The Blood that Bonds by Christopher Buecheler

Author:Christopher Buecheler
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: blood
Publisher: Christopher Buecheler
Published: 2010-08-20T07:00:00+00:00

* * *

Three and a half hours had passed since Theroen’s departure. The hunger was gnawing at Two, but she was afraid to leave her room. Afraid that Missy might be waiting for her, might be looking to show off the awful progeny she was creating. Would her blood taint the girl’s mind? Would she and Theroen find themselves now the only sane beings in an even larger brood of vampires?

The door to her room opened. Two whirled, expecting Missy, unsure of what she might do to avoid confrontation. Theroen stood there instead, looking at her, calm as ever. “You waited.”

“You... we... there’s a problem, Theroen. It’s bad. Really bad. Something really bad is happening.”

Theroen nodded. His expression didn’t change. “I am aware of it.”

“But you didn’t stop it?”

“I wasn’t able to. I was with Abraham. I believe he knew.”

He came into the room, sat down in a chair, looked out the window. Two waited for him to explain.

“There is nothing to explain,” Theroen said after a while. “Abraham knew, yes. I’m sure of it. He knew where Missy was, and what she was doing, and now there’s another half-vampire lying unconscious in a cell in the basement, and Melissa’s been crying for the past hour.”

“Melissa?”

“Missy let her back in, as soon as she’d done it. Melissa woke up naked, lying next to the girl. It didn’t take her long to figure out what had happened, but she couldn’t make herself kill the girl. Perhaps it’s maternal instinct. Perhaps it is Missy exerting her will. I do not know, but Samantha is her child now.”

“Couldn’t she just leave? You said that half-vampires eventually revert.”

“They do. It doesn’t matter. They are bonded now. What will the girl do, if we take her somewhere and leave her lying unconscious? She will wake up and return home. Missy will eventually wrest control of the body away from Melissa. When she does, she will go to the area of the city where the girl lives. Tracking her from there will be simple.”

“So what do we do?”

Theroen laughed. There was little humor in the sound. “Yes. What do we do? We go hunting. Then I go to Abraham and tell him what he already knows, and find out how he wishes me to proceed.”

“Would he care?”

“I do not know. The possibility exists that this is some sort of test, or lesson, or final parting gift. He might tell me to do nothing. He might tell me to slaughter the girl. To be honest, I’m not sure what the best course of action is. He may have arranged this entire event, that he might exercise one last bit of control over me before I abandon him forever.”

“Would you do it?”

Theroen’s gaze did not leave the window. He shrugged. “She might well be better off. Melissa would certainly be better off. In truth, it might be better for all involved if my parting gift to Abraham was to slaughter those of his descendents whom I am not taking with me.

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