PK original unedited version

Prologue

Part of me wanted to run away screaming. But where would I go? What would I do? Who would I run to? I'd once seen the gods who created me, but only once. Everything was thrown at me at once. What I have to do, how I have to be. But Reena was great. She helped me and she understood me. She guided me to know how to do the things I was supposed to do. To know what to expect when I DID those things I was supposed to do. To know what to expect when I married the man I was created for. I was very, very frightened. But like I said, Reena was there, and I learned, slowly, all the nuances of what was expected of me. And I learned slowly, how to have fun. Reena made me laugh. She knew when I'd had enough and she'd tell some kind of off the wall joke, or just say something totally insensible, and I'd be reduced to a giggling heap. I missed her. Over those years, I missed her so much. But that tale is for later.

This is my tale. I am Pandora. I was created to marry the Titan, Epimetheus and that's what I was being trained to do. She trained me how to talk, how to walk, how to dress. She showed me all the social niceties, such things a woman of my stature should know. I was ever curious. There was so much to learn. Like any newborn child, I wanted to know about everything around me and had to learn it all quickly.
The box tantalized me. Every day I spent seeing the one thing that I wasn't allowed to learn about—the one thing I wasn't allowed to see. The contents of the box Hermes had gifted me with for the impending nuptials. The box that was situated on a shelf between Epi’s office and the bathing area of his … well what would be our … bedroom.

The day was perfect. The sun was shining and it was a lovely summer morning. Epimetheus was in the office portion of the bedroom going through papers. Reena was nearby, replacing rumpled linens with freshly laundered ones. I had just come in from a walk in my favorite place: the gardens. It was a perfect place to prepare myself for the wedding but…I couldn’t get my mind off the box.

I was to wed that evening and I couldn't wait any longer. My curiosity, a parting ‘gift’ from the gods, had taken hold and would not let me go. I went straight into the bedroom, crossed to the bookshelves and opened the box before anyone could stop me, although my sweet Epi tried.
Everything went black.
I awoke with the house was in shambles, the mountain it had been built upon had a large gaping hole in the side.
Reena? Dead.
My Titan? Dead...obliterated. Blown to bits.
And me? Alive. But different. I wasn’t quite sure how, but definitely different.
I couldn't take the loss of the only two people whom I'd known love from, the only family I’d ever had. I couldn't deal. So I hid the box, still intact, in the hole in the mountain and I ran. I ran until I couldn't run anymore. Soon I realized what the difference was: It was a hunger. A thirst. But not for anything I'd ever had before. But a thirst for what? I had no idea.

~*~

I went into the city, trying to calm down. And there I smelled it. That delectable aroma. What was it? Where was it coming from? As the people came closer, I noticed that it was coming from THEM! So I made my way to a market area where I could get close and investigated. The smell was so delicious and the hunger overwhelming! I couldn't stop myself. I drank from them till my thirst was sated. When I came to my senses, everyone in the market had been slaughtered, and I had been the one who'd done the slaughtering.

CHAPTER 1
I wandered aimlessly after I realized what had done. I tried to stick to the fields and wooded areas, feeding on the occasional goat or deer. I had to try to prevent what had happened at the market in the city from ever happening again. I didn’t know what to do or why I’d ever thirst for such a thing.
Weeks passed, maybe longer. I contemplated thoughts of suicide, but even the deepest cuts from the thorns in the woods healed in just seconds. Could I even die? Was I doomed to this horrific existence forever? That thirst was ever-present, only moderately sated by the animals I fed on. It haunted me. It taunted me. How could I go on like this?
I was pondering these things while walking a path in the woods. I was just beginning to see a clearing up ahead when suddenly there as that smell. And the thirst took over.
~*~
Hours later, I sat on the rocky cliff at the edge of the woods, mourning the people I had killed over the past few months, but mostly mourning my first two victims: my beloved Epi and Rena.
“Gods help me!” I cried, “I can’t seem to control myself! What do I do? I’m so alone!”
Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“No, my dear, you are not alone,” said the beautiful glowing figure who could only be a goddess. The goddess who had given me the gift of weaving stood before me, beautiful as ever. Her shining dark hair flowed down her back and her eyes sparkled with the wisdom that was her domain.
“Why are you here?” I asked, for I was certain that the gods had forsaken me after I’d released such a foul curse into the world.
Athena smiled. ”My father set you up to fall because of his animosity towards your beloved Epi. Now that he is dead, Zeus has allowed me to help guide you and to ease your suffering.”
“My dear, you are not alone, for I am with you, and for now my gift is control. If you feed regularly and in small doses, nobody has to die and you will no longer suffer such insatiable thirst. You have the ability to mesmerize the humans if they gaze into your eyes. Do this to feed small amounts regularly and you will quickly gain control over your thirst. And soon you’ll need to feed much less often.
“Beware, however, for you are not the only vampire now, although you are one of the two mothers of all vampires, and therefore one of the two strongest.”
“Two?” I heard myself say. ”Who is the other mother?” I asked.
Athena faded away, but I swear I heard her whisper Rena’s name as she vanished.
~*~
I immediately fell prostrate on the ground, tears pouring down my face and shouting, “Thank you gods!” Suddenly, not only was I not alone, but I had hope! Maybe my future wouldn’t be so bleak after all. The gods had NOT forsaken me! This truly was a miracle.
And Rena! Oh Rena! Had she really survived? Could she truly be alive and like me, another mother of all….what had Athena called us? Vampires, I think. Yes, a mother of all vampires, like me. Oh I must find her! But first I should prepare funeral pyres for those who I those victims from the clearing in the woods. I’d not been able to return to the market for fear I’d kill others, but that clearing should have been clear by then.
As I rose to head towards the clearing, dusk was settling and I noticed through my new eyes, which were now full of hope, something that I had failed to notice in the weeks before when I was hopeless and lost. I noticed that even with the sky darkening, I could see more clearly. Everything had a crispness to it; a clarity and intensity that was almost overwhelming. How I had missed it before then I couldn’t tell you. I’m sure it was much like the sensation you must get after going many years with flawed vision, then suddenly having corrective surgery, only even the colors were brighter, deeper, richer. I had noticed earlier that I could hear the animals in the trees around me. I’d used that, along with my incredible speed to survive these past weeks in the wilderness. I supposed these two things were just part of what I had become, and I was sure I’d discover more.
I was still pondering what other changes I had missed when I came close to the clearing and felt a strange sensation. I slowed. I heard movements and people talking, some of them weeping. I carefully remained out of sight and used my enhanced senses to determine if there was danger, or if someone had actually survived my attack.
As I watched, I discovered some HAD survived. And the ladies (yes, all women; why were there no men there?) who were still alive were digging. Sticks? Rocks? Whatever they could find, they were using to bury the bodies between the stones of what appeared to be some sort of ritual area. At the time I had never seen such, but it was much like a smaller version of your Stonehenge.
Burying bodies was unheard of in that time. Bodies were instead burned on a pyre and sent off to the next life with hope. I must say I was fascinated! I watched until the earth had been scattered over the last body and I watched them pray in a circle, asking the gods to release their spirits. They prayed that the bodies would consecrate the land that had been fouled by their blood. As they finished praying, the leader spoke in a language I was unfamiliar with and I watched as the earth smoothed back into place as though the ground had never been disturbed.
I was stunned and even a bit frightened. I started to leave but as the ladies left the consecrated ground for what appeared to be a casual meeting area, a small family of deer came into the clearing from the direction in which the ladies were heading. Suddenly all six ladies were on the deer, feeding as I must have fed on those they had just buried. I realized with a start that I must have fed on them too and they had become like me! I backed a way, shaking my head in horror, and then I ran from what I had just seen.
I ran hard and with no destination in mind. I just had to get away from that awful scene. Athena had told me there were others like me but now I realized….I HAD CREATED THEM! How many others were there? Had some of them been burned on a funeral pyre, thought to be dead? Were they all out of control and blindly killing others as I had? Sure these ladies had only killed a few deer, but what if there had been humans around? Were there other massacres like my market incident? Six ladies out of about 30…the percentage was astounding. And each one would probably create more like us without even knowing, as I myself had done! Dear gods how could you allow this? Why would you allow me and others like me to survive? I was so lost to the horror that I stumbled and fell. It had been weeks since I’d slept, or even wanted to sleep, so I allowed oblivion to take me.
 
CHAPTER 2
I was face down on the ground when I awoke. I felt a warm weight pressing on my ribcage and it was …. vibrating? I lifted my head to try to see what was pressing on my back, making it difficult to breathe, but when I did that whatever it was stood up and apparently stretched….digging 18 claws into me. I wriggled underneath the animal and knocked it off me, then stood to see what it was.
“Mrowr?” I heard. At my feet was the most disheveled cat you can imagine. ”Mrowr? Purr-purr-purr,” she said as she rubbed up against me. I noticed her tuxedo coat was matted against her body, I could see teeth marks and a small tear in her left ear, one eye was larger than the other, and her little bobbed tail had been broken in several places.
I bent to scratch her behind the ears and she purred louder, moving her head to tell me where she wanted to be petted. It seemed her favorite spots were right on the ridge of her little nose and just under her chin.
“What were you doing sleeping on top of me, huh?”
“Rowr.”
“Well I have to go find somebody, little kitty, maybe I’ll see you again soon?”
“Mew!”
I scratched behind her ear once more, got my bearings on where I was and headed towards the city to find out if there were other attacks like the market and to attempt to learn the control Athena had taught me, but most importantly: I had to find Rena.
I walked toward the city, trying to find a deer to practice on before I got there. After walking a few feet, I realized the cat was right on my heels.
“Oh you want to come with me?”
“Mrowr?”
“Well alright little one, but be quiet while I try to find a little snack.”
The kitty stayed right by my side while I hunted and fed, just as quiet a she could be. When the deer ran off after I let it go, she looked at me cock-eyed, “Mrowr?”
“Yes, Kitty, you can talk now. If we’re going to be friends, maybe we should come up with a name for you.”
“Meow, purr-purr.”
“Hmm, how about Truth? Because you came along after I discovered the truth about what I am.”
She purred a little louder, rubbed against my legs and swished her tail. ”Okay, Truth it is! Off we go, Truth.”
~*~
Truth and I headed toward the city. I needed to find out about my market victims and I hoped Rena might be there looking for me. When we arrived, the market was open. Folks were coming and going as though nothing had changed. It appeared to be business as usual. As I got closer, I heard a few people talking about a ‘massacre’. I knew they must be talking about what I’d done, so I used my sensitive hearing to hone in on those discussing the tragedy and, well to put it bluntly, I eavesdropped.
“They’re still setting off funeral pyres, you can see the smoke from here.”
“I imagine it’s taking a while, what with so many bodies. Each one takes hours to build and there are so many families to gather.”
“Has anyone figured out yet what happened?”
“Nobody really remembers. Those who remember anything only remember hearing a whirring sound, like a fast wind, and they ran to the market to see what the noise was. Everyone was there when they got there and nothing was ever found that could have made the sounds they heard.”
“Forty-two people, just suddenly dead. It doesn’t make sense.”
“And what about those others? There still seem to be more dying every day. But nothing like the market, just one person every other night, but they all die the same way. Have we come upon a plague? What is happening to everyone?
“I don’t know, but let’s hope nothing happens to us.”
“Definitely. I don’t want to lose you.”
Others. There were others. Finding Rena would regrettably have to wait. First I needed to find my progeny: the ones like me whom I had created. I had to teach them how to control their hunger. I didn’t want to be responsible for more people dying.
 
CHAPTER 3
I didn’t know where to look, or even how to recognize the other vampires, but I had to try. Night was coming quickly, so I started immediately looking around the city thinking that they must be staying nearby, or the people I heard talking earlier would not have known about the other deaths. Truth just followed me. She must have agreed.
We stayed in small areas, away from most people. The city had alleyways for waste between the buildings, so we spent a lot of time in those alleys. Occasionally, I’d stop someone who was walking alone and try to mesmerize them. I wasn’t quite sure how to do it, but I greeted a friend of Epi’s first, thinking I could tell if they noticed anything unusual. I spoke with her for a moment, and then looked her straight in the eyes. She was still talking at first, but slowed down to a stop very quickly. I fed a small bit from her and then looked in her eyes again. As I relaxed my gaze, she started talking right where she’d left off. It appeared to me that she hadn’t noticed a thing. This was a marvelous tool! Plus I was starting to stave off the hunger and stay in control. I was almost excited to find such hope after feeling so bleak.
I searched for hours, but I had no idea what I was looking for. I was telling Truth how frustrating the search was, when suddenly I felt a kind of humming sensation. It was a humming deep in my chest, almost near the heart I noticed a movement in the shadows near me and saw a woman fall to the ground. I raced over, but there was nobody else there. I felt the humming get stronger as I neared her. It felt like a tugging down into the shadows of the alleyway behind where the woman had fallen. I followed the sensation. There in the corner. A shadow darker than the rest. He was looking at me with curiosity, and maybe a little fear. He couldn’t have been more than thirteen. My heart bled.
“How did you see me?” he said.
“You can’t feel me?”
“F-feel you? What do you mean?”
“Nevermind. Do you know what is happening to you?”
“I j-just woke up the other day and I was s-surrounded by d-dead bodies. Something felt different, but I still don’t know why. I’m f-feeding on blood and k-killing more and more p-people. I d-don’t know how to s-stop!”
“I can help you. I’m afraid I’m the reason this has happened to you.”
“Y-You d-did this to me?
“Unfortunately yes. I didn’t know what I was doing. I also didn’t know it would cause others to hunger as I do.”
“You feed on b-blood too?”
“I do, but the gods have shown me how to control it, and I can share this with you.”
“Really? You can really c-control this?”
“Yes, come with me, I’ll explain everything. This is Truth, she’s with me. What’s your name?”
“Aww she’s cute. I’m J-James.”
She rubs up against his leg“Purr-rrr-rrr.”
“I think she likes you, James.”
James and I walked for a bit, talking about his new state of being and about how to control his cravings. I explained everything that had happened to me and about how Athena appeared to me. I told him about the group of ladies in the clearing in the woods and that we’d have to find the survivors soon. I also told him about Rena and why I had to find her first.
You see, Rena had been a teacher to the children of kings. She was honored among teachers. Her family had taught for generations, with much demand for the best to teach the children of royalty how to fit into society and how to rule. It was unheard of for anyone in her family to leave the palaces for other employment. Okay, so Epimetheus was still royalty, but he was not royalty in the sense that ruled the kingdoms of Greece. His influence had a much farther reach. Anyhow, when Rena heard of Epimetheus’s gift from the gods and his impending nuptials, she was thrilled to start a new challenge, to teach an adult everything about life and society. She gave up everything she’d known to teach me, and now I must find her and hopefully make it up to her.
As we reached the end of the alleyway, I finally thought to ask, “Do you know of others like yourself?”
“I knew of o-one other. We w-woke up at the same time, but she went a little crazy. She just started k-killing everyone close to her. She didn’t try to get me. I’m not sure why. There were people there building pyres. Those she didn’t attack went after her with t-tools and stabbed her in the h-heart. I never saw any others.”
I thought that sounded a bit off, but maybe the others were burned before they could rise. I hoped they didn’t suffer.
“Good. You’re a fine young man. Thank you for telling me.”
We decided to practice mesmerizing a couple of people, and made sure we were confident before we exited the gates. By the time we left the city walls, we were both well fed and nobody was dead.
~*~
We finally left the city walls and headed towards the mountain paths. The moon was full, so the path was well-lit, though we didn’t need it. Truth pranced along beside us singing her little ‘mrowr’ song along the way. I bent to scratch behind her ears, enjoying her company. She came along just at the right time and I appreciated her dearly. I couldn’t wait to introduce her to Rena! We would arrive at this pace just after daybreak, and I had to fight not to run, so excited was I to see my beloved Rena again.
Apparently sleep was not on either of our minds so we made good time. James told me about all the rest that had happened since his ‘change’. The town was still in an uproar and every person was talking about the market massacre. Still nobody could give one detail about who or what had killed so many.
James hadn’t been as overwhelmed by his hunger as I had since I was so shocked by it at first and, I’m guessing, because I fought it so hard and went without for so long once I knew what that hunger was. He’d fed right after turning. There had been a guard on shift by the bodies and everyone just assumed he had fallen victim to whatever had killed the first victims, which, in a manner of speaking, was true.
Because of how he’d started, or so we presumed, he’d been able to eat every other night without going into a frenzy as I had done. Or maybe it was just because what I experienced was stronger, or maybe even because I had never been truly human at all. Whatever the reason, I was glad for his control and that there had been no other massacres of which I had been the cause.
At some point I’d have to verify that and go find the ladies I’d turned in the woods. I hoped, since I saw how they fed on the deer, that it wasn’t a horrible lack of control. Yes, they’d been driven when they’d smelled the blood, but I didn’t think any of them had lost total control. Maybe they had though. What does it take to feed on the neck of a beautiful animal such as a deer?
Then again, what does it take to feed on a human neck? I wondered what had possessed James to try that since he hadn’t lost control like I had, but … I was afraid to ask. It was nearing dawn and we were almost to my old home. I was nearly giddy with hope that Rena would be there. She was the only thing left that was familiar to me. She was my only family.
As the sun crested over the horizon, James started to struggle. He was visibly tired now and he seemed to be sensitive to the light. I was beginning to fear he wouldn’t make it.
“When was the last time you slept?”
“S-sleep? I guess I’ve become a night owl. Daylight seems to d-drain all my energy away.”
“So this isn’t lack of sleep it’s because of the daylight?”
“I guess so. I hadn’t really th-thought about it. I just get so t-tired during the day, so I sleep.”
“Do you think you can make it? We should make it by full sun up.”
“I think I can. I’m tired, but I ain’t asleep yet,” he laughed.
I decided to take a slightly longer path, but it kept us mostly in shadows the rest of the way. The trees were just starting their turn to the subtle golds and ambers, peaches and oranges of the annual descent into winter. The colors never lasted long, but I enjoyed them while they lasted. Within a week, they would be brown and crispy and falling from the trees. I’m glad I didn’t miss this in my attempt to run from the world. It was my first time to see it.
I remember my sense of wonder at how the trees had changed, practically overnight. I almost forgot about Truth and James walking alongside me and even about how anxious I was to get to Rena, so lost was I in the new wonders of trees changing colors. I didn’t know it would last such a short time. Perhaps it was a foretelling of how my next days would pass.
~*~
I could finally see my old home, though it was off in the distance yet. I started to shout with joy! Then James fell. I’d forgotten he was struggling. When I looked over, he was breathing heavy and sweating. The sweat was pink tinged. He was losing what we’d fed on the night before. We were so close, but we’d have to wait. I’d have to get him under cover and help him recover. I looked around to see if there was some sort of shelter. I found a slight drop off, maybe ten feet, on the dark side of the mountain not too far away. I led him there and laid him down under the small cliff side and there we rested until night. He was asleep almost immediately. His breathing was raspy at first, but after an hour or so it returned to normal. I watched over him and waited. Near sundown, a raccoon decided to make its way around to the warmth of the remaining daylight. As it passed by, I raced over to it. In the blink of an eye the raccoon was unconscious.
I still wasn’t used to how fast I could move when called for. Maybe we should have come up the mountain faster, then James wouldn’t have suffered so. But then, maybe he couldn‘t zip around like I could. I’d have to ask.
Just before sundown James woke with a gasp. He startled me a bit.
“Are you hurt?”
“Hurt? No. Where are we? We didn’t make it to your home?”
“No, just as it came into sight, you fell and you were almost unconscious, so I brought you here for the day. Here, try to eat on this. You were sweating pink, so you may need to replace some of what you lost.”
“Raccoon? Can you eat animals?”
“I’ve fed off of deer. It’s not quite as satisfying, but it should keep you till tomorrow.”
James took the raccoon and gave it a try. He already looked far better than he had that morning, but now he looked vibrant. Such a vast difference from how he’d been this morning. I was still amazed by how resilient we are. I found myself wondering yet again if I, if we, could die at all.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to see if Rena was at your old home,” James said.
“It couldn’t be helped. Has this happened to you every day?”
“It’s never happened before. I’m not sure what happened.”
“We need to keep an eye on that. Do you think you can travel now?”
“I feel fine now. Let’s go. I’m anxious to see this Rena that is so special to you.”
“The road is back this way.”
 
CHAPTER 4
I could see that parts of the house were still standing. Rena’s quarters were untouched because they stood separately from the main house. The more formal living areas were still mostly standing, except for a few cracks and burn marks on the walls. Finally my foot touched the drive and I ran all the way up to Rena’s door and began pounding! “Rena! Rena are you here?”
No answer.
I went around back to the swimming pond, since it was early evening, she might be relaxing in the waters. “Rena are you out there?” I yelled as i rounded the bend. Already I could see the silvery light of the moon reflecting on the still water.
My heart sank.
“Rena?” I called out loudly, hoping she would hear.
“Pandora, is that really you?” came the voice from behind me.
“Rena! You’re here! She was right, you really are alive! Gods I thought you were dead!” I ran to her and embraced her tightly. Oh how wonderful to see my Rena again. My friend. My sister. My only family.
“Pandora, where have you been? Who was right? Who told you I was alive?”
I told her all about what had transpired since I had opened the box. I told her everything about the massacre in the market, about running in the woods, about feeding on animals, about killing those ladies in the clearing and discovering that I could make others like myself. Then I remembered.
“Oh yes. James, Truth come over here. This is Rena who I’ve been telling you so much about.”
“Aw Truth? What a cute kitty!” Truth rubbed against Rena’s ankles.
“No she’s not, but she’s feisty!”
Rena picked up Truth and cuddled with her,“you’re right, she’s not cute. But she is friendly. And who is James?”
“He was in the marketplace and I found him yesterday in the city, feeding on someone in an alleyway.”
“P-Pleasure to meet you, Rena. P-Pandora has told me wonderful things about you. I’ve been very excited to meet such a wonderful teacher. I’ve only ever heard of t-teachers like you in the p-palaces. How did you come to work here?”
Rena smiled. “That is a story for another time. I’m so glad to meet you.
“Pandora, when I woke and you were gone, I thought you had disintegrated in the explosion. The box was gone and so were you and Lord Epimetheus, Oh Pandora it was so awful to see him like that.
“I think I was out for a couple of days because the smoke was almost gone and the house smelled of rotted meat. I went to town to see if maybe anyone had seen you there. I still hoped. I looked for days, but nobody had seen you and I just knew you were gone. I ate normally, and it tasted far more amazing than food had ever tasted, but the hunger just wouldn’t ever go away. Then it happened to me too. The smell took over and I killed a man. It was only one, nothing like what happened to you, but it scared me.
“I was outside the city when it happened and I was just about to head home because the fragrance was overwhelming me and I wasn’t sure what I’d do. It was such a strange sensation. Then a man rounded the corner. I looked him in the eyes and asked him about you and suddenly his face went blank. He just stared at me. His heart was beating quickly and the smell got stronger and I just couldn’t resist anymore. I took him. I took every last drop.
“When I came to myself, I dropped the man and looked around to see that nobody had seen what I’d done. Nobody was around yet.I tasted blood in my mouth, so I felt around with my tongue to see if I had any wounds. That’s when I found the fangs. I played my tongue around them for a moment, wondering where they had come from. It was strange to find something there that I hadn’t known was there, but it was interesting too. I was fascinated by them.
“Anyhow, I looked back down at the man before me. He was pale and his eyes were still open. He looked just like those people from the market had been described. His dark skin had turned nearly white. It was then that I realized it must have been you in the market, and how terrible for you, nearly a babe yourself, to have inadvertently killed so many.
“I didn’t blame you for running away and I hoped you’d return to me, but I didn’t think you would. You were so sensitive and loving from the day you came to us. I knew you hadn’t taken it well.
“Anyhow, I wanted to hide what I’d done, so I took the man into the woods and hid him there. I went back into town to see again that nobody had noticed the man missing or that I had taken him into the woods. I thought to tell them that he’d been drunk and needed help getting home, but nobody was around when I returned.
“I began the journey back home only to run into Apollo just on the outskirts of the city. What an annoying man, and to think he was named after the Sun God! Someone needs to teach him who his namesake is!”
“Y-you mean, you know the Wizard, Apollo? Is h-he really annoying?”
“Yes, that’s who she means. So what happened with Apollo?”
“Oh you know how he is. He told me how inevitable it was that we’d be together and asked if I wanted to return to his bed with him.
“I told him I had no interest in joining the masses who’d graced his bed. Of course he pretended the comment hurt. I told him I really must be going and I headed back this way.”
“Rena, if we can turn others, maybe we should check to be sure the man you killed is really dead. Do you think you could find where you put him again?”
“Sure. I remember exactly where he is. We’ll go check tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow night. James here has a tough time in daylight.”
“He does? How so?”
“We’re not sure why, but it makes him very weak and he can only tolerate it for very short times.”
“Fascinating. Okay tomorrow night we’ll go check on the man. Tonight, we rest, get to know James, and try to decide how to find those ladies from the clearing in the woods.”
~*~
We settled in to Rena’s quarters for the night. Truth curled up in my lap and rested her head on Rena’s knee. Rena had set a fire in the fireplace and we all talked for a while.
James was actually only 12. He had been at the marketplace with his mother, shopping for dinner. His mother was dead, and his father had been off on a journey. He didn’t know when his father would return and he worried what his father would do when he found his wife and were dead. They didn’t have any other family and his father had been a very devoted husband and father.
It made my heart-sick to think of what I had done to him and his family. I supposed now there was nothing I could do about it, but I still hated that I had caused all this pain. Yes, the gods created me to be cunning and beautiful, deceitful and persuasive, but they also gave me a heart. I didn’t like all the gifts I was given, Rena had taught me that lying wasn’t always a good thing, and I believed her.
This left me with a dilemma, of course. How could I help James? How could I help his father, and all those others whose lives I had affected? I was thinking on these things when I realized James was talking to me.
“P-Pandora?“
“Wha? Oh sorry, I was thinking about the past few weeks. What were you saying?”
“I was asking if I could stay with you two. I don’t think I can go back to my father. I’d love to, but he’s going to think I’m dead and I can’t explain to him how I can’t go out in daylight anymore or even how I survived.
“Rena, what do you think?”
“I had been thinking there was no other choice. He’s right, he really can’t go back to his father. It would be too difficult to explain. He must remain with us.”
“James, welcome to the family!” Rena and I both leaned forward to embrace him. It really was the only choice. I’m glad Rena agreed.
We’d talked well into the night and still hadn’t discussed how to find those ladies from the clearing. I had to think of a way to find them. “Rena, do you feel anything different now that we are around?”
“Different how?”
“Like a humming or vibrating in your chest, maybe?”
“No, I can’t say that I do.”
“Honestly, I don’t feel it from you either, only from James. Maybe it’s because he carries my blood. I felt it in the clearing too, when I found those ladies. It was much stronger there, and a bit different. I’m not sure how to explain it. Really I wasn’t paying much attention. I was too horrified to think much about anything other than getting out of there.”
“It makes sense though. There are a lot of new abilities you have now that you’ve changed, maybe this is another one you haven’t quite discovered yet. You can feel the vampires you have created.”
“True. I guess I should go back to the clearing and start from there. See if I can sense anything. Check neighboring villages and such.”
“Let’s head there after we check on the man I left out in the woods. I believe I need to feed again too while we are in the city.”
“D-Dawn is coming. I think can f-feel it.”
“Hmm, fascinating. It appears that his sun sensitivity is due to his change, but if that’s the case, why aren’t we affected?”
“There are so many things we don’t know yet. I guess we will find out eventually. Let’s find a place for James to rest.”
~*~
Rena and I didn’t really need to sleep, but we did rest for a couple of hours. We woke up about three hours after James had fallen asleep and started to clean up the main house a bit more. Rena had already done a lot of work and, apparently, she had finished burning my Epi. I was sorry I hadn’t done something more for him, but I couldn’t look back now. We had too many things to do and too many things to learn.
We were just getting into the bedroom area where the explosion had started when a man, Epimetheus’s keeper of books, arrived. He yelled for Epi, but I answered instead. “I’m sorry, sir, but Epimetheus is dead. He didn’t survive the explosion.”
“You–you killed a Titan? I didn’t think it was possible, though I’d had my suspicions after I saw the house a few days ago. Nobody had answered then and nobody has heard from Epimetheus since. I really hoped I’d find him today. Now I shall have to report to Prometheus that you have killed his brother. He will not be happy about this.”
“Killed—I killed Epimetheus? I suppose I did, but he was trying to save me. I didn’t know it would kill him. I really had no intention of hurting anyone, I just wanted to see what was in that cursed box that Hermes? gifted me with. He ran to save me, but the box exploded and took him with it.”
“You mean to tell me that the box exploded in your hands and killed Epimetheus and yet, here you stand, completely unscathed?”
“Dear sir, that is exactly what happened, I saw it with my own eyes. Epimetheus threw himself on the box just as Pandora opened it.”
“So, let me get this straight, madam. The ‘box’ to which you are referring, exploded right next to you, Pandora, and close enough that you, Rena, witnessed it, yet the Titan god is dead and the human and the god-child stand here today?”
“I suppose it does sound unbelievable when you say it like that, but yes sir, that is what has happened here,” said Rena.
“I have to go, I must report this to Prometheus at once! He will not be happy to hear that you have killed his brother,” the man said as he ambled off. I heard him mumbling as he left, “killed a Titan by accident. No way Prometheus will ever believe that. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes when he finds out about all this.”
“Pandora, he’s right. What will Prometheus do with us once he knows we killed his brother. We can’t fight a Titan!”
“Rena, we can’t panic. We have other things we need to worry about right now. Prometheus will just have to believe me. There is no other option.”
“You’re right. Prometheus knows that gifts from the gods can be unpredictable, and he had warned Epimetheus about accepting gifts from Zeus. I just hope he doesn’t think you are the gift that Zeus sent to kill him.”
“Let’s just find the others and see what we can do about and for them and we’ll talk to Prometheus afterwards.”
“Of course.”
~*~
As soon as the sun set, we, the unlikely trio of vampires left, with a scraggly cat trailing just behind us. This time, due to the time constraints of daylight hours for James, we kept a faster pace. Often I would carry Truth so we could run at full speed. It only took two and a half hours to make it to the city. Rena then led the way from there. Then man was where she had left him, thankfully, although a bit worse for the wear. Apparently he’d been dinner for a few creatures over the past few days. Still, we were relieved to find him still there and not turned into one of us. Next we had to find the ladies that I definitely did turn.
Rena carried Truth this time, and we made it to the clearing in only a couple of hours with me leading the way. James couldn’t hold the pace much longer, so he was glad we arrived when we did. The clearing was empty now. I kicked a stone and swore. “Now what?”
Athena appeared just then. James and Rena jumped and fell prostrate before her. I bowed as well, but this time I wasn’t as shocked as the first time.
“You can feel all the ones you have turned, you simply must quiet your mind and seek them out. It may take you a while to discover them all and distinguish them, until you have found them and until you know how many there are, but you can do this. But that is not why I’m here.
“I’m here because you have more than one enemy now. And more will come. You must be prepared to battle. Find what allies you can. Prepare quickly. Time is short.” She vanished as quickly as she had come.
“Oh dear, Pandora do you know who that was?”
“Of course I know, I’ve seen her before. More than once.”
“You have? Oh yes, I suppose when you were created, but when else?”
“I didn’t tell you? She was the one who had told me you were alive. Well, she didn’t tell me directly, but she told me there were two mothers. That could only have been you, I thought. It helped me come back to my senses and to come and find you. I’m not sure what I would have done had she not shown up when she did.”
“G-G-Guh-”
“James, are you okay?”
“G-G-Goddess.”
I patted James on the head and Truth meowed loudly, rubbing on his ankles. Apparently she was not pleased she had been dropped and no longer wanted Rena to carry her. “Yes James, that was Athena. She seems to have taken a liking to me, and Zeus has allowed her to help me out since Epimetheus didn’t survive the explosion. Apparently that had been his goal all along…to kill my Titan.”
“Oh Pandora. Pandora, I didn’t realize. I’m so sorry. How awful for you,” Rena said.
I waved her off. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on things we couldn’t change. “I need a moment here. I’m going to try to quiet my mind like she said. Maybe I can hone in on the others.”
Rena and James gave me some space, stepping out of the circle there. Yes, the pillars were set in a circle. I stood in the middle and tried to quiet my mind. Tried to connect with that humming within me and maybe sense the others.
After a few moments I felt three separate, distinguishable hums, other than James. There were more, but those were the only ones I could differentiate as yet. I focused on those. They seemed too all be to the north, two were not far from where we now stood. I decided to head in that direction to see what I could find. Maybe, just maybe, the ones I found would know where to find and how to direct me to the rest. I had to try.
“I feel some to the north of here. Let’s head that way and see what we can find.” The troops rallied and followed me at a normal, er more human? pace. Truth pranced happily beside me.
 
CHAPTER 5

It only took a few moments to arrive, but what we saw when we got there was definitely not what I had expected. Not only did I feel them, but they had felt me as well. The two ladies were hovering in a corner chanting in another language like they had in the clearing when I’d seen them there.
“Come on out, Circe! We may not be as strong as you, but we’ll go down fighting!” said the taller one with the auburn hair.
The smaller one, a blonde, stood firmly beside her, her hands before her in some kind of symbolic gesture I didn’t understand. She looked almost frail compared with the taller lady beside her.
Truth ran towards them hissing. I was shocked! I’d never seen her be unfriendly towards anyone, so I went to her to try to calm her. Before I got to her, I saw a flash of light and felt a searing pain hit my left shoulder and everything went dark.
When I came to, Truth was on my chest, purring as usual. Rena, James and both of my um--I don’t know even what to call them--but the vampire ladies from the clearing were all standing over me.
“I think she’s waking up,” said a voice I didn’t recognize. The shorter of the vampire ladies put something back in her pouch and reached out a hand to help me up.
I looked at Rena who smiled and nodded her assent, and then I took the hand offered. My shoulder burned deep within as I sat up. I’d never before experienced pain. I fervently hoped never to suffer anything like this again. My tunic had a hole in it and the edges were singed. The skin was angry and red where I’d been hit, but that was all. It felt worse than it looked.
The girl with the short hair must have seen me looking because she said, “I was able to heal it some, but it may scar a little. I’m surprised you survived at all. I thought you were someone else. You felt like her. I can’t believe I did that! I overreacted and I could have killed you! I didn’t know anybody else could feel like she does. I knew when I saw the cat, but by then I couldn’t stop. What are you? How did you survive a direct hit like that?”
“What do you mean, ‘what are you?’” Rena interjected.
“I mean that no normal human being could have survived that spell without at least losing an arm.”
“Spell?!? You cast a spell on me? You tried to kill me?!?”
“Yes, and again, I’m so sorry. I thought you were someone else,” said the blonde.
“Who on earth would you be so fearful of that you would panic like that and send such an awful spell?” I asked.
The redhead interrupted with, “a former friend. Something happened and she’s a little different now. She tried to kill us for simply disagreeing with her. She’d been a little on the side of power-hungry and controlling before that, but she would never have done anything like that! She was a leader, not a killer.”
The redhead was much bolder than the blonde. Where the blonde was meek, this woman exuded confidence. It didn’t match the vibrations I got from the two. The blonde’s vibrations thrummed through my chest almost overwhelming the steady vibrations I felt from her companion. It was a startling contrast. Even James hummed around the same level as the confident redhead. It left me feeling lopsided and curious to know more.
“We should get to someplace safer, then we will explain more. We’re not sure where she is, but I know a place she won’t think to look. Will you come with us?” asked the redhead.
I think James whined a little beside me. Rena and I shared a glance and answered together, “we will follow you.” Truth twitched her tail in approval.

~*~

I was startled as I saw the trees thinning and the road come into veiw which meant we must be headed into the city. I couldn’t imagine what place in the city these ladies might consider safe from their former friend. I started to ask, but just as I did, began to hear leaves that had already begun falling from the trees, rustling to our right. We all must have heard it because everybody slowed to look in the direction of the sound.
We stood in the darkness, all crowded around each other, five brand new vampires, unsure of what was hiding in the dark. It’s kind of funny if you think about it. Okay, it was just plain silly. Thankfully, before we could embarrass ourselves further, family of raccoons pulled their noses out from under a fallen log where they must have been looking for food. We all exhaled sharply. Whomever this was we were hiding from must have been very dangerous. I could swear the blonde, while walking we discovered her name was Xanthe, almost fainted.
The redhead, or Kallisto, put her arm around Xanthe and said quietly, “we’re almost there, don‘t worry.” It didn’t matter that she hadn’t spoken loudly. We could all hear her.


~*~

As we neared the city gates, I noticed a shadowy figure standing under one of the torch lights. The just as quickly, the figure was gone. It had looked like a wolf, but I wasn’t quite sure. Nobody else seemed to notice, so I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. We approached the gate, but Kallisto veered off to the left a bit, taking us just beyond the gate. There was a drainage tunnel under a grate a few yards from the gate. The gate was locked, but Xanthe opened it with a flick of her wrist. We entered the city through that grate, James hesitated a moment, but Kallisto clasped his wrist and pulled him through, then locked it back behind us. I had known these tunnels were here but hadn’t given them much thought. It never occurred to me that people might use them for transport. I started to ask Rena, but I was silenced as soon as I started to speak. I guess we were really hiding now. I’d have to ask Rena about that later.
There were many passages in each direction, but thankfully all were fairly dry this night. It had been fairly dry the last few weeks of summer and the fall hadn’t borne much rain yet either. I stopped counting after we passed the fifth tunnel, but shortly after, we took a right turn and quickly came to a ladder with another grate. Xanthe climbed the ladder, mumbled a few words in that other language and opened the grate. We all climbed up after her and she again locked the grate behind us.
I looked around and realized we were in a library of sorts. There were scrolls all around, mostly covered with cobwebs and dust. Kallisto whispered one more time and then turned to us, “Nobody can hear us now, it is safe to talk. Circe would never think to look here. She doesn’t think we know about this place, and she hasn‘t been here in months.”
“Where are we?” I asked.
Xanthe spoke up, “We are in the coven’s library. It’s a secret place where our coven has studied our spells for generations, but only those higher in ranks are supposed to know about it. That‘s why Circe won’t look for us here. She doesn’t believe I have the power to be here, and she doesn’t think Kallisto knows about it.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” I said.
“Circe thinks she is the only one with the power to obtain entry to the vaults. Our coven is made only of women, but we have a brother coven as well. Of the two, only the ones who are strong enough to be a priest or priestess can enter this library. Nobody has tried to challenge her, and so she assumed that she was the only one powerful enough. Xanthe has no desire to lead, however she is far more powerful than Circe. So we are safe here. Circe won’t think to look for us here and I have put a sound shield on the lower level so nobody will hear anything we discuss here.
Not too long ago, most of our coven was killed. Those who survived were changed. With that change, Circe became power hungry. She wanted nothing more than to create more like us. Xanthe and I parted ways with Circe because we didn’t agree with killing like she was, and that is when she threatened to kill us. We have been hiding ever since.”
I wasn’t sure how they would take this, but I had to confess, “I know what happened to you. I was there. I was the one who changed you. I didn’t know what I was doing. The change had recently taken me, and I lost control anytime I smelled blood. I’ve since learned to control the thirst, and I am trying to make things right. That‘s why I came looking for you. I hoped maybe I could help you control your thirst as I do, and as I taught James and Rena to do. I hoped to put an end to senseless deaths.”
“We’d appreciate that help very much, although we never lost control quite the way you describe,” said Xanthe.
“James and Rena didn’t either. I’m not sure why there is such a difference, other than that I was closer to the original blast. Or maybe because I was made differently. What about Circe? She doesn’t sound like she’d be open to help, but does she lose control like I did?”
Kallisto answered, “No, she craves the same as we do, but doesn’t lose control completely. I think we all just lost control enough to feed on one and then we were able to stop and collect ourselves. With Circe, it isn’t about losing control. It’s about wanting more control. Unlike us, she remembered every detail of the attack, and she decided if that is how we are Changed, then she wanted to Change more. She wants to create a colony.”
“Oh NO!”