The Blood That Bonds (39 page)

Two thought often of Theroen, thought of
love, thought of redemption. She wondered what might lie ahead,
where life in New York might take her. For the time being, she was
content to leave these questions unanswered. For years she had
lived in darkness and though now she wanted nothing more than a
life under the night sky, she could stand for a time in the light,
and find it good.

* * *

Epilogue

Lima, Ohio. The dead of night.

The girl with the blonde hair wakes from a
dream she can’t remember, and looks out the window at the moon
rising full in the sky. Stars like she’s never seen, no lights of a
great city to obscure them, glitter back at her like diamonds cast
against a mat of soft black velvet. They reflect in her eyes, large
and green.

She hears the soft breathing of the young
lady in the twin bed on the other side of the room, and sighs. She
thinks of breathing in the dark with her lover. She thinks of the
time they shared together.

Sleep does not come easily for the girl,
even now, in safety and warmth, and she crawls from the bed and
pulls on jeans below her nightgown. A winter coat, a pair of socks,
her shoes. She wants a cigarette. She wants to think.

If the young woman in the other bed hears
her leave, then she lets the girl go. There are times when it is
best not to disturb. There are times when it is best to feign sleep
and hope, hope that a friend will find the answers that she’s
looking for. Hope that all will be well.

The girl sits on the front porch and smokes,
and smiles through her tears, calls herself silly. The moon makes
everything blue-black, and she remembers the woods, and how they
seemed lit as if by daylight, to vampire eyes.

Two sits and smokes, and smiles through her
tears, and thinks about Theroen. She thinks about the future, and
about the past. She knows there are other vampires. Surely Theroen
could not be the last of his kind. She knows there are others, and
she knows from his stories that some of them, at least, are like
him. Decent. Honest. Good. They are untainted by the evil that
infested Abraham. They are out there; awake like her, under the
same moon, under the same stars.

Two could learn to love the light, perhaps.
She could learn to be human, to pursue again those human dreams,
human ambitions. A husband, maybe. A child. A life like any
other.

She doesn’t want it.

The decision is made between the flare of
the match, and the cigarette’s last dying ember. Under the moon and
the stars, it’s so much harder to lie to herself than it is under
the sun. She wants what once was offered. What once she had. There
are others, and they are out there, living the life she wants,
knowing the power of the blood, moving their way through the cities
and towns and woods of the world.

Two sits, and smokes, and smiles through her
tears. There are others. They are out there. She knows it.

* * *

Continued in Book 2:

Blood Hunt

http://writing.cwbuecheler.com/novels/blood-hunt/

Keep Reading for a Sneak Preview!

About the Author

Christopher Buecheler is a web designer and
developer, an author of both fiction and non-fiction, a student of
mixology and brewing, a player of guitars and drums, a follower of
professional sports, and a fan of of video games, genre and
mainstream fiction, and horror movies.

He lives a semi-nomadic existence with his
amazing wife Charlotte, and their two cats: Carbomb and Baron
Salvatore H. Lynx II.

You can visit him at
http://www.cwbuecheler.com

Blood
hunt
Sneak
Preview

The alley was dark, and damp, and smelled
like mold. It stretched for perhaps twenty meters in either
di-rection, opening up to streets on either side. There were other
doors that opened out into it, but all seemed locked tight. The
vampire was nowhere to be seen.

“
You’re kidding me,” Two
said, running a hand through her hair. “You have got to be fucking
kidding me! Where did you go?”

She moved down the alley toward the rear of
the building, kicking boxes and old newspapers out of her way.
There was no sound but the noise of her progress, and the bass
thuds coming from the club. Two reached the end of the alley and
peered down the street. Nothing.

“
God damn it, don’t leave
me here!” She shouted back at the darkness, but there was no
response.

Two began walking back up the alley,
muttering to herself.

“
Fine. Fuck you and fuck
your stupid vampire bull-shit. Fuck your stupid games. I’ll come
back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day after that. I’ll
keep coming back until you talk to me.”

There was a sound like rushing wind, and Two
felt something heavy hit her shoulders, dragging her toward the
ground. The motion was fast, disorienting, and Two was sure that at
any moment she would hit the hard cob-blestones of the alley floor.
Instead, she found herself cradled in the arms of the woman from
the club.

“
I’ll speak with you now,
since you request it,” the vampire said, her voice icy and
detached. “You know what I am, and we can’t have that. I’m sorry
…”

“
Wait!” Two shouted, and
took in air to speak more, but it was too late. With one swift
motion the vampire grabbed Two’s chin, forcing her head back and
exposing the veins of her neck. The vampire lunged forward and Two
felt a brief spike of pain, like fire lancing out from where the
vampire had bitten her to touch every nerve ending. After a moment,
the pain was replaced with warm, pulsating waves of pleasure that
coincided with her heartbeat.

Two felt herself being drained, felt her
life being stolen away from her, felt blackness overtaking her. It
didn’t seem to matter, anymore, caught in this comfortable embrace.
She thought to herself, at least it’s over. At least it’s finally
done.

She did not expect the abrupt end to the
sensation, nor the sudden plummet to the unforgiving stones below.
She was dimly aware that she must still be alive, because hitting
the cobblestones had hurt. Two looked up, groggy and trying to
clear her vision. The vampire was backing away from her, eyes wide
with confusion and surprise.

“
Tah ama vamper. Sa pare
tah ama vamper. Ashi?”

The words meant nothing to Two, but she
forced herself to respond anyway. Her mouth grudgingly formed the
words.

“
Told … toldjoo to …
wait.”

“
Ashika moritas?!” the
vampire cried.

Two was fading rapidly, but she forced
herself to a sitting position. Her head spun, and she leaned
against the side of the building for support. The walls of
L’Obscurité throbbed and hummed against her back.

“
I don’t speak … whatever
language that is, sorry,” Two said.

The woman seemed to have regained some of
her composure. She was regarding Two with curiosity.

“
You have vampire blood,”
she said.

Two’s vision was fading now, the world going
first grey and then dark. She laughed. The sound was more like a
sob, and with it went the last of her strength. Two slumped to the
ground, and her last words where a whis-per.

“
Not anymore.”

* * *

Learn More

http://writing.cwbuecheler.com/novels/blood-hunt/