The Ranger

  It had taken a second to realize something was wrong. Alice and Lucas had started arguing at the flirting from the vampire, so she hadn't thought much of it when Kaisa didn't say anything. But Myla had realized her eyes weren't focused on them, it was like she was watching something behind her friends. She had tried to get her attention three times, increasing in volume until Alice and Lucas noticed something was wrong. It now felt like a mistake to reach up and touch her shoulder.

  She froze when Kasia's head snapped around at her touch, growing still when she saw the hand grabbing hers had claws. Then the claws were gone and Kasia had an unfamiliar look on her face as she rapidly tried to speak, “S-s-sorry I- Sorry I just- I- sorry I didn't- I didn't mean-” Kasia took a breath, “Shit. Shirt, I-I should get- I should…” And in a blink the vampire was gone, the bedroom door closing noisily behind her. After a pause Alice breathed out, “What just happened?” Myla was watching the door, “I… have no idea. She's never… I haven't had her space on me like that or…”

  Lucas was watching the door too, “My grandpa gets like that too.” Both women looked at him and he shrugged awkwardly, “It's um… he gets flashbacks to the Emergence and the wars. Always looks like he's seeing something you're not. Dunno where she was but I bet it wasn't good.” Alice planted her hands on her hips, “Ok Freud, and what could have caused that?” He frowned, “I said it reminded me of grandpa's looks, not that I know what's going on. I don't know the woman. Myla?”

  She gave a helpless shrug, “She's a veteran but we weren't exactly doing anything that might… I dunno trigger something or whatever? I don't think? I'm as lost as you two here.” She hesitated then gestured at the couch, “Why don't you two have a seat and put something on. I'll go talk to her and… well I'll go talk to her.” Lucas nodded and grabbed the controller. Alice touched her arm, “Hold on.” She took hold of her wrist and turned her arm over. Thin red lines of blood left by the claws gleamed in the light

  Alice asked softly, “Are you sure it's safe?” Myla nodded, “Yeah. Well maybe I'll clean this off first, but yeah.” Alice frowned, “But-” Myla lifted a hand to cut her off, “I'm fine. And I'll be fine. Go sit, I'll be back in a minute.” Cleaning her arm was quick. She was barely even cut really, it was just thin lines that had already stopped bleeding before she was even done. It didn't even hurt. But what had set her off? Was it a flashback? Or was it something else? She stopped outside the bedroom door and knocked.

  She didn't get an answer but slowly tried the door anyway. It wasn't locked. She opened it part way, moving carefully in case she was actually changing and was just taking her time, “Hey. It's me. I'm coming in ok?” Kasia didn't answer. She found the vampire sitting in a corner with her arms wrapped around her legs, her face hidden behind her knees. Myla shut the door gently behind herself before approaching the vampire cautiously. “Hey Katarzyna. Do you mind if I join you?” She didn't think she was going to get any answer until she saw the slight shake of the small woman's head.

  Myla took that as permission and carefully sat down next to her. She was such a small thing and looked so fragile like this. She let Kasia have a moment like that before finally asking, “Do you… want to talk about it?” She let the vampire take her time in answering. Finally she loosened her grip on her own legs slightly, “No. But… I didn't mean to… I'm sorry.” Myla smiled, “For what? No one got hurt.” Kasia peaked out from her arms, “I could have taken your arm off.” She shrugged, “We could reattach it. Modern medicine is a real wonder you know.”

  She buried her face deeper into her knees, “I'm still sorry. I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have stayed here at all.” Myla tried not to jump to conclusions and instead asked, “Why? Did you expect this to happen?” She shook her head without raising it, “No. Not really. It's… not something you expect. Not… something you can plan for.” She slowly nodded, “Ok. Was it something we said that caused this? Something we did?” Kasia finally raised her head, revealing red rimmed eyes and a runny nose.

  Myla almost laughed, would have if only this wasn't a serious conversation. Instead she grabbed tissues off the night stand as Kasia spoke, “No. It's nothing you guys did. It was just… me. Stars, your friends are gonna think I'm crazy.” She blew her nose, “Introduce myself, flirt, then have a fucking episode on the spot.” Myla wanted to disagree but knew that would fall on deaf ears right now. Instead she wrapped an arm around her shoulders gently, “Hey, it's alright. They're both idiots, they don't get to judge you anyway.”

  That got a short, rough laugh out of Kasia. Another pause and the vampire sighed before leaning into her, “This started as such a good night too.” Myla shrugged, “It can still be recovered. A couple drinks, dinner and a movie, and all will be back on track. But… um can I ask, what did cause this?” Kasia hesitated but answered, “It's… complicated. My bloodline, the vampiric one? It's cursed. We're… well we're haunted.” Myla frowned, “By what?” Kasia shook her head, “Please, don't pry. Not into this.”

  She felt Kasia shudder, “They come sometimes and whisper to me. Cruel things. I hate them and they hate me. That's all I want to say about it.” She curled up again but was letting herself be comforted. Myla stroked her hair, “Ok. That's ok, we don't need to discuss them. But I need to know what to do when that happens. It's going to happen again, right?” Kasia shivered, “It's been getting more frequent since I came to town. Yeah ok. Don't let anyone else touch me. I might kill them. But you, you have two choices. Either grab my hands or my face.”

  Kasia shifted in her arms, lifted a hand to study it, “Get me to look you in the eye or at our hands. Talk to me while you do it. It helps me focus past it. I don't know why that works, but it does. If I like the person doing it at least. I do like you. I don't know you that well though, and you don't really know me yet either.” She uncurled finally and took off the apron. She looked down at herself glumly, “I want to change that, over time. But we aren't promised to each other, and I'm much more careful with my trust than my bed. I want to know you. I just don't yet.”

  Myla tried not to grit her teeth. She knew that. Of course she did. Kasia didn't need to say it out loud though. Or maybe she did. Myla could live with that for now. Kasia offered up a compromise, “I'll um… stop flirting with your friends. If you want. I'll admit I don't want to but it's fair so I'll do it.” She sighed, “At least keep it to a minimum in front of me? Flirting in general I mean.” Kasia grinned, “I might get a bit feral with you if I do that.” Myla snorted, “You aren't already? I swear, you need to slow down a bit. You don't need to make up for a century in a week.”

  The vampire laughed, “Now that I don't think I can do. I'm rather bored right now you see. No books to read. The light from that projector thing bothers my eyes after awhile, so I can't stay on that for long. The music is nice but what good is music without a partner to dance with?” She blinked at the small woman looking at a still bloody shirt full of holes, “Ah. Right, down to one set of clothes. I'll need to go shopping once the sheriff gets back to me with whatever funds I'm being given to get started.”

  Myla stood up and went over to her dresser, “You have sensitive eyes huh? You could watch TV. I'm told it's easier on the eyes than projectors, something built in for para beings like you ” Kasia blinked, “I… huh. I guess I could? I'll have to see if that screen bothers my eyes, but if they made it for people like me….” She held out a shirt to Kasia while she mourned her lost clothes, “Here, borrow mine. There's audiobooks now too. People record themselves reading the books, the good ones do voices.”

  Kasia perked up and accepted the shirt, “Like radio plays! I loved those, when they were running at least. Amazing what pirate radio stations got their hands on during the Soviet occupation.” She pulled it on and eyed the graphic on the front, “I think I like these shirts of yours. They're less boring than what I usually wear. Use to wear. Anyway, I'll give that a try. But sex is so much more fun.” She gave Myla a mischievous smile, “I bet we could manage to do it before the other two come to see if something is wrong.”

  Myla rolled her eyes, “Would you actually even want to right now? Teasing aside?” Kasia's smile drained away, “No. Maybe later? But you're right, not right now.” Then her smile was back, quieter this time, “Unless we invite the other two, my rule of thumb is to never turn down foursomes.” Myla made a face but decided to play along with the teasing, “I'm not having a foursome with Lucas.” Kasia laughed softly, “What, don't like him? Or is it because he's a him? If so, I'll gladly take that spear so you don't have to. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes and I'll have him snoring and we'll have Alice all to ourselves.”

  Myla shook her head bemused, “I don't even want him thinking about me naked, let alone have him see it. And Alice would never, she’s too…” She trailed off as the fanged smile made her wonder if she said too much. “So it's him that's the issue? I can work with that. He's making it easy anyway, did you see the look on her face when he flirted with me?” Myla shook her head, "You're no better than a man, stuck with a one track mind.” The vampire shrugged and laid on the bed, “Didn't hear you complaining last night.”

  Myla chuckled and sat next to her, “No I didn't. But slowing down isn't a bad thing right? Maybe we could go on an actual date while we're at it.” Kasia was quiet before she nodded slightly, “Yeah, we skipped a lot of steps huh? Sorry, I'm not real good at following rules. Should I track down your father for permission to court you then?” Myla laughed, “No, because I'm not a noble lady from the fourteen hundreds.” She studied the worn expression on her face. Was it her being tired? Nostalgia?

  She was still learning to read the vampire who was sighing on her bed, “Thank God for that. My husband having to ask my father to let him marry me was so stupid. Not only had we been together for a year before that, I was already a couple months pregnant and we all knew it. Why bother with the formality after that, he should have just been happy I was with an honest man.” Myla decided it might be grief instead of nostalgia. She gently touched Kasia's hand, “Can I ask about them? Your family I mean.”

  The vampire didn't pull away at least. Her skin was cool, not cold or even room temperature, but cooler than a living person. And it was soft, silky smooth under her touch. Kasia spoke in a wistful tone, “They were dead before I was turned. It's not a pleasant story, but I've had a long time to come to terms with it so if you want to know then you can ask. But we did leave your friends out on the couch, we've already been in here for awhile. It'll be rude to leave them there all night.” Myla sighed and started to stand, “Sure we…” She stopped when Kasia gently grabbed her hand.

  She felt cool fingers worm their way between her own, “I'm not avoiding the question. I'll tell you the story any other time you ask, it's a depressing story but it's also my oldest one. A wound long scarred. I just feel bad taking you away from what should have been a relaxing night for this. So go, tell them I'm sorry for making a scene and that I'll be out in a couple minutes. I just want a few minutes to not look like I was crying.” She hesitated, “I didn’t think you were avoiding it. And I want you to know you can take things at your own pace. You don’t need to rush into everything all at once.” The vampire laughed and let go of her hand, “I guess not.”

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  She shrugged, “Sorry, I’m kind of a mess right now. Everything seems so new, like I’ve entered some fantasy world where nothing is real. Your technology is doing what I learned magic to do without the need for a second thought or a day of real training. You were just raised on it all. Just being able to make phone calls from anywhere is… I feel like it’s too much power? Is that weird?” Myla could only laugh, “Kinda yeah. But that’s ok. You’re just old.” She groaned, “Oh stars save me I am. Please don’t think about that too much. You might have enough fae in you that we’ll know each other for a long time either way.”

  Myla felt the blush creeping up her neck, “You planning ahead already?” Kasia stared at the ceiling like she was looking for an answer there. She spoke softly, “A hundred years. It’s what Shizun Luo taught me, always think a hundred years in the future. It’s how you don’t lose yourself to the march of time. Ask yourself, will I regret this in a hundred years? Will I look back and remember what I missed or what I did?” She held her hand up to the sky, “Live for today. Enjoy what is in front of you. Do what you can to live, not just survive. Jesus girl, look at us talking about heavy topics?”

  Her hand dropped to the bed, “Go. Sit with your friends and have fun. I’ll join you guys in a few minutes.” Myla finally nodded and slipped out of the room. She closed the door quietly and took a moment to herself. She listened to the movie, some vintage vampire thing from the twenty twenties. They had watched it before, it was a halloween regular with their friend group. They always watched horror movies at the parties during this month. She was going to get so much shit for not telling them a fraction of what they talked about. She could hear them gossiping already.

  They were as bad as Kasia, jumping into the gutter. She watched them gossip. A hundred years huh? Dad said the same thing. Papa too. How would she look back at this in a hundred years? Her biggest mistake? The best thing that ever happened to her? Was this what would make living in this town less boring? Maybe there's a reason why so many immortals are depressed, letting themselves be dictated by tomorrow. Still, it's not the worst way to look at things. She stepped out into the living room, she wouldn’t remember just standing around in a hundred years right? So she sat on the couch, “Hey, what I miss?”

  The Vampire

  Kasia listened to the other room silently, letting everything wash over her. She would need a better rune for this one, she couldn't understand a word of the English. Would it work on their television? Probably not. She watched the shadows slowly grow around her, shifting forms of the dead crawling up the walls at a snail's pace while they whispered to her. Everyone she had ever killed with her own hands. Every soul she had drained, in war, in rage, in revenge. She didn't react to them, simply letting it pass by.

  They accused her of their murders, whispered their pain, spoke of all the things lost to them. Envious and wrathful souls. Some righteous, others monsters killed by one of their own. She didn't know why they all lingered but some of it was fair for her actions. The Nazi's could go to hell though, she had little sympathy for killing those that had tried to kill her and hers. But right or wrong, good or evil, cruel or kind, they all haunted her. Was there irony in a vampire being haunted? Maybe if she was an Upiór? Maybe if she was haunted by her own lost humanity.

  She spoke softly to the ceiling, “I shouldn't stay here longer if I'm not committing to this girl fully. It's cruel otherwise.” The voice she had been hoping to hear answered, a sultry purr that sent pleasing chills racing up her spine whenever she spoke to Kasia. “Indeed you shouldn't star child.” She sat up and rubbed her face, “I like her, but right now I don't know what I want.” The shade was the first she had ever seen, the one that had ushered her into the night as her sire should have. The one that had led her through the veil. Her oldest ancestor. The golden eyed spirit of Lilith.

  She was Kasia's guiding light when the night got too dark. She just wished she spoke more often. The shade leaned down to study her face, the tall figure almost having a recognizable face under that mask of black. “You don't think you'll love her?” The vampire shrugged, “I don't know. Not yet anyway, it hasn't even been three days yet. She’s right that I need to slow down, and this is a good step in that direction.” She smiled at the shade, “It's not like I can't come back if things change. But how would she feel the first morning she finds me missing?”

  She looked away from Lilith as shame touched her, “Or when I want to bring someone back for a meal or even fun? No, I shouldn't stay. Can't stay.” She heard a soft sigh as the shade settled next to her, “And what will you do when you leave? Get a job at that diner? Join these rangers? Turn into a bar wench?” Kasia shrugged, “I don't know. I have to start somewhere, why not a job?” She frowned, “And why does it matter?” The shade felt so much more real now. Like she could feel her if she just reached out to touch her arm. But Kasia knew better than that.

  The shade leaned against her anyway, the phantom touch was distracting, “Because the storm is coming. You'll need to be who you were before to survive it. They will need the Cold Star.” Kasia grew still, “She died when the society fell.” The laugh that came wasn't comforting, “No she didn't. She just slumbers beneath the surface for when you need her again.” Kasia stood and started to pace, “Fuck. For a storm? Rain and wind? A monsoon? No, they wouldn't need the Cold Star for that.” She stopped and looked at the all too human shade, “What is the storm really?” Silence was her only answer.

  She let it linger. Embraced it, after all the noise of the others. Finally she shook her head and looked away, “No. No they don't need her. At least not now. And I don't want her awake again either way. I…” Her voice trailed away as she turned back to one of her two oldest companions to find her gone. All the shades were, disappearing one by one with all the warning they had given for their arrival. She watched the empty spot like she could will her back to it. Futile as always. She had only commanded the shades once in her life and the memory haunted her as much as they did.

  She still spoke, as if saying things out loud made them real, “I want to be happy. And I want to stop hurting people. Can't I have that?” The other voice that had haunted her from that first dreadful night chuckled in her ear, sending a different kind of shiver up her spine. “Of course not dove. You're just another monster from their old stories. A thing made to frighten children. Fighting against that is fighting against the tide. You might not move, but the water rises anyway.” A humorless smile curled her lips, “Ah right. If I become the Star again then you shut the fuck up don't you?”

  She felt ice creep into her voice, Maybe that'll be worth the price of entry. What do you think Gor? Should I reintroduce you to the Star? Would you like to face the monster you made?” The presence faded away without a word and she snorted, “Yeah, thought as much.” She gathered herself again, “Right. No flirting. Unless you can get Alice to join you and Myla? No no, patience. Work up to that later. Ugh. I wish she hadn't brought them over, I would already have her…”

  She didn't finish the thought and slipped out of the bedroom. No point in haunting the place, better to face this head on. She studied the television, confirming that the rune didn't work on it before ignoring the movie and focusing on the others. Lucas was pointing at the screen from the couch, “I'm just saying, we've never found a hive mind and certainly not one of vampires. If there was a bunch of people all acting exactly the same, we would know!” Alice was sitting next to him and she rolled her eyes, “They don't even act the same in the movie. They might share his goal but they aren't mindless drones.”

  Myla was sitting in what Kasia thought was her favorite chair to the right of the couch, “Maybe? I mean they all do what he wants without question or choice, he might just tell them to act normal.” He shook his head, “They act independently after he dies, they gotta still be themselves too. A connected mind doesn't mean one mind.” The other two didn't look convinced and Lucas started looking around like he would find backup somewhere. Which is how he spotted Kasia and pointed at her, “Hey you're out of the room! Great, settle an argument for me.”

  He leaned forward with a serious look, “Are there vampires that can see the memories of their lessers? And like command them and stuff through the link?” Both of the other women jerked and turned in their seats to look at her. She found herself smiling with unexpected anxiety, but it wasn't the worst way to get reintroduced to the party. Alice was turning back to Lucas with an annoyed look so she spoke first, “Yes actually. Or there was, the prevailing theory is that the last of their blood was burned out during the Napoleonic Wars.”

  She moved over and perched on the arm of Myla's chair, “The man hated vampires, saw us all as rivals. There might be a few of them still lingering out there biding their time, but no one has seen them since then so…” She shrugged. Lucas snapped his fingers and pointed at Alice, “I told you it could be real!” Kasia saw the girls fae side rise at the gesture, small flower buds started to bloom in her hair as it shifted closer to thorny rose vines than actual hair. Had this argument been going for awhile or was it just a reoccurring one?

  Either way the finger was a bad move as she knocked it away, “And she said it's extinct so I'm not wrong. If it wasn't we would have heard of them before.” Kasia didn't agree with that, her own bloodline was thought to be extinct before she went public. Not that she would say that, it would just make her more mad right now. “No she said that it's a theory, they might just be hiding as, like, cult leaders or something.” Alice punched his arm and got up, moving to the chair on the left side of the living room and sitting in it instead.

  He rubbed his arm, “Ow! That was unnecessary!” She glowered at him, “You're the only unnecessary thing here Lucas.” Kasia tried to hide a smile, “That line hasn't been relevant since Xerxes the Great fell anyway. They took power in Persia back then, but the other bloodlines took offense when they started expanding too far outside agreed territories. Greed killed them and only stubborn pride kept them alive after that. They probably are dead at this point.” Lucas frowned, “Oh. Well whatever, they're still cool.” Then he looked at her thoughtfully, “Actually I don't think many vampires exist, right? Why is that?”

  She shrugged, “Why is this vampire in this movie going to lose?” He glanced at the television and frowned, “How did you know he was going to lose? You seen the movie before?” She shook her head and shifted so that she slid into Myla's lap. The tall woman made a surprised but not displeased noise, “Nope but we always do when it comes to a fight between vampires and humanity. We can die like any other creature, even if it takes more effort to kill us. And we have never found a more tenacious species than humanity itself, so they never stop fighting.”

  She gestured at the smiling, red eyed vampire on the screen, “Adding to that, arrogance is basically a baseline personality trait for vampires too. Even I fell into that trap a couple times. Something about granting a human immortality makes us do stupid shit and take unnecessary risks.” She snuggled into a comfortable position with her legs draped over the arm of the chair, “On top of that, we can't live off animal blood outside specific types of vampires. I can't. So that means we always end up attracting attention of one kind or another.”

  Lucas nodded along, “So what, you get sick off animal blood or something?” She waved a hand, “It's more like how people get sick when they eat nothing but game animals. Something missing from the diet that way.” He grinned, “So vampire scurvy.” She slowly blinked at him, “No.” He frowned, “No?” She shook her head, “No.” She frowned, “It's more like… you start getting hungrier. You end up eating more and more animals until you start having to expand your hunting grounds.”

  She felt the stars attention shift so she looked to follow them. What caused that? “And when you find humans they smell intoxicatingly wonderful, so wonderful that you eventually can't help but start hanging around towns again. If you're strong enough willed you might avoid ever giving in to temptation, but I've never been all that good at that.” Lucas grinned, “Easily tempted are we?” She resisted the urge to flirt with him and left Alice to snap at him. Just friends huh? Maybe Alice didn't want that.

  If she was looking for something more serious then Kasia would have to avoid flirting even alone. At least until she knew for certain if she wanted something serious with Myla. She felt the woman in question quietly intertwin their fingers. Temptation. She should have sat on her own, this was going to make telling Myla she was going to move into the hotel harder. But it felt nice. She hadn't just sat like this with someone in… well even before the torpor it had been fifty years hadn't it? Since Malcolm.

  Maybe that's what it was. They were so alike that it was hard not to act like it was him whose fingers were slowly exploring hers. It was hard to remind herself that she wasn't the young man who wanted to see the world, wasn't the one who talked to her about adventures and a soldiers honor. Wasn't the one that stole her heart in the bright light of dawn with poetry and a silver tongue. But she reminded Kasia of him. And that was enough to make her weak to the warm body she sat on top of. Enough to make her wonder if the bickering couple would notice if she stole this gemstone away for a while to have her way with her. Enough to make her too comfortable.

  She knew if she closed her eyes then she would see his smile again. That his scent would fill her nose as memory took hold. So instead she looked up a Myla and started to memorize her smile. Studied the way her cheeks dimpled only on one side. The smile filled her gleaming blue eyes, brought her whole face to life. Huh. She hadn't realized how blue her eyes actually were before. She spoke softly, “Have I told you that you have amazing eyes yet?” Myla blushed deeply, “No. But uh thanks. I like yours too.” Kasia reached up and touched a small scar along her jaw with her free hand, “What happened here?”

  The moment was ruined when Lucas spoke, “She fell off the jungle gym when we were nine and busted her face on the way down.” She hadn't even noticed they had stopped fighting and dropped her hand to give him a flat look. Did this man just not have social awareness? She heard Alice sigh as Kasia asked him, “Hey Lucas?” He grinned at her, “Yeah?” She gestured at him, “Do a lot of people tell you how lucky you are to be pretty?” His grin turned puzzled, “Uh yeah. How'd you know?” She smiled pleasantly back, “Just a guess. You are a very good looking man.” His grin lost the confusion, “Hey thanks!”

  She closed her eyes, a smile on her face as the other two women groaned. It was almost too easy. She was grateful that not even the idiot brought up her episode from earlier though.