Afterlife (7 page)

Final Moments

Daniel was the one thing in my life I was sure of. There was nothing I wanted more than to be with him every waking moment. I anticipated every second of every living day to see him when he wasn’t with me. The old clock in the store moved too slowly, I could see the customers talking but I couldn’t hear them. It carried on like this for a while. “Okay fine, it was like this every day since that day, since we reconciled and openly admitted that we felt something for each other. The only thing on my mind was Daniel. I could see Martha and Oscar’s disapproval and their constant worried chats behind my back about how bad Daniel was. I didn’t care; they didn’t know him like I did. In any case, I knew deep down that even though he thirsted for my blood, that he would never hurt me.

He wasn’t allowed near the store or anywhere near me, but not even that could keep us apart. I used every excuse in the book to see him. If I wasn’t at the library then I was at the movies with Lilly, a girl I had met at the church that Oscar and Martha attended. They never questioned my whereabouts openly, but I knew they had a hunch that I was lying.

I set out on the same path that lead up to the forest that had become so familiar to me the last few months. Daniel had told me that Zach is his brother and that still worried me.

It was a clear and sunny day, something that was rare for Cornwell. It was always either foggy or wet, but today the heat was overwhelming. It was as if the flowers had bloomed overnight, their little faces turned upward to the sky. I approached our usual meeting place, but Daniel was obviously late because I couldn’t see him anywhere. I sat in the middle of the forest staring at the open sky – it was beautiful.

I waited for a long time and eventually I could see the daylight turn into twilight. Daniel never came, but someone else did.

Aliana looked at me with gross hatred.

“Fancy meeting the little donor here,” she said in a sarcastic tone.

“Who are you? Do I know you?”

“She wants to know who I am?” Aliana said pulling her face at me.

She was obviously a vampire. That much I was sure of. I tried to keep my composure, but my tongue got the better of me. “Look I have no interest in you, so just leave me alone and go bite some dogs.”

“Oooh, so she’s feisty.” She walked towards me and I could feel her breath all over me. It smelled like old soil. I felt sick to my stomach. From the side I could see four other vampires approach me. “Where is Daniel?” They were obviously thirsting for my blood. 

“So I see you have met Daniel?” she said smiling at me. “No, yes.” I had no idea how to answer.

“Daniel, our Daniel knows how to possess a woman. I mean he had me fooled and he had the girl before you fooled. But we all know he’s a sucker for hot blood. Don’t we girls?” Aliana looked at the other vampires and smiled.

“I wish I had his skill,” she said sarcastically

I could hear the other vampires laugh. I felt like their plaything or a mouse waiting to be hunted and killed by an ever alluring cat. I knew that if I said something they would attack, there was only one way out and that was Daniel and he was no where to be seen. I could see his face beckoning for me in the distance to preoccupy them, to play the game, to stall for time. I doubt that I had it in me to stop four flesh eating vampires.

“Other girls? Tell me about them.” I said playing for time.

“Don’t count yourself special. He’s had a thing for humans before. Enough talk precious, I think its time to show you what we are made of, don’t you?”

I saw them approaching, there was no need to run or fight. I had to face that the end was in sight.

***

One tore at me from behind and ripped my back pack off my shoulders. They were ready to kill. Their teeth were sharp and pointy and the one on my right hand side drooled on her shirt. It was disgusting.  Cedany, the witch, approached me, her long black hair enfolded her face. I knew she was a witch because the Aliana girl had mentioned something in passing. The witch laughed at me, she reminded me of my aunt.

“Come here child, drink a little. Don’t be scared. Come to mama.” She said with her rotten green teeth smiling at me. I wanted to hurl, not from the potion that she kept in front of my nose, but because her breath smelled like feces. Two female vampires grabbed my arms and held my arms behind my back. I couldn’t move, it felt like someone had injected me with a muscle relaxant. The witch forced my mouth open and dripped the horrid warm liquid down my throat. It burned like hell. It felt like I had eaten eight chillies whole. The pain was excruciating. The vampires were getting impatient and I could see they were craving my blood. One couldn’t stand my smell anymore and her teeth gnawed at my arm. I screamed out in pain, but I couldn’t say a word, I was paralyzed, but I could feel everything.  Aliana stood laughing joyfully enjoying my predicament.

Why would she do this to me? What had I ever done to deserve this punishment? I wanted to be dead more than anything else.

Out of my right eye I could see Zach. I wanted to scream “Help me Zach, please,” but I couldn’t. I heard his voice saying “Aliana what do you think your doing? What you have done is punishable by death!”

“I’m not one of you anymore and stop being so holier than thou, as if you didn’t try to such her life giving blood from her,” she said.

 Zach looked over at me in shame and then I heard him make a whistling sound. It was as if the world had stood still for a moment. Hundreds of vampires rushed to the scene. I had never seen so many in my life. They were all thirsting for blood. And I was sure it was my blood they were after. The vampires that were busy with me stopped what they were doing and a battle erupted between the vampires. I could see Zach running towards me, trying to get me out of the spell that Cedany had placed on me. 

His eyes looked desperate and apologetically at me. Then I felt his teeth sink into my neck. It was a feeling of death and finality that came over me. I was sure that this was the end.

“Sometimes running is the only thing that keeps us from fighting a battle we never had the guts to face in the first place.”

Daniel

I could feel him watching me with an intense gaze pleading with me not to move, but I couldn't help it and let out an excruciating scream. I could see him holding himself back. I didn't want him to help, I wanted to be dead. Anything to get me away from the pain.

I could see Aliana holding onto his arms trying to contain him. His eyes changed from green to yellow to gold to a deep red. Even though I was being ripped apart, I couldn’t help but focus on his eyes. Somehow it was the only thing that kept me sane, that kept me alive. I knew his eyes told a story of hopelessness and revenge. He was struggling to break free from her grip and another vampire had joined in to contain him.

 Eventually I heard a noise, something that I can hardly explain and then I saw that he broke free from their grip and stormed the pack like a lion whose territory had just been invaded. As if they were scared for their lives they scoured away. He growled at Zach.

 He grabbed me and ran, he jumped trees and eventually he settled my bloody body in front of Martha and Oscar’s store. I knew I would never see him again, because his eyes told me that it was the end. I tried to say something but again I was numb. I begged him with my eyes, but he just kissed my head and left. I could feel my heart dying not because of the wounds that was inflicted on me physically, but because I knew he was gone.

***

It wasn’t until spring was in full bloom that I managed to make my way outside again. This was the second time that I had to be saved and nursed back to health by the William’s family.  The more they tried to help me out of the mess that I was in, the more agitated and violent I became towards them. I loved them like you would a father and mother, but there were times that I wanted them dead and I had no idea why I felt that way.

Since the day that Daniel left me lifeless and alone on their front steps I never saw him again. Oscar was overly protected and he forbids me to never go into the forest again. I yelled and screamed, but they kept being over protected for months for my own safety.

 It wasn’t because they were mean or anything like my aunt or Miss Madison, they were really just trying to look out for me. They wanted to simply make sure I wouldn’t go to him again. Obviously they had no idea what really happened that day in the woods, but I did.

I knew that it wasn’t Daniel who tried to kill me and that he was in fact the one who tried to help me. I also knew that Aliana, a jealous and crazed vampire was responsible for breaking the pact. Oscar had every vampire either hunted or chased away after my incident and Martha’s explanation of the entire story was that I was mesmerized by Daniel and his magical charm. That part she got right as for the rest I hoped that they wouldn’t hunt Daniel and that by some off chance, some miracle, I would get to see him again.

In the beginning I could feel small changes take place in my body, for instance I became very impatient towards the usual customers and I would snap at them without warning. I took it as a simple agitation because of my circumstances, but I could see that it was upsetting Martha.

I continued to work in the shop and helping customers and I kept reading every newspaper article from the United States that I could find about my sister.

She was the only reason I had to keep going. I had to find her if it was the last thing I did in my life. I tried to explain this to Martha and Oscar, but they felt like I was living in a fantasy world. On the one side I could understand their point of view in the last couple of months we had become a family of our own. Even though they didn’t understand my relationship with Daniel, they were the closest thing to family that I ever had.

***

I contemplated leaving numerous times and one day I packed my bags and left the home that has been my safe haven. I knew that Martha and Oscar would try and stop me, so I left a letter explaining why I needed to leave. I took my small bag and looked at the scene around me. I would miss them so much and I nearly stayed.

I walked into the forest one last time, over my favorite stream and to the place where Daniel and I use to meet.

“Daniel!” I screamed my voice agonizing over the echo.

“Daniel!” somehow I hoped that he would appear the way he did before.

Zach emerged from the side of the woods. At first I felt frightened, but I knew that he had tried to save me after Aliana had tried to kill me. If he had intended at all to kill me, he would have killed me, he had chance and opportunity. Instead my own idea and recollection of the events was that he sucked the poison out of my veins that Cedany had given me.

“He isn’t here.”

“I need to find him Zach, to tell him the truth that he wasn’t responsible. That you weren’t…”

“It won’t help Fleur, he’s gone, and he left a few days ago.”

“But you have to have some indication of where he is? You’re a vampire for goodness sakes!” I could feel my body become weak from shock.

“He didn’t leave because of me, he left because?”

“Because….” Zach couldn’t say the words.

“Tell me damnit! I need to know!”

Zach shook his head. I could feel a violent streak erupt in me. 

“Tell me why!” I said scaring myself.

Zach grabbed both my arms as I tried to fight against him. Something strange was happening to me, I felt like I wanted to rip his head off.

“Stop it! Focus, look at me Fleur!” his gaze intensified and I tried eagerly to control myself by focusing on his eyes. They were strangely green, similar to Daniel’s, but something lay in them. Something undiscovered.

“Fleur the reason Daniel left ...” I wanted him to say it, to make me understand.

“He left because; you’re not human any more Fleur.”

“What? Off course I am, don’t be ridicules.”

“Can you stomach food? Human food?”

I felt stunned.

“I thought so,  Aliana changed you into a vampire.”

“She did what? But how is that possible?”

Zach let go of my arms and I fell back against the nearest tree. “Daniel blames himself for everything, off course he believes I had something to do with all of this. There is a group that can help you settle into all of this.”

“I don’t want to settle into anything! I want my life back!”

“That will never happen again, unless the rumor about the Message is true.” Zach tossed me package. “Everything you need is in there; I have already sent word to the Van Der Aar vampire order in London. They will be expecting you within the next few days.’

“I’m going to New York to find my sister…”

“I wouldn’t advise being around humans right now.”

“What about Daniel and what about Oscar and Martha?”

“You know the answer to that Fleur, otherwise you wouldn’t have packed.”

I nodded. Everything made sense for the first time in months. We had nothing more to say to each other.

“Thanks for everything. Do you think there is any truth in the rumor?”

“I don’t know, maybe you can find out when you are in London.”

***

I took the package and gave Cornwell a final glance. I didn’t know if I would ever see Cornwell or its occupants ever again.

To be continued...