Soul Crafter

Chapter Thirteen: A New Brother

Victor teleported to the hospital where Chris was standing in the waiting room with his parents— each with a grim expression on their face.

     He walked over to Chris and made his presence known with a low “ahem”. Chris’s grieving parents barely noticed him which was exactly what Victor wanted. Victor beckoned to Chris; the two of them found a quiet corner to chat.

     “Did you find Michelle?” Chris asked, desperation evident in his tone.

     “I need to talk to you in private, right now,” Victor said. The two of them walked until they found an empty office. Victor closed the door.

     “How is your sister?” Victor asked.

     A solemn look came over Chris.

     “They don’t know if she’s going to make it. She’s barely stable,” Chris said, hands trembling. Victor could see his eyes were red rimmed from crying.

     “What if I told you I could save her?” Victor said.

     Chris frowned.

     “Save her, how?” Chris asked.

     “I would need to make her like me, immortal,” Victor said.

     “What? Immortal?” Chris repeated.

     “Yes, if I do, she’ll change a bit. Some human parts of her personality will fade over time,” Victor said.

     “From Melek’s conversation with you, I’d say you’re a what? Vampire? Demon?” Chris spat.

     “Yes,” Victor began, listening around him to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. “If she becomes like me, she will be able to lead us to Michelle, so we can save her. If I do this to Bianca, we can save them both. Neither of them have to die. But if I don’t act soon, I don’t know what will happen to Michelle,” Victor finished with a gravely.

     Victor knew that he himself could not track down Melek if he was using blood magic against him— but he did know that a newly made vampire who hasn’t yet fed would be able to find him. The transition period makes new vampires almost immune to certain barrier and protection spells. It is only after their first taste of blood— or first kill— that the rules really start to solidify.

     “I-I don’t know,” Chris mumbled, and then his voice cracked, fighting back a sob. He turned around and paced the small office. “You’re asking me to make this decision for her?”

     “Yes, Chris. I’m asking you to choose whether or not you want a guarantee that your sister is alive tomorrow,” Victor’s voice boomed, annoyed.

     Chris rubbed his eyes as if he wanted to remove them from his face.

     “You have to choose right now because we’re running out of time,” Victor added urgently.

     Chris weighed all the pros and cons of his decision. What would happen to Bianca if he let Victor do this to her? Would she hate his guts? Would she be alright? How much of her would really be Bianca anyway? He wasn’t certain that the doctors could save her, and he wasn’t one hundred percent certain that Victor could, either. Part of him wondered if all of this was just some bad dream, or a bad trip and tomorrow he’d wake up and everything would be back to normal.

     But if he was the real deal, if Victor truly was immortal, then Chris knew he was the one with the best shot at saving his beloved sister and, his secret crush, Michelle.

     “F-fine. Yeah, okay. Do it,” Chris agreed, stressed and ruffling his hair.

     That was all that Victor needed to hear.

     Victor pulled out a cell phone. He had only two numbers saved. He skipped past Michelle’s and chose the latter number and then waited for a response.

     “Hello?” came a familiar voice almost immediately.

     “Owen, I need your help again, please,” Victor said sternly.

     “Whoa, Victor, you’re actually using a phone!” Owen said excitedly.

     “Yes, now please, can you come to me?”

     “Yeah, sure, let me just finish downing this chile dog,” he said enthusiastically.

     Victor sighed angrily. “Hurry.” Victor hung up and waited.

     “So, who’s this Owen guy?” Chris asked.

     Victor looked contemptuously around the room, and then at Chris.

     “He’s the one who helped me get you out of that place you fell in.”

     Suddenly, Chris jumped when he heard a light tapping sound coming from the office door.

     Victor opened the door, and there Owen was, in dark blue jeans— ripped up this time— and a black jacket. His brown hair was combed back as usual, and he seemed extra cocky this time.

     “Took you long enough,” Victor jabbed, letting him in and closing the door.

     “You caught me during a snack. Anyway, what’s up?” Owen asked.

     “I need you to open up a timeless pocket dimension,” Victor said.

     “Why, what do you have in mind?”

     “I need to do something that takes a while, in as short a time as possible,” Victor explained.

     “What, do you need to grow a tree or something?” Owen teased.

     Chris looked at him like that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard but didn’t dare to open his mouth out of fear.

      “Let’s go,” Victor said, beckoning them to follow him. They left the office and walked down the hall, returning to the waiting area where Chris and Bianca’s parents were. His mother was praying, while his father was staring off into space. 

     Chis was perplexed by how his parents didn’t even notice them. Chris went over to his mother and waved his hand in front of her face. She didn’t even acknowledge his presence.

     Chris continued after Victor, and the two of them walked into the operating room where Bianca was. There were two doctors hovering above Bianca’s sedated body, examining her neck, while two other nurses were managing tubes and various tools Chris had never seen before.

     “We need to take her with us,” Victor said to Owen. The doctors and nurses looked to where they stood, taken aback.

     “Hey, you can’t be in here!” one of them yelled.

     Owen’s eyes glowed blue, and he lifted up his arms, his hands glowing the same blue as his eyes. He slowly moved his arms down, as if covering everyone with an invisible blanket. As he did, the lights flickered on and off. When the power finally stabilized, the doctors and nurses were completely gone.

     Everything was silent. In fact, the whole hospital felt dead. Bianca was there, on the operating table, unconscious and barely alive. Chris looked behind him and peaked through the blinds. Where he should have seen his parents, he only saw an empty sitting area.

     Not only was it empty, but the atmosphere felt different— the lighting dimmer, somehow colder as well.

     “Chris,” Victor said.

     Chris looked over at him, his face awash in terror and confusion.

     “Yes?” Chris responded blankly.

     “What you’re about to see may shock you, but just know, it’s what’s needed to make your sister better. Whatever you do, don’t intervene,” Victor said without turning to look at Chris. 

     Victor’s eyes were now black and red, and his fangs were extended. Owen stepped back and stood by Chris.

     Victor examined Bianca and found that she was hanging on by a thread. He needed to act quickly if he wanted this to work. He removed all the tubes and syringes from her body, and then bit into his wrist and placed it over her mouth.

     “I’ve never seen someone turn into a vampire— this should be fun,” Owen said, unfazed.

     Chris looked up at him, his eyebrows furrowed in disgust.

     Victor willed his wound to remain open, his blood flowing into her open mouth. He knew it was just a matter of time before she began to drink it, even if she did so while unconscious. The magic that erupted from spilled vampire blood was enough to liven the senses of most beings, human or otherwise.

     The blood began overflowing from her mouth and dripped down her neck. Then, Bianca stirred, and finally swallowed all of the blood in one gulp.

     Chris covered his mouth, trying not to gag.

     In an unconscious frenzy, Bianca, with her eyes still closed, grabbed Victors hand and pushed his wrist against her mouth. She desperately drank from him. He allowed her to continue for a couple of seconds before yanking his arm away from her. He positioned himself above her and lifted her in his arms. She made a pathetic groaning sound, dismayed at being deprived of his blood. Still unconscious, he tilted her head to the side, and he sunk his fangs into her neck.

     Chris gasped. Victor, for a second, looked up into Chris’s eyes with his own deep, glowing red eyes. Chris turned white as a sheet and tried to suppress a scream.

     Victor looked down and continued to drink, until he drank as much as she did from him. Normally, for his kind, the transformation can take days, even weeks, depending on how much, and how often the human is fed.

     Chris, meanwhile, watched what was happening before his very eyes. He was paralyzed from both fear and disgust. He wasn’t sure what was happening— and yet part of him was.

     Victor is a vampire! he thought anxiously to himself.

     The morbidity of the situation made him tremble, made him afraid, and made him want to hurl. Part of him wanted to stop the whole thing, but another part of him felt that this was indeed the only way to save her. He hoped it was. Everything he knew about vampires told him they were evil, soulless fiends. His mind was racing back and forth, wondering what she was going to become— hoping she would still be his sister. If anything, he just wanted her to be okay— he’d worry about any other issues she’d need help with later on. The priority for him was seeing his sister well—that, and finding Michelle. The last thing he remembered was Melek saying he wanted Michelle to carry his child.

     He felt bile in the back of his throat just thinking about it.

     “It’s not as exciting as I had hoped it would be,” Owen whispered to Chris, boredom coloring his tone. Chris just stared at him like he was an alien.

     “I’m going to go wander around until this is all done with,” Owen said and left the room, closing the door behind him. Chris watched through the window as he walked past and out of sight, and then returned his gaze to the spectacle before him.

     Bianca suckled her last drop of his blood, and he hers. Unfortunately, his body had not yet had the time to turn her blood into energy. Victor fell over with a loud thud and passed out on the floor.

     Chris rushed over to where Victor had fallen and checked his body. His eyes were closed, and he was completely cold to the touch. If anything, he was devoid of any and all heat whatsoever.

     Chris yanked his hand away and checked on his sister instead. Her mouth was dripping with blood that had dripped all over her small, white pillow. The blood had also managed to get all over her shoulders and down her hospital gown. He put his hand on her cheek and felt some mild warmth. Then put his fingers on her wrist to feel her pulse. Her heart was barely beating. Chris broke out in a cold sweat, then firmly grasped his sister’s hand. He got down on his knees and laid his head down on the table she was on, still holding her hand. He felt his chest tighten as if he were about to cry.

     The light in the room flickered on and off. Chris held on tight to her, praying that she was going to live— in some way. He was hoping he wasn’t just experiencing some psychotic episode. He also hoped he wasn’t actually about to be responsible for her death. He wanted her to be fine, to open her eyes and smile at him.

     “Bianca?” Chris sobbed, looking up at her. Her eyes were still closed.

     He saw her chest rise and fall, again and again, until it began to rise and fall faster and faster. He saw her eyes quickly zoom from left to right from under her eyelids. She sounded like she was having a server asthma attack.

     Terrified, Chris called out Victor’s name to ask him if this was normal, but he was still out cold. She then began spasming and convulsing. He let go of her hand and backed up a bit as her arms began to flail. Her legs also began to flail, and she kicked him across the room. He hit his head against the window with a loud crack!

     Disoriented, Chris stood up and watched her from a safe distance. His eyes widened, his heart sank into his feet when Bianca suddenly stopped moving altogether.

     Suddenly, she tilted her head back and opened her mouth, letting out a loud, blood chilling scream, which soon began to sound as if someone else was screaming in synch with her— a deeper, less human sounding scream.

     She then abruptly closed her mouth and fell completely silent.

     Chris felt some warm liquid get into his eye. He touched the side of his head then looked at his hand and saw blood there.

     Chris suddenly let out a loud yelp. His sister was standing right next to him, looking at him with wild eyes.

     “Bianca!” Chris exclaimed.

     “Chris?” Bianca replied, almost uncertainly. “You seem different.”

     “Different how?”

     Her big, brown eyes stared deeply into his, trying to understand what had changed.

     “You seem so,” Bianca hesitated, searching for the right word to describe what she was seeing. Her brother was the same, and yet she could see him on a whole new level. She felt like she was looking at him from a higher vantage point, even though he was beside her. “…small,” she finished.

     Chris gulped. “I’m the same way I’ve always been. It’s you that’s different, B.”

     Bianca looked at her hands to see if there was any noticeable change. She perceived her skin to be more flawless than before. She compared her skin to his and his seemed more like that of an animal.

     “I’m really glad you’re okay,” Chris broke the silence, stepping back to take a look at her neck. There was no sign of a wound or that she had even been stabbed there at all. If anything, her skin seemed smoother; the dark circles under her eyes were gone— her hair fuller, healthier.

     “What’s that yummy smell?” Bianca sniffed around the room, until she became fixated on the bloody wound on her brother’s head.

        She raised her hand and slowly reached out to touch it. Chris stood there, perplexed for a moment, but fear got the better of him and he quickly backed away from her.

     “Whatcha doin, Bia?” Chris asked, his hands shaking.

     “I just want a taste,” Bianca smiled, cornering him. Panicking, Chris tried to run, but Bianca pinned him against the wall. She pulled her tongue out and approached his head with her mouth.

     Then, suddenly, an arm grabbed her around her waist. Victor was awake, and he violently pulled her away from him. He roughly opened the door, pushed her out, and then slammed it shut.

     “You,” Bianca said, bewilderment and uncertainty in her tone. “You’re not like Chris.”

     “No, I’m not,” Victor said, blocking the door.

     “Why does my brother smell like food?” Bianca asked in a low tone, wanting to reach out and throw Victor out of the way so that she could rip the door off of its hinges and –

     Bianca shuddered at her own thought process.

     “Because you’re not human anymore— I turned you,” Victor explained.

     “I’m not… human?” Bianca repeated calmly, looking at her hands, expecting to find something remarkably different about them. She, according to herself, still looked human.

     “Why did you make me?” Bianca asked, surprised.

     “Because I need your help,” Victor said gravely.

     “What’s the matter?” Bianca asked, tilting her head.

     “Michelle is in danger. She’s been taken by Melek, and only you can help me find her.”

    “Melek,” Bianca repeated, her eyes widening in recognition. “He made me stab myself,” Bianca recalled the pain, and the feel of the warm blood dripping down her neck. She remembered her brother, freaking out, trying to stop the bleeding. She also remembered him kissing her, implanting her with some black substance that made it impossible for her to call out for help. She was his slave, doing his bidding, unable to resist any command he gave her.

     Victor nodded.

     “And he’ll do God knows what to Michelle if we don’t find her in time.”

     “Why do you need me?”

     “I need a newly made vampire— while you’re fresh, you’re immune to things our kind aren’t.”

     “What do I need to do?” Bianca said, disdain clear on her face at the memory of Melek.

     “I need you to sense him, and Michelle, and find out where they are now.”

     Bianca stiffened. She heard footsteps behind her, and immediately turned around to find Owen, smirking at her.

     “So this is what you’re like as an immortal,” Owen said.

     “Who are you?” Bianca asked.

     “We don’t have time for this, Owen; let’s go,” Victor ordered.

     “You’re not the boss of me,” Owen pouted.

     “Bianca, it is imperative that you do not taste any blood until Michelle is found,” Victor warned.

     “Why, what happens if I taste human blood?”

     “It could make you unable to find Melek through his cloaking spell,” Victor explained.

     Victor returned to the operating room where Chris was nursing his head with some tissue. When the door was open, Bianca got a good, strong whiff of blood, which made her salivate. She swallowed, reminding herself that she needed to find Michelle first. Then, she’d sink her teeth into someone… anyone.

     Victor brought him out, shielding him from Bianca. Victor beckoned to them all to walk down the hall, away from the sitting area. Once they were far enough away, Victor gestured to Owen.

     Owen raised his hands up in the air. After several seconds, the lights began to flicker on and off. Owen’s eyes glowed bright blue. Bianca looked up at him, intrigued by their color. She then saw his hands emit a blue light. He gently lowered his arms, and then the flickering stopped.

     The four of them were still standing were they always had been, but the atmosphere felt different— along with the lighting. What’s more is now there were sounds all around them; faint ringing of phones, beeping of machines, footsteps in the distance, and occasional chatter.

     “They should realize you’re gone right about now,” Owen whispered to Bianca. She wondered what he meant, when suddenly she heard her parents yelling down the hall.

     “What do you mean she VANISHED?” she heard her father say.

     “Where’s Chris?” shouted her mother.

      “And with that, we’re off,” Victor said. He placed his hand on Bianca’s shoulder, and the next thing she knew, she was standing in a dark alley.