Rating: PG13

Genre: Light Horror

Setting: Still Dunno

Main characters: Same as Vampire Curse.

Note from the authoress: this is the sequel to vampire curse. Hope you enjoy it.

WARNING: Again, some strong violence, if it disturbs, do not read.

Lightly I landed on the windowsill of the castle. I spread my wings, uttering a hash caw, which echoed in the still of the night. Fluttering my wings, I jumped to the floor, before transforming back into human form. Each vampire has its own unique shape, which they can transform into, for ease of escape. Mine was the form of a raven. I directed my gaze out across the moors hat surrounded the castle, my lust for blood sated for the moment. I found myself think back to how I had gained the castle, by killing the last vampire that inhabited the castle. It was clear now that she had not realised the full extent of her power. Now, under my rule, the people in the surrounding towns were struck with terror at the very mention of vampires. A malicious grin crept over my face. It had been one hundred years. In that time my pleasure of killing had subsided little, I still enjoyed the sight of my victims squirming as they died, by whatever cruel method I employed. Gone was the thrill of terror that came from killing, from the time I realised what I was. One hundred years had been more than enough to exert my reign of terror throughout the lands, and to perfect the powers that came with the curse of a vampire. Various cruel spells were at my command, for the previous occupant of the castle had a library that spoke in detail about the qualities a vampire had. I examined my nails, my favourite weapons. My gaze slowly wandered from my sharpened talons up my arm, to observe a small scratch. Yes. It had been one hundred years, and yet the scratch had never healed. I had obtained it, so I believed, the night before I gained my powers. I still did not know how it had come to be there, or why it had not healed. But I shook the thought from my head and gazed out of the window at the upcoming dawn. For some reason I found a small moment of humanity, watching dawn break over my empire. I watched as the sun crept over the horizon, spilling its rays in a deceptively cheerful way over the land. And then it happened.

A pain erupted, starting from the scratch and spreading with lightning speed throughout the rest of me. Despite myself, I let out a strangled cry and dropped to one knee, clutching at my chest. As quickly as it had come, the pain subsided. I gasped for air, wondering what had just happened. I hated feeling defenceless like this, and an anger welled deep inside of me. I rose to my feet, letting out an unearthly scream, which echoed throughout the castle. I glared out of the window, before turning and sweeping down the corridor, my long black cloak billowing behind me.

The next few days were much the same as they had been since my transformation to a vampire. Yet every so often, with no warning whatsoever, the sudden pain swept through me. I felt a twinge of nervousness each time it happened, nervousness that someone may see me in a moment of weakness, and a nervousness that hung over me, drawn from my sub consciousness that I knew deep down I had no idea why this was happening. This insecurity, it was strange to a vampire. I had never felt so insecure through the years as I did when this pain coursed through me. So unnatural I found it that I took out my frustration on the villages. Many times had the villages been woken over the past few days by the deranged screaming ripping from my victims throats as I killed them in the most awful ways I could imagine. It is a fact of life that if somebody is insecure or if they are suffering that they will subject their rage on the helpless, to make their lives more bearable. When a vampire is the one inflicting the torment on a victim it is far worse than if a human were to do the same. Yet however many died by my hand, each day the pain became worse, coursing through me suddenly, and then vanishing. Sometimes instantaneously, sometimes lingering, yet always making me shudder, gasping, as my body felt like white hot iron flowing sharply through me.

The strangest thing was yet to come though. After a particularly nasty attack of overwhelming pain, I flew to the village that night. I found myself a victim almost immediately, a young boy, of 15, if I was any judge. Swooping down on him from behind I seized his neck in a vicelike grip. He wriggled feebly against my grip, to no avail. I brandished my sharpened nails, cutting his face on both cheeks, allowing blood to pour down each side of his face, drenching my hands. I did the same to his arms, by this time, most of his clothes were drenched in his blood. He was gasping, unable to scream, as my grip was to strong. Deciding to put an end to his life, I brought my deadly nails to his neck again, and slit him open from neck to stomach. He slumped in my arms, and I dropped him. He landed in a twisted angle, blood seeping from him to mingle with the earth, turning it to mud. Then it happened. As I gazed down at his twisted body, a scene flashed through my mind that I had not seen in my memories for one hundred years. Since the day I first killed. It was Dann, a boy whose body I had found in the night of a storm. I had been hiding from the torrential rain that swept the landscape in a cave with him. I saw this vision of him in the boy who I had just decapitated. Gasping with a mixture of youthful terror, and fear at what was suddenly happening, I backed away. Why had this memory returned to me today? This was definitely not the first time I had disposed of an enemy this way. Then, as I backed away, I felt a sweep of pain sweep through me, again starting at the cut. I let out a bloodcurdling scream, before the pain became too great to be able to scream. This time was far worse than any time before. I could barely gasp with the pain. I automatically curled up, huddled a short way away from my latest victim, my breath rasping painfully in my throat. There was no plausible way to describe the tremendous waves of pain puncturing every part of me. This time it must have continued for nearly half an hour. When the pain eventually subsided, I opened my eyes, and looked around. The world seemed blurry at first, but as I concentrated, everything came back into focus. And I saw villagers cautiously coming over a nearby rise in the land. I cursed silently to myself. They must have heard my screams. I clambered somewhat clumsily to my feet, and attempted to transform to my raven form, to fly away before the villagers reached me. But nothing happened. For some unknown reason I was unable to transform. The waves of insecurity, that had become so familiar over the last few days, came back. I staggered backwards, before turning and running, praying that the villagers would not see me. Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem for me to deal with a few villagers, but now, my insecurity had taken the place of my usual feeling of power. That, mixed with the draining power of the pain that had coursed through me, left me feeling helpless, and unable to fight.

After a while, I felt enough strength return to me to change to the form of a raven and fly up to the castle. Fortunately for me, the villagers appeared not to have seen me. Yet fear was still in me. I had been lucky this time, but if it happened again, who knew what would happen? Landing on the upper hallway, I changed back, and immediately started to run for the library in the castle, convinced there must be some clue as to why this was happening among its vast bookshelves. I searched frantically through all of the books, yet I found nothing. Exhausted, and starting to despair, I slumped against a wall. Lifting my head fractionally I let out a wail, which echoed through the halls sounding awfully ghost like. My eyes caught the opposite wall, and I stared at the portraits lining it. My eyes locked with one of the portraits. It was the vampire whom I had replaced. My eyes drifted down the portraits, and I realised each one was a vampire. I found my gaze pulled back to the previous occupant. She had been weak when I fought her. I realised this now, now that my full power had developed. I should never have been able to beat an older vampire, one who was far more knowledgeable than me. But why had she been so weak? I found myself thinking about me. I too felt weak at most times. Had the same pain coursed though her? I stood up sharply, and went to the master bedroom of the castle. I had seen it before, yet I had no desire to read it. There had been a journal of hers beside the bed, I had locked it away in a drawer. Now, though, I wrenched the drawer from the small cabinet, and pulled the journal from the drawer. I opened it and began to read. One part seemed to apply to my situation.

I closed the journal grimly. So that was what had happened on the night that I had changed. the pain flowed through me again. I screamed and gripped the side of the bed, my nails tearing through the mattress that lay on top. As the pain subsided, the fear engulfed me again. This time I realised that the pain was my death sentence, that I must face the same as the previous vampire. I had to change somebody into a vampire. And I had to face my choice in battle. With a feeling of despair, I changed to a raven, preparing to fly through the lands in search of a replacement. My instinct told me to pick someone weak, someone I could easily beat. Yet my conscious told me to choose someone strong, someone who would fare well should I be defeated. I flew onwards, searching for my successor.

For weeks I flew, searching. I was forced to stop often, to feed, and because the pain still struck. Yet I had made good progress. I came across a small village, much like my own. Something suddenly engulfed me. I nearly fell from the sky in surprise. I could clearly sense the presence of another vampire. I landed breathlessly on a tree. The vampire was close. I gazed around, my black eyes picking out the landscape. A sensation of being watched came over me. Slowly, I lowered my gaze, looking down. Straight into the eyes of a cat. The cat let out a low purr. Then, to my surprise, spoke to me.

“So, you are the stranger in my lands. What are you doing, so far from your own castle.” I gazed down warily. I focused my senses, wondering how far I could trust this vampire, for I knew now that was what the cat was. I clicked my beak, and replied simply.

“The vampire curse” The cat’s eyes hardened, and, suddenly, he jumped onto my branch. I flapped my wings, jumping back, still untrusting. The cat merely sneered at me

“Stop being so jumpy Girl! I don’t want to harm you. But I have heard of a way to get rid of the vampire curse. I am unable to do the first part, being unable to fly. But you can fly. We can help each other.” I eyed the cat warily, trying to sense some sort of falsity, yet I sensed none. But a way to defeat the curse sounded like a good plan.

“I’m listening” I said, still wary. The cat told me of the plan. Ever vampire had to come together, and, apparently, when the vampires were all together, something called the “light of the vampire would be released, destroying the curse. The cat told me that the curse came about because the vampires were so solitary, and the only way to destroy the curse was to work together. I nodded, realising my part as to tell this story to the other vampires throughout the world. Yet through this faint shadow of hope, a fear still drove through me. I did not know how long I would survive. But all that it did was to compel me to fly faster, stopping only to feed, forcing myself on through all conditions. A new goal made me determined. The chance not to die.

This goal mad me fly through the world, gathering vampires, relating the story. Each was happy to listen to me, all fearing for their life like me. Eventually, I realised I had gathered each and every vampire. I headed back to the cat, where the others had gone. I arrived, and several of the vampires nodded to me. I had been surprised that none had tried to fight me. But I supposed only the fledgling of a vampire would attempt to kill another, the one who had made them change. The vampire who had spoken to me, and told me about this cure, stood, describing how the ritual worked. I glanced around at the others, listening so carefully to every word, and the terror of the curse was apparent. We tried the ritual that night. Each vampire was linked to the others telepathically. Each of us recited the spell in our minds. Then it happened. A bright light appeared in the centre of the circle we had formed. Gradually it grew, spreading outwards, until it was all around. I had never seen anything so bright, or so beautiful. I felt the pains leaving me, a smile spreading softly over my face. We were all free. Free of the curse, and free of death. We went our separate ways, agreeing to meet together once a year to stop the curse from striking back. As I flew over the lands back to my castle, relief flooded through me, and I felt my strength returning. I cawed happily into the darkening sky, feeling renewed and happy, heading back to my castle.

THE END