In Love With A Vampire Read online

  Catan’s taunting tone fueled Jesse’s built-up anger, causing her to growl ferociously and pounce on Catan.

  But Catan was fast. He ducked away before Jesse could inflict any physical harm on him, and as quick as lightning, he grabbed Jesse’s hair as hard as he could and whirled her around like a merry-go-round. And then he released her, causing Jesse to crash onto the ground, some shards of rubbish slicing her flesh. But being a vampire, her cuts and bruises healed immediately, and Jesse was good as new.

  So how could a vampire kill another vampire? There was only one way. Jesse needed to find a wooden stake and aim it at Catan’s heart.

  There was no use fighting this powerful evil vampire. Jesse would only get bruised up, and then she would heal, and then get bruised up again in an endless loop. She decided that she had to find a wooden stake and end this once and for all.

  Jesse scanned her surroundings, and spotted a plank at the corner of the alley. She sped up toward the plank, and split it with her bare hands until it became a pointy wooden stake.

  When Catan realized what she was trying to do, he let out a deafening bellow of fury.

  “So you are trying to kill me?” Catan asked, his eyes set warily on the pointy end of the stake Jesse was holding.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Jesse snorted, clasping the stake and making her way toward Catan, who was gazing anxiously at the stake.

  Jesse was going to end this once and for all. She charged toward Catan, raising the stake high in the air.

  As the distance between Catan and her became closer and closer, Jesse could feel victory dancing in the air.

  She somersaulted in the air with the acrobatic skill of a gymnast, hovering just right above Catan’s head. Without hesitation, she plunged the stake right into Catan’s heart.

  But things didn’t go the way as she had expected.

  Jesse let out a bloodcurdling scream, veins popping on her twisted face.

  She didn’t see it coming. Before the stake could enter straight into Catan’s heart, Catan had been able to rip the stake away from Jesse just in the nick of time. In the blink of an eye, Catan had speedily wrecked the stake from Jesse’s grasp and once he had the stake in possession, he stabbed Jesse as deep as he could.

  Jesse was growling in intense pain, as rivulets of blue vampire blood oozed out from her body.

  But Catan was careful. Oh, yes, he was. He had plunged the stake a few inches just below Jesse’s heart. If he’d gone straight for Jesse’s heart, she’d have been dead by now.

  Catan loved to hear the scream of pain ripping through the air, his hand still gripping the stake that was etched into Jesse’s torso. Jesse was writhing in unimaginable pain, her face twisted in horrifying angles.

  Catan just didn’t want to see Jesse dead yet. He was having so much fun seeing Jesse in deep pain. Once he was bored of her, he’d just kill her. But for now, he just wanted to see Jesse suffer. Suffer for interfering in his affairs, and thinking that she could stop him when apparently, she was delusional. How could she stop him? He was centuries old, and supernaturally more powerful than her. Catan sensed that she was only a few decades old as a vampire.

  Eager to inflict more pain on Jesse, he pulled the stake out swiftly, causing blue blood to spurt out from Jesse’s chest and drawing high-pitched cries of pain from her. Catan laughed, gratified at seeing her suffer at his hands.

  Jesse screamed and screamed so much until her sound came out dry, like a sick cat. The sound irritated Catan, and eventually, he got tired of her. He decided that it was time to put an end to her misery.

  He fingered the blood-stained stake in his hand, as though it was the most precious thing he’d ever seen.

  He glanced back at Jesse, clucking his tongue in boredom. “I’m so sick of you. Time to meet your fated doom, Jess, or what was it Bess? Hmm… whatever.”

  I raised the stake again, ready to plunge it one more time into Jesse’s chest. And this time, he wasn’t going to miss it. He was going straight for her heart.

  And he was about to bring the stake down … when suddenly, he felt his arm freeze. He couldn’t move his arm at all, as if something had immobilized it. The pointed edge of the stake was facing Jesse’s heart, but it was frozen there. He tried to push the stake forward, but he couldn’t. It was as though an invisible hand had gripped him and held him back.

  What was happening? Catan was confused, trying several times to move his arm but to no avail.

  “I want to kill her!” Catan screamed furiously. “Let me kill her!” But he still couldn’t move his arm.

  Catan could feel something inside of him. He had experienced such feeling countless of times before, and he didn’t like it. Someone was inside his body, trying to break free. Yes, there was another entity living inside of him. It was stopping him from trying to kill Jesse.

  “Let me kill her!” he cried furiously, trying to move his immobilized arm, but it was still stuck mid-air. He could feel a wave of emotions swimming within. Conflicting emotions which tortured his soul. He felt his own anger rising within him, but at the same time, he felt another form of anger, anger which didn’t stem from him at all. It felt like the anger of the other entity living inside his own body. He also felt a slight guilty conscience, which angered him more.

  How could he feel guilt at all? He never felt guilty inflicting pain on his victims, killing them and sucking their blood. And now he suddenly felt a hint of guilt? It wasn’t his own emotion at all. There was something, or someone, who was half-possessing him. Trying to control his actions, his thoughts and feelings.

  No, I’m not going to let you control me, whoever you are! Catan mentally screamed, fighting against the waves of conscience that were suppressing his own emotions. The conscience which belonged to another entity. The conscience that filled him with inexplicable guilt.

  He felt a twitch in his arm, and suddenly, as if possessed, he went in a spasm and tossed the stake away. He convulsed violently, an electric sensation surging through his body. He felt something inside of him control him, making him retreat a few steps away from Jesse. Someone inside of him … wanted him to stay away from Jesse. From causing her any further harm. From killing her.

  No!!!!! Catan seethed. Stop controlling me, you imbecile. I need to kill her. Let me kill her! His body twisted and whirled in agony, his arms flailing in every direction as he felt a force within him pushing him toward the edge of the alley, further away from Jesse.

  His brain almost felt like exploding as ceaseless thoughts rushed through his mind. Foreign thoughts which seemed to be implanted inside his mind by the entity in possession of him.

  Get out of me, Catan commanded, trying to get rid of the entity living inside of him like a parasite.

  He had felt this anguishing sensation before, countless of times. It was as though someone was slowly taking over his body, holding complete control of him. And he always had no recollection of what he’d done when his body had been possessed by the entity. He had tried many attempts to get rid of the entity, including magic spells and incantations, but they didn’t work at all to dispel it. He knew that the moment the entity took hold of his entire body, mind and soul, he’d been completely unaware of what was going on, his own consciousness completely suppressed. When the entity had finished possessing him, Catan would return to his normal self, but he’d not have any memory whatsoever of what he had done when he was possessed.

  He could feel his own consciousness fading away, blanketed by a darkness that rippled across his mind and soul. His vision became foggy and blur, and he could feel himself subdued by something stronger than himself.

  And then, he blacked out.

  Someone else had completely taken over his body. Wings sprouted out from his back and flapped majestically. His features twisted into a completely different facade, one which was charming and calm. His body morphed into a ripped built, toned and tan, just like the body of a Greek God. Eventually, the transformation was complete. Catan’s body had met
amorphosed into something that was indescribably perfect, beautiful. It was the body of a half-man, half-bird. His name was Lipton.

  Lipton scanned his surroundings, and saw a woman writhing on the ground in pain, clutching her stomach. Streaks of dried-up blue blood stained her white camisole shirt. At one glance, Lipton knew that the woman was a vampire, who had been staked, but not at her heart. If she were staked at the heart, she’d have died by now.

  Lipton rushed over to the woman’s side, and yanked out the wooden stake that was wedged a few inches down from her heart. The woman howled in deep pain, her body convulsing like a volcanic explosion.

  Lipton grabbed the woman’s head, caressing it softly. “It’s going to be alright,” he whispered, wishing that he could alleviate the pain she was feeling. The woman tossed and turned uncontrollably, the pain searing her whole body like knives. When the pain finally subsided, the woman’s body twitched a little, and she appeared calmer and more relaxed, breathing heavily as if there wasn’t enough oxygen in her lungs.

  The woman jerked her bloodshot eyes open, gazing into the eyes of the man of had just saved her. She let out several coughs, wincing in pain whenever she made some motion due to the deep laceration in her chest.

  She squinted her eyes to have a better look at this man. Who was he? And where in the world was Catan, the vampire who had tried to kill her moments ago? Did this man pulverize the vampire once and for all?

  Jesse felt a nauseous wave swirl within her when she gazed at the deep lacerations in her chest, which were slowly healing due to her supernatural healing ability as a vampire. Her head throbbed in pain, and she whimpered in pain whenever she tried to move her body.

  When her wounds have healed significantly, Jesse managed to get back up to her feet, being helped by the man. She turned to look at the man and gazed into his calm blue eyes, which seemed to soothe her frayed nerves.

  “Wh-who are you?” Jesse stammered, feeling the strength gradually seeping back into her system after a moment of physical weakness.

  “I’m Lipton, a Wingman. I’m half-bird, half-man, ” he introduced himself warmly, placing a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Are you feeling much better? You were hurt badly. Luckily, the stake did not pierce your heart, or you’d have been …” The words got stuck in his throat, as they both understood the consequence of being staked in the heart.

  “Yes, I-I am,” Jesse replied, still feeling a bit dazed. “I’m Jesse, by the way. But-but … where is Catan? The vampire serial killer? Did you manage to kill him? Or did he escape?”

  Lipton was as silent as a ghost. He didn’t know how to explain about the fact that his soul and Catan’s were merged together as one. They were living in the same body, and whenever Lipton emerged, Catan would be suppressed, unable to manifest himself. And vice versa. Lipton didn’t have complete control over the manifestation, and the transformation happened sporadically.

  Sometimes when Catan manifested and kept Lipton suppressed, Lipton could sense and feel what Catan was doing at the moment. His emotions were tied closely to Catan as they were living in one body together, but Catan would try to suppress Lipton’s emotions from affecting him.

  However, when Catan was about to kill Jesse earlier, Lipton could sense that deep inside the crevices of Catan’s soul. He could feel Catan’s wrath and mad desire to finish off Jesse. For some inexplicable reason, he couldn’t let that happen. He unleashed his own wrath against Catan’s, deeply affecting Catan. Catan had tried to suppress Lipton’s conscience from controlling him, but Lipton was too strong. He’d burst like a lava, unadulterated indignation filling him. He was able to gradually take control of Catan, controlling his actions and thoughts. Eventually, Lipton was able to manifest completely and transform into himself, suppressing Catan back into the cage of his soul.

  But he knew that he wouldn’t stay manifested like this for long. Catan would eventually take over again, and the cycle of alternate manifestations would happen again and again in a loop. He wished he had control over the manifestations and could keep Catan suppressed for as long as time could stretch, but it was impossible. He was cursed to be merged with Catan’s soul a long time ago, by a witch who detested him for killing his powerful father, Ameritus. Jacelyn, the witch, put this wicked curse on him, binding both Lipton and Catan together in one body.

  Jacelyn also despised Catan for killing her only sister Tayley and sucking her blood. Catan craved for witch blood, which to him, was purely intoxicating. And for that, she cursed both Lipton and Catan. It took tremendous power to implement the curse, and it eventually killed Jacelyn on the spot when the curse took effect. But Jacelyn would never regret sacrificing her life to avenge the death of her father and sister.

  Lipton recalled the painful memories of the past, but he still didn’t think he deserved this curse. Ameritus was a malicious wizard who killed whoever he pleased. He killed innocents for sports, just because he wanted to test out his new powers. He had no mercy for anybody who double-crossed him. Lipton thought that Ameritus had abused his powers, so he decided to hatch a plan to put a stop to the wizard’s wickedness once and for all.

  The only way to strip Ameritus’s great power was to destroy the Katznick amulet around his neck, a powerful ancient heirloom passed down through generations of the Katznick family line. It gave the wearer tremendous boost of power which surpassed his or her own supernatural ability.

  So Lipton masterminded a covert plan to get rid of the amulet. He summoned all the birds around him with his magical bird song. Once all the birds were gathered, Lipton whispered his plan to the birds, who obeyed him. The birds, all shapes and sizes, whooshed through the air in various colors, and circled the ancient castle where Ameritus and his family stayed. Ameritus was woken up by the birds, and he was infuriated.

  He blasted his powers at the birds, intending to destroy them, but the birds were too agile and fast. They managed to dodge his beams of powers which streaked across the sky like fireworks.

  As Ameritus was distracted, he didn’t realize that Lipton was hovering above in the sky, concealed by gray clouds. Lipton used stealth as he approached Ameritus from above, carefully hiding within the mist of clouds shrouding the sky. As quick as lightning, Lipton pounced from above and yanked the amulet off Ameritus’s neck with his clawed feet.

  Ameritus shrieked in rage, realizing that he had been deceived. He tried to shoot fireballs at Lipton, but they bounced off Lipton like little balls. Without the amulet, Ameritus was supernaturally weak, and he couldn’t do much to inflict damage on Lipton, who was more powerful than him then.

  Ameritus spotted a spear which leaned against the corner of the wall. He grabbed it, and tried to pierce the pointed edge into Lipton’s heart. But Lipton launched himself upward higher and higher, completely avoiding Ameritus’s attacks. Frustrated, Ameritus flung the spear in Lipton’s direction, using all his might and strength. Ameritus was a good archer, so he aimed for Lipton’s heart.

  But Lipton deflected the oncoming spear with the flap of his wings, and it missed his heart. The spear bounced off and went straight back in Ameritus’s direction, and plunged deep into his chest, killing him. Ameritus collapsed onto the floor, dead.

  Jacelyn discovered the death of her father soon after, and decided to avenge his death. During the same week when her father was killed, a wild vampire was on the loose, killing hundreds of villagers and draining their blood. He’d heard about the Katznick witches living in a castle near the village. He also heard that the blood of witches were more delicious than human blood. So he prowled around the castle, waiting to pounce on his first witch victim. The victim happened to be Tayley, Jacelyn’s younger sister. She was casting spells outside the castle grounds to fertilize the plants, when suddenly, the deadly vampire emerged from his hiding and attacked her.

  Jacelyn was out of the kingdom at that moment to relay the news of her dead father to her father’s kin, who lived in other provinces. When she returned to her home to discover that her
sister had been killed too, she was completely hysterical. She vowed to avenge the death of both her father and sister, no matter what happened.

  She’d heard that it was Catan who had killer sister. So she decided to use the most powerful magic she knew in the Katznick book, to create the worst curse the world had ever seen. But she knew the risk of evoking this curse. She knew that it would tremendously drain her supernatural energy, and there were chances that she would be killed.

  But she didn’t care. As long as she could exact her revenge on both Lipton and Catan, she would gladly die. She mustered all her supernatural strength and put a deadly curse on both Catan and Lipton, a curse which merged their souls together and create a torturous hell for them. She died in the end when the curse was completed.

  Pondering on the past, Lipton heaved a huge sigh. How could he tell Jesse that he didn’t actually kill Catan? How could he tell her that Catan was actually living inside of him, and he was bound to manifest himself at any time of the day? If Jesse knew the truth, she probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill Lipton because by killing Lipton, she’d also be killing Catan.

  He didn’t know how to explain the Lipton-Catan complexity to Jesse. Maybe he should just keep mum about it, at least for now.

  “He … um … escaped,” Lipton said drily, mustering as much composure as he could. He didn’t know if Jesse could tell if he was lying, but he no choice but to lie. The truth would create a lot of complexities.

  Rage filled Jesse’s eyes. “He what?!” Jesse fumed, letting out an angry shriek. “He’s going to kill more people again. Did you even try to fight him? Kill him?” It sounded as though Jesse was blaming Lipton for letting Catan escape.

  “I-I … did,” Lipton managed. “But the most important thing is … you’re OK. I promise you that we’ll catch this vampire soon. Cross my heart swear to die.”

  Jesse shook her head hysterically, as if she didn’t even hear a word Lipton had uttered. “I was this close to killing him. I was this close … and now … he’s free! Free to go on a killing rampage again! Why didn’t you run after him?”