Melabeth the Vampire (17 page)

At the same time, the looks they gave each other as I told my story were somehow off. They didn’t believe what I was saying, or what I was saying was incorrect somehow.
I ignored this and finally I finished. “And after I sobered up, that’s when I went for a walk, and that’s when I ran into Alice.”

“She is lying. Lying, lying, lying.” Alice whinnied as she stomped her one foot on the ground.

“Saying it more than once does not make it true, Alice,” Charlotte calmly said.

“You watched me fight her, didn’t you? Explain that.” Alice said in a much more serious tone.

Ezra spoke with a very knowing certainty, “This may be easily explained Alice. She has false memories, which could explain why Charlotte cannot see the lie. As Charlotte said just moments ago, truth is what we believe it to be. I believe the blood will tell; you can’t hide age in the blood.”

Alice looked at him. “Yes, test her blood. It still doesn’t explain why Charlotte can’t see the lie. You can’t wipe vampire memories. The memories are in the blood, and if you could, I would kn
ow how, and I don’t know how. Therefore it is not possible.”

“So what you’re saying is that it is me
and me alone who she can trick?” Charlotte said with a smirk on her face. “I don’t think she fooled me. Once Ezra determines the blood, I don’t believe any kind of torture will result in a different story.”

“You haven’t seen all my tortures then. I will get different results; not saying they will be any closer to the truth, but they will be different.” Alice said with a grin, and then all three of them laughed at Alice’s joke.

I didn’t find it so funny; it was my torture they were referring to. Also I’m not even sure why they did’t believe me, or what part of my life story was a lie. Why is it, that, since I died, it always felt like I was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

“Give me your wrist,
” Ezra ordered me.

I thought about resisting, but that would get me beat up, and they would take what they wanted. There were three of them, not that they needed three. I couldn’t even fight their little daughter, let alone Ezra. He looked like he could fight, and I have lost a lot of blood. And I was hungry again; damn, I had just eaten. My body had repaired the damages, but I felt weak and tired, so I handed Ezra my wrist without a word.

Ezra bit my wrist; at first it hurt, but then the feeling started to change. It felt good, really good; no I mean really good. Oh it felt, Oh my… then he stopped and pulled his mouth away. I felt a wave of dizziness as I stumbled. Ezra grabbed me and kept me from falling onto the ground.

“She has very li
ttle blood left, and she’s weak,” Ezra announced, and then said. “I am amazed; her blood agrees with her story. She could only be a few days old, a week at most.”

“How can she be so strong then?” Alice about yelled.

“Let’s take her back to the house, Ezra,” Charlotte suggested.

“Yes, we need
to find out more about this one,” Ezra said with a little too much curiosity in his voice for my liking.

“
Well I don’t know if I can stay,” I said.

Alice laughed. Then she looked at me with what appeared to be hate. “You gave me enough problems for
tonight little one.” Then she stared into my eyes with her bright blue eyes. “Sleep.”

It was the middle of the night, and I was not going to go to sleep with these three vampires in control of my body. Then Alice, still staring in my eyes; “sleep… sleep.” I am not going to…

I woke to darkness. What now?  I stood up and looked around, but couldn’t see anything but darkness. I looked at my hands, and I could see them as if I were standing outside. I was wearing a dress that I had never seen before. Why could I see myself like it was day, but the floor was as dark as night?

I wasn’t hungry and that’s when it hit me; this was a dream. There was something not real about this. Well, just when I was thinking, what a strange empty dream, a door appeared in front of me. It was arched at the top and just stood all by itself in the darkness. It was made out of wood, really old wood. Well why not? So I walked up to the door and opened it.

Inside the door was a room or maybe a library, there were books and scrolls everywhere. The books were all very old. The room wasn’t set up like a library the book shelves ran in all directions. There were stacks of books on the floor piled up against the walls. Tables with books in all matter of disarray, it looked as if no one ever tried to put anything back where it belonged.

I stepped into the room, and of course, the door disappeared behind me. It was replaced by a bookshelf full of old books. In the middle of the large room was a
giant square fireplace; it had huge stone work all around it.

Then I looked up; wow, my imagination was working overtime. There was no roof; instead it was the
night sky; no moon but all the stars. In fact more stars then I ever remember seeing. It was breath taking.

As I walked deeper into the room, I came to realize that the room was much larger than I had originally thought. It was not square; the walls had openings that went into large round shaped rooms. And there were passageways that lead into smaller rooms. I didn’t see any other doors, just doorways.

Up ahead on the far side of the room from where I came in, there was a large arch opening. It was kind of funny looking, since the arch, had no roof on either side of it. On the other side of the arch was another room.

This one was different; there were two large stone owls guarding the entrance. Inside this room it was a lot cleaner, or maybe a better word would be more organized. Books were put away on the shelves, and the ones out were neatly stacked. Also there were nick knacks all over the place. They were strange and had no rhyme or reason. There were strange looking glass bottles, toys, and I even spotted a small gong. At the far end of this room was another fire place; only this one was against the wall with a giant mantle. On the mantle stood a giant owl with a clock built into its chest.

In front of the fireplace there were two seats; both facing the fireplace. They had really tall backs, so you couldn’t see if anyone was sitting there. In-between the seats' there was a coffee table with one large mug sitting on it; the mug had steam coming out the top.

An
arm reached out from the seat on the left and grabbed the mug, then took the drink behind the seat where I could not see. Then the hand returned the mug; time to find out who is in my dream.

I entered the room and worked my way around the outside of it. There were a lot of benches and worktables placed in the middle of the room. I finally was at the wall with the fireplace; as I approached the chairs, I could see one of them was empty.

In the other chair, Nicks sat with a large book on his lap. His head was looking down at the pages. I cleared my throat to get his attention; he snapped his head up in surprise at the noise I had made. Then his eyes met mine; our eyes stayed locked on one another, for what felt like eternity.

He stood up letting his book hit the ground.

“What an unexpected surprise. One would think it was my birthday. Come to me.” Nicks said this at the same time he was already heading over to where I stood.

Something felt off about this dream; like it wasn’t a dream, just dreamlike. I was so happy to see Nicks, so I let that thought go and I walked quickly to meet him halfway. We embraced in a hug.

I said almost weeping. “Finally; I was wondering when you might show up. Please be more than a dream.”

Nicks pulled his head away from my shoulder so he could now look me in the eyes, but he was still holding onto me tightly. Then he said with a kind smile. “This is much more than some dream dear. This is what we call a mind connection. You have found me; you’re in my head. I am so glad you did; we have much to talk about.”

“Yes, yes we do. I have a hundred questions or more.”

He laughed; it was wonderful to hear him. “In that case, we better take a seat, not even in my mind can I stand through a hundred questions.”

He moved me over to the empty chair. He twisted the chair so it was facing toward the other chair. After taking my seat, he adjusted his chair so now we were face to face with the coffee table between us.

Like magic, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a large mug like the one that was already on the table. It was the same shape and size; only the mug that was already there, a green mug, and this one was a dull red. He set it down so it was close to me.

Then he said. “In my mind the world is how I like it; and I like hot, strong, coffee. Drink, you will find it wonderful.”

So I did drink, and I did find it wonderful. “Thank you. It is really good coffee; in fact I didn’t really know I liked coffee. So a lot of things have happened, and I may be in trouble as we speak. I need to know how to be a vampire or what I can and cannot do. Can you tell me?”

Nicks picked up his coffee and set back into his chair. Then he said, “It’s nothing to be a father, but I wish to be your dad. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Never mind, that’s unimportant. What is important is that I understand what’s been happening with you. So first, if you don’t mind, I need to ask the questions.”

“Ok, shoot, what do you need to know?” I answered. I didn’t mind answering his questions first; maybe it would give him the best information to help me.

“So how long have you been out of the grave?”

“Four nights, maybe five; I have kind of lost track; it’s been… eventful.” I couldn’t believe it has only been a few nights; it feels as if it’s been forever.

“Wait, what year did I bury you? Was it in 1975?” Nicks asked surprised.

“Yes
.”

“You have been in the ground for fifteen years. Wow I didn’t see that coming.” Nicks sat back in his chair and had a look of someone in deep thought.

“What?” I said surprised. “You didn’t understand how long it would take me to change into a vampire?”

Nicks didn’t answer me for minute,
and then said. “Vampire; Yes you’re a vampire. We need to set rules to this conversation, things I must understand, before anyone else. I am unable to come to you physically. And I cannot answer all of your questions, and this is why. Information is power, and I cannot risk someone finding out… details about you. Don’t get upset; I trust you could keep a secret, but some vampires can steal what’s in your mind. They can trick you; hell you might even think you are talking to me.”

“Alice made me see things that are not there.”

“Oh, don’t tell me; you have met Alice the White?”

“Yes,
in fact that’s who has me captured right now.” I said a little worried. The look Nicks gave when he said her name was not a good one.

“She is a child. Please understand she cannot know too much of our business. If you don’t know, then no one can steal what you don’t have. Have you told anyone else how long you were in the ground?”

“Yes, the Whites, David and Carrie, I didn’t know that was a bad thing.” I said, with worry; I hope I didn’t make yet another mess for me.

Still all the mystery was making me feel curiosity
, like a cat. I would like to know why I am different and different how?

Nicks let out a huff of air, and then started talking again. “What’s done is done. Tell me what I have missed for the last four or five days.”

I poured out the story I had just told the Whites. I had started the story from the point when Nicks had buried me. It surprised me when he wanted to know what had killed me. I quickly found out that Nicks had not known what had happen to me prior to changing me. When I finished telling the story, Nicks got mad.

Nicks eyes had turned a bright red; it was like something had lit a fire behind his eyes. “DAMN… if I would have known… I would have HUNTED DOWN those no good… ripped their dicks right off.” After Nicks said this, he set quietly for a minute to calm down.

What really amazed me was even through this dream I could feel his power. Nicks was strong, and there was something different about him that I couldn’t even explain to myself. Then he looked up at me with softness in his eyes. They still had some red in them, but it was passion I felt, not anger.

He said to me,
“I am sorry for you. And I know those words do nothing for you, but I will do something for you. I can help you find your peace, find your revenge. Still there are things you must know and do before you can have your peace. For starters I know some of these men you speak of. And they are not just men; they are monsters as well. I do not know where the bikers are, or your father, but the film director Devon I know where he might still be. Know this; he is a member of a powerful member of a group that calls themselves The Order. They act as if they are the supernatural police; nothing is further from the truth. They are just a group of people wielding power over others.”

I couldn’t believe he was going to tell me how to find Devon. “Where is he?”

Nicks smiled. “First you must promise me something.”

“Anything” I said without even thinking about it.

Nicks chuckled at me. “You must not run off and just kill this man. You must do it in secret, undercover like ninja. You cannot get caught, and before you can even start, you will need to prepare. You will first learn as much as you can from the White’s on how to be a vampire. Second, you will observe your target for no less than six months before killing him.”