Martha saw who he had, then turned her head and vomited.

  Part IV

  THEN

  MATHIAS – Vengeance

  Chapter 25

  The steady rhythm of the carriage wheels soothed the pain exploding in Mathias’s mind.

  He said to his driver and faithful servant, “What does mortality mean to you, Jesse?”

  Jesse turned to look at Mathias. “Mortality? I’m not sure what it means.”

  “Oh, Jesse, I’ll make a scholar of you yet. Mort is Latin for death. Mortality is an Old English—and perhaps French—word for a human. Basically, it’s a descriptor for humans. You’re all going to die, Jesse. But vampires, we can be immortal and live forever.”

  Jesse nodded. “I understand, sir. But you’re going to see about Miss Alma, right? And she’s dead?”

  “Astute of you, Jesse, yes. How can someone who is supposed to be immortal, die?”

  “I guess she wasn’t immortal then, sir.”

  “You brilliant simpleton. That’s exactly my quandary. Why has my immortal partner gone and gotten herself dead?”

  Jesse only nodded.

  Mathias shifted his attention back to the wheels grinding in the dirt and the thundering of the horses’ hooves.

  “You know, Jesse, I’ve been alive for thousands of years. Alma’s death is a reminder of the fragility of our lives. Do you know we don’t age and the only way for a vampire to die is by another’s hand—or their own?”

  Jesse turned again and looked at Mathias. “You mean a vampire can kill itself?”

  Mathias nodded. “It’s rare, but it happens. Eternity can be a long time for some, and the sweet promise of nothingness can be a stronger pull than going round and round on the wheel of life.

  “If they go into the sun, will that kill them?”

  “As we age, our sensitivity to the sun wanes, and it’s no longer deadly, just uncomfortable, like a rash. Now, a young vampire could die from sun exposure, but mostly they’re just maimed like a burn victim, and it rarely happens twice. We also have incredible healing abilities. So, if a vampire gets burned, the wounds will heal rather quickly. If you were burned in a fire, Jesse, your scars would be with you for life.”

  Jesse nodded at his master again.

  Mathias continued. “However, there’s no antidote for a stake to the heart, no cure for a puncture from silver, and no remedy for a beheading. When death comes, all the expired vampire’s ‘relatives’ feel it. A disturbance in their minds, like the ripples from a pebble tossed into a lake. A direct parent or child feels the disruption strongest. But no matter the relation, the death of one of our own is an unsettling reminder of the fragility of life.”

  Alma’s absence from the world was like a boulder in a puddle. First was the sharp awareness something was missing. Then the realization shook the very essence of his being. He’d lost many children over his long life, and he’d felt the agitation in his mind each time. But with all his loss, until now, he’d never experienced a physical pain so great it dropped him to his knees.

  Jesse’s voice brought him back to the present. “If she’s dead, sir, then why are we going to Master Seth’s plantation?”

  “I need to know what happened to her. If I stand on the spot where she died, I can see her last moments.”

  “Your powers, sir, you have so many. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Then say nothing, Jesse.”

  “Yes, sir. I remember Master Seth when he came to visit you. A real handsome one, that man.”

  Mathias sighed. He didn’t want Jesse’s banter for the long hours ahead. But it was better than being alone in his own head missing Alma.

  Mathias remembered that visit as well. Seth had captivated Alma with his handsome looks and evil nature, but also his money. They’d met at a slave auction, and he’d taken to her immediately. She’d gone with him to Stoney Ridge, Seth’s father’s plantation, to see if it could benefit them. She’d seen the potential in bringing Seth into the family and adding his plantation to their already exorbitant assets.

  Her flippant attitude and infatuation with Seth had stirred an ache in his gut, and he almost forbade it. He wasn’t fond of sharing Alma, but didn’t want his emotions to interfere with a good turning.

  “What’s it like, sir?” Jesse asked.

  “What’s what like?”

  “Turning into a vampire.”

  Mathias thought about this for a moment. Jesse wanted to be a vampire, but Mathias knew he didn’t have the mind for it. He’d likely go crazy. “The turning is a slow and delicate procedure. A vampire’s bite is poisonous to humans and has the potential to kill them. My old friend Martin was bewitched by a young lady back in Cyprus several thousand years ago. Alma had only been with me for a short time. This young lady, I’ve forgotten her name, Mary, Mona, Magdalena, some holy M name. Anyway, Martin started the process, biting her and, without swallowing her blood, mixed it with his own saliva and blood.”

  “How did he do that?”

  He remembered the first time he’d sunk his teeth into Alma’s neck. The rush of her blood in his mouth. The rush of his own blood to his cock. His desire for her unbearable. He had to pull away without accidentally draining her or swallowing her blood. It had been torture.

  “First, he bit her and took her blood. Then he spit it into a bowl or something, cut his own wrist and mixed his blood in with the changeling’s blood. He had to do this at least once a day and feed it back to the changeling. This process—the blood loss—is draining on the parent as well. So we choose those who we want to join us carefully.

  “The changeling is in a state of insanity and pain as they suffer through the physical and mental transformation from human to vampire. They require constant care and attention, like a human infant. They should simply wake up a vampire after three or four weeks. If they don’t, as happened with Martin’s lover, they have to be put down. Martin was devastated.”

  “Put down, sir? Like a horse with a broken leg?”

  “He broke her neck. She was mad, her blood tainted and useless. Such a waste.”

  Jesse fell silent, and Mathias slipped back into his memories.

  Alma had been persistent, and Mathias finally agreed to let her bring Seth south to his own plantation so the two could meet. Seth was everything Alma said. Although he showed the right amount of reverence—or perhaps it was fear—toward Mathias, he had a smarmy charisma that could charm the petticoats off the primmest of ladies. Physically, he had a strong build with sandy blond hair, a sly and crooked smile, and eyes as blue and deep as the sea. When Mathias looked into those eyes, he understood Alma’s attraction and saw Seth’s potential as one of his children.

  He’d explained the process, then asked Seth, “Why do you want to become a vampire?”

  Seth smiled his charming smile. “Immortality, of course.”

  Mathias had wanted to kill him on the spot. “Immortality is not guaranteed.”

  Seth shrugged. Alma started to say something, but Mathias threw her a look. She nodded and remained silent.

  “Alma and I met in Greece, over two thousand years ago.” Mathias paused and put his hands in his pockets to keep them from knocking Seth’s head off. “We haven’t lived as long as we have for the sake of living forever. In our time together, we’ve lost many children. So, eternal life, it’s not a guarantee.”

  Mathias’s fangs pulsed, and he’d ached to drive them into Seth’s throat. He felt the cringe fly off Alma like a dagger. He took a breath and gathered himself, and he saw her face relax.

  Something shifted in Seth’s demeanor. Maybe he sensed the dangerous line he’d crossed. “My apologies, Mathias. I mean you no disrespect. I want to learn from you both. Expand my mind. I want to be like you.”

  Mathias wasn’t fooled by Seth’s flattery, but he’d appreciated the turn of attitude. He noticed the awe in Seth’s eyes.

  “Alma was the last vampire I turned. All these years, she’s been enough for me. We’re a team. We look out for each other.” He paused and sipped his goblet of blood. “If immortality is your motivation, you’re better off staying human.”

  Seth bowed. “Alma has shared the danger with me. I’m prepared to take the chance.”

  Mathias had sent him on his way and granted Alma the permission she’d sought. Now, she was dead.

  The turn of the wheels brought him back to the present and the absence of his love. He punched the door of the carriage so hard his fist went right through it.

  Jesse slowed the horses. “Everything all right, sir?”

  “I’m fine. Just keep driving.”

  “May I ask you another question, sir?”

  Mathias reached under the seat for the basket filled with port, cheese and bread. He pulled the cork out with his teeth and drank the port straight from the bottle. “Ask away.” He handed the bread to Jesse. “You hungry?”

  He took the loaf of bread and set it on the seat. “Thank you, sir. What’s going to happen to Seth? Will you have to kill him?”

  Mathias took another swig of the port and smiled. “I can take over his turning. Alma started the process about three weeks ago, so he’s almost there. If he’s not already suffering from Alma’s absence, he will be soon. But I can make sure he gets through. I think I should let him live to honor Alma’s memory, unless he’s stuck as a halfling, then I guess I will have to kill him. What do you think, Jesse?”

  “Seems like if Ms. Alma wanted him to be a vampire, you should finish it for her.”

  Mathias drank again, finishing the bottle. He tossed it out of the carriage, watching the shadowy countryside pass by, and breathed the crisp air. He took in the smells from miles away, among them humans. “Do you think this is all my fault, Jesse?”

  “No, sir.”

  “If I had forbidden her from turning Seth, she’d still be alive. She’d be here, with me, not turned into a puff of smoke. I’m not against taking the blame. I haven’t been alive for as long as I have for shirking my responsibility.”

  “Sir, I don’t think there’s any way you can blame yourself for this.”

  “Want some port, Jesse?”

  “No, thank you, sir.”

  “Suit yourself.” He pulled out another bottle and drank. “You humans have always been at the mercy of the greater species. Humans are to vampires what chickens are to humans. The purpose of a chicken is to serve its humans with eggs and meat. So, humans are to vampires.” He drank again. “If humans are left unchecked, the population will grow out of control. If they’re allowed to think too much on their own, they get crazy notions about freedom and living their lives in peace and without the fear of vampires.”

  He offered the bottle to Jesse. “Drink with me.”

  Jesse obliged and sipped from the bottle.

  “Over my lifetime, humans somehow learned to kill us. Entire groups of men would hunt and destroy my brethren. Do you know why this is?”

  Jesse shook his head and handed the bottle back to Mathias. “No, sir.”

  “Because Jesse. Humans need a cause, something they believe is greater than themselves. This is humanity’s fatal flaw; it’s also the key to their manipulation. I see it as my duty to create causes that don’t involve killing vampires.” He drank again. “When a human belief is challenged—particularly a religious one—they’re quick to forget their vampire foe and turn to killing each other simply because they don’t share the same deity. It gives them a false sense of control. I relish in the wars of humans. They’re so distracted and consumed by the war; so busy killing each other over their ridiculous ideas they never notice the destruction vampires bring in war’s wake. Women and children are fair game, their deaths chalked up to the brutality of the ‘other side.’”

  He scoffed aloud at the stupidity of it all. “Like their beliefs matter; they’ll all end up dead, eventually. And just like chickens, they’re oblivious to the control the greater species has over them. Their gods will never come to their rescue.”

  “Why are you telling me this, sir?”

  “I’m trying to distract myself from thinking of Alma, so humor me Jesse and just listen. You can ask questions later.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ve knelt in the oldest of churches and prayed beside the holiest of Christians. Performed the Salah as if I were a genuine believer in Muhammad. I’ve meditated with Buddhists feigning the quest for enlightenment. And I’ve spent Passover with Jews and partaken in their Seder like I care about their exodus from slavery at the hands of Egyptians.”

  He drank again, but the bottle was empty. He tossed it out the window; the crash rang in his ears as it shattered on a rock.

  “I actually witnessed the Jews flee Egypt. I did these things not because I have any respect for these abominations called religion. But in the name of research. I want to understand my prey and what drives their madness. Despite their words of peace and love, they’re always willing to fight each other to the death. So, Alma and I used this knowledge to provoke hatred and war everywhere we went.”

  The port was kicking in, dulling but not eradicating his pain.

  “I have broods all over the world. Do you know what a brood is, Jesse?”

  “No, sir. I don’t.”

  “You’re getting quite the education tonight, aren’t you? A brood is a group of vampires. Like a gaggle of geese or a murder of crows.”

  “I see.”

  Mathias fished around for another bottle of port, pulled it out of the basket and took a long pull, relishing the rush and enjoying the lightheadedness the alcohol brought. “Every few centuries, Alma and I would gather the broods together to come up with new ideas about how to indulge our hedonistic lives.”

  He looked out the window at the passing trees and their shadows in the darkness. The blade of sadness was still sharp. It cut through the fog of the port as he remembered the great witch hunts that had been Alma’s idea.

  “What’s hedonistic?” Jesse asked.

  Mathias sighed and drank. “It means pleasure. Indulgent pleasure.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Alma came up with the idea to stir up the witch hunts. That caught on like wildfire in Europe. It kept us going for centuries. The irony is the blood from an actual witch is poison to a vampire. A witch’s scent is repugnant to us. You humans think garlic keeps us away? That’s a joke. Get a vial of witch’s blood to wear around your neck.

  “The European broods infested their communities with the idea witches consorted with the devil, and their souls needed to be freed from his hold. A vampire had its pick of the town. All it had to do was say the girl, boy, woman, or man had been seen doing something unnatural and just like that, they were thrown in prison, no questions asked. The number of humans, and even some dogs, accused of witchcraft continues to feed us.

  “The townspeople got in on the fury as well, and occasionally an actual witch would end up in the prison. At first, this presented a problem for the vampires, as the actual witches could use their magic to escape and wreak havoc. Witches are a small percentage of the population, so it rarely causes problems. We learned who the witches were and forced them to build wards around the jails to prevent the use of magic by threatening their families. Are you following, Jesse?”

  “Yes, sir. Well, you’re saying you accuse humans of being witches and then feed on them. You’re not hunting actual witches, right?”

  “That’s correct, Jesse. Sometimes things backfired, and a witch ended up in prison and found her magic within the prison. This just happened in Poland. Cassius was a brazen fool and got himself beheaded. Good riddance to him. Do you go to church, Jesse?”

  “Yes, sir, doesn’t everyone?”

  “I don’t.”

  “I meant humans, sir. All humans.”

  “I know what you meant, Jesse. As I said before, your religious beliefs make your kind so easy to manipulate. You go to church and kneel before your god, pretending to be holy and good. Showing your faces in church because people will talk if you don’t, and we can’t have that. Do you believe in God, Jesse? Or do you go to church because if you don’t, you’ll be ostracized?”

  They sat in silence for a moment, as Mathias supposed Jesse was trying to think. “Well, sir, I don’t rightly know if I believe. I’ve been taught my whole life that we have to be good so we can go to heaven. My parents always used God to scare me. And if he’s so scary, how can he be so good and kind at the same time?”

  “I knew you could do it, Jesse. That’s a well-thought-out response. God is simply a tool used for manipulation. Your parents manipulated you, the church and governments use God as social control, like your parents, just on a larger scale. They tell you it doesn’t matter if you live a miserable life now; you’ll get the spoils of heaven after you die. What a load of horseshit. Why shouldn’t you enjoy your life while you’re alive? This compassionate God wants his people to live in squalor and be miserable? Where is the logic in that?”

  “You’re right, sir. It makes no sense.”

  “I often wonder at the self-righteous hypocrisy of men who kneel before their God on Sunday, yet Monday through Saturday buy and sell their fellow men, treating them like animals because their skin is a different color? They throw innocent men, women and children in jail because someone accuses them of consorting with the devil. They disrespect their wives often to the point of physical abuse. Frighten their children with the scary-yet-loving God. This suits me just fine. I can exploit all these flaws and prey on their ignorance. Therefore, I agreed to let Alma turn Seth. His father is a plantation owner. The slave trade was to be our next big venture.”

  “It’s brilliant, sir.”

  The smell of the humans was getting stronger. “Thank you. You know vampires live for the thrill of the hunt? It’s one thing to feed on blood, but the smell of human fear is an aphrodisiac, the hunt is foreplay and the kill an intense climax. It’s quite sexual.” He smelled the sudden sweat coming from Jesse’s apprehension. “Don’t worry, Jesse, you’re too valuable to me alive.”

 

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