Journal of the Eldest

Appena la mia Fortuna Maledetta

I sat in the corner of the vast establishment watching the Kendall. I had been doing this for the last month without being caught be Kendall or Lucy who seemed to enjoy being fussy and intolerable. Most of the people in her grandfather's establishment seemed to have a very thick skin when it came to the girl. She always got away with any awkward behavior.

My eyes drifted to the old man behind the counter. He seemed to be lost in thought over something. I had learned to respect his mind but it was mainly because of the barriers he had put round his mind. The day I had found them in place, I had almost broken a window in my house. It was safe to say that he knew he was a warlock and he was a guarded man. His silver hair was combed precisely and he was leaning over the counter in front of his friend and chief of police. Their conversation seemed to be very private because he gave anyone who dared to seat within a breadth of the chief a death glare that sent them scampering away to be tended by other bartenders.

Chief Adam was dressed in his uniform that covered his over sized belly. His gun and police cap were lying next to the cup of coffee. He looked round suspiciously as if he knew I was watching him but went back to the animated and hushed conversation with Luke Winchester. I decided to eavesdrop not that it was eavesdropping since I just tuned out the rest of the hum around me.

"I am telling you Luke," the police chief said. "This is very strange. People are disappearing at a fast rate and I hate to say that it is freaking many people out."

"I know, but the people going missing are not to be missed," Luke said.

"Come on Luke," the chief said.

"Seriously Adam," Luke said, "whatever is going on is both good and bad."

"No it is not," police chief Adam said. "Poor Sue-Ann has been to the station a couple of times demanding we find her husband."

"The town drunk might be lying in a ditch somewhere," Luke said.

"Actually we found his body," Adam said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Adam said, "we found it this morning."

"You say it like you are confused," Luke said. "Was it his body or not?"

I focused into the police chief's mind and saw his memory. He had been wondering through the woods not far from my house. The police dogs and some of his deputies landed on the drunken man's body. He had turned it round with his gloved hands. He was shocked to see the broken and burnt limbs; the clothes on the man were stained with dirt and blood and around the base of his neck there were two small punctures. Punctures from my own teeth, I thought gleefully. I did not want to see my own handiwork through the memories of some young and ignorant fool. I knew I was feeding like a mad woman and leaving the bodies out in the open. There was no way for it to be traced to me to the humans but the supernatural beings like me would be watching.

I had gotten tired with waiting and I did the only thing I knew that would draw attention to Silent Creek. I needed to know if the witches like Luke were still around and if any other vampire was nearby. I was sure they were around because I had masked my presence from the ones I had seen in the towns near Silent Creek. I had to settle in the changing world but I needed the one person I promised to protect to be alive.

"Man it was weird," Adam said.

"How so?" I could see the shock and fear in Luke's appearance even though the police chief could not. His eyes were no longer focused and small beads of sweat had started forming on his forehead. "Was there anything wrong with the body?"

For a bar owner he was interested in the body a little more than he should have been. I focused on him to watch for his reaction to what the police chief would tell him. "His body was broken up so bad. His legs were burned like some cult ritual and the weirdest thing was his neck." I saw the reaction I wanted. The old man knew of my kind. His lips twitched and his brow furrowed slightly at the mention of the marks on the neck. His eyes became unfocused as if he was thinking about something else.