Dreams of Blood: Chapter 1

                                              Chapter 1
                                            Dark Dreams
December 27, 2005

         How long has it been since that dreadful day, the day that changed my life forever? It seems like only yesterday that it happened. It is hard going through life with such knowledge, but I must or it will be repeated and I will again be alone. I cannot say how much longer I can endure such agony, but for my beloved, I must. I do not want her to continue to have such a fate. I must stop the cycle, but how? Though I have tried countless times before, she has died each time. I do not know if there is a way, but I will not give up, if not for my sake then for hers. I hope I am successful this turn around. She deserves peace; to live a happy full filling life, where she can have children of her own and be able to grow old.
         Markina is the one to blame for my beloved's countless deaths. She is the demon that made me what I am now; a child of darkness. Someone who needs the blood of humans to survive; someone who never dies as he watches as those close to him pass over to a better place, who he will never see again. However, with my beloved, it was different. It was not her time to die, so she is constantly reborn, only living to be no older than the age she was when she died the first time by Markina's venomous touch.
            Shortly after that, Markina demanded my services in exchange for my beloved's now lifeless body. When I refused, she mutilated her lifeless shell and threatened to make it so that her soul forever lived in torment. How could I just let this happen? In deep despair, I agreed to Markina's terms, and was made her servant for eternity.
          It was fifty years later that my beloved again showed up. She was the beautiful age of nineteen. In this life, she was known as Karen, but I knew it was she. She still had the same sandy hair and sea blue eyes as she did in her first life. Her figures were the same, as well as the way she walked and the sound of her sun rising voice. It was on a mid-summer's dusk when our paths crossed again, but as I suspected, she did not remember me.
          I knew that it was only a matter of time before Markina, herself, found out about the rebirth of my beloved, and try to keep us apart, once more. It was only several months later that she was found dead, her body washed up on a riverbed. For the next five hundred years, it was the same thing; she would be reborn, I would be reunited with her, then she would die be Markina's hand. The cycle must stop! But how? How can I keep the one I cherish above all others, from fading into the darkness once more...?


                                                                                                                    
    Karnell closed the journal and held it close to him. These past five hundred years had been painfully ones. How much more must he endure before she is satisfied? He only wished he had the answers. There was time to debate that later, for now, he knew that he must put aside his worry and focus on feeding. Feeding, a term that has became a part of him no matter how much he used to deny his nature when Markina changed him. Now it came so naturally that he never really thought about it anymore. Things have changed so much between then and now, he thought. He placed the book on the glass table before him and leaned back against the recliner chair. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes and tried to relax.
        The door to his chambers opened slightly and an old man walked in. "Excuse me, Master Windwalker, isn't it past your feeding time?" the old man said sincerely.
        Karnell opened his eyes and peered at the well-dressed old man. As far a Karnell was concerned, the man looked like any other old man, just better dressed. "What is it Martino? Can't you see that I am trying to rest?" Karnell demanded of the old man.
      "My sincerest apologies, Sir, but you have some guests. Plus it has been three days since you have eaten anything. You look deathly pale," Martino stated.
Karnell looked at himself in the mirror that hung on the wall just across the room from where he sat. "You know, I think you are right, Martino. I am not getting enough to eat," Karnell said rubbing his left cheek. "Maybe I should head out right now," he added, getting up.
    "But Sir, the guests!" Martino said in protest.
    "I'm sure you can handle them until I get back, Martino. I have full confidence in you," Karnell said as he opened one of the windows. "I'll try to be back quickly. Don't start the party without me." With those words, Karnell left the building into the night.
    Martino walked up to the window and peered out. "Master Windwalker, you may be older than me, but you still have the heart of a man no older than twenty." He made sure to close the window before going to deal with the guests and tell them that his Lord Windwalker has taken ill and will not be able to join them tonight.

    Karnell's long silver hair glimmered in the moonlight as he peered down upon a small group of girls; he could smell their blood flow through their lovely white throats; the intoxicating aroma was too much to bear. He was indeed hungry. His throat felt dry and ached for the taste and warmth of blood that it will so have. He watched as one girl separated from the rest, A grin formed on his lips.
    Moving from his perch, he followed the lone girl, using the shadows as his gateways. Karnell watched in amusement as she avoided the shadows and stayed within the light. "You honestly think that will protect you from me?" he whispered amused. He eyed her hungrily as he listened to the beating of her heart as it pumped the blood through the veins that laid hidden just underneath her fine white skin. The sound of the beating heart and rushing blood was starting to drive him mad. However, he knew he must keep in control or risk exposing himself to the city or even the world. He jumped off the building he was on and followed the girl by foot, but he knew something else was following her as well, so he kept his distance.

    The girl kept reassuring herself that she had nothing to be afraid of. ‘Only another two blocks before I'm house,' she thought. However, she could now hear the sound of footsteps. She had hoped that the sounds she was hearing was just that of a fox or a stray cat or dog, but deep down she knew differently. There were just too many reports in this area of people missing and turning up dead, that she knew that she might be the next victim. Still, she had to keep her cool and hurry home before her parents get worried.
    She soon no longer had the light to keep her safe, because the trail of light posts had ended and she only had the dim light of the moon to guide her. "This is not good," she mumbled to herself as she descended into the darkness. She knew she should not be out so late, with all those news reports and all, but the movie that she and her friends went to see did not play until late, and there was no way that they were going to miss it, she just wished that she did not live so far away from the theater.
    She walks slowly, thinking about the resent reports; people found dead, their blood drained from their bodies. She wondered if it was some sort of vampire cult or some mad scientist. There could be a number of reasons that explained what happened to those people; she just hoped she did not become the next victim.
    Shaking her head in irritation, the girl laught softly to herself as she came upon her street. "Get a grip girl. Nothing has happened on this side of town," she mumbles softly to herself as light poles again shield her from the darkness. ‘Yet,' she thought as fear overtook her. Though she was nearly home, she could not help but feel a little fearful. With only two more driveways to pass, she set into a run and did not stop until she reached the porch of her house.
    Though her fear was strong, her curiosity was stronger. She slowly turned around to see if anyone was behind her. The feeling of being followed haunted her the entire time since she left her friends to head home, and it was extremely strong now. However, when she turned to look, she did not see anything or anyone. Relieved, she let out a sigh and opened the door , quickly walks in and  locking the door behind her.

    Karnell had watched the entire thing and found it quite amusing, but the girl's ‘feeling' of being followed was correct. Though, Karnell, himself, had been following the girl, something else was too. Something neither human nor vampire. He saw it race through the darkness, just out of the girl's site. The darkness had many types of children, not just vampires, so it was hard to tell what it was. He knew it was not a ghoul or zombie, they were of the lowest class, having no mind of their own, and only lived to eat the flesh of the living. If it were either of them, it would have ran strait for her and not have hid.
    ‘So what was it?' Karnell asked himself from him perch by the girl's house. As he watched the girl's house, he suddenly realized how hungry he was. "Damn! I really should have listened to Martino. I better find someone, I still have stuff to do tonight before I turn in." He jumped off the tree and walked down the street with his hands in his pockets. He did not want to bring attention to himself, except dinner. Appearing to be about twenty-one, it was easy to catch the eyes of the human females. He had hundreds of years to practice his techniques. He had only to wait and let the fish except the bait.
    He watched as a small group of college girls come down the same side of the street he was going up. Their laughs and giggles filled the street and the aroma of their life's blood reached his nostrils. The smell was driving him mad. The more he was close to it, the hungrier he became.
    It did not take long for the girls to notice him. However, when he tried to use his powers on them, they recoiled and started to growl at him. Puzzled, Karnell walked closer and tried again. This time one of the girls spoke. "So, Vampire, why are you in our territory? You have no business here. I suggest that you leave, before my brother finds that you are here," the girl warned.
    "Werewolves? I should have known. It must have been one of your kind that was following the human girl I had my eyes on."
    "And what if it was? If it were, it must have been a cub or the girl would have been dead, even if a vampire was watching her." The she-wolf glared at Karnell and grinned. "But I wonder, what would you have done if we were human? Use your powers on us, take us some where, seduce us, then feast on our young blood?" Is that what you had in mind, Vampire?" the she-wolf challenged.
    "I do have a name, you know," Karnell replied coolly.
    "Really?" she asked uncaringly. "What is it?"
    "Lower scum don't deserve to know my name." He remained emotionless.
    "'Lower Scum?'" She turns to her friends. "Did you hear that girls? We're just ‘lower scum' to this vampire, who also feeds off the living!" She turns back to Karnell. "Ok, Mr. I'm-not-going-to-give-my-name-to-lower-scum, I'm Raven Monsoon. These are my pack members, Dolphin Cyclone, Phoenix Eartha, and the small one is Mouse Sundance. Now that I was nice to give you our names, can us ‘lower scum' have yours?" Raven asked.
    There was a tone in her voice that Karnell did not like too much, but considering that they did give their names, he might as well be polite. A nobleman was not much of a nobleman if he was not polite to the ladies, no matter what race they were. "Karnell Windwalker," he introduced himself as.
    "Oooo, nice name! A name suited for a walker of the night. So, Mr. Windwalker, again I will ask, ‘why are you in our territory?' It seems odd that a vampire would risk coming into the territory of wolves, since the treaty between our two races was forged. Do you have an explanation?" Raven asked Karnell putting her weight on one leg and placing an arm on her hip.
      "I did not know that this was your territory, Madam. I am really sorry. If you allow me, I will take my leave of your territory." He bowed and turned to leave.
    "Oh? And you don't even want to meet my brother? You are simply going to walk off and not allow you the honor of our hospitality? Or does your kind think that our kind don't have any form of hospitality for any one other than our own?" Raven asked, but it seemed more like a challenge to Karnell then just a simple question.
    With his back still to the four she-wolves, a grin formed on his lips. "I am sorry, but I have other matters to attend to tonight, but I will take you up on that offer another night. That is, if it remains open."
    "That's fine," she shrugged. "We all have our own things to do. Actually, I was hoping you would decline tonight, for we were off to do some business. Well, until we meet again, Mr. Windwalker. May the moon guide your way."
    "Is that some sort of saying amongst the wolves?"
    "Yes it is. Do you vampires have such sayings?"
    "If we do, I don't know of them," Karnell responded as he walked away from the she-wolves and back into the night. That was a big waste of my time, he thought, as he moved back into his domain. He was trying to decide if he should take the she-wolf up on her offer on meeting her brother, but he knew well enough, that male werewolves were very aggressive. Plus, if he were to go to meet the she-wolf's brother, he probably end up with a stack in his heart. Karnell knew about the hatred that the wolves had for his kind, despite the treaty that was formed between the two races and he did not want to risk his life in order to please any lady, no matter what race they belonged to.
    He thought about his dearly beloved suddenly and knew that he could not risk having a stack through his heart until he found her and broke the curse that was set upon her. He must ensure that she lived past her nineteenth birthday. Even if that met that they could never be together. As long as she lived, he would be happy. Then he would do the honors himself to do the staking of his own heart.
    Nonsense! he though. I must live on. I know that is what she would want me to do. But I don't know how many more cold nights I can go on with out her.
    He walked back into familiar territory, back to his own street. He had yet feed and it was starting to affect him deeply. Swallowing, his breaths began to quicken and his chest felt as though it would burst. The pain grew with each step he took. He was stupid not to have feed; now he would not die of having a stake, but of starvation. Vampires do not actually ‘die' of starvation. It was more of a suffocating experience, since the cells in a vampires blood could not handle direct oxygen from the air; they needed the blood from humans not only for nutrients, but in order to replace the oxygen that they otherwise could not get.
    Karnell stumbled and his vision began to blur. When was the last time he had experienced this? About two hundred years ago when he thought he could live without the lifeblood of others. He was traveling in the high lands of Scotland to escape Markina and to search for signs of his beloved, who he learned to go by the name of Caitlin. He had gone nearly three days without so much as a morsel and it had started to weigh him down. There was nothing to satisfy his hunger, not so much as a mouse or bird. He remembered passing out and awakening in a bed with a young girl by his side. She had cared for him the time he had slept and she looked down upon him with pure and caring eyes. He had recognized those eyes as his own beloved. However, the yearning for blood was still within him and having her so close to him drove him mad. That was the only time when he himself had brought upon her death. For three days after that, the town's people hunted him down and it was not until Markina showed up that they know true fear and ran.
    She had nursed him back to health and when he was completely recovered, told him how much of a fool he was to keep pursuing a human girl that would or could never give him the happiness that he shot.
    After hearing such a statement, he had grabbed a hold of her neck with his hands. Pure rage ran through him as he squeezed her throat, but no sound of choking came from her, she just merely smiled. "Why do you smile? You are the one who did this to us! You were the one who killed her first and made it so that I live forever! That she has to be reborn and die before she gets a chance to really live out her life! You are a heartless serpent, Markina!" He watched as his world became a swirl of black and white until he did not know who or where he was.

    "Are you okay, Mister?" called a voice in the darkness. Karnell followed it and opening his eyes, he found himself in a bed. Looking around the room, he saw posters of male celebrities and stuffed animals. The wallpaper was that of little bears holding hearts, something you would see on the walls of a baby's room. At last, he looked upon the person that called out to him. "Good you're awake! I thought you would be out for days, you should be lucky that my sister found you, you looked deathly pale," said the girl. She did not appear to be any older than thirteen.
    Karnell sat up and looked at the girl. "Who are you?" he asked weakly.
    "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm Sarah Richards. And you are?"
    "Karnell Windwalker."
    "Windwalker? What kind of last name is that? I can understand a name like Walker, but Windwalker? Is that some kind of pagan thing? My older sister is into that kind of stuff." She gasped and stood up. "Just a moment, I'll go get her!" Sarah dashed out of the room before Karnell could say anything.
    "Well, she seems to be a very lively young girl," he mumbled to himself as he moved his feet off the bed and sat there waiting for the girl to return. He noticed a calendar hanging on the wall across the room from where he sat. "December 29th? Have I been asleep for two days? Martino is probably worried sick!" Karnell stood up and hastily walked to the window. A shiver went threw his spine as he opened the window and peered out. " I must feed or I may collapse again and might not be as fortunate to be saved by a kind human girl."
    As he began to climb out the window he heard the door to the room open and two girls enter. The younger, Sarah, gasp as she saw him. "Mr. Windwalker?!  What are you doing? You are still not well!" She ran up to him and pulled him back into the room. Her sister closed the window and help Sarah get Karnell back to the bed. "What were you thinking? You are five stories off the ground, you could have killed yourself!" Sarah demanded.
    Sitting down, Karnell sighed and looked at the two girls before him. "My sincerest apologies, but I must really get going. I..." Karnell was cut off by Sarah's sister.
      "By jumping out the window to your death? Are you nuts or just have a death wish?" As she talked he watched her throat and realized why he was here to begin with. The hunger was intense and he tried his hardest to control himself, but he knew it was a losing battle as Sarah's sister sat next to him.
    "I...no, I don't have a death wish. I just need to go and did not realize how far up I truly was."
    "Well, if you really need to go, we will not keep you, but do you need anything to eat? You look kind of pale," Sarah's sister asked, moving some of Karnell's hair away from his face. He pulled away from her touch, knowing that every moment he was in the room with these girls they were in danger.
    "Please, I really must get going," he pleaded with the girl. Without replying, she looked at her younger sister, who quickly left the room and closed the door behind her. She touched his chest and gently forced him to lay back down. "What are you-" he began, but was silenced by her placing her index finger over his lips.
"Shhh," she replied.
    Isn't this great! I'm going to be seduced be a human female and I'm too weak to do anything, he thought. I just hope I don't loose control.
    "I know what you are," the girl whispered in his ear before nibbling on it.
    Karnell quickly pushed her off him and looking into her eyes. "What are you talking about? And wouldn't your parents be a bit upset finding a grown man in their youngest daughter's room with their older daughter?" he demanded, feeling the bloodlust start to get the best of him, but tried his hardest to keep it under control.
    "My parents? Oh, they have been dead for several days. They died in a car accident and their bodies where dragged off by dark creatures to be eaten. And as for your first question, I know that you are a vampire." Karnell's eyes grew wide in shock. "Your creator told me, but I really can't remember her name."
    "Who are you?" Karnell demanded of the girl. He knew that Markina would not waste her time telling just any human of the existence of vampires or even revealing herself as one and letting the human live, let alone telling the human about him unless...
    "Oh, I'm sorry, I never introduced myself. I'm Joleen Starsae. Sarah is not my real sister, her parents where close friends with mine and they took me in after my parents deaths. But please call me Jo."
      "Joleen Starsae? I don't believe it! After all of these years you have been reborn with your original name! Does that mean you remember anything about your first life?!" Karnell asked in excitement.
    "I'm sorry, but just because I have the same name as her does not mean I am her reincarnation. Markina thought so as well, she came close to killing me, until she realized that she made a mistake. Cause you see, I am a werewolf."