The Vengeful Vampire

  THE VENGEFUL VAMPIRE

  eBook Edition

  ISBN 978-1-927116-09-8

  Copyright © 2011 Marissa Farrar

  RH Publishing

  P.O. BOX 651193, STERLING VA, 20165-1193

  License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

  Publisher’s Note

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  *You can click on the title to be taken to the selection. Additionally, all chapter names will link you back to this table of contents.

  The Vengeful Vampire

  Bonus Material: Alone

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  The Vengeful Vampire

  As the coast of Spain came into sight, Sebastian Bandores’ heart lifted.

  Too much time had passed since he’d last seen his homeland and he hoped things hadn’t changed as much as he had. As a Spanish Officer, he’d spent the past two years stationed in Cuba, first dealing with the unrest between the locals and Americans, and then fighting in the ensuing war. He’d seen death—too much death. They lost thousands of men and eventually the war. However, Sebastian managed to escape with his life intact.

  Would his wife and daughter be waiting for him at the Cadiz port? He didn’t know if they’d received word of the ship docking or if they thought him to be alive. Though he’d written to them throughout his stationing, he’d never received any return correspondence. Cuba to Spain was a long distance for a letter to travel.

  His thoughts stayed with his family; his wife, Antoinette, with her smooth dark hair and darker eyes, and of Isabelle, his daughter, who possessed his own lighter coloring but his wife’s stubborn streak. The girl had only been two when he left. That she probably had no memory of him filled him with sadness. Sebastian hoped to make up for his absence in the years to come.

  Ahead, the blur of the Cadiz shoreline took on contrast. Beneath him, the boat rose and fell with the gentle swell of the ocean. He’d experienced plenty of bad weather at sea, and despite the high wind that often battered this part of his homeland, the ocean remained relatively flat today.

  As they approached the port, the crew called to each other, hoisting and pulling down the huge sails, skilfully guiding the large vessel into port. Sebastian scouted the port for his family. A number of dark-haired women made his heart lift in expectation but, as they docked, he realised none of them were his wife.

  They must have not heard of his return, or something else kept them away. His home was a half-day’s walk down the coast and anything could have prevented them from making the journey.

  Even so, Sebastian struggled to swallow his disappointment. He’d allowed himself to imagine a joyful reunion, but now his dreams would wait.

  The ship bumped against the dock, and he braced himself, his stance preventing him from stumbling backward. He possessed little; a few items bundled together in a blanket and slung over his shoulder.

  After a brief but emotional farewell to his comrades, Sebastian headed around the outer edge of the city, skirting the white stone wall built around its centre. On his right, the ocean morphed from blue to red as the sun sank into the depths of the horizon.

  With the coming of night, the city’s busy streets emptied, leaving Sebastian to walk alone. Though exhaustion remained his constant companion, the promise of his own bed and the warm arms of his family kept his feet moving onward.

  Not far ahead, the shape of a figure crouched on the ground made Sebastian slow his pace. The person wasn’t big enough to be a man, yet no woman or child should be out alone at this hour. A cloak, pulled over the figure’s head, obscured his view. Irrational alarm raced through Sebastian. At easily double the stranger’s body weight, there was no reason to be afraid, yet something put his nerves on edge.

  Perhaps the figure was a set-up for a robbery? This seemed unlikely. Returning from war, Sebastian had little to steal.

  Sebastian approached the figure, stopping a couple of feet away. Curls spilled from beneath the cloak; definitely a woman. Perhaps she was hurt?

  “Esta todo bien, Senora?” he asked, touching her shoulder. Are you all right?

  The woman looked up, her eyes flaring yellow. Sebastian stepped back in surprise. At second glance, the woman’s eyes appeared normal, the exact color indiscernible in the dark.

  I must have imagined it...

  “Gracias, Senor,” she said, though Sebastian detected a foreign accent, perhaps French, but certainly not local. “Thank you for your kindness but I stumbled and hurt my ankle. It feels much better now. Would help me to my feet?”

  He reached out and took her hand, her fingers ice-cold against his skin, despite the balmy night. Her touch made him shiver.

  “Are you sure I can’t help you home?” he inquired, taking in her face. She was radiant, her skin paler than any he’d seen before, her hair perfect, ringlet curls. Her eyes possessed a strange iridescence, even in the dark, like an effect he’d experienced one night on the ocean waves. This woman surely must come from a high-born family. “You shouldn’t be out on the street at this hour. It’s not safe for a woman alone.”

  The woman smiled, but a secret lurked behind her strange eyes. “I appreciate your concern, Senor, but I am safer than you are.”

  Her words threw him and he glanced over his shoulder, expecting to find several men, armed with knives approaching. The street remained empty.

  “I’ll be on my way then,” he said, frowning. “Buenas noches, Senora.” Goodnight.

  “Buenas noches.”

  Sebastian walked away. He looked back to discover the woman was gone. Another shiver crept up his spine and he shook it off, concentrating on the road ahead.

  He left the city far behind, the paved roads turning to gravel, the stone walls morphing to hills and countryside. A number of times he was sure someone watched him, their gaze landing upon his back, but each time he spun around, he was alone. His legs ached, his back was sore, yet the hope in his heart kept him moving. In his head, he pictured his home-coming over and over, the delight in his wife’s eyes, his daughter’s tiny arms wrapped around his neck. These were the same images that kept him going during his time at war and the long months at sea. He lived for his family. While other soldiers were drinking and whoring, Sebastian remained faithful.

  In the hills ahead, smoke rose from the chimney of a small wooden house.

  “Mi casa,” Sebastian breathed. My home.

  From out of nowhere, something slammed against him, crashing him to the ground. Air burst from his lungs. Before he could take another breath, whatever hit him jumped on his chest, constricting his lungs.

  Sebastian fought his attacker but teeth gnashed at his throat.

  A wild animal! his panicked mind thought. A wolf!

  The slim, cold fingers of a woman, with the strength of the insane, wrapped around his wrists, pinning him to the ground. Sebastian twisted his head o
ne way and the next, trying to avoid the snapping, lunging teeth.

  Soft hair fell around his face, gentle curls in such contrast to the lethal points of the white teeth. He caught a glimpse of yellow flashing in the darkness and in an instant he realized his attacker’s identity.

  The woman from the port.

  The certainty lowered his defenses enough for the woman’s vicious teeth to sink into the smooth flesh of his throat.

  Sebastian roared in terror and pain. He was aware of a terrible, sucking sensation and coldness crept over his body. The chill started at his outer limbs, his fingers and toes, and slowly travelled over his body, the cold consuming him inch by inch.

  As the darkness closed in around Sebastian, his last thoughts were those of his family, of how close he’d been to seeing them again.

  “Volver,” he whispered as he sank into nothingness. I’ll return...

  A halo of agony called him to consciousness. Every part of his body hurt; a pain he’d never experienced before. Fire burned his nerves. Before he’d even opened his eyes, Sebastian screamed.

  Twisting onto all fours, he tried to escape the pain clutching at his soul.

  “Hush,” a woman’s voice spoke from beside him. “The pain will pass.”

  Immediately, a fresh wave of fear washed over him. The woman—the thing—that had attacked him!

  Sebastian jerked away but pain clutched him afresh, ripping through his body.

  “What have you done to me?” he rasped, his throat burning with every syllable.

  “You are dying,” she said, her tone matter of fact. “It happens to the best of us.”

  “You’re wrong. I’m already in Hell.”

  She sighed, “Ah, yes, maybe for the moment. I can make you better again if you wish?”

  “Yes, anything!” he groaned again, rolling to his side. “Just make it stop!”

  Despite his pain, her beauty astonished him. The light of the fire burning in the corner of the room reflected in her hair. Her skin was smooth and pale as ice.

  “I can make it stop,” she said, her green eyes trained on his face. “I can make it all stop.”

  She raised her wrist to her mouth and, once again he saw the flash of lethally sharp teeth that had no place belonging in the face of a beautiful woman.

  She bit, and blood flowed.

  “No, stop!” he yelled. “What are you doing?”

  But something else rose within him, something dark and wicked and hungry. Something that hadn’t existed before.

  Acting purely out of instinct, with no thoughts or considerations to his actions, Sebastian grabbed the bloodied wrist and locked his mouth on the wound.

  Greedily, he slurped, gulping down mouthful after mouthful of thick, cold blood.

  Pain condensed in his heart, its thump rushing at the gallop of a horse, the pounding filling his ears. Sebastian screamed, scrambling away from the horrifying woman.

  She stood over him, watching his agony and terror with cool, impassive eyes.

  “Ayudame,” he croaked, help me. Though he knew the creature above him would offer no such help, he couldn’t prevent the words falling from his lips.

  The pain took over every thought, every feeling. It spiked through him, caused his whole body to spasm. Sebastian’s teeth clamped together, narrowly missing his tongue. His eyes rolled back in his head and his back arched.

  Internally, his heart raced, thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump, faster and faster. Then, there was nothing. The organ stopped and with it, the agony vanished.

  Sebastian waited—waited for what whatever should happen next, be it God or His counterpart. Despite trying to live his life as a Catholic, he’d killed men, if only in battle, and he struggled to understand how God could forgive such an act.

  Nothing happened.

  Only, something was happening; changes were occurring. He reached up to his face to discover softer, smoother skin beneath his fingertips. His muscles burned with strength. His mouth suddenly seemed too full of teeth, his jaw thick and muscular.

  The thing that struck Sebastian most was the stillness. The sounds he’d lived with his whole life—his breath whistling in and out of his nose, his heartbeat, the pulse in his ears—all those things were gone.

  “What have you done to me?” he growled.

  She crouched beside him and touched his cheek with her cool fingers. “I’ve given you the chance at a new life.”

  Sebastian jerked away. “What are you talking about?”

  “The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew we should be together. Now you can stay with me for all of eternity.” She lifted his hand and placed his palm against the soft swell of her breast. Despite himself, lust stirred deep in his belly. It had been a long time since he’d touched a woman.

  She must have noted the change in him, for she smiled, a wicked grin. “I knew you’d want me. Just think how much fun we’ll have together.”

  He snatched his hand away. “I have a wife, a family.”

  “I’m your family now.”

  He stumbled to his feet, dwarfing the small house they were in. “You’re crazy. I’m going home.” Sebastian headed for the door but, in an instant, she stood in front of him again, blocking his path.

  Sebastian yelled out in shock and stepped back.

  Her eyes flashed yellow and she snarled, revealing lethally sharp teeth. “You’re not leaving me.”

  His anger rose, surprising him with its ferocity. “Try and stop me,” he spat. Sebastian pushed past her and, to his surprise, she let him go.

  He burst out into the open air. The night seemed different, the air more crisp, sounds sharper. Though desperate to be home with his family and away from the monster behind him, he paused for a moment to draw in the beauty of the night. Why had he never noticed before?

  Sebastian dragged himself from his reverie and focused on working out his location. With relief, he recognized where he was—several miles down the road from his home. Setting off at a run, he bounded over the rough terrain, no longer following the road, easily navigating his way via some internal compass. The moon and stars called to him, their points in the sky guiding his way.

  He ran with a speed he’d never experienced before; no sense of fatigue weighing on his limbs. The exhaustion he’d been living with since going to war had disappeared, replaced by a boundless and ever giving energy.

  Within a matter of minutes, his small home appeared, nestled in the hills ahead. A thin stream of smoke trailed from the chimney and, from the small windows, the flicker of a lamp hinted at the people inside being awake.

  Sebastian frowned. Why would they be up? It was the middle of the night.

  Fear fired through him. Outside of the changes to himself, he knew something was wrong.

  Instantly, he increased his speed, his feet barely touching the ground as he flew through the night. Sebastian reached the door and, not wishing to alarm his family, he paused outside, listening.

  The whimpered cries of a frightened woman and child reached his newly sensitive ears. Wasting no more time, he yanked open the door, tearing the wooden slab from its hinges and flinging it to the ground.

  The monstrous woman stood in the centre of the room, her arm wrapped around his wife’s throat. With the other hand, she held a small child by her forearm, preventing the girl from running.

  “Antoinette...” Sebastian whispered.

  Antoinette’s dark eyes widened at the sight of him standing in the doorway. She struggled against her captor but the woman held her with ease.

  “Sebastian?” she questioned, as though unable to believe her own eyes. Hope pierced through her terror. “Help us!”

  He stepped into the room and the hope melted to fear. Her eyes flicked over his face. The horrified recognition in them told Sebastian something was clearly wrong.

  “Your eyes,” she cried. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

  Unable to see himself, Sebastian couldn’t offer her an answer. By the sight of the woman w
ith his family in her vice-like grip, the way her eyes shimmered yellow in the lamp-light, he could guess.

  “Let them go,” he demanded. “If you hurt them, I will kill you.”

  She laughed, head tilted back on her long neck, her curls spilling down her back. “I will slaughter them both before you move.”