To the Limit

Chapter 2

I knew that the cold, December wind was blowing, but I couldn't feel it.  I felt nothing, inside or out.  That was the price for strength, the price for beauty, the price for immortality

My feet were bare, digging into the frost that covered the hard ground.  The night sky above me was sprinkled with stars.  About a hundred heartbeats came from the smattering of houses in the valley that we gazed upon.

Rickton, a scrawny, blond boy who had probably turned when he was about sixteen, was lounging up in a tree above me.  

"You know," he said, much louder than was acceptable.  "Aren't you a little old to be chasing after this sort of thing?  I mean, most of us forget about it within the first century.  Hell, most of us don't even care at all."

He chuckled to himself.  The boy was annoying as hell, but it was hard to find vampyres like him.  Most had given up all shreds of humanity.  They couldn't laugh or cry.  They only cared for the hunt and the kill.  But I had a soft spot for the few that still showed their human side.  If nothing else, they were more entertaining.

I didn't answer him, so he hopped down from the tree and landed a couple meters behind me.

"How old are you anyways?" 

"Don't you know it's not polite to ask a woman her age?" 

"Ah come on, Nat," Rickton whined.  "It's not the same with our kind."

I turned around to face him now, "First of all, do not call me 'Nat.' And second, if you do not pay attention to the task at hand, I won't pay you. So shut up and keep watch."

He sighed but otherwise kept his mouth shut after that.  As I stared into the night once again, my thoughts began to wander to the same place they always did: Adam.

"Adam!" I shrieked as he splashed me.

The cool water felt lovely against my skin in the summer heat, but now my dress was soaked.  I would definitely get a scolding for it, too.

Adam, fourteen, was standing in knee deep water and smiling.  That smile had always been infectious, and slowly my own grin began to appear.  I wished to jump in with him and splash all my worries away in the sunlight that very rarely showed itself.  

"I have to get home, Adam," I said sadly.

Adam pulled himself out of the water, "Oh, if you insist, Miss Natalia."

"You do not have to call me 'miss.' Natalia is fine."

"I know," he said with a grin.

When I returned home, my mother was waiting with a frown, as always.  I knew I was in for it now.

"What in the world have you been doing, Natalia?!"  she hollered at me as I approached. 

 I shot a look at  Adam, who looked quite frightened in his soaked tunic and trousers.  He mouthed an apology, then darted off down the road.

Once inside, my mother really laid into me.

"You should have been home hours ago.  There is too much work to be done for you to be playing around with boys right.  In a couple of years, you'll need to find a husband, but that will not happen if they think you are a lazy girl with out proper training.  For goodness sake, Natalia, you can't even sew yet, and you're twelve years old!"

Once she was finished scolding me, she sent me to my room to change into a dry dress so I could help make dinner.  Our family was well off, so I only shared my room with one sister: Marie. She was sitting next to the bed, mending a gown that I had torn a hole in last week.

Noticing the tears forming in my eyes, she set down the dress and asked me what was wrong.  I told her all about Mother's harsh words, and even about my own worries of never marrying.

"Natalia, darling," she said soothingly.  "She didn't mean any harm.  Our mother only wants you to be ready for when you get older.  She wants you to have the best husband, but you are going to have to take you chores and studies more seriously as you grow older."

Marie was always so kind but so wise.  While Mother's words had hurt me, Marie made me see reason.  I would need to learn more about how to run a household if I were to find a husband.  It was more difficult for women than it was when my mother was married.  Arranged marriages were still perfectly acceptable and happened all the time.  However, even if my parents found someone, I would have to impress them before they took me as their wife.

At that point, I started to realize that they were right, and from that point forward, Adam and I spent less and less time with each other until I came of age.

"There!" Rickton's shout brought me back to reality.  

My eyes zeroed in on where he was pointing.  Sure enough, darting through the woods on the edge of what could hardly be called a town, was a dark, incredibly fast figure.  

"That's him," I confirmed.  "Let's go." 

We took off after the figure, racing silently through the thick forest.  Rickton, who was younger and therefore faster than me, pulled ahead.  He reached the other vampyre first, his fist connecting with the other one's chest and knocking him backwards.  Several trees were uprooted in the process, but Thomas, the other vampyre, was still standing.  

I finally reached them.  Thomas was well dressed, with nicely combed hair.  I was difficult to do with vampyres, but looking at the brightness of his eyes, I pinned him at about 200 years old.

 "You kept us waiting quite some time, Thomas," I said with a smirk.  "Are you afraid of us or something?"

"Him, no," he nodded towards Rickton.  "You on the other hand...word travels fast.  I've heard the things you've done to your own kind.  A monster among monsters, they call you."

I saw Rickton turn to look at me in my peripherals, but I ignored him, "In that case, perhaps you will answer my questions without any problems."

"Questions," Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"Well, just one.  Where is Marie?"