Buried Bloodline

By Vera Volpe

Solstice lives in a future lourded over by vampire like beings called the Varkin. These beings ruthlessly demand respect but give none. They feed on and kill people without discrimination and even control how the human world is run. Everyone wants an end to this viciousness, but that seems impossible concidering who they are up against.
A previous unknown source begins to turn things around though. Solstice and her friends are unwittingly a part of it. They meet mysterious people that unveil an agenda to change Varkin ways. This agenda reveals buried secrets, a past empire, and an unknown bloodline. With thier help and help from unexpected allies (some being mythical), Solstice and her friends try to unravel the Varkin.
They hope that this quest is not unreachable. They hope that only minor blood lost will occur. The past, however, presents a vastly different story they are not prepared for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: Dec 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662932274

Book preview

1

IT WAS THE year 3010. Solstice looked up to see a carrier plane fly over. She held a box of pizza she ordered a while ago. She needed to get a new pair of jeans too. She hated to spend so much money in one day, but really had no choice. A rip was across the butt of her old ones. She wondered what she did to make the rip appear across the denim, but they were worn out anyway. She had thought about just re-sewing them. But it would still look bad. The repaired rip would stand out even more. So her and her close friend Tess, were walking to a nearby shop to look around at new jeans. Solstice winced when she thought about what the price tag would probably say.

You know, we can catch a ride and go to that thrift store the Varkin and the Elite dump their old stuff at. You know they are super rich and you can probably find designer jeans there. Tess said. Remember the last time we went, I got this headband. She pointed to her headband holding back her black curly hair. The headband was aqua blue with pretty crystals all over it. And didn’t you pick up a purple tank top there? She asked.

Solstice frowned. Yeah but my grandma wouldn’t let me wear it. She said it showed too much of my fair skin. I should have known as much. You know how she is.

Tess nodded. Yeah. Well your too pale of skin does stand out.

Wow, thanks for the compliment echoed Solstice sarcastically, while glancing over to Tess’s perfect coffee toasted skin.

I’m just saying… Tess stopped at the store’s door. They went inside and instantly felt relief from the cool air conditioning. It had been muggy outside from recent rain.

Their eyes adjusted to the pretty clothes everywhere.

Oh look, said Solstice. She pointed to a clothes rack. There are some jeans on sale over there. I hope its a good sale, she said, as she walked towards it. I’m pretty poor this week. You know, I can’t afford the extra o or the r in the word. So I’m just po.

Tess gave a nod. Been there, done that. Oh, wait. I’m still there… and still doing that. She grimaced.

Solstice commented, I just don’t feel like venturing too far out of our district today. I’ve had this strange feeling all day. She had reached the sale rack. She looked at the different jeans hanging on it. She found a pair of dark denim jeans. The darker they were, the better they would hide any dirt or stains she was sure she would accumulate.

She took them to the dressing room. Once inside, she typed in their code on a wall screen. Solstice turned toward a full, three way mirror in front of her that took in her measurements. The jeans appeared superimposed on her. Side analysis confirmed how well they fit her body.

Solstice was pleased, so she carried them to the cashier. She tapped her index finger on a small black pad on the desk. It read her credit information. It chimed and the cashier smiled.

She slid the folded jeans on the counter toward Solstice. I’m sorry, she said, but we are out of bags today.

Ok. Solstice slid them on top of her pizza box.

She would have to make do. They left the cool, dry shop to join the humid humidity outside.

Her arms were full, and she was trying to watch out for pot holes in the road. She avoided getting splattered with dirty water. And the pizza deffinately needed to stay dry. The jeans she could wash. Tess was already ahead of her.

Come on, slow poke, taunted Tess as her hair bounced across her forehead. She paused to push it back under her headband.

Uh, do you not see the stuff in my arms? asked Solstice. You know, these things that are off balancing me and are also, by the way, blocking my field of vision? Solstice’s blue eyes bugged out in exaggeration. And her hair now was falling down from her baseball cap. She added, Tess your being too sharky. Slow down. What’s gotten into you?"

Well, it’s getting darker out, and you know who likes to slither out the most at night.

Yeah, yeah. But so do the addicts and prostitutes. They all make for easier targets to drain.

True, said Tess, But we are prime targets to call attention to. You know, like prime meat. And look around…we smell a lot better than most of these people. So hurry your prime meat ass up! Solstice glared at Tess, How about giving me a hand here? Tess humphed, but scurried back to unload the pizza box from her.

Just let’s…hurry up! Tess seethed.

Tess and Solstice were indeed in their prime now. They were expected to start careers. That’s what others did at their point in life. Master a career to make a living to stay unremarkable to the Varkin. A few people managed to have decent lives. Tess was good with herbs and Solstice was a good councilor. She didn’t really know where to go from there. Her family was the unmotivated kind. They still lived in the old trailer her grandmother grew up in. And her grandmother’s grandmother grew up in. It was amazing it was still standing. Her and her father lived with her grandmother.

Money was carefully alloted, but it wasn’t extremely tight. It was rare to have an operational television or a computer. Devices kept blowing out or just stopped working.

Grandma blamed it on their old electrical box.

But never mentioned getting it fixed.

Solstice did have an NFC implant for phone communications. The reciever was implanted in her ear and the microphone was implemented in the fatty base of her right thumb. It operated through a combination of Wi-Fi and the natural energy inside her body.

News was still hard to come by, but her grandma knew that in the past years, things seemed to be improving in regards to the murders carried out by the Varkin.

Solstice sarcastically gasped at that one when granny had mentioned it. So now it’s only a leg or arm savaged now, not the whole body? Or maybe three deaths a month instead of five? She remembered that day. Her grandmother looked away in frustration after Solstice said that. Granny sighed and murmered, It’s better than nothing. We just have to hold on to what is given.

Even though she related this positive news to Solstice, her grandmother was very careful about the Varkin. She was adamant about not drawing attention to themselves in any way. Unnecessary excess brings Varkin close, she would crone. So, fancy clothes and makeup were outlawed by Granny. She even insisted on Solstice covering her head with a hat. And cover as much skin as possible. Long pants, long sleeves. And a handkerchief over her mouth and nose… of which Solstice only wore while in the presence of grandmother.

Granny would always say, Any revealing skin attracts the Varkin.

Okay, granny, Sostice muttered, but most other people don’t go so far as to wear hats or cover their faces. But when Solstice had countered with this, her grandmother’s gaze shot up sharply.

And those other people are found dead and drained! In the streets and back alleys all the time! You know that!

So, Solstice did not argue with her much more. She did see the terror Varkin brought around her district. Their appetite for human blood was ridiculous. They could feed off of animals like humans did. But far too many took advantage of their strength, and all their morals went to hell. It was nothing for them to snatch up a victim off the street.

People were scared. Solstice would daydream of becoming successful in helping people cope with things. And dealing with the Varkin. Making them feel better about things, and how to avoid getting involved with the Varkin. Like a cross between a therapist and coach. Solstice had the knack of feeling the emotions of other people.

People were drawn to her to talk… She knew their inner depths and knew what to say to them in return. She had even gotten a following and a reputation. (Granny unawares. Granny wouldn’t approve of her attracting attention).

People would donate a few credits or items to Solstice if possible. But folks didn’t have the money to pay someone to talk about their feelings in her district. They didn’t in most districts. If someone did, they were part of the uppercrust that lived in the elite districts. Those were usually people involved in the higher management of corporations, organizations, and government. People that the Varkin could tempt with money in exchange for maintaining a tighter grip on how things ran. And Solstice would think, ‘As if threatening to sink massive fangs in the jugular was not enough to convince in the first place.’ She sighed. ‘It’s all red tape’, she thought. So Varkin could claim innocence…she imagined a beautiful, pompous Varkin with expertly tailored clothes, wearing an innocent expression. He would exclaim, "We did not make the laws.

The laws were all made by the humans themselves." while a drained, bloody corpse of a beggar lay at his feet. ‘Thus’, Solstice thought, ‘humanity remains the cattle. Figuratively and lit eraIly’.

Tess and Solstice came to an intersection. They paused to let someone on a hover mopad go by. Solstice gazed down. Her eyes blurred, and an uncomfortable feeling washed over her. Tess walked forward but turned when she realized her friend was not behind her. Solstice?

Umm…1 just got another bad feeling. Let’s go this way, she looked up and pointed to where the street turned left. Tess turned her head and saw that part of the street was cluttered with people.

No, come on, we both live only a couple blocks away straight ahead… While she spoke, an argument broke out on the corner ahead of them. A man abruptly turned toward them, only to be forcibly slung back by his hair in mid­ stride. He was thrown hard on his back by the man behind him. The man behind him had blonde hair that was slicked back, and had strong aristocratic features. His pale gray eyes fixed on the man he had pulled back. That man was now on the ground. The angry man made a low throaty grumble. You ignore me?

No! Protested the man on his back. Solstice could see him shaking. I already said I don’t have… his reply was cut off. He was jerked up like a washcloth by the other man. The aristocratic man’s jaw elongated. Solstice jolted. A Varkin, she whispered. Solstice saw inner fangs slide out behind his teeth as his mouth stretched to wrap around the other man’s jugular. When his fangs found purchase there, he suddenly ripped away from the floundering man. Red blood and pink tissue sprayed around them. The poor man started to slide down, but was hauled up again. The Varkin’s eyes turned toward Solstice and Tess for a second. Solstice stopped breathing. But he grasped the man’s forearm and shoved it in his gaping maw. The Varkins’ eyes rolled back into his head with obvious pleasure as he drained the man. His nails had grown out into curved claws, puncturing the skin of his victim further. The victim spasmed as the Varkin continued to feed. Blood slowly trailed down the victims arm and chest. Carnage from the throat splat on the cement.

Solstice stood entranced by the gory spectacle. The screams of the mass of people beside her snapped her back to the present. Her arms clasped to the jeans at her chest. Tess dropped the pizza and grabbed Solstice’s wrist. She pulled them to the left, toward the fleeing, screaming people, hoping to get lost in the mayhem. They ran.

After a block, they slowed to a stop to rest against a building. They were panting. Tess leaned her back to the building, her head thrown back gasping. She closed her eyes. Her head was pounding. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

Solstice leaned over with her hands on her knees. After sucking in several breaths, she was surprised to see that she still had the jeans in her white knuckled hand. She didn’t realize she was still clutching them. Once they started running, all she could think of was to get away.

She glanced up at Tess. I can never get used to seeing one of those bastards rip one of us a part… she panted again. Every time…l still can’t separate from the thoughts of the victim either. That monster ripped away his windpipe first thing. So the guy couldn’t even scream. I saw his sudden life flashes. She sucked in more breath and continued, then the feeling. His feelings…the overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. That Varkin needs to be impaled and hung out to dry. Fucker.

Tess looked down at Solstice’s hunched back. Was she going into shock? Solstice was talking clearly though. Then she thought of herself.

Maybe she was going into shock herself. She was the one not talking, and not fully processing what had just happened. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her standing. That would run out eventually. They needed to get back home.

Tess grabbed Solstices’s shoulder to urge her to stand back up. "We are far enough away now.

She hooked her arm through Solstices and propelled them forward into a stumbling walk. They walked leaning onto each other going zig zag. Solstice almost said something but Tess cut her off. Don’t talk right now. Conserve your energy. We still have a couple of blocks to walk. She said.

Solstice knew she was right. She concentrated on making slow, deep breaths. Like she did when she meditated. Soon her headache went away.

She looked up at Tess. Tess did not meditate, as she stuck to herbs and learning about them.

Color therapy came to mind though.

Blue. she said to Tess as they walked. What? asked Tess, confused. Did you say the color blue?

Solstice gave a nod. Think of the color blue. It helps to calm you.

Tess hesitated. She was far too tired to ask questions. But she knew Solstice was into holistic health. So she trusted her cure. Tess cleared her mind and thought of nothing but blue.

2

THEY CONTINUED TO walk in silence. Both of their feet were sore. Solstice figured she had worn a hole in the bottom of her old walking shoes.

They finally reached Solstice’s trailer. The entrance to her door was paved with gravel. The little pebbles shifted as they crept closer. She almost lost her balance. She grabbed onto the door molding as they approached. She turned to Tess. They embraced each other before departing.

When is it going to end, Tess? It’s slowing down, but it just needs to stop completely. When are we going to be able to walk down the street without the fear of being gutted and drained? Solstice pulled away from Tess to look her in the eyes. Tess’s face was stained with tears.

Strands of her black hair clung to her forehead. I wish I knew. I wish I could know that hope. She hung her head. She turned to stumble to her tiny apartment her and her aunt lived in a little further down the road.

Tess, you alright to walk back yourself? Yeah… I feel like a zombie right now, but I’ll make it. She stumbled off. Solstice watched her reach her apartment door. Tess shambled in, closing the door behind her. Solstice turned toward her own door again and paused. She looked down at the balled up jeans she still carried. Tess had ditched the pizza way back. Well, she murmured to herself. I’ll be hungry, but I won’t be naked." She opened the squeaky door.

When she was in, she shut the door leaned back against it. It felt so good to finally be home. It had seemed so far away. She looked around.

She saw the fridge and thought how good a glass of cold juice would taste. But she felt so sluggish. Her muscles were so tense. She saw the kitchen table and chairs. Thoughts of making it to the fridge disappeared. She went forward and collapsed in a chair. She layed her head on her folded arms on the table. The horrors she saw that day would not stop evading her mind. Nevertheless, she did drift into a deep nap.

She dreamed of being in a smoke filled room with glitter cascading around her. A golden…bird?…dinosaur? flew around her.

Visions of people wearing decorative masks danced around her. The women were all in huge ball gowns of different colors. The men wore velvet and silk suits. Beautiful gems and designs were sewn onto them.

Lacey black fabric wafted over her eyes. She felt a subtle breeze. She scratched at the black lace fabric and pulled it down off of her head. The people were smiling and twirling around her. But they scared her. Why did they scare her so? They all offered her glasses of…wine? But she refused them. So they all laughed at her and threw the wine onto her. One person after another tossed thier wine on her. A heavy berry smell from the wine engulfed her.

She woke up with a start. The potent smell of spiced tea stirred her into awareness. The memory of the attacking Varkin came slithering back to her conscious. Her grandmother set a cup in front of her. Solstice slowly unfurled her arms and sat up.

You were asleep for a while. Uttered her grandmother. I didn’t want you to keep sleeping in that position. I know you already had a hard day…didn’t think you’d want to wake up with more aches. Solstice grasped the warm tea in her palms. She looked up at her grandmother with a questioning look.

Nadine next door saw you stumble inside. She told me about the Varkin attack. We put the two together….. Granny cleared her throat. I made some tea to help sooth your anxiety. Your father went off to the grocery to get some soup ingredients. For tonight’s supper.

It would take a lot more than tea to sort out her anxieties. She took a sip anyway. Tess would be telling her to add chamomile for rest. She remembered her telling Solstice that before. But the soup did not sound bad right now. It would be gentle on her already protesting stomach.

Not too much to digest.

Her grandmother sat down in front of her with her own cup of tea. She looked down and ran her free hand over the smooth surface of the table.

She gazed out the window and back to Solstice. She forced a smile. I’m glad your back home and are awake now. I was worried…l did not see any outer injuries on you, but wasn’t satisfied until you woke. How do you feel? Do your inners feel normaI?

‘Inners?’ Thought Solstice. ‘What an odd question.’ Afterall, she was not the one attacked. She wasnt the one with a ripped out trechea. She recalled the vivid blood and bare neck tendons hanging from the victim. And how the Varkin looked like he was in the lap of luxury when he drank. It was all so violent. He even looked at her and Tess for the briefest of second. So creepy. It had been many years since she saw a Varkin attack in action. She was used to seeing drained, pasty corpses that were left afterwards. She breathed out a sigh. She was so glad Tess was with her. She didn’t know what she would have done. She had been frozen.

Her granny patted one of