Chapter Four: Christmas Lies

 It was Christmas Day, I have decided to risk the sun, I am taking a couple of the students to the Simmons’ place and taking them back, they all have their gifts for each other in their back packs.  I have gifts for everyone as well.  For Theodore, I bought him some of my books, ones I wrote, about Shakespeare and some of Shakespeare’s early work.  They are very expensive by today’s standards but to me, it is nice to give them to someone who never knew Shakespeare and enjoys his plays.  For Marcus, it is his pocket watch I am giving him.  I made him this watch for when he turned sixteen, the day Argos turned him.  At sixteen then he was a man, today he is still a child.  I have made some changes to the watch, mostly so now it would take batteries made today, but it still as ancient as his soul.  For the other kids, I got some games to play in the dorms, on the new X-Box 360 that the school had gotten for the dorms.  I parked in the driveway of the house next door to the Simmons’. The house was now closing on a sale, my sale; I bought it yesterday offering the owners three times above market value.  I waited for all the students to get out, with packages in hand.  I went around back of my van and got my bag, and followed the students up the door.  Thankfully it was a cold day, very sunny, but cold, so most won’t look twice at my extra clothes.  I was kind of nervous I had not talked to Theodore since the day school let out, five days ago.  And Theodore has been haunting my dreams, and they were not bad dreams, just unnerving, and completely erotic.  But the first child knocked and he opened the door.

          “Come in, come in, it is freezing out there come in!”  He said moving to the side to let the kids in then he saw me and smiled. “Katyla, get in here, you are going to burn!”  He grabbed his coat from the hanger and came out and put in around my shoulders.  His smell was all over, and for first time since I was human, I felt warm.  He rushed me into the house, and hung his jacket back up and took mine.  The kids had thrown theirs so I helped him pick them up and throw them on a chair by the door. “Kids, don’t care where they drop things.  They all must be in Marcus’s room; I got him that new X-Box 360 system and the new Call of Duty game for Christmas.”

          “The kids today do seem to love their game systems.  I brought gifts, where do you want them?”  I said heading into the living room.  I listened for a moment to the excitement of the children, but as always with Theodore, it was only allowed for a moment.  He had started to move towards me at that moment.

          “Over by the tree is fine the kids will probably be a few minutes then will come down and exchange gifts.”  Theodore said walking behind me, never staying more then a foot away.

          “Do you need help in the kitchen?”

          “Do you cook?” Theodore was shocked he hasn’t met a lot of woman who volunteer to cook anymore.

          “Yes, I am very good, my mother’s best friend taught me, and she was a world class chef in Paris.” Not true but the cooking classes I took in Paris were by a woman, and Julia was famous.

          “Marcus said you lost your mother.”

          “Yes, I was young, as soon as I could go to high school my father sent me up here.”

          “What does he do?”

          “He was military; he passed away before the new school year.”  I didn’t want him asking anymore questions.  I took bits from my own history and made them more modern, I loved my dad, he was all I had, he was proud of my intelligence, and proud that I wasn’t going to be a standard wife and mother.  He never got to meet Marcus; he died right before I got married.  It may seem strange that I was married and had a child when I was seventeen, but that was the way life was, then I was an adult woman at twelve, I got married just a few months after my fourteenth birthday, and had Marcus when I was fifteen.  I was going to put off telling Marcus and Theodore that for as long as possible.

          “That must be hard; do you have any other family?”

          “No, is it just you and Marcus?”  We had walked into the kitchen and he was cutting carrots, I had taken charge of the potatoes, we were working quickly, I forget at times to be human in my speed but Theodore never seemed to notice.

          “Yes, I am sure you heard Sarah, Marcus’s mother, passed away during the summer.”

          “Yes I had heard that, you two must have been young when you had him.”

          “Yes, I turned seventeen just a week before he was born, it is hard to believe he will be sixteen next month, on the 15th, my birthday is the 9th.”

          “Wow, it must have been hard going to school and being such a young parent.”

          “It was but it was worth it, I may be only 32 but I have a lifetime worth of memories.”  He had finished the carrots and I the potatoes and we put them to boil and sat down at the kitchen table, continuing to talk.  “Do you want anything to drink?”

          “No.”  Yes, he was so sweet smelling.

          “Do you have any siblings?” He was sitting with a cup of coffee getting cold look straight at me, he was so close.

          “My mother died in childbirth with my brother, he did not make it either.”

          “Oh, so sorry to hear, it must be tough.”

          “I was seven when it happened she was older, there were complications, we grieved, but what was bad was my father didn’t really know how to raise a daughter, so he raised me as a son, until I was a teenager.” That was why I went into science, my father was an elder of the town, and so if his daughter was taught by him, then she was good enough to teach others.

          “Then you needed a mother…” He left it as an open, so he can gain more information about me.

          “I came here when I was thirteen, I am twenty one now.  I think I have turned out okay without having a mother during these last few years of my life.”  About six thousand years, that is.

          “Yes, I can see that…”  All of a sudden the conversation was going to take a different turn, and I never experienced that, my marriage was arranged.  Just as Theodore was going to continue the kids bound into the kitchen.

          “Hey Dad, Hey Kat!  Dad can we open the gifts now?”  Marcus was basically jumping up in down, he knew what Christopher got him, and he couldn’t wait for the game to be opened, some zombie game- Dead Rising 2.  I laughed so low, nobody could have heard me, but Theodore looked my way for just a moment, then he turned back to Marcus.

          “Sure, everybody in the living room, Katyla, after you.”  Theodore got up and motioned for me to exit the kitchen first.  He followed me.    I sat down on the love seat the only thing open, and Theodore sat down next to me.  “Okay who wants to go first?”

          “Let the children exchange gifts, I will go check the potatoes and the carrots.”  I said getting up his blood was too much of a temptation today.  I was weakened severely by the sun today, I know the burns are healing, thank God but it is making it harder to be around Theodore.  I almost was done preparing the potatoes, when Marcus came running in, he almost tipped the huge pan of boiling carrots on him, but I caught the pan. “Marcus, you should be more careful, you would have been badly burned if that had fallen on you.”     But he was staring at my hand.

          “Whoa, you caught that pan super-fast!  And look you are not burned!  Dad!  Dad!  Kat has super power!” Theodore came when he heard dad.

          “What is going on in here?”  Theodore came over to look at my hand, seeing that I had caught the pan.  A quick spell and now I had a burn.

          “Marcus came running in almost dumped the boiling carrot water on him, I caught it.  Don’t worry, the burn is not bad, I have had worse.”  I pulled my hand away, I did not want him to notice how cold I felt and then reject me.

          “Let me get some gauze, Marcus, go and sit in the living room, Katyla will be in and pass out her gifts, and open hers after I tend to her hand.”  Marcus wasn’t buying the wound he was sure I was not hurt, but he listened to his father.

          Theodore took my hand again, and led me to the bathroom “I know I have some gauze in here somewhere.”  He let go of my hand and rummaged though the medicine cabinet.  After about a minute he found the gauze.  I was standing very still, and not breathing, this was a small room and his scent filled the space.  There were warring hungers, one I knew all to well, and the other I had never experienced.  I was torn, between biting him and kissing him.  “Here we go, Katyla” Theodore took my hand and wrapped it, never once commenting on the coldness of my hand, I took a moment to look in his mind, he was thinking how soft my hand was, not how cold!

          “Umm… Mr. Simmons…”

          “Call me Theodore.” He said cutting me off.

          “Theodore…” He was done wrapping my hand and facing me. “Umm… thank you.” 

          “Not a problem at all…” he was going to kiss me, I was no longer reading his mind but I could tell he was going to kiss me, then Marcus came bounding in.

          “Are you okay Kat?’  He was still sure I had not been injured but he was going to go along with it.  He had thought about it and decided to keep it a secret; people would think he was crazy.

          “Marcus, I am fine… thank you.  Your father and I were just about to come out.”  My voice sounded husky, and it wasn’t from the lack of breathing.

          “Good, I have a gift for you!  Dad can I give her the gift now?”  Theodore had not turned from me. 

          “Yes, we will be right there, go get Katyla her gift.”  With that Marcus left again.  “I want to talk to you later, once the kids settle.”  Then he took my hand and we left the bathroom and walked back to the living room. 

          “The carrots!”  I just wanted to escape, his warmth, his scent, his voice, all causing a whirlwind of emotions I had never felt; the want of his blood now the furthest thing from my mind.  I pulled my hand away and went to the kitchen.

          “Katyla, all I was going to do was put some butter on them.”  Theodore went to the fridge grabbed a stick of butter and threw it in the pan.  “There, they are done.  Let’s go back to living room.”  He took my hand again and I went with him to the living room.

I sat back down on the love seat, and he sat next to me. Marcus was already there, with a small wrapped package.

          “Kat, me and my dad bought this for you.”  I let his grammar slide, the box was wrapped with purple penguins, and it was kind of funny and cute at the same time.  He hand me the box.  “Open it!”

          I lifted the lid and inside was a sapphire necklace, it was the darkest blue it could be before being considered black, and it was surrounded by two garnets.  It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  “It is so…”

          “Do you like it?  I saw it the other day, and thought of how it would be the perfect gift for you!  Dad said that it was a bit much at first, but a few days ago he agreed to get it with me.”

          “It is perfect, thank you so much!”  I was speechless; it was over two thousand years since I received a gift.

          Theodore, went and picked up the necklace from my hands, and moved my hair to the side, and placed the necklace on me.  The blue and the red popped against my white skin.  “I am so glad you like it Katyla.”

          “I mean it, it is perfect.”  I couldn’t believe it, they bought me something, and I was being accepted, by Marcus and Theodore.  They never once commented on my white skin, my cold touch, and my odd tendencies.  Well Theodore did, but somewhere in the last few days he had a change of heart.  I was holding back the tears, of course other I had to for more then looking like, what is the word kids use to day... sap?  I also had to hold them back because my tears are pink, they are tainted with blood, if I dined on human blood they would be totally red, like they day Argos killed Marcus I am still upset with myself that I was still so weak after almost four thousand years of being a vampire, I was still drinking human blood, but less and less back then, Marcus wanted to do away with the practice all together and I stood by him.   “I hope you like my gifts, I got for you.”  I went to get up, but Marcus beat me to it, only because I let him, and bought the pile of gifts I bought over to me.  I passed them out, to the children first, leaving Marcus and Theodore for last.  I handed Marcus his small gift, and Theodore his, and sat back.  Theodore did as well his gift on his lap, and I had an urge to place my head on his shoulder, so I did.  And I could hear his heart beat pick up.  At first I was worried something was wrong.  I tried to move, but Theodore put his arm around me.

          “Oh my!”  Marcus had opened his gift.  “Dad look at this, isn’t just the coolest thing?”  He was holding up the pocket watch.  “Kat I just love it.”  For once his games were forgotten.

          “I am happy you like it Marcus.” 

          “It is one of the best presents ever!”  He was handing it to Theodore.

          “Katyla, where did you get this, I have never seen anything like it.”

          “An antique store, I saw it and thought of Marcus, he is going to be sixteen soon, time for him to carry a watch I thought.”

          “It is really something.”  Theodore was thinking it was way too expensive to leave with a fifteen year old kid.

          “Dad I will be real careful with it!  It is the best, not like all those other watches kids have; I have an honest to God pocket watch!  Can we go up and play games now?” 

I heard Marcus say those words once before and hearing them again I was transported to the past, before the birth of Christ and before I chose my new life, and Marcus’s mind was too filled with games and the pocket watch for me to be pulled from my thoughts.  With my mind filled with the past, I remembered our religion before Christ was born, even before the birth of Judaism, that religion has been transformed to Wicca.  Wiccans are as ancient as I am, they have been called many things, but not all Wiccans are Witches and not all Witches are Wiccan.  Marcus was going to marry a Wiccan Witch, it was 0 A.D., I traveled to see the New Born King and I knew how life was going to change thanks to a vision just weeks before, but just days after that visit as I was laying on a cross of my own, the cross one of the worst forms of the death penalty was just as bad for vampires, I remembered on how I was going to turn her, Marcus’s soul mate, Rae. She was killed at the same time as Marcus, carrying my grandchild.  Rae was a beautiful soul; she was the one who brought forth the humanity that both Marcus and I were losing a grip on.  If she had not come into our life, we would have turned out like Argos.  I thank God every day for her, and had prayed that her soul is reincarnated.  It had been but I have not been able to locate her.  I felt it the day she was born, but I could not find her, she was born a few years after Marcus.  She would be eleven now, God knows what he was doing after all a few years is better then the four thousand that Marcus had to wait in his last life.  God is leaving it up to Marcus to find her.  It reminds me of my grandchild, vampires can have children if we will it, the female takes it hard if she is a vampire, but heals nicely, I have only witnessed three such births.  I never thought of myself ever having another child.  The children are born human, and then they turn automatically once hitting adulthood, around seventeen or eighteen.

          The kids were getting restless, anyone can see that.  Theodore’s voice brought me from the past.  “Go on, be careful, and take all your gifts up.  The rest of you can take them up and play with or leave them by the tree.  Dinner will be ready in about an hour.”  With that Theodore and I were alone.

          “Are you not going to open your gift Theodore?”

          Theodore looked down at the gift in his lap, not really wanting to move but not wanting to be rude either.  So I moved, so I could face him some more.  With that Theodore unwrapped his gift.  He was shocked, he had heard of some of these books but could not afford them, and had heard of rumors about other Shakespeare work but never saw it and no real proof, until today.  He looked at the name of the author: Katyla O’Hara.

          “I told you I had a family member who was a fan; I am all that is left so everything was left to me.  I was named after this ancestor.”

          “Katyla, this is too much, you could sell these for a small fortune!”  He was shocked I would give him something so perfect for him, but so expensive.

          “Why, I am financially secure, and why not give them to someone who would have a higher appreciation for them.  You would love these more then any museum or university.  I would rather give them to someone who would really care for them.”  I never had anyone to care for in two thousand years; it was odd to feel what I was feeling now. 

          “Thank you so much, they are perfect.”  Theodore leaned back again, after putting the box of books to the side.  “I can’t wait to add them to my collection, but I will do that later for now I just want to sit here.”  I sat back to, and put my head back on his shoulder.  I didn’t move I just counted his heart beats.  His hand moving across my hair, he moved his chin to rest on my head.  The temptation to look up was so great.  I was just about to, when Marcus came back down, his thought panicky, someone was hurt.

          “Dad!  Kat!  Come quick!”  Then he ran back up the stairs, and so did I, leaving Theodore behind.  I kept myself at a very fast human pace; I got there just as Marcus did.  One of the boys, Jacob, was hurt, he had been messing around and put his arm through the window.  I ran over and looked at it; it was deep, so deep he was bleeding out.  Theodore walked in the room. 

          “Theodore, call 911! Now!  I ripped off my sweater though I was in full view of the sun, knowing my skin was burning, my arms the worst, and all were seeing, but the child had to be helped.  I wrapped the sweater around his arm and helped him to stand up.  I helped him walk, down the hall and then down the steps, taking most of his weight.  He was too weak.  The paramedics were not going to make it.  Marcus was watching how my skin burned, how it was healing, but I was in the sun to long today, it was going to take a couple of days now.  I mumbled a few words to lessen the child’s wound, of course doing so; I stopped the healing on my wounds, and even allowed some of the worse ones to worsen.  Each time I do a spell my mind goes back, back during the Salem Witch Trails, I met a woman, and she was a Catholic Wiccan, who was also a witch.  I saved her life, she wanted to repay me, I said no.  But she said a spell, giving me the ability to practice witchcraft, so that I could have the power of the earth, air, water, fire and sprit.  I haven’t used a lot of the craft so I still do not know many spells, simple healing ones and then the large one I used to save Theodore, and a few others, some I am not proud to know.  Though I don’t know many spells, I am still very powerful.

          “How is he?”  Theodore was on the phone with the dispatch, and I could hear the sirens now. 

          “He is going to have one nice of a scar, and he lost a lot of blood, but I think he is going to be okay.”  I had stopped the artery from bleeding, just some minor bleeding now. 

          “That is good.”  Then there was knock on the door.  “Marcus, answer the door.  They are here now.  Thank you.”  Then Theodore hung up from the dispatch, and the paramedics came in.  They started taking over, thank God.

          “Ma’am, we can take it from here.  Ma’am we were called about a cut not burns.”

          “Yes, Jacob, he put his hand through a window, there was lots of blood, take care of him.”

          “Ma’am, those are some bad burns.”

          “I am sensitive to the sun, they will heal, take care of the child.”  I waved my hand toward the child as I was dismissing them, and I played with their minds to forget the burns, and with that I got up and walked to the kitchen.  I needed blood, but I could not hunt until night fall, and that was three hours away, it was only two in the afternoon, dinner would be in an hour.  The sun had weakened me to the point that any more exposure may finally destroy me.  There would be no way for me to eat; the pain of the rejection would be too bad without blood.  I had not realized Marcus followed me.  I could hear Theodore talking to the paramedics.

          “Kat, are you okay?  I saw how you burned when you took your sweater off.”

          I jumped around a little too quick, the sun had weakened me to a point I was almost at human strength, and that is why Marcus had been able to sneak up on me.  “Marcus, don’t sneak up on people.  Yes, I am fine; I have a weird allergy is all.  It is not very common, but very real.  The sun burns me.” 

          “Don’t you think you should have a doctor take a look at it?”

          “No, the burns will heal just fine.”

          “You will at least let dad take a look at them?”

          “If it will make you happy Marcus, he can take a look at them, but I should call Jacob’s parents.”

          “Dad is already doing that.”

          “Do you have some plywood?”

          “Why?”

          “The window will have to be covered.”  A broken window that was not boarded was like an open invite to a vampire.  That is one myth that is true; we have to be invited in to a place where a human is living.  But with a broken window, left open it is an open invite for anything to enter the house, even a vampire.

          “Oh, you will have to ask dad.”  Just then Theodore walked in. 

          “Ask me what?  Marcus why don’t you go clean up the glass in your room, I will be up to board it up in a minute.”

          “That was what Kat was going to ask you, if we had wood to board it up.  I will go pick it up.”  With that Marcus was out of the room.

          “Katyla, that was kind of silly to rip off your sweeter, especially with just a tiny tank top underneath, when you were in full view of the sun.”

          “I had to put pressure on the bleeding; it was the first thing I thought to use.”

          “Those burns are pretty bad, you sure you don’t want a doctor to see them?”

          “I am sure, look they are already healing.”  I held out the arm that was burned, the one facing the window.

          Theodore came over and took my arm, and looked at it up and down, with a frown on his face.  “You don’t seem to have scars, so I will take your word they will heal, but if they don’t heal in the next couple of days, I am taking you myself to a doctor.”

          “Oh… I am sure they will have disappeared by tonight.”

          “That quick?”  Theodore was quite shocked, and I knew I had slipped up.

          “Most of my burns heal that quickly, if they were caused by the sun.”

          “Okay, well let’s see if we have a sweater or something for you.  We can’t have you running around in front of teenage boys in a little tank top.”  I would have blushed if I could have, because I got a flash of his thoughts without trying, it included him removing that little bitty tank top.

          “Umm... I have another sweater, in my car, I will get it.”

          “No you won’t.  You can’t go out in that sun.  I will get it; you go sit in the living room.  I have to go out anyway to get the wood for the window.  Please give me your keys.” 

          I just looked at him; I could have just gone out.  Instead I reached into my jeans pocket and gave him my keys, and watched him as he walked out of the kitchen.  I turned and checked the potatoes, warming on the stove, and the carrots, and the ham.  I set up the rolls to rise, and then went to the living room waiting for him.  That is when I noticed the curtains; they were heavy fabric, almost blackout fabric, and a little note on them to keep them closed.   He really had listened about my little allergy to the sun.  Normally it would not have taken me so long to scope out my surroundings, but Theodore had my usually can focus on a million things mind focused solely on him.  I heard him at the door, and got up and opened it.

          “Katyla I told you to sit and rest, those burns need to heal.”  Theodore was trying to juggle my sweater, and a large piece of plywood.

          “Let me grab my sweater” which I did and put it on.  Then I went to help him with the plywood.

          “Katyla, you don’t need to help, go sit down and rest.”

          “I want to help.”  I needed to put a spell on the plywood.

          “Fine, here is the hammer and nails, follow me up.”  He handed me the hammer and nails then proceeded to drag the board upstairs.

          “Did you talk to Jacob’s parents?”  I asked when we reached to top of the stairs.

          “Yes, they are going to call the doctor.  Then have someone come and pick him up and take him home for the rest of the winter break.”  We got to Marcus’s room, which was full of kids.  I took a moment to look around; it was a reasonably sized room, bed on side TV and game system on the other, with a desk for his computer and homework.

          “Hey, kids why not go downstairs while we fix the window.”  I suggested to them.  They all left the room quietly, and looked to Theodore for his next step.

          “Katyla, why don’t you hammer while I hold?”  He said positioning the board to fill the whole window.

          “Okay.”  I moved and started to hammer the nails into the board, quickly and as quietly as possible.  At the same time I mumbled the spell that would allow it to be part of the house just as if it was a door or a window.  I hate the sound of nails being hammered, it rings in my ears.  When I was done I moved back.

          “Well done.  Let’s get back down and finish dinner, and get the kids feed.”  Theodore said moving towards the door.

Chapter Three Argo's Move

Chapter Three

Each class the same, I would sit and listen, they would sit and think of boy things, for four months we would go day in day out they would sit with me a lunch, Theodore would come over I would leave, I would listen to their thoughts in the study halls, in the class rooms, I would even sometimes sneak out at night just to catch a glimpse of their dreams. Then Christmas came, and things changed.

“Hey, Kat” Marcus said catching up with me “what are you doing for Christmas break?”

“Nothing” I was on my way to the lunch room and grabbed his thoughts before he even saw me, he was thinking about inviting a couple of us over to his house for Christmas.

“Well, I was wondering there are only a few of us staying for the holiday, Chris and I because we live here, but you and a couple others will be stuck in the dorms, so I was wondering if you would like to come over for Christmas dinner?”

“I will have to think about it.” I know it is supposed to be sunny that day and I don’t know if I can risk it. But I can feel the disappointment so I add “I will probably come but it depends on the weather, you know snow and all. Don’t you think it is weird you are inviting a teacher?”

“Oh, okay, my dad has a truck so we can always drive over and pick you guys up if you can’t make it. And you are not a teacher yet which makes you cool.” At that point, I smelled his dad, he was coming down the hall and again I was distracted, this was going to have to stop. To be around mortals, I had to be focused or at least the part of me had to be, but Theodore Simmons is testing fate.

“Oh, Marcus, where is your lunch?” Theodore was trying to get Marcus to walk away from me.

“Oh I left it in my locker, Kat, I will be right back then we can go to lunch.” Chris and Marcus are the only ones who sit with me and they still think it is weird I don’t eat food, but they don’t say anything.

“Katyla, I would like to see you after to school to talk to you about your presentation today.”

“Fine, I will be there after the final bell rings.” With that I turned and walked away I haven’t hunted in the last couple of weeks and Theodore’s sweet smelling blood was way too tempting I would have to skip my next class and hunt. So I skipped out on lunch and my last two classes I told the principal I wasn’t feeling well. I hunted up north a bit, got me a nice polar bear who was a little more active than I thought it would be, and got myself a nice gash that is healing very quickly. But my shirt was ruined, so I went and changed into one of my gym shirts before heading to Theodore’s classroom. It was dark out now, we were in winter mode.

I walked in and found him, his blood all over. The smell hit me, I wanted the blood, but a large unknown force made me focus on him, not his blood. He was dying, and I knew the mark the killer had made on his hand, it was Argo’s assassin, Gavin. The mark was cut into his hand; it was two sickles shaped into a cross. I could do nothing about the mark but I would save his life, I could not turn him that would bring Marcus into the vampire world to soon. So I preformed the only spell I knew to heal the damage. “From the Heavens above, the Hells below, from the north to the south, from the east to the west, the sprits of the earth, air, water, and fire, and of my soul, I call upon these powers to heal the man before me, Theodore Simmons, so mote it be!” With those words I collapsed and my wound from the bear reopened, I would need more blood to heal, I left though the window. I ran as far as I could and happened upon some deer, after killing seven I was healing enough, after twelve I was healed. The only reason I don’t do that spell is the need for blood afterwards, one human would have done the trick, but I have sworn off human blood, totally since the fateful day my life was destroyed before my eyes. I could have healed without the blood but it would have taken a month or so, it would have been a mortal wound if I had been human.

I ran back to the class room just as Theodore was waking up. The scar on his hand there forever now. It is a mark of death in the vampire world, nobody had lived after Gavin gave them that mark, not before Theodore. Due to the loss of blood, he smelled different, which I did not like for some unknown reason, but it was allowing me to focus a bit more around him.

“What happened” Theodore was sitting up. “I was standing here waiting for you and this man came in and attacked me, did you see him leave? I could have sworn I was cut.”

“I didn’t see anybody, Mr. Simmons. When I got here you were laying on the floor, I was wondering about what to do when you started to wake up.” Lies but necessary I can’t bring Marcus in to this world yet. And Argos has found me, but why go after Theodore I do not spend time with him, nor do I a spend time with Marcus. “Did he say anything to you?” I asked helping him to his desk chair, then sitting down at the closest desk.

“Yeah, it was strange, he said ‘Tell her that we know where she is, we know what power she processes. Tell her she will not win, she shall never see her son again.’ It was strange but didn’t give a name, to tell.”

“Should I go to the office and call the cops?” I was worried. I was to receive that message. Why not turn him? Or at least drain him, why give him a message just to kill him?

“Yeah, I guess we should call the cops, we don’t want anybody getting hurt. Hmmm… funny he cut this symbol in my hand but it is healed up…” Theodore just let the sentence die, got out his cell phone and called the cops. I excused myself to use the rest room, or so I said.

Once I was outside I did a tracking spell and realized that Gavin was close by pissed that Theodore lived he wanted to kill another, I snuck up on him, and I discovered the reason they knew to attack this man. They turned a seer, once a seer in life, more powerful in death. He had seen my son and Theodore, and me; he had shown Argos my happiness. Argos gift was to be shown what others saw, if he had turned them. That is why he turned this seer. To know when the last days of his reign were coming to an end. He was sitting in the woods about two miles out of the school yards. I took my knife, and I cut his head off, his body turned to ash, Gavin normally was not stupid, but he was worried about Argos, he was becoming crazier and crazier, he was only on this mission to keep Argos from killing more vampires. Too bad he will never go back to Argos. I went back to the classroom; it only took me thirty minutes.

“Katyla, we were starting to worry, you were gone awhile.” Theodore said as I walked in, he was leaning against his desk his arms crossed.

“I wanted to pull myself together; there is some blood over there by the window. It upsets my stomach.” Not really but I wanted to drink his blood and it had a stronger pull over me than any other. I went and stood in the corner of the room.

“I understand. The officers were just asking if I could give a description, all I could remember was the red eyes, are you sure you didn’t see anybody leave Katyla?”

“A figure, he had a black coat on he wasn’t running or anything so I didn’t take notice.” No matter how good of look anybody got, they were never going to find him Gavin is dead, ash to ash dust to dust. I even took a hand full, and sent it to Argos, can’t wait to see his reaction to that.

“Sorry we couldn’t be more help officers, but we thought it should be reported.” Theodore’s thoughts were confused, as were the police officers, there was a lot of blood but no injuries they could see. “I wish I could explain the blood, but I don’t seem to be hurt, and I could have sworn he cut me.” Theodore was explaining, next time I will have to remember to leave a minor wound but I had no time to make a specific enough spell, he was almost dead.

“Officers, he left though the north exit.” That would lead the officers away from the woods were Gavin’s ashes were and away from the dorms, and towards town.

“Is there anything missing?” The first officer, is tag said P. Charles, was wondering if this was some type of joke now. Theodore looked around and noticed his wedding band was gone.

“Yes, my wedding band, I was wearing it, I guess he must have taken it.” Theodore was upset that is the only thing his late wife had given him, which he could hold on to forever. Then I knew the whole story, Theodore was upset it was missing not because he loved his wife, but because of guilt. It was his fault she was driving in that area that day. He had asked for a divorce. He knew she was seeing someone else, and did not think he could ignore it, even though he had fallen out of love. He never told Marcus that they were discussing a divorce. They had met the divorce attorney that day; they left with most of the stuff agreed upon. She went one way, towards her boyfriends place, and him another. Theodore got a call ten minutes later; a bus had run a red light killing Sarah, his wife, instantly. Theodore was feeling guilty because if he hadn’t asked for the divorce, then she would never have been near that intersection. Gavin must have sent it to Argos, because it was not on his person, and since I am assuming it was blessed by a priest of some sort like most bands are, it would not have turned to ash, when the vampire did, it was a holy object.

The police officers were making notes, and wondering why we were still in the school building after school hours most of the kids and staff take off to the study halls and dorms, he was wondering if there was something going on between us, but I was just standing very still in the corner of the room, and Theodore was leaning against the edge of his desk. He thought something was off but, he was telling himself he was just imaging things. The second officer spoke as they were leaving, his tag and said G. Harn. “Well, we will see what we can find, sir, miss.” With that they walked out the door.

“Well, that sure was interesting.” Theodore said sitting down and rubbing his hand across his face and in his hair. I went to stand in front of his desk. I was looking at the damage, a simple spell would make things right, I would do that tonight after Theodore left.

“Do you still want to talk about my report?”

“Might as well, after all tonight starts Christmas break.”

“What is wrong with it?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to speak to you again about some of your sources.”

“Okay, what about them.”

“How did you find all these sources for your Shakespeare presentations?”

“I own the books.” True, I even wrote some of them, even though I didn’t like Shakespeare, I needed to be able to make a living, though I have enough for a hundred lifetimes right now, but I am going to live a lot longer than that.

“I thought you didn’t like Shakespeare?” Theodore was sure something was off with me, I didn’t act like a young adult, and didn’t look like one, he was thinking I have old eyes, wouldn’t it be a shock to find out he was right. Not that he saw my real eyes, but an illusion, so they looked as brown as they were when I was human.

“I don’t but schools teach Shakespeare, I have a family member who was a big fan. And I minored in English; it is kind of hard to avoid Shakespeare.” The lies were going to wrap around me soon, nobody ever questioned me before Theodore. Don’t get me wrong I can remember everything told to me and everything I say, but I just don’t like lying though it has been part of my life for almost six thousand years.

“Alright, I am going to clean up here, you can leave for your dorm.” Theodore was standing up going to his closet.

“I will help, since I have no homework in any of my classes, and only a handful of papers to grade.” I turned to start a simple spell.

“That is not necessary; you have been though a lot today.” Theodore was right behind me.

“No it is fine, I like to stay busy.”

“Why Alaska, why stay here?”

“I have an allergy that most people don’t know about, it is to the sun, it is very rare but real, here I can stay out during the day and not worry about sunburn.” I couldn’t tell him the honest answer, which was I was a vampire and I didn’t want to bring Marcus in to my world until he was older.

“Oh, how many more classes at the college do you have left?” Theodore, was not moving he stayed right behind me while I stood there answering his questions.

“I…” I couldn’t think straight for the first time since the change. “I will graduate in the spring with a B.S, just next semester’s two classes and my student teaching hours.”

“So you are going to be a history teacher?”

“Yes, or biology, the school here wants to hire me, but not sure what class to hire me for, they have a few other applicants, since the head of history and head of biology are leaving, leaving an entry level position open in both.” It doesn’t help that all of a sudden both ‘won’ some money to retire, and Marcus was going to be a junior next year.

“So you plan on staying here then?” He was not moving, even to clean up, and my spell died on my lips.

“Yes, I have realtor looking at houses for me, I plan on making my life here.” At least for the next few years, before the fact I don’t age starts becoming an issue.

“That is nice, the houses over by mine are easily affordable on a teacher’s salary and there a few of them for sale.” I knew that but I wasn’t going to tell him, and I stopped trying to get around whatever was blocking his thoughts.

“I will have to check those out, do you have paper towels?” I asked bringing us back to the situation at hand.

“No I have some napkins and shop towels, I will go get some from the janitor.” He was shocked to see how close he came to me, and how we just stood there talking.

“Okay I will start while you go and get the other towels, this may be enough but don’t want to risk it.”

“I will be right back.” With that Theodore left the room, and I breathed out and in, did the spell, make sure the paper towels and stuff we had were used, so by the time he came back the cleaning was done, and I was gone. I left a note on his board:

~Theodore, I have cleaned up, didn’t take too long. Tell Marcus I will try to make it for Christmas. ~Kat

Chapter Two: Theodore

Chapter Two: Theodore

Marcus and Christopher did not think of much just the normal teenage boy things, and that was some boring things, so I just sat in my seat in the back turning around my own thoughts on how to bring myself into their lives. The bell rang and off to lunch we went.  I went and grabbed my drink from my locker and went and sat at my table before most people left the class room, I don’t sit with the staff,  they don’t feel comfortable, so I agreed to sit down watching the students.  They didn’t see me they didn’t care.  Nobody sits next to me, I am the strange one.  I check people’s thoughts to make sure they are not thinking that I am anything but human; they always wonder why I don’t eat.  My drink is a synthetic blood I created for when I am around people.  Mostly it helps me deal with the sun, but real blood is needed or I become a slave to my hungers, and I can't afford to fail in my choice.  I can eat but choose not to have the pain of my body rejecting the food. I will eat when I must, but my body rejects the food, and I am weakened and in pain for about twenty four hours afterward, normally I tell people something didn't sit right with me.  I hunt animals in the area mostly.  I was watching for them when they came in, the each grabbed what they wanted and looked around for a place to sit.  Theodore walking in distracted me for a moment and when I focused myself I noticed Marcus and Christopher walking toward my table. 

          “May we sit with you?” Marcus asked, standing behind a chair at my table.

          “Of course, please have a seat.”  I told them waving my wand in front of the chairs and they sat down.

          “Don’t you eat anything?”  Christopher was asking.

          “Tomato soup, I like to drink it out of my thermos.  I am Kat by the way.”  Of course most days the thermos is just a prop, I use it only on sunny days.  I really only drink the synthetic blood once a week, it really doesn’t have an effect on my cravings.

          “I am Marcus and this is Chris.”  Marcus said.  “Where are you from?”

          “Many places, I am a military brat.” Not true but it would explain why I was in a boarding school when I was younger with no parents, so I use it as my back story, then and now.  “When my mother passed away my father sent me here for boarding school here.  I am now a student teacher.  I never thought I would like it in Alaska but it grows one you.”  I put my plan in action trying to bond with Marcus, it is true my mother dead but that was almost six thousand years ago, she died when I was a child, during childbirth with my youngest sibling who also passed away.  “Where are you from?”

          “I am from here, born and raised.” Chris stated. “My parents just like the school here.”

          “I am from New York City; my dad took the English job here when my mother passed away during the summer.”

          “I am sorry to hear that, it is hard to lose ones mother.”

          “What class do you want to teach?” Chris asked changing the subject.  But before I could answer Theodore came over to our table.  He distracts me and that is bad.  And his blood is so tempting it is all I can do not to breathe while he is around.

          “How is everything going over here?”

          “Great, dad” Marcus said looking embarrassed.  I could read Theodore’s thoughts, and he had heard about me in the staff lunch room how I was a little off, how on the sunny weekends I always stayed in, how I was a student teacher who always looked a little to bored, how I was friends with none of the staff.  He kind of wanted Marcus to stay away from me, Chris knew of me, but he never really thought about sitting at the table until Marcus suggested it. 

          “I was just getting up to leave.”  I finished my drink, and got up. “Maybe I will see you guys later.”  With that I left, I stood outside the lunch room, listening to their conversation.

          “Marcus, I hear she is strange didn’t Chris tell you that as well.”

          “I did Mr. S.” Chris said.

          “I don’t care she seems cool, she would make a good friend, and you told me to make my own judgments and not follow a crowd.”  Marcus was really angry at his dad, he thinks there is something about me that is familiar, family like, and he just can’t make the connection.

          “Mr. S, she really doesn’t do much but go to, watch over, and teach some of the classes then goes and watches over the study hall, and then she retreats to her dorm room, where she keeps an eye on the freshman.  She is a little strange, and she only gives vague info about her family.”

          “Well you two better go off to your next class.”  With that Theodore left and walked back to the teacher’s lounge.  With that I left to go to my locker and my next class.

         

Chapter One: Two Thousand Plus Years Later

All Rights Reserved

Chapter One: Two Thousand Plus Years Later

I watch from afar, I see him now, though I could smell him long before he walked up to those steps. Funny how I can now walk in the day time as long as there is no direct sun, Alaska has been such a great place for me over the centuries, though Scotland, especially Ben Nevis, has been a close second. I now live on Saint Bridget Island in Alaska, and have off and on since a fateful day over two thousand years ago. At first I thought I would never see the sun again, but I found I only burned that first day because my body was still changing, though direct sunlight will burn me, being out under the clouds are fine, but my powers are cut in half. But even so they are still over a hundred times greater than humans.

I watch him and I remember how much has changed in the last almost six thousand years. My son was killed by Argos when he was determined to rule the humans with an iron hand, not caring for humanity his eyes glowing red with evil, Marcus and I had fought against him but he created others with his views, he had killed my son. I had wanted to die but he allowed me to live, though I did try to destroy myself, I did not succeed. I cursed him. I had cursed Argos with the fact my son shall be reborn and once he was of age he would remember his life all of his past and his present and Marcus and his army would destroy Argos and his followers. Argos never comes out in the day, the very thought of the sun has him running for his coffin. For some reason him and his men still burn even if it is a glorious cloudy day, I still do not know why. Due to this reason, he never got a chance to rule the humans instead he stays out of sight trying to rule all vampires, it is as messed up as the US politics.

I am pretending to be a student teacher again; thankfully there is now a new boarding school here on Saint Bridget. The younger I am when I move back the longer I can stay, I usually stay about ten to fifteen years if I start out as a freshman which I did eight years ago. And the new transfer student that just walked up those steps smells just like my son did; even from here I could see his dark black hair, and his icy blue eyes. Then there was his friend, Christopher, who looked more like Chris Brown then a typical Alaska raised child. Marcus's father who shared the icy blue eyes and ink black hair, I have never smelled as sweet as smell as the one from him, the father that is. I knew from his thoughts his name was Theodore, and from his thoughts he was just a teen himself when Marcus was born, but now seeing his son go to the same school he did, he was glad him and his wife had kept Marcus even though times were bad, being 17 and a new father. Thankfully it did not take much to make sure Marcus was in many as the same classes I was sitting in on as possible, and got the study hall and dining hall hours I was assigned to watch over. There was nothing I could do about the dorms, I am a female after all and the dorms are still guys and girls.

I heard the bell ring but I did not move, I waited until just a second before the tardy bell rang then appeared at my desk in the back, people avoid me, which was good, though I don't hunt humans, their blood, still is a weakness, one I control with an iron grip, though I have slipped up a few times, but not in the last two thousand years, would not allow myself to like I did before, I would not allow my son's death to be in vain.

The teacher walked in, and started taking role. After that he started talking about Shakespeare, I hate English class, but with a minor in English they want me to sit in, they talk about the classics, but I met Shakespeare and he was just an annoyance, his stories the same over and over, they were going to have to read Macbeth. The teacher, Mr. Theodore Simmons, was new this year and Marcus's dad in this life. He was newly widowed and had to get away from New York City, Marcus wasn't really happy about Alaska but it was better then being presented with the death his biological mother in this life. I just have claim to him though his soul due to the reincarnation.

Mr. Simmons stopped at my desk and looked at me, then handed me my book. He looked at me for a moment most likely because I tensed up, his blood so sweet from afar was even better up close, and for a split second all I could think of was how to get him away from the children, so I could have his blood. A million different scenarios came to mind. I was so focused on his blood I did not notice he went back up to the front and asked if any of the students had read any of Shakespeare's plays before, Marcus and Christopher raised their hands, no surprise their English teacher dads and all, I learned that Christopher's dad was the senior level English teacher. Mr. Simmons was surprised. I was reading his thoughts though they were not completely clear, something was blocking them but I was working my way around them. Mostly so I could choose which way to lure him to his death. When I try to get into people's thoughts it always reminds me of the danger of other vampires, most of us have some type of special gift, we all have speed, strength and trawl, I am able to read ones past and ones thoughts, when I rest, I get visions, that is how I knew to be here at this time, and I sit here now hoping that the visions I get will help me protect Marcus in this life.

"Which of his plays have you read, Katyla?" Mr. Simmons asked. His voice, saying my name brought me out of my thoughts, the thoughts of draining him, and muted all the voices around me; it was like his voice was the only thing in the whole world that should mean anything. The sensations that his voice brought forth in me were foreign to me. The vampire in me wanted his sweet blood, but the woman, well I can't explain it; I wanted him for myself. Forever.

"Call me Kat, and I have read all of his works" and I had, I had even seen Shakespeare himself play Juliet, I even own some manuscripts of his that had never been published, people know almost nothing of his early work. My voice sounded off, I had to focus on my words.

"What do you think of them?"

"A little to cut and dried for my liking the times he writes about were not exactly like that, take Romeo and Juliet for example, Romeo would have been killed on sight for trying to defile Juliet, Juliet would have been married off to further an ally with one of the neighboring lands."

"And how do you know what would have happened?"

"History is my subject, I study the past and there is not a lot I don't know about it, I was a History Biology major English Art minor." Which was not 100% true; I had graduated about 60 years ago with a Ph. D in History from the local university, of course I lived though all the things they talk about happening in history. I also have medical degrees, English degrees, all sorts, of degrees, there is not much I don't know, I also speak almost every language ever spoken, there is a couple ancient Native American languages I don't know, mostly because they were wiped out before I came to the 'New World'.

"Okay, how about Macbeth, what do you think about it?"

"Well it is historically accurate after all Macbeth would have killed his predecessor and he would have been killed as well."

"None of you have read Shakespeare; does anyone know anything about his plays, besides Marcus and Christopher?" Nobody raised their hands. After an hour and half of this awful class the bell rang. "Katyla, would you please stay a minute." Mr. Simmons asked after I walked by his desk. I stopped and turned around, and waited for him to speak.

"Do you want to lead class discussion once a week for the semester?"

"I can do that, what would you like it to be on? Would you like it on Shakespeare himself or the play?"

"Shakespeare; how long until you graduate?"

"I am a senior, next semester."

"What other classes are you sitting in on? I know you only sit in on my first class of each day."

"I sit in on, Biology, Chemistry, History, Political Science, Ceramics and English."

"Okay, you better get to your next class" he turned around to get something but I had already left, and was in the next class by the time he turned back around. I had to leave, or I would have done something I would regret, I am just not one hundred percent what that would have been.

Prologue

Prologue

"Katyla, we must be getting close. John's son, Peruses, did very well with the last treatment." Agros tried to get my hope back up, "I know you are blaming yourself for the illness."

I know nothing but this disease is killing the people in our world, but I don't tell Argos that. I do not respond I just stare at our lab table, staring at formula for the most recent failed cure. Agros looks up to me, I know he must be seeing the worry in my brown eyes, he could also see how mad at myself, there was flecks of gold and red in my eyes, that give me away he says they make me rare and unique, paired with my long, dark brown hair which also had red in it, and my snow white skin and blood red lips, he has always told me I was the most beautiful woman, but I was just as smart, if not smarter then I was beautiful. My husband, Triremes, was lucky. But then again I never loved him he was a marriage of convenience and I got to work with Argos, be his best friend, so I was lucky as well, sometimes I was glad that Argos never saw me as more then a scientist. "Maybe if we try nocturnal animals, like the bat and owl." Argos was saying to me.

I looked up at my partner, Agros, who was staring back with his royal blue eyes, his hair as black as his pupils in his eyes. "It won't hurt to try, Agros, after all, the vampire bat has a numbing agent in its venom."

"Well I guess we should set some traps." Agros stands and goes to the closet in the room, opens and pulls out some cages. "I will get your husband to help; we will have them up by night fall."

"Good, I am going to run some more samples. There must be a reason you and I have not gotten ill." I knew the truth, both Agros and I were infected, but we were not ill. Yet.

We all knew why I was studying the samples, almost everybody in world was infected, but people were getting sick at different rates, and dying. No matter what the people were dying. I know there were other scientists studying the disease, but they know if we did not find it, there was almost no hope for the cure to be found. Agros and I studied together, trying to learn as much about science and life as possible, we have been partners for the last ten years. As I used the microscope and reread the ingredients in the last attempt, Argos walked out with the traps to wait for the bats, and hopefully my husband would be able to get an owl.

As soon as Agros walked out of the room I got up, I received a package the other day from an unknown source claiming the ingredient inside was from a fruit bat, and that had some effect on the illness killing everybody. There were was also a few blood samples from a tribe that appears to be immune to the illness but they won't talk to the outsiders or allow anybody in to get more information about them. I didn't tell Agros this, but I already have the venom from the vampire bat and I have mixed it with some blood from the immune tribe, as well as some of the other ingredients that we have been using. I was going to test this one on myself. I wasn't going to allow another to die because of my stupidity, because I was not good enough to save them. I was their leader, it was my duty, nobody's but mine, and I had to save them. I filled the syringe of the product and injected into the vein in my left arm. At first nothing happened, then I felt a burning, it was running in my veins, it was going to destroy my life. I started running; I left the building and was running through the woods, to an isolated place I knew nobody would find. I collapsed, thirty minutes later I hit the right spot and died. With the last beat of my heart, I said "Marcus..."

I woke up, I had felt my heart stop, and I knew it stopped. I died but here I was awake, with a thirst burning in me. I got up to walk outside, I was in my private house built here, and I just made it before I died. I did not want to be found. I got to the door, wishing I had put a window in the building. I opened the door, and started to burn, I quickly shut the door, and looked at my hand were the light had touched me. It was healing. But it was painful. What had I become? I heard things and smelled things I never could before. And I knew I had no pulse, no heartbeat. I was the living dead. VAMPIRE! I had heard the myths; I did not put faith in them. I put faith in what I could see what I could touch, after all I was a scientist. And now I could see those myths are true. I knew I could give the cure. But it would mean people would become the undead. If the myths are true then I was now pure evil. But I didn't feel any different. I would go to Agros. He would know what to do. I would wait for night fall.

Agros was sitting with the fruit bat, he killed it and now was trying to dissect it but I always did that, with perfection, which could be an art. He was sitting at the table lost in his thoughts when the door open and I walked in, and attacked him. I lost all thoughts of asking when I saw Agros, I could only smell his blood, and I jumped and bit him. I stopped me self and screamed "stay away from me."

But Agros was on the ground, felling the same burn I felt, I knew because I could feel it as well. I looked down at myself and could see where the scalpel entered my chest; my blood had dripped into his body. I killed my best friend. I pulled the scalpel from my chest, and I grabbed him and ran him to the house I stayed at, after I put him on the bed, I ran back to our lab, a twenty minute hike now taking just seconds. I took everything the books the supplies, and then burned the building down. They won't be able to tell that Argos and I were not in there. I just killed us from this life. I went to my house where my husband and child slept. I knew not to breath, but I bent down and kissed my husband good bye, and took my child. I was not going to leave without Marcus. I did not love my husband in the way a wife should, but I wasn't going to condemn him to die either. Carefully as to not wake my son I ran back to the house. Where I would come up with a plan to not live like the monster I was. At the age of seventeen my life ended and my death began.

Copyright

Copyright 2006 Katherine Rochholz
Waterloo, IA
Publisher's Note

All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means, mechanical, electronic, or otherwise, without first obtaining the permission of the copyright holder.

This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to persons living or dead (unless explicitly noted) is merely coincidental

This is for my great grandmother:

Bridget Agnes Campbell

An Unholy Creation Novel

An Unholy Creation
All Rights Reserved

This page will be dedicated to posting of the chapters of the novel An Unholy Creation.

No posting schedule, as always check the primary website www.katherinerochholz.com for weekly updates!

She never imagined working for a cure would only bring Death... Immortality... And War. 

Katyla only wanted to find a cure for what was killing her people, it was her duty as the daughter of the Elder of the village. She with her best friend Argos worked night and day... What she didn't expect was creating something unholy... She didn't count on making a myth a reality... Didn't count on bringing only Death... Immortality... And War.