Young Writers Society

Eastern Russia, 1254 A.D.

The eerie glow of the full moon seemed to illuminate the jeering faces of my captors, making them look more like monsters than men. I wasn’t afraid though. Not of the dark, the men who held me…not even the overwhelming dread of my fate looming in the distance. There was only the anger. The overwhelming anger of betrayal. Deep down I knew that Matvei wouldn’t keep his promise to me, no matter how much I wanted him to. He never was good at keeping promises. He would pay. I would make sure of it.

“We found this serf wench trying to escape near the border, my lord,” one of my captors proclaimed, dropping me in a heap at Matvei’s feet. “We heard that she belonged to you.”

“Indeed she does,” Matvei replied with a smile. “Good work, gentlemen. You have my leave.”

“Elvira,” he breathed. I could see the passion in his eyes as he looked at me. “You have no idea how much I’ve…”

“Don’t.” I hissed venomously, and I could see the shock and confusion in his eyes. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You know they kill runaway serfs! How could you do this to me?” I wailed

“Elvira…”

“You promised me with freedom, and this is how you reward me?”

“Elle, you know I couldn’t live without you.”

“If you ever loved me,” I whispered. “You would have let me go.”

Thirty lashes at the flogging post. That was the sentence. Though after the tenth lash, I had a horrible feeling that they weren’t going to stop. With my back on fire as I fell into unconsciousness, all I could think about was revenge.

I didn’t know if it was a dream or a delusion when I saw the dark, handsome man begin walking toward me. He had a hungry look in his eyes. I was surrounded in a pool of my own blood and it took only a moment to realize that that was what the strange man hungered for. My blood.

“Help me,” I rasped.

“Are you mad?” my mind seemed to scream at me. “Vourdalak! Vampire! Run!”

But I couldn’t move, I couldn’t run, there was only me, my pain, and the vampire. I would do anything to dull the pain. Anything! The vampire nodded slowly, and I felt a piercing pain in the neck…and all went black.

At first, there was only the darkness…and for a moment I wondered if I was dead. That was when the pain hit me. A different pain, burning like a wildfire from my neck, throughout my entire body. Then there was the hunger. A feeling like I hadn’t eaten in years. A hunger for revenge and blood. That was when I remembered. “Matvei.” I hissed.

The young man slept restlessly, muttering in his sleep. Bad dream, I supposed. Odd that sleep could trouble the life of a nobleman, their lives were unscathed by the drudgery of their serf slaves. But Matvei wasn’t like other noblemen. He had loved me despite my status, and yet, he had betrayed me all the same. The scent of his blood called to me then…like the aroma of food calls to a hungry man. I wondered if he would ever notice me, lurking in the shadows, disturbing his sleep.

“Elvira!” he cried out suddenly, still asleep. “Elvira! no! I’m sorry… so sorry.”

His cries would not dissuade me. It was too late for him. Too late for forgiveness.

He opened his eyes.

“Who’s there?” he called out, his voice laced with panic.

“Hello, Matvei,” I replied smoothly. “Did you miss me?”

“Elle?” he breathed. “I thought you were…”

“Dead?” I laughed bitterly. “You’re sadly mistaken. You see, when you betrayed me and left me to die, I was saved by the most unlikely of creatures.”

My canines seemed to elongate of their own accord.

His eyes widened in terror. He knew what I was…and what I was about to do.

“No…” he breathed. “Elvira…no. NO! Please, don’t do this!”

I sunk my teeth into the nape of his neck, and he cried out in agony.

The taste of his blood was rich on my tongue, and it satisfied me to know that soon he would suffer the fate that had almost befallen me.

“I’m not sorry,” I whispered in his ear, the moment I was done feeding. “You deserve this.”

By that time, his body was vibrating in violent spasms, and I knew that he would soon be dead. That gave me a sick, twisted pleasure.

“Elvira…” he rasped, his breathing ragged, his last breath just around the corner. “Please. Forgive me.”

His body shuddered one last time, and then he was still.

“Never,” I whispered.

The next couple of weeks were difficult for me. It was difficult to find food without being detected. In my third week, I happened to stumble across a young man, not yet twenty. He had not even screamed as I took him for my own. A pity, it was. He was such a pretty boy. Musings like these are what have been frightening me lately. Sometimes I wonder if whatever was left of my humanity was sucked away the moment I was bitten. It didn’t bother me, the killing, the consumption of my victims’ blood; and that seemed to frighten me most of all. What had happened to me? Did all humans who were changed become monsters like me?

“What’s the matter, Elle,” a sinister voice seemed to whisper in my mind. “You wanted this.”

“Surely, I did,” I mused with a chilling laugh, and shivered at the hint of madness in my voice.

A twig snapped in the distance. I had known I was being watched for awhile now, but I paid no mind to it. A mere human wouldn’t—

“ALEKSEI!” a panicked female voice yelled into the night. “ALEKSEI!”

More voices joined in, yelling for the fallen boy whose blood I had consumed. I swore under my breath. A search party. I didn’t have time to hide the body. I had to escape as fast as I…too late. A panic stricken girl of about my own age; sixteen, was backed up against the tree across from where I was standing. She was breathing rapidly, anxiety clearly showing on her face as she noticed the blood dripping from my lips. I envied her for that moment. The life she had. It was the life I could have had if the circumstances had been any different. If only…

I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, as a villager struck me on the back of the head with his club, and all went black.

“We caught this one in the woods,” the villager said roughly, shoving me into the cramped cell. I could tell that he was afraid of me. Despite his feigned bravado, his eyes betrayed him.

“Is she the one,” the jailer said in a cold voice. “The one who killed my son?”

“Yes.”

The jailer edged closer to my cell. His eyes were cold, emotionless. A man whose eyes had seen too much of death.

“Silence, Vourdalak!” he spat before I could even say a word. He was not afraid of me, not at all. That much was clear. He had dealt with my kind before…and often.

“Your kind has slaughtered the people of this village for too long. You have killed my wife, you have killed my daughter…and now you have killed my only son. Now you will pay.” He snarled.

“We’ll see about that,” I replied, revealing my fangs. “Your son didn’t even scream as I took him for my own. He welcomed death.”

He lunged at me through the bars of my cell, but I gripped his arm with a strength that I did not realize I had. “You will spare me this one night.” I told him firmly.

“Why should I?” he growled. “You don’t deserve it.”

“You’re right, I don’t.”

“Then, why should I help you?” He demanded.

“I need answers.” I replied quietly. “I need you to find the one who did this to me.”

The jailer laughed. “What makes you think I will be willing or able to do that?”

“If you don’t agree to my terms, I’ll kill you right now.”

He grimaced. “He won’t be easy to find, I can tell you that. Vampires are tricky to track. Then, of course, there’s you…”

“I am a newborn in case you couldn’t tell.”

“Fine,” he snarled. “But if I don’t find him, I will kill you. Mark my words.”

“Agreed,” I said, as I watched him storm off.

I was sure he was gone, but I heard the sound of someone clapping right in front of my cell.

“Impressive,” a male voice replied. “I couldn’t have done better myself.

I looked up to see a handsome young man with deathly pale skin, and dark hair and eyes. He smiled at me. His canines were longer than they should have been.

“You,” I hissed. “You did this to me. You’re the one who bit me.”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Why did you do this to me?” I screamed.

“I was trying to save you!” he exclaimed. “I couldn’t just leave you there…it’s barbaric what they do to the serfs. I had to do…something.”

“So you kill me,” I said bitterly.

He snorted. “Being a vampire isn’t the same as being dead.” He shook his head. “People really do twist the truth, sometimes.”

“You made me into a monster!” I snarled.

“You did that to yourself.”

I realized then how right he was.

“Well, are you just going to sit around in that dirty cell all night or are you going to let me free you?” he asked.

My eyes narrowed. “Just because you’re a vampire doesn’t mean I should trust you. You bite me, leave me for dead, then show up out of nowhere and expect me to follow you? Why does my freedom matter to you?”

“We vampires watch out for each other,” he replied. “I’ve been watching you, and you, my dear, are in quite a plight, aren’t you? Vampirism really hasn’t made your life any easier, has it?”

I didn’t reply.

“I can help you with that. You’ll have to trust me.”

I didn’t trust him, but he was my only way out. I nodded.

“Kale,” he introduced himself.

“Elvira,”

He unlocked my cell. I took his hand.

“So, are you going to tell me about your past or not?” Kale pressed.

“I’d prefer not to,” I replied, stubbornly. I’d realized that Kale wasn’t a bloodthirsty beast like I was the moment I met him. He looked at the world so differently that I hardly considered him a vampire at all. While my entire existence seemed to focus on vengeance; his was redemption.

“As hard as it is to believe,” he said. “I was once like you. Bitter; unforgiving. The nobles killed my whole family. My mother…my sister…my brother…everyone. For years, my mind was consumed by revenge. It was all I could think of. Once I had my revenge, all I could feel was the …guilt…of what I had done. It sickened me. Since then, I have never killed another human being… if I could help it. I don’t think I could ever live with that on my conscience again.” He shivered. “I see that it’s the complete opposite for you.” He continued in a disapproving tone. “You don’t feel remorse for anything you’ve done, have you? You have no feelings left.”

He paused. “Who did this to you?”

“There’s no need to be so concerned, Kale,” I told him smoothly. “He’s dead.”

“You killed him.” He replied flatly.

“You shouldn’t be so surprised,” I told him in an emotionless tone.

“I’ve killed a lot of people.”

“I intend to change that, Elvira. As long as you’re with me, you will not kill another human being. Mark my words.” He paused.

“I do intend to save you,” he said. “I’ve saved you once. I’m going to save you again.”

“It’s too late for me, Kale.” I said sadly. “Fate has already made me into a monster. I don’t think any of our kind can be saved.”

“How do you do it?” I asked him once, traveling from town to town. “How can you survive without harming humans?”

He chuckled in spite of himself.

“What?” I demanded.

“A self-proclaimed monster is asking me how not to kill people,” he mused. “It’s just…amusing.”

I sniffed. “As hard as it is to believe, I was human once.” I replied. “Seems so long ago…” I trailed off.

“I want you to help me,” I continued. “I’ve thought as long as I’m going to hell, I might as well do it the right way.”

“The right way?” he laughed, shaking his head. “My, have you changed…”

He was right. I had changed. Over the months we’ve spent traveling together, I’d realized the subtle changes. As I grew to know him, I grew less suspicious, more comfortable and accepting. I even began to see a trace of my old self returning, like the ghost of an old friend coming back to me. I felt more whole than I had felt in a long time, and with him, I felt…well, a little more human… as human as I used to be even. He had changed me…just as he said he would.

“All right,” he said. “If you must know, I help humans.”

“You help them?” I asked, curious. “How?”

“I only drink the blood of those who are sick and dying.” He explained. “Most of the time, they are ready to die…but if not, I’ll change them.”

“Make them one of us.” I confirmed.

He nodded. “Only if they ask…like you did. I couldn’t do that to a person who had another choice.”

I tried his way of life…and much to my surprise I found pleasure in the way he lived. It was much easier than the life I had before…constantly keeping on the move and watching out for vampire hunters and the like. After living and learning with Kale over the years, I found myself disgusted with what I once was. I told myself that I would never be reduced to that state ever again, not as long as I lived.

Kale was…my life now. He had saved me in more ways than he can know. I owed him my entire existence.

“Look at you now, Elvira,” he whispered as he held me. “You were meant for this life,”

“Yes,” I murmured. “I believe it now,”

He kissed me then, and it felt as if it were my first. Matvei’s affection had been nothing compared to the angel’s chorus roaring in my head at this very moment…and I wished that it could last forever.

One night, as I awoke, I realized that he was nowhere to be found. It made me worry.

He never left my side. He must have an explanation. Unless…

“Hello, Elle,” a suave male voice whispered in my ear. “It’s been awhile,”

I knew that traitor’s voice.

“Matvei?” I whispered.

He gave me a fanged grin.

“Didn’t I…kill you?” I asked, fear creeping into my voice.

He grinned at me again. “You wish.”

“I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Elvira,” he continued.

“I’m sure you have.” I smiled, bitterly. “Where is he?” I said urgently. “What have you done with him?”

“Who?” he asked knowingly.

“Kale!”

“Oh, him…” he said, slowly. “Yes. He’s…safe.”

“Don’t lie,” I growled. “If you hurt him…” I felt the tears come into my eyes. “I swear I will hunt you down and destroy you.”

He laughed bitterly. “It’s too late for that, Elle. You already did. Or don’t you remember?”

“Take me to him,” I demanded.

“As you wish,”

I could tell that he had been tortured, and I wanted to tear Matvei to pieces for what he had done to Kale. That was the old me, though. I couldn’t do that, no matter how much I hated him. The wanting was still there, though. The urge…but I wasn’t going to let it control me…not anymore.

“Oh, Kale,” I whispered, touching his face tenderly. “What has he done to you?”

“Elvira…” he rasped. “You shouldn’t have come.”

“It’s my fault.” I whispered. “It should be me in your place.”

“You’re right,” Matvei’s voice said from behind me. “It should be.”

“Leave him alone, Matvei. He has nothing to do with this.” I hissed.

“Actually, yes he does,”

“What are you talking about? Go ahead, kill me. It’s what you want isn’t it?”

“I intend to,” he replied. “Though, I’m going to make you watch him die first.”

I barely felt the scream leave my throat. He grinned wickedly.

Time seemed to move slower than possible as Matvei hurled a silver spike right towards Kale. I didn’t know I could move so fast. Perhaps the circumstances had made me desperate, because I had thrown myself in front of Kale. I felt a wave of agony as the silver spike was rammed through my chest.

“ELVIRA!”

His voice echoed with the same agony as I felt. My heart went out to him.

“I’m sorry, my love.” I thought. “It had to be done.”

“Elvira! No! No! NO!” he sobbed. “Elvira, please! Don’t leave me!”

“Thank you,” I whispered. “For redeeming me.”

“I can’t save you,” he said with a sob. “You’re dying.”

“Oh, but you have. You’ve saved me in more ways than you can ever know. You’ve shown me how to forgive …and love.”

I felt the tears gather in my eyes as I prepared myself to leave this world.

“Good-bye, Kale.” I whispered. “I love you.”