Stories of the past

She had just returned from visiting Bill’s lawyer. He had requested several papers to be filed in the event of him meeting the true death. Despite her dislike for most vampires she had to commend Bill. He was being quite fatherly in the care of his estate. His vampire daughter Jessica would stand to gain a lot and then some should Bill ever truly die.

As she parked her car the guards greeted her and did their usual checks. She didn’t blame them. It seemed there were other vampires after the king’s life and so the guards always did checks on her car and on her person for any bugs. Once everything was clear she walked inside. It was still daylight, around 3pm and she held a big bag of food.

Once inside the atmosphere was a bit lighter. The guards still patrolled but they greeted her as usual. She headed up the stairs, pass the heavily guarded hallway that signaled where Bill slept during the day and instead she went the opposite way towards her bedroom. Her room actually looked out to several acres of woods, as a courtesy from the king should she desire to take a run during the full moon.

She set the bags down and went to her adjoining office; a room that connected to her bedroom. She set down the important files, putting them away until needed for the night. She then returned to her room. She still had boxes to unpack from when she moved here so as she set down the boxes of take out on her desk she opened up the boxes of her things. In between eating and unpacking she got a lot done.

Her dresser and closet were full finally, her personal documents were in her desk, and her vast collection of books was mostly contained in a shelf. She’d had to ask the staff to help her bring in her other book shelf to put the rest of the books away. The last box was filled with her most precious possessions; heirlooms of her late parents and her jewelry.

As she looked at the plethora of pictures she couldn’t help but feel that twinge of nostalgia. Her life had been nice. It would have continued to be nice had Russell Edgington not poisoned her old pack. Even after her father had died her mother had done her best to provide, but a widowed wolf always had a hard time adjusting. Joining the pack in Jackson seemed like a good idea at the time, but it turned to be their undoing.

Wolves, addicted to vampire blood, serving the eccentric vampire king of Mississippi. Violent, volatile and just bad news overall. She shook her head. Those were bad memories, things she did best not to dwell on. As she continued to sort through the contents of the box she smiled. She picked up some pieces of jewelry handed down through her family.

Despite her mother dying and not really getting to pass these things down, she remembered the stories she was told as a child.
Being raised as a wolf she was taught to be proud of her dual nature. Stories passed from generation to generation, centuries of wolves living in the world, holding positions of power all to keep their race a secret.

Although her hatred of vampires was rather recent born, her mother had always preached tolerance. The stories of her childhood spoke of wolves mingling with vampires. Vampires weren’t the monsters people made them out to be. There were always fanatics in every faction but according to oral tradition, her blood line had at one point lived with the vampires and co-existed with them.

She picked up a small black velvet box and opened it. In it was an ornate engraved ring. She could already hear her mother’s voice, telling her the story of the ring.

Long before humans fought for their kings, far before Arthur was a twinkle in his grandfather’s eye, there was a werewolf family who owned one of the largest parcels of land. They were as wealthy as one could be in the times.

The story goes that the only daughter of the family fell in love with a rogue youth. They shared a wonderful romance. He was also from a wealthy family so it was not strange to see them consort in the town. Oh how she craved to tell him the secret of her nature. And one fateful night she did. Under the bright full moon, hidden among the trees she showed him who she was, all of her. Oh how blessed to see that he accepted her. He loved her, all of her, and it seemed to be a match made in simple heaven.

The youth wanted to marry his wonderful she-wolf, and as custom dictated of the time, he would have to pay the bride’s family a dowry for her hand. His family; wealthy in their own right and delighted that their son would marry a woman of such good reputation were only happy to oblige. A dowry of coin and land was prepared, so that when the union would take place, the couple would have not only land to settle in, but both families tied by marriage would become the wealthiest name in all the land.

Oh how simple and lovely it would have been, but fate conspired against them. The youth’s own younger brother, jealous of his elder brothers happiness plotted with the darkest of kinds. Vampires, known only to a select few, were notorious for doing anything for the right price. The Younger promised them land and coin in exchange for dissolving the union between his elder brother and his soon to be bride.

The night before the dowry was to be paid, the elder brother was visited by a vampire. However no one deal with the devil without paying an even costlier price. Seeing use in the elder the vampire decided to turn him. It would not only dissolve the union between male and female but also make it so the vampires would own the rest of the land the younger brother’s family owned.

Oh how the families wept that their son was found, dead and empty of blood the following day. No one could fathom the reasoning for it. However the bride’s family knew otherwise. All the signs pointed to their rivals of eternity; vampires. Fearful now for their own lives the wolves insisted on leaving, however the would be bride could not be shaken from her sorrow. She vowed to find those who robbed her of her happiness and instill on them the same pain she felt.

3 nights passed and the eldest brother rose, now vampire and immortal. However his would be sire was not to be found. The bride, in a fit of rage summoned what wolves she could find and executed the vampire that perpetrated the crime. However in that she sealed the pack’s fate. They had to leave, less more vampires seek vengeance on them.

The night of the move the young she wolf paced along the woods, bloody, dirty and filled with sorrow. In her hand was still the ring her lover had given her.
“Oh Alastair… what I would not give to see you once more” she whispered into the night.

Kiara blinked, coming out of her memories with a gasp. “Alastair?” she asked herself, looking at the ring. Surely it couldn’t be a coincidence that the vampire she had seen the previous night held the same name as the stories she’d heard as a child. She looked at the ring and spoke to herself.

“Well… vampires are immortal, technically, and they are named after the time periods they were born into. It would be WAY too freaky to think that the vampire in my nana’s stories was still somehow alive” she even gasped “That would mean I’m somehow related to his long lost lover!” she fell back on the bed and rolled around a bit “Gah! What a mess that would be” she then chuckled.

“No, theres NO way. That vampire would have to be older than fucking Russell…. And russell’s as old as dirt” she told herself as she looked at the ring. “Nope, those are just stories and it’s nothing BUT a coincidence that the same name was used” she then nodded. “I know, maybe that vampire just used an alias, probably googled up a name he could use. I’m sure that vampire in the stories is remembered in his human name” she nodded “There you go.. that would explain EVERYTHING” she said as she sat up and reached over for another box of takeout.

Before she began to eat she slipped the ring on her left pinky. She made a note to get it refitted since it was a bit of a tight squeeze but she smiled. Story aside, the ring made her feel closer to her mother and to all that she'd once lost. She resumed her meal, soon forgetting that she was even wearing the ring as she went about the rest of her clean up and unpacking.