Bride of Blood:: First Kiss (9 page)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He was so into her that he didn’t even hear the approach of bounty hunters.
 
When he finally heard them, it was too late.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A rifle cracked and Celeste suddenly dropped to the ground.
 
Anton spun around and saw the bounty hunters. There were four of them and they were approaching quickly.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Run!” he yelled to the frightened slaves.
 
They obeyed without argument and tore off into the woods in direction they had been going.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anton quickly bent down to check on Celeste.
 
A bullet hole was in her chest and blood began to seep through her dress.
 
His bloodlust began to overcome him at the sight and smell of her blood.
 
His hands trembled as he touched his chest and felt a still-beating heart.
 
It was weak and slow, but she was still alive.
 
But for how long?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In an instant Anton’s bloodlust turned to rage as he spun around and faced the hunters.
 
He bared his fangs and his eyes turned bright yellow.
 
Before there was time for them to react, Anton sprang on them.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He grabbed two of them and bashed their heads together, killing them instantly.
 
He kicked another in the chest, crushing the hunter’s rib cage and piercing the man’s heart.
 
All this happened in a matter of seconds.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The only one left was the hunter who shot Celeste.
 
Anton could smell the man’s fear and already taste his cowardly blood.
 
The hunter dropped his rifle and ran away into the woods whimpering like a child.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He ran for quite a distance until he was out of breath.
 
He dropped to his knees, believing that he escaped.
 
Suddenly he felt himself being lifted off his feet.
 
His neck was snapped and then fangs dug into it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anton returned to Celeste’s side.
 
His appetite satisfied, there was no worry that he would take her blood.
 
He looked around and there was so much blood.
 
The bloodlust was replaced by pity and yet that unexplainable sensation was still there.
 
He knew that there was no way he could let her die.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Celeste opened her eyes and looked into his.
 
There was a connection.
 
Both of them felt it.
 
Visions began to flash in both of their minds.
 
They saw a past from long ago when they stood on the shoreline of a doomed Atlantis.
 
She was more exotic, but still her.
 
He would recognize her anywhere.
 
So many lives they had spent together, and yet this life took them so long to find each other.
 
More visions flooded their minds and showed that nearly every lifetime was one that they shared together.
 
In the few lives that they were not together, they were lonely and sometimes ended those lives by suicide.
 
Time and again, Celeste and Anton shared lives together and this life was to be no different.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Suddenly, he was brought back to reality.
 
Celeste’s eyes were losing their luster and he knew it was time to make a decision.
 
He also knew that if he didn’t do what needed to be done, this life would have no meaning.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It was against the rules of The Order for a vampire to turn someone on a whim.
 
But this was not a whim.
 
This was something bigger than him and her.
 
He couldn’t let her die.
 
He wouldn’t let her die.
 
He knew that they were supposed to be together, and he had the chance to make it forever.
 
No more lives apart.
 
This was forever.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Anton bared his fangs and prepared himself.
 
The Transformation from human to vampire was always torturous on both parties.
 
Years later Anton would look back on that moment and reassure himself that he made the right decision.
 
It wasn’t a selfish one, as so many other vampires simply turned a human to have a companion or wanted to control someone.
 
This was something that had to be done.
 
It was about love.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He dug his fangs deep into her neck and began to drink.
 
Celeste gasped and her body went rigid.
 
She didn’t have the strength to fight, and there wasn’t too much blood in her, anyway.
 
Anton pulled himself free of her and wiped his mouth.
 
Celeste was inches away from death as he heard her breaths coming out in short rhythms.
 
He bit into his wrist and placed it to her lips.
 
For a moment she did nothing.
 
Anton was afraid that he had killed her, but then the blood began to dribble into her mouth.
 
She put wrapped her mouth around his wound and began to suck.
 
Then her teeth dug in and she began to gulp.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
After a several seconds, Anton pulled his arm away.
 
Celeste screamed an ungodly scream that would have alerted every slave hunter in the area, had they not all been killed.
 
Her eyes rolled back in her head and her body began to convulse.
 
Anton felt pity for her, but there was nothing he could do.
 
Her body had to die and be reborn.
 
The agony she endured lasted for several moments.
 
She continued to thrash and tear at the ground, as she vomited out her internal organs.
 
Suddenly, she let out a long, guttural scream and her body went limp.

“A new life means a new name,” Anton said to Celeste as he cradled her head in his arms.
 
She sighed and snuggled in closer.
 
She couldn’t recall ever feeling such a sense of belonging or being so loved.
 
Her life had simply been that of sweat, toil, and abuse.
 
Both her husband and her daughter had been taken away from her, as they were sold.
 
She later learned that her husband had been shot and killed trying to escape.
 
There had been no word of where her daughter was.
 
She didn’t know if she was still alive or had also escaped through the Railroad.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Her existence had always been tense and full of worry.
 
But no longer.
 
She knew that she was right where she belonged, in Anton’s strong arms.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Her appearance changed drastically during The Transformation.
 
Every blemish, scar, or imperfection was erased from her body.
 
She was leaner and her skin tone was a more chestnut brown.
 
Her eyes which had lost their tiredness and worry were to be forever replaced with alertness and wisdom.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Most of all, she gained the Vampiric Power of Sight, as it was called:
 
she retained the knowledge of all her past lives and could read the thoughts and memories of most mortals and immortals.
 
Of course she couldn’t read those of Anton, her maker, which was typical.
 
But she finally realized who they were and that this reunion was destiny.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Celeste is dead?” she whispered.
 
It was the first time she had spoken since The Transformation.
 
 
Mostly she listened while Anton explained everything to her.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Yes,” Anton answered.
 
“What name do you wish me to call you?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She was quiet for several minutes as she thought.
 
She didn’t want any ordinary name, but especially not any name that sounded like a slave name.
 
She gazed up into the sky. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the stars were shining brightly.
 
Her mother, whose mother had come from Africa told her that they were the eyes of God looking down on her.
 
But there was one particular star that had always fascinated her, for as long as she could remember.
 
It wasn’t the brightest star, but for some reason every night that she had chance, it would be the first one that her eyes were drawn to.