The Guardian's Keeper (The Guardian Trilogy, Book 1) (3 page)

Inside
, the barn was lined with cages containing all kind of animals- raccoons, foxes, opossums, even a few skunks and a badger. There were cabinets in between the cages. The space and the animals were pristinely kept despite the neglected exterior of the barn.

“What is all of this?”
Claire asked Joyce.

“
Well, Claire, while many parts of vampire folklore are untruthful, some are very, very, true. I assume you have heard vampires cannot be in sunlight, to do so would be their death- that part is true. My late husband found a way around that.” with that Joyce directed Nikoli “Raccoon #7 tonight, for the draw, #8 for the injection.”

Nikoli walked over to the cabinet between the cages an
d removed 2 syringes. One he stuck into his right forearm and began drawing up his own blood.

“What are you doing?”
gasped Claire in surprise.

“
What I need to do to survive in the sun,” Nikoli explained flatly, his eyes never leaving the syringe filling with his blood as he turned his back to her.

“
You see Claire, my husband was a scientist, a good one at that,” Joyce explained as she took the blood filled syringe from Nikoli and walked over to raccoon #8. “He discovered that by injecting nocturnal mammals with vampire blood, the co-mingled blood could be harvested and injected into a vampire, giving the vampire a limited ability to withstand sunlight. It only works with nocturnal animals, though, natural night dwellers like the vampire.”

She slid on a long thick leather glove, inserted
it into the cage and caught ahold of the raccoon, which fought and snarled as Claire had done earlier against Nikoli. Ignoring the animal’s protests, Joyce plunged the blood-filled syringe into the animal’s shoulder and depressed it, forcing Nikoli’s blood into it.

“
Does the animal turn into a vampire?” Claire asked cautiously.

“
No, oddly enough. My husband discovered the only mammals to turn into blood drinkers when exposed to vampire blood are us humans. Turns out we’re the only species who are truly bloodthirsty and will kill just for the sake of killing,” Joyce mused wryly. “Okay, Nikoli, let’s get this done.” She removed her gloved arm from the cage and made some notes on a clipboard hanging from the front of it.

Joyce
next stuck her gloved hand into #7’s cage. She held the animal down with one hand and used her other to stick the syringe into the animal’s thigh, drawing up its blood from there. Claire’s disgust must have shown on her face.

“
You don’t need to watch if you don’t want to,” Nikoli said gently, right up beside her. Claire blanched in surprise.

“
How are you so fast? You were just at the cabinet.”

“
We vampires are fast, agile and strong,” Nikoli explained with a shrug.

Having finished her blood draw and notations involving the raccoon, Joyce handed Ni
koli the syringe filled with its blood. Nikoli turned discreetly away from Claire and when he turned back to her she could see the small dot of blood welling at the injection site. It disappeared in just a few seconds, making Claire wonder if it were ever really there to begin with.

“So you drink blood?”
she asked Nikoli, trying not to panic. Is that what he had in mind for her, if he found out she didn’t have this fang he was after?

“Yes….and no.” Nikoli shrugged. “
My injections not only allow me into the sunlight, they allow me to obtain nourishment from food. I can eat food just like you; I don’t need to drink blood to survive now. But I cannot heal properly, if I am severely wounded, without human blood. Joyce has friends at the blood bank who help me with that.” Nikoli strode over to a small refrigerator on the other side of the barn and removed a bag of blood, holding it up to Claire. “See?”

Claire nodded silently
. Was this for real- vampires existed? She couldn’t decide. It was so far-fetched, but this whole animal set up and the blood bank bags made it certainly seem possible. Her mind spun at the thought of it.

“
We’ll go back and have our tea now.” Joyce interrupted her train of thoughts. “There’s so much more to tell you. Nikoli, bring that blood with you- I think Claire needs a little more convincing.” She winked kindly at Claire.

Back in the kitchen, once they were all again settled around the
table, Joyce turned to Nikoli. “Go ahead, show her- but don’t make a big mess on my table please.” She handed Nikoli the large cutting knife intended for the pie she had not yet cut.

“I’ll be right back,
” he assured Claire, rising from the table with the bag of blood he had taken from the barn and the kitchen knife. He sauntered casually out of the kitchen to the living room.

“
You know, he’s really a gentleman,” Joyce explained to Claire. “You’re in good hands. You need to learn to trust Nikoli. He left so you wouldn’t see him drink the blood, dear, that wasn’t for my benefit you know. He may be a vampire, but he’d be a better human than many of the men I know. Don’t write him off because of his vampirism.”

“
He wasn’t much of a gentleman earlier, stealing me away in the night,” Claire replied icily.

Before Joyce could reply
Nikoli returned with the empty blood bag in one hand, the kitchen knife in the other. “Don’t panic, just watch,” he commanded as he sliced the side of his forearm to the bone with a small grimace.

Claire bit back a shriek of horror, watching as the wound began to knit itself healed before the blood even began pouring out. In less than a minute or so, the deep wound had reduced itself to a faint scar, and that was completely gone shortly after as well.

“You see?” Nikoli implored her. “
I really am a vampire, we’re real. I told you before and my word is good- I will not harm you, Claire, only help and protect you. It’s my duty as Guardian of the Keeper,” he reminded her as he shyly placed his hand over hers on the table.

Claire drew her hand back immediately, numb with shock. It was true, then. She had brushed away the persuasion
of Ava, Nikoli’s extraordinary speed and strength as coincidences or the side effect of steroid use or….anything but this. But here it was, in her face- a real vampire.

“Tell me,
” Claire demanded, drawing herself upright in her chair, looking from Nikoli to Joyce and back again. “Tell me everything. Tell me why my whole family is dead. Tell me what a vampire wants with me. Tell me why you think I’m one of the ‘Keepers’. Tell me.”

Joyce looked to Nikoli, who inclined his head ever so slightly, agreeing for her to tell the tale.

“Claire, I’m so sorry all of this is happening to you and no one told you,” sighed Joyce. “Where to begin? Just follow along as best you can, dear, I’ll answer your questions once the tale is told.”

Chapter 4

“Vampires, like Nikoli
,” Joyce began, “have existed as long as we can go back in history. Most wish to be left alone, to blend in with humans, feeding in secret and doing their best to stay under the radar. Those brazen enough to risk discovery by humans were often hunted down and destroyed, so most live in secret. Back in the days of Ancient Greece, a vampire named Stavros grew weary of his life of hiding, and in a brash, remarkably stupid move, attacked a group of people that vampires and humans alike kept their distance from. You know this group of people today as Gypsies, though they were known as something else then. Over the centuries these people blended their bloodlines with other traveling groups, but even today they retain some of the potent magic the travelers of Greece possessed. The Greeks had far stronger, far more dangerous magic than the Gypsies of today, which is why both people outside of their group and vampires avoided them whenever possible. It is accepted knowledge they had a deal with the Gods that made them almost, but not quite, as powerful as the Gods themselves, almost demi-Gods, if you will.” Joyce paused, taking a sip of her tea, and continued on.

“
What no one could have predicted, including Stavros himself, is that by ingesting the Gypsy blood and the magic it contained he changed himself. He was still a vampire, in that he craved the blood of others to survive, but by drinking the powerful Gypsy blood he shut off whatever small part of him was still vaguely human. Vampires generally only feed off humans, stopping before the humans are harmed, then persuade them to forget the whole incident. But Stavros began killing for the sport of it, humans and vampires alike, leaving a wake of death the likes of which the Greeks had never seen. He slaughtered whole villages and whole clans of vampires, upsetting the quiet balance between the two that had existed since the beginning of time. Before Stavros’ transformation, no vampire had ever hunted another. Vampires were driven even further into hiding, not only to hide from Stavros but also the humans who were now aware of them and actively seeking them out to destroy them. The humans blamed all of vampire kind for Stavros’ slaughter.”

Joyce paused to take a
nother sip of her tea before continuing. “In desperation, one leader of a small village sought help. He knew the humans were defenseless against Stavros and to save his people Divine Intervention was needed. He personally sought out Circe, daughter of the Sun God Helios, and asked her to help him fight against this new super horror spawned from the night. Even though it was frowned upon for the Gods to tamper in the affairs of humans, Circe rightly saw the threat Stavros posed to them all, including the Gods themselves. As a powerful Sorceress and Goddess from the bloodlines of the God of the Sun himself Circe was able to weave a powerful spell that removed much of Stavros’ power. Humans were still little match for him, but the vampires themselves stood to destroy him with the help of Circe’s meddling. Do you have any guesses as to what the spell that Circe used did to aid to humans and vampires?” Joyce asked Claire.

Claire shook her head, caught up in the strange story of vampires and magic and Gods. Nikoli sat silently, his eyes never leaving Claire
, observing the look of child-like wonder on her face.

“
Circe’s spell caused Stavros’ top fangs to fall out, the fangs he used to annihilate both humans and vampires alike. Without his top fangs to tear open arteries and veins he was still very dangerous, able to break bones and crush foes with little effort, but he could not drain the life-sustaining blood from his enemies. Circe wove the spell to take effect in 5 days’ time just after sunrise when Stavros would be stuck in his cave until the sun fell again. The 5 days gave the village leader time to return to his people and spread word of Circe’s plan.”

“
Upon his return to his village the humans raced into action, sending their armies to the attack Stavros in his cave after sunrise. They didn’t trust the vampires to defeat Stavros, thinking they were allies. But the humans were no match for Stavros. It was a bloodbath on the hill of his cave that day with streams of mangled dead bodies flowing down the hillside as Stavros killed all who entered his abode. By nightfall the humans had all fallen or returned in terror to their villages, waiting for Stavros to find them and finish them off. A vampire named Nikolai…” Here Claire’s eyes widened in surprise as she glanced towards Nikoli.

“
No dear, not him,” Joyce interrupted. “This Nikolai the vampire heard what had happened and decided to try to wipe out the monster Stavros on his own. He headed to the cave just after sunset and wept at the sight of all the humans who had fallen. He entered the cave, a wooden stake hidden in his robes, but Stavros was ready for him. Stavros could not bite and drain Nikolai, but he wounded him horribly. Nikolai was unable to heal without human blood and unable to match Stavros’ strength and speed. He lay broken on the floor of the cave, unable to heal, unable to fight, unable to die. Stavros laughed at him and pretended to pout that he had broken his new plaything. He announced he would give Nikolai one, just one drop of human blood salvaged from the fresh corpses scattered on the hillside in order to allow him to heal enough to fight on. Stavros was drunk on his own power, so sure was he that he could not be defeated that he did not see Nikolai’s hidden wooden stake until he plunged it into Stavros’ heart as he bent over to give Nikolai his one drop of blood. Stavros, in his rage as the stake pierced his heart, snapped both of Nikolai’s legs off at the knees before collapsing, dead, on top of him.”

“
Nikolai lay broken in the cave, hardly able to move. He pushed the corpse of Stavros off of him, careful not to dislodge the stake that pierced his heart. He was making his way to the cave entrance inch by inch, hoping to either find a corpse with some blood left in it still warm enough to heal him, or hoping to be within the sun’s rays once it came up so he might be destroyed so his suffering would end. To his surprise a live human stood peering into the cave entrance. It was Agacio, a humble shepherd who had not fled in defeat after the day’s battle but instead hidden among the trees, hoping to catch Stavros by surprise after nightfall. Agacio had heard the commotion between the two vampires and came to investigate once the fight had ended and all was quiet.”

“
Agacio saw the corpse of Stavros and Nikolai broken on the floor of the cave, and rushed over to help him. Nikolai screamed at him to stay back, that he would kill him if Agacio stood within his reach, so desperate was he to consume the human blood which would enable him to heal again. Agacio ignored his warnings and approached him. He knelt before Nikolai’s broken form, just out of reach, and told him he knew this to be true, that Nikolai would kill him in an instant given the chance. He explained he understood this was out of Nikolai’s hands, it would not be out of choice but out of instinct and need. He thanked Nikolai for destroying Stavros and making their lands safe once again, and with that he lay down in front of Nikolai, who immediately pierced his jugular vein and drank deeply, eager to end his pain with healing.”