A Vampire Tale with a Twist

It was almost dawn by the time Eztli returned home with Angela in his arms. Swinging the heavy door shut behind them, he set her down carefully, smiling at the way she swayed on her feet.

"It's OK, little fräulein, you can lean on me if you need to," he told her, standing beside her patiently. Angela wanted to collapse against him, because her legs were like jell-o following the long, hard fucking he gave her. In spite of this, and the great weariness sweeping over her, she kept some distance between them, the better to stare at him while replying, boldly,

"Don't look so smug, Eztli. Just because I let you seduce me yet again... it doesn't mean I've forgiven you for what you did."

The temperature around her dipped several degrees, when she said that, and she saw his pale eyes flashing as he shot back,

"I don't recall asking for forgiveness."

Having stunned her into silence, he turned and strolled away across the huge atrium, without a backward glance.

Left to her own devices, Angela paused to kick off her high heels, then followed behind him, albeit at a much slower pace. She caught up to him before the tall column full of books that graced the center of the space, where he had stopped, apparently to fetch a favorite story to read. On seeing him standing there, leafing through the pages with not a care in the world, she launched into an attack without preamble,

"I guess I was right to think of you as the devil incarnate. Only the devil, himself, could refuse to seek forgiveness for such a heinous crime."

He raised a finely shaped eyebrow at her, before returning his attention to the book he was holding - elaborately embossed on the front, it looked both old and valuable, but it failed to capture Angela's interest at that moment.

"Don't ignore me, God dammit!" she cried, in a voice trembling with emotion. "Look me in the eye and admit that what you did was wrong!"

Eztli sighed. Setting his book down slowly, he turned toward her and frowned. A second later, his wall of energy hit her, propelling her backwards, until her legs struck one of the huge leather armchairs strewn across the area.

"Sit, fräulein," he snapped, advancing at her faster than she could blink. With her heart in her throat, Angela sat then sank down low, while he leaned over her threateningly.

"If I truly were the devil incarnate," he growled, "I'd throw you into a furnace and let you roast alive, for a few centuries. Then, maybe, you'd learn to keep your mouth shut instead of letting your emotions run away with you."

The menacing tone, and the threat it conveyed, made her tremble, preventing her from saying anything in reply. Inside her mind, the word 'sorry' surfaced briefly, only for Eztli to shoot it down before she could speak it,

"Don't bother apologizing, Angela. I've already added your latest insult to your tally and will punish you for it later."

She felt a flash of anger at that, thinking how ludicrous it was for him to be making such threats. Out of the two of them, he was the truly guilty one, surely! No sooner did she think this, than his hand was in her hair and tugging on it, viciously.

"Your thoughts will be the death of you, my dear," he said, while she mewled in sudden fear. He adjusted his grip to ensure she could not pull away, then continued, "The more you see yourself as a victim, the greater the chances of you becoming one. Especially if you cross the line from friend to foe, with me. So, tell me now, before I waste any more time on you. What will it be?"

Speaking was difficult with her head pulled back painfully and her mind reeling, but her sense of self-preservation made her squeeze out an answer without delay,

"Friend... I'm your friend... Please, don't kill me... Please, master..."

She did not know why she added that last bit, calling him 'master' though he did not ask her to - indeed, he had told her he would never ask it of her, but it came out anyway. Unsure of how he would respond, she fell silent and tried to still the desperate shaking of her limbs. Against her bare back, the leather of the armchair was smooth and cold like her skin and stuck to her when she moved - in other words, every few seconds.

Eztli watched her squirm for a while, before leaning in and staring her in the eye.

"

Amicus non hostis

, I believe," he said. "But 'master'? I'm not so sure. Why did you call me that, meine fräulein? You know I don't care for it."

"Yes, I know," she replied - with some effort, because he still had not let go of her, keeping her head tilted back and her throat exposed. "Honestly? I don't... know why... I said it. I'm so... sorry if I upset you."

Her heart leapt when she saw his sensuous lips curve into a smile, but her relief was short-lived, because in the very next moment he was chuckling evilly into her ear,

"I'm not upset, my dear. And I really don't care why you said it... It has no effect on me, either way. I am, however, delighted to see how much it turns you on to submit to me."

Angela felt herself starting to blush. Desperate to save face, she stammered,

"N-no... I'm not turned on... I'm just... scared."

"Liar," he hissed - and then, he bit her. She felt his teeth sink deep into the side of her neck, and she let out a whimper of pure terror, convinced he was going to drain every last drop of her blood. But after taking only a few mouthfuls - enough to stun her - he pulled back and sealed the wound shut. As she slumped over in her chair, he waved a hand and caused his book to float over to him.

"Now, then, fräulein," he said, conversationally. "Pay attention. I'm about to give you a history lesson, the first one of many that I'll be giving you from now on. I have no doubt it will shock you, since most of it is not taught at any modern schools. You'll probably want to ask me some questions, too, but I must ask you to save them till the end. Deal?"

"Deal," Angela whispered, grateful for the change of atmosphere. Glancing at the large, leather-bound volume in Eztli's hands, she saw its title spelled out in large, gold-colored letters: Historia Mundi. Below this, were the words Alienus Ecesis, which could only be the author's name, she reasoned to herself.

"You are correct," he said, nodding. "This here is the history of the world, written by the alien Ecesis, more than 2,000 years ago."

"Alien? As in, from outer space?" she blurted out, forgetting the dictum about no questions till the end. Then, at a sharp look from Eztli, "Sorry, master."

The way his pale gaze smoldered on hearing her slip up yet again, made her positively glow red with embarrassment.

Stop calling him 'master'

, she told herself firmly, while he smirked at her knowingly. But though clearly amused, he did not let her steer him from the task at hand.

"Ecesis was not the only contributor to the Historia Mundi," he began, slowly. "He was just the one that took it upon himself to record everything that he felt future generations should know. The events he describes occurred thousands of years before humans first began to develop writing, which officially occurred around 3700 BCE. Obviously, the book I'm holding was put together after this date. In case you're wondering, the original recording isn't in book form, but electronic, and it's stored securely under one of the pyramids of Egypt."

Here, he paused, to let his words sink in. Angela used the opportunity to pull her long legs up and hug her knees. Despite being quite drained, emotionally and physically, she was suddenly wide awake, and found herself gazing at him in amazement. So, Ecesis really was an alien? It sounded too fantastical to be true.

"It's true, fräulein," Eztli said, reading her mind. "Ecesis was a member of the alien race that came to Earth 10,000 years ago. This is when the recording begins, in what today is known as Russia. Here's what he says in the opening paragraphs,

'Our arrival was well-timed, because the planet was thawing out after a period of extreme cold, creating conditions ideal for all forms of life. It wasn't long before we saw life forms of interest - while quite primitive, they had a genetic structure suitable for splicing with our own genes. We captured a dozen individuals - six males and six females - to start with. There are separate notes on the work that we did, so I won't repeat them all, here. I will only mention that it took more than 100 years of genetic modification and breeding, to produce the species that eventually became dominant on this planet.' He is, of course, talking about the

Homo sapiens

."

Here, Eztli looked up at Angela, catching her staring at him with her mouth open.

"I know you are feeling shocked right now, fräulein," he said, watching as she nodded slowly in the affirmative. "You are a twentieth century woman and well-educated, which would make it even harder for you to accept what I've just read out to you. But I'd like to point out that your modern anthropologists all agree that there's no actual link between the early primitive species of apes and today's humans. They've explained this gap in evolution as best they could, by suggesting there were 'diverging and converging' lineages. The truth is, no amount of cross breeding between two or more primitive species could have produced what we see today. It is just that our scientists aren't allowed to say this openly."

Obviously anticipating further questions, he turned the page and moved on, saying,

"This next part documents the spread of the new species, now known as humans, across Europe, Mongolia, China, and Africa. Ecesis describes it thus, 'We moved large groups in our space craft, directly, then left them in a new place, armed with sufficient knowledge to survive. The goal was to allow them to develop further and monitor how well they adapted to different environments. We left these groups largely undisturbed for hundreds of years, while focusing on other projects. Mainly sea creatures and viruses. Our geneticists were intrigued by the range of viruses on the planet, and how they interacted with other life forms to keep their population in check.'"

Eztli's pale gaze lifted from the pages and met Angela's own, as he remarked softly, "Here comes the really interesting part, fräulein." He did not elaborate further, but resumed reading, in the same soft tone,

"'Soon after we started studying the viruses on planet Earth,' Ecesis says, 'it became evident that some of them had the potential to wipe out the entire population of humans that we had created with so much care. That was when a decision was made to select the best human specimens we had, and modify them further, by giving them some of the same traits we already had. The first of these was our extreme longevity, followed by the ability to heal most of our injuries rapidly. Of course, they could not eat regular food, the same as us. They survived on pure blood, instead. A lot of work went into perfecting them, so they could go a long time without feeding. It was all going well, and we were pleased with the results. Until we released them into the main populus, that is. That was when trouble started.'"

Angela leaned forward in the big armchair, folding her legs underneath her and staring at him intently. Although she still could not quite believe most of what she was hearing, she was extremely curious to know more. He felt her eyes on him, and he smiled, while continuing,

"The trouble he speaks of, fräulein, isn't what you might think. Here, listen to this,

'For the first fifty years of the two types of human co-existing, everything was functioning as envisaged. The new breed of humans fed on the old, living amongst them while keeping their differences hidden. The two appeared to be well-balanced from an ecological viewpoint. Then we noticed a sudden, sharp increase in the numbers of the blood-drinkers. Somehow, they had worked out that they could turn ordinary humans into one of them, simply by sharing their blood with them - our blood, full of genetic material and special properties. We began tracking them more closely and soon realized they were spreading too quickly for it to be sustainable in the long-term. Almost like a deadly virus.'"

Eztli looked at Angela and remarked, in passing, "Ironic, don't you think, dear? Creating a special race to safeguard humanity against viruses, only to have it become the first real threat. These were the original vampyr, by the way. My ancestors."

Shaking her head mutely, she signaled her shock and disbelief, both. In response, he turned his attention back to the book and went on,

"Ecesis goes on to document the ways in which they dealt with the problem. He says,

'Our biggest task was locating all the individuals that were deemed too dangerous due to their low intelligence levels. Many ordinary human lives were lost in the process, because the only way to find their killers was by the bodies left behind. After much effort, lasting a full ten years, we managed to gather and terminate most of the wildings, as we called them. We then hunted down some of the originals, too, in order to reduce their numbers and prevent another outbreak.'

He does not give the exact number that they killed, before they left. He simply says, 'Having dealt with the immediate problem, we left the planet for several thousand years to explore other parts of the Universe. When we returned, we saw a healthy and growing population of humans, but no trace of the superior race we had created. We extended our stay in order to locate them.'"

Here, Eztli looked up once more and said,

"Ecesis and his kind were here, on Earth, when I was born, fräulein. It took them some thirty years to track us down, deep in the forests of Transylvania. But eventually, they found us, and they gave us the recording of Historia Mundi, which we later added onto, to capture the last 2,000 years. Their exploits are nothing short of amazing and all are documented here. I'll cover more of them in your next lesson. For now, I want you only to remember what Ecesis and his friends told us: vampires are not the enemy of mankind,

per se

. We are just a special and very resilient species, engineered thousands of years ago by extraterrestrial visitors, to ensure the survival of intelligent life on the planet, in case of a major viral outbreak or similar catastrophe."

Without thinking, she quipped, "So, we're not their enemies, but we kill humans to survive."

Eztli made a sound deep in his throat, somewhere between a curse and a growl. Setting the book down, he leaned over her, his eyes boring into hers, angrily.

"Yes, we kill," he said. "Personally, I have no problem with that. Today, there are too many humans on Earth, and we are no longer in any danger of wiping them out. Maybe, if we culled enough of them, we could even help prevent another world war."

"I suppose your alien friends told you this, too," Angela said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She was about to say something more, but he stopped her with a softly spoken warning,

"Keep going, fräulein... if you dare."

She did not want to provoke him, she really did not. Then the memories of her aunt's last moments flooded her consciousness, and she saw his expression darken as he read her mind.

"You really can't control your thoughts at all, can you?" It was more of an observation than a question, but she answered him all the same.

"I'm sorry, Eztli. I'm trying so hard not to be mad at you. It's just that Aunt Mae is gone, and well... I had no say in it." Tearing her gaze away from his, she heard him inhaling sharply in displeasure.

"Look at me, Angela," he ordered, and after a moment's hesitation she did so. He gazed at her in silence for a couple of heartbeats, before pointing out quietly, "You did have a say in it, you know. That's why I brought you along, in the first place. If you really wanted to save her..."

"No!" she cried, interrupting him. "Don't say that, Eztli! Don't you say that to me! I asked you not to kill her, I begged you..."

His handsome face blurred in front of her, thanks to the tears that sprung up in her eyes as she spoke. She wiped them away furiously, only to see him smiling at her, coldly.

"Where did you beg me? Inside your head?" He sounded genuinely amused, even more so than when she called him 'master.'

"Yes, inside my head," she confessed, feeling her cheeks grow hot slowly. "So what? You're always reading my thoughts. I figured..."

She trailed off, on seeing him shake his head.

"You thought wrong, fräulein," he said, with devastating calm. "When I'm feeding on someone, I tend to focus on them exclusively."

Angela's mouth opened then closed again silently a few times, as she gazed at him in horror.

"N-no, no," she stammered, her lower lip beginning to tremble. "That can't... can't be... you knew. Knew what I was... thinking... even without me s-saying it..."

Eztli reached over and cupped her face in one hand, in what seemed like a comforting gesture - except when he spoke, his voice was hard,

"Sorry, my dear, but I can't let you lie to yourself. The fact is, when I asked you to wait by that tree, I left you your voice, so you could call out to me if you wanted. I used no compulsion on you to keep you from moving. Yet you never tried to stop me, not by words or actions. Why? Because you didn't want to. That's the truth, isn't it?"

Angela thought she was going to be sick. In vain, she tried to shake her head 'no', to deny the dreadful truth. His hand on her face prevented her, as did the look he gave her - a look that said, 'you cannot hide your true self from me.'

"Please, Eztli, don't look at me like that," she pleaded, tearfully. "I know I didn't... didn't act, but that's only because... because I couldn't..."

"That's right, you couldn't," he agreed, with a slow nod. "Now, ask yourself why that was."

She did not have to ask herself anything, because she already knew.

"It was the blood," she said, staring into his eyes, not unlike a person being hypnotized. "I could s-s-smell it... it made me want to... made me... oh God..."

As she closed her eyes and began to sway, he slipped both arms around her and pulled her to her feet. Holding her close, he let her cry on his shoulder and made her feel safe, and she appreciated it in spite of everything he did and that had hurt her in the first place.

"It's alright, little fräulein. Let it out, let it all out," he whispered soothingly. "You're feeling guilty, I know, but you shouldn't be. You're a vampire, and newly born, too. Your thirst for blood is at its highest right now, just as it is for all newborn vampires. That's why you couldn't go near your aunt, and why you can't go near any of the other people you love. Family, friends, whoever you don't want to see hurt. One slip up, and you'll end up killing them. Understand?"

She trembled against him trying not to listen, but his words wound their way inside her head regardless, killing all hope she had of getting back to her old life, or a version of it, anytime soon. When she could trust herself to speak once more, she asked him,

"So... you killed Aunt Mae to save me from getting together with her and accidentally killing her, myself? Is that it?"

"Something like that," he said, noncommittally. He stroked her head for a while, then went on to explain, "Your aunt was planning to visit you this morning and if I allowed her to live, the danger of her exposing you was real. Sure, it would've been nice to avoid it. With strangers, I can usually cloud their memories and make them forget things, but such tactics never work on close family members."

Oh my God

, Angela thought.

My aunt died because she's family. Which means...

"Wait," she said, as the horrible thought mushroomed inside her mind. "If you were so worried about my aunt exposing me, what does it mean for the rest of my family? Are you going to kill all of them, too, when they start asking questions?"