Blood Mother. A Vampire Tale

Ch. 30: Calina's Truth

Calina waited under the pier for daylight to end. She stood beneath the creaking wood letting her mind fire random memories to evade the lure of reaching out for that bright light.

In that building just behind her the vampire she wanted was resting. Perhaps thinking of his failure at capturing her. Perhaps he was sharing information with Luka at this moment.  Calina wondered if she should just be patient and watch him. Let him lead her to Luka. Waiting for the others to catch up to her plan was slow. She was tired and she knew her memories were fading. She wanted revenge while it still meant something. She wanted Luka dead. His stone heart a necklace to wear upon her chest. The others she could wait for.

As she positioned herself deeper under the planks between the cement and boards she felt a strange ticking in her mind. She saw them again. Her children.  Sitting at the table. Smiles and chatter filling the air. The door opening. The man in black walking in. Blurred visions swirled of her eldest son crumpling in a mass of blood spray. His name now just beyond her reach. But his face. Those twinkling eyes and quiet manner. It was there.

Her baby. Her only memory of the baby was a feeling. Warm and heavy. A part of her human body as much as arms. It's tiny puffs of warm air literally felt upon her skin as she wore her child upon her bones and skin when it held feelings and craved connections. She saw the baby spawned and broken. Still and silent. Her anger and hate rose up. This is what they had done to her.

And the girl. Her daughter. The little mother. Bird like with movement. Always tending and petting. Going up to the intruder. Lured and tranced. She saw this in slow motion. Even her scarred arms over her eyes didn't shield this memory she wished would vanish. The man, smiling. Face still with a frozen smile. Dark eyes and hair.

It was clear then. Like a flash of heat the memory made sense. The vampire was the same one who had chased her from her home. The same one she had followed and lay in wait for. This was the man that had stolen her children. Her life. Turned her into this creature. His features now visibly clear. The vampire who stood over her daughter, Ashley, whispering and smiling. She remembered the long black fingers, the vibrating image of his black soul. These memories appeared now crystal clear.

As she seethed in her anger deciding what to do she felt a pop in the atmosphere. Silence burst in her ears. She crouched down, waiting for something to happen. She did inventory of herself. Her skin still burnt looked the same. But there was a definite change. The hum!  The hum had stopped.

Since the day she had awoken she had heard it sometimes faint and at times deafening. But always present. It was her connection, her only connection to the hive. And it had stopped. She stilled herself. Waiting for what would come next.

She wondered if the memories of her life before had broken the connection. Or if it were caused by jogging the memory of her executioner. But this felt wrong. Her mind told her Luka had stopped producing it. She felt inner panic. If Luka had lost connection that could only mean one thing. He had been killed. She screamed. Her existence made no sense without her revenge.

She placed it all upon the vampire in the building behind her. But he could not have killed Luka. She would have known if he were in that building. His hum always alerted her to his nearness. Someone had stolen her revenge and now killing this vampire meant everything.

She edged herself to the far edge of the boards. Dusk would come quickly but not quickly enough. She saw a young fisherman coming in to the docks on a small boat. His brown skin bright from the day out in the sun. A day she would never have or experience. Her anger was blinding.

As he tied his boat to the post and started carrying trivial human baggage she lured him to her. She had him kneel before her. She lifted her charm and felt the wild beating of his heart. As tears flowed down his cheeks she drank.

She stopped before the beating silenced. With her tongue she sealed his neck. She was finally becoming skilled at her craft. He lay in the sand below the boards pale and cold. Pathetically easy. She waited for any feeling to arise from her gift of letting him live. When none surfaced she called him back to her. He dragged himself to her like a creature and she drank until his heart silenced and skin grew cold.

She found little solace in her meal. Her anger overwhelmed her and she laughed in the joy of feeling it. She was alive. For the first time since that day in the pit she felt. And it was wonderful. She put her hand up to her chest. Stillness greeted her. There was no proof her body lived again. But the wonderful anger coursed through her veins.

As she searched the shoreline for another human her skin began to prick and tingle. Dawn was approaching. And the man she wanted would be moving soon. She would greet him with her anger. Her nameless children would finally be avenged. And she would feed. Surely now that she had experienced a true feeling the dear ones would be all that she searched for.

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I just wanted to give my thank you to those of you who have stuck with this story. Your votes and comments have truly mean more than I can say (and that is a lot!). There are just a few chapters left but this experience will last me forever and I am deeply grateful for those of you who have shared it with me.