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"I
knew of love once," the vampire began slowly, his eyes looking down, away
from Jason. He paused for a moment, looking despondent, and ..heartbroken? Does
a vampire have a heart? Did this one?
"I
was once a soldier in the army.. some time ago, but, as they say, war changes a
man". The vampire laughed at his cleverness. Jason winced at the sound of
that laughter, it sounded like long fingernails on a dusty chalkboard.
The
laughter stopped, and a silence fell over the room. Jason stirred, his injuries
beginning to come to life and speak up. The vampire noticed this and smiled.
"I
will keep it brief", he said with a small smile. He placed his hand on
Jason's face and within a moment, Jason's eyes grew heavy and his pains faded
away to a distant whisper. The vampire continued to talk, his words forming
vivid pictures in Jason's mind.
"I
was a private in the war of Northern Aggression, remembered in history texts as
'The Civil War'. It was near the end of the affair for the South, and we were
beaten. Although the treaties were still a ways away, we knew that it was over,
and that we would return home saddened, bested, and in far fewer numbers than
had set off. I had a young wife that I yearned to see. She was beautiful. Long
auburn hair that fell past her shoulders and curled at the end. She had pale,
smooth skin, with a small nose that was perfect. Her eyes, hazel green, big and
friendly... I stared into them forever, and knew happiness.
I
knew the war was over, yet I was fearful I would die in a foolish skirmish
before I was sent home. I was fearful that I would never again hold my wife, and
begin the family I had always wanted. I began to consider fleeing the army,
running home and risking it all to be called a traitor. But, a traitors heart
did not pump blood through this body, and I stayed and fought. One night, I was
told that if I murdered the General, a brave and noble man from Massachusetts, I
could return home a hero to my wife. I said yes, but when I arrived at his hut,
I could not bear the thought of returning to my wife a murderer. I had killed in
the war, but I killed with honor. How could I hold in the hands of someone who
had killed a man to go home. I would sacrifice his dreams of returning home, so
that I could have mine. I could not put the blade in him, and I left the hut
silently.
When I stepped out of the hut, I heard
what I believe to be the catch of a pistol, but now know it to have been the
sound of a small twig snapping under the weight of a mans boot. I felt a strong
hand on my shoulder, and came face to face with a vampire. In an instant, I was
against a tree, his teeth piercing my neck, my blood flooding his mouth. I felt
like slipping away, but I was rescued by soldiers. I wasn't saved, quite the
opposite of that. But, they assumed that I was one of their soldiers and they
fired at the vampire to save me. I do not know what happened as the first
bullets pounded his flesh, but I fled as fast as I could. I ran away from the
sounds of death and gunfire. I ran until my lungs ached and wheezed violently.
My legs gave out at the side of a lake. I fell to its shore, my sides throbbing
from the exertion. I lay back for a moment, my eyes closed, relieved to be
alive. I did not know it just then, but I had been attacked by a vampire, but
the interference of the soldiers prevented my death, and provided my birth. I
began to vomit, dark blood, that seemed to pour from my soul. I crawled slowly
to the lake side, and tried to wash my mouth and face. The water felt cold and
refreshing against my boiling skin. I peered into the water as the ripples my
hand had caused faded, and saw that my eyes had turned from brown to red! I knew
it then, that the daylight I had seen this day, would be my last. I knew of
folktales from my family, and I understood that vampires were not a myth. I fled
from the lake side, from the approaching sunrise that would char my skin. I
didn't know if I truly wanted to live, but I knew that I did not want to die
right now.
I
decided to walk home to my wife. I had not seen her in years, but I was certain
she waited. I did not know my exact distance, but I knew I needed to head west
to reach my home. For days, weeks and then months, I walked home. I saw town
after town from the shelter of night. I fed on small animals that I caught, and
I avoided people at all costs. My body cried out for warm blood, but I
surpressed the desire.
One
night, as I walked along the dark streets of Knoxville, still weeks from
arriving home, I met the first people since I became the monster that you see
before you. Had they been fine, upstanding people, this meeting between you and
I may have been decidely different, but that was not the fate of it. These men
that I met along the road that night, we of the troublesome lot. Full of anger
and alochol, prepared to accost any whose path they might cross. They brandished
a long blade, and told me they needed any nice possessions I carried. I had long
ago left my possessions behind, but I still told these men nothing. They
attacked, and I ...defended myself. Three men died by my hands in an instant,
their terror and screams brought a smile to my face, and their blood.., I drank
of it, and enjoyed.
That
night I realized what I was, and what I had to be. I hid the bodies after I fed,
their blood giving me strength that I had never dreamed of having. I made it
home in three nights, for a journey that should have taken weeks. Finally, I sat
outside the home of my wife, and knew that I could never again go inside.
I
was a monster, and my wife the purest angel on earth. I would watch her grow old
while I lived in eternal anguish. How would we live with me having to sleep
during the day, and only able to live at night. I would be discovered and she
would die to defend me. I thought of changing her to be like me, but I already
knew that being a vampire was hell on earth, and I loved her too much to subject
her to this. I watched her that evening. She cooked herself a small dinner, and
ate alone at a table. She sat on the porch for an hour, reading by three bright
candles. I wanted to go to her, but I knew that could not happen.
She
read a letter I had sent her over a year ago, crying my name softly into the
night as she wiped tears from her soft cheeks. I cried with her, crying for the
life that had ended. I watched her rise from her seat and go inside the house.
She blew out the candles in the house and a moment later, my vampire eyes saw
her lay in bed. I crept towards the house silently, sitting under the window. I
could hear her soft prayers. Prayers for my return, and for my soul in the
horrors of war. I heard the sounds of her soft breathing as she slept, and stood
in the window to watch her sleep. She was more beautiful than I remembered.
I
stood there until moments before sunrise, watching her sleep, and crying. As the
sun was about to rise, I blew her a kiss, and ran off to the woods, never to see
my beloved again.
©2004 StoriesByEmail.com
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