A Moonlit Night - The Complete Saga Read online

  Chapter Three

  Emily sat up from her bed, another nightmare having stirred her from slumber. She was only eight years old with pigtails, bright blue pajamas, and a very active imagination. She would often dream of dragons and griffins, creatures of legend that would come and rescue her from the dreary and mundane world. However, on this night her dreams were different, unsettlingly so. Vicious animals tore at her from the dark, their sharp teeth cutting deep as she screamed for mercy. Her pleas were to no avail, and the monster’s would continue to feast on her flesh.

  She was dripping with sweat, alone and afraid. Looking around, she scanned the room for any signs of danger. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any signs of a monster. That’s when something caught the corner of her eye.

  Rushing out of bed, Emily ran towards the window. Squinting, she looked to the end of the property, where a man stood in the field. The man was dark and unknown, and Emily couldn’t help but feel the man was staring back at her, peering deeply into her soul as he whispered for her to come to him.

  “Come to me.”

  This sent shivers down Emily’s spine and she quickly dashed out of the room. Screaming for her mother, Emily banged on her parents’ bedroom door. No one answered.

  “Mommy!” cried Emily, pounding on the door desperately.

  Still, no one answered.

  Emily ran downstairs, hoping to find someone there. And find them, she did. They were already heading out the door with the car already started and their bags packed.

  “Oh shit,” said her father, looking back at her daughter. “Honey, you gotta go back to bed for me, okay?”

  Her father, Jason, was a good man with a receding hairline and thick horn-rimmed glasses. He was protective of his family, often erring on the side of caution. He always put his children first and tried to shield them from some of the harsh realities of life.

  “W—where are you going?” asked Emily, running up to her mother. “Can I come, too?”

  “I’m sorry, sweetie,” said her mother. “It isn’t safe where we’re going.”

  Her mother, Amanda, was a beautiful woman and a spitting image of her lovely daughter. She was a warm and loving person, but had lived a long and hard life. Yet, she never carried any of that with her. She loved where she was and that was all that mattered.

  “Mommy, I saw someone outside,” said Emily, reaching for her mother to take hold of her.

  “What do you mean, you saw someone?” Amanda questioned as she placed her bags on the ground as she picked her daughter up.

  “I saw a man,” Emily explained. “He was a bad man—.”

  “C’mon, Amanda,” Jason interrupted with a look of concern. “We have to go… right now.”

  Jason stopped for a moment and considered the feelings of the scared little girl he was leaving behind. She meant the world to him, and he only hoped that his actions tonight would lead to a bright future for his daughter; a future that he would not be able to give her currently.

  Walking over to his daughter, Jason ran his hands through her hair, and said, “Your mother and I have to leave for a little while. I’m sorry we couldn’t tell you earlier. To be honest, we didn’t even know we had to leave until an hour ago. Your grandma will be here in the morning, and she’s going to look after your brother and you for a little while. Can you be a big girl for me?”

  “Don’t go, daddy!” shouted Emily, as her father broke contact and hurried out the door. “Please!”

  “It’s going to be all right,” Amanda said soothingly. “Your brother will look after you… he’s so very fond of you. I want you to know that we love both of you very much; always and forever.”

  Amanda let Emily go, and began to walk out the door. As she reached the porch steps, she turned around, and with that tender and caring smile of hers, she said, “Emily, you are a very special girl. One day you’ll understand just how important you really are. I love you. It is for love, that we do the things we do. I want you to remember that. Can you do that for me?”

  Emily nodded as she watched her parents leave. That would be the last time she ever saw her parents alive.

  Emily dashed upstairs and back to her room. Rushing to the window, she scanned for signs of her parent’s car. It was nowhere to be seen, just like the man that had been stalking her from the fields.

  Chapter Four

  “She’s waking up,” said Steven, sitting down beside Emily on the bed. “You gave us quite a scare, you know that right?”

  Steven had always tried to be the strong one, but ever since the loss of their parents, Emily was all he had left.

  The two of them lived together in the house they grew up in. It was a beautiful country home with canary yellow siding, blue accents, and a porch that wrapped around the house. Sometimes it was hard for them to live in a place that reminded them so much of their lost parents. On the other hand, that was also the reason they could never bring themselves to sell it.

  “Steven? How long have you been here?” Emily asked as she looked out the window. “How long have I been here?”

  It was the next day, and by the looks of it, Emily figured it was well past dinner time. Night was almost upon them. Had she been asleep the whole day?

  “Steven’s been here all day,” said Julia, entering the room. “And he hasn’t left your side since we brought you back here. Tyler’s sleeping on your couch; I hope you don’t mind.”

  Julia didn’t have many girlfriends. She liked to think that others just couldn’t handle being around such a lively woman, but in reality Julia knew that it was because she was difficult to be around sometimes. She was used to getting her way, and as such was prone to selfish outbursts. Emily never seemed to hold it against her, something that Julia always admired about her.

  “N—no, of course I don’t mind,” stuttered Emily, still a little dizzy from the previous day’s events. “I want to thank all of you. You’ve been good to me.”

  “Emily…what happened to you last night?” Steven questioned, holding her hand for comfort. “Can you remember anything?”

  Emily tried to concentrate, but the harder she thought, the more her head started to thump. She had felt this pain before; the night before at the bar, to be exact. Emily wondered, could the events have been related?

  “Oh my god, are you alright?” asked Julia, reaching for a tissue. “Your nose is bleeding.”

  “It’s… look at that,” said Emily, looking down at the blood-stained tissue. “That hasn’t happened since I was a child.”

  “As for what happened last night,” continued Emily, reapplying the tissue to her nose. “Much of the attack is still cloudy. I remember two men ambushing me. I also remember a mysterious stranger coming to my rescue; only I can’t for the life of me remember his name.”

  “If he saved you, then why were you alone?” Steven asked.

  “He was probably busy chasing the attackers off,” suggested Julia, handing Emily another tissue. “Seriously, Steven, you’re such a fusspot. She’s okay and that’s all that matters.”

  “I guess you’re right, Jules,” Steven said. “I’m going to wake up Tyler. I’ll be waiting downstairs. I’m glad to see your okay, sis.”

  “Thanks, Steven,” said Emily as Steven walked out the room.

  Julia’s turned back to Emily, and said, “Okay, now we can talk. What really happened?”

  “I don’t really remember, and what I do remember doesn’t make any sense,” said Emily, sliding out of the bed.

  “Hey, someone’s at the door, Emily!” Tyler shouted from downstairs. “He says his name is Alexander!”

  Emily couldn’t believe it, as the memories from last night began to rush into her head. Her redeemer from last night had found her.

  “What do you want?” questioned Tyler, standing at the door. Tyler always considered himself an Alpha Male and the thought of a mysterious stranger showing up the night after Emily’s attack had set him on edge.

  “I’m here to see Mis
s Johansson,” Xander said. “Is that all right with you?”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Tyler said. “Come on in.”

  Tyler motioned for Xander to enter the house, but he stood his ground, refusing entry into the home.

  “Are you deaf?” asked Tyler, becoming increasingly agitated. “I said you can come in.”

  “No, I’m simply old fashioned,” Xander replied. “I would prefer Miss Johansson to welcome me in—.”

  “Of course you can come in,” interrupted Emily as she gently pushed Tyler out of the way. “Don’t mind him; he’s just worried about me.”

  “I understand completely,” said Xander, slowing placing one foot inside the house and hesitantly walking inside. “You’re lucky to have friends that care about you so much.”

  Unknown to the gathering inside, Xander wasn’t the only visitor there that night. In the forest surrounding the home, another man was waiting patiently for his time to strike. It was the same dark figure that watched over them the night before.

  The man was well-built, with short blonde hair and matching trimmed beard. His face displayed confidence and experience, both things that he had acquired over his long life. He had been watching over Emily for a few days now, and was ready to make his move. This most recent development only served as a slight delay in his grand design.

  “Should we attack now, Master Simeon?” asked Jacob, skulking up towards his dark master.

  “The two of you failed me once already,” said Simeon, staring down Jacob; piercing through the junkie’s blood red eyes. “I will accompany you this time.”

  “This time,” Simeon continued. “We’ll truly finish off their legacy.”

  Chapter Five

  “You guys can leave now, I’ll be fine,” explained Emily, giving her friends a hug as they all huddled around the front door.

  “With him?” asked Steven, pointing towards Xander. “You barely even know him.”

  It was true, Emily thought. She had just met him last night, and even then, they had barely spoken more than a dozen words between them. Still, she had to know what happened last night, and didn’t want her friends around to hear.

  Her friends left the house, giving the two of them the space they desired. Emily barely knew the handsome man in her living room, but felt a mysterious connection with him, one that shook her to the very core.

  Emily paced around the living room, trying to figure out where to start. She caught a quick glimpse of Xander; careful not to stare, she averted her eyes before he caught her leering. He was gorgeous, she thought. Everything about him screamed out to her, demanding that she come closer. Emily had never experienced a pull like this before; and it startled her, perhaps even more than last night’s attack.

  “I suppose you wish to know what I am?” asked Xander, sitting down on the couch across from her. “Hiding my true identity will only put you in further danger. You deserve to know the truth, and the faster we get this out of the way, the faster I can get you out of danger. I am a creature of the night… a vampire.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Emily, rolling her eyes in disbelief. “I didn’t hit my head that hard.”

  Xander smiled, opened his mouth and two long fangs descended from his canine teeth. Emily jumped back, which only caused Xander to erupt into laughter.

  “Oh my god, you’re telling the truth,” Emily said. “So you’re dead?”

  “Well I wouldn’t say dead, but yes, my mortal life ended over 500 years ago,” said Xander, now completely serious with a stern look on his face.

  “Are you going to hurt me?” asked Emily, now a little startled after the initial shock had worn off.

  “No, I’m not going to hurt you,” Xander said. “I haven’t hurt anyone for over two hundred years, at least not anyone that hasn’t been trying to hurt me.”

  Xander looked down, clearly ashamed of the man he once was. He had hurt many people, but he was a changed man. Or at least, that’s what he kept trying to tell both those around and himself.

  “Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that,” said Emily, slowly walking towards Xander. “I’ve just never met a real vampire before. To be honest, I never really believed in the supernatural.”

  Xander looked up at Emily, confused by her words. If that were true, Xander thought, than perhaps her attackers could’ve been mistaken. Perhaps he could’ve been mistaken, also. Maybe she wasn’t the girl they all believed her to be.

  “Can I ask you something?” Emily asked, “What were those men that attacked me? I’ve never seen red eyes like that before. Were the junkies vampires, as well?”

  “They were ghouls,” Xander replied. “They are humans that have taken to drinking the blood of a vampire.”

  “Why would anyone want to do that?” Emily asked. “Is that how you become a vampire?”

  “No, that’s not how you become a vampire,” Xander said. “In truth, there are not many vampires in the world. Our survival demands certain secrecy, and in turn, we rarely give our power to others. It is considered the most special gift our kind can give. They are our eyes and ears in the world, watching over our territory with bloodthirsty vigilance.”

  “Humans that drink the blood of vampires are given increased strength and resilience,” Xander continued. “There have been many important ghouls throughout history, bending countries to their will… to our will. They do not age, in fact, some ghouls have lived longer than I.”

  “What about werewolves?” Emily asked, sitting forward with eyes wide open. “What other creatures stalk the night.”

  “It’s best if we speak on other things, more important things,” Xander said. “I hate to be the one to tell you, but there’s something coming… something very dangerous and looking for you.”

  “Oh, c’mon, you can’t leave me hanging,” pouted Emily, completely glossing over the harrowing warning she had been given. Her eyes had awoken to a new world around her; a world she always wished would exist. Eternal love, that was the draw, but it extended much deeper than that. The myths not only spoke to her, they made her understand a little bit more of herself through their lessons. “What about vampires? Is it like the movies? What kind of cool abilities do you have? I bet you’ve got a lot. What happens if you eat garlic? Can I take your picture? If I can take said picture… would it should up if I uploaded onto a social media website?”

  “Whoa,” Xander said with hands raised in surrender. “Let me collect all that information… okay, let’s see. It’s not like the movies. We can’t heal from broken necks or a knife to the heart, but whatever doesn’t kill us outright will eventually heal, as long as blood stirs within us. We’re not gods, though there are others that would disagree. I hate to admit it, Emily, but we’re monsters and we do go bump in the night. This isn’t the glamorous realization you so readily believe it to be.”

  “You make it sound so morbid,” Emily said. “Why even become a vampire, at all?”

  “One reason to trump all others,” Xander replied. “A shot at eternal life… and life is always favorable to death, under the right conditions.”

  “What about mages?” Emily asked. “Do they exist, too?”

  “Yes, but quite what you’ve grown accustomed to,” Xander answered. “Anyone with patience can learn the forbidden arts with proper teaching. It’s more than learning incantations and deciding which reagents to use… it’s about tapping into a higher level of spiritual enlightenment, more akin to the monks in Tibet than the hocus pocus you’ve seen on television.”

  “Forbidden arts?” Emily asked. “You said they were forbidden… who could forbid such a thing?”

  “The Council of Elders outlawed it a hundred and fifty years ago,” Xander said. “Witches, warlocks, mages and wizards, they were all different names for the same thing— dangerous. The vampire council sent all those with knowledge of magic to the brink of extinction. Governments rallied against them and they were utterly destroyed, burned at the stake or driven underwater. Some were allo
wed to live, and they remain to this day, under the watchful eye of the elders that culled them.”

  “Oh,” said Emily with a look a shock, “I guess that I didn’t want to know so much as I thought I did.”

  Xander walked to the window and peered out into the night sky. As he looked upon the stars, he said, “I have been watching you for several days now.”

  “What do you mean?” Emily asked. “Earlier, you mentioned that I was still in danger. I’ve been patient, but I think I deserve some answers now.”

  “I believe those ghouls have been tracking you down,” said Xander, his eyes scanning through the trees. “For what reason, I don’t know. I picked up their scent and didn’t want to leave until I made sure they knew you were not fair game.”