The Vampire Zone

Chapter 5

     I can hardly find a way to describe her. She is beautiful, courageous; I can sense that about her. He thought. He listened to her light heartbeat as her breathing went in and out. The ticking clock in the hallway assaulted his ears, reminding him of the little time he had. He could smell her illuminating fragrance, the sweetness of her perfume and the purity of her blood. He imagined touching her delicate, tan skin. He wanted to hold her tight wrapping his arms around her. He wanted to pull the hair away from her beautiful throat and sink his fang into her neck and taste her heavenly blood in his mouth. He froze in his thoughts. What was he doing? What could I ever give her? He contemplated with himself. Immortality is a curse. I’m cursed. I'll be this age for eternity or until the day that I die. I could never have her in the way that I want. She’ll grow old, and I will stay young. She doesn't deserve a life like that. Why am I doing this? Maybe Jason is right. His expression turned to terror at his realization. What am I going to do? I can’t leave her now. She’s too important to me now. He turned looking down the hallway towards the stairs. How does this mortal have so much control over me? How is this mortal so different from all the other ones? What is it that is making me feel this way for her? Of all the women that I have seen in my hundreds of years, how does this single one differ? He felt torn in half. One side was drawn to be with her. The Vampire part of him was torturing him reminding him that he could never truly be with anyone. Finally, he gave up thought. He turned to walk out of the room.

     Josie opened her eyes at the sound of the footsteps in her doorway. She rolled over to see Alex. He was leaving her. Is he upset with me? She thought. She had to speak to him. “Alex,” she whispered. As soon as he heard her, he turned around and looked at her. She noticed a look of sadness in his eyes that she had never seen before. She stared at him a moment before gesturing for him to come over to her bedside. Alex stood frozen in the door for a moment before a look of surrender filled his eyes. He then walked over to the bed, kneeling down beside her. He placed his hand on her hip, leaning forward to lightly kiss her on the forehead.

     He said, “Don’t worry my sweet. I’ll come back in a while.” There was something in his expression that she couldn't understand. He started to stand-up, and she grabbed his sleeve, stopping him and turning him to look at her again.

     “Please…oh please Alex. I really need to talk to you. It’s important.” He waited a moment eyeing the door and then reluctantly nodded in agreement. He let out a short, agitated breath.

     “I know you have questions.”

     “How did you know where to take me when you found me?” She stared at him keeping her eyes on his. She couldn’t think of a way to describe to him the way she was feeling. There was so much that she had yet to understand. The most concerning was that she knew someone was stalking her. She didn't want to think that her stalker was Alex. But she had to look at the situation logically. She had never shown him where she lived, so how did he know? I didn’t make any sense. Josie sat in her thoughts waiting for his answer

     Alex tuned into Josie’s thoughts. He was wary of her suspiciousness. She believed that she had a stalker. Was she referring to the time when she had followed him into the woods after she had seen him outside her house? Or was there more going on that he didn’t know? He had to speak, but he couldn’t find the right words to say without giving himself away.

     “Alex. Are you going to answer me?”

     “Josie. I will explain. I promise.” He nodded to her reassuringly. “It’s a small town. I stopped and asked the first person I seen.” For a moment, he considered using compulsion to sway her into not asking anymore questions. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He refused to use his powers on her like that. He couldn't discern why, but he felt that it would be wrong in some way.

     He was so confused with himself. He had never been borderline afraid to use his powers on a human before. What did he have to be afraid of? They were harmless creatures, far gentler than his own species to an extent. Without weapons they couldn’t really do anything to him.

     Josie reached over placing her hand on his arm. He was surprised at the realization that she hadn't pursued farther into her interrogation. He relished the feel of her warm skin touching his. He reached up placing his hand over hers gently. They just looked at each other. He studied her face admiring her lovely features. Time felt as if it were standing still. It was now dark outside, and the light of the moon reflected off of Josie's eyes through the open gaps in the closed curtains of the window. The space between them grew smaller, shrinking as she slowly moved closer to him. The tension in the room thickened. Alex heard her heart begin to be wildly in her chest, and the sound was hypnotic.

     Josie wanted to kiss him, but she stopped remembering what else she had to talk to him about.

     “Alex, there is something else. It’s something that frightens me more than I can say, and I don’t know what to do about it. I mean I’ve got the rest of my family to worry about and…” Josie shuddered looking away. Then she slowly turned her head to look back up into his eyes gravely.

     “You can tell me anything. It’s okay.” He rubbed her hand comfortingly. Painful relief shot through her, and she let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. She felt as if she was unable to trust anyone, especially after the incident with her mother. Had she finally found the one person that she was going to be able to trust above all others? Or was he just a phase? Her gaze fell, she couldn’t look at him. She didn’t want to see the disappointment on his face while she spoke. The fear of him thinking she was crazy was almost too much to handle. At that thought, she didn’t know whether she should tell him or not. She needed to let these fears go.

     As soon as she made her decision to tell him, her words started pouring out of her mouth at an unstoppable rate. She told him everything. She told him about the mysterious stalker who chased her up the road to Bethanne’s house. She told him about all the strange things that have been happening to her body; teleporting, strange superspeed, sensing things as well. She told him about her visions, and how she was able to see things in her mind. She explained to him everything to him that had been troubling her. “I just don't know what to do. I don't know how to handle all this!” She told him finishing her last sentence. She turned away from him. She couldn’t bear to see the look of disappointment that she knew was going to be on his face.

     Alex is silent for a moment. He hadn’t been around her the other times that she was speaking of. So, someone had in fact been following her. No wonder she had gotten so worked up before when she had discovered him outside her house. He thought about the moment when she had mysteriously appeared in the woods so close to him. She had teleported. That was how she was able to get so close to him without him sensing her approach. Now everything made perfect sense.

     If Josie really is what she is making herself sound like, no wonder she’s being followed. If she really has these abilities, then she must be one. Who knows how many vampires know she’s here by now? Come to think of it, I can smell it on her now. This was the other smell that was in her blood before. Her kind is not supposed to exist anymore. I thought they had gone extinct hundreds of years ago. If they do know about her, she’ll be dead by the end of the month without protection. How could he tell her these things without exposing himself in the process?

     The anxiety and worries were causing his hunger to grow. A vampire’s emotions are dangerous especially when he hasn’t fed in a long time. And right now, Josie’s blood was smelling very appetizing. His control was beginning to wane.

     “Josie. It’s all going to be alright. I know it will.” He leaned over and comfortingly placed a kiss on her cheek. He forced his canines to retract as his lips brushed her skin. He stood up letting go of her hand. He turned walking over to the doorway.

     “Alex, you don’t think I’m crazy, do you? That’s not why you are leaving, is it?” Josie asked.

     “No. I promise. It’s not you. I just have some things to do. I will be back another time.” He answered. Josie was so relieved and overjoyed that she hopped out of bed and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him sweetly on the lips. Alex nearly lost it. She had surprised him. He didn't realize that she was able to get up that quick in her state. He came to the understanding that quick healing was also one of her abilities.

      It was dangerous to surprise a vampire, especially a hungry one. It is actually one of the most dangerous things in the world in his opinion. He pulled away from her in an instant. He had almost lost control and bit her. He turned away from her, making no eye-contact what-so-ever. He tried to pretend like nothing had happened at all. He walked away, leaving her standing in shock at his abrupt retreat, alone in the doorway to her bedroom.

     Alex descended the stairs and grabbed his coat on the way out the door into the night. How could he have just done that to her? She already had so much to deal with, and now she was going to be so upset with him for leaving her like that. He would be surprised if she would ever talk to him again. But regardless of that fact he had to feed, and he refused to feed on her. He wondered if she would understand, if she found out that he was the person that she chased after into the woods. The more Alex thought, the angrier he became with himself. Why had he provoked her by staying so long in the forest when she was screaming? Despite the craziness, he was relieved that she was safe.

     The fact that she has a stalker infuriated him. Josie was human, but she wasn’t completely human. The more time that went by, he found that the smell grew stronger in her blood. That’s why he didn’t smell it at first. Alex paused and turned around, facing the direction of Josie’s home. I will never feed on her, he told himself.  He sent a probe with his mind into the wooded area around Josie’s house. It was like a frequency to see if he could detect anything prowling around where it shouldn't be. He didn’t feel comfortable with leaving until he knew she was safe. Alex mentally prepared himself to kick into protective overdrive if he needed to. He was satisfied when nothing out of the ordinary appeared. The only thing that he could find was normal animals of the forest like deer, squirrels, raccoons, and other natural species. When he felt content that she was completely safe, he moved on. He used his vampire speed to flash into the neighbor’s yard, and behind their house, and then into the woods beyond.

     He didn’t think that it was a good idea to feed near Josie’s home. He didn’t want to cause her any more stress than she was already under. He was happy that she trusted him enough to tell him everything that has been going on. He knew that she was under pressure, but he didn’t know it was this bad.

     He spotted the path that he was looking for. It led to the nearest part of town. It was a least a mile or two away from her home. He was able to make it there in no time. The hunger was almost ready to take him over. I can’t wait any longer. He thought for a moment stopping to look around. He had made it to the edge of town in a flash.

     He walked over to a tall oak tree, doing his best to stay out of sight. He looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and then leapt into the tree, like a grasshopper to a weed.

     “Easy as pie.” He whispered, getting comfortable on a branch to get a better view. He waited patiently, watching like a sly feline: not missing a speck of movement in any direction. He listened to the night. Owls hooted in nearby trees. Crickets chirped filling the air with the mysteriousness of the night. He leaned back resting his weight on the trunk of the tree. He started thinking about Josie. He wondered how they were going to deal with her problems. There were going to be a lot of issues coming with vampires, and she had no clue what she was in for. She doesn’t even know that there are supernatural creatures in this world. How is she going to be able to protect herself? She doesn’t even know what she is yet. Alex didn’t know how he was going to go about explaining all of this to her. Vampires mainly, had wiped out her kind so long ago that it was hard for him to remember it clearly. He felt all the more protective of her. If she is the only one left, that makes her kind endangered. It was now his obligation to keep her safe, no matter what any other vampires had to say about it. He dreaded having to fight his brothers, but he knew it would eventually come to that when they found out.

     Suddenly, Alex was startled by a crumbling sound directly below him. He had been so distracted in his thoughts that he had unknowingly lost his concentration on his task. He looked down to see a woman in her late thirties taking out her garbage. The dry leaves under her feet crumbled with each step that she took.

     Thank you, God, he thought slowly creeping down from limb to limb to get closer to his prey. When he thought that he was approximately the right distance from her, he launched himself from the tree quickly and quietly landing directly behind his target. His face twisted into the form of a blood thirsty beast and his canines elongated. He swiftly covered her mouth so that she couldn’t scream, then, with one quick move, he sunk his razor-sharp teeth in to her throat. In shock, she jerked so hard that it knocked her off her own feet. Alex caught her easily and slowly took her down to the ground. He wasn’t going to kill her. She lay in the soft moist grass as he drained the warm red substance from her veins. He listened to her heart. He would know when she could handle no more. He pulled back as she fell unconscious. He wasn’t concerned about the bite marks to her neck. His saliva would heal those. Vampire saliva only healed the bite of a vampire. He wished that it were capable of curing bad human wounds such as Josie’s after her accident. Sadly, it was only a self-preservation trick with his kind.

      He looked around trying to decide where he wanted to put her to wake and recover. He spotted a porch swing to her house. Perfect. He walked her up, making sure to look around for cameras first. There were none. He laid her down making sure that she was comfortable and that she wasn’t going to fall off of it.

     I wonder where Nathaniel and Joshua are at right now?  He thought. It was long past time for him to meet them. He was surprised that they hadn’t tracked him and found him yet. With his senses, he sent a vibration again in all directions. To his disappointment, his brothers were nowhere nearby. Maybe that was a good thing. That meant that they hadn’t followed him to Josie’s house. But the question remained, where were they?

     Feeling relieved, he left the porch and went back into the darkness out of sight. His hunger was gone. His need to feed had been quenched. He strolled up the road for a while. House after house went past. He finally stopped and leaned up against a new tree remaining out of sight. He slid down resting softly on the ground at the base of the tree. This one was a maple. He could smell the sweet smell of the sap underneath the bark behind him. He tilted his head back looking at the sky. The stars twinkled lightly in the heavens through the swaying branches of the maple as the wind blew softly. The stars were never-changing as he was. Throughout all the years, they stayed always constant as he was.

     His memories of being human were so distant now. He could barely recall the times when he was a child. The memories were like a fading, distant cloud that reappeared every so often. They were always difficult to grasp like trying to recall a fading dream after waking up.

     His parents had been the reason that he had been turned. They had all caught a plague that swept through the plains like wildfire, killing anyone that it came in contact with. His parents had known a villager that lived a small distance away. His name was Raphael. It turned out that Raphael was a Gromolic vampire. Raphael had been the one who had turned the entire family to save their lives. His parents had been the only villagers that had shown the vampire kindness, so he repaid that kindness by saving our lives. All the other people had steered clear of him, a precaution after hearing horrible rumors of his evilness.

     Alex was never given a choice. He was turned on his death bed, same as his other siblings. His siblings. His thoughts were pulled back to his brothers. He needed to go check on Josie one last time and then go find them. He pictured Josie again in his mind’s eye. He thought about her beauty. He recalled the green stars in her eyes and the way they twinkled in the sunlight. He pictured her beautiful reddish brown, thick wavy hair that was so long and alive. She also had the most beautiful tan complected skin that smelt of lavender.

     Thinking about Josie made him wish that he could be mortal. In another lifetime, maybe he would have grown old with her, or had children with her. At that thought, he scoffed and shook his head. He could never have anything like that. Vampires couldn’t have children with mortals. The offspring would kill the mother. And female vampires stopped being able to reproduce at the moment they are turned. That fantasy would never happen between them.

     He looked down at the grass underneath him. He envied its life. He envied everything about it. It could live without worry. It could remain calm and peaceful for its entire lifespan. It could die with a harmony that he would never have the opportunity to experience.

     A thought occurred to him that maybe he could tell Josie the truth. Maybe if she knew him for what he was, things would be easier for them both. No. What if he told her, and she hated him, or worse, feared him? He snatched a handful of lush, green weeds ripping the roots from the ground sending dirt flying. He stared at it a moment, then leaned forward taring the grass in his hands into tiny pieces while in thought. He wished that there was some way that he could be human now, in this time.

He looked up and noticed something in the distance. Across the road and past the houses in the distance, it looked like there was a man walking into the woods. This late at night? Alex thought, standing up to observe him. He was a far away, so far that Alex could only make out that it was a medium sized adult male. Where was he going? Alex tilted his head in curiosity. He sent out a vibration of power in the direction of the stranger. There was no response, as the stranger disappeared into the woods. Alex stared after him intrigued. If he had been vampire, I would have been able to tell, he thought to himself, shaking his head. For a moment, he contemplated investigating the stranger further and following him. The aggravation of the issue was that he was so far away that he didn’t want to bother with it. It was probably just some human going to do some human thing. Alex waved it off and ruffled his hair with his right hand. He looked around himself. He needed to get going and stop procrastinating.

     Alex wiped his feet on the welcome mat and then hesitated before knocking on the front door to Josie's house. Was he wasting his time trying to be in her life? He knew that he was putting her in harm’s way. But he also knew that she needed him. and he knew he was coming back repeatedly, but he couldn't keep himself away. With everything she had told him, he suspected that she was in danger, or eventually would be in danger due to what she could do and what she was. But on the other hand, he could also lead the danger straight to her. He stepped away from the door and leaned on the railing to her porch. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t leave her even if he wanted to. He knew he had already fallen in love with her. Love was truly a rare thing to come by in the long endless life of someone such as him.

     He walked back up to the door and reached to knock again, and he was interrupted. He sensed something out of the ordinary. There was a new presence that he didn’t recognize. It wasn’t inside the house but around it. He could feel it nearing. He crept stealthily to the corner like a cat stalking a mouse, quiet and steady. It was a stranger. He could smell it now around the corner of the house. Closer to Josie’s side of the house to be exact. Its heartbeat rang in his ears. It was calm, and steady like the light beat of a drum. This meant that the stranger was calm and off-guard. As he peaked around the corner, he spotted the stranger sneaking his way out of the darkness. To his surprise, the stranger’s build resembled the one he had seen before when he had been sitting against the tree. It was the adult male he had spotted before. The man stopped in the light below Josie’s window, and Alex could see him clearly now. He wore the clothes of a janitor. There was a blank nametag velcroed to his chest. Perplexed, Alex studied him. He didn’t want to do anything hasty yet. He was determined to know what the stalker was up to before he intervened. If he’s had anything to do with Josie’s problems, I’ll rip his throat out and be done with it, Alex thought to himself. It was a smarter tactic to observe the enemy before attacking. Alex’s impatience only grew as the man did nothing. He just stood there in the light from her bedroom staring up at her room. It was almost as if he were trying to decide what he wanted to do. In a way, he looked sad. It was strange. Alex had had enough waiting. The stranger was obviously not going to reveal his intentions. It was best to just go ahead and get rid of him. Alex stepped out from around the corner into plain view of the stranger. But it was almost too dark for the stranger to notice.

     “Hey!” Alex yelled. “Who are you, and what do you want with Josie?” The air was quiet with no response. The man was stunned at the voice. He was in such shock that he fell backwards losing his balance and landing on the ground, catching himself just barely before hitting the damp grass. He quickly crawled backwards in shock looking up at him as Alex stalked towards him. Alex stopped only a few feet from him as he stumbled to get to his feet. “Did you hear me? I asked you a question. Who are you?” Alex demanded a second time. The man’s face hardened, refusing to respond to him angrily.

     He turned so fast that Alex could hardly catch his movements. Was that even possible? Nothing mortal could move faster than a vampire’s sight. Alex could smell his blood. It smelt of mortal but with a slightly different scent to it. Vampires are the dominant species on earth. They are the strongest, quickest, most dangerous creatures known to the darkness. They even have a growl fiercer and more terrifying than a lion when provoked.

     Alex was surprised and threatened at the same time. What if this unknown mortal thing was capable of killing him? He was in unknown territory here. The stranger sped off. For a moment, he hesitated to go after him. But he went all the same; to protect Josie. The stalker wouldn’t have run if he were able to do anything, at least that was the logic he was counting on. They both flashed through the night air. The grass and leaves took flight behind their feet as Alex pursued him. Their legs moved so fast that the sound emitting from them reminded him of a hummingbird’s wings. He thought of Josie’s safety again, and his speed increased along with his motivation. He was catching up to the stranger now. He was only feet from him, as they bolted through the pines evading trees and limbs on the ground. They hit an open clearing. Alex was gaining on him. He knew he was going to catch him now until something astonishing happened. He was close enough to touch him now. The strange man turned and ran at their speed backwards. Alex slowed in amazement. In all his years, he had never seen that before. Who is this man? WHAT is this man? He was in total and complete shock, and he faltered in his speed.

     The man looked in Alex’s shocked expression and laughed. The laugh was a low and rumbling sound like that of an old man. And finally, the man disappeared into thin air as if he had never been there. Alex came to a stop just before getting to the next tree line in disbelief. He turned looking around himself with both his hands on his head, catching his breath.

     “Where did he go?” He whispered to himself spinning around again. Understanding came to him and he let out a heavy sigh. “He’s a teleporter just like Josie. He’s just like her.” He shook his head. This is going to be a serious problem.

Chapter 6

     Alex knocked on the front door to Josie’s house. He stepped back waiting for someone to respond. There was no sound of movement inside, and all the lights were off. They must all be asleep by now, he thought.