War Against Others and Myself- Prologue

Prologue

Excerpt from the journal of Ms. Violet

            It was a cave, a luxury by most standards as the family living here had sturdy shelter for the season. But unfortunately for them, it also trapped them if a predator came in, nothing large of course, nothing that they couldn’t handle normally especially with the well known systems that would twist into dead ends and barely human size crevasses where a spear could easily kill whatever creature would invariably become dinner that night in what may later in their evolution be called irony. But of course, these things wouldn’t help them against me. I barely made a sound even at a dead run, I would not wake the steadily breathing humans, and most importantly, I was human sized of course, this meant that, I was stronger than them, faster than them, more alert than them, and able to get into any hiding place they could think of.

            I moved over to where the mother was carefully curled around her child, the young creature stirred at my presence, I had found, over the years, that the younglings, those that haven’t been taught what was dangerous yet, had a more innate, sometimes more accurate sense of the world around them, of when something meant to harm them, this child looked up at me with wide eyes whimpering, his thin red hair contrasting sharply against the black hair of his mother. He already looked intelligent enough, waiting for me to make the first move, as if to tell me that I could leave now and he wouldn’t make a fuss, just let me go so that I wouldn’t have to deal with his mother and father. Both of whom were strong and from long lived lines, his mother of course had a deadly sharp mind and his father was a better tracker then even some of my kind to his credit, but they were only humans, and this expression on the child’s face made me want to turn him even more, he would make a good apprentice, maybe even a great leader someday if he listened to me.

            I crouched down to lift him from his mother’s peacefully sleeping arms, and he wailed, he wailed so loudly that I thought my sensitive eardrums would burst from the reverberating cry. His mother jumped startled knowing of the imminent danger as she came to her senses she grabbed a crude tool, a sharper rock she had used to skin that day’s meal. She jumped to her feet and glared at me, clutching her child close to her.

            “Who are you?” she asked me loudly, partly to be heard over her child’s wails, and partly to wake her husband as if the cries shouldn’t have done that already.

            “I am here for the child and there is nothing you can do to stop me from taking him.” I said calmly and firmly, letting her see my long white fangs glisten under the light of the full moon that came into the cave.

            The woman paled, realizing that I wasn’t a normal human, and I was in fact, a predator, she probably didn’t know the word vampire since the groups of people that she and her husband had traveled with, the group that slept close by but had been dosed so as not to wake in just such a circumstance, had never been attacked by my kind before or heard from the groups that did, we had made sure of that to some extent, their own territorial natures had done the rest. She held her child ever closer to her body defensive even as she felt hopelessness wash over her, there are things one just knows about a my kind when one is under the effects of an aura of fear, one of those things is that the creature in front of you is indestructible, cannot be beaten by any means much less what you have with you, especially if all you have with you is a crudely sharpened rock and a young one to slow you down.

            About then the husband came in furious and wielding a spear which was still stained with blood from that morning’s hunt, he didn’t hesitate, he tackled me thrusting the spear through my chest to pin me to the floor.

            I smirked as his eyes widened, staring at the bloodless wound. I grabbed the spear shaft and jerked, pulling him towards me just enough that I could grab his throat firmly. How convenient, I had just began to hunger, I had planned to leave them alive of course, these two could have had more children like the one I was after, but that would have likely been a mistake, strong and intelligent children might one day learn to hurt my kind, and we couldn’t have that. I would leave the woman however, so long as she didn’t resist too badly, maybe it was what was left of my human nature, or maybe I was impressed by her willingness to cling to her child and her weapon even under the full weight of my suggestion and the hopelessness that came with terror. Either way, I sunk my teeth into her husband’s jugular vein, draining the life from him as she and the baby screamed.

            I finished my meal, wiping the leftover traces of bright red blood from the corners of my mouth, never had gotten the hang of eating completely neatly, ah well, it added to the effect in times like this, times when intimidation could get very good results. “Now then” I said calmly, looking her up and down again, black hair, her child’s blue inelegant eyes, about 5 foot 9 inches, a little hunched from helping her husband carry supplies, standing there, clinging to her child fiercely, seeming to have gotten her spine back at her husband’s death, a warrior to the core it seemed, she would mourn for him after I was gone. Pity she wasn’t one of my kind, I considered turning her, but the thought of someone with her fire hating me with the strength and ferocity my bite would bring actually sent a shudder down my spine, no, I was here only for her child and that would be the last time we ever saw each other. “Give me the child” I said holding my hands out for the small fur wrapped bundle.

            “What do you want with him?” She asked hissing through her teeth as if she were ready to tear my throat out with them.

            “Well,” I said removing the spear from my chest, too clunky to keep there, pesky objects “I wish to raise him, train him in the ways of the world as it were.

            She glared at me, hating my insinuation that she could not do such for her own child, but relief also passed across her features, I wasn’t going to hurt her child and that was good.

            “What is his name?” I finally asked trying to show some interest in her wishes, maybe I wouldn’t have to cripple this woman after all to get what I wanted.

            “Viorel Ki’dirnet” She said hesitantly, obviously still very unwilling to give him to me.

            “Bluebell and Blood spear…” I muttered, translating the name. How strange a combination, but a good last name, maybe I wouldn’t have to think of what to call him then. “Now, can you raise him without a hunter?” I asked flatly, knowing the answer would likely be no, it took two to feed a third mouth.

            “I could” She said firmly “I have many friends among our group and they would help me until he was old enough to help hunt himself.

            This of course surprised me; she was willing to ask others for help? Showing weakness? Friendship, I rolled the concept around in my mind, evidently, you could expect help from friends and they may never receive reconciliation, except, would that mean that you would help them too if you could? Hmmm, sounded like an alliance with very loose clauses, no matter.

            “What is your name?” I finally asked, impressed by the determined woman.

            “Leeda, Leeda Ki’dirnet” She said carefully.

            “I see, and what exactly would you plan on doing if I were to take Viorel by force?” I asked examining my fingernails, I wasn’t really curious but such a question usually let the situation sink in.

            She hugged her son closer as if that were a possibility at that point, he had quieted but was still squirming restlessly “I would fight you with everything I have in me until no part of me would move.” She said, the conviction flaring behind her light blue eyes like smoldering earth after a thunderstorm.

            “Is there anything I could do to take him without leaving you killed or broken then?” I said, pointedly leaving out any indication of myself being injured, and of course, I didn’t really care, it was just a preference, mostly because Viorel might ask someday what had become of his parents, it simply wouldn’t do for him to seek revenge against me.

            “Nothing…. I don’t want him to be like you.” She said coldly.

            “How long do you expect him to live in your lifestyle? Optimally?” I asked casually.

            “…he will be strong and my family has always lived long as well as his father’s… 40 years maybe….:” she said, obviously imagining what could go wrong in her child’s life, thinking of the kinds of predators he would have to face while following a herd or gathering meager plants in the winter, thinking of what had happened to his father just moments before.

            “My kind lives far longer, he would be stronger and food would be, easier to come by” I said the last line with a smirk, watching hope and then horror crossing her face, she knew exactly what I planned to do now.

            I watched her weigh the situation in her mind, smoke practically coming from her ears as she thought, she knew she couldn’t prevent me from taking him; my spear wound hadn’t even bothered me.

            “I….” she said hesitantly, quietly “I wish to see him again… when he is grown.”

            I frowned, it made no sense, she wished to see him, after he had become like me when she had professed that she did not wish him to be like me… how strange… Ah, that was it, she wanted what I was trying to prevent, she wanted her son to want revenge against me.

            “You may see him, but he may not see you, when he has lived for fifteen seasonal cycles and more, we will move through here again, keep your eyes peeled at night then, and you will see him.” I said calmly.

            She glared at me defiantly for a moment, but then nodded sadly, it was the best she could possibly hope for.

            “Now, hand him over, there’s a good girl.” I said grinning and holding out my arms.

            She hugged her child close whispering gently in his ear so that I couldn’t hear her, but she underestimated my senses. “Remember that you are always loved, and you will never really be alone so long as you have been willing to help at least one person a lifetime.” She carefully tucked in a fold of the furs, and placed him in my arms “Please…. Take care of him, let him be his own person.” She said the embers in her eyes dim.

            I shrugged and listened to the noise outside, bird song, dawn would be coming soon, too soon. I cursed myself for not leaving more time and disappeared into the night. Viorel, an anomaly even to me, looked up at me, not quite scowling just, concentrating, he squirmed slightly and settled in, he knew he wasn’t going back… and instead of crying, like his mother whom I could hear as I left, he had…. Accepted it. 

            As I read back through my journal now, I realize that to this day, I still don’t know if I’ve seen anything stranger then Viorel Ki’dirnet…