Distant - Chapter 4 and Chapter 5

        Damien had forgotten of that fateful day when he attacked Vladimir’s human, he didn’t even know her name but it didn’t matter to him anyway; it was irrelevant.  As far as he was concerned both she and Vladimir were dead.
        As Damien was walking through the dense woods into the clearing, a sudden air of panic overcame him and he bent double, collapsing to his knees shortly after.  His head suddenly looked skywards and his eyes were almost grey as if a wave of thick fog had clouded his vision and he went into a sort of trance.  Damien took in a sudden gulp of air and was then back to normal, making his way back to his feet he sneered to himself at what he had just seen.
        “So she’s alive and a vampire.  Interesting.  She’s close; she thinks she can surprise me?  Ha, I’d like to see her try.” 
        Damien walked through into the clearing and sat himself upon a large boulder that sat half buried in the soft grass not too far from the centre of the open space.
        “If she wants to fight, then I’ll fight.” He said to himself as he watched and waited for her arrival.

                                                                  *

        Vladimir knew that he was close to her. He sensed it.  The smell got more vivid and he could tell that she was anxious.  Vladimir feared for the worse when he came towards the clearing because he could not sense her anymore.  Has something happened? Am I too late? No, I can’t be too late, she can’t be dead.  Not knowing what was waiting for him he slowly walked towards the clearing when he picked up the thoughts of someone close.
        She’s taking longer than I first thought but oh well, I can wait, I am a patient man.  Ha! Its amusing that she thinks she can kill me, she obviously hasn’t any brains otherwise she would have known not to challenge me in a fight.  Damien’s thoughts flooded into Vladimir’s mind and his blood boiled when he heard that Damien found things amusing.  How dare he laugh at Rikala.  How dare he insult her like that, I must do something.  He had made up his mind, he would fight Damien.  It had always been their fight.  Vladimir marched out into the open arena to see that Damien was staring right at him. 
        “Sloppy, very sloppy.  You should know that you can’t sneak up on me Vladimir.  I knew you were there, reading my thoughts.” Sneered Damien
        “I wasn’t sloppy Damien; I wanted you to know I was here.  I knew that you knew I was here.”
        “Come to protect you human, Vladimir? Oh wait, she’s not human anymore is she.  Is she as weak as you or is she weaker?”
        “Leave her out of this! It’s not about her, it was always about us!”
        “As I said before, Vladimir, it became about her when you involved her!  If anything she should be blaming you for what happened!” shouted Damien, rising from his position on the rock.
        Vladimir had heard enough and obviously so too had Damien because within a few seconds both men had crashed together, fighting, clawing and biting at each other.  The fight was impressive and both vampires seemed of equal strength, although Vladimir had the advantage of knowing where Damien would strike next.  The fight could have lasted for an eternity without either opponent tiring.
        Rikala burst through the trees at one end of the clearing knowing that Vladimir had caught up and overtaken her in the pursuit of reaching Damien before her.  She saw the ruckus ahead and knew instinctively that if she were to use her ability now, there was a high risk that she could kill Vladimir by accident.  Why did he have to follow me?  He’s got himself in more trouble than necessary.
        There was a pause in the fighting when they noticed that Rikala had turned up and before either of them could say anything, Rikala had pounced towards Damien knocking him off balance, diving into a roll and pouncing again.  This time Damien was prepared and as she came in to land he had leapt aside gracefully.
        “You really think you can kill me?”
        “Yes” snarled Rikala
        “Rikala, I told you not to do this.  Why didn’t you listen to me?” asked Vladimir
        “Yes, why didn’t you listen to your boyfriend, Rikala?  It would have saved so much heartache.” Sneered Damien in amusement.
        Trying to ignore Damien’s remark she turned to answer Vladimir.
        “I’m stronger than you think.”
        “No, you think you’re stronger than you actually are.”
        Rikala’s temper was starting to become short. Why didn’t he believe her?  Doesn’t he love her?  If he did love her than he would know that she had to do this, he would know that she was strong enough.  Damien then made a mistake; he had dived towards Vladimir and thrown him across the clearing which brought him crashing down into a small pile of broken fencing.
        “NO!”
        Damien had gone too far and Rikala had had enough.  Her eyes became as black as night and fangs emerged where before there were normal teeth, even from where Vladimir lie he had a clear view of what was happening.  Damien stood there shocked and almost paralysed when he saw what was happening around Rikala; it was as if a strong wind had appeared out of nowhere, blowing the grass flat around Rikala’s feet and slowly it began to die.  It was spreading fast around her and as much as Damien knew he should move he couldn’t, a powerful force hit him hard in the chest and he began to notice that it was becoming difficult to stand.
        Black veins started to spread across Damien’s body and he began to turn a pale blue which steadily became darker, his skin became taught, his eyes sunk further into his skull before they completely vanished and his body was decomposing faster than normal until all that remained was a rotted worn-away corpse.
        Vladimir couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed, yet it didn’t stop there.  The dead grass around Rikala started to blow violently again as if a strong wind was hitting it and suddenly all life that had been taken had been restored.  However, it seemed stronger somehow, as if it was all brand new grass that had just grown.  There was too much life, too much immortal life radiating from it.
        Rikala’s features went back to normal and she rushed over to Vladimir who was still lying amongst the fencing.
        “Vladimir-“ Rikala stopped abruptly a few feet away from where Vladimir lay.
        Vladimir had been impaled upon three large sharp poles; one of them had pierced his heart.  Blood had soaked Vladimir’s shirt and a pool had collected upon his lips.  He was dying, there was no way of saving him now and both of them knew it.

        Rikala knelt at Vladimir’s side and pulled his body into her embrace, tears streaming down her face.
        “No, no, this can’t be happening.” Wept Rikala
        “But it is” Vladimir wheezed, coughing slightly.
        Rikala looked deep into his eyes before glancing at her hands.
        “I can heal you, everything will be fine.” Her eyes gleamed at her words.
        “No.  I’ve lived too long, I welcome death.”
        “But I don’t want you to leave me; I don’t want to be alone.  I love you.”  The tears fell down her pale cheeks and landed upon her top, staining it with damp spots.
        “I love you too, but you’ll move on.  There’ll be others.  Just, just answer me one thing.”
        “Anything” sniffed Rikala
        “How were you able to do that?  How did you take the life out of him?”
        “I – I don’t know.  I’ve always been different, my mother said that I had a healers touch.”
        It dawned on Vladimir at that point; Rikala was different from her whole family.  Even he had first thought that she was a vampire when he first met her.
        “Rikala, were you adopted?  What do you remember of your life?”
        Rikala was taken aback by Vladimir’s words.
        “No, not that I know of anyway.  Why?”
        It was becoming harder for Vladimir to speak, to think clearly and his vision was failing him.  He needed to tell Rikala his theory; he had to hold on until he had done that.
        “If – if you were……..adopted…..you were different…..”
        Vladimir was drifting in and out of consciousness and his words weren’t making sense.
        “What do you mean?  I don’t understand.”
        “If you were adopted…….vampire……….bite from Damien……..revealed true self…….revealed vampirian DNA…”
        Rikala suddenly realised what Vladimir was saying, and remarkably it made sense.  Rikala was always different in the way she thought, acted and in appearance.  She understood; if she had been adopted it would mean that she had always been a vampire and when Damien bit her it would have awoken the dormant vampiric gene.  This would make sense of the fact that she was stronger both mentally and physically than any other vampire.
        Rikala gasped at the sudden flash of memories that enveloped her mind.
        “Oh my God!”
        Memories of a past life; her…childhood?
        Looking down at Vladimir she wiped away a tear and kissed him gently on the forehead.
        His final words would stay with her forever.  I should have asked you to marry me when I had the chance.  I love you. 
        Rikala stood up and picked up the ring that had fallen from Vladimir’s hand.
        “Why didn’t you?  I would have said ‘yes’.” She said to herself.
        Placing the ring into the back pocket of her trousers she headed towards Damien’s corpse and dragged it over to Vladimir.  Then she collected some wood from the surrounding trees and placed it on and around the bodies, which she then set fire to.  As much as it pained her to do it, it was the only way to get rid of the bodies so that they won't be found.

        Rikala returned back to Croft manor the next morning, but instead of entering the house she simply stood underneath the large oak tree that she had stood under not that long ago with Vladimir.  A single tear fell upon her cheek before she turned and headed out towards the village.  For the first time she was going to see the village that she had longed to see for so long, but this wasn’t going to be a casual visit. 
        Rikala need a few things for her journey; clothes, money, a map and a bottle.  Walking into the first small shop on her right she was able to purchase the map and the bottle before heading off to the centre square of the market to pick up some clothes.  The money would be slightly difficult and she didn’t want to hurt anyone in the process.
        “No one here has the amount of money I need.”  She said to herself.  “But I do.  Why didn’t I think about that?”
        Running back up to the manor she kicked open the door and advanced up the wide sweeping staircase and into her fathers old office.  She had not been in here for many years and it was still the same, the only difference was the thick layer of dust that covered everything.  Standing in the far right corner was a tall wooden cabinet, which to her knowledge held all of the family’s business papers.  Pulling open the bottom draw she emptied the contents onto the floor and picked up the large brown package.
        “This should be enough.” She said as she made her way back down to the village.
        Many of the elder members of the settlement had noticed Rikala and her appearance scared them; they had remembered seeing Rikala once with her family many years ago, but she was dead, the Crofts had announced it.  Could this be a sign, could she be a…..a ghost.  Surly not.  Rikala hadn’t noticed the small crowed forming, she was in a hurry and she didn’t care if anyone saw her; this was no time for caution.

Chapter Five

        Alyssa sat in her black BMW and watched the hustle and bustle of the streets around her. She glanced up at her rear view mirror and quickly looked down again as if reading a book or magazine; the dark sunglasses hid the slight look of concern upon her face.
        “He’s late.” She muttered to herself, glancing back up at the rear view mirror.
        Within minutes of Alyssa’s comment, a tall, slender male figure appeared out of nowhere and entered the passenger side of the BMW.
        “Drive”
        “Did you get it?”
        “Drive!”
        The tone of his voice was severe and Alyssa knew him well enough to know that this was neither the time nor the place for questions.  Her foot hit the accelerator and the car speed off into the distance.  Once they had travelled at least two or three miles Alyssa glanced at her passenger.
        “Well?”
        The man didn’t say anything; he just stared at the open road in front of him.
        “Riley! Answer me!”  She hadn’t taken her eyes off of him, yet she was still driving the car at high speeds.  Her senses allowed her to do this; she needn’t worry about crashing because she knew instinctively if anything was coming or if she went wrong.
        “I got it.”
        They sat in silence for the rest of the journey.
        After about twenty minutes they arrived at a large wrought iron gate, which then proceeded to open as they drove forward, allowing them to drive up the long gravel drive.  As Alyssa brought the car round the corner a huge white house rolled into view; the drive continued round to the right of the house and up towards the garage.  Alyssa and Riley got out of the car and headed back round to the front of the house; walking up the steps to the large heavy ornate door, Riley handed Alyssa a brown envelope.
        “It’s in there.” He said quietly
        She took the envelope from him and opened the front door.  Five people stood around the open hallway, all of them had a look of curiosity on their faces.
        “Well?” came a voice from Alyssa’s far left.
        “Well what? I haven’t opened it yet.” Replied Alyssa.
        “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to give it to her while she was driving.” Riley said, with a hint of amusement in his tone.
        Out of the five other people there, one of them was a vampire; Lucas, the others were human; Paige, Jonathan, Emma and Mark.
        They all proceeded to the study on the right side of the hall, at which point Alyssa, Riley and the others sat down on the few pieces of furniture there.  For the size of the house there was very little furnishings; in fact the house looked like it wasn’t lived in.
        Alyssa quickly but carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the contents into her lap.  Throwing the envelope to one side, she sifted through the paper work.
        “Lucas, Paige, could you do a search for someone called Edward Drake.  Emma, Mark, could you check the security systems, make sure we weren’t followed and Jonathan have you finished the designs I asked for?"
        “Nearly, I just need to add a few more bits then it’s all set.”
        “Good, once they’re done could you bring them to me.”
        “Sure.”
        They all set about their tasks and left Alyssa and Riley alone.
        “What does it say?” asked Riley
        “Not a lot, just some things about someone called Edward.  There’s not much else that’s of relevance.”
        Getting up, Alyssa strided out of the study and up the stairs to her own room, not leaving Riley time to reply.  Reaching her room, she shut and locked the door behind her; although Riley and Lucas can easily open the door, they knew full well not to and Rikala felt confident enough to believe that they wouldn’t.
        The room itself was very open and measured to about 18ft x 24ft, not including the en suite; as you step into the room, there is a large window on the far right side with a desk positioned in front.  On the right hand wall there is a full sized book self and on the left hand side there is a white leather corner sofa and beech coloured coffee table.  Although this was a bedroom there was no bed present, this due to the fact that vampire’s don’t sleep.
        Rikala made her way over to her desk and sat down on the large office chair, she scattered the pieces of paper that she had brought with her over the desk’s surface and set about reading further; she had been unable to read it with the others there.  Rikala had never told them what she was doing or why she was doing it; they helped her because she was a friend and she gave them a place to stay.  She looked after them.  Riley was closer to her then the others, she could tell him things that she couldn’t’ and wouldn’t tell the others.
        “I should tell him.” She sighed.  “If only I knew what he’d say, he’s not going to like it.  None of them are going to like it, I’m using them and it’s not fair.”
        There was a knock at the door and quicker than anyone could blink Rikala had brushed the paper work into a draw of her desk and was opening the door.
        “Can I come in?” asked Riley
        “Sure.”
        Riley went to sit down on the sofa and Rikala shut the door behind him.
        “What is it you want?” asked Rikala, as she sat beside him.
        Riley sighed before turning to look her in the eyes.
        “Rikala, you’ve looked after all of us so much and we’re all very grateful; even Lucas though he may not show it.  You mean a lot to us and I think we deserve an explanation as to what we’re doing.”
        “I knew you’d ask at some point, but I can’t tell you.  As much as I want to and as much as I should, I cant because, to be honest, I ‘m not sure what I’m doing.”
        “How can you do something if you don’t know what you’re doing?” he asked.
        “I know what I have to do, I just don’t know if there’s a point to what I’m doing.”
        “What are you doing?”
        Rikala looked over towards the window and sighed.
        “Not right now, Riley.  Please.”
        He looked at her, she hadn’t been eating much lately and it was showing; she was a lot more agitated and not as strong as she normally was.  It worried him.
        “Okay, but don’t leave it too long.”
        Riley stood up and walked over to the door, with one last glance at Rikala he exited leaving Rikala alone.
       
        It had been a few hours since Riley had left, and it had given Alyssa time to think about what he had said.  She paced the room for a while before walking back over to her desk and pulling the paper work from the draw that she had recently placed it in.
        “I should tell them.” She muttered quietly.
        Her eyes scanned the neatly typed text until they finally rested upon two words; Edward Drake.  Where are you my love?  No sooner had the thoughts past through her mind, when a firm rap on the door caught her attention.  Once again, she brushed the paper aside and went over to answer the door.
        “Alyssa, you asked me to bring you the designs once I’d finished them.” Said Jonathan casually.
        “Yes.  Yes, please come in.” said Alyssa, standing aside to let Jonathan in.  “Just put them on the table.”
        Jonathan did as she asked and then sat down on the sofa, ready to run Alyssa through the plans.  However Alyssa was still stood holding the door open.
        “I didn’t tell you to sit.” She growled venomously.
        Jonathan slowly got to his feet; a look of confusion and fear on his face.  He stood still for a while before Alyssa spoke again.
        “Nor did I tell you to stand.” She growled again, only this time her eyes were pitch black and looked frozen with anger.  Jonathan muttered an apology and hurried out of the room.
        Alyssa shut the door with a heavy shove and in anger took a violent swipe at the book shelves; sending books flying, and then collapsed upon the sofa.  Why?  Why, did I react like that?  He did nothing wrong.  In reality she knew exactly why she had done it; but refused to think that it really was the reason.  Surely that fact that she wasn’t eating and the amount of stress she was feeling could cause these mood swings?  Surely there was something else; but no, there wasn’t.  Alyssa laid still for a minute or two before she felt relaxed and then made her way down stairs to apologise.
        “Jonathan”
        No reply.
        “Jonathan”
        She heard whispering this time from the kitchens and upon focusing her hearing; she knew instantly who they were.
        “I could see it in her eyes Riley; she was this close to ripping my throat out!”
        Alyssa froze in her tracks; it hurt her, such simple words, yet they hurt so much.
        “She hasn’t eaten for a while, you know that.”
        “Yes, but even so.  She shouldn’t be allowed to go for weeks without eating; she’s a danger to us.”
        “She can do what she likes.  This is her home.”
        “I know that, Riley.  I also know that all of you can and are a danger to us; even if you do feed.  But this is ridiculous!”
        “I’ll have a word with her but I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”
        “I don’t care, she could have killed me; she could have killed any of us.”
        They suddenly heard the front doors slam shut and Jonathan looked guiltily up at Riley.
        “She was in the hall wasn’t she?”
        “Yes” said Riley as he walked effortlessly over to the kitchen door.
        “Why didn’t you say something?”
        “What would you have wanted me to say?  It’s not like she wouldn’t have heard it; and it would have hurt her more.”
        Riley left the kitchen and Jonathan to find Lucas entering the hall form the other side.
        “I’m guessing we now go and find her.”
        “No.  No, we wait.  She’ll come back when she’s ready.”          
        They both glanced at the front door; hoping that he was right.

        Why did such simple words hurt her?  Had she not been insulted and talked about before?  Oh, but this was different, this was Jonathan.
        Alyssa was standing by the lake, hidden by the dense trees; her naturally bright eyes now dim and dull by the memories of what Jonathan had said. She stood absolutely still, observing; and then she blinked slowly.  Her shoulders moved as if she were closing in on herself; it seemed as though she carried a great burden and was unable to take the strain any longer. 
        “Why is it so hard for me to tell you all the truth?” she said, turning her back upon the lake she sauntered up into the heart of the forest and away from the house.  A single tear fell down her cheek.

        It had been a week since Alyssa had left; all work had come to a standstill, as no one knew what they needed to do.  Everyone was worried that she wouldn’t come back and there had been awkward silences in all conversations; stress was at a high level, with tempers going through the roof.
        Riley and Lucas had tried to contact Alyssa, but to no avail; neither of them could get her scent either; which didn’t help matters.
        “It’s all my fault!” wept Jonathan.  “If I hadn’t of reacted, she wouldn’t have –”
        “It wasn’t your fault, Jonathan.  You reacted just like any of us would have, if we were you.  You weren’t to know what would happen.”  Said Riley quietly from his position at the window.
        “But if I –”
        “Shh”
        “But –“          
        “Shh, Jonathan, I hear something.” Said Riley; turning his head slightly so that he could hear his surroundings more clearly.  “Lucas, did you hear that?”
        “Yeah, I did.  You think it’s her?”
        “Her?  You mean Alyssa?  Is she back?” Questioned Jonathan, anxiously.
        “Jonathan, be quiet.  Let them work.” Mark snapped.
        There was a long pause before both Riley and Lucas spoke again.  Their voices were hushed; so quiet in fact that to Jonathan, Emma, Paige and Mark it was just a silent hum; their lips barely moving.
        Lucas indicated for the others to stay put and be quiet, while they went to check something.  A few minuets passes before Riley came back.
        “Well?”
        “It was Alyssa, but she ran before we could say anything.  Lucas is trying to follow her.”
        Riley slumped down into the only available armchair and held his head in his hands.  A small murmur from Paige caused him to look up suddenly in anger.
        “Don’t you dare say that!” shouted Riley, which caused all of them to jump in shock.  None of them had ever heard Riley raise his voice; he was always the placid one; he was more human than a human – if that was at all possible.
        “Don’t you dare!” spat Riley again as he practically threw himself out of the chair and across the room to look Paige directly in the eyes.  Paige was cowering into the backrest of her chair in horror of Riley’s reaction; tears streaming down her face and dampening her pale pink blouse.
        The others stared horrified at the scene, wandering what Paige could have possibly said.
        Calming down, Riley backed off and walked over to the other side of the room.
        “She wouldn’t do that, she’d never do that.”
        Emma looked blankly at Paige and then in a hushed voice asked her what she had said.
        Through the tears Paige managed to stutter out a few sentences before the tears took hold again.
        “I–I–I said that she’s ab-b-andoning us.  I m-mean its obv-v-ious isn’t it.  She leaves f-for a week with n-no contact, then sh-she turns up without s-saying anything; probably to pack a bag and then she’s g-gone again.”
        “SHUT UP!”
        There was a deafening crack as Riley tore the 42” plasma TV in two.
        “There was no need to break my property, Riley.  Paige was only sharing her opinion.”
        They all stared with blank expressions at Alyssa who had just walked through the door with Lucas following behind her.