Bloodflow
From my brain
- -- Callistana
The Midlands, England, 1349.
August.
Ayleth stumbled through the streets of the muddy little village. The home she had shared with her parents had been burnt a week before, when they had died from the plague that was sweeping the village and countryside. She only narrowly escaped with her life; she slipped out the back door as the mob approached the front door from the road. She fled across the fields behind her cottage and into the woods. She didn’t stop running until she came to another village, almost two days away. She was a stranger there and shunned as much as she would have been in her own village.
There, she wandered the streets looking for anything the villagers could offer – food, water, a bed for the night – without luck. No one would even look at her, much less speak to her or give her a crust of bread. She searched through the midden outside of town for food enough to live and drank from a cool, clear stream she found not far from the village. She slept beneath the protective arms of the trees in the forest.
The night the dark stranger came into town had been a difficult one. Ayleth hadn’t been able to find any food for the past two days, and she was beginning to feel feverish. Her stomach cramped, and when she sneezed it was tinged with blood. The stranger strode through the darkening streets announcing salvation to all who would accept him as their savior. Ayleth and the rest of the villagers were hungry for deliverance from this hell on earth, and she joined them as he led them out of town to a clearing in the forest. In the center of the clearing, a bonfire raged, lighting the quickening night.
“In my hands lies salvation,” the stranger announced, “and with this simple pin I will determine your worthiness.” The man held a single silver pin glinted in the firelight. The villagers crowded to him, anxious to do whatever it took to prove themselves to this man who wanted to save them. “Stop! I will come to you each in turn. I only request your patience.”
The crowd fell back a little; the man went from person to person, puncturing the tip of one finger and bringing the drop of blood that rose there to his lips. In turn he either turned them away or bid them cross the clearing and enter the margins of the forest. Ayleth lingered near the back of the throng, watching the selection process. The palms of her hands began to sweat as the stranger neared her.
“Give me your hand, child.” The stranger’s voice was smooth and deep. She felt compelled to do as he asked. Slowly, as though she were in a dream, her hand rose and the stranger took it. His hands were as soft as his voice, his caress gentle. There was only slight pain on the end of her finger when the pin he held penetrated her skin. She watched as a tiny drop of blood formed on the tip of her finger; he pulled her hand to his mouth. She felt his tongue as he quickly licked at the blood drop; his eyes flared in the darkness like the fire behind him.
“You are accepted and shall be saved.”
The stranger made a grand gesture to the woods on the other side of the fire. It took a moment for Ayleth to fully grasp his pronouncement. She walked across the clearing in a daze and entered the dark woods to join the precious few from the village who had also been accepted. There was silence in the darkness; the others that had been accepted were spread out among the trees. Only the occasional sound of whimpering could be heard in the heat of the summer night. Ayleth watched as the rejected villagers dispersed into the night, leaving the circle of light provided by the bonfire and returning to their homes. She believed they would rise up and rebel against the stranger, demand that he take them all rather than just a chosen few. When the last villager left the clearing, it became clear to her that this would not happen.
The stranger moved silently across the clearing and entered the intense darkness of the forest. As Ayleth listened, the silence grew more persistent as more and more of the saved villagers were visited by the stranger. When it seemed that she was alone in the woods, the visitor emerged from the shadows and stood before her.
“Are you ready to be saved from this scourge that has been visited upon us?”
“Y..yes, my lord.”
The man bent as if to kiss her, but turned her face away with a gentle caress of her left cheek. A feeling of complete trust washed over her as the man came even nearer. She could feel his shallow, cold breath on the side of her throat. Ayleth closed her eyes as she felt the first prick of the stranger’s teeth on her neck. She felt weak as he kissed her neck, biting her there. She sagged in his arms; her body felt as though she was floating in the air, and she could hear her own heartbeat loud in her own head. She listened as the beats of her heart slowed; so slow, she believed her heart would surely stop, and she would die in this stranger’s arms. It was then that he broke away and gently laid Ayleth on the warm ground.
New York City, 2006.
June.
The lights came up to the opening strains of “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence and Bliss raised her head to stare into the bright lights, beyond which she knew a crowd of mostly men sat, eyes glued to her lithe figure. She moved slowly as the music played, caressing her own body sensually. The PVC panty and bra set she wore hugged her curves and covered only what was necessary.
Shadowy faces lined the stage at her feet; six men elbowed one another and pointed at her as she moved to the music, now faster. Her body pulsed and undulated with the music. Occasionally, she would kneel near the edge of the stage to allow a man to stuff dollar bills into her G-string, and then she would dance her way to the brass pole mounted in the middle of the stage and give her audience a real show. It was her last dance of the night, but Bliss smiled as though it were her first. When the music ended, Bliss was topless. She did a prim curtsey, gathered her discarded clothing and strode off the stage. The house lights in the bar came up, the owner stepped onto the stage and announced that the show was over and the bar was closing.
Bliss peeked from behind the curtain as she fastened her bra behind her back and wrapped herself in the black raincoat that served as her dress. She found the group of six that had been sitting together; they were putting on coats and heading for the door as a group, laughing and joking.
“Yep, this is it Jeff,” one in a tan polo shirt said, “after tomorrow, there’ll be no more of this kinda thing. Hope you enjoyed it tonight, ‘cause it ain’t happenin’ again!”
The men laughed. A bachelor party. They were young; Bliss guessed none of them were over thirty-five. The one addressed as “Jeff” laughed and pushed the door open, holding it open for the rest of his friends. The last through the door was the man who had made the joke. Bliss looked at his face, watched his eyes sparkle, and enjoyed the simple movements of his athletic body. He will be mine, she thought as she watched him slip into the city streets.
Bliss hurried through the backstage area of the bar, punched her timecard and slipped out through the side door and into the alley. Quickly she navigated the obstacle course of garbage, water and city fauna that littered the alleyway and emerged onto the sidewalk only moments before the bachelor party walked by.
“Hi, boys.” Bliss purred as they passed. The prospective groom paused, glancing at her. When he stopped, the rest of the group stopped with him. “So, whose big night is it?”
The men laughed nervously, and a couple of them pointed to Jeff. Bliss approached him and draped an arm over his shoulder. Her mouth went to his ear where she whispered, “Good luck, big boy,” and gave his earlobe a quick lick. Jeff pulled away from her and the group began to walk down the street away from the club.
“Wait,” Bliss called, “you, in the tan shirt. C’mere.”
The rest of the party gave him the obligatory oooooh as he left the group and approached Bliss. They watched closely as she moved in close to him, whispering in his ear.
“Take me for coffee,” Bliss whispered, “it’s late, you’re drunk, and I’m tired. I want coffee. With you. What’s your name?”
“Craig,” he said, backing away enough to look into her eyes. “I…I can’t go, not tonight I’ve got the…”
“Go on, Craig,” one of the other party members called, “we’ll get home okay without you, we’re big boys.” They all chuckled and turned to walk away, leaving Craig alone with Bliss.
“I guess its coffee.” Bliss said. “I know a good place. My apartment.”
The two of them watched for a few moments as the rest of the bachelor party disappeared around the corner and into the early morning city. Bliss linked her arm into Craig’s and led him up the street in the opposite direction.
Two AM in the city can be one of two things. It can be a time of rapture for young lovers, tourists looking for adventure and new residents to the city; it can also be a time of fear and loathing for those looking for scary situations and scary people. Bliss was looking for neither, and knew how to avoid both. To members of the first group, Bliss probably was a representation of the second group.
Thigh-high black PVC boots with four-inch heels wrapped her legs, and a thigh-length black PVC raincoat wrapped around her thin body. Her chestnut hair was ornately arranged atop her head; a few unruly curls brushed her cheek and spilled down her back. Her hips swayed as she walked down the empty city street, moving from pool of light to pool of light, the click-click of her high heels echoing off the silent buildings.
Bliss loved the sounds. It made her feel alive again. The man, Craig, on her arm helped her feel alive again, too. The thrill of the hunt, the ease with which she moved in on her kill, brought back her early, feral days, now almost 700 years ago. That time – the “wild time”, as she remembered it – was the last time she felt human, even though she was more animal than woman then.
“This building,” she breathed into his ear, and the couple turned into the darkened building. Bliss tapped in her security code and the door clicked opened and the couple entered. While they waited for the elevator, Bliss began to work her magic.
“You have wonderful hair,” she said, stroking his glossy black locks, “and your skin, it’s so…” she allowed her voice to trail off, ending in a girlish sigh. Bliss could feel the subtle change in his body temperature on his bare forearm and on his scalp. It wouldn’t take much work to have him completely at her disposal.
The elevator doors slammed open and the couple moved as one into the tiny car. Bliss pressed the button marked “4”; the doors closed and the car began to ascend the building. Craig leaned against the side of the car, and Bliss turned on him and began kissing his mouth, pushing him against the wall of the car. The trip was too short, however, and just as she was getting started the doors slammed open. The empty hall laid before them, lined on either side with plain, gray doors. Bliss led him to the third on the third door on the right. She produced a key from her coat pocket and unlocked the door with a click.
Bliss’ apartment was furnished sparsely; she enjoyed the feeling of discomfort this produced in the men she brought home. A black leather couch faced three huge, bare floor-to-ceiling windows. Dim light from the city street below and the pale moon above filtered through them to give the room an unearthly glow.
“Uh…where’s the coffee maker?” Craig asked.
“Oh, did I ask you here for coffee? That was silly of me. I don’t even own a coffee maker.” Bliss strolled across the living room, high heels tapping on the hardwood floor. As she walked, she slipped off the raincoat and dropped it to the floor. “Come and join me here on the couch.”
Craig hesitated, shuffling his feet. She could tell he was becoming uncomfortable, and enjoyed it. She began to smell his fear wafting across the room, settling low in the atmosphere. She flashed her smile, and he began to move toward her, his crepe-soled shoes silent on the floor. He settled into the deep cushions slowly, and a cushion sat between them.
“Oh, now, that’s too far away,” Bliss said, sliding closer to Craig, “you have to be closer than that.”
“Listen, I’m not sure what you’ve…well, yes, I am sure, but I’m not sure I…woah…” Bliss’ hand slid onto Craig’s thigh, stroking gently. She peered deeply into his eyes. “Oh, my,” he sighed.
Craig’s breath came quick and heavy. He looked deep into Bliss, searching for something in her eyes that wasn’t there. Bliss looked back, searching the eyes of her prey like never before. Her kills had always been quick; in the past, she would have been disposing of the body by now. Something in the scent of this man, in the way he looked at her, caused her pause. Over all the centuries, through all this time, she hadn’t felt anything, anything, when approaching a kill; the men had been “meat” to her, a means to an end. This man, though, this man was different.
“Where…how…” he stammered, looking from her eyes to her mouth, down to her chest and back to her eyes again. “What are you?” He demanded of her.
Bliss remained silent. She peered at him a moment longer before answering.
“Something much older than you, with far less than you have.”
Fear rolled off him like a storm rolling across the plains. She put her hands on either side of his face and pulled him to close to kiss him. She prayed in her heart to whatever was out there, beyond her that might be listening that he wouldn’t notice the smell of death on her breath, that he wouldn’t notice her lack of breath or the chill of her skin. She prayed that just once more that she would feel something, that the feelings and emotions of humanity would seep back into her along with her soul. For the first time in almost a millennia she prayed that she could take it all back for this man on her couch right now.
“You have no soul, do you?” Craig asked, wide-eyed.
“No, I haven’t, not for a long time.”
“You brought me here to kill me, didn’t you.”
“Yes, I did.” Had Bliss been able to cry, she would have at that moment.
“What is it you want, Bliss? Not right now, not immediate gratification, but for ever, for life. What do you want?”
“I want to feel again,” Bliss choked. She could feel her brow wrinkle as concern filled her. “Wait, how…how do you know?”
“I have my ways, Bliss. I can give you what you need.”
“I’ve heard it before. Believe me, I know. I ended up this way 656 years ago because someone told me they could give me what I needed and end my pain. What’s in it for you, Craig?”
“I would hope that you would stay with me. There’s something about you that I can’t…I can’t resist. I want to help you so you will stay with me, Bliss, that’s all.”
Bliss thought about this for a moment. Her mind went back two hundred years, when science and mysticism seemed to meld, when she tried to find a way to take it all back. She needed someone pure and true of heart to help complete the circle and call her soul back from the depths of death and darkness; she had been unable to find him then, and after half a century of searching believed that she would never find him. Could it be, she thought, after all these years, after I’ve stopped looking, that he has found me?
“There is something you can do…” Bliss began. She searched his eyes and found the spark she had been looking for.
“What do I have to do?”
“Love me, that is all. Profess your love. Use all your strength, emotion, and soul to love me. Can you do that?” Bliss took both his hands in hers and squeezed; the warmth in them seeped into her own hands, filling her with a hope she hadn’t felt in what seemed like a thousand years.
“I think I can.”
“Then say it.”
“I...I love you, Bliss. I love you with all that I am, all that I ever will be, and all that I ever have been. I love you Bliss.” The words spilled out of Craig in a flood he was helpless to stop.
“It’s…it’s not working. I don’t feel anything…” Confusion crossed Craig’s face. Hunger stirred deep in Bliss, and she could feel her gums begin to ache as the sharp canines hidden there began to emerge. “Try my name. Say it, Craig, say my true name!”
“Bliss, honey, I don’t know your true name!”
It had been at least four hundred years since her true name, the name her parents had bestowed upon her, had crossed Bliss’ lips. Her mouth went dry and her tongue felt heavy as she formed the name in her mouth first silently, and then out-loud.
“Ayleth!” She cried. “My name is Ayleth!”
A huge smile broke on Craig’s face. He gripped Bliss’ hands tightly and leaned close, kissing her cheek.
“I love you Ayleth,” he whispered. An electric tingle traveled up Bliss’ spine, into her brain and then diffused into her arms and legs, fingers and toes. “I love you Ayleth,” he whispered again. Bliss closed her eyes as the electric feeling filled her gut and her chest. A cough formed in her throat; she went with the feeling and coughed deeply, her body requiring the oxygen it had shunned for so long. “I love you Ayleth,” Craig whispered a final time. Electricity shot deep into her chest as her heart began to beat again. What Bliss hadn’t remembered was that her blood had long-since dried in her veins; her heart was trying to pump dust to nourish her shriveled organs. Without thinking, out of pure need, the sharp canines burst through their prison of tissue and she plunged them into Craig’s neck and drank deeply, replenishing herself.
Craig cried out in disbelief. His body went rigid as she drained his body of blood. His eyes dimmed as the life and the spirit she so coveted fled from his body to feed hers. As so many times before, she listened as his heart began to labor and slow, his breathing grow shallow as he laid in her arms. Unlike before, though, she stopped just shy of the moment of death and laid him gently on the couch. She watched as he struggled to breathe, listened to his failing heart in the silence of the apartment, and breathed in the smell of death that was beginning to drift from his body. His eyes fluttered and then opened, filled with hurt and disappointment.
“How…how could…you?”
“You said you wanted to stay,” she said coldly, his spirit and the brief moment of human feeling he had given her already fading away. “Now, you’ll be with me forever.”
Bliss buried the girl, Ayleth, deep into her psyche where she belonged. She glanced out the window and to the east where the night was beginning to fade. The first tinges of purple and pink dawn were beginning to color the horizon. Bliss caressed Craig’s cooling forehead and stood, walking languidly to her bedroom deep in the darkness of her apartment.
“You should probably join me. Dawn will be here soon.”
Craig remained on the couch. When Bliss softly closed her bedroom door, he still had not joined her. At mid-day, through a haze of sleep, Craig still had not joined her. When Bliss awoke the following evening, Craig was not beside her in her shadowed, protected bed. In the living room on her supple leather couch, a man-shaped pile of ash lay.
