Folk Lore (25 page)

“Stand back,” she warned them as she let her anxiety overwhelm her.
“I don’t want to hurt you unless I have to.”

Several of them laughed exposing their poison laden fangs. Two of them stepped forward.

“We don’t want to hurt you either as we have been invited here to help,” one of them told her. If he wasn’t looking at her like she
was lunch, she would have been enthralled by his golden presence. His hair and eyes were a beautiful golden brown.
“But you smell so delicious.”

Sera pushed her anxiety forward, albeit gently, which left them grabbing at their throats and gasping.

“It’s OK, Sera, you can stop now,” a familiar voice told her.

“
Sam!”
She cried, letting the vampires free, Sera raced to her best friend.
“What are you doing here?”
She hugged him tight. He returned her hug and then pushed her away abruptly.

“Get out of here guys, she might smell good bu
t you can’t have her, now go.”
The vampires scowl at him, stared at her hungrily and then disappeared. He turned to Sera but she noticed he kept her at arm’s length.

“There was a call for help so Angel and I came too,” he told her once they were alone.

“I thought you were gone.”

“I was but we came back when we heard the news.”

“Why didn’t my power affect you?”

“That’s a really good question. Perhaps the human protector part of me is stronger now. I’m different from the others. I seem to have retained some of my human qualities.”

“I’ve missed you.”

“
I’ve missed you too.”
She went to hug him again and he stepped backwards.
“I don’t think we should do that, Sera.”

“Why?” her voice was beginning to waver.

“Your scent has gotten stronger, probably because your powers have. I am stronger than the others and can resist it but I don’t trust myself to get too close.”

“I trust you. I need you, Sammy.”  Tears stung her eyes.

He took a step forward.
“What are you doing out here by yourself?”

“I went for a walk and got lost. Keelor’s been banished.”

“I know.”

She bridged the gap and threw her arms around his neck before resting her head on his shoulder and allowing the tears to flow.

Sam heard Sera before he saw her. Sera’s voice although strong, wavered when she’d ordered the vampires back. He watched as she incapacitated them and smiled to himself, he was proud of his best friend. Deciding to intervene he closed the distance quickly and appeared.

When she hugged him the first time her scent overwhelmed him and thirst consumed him. Since leaving the lands, he’d mastered how to control the hunger. Although Angel and the others feed from the low lives of society, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The human protector part of him was strong, as he’d told Sera and he managed to survive on the blood of animals. He’d thus far avoided tasting a human’s blood and intended to keep it that way.

Now being close to her again was proving far more difficult than he ever imagined. Her scent engulfed him, smothering him which far outweighed his need and want to be close to her. He’d missed her immensely yet it took all his control not to taste.

When she placed her head on his shoulder, exposing her neck, his fangs bit into his lower lip and the poison filled his mouth. His throat burned with thirst and the thought of tasting her sweet aromatic blood pushed all reason aside.

His hands which he’d held fast to his sides now retained a mind of their own as he stroked her hair, exposing her neck further. Taste her, his mind screamed.

“Oh, Sammy, I can’t believe how much I’ve missed not seeing you every day. I still really can’t believe you’re a vampire, it all seems so surreal.” She spoke softly between sobs.

He heard her words but he wasn’t, couldn’t listen, the burn and hunger were far too strong. He’d been living amongst the humans since the day he’d been sent away and resisting them had been easy until this moment. As he bent his head towards her appetizingly exposed neck, he felt the sharp sting of a dagger at his back. One swift move from the beholder would certainly be the end of him as it was aimed at his heart.

“Step away from her vampire,” the voice told him.

Sera lifted her head to look over his shoulder at the threatener and laughed.

“Jeremiah, Sam won’t hurt me.”

“Then why was he about to bite you?”

She stepped back to look at him and shame filled Sam’s body. He swallowed the poison but the burn remained. Sera’s aghast expression stabbed his heart as he realised his eyes would be dark, filled with his hunger.

“Sam?”

Stepping away from her, he turned away and closing his eyes, attempted to push away the darkness lurking inside him.

“I did tell you not to get too close,” he told her, his voice raspy and jagged.

Her hands came to his shoulders as she eased him around to face her. He lifted his eyes and Sera recoiled, almost in disgust and for the first time since his change, he wanted to take the knife from the boy’s hand and plunge it into his heart.

“Sam?”

“I’m sorry, Sera but I don’t seem to be able to control my thirst around you.”

“Were you going to
...?”

“I think so, the thirst, your scent; it all got a hold of me.”

“You said you were different to the others.”

“I am usually and haven’t fed on a human since the change but you
...
now I know why the others followed you, your aroma, like your powers, is strong.”

“So I can’t ever hug you again?”  The hurt in her voice ripped his heart to shreds.

“Not until I learn to control the urge.”

“This is just great!  When I need you the most, you want to eat me. Jeremiah, let’s go.”

Sam watched her storm off, Jeremiah shot a warning look towards Sam before following her. Angel stepped out from the shadows and laid a comforting hand on his arm.

“I know how difficult it is to say goodbye to your human life, family and friends. I don’t know whether it means anything to you or not but I am really proud of your conviction, there is no way I am strong enough to resist.”

“She’s my best friend, Angel!  I nearly killed her!  If he hadn’t come, she would be dead right now. Her powers don’t even work on me now so she couldn’t stop me if she tried.”

“Then you are simply going to have to stay away from her or at least not get too close to her.”

“You saw how upset she was, she needs me.”

“You can’t be what you want to her anymore. I’m sorry but you are going to have to accept it.”

“Why did you do this to me? You should have let me die, instead I am this, this
...
thing, a monster who wants to kill the girl I have loved my whole life.”

“Love?”

“Don’t get jealous now, Angel, you know exactly what I mean.”

“If you think you are a monster what does that make me?”

Sam turned to look at her. He did love Angelique, very much. Being a vampire with her hadn’t been an issue until now. Even though he didn’t replicate the hunger for human blood as she did, sharing his newfound senses with her and in turn their love had definitely been a positive. Up until the previous day, when they’d been summoned to help, he’d accepted he may not see Sera again or at least for some time but now, after today, he didn’t believe they could continue to be friends at all. The sudden disgust at
himself
transcended into contempt for all their kind and he knew what he needed to do.

“Angel, I love you and have never thought you to be a monster. The way you were able to control yourself when I was human was commendable
...”

“But?”

“I need some time.”

She stared at him for a moment before bringing his face to hers to kiss him. He groaned as his heightened vampire senses soaked up her passion until she abruptly stopped.

“Life is different now, Sammy, and I’m afraid you are going to have to walk away from her unless you can find a way to control the thirst. Her scent is strong, though it doesn’t entice me, it does you. Until you learn how to control it
...
well then you’d better keep your distance. It’s that or
...”

“Or what
,
Angel?
Drink her blood? Kill her?”

“I was going to say change her. If you want to be selfish and have her in your life it is the only way. I saw how easily the hunger overtook you then, how quickly and there is no controlling it.”

“You could do it with me.”

“Centuries of practice. I am also in love with you.”

“Maybe in time it will get easier.”

“It might but you will be around for eternity, she won’t”

32

Evil Cometh

Her tears were hot against her cheeks as she walked back to Keelor’s hut. Jeremiah’s incessant chatter regarding his disdain for vampires was only adding to her pain. Sam could never be her friend again. After receiving his letter, Sera thought it would be a while before she saw him again but deep down she hoped he would return sooner or when she left the lands, with Keelor, they would meet up again. Now everything had changed, if Jeremiah hadn’t turned up when he did, would Sam have bitten her, killed her, drained her blood? Fresh tears joined the endless stream at the thought and she sobbed.

“Sera,” Jeremiah said, halting her with his hand on her arm.
“Are you alright?”

“
No!
My best friend wants to kill me and the man I love is banished from the lands, so no, I’m not.”

“I meant, did he hurt you?”

“Not anywhere you can see. Please, I know the way now, leave me alone.”

His face dropped slightly and her guilt rose, it wasn’t his fault. He’d protected her and she was alive because of him.

“I’m sorry,” she said.
“I’ll be OK.
I just want to be alone for a while.”

“OK but please don’t go off on your own again.”

“I won’t.” 

She smiled, hoping to appease him. Jeremiah sent her a doubtful look before wandering away.

As she entered the hut, Keelor rushed over to her.
“Where have you been? I have been looking for you. This is very hard to do when I am supposed to be banished.”

“I went for a walk.”

“
Are you hurt?” h
e asked, brushing her tears away.

“Sam’s here.”

“I wondered why there were so many vampires here.”

“They have been called to help.”

“Why are you crying?”

“Sam
...
he
...
tried
...” 

Unable to say the words, she wrapped her arms around him, lent against his chest and sobbed. He couldn’t decipher her words through the tears.

“Sera, what did Sam do?”

“
He wanted to eat me.”
Keelor was thankful Sera couldn’t see his face or his grin at her choice of words.

“Did he try to bite you?”

“Yes and if Jeremiah hadn’t been there, he would have. He might even have killed me.”

“W
hy didn’t you use your power?”
He bristled a little at Jeremiah being the one to save her, knowing it should have been him.

“It doesn’t work on him anymore, something about being different and he said my scent was stronger now or something.”

“Where did you go?”

“In the forest.”

“Alone?”

“Yes I wanted to think and then I got lost
...
then there were these other vampires all wanting to
...
well you know and then Sam turned up.”

“Please do not go anywhere by yourself.”

“I wouldn’t be if you weren’t banished and I didn’t have so much to think about or if my best friend wasn’t a vampire.”

“What do you have to think about, Sera?”

“Us.”
  She looked up at him, her eyes full of sadness.

“What is there to think about?”

“Nermo
...”

“That interfering pixie.
Please, Sera, he doesn’t know anything about us.”

“What about his vision?”

“You are not telling me you believe it?”

“No, yes, I don’t know. I didn’t believe in a lot of things before coming here.”

“Sera I
...” A loud thundering roar resonating from outside the village and Keelor stopped.
“Wait here.”

With one swift leap Keelor disappeared through the window into a nearby tree as the rumble turned to screams. The horrifying sounds appeared to be closer now, as though in the village and fear grew within her to chill her skin. What was going on? She rushed to the window and couldn’t spot Keelor anywhere. She looked down to see elfin rushing to their huts as vampires and hazers attacked them and brought them down. The sight was worse than the sound. She noticed Sam, Angel and the other vampires she encountered that morning racing into the village to take on the intruders. A war between Mecaldorf’s and the mystic land’s army was taking place right before her eyes. Innocent victims being slaughtered and their blood being drained by thirst ravaged vampires. She raced to the door to find Jeremiah on the other side.