0365: The Vampire's Daughter Book IV

Sol was spending his time reading. Reading and reading, with the hope that he would again meet the vampire he believed to be the Keeper. But nothing came of his efforts except an education about his kind that he never received from Elizabeth, his sire. He was glad that he hadn't learned of it, he was glad that he had lived so far outside the world of his own kind.

The stories he was reading were disgusting. Not because of the brutality, he was well aware that all of nature is brutal, but because of the complete lack of morality that drove so many of the characters in the books. It almost became intolerable to read.

After one particularly painful story about a young vampire that had taken to turning babies, Sol stopped and looked around. “How could anyone do these things?” he asked out loud, not expecting an answer.

“Do what things?” Meredith's voice asked from a far corner.

Sol shot up, startled. “I didn't know you were here,” he said.

“I'm aware of that,” she replied, walking over to him. “I've been watching you for hours. In fact, I've been watching you for hours every day. You haven't noticed at all. I was wondering when you would finally sense me in the room, but you've been too entranced in these books.”

Sol sat down and looked at the book in his hands, blood red tears began to fall from his eyes.

Meredith sat next to him and said, “Tell me, what is the book about.”

“A young vampire named Regaldo was taught from the start by an old and wise vampire. But he didn't care about the rules his sire explained to him. He made babies into vampires. Not children, babies.

“What kind of sick...” he trailed off.

“I had Thomas handle that affair. It was a very long time ago. I hadn't realized that the Keeper bothered to write the story down.”

“He wrote it down because Thomas didn't kill him, John Paul did,” was Sol's reply.

“What?”

“Thomas kept Regaldo alive in secret for years, using him to do the things no normal vampire would consider. Torture, assassination, extortion, anything. All Thomas had to provide was the occasional child for Regaldo's amusement.”

“My God.”

“A just God would not have allowed this abomination to continue,” Sol replied.

“But how did John Paul know?”

“It doesn't say specifically, but I suspect the Keeper informed him. I can't believe I'm descended from that beast. I can't believe I was friends with that animal.”

“Vampires change,” Meredith said to cool Sol's fury.

“Thomas hasn't. But you are correct, vampires do change. I have changed. You have helped me, Gan has helped me, these books... The Keeper's books, they have helped me. I see our kind in a new light.

“I was conflicted for years about what I was and what we were. Now I find I am not conflicted. We are, at our hearts, evil. What purpose we serve, I don't know. But even the best of us must perform evil acts to survive. We consort with evil, we live in evil, we have the stench of evil in all of our pores.”

“That story obviously upset you a great deal,” Meredith replied, getting up and walking to the door. “I'll leave you with your thoughts.” She was actually worried that she may have been mistaken about Sol, but knew that talking to him wasn't going to solve anything. He needed time to himself to decide his own fate.

After she had walked out of the library, Sol stood up and threw the book across the room. He fell to the floor crying about everything and nothing.



[The Vampire’s Daughter: An ongoing vampire story. Copyright Reuben Gregg Brewer, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. All rights reserved.]