BRIDGET: I could smell the blood and could hear my pulse in my ears as my body trembled. What has happen to me? What was that… that creature that attacked me? Was I shot and threw the hallucination I thought it was something else? As my mind wondered on, darkness surrounded me and the world went away. CHAPTER ONE When I came to I was lying on a bed of moss and the moon was shining through the trees, lighting everything around me in a soft blue hue. The smell of blood filled my nostrils and a wave of nausea swept over me as I sat up. I threw up a little beside me. I had nothing in my stomach but the bile burned my throat as it came up. I shuddered and tried to stand. My balance was off. I looked at my watch but in the dim night light I couldn’t see the time. I think it was broken anyways. While trying to collect my bearings and remember what had happen to me I heard something behind me. The snap of the twig broke the silence of the forest like a gunshot. I turned around, trying to find where the noise came from but in the night I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of me. With my hands outstretched I began to run in the opposite direction from where I was looking. I could feel breath on my neck but I didn’t turn around, I ran as fast as I could, hoping I wouldn’t fall over a tree root or rock, praying I could out run whatever was behind me. It was too big to be an animal and its footsteps were even lighter than my barefoot feet on the ground. A hand reached out and grabbed me and I screamed and kicked with as much force as I could muster. Is this the end? Darkness came again. As I awoke again, it was daytime. The sun was shining and I was lying in my bed with my mother blotting my forehead with cool rag. “She’s awake!” my mother exclaimed standing up abruptly, knocking over the basin of water resting on her lap. “Oh Bridget”, she said in a soft voice “I’m so sorry dear. You’ve been asleep for three whole days and… and... “Her voice trailed off as she began to sob heavily while wiping up the water on the floor. My father and sisters rushed into the room. They stared at me. My youngest sister, Amelia, ran over to me giving me a hug. “We all thought you were going to die” she said, her voice braking with every word. “When father found you in the forest you were---“ “That’s enough Amelia”, my father said with sternness in his voice. “Let her rest, she’s been threw a lot” “No, it’s okay father.” I said, struggling to sit up. My right arm was killing me. I looked over to see bandages covering my right arm from the shoulder down. Blood was seeping through them in spots of bright red, almost like polka dots. “Bridget, do you remember what happened in the forest? Did you see what attacked you?” My father asked me the voice I was accustomed to hearing. I was his favorite and he always talked to me with love. “We need to find the creature that did this to you. We need to kill it. When I found you, you were on the rocks outside the forest. The same place we give our sacrifices to the third day of each month. Two other young women are missing. Alice and Molly, the O’Boyle girls, went missing the night after you.” He held his head down as he spoke. “We haven’t been able to find them and we have searched the woods for the past two whole days. We are broken into two groups and still no luck. Bridget, if you can remember anything at all to save those two poor girls, now is the time to speak.” I know the O’Boyle girls. Meredith and I played with them as children. They were considered the most beautiful girls in our village, both with long red, curly hair and the deepest emerald green eyes. They were tall and so very well spoken. They even knew how to read! Their father spared no expense on his girls, preparing them to be married to wealthy suitors. Then, in a flash, I started to remember… I was running through the trees, it was getting dark. I knew mother would be angry if I was late for supper again so I took a short cut. I was almost out of the forest when something caught my eye. A rabbit so white it was startling agents the deep green and browns of the forest. As I bent down, so slowly trying to catch it and bring it home, I was grabbed. A man in a dark cloak with pitch black hair pulled me toward him. He smelled sweet, like apples… I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by his enchanting fragrance. I tried to pull away but my efforts were pointless. He was strong. “Bridget” he said in a low whisper. “Do I know you, sir?” I asked in a quiet and breathlessly. “You do not know me, but I know you. I have been watching you, Bridget.” He said into my ear. “I saw your birth and I have seen you grow into a woman… a beautiful woman.” He licked the side of my face. It was cold and slimy. “Sir, please” I said, the enchantment he had on me wore off and I tried to fight him away. I punched his chest and tried to pull away but the hold he had on me was unbreakable. The next thing I remember is the blood, the smell, and the darkness… I must have been talking this whole time because the next thing I knew my family was staring at me more intensely than before. My sister Christine gulped and left the room. “May I please have some water?” I asked, realizing again that my throat was dry and hurting. Amelia rushed out and returned within a minute with a cup of cool water. I drank it down thirstily until it was all gone. My throat felt a little better. I looked around the room and then back at my family. My father was a big man with dark copper hair and the brightest blue eyes that always looked sad. My three sisters, Amelia, the youngest at 12, looked most like my father. Christine who was the oldest at 23 was small and dainty with dark brown hair and eyes as green as the frothy ocean shore. My sister Meredith was a year younger than me at 18 and was the only one of us with blonde hair and brown eyes. She didn’t look like she belonged with our family but she was my best friend. Often we walked to the market together, giggling as we saw boys we liked. “Bridget,” my mother said quietly, then escalating into a high pitched tone “So many times I have told you not to go in there alone! So many times I have warned you but you don’t listen! Maybe if you had, this wouldn’t have happened to you! The Council will be here in the morning to evaluate your status. You’d better rest up, dear.” Everyone looked at her in awe. Had she called the Council when I went missing or when I was found? The Counsel was a group of leaders in our village who made the important decisions. They are the oldest people I have ever met in my 19 years. All of them with white hair and wrinkles, and when they speak, the smell of must in the air is overwhelming. The head of The Counsel was named Cathal; he came to the island when he was a boy. The other three are named Edana, the only woman of The Counsel, Kieran, the dark skinned one, and Owen. Owen was the youngest of the four but still very old. They never went anywhere without each other and always wore the same sage green tunics and gold rings on their first finger. They had an air about them that was mystical yet calming. CHAPTER TWO: The morning of The Counsels arrival I made sure to dress in my fanciest frock and let my deep red hair hang loose. I asked my sister to brush it out since I still couldn’t use my arm. The other wounds I had on my body were healing very well. The wounds on my neck, thighs, scalp, and knees were barely visible in the two days it had been since I woke up in my bed. I could still smell something on me though… Even after bathing, the smell wouldn’t go away. It was midafternoon before I heard the knock on the door. My mother answered it hesitantly after the third knock. All four of us girls were standing together at the end of the table, waiting for her to answer the door. My light blue frock was cool agents my fevered skin and the wind blew threw it as she opened the door to the four leaders. We were dismissed with a wave of my mother’s hand. They wanted to speak in private before they brought me in. It felt like forever before a deep, low voice called my name from the kitchen. My mother pushed past me crying as I entered. “Bridget, my dear” said the woman, Edana. “Please, sit.” I did as she asked. Nervously I sat in the chair she pointed to. “We do not want to bother you with questions, young one. We know what happened. We wish for you to come live with us by the ocean. I feel we have much to learn from each other, dear Bridget” Owen said lightly. His voice was higher than the other two men’s voices were. Very calming and comforting, like a warm cup of milk. “I do not know why you would want me to come live with you. I am wounded and wouldn’t be much of a help to you. I----“ “Do you know what we are, my dear?” This time Cathal spoke with eloquence and a softness I hadn’t expected. “You are The Counsel” I replied, as if there would be another answer. “We are Guardians” he said as though I was supposed to know what he meant. “We protect you from the evil that lurks beyond your doorstep. The dearg-dul, werewolf, fairy changelings, the dullahan, the banshee… this town is on the boarder of their world. Once you walk into the forest you are no longer protected by us. The treaty we signed hundreds of years ago has been dismissed and they are taking humans as their own, to marry, to change, and to eat” I gulped at the last part… I wonder which one of them attacked me. The man was so handsome. “He was handsome, wasn’t he?” Edana asked nodding her head. She had a sparkle in her eye that I hadn’t noticed before. At that moment I realized what she was doing… She was reading my thoughts! No wonder they already knew what happened and didn’t ask for my story. They already saw it! “Yes, Bridget, I can read your thoughts. Cathal is a warrior. Half human, part elf, part Fay. Owen is Cathal’s younger half-brother- half Fay, half human. I and Kieran are sorcerers. We have kept the peace throughout this part of the world for a very long time, before the lands parted and the realms were defined. You Bridget have a very powerful gift. Most humans would have died out there, but you… You not only survived but soon your powers will become more prominent. I am still trying to figure you out but with all that vampire blood in you, it’s hard to see how fully powerful you will become. Your body is fighting the venom but I am curious to see if that has an effect on you.” She pulled her hood down so I could see her face more clearly. Her hair was white as the driven snow. Her eyes were like the night sky, deep blackish blue with glimmers of light. Her skin was the color of clay and looked as though it had been laid out in the sun for days without water. And her smile… made me feel at ease, made the pain in my arm subside. “So dearie, are we ready to go?” Kieran asked gently, knowing it was going to be hard for me to leave my family, the only home I had ever known, but I have no choice. I stood up; shaking a little and the world overwhelmed me a little more. The pain in my arm came back in full force. As I said goodbye to my sisters, mother, and father, I began to worry… We lived on the edge of the forest. What if something tried to hurt them? They wouldn’t be able to protect themselves. Arrows and swords can’t kill vampires, werewolves, the Fay changelings… They would die. Edana grabbed ahold of my uninjured arm lightly and instantly I felt better. I knew, with the love I held for my family, that nothing would be able to penetrate our land or home. They would be safe. Kieran and Edana looked at me and nodded. It was time to go. As I entered the house of The Counsel the smell was overwhelming. Sage, jasmine, and cloves filled my nostrils as I inhaled. It was such a beautiful scent. I began to wonder around the complex, taking the initiative to show myself around. The first room was like a garden with roses, orchids, gerberas, and daffodils covering almost all of the open space. They were housed in beautiful vases made of glass with enchanting inscriptions scrawled over them. It was like a dream. The second room, a sleeping area for whom I assumed was Edana, was lovely. You could smell the ocean threw her open window and the coverings over the window were flowing in the breeze. “Would you like to see where you will be staying, dear Bridget” Edana asked me. I hadn’t realized she was behind me. She seemed to move like a cat making no noise as she entered behind me. “Yes, please.” I answered. She gently placed a hand on my arm and led me out of her room. As we entered the room where I would be staying my jaw dropped in amazement. Beautiful stone like I had never seen before housed the robes I would be wearing while I stayed here. A willow branch entered my window and the leaves were flowing into my room. Again I could smell jasmine and sage and saw a little flame in the fireplace. “Aed” Edana said and with that single word, the flame rose and grew hotter. “How… how did you do that?” I asked. “With just one word the fire grew, no wood or kindling was put in there… just that word!” I was amazed! If only I could do something like that. “Here we will teach you to hone your skills. Soon you will be able to do much more than that” she said with a smile. “You have powerful magic in you, child, and very powerful magic at that. You were born in the second month of the year on the 17th day. That was the day our friend Naiade was killed by the dullahan. She was the best and oldest of us. The day before she died she told me that one day someone would come to take her place. That that person would be attacked by a dullahan and survive and because of the blood it placed in your wounds they would be stronger, more powerful than us. That person is you. We need to train you and show you how you how to use your powers to protect the people.” She pushed my hair behind my ear and looked deeply into my eyes. “Your tried, take a sleep my child. We will begin our training in the morning”. I laid on my bed and slept like I had never slept before. Dreams of fairies and elves filled my mind as I slept. They were so beautiful and sparkled in the sunlight. They were so free and innocent looking. As I looked around me I could see so many different things around me. I recognized the trees and moss that grew on them; it was like the forest by my home, my family’s home. The elves lived in the trees, houses built on the tops of them so high you could barely see them with ramps going from the tippy top down to the ground. “Bridget” I could hear someone calling my name. “Bridget” they said and my name lingered in the air. Everything went dark and the fairies went away. The elves retreated to their treetop homes and the forest was quiet. Again I could hear my name as if it was whispered into my ear. I turned around thinking I could see who was saying my name though in my heart I knew… It was the dullahan, the vampire that attacked me. “What do you want?” I asked firmly. “I can hear you in my ear, drinker of blood. You cannot have me. I will defeat you! Do you hear me dullahan? DO YOU?” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Laughter came from behind me. “You’re a feisty one aren’t you Bridget?” he said chuckling. I could hear him move behind me but every time I turned around no one was there. “What do you want---“I was saying as I was cut off. A cold hand wrapped around my throat and cool lips pressed agents mine. “My name, dear one, is Darrius. Please use it” He sounded exasperated as he spoke. “You’d think you would know that by now, I mean, we did share something special.” “We shared nothing, Darrius” I said with hate in my voice. “You attacked me and drank my blood. That was not special” I balled my fists by my side. I haven’t been this angry since my sister cut my hair when I was a child and now that seems like… well, child’s play. “It was indeed special, my dear one. You don’t seem to grasp the importance of what happened. Before you were just a witch, now you are more powerful than anything ever created. Vampire and witch, there will be no one more magnificent than you, Bridget” “I will not be a vampire. I will refuse to drink blood and be like you” “Then you will die” he said, the smirk on his face grew. “I was like you in the beginning of my new life. I never thought I’d become a monster but the thirst will do things to you. It will make you crazy. Human blood is the only thing that will sustain you. Don’t you see? You don’t have a choice! By weeks end you will need me, need blood!” I tried to run away but my attempt was abruptly stopped. He was in front of me before I even took a step forward. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him again. Pressing his cool lips agents mine again and I couldn’t resist. He held me so tight I thought my lungs would be crushed. Finally he released me. “Be mine. Come, live with me and let us ravage this world together! It could be ours.” He promised as he disappeared into the darkness. Beginning of my story, by Mary McCullock
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 01:48:46 +0000
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