Cognata: A Vampire Romance (10 page)

'I wanted to burn. Let me be... wait, is that you Aristide?'

It couldn't have been him. I wanted it to be, yet I knew it was not. I don't remember who it was. I lost consciousness; unveiled and available to whoever or whatever decided to claim me the moment I emerged from the water.

When I found myself returning to the light, I was wrapped in the shambles of a makeshift blanket, laid to rest by a campfire. Waking up felt like a dream, which was ironic, because I hadn't had any in weeks. The curiosity of how I ended up there didn't immediately strike me. I was more interested in whether I'd bested fate. I momentarily thought I was dead and this was the brink to the other world or at least, I'd enter the death state - but both those thoughts would prove false.

There was a strange ruffling in the leaves of the dark night. That was when I thought to myself,
'how did I get here?'
Memories of my latest folly came rushing back, reminding me of what I tested. Yes, I remembered something or someone pulling me out of my watery grave and apparently, they didn't harm me - rather, they cared for me? And why would anyone do that for me? I wasn't in chains so I ruled out the possibility of the Cognati order.

"Hello?" I asked in a raspy voice, wrapping the blanket to cover my naked body.

My sight wasn't at its best, but I could feel there was another presence lurking. Something was there - "Show yourself!" I demanded, trying to get to my feet, pretending I was completely fine. Couldn't be further from the truth. I was far from fully recovered.

"Who... " A deep, dark voice hummed from the shadows. "... are
you
, to enter these lands?"

The thought crossed my mind, to flaunt who I was supposed to be. The truth of my past life was at the slip of my tongue and I still couldn't utter it. I was ashamed to match myself to my supposed former life - if that were the truth, which at that point, I was still unconvinced of. I took the other option and submitted to modesty instead.

"No one. A lost soul seeking her wretched end."

"Lost souls do not wander into these forests."

"Enough of this useless wordplay. Show yourself, fiend! If you wish to end me, at least do it without the pretense of cowardice."

"So be it."

I reached for whatever stick I could find. It was unfortunate. I would've preferred to be at my peak physical capacity before taking on whatever fiend was to emerge from those shadows but the truth was, I simply was not at my best. I was stumbling like a puppet with its strings tangled. To reach in and tap into the dark arts would only overtax my brain. I'd end up burning myself up, since my body was unable to support the strain of the dark gifts.

Suddenly the whole forest became still. There was no noise besides the wind which grew into a terrifying shriek and I felt a warm draft pass by the nape of my neck, forcing me to turn and confront the demon behind me. A sickening guttural growl roared from the fangs of a snow-white beast that lunged toward me. I quickly slipped on my backside, retreating on my elbows as I screamed in horror at the sight of the creature. It was hard to see it past my panicking, but I could see those red eyes that glittered in the dark and a wolf-like, half-man baring sharp, primal fangs that told me how much they were going to enjoy tearing the flesh from my bones.

"Is this what you want?" Its deep voice spoke to me. "To live as you please in my land and die a senseless death?"

I was baffled at the madness. This creature was speaking to me. I could only cower in fear

"Why do you shiver in fear, Cognata? We both know what you are and what you can do."

"You know of my kind?" I asked, surprised by its knowledge as it circled around me - ready at any given opportunity to pounce.

"Hahaha!" It laughed, "Know of your kind? Am I such a forgotten relic that new blood drinkers now grow ignorant of their cousins' existence? What do you take me for, little nightwalker?"

As if I thought I'd seen it all, man alive - I couldn't be more wrong. It shifted its shape; changing right in front of my eyes to become something more. It molded itself into a man. A strong, sturdy, stocky man with white hair and a rugged beard and the red eyes that never changed away.

"What are you?!" I yelped, dumbfounded by what was happening "How do you know what I am?"

"You were made into a blood drinker and they refused to teach you of the others? How fitting for the Halonic Society." His tongue wrapped in anger.

I looked back at the campfire momentarily

"Were you the one who rescued me?"

"That was my doing, yes."

"Why... "

"You don't seem to know who you are, do you?"

"I... I had a name." I lied to myself. "Now I'm not so sure."

"Sit." He pointed his strong hand to the spot I awoke from my slumber in, but I did not obey his request. I kept eye on him.

"Little nightwalker, if I wanted to kill you, it would be over in less than the skip of your heartbeat." He reassured me cockily.

"And you presume I would not defend myself?" I tested the beast's challenge.

"You would try and you would fail. Miserably." He flatly stated. "Now sit, rest your flesh. You are weak and far from a position of authority."

The fires highlighted tidbits of his features. His face was hard, forged by survival and strength. His rugged body more or less mirrored the same effect and it was riddled in scars that each told an olden tale of its own.

As horrified as I was, I still felt the need for punishment. Should he strike me down, it would only be in my wanting. This man, or creature, shapeshifter or whatever he was - seemed less interested in killing me and more curious in general. The fact that he knew of my own bloodthirst also drew my own curiosity. This is when I realized, he was the wolf who had been following me.

"Why did you save me?" I asked, warming my hands over the fire.

"Why didn't you save yourself?" He retorted, heading to the thick of the trees, leaving me to sit and squabble about for an answer. I couldn't say I wanted to kill myself. It wouldn't exactly be the truth. In the end, the truth was simple. I was only curious. Silence got the better of me as I sat there ruminating. I couldn't talk.

"I don't know." I lied and also, I whispered so that he wouldn't hear me.

"Sounds like a bitter excuse." His rugged voice sung from the shadows as he emerged with the mutilated corpse of a deer, "To evade one's calling."

"Amusing words for one who lives out in the wilderness. Who better to cower than you?"

"Am I to imagine you came to join me?" He snarled, tossing the animal's remains aside for what I thought was perhaps, a meal for later, "To live the last, glorious days of the Hunters?"

"I do not know what riddles you speak of, beast-man, but you will do well to keep them far from me. I have no desire to engage in those loops." I paused, thinking on Aristide and his demise. "I've done that long enough."

"Ahh... " He cautiously sat himself on the opposite end of me, breathing a sigh of relief as if he'd been hunting that animal he had just brought all day, "You ran away from the riddle you were meant to solve."

"I did not run away. I was chased away... "

"Whatever you wish to call it. You ran from your destiny." The thing about this man that was so striking was his acute difference to the other strange creatures I had encountered. He did not feel the need to be intimidating. He operated on a level of strength and comfort with himself, but there was a disdain or a very blatant sarcasm he held toward outsiders and maybe society at large; traits of a true hermit.

"I've been watching you for some time, little nightwalker. You do not belong here. You should go back."

I shook my head at his ignorance. How could be know what I'd been through? What I'd seen? What I knew?
How dare he
- "I cannot go back. There are people waiting to capture me."

"There are always people willing to capture you." He unsheathed some knives from under a patch of leaves. He was about to skin the animal, "To make you their... "

"I'm sorry!" I interrupted him abruptly, irritated beyond measure - "Was it your plan all this time, trailing and stalking me - to capture me and bore me into your philosophy? I will give no ear to your thinly coined 'wisdom'."

He started laughing at me like I were some arrogant child, shaking his head in a motion to
forget it
. It annoyed me how he treated me. It was such a dramatic difference from Aristide. I was not used to it. I wanted to challenge him once more but I knew he'd downplay me. There were clearly things this man knew that I did not. Not to mention... he did save me. I'd forgotten my manners.

"Thank you... " I quietly spoke against the chapping of the flames while he skinned the animal. He simply nodded at me and went ahead to continue his work. I pulled the blanket closer as my mind zoned into the dancing flames reflectively - "What do I call you?"

"Sergio."

'Sergio'
I imitated the way he slapped his tongue around his mouth to say it

"What of you? Have you decided on a name for yourself?" He asked

"You can call me whatever you want to call me." My self-loathing was far from over.

"Misty White." He pointed his knife at me like he was marking me from the distance with a subtle smile, "It suits you well. You are clearly royalty and clearly, clueless."

I sighed in ignorance. It pained me that I was the one who was left in the dark. Even now, someone else held the cards?

"If you find me ignorant, please, go ahead - enlighten me. Show me, the 'little nightwalker', what it is she does not know."

"I plan to." He went back to his preparation on the animal. "Until then, get some rest. You will need the strength for the truth when it's time."

There was not much to say after that. Sergio was not a man to second question. I closed my eyes, rested my head and trotted off into dreamland. I allowed whatever my mind decided upon unconsciously to haunt me and I would not be disappointed. Aristide's face came to me. No matter how I twisted and turned, I did not get much sleep. A few patches here and there, but nothing to remark on.

The beginnings of the daylight arrived. The sun shot its rays through the leaves, touching my face lightly. I turned away from it, rolling to the other side so my hair would block it away, until I noticed I was simply unable to sleep. I propped my body upright, still sitting and there, Sergio threw me some makeshift garments he'd made out of the slain animal's skin the night before.

"Put these on." He said as if he were waiting a long time for me to wake up.

The supposed 'clothes' were smelly and dirty. They were just enough to cover my soft parts - nothing more. The rest of me was exposed. I scoffed at how far I'd fallen, thinking on the aristocratic life I'd lost while I kneaded the hide in my hands.

"You'll need it for the hike." He commented.

I looked up at him, noticing he was in similar garb - a little codpiece to cover his manhood and a strap across his shoulder where he carried a sheathed knife.

"Where are we going?" I asked in hesitation.

"To find your truth." He was undoubtedly prepared for my resistance.

My sleep was horrendous, though to be fair - I couldn't recall the last time I'd had a good night's rest out in the wilderness. Besides my mental anguish, I often found myself hungry and deprived, especially when I could not feast on fresh blood. My sexual appetite was also thirsting, although I could not say I felt much attraction to Sergio and no, it was not because he was a wolf, or because he was unattractive in the least. In truth, his rugged features plucked the strings of my wilder instincts. I just couldn't tell if he'd kill me or not. However, he was the most forthcoming of the strange creatures I'd met over the years. It'd be best for me to at least give him credit for that.

The journey wasn't an easy one. I moaned and complained as we brushed past all the elements of bush, wetlands and trees. Sometimes I found myself cursing the trip, even threatening to run off into the wilds. Sergio never gave in to my princess behavior. He was unmoved and carried himself like a man determined to unearth a treasure and I had to see it - no matter what. I was at the point where I felt my legs about to give up under me, until we arrived at a cave, neatly tucked away near a fountain by nature's vines. Sergio halted.

I assumed we were where we needed to be so I spoke up, "Is this your truth?" My tone was admittedly defiant - in a sense, I wanted to prove him wrong. I both hated and loved being challenged. This man was providing that mental stimulation for me. I didn't think of it back then, but believe me, he was.

Sergio did not answer me. He jumped into the fountain, seeing that it was the only way forward to enter the cave. I was struck by how either ignorant or stupid, or maybe both, he could be. The touch of water is like acid to a blood drinker. He rescued me from it and now he wanted to throw me back into it?

"I cannot follow you there!" I protested.

"You will have to, little nightwalker."

"Are you mad? I will burn alive."

He turned to me with a face that said,
'Oh really?'

That made me furious. The way this man belittled me was nothing short of unacceptable.

"There must be another way around."

"There is no other way." He stood still in the water as it slushed around his chest, "Now, it's either you are the one they say you are, or you are a coward - the same mongrel I found begging to end its pitiful existence."

"How dare you!" I shouted, feeling a nerve nearly pop in my neck. I wanted to lunge at him and bite out his filthy neck.
Mongrel? How dare he!
I was more than willing to show him how feral I could get.
Then we'd see who's really the bloody wolf...

"Fine!" I stood defiant, then I took a few steps back, paced myself forward and ran right for the fountain; my sight dead set on Sergio. Oh yes, I was planning to lunge at him - tear that pitiful dog to shreds, but I'd soon find myself at his mercy - the moment I dove into the pool, I could feel the water moving from warm, to hot, to fire. The pain was unbearable. A relentless agony tore into my flesh and I found myself convulsing. The irony of it. Before? When I wanted to die? I did not feel this much pain. Now that I wanted to survive, I felt myself fighting against it and that made it so much worse.