The Blood of Life - Chapter 5 - A False Dawn

Finally I'm back to posting chapters for my next book. You can find previous chapters here. 

If I had a heart that still beat, it would have skipped. “Tell me what you saw,” I whisper.

The leopard gestures toward the stairs. “You look shaken. Perhaps we should go upstairs to sit down. There is the other bottle of wine,” he suggests.

My ears are down, and I realize I have tucked my tail defensively. “I thought he was gone.”

“I don’t know for sure he is the one, but is the one who turned you a weasel?” Ekrem asks me.

“Yes,” I reply. In my mind, I can see a flash of his smile, as he leaned forward to whisper honeyed words that dulled my senses and ensorcelled me. If he told me his name, I do not remember it, but I will always remember the feeling of warmth he brought to my cheeks and the horror he cursed me with.

“Come, let’s open the other bottle of wine.”

I nod dully and follow Ekrem upstairs and through the house, my mind racing. If the one who turned me is not gone, what does that mean for me? What happens if I kill the one that made me?

Back in his rooms I sit down at the table. Ekrem pulls the other bottle of wine out and opens it. Carefully he pours it into a goblet and hands it me. I take the offered drink and look down at the dark red liquid, feeling myself falling into its depths. “This information could save me,” I say.

“Save you?” the leopard asks me, pausing as he fills his own glass.

“If I find and kill him, I will have appeased my curse.”

“Does it work that way?”

“I don’t know. It might free me from the eternal night, or it might not. Even if doesn’t, though, he is too dangerous to let survive.”

Ekrem nods.

“So tell me what you saw,” I ask, looking up from the wine glass.

The leopard picks up his wine and takes a sip. “First some background. Before I owned this store, it was my uncle’s. Uncle Ismail was always eccentric, and trying to work out the way he organized this store has convinced me he had a different way of thinking. Ismail always could quickly find things in here. I have spent years trying to reorganize this place and the extra stock, and I still find things I didn't know were here.

“Before he died, my uncle used to travel to Setin to sell excess stock. He employed an assistant back then who would watch the store. Ismail came to visit shortly after I turned eighteen, and he insisted on taking me out to celebrate.”

“And?” I ask.

“We went to the tavern, and we drank. He had me good and going. I was feeling no pain when it came time to stumble home. The night was dark, the moon was not out, and we went up the street drunk, turned a corner and what I saw will never leave me.”

Ekrem takes a deep breath to steady himself. “There was a weasel with his face in the neck of a wolf. A man on showing affection to another man I thought at first. That was strange to see in public but it wasn't that that threw me. They weren't kissing. He was drinking from the wolf's neck. We must have disturbed his meal, for he did not wish to leave. I could see the hunger in his eyes, yet I could feel myself being drawn toward him. I knew not who he was, but I suddenly wanted to approach him even as I could see what he would do to me.”

I no longer feel the cold of winter, but an icy chill went down my back. “That’s got to be him,” I say softly.

Ekrem nods and continues. “In that moment I was helpless in a way I have never been before. Maybe the weasel didn’t notice my uncle Ismail or he was able to resist the pull of the weasel. Uncle threw up the lantern he was carrying and charged the vampire. That seems to have saved our lives because he fled before my uncle, leaving us with the dying wolf.

“When you came into the tavern and you told me you wanted to speak to the priest, I knew you did not wish to kill anyone. You sought only the solace of the dead not the blood of the living. That is how I knew you were not evil. I had seen the weasel and the wolf in the tavern before the attack, which made the whole thing much worse. They seemed happy, but the wolf must have been under the weasel’s spell. For this, he paid with his life.”

I drum my fingers on the table. “That’s what he did to me. He ensnared me in a moment of weakness, and he compelled me to join him for what I thought would be a tryst. Instead, I became what I am.” I pause to consider. “Did the wolf rise?”

“We told the local priest, and he took matters into his own hands to keep him from coming back.”

“Good. A vampire made out of hate like that only turns to anger.”

Ekrem considers. “Are there other ways to make one?”

“I have heard rumor of those created due to love, so the vampire would not lose the person, but it is only a story. The few others of my kind I’ve met have not been the most talkative, and I have not been in the mood to talk either.”

“Are there many of you?”

I shake my head. “No. Most vampires are solitary, but there are those that stick together. I found there was safety and solace in isolation. Too many vampires attract the hunters, and it is easier to stay in the shadows when you’re alone.”

He nods. “So will you seek him out?”

“It will be dangerous, but yes.” I ball my paws into fists. “I cannot let him live.”

The leopard’s ears go up. “Is that wise?”

I bark out a laugh. “No, but I’ve been running for a long, long time. I came here for closure. I will tie off this loose end, even if it costs me my own life.”

“And what about Lorelei?”

“If she gets to the weasel first, by all means, let her take care of him, but she is looking for me. Maybe there’s someplace nearby I could stay.”

“What about here? Would the basement work?”

It would, but do I trust him? It would be easy for Lorelei to find me that way, but he seems honest. There aren’t any caves near here I know about. “Is it dark down there?”

“Very.”

I swirl the wine in my goblet around. “Let me make arrangements tomorrow night with Alina, after I figure out how to handle my trunk.”

“I can pick it up for you to send it on and say I’m making a trip out of town.”

“That would work. I’d like to do some more looking tonight to see if there’s anything else in the journals we do have. There could be something else we missed since I was focusing on looking back to when Katarina was alive.”

He picks up his goblet of wine. “Hopefully we can find something.”

#

The hunt unfortunately proves unfruitful. I go back over the diaries I’ve already looked at. Skimming them too quickly means I’ll miss something. Skimming them slowly takes time, and nothing comes up tonight. After a while, Ekrem cannot hide his exhaustion, and I bid him adieu a few hours before dawn. He mumbles a goodbye and plods off to get some sleep before the store opens. I leave the basket with the remaining food with him and set off to find my own meal.

My mind is racing as I stroll through the village. The night is still. I see no candles or lamps lit, but that does not mean someone is not awake, waiting and watching. The possibilities of what happened fly across my mind. Is he still here? Can I find him? Do I even have the strength to take him on? I don’t know, but there is one thing I do know—I’m famished.

Taking one of the roads out of the village, I quickly run out of houses, and end up out in the fields that surround Strasek. I make sure I get over a hill where anyone who watched me leave town will not see me. Finding a haystack a little ways out of town, I take a moment to pause in the shadows near it, looking around. Satisfied that the area is deserted, I take my clothes off and fold them, tucked them under some hay. Then I step out into the moonlight and slip into my bat form.

I beat my wings, feeling the joy and freedom it gives me. I would love to fly circles around the fields like I did last night, chasing the shafts of moonlight the clouds make, but business has to be handled. Flapping harder, I push up and away from my former home. The nearest village is a few miles away, but I don’t need to go that far for my meal. I just need to find some cattle a discrete distance from any nearby farmhouses.

I search for half an hour, and I’m rewarded with a remote field by a copse of pines that is down the hill from a farmhouse. I circle low to the ground before I let my form slip and land softly on my hand paws, naked and kneeling against the ground. I take a moment to listen to the night and stillness of it before I get up. The cattle are sleeping and it’s easy to creep up on one and whisper the words that makes the cow only kick a leg as I reach down and sink my fangs into her neck.

The blood is warm and coppery, and I am so hungry.  Yet even though I know it will keep me going, it’s missing what makes it delightful. Cattle do not have the intelligence of someone like myself, and the blood is flat in my mouth. It lacks the fullness of a sentient creature, but in my hungry state I could drink my fill and be satisfied.

Too soon I have to break off before I kill this poor beast. I smooth the fur down before I move to the next cow and repeat the process. After that, I’m still hungry, so I take some from a third, and that finally sates my thirst. I take only a little from each, and I keep my bites clean and precise. They might be a little sluggish in the morning, but the farmer should be none the wiser for it. It would not be prudent to raise his suspicion that something is amiss. My fang marks are small, and the puncture wounds should heal quickly in a day or two.

When I am done, I walk back to a copse of pines before I let the night and its magic change me, and I take flight. The wind carries me a little further away from Strasek, but I must make for the village. Already in the east I spot the lightening of the sky that heralds the coming of dawn, and with it my mortal enemy the sun. I need to be back to my room and the safety it provides. Even though I do not age, I still need to rest. I can feel a growing weariness in my body from the lack of sleep and the full meal, and it will be nice to sleep a full night today.

#

The sun is close to rising when I finally return to the inn. Already there is a warmth against my fur from the sky. I had not planned to be gone for so long, so I didn’t leave the window to my room open to attempt to climb up to it. The inn is dark, and while I could possibly find a way in as a bat, I would have to abandon my clothes, I first attempt the latch on the front door as myself, which I find is unlocked. I bless my luck that Strasek is still too small to require people to lock their doors at night apparently, and I enter carefully, pausing to listen.

My ears swivel back and forth. I wonder if perhaps Alina is up already baking bread for the day, but the downstairs is quiet and still. The fire in the hearth has gone out, and no light comes from the kitchen.

Not wanting to disturb her or arouse suspicion, I carefully cross the common room, but at the stairs I pause. Something is wrong. There’s a sweet smell in the air, and I can feel my fur prickle in excitement before I realize what it means.

I smell blood.

Even though I just ate, the momentary rush comes to me first before the concern for whose blood this might be. I sniff again, and realize the scent is strong, yet also stale. This isn’t just a drop from a splinter or pricked finger.

With trepidation, I try and climb the stairs silently. They creak a little as I ascend and I pause, but all is silent. There is just a little light coming in from outside when I reach the top, and in it I see Alina. She’s lying in the middle of the hallway, and there is no call to my senses from her life essence. She is dead, with a small pool of dried blood near her. Carefully, I walk over, trying not to disturb the scene.

It can’t be too recent since the blood has dried. The badger is still wearing the clothing she had on last night and she’s on her side, and the side of her neck is exposed and bloodied. I kneel down next it to confirm my fear. Against the matted fur I can see two fang marks next to each other, which is where she bled out from.

I touch my own neck, feeling the two healed gashes there under my fur. This is not a precise bite like I make, but the bite of someone who doesn’t care. This is the bite of someone who wants you to know how someone died and who wants to draw attention to their crime.

I sit back on my haunches, confused and in shock. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

My words do little to comfort her, and I realize I shouldn’t have come. She deserved better than this. I need to go. Whoever did this did this for a reason, and the further I get from Strasek, the safer they’ll all be.

Except I know that’s not true. No, no one will be safe if I leave because no one here can fight someone like me. To leave them to this fate is a coward’s path. I left this village defenseless and alone before, but I didn’t know what I know now. I know who and what I have become. Whoever did this did this to get me to leave, because they know I know their weaknesses. They don’t think I will seek out the truth of what they’ve done.

“I will make sure whoever killed you pays for this,” I say to Alina’s corpse, clenching my fists. “You deserved better, and I will not rest until they are slain.”

I get up, and that’s when I see the bloody pawprints, leading toward my room. The door has been left ajar.

Carefully, I walk over and push the door open. The window is open, and there is a bloody spot on the windowsill. For a brief moment I have to wonder if I did this. Have I suddenly lost control of myself and entered some type of fugue state? What if I wasn’t with Ekrem most of the night? What if I’ve lost control?

I’m shaking, and I have to steady myself against the door frame. Even inside there is a growing warmth on my body. Dawn is coming, but I need to know. Hesitantly, I look down at my hands.

The black fur is clean.

I want to take a deep breath, but I can’t. I didn’t do this, but who did?

I look closer at the pawprints. The toes are positioned differently than my own, and while I am not a tracker, there is no fox print.

I look out the window, and I can see the sky is lightening. The sun will rise in ten minutes or so, trapping me here in the inn. There will be no escape from paying for their crimes if I stay.

“Well played,” I snarl as I spring into action. Quickly I grab Katarina’s journal and flee the room and thunder down the stairs and across the common room. I’m not sure if there are other guests tonight, but they used my room for their escape intentionally. At the front door I pause and pull it open quietly, trying not to look too guilty. Stepping out, I can hear voices in the distance.

Hurriedly, I walk across the street and I can feel burning pain on my head from the sky. I grit my teeth as I pass a wolf who turns, curiously at my sudden hustling by. I pull my collar up and keep walking, the book clutched under an arm.

I could fly away, but to where? There’s nowhere close I know to hide. Maybe someone has a basement I can break into and take my chances.

Entering the town square, Ekrem’s shop sits quietly, and I practically sprint toward it, seizing upon it as my only option.

I reach it and try the door, but it’s locked. Frantically I start banging on the wood. “Ekrem,” I call out. People are going to notice me, but I don’t have a choice. “Ekrem!” I yell, pounding on the door.

Over the distant horizon the sun breaks, and even in the shade among the buildings, I know my time is up. My body becomes pain, and my fur screams.

“Ekrem, please,” I cry, slamming into the door, feeling myself starting to go. There’s burning, something is cooking… Oh god, I’m cooking!

“Ekrem,” I whisper, slumping against the door as motes of dust envelop me. This is it. This is the end. At least the morning light is beautiful as it kills me.

There is a click from the lock and the door opens. I fall into the store and the dim interior. I don’t feel the floor when I hit it.