Afterbirth

By Krystell Lake

This is the second book on The First Blood Novels. Young Emerald has lived her entire life as a slave and now she has been made a vampire. She joins her husband John and his brother William in the world of the undead. Sercets buried in the past resurface and cause turmoil decades later. Although as vampires the Adams family believe they will live forever. They are blind-sided by the evil deeds of family, humans and rival vampires.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Krystell Lake
• Release date: Dec 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301523832

Krystell Lake

Krystell Lake is a writer of mostly vampire fiction. She also has written screenplays and teleplays. She lives near Chicago with her son and daughter.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

EMERALD

The birth of my new life begins today in the year 1869. I feel as if I have said this before. I am born, born to a new life that was explained to me by my love. I am no longer human. This I feel. I was told that there is no way to explain the birth of a vampire. At this moment I believe it as truth. All my senses have been awakened. It is a rush of euphoria. Have I made a dreadful mistake? Or is an eternity of freedom the greatest gift that a Negro woman could ever dream possible.

After thirteen days of slumber, I am a vampire. John crawled into bed with me. We stayed in bed for five days after my transformation. John would periodically tend to our children. He told them I was sick and I could not leave the bed. The children would come and stand in the doorway every day for a brief period and talk to me from a safe distance. I did not want them too close. I did not want to do anything that would hurt or frighten them. The youngest, Cotton is three. She was different from her brothers. She has a mind of her own. Once when I was alone, she came to the bedroom doorway. She questioned the validity of my ailment. After I convinced her that I was indeed ill, Cotton disappeared from the doorway. I miss her as soon as she leaves as I miss my sons.

When I am alone, I close my eyes for a moment, perhaps longer. When my eyes open, there is the shadow of another person in the doorway. As I adjust my eyes I see that it is William. My shoulders grow tense.

The sleeping beauty, He smirked and raised an eyebrow.

Did William just describe me using the word beauty? William, I wondered why he was here. I would never dare to ask.

Finally, the dead has arisen. When will you be joining us vampires in the world of darkness?

I did not know how to answer his question. When John says I am ready.

Really, William stepped into my room and walked toward the bed. You look quite alright through my eyes. How do you feel?

I feel strong, stronger than ever.

William walked closer to the bed, Strong enough to have restraint?

Yes, I think. I am not for certain. I shrugged.

Do you crave blood? He asked me as if it was an everyday sort of question.

Yes, but not very badly. I felt it best, to be honest with my answer. My stomach was empty and I could not deny it.

Has my brother fed you any blood?

I was sure William was already privy to my answer. No, he wants my last human feelings to linger as long as possible.

Why? What difference does that make? You are not a human. I know that you are hungry for blood? Did he not at least offer you animal blood?

I shook my head no.

So you have been starving for five days? William said exasperated.

I shook my head again, ashamed to admit the truth.

This is ridiculous. Be honest with me, do you want blood?

I am not sure. The barrage of questions helped to confuse my new vampire mind.

Emerald this is simple. Are you thirsty? He demanded.

I wanted to be dishonest. I wanted to pretend as if I was as I once was. Yes, sometimes I am. I try to hinder the thought of it.

You should drink blood so you can get back to your children. They miss you terribly.

How do you know this? I inquired.

I take them to town every day for sweet candy and you are all they speak of. Poor Elliot is afraid you have some dreaded disease. I tried to assure him that you are fine but he insists that I am a liar. That son of yours is some kind of mind reader. After all, I was dishonest. You have a disease. You do have vampox. If you would just drink, get out of bed, and join us back in the world, your children would not be so out of sorts.

I want to do what John wants me to do.

John knows nothing at all. He is starving you because he is scared and unprepared. He tried to bite you the day he woke from being infected. Why should you wait days to drink? John and I did not wait. We drank. We drank to our bellies were full.

I am always skeptical when William took an interest in anything other than William. Why did you come here?

Whatever do you mean? He simply said. Emerald, I wanted to make sure you were well, that your transformation went off without a hitch. I look in on you every day. You just never took notice.

Why? A completely justifiable question, William only cares about William. What could he gain by looking in on my progression as a vampire?

Why not? I have my reasons. William winked. You are one of us now. You are my blood sister. We are all descendants of Alessandro.

William’s proclamation seemed sincere. For once I was not repulsed by him. I do not know what to do. I was confused, should I drink blood or should I not?

First you need to go out into the sunlight. You have some humanity left within you. You should go out in the light of day once more before the sunlight starts to annoy your skin. The annoyance goes away after time.

Why are you telling me these things?

I know that my brother has not. He wants to treat you like a child. You are not a child. You are one of us now. You are a vampire. I treated you like a slave when you were a slave. I treated you like a Negro when you were a Negro. Now you are a vampire and I will treat you as such. You are now my equal.

I could not believe my new vampire ears. The evil, racist, monster I call William finally regarded me as his equal. I shall mark this day for future reference. I cannot disappoint John. He wants me to stay in bed.

William took one step closer and knelt down to gaze my eyes. Stay in bed, think about what I have said. Tomorrow I will fetch a cup from the kitchen and bring you the blood of a chicken. You can drink it if you fancy. If not, that will be up to you. You will have to drink eventually. Why postpone what is inevitable? Think about it. I will see you at nightfall.

William stood. He moved so fast out the door I almost missed his expedient departure. I have many things to think about. I chose to be made a vampire. I have to live with this new life. I cannot help but remember the day I met John, the day I came to this plantation. It was seven years ago. I was just a girl. I am now a twenty-two-year-old vampire. I think of this as my lids grow heavy and I drift into a slumber with this annoying burning in my throat.

I slept the day away. At nightfall, John left me alone. I presume he went out to hunt for blood. I sat in our room and wondered if William would return like he said he would. Earlier today was one of the only times I could stomach him. He was not the horses' ass that he usually was when in my presence.

There was a knock on the door. The door opened and I already knew it was William. I did not know why I knew this. I just did. He entered bearing a tin cup from the kitchen. I sat up in the bed.

I have what I promised. William took a seat on the edge of the bed. I could smell the blood. It was all I could think of at that moment.

Is it the blood of a chicken? I asked in order to make sure it was not human.

Yes, it is cold. It was the best I could do. I did not want to warm it in the kitchen. Lottie Belle is cleaning at this late hour. Here sip.

William raised the cup to my lips and I took it from his hands. I tilted the cup to my lips and the smell was inviting. When the blood touched my lips I felt a sensation that begged me to tip the cup upwards. I did and the cold blood ran over my tongue and down my parched throat. The taste was pure divinity. I was lost in the pleasure of it all. I could not put the cup down until I devoured every precious drop. As soon as I was done, I realized I felt strange. I felt uncomfortable. While I was consumed with the pleasure of the chicken blood William had untied my dressing gown and placed his hand inside the gown and onto my breast. He had a firm grip on my nipple and when I looked at him, his vampire eyes were glowing.

William! I barked.

He exposed his vampire teeth but held firm to my breast. William! I tried to remove his hand. He looked at me and let go. I hurried to cover myself. I was ashamed I had been tricked by William yet again. Why did he employ so much time tormenting me? Now I was a vampire and he still treated me like a child's toy.

You should calm yourself. I had no choice. You were enjoying yourself. I felt the urge to do the same. He flashed an excessively evil grin.

I demand that you leave this room at once.

You demand. William smiled that mischievous smile that I hated more than anything living or dead.

Leave William, I demanded. I would like for you to leave me at once.

If that is what you would like. William grinned and dashed out the door so fast that only a vampire could see his quick motion. When will I learn? The human William could never be trusted? Now vampire William can never be trusted. Now that I have tasted blood I feel stronger. If that is what a cup full of chicken blood feels like I wonder if I had more. Maybe I could just drink from animals. Maybe I will never have to taste human blood. Maybe I will never have to kill a living person.

Sooner than I expected the thirst began to scratch at my throat. It had only been seven days. All I could think about was the chicken blood William brought nights before. I was thirsty and tonight I would go out and hunt with John. John told me that I should try to consume as much blood as possible. He wanted me to be confident that I would not harm any of our human family members. I would kill myself if I ever harmed one of our children. I must remember to ask John how it would be possible for a vampire to commit suicide. I wonder if he would tell me.

The night came as it always does. John was at my side as we crept out the house and walked down the road that led away from the big house and into town.

Are you frightened? He asked.

Frightened, no I do not think that I am. I feel more excited.

This is good.

The vampire body and mind gave me a confidence that I never had before. Fear was a thought that was so distant in my memories. It was hard to remember what the emotion of fear was akin to. We walked hand in hand.

Tonight I should show you how to sneak up on your prey, John revealed his plan for me.

What do you mean? I hastily dropped his hand and stopped walking alongside him.

John turned toward me. I will just show you what to do. We can come back out tomorrow and actually kill something.

Why have you changed your mind? I began to get agitated.

Em, I have not changed my mind.

What is it then? I am ready to drink blood.

What is the rush? You have gone all these days without blood, why not one more day?

John I am thirsty, thirsty for blood. I want blood now!

Calm down. He commanded.

I will not! My vampire defiance gave me courage.

Fine, I will find some small animal for us to kill.

I do not want an animal. I want human blood. I have had animal blood. I confessed through clenched teeth.

What? What do you mean?

I had to be honest. William fed me blood.

William, when? John shook his head in disbelief.

A few nights ago, I did not want to tell John. I had no choice. I was tired of John treating me like a fragile human. I was a strong invincible vampire now. I was the same as him.

That bastard! John growled.

John that no longer matters, are you taking me hunting?

John looked up at the sky and then back at me before shaking his head one last time. Yes, we are going hunting. John took off sprinting across the flatland and toward a small row of tiny cabins. I quickly dashed behind him unaware of our final destination. Our speed was so fast sometimes we flew above the ground. I was oblivious to my new powers. The feeling was exhilarating and beyond human explanation. Suddenly John stopped running.

Why did we stop? I asked as I came to a halt a few feet behind John.

John ducked behind a tree. Look, there, near the last cabin.

I focused and finally I saw a young Negro boy of about seventeen years. He was gathering wood. I see.

We can feed on him, John instructed.

Why him? I asked while waiting for his answer.

Why not him?

He is a Negro.

Yes, I can see that.

"So before you turned me you would prey on Negros?

John paused as if to think about his answer. Yes, I drink indiscriminately.

Is that so? I spewed venom.

Em, it is a matter of convenience and availability.

Huh, I shrugged his logic off my shoulders.

Why do you ask me this and why are you up in arms?

I could not believe he was completely unaware of the direction this conversation was headed. I ask because I find it appalling that you would drink from and kill Negros.

What do you mean? I drink and kill any and all humans. John said without a doubt and with such certainty.

I cannot stand for that. Words I meant more than I could say.

John placed his hand on my shoulder. Emerald you will lose all your humanity. You are no longer human. I find your compassion for the weak admirable but a waste of your compassion all the same. All humans are the same to me.

Not to me. I will never kill a human Negro. I think the Negro has been through enough. I will never kill a Negro.

Never? Never? John twisted his lips.

That is what I have said.

And so it is so, she who does not drink of the Negro. He tried to control his inner laughter.

This is no time for your poetic words.

Well if you wish for me to do the same, I will not kill any human Negros.

I am glad you have reached this conclusion. I would have forbidden you to kill a Negro at any cost.

I cannot promise I will not drink from them. If the thirst has overwhelmed me and one is readily available I will drink, not kill. So do you want to find a white human to kill?

Maybe I will just drink from an animal.

Male or female which do you prefer? He taunted.

I refused to answer his question. I followed as he led me to a barn where I feasted on a few live chickens. John complained. He had been a vampire for three years and chicken blood was not at all to his liking. We arrived home before daylight and slept through the day. This was a routine I had adapted.

It had been three years since John had been turned into a vampire and now I was a vampire. I had been a vampire for only two months and it felt strange. John told me this feeling would leave me soon as I got used to the new creature I had become. I waited until night to take a walk alone on the grounds of the plantation. I was different now. I was no longer human. I walked to reflect on the past and try to sort out the future. I walked by the little cabin where Cutter used to live. I wonder if he is still alive. I wonder if I will be able to live with this disease. I thought that I was the only one walking around but much to my surprise I was not alone. There in the distance was Kattie walking along the path. Now when I see Kattie I no longer despise her. This vampox has changed me in so many ways. Things were different now. I was different now. When I was a slave I felt Kattie and I was equal. There were some differences of course. I was an educated Negro. Kattie and I could both be bought and sold not long ago. There was a time we were both without our freedom. Even though we were both now free, Kattie is a Negro without any rights. Now I feel I know what it feels like to be white folks. I am superior because I am a vampire. All humans are inferior. This is how most whites felt about Negro slaves and this is how I now feel about all humans. She looked so sad. I knew she missed Cutter and