Vampire Greek: The Burning King

“What are we going to do about her warning? ” said Claire.

“What do you mean? We aren’t going to do anything.” Roman had decided to wait till dark to take Caitlyn hunting, so they hung out in his living room. Claire sat next to Roman say cross-legged on the floor, watching a horror flick.

“It just seems to me like we should make a peace offering or something, to appease them-”

“Appease them? Are you serious? Look at me. ” Roman gestured to his entire body.

“I’m still living am I not? I’m breathing, I’m thinking, and guess what? My hearts actually beating again! And I’m still a vampire!”

“How do you know you’re still a vampire?” Claire asked.

“I still feel it. The urge for blood. My senses are still strong, and I still have fangs. In fact, they’re throbbing in pain right now. So I’m either still a vampire or I’m high on drugs.”

“Aphrodite doesn’t want her to hunt and become a vampire.” Claire looked at Caitlyn. “What do we do about that? ”

“We can’t help that. She was bitten. She has two choices. Either drink blood and recover her emotions, or wither to nothing. Alive, and in pain, unable to move, craving blood and nothing else. Which one would you prefer Caitlyn?”

Caitlyn didn’t move. “The first one.”

“See?” said Roman. “There you go. And I’m not worried about these ‘gods’. She said Zeus hit me with that bolt, not Willa. If that’s the case, Zeus can’t be a threat. I’m alive and in great shape.”

“If you say so. ” Claire smiled. “I could stay here for a little while longer, if you want. ”

“No, you should go home and get some rest, I’ve worried you enough. When it’s dark out I’ll show her how to hunt. I’ll call you or text if anything interesting happens.”

Claire’s eyes widened. “Anything like what? ”

“Oh I don’t know, Caitlyn flying, another god showing up, Zeus shoving his foot up my-”

“Okay, okay, I’ve heard enough. ” She laughed. “You should do a little research on those gods though. Greek mythology is amazing.”

“Doesn’t seem like a myth anymore. ” Roman muttered as he opened the door for her.

A few hours later, Roman woke up from a nap. He hadn’t researched any of the gods like Claire suggested. It wasn’t worth his time. If he wanted to know anything about them, he’d ask her. He looked over to Caitlyn, who had also fallen asleep. She looked so cute and quiet. He almost wandered what she was dreaming about, but then he remembered. She isn’t dreaming about anything. How dreams, no emotions. He was going to fix that. Tonight.

“Hey, Caitlyn, wake up.” He said softly. He gently nudged her until she sat up and yawned, wiping her eyes. She blinked a couple times and looked at him. They were still as black as ever.

Ugh. Roman thought. The cuteness is gone.

“Now that it’s nighttime, I can show you how to hunt with a lot less precaution. We still need to be careful, but most people wandering around this late have nothing to live for anyways.”

“I don’t want to hunt. ” Caitlyn replied.

“What? Why not? ” said Roman, puzzled. He expected her to just go through the motions until she drank her first blood.

“That woman, Aphrodite, she came to me in a dream. She promised I could have whatever I wanted if I join her. She even said I could get revenge on the people that attacked us.”

“That was just a dream Caitlyn. Audrey, I mean Willa, already killed all of them. She blasted them to ashes.”

“She killed my daddy too.” Caitlyn replied. There was no emotion behind it, no anger out sadness. She said it as though it was just a fact.”

“Yeah, she did. And I’m sorry about that. But right now, our focus should be on helping you. I don’t know how you were able to actually dream, but it was just a trick of your mind. We need to get you blood.”

“It wasn’t just a dream. She gave me this. ” Caitlyn held up her arm revealing dozens of rings of golden jewelry.

Roman’s heart skipped a beat, literally.

“You don’t have to hunt, but I want to to come with me while I hunt. It could change your mind .” He held out his hand and she grabbed it, but instead of helping her up he took a picture of her new jewelry. “I’m going to send this to Claire.” he explained.

They stepped outside and it was just as cold as it was the night before.

“Where are we going?” Caitlyn asked.

“I don’t even know. We’ll just walk until someone crosses our path. That’s what I normally do around this time. ”

“You sound lonely.” She replied. “And boring. ”

Roman chuckled. “I’m not lonely. You just saw my real friends. As for boring, you might be right. I don’t do much. Tell me about your they jewelery. Tell me about your dream.”

Caitlyn kept waking forward as if he hasn’t spoken.

“Hey, come on. It’s not like she told you to keep it a secret from me.” They walked about ten feet before he realized that might’ve actually happened.

“Did she?”

Caitlyn turned and shook her head. “The dream was weird and confusing. I woke up in a garden, just laying on the ground. Beautiful flowers and cool shaped bushes were everywhere.”

“Cool shaped bushes?” Roman inquired, amused.

“Yeah. It was almost like a maze, I didn’t know where to go. The flowers were so pretty, I wasn’t thinking about anything else until I found a big water fountain. A bunch of women were sitting around it and they were eating all kinds of fruit, talking and laughing. They were wearing thin white robes and had on all types of jewelery, covering their arms, neck, ankles and fingers.”

“Did they talk to you?” asked Roman.

“No. I was hiding in bushes were they couldn’t see me. But Aphrodite appeared in front of them, and the flowers trees and plants all leaned toward her, like they were trying to touch her. She took off her bracelets and told me to become one of her maidens.”

“Did she say anything about me?” Roman asked.

“She said not to listen to you. She told me not to harm anyone, and that she’ll come for me soon. How long do you think that’ll take?” She turned and asked him.

He looked at her and stopped walking.

“Your eyes, they’re normal again.”

Caitlyn pulled off one of the golden bands on her arm and held it up to her face. Within seconds it began to glow. Caitlyn stepped away from Roman so he wouldn’t see.

“What’s going on?” He asked. “What did you see? ”

The bright light faded to nothing, and she turned toward him, tears sliding down her cheek.

“I don’t want to be like you.”

Out of seemingly nowhere,. Aphrodite appeared and brushed past Roman. Her body was shimmering and translucent.

“That’s what I was waiting for!” Aphrodite exclaimed, gleaming. She took the bracelet from Caitlyn’s hands and threw it behind her for Roman to catch. He caught it one handedly and stared. The bracelet showed an image he instantly recognized. It was the vampires from yesterday, attacking Caitlyn’s father and mother. Then it flipped to other vampires, ones she had never seen before, all attacking and killing dozens of people. Then it showed Roman himself, getting attacked by a vampire at seven, and people he went on to attack after that happened to him. Finally, the image disappeared and the bracelet went back to normal.

“You may be part of his prophecy, but you do not have to endure the same curse. I’m not here physically, but whenever you need assistance, I’ll be there.” Aphrodite became a beacon of light that enveloped Caitlyn entirely.

“Wait! What are you talking about?! What’s a prophecy?” Roman reached out to grab hold of the light, but there was some invisible force stopping his hand from touching. When the light was gone, Caitlyn was smiling. She had more makeup than a middle schooler should ever be allowed to touch. Her ears were pierced and both of her arms were decked with jewelry. She even had three rings on one hand.

She took one of the bracelets off to look at herself again, and the one in Roman’s hand was gone.

“Roman look at me! I look amazing!”

“Yes you do.” Roman agreed, grinning. “And you actually sound happy about it.”

“I am.” She kept smiling. When she realized what he meant, her eyes widened. “I am. I am happy about it. My emotions are back!”

She jumped up and Roman caught her in his arms, giving her a hug.

“That’s... great.” He replied, but he didn’t sound so sure. “I thought she said that was my problem to fix. And do you know anything about the prophecy she mentioned?” He sat her down softly.

“No.” she frowned, getting upset. “Aren’t you happy for me?”

“Of course I am! Of course!” Roman playfully shook her shoulders. He didn’t expect any of this. Had she gotten her emotions back the vampire way, the first and only thing she would be doing would be grieving for her parents. This is a much better outcome for her, but it just put more weight on Roman’s shoulders.

When would Aphrodite take Caitlyn? What’s in his prophecy, and when will the gods that want to kill him finally appear?