The Embrace (3 page)

We came to a halt at the other edge of the forest. My side of the forest was bordered by quaint town houses with traditional picket fences and large back gardens. However the forest was placed in an odd spot, as if it was a beautiful green universe thrown into the middle of an urban jungle. On the other side of the woods lay the blossoming industrial and urban area of my city. There was a small cluster of shops built around a village green, dotted sporadically between pubs and romantic restaurants perfect for a first date. I could hear the laughter echoing from the green before I could even see anyone. This was going to be the site of my very first kill.

Gabriel had stopped first at the edge of the green and so I stopped with him, following his lead.

“What’s going-” I began but the sentence trailed off in a whisper as I realised why he had remained so quiet.

A sudden drum beat began to pound in my head. My ears were filled with the rhythmic drumming sound and my head began to ache with the strength of the noise. I held my head in agony at the sound. If I hadn’t been dead I would have guessed it was my own heartbeat rising up after too much exercise.

“What is that noise?” I asked him, my voice coming out as a twisted snarl. He looked at me and his face softened as he saw the pain I was in.

“Hearts. You are designed to find the strongest heart and drain its owner. It’ll fade over time. Right now you’re being hit by every heart in the immediate vicinity but as you grow stronger you’ll get used to it. It’s like background noise to me now. When I hear a strong beat, that’s when I know I’ve found something special.” He responded with a subtle grin on his face.

I was mesmerised by all the new things I had learnt from him already, and the night had only just started. The pounding was still there but the intensity had faded ever so slightly to rest at a level that was just above bearable. I knew I had to make the kill soon, even if it was just to stop the ferocious noise from rattling around my brain. Gabriel grabbed my hand and looked me in the eyes. He winked at me and smiled.

“Show time” he laughed and pulled me across the green.

I had no idea what I was looking for. I didn’t know who I wanted to kill, how many people, or even how to hide it. I knew what a stir a murder would create in a town like mine where everyone knew everyone else. I recalled the shock after my family was killed and I couldn’t risk my life with Gabriel being destroyed by my carelessness.

He leaned in towards me and whispered in my ear.

“The most important thing right now is getting someone for you. I’ll pick.”

I was furious at that. It was like a man ordering a meal for me at a restaurant. I wasn’t someone who would be controlled by others. I opened my mouth to protest but he knew my reasoning and he carried on.

“Just for tonight” he assured me.

He led me to the doorway of a local pub. The bouncer was transfixed by me. This was the first time a mortal had seen me as a vampire and my effect on him was impressive. I knew that with one flutter of the eyelashes he’d be eating out of the palm of my hand. We waltzed into the pub without even as much as an ID check and as we entered Gabriel surveyed the surroundings.

He sighed and bent down to whisper again. “I’d rather not have to choose a drunkard but I suppose they’re the only option. Everyone else will be in pairs. Next time, it’ll be better.”

Gabriel nodded to a lone man in the corner. He was young and rugged. He wasn’t the most handsome man but he obviously worked outdoors and so he had a lived in look about him, as if his body was hardy and strong.

“I want you to go and tell that man you have a room and you want to spend the night together.” I was stunned at Gabriel’s suggestion. I whipped around to face him in a rage. He pressed a finger over my parting lips. “I am going to wait in the alleyway next to this pub. I want you do to this alone. Look right in his eyes and tell him you need him. Say you want to leave right away and then take him to the alleyway. I’ll be there for you. Go” he said and pushed me gently in the direction of the lonely drunk. I was on my own.

I stumbled towards the man in the corner as Gabriel left the pub in a flash. I gathered my confidence and moved towards the man with as much seduction as I could muster. I lowered myself into the seat next to him and he jumped as he felt my thigh brush his.

“Wow” he murmured as he took in my appearance with his bleary vision.

I felt dirty betraying Gabriel in this way but he told me to do it, so I had to. I leaned towards the man and pressed my lips against his ear lobe.

“I have a spare room in my hotel tonight. Fancy keeping me company?” I whispered to him. As I pulled away I saw his eyes open wide like a child in a sweet shop. He didn’t need any more encouragement.

“Yes,” he gasped. “I’m Andy by the way.”

He didn’t realise that I didn’t care what his name was. I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the bar. He followed willingly, leaving half a pint and his hat behind. He followed me eagerly past the enamoured bouncer and out into the alleyway. I couldn’t see Gabriel but my enhanced senses told me we were not alone in the alley.

I turned to Andy and gripped his arms hard to stop him from running. He laughed nervously.

“You’re quite strong for such a little lady” he said with unease.

I remained silent, not wanting to engage my victim any further. He was a human, a lower creature, practically vermin to me now. I didn’t want to converse with him any more than was necessary. Just then I saw Gabriel appear behind Andy

“Grip him tight” he whispered in a voice so low only I could hear.

I tightened my fingers around his arms and the drunk began to sweat as the pain increased. The steady beating noise in my head intensified as Andy panicked. Gabriel stalked forward to stand with me and Andy’s eyes widened, first in pain and then in fear at seeing Gabriel’s arrival. He knew he was about to die. Unconsciously some part of him already knew it was his last moment on earth. Gabriel lingered just next to me, never touching me but remaining close enough for me to feel his presence.

“Let yourself go, Louisa” he said. “Just let yourself be free. Let your instincts takeover.”

To the ordinary person this may seem like no instruction at all but everything seemed to fall into place. I felt my mouth distort as two sharp fangs pushed their way out from the front of my gums. The pain of these deadly new teeth seemed to disappear when I saw Andy’s eyes. He was screaming inside but something about my hold on him was keeping his mouth firmly shut.

His heart beat washed around me stronger than ever, causing a barrier between us and the world around us. The alleyway and the dingy club seemed like a hazy dream, and even Gabriel disappeared amongst the rhythmic waves flowing around me. The heartbeat seemed to stem from every part of Andy’s body. It moved to his arms and surged in to me, through my fingertips and up to where my own heart used to beat. I could feel myself losing any grip I had on the situation. Everything became focused on this man and his blood.

I followed Gabriel’s movements from when he had transformed me and I leaned in to Andy’s neck. I could feel the blood vessels pulsing under my lips and the flow of the blood seemed to touch my mouth through his skin, making my lips tingle. I sank my extended teeth into his neck and tore at the skin. He let out a stifled scream as I began to lap up the blood pouring from his body.

The rich red liquid flowed out of Andy for what seemed like eternity yet I licked up every drop of this heavenly nectar. The heartbeat that had seemed so strong began to slow and the life he had possessed surged out of his body and in to mine. I felt exhilarated, more powerful than I had ever imagined I could feel. A few days before I had been an insignificant little girl, but now I had enough power to kill a grown man. I felt like there was nothing I couldn’t do.

Eventually the blood slowed and the pulse stopped as I realised I was the only thing holding my victim upright. I came back to earth with a jolt as Gabriel placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. I let go of my prey sharply and he fell to the littered ground of the alleyway.

I began to laugh to myself as I saw him sitting there. Just hours before I would have mourned the passing of a human being and I would have feared the reaction of his friends and family when they discovered the death of one of their own. Now I was being fed by such a death like a junkie. I knew I should be thinking of the practical things, hiding the body and everything else, but I couldn’t remove myself from the situation. My head was spinning and my body was still rippling from the after effects of this man’s blood.

Gabriel picked up the body of the fresh corpse, carrying him away into the fog at the end of the street as I continued reeling from my fresh kill. He was back in a moment and wrapped an arm around me, kissing me lovingly on the head.

I knew then that I was a real vampire. I was initiated in to this deadly society. Gabriel steered me back over the green and through the woods as I was still in a daze. I had no control over what I was doing as the thought of Andy’s blood was still foremost on my mind.

We eventually made it back to my bedroom and I managed to regain my senses enough to check the clock: 1 hour till sunrise. I lay back on the bed and Gabriel slotted into place next to me in his natural position.

“You did brilliantly tonight.” He said proudly.

I smiled to myself. It was strange to be bonded to him by the act of murder. I prodded him gently and pointed at the clock, still too dazed to speak.

“I know, it’s nearly sunrise” he mused. “I put up blackout blinds while you were transitioning. They aren’t as powerful as I would like but they will do for a few weeks.”

I had never felt as close to him as I did that moment. He wrapped his arms around my body and closed his eyes. I wasn’t sure what to do as I had never slept as a vampire but I followed his cue and closed my eyes. That night, for the first time, the two of us drifted off together into a dreamless sleep.

The night when I first saw Gabriel was also the night most of my family died. I never fully understood their deaths. A child can only understand so much, and it was difficult for me to process all of the chaos and destruction I experienced over the course of that night.

After my extended family left the house my brother Michael returned from his secret date, and my mother was waiting for him. I sat by the door to my bedroom and listened to them screaming. I didn’t hear the details of the things they were talking about but I grasped the basic principal after my mother’s parting words.

I heard her pounding up the staircase in the expensive heels she wore for dinner parties. “Get a good night’s sleep! It’ll be your last one in this household.” She screamed.

After she said this, an uneasy silence fell over the household and I raced back to my bed, fearful that my mother would realise I had been eavesdropping. I burrowed underneath my duvet and pulled it tight over my head. I was terrified of the tension building in my house. The only thing I knew was that I didn’t want Michael to leave. He was my brother, he had to stay.

It took me hours to get to sleep that night. My worrying keeping me awake until long past 1am, very late for a girl who was just 13 years old. I awoke only an hour later when a sharp squeal emanated from another corner of the house. It sounded like someone was in pain and I knew I should find the source.

I stood up from my bed and walked out of my room, tiptoeing softly to not awaken my already enraged mother.  I tiptoed gently down the stairs, avoiding the creaking ones as only a resident could. I reached the bottom and quietly visited every nook and cranny of the ground floor. I couldn’t find anything suspicious.

I went back upstairs and carefully pushed open the door to my sister’s bedroom. She was still fast asleep on the bed and so I gently tiptoed up to her, preparing to slink in next to her for a comforting cuddle. I knew I was too old to be doing it, but she never argued. I think she needed the comfort just as much as I did.

She was incredibly still and so I reached out to touch her shoulder. Her skin was icy cold, colder than anything I had ever felt. I recoiled in shock. It was then that I realised she wasn’t breathing. I felt my own breath catch in my throat as I shook her with a new sense of urgency. She fell to the side and I saw her glassy eyes, wide open and staring blankly at me. Her face looked peaceful at first glance, but there was something else lingering underneath, an edge of horror and torment that was grotesque.

I saw blood trickling from a score of open wounds over her throat and chest, and I felt myself becoming dizzy. I backed away in horror, preparing to scream but realising my voice wouldn’t leave my body.

I ran next door to my brother’s bedroom. He was lying on his bedroom floor, sprawled out at an awkward angle. I ran over to him and wrapped my arms around his muscular frame, struggling to reach my childish arms around his bulky body. He was still and cold like granite. His carpet was matted with blood. I had never seen so much blood.

As I wept into my brother’s arms his blood seeped through the carpet and onto my own body, staining my feet and the bottom of my nightgown. I shook him one last time, trying desperately to rouse him and tell him that we needed to save Beth, but he didn’t wake up. He was dead too.

I don’t know how long I stayed in his room before I finally realised there was nothing I could do. Time lost all meaning that night. When I recall the events in my head they blend into one big chasm of memories, each filled with terror and loss. I just remember the blood. I remember it so vividly I can almost smell it. Until the day I died I could remember that rusty, salty scent that filled the air.