Her Pain
Kallisto laughed cruelly, and ripped the blindfold off my eyes. Immediately they adjusted to the light, or lack of light, and were drawn to Kallisto.
She had long and perfectly wavy brown hair, and light red highlights. She was tall, maybe 5’9, and skinny. Her skin was extremely white, as though she hadn’t seen sun in years, and her whole body had a sort of waxy look to it. She was wearing simple dark jeans, and a light pink shirt.
My eyes traveled to her eyes, and froze. They were a crimson red, as Duke had said, and there was not a hint of humanity in them. I shivered with fright, knowing that this girl would snap my neck in seconds and not feel even a sliver of guilt.
“Yes, it is me. The wonderful and beautiful Kallisto,” she said, her voice dripping sarcasm. “I see that my darling Duke has been talking about me. Oh Duke; his blood filled me with such power and warmth. That is why I have returned you see, I need more of him. And I can assure you that he needs more of me.
But, with you in the picture, he won’t need me. So, that is why I have taken you. My dear Duke, well you see I was supposed to be his last Amatores. He only turned those he felt deeply about. Obviously that is not true anymore though, because he turned you. And I have been watching you two since he first walked into your doorway.
What an idiot you were, allowing him in. Did your parents never tell you to keep away from strangers? I mean have some sense, girl! If you just hadn’t done that, we would not be in this terrible predicament. Oh well, it makes no difference to me anyway. You’re just another blood bag to me. Although from your looks, I doubt your blood will taste very good.”
Kallisto’s eyes lit up with excitement, and she looked at me evilly. “Ignore that, I just came up with a better idea. I would tell you it, but darling that would ruin the surprise!” she said, and disappeared from the room.
I let my tears fall again, too afraid to move in case I burned myself again. The pain was still terrible, gnawing at my wrists in burning agony. I pressed my lips together tightly, wanting to just rip the thing off of me. But if I even tried, I would probably end up with at least one less limb.
I closed my eyes, wanting this to be over. I’d never done anything truly bad in my life, I mean I’ve snuck out and drank but all kids do that! That is so not worthy of torture though!
‘Damn it Duke! Why did you have to turn me? Because of you I’m being tortured! I don’t deserve this, no one does. So why is this happening to me? What did I do that was so bad, that I have to get tortured for it? I feel, I feel like I’m paying for your mistake Duke. Your mistake to kill so many people, your mistake to turn Kallisto, your mistake to turn me. That’s the only thing that makes sense. And Duke, I love you, I really do. You stole me from the minute I woke up to your voice, and I need your help. I’m scared Duke... I really am. Kallisto’s planning something bad, I can tell. Just please, if you can hear me, save me Duke. Please save me.’
I sent my words out through the air, a trick Duke had taught me in case of emergencies, and imagined it entering Dukes mind. I really hoped that it worked, but I wouldn’t know until he sent me a message back. And who knew how long that would take.
A stench filled the air, the same one as before, and my eyes watered. I knew without a doubt in my mind, that the smell belonged to Kallisto. My heart sank as she appeared from the air, a smile of triumph on her face.
“I have brought you a delicious treat,” she announced, holding out a plastic bag. It was filled with something dark red, and my mouth watered, it was blood. My stomach grumbled, and my throat burned. I should have taken something from Luke, before running off like I did.
My thoughts started to feel darker, more tainted by the monster, side effects of the Hunger. I sniffed, focusing only on the blood because Kallisto’s scent was enough to kill me, and the smell wafted into my noise.
The blood smelled sweet and rich, but I could tell it was not human blood right away. I’d mastered the art of smelling the imprints of the life left within blood in the last week at Duke’s house, and so I could tell that this wasn’t human. This one had a strong imprint of a small and wild animal. Probably a rabbit. I wanted the bag so badly, but I knew that if I drank it I was giving in to Kallisto.
She looked at me as though she could see the battle raging through my mind, and set the baggie of blood next to me.
“Call out when you would like to have some of this, and I will come and let you drink.” Kallisto said, and then disappeared once again.
The blood. That was my minds first thought as I looked down. I wanted it, I needed it. But drinking it, it would mean giving in to the monster. Giving in to Kallisto. I could tell what her plan was, it was honestly quite simple. I would drink the blood, and be kept hostage here as she fed me more and more animal blood. Then, I would become like her. A true vampire. I would no longer be a part of the Amatores Sanguinis race. I would be a monster, killing with glee and without mercy. A part of me wanted to give in so badly, just let go of the misery I was feeling. I wanted to be a soul wandering the Earth. But, would it be worth it?
Would the pain of others, the killing, would it be worth my freedom? I didn’t like what I had been made to become. Everyone in the world was supposed to have a choice, but I didn’t.
Duke didn’t ask me what I wanted to do. He did what he wanted. And by doing that, I guess I lost a piece of my humanity. I lost the part that made up my freedom. The freedom to walk in a house without asking. The freedom to walk out in the sun without making sure to put on a little sunscreen, because Amatores skin is so very sensitive to sunlight. The freedom to be me and do crazy things just because I feel like it.
I wanted the answer to be yes. Killing people and hurting their families and friends was worth it. It was worth my freedom. But I knew that wasn’t true.
I couldn’t put myself so high above others because although I may not be human anymore, I still had those bits and pieces of humanity left within my soul. There was no off switch for the guilt I would feel as I lived in purgatory, wondering what terrors my body was ravaging on Earth. There would be no off switch for the monster that I would have unleashed upon innocent humans.
‘Tammy. It’s me.... Duke. I-I’m so sorry Tammy. If I had... If I had known she was here I would have killed her. You’re right, this is my fault and you are paying for my terrible mistakes. I am so sorry Tammy...if I could turn back the clock and not have turned Kallisto, I would.
But I-I can’t. So I’m going to have to man up and pay for my mistakes, I’m going after you. I shouldn’t have let you go in the first place Tammy, because I love you too. There is so much I have still to tell you, so much that you don’t know.
I turned you for a reason Tammy, a reason that you need to know. I promise you that I am not the monster of a child’s nightmares, I promise that I will be your prince in shining armor, that I will save you from the terrible dragon and steal you away from your locked tower. I promise you that I will kill Kallisto, make her pay for the pain she is causing you. I promise that I-I love you Tammy.
Duke’s voice slammed through my mind, and as he said those last words I felt my heart soar. He loved me...he really did.
A small smile lifted on my face, and I opened my eyes that had closed when Duke had ‘messaged’ me.
Kallisto’s face was inches away from my own.
She slapped me across my face, making my whole body move, and I screamed. I was burning again. Every part of my body was burning to a crisp, from the outside-in.
Tears and snot were running down my cheeks as I cried out with pain. I heard a voice screaming in my head repeatedly, but didn’t know what they said. All I knew was that I was feeling pain, intense and burning pain, and that I wanted it to stop.
I heard Kallisto laughing, but felt my pain starting to drift away. I felt me, starting to drift away. I wasn’t in the small room with the concrete walls and floors anymore.
I was floating throughout the world, my soul sear
ching for the one that completed it. It wasn’t there though. It wasn’t floating, looking for me to return by its side. I found my body again and looked down upon it, as smoke curled in beautiful tendrils off of it and Kallisto continued laughing. Finally my body jumped one more time, before my eyes rolled behind my head, and I stopped moving.