Young Writers Society

An odd feeling passed over Evie as she heard footsteps enter the hallway. It was a feeling unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was as if she was being torn apart from the inside. Pulled in two different directions like a doll caught between the clutches of two selfish children. She curled her fingers into the material of her vest, trying to capture the feeling and rip it out. But it was still there. It seemed to be emanating in her heart. The cold, lifeless sack inside her was responding to something. Not beating. But just…behaving.

“Wh-who is that?” she asked Varsee, who was now on her feet at the threshold of the bedroom. Just as she was about to step out onto the landing, there was a crash from downstairs and she jumped back. It was the unmistakable sound of one of the china plates smashing. Then there was a thud of a body against a wall. Footsteps started clambering up the stairs, quick and messy. From where she stood, Evie had no view of the landing but she watched as Varsee’s eyes rounded and fixated on the intruder. She lifted her palms as if to warn them off but then was flung into the open door by a sweeping arm. A cry left Evie as Varsee stumbled, her mouth gaping in shock. A black blur of a figure flew into the room and the next minute, it had a strong, nail-biting grip on the tops of Evie’s arms.

She blinked in horror, looking up at the vampire before her. The mess of black hair that covered its face, matted and wet. The long grey tunic, a shade darker from the rain and splattered and crisping with old blood. And then the eyes. The eyes that stared at her, wide and frantic through the netting of clumped hair. Those pale blue pools that almost looked as reflective as mirrors. And the desperate recollection in them.

Suddenly, her hands flew out and pushed the hair from his face. Red tracks ran down from his eyes and his nose and smudged across his mouth. The natural porcelain of his skin was hidden under the hideous blend of dirt and blood. Tears pooled in her eyes as she stared up at him because, even in the state he was in, he was still the most beautiful thing she had ever laid eyes on.

“Caius,” she gushed with a smile. “You came back for me.”

He let out a soft, breathy laugh and pressed his forehead to hers. “I promised, didn’t I?”

“Wait a minute, you’re Caius?”

Varsee’s voice cut through the room, making Evie and Caius separate with a start. Caius turned to the blonde vampire who now stood in the doorway, looking a little perplexed.

“Yes,” he replied, and to Evie’s surprise, his usual soft tone had become dark and dangerous. “And you are?” He inched closer to her, his shoulders squared and his fingers forming the shape of claws by his sides.

Varsee looked him up and down with cool indifference then cocked a perfect eyebrow with a self-satisfied smile. “I’m her new Maker.”

Caius paused, flinching like the words had been thrown at him. His head whipped back to Evie and she gulped when realisation dawned on his face, wiping his expression completely blank. Self-consciously, Evie brushed away a blood tear with the back of her hand. He looked down at her chest that no longer rose and fell in the pattern of breathing. He lifted a shaking finger in her direction. “Y-you-” Then his face twisted into bitter rage and he spun to Varsee, prodding his bloody finger at her. “You Turned her!”

“I saved her life!” Varsee stepped up to him, chest out and head high. “Because you left her.”

He drew back, curling his pointed finger into a fist and lowering it tensely. He was looking in the direction of Varsee, but looking through her rather than at her. Then his hand went to his chest and his fingers splayed over his heart. “You were attacked…” he said in a voice that sounded so far away. Slowly, he turned back to Evie where she stood by the wardrobe hugging herself. Her old Maker’s eyes searched her face with lost wonder. “I felt it…I felt your pain.”

Evie glanced at Varsee over Caius’ shoulder and watched her eyes widen with disbelief.

“You were attacked. By vampires. I…I tried to help you but Milah wouldn’t let me leave,” Caius continued, his voice now cracking as red rimmed his eyes. Evie just stood and stared as her old Maker’s face twisted with pain. “Honestly…I did try.”

“Wait a minute.” It was Varsee. Both Caius and Evie jumped a little and turned to the blonde vampire at the door. “Did you just say you felt her? You knew she was being attacked? But she was human.”

A shadow loomed across the landing outside and Alexander appeared in the doorway with earbuds hanging down his chest that had been pulled through the neck of his t-shirt. His blonde hair was a mess as if he’d been lay on it. “What’s going on, I’ve been hearing-” his voice trailed off when he saw the look on his sister’s face. He studied her bewildered expression cautiously and touched her arm as if to console her, but then turned to where her gaze lay and stepped back with surprise. Taking a moment to study the scene set out in front of him like a freeze frame, he gestured to Caius. “Who’s the hobo?”

Without even taking her eyes off the vampire in the centre of the room, Varsee replied in a whisper that sounded close to a single puff of air. “Caius.”

Alexander’s eyebrows furrowed then his head shook with realisation as if startling himself out of a dream. “The Maker. Her old Maker. Oh my…God…” His lips sealed closed as he looked warily between the tall, dark stranger and his sister. “This must be pretty awkward.” Then he shook his head again and looked at Caius, confused. “How the hell did you find us?”

“That’s what I was just about to ask,” said Varsee, still sounding as if she was only half there.

All three of them watched, patiently waiting for a reply as Caius gulped and started shifting awkwardly. Caius didn’t like being in the centre of attention, Evie knew that. Years of hiding in the shadows did that to you, she supposed. It had done it to her, too. The eyes of strangers would make him grow a shade paler. He’d fidget nervously or leave the situation all together. But he couldn’t leave now. He was surrounded. Like an animal in a cage.

He looked to Evie and her chest tightened when she noticed the fresh string of red running from the corner of his eye down the side of his nose. He smiled faintly at her and the tension in his body seemed to cool a fraction, as if just seeing Evie had settled him somewhat. But then he bit down hard on his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. “I felt everything. Your pain when you were attacked. I saw…” He gasped as if zapped by an electric current. His eyes shot open. “I saw the vampires attacking you, clawing at you. I needed to be there. I should have been there. And then…and then your confusion. Your fear. You woke up here. I found the car…the blood.” His hand clamped over his mouth to muffle his sobs.

“So much blood.” He reached out as if to caress Evie’s cheek but pulled back. “I could still sense you. Where you were. I followed that feeling. It was faint. Barely there at some points then just shut off all together. Like a flickering bulb. That’s why it took me so long to get here. You’d shut off and I’d lose you.” He gasped a laugh and cupped both hands behind his head, a broad, dazed smile across his bloody face.

“And then I found you. You’re here and you’re safe.” As if unable to stay back any longer, he enveloped Evie in his arms, crushing her to him. He burrowed his face into her neck and she smiled at the feeling of his lips brushing her collarbone. She wrapped her own arms around his slim frame in a desperate embrace. Against him, she realised he was suppressing her quaking body. She was shaking. Probably from shock or adrenaline, she didn’t know and she didn’t care. All she cared about was that she had him back.

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Varsee’s irritable voice cut through the silence. “I’m her Maker now. Whatever bond you had should have been broken. She’s my progeny.”

Caius began to draw back and Evie reluctantly let him. Still with his hands loosely placed on her hips, he turned to Varsee. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. That is the truth. I can’t understand it either. This has never happened before. A vampire has never had two Makers-”

“She doesn’t have two Makers. She just has me,” said Varsee, stepping further into the room with a clenched jaw.

Carefully, Caius took his hands off Evie and turned to face the blonde vampire fully. “I’m afraid that just isn’t true. Evie and I still clearly share some sort of bond, yet it is weaker now. I don’t know if it’s supernatural or some other sort of force but whatever it is, it’s fighting.”

“Fighting?” echoed Varsee with gritted teeth. She cricked her neck, clearly agitated. “You mean fighting against me?”

Caius’ eyebrow lifted in a guilty expression and he offered her a helpless shrug. “Perhaps.”

Varsee’s nostrils flared and Evie suddenly had the unavoidable urge to jump between them. To protect Caius from Varsee or the other way around, she wasn’t sure. But then Varsee let out a heavy, calming breath, glanced at Evie and took a step back. “It is clear that there is something that still links the two of you together and I guess I can deal with it, so long as it does not tamper with my role as her Maker. Which I plan to take very seriously.”

Caius lifted palms as a signal to surrender. “I have no quarrels with you. You saved her. I am forever in your debt. I am so sorry for barging into your home uninvited.”

A ghost of a smile crossed her full lips and she offered out her hand. “We haven’t been properly introduced, my name is Varsee.”

He smiled and took her hand in his bloody one. “Nice to meet you, Varsee. I’m glad we don’t need to fight. Against a vampire as old as you, I didn’t like my odds.”

Varsee laughed and grasped his hand in a firm shake. “A friend of Evie’s is a friend of ours. You are welcome to stay. We have more than enough room.” She released his hand and looked down with a curled lip at the flaking of old blood that covered her palm. “Perhaps you should get cleaned up.” She turned to her brother who was now leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded over his lean chest, watching everything with a look of cool intrigue.

“Alex.” He perked up at his name and looked to his sister like an obedient puppy. She gestured to Caius. “Show our guest to the bathroom and find him an outfit. I’m sure you have something that fits him.”

Alexander sized him up with a slanted look. Caius was clearly almost a head taller than him and a little more filled out than Alexander.

Alexander just shrugged. “Possibly.” He pushed himself off the frame and crooked a beckoning finger to Caius. “Come.”

Caius blinked and looked to Evie as if for reassurance. She nodded with a smile. “You really do need a wash.”

He smiled back and walked off into the landing, disappearing behind the wall. Alexander watched Caius leave from the door, his blue eyes scoping and his eyebrow lifting ever-so-slightly with appreciation. Catching this, Varsee stepped closer to her brother. “Alex.”

Blinking, he looked to her with an innocent smile. “What?”

“Don’t even attempt to watch him shower.”

He scoffed and looked at her as if she were insane. “How dare you,” he said indignantly and began slowly walking out of the room, his eyes still on his sister. “I don’t do that.” When Varsee arched a disbelieving eyebrow, his lips curved into a small, mischievous grin. “…anymore.”

Varsee watched her brother go before turning to face Evie who had settled down awkwardly on the corner of the bed.

“How do you feel about him being back?” Varsee asked, sounding concerned.

“It’s great.” Evie smiled up at her but by the look on her new Maker’s face, it wasn’t convincing. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “How can I have two Makers? It’s just not possible.”

Varsee crossed the room and dropped into the overstuffed chair in the corner. She leaned forwards and rested her elbows on her knees. “I didn’t think vampires could be cured either, but apparently they can.” She studied her progeny with a whimsical smile. “You have opened my eyes, Evie.”

Evie shook her head, not really listening. She was still letting everything sink in. “I felt him…I after I was cured. But, I guess I dismissed it really. I just thought it was longing. But now…I still feel him, even after I became yours.”

“You can feel him?”

Evie nodded. “When he came into the house. But I still felt your pull, strong and insistent, working against his.” She dropped her head in her hands. “What does this mean for me?”

“Well, we’re all here, under one roof. And I am not going to take advantage of our bond and use it against Caius. We are all friends here. This can work.”

Evie shook her head, her face still buried in her palms. “I just don’t get it.”

A beat of silence followed and Evie looked up, checking if Varsee was still in the room. She was, watching her appraisingly, as if she were facing one of Seven Wonders of the World. The look made Evie’s cold heart contract with worry.

“Maybe that feeling, that pull you have towards Caius, isn’t supernatural at all.”

Evie furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged and fell back into the chair, folding one slim leg over the other. “I know this is going to sound cheesy and trust me, I am holding back a cringe as I say this but…” She sighed, as if giving in. “In all my years, I have never known a Maker and a progeny to be in love. It’s just so…peculiar.”

Evie blinked hard, a little insulted. Seeing this, Varsee quickly continued, “A bond between Maker and progeny is special, it is like a physical attachment, so powerful that sometimes they can actually experience the other’s emotions. Their pain. But underlying all that…is the loyalty. The raw, irrefutable loyalty to the other person. As harsh as this sounds…” She actually pulled a face as if the words hurt as they passed her lips, “Makers own their progeny. They may allow them to have free will and not order them about like slaves but that bond…some see it as a shackle.”

Tears brimmed Evie’s eyes and she looked down, feeling stupid and mortified. “Are you saying my relationship with Caius is a lie? That our love is just a delusion? That…” she wheezed through the sob lodged in the throat, “…it was all just because he was my Maker?”

A quick swoosh of the air being disturbed made her look back up and she sucked in a startled gasp when she was met head-on with Varsee knelt before her on the floor. Her big round eyes were bright and pleading. “That’s not what I meant at all! In fact, I meant the complete opposite.”

Evie sniffed and brushed a tear from her cheek. “What?”

Varsee laughed, taking Evie’s hands in her own. “I meant the fact that you are still drawn to Caius, that you can still feel his physical presence close by…maybe after you broke your supernatural tie with him…the other tie lived on.” Evie’s eyebrows creased with confusion. Varsee laughed again softly and gave a hopeless shrug. “Love.”

Evie pulled a face and tugged her hand back from between her Maker’s soft, manicured clasp. “Love?” she scoffed.

Varsee shrugged and sat down on the bed beside her. “I told you it sounded cheesy. And trust me, I am not the sentimental type. But I think it could be possible.”

“Love is just an emotion, a strong emotion, sure. But it doesn’t explain how I could feel a pull towards Caius and felt his presence in the house before even knowing it was him.”

“Well, maybe it does. Look, you two had that supernatural connection when you were Maker and progeny and on top of that, you were in love. Maybe, because of the latter still being very much alive…it has kept the former alive, too. Albeit, a much weaker version, but it’s still there.”

Evie’s head was spinning. Everything was happening far too quickly. Only two hours ago she had been human. And now she was a new-born vampire in a place she didn’t know with two different Makers. She could almost feel the ties between her two Makers crossing inside her, knotting up, unsure of which way to go. For a hundred years of her life, it had been her and Caius against the world. But now there were two more people in her life and she was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

She didn’t feel the same. It was as if when she was Turned by Varsee, something was pulled out of her and was replaced with something else. And she knew what that something was. Her loyalty. Because Varsee had been right. In a way, she was now shackled to Varsee. She belonged to her. She just hoped it wouldn’t get in the way of her and Caius.

“I did believe that when I became human again, because I still felt Caius. I believed that was because of our love. But this…now I’m a vampire, now I feel a physical link. It just feels like it could get very messy.”

“It won’t get messy,” Varsee promised and squeezed her knee.

Evie looked to her. “How are you okay with this? Okay with Caius being here? Surely you would want me all to yourself. I know being a Maker is a pretty big deal.”

A smile rose on Varsee’s lips, so big that it made her stormy eyes crinkle. “You are worth sharing.”

Something bloomed inside her. A euphoric rush that was as close to a heartbeat as a vampire could feel. Evie knew that feeling. Understood that feeling.

The first time she had experienced it was when she had refrained from attacking a lonely, wounded man at the side of the road back in 1934. She had forced her fangs to retract even though her hunger raged inside, burning through her veins. She had looked up to see Caius gazing down at her, his eyes shining in the night. He had taken her hand in his and had given it a squeeze. Well done.

She had made her Maker proud.