Forbidden Blood

The day had once again became night, a night with a full moon just waiting to be howled at. All of my instincts told me to unleash the animal within, but until the hour of reckoning, I had control over my beast. I slowed the motorcycle down at an old manor house in the middle of scenic nowhere. Jessica followed me closely as I opened the broad double doors. From the outside, the house could make your eyes bleed, but the inside would make them pop right out of your head. Lights turned on as I walked into each room on the bottom floor, making sure no one else was here.

“Wait here for a second, I need to check the rest of the manor.” I told Jessica. She removed the helmet from her head, letting her face breathe.

“Okay,” My appearance startled her.

“We need to talk.” I sat on the opposite turquoise love seat than her. Jessica set the helmet aside, thinking before slowly turning her head to me.

“Where is George?” She asked quietly.

“He is at home, just where you left him Jessica. The Keepers had taken his presence and molded him so that they could control him, making the George you saw earlier.” I explained.

“Why do the Keepers suddenly want my soul?”

“Your soul...it is unique.” I said.

“You said that about my blood. What is making me such a damn trophy for you people!?”

“Something in your DNA. It contains what I call the Crystal Gene. A purified chromosome that makes your blood stand out amongst the others. It makes you easier to track, tastier to feed upon.” I answered.

“On the highway, I did incredible things. It was like it wasn’t even me in my body.” Jessica ran her hands through her hair, trying to free her stress. I shook my head up and down.

“It is an effect of the Vile, should wear off pretty soon.” I said.

“Is there any other effects?” She questioned.

“No...how long was I gone?” I asked.

“About....six weeks.” Jessica replied.

“It wasn’t even half a day.” I uttered to myself.

“Every night, I would dream of monsters. It was if they were invading my dreams just so I could see what they did. I would wake up afraid to even move because I still felt them even when I woke up.” Jessica told me.

“I know. The Keepers were infiltrating your dreams so that you could fear me more and more. They need you away from me Jessica. It’s the only way they will get what they want, what they need.” I explained.

“I need to know Phoenix...” I banged my fist against the table in front of us.

“I am no longer the Phoenix in which you speak. That name has outgrown me many, many years ago. I hate the title so do not address me that way.” I warned. Jessica swallowed deeply before continuing.

“What are you?”

“What do you mean?” I quizzed.

“I thought you were just a vampire...”Jessica trailed. I dashed out of the room and was back with a sketchbook along with a sharpened pencil. I sat beside Jessica and flipped to an empty page. The pencil was rashly rubbing against the paper, making an image. Jessica leaned over to see the finished drawing. It was a circle that had what looked like an A placed in the center, splitting the circle into six.

“I have what they call a Tri Curse. This means I possess all three mystics. Vampire, werewolf, and demon.” I pointed to the images as I spoke. The page made a slight licking noise as I turned to the next blank page.

“A Tri Curse? I’ve read about that in a book.” Jessica gazed down at the paper, making something in her mind click.

“That’s the book.” She tapped the paper gently.

“The Book of Salemn. I wrote it centuries ago. It contains everything about our kinds.” I replied.

“Most of it was encrypted, as if written in some kind of--”

“It is a very strange language. Most, even of my kinds, can not read it. I made it hard to decode for a reason, but you of them all, was able to read some of it. Or at least a copy of some of it.” I flipped another page.

“Why do the Keepers want you? You have no soul to give.” Jessica asked. I rapidly flipped through numerous pages, drawing full scale images on them all.

“I will show you why.” I went back several pages and began flipping through the book, making the pictures move to create a movie for her.

“Since my birth, I have been rare Jessica. Many are not born with their curse, let alone the Tri Curse. My parents were baffled by the discovery of what I was and offered me to the Keepers to do what they pleased, but the Keepers refused to take part in my existence. Days after my birth, I showed abilities no one had seen. You see, I am the only of my kind and that intrigued everyone. I am the most wanted undesirable. My blood could create or destroy a creature. The Keepers wanted me for themselves, they wanted all of my blood to empower themselves, but my father kept them away from me until I met Samuel.” I told.

“The wolf. I thought he was the reason of you leaving your kingdom.” Jessica said.

“I never truly left my kingdom Jessica. Samuel showed me a part of werewolves I thought did not exist. Like my sister, I broke law forty- two. None shalt love a monster. Even though I was a monster, he found something in me. The Keepers eventually found us and asked for the soul of one of my children.”

“Children?”

“Yes. Samuel refused, offering his soul instead of one of theirs. I was no one to argue with him, so they took his soul and trapped it inside of what we call a Chest. It is able to inhabit any soul as long as it is a soul. Once they had that, they stabbed him with a stainless, silver blade, making him bleed all over the floor. My kids had to see this and so did I.”

“Enough.” Jessica personally felt as if she was reliving this event for herself and it was make her queasy.

“My apologies.” I closed the sketchbook.

“How could you…go on?” I glared at her in a questioning manner.

“How could you go on when they took the man you loved away from you?” She dressed up her question.

“I am cursed to live forever Jessica. I had no choice but to deal with it. To this day, I still think of him. There is nothing that could ever truly take him away from me.” I answered.

“You can’t live in this memory of him.” Jessica said.

“I do not live in a memory of him. His presence just trails me everywhere. Killing always made me feel better. It made me forget all the pain, forget him.” I replied.

“You killed to help you cope? Why would you do that?”

“What exactly am I to you Jessica? I am not a pet or a nice, pathetic human. Nor am I a fucking child. I know that’s how you see me, but it is not what I am. My body is young, not my mind.” I explained.

“You know what you are to me? You are someone I can trust. Someone I’ve come to care about over these years because you made me realize what the world really is. If I could choose to change my life, I wouldn’t. Even if I die, I wouldn’t.” Jessica said.

“What if I told you I could give you the perfect life? Every thing you have ever wanted.” I applied.

“I couldn’t live a lie. My mind would go insane in a heartbeat. You think of me as just a human, but what I am is just a damn toy in the real world.”

“I never wanted any of this for you. What I see in you is what I once was, but taking you in was foolish. Now you are twined too deep to escape.” I murmured.

“You’ve seen what I can do when I took the Vile. If you turn me, I could protect myself.” Jessica suggested.

”If I were to change you, it would only make things worse. If we stay here for a few nights, everything will be as it should.” I said.

“Why are you so reluctant to bite me?”

“I’m not.” I covered my face with my hands, wiping the stress from it.

“Don’t lie to me. You always try to run from this and now I want a real answer Deanna. Is it because you’re afraid that I’ll leave you because I finally got what I wanted?” Jessica quizzed.

“I know that if I bite you...that I won’t be able to stop. It would be very painful, your blood would begin to thin and your breaths would become shorter. I wouldn’t stop, not even with your constant shrieks or your feeble attempts to push me away once you realize that death has come to take you home. It won’t end quickly, I wouldn’t want it to. I would make you feel it all just out of instinct, out of the urge to kill and to quench my thirst. A thirst that will only send me on a very violent frenzy that will result in the death of millions.” I finished.

“That is almost as bad as giving a mouse a cookie.” Jessica uttered.

“Trust me, it would be worse than giving the mouse a cookie.” I replied.

“Why are you continuously protecting me? My blood is hard for you to withstand, but yet you go on in this. Why?”

“I have always wanted to prove that I can use my abilities for more than what they are for. I want to protect those in which I slay, but it is not easy. Humans can be very selfish and undeserving, but you shine in their darkness. You took a quest in the night to venture for me and now you have me exactly where you need me. I have grown to care for you in a way that makes your life dangerous for you. You have placed trust in me, which could one day kill you. Now I must be honest, it was out of guilt until I realized how quickly you were willing to give your life for me. It transformed into something more serious, a companionship that will bring a grave adventure that will build us up from the ground up and break down everyone else. Your blood could be sitting there, holding out its hands and I would not grab, for it would defeat my purpose of our friendship.” I said to her.

“They’ll kill you Deanna for such a stupid act. My life is not worth yours.”

“You speak such nonsense Jess. If your life was not worth mine, then why would the Keepers go through me to get to you? I am not one to be reckoned with in all the worlds, so your life is treasured here and everywhere. I feel as if I was created to protect you and one day you will claim my life as a token of your gratitude.” I replied.

“I will never kill you Deanna. I couldn’t.” Jessica shook her head no.

“Maybe you will not be given a choice, but I would only give you the key to ending me. I mustn’t tell you now that the Keepers have gotten into your mind. We will be able to block them permanently in a few days. It is time that you get some rest.” I smiled as I got up from the couch.

“You never make sense.”

“It may not make sense now, but as you dream, it will come together.” I smirked before leaving the room.