The Vampire's Cure

 

"Will you drink the blood?"

I glanced up at the witch. The enchantress. Whatever you wanted to call her. Her eyes shined with gold fire, the chalice with dark liquid cupped in her hands. 

"Whose blood is it?"

A wry smile touched her lips. I could see the hint of her fangs. "You sought out the chalice not knowing what it was?"

"I just know the legends. Any vampire that drinks from that chalice will have their thirst sated forever. But the blood has to come from someone."

"Well, I'll give you the rest of the legend. There was a vampire who loved a girl. A mortal girl. She knew his curse but loved him as well, but with no desire to become like him, and he had no desire for her to be like him.  And so they kept their love secret, meeting deep in the forest when the stars opened their eyes, right in the middle of this copse of trees." 

She was silent for a minute. The scent of the blood wafted from the chalice and my yearning grew. My fingers twitched. 

"But something happened," I said. 

"The vampires of his clan did not take well to him loving a mortal, and one night they followed him to this place where he met with his love. They tried to kill her, but he intervened and died protecting her."

Her voice grew sad and her eyes fell. A cool wind whispered through the shadowy trees that surrounded us. "It was unheard of. A vampire dying for a mortal. A god sacrificing himself for a bag of flesh filled with bones. The hunter giving up his life for prey." Her eyes met mine again, and I could see it there, the memories of that night rippling through the pools of her eyes. "I took his blood and became like him, and I slaughtered those responsible for my beloved's death."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I wanted to take that chalice. I wanted to drown in its contents. "So you never thirst? Was some enchantment cast on his blood when he died for you?"

She shrugged. "Love is a powerful magic, sacrificial love the most powerful of all. I only know what the blood does for me and those that have come here." She fixed me with her gaze. "The blood will take away your Curse."

I stared at her. "But you--"

"I was human when I drank his blood. There is no cure for me. But vampires who drink have their thirst sated forever because they are cleansed." She paused. "As I said, love is a powerful magic."

Her words cut me. I looked to her, and to the chalice, as a battle raged in my spirit. After a few moments, she asked, "So, vampire. What will you do?"

An owl called through the night. 

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