A Poisonous Soul. (editing)

Chapter 3 (complete)

Copyright c 2011.

Chapter Three

I have been lying for my entire vampire existence but this is the first time I have ever felt guilty about it. Sydney can never know what really happened that night in the parking lot. I do not want to have to wipe her mind and risk wiping her memory of me. This is also the first time I have hesitated at doing my job. I decide to go back to the hospital to see Steve while she sleeps. I got exactly what I needed from him when I found him on that beach. I learned about the rogue vampire that attacked him. Then I wiped his memory. That should be the end of the story but it isn’t. For a reason unknown to me I keep coming back to see him. There is something about Steve that is so familiar. He reminds me of a friend I had when I was human. Granted, that was a couple hundred years ago, but Shane was my best friend. We grew up together and then a rogue attacked him when we were about 26 years old. A rogue vampire is a vamp that lives outside the laws of our society. One that kills freely and brutally, doesn't wipe the minds of their victims, and doesn't try to stay in secret.

I waited around Sydney’s room early this morning but she slept like the dead. By dusk I decided to leave her in Anna’s care so I could see Steve. The conversation with my sister went exactly like I thought it was going to.

Who is she? Why is she here? She can’t know what we are! What’s wrong with you?

All the questions I keep asking myself. I shake off my confusing talk with Anna as I climb out of my new Charger SRT8. I love this car. Usually a drive can clear my head of just about anything, but not this time. I chose dusk because it is less painful to my kind. If I were younger I would still require sunglasses. I smile to myself thinking about the cliché vampires in movies. We certainly don’t burn in the sun. A fledgling has to wear protective clothing in the sun because it is painful. As one ages the clothing becomes less necessary. Our eyes are the most sensitive so up until a few decades ago fledglings stayed in the dark. Sunglasses make life much easier.

My walk towards Steve’s room brings my head back to Sydney. I go over our short time together and am unable to shake it off. I knock on Steve’s door and just seeing his face brings me to the present. He seems happy to see me. I sit at his bedside and we talk of unimportant things. Then I ask him, "Dossen is an unusual name. Is it Irish?” He smiles and raises one of his eyebrows, “Is that a lucky guess or is that a lucky guess?” I shrug my shoulders, “I have done some traveling in my time. Dossen sounded close to a few names I have run across in Ireland. Do you have any relatives from there maybe?” Steve smiles again, "Actually, I am kin to the bastard son of a farmer that was murdered. The girl he got pregnant was a girl from one of the surrounding villages. The village he came from was haunted or something and a couple people died, including my fourth great grandfather." He is smiling real big now, completely immersed in his story. "The village was abandoned when I went to visit a couple years ago except for this cottage in the woods." His face changes suddenly from happy to very intense. "There was this guy living there, real creepy, but very helpful. He told me all about my ancestor. He said his ancestors passed the story to him and it was my job to pass it to my offspring." I just sit there, completely in shock. "Was your ancestor's name Shane Connolly?" I whisper. Steve’s face turns sheet white, "How did you know that?" It can’t be. I know the ‘creepy guy’ he talked to was Cahal Byrne, my maker. How does Cahal know about Steve’s relation to Shane? Is there anything that man doesn’t know? “James? How do you know about my family?” he asks. My mind is racing trying to come up with something plausible. I don’t like lying to Steve but my lifestyle requires secrecy. “Did Cahal say anything else to you? Did he give you any other names?” I ask him. I want to just shake it out of him but I would be more likely to hurt him. Steve stands up next to his hospital bed and glares at me, “How did you know the guy’s name was Cahal? What aren’t you telling me?” I take a deep breath, “Just any name Steve.” I stand up and look him in his eyes, “Please.”