Chapter 109

Tessa’s POV

“You can see into the future?” I asked with wide eyes, shocked at the discovery.

“I can’t control this ability though. I can only see what Nyx wants me to see and when she deems it fit.”

“Do visions happen often?”

“Depends,” she said. “They’ve been happening less frequently lately. Maybe once a month or so.”

“That’s incredible,” I breathed. “That’s an amazing power to have. You must love being able to see into the future and possibly even change the outcome of a terrible fate.”

“It’s bittersweet,” she said, and then she fell silent as thoughts invaded her mind.

I wasn’t sure what that meant, and my brows knitted together as I stared at her fallen face.

“It’s painful,” Bernard explained, drawing my attention to him. “It makes her pass out almost every time. Makes her ill. Her visions not happening daily are a blessing because I don’t think her body could handle it. Finding her in that much pain is the worst thing for me because I know there’s nothing, I can do to help her or make her more comfortable.”

I suddenly felt sad as I looked at Anna.

“I’m so sorry…” I breathed.

“It’s an honor for the goddess to trust me with such a gift and I try to use it well,” she said fondly, smiling at me. “I would never complain about such a thing. You are right, I love being able to change such an ill-fated outcome.”

She was so kindhearted. I couldn’t help but smile at her.

“As for the regular vampire abilities, we all have the ability to teleport and move with incredible speed,” Bernard continued to explain. “We all have heightened senses and can see in the dark with ease. We are also immortal, but not indestructible. Everybody has kryptonite. Ours happens to be silver. Silver weapons are used to kill us. The sun makes us ill and we could die if exposed long enough, but we won’t burn alive or explode.”

“And we can eat garlic just fine,” Carter added with a smirk. “I hate that stereotype.”

I couldn’t help but laugh because that was something that was on my mind. I’m glad it was clarified. I love garlic bread and would be devastated if I had to give that up forever.

“And this village, you built it by hand?” I asked them, looking around the room.

They fell silent for a moment and this time it was Joseph that answered.

“When Bernard first turned me, we lived in a small village with other humans. Bernard had a home near a vampire tribe in the nearby woods. However, at the time, Bernard was given the job to watch over the humans and make sure they are safe from other creatures. That village was a very populated area and I’m not just talking about humans. The surrounding woods were surrounded with creatures of all sorts. Not wanting to be blamed and hunted for the crimes, the Eldest appointed a couple of his men to go to that village and live there, posing as a human, to keep them protected. Bernard, being a trusted warrior, was one of the ones that went. He ended up being my neighbor and we became pretty good friends. He met my wife and children, and they were very friendly with one another.”

The mention of Joseph’s previous wife made my stomach tighten, but I tried my best to fight that feeling. Now was not the time to be jealous of someone who died centuries ago.

“When the plague hit, there wasn’t much for me to do,” Bernard decided to continue the story. “Most of the village was dying and I was ordered to return to the tribe. The other vampires in the village already fled, but I wanted to help those I could. I tried to turn those who were still alive… but only one survived the change.”

His eyes found Joseph and I knew it was Joseph that survived.

“He spent about 4 years at the vampire academy after I changed him, learning everything he could about being a vampire.”

“So, the academy is an actual school?” I asked, furrowing my brows together.

They all nodded.

“Yes,” Bernard answered. “It takes a while to learn the ropes of being a vampire. We won’t set them out into the world unless we know they don’t pose a threat to others. Many of the academies around the world are under the protection of the Elders. They are hidden from the views of humans. During their 4(th) year, they are invited to join a tribe. Almost like a job offer. Of course, I wasn’t going to let Joseph join any other tribe other than the one I belonged to. The Eldest of this tribe agreed and sent him the invite.”

“I’m glad you were there for him,” I said, holding onto Joseph’s hand. “I’m sure the transition wasn’t easy for him. Especially after he lost so much.”

Bernard nodded and I saw sadness in his eyes.

“However, we were betrayed by a vampire I thought we could trust. It was an Elder who betrayed us and allowed rogues and other creatures into our village,” Bernard said, darkness falling upon his face.

“Rogues and other creatures?” I asked, my voice hollow.

“Yes, those trained vampires without a tribe become rogues,” Bernard said, pressing his lips together. “They probably just don’t fit in and choose to live on their own, but there can be many more reasons for a vampire to live without a tribe. And there are Wolves, witches, fairies, nymphs. Anyone that had it out for our Eldest and wanted him gone. He had many enemies and I never found out why.”

He fell quiet again.

“They attacked during the day,” Joseph finished for him, knowing that this memory was difficult for Bernard to relive. “They attacked us when we could hardly go outside. We tried to fight back, but to no prevail. Some of us were able to flee, but everyone else unfortunately didn’t make it, including the Eldest and the Elders.”

“That’s awful,” I choked, feeling tears in the back of my eyes.

“We traveled for a long time. We didn’t trust other tribes because of what happened in ours,” Joseph continued. “So, we kept to ourselves mostly. Despite there only being a few of us, it was understood that Bernard was the Eldest in our group and I was the Elder being the two oldest.”

“We were rogues,” Bernard said sharply. “We lived as rogues and being rogues put us in danger. We didn’t have anyone to protect us other than ourselves. We didn’t have warriors or anything of that sort. We lived in caves and hoped that we survived each day. I might have been the Eldest, but I have yet gained any new abilities from the goddess so I couldn’t protect anyone. We lived like that for decades.”

“During this time, I detoxed and needed a blood supply,” Joseph murmured, shamefully. “I went to the hospital near our cave and stole their blood bags.”

“And that’s when he met me,” Carter chimed in. “I was a weak human boy who had cancer. I wasn’t going to last another year or so. I befriended Joseph who pretended to be a doctor, but I figured out what he truly was. I saw him stealing the blood down the hall from my room and I was pretty smart if I do say so myself. I could tell there was something different about him and I’ve always been a believer in supernatural things. I also had a dream a few weeks before Joseph changed me, and I now realize it was a message from the Nyx.”

“She came to you in a dream?” I gasped.

“Yes,” he answered. “She told me that things will be better soon enough and to trust her. I did trust her… I didn’t know her. But I trusted her. Joseph changed me and I was angry with him at first for disrupting my fate. But I realized that this was what Nyx meant when she told me to trust her.”

“I was surprised honestly that he survived,” Joseph laughed. “I wasn’t even a strong vampire, and it was my first time doing that. But it worked. He woke shortly after, and he was craving and—” His voice trailed off.

He didn’t have to continue that sentence. Joseph already told me that Carter killed so many in that hospital.

“We both ended up going to the academy. I stayed another 4 years to prevent myself from drinking any more blood.”

“You what?” I gasped. “You went back?”

“I went back to the school because I needed a clean start, away from the blood. When we got out, we discovered that not only did Bernard have new special abilities and was officially recognized as an Eldest by Nyx, but he was also the only one who was still alive from our old village. Those who escaped with us ended up dying in a tangled fight between different creatures. . Bernard managed to live, and he waited for Carter and me.”

“So, the three of you created this village?”

They all nodded.

“It took us a long time to build and populate the village. We sent tribe invites to some in the academy and sought those in need of a home. It took us years to create the village and populate it. Vampire women started to have children as well, which helped with our population. The village recognized Joseph and Carter as Elders, but they weren’t gifted until several years later. Once they were gifted, they were able to adapt to their new roles. Nate joined us later from a different tribe that he fled from. He was already an Elder and his tribe was incredibly abusive towards him and others. He would have rather been a rogue, so, we took him in.”

I was about to open my mouth to respond to this beautiful story, but the shrilling scream of Anna stopped me. She was soon buckling over and falling to the ground.