Vampire - In the Beginning (Vampire Series Book 1) (2 page)

So, I crept, petrified, towards the wooden ladder that led to the room above. In order to climb the ladder I needed to move closer to Martha’s body, and it was something that I really didn’t want to do. The sight of her sprawled like a rag doll across the table made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach, and the stench of blood invaded my senses and filled my nostrils and mouth. So much so, that it seemed that I was only able to taste the cloying sweetness of death. So, with a strength of will I didn’t know I possessed, I averted my head and eyes, and made my way to the ladder. I was determined to search for Tom.

I had only just managed to climb halfway up the ladder, when the acrid smell of blood and death became overpowering. I momentarily froze in fear. For, I was in no doubt that once again I was to confront death and destruction. However, I swallowed down the lump that was lodged like a fist in my throat, and ignored the shaking of the ladder that was caused by the trembling of my body. I needed to continue. I needed to find Tom. For I knew that it was possible that he could be in the room above. And so I tried to ignore the slippery substance that I felt clinging to the rungs of the ladder, a substance that I knew was blood. And with one last push - I entered the upper room.

How I wish, even after all of these years, that I had never entered that hellhole. Jane and Margaret’s bodies were fragmented, and it looked as if someone or something had been playing tug of war with their limbs. Blood and body parts were spread the length and breadth of the room. Legs and arms sprawled in a tangled mess, and it was only after I had searched and searched for Tom, that I realised that Tom’s father, a sweet man named Isaac, body lay tangled and entwined alongside his two daughters. It was with self-disgust and self-loathing that I turned from their bodies with deep relief; hating myself because the relief caused me to feel intense joy. How could I feel elated at such a time? Even now, I feel shame for feeling this emotion, but my joy stemmed from the fact that Tom was not amongst the slaughter of his father and sisters, and for that, I was grateful.

I made my way back down the ladder, all the while trembling and gagging. The sights and smells of the upper levels of the house began to curdle with the food in my stomach, and the need to be sick flooded my throat and mouth. I fell, in a heap, from the last rungs, clutching my middle and heaving vomit onto the dirt floor, and thus adding to the evil smells that already engulfed the house. When I finally managed to straighten up, I started to move forward, wanting only to escape the hell that was behind me and all the while stumbling on the slippery vomit and blood that covered the floor.

“Hello, my sweet!” Two men stood in the doorway. Both of them were tall and broad, and their shadowy image suggested that they were similarly dressed in clothes suited to the nobility.

I was about to praise God for their arrival and run into the safety of their protection, when, like a beacon, the light from the moon flickered through the windows of the farmhouse. It was only then that I noticed their clothes, stained with a mixture of dried and still dripping blood, their eyes shone with hunger, and their twisted smiles shone with evil amusement at the sight of my bedraggled state.

The scream that had started to rise up in to my throat suddenly died, the room grew black, and I collapsed to the floor. Their wicked laughter echoing in my ears and throughout the kitchen as I slid, helplessly, into the engulfing darkness.

Chapter Three

I awoke to find myself in the barn. Sitting up, I stared blankly around the cold, black space, but I didn’t need to wait for my eyes to adjust to the dark to know that more death and destruction grimly awaited me. The strong metallic smell of blood assaulted my senses, and knowing that my worst fears are going to be realised, I lift my head and search for Tom, hoping against all hope that he still survives.

However, I am not really surprised, when my eyes grow accustomed to the dark and I see Tom and Joe’s lifeless bodies hanging from the rafters. Their abdomens are gaped open, their entrails lay sprawled in a bloodied tangled mess at their feet, and their throats had been sliced open; causing the dripping congealing blood to cling in thick globules to their torsos.

Bile arose up from my already empty stomach to scald and burn my throat. And I fall onto my side on the dirt floor of the barn, and curl into a fetal position - in order to wait for the torture that I now know will be my final fate.

“Oh dear, I’m sure there’s no need to make such a fuss?” The clear clipped tones of an aristocratic man vibrated through the barn, and I instantly recognise it as belonging to one of the men from the kitchen. Scrabbling in a panicked rush to my feet, I shout in anger, “
Who are you?  Why did you do this?
”

The man stepped forward and for the first time I can see him clearly. He is of broad but slim stature, and his movements flow with elegance. The second man is larger and remains behind the first man. I cannot see his face, but I can see from his outline that his head is to one side, in a way that suggests that he was deeply contemplating a thought.

“My name is James Middleton,
my lady,
” the first man says with mocking amusement, “and in answer to your question,
my lady
, why should I not do this?” He indicated behind him to where Tom and Joe hung, an evil smile twisting his arrogant, albeit handsome face.

“
How could you say such a thing?
” I scream at him like a banshee.

The man chuckles again. Vulgarity and arrogance radiate from him as he steps closer towards me.

“Well, I’ll say this for you, my pretty, you show more fight than the snivelling fools over there.” He then moves even closer, and says with cruel amusement, “I can say such a thing…because of this, my sweet.”

It is at this point that his face changed beyond all recognition, resembling that of which I can only describe as a devil. His eyes turn opaque, his teeth grow to resemble those of a vicious snarling dog, and his face turned into that of an evil rabid monster. Before me, I suddenly realise, were men who fed off human blood and suffering, and although I had heard tell of such monsters. I had never before, up until this moment, given these tales much thought, believing them to be the imaginings of poor confused minds.

“You don’t tremble at the sight of me, girl?” he asks me in a questioning and slightly confused tone.

“Why should I tremble, sir?” I reply with a sarcastic lilt to my voice, and raise my head higher.

“If I cower or not…there seems to be no doubt that you are going to kill me. What is the point of me crying over what will be anyway? Do what you must, but you’ll not see me tremble, for I feel that it would please you,
sir,
and it is not my intention or wish to please you!”

He then threw his head back and laughed heartily, “Well then, I guess it will pain you to know that you do please me, girl, I just love the hunt…and I think you’ll be a good catch…”

For all of my brave talk, I was very afraid. Especially when he grabbed me in a death hold and his mouth opened up wide to revel his strong white teeth, which grew in preparation of ripping my flesh to shreds.

“
Stop!
” The man in the shadows shouted as he stepped forward.

“
Robert?
What ails you?” the one who introduced himself as James said as his face quickly returned to its human form.

“Step away from her, James.
Now!
”

James quickly released me from his grasp without argument, and it is in that instant that I realise that the larger man, whose name I now know is Robert, is the leader of the two. Robert steps towards me and for the first time I see his face. It has the look of an eagle, predatory and commanding, his eyes are dark and brooding, his body well-muscled and strong, and his overall appearance brooked no doubt he was a man to be obeyed.

“Come here, girl,” he said in a soft but commanding voice. I remember trying to fight his command and that I want to run in the opposite direction. I was therefore amazed that instead of running, I found myself walking towards him.

“Don’t be afraid of me, girl, I’ll not harm you,” he said staring down into my eyes with a hypnotic gaze. I should have been petrified; after all, I had seen the murderous scenes from inside the farmhouse and barn - but as strange as it seems, I was not afraid, and instead a feeling of calm washes over me. Robert then placed his hand gently on my stomach and closed his eyes. When he opens them again his stare is intense, and a fiery red line outlines his pupils, but contrary to his glare his stance becomes softer.

“You’re expecting a child?” he asked me softly.

“Yes I am,” I state in a matter of fact tone. “I don’t know for how long, though. I fear that the shock of this day will cause my body to miscarry.”

His eyes probe deeply into mine, once again predatory, the effect caused me to drop my head in fear.

“What’s your name?” he asked me softly. He then placed his fingers under my chin, and tipped my head back, so that once again I am looking up into his eyes.

“My name is Gwendolyn…..but people call me Gwen.” A smile touches his lips, and he says, “You’ll not lose the child, Gwen. You’re carrying a strong and healthy boy, and he will have your spirit and strength of mind and his father’s strength of body. This boy will be a prince among men and will achieve all his heart desires.” He then paused for a moment and his eyes glow with something akin to sadness.

When he continues, his voice is low and I strain to hear his words. “I will make a deal with you, Gwen. I want a child of my own. A son! However, circumstances beyond my control dictate that I will never produce one.” Anger momentarily flares up in his eyes and I fleetingly see the fierceness of his true personality. However, he then dropped his head, and I notice that he is visibly trying to regain control of his emotions. When he lifts his head, his face is once more a mask.

“I will allow you and your child to live. You’ll live in luxury, and will want for nothing, but your son will be my son, and my wife will be his mother.” He pauses to allow what he has said to me to sink in.

He then continues, “I’ll give you the gift of everlasting life, and my son, when he is a man, will be my heir and a prince among vampires… If you decide that you cannot do this, then I’ll kill and feed from you today! Gwen…It is your choice?”

Dread crept like a disease throughout my body. His ultimatum demanded that I answer his question. He was asking me I could live like a monster and condemn my son to a life of depravity. Or if I would allow us both to die and thus my son would never know the light of day or the sweet intoxicating beauty of life.

“When will
my
son become a vampire?” I asked him, and then quickly continued, “When will
I
become a vampire?”

“It will be your choice when or if you do, but I give you my word that you’ll not die at mine or any other vampire hand.
My son
, if he is to be my son, will become a vampire on the eve of his eighteenth birthday.”

Did I have a choice? How did anyone stare death in the eye and calmly say ‘take me’. How could I do that? Worse still, was the fact that I would also need to stare my son’s death in the eye. I would die knowing that I consented to and condoned the end of his life before it had even begun.

A thought suddenly occurred to me and looking Robert straight in the eye, I voiced it. “What will happen if my son chooses not to embrace the life of a vampire? What would happen to him if he chose to continue his life in the human form?”

“You are intelligent, I like that,” he said, and then continued. “If he chose not to embrace his destined life it would be his choice.” I open my mouth ready to speak, but he interrupts me by holding his hand up, he then continued. “He would not be harmed if he decided to make the decision to remain human. However, I must warn you Gwen. I sense that this life,
my life,
is his destiny. I feel his strength and I think he will make the decision to become a vampire.”

I had heard enough. My son will live for eighteen years as a human. He will also be able to remain this way if he chooses to do so. Thus, I had eighteen years to ensure that his choice is the correct one, and I quietly swear to do everything in my power to ensure that he does not embrace the life of the demons in my midst. I know which of the choices I will make. For I know I have no other choice.

“I accept your deal, Robert,” I stated simply. I then turned and walked in the opposite direction, away from him, the barn, Tom’s hanging body, and away from the life I had always lived and would never know again.