Chapter 22: Chapter 22

PAST

Sicily, Italy

The Blood of Malkav lived in a grand manor in Sicily, Italy. It was a dwelling place Lilith herself had chosen for them. Each of the members had a room, although three were already vacated due to the untimely deaths of their dinners.

Kieran was in his room with the witch named Andreea. With her short, dark hair, she looked mystical. Vampires didn’t normally associate themselves with witches but Kieran felt he had no choice. His gift of insight had never been wrong. He had a really bad feeling about the planned attack on Iosif Michea. He needed to protect himself.

“When you come back to life, would I see you again?” the witch asked Kieran, eyeing him curiously.

“To tell you the truth, I do not know,” Kieran answered with uncertainty. “All I want is to make it out alive. I have a really bad feeling about this. You want me alive, don’t you?”

Andreea’s face turned red. She knew Kieran was alluding to the several nights they slept together. He satisfied her sexual appetite even though sexual intercourse didn’t really do anything for him unless it involved blood.

“Of course, I do,” she replied. “Let’s be quick. Lilith might suspect something is going on.”

Andreea wounded Kieran’s wrist with the small blade she disguised as a head scarf upon entering the manor. “Remember, you will die if anyone managed to stake you through the heart in the next twenty-four hours. Your body will turn to dust. But by the next sundown, you will be revived through the spell. This spell, however, would only work once. If someone managed to kill you again, you are never coming back.”

Kieran nodded to indicate that he understood. Moments later, he felt his wrist being opened up by an invisible dark force as Andreea kept chanting words in a dead language. He felt a sharp pain as he watched his own blood trickling from his wound, dropping inside the circle Andreea drew on the floor.

For a moment, he joined the dead and even briefly had an encounter with Melaina. It scared him because she kept convincing him not to go back to the land of the living anymore. The other dead creatures started circling around him. He was about to become a prisoner in the land of the dead.

“No!” he screamed. He was suddenly transported back to his room with no trace of what had just happened. Andreea was gone.

***

Althaia was beyond nervous that the plan would not go as anticipated. So many things could go wrong. When Gualtiero met her in the morning, she told him the scheme right away. She knew it was the right choice to trust Gualtiero about her secret meeting with the witch. She knew he would want to know about his human life more than anything. Gualtiero might be a vampire, but she could feel a tiny shred of humanity radiating from him. For instance, he lied about having already decided to take her with him in meeting Iosif Michea, the great vampire hunter. Gualtiero had never informed her of such proposal. Althaia knew he fibbed to save her from being fed on by the Malkavians. For so many years being his familiar, Althaia felt an unbreakable bond between them. She knew her loyalty to him was unshakable. Gualtiero deserved to live a life free from the evil entity who called herself Lilith. She wasn’t sure if it was possible for a human to not completely turn into a vampire, but she could feel something unusual about Gualtiero’s transformation.

It’s been half an hour but still Gualtiero had not left his room. Althaia grew more and more agitated. She knew Lilith might walk in anytime and see her. Lilith never lasted so long without Gualtiero’s company. Althaia was certain she was looking for Gualtiero by now.

A few more minutes passed until Gualtiero finally left his room. What Althaia saw broke her heart permanently. His beautiful face was tear-stained and he looked utterly dejected. She was used to his emotionless face. This made her start questioning herself whether she did the right thing or it was a huge mistake.

“Oh, Gualtiero, I’m so sorry. Please be strong. You need to be strong to pull this off,” Althaia whispered. Gualtiero didn’t say anything. He just kept shaking his head.

“Please. Did it work? Did you…?” Althaia asked, but stopped abruptly upon noticing the sudden change in Gualtiero’s facial expression.

She felt it even before asking him what was amiss. It was impossible to miss Lilith’s presence even if she was not facing her. She knew Lilith was approaching. How much of her short conversation with Gualtiero did Lilith overhear?

Panicking, Althaia made a difficult decision to somehow attempt to save Gualtiero from Lilith’s wrath. Despite of this, she still hoped for the best that the plan would work.

Althaia kissed Gualtiero on the mouth. He was astonished and clearly did not anticipate it. He was too slow to dodge the kiss.

“What do you think you’re doing, repulsive human?” Lilith spoke with fury. Gualtiero winced. He knew there was nothing he could do to save Althaia this time.

“I will see you in another life, Gualtiero.” Althaia whispered, trying to speak as clearly as she could muster under the circumstances. “I will be reborn over and over to serve you, for that is my destiny.”

Althaia was about to say more when she felt Lilith grab the nape of her neck with such brute force. Lilith gripped her neck and in one swift motion snapped it hard. Althaia barely felt any pain. She was dead on the spot, her eyes full of tears and remained open in shock upon her death.

“You did not have to do that. I just wanted to feed on her blood. You said she was my familiar. I thought I could ask her to do anything I wanted!” Gualtiero yelled at Lilith, but she was not finished until she decapitated Althaia’s head.

“Not a kiss, my dear. Never a kiss,” Lilith said, with a scary fake calmness in her voice. “You are mine. I curse every human who would ever touch your lips to perish right away.”

Gualtiero did not say anything. He was afraid saying one more word would give away what he was truly feeling at the moment.

“Shall we feed on her blood or shall I go to the opera to meet the hunter now?” he asked.

“I’m coming with you, darling.” Lilith responded. “I want to see the hunter’s face once he sees you.”

“Why? Are you ever going to tell me anything about him? I am not foolish. I know what you are implying. I knew him, didn’t I? He would recognize me once he sees me, would he not?” Gualtiero asked, trying so hard to keep his voice from breaking.

“Let’s just wait and see for ourselves, darling. We should get going now. This is going to be fun.”

---

The opera was a success. Still, Iosif didn’t get enthralled by it. He kept looking everywhere in the venue for Gualtiero. There was a fear in his heart that Gualtiero would not show up and he would never see him again, but he kept his optimism. Everything would go well, he told himself. God will protect me.

He waited for the crowd to thin before heading out. He noticed two men with porcelain skin outside, as if waiting for him. Vampires, he whispered to himself. There was a small but sharp stake hidden in his pocket. He felt it with his hand to reassure himself he had a weapon if they decided to attack him.

“Iosif, my old friend. Apologies for not coming on time to enjoy the opera with you. Something held me up and I was not able to come here right away,” an icy voice behind Iosif spoke. It was him. It was Gualtiero, his old friend. His tone of voice sounded quite different to the kind he knew so well, but the voice was no doubt Gualtiero’s.

“Gual… it’s you!” They embraced each other, with tears falling from Iosif’s eyes brought about by surprise, longing and relief. He didn’t even manage to finish uttering Gualtiero’s name. He noticed Gualtiero’s skin glowing like the two men at the exit. His skin was so cold and pale.

“How did you…” Iosif began.

“I have so much to tell you,” Gualtiero said almost at the same time. “But you need to come to my place. I know you would love it.”

“Thank you for your invitation, my friend. It is an honor,” Iosif said nervously. He could feel the presence of the other two and it was making him anxious.

Kieran and Fino were watching the whole exchange. They could not believe their eyes that the world-renowned vampire hunter Iosif Michea was easy to deceive. How could he not tell that Gualtiero was not human anymore?

They heard Gualtiero muttered something under his breath but did not catch what he said.

“Who are your friends?” Iosif asked, pointing to Kieran and Fino.

Kieran smirked at the word ‘friend’ and let Fino do the introduction. If he did not suspect Iosif to have bathed in or have ingested vervain, he would have fed on him already. Iosif might be a vampire hunter, but he was foolish and too trusting like other weak humans.

Gualtiero took Iosif to the manor as the other two trudged along. Iosif’s nerves were evident for he noticeably did not seem too impressed upon setting foot in it.

“You do not quite look happy to see me,” Gualtiero observed.

“No, that is not true, my friend,” Iosif promptly contradicted. “This place is massive. I am completely awestruck. I’m just apprehensive… as the last time I saw you, you were…”

“I see we have a guest,” a female voice interrupted Iosif’s explanation. He turned around to see where the voice had come from.

He recognized her right away. She was the monster that murdered his beloved Theodosia, and everyone who attended their engagement celebration. He clutched the concealed stake from his pocket and pulled it out ready to attack and make her pay, but strong hands grabbed his shirt to stop him from heading straight to pounce on the monster. They were Gualtiero’s.

“What are you doing!” Iosif gasped. “Do you not remember her? She was the monster who…”

But Iosif was not able to finish his statement because Gualtiero quickly sank his teeth into his neck. Iosif couldn’t move. It was either from the pain from the sudden attack that caused the reaction or the shock from Gualtiero’s betrayal upon the outrageous revelation of his true nature. Gualtiero was a vampire, just like the enemies he had spent half of his lifetime on destroying.

Gualtiero pushed him onto the bed. “His blood is clean. There is not any vervain in his veins,” he declared to the Malkavians.

Even Lilith could not hide her surprise.

“Gualtiero! How could you do this to me? How could you do this to your old friend? I never stopped thinking about you. Everytime I destroy a vampire, I thought I was avenging your death.”

“It’s simple, hunter.” It was Lilith who replied. “I turned him into a vampire. And he lost all his memories of you and his human life. I must admit I never thought he could carry out this deception. But now I could see for myself just how perfect my creation is.”

Fino moved to the bed to feed on their latest victim first. Eyes wide, Iosif tried to fight him but Fino easily took the stake from him and pinned his hand to the bed using it.

Iosif cried in anguish. Fino ignored and started sipping the blood gushing out of Iosif’s wounded hand.

“What are you doing? Gualtiero! Stop this! Stop this! I am not your enemy. I am your friend. I will fix you. Help me! Please!” Iosif kept pleading through the pain.

“Shut his mouth, Kieran, darling,” Lilith instructed. “Feed from his mouth.”

Kieran instantly obliged. He bit Iosif on the upper lip and started drinking blood from it. “Do not move, disgusting hunter,” he whispered to compel the helpless Iosif.

Iosif stopped moving. He was too feeble to resist compulsion. He had stopped drinking vervain since he momentarily halted his quest of hunting vampires. Seeing Gualtiero’s ghost distracted him greatly from his routine to keep himself safe from vampire attacks. It had been weeks since he ingested vervain last. He was paying the price for underestimating his enemies. The stake was not enough to destroy them. He should have known.

Lilith joined the blood ritual shortly after Kieran. She felt so much pleasure feeding on a weak human with two of her most loyal creations. Fino was feeding on Iosif’s wrist, Kieran was still drinking from his lip, so Lilith decided to feed from his torso. She knew humans automatically feel lust no matter what the circumstance was, so she wasted no time stimulating his body.

Gualtiero watched everything unfold trying to maintain an inscrutable expression on his face. He was disgusted by it all and Lilith joining in was too much for him to bear. He decided it was time.

“Give way for me. I want to feed on him,” Gualtiero said. Lilith stopped drinking blood from Iosif’s crotch momentarily to let Gualtiero join in.

“Perfect, my darling. You are perfect. Come join us,” she said, beaming.

“No, Gualtiero, do not do it. They are the enemy, not I,” Iosif screamed, looking at Gualtiero hoping he would be able to read his thoughts.

Gualtiero moved towards Iosif which made Fino and Kieran stop feeding momentarily. They both watched curiously what Gualtiero was up to.

Gualtiero wasted no time. He clutched Iosif’s chest and dug his fist deep into the opening he made. Iosif shrieked in agony but it did not stop Gualtiero from doing what he intended to do. A few seconds later, Iosif stopped screaming. His heart was ripped out of his chest by the force of Gualtiero’s sturdy hand.

Gualtiero closed his eyes and sipped blood from the organ that was on his palm. Lilith squealed in delight. There used to be a nagging thought in her head that somehow there was a little humanity left in Gualtiero, but witnessing what he just executed made her absolutely certain that Gualtiero indeed was her perfect monster.

The vampire hunters lost. They would mourn the death of their ruler and perhaps would never bother the vampires again. Lilith smiled at the thought and couldn’t help but kiss Gualtiero as passionately as she could. He was hers for eternity.

---

After the Malkavians made love with Lilith aided by the fresh blood of Iosif Michea, they got exhausted and did not go for their usual hunt. Their bed was soaked in blood but it gave them comfort, even to Lilith, who also fell asleep with her body entangled with Gualtiero.

A peck on her lips awakened Lilith. It was Gualtiero shaking her awake.

“I cannot believe you fell asleep. I thought you wanted more of me,” Gualtiero said playfully.

“Ah, I never knew you had tireless energy,” Lilith said to him with a sneer. “It must be the hunter heart you fed on.”

“It must be,” Gualtiero agreed, grinning back at her. “Or perhaps you are just irresistible.”

“What do you have in mind, my darling?” Lilith asked. “We still have enough time to play around before the sun rises.”

“Come with me. I want you to myself. I want it wild and rough,” he responded with a wink.

She excitedly let Gualtiero lead her. Whatever plan he had in mind must be very exhilarating. He led her to a beautiful forest near Mount Etna. She and the Malkavians have been enjoying hunting animals in this forest.

“I hope you had watched enough humans doing nasty things in bed,” Gualtiero said with a laugh. “Otherwise, you might find this practice strange and uncomfortable.”

Lilith laughed at that. “I’ve been traveling with the Malkavians to still find a practice strange.”

“That is quite nice to hear, then,” Gualtiero smiled. “Close your eyes.” Lilith did. She felt Gualtiero tying both her hands and legs. What kind of strange is he thinking? Lilith suddenly wondered, feeling suddenly uneasy.

She felt Gualtiero kissing her lips so she decided to open her eyes to enjoy the sensation the kiss was giving her while staring at his lovely face. His eyes were closed the entire time. He bit her lip and started feeding on her blood.

“I love you,” she whispered at him. It was so intimate. Gualtiero was her perfect mate, not Adam, not any other human or vampire.

“You are a disgusting, filthy demon,” Gualtiero whispered back at her. “I despise you.”

Lilith was so shocked by what he uttered that it took her a while to realize he was playing her all along. He plunged the stake deep in her chest. She breathed a sigh of relief when it missed her heart. Her shock was now replaced with wrath.

“You should not have missed your only chance to kill me. You are disgusting, Gualtiero. Whatever you do to resist your true nature would never make you human. You are an abomination. Your lips would never touch a human’s lips without taking their life immediately after contact,” Lilith uttered in disgust, repeating the curse she put on him upon catching him and Althaia in a kiss.

She tried to set herself free but something in the stake was neutralizing her powers and it was making her weaker and weaker.

A growling was suddenly heard. An animal was approaching them. It was a chance for her to feed and gain her strength her back, she thought fiercely. But first, she had to find enough vigor to release herself from bondage.

She felt a blinding pain as an animal pounced on her. Its body was covered in tawny-beige fur. Its belly and chest were whitish-gray. Black markings decorate the tip of its tail, ears and around its snout.

The animal latched on Lilith’s skull shaking her back and forth. As it succeeded in snapping Lilith’s neck, Gualtiero plunged the stake deeper into her chest, making sure not to miss the heart this time. Blood covered Lilith’s head and neck from the animal attack. But it was the stake straight through her heart that ended her life.

Strangely, she did not turn to dust upon her death like the rest of the vampires. Her body turned into an ugly corpse but the animal continued feeding on it.

“You traitor!” Gualtiero was so stunned to hear Kieran’s voice behind him. Fino was standing alongside Kieran with a scowl on his face.

“How could you do this?” Kieran asked, with a look of disgust on his face.

“I can… explain. This is all a misunderstanding. But first, you need to get out of here. We all do. The sun is going to burn us all.”

Fino attacked the animal that was feeding on Lilith’s flesh and instantly killed it.

“There is no misunderstanding, Gualtiero. I have wanted to kill you for such a long time but couldn’t because of Lilith. I reckon there’s no one to stop me now,” Kieran said, with a snarl.

“I’m not… your enemy. There’s a witch who…” Gualtiero began to explain.

“The witch will give me a second life but you will stay dead once you perish in my hands,” Kieran raged on. He made another movement to attack Gualtiero but suddenly felt something hit him deep in the back all the way through his chest. He fell. A second later, Fino also fell to the ground, an arrow in his back.

“An arrow laced with vervain. Remarkable, isn’t it, huh vampire?”

Gualtiero was so confused seeing a boy holding a bow. He must be a young vampire hunter.

“Do not hurt them more. They are my family,” Gualtiero pleaded.

“Are you Gualtiero?” the boy asked.

“I am. Are you a hunter?” he asked. “Please do not hurt them. They aren’t born savage. The real monster has perished. I – ”

Gualtiero was not able to finish what he was going to say when he heard more noises. More people were coming out.

“The sun is up!” someone yelled.

Fino and Kieran were still writhing in agony on the ground but their suffering was short-lived. Some villagers carrying their own wooden stakes approached them upon seeing them at their most vulnerable. They were too weakened by the poisoned arrows to stop the attack.

Gualtiero dropped on the ground, emotionally weak. It had been the longest day of his life. The vampire hunters celebrated their astounding victory.

A woman noticed Gualtiero still didn’t have a stake right through his heart so she was prepared to do the honors.

“That is Gualtiero, Sef Michea’s good friend. He is not to be murdered,” a man informed her.

“He killed Lilith, the queen of the vampires. He and Sef Michea managed to come up with a plan to destroy her and it worked. A witch momentarily gave him back his human memories and Sef Michea was able to convince him to fight for our side. When he wakes up, his memory of Sef Michea and his human life will be permanently erased,” the man continued.

“Long live the hunters!” yelled the villagers.

And that was the beginning of the end for the vampire race. As the years passed, more and more vampires got hunted and executed. They no longer have their creator to protect them. Although the vampire hunters lost the great Iosif Michea in the battle, they were too pleased to have won the war…