Craving Temptation: Love Of A Vampire

They say that every man is entitled to be a fool for at least five minutes a day; I am afraid to say that Eva has just abused that privilege. Her first mistake was coming to the vampire Hunter and her second foolish one was to drive her fangs into his neck. So now we have a furious Anastasia pulling a somewhat naked Eva away from an outraged Zachariah. All hell is about to break loose.

Edward and I are opting to be the spectators for this round, but somehow I think the vampire Hunter will not allow me to stand idly by. Now that is the last bit of my concerns as Eva and Anastasia are just about to face each other off.

One can hear Anastasia's voice thunder over the music coming from the inside of the pub.

"Have you gone completely insane? Do you want to kill him? Your own friend?"

Eva but laughs at her toyingly as she casually puts on her clothes.

"I should have asked you the very same thing when you bit me."

The Vampire Hunter, still dazed and confused, comes to his feet and faces Anastasia.

"Anastasia, did you do this?"

"It was a mistake, Zachariah; I was trying to mark her, but I am afraid I did not know how to do it, so instead, I nearly killed Eva. Sebastian and Edward offered her to live again. She said yes, even though she hates being a Vampire."

The Vampire Hunter stands crushed by the words that he just heard come from the woman's mouth that he loves. He is conflicted as to what he should do. See, our treaty with The Vampire Hunters is that we shall not turn any human against their will; in fact, we shall not turn humans at all. Even though Eva consented to be marked, Anastasia has gone against this with the near-death and forced transition. And as with any wrong deed, there is a consequence; this one will be death.

Now we all know the love he holds for Anastasia; therefore, he shall not even entertain such a thought; what he shall do, is turn his anger towards me.

"This is your fault, Sebastian; if you left Anastasia alone, then she would not have turned into this thing you made her in."

"My dear friend, Anastasia, wanted to be with me. Don't you think that if she wanted you, then she shall be with you now?"

"You have made her believe this life is grand, that it is one to be desired."

"And a life with you is grand? We are but the same creatures; I live longer than you."

I can see the rage burning in his eyes, but I have also seen the dagger he has pulled from underneath the table from where he is standing. The question begs, who is he going to go for, Anastasia or me?

The dilemma is that I am on the other side of the room from where Anastasia is. I might move fast, but these pesky hunters are known to move just as quickly when it comes to throwing daggers. So it is with horror as we all watch what his next move will be.

And all the man does is say sorry. We stand somehow confused about what or to whom he is saying this to, then a voice echoes through the room for a second time tonight.

"Eva!"

We all watched in horror as the dagger left his hand in Anastasia's direction, but instead of going for the offender, The Vampire Hunter went for the victim.

Even though there should be anger towards him for killing one of my kind, my heart does bleed for him, for this man just had to kill a woman he cared for. That is the hardest decision that any man will ever make in his life; it should, in fact, be one that should not be made at all. It is with tears in this defeated man turns to me.

"Please leave my pub and never come back."

As I go to speak, he stops me and continues.

"I want to see Anastasia once a week to know that she is well."

I only but laugh in his face. Did this man request to have the privilege to see my beloved once a week?

"What do you serve here in your drinks? Have you completely lost your marbles?"

"We both know the wrong Vampire died today; you shall be wise to grant my request."

"Grant your request? I shall not even entertain it."

"Then, you shall entertain my dagger through your heart, even Anastasia's."

"I know that you are idiotic, but I did not think you are that stupid. Your lonely heart will never slay the real woman you love; I think we can safely say that Eva was useful for only one thing."

And before The Hunter can get another cent worth of words in, Anastasia interrupts both of us.

"It is fine, Sebastian; I will do it."

"But my beloved, this man has other motives."

"And you should have trust."

"Fair well, I shall allow it, but if I suspect anything untoward, then this agreement shall terminate."

We nod in agreement, even though it feels like I am lending out my beloved, making her out to be some object. She is not some trophy that one can swop around, but if it spares her life, then I shall do it. Though this man should have defined the terms, she shall see him once a week, of course, but I shall be with her.

With that, we make our exit from the office and from the pub into the crisp evening air. The rain has not ceased to drench the earth, and if the mood was somber, then it is now downright gloomy. I can safely say that we all, but Anastasia the most, had a place for Eva in our hearts. The events of this evening shall stay with us for somewhat of a time to come.

But it is not me that I am troubled about; it is Anastasia, she shall not take this loss very well. I am even afraid to think that it shall break her; Eva was like a sister, family, and a friend. One does not come unscathed from a tragedy such as this.

The thing is that my beloved is not a Vampire like any other; she possesses her soul; she can be brought to her knees by feelings that consume her. This very thing can break her into shattering pieces; it can destroy her, or she shall become a stronger woman. And as she rests her head against my chest, my shirt gets drenched from her tears. That dead heart in her frail body is crumbling and falling into dust

And as Edward looks at me in the rearview mirror, there is a fraction of the pain in his eyes that is displayed in Anastasia's. It seems that my dear brother is feeling the loss of his mate. I am so blind that I did not see this coming; I should know the bond he shares as her Maker. I am then afraid to say that I have devastated Vampires, and I have no idea how to heal what is broken.

But then, after several moments, Edwards finds his voice to speak.

"We seem to have a visitor waiting for us at home."

"Please, god, don't tell me it is a problem."

"No, my friend, not this time. Breyden has come to visit."

"Like he is heaven-sent. In fact, he is. But to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"He has brought two guests with him."

"Two guests?"

"The girls, the girls are with him."

"That is delightful, just what Anastasia needs."

...Anastasia...

I have just seen my friend die in front of me for the second time in only a few days. All I have done is to bring misery to the lives of Sebastian, his family, and my friends. I thought this Vampire live-for-eternity thing would be easy, but it is has been the most challenging days I have ever lived in both of my lives.

And to make things worse, this will be a painful memory that I shall live with for eternity. Then once a week, I must face the man who had to kill a friend because of something I did. It is a tragedy, and it has left three people heartbroken. How do you even begin to forgive someone for such a thing? I will live forever; I am never going to be able to make any of this better.

So apparently Breyden, one of my favorite people, just because he is an angel, has come to visit. I am hoping that he can tell me or even help me mend this. I shall do anything to make everyone's lives better.

When we are finally pulling up in the driveway, Sebastian shields me from the rain and walks me inside. Lilith does not even ask the question; the expression on our faces tell a story a thousand words over. But surprisingly, next to her is two girls more or less the same age as me, and from her smell, the one is a vampire. The other girl, there is something odd about her, she is human, but she is also something else. And I bet that is the reason why they are here.

And from the side, I hear the familiar voice of Breyden. He walks up to me and embraces me in the perfect hug I could do with now. Then he whispers in my ear

"I can take that away, just tell me, and I shall do it."

"You mean..."

"Yes. But let me introduce you to the girls. Teagen is the one with the wavy hair, she is a Vampire like you, and that is Tasnim."

Tasnim has soft blonde hair the same as mine, but she has very light brown eyes; there is an immense pain hiding behind them. I do get the feeling that she has too lost someone very close to her, and it has been within the last few days. That might also be the reason why they are here.

So out of curiosity, while Lilith shows them to their rooms, I follow Sebastian and Breyden to, the kitchen where Edward is already waiting. Sebastian sees me and is just about to protest, all I do is but raise my brows, and he carries on.

"So Breyden, my friend, what is the matter?"

"Who says something is the matter?"

"You got the girls here, which means you are moving them again. Who was it this time?"

"Tasnim, she bit a man and went and erased two people's memories for this man."

I stand in absolute shock. Can someone even do it? Is it why this girl smells so different. Forget the look I am getting from Sebastian; I am still going to ask.

"What is she?"

"She is just a girl that has been cursed for eternity."

Then Sebastian cuts me off before I can even ask another question.

"Then, why are you here?"

"I need you to help find me a witch."