To Be...

Chapter 9

I didn't hear Leon step inside the room. I was locked inside my song- myself. The same melody struck itself from my fingers, and I honestly had no idea what time it was.

The tune strung through the air and wrapped me in a comfort and understanding. The song was low key and strong. I kept my eyes closed and moved with emotion.

Leon's voice broke the peace, and I allowed my fist to smash into the keys, causing an ear-aching clamor.

"Whose funeral?"

My anger rose into the back of my throat, licking it with heat.

"There's a list, shall I add yours to it?"

He smiled for a fraction of a second, and mumbled inaudibly.

"Are you going to 'fess up, or what?"

He travelled up beside the piano, and plopped onto the bench. I pushed myself with my tiptoes cautiously away from him. He noticed with a quick side glance, but remained silent. He began fiddling with a shiny black piano key.

"How much knowledge do you have on 'vampyres'?"

I honestly had none, other than what I had been told at Halloween as a child. They have fangs, turn into bats, and suck blood at night.

He realized my silent answer.

"Well, you may choose to accept this as truth, or as tall tale, but I happen to be a vampyre. That is my reason for desiring to kill you."

I shook my head in disbelief, although I more than accepted it. My heart trusted that explanation completely. I mean, what else could it be? A house full of insane asylum escapees? No. They didn't ever eat, it was always extremely cold, their muscles were solid, and they never blushed or bled. They always had a sinister air about them, even when they were being kind. They looked like gods, except gods paled in comparison. Vampires. That explains it.

"All of you?"

"Everyone but Palmer. I am the eldest of us."

I remembered his resentment to Palmer. "And Palmer? What's he?"

I expected almost any answer. Werewolf. Alien. Something cynical.

"Fairy, now, if you are quite finished with your inquiries I will explain it all."

His scowl placed itself perfectly to his features, and sent fear mentally. I nodded, petrified. What had I gotten myself into?

"We vampire have been around since the beginning. Back then, only pure blooded vampire existed. They travelled the world in small covens, claiming territory. After a few centuries, a pureblood by the name of Jezebel found it essential to expand her territory by war. She discovered the way to convert humans, and created an army."

"She possessed the land you stand on now. The Americas. I travelled onto the territory with Edward Duval, the third man to discover the Americas. Christopher Columbus the eleventh. Jezebel had watches across the land, waiting for an unlucky pirate or explorer. She used the smaller weaker men as a food supply, and converted the rest of us. Her face is imprinted into my mind. She had sparkling blue eyes, rose petal lips, and silk hair that fell into curls down her back." He cleared his throat, catching his drifting mind before he became hypnotized by her again.

"I, being a new convert, required much sustenance. After two days, Jezebel tossed a shivering, wailing man into the protective cell. He looked up to me underneath bushy eyebrows set upon a folded face. He pleaded, but I was too hungry. Two days. Two days, Brianna," he pleaded for understanding I didn't have the right to give. He gave up and returned to his history lecture.