The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Dearest Alendra,



Be these few the truest words my mouth shall ever drip, and yet the foulest thoughts ever seeped between my sour lips, that thou art the blood of my agonized existence, the brilliant lamp in my tranquil night, the epitome of all my weaknesses, the blemish on my flawless skin of life. May Death grip thee in his firm grasp and drain the life from your very self. And so I shall be content, albeit in misery for lack of thy fine company. And risk – oh, risk! Oh, thrill of risk! – for if my deeds are pronounced the odious crime they be, I am in the firm grip of the holy law, as earthly law cannot touch me. Be it as such, I allow thee to slowly fade away.

Alendra, love, open thine eyes to the hateful passion I hold for thee. Drink thy last sip of my pain and fall into bed beside me, cold and solitary as thou hast always been. Whisper to me, my sweet éminence grise, thou who hath worked the black art upon my soul. Did it interest thee much to watch the crimson life leave me? Why didst thou end me? Thou failed to trust my loyalty – a mistake of high consequence. If thou couldst see me now, cloaked in silver moon-mist, draped in a shade of evil, my bed-gown soiled with my heart’s charge. I work among demons now, seeking out revenge against thee who ruined me.

When both arms point northward tonight, darling, thy blissful sleep shall swiftly end. Thou wilt cry out for sorrow and longing, and shall be silenced by the wrath of Lucifer. As the time has only just begun to separate, thou shalt join me, my lover, in my home in Hell’s cellar. Here in the torched darkness looms the envy of all the angels in shade. Light is the cause of every shadow, my Alendra; the light in thy solemn eyes concealed the dusk of thy spirit.

Drunk with unfounded odium, that powerful loathing flowing through thy veins, thou hast taken what my mother gave me, what fearful God hath granted me.

“Initiating system K182 dash 638 board 9 on OSC. Begin panel sequence Q3d17.” These words meant nothing to me. I was surrounded by a glass cylinder in the center of some sort of massive control room. “Shut down in row 295. Re-encrypt startup patterns.” The air in my cylinder began to compress and chill. A strange smell found its way to my nose and I began to feel rather dizzied. I glanced upward at the bright light shining straight down from the top of the cylinders as it flickered out, leaving me with only the mild fluorescents of the control room. I sank to my knees as dark began to threaten the edges of my vision. I wanted to scream, cry, and pray all at once, but I was too afraid to even think. I shivered as the strange chemical air seeped into my pores. I could sense its toxic tendrils in my bloodstream, searching for my heart with a desire to kill. Then one found my heart, wrapped itself around it like a snake and constricted. The beating slowed down and became desperately uneven. I felt myself fall in a crumpled heap at the base of the cylinder, my eyelids flitting pleadingly at the tall woman who strode up to right outside the glass to watch my death.

At that exact moment, panic swept the entire control room. I was barely aware of the shouts of fury and shock until the glass of my cylinder was shattered. Shards pierced my skin and silver blood seeped from my body. Strong hands grassed my tiny frame and pulled me from the ground.

“Lissie,” the voice spoke into my ear, ever so softly. In it was pain, fear, worry, and care. That familiar father-like love. Finally I let myself relax into the Alchemist’s arms and drift off into that sweet everland.



“She’s half angel, half demon. Her father was of high status in the underworld, and her mother a commoner among angels. His tribe attacked the city where she lived….” The Alchemist trailed off for a moment then cleared his throat. “She has two entirely conflicting sides, and occasionally the demon side will fight for control over her. This will throw her into severe physical, emotional, and psychological pain. If she can fight through it, the darkness is once again forced into retreat. If not, her soul, which resides in the angel side of her seeing as demons lack such a thing, will be trapped inside her body, unable to resist the will of the monster. In such a case, the best choice, and the one she and I have agreed on, would be too free the soul.”

“And how does one achieve that?” the Alchemist’s apprentice inquired, holding the girl’s hand. He feared he knew the answer already.

“By killing her,” the Alchemist replied as he set down the bound pages he’d been shuffling through. The apprentice looked at Lissie, pain surging through him. I will not let anyone kill her. Not ever. “But in that case, it would not be her. It would be a demon in her body.” He winced.

“Sir, she’s my soul mate. I couldn’t let her be killed over something she could not prevent.”

“And she is like a daughter to me. I would regret having to do so, but it would be for the best. She and I have both declared that it is so.”

“She agreed to this?” the boy asked, glancing mournfully at Lissie. The old man nodded slowly.

“She knew what could happen if she didn’t. If that situation were to arise, she would wish you to kill her. She does not want to harm anyone. Aja, you won’t even recognize her if the darkness were to find her very soul.” Aja shut his eyes. Dammit, Lissie. Why didn’t you tell me before? He raised his eyes to meet his masters’ and shook his head.

“I would never be able to find the will to kill her,” Aja spoke softly. The Alchemist sighed and turned away.

“There are certain things this world cannot comprehend. There are many, many ways this planet has changed. Aja, did you know that in ancient times an Alchemist was someone who worked with healing and natural medicines? Now we are the ones who study that which cannot be explained through the centuries of scientific work. We live in a world of great cities and in a time of peace. The turmoil of the thousands of years past has been silenced, however temporary that may be. But still we hear of crop circles, fleeting images of dead loved ones, attacks by people who seem possessed….” Aja listened to his master as he sketched a creature with the left side of a demon and the right side of an angel. As the Alchemist finished his lecture, Aja turned to Lissie and ran his fingers through her waves of golden hair. He knelt down beside the bed intended for the sick, and whispered to her, low enough that only she could hear; “Lissie, I love you. Wake up, Lissie. I understand everything now.”



In Lissie’s dream, a man approached her. He was dark-haired and light-skinned with crimson irises, a demon’s trademark. Cliché, she thought. What is it with evil and red eyes? She knew instinctively that this man was her father. She took a step back, adrenaline-charged fear enveloping her mind.

“Hello, Lissie,” the demon said, a viciously sweet smile contorting his face. She didn’t reply as her heart rate quickened dramatically. “I’ve always wanted to meet you, darling. Your mother was a lovely woman, you know. Your look of fear is similar to hers. I enjoyed that look. She knew when she saw us charging her peace-infested town that it was over. Rape, pillage, burn. The oldest story in the book.”

Lissie found the courage to disguise her terror, instead converting it to a rage boiling up from within her. “You shouldn’t have hurt her!”

Her father smiled. “Life isn’t fair, darling.”

“Stop calling me that!” she hissed furiously. She squeezed shut her eyes. Wake up, Lissie. Please. Wake up.

“You won’t wake up, darling. This isn’t a dream. See, you’re unconscious there, but in this world, my world, you’re very much real and awake,” he told her. Her lips parted anxiously and she drew in a nervous breath. “Oh, don’t worry. I only inferred that you were trying to wake up. I don’t read minds.” Lissie nodded, distracted by her emotions. Her father beckoned to the dark undergrowth behind him, and Lissie noticed for the first time that they were standing in a small clearing of dead grass in a very dead woods.

A boy emerged from the trees, the same crimson eyes and light skin, but his hair was a wave of blond. He smiled icily, the row of sharpened, venomous teeth flashing.

“Kanne, she’s all yours,” Lissie’s father said. Kanne approached her slowly, his eyes narrowed and darting like a predator moving in for the final strike. She stumbled backward, filled with dread. “I never wanted your mother to have a child, Lissie. Shame. But at least you can be of some use.”

Kanne lunged for her, pinning her to the ground before she even saw him move. She lashed out, panicking. “Stop him!” she called out desperately to her father. Kanne made the mistake of glancing over his shoulder, and Lissie pulled to her feet and managed to get a few paces into the trees before he grabbed her again, now out of view of her father.

“I’m not supposed to kill you,” Kanne said to her. She met his bloodthirsty eyes with her soft blue ones, on the verge of tears. He shoved her to the ground again and swiftly pinned her. “I’m only allowed to ‘have my fun and then leave you alone,’ he told me,” Kanne stated. “But killing you would be fun. And leaving your dead body alone counts too, right?”

In one snakelike movement, he slid a hand up her shirt. She squirmed, grasping at his arm. “I’d forgotten how warm human flesh is,” he mused. Lissie whimpered, fighting the tears of helplessness, though she couldn’t hold them back. The saltwater slipped from her eyes one drop at a time. Kanne didn’t notice as he pulled her shirt off, leaning down to press his lips against the base of her neck. His fingers slipped under her bra, his other hand grasping both her wrists above her head as he held her down. She struggled violently against him to absolutely no avail. “Don’t,” she whispered meekly. His hand moved around back to undo the two little latches, and in the same movement, unbutton her jeans. “Kanne,” she pleaded, her voice breaking. “Please.”

Kanne ignored her few desperate words as he finished pulling off her clothes. She fought him with everything she had, but he was much stronger than she. All hope flooding from her, she shut her eyes tightly as he removed his own clothes.

“You’re as pathetic as the rest of your race. I don’t see the point of humans at all.” She pressed her eyelids tighter, a single emotion pushing everything else aside. It was one without a name, one mix of agony and fear and hopelessness and grief. She refused to stop twisting and struggling, even when it was far too late to change anything. God let it end please please make it end.

And then it did, and then Lissie felt Kanne’s teeth sink into her arm, the demon instinct to kill taking over. She screamed as the venom immediately took effect, throwing her into agony. Her father heard her scream and emerged from the clearing to where they were. He strode up to Kanne and struck him sharply across the face.

“I told you not to kill her!” he snapped. His voice slurred as Lissie’s eyes began to blur. Her senses shut down to allow her brain to focus on the vital functions. She could feel her slowing heartbeat through her entire body as darkness shut her in. Lissie felt trapped in her own body, unable to move or scream or escape.



My eyes snapped open to see Aja watching me closely, scared concern on his face.

“Lissie!” he exclaimed, the look vanishing. The Alchemist turned to see me awake, and relief crossed his eyes. Aja leaned down to hug her tightly, but the Alchemist didn’t smile.

“Lissie,” he said slowly. “What just happened? Your brain activity showed you were awake, and then you were screaming and crying.” I glanced away, the memory alone making me want to sob. “Lissie, you were in a different world, weren’t you?” he asked me. I bit my lip, the tears breaking through as I nodded. Aja clutched my hand tightly.

“The demon world?” he asked slowly. I nodded.

“My father was there. And he had a boy with him, Kanne. I think… an apprentice of sorts….” I said, but that was all I said. The Alchemist knew enough of the demon world to understand. Aja saw the Alchemist’s expression, confused. The Alchemist took a breath and told Aja, “Demon apprentices are often offered a girl as a token or reward for great accomplishments in their training.”

The relief at my waking disappeared from Aja’s face. “Oh my god. Lissie. Oh my god.” He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. I could feel the rage coursing viciously through his body. “Where can I get to him?” Aja asked the Alchemist, sitting up straight, his voice soaked in hate. “I want to kill him.”

At that moment, the demon poison hit my system in this world, and wrenching pain tore straight into my soul. A scream tore from my lungs, stinging my throat on its way out. Aja grabbed my shoulders. “Lissie!” The world spun, fire coursing through my veins. I felt the Alchemist press a cold, wet cloth against my head and inject something into my upper arm.

“Lissie that may numb the pain a little… but it’s demon venom. It won’t go away entirely.”

“Is she going to live?” Aja demanded, sounding terrified.

“I don’t know,” the Alchemist replied honestly. Aja laced his fingers through mine.

“Don’t go, Lissie,” Aja pleaded. “Don’t.” My throat tightened and I drew in a breath that felt like I was trying to inhale it through a tiny straw. A black border framed my vision and spread like pooling blood until it shut off my sight entirely, plunging me into sleep.

The gun is in my hands instantly as my eyes fly open and I leap to my feet. The creak on the wood floor has snapped me awake and immediately alert.

“Too late,” his eastern European accent informs me sinisterly, “you are already dead.” He pulled the trigger and pain flashes across my chest as the bullet embeds itself in my shoulder. It was not a pain I am unused to, but still enough to knock me down. “Get up,” he hisses. I grit my teeth and drag myself to my feet. I raise my gun, and he fires again. This time I do too, and keep myself on my feet. He nods.

“Better, Kurov?” I ask, my own voice a mix of eastern European and Israeli. Something like a smile plays at his lips.

“Soon,” he tells me, “you will be ready.” I still do not know what I am being prepared for. He removes his bulletproof vest and I touch my hand to my two bullet wounds in my shoulder and side – deliberate misses. My fingers are instantly soaked in blood. With a sigh, I head back to the familiar infirmary. I can live with the pain. It is a lesson, training me to be better, stronger, “ready.”

Elda frowns as I walk in. I give a little laugh. “Oh, honey,” she clucks. “All right, lie down.” Her southern drawl is familiar and comforting. She cleans and bandages the holes in my flesh, but we have an understanding: no painkillers. Ever. That’s not the way I am to be taught. Pain is part of life, and it strengthens me.