The Browns

Malcolm Brown was an interesting soul. He was almost instantly the most unpretentious, honorable mortal I had met in all my travels. Everything he did was purposeful and done with quiet dignity. His father had been a slave who had acquired a modest property for his family. Malcolm built on this legacy and worked hard to ensure that his children were exposed to a better life as second-generation free men in the third world. He understood his station in life and sacrificed so that those he loved would be less burdened. He was a deeply spiritual man who believed in reaping the fruits of your labor. It was not a judgmental stance, he simply believed in karma and while I had first hand knowledge that things were not quite so clear-cut I accepted that in essence this was an undeniable truth.

He had two precocious daughters, ten and eight years old, and his wife was striking woman of African, Carib and Caucasian lineage. She was a slender woman who worked fourteen-hour days in a neighboring canfield to help her husband maintain their home and provide for their children. Not before long, over the course of long conversations working in the fields converting our crop from cocoa to rice and cane I promoted Malcolm to head custodian of the Condé Estate. With this responsibility came a generous raise in his remuneration which allowed him to give his wife the gift of an early retirement. Of course this only made her feel indebted to me and she insisted on coming in three times a week to do general cleaning and cooking for me. Soon my house was filled with conversation, laughter and something that had not touched me in an untainted form for quite some time, love.

I was guilty. Guilty of deceiving these people and guilty of giving these young girls a monster for a surrogate uncle. But try as I might I was incapable of turning them away, of not enjoying how they made me feel, of not caring about them. I even attempted to go without what sustains me. Sadly, my nature is far stronger than what they were nurturing within me. Instead, as some small measure of reason, I studied people more intently and choose those who I judged to be dangerous and sinister as my victims. I do understand that I may be the least appropriate person to judge anyone, but I consoled myself with the thought that the world was a bit better without these unfortunate souls. The irony is inescapable.

Something else was unavoidable. This perceptive man and his family were captivated by my presence and were beginning to grow concerned about my isolated existence. They credited me with bringing a certain degree of stability into their lives which, they insisted, extended far beyond just the financial. It was unbearable to hear Mrs. Brown remark that I was a God sent and her husband add that not all Europeans are pre-occupied with the pursuit of ill gotten gains.

It took longer than I expected but just past a year into our arrangement on a quite Friday evening, Malcolm Brown broached the subject that I had been dreading. He stood at the door to my study, as I updated the bookkeeping. He wore a damp brown cotton shirt and khaki slacks, and removed his wide brimmed hat so he could wipe sweat from his brow with a muscular forearm. He waited for me to notice him.

“Come in Malcolm.” I said without raising my head.

“Thank you.” He said walking quietly to one of the vacant chairs that faced my desk.

“Please sit my friend.” I said raising my head and smiling at him warmly. “And I have something for you.” I said handing him a sealed envelope that rested on my desk.

“Again, I thank you Nicholas.” Him calling me Nicholas had taken nearly a year. He smiled weakly.

“Is there something else?” I asked turning to him squarely now, looking into his bright eyes that were set deep into his sun darkened lined face. I could hear his heart beat quicken.

“Yes.” He paused.

“Is it your wife, the girls?” My concern growing.

“No, no, no. They are well. But Beatrice and I have been talking and we are both worried.”

“About?”

“About you Nicholas. Forgive me, but you are a good man who should not be alone. We feel like you are punishing yourself for something. Maybe in your past?”

I took a deep breath and fixed my gaze and looked away as I heard his heartbeat slow.

“Not in my past. Something in my present.”

He swallowed, slowly, deliberately before continuing.

“I feel that there is a chance for redemption as long as there is life.” He said bravely.

“I want to believe that.” I said solemnly. “So I will attempt to tell you my truth.”

Resolve

The dawn following La Safer’s death was unlike any that I had experienced before. The previous twelve hours were a blur. I remember hearing the hushed tones, reverent almost, as they studied the lifeless, shrunken form that had embodied so much fear and loathing. I burnt the head and body on a pyre and watched the body disappear into thick clouds of black smoke.

They had all asked if they could stay, but now more than ever I was filled with the desire to be away from my kind…and others like us. I wanted to be part of something more meaningful. I felt an even deeper kinship with the people of the island this time around. We were both going through our own emancipations, not quite sure what the future held but highly optimistic that what was before us would be better than our past. I encouraged Louis and Elizabeth to find a life that they were comfortable with and in time I would seek them out. For now I could only deal with one vampire.

So I set about losing myself in the work of renovating and landscaping my property. I needed a routine that would work this supernatural body towards building and re-building something instead of tearing it apart. Then, one evening, a man knocked on my door seeking honest employment to help provide for his family and I was moved by his honesty. I looked into his eyes, and he into mine, and I could tell that he understood that I too needed help. It would be the beginning of a most interesting time in my existence and the discovery of new love. Meeting the Brown family would tie me to them forever and in many ways it is where my story truly begins…

A New Dawn

It happened quickly. I could hardly get a read on him before I felt his breath at my back. We were all separated by Christmas revelers as we stepped off the ship. New Independence was good to the island and alcohol and high spirits enhanced the mood of most. Then there was the irony of our arrival.

“You wear your emotions like new clothes my son. Far too easy for one like me to read.” At the sound of his voice time seemed to slow. I turned to face him. He wore a dark suit with a crisp white shirt and red tie.

“These are their colors.” He said, standing back for effect. “The colors of their flag.”

“Patriotic.” I said flatly, trying to avoid his hypnotic beauty.

“We should talk.” He said, pointing the way out of the harbor. I could see that the others were already ahead of us, guided by those of La Safer’s making.

As always La Safer was prepared. Transportation was on hand to take us to our destination which, as we neared, turned out to be my own plantation. His arrogance angered me most and I did my best to control this emotion. I could usually feel the mood of those close to me, those I now hold dear. But here, in my own house, close to them I felt nothing.

We sat on my veranda looking out at the cocoa being served hot tea by a strange man servant and it was I who felt like a guest visiting a disappointed parent. On the floor between us was a menacing question mark, in the form of a large scythe.

“I don’t think I can give you what you expect.” I said as the servant left us in the fading pre twilight warmth.

“Are you certain you know what that is?” He asked, making no effort to look at me.

“I think I am.” I said settling into an uncomfortable silence.

“Nicholas. I had such great plans for you, for us really. But you do know that if this was about killing you that it would have happened some time before now.” He said after a few moments of silence.

“So?”

“So now,” he said turning to face me. “I will leave you to your life here. But it will be far different than the life you should have had. In the beginning the desire to create a superior being was what fueled me. A more worthy being to rule, devoid of mortal weakness. You were to be my general, but while you were rediscovering your humanity I figured it would be so much more interesting if irrational fears were given reason. I know you think me a monster, but there are worst things to fear than me.”

“But why the deception, why use Antonio and try to manipulate me through my memories?”

“Because I can Nicholas. Because whether you like it or not the consequences for your actions are not of your choosing. Because ending your existence would be too easy and I require more from you.”

Looking into his eyes I could see the depth of his disappointment and the great abyss of his own hate…for everything. His breath was controlled and even and his body from all I can tell as I studied him was mortal. Strong, extraordinary, but living in much the same abnormal way that I now was and I was struck by the epiphany of the moment and the sudden fragility of this dark angel.

I emptied my mind and thought became immediate action. I recognized a fleeting look of pity as I seized the scythe before beheading him. Strangely, there was no feeling of relief, no release. It was as if nothing had changed…but of course, everything had.

Full Circle…Almost

We secured an entire floor of the ocean liner for our return to the islands. They had become a strange part of our group and we were now, as a whole, something far removed from humanity. La Safer seemed to always know what I held near and dear and I suppose for anyone who paid any attention it wouldn’t be difficult because there is not much that still means anything. From the very start he played on my emotions and now I feared he was wantonly tainting a place I had claimed for myself, and a people I had hoped to save, in the main, from my curse.

The five of us shared a double cabin, or rather adjacent cabins made one by opened double doors. As explained by my faux wife and daughter the others, six of them, were mostly followers. But, they were absolutely loyal to La Safer and in his absence Sophie and Victoria. Victoria though, seemed more capable of leading as she only looked like my daughter. In a strange way, she looked like a bit of both of us and as much as I was fascinated by how much Sophie had become well Sophie I was stunned by how much Victoria looked like the daughter I never had. Their abilities were truly remarkable.

Victoria seemed fascinated with me and spoke with the confidence of someone who had lived beyond my existence. Her manner unnerved Louis and Elizabeth and they studied her with less fascination than I. Rest was a luxury we set aside, there were infinitely more pressing matters at hand. Our darkened images were partly illuminated by the flames from a few lamps. It was better to avoid the smug and interchangeably pitiful looks while we spoke.

“What have you decided Nicholas, what will you do when you are again before your father?” Victoria asked her sense of superiority and mild amusement undisguised in her tone.

“La Safer is not my father.” I said evenly. “And I am still not certain what I will do when I see him. But I know I must.”

“Why Trinidad?” Louis enquired. “Why is this place important to him?”

“It’s not important to him. No place is really.” Sophie said.

“It’s important to me. It became important to me.” I said. “I saw glimpses of who I was there, and experienced things I feared were lost…maybe they are now.”

I could almost see Victoria’s smile widen and in that moment I pitied her. She may have thought she knew La Safer, but in his actions I saw the truth of his existence. The only constant was his lies.

I stood, smoothing my hair back and re-tying my ponytail. I adjusted my coat and walked out the door of our cabin. Moments later the announcement of our eminent arrival at the Port of Spain, Trinidad was repeated through the halls. Sounds of Christmas calypsos filled the air mingled with sounds of merriment and on the shores of the beautiful Caribbean isle an unnatural welcoming committee awaited us.

Out of No way

It was clear that while Antonio may have been surprised by our attack, La Safer not only expected our offensive he wanted it to happen. His intent was for this to be a battle of attrition. He wanted natural selection to take place. Only the strong could lead his cause.

What I had learned, beyond the fact that the woman before me was neither a woman nor my wife, was that we had somehow managed to eradicate all others of our kind in our attack. Moreover, what was left were beings that were alike us but also very different. They existed on the fringe of all that was possible and I was certain that I had not yet experienced the full measure of their abilities.

The woman, who was not Sophie, seemed fully possessed by the essence of my wife and incapable of returning to anything closer to her ‘normal’ state. The other, who was not my daughter however, had little problems finding her true state and exercising an intangible hold over Louis and Elizabeth. Our abilities to beguile mortals and bend them to our will had no effect on any of our mystical captors.

There was no violence or any real physical threat of it, yet they could not bring themselves to resist her hold or leave. I was not as restricted, but I refused to leave without my comrades, and then there was Sophie…or rather her spirit.

It was all part of La Safer’s plan. He intended to show me that I was a pawn in a game, greater than my persistent humanity would allow me to accept. He wanted me to see how grand his plans were for me and how much would be mine if I would only accept my destined place and what I was.

We were being kept here until he saw fit to grace us with his presence, at which time he would expect me to acquiesce. His plan was having its intended effect. The inertia of our circumstance coupled with the hopelessness I felt from my faux Sohpie and my comrades planted a seed. It was all I could do not to reconsider everything, including my philosophical stand on my existence.

Sophie began all our conversations with either a verbal or explicit visual apology. More than anything she wished she could end her own torture and be free of the emotions that seemed to belong to her a bit more with each moment we shared. The grey cloud of expectancy hung over us all for days. I had had enough. This needed to end one way or another and when I looked into her eyes, I could tell she knew what I was going to ask.

“I can’t sit and wait for my fate to be sealed, by La Safer. Not again, not anymore.”

“Please Nicholas. I couldn’t do it myself…I don’t know if any of this is real, but I couldn’t bare your death for however long this conscious lasts.”

I smiled and touched her face, repeating to myself that she was not Sophie…not quite, and I certainly was no longer a Nicholas that my Sophie would recognize.

“You can take me to him, can’t you?”

The tears streamed down her face and her lips shook as she tried to smile.

“He said you would know when it was time. Yes I would rather not, but I can take you to him.”

“Good.” I said simply, accepting all that was to come. My destiny. “Take me to him.”

Sophie

I opened my eyes and for a moment and was overcome by the emotion of all that occurred. I allowed myself to believe it was a dream. But the memories were too vivid, too real. Instinctively I reached for my side and felt neither tender tissue nor scarring of any kind. Still, our affliction left us free from the physical reminders of violence.

I felt the soft cotton of the sheets with my bare feet and looked down to confirm that I was naked save for the dark slacks I wore to Antonio’s coven. I sat up and looked around the well-appointed room. I listened intently and could hear Louis and Elizabeth in quiet discussion down the hall from where I lay. Was I still there? My answer was not far off. Sophie’s scent filled my senses.

She seemed to appear from the darkness to my left, where an ornate chair of burgundy colored oak faced me. Her eyes were tinged with sorrow and when she spoke it was with an even soothing cadence that was familiar.

“It is easy to see why he is so fond of you Nicholas. What is left of your humanity is what makes you so…valuable. With you he can gain so much more.”

Seeing her in the soft evening light I felt, once again, as if I was looking at her for the very first time. She looked into my eyes and forced a smile and I reached for my side again as I spoke.

“What have they done to you Sophie?”

She turned her back to me, looking out the window, her attention on things beyond the garden view.

“I’m sorry.” She began. “We…I too have been given abilities. We are both immortals in a sense. Only, you know that you can kill others like yourself. I have the ability to assume the identities of others, amongst other talents. All I require is personal effects from that person and a bit of flesh or blood and I am…I am able to claim their memories as my own and physically become that person.”

I could hear her voice breaking and I pressed my lids shut as she continued, certain of what she would say next.

“I thought he loved me. He treated me so well…so when he told me of this plan he had where I would never have to be anyone else but this person. I believed him. I believed this would be the last time. I should of known that something was wrong.” She wiped away some tears and took a deep breath, steadying herself before she continued.

“I had never become someone who had died before, and I had no idea how it would affect me. I feel like I am Sophie especially since I no longer remember who I am. But I knew I could not deceive you, because when I looked into your eyes I could feel your love for her and I also feel her love for you.”

I felt the sensation of weeping, but there were no tears.

“So you are not Sophie?” I said softly.

“Yes and No. I have tried to become another, or even return to my original form. But since I have become her,” she said turning again to face me. “I have not been able to be anyone else.”

I could not help but look into her eyes and sense and feel that she was who she had become.

“Why?” I asked, getting off the bed and going to her. “Why did you try to kill me?”

She touched my face before she answered.

“Sweet Nicholas. I was trying to save you.”

Vengeance

I felt the feral, supernatural energy coursing through every fiber of my being. The weapons I carried became extensions of my body. Elizabeth and Louis both agreed that they would not expect us to attack at dawn, in daylight. They would not be defenseless, but our kind was at the peak of their powers at night. As I gave more of myself to my dark nature, I sensed every one of my kind behind the walls of Antonio’s sanctuary.

I doubled my steps quietly as I approached the large door carved from oak that was only dwarfed by two large pillars. I stopped just before the door and hit it with an open palm, which rocked it violently off its hinges. The door fell in a cloud of dust and I felt Elizabeth and Louis enter on either side of me, beheading two vampires on their way to the other rooms on the ground level. Three of them were on me, moving like mortals who still had not understood their new nature. I easily avoided their attacks moving like the wind to their rare. As they turned the first two met the business ends of the short swords, extended from each of my hands. As there heads hit the floor with a sickening thud, I looked for a moment at the clean cut through skin, bone and cartilage that had ended their existence. The last of my attackers hesitated for far too long and as he took a calming breath his head joined those of his comrades.

Blood dripped from my blades and pumped from splayed arteries, soaking into the parched floor. Elizabeth and Louis rejoined me soaked in the same sticky liquid, their fangs bared as a measure of their intent. At the top of the wide staircase, which began with a gentle curve, stood Antonio calm and regally attired. He held a long blade to Sophie’s throat. Others, who seemed to await his command, stood between us. They were all female. Antonio sliced into Sophie’s throat and licked the blood off his blade. I felt four arms struggle against my body as I tried to move forward. Antonio looked into my eyes and smiled.

“Very wise.” He said pressing his blade against her fresh wound.

“Where is Victoria?” I asked trying to hide my concern.

His laugh echoed through the halls.

“I do see why father favors you. For a time I too loved you, after all you have given me the greatest gift. But you are in no position to demand anything anymore.”

I looked at my comrades and nodded. They released my arms and I returned my blades to their sheaths. I walked slowly forward with my empty palms facing Antonio.

“You are right of course.” I said fixing my gaze on Sophie, which seemed to calm her somewhat. “So I only ask what you would have me do now?”

“Stop!” He commanded with one step separating us. I smiled at Sophie before returning my full attention to Antonio. As I looked into his eyes I could hear the rhythm of his supernatural heart and when I spoke again it was as lyrics to his internal song.

“You no longer require the services of your soucouyants.”

“No.” He answered with a smile. “I no longer require your services. Return to your quarters.” He concluded with a wave of his hand. They hissed at me as they retreated behind him. When they were gone I continued.

“May I speak with Sophie?”

“Of course.” He replied his serene smile fixed.

“Sophie, my love, are you well?”

“Yes.” She said simply, seemingly unable to say any more.

“Good.” I said evenly.

“Antonio you look tired let me take Sophie from you.”

“Thank you.” He said releasing her from his grip. As she stepped behind me I raised a short sword at my side and brought it up in a smooth arc.

“Good bye my friend.” I said as his severed head rolled down the steps.

I felt more emotion at this moment than I thought I would. It felt as if cold steel was plunged into my side and twisted. I looked down to see blood dripping from my side and turned to see Louis and Elizabeth surrounded by others from the coven and Sophie with a bloodied blade in her hand. The room swirled and before the darkness engulfed me I heard a voice say.

“Sorry my love, I’m not quite who you think I am.”