Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) (26 page)

“A curious reply, warranting an unusual course of action.” The girl took a hold of Del’s neck tightly with her left hand.

Del was suffocating.

The girl was preventing Del from breathing. “You will do what I need you to. I will make sure of that. I will turn your flawed sense of mortality into your curse. You will be forced into a grave scenario to which there are few solutions. You will forget me, you will never speak of me, and you will not witness the measures I take to ensure this.”

Del's mind became hazy, it faded to black. The white haired girl watched him pass out. Making sure he was unconscious before she loosened her grip on his throat and chest. Del fell to the side, motionless on the ground. The young woman opened her mouth, baring a set of large fangs. She came forward and into the light. She bit into Del’s throat, sucking and drinking most of his blood, nearly leaving his veins dry. She raised her left arm and placed her hand in Del’s mouth. With a quick motion, she struck Del's jaw upwards. The trauma forced his teeth into the girl's flesh. It caused her blood to draw into Del's body. She pressed on his stomach and chest to force it through his system. Del unknowingly drank the blood of this strange woman.

“You will be something none of us will.” The girl removed her hand and wiped Del's mouth. “A walking contradiction. A paradigm.”

The following day Del awoke next to the body of the murdered young woman. He was not in the alley. He was in front of the local police station, soaked in what looked like her blood. The town’s people believed he had tried to save the girl, but didn’t have the strength to carry her all the way to the hospital. They cleaned him up, stitched Del's stomach, and put him on an all liquid diet in their intensive care unit of the hospital. They saw Del for what he was, a hero. The cops told Del he was lucky to be alive. The killer left two others dead that night. The whole town searched for the culprit, though no one was ever found.

To everyone's surprise, Del returned to his classes in the morning. He was exhausted, but perfectly able for some reason. Most of his injuries had healed, he was walking again without any trouble. Del was happy everything was falling into place. Everyone treated him fondly. Mr. McHugh approved of His and Demy's marriage earlier than projected. Demy happily accepted Del’s wishes for the wedding to be set the following month.

The day passed and Del became sick. His body harbored a high fever and his limbs were cold to the touch. Rather than be hospitalized again, Mr. McHugh, seeing Del as already part of the family had every doctor in the county examine him at their estate. Each doctor gave Del what treatment they could, nothing eased the fever of one hundred and nine.

The second morning Del’s temperature fell. He had strong chills and uncontrollable shaking. The five attending doctors covered him in thick blankets and warmed his bed with an old sterling silver ember style bed warmer. His body was ninety-four degrees and dropping. His eyes were sensitive to the light and he shied away from the open windows. Demy was worried in the other room as Del spent the entire day shivering. He was incoherent.

By the third morning, Del’s shaking had subsided. He was feeling much better, though still weak. His pupils had closed to a point and the brown color of his iris had disappeared. The doctors were dumbfounded. The greater change was that the whites of his eyes and the iris itself had turned to a transparent blood red. Del's skin lightened. His fingers thinned as his body lost weight. He was looking sickly.

Mr. McHugh’s maids served Del hand and foot, giving him warm liquids and hot food. They tried to avoid looking him in the eyes as much as possible. His appearance disturbed even the doctors. Mr. McHugh refused to let Demy see him. Del’s temperature remained low, though he was recovering steadily. He slept more during the day and was up during the late hours of the night. He still had an aversion towards light, barely able look at the sunlight through the windows at dawn. Though his body was cold, his legs had severe burns on them near where the silver bed chamber warmer was. The doctors weren’t sure why he hadn’t died yet. Del's core body had stabilized at 51.5 degrees, though his limbs were far colder. He was now cooler than the late winter days outside.

Demy no longer sat in the other room next to Del. From Mr. McHugh's description, she found him terrifying. Demy spent her time away, taking the time to think about the baby inside her. Demy’s feelings were waning.

By the morning of the fifth day, Del had to have the windows completely covered. Even the reflection of the sunlight in the room was burning his skin. The doctors concluded that he would have to remain indoors to avoid further injury. A prognosis Del did not enjoy. He had been a day laborer his entire life, his future did not look good. He felt weak all the time. His normally sturdy constitution was failing him. All of the doctors left, believing Del no longer had a condition that was treatable. He was slowly being abandoned.

Del knocked on Demy's door the fifth night after the incident. He spoke through the door when he received no answer. “Demy, I will always love you and respect your choices. I am glad to of had you in my life.” Del's voice was raspy, darker than his normal self.

Demy opened the door. Del could feel the sadness in her eyes when Demy met his view. He was a monster to her now. A freak with a simple mentality. He was in no way the strong vibrant man she once knew. He had grown paler by the day, his tan was gone. The years of sun spots and calluses he had built up were gone. Del was changing into another person before her, something inhuman.

Del put on the black tuxedo Mr. McHugh had bought him for the impending wedding. He took his time placing every article of clothing on, ensuring each piece was perfect. There was a red tie Demy had given him as an early Christmas present. Del thought it reminded him of the blood running down his chest the night of the murder. At first he didn't like it, but soon thought of it as a memento to what happened. He found it comforting. It was a symbol for both the event and his love for Demy. He was happy to wear it. Del stepped out onto the porch to look at the partially full moon in the sky. He wanted a moment to clear his mind.

Mr. McHugh was standing to the left of the front door when Del arrived. He had something on his mind. Something he wanted to say that was weighing heavy on his heart. “Del, you know what I asked of you. I gave you the time to make my daughter happy.” Mr. McHugh coughed and lowered his head. “Son, you had all the heart in you to save that girl that died. I’ll give you that much.” Mr. McHugh tipped his head up. “That night changed you, made you into something my daughter is having trouble with.” Mr. McHugh placed his left hand on Del's right shoulder. “Something like what happened to you sticks in the head. It doesn't go away. Especially for the people that got to watch it up close. Del, do you understand what I'm telling you?”

Del's chest was tight, he was anticipating the moment to come.

Mr. McHugh gestured to the door. “You know what I’m asking Del, don’t make this hard on me. Don’t make this hard on her. Please, just let her go. She can't even look at you anymore.” Mr. McHugh kept his own eyes lowered, making sure not to look at Del directly.

Del's blood red eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight. His skin was pale, almost white under the porch. He did not appear as a normal man should. He was gaunt, his face that of a monster. He knew that Mr. McHugh was right. There was a small hint of anger that welled up in Del's eyes. He was feeling a deep sadness that he had never known. There was a chasm inside him that had developed from the love he had grown for Demy. He had become a part of her entire family. For the last six months Del had become accustomed to their way of life. It felt wrong to him that it should end.

The moment of anger subsided, Del relaxed. He found a calm that embraced him. He hung his head low while stepping off the estate and out of their lives forever. His heart sank as he set foot on the main road. The same road he traveled when he asked for Demy's hand in marriage. This time no one was there to greet him. No one waved, or followed Del past the corner stores. He was alone as he tread silent, reflective to what had transpired.

Del walked for a few hours before an uncontrollable hunger overcame him. He felt weak, drained of energy. Del's throat was parched. It was different than the normal mid summer’s day thirsts he had experienced in his decade of farm work. He attributed it to his compromised health and walked on. Del was great at ignoring himself before his goals. Always putting others' welfare ahead of his, it was typical. Regardless of his desires to continue, Del collapsed on the side of the road. He was next to the eastern most farmland in the county. He quickly found a horse trough. A place he was more than familiar with for emergency drinking water. He jumped the fence and began guzzling. It was cold and fresh to his surprise. Del drank, but no amount eased his drought.

Del looked around, there were horses on one side of the fence and cows on the other. He approached a tall gallant white horse speckled with bits of black. The horse was cautious, as if it had something to fear from Del. “Settle your apprehension steed, my thirst cannot be satiated by you.”

Del approached the horse and brushed its mane back. The horse calmed. Del exhaled after a deep breath. “But what am I going to do?”

The horse spooked, rearing up in front of Del in the open field. Something inside him reacted to the rapid heartbeat of the horse. There was an urge he was not used to, it was trying to assume control. He noticed his hands ready to attack the animal, an action he did not want to take. The large horse thrust it’s hooves into Del’s chest. The impact threw him back, crushing a section of the fence. He looked down to see that the left side of his ribs were all exposed and broken. The horse ran off with blood on its hooves. He was struggling to breathe. There was a gripping in his veins, he wanted to kill something. Del was beginning to feel a strength in him that he had never known.

In the distance, the rest of the livestock kept to themselves. Del saw the cows were reacting to this fierce hunger in him. The depression in his chest filled. Del began to breathe easier. He stood up and slowly walked forward. His arms were light, there was a pain in him, but it didn't seem to affect his body. Del began to run towards the livestock. There was tingling in his arms and legs. It told him there was power in his actions. He ran, flew through the air with vast speed and leaped onto the nearest black and white cow he could find. He tore the right side of its neck out. It bled, gushing to the grass below. It saturated Del's pant legs and stained the ground. He was pressed into the cow's flesh. Del's face was engulfed by the fresh red blood. He was breathing in the liquid of the cow. Del was inhaling the blood into his lungs, his mouth, and into his being. It was relieving, refreshing, and satisfying. Del didn't remove himself to breath, think, or pause. He only drank and smothered himself in the cow's blood. His face, his chest, his arms were covered in the warm, still flowing life. The other animals watched as he continued to devour the cows flesh. They could sense that he was now a predator and not the trusted handler he once was. Del ripped the bones from the cow’s shoulder as more blood gushed out. It was an effort to consume everything. There was no thought in his actions, only need and sustenance. Del could feel his stomach filling, his needs sating.

An hour had passed. Del finished the last drops from the cow’s severed heart. The pile of meat before him did not resemble the animal it once did. It was formless and mangled into layers of pulp. A level of mutilation that would normally be reserved for trained slaughterhouse workers. He accomplished this with no tools using his hands and teeth in less time. He was breathing heavily when he regained his mind. Del realized what he had done. He also knew the satisfaction that had come from the act itself. Del had lost his humanity. Whatever he was, he had been changed. What that strange young woman had done to him had altered the course of his life. She had taken away Del's chances of happiness, his newfound life, but not his goals. Del was determined to follow Mr. McHugh’s advice to the letter. He didn't care if Demy didn't want to be with him anymore. He had set out on a goal to better his life. He was going to finish his schooling.

By morning Del partially hid under an overturned wheel barrel that had been left vacant and rusting in the field. He watched the sun come up over the horizon, it burned. His eyes were blinded. He could feel the skin on his hands boil and raise when they were touched directly by the rays. Del passed out under the safety of the wheel barrel. When night fell, he awoke to a strange sight. His eyes were fine and the burns on his right hand were gone. The moment Del had fallen down, his left arm had jutted out past the cover of the barrel and was abandoned to the sunlight through the day. It was charred, completely burnt up to the mid forearm sleeve where he had rolled it up. Del wasn't able to move the arm. There was no pain, only a sense that something was wrong. Del deducted that the bright sun had hurt his eyes and caused him to black out. That somehow his body was now completely intolerant to the sun. he didn't understand it, but he knew it was real and happening to him. Del took great measures to avoid the day from then on. He ducked into barns, ran for cover under large trees, and even hid under the occasional tractor. Del hadn’t read anything but nonfiction books while in college, so he had no reference to what he had become. He merely continued to observe and adapt to his present situation, making mental notes on what he could and shouldn't attempt.

* * * *

Del spent two months repeating the same pattern of trial and error. He quickly separated from society. Talking to no one, he traveled from town to town in search of a solution to what he was. He thought there might be something to allow him to walk in the daylight again. There was also the problem of wanting blood. He couldn't keep killing cows in every town he came to. If he was going to live a civil life at all, he needed to put censure on his tendencies. Del searched for a fix to the issues in his life.