Chapter 6

The sky had turned lighter in the east when we finally stopped at what looked like an old castle. I was so tired as he carried me inside, not even during past illnesses had I felt this tired.

A few moments later my body was laid down and I opened my eyes to see Dante there beside me, closing a coffin lid over us. Fear filled my throat and came out in a frantic cry. "What are you doing Dante? Get me out of here."

Instead he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, kissing me softly. "It's all right, my love, really. It's for our protection. You're a vampire now and you have to hide from the sunlight, just like all of our kind has to."

"But why did you turn me into, into... Oh god! Why turn me into a vampire Dante? I would have loved you no matter what."

He kissed my forehead. "I know you would have, but you would have also come to hate me, Marina. You'll find out soon enough that time has little affect on a vampire. So while we both may grow older it would've been only you who would show the passage of time. But I have another more selfish reason for changing you, love."

His voice stopped but I still felt his breath upon my skin. "What reason could you have that I would understand, Dante?"

"The reason I made you into the monster that I am is this, Marina. You would have grown old and died without me. You would have left me here, existing here without you forever. All these years that I have lived so far would seem like heaven compared to the living hell my life would be without you beside me. I could not and would not let that happen, no matter how much you may come to hate me for what I've done to you."

My eyes burned with the feeling of unshed tears but none would fall. "I'm sorry, Dante. I didn't think of it like that."

He kissed me softly. "This is all new to you, love and I've had years to think about it. Actually, I've thought of it since the first time I saw you and fell in love with you as a little girl. Do you remember a summer when you and your family went swimming at that lake one night to try and cool off from the heat?"

A few seconds pass before the memory came back, "Yes, I remember. I almost drowned because I went out to far. I went under the water and got tangled in some weeds or something. Then someone grabbed me and lifting me, weeds and all, from the bottom and took me to the surface. I never saw who it was, I guess I just automatically thought it was dad who saved me. Are you telling me it was you?"

"Yes love, it was me who saved you. After that I tried to keep watch over you when I could. Over time, as you grew up, I came to love you more and more. It nearly killed me watching you dance with those boys when you were younger. I wanted to kill each one of them for touching the girl I loved. You don't know how happy it made me that you decided to wait and marry someone you loved instead of going into marriage because it was expected of you. So while you finished growing up into the wonderful and beautiful woman you are, I waited and prayed that no one would come and take you from me before I could make you mine."

"Now close your eyes, sunrise will soon be here, then you can rest. I promise I will take care of you and show you all the new things your body can do now that you're a vampire. We can do so many things together and we will have centuries to love each other unlike mortals who have only a short time. Nothing will ever come between us."

I blinked a few times and the vision and memories faded as my mind pulled back from the past to take in the current view of the Smoky Mountains before me. I can still hear Dante's words ringing in my ears even now.

"You lied to me Dante. You said we would have centuries to love each other. Now look who is the one that got left behind." I whisper those words with my head pressed against the window and my fingers caressing my necklace. Turning away from the predawn sky, I went to my basement chambers and prepare to climb into my coffin bed. It's the very same bed that my beloved Dante shared with me that he had made special for us well over a hundred years ago.

Once inside I curled up on my side, hugging the pillow he rested his head upon against my chest. His scent still lingers on it. Feeling something on my cheek I wiped it away with my fingertips only to see that it is a drop of blood that had slipped from my eye.

"Even after all this time Dante I still cry for you," I whispered against his pillow, placing a kiss there before sleep finally took me.

*

The following evening I woke with Dante's pillow still clutched to my chest. I rubbed a hand across my face and came away with dried blood on it, evidence that I had cried in my sleep during the day. Slowly I pulled myself together and turned onto my back as my senses took control and checked for any signs of trouble.

I checked the area around my coffin first and found it safe. Next I searched the rest of the house and found that everything was in order. My mental vision searched for Chad and Rose, finding them just sitting down to dinner together in the dining room. Even though I haven't found anything wrong I have a sense that something is not right. I don't know maybe its just me and the funky mood I'm in from all the memories that the first snow always brings to me.

I lifted the lid on my coffin and climbed out, spotting that Rose had my dinner already sitting beside my antique rocking chair. I sat down for my first glass of blood and took a large swallow, grimacing from the cold taste.

I hate cold blood with a passion.

It's been quiet awhile since I've had fresh blood from a mortal. In fact it's been ten years since I've bitten one. And in that time I still have not found a way to make cold stored blood taste as satisfying as warm blood does from a human body. I finish off the first glass and grab the second one and try to down it quickly. Not even room temperature can improve the taste of it.

These days I have two ways of keeping myself fed. Depending on where I am in the world, I will sometimes survive on the local animals I find near my home or I survive on cold blood. To get that cold blood I buy what I need from an underground network of mortals and immortals that steal from blood banks around the world and ship it to those of my kind in need.

I wiped my mouth with the napkin Rose left behind and then changed into jeans and a soft blue sweater. When I opened the basement door into the kitchen I found Chad and Rose washing their dinner dishes.

"Good evening Rose, Chad. How was your day?" I ask them as warm smiles crossed their faces when they turn toward me.

"Good evening, Marina, It's been kind of busy around here with all the clean up after the storm. Chad's been outside for most of the day shoveling snow and picking up down tree limbs from around the cabin. I've been inside doing the usual household chores and keeping an eye on him so that he doesn't over do himself."

I looked over at Chad and saw him roll his eyes toward the ceiling. "She didn't tell you about her coming outside and trying to help me did she? No. I could have been inside sooner if I didn't have to watch her trying to chop wood."

"I thought we had enough wood for now?" I asked while fighting a grin.

Chad's voice raised a bit, "Of course we have enough but do you think she would listen to me?"

"I was just trying to help, dear," Rose said before hugging Chad and kissing his cheek, which turned red.

I cleared my throat and tried not to laugh. "Did you check the shutters for any damage?"

"Yes I did. Well actually we both did. I checked on the outside for any problems and Rose checked from the inside for any light leakage. Everything passed both of our inspections."

I walked to the window and look out over the snow covered ground. "Did we have any visitors today?"

"No, and it will be a few days before they get the roads back open. This storm caught everyone off guard down in the valleys so it's one big mess," Rose said.

I opened the French doors and walked along the shoveled path to the railing and glanced out over the snow covered mountains.

I used my senses to search the area close to the cabin. That nagging feeling of something wrong was still with me and weighed heavily on my mind. The first thing that I spotted are a couple of whitetail deer, pawing at the ground for food. After searching with my eyes I listened closely to the sounds of the forest and just when I was about to go back inside I heard something so faint that even with my sensitive hearing I barely picked it up. I listened again and this time it sounded like a whisper. I decided to check it out and stepped off the deck into calf high snow moving toward the trees.

If I had been a mortal I wouldn't have gone into the forest after dark alone. But with my vampire abilities and strength I had no qualms about doing it. At a down hill slant I went deeper and deeper into the woods, dodging tree limbs and braches weighted down with heavy snow. The whisper grew loud enough that I could at last make out what it said. "Help."

With a burst of speed I moved through knee high drifts and jumped over downed trees, finally stopping in front of an outcropping of rocks from the side of the mountain. My senses pick up a mortal soul very close by. "If you can hear my voice, call out to me."

A minute passed before a weak voice called out, "I'm in here."

I scanned the cracks and crevices of the rock until I found a small opening. Crouched down low, I worked my way inside and saw the mortal sitting on the ground huddled within a thick coat against the small cave wall. I ran my hands over each arm and leg checking for broken bones. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No," the mortal answered with chattering teeth.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Levi," he mumbled.