was gone. The pain had washed away, it was only a fleeting memory now. Orhn felt his face for the gashes Yugo had inflicted to open his eyes and mouth, but none were there. He had been completely healed. Orhn checked his chest for the scars he had accumulated on the battlefield, they were gone as well. “What did you do with my skin?”

“I cut it off. I just told you that.” Yugo scolded Orhn as he sighed.

Orhn cringed at the thought, then shook his head. “No, not that. I mean my scars. What did you do to them?”

“You mean they aren't there?” Yugo leaned in towards Orhn, pulling his shirt up to see for himself.

“Is that normal?” Orhn asked.

“No. it's not.” Yugo lowered Orhn's shirt. He seemed worried even further.

“You said I would heal, but I didn't expect this.” Orhn was happy to receive a fresh start.

“But it's not right, Orhn. The scars you get before the turning are supposed to remain. What's happened to you is impossible.” Yugo stood up.

Orhn smiled. “That means I'm special, right?”

“Don't look so happy. All new vampires are healed on the final day of transformation.” Yugo sighed. “But this is different. It's deeper.”

“Then what's wrong, Yugo?” Orhn was renewed and refreshed, he didn't think there was any cause for alarm.

“It was too long. Three days is the set amount of time that any vampire should endure the transformation. It doesn't vary. Ever.” Yugo stared in contemplation.

“Maybe it's because I was so depressed? Hell, maybe it had something to do with all the wine I drank the night before? Who cares? I'm a vampire, what more is there to worry about?” Orhn smiled triumphantly.

Yugo was not amused. In a flash, Yugo pinned Orhn to the dirt with a crashing thud that shook the ground. He did this without any effort at all. There was no exertion in Yugo's body to be found. Orhn wasn't able to react fast enough yet. His body was unable to process the speed in which Yugo had moved. His mind saw what was happening, but his body didn't understand. It was too quick. Orhn landed flat on the ground. As he felt the impact Orhn's ribs cracked instantly. In that short moment Yugo had compressed Orhn's chest wall, collapsing his lungs, and braking his bones.

“It doesn't take seven days. It's three days long and that's all. That's all it's ever been. There is no exception to this.” Yugo closed his eyes as he leaned his knee into Orhn's ribs. “Ever.”

Orhn gasped for air. He was barely able to speak. “Then why would it last a week?”

Yugo stared into Orhn's eyes. “Tell me, do you hear anything?” Yugo was being cryptic.

“No, like what?” Orhn wasn't hearing anything besides the crunching of broken bones and Yugo's voice.

“Do you hear anything inside?” Yugo searched Orhn's eyes for any hint of recognition. “Is there a voice inside your head offering you the power to defend yourself? Offering to help you? Against me?” Yugo examined Orhn's eyes closely, intensely.

“No, nothing. Am I supposed to? Is that what a vampire hears when they are in trouble?” Orhn was acting naive. He honestly didn't know what Yugo was talking about.

Yugo let Orhn up and helped him to his feet. “You don't know much about vampires do you?”

“You're the first I've ever seen honestly.” Orhn was like a kid asking, without asking about what vampires were like.

“Normally, a candidate goes in search of what a vampire is before the day of confrontation.” Yugo sat back down next to the dirt bed.

“Normally? You mean you've done this before? To other vampires? I mean, you've made other vampires, before me?” Orhn turned to Yugo.

“Try not to sound like a child, you're a grown man for god's sake.” Yugo sighed a heavy burden. He knew he had to explain a few things before Orhn would be ready to venture forth into the vampire world safely. “Lesson one.” Yugo swung at Orhn, tripping him.

Orhn fell directly onto his back. “What was that for?”

“When an older vampire sits, you sit as well.” Yugo told Orhn.

“I'll remember that.” Orhn said as he righted himself, sitting upright.

“Yes, I've made others. About a dozen in fact, but they didn't work out once turned. There gifts were, lacking, they missed a quality I required for them to remain by my side.”

“What was that quality?” Orhn calmed down, still in disbelief that he felt as great as he did. He wasn't feeling any of his broken ribs. Not even the fall seemed to faze him.

“They lacked security.” Yugo said as Orhn's face went blank. Orhn obviously had no idea what that meant. “They weren't able to command the proper level of self control in proportion to their vampiric gift.”

“Do I lack security?” Orhn gulped. “Am I controlling my action with my gift?”

Yugo chuckled a little. “You have the right spirit Orhn. You have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, but you have the heart for it. I think you'll do well, but we won't know until we find out what your gift is. I'll have to test you.”

“That sounds hard, will I survive it?” Orhn sounded slightly afraid.

“Yes, you'll survive most anything as a vampire. You are immortal in the sense that time and lesser injuries hold no sway over you and your thoughts. There are two things you have to fear: the sun, and the metallic element of silver. Besides that you are very difficult to kill.”

“So you're saying that you can't kill me?” Orhn had crushed an eggshell that he had been treading on since he woke up.

“Yes and no. I can separate your limbs from their joints, pluck your eyes from their sockets, remove your manhood, and you will not die. If supplied with enough blood that is. For a vampire, blood is the nutritious staple we must have, but it is not the only we can take for sustenance. Normal food contains little value, but it does hold a value. Your body requires blood to use its abilities, healing, strength, and your gift. Food can keep you alive, just not strong.” Yugo breathed deeply and continued. “I stab and immobilize you, then drag your beaten shell into the sun. Then to a place where it will burn and crisp until there is nothing left of you. Or I can bury you in a hole for time eternal. It will take centuries, but you will starve. Your physical body will slow and retreat upon itself. It will shut down and you will be removed from this world. Unless luck of a poor soul with a spade and a grim reaper standing behind him finds you. Yes, there are ways you can die, Orhn. There are ways I can kill you. There are many ways I may remove you from this world if I choose to do so. But your inability to perish easily is what keeps you alive longer than most. It means that my tests will force you to wish for your mortal death long before you will ever approach your actual grave.”

Orhn hesitated. “What- What are you going to do to me?”

“We need to find what the nature of your gift is. There are three divisions. Focus, in which the gift affects the user's own mind or body. Psychic, where the gift has the ability to pervade the mind of others and even foretell future events or paths of certain individuals. Alteration, when the user of the gift can change or bend the physical reality of a given area. There are many variations of these gifts, each one is different in strength and effectiveness.” Yugo studied Orhn's face, he found something to be odd with him.

“Then why the categories if they're all so different?” Orhn noticed Yugo was staring. “What's wrong with my face? You're staring.” Orhn put his hands on his cheeks to feel for anything out of place.

“There's nothing wrong with your face Orhn, you can stop searching. The reason for the types are that each has leverage over another. A focus gift acts without premeditation, their thoughts cannot be predicted or foretold by a psychic gift. Psychic gifts can easily see into the minds of an alteration user. Each rendering of the gift requires a great deal of deliberate concentration and is an open book before them. The alteration vampire has power like no other, exerting direct influence over an aspect that no focus vampire can relate to, treating the focus gift as if it were not there to contend.” Yugo spoke of the alteration users with great emphasis.

“So you're an alteration vampire I suspect?” Orhn was sure of his accusation.

“I gave it away that easily, did I? Yes, I am. The extent of my ability is simply other people's bodies and minds.” Yugo explained.

“Is that what you did to the men at the bar?” Orhn asked.

“Yes. I stopped the heart of the bartender, and filled the lungs of the other two men with water, drowning them to death.” Yugo could see the questions arising in Orhn's mind. “I killed them so I would not terrorize you to the idea of becoming a vampire. If you were afraid, you would be unable to make a clear decision.” There were more questions still in Orhn's eyes. “I did not want others to believe that a vampire was there. To the town's knowledge, a man killed those people, not a monster. It's important that we do not let the world know of us. If they know, they can find where we slumber. If they locate us, they have the strength to draw us out into the light. That's all it takes to kill us. Daylight is a vampire's bane and it is to be feared above all else.”

“Then why can you walk under the sun without even a tan?” Orhn's words made Yugo freeze. “How can you have two abilities? To alter reality and to be immune to the greatest threat a vampire has. What are you Yugo?”

Yugo stood up. “I need to get you more blood. We'll hunt tomorrow night, you're not ready yet. When I come back, we'll train.”

“That's not an answer Yugo. Tell me, why you?” Orhn was persistent.

“I'm-” Yugo paused, thinking about his reply carefully. “Unique.”

Yugo walked out, closing the door behind him. Orhn laid down and rested, thinking Yugo had gone.