Read an Excerpt
Immortal Touch
By Ethan Peasley
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Ethan Peasley
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-7356-6
Chapter One
The darkness that surrounded my mind slowly broke, and when I awoke from my dazed slumber, I was a slave. I had had bad luck in a military campaign and was the property of my enemy. All fall from grace eventually, and it seemed Lady Fortune had spun her wheel and left me a broken shell of the warrior I once was.
A local merchant bought me shortly after I arrived in the great city of Rome. He needed a bit of a pick-me-up, if you will, financially. This raven-haired, fair-skinned dealer of death, with eyes of icy cobalt and a thick, greasy mustache, was a vile and disgusting mortal who deserved nothing more than death. His sins were not those of gluttony or envy, but of lust. Not the lust of a woman or even a man, but of children. He was notorious for buying child slaves, forcing them to do whatever he or his guests wished, and then laughing as they begrudgingly did so, with tears in their eyes. His only saving grace was that he knew how to utilize the adult slaves he bought, and thankfully he gave me the "honor," as he called it, of fighting in the Colosseum.
Gladiator matches, which throughout the years have been portrayed as magnificent duels between men and beasts, are a terrible spectacle to behold and are in no way the glorious things portrayed by your kind. One man dies, without honor and far from his homeland, while another gets to live one more menial and mediocre day. The surviving slave or warrior rarely gets anything good, and in fact, my own "master" decided it was a good idea to whip and beat me for every flaw or mistake I had made in the Colosseum, even though I came out the victor. It was through this very practice, his incessant beatings and lashings, that I became a machine of death and torment whenever I entered the confines of the ring. No man or beast could hope to stop the killing machine I had evolved into. My scarred flesh and deadened nerves had made me impervious to feeling the pain that plagued us, a fact my enemies would learn all too well.
Though the matches were not a glorious thing to behold, viewing me in the bouts was a rare sight indeed. My skill and grace with my chosen weapon became unmatched as I garnered win after win, my style akin to the waves of the ocean, strike after strike hitting the opponent until he finally succumbed and drowned under my constant assault.
It was here, in the fires of the Colosseum, where I met the sweet parasite that would change me forever. She was a medic of sorts, the perfect profession for our kind, and she was beautiful, with tantalizing olive skin and gorgeous emerald-green eyes that shone in the light of the moon.
While I was skillful, even masterful, I was far from invincible, and I would be forced to visit her numerous times, requesting bandages and water. Each request was met with a vivacious smile and a quick nod. Her touch, the delicately soft embrace of a wondrous vixen, worked miracles upon my wounded body. Whenever she was done with me, I felt more like Caesar himself and less like a slave.
I can remember after one session, she followed me back to my modest quarters. The barren walls and dirt floors were barely illuminated by a single meager torch. I had a thin layer of cloth for a bed. All I can remember of that night was that she was ravishing. I remember her beautiful olive skin and amazingly green eyes, her ebony, silky hair shining in the torchlight. She left me completely and utterly stunned as she looked upon me, her gorgeous features working a magical spell that left me deaf and dumb to the rest of the world.
"Asael ..." she said, sounding as if she were about to break into tears. "I have something I need to tell you."
It was with that very sentence that she began to explain everything to me. She explained her supernatural heritage, her unending thirst for the blood of humanity, the completely undeniable cravings, and how her coven needed to grow with the fresh blood of a new member. I didn't believe a word of it at the time, but I loved her, needed her, and in an attempt to make her feel better, I pretended to believe and act excited as she told me the swarm of what I thought were lies dripping from her mouth. Sadly, it seemed, the ruse failed to work.
"I know it sounds crazy, Asael, but I swear on my unbeating heart it's true," she said, her green eyes boring holes into my soul, leaving me to shift uncomfortably at her unwavering stare.
Goose bumps seemed to infest my skin as a single breath of a breeze drifted through my room, alerting me to the already ice-cold flesh that was standing before me. I wanted to believe her, but it seemed like madness.
She smiled, somehow sensing my thoughts and feelings. Her brows furrowed, her teeth biting down upon her lips, and then finally her smile faded. Without a word, she grabbed my hand, her cold touch giving me chills as she pressed my hand to her chest. There was nothing there. No warmth, no heartbeat, nothing. With a look of genuine surprise, I gazed deeply into her sage eyes.
A bloody tear rolled down her cheek. She had finally found someone who believed her. Apparently, she had been trying to find a companion to bring to her coven for decades, but all ran away or attacked her when they discovered what she was, their screams being silenced and replaced by the crying moans of their murderer.
"I can help you escape, Asael. Leave this mundane life of servitude. You can be strong and powerful, and silence entire populations or raise an army of powerful acolytes. You can leave this place and never come back, travel the world and see things that need to be seen, that haven't been seen, and will be lost to the sands of time forever. Please, allow me to make you what I am, and break this wretched loneliness that has plagued me forever. Asael, be my savior from the darkening madness that has been slowly stalking my mind for years," she said as she held my hands, her soft, cool touch giving me goose bumps, her lips pressing down upon them, giving me a gentle kiss as she stared into my wanting eyes.
I was lost for words, something that generally didn't happen and hasn't happened in some time. I can only remember nodding like a fool at her offer. She smiled, and that smile showed her teeth growing into incredibly sharp fangs. Her green eyes became luminescent violet, shimmering and glowing in the light of the torches. She moved passionately toward me, her hands caressing my neck as she moved in as if to kiss me. Her lips brushed my own for a mere second, and then fell to my shoulder, her teeth piercing my skin and my crimson blood slowly seeping out of my body. It was euphoric, to be completely honest, and I wanted the moment to never end, but almost immediately after it had started, it was finished. She smiled as she backed away slowly, my blood leaving small streams at the corner of her mouth. I remember clawing at her, trying to make her come back and give me more of the sweet sensation that was her suckling my blood, drinking from me and giving me the waves of pleasure that washed over my mind.
A few minutes after being bitten, however, I began to feel what can only be described as death. Some of my kind will tell you that becoming what we are is highly painful, and if you survive the ordeal, you will always remember the immense and incalculable pain that you felt and where the torment originated.
For instance, my heart stopped, and from this crucial and vital organ began to pulsate a terrible sensation. The blood in my body stopped flowing, stopped pumping, and became stagnant. As I fell to the floor, a symphony of laughter came from my beautiful friend. She gracefully walked over to my dying body, cut a small incision on her wrist, and raised it to my mouth.
"Drink, my sweet Asael. Drink, and remain as you are forever," she said.
I sat there like a baby cub, drinking the delicious nectar that became my champagne, my everything, and the more I drank, the more she moaned in ecstasy, her head rolling back and her body becoming tense, her back arching and twisting as she felt the pleasure ripple through her. Her other hand clawed at my back, it was really quite incredible, this delicious pleasure we felt. Her bloody ambrosia truly did taste better than anything I've ever experienced, the finest delicacies paling in comparison. I yearned for more, and if I could have, I would have drunk her dry, but sadly she pushed me away.
My glorious friend looked drained of all strength and stamina. Her luxurious olive skin turned to a sickly pale white, her green eyes became a disgusting cold gray, her hair was not as full as it had once been, and in fact, bald spots that I had not noticed before began to appear in great number the more I gazed upon her. The more I observed her, the more this strange mix of awe and disgust bubbled within me, and she must have sensed this feeling, as she began to cry. Her tears stopped quickly, as I embraced her and kissed her passionately, showing her I did not care that this was her true appearance, the appearance that reared its head after not feeding or after she turned a human into one of our kind. She pulled up the hood that was attached to her cloak, concealing the hideous yet strangely intoxicating creature she had become.
"It happens to the oldest of our kind. When we don't feed, or when we are drained of blood for various purposes, our bodies begin to show signs of decay. Our hair recedes, our skin loses color, and our bodies become mere husks of what they once were," she said, her beautiful features slowly returning as she suckled on a passing rat. I'm not sure what it was, but something inside me changed. Yes, I was no longer human, but it wasn't that, dear reader. Her grotesque appearance slowly bothered me less and less, and it was as if that were the new definition of beauty, my new Calypso, and the longer I gazed upon her, the more and more the desire for other women left me.
I nodded, bringing my hand, which became icy cold almost instantly, to her face, caressing her perfect features. Was this all that life was? I asked myself. Was this how I was meant to spend eternity, in a slave quarter with my Calypso? If it was, it was more than fine with me. Sadly, this would not be the case, but at the time, I enjoyed every second of her presence.
Time passed by slowly, as it tends to do in the presence of the one you love. Minutes felt like hours, and we stood there, gazing at each other, not allowing simple words to cheapen the undying love we had just spawned for each other. Tragically, this only went on for half an hour, as my master trudged through the door, drunken and in a foul mood.
"You ... Egyptian. Leave my slave ... he has things to do," said the filthy merchant, his greasy mustache twitching as his lips moved to form the vile words that dribbled out of his mouth. Anger bubbled inside me as he told my beautiful Aphrodite to leave. Her eyes fluttered over to me, speaking volumes without actually uttering a syllable. She wanted me to kill him, to feed from him, and free myself of his wretched existence once and for all. Though I wanted to, I could not bring myself to do the task, to kill him once and for all.
Nafretiti understood my predicament, and patted my head lovingly. Without speaking, she filled my mind with the courage and ability to end the wretched existence of my master. Without worrying about any of the consequences, I descended upon him. I'm not sure if it was the knowledge I had that he could not stop me, or the dark voices that currently swim within my mind, but with unnatural speed and agility I clutched the insidious drunk with claws that had grown at my command. His heartbeat, which became my new favorite sound, began to quicken. His vile mouth opened and he let forth a scream of agonizing pain and horror.
"You. Merchant of despicable things, of death. Your retribution will not come slowly enough, your agony not painful enough. Sadly, I shall have to settle with your blood slowly being drained from your body, your flesh burnt and fed to your pets, and your palatial estate burnt to the ground." The words leapt from my mouth, as if inspired by an unknown force. My hand gripped the dirty man's throat as I lifted him into the air, like a rag doll being played with by a child.
With sweet silence flowing from his lips, I pierced his flesh with my fangs, breaking into arteries and draining him of his blood. His frothy, decadent red blood entered my mouth, and I could feel my strength increasing. I looked at my goddess, her lower lip quivering in her desire to partake in my feast. Her mind, open like a door, screamed out in thirst as I smiled at her, handing over my kill.
Her teeth ripped new holes into the man's flesh. New arteries were broken, and more of his delicate blood was drained. Her hair, which was slowly coming back on its own, regained its full body, and her skin became soft and flawless once more. Her eyes turned once again violet as she fed, but subsided to green shortly afterward. There she was, my Egyptian goddess, my savior, my Calypso. She flung the dead merchant to the floor as he became nothing more than meat for the dogs. Her face, which a few moments ago held a look of pure ecstasy, had turned to a serious expression that was hard to read. I knew she was neither angry nor saddened, but the look would always return whenever she had information to give me, a story to share, or a comment to make.
"The sun will be rising soon. Have you heard any of the vampire lore?" she asked, her silky voice filled with urgency.
I shook my head. I knew that vampires drank blood, and that was roughly it. I knew they walked the earth immortal, and that they were powerful. Other than that, my knowledge of them was nonexistent.
"For the first few centuries of your life, the sun will be able to instantly kill you. In fact, it is the only thing that can truly kill you. Our kind is truly immortal, and we do not die. Period. Our bodies may wither, but our souls survive. We are forced to linger in the netherworld, in essence the hell that so many humans sing about. And yes, before you ask, Satan does exist, but only a few have dealt with him.
"The lore, which is partly true, dictates that vampires sleep during the day to avoid the power of the sun. Our coven has decided to retire in a stone structure not that far from here. We can discuss more later, but just for right now, let's get to a safe place. We can return here in the nights to follow," she said, grabbing my arm as she led me to the river that divided the dead merchant's property. Her mind was bombarding me with powerful images and thoughts, half sentences and words that meant little me, but when all were heard and seen, painted a masterpiece that explained where we were going and more.
She seemed tense, almost frightened, as if she had done something wrong and was now trying to cover it up, like a child blaming a broken vase on the wind. My lips moved, forming words, but no sounds escaped. I remember wondering what fear was infecting her, which in turn infected me. When she finally decided to explain herself and her actions, we were far away from my new birthplace, my once dungeon and prison.
We were deep within the forests. The delicate smell of earth and leaves assaulted my nostrils as my newly augmented sense of smell became known to me. I once found the smell of earth and leaves pleasant, but I now found the odor sickeningly strong. My lovely Nafretiti turned around, and with bloody tears, began to explain her fear.
"There is a cardinal rule among our kind. Humans are never to be turned unless they deserve it," she said, her eyes looking down in shame.
"Deserve it?" I asked. My voice was low and dark, filled with a questionable hatred, as if I knew the answer to my own question.
She shifted her weight, sighed loudly, and began flashing images of various men and women in her head. Men and women who gave me a sense of dread and terror; men and women who had a newfound authority over me. The images drifted from her mind into my own, my new vampiric heritage gifting me with new abilities. With a weak voice, she began to explain.
"Humans who have done a terrible thing, such as genocide or showing vast amounts of greed, are turned into our kind to teach them humility. They must confront their sins.
"Some call it a 'dark gift,' but in reality, it isn't a gift ... it isn't really anything. I sentenced you to an eternal hell on Earth. I knew you would perish in the arena and didn't want that to happen. I couldn't take knowing that the only person I had ever loved would die tomorrow. My unbeating heart melted at the very thought of it," she said, tears of blood rolling down her cheeks.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Immortal Touch by Ethan Peasley Copyright © 2011 by Ethan Peasley. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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