Aleron: Book One of Strigoi Series (Stringoi Series) (6 page)

“You slept well, my love.” She held out her arms, signaling me to come. I stood and began to walk toward her. With the paling light of the moon now surrounding her frame and with a nurturing calmness, she took me into her arms. Unlike our first embrace, she was, to my surprise, humanly warm. The chill of my touch instantly stole warmth from hers. She began to kiss my neck and chin. I could smell the meal she must have had before I awoke. The aroma instantly rekindled my insatiable hunger. At that very moment I could no longer think of anything else. Her kisses became a memory. Everything I’d become was forgotten. Life itself was an afterthought. I could only think of blood. My eyes opened wider than ever to see Mynea tilting her neck and inviting me to bite her!

“The hunger will consume you entirely if you don’t feed soon after you awake, my love. Drink.” Without so much as a forethought, I opened my mouth, and I gently punctured Mynea’s neck with my teeth.

The feeling of her warm blood flowing from her body into my mouth was indescribable. I can only liken it to trying to describe an orgasm to someone who has never had one before. It was simply something one must experience for himself. It was the cure for all that was aching within me, the answer for any lingering question my body had. The absolute meaning and purpose of my very existence was all satisfied by the blood meal she gave me. If love is, then I was certain, blood is.

As I continued to drink, incoherent memories of a female rushed into my mind, walking swiftly, alone at dusk. She kept looking back, feeling a presence drawing nearer, never knowing what true fate awaited her when she stopped abruptly in front of an angel. My angel. My Mynea.

I continued to see strange visions foretelling the life of this poor woman in the first person until the images seemed to dissipate and the blood memoirs suddenly changed. The woman was no longer the protagonist in these new visions. A feeling of despair came over me. It was sudden, absolutely without warning. I felt hopeless. It was similar to the feeling one might have alone and in complete darkness, hands
outstretched, hoping to grasp onto something but grasping only air. It was a feeling I didn’t like.

Then a vivid picture came into focus. I saw a castle nestled deep within a vast mountainous region. As my curiosity increased, I sucked harder. I tried to focus in an attempt to understand these visions, but my efforts were futile. A dark and deep moat encircled the castle, denying safe passage to any, welcoming only the invited. The castle had a menacing quality. For the first time, the blood memories offered yet a new dimension in interpretation: sound.

“Mynea!” the voice said. In that very instant I saw black, colorless eyes. I couldn’t distinguish a pupil or an iris. Both were an abyss surrounded by ancient flesh. These eyes were menacingly huge, larger than those of any humans I had seen. Thick and dark eyebrows hovered over unusually long eyelashes. Eyes that foretold a knowledge far beyond my understanding. They seemed to be looking at Mynea. As quickly as it had come, the vision faded.

More!
I thought as I continued to draw blood from my queen.
More!
Suddenly, I felt Mynea’s powerful grip clasping the back of my hair, pulling me away from her neck.

“That’s enough, my dear Aleron. In time, my love,” she said while releasing me to my feet. “You don’t have to rush. Our bloodlust will last an eternity.”

I had completely forgotten about the insignificant life of the woman Mynea had condemned. I was intrigued by something far more mysterious. I hadn’t been able to see the face, but the eyes were burned into my memory. Mynea slowly turned away from me and focused over the horizon once more.

“You have questions, Aleron. As I said before, I will answer them. Just know that these things that bewilder you have no meaning to you as a fledgling vampire.” Her voice was stern and undeniably chilling. Her shadow remained still, though her body moved. She turned toward me, and I knew then that my queen was indeed my queen, and I one of her subjects. She would only reveal to me what she thought was necessary. I truly believed the visions I saw would be explained in the future—or so I wanted to believe. I was certain that those eyes would haunt me from
that moment on. The revelation would eventually be told to me, but not by the lips of my queen.

The brat in me wanted answers immediately, and she knew this. She knew my curiosity would diminish if I drank her blood long enough. The mere thought of her blood returned me to a state of calmness. I became a baby at the bosom of his mother, positively safe. Mynea must have sensed this, for she again took me into her arms. I embraced her cooling body. I must have drained some of the mortal warmth she stole from the woman in the visions. The thought of stealing from mortals made me smile. We are thieves, are we not? We steal the hopes and dreams of each and every victim we condemn to a fate that was once left for their God to decide. We steal the passions of those who love and replace this absolute emotion with absolute despair. We steal the joy of a mother and the security of a father, and for what? In the name of our survival, we are thieves!

The mortal radiance began to subside, and the only evidence of the woman in the remaining vision were minute droplets of blood smudged along the right side of Mynea’s lips. I must have it! I kissed the very spot, and Mynea smiled as if she had purposely left them there for me. Either way, I was thoroughly satisfied.

She placed her head on my bare chest, and I took the more aggressive role. I rubbed my nostrils on top of her hair. How sweet she smelled! How deliciously sweet! A bath of flowers must have preceded my awakening. Lilacs, orchids, samba, and my favorite of them all, the blue iris. It was said that the blue iris only grew in the southernmost mountainous region of eastern Europe. Nearly impossible to find and even more difficult to acquire, this exotic flower was to be respected and never forgotten. To harness its fragrance was no easy task. One had to use a mortar and pestle to crush its petals into a fine powder. Heating the powder under a small flame, such as the flame of a candle, turned the powder into a paste. Women applied this precious gum to their fingertips and massaged it onto certain areas of their bodies, anywhere the fragrance would be enjoyed. I loved its intoxicating aroma.

I looked at Mynea, into the eyes of a lioness. How long had she watched me before making me hers? I had fallen completely in love with
her upon seeing her. I don’t know if she used her gifts to lure me into the women’s quarters of the Promethium. However, it mattered not. I was physically drawn to her at first sight. Try to imagine God’s most perfect angel—perfect face and perfect body, exquisite eyes that seemed eternally forgiving. Her poise suggested a timeless grace, complemented by a curly mane of shiny brown silk, and the coup de grace, a soft glow that created a sublime silhouette. That was the beauty that was Mynea. Her preternatural lure wasn’t needed.

I could see from looking directly into her eyes that she also loved me. But I had no idea why. Surely there existed at least one male immortal whose looks far surpassed those of mortal men. There had to be a male vampire who knew of Mynea and loved her. Surely we were not the only two in existence. And if we were, where had she come from? What was her origin? Was she once human? Did someone or something change her? More and more questions arose. I needed to know the answers. This thirst for knowledge was fueled simply by the intimidation and intrigue of those eyes. Did I feel haunted? Yes. Was I scared? Somewhat. Ultimately, I was consumed by curiosity.

CHAPTER 5

t that moment I heard tiny footsteps in the distance. A familiar scent filled the air, and I knew that Eliza was near. The enormous door began to move. Surely Eliza didn’t possess the strength required to shift the great stone door in the slightest, yet it continued to open. I began to make sense of the vulnerability Mynea spoke of before our vampire sleep and wondered if we were completely helpless. Could we be killed if someone were to discover us during slumber?

The door was now completely ajar. “Come in, dear,” Mynea said.

Eliza entered. Glancing up only for a moment, her eyes instantly retreated at the sight of our naked bodies standing near the far wall—rather, I should say, the sight of my naked body. She was holding clothing, which she laid across the chair. And then, without saying a word, she was gone.

Mynea dressed me. She was meticulous with every button on my black trousers. There was nothing extraordinary about the clothing we
now wore. We resembled ordinary mortals, wearing what the common people wore during those times. The clothes suggested our destination was of no significant importance.

“Aleron, we’re going back to the city. You’ll learn to hunt as I do this night. You have no doubt discovered you’re stronger than any mortal you’ve ever encountered or who will ever exist. Your hand tore through that man’s flesh before your mind commanded. Though you’re indeed powerful, your greatest endowment won’t be revealed until much later. You must push your body to its very limits. Mental and physical boundaries must be forgotten. That’s the only way to embrace your true nature.”

“I’m a killer,” I said with a disgusted undertone. “Slayer of men. A reflex that I can’t control!” The thought of Rathmon’s smoldering foul breath insulting my queen triggered in me a desire to end his life. It was a fury I’d never felt before. “I’m a monster!”

“Yes. We are killers, Aleron,” she replied. “We’re even considered monsters to some. However, we cannot deny our nature. Whom we choose to kill and why we choose to end their existence is our choice. How we kill is our choice.”

“What about what we kill, my love?”

“You can feed on the blood of any animal you wish, but understand this. You’ll temporarily take on some of the attributes of your host. In our efforts to remain in society, feeding on man allows us to hide our true nature right in front of their eyes.”

Take on the attributes of the host?
I thought. “In time,” she replied in her soft yet authoritative voice. “Come with me, Aleron.”

She took my hand, and as swiftly as a single flutter of a hummingbird’s wings, we were off.

I so loved our impenetrable embraces, moving silently and swiftly across the black water, the wind in our faces, the moonlight reflecting on our beastly eyes.

At that moment, a vision beset my mind. Those eyes! Menacing. Large. Black. Though they were looking at Mynea, they seemed to be staring at me. Piercing my soul, or whatever was left of it. Tormenting me. I felt an unsettling chill. Mynea was now aware of the change in me.
She looked down upon me from the corner of her eye. Then she looked ahead. I felt more cautious than frightened.

Our journey took longer than the previous night. We were traveling in an entirely new and unfamiliar direction. I began to see flickering lights in the distance as we moved away from the water to travel above land, too stealthily and fast for any human to detect. Trees were but a blur. The creatures of the night sang a fading song. My anxiousness temporarily replaced the stalking eyes with anticipation of this night’s offerings.

Leaves rustled during our passing, the night air filled my lungs, cool and crisp, soothing me, relaxing me. And in an instant, we stopped. Eyes focused, I realized we were not quite within the city walls, yet not far from them. We were purposely nestled in the middle of nowhere. She spoke to my thoughts with hers.
My love, I’ve brought you here for a reason
. Audibly I replied, “What reason is that?”

“For you to learn more about yourself. For you to test your limits and gauge your strengths and learn to respect your weaknesses. This lesson you should never forget, but I must see if your vampire instincts will carry you through the excruciating pain of timelessness. Immortality is a blessing and a curse.”

“Curse?” I asked. “One can only dream of what it means to be immortal. What it means to live outside of time. Infinite life without the fear of sickness, famine, or death. Truly a curse,” I finished with a smirk.

“What do you know about immortality?” she asked. “How can one who has been immortal for so little time understand what it truly means to live forever? You’re an infant who embodies a god’s power! Strength, you know nothing of. Speed, you can scarcely grasp the concept of. Abilities that could bring you victory or, if misunderstood, defeat.” She spoke with authority. She was again my queen. “The night is young, and your lesson shall begin with a meal that I will prepare,” she said, and then she was gone.