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Six years passed without an ease of my torment over him calling me. I thought I was losing my mind until I heard a different voice. I pulled my mouth away from my victim and focused on her location. Esmeralda was calling me back home to the rocky coast of Maine. Home was the last place I wanted to be. I was trying to escape my memories, not relive them. I didn’t want to go but the pull was too great. The man in my clutches was sleeping. I set him on the ground and took off. I ran the entire way.
Fifteen hundred miles later I arrived at my destination. The home of my birth was breathtaking. I wanted it to pop with colors of green, red and yellow but it was white. The terrain was wooded, thick with trees and extensive foliage but the winter months had arrived. Snow sheeted the ground and tree tops. The scent of wood burning stoves invaded my nose. I had always loved that woody smell but there was only one scent I craved now. My nose was keen to it. The blood of the humans called to my thirst. I chose to hunt before going to my maker. She had to know I was in the State.
Gardiner was not like the big city I lived in. It was bountiful enough for me to find someone quickly. The sweet flavor of home laced my tongue as I drank from a local. There was no real difference. Blood was blood but there was something more to the flavor. I could taste the gamey meal he had eaten and the beer he drank. His clothes smelled of wood smoke and pine. I even enjoyed his cologne as I fed on him. I cleared his memory and sent him on his way before continuing to my destination.
I made my way towards the mountain. Mount Blue was what locals called it. Back in my day, it was portrayed as an evil place. I grew up on stories of scary creatures living in those mountains. I guess the stories were true as I made my way to my vampire maker. I made my way through the trees easy enough. Esmeralda’s call pulled me to the cave opening. She lived deep in the mountain. A half a mile deep I found her door. It was disguised as a boulder. I moved it to the side with ease and stepped inside. You wouldn’t know she lived in the mountain by the look of her home. It was gorgeous.
I lived in this three-bedroom home with her for the first two years of my new life. I hadn’t been back in a long time but it hadn’t changed. The entrance was lit by firelight. The walls were rough but polished along with the floor. In the sitting room, there was a Persian rug and a black leather couch. Next to that was a velvet chair, stained blood red. Oil lamps hung from the walls, giving it a mysterious yellow glow. To the left of that was a winding rod iron staircase. My maker was in the study.
The halls were long and lined with antiques and paintings. At the top of the walls were long black wires that provided electricity. I passed my old green door without even an upward glance. I crammed my hands in the pockets of my jacket and continued on my way. I didn’t plan to stay. I did stop at a door I’d never seen before. It was painted a deep blue with gold accents. Esmeralda could have made another vampire but I wouldn’t know.
When I stepped into the study I expected the usual small dark room lined with books but it was now open. Es had taken out half the mountain and replaced it with glass. Outside there was a wood deck and a hot tub. I was tempted to stay on long enough to soak in the warm water. Dozens of white candles burned along the walls. Bookshelves were packed full of reading material. A huge mahogany desk replaced the small one she had before. That was where she sat.
“Willow, my darling,” Esmeralda announced, looking from her task. She smiled and came around the desk to greet me. She took me in a loving embrace and kissed my cheek. I hugged her back. I was overjoyed to be with her again.
I smiled too, “Esmeralda, it is wonderful to see you.” As if I expected her not to change I took her in after our embrace. “You changed your hair.” She had it cut into a cute bob but the blonde ringlets caused it to bounce above her shoulders. Her sapphire eyes gleamed.
“Do you like?” She smiled and spun around. Her body was not too thin, thick in all the right places and legs for days. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She rarely wore shoes. Her toenails were painted hot pink tonight.
“It is beautiful. God, I have missed you,” I said and hugged her again. She was my best friend after all, even if she was six hundred years older than I. She was my creator and I loved her. I tried to hate her for many years but I never could. I wanted to resent her for taking me away from my life long ago but in all reality she saved me.
I had been out in the woods picking herbs and mushrooms when I stumbled across a mother moose and her calf. The next thing I knew the cow attacked me. It was well known being too close to a calf could cost your life. It was my mistake for not being more vigilant. Esmeralda found me near death and brought me back. Though the pain of my old life plagued me, I couldn’t be more grateful to her. She gave me that last night with Samuel.
“I have missed you too. Come, sit and tell me about the last two hundred years,” she giggled and sat on the couch. In front of that sat a wood burning basin. It was a bolder cut in half and hollowed out like a bowl. Vampires do not get cold exactly. We can feel the chill as well as the warmth. Like I said before, I love the smell of the burning wood. I sat in the recliner across from her and put my hands out to enjoy the warmth of the fire. “Something is troubling you,” my maker said sadly.
I tried to hide my expression, “No there isn’t.”
“Willow, I am your friend if not your sister. Above all, you are my progeny. Trust me when I say there is something troubling you. Speak to me.”
I sighed and sat back in the chair. I crossed my legs and watched the flames. I was already hearing his voice and now I am sitting in the same town. He was a ghost that I couldn’t vanquish. “It is Samuel.”
“My sweet girl, I know how much you loved him but it has been two hundred years. Let him go.”
“It is not me, or maybe it is,” I said, biting my bottom lip. “I have tried to let him go. Shit, I may be just crazy.”
Esmeralda leaned forward with a question on her brow, “What do you mean you may be crazy?”
“I mean I may, in fact, be a nut job. I’m hearing his voice and have since I left here,” I explained. “Until you called me I thought I was losing my mind. He calls to me, Es.”
“What does he say?” she questioned.
“He only says my name but it is almost like he is calling me to come to him. As if he is alive and waiting for me.”
“Anything else?”
“Sometimes, when I’m sleeping, it is almost as if I can feel him in my dreams. It is so real. I swear I was in bed with him. I feel his every touch. I can even smell him.” The fear of her judgment washed over me. I clamped my lips together and awaited her reply. She sat back on the couch and began to watch the flames as well. We were quiet for a long time. It was nerve wracking. “Well, what’s the verdict? Am I certified crazy? Do I need to be put down like a rabid dog?”
Esmeralda bellowed with laughter and I couldn’t help but giggle along with her. We always had a good time together. My first two years with her were always fun. She taught me how to hunt and feed without killing. We found we both loved music and tall dark and handsome men. “No, I think you are just having vivid dreams.”
“But I hear him when I’m awake.”
“Maybe you just need to get laid,” she winked.
“Es,” I chided and my cheeks would have burned red if I were alive. I hadn’t been with another man since being with Samuel. I have used my body to seduce my pray but I have never gone any farther. Even though feeding turned me on like a light.
“I’m serious. If you get some you might be able to finally put Samuel in the past where he belongs. You could move on with your life and be happy for once. You may even find a mate one day.”
“Do you...” I paused and swallowed deeply. Then she finished my question for me.
“Of course, I do. I even have a steady mate I’ve been dating for the last thirty years.” I was shocked at this news. Sure, Es had lovers. She even took a woman before but never anyone steady.
“I guess I would have known that if I had been around.”
She looked at her hands in her lap and I watched as she smiled. She was serious about this person. “Yes, it’s pretty serious. He lives here with me as does his progeny.” That would explain the blue door. She didn’t turn someone but there were two other vampires living in the house. I was startled by a knock at the study door and then a tall man walked inside. His eyes were locked on Esmeralda as he approached her. She stood and he scooped her into his arms. They locked in a passionate kiss for a few seconds. I looked away, allowing them to have their moment. “Willow, this is Benjamin.”
I stood from my chair and he looked at me in a strange way before taking my hand. He gave it a slight shake, “Nice to finally meet you. Esmeralda speaks highly of you.”
He was six foot tall with dark brown hair and lovely dark brown kind eyes. His broad shoulders told me he was muscularly fit. He was easy on the eyes with a strong chin and well-defined nose. He was wearing a dark gray Polo tee and blue jeans.
“Oh really.” I looked at my friend in question. She winked at me so I winked back. “It’s nice to meet you too Benjamin.”
“Call me, Ben.”
“Ben,” I smiled.
“And this is Caleb, my progeny,” Ben said and gestured with his hand behind me. I turned around with a smile. He was handsome. Long ash-brown hair, crystal-blue eyes, and plump lips. He was over six feet tall and not too muscular like his maker. His skin is smooth. Heat grew intense between my thighs, my stomach flipped and my mouth ran dry. The jeans he had on hugged every curve of his body and his black tee stretched across his broad shoulders and chest.
I found my tongue still had the ability to function when I said, “I’m Willow. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Pleasure indeed,” he said deeply and winked at me. He took my hand in his, bent and lifted my hand to his pouty mouth. The sensation of his soft lips against my skin made me crave more. I wandered what else his mouth could do.