Authors: Alicia J. Love
They took a private jet supplied by the council, and the
three of them were spread out on the plane, ignoring each other. Esther was
sitting in the back, angry, when she saw Derek get up and move towards her.
Derek sat down next to Esther, grinning at her playfully.
“So, why don’t you just let her die?” He asked.
She looked over at him, menacingly.
“The council ordered me to help her, don’t you remember?”
She said angrily.
He looked at her, still smiling.
“Yeah, but that’s not why you are doing this,” He said.
She ignored him, turning away from his teasing smile.
“Alright,” He said sarcastically before moving away.
Katie was shifting uncomfortably in her seat, and Esther
moved next to her, annoyed.
“Why are you so nervous? Are you hungry or something?”
She immediately regretted her words and looked down.
“No, I am not hungry at all. I am not going to be,” She
said.
“What?” Esther asked.
“I am not going to want anything, or be able to eat anything
for the rest of my life.”
Esther felt stunned by this, recalling the insane blood lust
she had experienced when she had been turned.
“Well, stop shifting around then, you are stressing me out,”
She said coldly, hiding the concern she was feeling inside.
She moved back to her seat and sat back, her arms crossed as
she closed her eyes, sleeping a little before they landed.
***
The plane touched down and she got up, ignoring Katie as she
rose from her seat.
As they stepped off of the plane into the dark but hot,
thick climate that was Manaus, Brazil, Esther stretched gratefully. Their flight
had been 11 hours long, and she was thankful to finally be free. She glanced
back as Katie stepped weakly down the stairs. She had been avoiding Katie since
they had left Salem, afraid of the hurricane of feelings swirling around inside
of her.
She watched as Derek came behind her, carrying their luggage
with ease. He gracefully swept down the steps and then loaded their bags into
the black sedan that was waiting for them. Esther tried to appreciate the few
moments they would have before once again being cramped inside of a car for
hours.
Katie looked at her cautiously, as if asking permission to
approach her, and she once again nodded, her anger boiling at the unfamiliar
feelings sparked within her.
“Thank you,” Katie said quietly as she leaned against the
car next to Esther.
Esther looked at her questioningly.
“For what?” She asked bitterly, still angry at the confusing
feelings.
“For trying to help me,” She said.
Esther looked down, suddenly feeling even more than she had
before. She kicked the dirt on the ground and turned away, trying to hide the
emotion in her eyes.
“Yeah, whatever,” She said rudely, before moving away.
She grabbed the car door and resisted the urge to rip it off
as she opened it. She slipped into the back seat with Vampire speed and slammed
the door behind her. She felt the door bend, and realized she had dented it.
She opened it once again, slamming it back into place angrily, before closing
it once more.
She fumed for a few minutes, before she began to feel
concerned for Katie again. As much as she didn’t want to feel these feelings,
she couldn’t seem to help it. After all of these years, and all of her
acquaintances, lovers, and progenies, she had never felt so strongly for one
before.
In fact, she had only felt this way once before, and it was
back when she was a mortal. She recalled the man whom she had planned to marry,
and that was when it hit her. She was feeling the same feeling for Katie. She
shook her head, ridding herself of the atrocious thoughts, and gritted her
teeth, angry once again.
She wondered if the people in the Korubo tribe would be able
to help them.
The door across from her then opened, and Katie sat down
beside her. She then saw the driver’s side door open, and Derek got behind the
wheel. He glanced back at her through the rear view mirror, before starting up
the engine.
Katie stayed quiet beside her, and Esther leaned her head
against the window and closed her eyes, recalling once again all they knew
about the Korubo tribe.
The tribe had been discovered in the nineties and was still
protected and preserved. Apparently, when they were discovered, it had been
discovered that the tribe was home to an unknown Seer bloodline. Several
members of the supernatural world had been working to keep them a secret.
They didn’t know much, and as they traveled into the depths
of the Amazon, Esther felt herself beginning to fill with worry.
They finally reached their destination, and exited the car.
Derek looked at her expectantly, gesturing towards Katie. Esther nodded, and
then scooped up Katie, gently tossing her onto her back. Katie looked surprised,
but then relaxed into Esther as they entered the rugged jungle.
Esther then felt Katie nuzzle her hair, and she froze. She
felt a tingling sensation on her neck, something she had never felt before. She
felt the sparks of electricity lighting up her skin where Katie nuzzled her,
and then immediately gritted her teeth, trying to ignore it.
They then moved, Derek and Esther whipping through the trees
swiftly and gracefully as they headed for the Korubo tribe.
Finally, they reached the tribe. All around them, native
people milled about, not even noticing them as they gracefully touched down in
the middle of the tribe. Suddenly, everyone saw them, and the entire village
was in uproars.
Weapons were drawn as the native people shouted in a
language Esther didn’t understand, but she simply stared them down. They looked
at the three of them with fear and continued to shout as Esther let Katie down
off of her back.
Derek looked around at the people of the tribe who were
pointing spears at them and holding what looked light blow darts and snarled,
revealing his pointed teeth. The cries of the people grew louder, and they
backed off, screeching as most of the women and children entered their
dwellings and hid.
Suddenly, a pregnant woman made her way through the crowd,
coming towards them. She looked calm as she approached, and then beckoned to
them, gesturing for them to follow her. She entered a hut and then took a seat,
waiting for them to follow.
Esther and the others followed, sitting down on the floor of
the hut across from the woman. She looked at them sadly, the knowledge of their
coming clear in her eyes.
“You are the Seer,” Esther realized, and the woman nodded.
She looked at Katie somberly, and reached out for her hands.
She flinched as she felt her cold skin, and shook her head sadly.
“I no help her,” The woman said in broken English.
Esther looked at her, her anger boiling.
“What do you mean, you can’t help her?”
The woman looked at her, pouring herself into Esther’s soul,
seeing everything that was there.
“I no help, I am sorry,” She said, looking down sadly.
“Once, long, long time ago, one of white skin and teeth took
my kin as you took her,” She nodded towards Katie.
Esther leaned forward, wanting to hear what happened.
“She no live long, she not hungry. She have nothing to eat.”
Esther leaned back, her anger and sadness growing within
her.
“She try everything, blood, animals, plants, nothing she can
eat without sick,” The woman said.
Her eyes filled with tears, and she swallowed her sobs as
she continued her story.
“She no eat for days and days, and then she die,” The woman
sobbed, blinking back tears.
“No Seer can become like you, it not possible,” She said.
Esther felt her sadness boiling up to the surface, and
suddenly, she got up, leaving the tent and the tribe at top speed. She raced
into the jungle, filled to the brim with emotions, and let out an animalistic
howl of rage. As the animals fled the scene around her, frightened of her rage,
she ran and caught them, one at a time, ripping their bodies to shreds.
She slaughtered every animal she came across, making her way
through the Amazon rainforest as she destroyed everything in sight. She ripped
trees from the ground, tore beautiful flowers to bits, before she finally stopped.
She sank to her knees in the middle of her destruction,
covered in blood, feathers and flora, and she cried.
She cried for the first time in decades. She balled her eyes
out, and she hated herself even more for it. This girl had made her so weak,
and all she wanted to do was scream and cry like a child having a tantrum.
She hated Katie for making her feel this way, but she hated
herself even more. She hated herself for condemning Katie to an untimely death.
It was her fault that Katie was going to die, her fault that she was going to
spend the next month starving to death, wasting away until the end. And all
because of her curiosity. She hated herself for being so selfish.
Suddenly, she heard a whistling sound. It was slight, and
distant, but with her superhuman hearing, she caught it. Then, she heard it
again, a distinct tune, closer this time. She listened carefully, but heard no
movements around her. She sensed absolutely nothing. Then, she heard it again,
the same whistled tune. She looked around, trying to find the source of the
sound.
The tune sounded again, this time almost questioningly, like
it was asking her to return the call. She hesitated, then, figuring it was just
a bird, whistled the tune loudly in reply.
Light flashed before her, and a mischievous looking spirit
popped into the air in front of her. It glared at her, and then gestured to the
destroyed forest around her.
“You dare destroy my forest?!” The spirit boomed.
Esther, who had only seen a spirit once before in her
existence, was completely caught off guard. Her mouth hung open as she peered
at the glowing, hovering form before her.
She then looked around, seeing the forest torn apart around
her, and realized what she had done.
“I am El Tunchi, protector of this forest, and you have
destroyed it! You shall be punished!” The spirit shouted and then began to glow
brighter, reaching for her angrily with his claws.
Esther turned and whipped through the trees with Vampire
speed, running from the spirit who wanted to punish her.
The spirit was laughing as she ran, and she felt the ground
shaking beneath her feet. She made it back to the village, and the spirit
lingered in the trees, unwilling to reveal itself to the people standing around
the village. She heard the spirit’s laughter fade away.
“I see you have already been cursed to lose the one you
love,” The spirit whispered to her.
“That seems like more than enough punishment. I will make
certain to watch you suffer,” the voice said maliciously before it trailed off
into silence.
Esther felt the pain inside as the words struck her, and
then shook her head, heading back towards the tent where the Seer and the
others were.
She stepped into the tent, breathing deeply, and then saw
the shocked looks on their faces.
She looked down and saw the blood, feathers and fauna that
covered her shirt. She simply shook her head, brushing their shock aside before
taking a seat once more.
They all stared at her, gawking, before the pregnant woman
spoke once more.
“I sorry, there nothing I can do to help. You live your
life, live happy, until the time comes. I so sorry.”
As they got back into the car, Esther was filled with so
many emotions she felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She was angry and sad and
didn’t know what to do with herself. It was as if she was a whole new person.
She had been so empty for so long that she almost felt…alive again.
She leaned back in her seat as Katie got in beside her,
tears brimming her eyes. As Esther met her sad gaze, Katie leaned into her,
wrapping her arms around her as she began to sob. Esther, not knowing what to do,
and being overwhelmed with emotions, was stiff as a board as Katie cried on her
shoulder.
She saw Derek smirk from the front seat, and she smiled back
at him sarcastically. She then looked down at the girl slobbering all over her
shirt, and tried to ignore the electricity flowing through her body. She
suddenly felt sad and wanted to hold her.
That was when the inner battle began. She wanted so badly to
comfort Katie, but she didn’t want to appear weak. She kicked herself for being
so proud, but still refused to move. She simply sat, until finally Katie’s
tears dried up and she sat back in her seat, gazing out of the window sadly as
the lush Amazon forest whipped by.
Once they got back to the airport, they boarded a flight to
Los Angeles, finally saying goodbye to Derek. He had barely said a word their
entire trip, and Esther was relieved to have him go. She felt as if he was
always watching her, and it pissed her off.
Once on the flight, Esther leaned her seat back and closed
her eyes, allowing the world of dreams to swallow her.
After a few hours, she awoke to find Katie leaning on her
shoulder, fast asleep. Esther looked at her, and noticed that she already
looked pale, even for a Vampire. She slowly brushed a strand of hair from her
face, gazing at her, her heart filled with sorrow and compassion.
She recalled the last words of the Seer before they had
left.
“Live your life,” She whispered as she gazed upon Katie.
“I will make sure you live your life,” She said, swallowing
a sob.
She leaned back in her seat and once again closed her eyes
to sleep.
As the rented limo pulled up to Esther’s mansion, they
stepped out, light barely touching the horizon. They both moved inside quickly,
running from the approaching dawn. Esther moved to a large panel on the wall,
and began pressing buttons, activating the black-out shades that began to come
down over all of the windows.
Within a few minutes, the entire house was engulfed in
darkness. Katie looked at her curiously, not knowing what to say as she stepped
into the living room. Esther turned on the lights and then walked straight to
the bar, pouring herself a scotch.
“Do you want something to drink?” She asked.
“No thanks,” Katie replied, her voice shaking.
Esther grabbed her glass, taking a sip of it before sitting
on the couch opposite Katie. She watched as the suffering girl shifted
nervously, not knowing what to do with herself.
“So, how are you?” Esther asked.
She suddenly felt embarrassed at asking such a silly
question, and the wondered what was wrong with her. Of course she wasn’t okay.
She only had three weeks to live.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that,” Esther said awkwardly.
“It’s okay,” Katie said sheepishly, staring at the plush,
white rug beneath their feet.
“So…” Esther began.
“Is there anything you want to do?”
Katie looked up at her questioningly.
“Like what?”
“Like,” Esther hesitated, trying to be delicate.
“Is there anything you have always wanted to do? Anything
you have dreamed of doing?”
Katie looked down at the ground, thinking hard.
“Well, there are a few things…” She said quietly.
“Yeah? What are they?” Esther asked, trying not to sound too
interested.
“Well, I have always wanted to travel…” She said.
“We just went to Brazil,” Esther pointed out rudely,
immediately regretting the remark.
“Yeah, but…” Katie said uncertainly.
“Where? Where have you always wanted to go?” Esther asked
more gently.
She watched as she hesitated again. Esther was beginning to
get frustrated with their conversation, and did her best to sit patiently and
wait.
“I have always wanted to go to Hawaii,” She said.
Esther looked at her and resisted the urge to laugh. Of all
the places in the world, she wanted to go to Hawaii?
“You realize that you can’t be out in the sun, right?”
Esther reminded her.
She nodded.
“I guess you’re right, it was stupid.”
Esther suddenly had an idea, and stood up.
“Alright, tomorrow, we will begin living your life,” She
said determinedly.
Katie looked up at her, surprised.
“Why? You don’t have to help me,” She said.
Esther looked at her, unable to express her true feelings.
“Look, I did this to you, so I want to make it up to you. It
is simply a debt. Don’t over think it,” Esther said nonchalantly.
The truth was, she wanted to help her because she cared for
her. She felt immensely guilty and wanted to make sure that for her last days,
Katie was happy.
Katie nodded, looking a little disappointed, before excusing
herself for bed. As she walked up the stairs, Esther opened up her laptop. She
immediately logged into a forum, a forum only for true supernatural beings. She
then created a new thread, calling out to Witches, Seers, Vampires, and whoever
else for help. There had to be a way to save Katie. There just had to be.