vampire series part 9: flight

Vampire.

Sometimes she still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the concept. One day she was happily married, content in her role as wife and mother. Then she met Amado, who turned her world upside down.

Her human memories are not as clear as the vampire ones, having faded over the centuries. She vaguely remembers the shock at learning Amado's secret and her naive response - that it did not matter what he was, as long as he was hers. If she stretches her memory, she can recall the details of their courtship. They danced around the subject for months. When they were together out in public, he was the perfect gentleman. On paper, they were both free to express their true desires. They would leave notes for each other in secret hiding places, each one more passionate and desperate than the last. She knew every detail of his every fantasy and he knew all of hers.

So many times they were on the verge of consummating their relationship, but each time fear held him back. He was afraid he could not control himself, that the desire to sink his teeth into her neck at the moment of release would be too great. He loved her, always wanted them to be together, but could not bring himself to turn her. Amado did not want this existence for her.

She remembers the night it happened. It is her first crystal clear memory, one so vivid she could still feel everything - the pleasure and the pain. He had to leave during her transformation, unable to bear watching what he had done to her, planning to return before dawn and lead her on their first hunt together.

His plan went terribly wrong. Amado had no idea that her transformation would be so fast. When he returned to the cottage, her eyes glowed a brilliant red from the human blood she'd consumed. His footsteps on the porch boomed in her ears, distracting her from her blood lust.

He found her in the kitchen, shaking and not fully comprehending what she had done. Her husband's body lay crumpled on the floor, a bloodless husk. Her son was also lifeless on the floor. She looked down at the blood on her hands and screamed.

Amado tried to catch her as she fled, but she was too fast, literally taking flight into the darkness.

Missed parts 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1? Or take flight with the other Theme Thursday posts.