Blood Secrets: Part 1

My mother was a vampire. Her name was Alaina, and being the mysterious woman she was, she refused to tell me how I came to be. As I ran down the cobblestone streets of our town, I thought about all of the secrets she kept from me. A gust of wind whipped across the lane, blowing my chestnut colored hair into my face and blinding me. She always returned home before dawn, except this one time. At sixteen, I really should have been in bed, but whenever she went out, I always worried and had never been able to sleep until I knew she was safe. Mother told me that if she ever failed to come back by the time the sun had risen, something had happened to her.

The sweet smell of morning rain lingered on the air as I raced through the foggy streets. Our red brick townhouse was only a couple minute walk to the main hub of the city. My mother often came downtown to run errands. If there was any one place she would have been, it would have been there. The hospital stood down the road, not far from the line of buildings consisting of the main strip.

Not too long ago, she told me that while she was still human, she fell in love with a handsome vampire. She claimed when she was pregnant, a group of men, possibly vampires, viciously attacked her. How a human could have possibly gotten pregnant by a vampire, I had no idea, but she insisted that she was. As she approached death, she said, my father turned her. He bit her and used a pocket knife to slice into his forearm, then fed my mother some of his blood to start the transformation.

Even though I breathed and cried like a normal baby, I had deathly pale skin. My staggeringly slow heartbeat baffled everyone at the hospital. Mother told me that the doctors wanted to do tests on me to figure out why my heart beat so slowly. Unsure of what the doctors would say once they completed my blood work, my mother smuggled me out of the hospital during the night. My thirst didn’t reveal itself until I hit puberty, but even after that my thirst was never as great as my mother’s was.

Dawn's morning glow had yet to show its face to the little town. The empty streets reminded me of the lonely life we led. Before I could barely walk, my father disappeared, leaving my mother to raise me alone. I didn’t remember him and my mother never liked to talk about him. They only thing she did tell me about him was of his piercing amber eyes. In fact, there were many things she didn’t like to talk about. She wouldn’t tell me about how she got the job at the hospital and why, shortly after, we had to move. We moved several times throughout my childhood and at each new town, we would first find a place to stay. Then my mother would find a source of our sustenance. Surprisingly, we were never short on money no matter where we went. I supposed it shouldn’t have surprised me either that she refused to tell me where she got all that money. Despite the mountain of secrets she kept from me, I never felt unwanted and eventually stopped asking--for the most part.

Every once and a while, the secret keeping got too much for me and I asked her again. She always replied vaguely, “Evelyn, as vampires, we must keep many secrets about ourselves. When you’re older, you’ll understand.”

Even though she tried to teach me about controlling myself, drinking only what was necessary, and never killing, I always had quite the temper. Instead of hunting, she would bring bags of blood home; she never told me how she got them. I always figured that she had stolen them from the hospital where she worked and just didn’t want to tell me. The blood could have also come from the town butcher, whom she had made an appoint to make friends with.

Dawn still approached. I had to find her before dawn. I checked every street and side street that I knew of. She wasn't behind the hospital. There were no signs of her presence at the butcher's white building around the corner from the grocery store. Even after overturning filthy dumpsters and ripping through all of the foul smelling alleys, I never found her. So, I just wondered aimlessly through the hazy streets, prostrate with grief. After a while, I began to lose hope.

On my way back home, I stumbled upon a small group of middle-aged men. With my superior ears, I heard them speaking about how they had tracked down a female vampire and disposed of her before she could kill someone. Getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, I swiftly approached them and asked what the woman looked like. My quick advance surprised them, but since I was pretty, they complied with my request. A portly man who reeked of fish said she looked like me only with reddish hair and she was leaving the blood bank. They then began snickering among themselves of how beautiful she had been and they were sorry they had to dispose of her. The skinniest man showed a bandaged arm where the woman had scratched him. I inhaled deeply, smelling my mother all over them. Rage bubbled up inside me, threatening to burst.

With clenched teeth, I attempted to keep my cool. "How did you know she was a vampire?" I asked.

Another tall man in the group who had a deep scratch down his cheek chuckled, "We just wanted to ask her why she was wondering around at such a late hour. Harry over there had the audacity to try and touch her. That's when she went berserk and launched herself at us. Of course, the six of us were eventually too much for her." He stretched his arms up, looking tired and very proud of himself and his friends.

Not wanting to hear anymore of what they had done, I bared my teeth, hissed, and angrily announced, "That was my mother. You're going to pay dearly for that." They backed away from me, frightened, and then attempted to run away. A ferocious snarl erupted from me as I sprinted after them, quickly catching up to the portly man who had difficulty keeping up with his more nimble companions. Consumed by hatred, I leaped at the man and sunk my sharp nails into his back. His body arched as he roared in agony and fell to the streets. He tried to crawl away, but I stopped him with a booted foot and rolled him over.

“So, you can attack a full grown woman, but you run away from a little girl? What do you have to say for yourself?” A low growl rumbled from my throat; I was ready to rip him to shreds. The trembling man put his arms up, shielding his body from me. When he did not answer, I slashed at his arms.

“I’m sorry!” he howled through his screams.

My eyes glared intensely into his frightened face. “Sorry won’t bring my mother back.” At that moment, I no longer cared about anything. They had killed my mother; there could be no mercy for them. He fiercely shook his head at me as I launched myself at his cowering body. My sharp teeth pierced the plump flesh of his arm. His salty, metallic blood poured down my throat. Its sweet freshness was a new sensation. Mother hadn't allowed me to drink fresh human blood. But it tasted so much better that way.

The taste of fresh blood stirred a rampant thirst in my belly and I had to have more. Grasping his arm in a vice grip, I dug my teeth further into his arm. He screamed in pain as he writhed on the street. A gentle warmth on my back caught me off guard. Dawn had come. Surprised and afraid, I quickly let go of the man's arm. Sniffling and whimpering from the pain, he began to crawl away. As I stepped aside, the bright morning light poured into the alley, shedding first light on what I had done. Clutching his arm to his chest, the plump man slumped against the pavement. How much blood had I taken from him? I had been blinded by bloodlust and lost my sense of self and restraint. Ashamed of my hasty act of vengeance and overindulgence, I stumbled back. Quickly, I ran back home and flung myself into bed and cried. I cried in grief for my dead mother, and I cried in shame of myself. Thankfully, the bite I left in his arm would not turn him, but I feared I had killed him just the same by leaving his bleeding body in the street.

After a couple hours of sleep, I awoke again to clean myself up. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I shook my head. "Evie," I asked myself, "what have you done?" It was true; I did look like my mother. We had the same oval shaped face and slightly upturned nose. Running my fingers through my wavy hair, I pulled at the knots that the wind had created. The chubby man's blood had dried underneath my fingernails. A smear of blood across my rather plump lips ended with a thin trail running from the corner of my mouth. Dark circles under my eyes and a worried brow diminished the power of my light blue irises. All of the crying that I had done made my eyes bloodshot. I looked dreadful.

After I furiously scrubbed my hands and face to rid them of the blood, I ran to my mother’s room to grab her secret cash stash. Her room was a warm and cozy place, from the wallpaper dotted with miniature roses to the warm, cherry wood of her furniture. She kept the wad of money under her pillow-top mattress for emergency purposes. Her fluffy red comforter still smelled sweetly of lilacs as I curled up in her bed for one last time.

Then, I gathered up my things in a pack, slung it over my shoulders, and left home forever. The rent for our townhouse would be due soon. I couldn't risk being there when the elderly landlady hobbled up the front steps. Besides, when word reached the town about what I had done, they'd come looking for me. There would be consequences, and I didn't want to be around to suffer for them.

For what seemed like the longest time, I just ran. My feet pounded the pavement beneath me and I ignored their protests that begged me to stop. I ran until I could run no more, tears stinging my eyes as they poured down my face. The sunlight beat down, turning my delicate skin red, but I ignored that too. My mind concentrated on my overwhelming grief and desire to get as far away as possible. Only when the sun began to sink into the horizon did I realize I had been running all day long, in the sun. After that, I traveled mostly by night and stayed to the shadows during the day.

Thus, I became like a tumbleweed, erratically drifting along, with only the wind as my guide. A little voice inside my head told me that I had to find something, but I was never quite sure what it was. Partly, I wanted another place to call home and wanted to find somewhere I belonged, because I didn't belong anywhere. If I couldn't find a home where I was comfortable settling down in, at the very least, I hoped to find someone who could tell me what I was and how I came to be.

Humans tended to shy away from me because I traveled alone and for some reason, the vampires treated me differently. It was almost as if they knew something about me that I didn't know. Most of the vampires were nice enough to me, but they held back and acted as if I was a sort of liability. It was as if they were afraid to trust me. Of course, I didn't exactly trust them either. It seemed that they knew I was some sort of half-breed; not quite human, not quite vampire. Some days I met other drifters, mostly human. Some human families tried to take me in but once they discovered what I was, I was on the road again. To earn a little money or food and shelter, I often did odd jobs around farms that I passed by, or volunteered at the hospitals. The wad of cash I took from under my mother's mattress lasted me a while, but I knew it wouldn't last forever. In order to survive, I had to find work. The hard times I fell upon helped me to learn about self-reliance. It was a lonely life, but there was no one to answer to but myself.

When I was eighteen or nineteen I thought I had found a place to call home. Adjacent to a narrow, dirt road I found a nice little farm encompassed by several acres of land. The tall, fair-haired man and woman had a son and daughter. The son, called Evan, was about my age and quite handsome. The gold flecks in his brown eyes sparkled in the sunlight. It surprised me how gladly they welcomed me into their home and never questioned the reason why I traveled alone. They let me stay in a loft in their barn painted white to match their two-story colonial style house. In exchange for shelter, they let me help out with the chores. The son flirted with me constantly while I helped him around the farm. My cheeks grew warm at the mountain of attention I received. It was nice being liked, I had to admit.

Their southern style cooking only got me so far. The vampire in me needed more than flaky biscuits, fried chicken, and potatoes. The charming family didn't know that I snuck out at night to hunt in the forest at the edge of their property. Luckily, wildlife thrived there. My speed gave me an advantage over the rabbits and the deer. As my mother taught me, I only drank what I needed from the animals and released them. Biting Evan's livestock was not an option. The family took careful watch over their animals and would become suspicious if one ever turned up with bite marks.

Whenever I was around Evan, I found myself growing hungry with bloodlust, but I tried desperately to hold it back. He smelled so good and his warm skin felt wonderful as he stroked my cheek while we sat on the fence that enclosed their cows. Part of me wanted so badly to tell him what I was, while at the same time, I attempted to block it out.

After I was there a couple of weeks, Evan tried to kiss me. Even though I wanted so badly to let him, at the same time I wanted to sink my fangs into his neck and quench my thirst. Sitting next to him, I sensed the tasty blood coursing through his veins. If I closed my eyes, I heard his heart beat quicken as he caressed my face. It took all of the courage I had before I could tell him what I was. A look of fear flooded his sparkling eyes. He clutched at his neck and backed away from me. I tried to explain my situation, but he wouldn't listen.

"Monster," he called me.

That terrible word smashed my heart to pieces. All the time we had spent together was flushed down the drain in an instant. All the secret glances and accidental touches meant absolutely nothing to him.

As he ran to rat me out to his parents, I ran to the barn to grab my pack. Tears welled up in my eyes as I jumped the fence on my way out of his life. Their angry screams followed me across the field and embedded themselves in my memory. After that, I decided that it wasn't worth my safety to care about anyone. My mother had been the only person in my life who truly cared for me, and it seemed that there wouldn't be anyone else ever again. So I had to tell myself, as a vampire, I would have to get used to being alone. However, if there was some way to fight my vampire urges, there was a possibility I could hold them off.

In attempts to ignore who I was and the thirst that drove me, I tried going without blood. That was a dreadful mistake. The more I suppressed my thirst, the greater it became. Eating red foods like tomatoes and drinking tomato juice didn’t work, either. The vampire in me was too smart for my feeble attempts at tricking it. Three weeks without blood drove me to the brink of madness. My mind glazed over as I wandered aimlessly, in search of anything with a pulse. Luckily, I came upon a rabbit in the forest and not a human on a street full of people. It took every ounce of control I had to keep that rabbit alive. Obviously, after that I made sure to drink regularly. The incident with the rabbit made me realize I could never be human. No matter what, I couldn’t fight what I was. I was still a vampire and I had to accept it. So I kept searching for that place I could call home.

Like a bolt of lightning, six more years flashed by. My slender, girlish form fleshed out into curves and I stopped growing at five foot seven inches tall. When I didn’t have access to hospitals or blood banks, I continued to feed on wildlife and the infrequent bum as a last resort. I figured it best to feed on outcast humans who would be ignored if they happen to tell someone a vampire bit them. Biting humans was not something I enjoyed, even if their blood did taste better. Never again did I let myself go that night before I left home when I attacked that man.

One day, I came upon a small town not unlike the one I had left so long ago. The sweet smell of evening mist and freshly cut grass lingered in the air. It had the same cobblestone streets and short buildings dotted along. I followed one street until it turned to dirt and led to a small playground with a swing set and slide. Being that it was dusk, the children of the town were safe at home. Not that I ever attacked a child; but with one look at my deathly pale skin and intense blue eyes, the little ones seemed to know I was different. Most children I'd seen instantly ran to their parents, who were the ones I'd grown afraid of.

After flinging my old pack to the ground, I sat on a swing and let the gentle, flowery breeze rock me gently. My mother hadn’t taken me to the park very often when I was little. During the day, the sun was too brutal on our fair skin. My mother did take me to the park after dark for a while, but the neighbors began talking after hearing me squeal while playing. Time seemed to halt as I sat there, swaying in the breeze. It was a comfort to me to see something familiar after being on my own for so long.

As I sat there in my reverie, I heard a woman’s muffled cry. My head perked up at the sound as I waited to hear more. My pale eyes squinted as I concentrated on my hearing; the woman was running and a group of men pursued her. Forgetting about my pack, I ran to investigate. Their distinct scent reached me before I got to the corner. Vampires. As I peeked my head around the tall, brick building, they had her pinned against a wall. She cowered in fear, tears running freely down her cheeks. Suddenly, one stopped to sniff the air.

“Wait guys, I smell somebody.” The light haired vampire said, raising a slender hand.

“Who? A human or vamp?” Another asked, lifting his nose to smell the air too.

“I smell a vampire.”

“Hello, there are four of us here.” A dark haired man stated, seemingly unaware of the new scent.

“No, stupid, I smell a new one; smells different somehow.”

“We can’t wait around, we gotta get her back to the boss; you know how he hates to miss his after dark snack.”

Before they could grab the woman, I darted from my hiding place to shield her from them.

“What do we have here?” The light haired vampire slowly looked me over, licking his pale lips.

Baring my sharp teeth, I snarled. "What do you want with her?” What they planned to do with the young woman, I didn't know, but from the way they talked about her, I knew it was not good.

The group of vampires snickered, their teeth glistened in the poor lighting from the street lamps. The light haired one met my gaze intensely. “So you’re who I smelled then? Aren’t you cute? Come on, Beautiful, step away from the human. We’ve got work to do. Maybe if you’re a good little girl, I’ll let you come along. I can tell we would have some fun together.”

My narrowed eyes continued to glare at him and I said nothing. While attempting to usher the human girl away, one of the vampires approached me. Swiftly, I brought my foot up to kick him in the face, which sent him hurtling to the ground. The light haired vampire smiled smugly and clapped his hands together.

“Ooh, I like you. You’re a feisty one, aren’t you? Forget the human, there are plenty like her. I simply must have this beauty instead.”

With a deep breath, I fiercely stared back at them. Despite my tough exterior, my insides twisted and knotted. Why did I have to go and get myself into this? The vampire I kicked finally brought himself back up, rubbing his jaw. They smiled wickedly at me. I bared my sharp teeth again, ready for whatever they could dish out. They were older and much more experienced, but I refused to go down without a fight.

on to Part 2 "Blood Secrets: Part 2"