Distant - Chapter 2 and Chapter 3

        Rikala waited in the kitchen the next night for Vladimir’s return; hoping that it was not all a dream.  Vladimir came as he had said and they sat together in the living room in front of the huge open fire.  Rikala rested her head upon his cold hard chest; it felt like the cold marble worktops in the kitchen, yet she didn’t care, he was with her.  Vladimir looked down at her with his unusual amber/golden eyes and with a slender finger marked out the contours of her face before slowly raising her head and kissed her passionately. 
        Rikala’s family did not know of Vladimir, and she wanted to keep it that way. If her parents found out they would probably move home without warning so that he could not find her. 

        Vladimir looked at her, she was so beautiful, so much like himself that if he didn’t already know he would of thought that she was just like him; a vampire.  But he could…no, it wouldn’t be right, it wouldn’t be fair.  He loved her, she loved him; he could stay with her if she wasn’t a vampire…couldn’t’ he?
        No, I can’t.  She has a family; I can’t take her from that.
        “What are you thinking about?” she asked inquisitively.
        “You,” he said with a smile. He looked over at the old grand-father clock that sat atop the mantelpiece. “I have to go, but I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
        “Okay,” sighed Rikala, she didn’t want him to leave but she knew he must; if her parents saw him.  As usual she walked with him to the kitchen and watched as he walked down the garden to the large wrought iron gates at the bottom of the path.
        A cool breeze wrapped itself around her and just as suddenly as it came it left, leaving her cold and a little nervous.  Vladimir abruptly turned on the spot and watched Rikala for a moment then started to run back up to the house.  Confused Rikala watched him as he re-entered the garden gates but before he had time to get near to her, something grabbed her from behind.
        Rikala was thrown to the floor, her mouth covered with an icy grip and she stared into the black empty eyes of her attacker.  She looked closer at the figure and noticed that it was a medium built man, though slender as he was; he was very strong and forceful.  He lent towards her and she suddenly felt a sharp shoot of pain rush through her as he ripped and mauled at her neck.
        “NO!” she heard Vladimir shout. “Get off her!”
        The attacker was pulled off of her and he was sent flying into the table, breaking it and the contents with a loud crash.  Rikala couldn’t see what was happening, she felt helpless.  Stop, please. She knew that with all the ruckus and commotion, her parents and brothers would soon be down to found out what was happening.
        Both Vladimir and the attacker were strong, and the battle wasn’t going to end quickly.
        “You shouldn’t make attachments to humans, Vladimir.  You don’t know what might happen to them.” He said with a smirk.
        “Your fight was, is with me.  You didn’t have to bring her into it, Damien!”
        “She was in danger as soon as you met her.  You brought this upon her…”
        “NO!” shouted Vladimir, throwing a large number of knives he had found towards Damien.  The attack was dodged skillfully by Damien but not before one struck the bottom of his torso.  He fled, hunched in what sounded like pain.  Vladimir ran to Rikala’s side, pulling her into his arms.
        “No, no,” he said with a whimper as he examined the laceration on her neck; the cold stone floor of the kitchen was a pool of blood and Rikala’s clothes were drenched.
        “I’m sor-“Stuttered Vladimir, interrupted when the kitchen doors swung open to Victor standing in the doorway.  He looked down at his daughter, who was whimpering in pain, he then looked at Vladimir with scowl so evil that even the most innocent person would want to cower in fear.
        “Get away from my daughter, you…you – just LEAVE!”
        Vladimir stood up and looked at Victor, then looking at Rikala he quietly whispered so that only she could hear, “I love you.”
        Rikala heard her mother scream as Victor carried his daughter to her room. All she remembered was seeing the vague outline of her family standing around her before everything went black.
        “Oh, Rikala.” Sobbed Miranda into her husband’s chest.
        “I’m going to find the gentleman who did this and I’m going to make him wish he had never been born.”

        Victor sent out a search party to find Vladimir; there was a substantial sum on his head, so all those who lived in the village and many who didn’t came to help.
“Find him and bring him back to me, dead or alive!” shouted Victor at the huge mob that had congregated in the main square in the village.
They would never find Vladimir; he had run, knowing what would happen there was no way he could go back.

                                                                  *

        2 months had passed since the incident, and Rikala’s funeral had been held two weeks ago…or so the village thought.  In actual fact she had been locked in Croft Manor's basement, feeding of the rats and other vermin that lived down there.  Victor and Miranda never wanted to lock their daughter away but they had no choice, she was a monster.
      1 year had past, and everyone had forgotten Rikala; even her family had forgotten her.  Drake and Jacob were exploring the manor, something they hadn’t done for many years, when they came across the basement. 
        “Wander what’s in there?” asked Drake
        “I don’t know but the doors looked,” replied Jacob
        “Well we’ll have to find the key then, won’t we?”
        They made their way into the entrance hall and over to the small table by the grand oak doors, where the keys were kept.
        “Which one is it, do you think.” Jacob asked
        “Not sure, let’s just take all of them. It has to be one of them.”
        Grabbing a handful of keys each they went back to the basement and started to try them in the lock.  After about the tenth key there was a slight click and the door swung open.
        “Great, we did it.” Said Drake with a grin
        With cautious steps they entered the dark room, groping the walls for a light switch.  The light flickered on and the room and its contents came into view.
        “God, it’s dusty in here.” Coughed Drake
        “Yeah but I wander what we’ll find.”
        They started to examine the boxes; rummaging through the ones near to the door.  Suddenly the door slammed shut and the lights went out.
        “What the hell-“
        “Jacob, something’s in here.”
        “Don’t be ridiculous, Drake.  There is nothing…what was that?”
        “What was what?”
        “Okay, something is in here, I felt it.”
        They stumbled towards the door, knocking boxes over in the process.  That’s when it happened; a tall slender figure threw itself at the two men, who were scratching at the door trying to get out and pulled Jacob back into the middle of the room.
        “Argh! No, get off-“
        Then there was silence.
        “Jacob? Jacob, stop messing around, answer me!”
        But there was no reply and there would never be a reply, for the figure that attacked had ripped his throat out, spraying blood everywhere, and it was coming back for more.
        Drake panicked and once again took to trying to open the basement door, and once again the tall slender figure leaped out of the darkness and pounced upon the unsuspecting Drake; who yelped in surprise when he saw the face of his attacker.
        “Rik-” he whispered, but it was too late she had already ravaged him, like a lion would a zebra.  Rikala stood up, the bodies of her two brothers lay beside her; she looked up at the now open door and casually walked out in to the corridor.  Rikala walked into the main entrance hall and stood silently at the edge of the room, blood dripping from her hands onto the polished wood floor.  She looked around and picked up the scent of her mother, who was in the kitchen making the evening meal. 
        Entering the kitchen, Rikala walked….no, glided up to her mother, who hadn’t noticed her daughter at all.  Turning around, Miranda was caught off-guard by the ghostly pale figure standing two inches away from her.
        “Rikala,” she gasped. “No, you can’t be…the basement-“ She noticed the blood on Rikala’s hands and gasped again. Before she had anytime to do or say anything more, Rikala pounced.  The jug of water in Miranda’s hands fell to the floor with a crash that echoed through the house.  Blood was splattered everywhere as Rikala shredded her mother; the sound of the jug smashing had alerted Victor, who was in the study at the time. He went to see what had happened.  When he saw what was left of Miranda on the kitchen floor and his daughter casually licking the blood off her fingers, he knew then that he was next.  Not knowing if his sons had already suffered their fate, he felt a short burst of pain, caused by his daughter noring at his neck, before everything went black.

        The next few days were hell for Rikala as floods of memories came back to her; her childhood, Vladimir, her attacker, her attack, her family.  Cries of sadness and pain echoed through the house and were heard by the villagers.
        The Croft family were well know in the villages and were seen every day walking around the shops, however recently no one had seen them.  A handful of brave workmen toped up on wine had decided to go up to the old house and see if everything was alright;  little did they know what was waiting for them in the shadows.  The workmen marched up to the old house and with minute ease the door swung open.  All the curtains were closed and there was no form of light source anywhere, it appeared as though someone had smashed every light and had ripped the switches from the walls.  The men cautiously walked forward guns, knives, pitchforks and all manner of weapons at the ready.  Two of the men went through the first door on the right, hoping for a sign of life form the owners.  They had a quick glance around and from what they could make out they were in the study. 
        Both men were well built and worked at the local farm.  The eldest of the two was Paul; he stepped forward towards the heavy curtains at the far end of the room when he stepped in what seemed to be a puddle.
        “Oy, Matt! There’s a leak in ‘ere.  Go tell the others to find a mop; I’m just going to open the curtains.  Let a bit of light in.”
        “Right, no probs.”
        Paul walked up to the curtains and heaved them open.  Turning round he had to resist the urge to throw up at what he saw.
        “My God!” 
        The rest of the men ran in at Paul’s statement and they too had to resist the urge to throw up;  piled up in the middle of the study was the Croft family, there was blood every where.  What Paul believed to be a puddle of water turned out to be a pool of blood.  Not knowing if what had killed the family was still in the house, they continued to look around.

Chapter 3

        Only one of the seven men had survived to tell the tale of the eventful night in Croft manor.  Everyone was scared and all refused to go up to the house, in fear of what might happen to them if they did.  A small funeral was held in the local cemetery for all of those who had died; although they did not have the bodies they proceeded to perform the ceremony.
        Many years had passed since that day and although what had happened had not been forgotten, the house was derelict; the gardens in ruins and the villagers were getting on with their lives.

                                                              *

        The rain was heavy and stung the face of the man stood in the village square.  His face was hidden from view by a large hood, but you could tell that he was looking up at the Croft House.  A moment had passed before he moved forward; his walk was, with lack of a better word, perfect.  It was a single fluid movement, that if anyone had been watching they would have known who he was.
        Rikala had finished the small bag of liquid and was now putting it into the bin positioned next to the fridge.  She turned to face the French doors and sighed quietly before turning into the hallway.  The floors and walls were still stained with the blood of that unfortunate day; she hadn’t bothered cleaning it up because she didn’t see the point.  It also gave her a reminder of what will happen, what could happen, if she stopped drinking the blood supplies.
        “I can’t let it happen again.” She said to herself.
        Rikala suddenly stopped in her tracks, the hair on the back of her neck was on end and she carefully crept into the parlour.  There was someone in the manor.  She could sense them, she could smell them, she could hear…no.  No, she couldn’t hear them and it made her think.
        Standing to the left of the parlour door she waited, waited for the movement that she knew she wouldn’t get.  She walked casually into the room and went over to the open window; closing it carefully she assessed the situation.  Life had been hard for Rikala, since her accident, since he left.  Her family disowned her and locked her away.  They deserved all they got.
        “No!  It was my fault not theirs, they didn’t deserve death!” Rikala thought to herself.
        Just then she felt something, not physically, but she did feel something.  Whatever was in the room with her had moved.  Coming closer to her, an arm outstretched.  In the blink of an eye she turned, jumping onto the intruder.  However at the same time the intruder had moved.
        As Rikala pounced the intruder grabbed her and pushed her against the wall, pinning her into the corner.  Rikala’s eyes were as black as night, her skin a very pale white and her teeth, her teeth were like fangs; needle sharp and long.  Rikala looked straight into the intruder’s eyes, snarling and trying to sink her fangs into his neck.
        “Rikala!  Rikala!  It’s me, Vladimir!”
        At this remark she suddenly went quite and very still.
        “No, it can’t be.”
        “It is. I am so sorry, about what happened to you.  I never wanted this to happen, I didn’t mean for it to happen…”
        “Get out.”
        “What?”
        “I said get out.”
        “Rikala please, you don’t mean that.”
        “GET OUT!” shouted Rikala with an almost animal roar.  “I don’t’ want you here.  You are the cause of all this! It’s your fault my family’s dead! Now just GET OUT!!”
        Vladimir stood there, looking at Rikala.  Her eyes were pitch black, yet he could see the emotions hiding there.  He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but he left.
        Rikala stood there for a few moments, breathing deeply although it was not necessary.  After a few moments in silence she slumped against the wall and let herself slide to the floor.  Her mind was wandering.  How? Why?
        Although she had not seen, heard or even thought of Vladimir since her accident, she felt a sudden rush of lust….no, it wasn’t lust it was love.  Yes, love. 
        “No.  I don’t love him, not now, not after what happened.”
        There was no denying her feelings, she loved him.  Suddenly realising what had happened she ran outside calling his name.  Rikala ran down the garden path, down the drive and had reached the large oak tree that stood half way between the manor and the wrought iron gates at the other end of the drive.
        The rain had soaked her to the bone and her hair was almost plastered to her face; no one would have been able to guess that she was crying.
        Rikala stood there for no longer than 10 minutes when she caught the scent of a fragrance that made her turn suddenly on the spot.
        “Vladimir?” she said with uncertainty although she knew it was him.
        “Rikala, I’m –” but before he could finish Rikala had moved from her position under the tree and kissed him.
        “Vladimir, I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, it was never your fault.”
        “Rikala, please, listen to me. I understand why you reacted the way you did and I am so sorry for what happened to you. I don’t care what you think, it was my fault; if I hadn’t have broke into your home none of this would have happened.”
        “Exactly! I would never have met you; we would never have had this. Don’t you love me?”
        “That’s not what I mean, of course I love you.  But I led Damien here, I put you and your family in danger.” He said as he moved away from her.
        “What happened has happened we can’t change that.  I love you Vladimir, and I forgive you.”
        He turned round and embraced her in a long, passionate kiss before gazing into her eyes.
        “Shall we go inside, it’s a little wet out here.”
        Rikala laughed.
        “To be honest, I hadn’t noticed.”
        They walked back up to the manor and sat themselves by the large open fire in the main living area.
        “Where have you been?” asked Rikala calmly.
        “Around.”
        “That doesn’t tell me where you’ve been.”
        Vladimir laughed as he gazed into the roaring fire.  They didn’t need the warmth, but it helped to dry their clothes.
        Rikala pulled herself away from him and walked over to the window.
        “Where is he, Damien I mean. He did this to me.  Why did he do it?” she asked in a hushed tone.
        Vladimir stiffened at this question and paused before he answered her.
        “I knew you’d ask but I never thought it would be this difficult to answer.” He said quietly. “He’s not the kind of guy to get involved with, he’s dangerous.”
        “So am I,”
        “That doesn’t mean you should go after him!”
        “What makes you think I am?” she replied with a venomous tone.
        “I can sense it, Rikala. You know I can!” Vladimir sighed deeply before continuing. “I love you, Rikala, I have done since I first met you, so please for me do not go looking for Damien.  He’s bad news and a lot more powerful than you think.”
        “I can’t promise anything, Vladimir.  He did this to me and as much as I love you, I need to find him; I need him to suffer.”

        Rikala had found Vladimir, the next morning, sitting by the doorway to the basement. 
        “What are you doing down here?” she asked with a more, ‘you shouldn’t be down here’ tone, than was needed.
        “The smell, its – doesn’t it bother you?”
        “I don’t kn – you shouldn’t be down here.”
        Rikala turned to walk away when she heard Vladimir get up and walk into the basement.
        “No…!” she cried, but Vladimir had already entered through the doorway.
        Walking into the middle of the room Vladimir gazed around at his surroundings, boxes were strune around the room and the smell of blood hung in the air.
        “What happened in here?” he asked with a hint of sorrow in his voice.
        “Nothing.”
        “Something happened in here, Rikala.  I know that much.  Please, tell me I want to know.”
        Rikala paused for a moment and with a sigh answered him.
        “Fine, I’ll tell you.”
        “Thank you, that’s all I wanted.”
        “After the attack, after you left, my parents noticed that something was wrong.  They had noticed changes in my behaviour and my father had sent out a search party to find you.  They told the villagers that I had died and had held a funeral for me later that week.  It was an empty casket.
        They locked me in, here in the basement, I had no human contact – no contact at all.  After a year I was forgotten, left to fend for myself off of the rats that lived here.  My two brothers had found this room locked on an ‘adventure’ of the manor – there were so many rooms, so many doors that you could easily get lost. Being boys and being bored they decided to go and explore the manor, they found the basement.”
        “They locked you in the basement? They’re meant to be you family, how could they do that?”
        “Please Vladimir, let me finish.”
        “Sorry”
        “The door obviously was locked, so they went to find the keys.  They managed to unlock the door and cautiously entered. 
        I wasn’t myself, I hadn’t eaten for so long – I…I….I didn’t mean to hurt them, I never wanted to – “
        Rikala couldn’t finish her sentence, she had collapsed to her knees in floods of tears.
        “Rikala!”
        Vladimir came to her side and embraced her in his arms.
        “I’m sorry, if I had known – I would never have asked.”
        “I killed them. Me. I – oh god!”
        “Shhh,” his voice was calming yet there was a hint of sorrow and pity present, “its okay. What happened, happened, there’s nothing that can be done now.”
        Rikala had stopped crying and was now looking up into Vladimir’s eyes.
        “I can’t forget it, I killed them. My own family.”
        The embrace lasted for what seemed like hours, before eventually they got up and made their way to the kitchen.  Rikala sat down at the table while Vladimir took to pouches of blood out of the fridge.
        “Drink it, you’ll feel better.”
        “Thank you” Rikala muttered as she ripped into the pouch.  “I don’t know what to do anymore.”
        Vladimir looked at her in a quizzical manner.  “What do you mean?”
        “I came to terms with what’s happened to me a long time ago, but I can’t just let it lie.  My family would still be alive if Damien hadn’t have attacked me, and then I think that my family would still be alive if I hadn’t have attacked them.
        I don’t know who’s at fault anymore, me or him.”
        “Me, if I hadn’t have come here in the first place you and your family would still be living a normal life.”
        “Ha! My life was never normal; I was different from my family.  The kept me locked up in the house during the day, I was never allowed out.”
        “What?”
        “They thought that there was something wrong with me, and so I was kept in the house.”
        Vladimir looked stunned.
        “So for me, this life is the best thing that’s happened to me.  You’re the best thing that’s happened to me.”
        Vladimir got up and taking her hand in his, led her to the middle of the room.  He grasped her tightly with one arm around her waist whilst his other hand brushed the side of her face.
        “I love you, so much Rikala.”
        His finger followed the contours of her lips and he lent down to kiss the hollow below her ear, and then slowly moved up towards her lips.  Rikala felt almost faint but she didn’t care, and she brought her hands up to the side of his face and ran her fingers through his hair.

        The morning had passed and so too did the next night.  Vampires don’t sleep but they do need rest; Vladimir had travelled over long distances without resting and so Rikala showed him to a room.  During the day Vladimir rested, completely shutting down his system to regain some strength and during the night he wandered the manor and kept company with Rikala.  Rikala herself never rested during the day, not now anyway.  She had been kept locked up during the day when she was human and soon became nocturnal, so now that she had become vampire she was able to stay up during the day; something she has never done.
        The morning had come round again and Vladimir was up in his room.  Rikala had planned for this as soon as Vladimir had arrived and knew that now, was her chance.  Scribbling a message onto a small sheet of paper and leaving it on the kitchen table, she walked to the front door of the manor and silently she left.

                                                                *

        Vladimir stirred and began to come to his senses before getting up and walking out of the room he was in and heading downstairs.
        “Rikala?”
        He couldn’t sense her anywhere in the building and called for her again.
        “Rikala?”
        He took a sweep of the building and found her know where.  Vladimir knew that she had to be somewhere nearby and that she would return soon, walking into the kitchen he noticed a small piece of paper on the table.  Picking it up he recognised the writing as Rikala’s.

                Vladimir,
                     Forgive me.
                Love Rikala
                   Xx

        “NO! I should have stayed with her!” He cried as he threw the now crumpled piece of paper into the bin.  I knew she would do this.  She resents him too much, she wants him dead.  Damn it.
        Reaching the front door he caught a faint trace of her scent and headed in the direction that she had taken.  Vladimir knew that he had to reach her before she reached Damien; who knew what would happen if he didn’t get there on time. 
Rikala had had plenty of practice at honing in on her skills as a vampire and little did Vladimir know that he was heading in the wrong direction.
        Rikala hated herself for what she had done to Vladimir; leaving him and misguiding him into thinking she had gone north when she had actually gone south.  But it had to be done – didn’t it?  He wouldn’t understand.  He doesn’t understand.  I have to do this; it’s the only way I can finally be at peace.  She was running.  If she had passed a human they wouldn’t have noticed Rikala at all; that was how fast she was going.  Every sense, sight, hearing, smell, touch, had been heightened to a superhuman state, even the mental and physical aspects had been modified.  This heightened state gives vampires an advantage against humans, weapons and other vampires.
        Each vampire has a unique gift.  Vladimir is able to read thoughts, however he had always had trouble reading Rikala’s much to his amazement.  What was Damien’s? I think Vladimir told me once, why can’t I remember what it was?  It suddenly hit her. Visions.  He can see the future! Wait, does he know I’m coming? Will I end up being ambushed? She slowed down to think but it was a risk she was willing to take.  So what if he knew she was coming, she could easily kill him.  Rikala had never told Vladimir about her gift, and she knows that he hasn’t found out, otherwise he wouldn’t have minded her tracking down Damien. 
        “He may know that I’m coming to kill him, but at least I’ll still have the element of surprise in the way that I kill him.” She muttered to herself, a slight tone of amusement in her voice.

                                                                  *

        “Damn it!”
        Vladimir had travelled far in search of Rikala and had now come to a dead end as the trail went cold.
        “Where the hell is she?”
        Vladimir was furious, not with Rikala, but with himself for losing her scent and for letting her go in the first place.  It would help if I knew where Damien was.  It was then that he had realised the Rikala had tricked him. 
        “A false trial.  She didn’t want me to stop her, so she led me in the wrong direction.”  He cursed and punched the tree opposite, causing the large pine to split and fall over.  Strength was another trait that vampires had, and could easily crush a solid marble statue into dust with one hand.  Vladimir headed back in the direction he had come to see if he could find Rikala’s true scent.

                                                                  *         

        Rikala had gained more speed now and was quickly finding Damien’s scent.  It was easier than she had initially thought due to the trail of destruction left in Damien’s wake.  Stopping occasionally to make sure that she was going in the right direction or to ask a few questions in a few of the villages that she passed through, she soon managed to find where Damien was and was soon closing the gap between them.