Upir : The mother vampire

Kenneth walked down the road with his hands in his pocket. He was hungry,and the night was cold. A young blonde walked past him and went down a dark alley.

Kenneth inhaled deeply,her scent filling his nostrils.He immediately started following her.

The blonde was dressed in a short black dress and a leather jacket, her feet covered in black thigh highs.

But it was not her dressing that attracted Kenneth,it was the sweet scent of her blood.

The blonde looked behind her and saw a tall, muscular man walking behind her. She was not bothered at first but when she noticed that he was following her,she picked up her pace.

Kenneth in turn, started walking faster. The blonde noticed that and broke into a run.

She ran down the alley and was about to take a turn when she saw the man that was behind her standing right in front of her.

She looked back, there was no one behind her.How did he get there so quickly?

"Don't be scared darling,"he said walking towards her.

"Stay away from me,"she whispered.

"I wish I could darling," Kenneth replied as he grabbed her with an unnatural speed and dug his teeth into her neck.

The blonde screamed for a short while and then went limp.

Kenneth stood up after having a good drink of her blood and turned to leave.

"You have blood on your face," a calm female voice said.

Kenneth whipped round and stood rooted to the spot, unable to believe who he was seeing.

"Lucy?"he said, unsure of himself.

Lucy walked up to him and took out a napkin from her pocket.

"You have blood on your face,"she said again and wiped his face with the napkin.

"Lucy..."Kenneth said again, his voice laden with emotion.

Lucy looked at Kenneth for a while, then she raised her hand to his face and slapped him.

Kenneth cringed, he was expecting worse.

"Lucy I can explain,"he started.

"You killed me Kenneth!"she screamed at him, holding his shoulders firmly and then ramming him against a wall.

"I had to!" he said, tears in his eyes, "it was the only way to save you."

Lucy looked into Kenneth's blue eyes, she was a fool for loving him, she was a fool for not killing him when she had the chance. But she would not make the same mistake again.

"You killed me to save me from the wizard who also wanted to kill me," Lucy said sarcastically, hitting his head against the wall "how believable is that Kenneth?"

Kenneth sighed, he did not want to tell her about everything,but she was asking now – she had to know.

"Lucy, calm down,"he said soothingly, "let's find a place to talk and I'll explain everything."

Lucy stared daggers at him for a while.She took out a knife from her pocket.

"No," she said, "you can go and talk to the devil.".

She tried to drive the knife through his heart but Kenneth was stronger than her. He held her hand and looked intently into her eyes.

"Lucy, please I can explain." He pleased.

Lucy was still trying to push the blade through Kenneth's heart.

"And why should I not kill you now?" She asked him.

"Because I am the only vampire that knows the truth," he said, "and ..."

He hesitated, unsure of her reaction,

"And I still love you." he finally said.

"Of course you do," she spat now holding the knife inches away from Kenneth's chest.

Kenneth looked down at his feet, of course she would never believe him.

"Let's find a place to talk," he said again.

Lucy was undecided for a moment, but then she kept the knife back in her pocket and pulled away from Kenneth.

"Thank you," Kenneth breathed, sighing in relief.

Erans was a well known bar, well at least well known among vampires,witches and other creatures in Darfalls. That was because the owner was a scholar well versed in the supernatural and so the vampires and the others were more comfortable there since they were among their kind. Fights did break out between the vampires and werewolves once in a while but otherwise everyone kept their cool.

Kenneth sat down at a table and looked up at Lucy who was still standing.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" He asked her.

Lucy let herself into a chair facing Kenneth.

"Everything is so different," she said, looking round.

"That's because you've been dead for 200 years," Kenneth replied.

"Because you killed me," she said bitterly.

"I had to," Kenneth replied,"you have no idea how complicated things are."

"Then tell me!" She shouted, hitting the table.

A few heads turned in their direction.

"Fine," Kenneth said, "I'll tell you,"

Lucy sat back, expectation in her eyes.

"It was a few days to our wedding back in 1922," Kenneth started, "I was going about my business when I met a wizard right here in London. He had a sinsister mission."

"And what was that?" Lucy asked impatiently.

"He wanted to awake a vampire," Kenneth replied, "and not just any vampire. He wanted to awake Upir."

"And who is this Upir?" Lucy asked.

"One of the oldest female vampires, perhaps even the oldest." Kenneth replied

"And what would have been so bad in that?" Lucy asked.

Kenneth's eyes widened in horror. How could Lucy be so ignorant.

"Upir once lived as a vampire, feeding off fellow vampires and gathering power." Kenneth continued, "She became one of the strongest vampires in her time and began a ruthless reign over vampire and werewolf alike. She was known as 'The mother of vampires.' "

"And then what happened to her?" Lucy asked.

"She was killed by a powerful witch and her soul was fused to her body." Kenneth replied.

"Which means she's dead," Lucy said "forever"

"That's where the problem lies, there was a loophole in the spell the witch used,Upir's soul was not fused to her body, it was driven to the abyss."

"And it is roaming wild?" Lucy asked him.

"The wizard called her soul from the abyss and kept it in a coffin." Kenneth replied.

"And he told you all this?" Lucy asked, not believing that a vampire and a wizard could get along so well.

"He told me all that because he needed a female vampire to transfer Upir's soul to."

"But vampires with souls are extremely hard to find," Lucy replied.

Kenneth looked into Lucy's dark eyes.

"I have a soul," Lucy said, finally understanding.

"He wanted to use you,"Kenneth said, his eyes now on the ground.

I should have killed him then but he was too powerful. He knew about you, he wanted me to bring you to him."

Lucy brought her hands to her face, trying to hold back the tears.

"So on the night before our wedding,after he had marked you with his sorcery he told me to get you," Kenneth's voice was breaking, he was trying to control his emotions, " I knew that if I let him have you he would destroy your soul."

"So you..." Lucy started.

"So I took you out for a walk in the woods and drove a wooden stake through your chest." Kenneth said, raising his hands in the air, he was talking fast now "and then I put you in a box and gave it to another vampire. But the bastard got himself killed about 50 years later."

"You did not know where I was?" Lucy asked.

"How could I Lucy?"he said, tears in his eyes, "I was being hunted down by the wizard. I have been running for the past 200 years and there are times I wish I was the one in the box, in God knows where, sleeping in peace."

Lucy was crying now, she reached across the table and held Kenneth's hand.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?" Kenneth asked.

"For misunderstanding you," when replied,her hand still on his.

"How long have you been awake?"He asked her.

"Two months." She replied,"I found myself in this same city,I thought you kept me here."

"I searched everywhere for you." Kenneth said.

"I know now, but it's all over – the wizard must have died years ago." Lucy said.

Kenneth laughed bitterly.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"He's a vampire Lucy," Kenneth replied, "he's immortal, just like us."

Kenneth got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. He walked over to the other side of the car and opened the door.

Lucy stepped out cautiously, not being used to a car yet.

"It's a car Lucy," Kenneth mocked, smiling "not a cross."

Lucy smiled at him and finally got out of the car.

She yelped in pain as the sun burnt her skin.

Kenneth held on to her to stop her from falling.

"It burns!" She yelled.

Kenneth let her back into the car.

"Lucy,you lost your ring." Kenneth said calmly, as if the sun could not burn Lucy to ashes if she was not wearing the magical ring most vampires wore to protect them from the sun.

"I couldn't find it when I woke up." Lucy replied.

"I noticed you weren't wearing any jewelry." Kenneth mumbled to himself. Most female vampires wore their protection against the sun as necklaces or anklets but Lucy was wearing nothing of such.

"I have been staying in the shadows." Lucy replied.

"Then we better get you to Nella." Kenneth said,walking back to the driver's side.

"Who's Nella?" Lucy asked.

"The witch I told you we were going to see." Kenneth replied as he steered the car to a place where there was a shade.

They got out of the car and walked in the shade to Nella's house.

Nella was a witch Kenneth had turned to a vampire at her request and so she was naturally grateful to him.

Her olive skin stood out in a green dress which matched the colour of her eyes.

"So can you make a ring for her?" Kenneth asked.

"Of course," Nella replied calmly. She was standing in front of a mirror,and Kenneth was behind her,but he had no reflection in the mirror.

"Come here dear," Nella called to Lucy who was sitting on a chair.

Lucy walked over to them and stood behind Nella.

"Oh!!" Nella exclaimed and turned sharply to face Lucy .

"What is it?" Kenneth asked, alarmed.

"She has a soul!" Nella screamed.

"I thought you told her!" Lucy said to Kenneth.

"I didn't – you know I can't go around announcing it in the streets that a vampire with a soul is in Darfalls!" Kenneth whispered fiercely,raising his hands in the air.

"She has a soul." Nella said again, looking Lucy over like an ancient artefact.

"Yes she does," Kenneth said, "and that's not the only problem."

"A vampire wizard is after me." Lucy said,eager for the witch to help her.

"He's over 200 years." Kenneth chipped in and then he told her about everything.

Nella stood for a while, trying to process all that she had just heard.

"Wait," She finally said, snapping out of her thoughts. "He wants to awake Upir!"

"How did you know?" Kenneth said sarcastically "I mean I just told you everything!"

Nella was walking over to a shelf filled with books.

"I have studied everything about vampires," she said searching for a book, "well at least almost everything. I know of Upir."

"Then why did you let me waste my breath?" Kenneth asked angrily.

"So how can we stop him?" Lucy asked.

Nella found the book she was looking for. It was a dusty brown book covered with arcane signs and symbols.

"The first step would have been for you to stay out of Darfalls." Nella replied, looking at Lucy.

"I woke up here!" Lucy protested.

"Where exactly?" Nella asked.

"A cemetery," Lucy replied, "an old one. I was in a shallow grave at the edge of the cemetery."

"And was there anyone there when you woke up?" Nella asked again.

Both Kenneth and Lucy looked at Nella as if she was crazy. Surely, she did not expect people to come very often to an old cemetery.

"I know what I'm saying." Nella defended herself, "was anyone around when you woke up?"

"None that I was aware of." Lucy replied.

"Does the wizard know she's here?" Kenneth asked.

"I can't say so for sure." Nella said, opening the pages of the book quickly.

Lucy looked at Kenneth, she wondered what would happen if the wizard managed to get her.

"And what would happen if he finds me?" Lucy asked Nella.

"He would destroy vyour soul and replace it with Upir's." Nella replied simply,not looking up from the book.

Lucy gulped.

"Hold my hand." Nella said, stretching her hand towards Lucy and Kenneth.

They obeyed.

"I'm going to go into your sub-conscious minds." Nella informed them.

Lucy and Kenneth exchanged quick glances. They wondered if they could trust the witch.

Nella started chanting, she kept her eyes on the book and held on tightly to their hands.

Lucy screamed out in pain, holding her head with her hands.

"What's going on?!" Kenneth asked, holding Lucy.

"The mark." Nella said gravely, gently pulling away Lucy's collar to reveal a dark line on her neck.

"What is that?" Kenneth asked, still holding Lucy who was now laying on the floor.

"The wizard has marked her." Nella said.

"What happened?" Lucy said, recovering from the pain.

"You've been marked by the wizard." Nella said again.

Lucy stood up slowly with Kenneth assisting her.

"Does the wizard know I'm here?" Lucy asked.

"Most likely," Nella replied, "you bear the mark, so once you came back to life he must have felt it."

"So he might be in this city now?" Kenneth asked, alarmed.

"Yes." Nella replied.

"Is there any other way?" Lucy asked. She was beginning to panic. "Maybe I should leave this city."

"That won't make any difference," Nella said, "he would simply follow you."

"Then what are we going to do?" Kenneth asked.

"Well there is another way..." Nella started.

"Which is?" Kenneth asked impatiently.

"We could bring the fight to him." Nella replied.

"How?" Lucy asked.

"The only way we can stop him is to fight him," Nella replied, looking from Lucy to Kenneth, "even if he doesn't get Lucy's soul,he'll find another vampire and still wreck havoc on all vampires in Darfalls and beyond."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Kenneth asked, "what if the wizard gets to know what we are about to do?"

"Do you have any other idea?" Nella shot at Kenneth.

"If that's the only way,then I don't really have a choice." Lucy said.

"But it's dangerous." Kenneth protested.

"It's the only way Kenneth." Lucy said calmly, holding his hand.

Kenneth looked at Lucy for a while, confused, but then a determined look stole into his eyes.

"So how exactly are we going to fight this vampire - wizard?" He asked Nella.

"Lucy is our major weapon here," Nella replied, "she has a soul and so spiritually she's the strongest of the three of us ."

"How exactly is she going to fight him?" Kenneth asked.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure," Nella said, "but from what I'm gathering I believe if Lucy performs a particular spell she can push this wizard into the end realm."

"What's that?" Kenneth asked.

"He won't be dead," Nella explained, "but he won't be alive either. And in a matter of seconds after Lucy does this,his body – and soul– will self-destruct."

"So how do I start?" Lucy asked anxiously.

"We'll need one more thing." Nella said, looking up from the book.

"And here comes the hard part." Kenneth groaned.

"We'll need another female vampire with a soul." Nella said.

"Why?" Lucy and Kenneth asked at the same time.

"Because one vampire's soul isn't enough to destroy him." Nella explained, "Lucy needs to feed on the energy of another vampire's soul."

"So I'll have to kill a vampire?" Lucy asked.

"Kill is a strong word." Nella said,shying away from the truth, "I'll say you'll have to use another..."

"She'll have to sacrifice a vampire to get enough power to destroy the wizard," Kenneth interrupted, "just say it Nella."

Nella glared at Kenneth.

"I...err...," Lucy stammered, "if I don't do it,all if us might be dead soon."

"You have to." Nella said soothingly,placing her hand on Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy sighed deeply.

"I...I'll do it." She said.

"We have to find a vampire," Kenneth said "and then we'll have to kidnap her and bring her here."

"Not here!" Nella said quickly, "I have neighbors remember?"

"So we'll do the ritual in a cemetery?" Lucy asked.

"No, that would not be good," Nella replied, "I know a place in the woods where we can perform the ritual without any disturbance."

"She still needs the ring." Kenneth reminded Nella.

"Of course." Nella replied and went to get the ring.

"We're going to kidnap a vampire." Lucy said to Kenneth.

"And then we'll use her for a ritual," Kenneth said in his usual sarcastic manner, "this is going to be fun."

Agnes stood in front of the church, staring at the painted windows and high walls of Saint Louis.

She sighed and crushed under her feet the half smoked cigarette she was holding.

Agnes looked at the church again and went into the church.

"Miss Agnes," the priest said, facing the altar with his back to Agnes "you're finally here."

"You sent for me." Agnes said cautiously.

"Why yes I did," the priest said,still standing with his back to Agnes.

"What do you want?" She asked rather carefully. She looked around, all the crossses in the church were covered with purple cloth.

"Nothing much," the priest continued.

Then he turned around to face her.

His eyes were grey and stone cold. The white cassock he was wearing contrasted with his ebony black skin.

"I just need you to do me a little favour." The priest said smiling.

Agnes stepped back.

"And what would that favour be?" She asked, confused.

The priest took a step closer to Agnes who backed away.

"Don't be afraid Miss Agnes," the priest said, bringing out something from his pocket.

It was a cross.

"Look at our Lord!" The priest yelled, holding the cross in Agnes' face.

Agnes screamed out in agony as three men ran out of their hiding places to hold her down.

"Show us your true face, you agent of Lucifer!" The priest yelled again, bringing the cross closer to Agnes' face.

Agnes screamed again and fell to her knees.

Her eyes turned completely black and her fangs came out in full. Her nails grew into claws as she screamed in an unearthly manner.

The men immediately backed away from the vampire and scattered in different directions.

"Don't be cowards," the priest yelled, "hold her!"

But while he was shouting, the priest took the cross out of Agnes' face for a moment.

Agnes seized the chance and fled as fast as her supernatural speed could take her.

"She's gone!" The priest shouted, frustrated, "how are we supposed to rid Darfalls of these beasts if the men that are supposed to help me are busy running like children!"

"We're sorry Father." One of the men said, peering from behind a pew.

"Get out of there and let us find another way to get the other beasts." The priest shouted again, he was getting more than a little angry at the men.

Kenneth and Lucy stood in the balcony of an old, abandoned building at the end off the street.

It was a deserted place,it was the only place they could kidnap a vampire without attracting attention.

As it was late in the night, their senses were heightened.

"I still can't believe we're doing this." Lucy said lightly, trying to suppress her anxiety.

"We have to." Kenneth replied gravely.

"Someone's coming." Lucy mouthed, her keen ears picking up the sound of footsteps down the road.

Kenneth kept perfectly still, trying to find out if the person coming was a vampire or a human.

The speed of the person's footsteps made him conclude that the passer-by was a vampire.

Lucy spotted the lady and ducked behind the wall to avoid being spotted.

Kenneth followed her example and ducked.

The person was coming closer.

Lucy looked at Kenneth and signaled with her hands. In a flash,she went down to the road and stood in front of the oncoming vampire.

The lady retraced her steps immediately but Kenneth was already standing behind her.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"Nothing much," Kenneth replied.

"We don't mean to hurt you," Lucy said, trying to calm her.

"Then what do you want?" The lady asked again.

"We need your help." Lucy said, trying to make her look into her eyes.

"With what?" The lady asked.

She was already staring into Lucy's eyes, she couldn't pull her eyes away.

Lucy made sure that she didn't break eye contact with her.

Lucy's dark eyes glowed with a golden hue as she stared into the lady's blue eyes which in turn, turned completely black.

She had no soul.

"Nevermind," Lucy said, breaking eye contact with the lady, "we thought you were someone else."

"Next time look closely before you stop people on the street!" The lady sneered and zoomed off.

"She didn't have a soul?" Kenneth asked, disappointed.

"No." Lucy replied.

"How did you know?" Kenneth asked again,still unsure as to how Lucy found out.

"Vampires with souls can identify those with or without souls." Lucy explained.

"By hypnotizing them?" Kenneth asked.

"No," Lucy replied, "by looking into their eyes."

To explain,she looked into Kenneth's eyes. He found himself unable to pull away from her gaze.

He noticed her eyes glow but his turned completely black.

"Your eyes turned black and not golden." Lucy said, "it means you don't have a soul."

Kenneth nodded, he understood but he also realized that it would be hard to find a vampire with a soul.

Father John walked down the street with the three men who had been with him earlier in the day. He was still angry about losing Agnes but he reasoned that if they caught at least one vampire, he would be able to forget their earlier failure.

Father John wished that he had more people to help him but unfortunately, the people of Saint Louis would not be very happy to hear that their priest needed volunteers to help him hunt down vampires (which to them didn't exist in the first place).

The men he had with him had come to him first, claiming to have seen vampires.They were the only people that would agree to such a seemingly mad mission.

"Stop." He whispered to the men.

They all stopped dead in their tracks, the crucifixes they wore heaving with their chests.

One of the men saw a blur move past him.

Another one of the men was certain that he heard a chuckle.

The priest raised a cross.

"Whatever you are,come out!" He shouted.

The chuckling became louder and soon they saw figures jumping down from buildings and surrounding them.

"Father!" One of the men shouted, pointing to a man who had seemingly appeared from nowhere and was now standing in front of them.

"I rebuke you, Lucifer!" The priest shouted, holding up the cross.

The vampires that surrounded them cackled.

"This is going to be fun." The vampire that stood in front of them said, baring his fangs.

4

Agnes' soul

Lucy looked up from the body she was draining of blood. She had gotten hungry whilst they were searching for a vampire with a soul.

Kenneth was standing a few feet away from her. He looked like he was listening to something.

"What is the matter?"

Lucy asked him.

"I can hear screams." He replied,still listening.

Kenneth wondered if it was a human getting attacked by vampires