The Aslaric Vampire Page 7

  Her father stood up and pointed his finger in her face. “You listen to me and you listen to me good! I don’t know what has gotten into you lately, but you’re certainly close to ruining everything! You’re about to destroy all of the greatness that you’ve worked for. 220 years Bristol! Why-”

  “I haven’t worked for anything! I’ve suffered! For over 200 years I’ve lived my life in pain, shame, and hurt! I-“

  Her father grabbed her arms and shook her violently. “Snap out of it Bristol. You will not ruin this family! I won’t allow it! And furthermore, you are not to see that black boy again outside of school and the bus stop. No more basketball games late night, and certainly no Homecoming Dance. How dare you disrespect this family! Ptooa!”

  He spit in her face, and his saliva felt like a giant fireball was searing through her cheek. Tears came to her eyes and a deep realization came to her mind. It was as if it was her first time ever seeing the gentleman standing before her, and he certainly didn’t look like her father.

  How could he be a father or guardian, yet keep me oppressed and treat me like a slave, she thought as the tears streamed down her face.

  “Dad! How could you?! How could you! How could you!”

  “Well come to your senses and I wouldn’t have to do things like that. But until you get it together, I’ll keep reminding you of what’s important.”

  Bristol knew she was strong, but didn’t know if she was stronger than her father. She stared at him with disgust in her eyes and hatred running through her body as she thought about whether she wanted to find out the answer or not. She was mad enough to physically fight him.

  “Let me ask you something then Dad,” she said through sobs, “Tell me why Lord Aslar wants me of all people! Why does he want me?”

  Her father went silent and sat down on the recliner. He knew that question would come one day and he dreaded having to answer it. He sat there and thought about what the consequences would be if he lied to her.

  But he knew he couldn’t lie because of the promise he’d made with Susan.

  “You can’t tell me Dad? I bet it’s something stupid-”

  “Watch your mouth Bristol!”

  “I will not! I think I deserve to know why I’m the sacrificial lamb of the family! I think-”

  “Fine! Is that what you’d like? The truth? Well listen! You’re going to get exactly what you asked for!

  When I met your mother, she was an Aslaric Vampire already! But she was going through the waiting period just like you are right now. She had gone 170 years without love and had remained a virgin through that entire time. When I first saw her, I fell instantly in love. I pursued her aggressively.

  I stopped at nothing even though she constantly told me no. Your mother was strong willed and determined to never pay me any attention. But back in those days, Bristol, there were no planes. There were no cars, trains, motorcycles or jets. So she couldn’t really escape me.

  I pursued your mother for two years and gradually started to get to know her. Before we knew it, we were head over heels in love. We were both living in London at the time. On a couple of occasions I’d told Susan that I loved her, but she would never respond.

  For the first few months, I didn’t care; I was just happy to be with her. But on the night of our first anniversary, we went to a romantic dinner; and afterwards we went for a walk in the park. It was a full moon out that night, and I remember the temperature was unusually warm for that time of the year. Your mother had spotted a shooting star; and without me even asking her, I gave her a big kiss right on the lips.

  After a whole year, that was our first time kissing! After the kiss, she stared at me for a moment, and I thought surely that she was going to hit me. But she didn’t. We kissed again. And after that kiss, I felt brave enough to propose to her.

  She accepted. And that was the first time she told me that she loved me. It was supposed to be the happiest time of my life, but instead it was a nightmare!

  As soon as those words left her mouth, we heard what sounded like a stampede of bulls in the distance coming from our left. That’s when things started getting unbelievable. Susan picked me up, literally; and took off running. She wasn’t even running, she was galloping almost; going so fast that I couldn’t even keep my eyes open.

  When we made it to her house, she finally told me the truth about everything and it blew me away. But by that time, I’d already committed to her. We loved each other and I didn’t care what it took to keep us together, as long as it happened. For years we went to war with Aslar and his gang of followers.

  We fought, ran, bled, did everything possible to avoid his wrath. But one day-”

  “Wait… I thought an Aslaric Vampire without all of their powers couldn’t have kids… how did I come about?”

  Her father sighed and covered his face with his hand.

  “Bristol, look-”

  “Am I adopted?”

  “No, you’re not adop-”

  “Then tell me Dad, I deserve to know!”

  He sighed.

  “O.K… Aslar killed Susan’s entire family as a part of his retaliation. Among those that died was Linda, who was Susan’s sister; your real mother. Susan got you and we’ve raised you-”

  “You’ve raised me specifically for this… this monster? You were fattening me up to get killed like some animal? I can’t believe you two!”

  “No Bristol! Listen! Him and the gangs surrounded our house one day, and we could no longer run. There was no chance of making it out alive. So Susan created us both.”

  “Created? What’s that mean?”

  “It’s the process of creating another Aslaric Vampire. You may notice that we have never created more vampires Bristol, and there’s a reason for that. In order to create an Aslaric Vampire, you must first kill the person that you’re trying to create. Once the person’s heart stops beating, you have to let your own Aslaric blood flow into their body.

  The catch is that most people are not receptive to the blood of an Aslaric Vampire, and you risk killing a person by trying to play God. There are a small percentage of people who are receptive, but you would never know, unless they allowed you to kill them first. The person has to trust you in order for their body to trust yours.

  Susan killed me and you both, and let her blood flow from both wrists into our hearts on that fateful day, and it worked. When Aslar barged into the house, he could smell his blood flowing through all of us, so he didn’t burn us up as he intended. Instead, he gave us one chance to redeem ourselves; he told us to accept an unknown punishment in advance, or he would kill us all right then and there.

  Bristol, we had no way of knowing that our punishment meant that Aslar was going to make us sacrifice you.”

  Bristol shook her head as she tried to absorb all of the news. It was the worst day of her life, and she hated that she had to find out such horrible information. She felt like her life was a joke; as if she was a pawn in a deadly game of immortal chess, and it disgusted her.

  “S-s-so… how old was I when I was converted?”

  Eric hesitated. “You were 18 years old Bristol…”

  “What? How… Why don’t I remember anything from my youth? The furthest I can remember is you and Susan! Why? I-”

  “Bristol, the prayer of forgetfulness was laid upon you by Susan, in order to protect you. You were 18 with the mind of a newborn, and Susan and I had to raise you and teach you everything you knew all over again.

  You’d turned 18 again by the time Lord Aslar came and asked you himself if you wanted to become immortal. You accepted his offer.”

  “You two tricked me! You’re not my real father, and she’s my aunt! You’re a selfish bastard, and she’s no better-”

  “Watch your tone young woman! You’ve been blessed with the opportunity to help our bloodline continue to live on forever. You should be proud!”

  “Proud? You’ve experienced love before! You have memories of normal living. I had all of this
stuff stripped from me for no reason whatsoever. I hate this! This is a curse, and I won’t partake in this any longer! I’m done!”

  Bristol ran out of the house and crossed through the front yard when she heard him screaming after her.

  “Bristol! Wait! Come back Bristol!”

  But it was too late because Bristol was too fast and too far gone. Susan is going to kill me when she finds out what happened, he thought as he put his face into his hands.

  ************************************

  Marvin had been dating Bristol for the past two months, and it had been the happiest time of his life. Bristol made him smile when he was at his lowest point. She was absolutely perfect for him. She was drop dead gorgeous and one of the most popular girls in school; and she could hit a jump shot!

  Marvin stood in his mother’s full length mirror as he fixed his tie and studied his appearance. Perfect, he thought. He had held on to half of the money that his ex-friend had given him months ago; and had enough to rent a suit, take pictures; and take Bristol to dinner. His mother walked in with a digital camera in her hand and a smile on her face.

  “You are so handsome Marvin,” she said as she pinched him on his cheek.

  “Come on Mom…” Marvin was nervous and shy; but when he thought about his beautiful girlfriend, pure excitement flowed through his veins. Unlike many of the other girls at school, she didn’t chase behind the in-crowd, she became the in-crowd.

  There had been many people hating on the strong bond that he had with Bristol, but their hatred was for naught and never affected their relationship. Bristol always knew the right words to say to him and was always in-tune with his emotions. A few times, Marvin swore that she was some type of mind-reader.

  “My baby boy is all grown up! Smile for the camera!” His mother caught him off guard and snapped a picture of him.

  “Mommm…”

  “What baby? I’m just proud of you is all. I wish Bristol would hurry up and bring her blond butt on over here so you two can take some pictures together. What time are ya’ll supposed to be leaving for the prom?”

  “It’s not the prom, it’s Homecoming; and we’re supposed to be leaving at 6 because the members of the student council are supposed to be there early.”

  “I can see it in that girl’s face Marvin… She is definitely in love with you.”

  “It’s far too early for her to love me isn’t it Ma?”

  His mother shifted her weight to her right leg and put her hand on her hip. “Marvin, look at me…”

  He turned away from the mirror and looked down at her short frame. She stared into his eyes, gazing at the familiar sparkle of one of the greatest men she had ever known, Marvin’s father.

  ************************************

  Her and his father, Murphy, had gotten married when they were only 21 years old. Despite what the naysayers said about their relationship, it had been the happiest time of her life. Murphy cherished her; he treated her as if she was the only woman on the planet.

  On the day that she went into labor with Marvin, Murphy had been at work with his construction crew. He received the call during his lunch break and high-tailed it all the way across town. He didn’t want to miss his the birth of his first born, so he broke all speed limits and ran all stop signs en route to the hospital.

  One of those stop signs was the wrong one to run on that particular day and an eighteen wheeler crashed into the driver’s side of his vehicle. The paramedics came, but it was nothing that they could do; Murphy was dead on arrival.

  That was the worst and the best day of her life. The best because their son had been born healthy, and the worst because her husband had been taken away. She never remarried; never had interest in any other man besides Murphy, and now her son was standing in front of her looking like a spitting image of her late husband.

  ************************************

  Wiping the tears from her eyes, she still managed to squeeze out a heartfelt smile. She rummaged through her purse until she found her keys, then handed them to Marvin, surprising him.

  “I know I told you that I would drop you and Bristol off, but I do think that you and that young lady can manage it. It’s time that I let my fears go and start trusting that you’re going to be o.k. I love you son. Now go on over to the Shell Station and fill up the gas tank.”

  Marvin clasped his hands around his mother’s small palms as he looked her in the eyes. “Thank you Mom… Thank you for trusting me…”

  He turned to leave when his mother stopped him in his tracks.

  “Marv…”

  “Yes Mom?”

  She hesitated for a moment, then reached into her purse again. “Marv… I’m going to leave you with the keys to the house because when you come home, I won’t be here.”

  Marvin looked alarmed. “What’s-”

  “Don’t worry baby, everything’s fine. I’m about to take the train to San Francisco to visit your grandmother. They called me and told me that she was sick, so I’m about to go see if I can help her around the house.”

  “Oh…” Marvin didn’t know that side of his family too well because the last time that he visited them; they seemed to have an attitude with him. He was 13 years old at the time, and it hurt that they would act like that towards him.

  “How long will you be gone Mom?”

  His mother walked up to him and pulled his ear. “I’ll be gone for a week… Do you think you could take care of yourself for seven days?”

  Marvin smirked. “Come on Ma… I’m almost a grown man now, I could take care of you for seven days! That’s not a problem.”

  She smiled at him lovingly. “Let’s hope so baby… Let’s hope so…”

  CHAPTER 11

  The tables had been cleared out and the floor was as shiny as the surface of a lightbulb. The lights were dim and smooth jazz music streamed through the speakers, creating an intimate setting. The students had created a banner that read: CEDAR HILL HOMECOMING and plastered it on the wall.

  The cafeteria had been turned into a professional ballroom, complete with photographers, candles, and low powered strobe lights.

  The entire room looked like the shadow of a hundred candles. It was mystic and sensual; perfect for the young lovers to celebrate the innocence of their teenage years. Marvin had rented a gray suit with a light blue button up shirt underneath it, and he could feel it in his bones that it was the best that he had ever looked.

  Bristol was wearing a baby blue dress trimmed in gray. Her heels were white and gray and were four inches off of the ground. No one could say that they weren’t the most beautiful couple at the dance, and they knew it.

  A couple of Marvin’s basketball teammates were there with their dates; and he spoke to them in passing because he only wanted to focus on Bristol. Tonight was her night and he wanted to make sure that she got the full attention that she deserved. They stood a few feet away from the live band and embraced each other; going through the motions of a slow dance.

  As far as Marvin was concerned, they were going to be doing that same dance for the entire night. He wasn’t much of a dancer, he was only searching for an excuse to get as close to Bristol as possible.

  “Bristol…” He whispered to her.

  “Yes Marvin?”

  “Why did you come in my house through the back door when it was time to leave?”

  Bristol stared up into Marvin’s hazel eyes, and felt so drawn to him that she couldn’t even read his thoughts. It was fast becoming a problem.

  “What do you mean Marvin?”

  “What do I mean? I mean you have never come into my house through the back door when we were playing basketball, so why would you come through the backdoor when you have on your Homecoming dress?”

  “Oh…” Bristol knew she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him again, but the truth would hurt him more than the lie.

  “I thought maybe you were in the backyard playing basketball,” she joked.

  “I�
��m not laughing Bristol. I’m serious. Are you ashamed of me or something?”

  Bristol was alarmed that he would ask such a question. She stared at him defensively, but she knew that she couldn’t fault him for thinking that way, because that was exactly how she had been acting.

  “My mother adores you, and she told me that she could see it in your face that maybe you had feelings for me too; but I just can’t tell sometimes.”

  “Marvin, now… This is our night, let’s just dance and enjoy ourselves.”

  “Why didn’t your parents want to take pictures of us together? It’s our senior homecoming dance. We only get one and this is it…”

  Bristol remained silent, for fear of saying the wrong thing. She placed her hands on the small of Marvin’s back and pulled him as close to her as possible. She pressed her face into his chest and took a deep breath. Marvin was enjoying the closeness of her, but he was still searching for answers to his queries.

  “Bristol, be honest with me baby… Are you ashamed of me?”

  “Goodness no! I could never be ashamed of you Marvin, I lo-… care for you too much.”

  Marvin stopped dancing for a minute and looked into her eyes.

  “What were you about to say? You love me? Because I’ve been meaning to tell you that same thing Bristol. It’s true… I love you.”

  Bristol’s heart started pounding harder than she’d ever felt it beat before in her life. She thought she was on the verge of a heart attack before she realized how absurd that thought was.

  What do I say? She thought as she looked around the room with panic in her eyes. If I tell him I do love him, what will happen to me? What will happen to us? Oh my goodness!