The Making of Vampires Ch. 06

It was only a flicker of light, but Katarina noticed. When Martin had removed his scarf, the necklace that she commissioned for her demon glittered on his neck. Her demon promised never to take it off. If Martin had the necklace, her demon must be dead. A strange numbness settled in her chest and she had difficulty breathing. Katarina turned and ran up the stairs, to her room, forgetting in her haste to lift her skirt and stumbled many times along the ascent.

Martin sensed Katarina's presence and felt her panic when the rush of servants crowded at the door. He followed her in his mind's eye as she sought solace in her room. Her panic overwhelmed him and his beast. They had to pull away from her mind. He would be patient with her, allow her to work up her courage.

Martin parted from the crowd of servants and strolled to the library. Suwon had helped him to decorate it for his private dinner with Katarina. He approached a table covered with a red cloth. Suwon had set the table beautifully with unlit candles awaiting for Katarina's arrival. A bucket of snow chilled an aged bottle of wine. There were even embroidered napkins with Katarina's name on one and his name on the other.

Then he walked to the second table piled with wrapped gifts for Katarina. The smallest, but most precious, was a velvet lined carved box. It held a ring that would mark their engagement. The ring contained the diamond, the one she used to pay the jeweler for the necklaces, now cut with many facets.

It was not difficult to find that jeweler. There were few in the kingdom and fewer within walking distance. The artisan saw the pendent dangling from Martin's neck and showed the exquisite diamond Katarina had bartered. Martin had asked him to make a ring from the diamond and the jeweler had created a lovely work of art with delicately weaved strands of gold and silver cradling the diamond in a position that brilliantly reflected light.

The room was perfect. Martin walked to a chair picking up a book to await his bride's arrival. If all went as he hoped, they would announce their engagement tonight and wed on the spring solstice, a very important day for druids.

He stretched and sat in the chair to read. He would await patiently for the knock that would announce Katarina's arrival. When she arrived at the dining hall, the servants would redirect her to the library, escorting her to ensure she didn't get lost or confused.

***

Martin threw more wood on the fire. Katarina hadn't come to dinner. He sighed. He should make an appearance at the dance hall, but he had no desire to see anyone. He walked over to the table of presents picking up the small box that held the special gift. He would keep it in his room until she was ready to receive it. He put it in his pocket. He would have Suwon pack away the rest of the items.

He opened the door to see Suwon and Marcus. They beamed and Suwon asked, "How's it going?"

Martin looked away before answering. "She never came down to dinner."

Marcus looked up as if he could see through the ceiling of the hall into Katarina's room. "But she isn't in her room. We thought she was with you and didn't want to search for her heartbeat in the library, just in case... We wanted you to have your privacy."

Martin reached for the wall to steady himself. He wondered if she had finally left him or if someone had stolen her. Katarina had promised the beast that she would attend the festivities. The beast stirred and Martin's fangs grew.

He looked at Suwon and pointed in the direction of the stairs. "Go to her room. Look for any signs of a struggle." Then he addressed Marcus. "Get a group of our kind together. We need to search for her. Even if no one abducted her, she is unsafe outside the castle walls with the Hoarding going on." Then he rushed to the front door. He would find her! He was the best tracker in their kingdom.

Outside, he saw Katarina's footprints working their way around the castle. He could smell the lavender soap she used lingering in the air, but there was none of her warmth lingering with it indicating she had passed hours ago. One of the few times that he had been patient was the time he should not have been. Martin jogged following her footprints.

Soon he stumbled. The scent and taste of Katarina's blood wafted through the cold night air calling to him like a flame calls a moth. Panic forced him to use his vampire skills moving as fast as possible. Too much of her blood called to him for her to be healthy.

Then he saw what looked like a bundle of cloth thrown carelessly on the ground. He knew it was Katarina. He approached her with devastation in his heart. She lay with her cloak soaked in blood and with no heartbeat. Martin brushed her hair from her cold dead face. Her eyes looked vacantly back at him. Deep cuts on both of her wrists.

Suwon and Marcus led the group of vampires which also contained Gabriel, August, and Uruku. Suwon had tears in her eyes as she passed a piece of parchment to Martin.

In a choked voice Suwon said, "I'm sorry, Martin. She killed herself."

Martin took the parchment and read aloud, "I'm sorry. The king's brother killed my only friend and wore the trophy of his kill around his neck. I can't stay in a land that doesn't understand me." Martin shook his head as he finished reading. "Katarina was trying to escape. She didn't kill herself. She was murdered."

Suwon wiped away a tear. "I know you want to believe that Martin, but she tried before. This time, she succeeded."

Martin asked, "Then where is the weapon that made those cuts? I have never seen a weapon wander away from a corpse."

The group looked around and realized that Martin was right. Nothing around them could account for her wounds.

Martin looked at Gabriel. "Do you sense any magic? I see no footprints in the snow, so the murderer did not walk away."

Gabriel wandered through the area reaching out to grab invisible strands of the magical weave that only those gifted in magic could sense. He stopped and moved his hands in a motion that looked as though he were stirring the air.

Gabriel closed his eyes as he said. "It was the woman in red. I can feel the residual signature of her magic."

Martin wanted to die and so did his beast. Together, they realized they could end their existence and find peace, but a soft glow of magic touched them, a familiar sensation that Martin recognized. His mistress, Magic, was with them. He felt her strength and she shared a mental message with him. You must live. You have much to do.

Everyone looked quickly at Martin because they felt his beast emerging, but they did not see the beast. Instead, they saw Martin with glowing silver eyes. The glow increased until they had to look away, the brightness painfully piercing their own eyes.

When the light faded, they still felt the presence of the beast. Yet, strangely, they felt Martin at the same time. Martin lost the stormy gray color of his eyes and now stood with icy silver rings around his pupils.

He addressed the confused group. "We couldn't take the pain of aloneness and we can't die yet. We have to fight the werewolves so that our loved ones and the innocent humans can survive the Hoarding. Our Mistress of Magic merged us. We are one."

***

The Hoarding lasted for years. History recorded the Hoarding as the Plague explaining the deaths of so many. Martin, merged with his beast, remained with his brothers. Many vampires feared the chaos the emerged beast could unleash. Yet, Martin never worried. The presence of his beast eased his pain. Martin vowed that he would do his best to prevent any of his kind from losing a wife to murder. He would push for new laws.

Bjorn did not wake until months after the end of what the werewolves called the Euphoric Times. His injures had been more severe than magic could heal. He had slipped into a meditative sleep to recover, years of sleep. Bjorn moved his clan of werewolves inside the borders of the vampire kingdom making a new village and worked in conjunction with the vampires to keep peace and protect the humans.

The two groups traveled together fighting for the greater good, defeating evil as best as they could. Bjorn's clan devised strategies to hunt insane or rogue werewolves and Martin and his clan devised methods to kill criminal vampires. The two unlikely groups formed a cohesive unit of stability wherever they settled and both groups learned to respect the other despite any racial prejudices.

The woman in red and her companion remained elusive, but both groups remained on the lookout for such evil had to be destroyed.

***

I know it sounds like I am finished, but there is more to come.